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Winner of Best Biology Blog Post of 2013 from Scienceseeker.org
The TedxDeExtinction conference, discussing how and whether to resurrect extinct species from DNA, took place on the Ides of March 2013 at the National Geographic headquarters in Washington, DC. Watch archived versions of the talks.
If people had the ability to resurrect extinct species (dubbed “de-extinction”) and reintroduce them to the wild, should we direct our energy and resources towards it?
I will admit my bias straight off: I’m skeptical of the utility of resurrecting extinct species for a multitude of reasons. Many extinct species no longer have the wild habitat to support them, even if a population could be resurrected from DNA, as Brian Switek wrote. Cloning technology is advancing quickly, but not yet ready for large-scale implementation, a topic Ferris Jabr takes on. And, to note the more mundane step between cloning and wild release, we can’t keep most wild animals alive in captivity, which is why you see the same species in zoos around the world. Are we really prepared to keep animals alive if, for example, we don’t even know what environment they prefer or what they eat?
But the main thing that bugs me is the blatant narcissism and anthropocentrism behind it.
This morning, speaker Mike Archer argued that resurrecting extinct species is worth doing to "restore the balance of nature that we have upset.” This statement assumes that nature has some pristine state—an Eden containing an ideal balance of organisms. Over the years, ecologists have tried to find this balance and fit organisms and ecosystems into models. But, time and time again, they haven’t been able to fit ecosystems into neat, balanced pockets.
Ecosystems change constantly. Animals migrate. Weather kills off local populations and allows others to thrive. Disease strikes. And, yes, animals go extinct. Most of the time, ecosystems continue on as they were, with organisms making slight changes to their behavior to compensate for the loss. Sometimes the changes are more drastic and the relationships between organisms are reconstructed. It’s a shocking thing to witness—organisms and ecosystems shifting around us—but this isn’t anything new. It’s been happening since the beginning of life.
So not only are we trying to restore nature to a balance that doesn’t seem to exist, but we’ve picked a rather arbitrary point in time to return it to: the moment when people first started paying attention. The only species we are capable of resurrecting are those that we know went extinct, those large and common enough to leave fossils, and those that we watched die off. So you see a familiar cadre of de-extinction candidates on the list: mammoths, passenger pigeons, thylacine tigers. These are all big animals that we are sure used to be around because they are large enough to leave an impact on human culture—or, as speaker Stanley Temple put it later in the afternoon, “species that I lamented as a boy.”
This suddenly is less about the species themselves and more about us.
But why shouldn’t it be, if we’re the ones causing so much damage? Sure, people have caused many recent extinctions, as our species spreads and displaces others. And because we are aware of our actions, we have a moral obligation to try to not drive species to extinction. But to say that our extinctions are worse than any other extinctions is a display of narcissism. Extinction is part of life.
What makes our extinctions different, however, is that we can learn from them. We can avoid having to lament species by learning how to take better care of habitats and ecosystems, how to use technology and back-crossing to induce greater genetic variation in small, endangered populations to give them a better chance of survival, and how to properly raise animals in captivity and then release them into the wild.
It’s to the future we must look, not the past. Cut your extinction losses, people: we have to focus our energy on the extinctions that haven’t happened yet. |
HONOLULU (AP) — Six NASA-backed research subjects who have been cooped up in a Mars-like habitat on a remote Hawaii volcano since January emerged from isolation Sunday. They devoured fresh-picked tropical fruits, vegetables and a fluffy egg strata after eating mostly freeze-dried food during their isolation.
Scientists Joshua Ehrlich, Laura Lark, Sam Payler, Brian Ramos, Jay Bevington and Ansley Barnard, pose for a photo before they started the experiment. University of Hawaii via AP HONOLULU (AP) — Six NASA-backed research subjects who have been cooped up in a Mars-like habitat on a remote Hawaii volcano since January emerged from isolation Sunday. They devoured fresh-picked tropical fruits, vegetables and a fluffy egg strata after eating mostly freeze-dried food during their isolation.
The crew of four men and two women are part of a study designed to better understand the psychological impacts a long-term space mission would have on astronauts.
The data they produced will help NASA select individuals and groups with the right mix of traits to best cope with the stress, isolation and danger of a two-to-three year trip to Mars. The U.S. space agency hopes to send humans to the red planet by the 2030s.
The crew was quarantined for eight months on a vast plain below the summit of the Big Island's Mauna Loa, the world's largest active volcano. After finishing their stint, they feasted on pineapple, mango and papaya.
While isolated, the crew members wore space suits and travelled in teams whenever they left their small dome living structure. They ate mostly freeze-dried or canned food on their simulated voyage to Mars.
All of their communications with the outside world were subjected to a 20-minute delay — the time it takes for signals to get from Mars to Earth. The crew was tasked with conducting geological surveys, mapping studies and maintaining their self-sufficient habitat as if they were actually living on Mars.
The geodesic dome called the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, located 8,200 feet above sea level on Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii, where the six scientists spent 8 months. University of Hawaii via AP
The team's information technology specialist, Laura Lark, thinks a manned voyage to Mars is a reasonable goal for NASA. The project is the fifth in a series of six NASA-funded studies at the University of Hawaii facility called the Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS. NASA has dedicated about $2.5 million for research at the facility.
"There are certainly human factors to be figured out, that's part of what HI-SEAS is for," Lark said in a video message recorded within the dome. "But I think that overcoming those challenges is just a matter of effort. We are absolutely capable of it."
The crew played games designed to measure their compatibility and stress levels and maintained logs about how they were feeling.
To gauge their moods they also wore specially-designed sensors that measured voice levels and proximity to other people in the, 1,200 square-foot (111-square meter) living space.
The devices could sense if people were avoiding one another, or if they were "toe-to-toe" in an argument, said the project's lead investigator, University of Hawaii professor Kim Binsted.
"We've learned, for one thing, that conflict, even in the best of teams, is going to arise," Binsted said. "So what's really important is to have a crew that, both as individuals and a group, is really resilient, is able to look at that conflict and come back from it."
One day. NASA
The study also tested ways to help the crew cope with stress. When they became overwhelmed, they could use virtual reality devices to take them away to a tropical beach or other familiar landscapes.
Other Mars simulation projects exist around the world, but Hawaii researchers say one of the chief advantages of their project is the area's rugged, Mars-like landscape, on a rocky, red plain below the summit of Mauna Loa.
The crew's vinyl-covered shelter is about the size of a small two-bedroom home, has small sleeping quarters for each member plus a kitchen, laboratory and bathroom. The group shared one shower and has two composting toilets. |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are more dissatisfied with Australian democracy than the rest of Australia.
That's one finding from a poll by Ipsos that sought questions from 131 Indigenous people, with a total of 1244 respondents.
The research has also focused on older Australians and immigrants.
Ipsos was commissioned to do the poll by the University of Canberra's Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis (IGPA) and the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House.
The IGPA designed the Ipsos poll questions and have been looking at the numbers in-depth since then.
“We asked a range of questions where we looked at issues of dissatisfaction with democracy, dissatisfaction with political representatives, but also levels and standards of honesty and integrity both currently and whether they’re improving or declining," Dr Max Halupka, a post-doctoral research fellow with IGPA, told SBS.
According to the online poll, 28 per cent of Indigenous Australians are satisfied with Australian democracy, compared with 41 per cent of non-Indigenous Australians.
Fifty-three per cent of Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians believed the standards of honesty and integrity of elected politicians was declining. However, a slightly higher number of Indigenous Australians - 17 per cent compared with seven per cent of non-Indigenous Australians - believe politicians' integrity is improving.
On the question of whether government is influenced by big interests, 64 per cent of Indigenous Australians said it was entirely or mostly run for big interests as compared with 52 per cent of non-Indigenous Australians.
The dissatisfaction among Indigenous Australians might come down to a perception they are not included in the conversation, human rights and social justice advocate Tom Calma said.
"Things keep getting done for us and to us, but not with us or by us," Professor Calma said.
Prof Calma is a Kungarakan man and was formerly Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner.
He said the poll's indication of dissatisfaction among Indigenous Australians was indicative of how many people felt about government.
He said the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander National Health Plan was a good example of federal government effectively engaging with Indigenous Australians, but that plan so far hasn't been funded.
For dealing with matters concerning Indigenous Australians, the government relies on their own mechanisms to determine what's best for Indigenous people, Prof Calma said.
Those mechanisms include a key group of Indigenous advisers, but not all of those people had a good understanding off issues affecting Indigenous Australians around the nation, he said. |
Facebook bows to pressure from PM and campaigners as it removes graphic video showing woman being beheaded in Mexico
Facebook banned decapitation videos in May due to psychological damage
In U-turn it said users should be able to watch and condemn these videos
Hostage UK, which has Ken Bigley's brother as trustee, slams the move
PM: Decision is 'irresponsible' and Facebook should 'address problem'
Following pressure it's removed gory video of woman being beheaded
Facebook today bowed to pressure from David Cameron and child internet protection campaigners by taking down a graphic video of a woman being beheaded in Mexico.
The Prime Minister had accused Facebook of irresponsibility after it lifted a ban on users posting videos of beheadings - and demanded the social networking site explain its decision to parents.
Critics accused the firm of ‘taking leave of its senses’. Facebook had said that while the images must not be posted for ‘sadistic pleasure’ they should be available for those who wish to condemn them.
Terrible: The filmed executions of people like Ken Bigley, left, will be allowed to be shown on Facebook after they quietly lifted a ban, which David Cameron, pictured today, called 'irresponsible'
Alert: Facebook has begun adding warning messages to videos on its website showing decapitations
However, last night it was revealed Facebook had removed the clip of a woman being beheaded and said it would use a broader set of criteria to determine when gory videos are permitted on the site.
The website had earlier begun adding alerts to videos showing decapitations or other extreme violence, saying: 'Warning! This video contains extremely graphic content and may be upsetting'.
‘When we review content that is reported to us, we will take a more holistic look at the context surrounding a violent image or video,’ a Facebook spokesman said.
Critical: Hostage UK, a charity supported by Ken Bigley's brother Phil, pictured, has accused Facebook of 'playing into the hands of hostage-takers'
‘Second, we will consider whether the person posting the content is sharing it responsibly, such as accompanying the video or image with a warning and sharing it with an age-appropriate audience.’
The change underscores a challenge for Facebook as it seeks to position itself as the go-to online destination where people share up-to-the-minute images and discuss breaking news events.
The US firm acknowledged last night that its previous approach, which permitted the video of the woman's killing in Mexico to remain on its site, was flawed.
‘Based on these enhanced standards, we have re-examined recent reports of graphic content and have concluded that this content improperly and irresponsibly glorifies violence. For this reason, we have removed it,’ the company said.
Suicide prevention charities had denounced the original move to lift the ban on beheading videos, warning that the clips were ‘psychologically destructive’ to teenagers.
Others accused Facebook of double standards for allowing footage of beheadings but restricting what breastfeeding mothers can post and demanding women remove pictures of their mastectomy scars.
Criticism: David Cameron used rival site Twitter to hit out Facebook's new policy
Gruesome videos of people being beheaded are to be allowed on Facebook once again. The social network claims that its users should be able to watch and condemn these videos, but not celebrate them
Facebook’s unpublicised change in policy came to light after it refused to remove a 57-second video showing a young Mexican woman, her hands tied behind her back and on her knees, being beheaded by a masked man in broad daylight. It was posted last week under the title ‘Challenge: Anybody can watch this video?’.
One disgusted viewer commented: ‘Remove this video, too many young innocent minds out there shouldn’t see this.’
Another wrote: ‘This is absolutely horrible, distasteful and needs to be removed... I’m very disturbed after seeing a couple of seconds of it.’
Mr Cameron wrote on Twitter: ‘It’s irresponsible of Facebook to post beheading videos, especially without a warning. They must explain their actions to worried parents.’
Last night one of Facebook’s advertisers, car-sharing companty ZipCar, withdrew its adverts in protest, saying: ‘We do not condone this type of abhorrent content being circulated on Facebook.’
Dr Arthur Cassidy, of suicide prevention group the Yellow Ribbon Program, said: ‘It only takes seconds of exposure to such graphic material to leave a permanent trace – particularly in a young person’s mind.’
The site, which is open to anyone over the age of 13, had banned footage of decapitation on its site in May citing concerns that it would cause long-term psychological damage
Stephen Balkam of the Family Online Safety Institute – a member of the Facebook safety advisory board – urged the site to reverse the policy and Will Gardner, of Childnet International, which also sits on the advisory board, said ‘Such content should be taken down.
There is a need to raise issues happening around the world... but some content is horrific. We would want to see steps to try and protect people from coming across such content.’
Hostage UK, supported by the family of British engineer Ken Bigley – who was kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq in 2004 – accused Facebook of ‘playing into the hands of hostage-takers’. Trustee Sue Williams said: ‘It will cause great pain to the families who have lost loved ones who were hostages.’
John Carr, of the UK Council For Child Internet Safety, said: ‘Facebook has taken leave of its senses. Those videos will fuel countless nightmares among the young.’
But Sean Gallagher of Index On Censorship warned about the impact on freedom of expression: ‘Films about beheadings may be deeply upsetting and offensive but they do expose the reality of violent acts that are taking place.’
Facebook had introduced a temporary ban on decapitation videos in May but later removed it, explaining that the site is used to share information about world events, such as acts of terrorism and human rights abuses. |
Jackson, Miss. — The National Labor Relations Board is charging Nissan Motor Co. and a contract worker agency with violating workers’ rights at the company’s Mississippi plant.
Filed Monday, the charges claim Nissan illegally stifled workers’ right to wear pro-union or anti-union clothing when it created a uniform policy in 2014 for its manufacturing plants in Canton, as well as in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee. Also charged is Kelly Services, which provides an unknown number of contract workers in Canton.
The 2014 policy, as laid out in a question-and-answer document attached to the labor board complaint, called for most employees to wear company issued pants and shirts.
Nissan spokesman David Reuter said Friday, though, that uniforms were never mandatory.
“Nissan’s uniform program is designed to help achieve the highest standards of safety and quality in all our manufacturing facilities,” Reuter wrote in an email. “Employees have been able, and will continue to be able, to wear the clothing of their choice as long as it complies with the Nissan manufacturing dress code.”
The United Auto Workers made the complaints leading to the charges. The UAW has long sought to unionize the Canton plant, but workers haven’t petitioned for a vote, and union supporters have broadly aired claims that Nissan has intimidated workers. The company says its workers are free to unionize.
Nationally, the UAW has staked its future on unionizing Southern auto factories, with limited success so far. A vote was ongoing Friday to unionize some workers at Volkswagen AG’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
UAW Secretary Treasurer Gary Casteel hailed the charges. Only 6 percent of more than 20,000 worker complaints to the labor board in 2014 resulted in charges.
“It’s symbolic in our eyes because it’s so rare,” Casteel said. “There’s a pattern of misbehavior at Nissan, and of exploitive behavior.”
A Nissan memo dated Tuesday, which was supposed to be read to all employees in Canton, states that the point of the uniform program is to “reduce vehicle mutilation.”
“Plus, as we all know, the program is voluntary,” the memo states.
Reuter was unable late Friday to provide any Nissan documents from 2014 that indicate the uniform policy was voluntary. The Q&A indicates that employees had to wear provided shirts, pants and shorts, and that if they wore undershirts, they could have no writing on them.
Both pro-union and anti-union workers had been wearing T-shirts in Canton representing their positions.
Kathleen McKinney, the regional director of the labor board’s New Orleans office, said Nissan previously had a dress code, but did not require uniforms for most workers. McKinney said the board doesn’t believe Nissan had a legitimate business reason to mandate uniforms instead of a dress code.
“The T-shirts don’t hurt the cars,” she said. “We consider that policy to be overbroad.”
Additional charges claim that a Nissan manager, Karen Bloodsaw, illegally questioned and threatened pro-union workers in Canton on four separate occasions in late 2014 and early 2015. Bloodsaw is accused of threatening to retaliate against or fire workers for supporting the union. Bloodsaw is also accused of threatening that Nissan would close the plant if workers voted in a union. All those actions are illegal under federal labor law.
Reuter declined to comment on those claims. The Associated Press was unable to locate Bloodsaw Friday.
A March 9 hearing before an administrative law judge is scheduled on all the charges.
Nissan settled a charge in 2014 over when a Canton worker could distribute pro-union literature.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Read or Share this story: http://detne.ws/1QnaR1w |
Wanna buy a moon-rock?
By General Contributor -
NASAs SWAT team successfully nabs a 4-foot-11, 73 year old lady trying to sell a piece of moon in order to raise money for her sick son.
A PIECE OF MOON-ROCKS HISTORY
The moon is too far away and we are too poor to ever be able to land there again. So, there is quite limited supply of the lunar material available. In total, NASA’s Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972 managed to bring down some 2,200 samples of lunar rocks, pebbles, sand and dust weighing about 840 pounds. Thats it, the grand total of lunar material on our little blue-green planet. If China, Brazil, Russia or any of the so-called developing nations does not land something up there, that is all we will have for quite a long time.
A PIECE OF MOON-ROCKS LEGAL STATUS
Have you ever thought about owning a piece of moon? Well, you cant! NASA has given many lunar samples to different nations, states and even individual politicians and celebrities. Those gifts were made on the understanding that any lunar material remains government property. It is job of NASA’s inspector general to arrest anyone trying to sell it.
HOW WE TOOK CARE OF MOON-ROCKS
According to Joseph Gutheinz, a University of Phoenix instructor and former NASA investigator, NASA did not always take good care of lunar material. Sometimes, space suits were just hosed off and any moon dust on them just washed away.
Even more worrying, a recent review proved that 10 states and more than 90 countries can not account for their share of lunar material. I somehow doubt that it all went back to the moon.
ENTER THE GRANNY
Joann Davis, a grandmother who says she was trying to raise money for her sick son, owned a piece of lunar material given to her late husband by Neil Armstrong himself in the 1970s. Her husband worked as an engineer for North American Rockwell, a NASA contractor during the Apollo era. Among other space heirlooms her husband left her when he died were a small piece of the Apollo 11 space capsule heat shield and a speck of moon rock encased in an acrylic dome.
THOU SHALL NOT SELL NATIONAL TREASURE
Granny Davis obviously didnt know how to go about selling this space heirlooms so she contacted (who else) another NASA contractor to see if they could help her in the sale of these items. For some strange reason, instead of simply knocking on her door and taking the moon-rock away or even just telling her that she cant sell those rocks, big Government agency decided to make an example of this old lady.
THE STING
NASA representatives agreed to buy this moon-rock for an incredible price of $1.7 million. The meeting was agreed at Denny’s restaurant at Lake Elsinore in Riverside County. While this restaurant probably saw a lot, it had never witnessed what happened next. As soon as granny Davis showed the moon sample, half a dozen sheriff’s deputies and NASA investigators wearing bulletproof vests rushed in. When they took a hold of her, she was so scared she lost control of her bladder and in that condition was questioned and detained for two hours outside at nearby parking lot.
After all this ruff manhandling that left deep bruises on her left side, Davis was allowed to go home (without the moon-rock though) and was never booked into a police station or charged.
In the end, who knows how will all this end. Davis’s attorney, Peter Schlueter, is planning a legal action. He stated that all this was abhorrent behavior by the federal government to steal something from a retiree that was given to her.
I strongly agree that moon materials should remain government property. However, justifying the existence of so expensive governments agencies by organizing a sting operation against a 73 year old lady really seems too much. |
*Trigger warning*
This new domestic violence PSA from Refuge is pretty chilling/brilliant. The ad, called “How to look your best the morning after,” is launching on YouTube as though it were just another makeup tutorial by the popular British makeup artist Lauren Luke.
This is a really smart way to reach the young women who need to hear this message–Luke’s other tutorials have garnered more than 140 million views–and hopefully the jarring and simple message will get them to click to Refuge website, share the video with their friends, and start opening up about an issue that’s heartbreakingly common and all-too-often shrouded in silence.
Luke, who used to be in an abusive relationship herself, said, “To open up and be honest about something like this makes us feel weak among our friends and family, but in actual fact there is nothing weak about it. Those who are abusive behind closed doors are the ones who are weak.”
Transcript after the jump.
Luke: Hi everyone. I’m sorry I haven’t been online much lately, but I’m back, I’m here. I’ve had a bit of a rough time but I’m going to be doing a video today on how to cover up. I’m first going to start with some foundation. If you a apply a color that is just gently off-tone with your own skin tone, you can cover any fresh bruising. So just apply lightly to start with and you can build it up as you go. If you’ve got a lot of bruising from being pushed hard against a coffee table, you can gently apply layer after layer and you will cover them slightly. It might hurt, just try your best. And that’s looking a little bit better so far. For my lips I’m using a little more foundation. You might want to be concealer on any splits that are caused from watches or rings. If you’ve got some bruising from a jealous type of partner, you can always just put your hair down to the side. If it’s not long enough, don’t worry, because a scarf is ideal for this. I’m going to be using a scarf. So you can kind of hide it and cover it up. So that’s perfect like that.
Text: 65 percent of women who suffer domestic violence keep it hidden. Don’t cover it up. Share this and help someone speak out. |
It's a good time to have a new Ph.D. in economics and be seeking a job in academe. Or outside of academe.
A new report by the American Economic Association found that its listings for jobs for economics Ph.D.s increased by 8.5 percent in 2015, to 3,309. Academic jobs increased to 2,458, from 2,290. Nonacademic jobs increased to 846 from 761. (Not all jobs are classified in the two categories.) Economics is a field in which new doctorate recipients have long been recruited not only by colleges and universities, but by government agencies, consulting firms, banks and other organizations.
The association's annual jobs report is released in advance of the group's annual meeting, which opens Sunday in San Francisco.
Not all positions in economics are listed with the association. But the AEA study is generally considered a reliable indicator of the state of the job market, even beyond its own listings.
What may be most significant for the discipline is that the growth in open positions far exceeds the levels of 2008, when the most recent economic downturn hit. Many disciplines have been considering it a success to get back to 2008 levels.
Economics, like most disciplines, took a hit after 2008. Between then and 2010, the number of listings fell to 2,285 from 2,914. But this year's 3,309 is greater not only than the 2008 level, but of every year from 2001 on. The number of open positions also far exceeds the number of new Ph.D.s awarded in economics.
As has been the case in recent years, the top specialization in job listings is mathematical and quantitative methods.
That area was followed by (all regularly among the top five): financial economics, microeconomics, macroeconomics and international economics. |
Dear Backers,
You're awesome. Thanks again to everyone who has carried is over our funding goal, and then straight past our first two stretch goals! What a project Heroes of Steel has been! We are so proud and humbled at the same time. Our gaming community has given us such support, energy and love during these 30 days, and we thank you for it!
Be sure to check out Update #15 - the Epic Platform Pack (stretch goal to get us to Android, OUYA, iOS) which is the next stretch goal up the ladder! With just hours on the clock and only a few thousand dollars, let's stretch together!
Our deepest gratitude,
Andrew and Cory
Update #21 - The Thief Serina
Update #20 - Down to Hours!
Update #19 - Node Maps and Wall Maps
Update #18 - Stretch Goal Character Concept Art
Update #17 - The Enemy
Update #16 - Live Broadcast
Update #15 - Epic Platform Support - New Goal
Update #14 - Diversity of Characters and Replay Depth
Update #13 - Your Hero's Equipment
Update #12 - Heroes of Steel is Born!
Update #11 - The Calendar of Steel
Update #10 - Art Update!
Update #9 - Let's Stretch Together
Update #8 - The Outlander Hagaen
Update #7 - Venerated Gift Item
Update #6 - Character Concept Design
Update #4 - Mighty Starter Items
Update #3 - Cleric Character Design and Artwork
Update #2 - Alpha Access
Update #1 - Game Play
Our Stretch Goals
Every stretch goal that we can hit will expand the scope of Heroes and increase its replay value.Let's stretch together!
$14,000 - World of Steel Node Map (Achieved!)
We will release a World of Steel Node Map to for every Heroes of Steel gamer. Check out Update #19 - Node Maps and Wall Maps and the inspirational image:
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/12/21/network-chart_custom-e885bff49aaf364aa76de1fe69be1b4286de8a68-s6-c10.jpg
$16,000 - Character Expansion (Achieved!)
If we reach this stretch goal, we will include 4 extra characters in the game (total of 8): the Soldier, Bard, Rogue and the Priestess.
The Duelist is a versatile warrior who can mix and match a defensive and offensive style as needed. The duelist is capable of using a variety of light armaments include blades, thrown weapons, shields, and lighter armors. The duelist relies on his superior speed and blade work to overwhelm his enemies in combat.
is a versatile warrior who can mix and match a defensive and offensive style as needed. The duelist is capable of using a variety of light armaments include blades, thrown weapons, shields, and lighter armors. The duelist relies on his superior speed and blade work to overwhelm his enemies in combat. The Bard hails from an ancient tradition of minstrel mystics who learned how to tap into the winds of magic through the rhythm and call of music. The Bard brings a versatile set of mystical abilities to bear, but must stop and weave the magic with her music, which can make her vulnerable at times. To protect herself and the group, the Bard can train in the combat-dance of light blades and bows.
hails from an ancient tradition of minstrel mystics who learned how to tap into the winds of magic through the rhythm and call of music. The Bard brings a versatile set of mystical abilities to bear, but must stop and weave the magic with her music, which can make her vulnerable at times. To protect herself and the group, the Bard can train in the combat-dance of light blades and bows. The Rogue is a swiftly moving shadow who strikes from a distance, using his superior range and deadly arrows to deal with threats. In order to infiltrate enemy positions, the rogue is both stealthy and capable of handling locks quietly.
is a swiftly moving shadow who strikes from a distance, using his superior range and deadly arrows to deal with threats. In order to infiltrate enemy positions, the rogue is both stealthy and capable of handling locks quietly. Trained by one of the few orders which survived the rising of the Four, the Paladin is both a mystic and a warrior. The Templars of High Kallas dedicate their lives to the mission of Cortias, the 8th born Child, the protector and Home-Guard. Known for their mighty prowess, unstinting sacrifice, and pure souls the paladins of High Kallas are few in number, but highly valued.
$20,000 - Epic Platform Pack (Achieved!)
If we reach this new stretch goal, Trese Brothers will use the additional funding to on-board and embrace and new underlying game engine. We are targeting a number of cross-platform engines that will fit our needs and all of them would allow us to simultaneously produce Heroes of Steel for your Android, OUYA, and for the App Store so that it will be available on your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. This is huge!
In addition, if we are able to make this goal and on-board a new engine then all future Trese Brothers games will be developed using that engine and will have the same platform reach. Not only that, but the platforms we are evaluating also support more platforms such as HTML 5 for the web browser, and Windows, Mac OS, and Linux desktop. If we reach this stretch goal, we are not promising to hit these additional platforms, but the capabilities are just around the corner.
$22,000 - Honor Classes
If we reach this stretch goal, we will add the Honor Class system, which is a character progression that allows you to change your character’s classes during the course of the game. As the character matures and reaches a certain point of power, they will be able to select one of their two Honor Classes to reach their pinnacle of development. For example, the Outlander will be able to select between the Berserker (an all-offensive whirlwind of destruction) and the Behemoth (a heavily armored, heavily armed unstoppable tank). Each Honor Class will introduce two additional talents that the character can raise and use in new and exciting ways to augment the tactics of the entire group.
$28,000 - Epic Character Expansion
If we reach this stretch goal, we will include 4 extra characters in the game (total 12): the Hunter, Sorcerer, Assassin, and the Paladin.
The Hunter is a deadly from a distance, but if pressed is capable of holding his own in melee combat. Being effective at range requires mobility, and so the hunter focuses on light weapons and armors.
The Sorcerer’s magical talents focus on the crackling elemental powers of ice, air, and lightning to hinder his enemies or to empower his companions. When the Sedolla Bastions collapsed into a bloody civil war, one of the casualties of the war was an ancient mystical order which had made its home in Sedolla for ages. The sorcerers are the descendants of that long lost order, who draw their mystical teachings from the remnants of grimoires recovered from the disaster.
magical talents focus on the crackling elemental powers of ice, air, and lightning to hinder his enemies or to empower his companions. When the Sedolla Bastions collapsed into a bloody civil war, one of the casualties of the war was an ancient mystical order which had made its home in Sedolla for ages. The sorcerers are the descendants of that long lost order, who draw their mystical teachings from the remnants of grimoires recovered from the disaster. The Assassin strikes with a fatal combination of stealth and melee prowess. Trained for speed, aggressive combat, and stealth, she is perfect for sliding through, or picking apart, enemy defenses. While the assassin boasts deadly offensive capabilities, she lacks the constitution to stand up to punishment in combat.
strikes with a fatal combination of stealth and melee prowess. Trained for speed, aggressive combat, and stealth, she is perfect for sliding through, or picking apart, enemy defenses. While the assassin boasts deadly offensive capabilities, she lacks the constitution to stand up to punishment in combat. The Monk is trained from an early age in both spiritual and physical hardening. This discipline and focus allows her to channel her connection with the 13 Children and especially with the Ellista, the Seer-born, the meditative. The Monk combines both stunning speed, mighty stopping power in melee, and the ability to tap into the mystical energies to heal and protect her companions.
$34,000 - Epic Monsters
If we reach this stretch goal, we will introduce gigantic monsters into the game. These monsters will take up more than one square/space. This opens up the door, allowing us to add giants, wyverns, dragons, and other massive creatures of dark lore and legend. Also, if we reach this stretch goal any backer who chose to Design a Dark Race will be invited to create an epic monster for their newly spawned race of evil!
$40,000 - Darker Powers Storyline
If we reach this stretch goal, we will add a multi-chapter storyline that allow you to play a group of four characters who serve of the Darker Powers.
Our Story
“Delve deep into the earth, strike deep into the heart of evil and hold deeply to your conviction that you are the All-Father’s right hand of retribution.”
- Captain Andreas Kole, Templar of High Kallas
The Trese Brothers, creators of the mobile games Star Traders, Templar Assault and Cyber Knights are back and on the case! This time the goal is to create the mobile fantasy RPG you’ve been waiting for. Heroes of Steel is a squad-based turn-based tactical RPG set in the grim fantasy world of Steel, and it will challenge you with both an immense world and a deep and engaging game system. As lifelong gamers, the Trese Brothers loved and gamed in the great predecessors to Heroes, starting with the tabletop greats such as Heroes Quest and then into the digital age with games like Castle of the Winds, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Diablo I and II. Inheriting a dark and gritty fantasy world from the Treses’ pen-and-paper game worlds, Heroes will bring retro computer games and fantasy role playing together on mobile Android platforms in a unique and exciting way!
The Trese Brothers are a pair of brothers on a mission -- to build the best RPGs for mobile devices, to build games that we love to play, and hope that you love to play too. We can’t compete with the big game shops and their slick rendering and graphics, and frankly we don't want to. We take our productions in a different direction, where we produce and faithfully support deeply complex and challenging mobile games that go far, far beyond “casual.” We listen closely to our community of fans, gamers, and critics on how to improve the games and continuously push new updates and improvements into all of our games. We have literally shipped hundreds of updates to our three games over the last two years. And we have fans who have played our games for two years and still love them. Talk about getting your few bucks worth! Try them yourself --
Star Traders - command your ship and travel the immense galaxy in this epic space-opera RPG
Templar Assault - control your squad of elite soldiers in this tactical space-combat game set in the Star Traders Quadrant
Cyber Knights - fight, hack, and perform acts of espionage in this futuristic cyberpunk RPG
We want to bring this same love, challenge and excitement to the fantasy RPG genre, and Heroes of Steel is our first foray. We hope that you will help fund the Heroes project so that we can provide you with a gaming platform for truly epic adventure!
From the notes of Yazad Novian, Historian born under the 16th moon, Cassandra Waxing
All stories such as this start with the downfall. We remember our history, the history of people. Or at least fragments of it before the fall. The kingdoms of Trentan, and High Kallas, the plains of Relliar and the bloody civil war over the Sedolla Bastions. We strive to remember all that was lost. But the druids, the Dhrogas, they remember the Gods and how the world was born, and how it crumbled.
They tell us, in story and in song, that the All-Father birthed 13 sons and daughters of his own hands. In the shadow of the Children, He created humanity in his likeness. But, we forgot both Him and the Children, as we got caught up in our own ways, the chaotic way of great Kingdoms, and the clink of coppers and silvers. Of course some part of us remembered them. The old temples, our calendar, the names we give our children--they all pay heritage to the Thirteen and to the All-Father.
In our own ways, some say that before the fall, we were already blindly following in the path of the four Children who rose up. The four Dark-Born who plotted against the other Children, who dared to plot against the All-Father himself. Such was their combined power that together, they captured the All-Father in a mighty snare, and shattered him. The world and many of our dreams broke with him.
The kingdoms burned, and many turned to follow the Dark-Born with eyes wide open. Men and kings turned on their neighbor, turned to worship the daemons of the dark, and turned into beast under the touch of the Corruptor.
It was in this dark hour that the Dhrogas, the ancient druids, led some of us out of the Lands to escape destruction. They led by instinct, by prophecy--not by knowledge. They led us down into the earth, into the great chasms wrought by the shattering. They led us here, to these hollows, vales and tunnels, causeways and ancient structures discovered under the earth. No one knows who created them, or for what purpose, but we have made them our own. Not even the Dhrogas know.
We have scratched out a living under the earth, established a few strongholds, and fewer cities. The Dark Four have ravaged the world, and now their minions surround us, chipping at the fragile framework of our world. We are all that is left, the remnants of our world has formed into small isolated towns and villages. The six remaining Barons hold to their fiefs, to their castles and protect their lands, promising some degree of safety from the dark. But we lack the power to fight back, to turn the tide--we can only dig in and try to survive. We must look to our youth, to our brightest and strongest, and hope that heroes will emerge.
In Heroes of Steel, you command a party of four heroes with a diverse set of backgrounds, skills, and abilities as you strive to protect the shattered remains of civilization from dark powers. Your adventure will follow the heroes through a sprawling story that will start a few years after the shattering and covering the legendary struggle against the dark. A rich world full of sub-plots, quests, and diversions will be wrapped in and around the main story, allowing you to enjoy the world of Steel to the fullest depths.
The world of Steel, as you will know it, will feel like an endless series of dungeons, underground lairs, lost highways, and buried cisterns. The druids led the survivors into the under-deep, and they have been forced to settle there and scratch out a life beneath the surface. Much of the action of Heroes of Steel will occur below ground, but there will be brief glimpses of the surface, when nearing a town or traversing open ground, when the weak light from the sun slants down through the chasm to the stony floor.
As you progress through the game’s story, you will uncover many secrets of the world of Steel and its splintered pantheon of gods. The main plot and the web of subplots will deepen your understanding and appreciation for the rich world, and the forces of evil that threaten to overwhelm it. The courageous acts you will undertake in Heroes will become the core stories, myths and legends spread by humanity in future games within the trilogy of Steel. Taking inspiration from the pen and paper role-playing games developed by the Trese Brothers, you will find grim themes running through the storylines and a focus on human problems.
When creating your party you can choose from a variety of distinct characters to form a balanced group. Heroes of Steel will provide four unique classes from which to choose, each with their own abilities and special powers which you can further develop. Taking inspiration from other classic games, each class will have its own tree of special abilities allowing you to choose how each character evolves. This depth of customization will allow you to create characters of the same basic class who function very differently within your party. Will you build a purely offensive sorcerer wielding fiery wrath, or spread your talents to enable a team-player or a defensive caster? In Heroes, you have that flexibility.
As you traverse the sprawling world, your party will be faced with myriad challenges such as deadly traps, extensive mazes and fearsome enemies of all varieties. Heroes of Steel will features hundreds of monster types, organized into thematic and deadly monster families. To combat the powers of darkness your party will accumulate and use hundreds of unique pieces of weapons, armor, and accessories. As the story continues and your power levels increase, your strategy of combining the effects of your magical gear and character’s powers will have a distinct effect on how your character copes with the highest level and most dangerous threats later in the game.
As your party explores the dungeons, cities and crypts of the world, you will decide the strategy and approach your team takes. You could build a team of tightly integrated specialists who perform optimally within earshot of each other and confront dangers back to back. On the other hand, your characters could be developed to be self-sufficient adventurers who strike out alone, sneak through enemy lines, split into smaller groups or face challenges individually. If we reach our funding goal, Heroes of Steel will start with four characters to form your group, equip, train, and specialize:
The Outlander is a powerful melee combatant, focusing on high physical endurance and immense offensive power.
is a powerful melee combatant, focusing on high physical endurance and immense offensive power. The Wizard is a mystic trained to support the war against the Dark Four and all their agents. His training has prepared him for the widest variety of challenges.
is a mystic trained to support the war against the Dark Four and all their agents. His training has prepared him for the widest variety of challenges. The Cleric follows the venerable and holy path of the All-Father, employing powerful magics to heal and empower her companions, holy blessings against the dark powers and her training by the Temple Brethren to fight with light melee weapons and armors in battle.
follows the venerable and holy path of the All-Father, employing powerful magics to heal and empower her companions, holy blessings against the dark powers and her training by the Temple Brethren to fight with light melee weapons and armors in battle. The Thief is a master of stealth, deception, and cunning. Her myriad of talents include picking locks, detecting and disarming traps, and slipping past enemy defenses undetected.
An epic fantasy role-playing game featuring multiple classes, unique skill tree, piles of magical loot from which to pick and choose, and an arsenal of enemies and monsters to face, resulting in almost endless replayability? We hope you are salivating just like we are!
Trese Brothers is on a mission to make the best old-school RPGs for Android mobile devices. But we know we can’t build these games alone! We rely on you (our community) to help us develop the best games out there. How do we do that? Well, we listen on all the channels, we respond and we discuss. And often, you will see your suggestions or requests appearing in our games after a few more updates. We have built a small but excited community around this model and believe that Star Traders, Templar Assault, and Cyber Knights are some of the best (and still improving) games on the Android market because of your feedback!
Heroes of Steel will be built on the same model. A critical component of our strategy which allows us to truly listen to you is that we “release early and release often.” We will release Heroes of Steel to our alpha testers (see Rewards) as soon as it is playable and fun--way before it is finished. Heroes will make it to the Android markets (Google Play and Amazon) a short time later, with much of your alpha feedback incorporated within the game. Even then, we know Heroes will continue to evolve and improve. We will hammer it with updates from both our game design plan, and also from our active community suggestions until it is as rich, deep, complex and immersive as is possible on the Android platform. So, please help us fund Heroes of Steel and you’ll have the opportunity to join us on our forum, Facebook, and blog to lend a hand in building one of the best tactical RPGs on the Android markets (Google Play and Amazon). Our community-driven games give every contributor a chance to get involved!
KickStarter is a great way to grow our community of gamers who are excited about what Trese Brothers is doing. We are unique breed of game designer … we want to build games for you and with you. KickStarter funding allows you to get involved and help drive the game development, and in turn, your funding helps us invest the time and resources into making an amazing game. If we can fund the Heroes of Steel project, then it will open up the door so that we can create this game, and gather all the feedback from our alpha testers, and community so that we can be sure to make a game that you love.
Backer Rewards
If you join us on KickStarter as a backer, here is an in-depth explanation of the rewards that can await you! Please help us fund the Heroes of Steel project!
$1 - Our Thanks!
Backers at this level will be kept in the loop during every step of the production and receive a personal thank you on Twitter from the creators. This includes a first look at new artwork, plot teasers, and game mechanics.
$5 - Forum Badge "Heroes of Steel Supporter"
Backers at this level who are members of our Trese Brothers community forum will gain the unique “Heroes of Steel Supporter” badge which can only be obtained via KickStarter. Wear it proudly! Plus you will get a personal thank you on Twitter and be kept in the loop throughout every step of production.
$10 - Wallpaper Pack
You will receive a wallpaper pack for your computer or device which includes two large scale images featuring character and concept art for Heroes of Steel. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$15 - Your Name in the Credits
Your name will appear in the credits for Heroes of Steel as a KickStarter supporter. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$25 - Digital Art Book
Before Heroes of Steel is released to the Android markets (Google Play and Amazon), you will receive an exclusive digital art book of the game's art and concept art in PDF form. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$40 - Mighty Starter Item
You will receive an unlock code that will allow your lead character in a new game to receive a unique item specifically crafted for his or her class. The Mighty Starter item will give you a distinct advantage in the early stages of your game, especially on harder difficulties. These items are only available through KickStarter! Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$75 - Venerated Gift Item
You will receive an unlock code which will allow any party that successfully completes the first Chapter to receive an additional rewards -- the Venerated Gift. The Venerated Gift item is unique to your lead character’s class and will give you a powerful advantage as you advance into the second and third Chapters. These items are only available through KickStarter! Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$100 - Alpha Access (limit 100)
More than a month before Heroes of Steel is released to the Android markets, you will gain access to the game for our alpha testing program. You will be able to download the game onto your devices, test out the game, the story, and mechanics, and most importantly you will have special access to the Trese Brothers developers and artists to give early feedback and help drive the game evolution. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$150 - Steel Map Wall Poster
When the game is released, you will receive a high resolution wall poster of the map of the world of Steel printed at 10 x 18 inches. This exclusive map will include all the critical locations throughout the Heroes of Steel storyline. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$200 - Exclusive Heroes of Steel T-Shirt
When the game is released, you will receive the exclusive Heroes of Steel t-shirt designed by our art team and only available on KickStarter. Wear it proudly! Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$350 - Epic Boon Item
You will receive an unlock code which will grant the Epic Boon Item to any party when they complete the seventh Chapter of Heroes of Steel. The Epic Boon item is unique and is so mighty that one of your characters will want to wear it throughout the end of the game. The Epic Boon item is only available through KickStarter! Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$500 - Join the World of Steel as an NPC (limit 10)
You will join the World of Steel as an NPC! Work with the writers and art team to design an NPC, including providing a portrait, your name (if you so choose) and character traits. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels!
$750 - Design Your Own Subplot (limit 10)
Before the release of Heroes of Steel, you will work directly with Cory and Andrew to design a subplot or subquest in the world of Steel, including the backstory, challenges, and ending. Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels (excluding Joining the World as an NPC).
