Money was initially created so that a person could acquire more through exchange than what he could acquire trying to produce everything for himself. No doubt, this has allowed the average person to be able to enjoy other goods and services that only the wealthy could enjoy. Throughout his labor he could not only supply his basic needs but he could now enjoy higher standards of living. Here, it is the need to provide for the family's basic needs that make money important and it is the desire for improved standards of living that drives people to want to make more and more of it.
It can be argued that almost every problem that man (mankind) has, can either be solved, or gone with money. Money provides the best education, the best health care, the best dental care, the best cars, the best foods to eat, the best vacations to go on … and the list goes on.
The undeniable proof however, of the importance of money, is the staggering statistics on world poverty. According to World Bank statistics 1.4 billion people live on less than $ 1.25 per day; 1 billion children live in poverty; 640 million live without adequate shelter; 270 million have no access to health services; and nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names. These facts are mind-boggling.
We the privileged few few before have a responsibility not only to ourselves but to the world to get serious about making not just money but lots of money and to…


1970 State of the Union Address
The 1970 State of the Union Address was given by Richard Nixon, the 37th United States President, on January 22, 1970, to both houses of Congress. He said, "I say this not only because 1970 marks the beginning of a new decade in which America will celebrate its 200th birthday. I say it because new knowledge and hard experience argue persuasively that both our programs and our institutions in America need to be reformed.
The moment has arrived to harness the vast energies and abundance of this land to the creation of a new American experience, an experience richer and deeper and more truly a reflection of the goodness and grace of the human spirit."


As you probably know, virtually all credit cards in the United States are now equipped with EMV chips. EMV is short for “Europay, MasterCard and Visa,” the three companies who began the chip technology initiative. There are two main types of chip technology in credit cards – chip and signature and chip and PIN.
The technology has quickly become the gold standard for all credit card transactions. Here’s how it works – A small microprocessor is embedded in your credit card to store and protect your sensitive data. This information is used for all transactions, replacing the magnetic strip on the back of your credit card. The information embedded within the chip is encrypted, and therefore less vulnerable to counterfeiting and fraud.
Chip technology in credit cards has been around for a few years now, but merchants and consumers are still adjusting to the change. Here’s what you need to know about your EMV chip card.
Why is a credit card chip more secure?
EMV chip cards support dynamic authentication, which makes it much harder to copy and counterfeit. Data stored on traditional magnetic strips are static, making them much easier to skim with a card reading device. Dynamic information stored within your credit card chip must be verified by the point-of-sale device, ensuring its authenticity. Chip credit cards also generate a unique authentication code with each transaction.
In the United States, most cards use chip-and-signature technology – the secure chip in your card, combined with a signature for verification. For the added security of a signature, merchants must verify the signature on the card with the card holder’s on-site signature. This process can be subjective, based on the verification process. In many countries the EMV chip technology is used in combination with a PIN number. Because the chip-and-PIN system uses two types of objective verification, it is widely regarded as more secure than the chip-and-signature technology.
How is the EMV chip card used to make a purchase?
Instead of swiping your credit card through a card reader, the chip system requires you to insert your card into the reader, chip end first, and leave it there until your transaction is complete. For now, credit cards still have a magnetic strip on the back that can be used if the chip technology fails, but those strips will likely be phased out in the future.
Why do chip cards take longer to process?
Consumers who are used to the simple swipe they’ve used in the past may be wondering why the chip system takes so much longer. While you’re tapping your fingers on the counter waiting patiently for your transaction to complete, the microchip in your credit card is having an encrypted conversation with the card reader. The card reader then sends an encrypted message to the bank, which approves the transaction, and sends an encrypted message back.
The whole point of the new chip technology is the added security features, and it’s these features that slow down the process.
Are there security risks with chip credit cards?
While chip credit cards are far more secure than cards with magnetic strips, there are still risks you should be aware of. Because many chip cards still contain the magnetic strip on the back, the cards are still vulnerable to fraud. To prevent skimming, credit card issuers will have to totally eliminate the card’s magnetic strip.
The biggest risk for fraud and theft in the credit card industry today is through the internet. Card-Not-Present or CNP transactions continue to rise as the online shopping market grows. Credit card account information can be gleaned through a breach in a merchant’s online security, as well as phishing scams, or when the physical card is stolen. Because there isn’t a secure card reader available for online sales, internet fraud will become the easiest way for thieves to get ahold of sensitive information.
There is also an increase in application fraud – when a criminal uses your personal information to apply for a new credit card or take over existing accounts. Instead of counterfeiting the physical card, criminals are bypassing the card altogether. Once the account is created, it’s easy to have a new EMV card mailed to them.
The future of credit card security
In addition to EMV chip technology, Visa and MasterCard have implemented extra security protocols that send users an authentication code through their cell phone before they can make a CNP transaction online.
Many credit card companies have been testing and using biometrics as part of their security protocol for credit card use. Facial-recognition software, fingerprint scans, and voice authentication have all been tested for viability within the industry, but have not been implemented on a wide scale.
Because credit card fraud costs companies billions of dollars each year, new technologies are constantly being developed and tested to make transactions more secure for consumers, merchants and banks. Chip technology is our biggest leap forward in many years, but there’s certainly more changes to come.
Have EMV chip credit cards changed the way you make purchases? Are you satisfied with the new system? Let us know in the comments section below.


In July 1986, nine months after their discovery of the wreck of RMS Titanic, the Deep Submergence Laboratory (DSL) team at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) returned to the wreck site to conduct test dives as part of the continuing development of the lab’s Argo/Jason imaging system, designed for scientific missions to explore and photograph the deep sea floor.
The primary purpose of the twelve dives aboard the Institution’s three-person submersible Alvin was to evaluate DSL’s new prototype remotely operated vehicle, Jason Jr., known by the team as JJ.
In 1983, the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR), and later the Office of Naval Technology (ONT), awarded DSL $2.8 million to build a revolutionary exploration vehicle system called Argo/Jason. The first phase of that development effort was the building of the Argo search system, a towed vehicle equipped with low-light level television cameras and capable of working to depths of 20,000 feet. Argo was successfully tested in the summer of 1985 at the Titanic site, resulting in the luxury liner’s discovery.
Following that discovery, Argo conducted its first major science program in late 1985 on an undersea mountain range off the west coast of Mexico called the East Pacific Rise. That program, also sponsored by ONR, successfully found and delineated numerous underwater warm-water springs and recent sites of underwater volcanic eruptions. In that one cruise, Argo nearly equaled the amount of imagery taken on all the mid-ocean ridge systems worldwide in the previous decade.
The second major step was the testing of the prototype Jason vehicle, a much smaller remotely operated vehicle named Jason Jr., and development of a fiber optic handling system for use in the deep sea. Fiber optic cables, although common today, were not in use in the deep sea and required significant engineering advances. Unlike traditional coaxial cables with limited bandwidth, fiber optic cables permit vast amounts of color imagery, other data and power to be transmitted to the sea floor. No one had successfully operated an ROV in very deep water, or used a fiber optic cable system like this in the deep sea before.
The final step in DSL’s development of the Argo/Jason vehicle system occurred in late 1988 with the final at-sea testing of the larger remotely operated vehicle Jason, built on what was learned from Jason Jr. during the 1986 Titanic dives and subsequent missions. Jason, a more sophisticated robot, had high-quality color still and video cameras and advanced manipulators for close-up inspection and sampling. Jason’s first mission for science took place in May 1989 with exploration and discovery of the first hydrothermal vents in the Mediterranean Sea off Sicily, and discovery of the first deep-sea archaeology site.
Two major development steps, however, were necessary before Jason could work from Argo. The first was the design, construction, and installation of a dynamic positioning system on the WHOI research vessel Knorr and a similar series of steps leading to the development of an advanced fiber optic cable connecting the Argo/Jason vehicle system to the control center, two remodeled standard 20-foot shipping containers designed as a TV studio of sorts by WHOI staff, aboard Knorr. The dynamic positioning system on Knorr was needed to hold Argo stationary in up to 20,000 feet of water, allowing Jason to swim freely while tethered to Argo. The fiber optic cable would enable the high-quality color television cameras on Jason to transmit their signals to the scientists in the control vans aboard Knorr.
The Jason Jr. testing program during the July 1986 Titanic dives made it possible for DSL engineers to temporarily bypass the dynamic positioning system and fiber optic cable requirements by using Alvin in place of Argo. With Alvin sitting on the bottom, a stable launch platform for Jason Jr. was assured, and the color television signals from Jason Jr. transmitted to the scientists in Alvin eliminated, for the moment, the need for a fiber optic cable thousands of feet long, which did not yet exist. In essence, the testing program in on the wreck of Titanic in the summer of 1986 permitted the Argo/Jason program to develop in parallel instead of in series, bringing Jason on line years ahead of time.
Jason Jr. was used on Alvin instead of the full Jason vehicle, also under development at DSL, because Jason—with its stereo camera system and large dual manipulators—was too large and its power requirements too great for Alvin to handle. The testing program, however, provided DSL engineers with the opportunity to evaluate those subsystems of Jason which were common to both Jason and Jason Jr., such as the vehicle tether and tether management system connected to either Alvin or Argo, the differential pressure gauge, the heading stabilized rate transducer, the closed-loop control of vehicle heading and depth, the propulsion system, and the high resolution color video system.
Of secondary interest to the U.S. Navy regarding the use of Alvin and Jason, Jr. in the area of the Titanic wreck site was to demonstrate that operations by human-occupied submersibles near deep-water wrecks could be carried out safely. A remotely operated vehicle such as Jason, Jr. or Jason could approach and investigate wreckage on the seafloor while the human-occupied submersible stands at a safe distance. The January 1986 loss of the space shuttle Challenger and the loss of the Air India jet in the cold North Atlantic clearly demonstrated such a national need, and Woods Hole Oceanographic staff was called upon in both cases to assist recovery efforts.
A third objective of the 1986 return expedition to Titanic was to finish the film documentation of Titanic begun during the final four days of the 1985 discovery cruise aboard the Knorr using the Argo and ANGUS vehicles. This filming had two primary purposes: to capture carefully the present state of Titanic, should other organizations eventually attempt to salvage the wreck, and demonstrate the rapidly evolving technology of "telepresence," which is hoped to eliminate the need to salvage wrecks.
Expedition leader Robert Ballard believed in 1986 that through the use of advanced robots like Jason Jr. and its successors, society will be able to visit historic sites in the ocean like the Titanic and tour their exterior and interior compartments as if visiting a museum. The cold temperature, great pressure, absence of sunlight, and the slow sedimentation rates in the deep sea create a preserving environment for such historic finds, which have a better chance of surviving the ravages of time if not brought to the surface where the torn remains would rust and deteriorate. However, metal rusts in the deep sea and over decades will eventually deteriorate, and wrecks like Titanic will eventually be lost.


