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A NEW poll has shown unprecedented levels of support for Nicola Sturgeon across Great Britain.
The exclusive TNS snapshop for The Herald of almost 1200 adults shows that among men and women, across all age groups and in every nation and region covering Scotland, England and Wales, the First Minister now has the highest net approval rating.
Following the televised General Election debates, the SNP leader's profile was raised north and south of the Border with many believing Ms Sturgeon was the winner not just in the seven-cornered leaders' debate and the challengers' debate but in the Scottish leaders' debates too.
Her admirers described her as the most powerful woman in UK politics while her detractors dubbed her the most dangerous.
The poll, conducted during the middle of this month, shows that across Britain Ms Sturgeon has the highest net approval rating of +33; a record for TNS. She is followed by Ukip's Nigel Farage on +12, Conservative leader David Cameron on +7, Labour leader Ed Miliband on -8 and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg on -22.
Among men, she has the highest net rating of +32 and among women of +35. Similarly, she tops ratings across every different age group from +17 among 18 to 24-year-olds to +43 among over 65s.
In every part of Britain,the First Minister is also top of the polling from +30 in north-east England to +38 in Wales and the West Country and +33 in Greater London.
In Scotland, she is the only leader to have a positive rating; +55. Mr Miliband polled -2, Mr Cameron - 7, Mr Farage - 15 and Mr Clegg - 34.
Stewart Hosie, the SNP's deputy leader, said: "These exceptionally strong poll ratings show two things. First, that Nicola Sturgeon is head and shoulders above the other party leaders, both at Westminster and Holyrood.
"And second, the figures suggest that people north and south of the border like what Nicola is saying about how a strong team of SNP MPs, standing up for Scotland, can also contribute to delivering more progressive policies for the benefit of people across the UK."
Tom Costley, head of TNS Scotland, said: "It is clearly evident that Nicola Sturgeon's performance during the campaign has resonated well with the electorate, recognising her strengths as leader of the SNP even amongst those outside Scotland who cannot choose to vote SNP."
This morning, Mr Miliband will use a keynote speech in London to focus on the family budget, claiming that a second Tory term, in which David Cameron is intent to cut £12bn more from welfare, would result in "a raid of £3.8bn on tax credits", leaving some families £2000 a year worse off.
The Labour leader will say: "Today, I am here to reveal the truth: if the Tories get back in on May 8, your family budget is at risk.
"Another five years of Tory government will mean a plan to double the pace of cuts next year; a plan that puts your family budget, your NHS and our country's future at risk."
Tory HQ responded by saying: "There's one guaranteed risk to working people's finances; Ed Miliband, propped up by the SNP, crashing the economy and putting up taxes, just like he did last time."
In Glasgow, Ms Sturgeon will insist the SNP "can be stronger for Scotland and progressive for the UK" and she will denounce as a "democratic outrage" the suggestion from some Conservative quarters that Scotland's votes do not matter.
But Mr Cameron, who suggested there were just 10 days to save the Union, argued that the SNP leader was selling "a false dream" to Scots given there were huge holes in the case for independence.
"This dream will fade but it's going to take some time and the parties like mine that believe in the UK are going to have to fight very hard," he said.
As official figures showed the pace of UK growth had slowed to its lowest rate for more than two years at 0.3 per cent in the first quarter, the PM clashed with his Labour opponents over the meaning of the latest statistics.
Mr Cameron used them to urge voters not to take Britain's economic recovery for granted when they went to the polls a week tomorrow but to "stick to the plan",warning Labour would "bring our economy to a juddering halt".
Last night it was reported that Mr Cameron would, if re-elected, ban tax rises during the lifetime of the next Parliament - taking away a key decision from the Chancellor.
But Ed Balls for Labour claimed the worse-than-expected numbers showed the Coalition's plan to "fix" the economy had failed and a new direction was needed.
Elsewhere, Ukip's Nigel Farage was accused of peddling the politics of fear and intolerance after he accused the SNP of being "openly racist" in promoting anti-English sentiment in Scotland. But Scottish Government Minister Humza Yousaf denounced the remarks as disgraceful and offensive and insisted all Ukip had to offer was "nasty rhetoric". |
Authored by: jkrise on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:47 AM EST
By simply pointing to prior art to the patent office?
Or the only way is to wait for MS to sue someone and then show the prior art as
a defence? In any case, this proves the patent system in the US is completely
broken and in urgent need of an overhaul. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:50 AM EST
Guess I'm first or close to it. I have only one thing to
say.
"su" me.
The second thing ;-) is that since sudo has been in existance
for so long, there is no way the M$ patent can impact it.
Oh, for sure they can try, but they might as well patent
roads or the delivery of mail.
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Sunny Penguin on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:52 AM EST
Imagine if the patent application was treated as a court document and the patent
applier was sworn in under oath.
Could we then charge "Contempt of Court" for things like this?
The patent on sudo is a malicious lie, made by a monopoly with an extensive
history of false litigation and the backing of false litigation by pawn
companies.
I see this patent being sold to some SCO type scam.
---
EOD is a science of vague assumptions based on debatable data taken from
inconclusive experiments with instruments of problematic accuracy by persons of
questio [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Winter on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:53 AM EST
I always understood that you could patent everything that was not published in
the trade press nor has been patented before. And that is what the patent
examiner has to search.
If SUDO (gksudo and friends) has not been been presented in the trade press,
then MS does not have to know about it. Neither needs the USPTO
Remember that the USA has uphold patents on Basmati rice and Neem tree leaves
even though these had been in use for millenia in India.
The fact that they were know was never a problem in these cases.
Rob
---
Some say the sun rises in the east, some say it rises in the west; the truth
lies probably somewhere in between. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: ais523 on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:57 AM EST
This thread is for comments unrelated to the article. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: ais523 on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:58 AM EST
In case there's a mistake in the article. Please try to indicate the correction
in the title of your post. [ Reply to This | # ]
Wrong link to sudo home page - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 12:38 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:20 AM EST
I don't see where this would impact sudo.
The patent covers a specific version of a sudo application
that explicitly identifies users which have sufficient
rights to execute the task that the current user has no
rights to.
It's a more user-friendly version of sudo (which always
elevates to "root").
You can argue why making a task more user-friendly in an
obvious way (especially as there's no specificity whatsoever
in the claims as to how the "identification" of said
elevated users will be implemented) should (not) be
patentable, but at least it will not interfere with present
systems, correct?
__
magicmulder [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: designerfx on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:34 AM EST
I don't think disclosure is an excuse for why patents are good (see my comments
previous articles), but that was what the supremes said themselves.
I was trying to infer that it's not being fully disclosed, so if they are trying
to use that rationale as a reason *for* software patents, then their own reasons
don't even fit. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:37 AM EST
Or, at least, it will when Microsoft gets the patents written. :(
I notice in reading the patent (which I don't do often) that they are not
patenting the software, they're patenting the "media" that contains
the software. Is this common / relevant?
cpeterson, WINAL
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Steve Martin on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:43 AM EST
Oh, good grief! This concept goes back way past BSD, back to the mainframe days. (See, for example, the XDS Sigma 7 UTS Reference manual (1971), Appendix B, the listing for monitor error code 09, subcode 00: "The user privilege level was not high enough to allow issuing a direct device OPEN".) ---
"When I say something, I put my name next to it." -- Isaac Jaffe, "Sports Night" [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:44 AM EST
Perhaps the USPTO would like to apply for their own patent on stupidity. It would only be fitting as they seem to have cornered the market on that dubious commodity. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:58 AM EST
Why don't they go all out and patent micro code and RISC computers as well.
They were also innovations at the University of Buffalo.
Actually the academics have a word for this, its called plagiarism and the U of
B has a policy in regards to it. It will get you thrown out. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: complex_number on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 12:04 PM EST
Windows?
HeHe.
Seriously, I can't help see this as the next step in their grand plan to
eliminate Linux entirely. This is (IMHO) squarely targetted at Ubuntu as they
don't (OOTB) have a usable root account. Personally, sudo gets deleted on all my
Linux boxes right after installation. If I want to do stuff as root then I login
as root.
What's next?
Patent bash?
---
Ubuntu & 'apt-get' are not the answer to Life, The Universe & Everything which
is of course, "42"
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 12:35 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 12:57 PM EST
It may be a bad and dangerous patent, but it's not a patent on sudo, which has a
POSIX interface and not a GUI. There might be a problem for graphical dialogs
that authenticate a user to exercise root privileges, whether they use the sudo
mechanism or not. But tracing prior art on sudo itself is irrelevant. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: cxd on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 01:12 PM EST
I have the documents necessary for an ex parte re-examination of a patent
application. We can file this ourselves as a group. PJ if you would like to
contact me I would be glad to send you the forms and instruction sheet. I am
posting here because I think your spam filter is blocking my email.
cxd [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 01:20 PM EST
Obviously USPTO doesn't read Groklaw.
We tore this to shreds when the application went in :-( [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: ghopper on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 01:47 PM EST
This is business as usual for patents. I foresee the day when a creative lawyer
will sue the USPTO on behalf of all the programmers out there who have had their
inventions patented by other companies.
Don't say it can't happen. [ Reply to This | # ]
Software piracy - Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 05:31 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 01:48 PM EST
As ironic as it sounds, every time you support microsoft when it gets sue over a
patent, you support patents on software..
Until these companies have to pay so much money for software patents that their
shareholders start objecting, you will only ever see laws around software
patents getting stronger. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 02:20 PM EST
"...earliest sudo reference in the patent database Microsoft told the USPTO
about is 1997..."
What year did they decide that software could be patented? If you are looking
for prior art, you don't look in the patent data base, unless you are trying to
game the system. You look in software publications such as Spectrum and
publications of teh Association of Computing Machines. The system is broken,
broken, broken!!! [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 02:30 PM EST
Their SUDO has a help icon and a GUI! That makes it unique!
And if that's not enough, they can graft 4 knowledge bases to it, just like in
that other patent! [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 02:37 PM EST
Any computer that presents the user with a login or user authentication prompt
before running the command line shell or GUI desktop fits the description of
this patent.
User tries to access the computer (shell, GUI, whatever), gets presented with a
prompt to supply credentials and is allowed or denied to run the shell or GUI
based on those credentials.
So, when was the first login prompt?? Multix or so? [ Reply to This | # ]
How about Login? - Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, November 15 2009 @ 02:40 AM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 02:39 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 02:44 PM EST
Maybe someone can patent some of the basic DOS commands and then ask MS to pay
up. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 02:46 PM EST
"Etc. blah, blah. Dude. It's sudo. With a gui. Sudo for Dummies. That's
what it is."
Not exactly:
"...presenting a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface
having: multiple account regions, each account region identifying one of the
multiple accounts capable of permitting the task;..."
When I run Sudo, I have permissions to do things like
cd /
sudo rm -R *
Microsoft has a different security model. You would think that as
Administrator, Microsofts analogue for root, you would be able to do the same
thing. But Microsoft has such a convoluted security system with
"trusted" zones and so on, that ownership is not so clear. With
their dedication to digital restrictions management, that they needed a brand
new tool to be able to identify exactly which user can do what. "each
account region identifying one of the multiple accounts capable of permitting
the task" For example I'm willing to bet that there are some tasks that
can not be performed, unless you are remotely logged in from Microsoft's domain.
(Did you really think your machine was your own?)
This is a thing that would only have use on a Microsoft OS. So, if you are not
writing code to be run on a Microsoft OS, you probably don't have to worry about
it. And if you are writing code to run on a Microsoft OS, you have my deepest
sympathy. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Peter Baker on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:09 PM EST
Isn't there a way for going after the USPTO for causing harm
to the original authors by issueing a patent without the
search they're supposed to do?
At the rate they're making mistakes there should be justifiable cause for a
class action suit by now, and maybe
those that knowingly abuse the system despite prior art as
well.
Just musing about throwing a large handful of nuts into
those gears..
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: ThrPilgrim on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:13 PM EST
If Micosoft ever try to captalise on this Patent my I suggest the party receving
the letter from Microsofts lawers point them to the reply given by Private Eye
in Re: Arkell v Pressdram 1971
PS: If any one without knowledge of the case does look it up, be aware that it
contains strong language.
---
Beware of him who would deny you access to information for in his heart he
considers himself your master. [ Reply to This | # ]
Microsoft Patents Sudo?!! - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 04:34 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:19 PM EST
Is it me or does the "computer-readable media" strike a cord. I think that with the advent of OCR, virtually anything written on paper is "computer-readable media" which means that if I wrote a OCR to computer instructions conversion (a patent compiler) from reading the patent, the patent is itself patented. I thought that this was the realm of copyright in which case I would agree that anyone can write their own version of SUDO and have their copyright to it. I just don't see how "computer-readable media" ought to be relevant and why, for the sake of goodness, is the USPTO handing out patents to books. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Eeyore on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:25 PM EST
The Unix "su" command is the older equivalent of sudo. It was mentioned on page 174 of this 1979 Unix manual (and probably LONG before that).... [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: kattemann on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:33 PM EST
How about this gem, from the Technical Field - Background part of the document: But to elevate his or her rights to perform a task, the user will often need to find or remember an administrator account name. This may be disruptive; a user may need to call someone to figure out the name, find some scrap of paper somewhere on which the user wrote it down some time ago, and the like. You don't say. Security still isn't a concern, I see. Also, the user may need to type the name in. Typing a relatively simple account name may, on its own, be a disruption. But many account names are complex, having a mix of letters, numbers, symbols, and lower- and upper-case characters. These names may cause a further disruption because they may requite that the user type slowly and carefully. Thus, searching for and typing in an account name to elevate rights may disrupt the user's workflow on the computer, especially if the user needs to elevate his or her rights often throughout the day. Wow. The company I work for has tens of thousands of employees, yet generate 8-character user names based on initial and surname plus a number. Passwords, however, are required to have that sort of complexity. If they don't like work disruptions, let them fix their software so I never again have to wait TWO HOURS from turning on the PC until I can start working. Happened twice last month ... [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:44 PM EST
Part of the problem with examining software patents is that you can't just look
at a claim and say "that's stupid" or "that's obvious" - you
have to SHOW everything. So yes while Sudo has been around, this specific
implementation of sudo, with the graphical identifiers, etc. may not have been
done before.
When you're examining a patent, you have to find and show every nitty-gritty
little detail. We can use obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 to combine references,
but that doesn't help to reject something that hasn't been done before but is
nonetheless extremely stupid and/or obvious.
Unfortunately this means that patents can issue on more or less anything that's
'new'. Absent giving an Examiner the ability to make a judgment call that a
particular feature is stupid, obvious, or arbitrary, there is no way to put a
reasonable limit on what can be patented. Furthermore, even if we were allowed
to make such a judgment call, this would add a great deal of subjectivity to the
process. While it may result in less software being patented, it would make the
process of getting a patent even more of a joke than it is now. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: The Mad Hatter r on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 03:53 PM EST
PJ,
You stated in the article that this should show the USPTO that there is no value
in computer patents.
OK - here's a challenge. Tell me where the value is in any patent.
Now at this point I know you are going to say that you can read the patent to
learn how to build the invention. But if I'm an inventor, the last thing I'm
going to do is read a patent. If I do, it leaves me open to triple damages, at
least in the USA. So there's no value provided by disclosure. So what value is
there?
---
Wayne
http://crankyoldnutcase.blogspot.com/
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 04:26 PM EST
They list all these documents, that exist prior to the application date by
years, yet, they get a patent. Is it true anymore that you have to apply for the
patent within a year? I've seen nothing in this application that passes the
obviousness test. We have a tool that already exists to upping privileges to do
things, we have an existing system for presenting gui prompts to tasks
previously run from a command line.
How is adding a an old gui front end solution to an old command line function
non-obvious. Considering people have been adding gui front ends to console
preograms for decades?
Why is it there seems to be absolutely no organization of who reviews patents
related to computers. Should patents for computer software have like it's own
department within the PTO. Or at least train everyone on software. I sure hope
SCOTUS throws out all software patents, but I didn't get that warm and fuzzy
from the transcript.
If we must have software patents should we not at least get a PTO that knows
basic software history? Shouldn't there also be some kind of punishment for
companies that exclude pertinent prior art. There ought to be some serious
punishment for this.
Letting a company say they didn't know of the prior art should not be an excuse.
At least, not if the prior art is easy to find. I can certainly understand,
there will be cases of very obscure prior art. They obviously knew it was called
sudo in Linux and that Linux is a Unix like operating system. Therefore not
looking in Unix and not finding in Unix the equivalent prior art, using the same
name and going back even further than they mentioned, should be a felony crime.
There has to be some minimal measure of searching for prior art that one should
do, and if that level isn't reached, then there should be consequences. That
level should also be commensurate with the financial size of the company. That
is, a large company should have to incur an equivalent percentage of cost for
prior art search. This would help to balance the patent system, making it
comparatively as expensive for very large companies to innovate as it is for
small companies. A Sliding scale of prior art searching, with an established
minimum. With checks and balances to keep big companies from spinning off
research arms to do the dirty work of patents. So if some small company sells a
lot of patents to big companies, then they get their sliding scale jacked up
real high, even higher than an in-house research arm.
-- celtic_hackr [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 05:02 PM EST
Geez...even if Microsoft want to claim the GUI version
as "patentable", they need to talk to (at a minimum) the
folks over at Canonical. The very first version of Ubuntu
(4.10, released in October 2004) had a graphical sudo.
The USPTO make me sick. The US Supreme Court decision of
1989 that allowed this software-patentry nonsense makes me
sick (stupid, stupid decision). And if we allow software
patents in Europe, then we are equally stupid for it. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: globularity on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 05:10 PM EST
Interesting wording used in the patents, unless the legal definition of cause is
different to the regular one software instructs a computer it does not cause a
computer, whether or not the computer actually executes those instructions is
another matter. Letting lawyers get their hands on software is like wizards
performing chemistry or economists doing accounting.
---
Windows vista, a marriage between operating system and trojan horse. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 05:16 PM EST
Has anyone noticed that this may be an attempt at patenting the
implementation of Microsoft User Account Control? This is a similar
functionality
to sudo; however, there is no existing patent. There is only an existing GNU
license and much prior art and usage. Ergo, Microsoft should not be able to
proceed in asking for damages for prior use and continued use by prior
implementers of SUDO so long as the base remains the same; however, it does
open a portal of attack for future redevelopments of the linux kernel such as
Moblin, etc. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 05:19 PM EST
Arggh.
Isn't it also really just setuid, which WAS patented by Dennis Ritchie in 1972?
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 05:25 PM EST
Hello, I'm back again- me, the causal computer user with a working class
education. Not being a lawyer, I'm confused about all this patent stuff and
hoping somebody can tell me...if something like sudo can be patented, can new
elements that come out of academic atomic accelerators be patented? Can the way
the atoms were split be patented? Can an atomic accelerator, a combination and
collection of patented parts and subassemblies, be patented as a whole device?
Where is all this patent frenzy craziness going to lead and how far-fetched can
it get? A humble working stiff would like to know. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 06:04 PM EST
Wait: So we have prior art, right? DEFENDERS: SWITCH TO OFFENSE: They're using
"our" SUDO! :> [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 06:10 PM EST
Normally, I assume PJ has at least read the dcument .. but im guessing this time
she didn't.
Firstly I find the comment after the "history of sudo" .. about
"microsoft should have known that, I guess they didn't" odd .. because
they actually reference sudo in their patent.
Secondly, this patent is just so not about sudo, its about a graphical interface
for a start, sudo is command line. Its also about identifying and presenting
choices of suitably privileged user, sudo only pretends to be root ...and has no
mechanism for identifying which of a series fo user accounts could perform the
task .. so , I really don't get this "its just sudo" ..
they clearly cite the sudo documentation in the patent and this does soemting
quite quite different.
Thats said, software patents are still bad and wrong, lets hope re Bilski
despatches them all to the great bit bucket in the sky. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 06:12 PM EST
The claims quoted describe the program as providing a list
of user accounts that could be used to execute the
privledged task, as opposed to elevating the process to
superuser status. That's actually good thing, security
wise, because it helps to promote the user running that task
at the least-useable-privledge level for that task, instead
of automatic promotion to superuser status. Sudo and
the like don't do that.
I would like to call it an obvious or trivial modification
to sudo, but I have never thought of that particular
modification before, and I have never seen software that
does that yet (granted, my personal memory does not qualify
as an exhaustive search. Under the current patent regime, I
think those claims, at least by themselves qualify as a
novel, non-obvious improvement, and therefore patentable.
I hate to say it, but I don't think this patent can be assaulted on prior art.
On the other hand, it is a software
patent, which I think is the real problem. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: /Arthur on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 06:32 PM EST
priv is the same as the sudo command.
I have the habit of making note of the sources.
Back then you had to type everything from the magazine
and i found this on top of my source code
/*
* Priv Run a command as superuser
* By Ron Kuris, December 1988
* UnixWorld MAY 1989 Page 117
*/
So please don't tell me there are no published works on this subject. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 06:53 PM EST
You have no room to complain for the following reasons:
1.) The GNU/*NIX community knows MS is a patent troll.
2.) You know MS is out to get you.
3.) You have had tech out since 1979 that is open sourced, but not patented or
copyrighted.
Your argument sounds something like this:
1.) I live in a neighborhood filled with thieves.
2.) I saw some thieves casing my house.
3.) Hey, I will leave my front door open while I'm out, it will be great.
4.) Oh no, I've been robbed! How could this happen to me!
Here's the obvious question: Why hasn't someone in the GNU/Linux or Unix world
patented their stuff? Patent it, give it to a community trust of some sort, and
protect civilization from Microsoft. It doesn't take a genius. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 07:25 PM EST
I am a Patent Agent and I can tell you that it is NOT necessary for the
invention to be described in only the trade press. Even a conversation (that
can be documented) between two individuals can in some circumstances constitute
prior art. In any case sudo was certainly documented in some Unix manuals way,
way before MS documented what it "knew" about prior art.
There is also a requirement that the patentee swear that he/she has disclosed
all known prior art. To knowingly fail to do so is fraud on the Patent Office
and is a federal crime. But you have to show the patentee know about sudo and
failed to disclose it. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 07:33 PM EST
PolicyKit - Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 02:16 AM EST PolicyKit - Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 14 2009 @ 06:43 AM EST
- Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 02:16 AM EST
Authored by: rhdunn on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 08:32 PM EST
ChangeLog for gksu references an initial version on 2002-02-18. On a quick check, I could not find out the earliest version of kdesu. Not to mention the obviousness of having functionality available on the command line and creating a GUI version of it (next it'll be on the web -- sorry, "in the cloud" -- or whatever technologies are currently in fashion these days). [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 08:54 PM EST
This may be a silly patent but we have to learn what a patent is before getting
outraged. For a patent to be infringed you must do everything in the claim.
That means not only have sudo, but the gui and the specific elements of the gui.
They talk about more than a normal gui. To infringe you have to have to show
the user what other users have the priveledge to do that you want to do and they
have to rank order them in some way using the characteristcs suggested in the
patent. There are more things you have to be doing all at once before you are
in any danger from this thing.
Rather than being a really dangerous one that affects all sorts of systems, I'm
surprised they wasted the money on the patent because it's really hard to write
something that they could go after -- and even after reading the claims it's not
clear why you'd bother to do what they are protecting. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 09:31 PM EST
Well, it's really sad that the USPTO allowed this, because there are existing
methods much more
similar to this patent than simple sudo. The most prominent is the
authorization framework in Mac
OS X, used by applications that rely on Desktop Services for authorization.
In a similar way, it can
prompt the session user to supply (or have supplied) the credentials of a user
who is a member of
another group, having elevated privileges.
However, there are some subtleties to this patent that make it kind of
unique. First off, it looks like
Microsoft is devising a way of presenting the session user with a list of
"other
eligible accounts"
based on some sort of proximity calculation to the session user. Perhaps
this would mean listing
local administrators first, above administrators defined in a directory
domain.
Who knows, really, because of the broad nature of software patents. They're
a perfect example of
inverse-inductive reasoning, going from the specific implementation to a
generally-worded "catch
all" patent. In some respects, I understand why the patents are written in
this way, but it's a short-
lived logic at best.
I know that we'll toss software patents one day, and innovation will be the
better for it. What's more,
it's really well-established that sudo predates this patent, so any
interpretation of the patent that
would include sudo's functions would be considered "prior art." So
this really
just boils down to
some subtleties in Microsoft's implementation, and that's all that it could
protect. Still, given the
expense of maintaining a patent like this, I'd think that Microsoft would be
better off funneling that
money into its own R&D efforts instead. [ Reply to This | # ]
Microsoft Patents Sudo?!! - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 03:26 PM EST
Authored by: Kevin Snodgrass on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 09:32 PM EST
Google? This is Microsoft, try bing! Bet you get different results there...
No, I'm not going to try it, I have useful things to do...
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:02 PM EST
could people please read up on sudo before they make a comment.
this patent is already done in sudo and gksudo.
there is nothing new about this patent and there is plenty of prior art.
even if this was only about a sudo gui that you can choose a user to run the
command as look no further than gksudo. has been around for a while now.
so please this is not unique and it is still all about sudo. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:33 PM EST
Seriously, is this only obvious to me?
The patent was applied for in 2005.
While Microsoft was working on Vista.
Which has UAC.
Which is exactly what is described in this patent. Hmm.
Yes, software patents suck, and this is definitely one they
should have rejected, but if you're trying to spin this into
some kind of Microsoft conspiracy theory, you're way off the
deep end. [ Reply to This | # ]
Why they did this - Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 14 2009 @ 04:19 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 10:59 PM EST
Whenever M$ sues anyone for violation of their patent, that person should sue
the USPTO for the damages. It would teach the USPTO to be a little bit more
careful in future. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: hAckz0r on Wednesday, November 11 2009 @ 11:01 PM EST
There have been many implementations of SUDO.EXE on the Windows platform over the years, but Microsoft has always made this capability difficult. Other than Cygwin which I played with many years ago, some of the more recent links I can give are at ucalgary.ca © 2005-2008 Nathan Friess. All rights reserved. and huddledmasses.org and sourceforge.net 2007 and blueshiftlabs and suDown GPL to name just a few. It seems that the solution for the need of "Administrator privilege" was "invented" about the same time that Microsoft figured out just what a "user" was, or why you should even recognize one from another. ---
DRM - As a "solution", it solves the wrong problem; As a "technology" its only 'logically' infeasible. [ Reply to This | # ]
SUDO.exe - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 12:16 AM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 12:26 AM EST
From the patent front page:
"""
Other References
Andy Rathbone, "Windows XP for Dummies", 2001, Wiley Publishing Inc.,
pp.
62-64, 66, 106-107, 128 and 314. cited by examiner .
"""
This is kind of reflective of the depth of literature review that examiners
perform. [ Reply to This | # ]
Other References - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 06:16 AM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 12:31 AM EST
Full Disclosure: I am an inventor on 5 issued US patents and many additional
filings. I don't work for Microsoft. I run FreeBSD at work.
[1] This Microsoft Patent fully discloses sudo(1) in the reference section thus
I question whether the poster of the story (and most of the replies) has any
real clue at all about how to read patents in general (much less software
patents).
[2] sudo(1) takes a command line argument of a command to execute after
gaining privs; the Microsoft claim 1 has a limitation that explicitly states
that the command was attempted and failed before (effectively doing the
steps of sudo).
[3] Better prior art to cite against this patent: The FreeBSD ports system when
used "portupgrade -s". In this mode, sudo is executed for commands
that fail under the user privs that make(1) was run.
I guess "Microsoft Patents Sudo?!!" is a better title to inflame linux
users than
"Microsoft Patents something that, in their option, enhances sudo".
Groklaw, we expect better analysis from you.
Regards,
Anonymous [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 12:33 AM EST
They actually have more there than sudo with a gui. Their innovation is to allow users (or attackers) to see who has the privilege they need. Their innovation is an invitation to social engineering attacks as I mentioned here. Perhaps this would be a quick and easy to invalidate it, since the only innovation is to make it less secure? [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 12:56 AM EST
just how many trolls and M$ shills have come out of the woodwork on this one.
And they're so easy to spot, but I'm not sure if that's because they're a lower
caliber than usual or if I'm just getting better at spotting them.
(Hint: If you think I might be talking about you, I probably am.) [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 02:09 AM EST
$ patent sudo
-bash: patent: command not found
$ sudo patent sudo
$ [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 02:33 AM EST
Have you seen this?
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&am
p;u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=6&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&am
p;d=PTXT&s1=6,775,781&OS=6,775,781&RS=6,775,781
A very old patent on sudo. Heise (a German publisher) announced it, too:
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Microsoft-bekommt-sudo-Patent-zugeteilt-1
01653.html
Don't get the difference in there... [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 04:26 AM EST
Can somebody please tell me how a company can patent something that has been in
the public domain for 30 years? Am I missing something, here? [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 04:30 AM EST
Sudo is a command line-tool, but can be used through GUI too like it's been
stated regarding gksu/kdesu. sudo isn't all tied to elevate privilege up to
root, from "man sudo" :
"sudo allows a permitted user to execute a command as the superuser or
another user"
I use this feature everyday though the sudoers file.
Then there is Policykit, it has a GUI, and provides highly fine grained
privilege elevation.
http://hal.freedesktop.org/docs/PolicyKit/
Interestingly the documentation starts with a "History and prior art"
section.
Microsoft is evil. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 05:30 AM EST
If you're familiar with the sudoers mechanism (see the man page for sudoers), and read the patent, what Microsoft describes is not quite as good as sudo. The intent is the same, but the Microsoft mechanism is messier. Especially, administration of the scheme is not as well thought out. There are references to the sudoers documentation in the patent, and they certainly constitute prior art that should have invalidated the patent. We can only assume that the patent examiner either didn't read them or didn't understand them. The text of the patent does not seem to discuss them, which surprised me, because patents normally include a section describing the "prior art". [ Reply to This | # ]
Haven't you heard? - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 04:20 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 06:46 AM EST
Authored by: sciamiko on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 07:09 AM EST
Reading through the comments, it occurs to me that the difference in views is almost entirely due to the misunderstanding on the part of the proponents for this patent of how software is envisaged by the writer of it. It's all about abstraction, just as PoIR has eloquently described. When a developer is considering how to solve a problem, he is thinking in very abstract terms, which he then maps onto whatever the available material is under the constraints the task places on him. Whether the interface is command line, GUI, keyboard, or mouse, is largely irrelevant to the solution technique he will adopt - that is just trivia to be added in to finish the job off (but trivia that may take a long time to implement and debug, though). In a similar manner, whether it will be written in Lisp, C++, or Python is akin to selecting the tools to use. An analogy might be with a cabinetmaker asked to make a chair. He will consider the wood available (equivalent to the OS), and any flaws in it (other environmental constraints), and design the joints appropriately (choosing the algorithm); he will use the appropriate tools (selecting the language), and he will supply upholstery according to the users requirements (putting on a GUI, or whatever). But to the joiner, it is the same job in abstraction - making a chair - and that is exactly the way a programmer looks at a problem. That's why we see these patents as stupid and obvious. The task here is to allow a user to change their privileges, not the exact details of how its done. s. ---
The road to wisdom? -- Well, it's plain and simple to express:
Err and err and err again but less and less and less.
(Piet Hein, Grooks) [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 07:39 AM EST
Even if you can sudo to another user than root, it still
requires you to tell sudo which user you want to elevate to.
The patent covers a method which automatically (!) suggests
users to elevate to.
It neither covers plain sudo (where you explicitly give the
user to elevate to) nor versions where you put a list of
candidates into a file.
So please stop pounding on my oversight that sudo isn't
limited to root elevation and get to the point I'm trying to
actually make. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 07:44 AM EST
Also check this, back on 2004:
"Administrative security systems and methods"
http://tinyurl.com/36mlpv
Seems that have the same meaning.
TaQ [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 09:50 AM EST
If this were hardware my understanding is that if you add something to, or
change something about something that already exists, your patent would only
apply to the part that you changed. Since Microsoft brilliantly added a GUI to
sudo, and since that took so much ingenuity, and must have taken a significant
financial commitment to achieve, the patent is surely warranted.
I know that if I financed the thousands of man hours which must have been
involved in even just the planning stage required to achieve a monumental leap
forward such as this, I would be wanting to protect my investment too.
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 11:06 AM EST
In the old days, circa 1989-1992, there was a Convex command called "op". Convex Computer Corporation had a BSD version of UNIX called Convex UNIX, later called ConvexOS. The good thing about "op", compared to sudo, was that each user could be given extremely granular elevated system rights; for example, a user could be allowed to run only a specific command or commands as root, and only with specific command line arguments in a certain order. There is apparently a GNU/Linux version of op, but this was all I could find in a quick Google search: http://linux.die.net/man/1/op [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Hop on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 11:13 AM EST
Microsoft just plays the patent game like everyone else. It goes something like
this.
You patent everything you do. Don't even bother with a prior art search. At
best, you do a superficial search for prior art. The USPTO rubber stamps
approval of the application. They don't bother with prior art either because
they figure that if there is prior art and someone cares, it will eventually be
settled in court. They also don't care because they are fighting a losing battle
on trying to process a mountain of new patents from those abusing the patent
system, like Microsoft. The huge backlog of patents was created because the
USPTO became lax with what they allowed through in the first place.
Unfortunately it creates a system where only deep pockets can defend or get
patents revoked. Few can afford the money to fight on either side of a patent
dispute so deep pockets almost always win. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 11:20 AM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 12:34 PM EST
By patenting this, they protect THEMSELVES from being sued for
patent violation, and also reserve the patentable material;
thus protecting anyone else from being sued unless THEY do the
suing. In the past, Microsoft has never sued anyone for
anything but direct infringement. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 01:23 PM EST
What if the patent office were to allow all of us to contribute prior art information before they approved patents like this?? Crows Source the Patent Approval Process [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 01:27 PM EST
For what it's worth, here's Todd Miller's (current sudo maintainer) response to
this news as of this morning. Link to the sudo-users's mailing list archive:
http://www.sudo.ws/pipermail/sudo-users/2009-November/004228.html
Apologies for the double post.
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: egan on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 01:34 PM EST
Did you get my email, PJ?
(Please delete after reading.)
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 01:46 PM EST
if you're bored, consider filing an ex parte reexam:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reexamination
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/2200.htm
an ex parte reexam allows members of the public to submit arguments and prior
art references indicating why the issued patent is invalid. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 02:11 PM EST
I don't know why everyone beats up on Microsoft. They make great software and
very reliable servers. Their products are easy to use and based on industry
standards. [ Reply to This | # ]
Oh, humor... - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 02:53 PM EST
- Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 02:53 PM EST LOL.... n/t - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 03:41 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 03:42 PM EST
I think you miss the entire point! Just patent the process of patenting and you
own the universe! No, wait? Is there prior art? [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 04:16 PM EST
because so many of the In Re Bilski amicus briefs in Bilski warned of financial devastation and decreased innovation if the US Supreme Court limits what is patentable, I wanted to highlight a research study that seems to demonstrate the opposite. There are several studies by economists that question the value of patents. For example, an article in the Economist (free registration required to read it) points out: THE DIRTY little secret about American patents is that they are too easy to file, too easy to defend, and too easy to use for nobbling legitimate competition. The patents exploited last year to extract $612m from Research in Motion, the maker of the BlackBerry e-mail gizmo, would have barely passed muster in another country. Nor would Vonage, the internet-telephony pioneer, have had to cough up $58m recently for infringing three unbelievably broad patents if they had been filed in Europe or Japan instead of America.
Patent law exists to encourage inventors by granting a monopoly for a limited period (now 20 years) in exchange for publishing their work so others can see how it affects their own innovations. Implicit in the deal is a trade-off between private incentive and public good.
Of late, the balance in America has been tipped too much in the patent-holders favour. In the process, American consumers have paid dearly through their loss of choice. The countrys competitiveness has also suffered,... [ Reply to This | # ]
Sudo patent - Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 04:45 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 05:22 PM EST
Authored by: Anonymous on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 09:59 PM EST
You are barking at the wrong tree. Bad mouth the seller of Sudo for selling to
Microsoft. Not mad mouth Microsoft because they had a brain to buy the patent to
kill off the competition or make more money. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: argee on Thursday, November 12 2009 @ 10:38 PM EST
Folks, its a brand-new program because
IT RUNS ON WINDOWS !!!!!
True innovation at work.
$ sudo su-
# vomit
Microsoft Corporation (tm)
#
---
--
argee [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 02:56 AM EST
By patenting every little step they take it makes it harder for others to
follow. Not that FOSS folk want to follow MS, but the software can evolve in the
same direction. By littering the playing field with booby traps and land mines
Microsoft is able to discourage others from developing software in competing
areas.
The spirit of the patent system is to provide some security for those
who invest money and take risks innovating. This isnt an invention; this is
taking the two well known concepts of user level elevation, and graphical
interfaces, and combining them. Can two pre existing inventions when combined in
a common way, however in a situation in which it has not been applied before,
claim to have invented something novel?
Software, like books is served well by
the copyright system. Instructions are written and the computer carries them
out. A traditional author writes instructions in a technical manual and a person
carries them out. Does the fact that I read ORiellys DNS and BIND turn me
into a special purpose human - as arguments have suggested software does to
computers in the Bilski case? We all know I cant patent my moms recipe for
orange sponge muffins, even if for a short while the instructions do turn me
into a special purpose sponge muffin factory (of the highest calibre).
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 07:24 AM EST
Perhaps the USPTO are themselves victims of MS :) [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 10:17 AM EST
Another attempt by microsoft to steal an idea. Remeber how they began...
Hopefully our supreme courts will examine the facts and also I believe that the
patent should be revoked. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 01:52 PM EST
[bsmith@uspto bin] $ chown microsoft:microsoft sudo
chown: changing ownership of 'sudo': Operation not permitted [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Friday, November 13 2009 @ 05:48 PM EST
I'm not an attorney, and I'm not used to stretching language in bizarre
twists. However, reading that patent, I see a particular configuration
described. In particular - the opening phrase, "computer-readable
media".
To me, I'm basically reading this as...a USB key. So, normally a user
can't perform some task - but upon inserting this special media the user
either performs the task or sees a GUI prompt.
However, this also reads like a smart card reader, finger print reader, or
other accessories for user validation.
While it can certainly be twisted in other ways - my view is this is far
less a battle for GNU sudo than it is for any of the hardware
authentication manufacturers. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 14 2009 @ 10:10 PM EST
To begain, I do think software patents should be stopped, and hope the court does that, additionally there may be solid prior art on this, but sudo (or even su) are not it. that said let's figure out what all this gobblygook actually says! The invention claimed is: 1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions therein that, when executed by a computing device, It has to be a program on disk, tape, etc. cause the computing device to present a user interface in response to a task being prohibited based on a user's current account not having a right to permit the task, This is important! "In response to a task being prohibited" that means it ONLY presents the interface when you try to preform the action which is above your privilage level. sudo does not make that distinction. Also this does it automaticly, I have to preemptively think to use sudo. "rm /etc/passwd" does not automaticly activate sudo for me (it would for somthing which violates this patant). the user interface comprising: information indicating the task and an entity that attempted the task; a selectable help graphic wherein responsive to receiving selection of the selectable help graphic, It has a GUI with help. ho-hum. not really important. This alone would not be obvious. the computer-readable instructions further cause the computing device to present the information; identifiers, each of the identifiers identifying other accounts having a right to permit the task, sudo does NOT do this, identifing the users with permission to preform a task and providing that infomration to an attacker seems to be a requirement of this patent. I have no idea why they would do that, but maybe I should thank them for preventing anyone else from trying something so silly! wherein the identifiers presented are based on criteria comprising: frequency of use; association with the user; and indication of sufficient but not unlimited rights; Generally sudo is used to change to the super-user, although other accounts can be used. Frankly this really looks alot more like Solaris' Role-Based Access Controls then Linux's security model. one of the identifiers identifies a higher-rights account having a right to permit the task, wherein the one of the identifiers comprises: a graphic identifying the higher-rights accounts associated with the user; and a name of the higher-rights account; So it has a selector box for users, this has been done in some configurations of GDM, but I haven't seen it in a privalage escalation dialog, but because of the usage for logins, I wouldn't consider this "novel." an authenticator region capable of receiving, from the user, an authenticator usable to authenticate the higher-rights account having the right to permit the task, wherein: the authenticator comprises a password, and the authenticator region comprises a data-entry field configured to receive the password. OK, so we have a password box, nothing novel there. 2. One or more computer-readable media having computer-readable instructions therein that, when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform acts comprising: determining multiple accounts capable of permitting a task not permitted by an account of a current user wherein the determining is based on criteria comprising: frequency of use; association with the current user; and indication of sufficient but not unlimited rights; receiving indicators for the multiple accounts capable of permitting the task; presenting a graphical user interface, the graphical user interface having: multiple account regions, each account region identifying one of the multiple accounts capable of permitting the task; an authenticator region capable of receiving an authenticator for one of the multiple accounts capable of permitting the task; receiving, through the graphical user interface, the authenticator for one of the multiple accounts capable of permitting the task; and responsive to receiving the authenticator for one of the accounts capable of permitting the task, packaging, into a computer-readable package, the received authenticator and the account capable of permitting the task associated with the authenticator, the package effective to enable authentication of the account capable of permitting the task. AFAICT this just says "the above program has to run the requested commands with the choosen privilages." They seem to be quite careful to have the same limitations on what it applies to though. (again important) So because it is in responce to an attempt to use a restricted privilage, rather then used by the user in anticipation of needing elevated privilages, and it identifies all users with elevated privilages, I can only conclude that it is differnt enough from sudo that sudo is not grounds for it being denied (although there may be other things which are). Oninoshiko. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, November 14 2009 @ 10:25 PM EST
I keep saying this again and again, but apparently it bears repeating:
Intellectual Property = slavery of the mind
Now, if you don't mind the thought of being born into a world of the mentally
enslaved then feel free to ignore this. I'm obviously just an open-minded freak
who should be labeled "insane" and ignored.
If you live by and approve of this dishonest way of thinking, don't be surprised
when you are severely punished for it. [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: kawabago on Sunday, November 15 2009 @ 04:15 AM EST
The patent is on a graphical system that provides a list of identities that have
the needed permissions. In other words, Microsoft has patented giving an
attacker a list of excellent targets.
Yeah, I'm gonna license that technology!
[ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, November 15 2009 @ 07:57 PM EST
I mean, can we research the histories of the "inventors"
and if it is patently (sorry) obvious, they must have known
of sudo, can we not charge them with attempting to obtain
money under false pretences? Or something? Do we have to
wait for the inevitable patent war spat? [ Reply to This | # ]
Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, November 16 2009 @ 09:56 AM EST |
Stand-up comedy specials are no joke at Netflix.
The streaming service has been binge-buying these programs in recent months featuring the biggest names in the genre. Tuesday’s deal with Jerry Seinfeld, which also includes rights to his “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” series, comes on the heels of similar deals struck with Amy Schumer, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle.
Given the voracious appetite for original content Netflix has clearly signaled to the marketplace coming out of 2016, these pacts may not seem like a newsflash. But given estimates in circulation that peg the cost of each special in the neighborhood for $20 million each, the multiple specials all but Schumer have signed on for indicate Netflix is prepared to spend at least a few hundred million dollars on this genre.
In the scheme of the $6 billion Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos has pledged to spend on over 1,000 hours of original content this year, that may still be chump change. But to see a significant fraction of those funds get funneled into stand-up comedy specials is probably something few expected.
On Netflix’s fourth-quarter conference call Wednesday, Sarandos identified stand-up as a key focus of his. “That’s a category we took from kind of cheap, second-window programming to something that really becomes an event and a subscriber-acquisition driver for Netflix,” he explained.
Related Sandra Bullock Moms Who See 'Bird Box' Will Think: 'That River Is My Journey as a Parent' TV Roundup: Amy Schumer Stand Up Special 'Growing' Drops First Trailer (Watch)
But stand-up comedy has not exactly been a core competency for any other network, linear or streaming, for quite some time. Comedy Central has obviously made stand-up a part of its own programming lineup, but doesn’t really get A-list names. HBO has always kept an oar in these waters, as its deal with Schumer last year would indicate, but has hardly been a big priority among the series, movies and sports offerings that get far more promotion. It’s rare to see the ratings even reported for this type of program.
Of all the markets to corner, why this one?
It’s tempting to conclude that Netflix, ever conscious of its rivalry with HBO, is spending lavishly on stand-up comedy for no other reason than to throw it in the Time Warner property’s face.
Or it’s possible that Netflix is zagging where everyone else in the TV business seems to have zigged, invading white space largely ignored or de-prioritized by the competition. That zag may also be prompted by user data that’s telling Netflix something you wouldn’t necessarily intuit from the fallow field that stand-up comedy is on TV today: these specials may attract bigger audiences in the long-tail world of an on-demand streaming service than they do for linear networks, which tend to repeat these kind of specials as well.
The underestimation of stand-up specials would also be counterintuitive in its value to Netflix because of the global nature of the platform. The highly verbal nature of stand-up humor, which American comedians tends to ground in observations of behavior confined to this continent, isn’t necessarily going to fly in other countries. A Seinfeld or a Chappelle isn’t necessarily going to have as high a Q score in Pretoria as they do in Peoria.
Maybe Netflix just enjoys the headlines that come with landing comedy’s hottest talent, even if it’s a loss leader. There’s something to be said for thoroughly dominating a kind of content by securing the services of three bona fide comedy legends in Seinfeld, Rock and Chappelle, while Schumer–arguably the buzziest comedian of 2016–seems well on her way toward achieving legend status.
It’s also entirely possible that Netflix data doesn’t support such an aggressive pursuit of stand-up comedy; we’ll never know for sure as long as that measurement isn’t made public. But the company certainly has plenty of history in this genre given the rising tide of stand-up specials that have been in Netflix queues going back years with not-quite A-list talent like Kathleen Madigan, John Mulaney and Cedric the Entertainer.
Still, not disclosing ratings doesn’t matter much when the spending does all the talking. |
'Real Time' host Bill Maher rips Donald Trump on May 6, 2016. (HBO)
Bill Maher ended Friday’s episode of Real Time by once again mocking Donald Trump’s masculinity, arguing that the stereotypes about 1950s housewives really do apply to the Republican candidate.
“Never forget, Lady Trump, that Hillary Clinton was born a woman,” he said. “But you chose to live your life as a whiny little b*tch. Which is why, if Hillary is the Democratic nominee, I’ll be voting for the only one who has balls.”
Maher recalled that the real estate mogul once sued him for “challenging” him to prove he was not the son of an orangutan in response to Trump’s “birther” rhetoric concerning President Barack Obama.
“I sure hope this ‘man’ gets elected so the world respects us again,” Maher said sarcastically, adding, “He makes Lindsey Graham look like Vin Diesel. This isn’t presidential — it’s Glenn Close boiling the rabbit.”
And like a “daffy” housewife of the ’50s, the host said, Trump can’t balance a checkbook.
“Trump Airlines, Trump Casinos, Trump University, Trump Steaks. He’s got the Midas touch — if every time Midas touched something it exploded,” Maher said.
Watch Maher’s commentary, as posted online on Friday, below. |
District Judge James Robart. Screengrab from NBC News
It’s over—for now. On Friday night, U.S. District Judge James Robart blocked the entirety of Donald Trump’s de facto Muslim ban from taking effect. His extraordinary ruling, which applies nationwide, froze all relevant provisions of the executive order, finding a substantial likelihood that the plaintiff will ultimately prevail in challenging the legality of the ban. That plaintiff was Washington state, which obtained standing to sue by demonstrating that the order would harm the state’s interests and residents. Just two weeks into Trump’s presidency, a progressive state has already succeeded in thwarting—at least temporarily—a huge part of his cruelest agenda.
Why did Robart rule so broadly? In his time on the bench, Robart has demonstrated a deep commitment to facts—the real ones, not the alternative ones—and the impact of the law on actual lives. A George W. Bush appointee, his jurisprudence shows no obvious partisanship, and his evenhanded courtroom demeanor suggests a commitment to fairness and impartiality. Before Friday, Robart was best known for overseeing a consent decree between the Justice Department and Seattle. This process reached a stalemate in 2016, when the Seattle police union rejected a proposed contract on the grounds that it didn’t reward officers with enough benefits in exchange for complying with the Constitution. Robart put negotiations back on track by sternly censuring the police union.
“The court and the citizens of Seattle will not be held hostage for increased payments and benefits,” Robart said at a hearing. “I’m sure the entire city of Seattle would march behind me.” He then noted that, nationwide, blacks represent 41 percent of police shooting victims, but only 20 percent of the overall population. From the bench, Robart declared: “Black lives matter.”
Robart issued no such dramatic proclamations at Friday’s hearing. His questioning was calm but vigorous and persistent. He asked Washington State Solicitor General Noah Purcell how the executive order could discriminate against Muslims when, on its face, it makes no mention of a particular religion. But he also asked Justice Department attorney Michelle Bennett how the order was rationally related to its stated goals. How many citizens of the seven Muslim-majority countries targeted by the ban, he asked Bennett, had been arrested on domestic terrorism charges since 9/11? She said she didn’t know—but he did. The answer, he said, was zero.
“You’re here arguing on behalf of someone who says we have to protect the U.S. from these individuals coming from these countries,” Robart said, “and there’s no support for that.”
When Robart issued his ruling, he took care to reiterate his commitment to both judicial restraint and independence. “Fundamental to the work of this court is a vigilant recognition that it is but one of three equal branches of our federal government,” he wrote.
The work of the court is not to create policy or judge the Wisdom of any particular policy promoted by the other two branches. That is the work of the legislative and executive branches and of the citizens of this country who ultimately exercise democratic control over those branches. The work of the Judiciary, and this court, is limited to ensuring that the actions taken by the other two branches comport with our country’s laws, and more importantly, our Constitution. …
[T]he court is mindful of the considerable impact its order may have on the parties before it, the executive branch of our government, and the country’s citizens and residents. The court concludes that the circumstances brought before it today are such that it must intervene to fulfill its constitutional role in our tripart government.
Robart’s order did not elaborate extensively on the ban’s constitutional infirmities. But in ruling for Washington—and in blocking the entirety of the ban—he appeared to agree with the state’s claim that Trump’s executive order cannot be carried out in a constitutional manner. That’s critically important. Most other judges to consider the ban so far have found that it violates the due-process rights of immigrants already in the United States and those who were on their way into the country when the order was signed. Robart went far beyond that rather narrow question of law, finding that the entire order is likely unconstitutional, presumably because it is irrational and motivated by unlawful anti-Muslim animus.
That decision marks a huge step forward in the ongoing litigation over the executive order. Robart recognized that it is not just the ban’s immediate application to immigrants in transit that violates the Constitution; it is the ban as a whole. Even if the administration were to somehow execute the ban in a way that respects its targets’ due-process rights, it would still run afoul of basic equal protection and First Amendment principles. Simply put, there is no constitutional way to implement an unconstitutional order. That is the upshot of Robart’s ruling. And it is the argument that civil-liberties advocates must make as they continue to clobber the ban in court.
Read more in Slate about the Muslim travel ban. |
HOLLYWOOD — Frankie Shaw tugged at her nubby wool sweater as she dashed across the lot of Sunset Gower Studios. It was nearly 80 degrees in Los Angeles in mid-October, but she was dressed for a winter day in Boston — the setting of “SMILF,” Showtime’s new dark-humored series about a young single mother.
Not only does the 35-year-old Ms. Shaw star in “SMILF,” but she also serves as the showrunner, a writer and an occasional director and editor. These responsibilities require extreme multitasking. Grabbing lunch while conducting an interview, Ms. Shaw was handed a note informing her that the next scene was shooting in 20 minutes. But she had to get her hair and makeup done, a 40-minute process. She stared at the note dumbfounded, as if trying to figure out how to circumvent the laws of physics.
After five years of struggle to get “SMILF” made, Ms. Shaw doesn’t mind hustling a little more. Loosely based on her own life, the series follows Bridgette Bird, a working-class, 20-something actress raising a toddler in a cramped South Boston apartment. Bridgette is a ball of confusion and desire, craving sex and food and love and basketball with ravenous intensity — all while trying to pay the bills.
[Review: ‘SMILF’ Tallies the Costs of Motherhood]
A fan of the abrasively realistic depiction of motherhood on “Roseanne,” Ms. Shaw was determined to create a vision of modern parenting that resembled her own ramshackle experience. In the first episode, Bridgette interrogates her gynecologist about the state of her vagina, leaves her toddler alone while she runs to the corner store for junk food and tries to have sex with an ex-boyfriend while her son silently snoozes beside them. The guy flees when he notices a tiny foot stirring under the blankets. |
Björk's experimental music and album releases are known for their forays into new technology, with her 2016 world tour letting fans visit her home of Iceland through VR headsets set to her music. Her latest album Utopia is no exception, and those who purchase the record will receive cryptocurrency in the form of 100 Audiocoins (with a value of about $0.19), according to MusicAlly. Audiocoins are a two year old cryptocurrency aimed at the music industry.