$1,000 - Immortalized as a God (limit 4)
You will join the ranks of 13 Children of the All-Father. Your portrait will be immortalized as one of the 13 Children who will be featured throughout Heroes of Steel and the entire Steel trilogy. Will you join the epic trilogy of Steel as a power of Light or Dark? Note that the names and traits of the Children are already set, but you can pick among them. One of our first updates will provide more details! Plus, you will receive all gifts from the lower backer levels (excluding Joining the World as an NPC and Design your own Subplot).
$2,000 - Design a Dark Race (limit 2)
Work directly with the Trese Brothers artist and a designer to create your own race of monsters within the world of Steel. You can work with the Trese Brothers team to determine their place in the world, special powers, and weaknesses. Once designed, you can help us create four different varieties of this monster (for example, Orc Ratkin Warrior,Giant Rat, Ratkin Shaman, Ratkin Assassin). And, your personal monster race will be featured in all future games within the trilogy of Steel! If we reach the Epic Monsters stretch goal, you will be invited to add an Epic Monster to your race of monsters (such as, Ratkin Stone-Serpent Rider)! Plus, your name will appear in the credits and you will receive the unlock code for the Epic Boon Item, an exclusive Heroes of Steel t-shirt, a wall poster map of the world of Steel, early access to the game for alpha testing, the unlock code for the Venerated Gift item, the unlock code for the Mighty Starter item, a digital art book of game art, a digital wallpaper pack, a Heroes of Steel Supporter badge for our forum, a personal thank you on Twitter and we will keep you in loop at every stage of production.
What are the other Trese Brothers' games I can try?
To understand the time, detail, and attention to community feedback that Trese Brothers give to their games, you should try them out! We think you will be impressed. If you are having any doubts about backing the Heroes of Steel project, just pick up one of our games and join our community forum to see if you enjoy our style and fanatical customer service. |
For other people named Alf Boe, see Alf Boe (disambiguation)
Alfred Giovanni Roncalli Boe (born 29 September 1973) is an English tenor and actor, notably performing in musical theatre.[1][2]
He is best known for his performances as Jean Valjean in the musical Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre in London, the Les Misérables: 25th Anniversary Concert in October 2010, and in the Broadway revival. He played the lead role in Finding Neverland on Broadway beginning 29 March 2016.[3] As well, Boe shared a Tony Award with the other members of the ensemble cast of Baz Luhrmann's 2002 revival of La bohème in 2003.[1] He has sold over one million albums in the United Kingdom.[4]
Background [ edit ]
Boe, the youngest in a family of nine children,[5] was born in Blackpool, Lancashire, and brought up in nearby Fleetwood. He is of Irish and Norwegian descent. His mother and father named him after the Italian name of Pope John XXIII.[6][7] He attended St Wulstan's and St Edmund's School[8] and Cardinal Allen Catholic High School in Fleetwood.[citation needed] His earliest musical memories were of listening to his father's Richard Tauber records and at the age of 11 he discovered Puccini's La Bohème for the first time.[citation needed]
Boe's first public performance, aged 14, was at Fleetwood's Marine Hall in a "Songs from the Shows" presentation organised by inspirational local singing teacher Lottie Dawson. He states that although he sang only a couple of lines he was extremely nervous.
At the age of 17, Boe became an apprentice mechanic at the TVR factory in Bispham, Blackpool.[9] He enjoyed entertaining his colleagues by singing opera arias while he polished the cars, and one day was overheard by a client with connections in the music industry who was so impressed that he suggested Boe should go to London and audition for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. His audition was a success and he gave up polishing cars to embark on a singing career.[9] Boe has never been able to trace the customer who suggested he go for the audition, having lost the man's business card.[10]
Singing and acting career [ edit ]
Boe moved to London and studied singing at the Royal College of Music, the National Opera Studio and the Royal Opera House's Vilar Young Artists Programme. In 1999 and 2000, he was featured as the "opera dude" on albums by the Clint Boon Experience, led by the former organist of the Inspiral Carpets. In 1999 he sang Ernesto for Scottish Opera in their Opera-Go-Round production of Don Pasquale, touring widely throughout Scotland.[11]
Broadway and West End [ edit ]
Baz Luhrmann, who had spent two years looking for the lead for his Broadway production of La Bohème, approached Boe for the role.[9] Boe subsequently appeared (credited as Alfred Boe) on the 2002 Broadway Cast Recording released by Bazmark Live Pty Ltd. Boe and the other principal leads received a Tony Honors Award in 2003. He has also sung the role at Glyndebourne and the English National Opera.
In 2006, Boe was signed to the Classic FM Presents label as their first signing in a new venture for the radio station, and his album Classic FM Presents Alfie Boe[12] reached number three in the UK classical chart.[9] At the 2006 Canterbury Festival, on 27 October, Boe performed with soprano Hayley Westenra at a concert in Canterbury Cathedral.[13] In November 2006 he was signed to the EMI Classics label[9] and his first album on that label, Onward, was released in March 2007.
Boe toured the United Kingdom with the Fron Male Voice Choir in February 2007 and took part in the first Classic FM webcast concert with soprano Natasha Marsh in March. The same month, he was appointed as an ambassador of the Prince of Wales Arts & Kids Foundation, a British educational charity working to inspire and educate children by introducing them to the arts. Boe's role being to bring music, and opera in particular for those children involved.[5]
In April, Boe starred opposite Lesley Garrett and Willard White in the ITV Music of Morse concert at the Royal Albert Hall.[14] He was also nominated for a Classical BRIT for Best Album,[15] missing out to Paul McCartney at the ceremony on 3 May 2007.[14][16]
Boe also performed with Michael Ball in the English National Opera production of Kismet.[14] His live performance of the song "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet on the Michael Parkinson show was released as a digital download single on 25 June 2007. In August, Boe realised an ambition to record an album of Neapolitan songs which was released in November under the title La Passione.[14] On 24 August 2007 he performed at the Arundel Festival alongside Natasha Marsh.[17][18] On 19 October 2007 he performed at Canterbury Cathedral during the Canterbury Festival.[19] Boe also performed at the annual Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall on 10 November 2007.[20]
On 31 January 2008, Boe performed at the Pleasure Beach Arena, Blackpool, to over 1,600 local children, in a special Music Quest concert to help introduce the classics to a new generation and to celebrate the end of the Music Quest three-year project which was sponsored by the Prince of Wales Arts & Kids Foundation and Classic FM MusicMakers.[8]
Les Misérables [ edit ]
On 3 October 2010, Boe took on the role of Jean Valjean in a concert performance of the musical Les Misérables at the O2 Arena in London to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the show, released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The concert encore performance of "Bring Him Home", credited as the "Valjean Quartet" — Boe with Colm Wilkinson, John Owen-Jones and Simon Bowman (each of whom has portrayed Valjean in various theatrical productions) — was re-recorded at the Abbey Road Studios and released as a charity CD single and digital download on 13 December 2010. On 16 December 2010, Boe once again performed as Valjean in the Royal Variety Performance in front of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall singing "What Have I Done?", and "Bring Him Home" again alongside Wilkinson, Owen-Jones and Bowman.
Boe appeared as Valjean in Les Misérables at the Queen's Theatre, London, from 23 June to 26 November 2011.[21] His friend Matt Lucas also joined the cast as Thenardier. During his run as Valjean, Boe appeared in the "Les Misérables v Lend Me a Tenor Battle of the Tenors" at Soho's Winnett Street, London on 13 July 2011. In August, Boe performed with the National Symphony Orchestra at Beau Sejour and Gloucester Hall.
In 2015, he reprised the role of Valjean in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables at the Imperial Theatre in New York. He succeeded Ramin Karimloo - who played Enjolras in the 25th Anniversary concert - on 1 September 2015.[22]
Alfie starred as the romantic lead Billy Bigelow in Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel in a limited run at the English National Opera directed by Lonny Price, opposite vocalist Katherine Jenkins.
Other performances [ edit ]
In January 2011, Boe performed for English National Opera in La Bohème and The Mikado. In March 2011, Boe performed three concerts in Idaho: two in Rexburg, and one in Sun Valley. In April, Boe appeared in The Great British Musical – The Famous and the Future at the Criterion Theatre and the St George's Day celebration concert in Trafalgar Square. In May, Boe went on to perform at the Classical BRIT Awards ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall, in the Isle of Man, and then headlined the Hampton Court Palace Festival finale on 18 June 2011.
Boe appeared in the BBC Last Night of the Proms concert at the Caird Hall on 10 September 2011 and the Llanelli Choral Society's Grand Performance Concert at Tabernacle Chapel, Llanelli on 24 September 2011. Boe commenced the "Alfie Boe 'Bring Him Home' UK Concert Tour" in Bristol on 6 December 2011, finishing in Gateshead Sage on 4 February 2012.
In October 2011, Boe announced that he would be appearing in the Lytham Proms Festival Weekend on 4 August 2012. Tickets went on sale on 14 October 2011. The festival is held in the town of Lytham St Annes close to his home town of Fleetwood. The local newspaper Blackpool Gazette described his concert as a 'homecoming' using the title 'Bring HIM Home'.
On 6 May 2012, Boe performed at the Kauffman Center in Kansas City, Missouri. On 4 June 2012, Boe performed at the Diamond Jubilee Concert for the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. He sang "’O sole mio" leading into Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never". He also sang, with American soprano Renee Fleming, "Somewhere" from West Side Story, this performance taking place on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. He appeared on The One Show on 30 August 2012. On 2 October 2012, Boe embarked on a major U.S./Canada concert tour starting in Dallas, Texas, ending in Toronto on 29 October.
In December 2012, Boe was featured as a guest artist for the holiday concert series of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra at Temple Square and Bells on Temple Square. The concerts also featured legendary broadcaster Tom Brokaw who narrated the story of Gail Halvorsen (who also made an appearance) and the candy bombers of the Second World War. Boe performed several Christmas favourites as well as 'Bring Him Home'. The live performances were recorded and released as Home for the Holidays feat. Alfie Boe.
Boe returned to the US in late January 2013 for a short (8 cities) tour, starting in Albany, New York 27 January and ending in Pittsburgh 9 February. In February 2013, Boe, colloquially known as the Lancashire Michael Bublé,[23] was awarded two platinum albums by the BPI for Alfie (2011) and Bring Him Home (2010). Back in the UK, Boe did a three-week, 14-city tour, which started in Birmingham and ended in Belfast, Northern Ireland. On 15 April 2013, Boe was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Music from his Alma Mater.[24] On 26 May 2013, Boe sang "Bring Him Home" at the U.S. National Memorial Day Concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol in Washington, D.C.
On 9 May 2015 he performed at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in Horse Guards Parade, London.
On 4 and 5 June 2015, Boe performed two concerts at Symphony Hall with the Phoenix Symphony, filling in for Colm Wilkinson, who was forced to drop out due to illness.[25]
Television [ edit ]
Boe appeared as music-hall singer Richard Chapman in an episode of Mr Selfridge. In 2016 & 2017, Ball and Boe appeared in two ITV Specials, the first being Ball & Boe: One Night Only and the second being Ball & Boe Back Together. In December 2017, Boe replaced Aled Jones as presenter of Christmas Carols on ITV. On 3 March, Boe performed in 'The End of the Show Show' on Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway alongside Michael Ball.
Personal life [ edit ]
Boe met his wife Sarah while rehearsing La Bohème in San Francisco. They have two children, daughter Grace and son Alfred Robert.[26] He is a member of the Grand Order of Water Rats.[27]
Solo recordings [ edit ]
Classic FM Presents Alfie Boe (Classic FM, 2006/Reissued with alternate cover photo, Universal Music, 2008/Reissued with alternative title The Sound Of Alfie Boe as HMV exclusive on Decca, UK, February 2011)
(Classic FM, 2006/Reissued with alternate cover photo, Universal Music, 2008/Reissued with alternative title as HMV exclusive on Decca, UK, February 2011) Onward (physical CD contains 12 tracks – some digital download versions feature an additional track "Where'er You Walk (from Semele )" – EMI Classics, 2007)
(physical CD contains 12 tracks – some digital download versions feature an additional track "Where'er You Walk (from )" – EMI Classics, 2007) A Living Prayer (Radio Edit)/Abide With Me (EMI Classics, 2007 – digital download single)
(EMI Classics, 2007 – digital download single) Stranger In Paradise (Live On Parkinson)/ You'll Never Walk Alone (EMI Classics, 2007 – digital download single)
(Live On Parkinson)/ (EMI Classics, 2007 – digital download single) Live At Abbey Road – The Napster Sessions (Napster exclusive 4-track digital download includes 3 live songs from "La Passione" and a cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" – EMI Classics, 2007)
(Napster exclusive 4-track digital download includes 3 live songs from "La Passione" and a cover of The Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby" – EMI Classics, 2007) La Passione (physical CD contains 15 tracks – some digital download versions feature an additional track "Lolita". Another track "La Paloma" recorded but not issued. EMI Classics, 2007)
(physical CD contains 15 tracks – some digital download versions feature an additional track "Lolita". Another track "La Paloma" recorded but not issued. EMI Classics, 2007) Franz Lehár: Love Was A Dream (Linn Records, 2009/Reissued as "Love Was A Dream" with new artwork on Decca, July 2011)
(Linn Records, 2009/Reissued as "Love Was A Dream" with new artwork on Decca, July 2011) Bring Him Home (studio version, credited as the Valjean Quartet – Alfie Boe, Simon Bowman, John Owen-Jones and Colm Wilkinson – Cameron Mackintosh Limited, 2010 – CD/digital download charity single)
(studio version, credited as the Valjean Quartet – Alfie Boe, Simon Bowman, John Owen-Jones and Colm Wilkinson – Cameron Mackintosh Limited, 2010 – CD/digital download charity single) Bring Him Home (includes duets with Kerry Ellis & Matt Lucas, Shakira and Melanie C – Decca Records, December 2010)
(includes duets with Kerry Ellis & Matt Lucas, Shakira and Melanie C – Decca Records, December 2010) You'll Never Walk Alone – The Collection 16-song compilation CD features 6 songs not included on Boe's solo CD albums – 2 songs from Eternal Light , plus "Where'er You Walk", "Brindisi", "Abide With Me" and "Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna". (EMI Classics, 21 March 2011)
16-song compilation CD features 6 songs not included on Boe's solo CD albums – 2 songs from , plus "Where'er You Walk", "Brindisi", "Abide With Me" and "Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna". (EMI Classics, 21 March 2011) Alfie UK version – 15 tracks, includes tracks featuring Michael Ball & Robert Plant (Decca Records, 31 October 2011)
UK version – 15 tracks, includes tracks featuring Michael Ball & Robert Plant (Decca Records, 31 October 2011) Alfie US version – 15 tracks, includes tracks featuring Nick Jonas & Robert Plant. The US version substitutes the "Empty Chairs" duet from Michael Ball to Nick Jonas, and deletes "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" replaced with the studio version of "Bring Him Home". (Decca Records, 5 June 2012)
US version – 15 tracks, includes tracks featuring Nick Jonas & Robert Plant. The US version substitutes the "Empty Chairs" duet from Michael Ball to Nick Jonas, and deletes "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" replaced with the studio version of "Bring Him Home". (Decca Records, 5 June 2012) Storyteller UK version – 13 tracks (Decca Records, 12 November 2012)
UK version – 13 tracks (Decca Records, 12 November 2012) Storyteller UK digital download version - 16 tracks [adds "Always A Woman To Me", "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You (Secret Rehearsal Take)", and "Bring Him Home (Live Version)" plus 4 "Song Commentary" video clips (Decca Records, 9 November 2012 – Amazon.co.uk and iTunes UK]
UK digital download version - 16 tracks [adds "Always A Woman To Me", "I Can't Help Falling In Love With You (Secret Rehearsal Take)", and "Bring Him Home (Live Version)" plus 4 "Song Commentary" video clips (Decca Records, 9 November 2012 – Amazon.co.uk and iTunes UK] Storyteller UK Sainsbury's Entertainment version – 15 tracks (adds "Wayfaring Stranger – Bonus Track – Live From Dallas", and "Rank Strangers To Me – Bonus Track – Live From Dallas" (Decca Records, 12 November)
UK Sainsbury's Entertainment version – 15 tracks (adds "Wayfaring Stranger – Bonus Track – Live From Dallas", and "Rank Strangers To Me – Bonus Track – Live From Dallas" (Decca Records, 12 November) Storyteller US version – 14 tracks includes exclusive bonus track "Angel" (Decca Records, 6 August 2013)
US version – 14 tracks includes exclusive bonus track "Angel" (Decca Records, 6 August 2013) Trust UK version – 12 tracks (Decca Records, 11 November 2013)
UK version – 12 tracks (Decca Records, 11 November 2013) Trust US version – 13 tracks - adds a bonus version of "Danny Boy" (Mr. Selfridge version) (Manhattan Records, 29 April 2014)
Also appears on [ edit ]
"Johann Strauss: Die Fledermaus - Sung in English - D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, John Owen Edwards - conductor" (The first released studio recording of Alfred Boe - 2-CD, Sony Classics S2K 64573, 1995)
The Compact Guide to Pop Music and Space Travel (The Clint Boon Experience! aka CBX! - guest appearance on two tracks: "Comet Theme Number One" & "Only One Way I Can Go" - credited as Alf Boe: Opera Vocal - Artful Records, 1999)
(The Clint Boon Experience! aka CBX! - guest appearance on two tracks: "Comet Theme Number One" & "Only One Way I Can Go" - credited as Alf Boe: Opera Vocal - Artful Records, 1999) "Gilbert & Sullivan: HMS Pinafore - The 1999 D'Oyly Carte Cast Complete Dialogue & Songs Recording" (Performing the role of Ralph Rackstraw, credited as Alfred Boe - 2-CD, TER, 2000 - Reissued 2008)
Life in Transition (The Clint Boon Experience! aka CBX! - guest appearance on four tracks: "This is the Sound", "Life in Transition", "17 & Over!" & "In Chaos I See" - credited as Alf Boe: Opera Vocal - Artful Records, 2000)
(The Clint Boon Experience! aka CBX! - guest appearance on four tracks: "This is the Sound", "Life in Transition", "17 & Over!" & "In Chaos I See" - credited as Alf Boe: Opera Vocal - Artful Records, 2000) "The Most Happy Fella - First Complete Recording - Studio Cast" (3-CD Box Set - appears on 6 tracks, performing the role of Giuseppe, credited as Alfred Boe. Recorded 1997-1999 - JAY, 2000 - Reissued on TER, 2010)
"Verdi: Aida - The 2002 Opera In English Recording" (2-CD Box Set - appears on 2 tracks in the role of "A Messenger" - credited as Alfred Boe - Chandos "Opera In English", 2002)
"La Bohème - The 2002 Broadway Cast Recording" (credited as Alfred Boe - Bazmark Live Pty Ltd., 2002)
"Barry Banks Sings Bel Canto Arias" (Alfred Boe as Pilades duets on "Palace of Horrors! - Ah, How Can I Hide the Flames" from Rossini's "Ermione", Recorded September 2001 - Chandos "Opera in English", 2004)
"Sleigh Ride" (Alfred Boe appears on 2 tracks: "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" & "O Holy Night" - The Boston Pops Orchestra - Conducted By Keith Lockhart, Artemis Classics, 2004)
"Myleene’s Music For Romance" (Myleene Klass - 2-CD Compilation features previously unreleased Alfie Boe track "Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna" written by Donovan from the Zeffirelli film "Brother Sun, Sister Moon" - EMI Classics, 2007)
"Elizabeth Marvelly" (Self-titled debut CD features Alfie Boe duet on "Stranger in Paradise" - EMI, 2007)
Howard Goodall, Eternal Light: A Requiem (tenor soloist on 4 tracks, with Natasha Marsh; Christopher Maltman; Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford; London Musici; and Stephen Darlington; EMI Classics, 2008)
(tenor soloist on 4 tracks, with Natasha Marsh; Christopher Maltman; Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford; London Musici; and Stephen Darlington; EMI Classics, 2008) "Natasha Marsh" (Self-titled CD featuring Alfie Boe duet on "Brindisi" (La Traviata) - EMI Classics, 2008)
"Pride of the Nation" (The Band of the Coldstream Guards, CD featuring Alfie Boe on "Jerusalem" (Parry, arr. Eyton) - Decca CD/DVD + Digital Download, 28 March 2011)
"Downton Abbey" (Original Music from the Television Series - Alfie sings 2 tracks "If You Were the Only Girl (In the World)" and "Roses of Picardy") - Decca CD + Digital Download, 19 September 2011)
"First Night" (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Alfie sings 1 solo "Un'aura amorosa", 1 duet "Volgi a me (Fra gli amplessi)" and appears on 1 ensemble track "Fortunato - Act II Finale", all from Mozart's "Così fan tutte" - Sony Classical CD + Digital Download, 17 October 2011)
"Summon The Heroes" (The Band of H.M. Royal Marines - Alfie sings 1 solo "Over the Hills and Far Away" - Decca CD + Digital Download, 14 November 2011)
"One Vision" (Alfie Boe & Kimberley Walsh featuring Youth Music Voices Choir - Decca (UMO) UK Digital Download Only, 11 May 2012)
"Sing - E.P." (Gary Barlow & the Commonwealth Band Feat. Alfie Boe & Military Wives - Alfie sings on "Land of Hope and Glory" - Decca CD + Digital Download, 28 May 2012)
Home for the Holidays feat. Alfie Boe (Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD + Digital Download + DVD, 15 October 2013)[28]
Discography [ edit ]
Studio albums [ edit ]
Compilation albums [ edit ]
List of albums Title Details You'll Never Walk Alone
- The Collection Released: 21 March 2011
Label: EMI Classics
Formats: CD, digital download Solo & Apart: A Collection
of Songs from Their Past
(with Michael Ball Released: 3 November 2017
Label: Decca, Universal
Formats: CD
Video albums [ edit ]
List of albums, with selected chart positions Title Details Certifications Alfie Boe Live - The Bring Him
Home Tour Released: 12 March 2012
Label: Universal Pictures
Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, digital download BPI: Gold
Album appearances [ edit ]
Singles [ edit ]
Awards and nominations [ edit ]
Year Award Category Result 2003 Tony Awards Tony Honour for Excellence in Theatre (La bohème ensemble) Won 2008 Classic Brit Awards Male Artist of the Year Nominated Album of the Year (Onward) Nominated 2011 Silver Clef Awards PPL Classical Award Won |
CBO Director Doug Elmendorf (Alex Wong/GETTY Images)
Even before Republicans won full control of Congress, there was a lot of scary talk from liberals about the damage Republicans might do to that nonpartisan mediator, the Congressional Budget Office. The director's job will be open in January, and speculation has been rampant about which far-right economist the GOP chairmen of the House and Senate Budget committees might seek to install to do their nefarious bidding.
Over the past few days, some heavy-hitters in conservative circles have made their choice clear: Republicans should keep Doug Elmendorf, the current CBO director. A guy appointed by Democrats.
Why? Because Elmendorf has been scrupulously impartial, they argue, and unafraid to cut the knees out from under some illegitimate liberal ideas. A Democratic appointee willing to trash stupid Democratic policies, they argue, is a potent weapon that Republicans should think twice about casting aside.
The cavalcade of conservative accolades for Elmendorf kicked off over the weekend with a blog post from Greg Mankiw, the chairman of the Harvard economics department and a former adviser to both president George W. Bush and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney. More followed, from Alan Viard, a Bush White House economist now at the American Enterprise Institute; author Charles Murray via Twitter; AEI scholar Michael R. Strain, writing in the National Review Online; and Keith Hennessey, a senior Bush economic adviser who now lectures at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
While Mankiw and Viard stressed Elmendorf's integrity and impartiality (Mankiw called him a "superb economist"), Hennessey made the most pointed political argument for keeping Elmendorf in a Wednesday blog post:
Dr. Elmendorf is the best pick for CBO because (a) he is unbiased and intellectually honest; (b) his background insulates his rulings and the Congressional Republicans who choose to reappoint him from accusations of bias; and, most importantly, (c) this combination greatly disadvantages the progressive Left who both dominate current economic debate within the Democratic party and who cannot refrain from intellectual overreach....
Over the past few years an Elmendorf-led CBO has weakened a few key support pillars of the Left’s big government intellectual edifice, not because Elmendorf leans right but because the Left is dominant and nuts and their most outrageous arguments just beg to be debunked by a neutral referee.
Hennessey gave several examples of CBO analyses under Elmendorf that have served to undermine pernicious lefty ideas. When "Team Obama" insisted that an increase in the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would "benefit millions and harm no one," Hennessey wrote, "CBO destroyed this claim, pointing out that the President’s favored policy would reduce the labor supply by about half a million workers." In turn:
"The press repeatedly wrote that 'the nonpartisan CBO' said the President’s minimum wage increase would reduce the labor supply by half a million workers.' We won those debates in part thanks to an assist from a CBO that was and was described as unbiased and nonpartisan."
Other examples: CBO concluded that the Affordable Care Act would cause people to work fewer hours, an assertion that "would have been dismissed or caveated by many (most?) of the press" if CBO had been under the control of "Congressional Republicans and their hand-picked conservative CBO Director," as Hennessey put it. "The identical conclusions from a director chosen by Republicans would have had far less impact on the public debate."
And Hennessey offered more evidence of Elmendorf's sensible thinking:
Under Elmendorf, CBO said that increasing marginal tax rates dampens economic growth because it reduces incentives to work, save, and invest. Elmendorf’s CBO said that transfer payments reduce work incentives and shrink the labor force. In contrast to President Obama and Dr. Krugman, Elmendorf’s CBO warned that high and rising debt levels will lower future income, increase pressure for higher taxes or less defense spending, and increase the risk of a fiscal crisis at some uncertain future date. In contrast to the Piketty Fan Club, CBO’s distributional analysis showed that the burden of financing government is even more distributed toward the high end than is income, and they integrated into their analysis the effects of both taxes and transfer payments.
These are powerful truths, he wrote, that could help advance Republican economic policies if only lawmakers would "actually read what CBO writes" and learn to use Elmendorf's frequent appearances in Hill hearings to "highlight the ways in which left-wing dogma contradicts straight-up-the-middle economic analysis."
Initial indications are Republicans may not heed this advice. Incoming House Budget Committee chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.) gets to make the call on the CBO director this year, with advice from the Senate Budget Committee chairman. Price has declined to comment. In a recent interview, one of two Republicans up for the Senate budget post, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), suggested that folks on his side of the Capitol, anyway, may be inclined to put their own stamp on the agency.
Elmendorf was chosen six years ago by then House Budget Committee chairman John Spratt (D-S.C.) and reappointed four years ago by then Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.). If nothing else, he can take solace in the fact that everybody seems to love the job he's done during enormously trying times. Even before conservatives began weighing in, former White House budget chief Peter Orszag (himself a former CBO director) urged Republicans not to appoint a "party hack" to the CBO director's chair -- and to keep Elmendorf on the job. |
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The Roar has heard reports that Cronulla’s NSW Origin forward Andrew Fifita – who is currently serving a suspension from the NRL – is about to walk away from his NRL contract, to play for Tonga at the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
The Roar spoke with the Sharks this morning, and Andrew and his brother David, also serving a suspension, were both present at training.
When questioned on Triple M on Friday morning, Sharks captain Paul Gallen said that the rumour was new information to him.
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“I’d imagine if that was true the club would have something to say about it. If he’s under contract they would want some sort of compensation if they were ever going to let him go,” Gallen said.
The Roar understands that Fifita, who has had a rocky couple of years in the NRL following a number of controversial incidents – including the latest one at a junior rugby league game for which he was publicly castigated and suspended – wants to put himself in the ‘shop window’ to pick up a lucrative rugby contract in Europe.
What better way to do that than to turn out for his native Tonga at the World Cup.
It’s believed that Tonga will play Fifita at 12 and transition him in a similar way to recent NRL converts Ben Te’o and Sam Burgess.
Fifita played rugby as a junior, and also flirted with the idea of a code switch in 2013.
In the end, Fifita had to remain with the Sharks after signing a deal to go to the Canterbury Bulldogs that was eventually torn up.
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At the time of the contract being torn up, Fifita said he wished he had taken up the offer to play the 15-man game.
“If I could go back now, I wish I chose rugby and then I wouldn’t be getting all the sh*t I’ve been catching now,” Fifita said early last year.
The Roar has heard reports a deal is currently being worked on. Watch this space for more updates. |
Edward Davidson, who was known as the "spam king" (although the moniker has been given to nearly every spammer who has ever been caught) has been found dead in Colorado, along with his wife and 3-year-old child, apparently in a murder-suicide. Another child approximately 7 months old was found unhurt, and a teenage daughter had been shot in the neck with a bullet but managed to run away.
Davidson had escaped from a minimum-security facility on Sunday – essentially a work camp – allegedly with help from his wife.
Authorities estimate Davidson made at least $3.5 million from spamming activities conducted by his company Power Promoters between 2003 and 2006. He'd been sentenced in April to 21 months in prison for tax evasion and falsifying e-mail headers on spam advertising low-cost high-risk penny stocks that he sent out on behalf of an unnamed Houston company. He'd also been ordered to pay $714,139 to the Internal Revenue Service. |
Man dies after lightning strikes family, including newborn and toddler, on Gold Coast
Updated
A man has died after being struck by lightning while leaving a polling station with his family on the Gold Coast.
The man aged in his 30s and his family - a woman, a baby aged 12 weeks and a boy aged 18 months - were sheltering from an electrical storm in a park near Worongary State School on Delta Cove Drive just before 4pm when they were hit.
The school was being used as a polling booth for the state election, situated in the seat of Gaven.
Paramedics attended to the man at the scene before he was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.
He died about 7pm.
The woman and children were still in hospital in a stable condition with minor injuries.
Queensland Ambulance Service acting senior operations supervisor Stuart Cutajar said the family had been to the state school to vote and were walking home through a park when the storm struck.
They took shelter under an awning in the park which was struck by lightning.
"There's evidence of the shelter having taken a lightning strike," Mr Cutajar said.
The man then collapsed to the ground, not breathing.
Paramedics responded and commenced CPR as all four were taken to hospital.
The 18-month-old was unconscious and not breathing but regained consciousness before being taken to hospital.
The Bureau of Meteorology's (BoM), meanwhile, has cancelled its severe thunderstorm warning.
Much of south-east Queensland, particularly the Gold Coast, Brisbane and surrounding areas, were battered by storms from about 3.30pm.
Electoral Commission Queensland spokeswoman Carrick Brough said the severe storms could delay the count in some areas.
"It may delay the count, if we don't have power then obviously we can't count through the night so obviously we're looking at alternative arrangements now, transferring the ballot boxes to other polling booths with power and counting them there, things like that," Ms Brough said.
Energex reported about 10,000 properties in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast were without electricity at 10:00pm.
The electricity provider also said there were about 1,500 lightning strikes across the network in the hour to 6pm.
Topics: storm-event, coolangatta-4225, southport-4215
First posted |
Stephen Lendman
Activist Post
America’s First Amendment affirms it. So does Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It states “(e)veryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”
In December 1993, the UN General Assembly declared May 3 World Press Freedom Day. Following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference, it did so to:
celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom; assess the state of press freedom throughout the world; defend the media from attacks on their independence; (and) pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the line of duty.
From April 30 to May 3, 1991, UNESCO’s “Promoting an Independent and Pluralistic African Press” seminar issued a Declaration of Windhoek. It called for “protecting fundamental free expression principles.” They’re fragile and threatened, even in so-called democratic societies. Journalist AJ Liebling (1904 – 1963) once said “Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.” Conditions are much worse today than decades earlier.
At issue is repressive police state legislation. HR 3523: Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) provides the latest example. It’s more about destroying personal freedom than cybersecurity.
It reveals the hypocrisy of a May 3 State Department statement, saying in part:
On World Press Freedom Day—and every day—the United States honors and supports media freedom at home and abroad. Press freedom is a key element of the freedom of expression, which is a foundation for other universal human rights. We call on all governments to protect the universal human right to freedom of expression.
Calling on its own would be a good place to start.
In recent years, journalists exposing sensitive truths and whistleblowers have been targeted. Obama’s Justice Department used the 1917 Espionage Act to prosecute a record six whistleblowers for revealing what everyone needs to know. Doing so exceeded all previous administrations combined.
The Espionage Act was enacted during WW I. It was about interfering with military operations, supporting enemies, promoting insubordination in the ranks, or challenging military recruitment.
In Schenck v. United States (1919), the Supreme Court ruled that free speech of those convicted under its provisions weren’t violated. Thereafter, the law’s constitutionality was repeatedly challenged.
In Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the Supreme Court ruled government can’t punish inflammatory speech unless directed to incite lawless action.
In Texas v. Johnson (a 1989 flag burning case), Justice William Brennan wrote the majority opinion, saying:
(I)f there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea offensive or disagreeable.
Other challenges won and lost. Winning today is harder than ever. Free expression in America’s on the chopping block for elimination. Without it all other rights are jeopardized.
Whistleblowers like Bradley Manning exposed war crimes. Soldiers and witnesses are obligated to do so. Others revealed CIA torture, NSA warrantless wiretapping, and other constitutional violations. Doing so is heroic, not criminal.
Justice Hugo Black once said: “Only a free and unrestrained press can effectively expose deception in government.” America fails the test.
A US grand jury reportedly continues investigating alleged WikiLeaks Espionage Act violations. Revealing vital truths is constitutionally protected speech. Investigative journalists do the same thing.
Former State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said investigating WikiLeaks undermines Washington’s credibility to pressure other countries to address press freedom.
In recent years, anyone publicly supporting WikiLeaks, Bradley Manning, or other whistleblowers risks harassment when traveling. Police state tactics confront them. They include strip searches, confiscation of laptops, cellphones and cameras, and arrests.
Dual US/French citizen Pascal Abidor was targeted. In 2011, traveling from Montreal to New York on Amtrak, he was confronted at the border, questioned, handcuffed, taken off the train, and kept behind bars for hours before being released. His laptop was also seized, kept 11 days and searched before being returned. Many others face similar treatment.
At the same time the State Department piously “advocates for freedom of expression,” it’s egregiously violated at home and abroad.
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On March 16, ABC News reported that Obama officials pressured the Yemeni government to keep journalist Abd al-Ilah Al-Shai’i behind bars “for alleged terrorist ties.”
At issue is heroic investigative journalism. Al-Shai’i revealed civilian deaths and injuries from US drone attacks. Washington wants them suppressed.
Dozens of journalists covering Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have been harassed, assaulted and arrested from New York to San Francisco. Societies committing these offenses aren’t free. One abuse follows another. Freedom’s eventually lost. America is racing toward it. Bipartisan complicity backs it.
America a Total Surveillance Society
Post-9/11, spying on ordinary Americans became policy. Telecommunication companies cooperate. Phone calls, emails, and other communications are monitored.
In 2005, it was learned that the National Security Agency (NSA) lawlessly intercepts phone calls and Internet communications. AT&T actively cooperates without informing customers. Privacy rights are violated.
In October 2001, George Bush issued a secret presidential order. It’s in force today. It authorized warrantless NSA surveillance without statutory or court authorization.
Doing so violates the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). It covers prescribed surveillance procedures relating to “foreign intelligence information” between “foreign powers” and “agents of foreign powers.”
It restricts surveillance of US citizens and residents to those engaged in espionage in America and territory under US control. No longer. AT&T and other telecommunication companies work cooperatively with Washington.
Millions of customers are monitored. Sophisticated data-mining follows. Everyone potentially is vulnerable. Few know what’s going on. Many fewer protest against it.
On May 2, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) headlined, “Time to Make Warrantless Home Video Surveillance Extinct,” saying:
Post-9/11, warrantless spying became policy. Even secret videotaping monitor people at home. On May Day, EFF submitted an amicus curiae brief in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. It relates to United States of America v. Ricky S. Wahchumwah
American Natural Superfood - Free Sample EFF challenged lawless warrantless home video surveillance. It violates Fourth Amendment rights. It states: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Wahchumwah’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated. An undercover US Fish and Wildlife Service agent secretly recorded information inside his home on a concealed video camera in his clothes. Wahchumwah was charged with violating the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act and Lacey Act for allegedly selling bald and gold eagle feathers. He moved to disallow lawlessly obtained video information. His motion was denied. He appealed. EFF supports him. In United States v. Jones (January 2012), the Supreme Court ruled the Fourth Amendment prohibits using warrantless GPS surveillance to monitor a person’s car on public roads for 28 days. The decision applies to video surveillance at home. Wahchumwah let the agent enter his home. He didn’t agree to videotaping, especially doing it secretly. EFF said “intensive video surveillance” previously “was reserved for serious, violent crimes.” Now it’s possible for any reason targeting anyone, including secretly at home. A Final Comment A 2008 ACLU report titled “American Surveillance Society” said: Post-9/11, mass surveillance became policy. Ordinary Americans are watched intrusively. Their ‘telephone calls and e-mails, web browsing records, financial records, credit reports, and library records’ are monitored. ‘(P)eaceful political and religious activities’ are watched. Everyone is swept up in national dragnet to monitor virtually everything about everyone secretly ‘with little or no oversight by the courts, Congress, or the public.’ Big brother arrived with electronic ease. Constitutional rights are violated. Freedom is slipping away fast. A 2003 ACLU report said “Big Brother is No Longer a Fiction.” America is a “total surveillance society.” Today everyone is unprotected. Washington takes full advantage. Surveillance grows like a “monster.” Unknowingly, ordinary people are lawlessly targeted. Unchecked government power threatens freedom. In America, it’s perilously close to life support. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at [email protected] His new book is titled How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ var linkwithin_site_id = 557381; linkwithin_text=’Related Articles:’ |
Jaguar warriors or jaguar knights, ocēlōtl Nahuatl pronunciation: [oˈseːloːt͡ɬ] () (singular)[1] or ocēlōmeh [oseːˈloːmeʔ] (plural)[1] were members of the Aztec military elite.[2] They were a type of Aztec warrior called a cuāuhocēlōtl [kʷaːwoˈseːloːt͡ɬ].[3] The word cuāuhocēlōtl derives from the eagle warrior cuāuhtli [ˈkʷaːwt͡ɬi] and the Jaguar Warrior ocēlōtl.[3] They were an elite military unit similar to the eagle warriors.
The jaguar motif was used due to the belief the jaguar represented Tezcatlipoca. Aztecs also wore this dress at war because they believed the animal's strengths would be given to them during battles.[citation needed] Jaguar warriors were used at the battlefront in military campaigns. They were also used to capture prisoners for sacrifice to the Aztec gods.[2] Many statues and images (in pre-Columbian and post-Columbian codices) of these warriors have survived.[4] They fought with a wooden sword studded with obsidian volcanic glass blades, called a macuahuitl. They also used spears and atlatls.
To become a jaguar warrior, a member of the Aztec army had to capture a total of four enemies from battles.[5] This was said to honor their gods in a way far greater than killing enemy soldiers in the battlefield. For a warrior to kill an enemy was considered clumsy.
Education [ edit ]
The formal education of the Aztecs was to train and teach young boys how to function in their society as warriors. The Aztecs had no standing army, so every boy not of noble birth was trained to become a warrior. All boys who were between the ages of ten and twenty years old would attend one of the two schools. These two schools were the Telpochcalli (the neighborhood school for commoners) and the Calmecac, the exclusive school for nobles.[6] At the Telpochcalli students would learn the art of warfare, and would become warriors. At the Calmecac students would be trained to become military leaders, priests, government officials, etc. Trades such as farming and artisan skills were not taught at these schools.
At the age of 15, sons of commoners would be sent to a Telpochcalli within their neighborhood. Here, boys would be trained in the art of warfare and accustomed to military life. The instructors at these schools were veteran warriors who had experience in warfare and leadership. The schools focused on bravery and included a great deal of physical effort and intense pain to increase the strength and stamina of the students. Manual labor included transporting goods such as branches for firewood. The longer the student had attended the school, the more branches he would be expected to carry. This test of carrying firewood would be used to determine if the boy would do well in warfare.
Other manual labor tasks carried out from the Tepochcalli would be community projects. These projects would mainly consist of cleaning areas, building walls, digging canals, and farming. From these projects students would work hard to complete tasks, and gain physical experience needed to engage in warfare. The students of this school would also be used to transport shields, food, military supplies, weapons, armor, and wood to warriors on the battlefield. The reason for forcing the students to be near the battlefield was to make them fearless of warfare. Students were under heavy surveillance at all times. If a student was caught leaving training their punishment would be severe. Often, they would be beaten and their hair removed. By removing their hair they would remove any sign of them being a warrior. Drinking pulque was prohibited; if caught, the student could be beaten to death. Relationships outside of the school were also prohibited; if a student was caught sleeping with a woman, they would be beaten to death.
Life as a jaguar warrior [ edit ]
Following the warrior's path was one of the few ways to change one's social status in Aztec culture. Eagle and Jaguar warriors were full-time warriors who worked for the city-state to protect merchants and the city itself. They were expected to be leaders and commanders both on and off the battlefield, and acted as sort of a police force for the city. Men who reached this rank were considered as nobles and elites of society, and were granted many of the same privileges as a noble. They were allowed to drink pulque, have concubines, and dine at the royal palace. Jaguar warriors also participated in gladiatorial sacrifices.
Gladiatorial sacrifice [ edit ]
The gladiatorial sacrifice was a giant spectacle the entire city would attend. The captives would be paraded in the streets followed by eagle and jaguar warriors to the sacrifice stone. The eagle and jaguar warriors would dance around the captives and display their shields and weapons to the crowds. Once they brought the captives to the sacrifice stone, they would be tied down to it to be ceremonially killed. The captives would be forced to drink pulque to intoxicate them. They would be painted and given a sword and a shield along with four cudgels to throw. The warriors would then attack the victim who was tied down to the sacrifice stone with an obsidian laced club. The club would be used for ceremonial use and would be decorated with feathers. He would be attacked by several warriors one at a time and then, if still alive, would be attacked by all four together. The warriors which fought during the gladiatorial sacrifice would be eagle and jaguar warriors. If the captive fought off all of them, he would then have to defend himself against a left handed warrior. If captives were not killed this way, then they would be killed the following day by the offering priests. The gladiatorial sacrifice was done as a ceremony, for the return of warriors with their captives. The gladiatorial sacrifices were held during the month of the Feast of the Flaying of Men.
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ] |
Bill Mannix / The scene of this reported shooting at the Myrtle Beach Mall on Jan. 8, 2015.