Ok, so truly if you aren't doing CC, you might think I've fallen off my rocker teaching my kids about cell structure. But in any case they are getting something... :)
Here is the adaptation of concrete objects for plant cell.
Ok, so this took me the longest to figure out. But alas, it finally came to me! I love both examples. Whichever you have is great. I love that the lunch box is the shape of plant cells as well.
|It's fluid and surrounds the cell. Any blanket will do. :) We run around the room and call it's name while making it fluid.|
|The "brain" holds all the DNA or information for the cell. We act like computers when talking about the nucleus. We define the nucleus in a robotic voice.|
|Much like the blender it takes sugars and turns it into energy. It even has lines on the outside like the diagrams of mitochondria. When talking about this, act like you are spinning and turning into an energy drink in which you drink in the end.|
|The CARbohydrates and proteins (trains). We lay on the ground in curves and have the kids run the trains or cars over them. They love acting like golgi bodies.|
|Different from the animal cell, it is much larger than the nucleus. So I combined both clean trash and food storage for this one. We act like we are a big container and act like you have food and trash inside of you.|


Want to take your training and understanding to the next level? One way to increase positive results from a workout or training program is to better understand the body and its muscle groups. A key factor to understanding these groups is to understand the fast twitch and slow twitch muscle groups, along with how to better train them.
What are fast and slow twitch muscles? Never new muscles twitched fast and slow? Never heard of any of this type of voodoo before? Don’t worry, here’s the basics.
SLOW TWITCH FIBERS (TYPE 1)
Slow twitch muscle fibers, or Type 1 fibers, are the muscle fiber groupings that twitch slowly and are meant for endurance muscles. These muscles have the slowest-contractile speed, highest oxidative/aerobic capacity, smallest cross-sectional area, and lowest glycolytic/anaerobic capacity. Due to their slow contraction rate, these muscles are typically used for endurance activities rather than short-burst power activities.
Activities Using Slow Twitch Fibers
- Long Distance Running
FAST TWITCH FIBERS (TYPE 2A AND 2B)
Type 2A and 2B twitch fibers are regarded as the fast twitch muscle fibers. Type 2A contract the fastest out of the two, while Type 2B twitch intermediately between slow and fast twitch fibers. Twitch fibers like 2A have the lowest oxidative rate and the highest glycolytic capacity, making them perfect for short bursts and power lifting. Type 2B, since they fall in the middle, are generally utilized in between the uses of slow and fast twitch fibers.
Activities Using Fast Twitch Fibers
- Power Lifting
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Your muscle groups are made up of lots of muscle fibers. No really, thousands upon thousands of muscle fibers. Controlling these muscle fibers are motor neurons, which are connected to the spinal cord and brain. These neurons, both slow twitch neurons and fast twitch neurons, in turn make the muscle groups contract slowly and quickly. When someone does a light exercise, they may only require type 1 fibers. However, when they become exhausted, they may call upon 2A and 2B fibers. There’s a lot going on here, but an individual can become exponentially stronger if they learn how to harness all of their motor units rather than just 1 group.
For example, consider a power lifter. Power lifters are known for their immense strength and power. How do they lift such heavy weights? They have learned to harness the full power of all of their muscle fibers so that they can utilize both short bursts and endurance. Powerful stuff, right?
A training program utilizes both fast and slow twitch muscle fibers. The body will utilize type 2A and 2B muscle groups for short burst and powerful workouts. Type 1, or the slow twitch muscle fibers, are used for endurance exercises. Learning how to efficiently utilize both types of muscle fibers will ensure maximum gains and muscle stamina for anyone, whether just starting their program and continuing the program.


Where did all the magma go when Kilauea’s caldera formed? Perhaps as with a backyard sinkhole, you might ask where and how did the stuff disappear? Did an underground opening already exist (such as a lava tube), did something “dissolve” away (such as rotting vegetable matter), or did a kind of conveyer belt remove material and take it somewhere else (such as moving magma)?
We have this problem understanding how Kilauea’s caldera formed. It wasn’t by explosion, because no debris is piled around the caldera. It must have formed by collapse. And therein lies an unsolved mystery.
Geologic evidence indicates that the caldera appeared in about A.D. 1500, give or take several decades. It developed at the end of, or soon after, a 60-yr-long eruption from the `Aila`au shield just east of Kilauea Iki, which ended in about 1470 after flooding much of Puna with lava flows. The caldera formed at the start of, or shortly before, a series of explosions that radiocarbon ages date to about A.D. 1500.
That’s not terribly long ago. Both geologic and cultural evidence should exist for such a major volcanic event. Indeed, the events are likely chronicled in the Pele-Hi`iaka chants. But neither cultural nor geologic evidence tells us where the rocks disappeared when the top of the volcano sunk to form the caldera.
How much material was removed? The volume is uncertain but very large. If the entire caldera formed at one time, we estimate a volume of 6 cubic kilometers (1.4 cubic miles), equivalent to 780 million loads for a 10-cubic-yard dump truck. That estimate is based on the caldera’s dimensions when first surveyed in the 1820s and on guesses as to how much deeper it might have been.
Most geologic models assume very rapid removal of material to form a caldera. The argument is that a large void cannot support itself underground, so an empty volume of a few cubic kilometers (cubic miles) could not exist for long.
If so, a huge volume of magma must have almost instantaneously left the reservoir under Kilauea’s summit, leaving a void into which the summit fell. Where did the magma go?
We haven’t found it. Nowhere on Kilauea did a lava flow of huge volume erupt in about A.D. 1500. Could an eruption may have taken place offshore, along the Puna Ridge? Recent seafloor investigations found no large lava flow of appropriate age.
Maybe there was no eruption. Maybe magma stayed underground, migrating quickly from the summit reservoir to some place in the east rift zone. A conservative volume of 3 cubic kilometers (0.7 cubic miles) can be contained in a huge dike 60 km (37 miles) long by 5 km (3.1 miles) high by 10 m (33 feet) wide. We have no way to test for such a dike, so we must consider one.
Another possibility is that the eruption of the `Aila`au lava flow, with a volume of 6 cubic kilometers (1.4 cubic miles), created the caldera. This is appealing, because the caldera formed just after the eruption ended, suggesting a link between the two large events.
If this happened, then supply of magma to Kilauea must have slowed or stopped during the eruption, so the magma reservoir eventually emptied and then collapsed. Perhaps lessened magma supply during an eruption is necessary to form a caldera.
The `Aila`au eruption took place over 60 years. Did a void slowly grow within the volcano, not collapsing until it reached its final huge size? That would seem unlikely to most geologists. But what if we view the magma reservoir as a deep mine, with many interconnected passageways, rather than as a simple balloon? A mine has large void space, yet is stable to a point.
Since the Pu`u `O`o eruption started in 1983, the southern part of the caldera has been sinking 6-10 cm/year (2.5-4 inches/yr). Could this gentle sagging be an early stage of, or precursor to, another caldera collapse as the summit reservoir slowly empties?
Clearly there’s a lot we don’t know about how the caldera formed. We’ll eventually figure it out, but for now the origin of the caldera is as puzzling to us as the origin of your back-yard sinkhole is to you.
Eruptive activity at Pu`u `O`o continues. Most lava flows have been at the lower end of the rootless shield complex along the Mother’s Day lava tube south of Pu`u `O`o. Such flows have been small and short-lived but are gradually advancing toward the top of Pulama pali. On March 20 a new lava flow (the Kuhio flow) erupted from the south base of Pu`u `O`o; it remains sporadically active. Vents within the crater of Pu`u `O`o are incandescent and sometimes visible from Mountain View and Glenwood. No lava is visible from the Chain of Craters Road.
Two earthquakes were reported felt during the week ending on March 31. A magnitude 3.2 earthquake, felt at Miloli`i, took place at 6:17 p.m. March 27 at a depth of 6 km (4 miles) about 16 km (10 miles) east of the summit of Mauna Loa. The next day, residents of Honoka`a and Papa`aloa reported a jolt at 5:42 p.m.; this event had a magnitude of 3.1 and was located 8 km (5 miles) south-southwest of Pa`auilo at a depth of 10 km (6 miles).
Mauna Loa is not erupting. The summit region continues to inflate slowly. Seismic activity remains very low, with 1 earthquake located in the summit area during the past week.
This article was written by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and is republished by HawaiiNews.com with permission.


