Health. The dictionary defines it as ‘the state of being free from illness or injury’. I think many would go further and define it not just as the absence of some sort of trauma, but the presence of a certain level of physical, mental and social ‘wellbeing’.
Regardless of the definition you go for, maintaining an appropriately functioning immune system is clearly a key component of health. It is key to fighting disease when necessary and repairing injury. It also has a role in adapting to training.
Adequate sleep, limited psychological stress, moderate levels of physical activity and nutrition all play a role in maintaining the immune system. And it is worth recognizing that all these elements are interlinked. Nothing in the body stands alone! For example, there is increasing evidence that diet impacts sleep and sleep impacts diet. This article will focus on what we understand from studying nutrition and immune health specifically. But it is worth noting that nutrition can also directly influence other factors that can further impact immune function.
So, the basics …
Can’t fight something with nothing
The immune system needs to be built from something and run on something. If we are very low on energy or lacking a macronutrient (in particular protein, we think) there appears to be increased risk of infection. So extended periods of cutting weight, particularly if you are already lean, may leave you more susceptible to falling ill with an infection. It may also lead to higher injury risk, if your soft tissue and bone is not able to repair and maintain itself.
Get your micros!!
A functioning immune system depends on vitamins and minerals!! Zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D to name but a few. Eat a diverse range of foods that are minimally processed to help ensure you get the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals to support health. Eat all the colours of fruit and veg, aiming for at least 4-5 handfuls total a day. Get a variety of other foods … nuts, seeds, wholegrains, meat, fish, dairy, plant based proteins. If there are food groups you don’t eat, for medical, ethical, taste or religious reasons find out if you are at higher risk of a micronutrient deficiency and find alternative foods these are in (or supplement under medical supervision if necessary).
It is worth noting that although we can obtain limited amounts of vitamin D from foods we make most of our vitamin D in our skin in response to sunlight. As a result, some degree of vitamin D deficiency is thought to exist in most northern hemisphere populations, particularly in winter, due to lack of sunlight. As such, the UK government recommends healthy adults supplement with 10ug of vitamin D daily between October and March.
And maybe your microbes …
This is an interesting one, and we are definitely still figuring it out! The gut lining has an immune system, and it turns out this has a role not just in keeping the gut free from infection, but also supporting the immune system of the whole body. And we think that the gut bacteria have a role in supporting the functioning of the gut immune system. So, at least in theory, if we maintain a diverse and functioning gut bacteria population we may support the whole body immune system. And how do we support such a bacterial population?
Fibre and resistant starches!! aka ‘Microbe accessible carbohydrates’. We can’t digest these, but they are vital foods for the ‘good’ bacteria in our guts. These are found in fruits, vegetables, wholegrains, pulses and beans. Eat a range for the full variety of foods our different bacteria need.
Include polyphenols. These are small molecules found in certain foods that seem to help increase the good bacteria in the gut and limit the bad bacteria. Rich sources of polyphenols are good quality olive oil, spices such as cumin and cinnamon, nuts, seeds, and dark berries.
Limit refined sugars. In other words, the stuff added to biscuits, cakes, candy, ice cream and other processed foods (including savoury ready meals!). These appear to be the favourite food of many species of ‘bad’ bacteria. Limit these to help limit the amount of these bacteria.
Probiotics. Certain foods contain bacteria. These foods are called probiotics. Live yoghurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, unpasteurised cheese, sourdough, miso and other fermented foods. Except wine and beer … the alcohol content and pasteurisation of these kills the bacteria (sorry!). Eating these might help top up or support the ‘good’ bacteria in the gut, even if they don’t reach the gut alive. You can also buy probiotic supplements, but I would take care here if you don’t have a particular illness (more on this below!). Most supplements contain a lot of a limited types of bacteria, and even if these are ‘good’ you may not want to risk them taking over in the gut. We usually want to keep a full range in there! So I would recommend only using these under the guidance of a qualified medical practitioner.
And is there anything special about athletes?
We know that a moderate amount of physical activity boosts the immune system. By moderate we mean a few times a week, 30 to 60 minutes a session, getting the heart rate up, sweating, moving around, and maybe lifting some weights.
We used to think that athletes, i.e. those undertaking repeated high intensity lungs burning up dead on the floor conditioning sessions, or repeated days of multiple hours of exercise back to back had some level of immune depression and were less able to fight infection. So they got sick more, especially with upper respiratory tract and, in some sports, gastro infections.
As we learn more it seems that athletes may not have a lowered ability to fight infection (resistance), but may have a disrupted immune tolerance. Immune tolerance is the ability to launch an appropriately sized immune response. This means ignoring things when the body deems them not to be a threat (like the bacteria in our guts) and cutting ‘threatening’ bacteria and other infectious things to a tolerable level if we deem we don’t need to entirely clear them out. If our tolerance is too high we end up with our insides being damaged by nasty infections our body should be responding to. If our tolerance is too low we get sick easily as our body tries to fight off everything even when it is not a big threat.
We think the cause of this lowered tolerance in athletes could be a combination of the stress of the physical activity itself, the psychological stress of training and competition, lack of sleep when travelling, exposure to novel pathogens in different training and competition sites and hotels, and inappropriate nutrition.
What does lowered immune tolerance mean practically, in terms of nutrition? Aside from doing what we can with the basics to support our immune system (i.e. those points above) the following may further support immune tolerance or reduce the risk or burden of infection in athletes:
Avoiding dehydration during training and generally, as saliva has antimicrobial properties and is therefore the first line of defence in bacteria entering the mouth.
Ensuring adequate carbohydrate availability during exercise bouts that are, in particular, over 60 minutes (see here: ). Although there is some debate as to whether this is actually relevant, and so views may change in the coming years.
Taking 75mg a day of zinc acetate at the onset of a head cold
Taking certain probiotics may help reduce the number of episodes of upper respiratory tract infection and travellers diarrhoea in athletes. But it is dose and strain dependent, so consult a professional before giving it a go!
Taking up to 1g of vitamin C may help reduce the incidence of upper respiratory tract infections in people undertaking repeated strenuous bouts of exercise, and 3-4g a day may help reduce the duration of an upper respiratory tract infection. However intake should be considered against the potential impact on training adaptations (read here: https://www.feedfuelperform.com/post/antioxidants-can-you-have-too-much-of-a-good-thing).
So there you have it. There is no magic bullet. Getting the basics right can go a long way. And infection may be a time when supplements are called for, in some individuals. And importantly … there is still a lot we don’t know!! So watch out in the coming years as we research and learn more.
www.mysportscience.com article by Michael Gleeson: ‘What can you do to reduce become infected with respiratory pathogens?’
Neil Walsh’s 2019 review published in Sports Medicine (Volume 49, Supplemental Section 2, page S153): ‘Nutrition and Athlete Immune Health: New Perspectives on an Old Paradigm’
The 2015 publication in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews: ‘Probiotics for preventing upper respiratory tract infections’
The 2020 review from researchers in the School of Medicine at the University of Madrid published in Nutrients (Volume 12, Issue 2, page 579): ‘Role of Vitamin D in Athletes and Their Performance: Current Concepts and New Trends’