A 78-year-old Little River woman was shot and killed Friday afternoon at the Myrtle Beach Mall one day before her birthday, according to Tamara Willard with the Horry County Coroner's Office.
Frances Mae Davis, who went by May, was shot just after noon on Friday, Jan. 8, Willard said.
Davis was found around 12:15 p.m. by her daughter, slumped over in the passenger seat of a car, according to Lt. Raul Denis, with Horry County police. She died at around 1 p.m. at Grand Strand Hospital.
The daughter had briefly gone in to the mall, Denis said.
Luther Wells, Davis' son-in-law, said that his wife was shopping for Davis' birthday, which is tomorrow, but Davis was tired and was waiting in the car.
Wells said when his wife got to the car, she found her mother slumped over and blood in the car. He said she was shot in the neck and that her purse was missing.
Denis said they have secured the car she was in and are investigating.
He added that so far there are no witnesses or suspects. Detectives are working with mall officials to obtain any surveillance footage.
Denis said that the public shouldn't be concerned for their safety and that this was an isolated incident.
Davis was the mother of three children and had five grandchildren and seven great-grand children, Willard said.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the Tip Line at 843-915-8477 (843-915-TIPS). |
MANILA, Philippines – Five more persons suspected of involvement in the illegal drug trade were killed in separate incidents across the country in the past two days, three of them by suspected vigilantes.
Esperdio Blaza, 30, a resident of Barangay Mudeng in La Paz, Abra, was driving his motorcycle on his way to Bangued when unidentified motorcycle-riding men fired at him yesterday morning.
The La Paz police said Blaza was on their drug watchlist.
In Butuan City, graphic artist Karl Torredes, 32, was gunned down near his shop in Barangay Diego Silang on Monday.
Senior Inspector Paul Padin said the fatality was charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act for allegedly selling shabu.
In Bulacan, Alvino Lucino was walking near his house in Barangay Patubig in Marilao town on Monday when he was shot. A placard identifying him as a pusher was found near his body.
Regie Gonzales reportedly shot it out with police operatives in Barangay 4 in Tanauan City, Batangas at around 5:45 a.m. yesterday.
A caliber .45 pistol and five sachets of shabu were allegedly recovered from the fatality.
In Laguna, Rudy Panlague, 40, alias Rudy, drew his gun when he sensed that he had sold shabu to undercover agents in Barangay Poblacion in San Pedro City on Monday night, said Superintendent Chitadel Gaoiran, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) police spokesperson.
‘High-value’ drug pushers
Meanwhile, Michael Serna, 34; Jieson Gaoat, 38, and Redentor Carillo, 49, were arrested in stings in Barangay Pug-os in Cabugao, Ilocos Sur; Poblacion, Sta. Maria and Laoag, Ilocos Norte, respectively, on Monday.
The suspects are “high-value” drug pushers in the Ilocos region, police said.
Also on Monday in Camarines Sur, Richard Bandin, 33, was nabbed in Barangay San Roque in Pili town and Kier Payra in Barangay Talojongon, in Virac.
The suspects are on the drug watchlist of the police in their respective areas.
In Rizal, police said 13 drug suspects did not resist arrest in simultaneous raids on Barangays Wawa, Pinagkamaligan, Tandang Kutyo and Kay Buto in Tanay town.
Two others caught sniffing shabu were collared in Baragay San Jose in Rodriguez, Rizal. – Artemio Dumlao, Ric Sapnu, Ben Serrano, Celso Amo, Raymund Catindig, Non Alquitran, Ed Amoroso |
In past presidential elections, states have fought to move their primaries earlier and earlier, hoping to have a greater influence on the nomination process. But with new scheduling rules on the GOP side ahead of a wide-open race in 2016, some Southern states are trying a different strategy: joining forces.
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp is moving forward with a plan to coordinate the state’s 2016 presidential primary with five other states—Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee—in an effort to give national Republicans’ bedrock region more say in whom their party (and Democrats, too) nominates to run for the White House.
“It’s an opportunity to have a great deal of say about who the nominee is. I think having South Carolina and a Southern regional primary back-to-back, or in close proximity, is a pretty big one-two punch,” said Randy Evans, a Republican National Committee committeeman from Georgia who served as a senior adviser to Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign.
In recent elections, some states ignored the wishes of party leaders and set their presidential primaries earlier in the year to compete with traditional early-voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada for clout. In 2012, for instance, Florida scheduled its primary for Jan. 31, forcing Iowa to move its caucuses all the way up to Jan. 3.
As a result, though, the RNC stripped Florida of half of its delegates. And if a state tries a similar move in 2016, the punishment will be much harsher. Depending on the size of the state, its delegates would either be reduced to nine or one-third of its total delegation, according to new rules the RNC approved at the beginning of the year.
“Somebody would be really foolish to break the rules now,” Kemp said. For him, that meant finding a new way to work within the rules to amplify Georgia’s influence on choosing the next president.
Last week, Kemp told the five other secretaries of state he’s working with in establishing a so-called “SEC” regional primary (named after the powerhouse college sports conference) that he intends to schedule Georgia’s presidential primary for March 1, 2016—an authority he was granted by the state Legislature in 2011. Tennessee has already set March 1 as its primary day, while the other four states still need to act through their respective legislatures to do the same. Primaries in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are currently slated for later in March, while Arkansas’s is set for May.
Two other Southern states, Texas and Florida, are already planning to hold their primaries March 1. This is the earliest date anyone outside the usual four early-voting states can hold its presidential primary in 2016 without penalty under the new RNC rules. However, a state that sets its primary during the first two weeks of March must award its delegates to candidates proportionally, as opposed to a winner-take-all system, meaning there is still a benefit for states that choose to hold their primaries later on in the cycle.
“It definitely plays to the weaker candidates’ benefit for a bunch of states to go load up and go during the period of time that’s proportional,” one Southern GOP strategist says. “It seems like the South could make a much bigger statement if it went on March 15.”
But Kemp and his allies ultimately decided that bringing together a group of states that have been largely ignored in recent nomination battles and holding a primary as early as possible is the best way to get the attention of White House hopefuls.
“The next president of the United States—Democrat or Republican—will have come and debated the issues here and spoken to our people about the things we think are important, and we’ll have a bigger voice,” said Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann.
Even if Kemp’s plan goes through, that cohort of Southern states may not have March 1 all to themselves. Kemp acknowledged that if other states outside of the South decide to set their primaries for March 1, it could blunt the impact of his plan. By bringing a coalition of states together this early, he hopes that he can deter others from doing so.
There’s also no guarantee the region will speak with one voice. Appalachian State University political science professor Josh Putnam, who writes the election-calendar-focused blog FrontloadingHQ, noted that Democrats attempted a similar strategy in 1988, when nearly all the Southern states held their primary on the same day in March in hopes of providing a boost to a more conservative candidate. But instead of coalescing around one contender, the Southern states split their votes among three candidates: Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, and Jesse Jackson.
“That does serve as something of a cautionary tale for what Republicans across the South are seeking to do in 2016,” Putnam said. “They’re seeking to have a similar level of influence, but the ‘88 example points out the possibility of unintended consequences popping up.”
Either way, Kemp said he intends to further discuss the plan at a February meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State meeting in Washington. |
{Queens Theatre in Queens NY}
I have been thinking about retirement. Not because I am ready to retire but more as one who daydreams about her summer vacation. In my retirement scenario I am healthy and have plenty of money and time to indulge my desire to write, learn to make homemade pasta...in Italy or hike the Appalachian Trail at my leisure. These fanciful day trips to the future have made me aware of two things about myself and others.
First, I don't want to stop working. I enjoy my work. I enjoy the people I work with and enjoy the creative challenge that comes from working with a team. I just want to have more freedom to pick and choose when and how much I work. I have a friend who spent 30 years working with a water treatment company and he is now looking at retiring. Do you know what he wants to do when he retires? He wants to go to Africa and help communities that do not have clean water establish water treatment facilities. He likes his work, he wants to help others and he wants to see another part of the world. His vision is not of a gold watch and 18 holes of golf but of staying active and making a difference in the world.
My second retirement revelation is the desire to stop letting money dictate my choices. No, I am not independently wealthy and don't expect a huge windfall in my lifetime but I also don't want the race for the paycheck to be the only consideration for the choices I make as I age. I am saving money for a future that may look different than today. Kathy at smartliving365 shows how "right sizing" your life can save you real dollars and allows you more freedom to pursue other interests. I found her discussion meaningful because Kathy and her husband not only cut expenses but in the process of right sizing was able to align their life more closely to their values. It was a win-win all around.
As I talk to my friends and colleagues, I understand that retirement means something very different to us than it did to the previous generation. Many of us want to continue to work, others want to give back to their communities and the world while some want to follow long delayed dreams. What does retirement mean to you? When you take your fanciful day trips to the future, what do you see?
Hugs,
C |
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My Plates was given authority by the Texas legislature to auction these types of plate messages to help raise money for the Texas General Revenue Fund, which helps pay for services for all Texans.
Auction plate messages are highly sought-after and attract a great deal of attention from the media and public alike.
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Gurtej Randhawa in a police mugshot. National Crime Agency
A 19-year-old tried to buy a car bomb on the dark web, but police intercepted his order and gave him a dummy instead.
Gurtej Randhawa, from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, tried to buy a remote-controlled explosive and planned to kill people with it.
Randhawa admitted the attempt in court this week, and now faces life in prison.
According to a press release from the UK National Crime Agency, its officers noticed Randhawa's attempts to order the package earlier this year.
They did not disclose his motive, but said it was not linked to terrorism.
Randhawa made the purchase via the dark web, a difficult-to-navigate network of sites which is inaccessible without special software.
It is often used by criminals to trade in illicit goods.
Police said the device, which could be fixed to a car and detonated from a distance, "had the potential to cause serious damage and kill many people."
However, officers intercepted the package and replaced it with an inert dummy device, which they allowed to be delivered to Randhawa in May.
They watched him testing the dud, at which point they arrested him.
Randhawa pleaded guilty to trying to illegally import explosives, and was found guilty of possessing explosives "with intent to endanger life" after a trial at Birmingham Crown Court.
He will be sentenced at a later hearing on January 12, where he could be given life in prison. |
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Wherever this article finds you within your binging of Marvel’s Jessica Jones on Netflix, part of you might be wondering just where all the news is for one of the comic book company’s other Defenders, Iron Fist. The last time we reported on any news out of the Living Weapon’s camp, it was to lump it together with the loose schedule of Marvel’s other TV series. When Krysten Ritter was announced as Jessica Jones, with Mike Colter set to play Luke cage on Jessica Jones before starring in his own series, fans were left wondering if Iron Fist was still in the works at all.
Thanks to an interview with Marvel Television chief Jeph Loeb, CBR got some good intel on why the TV production wing has kept quiet on Iron Fist and when fans might see their first solid news about the series. While it is still some time away – Jessica Jones just debuted today and we have a full Luke Cage series to look forward to in addition to the second season of Daredevil – Iron Fist provides the last necessary piece of the puzzle that will be Marvel TV’s Defenders series.
So even though there was a rumor that Iron Fist was being scrapped/shelved/delayed, or what have you, simply because things were quiet on the news front, Loeb confirms that this is not the case:
“There was a lot of speculation about what was going on with ‘Iron Fist,’ because [fans] hadn’t heard anything about it, but there’s never been any change at all.”
In fact, when asked if fans can expect to see some casting announcements or other hard news sometime soon, Loeb said:
“The short answer is, ‘Yes, there’ll be news.”
While that news certainly comes as, well, good news, it’d be better if we had a bit of an explanation as to why things have been quiet to begin with. Loeb provides one:
“We knew exactly what we were doing at Marvel and at Netflix. Let’s get [‘Jessica Jones’] out there, everybody knows that ‘Luke Cage’ is up and going. What I can say right now is we’re very excited about ‘Iron Fist.'”
This all makes sense because, unlike major motion pictures, Marvel’s TV series have relatively much smaller budgets and a much smaller marketing window. With Netflix releasing all episodes of a series/season at once, it’s conceivable that most viewers will consume the whole thing during its opening weekend. After that, it’s onto the next big thing.
I actually like that they’ve managed to carve out sections of the calendar that are dedicated in majority to whatever their next project is rather than the one that’s coming after. The best news to take away from all of Loeb’s quotes is this: Iron Fist is coming, and soon we’ll know who’ll be bringing Danny Rand to life. |
The manager of an Indiana Pizza Hut has been offered his job back after claiming he was fired for refusing to open the restaurant on Thanksgiving.
Tony Rohr, who worked his way up from cook to manager at the restaurant, in Elkhart, Ind., over 10 years, said the company that owns the store dictated it be open for the holiday, and he refused.
"I said, 'Why can't we be the company that stands up and says we care about our employees and they can have the day off,?'" Rohr told WSBT 22. "Thanksgiving and Christmas are the only two days that they're closed in the whole year and they're the only two days that those people are guaranteed to have off to spend with their families.”
After news of the reported firing made national headlines Wednesday night, Pizza Hut announced on its Facebook page that Rohr had been offered his job back.
"We fully respect an employee’s right to not work on a holiday, which is why the vast majority of Pizza Huts in America are closed on Thanksgiving. As a result, we strongly recommended that the local franchisee reinstate the store manager and they have agreed. We look forward to them welcoming Tony back to the team," the statement read.
Earlier Wednesday, a Pizza Hut rep told WSBT 22 that the decision to remain open on Thanksgiving wasn't up to Rohr, and that it came from the corporate level.
Rohr wrote a letter venting his frustrations, saying: "I do not resign. However, I accept that the refusal to comply with this greedy, immoral request means the end of my tenure with this company." He added, "I hope you realize that it is the people at the bottom of the totem pole that make your life possible."
Later, the station got in touch with the director of operations for the local chain and he told the news station that Rohr did not get fired, but rather, he quit.
It was not known late Wednesday if Rohr accepted the company's offer.
Pizza Hut is owned by Yum! Brands, which also owns Taco Bell and KFC. |
Since most of my output will no longer be suitable for tumblr’s new puritan sensibilities, I’ll be joining many other artists in jumping ship and no longer posting art here.
Thanks to everyone who’s ever followed, reblogged, and otherwise supported or enjoyed my artwork! I started posting art originally on tumblr, and most of development over the last couple of years has been thanks to the feedback and support I’ve recieved from all you lovely people.
I’ll still be posting art to the following places, please do follow them!
Twitter: @rosettiarts - I’ll be uploading all my art to this account, SFW and NSFW.
Furaffinity: Rosetti http://www.furaffinity.net/user/rosetti/ - Mostly the furry stuff, but probably everything else too now tumblr’s kaput.
Pixiv: Rosetti https://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=5318345: - Mostly the shortstack/anime flavoured stuff, but same dealy: probably all my output will go up there now.
Newgrounds: https://rosetti.newgrounds.com/ - It’s brand new, but apparently newgrounds has been on the up-and-up for content creators, and a lot of other artists are heading in that direction. I’ll be uploading my work there.
Deviantart: professortangent - I have one of these. I tend to only upload sfw art to it.
Commissions, I still do those.
I can still be reached for commission enquiries via email, or through twitter, or the messaging services on any of the other sites listed above.
Email: rosettiartenquiries[AT]gmail.com
Prices and information and junk: http://sinearts.tumblr.com/commissions
It’s been a trip everyone, but fuck tumblr :D |
Speaker Paul Ryan Paul Davis RyanBrexit and exit: A transatlantic comparison Five takeaways from McCabe’s allegations against Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report: Sanders set to shake up 2020 race MORE (R-Wis.) in an interview broadcast Monday dismissed criticism of his tweet saying the Texas shooting victims “need our prayers,” arguing “prayer works.”
“It’s disappointing. It’s sad, and this is what you’ll get from the far secular left. People who do not have faith, don’t understand faith, I guess I’d have to say,” Ryan told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham on “The Ingraham Angle” when asked about the criticism.
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“And it is the right thing to do, is to pray in moments like this because you know what? Prayer works.”
Ryan's remarks come after he said Sunday that the mass shooting in Texas was “devastating.”
“Reports out of Texas are devastating,” Ryan wrote on Twitter. “The people of Sutherland Springs need our prayers right now.”
The speaker took heat on social media for the comment, with various users calling for gun control in the wake of the shooting that left 26 people dead after a gunman opened fire at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.
“And I know you believe that and I believe that,” Ryan told Ingraham about the effectiveness of prayer.
“And when you hear the secular left doing this thing, no wonder you’ve got so much polarization and disunity in this country when people think like that.” |
Last week we ran a list of Coachella bands headed to Phoenix around the festival's dates. Well, since then the list has grown, including big name acts like Phoenix, The Postal Service, and Tegan and Sara. So allow us to fill you in with a comprehensive list of Coachella acts headed to the Valley of the Sun.
See also:
-Stop Hating on the 2013 Coachella Lineup -Didn't Buy A Coachella Pass in Time? Good Thing a Bunch of Coachella Bands Are Coming to Phoenix
Continue Reading
Hanni El Khatib: On Friday, March 8, L.A.-based garage hellion Hanni El-Khatib will join Cold War Kids, Mergence, In the Valley, Diners, Wooden Indian, Stan Devereux and the Funky Suns, and more at New Times' Carnaval Eléctrico festival at Crescent Ballroom.
Airborne Toxic Event: Critics have always been savage to this band -- but the L.A.-based alt-rockers have a way with their fans. The band comes to Marquee Theatre in Tempe on Monday, April 1.
Dirtyphonics: French EDM duo Dirtyphonics -- who've worked with Skrillex and Marilyn Manson -- will headline a set at the Monarch Theatre in downtown Phoenix on Saturday, April 6.
Phoenix: Coachella mainstagers Phoenix are coming to Tempe; the French indie rockers play Monday, April 8, at Marquee Theatre.
Beach House: Mentioning this doesn't do that much good, as the dream pop band's Tuesday, April 9, show at Crescent Ballroom already has sold out, but it would be much easier to buy a ticket for this show than to deal with shady folks selling Coachella wristbands.
Sigur Ros: This cinematic Icelandic band will swing by Comerica Theatre on Friday, April 12, and the band's orchestral post-rock sounds amazing in concert. Get on it.
Monday, April 15: Coachella-Related Concert Onslaught Day 2013: Unless you're at the festival, you really have no excuse for not going to a show on this day. The xx will be at Marquee Theatre; Poliça will be at The Rhythm Room; and Local Natives will be at Rialto Theatre in Tucson (a much less strenuous road trip than the one to Indio).
Alex Clare: If you're not burned out on "Too Close" yet, you can see this dubstep/soul musician perform at Marquee Theatre on Tuesday, April 16.
Portugal. The Man: These indie rockers always have a big draw. Check out Glenn BurnSilver's review of the band's show last year ("The band may make great records in the studio, but live, they're even better," writes BurnSilver). The band will play at the Marquee Theatre on April 17, and we can't guarantee that it won't sell out. They'll be joined by Lord Huron, also scheduled to appear at Coachella.
Rodriguez: If this singer/songwriter's name doesn't ring a bell, the documentary Searching for Sugar Man may turn you into a fan. The singer will be performing at the gorgeous Orpheum Theatre on Thursday, April 18, and will perform in Tucson the following day.
The Postal Service: Give Up, Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello's team- up LP as the Postal Service, turns 10 this year, and the long-inactive duo is getting back together to celebrate (and push copies of Sub Pop's upcoming deluxe edition). Their stop at Coachella comes in addition to a local date, on Thursday, April 18, at Comerica Theatre . The Gaslight Anthem: These blue-collar Jersey punks were a surprising addition to the Coachella lineup, and they always put on a fantastic show. We highly recommend seeing them at Marquee Theatre on Tuesday, April 23, for a dose of Springsteen-influenced rock.
Father John Misty: The kooky former drummer of Fleet Foxes will return to the Valley a couple of weeks after Coachella, appearing at Crescent Ballroom on Thursday, May 4.
Tegan and Sara: You have to wait a little bit to catch Tegan and Sara in Phoenix. They perform in Tucson on Sunday, April 14, but it won't be until Tuesday, September 10, that they grace the Valley at Comerica Theatre. It'll be worth the wait though -- they'll be opening for fun., fronted by Arizona's favorite son and hitmaker, Nate Ruess.
That's all we know for now. We have our fingers crossed for Lou Reed, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Modest Mouse, Grizzly Bear, Knife Party, Franz Ferdinand, Violent Femmes, Vampire Weekend, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Wu-Tang Clan, and more to schedule dates in Arizona.
Writeups by Melissa Fossum and Jason P. Woodbury
See also:
-Stop Hating on the 2013 Coachella Lineup -Didn't Buy A Coachella Pass in Time? Good Thing a Bunch of Coachella Bands Are Coming to Phoenix
Follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook |
Still looking for that “exploiting a tragedy” bounce
In 2008, candidate Hillary Clinton questioned candidate Barack Obama’s ability to handle that 3 AM phone call that would inevitably come.
What we didn’t know then is that Barack Obama would be the man who — with Hillary Clinton’s assistance — would make the call to take out Osama bin Laden. And we had no idea that an even better test for a presidential candidate than his or her ability to handle that 3 AM phone call was the ability to not send that 12 AM email.
September 11, 2012 was the first day in about a year in which Mitt Romney didn’t lob incendiary, specious attacks at the president. He decided to honor the eleventh anniversary of the tragic events of 9/11 with a little decorum. As he did, the president’s post convention bounce continued and the conservative media began to turn on Mitt. Within a few hours Rush and Laura Ingraham and Bill Kristol all savaged his performance, saying basically anyone could beat Obama so Romney must be terrible.
Mitt’s problem? He wasn’t attacking enough.
For Republicans — who are still willing to employee all of the people who planned the failed Iraq War and still want to offer more tax breaks for the rich after the Bush tax breaks created no jobs — the problem can’t ever be their ideas. And since they decided before any of his policies took effect that President Obama was a failure, they just couldn’t be losing to him. No, it must be that Mitt — who has been throwing invented charges at the president for a full year – just isn’t being nasty enough.
So what did Mitt do around 12 AM of September 12?
He decided that he would take a tragedy that was still unfolding and use it to make a political point in a scathing email statement. Conservatives were complaining about a statement that the American embassy in Cairo put out trying to soothe the protesters. So when a likely unrelated attack on our embassy in Benghazi took the life of an American Ambassador, he took that critique and used to attack the president via email.
Anything to get the knives out of his back and into the president.
Mitt’s email and his smirking defense of it in a press conference have been roundly criticized by almost everyone—except, of course, some of the same maniacs who planned and supported the Iraq War.
Mitt’s defenders called the moment Reaganesque—except they never bothered to look at how Reagan handled such situations in his 1980 campaign.
You could say that the performance was George W. Bushlike, but our memories of the results of the Administration have blurred our understanding of Bush. W. made terrible decisions and hired terrible advisers. But he never did so in a rushed, obviously harried way. He had the confidence of knowing he had support from his dad’s old allies and the steady backing of the right wing press, which at the time was less potent.
In an era where Fox News, AM radio, Drudge and Breitbart are increasingly fact free and set on destruction, a weak candidate like Mitt Romney who has to bend to their ridiculous whims is especially dangerous.
Mitt Romney didn’t understand, or didn’t care, that he was commenting on and inflaming a crisis that is still in progress, putting American diplomats all over the Middle East at risk. His goal is stopping the president’s bounce and he doesn’t even understand the last thing he needs to worry about right wing that never will never really love him.
(Keep in mind that if Mitt defies the odds and is elected, his reliance on the right wing media to avoid a primary challenge will be even more desperate.)
Romney had a chance to show the center what kind of president he would be. And that 12 AM email revealed that he’s a man who has no idea what message he should send.
[Photo by Anne Savage.] |
Canada’s future depends on its ability to compete on the world stage. As business leaders and tech entrepreneurs, we hope to play an important role in that future.
Many of us were among the more than 150 business leaders who wrote to the previous government to articulate our concerns about Bill C-51. The diverse signatories were affiliated with companies worth billions of dollars, including several start-ups that are planning IPOs, Canada’s largest software company, and one of Canada’s largest institutional investors.
We were buoyed by your government’s promise to introduce much-needed parliamentary oversight of security services, but are deeply troubled that the initial concerns with Bill C-51 from the business community remain largely unaddressed. We appreciate the opportunity for stakeholders to weigh in regarding your public consultation on Bill C-51 but the process to date has raised additional concerns.
In particular we find the following elements from the national security consultation extremely concerning:
Far from mitigating the above concerns, the language from your government’s National Security Consultation further undermines international trust in Canada’s technology and other sectors. In fact, many of the proposals set out in your consultation will further undermine Canada's reputation and change our business climate for the worse.
1. It appears to favour the undermining or breaking of the encryption that many of our businesses and workers rely on.
2. It floats and positively frames mandatory interception powers to access our sensitive business and customer data.
3. It suggests that mandatory access to subscriber data such as an IP address without a warrant is akin to looking up a number in a phone book. This is an appalling and incorrect analogy for a piece of data that can unlock the highly intimate details of the lives of law-abiding Canadians.
4. It raises the idea of forced customer data retention and suggests practices such as purging user data as problematic when such practices actually strengthen data security and customer privacy.
Frankly, it comes as an unwelcome surprise to us to see your government float proposals that, far from addressing the serious problems with Bill C-51, will in fact dramatically exacerbate those problems. We hope you will not proceed with any of these dangerous ideas.
All of the above points relate to data security and we’d like to reiterate a key part of the letter that many of us signed onto last year:
“The data disclosures on innocent Canadians and those traveling to Canada for business or recreation could make our clients leave us for European shores, where privacy is valued. Duplicated data flowing between multiple unsecured federal government and foreign government databases leaves Canadians and Canadian businesses even more open to being victimized by data breaches, cyber criminals and identity theft.
“Even without the increasingly permissive data disclosure practices enabled by C-51, federal government agencies have seen over 3000 breaches of the highly sensitive private information of an estimated 750,000 innocent Canadians in recent years. More than 200 Canadians have come forward in recent months to say their personal or professional lives have been ruined, due to information disclosures, despite never having broken the law. As it is we have a privacy deficit in Canada that erodes trust in both commerce and trade. Bill C-51 deepens that deficit.”
We agree with the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have called on the government to fully scrap this reckless, dangerous and ineffective legislation through OpenMedia and the many other groups working on this issue. We hope your government will listen to Canadians, the business community and experts by starting over with new legislation that respects our collective desire for security overall. Privacy and data integrity safeguards represent security in its most clear and basic sense. Let’s start with this understanding and work from there.
We have attached an appendix that includes more detailed answers to some of the high-level questions put to Canadians in the government’s online consultation on this matter. We hope you find our answers instructive.
We hope for a quick response that addresses these serious economic and data security concerns. We are hopeful that common sense will prevail on this file.
Sincerely,
Laura Tribe, Executive Director, OpenMedia
Julia Fournier, President & CEO, HCMWorks
Wyle Baoween, CEO, HRx Technology
Sara Blenkhorn, Director of collaboration, Leverage Lab
Tim Bray, co-founder, Open Text Corporation
Mark Buell, Director, Internet Society (ISOC), North American Bureau
Matt Buie, Financial Planning Advisor, Assante Capital Management
Graeme Bunton, Manager, Public Policy, Tucows
Jason Collinge, VP Technology, Payfirma
Jennifer Cutbill, Executive Director, Vancouver Design Week
Mo Dhaliwal, Director of Strategy, Skyrocket
Phillip Djwa, President/CEO, Agentic Communications, Inc.
Ryan Dochuk, Co-founder, TunnelBear Inc.
Kat Dodds, Founder/Director, Hello Cool World Media
Bryce Evans, Founder, The One Project
Rachel Forbes, Principal & Legal Eagle, Sharp Six Services
Benjamin Fox, Founder, Tapstream
Martha Fusca, President,The Storyz Network
Mehrdad Gharib, President, FEED Engineering Inc
Frederick Ghahramani, Founder/CEO, airG
Mike Gifford, President, OpenConcept Consulting Inc.
John F. Gray, Co-founder, Mentionmapp
Michael Goodman, Chairman, Tri City Group of Companies
Mack Hardy, President, Affinity Bridge Consulting Ltd.
Daryl Hatton, CEO, ConnectionPoint
Kelsey Heikoop, Owner, Adion Systems
Raynard von Hahn, Lawyer, Genesis Law Corporation
Peter Henry, CEO, GrowthLogic Inc.
Keith Ippel, CEO, Spring Activator Inc.
Gary Isberg, President, AGI by Design
Andrew Jung, Information Architect, Skipping Rock Communication Arts
Alex Krohn, CEO, Gossamer Threads Inc.
Christopher Larsen, Owner, DeadRatGames Inc.
Jordan Lewin, CEO, Digital Sparks Media
Urszula Lipsztajn CEO and founder, WorkBrite
Campbell Macdonald, CEO, Proxxi
Monika Marcovici, Director, Board of Change
Tara Mahoney, Founder/Creative Director, GenWhy Media
Susan McLennan, President, Reimagine PR
Frank Michlick, Founder, DomainCocoon Inc.
Adam Millard, Chair, 3Fold Partners
Chris Nissen, President, Nissen Fasteners
Philip Neves, President/CEO, Neves Software Inc.
Ken Nickerson, CEO, iBinary LLC
Sandra Nomoto, President, Conscious Public Relations Inc.
Andrei Odeski, CEO & Founder, Fortify Communications Inc
Meredith J Powell, Advisor, Finn.ai
Shamus Reid, Co-Founder/COO, New/Mode Inc.
Vanessa Richards, Director, Creative Together
Michael Richardson, Chief Scientist, Sandelman Software Works
Steve Rio, CEO, Briteweb
Thomas Savundra, CEO, Sync.com
Joel Solomon, Chairman, Renewal Funds
Josh Stuart, President, cStreet Campaigns Inc.
Marten Sims, European operations lead, Happy City
Steven Tannock, Founder & CTO, Codegnostic
Michael Tippett, CEO, Wantoo
Matt Toner, President, Zeros 2 Heroes
Andrew Wyllie, Founder and CTO, NU Frontier Communications
Zaid Zawaideh, COO, Sandglaz |
Dec 30, 2015; San Diego, CA, USA; USC Trojans defensive tackle Noah Jefferson (91) and defensive tackle Kenny Bigelow Jr. (95) work against each other before the game against the Wisconsin Badgers in the 2015 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
One of the most exciting Tweets to come across our Arizona Football Twitter feed recently is the announcement by USC defensive tackle Noah Jefferson that he had committed to the University of Arizona. We had to find out more.
Recently Arizona Football has had a multitude of recruits poached from their lists, especially from Oregon head coach Willie Taggart (Cody Shear and Braxton Burmeister to name a few). So it’s great to hear when a current USC Trojan decides that Arizona Football is the better program for him.
First things first,we wa nted to know when Noah actually made the decision and why. “It was the Sunday I committed,” said Noah, “I took an unofficial visit and sat down with Coach Rich Rod, they made me feel like I was at home. The coaches understood my mentality and how I play. I liked the position they were gonna play me in their scheme.” Not to mention, “It was the best situation for me and my family.”
When it comes to inspiration or motivation, he turns to who he can count on in life, “My wife and family are my motivation.” When asked what inspires him, what his motivating mantra may be, his answer was spiritual. “My favorite scripture is Jeremiah 29:11: For I know the plans I have for you, Declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future,” quoted Jefferson.
Pretty powerful stuff.
Jefferson’s dad played football at Maryland, his older brother won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos (Will Parks team, and Rickey Hunley’s former team), and his little brother is one of the top 7th graders in the country for basketball. Jefferson’s wife is a prelaw major at UNLV. Pretty. Darn. Cool.
Pets? “I don’t really have any pets, lol, they died.”
How would Jefferson and his family describe him? “Fun, great sense of humor, like to have fun, very competitive hate to lose, laid back and mellow at times.” He has no nickname yet, kind of up to us, “Y’all can call me what you want!”
After talking it over with God and my family I would like to Announce that I have Commited to The University Of Arizona #BearDown pic.twitter.com/xAfzqFgnym — Noah Jefferson (@noahjefferson_) March 6, 2017
Noah told us he would keep in touch with a few players from SC, “I don’t want to lose touch with is Kevin Scott, Chuma Edoga.” He learned some important lessons from his time at SC, specifically that he has competitive nature and that he will never get outworked.
Jefferson is looking forward to establishing who he is once he gets to Tucson, which is the second Day of Fall Camp, “I’m just ready to be on the field again!” He feels his greatest strength are his Athleticism, pass rushing and ability to stop the run. Well, that is much-needed in Arizona! We hoped he could play next season, but weren’t sure of his situation so we asked and he answered, “I can play if this waiver goes through, but I can for sure practice and stuff.”
https://twitter.com/noahjefferson_/status/823724646952337408
So in a nutshell, Arizona’s latest commit, is passionate about football, is spiritual and deep, and wants to prove to Wildcats fans and himself that he is on the right path, in the right place and going to show up and kill it on the field. One thing he has his sights set on, and I hope the coaches can make this happen for him, he wants a jersey with a ‘single digit.’
Here are some highlights of Noah to take in:
We thank Noah and his family for his time with us, Wildcats fans have things to look forward to next season, and Noah Jefferson is a big one. |
The AMD Radeon™ R9 295X2 graphics card is the world's fastest, period.1 A mammoth eight gigabytes of memory and more than 11.5 teraflops of computing power help this card do what it was built to do: be the undisputed graphics champion.
Two AMD Radeon™ R9 series GPUs (Hawaii XT)
When you're holding all the cards, it only makes sense to double down. We took two of our most advanced, Mantle technology-enabled GPUs and put them together in one cohesive unit. Don't bet against it.
Factory-fitted liquid cooling system
In an industry first, the AMD Radeon™ R9 295X2 graphics card reference design ships with an advanced closed-loop liquid cooling system developed jointly with Asetek. Enjoy cool temperatures, quiet operation and consistently high performance, right out of the box.
All metal construction
Built from striking powder coated aluminum, this GPU is beautiful to behold. It's built to our highest standards, and it sends a message that's loud and clear: this is serious hardware.
Mantle technology
There's optimization, and then there's Mantle technology. Games enabled with Mantle speak the language of Graphics Core Next to unlock revolutionary performance and image quality.
AMD TrueAudio technology
Technology that puts the magic of surround sound into every headset and helps give sound engineers the freedom to innovate in ways they've never had before. This is what the future of PC gaming sounds like.
Ultra resolution powerhouse
For some gamers, having enough isn't the point. For them, overkill is merely a starting point. That means extreme resolutions, multiple monitors and sliders to the max. Run ultra settings in 4K with impunity. Or get two million pixels more than 4K by combining five HD screens in an AMD Eyefinity technology setup.4 Either way, the AMD Radeon R9 295X2 barely breaks a sweat.
Features |
Imagine yourself being tried for a sensational crime, one that has gripped the passions of the entire country. It’s Casey Anthony, Duke Lacrosse & George Zimmerman, all rolled into one. Would you like to be tried in a well regulated courtroom, presided over by a judge, your fate in the hands of a jury that has spent weeks carefully reviewing all evidence & expert testimony? Or would you prefer for your fate to be decided by popular vote, your future in the hands of every Joe the Plumber with a pulse & an opinion, regardless of his knowledge of the case details?
Earlier, we had discussed why our current system of democracy is fundamentally flawed, and why our founding fathers had always intended for this nation to be a constitutional republic, and not a direct democracy. We had also discussed an alternative system of democracy, one that incorporates vastly successful insights from Google’s search engine. Understandably, many were wary of making such dramatic changes to our electoral system, one that scraps the idea of one-person-one-vote. Hence why today, I’d like for us to discuss another great alternative & improvement over our current dysfunctional system. One that is much more simple and directly parallels a civic system that we already use everyday, with great success: the Jury system.
Our founding fathers were always very wary of mob rule, and justifiably so. History is full of populism and mob justice gone wrong, with terrible consequences. Even today, who amongst us is willing to put our life in the hands of a mob that is short on facts, but long on emotion & passion?
The solution that was found: Trial by Jury. Power was decentralized and fairly portioned out to all segments of society, by creating a system that randomly picks Jurors from all demographics and walks of life. But at the same time, the problem of misinformation & emotional decision making was solved by requiring that the Jurors spend weeks sitting in a courtroom. One that is well regulated by Judges and a system of procedures to combat the spread of irrelevant & incorrect information. One where both sides get to present their best case through facts, evidence & expert testimony. One where the Jury is required to pay full attention to the proceedings and deliberate carefully before finally making their decision.
Our current system of democracy solves the first problem admirably, by ensuring that political power is fairly distributed amongst all segments of society. But it fails horribly at resolving the second problem. Each campaign season finds itself marked by soundbites, shallow arguments, and opinions as opposed to facts, because these are the things that win elections. Rumors & misinformation roam free and can change the course of elections, as John Kerry, John McCain & Barack Obama can all tell you. Without any pressure to listen to expert testimony from both sides, voters are free to self-segregate themselves within their own individual echo chambers. It’s no surprise that the election process more closely resembles a PR campaign, as opposed to a fact finding mission.
It’s all truly unfortunate, given that a much better system is staring us right in the face.
Imagine during every election year, auditoriums packed full of jurors, convening across every state in the country. Jurors holding the greatest civic responsibility of all: electing our Congressmen and the President.
Imagine every candidate being tried in these auditoriums across the country. Their actions, campaign promises, voting records, public policy platform & general conduct… all scrutinized carefully in a courtroom presided over by a judge. Imagine them being grilled by opposing attorneys for every campaign promise they broke, for every campaign contribution they accepted from lobbyists, for every dollar they spent on wasteful government expenditures, and for every vote they cast in favor of special interests. Imagine experts from the fields of Foreign Policy, Healthcare, Fiscal Planning, Economics & National Security… all brought in to give testimony on the candidates’ positions & how viable their plans are.
Imagine a jury in every county, a hundred strong, randomly picked from the public to represent every section & segment of our society, displaying the full and complete diversity that is America. Imagine a jury, excused from work & school for a few weeks, attentively listening to all expert testimony, carefully considering all the facts & analysis presented, and meticulously deliberating over who they would like to have represent them in their state capitol and Washington DC.
That is the type of democracy that I would like to live in.
Winston Churchill once famously remarked that “the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.” The quote is often invoked as an insult against the average Joe, but I don’t see it that way.
Keeping up with politics, public policy & current affairs isn’t a hobby that most of us dedicate ourselves to… and we shouldn’t have to. We all have our own lives to lead, our own stories, problems & passions that we follow. If every single person was a West Wing aficionado intent on following every political development, our society would be so much more boring and so much less colorful. Some of us may enjoy reading the news religiously, and others may enjoy volunteering in our local communities. Some of us may enjoy careful deliberation of public policy initiatives in Washington, and others may prefer dedicating their lives towards achieving scientific & technological breakthroughs.
These are all great passions worth pursuing, and we need a political system that doesn’t rely on every voting citizen becoming a public policy expert. A system that ensures that every candidate gets a fair & comprehensive hearing, by an electorate that has been given all the evidence, testimony & time needed to carefully deliberate and reach a conclusion. The Jury system may not be perfect – juries do return bad verdicts more frequently than we’d like – and the specific details of its implementation will certainly need to be tweaked to better fit elections. But it is certainly a vast improvement over any popular-vote based alternative. It’s time we applied these lessons to our democratic process as well. It’s time we started conducting our Democracy by Jury.
——————
Related Links:
The problems inherent to direct democracy
Direct Democracy vs Representative Democracy
Another suggestion to reform democracy, using the same principles that made Google the world’s greatest search engine |
A Big Tip of the Tuque to the Crew at Mount Van Hoevenberg
At the risk of repeating myself, it has been a winter of extreme weather in the Adirondacks. In a not so ironic twist, the Southern Jet Stream took my advice and went home, but his slightly less annoying cousin, the Polar Vortex is back in town. By this point however, after enduring a few freeze - thaw cycles, most Adirondackers will agree, both of these extreme weather visitors have become very annoying.
Is anyone else getting tired of seeing screen shots like this one posted on Facebook? I am.
After the warm rain washed away all the snow and ice, (ski base) the big freeze descended on Lake Placid and the Adirondacks. We received six inches of snow since the temperatures dropped, but that is not enough to put back country skiing back in business. The sub-zero temperatures and wind chills are the story this week, so skiing at Whiteface Mountain takes a strong constitution.
In what can only be described as a heroic effort, the trail crew at Mt. Van Hoevenberg spread and groomed a few kilometers of man made snow. This provides a nice, although flat, loop course with two tracks set and a firm skate lane for those of us who must get outside.
The only thing to do in a situation like this is make the best of it. Seeking downhills, I conducted a short assessment of the steeper trails covered in only natural snow. Frozen cheeks on the downhills weren’t worth the poor conditions, but a couple of loops around the perfectly track-set course was surprisingly fun despite the minus-five-degree temperature.
Poor snow conditions aside, late afternoon skiing at Mt. Van Hoevenberg is a treat on a clear, cold day. The setting sun on Cascade Mountain creates an Alpenglühen to complement the inevitable post-ski glow. |
Woman, 51, 'smothers lover to death with her breasts during drunken row in caravan'
Witnesses heard boyfriend pleading with her to get of f of him
He weighed a stone less than her
14st Donna Lange said not to remember how her partner died
Police photographed victim clutching hair the same colour as hers
A buxom 14st woman faces manslaughter charges after allegedly smothering her lover with her breasts during a drunken row inside a mobile home.
Donna Lange, 51, from Everett, Washington, is reported to have thrown herself down on top of her boyfriend at midday on Saturday.
Police arrived at the scene following reports of shouting coming from inside the mobile home and found Lange lying on top of her boyfriend, 51, who weighed a stone less than her.
Donna Lange, 51, from Everett, Washington, is reported to have thrown herself on top of her boyfriend at midday on Saturday in their mobile home. (Mobile home file picture)
Witnesses say they heard the 5ft 7in man, who shared the mobile home with 5ft 6in Lange, pleading with her to get off of him.
One witne ss told The Sun : 'Sh e had her chest on his face - she smothered him to death.'
Lange, who was heavily intoxicated and received facial injuries in the disturbance told police she had no idea how the man had died.
Doctors tried to save him but he was pronounced dead on arrival at Washington Swedish Medical Centre.
Police said that in addition to the victim, a man and three women were at the scene, all who were heavily intoxicated.