OAO B [NASA]
OAO B (Orbiting Astronomical Observatory B) was one of a series of automated astromonical observatories which were ground controlled in orientation and were placed in a low earth orbit.
The experiments gathered for the unsuccessful OAO-B were called the Goddard Experiments Package, after rocket pioneer Robert Goddard. This spacecraft carried a moderate resolution scanning spectrometer system using a relatively fast 38-in. cassegrain telescope to determine composition and properites of early (types A and B) stars, as well as properties of variable stars and peculiar B stars using absolute spectrophotometric data (1000-4000 Å with 2 Å resolution). Optical system was to use a relatively fast 36 inch cassegrain telescope with a large aperture spectrophotometer. Six photomultipliers were to be used in a pulse-counting mode for data recovery.
This mission failed when the payload shroud of the Atlas-SLV3C Centaur-D rocket failed to separate.
|Type / Application:||Astronomy, UV|
|Contractors:||Grumman Aerospace Corp.|
|Power:||2 deployable fixed solar arrays, batteries|
|OAO B (Goddard)||1970-F09||30.11.1970||CC LC-36B||F||Atlas-SLV3C Centaur-D|


Article 370 of the constitution has been revoked by the presidential order of the government of India in a historical step. That divides India into two groups, the majority, which supports the move which includes the people from Jammu and Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir. And, the minority- which includes some extra liberals (hard to find) and parts of Kashmir.
The overwhelming majority, if my estimate is correct, more than 80% of India is standing with the government and believes that this could partly solve the Kashmir issue. But what does future after article 370 holds for J&K? We’ll have to first look at what has changed.
What were the provisions in Article 370?
Earlier under the provisions of Article 370 following provisions were applicable. These have essential been ended by the revocation of Article 370 also ending the special status for the state of J&K.
[su_list icon=”icon: arrow-right” icon_color=”#e32323″]
- Indian Parliament needed the Jammu & Kashmir government’s approval for applying laws in the state barring the cases of defense, foreign affairs, finance, and communications. For example, till 1965, J&K had a Sadr-e-Riyasat for governor and prime minister in place of the chief minister.
- The law of citizenship, ownership of property, and fundamental rights of the residents of Jammu & Kashmir were different from the residents living in the rest of India.
- Under Article 370, citizens from other Indian states could not buy properties in Jammu & Kashmir.
- Under Article 370, the Centre has no power to declare financial emergency under Article 360 in the state. It can declare an emergency in the state only in case of war or external aggression. The Union government can therefore not declare emergency on grounds of internal disturbance or imminent danger unless it is made at the request or with the concurrence of the state government.
What will change now, after Article 370 ends?
Essentially, J&K will become like any other state in India where the Indian Parliament has the prime authority to make laws. People from other states can work and buy a property in J&K without any restrictions.
Most importantly the Indian government has full control on the security matters of the state. Not that they were not in full control through AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act), but now the local police and administration will be under the full control of the Indian government.
Ladakh and J&K as two union territories
Revocation of Article 370 is not the only step that the Indian government under PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have taken.
The state of J&K is now segregated as two separate union territories. J&K will have state assembly and chief minister whereas Ladakh will be directly under central rule. This step actually gives more control to the central government on J&K compared to any other Indian state. Moreover, it separates the Ladakh which is mostly pro-India barring some parts of Kargil from the so-called ‘Kashmir Problem.‘
Article 370 discussion has actually clouded this move which is equally important. While J&K will still have a chief minister, but they will have very less say in state matters as happens with other union territories in India which includes Delhi the state capital of India. Other states in India have far more powers and essentially also responsible for maintaining law and order of the state.
Kashmir after Article 370
Someone who does an honest assessment on the grounds in Kashmir and J&K as a whole will perhaps agree with the following points. Please note that these are not the assessments of Pak held Kashmir and it may or may not be applicable there.
- Most of the Kashmiris I have met or had the opportunity to interact with don’t want to be part of the Indian Union. Yes, it is a fact, while J&K as a state used to comprise of three major cultural regions, Jammu and Ladakh want to remain with India. And no, it isn’t a couple of southern districts of Kashmir that has this feeling. It is a story of majority Kashmir, even the tourist heavens like Gulmarg and Pahalgam.
- Most Kashmiris also don’t want to be a part of Pakistan. Yes, you heard me right, all those years of Kashmir cause and ruining their economy seems like a misguided priority for Pakistan. Kashmiris can actually see through the sinister design of Islamic fundamentalism that Pakistan tried to impose on Kashmir. They also know-how badly has it hurt their cause of greater autonomy.
- Economic development and prosperity can alleviate their dissent but their resentment due to a series of mistakes by all parties involved, India, Pakistan, and the Kashmiris themselves, are not going anytime soon. A loss of life of a brother, sister, friend or relative can’t be reversed by economic prosperity.
The question that lies ahead of us is whether the Kashmir problem including militancy and terrorism can be controlled by the Indian state now that article 370 is revoked? To be honest, it’s unpredictable but you can assess the situation in-ground and put forward your assessment.
[su_quote]The simple answer- there is a high probability that the Kashmir issue and militancy will be greatly controlled if the Indian government plays its cards right[/su_quote]
How a peaceful Kashmir is still a possibility
The reasons are very simple. India will have greater control over the state institutions and will be able to subdue the resenting voice within Kashmir. Military strength and security apparatus are in abundance.
Pakistan economically, diplomatically and militarily is at the greatest disparity with India in the history of the two nations. The old formula of fomenting Islamists will only alienate Pakistan further and economically dependent Pakistan is in no position. Furthermore, infiltration from the Pakistani side is much difficult now due to electric fencing along the LoC.
The world is mostly fed up with Islamic terrorism and even a legitimate cause will be seen as acts of terrorism. There are simply no supporters or sympathizers for Kashmiris in the world. Pakistan doesn’t want to solve the Kashmir issue either, it had the opportunity during ex Indian PM Atal Bihari Bajpai regime when the military backstabbed the Pakistani and Indian PM and Kargil infiltration took place
Pakistani military apart from the historical tragedies is the biggest obstacle for a peaceful Kashmir but they can do little at this point in time. Had there been no Kashmir issue the army could never enjoy the administrative and financial luxury it enjoys at the moment.
No matter how much the government keeps silence but a fact known to all observers is that one of the active steps that government of India will take will be to change the demographics of Kashmir with immigration from other states now that they can buy property in the Kashmir valley. This may not happen immediately due to resistance from locals but economics mostly always wins over politics given ample time.
The investment, higher price recovery for property and widespread state administration will definitely help in mixing up Kashmir population and also spread of Kashmiri youth in other parts of India for educational and employment purposes.
The Indian government has a great opportunity for a peaceful Kashmir heaven on earth as we always knew it as. But it is going to take time and concerted effort from the Indian side. They will always have to be careful about Pakistan because they know that they can’t afford to have Kashmir problem solved. Because then next India will be coming for their Kashmir if at all it is.


News Story (NATIONAL)
May 19, 2019
READ THE FULL STORY HERE
Tags: Immigration Process, Pro Bono
Organizations mentioned/involved: Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), Safe Passage Project (NY)
Scholars have found that having an attorney improves odds in removal proceedings: Immigrants with representation achieve a positive outcome in 21% of their cases, more than 10 times the rate of pro se respondents, according to a 2015 study published in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.
Nevertheless, about three out of four children whose immigration cases began in fiscal year 2017 did not have an attorney, according to the most recently available data from the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
But some legal aid groups — including Kids in Need of Defense, or KIND, and the New York-based Safe Passage Project — have made it their mission to rally pro bono attorneys ready to advocate for immigrant children left unrepresented by the system.
The need for such legal services has only become greater, the groups said, as the Trump administration has adopted a “zero tolerance policy” toward unauthorized border crossers, putting more immigrant family units in detention than ever.