London-based Blockpool is facilitating the offer, and will provide the 100 coins along with an e-wallet. Users can then sell the coins or trade them back into Bitcoin or another currency. Fans can also use four different types of cryptocurrencies to buy her album including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, and Audiocoin. “While it will be interesting to see how the crypto community responds to this, Utopia is also a gateway for people to go into crypto for the first time,” Blockpool CEO Kevin Bacon told MusicAlly. Fans can also earn more Audiocoins by interacting with Björk content online, sharing links on social networks, and attending her shows.
Cryptocurrency is currently all the rage among celebrities. So much so that the US Securities and Exchange Commission issued a warning last week about celebrity endorsements of Initial Coin Offerings without proper disclosure. |
Spanish Citizen Sentenced To Jail For Creating 'Unhealthy Humoristic Environment'
from the first-they-came-for-the-punchlines... dept
Spain is perfecting regulation no one asked for. The country's government is in the business of determining which jokes are funny… and which punchlines should be greeted with criminal charges.
A few years ago, jokes of the "too soon" variety were met with calls for social media censorship. The assassination of a member of the People's Party was met with the usual interactions: a mix of genuine condolences and mockery. The assassinated official wasn't universally loved, having voted herself a 13% pay raise while simultaneously supporting a 12% budget cut to programs she didn't care for.
Some social media reactions were terrible. Reactions from government officials were even worse. One official said social media users shouldn't be allowed to denigrate others. Another vowed to "clean up undesirable social media."
Flash-forward three years and a Spanish citizen is again dealing with government regulation of social media, as well as its idea of what is or isn't proper discourse. And, oddly enough, another assassination of a political figure is at the center of it, albeit one where adverse comments and jokes could not possibly be of the "too soon" variety. (via Reason)
When she posted jokes on Twitter about a 1973 assassination committed by Spain's Basque separatist group ETA, Cassandra Vera never for one moment thought they would land her a one-year jail sentence. But last month, one of Spain's top criminal courts found the 21-year-old guilty of "justifying terrorism" and humiliating its victims - the latest in a series of such convictions for social media pranks that has the country divided, and partisans of free speech worried. They ruined my life," Vera tweeted about the 13 posts about the 1973 murder of Luis Carrero Blanco, the prime minister and heir-apparent of dictator Francisco Franco who was killed in an ETA bomb attack that sent his car hurtling into the air.
Whether or not the jokes could be considered funny is up to the reader. But Spain's government -- using its terrorism concerns to increase its control of its citizens -- feels that tweets like Vera's should be held to a different standard. The government will let Spaniards know what's funny… after the fact. And, possibly, after sentencing.
The National Court's sentencing comments made it very clear it found Vera's blend of assassination imagery and space program mockery to be criminally unfunny.
The National Court that sentenced her, which specialises in terrorism cases, ruled that her jokes did not form part of a "healthy humoristic environment" and that her attitude was "disrespectful" and "humiliating."
There's nothing more devoid of humor than a government-ordained "healthy humoristic environment." Vera has been sentenced to a one-year prison term for failing to make the court laugh. She won't serve any actual jail time, which is a plus, but will find it much more difficult to move forward with her studies, as the criminal record prevents her from obtaining a scholarship.
Even the assassination victim's granddaughter thinks this sentence from the National Court goes too far. She sent a letter to El Pais, the most-read paper in Spain, stating she was dismayed Spanish social interaction had been reduced by the government to the point where free speech leads to jail sentences.
Not that her protest of Vera's sentencing is likely to change anything. The Spanish government has embraced the host of new powers it granted itself in response to terrorist attacks and widespread economic protests. The Spanish government is in the humor policing business -- which is quite fitting, considering its humorless police forces are in the business of shutting down any other non-joking speech the government doesn't like.
Filed Under: cassandra vera, free speech, jokes, social media, spain |
by Ted Swanson on August 30, 2014
A pact can be broken, but so can a contract. The pact is, in a certain sense, unofficial, whereas the contract is “official.” However, nature does not operate according to a standard of official/unofficial conduct. What is a contract but a formalistic pact?
The pact is to the contract what the laws of nature are to man-made legal law. The law of nature is more powerful and authoritative than man-made legal law, so too is the pact greater than the contract. How?
Power and authority are maximally effective when they remain potential, not when they are enacted directly. The threat of violence is more effective than actual violence. A threatening look is more potent than jumping up and down and screaming. At that point one looks ridiculous and impotent.
Imagine two machines. They both result in the same function. However, one machine does less for the same result. Which is the more efficient machine?
The contract violates the first law of power and efficiency by adding caveats rather than subtracting excess. Authority is enacted too directly. The contract assumes, if not for the contract, the members entering the contract will inevitably screw each other. Right from the get-go there is implicit distrust and suspicion.
The pact operates on the basis of belief and trust. Belief and trust are more powerful than skepticism and doubt. Skepticism and doubt adds caveats. Belief and trust streamlines. Power is a result of streamlining.
The pact is more truthful about reality insofar as it is honest that if a person is set on screwing you, they will do so regardless of a contract, or they will find a way around it through sophistry. There is no such formality in the pact. It requires the leap of faith.
Businesses and companies use contracts but posses and tribes use pacts. How is authority and power maintained in a posse or tribe without a contract? It is regulated through ceremony, initiation, and threat.
Take the mafia. Here you have an entirely separate world and social system that operates outside the law. Because of this, it has no real recourse with regard to contracts. They call themselves men of honor, and everything, regardless of semantics, operates according to the pact. You can imagine the humor, after a solemn and intense initiation ceremony, when a member becomes a made-man, once he is kissed by the Godfather, in walks the HR man to have him sign here, here, and here, initials here.
The mafia self-regulates. Even the biggest Dons can be taken out if they get out of control and violate the rules of their organization. When a member of the mafia undermines the mafia, they undermine themselves.
The contract is another manifestation of our insistence on certainty in a thoroughly uncertain world. Only faith and belief can answer uncertainty. Sophistication, formalities, and higher standards for what is considered knowledge has much more to do with allaying our existential fears, than it does with better navigating reality.
Again, the contract assumes we can control reality. We cannot. To say that we can provides a false sense of security. It implies you are a scoundrel. Why would you want to enter into a project with another scoundrel? From the get-go, the contract implies an adversarial relationship. The pact is honest and streamlined. It makes no such assumptions of control and suspicion.
When a contractual project works out, that’s the way it was supposed to work, and you can attribute success to a piece of paper. When the pact works out, you beat the odds, and you can thank fate and the Gods. The downside to a broken pact and a broken contract is the same. The upside to the pact is much greater and this is the advantage of the pact. United we stand, divided we fall.
Tags: formalism, natural law, social contract
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A Frisco woman and her 2-year-old daughter were killed late Sunday when their minivan collided with an SUV on Preston Road.
Saadia Ghaffar was driving a Toyota Sienna south on Preston about 8:30 p.m. when a northbound Ford Explorer Sport Trac crossed the median just south of Meadow Hill Drive and struck them, according to Frisco police.
Ghaffar, 38, died at Centennial Medical Center, said Officer Greg Barnett, a police spokesman. Her 2-year-old daughter, Zoya Ghaffar, was taken to Children’s Medical Center Dallas, where she died.
Ghaffar’s 10-year-old daughter, who was not identified, was also injured. She was treated at Children’s and released.
The driver of the Explorer, 21-year-old Cindy Castillo of Frisco, was taken to Medical Center of Plano, Barnett said. She was treated and released.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
Ghaffar was heavily involved with the Islamic Center of Frisco, said its president, Abdul Hadi Khan.
Khan said he moved to Frisco in 2004, around the same time Ghaffar and her husband moved into the same subdivision. “We were neighbors,” he said.
“It’s horrible that the accident took the life of someone so wonderful and someone so young,” Khan said. “We’re all trying to recover. We don’t know how to cope.”
In addition to the 10-year-old, Khan said Ghaffar is survived by a son, the eldest of her children, as well as her husband. |
Asplundh Tree Expert Co., a family-owned, privately held utility contractor, was charged Tuesday with one count of unlawfully employing illegal immigrants. The company knowingly accepted fraudulent identification documents from unauthorized aliens.
The Pennsylvania-based company provides brush clearance and tree trimming for gas and power companies. Asplundh senior employees, including supervisors and a vice president directed personnel to accept fraudulent identification documents from certain employees in or about 2010 through 2014, according to the press release.
Asplundh personnel accepted fraudulent documents, including driver’s licenses, green cards and Social Security cards, from previous and new employees who were unauthorized to work in the U.S.
An Asplundh vice president and three supervisors previously pleaded guilty of conspiracy to commit fraud and misuse of visas. All four defendants face a maximum sentence of five years’ probation and a $3,000 fine. |
Recently there has been a proposal to have UTXO based architecture as the fabric of the Hyperledger project. This piece will describe what UTXOs are and contrast the costs and benefits of UTXO architecture.
Thoughts on UTXOs by Vitalik Buterin, Co-Founder of Ethereum
What are UTXOs?
In Bitcoin, the way that a transaction actually works “under the hood” is that it consumes a collection of objects called unspent transaction outputs (“UTXOs”) created by one or more previous transactions, and then produces one or more new UTXOs, which can then be consumed by future transactions. Each UTXO can be thought of as being like a “coin”: it has a denomination and an owner, and the primary two rules which a transaction must satisfy to be valid are that (i) the transaction must contain a valid signature for the owner of each UTXO that it consumes, and (ii) the total denomination of the UTXOs consumed must be equal or greater than the total denomination of the UTXOs that it produces. A user’s balance is thus not stored as a number; rather, it can be computed as the total sum of the denominations of UTXOs that they own.
If a user wants to send a transaction sending X coins to a particular address, it may sometimes be the case that some subset of their UTXOs has a combined denomination of exactly X, in which case they can create a transaction that consumes those UTXOs and creates a new UTXO of value X owned by the destination address. When no such perfect match is possible, the user must include input UTXOs with a combined denomination greater than X, and add a second destination UTXO called a “change output” that assigns the excess coins to an address controlled by themselves.
Benefits of UTXOs
The UTXO model has been popularized recently because of its adoption in Bitcoin, and some private blockchain users are also using it; Hyperledger’s reasoning to switch to UTXOs was as follows:
We are also switching from our simplistic notion of accounts and balances to adopt to de facto standard of the Bitcoin UTXO model, lightly modified. While Hyperledger does not use Bitcoin in any way, the Bitcoin system is still extremely large and innovative, with hundreds of millions of dollars invested. By adopting the Bitcoin transaction model as standard, users of Hyperledger will benefit from innovation in Bitcoin and vice versa, as well as making Hyperledger more interoperable.
Aside from “Bitcoin network effects”, one can make some technical arguments for the UTXO model; one particular argument is that it allows transactions to be processed in parallel, as if a transaction sender creates two independent transactions they can take care to spend separate UTXOs, and so those transactions can be processed in any order. This order invariance and parallelizability property may also lead to scalability benefits. There are also some privacy benefits to having one’s coins split up, particularly if each UTXO that a user receives uses a different address for which the private key can be deterministically generated by the owner through a master seed, although the privacy gains are easily broken if the user is not careful about keeping their funds separate, and it is this author’s position that if privacy is strongly desired than the separation provided by UTXOs is vastly insufficient for the task and more complex constructions such as ring signatures, additively homomorphic value encryption and ZK-SNARKs are needed.
Why not UTXOs?
The core of the argument against UTXOs has two parts:
1. UTXOs are unnecessarily complicated, and the complexity gets even greater in the implementation than in the theory.
2. UTXOs are stateless, and so are not well-suited to applications more complex than asset issuance and transfer that are generally stateful, such as various kinds of smart contracts.
To see the first argument, consider how you would write an implementation of a wallet in a UTXO wallet — particularly, the function that generates a send transaction. This function requires as input not just the private key to an account and some trivial data such as a sequence number, but rather the entire set of current unspent UTXOs that belong to that account. The function must then take the set, and determine a subset whose value is greater than the desired output amount to use as inputs. If multiple minimal subsets exist, then there is the sometimes complex task of deciding which one to use.
Additionally, if a wallet wants to actually benefit from the parallel transaction inclusion property of UTXOs mentioned above, that wallet must take care to split up change outputs so that the wallet always has multiple change outputs which it can use as a source for funds; if a wallet only controls one large change output from which a small amount is always being drained to make the next payment, then the scheme becomes sequential. This is not purely theoretical; a majority of Bitcoin wallets still fail to make this optimization, essentially nullifying the parallelizability gains of UTXOs versus an account and sequence number model.
In the case of Bitcoin (and realistically any public blockchain), where transactions must pay a per-kilobyte transaction fee, the UTXO selection algorithm must additionally take care to optimize average long-run UTXO-per-transaction consumption, and there even arises a denial of service vulnerability as an attacker can spam a wallet with small UTXOs whose value is smaller than the marginal fee that is needed to spend them. Even outside of this, the presence of per-kilobyte fees introduces a wrinkle into the UTXO selection algorithm: it may be the case that UTXO subset S is sufficient to pay a desired amount X, but then the size of S requires a transaction fee F, and S is not sufficient to pay X + F, so then S needs to be expanded to S’, but then the size of S’ requires a transaction fee F’, requiring a UTXO subset S’’, etc. In short, with accounts and sequence numbers, creating a wallet is a high school problem, whereas with UTXOs it becomes closer to an undergraduate research level challenge.
It is clear how UTXOs do not mesh well with stateful smart contracts: if there is a need to create a contract with multiple phases, eg. where multiple parties must provide some form of input, then after some period of time those parties must perform some additional operation, and then finally the contract disburses funds as a function of those operations, then it is difficult to see how to fit that model into fundamentally stateless objects that can only be spent or not spent. In an account-based model, however, this is easy: one can instantiate a contract which has the desired code, and then this contract can be called by its static address.
To give another example, one potentially desirable use case is the ability to prevent asset theft by introducing a “recovery key” which would be stored in a secure location and could reverse transactions from your main account within some particular period of time. In a UTXO model, even an expanded one where transaction outputs can impose requirements on the destination addresses that they are sent to, this is a challenge worthy of an academic research paper. In an account-based model, this can be implemented in 20 minutes of coding time via a smart contract that simply implements the rules directly. Restricting asset ownership to a specific set of parties (eg. KYC’d users) is another example which can be managed with some complexity with covenants, but which is a simple code writing exercise in a smart contract account-based model. It is worth noting that these are advantages of a stateful scripting language more than they are benefits of accounts vs UTXOs; without a stateful scripting language (eg. in NXT) account-based models also cannot easily do any of this. However, the notion of a statically addressable object makes the logic around implementing these stateful systems in practice much simpler and more developer-friendly.
Can we have both?
In the current Ethereum implementation, we have an explicit protocol-level notion of accounts and sequence numbers on transactions; hence, we have made the choice for our users that this model is the one that is used to secure accounts. In the next major release, Serenity, we are planning an abstraction model that moves this choice down from the protocol level into the EVM; essentially, each user will be free to decide for themselves what mechanism is used to secure their account. This opens the door to innovations such as k-parallelizable nonces (essentially a scheme that combines a nonce with a k-bit binary filter that preserves the property that nonces are single-use but allows users to use future nonces ahead of time, allowing up to k transactions to be processed in any order), and even allows users, if they wish, to build schemes based on UTXOs.
In later versions of Ethereum where we target scalability through sharding, there is a cross-shard asynchronous calling scheme where if a contract (the Ethereum terminology for an account controlled by a piece of code) wishes to call a contract in another shard, that contract creates a “receipt” in its shard, which can then be verified through Merkle tree branches by contracts in other shards. This receipt concept in fact essentially merges the notion of an asynchronous function call in progress and a UTXO: if the function call in question is a value transfer, then the function call in progress literally is a UTXO — albeit a vastly more generalizeable version of one. Hence, once all of these protocol changes are implemented, Ethereum will support both the account model and a UTXO model in multiple forms, allowing users to get the benefits of whichever one they think is best for any given application. |
The study, to be published in the new year in the journal Psychological Science, is the latest in a growing field of research called "moral licensing." Photograph by: Photos.com , canada.com
If buying an organic apple instead of one caked in pesticides eases your conscience, there's a good chance that your next ethical decision might not be a good one.
According to the results of a University of Toronto study, participants who assigned more social value to 'green' shopping were more likely to cheat and steal in subsequent tests than those with less stringent shopping habits.
The study, to be published in the new year in the journal Psychological Science, is the latest in a growing field of research called "moral licensing."
It's a relatively new concept that posits humans might store up a reserve of good karma only to squander it later. It's a little like Tiger Woods spending thousands of hours of golf practice and earning hundreds of millions of dollars on the PGA tour, only to fritter it all away with a few nights of extramarital indiscretion.
Co-authors Nina Mazar and Chen-Bo Zhong, professors at the university's Rotman School of Business, said they considered themselves to be "green" consumers, which is partly why they took up the research.
The pair set up tests for a sample of university students which asked them to purchase a basket of goods at either a hypothetical organic shop or a typical grocery store.
Those who bought more green items were found in separate tests to be significantly less likely than their conventional counterparts to share money with an anonymous recipient and more likely to cheat on and lie about the results of a simple quiz.
Mazar cautioned that the size and type of the study limited its implications, and that green purchases could be replaced by any similar moral decision, such as donating to charity.
But the results lend credence to the concept of moral licensing, said Zhong.
"When (people) feel that their morality is lacking, they're more likely to engage in good behaviours as compensation," he said. "But when they observe or perceive themselves to be morally satisfied or content, that creates licensing effects for them to engage in ethical behaviours that are less likely to be moral."
The researchers point to a landmark study from 2001, in which researchers found that, after an employer had made a "politically correct" hire, he often followed up by hiring a white male for the same position.
Just why this happens is unclear, said Mazar, noting that she and Zhong would like to look at the potential biological underpinnings for such decisions.
What the authors also found, however, was that simply being exposed to green products led to better ethical behaviour than did the act of purchasing green products, a phenomenon known as "priming."
In Mazar and Zhong's case, when people were "exposed" to the green grocery store but did not purchase any items from it, they shared substantially more money with the anonymous recipient.
A similar study in 2008 found that when participants were shown the Apple logo, they then demonstrated heightened creativity, a trait commonly associated with the electronics brand.
The pair said those striving to keep up with the Greens shouldn't change their shopping habits just yet.
"I would assume that many other people who actually buy green products on a regular basis are not moralizing their behaviour," said Mazar. "They're doing it because they really believe in that, and think that this is the right thing."
The licensing effect is instead more prevalent when people do something that they believe society will see as virtuous.
"I think the key (problem) is that people see green products as moral, as good," said Zhong. "If we simply understand that these behaviours are necessary, that these behaviours are the bare minimum that we can do, then we wouldn't expect the same licensing effect.
"If everyone recycles, recycling is not going to be seen as a moral positive." |
Advanced cyberattacks emphasize stealth and persistence: the longer they stay under the radar, the more they can move laterally, exfiltrate data, and cause damage. To avoid detection, attackers are increasingly turning to cross-process injection.
Cross-process injection gives attackers the ability to run malicious code that masquerades as legitimate programs. With code injection, attackers don’t have to use custom processes that can quickly be detected. Instead, they insert malicious code into common processes (e.g., explorer.exe, regsvr32.exe, svchost.exe, etc.), giving their operations an increased level of stealth and persistence.
Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (Windows Defender ATP) uncovers this type of stealth attack, including ones that use newer forms of injection. In Windows 10 Creators Update, we enhanced Windows Defender ATP’s instrumentation and detection of in-memory injection methods like process hollowing and atom bombing.
Windows Defender ATP is a post-breach solution that alerts security operations (SecOps) teams about hostile activity. As the nature of attacks evolve, Windows Defender ATP continues to advance to help SecOps personnel detect and respond effectively to attacks.
To test how Windows Defender ATP can help your organization detect, investigate, and respond to advanced attacks, sign up for a free trial.
This blog post is part of a series of blogs about how Windows Defender ATP detects code injection techniques. We tackle process hollowing and atom bombing attacks to illustrate how Windows Defender ATP detects a broad spectrum of nefarious activity, from commodity malware that attempts to hide from plain sight, to sophisticated activity groups that engage in targeted attacks.
Process hollowing: Hiding code in legitimate processes
Process hollowing is a code injection technique that involves spawning a new instance of a legitimate process and then “hollowing it out”, i.e., replacing the legitimate code with malware. Unlike most injection techniques that add a malicious feature to an otherwise normally running process, the result of hollowing is a process that looks legitimate on the outside but is primarily malicious on the inside.
While there are few known techniques that achieve process hollowing, the most common variant typically follows four steps to achieve stealthy execution of malicious code:
The malware spawns a new instance of a legitimate process (e.g., explorer.exe, lsass.exe, etc.), and places it in a suspended state. The malware then hollows out the memory section in the new (and still suspended) process that holds the base address of the legitimate code. To do this, the malware uses the NtUnmapViewOfSection routine. It allocates read-write-execute (RWX) memory in the suspended process to prepare for the replacement malicious code. The malware then copies malicious code into the allocated memory. It changes the target address of the first thread to the malicious program’s entry point.
When the thread resumes, the malicious code starts running, now disguised as a legitimate process. The malware is then free to delete remnants of itself from disk to avoid detection.
Atom bombing: New cloak of disguise
Atom bombing is one of the most recent code injection techniques observed in attacks. It is a method that can be used by an attacker who has already compromised a machine and who can execute code to perform stealthy code injection into other processes using lesser known APIs.
In this technique, the malware writes malicious code to the global atom table, which can be accessed by all applications. The malware then dispatches an asynchronous procedure call (APC) to the APC queue of a target process thread using the native NtQueueApcThread API. When executed, this APC forces the target process to call the GlobalGetAtomName function, which retrieves the malicious code from the global atom table and inserts the code into the memory of the target process.
Writing malicious code into the memory space of another process without use of WriteProcessMemory is a clever trick, but the malicious code, when transferred via atom table, is not ready to be executed. An extra step is required to achieve the final goal: one more APC call is used to invoke return-oriented-programming (ROP) and convert the code memory region into RWX. Only then does the malicious code run.
Detecting process hollowing and atom bombing with enhanced Windows Defender ATP capabilities
In Windows Defender ATP Creators Update, we have instrumented function calls and built statistical models to detect a broad range of malicious injection techniques used in attacks.
We tested these capabilities against real-world examples of malware that use process hollowing, atom bombing, and other injection methods. In the following sections, we illustrate how Windows Defender ATP uncovers attacks that use code injection to gain stealth and persistence in target networks.
Kovter: Classic process hollowing in action
Kovter is a family of click-fraud Trojans that have been around since 2013 but have recently been observed to associate with ransomware families like Locky. In 2016, we discovered Kovter variants that achieved an almost file-less persistence.
This malware is primarily delivered as attachment in phishing emails. When executed, Kovter hides most of its malicious JavaScript, PowerShell, and shellcode components (all typically obfuscated) across several registry keys. It then uses native applications to combine, decrypt, and execute the code stored in the registry and perform its injection routine.
Kovter achieves persistence by adding shortcuts (.lnk files) to the startup folder or adding entries to the registry key HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Both methods open a component file with a random file name extension.
It adds two registry entries to the HKEY_USERS hive so that the component file is opened by the legitimate program mshta.exe, which extracts an obfuscated payload from a third registry key.
When the payload is decrypted, a PowerShell script is extracted and added as a new environmental variable. The PowerShell then executes a script referred to in the environmental variable, which injects shellcode into a target process.
Using the shellcode, Kovter employs the process hollowing technique to inject malicious code into legitimate processes. Through process hollowing, this nearly file-less malware can achieve and maintain a stealthy presence, presenting a challenge to traditional AV solutions.
Windows Defender ATP, using enhanced instrumentation and detection capabilities, exposes the function calls used in this technique. Furthermore, through statistical models, Windows Defender ATP zeroes in on malicious functions required to execute process hollowing.
The screenshot below shows the Windows Defender ATP alert for the process injection routine. It shows mshta.exe being used to launch and execute a malicious PowerShell script (1, 2), as well as the hollowed-out process regsvr32.exe that contain malicious code (3, 4).
Figure 1: Windows Defender ATP detection of Kovter performing process hollowing on regsvr32.exe using mshta.exe
Dridex: Early adopter of atom bombing
Since its release in 2014, Dridex has been a very prolific and nasty banking Trojan. Delivered primarily by phishing emails, Dridex pilfers banking credentials and sensitive information, disables security products, and gives attackers remote access to victim computers.
Over the years, Dridex’s code has gone through several revisions. With its most recent version, Dridex became one of the earliest adopters of the atom bombing injection technique. It maintains stealth and persistence by avoiding the common API calls that are associated with code injection techniques.
When executed, Dridex looks for an alertable thread for a target process. It then ensures that user32.dll is loaded by the target process. It needs user32.dll to access the required atom table functions. Once this requirement is met, Dridex writes its shellcode to the global atom table.
It then forces the target process to copy the malicious code into memory by adding a series of NtQueueApcThread calls for GlobalGetAtomNameW to the APC queue of the target process thread.
Figure 2: NtQueueApcThread calls to GlobalGetAtomNameW added to the APC queue of the target process.
Finally, Dridex calls NtProtectVirtualMemory to transform the memory location (where the malicious code now resides) into executable memory. At this point, Dridex can freely execute its code in the context of the legitimate process.
Windows Defender ATP uncovers the use of the atom bombing technique. The screenshot below shows a Windows Defender ATP alert on Dridex that used atom bombing to inject malicious code into the legitimate process svchost.exe.
Figure 3: Windows Defender ATP detection of Dridex performing atom bombing on svchost.exe
Conclusion: Windows Defender ATP Creators Update exposes covert cyberattacks
Windows 10 continues to elevate defense capabilities against the full range of modern threats. Attackers respond to this by launching more complex attacks that are increasingly sneakier and more persistent. Kovter and Dridex are examples of prominent malware families that evolved to evade detection using code injection techniques. Inevitably, process hollowing, atom bombing, and other advanced techniques will be used by existing and new malware families.
Windows Defender ATP uses rich security data, advanced behavioral analytics, and machine learning to detect the invariant techniques used in attacks. Windows Defender ATP Creators Update has enhanced instrumentation and detection capabilities to better expose covert attacks.
Windows Defender ATP also provides detailed event timelines and other contextual information that SecOps teams can use to understand attacks and quickly respond. The improved functionality in Windows Defender ATP enables them to isolate the victim machine and protect the rest of the network.
For more information about Windows Defender ATP, check out its features and capabilities and read about why a post-breach detection approach is a key component of any enterprise security strategy.
Windows Defender ATP is built into the core of Windows 10 Enterprise and can be evaluated free of charge.
John Lundgren
Windows Defender ATP Research Team
Related blog posts
Detecting reflective DLL loading with Windows Defender ATP
Uncovering cross-process injection with Windows Defender ATP
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I'm getting back into camping and backpacking (White Mountains style) on a regular basis after something of a hiatus. I'm having an absolute ton of fun (it helps finally living close to some good backcountry) and one of the things that is the most fun to me is working on what I think of as my "camping skills," i.e. the little bag of tricks that help to make trips go more smoothly and pleasantly. I'm talking about the word-of-mouth stuff that generally gets passed from parent to child, Scout Leader to Scout, or between camping buddies, the stuff you won't always find in a manual or handbook.
I'd like to up my game and have some fun by trying out some new tricks, so I'm asking you to share some of your favorites with me. I'll provide some examples to help give a more concrete idea of what I'm asking about. For instance, when I'm hiking and I'm getting close to my campsite, I like to gather a little bit of firewood as I walk along so that I don't have to do as much wood-gathering once I get there. Or for a different kind of example, I always bring a few cotton bandanas in my pack; they're cheap, they weigh next to nothing, and they're endlessly useful. A final example would be that if it's cold out you can stick tomorrow's clothes inside your sleeping bag with you at night so that they'll be warm when you put them on in the morning.
That's the kind of stuff I'm talking about: stuff that is simple, costs little or nothing, and which makes things easier by saving weight, time, or labor or which solves a problem in a clever way. Help make my camping and backpacking trips more fun and pleasant by sharing your wisdom.
I'm looking to up my backpacking game. What tricks, strategies, and indispensable-but-overlooked items do you take with you into the backcountry? I'm looking for little things that cost little or nothing in terms of weight or money, but which make life easier in camp or on the trail. What are some of your most clever solutions? |
HONG KONG — China’s central bank on Tuesday cut its benchmark interest rate and freed banks to lend more, the latest signs of the government’s growing distress over slumping stocks and slowing economic growth.
The central bank’s action followed a global stock market rout in which China led the declines. The main Shanghai share index plunged an additional 7.6 percent on Tuesday, to its lowest level this year, signaling that two months’ worth of attempts by the government to prop up stock prices had limited effect. In early trading on Wednesday, the index swung between gains and losses, diminishing investors’ hopes for a strong rebound after the rate cut.
On Tuesday, China’s prime minister, Li Keqiang, acknowledged that the country was feeling the effects of market turbulence, but insisted that the economy remained sound.
“Currently, global economic trends are opaque and confusing, and market volatility is quite large, and this has had some impact on the Chinese economy,” Mr. Li said, according to a report on Chinese television news. “But fundamentally the overall stability of the Chinese economy has not changed, and positive factors sustaining a turn for the better in the real economy are accumulating.” |
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We all know that the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is all about popularity rather than influence. I considered writing a four thousand word screed against its very existence, but felt that I could get my point across equally well just by listing ten bands that are, disgracefully, not yet in there. To be fair, the list could go to one hundred and there’d still be bands left over. It’s a farce.
Let’s get on with this.
PrevNext 1. The Smiths With a near unparalleled fan devotion and musical influence, Manchester quartet The Smiths should really have been a shoe in years. Here are some bands who list them as a huge influence: The Stone Roses, Oasis, Suede, Pulp, Blur, The Libertines, Radiohead, and, well, pretty much every British band that has formed since the early 80’s. But they’re English. That’s what it comes down to, right? 2. My Bloody Valentine Well these Irish shoegaze pioneers were huge in Japan and Billy Corgan, Trent Reznor, Courtney Love, Radiohead, the Edge (is that a good thing?) have all sung their praises. Perhaps they’re a bit too esoteric and abstract for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Still though, they pioneered a genre of music that has had such an influence that it began to split into other subgenres such as metalgaze, and nugaze while also having a massive influence on the chillwave movement. Savage. 3. Nine Inch Nails This one is a bit of a mind boggler. Trent Reznor’s industrial rock project Nine Inch Nails has been hugely influential, sold loads of records, and remains relevant to this very day. You’d think they’d be a shoe in. Perhaps Trent pissed someone off. That would hardly be a surprise. He strikes me as rather prickly. 4. The Cure A band who managed to go from goth/post punk dreary explorations to pop song brilliance. Then they opted to combine the two. For my money, Robert Smith has written some of the best pop songs this side of the Beatles. And all with a wry sense of humour and underlying sorrow. Plus, Disintegration might be the best album. Ever. 5. Pixies The Velvet Underground of their generation. Didn’t sell many albums during their existence, but everyone who heard them started a band. They popularised the loudQUIETloud dynamic that led Nirvana to fame and that many bands adopted wholesale in the 90’s with less success. Their success can be gauged in how varied their admirers are. Plus, Steve Albini pretty much owes them all his pay cheques due to Surfer Rosa. A grand bunch of lads. 6. Joy Division A huge influence on defining a particular sound, for better or for worse, for post-punk and creating a tone that was adopted by the Gothic rock movement, Manchester’s Joy Division importance cannot be understated. There’s a reason why so many bands in the post punk revival movement essentially aped Ian Curtis and co. So simple and yet so affecting. 7. Sonic Youth Coming out of the avant garde music scene in New York to combine with with the burgeoning alternative rock scene of the late 80’s, Sonic Youth are perhaps the most expansive and out there band of that era. Another, frankly astonishing, success in their career as their music remained at a pretty damn excellent up until their untimely demise. Murray Street is a gem. 8. Dinosaur Jr. Probably haven’t gotten one because J. would be too lazy to turn up for the award ceremony. Another band that is hugely influential and still actually good. Their last album was a total banger. Plus, I love them and that’s good enough for me. 9. Hüsker Dü So Bob Mould and Hüsker Dü pretty much invented alternative rock melding hardcore punk with pop melodies. Seriously, listen to anything on Zen Arcade and then fast forward to what was in the charts ten years later. A band ahead of their time. You should read Bob Mould’s autobiography. A portrait of a very humble man. 10. The Replacements Paul Westerberg’s The Replacements released their revolutionary mixture of hardcore punk and pop melodies a few months after Hüsker Dü did. For this time, they got a little more serious and stopped singing about how school sucks. It’s not quite as ambitious, and bears a large debt to Big Star. Which leads me to another question: why aren’t Big Star in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Ah, fuck it.
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They have won the English title more than any other teams and lifted the European Cup more often than anyone else in the land too. Liverpool versus Manchester United is as big as it gets. We look back at 10 memorable Premier League matches between the great rivals…
Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool in 1992
The first game between the two teams since the advent of the Premier League came in October 1992 at Old Trafford, pitting Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United against Graeme Souness’s Liverpool. The visitors looked set for a win too when Don Hutchinson’s deflected strike gave them the lead and Ian Rush later doubled the advantage with his 287th goal for the Reds – surpassing Roger Hunt’s club record.
But United produced the sort of comeback that was to typify their decade. With 12 minutes remaining, Mark Hughes came up with a wonderful lobbed volley after substitute Clayton Blackmore had chipped the ball into his compatriot’s path. Hughes then seized upon a Ryan Giggs pass to equalise in the final minute and earn United an unlikely point. Even Ferguson admitted it was fortunate. “We didn't play particularly well and perhaps we didn't deserve a point.”
Highlights of the 2-2 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool in 1992 Highlights of the 2-2 draw between Manchester United and Liverpool in 1992
Souness was frustrated. “With a bit more ringcraft and fieldcraft we would probably have won,” he said. But it was to prove an indicator of what was to come. The previous season had been the first since 1968 that United had finished above Liverpool and 1992/93 saw them go one better and win the title for the first time since 1967. Liverpool eventually finished sixth for a second successive season – their joint lowest finish in 28 years.
Liverpool 3-3 Manchester United in 1994
Liverpool produced one of the great Premier League comebacks in an iconic encounter from the 1993/94 season. United took a three-goal lead midway through the first half only to see their advantage wiped out by astonishing turnaround. As Jamie Redknapp recalls, that didn’t look on the cards when Steve Bruce headed United in front from Eric Cantona’s cross.
Highlights of the 3-3 draw between Liverpool and Manchester United in 1994 Highlights of the 3-3 draw between Liverpool and Manchester United in 1994
“The first quarter of the game was a nightmare for us,” Redknapp told Sky Sports. “Bruce had already scored, and then I gave a short pass back to Mark Wright, and Giggs went round him and chipped a goal in for United's second. We were all struggling. We were soon 3-0 down and in a fixture of that enormity, you want the ground to swallow you up. You're at home to your biggest rivals, and you're getting outclassed.”
Neil Ruddock and Jamie Redknapp celebrate Liverpool's late equaliser in 1994
Two goals by Nigel Clough turned the game on its head and with the visitors holding on, Neil ‘Razor’ Ruddock headed in a dramatic equaliser to send Anfield wild with delight. “When we got back to 3-2, you could sense the crowd knew something special was happening,” added Redknapp. “It really was an amazing night. The atmosphere was fierce. It makes your hair stand on end.”
Manchester United 2-2 Liverpool in 1995
This fixture marked the return of Eric Cantona after serving an eight-month suspension for his infamous kung-fu kick at Selhurst Park. Typically, he had an immediate impact – just 67 seconds into the game, to be precise – in crossing for Nicky Butt to open the scoring. Robbie Fowler threatened to spoil the comeback with goals either side of half-time but when Jamie Redknapp was adjudged to have fouled Giggs, Cantona had the final word from the penalty spot.
Eric Cantona of Manchester United celebrates scoring against Liverpool in 1995
Liverpool boss Roy Evans was unimpressed by referee David Elleray’s role. “It is a sad story when the referee thinks he has equal billing with Eric Cantona,” said Evans. “I thought Cantona passed the test but the referee did not. We deserved more than we got. We lost two points on a dodgy decision.” Ferguson just seemed relieved the drama was over. “Eric did well,” he said. “He's tired, of course, but he can be pleased with his performance. And the hype's over, thank goodness.”
Liverpool 2-3 Manchester United in 1999
Once is misfortune but twice is carelessness and so Jamie Carragher will not have fond memories of this Anfield defeat in 1999 after twice beating his own goalkeeper. The Liverpool defender headed beyond Sander Westerveld inside three minutes and when Andy Cole netted from a trademark David Beckham free-kick things looked routine for the Premier League and European champions.
Jamie Carragher heads the ball into his own net at Anfield in 1999
But Massimo Taibi, otherwise impressive on debut in the United goal, gave Liverpool a route back when he failed to claim a free-kick and Sami Hyypia pulled one back. A second Carragher own-goal from another Beckham free-kick restored United’s two-goal lead but when Patrik Berger scored and Cole received a second yellow for taking a swipe at Rigobert Song, it made for a grandstand finish. Substitute Michael Owen did toe-poke just wide but the comeback was to no avail.
Manchester United 1-0 Liverpool in 2006
Despite featuring a last-minute winner for Manchester United courtesy of Rio Ferdinand’s header from a Giggs free-kick, this was a game more noteworthy for the bad blood that followed. Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea won the title that year but this fixture isn’t all about trophies as Gary Neville’s actions showed. The United full-back’s decision to run the length of the field to celebrate the winner in front of the visiting Liverpool fans caused controversy. Neville was unapologetic.
Rio Ferdinand celebrates scoring in injury time against Liverpool in 2006
“I would have been apologetic if I’d run up to one of their players and tried to belittle them but this was a celebration,” he told the Times. “What are you meant to do? Smile sweetly and jog back to the halfway line?” Monday Night Football colleague Jamie Carragher had a different view. “I think there is a line and Neville crossed it. I've heard people say it's justified because he gets a lot of stick from our fans but the truth is he gets stick as he's been doing that for years.”
Liverpool 2-1 Manchester United in 2008
Ryan Babel’s time at Anfield was far from glorious but he did have this moment – a late Anfield winner against Manchester United – to cherish. Ryan Giggs was robbed by Javier Mascherano and Babel turned in Dirk Kuyt’s subsequent pass to give Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez earned his first Premier League win over United despite the absence of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Ryan Babel celebrates with Robbie Keane after scoring Liverpool's winner in 2008
Carlos Tevez had given the visitors the lead after turning in a pull back from United debutant Dimitar Berbatov but things soon turned sour for them when Edwin Van der Sar palmed an attempted clearance against Wes Brown and saw it roll in for the equaliser. There was no way back from Babel’s winner with Nemanja Vidic capping a miserable afternoon by seeing red late on.
Manchester United 1-4 Liverpool in 2009
Manchester United were the defending champions and league leaders at the time but found themselves taken apart at Old Trafford by a motivated Liverpool team. Cristiano Ronaldo had given the home side the lead from the penalty spot but Fernando Torres forced a mistake from Nemanja Vidic soon after and United capitulated. Steven Gerrard put Liverpool ahead - also with a penalty - before inducing another Vidic error that saw the defender sent off.
Fernando Torres beats Manchester United's Nemanja Vidic to score in 2009
Fabio Aurelio curled home from the resulting free-kick, before Andrea Dossena capped an amazing afternoon for Liverpool by lobbing Edwin van der Sar. Ferguson was less than magnanimous. “I thought we were the better team, but the score doesn't reflect that,” he said. Rafa Benitez preferred to look ahead. “If we are going to win the title we are going to need three points from every game and United to drop some more.” It didn’t happen and Liverpool fell four points short.
Manchester United 3-2 Liverpool in 2010
Dimitar Berbatov’s career at United began with a defeat to Liverpool and that seemed to set the tone for the following two seasons in which he scored just 26 goals in 86 appearances. But things improved at the start of the 2010/11 campaign, with Berbatov scoring in four of his first five appearances. Finally he was in form and he duly put United two goals up against Liverpool in the early season derby game.
Dimitar Berbatov completes his hat-trick against Liverpool in 2010
Gerrard threatened to scupper things, scoring a penalty to pull one back and then levelling the scores with 20 minutes remaining courtesy of a 20-yard free-kick. But Berbatov completed his hat-trick – the first by a United player against Liverpool since 1946 – when he rose above Jamie Carragher to convert John O’Shea’s cross. It felt like the moment from which the mercurial forward would go on to justify his vast price tag.
“You must persevere and trust your judgement, you must have faith, and I think we are being rewarded this season for our confidence in him,” said Ferguson afterwards. In a sense, Berbatov delivered. The Bulgarian finished the season as the Premier League joint-top scorer. But Ferguson failed to live by his own words – choosing to omit Berbatov from his squad for the 2011 Champions League Final against Barcelona at the end of that season.
Liverpool 3-1 Manchester United in 2011
Dirk Kuyt was the unlikely hat-trick hero for Liverpool as he became the first Liverpool player to score a hat-trick against Manchester United since Peter Beardsley in 1990. Luis Suarez was the catalyst for all three goals as Liverpool got the better of a United side unexpectedly faltering in their push for the Premier League title.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s men had been unbeaten in 23 games at the start of the league season but this was their third reverse in a month and second in a week to allow Arsenal to close within three points with a game in hand. The Red Devils held on to claim the title but this Anfield result marked a memorable high point in Kenny Dalglish’s second spell in charge.
Manchester United 0-3 Liverpool in 2014
David Moyes’ time in charge of Manchester United was littered with lows but few plumbed the depths quite like this miserable surrender against Liverpool in March. The visitors dominated early on and finally took the lead in front of the Stretford End when Rafael’s handball allowed Gerrard to open the scoring from the spot. Soon after the restart, Phil Jones clumsily fouled Joe Allen and Gerrard converted again.
Steven Gerrard celebrates scoring a goal at Old Trafford by kissing a camera
The Liverpool skipper might have made it a hat-trick of penalties but squandered the opportunity when Vidic was adjudged to have fouled Daniel Sturridge – and was sent off for his troubles too – but Luiz Suarez soon added a third anyway. “It's a nightmare,” said Wayne Rooney. “It's one of the worst days I've ever had in football.” Moyes, meanwhile, had an admission. “I think the job was always going to be hard but if you are asking me is it harder than I thought, I would say so, yes.” He was sacked the following month.
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A jury on Wednesday has recommended the death penalty for a sex offender who was convicted of murdering four Orange County women in 2014.Steven Dean Gordon was convicted last week of murdering 21-year-old Jarrae Nykkole Estepp, 20-year-old Kianna Jackson, 34-year-old Josephine Vargas and 28-year-old Martha Anaya, who were working as prostitutes at the time.The 47-year-old testified he played a role in the killings, but placed most of the blame on his friend, Franc Cano, who is being tried separately.Of all the victims, only Estepp's body was found. That discovery led to multiple clues tying Gordon and Cano to the other killings.Senior Deputy District Attorney Larry Yellin made his case on evidence from DNA, GPS-tracked movements of both defendants and their own statements to police.Gordon showed no emotion as the court clerk read the jury's recommendation of the death sentence. For some families, however, the announcement provided some relief."It's never going to end for me," said Jodi Estepp, the sister of one of the victims. "It's never going to end, but today we got the death penalty and the girls are happy the sun came out."Gordon is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 3. |
May 05, 2016
One Way The White House Manipulates
A portrait of Obama's spokesperson and policy guru Ben Rhodes explains how government propaganda works. This part is about selling the Iran deal to the U.S. public:
As Malley and representatives of the State Department, including Wendy Sherman and Secretary of State John Kerry, engaged in formal negotiations with the Iranians, to ratify details of a framework that had already been agreed upon, Rhodes’s war room did its work on Capitol Hill and with reporters. In the spring of last year, legions of arms-control experts began popping up at think tanks and on social media, and then became key sources for hundreds of often-clueless reporters. “We created an echo chamber,” he admitted, when I asked him to explain the onslaught of freshly minted experts cheerleading for the deal. “They were saying things that validated what we had given them to say.” When I suggested that all this dark metafictional play seemed a bit removed from rational debate over America’s future role in the world, Rhodes nodded. “In the absence of rational discourse, we are going to discourse the [expletive] out of this,” he said. “We had test drives to know who was going to be able to carry our message effectively, and how to use outside groups like Ploughshares, the Iran Project and whomever else. So we knew the tactics that worked.” He is proud of the way he sold the Iran deal.
You can replace the "Iran deal" with "regime-change in Syria", "Russia's aggression" or some big trade deal the White Hosue wants to push through. It works the same way with every issue. Some experts in some (well paid) thinktanks get fed some juicy bits, they go out to cheerlead clueless reporters who then write whatever validates the various White House claims.
It is all test driven and works. Unless of course people have time and energy to inform themselves through other than the usual sources. Only few are able to do so.
Posted by b on May 5, 2016 at 03:19 PM | Permalink
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"Disobeying her parents' request not to leave Earth, Aurora goes to a book fair in the Storybook Dimension and ends up finding her childhood tormentors."Aurora's outfit: Mexican colors, PajamasCities that inspired me for Storybook, though, of course, with book spine buildings: Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Quedlinburg.Storybook visual reference = www.tes.com/sites/default/file…What do you think will happen in "Face Cookies"? (Let the Season 1 Finale quintet begin)Episode Overview:The episode opens with Aurora telling a fairytale about a girl trapped in a cave who learned to face her fears until they released her. As soon as she finishes the story, she asks for Sam's opinion about it who says that the story is amazing and that she has a great talent for writing stories. Happy with his response, Aurora says she was thinking of attending a story writing contest that's happening in the Storybook Dimension. However, she regrets that she can't go because she remembers that her parents asked her to try to avoid as much as she could from leaving Earth. Seeing Aurora's unhappy expression, Sam "suggests" that if her parents don't know, there should be no problems. Uncertain, Aurora denies, but Sam continues to try to convince her. "Well, what can go wrong, right?" Aurora says. Using her dimensional scissors, Aurora and Sam open a portal to Storybook, a dimension where the buildings are book spines.After entering the contest, Aurora and Sam decide to walk around the fair until the time of the contest starts. They end up intersecting with a group of young Mewnian nobles, whom Aurora unfortunately acknowledges. The group begins to scorn and mock Aurora. Pacifica Waterson and Alice Cross make fun of her earthling clothing, Dipper Firefly and Gareth McKnight call her by various offensive nicknames, and Gold Stone asks if she wants a little kiss, inciting more laughter from others. Aurora doesn't respond and turns to leave, until Rose Flowers comments on how her mother had the courage to marry a human. Furious, Aurora tells Rose to shut up and to not bring her parents into this. "Uh-oh, look, the butterfly is out of the cocoon," Rose mocks shaking her hands. Aurora instinctively grabs Rose's wrist and, with a calm face and voice, Rose replies with "If we go that way, you know you'd have no chance." Aurora releases Rose and turns decisively to leave, however, she stumbles and falls face-first into a puddle of mud. The young lords, with the exception of Dove Redbird, begin to roar with laughter at Aurora even more, who escapes crying while disappearing amid the crowd. Rose comments that "Mewni is very unlucky to have a loser like her as a future queen." Annoyed, Sam replies that "Mewni is very unlucky to have idiots like them as future mewnisters" and leaves to search for the princess.In the meantime, Aurora bumps into a girl and falls into a sitting position. She recognizes the girl as Maple Forest, sister of her friend Pine Forest, who soon appears calling for her sister. Upon recognizing Aurora, Pine shows a bright smile.Meanwhile, Sam gets lost in the Alley of Magic, a site in Storybook intended for magical literature.At a table in a diner, Aurora asks what Pine is doing in Storybook. Pine replies that he's helping Maple find a book she wanted. Pine returns the question and Aurora says she's competing in a short story contest. Pine says it's the same one on which Dipper Firefly will compete and that's the reason he and the other nobles have come to Storybook. "Unbearable," Maple murmurs to herself at the sound of Dipper's name. "Oh, are they here?" Aurora asks, pretending to be surprised. Pine is suspicious and remembers that Aurora was crying earlier so he asks why. Aurora tosses her hair behind her ear, saying that it's nothing and everything's fine. "You know... you always throw your hair behind your ear when you lie," Pine says, smiling. Aurora smiles back, and Pine invites her to take a walk while she tells him her story.Sam continues searching for Aurora, and ends up in the Valley of Young Adult Literature, where he is attacked by glitter-sucking vampires.Meanwhile, Aurora finishes telling her story to Pine. The boy says she's still as good as ever and admires her courage to tell this story. Aurora thanks him and explains that she feels at peace when she writes. They remember some of the stories she made when they were children, like the talking tiger in a drawer, the city that changed places, and the lonely tree in the field. They laugh reminiscing on their childhood stories, Pine says he misses those moments with her and comments about the attack against her and the fact that she left without saying goodbye. Aurora apologizes, saying she would have done it if she had time. "What matters is you're safe," Pine says. Upon realizing Maple's suggestive look and smile, Aurora tries to fool around and says she's almost late for the contest.In Fantasy Forest, Sam is surrounded by a group of "The Lord of the Beans" fans who force him to play "Wizards & Wyverns" in an elf costume.Upon arriving at the amphitheater, Aurora and the Forest siblings witness the end of the presentation of Dipper Firefly, which receives a loud applause at the end. The number of people scares Aurora, who sees Rose and the other nobles in the back of the audience regrouping with Dipper.Aurora then hears her name being called, but refuses to climb onto the stage. Pine encourages Aurora to go, and tells her to fear nothing and nobody intimidates her. Aurora shows a grateful and confident smile back to Pine. A camera flash takes them out of their moment, they see Maple with her cell phone and a victorious smile on her face saying "Ha! I got it!". Pine says goodbye to Aurora with a "good luck" and leaves with his sister.Sam finally finds Aurora in the amphitheater. Aurora asks why is he in an elf costume while Sam states that he's been looking for her all day. When her name is called again, she walks up to the stage and introduces herself. The reading of her story is accompanied by images that magically appear on a big screen on stage, and when Aurora begins to read her story, the images that appear are from Aurora at 8 years of age, playing hide and seek until she is cheated and locked in the Castle Butterfly Crypts by Rose Flowers and the other noble kids, who are going away laughing. Alone and after useless requests for help, little Aurora weeps in fear as she watches all the sarcophagi of her ancestors. The audience watches in silence, Sam is shocked at what he's witnessing. The story ends with the doors opening and Aurora embracing her parents. The audience applauds loudly and gives a standing ovation. Rose and the other children angrily and embarrassingly walk away, receiving reproachful looks from the crowd. Dipper tries to prostate, but Spartan warns him that "he has already lost the competition". Pine nods at Aurora and leaves with his tour group.Sam and Aurora happily return home with the trophy in hand. After Aurora comments on the award, that her winning tale will be published along with several others in a book, Sam asks about the "tale" being actually a real event. Aurora says it was this event that made her interested in the story of her family, believing that if she knew who they were, she wouldn't have to be afraid of them. Aurora says goodnight to Sam and goes to sleep. The episode ends with Aurora dreaming that she's running on a huge lawn, with a sky dotted with stars and a rising sun on the horizon, and beyond the lawn, a single tree, a pine tree. |
IslamophobiaWatch 1 March 2011 1 March 2011 Islamophobia-Watch.com 15 Comments 15 Comments Email This Post
Last week, legislators in Tennessee introduced a radical bill that would make “material support” for Islamic law punishable by 15 years in prison.
The proposal marks a dramatic new step in the conservative campaign against Muslim-Americans. If passed, critics say even seemingly benign activities like re-painting the exterior of a mosque or bringing food to a potluck could be classified as a felony.
The Tennessee bill, SB 1028, didn’t come out of nowhere. Though it’s the first of its kind, the bill is part of a wave of related measures that would ban state courts from enforcing Sharia law. (A court might refer to Sharia law in child custody or prisoner rights cases.) Since early 2010, such legislation has been considered in at least 15 states. And while fears of an impending caliphate are myriad on the far-right, the surge of legislation across the country is largely due to the work of one man: David Yerushalmi, an Arizona-based white supremacist who has previously called for a “war against Islam” and tried to criminalize adherence to the Muslim faith.
Yerushalmi, a lawyer, is the founder of the Society of Americans for National Existence (SANE), which has been called a “hate group” by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). His draft legislation served as the foundation for the Tennessee bill, and at least half a dozen other anti-Islam measures – including two bills that were signed into law last year in Louisiana and Tennessee.