eton Regional Land Trust currently has five different teacher trunks. The trunks are available to local teachers to help encourage students' knowledge and interest in science, particularly about their local environment. Each trunk is full of lessons, field studies, specimens and supplemental materials for interactive programs that give students "hands-on" experiences outside the standard science curriculum. Trunk materials are designed for teaching grades 1-8.
Mapping and GPS Trunk
Trunk contains mapping materials, GPS units, maps of the local area, compasses, and tools to teach about topography. Lessons range from creative mapping exercises to orienteering and technical processes.
Woods Creek Fen Ecosystem Trunk
The contents of this trunk can facilitate lessons in the classroom or outdoors, however it is designed to encourage the use of Wood’s Creek Fen, TRLT’s outdoor classroom. Activities help students explore the wetland ecosystem through a process of exploration and by using scientific tools.
Winter Ecology Trunk
This trunk encourages students to understand the important role of the winter season Teton Valley. Resources include activities to teach about animal and plant adaptations, tracking, snow science, and winter survival.
Explore the water birds that play an integral part in the Upper Snake River Watershed. From trumpeter swan wings to sandhill crane footprints, you can use lessons created to teach about the importance of Teton Valley to migrating birds.
Focused on birds of prey, this trunk includes materials to teach about the physical adaptations and special features of raptors. Actual taxadermic birds and owl pellets help bring exploration of raptors into the classroom.
The Teton Regional Land Trust and the Teton Nordic Team collaborate to host the annual Nordic Naturalists ski event for children. The Land Trust leads a winter wildlife ski each year on a conservation easement property for the Ski Team kids to encourage children to explore the natural world around them as they ski. The kids venture out onto ungroomed trails to seek out wildlife, their scat and tracks. Children receive a Nordic Naturalist wildlife tracking card to keep track of all the wildlife signs they find while skiing. Each child who takes a total of three wildlife tracking skies throughout the winter and records their observations on their card receives a Nordic Naturalist pin to help them commemorate their wildlife observation work.
Here’s to all the kids who are official Nordic Naturalists, can’t wait to see you next winter!
Chester Wetlands is a 1501-acre property located along the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River just north of St. Anthony, Idaho. The property was historically a cattle ranch. Through a collaborative effort by the Teton Regional Land Trust, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, The Nature Conservancy, The Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service and local residents, it is now managed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for its natural resource and recreational value. The property is home to moose, deer, waterfowl, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, sage grouse and more. Roughly half the property is wetland.
The Teton Regional Land Trust, the Henry’s Fork Foundation and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game partner annually to host a fieldtrip to Chester Wetlands for all 5th grade students in Fremont County, Idaho. The students and teachers are invited to explore Chester Wetlands in the hope that they grow to appreciate their unique local environment. We hope the students learn of the importance of rivers and seasonal wetlands to the plants and animals in the area...and of course have fun! ■
Woods Creek Fen is a 60-acre wetland property owned by the Teton Regional Land Trust and managed as an outdoor classroom for students and the community to learn more about fens and wetlands in the region. Students from local schools as well as Audubon groups, rare plant societies and other community members are invited to gather at the Fen to enjoy wildlife, rare plants, spring creeks and sump holes.
Fens are wetlands with peat soils that are primarily influenced by ground water. Peat is formed when seasonal water fluctuation is stabilized and standing water creates anaerobic conditions that reduce decomposition of plant material and allow peat accumulation. Due to the complexities of peat formation, fens may take thousands of years to develop and are considered irreplaceable wetlands. Woods Creek Fen is recognized as one of seven wetlands deserving special conservation consideration in the Upper Snake River Watershed because of its importance to conserving rare plant habitats and maintaining wetland and aquatic diversity in Idaho. Furthermore, Woods Creek Fen has been characterized as the most floristically unique wetland in Teton County, Idaho. Seven rare plant species have been documented within the Woods Creek Fen Property.
The Teton Regional Land Trust recently completed a new educational kiosk area at the Woods Creek Fen Property. The area includes signage that explains background information about fens and informs the visitor of plant and wildlife species they may see on property. A “treasure hunt” area leads youth visitors through the seasons at Woods Creek Fen. The area also includes a platform and spotting scope for viewing the fen. This project was made possible by Debbie and Stu Tenney, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and many other generous partners.■


During the ninth month, the baby is moving into position for birth by getting head down and tucked into the mother's pelvis. The skin is becoming pink and smooth, and the lungs are now mature. The baby is gaining about ½ pound each week and is developing sleeping patterns. By the end of this month, your baby will be 19-20 inches long, weigh 6 to 9 pounds and be ready for birth!
During the eighth month, the baby's overall growth is rapid. Tremendous brain growth continues as it forms its different regions. The brain and nerves are directing bodily functions. The kidneys are mature. The skin is less wrinkled.
The baby can hiccup, cry and taste. In boys, the testicles have dropped from his abdomen. The baby is too big to move around much but can kick strong enough to be seen from the outside. At the end of this month, the baby will be about 16-18 inches long and weigh approximately 4 pounds.
During the seventh month, the baby can hear over mom's heartbeat and can also sense light changes. Taste buds have developed. The organs are maturing, and fat layers are forming. The baby exercises by kicking and stretching. If born now, the baby has a good chance of survival. At the end of the month, the baby will be about 15 inches long and weigh 2 to 2½ pounds.
During the sixth month, the brain is in a period of rapid development. The baby's skin is wrinkled, red and covered with a vernix covering. Eyelashes and eyebrows are well formed. The bones are becoming solid. The eyelids part and begin to open. Toenails begin to grow. The baby is able to hiccup. Brown fat, which keeps the baby warm at birth, is forming. The baby is almost fully formed, but the lungs are not yet fully developed. By the end of this month, the baby will be 11-14 inches and weigh about 1½ to 2 pounds.
During the fifth month, the baby is growing rapidly and is becoming much more active as the muscles are being strengthened. The baby sleeps and wakes at regular intervals. It is likely that you will feel movement at this time. The internal organs are maturing, and fat is being stored beneath the skin. Body hair is beginning to grow, and the skin is covered with vernix, a protective covering. Fingernails reach the tips of the fingers. Tonsils are developed, and milk teeth begin forming under the baby's gums. The baby's gall bladder begins producing the bile required for digestion. By the end of this month, the baby will be 8-12 inches long and weigh between ½ and 1 pound!
During the fourth month gender becomes identifiable by ultrasound. At this time the baby sleeps, wakes, moves and kicks. Reflexes such as sucking and swallowing develop, and the baby may begin sucking his thumb. Eyebrows and eyelashes begin to appear. Bronchial tubes are branching. The baby's skin is pink, transparent and covered with soft hair. Sweat glands appear. The placenta is fully formed, and the umbilical cord continues to thicken. By the end of this month, the baby will be 6 - 7 inches long and weigh about 5 ounces.
During the third month, Ultrasona welcomes patients to witness the miraculous development of their baby. The heart has four chambers and beats at 120 to 160 beats per minute. Eyes are almost fully developed but still remain shut. The fingers and toes are more defined and now have soft nails. Earlobes are formed. Buds which will become teeth have formed under the gums. Kidneys are developed and begin draining urine to the bladder. Most bones have begun to develop, and the umbilical cord becomes fully formed. By the end of this month, the baby will be about 4 inches long and weigh slightly over an ounce.
During the second month, the embryo goes through rapid development. The heart is functioning. All major organs and body systems begin to develop, including the brain, lungs, liver and stomach. Eyelids form but remain sealed shut. The inner ear begins formation, as do the face and features. The first bone cells appear. Ankles, wrists, fingers, toes and sexual organs are developing. The placenta is functioning and the umbilical cord is present. The baby looks more like a person than a tadpole and will measure slightly more than an inch and weigh less than 1ounce at the end of this month.
In your first month of pregnancy the embryo resembles a tadpole. The arms and legs begin as tiny buds. Nerve development begins and the backbone, spinal cord and lungs begin to form. The heart also begins to develop and will start beating near the end of this month. The placenta is present but not fully developed. The embryo will be approximately ½ inch long and will weigh a fraction of an ounce at the end of the first month.


This course presented by Prof. Jeff Gore provides an introduction to cellular and population-level systems biology with an emphasis on synthetic biology, modeling of genetic networks, cell-cell interactions, and evolutionary dynamics. Cellular systems include genetic switches and oscillators, network motifs, genetic network evolution, and cellular decision-making. Population-level systems include models of pattern formation, cell-cell communication, and evolutionary systems biology.
A neutrophil (a type of white blood cell, shown in blue-gray) interacting with Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria (shown in pink). This is one example of the types of functions that Systems Biology seeks to understand and describe. Watch Lecture 1 to see a video of a neutrophil chasing and engulfing a bacterium. (Image by NIAID, CC-BY.)


Summertime Eye Safety – Save Your Sight From Bright Lights and Glare
Your eyes are your windows to exploring the life around you… so it’s best not take them for granted. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each day, an estimated 2,000 workers suffer eye injuries on the job, which not only robs many of their sight, but also costs employers and insurance companies millions of dollars a year.
Eye injuries are more likely to occur when eye protection isn't worn. Risk for eye injuries can increase greatly depending on the job and task, and in the summer, eyes are even more at risk with more work being done outdoors in the sun. High-hazard job industries that expose workers to a variety of eye hazards include oil and gas, utility-related work, and construction.
Oil and gas- For oil and gas workers, summer means intense and prolonged exposure to sunlight and extreme temperatures in environments that are dry, humid, windy, and/or dirty, as well job sites filled with mobile equipment. Finding comfortable eyewear that protects against dust, grime, chemicals, and fogging while also delivering a wide unobstructed view is imperative. Using anti-dust and anti-fog sprays will help prevent buildup on safety glasses.
Utility - The most common hazard that utility workers face is accidental exposure to arc flash. This can cause temporary or permanent eye damage or even blindness. For these workers, eye protection with tinted lenses is recommended. Other hazards include exposure to coal dust, creating the need for sealed eyewear, and working both indoors and outdoors, which subjects workers to low-light and high-light conditions in one work period. Solutions for this type of work include adjustable lenses according to light exposure or providing two pairs of glasses, one for indoor and one for outdoor.
Construction - Construction workers often perform several job tasks during one day on the job, each posing different eye hazards, such as chemicals, flying objects, and exposure. Summer months bring additional risks including UV, bright light, glare, and humidity. Eyewear should be selected and worn based on the hazard - with appropriate face cover and lenses.
EYE SAFETY REGULATION
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires the use of eye and face protection whenever there is a reasonable probability of injury that could be prevented by such equipment.
Personal protective eye-wear such as goggles, face shields, safety glasses, or full face respirators must be used depending on the type of eye hazard that exists. Here are some tips on using the right eyewear for your worksite:
- Make sure you have properly fitted protection. For example, if your safety glasses slip, or are crooked or too tight, adjust them.
- Keep your protective equipment clean to improve visibility. Wash it regularly with mild soap and water or eyeglass cleaner. Polish with a soft cloth or tissue.
- Store your protective equipment carefully to avoid damage when not in use. Any damage to lenses or shields can lessen the impact-resistance and result in inadequate protection.
By understanding that environmental conditions lead to increased eye hazards, you can select the eyewear that is best for your worksite. Don’t be blinded by bad habits - make sure your workers' eyes are prepared to work in summer conditions.