Preventing Human-Caused Wildfires
Throughout North Central Florida we are still about 11 inches below average for rainfall and the risk for fire danger is still very high.
There is no way to prevent fires caused by mother nature, but Florida's Division of Forestry wants to remind people of what they can do to cut down on the state's fire risk.
If you choose to burn a bon fire or camp fire you need to make sure it's at least 25 feet away from heavily wooded areas, your home and sheds, fifty feet away from roadways and at least 150 feet away from neighboring homes and buildings.
The most important thing people can do is stay with their fire and have necessary tools on hand to put it out if it begins to get out of control.
For more fire safety tips and guidelines you can visit Your text to link....
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|The name 'Drill Hall' accurately reflects the former military use of the building, but in fact it was originally called The Riding School when it was built in 1849 as a headquarters and training facility for the Northumberland Yeomanry Cavalry. This was a volunteer regiment originally founded in Newcastle in 1794 'to assist in the defence of the realm against Napoleon Bonaparte'. Military Riding Schools have a long history in Britain, dating back to medieval times. |
The Riding School was designed by the famous Newcastle architect John Dobson who was responsible for many of the city's finest buildings, including the Theatre Royal and the majestic sweep of Grey Street. In comparison, the Riding School/Drill Hall is one of Dobson's lesser works, but that surely is a reflection of its utilitarian function. Nevertheless, it remains a Grade
II listed building and subsequent renovations have been consistent with that listing. Buildings adjacent to the Riding School included the regimental headquarters, an armoury and stores.
In keeping with the equestrian function of the Riding School, the original floor was of compacted earth, overlaid with sand or sawdust, and the building had a double storey height. Later conversions introduced a solid ground floor and the construction of a first floor. However, the original double height space can still be experienced in the modern spacious lecture theatre. Within the upstairs suite the original wooden roof trusses can still be seen. To the rear of the Riding School there was a stable area and arches (now bricked up) that were the exits for fully mounted hussars can still be seen in the west wall of the building. Although it was over 70 years since the building was last used for cavalry, builders involved in the 1991 renovations testify to the heavy smell of horses still being present then!! Luckily, no such smell exists now!
The Northumberland Yeomanry Cavalry have undergone several changes in name but continue to recruit from Newcastle and the north-east of England. In 1879 they became the Northumberland Hussars, and scenes from this era by the local artist Ralph Hedley can be seen in the current Drill Hall. As such they served in the Boer War (1900) and with distinction in World War I. In contrast to similar regiments who were stood down after WWI, the Northumberland Hussars were authorised to continue to recruit, placing them in the top ten selected regiments of that era. In 1939 they became the Royal Artillery Anti-tank Regiment and served in Egypt, Crete, Sicily, and Normandy. After the war they reverted to being a volunteer (territorial) regiment, equipped with armoured cars and specialising in reconnaissance. The direct descendents of the original regiment are still based in Newcastle as D Squadron (Northumberland Hussars) of the Queen's Own Yeomanry.
Somewhat more controversially, the regiment has been used against fellow citizens, such as in the miners' strikes of 1831 and 1921. In fact the Riding School was last used as a military headquarters in the latter strike. Perhaps it isn't surprising that there were contrasting views of the Hussars amongst the local population, and these were expressed in the words of
contemporary songs. For those not convinced of their usefulness or patriotism, they were (in the vernacular):
Dor'ny gan to war'
The opposite view is expressed in the Regimental Marching Song (1895) 'So here's to the man who fates dares defy, Who for Queen and country is ready to die, Who, though gentle in peace will be fearless in wars, Hurrah for Northumbria's Yeoman Hussars'
Viewed in an historical context, the acquisition of the Drill Hall by Northumbria University, and now the School of Applied Sciences, is very appropriate. Its original purpose was for teaching and learning, albeit in a military context, and this theme continues in a more cerebral educational use. And perhaps it is ironic that a building once used to prepare men for war will now be used to educate students who will save lives in their chosen career.
Dr David Holmes
School of Applied Sciences
Editor's note: Many refer to the Drill Hall as formerly being called St. George's Drill Hall, probably based on the fact that its environs were called St. George's barracks.


The North Pole
We all know that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole. But just where is the North Pole? We know it's north. Is there a giant pole there? Lets take a look at the place where Santa makes his home.
Where is the North Pole?
So where exactly is the North Pole? Well, the Earth rotates or spins around an axis. If you were to draw a line at the axis through the center of the Earth, that line would exit the Earth in two places. At the bottom of the Earth, it would exit at the South Pole and at the top would be the North Pole. The North Pole is the northernmost place on Earth.
Is it ice or land?
There is no land at the North Pole, but it is covered in a thick layer of ice around 6 to 9 feet thick. So you can stand there and Santa can have his home there.
How cold is it there?
In the winter, temperatures average around minus 29 degrees F (-34 deg C). In the summer it is quite a bit warmer at plus 32 degrees F (0 deg C). This may sound pretty cold, but is actually quite a bit warmer than the average temperatures in the South Pole.
Who discovered the North Pole?
There is actually a lot of controversy around who was the first explorer to visit the North Pole. Robert Peary claimed to have reached the pole in 1909, however, he didn't have very good proof and many people have argued that he didn't make it. The first fully verified visit to the North Pole was by explorer Roald Amundsen and Umberto Nobile who flew over the pole in an airship named the Norge in 1926.
The Earth rotates around an axis
What country is it in?
The North Pole is not in any country. It is considered part of international waters.
Fun Facts about the North Pole
- When you are standing on the North Pole, any direction you point is South!
- All the lines of longitude meet at the North Pole.
- The nearest land is around 700 miles away.
- During the summer the sun is always up. The sun rises in March and sets in September. That's a really long day and night!
- The magnetic North Pole is different from the true North Pole.
Back to Geography Home Page TD>


He does recognize that Trotsky was unable to escape a Jewish identity he had no wish to preserve.
Of course, you could say that Trotsky thought the same way about Lenin, and look what happened to him.
The only major difference between Trotsky and his fellow Bolshevik leaders was that he never got the chance to wield total power.
The bloody effervescence of the Bastille gave way to Robespierre and then Napoleon; Stalin crushed Trotsky.
In the early 1920s, Trotsky defended “Red Terror” as essential to victory for his side in the Russian Civil War.
The English reader of to-day is aware, however, that the Russian revolution has not stood still since Trotsky wrote.
Far better to have the Democracy of the trenches than the Anarchy of Trotsky.
On December 27th a Commission for studying the question of industrial conscription was formed under the presidency of Trotsky.
Trotsky, he said, was quite another sort—an ambitious adventurer.
Food is unobtainable and Trotsky has only one pair of trousers.


Scientific Name: Lobelia cardinalis
Synonyms: Lobelia fulgens, L. splendens
Common Names: Cardinalflower, Cardinal Flower, Scarlet Lobelia, Great Lobelia, Indian Tobacco
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Riparian. This moisture-loving plant grows in sun to part shade in constantly moist soil along streams, springs, and seeps and in wet meadows in upper desert and upland areas.
Flower Color: Brilliant red, White (rare), Pink (cultivated)
Flowering Season: Summer, Fall (early). This showy wildflower blooms after the summer monsoon rains have begun.
Height: 3 to 5 feet (1 to 1.5 m) tall
Description: The flowers are on long, slender, erect racemes. The individual flowers are tubular, 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, and two-lipped with 2 slender lobes on the upper lip and 3 larger lobes on the lower lip. The anthers are blue-gray in color and joined together in a tube. The flowers are followed by 2-valved seed capsules. The leaves are dark green, alternate, minutely toothed, and linear-lanceolate to narrowly oblong in shape. The stems are erect and unbranched.
Culturally Significant Plant – Native Americans used this plant for a variety of medicinal purposes and as ceremonial tobacco.
Hummingbird Flower – The nectar-filled flowers attract hummingbirds.
Legal Status – Protected Native Plant (Salvage Restricted)
Poisonous – All parts of this plant are poisonous and contain the toxic alkaloids lobelamine and lobeline.
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Family: Campanulaceae – Bellflower family
Genus: Lobelia L. – lobelia
Species: Lobelia cardinalis L. – cardinalflower
More About This Plant


Monday, September 8, 2008
Posted by Kate at 12:18 PM
In order to collect some kinds of data, we have to get up close and personal with the hyenas. Since none of us are willing to lose a limb (or our lives!) to those strong jaws, we dart the animals in order to work on them. Here's the process, with some pictures from the darting that Audrey and I did this morning...
First, we identify a target hyena, which is more complicated than it sounds. The animal has to be alone, because lions and other hyenas may attack a vulnerable hyena while the drug is taking effect. We also don’t want the hyena to get lost in the bushes or fall into water before we can get to it, so we only dart in open areas where we can keep an eye on the hyena as it goes down.
If we’ve found a good darting situation, we fill a dart with a drug called Telazol and load it into our CO2 rifle. As soon as the hyena turns away from us (we don’t want it to associate our vehicles with the experience of being darted), we aim for the hindquarters and shoot. Hyenas generally start to act “drunk” quite quickly, and they’re usually down just less than ten minutes after they’re darted.
Once it’s safe to get our hands dirty, we work as quickly as possible. First, we cover its eyes because, although the animal is immobilized, it’s not unconscious; bright colors and fast movements can disturb hyenas while they’re down. Then, we draw several vials of blood to look at hormone levels, immune function, and DNA.
We take many different tooth measurements (by the way, since hyenas chew on so much bone, their teeth are surprisingly clean and their breath doesn’t stink nearly as much as you’d expect!), and several body measurements as well. This morphological data helps us understand how hyenas’ teeth, skulls, and bodies change with age. It also shows us the physical differences between males and females, and high- and low-rankers.
To identify the individual again in the future, we often ear-tag hyenas when they are darted. If this hyena is seen again (or found dead) many miles away or several years later, eartags can give us important information on movement, dispersal, and mortality.
Finally, we drive the hyena to a safe place in the bushes to wake up and cover it with water to keep it cool while the drug wears off. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more, depending on the individual (the hyena in the picture is already raising its head and starting to come around).
While that’s the end of the actual darting, we still have work to do! We go back to camp to do all the bloodwork so that the samples can be sent back to the US. Fisi Camp may be in the middle of nowhere, but we’ve got plenty of sophisticated lab equipment (which we run off solar power and car batteries) to help us get the job done.
All in all, darting is a lengthy and complicated process, but it’s also unbelievably exhilarating to work, hands-on, with such an amazing predator.