But Tennessee’s SB 1028 goes much further, defining traditional Islamic law as counter to constitutional principles, and authorizing the state’s attorney general to freeze the assets of organizations that have been determined to be promoting or supporting Sharia. On Monday, CAIR and the ACLU called for lawmakers to defeat the bill. “Essentially the bill is trying to separate the ‘good Muslims’ from the ‘bad Muslims,'” said CAIR staff attorney Gadeir Abbas in an interview with Mother Jones. “Out of all the bills that have been introduced, this is by far the most extreme.”
But it’s not just Muslims who draw Yerushalmi’s scorn. In a 2006 essay for SANE entitled On Race: A Tentative Discussion, Yerushalmi argued that whites are genetically superior to blacks. “Some races perform better in sports, some better in mathematical problem solving, some better in language, some better in Western societies and some better in tribal ones,” he wrote.
Yerushalmi has suggested that Caucasians are inherently more receptive to republican forms of government than blacks – an argument that’s consistent with SANE’s mission statement, which emphasizes that “America was the handiwork of faithful Christians, mostly men, and almost entirely white.”
And in an article published at the website Intellectual Conservative, Yerushalmi, who is Jewish, suggests that liberal Jews “destroy their host nations like a fatal parasite.” Unsurprisingly, then, Yerushalmi offered the lone Jewish defense of Mel Gibson, after the actor’s anti-semitic tirade in 2006. Gibson, he wrote, was simply noting the “undeniable Jewish liberal influence on western affairs in the direction of a World State.”
Mother Jones, 1 March 2011
Original post: The white supremacist behind the anti-sharia bills |
Measuring the irregularities of the Earth's rotation
The variability of the earth-rotation vector relative to the body of the planet or in inertial space is caused by the gravitational torque exerted by the Moon, Sun and planets, displacements of matter in different parts of the planet and other excitation mechanisms. The observed oscillations can be interpreted in terms of mantle elasticity, earth flattening, structure and properties of the core-mantle boundary, rheology of the core, underground water, oceanic variability, and atmospheric variability on time scales of weather or climate. The understanding of the coupling between the various layers of our planet is also a key aspect of this research.
Several space geodesy techniques contribute to the permanent monitoring of the earth's rotation by IERS. For all these techniques, the IERS applications are only one part of their contribution to the study of planet earth and of the rest of the universe.
The measurements of the earth's rotation are under the form of time series of the so-called Earth Orientation Parameters (EOP). Universal time (UT1),
polar motion and the celestial motion of the pole (precession/nutation) are determined by VLBI. The satellite-geodesy techniques, GPS, SLR and DORIS, determine polar motion and the rapid variations of universal time.
The satellite-geodesy programs used in the IERS give access to the time variations of the earth's gravity field, reflecting the evolution of the earth's shape, as well as the redistribution of masses in the planet. They have also detected changes in the location of the centre of mass of the earth relative to the crust. This makes it possible to investigate global phenomena such as mass redistributions in the atmosphere, oceans and solid earth.
Universal time and polar motion are available daily with an accuracy of 0.5 mas and celestial pole motion are available every five to seven days at the same level of accuracy - this estimation of accuracy includes both short term and long term noise. Sub-daily variations in Universal time and polar motion are also measured on a campaign basis. Past data, going back to the 17th century in some cases, are also available.
EOP series are provided by the IERS in bulletins and as permanently updated series (long term earth orientation data).
Text provided by the former Central Bureau. |
A majority of Americans are prepared to support extreme campaign finance reform. According to a new Gallup poll 50 percent of the country would support banning all contributions by individuals and instead have campaigns entirely funded by the government. From Gallup:
This system outlined in this question is actually far to the left of any proposal that has been really discussed in past few election cycles. Most public financing proposals that have been talked about are merely volunteer systems. A candidate would be able to either raise a lot of money from donors or accept a limit on donations in exchange for public financing if they can prove they have a sufficient base of small donors. Few organizations have endorsed or even talked about banning donations completely.
The poll also found that 79 percent support putting a limit on how much members of Congress can raise and spend on a campaign.
The public not only overwhelmingly supports more modest reforms to how campaigns are run, but is prepared to back massive reforms . With support for Congress at record lows, Americans believe real changes might be need to fix the system. |
Manuel's Original El Tepeyac Cafe has been operating in Boyle Heights since 1955, dishing up their massive signature "Hollenbeck" burritos and homestyle Mexican fare. The founder and namesake, Manuel Rojas, operated the restaurant until he passed away in 2013. His daughter, Elena Rojas, now runs the popular eatery.
Enter Sean Martinez. Martinez, an East L.A. native, opened a restaurant two Fridays ago in a shopping center in Mattydale, a small town outside of Syracuse, N.Y. His restaurant is called El Tepeyac Hacienda; its motto is "Born in the heart of East L.A." An article on Syracuse.com covered the opening and the restaurant's owners, Martinez and Rudy Boleslav. Soon thereafter, accusations began to fly on Manuel's El Tepeyac's Facebook page, which posted an accusation that Martinez was "claiming to be part if [sic] the family."
To all our Facebook friends. Please spread the word. There is a guy, Sean Martinez in Mattydale, Central New York who... Posted by Manuel's El Tepeyac on Wednesday, April 8, 2015
This post appeared on the We Are Boyle Heights Facebook page soon thereafter:
Burrito Wars, El Tepeyac of #boyleheights say Martinez and his restaurant, El Tepeyac Hacienda is not affiliated with their company and they believe he shouldn't use the name or the menu items. Posted by We are Boyle Heights on Friday, April 10, 2015
Both posts are appended with dozens of colorful comments from L.A. residents in support of Manuel's El Tepeyac and accusing El Tepeyac Hacienda of assuming the name, look, and signature menu items of the Boyle Heights eatery. A few people launched an aggressive Yelp campaign to bring down El Tepeyac Hacienda's star rating by bombarding it with bad reviews. It has worked extremely effectively so far (while not strictly operating within Yelp's terms of use).
Elena Rojas maintains that Martinez effectively copied her father's restaurant. She says that decades ago, a college student designed the font for the Manuel's El Tepeyac's logo exclusively for use by the restaurant. That logo font, seen here on Manuel's El Tepeyac's website, appears identical to the logo font used by Martinez here on his El Tepeyac Hacienda website.
The two restaurants' menus also bear similarities. Both menus feature "Hollenbeck" and "Okie" burritos (Hollenbeck is the name of the Los Angeles policing division that includes Boyle Heights; Okie refers to Oklahoman Great Depression migrants who settled in California). Some menu descriptions are virtually identical. For example, Manuel's El Tepeyac describes their Hollenbeck de Machaca burrito as:
"shredded beef with sautéed onions, tomatoes, jalapeños & eggs with melted cheddar cheese with rice, beans, & guacamole topped with ranchera sauce."
El Tepeyac Hacienda also has a Hollenbeck de Machaca burrito. It is described similarly, down to the order of listed ingredients:
"shredded beef with sauteed onions, tomatoes, jalapenos, eggs, cheddar cheese, rice, beans and guacamole. Topped in ranchera sauce."
"We've been having trouble with this guy for years," says Rojas. "First he tried to do this in Chino Hills, and now he's doing it again." Rojas claims that Martinez spun off, without permission from the Rojas family, an El Tepeyac in the San Bernardino suburb of Chino Hills. That restaurant closed in 2010, shortly after it opened.
This is more complicated than a simple case of plagiarism or trademark infringement
This is more complicated than a simple case of plagiarism or trademark infringement, however. According to to Rojas, Sean Martinez opened another El Tepeyac — this time with permission from the Rojas family — together with Rojas' brother, Mark (Manuel's son), in Rocklin, Calif., near Sacramento. Rojas says there was a falling out between Martinez and the family subsequent to the business' closing in 2012, less than a year after it opened. Martinez, however, denies involvement with the business in Rocklin and Mark Rojas.
According to Martinez, "There is no issue. I had an agreement with Manuel." Martinez claims he signed an agreement with the now-deceased Manuel Rojas to license the restaurant, putting him legally in the clear. On El Tepeyac Hacienda's Facebook page last Thursday, however, the business has posted: "We have never claimed to be a franchise of the original nor do we share the same name or menu. They did not invent burritos or any other item any Mexican restaurant is making." Business, Martinez says, has been good so far. "It's very busy. We run out of food every day."
El Tepeyac is a reference to the name of a hill in Mexico City where, according to Catholic tradition, Saint Juan Diego met the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531. Adding to the nebulousness of the situation is the fact that El Tepeyac spin-offs are hardly without precedent in Los Angeles.
While Manuel's El Tepeyac, established in 1955, is the oldest, there are at least six restaurants with "Tepeyac" in their names that have no affiliation with Manuel's El Tepayac (which has its original location in Boyle Heights and an additional location in City of Industry). And at least four of those restaurants, Villa Tepeyac (two locations; South El Monte and West Covina), Ray's Tepeyac in Covina, and El Patio Tepeyac in Alhambra, also serve Hollenbeck burritos. |
If you’re making a basic website, the accounts-ui package is a great option to get started with (https://atmospherejs.com/meteor/accounts-ui).
However, if you want to add some custom styles to your sign up and login forms, follow along here.
1. Install some basic packages
meteor add accounts-password meteor add juliancwirko:s-alert
The accounts-password package depends on the accounts-base package, so that will also be installed.
The juliancwirko:s-alert package will show alerts in the corner of the screen. We’ll use this to let a user know they entered an email address or password that’s invalid.
2. Configure the alerts
I put the following code in the main lib folder (in a file called startup.js ) to configure the style of the popup alerts.
Putting it in the lib folder ensures it will be loaded before other files, although that’s not strictly necessary here.
Meteor . startup ( function () { if ( Meteor . isClient ) { sAlert . config ({ effect : 'flip' , position : 'bottom-right' , timeout : 5000 , html : false , onRouteClose : true , stack : true }); } });
If you want to also use the flip animation I’m using here, you have to install a separate package for that:
meteor add juliancwirko:s-alert-flip
You can see all the available options and effects for this package here: http://s-alert.meteor.com/
3. Make some helper functions for validating your forms
We’re going to want to make sure that each user enters a valid email address and password, so we’re just going to write those functions ahead of time.
They’ll be included in the submit event binding for both the Login form and the Sign up form.
checkEmailIsValid = function ( aString ) { aString = aString || '' ; return aString . length > 1 && aString . indexOf ( '@' ) > - 1 ; } checkPasswordIsValid = function ( aString ) { aString = aString || '' ; return aString . length > 7 ; }
Don’t use the var keyword here unless you want these functions to be scoped to the file they’re in. Meteor allows you to omit the var keyword to make a variable global across all files.
I put these function in a helpers.js file in my main lib folder. This way we can use them anywhere on the server or the client.
4. Build the html for the Sign up form
< template name = "SignUp" > < form class = "sign-up-form" > < div > < input class = "email-address-input" type = "text" > < / div > < div > < input class = "password-input" type = "password" > < / div > < div > < button type = "submit" > Sign up < / button > < / div > < / form > < / template >
You’ll probably want to add some more style to this, or at least some label elements and placeholder values for the email and password fields.
5. Build the html for the Login form
The login form is pretty much identical.
< template name = "Login" > < form class = "login-form" > < div > < input class = "email-address-input" type = "text" > < / div > < div > < input class = "password-input" type = "password" > < / div > < div > < button type = "submit" > Login < / button > < / div > < / form > < / template >
6. Set up the event handlers for the Sign up form
Template . SignUp . events ({ 'submit .sign-up-form' : function ( event , template ) { event . preventDefault (); var $form = $ ( event . currentTarget ); var $emailInput = $form . find ( '.email-address-input' ). eq ( 0 ); var $passwordInput = $form . find ( '.password-input' ). eq ( 0 ); var emailAddress = $emailInput . val () || '' ; var password = $passwordInput . val () || '' ; //trim emailAddress = emailAddress . replace ( /^\s*|\s*$/g , '' ); password = password . replace ( /^\s*|\s*$/g , '' ); //validate var isValidEmail = checkEmailIsValid ( emailAddress ); var isValidPassword = checkPasswordIsValid ( password ); if ( ! isValidEmail || ! isValidPassword ) { if ( ! isValidEmail ) { sAlert . error ( 'Invalid email address' ); } if ( ! isValidPassword ) { sAlert . error ( 'Your password must be at least 8 characters long' ); } } else { Accounts . createUser ({ email : emailAddress , password : password }, function ( error ) { if ( error ) { sAlert . error ( 'Account creation failed for unknown reasons :(' ); } else { Router . go ( 'loggedInHome' ); } }); } } });
We grab the form element and wrap it in jQuery and use it to find the inputs we’re interested in. We get the values for the email and password inputs and trim these values of white space (just in case a user enters in their email address followed by a few spaces or something). We check to see if the email and password values are valid using the functions we made in the 3rd step and show an alert to the user if they’re invalid. If they’re valid, we create a new account with the Accounts.createUser function. If that returns an error, we surface an error for the user. If it’s successful, we redirect them to a new page
Some notes
We’re using the sAlert function from the alert package we installed earlier to show alerts.
We’re also redirecting the user to a new route after they sign up, using Iron Router. This is a route and template you have to set up separately. I recommend using the iron-meteor scaffolding tool (https://github.com/iron-meteor/iron-cli).
6. Set up the event handlers for the Login form
Template . Login . events ({ 'submit .login-form' : function ( event , template ) { event . preventDefault (); var $form = $ ( event . currentTarget ); var $emailInput = $form . find ( '.email-address-input' ). eq ( 0 ); var $passwordInput = $form . find ( '.password-input' ). eq ( 0 ); var emailAddress = $emailInput . val () || '' ; var password = $passwordInput . val () || '' ; //trim emailAddress = emailAddress . replace ( /^\s*|\s*$/g , '' ); password = password . replace ( /^\s*|\s*$/g , '' ); //validate var isValidEmail = checkEmailIsValid ( emailAddress ); var isValidPassword = checkPasswordIsValid ( password ); if ( ! isValidEmail || ! isValidPassword ) { if ( ! isValidEmail ) { sAlert . error ( 'Invalid email address' ); } if ( ! isValidPassword ) { sAlert . error ( 'Your password must be at least 8 characters long' ); } } else { Meteor . loginWithPassword ( emailAddress , password , function ( error ) { if ( error ) { sAlert . error ( 'Account login failed for unknown reasons :(' ); } else { Router . go ( 'loggedInHome' ); } }); } } });
This event handler is almost identical to the last one, except for the selector used to get the submit event on the form (it’s now submit .login-form instead of submit .sign-up-form ). Also, the SignUp template uses the Accounts.createUser function, while the Login template uses the Meteor.loginWithPassword function.
These functions have slightly different APIs ( Accounts.createUser takes an object for its first argument and Meteor.loginWithPassword just takes three flat arguments), so be careful with that.
Finishing up
This is a really basic example. For a full-featured application, you’ll also want to allow the user to reset their password.
Look into Accounts.forgotPassword and Accounts.resetPassword for more information about how to do this.
There’s also a good write-up on this over on Ben McMahen’s blog: http://blog.benmcmahen.com/post/41741539120/building-a-customized-accounts-ui-for-meteor |
On a decrepit block of Broadway in downtown Los Angeles, hidden behind a dilapidated, aging façade, lies the ghost of a palatial dining hall filled with towering redwoods and a gurgling stream. Known as Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria, this terraced wonderland recalls a different time, when cafeterias were classy and downtown living was tops. Against all odds, the Brookdale outlasted attacks from notorious L.A. mobsters and decades of neighborhood decline. Over the last few years, Clifton’s has been closed while staging its comeback, finally being restored to its original Depression-era grandeur.
“At its height, the Brookdale could seat up to 15,000 people a day. No other restaurant on Earth could do that.”
As the last jewel of a 20th-century cafeteria empire, the Brookdale’s unique vision of paradise has earned a spot in the hearts of many longtime Angelenos. Real-estate developer and entrepreneur Andrew Meieran, the restaurant’s current owner, says he was first drawn to the idea of rehabilitating Clifton’s almost a decade ago, enticed by its quirkiness and his disbelief that it was still in operation. “I just became fascinated by it. It’s this wonderful link to old L.A.,” he says.
The overhaul of the Brookdale restaurant, which Meieran began after purchasing it in 2010, is meant to restore many of its original details while also updating the business for a more modern L.A. “We’re bringing Clifton’s back to the way it originally was, to be the center of the community,” says Meieran. “It was a place where everybody could meet, a place that fueled artistic passions. You had everyone from Jack Kerouac to Ray Bradbury eating here. People were inspired by this complete fantasy environment.”
Clifford and Nelda Clinton opened their first restaurant in 1931, on the site of a run-down Boos Brothers cafeteria at 618 Olive Street, naming it Clifton’s by combining Clifford’s two names. “It was during the height of the Great Depression when we came to Los Angeles from Berkeley,” explains Don Clinton, Clifford Clinton’s son.
“My dad had grown up in San Francisco, working with his father in the Clinton Cafeteria. He sold his interest to his brother-in-law and cousin, and moved south because his ideas were a little more liberal, exotic—progressive even. Dad wanted to feed people even though they couldn’t afford it. If they were hungry, they’d be welcome just the same.” In the thick of the Depression, Clifford Clinton built his restaurant as a place of refuge for those unable to afford a hot meal (one of the neon signs out front read “PAY WHAT YOU WISH”). Soon after the first Clifton’s opened, customers began referring to it as the “Cafeteria of the Golden Rule.”
Having grown up in a family of strong Christian faith, Clinton was taken on family missionary trips to China, and was profoundly affected by the poverty he witnessed. “As a boy, my dad spent time in China on two different trips with his parents,” Don says. “The last trip was when he was 10 or 11 years old, and he saw so much starvation—mothers trying to feed their children by giving them roots or mud to fill them up. Dad was so impressed that he vowed if he were able, he would feed people who were hungry. That was his motivation, the feeling that we were put on Earth to do something good for others, and he carried that theme pretty much throughout his life.”
In an era when profit-oriented businesses often attempt to cast themselves as philanthropic ventures (see the conceit of certain internet entrepreneurs, or delusional luxury retailers like Restoration Hardware), Clifton’s original mission comes as a breath of fresh air. At the Clintons’ second restaurant, the Penny Caveteria—named for its basement-level locale—meals cost only one cent. They were free if you used one of Clifton’s redeemable tickets, which were frequently given out to the homeless.
Long before the Civil Rights movement allowed black Americans to freely patronize white-run establishments, Clifton’s restaurants were integrated. In response to a complaint about his progressive policy, Clinton wrote in his weekly newsletter, “If colored skin is a passport to death for our liberties, then it is a passport to Clifton’s.” Regardless of income or skin color, Clinton wanted everyone who ate at his restaurants to be completely satisfied, so the phrase “Dine free unless delighted” was printed on every check. Though many patrons ate for free, enough customers gave significantly more than they were asked to keep the business afloat.
“The Clintons were true missionaries, in that they wanted to show by deed and example, and did a fantastic job with it,” says Meieran. “They offered self-improvement classes; they provided a barber and ways to clean up if you couldn’t afford them yourself. It was all about the community and providing help, as opposed to just making money. That was never the goal.” Working with local doctors and pharmacists, the company created a fully paid medical plan for its staff. After surgery or a hospital stay, recuperation was provided in the sprawling Clinton family home in the Los Feliz neighborhood of L.A.
Eventually, one of the Caveteria’s regular patrons offered Clinton the chance to open a location in his building at 648 South Broadway. In 1935, this spot would become the Brookdale, the largest cafeteria in the world. Only a few years after opening the Brookdale, the Clintons redesigned the space as a lavish distraction from the country’s financial hardships, with an over-the-top themed environment that made it one of L.A.’s new hotspots.
The Brookdale’s interior was inspired after California’s great national parks, with columns made from actual redwoods, rocks and foliage bursting from the walls, and a stream running right through the dining room. “It was copied after Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz mountains not far from Felton, California,” Don explains, referencing a Prohibition-era hotel whose Brook Room was built around live redwoods and a running stream. “My dad spent a lot of years around there as a boy, and he loved those redwoods, so he wanted to replicate that as interior décor.”
Today, it’s hard to imagine cafeterias as groundbreaking, since they’re now known for drawing the senior-citizen crowd with bland, overcooked food and hospital-style furnishings. But in the 1930s, cafeteria dining was a completely modern innovation, representing the freshest fare available.
“If colored skin is a passport to death for our liberties, then it is a passport to Clifton’s.”
“The cafeteria was a very European idea, and it grew out of the Scandinavian smorgasbord, brought to the United States in the 1880s,” explains Meieran. “Cafeterias originally served top-end, high-quality food because their money was spent on the product instead of the service. Since people were serving themselves, they didn’t have to pay the wait staff as much, so they could spend more money on food.
“In addition, it had to be good because it was actually out there in front of you, and customers would never pick items if they looked or smelled bad. On a normal restaurant menu, you don’t have any idea what you’re going to get until it finally arrives. But in a cafeteria, the food is right up front and personal. And if it don’t look good, you ain’t gonna buy it.”
According to Meieran, the standard Clifton’s menu has changed significantly since the company’s birth. “I actually found all the original recipes for Clifton’s, all the way back to the opening,” Meieran says. “In fact, the recipes go back to the family’s cafeterias in San Francisco, in the late ’20s. It really began with much more extensive, high-quality, eclectic fair. I have pictures of Clifton’s in the 1930s, when they were serving lobster, whole lobsters. They had them all laid out, they had cracked crab, and this whole raw bar. It was beautiful, just incredible.”
“Cafeterias became the original fast food,” he adds, “and they allowed people to time their days better, instead of worrying if they’d be served quickly at a normal restaurant. It was the first real convenience food. The other big factor was that you could serve many more people: At its height, Clifton’s Brookdale location could seat up to 15,000 people a day. No other restaurant on Earth could do that.” Besides their forested main dining hall, the Brookdale also included a tiny, two-seat chapel for spiritual reflecting plus a separate top floor with a more traditional, red-and-white interior.
The Brookdale was such a success, the Clintons decided to give their original restaurant a makeover, transforming it into the Pacific Seas in 1939—a tropical wonderland filled with waterfalls, palm trees, neon lights, tiki furnishings, and a Rain Room, where a fake thunderstorm occurred every 20 minutes. Clinton called the restaurant “a poor man’s nightclub.” Never one to overlook their religious commitments, the Clintons paid homage to the biblical Garden of Gethsemane in a small basement room.
Clifton’s over-the-top interiors also had influential admirers. “Welton Beckett, who designed the original Brookdale, was best friends with Walt Disney,” says Meieran. “Several people who knew him said that Disney went to Clifton’s and was inspired by the design. There had already been fantasy architecture, but Clifton’s took it to a new level.” Disneyland, the pinnacle of fantasy environments, wouldn’t open for another two decades.
Even as Clifton’s was succeeding via the family’s idealistic efforts, the city of Los Angeles was awash with corruption, particularly following the election of Mayor Frank Shaw in 1933. Instead of taking a cut and turning a blind eye to organized crime as previous politicians had, Shaw streamlined the city’s mob rackets, thereby increasing his own payoff. Along with his brother, whom he appointed secretary, Shaw began selling off city appointments and set the going bribe rates for illegal activities like prostitution and gambling.
Clifford Clinton never had his sights set on politics, but in 1936, a city supervisor asked for his opinion on the food-service problems at L.A. County General Hospital. True to his nature, Clinton performed a detailed inquiry that revealed huge misappropriations, resulting in the dismissal of the hospital director. The following year, Clinton joined the county Grand Jury as chairman of a committee to investigate vice. Using his customer base as a huge insider network, Clinton tipped the jury off to L.A.’s widespread corruption, demanding a thorough investigation. Only when they ignored his request did Clinton realize how deep the corruption really ran.
“There was quite the gangster element coming in from the east and becoming more established,” says Don. “Once dad was on the grand jury, he had a badge and credentials to push for change. There were lots of protected houses of prostitution, gambling, and other things that were clearly against the law, but many of the police were being paid off to just wink at that.”
“There had already been fantasy architecture, but Clifton’s took it to a new level.”
Not only was the mayor’s office in on these shady dealings, but the local news conglomerate, controlled by the Chandler family of the “Los Angeles Times,” plus District Attorney Buron Fitts and Chief of Police James E. Davis were all part of the plot. People who attempted to expose their nefarious behavior were blackmailed, or sometimes just murdered.
Yet Clinton didn’t back down. Instead, he filed a minority complaint to the grand jury and established the Citizens Independent Vice Investigating Committee (CIVIC). Clinton soon had evidence of nearly 600 brothels, 1,800 bookies, and 300 gambling houses. In response, his businesses were suddenly attacked: Notices for phony sanitation violations and false taxes were delivered, new permits were denied, stink bombs were left in kitchens and bathrooms, food-poisoning complaints poured in, and buses full of supposedly “undesirable” customers were dropped off at the cafeterias’ entrances.
Things quickly went from bad to worse. In October, a bomb was detonated in the kitchen of the Clinton home. “It was just a couple of days before Halloween in 1937,” says Don, “when the corrupt elements of the police department put a bomb under our house. I was about 11 or 12, and I was sleeping with my brother and sister on the outdoor sleeping porch. The bomb was supposed to be a warning that our dad was getting too close trying to uncover all this corruption in Los Angeles.”
Luckily, nobody was hurt, but only a few months later, a car-bomb critically injured former police chief Harry Raymond, who was working as an investigator for Clinton’s CIVIC group. Shortly after, the director of LAPD’s Special Intelligence Unit was arrested for the crime when bomb parts and other evidence were found at his home.
Clinton still wanted to take down Shaw, so he pushed for a mayoral recall. Despite being blocked from all major news outlets, he found a small radio station that would broadcast CIVIC’s findings four times a day. “My dad finally initiated a recall movement, the first recall of a big-city mayor in America. It made a lot of ripples,” says Don. Though mob bosses tried everything to slow the campaign, Clinton gathered the necessary signatures, and the city overwhelmingly supported his new candidate, Judge Fletcher Bowron, who got nearly double the votes Shaw did.
After winning his war against the Shaw regime, Clinton began working with Dr. Henry Borsook, a biochemist at Caltech, to create a cheap meal supplement to fight hunger. “He went to Caltech in the late ’30s to develop this food product using a derivative from soybeans,” says Don. Borsook’s research led to Multi-Purpose Food (MPF), a high-protein supplement that cost only three cents per meal. Clinton went on to found Meals for Millions in 1946, which eventually produced and distributed millions of pounds of MPF to relief agencies around the globe.
By the late 1940s, Don had taken over the Clifton’s business with his brother, Edmond, and his sister, Jean, and they continued expanding their cafeteria empire to 11 different locations in Southern California area. As Meieran explains, the décor was no longer limited to kitsch. “One was a sort of European garden, and another one was an Etruscan villa-esque place,” says Meieran.
“There was a very space-age, modern Clifton’s fitting with the whole Googie-architecture style. A couple were very small, and those didn’t really have themes. But Clifton’s Silver Spoon location is a good example: Before, the building had been an old jewelry store, so the Clifton’s interior utilized the existing architecture and location in the Jewelry District, repurposing the jewelry cabinets as display cases.”
The Brookdale building was originally constructed in 1904 as a furniture store, signs of which contractors discovered during the most recent renovation, like a column painted with directions to different store departments. Though the restaurant has undergone alterations every few decades over the last 80 years, many interior elements remain virtually unchanged.
In fact, Meieran’s crew discovered a neon light sealed within the walls, likely powered continuously since 1935. “It was embedded like 8 inches into the wall, and closed in with a piece of plywood and then sheetrock and tile,” says Meieran. The six rows of neon tubing were originally installed to backlight a painted woodland scene in the basement restroom, and then accidentally walled-over in 1949 when part of the space was converted to a storage area.
“The 1960 renovation was when they covered the old façade, and tore out a lot of the interior elements,” explains Meieran. “They painted the woodwork battleship gray and white. They took out the old water wheel and the old wishing well.”
During its prime, the Brookdale was located in the busiest neighborhood of the biggest boomtown on the West Coast, but L.A.’s vast suburban expansion and crumbling transit infrastructure hit its downtown hard. “From the mid ’50s, it started declining, and by the time you get to roughly 1965, development was in full retreat,” Meieran says. “L.A. had an unlimited amount of space at the time: You could build all the way to the beaches in every direction, and to the desert in the other side. And you had all these different centers—places like Century City and parts of Santa Monica and Beverly Hills were booming.
“People and industry started leaving the old-school Financial District because it was too far, a bit dirty, and there were more homeless people. And as traffic got worse, it was harder to get here, and of course, they took out the bloody transit system. By the time you’re in the mid-’60s, downtown was no longer the city’s center.”
Even with its wild interior décor, the Clifton’s chain was still hit hard by shifts in the food industry, and the Pacific Seas location became the first branch to close in 1960. Clifford Clinton passed away in 1969, but his children kept the restaurants going as long as they could. “As leases ran out and fast food took away more and more of the youngsters, cafeterias became a little passé, and we just got down to the final one on Broadway,” Don says. Today, the Brookdale sits like a bizarre time capsule on a block of fast-food joints, cheap electronics stores, and signs reading “CASH 4 GOLD.”
So how did the Brookdale manage to survive these turbulent times? “It was such an incredible concept and so well executed that the Brookdale maintained itself through a lot of inertia and public goodwill,” says Meieran. “They also adapted to a different economic environment as downtown shifted to a different demographic. They started catering to the neighborhood by lowering the quality of food and lowering their prices, or at least maintaining prices when everything else went up. When we bought the place, it still serving 25-cent coffee, in an era of $3 or $4 coffees. But the quality was commensurate with 25-cent coffee. It was a great place that was slowly evaporating.”
“I think its reputation and ambiance and unique décor were all pulling factors,” Don says, though he admits that toward the end, much of the clientele was made up of lifetime supporters rather than new customers. “Young people didn’t like cafeterias because they had enough of cafeterias, either in the military or in school, and they didn’t care for them very much.”
Whether or not it was hip to eat there, the Clinton family managed to keep meals available to those who couldn’t afford them throughout the Brookdale’s many decades of operation. “We tried to keep that up until the very end. In honor of my dad’s commitment, we felt that it made good sense, and it was the right thing to do, giving back to the community that’s supporting you and having empathy for the down and out. It always worked out.”
Meieran hopes that the current rehab of the Brookdale will draw in a younger generation, as they bring back many original features and even add some new, over-the-top designs. “Clifford Clinton always described it as a forest oasis in the urban jungle,” says Meieran. “We’re going to expand that to include parts of the Pacific Seas and other thematic elements, but I would say it’s an urban fantasy night-life spot and restaurant. The idea is to reinvent and reinvigorate the cafeteria.”
As for the menu, Meieran calls it a “contemporized version of classic cafeteria fare.” In addition to standard comfort foods like macaroni and cheese, Meieran wants the broad nature of his cafeteria’s menu to reflect the eclectic cultures that make up Los Angeles, ranging from Chinese food to Mexican dishes. That should go over well with the Brookdale’s longtime customers, as Don remembers enchiladas being a top seller, moving more than 1,000 orders during an average lunchtime.
Despite several delays, Meieran says the new Brookdale, in some form, will be open within six months. “Almost daily,” he adds, “I am blown away by its history, by its infrastructure, by these weird, little, quirky things, or by the people that come out of the woodwork and say, ‘I went with my grandmother in the ’40s.’ When I first got involved with the restaurant, there was a guy who was 101 and had been at the opening of Clifton’s in the ’30s, and he was still coming in once a month, always walking in on his own power. The barrage of stories is astonishing.”
(Special thanks to Chris Jepsen, Jesse Monsour, and J. Eric Lynxwiler for the use of their images.) |
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The measurement setup that was used by Defkalion Green Technologies (DGT) on July 23, 2013, in order to show in live streaming that the Hyperion reactor was producing excess heat, does not measure the heat output correctly, and the error is so large that the reactor might not have worked at all.
This is the conclusion of a report (download here) by Luca Gamberale, former CTO of the Italian company Mose srl that at that time was part of the joint venture Defkalion Europe, owned together with DGT.
The report is based on experiments, performed mainly after the live streaming, using the same setup but without the reactor being active. Yet, the experiments showed that it was possible to obtain a measured thermal power of up to about 17 kW, while the input electric power was about 2.5 kW.
I asked Gamberale if this erroneous result could have been present without DGT realizing it.
“To obtain this effect it’s necessary to operate two valves in a certain way, so you need to have the intention to do it,” Gamberale told me.
Those of you who have read my book ‘An Impossible Invention’ know that Defkalion was an early partner to Rossi, supposed to build applications using Rossi’s reactor as a heat source. When Rossi ended the agreement with Defkalion in August 2011, Defkalion stated that operations continued, and later Defkalion claimed to have developed its own similar technology, producing heat from a reaction involving nickel and hydrogen.
Test results and measurement data were never disclosed, but in July 2013 Defkalion finally decided to make a public demo, live streamed during the cold fusion conference ICCF 18. I was present at the demo on July 23 in Milan, Italy, and referred my impressions in two blog posts here and here, trying to be as objective and neutral as possible, since I believe that my readers should draw their own conclusions.
“If you believe the values presented…”, I wrote, and that was also the main problem. It was not easy in a short time frame to verify possible errors or hidden mechanisms, specifically since Defkalion didn’t accept changes in the setup, and therefore it was not evident that you should believe the values. I reported them as presented though.
Gamberale describes in the report that before the demo, Mose had proposed a series of improvements to the measurement setup in order to make it more reliable but that DGT did not allow these changes. He notes that the lack of cooperation made it necessary to carry out independent verification tests.
The tests focused on a possible malfunction of the digital flow meter used to measure water flow in the setup. It was shown that by decreasing the input water flow to almost zero, the flow meter started to make fast movements back and forth, and since the direction of the flow was not registered by the flow meter, these fast movements resulted in a reading corresponding to a relatively high flow, although the flow was almost zero.
Since the calculation of thermal heat was based on how much water was heated by the reactor, this measurement error resulted in a large calculated thermal heat output, while the actual thermal heat was much lower.
The explanation is thoroughly discussed in the report. Most important, however, is the fact that Gamberale with the experiment has proved that the setup could produce readings of large amounts of excess heat, without the reactor running, and that any result from the setup showing excess heat therefore is unreliable.
Gamberale explained to me that he presented these findings to Defkalion’s president Alexander Xanthoulis, and to Defkalion’s engineer Stavros Amaxas who was operating the setup at the public demo.
According to Gamberale, Xanthoulis said “Ok, we don’t know, this could be possible, but in any case we are sure that the reaction exists”.
Gamberale described Amaxas’ reaction to be much stronger. Defkalion’s CTO John Hadjichristos was not present at that meeting.
In his report, Gamberale also notes that Mose srl has given DGT some time to provide evidence that its technology is real, despite the findings presented, but that after several months, no answer has been given.
As I write in my book, Gamberale and the president of Mose srl, Franco Cappiello, who told me that he had invested €1 million in the joint venture, decided to put all commercial activity on hold until Defkalion could carry out a measurement that dispelled their doubts. They later closed Defkalion Europe altogether.
I called Alexander Xanthoulis and asked for a comment. He didn’t dispute the result of the report but pointed out that the calorimetric set-up at the Milan demo was not made by Defkalion but by Mose. Gamberale confirmed this but explained that the set-up was made according to strict instructions from Defkalion, and that when Mose added some component, such as another independent flow meter or another method for measuring thermal heat output, these additional components were immediately removed by Defkalion personel without discussions.
Xanthoulis also said that he didn’t understand why Gamberale hadn’t asked these questions earlier during months of contacts and visits by Mose at Defkalion’s offices in Canada, and by Defkalion in Milan. Gamberale explained that he had tried to get the information he needed but that he was never allowed to make the measurements he asked for. Instead he described his role as one of an observer.
Finally Xanthoulis pointed out that the flow calorimetry measurements (measurement of thermal energy output by heating flowing water) were not important, but that the most important measurements were on the bare reactor, calculating the output thermal energy by measuring temperatures on various points of the reactor without heating any water (you then use a law called Stefan–Boltzmann law). He told me that these measurements had been sent to Gamberale twice.
“He sent an Excel spreadsheet with no explanation including a couple of incomprehensible graphs in which it was not even written what it was about. I felt almost offended. I’m asking a justification of an abnormal result regarding a claim of a nuclear reaction that would change the history of the world, and I get an Excel sheet without any specification of what it is,” Gamberale commented.
I got the spreadsheets from Gamberale. They contain temperature measurements in degrees Celsius on various points of the reactor and can be downloaded here (sheet 1 and sheet 2). I know they are accurate since Xanthoulis sent me one identical document, asking me not to publish it.
I have studied Gamberale’s report and I find it both detailed and convincing. It should make Defkalion’s case difficult.
Gamberale doesn’t accuse Defkalion openly for fraud, but he makes it clear that the Milan demo presented no evidence that the technology is working.
The doubts I have had towards Defkalion, described in my book, are obviously increased through the report. Some wondered about the uncertainty regarding Defkalion’s technology that I expressed recently in an interview by John Maguire at Q-niverse. One important reason was Gamberale’s report, which I had already received by then.
And while I write in the last chapter of the book that it’s hard to assess Defkalion, but that if its claims can be trusted, Defkalion might have made the most progress among those working with LENR technology based on nickel and hydrogen, I now find it less likely.
Alexander Xanthoulis still claims, however, that the development of the new reactor is on track and that according to the plans it will be certified with regard to safety and security by a Canadian certifying body corresponding to US Underwriters’ Laboratory within the next months. After that, Defkalion could start licensing the technology to partners. National licenses were previously offered at EUR 40.5 million, and though Xanthoulis told me that five contracts have been signed he also said that no money had yet been transferred.
But Defkalion will now have to present solid evidence to convince anyone that its technology is valid, and also let those people make changes to the test protocol and to the measurement set-up, if it’s necessary in order to eliminate uncertainties.
Gamberale told me that the findings he describes in the report could bring damage to serious research activities within LENR, but he also told me that he personally still believes that LENR is an important scientific and technological area and that he is getting involved in two other projects in this domain.
– – – –
New reviews and interviews:
The magazine Infinite Energy has released an issue featuring comments on the book ‘An Impossible Invention’ by researchers, experts and Nobel Laureate Brian Josephson. Plus an interview with me. Read more.
John Maguire at the blog Q-niverse has published a streaming audio interview with me regarding the book. Listen here.
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This entry was posted in Learning, Research, WordPress Security on April 19, 2016 by Dan Moen 29 Replies
We often talk to site owners who are surprised that their sites are targeted by attackers. Most of them assume that if there isn’t any juicy data to steal, like credit card numbers, that compromising their site is a worthless exercise. Unfortunately they are wrong. Aside from data, a compromised site’s visitors can be monetized in various malicious ways. The web server can be used to run malicious software and host content and the reputation of the domain name and IP address can be leveraged.
Last month we ran a survey that included the following open ended question for people who reported that their site had been compromised:
What did the hackers do to your site?
We received a total of 873 responses that could be categorized, which we did by hand. The chart below reflects the results. Many of the responses described multiple categories, so the percentages on the chart below deliberately add up to greater than 100%.
We did not include categories for “installed backdoor” or “installed malware”. We consider that to be more of a means to an end. Instead we focused on answering the question, “what’s in it for the attacker?”.
As you can see from the chart there are a wide variety of things that attackers are doing with compromised WordPress sites. Let’s take a look at each of them, so we can better understand the motive behind the attacks that we are constantly defending against.
Defaced Site / Took Offline
In some cases hackers replace your content with their own. The most common was political content from terrorist groups and the like. The next most common was hackers simply bragging that they hacked your site. In all of these cases the attacker is doing absolutely nothing to obscure what they have done, anyone who visits the site immediately knows that you’ve been hacked.
In other cases the attackers just destroy your site in some way, taking it offline. Based on what we see when performing forensic research on hacked sites, in the majority of these cases the attacker just screwed up what they were doing and accidentally took your site down.
What’s in it for the attacker?
For the attackers who replace your site with political propaganda, your site is just free advertising for their cause. Those that brag about taking your site down are looking for recognition.
Send Spam
Spam email continues to be a huge issue. According to Statistica, 54.4% of all email traffic on the internet was spam in December of 2015. According to our survey respondents, 19.8% of compromised WordPress sites are used to send email spam.
In many cases the site owner was not aware that it was happening for quite some time. In some cases they notice a slow down in site performance or a spike in server utilization that tips them off. Or their host recognizes it and alerts them.
Unfortunately a very high percentage don’t find out until their domain has been blacklisted by spam watchdog services like Spamhaus. If you depend on email for communication with your customers or others it can have devastating consequences.
What’s in it for the attacker?
The attacker gets two huge benefits. First they get to use the server resources that you’re paying for free of charge. Second, until they ruin your reputation, their email delivery benefits tremendously from originating from your domain and IP address. Ultimately they are trying to get people to click through to their malicious websites.
SEO Spam
There are a number of ways attackers can leverage your website to improve their search engine rankings. The first is to simply host pages on your domain, accruing the benefits of your Domain Authority and clean reputation. Example page below.
The next is to plant links throughout your site to the site(s) they want to give an SEO boost. Since backlinks are still the most important SEO ranking factor, an attacker who compromises a large number of sites can game search engine rankings in a big way.
Many of our respondents used the term “pharma hack” to describe this type of attack, because it has recently been used a lot to boost the rankings of pharmaceutical sales sites.
What’s in it for the attacker?
As I’m sure most of you know, ranking well for popular search terms is a great way to drive traffic to websites. By gaming the system with SEO spam, attackers are able to divert traffic away from legitimate sites toward their own.
Malicious Redirect
Redirects are an incredibly effective way for attackers to funnel traffic to malicious websites. The unsuspecting user doesn’t have to click on a hyperlink or advertisement for it to work, they are taken there directly.
Sometimes the attacker will take a very aggressive approach, redirecting all traffic to a malicious site or sites. But in many cases the attackers will employ measures to avoid detection, such as only redirecting some URL requests, and in some cases only activating the redirect for specific browsers or device types.
What’s in it for the attacker?
The motive here is simply to drive traffic to their malicious content.
Host Phishing Page
Phishing pages attempt to fool the visitor into providing sensitive information. In some cases they impersonate a bank or retailer and try to get you to give them valuable information like credit card numbers directly. In others they try to capture your username and password to various sites, including your WordPress site if you’re not careful.
What’s in it for the attacker?
The value of your credit card number is obvious. They can use other data to break into important online accounts, use it for social engineering or spear phishing attacks or to steal your identity.
Distribute Malware
Once they have compromised your site, attackers can install malware that in turn installs malware on your website visitor’s computers without their knowledge. This is an incredibly scary proposition for you as a site owner.
If Google detects that it is happening they will flag your site via their safe browsing program. This will cause your SEO traffic to drop significantly. For more details please read our recent blog post on the impact of a hacked website on SEO. Worse than that, site visitors that are infected will not be happy with you.
The impact to your reputation could be significant and long lasting. Luckily only 2.9% of respondents reported this.
What’s in it for the attacker?
Installing malware on hundreds or thousands of your site visitor’s computers gives the attacker direct access to steal information or wreak havoc on them.
Steal User Data
Given that most people we talk to assume that attackers are interested in stealing their data, we were surprised to learn that only 1.1% of our respondents reported it happening.
We think the main reason is that the majority of WordPress sites do not store sensitive data beyond user credentials for that site and maybe email addresses. It would also be very difficult for the owner of a hacked site to detect data theft if it occurred, so the numbers are likely understated.
What’s in it for the attacker?
Stolen user credentials could be used to regain entry to the site, even if the site has been cleaned. The username / password combinations can also be attempted on other sites in hopes that the user is repeating use of passwords.
Stolen email addresses can be used for spamming. Obviously more sensitive information like credit card numbers would be even more valuable.
Attack Site
In some cases an attacker will decide to use your web server as a platform to launch attacks on other websites. This is relatively rare based on our respondents, who only reported this happening 0.7% of the time.
What’s in it for the attacker?
The attacker gets to use your server free of charge for their malicious activities. They also are much more likely to slip past their targets’ defenses with the attack originating from your domain and IP address. At least until they ruin your reputation.
Ransomware
Ransomware is malicious software that blocks access to your website and demands that you pay a ransom in return for having access restored. This kind of attack has been receiving a lot of attention on blogs and in the press recently. So we were surprised to have only 0.6% of respondents report it.
What’s in it for the attacker?
If you don’t have backups that you were able to keep out of the hands of the attacker, you may decide that paying the ransom is worth it.
Host Malicious Content
Hackers will very often use your web server to host malicious files that they can call from other servers. They are essentially quietly using your hosting account as a file server.
What’s in it for the attacker?
The attacker gets to store their files free of charge on a server with a domain and IP address that have a squeaky clean reputation.
Referrer Spam
If you use Google Analytics you are likely familiar with referrer spam. Referrer spam is bot traffic to your site set up to look like it is coming from a fake referrer. The spammer is trying to get the website owner to check out where the traffic is coming from, driving traffic to the site.
What’s in it for the attacker?
As with a lot of the nefarious attacker activities we have already described, they get to use your server free of charge under the cover of your pristine IP address. Their ultimate goal is to drive traffic to one of their websites for reasons that often turn out to be malicious.
Conclusion
If you were of the opinion that your site couldn’t possibly be of interest to hackers, we hope that this post has changed your mind and given you some insight into their motives and methods.
Regardless of what you use your site for, how much traffic it gets or how inexpensive your hosting plan is, an attacker can figure out how to make use of it if they can break in. To learn about how attackers gain access to WordPress sites, check out our blog post from last month. |
For reviews of most businesses, there’s Yelp. But once you pass beyond that magical threshold known as the airline check-in counter, you enter a bustling world of commerce not typically covered by Web sites.
On Monday, GateGuru, an application for the iPhone developed by Dan Gellert, a former associate in Time Warner’s venture investment group, set out to solve that problem. The software is targeted at the airport-hopping road warriors like the character George Clooney plays in the new film “Up in the Air.”
“Despite there being $6 billion in annual spending at airports and a billion hours spent within the top 85 airports alone, there’s nothing to help people navigate the airport marketplace,” Mr. Gellert said.
GateGuru takes a direct feed from the top United States airports with information about all of their bookshops, restaurants and other concessions, both before security and after, and then it asks users to submit reviews. A version for $1.99 in Apple’s App Store allows people to navigate the nation’s top 85 airports; a free version lets a user pick two airports.
With the app only live for one day, reviews are only now trickling in. For example, a user named Joeme writes that the fare at the cocktail lounge Ozone-Bos in Boston Logan’s B terminal “is about as good as airport food gets” and gives the establishment four stars.
In Terminal 4 of J.F.K. in New York, Mr. Gellert himself gives the KFC Express one sad star: “So subpar unfortunately. Hit the McDonald’s or something post-security.”
Mr. Gellert believes that as airlines cut back on in-flight service, more people are spending time and money in airports and are looking for a guide like GateGuru. “You have a captive audience. If they provide them with decent amenities, they actually do spend money.” |
Mobileye Vision Technologies has created a self-driving system for an Audi A7 car, John Markoff writes in The New York Times.
It is capable only of driving in a single lane at freeway speeds, as well as identifying traffic lights and automatically slowing, stopping and then returning to highway speeds.
But by blending advanced computer-vision techniques with low-cost video cameras, the company is demonstrating how quickly autonomous driving can be commercialized without the expense of laser range-finders called lidars and other advanced systems.
By this summer, the first limited Mobileye systems offering a feature known as “traffic jam assist” will begin arriving from more than five major automobile makers. Those cars will drive safely in stop-and-go traffic, but will require that drivers keep their hands on the steering wheel.
But more advanced systems will be introduced as early as 2016, according to Mobileye. |
A father in a small North Island town has raised smiles around the country with a simple Facebook post thanking a "rubbish truck guy."
The post said thank you to the rubbish collector who routinely waves at Aaron Brown's two-year-old son in the Waikato town of Tuakau.
His wife Elaine shared her husband's message to a community page, the Franklin Grapevine, where it quickly attracted thousands of likes and hundreds of shares in a day.
Facebook Parents Elaine and Aaron Brown.
The note to the nameless rubbish truck guy said the family did not know the man's name or where he was from but that changed when Alex was born.
READ MORE:
* 'It was an accident': dog owner
* Pregnant woman left with bloody wounds after dog attack
* Two of four dogs in attacks not registered
Facebook The Facebook post has been widely shared.
"We don't know your story and you don't know ours.
"I never took any notice of you over the years and like everyone else just expect our wheelie bins to be picked every Tuesday morning and left again in a tidy row for us to put away.
"Two years ago it all changed.
"All of a sudden it was a highlight for us. Every Tuesday morning we hear your big truck coming and the excitement begins. Even before he could walk or talk our son would stop what he was doing and make his way to the front door.
"I would take him out side and he would look on in amazement as you expertly guided your truck around the cul de sac and picked up each bin with what has become known as your crocodile arm.
"Now you could just carry on oblivious to a man and his son in the driveway but no.
"What you do is take a small moment of your time and wave and say out the window hi boy! With the biggest smile. It took Alex about a year but then the day he waved back you were so happy and it made Alex laugh.
"Now every Tuesday morning, Alex runs to the door and leads me out so he can watch and wave at you and as always, you wave back with a huge smile.
"This morning you even out did yourself. I take Alex to daycare every morning and some mornings are harder than others. Today he didn't want to get out of the car when we got there. Then he heard your truck. He instantly wanted out so he could see you. As you drove past you recognised us. You didn't have to, but you did. Again a huge smile and wave.
"Alex waved back and was so excited to go into daycare and tell everyone about you.
"So I thank you Tuakau rubbish truck guy. You might think it's nothing but it makes Alex so happy!!"
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Iran’s Global Image Mostly Negative
Israel, Arab States Share Unfavorable View of Middle East Neighbor
As the June 30 deadline for negotiations over its nuclear program approaches, a new Pew Research Center poll finds that attitudes toward Iran are mostly negative worldwide. Majorities or pluralities in 31 of 40 countries surveyed hold an unfavorable opinion of the Islamic Republic. And in several Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and Asia, ratings have declined considerably in recent years.
June also marks the second anniversary of the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who generally receives low marks across the Middle Eastern nations polled.
These are among the key findings of a new survey by the Pew Research Center conducted in 40 countries among 45,435 respondents from March 25 to May 27, 2015.
Low Marks for Iran in Middle East, Other Regions
Iran is viewed negatively by most nations surveyed, with a global median of 58% saying they have an unfavorable opinion of the country that borders Afghanistan in the east and Iraq in the west. Pakistan is the only country polled where a majority (57%) views Iran favorably.
In the Middle East, roughly nine-in-ten Israelis (92%) hold a negative opinion of Iran, including nearly all Israeli Jews (97%) and more than six-in-ten Israeli Arabs (63%).
Attitudes are nearly as negative in Jordan, where 89% have an unfavorable view of Iran. Smaller majorities of Turks, Lebanese and Palestinians also give their regional neighbor low marks. Meanwhile, in Lebanon attitudes divide along religious lines. More than nine-in-ten Lebanese Shia Muslims (95%) express a positive opinion of Iran — the country with the world’s largest Shia Muslim population — compared with 29% of Lebanese Christians and just 5% of Sunni Muslims.
With the exception of Pakistan, publics in the Asia-Pacific region are either mixed or negative in their assessments of Iran. Unfavorable views of the Islamic Republic are especially widespread in Japan and Australia (73% and 67%, respectively). Even in Pakistan, opinion of Iran has somewhat soured, with negative ratings increasing from 8% to 16% over the past year.
Iran’s image also suffers in Latin America, where a median of 61% across six countries express unfavorable views. Publics in Africa, while negative on balance, are more mixed in their assessments of Iran. A median of 39% in nine African nations surveyed view Iran in a negative light, 32% view the nation positively, and a quarter do not offer any opinion. In Nigeria, attitudes differ among the predominant religious groups: 43% of Muslims express favorable views of Iran while only 23% of Christians hold that view.
Amidst the negotiations over the future of Tehran’s nuclear program, publics in the so-called “P5+1” countries are generally critical of Iran. Roughly three-quarters of Americans (76%) view Iran unfavorably, virtually unchanged from last year. Majorities in France (81%), Germany (78%), the UK (62%) and China (61%) share this opinion. Only in Russia do about a third (34%) rate Iran positively, and even here the prevailing view is negative (44%).
Declining Ratings for Iran in Muslim-Majority Nations
Perhaps influenced by political and sectarian tensions in the Middle East, favorable views of majority-Shia Iran have declined precipitously in some Muslim-majority countries over the last decade.
