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Archive for the ‘AREF’ Category
Tutorial: Arduino And The AREF Pin
Monday, December 13th, 2010
Great Tutorial from TronixStuff about the less known Arduino AREF Pin. First: what is resolution?
We measure resolution in the terms of the number of bits of resolution. For example, a 1-bit resolution would only allow two (two to the power of one) values – zero and one. A 2-bit resolution would allow four (two to the power of two) values – zero, one, two and three. If we tried to measure a five volt range with a two-bit resolution, and the measured voltage was four volts, our ADC would return a value of 3 – as four volts falls between 3.75 and 5V.
What is AREF?
Read on this well detailed tutorial via [TronixStuff]
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45409
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Vocabulary - Strategy 1. Owning, twisting, throwing it back
There's a reason it's called Bookish Bloomsbury.
Peppered with colleges and libraries and bookstores, this little bit of London has a portion that is frequented by cyclists and students hurrying back and forth from college. So when I was crossing one of the main roads leading into an enclave of colleges including my own, I was startled by a loud, "Excuse me!"
I ignored it at first, but it repeated itself, so loud that it pierced through the neighbourhood quiet: "Excuse ME!"
Directions, I thought. Students often stop to direct tourists to the nearby British Museum or Russell Square tube stop.
I turned.
A bunch of hooting guys were poking their heads out of their car - "Do you study around here?" asked the one in the passenger seat with a wide grin.
"No, I don't," I shouted back, "I'm a prostitute. Want to follow me?"
"A prostitute??" he said sounding taken aback. The car drove off.
The shout and the rejoinder hung disjointed and awkward around silent Bloomsbury.
I can't remember the last time I have said "prostitute" but it seemed to suit their aggression and a street dynamic I have come to cultivate which requires you to be rude and in your face, not look away or pretend not to notice.
In India people yell things at you and whistle as they pass you by. Here they yell out across streets, addressing questions at you, stopping you in your path with a mock exaggeration. Coyness, disregard, and looking downward don't work so well.
Recently I have begun to reply the buyont, "do you study around here?", the lip licking "hola, hola", the young boys surrounding you to ask directions, the "hello" with actual rejoinders - "I'm sorry, do I know you?" The conversation is always quick to be taken up, but the aggression in the response allows you to be participant in some skewed way in a street dialogue you did not initiate or want.
At Stoke, my friend is brushed against by a boy who could not be older than 12. "Asshole," she yells at him, and everyone at the bus stand turns. "Sorry," he mutters and his friend's smirk quickly shrinks away.
Men sipping coffee on Angel's Upper Street form their fingers into a camera shape and tilt their heads pretending to get the best "shot" of a friend's anatomy as she walks by. The girls that follow her stop to yell at them.
Neighbourhood gangs of boys are screamed at, fingers are shown, gangs of girls tease back loitering boys.
Looking back, talking sharp, packing punch, weaving wit and surprise into street talk... takes some doing especially when you're alone and sometimes embarrassed, but it seems better than being overwhelmed.
1. '"No, I don't," I shouted back, "I'm a prostitute. Want to follow me?"'
Now, why is it that I don't hear anything like this being retorted back at yobs when I walk around London.
Yes, yes I know its not funny or pleasant to be in such a situation, but I can't help but see the lighter side and imagine what happened next to the guy in the car - a classic D'oh moment.
2. I dunno about London, but I do this in Lucknow!! Ignoring is my first reaction to eve teasing, but not the one I believe in any longer. I mean, if I can't do anything else, I can embarass the guy who thinks he can get away with anything because he's a guy!!! I love to see them fumbling denials.
3. lucky he didnt actually follow me though. that might have been a bit of a dead end...
4. Anonymous6:08 pm
I realize its easy to arm-chair theorize and cant really think of another way here, but:
- the intention behind shouting prostitute is based on the prostitute being a demeaning or degraded person, is that so cool regardless of who is doing it, a guy or girl?
2. Gangs of girls teasing back boys.
This back justification thingy.... my point should be obvious, if its not, its probably not worth making here... sorry.
5. Anonymous4:07 pm
"The car drove off."
You must be very ugly then.
6. jai: hm... thinking not in terms of values attributed but more in terms of shock into silence; unexpected response etc.
anonymous: yes i am. you must be very wise to know this.