Prime lending rate
Prime lending rate (PLR) is the benchmark rate of interest at which banks lend to borrowers. When the central bank takes measures to control inflation or liquidity, many public and private sector banks react by raising their benchmark lending rate. This makes home, personal and vehicle loans costlier, dampening credit.
Why should I be aware of this?
Availability of funds in the banking system and demand for credit by consumers (both retail and industrial) determine what the PLR should be.
All about prime lending rate
The PLR is the rate which a bank charges its best customers. The rate is fixed by calculating — on a weighted basis — the bank’s average cost of funds and thereafter adding a small return. This is a transparent method as both the cost of the bank’s funds and its strategy for pricing risks could be gleamed from the PLR by even lay people.
The mechanism obviously called upon banks to evaluate more scientifically not only their assets but also their liabilities and in the process helped them to be more efficient.
For policy makers, PLRs signalled the actual movement of market interest rates. Banks were asked to formulate their own positions on interest rates.
- Interest rate and PLR
- Timely move to review prime lending rates


What causes high blood sugar levels in Type 2 Diabetes?
High blood sugar levels are caused by insulin resistance, and insulin resistance is caused mainly by a diet that is too high in carbohydrates and a lack of certain nutrients.
Carbohydrates are simply long chains of sugar molecules (glucose) hooked end-to-end. When you eat carbohydrates your normal digestive process breaks up these chains into the individual sugar molecules, and they pass right through your intestinal wall into your bloodstream and load up your bloodstream with sugar.
If this happened every once in a while it would not be a problem. But as diets today are so high in carbohydrates, you have had a constant high level of sugar pouring into your bloodstream year after year! This requires your body to continuously produce high levels of insulin to keep that blood sugar level down. (Insulin’s job is to push sugar out of the bloodstream into the cells where it is used for energy.)
Eventually, the cells in your body became insensitive to the effects of insulin (insulin resistance). To handle this problem of insulin resistance your body began to produce even higher levels of insulin. This continued until your pancreas reached the maximum amount of insulin it could produce, and when the insulin resistance increased again, your blood sugar began to rise out of control. The result is type 2 diabetes! (Type 2 diabetes is actually an extreme case of insulin resistance.)
What can you do?
If you have not already done so, you need to eliminate ALL the starchy carbohydrates from your diet and stop loading up your body with sugar. Even small amounts of these starchy carbohydrates will prevent your sugar levels from coming down.
This action will give your body a “breather” and the insulin will be able to do its job of pushing the sugar out of your bloodstream and into the cells, your blood sugar level will drop naturally and the high level of insulin in your body will drop along with it.
You need to keep the carbohydrates at 20-30 a day.
NOTE: do not overdo the protein. You want to eat 3-4 oz. of protein. Eating a big 10-12 oz. steak will increase insulin 200X. Stick to 3-4 oz. of protein (as below) and lots of green.
What not to eat, and what to eat
You cannot eat:
Foods high in carbohydrates such as:
- Potatoes and potato produce (including yams and sweet potatoes).
- No winter squash (hardshell squash)
- Any products made from grains such as wheat, rye, rice, oats & corn.
- Any type of bread, pasta, chips or cereals.
- Any type of hard beans (except green beans) – navy beans, pinto beans, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, black beans, soybeans, etc. This includes peas and peanuts. No tomatoes – they are a fruit.
- No doughnuts, cakes, pies, pastries, cookies, and chocolate.
- No milk or soft cheeses.
- Most fruits and no fruit juices (see below for fruits you can eat)
- You also need to eliminate fruit or fruit juice because of its high sugar content except as noted below.
What foods you can eat:
- As much animal protein as you want: Any kind of meat including beef, pork, lamb, turkey, chicken. Any kind of fish, seafood or shellfish. (Not more than 3-4 oz. per serving).
- You can have eggs. You can have tofu.
- Cheese – cottage cheese, cream cheese, parmesan, feta, ricotta mozzarella, muenster, cheddar, sour cream, etc. (no milk)
- If you feel you must have some fruit you can have ¼ cup of berries a day (blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, etc.) or ½ of a very small apple, but only in moderate amounts.
- You can have honeydew melon or cantaloupe and Avocados but only moderate amounts.
- Vegetables: Lots and Lots of Vegetables. Green is good. Green leafy vegetables, broccoli, green beans, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, asparagus, any kind of greens such as spinach, beet greens, kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and turnip greens.
- Salad materials such as any kind of lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, etc.
- Carrots, beets, turnips, tomatoes, and parsnips may only be eaten in very small quantities due to their high sugar content
- Any kind of oil such as corn, olive, peanut, walnut, grapeseed, sesame seed oil, avocado oil, etc.
- Butter and Nut Butters.
- You can have nuts: sunflower seeds, almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, macadamia nuts. (No hazelnuts, cashews or pecans) Note: All nuts have some carbs but you can eat them in small quantities.
- You can have a whey protein, but check the label to make sure there are no hidden sugars such as fructose, honey, etc. There are whey proteins that have Stevia in it. Jay Robb Whey Protein is one that is okay to have.
- And Camel Milk – Find out why it helps Diabetes It has been shown to lower blood sugar and improve insulin sensitivity in people with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Diet is part of a Diabetic Program. You need Diet & Exercise and also nutrition to help
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Currently the only known embryo/adult pterosaur pairing is in the genus Pterodaustro. Unfortunately, not much has been made about the allometry/isometry in the growth patterns of this genus, even though the data is available. The best data, unfortunately, is right here, rather than in an academic journal. Adults are 8x larger than hatchlings and ontogeny is chiefly isometric (as shown most clearly in Zhejiangopterus) and other pterosaurs like Ptweety the Pteranodon.
For the other two embryos, the IVPP embryo and the JZMP embryo we currently do not have congeneric adults and have to look to sister taxa or simple isometry to estimate the adult proportions and traits.
Today we’ll look at the sister taxa of the JZMP embryo (Fig. 2).
Generally what we find at clade bases is a gradual increase in size from tiny ancestors. While we do have a tiny ancestor in Pterodactylus(?) pulchellus, we don’t have a gradual increase from that point forward. Yixianopterus the basalmost ornithocheirid, is large AND primitive. The JZMP embryo as an adult, was similar in size to Yixianopterus, but twice as tall as Haopterus and two Lebanon basal ornithocheirids. Click here to see a phylogenetic lineup of ornithocheirids and their outgroup.
Given these various sizes in basal ornithocheirids, and no gradual increase in size, one wonders if Haopterus and the Lebanon ornithocheirids are juveniles. Finding lots of larger congeneric taxa would be helpful. Checking out the annular rings in their long bones would also give clues.
The alternative, that the small ornithocheirids are adults, might represent the next phase in derived ornithocheirid evolution, in which the wings get longer and the feet get smaller, among other traits, which appears to be the case in the Lebanon ornithocheirids.
Ji Q, Ji S-A, Cheng Y-N, You HL, Lü J-C, Liu Y-Q and Yuan CX 2004. Pterosaur egg with leathery shell. Nature 432:572.


Weeks of multiple, repeated tests are required to isolate a specific bacterium–for us, for this project, we wanted to isolate the one that produces the enzyme to digest collagen. Our initial experiments showed us that something in our samples was eating away in a somewhat targeted manner at collagen plates we prepared, but we weren’t sure which “bug” was doing it, or if many were. Various and assorted types of microbes are present in a natural culture sample that has been collected, coexisting or competing in their swarming ecosystem. My collaborator, Denis, and his lab technician, Louise, were successful in completing the fine-tuning experiments to isolate our bug, while I was away at another residency in Finland. I arrived back to purified cultures, extracted and frozen into new cell banks for our future work.
Last week, Denis sent the purified cultures away to another lab to identify the particular strain, and got the results this week: Bacillus cereus.
What is interesting, though, is that more than one purified culture from more than one disparate sample were sent away: some from soil collected by the Montreal Waterways group at Concordia University, from a site they labeled as “Biker’s Garden” in St Henri near the site of the old Tannery Village, and one from my own saliva sample that was cultured. The exact same microbe was the actor that was digesting collagen in both the winning soil sample AND in my saliva. Having a “dirty mouth” has never been such an appropriate metaphor.
Our isolated strain is nonpathogenic (Biosafety Level 1), though typically this bacterium produces toxins that can lead to food poisoning, specifically in leftover grains, and particularly in leftover rice. I have, until this very moment, eaten leftover rice as a part of my normal routine, which might explain its presence in my mouth. It is normally found in soil and on foods grown in soil, so I’m not sure what the connection would be to the site it was collected from, other than that it was a garden. The other soil samples collected (from other sites) were not as successful in our collagen-digesting experiments.
Identifying the strain that we are working with provides us with an excellent avenue for acquiring more information about it and manipulating this bacterium to do more of what we want with the collagen. It also assures us that it will be safe for the public presentation of works created with it.
On the theme of bacto-intimacy that we began with, nothing can be more intimate that a relationship between a mouth and something else, but this intimacy is wide, boundary-less and disruptive. Humans have been trained to think of the soil, the earth and “outside” as separate from our inner selves, in terms of our whole microorganism, called a body. These experiments somewhat poetically and perhaps disturbingly show that there is no separation, no dividing line whatsoever, between what is on/in the ground in a massive urban centre and what is just behind our own lips, down through our guts and indeed what becomes part of the whole of what we think we are as individuals.