Since 2006-2007, favorable ratings of Iran have dropped by 41 percentage points each in Indonesia and Jordan. Turkish public opinion has also deteriorated significantly (-36 points) over the same period. Sizable declines in Iran’s standing are also evident in Malaysia (-22), the Palestinian territories (-21) and Pakistan (-15). In Lebanon, opinions of Iran have remained relatively stable – 41% currently express a positive view, similar to the 36% registered in 2007. Over the last eight years, however, the percentage of Lebanese Shia who have a very favorable opinion of the Persian nation has increased significantly, rising from 47% to 80%.
Little Support for Rouhani in Middle East
As is the case with his country as a whole, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani receives generally poor marks among neighboring publics in the Middle East, with half or more in each country surveyed viewing him unfavorably. In Lebanon, views divide along religious lines: 95% of Lebanese Shia have a positive opinion of Rouhani, compared with a quarter of Christians and roughly one-in-ten Sunnis (11%). Since his first year in office, the Iranian president’s favorable ratings have slightly increased in the Palestinian territories (+10 percentage points) and Jordan (+8). |
Former U.S. Marine Kenneth Franklin Shinzato is escorted by police officers from Uruma Police Station in Uruma, Okinawa, Japan, on May 20, 2016. (Photo: Hitoshi Maeshiro, EPA)
TOKYO – A former U.S. serviceman has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Japanese woman in a case that could have a major impact on U.S.-Japan relations.
Kenneth Franklin Shinzato, a 32-year-old former Marine, confessed to stabbing and strangling a 20-year-old office worker on the island of Okinawa, police said Friday. Her body was found dumped in a wooded area not far from a U.S. airbase where Shinzato works as a civilian employee, according to Kyodo News Service.
The case comes in the midst of delicate negotiations over the future of a key U.S. airbase on Okinawa and only days before President Obama is scheduled to make a historic visit to Hiroshima, the site of the world’s first atomic bombing.
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida summoned U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy shortly after Shinzato was arrested late Thursday to lodge a protest, according to local news reports.
On Friday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told reporters he was “outraged” at the incident.
“I have no words to express my feelings, given how her family must feel,” Abe said. “We will demand that the U.S. side take strict measures to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Shinzato also has been identified by authorities as Kenneth Franklin Gadson; he apparently also uses the family name of his wife, who is Japanese.
Protesters hold slogans before U.S. Kadena Air Base in Kadena, Okinawa, southwestern Japan, on May 20, 2016, after an American employed at the US Air Force base admitted to strangling a young Okinawan woman. (Photo: HITOSHI MAESHIRO, EPA)
According to the newspaper Stars & Stripes, Shinzato is a former U.S. Marine who was stationed on Okinawa and now works as a civilian employee at Kadena Air Base, a major U.S. military hub on Okinawa.
He served as a mail clerk with the 3rd Battalion, 12th Marine Regiment on Okinawa in 2008; it is not clear how long he was in the Marines or stationed on Okinawa, according to Shinzato’s profile on LinkedIn.
Neither the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo nor U.S Forces-Japan responded to email requests for comment from USA TODAY on Friday.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. military was cooperating fully with local authorities in their investigation, the Associated Press reported. “This is a terrible tragedy and it’s obviously an outrage,” he said.
The case is the latest in a series of lurid crimes that have generated ill will among many Okinawans towards U.S. forces.
Three U.S. servicemen were convicted in 1995 of kidnapping and raping a 12-year-old girl on her way home from school. The incident sparked massive protests and led to negotiations to reduce the U.S. military presence on Okinawa.
In 2012, two U.S. Navy reservists received long prison sentences for stalking and raping a Japanese woman they had met at an Okinawa bar. And in March of this year, a Navy sailor was charged with raping a Japanese woman who had fallen asleep in the hallway of a hotel in Naha, Okinawa’s capital.
About 50,000 U.S. troops are based in Japan – mostly in Okinawa.
Japan’s Jiji Press reported that about 250 people protested outside the Kadena Air Base gates on Friday, chanting “Get out of Okinawa” and other slogans.
Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga has been battling the Abe administration over plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps airbase at Futenma to a less densely crowded part of the island. Onaga wants the base moved off Okinawa entirely.
Both sides agreed to drop lawsuits earlier this year and resume negotiations, but there has been little recent progress. On Thursday, Onaga blamed the death of 20-year-old Rina Shimabukuro on the heavy U.S. military presence on Okinawa.
“This incident has occurred precisely because the base is there,” Onaga said. He had just returned from a trip to the U.S. urging support for closing U.S. bases on Okinawa.
Abe has been a strong supporter of the U.S.-Japan defense alliance, but this week’s arrest could complicate plans to tighten relations further.
The prime minister was expected to discuss increased support for the U.S. “rebalance” during one-on-one talks with Obama on Thursday. But those talks now are likely to focus on the issue of base-related crime.
Obama and Abe are also scheduled to visit Hiroshima on Friday, after conclusion of the two-day Group of Seven leader’s summit in Ise-Shima, Japan. Obama will be the first sitting president to visit Hiroshima, where more than 100,000 Japanese were killed as a result of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing.
Obama’s planned visit has generated controversy both at home and in Japan. Atomic bomb survivors have called for Obama to apologize for the widespread death and suffering.
U.S. veteran and POW groups have called on Obama to avoid any appearance of apology, arguing that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki three days later saved lives by bringing World War II to a swift end.
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The debate about secularism organised in France by the ruling right-wing UMP party has been decried by the Muslim community as a brutal attack on Islam, while the Left has seen it as a disguised attempt to curry favour with the supporters of the National Front. But no debate at all is a victory for extremism, argues a Polish editorialist.
Abderrahmane Dahmane, President Sarkozy’s former diversity adviser, has announced that Islam in France has become the “object of stigmatisation” and, to voice his protest, has started to distribute green-star badges among his fellow believers, a reminiscence of the badges that European Jews were forced to wear during World War 2
The green-star campaign is not so much a proof of the stupidity of its originator, as of his utter insolence, especially that it is rather the indigenous French that can feel uneasy in certain districts of their cities, faced with gangs of Algerian and Moroccan youth. And the claims of “stigmatisation” of Islam sound grotesque when we look at how Catholics of the Seine, and of many other West European countries, are ridiculed. It was not in the Great Mosque of Paris, but in Notre Dame Cathedral that a group of gay activists staged a homosexual “wedding ceremony” six years ago, during which words offensive to Pope Benedict XVI could be heard.
Indeed, the debate about secularism focuses on Islam. But this is also a debate over the future of Islam across Europe entire. Sarkozy’s party is mulling over concrete issues that also affect Italy, Holland, and Sweden. How to deal with the Muslims who hold mass prayers in the streets of cities? Should halal meals be introduced in school canteens? How to deal with the problem of students from North Africa who protest against lessons about the Holocaust, treating it as humbug invented by Zionists. Should public swimming pools reserve separate hours for Muslim girls?
For the European Left any discussion over these issues is an expression of racism, for the Muslim radicals – of stigmatisation. But no discussion at all will lead to one thing: in a dozen or so years the majority of countries of the Old Continent will be ruled by the clones of Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders. |
EDMONTON, AB – MAY 3: Rogers Place is lit up before Game Four of the Western Conference Second Round between the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on May 3, 2017 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Codie McLachlan/Getty Images)
The Edmonton Oilers made great strides this season in making it to the second round after over a decade of playoff-less hockey. As if they didn’t have enough pressure to match or succeed expectations in 2017-18, they now face the threat of being haunted.
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Loretta Workun, described by her family as “our kick ass sporty Mom,” passed away on May 30. In her obituary in the Edmonton Journal she threw the gauntlet down for the Todd McLellan and the Oilers next season.
Via Legacy.com:
“She was grumpy and fiery till the end. Somehow she was survived by 2 fat kids and one grumpy old kid. In passing she joins her Husband and son both of whom she can now tell again to “go soak your heads!” No service but she warns the Oilers that they better win next year because she’s not above haunting Rogers Place.”
Rogers Place is not even a year old and now has to deal with a potential haunting? Expectations are now sky high.
We’ve heard plenty about the ghosts of the old Montreal Forum, but now Peter Chiarelli is going to be sitting inside his office wondering if he’s about to be spooked by an 85-year-old “grumpy and fiery” ghost. No pressure.
Stick-tap Oilers Nation
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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Lore Mastery Wizard version 4.0
Lore Mastery is an arcane tradition fixated on understanding the underlying mechanics of magic. It is the most academic of all arcane traditions. The promise of uncovering new knowledge or proving (or discrediting) a theory of magic is usually required to rouse its practitioners from their laboratories, academies, and archives to pursue a life of adventure.
Known as savants, followers of this tradition are a bookish lot who see beauty and mystery in the application of magic. The results of a spell are less interesting to them than the process that creates it. Some savants take a haughty attitude toward those who follow a tradition focused on a single school of magic, seeing them as provincial and lacking the sophistication needed to master true magic. Other savants are generous teachers, countering ignorance and deception with deep knowledge and good humor.
Lore Master
Starting at 2nd level, you become a compendium of knowledge on a vast array of topics. Your proficiency bonus is doubled for any ability check you make that uses the Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion skill if you are proficient in that skill.
In addition, your analytical abilities are so well-honed that your initiative in combat can be driven by mental agility, rather than physical agility. When you roll initiative, it is either an Intelligence check or a Dexterity check for you (your choice).
Arcane Alterations
At 2nd level, your understanding of arcane incantations allow you to alter your spells to a certain extent.
Starting at level 2, when you cast a spell with a spell slot, you can use a bonus action to alter the spell in a certain way. Each alteration can only be used once per short or long rest. You are only able to change the spell in one way and may not use both alterations on the same spell.
If the spell deals cold, fire, lightning or thunder damage, you can change the damage type to force damage.
If the spell requires a saving throw, you can change the saving throw from one ability score to another of your choice. If the spell requires saving throws on subsequent turns and the spell would cause an effect or condition that would cause the target to automatically fail the saving throw, the saving throw then returns to the original ability score after the initial application of the spell.
Bulwark of Knowledge
Your extensive expertise in spellcasting allow you to protect yourself from the brunt of their power by weaving magic around yourself.
If you a subjected to a spell that requires a saving throw that is cast by a creature within line of sight, you can use your reaction to make an Intelligence check against a DC equals 8 + the spell's level. If successful, you may add your Intelligence modifier to the saving throw.
Rapid Recollection
At 10th level, your mind quickens in times of danger and you can perform great acts of recollection when threatened.
As a bonus action, you can replace one spell you have prepared with another spell from your spellbook. You can't use this feature again until you finish a short or long rest.
Unbound Mastery
At 14th level, your studying in the schools of magic reaches its pinnacle, allowing usage of spells not usually reachable my ordinary magi.
Once per long rest, you may chose a School of Magic. Chose two 5th level or lower spells from that school that is not normally available to the wizard class and add them to your prepared spell list. These spells do not count toward your maximum prepared spells. The spells functions as a wizard spell when you cast it and can be cast using a spell slot appropriete to the spell's level. The spells can only be cast once per long rest.
Credits |
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Buffalo Sabres forward Jochen Hecht announced his retirement Friday night after the Sabres' 2-1 shootout victory over the New York Islanders.
The 35-year-old German is a 14-year veteran who spent the last 10 years of his career in Buffalo. He also played for the St. Louis Blues and the Edmonton Oilers. He signed a one-year contract before this season after being limited to 22 games last season due to post-concussion symptoms.
"The last few weeks, I kind of decided, or we, my family, decided to go back and start our life in Germany," Hecht said. "That's where we want to go back."
Hecht finished with five goals and nine assists in 47 games this season and was the Sabres' final shootout participant Friday. He had 186 goals and 277 assists in 833 career regular-season games, and added 14 goals and 18 assists in 59 playoff games. |
Image caption Keith Lamont Scott (L) and Officer Brently Vinson
North Carolina prosecutors have said a Charlotte police officer acted lawfully when he shot and killed a fellow black man, Keith Lamont Scott, in September, and will not face charges.
The shooting triggered several nights of protests across the city.
Scott's family say he was unarmed but police insist he had a gun.
Prosecutors revealed surveillance footage appearing to show a holstered gun on his ankle.
Footage released directly after the shooting by police and by Scott's wife had been inconclusive.
District Attorney Andrew Murray, who made the announcement, said 15 experienced prosecutors had unanimously recommended there was insufficient evidence to charge Officer Brentley Vinson.
Mr Murray said he had informed the family of the verdict prior to his public announcement.
Image copyright AP Image caption Mr Murray said additional video footage proved Scott had been armed
After the news was released, police were put on high alert and the city of Charlotte released a statement: "We recognize that for some members of our community, this news will be met with different reactions.
"No matter where you stand on the issue, the events surrounding the Scott shooting have forever changed our community, and we intend to learn from and build a stronger Charlotte because of it."
North Carolina's governor declared a state of emergency in the city in September after protesters turned violent.
Lawyers for Scott's family said they might still consider filing a lawsuit because of different standards for criminal charges and civil liability.
Mr Vinson was placed on administrative leave following the shooting - common practice after such incidents.
The "Black Lives Matter" movement, which led many of the protests following Scott's death, was started after the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police.
According to one research group, over 100 unarmed black people were killed by the police in 2015 and a string of riots occurred following similar shootings this year.
'Pistol cocked'
Details of the shooting released by Mr Murray at a news conference state that plainclothes police went to an apartment complex on 20 September to look for a suspect - not Scott - with an outstanding warrant.
Prosecutors say Scott parked in the apartment complex's car park, beside officers, after going into a local shop.
Footage from the shop reveals that Scott was carrying a weapon, the prosecutors say.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Scott looks at police after getting out of his car on 20 September
Scott then allegedly proceeded to smoke a marijuana cigarette and hold up a semi-automatic hand gun while in his car.
He then exited the car and officers approached. At that point police deemed him a threat and Officer Vinson fired his weapon.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption Police say they found Scott's DNA on the handgun recovered from the scene
Scott was pronounced dead later at a local hospital from gunshot wounds to his back and abdomen.
Prosecutors say that Scott's DNA was found on a handgun at the scene.
They say the gun was cocked, the safety catch was off and there were bullets in the chamber. Investigators also found a receipt for the purchase of ammunition in Scott's wallet. |
Facebook users face a future of rolling around on the floor, dribbling incoherently as they demand approval from passers-by
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have left a generation of young adults vulnerable to degeneration of the brain, we can exclusively reveal for about the fifth time. Symptoms include self-obsession, short attention spans and a childlike desire for constant feedback, according to a 'top scientist' with no record of published research on the issue.
Repeated exposure to the internet leaves people with an 'identity crisis', wanting attention in the manner of a toddler saying, 'Look at me, Mummy,' or a scientist touting their latest brain-fart in the national press.
The scientist believes that use of the internet – and computer games – could 'rewire' the brain, causing neurons to establish new connections and pathways. "Rewiring itself is something that the brain does naturally all the time," the professor said, "but the phrase 'rewiring the brain' sounds really dramatic and chilling, so I like to use it to make it seem like I'm talking about a profound and unnatural change, even though it isn't."
This rewiring can result in reduced concentration, a need for instant gratification, poor non-verbal skills, and the habit of talking really loudly like Alistair Stewart, according to research that hasn't yet been performed.
"I think it's really important that people aren't frightened by scare stories about new technology, and I've been a big supporter of brain-training software in the past," the scientist said, "but people's brains are literally melting inside their heads from all the MyFace waves being absorbed."
In a controversial move, popular science journal The Daily Mail published the academic's findings before they had actually been found. "In academia I've faced a great deal of prejudice from peers," she explained, "They say 'oh you haven't done the research, you've not got any evidence,' but really they're just jealous of my fashion sense. Publishing in the Mail lets me rise above all the petty politics and fact-checking in science, and just say 'this is the truth, bitches'."
Responding to criticism from the Guardian's Ben Goldacre, she said "he thinks his hair's better than mine. It isn't. I don't even think it's real. Who is he anyway? Is he a 'top scientist'? No."
The scientist, who doesn't actually use Twitter, said: "What concerns me is the banality of so much that goes out there. Why should someone be interested in what someone else has had for breakfast? My friend told me what they were having for dinner the other day, and I told them to 'fuck off' before slamming the phone down."
The high-profile academic, who frequently uses the media as a platform to push her theories to the public, suggested that some Facebook users feel the need to become 'mini celebrities' who are watched and admired by others on a daily basis. "They do things that are 'media worthy' because the only way they can define themselves is by 'people knowing about them'", she told a tabloid journalist.
Following her successful move from peer-reviewed journals to the Mail, the Professor will take the next logical step of publishing her future research through the medium of romantic fiction.
(The following is actually, seriously, true.)
She is currently working on her first novel, based on her interest in technology's impact on man and the idea that young adults are turning into zombie like 'cyber people' before our very eyes.
"Cyber people aren't robots," she explained to the Evening Standard, "It's just that they spend all their time interfacing with technology so they're uncomfortable with relationships. So there's bound to be a backlash. We should be the masters of technology, not the servants."
The protagonist is a 22nd-century neuroscientist with three women in his life, loosely based on Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984. Really.
(As you can tell, I've lost the will to take these stories seriously anymore. For more serious rebuttals of the whole 'Facebook melts your brain' thing, see Ben Goldacre here or my old piece here.)
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Twitter: @mjrobbins
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Google+: mjrobbins |
Before I get into the meat of the subject here, I just want to say that what I am writing about is completely true. This happened last night and it was the single most amazing night of my life, up to this point. What I experienced was so amazing and profound that I am a changed being. I would also like to state that I LOVE science and nature and how beautifully they work together to correct imbalances in the system. Let's get into it, shall we?
Yesterday was hot. The days before were hot and muggy, not to mention miserable. Reports on the news were telling us about fires raging through Colorado. Local burn bans were in effect and caution was high. The 'Government' was snidely saying to farmers, "Good luck growing without any rain." People I know who grow food from the land, had that look in their eyes of being at the mercy of a high jacked system of nature in which regularly applied chemicals and heavy metals, disrupt the natural balance of forces that determine weather.
I have been studying Wilhelm Reich's work, his discovery of Orgone Energy and how it can be used to help us, the planet and much more. Please study about him so you can understand what I did with the materials I used. But for the sake of time, I'm going to move along.
I had been studying his work with Cloud Busters and Orgone Accumulators. I had really wanted to make one. I was intimidated by the cost of the materials and it seemed like some far off future project that really needed to be completed years ago. Then I had an amazing thought. Wait! If it's organic and inorganic material, I bet I can whip something up to accumulate, ground and project to raise the vibration, clean the air and form water clouds to cool us and help wash away the chemicals. Here is what I did.
I had some stainless steel plates that a friend gave me. There is my inorganic material. I had several so I would stack them as follows: one metal plate, one piece of cardboard (organic), one on top of the other until metal was on the top. On the top metal plate, I set a glass (made of sand, organic) of water on top of the metal plate. In the water, I happened to have a galvanized steel pipe, which Reich liked to use, and a big quartz crystal that I wrapped clockwise in copper wire that I had left over after some jewelry making projects. On the metal plate, I also put hematite (grounding), amethyst (open the third eye, clarity and spiritual strength) and garnets (divine love) to help with the charging up of the device. Then I took more copper wire and I wrapped the end around the steel pole and the other around the end of a stick which was then shoved into the ground and other copper wires were then used to attach the steel pipe to surrounding river rocks I had from back home in Arkansas. We also took chalk and wrote on the porch how thankful we were for rain, along with drawings of raindrops. My friend added the Batman toy so Dexter could be part of this event while he was on vacation; my sweet son!!!
I know this isn't how the original cloudbuster was designed and I know it's not the typical resin, copper, crystal chembuster mix but I wanted to do something with what I had and I used the basic principles. The platform of steel plates and cardboard were accumulating the orgone energy from the air and focusing the power on the water, pipe and crystals. I think it was a pretty good experiment as I had all the basic elements in place, or so I thought, or was at least hoping. This is what happened next.
As soon as everything was in place, my friend and I both noticed that we each had a slight headache and parts of our bodies that normally are sore or achy were definitely in our focus. My chest was having slight pains, as well as my left hip; all the places that bug me every day. The same was the case with my friend. We also noticed that the closer we sat to the device; the air seemed more oppressive and muggy. We both began to sweat big drops, like when you sit in a sauna. What I also felt was a definite shift. There was a buzz in the air. You couldn't hear it but it was there. It was in the air and in my head. You could tell the vibration of the area was changing. It felt like the badness was being pulled out of me into it, as I assume that is what it was also doing to the air around us and in the sky.
When we started there were big ugly, unnatural brown cloud formations in the sky. As it was set up and beginning to work, we noticed the ugly clouds were separating from the natural, pretty white, pink and fluffy clouds and in the distance a very deep, dark blue cloud was manifesting in what looked like a huge circle over Springfield.
We were discussing what we were feeling and seeing and my friend said, "I think it will be 48 hours" and I said, "I give it three. It will be raining by 11:00pm." There was a sure feeling growing inside as the affect it had on my body was so quantifiable.
I was standing in the kitchen when Chuck runs in, "It's raining!" At this time it was earlier than 11 but it was sprinkling. It was very exciting. It seemed to go in these waves for a while. It would sprinkle, and then it would fade. You could smell the water on the air and it smelled like river water. Every time it would come back it would be stronger. Like it was building up and backing away; coming in stronger and backing away.
Then it really started pouring. The rain was ice cold! It was fresh and smelled so perfect; just like rain smelled when I was a kid. Real rain, brought about by nature, not scientists. The funny part was we kept checking the weather radar and they kept saying clear skies until after the downpour started and lightening was illuminating the skies and thunder shook the windows. There were no words to express my amazement.
Then the best part happened...
When my friends decided they had seen enough and either walked home or laid down to rest, I went back outside to sit by the device. I sat and thought about things I had been learning from Esther Hicks and how our thoughts shape reality. I thought of farmers and how dry their crops were. I then began to say over and over in my mind, "I love the world, there is enough for everyone" over and over. Then I began to speak it aloud and the lightening started again. I said it more rapidly and the rain began to fall fiercely. I turned my palms to the sky, allowing myself to be a circuit to add my own electricity to the device and I projected my strength as hard as I could push it toward my machine and I yelled "There is enough for everyone" and the rain was blowing up on the porch, soaking my clothes and making me laugh hysterically. I would breathe in and it would swell, I would breath out and it would come even harder. I then pictured all the nastiness and negativity in the world, lies and government and everything as FOOD FOR THE STORM so everyone could breath clean air and eat clean food because IT IS OUR RIGHT!!!!!!!!!
In demanding these things for my people, the rain grew even more and I felt something so big and so beautiful that I couldn't describe it. I'm sure it's what Christians and other religions call God. I believe it’s what Esther calls Source energy or ‘being in the vortex’. I felt it, I felt the power, reveled in the Connection, and I exclaimed thanks and gratitude for the pouring out of joy, abundance and healing. I loved everyone and everything; extending myself to help feed the love so there would be enough for everyone.
Then when I was shivering uncontrollably and my jaws hurt from chattering, I came inside and watched the storm from the windows. I slept better last night than I have in what seems like forever. When I woke this morning, I woke with such peace, and a feeling of gratitude. Perhaps the neatest thing of this morning was that I didn't wake up stiff at all. Normally I have pains in my hips, knees and ankles, but no pain this morning. I feel alive. I feel grateful and I feel so good!!!!
The biggest lesson I learned last night was "Yes! You can manifest and create in this reality and it is easy to feel the abundance and joy of the Universe." We don't have to stand helpless while they try to destroy our planet, we don't have to be helpless as they try to lead us with fear. We, you and I, are powerful beings of creation and we can share ourselves and our love with each other to fix the wrongs; to leave something better for our children. It's really not too late. We the People of Earth can squash any tyranny of greed, corruption and filth with our belief, joy, love and gratitude.
Thank you for reading. I love you all! I really do!!!!!!! |
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - The Atlantic Coast Conference released the 2016-17 men's basketball schedules for its member institutions on Monday (Sept. 12). Virginia will play 30 regular-season games, including 16 contests at John Paul Jones Arena.
The Cavaliers' schedule is highlighted by home games against Duke, North Carolina, Louisville, Ohio State and West Virginia, and road contests at defending national champion Villanova, California, North Carolina, Syracuse and Louisville. In addition, UVA will play four games as part of the Emerald Coast Classic in November. Virginia will play a total of 14 games against 2016 NCAA Tournament teams.
ACC Schedule
Virginia will face each of the 14 conference opponents during its 18-game league schedule. The Cavaliers will play four schools home-and-away (Louisville, North Carolina, Pitt and Virginia Tech), five schools only at home (Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami and Wake Forest) and five schools only on the road (Boston College, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame and Syracuse).
Non-Conference Highlights
Virginia's non-conference home schedule is highlighted by its ACC/Big Ten Challenge contest against Ohio State (Nov. 30) and a match-up with Big 12 foe West Virginia (Dec. 3). The Cavaliers will travel to California (Dec. 21) and reigning NCAA champion Villanova (Jan. 29). In addition, UVA battles Iowa (Nov. 25) and Memphis or Providence (Nov. 26) at the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Fla.
Television Exposure
Virginia's home games against Louisville (Feb. 6), Miami (Feb. 20) and North Carolina (Feb. 27) will be featured on ESPN's ACC Big Monday. The Cavaliers will play 11 games on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU, six contests will be televised by the ACC Network, and UVA's game at Villanova (Jan. 29) will be televised on Fox.
Team Highlights
Virginia returns starters London Perrantes (Los Angeles), Isaiah Wilkins (Lilburn, Ga.) and Devon Hall (Virginia Beach, Va.) from last year's team that recorded 29 wins and advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight. Marial Shayok (Ottawa, Canada), Darius Thompson (Murfreesboro, Tenn.), Jarred Reuter (Marion, Mass.), Jack Salt (Auckland, N.Z.) and transfer Austin Nichols (Collierville, Tenn.) also return to the Cavaliers, who finished second nationally in scoring defense under eighth-year head coach Tony Bennett .
Ticket Information
Virginia men's basketball season tickets are sold out for the 2016-17 season. For some home games, a limited number of single-game tickets will be available for purchase. The on-sale dates for single-game tickets will be announced on Monday, Oct. 10. For more information about men's basketball tickets, please call the Virginia athletics ticket office at 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or visit VirginiaSports.com/tickets.
2016-17 Virginia Men's Basketball Schedule
Date Opponent Time TV Friday, Nov. 11 at UNC-Greensboro 7 p.m. TBA Tueday, Nov. 15 St. Francis Brooklyn ^ TBA ACC Network Extra Sunday, Nov. 20 Yale TBA ACC Network Extra Tuesday, Nov. 22 Grambling State ^ TBA ACC Network Extra Friday, Nov. 25 vs. Iowa ^ 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network Saturday, Nov. 26 vs. Memphis/Providence ^ 4 / 7 p.m. CBS Sports Network Wednesday, Nov. 30 Ohio State & 9 p.m. ESPN2 Saturday, Dec.3 West Virginia 2 p.m. ESPNU Tuesday, Dec.6 East Carolina TBA ACC Network Extra Saturday, Dec. 17 Robert Morris TBA TBA Wednesday, Dec. 21 at California 10 p.m. ESPN2 Wednesday, Dec. 28 at Louisville TBA ESPN2 Saturday, Dec. 31 Florida State * 2 p.m. ESPNU Wednesday, Jan.4 at Pittsburgh * 9 p.m. RSN Sunday, Jan.8 Wake Forest * 8 p.m. ESPNU Saturday, Jan. 14 at Clemson * Noon ACC Network Wednesday, Jan. 18 at Boston College * 8 p.m. ACC Network Saturday, Jan.21 Georgia Tech * 2 p.m. ACC Network Tuesday, Jan. 24 at Notre Dame * 8 p.m. ACC Network Sunday, Jan. 29 at Villanova 1 p.m. Fox Wednesday, Feb. 1 Virginia Tech * 8 p.m. ACC Network Saturday, Feb. 4 at Syracuse * Noon ESPN or ESPN2 Monday, Feb.6 Louisville * 7 p.m. ESPN Sunday, Feb.12 at Virginia Tech * 6:30 p.m. ESPNU Wednesday, Feb. 15 Duke * 9 p.m. ESPN2 Saturday, Feb.18 at North Carolina * TBA ESPN or ESPN2 Monday, Feb. 20 Miami * 7 p.m. ESPN Saturday, Feb. 25 at NC State * TBA ESPN or ESPN2 Monday, Feb. 27 North Carolina* 7 p.m. ESPN Saturday, March 4 Pittsburgh * Noon ACC Network
All times Eastern
^ - Emerald Coast Classic (Games on Nov. 25-26 in Niceville, Fla.)
& - ACC/Big Ten Challenge
* - ACC Game
The ACC's Regional Sports Network (RSN) consists of FOX Sports South; ÂÂFOX Sports Carolinas; FOX Sports Florida; FOX Sports Sun; FOX Sports Midwest; FOX Sports Indiana; YES Network; NESN; Root Sports Pittsburgh; CSN Mid-Atlantic
ACC Network Extra
The ACC's Regional Sports Network (RSN) consists of FOX Sports South; FOX Sports Carolinas; FOX Sports Florida; FOX Sports Sun; FOX Sports Midwest; FOX Sports Indiana; YES Network; NESN; Root Sports Pittsburgh; CSN Mid-Atlantic
What is ACC Network Extra?
ACC Network Extra is an Atlantic Coast Conference dedicated live-events digital network available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 available on WatchESPN and the ESPN app. More than 600 sporting events will be available to stream through the channel.
How do I get access to ACC Network Extra?
ESPN3 subscribers can "authenticate" at WatchESPN.com. If you are already an authenticated user, you will automatically have access to ACC Network Extra when it launches in August.
Do I need a subscription to access ACC Network Extra?
Yes. You must be an ESPN3 subscriber to have access to ACC Network Extra content.
Where can I watch ACC Network Extra?
ACC Network Extra is a dedicated digital channel within WatchESPN and the ESPN app. In addition to the ESPN app, WatchESPN content is accessible on computers, smartphones, tablets and connected devices. It is available on Amazon Fire TV and the Fire TV Stick, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
What will be available on ACC Network Extra?
600 exclusive live sporting events annually. |
Ask President-elect Donald Trump to take a stand against the establishment's desperate move to label independent media as ‘fake news’.
This is a red level emergency.
Infowars, Breitbart, the Drudge Report and other independent sources are destroying the mainstream media narrative like never before, and the establishment is getting desperate.
In an effort to try and censor the liberty movement and free speech, the mainstream media is now attempting to label legitimate news sources like Infowars as "fake news" to push towards a government-led shut down of Infowars.com.
The Washington Post has even gone as far as to label sites like Infowars as "Russian propaganda fake news" web sites, exemplifying the last attempt of a dying media conglomerate to force out any and all dissenting voices.
Even more concerning, the United States House of Representatives quietly passed legislation targeting 'Russian propaganda' websites.
But the calls for censorship do not end with the United States.
The European Union is demanding that Twitter, YouTube and Facebook censor “illegal hate speech” within 24 hours and content that includes so-called “fake news,” a term so broad that it includes perfectly legitimate news content.
Microsoft, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have also announced that they will be ramping up efforts to remove "extremist" content from their websites by using a shared database of offenders.
And perhaps most importantly, Twitter has recently gone on record stating the company will ban President-Elect Donald J. Trump's Twitter account if he were to violate the company's "hate speech" rules.
We are calling on and asking President-Elect Donald J. Trump to take a stand against the establishment media's "fake news" attacks and to stop the impending censorship of independent media platforms like Infowars.com and others. |
Radium Core, a decentralized cryptocurrency offering a system for record verification and blockchain-based identities has announced the release of Radium SmartChain v3.2. The main new feature included in the update is blockchain voting.
Radium Elections is a blockchain based voting platform designed to restore confidence, transparency, and integrity to the voting process. Using a combination of blockchain technology and asymmetric key pair identity management, Radium voting provides a transparent, integrated, and easily validated voting platform.
All election data and votes are recorded on-chain, allowing for near-time observation, counting, and verification by any third party running the SmartChain application. Radium elections are designed for applications ranging from project management and club votes to political elections and shareholder voting.
Radium Core Radium Core is the organization supporting the Radium blockchain. It is made up of a dedicated team of developers, community members and users striving to increase awareness and adoption of Radium and the SmartChain. Radium Core is also an open source community striving to both develop and publicly audit the Radium Core code.
The mission of Radium Core is to provide cryptographic security to everyday and business users by leveraging blockchain technology. They achieve this by extending the standard blockchain functions through the SmartChain. The decentralized nature of Radium is something the team strives to preserve and promote. As an organization, its main functions are to maintain and develop the Radium Core code, manage the community aspects of Radium, handle marketing and promotion and educating users on how to effectively use the software.
The Radium Elections platform will be available to anyone who has registered an identity on the Radium SmartChain. While the development team will be using this platform for Radium blockchain and SmartChain governance, anyone can hold an election, on any topic or for any purpose, at any time.
In a drive to further decentralize and democratize the Radium network, the Radium Core team decided that all major changes to the Radium Core and SmartChain protocols will be voted on using the newly released SmartChain voting functionality. The community will then have a period of time to participate in the vote, and the outcome of the vote will be used to determine whether the proposed change will be implemented in the protocol or not. When possible, new protocol changes will be released as dormant code, that must be activated by a predetermined threshold of approval votes. This way the community will have a direct impact on what is included and active in the Radium SmartChain.
Technical Aspects
A Radium election will consist of a title, description, open and close date/block, and up to 200 candidates.
Each election will be open for voting for the time period between the open and close block number.
Elections can be created so that voting will open in the future, allowing the creator to set up the election in advance.
Real-time voting results can be viewed while voting is in progress and final results will be available immediately after the election closes.
The election results, including individual votes, will remain secured in the Radium Blockchain and visible indefinitely.
Votes are not anonymous and are linked to the SmartChain identity from which they were cast.
Each identity can only vote once, and votes can not be changed after the vote is cast
Upon creation, the election data is compressed and encoded into a hexadecimal smart transaction.
For indexing and lookup purposes, an election ID is generated from a truncated ripemd160 hash of the transaction ID. Ripemd160 was chosen because it creates a correct sized hash so that votes can be cast by a single output start transaction.
When users vote, the aforementioned election ID and the index of the chosen vote is encoded together and sent to the network.
During syncing and operation, the SmartChain maintains a database of elections based on the ID, and parses incoming vote transactions, assigning the votes to the elections based on ID, and incrementing vote counts based on the voting index.
The identity of the voter is determined by a lookup of the public key signing the election/vote SmartTransacition against the SmartChain’s internal database of registered identities.
The Radium team stated: |
Destination: OUT just turned 6 years old! To mark the occasion, we’ve revamped and reactivated our “Beginner’s Guide to Free Jazz.” The main reason we launched the site was to turn people onto this remarkable music and show that, rather than being difficult and esoteric, it’s vibrant and immediately engaging. So help us celebrate by telling one of your non-jazz-loving friends about this post and turn them on to these universal sounds. (And if you want to buy us – and your yourself – a present, there are plenty of choices in the FMP download store.)
* * * * *
Destination: OUT’s Beginner’s Guide to Free Jazz features a selection of fun and friendly entry points to this music (scroll down for the MP3s) – as well as some background and common misconceptions. It’s our attempt to make Free Jazz more understandable to folks who don’t normally listen to much jazz at all.
A BRIEF INVOCATION
“Is jazz dead? Well, I guess that all depends on what you know.”
-Lester Bowie
“Free jazz reaches back to what jazz was originally, rebelling against the ultra-sophisticated art form it has become.”
-Archie Shepp
“I go out onstage, and my intention is to make the first four rows bleed from their ears.”
-Sonny Sharrock
Free jazz — a place of outsize personalities, outrageous stories, and uncompromising music. There’s the performer who plays so hard that keys fly off the piano. A bandleader who claims to be from Saturn and outfits his 30-piece orchestra in space gear. The saxophonist whose ragtag gospel marches were cited by Paul McCartney as a major influence on Sgt. Pepper’s. The world traveler who found musical common ground between Marrakech and Brooklyn. The pianist who created spectacular glissandi by dragging his knuckles across the keyboard until they bled. The avant gardist whose recital moved President Jimmy Carter to tears at a White House event. The player many believe was killed by the CIA. The group that dons tribal gear and lab coats, performing music that swings between vaudeville and African chants. And the free jazz legend whose music touched so many lives that a church was founded in his name.
A FEW COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT FREE JAZZ
(aka Avant Garde Jazz aka Out Jazz aka Adventurous Jazz aka That Horrible Racket)
1. IT’S ALL JUST NOISE.
Well yeah, some of it is really noisy. That’s the strain of the music that’s influenced folks such as Sonic Youth, The Boredoms, Wolf Eyes, The Stooges, Lightning Bolt, MC5, and the like. Think of it as ecstatic freak-out music. The sort of thing that peels back the lid of your skull and rearranges your atoms.
But that’s only a small part of the music. Free Jazz spans 50 years and numerous countries and includes music that’s so delicate it’s practically ambient as well as tunes with a funk beat strong enough to shake the dance floor. Not to mention the pieces that showcase echoes of melodic folk music, Indian rhythms, minimalist repetitions, gutbucket blues, Hendrixian squalls, orchestral grandeur, big band exotica, electronic beats, proto-punk swagger, and more. It’s an entire continent of sound represented by tens of thousands of albums. Once you start digging, you’ll be amazed by the variety and vitality. There’s something for just about every taste — all you need is a slightly open mind.
2. I DON’T KNOW HOW TO LISTEN TO FREE JAZZ.
OR: HOW DO YOU TELL THE GOOD STUFF FROM THE BAD?
Relax and trust your instincts. Most people automatically assume that there’s something in Free Jazz they’re not getting. Like you need conservatory training to appreciate what the musicians are doing. Or that there’s some secret content you’re not privy to. Nonsense: It’s just sound. Sometimes complex and abrasive, sometimes funky and buoyant. There’s no code to be broken. As Gertrude Stein once said: “There’s no there there.”
A newcomer listening to Free Jazz isn’t substantially different than someone who’s just discovering indie rock or electronica or roots reggae or whatever. The more you listen, explore, and expose yourself to different facets of the music, the more likely you are to find what you turns you on. Maybe Ornette Coleman grates on your ears. Fine. Be honest with yourself and keep looking, because maybe Sun Ra or Matthew Shipp will excite you. Ask friends, see what trustworthy critics are recommending, all that.
If you can, see some Free Jazz live. Pieces that may demand a fair amount of concentration when they’re coming out of your speakers often seem effortlessly absorbing in person. You may rush to turn off a Cecil Taylor album the first time you hear it, but live you won’t be able to take your eyes off the man. In performance, the passion and exuberance of the music is impossible to miss.
3. IT’S TOO OUT THERE FOR ME.
Maybe. But if you’re already listening to acts like Radiohead, Sonic Youth, Burial, Aphex Twin, ambient-era Brian Eno, TV on the Radio, and Yo La Tengo, then you’re ready. Without knowing it, you’ve already been listening to Free Jazz filtered through other sensibilities. Some of the classic Free Jazz recordings might even sound too tame!
SO HERE IS SOME FREE JAZZ TO CHECK OUT IF YOU LIKE…
FUNK
Art Ensemble of Chicago
Theme de Yoyo
It doesn’t get much funkier than this sexy rave-up sung by Fontella Bass. The Art Ensemble’s motto was “Great Black Music – Ancient to the Future,” which meant they employed everything from free-noise freakouts to swinging blues to funk. On this track, they use it all at the same time. Available on Les Stances A Sophie. [buy]
ELECTRONICA
Herbie Hancock
Rain Dance
Before he went pop with Headhunters and “Rockit,” Herbie Hancock created the most radical and electronic-based grooves of the 1970s. Ignored by jazz, this futuristic music later influenced a generation of artists like Aphex Twin, Squarepusher, and Mouse on Mars. Available on Sextant. [buy]
LOUD GUITARS
Sonny Sharrock
Dick Dogs
Sonny Sharrock is the avatar of shredding noise guitar. He led crack bands throughout the ’80s that laid down heavy and punishing grooves, but the real attraction was his seismic and sublime guitar tantrums. Just listen to the solos here! Available on Seize the Rainbow. [buy]
KRAUTROCK
Don Cherry
Brown Rice
This track sounds amazingly similar to the best work of Can. Trumpeter and world music traveler Don Cherry combines an armada of keyboards, tamboura, chanting vocals, propulsive rhythms, and even electrified bongos to create this masterpiece of hypnotic funk. Available on Brown Rice. [buy]
INDIAN TRANCE
Alice Coltrane
Journey in Satchidananda
Alice Coltrane (John’s widow) was scoffed at for her bold fusion of modal jazz and Indian influences. But she’s had the last laugh because her exquisite work now enjoys a surging reputation and has gone on to influence acts like Radiohead. Available on Journey in Satchidananda. [buy]
PROTO-PUNK NOISE
Miles Davis
Rated X
Think you know Miles? Well, this ain’t no Kind of Blue shit. Here Miles drops the horn to play organ, conjuring one of the nastiest slabs of pure noise drone. Underpinned by stop-start breakbeat rhythms, this is jungle meets punk, 30 years ahead of the curve. Available on Get Up With It. [buy]
AMBIENT SOUNDSCAPES
Joe Zawinul
Arrival in New York
This brief piece wouldn’t sound out of place on Brian Eno’s ambient masterpiece On Land. Using tape speed manipulation and keyboard smears, it evokes New York harbor on a foggy morning, 4:30 am when only the seaport is stirring, tugboats signaling one another with their unseen horns. Available on Zawinul. [buy]
FREAK FOLK
Patty Waters
Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair
This startling vocal track was a major influence on both Diamanda Galas and Japanese pysch rock legends Ghost. A 13-minute workout, it begins with Patty Waters sighing and softly intoning lyrics against a harp-sounding prepared piano. The song builds to an insane vocal freakout, before settling again into a hushed calm. Available on Patty Waters Sings. [buy]
BIG BAND EXOTICA
Sun Ra
Angels and Demons at Play
Sun Ra’s music has been described as Duke Ellington from Mars. But the leader of the 30-piece Arkestra also loved Martin Denny and Esquivel. You can hear those influences burbling through in the percussion on his early work, along with his own otherwordly aesthetic. Cosmically playful! Available on Angels and Demons at Play/Nubians of Plutonia. [buy]
BLUESY TORCH SONGS
Archie Shepp
Blasé
A wonderfully moody blues vamp by saxophonist Archie Shepp. “Vocalist Jeanne Lee delivers a soliloquy on sexual politics that sounds as ball-shredding now as it must have then, and the use of twinned harmonicas is particularly mind-blowing in this context.” – Thurston Moore & Byron Coley. Available on Blasé. [buy]
HARDCORE/THRASH
John Zorn/Naked City
Osaka Bondage
Zorn’s Naked City outfit jammed countless genres through their expert blender – surf, thrash, funk, bebop, lounge, grindcore. This 75 second blast, featuring Yamatsuka Eye and Bill Frisell, answers the nagging question of what The Boredoms and Steely Dan might sound like on the same stage. ADD as aesthetic strategy. Available on Black Box. [buy]
CLASSICAL
Matthew Shipp
Orbit 2
A solo piano piece whose stately meanderings, crystalline musings, and ingenious variations-on-a-simple theme evoke chamber works from Satie and Debussy, among others. The jagged edges are pure Matthew Shipp. Available on New Orbit. [buy]
AFROBEAT
Gwigwi Mrwebi
Mra
An indelible tune recorded many times over by various South African musicians in exile. Here is a relatively early performance of the theme from 1967. The band includes South Africans Dudu Pukwana (who wrote it), Gwigwi Mrwebi, Ronnie Beer, and Chris McGregor, with Coleridge Goode and Laurie Allan. You will dig. Available on Mbaqanga Songs. |
The Toronto Blue Jays apologized to the Baltimore Orioles and Major League Baseball after a fan at Rogers Centre threw a beer can that narrowly missed the head of Baltimore outfielder Hyun Soo Kim in the American League wild-card game Tuesday night.
"On the heels of one of the most competitive and exhilarating baseball games in our club's history, it is extremely unfortunate that the irresponsible actions of one individual would detract from the game on the field and tarnish an otherwise memorable night," the team said in a statement released Wednesday.
The team said it will "enact heightened security measures and alcohol policies that will ensure the fan experience and safety of everybody involved."
The man alleged to have thrown the can has come forward. The incident occurred in the seventh inning of the Blue Jays' 5-2 win.
Toronto police said they were investigating and on Wednesday evening released a photo of the man they alleged was responsible, urging him to turn himself in.
"I contacted Toronto police ... and identified myself as the person in the photo," Ken Pagan wrote in an email to The Canadian Press, adding he "cannot say much else."
The Toronto Sun says it has identified the man in the photo as Pagan, who says he is in the picture but did not throw the beer.
The Blue Jays said that the "individual responsible is not welcome back to the stadium." Team spokesman Erik Grosman said Tuesday that the fan was not ejected because he took off before police had a chance to nab him.
Major League Baseball has spoken with the Blue Jays about banning cans from the seats at Rogers Centre.
"We've also talked to the Blue Jays about the policies with respect to the serving of alcohol," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said. "No cans, those sorts of things, to make sure that we have as positive an environment going forward as possible."
The Toronto Sun, which said Pagan was an employee of Postmedia and formerly of Sun Media, reported earlier Wednesday night it had contacted Pagan and that he suggested the police might not have it right, saying he was "drinking out of a cup."
The newspaper, owned by Postmedia, also reported that Pagan suggested that the pictures on Twitter indicate he had a cup in his hand after the can was tossed.
"I'd love to tell you what happened and my story ... but I can't say anything," Pagan said.
As Kim settled under a fly ball off the bat of Melvin Upton Jr., the can sailed past him and landed on the turf. Baltimore center fielder Adam Jones angrily pointed into the stands and yelled into the crowd.
Baltimore manager Buck Showalter emerged from the dugout and walked all the way to left field to register his displeasure with the umpiring crew before returning to the dugout.
"Someone threw a beer down at my player," Jones said. "That's about as pathetic as it gets between the lines. You don't do that. I don't care how passionate you think you are. Yell, cuss, scream, tell us we're horrible. We get that. We're the opposition. We completely understand that. To throw something at a player, that's as pathetic as it gets."
Baltimore's Hyun Soo Kim caught a fly ball to deep left field during the seventh inning, despite a beverage can narrowly missing him as it came out of the stands behind him. Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
"Something like that should never happen. It's the first time for me and hopefully the last," Kim said through an interpreter.
In the confusion that followed, Jones said he and Kim were taunted with racial slurs.
"I've heard that so much while playing baseball, I don't even care," Jones said. "Call me what you want.
"We hear everything -- people cussing you and flipping you off. I get it. That's fine. We're here to play baseball, nothing more, nothing less. And to put us in harm's way just isn't part of the game. It's not part of any sport."
The Blue Jays said the safety of fans, staff, players and visiting teams was "paramount" and promised to bring in "heightened" security measures and alcohol rules for future games, though it did not provide details.
"We hope the focus will remain on the exciting play on the field, and that our fans will express their passionate support for the Blue Jays while demonstrating a level of respect and responsibility that has made Rogers Centre one of the best atmospheres for families and fans of baseball," it said.
A number of baseball fans took to Twitter to express their outrage, and distance themselves from what many called "inexcusable" behavior.
Toronto Mayor John Tory, speaking on CFRB radio, called the fan a "loon ball."
Though Manfred referred to it being a "rare ... event in one of our ballparks," this was the third such incident at Rogers Centre in the past three years.
Blue Jays fans tossed bottles and debris on the field during Game 5 of last season's AL Division Series against the Texas Rangers. The fans were upset by the call that let Rougned Odor score from third after catcher Russell Martin's throw back to the mound deflected off Shin-Soo Choo's bat.
In May 2013, a Blue Jays fan threw a drink at Orioles outfielder Nate McLouth during a game at Rogers Centre.
Information from ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, The Associated Press and The Canadian Press was used in this report. |
Peter L. Larson and Donna Russell
Article number: 17.1.2E
https://doi.org/10.26879/142
Published April 2014
Author biographies
PDF version
The luckiest people on this planet are the ones that have also made their passion their career. This is equally true for vertebrate paleontologists and commercial fossil dealers. We have other things in common as well. We all agree that fossils are important. We agree that it is our responsibility to educate the public about fossils. And we agree that scientifically important specimens should be in museums.
Fossils have been collected, bartered, bought and sold for thousands of years (Mayor 2000). Commercialism has remained a crucial and functionally key element of paleontology throughout its history. Although all facets of paleontology are permeated with continuing scientific contributions by commercial entities (Manning 2001), this essay will only reference a few of the more notable.
In Europe, much of what we know about the Jurassic marine faunas and environments of the Posidonia Shale Lagerstätten of Holzmaden (Germany), and the Blue Lias of Lyme Regis, Dorset (England) are based upon collections made by people who sold fossils. Mary Anning, an iconic person in the field of paleontology, is one of the more famous commercial collectors. Academics and curators at British institutions accepted Anning as a colleague, despite her lack of a formal degree or position at a university (McGowan 2001, Emling 2009). A congenial and civilized working relationship still exists today in England between commercial “professional” collectors and museum and university academics (Manning 2001).
In Germany the government actively buys important specimens from private collectors (Rupert Wild, personal communication). The production of fossils from the Messel Lagerstätten was increased more than a thousand-fold by the work and ingenuity of commercial and private collectors. Most of the specimens that have been saved from these Eocene lake deposits are the result of a preparation transfer of the fossil to a resin matrix, a technique first pioneered by commercial collectors (Thomas Perner and Jurgen Henzel, personal communication). This new method permitted the recovery of articulated vertebrate remains with skin, feathers and stomach contents (Schaal and Ziegler 1992). One commercially collected specimen, a complete primate described and named Darwinius masillae, was suggested to be a pivotal “link” in the phylogenetic tree of our own species (Tudge 2009).
The Solnhofen area is one of the most important fossil sites in Germany and is still collected almost exclusively by people who sell the fossils they collect. This site has been operated commercially since the advent of the lithographic printing process in 1798 (Barthel et al. 1990). The Solnhofen Limestone has produced some of the most important fossils in the study of evolution, including the iconic early bird Archaeopteryx (Bergmann et al 2010). Every single specimen of Archaeopteryx known to science has been bought and sold (Ostrom 1985, Barthel et al. 1990).
Interestingly, the specimen of Archaeopteryx that is today one of the most accessible to the scientific community and the public is the Thermopolis specimen, in the private Wyoming Dinosaur Center, in Thermopolis (Wyoming, USA). This specimen has been displayed in Canada, China, Europe, Japan, and the US. It has been molded, photographed, Micro-CT scanned, laser-scanned and XRF scanned, and has generated multiple high-impact publications (Mayer et al. 2005, Bergmann et al. 2010). Despite this excellent academic work, some paleontologists have raised concerns on the ethics of publishing such material. For example, an academic paleontologist interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on 19 March 2006, stated “Ethically, in our profession, if a specimen is not in the public domain, its scientific worth is about zero.”
One particular site that has shed vital clues on the evolution of birds from dinosaurs was discovered in the 1990’s near Liaoning, China. Here farmers, turned commercial fossil collectors, have been excavating Lower Cretaceous lake deposits since the 1930’s. Then as today, these collectors sell their discoveries to scientists and the public alike. Virtually every fossil of scientific importance from these deposits has been bought and sold. These include thousands of fossil birds, some with exquisitely preserved plumage whose chemistry has been resolved and the pigmentation of feathers constrained (Wogelius et al. 2011). Perhaps the greatest scientific advancement derived from these commercially collected fossils is the irrefutable evidence that theropods had feathers and indeed extant birds are derived theropods (Currie and Chen 2001, Norell and Xu 2005. and Xu et al. 2010, etc.).
Morocco has, perhaps, the largest per-capita population of commercial fossil collectors of any country, with an estimated 50,000 collectors and annual fossil sales totaling $40,000,000.00 (Sicree 2009). These collectors and their activities are protected by law and the Ministere de l’Energie des Mines. Fossils are legally exported, but foreigners may not collect fossils unless it benefits the local commercial collectors (Sicree 2009, Bardet et al. 2010, Frommers 2014). Thus publications of Moroccan fossils must include discussions of fossils that were purchased (Bardet et al. 2010, Murray and Wilson 2014). In the open pit mines, huge machines excavate the Maestrichtian and Palaeogene aged phosphate deposits. Commercial collectors extract any fossils exposed by the latest pass of the machines and are responsible for most of what we know about this rich, but otherwise inaccessible fauna (Bardet et al. 2010, Bardet et al. 2013).