7. Anonymous8:54 pm
hey....i wanna ask a quetion.....(i m a thinker...who thinks anything and everything)..... first i wud like to make it clear neither i eve-tease nor do i support who do it....but i wonder (if we leave aside the physical aspects of eve-teasing)why the hell a girl feels disgusted and embarrassed by verbal eve-teasing(which generally consists of passing lewd remarks, whistling, hooting, remarks related to sexuality or the private biological parts of a woman)......i would like to inquire why are people ashamed of their biology and
why are such negative connotation associated with the sexual parts of the woman?...I sucked my mother's breast when I was a kid and I came out of her vagina when I was born..and all guess all the normal people do so..
8. Anonymous9:03 pm
hm...you think that would be possible in india? or do you need the knowledge that there's a 'limit', for lack of better words, that won't be crossed in daytime bloomsbury?
9. I find it ironic that I have to change sides here.
Anonymous 3 aka the thinker:
Perhaps the answer lies in the question? Replace that thinking cap with a dictionary and look up lewd or hoot. You *may* find a clue there.
Elementary, my dear thinker.
10. Anonymous11:43 pm
m rly sry to hv put this question at a wrong place........
11. Anonymous11:56 pm
dear p.....
understanding and then answering that question needs just a lil bit of thinking...a lil bit more than looking up a dictionary....then....*may be* you understand what i actually wanted to ask....
12. Dear Anonymous,
I need to find my 'Anonymous English to Regular English' dictionary first and translate your words. The reason being.. in a regular dictionary, lewd at its very nicest would mean - indecent.
So, to ask why someone, be it man or woman would take offense/be disgusted by a lewd remark is akin to asking why a cyclist cycles or a runner runs.
But like I pointed out earlier, this is based on the regular English dictionary, so in case lewd means: marked by refinement in taste and manners, to you, I stand corrected.
13. Anonymous1:19 pm
dear p,
thx a lot for ur enthusiam, while replying back....the "parenthesized part" which contains that "lewd" word....actually i was looking for an apt description of verbal teasing nd i did not write it...i found it somewhere....and i m sry to hv included it there....but if u just scroll down below that "lewd" word u will find a question. why are such negative connotations associated with the sexual parts of the woman?....nd....most of the times...any comment on them may be considered lewd....so i was wondering why is it so??? i hope m able to put my question in a better way....and u may not require an Anonymous English to Regular English dictionary..... :)
14. anonymous a.k.a. news producer: yeah, true but also i think "limits"
have shifted a lot since i got here sort of assumed things would be safer but for instance there was a serious assault on a woman just last week in broad daylight outside my house in a very busy area. harassment also occurs just sooo much more. but dynamics are completely diff, yes. guess these are different ways to weave your responses to a situation.
15. The Thinker:
Yes, now it falls into place :) Unfortunately, I'm not smart enough to comment on/answer your question. Just wanted to pick you on the 'lewd' bit, so I'll pass the buck here ;)
16. Anonymous6:12 pm
did you ever stop to think that the 12 yr old who brushed ur friend may have done it accidentally and thats why he apologised.....condemning all men( or boys) for the actions of a few seems a bit harsh
17. Anonymous6:46 pm
@ anonymous
If the 12-year-old had done it accidentally, he would have been angry at being called an 'asshole' for something so trivial, and not apologetic. And his friend would not have been smirking.
Those who have been victims of sexual harrassment know how, all too often, the perpetrators hide behind the mask of "accidents"
I, for one, do not condemn all men (or boys)- only the assholes who do harass women. Cos that's what they are - assholes.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45433
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A Quote by owen t stelzlin
"my in vision on the world is of that its rotting everyone is sitting there lazily or killing and doing crimes my dreams of it being changed so evil no longer exist in this world where we are all united as one under one"
owen stelzlin
Contributed by: verro
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45438
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The IHR Blog |
Reflections on practice following first interview
Just finished my first user interview yesterday and a few things came up that I thought other practitioners might benefit from.
Reviewing the current state of the site went well – lengthy and detailed discussion, focussed on page outcomes with only a skeletal set of prompts needed from me. Started by using the home page which was outside the scope of the project and I found that following discussions on the in-scope pages went faster as the interviewee was aware of the topics that I was interested in, and approached them straightaway.
We have a set of proposed changes to pages that we came up with here – I went through these asking the interviewer just to stop me if they felt strongly about something. Make sure that you really separate yourself from your feelings about the project (not easy if you’ve been working on it a long time) – avoid the temptation to say ‘you agree with this idea, don’t you?‘ because any assent here would be based on pressure rather than a real recognised need.