Incorporating Biological Functionality into Nanomaterials
A team led by researchers from North Carolina State University has published a paper that describes the use of a technique called atomic layer deposition to incorporate “biological functionality” into complex nanomaterials, which could lead to a new generation of medical and environmental health applications. For example, the researchers show how the technology can be used to develop effective, low-cost water purification devices that could be used in developing countries.
[Dr. Nancy Monteiro-Riviere, professor of investigative dermatology and toxicology in the Center for Chemical Toxicology Research and Pharmacokinetics at the College of Veterinary Medicine was one of the paper’s co-authors].
“Atomic layer deposition is a technique that can be used to create thin films for coating metals or ceramics, and is especially useful for coating complex nanoscale structures,” says Dr. Roger Narayan, the paper’s lead author. “This paper shows how atomic layer deposition can be used to create biologically functional materials, such as materials that have antibacterial properties. Another example would be a material that does not bond to proteins in the body, which could be used for implantable medical sensors.” Narayan is a professor in the joint biomedical engineering department of NC State’s College of Engineering and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
One of the applications discussed in the paper is a material that could be used as a filter for point-of-use water purification. “This would be very helpful in the developing world, or in disaster situations - like Haiti - where people do not have access to safe water,” Narayan says. “Over one billion people do not have access to safe water. This can lead to a variety of public health problems, including cholera and hepatitis.”
Specifically, the researchers show that atomic layer deposition can be used to create a film for coating nanoporous membranes, which may be used for filtering out pathogenic bacteria. “The film could also provide antimicrobial functionality,” Narayan says, “to neutralize bacteria.”
In the study, the researchers found that membranes treated with one of these films were able to neutralize two common pathogens: E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus. The researchers are currently working with colleagues to assess how well the membranes perform against a variety of environmental bacteria. It’s anticipated that these membranes could find use in a variety of medical and environmental health applications, such as hemodialysis filters and implantable sensors.
The research, “Atomic layer deposition-based functionalization of materials for medical and environmental health applications,” is published in the March issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. The research was co-authored by Narayan, Dr. Nancy Monteiro-Riviere, professor of investigative dermatology and toxicology at the Center for Chemical Toxicology Research and Pharmacokinetics at NC State, Dr. Chunming Jin, a post-doctoral research associate at NC State, and Dr. Junping Zhang, a former post-doctoral research associate at NC State. Additional co-authors were from Kodak Research Laboratories, Argonne National Laboratory, North Dakota State University, National Yang-Ming University in Taiwan, and Taipei Medical University in Taiwan.
Note to editors: The study abstract follows.
“Atomic layer deposition-based functionalization of materials for medical and environmental health applications”
Authors: Roger J. Narayan, Nancy A. Monteiro-Riviere, Chunming Jin and Junping Zhang, North Carolina State University, et al
Published: March 2010, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A
Abstract: Nanoporous alumina membranes exhibit high pore densities, well-controlled pore sizes, uniform pore sizes and straight pores. Owing to these unusual properties, nanoporous alumina membranes are currently being considered for use in implantable sensor membranes and water purification membranes. Atomic layer deposition is a thin-film growth process that may be used to modify the pore size in a nanoporous alumina membrane while retaining a narrow pore distribution. In addition, films deposited by means of atomic layer deposition may impart improved biological functionality to nanoporous alumina membranes. In this study, zinc oxide coatings and platinum coatings were deposited on nanoporous alumina membranes by means of atomic layer deposition. PEGylated nanoporous alumina membranes were prepared by self-assembly of 1-mercaptoundec-11-yl hexa(ethylene glycol) on platinum-coated nanoporous alumina membranes. The pores of the PEGylated nanoporous alumina membranes remained free of fouling after exposure to human platelet-rich plasma; protein adsorption, fibrin networks and platelet aggregation were not observed on the coated membrane surface. Zinc oxide-coated nanoporous alumina membranes demonstrated activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. The results of this work indicate that nanoporous alumina membranes may be modified using atomic layer deposition for use in a variety of medical and environmental health applications.
Posted March 26, 2010


ARCHIVED AND NOT FOR RELIANCE. This document has not been updated to reflect 2020 amendments to the Department’s regulations implementing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. 85 FR 30026 (May 19, 2020)
Office for Civil Rights
Washington, D.C. 20202-1100
The Department of Education’s (ED) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) enforces
several statutes that protect the rights of beneficiaries in programs or activities
that receive financial assistance from ED. These laws prohibit discrimination
on the basis of race, color, and national origin (Title VI of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964), sex (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972), disability
(Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973), and age (Age
Discrimination Act of 1975). OCR also has enforcement responsibilities under Title II of
the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits state and local governments
from discriminating on the basis of disability. In addition, OCR enforces
the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act, which addresses equal access to
meet on school premises or in school facilities for the Boy Scouts of America
and other designated youth groups.
This fact sheet explains the requirements for schools, colleges, and state and local governments that receive federal funds to issue notices of non-discrimination, clarifies the information that they should include in their non-discrimination notices, and provides a sample notice of non-discrimination. This fact sheet is designed to assist education institutions in establishing a notice of non-discrimination that meets the requirements of the applicable regulations.
Notice of Non-discrimination Requirements
The regulations implementing Title VI, Title IX, Section 504, the Age
Discrimination Act, and the Boy Scouts Act contain requirements for recipients to issue notices
of non-discrimination. (See 34 C.F.R. Sections 100.6(d), 106.9, 104.8, 110.25,
and 108.9, respectively.) The Title II regulation also contains a notice requirement
that applies to all entities of state or local government, whether or not
they receive federal financial assistance. (See 28 C.F.R. Section 35.106.)
These regulations require that recipients notify students, parents and others
that they do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin,
sex, disability, and age, and, if applicable, that they provide equal access
to the Boy Scouts of America and other designated youth groups. However, these
regulations contain minor differences relating to the required content of
recipient notices of non-discrimination and the methods used to publish them.
The Title VI regulation requires schools and colleges to notify students and
others of the regulatory provisions in a manner that a responsible ED official
would find necessary to tell students of their protections against discrimination
under the statute and regulation.
The Boy Scouts Act regulation incorporates the Title VI regulatory provision
concerning notice of non-discrimination. Public elementary and secondary schools
and local and state educational agencies that receive funds made available
through ED must make available information regarding the provisions of the
Boy Scouts Act. This information must be made available in a manner that a
responsible ED official would find necessary to inform people of the protections
provided under the Boy Scouts Act and its regulation. Entities other than
public elementary and secondary schools and local and state educational agencies
that receive funds made available through ED need not provide this notice,
as the Boy Scouts Act does not apply to them.
The Title IX and the Section 504 regulations both contain more detailed requirements
that specify the information that must be included in a notice of non-discrimination.
These regulations also require recipients to designate at least one employee
to coordinate efforts to comply with and carry out responsibilities.
The Title IX regulation requires schools and colleges to implement specific
and continuing steps to inform students and others of the protections against
discrimination on the basis of sex. The notification must state that the requirement
of non-discrimination in educational programs and activities extends to employment
and admission. It also must say that questions about Title IX may be referred
to the employee designated to coordinate Title IX compliance or to the assistant
secretary for civil rights. Schools are required to include the name, address,
and telephone number of the designated coordinator in their notifications.
The Section 504 regulation requires that schools and colleges employing 15
or more persons implement appropriate, continuing steps to notify students
and others that the school does not discriminate on the basis of disability
in violation of the statute and regulation. The notification must state, where
appropriate, that the school or college does not discriminate in admission,
treatment, or access to its programs or activities. The notification also
must state that the school or college does not discriminate in employment
in its programs or activities. The employee designated to coordinate compliance
with the Section 504 regulation must be identified in the notification.
The Title II regulation requires that a public entity generally make information regarding the provisions of Title II available to applicants, participants and other interested persons in such a manner as the head of the entity finds necessary to apprise such persons of the protections against discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The regulation implementing the Age Discrimination Act requires a school or college to notify its students and applicants, in a continuing manner, of information regarding the provisions of the act and these regulations. The notice must identify the compliance coordinator by name or title, address, and telephone number.
Methods of Notification
In accordance with the Title IX and Section 504 regulations, notification
may include posting information notices, publishing in local newspapers, publishing
in newspapers and magazines operated by the school or its students, publishing
in alumnae or alumni newspapers or magazines, or distributing memoranda or
other written communications to students and employees. In addition, recipients
are required to include a statement of nondiscriminatory policy in any bulletins,
announcements, publications, catalogs, application forms, or other recruitment
materials that are made available to participants, students, applicants, or
employees. As noted in the pertinent Section 504 regulatory provision, schools
may meet this requirement either by including appropriate inserts in existing
materials and publications or by revising and reprinting the materials and publications.
Neither the Title VI regulation, the Boy Scouts Act regulation, the Age Discrimination Act regulation, nor the Title II regulation specifies the methods to be used by recipients in publishing notices of non-discrimination.
OCR recognizes the variations among the regulations governing notice requirements
and understands that schools and colleges may wish to use one statement to
comply with all requirements of the regulations implementing Title VI, Title
IX, Section 504, the Age Discrimination Act, and, if applicable, the Boy
Scouts Act. Public institutions also may wish to include Title II of the Americans
with Disabilities Act in their statement. OCR encourages one combined notice
for the regulations.
A combined non-discrimination notice should contain two basic elements: (1)
a statement of non-discrimination that specifies the basis for non-discrimination;
and (2) identification by name or title, address, and telephone number of
the employee or employees responsible for coordinating the compliance efforts.
The regulations do not require that a recipient identify the pertinent regulations
by title. Please see the sample notice at the end of this pamphlet.
The Title IX regulation requires a recipient to provide the name of the person
responsible for its compliance effort in addition to the address and telephone
number where that person may be contacted. However, because OCR recognizes
that the inclusion of a person’s name in a non-discrimination notice may result
in an overly burdensome requirement to republish the notice if a person leaves
the coordinator position, it is acceptable for a recipient to identify its
coordinator only through a position title.
The Section 504 regulation does not require a recipient to include the address
or telephone number of the responsible employee assigned to coordinate its
compliance efforts. However, OCR considers that identifying the responsible
employee without information on how to contact that person does not constitute
an effective notice. An acceptable non-discrimination notice should provide
information on how to contact the responsible employee.
Compliance with the notification requirements of Section 504 will also generally
satisfy the notification requirements of Title II for state and local governments.
Although the Section 504 and Title IX regulations state that schools and colleges,
where appropriate, shall specify non-discrimination in the areas of admission
and employment, a general statement indicating non-discrimination in all programs
The Title IX regulation indicates that inquiries concerning the application
of the Title IX regulation may be referred to the coordinator or to the assistant
secretary for civil rights. An acceptable notice may include the names and
titles of either one or both individuals.
However, since the Section 504 regulation requires identification of a coordinator, a combined non-discrimination notice should include the name and/or title of the responsible employee. If a recipient designates two different people to coordinate compliance with Section 504 and Title IX, both names or titles should be included in the notice.
Sample Notice of Non-discrimination
The following sample notice of non-discrimination meets the minimum requirements
of the regulations enforced by OCR:
The (Name of Recipient) does not discriminate on the basis of race, color,
national origin, sex, disability, or age in its programs and activities and
provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.1
The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the
Name and/or Title
Name and/or Title2
For further information on notice of non-discrimination, visit https://ocrcas.ed.gov/contact-ocr for the address and phone number of the office that serves your area, or call
1Only public elementary or secondary schools or local or state educational
agencies that receive funds made available through the Department of Education
should include the words “and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other
designated youth groups.”
2For use when more than one official has been designated to coordinate civil