Sometimes finding simple definitions of who you are can really help. I rather fit into that statement above. By knowing who we are we can find other like-minded souls to complete our tribe. Also a sense of identity will help us steer our own internal moral compass. Think of how you feel when you act out of character? Maybe you do something unkind and think to yourself, “Man that is really not who I am.” We have all done it. Unfortunately, I do it to this day. That is why developing a good definition of the kind of person we would like to be is so important.
Think of how easy it would be to turn away from temptation if you had a definition of who you are. Would it be easier to walk away from those doughnuts in the breakroom if you consider yourself a healthy and conscious eater? Would it be a little more difficult to ignore a friends troubles if you wanted to be considered someone who cares deeply for those around them? Sit down by yourself and think about who you really want to be. Then create a short, concise statement encompassing what you have come up with. Carry it with you and let it guide your daily speech (especially to yourself) your actions and your thoughts. Before long you will have become the living embodiment of what you have on that piece of paper.


A polyomino is a geometric figure formed using edge-to-edge squares of the same size.
Pentominoes are polyominoes of order five, geometric figures comprised of five square units. 12 distinct pentominoes exist, 18 if you count reflections, as in Tetris.
All kinds of colorful 2D tilings can be created using pentominoes, and cubic pentominoes can be arranged in innumerable 3D combinations.
2D Colored Plastic Pentominoes
Shape Logic Board Game
Cube Tetris Puzzle
Square Pentomino Puzzle
Cross Pentomino Puzzle
Katamino Pocket Game
Copyright © 2006-present: Christopher R. Borland. All rights reserved.


Applying theories to learning and instruction becomes problematic when theories contradict one another. For example, while cognitive dissonance theory asserts that beliefs and behaviors can influence attitudes, social attribution theory holds that people make causal inferences to explain others behaviors, actions, and mental states. In this assignment, you will contrast cognitive dissonance theory and social attribution theory, and you will consider how cognitive dissonance theory and attribution theory could be applied to improve learning and instruction. You will also consider the potential for personal worldview to countermand cognitive dissonance.
1. the theoretical perspective and current research on cognitive dissonance theory. Provide examples that support the research claims.
2. the theoretical perspective and current research on social attribution theory. Provide examples that support the research claims.
3. how cognitive dissonance theory and attribution theory could be applied to improve learning and instruction. (Benchmarks C3.4: Apply the theories of cognitive psychology to learning and instruction.)
4. personal worldview as a means to countermand cognitive dissonance. How might a distinctly Christian worldview function in this role?
At least 6 citation
All citations/referenced should not be older than 2015
Only scholarly articles are to be cited/referenced
****DO NOT PLAGIARIZE****
Due June 22nd 2020 by 11.00 pm


David Hume argued that reports of miracles can never be credited, because the weight of human experience must always favor a more natural explanation. “Nothing is esteemed a miracle, if it ever happen in the common course of nature. It is no miracle that a man, seemingly in good health, should die on a sudden: because such a kind of death, though more unusual than any other, has yet been frequently observed to happen. But it is a miracle, that a dead man should come to life; because that has never been observed in any age or country. There must, therefore, be a uniform experience against every miraculous event, otherwise the event would not merit that appellation.”
The sun is said to have danced in the sky in 1917. Well, which is more likely, that such an extraordinary event actually occurred, or that it was really a mass hallucination, an optical illusion, or any of a hundred more familiar explanations? A miracle, a suspension of natural law, is always the least likely possibility, so as rational creatures we must always reject it.
But Alfred Russel Wallace objected, “Such a simple fact as the existence of flying fish could never be proved, if Hume’s argument is a good one; for the first man who saw and described one, would have the universal experience against him that fish do not fly, or make any approach to flying, and his evidence being rejected, the same argument would apply to the second, and to every subsequent witness.”
Hume’s argument, he said, was “radically fallacious,” because if it were sound “no perfectly new fact could ever be proved, since the first and each succeeding witness would be assumed to have universal experience against him.” Who’s right?


The British Virgin Islands (BVI) have long been associated with sailing. The history of the BVI makes for interesting reading when characters such as Columbus, Black Beard and Robert Louis Stevenson all have an association with these islands. Today it is the Mecca of the sailing world, but why?
1. The trade winds
The Christmas trade winds are fairly constant, usually around 7 to 15 knots whilst sometimes reaching 20 knots. In the summer months, wind speeds can become quite unpredictable and therefore challenging your skills in different ways.
The Christmas winds are very popular with sailors because they can really practice their existing sailing skills whilst learning new ones. These usually occur anytime between early December through to the beginning of March. This phenomena is caused by high-pressure centres in the mid Atlantic, bringing with them gusting winds of generally 20 to 30 knots but which have been known to reach 35 to 40 knots and come in very short bursts. The seas are busier during these months, but there is still lots of space for everyone.
2. The 50+ islands which make up the British Virgin Islands?
Because the cluster of islands that make up the BVI are so close together it makes for great wind channels, ideal for sailors, kite surfers and other water sports. It’s easy to travel between them, giving you lots of sailing & mooring options; you can choose to be on the water for an hour or 2, full day or island hop for a week or longer.
One of the main advantages of so many islands are the numerous bays that you can choose from every evening. It is possible to find secluded bays and coves far away from the madding crowds or alternatively pick up a mooring ball in ‘the party bays’.
4. Minimum Tidal Shifts
While the BVI seas make for picture perfect views, The tidal range is very small, 12 –18 inches (one to two feet) including the variation of level due to atmospheric pressure and dominant winds, therefore easy to plan for and navigate.
5. What else makes BVI so great to sail around?
As the capital of the sailing world, the BVI is well equipped for yachts both big and small. There are many marinas, docks, chandleries, boat services and charter companies throughout the islands. Some marinas to help you plan….. Hodge’s Creek, Village Cay, Nanny Cay, Soper’s Hole on Tortola. Bitter End & Spanish Town Virgin Gorda.
For a online BVI Cruising Guide click here - and make sure your boat has a hard copy on board (Charter boats usually do, but it’s always worth asking the question).
Out on the water you will find everything you need for fantastic sailing. The National Parks provide mooring balls at all the popular spots where you might want to snorkel or explore the islands. The buoys at all Marine National Parks are for daytime use only (limited to a 90 minute maximum stay). The buoys are colour coded for different uses. Park rangers float around from time to time and may ask to see your permit, so keep it handy.
White Buoys: Non-commercial vessels, for daytime dive use only.
Orange Buoys: Non-diving, day use only
13" Yellow Buoys: Commercial dive vessels only
18" Yellow Buoys: Commercial vessels or vessels over 55 ft.
Blue Buoys: For dinghy use only
There are buoys at some of the resorts that can be used overnight. For example, Cooper Island, is a great stop for the night - good restaurant and a fabby little rum bar to visit. However, be sure to get there early, and I would recommend before 3pm although even this is sometimes too late.
Look out for Deliverance at Cooper, Norman and Peter Island.
'Top up' provisioning once you’ve left the marina isn’t too had. All the marinas have supermarkets even though some are more like little corner stores compared to mainland stores you may be used to. You will also find skips where you can pay to dump your rubbish (trash). Some bays that don’t have skips ashore have a dingy collection. If visiting Norman, Peter or Cooper Island, call "Deliverance" on VHF channel 16. They will pick up garbage from the yacht for $2.50 per bag. They also sell ice, fabulous fresh baked goodies and even ice cream if you are lucky!
Everyone who sails in BVI falls in love with the place - some love it so much they move here, aka me! :-)


MARKET SURVEY OF ANTITUBERCULOSIS DRUGS IN INDIA
Keywords:Gatifloxacin, Ethionamide, Aminosalicylic Acid
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease. It is worldwide occurring disease affecting millions of people. A WHO report in 2011 show that almost 8.7 million people is in apprehension of Tuberculosis. Tuberculosis commonly affects to lungs but other body part is also susceptible to develop tuberculosis viz. brain, bone, spine, kidney, lymph node. Mycobacterium tuberculosis a gram positive bacteria is responsible for this contagious disease. Streptomycin is the first drug invented to treat tuberculosis. Some other also useful anti-tuberculosis drugs are invented like isoniazid, ethambutol, rifampin, pyrazinamide. Due to noncompliance and other reasons drug resistance should be developed in patients then other drugs come in addition like gatifloxacin, ethionamide, aminosalicylic acid, cycloserine, amikacin etc but these drugs have high toxic effects than first line drugs. WHO begun a programme to fight against tuberculosis named DOTS (Directly Observed Treated,Shortcourse). This study approved that the selling of first line drugs viz. ethambutol, isoniazid, rifampin, pyrazinamide and their combination is more than the second line drugs in India.
KEY WORDS: Gatifloxacin, Ethionamide, Aminosalicylic Acid, Cycloserine, Amikacin.