My point here is that the project will need to prove that it didn’t try to gain a mandate for something which wasn’t volunteered by the interviewee. This could be in the form of expanded quotes from the interview which are approved by the interviewee, and reporting on whether a planned improvement was already on file before the usability consultation process took place, or a ranking system. Whilst this point is quite fine in nature, it signals whether the investigation is truly objective in practice.
And, if you can, record the interview and play it back whilst you are writing up the notes as it’s easier to reflect on the sense and meaning of the points made. In addition, you can rate your own performance and think about other ways to pose questions to make interviews a more powerful part of your toolkit.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45439
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Archive for March 8th, 2007
(March 08) Today we're celebrating. . . Name Tag Day
Thursday, March 8th, 2007
Name Tag Day
Ahh yes. Name Tags. Those ubiquitous little stickers found on the lapels of strangers and conventioneers everywhere. And the perfect icebreaker!
To celebrate the day – wear your own name tag -Â proudly. This way we are only strangers once.
© 2014 Holidays on the Net Designed and Maintained by Studio Melizo
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45484
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Configuring Plugin Goals in Maven 3
March 4, 2011 By Bentmann Benjamin
In Maven 3.0.3, we introduced some improvements to the way plugin goals can be configured. This post summarizes these improvements and gives some examples of how Maven plugin configuration has been enhanced. We’ve focused on making improvements that will reduce the friction of plugin configuration for both plugin developers and Maven end-users.
First, a general tip for users interested in using these enhancements in POMs: use the requireMavenVersion rule from the Maven Enforcer Plugin and required Maven version 3.0.3. This will save other team members from running into strange build failures due to plugin misconfiguration if they are still using previous Maven versions. Likewise, plugin authors that take advantage of these enhancements should properly declare the Maven prerequisite in the plugin POM.
Generic collections
The plugin configurator can now employ the generic type argument of a collection parameter to determine the type of the elements. In practice this means plugins can use collections as input parameters more freely without having to worry about the user being forced to specify the proper element type in the POM.
For instance, the goal parameter:
/** @parameter */
java.util.List<> files;
can be configured like this in the new Maven version:
<!-- Maven 3.0.3 can take care of converting this to a instance -->
<!-- The previously required implementation attribute is now superfluous but still works -->
<file implementation="">build.xml</file>
Instead of having to specify the type of each element, Maven 3.0.3 will now automatically convert the first element in the previous example to an object of type “”.
In absence of the implementation attribute, Maven usually looks for a class named <goalPackage>.<xmlElement> to determine the element type. The recognition of generics now enables plugin authors to use bean classes for collection elements that reside in a different package than the plugin goals. In summary, collections now provide the same ease of configuration as classical arrays.
Automatic conversion of arrays to collections, and vice versa
Continuing in the spirit of the previous improvement, the new plugin configurator will now automatically convert a collection obtained from a parameter expression to an array if that’s the type expected by the plugin parameter. Likewise, an array would be converted to a collection if needed. The bottom line is that plugin authors targeting recent Maven versions can freely decide to use an array or a collection for a plugin parameter regardless of whether its default value actually yields a collection or array:
/** @parameter default-value="${project.compileSourceRoots}" */
List<String> sourceRootsAsCollection;
String[] sourceRootsAsArray;
Before this change was made to the configurator plugin developers and Maven users had to be very careful about passing an array to a method that expected a List or vice versa. While this might seem like a minor change, it is one of many that will make plugin development easier.
Configuration of collection/array via system property
For many plugin parameters it is occasionally convenient to specify their values from the command line via system properties. In the past, this was limited to parameters of simple types like String or Boolean. The latest Maven release finally allows plugin users to configure collections or arrays from the command line via comma-separated strings. Take for example a plugin parameter like this:
/** @parameter expression="${includes}" */
String[] includes;
This can be configured from the command line as follows:
mvn <goal> -Dincludes=*Foo,Bar*
Plugin authors that wish to enable CLI-based configuration of arrays/collections just need to add the expression tag to their parameter annotation. Note that if compatibility with older Maven versions is to be kept, the parameter type must not be an interface but a concrete collection class or an array to avoid another shortcoming in the old configurator.