By Marsh Faber
Since October of 1972 the IEEE-488 bus, commonly known as the general-purpose instrumentation bus (GPIB), has been the standard interface for connecting test instruments to computers. Within the microcosm of the test and measurement industry, GPIB is still a useful technology but, over the years, other more widely accepted I/O options have been developed. Compared to these newer interfaces, such as LAN (local area network) and USB (universal serial bus), standards like GPIB and MXI (multisystem extension interface) seem almost proprietary. Engineers today are examining this expanded list of I/O options to find cost-effective interfaces for their test-system applications.
To pick the right interface for your test system, it’s important to examine why universally standard I/Os may be preferred over those found primarily in test and measurement. Whether you plan to use your test system for RandD, design validation, or manufacturing, it is likely that you program and control your system with a PC. Most PCs offer built-in USB and Ethernet-based LAN connections. Much faster than previous PC I/O technologies, these industry-standard technologies are now more suitable for automating and controlling test-and-measurement instruments.
By choosing one of these industry-standard interfaces you can build more longevity into the system while saving time and money and reducing the headaches of assembling your test system.
Benefits of Interfaces
Some benefits of these I/Os are immediate and obvious. For example, the computer industry employs thousands of engineers who work continuously to improve the throughput rate, latency, and data integrity of these interfaces. So industry-standard interfaces are likely to continue to improve more rapidly than proprietary interfaces. Once deemed inadequate for test and measurement, these interfaces are now completely viable thanks to the efforts of people in the PC industry. Following the current model for modern PC peripherals, PC industry-standard I/O will eventually make it easy to interchange test instruments with others from a variety of manufacturers, and will increase the chances that future software can take advantage of the I/O syntax.
The proprietary interface cards available from instrument manufacturers are expensive, with price tags typically in the neighborhood of $500 to $1,500. They require you to open up your PC housing to install them and, should there be no vacant expansion slot, you might have to replace the entire computer.
Because of the inherent advantages of industry-standard I/Os and customer demand, instrument manufacturers have begun adding LAN and USB interfaces to their test equipment. For example, the new Agilent N1912A power meter introduced this past July includes LAN, USB, and GPIB interfaces.
Figure 1: A GPIB bus can be configured in either a daisy-chain (above) or a star topology (below)—or the two configurations may be intermixed.
The Common GPIB
GPIB is the most common interface for programmable test-and-measurement equipment. It is still one of the best choices if you want to maximize throughput for a variety of data block sizes. It is a parallel bus that permits up to 14 devices to be connected to your PC. You can use either a star or a daisy-chain configuration for connecting multiple instruments (see Figure 1, above), but cable length is limited to 2 meters (multiplied by the number of devices) up to a maximum length of 20 meters.
You can achieve data transfer rates of more than 500kBps (4Mbps) on a GPIB bus if you limit bus cable length to 1 meter per the total number of devices up to a maximum length of 15 meters. Longer cable lengths reduce the maximum data-transfer rate.
When you use GPIB, configuring the instrument I/O bus is a relatively easy task. However, each instrument on the bus requires a unique address. This means that you may have to change an instrument address manually when you configure your system.
GPIB does have some other drawbacks: GPIB cables and connectors are large, bulky, and relatively expensive. And because GPIB isn’t a standard built-in PC interface, you will be obliged to open your PC housing and install an interface card in one of your PC’s expansion slots.
GPIB’s major advantage, though, is that it is well understood. Subtle issues like EMI and radiated susceptibility have been worked out over the years.
To communicate with instruments over GPIB, you do need to install an I/O software package. Plug and Play drivers, IVI-COM drivers, virtual instrument software architecture (VISA), and standard instrument control library (SICL) are examples. These packages support popular languages such as C and C++, Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0, Visual Basic .NET, National Instruments’s LabView, Agilent VEE, and others.
If you want to use your existing GPIB instruments in a rack-and-stack test system, you don’t necessarily need to use GPIB as your interface. For example, Agilent offers converters—USB/GPIB and LAN/GPIB—so you can use your GPIB-equipped test instruments with USB- or LAN-equipped PCs. This eliminates the need to install a GPIB card in your computer.
Multiple Instruments via USB
USB is a serial interface bus capable of data transfer rates of approximately 12Mbps for v1.1, and up to 480Mbps for the newer version, 2.0. In addition, v2.0 is fully backward-compatible with v1.1. The only difference is the data transfer rate.
USB is capable of supporting up to 126 devices on a given interface. As mentioned earlier, GPIB-based systems require unique instrument addresses, whereas USB provides this function automatically. Many USB instruments are equipped with a single USB connector, so multiple devices cannot be daisy-chained together. Instead, you need a hub to connect the various USB devices to your computer (see Figure 2, below).
Figure 2: USB configurations with a single device (above) and with multiple devices connected through a hub (below).
Hubs provide expansion capability, enabling multiple devices to be connected to a single USB port. These hubs are transparent to most controllers and can be cascaded up to five deep.
Using hubs in your system offers several advantages: Many USB hubs include LED status lights that indicate which port is connected. Also, a hardware failure at the interface to one instrument, such as a shorted line, is unlikely to cause an entire bus to fail. This makes troubleshooting an I/O interface in a large system with many instruments a much easier task than having to disconnect one device at a time to localize the fault—as is the case with a GPIB-based system.
You can also connect your test-and-measurement instruments to a PC via a LAN interface. Ethernet LANs are widely available at industrial and commercial sites and most PCs found in these facilities are already connected to a LAN. As a result, Ethernet-based LAN interfaces for test equipment are likely to become even more common than USB connections. Ethernet-based LANs commonly support data rates of 10Mbps to 100Mbps, and some even operate at up to 1000Mbps.
LAN interfaces share a number of features with USB. They both operate in serial mode, and both use relatively small and inexpensive cables and connectors—especially when compared with the connector of GPIB.
You will probably need an Ethernet hub to interconnect multiple LAN instruments in a test system; however, Ethernet hubs are readily available today and are relatively inexpensive. Many provide network status or activity indication with a series of LEDs.
Ethernet-based LAN devices typically need to be configured to operate properly on a network. However, instruments that support dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) provide the capability for test instruments to configure themselves automatically to operate on a network, if these services are available on the network.
Compared to a USB network, connecting instruments to your PC via a LAN is not as straightforward as simply plugging in a USB device. You can connect LAN-enabled instruments several different ways. They may be connected directly to a site LAN whether it is a workgroup LAN, intranet, or enterprise LAN, or they may be connected to a private LAN.
In private LAN configurations, your PC and your test instruments are connected to each other via the LAN, but they are not connected to a site LAN. In the simplest private LAN configuration, which consists of a controller and only one instrument, you would use a crossover cable, rather than the standard LAN cable, to make the proper connections (see Figure 3, below).
Figure 3: Single and multiple instrument configurations can be connected to private LANs and site LANs.
For all other setups, you can connect instruments to the LAN either with a conventional LAN cable or through a wireless adapter. Wireless routers and hubs also are available, as are wireless USB-to-LAN interfaces. (A discussion of LAN and remote access can be found in Test System Development Guide: Computer I/O Considerations Application Note 1465-2, http://cp.literature.agilent.com/litweb/pdf/5988-9818EN.pdf.)
Which I/O interface to use?
To decide which I/O interface or interfaces you should use in your test system, you will need to consider many factors. These include data transfer rates and block sizes, setup time, as well as costs for cables, routers, hubs, and PC I/O cards. Other factors include I/O driver availability and programming requirements, as well as the need for possible remote system access.
Don’t worry if you have a mixture of older GPIB instruments and newer instruments with other built-in interfaces. Today’s advanced software tools that include VISA technology eliminate the need to talk to different kinds of I/O in different ways. A minor change to a single line of code is typically all that is required.
Do not mix interfaces on a single instrument—the input and output must be on a single interface—and make sure your software drivers know which instrument is using which interface.
Be aware that individual I/O bus specifications for data transfer rates usually indicate only the theoretical maximum transfer rate. The actual, achievable data transfer rate for any given system depends on a number of factors. These include PC microprocessor speed, PC software and driver overhead, data type, cable length, I/O card hardware, and instrument-specific hardware and firmware.
Often, implementation cost is an important consideration in selecting an I/O interface for your test system. New PCs typically have several USB ports built in, but GPIB interfaces often require a card that you must purchase separately. GPIB cards usually cost several hundred dollars and, if needed, LAN cards usually sell for $10 to $50. Also, if you plan to use USB or LAN interfaces to connect multiple instruments in your system, you will need hubs. These hubs can cost from $25 to $100 each, depending on features and the number of ports they support.
Consider the cost of the cables for your test system. GPIB cables are relatively expensive, ranging in price from $25 to $100 each, depending on their quality and length. USB cables, on the other hand, range from $8 to $30. LAN cables are typically the least expensive, costing less than $10. Some can be found for as low as $3, but be aware that using unshielded cables could allow EMI emanations that can impact test results, especially in an RF system.
An informed Choice
Compute the interface cost for your proposed test system. You can make useful cost comparisons by assuming that all test instruments are able to support any of the three interfaces. Today, few test instruments actually do support all three, since the industry is just beginning to provide instruments equipped with multiple, computer-industry standard interfaces. However, the I/O interface converters mentioned earlier permit GPIB-only instruments to be connected to USB- and LAN-based interfaces.
For RandD applications, where the number of instruments in a system is usually small and a quick-and-easy interface setup is desired, USB is usually the best choice.
For design verification and manufacturing, USB 2.0 and Ethernet-based LAN are both good choices, although LAN is typically the better of the two alternatives for larger systems because of its data-throughput performance, cost, and ease of system assembly.
LAN’s added flexibility, remote system access and control, performance on a par with USB, captive cable connectors (which aren’t found on USB), and the capability for wireless operation can make IT the most attractive choice for many systems applications.
Marsh Faber has 38 years of experience, first with HP and currently with Agilent Technologies as its program manager for system components. You can send an e-mail about this article to him at Desktop Engineering Feedback.
Palo Alto, CA