In the United States, the buying and selling of fossils has always been a part of paleontology. Marsh and Cope competed to purchase the latest discovery, whether it was a single bone, or a train car full of them, there was a desire to beat the other scientist to publication (Jaffe 2000). At the end of the 19th century, the Sternberg family began hunting fossils in the western United States and selling them throughout the world. Beginning with Charles H. and ending with George, the Sternbergs collected and sold anything from titanotheres to dinosaur mummies (Manning 2008). The dynasty even had one of its members, Charles M. Sternberg, accepted into the academic community (Rogers 1999).
If not for commercial fossil collecting in the lacustrine Green River Formation, little would be known beyond the five most common fish. It is only because of commercial quarries, that we have a more complete picture of the life in and around “Fossil Lake.” Without 100-plus commercial collectors over the last 100 years splitting limestone to collect fish after fish, science would never have seen the articulated mammals, lizards, snakes, and rarer fish, nor the feathered birds and all the plants and invertebrates that these diggers have produced (Grande 1984, Grande 2013).
Today, in the United States, commercial fossil collectors are barred from collecting fossils on Federal Land, but the rights of private landowners and the private ownership of fossils is maintained (The Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009). Commercial collectors work legally on private land, and the landowners benefit financially from this activity, and thus are interested in the fossils on their land. The best of these collectors also work hand in hand with academics at both universities and museums. They employ scientists to help with data retrieval, restoration, mounting and finding the appropriate researchers to contact (Black Hills Institute, Siber & Siber, Triebold Paleontology, etc.).
New and important dinosaur specimens from the Morrison Formation (McIntosh et al. 1996, Redelstorff and Sander 2009, etc.), the Two Medicine Formation (Burnham et al. 2000, Evans and Larson 2003, etc.), and the Judith River Formation (Stein and Triebold 2013, Ott and Larson in press, etc.) have been recently discovered by commercial paleontologists and placed in museums, following the codes of ethics of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences, the Paleontological Society and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology.
Some of the greatest contributions by commercial collectors have come from the Terminal Cretaceous Lance and Hell Creek Formations. These rocks have been reluctant to yield complete specimens because of a slow depositional environment and fragile, friable fossils that are difficult to collect. Commercial collectors applied their innovative techniques to the problem and discovered and collected vertebrates that would have otherwise never been seen by academic paleontologists, or the public. The most significant of these discoveries have ended up in museums. These include some of the most complete skeletons of Tyrannosaurus rex (Larson and Donnan 2002, Brochu 2003, N. Larson 2008, P. Larson 2008), Edmontosaurus (Christians 1992), Triceratops (The Childrens Museum in Indianapolis; Houston Museum of Natural Science; National Science Museum, Tokyo), a new Ceratopsian (Ott and Larson 2010) and a brand new oviraptorosaurian theropod (Lamanna et al. 2014).
This is by no means a comprehensive list of recent contributions by commercial collectors to the science of vertebrate paleontology, but it should provide a sense of the scope and scale of those significant contributions. Shimada et al. (2014), in contrast, suggest that recent developments in commercial collecting are actually damaging to the science and cite three examples. These examples are worthy of additional discussion and we thank Shimada et al. (2014) for raising these particular cases.
The first case is that of a skeleton of Tarbosaurus that was illegally collected, smuggled out of Mongolia and appeared at an auction in 2012. This is indeed a clear example of illegal activity that was thwarted by paleontologists working with law enforcement agencies. Commercial collectors applauded these actions because any illegal specimens that appear on the market unfairly compete with legal fossils. No fossil enthusiast approves of the destruction of sites or the theft and damage of specimens by those who work outside the law.
The second example was a 2013 bill (“HB 392”) that proposed allowing sales of fossils from Makoshika State Park in Glendive, Montana. This bill was passed by the Montana House for consideration by the State Senate. Although this might have been a naive move by a state representative or a park official, there is simply no evidence that the bill was the brainchild of commercial fossil collectors. In this case, the bill never made it out of the Senate.
The third and final case that Shimada et al. (2014) raise relates to the San Diego Museum of Natural History contracting with Bonhams to auction specimens originally purchased from C.H. Sternberg. Although the specimens had historical significance, they were of well-known and often duplicated taxa. “The Museum intended to use the money generated by the sale to purchase an important local fossil collection” (www.sdnhm.org/blog_details/fossils-withdrawn-from-auction/9/). Because of the public outcry from academic paleontologists (Perlman 2013) the specimens were withdrawn from the auction.
Shimada et al. (2014) stated: “We therefore consider the battle against heightened commercialization of fossils to be the greatest challenge to paleontology of the 21st century.” We believe, on the other hand, that the demonization and marginalization of a specific portion of the paleontological community is the result of misunderstanding, misplaced entitlement and simple intolerance. Such attitudes endanger the future of the very science of paleontology and paleontological collections on which it is based. Through collaboration, education and constructive alliances, the fossil fuel that drives our discipline could be better managed and made more easily accessible to the scientists who work in both commercial and/or academic institutions, but more importantly, made equally accessible to the public.
A recent Gallup poll (gallup.com/poll/21814/evolution-creationism-intelligent-design.aspx) shows that 46% of Americans believe that God created humans in their present form. The same poll revealed that 66% of Americans believe that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Fifty-four percent believe that creationism should be taught in schools. The challenges that our discipline faces are grave and we need a united front so that we might work together to make fossils more available to the general public, in museums and private collections, so that more people can touch, learn and understand the beautiful story that is the evolutionary history of life on Earth.
We must not forget that many of today’s public museums started out as private collections (Carnall 2013). Instead of castigating private collectors for their scientific curiosity and desire to collect, purchase or sell fossils, scientists would do far better by welcoming them into the fold. This would go a long way in helping to solve two real problems recognized by Shimada et al. (2014): a shrinking job market and diminishing funding sources.
Private collections also have a legitimate role in the preservation and study of our planetary heritage. Most private collectors gladly open their doors to any interested scientist and many readily donate specimens or money to research programs. The historical value of well-curated collections often end as bequests to museums. It is fair to say that this does necessitate patience on behalf of paleontologists wishing to house such collections, but this is the perfect reason to work with collectors to ensure a partnership that will help in the curation, conservation and preparation of samples and ultimately in its accession to a collection. To castigate such dedicated passion for our past can only be detrimental to the future of the science.
Although Shimada et al. (2014) are not alone in their beliefs, most paleontologists do not share their views; “[W]orking with private and amateur collectors can very realistically improve our knowledge about the natural world” (Carnall 2013). The Paleontological Society’s code of ethics states: “The principal importance of fossils is for scientific, scholarly, and educational use of both professionals and amateurs” (www.paleosoc.org/pscode.htm). They further state: “To leave fossils uncollected assures their degradation and ultimate loss to the scientific and educational world through natural processes of weathering and erosion.” In the National Academy of Sciences report on Paleontological Collecting (Raup et al. 1986), the committee not only recognize the contributions to paleontology by commercial and amateur collectors as are their rights on private lands, but also recommended that regulated amateur and commercial collecting be allowed on public lands.
People collect fossils because of scientific curiosity. They come from all walks of life. A very lucky few are able to find work as paleontologists in universities or museums. Others create companies that collect, buy and sell fossils. Some satiate their passion as volunteers or by maintaining fossil collections that are often eventually donated to their local museum. Working in partnership we can all help to solve the contracting job market and diminishing public funds for paleontological research and exhibits. However, if we remain divided...we may not fall, but simply fail the science at a time when we should be celebrating advances in the remarkable techniques and technology available to us in the 21st Century.
It is our humble opinion that the real “Greatest Challenge to Paleontology of the 21st Century”, is finding a way for amateurs, commercial fossil dealers and academic paleontologists to work together and do what is best for the public and the fossils. It’s the only way the science will thrive. |
President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for a new safety watchdog that would allow Maryland, Virginia and D.C. to resume responsibility for oversight of Metro. The Federal Transit Administration assumed control over safety oversight after a series of critical lapses, including an incident in 2015 where a train filled with smoke, killing an Alexandria woman and hospitalizing 80 others.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump signed legislation Tuesday giving the go-ahead for a new safety watchdog that would allow Maryland, Virginia and D.C. to take back primary responsibility for safety oversight of Metro.
Trump’s signature is the final legislative step in creating the Metro Safety Commission, although staffers still need to be formally hired.
The Federal Transit Administration has been overseeing safety on the rail system since late 2015 following a series of critical lapses.
In January 2015, an Alexandria, Virginia, woman died and more than 80 people were taken to the hospital after they were trapped in a smoke-filled train stopped near one of the system’s underground stations.
But the federal government’s move to assume safety oversight was designed as a temporary measure.
To provide a longer-term solution, the FTA required that Virginia, Maryland and D.C. establish an effective safety monitor. Lawmakers in those jurisdictions approved legislation to create the new safety commission. Maryland and Virginia lawmakers acted after federal officials announced they would withhold millions of dollars in transportation funding until the states acted to create the new commission.
The legislation passed through Congress earlier this month
However, the FTA will continue to oversee safety for the time being until it determines that the new commission is properly assembled and capable of meeting its responsibilities.
Lawmakers from both parties spoke in favor of the legislation when the House approved it in July.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said the bill responds to the safety needs of the system. At the same time, he said, it’s essential to invest in the transit service to ensure greater reliability and efficiency.
“If we didn’t have the Metro system, what is already one of the most traffic-plagued and congested regions in the country would be absolutely paralyzed,” Raskin said.
Metrorail provides transit service for more than 600,000 customers a day and is the second busiest transit system in the nation, serving 91 stations in Virginia, Maryland and the District. It is the only transit system in the nation without a dedicated source of funding.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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It’s possible that Las Vegas mass murderer Stephen Paddock was considering targeting the “Life is Beautiful” concert with Lorde and Chance the Rapper instead of the country music festival where he eventually struck, according to The Daily Beast and comments made by the Las Vegas sheriff.
Blink-182 was among the acts performing at that venue.
The sheriff, Joe Lombardo, was asked at a news conference if it’s believed that Paddock was scouting other locations in Las Vegas, and he said “what’s possibly been presented with Life is Beautiful.” You can read more about the Life is Beautiful 2017 Las Vegas music event here.
On October 4, the sheriff that Paddock “had rented a room at the Ogden Hotel in downtown Las Vegas” overlooking Life is Beautiful. “He had obtained a room at the Ogden at the same time Life is Beautiful was conducted. Was he doing pre surveillance? We don’t know yet.”
As to the room’s rental, though: “This has been confirmed. The reasons that ran through Paddock’s mind are unknown, but it was directly during the same time as Life is Beautiful,” he said. Authorities recovered “items” and video from that location. They’re reviewing them to determine his actions while there. He booked the room through Airbnb, according to the sheriff.
“We have information that he may have attended ‘Life is Beautiful,’ but we haven’t confirmed it yet,” the sheriff said.
Watch:
A senior law enforcement source whom Daily Beast did not identify told the publication that Paddock, 64, of Mesquite, Nevada, “might have originally targeted another Las Vegas music festival held the previous weekend.”
Paddock “rented multiple condos overlooking the annual Life Is Beautiful Festival, which this year was headlined by Lorde and Chance the Rapper,” Daily Beast reported, adding that it was possible that Paddock had “lost his nerve.”
Instead, he ended up checking into the Mandalay Bay Hotel on September 28, a few days before the shooting, obtaining a room on the 32nd floor that overlooked the area where the Route 91 Harvest Festival, an event showcasing country music, was being held. Paddock then began firing at the thousands of people gathered below who were watching Jason Aldean sing; he killed at least 59 people and injured at least 524. The motive of the retired accountant remains unclear. He had a cache of firearms in the hotel and in his house.
The ‘Life is Beautiful’ festival “was held in Las Vegas just over a week ago” and “had a line-up including Blink-182, Chance the Rapper and Lorde.”
You can learn more about each victim here: |
MONTREAL – Rory MacDonald admits his passion for competition had fizzled prior to his first encounter with Robbie Lawler at UFC 167. The Canadian wasn’t the first to make that claim and there’s a good chance he’s not the last, either.
Unfortunately for MacDonald (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC), his low point came at a crucial time. A time in which had not lost to Lawler (24-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC) by split decision at the November 2013 event, he would have earned a UFC welterweight championship fight.
MacDonald will finally get his title shot nearly 19 months later in a rematch with now-champion Lawler at UFC 189 on July 11. Although he experienced stumbles along the way, MacDonald believes that sometimes the longer and more difficult road is ultimately the best one.
The 25-year-old said he wasn’t in the proper physical or mental state for the first meeting with “Ruthless.” MacDonald claims he went into the fight with a lingering injury and did not have the “fire” needed to defeat an opponent of Lawler’s caliber.
“I had a couple things in training and my body wasn’t feeling good; I just lost motivation,” MacDonald told MMAjunkie. “I couldn’t train as hard as I usually did and the injury kind of made me not focused. It just made me not into it. I think it was just my hunger was not there. I wasn’t really into the fight at that point.
“Before that fight I was like, ‘Oh, I just kind of want this to be over.’ I wasn’t really interested in fighting. I just wanted to get it over and done with and just relax.”
MacDonald said the severity of the ankle injury raised questions about whether he should compete. Injuries have forced MacDonald to withdraw from five UFC fights during his career and he said he wasn’t interested in pulling out again.
“I had people telling me I shouldn’t fight, but I did it anyways,” MacDonald said. “I said that I was going to do it. I don’t think the fight was signed, but I said I was going to do it. I had got injured like two or three fights in a row and I was just sick of it. I kind of came to the conclusion that you can’t be perfect in every fight.”
Despite the training camp hindrances and a lack of motivation, MacDonald put up a solid, and arguably even winning, effort against Lawler. It was a closely contested three-round fight, but the most significant moment came in the third round when Lawler connected with a left hook that briefly dropped MacDonald.
One judge thought MacDonald won the fight, the other two sided with Lawler, who got the win then captured the UFC belt just a few fights later.
MacDonald said he expects the complexion of the rematch to be entirely different. Injuries and mental focus are non-issues, MacDonald said, and the 25-minute time period provides “Red King” with more time and freedom to implement his tactics. The first fight was closely contested and MacDonald believes only minor adjustments are necessary to get the edge.
“My skills come a long way; my focus has changed since that fight and I’m just a little more determined to get in there and actually fight,” MacDonald said. “I don’t think I was focused on the actual fighting. I was a little distracted, a little less motivated to actually do martial arts at that point in my life.
“It was a close fight. Technical. My heart wasn’t in it and I just wasn’t there. That’s how I felt anyway. … I have a lot more techniques (now). I have a lot more skills to show in this fight than what we had last time. I’ll be better prepared mentally and physically. That’s going to show itself.”
MacDonald appears to have reached a new level of competition following the first bout with Lawler. He’s won three consecutive fights and that includes mostly one-sided efforts against Tarec Saffiedine, Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia.
Since he made his UFC debut in early 2010, MacDonald has been assigned as championship material. For the first portion of his career he was allowed to flourish in the shadow of teammate and former 170-pound titleholder Georges St-Pierre. After St-Pierre took a hiatus from the sport in December 2013, though, MacDonald has elevated to the forefront and begun to realize his full potential.
MacDonald believes his skills are at the necessary level required to take the title from Lawler in the UFC 189 co-main event at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight pass.
Winning a fight isn’t entirely about skills, though, as MacDonald has already learned. The outcome can be decided by which side is better focused and prepared. MacDonald has hovered around a UFC title fight for several years. Now that it’s here, he said he doesn’t intend to let the opportunity slip away.
“The difference is this time I want to fight; I’m looking forward to being in there and having the blood on my face and being in the heat of battle,” MacDonald said. “I don’t think he’s as dynamic in his skills than me, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a hard fight.”
For more on UFC 189, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site. |
Raif Badawi, the Saudi blogger jailed and lashed for allegedly insulting Islam last year, has been awarded the European Parliament's Sakharov human rights prize.
Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament, has called for Saudi King Salman to pardon Raif Badawi and "release him so that he can accept the prize".
"[The blogger is an] unusually courageous and ... exemplary man [who is facing punishment that] objectively can only be described as brutal torture," Schulz said on Thursday.
Badawi, 31, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam.
He received the first 50 lashes of his sentence in public in January.
However, subsequent rounds of his punishment were suspended officially due to his declining heath, and after intense international pressure.
Standing ovation
The announcement of the Sakharov Prize was greeted with a standing ovation by EU legislators taking part in the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg, France.
"I can think of nobody more deserving [of the Sakharov Prize] than a man imprisoned for encouraging open debate in a country where it is not tolerated," said Syed Kamall, the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists faction in the legislature, which was among the political groups that nominated the blogger for the award.
"This prize should send out a strong signal to Saudi Arabia that freedom of speech and thought is a universal right."
Badawi's wife, Ensaf Haider, expressed hope the decision will place pressure on Saudi Arabia to free him.
"I hope this sends a positive signal for Raif's release," she said from Canada where she is staying.
"I hope it will raise his morale, which was not so good when I talked to him six days ago."
The sentence had caused an international outcry and been condemned by rights groups.
The US has also expressed "great concern" and called on ally Saudi Arabia to review the sentence.
Badawi was one of three nominees for this year's prize along with Boris Nemtsov, the slain Russian opposition politician, and Mesa de la Unidad Democratica, the Venezuelan opposition movement.
Previous recipients of the award include Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar activist, and Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani education campaigner. |
HAZLEHURST, Miss. -- Cedric Wiggins thought high-speed Internet would have long since arrived in this corner of rural Mississippi.
He figured this based on promises AT&T made publicly to win regulatory approval for its 2006 purchase of his local telephone company, BellSouth.
The $86 billion deal created a telecommunications colossus with customers in 22 states. Consumer advocates opposed the merger as a threat to competition. But AT&T’s then-chief executive Edward Whitacre assured Congress that allowing his company to expand would help consumers, supplying “greater access and more choices for broadband, no matter where they live or work.”
That promise carried the day. The Federal Communications Commission allowed the two companies to merge on the condition that AT&T offer broadband Internet to every customer in its territory by the end of 2007.
But five years after that deadline, Wiggins, 26, is still waiting. Inside his trailer, his only affordable Internet option is a sluggish dial-up modem that takes five minutes to load the online job listing sites he has visited since being laid-off as a truck driver in May. Every few months, he calls AT&T to ask when he will receive a faster connection. The answer never changes.
“They said they don’t offer it in my area right now,” he said. “There’s nothing I can do.”
All around him are the consequences of this void -- a law enforcement officer whose crime-fighting is stymied by his inability to secure reliable Internet service; an entrepreneur who must drive to a McDonald’s with WiFi to answer customer emails; and Wiggins, who cannot find work in part because he lacks the bandwidth to fill out online job applications.
The disconnect here in rural Mississippi highlights a major shortcoming of American telecommunications policy, consumer advocates say. Time and again, regulators have approved enormous mergers in exchange for promises that companies will extend high-speed Internet to underserved communities. Time and again, companies have pocketed the profits from those deals while regulators have failed to enforce their obligations.
“Companies make all sorts of promises about how the deal is going to be for the public good and often it’s just hot air,” said Benjamin Lennett, a policy director at the New America Foundation. “They’re trying to get their merger approved. No one is going to hold them to account.”
The FCC asserts that companies ignore merger commitments at their peril.
“The Commission has and will continue to take action to enforce these merger commitments, whether through on-going monitoring, in response to complaints, referrals from other agencies, or based on other reporting mechanisms,” said a commission spokesman.
But the FCC relies on companies to report their own merger compliance and does not conduct its own audits to verify companies' claims that they met the conditions.
One former commissioner says this lack of follow-up has enabled companies to skirt their obligations.
“We have a problem at the commission, historically, with following-up on merger conditions,” said Michael Copps, who served on the FCC from 2001 to 2011, and who voted to approve the AT&T-BellSouth merger. “A lot of these conditions that get attached are not that great, and they are not always really enforced.”
To win over regulators, AT&T promised to offer broadband Internet to all residents in its combined territory, with at least 30 percent of wired Internet deployment -- known as DSL -- rolled out to rural or low-income communities. Low-income customers would also receive $10 Internet service.
AT&T said it met those obligations, but the company refused requests from The Huffington Post to prove that claim by demonstrating where it has deployed service. Officials at the FCC, who spoke on condition they not be named, said the commission accepted AT&T’s assurances that it satisfied its obligations based on a letter from the company stating that it had done so.
Kevin Martin, who chaired the commission at the time that it approved AT&T’s purchase of BellSouth, told The Huffington Post that it was “common practice” to rely on companies' reports of their own merger compliance. Martin, now a lobbyist and attorney at the Washington, D.C., law firm Patton Boggs, declined to elaborate. (An FCC spokesman said recent mergers have required more detailed information from companies about compliance.)
The goal of commitment was “to provide at least some basic Internet service to rural areas,” Martin said.
But some former FCC commissioners and industry experts say merger conditions often contain loopholes that by themselves achieve little in expanding access to the Internet in rural areas.
AT&T committed to provide Internet service at minimum speeds that were hardly faster than dial-up, they say, while pledging to deliver “alternative technologies,” including satellite Internet, through as much as 15 percent of its territory. And at the time, satellite Internet was already available through nearly all of BellSouth’s turf, making AT&T’s commitment “utterly meaningless,” said Dave Burstein, editor of the telecom industry publication DSL Prime.
Even some of the FCC commissioners who approved the deal were skeptical that AT&T’s commitment would bring fast, reliable Internet to all of its customers.
AT&T’s promise “relies on a definition of broadband that does not nearly put our country on par with our global competitors,” then-FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said, adding that the deal "would have been substantially improved by the inclusion of more specific, quantifiable, and enforceable commitments for rural and low-income consumers."
Despite his misgivings, Adelstein approved the merger. Adelstein, who is now president of the PCIA, a trade association representing wireless infrastructure companies, did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Other mergers also have contained weak promises, consumer advocates say. When CenturyTel, a rural telephone company that served customers in 25 states across the South and Midwest, purchased Embarq, another rural provider, in 2009, the resulting company, CenturyLink, promised to deliver wired Internet access to 90 percent of customers within three years. But both CenturyTel and Embarq already served DSL to 87 percent of customers at the time of the merger, meaning it would be relatively easy to meet the commitment.
About 19 million people lack high-speed Internet access, according to the FCC. Most live in sparsely populated, rural areas that phone or cable companies are unwilling to serve because extending their networks to such communities means laying expensive fiber-optic cables over wide expanses without recovering those costs from a dense customer base.
“We have all been trying to find a broadband solution that was economically viable to get out to rural America,” AT&T’s current chief executive officer, Randall L. Stephenson, said during a January conference call with analysts, according to a transcript. “And we are not finding one, to be quite candid.”
But regulators thought they found a way to alter the equation -- by requiring that companies like AT&T pay the costs of wiring rural areas with the Internet in exchange for their blessing for mergers.
Through the late 1990s and into the following decade, regulators had a steady stream of deals with which to work. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 allowed local telephone monopolies known as the Bells to enter the long-distance market in exchange for opening their local markets to new competitors. It triggered a wave of consolidation that turned seven regional Bell companies into today’s two sprawling providers, AT&T and Verizon.
The FCC has included conditions to expand rural Internet service in at least six mergers in the past six years, including FairPoint Communications’ 2008 takeover of Verizon’s rural lines in New England, Frontier Communications’ 2010 purchase of Verizon’s assets in 14 states, and Comcast’s 2011 merger with NBC Universal.
‘THEY DIDN’T FOLLOW THROUGH’
Few mergers were larger than AT&T’s 2006 takeover of BellSouth, the capstone of AT&T’s expansion-through-consolidation strategy.
The previous year, AT&T had merged with SBC Communications, adding more than 50 million customers in 13 states and vaulting past Verizon to become the nation's biggest telecommunications company. By adding BellSouth, AT&T would solidify its dominance.
Consumer groups opposed to the deal, warning that it would usher higher prices along with job cuts while reducing consumer choices.
“The FCC needs to step up and impose meaningful conditions that will salvage what little competition is left,” Gene Kimmelman, then-senior vice president for Consumers Union, said at the time. “The government has been deceived before by false promises that mergers of potential competitors benefit the public.”
The Justice Department, 19 state regulators and three foreign countries approved the merger without conditions. But two FCC commissioners, Copps and Adelstein, refused to sign off unless AT&T made some consumer friendly commitments.
When a Republican commissioner, Robert McDowell, recused himself from voting because he once worked for an AT&T rival, the commission was deadlocked, 2-2.
With the deal stalled, AT&T made several promises to win approval, including a pledge to expand Internet service to everyone in the combined territory. The company mobilized influential supporters, who flooded the FCC with letters pushing for the deal to go through. Many cited AT&T’s commitment to help rural and low-income customers receive fast, affordable Internet service.
One letter signed by 26 members of Congress from across the country, including many from California and Texas, said quick approval of the merger will “significantly enhance our constituents’ access to affordable broadband services, benefiting both their lives and our nation’s prosperity.”
All but two of the lawmakers who signed had received contributions from AT&T and BellSouth political action committees and employees over the previous election cycle, according to a Huffington Post analysis of campaign finance records from the Sunlight Foundation’s website, InfluenceExplorer.com.
More than half received more than $10,000 in contributions from AT&T and BellSouth political action committees and employees over the previous three election cycles, records show.
By the end of 2006, after a seven-month deadlock, Copps and Jonathan Adelstein withdrew their objections, and the FCC approved the deal.
AT&T had made “real, tangible, and important broadband commitments” and there would be “no exceptions for sparsely populated areas,” Copps said at the time.
AT&T’s commitment “will only further encourage the deployment and adoption of broadband networks into yet unserved or underserved areas,” Chairman Kevin J. Martin and Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate said back then.
The deal was a boon to AT&T executives and shareholders. AT&T’s then chief executive Ed Whitacre was paid $31 million in 2006, nearly double what he made in 2005, according to AT&T's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company’s stock price rose 46 percent in 2006 and the company paid out more than $5 billion in dividends, according to SEC filings. In 2007, AT&T’s stock price increased another 16 percent, and the company paid more than $8.7 billion in dividends, according to SEC filings.
But today, even some AT&T supporters question whether the company kept its broadband promise.
“It gives me heartburn,” said Tyrone Ellis, who as chairman of Mississippi’s public utilities committee in 2006 wrote to the FCC to urge approval of the deal, citing the promise of rural broadband throughout AT&T’s territory. “They didn’t follow through. But I don’t have the power to force their hand. The FCC does.”
Today, Mississippi ranks 48th nationally in availability of high-speed Internet, according to a recent report by the Center for Social Inclusion, a social justice think tank. The report found that “Mississippi residents as a whole must choose among older, slower and less reliable technologies compared to the rest of the country.”
A DIGITAL DIVIDE
Copiah County, Miss., located about 30 miles south of Jackson, is stuck on the wrong side of that divide. Hazlehurst, the county seat, has a bustling Walmart, fast-food restaurants, a high school, a downtown strip of shops and faded, abandoned storefronts. In rural areas outside of town, one-room trailers and white-steepled churches are nestled among poultry farms and pine trees.
Many residents say they have just two options for Internet service. They can choose between a satellite connection, which they say is more expensive and less reliable than wired Internet. If they can’t afford satellite, they are stuck with dial-up, which most Americans replaced years ago with Internet speeds that are more than 20 times faster.
On a recent afternoon, Billy Saul, 59, drove along tree-lined back roads as a dispatcher’s voice crackled over the radio. Saul is the commander of the Copiah County sheriff’s narcotics unit. The county, he said, is a trafficking route for methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana from Mexico and Texas to cities like Atlanta and Memphis.
In the back of his black Chevy Tahoe with tinted windows, he keeps a laptop, a printer, a Taser, a .40-caliber pistol, a .12-gauge pump shotgun, SWAT gear, a mask for raiding meth labs, and what he described as “door-kicking boots.”
“I’ve got everything I need,” he said. “Except Internet.”
"You feel like you have no recourse. You can’t say ‘I’ll take my business to somebody else.’ There is nobody else," says Billy Saul. (Photo: Gerry Smith)
To stay undercover, Saul works from his home, where his best option for Internet service comes from a satellite dish. When it’s cloudy or rainy, the Internet goes down. This happens once or twice a week, sometimes for more than a day.
It is more than just an inconvenience, he said. It’s also an obstacle for law enforcement.
Two years ago, Saul received a call from a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who needed immediate help identifying a suspected drug trafficker to make an arrest. Saul knew the suspect because he had arrested the woman before. The agent emailed him a photo, but Saul’s Internet was not working, and he couldn’t view the image. By the time his connection was restored, the suspect was gone, he said.
Saul said other cases in the county have been jeopardized by his lack of reliable Internet access.
“It keeps me awake at night,” he said.
To earn money on the side, Saul sells computer software to other police departments so they can better manage their drug cases. Without reliable Web access, though, he can’t help them if they have software problems, he said.
Saul said he has called AT&T repeatedly to ask for faster, more reliable Internet service, but has been told his home is outside its service area.
“You feel helpless,” he said. “You feel frustrated. You feel like you have no recourse. You can’t say ‘I’ll take my business to somebody else.’ There is nobody else.”
A few miles away, Dwayne McLemore, 48, runs a metal fabrication business in a warehouse behind his home, which sits on 350 acres next to a poultry farm. His business, called Steel Outdoors, makes hunting and farming equipment out of steel.
Like Saul, McLemore’s best Internet option comes from satellite dish. To run his business, he relies on customers emailing him large files -- blueprints and photos -- of what they want him to build. But after downloading a few photos, he reaches his data limit and his satellite provider downgrades his Internet speed, preventing him from downloading anymore. Wireless service is also spotty in the area, he said.
So he is often forced to drive 10 miles into town and catch a Wi-Fi signal at McDonald’s to respond to customers’ emails. Many customers, however, expect him to be available at all times.
“We’ve lost customers because they haven’t been able to get in touch with us,” he said.
On a recent morning at his warehouse, country music blared from a radio. His dozen employees were busy driving forklifts, welding steel, and spray-painting deer blinds. McLemore carried beams of steel around the warehouse, then wiped carbon soot off his hands onto his gray T-shirt and blue jeans, staining them black.
"We’ve lost customers because they haven’t been able to get in touch with us,” Dwayne McLemore said. (Photo: Gerry Smith)
A self-described “Christian man” with a deep tan and Southern drawl, McLemore doesn’t believe the government should require AT&T to serve rural areas. But he said the company has not kept its word to him.
When Steel Outdoors became more dependent on the Internet, he chose not to relocate his business elsewhere because AT&T told him wired high-speed Internet was on its way, he said.
“They said ‘We’re already running cables down your road, it’ll be available in the next year,’” he said.
That was three years ago. Neighbors down the road received service, he said, but he did not. He said moving his business now would be expensive, especially after he built an addition to the warehouse.
“AT&T is just like most politicians,” he said. “They’ll make lots of promises to get your business or get you to support them, but when it comes down to honoring their word, they just don’t do it.”
While Saul and McLemore complain about their satellite Internet, many low-income residents of Mississippi -- one of the poorest states in the country -- say they can’t afford it, so they rely on dial-up.
On a recent morning, Cedric Wiggins logged onto his dial-up connection and tried to look for a job. He typed in the URL for justtruckingjobs.com, then stared at a blue bar inch across the bottom of the screen. After five minutes, the bar froze, and a message appeared: “Navigation to the webpage was cancelled.”
Wiggins shook his head and sighed.
“Here we go again,” he said.
Quiet, easy-going and built like an NFL lineman, Wiggins wishes he was more computer-savvy. Growing up in a rural community without fast Internet access, he said he never learned online basics.
“I don’t know much about Google or searching what sites I need to go on to find information,” he said. “I’m not used to it.”
But he needs a faster Internet connection to find work.
Every Sunday, he buys the local newspaper, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, and calls numbers offering positions driving a 16-wheeler -- his profession since he was 19.
Nearly every company tells him to apply online. He explains he only has dial-up and the 20-page application would take him several hours to complete. One company agreed to fax him an application. He picked it up at a neighbor’s house, filled it out, and faxed it back. He never heard anything.
He avoids the local library, he said, because there are long waits for computers and limits on how long he can use them. He tried applying for jobs on his cell phone, but it was hard to navigate on a small screen and he often lost service, erasing his work. Most of the time, he says, it’s easier to simply drive to Jackson -- an 80-mile round trip -- where he can fill out applications using his brother’s high-speed Internet connection.
In the meantime, he has a part-time job hauling logs to cities like Shreveport, La., or Everdale, Texas, making $140 a load. But it’s just a few days a week, and the lack of steady work weighs on him. He supports his fiancee and their 1-year-old son, Cedric Jr., who runs around the trailer in a diaper and white tank top, squealing with laughter.
“Hopefully, by the time he needs the Internet it will be here,” Wiggins said.
‘NOTHING REALLY CHANGED’
When a company fails to abide by merger conditions, federal regulators can revoke a company’s license, split up the merger, extend the length of their promises or issue fines.
In June, acting on a tip from the public, the FCC said Comcast had failed to market a standalone Internet service to its customers, which meant customers had the option of buying Internet without also buying bundled services such as cable television. The condition was a requirement of Comcast’s merger with NBC Universal.
As punishment, the FCC required the cable provider to offer the service a year longer than the original requirement, conduct a major advertising campaign about the service and pay a $800,000 fine.
In 2011, Comcast generated $55.8 billion in revenue.
“That’s nothing more than a mosquito bite,” said Susan Baldwin, an independent telecom policy consultant.
Last spring, AT&T announced it would spend $53 million -- with help from federal subsidies -- to expand high-speed Internet in rural parts of the state. The project will deliver high-speed Internet to 30,000 rural homes that never received wired access after the BellSouth merger, according to AT&T spokesman Michael Balmoris.
More broadly, President Barack Obama included $7.2 billion in his 2009 package of stimulus spending measures to expand Internet access in underserved areas. Last fall, the FCC created the $4.5 billion “Connect America Fund," which provides subsidies to companies that extend Web service to remote communities. The fund is paid for with revenues from a tax on monthly phone bills.
But Wiggins is still waiting for the future to arrive, while worrying about the consequences of living without easy access to an increasingly vital tool for participating in society.
Despite his frustrations, he could never live in the city, he said. He likes being near family. The church he has attended since he was a boy sits across the road from his trailer, along with his family’s, cemetery and his parent’s house. His aunts, uncles and grandparents live within a few miles. He likes fishing for catfish and hunting deer in the fall.
“I like the peace and quiet,” he said.
His mother, Barbara Wiggins, 55, uses dial-up Internet to pay bills. She prefers paying online because companies charge her $20 to pay them over the phone and a recent aneurysm has limited her ability to drive to the post office.
But paying bills online takes all day, she said. In the time it takes to load a web page, she starts her laundry, cooks dinner, and feeds six pet goats that live in a pen behind her house. Her daughter-in-law wants to email photos of her grandchildren, but she tells her not to bother.
“It takes too long for them to open up,” Wiggins said. “I just tell her to wait and we’ll see them Sunday when you come to church.”
With a faster connection, she said she would pay her bills and look up quilting projects online. Her husband, George Wiggins, 59, said he would read the news online. Cedric Wiggins said he could check the next day’s weather -- vital information for a truck driver.
His mother has learned to accept that AT&T doesn’t serve high-speed wired Internet to her home. But what bothers her, Wiggins said, is the company has delivered service to some of her neighbors. One man down the road, who is the police chief of a nearby town, recently received service, she said.
“If they can bring it to his house, why not bring it all the way?” she said. “We’re willing to pay for it. Why not let us have it?”
George and Barbara Wiggins still use dial-up Internet, though they said one of their neighbors has received high-speed Internet from AT&T. (Photo: Gerry Smith)
Every so often, the Wiggins family’s hopes are lifted. They see an AT&T commercial offering a bundled package of cable, phone and high-speed Internet, or an AT&T employee working on the phone lines outside.
“We saw them laying cables down once and we just knew we were going to get it,” Barbara Wiggins said.
They call AT&T, but they get the same answer: not yet. |
NEW YORKNEW YORK (Reuters) - In his first news conference since the Nov. 8 election, President-elect Donald Trump set social media ablaze on Wednesday with remarks including harsh criticism of the press and a defense of his goal to improve ties with Russia.
The session, held in the lobby of his Trump Tower headquarters in Manhattan, featured a number of viral moments, like an exchange with a reporter whom Trump accused of peddling "fake news."
"I'm not going to give you a question," Trump told the journalist from CNN, which reported on Tuesday that the Republican president-elect had been briefed by U.S. intelligence agencies about allegations that Russian operatives had compromising information about him.
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"You are fake news!" he told the reporter in a moment that reverberated on Twitter.
Trump's comment that reporters were "the only ones who care" about whether he released his tax returns stirred up 165,000 tweets during the session. Social media users asked others to "retweet if you’re not a reporter and still care about seeing Trump’s tax returns."
In Russia, the hashtag #TrumpPressConference was a top-trending topic during the news conference and for several hours afterward.
"If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability because we have a horrible relationship with Russia," Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said in reference to the Russian president.
"I don't know that I'm going to get along with Vladimir Putin. I hope I do. But there's a good chance I won't," Trump said, prompting thousands of tweets from people in Russia.
U.S. intelligence agencies have said Russia was behind a hacking campaign aimed at boosting Trump's presidential candidacy against Democrat Hillary Clinton.
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There were some 80,000 tweets worldwide stamped with the #TrumpPressConference tag during the hour-long session with about 250 reporters.
Twitter sentiment regarding Trump during the event was 14 percent positive, 63 percent neutral and 23 percent negative, according to global digital marketing technology company Amobee.
Also stirring Twitter reaction were Trump's comments about the wall he has pledged to build on the U.S.-Mexican border and to have Mexico pay for.
He said he would not wait for negotiations with Mexico before beginning construction, but added: "Mexico in some form ... will reimburse us."
In response, former Mexican President Vicente Fox tweeted:
"Neither today, nor tomorrow nor never Mexico will pay for that stupid wall."
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HOUSTON - Analysis and observations from before, during and after Houston’s Tuesday night matchup with the Boston Celtics:
Post-game:
Welcome to Toyota Center. Abandon all hope, ye who enter the paint.
OK, so maybe it’s a wee bit too early to start comparing the Rockets’ rim protection to the hell depicted in Dante’s Divine Comedy but Houston has been putting up some pretty prodigious block numbers since inserting Terrence Jones into the squad’s starting lineup and the team wasted no time keeping the block party going Tuesday night with the Celtics in town. So perhaps for the time being we can take to calling it the Rockets’ very own swat soirée or something to that effect – you know, since we’re doing the whole highbrow thing by referencing Mr. Alighieri in the first place.
Whatever nomenclature you wish to use, however, the end result was the Rockets’ most resounding and emphatic victory to date. That full-48 minute performance coaches, players and fans have been clamoring for – Houston delivered the goods tonight. Chandler Parsons rejected Boston’s first shot of the game effectively setting the tone for an opening quarter that would see the Rockets swat seven shots in all on their way to racing out to an 18-1 edge that would eventually balloon to 40-18 by the time the first quarter carnage had come to an end.
To the surprise of no one who’s been paying attention the past nine-plus years, Dwight Howard was prominently involved in Houston’s early defensive dominance, utilizing his Asgardian physique to full effect while personally sending back three Boston shots during the Rockets’ first quarter blitzkrieg. Not to be overlooked, however – and really, who could possibly have overlooked him on this night? – was Terrence Jones who spent a healthy chunk of the evening looking like some sort of lethal, ought-to-be-illegal weapon combining the basketball characteristics of Howard, Kevin Love and, wait for it, Christian Laettner (remember this?). By the 3:39 mark of the second quarter, Jones had set his career-high for scoring – he’d finish with 24 points on the night – and come halftime he’d gone 8-of-8 from the field, racked up six rebounds and a block, and tossed a lovely, Love-esque outlet pass to Omri Casspi for a layup.
Jones’ numbers and highlights were eye-popping, but so too were the small, subtle aspects of his performance which might have flown below the radar of most onlookers, but will most definitely be appreciated by the coaching staff that’s gaining more trust in him by the minute. Jones made a handful of smart, clever, well-timed cuts and on several occasions Chandler Parsons rewarded him with some savvy playmaking of his own.
This was dominance, plain and simple, by both Jones and the rest of his Rockets teammates. There's taking care of business against less than stellar competition and then there's straight up dismantling them. The Rockets opted for the latter right from the opening tip and the evidence was everywhere. It could be found in the fact that all of Houston’s starters reached double figure scoring for a second straight game. It was there in the club’s 10 blocked shots (the Rockets have averaged 10 blocks per game since Jones joined the starting lineup). It could be seen in Houston’s 72 percent shooting during its scintillating first half. And, oh yeah, it most certainly evident in the 109-85 final score.
For Houston, it was a night to remember. For the Celtics, well, it probably felt a lot like the hoops version of hell.
Some final numbers and observations:
- More Rockets’ dominance: Houston owned a 60-30 edge in paint points and a 23-7 advantage in fast break points.
- The Rockets 40 first quarter points were the most they had scored in an opening period since they dropped 41 on the Miami Heat on February 21, 2008.
- In his four games as a starter, Terrence Jones is now averaging 13 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks per game while shooting 55 percent from the field.
- Houston’s 10th blocked shot of the night was its most aesthetically pleasing. Donatas Motiejunas showed some serious hustle while racing back to swat Kelly Olynyk’s fast break layup from behind.
- Omer Asik returned to game action for the first time since last week’s game against Philadelphia. He entered the contest in the fourth quarter and finished with 4 points and 4 rebounds in 7 minutes of action.
- About the only demerits detracting from Houston’s near perfect performance tonight: The Rockets turned the ball over 20 times and allowed Boston to corral 18 offensive rebounds (27 percent offensive rebound rate) – that won’t go over well with the coaches who have been hammering home the need to take care of the defensive glass, especially given the fact the Celtics came into tonight’s contests as one of the league’s weaker rebounding clubs.
Next up for Houston: a date with the Mavericks in Dallas tomorrow night. No doubt tonight’s relatively relaxing win will welcome heading into the second night of a back-to-back.
QUOTES
HOUSTON ROCKETS COACH KEVIN McHALE
(On team’s play) “I think TJ (Terrence Jones) and Dwight (Howard) were really running tonight. They got down and collapsed the defense early. They opened up lanes for other people to drive. They (Boston) had a lot of mismatches with their defense because they (Terrence Jones and Dwight Howard) were out running their guys and guards had to pick them up. It created a lot more scramble opportunities for us to play off of breaks. TJ had been playing very, very well. Dwight had an ultra effective, efficient night tonight. He blocked everything early and got us off to a great start.”
(On defensive play) “If we can shore up our defensive rebounding...it's something we've got to do. We're getting the miss on the first shot, then we get out and run and that's when we're at out best when were out running and pushing. The more stops you get, the more opportunities you get to push. I thought we got our hands on a lot of balls and got a lot of steals. We had a lot of deflections and blocked shots around the rim. We had a lot of activity on the defensive end and that activity on the defensive end turns into offense for us.”
(On the team catching rhythm) “Hopefully we're starting (to catch rhythm), it's a process. I thought the last couple of days were good for us to have a home game, to have a rest day where everybody just kind of got away, have a good practice, have a good shoot around and you can just feel that we were building some rhythm. We really had a hectic schedule. A lot of the corrections we've been making have been corrections on the fly. I think the guys have done a really good job of being attentive and making corrections. We've still got a long way to go, but we're getting better all the time. That's the encouraging thing. We have a lot of room for improvement still, but I can feel us starting to gel a little bit.”
(On Terrence Jones' development) “I think he's playing really well. I think he's played really well every chance he's gotten. He's really been big rebounding for us. He's been running well for us. He's got really good hands, he catches and finishes around the basket. He can dribble-handoff. He can play make. He can do some stuff on the perimeter that keeps the defense more stretched. Terrence has done a lot of good things for us. He's just going to get better. He's a nice kid; he's a nice young man. He's a good basketball player. He's just going to continue to improve.”
PAT BEVERLEY
(On the tempo of the game) “I had to pick up the pace. I'm in the game throwing the ball up getting Chandler (Parsons) and James (Harden) easy points. We've been doing that and defending also. We've been able to get out and get good stops early. Knock on wood that that doesn't change.”
(On the team's defensive effort) “We're just making multiple efforts. It's still early. We're still trying to feel each other out. You see us out there, we're making multiple efforts. That's what it takes to win basketball games. We're starting to do that now.”
(On Terrence Jones play) “T-Jones (Terrence Jones) is being T-Jones. He has always stayed ready. Me coming from where he's coming from, being in a position of not playing like I was in last year. I keep telling him to stay at it. He's done a great job, worked on his body and got stronger. Even though he wasn't playing, he kept working hard and his hard work is paying off now. He's playing phenomenal for us bringing that energy, that spark, that toughness and defensive pressure, how he can impact the ball, he has rebounds. He's doing a great job, so (his playing time) it's well deserved.”
TERRENCE JONES
(On his play tonight) “I tried to play through the flow of the game. My teammates got me a lot of easy shots through cuts, offensive rebounds and running hard. I think we started off really well in the first quarter.”
(On his preparation) “I've just been trying to work hard and get ready for the opportunity come to me. Coach has really taught me how to be a pro and just approach everyday to work hard and get better. That's just what I try to do and it just pays off when my opportunities come.”
DWIGHT HOWARD
(On the key to the Rockets getting off to a very good start) “I think it's our defense. Terrence and myself tried to do a better job of protecting the paint and forcing teams to only get one shot. Once we do that, our young guys can get out and run. They did a good job of that tonight, of getting out and running early. We set the tone. That's what we have to do. Tonight, the difference is we did it for four quarters and that's why we got the big win.”
(On the play of Terrence Jones) “Terrence (Jones) has been playing great. I think I told you guys at the beginning of the year he is one of the guys that I really like. I think he is going to have a great year. You can see just by the couple of games that he has played, he has been playing great. He works hard everyday and that's what we need, out young guys to come in and play like that.”
JEREMY LIN
(On the importance of the Rockets not letting up after building a lead) “I think that's something that we have been talking about, building on leads, keeping the pressure up and not dropping our level of play just because the scoreboard is whatever it is. I thought we did a great job of keeping the intensity. I thought this was our second or third game in a row where the ball really moved effortlessly. We found guys. Anytime when you have a lot of guys scoring across the board, it's usually a good night offensively. I thought Terrence and Dwight did a great job of protecting the rim.”
(On Terrence Jones being in the lineup) “He gives us a little more space. I think he has a great knack for cutting and finding the rim and being in the right place at the right time. He can shoot the floater, he can finish at the rim, he can stretch you out, I think he hit a three tonight. He's very versatile.”
BOSTON CELTICS COACH BRAD STEVENS
(On the game) “I really didn’t have many thoughts on the game. I don’t have anything I’m excited about from today’s game. I want to make sure we don’t play like that again, so I never look at is as it was just one of those things because there is something behind when you don’t play the way you’re supposed to. There are games where things just don’t go your way, but we’re letting one end affect the other and you don’t do that on good teams.”
(On the Rockets) “They played really inspired and really well tonight. I was very impressed. Terrence Jones was terrific at the four spot and if you come into a game and you think about who all they have on their roster and you think about that kind of production at the four and the one, they are going to be a hard team to beat. I like the way they played. I think (Pat) Beverly gives them a nice defensive balance and a toughness and assertiveness on the ball and (Chandler) Parsons is a very savvy, good basketball player. You saw late clock a couple of times and he faked us and drove inside and got an easy basket. (Dwight) Howard is Howard and (James) Harden is Harden and everybody else is good too. That’s just a good team.”
COURTNEY LEE
(On his team’s slow start) “That’s the best way to describe it, it was a slow start. We went making shots and were not executing our offense and Houston got out and were running and were making easy layups and everything they were running was working against us. It was definitely a bad start for us. It was frustrating because our buckets were not falling and it seemed liked all of theirs was going in. They were getting a lot of layups. We have to be able to go out and compete for the entire 48 minutes. I was just trying to go out there and compete and we were already down by a large margin, but I could only go out and try and fight and try and get us back.”
(On the Rockets) “They looked a lot better than the last time I watched them on League Pass. It was one of those nights where they had all their shots going down and they were executing and they were able to get what they wanted to get and do what they wanted to do tonight.”
AVERY BRADLEY
(On the game) “I just feel like we gave a lot of effort tonight. We just have to play better on defense. It was disappointing more than anything. I don’t want to say we were surprised because it’s a team effort and me personally, I was surprised but disappointed because I know we can play better than that. It was all about effort and I feel like everybody can control their individual effort and I don’t feel, like we gave effort tonight. I really wouldn’t say we folded (in third quarter) but we have to come with a better start and I still felt we had a chance at halftime. A 20-point lead is nothing in the NBA. We just didn’t play good defense. I think early in the game we let our offense be controlled by our defensive play. We weren’t able to get stops and you’re going to lose games when you play like that and let your offense dictate your defensive play.”
(On the Rockets) “They are a very good team and have a lot of good players and they played very well tonight.”
RAJON RONDO
(On Terrence Jones’ career high) “He played extremely well and played with a lot of confidence out there, and he stuck to what he does best. He got out in transition and got some easy looks and got some rebounds and played really hard for his team. We’re always very proud of our Kentucky players around the league.”
NOTES
Houston registered another sellout crowd of 18,232 (largest attendance of season), marking a seventh straight sellout at Toyota Center.
The Rockets opened the game on an 18-1 run and never surrendered the lead in a 109-85 triumph over the Celtics tonight. Houston also did not trail in 122-111 win vs. Denver (11/16/13). The Rockets have not trailed since the 7:41 mark (-1, 60-61) of the third quarter at New York (11/14/13).
Houston swatted away another 10 opponent shots tonight. The Rockets are now averaging 10.8 blocks per game over the last five outings (54 total from 11/11/13-11/19/13).
The Rockets connected on 41-of-72 (.569) from the field tonight, while holding the Celtics to just 32-of-99 (.323) from the floor. It marked the fifth time already this season that Houston has held its opponent under .400 shooting (Rockets record: 4-1).
Houston outscored Boston by a 60-30 (+30) count in the paint and took a 23-7 (+16) edge off the break, setting opponent highs in each category against the Celtics this season. Boston did take a 24-5 (+19) advantage in second-chance points, which marked its largest such margin this season.
The Rockets registered a season-high 68 first-half points on 26-of-36 (.722) shooting, including a 40-point (.800, 16-20 FG) first quarter. It marked Houston’s most first-quarter points since 41 vs. Miami (2/21/08). Under the direction of Kevin McHale, the Rockets now hold an overall record of 19-6 when scoring at least 60 points in the opening half.
All five Rockets starters have reached double-digit scoring in each of the last two games.
Terrence Jones set a new career high in points in the first half alone, notching 17 points (8-8 FG), six rebounds and one block over the opening two quarters. His previous best in points was 14 done twice (4/3/13 at Sacramento and 11/16/13 vs. Denver). Overall, Jones had a game-high 24 points (.833, 10-12 FG), nine rebounds and two blocks tonight.
Pat Beverley recorded 16 points (6-8 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) and four rebounds tonight. Beverley totaled a career-high 19 points (6-13 FG, 3-8 3FG, 4-4 FT) earlier this season vs. the L.A. Clippers (11/9/13).
Chandler Parsons, who recorded 20 or more points in four of his previous five games, had 11 points (4-8 FG) and a game-high six assists tonight.
Dwight Howard posted 10 points (3-4 FG), a game-high 11 rebounds and three blocks tonight, which marked his seventh double-double already this season.
Courtney Lee came off the bench with a team-high 17 points (7-16 FG, 3-4 3FG) tonight. Lee joined the Celtics last season in a sign-and-trade from the Rockets.
Avery Bradley had 11 points on 5-of-22 shooting tonight. He came into this game off a season-high 27 points (12-23 FG) at Minnesota (11/16/13).
Jared Sullinger, who came off the bench with 14 points (7-8 FG) and a team-high 11 boards last season against the Rockets at Boston (1/11/13), had 10 points (4-10 FG) and nine rebounds tonight.