Start Date/Time: Wednesday, May 22, 2013, 6:00 PM
Ending Date/Time: Saturday, January 01, 2011, 7:30 PM
Location: Town Hall Seattle, 1119 8th Ave.
ENGAGE Seminar: Water Rocks & The Tropics
Did the Missoula Floods Impact Climate? AND How Did Life Survive the Snowball?
Speakers Megan Gambs (UW Oceanography) and Adam Campbell (UW Earth and Space Sciences)
First up in this double-header of global proportions: During the end of the most recent Ice Age, roughly 15,000 to 19,000 years ago, vast areas of North America were covered by sheets of ice. Glacial lakes formed in valleys, behind walls of ice that acted as dams; Glacial Lake Missoula, with a volume roughly 19 times that of Puget Sound, for example, was held in place behind an ice dam roughly the height of four Space Needles. Periodically, the ice dam would weaken or falter, allowing catastrophic floods to sweep across the Northwest, then into the Pacific Ocean through the Columbia River, creating large geologic features in Eastern Washington such as the Channeled Scablands and Dry Falls. Megan F. Gambs, a graduate student in the UW School of Oceanography, investigates how massive flooding of freshwater disrupted the ocean locally, and impacted the ocean and atmosphere globally.
Then: Frozen oceans and vast deserts might sound like something out of a science-fiction movie, but this is precisely what scientists think our Earth looked like 650 million years ago, during what’s called the Snowball Earth Events. While we know that photosynthetic, or light-loving, organisms such as plants and algae survived during these times, it’s not clear where they survived. UW researcher Adam Campbell searches for those refuges that sustained life when the Earth’s land was frozen and barren and its oceans totally blanketed in ice thousands of feet thick. Presented by Town Hall and UW’s Engage: The Science Speaker Series as part of The Seattle Science Lectures, with the University of Washington, Pacific Science Center and University Book Store. Series sponsored by Microsoft. Series media sponsorship provided by KPLU.
UW STUDENTS GET IN FREE. Advance tickets are $5 at www.townhallseattle.org or 888/377-4510 and at the door beginning at 5:30 pm. Town Hall members receive priority seating. Downstairs at Town Hall; enter on Seneca Street. Double feature! Your ticket to this event also gains entry to Annalee Newitz: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction at 7:30 pm.


An English translation of Theodóra Thoroddsen’s Þulur (1916) and her son Jón Thoroddsen’s Flugur (1922), featuring a foreword by Ármann Jakobsson and collected in one volume. In her Þulur (Rigmarole) Theodóra rejuvenated an important traditional Icelandic verse form. Bearing qualities similar to those often associated with nursery rhymes, her poems blend folk stories and pastoral imagery using economic yet unruly and fresh metrical forms. They are, however, also essentially rebellious, focusing on unfulfilled desires and longings that achieve release in fantasy.
Her son Jón’s Flugur (Flies), published a few years before his untimely death, has been considered the first collection of prose poems published in Icelandic. Seen as a profound departure from Icelandic poetic traditions, his poems can be regarded as a precursor to Icelandic modernism, addressing the ambiguities inherent in language and life itself. Together they offer an opportunity to appreciate more fully each poet’s unique contribution to the vast and varied history of Icelandic literature. The book is available for purchase here.


An autism diagnosis may not necessarily last throughout the course of a child’s life.
New research has found that some children diagnosed with autism actually ‘grow out’ of their symptoms – as well as their diagnosis – when they grow older, BBC News reported.
The study, published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, challenges the idea that autism lasts for the entire course of a person’s life; however, many experts are cautious of the findings, saying more research is needed, BBC News said.
Researchers at the University of Connecticut studied 34 children diagnosed with autism in early childhood, comparing them to 34 of their non-autistic classmates. Through a series of cognitive and observational tests, the scientists found the autistic students to be almost indistinguishable from their classmates – showing no problems with facial recognition, communication and socializing.
For comparison, 44 children determined to have “high-functioning” autism – or that they were less affected by the condition.
The researchers concluded that for autistic children who had milder social deficits than “high-functioning” autistic children, they eventually stopped showing recognizable symptoms of autism as they aged. The children’s original diagnoses were considered be accurate as well.
As for why the children grew out of their symptoms, there are a number of different theories.
"Although the diagnosis of autism is not usually lost over time, the findings suggest that there is a very wide range of possible outcomes,” said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, which funded the study.
The findings may also suggest problems with the current method of diagnosing, since the condition affects children in many different ways