A policeman photographed what appeared to hair the same colour as Lange's, clutched in the victim's hand.
Lange faces charges of second-degree manslaughter.
Two months ago a German woman was accused of trying to kill her lawyer boyfriend with her 38DD breasts.
Franziska Hansen, 33, from Unna, who weighs nine stone was accused of ‘attempted manslaughter with a weapon’ after her 13-stone boyfriend claimed she tried to smother him with her breasts and pretend it was a sex game.
Lange, who was intoxicated and had facial injuries told police she had no idea how the man had died. (file picture)
She denies the claim saying it was a sex game and he knew what it was all about.
Tim Schmidt told the German court that although they had had a difficult relationship, until then everything in the bedroom had been normal.
‘The incident happened in May – we were having sex,’ he said.
‘She was sitting on me naked and I was kissing her breasts. Suddenly she grabbed my head and pushed between her breasts with all of her force.
'I couldn't breathe any more, I must have turned blue. I couldn't tear myself free and I thought I was going to die.'
He said that with his last reserves of strength he had managed to extricate himself from the woman's vice-like grip and fled naked to a neighbour and demanded he called the police.
Mr Schmidt said when they met four years ago, the couple had been completely in love.
He said: ‘Everything was great between us – and I would have done everything for her. But it started to go wrong when I got my first job as a lawyer and we moved to Unna.
‘She could not hold down a job and just had one part-time job after the other. And the better my career went – the worst it seemed to be for her.’
He said Hansen tried to kill him after learning he was planning to leave her. |
If you’ve ever received a phone call, Facebook ad, Twitter notification or brochure in the mail offering help with student loans that seems too good to be true, you’re not alone.
Roughly 60% of a sample of more than 6,300 student loan borrowers said they’d seen advertisements for what consumer advocates have dubbed student debt relief scams — companies that offer to help borrowers with their student loans for a fee, but typically provide services borrowers can access from the government for free. Nearly 45% of respondents said one of these companies had reached out to them directly, according to the survey conducted by personal finance site NerdWallet, and student loan advocacy group, Student Debt Crisis.
The responses came largely from people who subscribed to Student Debt Crisis’s email list, which is not a nationally representative sample, but the results provide some insight into a phenomenon increasingly concerning to policy makers. The more than 40 million student loan borrowers contending with $1.3 trillion in student loans have become a vulnerable population ripe for abuse. In response to borrowers’ struggles, the Obama administration expanded the programs borrowers can use to manage their debt, but scammers have seized on the programs as an opportunity to lure borrowers, advertising their services with government logos and phrases like “Obama student loan help.”
“There is confusion in the marketplace as to which programs relate to you, what you can apply for,” said Natalia Abrams, the executive director of Student Debt Crisis, a nonprofit organization dedicated to reforming how higher education loans are paid. “These debt relief companies prey on that confusion.”
Abrams said her organization first became aware of the companies a few years ago after one started using the logo of an earlier iteration of the Student Debt Crisis, called Forgive Student Loan Debt, as part of its advertisements and the organization had to send the company a cease and desist letter. They’ve heard from countless borrowers since about the firms, she said.
About 9% of the survey respondents said they’d actually paid for student debt relief services, spending an average of $613. In lawsuits, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and states attorneys general have accused various student debt relief companies of luring borrowers into paying for services they could get from the government for free and often not actually providing them or in some cases, keeping borrowers on the hook for a repeating charge illegally.
Borrowers of color were more likely to have used the services with 15% of black respondents, saying they paid a debt relief company compared with 9% of white respondents. While it’s hard to say exactly why this is the case it may be because black borrowers are more likely to take out loans, have higher balances and fewer resources to fall back on if the debt becomes unmanageable. Abrams also noted that predatory companies have a history of targeting minority communities.
“There’s an emotional element to this as well and you do want an answer right away,” said Nonso Maduka, NerdWallet’s student aid expert, of why borrowers of all types are lured by the companies. “Even if something doesn’t feel like the best path, if it feels like a quick path and quick solution that is something that you might entertain.”
Other experts have argued that sloppy student loan servicing also allows the companies to proliferate. Borrower advocates often deride servicers — the private companies hired by the government to collect student loan payments — for not providing borrowers with enough or the right information. Critics have noted that the prevalence of student loan relief scams is reminiscent of the mortgage crisis, where servicers failed to provide homeowners with necessary information and scammers popped up in their stead.
“When there is such a need for information and assistance and that’s not being provided by the entities that are supposed to be providing it, people want to turn somewhere else for help,” said Adam Minsky, a Boston-based lawyer who works with student loan borrowers. “These debt relief scams are feeding on the frustrations and the desperation of people.”
Though Minsky applauds government efforts to curb the problem, including the CFPB’s work attempting to shut down some of the outfits and cease and desist letters from the Department to these companies asking them to stop using the feds’ logo, he says the only way to truly stop the companies is through a “total overhaul of the federal student loan system and more regulations governing student loan servicing as a whole.”
“Right now we’re attacking the problem in the sense that we see a company pop off, they rip people off, we go after them and three other companies pop up in their place,” Minsky said. Survey respondents identified 200 different student loan relief companies that they had encountered.
The Department of Education is currently in the midst of revamping the student loan servicing system so that servicers are incentivized to work in borrowers’ best interest and so that borrowers can repay their loans through one government-branded portal.
“If we fix [the servicing system] then people won’t feel the need to turn to these companies,” Minsky said. |
The prime minister has come under pressure to act against Britain's secretive offshore industry at June's G8 summit, as leaked evidence continued to mount that politicians and tycoons from all over the world have used the British Virgin Islands to hide funds.
The premier of Georgia, Bidzina Ivanishvili, was the latest to be named, along with prominent Pakistani, Indian, Thai and Indonesian figures – while there was fresh evidence of Britons acting as front directors for companies based in offshore havens such as the BVI.
A senior Liberal Democrat figure said the leaks showed the secret haven of the BVI "stains the face of Britain", as anti-corruption campaigners called for action.
Lord Oakeshott, the Lib Dem peer and a former Treasury spokesman, said: "How can David Cameron keep a straight face calling for the G8 to make big business pay tax when we let the BVI use British law and British protection to suck in billions in dirty money?"
He asked: "How much British aid paid to corrupt countries like Pakistan ends up behind a BVI brass plate?"
Despite mounting evidence that British sham directors are selling their names as fronts for offshore secrecy, the UK's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) signalled that politicians are reluctant to move against them.
A report on the sham directors scandal has already been sent to ministers by the BIS deputy head of corporate governance, Jo Shanmugalingam. This followed a Guardian-BBC investigation last year into the leaked data which revealed that two dozen Britons, giving obscure offshore addresses, were purporting to control thousands of companies.
The latest example, which emerged on Thursday, is of a "general builder", Kevin Gaitely. He gives an address in south London and is registered as the director of Tamalaris Consolidated, a company blacklisted by the UK and US as a front for Iran. He is recorded as a director of a variety of other UK and BVI companies.
Ministers insist they are not ready to act. The BIS issued a statement on Thursday night saying: "The vast majority of companies and directors do comply with the law and they should not be unfairly burdened, so we will focus our attention on those who deliberately seek to break the law."
It is not illegal as such for Britons to rent out their names on behalf of offshore companies, so the BIS statement appears to be a recipe for inaction.
Meanwhile MPs criticised tax avoidance in Pakistan in a report issued on Thursday by the UK Commons committee on overseas aid. It said: "We cannot expect people in the UK to pay taxes to improve education and health in Pakistan if the Pakistani elite does not pay meaningful amounts of income tax."
Robert Palmer of the campaign group Global Witness repeated the call for Cameron to act, saying: "The massive cache of leaked documents demonstrates how hidden ownership of shell companies facilitates corruption, tax dodging and other crimes."
He said: "The time to deal with this issue is now. Given that he has pledged to tackle these secretive shell companies at this year's G8 summit in Northern Ireland, he and his fellow leaders must commit to publishing information on the people who ultimately control and own companies."
The names of thousands of owners of secret offshore companies are currently being published by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in collaboration with the Guardian and other international media.
This follows the leak to ICIJ of a hard drive containing 200GB of internal files of offshore incorporation agencies in the BVI, Singapore and the Cook Islands.
A spokesman for the Georgian prime minister, who had set up a BVI company called Bosherston Overseas Corp, said he had done everything in accordance with the law: "For the reporting period of 2011-12, prime minister Ivanishvili had no interest in the company … and therefore there was no obligation to report it in his [financial] declaration."
In India, an MP from the ruling Congress party, Gaddam Vivekanand, said after an offshore company, Belrose Universal, was revealed to have been listed in his name: "I do not remember being involved with such a company and have no connection with it.''
A spokeswoman for Stephen Riady, who heads one of Indonesia's richest families, said there was "nothing illegal or improper in protecting the privacy of one's own information" after the leaked files revealed that his family's Lippo Group conglomerate controlled a number of offshore entities.
The incorporation firm, TrustNet, refers to them as "Client A", noting "client does not want to be seen dealing offshore". Their agent, Gary Phair, instructed TrustNet staff to "delete any reference to 'C/- [Care of] Lippo".
Thai MP Nalinee Taveesin, currently an official trade representative and previously blacklisted by the US for allegedly helping Robert Mugabe avoid sanctions, denied knowing about the offshore company Hall Kingston International, listed in her name.
Her secretary said: "The information about her being [a company] shareholder is incorrect."
In Pakistan, Moonis Elahi, a politician from a prominent Punjab dynasty who was acquitted in a Pakistan court in 2011 of receiving payments in a corruption scandal, said he did not own offshore company Olive Grove Assets, listed to his name at the family residence in Lahore. He did not state whether he had previously owned the firm. |
A new Purdue University report and survey of on global warming finds that just 50 percent of scientists blame human causes, not the NASA-endorsed and widely distributed claim of 97 percent.
In a survey of nearly 7,000 in the agriculture field, found that most scientists agree that climate change is happening, but just 50.5 percent blame mankind.
“More than 90 percent of the scientists and climatologists surveyed said they believed climate change was occurring, with more than 50 percent attributing climate change primarily to human activities,” said the Purdue report published in the authoritative Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society and highlighted by MRC Business.
“Contrary to the repeated insistence of both climate alarmists and the media, scientists do not all agree on the standard climate alarmism talking points,” said MRC’s review of the scholarly report from one of the nation’s leading ag schools.
“More shocking was that just 53 percent of climatologists surveyed thought ‘climate change is occurring, and it is caused mostly by human activities.’ While that number of climatologists was small, the result is still significant,” added MRC.
Most of the farmers interviewed agreed that climate change is occurring, but just 8 percent blamed humans.
The media has often hyped the 97 percent figure and NASA heralds it on their website. But critics have long argued that the numbers is wildly inflated by liberals like President Obama who are pushing to control man-made pollution.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]. |
It seems that people want to announce everything on Facebook, even their imminent demise.
30-year-old Eric L. Ramsey knew his time was up, so he took out his cell phone and posted on his Facebook wall: "Well folkes [sic] im about to get shot. Peace"
As NBC News reports, some of his friends thought he was joking.
However, shortly after his 3:15 a.m. post, he was fatally shot by a policeman.
The police were searching for Ramsey after he allegedly kidnapped and raped a woman at Central Michigan University, set a house ablaze, stole a sanitation truck, and rammed into the cars of two Michigan State troopers.
The victim of the alleged rape had managed to escape and had alerted the police.
The Isabella County Sheriff, Leo Mioduszewki, said in a press release (PDF): "A short while later, a Crawford County Deputy located the sanitation truck, and the suspect ended up hitting the deputy's car head on. The deputy then got out of the patrol car, ran up to the cab of the pickup, and fired shots, fatally wounding the suspect."
It's not clear what time Ramsey was shot or how he had time to make the Facebook post.
Ramsey isn't the first alleged criminal to have used Facebook during his activity. Two years ago, a man held a woman hostage in a Utah hotel and posted constant updates to his Facebook account.
In the case of Ramsey, Facebook seems to have been the only way he could offer a short goodbye. |
Canada’s millennials are facing all sorts of challenges: high home prices, soaring tuition fees and record household debt.
But there’s one challenge that they’re well-placed to weather, says a new study: the rise of the machines.
Indeed.com came to this conclusion by looking at job seeker interest in a number of jobs that are at high-risk of automation.
They found that millennials could be protected from this trend because they’re just not that interested in occupying the jobs that robots could take away.
Millennials (aged 20 to 36 this year) were more interested than Baby Boomers and Generation Xers in “non-routine cognitive” jobs, which include management and professional positions, which are at “low risk of automation,” Indeed.com said.
By contrast, they were the least interested out of all three generations in “routine manual” jobs in industries such as construction, production and transportation.
This category includes many jobs that are at high risk of automation.
Baby Boomers were 54 per cent more likely to be interested in jobs in this area.
Indeed.com then gauged millennial interest in various jobs by narrowing down job search activity to a number of major occupational categories.
The chart above shows that millennials had more interest in “higher-skilled and non-routine occupations” that are “less likely to face replacement by automation,” Indeed.com said.
“In fact, only three of the 15 occupations — — preferred by millennials are routine occupations,” it added.
Baby Boomers were more likely to favour routine occupations, like transportation and material moving, or production, or installation, maintenance and repair.
Construction and extraction, and management were more preferred by Generation Xers.
READ MORE: Millennials in the workplace: why they’re not entirely to blame for everything
“Millennials are much less keen on occupations at high-risk of automation than other generations,” Indeed.com wrote.
“And so are better situated to ride out the disruption that will likely be caused by the coming waves of automation.”
Indeed.com’s study isn’t the first to examine millennials’ relationship with automation in the workplace.
The Deloitte 2017 Millennial Survey found that the generation sees the benefits of automation in terms of economic growth and productivity. They do, however, remain concerned that it could take away jobs that might otherwise be available to them.
They do, however, remain concerned that it could take away jobs that might otherwise be available to them.
But they’re most concerned about the risk of automation making workplaces more sterile and “impersonal” or “less human.” |
In addition to our own research and benchmarking, we reached out to Edmund Li of Zalman for help understanding some cooler design elements, so a big thanks to him for his time and knowledge. Let's cover how a heatsink works before anything else.
Picking the best CPU cooler / heatsink for your gaming rig is important if you're planning to keep things quiet or overclock your system; we'll cover noise level, cooling efficiency, and top-level thermal dissipation strategies for aftermarket coolers in this article.
We briefly covered CPU cooler engineering in our Tuniq Tower 120 review , and in continuing that topic, this post will discuss various cooler designs that pervade the market and which are best for you.
How Does a Heatsink Work?
Effective heatpipe design is significantly more complex than gluing a copper brick to a semiconductor, of course. Most of the action within a CPU heatsink happens inside of the copper heatpipes, which often use material phase changes and capillary action to cool microprocessors, but before we get into the specifics, let's cover the basics:
A heatsink's objective is to draw heat away from the hot, underlying chip, which generates heat as a result of its (relatively) high frequency and the electrical current coursing through the cores; improving core stability by amplifying voltage (in the form of vCore) will generate yet more heat, so in overclocking applications, aftermarket heatsinks are particularly noticeable. Stock heatsinks are much more simplistic than the aftermarket products we review, so we'll focus almost entirely upon aftermarket cooling technology for this article. The stock sinks tend to be a composition of a top-mounted fan, aluminum fins, and a flat copper base -- a far cry from the liquid-filled, sintered/grooved copper heatpipes that are used in aftermarket sinks.
Using a fusion of these heatpipes, fan design that minimizes air resistance, aluminum or copper fins to maximize surface area, and high thermal conductivity interfaces, heatsinks and coolers are able to conduct heat from the surface of the CPU and escort it out the back or top of the case. Much of this comes down to thermodynamics and sciences pertaining to thermal conductivity and materials engineering, which we'll cover on a very top-level in a section below (see: Materials & Thermal Conductivity).
We've put together the below image to help familiarize you with the inner-workings of a CPU heatsink and its related terminology:
The anatomy of a heatsink. This is NZXT's Respire T40 - click to enlarge.
The primary elements of a CPU cooler are all covered in this graphic. For the most part, the action happens in the heatpipes, but we're also faced with the actual heatsink, the overall surface area, the contact technology used to transfer heat to the pipes, and fan positioning.
The cooling pipeline for a heatsink is pretty straight-forward, here's what we're usually looking at:
- The CPU generates heat; this heat is absorbed through a conductive baseplate or directly touching heatpipes on the heatsink.
- The heat causes liquid within the heatpipe to undergo a phase change, resulting in its transition to a gas. A significant amount of energy is consumed during this phase change (in the form of heat), this is responsible for a lot of the heat reduction we experience. We then move to the dissipation stage...
- The heat (gas) travels up the pipe and eventually reaches the condensor, which condenses the gas back into liquid form and uses capillary action to transport it back to the evaporator.
- During its trip through the pipe, heat is absorbed by the adjoining (hopefully large) heatsink, where it is dissipated through the fins and cooled by the new, cool air being injected by the fan.
- The liquid is guided back down to the evaporator section of tubing (atop the CPU) through sintered, grooved, mesh, or composite tubing (explained further below), called a "wick" or "capillary structure." Capillary pressure is created by the wick, forcing coolant to return to the evaporator where it can be re-used.
Pretty cool stuff, right?
Yeah, yeah. What Makes a Good CPU Cooler / Heatsink for my purposes?
All of this information can be used in buying decisions to help weed through the ever-increasing amount of heatsinks available. Understanding the basic physics behind a heatsink's functionality helps us determine what design and engineering elements govern a quality product; as always, if you'd like more direct input from us on your system building endeavors, feel free to comment below or post your question on our hardware forums!
Let's expand on each of the previous topics:
Materials & Thermal Conductivity
Materials have everything to do with the efficiency of your heatsink. Starting with a basic chart of relevant materials makes sense:
Material Thermal Conductivity (W/mK) at 25C Air, atmospheric 0.024 Water 0.058 Thermalpaste (Avg) ~5.3 - 8.5 Aluminum 205 Copper 401
Given air's low thermal conductivity, it's evident why we can't just blow air past a CPU to achieve performance-grade cooling. Copper and aluminum, on the other hand, make excellent heatsink materials for our purposes: Copper is objectively the best material for gaming-grade PC heatsinks, but aluminum tends to be the most cost-friendly option and can still exhibit considerable cooling capacity given solid enough design. However, that doesn't change the fact that copper has the best conductive heat transfer potential; it's commendable to search for heatsinks that use copper heatpipe structures and copper fins, though copper fins are not required by any means -- we do always recommend copper heatpipes, though.
Conductive heat transfer is expressed through Fourier's Law as:
q = k A dT / s, where A = heat transfer area, k = the material's thermal conductivity, dT = temperature difference across the material, and s = material thickness. (Read more about this at Engineering Toolbox).
Despite copper and aluminum differences, we're still limited in cooling efficiency by the fan, the case airflow, and the surface area of the heatsink and surface roughness of the contact plate. As a sort-of side note, a lot of manufacturers use nickel plating or other aesthetic-only materials to cover up copper and aluminum, so don't just use looks to determine whether something is aluminum or copper. Cooler Master's T812 is an example -- it uses a copper base, but is coated in a way that almost makes it appear aluminum. Always check the specs for the final word.
Surface Area & Surface Roughness
Surface area was rated by our Zalman contact (Edmund Li) as one of the most important aspects to a cooler's functionality, and it makes sense: A larger chunk of grooved/finned metal provides more area for the heat to distribute itself. This is largely bolstered by fin designs that are optimized to maximize surface area, further enabling the unit's ability to cool.
Luckily, this is one of those items that's pretty simple to shop for - big being better, in this case - just make sure you choose something that makes sense for your system. Grabbing the heaviest heatsink out there won't matter if it doesn't fit in the case and puts too much strain on the CPU or motherboard. Just grabbing any massive aluminum heatsink is probably not for the best, of course, given the importance of heatpipes, surface smoothness, and copper's place in the world.
Surface roughness is a measurement of the base plate's smoothness (measured in microinches) and overall ability to connect directly with the surface of the CPU. In a perfect world, there would be no thermalpaste and the copper base plates would come in direct, flush, perfectly smooth contact with the CPU... but we don't live in a perfect world, and if we did, I'd be playing games while floating in a tube of water, not writing about heatsinks.
The reason we even need thermalpaste, as we explained in this previous post, is because microscopic divets in the surface of the connecting materials create air pockets. Air gets trapped in these pockets at high temperatures, causing uneven thermal distribution and resulting in hotter core temps. A thermal interface, while significantly lower thermal conductivity than pure copper or aluminum, provides an air-tight sealant between the divets that allows heat to cleanly migrate from the CPU surface to the cooler base plate. Smoother is better.
Thermalpaste's thermal conductivity will impact the temperature moderately, but not normally enough where it's justifiable to spend lots of money on thermal compound. If you're doing serious overclocking and need every single degree you can muster, then by all means, consider a tube of MX-4. But for most of us, 5.3W/mK - 6.x W/mK is more than enough to keep things under control. And it's affordable.
Heatpipe Exposure and Wick / Capillary Design
And now we're back to heatpipes! There are two prevailing chamber designs in the CPU heatsink market: Vapor chambers and traditional capillary heatpipes. We'll cover the latter first due to their dominance.
Source.
As this image shows so well, a heatpipe contains a very small amount of coolant or liquid (normally a mix of ammonium and ethanol or distilled water) which undergoes chemical phase changes - this is the catalyst for our reduced temperatures. The evaporator (CPU surface region) evaporates the liquid, where it travels in gaseous form toward the condensor. The condensor then—you guessed it—condenses the gas back to liquid form, where it travels down grooved, sintered, metal mesh, or composite tubing as a result of capillary action.
The grooved wick design looks precisely like you'd think -- it's grooved cleanly down the interior of the tube, meanwhile the sintered design carries a more foamy and porous look. Metal mesh designs are more common among consumer heatsinks and vaguely resemble a basket's woven pattern. Thermolab cut open some heatpipes to reveal their insides, which makes the explanation a bit easier.
Left to right: Sintered, Grooved, Mesh Weave. Source: Thermolab.
Zalman uses a fourth design—composite heatpipes—which mix copper powder inside of the pipe to help aid in thermal transfer (the steam travels faster).
Composite and sintered heatpipes have much higher production cost than grooved pipes; as for which makes a "better" heatsink, it really comes down to individual product testing due to the many other variables -- but composite and sintered heatpipes are preferable, albeit rare.
Heatpipes connected directly to the surface of the CPU will cool it more efficiently for a short period of time (we were told "about an hour" by Zalman), but as heat builds and time progresses, that tends to equalize; direct touch heatpipes are not often noticeably more effective than polished base plates when it comes to endurance cooling. What is noticeable, though, is a copper base versus an aluminum one -- you'll want copper exposed directly to the CPU for best heat wicking potential.
Polished copper baseplates will give off a "mirror finish" shine, like the one on this 9900Max.
Vapor changes are a little bit different and aren't quite as common, but are still worth a quick mention: Vapor chambers are used for disproportionately high, localized heat generation by processing units; a vapor chamber helps spread this additional heat more evenly across the fins within the heatsink (rather than favoring fins in close proximity to the hotspot). Cooler Master's 812 uses both vapor chambers and heatpipes, and they created this image to help explain their usage:
It's effectively the same as a heatpipe in its functionality, they just use a slightly different design to attract location-specific heat.
Fan Positioning & Noise Reduction
Noise levels are always going to be a problem with small fans, but fan positioning and cooling optimization can help reduce the requirement of high RPMs and high decibel levels.
Fans generate noise within a CPU cooler for a few primary reasons: Bearing type, fan size and RPM, and rattling within the cage. Of these, only rattling is unique to CPU coolers -- the rest are covered by our fan bearings overview / guide.
Rattling is normally a result of poor fan positioning and design. The Tuniq Tower 120 Extreme cooler we reviewed had rubberized screws to prevent rattling, Zalman uses a centralized fan that is detached from the fins (theoretically the quietest design), and other coolers use a mix of brackets and mounting mechanisms that may or may not vibrate under load.
The centered fan design is interesting -- by placing the fan directly over the CPU and surrounding it with the fins (but not touching the two), the fan still pulls air cleanly through the entire unit without the added fun of rattling the cage.
Aside from isolated fans, it's good to look for units with rubberized mounting plates/screws or otherwise stable brackets that can better withstand high RPMs. More fans are always going to be beneficial for cooling, of course, as they'll pull more air into the system and will more evenly cool the fins, but they aren't necessary; we saw a 3C decrease in temperature between the NZXT Respire T40 with one fan and the T40 with two fans -- so it is noticeable -- but the noise level will obviously increase as a result (though you could arguably just run them at lower RPMs). Decibels are calculated on a logarithmic scale (10*log(x) equates the difference in dB, where x is the number of fans of the same decibel level), so adding more fans to the system will always increase noise marginally for the most part.
Top Things to Look For in a CPU Cooler
Now that we have a thorough understanding of how coolers work, let's recap the most important design elements to look for; we're assuming a standard performance / gaming-grade build for this article's purposes:
Surface area. The larger the heatsink, the more readily it can dissipate heat. On this note, a larger base plate surface area means better transfer of heat from the CPU to the pipes and more room for mounting error.
Materials. Copper has about twice the thermal conductivity of aluminum and simply makes a better heatsink.
Number of heatpipes and their diameter. As a general rule, more heatpipes means better cooling. Additional vapor chambers may aid in heat diffusion for some units, but are not as common as traditional heatpipes.
Fan positioning and number of fans. More fans means better cooling, but potentially more noise. Find a balance between performance and noise that works for you; remember that you can always decrease the RPMs across the fans to neutralize some of the noise.
And there's one more thing: Aesthetics. It's silly, but if we're honest, a lot of the mid-range to high-end heatsinks will offer almost identical cooling performance. For performance and enthusiast applications, mounting an ugly piece of copper to your otherwise beautiful rig isn't preferable. Given negligible performance difference between coolers, pick the one that you think fits your rig's personality the best.
Let us know if you are debating between two heatsinks and need some help!
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke, with thanks to Edmund Li of Zalman for insight.
Special thanks to Tim "Space_man" Martin for his physics engineering insight. |
Never doubt how crazy people can get over cheap clothes.
After weeks of build up, H&M’s new collaboration with designer label Balmain launched today (Nov. 5). A bit of chaos was expected, as is generally the case with these collections, which offer low-end approximations of luxury designs at more accessible prices. But nobody fully anticipated the stampedes that took place as H&M stores across the globe opened their doors to anxious shoppers.
On London’s Regent Street, scuffles broke out among people who had been lined up for hours, according to The Guardian.
In Paris, customers flooded the store, knocking over displays and scrambling to grab anything they could.
In a GQ roundup of the chaos, videos show shoppers in Poland and Dubai pushing past security guards and climbing under a security gate to get inside as stores open.
In other cities, shoppers had lined up days before the collection. Would-be buyers in Sydney patiently spent up to 20 hours in the rain just for the chance to shop the collection. In Singapore, some people waited in line for three days. But the award for sheer endurance has to go to Seoul, where some had reportedly been lined up for a full week awaiting the launch.
Balmain has in recent years become a favorite of the social-media elite. Kim Kardashian and her siblings, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, are routinely spotted wearing the brand, and hanging out with creative director Olivier Rousteing, who is the most-followed French designer on Instagram. For the collaboration’s launch, Rousteing and H&M promoted the hashtag #HMBalmaination.
The H&M collaboration brings his expensive designs, which have earned some unflattering reviews from fashion critics, within reach of the millions who follow him and his coterie on their screens every day. But pieces still aren’t exactly cheap; some items, such as an elaborately beaded dress, cost more than $500.
Still, if you want to copy your favorite Insta-celebrity’s Balmain look, H&M’s version is easier to buy than the genuine article, and even if it is a compromised version, that’s hardly the point.
“I really want to get a beaded dress for my 18th and then put it out all over Instagram,” one shopper told the Guardian. “Although of course then I’ll never be able to wear it again. Not once it’s been on social media.” |
A man opened fire, shooting at passing vehicles Sunday along a highway near the Gateway Canyons Resort and Spa in western Colorado. The gunfire hit at least one vehicle before security guards, deputies and police raced to the scene and stopped the shooter, Mesa County authorities said.
Mesa County sheriff’s deputies, aided by Grand Junction police, the State Patrol and others, took Rick Whithed, 54, into custody, said Megan Terlecky, spokeswoman for the sheriff. Whithed was to be held in the Mesa County jail.
“He has minor injuries. He was not shot,” Terlecky said. “He was shooting at other vehicles. Shots were fired. At least one vehicle was hit.”
The shooting happened along Colorado 141. Security guards at Gateway Canyons, a luxury resort 55 miles southwest of Grand Junction, were first at the scene. They engaged the shooter, Terlecky said. The authorities notified people in homes, advising residents to shut windows,lock doors and stay inside. They closed Colorado 141 for a couple of hours.
Nobody else was hurt. |
Submitted by Martin Armstrong via ArmstrongEconomics.com,
There is disturbing opinion circulating about Jo Cox may have been assassinated to prevent a BREXIT vote. Many are starting to believe there is a conspiracy plot connecting the dots to ensure a sympathy vote to remain within the EU. People are pointing to the familiar tool of assassination often used to achieve political agendas.
Of course there is the Kennedy assassination that many believe was orchestrated to create the sympathy vote to start the Vietnam War when in fact Kennedy vetoed such a measure.
But the more recent assassination was on September 10th, 2003. Anna Lindh (1957 – 2003), was a Swedish Social Democratic politician who was a member of parliament from 1982 to 1985 and 1998 to 2003. Anna was elevated to minister for foreign affairs by prime minister Göran Persson in 1998. She was widely considered to be his successor as party chairman and there was much hope that she would become prime minister.
Lindh was a supported of adopting the euro. She became the face of joining the new EU and was to be on a TV debate when in Stockholm on the afternoon of September 10th around 4 pm, she was attacked with a knife while shopping in the ladies’ section of the Nordiska Kompaniet department. Lindh was to appear on a televised debate later that night on the referendum about Sweden’s adoption of the euro. At the time of the attack, Lindh was not protected by bodyguards from the Swedish Security Service.
Then there is the unsolved assassination of prime minister Olof Palme in 1986. Palme was accused of being anti-EU and more pro Soviet. His assassination did clear the way for Sweden to join the EU, which was finally presented in the Swedish European Union membership referendum of 1994 approved, which gain only a 52% majority.
While Silvio Berlusconi was not assassinated, the EU did stage a coup against him because he wanted to take Italy out of the euro. Then there was the Greek Prime Minister Georgios Andreas Papandreou who wanted the Greek people to vote on any bailout to stay in the euro. He was told by Brussels there would be no referendum.
The recent Austrian election was rigged with the closest race in history decided by the mailed-in ballots. As the days have passed, the results of the Austrian presidential election have become far more suspicious. The official results claimed the far-left candidate Alexander Van der Bellen defeated Norbert Hofer from the Freedom Party of Austria by just 31,000 votes, 50.35% to 49.65%. Again, the fate of the EU hung in the balance. The provisional result in voting reflected major polls released in the last days before the election, which all showed Hofer with the clear majority of public support over his rival coming in at 53% to 47%.
The Scottish youth called their referendum to leave the UK a “REVOLUTION” and felt very betrayed by what they called the over “65” crowd who just wanted their pension checks from London. It is clear that when people are voting with paper ballots, they vote can easily be rigged. There were countless photos of how they committed outright fraud to ensure there would be no “yes” vote.
David Cameron basically said reading between the lines – the younger generation lost and their fate is now settled “for a generation.” This degree of arrogance is not going to be helpful. Governments will not reform and that brings us only to the point of our rising civil unrest that will rip the systems apart. No one in charge will address the long-term. They are only concerned about one vote at a time.
So is there a conspiracy? Perhaps. They would never investigate themselves, so all this is has been suspicion. What is clear, has been that the EU will collapse if BREXIT is allowed. There is far too much at stake to allow this vote. The burning question will be, just how they cover it up and at what cost? |
20 Common Ways We Make Bad Decisions
Tim By
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“You’re only human” is a quote we hear all too often, but it’s in our nature to make bad decisions. Attributes likes the bandwagon effect or overconfidence we’ve heard of before. Groupthink can hurt creativity and individuality, but it can also have dangerous outcomes.
Not mentioned in the infographic below, but directly related to the bandwagon effect is SEP or Somebody Else’s Problem. This is when a large issue of concern is ignored by the masses because no one believes it is their responsibility to step in. This can happen a lot in large crowds like riots.
Another bad habit is the ostrich effect. You know the saying “bury our heads in the sand” to mean ignoring a problem. We do this all the time. Things aren’t going well at work, maybe we won’t check our email as often. A bad economy can lead people to ignore the stock market more as to not see how much money they’ve lost.
Tim Co-Founder After a quick stint in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Tim moved to Austin, Texas at the ripe age of one. He then spent the next 17 years there experiencing all that Austin had to offer. Nightlife, music, ...
19.8k |
PRESENTED in an unusually-shaped heavy glass bottle with outsized black lettering, it could be a fine vodka. On sale for £80 ($99) in Harrods, an upmarket department store in London, it has a price tag to match. In fact, it is a bottle of water. Harvested directly from Norwegian icebergs that are up to 4,000 years old, Svalbardi is one of hundreds of water brands that are sourced from exotic places and marketed as luxury products.
From the basic to the expensive, the market for bottled water is an attractive place to be. According to Zenith Global, a consulting firm, the global market has grown by 9% annually in recent years and is worth $147bn. The main reason is changing lifestyles. People are spending more time, and eating more of their meals, away from home. They are also switching from soft drinks and alcohol to healthier fare. Data from Beverage Marketing Corporation (BMC), another consultancy, show that consumption of bottled water overtook that of sugary soft drinks in America in 2016 (see chart).
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Basic brands, such as Aquafina from PepsiCo, compete on price and have slim margins. (The cost of the raw material, which comes from either natural or municipal sources, is next to nothing; the main costs are packaging, distribution and marketing.) At the other end of the scale, convincing customers to pay a lot should be hard when your product doesn’t have a distinctive taste and an alternative is freely available from the tap in most rich countries. But “premiumisation” is working. Though still a small part of the American market, really high-cost bottled water (selling for more than $1.30 a litre) has been one of its fastest-growing areas, says BMC.
Premium water is hardly a new idea. The Perrier brand, which is owned by Nestlé, a Swiss consumer-goods giant, and Evian, owned by Danone, a French one, have long emphasised the uniqueness of their natural sources to sell water. But the newest offerings are promoting a lifestyle. Coca-Cola’s premium water brand, which is advertised by Jennifer Aniston, is marketed as “inspirational” water for successful people. That is also the buzzword for PepsiCo’s LIFEWTR, launched in America with a 30-second ad during last month’s Super Bowl. For the fashion crowd, one range of Evian bottles features artwork from Christian Lacroix.
Adding flavour is another way to dress up water. Grocery stores stock fruit-flavoured waters and “plant” waters, such as coconut, maple or birch. Water that has been fortified with vitamins and minerals is a hit with exercise junkies. The market is small but lucrative: sales of flavoured water amount to only 4% of the volume of plain water sold, according to Zenith, but bring in 15% of the total revenue.
At the luxury end of the market, water has become more like wine, argues Michael Mascha, the author of a guide to fine water. In expensive restaurants the precise origin of water is what matters; many eateries offer water lists along with the wine selection. For power-lunchers in health-conscious Los Angeles, says Mr Mascha, buying an expensive bottle of water is a way to signal status.
High prices can be controversial, given that many people in poor countries have limited access to drinking water and environmental worries dog the industry. Transporting water from exotic places is costly; most plastic bottles languish in landfill sites; and some firms, such as Nestlé, have been accused by environmental groups of monopolising water sources at the expense of local communities, for instance during periods of drought in California. (Nestlé says it monitors environmental conditions around its source springs and that it adheres to sustainable practices.) Many brands address such concerns head-on. Svalbardi water is certified as carbon-neutral, for example; Coca-Cola funds drinking-water projects in Africa.
The thirst for posh water will only deepen, predicts Euromonitor, a market-research firm, as middle-class consumption in poorer countries catches up and as Westerners continue shunning unhealthy soft drinks. If so, the ingenuity seen so far in the bottled-water industry may be just a drip from the iceberg. |
Avete presenti quella sensazione di smarrimento che vi coglie quando qualcuno butta nel discorso un vocabolo straniero, di cui non sapete nulla? Avete presenti quella sensazione diche vi coglie quando qualcuno butta nel discorso un vocabolo straniero, di cui non sapete nulla?
mi è successo giovedì scorso all'evento è saltato fuori un termine che mai avevo sentito prima:
È quello cheall'evento #leprofessionidelfuturo , quando, fra una slide e l'altra,un termine che mai avevo sentito prima:
E tu sai cosa sono?
C'è lo spiega pic.twitter.com/hzfOZbBx1s Big Data, questi sconosciuti.E tu sai cosa sono?C'è lo spiega #leprofessionidelfuturo 23 marzo 2017
Igienista dei Dati?
Al massimo - complici alcuni vecchi fatti di cronaca... "pepati" - avevo sentito parlare di Igienista Dentale...
...Ma dei Dati?
Per fortuna, in pochi minuti di presentazione, la nebbia si è diradata, tutto mi è parso più chiaro.
In fondo, è strano che non ci abbia mai pensato prima: ogni giorno, attraverso i social media, i siti di e-commerce, le iscrizioni a newsletter e altri servizi, e via dicendo, lasciamo per il Web un sacco di tracce, neanche fossimo Pollicino con i suoi sassolini!
I nostri nomi, i nostri indirizzi virtuali e fisici, i nostri acquisti - tanti piccoli tasselli che vanno a integrare database aziendali enormi, creati allo scopo di migliorare la nostra esperienza come utenti/clienti - o almeno così ci dicono i grandi brand.
Nel tempo, però, le informazioni che forniamo alle imprese possono perdere valore, deteriorarsi: abbiamo cambiato residenza senza avvisare, siamo passati alla concorrenza, oppure ci siamo dimenticati di essere già registrati e ci siamo iscritti di nuovo, magari con una casella di posta diversa...
Risultato?
Una mole non sempre coerente di dati, dove ridondanze e generalità ormai inutili abbondano.
Ecco allora la necessità di ripulire gli archivi , eliminando ciò che non serve più, correggendo gli errori e armonizzando i formati.
Una mansione importante e delicata, che qualcuno deve pur svolgere... largo al Data Hygienist, quindi!
Volendo, lo si potrebbe paragonare a un netturbino: invece che su strade coperte di immondizia, lotta contro refusi e doppioni.
non muore ma si trasforma, spostandosi in ambito Digitale; e non è di sicuro l'unico caso, Il concetto resta lo stesso - la mansione, minacciata dall'avvento dei Robot,, spostandosi; e non è di sicuro l'unico caso, come abbiamo visto
Già conosciuto all'estero, e in particolare negli USA, da alcuni anni, l'Igienista dei Dati si appresta ora a conquistare anche l'Italia - e con la fame di dati affidabili che ora consuma anche i business del nostro Paese, non dubito che il suo successo sia già assicurato. |
In the Editorial “Ten Simple Rules for Doing Your Best Research, According to Hamming” [1], Erren and colleagues discussed ten ideas originally presented by Hamming for how to do great science. I am grateful that the authors started this discussion. Scientific careers are very challenging, and there is a lack of training in many graduate programs to provide this kind of career meta-advice. Such discussions are a good starting point, and young scientists should take them seriously.
In the vein of promoting further debate and discussion, I provide here a different and perhaps deeper look at what makes a successful scientist. While I can't claim to have the reputation of Hamming, I grew up in a family of well-known scientists, and have had plenty of chances to observe the trajectories of scientific careers over my lifetime. Based on that experience, I propose the following as a somewhat distinct set of guidelines for doing the best research:
1. Don't worry about age, worry about being exposed to new ideas. While it appears that age plays a role in scientific creativity, it has not been well examined whether that role is biologically causative. There are many social changes that usually occur as anyone ages, which may play a greater role than biology does in the age-related creativity decline. Older scientists usually become boxed into their fields of expertise, and come to be seen as “experts.” As such, they are less likely to have their ideas directly challenged by others, and less likely to be exposed to radically new ideas or different fields. I have seen many anecdotal references to Einstein's creative powers reducing as he aged, as his best work was done in his 20s. But this ignores a major factor: during his creative years, he was a patent clerk who was seen as a “nobody,” whereas in his later years he was an eminent professor. Being a nobody has certain creative advantages—for one, there is not much to lose by promoting radical new ideas, because one has no reputation or established career at stake. Also, one is not expected to follow the “party line,” regardless of the latest scientific fashion that happens to be in vogue. Promoting new ideas can often be a minefield for one's career, since there is usually a long period of violent resistance to new ideas. Barry Marshall had to drink a culture of H. pylori to give himself an ulcer, in order to overcome resistance to the idea that this organism caused ulcers [2]. Now, more than 20 years later, he and co-discoverer Robin Warren have the Nobel Prize, and the role of H. pylori in ulcers is widely accepted. In today's competitive grant world, this phenomenon is exacerbated. It is dangerous to one's funding to go against the trend, and if there is a lab to support and mouths to feed, the disincentives are great. This phenomenon stifles creativity, perhaps far more than biological age does. If one is therefore concerned about retaining scientific creativity, perhaps the best solution is to force exposure to new ideas, concepts, and people. Hamming also discussed the importance of this kind of exposure by “keeping your door open” [3]. I think that more than just keeping one's door open, a more direct way of doing this is to become involved in entirely new fields from time to time, which tends to promote creative thinking outside established dogma. So, don't worry about your age, worry about whether you are continuing to expose yourself to new and challenging ideas.