Inlined collections
Many users complain that Maven POMs make heavy use of container elements for collections. Instead of just listing a series of dependency elements, you have to wrap all of your dependency elements in a dependencies element. The same is true for includes and excludes and other elements throughout the POM. This extra redundancy often adds up to some very large POMs. In Maven 3.0.3, we’ve made a change to the plugin API that will support plugin configuration without requiring container elements for collections. Here is an example:
Previously, Maven would only look for a field or setter when processing the <include> elements. Now it also looks for an adder. So to support the above configuration, a plugin author would need to implement the configured bean like this:
public class Fileset
private List<String> includes = new ArrayList<String>();
public void addInclude( String include )
includes.add( include );
The adder needs to be named add<xmlElement>() and must be public, non-static and have a single argument; it may have a return value. In case where multiple such adders with the same name exists, it is undefined which one gets actually called so be sure to avoid overloading the adder.
Given that merging of plugin configuration during POM inheritance or profile injection is purely based on the XML structure and not guided by information about the actual data types, users that employ this compacted configuration are well-advised to not mix it with the usual collection-style configuration format for a given plugin parameter as the merged configuration likely doesn’t produce the intended result.
Bean default properties
We can take the idea of inlining configuration a little further. Have a look at this example configuration:
Looks odd at first, doesn’t it? Obviously, the <resource> element describes some complex structure, but the second <resource> element in the example consists just of a mere string. It’s not hard to guess that<resource>src/bar</resource> could be a shorthand form of <resource><directory>src/bar</directory></resource> by assuming the <directory> element is the default/primary property of a <resource>. With the new plugin configurator, this is actually possible now.
To enable the feature, a plugin author would have to add a method called set() to the bean class in question:
public class Resource
private File directory;
public void set( File directory )
{ = directory;
This set() method must be public, non-static and take a single argument; it may have a return value.
Besides saving users a few bits of XML, this feature can also be used to configure complex beans via system properties from the command line. Let’s say we have a plugin parameter like this:
/** @parameter expression="${artifact}" */
Artifact artifact;
Now further assuming the Artifact bean used here implements a nice set() method that is smart enough to parse a string into artifact coordinates, one could invoke the plugin directly via:
mvn <goal> -Dartifact=org.apache.maven:maven-core:3.0
Last but not least, the default property feature also enables a smooth upgrade path in case plugin parameters need to be changed from simple values to complex structures. Going back to the initial example with the <resource>elements, consider the plugin author originally didn’t anticipate the <filtering> element and designed the plugin parameter to be of type File[].
With previous Maven versions, the only way to extend the plugin to support the<filtering> element is to deprecate the existing <resources> parameter and introduce a new parameter using the complex type or alternatively just break compatibility with existing POMs that use the old plugin version. Using the default property support, a plugin can change the parameter type from File[] to Resource[] without affecting existing users.
Simpler configuration of properties parameter
While java.util.Properties is just a concrete implementation of a Map, the configuration required for parameters of type Properties is structurally different from the configuration format for Map parameters. For the sake of consistency and conciseness, plugin parameters of type Properties can now also be configured like a Map, that is:
User-specified implementation class for map parameters
Previous Maven versions always used a TreeMap to configure parameters of type Map. In other words, neither the user nor the plugin author had any control over the map implementation being used. Just like with the collections, the updated plugin configurator recognizes an optional implementation attribute:
<map implementation="java.util.LinkedHashMap">
In absence of both the attribute and a concrete implementation class in the parameter declaration, TreeMap continues to get used.
Hexadecimal and octal numbers
In some contexts, it’s more convenient to specify a number in hexadecimal or octal notation. To support this, plugin authors previously had to declare the corresponding plugin parameters as strings and do the conversion themselves. Now, it’s natively supported, using the prefix “0x” to denote hex notation and the prefix “0″ to denote octal notation.
<rgb>0xFF00C0</rgb> <!-- hex number -->
<perms>0664</perms> <!-- octal number -->
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Music Notebook: Ex-Wings guitarist plays Syracuse
on May 28, 2009 at 6:08 AM, updated May 28, 2009 at 6:09 AM
Once upon a time, Laurence Juber played lead guitar for a little band by the name of Wings.
In fact, Juber played alongside Sir Paul McCartney for the track "Rockestra," which won a Grammy for best rock instrumental.
Juber's guitar sound these days is worldly, full and as diverse as the universe.
He plays at 8 p.m. Saturday at May Memorial, 3800 E. Genesee St., Syracuse.
I spent a delightful lunchtime at Pastabilities in 2007, talking with Juber when he was in town for a show.