Digital rights management
- 1 History
- 2 DRM Approaches
- 3 Difficulties of DRM
- 3.1 Consumer attitudes
- 3.2 Legal problems
- 3.3 Technical problems
- 4 DRM Implementations
- 5 References
Digital rights management (DRM) refers to the laws and technologies which provide intellectual property owners control over the distribution and use of their material by controlling consumers' use of it. The claimed goals are to prevent copying of digital media and to restrict access and content use to what is allowed by copyright law.
Critics refer to it as "Digital Restrictions Management", and argue that many of the restrictions it enforces go well beyond the rights granted by law.
Copyright law is the earliest form of intellectual property protection. This area of law developed for print media, long before copying machines and digital media, and has not necessarily kept pace with technology.
The copyright since its formal creation in 1710 by the British Statute of Anne and its inclusion in the U.S. Constitution has been the main protection scheme for intellectual property rights for creative information goods and services.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries."
Copyright law grants exclusive legal ownership of information under specific conditions and terms. Through two major revisions of U.S. copyright law in 1909 and 1976, the range of content and media forms covered by legislation were expanded.
During the pre-digital era, large-scale copying was expensive and usually resulted in degraded content. The development of electronic and digital media transformed the production and distribution of information goods and services. In digital form, the content could be copied perfectly or easily converted to another form or format, and thus lifted the physical constraints of copying. The rise of digital media and networks made sharing and copying not only easier for traditional information "pirates", but also made it easier for individuals. Unlike the "pirates" whose unauthorized copies were for commercial gain, individual copying stems from behavioral norms from traditions of fair use and first-sale rights.
The rise of unlicensed and illegal copying and distribution of intellectual property cast doubts on whether a copyright provided enough protection in the wake of continued digital innovations. Copyright owners responded by developing technological copyright protection mechanisms (CPM) in order to make copying more costly and difficult. For CPM to succeed, legal enforcement was needed to ensure the uniform adoption of technologies and that any attempt to circumvent them would be criminalized. The U.S. 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provided for enforcement of copyright protection mechanisms. The development of schemes that were capable of not only preventing or limiting copying, but also controlling the distribution and uses of digital media eventually became collectively known as digital rights management.
Music: The first to be hit
Initially, writing and written works were the primary focus of this legislation: technology, or lack of it, protected other art forms, such as film and music, from being easily copied or distributed in a way that required heavy enforcement.
However, as technology improved exponentially in the past half century, the copying of these art forms became more and more an issue. Eventually, a tipping point was reached, and music was the form of media that was hit head on with the problem of copying becoming so easy, that copyright violation became an unenforceable law. Although there are many theories as to why music was first, several factors are credited:
- Digitized Format: The digital Compact Disc format, first published in 1988 by Philips and Sony, was the primary medium for music storage and sale by the early 1990's. As music was already distributed mainly via this digital medium, it made it easy to make digital copies with minimal effort and a home computer. This is in stark contrast to other media, such as books, which were still widely sold on a physical, non digital medium, and would take more then a computer and quite a bit of effort to fully copy digitally.
- The format of Albums: For decades the common format of music sale has been the Album, a collection of music tracks typically related in some way and produced by the same artist. A album typically has between 10 and 20 tracks on it, and each track is typically 3 to 5 minutes long. Although the album itself is considered extremely important to the format of music, each track is easily enjoyed by most of the general public outside the context of the album as a whole. Therefore, sharing a single track off an album is extremely common, and a single track is small and easy to share. An album's segmentation therefore makes sharing it easier. This is in contrast to a film, where no such segmentation exists; Most people get very little utility out of just part of a film, rather than the film as a whole.
- The consumer base: Although people of all ages enjoy music, most music is marketed (and sold) to adolescents and people in their 20's. As it so happens, these young people are the people most adapt to new technology, and the quickest to adapt it to save them money and time.
- Previously Unenforced Conditions: Some copying of music via tapes was technically illegal before, but rarely enforced. Other copying, such as making a cassette to play in the car, was not; the record companies had argued that all the way to the US Supreme court and lost. As a result, the average consumer did not perceive copying music to be illegal.
- The MP3 format: The MPEG Audio Layer 3 format, released in the early 1990's, is considered one of the leading reasons as to why music was so quickly hit with the copyright problems leading to DRM. As the Cotton Gin is often blamed for the boom in the institution of slavery, so is the miracle of the MP3 format often blamed for blindsiding the music industry. Music and sound formats, such as Microsoft's WAVE format, were available long before the MP3 format. However, the compression of a high quality music track into a media file with an average length of 4 megabytes, allowed for the ease of transmission needed for widespread copying.
- Wide Internet Adoption: The exponential adoption of internet access into the average American household in the early 1990's allowed for a ubiquitous, cheap, and quickly growing medium to transmit data distances that were previously unheard of. Without the internet, music would only be able to be shared as far as you could walk it.
- Limited Record Company Adoption: With previous improved formats, such as cassette tapes and CD's, the music industry has been fast to adapt, develop, and switch to these new forms of media to satisfy the demand. However for digital music this was not the case. Although computers with CD burners and MP3 player sales were skyrocketing in the early 90's, from 1999 (the release of Napster) to 2003 (the opening of the Itunes Store), there was no digital music service offering any of the music produced by the big 4 record companies (Warner, Sony BMG, EMI, Universal). As a result, the lack of service drove people to acquire their music via illegal copying.
- Development of distributed file sharing: Internet-based technologies grew to encompass distributed file sharing, with no central distribution point at which unauthorized distribution could be stopped.
As a result of these conditions, starting with the release of the Napster sharing service in 1999, the music industry began to react to the growing amount of file sharing that was occurring via various services. The music industry, through the RIAA, decided on three primary avenues of advance to thwart this growing problem:
- Shut down the services: Napster was the first to be sued by the RIAA, and shut down (as a free service) in July 2001. Subsequent services, such as Kazaa have been sued but have reacted by moving offshore, outside the jurisdiction of the RIAA.
- Offer services to consumers: The record companies began to give licenses to digital distributers, allowing them to sell their music. Under almost every circumstance, some sort of DRM clause was in the contract initially. In recent months however, record companies have begun to bow to demand and allow DRM free services to start.
- Make Examples of Sharers: In order to drive up the perceived "cost" of sharing music illegally, the RIAA began to sue people who were sharing large libraries of music online. Although most of these cases were settled out of court, the settlements stretched into tens of thousands of dollars and cost much more due to legal fees.
Consumer Backlash to the RIAA
In purely economic terms, the record companies were executing textbook strategy: Lower the cost of purchasing a track online, raise the cost of sharing or downloading one, and eventually your consumer base will switch to the cheaper option.
However, the RIAA failed to consider the nightmare they could produce by suing their consumers, many of whom were children. As a result, there was a backlash towards the RIAA and big music in general, and although sales of digital music rose quickly, the PR of the music industry took a heavy hit.
Additionally, the introduction of DRM was not as well received as the industry would have liked. The fact that DRM soiled a product that consumers were used to purchasing without strings drove many away from the services offered by the record companies.
Recovery: The movement away from DRM
Responding to consumer demand and the practicality of the changing industry, a host of music services have recently begun to sell music that is DRM free. Although the record companies are slow to accept this reality, it is beginning to become an industry trend.
Some services to recently offer DRM-Free services are:
Film: Learning from Music's Mistakes
Trying to not make the same mistakes as their music counterparts, the film and TV industry is attempting to be faster in the adaptation of digital distribution.
However, the industry as a whole is beginning to accept the idea that fewer and fewer consumers are accessing their content via physical media, and more and more are switching to digital or streaming services.
Rather then fighting the tide of digitization as the music industry did, the film and TV industry is trying to move faster to offer reasonable services to consumers that match the demand:
- In order to have immediate access to shows and movies, most cable services are now offering On-Demand services via digital cable. These services differ from traditional pay-per-view services in that they typically have a much wider selection, and often have a wide selection of free films and TV shows that come with the package.
- In order to counter services such as DailyMotion and YouTube, distribution networks are beginning to offer TV shows and Movies streaming online with commercials and / or banner advertisements. Such services include
Early DRM relied on encryption, using a content encoding system and then limiting access to the decoding technology. All control over future use was lost once the content was decoded, and any protection against illegal copying still relied on copyright law.
An example is the DVD Forum's Contents Scrambling System (CSS) which provided a common means of encoding for all movies on DVD. Any firm producing players or software to view the encoded movies was supposed to license the decoding system from the forum. Despite industry claims, this scheme was not designed to prevent copying — a bit-for-bit copy of a DVD would play on any player that the original would.
What it did attempt was to control usage of the DVDs. CSS includes a system of region codes such that, for example, a DVD sold in North America (region 1) will not play on a player sold in Europe (region 2).This allows the movie companies more control over their markets, for example charging higher prices in some regions or holding back DVD release for a region until after the cinema release there. There are other controls as well; for example the fast-forward control is locked out during the opening section of the disk so that a user cannot bypass the advertising or movie previews there.
Not all vendors follow the Forum's rules; there are many "region-free" DVD players on the market; see for example, this site. Also, some players that normally implement region codes can be set to ignore them, either in software or by replacing a chip; there are guides on the net for that as well. In some markets, such as China, nearly all players are region-free. In others, such as Europe, buyers tend to prefer them. One of Britain's largest retailers, Tesco found massive demand for such players and asked the movie industry to drop region codes altogether . NASA sent Sony players, modified to be region-free, to the International Space Station ; Sony were not entirely happy about this.
There is a later variant called RCE or "regional coding enhancement"  intended to block play of new discs on region-free players.
For playing DVDs on a computer, the CSS scheme is easily bypassed; there are a number of programs which do this. The first one to become widespread was a decoder for Windows known as DeCSS. There was a great deal of controversy on the net and in the courts over this.
- The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) took the position that DeCSS was a "circumvention device" under the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act and sued many people, including web sites who only linked to the code. These suits succeeded and court orders were issued to take down some copies of the code and links. Of course, copies are still readily available from places outside US jurisdiction.
- The DVD Content Control Association (DVD-CCA) argued that breaking CSS involved misuse of trade secrets and sued on those grounds. These suits failed.
One issue was whether the DeCSS code qualifies as protected speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. A earlier court ruling in the Bernstein case over export restrictions on cryptography had set a precedent that those protections sometimes apply to code. However, in the MPAA case, the judge ruled that they did not apply to DeCSS. So some code is protected, other code is not. Computer science professor David Touretzky has a Gallery of CSS Descramblers exploring where the border might lie.
CSS is obviously a flawed cryptosystem. It is weak in theory — David Wagner testified in one case that he asks his Berkeley students to break it as a homework assignment — and weak in practice since DeCSS (a reasonably short, simple and fast program) defeats it completely. What went wrong?
First, CSS was designed to be weak; it used a stream cipher for the bulk data encryption, and some additional things for key management The system as a whole used only a 40-bit key, to comply with cryptography export laws of the time (mid-90s). For why a short key makes any cipher inherently weak see brute force attack. For discussion of debate about those laws see politics of cryptography. In this case, it may not have been US law that imposed bad cryptography. CSS was designed by Mitsubishi engineers and at the time, Japan also had strict export laws.
Second, CSS was designed and even standardized in secret, without a public review that might have caught various design weaknesses. In some court cases DVD-CCA even claimed its inner workings were trade secrets. This violates Kerckhoffs'_Principle; no cipher should be trusted until it is published and reviewed. See cryptography is difficult for discussion of this common problem.
For a full paper cryptanalysing CSS, see Cryptanalysis of Contents Scrambling System. It indicates that CSS did not even achieve 40-bit security, more like 25; this is so weak it can conveniently be broken on demand.
Later DVD encryption
C2 is used in Content Protection for Recordable Media and Content Protection for Pre-Recorded Media, collectively known as CPRM/CPPM. The cipher itself has been published, but the S-boxes are secret and different for each application.
AACS took years to develop, and it has been broken in weeks. The developers spent billions, the hackers spent pennies.
There is no future in which bits will get harder to copy. Instead of spending billions on technologies that attack paying customers, the studios should be confronting that reality and figuring out how to make a living in a world where copying will get easier and easier. They're like blacksmiths meeting to figure out how to protect the horseshoe racket by sabotaging railroads. The railroad is coming. The tracks have been laid right through the studio gates. It's time to get out of the horseshoe business.
Some have argued that DRM is a major reason Blu-ray is not doing as well as expected in the market.
This DRM approach entails the encoding of markers into the digital content that can be used for description, identification, protection, monitoring, tracking, and limiting uses of that content. Combining this approach with the technology to read the markers and abide by the markers allows for even greater control over management of digital content than the encryption approach.
It may also provide ways of tracking down copiers. For example, if a "pirate" DVD version of a film appears when the movie has only been legally released in theaters or as video-on-demand over cable, it maybe possible to find markings in the DVD version that show which theater or which cable customer provided the material.
Examples of the marking approach to DRM can be found in downloaded music from content providers such as Apple, Microsoft, RealNetworks, and Sony. A future example is the broadcast flag system which is being proposed for U.S. digital television which would allow cable networks to limit the copying or distribution of their programming.
Some marking methods hide the markings using techniques from steganography. In other cases, the markings are quite visible; for example photographs on the web often have the photographer's name or the website URL printed across them to discourage copying.
The "rights locker" approach drastically changes the way in which digital content can be used. Instead of owning copies of the digital media, the consumer owns a set of rights to access the content from a central digital network using a specified range of devices. Examples of this approach include On-demand TV content and Netflix's watch instantly service where users are allowed temporary local copies while viewing the programming.
Difficulties of DRM
Digital rights management, or DRM, is based on the idea that we should design computers that consult an internal policy document written by a third party to check if anything the owner might want to do is a permitted task. If you hit control S or control C to save the work or copy the work, your computer would be able to stop you. I think your computer should never say no, it should always obey you.
Many people find DRM systems to be a hindrance to the use of the media they have purchased, and some consumers actively boycott companies and products that use DRM. Many consumers express a preference for material that is not 'hindered' with DRM protections. The attitude of companies that use DRM is widely perceived as "the customer is always wrong".
DRM also seems to be doing very little to stop copyright infringement: "today, infringement is more widespread than ever".
One online joke collection includes "Copy Protection: A clever method of preventing incompetent pirates from stealing software and legitimate customers from using it."
Access and Usage Concerns
Consumers have many concerns in regards to access and usage of various content due to DRM systems/restrictions. Consumer opinions are to keep the rights of the consumer from the analogue realm to be the same in the digital realm. Some rights that users are concerned about losing are their abilities to create private backup copies, excerpt, transition data from one device to another, record for future use, and editing content for personal use.
More explicitly, consumers worry about the loss of data because of restrictions on transferring from one format to another. This may force consumer into repurchasing digital data in another format, when they can easily have the capability of transitioning the format themselves. Another outside concern consumers ask is how do DRM Systems handle the expiration of copyright terms. Do DRM systems release their restrictions when the copyright term expires?
In an interesting development, one company removed DRM from their product about a week after releasing it:
Our approach to countering piracy is to incorporate superior value in the legal version, This means it has to be superior in every respect: less troublesome to use and install, with full support, and with access to additional content and services. So, we felt keeping the DRM would mainly hurt our legitimate users. This is completely in line with what we said before the release .... We felt DRM was necessary to prevent the game being pirated and leaked before release. This purpose has been served, so we are pleased to let our users enjoy the full freedom of game usage they deserve.
The main user concern in regards to privacy is the ability for the DRM systems to record and transmit consumer usage of particular products and digital data. This becomes a double edged sword. Some users enjoy this feature; for instance, recommended music/videos/books appeals to some users when trying to find something new to experience. Other users complain about this claiming they are being targeted more easily by data/media providers. There are also concerns in passing private information over the internet such as credit card information to make purchases. These are difficult concerns to balance for DRM systems.
Consumers recommend the following: DRM Systems should store "no more data than necessary" and store data for "no longer than necessary". These systems should also be complex enough to inform consumers of all data that is shared about them. Consumers should have the opportunity to regulate how much the DRM system can/can't report or share.
Interoperability is a difficult concern to deal with because it tries to balance users being able to use their media on many machines/programs without any problems, but the industry must also worry about how to protect against the distribution to unauthorized users. Some recommendations are to allow for portability and compatibility with multiple devices, an open standard for the various devices, and no platform restrictions for consumers. Consumers should not have to re-purchase media for use on another device.
There is a concern that some DRM systems will require an internet connection and opening up vulnerabilities to the consumers' computers or limit the ability of current software on their computers. This concern falls mostly with "trusted computing" which in order to work, according to consumers, "trusted computing" providers must be a certified provider and must allow the consumer to set the level of security.
Consumers do not like where some of the business concepts are going such as all post purchase control, inability to share across multiple devices used by the consumer, usage tracking, and file expiration. Some other concerns are the advantages bigger companies have over smaller/medium sized companies in regards to DRM licensing costs, the price control of online products versus conventional counterparts, and technology advances that will be held back by embedded players/devices.
There are a number of legal issues around DRM. Similar issues turn up in all jurisdictions, but any of them may play out differently in different legal systems. This makes dealing with them immensely complex, especially in designing a DRM system to be used in many countries.
There is a basic principle of copyright law, called fair use  in US law. For example, copyright does not prevent quoting a work in a review or analysis, or using it in education. Nor does it prohibit a blind user from using software that will read an e-book aloud for him. Other legal systems have the same principle, but the name and the details vary from country to country. British and Canadian law call it "fair dealing".
The principle is clear, but the border is by no means sharply delineated. Between the black of copyright infringement and the white of perfectly legal fair use, there is a large grey area. This is being narrowed down by various court rulings and sometimes altered by new legislation, but will likely never go away entirely.
That principle greatly complicates the design of DRM systems. Copyright law allows fair use; how can DRM software manage that? What do you do about the grey areas? If you ignore fair use, or just misjudge some grey areas, you will infringe on the users' legal rights; what are the market or legal consequences of that? Some current DRM software blocks legitimate fair use; for example some DRM systems will prevent a blind use from having software read a book aloud and, if it worked as designed, CSS on DVDs would prevent a reviewer from using an excerpt in a review. Beyond that, how can a DRM system adapt to changes in the law?
Fair use arguably includes the right to time shifting, for example using a VCR to record a TV program to watch later. In one case that was fought all the way to the US Supreme Court, the court ruled that recording TV programs for home use did not violate copyright, so Sony could not be held to be contributing to copyright infringement by selling VCRs. A similar issue is space shifting, for example copying music from a record or CD to cassette tape for listening in the car or copying a DVD to videotape to watch in another room. In another case, the court ruled that the Rio, "a portable digital audio device which allows a user to download MP3 audio files from a computer and to listen to them elsewhere.", is also legal fair use. Those decisions appear to mean that it is legal fair use for users to copy music from their CDs, or movies from DVD, onto their hard drives and/or into a portable player.
However, if the DRM allows those applications, how can it prevent the users from sharing the files? If it does not allow such things, can users legally break the DRM to enforce their rights? Will they just avoid DRM-protected products?
See also our article on Fair use.
First sale doctrine
Another issue is the legal doctrine of first sale, essentially that once a company sells a product they no longer control it.
The doctrine applies when a company sells to a distributor; the contract may restrict what the distributor then does with the product, but copyright law imposes no restrictions.
The law on this is somewhat complex. In the US, it goes back to a 1908 Supreme Court decision that a publisher (Bobbs-Merrill) could not prevent a department store (Macy's) from offering books at a discount, even though they had printed right on the flyleaf a statement that no-one was authorised to sell the book below their set price. Later, the first sale principle was explicitly written into the 1976 revision of the Copyright Act . Since then, there have been rulings both ways. In a 1998 case  involving American-made hair care products that in the US were marketed at premium prices through salons but were sold more cheaply in Europe, the Court made a unanimous decision that the manufacturer had no right to prevent a New york discounter from buying the products from a European distributor and selling them cheaply in the US. However, in a more recent case  the Court upheld a lower court ruling that a retailer (Costco) violated copyright in importing watches made abroad and selling them without authorisation from the manufacturer (Omega). In yet another case, the court ruled that a Thai student who was importing cheap editions of university textbooks from Thailand to the US and selling them on Ebay was not violating the publisher's copyright .
The first sale idea also applies to the consumer. For example, it would be illegal to copy the DVD and give someone else the copy, but once you have bought it you have the right to use it as you please.
Critics of DRM argue that, for example, movie companies simply do not have the right to prevent a user from fast-forwarding past advertising or buying a DVD in the US and playing it in Europe. To the critics, DRM systems that restrict users in such ways are best described as BAD, for Broken As Designed. There is no technical reason for such "features"; a system without them would actually be simpler; therefore there is no reason to imagine that users ought to put up with them. One anti-DRM website is called Defective by Design.
The argument on the other side is basically that the copyright on the content plus the license agreements for the equipment and content give the companies those rights. Some sort of licensing restrictions (or perhaps some other legal mechanism) seem obviously essential — for example, buying a ticket to a concert should not give the right to record it and sell CDs, and movie companies definitely do not want to give anyone who buys a DVD the right to show it in a theater. The movie and record companies believe that various other restrictions are important as well, and that their licenses give them the right to impose those; this notion is quite controversial.
All copyrights expire; they are only created "for limited Times", to quote the US law. Both legal and technical questions come up when copyright on a DRM-protected work expires.
Privacy laws may be an issue if a system with DRM "phones home" to provide usage information to a vendor. What information is provided? How is it used? How is it protected? Is the user informed, or asked for permission? This becomes more complex if the information crosses international boundaries in the process.
Some DRM may itself violate laws. For example, the "region codes" on DVDs are intended to segment the market, preventing for example a European (region 2) or Australian (region 4) customer from buying cheaper DVDs from US (region 1) vendors. Film companies insist that this is necessary, but nothing in copyright law grants them that sort of control over their market. Critics argue that the whole business of region codes is a conspiracy by a cartel of film companies, violating the competition and price-fixing laws of many countries and the WTO restrictions on Technical Barriers to Trade.
Such arguments appear to carry little weight with governments; no media company has ever been prosecuted for such actions. However, Australia and New Zealand have banned the sale of DVD players unless they are either region-free or come with instructions for disabling region code enforcement. The US government, on the other hand, has passed the DMCA making it illegal to provide a "circumvention device" which bypasses "technological protection measures". That is, in the US it may be illegal to defeat region codes, while in Australia it may be illegal to implement them.
Similar arguments apply to DRM on video games. In at least one case  the Australian Competition Commission intervened on the side of someone being sued by Sony for "chipping" a game console, arguing that region codes exist not to prevent copying but to make certain games unplayable.
The Sony rootkit
Then there was Sony's DRM "rootkit", of which the chairman of the US Federal Trade Commission said "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful" . This was software on music CDs that secretly, and without asking permission, installed various things on any Windows computer that played the CD, and hid them from the user with "cloaking" techniques that are commonly used by trojan horse programs to hide their activites.
Mark Russinovich discovered it  while testing a tool designed to find rootkits; the things an attacker leaves behind after breaking into a computer and acquiring root (administrator) privileges. Imagine his surprise when he found one, installed by Sony!
Sony took a great deal of media flak BBC, CNET USA Today over that. There was also a consumer class action suit, settled out of court. Bruce Schneier's analysis is interesting: "While Sony could be prosecuted under U.S. cybercrime law, no one thinks it will be." and "What do you think of your antivirus company, the one that didn't notice Sony's rootkit as it infected half a million computers? ... This is exactly the kind of thing we're paying those companies to detect -- especially because the rootkit was phoning home."
Ubisoft DRM rootkit
DRM that violates copyright
Media companies may be quite interested in protecting their own "intellectual property", but in some cases they may not have much respect for other people's.
|“||Sony's rootkit -- designed to stop copyright infringement -- itself may have infringed on copyright. As amazing as it might seem, the code seems to include an open-source MP3 encoder in violation of that library's license agreement. ||”|
In 2010, a German firm sued Warner Brothers, accusing them of using pirated anti-piracy technology.
|“||"We disclosed our anti-piracy technology to Warner Bros. in 2003 at their request, under strict confidentiality, expecting to be treated fairly," the company said in a statement. "Instead, they started using our technology extensively without our permission and without any accounting to us." ||”|
In particular cases, the costs may be quite high. Another well-known security expert, Peter Gutmann, wrote of Microsoft DRM efforts: "The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history".
Why is this so difficult? Assume you are a totally legal user of the material protected by DRM, and all the security tests for your music, or your software, are successful. To hear the music, it has to be put into a form the speakers will reproduce. At some point between the DRM-protected recording and the speaker, the signal has to be put into a useful form. Once it is in that form, how does the DRM enforcer prevent it from being copied?
One of the great problems with encryption is hiding decrypted content. In order to hide it from user applications, DRM-enabled players decrypt content in kernel mode and check for unsigned drivers. Some DRM developers suggest using a TPM chip to ensure that the operating system is genuine and only signed drivers can be loaded. In such systems DRM drivers can control computer completely and perfectly hide the decryption process.
The problem of protecting material on a DVD or other physical storage device are simple when compared to delivering content across the Internet. Think of pay-per-view television. Even in encrypted form, it has to pass through intermediate distribution points on the Internet; the general distribution problem here is part of inter-domain multicast routing (IDMR). How do the legal users get the decryption key for the program for which they have paid, and only for that program? Can anyone along the path from content user to content buyer intercept that key and use it? If so, will the legitimate user still be able to use it? Alternatively, can the stolen key be distributed?
Several music sellers and distributors over the years have tried a number of DRM implementations:
Apple was the first company to capitalize on the digital music market by being the first acquire music selling licenses from the big 4 record companies. Apple's Music Service, iTunes Store, has infamously used DRM since it's inception. Although their DRM is easily cracked, recently iTunes has introduced a new iTunes Plus service which offers DRM-free music, and Apple is toying with the idea of removing DRM from it's services altogether.
Rhapsody, the digital music service started by RealNetworks, is one of the most popular online music services with 2.25 million paid subscribers. Rhapsody offers streaming music and DRM music downloads for a monthly subscription fee
Napster 2.0 or the Napster Pay Service, is a DRM-enabled (specically Microsoft's Playsforsure-protected) music licensing service offering unlimited licensed MP3's for a monthly fee. As of April 2007, Napster 2.0 is reported to have 830,000 subscribers. Napster also has a DRM free version of it's music store, which was opened in mid-2008
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- The Eli Whitney Museum 'Cotton Gin: A History'
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- Eliot Van Buskirk 'Victim of Dropped RIAA Lawsuit Sues RIAA, Alleges Illegal Investigation of US Citizens'
- Raymond Hoffman 'RIAA Lawsuit Backlash Continues'
- Thomas Ricker 'Sony BMG launching (DRM-free?) Service'
- Jon C. Ogg 'Amazon.com DRM-Free Service Won't Kill Apple (AMZN, AAPL)'
- Techradar.com 'Sky launches DRM-free music download service: More cracks appear in music DRM'
- Cory Doctorow 'Blu-Ray AND HD-DVD broken - processing keys extracted'
- Gerry Block (Jan 2007) HD-DVD, Blu-ray AACS Copy Protection Broken
- Scott M. Fulton, III 'Comcast to announce all-on-demand service this morning'
- 'NBC/Fox Video Site Hulu Open to Public'
- Stan Schroeder 'Watch All South Park Episodes Online for Free'
- Linda Harrison & Tony Smith (February 2000), Tesco slams ‘unnecessary’ DVD zoning
- Julia Borghoff, Lars Knudsen, Gregor Leander, Krystian Matusiewicz. Cryptanalysis of C2. Technical University of Denmark.
- Ralf-Philipp Weimann (2008-03-01). Algebraic Methods in Block Cipher Cryptanalysis. Darmstadt University of Technology. (Abstract is in German, paper itself is in English)
- Ganesh T S (Mar 2012), Cinavia DRM: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blu-ray’s Self-Destruction
- Jessica Griggs (June 2010), "Cory Doctorow: My computer says no", New Scientist
- Cory Doctorow, All Complex Ecosystems Have Parasites, O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference, 16 March 2005.
- Helberger, Natali. (2004) ‘ Digital Rights Management and Consumer Acceptability: A Multi-Disciplinary Discussion of Consumer Concerns and Expectations’, MPRA Paper No. 6641, posted 08. January 2008
- Electronic Frontier Foundation 'Fair Use Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)', 2002
- (July 2002). ACCC chips away at region coding. Australian Competition & Consumer Commission.
- Mark Russinovich (October 2005), Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far
- Bruce Schneier (November 2005), Sony's DRM Rootkit: The Real Story
- Andy Chalk (May 2010), Warner Bros. Sued for Pirating Anti-Piracy Technology
- Bruce Schneier (September 2006), Quickest Patch Ever
- Peter Gutmann 'A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection'
- Mostly Saving Money 'How To Break iTunes DRM'
- Steve Jobs 'Thoughts on Music'
- RealNetworks 'Press Release'
- Rhapsody 'Rhapsody: About'
- Napster 'Napster Press Release'
- Eliot Van Buskirk 'Napster Launches DRM-Free Music Store: Over 6 Million MP3s'
- Fred von Lohmann 'DRM for Streaming Music Dies a Quiet Death'