2. Tinker. While it is not frequently acknowledged either in the popular press or in scientific literature, a significant fraction of scientific discovery is the result of serendipity (or to put it more bluntly, luck). From the discovery of penicillin by Fleming to the discovery of new ionization techniques such as MALDI that power modern mass-spectrometry based proteomic research, luck has frequently played a big role. Such discoveries are generally attributed to hard work and genius, rather than to luck. Doing so gives the “genius” too much credit and luck too little. Often the big discoveries come from someone noticing an inconsistency or oddity in their surroundings or experiments, then doggedly working to figure out what is causing it. So perhaps being a great scientist is less about “genius” than it is about willingness to pursue the unusual at the expense of pursuing the usual. This comes back to the argument about age: often, once one has become entrenched in a paradigm, blindness to inconsistencies grows, and so it takes someone from outside of a field to point those out and pursue them. This should be encouraging news for those of us who don't consider ourselves geniuses. The best way to promote scientific success may be to maximize exposure to chance occurrence and events—especially those that have more upside than downside potential. So, don't just ignore those little inconsistencies that arise in your work, give them some room for consideration. This is something anyone can do, though it takes time and courage (see point 3, below). In addition, to be creative and remain open to fortuitous occurrences, the mind needs a rest from time to time. One can be buried in the lab 20 hours a day, and easily become lost in the self-created world where the little oddities begin to escape notice. Fleming discovered penicillin upon return from a long vacation, and his fresh mind may have contributed to the key observation he made on the effect of mold upon bacterial cultures. So it is critical to balance hard work with other activities, particularly those that provide exposure to new and different challenges: travel, sports, hobbies, family, or whatever.
3. Take risks. Risk taking is where most of the big discoveries in science lie. Recall Dr. Marshall and H. pylori: he was willing to swallow a culture of the bacterium to prove his theory. And later, he shared the Nobel Prize for it. It may not be wise to go around drinking random bacterial cultures in the hopes of discovering something new. But it is important when something outside the current scientific fashion is discovered, to at least consider the risks and possible payoffs of pursuing it. Those who do pursue such ideas may find it hard to get funding for them. Others may say it is a bad idea. People may reject papers, expressing vehement opposition to a new idea. For really groundbreaking ideas, there may even be hecklers at talks! But, as Hamming pointed out in his lecture: “The great scientists, when an opportunity opens up, get after it and they pursue it” [3]. Pursuing new lines of inquiry can be very discouraging at times, but it is all part of the process any new idea goes through to transform from fringe to mainstream. I recall one major experience I had with this. Around 1996, I came up with an idea for doing DNA sequencing reactions in a test tube in a way that is very much like pyrosequencing today. After presenting it to a mentor and having it shot down, I gave up on it and went back to my “safe” work. While that was not a great time to pursue a new line of work outside my graduate studies, perhaps I should not have given up so quickly, considering the importance of pyrosequencers now. Risk taking may be a particular challenge for female scientists. It seems that cultural norms discourage risk taking in young girls more so than in boys, and this can carry forward through to adulthood and into scientific careers. The top female scientists I know of take risks in their work, but they seem to be a minority. So it seems especially important for mentors of female students, postdocs, and young faculty, to provide encouragement in this regard. This same issue may apply to other minorities in science as well.
4. Enjoy your work! It is quite easy in today's science to get caught up in the “external rewards” game, meaning: seeking praise, high profile publications, and honors or awards. But these are transient and illusory rewards. The prestigious prizes and high profile publications are often a lottery—in addition to some of the factors above, there is a lot of luck involved in who happens upon the “really big” discoveries. One may or may not get lucky, and may or may not get recognition for that. Sometimes recognition only comes after the prime of one's career—John Fenn received the Nobel Prize at 85 years old. That's a long time to wait for reward if you're just doing science for the sake of such rewards (I doubt that was Fenn's motivation for discovering electrospray ionization). A different and much more gratifying way to pursue a career is to simply enjoy the work! Do science for the sake of doing it. This is as likely as anything to lead to big discoveries and fame. But even if those things don't happen, you are enjoying yourself, and life is too short not to do so.
5. Learn to say “No!”. Over the span of a career, one gets asked to do many non-science activities: serving on committees, grant reviews, paper reviews, and so on. While it is important to contribute effort to these things to keep the system functioning, it is necessary to set a limit, so that they don't take over the fun of doing science itself. The system will not collapse just because one says “no” from time to time in order to preserve time to do science. Learning to say “no” is particularly important for young faculty, who find themselves barraged with such requests, and who can easily get sucked into full-time committee duties. It is wise to step back frequently and ask, “overall, is this work I am doing fun?” If the answer is no, perhaps it is time to revisit points 1 and 4 above, and consider diving into a new area.
6. Learn to enjoy the process of writing and presenting. Note the distinction in this guideline from: “learn to write and present well.” Many students I encounter dislike writing more than anything else they do. As a result, when it comes time to write a paper, it is a struggle from start to finish, both for them and for those working with them. When one doesn't like doing something, procrastination is the most common response. Procrastination and good writing don't mix. I say this even though I am someone who, as an undergraduate, would work all night on a term paper to turn it in at the last moment, and often receive an “A”. But in the real world of scientific paper writing, that first draft just won't cut it. It usually takes three or more significant rewritings and lots of input from others to get it right. Combine that with procrastination and it's a recipe for not getting a good paper out in a timely fashion, or perhaps not at all. So the key is to figure out how to enjoy the writing process, thereby encouraging oneself to avoid procrastination. There is no one formula that works for everyone—some people need utter peace and quiet for their writing. Others prefer writing at a coffee shop, or to have music playing. The thing is to figure out what works, and to stick with it, training oneself to have positive mental associations with writing. Robert Boice, in his book Advice for New Faculty Members, suggests the key is to do a little bit of writing every day [4]. The goal is simply get the ideas on the page, without worrying about their form at the beginning. By doing this a little bit every day—perhaps only 30–60 minutes—it is amazing how quickly and enjoyably a big writing project can take shape through a process of gradual evolution. This often takes significant retraining, however. Many of us begin with the notion that writing should come in sudden bursts of dramatic creation. This message is conveyed frequently in movies that portray an author writing a novel in a sudden last minute rush, and it is reinforced in high school and college by many of us learning to get away with writing papers at the last minute (and still doing well). Reprogramming that unrealistic expectation out of one's head is therefore a key to learning to enjoy writing. The same principle applies to giving a good presentation: enjoy its making and giving. Forget everything you ever learned about giving dry, stuffy presentations (i.e., all those things in the document How to Make a Scientific Lecture Unbearable) [5]. While it is critical to have good science in your talk, it is equally critical to bring that science to life for the audience. That is nigh impossible if you are scared to death of being in front of the audience, or if you are completely bored by your subject matter. If you are bored, the audience will surely be bored, and you might as well not have wasted their time—or your own. The last thing a reader or talk attendee wants to see is a bunch of data just to prove that you did some work. It is much more interesting to tell a story. The story begins with why you started the work in the first place (the big reasons, not just “because my advisor told me to”), it usually has mystery and intrigue (e.g., dead ends, which are worth reporting only if they helped lead you to the final answer), and some kind of dramatic conclusion (which challenges the audience to think about things in a new way). This may seem like overstatement, but having sat through many extraordinarily dry, boring scientific talks (and having read many dry papers), I find that the ones that stand out are those that have such elements. If there is a lack of enthusiasm for the work you are doing, that may be a sign that it's the wrong work for you to be doing. It can be a fun challenge to figure out who your audience is and what they will respond to. For example, when I was a postdoctoral researcher, I once gave a group meeting presentation accompanied by sound effects borrowed from Monty Python. We all had a good laugh, and I still managed to convey some science, too. But I would never do this at a scientific conference. Yet at a conference with a series of 15 minute talks, it is still possible to give a presentation that stands out—by enjoying its making and giving, and fine-tuning it for that audience. Elements such as presenting clear, understandable slides, and providing adequate introduction and background to the audience are very important. But it is most important to discuss subject matter that you have enthusiasm about. Once one has learned to enjoy writing and presenting, it is very likely that writing well and presenting well will follow, since it is more difficult to do a truly poor job of something one enjoys doing. |
Liquid`Snute: Because it Just Makes Sense Text by Liquid`Nazgul Because It Just Makes Jens
It's been satisfying to read the speculation about Snute joining Liquid. I thought that Snute and Liquid were a perfect match, and it was great to see that so many people agreed. It means that we've done a good job showing our fans what kind of vision we have for our players, and that Snute has done a great job in showing everyone the personality that was so attractive to us. It was a no brainer that we were interested in Snute as a Liquid player, and I'm very happy to make it official.
Snute lives up to what I want my players to stand for. He's extremely down to earth, thoughtful, and caring about his fans. He also cares a lot about his position as a professional gamer, and tries to present himself and his industry in a positive manner.
Although I'd love to pick up a non-Korean Terran / Protoss player who's right for Liquid - and I'm sure you all have your favorites among them - for me Snute is the perfect pickup even if it makes us a little Zerg heavy. With how critical Liquid is about its recruits, when the perfect player and person comes along, race can only have a limited impact in the decision. For me it is more important for Snute's character to fit Liquid than his race. There are very few players out there with the skill, potential, and personality to join Liquid, and I wasn't going to let this opportunity get away.
We had been talking to Snute for some time now, and were close to a deal before HomeStory Cup VI. Winning HSC just reaffirmed what we already knew about his skill. There's a popular impression that I don't want to recruit tournament winners, and focus on up and coming players instead. Although I love to be able to scout lesser known players and help them develop into stars on Liquid, it's not an approach I'm stuck with. Just like with race, that's only one of the many factors that end up contributing to a decision. Snute has so much ahead of him still, and we would love to help him achieve all that he can.
Snute will travel to Poland to play his first tournament as a Liquid player at IEM Katowice. After that... One of the things drew Snute to Liquid was that we both wanted him to spend a period in Korea for training. The details are still to be determined, but we will definitely make it happen at some point this year. You can count on seeing Snute in Korea in 2013, and hopefully in the Proleague as well!
Liquid did amazing things in 2012, and we're on pace to do the same in 2013. Welcome to the team, Liquid`Snute.
- Liquid`Nazgul
Connect to Liquid`Snute
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Interview with Liquid`Snute
This is a big day for Liquid. We couldn't be happier to announce the first Norwegian since Liquid`Drone back in 2002.
We sat down to talk to him about his views on practice, StarCraft, and how his life has been since he dedicated himself to becoming a professional gamer one year ago.
Welcome! Could you introduce yourself?
Hi! My name is Jens, I'm 22 years old and have been playing SC2 full-time for one year. I used to be studying music technology at the university in Trondheim, but I quit and became a pro-gamer instead.
Tell us about your gaming experience before starcraft. There might be some people who don't know of your achievements!
Hehe ^^ I used to compete a lot in dance dance revolution, also known as machine dance, and was the Norwegian champion way back somewhere around 2004.
So how did you get into StarCraft?
A friend of mine in elementary school had an older brother that played Brood War, so my friend and I had small LANs where we'd play games like Dark Colony and Brood War. Eventually we introduced it to the boys and girls at school and it became the flavor of the month. At some point there were like fifteen 11year old boys and girls playing brood war and meeting online with dialup modem haha. It was rather casual though. I kept on playing casually for a few years a bit on and off, but quit completely eventually.
In 2011 you started to stream and eventually you would achieve some results in WCG and qualify for ESWC. What made you start to get competetive?
I think what triggered it for me was going on a vacation to Korea with my friend Richard 'GLRiChY', where we played some on iCCup before the release of SC2. I got smashed left and right and some korean BM'd me with a simple line: "You need effort". After that trip to Korea I got a bit of my competetive drive back.
I didn't start playing SC2 right away, but picked it up after a month or so. As some people know from early on I didn't play 1v1, but 2v2 with my teammate RiChY and we would compete together. He always had high expectations and I'd often be holding the team back, so it was natural that I wanted to improve to be a better teammate and not make him upset! xD
However, what sparked my drive to win in 1v1 was definitely the Norwegian LANs and the scene we had in Norway early on. There were so many players that were far better than me, so I did everything I could to beat them. Eventually, I did - just barely - and I qualified for WCG and ESWC where I'd face even greater challenges. I was already quite pumped after winning 3 norwegian LANs in a row but I faced even more resistance abroad. That's when the competetive drive kicked in once more.
Your stream gained what we might call a 'cult following'. Why do you think it became so popular, especially being unfeatured? (Sorry! ^^)
Probably because of the commentary and how I used to play back then, my style would always revolve around mass drops, multitasking, baneling bombs, infestor shenanigans, gold bases, baneling busts, mutalisks, 14/14-speedling baneling pressure/allins/micro in ZvZ, things that are really really fun to watch. Lots of explosions. My IRC channel was also a nice place to chill and hang out and talk to people since there were so few, but consistent viewers, so it was very cozy.
Norway isn't known for its gaming scene, while Sweden is a global powerhouse, and Denmark has some strong players in other types of games. Any theories about why Norway seems to have less of an interest in esports?
You can see the difference from Norway to Sweden in our largest competitions: DreamHack and The Gathering. DreamHack puts a lot of effort into SC2. The Gathering hosted a good competition in 2012, but it was not made into mainstage material. This year, there will be little to none focus on ESPORTS at all at TG.
Spending massive amounts of time playing games is unfortunately still not commonly accepted in Norway. Parents are for the most part negative towards video games because of a lot of negative articles about gaming in mainstream media. Receiving support and acceptance from those around you is tremendously important when you want to dedicate a lot of time to something and get good at it, so I hope that the public opinion of gaming in Norway is going to change for the better.
I think Norway has some interest in esports right now, but more from a spectator side. There are a lot of people going to barcrafts and following international SC2 in their spare time. People love to watch DreamHack and the GSL, but little attention is given to the Norwegian scene, because we don't have any truly major/premier events.You can see the difference from Norway to Sweden in our largest competitions: DreamHack and The Gathering. DreamHack puts a lot of effort into SC2. The Gathering hosted a good competition in 2012, but it was not made into mainstage material. This year, there will be little to none focus on ESPORTS at all at TG.Spending massive amounts of time playing games is unfortunately still not commonly accepted in Norway. Parents are for the most part negative towards video games because of a lot of negative articles about gaming in mainstream media. Receiving support and acceptance from those around you is tremendously important when you want to dedicate a lot of time to something and get good at it, so I hope that the public opinion of gaming in Norway is going to change for the better.
Do you feel extra weight as the most successful Norwegian? Even if you now have more help (or challengers) than you might have a year ago?
I used to, in Norwegian competitions. When I was the only one playing full time and dedicating a lot to it, I'd often be nervous and afraid of losing to part-time players. However, that's exactly what happened quite a few times, at WCS for example. Fortunately I've matured and shifted away from that negative mindset. As long as I do my best to win, it doesn't matter. When it comes to the international scene I don't feel any added pressure.
You made the decision to become a full-time pro at the start of 2012. What prompted you to make that decision?
It was mostly about a gradual decline of interest in studying. I also noticed that I couldn't travel much and study at the same time due to strict absence rules at the uni. After winning the autumn LANs and travelling to WCG and ESWC, I realized I had a greater desire to travel and live as a pro-gamer.
I don't want to regret anything and I spent a lot of time thinking about going full-time. I decided that it would be the best time for me to just quit the studies and enjoy life in solitude practicing and streaming from the mancave in Trondheim and then do everything in my power to improve and attend competitions.
When was the first time you thought; "I might be good enough to keep doing this"?
Definitely after the Norwegian 2011 autumn LAN season and after attending WCG2011. After I made my choice, I never had any doubts. I wanted to play full time for one year to see what it'd be like. I constantly pushed my own limits and slowly but surely I managed to catch up to people I previously considered unbeatable to me. I had my plans set for 2012, no looking back, I just kept practicing focusing on the tasks ahead.
What did your family think? What were the challenges getting started?
My parents were skeptical at first. They wanted me to study. But reasoning goes a long way and most of all parents want you to be happy with what you do in life, so eventually my parents came to accept that it was what I wished for. To me there would be little point in going to University if I wasn't motivated for it.
As for how it is to get started ... it's a bit different. I had just moved to a new city, knew only a few people, and just quit uni before making any close friends. The result was spending months in solitude, sometimes I'd go days without talking to people in person and sometimes it would be a bit awkward to interact with people again. It's more of a funny thing though. Even if I was mostly alone I was happy and I had good flatmates to talk to.
There were very few challenges getting started. Playing full-time from an apartment is a very simple and peaceful existence. I did well in planning out my financial situation carefully beforehand and it all worked out. I didn't expect to make big money to begin with. When you start off as a pro-gamer it's all about putting yourself in a stable and comfortable position where you can let go and give it your all for a given time and then re-evaluate.
Throughout the first half of 2012, you only achieved one notable result, winning the ONOG Invitational. Did you ever think of quitting?
No. I had so many things going on and I always had competitions to look forward to, I wanted to do my best in every one of them. While I didn't show top placings it was simply because I was not supposed to do so yet. Backing down was never an option to me despite the lack of notable results.
You are known among your stream viewers for your work ethic, can you describe the practice you put in throughout 2012?
I guess it would all sum up to self-diagnostics, self-observation and targetted elimination of critical errors and weaknesses while slowly building a stronger fundamental understanding of the game. In the beginning of the year I'd judge myself, point out mistakes, find the biggest one of them and eliminate them one at a time. It was a very simple, meticilous, but also slow approach.
At the start of 2012 I would still win games with tricks, mindgames, opponent-tailored strategies, all-ins and blind counters, abusing multitasking and micro rather than focusing on strong fundamental understandings of the matchups. It gave me a bit of success, but I could also not keep up in a lot of situations. I remained open to things, I knew that I had a lot to learn, and I tried my best to understand the game better. It took a very long time, but I managed to readjust and improve. Especially the time in the Ministry of Win and Korea afterwards added to my skill in the areas I lacked.
The part that changed the most in the later parts of 2012 was the mental aspect which truly allowed me to take advantage of the accumulated experience. I've always been very self-judgemental. In practice it would encourage me and act as a reminder, but it also backfired on my self-esteem. What we could see in the end of the year was me overcoming mental obstacles that had been troubling me at international LANs this year.
Apart from practicing hard I want to be friendly, respectful and just trying to learn from my mistakes. Every time I lose it's because of myself and while it's rough it's also encouraging. Sometimes it's difficult to stay positive, but I have such a strong practice flow that's been rolling for months and months, nothing can really stop me from wanting to practice.
What did you find to be the most effective practice? Was there any period where something really flipped a switch?
I really would like to say something sensationalist here but the simple truth based on what I've observed is that my improvement has been pretty much constant throughout the year regardless of where I've been. There have been marginal differences, but a lot can also be attributed to overcoming certain obstacles that give you a certain boost and it's difficult to know for sure what's up. If there was anything that I perceived as a big switch, it would be my confidence boost after returning from Korea. But to me it seems like natural development and practice paying off over time, I don't think there's anything magical to it.
Your style has changed a bit over time, and it usually hasn't had much to do with what's popular at the time. How do you describe your approach to strategy?
In the beginning of the year I'd usually do fast-paced strategies that were fun to use more than effective, and that trait is still somewhat with me today. But back when I practiced in the MoW I developed a better diagnostics system which helped me change my style to avoid losing trends and strategies so that I could win more games.
My approach to strategy today is still similar to what it was before, it's just more well-rounded and I don't take as many risks as I used to. I still have the approach where I'll strike at someone if I spot a weakness. You can still see me use Nydus worms, unorthodox timings and things that generally are perceived as losing moves. I'm a very dangerous opponent in that regard. Even if I'm not taking risks and gambles as often as I used to, it's still something that I am capable of.
I think my default approach is rather simple: Create a winning pattern, attempt to shut down winning patterns from my opponent, strike unexpected timings, and take advantage of leads to finish off my opponent swiftly. Although my strategies vary as well.
You were one of the pioneers of mass infestor...
Kind of, yes. I had some really strong infestor harassment and deadly tactics. But I don't think people would think of me as a pioneer... only a few people would watch me play back then and I'm not sure if it even inspired anyone but my few stream viewers.
... and now you're not a fan of them? How come?
Actually I like the infestor a lot still, it's very much needed to stay in the game over time. It's more the thing about rushing to the ZvP endgame with broodlord, infestor and spine that is a bit boring. Ling-Infestor used to be one of my favorite combos, it was so strong and fun to play. Neural nerf made it less viable though. It is good that the nerf happened because ling infestor was absolutely ridicilous vs protoss. Now it's not as powerful of an option anymore and less tempting to use, which is a bit unfortunate since it's a very fun style to play. Infestors are still fun to use vs Terran, they are almost always stronger than the Mutalisk. Both are fun to use and viable options.
ZvZ-wise the last GSL finals was all about the infestor, droning up to comfort zone and making roaches. It seems like a lot of modern euro ZvZ revolves around pure roach now though. I think that the infestor is a neccessity to ZvZ in theory, but close map tension makes it a bit difficult sometimes. I've been able to defeat a lot of people using mass roach against greedy infestor play, but it can go both ways.
You were also a pioneer of a particularly imbalanced build on Antiga, care to explain?
Haha, yes ;D I figured that it was possible to take the gold base first vs Protoss and follow it up with a drone transfer from main to gold and abuse a baneling bust timing right before Forge FE Warpgate tech would finish. It was a lot of fun and I am happy that I hopefully contributed to tournaments removing gold bases from their map pools, that's pretty much what I wanted to accomplish with abusing that strategy for weeks on ladder and in an official tournament qualifier. I want to apologize to the protoss players that had to experience it for weeks..
How do you characterize the way you play now? It's not exactly 'standard' anyway. ^^
I don't know. I hear from my colleagues that my style is difficult to play against and that it's not all turtly and stuff, but I still feel like I play rather standard with the one exception of not going up to hive tech all that fast. I'm not doing nearly as many multitasking taxing things and crazy strategies as I used to, I'm far less creative than I used to be, so to me I feel very plain compared to what I used to be. But I'm happy to hear that!
You've had some solid results in the past few months, but your big breakthrough seems to have been Homestory Cup. What was the key to your incredible winning run there?
I'm slowly improving month by month, and in every month I have some fluctuations in shape. I was in good shape at HSC and I had a lot of confidence thanks to my experience, my recent offline tournament results and also the people close to me supporting me so much. Special thanks to my girlfriend.
Where was there room for improvement?
I lost two matches to Stephano. I did a lot of things right but I should focus more on getting my own transitions right. I feel like I improvised a bit more than I should have and it wasn't as crispy as I wanted it to be. With added confidence and preparation, I'll do better. I also need to improve my scouting and not take too many risks and beware of overdroning. The other thing I need to work on is splitting my army and setting up defensive positions more swiftly. Those are the few things I can think of right now.
What are your goals for 2013?
In 2013 I want to become more consistent as a top Euro zerg, if not the best foreigner. I also want to go to Korea and do well for my team. Most of all, I want to give SC2 my all in every moment of practice and work on my attention management and thinking pattern in-game.
Aside from that, exercise more, especially strengthen the back and avoid the typical moderate stress/office pains that I have now. I don't want to experience wrist problems either, so I will bear that in mind while practicing and stretch well. I also started sleeping fewer hours than I used to because I'd oversleep a lot and it takes time and energy away from practice and life.
Liquid is only your second professional team, what brought you to join TL?
I knew that if I was going to join another team it would have to be one of the very best. I played for GamersLeague for over a year and I grew very attatched to them. At the same time I wanted to make sure that I could have the best opportunities available for me to grow as a player. I knew that Liquid would provide me with the opportunities to compete with the very best and be a reliable and encouraging team.
What do you think you can bring to Liquid, and what can Liquid bring to you?
I want to be a great teammate and practice partner. I want to improve and Liquid will bring me plenty of opportunities to practice and prove myself as a competitor. I can also represent the team in Dance Dance Revolution-battles against other SC2 teams if it's ever needed T_T..
What does the Liquid name mean to you?
To me, Liquid has been what the SC2 community is gathered all around and what the community is cheering for, a friendly and mannered team with a strong fighting spirit. I'm very happy to be on the team that is so revered within the community.
As a recent Korean-destroyer, we have to ask you about the difference between Koreans and foreigners. Why do you feel that Koreans have the edge, and how were you able to take it back?
I think there are more Koreans putting a lot of effort into the game than there are foreigners, they also live and support each other in team houses. Most foreigners are hesitant about leaving home. Some of the Koreans also have a lot of experience from competitive Brood War, so that counts too. I was able to take back a bit of the edge because I went full-time and practiced hard.
Thanks so much! Any final words?
Thanks for reading this interview and shoutouts to everyone who's been cheering me on, your support is invaluable. Last year was great but this one will be even better! I'll do my best to show you more great games from all across the world and I'll practice a lot on stream. Don't miss it! Thanks to Liquid for the very warm welcome - it's an honor to be on the team. I also want to show my appreciation to TL's sponsors, The Little App Factory, Razer, Twitch and Barracuda Networks. Thank you!
It's been satisfying to read the speculation about Snute joining Liquid. I thought that Snute and Liquid were a perfect match, and it was great to see that so many people agreed. It means that we've done a good job showing our fans what kind of vision we have for our players, and that Snute has done a great job in showing everyone the personality that was so attractive to us. It was a no brainer that we were interested in Snute as a Liquid player, and I'm very happy to make it official.Snute lives up to what I want my players to stand for. He's extremely down to earth, thoughtful, and caring about his fans. He also cares a lot about his position as a professional gamer, and tries to present himself and his industry in a positive manner.Although I'd love to pick up a non-Korean Terran / Protoss player who's right for Liquid - and I'm sure you all have your favorites among them - for me Snute is the perfect pickup even if it makes us a little Zerg heavy. With how critical Liquid is about its recruits, when the perfect player and person comes along, race can only have a limited impact in the decision. For me it is more important for Snute's character to fit Liquid than his race. There are very few players out there with the skill, potential, and personality to join Liquid, and I wasn't going to let this opportunity get away.We had been talking to Snute for some time now, and were close to a deal before HomeStory Cup VI. Winning HSC just reaffirmed what we already knew about his skill. There's a popular impression that I don't want to recruit tournament winners, and focus on up and coming players instead. Although I love to be able to scout lesser known players and help them develop into stars on Liquid, it's not an approach I'm stuck with. Just like with race, that's only one of the many factors that end up contributing to a decision. Snute has so much ahead of him still, and we would love to help him achieve all that he can.Snute will travel to Poland to play his first tournament as a Liquid player at IEM Katowice. After that... One of the things drew Snute to Liquid was that we both wanted him to spend a period in Korea for training. The details are still to be determined, but we will definitely make it happen at some point this year. You can count on seeing Snute in Korea in 2013, and hopefully in the Proleague as well!Liquid did amazing things in 2012, and we're on pace to do the same in 2013. Welcome to the team, Liquid`Snute. Administrator |
In the past, Germany has pushed for an agreement similar to the understanding that the United States has with Britain and three other English-speaking allies that prohibits spying on one another.
Until now the Obama administration has been loath to broker such a deal with the Germans, who have publicly stated their interest in a nonspying pact, partly because other nations would demand a similar arrangement. But the revelations of recent days have so strained relations between Washington and Berlin that that calculus appears to be changing — especially because American officials have difficulty making a credible case for what the United States has to gain from spying on senior German officials.
In the past, there have been questions about what the United States might gain from entering into a no-spying pact with the Germans. Several years ago, Dennis C. Blair, then the director of national intelligence, held discussions with French officials about such an agreement between the United States and France partly because he thought such a pact could yield practical benefits: it would allow the F.B.I. and other counterintelligence organizations to shift the few resources used in trying to hunt down French spies inside the United States to more productive assignments.
Mr. Blair made the proposal despite the fact that the French are believed to have had an active program of industrial espionage inside the United States, working vigorously to steal American technological secrets. And current and former American intelligence officials said that the Germans are far less aggressive inside the United States than the French.
Administration officials say the National Security Agency, in its push to build a global data-gathering network that can reach into any country, has rarely weighed the long-term political costs of some of its operations. Whether to make those kinds of reciprocal agreements with allies is among the questions two different administration reviews of N.S.A. spying practices hope to address.
One is being run inside the National Security Council. Another is under way by five members of an outside review panel created by Mr. Obama after the disclosures by Mr. Snowden.
Among its members are Richard A. Clarke, who served in the Clinton and both Bush administrations and has become an expert on cyberconflict; Michael J. Morell, a former deputy director of the C.I.A.; and Cass Sunstein, who ran the office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama White House before returning to Harvard Law School. |
Bike Fit 8 of 9
Saddle position and cleat adjustment are the two primary areas of concern when treating knee pain from cycling.
The Fix: The most common cause of patellar tendonitis is a seat that is too low. Raising the seat so that your leg is near full extension (about 15 to 30 degrees of knee flexion is ideal) at the bottom of your pedal stroke will relieve pressure on the patellar tendon.
A seat that is too far forward could also be the culprit. The aggressive angle of the knee in relation to the pedal can put undue stress on the knee joint. By sliding your saddle back, you change this angle. Small adjustments can make a world of difference.
Lastly, the position of shoe cleats plays a significant role in the stress placed on the patellar tendon. Much like the fore/aft adjustment of your seat, the cleat's fore/aft position must be properly aligned.
It's a general rule that the pedal axle should be directly underneath the ball of the foot (large bone in forefoot on big toe side). If you are experiencing pain, start with the cleat in this position. From here you can move the cleat slightly forward towards the toe, which will help to put the knee angle in a more favorable position. |
Entirely new diseases can be, and have been, invented to extend a manufacturer's patent on a highly profitable drug. Fugh-Berman said Eli Lilly stood to lose a lot of profits once the patent expired on its hugely popular antidepressant Prozac. "So they positioned this new condition, PMDD (Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and then went to physicians and the FDA with their highly paid experts who said PMDD is a tragic disease, and they got approved for Sarafem, the same drug. It's an on-label use for a repackaged drug; they created the disease and then got a drug re-approved that was going off patent."
Just how sly a move was it? "If I as a physician write a prescription for Prozac 20 mg," Fugh-Berman said, "the pharmacist can substitute fluoxetine, the generic. If I write a prescription for Serafem, they can't substitute another drug."
A TEXTBOOK CASE
Dr. Leonore Tiefer, a noted sexologist and associate clinical professor of psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, said the 1998 approval of Viagra for "erectile dysfunction" -- formerly known as impotence -- created a "sea change" in the field of urology. "It was like being sucked into a very medical model and treatment orientation," she told me.
People immediately started asking about Viagra for women. As it was doing for men, Tiefer said that, as a feminist, writing about women, "I knew what would happen if there was a Viagra for women -- the isolation of the function from the person, the isolation of the genitalia from the rest of the body."
The only way to redefine "what a woman wants" -- and build a case for a drug to "treat" it -- was to turn "it" into a medical condition. Without widespread agreement on its definition, pathophysiology, or clinical manifestations, Female Sexual Dysfunction (FSD) was created. Tiefer called the development of FSD "a textbook case of disease mongering by the pharmaceutical industry and by other agents of medicalization."
With Pfizer's 2011 U.S. Viagra sales pushing $2 billion, and Eli Lilly's Cialis catching up, the booming "enhancement" market suggests that either there has been an extraordinary uptick in male impotence -- or that Pharma has convinced multitudes of men that erectile dysfunction, "E.D." for short, has reached epidemic proportions (40 percent of men are allegedly "at risk"), and drugs are the only solution.
It pains to think of the men who aren't ready when the moment is right as a result of taking Propecia to "treat" another natural effect of aging nearly as widespread among men as occasionally uncooperative equipment: male pattern baldness, or, in medicalese, alopecia.
The fact is you may not need chemical enhancement for the E.D. or the baldness. The best remedy for both may be to reexamine your beliefs about why hair or hardness are so important. A shot of redefined meanings can do wonders to restore normal functioning. |
Members of the New Black Panther Party [NBPP] rioted in front of the Baton Rouge police station on Wednesday. Seven members of the group were arrested. They were protesting the death of Alton Sterling, who died while fighting with police exactly one year earlier. Sterling was a career criminal and a registered sex offender.
Black militants engaged in large-scale violence after Sterling’s death. One officer had several teeth knocked out by an NBPP member. Then on July 17th, 2016, former Nation of Islam member Gavin Eugene Long shot six police officers in Baton Rouge. Three of the victims died. Intense media agitation is believed to have motivated the killer.
Ron Ceasar, a Baton Rouge resident connected to the NBPP, is pledging an escalation of violence. Ceasar was interviewed by the Hayride.com and said a violent civil war is coming. |
When racist progressives in the early 1900s pushed for the minimum wage, they understood its impact: keeping blacks and immigrants out of the workforce by making it illegal for them to out-compete white Americans on the price of their labor.
Today’s progressives aren’t bigots, but the policy they’ve successfully championed — a $15 minimum wage that will take effect in New York City in 2019 — will have the same effect it had a century ago: making it difficult for marginal workers to find employment.
Consider the car-wash industry. These days, 90 percent of new car washes in the United States are fully automated exterior washes with free do-it-yourself high-powered vacuums for cleaning inside the vehicle. Some customers like this model, but men wielding hoses and rags actually do a more thorough job than the very best machines.
Car washes automated because they couldn’t find enough reliable employees willing to work for less than it costs to install hot-air blowers and banks of spinning brushes.
In New York City, it’s a different story. Here, we’re lucky to have a large population of immigrant workers — many of them illegal — willing to do the sort of dirty work that most of us natives avoid. So car washes in the Big Apple tend to have fewer machines and more men. Yes, these jobs involve repetitive work for low pay.
But they’re often better than the alternatives.
During my reporting, I met a 35-year-old gynecologist from Nigeria working at a car wash in Canarsie. The job is helping to pay the bills while he works toward his US medical license. Then there’s the 74-year-old Haitian immigrant, who survives on Social Security but likes keeping busy and supplementing his income cleaning vehicles.
Many more so-called carwasheros in New York City are raising families, subsidizing their meager incomes with Medicaid, food stamps and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
How does taking away their jobs make them better off? The $15 minimum will push New York car-wash operators to automate like the rest of the country, denying workers the right to undercut the machines on cost.
It’s already starting to happen.
Amir Malki, a leading car-wash equipment installer in the region, says over a dozen car-wash operators in New York City have inquired about putting in equipment to eliminate workers.
One owner told me he’s thinking of purchasing $300,000 in equipment that will allow him to eliminate 15 of his 22 men. That’s because when the minimum wage goes from $9 to $15, he’ll have to charge at least $25 per car wash to make a profit — and few will pay that much.
If he automates, quality will suffer but he can lower his price to about $8. “That’s the only way I can think of to survive,” he says.
Veteran car-wash operator Martin Taub owns three New York City locations. One is automated, another is about to be sold off in a real estate deal and the third is full-service — but not for long. Taub is planning to install machines at that location as well, thanks to the $15 minimum.
Those lacking the capital or credit to fully automate can also purchase equipment piecemeal. One option is to install a Dry ’N Shine — a giant spinning wheel wrapped in absorbent material that rolls over the vehicle to sop up moisture.
Equipment installer Malki says the machine can eliminate as many as six men. But it costs about $70,000 including installation, so prior to the passage of the $15 minimum, his New York City clients have mostly held out. “They’ll come around,” says Malki.
Progressives claim they’re fighting for “economic justice,” which is ironic. “Every worker, regardless of what they do or where they came from, is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect,” said the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union’s president Stuart Appelbaum in a speech about the carwasheros last year.
Is it more dignified to have a difficult job or no job at all? In keeping with progressivism’s long history of infantilizing the poor, Appelbaum and his allies don’t respect the right of the carwasheros to make that choice for themselves.
Adapted from “Minimum Wage vs. the Carwasheros,” available at Reason.com, where Jim Epstein is a writer and producer. |
For other characters named Anthony, see Anthony.
Anthony House was the half-brother of Robert House and the owner of the H&H Tool Company.
Background Edit
As the self-perceived only legitimate son of House Senior, he considered himself the only worthy heir of his legacy (the aforementioned company). He held a deep disdain for his younger half-brother Robert, likely stemming from the fact that House Senior seemed to favor Robert over him.
Over the years, Anthony developed severe psychological issues, ranging from paranoia to violent delusions. As a manifestation of these conditions, House started implementing increasingly bizarre security measures at his company, which started with things like installing automated turrets in most hallways and eventually devolved into sealing off all the company's bathroom, subjecting his employees to random DNA tests to determine whether they have the "traitor gene", and wearing a "special hat" which allegedly prevented mind-reading. Most of his delusions seemed to revolve around fears that either his half-brother or foreign communists were attempting to steal his company from him and that people inside the organization (such as an executive named Henderson) were secretly aiding them from within.
His condition worsened to the point when, in 2077, he locked down the H&H Tools Factory in outer Vegas and activated its security systems. Curiously, his body is nowhere to be found in the factory.
Notes Edit
He hates foreigners, Masons, carpenters, Tragic players, illegal aliens, extraterrestrials, and the Flemish.
The terminal containing his logs inside the office on the top floor of the H&H Tools Factory is actually named Anthony House's terminal, however in the last entry it is signed Alexander House.
Appearances Edit
Anthony House is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas. |
Aspendos or Aspendus (Pamphylian: ΕΣΤϜΕΔΥΣ; Attic: Ἄσπενδος) was an ancient Greco-Roman city in Antalya province of Turkey. The site is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of central Serik.
History [ edit ]
Aspendos theatre from the upper gallery
Aspendos was an ancient city in Pamphylia, Asia Minor, located about 40 km east of the modern city of Antalya, Turkey. It was situated on the Eurymedon River about 16 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea; it shared a border with, and was hostile to, Side.[2]
Some scholars associate the city's name with "Azatiwadaya". The known city of that name was founded by Azatiwada of Quwê on his eastern frontier, at Karatepe.[3] According to later tradition, Aspendos was founded rather earlier by Greeks who may have come from Argos.
The wide range of its coinage throughout the ancient world indicates that, in the 5th century BC, Aspendos had become the most important city in Pamphylia. At that time, according to Thucydides, the Eurymedon River was navigable as far as Aspendos,[4] and the city derived great wealth from a trade in salt, oil and wool.
Aspendos did not play an important role in antiquity as a political force. Its political history during the colonisation period corresponded to the currents of the Pamphylian region. Within this trend, after the colonial period, it remained for a time under Lycian hegemony. In 546 BC it came under Persian domination. The fact that the city continued to mint coins in its own name, however, indicates that it had a great deal of freedom even under the Persians.
Circa 465 BC Cimon led an Athenian navy against a Persian navy in the Battle of the Eurymedon, and destroyed it. Aspendos then became a member of the Delian League.[5]
Aqueduct of Aspendos
The Persians captured the city again in 411 BC and used it as a base. In 389 BC Thrasybulus of Athens, in an effort to regain some of the prestige that city had lost in the Peloponnesian Wars, anchored off the coast of Aspendos in an effort to secure its surrender. Hoping to avoid a new war, the people of Aspendos collected money among themselves and gave it to the commander, entreating him to retreat without causing any damage. Even though he took the money, he had his men trample all the crops in the fields. Enraged, the Aspendians stabbed and killed Thrasybulus in his tent.
When Alexander the Great marched into Aspendos in 333 BC after capturing Perge, the citizens sent envoys asking him not to garrison soldiers there. He agreed, provided he would be given the taxes and horses that they had formerly paid as tribute to the Persian king. After reaching this agreement Alexander went to Side, leaving a garrison there on the city's surrender. Going back through Sillyon, he learned that the Aspendians had failed to ratify the agreement their envoys had proposed and were preparing to defend themselves. Alexander marched to the city immediately. When they saw Alexander returning with his troops, the Aspendians, who had retreated to their acropolis, again sent envoys to sue for peace. This time, however, they had to agree to very harsh terms; a Macedonian garrison would remain in the city and 100 gold talents as well as 4,000 horses would be given in tax annually.
In 190 BC the city surrendered to the Romans, and the corrupt magistrate Verres later pillaged its artistic treasures.[4][6] It was ranked by Philostratus the third city of Pamphylia, and in Byzantine times seems to have been known as Primopolis. Toward the end of the Roman period the city began a decline that continued throughout Byzantine times, although in medieval times it was evidently still a strong place.[4]
Greek and Roman structures [ edit ]
The Basilica
Aspendos is known for having the best-preserved theatre of antiquity. With a diameter of 96 metres (315 ft), it provided seating for 12,000.[7] It was built in 155[7] by the Greek architect Zenon, a native of the city. It was periodically repaired by the Seljuqs, who used it as a caravanserai, and in the 13th century the stage building was converted into a palace by the Seljuqs of Rum.[8]
In order to keep with Hellenistic traditions, a small part of the theatre was built so that it leaned against the hill where the Citadel (Acropolis) stood, while the remainder was built on vaulted arches. The high stage, whose supporting columns are still in place,[4] served to seemingly isolate the audience from the rest of the world. The 'scaenae frons' or backdrop, has remained intact. The 8.1 metre (27 ft) sloping reflective wooden ceiling over the stage has been lost over time. Post holes for 58 masts are found in the upper level of the theatre. These masts supported a velarium or awning that could be pulled over the audience to provide shade.[7]
The Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival offers an annual season of productions in the theatre in the spring and early summer.
Nearby stand the remains of a basilica, agora, nymphaeum and 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) of a Roman aqueduct. The Roman Eurymedon Bridge, reconstructed in the 13th century, is also in the vicinity.
Coinage [ edit ]
Silver Stater from Aspendos dated 370-333 BC, featuring scenes from Olympic sports. City/Region: Pamphylia, Aspendos; Denomination: AR Stater; Composition: Silver Date: 370-333 BC; Obverse: Olympic games-type scene: two wrestlers grappling, the letters delta and alpha between their legs; Reverse: ΕΣΤΕΔΙΙΥΣ , Olympic games-type scene: Slinger, wearing short chiton, discharging sling to right, triskeles on right with feet clockwise; Size: 23.6mm, 10.851g; Reference: SNG Cop 233; SNG France 87
Aspendos was one of the earliest cities to mint coins. It began issuing coinage around 500 BC, first staters and later drachmas; "the slinger on the obverse represents the soldiery for which Aspendus was famous in antiquity,"[9] the reverse frequently depicts a triskelion. The legend appears on early coins as the abbreviation ΕΣ or ΕΣΤϜΕ; later coinage has ΕΣΤϜΕΔΙΙΥΣ, the adjective from the city's local (Pamphylian) name Estwedus. The city's numismatic history extends from archaic Greek to late Roman times.[10]
Bishopric [ edit ]
The Christian bishopric of Aspendus was a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Side, the capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Prima, to which Aspendus belonged. Of its bishops, the names of four are recorded in extant documents: Domnus was at the First Council of Nicaea in 425, Tribonianus at the Council of Ephesus in 431, Timotheus at the 448 synod held by Flavian of Constantinople, which condemned Eutyches, and at the Robber Council of Ephesus held the same year, and Leo at the Second Council of Nicaea in 787.[11][12]
No longer a residential bishopric, Aspendus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.[13]
Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival [ edit ]
The theatre hosts the annual Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival organized by Turkish State Opera and Ballet since 1994, with international participation of opera and ballet companies and an audience of about 10,000.