He told me, "I don't get tired of talking about (his days with Wings). It was a remarkable period of my life. I like to think of it like this: I got my bachelor's degree in music from London University and my master's degree in music from McCartney's University."
I wrote about that show in The Post-Standard: "With his acoustic Martin LJ Signature model, Juber finger-picked his way through Wings goodies 'Maybe I'm Amazed' and 'Another Day.' Juber's guitar work was melodic, and at the same time so lyrical you could just about hear McCartney sing his line, 'Sometimes she feels so sad.'"
Tickets for the Central Guitar League-sponsored show are $25. Call 689-6242 or go to
Back in an earlier life in the late 1970s, a friend talked me into going to a now-defunct Washington, D.C., joint called the Bayou to see his favorite band.
My buddy Mark O'Hara grew up in Bethesda, Md., and was busting-out proud of his hometown band The Nighthawks.
I watched with my jaw close to the ground as the hot and sweaty crowd danced to what they affectionately called their beloved Bethesda Boogie.
Since then, I've bounced with The Nighthawks in Syracuse, too. I particularly recall the Great Northeast Blues Fest in 2001, when singer/harmonica king Mark Wenner told how he and his band were familiar with the old Syracuse haunt The Firebarn, where they had to lug their gear up the winding fire escape.
More than a quarter century later, Wenner and his 'Hawks' are still going strong.
Paul Bell is the guitarist these days. He first sat in with the Nighthawks in 1975. Bell plays his Fender Telecaster in a D.C. style the 'Hawks' bio poetically calls "country cluckin' and soul chuck-chuck-chuckin'."
We here in Syracuse call it rocking blues.
The sound will fill Upstairs at the Dinosaur at 10 p.m. Saturday.
Syracuse's Phil Petroff and The Natural Fact open. Tickets are $10 in advance, available at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, 246 W. Willow St., Syracuse. They will be $12 at the door the night of the show.
Hopefully there will be plenty of muscle on hand to load Wenner and mates' gear into the elevator.
Songwriter and guitarist Brian Francis comes home after a seven-month stay in California to play in the headliners slot at this month's edition of host Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers' Words and Music Showcase, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jazz Central, 441 E. Washington St., Syracuse.
It was a working vacation.
Francis, of Syracuse roots band Kh'Mi, sharpened his skills playing music in California bars and cafes, as well as on street corners.
Other guests are rock-folk songwriter and guitarist Charley Orlando and folk-bluegrass banjo, guitarist and writer Philip Avery.
Rodgers will have plenty to celebrate at the show, too.
His song "Fly," from his great 2008 CD "Humming My Way Back Home," won a grand prize in the prestigious John Lennon Songwriting Contest.
When I reviewed the CD, I wrote: "Rodgers was justifiably eager to share his lyrical view of the world. He's mature, wise and pretty darn happy. ... Yessir, Mr. Rodgers."
Tickets are $10.
For reservations, send an e-mail to
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45524
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Posts tagged "wem"
Modify CQ’s Calendar Event Form
As I have been spending more time consulting to Adobe customers on our WEM, Web Experience Management, formerly CQ from Day, I wanted to share some “how-to” knowledge using our Calendar component. Using the Calendar component is simple and provides a large amount of canned functionality requiring only configurations.
One of the canned configurations is a built-in form that is used when creating an event. The built-in form provides a lot of up front data capture, as illustrated, for the event.
Standard CQ Event From
Standard CQ Event From
Although you can customize this form for your needs, every event requires basic event information and is the start and end dates and the summary fields. The summary field displays the event name in the calendar.
So lets modify this form.
1. In a content page that contains a parsys, drag a calendar component.
2. Before editing the form, we need to make a copy of the current Edit Event form. Always make a copy of the current event form and place in your application. The form is located in /libs/collab/calendar/content/eventform. Copy the entire eventform and place in your components folder. This is a cq:Page object and does not carry any other JCR objects.
3. After copying the form, you will assign the form to your calendar object.
4. In Edit mode on the page with your calendar, you will see a tool bar atop the Calendar component as illustrated.
1. Select the black “Edit” button and an “Edit Component” dialog appears. Select the “Edit” tab and enter the path to your copied form into the “Event edit form” field. You can alternately use the search button of the Event edit formfield to find your form in CRX.
1. Once the new form is selected, you can save the dialog.
2. Back in the Calendar component, select the blue “Event Edit Form” button and you are presented with your form design consisting of a Form start, Form end and all the form controls, as illustrated.