PREVIEW:
The Basics:
Boston Celtics (4-7) at Houston Rockets (7-4)
Offensive Rating (points per 100 possessions):
Boston: 97.3 (26th)
Houston: 106.0 (5th)
Defensive Rating (points allowed per 100 possessions):
Boston: 101.3 (12th)
Houston: 101.6 (13th)
Point Differential:
Boston: -3.5 (20th)
Houston: +2.5 (12th)
Pace (number of possessions per 48 minutes):
Boston: 96.6 (15th)
Houston: 100.75 (5th)
Four Factors:
Shooting – Effective field goal percentage (eFG% is a field goal percentage that’s adjusted for made 3-pointers being 1.5 times more valuable than a 2-point shot):
Boston: 48.5% (NBA rank: 17th)
Houston: 52.5% (NBA rank: 5th)
Turnovers – Turnover ratio (the number of turnovers a team averages per 100 possessions):
Boston: 17.9 (25th)
Houston: 18.7 (29th)
Rebounding – Rebound percentage (the percentage of total rebounds obtained)
Boston: 48.3% (25th); offensive rebound rate: 25.1% (16th); defensive rebound rate: 70.4% (30th)
Houston: 53.3% (1st); offensive rebound rate: 29.2% (5th); defensive rebound rate: 72.1% (26th)
Free Throws – Free throw rate (the rate at which a team goes to the line relative to the number of field goals it attempts):
Boston: .255 (21st)
Houston: .497 (1st)
In sum, no matter which way you slice it, the Rockets own a rather resounding edge in tonight’s matchup; hardly a surprise given the Celtics’ rebuilding efforts that began in earnest this offseason. Without a true go-to guy on offense, the Celtics occasionally succumb to stretches during which they struggle to score, and Houston’s size and dynamism inside should deliver a host of opportunities on the offensive glass.
Boston has been very streaky to start the season, dropping its first four games before rattling off four straight wins, only to slip once more as the Celtics enter tonight’s contest currently riding a three-game losing skid. Of Boston’s four wins, only one has come against a club sporting a record that resides on the happy side of .500. That one victory, however, came on the road against the Miami Heat, offering just the latest bit of proof that there is no such thing as a gimme in the NBA.
Know Thy Enemy
- The Celtics concede the third-most shots per game from the restricted area of any team in the league – a ranking that’s not likely to improve tonight given the fact Houston attempts more shots from that area than all but three teams. Boston is top-10 in the NBA, however, in terms of the field goal percentage they allow on such shots, and is also top-10 in blocks per game (the Rockets rank third in that category, by the way). Brazilian rookie Vitor Faverani leads the Celtics with an average of 1.6 blocks per game compiled in just a little more than 19 minutes of playing time per contest.
- As one might expect of a team boasting a rookie head coach and no shortage of youth, Boston currently possesses a paucity of high-usage lineups as Brad Stevens chooses instead to mix, match and tinker in search of the best combinations for his new squad. The best of the bunch so far just so happens to be the starting five Boston trotted out during its last game: The quintet of Jordan Crawford, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Faverani has played 39 minutes together thus far and is +13 during the time. That unit has been particularly effective on the defensive end where they’ve conceded a mere 82 points per 100 possessions.
- Speaking of the C’s ability to defend, Boston is comfortably ranked in the league’s top-10 in terms of its ability to curtail its opposition in spot-ups, transition and pick-and-rolls according to Synergy Sports. Given the fact the Rockets love to push the pace, play drive-and-kick, and are as good as it gets when it comes to scoring via the screen-and-roll, tonight’s contest possesses the potential to be a beguiling battle of skill, strategy and wits in that regard.
- The Celtics are 25th in the NBA in terms of corner 3s taken per game, but Houston fans will no doubt recall that Courtney Lee is not to ever be left alone in that particularly valuable real estate. The former Rocket drained nearly half of his corner 3s during his final year in Houston and he connected on 44 percent of his shots from that location a season ago. True to form, he’s 4-of-8 on corner treys to begin the 2013-14 campaign.
In the spotlight
Since becoming a starter, Terrence Jones is averaging 10 points and more than 10 rebound per game while chipping in a pair of blocks per contest for good measure. His plus/minus during that three-game stretch: a team-leading +29. During the 102 minutes Jones has been on the floor since becoming a starter, Houston’s offensive rating is a ridiculous 117.2 – a mark that would lead the league by leaps and bounds (the accompanying 104.4 defensive rating is less gaudy, however – it would represent a bottom-10 mark). Yes, all the usual caveats (microscopic sample size, caliber of competition, etc.) apply, but the 21-year-old only figures to improve as he continues to accrue experience; a scary proposition for the opposition given the sort of production he’s already hinted at delivering.
All stats courtesy of NBA.com except where otherwise noted. |
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will be the first Republican to co-sponsor a bill to block a pending judicial rule change that would dramatically expand the FBI’s hacking authority. The bill, which is expected to come out sometime this week, would seek to undo changes done to Rule 41 by the Supreme Court.
He joins Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) in a bipartisan effort to undo the change.
The rule change allows a judge to issue search warrants for remote access to computers located in any jurisdictions. Usually, as Reuters points out, a Magistrate judge can usually only order searches within the jurisdiction of their court, which is limited to a few counties.
Last month the Supreme Court voted to amend Rule 41 of the federal rules of criminal procedure. This would allow judges to issue warrants in cases when a suspect uses technology that would allow them conceal the location of their computer into a network of infected computers.
The U.S Department of Justice said it was a procedural change needed to modernize the criminal code and would not permit illegal searches. However, Google said that the change was a “threat” to the 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Paul and Wyden have done this in the past; last year they joined together to force the expiration of the U.S Patriot Act. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) is looking at the bill as well, though it is unclear whether he opposes the changes to Rule 41. |
WASHINGTON -- Former FDIC Chair Sheila Bair sharply criticized Congress for failing to approve economic stimulus measures, saying elected lawmakers who haven't repaired the economy "need to be held to account." Bair, an influential Republican, said more infrastructure spending by the federal government would provide a critical boost to the job market, and said Congress should approve additional spending, even if it requires borrowing money.
"Infrastructure spending's number one. I think we've squandered cheap financing rates for five years ... We haven't spent the money," Bair said during an interview on HuffPost Live on Wednesday. "Everybody wakes up in the morning, 'What's the Fed gonna do?' I don't like that. I want the pressure back on the elected leaders. They need to be held to account. They need to get the economy going."
WATCH Bair's comments in the video above.
Bair, a former aide to Sen. Robert Dole (R-Kan.), was appointed chair of the FDIC in 2006 by President George W. Bush. She was an outspoken critic of reckless lending in the banking system prior to the 2008 meltdown and has been a persistent voice for financial reform in the years since. Her stance on additional infrastructure spending stands in sharp contrast to the policies pursued by the GOP in Congress, which recently rejected extending federal unemployment benefits to individuals who have been jobless for 6 months or longer, on the grounds that doing so would contribute to the deficit and encourage sloth.
Bair said that any long-term problems with Social Security and Medicare did not justify inaction in addressing near-term troubles.
"Look, on entitlement reform, I think you do need a long-term strategy. I'm not one of those people who say we can ignore that -- we can't. But it can be long-term. And if you get something out of this spending, you get something with long-term benefit -- which you will with infrastructure: You get infrastructure, which we desperately need. We need jobs, better job training ... This is low-hanging fruit."
Bair also took a swipe at the problem of income inequality, arguing that the Federal Reserve is exacerbating the situation with its quantitative easing policy. Under quantitative easing, or QE, the central bank purchases bonds from U.S. banks as a means to pump new money into the financial system. Bair said the broader economy isn't benefitting. |
Video
For the millions of people who have made a new year's resolution to lose weight in 2013, yoga is an enticing option.
But they are fooling themselves if they think it will be an easy route to a better body and a more relaxed mind.
In a bid to lose 45lbs (20.4kg), Benjamin Lorr began attending super-heated Bikram yoga classes in Brooklyn, New York.
It was the beginning of a sweaty two-year journey which he documented in his book "Hell-Bent: Obsession, Pain, and the Search for Something Like Transcendence in Competitive Yoga".
The BBC attended a class at Bikram Lower East Side, one of Mr Lorr's favourite studios, and filmed him practising in his apartment with US Yoga gold medallist Courtney Mace.
Produced by Anna Bressanin; camera by Ilya Shnitser |
A patent application by telecoms giant AT&T details a traffic management system set to add a little more heat to the net neutrality debate. Rather than customers using their Internet connections to freely access any kind of data, the telecoms giant envisions a system in which subscribers engaged in "non-permissible" transfers, such as file-sharing and movie downloading, can be sanctioned or marked for increased billing.
When a consumer subscribes to an Internet package, either at home or on a cellphone, it’s generally accepted that he can use it for whatever applications he likes, whether that’s web browsing, sending or receiving emails, watching video, or listening to music.
Of course, bandwidth is a finite resource so it is fairly common for service providers to put a cap on data transfers in order to manage their services. For example, a user with a 3GB per month limit on a cellphone contract might use it all in the first couple of weeks watching YouTube, and as a result might need to consider upgrading to a more spacious package.
Fair enough, but what if a service provider started to dictate what types of data could be accessed each month on a particular package? What if emails and web browsing were acceptable kinds of traffic but others, such as video downloading and file-sharing, resulted in subscribers being subjected to penalties? A new system developed at telecoms giant AT&T appears to envision just that kind of scenario.
The system is revealed in a patent filed by AT&T Mobility in September 2013 and published this month. Its stated aim is to stop customers from “abusing a telecommunications system” by consuming too much bandwidth.
Titled “Prevention Of Bandwidth Abuse Of A Communications System”, the patent is likely to get net neutrality advocates hot under the collar as rather than targeting bandwidth consumption overall, it seeks to penalize the transfer of certain kinds of data linked to “excessive” consumption.
“When a user communicates over a channel, the type of communication is checked to determine if it is of a type that will use an excessive amount of bandwidth,” the patent reads.
The system works by awarding the subscriber with “credits” and subtracting from those when monitored traffic is deemed to have been consumed in potentially bandwidth-hungry fashion.
“The user is provided an initial number of credits. As the user consumes the credits, the data being downloaded is checked to determine if it is permissible or non-permissible. Non-permissible data includes file-sharing files and movie downloads if user subscription does not permit such activity,” the patent application reads.
“If the data is permissible, the user is provided another allotment of credits equal to the initial allotment. If the data is non-permissible, the user is provided an allotment of credits less than the initial allotment,” it continues.
By marking some traffic type usages as acceptable and others not, the system described by the patent application can develop in a couple of directions. The subscriber can remain in “credit” and continue about his Internet activity as usual, or find that his “credits” are diminishing towards zero. At this point he can be asked to pay more money, be subjected to sanctions that affect his ability to communicate (such as by blocking movie downloading), or be incentivized to maintain preferred consumption habits.
“Various restriction policies also can be applied, such as levying additional fees and/or terminating the user’s access to the channel. Also, incentives can be provided to entice the user [to] curb the misuse,” the patent filed by AT&T Mobility Ii Llc adds.
Earlier this month a federal appeals court in Washington struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules. Shortly after AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson offered reassurances that his company was committed to an open Internet.
Where legitimate traffic management ends and the open Internet begins will become apparent in the months and years to come. |
Hey guys, it´s been a long time whitout posting any myth related image, so here goes an old sumerian/mesopotamic goddess. This image was done time ago. I hope you like it.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------LET´S WIKIATTACK!The goddess Ninkilim (often descibed also as a male god) is a widely referenced Mesopotamian deity from Sumerian to later Babylonian periods whose minions include wildlife in general and vermin in particular. His name, Nin-kilim, means "Lord Rodent". Ninkilim is feminine in the great god-list, and the Sumerian Farmer's Almanac – (which entreats the farmer to pray to Ninkilim, goddess of field mice, so that she will keep her sharp-toothed little subjects away from the growing grain), the field-pest incantations know him as masculine, as do other texts of the later periods.When "the grain has penetrated the soil " a prayer to Ninkilim, goddess of the fields is needed to eliminate anything that might damage it. Once the first shoots out of the ground , irrigate , then the procedure is repeated again three times at different stages of the evolution of plants and then the results will be excellent . The auspicious day is come to harvest. Harvesters working in groups of three : a harvester, someone who tie the harvest and one without defined a task.--------------------------You can share my stuff! Thanks---------------------------DEVIANTART:-FACEBOOK:-TUMBLR-YOUTUBE-TWITTER-LIVESTREAM-PIXIV |
Thousands of people marched in the Romanian capital of Bucharest and other major cities on Sunday to protest the government's proposed changes to the judicial system, which critics say will weaken anti-corruption laws and allow political graft to go unpunished.
A joint statement issued by 40 Romanian civil society groups and two trade union federations accused the country of having been "taken over by a political mafia."
It follows a piece of proposed legislation introduced by the ruling Social Democrats (PSD) seeking to draw back powers from the country's respected anti-corruption directorate, the DNA. The body enjoys a high degree of independence and has been behind several probes targeting hundreds of public officials.
Watch video 02:08 Share The light that penetrates corruption Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2XHs6 My picture of the week | The light that penetrates corruption
The most contested changes include reforming the inspection unit that oversees magistrates' conduct, the manner in which chief prosecutors are appointed and the president's right to veto candidates.
"Thieves, thieves," shouted thousands of protesters in front of the PSD's headquarters on Sunday. "We want justice, not corruption. PSD is the red plague," a reference to the party's communist roots.
Protesters and mounted police briefly scuffled in the Romanian capital, although there were no initial reports of serious violence or injuries.
Demonstrators also marched in oppositionto a proposed law that would shift social security taxes on the employee. The government says it will boost revenues but workers fear it could lead to lower wages.
PSD's fight against anti-corruption
It is the PSD's second attempt to water down anti-graft laws in Romania since the party came to power in December. In February, then-Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu was forced to backtrack on altering anti-corruption laws after they provoked the largest protests in Romania since communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was toppled and executed in 1989.
That decree would have effectively protected dozens of public officials from prosecution for corruption. In reaction to legislation falling through, the PSD ejected Grindeanu from powerand from his own party.
The most recent set of proposals has come under rebuke from the European Commission, foreign diplomats and thousands of magistrates. The anti-corruption organizationTransparency International ranks Romania among the European Union's most corrupt states.
Dragnea in the dock?
Another source of dismay for protesters is PSD head Liviu Dragnea, who is barred from office due to being convicted last year of vote rigging, but who is widely seen as being in charge.
Last week, prosecutors froze Dragnea's assets amid a probe into the misuse of €21 million ($25 million) in European Union funds.
The European Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, said that money from the European Regional Development Fund for road construction was fraudulently paid to officials. It asked the government to recover the funds. Dragnea has denied the charges.
dm/aw (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa) |
Police in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania have opened an investigation after the 1 metre-high brick work was found in the doorway of the mosque, which is currently under construction, on the morning of August 26th, a police report states.
According to broadcaster NDR, police are investigating two charges - one of property damage, the other of incitement of hatred.
One of the flyers seen on a Facebook picture posted by the Parchim Refugee Network reads: “You call yourselves believers. We call you invaders.”
Another is an alleged quote from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which reads: “The mosques are our barracks, the minarets our bayonets, the believers our soldiers.”
Hate crimes across Germany rose dramatically in 2015 after Germany took in a massive influx of refugees. Islamophobia has also become much more widespread, a recent study shows. |
Tom Riner (born October 7, 1946) is a former Democratic member of the Kentucky House of Representatives who represented the 41st District. Once considered as part of the moral compass of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Tom Riner used his own grounded beliefs to be a conscious voice of ethical leadership and deliver guidance to fellow lawmakers of the Kentucky House. As the New York Times once wrote regarding Tom's stance of political discourse, "He looks for God everywhere, and in places he does not find him, he tries to put him there." [1]
Tom's relaxed, but anchored demeanor and clear focus on moral issues has taken him throughout the world. During his career, many social leaders and political thinkers from both sides of the political aisle engaged his theories and relied on his voice to tackle extremely difficult issues. Now, as a retired member of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Tom is still uniquely considered to be a voice of criticism and, for many, he is viewed as larger than life, offering ideas and inspiration that promote change for leading Christian political theorists and social critics.
Disputed statute [ edit ]
In 2006, Riner sponsored a Kentucky law which could subject a staff member of Kentucky Homeland Security to a Class A Misdemeanor (carrying a 12-month prison sentence) if he or she fails to affirm the existence of an almighty God.[2] The Kentucky Supreme Court has refused to review the constitutionality of the law,[3] though a dissenting opinion was recorded by Judge Ann O'Malley, stating that while the organization "American Atheists lacked standing based on its claim for damages," statute KRS 39A.285 nonetheless "places an affirmative duty to rely on Almighty God for the protection of the Commonwealth,"[4] which would put it in contention with the Lemon Test.
The bill became law in 2008.[5] American Atheists have asked the US Supreme court to review the constitutionality of the law.[6]
References [ edit ] |
In an attempt to ride the recent wave of antibank sentiment fomented by November's Bank Transfer Day, a 35-year-old freelancer from Brooklyn, New York, is encouraging people to transfer their credit card balances.
Michael Germanovsky, creator of the Balance Transfer Day Facebook page, is calling for consumers to apply en masse for low-interest credit cards on December 11. Germanovsky's goal, he says, is to send a message to big banks about high-interest rates.
But that message could get muddled, and balance transfer day may actually help fatten banks' bottom lines.
"People are not given a chance to get a handle on [debt]. For big banks, the whole system is based on a simple idea to lure new customers and create more debt," said Germanovsky. "Balance transfer allows you to get away from high interest."
The problem is that not everyone can get a lower-rate on their credit cards. Many of the current zero-interest offers are aimed at customers who already have high credit scores.
"Good luck. You better be sporting some killer FICO scores if you think you're getting those [zero-percent] offers," said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at Smartcredit.com, a consumer credit management resource.
Anyone with a FICO score lower than 700 is unlikely to qualify for these promotional deals, Curtis Arnold, a credit card expert for CardRatings.com, a consumer credit information website, told HuffPost sibling site Daily Finance earlier this month.
Worse, those who apply for a low-rate card and are denied could actually wind up hurting their credit rating, said Ken Lin, CEO of CreditKarma.com, a credit-score service.
Germanovsky said the gains made by the message balance transfer day sends to banks and by successfully lowering interest rates by even a few percentage points offset any dip in a credit score, which he said would be minimal.
For those who do qualify, low-interest rates on credit cards and other types of loans are there for the taking. Banks have been ratcheting up offers on cards over the last few months with fierce competition driving longer promotional terms, including Citi's Simplicity Card that offers 0 percent for as long as 21 months to qualified customers.
The promotions are a way to bring in new customers, and make an immediate profit on balance transfer fees (typically between 3 percent and 5 percent of the total balance.) So balance transfer day could be a boon for banks.
When asked whether he'd transfer a balance, movement founder Germanovsky, who was laid off from his job as an architect in 2008, conceded that he carries $5,000 on his Discover card, paying 15 percent interest. He hasn't yet applied for a new card.
"I'll do it on December 11 with everyone else," he said. |
"We first introduced a pork chop biscuit a few years ago and, even though we stopped selling it last year, we still get many requests from people asking us to bring it back," said Brad Haley, Hardee's Executive Vice President of Marketing. "And, since we had many reports from our restaurants that people were ordering a side of our famous sausage gravy to dip the biscuit in, we decided to re-test it with sausage gravy already on it and it was more popular than ever. So, I guess the old saying among our test kitchen people is true: 'The only way to make it better is to add gravy to it!'."
Hardee's has announced the return of their Pork Chop 'N' Gravy Biscuit. And now they've added gravy.It follows the Southern cuisine popularity Hardee's found with the success of their Chicken Fillet Biscuit.The Pork Chop 'N' Gravy Biscuit features a breaded, boneless pork chop and sausage gravy on a 'made from scratch' biscuit. It is priced at $2.99, or in a small combo for $4.59 (with hash rounds and a drink).It has 680 calories (370 from fat) and 42 grams of fat. Complete nutritional information: |
You could say that President Donald Trump revealed nothing more Tuesday than an enduring optimism, locating the silver linings even in the darkest clouds of a deadly storm. Or you might say that what was on display during the president’s visit to southern Texas to survey the damage wrought by Harvey was the latest evidence that the Trump worldview would never mature beyond that of a reality-television personality.
On the ground in Texas, Trump, not to put too fine a point on it, appeared to commend the FEMA administrator, William (Brock) Long, on his newfound star power, owed to the devastating storm:
FEMA administrator Brock Long ‘has really become very famous on television over the last couple of days.’ President Trump
Don’t miss: Hurricane Harvey will be most expensive U.S. natural disaster at up to $160 billion: AccuWeather
Plus: What role did climate change play in Harvey’s severity and devastation?
Trump, in Corpus Christi, marveled at the multitudes — which appeared to number well into the hundreds, as seen in video posted by Trump social-media staffer Dan Scavino — to hear his bullhorned remarks outside a fire station:
‘Thank you, everybody. What a crowd. What a turnout.’ President Trump
Trump went on to express a hope that the Harvey recovery effort would make history, as the hurricane–cum–tropical storm itself already had done:
President Trump on Hurricane Harvey relief efforts in Texas: "We want to do it better than ever before” https://t.co/ug5sDWLyw2 — CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 29, 2017
He also suggested that he and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “congratulate each other” when it’s “all over” but avoid enthusing in such a manner at this stage.
What he did not do while in Texas, observed former George W. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer, was evidence empathy with victims, though his “business style” and his hoisting of the Texas flag, over the totality of his hours Tuesday in the state, whose residents he called out as “special” and able to “handle anything,” played well with the Texan audience:
Contrasting his visit to Texas with similar visits by prior commanders-in-chief, the Washington Post faulted the president for making no mention of the storm’s victims, nor mourning the dead. He issued no call for donations or volunteers, the paper reported. |
This is an op-ed by Reston resident Irwin Flashman. It does not represent the opinions of Reston Now.
I have several major concerns about the proposed RA purchase of the Tetra Property. These include: The price for the property based on the appraisal report and RA’s rush to purchase without full information being made available to members and the RA approach on this matter.
The appraisal is said to be the source of the price of $2.65 million for the Tetra Property. The report actually has three different appraisal prices, using two different appraisal methodologies.
The $2.65 million price assumes the so-called highest-and best-use (retail, commercial) and further assumes that a restaurant of some 6,900 square feet would be built over a portion of the property that is under Lake Newport.
These assumptions favor the seller, not the buyer.There is no basis offered in the appraisal to support the feasibility of such assumptions.The basis for the restaurant assumption is the carefully phrased statement: “Building plans were prepared in 1981 indicating that it was possible to extend out into the lake further construction of a restaurant building.”(Report, p. 13)
While it may have been possible in 1981, it is not legally possible today. The proposed area of restaurant construction is within the Resource Protection Area under the Chesapeake Bay Protection Act, where nothing can be built. (See the corresponding map of the site, Report Appendix.)
So, how can this approach serve as a basis for the price? The use of this assumption as a basis for the $2.65 million in the face of these facts in my opinion is outrageous.
Other statements are presented in an effort to bolster the $2.65 million price. One is that the seller will not accept less than $2.7 million.Another is that the present owner claims two restaurants looked at the property as a possible location. What is not stated clearly is that they both walked away.Moreover, there is no claim that a restaurant is currently considering the property.
Also not noted in the report is that at one time in the past, a restaurant was
proposed to be built at the same spot and the Lake Newport residents successfully defeated it in court.
The appraisal considered the property as if vacant (no restaurant, but projecting use as a retail commercial center with the highest density possible) using the sales comparison approach and the income approach. The first of these yielded a value of $1.45 million. The second produced an estimated value of $1.09 million. Fairfax County’s assessed value for the property for 2014 was $1.25 million.
One should keep in mind that the RA has an easement over the property for parking and there are some 93 parking spots located on the property. Thus, the RA does not need to spend one penny to avail itself of the parking. Since the parking easement covers a very large portion of the property, that portion cannot be otherwise developed. Additionally, part of the property is under water.
Finally, the spillway for the dam of Lake Newport runs across the property and covers just about all of the property, except for the building itself. Nothing can be built within the path of the spillway. These factors do not appear to have been taken into account with the $2.65 million value or any other appraised value and no negative monetary value was assigned to these factors.
Thus, the development of the property to its highest possible retail commercial value is also, in my opinion, a complete fiction.
Other concerns related to the deteriorated state of the building, including a conference room at the center of the building which “exhibited a musty odor” (Report, p. 11) are not considered in the appraisal valuation.
There is no justification that I can see for the $2.65 million price. In fact, there appears to be overwhelming justification for a considerably lower price. The report’s even lower range of $1.09 million to $1.45 million is questionable.
While the County assessment of $1.25 million, which by law is required to be 100 percent valuation, may be reasonable for some potential buyers, for RA the price should be lower, because it already has the use of the parking spaces and should not have to pay for them again. So why has the RA agreed to pay $2.65 million? I can see no basis whatsoever for RA to pay this price.
Why has the RA rushed to have a referendum on the purchase, while preventing members from seeing the appraisal and contract? Why did RA not release those until after public hearings were concluded?
RA may argue that they were in negotiations and sharing this information would have impaired the negotiations. I think they would have impaired the negotiations, but not by giving the seller information it did not already have. The seller already knew of the condition of the building and also was well aware of the impediments to the development of the property. The
appraisal does not disfavor the seller.
The contract, of course, was well known to the seller. Had members been allowed to see the Appraisal Report before the two public hearings, undoubtedly they would have raised the questions I raise above, as well as others, and would have pressured the RA to stop the deal from going forward.
The simple facts of the manner in which the RA has gone about pushing through this deal should raise questions. The proposed acquisition was dropped into the laps of the RA Board (the majority of whom were unaware of the consideration of the matter before then) on Jan. 22. At that time, they were presented with a sales pitch as to why this was a good deal, without any
time for reflection, and asked to vote on a schedule for presentation of the project to the membership, along with a schedule for a referendum.
Although the vote was unanimously in favor of the schedule, many stated that they wanted more information and were clear that they were not thereby expressing their final approval. Even the subsequent vote on the Letter of Intent (LOI), without having all of the documentation available, was based, at least in part, on the fact that the LOI was not binding.
That the facts have not been clear and disclosed up front, is a further indication of the rush with which this proposed deal has been carried forward.
Finally, the so-called RA fact sheet on the Tetra Purchase is now in its 11th version. This seems to
be an evolving project, not well thought out with regard to the presentation of the purchase itself or the end use of the property. The fact of the rush and the lack of a clear plan presented at the beginning of the affair with all of the information does not engender a high level of trust and confidence that this is something on which the RA should spend $2.65 million of your
dollars, plus the financing charges and building maintenance and repair costs.
At this date, with the contract signed, there are two options remaining. Under the contract, RA can terminate the contract at any time up through April 25, 2015, without penalty and with the return of its deposit, upon its determination, in its sole discretion, that the property (including the improvements) and the personal property are not suitable for RA’s intended use. (See, Paragraph 3 of the Agreement.) It should do this without further ado. This will save the expense of holding the referendum — not insignificant — and avoid the disaster of overpaying for a property it does not need and for which it has no real plan.
The second opportunity is the referendum. This is obviously a more uncertain method for stopping the purchase. However, every person who reads the appraisal and the contract can arrive at no other conclusion than that the proposed purchase should be defeated and that he/she should vote against it.
Something on your mind? Send an op-ed to [email protected] Reston Now reserves the right to edit letters for style, spelling and other editorial purposes. |
Europe’s only exchange traded bitcoin note, issued by XBT Provider AB, which recently surpassed $100MM in assets under management today is announcing custodial partnerships with Xapo, the the Switzerland based bitcoin storage company.
As a result of the partnership, bitcoin held in cold storage on behalf of investors in XBT Provider’s ETN will now be secured by Xapo.
“The team of professionals at XBT Provider has deep expertise in digital currency and extensive experience in financial services. We are excited to partner with them as they make bitcoin broadly available to investors outside of the U.S.,” said Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo.
“In the last 60 days, XBT Provider’s exchange traded bitcoin note has experienced unprecedented volume in trading and demand from both retail and institutional investors searching for exposure to bitcoin. This trend has quickly doubled assets under management to over the $100 Million threshold,” says Jean-Marie Mognetti, Head of Trading and Operations at XBT Provider.
XBT Provider has experienced a doubling of total assets under management in the last 60 days and nearly triple in the last 6 months, and with this partnership is reiterating their commitment to security and transparency.
“The addition of Xapo to our infrastructure is a critical step in ensuring that our products remain the most professional bitcoin investment products available to investors, globally,” says Ryan Radloff, Head of Investor Relations at XBT Provider.
This news comes on the heels of last month’s announcement that the UK’s largest broker listed Europe’s only bitcoin ETN on its digital platform; and is part of a recent string of positive developments in bitcoin, internationally. |
Arsene Wenger believes his side are better equipped to deal with the threat of Bayern Munich than in the past.
The Gunners have been drawn against the German giants in three of the past four seasons, losing twice at home but winning once and drawing once away.
Bayern are yet to lose in the Bundesliga or Champions League this season, but Wenger says Arsenal’s domestic form gives them confidence they can claim their first win in Group F.
“[There was] the one that won the treble with Ribery at full power, Robben at full power and Kroos, Schweinsteiger and Muller in midfield so I believe we have played good Bayern sides and got good results against them.
“We have the needed belief and confidence that we are doing something right so that helps.
"We maybe could be a little suspected of not taking the first two games seriously enough but this time that is not the threat.
“Let’s take the positives of our Premier League [form] and as well get the right focus that you get when you play a big opponent.
“We have some ground to make up in Europe as we have not been at our requested level in our first two games.
"Our focus has been much stronger in the Premier League than it has been in Europe and we know in this game the focus needs to be exactly the same than in the in Premier League.” |
An Interaction or Not? How a few ML Models Generalize to New Data
Source code for this post is here.
This post examines how a few statistical and machine learning models respond to a simple toy example where they're asked to make predictions on new regions of feature space. The key question the models will answer differently is whether there's an "interaction" between two features: does the influence of one feature differ depending on the value of another.
In this case, the data won't provide information about whether there's an interaction or not. Interactions are often real and important, but in many contexts we treat interaction effects as likely to be small (without evidence otherwise). I'll walk through why decision trees and bagged ensembles of decision trees (random forests) can make the opposite assumption: they can strongly prefer an interaction, even when the evidence is equally consistent with including or not including an interaction.
I'll look at point estimates from:
a linear model
decision trees and bagged decision trees (random forest), using R's randomForest package
package boosted decision trees, using the R's gbm package
I'll also look at two models that capture uncertainty about whether there's an interaction:
Bayesian linear model with an interaction term
Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART)
BART has the advantage of expressing uncertainty while still being a "machine learning" type model that learns interactions, non-linearities, etc. without the user having to decide which terms to include or the particular functional form.
Whenever possible, I recommend using models like BART that explicitly allow for uncertainty.
The Example
Suppose you're given this data and asked to make a prediction at $X_1 = 0$, $X_2 = 1$ (where there isn't any training data):
X1 X2 Y N Training Rows: 0 0 Y = 5 + noise 52 1 0 Y = 15 + noise 23 1 1 Y = 19 + noise 25 0 1 ? 0
In practice, making an inference at $X_1 = 0$, $X_2 = 1$ would be pretty hopeless. The training data doesn't help much, so your prediction will depend almost entirely on your priors. But that's exactly why I'm using this example to get at what the biases are in various models. Real problems will have elements in common with this example, so it helps get a handle on how models will behave for those problems.
A Linear Model
lmFit <- lm(Y ~ X1 + X2, data = train)
If you fit a linear model of the form $\mathbb{E}[Y] = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X_1 + \beta_2 X_2$ , you find
$$\mathbb{E}[Y] = 5 + 10 X_1 + 4 X_2.$$
This fits the training data perfectly and extrapolates to the unseen region of feature space using the assumption that effects are additive.
The line for $X_1 = 0$ is parallel to the one for $X_1 = 1$ , meaning that the influence of $X_2$ is the same (+4) regardless of the value of $X_1$
Decision Trees (and Random Forest)
Random forests are built from decision trees using an ensembling technique called bagging, which averages a number of independent decision trees. To make the trees different, different trees use different random subsets of the training data. (Additional randomness is usually introduced by allowing each tree to consider a random subset of the features at each split.)
I've fit a random forest and plotted its predictions and the training data. Where there is training data, the model fits that data perfectly (making the same predictions as the linear model), but has decided that $X_2$ only matters when $X_1 = 1$ :
rfFit <- randomForest(Y ~ X1 + X2, data = train, mtry=2)
It's easy to understand from the trees why this happened. In this simple example, all of the trees are the same, so it's just as if there were one decision tree. $X_1$ is the most important variable, so first the tree splits on that. Then only the right side splits again on $X_2$ (since the left side has no training set variation in $X_2$ ):
A couple important settings are:
mtry=2 means both variables are considered at each split. This choice makes the example clearer, but it also makes sense here because mtry=2 would be the parameter you choose as optimal based on the training data (e.g. through cross-validation). With the default settings, the random forest would fail to replicate even the training data (where there should be no question which predictions are correct).
means both variables are considered at each split. This choice makes the example clearer, but it also makes sense here because would be the parameter you choose as optimal based on the training data (e.g. through cross-validation). With the default settings, the random forest would fail to replicate even the training data (where there should be no question which predictions are correct). I'm using the default minimum node size (for regression problems) of 1. If the minimum node size were smaller, it would sometimes happen that a tree doesn't have enough data from one region of feature space to support a split. Even with a minimum size of 1, you would (very rarely) end up working with a random subset of the rows that doesn't represent one region of feature space at all.
Boosted Decision Trees
Boosting is an ensembling technique in which each tree is built based on the residuals from the previous one. Unlike with bagging, this allows the model to add together effects that are each chosen whole controlling for the others, giving the model a bit of an additive charactaristic.
It's possible to represent a well-fitting model as a sum of only two depth-1 trees (this is the same as the linear model):
But the gbm can't get to this answer with only two depth-1 trees.
library(gbm) gbmFit1 <- gbm(Y ~ X1 + X2, data = train, n.trees=2, shrinkage = 1, distribution = "gaussian")
These are (approximately) the trees we get:
X1 X2 Y (mean) N Training Rows First Tree Predictions First Tree Residual 0 0 5 52 5 0 1 0 15 23 17 -2 1 1 19 25 17 2
Related to the correlation between $X_1$ and $X_2$ in the training data, the first tree (with a split on $X_1$ ) assigns too much of the effect to $X_1$ (effect size of $12$ instead of $10$). Then the second tree's split on $X_2$ is based on the residuals from the first (shown in the table above). The residuals for $X_2=0$ (-2 and 0, with roughly twice as much weight on the latter) average to roughly $-\frac{2}{3}$ , while the residual on the $X_2=1$ side is roughly $2$.
The second tree has no way to correct the fact that too much signal went into $X_1$ in the first tree. We've fit the two parameters for linear model in two iterations rather than simultaneously.
Instead, boosting generally fits just a small amount of the signal at each stage, making only very small adjustments in the direction of fitting the residuals. This works much better:
library(gbm) gbmFit2 <- gbm(Y ~ X1 + X2, data = train, n.trees=10000, shrinkage = .01, distribution = "gaussian")
But this is using the default interaction.depth=1 , which forces the model to be linear. If interaction.depth=2 , the results are similar to if there were only one decision tree:
library(gbm) gbmFit3 <- gbm(Y ~ X1 + X2, data = train, n.trees=10000, shrinkage = .01, distribution = "gaussian", interaction.depth = 2)
Is it possible for gbm to result in a middle ground between the linear model and the one-tree model? Yes! Two parameters we can tweak for this are:
n.minobsinnode (default: $10$), the minimum number of observations for a leaf node.
(default: $10$), the minimum number of observations for a leaf node. bag.fraction (default: $0.5$), the number of randomly selected training observations to use for each tree
To get the second (deeper) split, there must be at least n.minobsinnode in each of the smaller groups ( $X_1 = 1$, $X_2 = 0$ or $X_1 = 1$, $X_2 = 1$ ). Increasing n.minobsinnode decreases the number of trees that meet the threshold for a second split:
Varying bag.fraction would have a similar effect.
Models with Uncertainty: Linear Regression with Interaction Term
All of the above models deliver point estimates. But really, we should admit to uncertainty about the predictions. Going back to the linear regression, we can add an interaction term to let the model consider interactions. The model is:
$$Y = \beta_0 + \beta_1 X_1 + \beta_2 X_2 + \beta_{12} X_1 X_2 + N(0,\sigma).$$
Without an informative prior distribution, this would be too many free parameters. But I'll put a prior on $\beta_{12}$ (pushing it toward zero). All parameters except $\beta_{12}$ have improper flat priors while $$\beta_{12} \sim N(0,2).$$
Such a simple model doesn't need a flexible tool like Stan, but I like how clear and explicit a model is when you write it down in the Stan language. Stan fits Bayesian models using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), so the output is a set of parameter samples from the posterior distribution.
Here's what the model looks like in Stan:
library(rstan) stanModel1 <- " data { int<lower=0> N; vector[N] X1; vector[N] X2; vector[N] Y; } parameters { real beta0; real beta1; real beta2; real beta12; real<lower=0> sigma; } model { beta12 ~ normal(0, 2); Y ~ normal(beta0 + beta1*X1 + beta2*X2 + beta12*X1 .* X2, sigma); } "
Now instead of one prediction for each point in feature space, we have a set of posterior samples. Each line represents the predictions for one posterior sample, at either $X_1=0$ or $X_1=1$ :
For points like the ones seen in the training data, there is very little uncertainty. But there is a lot of uncertainty about the predicted effect of $X_2$ when $X_1 = 0$ .
The posterior for the interaction term $\beta_{12}$ is actually very close to the prior (they would be identical with infinite data or no noise in Y), which makes sense because the data don't tell you anything about whether there's an interaction:
Looking at histograms of posterior samples for predictions is another way to see that there's basically no variation at the points where we have training data:
Looking closer at the posterior samples for $X_1 = 0$, $X_2 = 1$ , the predictions are centered on 9 (the prediction from our model with no interaction), but has substantial variation in both directions:
The interaction term can be positive or negative. When the interaction term $\beta_{12}$ is high, $\beta_2$ makes up for it by being low (and vice versa):
Note that if we were to regularize the main effects as well as the interaction term, the predictions at $X_1 = 0$, $X_2 = 1$ would shift to the left. Imagine a prior on $\beta_2$ centered on $0$ as well as the prior already on $\beta_{12}$ . In that case, parameters choices with a negative interaction term would be penalized twice: once for the negative $\beta_{12}$ , and again for forcing $\beta_2$ higher than it otherwise had to be.
In summary, the Bayesian linear regression (with an interaction term) is appropriately uncertain about predictions in the unseen region of feature space. The particular details of the posterior would depend on how you feel about main effects as compared with to interaction terms: If only the interaction term is pushed toward 0, the predictions are centered around the "no interaction" case. If main effects are pushed toward zero as well, predictions are shifted toward the "positive interaction" case.
Bayesian Additive Regression Trees (BART)
BART is a Bayesian model that's fit using MCMC, so just like with the previous example, we'll get samples from a posterior. The BART model consists of a sum of trees, where we have a prior distribution over the depth of the splits, the values at the leaf nodes, and so on. I don't want to fully describe BART in detail here, so if you're interested have a look at the vignette for the bartMachine R package.
For now, the important thing about BART is that it's a sum of trees, where each tree is fitted in the context of the rest. In the iterative algorithm, each tree is modified one by one based on the residuals from the other trees (unlike random forests, where each tree is independent). This allows BART to better capture additive effects. If the trees all had just one split, we would only capture additive effects.
For example, the linear model above (with no interaction) would be the same as a model that comes from two trees, each with one split: one splitting on $X_1$ and the other on $X_2$ .
Trees that are deeper than one split would allow BART to introduce interactions.
library(bartMachine) nIterAfterBurnIn <- 100000 bartFit <- bartMachine(train[c("X1","X2")], train$Y, num_burn_in=50000, num_trees=10, num_iterations_after_burn_in=nIterAfterBurnIn)
As with all of the previous examples, the model is both correct and confident in the regions where there are training examples.
The predictions in the new region of feature space are similar to the situation we had with the Bayesian linear model with a prior on the interaction term. There's a fair amount of uncertainty, with the posterior distribution centered near the no-interaction case (corresponding to predictions of 9) but allowing positive or negative interactions.
Controlling BART's Settings
To get a sense for how BART's settings affect the inference, consider that the tree depths are controlled by the prior probability of a split occurring at any given node, which is
$$\alpha(1+d)^{-\beta}.$$
The default settings are $\alpha=.95$ and $\beta=2$. This means that BART can allow very deep trees, but deep trees need to overcome this prior against splitting when a node is already deep and so are less common unless the data require them.
In this case, $\beta$ increases, there tend to be more trees with only one split (especially since more splits aren't necessary to explain the training data), leading to a posterior that's more like the no-interaction situation.
BART has other settings that it's good to understand and control them as appropriate, but it can also be used out-of-the-box without thinking too much about those at first.
Implications for Choosing a Model
It helps to be aware of what tendencies your algorithms have. I used a trivial example to demonstrate some tendencies of bagged decision trees (random forests) and boosted decision trees.
This example demonstrates the limits of bootstrapping as an approach to uncertainty. Bootstrapping is a way to get at how your estimates would vary under new samples of the training data. It's especially convenient for bagged estimators, since if you're bagging, you've already done much of the computational work for bootstrapping. But the random forest (and the boosted trees, depending on the parameter settings) doesn't vary with new samples of the training data. This shows that your uncertainty about the truth could be very different from the variation in your model under replicated samples of the training data.
When possible, use methods that explicitly capture uncertainty. I demonstrated adding an interaction term (with an informative prior distribution) to the linear model, as well Bayesian Additive Regression Trees. The former exemplifies a parametric approach where you carefully think about each parameter in the model. The latter is meant to support more "automated" model-building.
Thanks to Dan Becker for pushing me to include GBMs, and to Naftali Harris and Chris Clark for feedback on a draft. |
Everyone know what a solar panel looks like and what it does, however you may not be aware of some of the best ways that they are being used. Far from being a way to generate electricity and hot water for your home, solar panels are now being installed on a range of items. Innovative new ways of utilising solar energy to better day-to-day life are appearing all the time and whilst some never seem to work (although that may just be the British weather) there are some truly cutting-edge inventions.
We have put together 5 of our favourite uses of solar power that may well become a big part of your life in the future.
Best Uses of Solar Power
Solar Chargers
The frustration of the smartphone, all that technology and information at your fingertips and then the battery runs dry. The same can be said about tablets, laptops and almost any other modern, high-tech portable electronic device.
With technology improving all the time, you are now able to buy a solar charger from a high street store for a reasonable price. Aimed at the technology aware outdoor enthusiasts, a solar charger can ensure that you have access to all the latest apps to assist with any adventure, regardless of where it takes you.
Solar Bins
Yes, you did read that correctly – even bins are starting to become part of the solar revolution. Since 2003 solar powered bins have been installed on streets of cities across the world, but I hear you asking why do we need powered bins?
These solar powered bins compact any rubbish put into it and are completely closed units. The benefits of this are a bigger capacity, allowing more rubbish to be put in the bin before it needs emptying – with the ability to take 5 times the amount of rubbish when compared to a standard bin. The bins also send a message to let the waste management company know it is full, cutting down on emissions caused by wasted trips to empty bin.
Aside from making the streets a cleaner place and waste management more efficient, there is the capability for Wi-Fi networks to be installed in them creating citywide public hotspots. Now that is a high-tech bin!
Solar Cars
All the talk about cars of the future is based around alternative fuels and electric cars being charged via the mains. All of the above means that travelling 1 mile will still cost money, so the real question would be ‘is there a power source that that can run a car for free?’
Whilst you would potentially pay a premium for the vehicle, a solar powered car would harness a free of charge source of power in the form of the sun. A team of students from The Netherlands built a solar car called Stella and have been travelling the world to show that solar power is a viable option in the automotive industries search for alternative fuel.
In its current guise Stella looks like something out of a Sci-Fi movie and is stereotypically futuristic, however its credentials are impressive. It boasts a range of 500 miles on a single charge and can reach 80mph, it has already driven Highway 1 between Los Angeles and San Francisco and the 3000km journey across Australia from Darwin to Adelaide – both with zero emissions. Their challenge now is to get major manufacturers interested in solar energy.
Solar Planes
Solar Impulse, the solar powered plane has been big news in 2015 with the first ever oceanic crossing by a solar plane in July this year. An epic 5 day journey from Japan to Hawaii cemented the planes place in history and they are now approximately half way on their round-the-world journey. An issue with the batteries has delayed the 2nd half of this journey until 2016 but there is no doubting this extraordinary project will make news when it finishes next year.
With a wing span greater than a Jumbo Jet and the weight of a standard car, there is no doubting Solar Impulse is an engineering feat, however with an average speed of 38 miles per hour it is closer to walking pace rather than jet pace. Can this technology be translated into a viable way of powering a commercial jet? Only time will tell.
Solar Satellites
Whilst not strictly something that has happened, the plans for space based solar power are phenomenal. The idea is to have a large solar panel in orbit above the earth to collect energy from the sun before transmitting the electricity back to earth via a microwave beam. The concept is based around the sun’s radiation being much more potent in space, allowing greater efficiency in the collection of energy.
Obviously the logistics of launching a huge satellite into space for this purpose make the project one that may not ever happen. It would be a monumental effort to not only launch but to maintain and repair the satellite and the question has to be asked, is it worth it? While it would be cool to have a large solar panel in space supplying the world’s electricity demand, it is not something we expect to happen any time soon. |
Imagine if your favorite team went a decade without drafting a player in the first round.
Your team wasn't making canny draft-day trades every year, perhaps dealing next year's first rounder for a sleeper at the top of the second. Those first round picks were shipped away years in advance. Most of the second rounders were gone too; in a typical season, your favorite team might not draft before the fifth round. And what did they acquire in exchange for that bounty of top picks? Defenders in their 30s, notorious troublemakers, damaged-goods prospects, and not one but two scrambling collegiate superstar quarterbacks with sky-high contract demands who would start their NFL careers at other positions.
If all of these things happened today, you might give up football in disgust. You would certainly expect your team to wind up in the cellar due to age, expense and a lack of front-line talent.
But this really happened. The Redskins went from 1969 to 1979 without a first-round pick, and with very few top picks at all. They did not collapse. Instead, they reached the Super Bowl, hovered in the playoff picture for many years, and then set the stage for a decade of dominance. It was all made possible by a unique era in NFL history and an even more unique football visionary named George Allen.
This is the story of a decade without a first-round pick, a coach who followed his own rules, and the players who became Redskins during an era when draft day was practically a vacation day.
"The Great One"
The Redskins traded their first top pick of the era before George Allen even arrived, but Allen did eventually benefit from the trade.
Gary Beban's nickname was The Great One. He was UCLA's Heisman Trophy- and Rose Bowl-winning consensus All-America quarterback during a Bruins sports golden age: Lew Alcindor and John Wooden were holding court at the same time. Professional teams were wise to the fact that Beban's arm did not match his press clippings, so the Los Angeles Rams waited until the second round to draft The Great One. But Beban and the Rams could not agree to contract terms that spring.
During a three-day flurry in mid-June of 1968, Beban got married, got traded and flew to Atlanta for the Coaches' All-American game; yes, Senior Bowl-type events were held after the draft in 1968. Beban was so famous that his marriage to Kathy Hanson received RG3-marriage level publicity. The trade, approved by Redskins co-owners Ed Williams and Jack Kent Cooke, cost the Redskins their first-round pick in 1969 and a three-year, $350,000 contract.
The Coaches' All-American Game practice week was a disaster for Beban, as Sports Illustrated reported. "The first pass he threw wobbled like a Wiffle Ball in a fraternity pick-up game," wrote Gary Ronberg. "By the end of the week it was headlined that Heisman Winner Beban hadn't thrown two spirals. 'Look,' he said, 'they all count the same. I threw a lot of wobblers for touchdowns at UCLA and they all counted six points.'"
Beban came back for a solid showing in the game itself, but the Redskins soon discovered that they had acquired a wobble-armed scrambler who could barely crack the third string behind Sonny Jurgensen and Jim Ninowski. They probably should have realized they were being bluffed when Allen, then the coach of the Rams, asked for a first-round pick in exchange for a player selected in the second round just weeks earlier (or, as we will soon see, that Allen suddenly had interest in a first-round pick at all). "Poor Gary," Williams said in The Redskins Book. "He just couldn't cut it. I don't know why. George doesn't talk about it. He probably doesn't want to embarrass me."
The Redskins slid Beban to running back and defensive back before quietly giving up. Instead of dwelling upon their mistake, Williams and Cooke decided to hire the guy who caused them to make it, bringing Allen to Washington in 1971. But first, they had one more first-round pick to trade away.
The Door Man
Walt Rock played five seasons on the 49ers offensive line, reaching the Pro Bowl once, before the glamorous garage door industry nearly lured him away from the NFL. Rock took over his father-in-law's garage door business in Maryland following the 1967 season, and apparently installing automatic doors around the Chesapeake Bay paid more back then than starting on an NFL line. Rock asked the 49ers to trade him to the Colts or Redskins, but offers were not encouraging. "I read that [Redskins coach] Otto Graham... says he wants me but the 49ers want too much for me." Rock added that the Redskins were "offering only garbage." With his door of opportunity slowly lowering, Rock considered retirement.
Williams was assuming power from Graham at that point, and the Redskins eventually upped their offer from "garbage" to a 1970 first-round pick, their 1969 first-rounder already traded a few months earlier for Beban. In Rock, the Redskins got a solid tackle for six seasons. Rock later played in Super Bowl VII for the Redskins. His NFL career lasted until 1973, when injuries and a disastrous defection to the WFL forced him out of the lineup and charter Hog George Starke in.
But Rock could do little for Graham's 1968 Redskins. The team finished 5-9, and Williams (who made most decisions for Cooke at the time) fired Graham in favor of Vince Lombardi. Lombardi was ill and succumbed to cancer after just one season. An assistant named Bill Austin trudged through the 1970 season as the Redskins head coach. In need of better organizational vision, Williams hired Allen, the Rams coach-personnel man who snookered him in the Beban trade, and gave him considerable roster control.
George Allen had a reputation for preferring experienced players over younger ones, especially rookies. (Getty Images)
The Ramskins
Allen was outspoken and unapologetic about his preference for veterans over rookies, both with the Rams (where he earned a reputation as a whirlwind wheeler-dealer) and the Redskins (where he got a little carried away).
Allen's win-now, grab-a-30-year-old philosophies look to modern eyes like the early 70s version of Dan Snyder at his absolute worst. There was actually sound reasoning behind Allen's older-is-better rationale. The AFL had just turned the draft process into a decade-long scavenger hunt/sheriff's auction. Scouting was less scientific then than now, and the gap between college and professional styles (and quality of play) had been widening for years by the early 1970s. And as Rock illustrated in the last segment, a good contracting job could still be more lucrative or enticing than a football career, though that was rapidly changing. Allen felt he was better served by committed veterans who had proven their NFL worth than Beban types whose expectations were high and bona-fides were low. In the merger era, he had a point.
Plus, Allen at his best had a gift for fine print. When he traded the Redskins' first-round pick and a rucksack full of lower picks to the Rams for several of his veteran defenders in 1971, Jack Pardee, Maxie Baughan and Myron Pottios were the names that made headlines. But the key to the trade for Allen was Diron Talbert, a 26-year old defensive end who had worked his way onto the fearsome Rams front four.
Baughan was already planning his retirement when Allen made the trade, and both Pardee and Pottios were on the downsides of their careers (though both had a solid year left in them). But Talbert played for another decade and became a notorious thorn in the side of the Dallas Cowboys, famously threatening to knock Roger Staubach out of games. The Redskins also acquired starting guard John Wilbur in the deal; Wilbur had three seasons left in him. As we will see in future trades, Allen liked most of his veterans in their mid-20s, in much the same way modern successful general managers try to target free agents just entering their primes.
Late in the summer of 1971, Allen raided the Rams for another of his old defenders, trading a 1973 second-round pick for safety Richie Petitbon. Allen then learned that he had already traded his 1973 second-round pick, so the NFL fined him $5,000 and the Redskins adjusted their offer to a 1974 first-round pick. Like Pardee and some other "Ramskins," Petitbon only had one productive year left, but he cost the team a prospect three years in the future.
How did Allen lose track of his draft picks? Why was he trading assets from three-years down the road for aging safeties? It was that kind of offseason. The Over-the-Hill gang still had a lot of hill to climb before it even took the field. Read on.
The Stealth Jet
In between trades, Allen found time to exchange first-round picks for veterans from some other teams. As mentioned above, it all happened so frenetically that even Allen lost track of what picks his Redskins still possessed in what years. Can you imagine a modern general manager saying, "Oh snap, we don't even have that pick anymore! Our bad!" That's how it went in 1971.
Allen was always willing to pursue players who might not be available in the traditional sense. Allen traded some lower picks to acquire pass rusher Jimmie Jones from the Jets in 1971. Jones brought a little pass rush ability and a lot of information with him: Defensive end Verlon Biggs, a hero of the 1968 AFL Championship game and starter in Super Bowl III, was unhappy in New York and in the process of playing out the option period of his contract.