The Taj Mahal
Agra, Uttar Pradesh 282001 India
Telephone: +91 562 222 6431
Built: between 1631 and 1648
Size: 17 hectares
Number of interments: 2 in the Taj Mahal itself, several others in the other buildings on the site
Open: Sunrise to sunset, but closed on Fridays.
Admission: Foreign tourist: 750 rupees. Children under 15 are free.
The world’s most famous burial building, according to Tom Weil’s The Cemetery Book, is the Taj Mahal. The immense white marble mausoleum was built by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, his third.
Weil goes on to report that when she lay on her deathbed in 1630, the Empress Mumtaz Mahal requested that her husband never remarry and he “build for her the most magnificent tomb the world had ever known.” The Empress had been considered so beautiful the moon hid its face from her. She died in childbirth.
It took nearly 20 years for the mausoleum to be completed. The Taj Mahal, which means Crown Palace, continues to be considered one of the 8 Wonders of the World. Built by 20,000 workers at a cost of 32 million rupees, the building employed craftsmen from Delhi, Qannauj, Lahore, and Multan, in addition to Muslim artisans from Baghdad, Shiraz, and Bukhara. The white marble walls are inlaid with agate and jasper and adorned with scrolling calligraphic verses from the Koran.
In 1676, Frenchman Jean Baptiste Tavernier, one of the first Europeans to see the Taj, reported in his book Travels in India that the scaffolding erected around the mausoleum cost more than the entire work, “because, from want of wood, they had all to be made of brick.”
The Taj stands on a raised platform 186 feet square. Its 58-foot-diameter dome rises to a height of 216 feet. Four minarets flank it. The vast burial complex also contains a main gateway, an elaborate garden, a mosque, a guesthouse, and several other palatial buildings. The Taj Mahal itself is surrounded by four reflecting pools. The river Jamuna passes behind it. Inside the building, the graves of Mumtaz Majal and Shah Jahan stand on one side of the tomb, throwing off its otherwise perfect symmetry.
As Europeans flocked to India in the 18th century, they were inspired by the Taj Mahal to start a fashion for building mausoleums back home. In Douglas Keister’s Going Out in Style, Xavier A. Cronin reports that, “Many architects regarded India’s Taj Mahal palace-garden mausoleum…as the world most spectacular building.”
Three centuries later, that belief has not changed. “The Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage,” according to UNESCO. Three million people visit the Taj Mahal each year.
The UNESCO listing
The official tourist site
Full moon viewing of the Taj Mahal
The National Geographic travel listing
The Smithsonian report on the restoration done on the Taj Mahal
A closeup view of the Taj Mahal