Dalida held her last concert there on 28 April 1987. |
The App Store
While the iTunes Store was a near-instant hit in the music space, it didn’t spark the same revolution in video. Originally, use cases for TV shows and movies from iTunes were rather limited — you could watch on your iPod’s tiny screen or on your computer, but Apple didn’t have a straightforward way into taking over the living room. The launch of Apple TV in 2007 helped, but it was famously a “hobby” product for the company for years. Recent revisions and improvements to the store and Apple TV have made it a strong contender for the living room, but it was a while before video was considered one of Apple’s strengths.
If music was a hit and video was more of a slow burn, the launch of the App Store in 2008 is probably best described as a rocket igniting. The June 2007 launch of the iPhone was even more disruptive than the iPod, and consumers quickly clamored for the ability to extend the expensive device’s features beyond the 16 apps Apple included when it launched. It didn’t take long for Apple to get the message. Despite Steve Jobs’ insistence that web apps in Safari would be the ideal mobile solution for developers and consumers alike, Apple announced the forthcoming availability of a full iPhone OS SDK in October of 2007. Over the App Store’s first weekend in July 2008, consumers downloaded a staggering 10 million apps — the familiarity with Apple’s digital marketplace, the abundance of high-quality free selections, and the pent-up demand amongst iPhone owners meant the App Store was an immediate success.
Having a vibrant, third-party app ecosystem became the defining feature for a smartphone
“The App Store changed everything,” said Jeremy Olson of Tappity. “It made selling software so easy that anyone could do it, and it made buying software so simple and affordable that everyone does it.” Part of the App Store’s power was that it leveled the playing field between giant companies and independent developers. “My dinky three-person team has built apps that at certain points in time were some of the highest selling apps on the whole store, dominating all the huge competing brands,” said Olson.
For some developers, the App Store provided a significant financial windfall. “Without much to lose, I founded App Cubby on a $20k loan from family members,” says David Barnard, who was “completely broke” when the App Store launched. “Over the next five years App Cubby grossed well over $1 million.”
Almost overnight, having a vibrant, third-party app ecosystem became perhaps the defining feature for a smartphone — and the lack of one would quickly lead to hard times, as seen in the struggles endured by Palm’s webOS and eventually even the powerful BlackBerry brand. Google, Apple’s main competitor in the mobile device space, certainly took the lesson to heart. Its Google Play market for the Android OS covers nearly all the same bases as iTunes, with vast selections of music, movies, TV shows, books, magazines, and apps.
Side effects
Despite its success, Apple's iTunes has received its share of criticism. Those signature white earbuds delivered poor-quality sound (though they were better than many pack-in headsets of the time). More concerning to artists was the concept of selling compressed files — the quality they had painstakingly crafted was lost in Apple’s 128kbps AAC compression. As for the overall health of the music sector, two years before iTunes launched the labels generated $14 billion in revenue. Sales last year were half of that. Some critics feel that Apple helped strip the value out of music.
Indeed, iTunes hacked away at the dominance of the album as a sales unit and simultaneously tapped into consumer desire to be more selective about the music they owned. Apple’s business model brought back the single, which up until the early 1990s was one of the primary formats for the recording industry. The single all but vanished with the rise of the CD, and music fans were forced to pay for entire albums to get the songs they wanted. Apple unbundled songs, sold them for less than a buck — and paved the way for the CD’s eventual extinction.
The ability to buy nearly any single song without needing to buy the whole album really pushed the concept of the “digital mixtape” into high gear. Music listeners could now easily experience what Apple promised back in 2001 with its “Rip, Mix, Burn” commercial, and playlist curation and sharing has only grown in popularity since then. If you’ve ever spent any time using Spotify, you’ve likely come across all types of user-created playlists in a wide variety of themes — the iTunes Store helped popularize that concept. Plenty of artists didn't like it — AC/DC, Jon Bon Jovi, and Kid Rock were among those that criticized Apple's practices or withheld their songs from the service.
Of course, iTunes wouldn’t still be here if the Store and the iPod hadn’t been easy and fun to use, but Apple nailed both the hardware and the user experience out of the gate. It’s easy to forget a decade later as both the iTunes software and Store have become bloated, but once upon a time iTunes was a far superior option to most other music-management players. There’s no doubt that the iPod’s excellent UI, small size, and solid battery life were a major step forward from the clunky “Jukebox” players of the day that offered high storage capacity but little else.
As someone who grew up dealing with a number of pre-iPod MP3 players, I found the simple experience of buying new music on iTunes and plugging in the iPod to automatically sync new content to be a vastly improved user experience. Even now, just holding the iPod hardware, with its signature shiny, scratch-prone back and then-ubiquitous click wheel, brings back memories of a time when digital music made the huge leap beyond laptop speakers and burnt CDs. And being able to wake up, download a brand-new album you’ve been waiting for, and immediately take it out the door with you made iTunes’ tradeoffs well worth it. |
Two construction workers put the Free Beer in TGIFBF this morning when they snuck into the Bronx Brewery for a little mid-morning pick-me-up. The duo were caught on the brewery's security cam helping themselves to some of the spot's signature suds, at one point one of them exclaiming, "This is good!" It's true, the El Serrano Red IPA is quite delicious.
Bronx Brewery Beer Thieves by Gothamist
"I came out of the bathroom and saw two guys sitting at the bar," recounts Assistant Brewer Morgan Snyder. "They had full pints." Snyder says he couldn't find a manager to confirm the duo's identity and by the time he got back, they were gone. Realizing they were probably outside, he sought them out and noticed they were trying to hide the cups of beer from him; one had already gotten in his car and placed the full beer in the cup holder. When asked how they ended up in the building, they told Snyder "the forklift guy" told them they should try the beer, despite nobody on staff using the company's forklift today.
"We're having a Christmas party so we wanted to figure out what beer to bring," the men told Snyder, who says he "gave them the benefit of the doubt" but told them they had to come inside, as they were violating open container laws and putting the brewery in jeopardy. Snyder and marketing coordinator Nick Mezansky confirm that if the men had been spotted by police, the brewery could have been shut down, as all cups are emblazoned with the words Bronx Brewery.
The trio made their way back inside and one of the construction workers threw down a $5 "for your trouble." Ultimately, the men bought and paid for a six pack. Snyder and Mezansky say they've seen some strange stuff since opening but this tops the list. |
Gay man who tried to poison lesbian neighbours with slug pellets over three-legged cat feud walks free
Gary Stewart leaves Minshall St Crown Court after being sentenced for attempting to poison his lesbian neighbours
A gay man who attempted to poison his lesbian neighbours by pouring slug pellets into their curry after they accused him of kidnapping their three-legged cat has walked free from court.
Gary Stewart, 37, had fallen out with his neighbours, Ann Marie Walton, 38, and Beverley Sales, 36.
But in an apparent bid to restore cordial relations with the pair he offered them a curry from a local Indian takeaway.
When the couple went to eat the meal they found the curry sauce was laced with dozens of tiny blue slug pellets.
Afterwards Stewart said he had done it after he had found the tyres to his car had been slashed with a knife.
He texted a friend saying: 'It was them next door, the f******* fat lesbians, I'm glad I've poisoned them and yes it was slug pellets.'
He was sentenced to a six month suspended jail sentence at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester after pleading guilty to attempting to poison the two women on September 22 last year.
The court was told Mr Stewart, who is HIV positive, was devastated after his partner Paul Kleisier, 43, died of an Aids related illness last summer.
He had previously got on well with his neighbours in Denton, Manchester, Miss Sales, an HGV driver, and Miss Walton, a full-time mother, but fell out with them last year after a series of petty arguments
Then last summer they were involved in a furious row after Stewart told the council they were neglecting their eight-year-old son, Jack, and social workers were called to carry out an investigation.
After that Stewart is alleged to have kidnapped the family's three-legged cat, Amber, and dumped her in a village miles away.
Beverley Sales (left) and Ann Marie Walton called police when they found blue pellets in the curry
The cat was eventually found after posters showing a photograph of her led to her discovery at the home of a woman who had taken her in about three miles away.
On September 22 Stewart called Miss Walton and offered her a takeaway curry as a peace offering.
He claimed he had been given the curry by a friend but claimed he was going out for the evening and was unable to eat it all.
Miss Walton said she would collect the curry but fell asleep, so Stewart brought it round to the house and handed it to Miss Sales, telling her to ensure she shared some of the meal with Miss Walton.
Robert Smith, prosecuting, said: 'Both examined the curry later that evening and noticed it had a chemical smell. On closer inspection it looked as though there were blue pellets in it.'
The police were called and tests found the curry had been laced with toxic metaldehyde slug pellets.
Slug pellets are poisonous and can be extremely dangerous to animals and children.
The chemical is classed as 'moderately hazardous' by the World Health Organisation and would not normally kill an adult.
But last year vets had to destroy more than a dozen dogs and scores of cats after they ingested the pellets.
There have been no known deaths of children or adults from eating slug pellets.
Philip Barnes, defending, said: 'He does not offer any excuse for his behaviour. The defendant was given the food in question as a thank you but brought the curry round, because of his own illness he was unable to eat it.
'This can be seen as an act of thoughtlessness and stupidity by a man troubled by his own grief.'
Sentencing him, Judge Jonathan Foster QC said: 'This was a mean offence. I fail to understand precisely what you thought you were doing.
'In any event I am prepared to accept that you realized you would not cause any serious harm even if this food was consumed.'
Detective Constable Graham Masheter, of Greater Manchester Police, said: 'What Stewart did was premeditated and totally shocking.
'He has known the victims for several years and for no apparent reason has decided to try and inflict the misery he felt in his own life on them.
'Had either woman eaten the curry they would have become quite ill - thankfully they noticed and contacted police.' |
American Free Press Willis Carto, one of the United States' most infamous Holocaust deniers and Nazi sympathizers, was buried in Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- The family and friends of Willis Carto, one of the United States’ most prominent Nazi sympathizers, laid him to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday.
Carto, who died at age 89 in October, was wounded as an Army soldier in the Philippines during World War II, earning him a Purple Heart medal.
Purple Heart recipients are among those veterans and family members of veterans who may be interred at Arlington's military burial site -- as long as they were subsequently honorably discharged, and not convicted of a state or federal crime.
The Huffington Post reported on a request to bury Carto in Arlington in November. Jennifer Lynch, a spokeswoman for the cemetery, said at the time that a person’s political views did not have any bearing on their eligibility for burial.
The military funeral Carto received on Wednesday arguably tests the limits of those standards in light of his career as an anti-Semitic hatemonger, Holocaust denier and white supremacist thought leader.
After World War II, Carto even renounced the cause for which he'd fought.
"Hitler's defeat was the defeat of Europe. And of America," Carto wrote in a letter published in 1966.
Through a number of initiatives -- including the Liberty Lobby, a white supremacist organization Carto founded, and the Institute for Historical Review, a group he started to promote Holocaust denial -- Carto enjoyed influence among a marginal but significant population of American bigots especially motivated by anti-Jewish hysteria.
At the height of the Liberty Lobby’s popularity in the 1980s, there were 400,000 subscribers to its newsletter, according an obituary for Carto in The New York Times.
Todd Blodgett, who managed advertising for the Liberty Lobby and spied on Carto for the FBI from 2000 to 2002, said the deceased anti-Semitic leader wanted to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery because of the “irony,” given his pro-Nazi views.
"He was laughing about it: 'I’m probably America’s biggest Hitler fan, but I'll be buried alongside all these World War II vets,’” Blodgett told HuffPost in November.
Some two dozen people gathered Wednesday afternoon in the cemetery’s administrative building to mourn Carto in a memorial room. They then formed a caravan of cars to inter Carto on the cemetery’s grounds.
One mourner, who refused to give his name, said he wants Carto to be remembered “as a hero, because he was. He fought for freedom from oppression.”
"He stood up for the best interests of this country and against all the special interests, who would like to see us submerged into this polyglot, one-world -- whatever you want to call it." Joel, a mourner at Willis Carto's funeral
Another mourner, who identified himself only as Joel and said he knew Carto personally, described him as a “great man.”
“He stood up for the best interests of this country and against all the special interests, who would like to see us submerged into this polyglot, one-world -- whatever you want to call it,” Joel said.
He then confirmed that the “special interests” were the Jews.
“Of course," he said. "Who else?"
Joel dismissed the idea that some people might take exception to his views.
“I don’t care if they find it offensive,” he said. “They are going to be a lot more offended when the counterrevolution comes.”
Joel then climbed into a red pickup truck festooned with far-right bumper stickers, including one for “Infowars,” the website of radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Ironically, while people gathered to remember Carto on one floor of the cemetery’s administrative building, right above them, a much larger crowd was memorializing Dorothy Goldstein, the recently deceased wife of a retired career Army officer. Goldstein was Jewish.
One mourner, a retired career Army officer who was a classmate of Goldstein’s husband at West Point, said it “disappointed” him to learn that a famous Nazi sympathizer was being memorialized in the same building as his friend.
But the man, who refused to provide his name, did not dispute Carto’s right to receive a burial there.
“What people do politically after they serve in the military is up to them,” the man said. “Apparently he earned his right to be buried here.”
"It is unfortunate that someone with Carto’s views gets to be buried in our national cemetery, but if he meets the criteria there is not much that can be done." Marilyn Mayo, spokeswoman for the Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League, a national anti-Semitism watchdog, expressed a similar sentiment.
“It is unfortunate that someone with Carto’s views gets to be buried in our national cemetery, but if he meets the criteria there is not much that can be done,” said Marilyn Mayo, a spokeswoman for the Anti-Defamation League. “The government cannot be tasked with whether or not to bury someone based on their ideology.”
However, Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Holocaust research and awareness organization, called Carto’s burial in Arlington National Cemetery a “national disgrace.”
“For a person who supported a man responsible for the greatest mass murder in the history of mankind to be buried in the sacred ground where service members who fought to do everything to defeat this man, it profanes the cemetery,” Hier said.
“If Hitler had won the war, defeating first Britain and then the United States, Willis Carto would have been a perfect candidate to be a cabinet member in Hitler’s government,” he added.
Also on HuffPost: |
TL;DR, Patreon got hacked. We reported a specific Remote Code Execution to them due to a public debugger before they were breached. We believe this was the attack method due to the simplicity and availability of the vulnerable endpoint. This is how you prevent this from happening to you.
Yesterday Patreon, which is a funding platform for artists and creators, went out with a Security Notice about a compromise happening on the 28th of September on one of their debug versions which was publicly available. Shortly after that, data from this instance, which contained live data, was publicly posted which you can read about here and here.
Their debug version of the application was running with the Werkzeug Debugger publicly available, this has also been shown in Shodan.io for at least a few weeks, this image is from the 11th of September:
This domain was not accessible at this time since Shodan.io was last able to crawl it on the 5th of September.
Werkzeug Debugger works in the way that, as soon as something in the code results in an exception or error, a console is opened:
This is basically Remote Code Execution by design.
An RCE is basically game over. You can inject code directly to the application, exposing all data on the server which the application has access to.
Both the documentation of Werkzeug and Flask mentions this with large bold letters that youshould not expose this debugger online.
What Shodan also exposed was that the Debugger got triggered, basically presenting the visitor with a RCE-console right away on the domain’s root URL just by visiting the domain .
Now, Werkzeug requires an actual error to trigger the console, as it uses a secret key generated when the application starts, which is only exposed in the Werkzeug Debugger page. Without this secret key you cannot run any commands, that’s why you need an exception to reveal the secret. Also worth noting is that the debugger only accepts commands sent in by the GET-parameter, which will then show up in access logs on the vulnerable host, which is great for forensic analysis and investigation.
Also, each line in the code responds to a frame which is also needed for the debugger to know exactly where in the code to run the command.
A request is then made to:
http://example.com/?__debugger__=yes&cmd=print+%221%22&frm=[FRAME]&s=[SECRET]
which will return the result of the command.
This has been discussed before, here’s one article by Colin Keigher on the 21st of December last year mentioning that people do actually expose these debug environments online: Remote code execution on misconfigured systems using Werkzeug.
We reported this issue to Patreon on the 23rd of September when we noticed that the vulnerable host on Shodan was actually responding again. Patreon got back to us and told us that they knew about it and was currently working to mitigate it.
We’ve also added into Detectify so we are checking for available Werkzeug Debuggers on the domains we’re analyzing.
Unfortunately there are thousands of publicly available instances of Werkzeug Debugger out there and each and every one of them should take proper mitigation actions as if they have already been exploited.
Author: |
By Chris Scott Barr
Back before the whole world went nuts about Twilight there was another set of books/movies which drove tweens wild. I am of course speaking of Harry Potter. Sure, there are still a pair of movies to be released, but I’d say the excitement has died down considerably. That didn’t stop one creative individual from crafting a magical artifact from the Potter universe using muggle technology.
The Weasley family had a peculiar clock which instead of telling time, informed you where each individual was located. So how would one get a timepiece to display such information? Through the magic of Twitter, of course.
The face of the clock has a dozen locations written on it (technically 11 places, and one which says “read me”) and four hands with pictures of each family members. A Seeeduino microcontroller board and wireless router are used to monitor Twitter updates and move the hands. If a Twitter update contains one of the locations on the face, the hand moves appropriately. If an update does not contain one of these, the hand will move to “read me.”
This is one of the more creative projects that I have seen in recent history. Taking something purely magical and crafting it from available technology is just awesome. Thankfully the creator took the time to document his work so you can make your own if you choose.
[ TheMagicClock ] VIA [ Technabob ] |
Smokers who indulge in their first cigarette shortly after waking up have an increased risk of developing lung and head and neck cancers, according to two new studies published in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society. The findings may help identify smokers who have a greater risk of developing cancer. These smokers could then be more urgently targeted for smoking cessation programs.
The first studies to show a link between cigarette smoking and cancer were published back in the 1950s, but it wasn’t until 1980 that nicotine dependence was recognized by the American Psychiatric Association as a psychological and physiological problem. The new studies out of Penn State College of Medicine look at nicotine dependence, which in part can be determined by the amount of time elapsed before a smoker lights up his or her first cigarette after waking up in the morning.
“These smokers have higher levels of nicotine and possibly other tobacco toxins in their body, and they may be more addicted than smokers who refrain from smoking for a half hour or more,” says Joshua Muscat of the Penn State College of Medicine, who led the investigation.
Subjects who smoked their first cigarette between 31 and 60 minutes after waking up were more than 30% more likely to develop lung cancer; the odds increased to nearly 80% for those who smoked in their first half-hour awake. For head and neck cancers, subjects were more than 40% more likely if they indulged in the 31-60 minute window, and nearly 60% more likely for those who smoked in their first half-hour awake.
“One of the things we use to measure dependence is called the Heavyness of Smoking Index, which includes two questions,” says Dr. Richard D. Hurt, the director of the Mayo Clinic’s Nicotine Dependence Center, who is not affiliated with the new studies. “How much do you smoke, and how long after you arise do you have your first cigarette?”
Hurt also points out that waiting a little longer before indulging in a first cigarette of the day would mean fewer total cigarettes in a day. “The more dependent are more likely to be heavier smokers,” he says. “But you also have to look at how aggressively these people are smoking. Those who inhale deeper, hold longer, and smoke their cigarettes all the way to the end are receiving more of the harmful constituents of that cigarette.” This makes them more likely to develop cancer than those who smoke less aggressively.
The half-life of nicotine is relatively short – only two hours – so after six or eight hours of sleep, your body has gotten rid of nearly all of the nicotine you’ve inhaled the day before. There’s very little left in the body in the morning and the receptors in the brain are crying out for more nicotine. Those who are the most dependent need that cigarette earlier, and often smoke more cigarettes throughout the day, more intensely.
The takeaway here is about what you’d expect. “Stop smoking as soon as you can,” says Hurt. “We have more things to offer now than ever before. [You] can go to a physician or call a telephone quit line. We combine behavioral counseling with medications, which can double, triple, or even quadruple your chances of successfully quitting.” |
USA Today
Auburn is making sure that any more miracles Gus Malzahn has up his sleeve come on the Tigers sideline, as the school announced a six-year extension with its head coach on Friday.
The extension will pay Malzahn $3.85 million in the first year, with subsequent $250,000 escalators for its duration.
Malzahn signed a five-year deal with the school last December that paid him an annual salary of $2.3 million. The new deal begins next season, and director of athletics Jay Jacobs noted that this financial commitment ensures Malzahn will be at Auburn for the foreseeable future.
John Reed-USA TODAY Sports
"The new contract includes a raise and extension and is our statement that Auburn is committed to coach Malzahn for the long haul," Jacobs said. "While this season has been remarkable, I'm equally excited about the future of our program under his leadership. The future of Auburn football is very bright."
An extension had been in the works for some time. Jacobs told AL.com's
conversation never takes place. The school did not announce buyout stipulations, but it likely included enough assurances that only the deepest pockets in college football or the NFL can come knocking.
Just hours away from possibly locking up his first SEC championship, Malzahn can cross one more distraction off his list in what's been a storybook first season. |
I started writing in a journal when I was in grade 3. One of my teachers took my parents aside on parent-teacher night and suggested that they get me a notebook so I could write my ideas down. I think this came about because I wasn’t paying attention in math class, but it in hindsight it was likely one of the events that lead me to writing.
I journaled daily for years — until my mid-twenties, in fact. I have boxes full of journals of all shapes and sizes stored in a basement somewhere. There are the pink, sparkly ones of high school days, filled with “I love so-and-so’s,” and lots of stickers, the angsty tirades of my early 20s, the day-to-day scribbles of my early 30s. I reduced my journaling to a few times a week as I grew older, and recently, I stopped.
I broke my life-long journaling habit because it was interfering with my writing.
For months I had been getting up at the crack of dawn to scribble my thoughts and feelings into a notebook. By the time I finished, the day’s writing time was nearly over. But there was more than that to the end of my journaling: it wasn’t a positive force in my life anymore.
Journaling can become an excuse not to write other, harder things, like fiction. (Fiction might not be harder for everyone to write, but it sure is for me.) I was spending more time writing about myself, and less time writing for others.
Before I quit journaling altogether, I wrote myself a list of the pros and cons of the art of journaling.
Pros of Journaling:
It helps you get to know yourself It gives you an outlet to vent your feelings in a place where no one can get hurt (unless your brothers steal your journal, break the lock and read it — speaking from experience :) It creates a record of your life that can perhaps be shared with others
Cons of Journaling:
When you have limited time, it takes time away from writing You can fall into a pit of self-reflection and over-analyzing When all is said and done, most of our journals won’t be found on more than one person’s bookshelf, which of course isn’t the main reason most of us journal, but, if you want to write for others…see number one above.
For me, journaling in a traditional sense had run it’s course. I can’t say that I’ll never start it up again, but for now, I’ve set it aside. I still take a few moments each week to write down a few things I’m grateful for in a notebook beside my bed, but otherwise, I’m focusing on fiction.
How about you? Do you write in a journal? Has it ever interfered with your writing? |
Vegan Parmesan Cheese enhances so many dishes. There are only four ingredients and it only takes about 5 mins. Sprinkle it on pasta, soups, salads and more.
How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese is a talent that can be yours in minutes. It enhances so many dishes as I am sure you can remember how regular parmesan cheese did in the old days. This recipe is so simple yet so useful.
There are only four ingredients and is complete in about 5 minutes. You can sprinkle it on, at least, pasta and soups. I love sprinkling quite a lot of it into my salads.
That sounds good! I have to have a salad tomorrow.
This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.
Go ahead and double or triple the recipe if you like. It freezes so well you can freeze a larger quantity and take out a quarter of a cup at a time. It’ll be ready to go immediately.
Just today I sprinkled some in my chickpea wrap. It really added a delicious extra flavor and texture.
You’ll find you can go through it vegan parmesan cheese very quickly. Thank goodness it’s so simple to make.
Want to try this Homemade Parmesan Cheese? PIN IT to your Vegan or Vegan Cheese Board to save for later! Find me on Pinterest for more great recipes!
My niece was over last week and made a batch with walnuts. That was a bit of a stronger flavor but it certainly has it’s place. I’m thinking chili.
Chili with parmesan on top is always a good thing. How about on avocado and Two Bean Camp Chili? So so good!
If you like walnuts don’t be afraid to try them as a substitute.
Cashews are traditional though as they come closer to dairy parmesan cheese in flavor. Nutritional yeast and other spices are balanced just right. You’ll be glad you made a batch.
I would love to hear how you would use vegan parmesan cheese. Leave a comment below so I can make notes. You aren’t really supposed to eat it off a spoon but it’s okay with me..
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Print 5 from 6 votes How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese Vegan Parmesan Cheese enhances so many dishes. Sprinkle it on pasta, soups, salads and more. Prep Time 5 minutes Total Time 5 minutes Servings 12 Ounces Calories 63 kcal Author Ginny McMeans Ingredients 1 cup cashews raw
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt Instructions Add all of the ingredients to a food processor.
Pulse until a fine crumb mixture forms. Literally seconds.
Use in just about any savory dish you can think of. Nutrition Nutrition Facts How to Make Vegan Parmesan Cheese Amount Per Serving (1 Ounce) Calories 63 Calories from Fat 36 % Daily Value* Total Fat 4g 6% Sodium 98mg 4% Potassium 89mg 3% Total Carbohydrates 3g 1% Protein 2g 4% Calcium 0.4% Iron 4.3% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Keep in the refrigerator for about a month or keep in the freezer in a freezer container for up to 12 months.
Hey! Here are a couple more recipes that love to use vegan parmesan cheese.
The Best Creamy Mushroom Soup and Fantastic Stuffed Mushrooms!
Now just to remind you of a great pantry addition. |
Festival Map
Just steps away from Lake Ontario, The Word On The Street 2017 featured the finest writers in Canadian literature before one of the city’s most beautiful backdrops, Harbourfront Centre. Both indoor and outdoor activities were scheduled with tons of special events throughout the grounds. Take a look at the map below to see where your your favourite authors and events took place! - À quelques pas du lac Ontario, The Word on the Street 2017 accueille les meilleurs écrivains de la littérature canadienne devant l’une des plus belles toiles de fond de la ville, le Centre Harbourfront. Des activités intérieures et extérieures sont prévues, y compris une foule d’événements spéciaux un peu partout sur le terrain. Jetez un coup d’œil au plan ci-dessous pour voir où se sont déroulées les prestations de vos auteurs préférés ainsi que plusieurs événements! |
In all fairness, driving in Yangon is a walk in the park compared to Cairo or Nairobi. And unlike New York there’s no messenger cyclists hanging onto the back of buses as they accelerate through a yellow light on 5th Avenue.
But it has to be said that Yangon could surely do with a few better driving schools - and maybe just a slight change in attitude from its drivers? So for those poor souls arriving here in Yangon from the likes of Australia, Europe, USA, Singapore, etc.. here are my top 10 things to watch out for as you hit the streets:
Door mirrors. You know those things stuck on the side of vehicles? Let me tell you a secret. If you see any in Yangon, you’re hallucinating because no-one, NO-ONE ever uses them here. My old driving instructor used to hit me over the head if I didn’t check my mirrors AND look over my shoulder before changing lanes. The Yangon technique is different. Here standard operating procedure is to look fixedly ahead while edging (or should I say veering) into the lane alongside. You see if there’s another vehicle alongside you it’s THEIR responsibility to sound their horn to warn you not to do the incredibly dumb thing you are about to do.
Indicators. It may be that after decades of driving old wrecks where only the steering wheel (sort of) operated, Yangon drivers have yet to adjust to the fact that their car indicators work. Or maybe they think using indicators will drain the battery, or use more fuel. Who knows? What you do need to know is that you will regularly grind your teeth waiting to pull out from a side road, only to see the car you’ve been waiting to pass you by suddenly turn into the same road you’re waiting in. Had they indicated you could have safely pulled away, but as they didn’t you’re left waiting for more traffic to pass before you get another chance to pull out.
Lane markings. People spend hours painting white lines on the roads, but I have no idea why they bother. White lines are for sissy’s, especially at roundabouts. Want to know how to spot a Brit in Yangon? Head down to any roundabout and watch the cars conscientiously following the marked lane. Yep, that’s a Brit. The only problem is that all the other vehicles take the racing line around roundabouts - if you’re in the far right lane at the entry to the roundabout you drive straight ahead so you reach the far left lane by the apex of the roundabout. You know it makes sense - it’s the shortest, fastest route and therefore saves fuel! Oh, and in case you’re wondering please refer to items 1 and 2 above about the standard operating procedures for use of door mirrors and indicators while adopting this manoeuvre.
Yellow junction boxes. People also get paid to paint these markings on the roads too, but in Yangon their purpose is just to brighten up those dull grey roads. Don’t be fooled into thinking that cars are supposed to keep them clear at all times, especially in traffic jams. What’s the point of watching other drivers being able to move if you can’t? No, no, no. The Yangon way is to completely block up every junction so at least you have the satisfaction of knowing that everyone else is stuck just like you.
Horn. Every empty taxi horns at every person minding their own business walking along the pavement. Don’t they realize if we wanted one of the million taxis around town we would be standing on the kerb flagging them down? My favourite though is the driver behind me at the traffic lights who horns the nanosecond the light changes to green. Does he think this is some quiz game and the first to press the buzzer wins? For goodness sake I CAN SEE TOO! If I COULDN’T see they wouldn’t let me drive (well maybe I’ll take that back because I am absolutely positive that 50% of the bus drivers here are totally blind)! Next time someone does that to me I’m trying a new tactic. I’ll keep my foot firmly on the brake but engage reverse gear so I can see the horror on their faces when they see my reversing lights and think I’m going to reverse into them. Yes they’ll horn even more…
Bicycles. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of bicycles. They have just as much right to be on the road as any car and are a great way to keep fit. I also hope the sai kaa (tri-shaws) remain a part of Yangon’s streets for years to come – they provide a really useful service, enable people to earn a living and add real character to the city. No, my problem is at night. After 3 years living in Yangon I have seen a grand total of one (yes ONE) bicycle with lights on at night. It would be a step in the right direction if bicyclists wore white shirts at night. But no, the preferred outfit is a black Iron Cross T-Shirt and dark longyi. If you don’t see many bicycles on Yangon streets it’s not because people don’t know how to ride them. It’s because we’re in the middle of a real live Darwinian experiment and Yangon bicyclists are becoming extinct as the species get wiped out. Survival of the fittest? No, its survival of the cyclists who ride at night with lights on.
Parking. Most cities have worked out by now that traffic on major roads has to be kept moving and therefore vehicles are not allowed to stop and block a lane. Unfortunately Yangon lives on a different planet, because vehicles can block any lane, anytime. All vehicles also carry a trump card at school times which allows them to double or even triple-park alongside each other while dropping off or collecting kids. Now I have a young kid, so I too want my son to be safe when he goes to school. But can we please do a trade? Let’s introduce traffic wardens at kid’s school crossings and take away drivers’ rights to block any lane on a major road. Is that a deal?
Pedestrian Crossings. I have no doubt the newly opened Mercedes showroom will be a huge success. The distinctive cross-hairs badge on the bonnet of their cars is the perfect accessory for Yangon’s drivers as they aim at any pedestrian foolish enough to step onto a marked pedestrian crossing. As a kid I used to enjoy playing on stepping stones across a stream near my house. In Yangon that experience has given me a critical survival tool as I take a series of leaps from the edge of one lane to another as vehicles whizz by on both sides. I’ve lost weight since I moved to Yangon. It’s not because of the food or the climate, it’s because I need a flat tummy for crossing the road so I can fit between the sides of buses as they roar past me on adjacent lanes.
Betel Leaf and Nut. Why am I talking about a seed when this article is about driving? When I first came to Yangon, I was horrified at the number road deaths, evident by the blood smatters dripping down every driver and passenger door. Since then I’ve learned that emptying the mulched red contents of your mouth over your own vehicle door, the road, any adjacent car or nearby pedestrian is considered acceptable behavior. My advice is to always, ALWAYS keep your window closed when inside your car, and carry an umbrella when walking near traffic. It’s nothing to do with the sun or the monsoon, it’s just that if I wanted to have red hair I’d dye it myself thank you.
Buses. I know, I know, you’ve been waiting for this one. Where to start? I really love the conductors hanging out of the side door, waving their arms, shouting unintelligibly and pointing to show that the driver is going to turn left, when they immediately turn right. I love the access doors being on the wrong side of the vehicle so passengers step into moving traffic. I love the broken suspension on one side so you look up to see passengers staring straight down through your sunroof as the bus sways at a 45 degree angle around the corners. I love the drivers’ pinball machine driving techniques, bouncing from one non-existent gap in the traffic to another. I love how they drive up the wrong side of the road, directly into oncoming traffic, to get to the head of the traffic jam. Have Yangon’s bus drivers ever seen Mad Max? I doubt it, but they soon will…
Oh, the delights of driving in Yangon! |
The Narendra Modi government finds itself clueless on how to tackle the present economic slowdown and growing unemployment in traditional as well as IT sectors. Certain exercises were conducted in the finance ministry after Yashwant Sinha gave the matter a political spin. However, there are sharp differences even on the efficacy of traditional remedies like increased public investment, rate cuts and a special boost to employment-intensive sectors.
So far, there is clarity on one point: there will not be any fiscal stimulus. Barring this, the government and its advisors seem to be at a loss to find any workable measures to bring the economy back to health. Nitin Gadkari has put forth an ambitious Rs 6.9 lakh crore worth new highway corridors plan. But highly-mechanised highway construction has very little job-creation prospects.
The Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, set up on September 25, was not able to prescribe any specific steps to tide over the crisis. After its first formal meeting on October 11, the council only identified ten priority areas like fiscal and monetary policy and economic governance. It carefully avoided suggesting any actionable measures. After the meeting, its chairman Bibek Debroy did not reveal much about the deliberations. But the council did consider the need for out-of-the-box solutions after the government is left with very few traditional options.
For about three years, finance minister Arun Jaitely has been going round liberalising the economy as per the classical reform texts, removing hurdles in production and scrapping foreign direct investment (FDI) caps. In May this year, he valiantly abolished even the Foreign Investment Promotion Board. The Planning Commission, which was seen as the sole reason for stifling growth, was scrapped three months after Modi took charge.
The railways, it was presumed, was languishing because of the separate rail budget. So it was abolished. At the end of this three-year-long scrapping spree, the prime minister insisted that India must focus on the ease of doing business. What worries the government is why the economy suffered such severe setbacks even after their liberalisation push.
During the Manmohan Singh era, the reform writers had ready scapegoats. Every fall in production was attributed to obstructions by the supporting Left or 10 Janpath’s ‘remote control’. Meddling by Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council was another standard explanation. Even business and trade associations were harsh on the UPA governments when India saw double-digit inflation and a steep fall in the rate of industrial production around June 2008.
But in those days, all this was attributed to a ‘weak’ prime minister’s inability to take up reform measures. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had an adversarial RSS and its outfits like the Swadeshi Jagran Manch and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. He had to factor in Nagpur’s periodic warnings. The Modi government is not hamstrung by a remote control or such obstructions from within.
At the party level, two ‘practical’ suggestions have come from BJP’s business friends, especially from centres like Surat. They have suggested soft-pedalling of the ongoing tax raids and Enforcement Directorate notices on lakhs of firms, shell or genuine. This, they have told the BJP chief, had demoralised the business community. The second suggestion is to order an across-board rate cut in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for the first two years to provide breathing space for traders, and to help them switch over to the white economy.
Unfortunately, both these demands will harm the Modi government’s ‘can-do’ image. The widely-publicised black money raids were part of Modi’s personality build up as a strong leader out to wipe out black money, an election promise he had made a cornerstone of the BJP campaign. There have been frequent cuts in GST rates under pressures from the government’s friends. An across-board reduction will considerably dilute the very purpose of the GST, which was bandied about as a major tax reform for foreign investors.
For this government, the appointment of an advisory council itself is a significant comedown. Gone are the days when the prime minister was lampooning the ‘Harvard wallas’, claiming he had the ‘pulse of the people’. After the economic slowdown became an issue of public debate, there has been a letup in the announcement of new schemes. One of Modi’s first acts was to scrap the former PM’s group of ministers – about 70 of them – and pass on their powers to the PMO. After the demonetisation disaster, the much derided group of ministers is back. Jaitely presides over the cabinet panel on exchange traded fund with Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan as members.
But the most striking aspect of the present economic muddle is the eerie silence on the part of business writers and industry associations. Compare this with the sharp criticism of the economic policies during the Vajpayee and Singh governments. Where have all the acerbic analysts and reform warriors of yesteryears gone? Have they lost their voice? Or do they feel they don’t have anything more to suggest other than labour act changes and retail in FDI?
P. Raman is a senior journalist. |
The Calcutta High Court on Thursday refused to admit the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding Prof Ambikesh Mahapatra,who was arrested for allegedly circulating a cartoon of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
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Vishak Bhattacharjee,a resident of Kolkata,filed a PIL seeking intervention of the Calcutta High Court as the state government did not implement the recommendation of the human rights commission to pay a compensation of Rs 50,000 to Mahapatra. When advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharjee,counsel of the petitioner moved the plea,the Division Bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked why the issue should be treated as PIL as it was a matter between the rights panel and an individual.
The court also asked why the person concerned ( Prof Mahapatra) not filed a case,and what interest did the litigant have in filing the PIL.
The Division Bench said: The media wrongly reported on March 1 that the petition was admitted. It was not correct. Recently the state government informed the rights panel that it would file action-taken report within six weeks. The Division Bench was informed of this too. |
*10 P.M. Update*
Texas A&M's former mascot, Reveille VII, has died.
The former First Lady of Aggieland died Thursday morning after undergoing emergency surgery at the Texas A&M Veterinary Hospital.
Reveille VII served as Texas A&M's Mascot from 2001 to 2008.
She died after complications from an ulcer and pneumonia.
Now the former highest ranking member of the Corps of Cadets is being remembered for her contributions to the Aggie spirit.
She came our way from Florida becoming Texas A&M's 7th mascot Reveille in May 2001.
A precious puppy that would become the First Lady of the Corps of Cadets.
James Mulvey was a member of the Corps when News 3 interviewed him in 2006 and was proud to be her handler.
"I leave the dorm about 15 minutes early. I know somebody or a group of people is going to stop me," he said at the time.
From chewing on Bevo along the sidelines during the Lone Star Showdown to even special birthday parties like her 10th in October 2010.
Reveille posed for many pictures but was known to bark at strangers.
"That is her paw, her official paw print," said Tina Gardner as she looked through a scrapbook.
Tina and Paul Gardner of College Station took care of her in her retirement years from 2008 till her passing.
She became ill this week and Thursday morning died of complications from an ulcer.
'I wouldn't say she was spoiled. She was definitely regal," said Paul Gardner.
"She was spoiled," laughed Tina.
Recently Reveille began water treadmill treatment at the Texas A&M Vet School for arthritis.
The Gardners were already planning her 13th birthday for this fall and were planning a "Bark mitzvah," as they are Jewish.
"Maybe she wanted the party part of the "Bark mitzvah," but she really didn't want to have to learn the Hebrew part and so she just chose to go to heaven early," added Tina Gardner.
Funeral arrangements have not been set yet but are expected to happen in September once school resumes with a final resting place in front of Kyle Field looking at the scoreboard.
She would have turned 13 on October 9th.
The Gardners say the Reveille Cemetery will not be impacted by renovations at Kyle Field.
Texas A&M Corps of Cadets Statement
The Office of the Commandant and the Corps of Cadets are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Reveille VII, the former “First Lady of Aggieland” today in College Station. As Aggies we are all very proud of our mascot, and we have great respect for her and all the tradition that she represents. We in the Corps of Cadets are especially fond of Reveille, as she has been part of the Corps from the beginning, lives with the Corps every day as a member of Company E-2, marches with the Corps at all march-ins and parades, and is the highest ranking member of the Corps of Cadets. We will remember with great fondness all the joy that Reveille VII brought to all Aggies during her time as our mascot, and will remember her excited barks every time our football team scored a touchdown. We know that she will continue to do so in the future as she joins the other Reveilles in the North end of Kyle Field where she will always be able to see the scoreboard and bark for her team. Rest in Peace Miss Reveille. You will be missed but never forgotten…
Reveille
*Previous Story*
The former mascot of Texas A&M, Reveille VII, has died, according to the university.
Reveille was taken to the veterinary school on campus earlier in the week and eventually had to undergo emergency surgery. She died Thursday morning.
The collie was born on October 9, 2000. She was bred in Florida and located by the university after a nationwide search. She officially became A&M's seventh mascot by the Reveille name in May 2001.
Reveille VII retired in the summer of 2008, and had been living with local residents Paul and Tina Gardner.
Details on services for the dog are still being worked out.
Known as the First Lady of Aggieland and the highest ranking member of the university's Corps of Cadets, the Reveille serving as the mascot lives with a cadet on campus and goes to classes with the student.
The first Reveille was a black and white dog hit by students on the way to Navasota and brought back to campus for medical care. When the dog began barking the next morning at the Reveille bugle call, the dog was named after the call.
The university would later decide that the dog should be a collie. The first was Reveille III.
More on this story later on News 3 and KBTX.com
Story on one of Reveille's handlers from 2006
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The following press release was issued by Texas A&M University regarding the death of Reveille VII:
COLLEGE STATION, May 30, 2013 — Texas A&M University’s mascot that was retired in 2008, Reveille VII, died today after being hospitalized earlier in the week and undergoing emergency surgery at the Small Animal Clinic at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (CVM). She was 12 1/2 years old.
University and Corps of Cadets officials say plans for a suitable memorial service will be announced as soon as details can be finalized. University officials note in planning a suitable memorial service for Rev. VII, they will take into consideration the fact that most students will not return to school until the fall. When Rev. VII’s predecessor died, which also occurred during the summer, the ceremony was deferred until after the start of the fall semester.
Texas A&M mascots are placed in the daily care of the Corps of Cadets’ Company E-2. Reveille is considered “the first lady of Aggieland” and the highest ranking member of the Corps.