1. You are now free to modify all the controls, except the Start and End dates and the Summary. These are required to create the event content in CRX and allow the default calendar component to manage the data without any other modifications.
2. Delete or add widgets by dragging from your SideKick
3. When adding your widgets to the form, be sure to set the name property with a JCR node for storage of the field data, i.e. ./my_fieldname
4. Once you have completed modifications to the form, simply close out of the browser window.
5. Go back to your Web site in CQ and select your calendar page. Create an event by clicking on a date and your form should appear.
I hope this helps those that are already using Adobe CQ 5.4 and are looking to take advantage of features outside of the standard functionality. For additional information see the WEM documentation,
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45556
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Action/reaction: Cal, SJSU and Stanford football, the Bush case, admissions news, a BCS poll and more
What holidays? The news just keeps coming …
Action: Cal cuts ties with tight ends/special teams coach Pete Alamar.
Reaction I: Many Old Blues have been expecting this since Oct. 8, 2005 (the Maurice Drew game); it just took a few years longer than they thought.
Reaction II: The coverage units and kicking game were major issues for the Bears. But Alamar’s dismissal might not be the only change — and probably shouldn’t be.
Continue Reading
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45565
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Perl case studies
I've often thought it would be interesting and useful to read about how various companies are using Perl. Richard Jelinek's talks at LPW 2012 have encouraged me to see whether (a) there's enough general interest in this to make it worth while, and (b) I/we can kick-start it. In this post I'll outline what I'm currently thinking about, to get feedback.
I'm thinking of a series of articles or case studies, one per organisation. There would probably be a number of sections, for example:
• a marketing style overview "our web site handles a gazillion requests per month, and the whole thing is in Perl".
• how are they using perl and how do they see their usage evolving. This would get into what frameworks they're using, what things they've written for themselves vs used from CPAN, any interesting aspects of their development process & tools.
• If appropriate, and they're happy to share, the architecture of their system(s), and lessons they've learned about it/them, and what things they plan to change.
• what prompted them to choose Perl, what do they particularly like about it, and what don't they like. What partcular challenges have they faced, whether Perl related or not.
• if the "cover story" was one key application or serice where they used perl, then another section might cover "other ways we use perl"
• what are some areas where they don't use perl, and why
• reader contributed questions, curated rather than a free-for-all.
So I'm imagining a mixture of marketing showcase, technical implementation details, and other aspects. These might end up as quite long articles, but parts might be pulled out for use in different contexts. For example the marketing sections from a number might be included together elsewhere in the perl webverse.
For each organisation I'd see a number of Q&A sessions required, probably a mixture of email and/or Skype.
• Would you like to see such a series, and do you think it would be good for Perl?
• What organisations could be included? We all know that uses Perl, and I know that imdb at least used to (don't know if they still do), but what and who else?
• What other topics should be included? What specific questions should everyone be asked?
When asking "what organisations could be included?", I wasn't thinking who should be "allowed in", but asking the more general "what organisations are using Perl in a way that's worth writing about?" I just don't know many for sure, but I'm fairly sure there are some out there... So give me some names!
I'd love to see such a series. I assume it would be good for Perl, always nice to have some testimonials.
As far as who goes, anyone is fine by me. There are many more small and medium businesses that large ones, so it would be nice to hear from them as well.
Specific questions might be primary applications, system and hardware overview, some idea of the size and age of codebase, how many developers, what other languages are used and how Perl fits into that mix. Mix of modern vs crufty Perl.
+1 to everything Bill said.
Yes, I would read it. Yes, it can turn out to be important for Perl.
Please make it happen.
"Would you like to see such a series, and do you think it would be good for Perl?"
Very much so!
"What organisations could be included?"
Well, any that uses Perl, or what? Any commercial and non-commercial company.
"What other topics should be included? What specific questions should everyone be asked?"
Which building blocks (libs, frameworks) were used and why? What were major obstacles? How was the project managed? etc. The usual questions revolving around software project management.
This is an awesome idea. I think organizations of all sizes would be good to include, because different readers are inspired by different examples.
What specific questions should everyone be asked?
What about asking them what version of Perl they use (are they still using 5.8?).
If you are going to interview IMDB then ask them why they still aren't using Unicode on their website.
Leave a comment
About Neil Bowers
user-pic Perl hacker since 1992.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review 96.02.02
P. G. Walsh (trans.), Apuleius: the Golden Ass. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995. Pp. lv, 277, 1 map. $11.95. ISBN 0-19-282492-9 (pb).