A team of researchers at the University of California, Riverside have taken large steps toward creating a coating for lithium batteries that could improve their lifespan. If the batteries are covered by an organic compound coating called methyl viologen, it eliminates dendrite growth and increases the battery lifetime by three times.
Lithium-ion batteries are a standard in laptops, smartphones and electric cars. The anodes of lithium batteries are generally made with graphite or a similar carbon-based material. But carbon-based material performance is limited because of its weight and energy density. Right now, research is being focused on developing lithium metal anodes because, if successful, they will increase battery capacity five to ten times longer. Lithium-metal anodes are also lighter and less expensive than the current anodes in use.
However, these kinds of anodes present a problem: Lithium is made with metal that uncontrollably grows dendrites, microscopic fibers that look like tree sprouts, during charge cycles. This is an issue because the dendrites lower the battery performance and can potentially short circuit and catch on fire.
The development of the methyl viologen coating has the potential to change the life of lithium ion batteries completely. This coating eliminates dendrite growth, increasing the battery life by more than three times its current lifespan. The coating can be dissolved in the electrolytes in charged states. When the molecules meet the lithium metal, they are reduced to form a stable coating on the metal electrode. The methyl viologen is very low cost and can be scaled up.
"This has the potential to change the future," said Chao Wang, an adjunct assistant professor of chemistry at UC Riverside who is the lead author of the paper. "It is low cost, easily manipulated and compatible with the current lithium ion battery industry."
By creating a stable operation of lithium metal anodes, researchers have enabled the development of the next generations of high-capacity batteries, including lithium metal batteries and lithium air batteries.
The paper is called, “In Situ Formation of Stable Interfacing Coating for High Performance Lithium Metal Anodes”. It was published in the journal Chemistry of Materials.