Since being retired, Reveille VII had been living with Tina and Paul Gardner who reside in College Station. He is a 1966 Texas A&M graduate.
“Having Reveille VII with us for five glorious years has been one of the greatest things to happen to us during our 46 years of marriage,” Mr. and Mrs. Gardner said in a statement requested by university representatives. “Besides our son, Todd, and his family, wife Stacey, and our three precious grandchildren—Avery, Addison and Adam Gardner—Reveille VII was right up there in our hearts and eyes.”
Reveille VII, was an American Collie, as is her successor, Reveille VIII, the university’s current mascot.
Dr. Stacy Eckman, the veterinarian who had cared for Rev. VII’s medical needs for the past two- and-a-half years, said the university’s retired mascot had been treated for several years for arthritis, as well as other conditions. She was joined by other CVM veterinarians and staffers when the retired mascot was brought in for treatment Tuesday.
Considering her age, Rev VII had been in relatively good health until Tuesday morning, Dr. Eckman said. She noted the average life span for a relatively large dog, such as a collie, is about 12-15 years.
“The Gardners took incredible care of Reveille VII the last five-and-a-half years and that certainly contributed to her longevity and exceptional quality of life,” Dr. Eckman said.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were asked by university officials to have Rev. VII live with them about five years ago. They have been actively involved with the Corps of Cadets, as well as other aspects of the university, for more than 40 years. Their son, Todd, is part of the Class of '94 and was a member of Company E-2.
The couple established a fund in 1998 to help cover out-of-pocket expenses for the cadet in Company E-2 designated to be the mascot’s primary handler. Additionally, they established a $50,000 endowment for the benefit of the Small Animal Clinic at the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences “to give back to the university for the prestigious honor of taking care of Reveille VII during her retirement.”
The Tina and Paul Gardner Reveille VII Research Endowed Fund was established through the Texas A&M Research Foundation for basic science research. The couple invites others to make tax-deductible donations of any amount payable to the fund. |
Since a while now I can hear a metallic ticking clicking sound coming from my new MacBook Pro i5 Unibody. It can be described as a glassy, high-pitched scraping sound. Sometimes, moving the computer or resting your hands or just touching it will cause the noise. Other times, the noise just happens of its own accord.
Because I have a SSD I knew it was not the hard drive I was hearing. I did wonder if I was the only person who had this problem, but I quickly found out there are a bunch of others who also complain about this clicking sound inside their MacBook Pro Unibody. There are even some who had record the sound of it or have made some YouTube video to show how it can be reproduced.
Don’t even try to ask the Apple Genius Bar or the Apple Support Department, they do not even know what you are talking about, stating it is the CD laser head locking sensory system you are hearing.
I had finally found a solution, and fixed the problem of this strange clicking sound in my MacBook Pro. All this thanks to Ten 1 Designer’s blog, the maker of the now famous pogo sketch stylus.
Here’s how to solve the tick-click sound in your MacBook Pro Unibody:
You need to unscrew the back cover of your MacBook Pro and remove a little spring connector that touch (and scrape noisily) the bottom of the metallic casing when the computer heat up.
Ten 1 explain why removing this little connector will solve the problem (and it did) and also why it is not a crucial piece of equipment in your MacBook Pro:
The bottom cover of the MacBook Pro serves as a shield for radiated electromagnetic energy. A great shielding strategy is to find a huge piece of metal, and connect your circuit to that metal wherever possible. The MacBook Pro Unibody enclosure and bottom cover make a terrific shielding system. One of the connectors in this system touches the bottom plate right in the center where it flexes a lot. When the computer heats up, the metal pins in the connector scrape noisily against the cover and chassis. It makes you want to eat your hands. By removing the connector (two easy screws!), you remove one of the grounding connections between the unibody enclosure and the bottom cover. Don’t worry: there are plenty of other connections, and they are adequate for the purpose. Result: Quiet, harmonious environment restored.
Cannot say better. My peace is genuine. Thanks guy! |
There are many types of lizards for sale online, but what should you watch for when you buy these animals using the Internet? There are some steps you should take before you ever buy any reptile from an online source, and this is true whether you want to buy chameleons for sale or another type of lizard. Online purchasing means that the animal must be shipped to you, and if the animal is not in excellent health or the shipping is not handled properly then you could end up buying lizards for sale which may die or become ill after you receive them.
If you are searching for bearded dragons as pets or you want to find an iguana you may not be able to go to your local pet store. Many stores do not specialize in lizards and other reptiles, and in some cases it may be necessary to buy lizards for sale online instead. The best option is to use a reputable breeder, one who has been in business for a while and has a reputation for healthy high quality reptiles. Online purchases means that the animal must be shipped, and this is normally done using FEDEX since UPS no longer allows for the shipment of pet geckos for sale or other live reptiles.
Finding online lizards for sale is easy, but you will want to make sure your reptile stays comfortable and has as little stress as possible during the shipping process. Experienced reptile suppliers who provide live shipping in the cooler months will usually add some hand warmers to the package, to keep the lizard warm and prevent any health problems. Check out the breeder you use carefully, and ask questions to ensure you are getting the healthiest reptile possible. Most breeders specialize in certain species, and this can give you reassurance. A good tip is to ask about the care of your animal before making the purchase. A water dragon breeder who can not explain water dragon care is probably not the best choice. The breeder should know all about caring for the reptiles offered, and if they do not this can be a sign that you should find another breeder instead. |
The ailing carmaker General Motors has proposed handing a controlling stake of more than 50% to the US government as it struggles to reach a deal with its lenders to avert imminent bankruptcy.
The nationalisation, in effect, of the biggest US motor manufacturer would be part of a huge debt-for-equity swap as GM tries to shed $44bn (£30bn) of $62bn in crippling liabilities owed to the government, trade unions and bondholders.
But the plan was condemned last night as "neither reasonable nor adequate", by bondholders who would get only 10% of the company, forcing them to write off billions of dollars. Existing shareholders would be left with only 1%.
With its future on a knife-edge, GM delivered a blunt warning that unless its creditors accepted the plan, it would declare bankruptcy and leave the courts to carve up the company. Fritz Henderson, the chief executive, told a press conference at the company's headquarters: "If this cannot be accomplished out of court, we'll go into court and restructure GM under bankruptcy if it's necessary."
As it struggles to stay afloat, GM has deepened cuts that will include 23,000 job losses by 2011, the closure of 16 of its 47 factories in the US and a 42% drop in the number of dealers selling its vehicles.
GM announced it was shutting its 83-year-old Pontiac marque as it slims its portfolio of brands to focus on just four names in the US: Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC. The gas-guzzling Hummer and Sweden's Saab will either be sold or closed by next year but GM made it clear that Britain's Vauxhall brand was not under threat.
Summing up the company's predicament, Henderson described the position as "difficult, challenging and painful".
"None of us like this situation we're in but it's our job to do something about it," he said. "We need to have a more stable and sustainable business model because, candidly, we only want to do this once."
A tough-talking GM veteran, Henderson has led efforts to rescue the company since the Obama administration sacked his predecessor, Rick Wagoner, last month. GM and its smaller rival, Chrysler, are teetering on the brink of oblivion and are struggling to convince the government to extend further financial support. "The task at hand in terms of what we need to get done is formidable," Henderson said. "But it can be done."
Under the company's plan, the US treasury and the United Auto Workers' union would get 89% of the company between them. In return, the government would write off half of the emergency lending extended to GM by US taxpayers.
The union's shares would replace the billions of dollars due to be pumped into a trust fund to cover employees' healthcare.
GM has offered a 10% stake to bondholders, who are owed $27bn – a tough proposition to swallow. For each $1,000 of loan notes, bondholders would get 225 shares, worth little more than $550 at today's market price.
The Obama administration insisted that private-sector creditors should get no more than this slim return, demanding that unions and taxpayers receive the lion's share of the company. But in order to proceed, the proposal must be accepted by an overwhelming majority of 90% of bondholders by a deadline of 1 June.
An ad hoc committee representing bondholders last night vigorously objected to the carve-up: "We believe the offer to be a blatant disregard of fairness for the bondholders who have funded this company and amounts to using taxpayer money to show political favouritism of one creditor over another."
Rebecca Lindland, an analyst at IHS Global Insight, said many bondholders were likely to believe they could get a better deal under a bankruptcy arrangement: "The Obama administration may be more pro-union than a bankruptcy judge but it's really a roll of the dice."
Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of the auto research website Edmunds.com, agreed: "There's no reason for bondholders to accept this if they think they can get a better deal under bankruptcy."
GM's smaller rival, Chrysler, has a deadline of Thursday to strike a rescue deal with Italy's Fiat without which the US government has said it will withdraw financial support. Daimler assisted the process last night by in effect writing off its 19.9% stake in Chrysler and $1.9bn in loans.
For GM, the challenge is to shrink to a scale where it can break even with sales of 10m cars in the US annually, rather than the previous rate of 15m to 17m.
"It's been my theory over time that big is only good if you use it to your advantage," Henderson said. "As a company, our overall performance has just not been adequate."
Pontiac, long known for its sporty designs and once marketed as GM's "excitement division", is a prominent casualty. In Europe, however, Henderson signalled ongoing commitment to Vauxhall cars, which are produced in Ellesmere Port on Merseyside, and in Luton. He said the company had a "fantastic team" running the brand. |
Early voting started here in Florida today and voters are turning out in droves, lining up despite rain showers and gusty winds. In Boca Raton, some anticipated the long lines and camped out overnight to be the first in line to cast their votes. The enthusiasm, however, seems limited to Obama supporters.
In Boynton Beach, the early voters line was swamped by an even longer line of citizens waiting at the Civic Center next door, where the Obama campaign was giving out 500 tickets for an Obama appearance tomorrow in nearby Lake Worth. The tickets ran out in a matter of minutes, many in the crowd turned away empty handed.
Susan Horne, a Boynton Beach resident proudly said she was the second voter in Palm Beach County. "I voted for Barack Obama and I hope he's our next president."
Sonya Mitchell, another early voter said she was voting for Obama, too, "and it's not because he's Black, either. I'd vote across party lines for a good candidate, even though I'm a registered Democrat."
John Gavriluk of Delray Beach said he's a small-business owner voting for Obama. "Yes, enthusiastically so. He is visionary, like Colin Powell said in endorsing him. And he does represent a new generation of Americans who are united because he's a 'new breed of politician.' He's articulate, he's bright and he has an even, thoughtful temperament. Our country needs that right now."
Florence Rein and her husband Rubin were waiting, too. "I'll be 89-years old tomorrow and if Obama wins the election I'll think of it as a birthday present. My husband is 93 years old, and we're both voting for Obama." Said Rubin: "It's all about the issues facing our country right now. This crisis has forced Americans to think hard about the future."
"It's also time for us Caucasians to put aside any remaining prejudice. Barack Obama is a beautiful young man," said Florence. "Although I was originally a Hillary supporter, I'm voting for Barack Obama because he represents our future as a country."
Mac Arthur of Boynton Beach emigrated from Haiti and became a citizen only last year. "We really need to reset the button on the way we are seen in the world. Barack Obama represents that change. For the last eight years the way we have been viewed is not what we are about in America."
No McCain supporters in line were willing to step forward. |
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Our recently released Fundraising & Capital Overhang Report breaks down dry powder by vintage year, summarizes which fund classes are most successful in collecting commitments and forecasts what all this means for the industry in the years to come. For the main takeaways from the report, watch the video above or peruse the charts below.
With $535 billion in capital overhang through 2Q 2014, the PE industry still needs to make a dent in its massive dry powder cache, which could portend continued strong activity in 2015 even if valuations remain high.
The step-ups in size of 82% of 2014 funds were modest, indicating PE firms are confident and taking advantage of the fundraising climate but are still aware of their overhang.
To explore the underlying data of these trends, contact us for a free trial of the PitchBook Platform today.
VC fundraising was similarly healthy. One of the more interesting VC fundraising trends has been the rise of sub-$50 million vehicles, as well as a resurgence in big multistage funds, which implies a possible split toward increased activity in the lower and upper ends of the market. |
AMY GOODMAN: One of the most moving events at the Democratic National Convention was the speech delivered by Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy in one of his first public appearances since being diagnosed with brain cancer in May. He flew into Colorado, taken immediately to the University of Denver Hospital. Though his family and doctors had advised against it, he went to the Pepsi Center, accompanied by paramedics and a doctor. On the convention floor, he was accompanied by his niece, Caroline Kennedy, daughter of President John Kennedy, and his wife Vicki.
A day after he spoke, the Kennedys gathered at the historic Brown Palace Hotel in Denver to remember another Kennedy, Ted’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy, slain forty years ago, the night he won the Los Angeles Democratic primary. After the event, I sat down with his son, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the environmental attorney.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: One of the most poignant memories I have of my father was a trip that we took to Europe when I was about thirteen years old, and we went to Czechoslovokia and Poland and Italy and Greece and France and Germany. And everywhere we went, we were met by vast crowds of people, hundreds of thousands of people, who came out because they wanted to be near an American politician. And it wasn’t just because my father’s brother had been martyred three years before. The same thing happened to Eisenhower when he went to Kabul and Tehran. A million Muslim people met him on the street waving tiny little American flags. And what I remember as a boy is these crowds of people that were just hungry for American leadership, and they — not bullying. They knew the difference. And they were starved for a moral authority. And they proudly named their streets after our presidents, Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln and Roosevelt and Kennedy.
And I remember the day after 9/11, when the headline on the biggest newspaper in France, Le Monde, was “We’re All Americans Now.” And for three weeks after 9/11, thousands of Muslim people came out spontaneously onto the streets of Tehran to make candlelight vigils to show their support, their solidarity, their love for the United States of America. We were the most beloved nation on the face of the earth and in the history of mankind.
And it took 230 years of disciplined visionary leadership by Republican and Democratic presidents to build up those vast reservoirs of public love for our country. And in seven short years, through monumental arrogance and incompetence, this White House has drained those reservoirs dry. We are now, according to virtually every poll, the most hated nation and feared nation on earth. And anybody who says that it’s good for our national security when European youth, as a recent poll showed, hold Osama bin Laden in the same regard as they hold President Bush, and anybody who believes it’s good for our national security when Hezbollah is as popular in the Mideast as America has their head in an oil well.
You know, Abraham Lincoln said America — we’re doing things today that were inconceivable a few years ago. We’re torturing people in America. We’re eavesdropping on our citizens. We are having extraordinary renditions. We’ve suspend habeas corpus. We have these black prisons. And, you know, Abraham Lincoln said that America is a good nation — is a great nation, because we’re a good nation. And he warned that if we ever lose our goodness, we’ll quickly forfeit our greatness as well.
You know, people say in the White House that we have to do these things, because we’re under such terrible threat. But that’s a lie. When I was a little boy, we had 25,000 nuclear-tipped missiles pointing at our country from the Soviet Union with one guy able to press a button and vaporize most of our population. And we weren’t torturing people and eavesdropping on our citizens and suspending habeas corpus. During the Civil War, 659,000 Americans died. Our cities were burned and occupied by foreign — by hostile armies. And we didn’t engage in those kind of behaviors.
You know, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington was approached by his generals with the idea of torturing British soldiers to extract strategic information. At that time, the British were torturing our soldiers in New York Harbor on coffin ships and killing them by the dozens every day. Washington said to them, “I would rather lose the war, because this is the first nation in history that is based upon an idea, and the idea is one of essential human dignity and justice.” And he said, “We’re not — I’d rather the British continue to rule us than become — than to lose that.” And, you know, he established codes of conduct for the treatment of prisoners, fair treatment of prisoners and humane treatment. And the Hessians that he captured on Christmas Eve were so shocked by the good treatment they received from the American captors that after two weeks in prison, they agreed to walk unguarded all the way to POW camps in western Pennsylvania, and not a single one escaped.
During the Civil War, Lincoln’s general suggested — made the suggestion of torture, and he was so horrified by the idea, that he created a committee to establish a standards — a report with standards for the fair treatment and humane treatment of prisoners of war. And eighty years later, that document became the Geneva Convention.
During World War II, Eisenhower was asked about torturing Germans at a time when Nazis were torturing our prisoners and POWs. And Eisenhower said, “Americans don’t do that.” And he said — and during World War II, German soldiers surrendered to American soldiers by the thousands, because they had heard from their fathers, who fought in World War I, “Always surrender to an American, because Americans don’t torture people.”
You know, a few weeks ago, I had John Dean on my show on Air America. And John Dean, as you know, was the counselor to President Nixon during the Watergate scandal. And Dean said to me — Dean went to prison for his participation in the cover-up. And he said, “You know, we eavesdropped illegally on one office, and I went to jail for four months, and my boss was impeached and then forced to resign.” And he said, “These people have illegally eavesdropped on hundreds of thousands of Americans.” And he said, “Where’s the impeachment? Where are the convictions? Where’s the imprisonment? Where’s the jail term? Where is the American press? Where is the indignation?”
And, you know, we need to continually remind ourselves that the Bill of Rights is not a luxury we can no longer afford and that America is not just a place where people come to, you know, increase the size of their pile, and whoever dies with the most stuff wins. Our nation is an exemplary nation. And that’s the way the world regards us, and that’s what they want from us. And when we start lowering our standards, we lose our prestige, we lose our capacity to influence world events, and we lose the soul of our country. And we now need to gain that back.
AMY GOODMAN: So, what do you make of Nancy Pelosi? I mean, the fact is, it’s not the Republicans who control the House and the Senate, it’s the Democrats who do. And she says impeachment is off the table. They say just consider the election a way to get rid of the President.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Well, I don’t believe it. I think, you know, what I’ve said to Nancy Pelosi publicly and to every Democrat that comes on my show, I say, “Why aren’t we impeaching these people, just as a civics lesson to the American public? You know, we need that. We need to remind people that you cannot trample the Bill of Rights. You cannot ignore your oath of office to protect the Constitution.”
You know, there’s no doubt that they committed a crime. Everybody admits it. When it was FISA, when they — you know, when they illegally eavesdropped, there’s no justification for that. It is a crime, and it’s a high crime. And it’s a high crime that’s prescribed, you know, for — as the basis for impeachment. And they ought to be impeached, just so that nobody does it again. We can’t just keep — you know, if somebody is murdered. You just don’t say, “Well, let it go, and move on. Nobody really wants to deal with a trial and all that problem.” It’s our responsibility as a generation to impeach these people now as a showcase, to show future presidents of the United States that the Bill of Rights is not something that can be trifled with, that the Bill of Rights is not just a luxury that we can no longer afford.
AMY GOODMAN: Perhaps their calculation is they are courting Republicans to leave the Republican Party and vote for a Democrat and that if they polarize the country, that they won’t have that option.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Well, sometimes you have to do what’s right. And I think, in the long run, it’s the politically smart thing to do, because I think Americans — you know, and I’ve been prosecuting polluters and suing people for years, and when you sue somebody — when you say bad things about somebody, everybody just dismisses it as criticism. But when it becomes a court case, everybody begins taking it seriously. And at this point, you know, it’s clearly the right thing to do, because you can’t let somebody — all of these people, Nancy Pelosi on down, have sworn to protect the Constitution. How can you protect the Constitution when you’re letting somebody violate it and then just say, “Well, we’re going to let this one go, and then we’ll move on to the next one”?
AMY GOODMAN: Well, we’ve just come into a Democratic convention here in Denver, where the Democrats joined with the Republicans in granting retroactive immunity to the corporations like AT&T that spied on the American people. And now, all the delegates carrying around their bag have that logo of AT&T. They’re helping to sponsor this convention.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Oh, I know. Well, I always say that Republicans are 95 percent corrupt, and the Democrats are 75 percent corrupt. And the level of corruption reflects the amount of money, of corporate money, they’re taking. I mean, they’ve got AT&T all over their bags, and they’ve got these clean coal signs that are, you know, up and down the streets, that you get mugged by these clean coal people who are apparently paying for half the convention. So, it’s very disturbing to me, Amy.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, your family is divided, right? Caroline Kennedy and your uncle, Ted Kennedy, for Obama; your family is for — has been for Clinton. What are your thoughts right now?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: No, everybody is for Obama. You know, the primaries are over. The day the primaries ended, the last primary ended, we all started working for Obama. And, you know, I said from the beginning, we have two great candidates, and I’m happy supporting either one of them. I believed, for my own reasons, that Hillary Clinton had the best chance of winning the election, but I love Barack Obama. And, you know — and from the beginning, I was defending, you know, him against the Republican attacks, even when I was campaigning for Hillary. They started attacking him for not wearing his flag lapel pin. And, you know, this is so ironic and so absurd that that’s the measure of patriotism. You put on a flag lapel pin so you can free both hands to tear up the Bill of Rights, you know, and that’s really what he’s saying, and he should have stuck with it. But anyway, we’re going to work, and we’re going to try as hard as we can to get him elected, because we need this for America.
AMY GOODMAN: You’re involved in a piece in Rolling Stone right now around voting, the issue of voting all over the country. What are your concerns?
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Well, the Republican Party has put in place a system for suppressing the Democratic vote, particularly African American voters, Hispanic voters and American Indian voters. And there’s fifty different tricks that are using — of legal mechanisms that now make it very, very difficult for those groups to register, then to vote, and third, to get their votes counted. And they’re complex, very sinister, cunning and clever mechanisms that most Americans, almost — most Americans, including most elected officials, don’t even know about. But in the end, they’re going to end up disenfranchising about three million voters, mainly African American, Hispanic, American Indian, senior citizens and elderly, the hard core of the Democratic Party. And so, we’ve done — myself and Greg Palast — I’ve done an analysis, an easy-to-read analysis, which will be published in Rolling Stone, I think in the September 12th issue. I’ve got to go.
AMY GOODMAN: Thank you very much.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Thank you. |
Get ready to fall off your chair, and probably through the floor itself, with shock. From Dust, the new game from Eric “Another World” Chahi, was due out from Ubisoft on Wednesday this week. But would you just flipping believe it – Green Man Gaming are reporting that at the very last moment it seems the PC version only has being delayed!
Climb back up, calm yourself down. I know. It’s too much. Of all people, who would have thought Ubi could be the ones to suddenly delay the PC version of a game at the eleventh hour, like they did with Call Of Juarez: The Cartel last week. And others of their games in the last couple of years.
Now due on the 17th August on the PC, 360 owners will be able to enjoy the game almost a month in advance.
Last week, when the same happened with Call Of Juarez: The Cartel, I approached Ubisoft to ask why this had happened on this occasion, and more importantly, why it happens on so many occasions. After a couple of days I received this reply:
“Our teams work hard to ensure that all versions of our games achieve a level of polish and quality that our customers will appreciate. The development team needed a little more time to focus on the PC version [of Call of Juarez], so we adjusted the date accordingly.”
The answer to my second question, came it not.
It’s worth noting that while Green Man and GamersGate have both updated the release date on their sites, Ubisoft are still selling it as if it will come out on Wednesday.
Big thanks to Trey for letting us know. |
Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press
TORONTO -- A new study suggests giving boys the HPV vaccine could cut health-care costs over the long run.
The researchers used mathematical modelling to estimate the effect of giving HPV vaccine to 12-year-old boys to prevent cancers of the mouth and throat.
The work suggests if all the 12-year-old boys in Canada had been vaccinated in 2012, between $8 million and $28 million might have been saved because of oropharyngeal cancers averted in that group.
The types of human papillomaviruses that cause cervical cancer are also responsible for some oropharyngeal cancers, a form of cancer that is on the rise.
But a senior vaccine researcher questions the finding, saying the study design chosen wasn't the right one for testing this kind of question.
Currently Prince Edward Island and Alberta offer HPV vaccine to boys as well as girls; on Friday, Nova Scotia announced it will follow suit in the fall.
"Gradually bit by bit, perhaps, people are thinking that it is a good thing to do. Because there's no reason why we shouldn't protect the men also," says Dr. Lillian Siu, a medical oncologist at Toronto's Princess Margaret Cancer Center. Siu is one of the senior authors of the study.
The authors admit the mathematical model they used did not take into account what's known as herd immunity -- the protective effect on the entire population of having a significant portion of people vaccinated against a given pathogen.
In this case that means the researchers did not factor into their calculations how vaccinating girls would affect the HPV risk faced by boys. Already research elsewhere has shown rates of genital warts and some HPV-related cancers in men are dropping in the wake of introduction of public programs to vaccinate girls.
The belief is that as the number of girls and women who are protected against HPV rises, fewer of these viruses will circulate so many males will get indirect protection. That group protection may not be as pronounced for the community of males who have sex with other males.
It's not possible to accurately assess the cost-effectiveness of vaccinating boys without factoring in the impact of the girls' program, says Dr. Natasha Crowcroft, a vaccine expert at Public Health Ontario who was not involved in this study.
"The herd effect is so overwhelmingly important you can't leave it out of any analysis," says Crowcroft, who is chief of applied immunization research for the agency.
"When you've got 50 per cent uptake (in girls), it makes more sense to immunize the boys because then you increase your chances of getting herd immunity. Now we're getting 80 per cent uptake in (Ontario) girls. It makes less sense to add the boys in, to me," Crowcroft says, though she acknowledges there is still the question of how to protect males who are gay.
She insists her critique of the study doesn't mean she opposes giving the vaccine to boys, noting her son was vaccinated. But costs and benefits need to be weighed. "If we're using public funds, then we have to make careful choices. Because ... we're always taking money away from something else we could be doing."
The study, which was published in the journal Cancer, as written by scientists at Princess Margaret Cancer Center, Cancer Care Ontario, and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, all in Toronto. |
Michael Kelly and I are very pleased to announce the Table of Contents for the Year’s Best Weird Fiction, Volume One , due August.
“Success” by Michael Blumlein, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nov./Dec.
“Like Feather, Like Bone” by Kristi DeMeester, Shimmer #17
“A Terror” by Jeffrey Ford, Tor.com, July.
“The Key to Your Heart Is Made of Brass” by John R. Fultz, Fungi #21
…
“A Cavern of Redbrick” by Richard Gavin, Shadows & Tall Trees #5
“The Krakatoan” by Maria Dahvana Headley, Nightmare Magazine/The Lowest Heaven, July.
“Bor Urus” by John Langan, Shadow’s Edge
“Furnace” by Livia Llewellyn, The Grimscribe’s Puppets
“Eyes Exchange Bank” by Scott Nicolay, The Grimscribe’s Puppets
“A Quest of Dream” by W.H. Pugmire, Bohemians of Sesqua Valley
“(he) Dreams of Lovecraftian Horror” by Joseph S. Pulver Sr., Lovecraft eZine #28
“Dr. Blood and the Ultra Fabulous Glitter Squadron” by A.C. Wise, Ideomancer Vol. 12 Issue 2
“The Year of the Rat” by Chen Quifan, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, July/August.
“Fox into Lady” by Anne-Sylvie Salzman, Darkscapes
“Olimpia’s Ghost” by Sofia Samatar, Phantom Drift #3
“The Nineteenth Step” by Simon Strantzas, Shadows Edge
“The Girl in the Blue Coat” by Anna Taborska, Exotic Gothic 5 Vol. 1
“In Limbo” by Jeffrey Thomas, Worship the Night
“Moonstruck” by Karin Tidbeck, Shadows & Tall Trees #5
“Swim Wants to Know If It’s as Bad as Swim Thinks” by Paul Tremblay, Bourbon Penn #8
“No Breather in the World But Thee” by Jeff VanderMeer, Nightmare Magazine, March.
“Shall I Whisper to You of Moonlight, of Sorrow, of Pieces of Us?” by Damien Angelica Walters, Shock Totem #7. |
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, has said an assassination attempt against Afghanistan's spy chief "came from Pakistan".
Speaking in the Afghan capital on Saturday, Karzai said though the Taliban claimed responsibility for Thursday's attempt on the life of Asadullah Khalid, head of the National Directorate of Security, the attack originated in Quetta.
"Of course we will be seeking clarification from Pakistan because we know this man who came in the name of a guest to meet Asadullah Khalid came from Pakistan. We know that for a fact", he said.
Karzai stopped short of directly implicating his neighbour to the south, but did say he would demand clarification from Islamabad.
He said the attack, in which an explosive was hidden in the underwear of the bomber, was beyond the Taliban's capabilities.
"Apparently the Taliban claimed responsibility like many other attacks," Karzai said.
"But such a complicated attack and a bomb hidden inside his body, this is not Taliban work ... It's a completely professional [job] ... Taliban cannot do that and there are bigger and professional hands involved in it."
Karzai said the issue would be discussed next week with Pakistani officials during a meeting between the foreign
ministers of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey in Ankara.
For its part, Pakistan's foreign ministry said: "before levelling charges, the Afghan government would do well if they shared information or evidence with the government of Pakistan that they might have with regard to the cowardly attack on [Khalid]".
Khalid, who had been appointed the new head of the Central Asian nation's spy agency in September despite allegations of torture and drug trafficking, was in a Kabul guest house when a suicide bomber posing as a peace envoy left him wounded.
Before his role as spy chief, Khalid had served as the minister of tribal and border affairs and the governor of southern Kandahar province for three years starting in 2005. |
Polar bear hairs are hollow to maximize insulating qualities of the animals' fur, as almost every student of the Arctic knows.
But now a set of studies from China shows polar bear hairs are much more than simple tiny tubes.
Detailed mathematical analysis of the hairs, published in the journal Thermal Science, finds they have complex structures that make them much better insulators than simple hollow hairs would be.
Microscopic examination of polar bear hairs reveals their interior is a structure of membrane pores, researchers from several Chinese universities have found. The latest analysis finds the pore structure is arranged as a fractal, a series of repeating patterns spun off into smaller dimensions.
Calculation of the pore structure finds the ratio of its dimensions to be close to a mathematical figure known as the "golden mean," the ideal dimension ratio for an infinitely spiraling fractal, says one study. The dimension ratio of the inner structure of the analyzed polar-bear hair was calculated at 1.625, close to the golden mean, which is also called Phi and is approximately 1.618; the golden mean "must reveal the possible optimal structure of polar bear hairs," the study says.
Though it appears white, polar bear fur is translucent, helping it absorb environmental heat, the study points out. Without the interior pores' fractal arrangement, however, the translucent hair that absorbs light could easily send heat back out into the environment, the study says.
A related study, with some of the same co-authors, calculates the equation for one-dimensional heat conduction through each "labyrinth cavity" of the hair. The authors used calculus to arrive at a differential equation showing how heat moves through the hairs.
The studies -- the latest in a series on the same subject by the same group of Chinese researchers -- are not mere academic exercises.
Understanding the structure and workings of polar-bear hairs "may find many potential applications in the future, especially in thermal insulation designs for extreme cases," said an earlier study by some of the same authors, published in 2011 in Thermal Science.
They note in their studies that polar bears maintain body temperatures of 98.6 degrees in an environment where temperatures can dip as low as minus 76 degrees.
The Chinese researchers are not alone in looking to polar-bear hair as a model for future heat-collecting and heat-holding products. |
Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in Manchester, New Hampshire, U.S., on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. Democratic Party officials in Iowa say they can't do a recount of Monday's razor-thin presidential caucus results between Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders, even if they thought it was appropriate. And both candidates, in their debate later Thursday night, said it was no big deal. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Last month as Hillary Clinton was leaving a town meeting in Manchester, Lee Fang of the Intercept asked her if she would release the transcripts of her paid, and very private speeches to Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street powerhouse historically deep in Washington, D.C., influence-peddling. Mrs. Clinton just laughed.
It is probably a good bet that her laugh was masking a deep worry, shared by her husband, that disclosing what she confidentially told big-business conferences and conventions around the country, which paid her about $5,000 a minute, would emerge as a dominant issue in the mainstream media.
Reporters have taken notice of her $250,000-and-up speeches before trade associations from which they have been excluded. But journalists have not demanded that she tell the voters what she told the executives from Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Investments, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, Golden Tree Asset Management, the National Automotive Dealers Association, Deutsche Bank, the National Association of Realtors, eBay, Cisco, among other plutocracy paymasters seeking to expand their political influence.
Until that is, Thursday night's debate in New Hampshire. Chuck Todd of MSNBC asked Hillary Clinton: "Are you willing to release the transcripts of all your paid speeches? We do know, through reporting, that there were transcription services for all those paid speeches. In full disclosure, would you release all of them?"
Mrs. Clinton responded: "I will look into it. I don't know the status but I will certainly look into it."
Let's see how long it will take for her large staff and contacts with these business groups "to look into it."
According to the New York Times, her "contracts for such events typically include strict confidentiality agreements, meaning there are no known video recordings of Mrs. Clinton's Wall Street appearances." But why would Clinton, in a heated contest with Sen. Bernie Sanders, maintain this cloak of secrecy and further the speculation it feeds? Could it have something to do with the many deals and entanglements, for political pursuits and self-enrichment, that have enveloped both Clintons over the years, detailed in Peter Schweizer's recent book, Clinton Cash?
Were the contents of these meetings with business interests revealed, Hillary Clinton would lose more control of the progressive narrative she has worked hard to fabricate. Reporters, opponents and voters would quickly start to make connections and conclusions, whether rooted in fact or surmise. Her campaign message, recently garnished with progressive language to thwart Sanders, would be overshadowed.
What might have Hillary Clinton told these commercial audiences? What did those in attendance want to hear from her in such closed-door sessions? She says she spoke at these corporate gatherings about the state of the world. That is a big umbrella indeed. No doubt she delivered her views of U.S. foreign and military policy - unclassified observations she made in media interviews or public addresses. However, Hillary does her homework for each specific audience she addresses; it's her way of responding to their priority interests and impressing them with her command of the subject matter.
For example, Morgan Stanley, one of many major Wall Street supporters of her electoral campaigns, is a strong supporter of the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership trade treaty. So was she until recently, when she expediently stepped back with some skepticism about its labor and environmental contents. What did she say to Morgan Stanley's officials when she was with them on the TPP, opposed by many voters?
According to Politico, drawing leaks from attendees, she told the Goldman-Sachs financiers that banker-bashing was unproductive and foolish. What these businesspeople want, of course, is access, should she become president, and such meetings generate friendships. They also want to hear Hillary Clinton's views on regulation, tax policies, subsidies, government contracting matters and trade. We won't know what she told those groups, who made her a millionaire many times over (she received in a single speech five times the household median income for a year) until the press and the people demand their right to know and judge her accordingly.
So far she has been able to dodge disclosing the content of her speeches, while interviewers were focusing on the giant speech fees. But now she is in New Hampshire - the last state of "retail campaigning" and town meetings where voters can put face-to-face to Clinton the demand that she disclose the content of her speeches inside these closed-door business gatherings. Once she leaves New Hampshire, her flaks and screeners will rapidly replace people-to-people dialogue with big-media buys and photo opportunities.
The right to know is never more important than when it pertains to the activities of presidential candidates. The White House is a cauldron of excessive secrecy - secret deals, secret memos, secret meetings with special interests on matters of serious public policy. Morbid secrecy breeds recklessness and bad government. If there is ever a time to teach presidential candidates about openness in government, it is when they are desperately seeking our votes.
Inquiring voters and Bernie Sanders now have an opportunity to make transparency an important matter of candidate accountability and believability. Otherwise, manipulative and deceptive rhetoric holds sway.
In any event, before Hillary Clinton departs from New Hampshire on Tuesday, the voters themselves who meet her can insist that she tell them just what she told those business magnates on Wall Street. She has a large staff and good files for fully and promptly responding to lifting this strange curtain of secrecy around closed speeches for big fees. |
LONDON — The slugs are back, and this time there are even more of them.
Following 2015's slugocalypse, in which mild temperatures prompted a boom in both homegrown and introduced Spanish slugs, the slimy creatures are making a return en masse again.
A wet summer in 2015 followed by an unusually mild winter has meant that slugs across the UK have skipped their hibernation and spent the time eating and breeding instead, conservation charity Buglife told the BBC. It could mean an "explosion" in the slug population and problems in gardens across the country.
See also: Mild weather could lead to an explosion of slugs in the UK
There are some 20,000 slugs in the average British garden, Countryfile estimates.
They prefer temperatures above five degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) and lay up to 200 eggs per cubic metre. Buglife says that figure could rise by as much as 10% this year, thanks to climate conditions and a decline in predators including hedgehogs and amphibians.
"Due to climate shifts, warmer winters and wetter summers, we're seeing slugs become active all year round," Buglife's chief executive Matt Shardlow said.
"Whereas key predators like amphibians will only lay their eggs once a year, slugs are not so restricted."
"The impact of super-sized, sleepless slugs could spell devastation for our gardens this summer."
The Royal Horticultural Society offers a number of tips for dealing with slugs if they take over your garden, from heading out at night with a torch to transfer them away to a nearby field to placing barriers around pots that need protecting and setting traps, such as scooped out grapefuit skins, to stop them in their slithery tracks. |
To our friends, former co-workers, and industry colleagues at ArenaNet:
We are profoundly saddened to hear the news of the layoffs today. We feel a special kinship with ArenaNet given our shared DNA and our shared history of working together. We can only imagine what you are going through and would like to extend our heartfelt support. Indeed, news like this takes its toll on the entire industry, and taken together with the recent layoffs at Activision/Blizzard and the closure of the former Z2 studio in Seattle, we are distressed by the destruction of trust and safety that creative enterprises require to thrive.
As such, we would like to do everything we can to help people find their next great opportunity. We invite all ArenaNet staff to join us for an open house at Undead Labs on Wednesday evening, February 27th, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm. We’ll do our best to coordinate with the entire Xbox Game Studios family to ensure we have broad representation of opportunity within all of our studios. We’ll be ready to share more about our open positions, our product plans, and our development culture with you. Dinner and parking on us. Please RSVP by letting a friend here at the Lab know you plan to attend, or send an email to: [email protected] |
Man charged with murder in girlfriend’s stabbing at Oakland market
A woman was stabbed numerous times inside the Oakland Market near the corner of 18th and Filbert streets in West Oakland on Sunday. A woman was stabbed numerous times inside the Oakland Market near the corner of 18th and Filbert streets in West Oakland on Sunday. Photo: Google Maps Photo: Google Maps Image 1 of / 3 Caption Close Man charged with murder in girlfriend’s stabbing at Oakland market 1 / 3 Back to Gallery
A West Oakland store employee was charged Tuesday with murder in the stabbing death of his girlfriend.
Rusamie Ashly Phongphoumy, 19, of Richmond was stabbed numerous times inside the Oakland Market near the corner of 18th and Filbert streets in West Oakland about 11:30 a.m. Sunday. She died at the scene.
Her boyfriend, 35-year-old Abdol Ali Omar of Oakland, was arrested at the store, where both he and the victim worked, authorities said. The stabbing was captured by high-quality surveillance video from two camera angles, Oakland police Sgt. Caesar Basa wrote in an affidavit.
Omar’s stepbrother witnessed the incident and tried to intervene, Basa wrote.
Omar was booked at a downtown Oakland jail on suspicion of murder. On Tuesday, Alameda County prosecutors charged him with murder and an enhancement for allegedly using a knife..
In a separate case over the weekend, 15-year-old Isaiah Smith was found shot to death on the 5400 block of Trask Street in East Oakland shortly before noon Saturday. Isaiah was a sophomore at Fremont High School in Oakland.
Henry K. Lee is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: [email protected] Twitter: @henryklee |
Freshen up your amiibo collection with this Splatoon amiibo series 3-pack! With Inkling Girl, Boy and Squid in fresh alternate colors, these amiibos are all you need to recreate an exciting Turf War in your room. You might want to keep them spread out in your collection, though, because when Inklings are together in one place, things tend to get messy!
Check out the other Splatoon amiibo and prepare the slickest inking team around!
Inkling Boy
Inkling boys hail from the city of Inkopolis in the Splatoon game. They crave team-based competition and love to customize their gear before participating in the hottest sport in town, Turf War! Their hobbies include making messes, rocking the latest fashions, dancing, and spoiling the nefarious plans of their evil octopus archrivals, the Octarians! Like a boss!
Inkling Girl
Inkling girls hail from the city of Inkopolis in the Splatoon game. They crave team-based competition and love to customize their gear before participating in the hottest sport in town, Turf War! Their hobbies include making messes, rocking the latest fashions, dancing, and spoiling the nefarious plans of their evil octopus archrivals, the Octarians! For realsies!
Inkling Squid
In the Splatoon game, the main characters, Inklings, can instantly transform into squids! We're not sure what marvel of anatomy allows them to perform this majestic feat, but it sure is sweet. In squid form, Inklings can swim in any surface they've splattered with ink, even up walls! They can also hide from opponents by submerging in ink and keeping still. How cool is that?
What are amiibo?
amiibo are fun, high-quality Near Field Communication (NFC) figures to collect that also unlock special in-game extras for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS games. Your amiibo can be trained, used to unlock new Mii outfits and character powers, and much more in a variety of games! Enjoy the newest way to play with amiibo! |
The video went viral: A Warren police officer strapping a young mother from Detroit into a restraint chair and slicing off her hair weave.
Now that same officer is once again caught cutting on camera – this time accused of slicing open a prisoner’s hand.
Lawyers who say they’ve followed this officer’s alleged “use of force” problems for years say it was only a matter of time before this happened again.
7 Investigator Heather Catallo obtained exclusive video from inside the Warren Police Jail.
In the video, you can see Warren Police Officer Bernadette Najor, who now uses her married name, Bernadette Moore.
In the video, Officer Moore can be seen ordering an intoxicated 19-year-old from Warren to remove a bracelet that’s made of string.
Shannon Morris says she tried telling the officer that the bracelet doesn’t come off. But she ends up on the ground, with a large gash in her hand.
“The next thing I remember is being on the floor asking what happened over and over again. One of the male officers just replied with ‘she stabbed you,’”said Morris.
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen this officer use a sharp object on a prisoner. Officer Moore made headlines around the world back in 2014 when the 7 Investigators first exposed how she strapped a young mother into a restraint chair and used scissors to slice off her sewn-in hair weave.
So how did a knife get into Officer Moore’s hands, when weapons are not allowed inside Warren’s lock up?
“I didn’t feel like I was a human anymore, the way they had treated me,” said Morris.
Morris admits that since she’s only 19, she should not have been drinking back on April 2, 2016. But Morris says she’s actually the one who called the police, hoping to thwart a drug deal from taking place near her house.