The EM (Explanatory Memorandum) is an extremely useful document in Australian legal research. Many people just assume that every parliament in the Australian federal system has always produced an EM for every Bill. Unfortunately this is not true.
Last week I was asked to find an EM for a 1980 South Australian Act. But they don’t exist, instead the end portion of the their Second Reading Speeches is a lot like an EM, with a clause by clause discussion of the Bill.
How did I know this information? From an extremely helpful publication from the Commonwealth Parliamentary library, ‘Was there an EM?’: Explanatory Memoranda and Explanatory Statements in the Commonwealth Parliament
I suggest that anyone who ever may need to find an EM should read the whole thing, there is very interesting and useful information about the history and purpose of the EM. There’s also information about the EM’s cousins, the Explanatory Statement (used for Commonwealth regulations) and the Comparative Memorandum.
But if you’re only interested in knowing if a particular state or territory produced EMs during a given year, go straight to Appendix 2, towards the end of the document. One of the best things about legal research is knowing for certain that something definitely does not exist – because then you don’t need to waste time trying to find it.


One day your blog, code, or pretty much anything may crash, and sadly, your most valuable information could be irredeemably lost. Consider the consequences if this ever happens (touch wood!). Pictured them? Scary, right? Now, just imagine how relaxed you would have been instead if only you’d bothered to make a backup.
What Is It?
rdiff-backup backs up one directory to another, possibly over a network. The target directory ends up being a copy of the source directory. But extra reverse diffs are stored in a special subdirectory of that target directory, so you can still recover files lost some time ago. The idea is to combine the best features of a mirror and an incremental backup.
rdiff-backup is available in the most important Linux distribution. In my case, I’m using an ArchLinux distribution (Manjaro) and the yay package (Yet another Yogurt, an AUR Helper written in Go) to install the tool.
If you use another distribution, this software can also be installed:
apt-get install rdiff-backupyum install rdiff-backup
Making backups is very easy when you using
rdiff-backup. You may picture this tool as similar to the
cp command. In other words,
rdiff-backup has two arguments:
- source directory
- target directory
Both directories can be local or on a remote disk. For example, if you want to use
rdiff-backup in a local directory, you would use the following command:
In the same way, if any of the directories are in a remote server, you need only indicate the path using the classic way:
user@server::PATH. The following commands show how either the remote or local servers can be used in both the source and target directories:
When using these commands, the remote machine will probably request the user’s password (for the previous commands,
luisgarcia respectively). You can omit this step by configuring an SSH key-based authentication on a Linux server.
The real power of this tool is truly appreciated when wanting to restore the information. If you list the contents of the directory in which you made your copy, you will see the contents that you’d previously copied, and furthermore, you will find a directory named
rdiff-backup-data. This directory is very important since it stores the incremental backups of our data.
In this directory, the contents shown consist of the last version of our backup plus the incremental copies, which are stored in the
Now imagine that I’ve created a file called
file1.txt that contains a single sentence. A copy is done using
rdiff-backup and, a few minutes after, another copy is done. Now we are shown the list of files in our system, which is the following:
You may note that the file
file1.txthas an incremental copy in the
We can restore a copy with the
rdiff-backup command or by directly using the
cp command, since the copy is neither compressed nor has any of its metadata altered. Therefore, the files are in the same state as when they were copied. Although you may use the
cp command, the
rdiff-backup tool is better to use, due to the data restoration being more flexible.
The use of the command for restoring backups is similar to the one to make the backup, with the added the option of (restore-as-of,
-r), as well as the timestamp to restore. The timestamp is very flexible since the acceptible time strings are intervals, like 3D64s;
w3-datetime strings like 2002-04-26T04:22:01-07:00 (strings like 2002-04-26T04:22:01 are also acceptable —
rdiff-backup will use the current time zone); or ordinary dates, like 2/4/1997 or 2001-04-23 (various combinations are acceptable, bearing in mind that the month must always precede the day).
For example, the following command restores the copy made on 23 January 2010.
As you already know, the
rdiff-backup command makes an incremental backup, which entails a large amount of space disk being consumed. Therefore, it is highly recommended to remove old backups (as long as you have other, more recent backups, of course).
rdiff-backup tool has the
remove-older-than option, which removes any backups older than that the date used in the argument. A good example is removing any backups older than one year:
Most of the time, we are required to include files in or exclude files from our backup. The most common options which can be used in the
As well as these, there are plenty more filter options to make our backups, such as:
In this example, we exclude
/mnt/backup to avoid an infinite loop, even though
rdiff-backup can automatically detect simple loops like the one above. This is just an example. In reality, it would be important to exclude
/proc as well.
There may be a time when we need information about the backup (metadata).
rdiff-backup allows us to obtain this information. The most common options for this are the following:
Since they are quite descriptive, it isn’t hard to imagine what the goal of each of the different options is. Despite this, I will show several examples applying each of them:
Using It in cron
A good practice is automating the backups in our system. To do this, we may use the cron service.
Prior to using cron, we must remember to make sure that the script used in cron doesn’t output anything, otherwise:
- cron will assume there is an error.
- If there is any error, you will not be able to see it.
The command that we used in our script is the following:
The content of the
files_backup.txt file is the following:
+ /root/ghost - **
It’s important to know that both success and error logs are saved in the same logfile, named
rdiff-backup.log. Another interesting point is that I've used the filter option
include-globbing-filelist, which allows the use of a file as argument. This file contains the directories that will be backed up by using the string
- to express. That said, the directory must be either included or excluded. Note that the backups older than one year are deleted to preserve disk space.
Finally, edit the cron file using the
crontab -e command.
0 1 * * * sh /root/rdiff-backup-configuration/rdiff-backup.sh
In this piece, I’ve explained the
rdiff-backup tool, which allows us to make incremental backups. I've also shown you the script I use to back up my projects, which is executed by cron once a day.


Science-based management of the 13,000 acres of public forestland around the reservoirs is guided by a comprehensive plan to support the collection of the highest quality drinking water. Since the creation of the reservoir system, Providence Water has actively worked the land to promote long-term forest productivity and ecosystem health.
An overarching goal is to maintain a forest that is resilient to natural disturbances (including hurricanes, fires, and insect and tree disease outbreaks) that could have a negative impact on water quality. Across the landscape, carefully planned timber harvests and other activities are used to create a mosaic of forest stands with a greater variety of tree species, sizes, and ages. It's a classic example of where diversification to avoid catastrophic loss makes good sense.
Other goals are to protect unique natural and historic features and to provide habitat for a variety of wildlife species. Sensitive sites and older forest stands are excluded from harvesting and left to develop through natural processes.