Reviewed by Sarah Ruden, University of Cape Town,
One of the most difficult works of ancient literature to translate is Apuleius' Metamorphoses or Golden Ass. The pull between the folk-tale elements in the plot on the one hand and the extreme sophistication of the language on the other might be too strong for the modern reader even if it could be reproduced. The Latin is as far-fetched and takes itself as little seriously as a good schlock film: Isocolonic Godzilla and his friend the Archaic Vocabulary Monster stomp on everything. A similar impression will probably never come from a translation of Apuleius into English. Our Kunstprosa is too different; in fiction, it is the anti-rhetoric of John Updike, an imagistic art concentrated on the internal lives of the characters, rather than an oral performance with the lowliest actors speaking as intricately and gorgeously as the author or narrator, and the sounds of the words rivaling in importance the world they create. Even if someone were determined to set before the public a faithful translation of Apuleius, how would he find time to produce it, when nearly every sentence of the Latin is full of laborious and other-worldly intricacies? The nearest that most of Apuleius' translators have come is a measured and formal tone and creativity in tropes, with substitutions for what cannot be reproduced. P. G. Walsh, however, does more in his new translation, employing an oddly graceful literalness.
An example is his solution to the problem posed by the first word in Apuleius' preface, At. A selection of major older translations of the Ass, starting with the venerable Aldington1 and continuing through H. E. Butler,2 Robert Graves3 and Jack Lindsay,4 shows no trace of the in medias res beginning. J. Arthur Hanson, author of the new Loeb, is too literal: he comes across awkwardly with the word 'But' and a footnote saying that 'the work opens as if in the middle of a literary discussion.'5 (Walsh uses endnotes, and these are not signaled in the text, so that the narration is not interrupted and must function in healthy independence; the drawback is that the reader sees no immediate sign of the help available; but in formatting footnotes, a translator picks his poison.) Walsh has the best solution so far: 'What I should like to do is...' (p. 1). This reproduces some of the studied abruptness of At, along with Apuleius' characteristic tone -- colloquial, modest, but sophisticated -- which is especially strong in this passage.
The beginning is not unusual in its felicity. In the translation of the famous passage on women's hair, for instance, there is the phrase 'its ... glossy sheen shines out' (p. 23), the alliteration and outrageous pleonasm coming from nitor splendidus illucet (2.9) with a legitimate reek of the Second Sophistic, like an athlete's honest B.O. But where there is no lightness or humor in the original text to give him license, Walsh lets the more extreme effects go. For Charite's address to the drugged Thrasyllus (certe lumen non videbis, manu comitis indigebis ... (8.12)), Walsh (p. 146) dispenses with the pounding isocolonic structure, and that may be because he saw that, when translators have tried to go whole hog here, the hog turned into an angry warthog. But Walsh is not, on the other hand, a keeper of tame rabbits. His style imparts a stimulating feeling of strangeness and unpredictability exquisitely suited to a story full of magic, horror and exotic religion. The style also makes it finally clear to me what Walter Benjamin was talking about in positing the translator's language as an original, created one.6 Walsh's work is not a collection of alien insects tacked onto a board, with labels, but a map into the jungle. The following is part of the description of the festival of Isis (11.9):
'While the participants in these comic diversions for the townsfolk were prancing about here and there, the special procession in honour of the saviour goddess was being set in motion. Some women, sparkling in white dresses, delighting in their diverse adornments and garlanded with spring flowers, were strewing the ground with blossoms stored in their dresses along the route on which the sacred ceremony was to pass' (p. 223).
These sentences have a fresh, rare quality, but Walsh is reasonably faithful to Apuleius' periodic structure, and gives a recreation, though not a word-for-word rendering, of the exotic vocabulary through words like 'prancing,' 'diverse,' 'adornments,' and 'strewing,' which are somewhat rare and old-fashioned, and through 'sparkling,' which is not normally used of persons. Not much more could be expected of Walsh, as English does not invite the creation of equivalents to sospitatrix, amicimen, coronamen, etc. (Perhaps the influence of cyberpunk prose, with its love of coinages on archaic models -- here Apuleius seems to take gestamen, which appears in the passage, as a model -- will make Apuleius more translatable in the twenty-first century -- but who knows?) After the second 'dresses' a comma is needed to avert the image of dresses strewn all along the road, suggesting a different sort of merry-making than Apuleius must have meant; this is only one instance of inadequate punctuation; but that is a general disease of the British Isles, and complaining about it is not going to do any good, I know.