“I was pushed around. I wasn’t treated like I had any value at all, when I was trying to do was help in the beginning,” said Morris.
Belligerent and intoxicated, Warren police took Morris into custody. Morris says she suffers from depression and anxiety, and doesn’t remember much of her arrest.
After the scuffle over her string friendship bracelets, police reports show that those do get removed. Then the officers try to remove the drawstring of Shannon’s pants. One of the male officers asked a third officer to get the safety scissors. Instead, Officer Moore “produced a pocket knife and cut the strings out herself.”
That’s when her hand got sliced.
“She didn’t stop bleeding the entire night. We’re not talking about a small injury. We’re not talking about a laceration. We’re talking about a gash,” said Attorney Paul Misukewicz. Misukewicz said he wasn’t surprised to learn Officer Moore caused his client’s injuries.
“As soon as I heard the name, I said oh boy,” said Misukewicz.
Misukewicz also represented Charda Gregory, the woman who had her weave cut off by force. Misukewicz says Warren Police did the right thing when they fired Officer Moore for that. But an arbitrator forced the city to hire Moore back, because there was not a clear policy that prevented weave removals.
“She should have never got her job back, that arbitrator – that was a miscarriage of justice,” said Misukewicz.
But this time there is a very clear policy: you cannot have weapons in the lock-up.
“It’s right there in their policy manual – it’s unquestioned she violated policy by bringing that knife in to the jail,” said Misukewicz.
Shannon Morris and Charda Gregory are not the only women who say they’ve been hurt by Officer Moore. The 7 Investigators uncovered police records that reveal at least 4 additional women who had issues with Officer Moore’s use of force.
“She took her boot and put it in my hair, and yanked her boot back, and pulled my hair out with her boot, and then kicked me in my side,” Virginia Hamilton told 7 Investigator Heather Catallo in 2015.
“She hit me with a closed fist – in the face,” said Kathy Buford in February 2015.
“I feel bad for the city of Warren, because it sucks that anyone has to work with her when they know she’s not doing her job,” said Morris. “They’re putting everyone at risk with having her work there.”
The city of Warren isn’t commenting about this, because Officer Moore is suing the police department and the Police Commissioner for firing her after the weave-cutting incident.
As for Shannon Morris, she is facing six misdemeanor charges.
We have also learned that Officer Moore is now facing an unpaid suspension.
Moore’s attorneys released a statement to us: “Officer Moore is an excellent police officer doing a difficult job. On a daily basis, people are brought to jail angry, intoxicated, delusional, and worse. Moore treats everyone with respect, even those who assault her and there have been many over the years.” |
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Bookie William Hill has suspended betting on The Stone Roses headlining Glastonbury.
The Sunday night headline slot for the world-famous festival is still up for grabs, with Kanye West and Foo Fighters already announced on the line-up.
A raft of bets saw the Manchester band's odds tumble from 12/1 to even money in less than 24 hours, with Blur the 2/1 second favourites ahead of Prince (9/2) and Kate Bush (5/1).
William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly said: “It looks like the announcement many have been expecting since 2011 could finally happen and the Stone Roses look set to headline Glastonbury.
“A gamble like this usually indicates an announcement is not far away.”
But industry insiders have again insisted there is no basis to the growing Roses rumours.
Our well-placed source told the M.E.N.: “The Roses are definitely not doing Glastonbury this year, 100 per cent not.”
Other acts actually confirmed as pulling on their wellies and heading to Worthy Farm on June 24-28, include Florence and The Machine Mary J Blige, Pharrell Williams, Alt-J, Motorhead and Lionel Richie.
Glastonbury 2015 Sunday Headliner odds: 1/1 Stone Roses; 2/1 Blur; 9/2 Prince; 5/1 Kate Bush; 8/1 Coldplay; 10/1 Depeche Mode; 12/1 Fleetwood Mac; 12/1 AC/DC; 16/1 BAR |
Here's what I mentioned
From:[email protected] To: [email protected] Date: 2014-08-17 17:50 Subject: Here's what I mentioned
Note: Sources include Western intelligence, US intelligence and sources in the region. 1. With all of its tragic aspects, the advance of ISIL through Iraq gives the U.S. Government an opportunity to change the way it deals with the chaotic security situation in North Africa and the Middle East. The most important factor in this matter is to make use of intelligence resources and Special Operations troops in an aggressive manner, while avoiding the old school solution, which calls for more traditional military operations. In Iraq it is important that we engage ISIL using the resources of the Peshmerga fighters of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG), and what, if any, reliable units exist in the Iraqi Army. The Peshmerga commanders are aggressive hard fighting troops, who have long standing relationships with CIA officers and Special Forces operators. However, they will need the continued commitment of U.S. personnel to work with them as advisors and strategic planners, the new generation of Peshmerga commanders being largely untested in traditional combat. That said, with this U.S. aid the Kurdish troops can inflict a real defeat on ISIL. 2. It is important that once we engage ISIL, as we have now done in a limited manner, we and our allies should carry on until they are driven back suffering a tangible defeat. Anything short of this will be seen by other fighters in the region, Libya, Lebanon, and even Jordan, as an American defeat. However, if we provide advisors and planners, as well as increased close air support for the Peshmerga, these soldiers can defeat ISIL. They will give the new Iraqi Government a chance to organize itself, and restructure the Sunni resistance in Syria, moving the center of power toward moderate forces like the Free Syrian Army (FSA). In addition to air support, the Peshmerga also need artillery and armored vehicles to deal with the tanks and other heavy equipment captured from the Iraqi army by ISIL. 3. In the past the USG, in an agreement with the Turkish General Staff, did not provide such heavy weapons to the Peshmerga, out of a concern that they would end up in the hands of Kurdish rebels inside of Turkey. The current situation in Iraq, not to mention the political environment in Turkey, makes this policy obsolete. Also this equipment can now be airlifted directly into the KRG zone. 4. Armed with proper equipment, and working with U.S. advisors, the Peshmerga can attack the ISIL with a coordinated assault supported from the air. This effort will come as a surprise to the ISIL, whose leaders believe we will always stop with targeted bombing, and weaken them both in Iraq and inside of Syria. At the same time we should return to plans to provide the FSA, or some group of moderate forces, with equipment that will allow them to deal with a weakened ISIL, and stepped up operations against the Syrian regime. This entire effort should be done with a low profile, avoiding the massive traditional military operations that are at best temporary solutions. While this military/para-military operation is moving forward, we need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region. This effort will be enhanced by the stepped up commitment in the KRG. The Qataris and Saudis will be put in a position of balancing policy between their ongoing competition to dominate the Sunni world and the consequences of serious U.S. pressure. By the same token, the threat of similar, realistic U.S. operations will serve to assist moderate forces in Libya, Lebanon, and even Jordan, where insurgents are increasingly fascinated by the ISIL success in Iraq. 6. In the end the situation in Iraq is merely the latest and most dangerous example of the regional restructuring that is taking place across North Africa, all the way to the Turkish border. These developments are important to the U.S. for reasons that often differ from country to country: energy and moral commitment to Iraq, energy issues in Libya, and strategic commitments in Jordan. At the same time, as Turkey moves toward a new, more serious Islamic reality, it will be important for them to realize that we are willing to take serious actions, which can be sustained to protect our national interests. This course of action offers the potential for success, as opposed to large scale, traditional military campaigns, that are too expensive and awkward to maintain over time. 7. (Note: A source in Tripoli stated in confidence that when the U.S. Embassy was evacuated, the presence of two U.S. Navy jet fighters over the city brought all fighting to a halt for several hours, as Islamist forces were not certain that these aircraft would not also provide close ground support for moderate government forces.) 8. If we do not take the changes needed to make our security policy in the region more realistic, there is a real danger of ISIL veterans moving on to other countries to facilitate operations by Islamist forces. This is already happening in Libya and Egypt, where fighters are returning from Syria to work with local forces. ISIL is only the latest and most violent example of this process. If we don’t act to defeat them in Iraq something even more violent and dangerous will develop. Successful military operations against these very irregular but determined forces can only be accomplished by making proper use of clandestine/special operations resources, in coordination with airpower, and established local allies. There is, unfortunately, a narrow window of opportunity on this issue, as we need to act before an ISIL state becomes better organized and reaches into Lebanon and Jordan. 9. (Note: It is important to keep in mind that as a result of this policy there probably will be concern in the Sunni regions of Iraq and the Central Government regarding the possible expansion of KRG controlled territory. With advisors in the Peshmerga command we can reassure the concerned parties that, in return for increase autonomy, the KRG will not exclude the Iraqi Government from participation in the management of the oil fields around Kirkuk, and the Mosel Dam hydroelectric facility. At the same time we will be able to work with the Peshmerga as they pursue ISIL into disputed areas of Eastern Syria, coordinating with FSA troops who can move against ISIL from the North. This will make certain Basher al Assad does not gain an advantage from these operations. Finally, as it now appears the U.S. is considering a plan to offer contractors as advisors to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, we will be in a position to coordinate more effectively between the Peshmerga and the Iraqi Army.) |
According to officials the man appeared to be under the influence of alcohol
Victim was 'grabbed by the neck and dragged round tiger enclosure'
Man killed by white tiger after jumping into enclosure at New Delhi Zoo
A man has been killed by an endangered tiger after allegedly jumping into its moat at an Indian zoo.
The man, named locally as Maqsood, is said to have been under the influence of alcohol when he climbed into the white tiger enclosure at New Delhi Zoo on Tuesday.
Witnesses say the 22-year-old entered the enclosure despite several attempts by zoo security to keep him from the tigers.
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Attack: A screenshot from Indian television show the white tiger standing over the man after he jumped into its enclosure at the New Delhi Zoo
Fierce foe: According to officials the man appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and jumped over the fence despite zoo security's attempts to stop him
Indian police and zoo personnel retrieve the shoes the man, who was 'dragged around the enclosure' by the white tiger Another witness said the tiger kept ‘roaming around’ the enclosure, holding the victim by the neck. Zoo officials said the man had appeared to have been ‘under the influence of alcohol’ and that security had tried to keep him away from the tiger enclosure. ‘Despite repeated warnings that he shouldn't get too close to the outdoor enclosure, the man eventually climbed over a knee-high fence and small hedges, then jumped down 18 feet into a protective moat,‘ National Zoological Park spokesman Riyaz Ahmed Khan said. Authorities eventually frightened the tiger into a small cage inside the enclosure.
The man, whose body remained in the outdoor enclosure two hours after the attack, was dead by the time help reached him, Khan said.
Gruesome: According to witnesses, the man's body was left in the enclosure for several hours before police were able to remove it Tragedy: Zoo workers and security staff carry Maqsood's body past the tiger cage at the zoo in New Delhi The man, whose body remained in the outdoor enclosure two hours after the attack, was dead by the time help reached him
The zoo remained open Tuesday afternoon, though authorities eventually roped off the tiger enclosure.
White tigers are found in southern and eastern Asia, particularly India, and owe their appearance to a recessive gene. They are regarded as an endangered species.
India is home to 1,706 Royal Bengal tigers and fewer than 100 white tigers, according to the last census in 2011. All the white tigers are in captivity. |
What's the Internet's scariest hivemind like in real life? A bunch of geeky twenty-somethings hanging out in a bar in Brooklyn. This is what I learned last night at the first official meetup for the notorious message board 4chan.
On the Internet, 4chan equals chaos: hacking Sarah Palin's email; flooding YouTube with hardcore porn; taking down gossip blogs; vandalizing dead teens' Facebook memorial pages. What comes to mind is that scene in Lord of the Rings where the orcs are running around like crazy in their underground fortress.
So, I expected something a little more havoc-filled than what I found when I arrived at Barcade in Williamsburg at around 9:30 Friday night: about a half-dozen very normal-looking young men and one young woman crowded around a table, lit up by blinking 1980s arcade games that lined the room. Their 4channess was signaled only by the woman's iPhone 4, on which she had loaded a picture of "Troll Face," a crudely drawn caricature that's sort of a 4chan logo. She waved it around like a beacon.
Upon sitting down, I was relieved to see that none of the assembled 4channers looked very capable of violence. Relieved, because this summer, some 4chan users declared war on me and Gawker over a few blog posts I wrote about the site's role in harassing an 11-year-old viral video star. They brought down Gawker, prank called me and tried sending a bunch of cardboard boxes to my house. (The address was wrong; some random Chinese lady in Queens got the boxes.) Before heading to the meet-up, I steeled myself with beer, figuring it would hurt less to be felled by a 4channer's poison blade if I was sort of tipsy.
But all the 4channers here were friendly; the few that recognized my name actually seemed excited to meet me. They were like kids in the cafeteria on the first day of school, eagerly recounting the crazy stuff they did over the summer. They talked about memes, pranks, video games, 4chan's bad rep (not completely unearned, most seemed to agree). A musician named JP explained the sense of release.
"Normally I'm very careful not to tell a lot of people that I go on 4chan," he told me. "I don't want them to go on there, see some child porn or something, and be like, 'What the hell is this guy into?'"
Still, they were definitely 4channers: At one point Alex, a disheveled pharmacy student in a grey hoodie and steel-framed glasses, pointed at me and said, "You know who you look like? Brian Peppers." Brian Peppers is a meme popular on 4chan. Brian Peppers looks like this:
People slowly accreted around the table, and there were maybe 30 or 40 by the time 4chan's 22-year-old founder, Chris "Moot" Poole, showed up. Moot lives in Manhattan, where he's currently working on a new start-up called Canvas Networks. He was instantly swamped by fans. A Filipino guy next to me freaked out: "In all of my 23 years, this is the first time I've ever met a celebrity!" He had come all the way from Connecticut, where he works at Dunkin' Donuts.
Moot was also very nice. In the past, he's kept an extraordinarily low profile, but it seems recently he's been increasing his visibility, making his presence felt more on the site. He gamely took pictures with every fan who asked, and when I introduced myself he joked, "When's the blog post going up? '4chan Users Finally Crawl Out of Their Basement?'" I asked him what prompted him to organize the meet-up, which he had done by posting a small message at the top of every message board just 24 hours earlier. He said he was inspired by the vibrant "in real life" communities of other websites, like the geek culture blog Laughing Squid.
In a Q&A with 4chan users a few months ago, Moot lamented that, "sometimes I wish I could interact with the community in a more normal way." Watching Moot effortlessly navigate the crowd of twenty-something dudes in a bar in Brooklyn, "normal" was definitely a word that came to mind.
[Image of 4chan founder Christopher Poole (right) and fan at last night's meet-up via 4chan] |
WATCH: The Sun Like You've Never Seen It
NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which keeps a 24/7 vigil on the sun, just released this spectacular video composite to mark five years since the spacecraft was launched.
As Astronomer Phil Plait writes at Slate: "There's so much to take in there. Rolling sunspots, eruptive prominences, collapsing filaments, solar flares, the Transit of Venus (twice!)"
The SDO was being designed and built while Plait was working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The astronomer says he remembers discussing with colleagues how much data would be sent back to Earth and how much would be seen by the probe.
"I had no idea," he writes (emphasis his). "SDO is far more than I imagined, and has revealed our active and complex star far better than anything before it." |
Shadow secretary for Wales, who argued against Corbyn’s three-line whip on Brexit bill, says leaving the EU is ‘terrible mistake’
The shadow secretary for Wales, Jo Stevens, has resigned from her post, saying she could not reconcile herself to voting to trigger article 50 as she still believed leaving the EU would be “a terrible mistake”.
In her letter to the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, Stevens said she was “a passionate European” who had voted to remain, as had a significant majority of her city and constituency of Cardiff.
The MP said she accepted the referendum result and recognised that she could not block the passage of the EU withdrawal bill and that exiting the EU was inevitable. “But I believe that leaving is a terrible mistake and I cannot reconcile my overwhelming view that to endorse the step that will make exit inevitable is wrong,” she wrote.
“I expect this to be the most important vote I will ever cast as an MP and for me it is a clear issue of principle and conscience. When I vote I will be representing my constituents, a great many of whom, including a great many Labour party members and voters, have strongly urged me to vote in this way. That is why, in shadow cabinet, I argued against the imposition of a three-line whip.”
Stevens is the first shadow cabinet member to resign over the issue, after Corbyn said he would impose a three-line whip to vote in favour of the government’s EU withdrawal bill.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tulip Siddiq resigned from frontbench on Thursday. Photograph: Nicola Tree/Getty Images
Tulip Siddiq resigned as shadow early years minister on Thursday, saying she intended to vote in line with her strongly pro-remain constituents in Hampstead and Kilburn.
Stevens was elected in 2015, beating the Lib Dem incumbent Jenny Willott with a majority of 4,981. Though Wales voted overall to leave the EU, Cardiff was pro-remain, with 60% of people voting to stay in.
Stevens previously expressed concern about the impact of leaving the EU on her brief, with 68% of Welsh exports going to the EU.
On the left of the party, Stevens was one of 40 MPs who refused to back a no-confidence motion in Corbyn after the EU referendum, but she later endorsed his leadership rival Owen Smith. She was previously shadow justice minister but was promoted to the shadow cabinet and given the Wales portfolio after Corbyn’s reelection in October.
'Labour is running scared': our readers on Corbyn's article 50 vote Read more
Stevens was among those who argued that MPs should not be compelled to vote for the government’s bill, along with the shadow business secretary, Clive Lewis. Lewis has since said he will vote in favour of the bill on second reading, but hinted he could be prepared to withdraw support in the final stages.
Two Labour whips, Jeff Smith and Thangam Debbonaire, have also said they will not vote for the bill, as have their fellow shadow ministers Daniel Zeichner and Catherine West, though it is not yet clear if they will be forced to resign in order to do so.
In her letter, which has been emailed to local party members, Stevens said Theresa May was pursuing “a brutal exit with all the damage that will cause to the people and communities we represent”.
Stevens said she believed Corbyn, who defied the Labour whip on issues of conscience hundreds of times during the Tony Blair and Gordon Brown years, would understand her strength of feeling. “I must follow my principles and my conscience, even where that conflicts with the party’s whip in parliament,” she wrote.
“It is with deep regret that this inevitably means I must resign from the shadow cabinet. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve as your shadow secretary of state for Wales, the country where I was born, bred, work and live.
“In carrying out that role, it reinforced even more strongly to me what Wales will lose from exiting the EU without the guarantees that are needed and without a seat at the negotiating table for the people of Wales. We are net beneficiaries of EU funding. Over two-thirds of our exports are to the EU. It is a lifeline to our manufacturing industry in steel, automotive and aerospace as well as to our farming and food production sector. I do not believe that we can rely on a Conservative government to protect Wales.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Corbyn and Thangam Debbonaire, who has said she will not vote for triggering article 50. Photograph: Chapman/LNP/Rex/Shutterstock
Stevens said she was not seeking to sow division in the party. “Throughout my period on the frontbench I have always sought to promote unity across our party and I wish you, my successor and the whole of the shadow cabinet the very best in leading our party through this most critical period,” she said in her letter to Corbyn.
Earlier on Friday, the shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, whose constituents in Hackney voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU, defended Corbyn’s stance. “You have to remember how this looks to people in post-industrial Britain, former mining areas, the north, the Midlands, south Wales – it would look as if elites were refusing to listen to them,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“It would be wrong. How could MPs vote for a referendum and then turn around and say: it went the wrong way so we are ignoring it?”
Corbyn has said he understands the pressures facing his MPs but urged the party to unite, saying: “Labour is in the almost unique position of having MPs representing constituencies in both directions, and very strongly in both directions.
“I say to everyone: unite around the important issues of jobs, security, economy, rights, justice, those issues, and we will frame that relationship with Europe in the future outside the EU, but in concert with friends, whether those countries are outside or inside the EU.” |
Every Christmas, Nanette Castillo, 49, decorates her tiny home in Holy Cross in Novaliches, Quezon City with lights and lanterns to feel the holiday spirit. She buys inexpensive gifts for her two children and several grandchildren, and cooks a variety of dishes for her family to feast on during noche buena.
But for this year, there are no lights and lanterns to light up Castillo’s home.
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Aldrin – the eldest and only son of Castillo – was shot dead close to midnight last October 2 along the busy Herbosa Street in Tondo, Manila. He was about to cross the road to buy brandy to drink with his friends when seven masked men on motorcycles cut him off, and shot him, hitting his left cheek twice, and neck once.
Aldrin fell down on his face as his blood dripped down the pavement. And as if the three bullets lodged in his head were not enough, one of the masked men walked towards him, turned him over, and shot him twice in the chest. The suspects then immediately fled the scene, as if nothing happened.
Two months have passed but Castillo remained furious and indignant over the fate of her son as if it only happened yesterday. So many questions linger in her mind – “What had he done wrong? Who killed him? Why did they kill him?”
But answers to all these questions seem impossible to find, as Castillo also struggle to find possible reasons to celebrate Christmas.
“Wala akong Pasko ngayon, kahit yung anak kong babae,” Castillo said in an interview with INQUIRER.net on December 20
(I have no Christmas this year, even my daughter.)
“Kaso lang nga, may apo ako. Bata ‘yun e, para sa kanila ‘yung Pasko. Hindi ko naman pipigilang magsaya ‘yung mga bata,” Castillo also said, shaking her head as she held a laminated photo of Aldrin.
(But I have grandkids. They’re children—Christmas is for them. I will not prevent them from celebrating.)
“Pero ‘yung sa ‘min? Wala kaming Pasko, kahit ‘yung mother ko. Kasi kahit na matagal na o bago pa lang [na nangyari], hindi katanggap-tanggap ‘yung pagkamatay ng anak ko,” she added.
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(But for us? We have no Christmas, even my mother. Time may pass, but I could never accept my son’s death.)
Questions with no answers
Aldrin was a drug user before, Castillo admitted, but he had already kicked the habit long before he was killed.
Castillo also said his son was not in the drug watchlist in Tondo or in Novaliches, as he had a clean record and had no enemies, who could have the motive to murder him.
“Di naman siya salot sa lipunan katulad ng sinasabi ng gobyerno na to. Wala naman siyang pinerwisyong iba. Bakit nila binaril? Gusto ko magkaroon ng sagot ang tanong ko at kung sinu-sino yang mga h******** na yan,” she said.
(He was not one of the ills of the society like what this government says. He did not wrong anyone. Why did they gun him down? I want answers to my questions and I want to know who killed my son.)
Aldrin had kept himself busy working as a welder. Days before he died, he was asked by his sister to come over to her Tondo house to install an air conditioner, Castillo said.
He was supposed to go home to Novaliches and leave Tondo earlier but he got the flu so he stayed longer, Castillo narrated. And because the neighborhood used to be their home for decades, she was sure he was safe and did not think of anything unusual.
But then the unthinkable happened. Castillo, out of despair, then blamed her daughter for her son’s death. If he was not there in Tondo, she thought, he would still be alive.
“Pati yung anak kong babae sinisi ko, ‘Kasi bakit mo pinapunta kasi kuya mo? Dapat hindi nabaril ‘yan.’ Nagkaroon pa kami ng gap sa family,” Castillo lamented.
(I even blamed my daughter, telling her ‘He could not have had been killed if you did not ask him to come over.’ It created gap in our family.)
Strength to pursue justice
Castillo smiled as she sat down the long bench across the table in a cafe in Quezon City where the interview was held. She said she wanted to go to Tutuban night market in Divisoria, Manila to buy cheap stuff for Christmas. Normita, a mother who also lost her 25-year-old son to the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign, told her that it would be hard to shop because of the sheer number of people in the market.
Castillo laughed and told her: “Kinaya ko nga nung namatay ang anak ko, ano ba naman ‘yung pagpunta sa Tutuban.”
(I got through my son’s death, what is that compared to shopping in Tutuban.)
Today, Castillo keeps herself busy by volunteering for Rise Up for Life and for Rights, a Church-based non-profit group supporting and organizing the victims of extrajudicial killings (EJK) and their families. She helps in conducting house-to-house visits and talking to the families, scheduling meetings, and doing other things she can do for the organization.
She got in touch with the group during the “Start the Healing” rally in Edsa on November 5 in search for answers over what happened to her son.
“Nu’ng sumali ako sa Rise Up, nabuksan ang isip ko. Dati simpleng nanay lang ako. Ang sa akin, bahala kayo diyan, basta safe ang anak ko… hanggang sa nangyari sa akin ‘to,” Castillo told INQUIRER.net.
(Joining Rise Up opened my mind. Before, I was just a simple mother who does not care about everyone else as long as my children are safe. Until this happened to me.)
“Pasalamat kami may natakbuhan kami na ganito, dahil kung hindi, ‘di namin alam gagawin namin, pare-pareho kaming walang alam sa batas eh,” she added.
(We’re thankful there’s an organization like this where we can run to. Because if not, we do not know what to do because all of us have no knowledge about the law.)
Her new life as an advocate against the killings greatly helped her in coping with the loss, helping her process the trauma and the pain by meeting other families who share the same experience as her.
“Walang ibang higit na makakaintindi sa amin kundi kami ‘ring mga nawalan,” she said.
(No one could ever understand us more but us who also those who have lost.)
Castillo still waits for the day that she and her daughter patch things up. And on Christmas Day, she will light a candle at her son’s tomb at the Manila North Cemetery to pray not just for her peace of mind, but also for justice to prevail over the death of her son, Aldrin, and of thousands of others who have fallen victims to the government’s deadly crackdown against illegal drugs. /kga
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Canada's infrastructure issue and a return of the Zeppelin?
Find Your Forecast Search for a location
Cheryl Santa Maria
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 6:11 PM - A new report in Canadian Manufacturing draw attention to Canada's infrastructure problem and how some companies hope to alleviate the issue, including one brash idea to bring back an iconic airship.
According to the report, close to 70 per cent of Canada's landmass -- approximately 7 million square kilometres -- is inaccessible by major roads or rail lines.
Some areas can be reached seasonally by ice roads or by ships, but the winter months can completely cut off parts of the country.
Much of this 70 per cent can be found in the north and while portions of it are uninhabited, there are small populations scattered throughout.
Inaccessibility drives up the cost of goods in these regions and can turn the transport of valuable items a logistical nightmare, especially when the weather isn't cooperating.
Canadian Manufacturing says the issue has attracted the attention of several companies, all of which are vying for a solution.
One idea that's being tossed around is bringing back the Zeppelin -- rigid airships that saw their heyday in the early 1900s.
“It’s been a long time in the wilderness… [but] the airship is finally finding itself a market,” Barry Prentice, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba, told Canadian Manufacturing.
The USS Los Angeles, a US Navy airship built by the Zeppelin Company. Courtesy: Wikipedia
Zeppelins aren't often seen nowadays, largely due to the disastrous Hindenburg disaster that was broadcast around the world nearly 80 years ago.
“It isn’t that the technology didn’t work. The Germans took their Zeppelins from Brazil to Germany back and forth on a scheduled flight, and they never had an accident except for that famous one in New Jersey,” Prentice added.
But experts say the technology has its benefits.
The ships are able to carry heavy cargo and require less fuel than conventional planes due to their buoyancy. That makes them cheaper to operate and better for the environment.
“These airships allow access to virtually anywhere, water or land, in wide range of weather conditions, without forward infrastructure or manpower required,” Lockheed Martin Hybrid Airships program manager, Bob Boyd told Canadian Manufacturing.
Barry Prentice, a professor of supply chain management at the University of Manitoba, adds that safety standards and testing abilities have improved significantly since the Hindenburg era, minimizing the risk of a repeat disaster.
The concept became a source for heated debate on the content-sharing site Reddit, with some users wondering if the technology is a good fit for Canada's sometimes harsh weather conditions.
"Zeppelins basically can't fly in even moderate winds," Reddit user guyjin speculates.
"It might make shipping cheaper when the weather cooperates, but my understanding of northern weather is that it doesn't often cooperate."
Source: Canadian Manufacturing | Reddit |
Now that Oliver has been kidnapped by Chase, the Emerald Archer will be forced to face his past.
During Wednesday’s episode of Arrow, Chase (Josh Segarra) basically tortures Oliver (Stephen Amell) — both for his own demented plans and on behalf of Talia al Ghul (Lexa Doig). But the hour really takes viewers back to where it all started for Oliver in Russia, uncovering why he became a vigilante in the first place.
“We’ve always had this tradition of doing what we call the ‘all-flashback’ or ‘mostly flashback’ episode,” executive producer Marc Guggenheim explains. “That’s actually what this episode is going to be. It’s going to be a story that’s mostly set in Russia, with Dolph Lundgren coming back as Kovar. It’s the big confrontation that we’ve been building up to for the past several episodes, which is the Bratva vs. Kovar, with a couple surprises thrown in — Oliver may or may not get a certain tattoo; he may or may not lose a certain tattoo.”
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Then, in present day, “It’s Adrian Chase trying to get Oliver Queen to confess his sins, really to confess a secret,” Guggenheim says. “It’s incredibly intense. It’s basically a stage play; it’s essentially just Josh and Stephen in a room together. It’s probably one of the darkest episodes we’ve ever done.”
With Oliver forced to look back on what his legacy has wrought, viewers will finally learn long-held secrets. “Part of the biggest thing that we’re explaining in season 5 is what was Oliver’s motivation?” Amell says. “What was his mindset in the early part of season 1? Essentially, to the same extent, what was his mindset when he really became this person in Russia?”
“The idea is that, quite simply, he could put on the hood, and he could compartmentalize this horrible person that he has inside of him because of everything that he has had to deal with in the past four-plus years being away,” Amell continues. “The death of his father, obviously via suicide, the death of Shado, the seeming death of Sara, the fact that he had to murder Slade, the death of a young child in Hong Kong — all of these things that he has had to deal with broke something inside of him that didn’t end up getting fixed until he had a do-over with Slade Wilson, who had just murdered his mother, and he took the high road.”
But even if Oliver were to ultimately kill Chase — or in flashback, be able to take Kovar down once and for all — would he really be satisfied? “If we’ve done our job with season 5 correctly, if we stick the landing on all of this, by the end of the season, our hope is that you will look at Oliver’s killing in a completely different light and look at it in a totally different way,” Guggenheim says. “And look at his motivations for killing in a different way, in a more complex, more nuanced way. My hope is the whole season will kind of answer that question if we pull it off.”
Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on The CW. |
Nov 21, 2016: Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris (5) shoot in between Phoenix Suns center Alex Len (21) and guard Eric Bledsoe (2) during the first quarter at Verizon Center. (Photo: Tommy Gilligan/USA TODAY Sports)
WASHINGTON – With some distance from an acrimonious final few months in Phoenix, Markieff Morris misses the place.
Morris’ 4 1/2-season stay in Phoenix was a positive progression for four seasons until his twin, Marcus, was traded to Detroit and he asked for a trade. After his play and behavior took a downward turn, Morris was traded in February to Washington but could not help the Wizards make the playoffs.
In his first NBA season elsewhere, Morris remains Washington’s starting power forward and has produced a slight statistical bump amid the Wizards' struggles.
“It’s kind of like the same,” Morris said of the Suns’ and Wizards’ experiences. “Both teams, it’s a freelance of basketball. We just play for the most part. You find your spots. John (Wall) does a great job of getting me the ball here. In Phoenix, I had Bled (Eric Bledsoe) doing a great job. It’s like the same brand of basketball.”
Morris visited with friend and former teammate P.J. Tucker on Sunday’s off-day but did say his motivation might be greater when he returns to Phoenix again in March than it was for Monday’s game.
RELATED: Bledsoe links Suns, NBA youngest starting 5s ever
“I had a wonderful time there,” Morris said of Phoenix. “It was a great experience. That’s a place that I might go back and live. It’s a great city. You have your ups and downs anywhere but my five years there were some of the best times in my life.”
Does Marcus feel the same way?
“No, no, no, he’s all the way done,” Morris said. “I was there longer so it’s kind of more set in my heart. He’s completely done in Phoenix.”
Morris enjoyed playing for Jeff Hornacek and had strong performances in his short time under Suns coach Earl Watson to help Suns General Manager Ryan McDonough make a deal with the Wizards. The Suns took on two players, Kris Humphries and DeJuan Blair, whom they eventually waived, and the Wizards’ No. 13 pick in the June draft, which they used to package with their No. 28 pick and the rights to Bogdan Bogdanovic to get rookie Marquese Chriss at No. 8.
“For me, it wasn’t difficult to reach him,” Watson said. “What we try to do here is take away the non-sensitive side of it and turn it into a family environment with positivity and encouragement but at the same time have direct conversations, accountability and transparency. It’s a difficult mix to manage.”
Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris (5) battles for the ball against Eric Bledsoe on Monday. (Photo: Nick Wass/AP)
Brooks helps Watson
For Watson at the helm of a young team, he draws from how Wizards first-year coach Scott Brooks handled his Oklahoma City team when Kevin Durant was a second-year player and Russell Westbrook was a rookie thrown to the fire. He recalled how Brooks never lost his cool through the young players’ mistakes because he was building something for the long run.
“What really changed us is as the season progressed, those young guys began to earn ownership of the team,” Watson said. “I expect the same evolution here for our group because it’s very similar.”
MORE: Rookie Tyler Ulis stays sharp for rare chance
Night at the museum
Suns players and staffers took a private Sunday night tour of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“It speaks volumes that every shade has a DNA of the fabric,” Watson said. “It’s not just ownership of one race. We all share a significant piece of the fabric of that flag. The national anthem situation is kind of old but it’s the reason why I stand. I really feel like my family has a big part of building this country.
“It was moving. It was touching. It was eye-opening, even for those who are very familiar with the history, but at the same time, it was uplifting.”
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Free throws
* Suns small forward T.J. Warren remained away from the team due to illness Monday. He has been away from the team since leaving Friday’s game in Indiana in the first quarter and going to a hospital for treatment.
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* Suns forward Jared Dudley, booed lightly in his return to Washington, on last season’s Wizards and this season’s Suns: “You want to play fast but you got to play smart as a team. That’s what we’re trying to teach here. We’re trying to play fast. Just because you play fast doesn’t mean everybody has the freedom to do what they want. That’s when you’ve got to have self-discipline. That’s what we (Washington) lacked last year.”
* Watson on center Alan Williams recording double-doubles off the bench in Thursday’s and Friday’s games: “It just shows the energy and passion he has on the bench is not fake. He plays with the same thing.”
Reach Paul Coro at [email protected] or (602) 444-2470. Follow him at www.twitter.com/paulcoro. |
Gamespot’s Scott Butterworth rolled out a hands-on preview of Doom VR, the upcoming VR iteration of the 2016 release of Doom from id Software and Bethesda. The 740 word preview published on August 8th, 2016 titled “Doom May Have Solved VR’s Traversal Problem” was based on an early build that was showcased at this year’s QuakeCon. The preview garnered some interesting feedback from the community.
While a lot of gamers were disappointed that VR seems to be moving into a more restricted and less dynamic environment for interactivity, others actually wanted to see more if the game. One user, amaneuvering, was a little annoyed that there was an entire preview about Doom VR but nothing visual to convey what the experience was like, writing…
“[…] Well, I’m not blaming you guys. It’s just annoying as hell that the developers give you the chance to actually play the thing firsthand but don’t see fit to even let us see some footage of the game. We’re the ones paying their wages at the end of the day, almost like glorified shareholders, and I think that more important than sucking up to game journalists they should maybe think about what their actual customers might appreciate.”
Butterworth replied, explaining it’s incredibly difficult to capture VR footage from VR headsets and that it isn’t worth the time or resources, and then follows up that point by stating…
“Second–and I cannot stress this enough–you are absolutely nothing like a shareholder in this situation. In fact, you’re not even a customer yet, you’re just a *potential* customer. At this point, you are entitled to absolutely nothing. Even if you’ve purchased games from Bethesda in the past, they’re not beholden to you in perpetuity. You purchased a commercial product, not corporate influence. Eating at a restaurant once doesn’t mean you get to wander into kitchen the next day and demand they change the menu. I would strongly caution you away from this entitled attitude because I promise, the developers don’t owe you a damn thing.”
Developers don’t owe customers anything but a working product. However, they definitely owe them something worth getting excited about otherwise they won’t have customers, and without customers you don’t have revenue, and without revenue you don’t hit profit margins, and without profit margins you lose your shareholders. So, technically, customers are a heck of a lot more important than shareholders.
Additionally, a potential customer is exactly who previews are supposed to be made for. If Butterworth is indignant over someone reading a preview and asking for more information, then he’s obviously not writing for gamers.
Perhaps they should add disclosures at the top of some previews letting people know it’s only for corporate shareholders and investors?
That’s not to mention that someone interested in a game and requesting more information so they can make an informed purchasing decision is not being entitled, it’s called being an educated consumer.
But even more than that, there is already footage up and available on YouTube from customers who bought and paid for Doom and bought and paid for an HTC Vive. You can see what it looks like in the video below from YouTube user SorryAboutYourCats.
Now keep in mind this is not Doom VR but simply the 2016 release of Doom. It’s to show that if the average user can rig up recording software to record the gameplay experience, it doesn’t make sense why a major gaming publication can’t.
Anyway, this is just another instance in the media thinking more highly of their position than what it’s actually worth. Their only value to gamers is in bridging information from publishers and developers to readers. A journalist’s job is not to assiduously work PR for the publisher, nor is their job to tell customers what information they shouldn’t be requesting, because at the end of the day every customer should be asking for as much information as possible in order to make the most informed purchasing decision possible.
More than anything, journalists should be encouraging readers to ask, to pry and to want more information because an informed customer is more likely to return to a media outlet that they trust as opposed to a media outlet that tells them that they’re entitled and goes on a tirade about the importance of shareholders and corporate resource protection.
Sadly, this is the very same attitude that led up to instances like #GamerGate happening in the first place. |
Android is one of the most popular mobile operating systems (and it is based on the Linux kernel too.) However, diving into developing apps for Android can appear to be a bit daunting at first. The following how-to runs you through the basics of setting up an Android development environment on your Fedora machine. The basic workflow is to download the Android SDK, use the SDK to generate a quick first “hello world” application, then test out that application with either a physical Android device or the Android emulator.
Let’s get started!
Install needed Dependencies
First up we need to install a few packages from the Fedora Repos to make sure everything works correctly. To install these packages, run the command:
sudo yum install zlib-devel.i686 ncurses-devel.i686 ant
Note that the 32bit libraries in the command above are needed even if you have a 64bit install of Fedora.
Get the SDK
Now we need to create a new directory in your home directory to contain the Android SDK and your first project. I decided to name mine android-development:
mkdir ~/android-development/
Now, go to the Android SDK Download page and Download the SDK for Linux. Note that there are two types of download offered on the Android Download page, in this example we are after the SDK Tools Only option, not the ADT Bundle.
After downloading, unpack the bundle into the android-development/ directory.
Update the SDK
Now that you have the SDK you will need to update it. To do this, we need to go to the tools directory in the SDK, and then run the Android SDK Manager:
cd ~/android-development/android-sdk-linux/tools/
./android
The Android SDK Manager will appear, and will prompt you to install a number of updates. It will install them directly into the android-sdk-linux/ directory.
Set up your PATH variable to point at the SDK
Next up, we need to configure your path variable to point at a couple of directories in the Android SDK so we can run them as commands in bash. So open up the
~/.bash_profile
file in your favourite text editor, and add the following lines to the bottom of the file:
export PATH=$PATH:~/android-development/android-sdk-linux/tools/ export PATH=$PATH:~/android-development/android-sdk-linux/platform-tools/
Now log out of your desktop, and log back in to apply this change.
Create the App
Before we create our app, we need to know what version of the Android API we want to build against. Run the following command to see what Android API versions your SDK can target:
android list targets
I only have the most recent version of android downloaded in my SDK, so I got the following output:
Available Android targets: ---------- id: 1 or "android-19" Name: Android 4.4.2 Type: Platform API level: 19 Revision: 3 Skins: WSVGA, HVGA, WXGA800, WVGA800 (default), WQVGA432, WXGA720 Tag/ABIs : no ABIs.
In this output, all we are concerned with is the ID of the API version we want to build against. In the example above, we just need “android-19”
Now, run the following command to create a default Android project (being sure to enter in the correct directory location for the path option and the ID from above for the target):
android create project --target android-19 --name MyFirstApp --path ~/android-development/MyFirstApp --activity MainActivity --package com.example.myfirstapp
Building your Android app
Now that you have done all the prep work, building your first Android app is actually pretty easy. First change into the directory that contains your app:
cd ~/android-development/MyFirstApp
then run the following command to build the app:
ant debug
If the build is successful, the following command will have created a an Android application package file (apk) file at
~/android-development/MyFirstApp/bin/MyFirstApp-debug.apk
Test out your app on a real device
Now we have a built APK of our app, it’s time to try it out on an android device. To Install the APK to a device via USB, you need to enable USB Debugging mode on your device. Note that this step is different depending on the android version your device is running.
For Android 3.2 or older , the USB Debugging option is under Settings > Applications > Development in the android menus.
, the USB Debugging option is under in the android menus. For Android 4.0 and 4.1 the USB Debugging option is under Settings > Developer options .
the USB Debugging option is under . For Android 4.2 and newer, the USB Debugging option is still under Settings > Developer options, but that menu item is disabled by default. To show the Developer Options, go to Settings > About phone and tap the Build Number item 7 times.
Now you have enabled USB Debugging mode, connect your device to your Fedora machine with a USB cable, and run the following command (make sure you are still in the
~/android-development/MyFirstApp/
directory)
adb install bin/MyFirstApp-debug.apk
Now check your phone for the newly installed app (it will be called MainActivity). Run it and bask in all the Hello World goodness:
Test out your app on the emulator
Luckily, If you don’t have a Android device handy, or if you want to try out your app on a different style of device, the Android SDK also includes an the Android Virtual Device Manager to start a whole bunch of Android device emulators. To start the Android Virtual Device Manager, run the command:
android avd
In the “Android Virtual Devices” tab, press the New… button to create a new virtual Android device. Fill out the details in the dialog and press OK:
Start the emulator, and you should see a stock android screen, and some controls:
Now, follow the same steps as if you were installing on a real device. run the following command (make sure you are still in the
~/android-development/MyFirstApp/
directory)
adb install bin/MyFirstApp-debug.apk
Now check the emulator for the newly installed app (it will be called MainActivity).
Further Reading
Now you have successfully set up your build and testing envrionment for Android apps on Fedora, the best place to go to get further information about developing apps for android is the Training section at Google’s Android Developer page. |
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