There was no free agency as such in 1971. Players finished all the options on their contract, then waited for their team to either release them or offer a new contract. Biggs was disenchanted with the Jets for a variety of reasons, including his feeling that his contributions to their championship run were overshadowed by Joe Namath and company. So he did not sign his contract after the 1970 season. Jones knew this, but the media and fans did not. In fact, as Marv Levy explained in his book (Levy was an Allen assistant then), the Jets led the rest of the football world to believe that Biggs was under contract. The team even announced that Biggs was under Jets contract, according to AP reports from that summer.
Thanks to Jones, Allen knew better, and he aggressively pursued Biggs. Since teams held all rights in perpetuity to players back then, and the Rozelle Rule gave the league the right to impose compensation if a team signed a rival's free agent (more on that later), Allen decided to trade for the rights to a player the Jets had no contract with but were pretending they did. So the Jets got a 1972 first-round pick and 1973 second-rounder in exchange for the services of a player whose contract status they had blithely misrepresented. Fun times.
Biggs, a 275-pound behemoth for the era, joined Talbert and fellow trade acquisition Ron McDole on a completely rebuilt defensive line that vaulted the Redskins to the Super Bowl in 1972. Only McDole was over 30; the others (including Manny Sistrunk, the fourth starter) were all young veterans. The Over the Hill Gang was not quite as over-the-hill as advertised in the trenches.
Biggs was not the last defensive lineman Allen acquired by testing the edges of the old free agent systems. He was also not the last veteran exchanged for a first-round pick in 1971.
The Renegotiator
Levy jokes in his book that Allen would spend Redskins staff meetings in the spring of 1971 clamoring that the team needed one more veteran player. As soon as the Redskins traded for that player, Allen would arrive at the next staff meeting clamoring that the Redskins still needed one more veteran player.
Roy Jefferson was like Biggs in many ways. He had recently come off a Super Bowl season with the Colts (Super Bowl V), but he was angry with ownership. Jefferson had been a star for the Steelers for several years, but Pittsburgh traded him to Baltimore for Willie Richardson (a good-but-inferior receiver) and a draft pick because the Steelers were still a horrible organization at that point. Jefferson signed a three-year contract with the Colts, but told Carroll Rosenbloom that he wanted an opportunity to renegotiate if he played well in his first year. According to Jefferson, Rosenbloom said yes, and Jefferson inexplicably believed him.
The Colts won Super Bowl V, Jefferson caught 44 passes and seven touchdowns (competitive numbers back then), and Colts coaches praised his efforts in the passing game. But as you might expect, Rosenbloom was not forthcoming with a new contract. In an era when owners could just make believe they had contracts with unsigned players, no one was renegotiating anything. Jefferson demanded a trade and held out.
Allen looked deep into his day planner, realized he still had a 1973 first-round pick that he had not dealt, and packaged it with sundries to pry Jefferson away from the Colts. "I was elated!" Jefferson said in "Then Gibbs Said to Riggins:" The Best Washington Redskins Stories Ever Told. "Allen never told me what my role would be. He just mentioned the fact that he enjoyed having veteran receivers."
Allen likes veterans: got it! But Jefferson was just 28 years old. He made the perfect complement to Charley Taylor for the Redskins Super Bowl team and stayed in Washington until 1976.
The Enigma
By the start of the 1971 season, Allen had traded away all of the Redskins' first-round picks through 1974. His deals paid off in a 1972 Super Bowl run. So there was no way he would wait until 1975 to indulge his habit of trading future considerations for disgruntled or undervalued veterans.
Now, Duane Thomas, a running back for four seasons with three teams, is a challenging character. Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman wrote a whole book centered upon Thomas, yet it is still hard to pin down exactly what was going on during those 1970-71 seasons. There were actual rumors that he was conspiring with members of extremist movements to kidnap Tex Schramm, for heaven's sake.
Redskins first round picks,
1969-1979 Year Traded to 1969 Rams, 1968 1970 49ers, 1968 1971 Rams, 1971 1972 Jets, 1971 1973 Colts, 1971 1974 Rams, 1971 1975 Chargers, 1973 1976 Dolphins, 1974 1977 Cardinals, 1975 1978 Cardinals, 1975 1979 Bengals, 1978
Those rumors were not true, and charges of drug abuse from the era were trumped up. But what we do know, and have space for here, is that: a) Thomas was amazing in two seasons with the Cowboys, one of which culminated in Super Bowl V; b) Thomas was an iconoclastic personality in that turbulent era who sure as heck did not fit in with the Schram-Landry power structure; c) Thomas divorced young and got bilked by an agent, forcing him to go scraping to the Cowboys for a contract re-draw, which worked as well for him as it did for Jefferson and every other player who tried it and left him even bitterer than he started; d) Landry singled out Thomas for fumbling during Super Bowl V, even though the entire Cowboys team played terribly; and e) Thomas hated speaking to reporters and would veer between long periods of silence and nasty tirades.
The Cowboys finally traded Thomas to the Chargers, but Thomas refused to report and sat out the entire 1972 season. Everyone else saw a troublemaker (with at least some justification), but Allen saw his favorite catnip: a former playoff star feeling underpaid and underappreciated. In July of 1973, he sent his 1975 first-round pick and 1976 second-rounder to the Chargers for Thomas.
Allen then shielded Thomas from reporters, allowing the former star to skip press conferences and keeping the locker room buttoned-down. Thomas had a great training camp, but the cracks started to show during a preseason tune-up on the road against the Bills. Thomas played well in the exhibition rout, but the Bills played terribly, and Bills fans were notorious rowdies back then. They began to heckle Thomas, and Thomas responded by charging toward the seats. "He got one leg over a six-foot-high concrete wall," teammate Ron McDole told SI, "but we got him down."
Thomas had not changed much: he barely talked to teammates and still argued with coaches. While his Cowboys talent was undeniable, it was hard to see what Allen saw in Thomas that was worth two high draft picks. Thomas was the exact same age as incumbent Larry Brown, who was just as gifted (being named the NFL's MVP in 1972) and a solid citizen -- though embroiled in a holdout at the time of the trade -- so Thomas was a poor fit as a running back of the future. Brown kept Thomas on the bench in 1973, they split time in 1974, and Allen tired of Thomas when the running back argued with an assistant. Allen released Thomas before the Chargers had a chance to spend those draft picks. Thomas spent a season in the WFL and a lifetime since trying to explain what happened in the early 70s and what lessons he learned from it.
The Border Crosser
The football landscape of the early 1970s might look a little like the surface of Venus to readers who are under 40 and/or do not search sports archives for fun and profit. Since you have gotten this far, a brief primer:
The AFL's success had raised both salaries and revenues but caused much organizational and competitive upheaval. Not every team was on equal footing when it came to finances or managerial talent.
The World League appeared in 1974 with a business model that would make the later USFL look like a best practices seminar. The WFL threw a lot of money at a lot of veterans, and since the AFL had just merged into the NFL, there was no initial reason to believe that another upstart league would automatically fail, so many veterans took the bait.
The Canadian Football League was still a viable alternative to the NFL, with its own history and established media markets, plus salaries in the same broad pay range. A decade later, cable and satellite television made it easier for Canadian fans to follow NFL teams, and ever-increasing television contracts would widen the salary disparity to the point where the CFL was a quirky minor league in the hinterlands. But CFL teams could still sometimes outbid NFL teams for talent in the early 1970s. (They have still done so on rare occasions since, like in 1991, when Bruce McNall splurged for Rocket Ismail) The decision to play for the CFL was not met with immediate snickers back then.
Vietnam, Watergate, cultural upheaval, etc.
We have seen all of these factors in play at various times on this list. Allen's veteran policy was shaped by the AFL, as was the sense from players like Biggs and Jefferson that they deserved some negotiating leverage and mobility. The WFL and CFL provided some meager negotiating chips for players and a set of worries for owners. The tumultuous times directly shaped Duane Thomas and indirectly shaped every player willing to challenge the authority structure. There are still other background factors; the unimpressive Colts and Cowboys teams of Super Bowl V and the Over the Hill Gang were products of the sudden smashing together of NFL and AFL teams that often had massive financial and managerial disparities.
The Dolphins powerhouse of the early 70s was also a byproduct of that strange era. If you want to go undefeated, it helps to share a division with the near-bankrupt Bills and Patriots and a Colts team built for a last 1970 hurrah. Miami drafted Joe Theismann in the fourth round of the 1971 draft that saw Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning and Dan Pastorini taken first, second and third overall. Theismann was a Heisman Trophy runner-up from Notre Dame, but he was a scrambler entering a league full of pocket passers trying to survive against increasingly brutal defenses. Theismann was an NFL square peg, but he was also drafted by the Minnesota Twins as a shortstop, giving him a little bit of negotiating leverage.
Theismann nearly struck a three-year deal with the Dolphins worth much more than the typical fourth-round pick earned, but he wanted an up-front signing bonus, while Joe Robbie offered only a deferred, conditional bonus. Theismann was worried about a very different draft: if he missed time because of military service, he would be forced to return his Dolphins bonus money. So Theismann went to Canada instead.
The Toronto Argonauts paid handsomely for a well-known Heisman runner up who fit the league's wide-open style perfectly, and Theismann played three productive seasons north of the border. Meanwhile, George Allen made it all the way to January of 1974 without trading away his 1976 draft pick. With Bob Griese leading the Dolphins to Super Bowls in his late 20s, the Dolphins had no need for a quarterback of the future who seemed happy and well paid in Ontario. But Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer were 39 and 34, so the Redskins needed a young quarterback, at least theoretically. The Dolphins got a future first-round pick from the Redskins for a player the team had all but forgotten about.
Of course, Allen did not like rookies (which is what Theismann was, despite the CFL service), so Theismann was shuttled off to punt return duties. Jurgensen and Kilmer also conspired to be as unhelpful as possible to the cocky kid with Notre Dame fame and a savings account flush with loonies. Allen would be gone by the time Theismann became a starter, and the whole command structure would change before Theismann became truly great. Who would have thought that trading first round picks for veterans would actually pay far-flung future dividends? With Allen, anything was possible.
Acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals, Dave Butz would play 14 years in Washington, finishing his run in Super Bowl XXII. (Getty)
The Not-So-Free Agents
Baseball players finally earned the right to true free agency in 1975. NFL players still have not quite earned that right (see Franchise Tag, Transition Tag, etc.), but they did acquire something close to true free agency in 1993, nearly 20 years after courts struck down baseball's reserve clause. Why the two-decade disparity?
That's another story for a much longer essay, but here are the basics. 1) The NFL's answer to baseball's "reserve clause" was the Rozelle Rule, which allowed Pete Rozelle to grab assets from any team that signed a free agent and award them to the team that lost a free agent. 2) Courts struck down the Rozelle Rule not long after making mincemeat of the reserve clause. 3) After a brief flurry of transactions, most of which involved players returning from the smoldering WFL, the NFL went a'bargaining with the NFL Players Association, which was also smoldering after a halfhearted 1974 preseason strike. 4) The NFLPA was not exactly loaded with firebrands (a high percentage of players were not even members), so they agreed to a compensation system which was even more restrictive than the thought of Rozelle reaching down like a hand from heaven and taking away your draft picks.
Hundreds of players became free agents between 1977 and 1982, but none of them changed teams without getting a full and public release from their old clubs. Walter Payton hit the open market at one point and received zero offers.
The Rozelle Rule was still in place when Allen pried Jefferson away from the Jets and solved the Chargers' Duane Thomas problem. Had he signed those players outright, Rozelle would have taken something away from the Redskins, though it is arguable that Allen gave away more than he would have been forced to. In 1976, during that brief window of true free agency, Allen signed John Riggins away from the Jets without bundling a bunch of draft picks. In 1975, the Rozelle Rule was in legal limbo, and Allen could have attempted to challenge the rule as it was getting run through a legal wringer or simply waited before rushing to market with first-round picks flying from his pockets.
But that was not Allen's style.
Dave Butz was a 290-pound monster selected fifth overall by the Cardinals in the 1973 draft. Butz played well as a rookie but suffered a serious knee injury early in his second season. His contract expired, and the Cardinals tried to lowball him. Butz negotiated with the Raiders and Redskins, but Allen made the best offer, and they no doubt made a better offer to the Cardinals as well: first-round picks in the 1977 and 1978 drafts (still several years away, or course), plus a 1979 second rounder, for Butz and some paperwork picks. The deal was finalized days before the 1975 season, and Butz was in uniform (though mostly coming off the bench) for all 14 games.
Now, both the Rozelle Rule and 1977 compensation schedule were pretty regressive and extreme. But neither of them suggested that the proper compensation for a damaged-goods third-year defensive lineman involved three high draft picks. As fate would have it, Allen left the Redskins after the 1977 season and never had personnel control over an NFL team again, meaning that he had no real time to kick the tires on the 1977 CBA and its picks-for-free-agents system. Had Allen remained a general manager, it seems almost certain that he would have signed some free agents, perhaps dealing draft picks that extended through 2012.
Also, Allen was not the only exec in the NFL who treated draft picks like arcade tokens, so as severe as the CBA compensation rules were from 1977 to 1982, they were not out of character for what some teams would routinely trade for coveted veterans. The Eagles traded two first-round picks and a second-rounder for linebacker Bill Bergey, not yet a Pro Bowler, in 1974. The Packers traded two first-round picks, two second-round picks and a third-round pick for 34-year old John Hadl in 1974: the famous Lawrence Welk Trade (if you are under 40... don't ask). Teams did not avoid free agents in the late 1970s because the compensation price was crazy. They avoided free agents because they hated free agency. The NFLPA also did not completely give up the ship in negotiations: they just gave the owners a more convenient excuse for what they planned to do anyway.
The Butz trade was highly criticized at the time, not so much because the compensation was so extreme but because Butz was injured and untested, unlike a healthy veteran of Bergey's stature. Of course, he played for the Redskins for more than a decade and contributed to two Super Bowl champions -- after the coach who traded for him was long gone.
The New Wave
The Redskins fired Allen after the 1977 season. Despite all of the draft picks Allen traded away -- we have not even mentioned many of the second-through-fifth round picks dropped into deals like ketchup packets into a Happy Meal box during the 70s -- the Redskins finished over .500 in all of his seasons. It was a particularly remarkable achievement when you realize that some of the biggest names from those early trades, like Pardee and Petitbon, were long gone by 1977, while the fruits of recent deals like Theismann and Butz had not yet blossomed.
Technically, Pardee was not totally gone; he replaced Allen as head coach. Jack Kent Cooke took a more active role with the team, and Ed Williams was still around, but the team hired Bobby Beathard, a scouting guru from the Dolphins, to handle the nuts-and-bolts personnel decisions.
Meanwhile, in Cincinnati, another NFL legend was wearing out his welcome. Paul Browns's 1940s coaching style was not going over well with 1970s players. "Paul never showed any affection for the guys," said Lemar Parrish, star cornerback for a playoff-caliber Bengals team. "I don't care how good you are or how good you play, a guy likes to hear something from the coach." Brown was also not the NFL's freest spender. "If they can't meet my salary standards, I got to move." Parrish said at the time. "I can't spend glory."
Brown was the anti-Allen in many ways. His Bengals acquired rafts of draft picks from the Eagles for Bergey and were as known for grabbing an extra pick as Allen was for dropping them on the supermarket floor. The Bengals had a disgruntled cornerback and a defensive end named Coy Bacon that they felt they could replace on the cheap with recent draft choice Ross Browner. Beathard had a 1979 draft pick that Allen had never gotten the chance to trade. In June of 1978, the Bengals gave the Redskins Bacon and Parrish for the 1979 selection.
This was obviously not your Allen-era trade. Instead of tossing extra picks on the table to dislodge a disgruntled veteran, Beathard forced the other team to add value. It was a phenomenal trade for the Redskins and a disaster for the Bengals. Parrish, a near Hall of Famer who should get onto the Veterans Committee agenda soon, had two All-Pro seasons left in him and anchored the Redskins secondary as it transitioned toward the Super Bowl era. Bacon still had three more productive years as a starter for good teams. As for the Bengals, they selected Jack "The Throwin' Samoan" Thompson with their own pick and running back Charles Alexander with the Redskins' pick. Thompson was a disaster. Alexander, one of the best collegiate running backs of the 1970s, was strictly an NFL role player.
Beathard's approach to the draft was much different than Allen's. Both were willing to trade first-round picks for value, but Beathard used the middle and later rounds to create a developmental pipeline from smaller colleges to the Redskins bench. The only missing ingredient in the Redskins' rise to a decade of prominence was a similarly detail-oriented coach. A Chargers assistant named Joe Gibbs was on his way. But first, the Redskins were going to ring in the new decade by actually drafting a few first round picks.
The Aftermath
The Redskins drafted Art Monk 18th overall in the 1980 draft. He was their first first-round pick since Jim Smith in 1968. He started for three Super Bowl winners and reached the Hall of Fame.
The Redskins drafted Mark May in the first round of the 1981 draft. May started at guard for two Super Bowl winners and another NFC champion. The Redskins drafted Russ Grimm in the third round in 1981 -- the team did not select before the fourth round at all during Allen's tenure. Grimm made the Hall of Fame playing for the same teams May and Monk played for. Grimm and May were charter members of The Hogs, history's most famous offensive line.
After taking a year off from selecting first rounders, the Redskins drafted Darrell Green. You know the deal with Darrell Green.
The Redskins then returned to their habit of trading first rounders, this time with the Beathard-Gibbs spin. The powerhouse team was selecting late in the first round, anyway. Beathard and Gibbs worked their late round developmental magic with players like Rich Milot, Charlie Brown, Clint Didier, Monte Coleman and other sleepers from schools like Portland and Central Arkansas. They took a page from the Allen playbook by trading for troubled and disgruntled players like George Rogers. They made draft-day deals to get second rounders they coveted (most of which were regrettable). And they benefited from Allen's daring decisions to acquire Theismann and Butz.
Looking back on the period now, it seems impossible that Gibbs and Beathard had the raw materials available in 1982 to build anything close to a Super Bowl winner. Eleven years of conscientious objection to the draft should have gutted the roster of depth and youth. Yet there was no epic rebuilding required: Theismann, Butz and Riggins bridged the Allen-Gibbs gap, with acquisitions like Parrish keeping the Redskins competitive in between. It would never work today, for about 100 reasons, but it worked then.
Meanwhile, Allen became an executive for the USFL and used his unpredictable player-acquisition style to help the new league raid NFL rosters. But that is yet another whole other story.
The Redskins will not draft in the first round this year. They spent the pick on a scrambling collegiate superstar, Griffin, two seasons ago. They just acquired a talented, disgruntled troublemaker of a veteran from another organization. Redskins fans approach the new season with their usual mix of hope and dread. The team's roster-development model is high-risk, veteran-heavy, and dangerously outside the box of NFL right-think.
Allen would have approved. And succeeded. But then again, his son Bruce is one of the guys running the show. |
TV Reviews All of our TV reviews in one convenient place.
"The Gathering" (pilot movie; originally aired 2/22/93, TNT edit aired 1/4/98)
If this is your first time watching Babylon 5, don’t start with the pilot.
I’ve been a fan of Babylon 5 since it aired. I’ve often encouraged other people to join, or participated in discussions where people described how annoyed they got at the show when they tried to watch the first few episodes. This is understandable. This is downright intelligent—they’re making a decision based on straightforward evidence: The first five episodes, including the two-hour pilot, include four of the show’s worst hours, and none of its best.
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So skip the bad ones.
This isn’t how television viewers in the era of serialization, which Babylon 5 helped to kick off, expect to behave. We expect that the questions of plot and theme that pilots introduced stay with a show throughout. Consider The Wire’s opening scene, which hammers you over the head with its themes. Or The Sopranos, where Tony’s Gary Cooper monologue shows the issues he and the show’s writers are going to be addressing throughout. Or the Battlestar Galactica mini-series, which confronted the paranoia and fear of post-9/11 America.
Babylon 5 really doesn’t start that way. Babylon 5 starts slow. It’s closer to Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Star Trek: The Next Generation, where the pilot and first season demonstrate potentially innovative television shows struggling to find their voice and form. B5’s pilot is probably the worst of these, but it does get better (and probably faster than TNG).
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Like those shows, and several others (especially The X-Files and Deep Space Nine), Babylon 5 fits within a group of 1990s speculative fiction shows known for experimenting with narrative complexity. B5’s main claim to fame within that group: It was designed to tell a five-year story with a strong single author. The “five-year plan” has gained a bad rap in recent years thanks to shows that had extensive plans but failed to account for anything like character growth, like FlashForward, but Babylon 5 actually pulled its plan off. That’s a good reputation to have in one sense, but it’s also occasionally a bad one: It gives the impression that every episode is important to the telling of that story, which isn’t the case.
Those experimental narrative forms were all transitional, existing partway between the near-100 percent serialization of a Game Of Thrones or The Wire and the dominant procedural form of the past. In formal terms, this means that most every Babylon 5 episode (through the first three seasons) is both self-contained in terms of introducing and finishing its story, and it also spends time getting viewers up to speed. As a general rule, you can skip episodes. And, as I’m arguing here, you should skip several episodes. You won’t miss much. Babylon 5 possesses one of television’s most wonderful gifts: Its most important episodes are usually its best episodes, and its worst episodes are usually totally inessential.
Therefore, as I write about B5, I’m going to take the role of a guide, especially early in the show. I’ve introduced at least one person to the show by aggressively cutting the worst of the first season, and that worked. With that in mind, I’m also going to be giving grades to episodes for easy reference—if it's not an A/B, it's skippable. I’ll also mention what’s coming next week (and what to avoid), as well as including quick references to the thematic importance of each of episode, and clearly delineated spoilers for experts.
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So, why should you avoid the Babylon 5 pilot? Pilots are usually important, after all, even with their warts, right?
First of all, “The Gathering” aired almost a year before the series. I don’t know the studio politics behind the timing, but I do know that there were clear effects of the retooling done between pilot and premiere. Several of the characters are replaced: Lt. Commander Takashima, the station’s second-in-command; Carolyn Sykes, Sinclair’s girlfriend; Dr. Benjamin Kyle; and Lyta Alexander, the station’s telepath.
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There are other major and minor changes. Ambassador Delenn is initially presented as androgynous, an experiment that is quickly and rightly discarded. Some of the alien design is eliminated, specifically puppets that wildly diverged from human size and form. Delenn also has a set of magic rings that she uses in the pilot and are never seen again, which is good, because they’re really oddly magical.
Perhaps the most important change from pilot to series, though, is the change in the soundtrack. The pilot was initially scored by Stewart Copeland of The Police, and has a distinctly cock-rock flavor. That style is both grating on its own, as well as when compared to the music of the main series, done by Tangerine Dream’s Christopher Franke. That music is an extremely important component of the show’s personality and flavor, and I’ll be spending time discussing it over the course of the series—but without it, “The Gathering” just feels wrong. (This is also the easiest way to tell which version you’re watching. If there are guitar wails over the intro sequence, turn it off immediately.)
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Babylon 5’s author, J. Michael Straczynski (generally known as JMS, for obvious reasons), acknowledged the validity of many of the criticisms of the pilot when he re-edited it for TNT after Babylon 5 moved to that network in 1998. The 1998 edit added more character development, deleted some of the more awkward scenes, had more specific moments of foreshadowing, and included Franke’s score. It’s far superior—almost watchable even—though is still far weaker than the best of the show proper.
To be fair to “The Gathering,” what it tries to do is extremely ambitious. No space opera had succeeded on American television that didn’t have Star Trek in the title. This pilot attempted to introduce at least glimpses of a fully fleshed-out universe, several different characters, an epic overarching story, its own single-episode story, and interesting political and philosophical themes. This was, quite simply, too much to accomplish in an hour-and-a-half. And the show’s first season does largely the same thing, but it has the time and space to narrow the focus on specific elements, while eventually covering much of the same ground.
Given all those negatives, I do think that “The Gathering,” from a critical perspective, is an interesting beginning to a television series. It’s not necessarily entertaining, but it is reasonably effective at introducing the show’s characters and universe. If you know that Babylon 5 gets better, “The Gathering” is an awkward origin story for a fascinating series, and as such, is worth revisiting. You just have to take the good with the bad. But as I said, if you're skeptical, skip it.
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Some of the good: Londo and G’Kar, the Centauri and Narn ambassadors, respectively, are easily the best thing about the pilot (this is not a surprise, as they’re the best things about the show overall). Londo’s speech to Security Chief Garibaldi, in which he apologizes his vote in the council, is probably the only thing in “The Gathering” worth holding up as an example of the greatness of Babylon 5. I’m also partial to G’Kar at his most conniving, particularly the scene where he tries to gather Lyta’s genetic material, saying “The direct mating is more… cost-effective.”
But yes, some of the acting and directing is weak. Early in the episode, Commander Sinclair yells at a drug dealer that “guns and ‘Dust’”—he pauses here to wave the baggy of Dust awkwardly—“aren’t allowed on the station!” Or later on, Dr. Kyle gives a potentially beautiful speech about a life-changing event in response to a question from another character, but he’s bizarrely giving the monologue to the camera, not to the questioner. And oh those 1993 CGI effects—innovative, yes, but they have not aged well.
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Perhaps the worst thing, though, is the amount of exposition. There’s a detailed universe here, and JMS wants to explain the biggest aspects of it, which he does often, in broad strokes. Each alien race is embodied by its ambassador, who is probably prone to giving speeches that detail his or her race’s interests. Nobody understands the Vorlons, nobody wants to mess with them, and those who encounter them directly are awestruck. The Minbari are almost as powerful, and apparently fond of cryptic utterances, as well as cryptic behavior, like being on the verge of conquering Earth then stopping, 10 years before. The Centauri are a formerly powerful empire, now decaying. They had once conquered the Narn, who are now the enfants terrible of the galaxy.
This is all critical information for understanding the show, but the problem is, there’s a lot of that info, and much of it’s only peripherally relevant. Sinclair’s speech about the Battle Of The Line, where the Earth Alliance fought a final battle against the Minbari is generally strong and helps contextualize the ending. It’s not so effective when Delenn tells G’Kar about his people’s history simply for the audience's benefit. And even though this information is generally important later, it’s all dealt with better over the course of the first season. “The Gathering” is moderately successful as an introduction to the Babylon 5 universe, but it’s much less so as a stand-alone piece of entertainment.
Overall Importance:
If you took my advice and didn’t watch, there’s one plot point that you need to take away from “The Gathering.” It’s the line the Minbari assassin speaks to Commander Sinclair before he dies. “There is a hole in your mind” helps motivate Sinclair through the first season.
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Beyond that, I think “The Gathering” shows the show that Babylon 5 wants to be. It’s a political show, where the characters are often at odds with one another. On Star Trek, a series regular like G’Kar would never be involved in a plot to implicate another series regular. We’re more used to this now, but at the time? Babylon 5 was set up as something different and more complex from the beginning, though at first, it had a bit more ambition than sense. What’s great about the series is that eventually sense caught up and the ambition never went away.
Grade: D (initial version), C- (TNT edit)
The Great Spoiler Machine:
Here I’m putting information worth discussing in light of later events, since I suspect most readers will have already seen the series. That said, I’ll try to set the text off (with italics) and not say anything overly specific in case your eye falls on it. I’ve been there myself.
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Given later events in the series, the supposedly negative result of Sinclair being taken to the Vorlon homeworld might not have been quite so bad. If I were starting a “What If…?” Babylon 5 comic series, I think I’d start there.
As much of the speculation at the Lurker’s Guide indicates and JMS quotes seem to confirm, Takashima was almost certainly involved in the assassination attempt. The actress was clearly struggling with the role, and I'm not sure any Babylon 5 fan would say that Ivanova isn't one of the best parts of the show, but removing her from the show may have severely and unfortunately weakened the conspiracy-based plot twists at the end of the first season.
Stray observations:
Are you B5-curious? It’s not on Netflix Instant anymore, sadly, but the first season and rotating sections of the second are available for streaming at WB.com. They don’t have the pilot, so they’re already following my advice. I'll also include links to each episode in the season one reviews.
According to Wikipedia, it looks like digital download/streaming services with Babylon 5, such as the iTunes store tend to have the original pilot, while the superior 1998 edit is apparently only legally available via DVD.
For supplemental information, I cannot recommend the old Lurker’s Guide To Babylon 5 site highly enough. It was built in the 1990s as the show was airing, so it’s not the prettiest website in the universe, but the episode guides include a wealth of information, speculation, and behind-the-scenes information from JMS. Here’s “The Gathering.” These tend to be specifically spoiler-free, but the speculation and notes often make it easy to see the shape of the show in the future, so the truly spoiler-averse may want to avoid them. I’ll likely be citing this site regularly.
In terms of grading, I’m going to try be tough but fair, as well as avoiding relativity as best as I can (i.e., a season three B will probably be roughly as good as a season one B.) And given that importance and quality go in parallel with Babylon 5, the grades should also be usable as a guide, especially for the first season: watch all A/B episodes, Cs are optional, D/F episodes should only be viewed out of morbid curiosity.
In addition to the edited version of the pilot, TNT also commissioned a prequel television movie, “In The Beginning,” to introduce the characters and universe. Although I like many aspects of “In The Beginning,” I don’t like it as an introduction to the show. It’ll definitely get a review, though, probably between seasons four and five, when it was shot and aired.
I never noticed how “othered” G’Kar was early on. He’s almost childishly manic, capricious, chases sex with (white) human women, and the scene where he dabs his mouth with a handkerchief is downright feminine.
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Next Week: The show proper begins with the first season premiere. “Midnight On The Firing Line,” the best and most interesting of the early episodes. Definitely start watching here. My review will focus on why you should watch B5, and where to go once you watch the premiere.
The ambitious, awkward “Soul Hunter” that follows is less important but still has some later relevance. If you like the premiere, give it a try. If not, read my review and wait a while. |
Well, that didn't take long.
Hours into their new effort to boot traffic scofflaws, the Portland Bureau of Transportation added a new high-tech piece of fashion to the wheel of a red Mustang.
The owner of the Mustang - which was located downtown - had racked up $15,956 in unpaid parking tickets.
One more time. $15,956 in unpaid parking tickets.
On top of that, PBOT attached boots to three other cars. The first four cars had accumulated $25,026 in unpaid parking tickets.
It's part of PBOT's new campaign to start booting up traffic scofflaws - people who have racked up wither six citations or $500 worth of fines.
"I asked the Council to allow PBOT to boot, rather than tow, vehicles with outstanding parking citations and fees," said Commissioner Steve Novick, who oversees PBOT. "I wanted to make this change largely because the towing and vehicle storage fees are an unnecessary penalty that is particularly burdensome for people with low incomes.
"Booting gives folks the opportunity to pay their citations or appear in front of a judge at Multnomah County Court to resolve their outstanding citations, before they start getting hit with additional towing charges."
Cars that are booted will be immobilized for 36 hours - giving people a chance to go to court and either pay or work out a payment plan. As courts are closed over the weekend, there will be no booting on Fridays.
If 36 hours comes and goes, the cars will then be towed, which will bring more fines and fees.
Photos Portland Bureau of Transportation. |
Believe it or not, my dear Linux friends, a lot of IT pros still believe they need Windows servers. They have this goofy idea that Active Directory, SharePoint, Exchange, Windows Server, SQL Server, and all the other members of the lardy malware vector family are the only proper business backends. They have this funny notion that Microsoft servers are easier to run. I must refute this odd notion with reality: they are not. They are expensive, troublesome, less-capable, and pointy-clicky does not equal easier to use, nor does it negate having to possess actual skills and knowledge.
But, rather than squandering precious pixels on things we already know, let's look at some of the great Linux and free/open source software for building a proper business computing infrastructure. The Linux world presents a wealth of great software, and offers (by many country miles) the most cross-platform interoperability, so you never have to settle for sad, limited, expensive Windows-ware.
Linux Business Servers
You can get a Linux business-server-in-a-box with everything in a nice bundle and good graphical interfaces and dashboards: directory services, mail server, Internet gateway, file and print services, DNS, DHCP, VPN, backup, network map, monitoring and alerting, RADIUS, media servers, cloud servers, and on and on...you know the drill. Plus commercial add-on apps such as Active Directory and Exchange connectors, for those who need to interface with Windows servers.
ClearOS offers free community editions, and commercial support and services. It includes a reasonably-priced option for Zarafa groupware suite, which includes email, calendaring, contacts, and connectors for Outlook, Blackberry, and all ActiveSync devices.
Zentyal and Univention Corporate Server are similar to ClearOS, with free and commercial versions, and various Windows connectors. They're all good, and their pricing on their commercial offerings is reasonable, much less than your typical proprietary vendor's enthusiastic price tags.
Linux Groupware Servers
If you don't have to talk to Windows servers and just need an open source community-supported messaging, file, calendar, contacts, wiki, and collaboration services suite, go with Citadel BBS. Citadel is 100 percent GPL and always free of cost. Of all the Linux groupware servers Citadel is the easiest to install and administer.
Honorable mentions go to Horde Groupware and Kolab. These are well-supported and have all the bells and whistles.
Do It Yourself: Which Linux?
Perhaps you prefer to build your own, so where do you start? You don't have to pick one Linux distro, but can mix and match according to your needs. You could go with a commercially-supported distro such as SUSE Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Linux, or Ubuntu Server for important servers, or for complex setups that you want some extra support for, and use free-beer Linuxes for other servers. Unlike Windows, any Linux distro can be customized for any use without having to jump through multiple price points differentiated only by varying degrees of missing features.
If you prefer a 100 percent community-supported distro, you have multiple great choices. Debian Stable is still the gold standard for rock-solid-reliability. It has the largest number of packages, and it supports the largest number of hardware architectures.
Slackware is sleekly efficient, and CentOS and Scientific Linux are the top free Red Hat clones.
Ubuntu Server is first-rate, and if you don't want paid support it's an easy download like any free-of-cost distro, without having to jump through registration hoops. Ubuntu doesn't support as many hardware architectures as its parent Debian, but it supports ARM and POWER8, which are the two most important and fast-growing, non-x86 architectures.
Mageia Linux and Linux Mint are nicely-polished and backed by strong organizations, and OpenSUSE is a reliable oldtimer that is both stable, and full of technology previews destined for inclusion in SUSE Enterprise Linux.
Now, what services do you need? File and print, virtual machines, name services, LAMP stacks, development environments, virtualization, containers, network, system administration, language packs, version control systems, text processing, hardware utilities, and on and on...it's all there. So let's look at a select set of modern services that are useful for running a datacenter, and that perhaps don't get enough attention.
openSUSE Build Service
openSUSE Build Service gets its own category, because it is a marvelous tool for building custom software packages for all distros. With just a few steps you can create binaries for a whole raft of distros: SUSE, Red Hat, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian...well, you get the picture. Sometimes I think SUSE is too shy for their own good, because something this cool and useful should be wildly popular.
Directory Services
Active Directory is an obese ugly GUI plastered on top of LDAP and proprietized versions of Kerberos and DNS. You can skip all the weird stuff and go straight to the source with OpenLDAP, Kerberos, and whatever open source DNS server you prefer, such as BIND, NSD, and PowerDNS. Setting up a directory server can be complex, so using a prefab edition saves headaches. SUSE Linux has a nice YaST module for managing LDAP, and Ubuntu includes the excellent 389 Directory Server, which used to be called the Fedora Directory Server.
Red Hat's Directory Server is based on 389, and of course you can install 389 on any distro.
Cloud Servers
You can't beat ownCloud for easy installation and administration. The ownCloud engineers have done a great job of building complex technologies into a friendly package. ownCloud provides a central management console for your hodge-podge of data storage: FTP servers, network-attached storage devices, remote storage, and public services like Dropbox, Amazon S3, and Google Drive. ownCloud also connects to Windows network drives, and the beta 7 Enterprise release supports mounting SharePoint libraries.
ownCloud is all about managing your data, so if you need application and platform servers look at OpenStack. OpenStack is still evolving rapidly, and has a rather steep learning curve. SUSE and OpenSUSE have the best OpenStack tools and integration, and you'll be up and running in minutes. Red Hat and Ubuntu also have good OpenStack support, but you really need to check out how SUSE does it because it's a work of beauty.
Mirantis is also worth a look as it is a specialized OpenStack distro with excellent management tools. Management is everything with complex technologies.
File and Backup Services
My pick for the best file and backup server isn't Linux, but rather is based on FreeBSD and the ZFS filesystem: FreeNAS. FreeNAS delivers an amazing amount of functionality: snapshots and replication, encryption, streaming media, game server, RAID, torrent client, ownCloud, and lots more. You can buy FreeNAS already loaded on good server hardware, and I confess I have a serious case of the wants for the FreeNAS Mini. This little box has it all: good stout server-grade hardware, and it's cute.
Automated Systems Management
Maybe you enjoy doing everything by hand, but handing dull routine chores over to Puppet or Chef is my preference. Plus you get to argue over which one is better. I have the definitive answer for which one is better, and that is "Both." Both support Linux and all Unix-type systems and Windows, and both perform the same tasks: provisioning, configuration, patching, and updating. They also monitor your systems to make sure that they stay the way you want them to.
Well here we are at the end, and I've barely scratched the surface. Please share your own favorite FOSS and Linux tools for building a proper IT infrastructure in the comments. |
From the Middle Ages to the twentieth century a multitude of Scots flocked to the most immense country history has known. They came from every neuk of Scotland and their field of action was Russia’s whole expanse from the Baltic to Alaska, from the Arctic to the Chinese frontiers. They knew that for sheer vastness and potential she was unsurpassed as the land of opportunity. She sheltered and fostered many a braw lad, and some of them became the most famous men of the Diaspora. One need only recall the names of Peter the Great’s principal advisor, General Patrick Gordon of Auchleucheries, Aberdeen (1635-1699); Prince Mikhail Barclay de Tolly, commander-in-chief in the Napoleonic wars, or Mikhail Lermontov, the poet whose forebears sprang from county Fife. It was not a one-way street, and we must not forget Russian visitors to Scotland. More of these have pursued the road to the isles than could be expected, including members of the Romanov dynasty and major figures like Princess Yekaterina Dashkova, the writers Alexander and Ivan Turgenev, Admiral Fiodor Lütke, revolutionary Prince Piotr Kropotkin, chemist Dmitry Mendeleyev and philosopher Vladimir Solovyev, to name a few. But the flow in the opposite direction was by far the mightier. Hundreds of Scottish names became distinguished in Russian history, industrial development and culture. They often stood for families of many generations, veritable clans. An envious English engineer observed in 1805 that "to come from the North side of the Tweed is the best recommendation a man can bring to this city [St. Petersburg], the Caledonian Phalanx being the strongest and most numerous, and moving always in the closest union". Besides, a substantial Scottish element abided in Moscow (the local British church is consecrated to St. Andrew), Kronshtadt, Archangel and Riga as well as in missions in the Caucasus, Crimea, Astrakhan, Orenburg and Selenginsk near lake Baikal. |
Even though it is a taboo word to many, neoliberalism is not good or bad in itself. Rather, it is a means to an end. The state is purposefully reduced in its scope of action to a minimum - by way of policies associated with fiscal austerity, financial deregulation, free trade and the privatisation of public assets, among others - so nothing can prevent the market and its profit-oriented agents from reaching a fair point of equilibrium between demand and supply. According to those who advocate such perspective, the state is nothing but a "necessary evil".
In Latin America neoliberalism has been tried and has not worked. In fact, it has produced disastrous results. But instead of learning from past mistakes and seeking a different political direction, political elites in Latin America have started pursuing again those same neoliberal policies that failed so miserably in the past.
The largest and most influential countries in the region - Brazil, Mexico, Argentina - have embraced it again with passion.
The failures of the 1990s
We still remember the way neoliberalism has harmed Latin American peoples. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Brazil (under Fernando Collor de Mello), Argentina (under Carlos Menem), Mexico (under Carlos Salinas), Venezuela (under Carlos Perez), and Peru (under Alberto Fujimori) were all being governed by right-wing presidents who adopted the so-called "Washington Consensus" - a neoliberal formula coined by the World Bank and seen by enthusiasts as a ticket to glory - as if it were the wave of the future. Back then, this reasoning was making some sense, since the US (under Ronald Reagan) and Europe (especially the UK under Margaret Thatcher) had tried it and reaped some positive results for a while.
However, the results of Washington Consensus policies in Latin America were tragic: GDP stalled, social policies shrank, income concentration and poverty rose, unemployment and labour precariousness surged, violence skyrocketed. In some of these countries, not even inflation was tamed.
As a consequence, Collor was impeached in Brazil, whereas Menem lost his grip in Argentina. Fujimori fled his country to Japan and Perez was removed from office after bloodshed in the streets of Caracas (the Caracazo). Salinas faced a turbulent end of mandate and exiled himself to the US. There is little room for controversy: The neoliberal experience of the 1990s was simply disastrous for Latin Americans.
OPINION: The hidden force of current international uneasiness
Curiously enough, some 25 years later neoliberalism has made a comeback to the region. Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru have proud neoliberals serving as presidents these days.
And this is just when the whole world - Donald Trump in the US, Theresa May in the UK, Narendra Modi in India, Vladimir Putin in Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey to name but a few - is clearly going protectionist.
In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Latin America could not keep pace with other rising states and started to consider an anachronistic repertoire of solutions. In the end, under the risk of "playing the sucker", developing countries from the Western hemisphere decided to open their economies to the outside world, without enjoying any reciprocity in terms of tariffs and trade preferences.
Why so? Despite all bad memories that neoliberalism evokes in Latin America, political leaders appear to be self-assured: That is the only way to economic salvation. There is no alternative!
In the 2000s, after the fiasco of 'Washington Consensus', Brazil began to supply Latin America - and why not say the rest of the developing world - a model of public administration that was worth emulating, for it combined conservatism in economic policies with a robust social agenda.
The 'Brasilia Consensus'
The fullest chapter of this suspense story is being written in Brazil as of now: To escape removal from office and an eventual imprisonment, Michel Temer is investing all of his energy in the objective of passing a programme of neoliberal reforms on the country's labour legislation, the pension system, and the procedures for macroeconomic governance. While the first two items of Temer's agenda still depend on the Brazilian Congress to get incorporated into the law, the latter is already under way: Brazil has bid unilaterally for full membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as an attempt to give market agents a hint at how desperately receptive to investments the country is. It is now up to OECD members to allow Brazil's accession to the "rich men's club".
One must still recall that, always on grounds of fiscal austerity and market-friendliness, Temer has kicked off his presidency by freezing governmental expenditure on education and health for the next 20 years in Brazil.
Surprisingly, yet, this neoliberal comeback in Latin America is taking place on the back of a promising and relatively prosperous decade.
In the 2000s, after the fiasco of the Washington Consensus, Brazil became a model for public administration that was worth emulating, for it combined conservatism in economic policies (that is, a mix of austerity, inflation targeting, and operational independence at the level of the Central Bank) with a robust social agenda. Many Global Southerners have followed through this path. In a provocative way, some journalists and academics have even dubbed it "the Brasilia Consensus".
During this period, in the greater part of South America, social policies drawing on the Brazilian public policy experiments have become an electoral winning card. Caribbean countries have implemented conditional cash transfer schemes based on the Brazilian social welfare programme. Additionally, Brazilian Health Ministry's protocol to fight and treat HIV/Aids has been adopted over the African continent. Not to mention dozens of requests made by several leaders from Arab and Asian countries to the Brazilian Foreign Ministry to form partnerships for agricultural cooperation. Even the adoption of a food security platform inspired by the "Fome Zero" (Zero Hunger) programme is said to be behind Brazilian Jose Graziano da Silva's appointment to run the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
OPINION: Is populism really retreating in Latin America?
As Brazil got trapped into deep economic recession and multiple political crises during the presidencies of Dilma Rousseff and Michel Temer, it could no longer provide a role model. Now that short-lived success story is apparently forgotten.
It only took two or three years for a 180-degree reversal of policy expectations in the region. But the question that generates heightened perplexity is: Why should one expect neoliberalism to bring about a different - positive - result this time?
It is widely assumed that doing the same thing over and over again while waiting for distinct outcomes for each attempt is insane. This "insanity" could possibly define Latin American politics at the moment. Latin Americans would do well to look back and remember what neoliberalism did to their countries a mere 25 years ago. They should demand a return to the policies that actually brought social protection to the poorest in the last decade. It is time, after all, to resuscitate an autonomous Latin American project for prosperity.
Dawisson Belem Lopes is a professor of international and comparative politics at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais and a researcher of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development in Brazil.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial policy. |
MAYBE Just a moment, I'm checking... IP ADDRESS N/A prev ESTIMATED LOCATION N/A PING N/A ip avg N/A USER AGENT
Having connection problems? Start here.
Favorite website down? Animated gifs loading slowly? You're in the right place. This site is more than just an Internet connection tester - it's also a comprehensive walkthrough for troubleshooting your Internet connection. Test your connection as you make changes (click the banner!) without having to refresh the page. You can check the uptime and performance of a particular website using these tools:
Any visible HTTP status codes such as 301 or 404 generally indicate that a website is online, but temporarily inaccessible (try a different URL?). Should your browser fail to connect altogether, consider clearing your DNS cache, which is responsible for mapping domain names (e.g. "ismyinternetworking.com") to IP addresses.
Windows users: Open a command prompt window, and run the command " ipconfig /flushdns ".
users: Open a command prompt window, and run the command " ". macOS/OSX 10.10+ users: In a terminal window, use " sudo killall -HUP mDNSResponder ". On older versions of OSX, try " sudo discoveryutil mdnsflushcache " or " sudo dscacheutil -flushcache ". These commands will require elevated (administrator) permissions.
users: In a terminal window, use " ". On older versions of OSX, try " " or " ". These commands will require elevated (administrator) permissions. Linux users: your DNS is likely managed by nscd daemon. In a terminal window, try the commands "/etc/rc.d/nscd restart" or "/etc/init.d/nscd restart".
DNS is usually provided by your Internet Service Provider (ISP), but you can try a different DNS provider by (temporarily) switching to OpenDNS. If that URL doesn't work (which is an IP address and should not require a DNS lookup), then it's unlikely a DNS issue.
What can I do to make my connection faster?
Your Internet connection's maximum bandwidth is ultimately dictated by your ISP, but if you're not reaching that limit, there are a number of strategies you can employ to make your connection faster. Wireless signals can be improved by simply physically relocating closer to the access point. Better hardware can also improve signal and connection strength: an 802.11 AC Wifi Router or range extender, when paired with an 802.11 AC Wifi Adapter, can offer significant improvements in range and bandwidth over older generations of Wifi. For immediate improvements,
Pause or stop any active downloads or applications that could be hogging bandwidth.
Make sure the hotspot you are connecting to is secured - refer to your router's manual on how to set up a password (using WPA2 encryption, not WEP, which is unsafe). Unsecured networks can be accessed by just about anybody, clogging up available bandwidth.
encryption, not WEP, which is unsafe). Unsecured networks can be accessed by just about anybody, clogging up available bandwidth. Restart your Wifi adapter by turning it on and off, or unplugging it and plugging it back in.
Restart your router manually by unplugging it and plugging it back in after 30 seconds. Sometimes routers just need a fresh reboot to get things going again.
If none of the above options work for you, or if you're using a wired connection, try the following:
Unplug and plug back in your WiFi adapter (if external) or Ethernet cable.
Update your Wifi card or Ethernet port drivers. These should be available on your computer's manufacturer's website (e.g. ASUS Support, Netgear Download Center, TP-Link Download Center).
Check to see if you have not exceeded your data usage cap, if you have one. Some ISPs will still allow you to access the internet after exceeding data usage limits, with a severe speed penalty.
Purchase more bandwidth from your ISP, at an increased cost.
You can test your Internet speed via Speedtest.net, Speakeasy's Speed Test, or SpeedOf.Me's Mobile Speed Test.
What if nothing loads at all?
Any one of the components that bridge your computer to the internet could be broken, so you'll may have to diagnose each one individually. If your hardware configuration hasn't changed recently, it could very well be a software issue. Listed below are some potential fixes for temporary software problems that can get you back on track.
Try a different web browser, preferably one without addons/extensions installed.
Windows only: Right-click on the connection icon in the taskbar tray and select "Troubleshoot Problems" to see if Windows can solve the issue for you.
Restart your computer. No, really! On both wireless and wired connections, this will force your router to re-assign dynamic IP address to your computer.
Connect to a different wireless hotspot, such as one created by your smartphone through tethering. Failure to connect to any other hotspot indicates an issue with the adapter.
If none of the previous fixes work, it's time to start investigating hardware problems. The actions below go over the hardware components that could be preventing you from connecting to the Internet.
Examine the lights on your router or modem. Green = good, red = bad, and flashing indicates activity. The manual for your router or modem will have more information regarding what status the lights indicate.
Check to see if the cables, including power, that link your router, modem, and the wall are secure. Unplug and re-plug them.
Restart your router or modem manually by unplugging it from power and plugging it back in after 30 seconds. Sometimes routers just need a fresh reboot to get things going again.
How do I determine if my router is working?
Manufacturer/Source IP Address Username/Password Alt. Username/Password 2Wire Gateway (AT&T U-Verse) 192.168.1.254 Located on router (blank) (blank) Arris (Comcast Xfinity) 192.168.0.1 admin password admin 1234 Arris (Comcast Xfinity) alt. 10.0.0.1 comcast (blank) (blank) (blank) ASUS 192.168.1.1 admin admin root root Belkin 192.168.2.1 (blank) (blank) admin admin D-Link 192.168.0.1 admin admin OR (blank) user (blank) Linksys 192.168.1.1 admin admin (blank) admin NETGEAR 192.168.0.1 admin admin OR password Refer to manual Pace (AT&T U-Verse) 192.168.1.254 Located on router admin admin Securifi 10.10.10.254 PIN: 1234 admin admin TP-Link 192.168.1.1 admin admin root admin TRENDnet 192.168.1.1 admin admin OR password (blank) (blank)
Try to access your router's control panel via your browser (192.168.*.*) on a wired connection. In the table above, you can find control panel IP addresses for common router manufacturers under the "IP Address" column. Alternatively, you can find it in your router's manual. Type the IP address into the address bar of your browser, press enter, and the control panel page should appear. If the IP address of your router is not listed above or doesn't work, try the following:
Windows users: Open a command prompt window, and run the command " ipconfig ". Look for the "Default Gateway" line.
users: Open a command prompt window, and run the command " ". Look for the "Default Gateway" line. Linux/macOS users: In a terminal window, run "route -n". Look for an IP address under the "Gateway" column.
When prompted for a username and password, try a combination of (blank), "root", and "admin". Default usernames and passwords for common router manufacturers can be found in the above reference table. The alternative username/password combination is used less often.
If the control panel says something similar to "Searching for Server" or "First-time Setup", then your ISP is having issues. Consider giving them a call to see if they are aware of connectivity problems on their end. A support number can be located on your latest internet bill. Otherwise, if the control panel page never loads (with no login prompt), and you're absolutely certain about the address, consider trying another router. This is rather time consuming, but can determine if your router is at fault or your ISP is at fault.
Online, or at your local electronics store, you can find fully capable routers ranging anywhere from cheap to expensive. If a brand new router fails to connect as well, the issue is likely due to your ISP and your router(s) are perfectly fine. If the new one connects, your old router is having problems, you can stick with your newly purchased one (or return it for a higher-end router).
Alternatively, as a last resort, you can try to fix your existing router one with a hard reset that restores it to factory settings. Warning: This operation is irrevocable and your old router settings will be permanently deleted, so we recommend one more series of reboots before attempting a reset. Begin by locating the reset button on your router, which may be underneath or in the back, and will likely require a paperclip to push in. You have two options (taken from the DD-WRT Wiki), have a stopwatch ready:
"30 Reset" - Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds while the router is fully booted and on.
"30/30/30 Reset" - Press and hold the reset button for 30 seconds while the router is fully booted and on. Then, unplug the router while still holding down the reset button for 30 seconds. With the reset button still being held, plug the router back in for 30 seconds.
Performing a hard reset will require you to set up your router again. Refer to your router's manual for details.
I've tried everything above and I still don't have a stable connection!
No amount of restarting and updating can make up for a poor quality connection provided by your ISP. Temporary setbacks are usually resolved within a day or two, but if you continue to experience regular disconnects, consider switching to a different ISP. Consumer Reports offers a scored ranking of ISPs based on several critera. DSLReports offers consumer ISP reviews that can be narrowed down to your region. |
Though most of the contracts were settled some time ago, there were still a few question marks on the 2014 MotoGP grid. The official entry list released by the FIM today answers some of those questions, but the answers it gives may yet turn out to be wrong. The list features 11 entries to be run under the Factory rules, which means 20 liters of fuel, 5 engines per season and the freedom to use proprietary software on the spec Magneti Marelli ECU. The remaining 13 bikes will be run as Open entries, which gives them 24 liters of fuel and 12 engines per season, but forces them to use the Dorna-controlled spec software on the Magneti Marelli ECU.