Kepler Spacecraft Finds Plethora Of Earth-Sized Planets That Could Support Life
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BALTIMORE (WJZ)–The idea that life exists outside of Earth gets a big boost.
Mike Schuh reports a NASA spacecraft is telling scientists that the possibility is stronger than ever.
The Kepler spacecraft is a marvel of human design. Parked outside of the gravitational pull of Earth, it’s looking for one thing: planets the size of Earth that can support life.
Now, the Kepler mission’s science team has added 800 planets that could support life.
“What it allows astronomers to do is realize that there are probably many more planet-like Earths in our galaxy than ever expected before,” said Derrick Pitts, Franklin Institute chief astronomer.
They’re more than 3,500 such planets, about 10 the size of Earth. As they understand it, the best chances of life lie not too close nor too far away from that planet’s sun in an Earth-like sweet spot maybe as close as 12 light years away.
“When you look up in the sky on a dark night with thousands of stars, if one of those Earth-like planets is 12 light years, you could be looking at a star that has an Earth-like planet orbiting it,” said Jim O’Leary, Maryland Science Center.
Twelve light years. That is the time it takes light to travel. It’s 72 trillion miles, so don’t go booking a rocket ship just yet.
“At the speeds we’re currently able to fly through our galaxy, it’s going to take a very long time because 12 light years, that’s a long, long, long way off,” Pitts said.
At the Maryland Science Center, O’Leary says life doesn’t mean intelligent beings.
“Life as we know it, forming over millions of years of evolution. Forming intelligent life is hard to make. A lot of things would have to work just right, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t find life in simpler forms,” O’Leary said.
Scientists say the next step is to develop a telescope that looks directly at a planet most likely to harbor life.
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Fairmount Park totals over 2,000 acres and collectively is one of the largest urban green spaces in country. The park is intersected by the Schuylkill River, effectively creating the two main sections aptly named East Park and West Park.
I explore Fairmount Park all year round and tend to do most of my hiking in West Park in the Belmont Plateau trail system. I also enjoy the Boxer’s trail in East Park and exploring the grounds around the park’s many historic houses.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Fairmount Park is the sheer diversity of land uses over time, which has an immense impact on today’s plant communities occurring in the landscape. All of the land in the park was once part of 18th [and early 19th] century country homes lining the river such as Lemon Hill, Woodford Mansion, Mt. Pleasant and Strawberry Mansion. Most of the houses remained as private residences until the city began acquiring these estates to form the park in the mid-19th century. Owners of these country estates enjoyed colonial, and later Victorian-style gardens, and their frameworks can still be seen to this day. The best time to realize this is late winter through spring, when the ground is bare and most importantly introduced spring ephemerals can be witnessed. Nearly all homes would have had some type of woodland garden path between the house and the river, and it is at this time when the snow drops [Galanthus], daffodils, and winter aconite appear. These emergings are exciting because they tell us generally where these pedestrian paths would have occurred.
A few weeks later in the spring, the native spring ephemerals begin to emerge, and the park is highly abundant with mayapples and trillium with some glimpses of Erythronium americanum aka trout lily, Claytonia virginica, and Dicentra canadensis aka squirrel corn. Other nearby parks such as the Wissahickon to the northwest have considerably more diversity, due in part by more variations in topology and therefore communities, but also due to those land uses I mentioned earlier. When the city acquired these estates, they were repurposed as municipal buildings for the parks department, horse rangers, and other city branches. These types of uses would have caused greater disturbances on the land, and were also subject to many non-natives and invasive plant species which became prominent in the park in the 20th century such as Japanese knotweed, mile-a-minute, multiflora rose, devil’s walking stick and others. When walking through the park today, it is easy to see where these disturbances may have been based on the abundance of non-native species. In turn, the best place to see healthy plant communities in the park are in the least disturbed sites away from long established paths.
My 20 minutes is up! Much of this post has been a collective ramble of things I’ve learned just by spending time in the park. Still no sign of Virginia Bluebells this spring, but plenty of skunk cabbage along the mesic areas. I try to take a few pictures every time I’m out, and I think I’ve captured all the plants mentioned in this post. Enjoy!
P.S. Mind featured photo of poison ivy as a constant reminder. Certainly not my favorite native plant!