The 2014 season looks set to follow the pattern established in 2013, with Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo likely to dominate. Of interest is the fact that Marc Marquez has been entered with number 93, rather than the number 1 which the world champion is allowed to use, but this may yet change before the start of the season. Marquez would dearly like to retain 93, but Honda is keen to see him run the number 1 plate.
Whether Valentino Rossi can challenge the leaders again will depend in part on how he meshes with his new crew chief Silvano Galbusera, and on whether Yamaha can improve the braking stability of the bike. Rossi will also fear the reduction in fuel, as Yamaha were already struggling to make the bike last the race on 21 liters.
Much attention will be focused on the newcomers, with Pol Espargaro and Scott Redding both stepping up from Moto2. Espargaro made an impressive debut at the Valencia test, ending the three days a second and a quarter behind Marc Marquez, and not far off the times of Valentino Rossi and Alvaro Bautista.
Among the Open entries, all eyes will be on the battle between the Honda RCV1000R production racer and the Yamaha FTR open class entry. Nicky Hayden and Aleix Espargaro will be the benchmarks, with the first meeting going to Aleix on the Yamaha. The 2013 M1 is already a strong package, and the Valencia test showed that the spec software did not appear to slow the bike down too much. The RCV1000R looks to be slower than expected, suffering most of all from the lower revs the engine runs. Top speed figures showed that the Honda was over 10 km/h down on the factory bikes, where the difference with the Yamaha was negligible.
The provisional entry lists are still a long way from being final. Although Niccolo Canepa appears on the list as riding for Ioda Racing, Canepa has already told GPOne.com that he will not be racing in MotoGP next season, and Ioda issued a press release saying that no agreement had been reached with Canepa, and the search for a second rider continues. The provisional list shows Ioda's choice of machinery as to be announced, but the choices are between the Aprilia ART and Ducati Open projects. The final choice will depend on the financial package available, with Ioda one of the poorer teams in the paddock. If an agreement cannot be found, Ioda can always race the Suter BMWs they already own, though the bike has had no development this year.
The PBM team is also listed as participating, but Paul Bird is believed to be holding off on entering depending on support. PBM, like Ioda, are fishing for stronger support from Aprilia in a bid to make themselves more competitive. This has become a financial necessity, as Dorna will now only be offering the top 22 riders financial support, leaving the weakest team without support. The idea is to send weaker teams back to Moto2 at the end of each season, and tempt the strongest Moto2 teams into stepping up into MotoGP. On the basis of results from 2013, PBM and Ioda are the teams in the danger zone.
Looking at when rider contracts run out, it is clear that 2014 will be a crucial season for everyone. 16 riders have their contracts up for renewal at the end of the season, including both factory Yamaha and both factory Honda men. The summer is likely to be a very busy period for riders and managers, as they look towards their options for 2015.
The provisional 2014 MotoGP entry list: |
The United States now has little doubt the Syrian government used chemical weapons against civilians last week, and President Barack Obama is studying how to respond, a senior official in the U.S. administration said on Sunday.
"Based on the reported number of victims, reported symptoms of those who were killed or injured, witness accounts, and other facts gathered by open sources, the U.S. intelligence community, and international partners, there is very little doubt at this point that a chemical weapon was used by the Syrian regime against civilians in this incident," the official told Reuters.
"We are continuing to assess the facts so the president can make an informed decision about how to respond to this indiscriminate use of chemical weapons," the official added.
The Pentagon is prepared to carry out military options on Syria should President Barack Obama order them, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Sunday.
Hagel echoed White House statements cautioning that America was still gathering the facts about the Syrian government's alleged use of poison gas against civilians.
(Read more:Obama weighs up options after Syria gas attack)
But he noted that the U.S. military, which is repositioning its naval forces in the Mediterranean to give Obama the option for an armed strike, was ready to act if asked. |
Yao Qian, author of the article, is the Deputy Director of Science and Technology Department of People ‘s Bank of China and Director of Digital Currency Research Institute of PBOC. The article is a commentary piece for the report Digital Currency Research by Xie Ping.
The whole passage has around 7,000 words and below is a TL;DR version.
1. Bitcoin is not a currency but it could be a “quasi-currency”.
2. ICTO (Initial Crypto Token Offering) is more accurate term for ICO. Although many ICOs have no value, such activities are helpful to the ecosystem.
3. ICO’s return is very high. Ethereum, NXT and Zcash are mentioned.
4. Regulation could go easy on the top 10 ICO projects in terms of market value.
5. Regulatory Sandbox approach could be adopted towards ICO. Prudent tolerance is accepted but it must no go wild. A legal framework for ICO should be established ASAP. If an ICO project has no intrinsic value, it’s a ponzi scheme.
6. Ethereum could overtake Bitcoin.
7. Mutual development between smart contract and Ethereum. Ethereum is working on the right direction.
8. Only fiats could become the cornerstone of next-generation financial infrastructure and the future of digital economic development.
9. Blockchain technology doesn’t have to be bundled with digital currency. It’s an optional technology and a tool.
10. The strength of fiat money lies in: assimilating advanced and mature technology of private quasi-digital-currency and inheriting merits of traditional currency
As regulation on ICO is still absent in most countries, Yao’s attitude, as a senior official of PBOC, could be interpreted as that of China’s highest regulatory authority.
Changjia, founder and CEO of 8btc, expressed the optimism on the legal framework for ICO:
As the earliest adopter of ICO in China, Bizhongchou has explored the possibilities in terms of investor education, project review and KYC through self discipline with the absence of legal framework. We look forward to the implementation of regulatory sandbox.
Recently, Bizhongchou has launched PUSH feature for the QTUM tokens. |
(New throughout, updates with fire extinguished, adds comments and details)
By Selam Gebrekidan
NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - A CSX Corp train carrying crude oil derailed and burst into flames in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia on Wednesday, spilling oil into the James River and forcing hundreds to evacuate.
CSX said 15 cars on a train traveling from Chicago to Virginia derailed at 2:30 p.m. EDT. Fire erupted on three cars, the company said. Photos and video from the scene showed high flames and a plume of black smoke. It was the second oil-train accident this year for CSX.
About two hours after the derailment, CSX said the fire had been extinguished. City officials said there were no injuries, but 300-350 people were evacuated from the area. Around 6:00 p.m., residents were allowed to return to their homes.
The fiery derailment a short distance from office buildings in the city of 77,000 was sure to bring more calls from environmentalists and activists for stricter regulations of the burgeoning business of shipping crude oil by rail.
JoAnn Martin, the city’s director of communications, said three or four tank cars were leaking, and burning oil was spilling into the river, which runs to Chesapeake Bay. She said firefighters were trying to contain the spill.
Kathy Bedsworth, owner of the Carriage House Inn bed and breakfast in Lynchburg, the commercial hub of central Virginia, told Reuters flames streaked as high as 60 feet.
“There was black, black, black smoke and huge billows of flames. The flames were taller than the buildings,” she told Reuters over the phone after heading to the scene of the incident five blocks from her guest house.
The U.S. Department of Transportation said it was sending Federal Railroad Administration inspectors to the scene. The National Transportation Safety Board was sending investigators. The Environmental Protection Agency said an official was heading there to help the state monitor air quality.
There was no immediate information about the origin of the cargo or the train’s final destination. One of the only oil facilities to the east of Lynchburg is a converted refinery in Yorktown, now a storage depot run by Plains All American . The company did not immediately reply to queries.
It was not clear what caused the accident. CSX said it was “responding fully” with emergency personnel, safety and environmental experts.
NEW RULES
Several trains carrying crude have derailed over the past year. Last July, a runaway train in Lac-Megantic, Quebec, derailed and exploded, killing 47 people. In January, a CSX train carrying crude oil derailed in Philadelphia, nearly toppling over a bridge.
With more trains hauling crude and flammable liquids across North America, U.S. regulators are expected soon to propose new rules for more robust tank cars to replace older models; Canadian authorities did so last week.
“With this event, regulators could try to expedite the process, and they’ll likely err on the side of the more costly safety requirements in order to reduce the risk of these accidents in the future,” said Michael Cohen, vice president for research at Barclays in New York.
Tougher rules could drive up costs for firms that lease tank cars and ship oil from the remote Bakken shale of North Dakota, which relies heavily on trains. It could also boost business for companies that manufacture new cars, such as Greenbrier Companies and Trinity Industries.
Residents across the country have voiced concern about oil trains, often a mile long, passing near their communities, particularly in New York and the Pacific Northwest. Derailments have occurred in places as far removed as Alberta and Quebec in Canada, and North Dakota and Alabama in the United States.
In Virginia, environmental groups including the Sierra Club and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation have opposed expansion of crude-by-rail shipments through the region to the Yorktown terminal, which can handle 140,000 barrels per day. CSX’s route through populated areas like Lynchburg and the proximity to the James River have been mentioned as special concerns.
“These trains started bringing Bakken crude oil through Virginia to the Yorktown facility last December,” Virginia Chapter Director Glen Besa told Reuters.
“This raises major questions, after numerous instances of derailments and explosions of Bakken crude on railroads in the last year. Now one of the questions is what the impact will be on the James River. Will this stuff sink or float?”
In January, CSX Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward told analysts the company planned to boost crude-by-rail shipments by 50 percent this year. He said the Jacksonville, Florida-based railroad was working with U.S. regulators to address safety concerns in light of recent derailments and fires. (Reporting by Selam Gebrekidan, Joshua Schneyer, Anna Driver, Patrick Rucker, Josephine Mason, Ian Simpson; Editing by David Gregorio) |
After a trip to the Oval Office, Rep. Billy Long said Wednesday he’s changing his vote.
Long, a Republican from Missouri’s 7th District said Wednesday he’ll vote for the latest Republican proposal to repeal and replace Obamacare. Long said after the meeting that that President Trump called him earlier this week and said, “Billy, we need you.” Long said he told the President, “You don’t have me.”
However, Long said he now has assurances from the White House that language on coverage for preexisting conditions he wanted to see in the bill will be in the version that goes before the full House. Michigan Republican Fred Upton joined Long in announcing plans to vote yes.
Long told reporters outside the Oval Office he tries to do his work behind the scenes, and wasn't happy his plans to vote no on the bill made news. "I made the mistake of telling a reporter the other day that I was going to be a no, and I'm going to wring his neck when this is all over."
Republicans were forced to pull the bill in March or face defeat. Changes to the bill have won over conservatives, but moderates are reluctant to back the measure. |
Following yesterday's report that EA was laying off more Star Wars: The Old Republic personnel, their stock hit a year-long low of $11.28. It's been a sharp decline for EA over the past year, and though many gaming companies aren't performing particularly well, EA is among the worst.
It's so bad that CEO John Riccitiello had to come out and start making excuses for their performance.
"After many years of stellar growth, we more recently got into a place where I think investors are having a hard time understanding where growth in the industry is coming from. We're at a point where the new console generation is not yet been fully announced, so people don't know what's coming there. "And they're unclear about ongoing growth in the Facebook platform for gaming and mobile. So we're sort of in a transition period from an investor perspective."
But is that really the reason? Investors just don't understand gaming? That would seem to be ignoring the root causes of EA's specific woes, and it's worth discussing what's been so terrible about the last year for them that can account for this steady decline.
1. The Old Republic is Likely a Bigger Disaster Than Anyone's Saying
This was touched on briefly in the post yesterday about the SWTOR layoffs, but it's perhaps a bit unclear as to how much EA had riding on The Old Republic. The game was meant to be the first serious threat to Activision/Blizzard's World of Warcraft, yet failed to make much of an impact, and has been shedding users since launch.
Even if the game is halfway decent and has attracted a modest following of a million players or so (though it's likely less than that now), that's not enough to call it a success. Far from it, in fact. Though EA never officially released budgetary figures, estimates are the game took between $200 and $300 million to develop, with marketing costs inflating that figure to possibly as much as $500M. Even if the numbers are off by half, it would be one of the most expensive games ever made.
Since release, there have been many layoffs associated with SWTOR, including the executive producer of the game as announced yesterday. SWTOR might end up going free-to-play like so many other of World of Warcraft's competition, but that's not the model that's going to earn them their money back. They really needed the monthly fee model to work, and the fact that it hasn't makes the game a failure, no matter how many players a free-to-play switch may bring back.
2. Battlefield is Not Call of Duty
Last fall, there was a much hyped battle for the ages. EA's Battlefield 3 vs. Activision's Modern Warfare 3. Call of Duty, according to many, had grown stale, and EA's vehicle and teamwork centric Battlefield was the answer gamers wanted.
Battlefield 3 sold well. Very well. In fact, it was EA's best launch of all time, as the title sold five million copies in its first week. It was a very respectable number, and coupled with critical acclaim, it seemed like a big win for EA.
But there's nothing quite like a Call of Duty launch. Modern Warfare 3, like previous COD games before it, shattered not only every video game sales record ever, but every sales record across any form of media. It sold 6.5M copies in a single day and got to a billion dollars in sales faster than Avatar. To put EA's juxtaposed Battlefield launch in perspective, Michael Jordan might make $180K a day from endorsements, but despite how rich he may seem, Bill Gates could buy and sell him like he was nothing.
Simply put, EA does not have the capacity to compete with Activision's biggest franchise, and coupled with their inability to tango with World of Warcraft as well, these are two huge categories they're consistently losing. And that has never been more obvious than it was last year as SWTOR and Battlefield were direct assaults aimed at Activision's top two properties, and for all their millions in development and advertising, they barely made a dent.
3. Mass Effect 3's Controversies Lost Many Hearts and Minds
Technically this is a Bioware problem, but a Bioware problem is an EA problem. I don't believe EA intervened to specifically make Mass Effect 3 worse the way some claim, but even if it was all on Bioware, it reflects back onto their brand.
There was controversy from the start as the game was announced to have Day One DLC that fans deemed rather essential to gameplay. It looked like a $10 tax to access content that should have come with the game in the first place, and it left a poor taste in fan's mouths from the outset.
The ending debacle is where things really fell apart. The final moments of the game seemed rushed and unfinished, and left the overwhelming majority of fans disappointed with their story's conclusion as it simply lacked any sort of resolution. It may have been a ploy to sell future DLC, but it also could have been a time crunch issue. ME3 had already been delayed, and perhaps there simply wasn't time for a more fully fleshed-out ending. That would in fact make EA to blame.
Between these two issues, Bioware lost a lot of fans, and EA suffered the wrath of angry consumers who believed that they've corrupted their once beloved studio. Between ME3 and SWTOR, EA and Bioware's relationship has been extremely rocky this year, and I'm not sure how long the two can hold together.
4. EA is Constantly Losing the PR War
Many companies are moving forward with practices that consumers deem bad for the gaming industry. Ubisoft has spearheaded always-on DRM. Activision continues to charge $15 for map packs that are rehashes of old content. Yet neither of them draw quite as much hate as EA, which was literally voted the worst company in America this year, a mantle they laughed off rather than recognizing it as a serious issue.
There is simply a public perception that EA is not a likable brand. Yes, it happens with those other big companies as well, but it's not nearly as virulent as when fans express their displeasure with EA. Their new "Origin" gaming platform as done nothing but aggravate players used to the more refined Steam, and chats with EA customer support have been so laughably unhelpful at times, screenshots of them have gone viral.
Whether EA deserves all this hate or not is unclear. The fact is they make games people love, yet they're perceived to be the great evil of the gaming industry based on how they treat their customers. Or at least how the customers feel they've been treated.
5. They May Be Jumping Into the Social Gaming Pool as the Water is Draining Out
This is my own private theory, but I believe there's a social gaming bubble just waiting to burst. The evidence seems clear. Established titles like everything Zynga makes are bleeding millions of users at a time, and the app games market is now flooded with so many clones and rip-offs it's hard to sift through the muck to find anything worthwhile. It would appear unsustainable.
But this year EA has bet big on social gaming. They acquired a few social games companies including PopCap, the guys behind Plants vs. Zombies and Bejeweled. In total, they've spent millions attempting to carve out a space for themselves in the social scene, but they may have gotten in after the market had peaked.
They have found success with The Sims Social, which has graced the top ten charts, shoving aside whatever Zynga "Ville" title has lost the most users that month. But they need more than one or two big hits to really compete. Zynga is itself in decline (another company with lackluster customer support), so that may be a boon to EA in the coming year, but if interest in social gaming itself wanes, they could be in trouble.
It simply hasn't been EA's year for a number of reasons (five, if you've been counting). To right the ship they need to put their focus back on their customers, the ones paying their bills, and worry less about DRM, DLC, ship dates or anything else that will make a few bucks at the expense of consumer good will. |
THE 'Frozen' fairytale is turning into a nightmare for many parents unable to get their hands on one of this year's top-selling Christmas toys.
THE 'Frozen' fairytale is turning into a nightmare for many parents unable to get their hands on one of this year's top-selling Christmas toys.
Demand for the singing Snow Glow Elsa doll - which retails for around €45 - has snowballed so much that it is now sold out or in limited supply all around the country.
Banba Toymaster manager Maurice Doyle said every third call to their Mary Street store in Dublin was from a parent desperate to get a Snow Glow Elsa, but they were sold out and it was unlikely more would come in.
The shortages are genuine - as even in August, when it became apparent that demand was growing, they'd been unable to source more, he said.
"Every year there's something that just takes off, last year it was Lucy the Puppy, and this year it's this.
"They're manufactured in China, so supply can't always meet demand quickly enough," he said.
Argos stores around the country are also sold out of the popular doll based on the smash-hit movie featuring royal sisters Elsa and Anna.
Toy retailer Smyths said 'Frozen' toys were extremely popular and stock was limited on some items, such as the Snow Glow doll.
Patrick O'Sullivan, from the Christmas Toy Show, said they would have a limited quantity of the Snow Glow Elsa dolls available over the nine-day event which opens in the RDS tomorrow.
"Anything to do with 'Frozen' is very popular, but certainly the Snow Glow Elsa is the one that is in short supply," he said.
"For that reason, it has created some hype and now everyone seems to want it because they can't get it anywhere. But it definitely seems likely to be the number one toy for Christmas and demand is obviously heightened because of its scarcity."
Mr O'Sullivan said it seemed to be easier to shop for boys this Christmas, with the Nerf blaster and Lego proving popular.
The Consumers Association of Ireland (CAI) questioned whether the toy shortages that crop up every year are partly a ploy by the makers to fuel demand.
"Every year, something is in short supply and you'd wonder whether it's partly orchestrated to add to the frenzy and get parents really worked up.
"It also means there's very little chance they'll get it at a discount," said CAI spokesman Dermott Jewell.
"Obviously there's a fear factor with manufacturers of not wanting to overproduce and be left with piles of unsold stock, but the hype when there's shortages definitely helps demand," he said.
The Disney Store said the popularity of 'Frozen' had been phenomenal since its launch last December to become the biggest animated film ever, and one of the top-grossing movies of all time.
"We do everything we can to meet the demands of parents and children seeking our top-selling merchandise, including the Elsa and Anna singing dolls," said a spokeswoman.
"Stock is being replenished in the Disney Store on a regular basis. However, demand continues to be incredibly high," she said.
Retailers said supplies were reasonably good for most other toys, though demand is strong for Playmobil and for Melissa and Doug wooden toys, according to Banba.
Smyths advised consumers to check availability online and buy early.
Irish Independent |
Chelsea unlikely to be docked points for Manchester City melee
Tempers flare at the Etihad as Gary Cahill of Chelsea and Kelechi Iheanacho of Manchester City square off
Chelsea are unlikely to have points deducted following the melee with Manchester City, Sky Sports News HQ understands.
An FA commission will consider what sanction to impose after Chelsea players were involved in a brawl with City players following a tackle on David Luiz by Sergio Aguero.
Chelsea face the more severe sanction, having been charged and fined with a breach of the FA E20 Rule covering the behaviour of players on five separate occasions.
Watch the unsavoury scenes that happened at the end of Manchester City's 3-1 home defeat against Chelsea Watch the unsavoury scenes that happened at the end of Manchester City's 3-1 home defeat against Chelsea
After the most recent fine, following their ill-tempered derby against Spurs last season, Chelsea were warned they could face a point deduction for what the commission called their "abysmal" recording regarding Rule E20.
However, SSNHQ believes that the nature of the fracas, started by Aguero's tackle on Luiz, means it's highly unlikely that a points deduction will be considered by the independent panel.
Fernandinho was sent off after clashing with Cesc Fabregas
SSNHQ understands that the commission meeting will be held in the next few days.
Following their 1-0 win over West Brom on Sunday, Chelsea manager Antonio Conte said: "For me, if you are involved in a situation and the fault is not your one, you must pay? Why?
Sergio Aguero is dismissed by Anthony Taylor
"I don't understand this. Manchester City and Chelsea, at the end of the game, my players tried to keep their calm. I don't understand this. I repeat, I don't understand this.
"We are trying to improve in all aspects, also this. For this reason, I reply: you must be joking. You must be honest and understand which team is at fault." |
One thing that’s impressing people regarding Mad Max: Fury Road is how CGI is used sparingly. Yes, we get it for stuff like a huge storm, but so many of those insane stunts were actually George Miller insisting on real effects. It helped with the in-your-face power that made the movie so fun. And it also showcases how CGI is contributing to Hollywood blockbusters looking like crap.
It’s been building for a while but nowadays, filmmakers are ignoring how CGI was meant to be a last resort, to up the awe factor and just using it like crazy. Naturally, folks will point at George Lucas but Peter Jackson may be a true culprit here. It’s been noted by many that as the Lord of the Rings trilogy went on, Jackson used CGI more and more and while it was awesome seeing Gollum, other bits were damn terrible. But it got far worse with The Hobbit movies. Look at that clip above as Legolas leaps across a falling bridge like Bugs Bunny. I can’t remember the last time I heard an entire theater yell “Oh, come ON!” at once as loudly as with that sequence. It was already building from the bit in Return of the King where he kills a monster and slides down its trunk like it’s no problem. The entire trilogy was bloated in many ways but it was not helped by Jackson going this crazy and you can’t help but wonder if Del Toro might have gone for more practical stuff instead.
It works in other ways with those movies. The orcs in LOTR came off truly impressive as they were guys in costumes and makeup so you could believe them fighting the regular actors. Compare that to the all-CGI orcs in Hobbit and it just comes off flat, the battles far more fake-looking despite their detail. The battles were powerful and amazing as they were real guys but the later film makes it obvious just guys swinging at thin air and often not even there but just computer effects. You can make a CGI character look as great as you want but it still doesn’t seem totally lifelike to an audience and that ruins the illusion.
Moving off Jackson, look at the trailers for Terminator Genisys.
Okay, that looks cool but really, why would a murderous robot from the future waste time flipping his arm like a baton twirler rather than just toss it? Not to mention the physics of snapping off its own arm to attack and its regular being doesn’t seem to shift in mass at all. Then there’s this:
One thing about Sarah Connor Chronicles that was smart is that they didn’t have Cameron using fancy kung-fu moves as she’s supposed to be several pounds of metal with human skin. Yet here, a we see a robot of even bigger mass and weight bouncing like a fluffy doll. It should be landing hard with a thud, not doing that but because they want a “fun flourish” they just had to put it in.
Another issue is how too many directors forget that a physical camera is supposed to exist for these shots. Look at the grand space battle scene from Return of the Jedi.
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It’s clear, it’s obvious, it uses all the axis of action, the “camera” following well. It’s damn amazing considering it’s all old-school model work and comes together. Hell, even in the prequels, Lucas could still keep a logistical camera on things so it wasn’t too wild. But today? We’ve got guys throwing cameras in insane angles that could never truly work and instead of wowing the audience, it just makes it more baffling. Case in point:
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That’s a pure video game sequence and sucks you out of what little realism that movie has. It’s all over the place (especially from Michael Bay) and thus ruins too much of the illusion.
It doesn’t help that the color saturation Jurassic Park used to help with the illusion has been now pushed even more and that hurts. If you saturate it too much, you can actually see the illusion spoiled. It’s one reason why Dawn of the Planet of the Apes works so well: they didn’t ruin it with such saturation and it seemed far more realistic. So why continue to do it?
Then there’s the case of CGI backgrounds. Old-school miniatures were used to avoid making things look too tiny and such but today, we’ve got model background stuff that’s meant to make huge crowds realistic but instead comes off like model train sets:
Indeed, Jurassic World seems to be ignoring what made Jurassic Park work: The reason the CGI was so impressive was that it was used sparingly. You could tell the moment the audio-animatronic Raptor switched to the CGI one and Spielberg kept them mostly to the shadows and such to enhance how impressive they were. The movie built up to the T-Rex, limiting it so that when it appeared, you were stunned bit. But the new movie is tossing the dinos into your face constantly and rather than be blown away, you’re a bit “meh” at them.
That’s another key thing that connects to Terminator Genisys as well: Too many directors and producers are vastly underestimating the intelligence of the moviegoer and totally forget we can easily tell if an effect look fake. Sure, the plastic Arnie head in the original Terminator was cheesy but you could understand it for the time. But the way they CGI a young Arnold for the new film is so blatantly obvious that you can’t feel as impressed as you should be.
A great bit on the extras for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull DVD is how Lucas wanted to do a lot of green screen but Spielberg insisted on as much real stuff as possible. Ridley Scott can be the same, demanding so much real stuff, while Jackson appears to have lost it in nothing but CGI. If you use CGI as all-encompassing, then when you do try a major effect, it doesn’t look or feel right as the physics are totally off. Just look at the way Transformers often seemed to forget how things should work, so these massive metal robots are flying around like nothing. Often you don’t have a feel for their size as there’s nothing real to compare them to.
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Compare that to the latest Godzilla as Gareth Edwards did seem to understand how a pair of 100-foot monsters would move and cause mass havoc with every step. He was also smart not to dominate it too much with the CGI, but enough so the battles came off as awe-inspiring as they were meant to. All the ads for San Andreas throw massive effects of California coming apart, buildings crumbling like dominoes, lush detail to all the debris, and you know what? They do nothing for me. But to this day, watching the big sequence from the old Earthquake impresses; they wrecked real buildings and models around actors so you could see that terror for real and thus make you feel more into the movie.
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Yes, CGI can work wonders and often fits the material. See Avengers or even Fast and the Furious. But treating every single movie like a living comic book is not a great way to go. It’s why I have better hopes for The Force Awakens, as J.J. Abrams has made it clear he used as much practical stuff as CGI and the early trailers do have that “wow” that’s missing from so many CGI-fests.
What’s needed are directors who remember that special effects are meant to enhance a film, not take away from it. They need to crack down on the artists to make stuff work as it should, remember little things like weight, size, physics, and more. Because if they continue down this road, we’re fast approaching a point where one look at CGI drives a moviegoer away. And that’s bad news for both Hollywood and film fans alike. |
Need to get aerodynamic on your mountain bike?
If you happen to be doing a road race in the mountain bike category, or you are flying solo along a smooth stretch of dirt or pavement during an XC race, you typically want to be as aerodynamic as possible without compromising control or power.
You rarely see any “aero tucks” during a mountain bike race, but at an uphill time trial on the road, you never know what you’ll see…
I prefer to keep my hands on the handlebar (as my mountain bike position is just as low and stretched out as my road position,) but I picked up a very intriguing aero tuck position from Zak Dieringer (of TeamSpin.com) that I wanted to share:
(You can click the pics to see larger versions.)
Yes, his hands are on the fork crown! I tried this on my bike, and it was not stable whatsoever, but it must work for Zak.
Tip from Zak Dieringer: This was at an up hill time trial, so speeds were low and aerodynamics were not terribly important. What was important, however, was power output. This position, as weird as it looks, put me very close to my position on my road bike, and at least I felt like I was pedaling harder. The handlebars are about level with the saddle on this bike, which works great in the woods, but I felt like my mom on her hybrid pedaling up this hill. I would also not recommend this position if there is another rider in within a mile of you, you have to brake or turn, or, most importantly, there is someone with a camera nearby.
[Note: Zak is typically on or near the overall podium in this King of the Mountai race. Your results may vary!]
Back to the topic of aerodynamics on a mountain bike…
What I tend to do if I need to get aero on my mountain bike is move my hands close together, but keep them on the handlebar. That puts my hands close to the stem; then I flatten my back as much as possible, giving me a flat back and forearms, which present a smaller profile to the wind. (If I don’t need to pedal, I can stand up and get my butt in the air to really flatten my back.)
With those techniques I’m still pretty aerodynamic but maintain control of the handlebar, which comes in very handy on dirt road downhills, the likely place where you could use such a position.
Caution: Riding in any position like this in any situation is very dangerous as you could easily lose control and hurt yourself or others!
Photo credits: Levi Bloom
Levi Bloom is an experienced endurance athlete who has been training and competing for over 17 years. A former Cat 1 road and mountain bike racer (professional class on the regional circuit), he is now a cycling coach (USA Cycling Level 3 Certified) and sports nutrition coach (Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certified). https://coachlevi.com
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Quote EricMusco Quote: Originally Posted by Hey folks,
So, here we are together enjoying some server downtime. Let's have a little fun. As many of you know, the unstable lightsaber is a thing that is coming out today and I am very excited for it (along with Chapter X of course). In its honor, what do you say I give away some Cartel Coins while we wait.
I have done this game once before but lets revisit the rules. First, each time I post I will add some codes that you can redeem for Cartel Coins. Only the first person who snags them will get the coins so be quick! Second, I will ask random questions. First to answer the question, I will PM them a code.
I will wait a few minutes, gather your friends, let the Cartel Coins rain.
-eric
I'm game, got nothing else to do. Bioware, please remember our companion spouses when doing new expansions. I want scenes, letters, or something from them, saying they're worried!
Click my referral link to get free rewards. |
The Juno spacecraft will enter orbit around Jupiter on July 4, 2016, after five long years en route. As part of its mission, the solar-powered, basketball-court-sized spacecraft will fly within 2,900 miles of the cloud tops of our solar system’s largest planet. Over the next 20 months, Juno will probe beneath the obscuring cloud cover of Jupiter with its suite of nine scientific instruments to learn more about the planet’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere. In this Science Café, Tony Rice will discuss the harsh conditions the orbiter will be subjected to over the next 20 months, how the orbiter is engineered to survive, and what fiery end awaits Juno after its job is complete.
About Our Speaker
Tony Rice is a NASA Solar System Ambassador who witnessed Juno’s launch five years ago. In addition to speaking on spaceflight and astronomy topics in classrooms and museums throughout the area, he contributes space and astronomy topics weekly to the WRAL-TV weather blog. Rice also supports more than 100 broadcast meteorologists nationwide with information about upcoming astronomical events that they can share with viewers. |
BRAY CREDIT UNION has been fined €98,000 for failing to comply with Ireland’s laws on money laundering and terrorist financing.
The Central Bank confirmed today that it reprimanded the branch, which has 26,886 members, for breaches of the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 which persisted over five years and seven months.
Bray Credit Union has admitted to the breaches, according to the financial watchdog. Its investigation found that all but one of the infractions occurred between 15 July 2010 and February 2016.
They “represented significant failings” in how the credit union fought possible money laundering and terrorist financing.
Bray Credit Union is in the top 11% of credit unions by asset size but is not affiliated with the Irish League of Credit Unions. It is a member of the Credit Union Development Association.
The 2010 financial laws require ”all credit and financial institutions to adopt and implement adequate policies and procedures appropriate to their business to prevent and detect the commission of money laundering and terrorist financing”.
The Central Bank says Bray Credit Union failed to do this in a number of areas, particularly in relation to transaction monitoring, suspicious transaction reporting, customer due diligence, scrutinising member transactions and record keeping.
Commenting on the fine, director of enforcement at the Central Bank Derville Rowland said many community-based credit unions know who their members are and how they interact with the credit union.
“However, this does not minimise or reduce the obligations of credit unions pursuant to the CJA 2010,” she added.
Credit unions must use the knowledge and insight they have of their customer base to comprehensively assess the money laundering and terrorist financing risks in their business and to implement effective and robust frameworks, system and controls to counter those risks.
She noted that the regulator is concerned that a credit union of Bray’s size and scale was found to have breached key requirements for a long period of time.
“The failure by Bray Credit Union to apply adequate identification and verification measures to members and to scrutinise their transactions meant that it lacked critical information to allow it to properly fulfil its obligations to monitor, identify and report unusual and potentially suspicious activity and created an unacceptable risk of money laundering and terrorist financing,” she concluded.
Bray Credit Union co-operated with the investigation and settled the matter “at an early stage”, the Central Bank noted. It has also taken actions to remediate the breaches.
The probe is now closed. |
Raiden is one of the most exciting altcoins I have researched in a long time. The ICO ended a few days ago and since then it has a little more than doubled in price. My excitement does not come from the price though but from the team and technology behind the coin.
To understand the value of Raiden you need to know a little about Ethereum. While Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer cash transfer technology, Ethereum is a development platform in which applications can be built on top of. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are distributed public blockchain networks. There is a coin behind Ethereum called Ether or ETH. The main issue with Bitcoin and Ethereum right now is that they are both slow at processing transactions. Scalability is the number one issue right now and is the main reason Bitcoin is doing major hard forks. The block size for Bitcoin is currently 1MB and the hard fork will increase the block size which will speed up transactions and reduce fees. What does this have to do with Raiden?
The Raiden Network is an off-chain scaling solution for performing ERC20-compliant token transfers on the Ethereum blockchain. It is Ethereum’s version of Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, enabling near-instant, low-fee, scalable, and privacy-preserving payments.
If you want to read the full technical documentation you can start here:
Raiden Network 101
Raiden FAQ’s
Explanation Video
Scalability is what is currently keeping traditional companies from using Ethereum and Bitcoin. It simply cannot handle the number of transactions per second needed to compete with current solutions that are not on the blockchain.
Financials and Chart Analysis:
At this time it is hard to do a real chart analysis as it has just recently hit exchanges. Right now the market cap is only $79,519,500. RDN reached $1.90 and then corrected to $1.32. A healthy 30% retracement and now has begun its second mini bull run. RDN has a decent amount of daily volume for the exchanges it is currently on. Liquidity and market cap will increase as RDN gets listed on the other major exchanges. I can say though that this altcoin was built by Ethereum core developers, already has working code and has not even been listed on the major exchanges. In my opinion, this will be a billion dollar coin. Raiden (RDN) is currently trading on Binance, EtherDelta, Gate.io and Kucoin. I believe this will soon be listed on major exchanges such as Bittrex and Poloniex which will greatly increase its market cap. My prediction is that RDN will continue to rise until it hits 5x the current value within the next few months. |
The Miss International 2013 coronation night will be held a few minutes from now at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Hall in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 67 candidates will try to capture one of the Top Four much-coveted international beauty title.
Miss International 2013 Winners:
Miss International 2013 Winner Philippines Bea Rose Santiago
1st runner-up: Netherlands
2nd runner-up: New Zealand
Miss International 2013 Top 5 Q & A Portion (30-second speech)
Miss International 2013 Top 5:
Miss International Top 15 Finalists:
Miss International 2013 Coronation Night Video Replay
List of Special Awards:
Evening Gown Competition on stage:
Miss International 2013 in Floral Swimsuit:
Miss International Candidates in lovely national costumes on stage right now.
This year’s edition of the Miss International is the 53rd anniversary of the beauty contest which advocates their candidates to serve as amb(–foul word(s) removed–)adors of peace and beauty.
The Miss International 2013 coronation night will start at around 17:30 (Tokyo time) or 16:30 (Manila time). You can also watch the live coverage through Ustream Channel of Miss International.
Update: Miss International 2012 title-holder Miss Ikumi Yoshimatsu of Japan will not crown her successor as she was dethroned by the Miss International organizers. |
The argument over spending millions of public dollars to fund a sports stadium's renovations swung back to the private side yesterday when Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross announced he would pay for the $350 million upgrade to Sun Life Stadium through private funds. After an ugly fight with the Florida state legislature, a fight that was played out through the media, and criticism from numerous sources about using public money, it appears that the proponents of not allowing tax dollars to be used for a stadium beat Ross.
There is a slight catch, however. Ross came out swinging with the new plan, pointing to every other professional sports stadium and franchise in Florida and asking that he, and the Dolphins, be treated fairly. Sun Life Stadium is privately owned, while every other stadium and arena is a public site. That means, the Dolphins are the only team in the state who pay annual property tax, which last year was $3.8 million, and, according to reports last year, could start climbing toward $5 million a year.
And, that's what Ross wants to end. In a statement released through the team, Ross said:
I have made clear I want the stadium modernized because it’s right for our fans and it’s right for Miami-Dade and South Florida. I have decided the best way to get this done is to pay for the project with private funds. All we ask in return is that we are treated the same as all franchises in the state of Florida. A world-class city needs a world-class stadium. We haven’t won a Super Bowl bid in Miami-Dade in far too long, and we know that with the stadium as an issue, we never will unless it is modernized. The Super Bowl Committee will have to decide if they want to compete for the next two Super Bowls so time is of the essence. It is time to move forward. This privately funded project will create more than 4,000 local jobs. We can bring back the Super Bowl, the College Football Playoff Championship and world-class soccer matches -- and all the revenue those big events generate for the local community. I am going to make the commitment and provide the resources because Miami deserves the economic benefits of a modernized stadium. But for me, this is about something more. I grew up here in Miami-Dade and have been part of this area for most of my life. I want to do this for the community that has done so much for me, and for this storied franchise that means so much to the people of South Florida. With this project, we can secure the future of the Dolphins in Miami-Dade for another 20 years. That is more important to me than anything else.
Last year's public-private partnership plan included a one-percent rise in the hotel tax and a $3 million-per-year rebate on sales tax generate within Sun Life Stadium. The Dolphins had pledged to fund aproximately 70-percent of the total cost, had pledged to repay Miami-Dade county between $110-120 million in 2043, would cover any cost overruns, and, if four Super Bowls, four College National Championship games, and 22 international soccer matches were not held in Sun Life Stadium by 2043, would add up to an additional $120 million in penalties.
The plan was expected to be put up for a public vote in Miami-Dade County, but the state legislature failed to advance the necessary supporting resolution to the floor of the State House of Representatives, ending any chance for public funding.
Under the new plan, the $350 million plan would all come out of Ross' pocket, but the state and local governments stand to lose money that is currently used to fund schools, libraries, and the Miami Gardens government. Sun Life Stadium is the city's largest tax payer.
“I frankly don’t believe we’re going to get another Super Bowl if we don’t do something with the stadium,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez told the Miami Herald on Monday. “Quite frankly, it is a much better deal than what we were talking about last year.”
The NFL has said Sun Life Stadium needs several upgrades, including a cover over the seating area for the fans and updated, high-definition lighting. The league fears holding another Super Bowl in a pouring South Florida rain storm, disrupting fans who pay thousands of dollars per ticket. In 2007 (completing the 2006 season), the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears in the rain in Super Bowl XLI, held in Sun Life Stadium (then called Dolphin Stadium). The league moved Super Bowl XLIV to Sun Life Stadium in 2010 when a New York City stadium for the New York Jets was unable to be completed. That game marked the 10th South Florida Super Bowl, the most of any host area (tied with New Orleans), but also was the last game Miami was expected to receive unless the upgrades were made.
Miami was a finalist for Super Bowl L - the 50th anniversary game - awarded to Santa Clara last May. The bid was then immediately moved into a vote against Houston for Super Bowl LI, again losing.
Early in last year's negotiations for the public-private partnership funding, the Dolphins had offered to turn over control of Sun Life Stadium to the county. The idea was immediately rejected, however, as the propery tax was deemed more valuable. Now, it appears, the property tax will serve as the key to any renovations to the 27-year-old stadium.
How far the new plan advances, and if some deal can be reached to ensure a void is not left if the millions of dollars in property tax is moved from Miami-Dade County, will be closely watched over the next few weeks and months. Sun Life Stadium needs the upgrades, and Ross appears willing to work with the local government to find a way to make it a palatable plan for all involved; however, Ross did not get to be a billionaire and Dolphins owner by simply throwing around money, so there is going to have to be some sort of compromise reached. |
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Automated vehicles could cut the number of deaths and injuries on London’s roads by 90 per cent, a major study on the future of transport in the capital claimed today.
The report by renowned transport expert Professor David Begg said pedestrian and cyclist lives could be saved by establishing zones for automated vehicles - or AVs - where speeds could be restricted by remote control to walking pace.
Roads outside schools could become 10mph zones and the extremely low speed limit could also apply to Oxford Street allowing pedestrians and cyclists to mingle with buses.
The orbital road tunnel proposed by mayor Boris Johnson could be an AV-only zone which would make it safer but also boost capacity fourfold with remotely-controlled cars driving bumper-to-bumper.
In the first major leap for “driverless” technology in the capital, all 8,500 London buses would be fitted with sensors that trigger the breaks if a pedestrian, cyclist or motorcyclist gets dangerously close.
The report, “A 2050 Vision for London” was commissioned by Clear Channel with a foreword by Transport for London chief Sir Peter Hendy.
Prof Begg, a former Government transport advisor, said: “Automation will be driven by safety. The big prize with automated cars, buses and taxis are the safety benefits. If everyone were to travel at the speed limit, which could be controlled, you could reduce the number of fatalities by 90 per cent by eliminating human error. The first step is sensors on buses, which are being trialled in the city, to engage the breaks automatically if its in close proximity to a pedestrian or cyclist. I expect it to become compulsory for lorries and buses and taxis to be fitted with these sensors.”
“In 20 years most vehicles will be equipped with automated technology so you could see the orbital tunnel being AV only which would be safer and increase capacity by as much as four times because you are running bumper to bumper. It would change the economics of these tunnels.”
In 2012, there were 134 deaths on London’s roads with 69 pedestrian and 14 cyclist fatalities.
Prof Begg recommended TfL take control of the speeds. He said: “The driver presses a button to go from A to B. It’s going to be like power steering in cars, it will be standard within 10 years on new cars. I can see the benefits for Oxford Street where you want to change the balance of the street where the speed limit isn’t any quicker than someone walking or cycling. It allows us to turn streets into more living space.”
But he warned: “There’s quite a way to go until you have full automation. The Department for Transport will have to regulate here. The issue is on what conditions will you be allowed to be in a vehicle and not be alert and attentive.
"Even though Google have been millions of miles in the United States (in driverless cars) we are a long way off being satisfied this type of technology can be used without being a threat to anyone.
"If all vehicles are automated it’s easier because they speak to each other. The difficulty is what you do in the interim when only a percentage are automated and the rest are conventional.”
He said the biggest potential gain on the automation of the public transport is on the railways. “The high levels of frequency we’ve become used to on the Underground with up to 35 trains an hour we need to try to emulate on the heavy rail network. There needs to be more people travelling into the city by rail and the best way to achieve that is by increased frequency.” |
This is the ninth of a series of blogs based on excerpts adapted from the 2nd edition of Agenda for a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth. I wrote Agenda to spur a national conversation on economic policy issues and options that are otherwise largely ignored. This blog series is intended to contribute to that conversation. —DK
As did most Americans of my generation, I grew up in the post-World War II years believing that America was defined by a strong middle class supported by a durable bipartisan political consensus.
In fact, the American middle class was created in the space of just a few years by New Deal legislation that established Social Security and other safety-net programs, implemented a highly progressive taxation of income and estates, supported unions, and raised the floor on wages to narrow the wealth and income gap between the upper and lower economic classes.
Perhaps because I was living abroad during most of the 1970s and 80s, even into the 1990s, I believed until the mid-1990s that the middle class is a universal American ideal. It was quite a shock when I eventually came to realize that America is governed by an owning class that considers government intervention to maintain an equitable distribution of wealth anti-American, socialist, and a threat to individual liberty and national prosperity.
In the 1970s, an alliance of elite interests began preparing to roll back the measures that created the American middle class and launched a full-scale class war during the 1980s under the banner of the Reagan revolution. Corporate interests provided the money and controlled the real agenda. Religious fundamentalists provided votes in return for lip service to a conservative social agenda opposing abortion, family planning, and gay marriage. Libertarians provided an ideological framework removing constraints to the unlimited concentration of wealth in the name of market freedom. Neo-conservatives provided justification for wars and outsized military expenditures to swell the profits of the defense industry and secure corporate access to the world’s resources and markets.
By 2005, manufacturing accounted for only 12 percent of the GDP, and financial services for 20 percent—more than manufacturing, health, and wholesale/retail combined.
Once in power, the Reagan administration rolled back taxes on the wealthiest Americans, ended robust antitrust enforcement, and launched a stunningly successful campaign to make finance the U.S. economy’s dominant and most profitable sector. This process continued seamlessly through subsequent Republican and Democratic administrations.
In 1950, arguably the peak of U.S. global power, manufacturing accounted for 29 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product and financial services for 11 percent. By 2005, manufacturing accounted for only 12 percent of the GDP, and financial services for 20 percent—more than manufacturing, health, and wholesale/retail combined. This weakened unions, put downward pressure on wages, and increased the power of the owning class.
Bigger than Unions, Bigger than Wisconsin
How Americans of all stripes are uniting in opposition to Wisconsin's anti-union bill—and cultivating a movement that reaches far beyond the state border.
In 1999, on the recommendation of Wall Street insiders, Congress “modernized” the country’s financial system by repealing Glass-Steagall, a Depression-era law that limited commercial banks to commercial banking activities. In 2004, the established requirement that investment banks maintain a 12-to-1 leverage ratio of debt to equity was repealed, leaving them free to make much greater use of borrowed money.
Between 1980 and 2005, there were some 11,500 bank mergers in the United States, an average of 442 per year. As the banking system consolidated, its focus shifted from providing financial services for productive activity on Main Street, to funding speculation on Wall Street.
Hedge funds, the high rollers that led the speculative frenzy responsible for the 2008 financial collapse, proliferated from a few hundred in the early 1990s to some ten thousand in mid-2007, by which time they had more than $1.8 trillion in financial assets under management.
The richest 2 percent of world’s people now own 51 percent of all the world’s assets. The poorest 50 percent own only 1 percent.
Wall Street used its political influence and control of the money supply to ensure that its players captured virtually all the benefits of productivity gains in the Main Street economy as interest, dividends, financial service fees, and inflated asset prices.
This effort to achieve an upward redistribution of wealth was so successful that from 1980 to 2005, the highest-earning 1 percent of the U.S. population increased its share of taxable income from 9 percent to 19 percent. Most of that gain came from the bottom 90 percent and went to the top tenth of 1 percent. In 2007, the top 400 U.S. tax returns reported an average annual income of $345 million—compared to an average of $12.7 million for the top 427 returns in 1955, adjusted to 2007 dollars.
As Wall Street exported its modernization plan to the world, the wealth gap widened almost everywhere. In 2005 Forbes magazine counted 691 billionaires in the world. In 2008, only three years later, it counted 1,250 and estimated their combined net worth at $4.4 trillion. According to a United Nations University study, the richest 2 percent of world’s people now own 51 percent of all the world’s assets. The poorest 50 percent own only 1 percent.
Efforts to fix Wall Street miss an important point. Wall Street, as we know it, is an instrument of class war that poses a mortal threat to the middle class and democracy. For the sake of our most cherished American ideals, it must be dismantled and replaced.
[Next On the Origin of Corporations]
The ideas presented here are developed in greater detail in Agenda for a New Economy available from the YES! Magazine web store — where there are 3 WAYS TO GET THE BOOK and a 22% discount!
Interested?
Agenda for a New Economy available from the YES! Magazine web store.
More by David Korten: |
If you've ever fancied a Tesla Model S but balked at the price, now's your chance to score one for significantly less — provided that you don't mind it's used.
The high-end electric car maker quietly started selling used vehicles last week for the first time on its website, according to the Wall Street Journal. Now the option to "Buy Pre-Owned" shows up alongside the choice to buy a brand-spanking-new model. Visit the new pre-owned section, here.
Vehicles for sale are up to 2-and-a-half years old, roughly dating back to when Tesla began selling its popular sedan. Most models for sale lack all-wheel drive, a feature the company introduced in April.
But if you don't mind zipping around without all-wheel drive, the cost savings is pretty substantial: The cheapest used Model S hovers around $63,000 — about $12,000 or so less than the most affordable option for a new vehicle, before factoring in things like a federal tax credit and state purchase incentive. Tesla also offers a four-year or 50,000 limited warranty on its used vehicles.
For Tesla, this marks the first time it has ever sold used cars. Unlike other car manufacturers, Tesla doesn't use independent auto dealers, so it won't have to share a cut from sales. That's a boon for the company, not just because used car sales give it another substantial revenue stream, but also because used car sales generally offer higher profit margins.
The move follows Tesla's splashy event Thursday when founder and CEO Elon Musk unveiled his Tesla Energy plan, which includes a new $3,500 battery called the Powerwall for storing energy and powering the home, as well as the the Powerpack, a server-sized, industrial-level version.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment. |
WALTHAM, Mass. -- It's been a dizzying four days for Marcus Smart since the Boston Celtics selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. But Tuesday morning it was time to punch the clock for the first time as members of the team's summer roster gathered for the first of three two-a-day sessions at HealthPoint.
Chris Forsberg/ESPN Boston
Marcus Smart went through his first official practice with the Celtics on Tuesday."These last couple of days have been a whirlwind," Smart said. "It’s been a lot of celebration, excitement and hype, but now it’s time to finally get back on the court and put the work back in. That’s what we do, put in work. And it’s time to get back to work."
Smart smiled while noting it wasn't too much different than what he was used to at Oklahoma State, except "you don't have to go to class."
The Celtics' youngest players and roster hopefuls did attend Basketball 101 on Tuesday morning while going through a morning session heavy on play installation, drills and off-court strength work.
"I wouldn’t call it class. I love basketball," Smart said. "It’s not as boring as going to class. It’s fun, coming out here and learning things and doing what you love to do."
Smart said the team ran him at the point guard spot during installation, but said he'll be ready to play either guard spot when summer league games start Saturday in Orlando. Celtics assistant coach Jay Larranaga, tasked with running the summer squad, liked the energy Smart brought to the floor.
"Marcus is just a really enthusiastic team player, brought a lot of energy to this practice, and we anticipate him bringing a lot of energy to every practice," Larranaga said.
Celtics second-year big man Kelly Olynyk offered high praise for Smart as well.
"He’s a great player," Olynyk said. "I saw a couple workouts when he was here [before the draft]. He’s got lots of energy, lots of enthusiasm, works real hard. His skill is definitely there for this level. I think it’s only going to keep getting better. He’s really eager to get in the gym all the time and I think he’s a guy with a great attitude, great energy, and definitely his hard work will pay off."
Smart said he hasn't had a chance to talk with either of Boston's veteran guards -- Rajon Rondo is out of town, while Avery Bradley is now a restricted free agent -- but Smart closed out Tuesday's morning session by shooting with Phil Pressey. The two are familiar with each other, having both played high school basketball outside of Dallas.
"I’ve known [Smart] since he was younger, coming up," Pressey said. "We’ve just been in contact with each other. It’s kind of crazy that we’re here on the same team. I would’ve never thought of that. But best of luck to him. Hopefully we can start this thing off right."
What were Pressey's impressions of Smart's first practice?
"He did real well," Pressey said. "He’s anxious to get out there, show the coaches what he can do, just like I was last year. We’re just out here trying to get better and get ready." |
PLEASE RSVP @ http://www.meetup.com/Charleston-GDG/events/226032243/
One of the coolest (and possibly creepiest) things about our phone is that it usually knows where we are in the world based on our coordinates in the GPS (Global Positioning System). With that data we can make our apps do some pretty cool things! Geofences define a GPS point and a radius in meters to create "triggers" for action. Bill Mote will show you how to setup the Google Maps API and add Geofences to any application.
About Bill Mote:
Bill is a lifelong infrastructure nerd with a passion for making things better, faster and more reliable. The DevOps world just didn't give him enough heads down coding time so when Android hit the scene Bill decided to forgo his safety net and start developing for Android full time. In addition to a handful of his own utility apps, Bill has built apps for startups and Fortune 50s alike with contributions to more than a dozen apps currently available in the Play Store. Bill is the co-organizer of our Cincy Android Meetup as well as GDG Cincinnati and truly enjoys both the teachings and learnings he gets out of them. Bill is the co-organizer of our GDG Charleston Meetup as well as the GDG Southern Region Mentor. Bill is also curating the popular "CharlestonTechSlack": charlestontechslack.herokuapp.com |
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