Walsh's book is respectful toward non-specialist readers, giving a great deal of relevant background in a variety of forms: a map; a thirty-nine page introduction, including accounts of the major controversies surrounding the Golden Ass; a six-page bibliography; twenty-nine pages of accessible yet uncondescending notes, especially good in the area of intertextuality; and a combined index and glossary. Readers of ancient literature in translation are usually assumed not to need resources of this kind, and novices are sometimes left with a best-loved-stories-from-the-Bible impression. As well as for an introduction to Apuleius, Walsh's translation should be suitable as an aid to research in the classics. It is my guess that even experts on Late Latin would admit to needing occasional help merely to find out what Apuleius is saying, let alone what he means, and there is nothing close to an adequate or up-to-date commentary on the entire Metamorphoses. This translation is literal enough to come to a scholar's aid, and at the same time scholarly enough to use without embarrassment.
• [1] The Golden Ass of Apuleius, translated out of Latin by William Aldington in the year 1566, with an introduction by Louis MacNeice, London: John Lehmann, 1946, p. xxv.
• [2] The Metamorphoses or Golden Ass of Apuleius of Madaura (2 vols.), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1910, p. 23.
• [3] The Transformations of Lucius, otherwise known as the Golden Ass, London: Penguin Books, 1950, p. 25.
• [4] Apuleius: the Golden Ass, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1960, p. 31.
• [5] Apuleius: Metamorphoses, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989, pp. 2-3.
• [6] Illuminations, ed. and with an intro. by Hannah Arendt, trans. by Harry Zohn, London: Johnathan Cape, 1970, pp. 78ff.
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Bryn Mawr Classical Review 97.4.22
John Dillery, Xenophon and the History of His Times. London and New York: Routledge, 1995. Pp. 337. $65.00. ISBN 0-415-09139-X.
Reviewed by Frances Skoczylas Pownall, Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta,
This new study of Xenophon's historical writing is a welcome addition to the current renaissance in Xenophontean scholarship. Leaving aside the notorious and oft-debated question of Xenophon's historical reliability, in response to the "more balanced assessment of the Hellenica" (5) which has recently emerged1 John Dillery attempts instead to gain an understanding of how Xenophon conceived of the history of his times. To do so, Dillery places his discussion of the Hellenica in a larger context by taking into consideration not only pertinent material in Xenophon's other works but also what his contemporaries had to say about the same issues and events. Dillery's enlargement of the scope of his discussion in this double sense explains the title of his book, and the astute reader may have noticed that it is also a play upon the title of Rex Warner's Penguin translation of the Hellenica (Dillery does not let on as to whether or not this is intentional).2 This synthetic treatment of Xenophon's historical writing is both timely and necessary.
In his introduction, Dillery identifies three principles underlying Xenophon's work (15): "panhellenism and a very militarily oriented notion of perfect community life, both inspired by his time with the ten thousand Greek mercenaries; a belief that good leadership was the critical factor in determining the success of an army or polis; that the divine was an essentially provident force working for good in human history." After an introductory chapter (Chapter 1), in which Dillery attributes Xenophon's profound pessimism to his realization, brought about by the indecisive ending of the Mantinea campaign, that disorder was the normal condition in Greece, the meat of this book consists of a thorough examination of each of these three principles. Dillery shows first how Xenophon's conceptions of utopia and panhellenism are typical of his time, but grounded in his own experience and thus have their roots in military thinking (Chapter 2), and then explores how they operate in the Anabasis (Chapter 3) and the Hellenica (Chapter 4). Turning next to Xenophon's interest in paradigmatic history, Dillery analyzes first his treatment of a model good and a model bad community (Phlius and the Thirty at Athens respectively) in Chapter 5, and then the paradigmatic individual, as seen in his treatment of individual commanders, the Spartan Mnasippus, the Athenian Iphicrates, and Jason of Pherae (Chapter 6). Finally, Dillery examines Xenophon's conception of the divine as historical agent (Chapter 7), and argues that he uses this notion as a means to explain Sparta's fall in Book 5 of the Hellenica (Chapter 8).
Although Dillery maintains that the Hellenica is in the main a pessimistic work, he concludes that Xenophon also had a positive point to offer. Through the speeches of Callistratus and Procles in Book 6, Xenophon proposes to his contemporaries that Athens and Sparta should put an end to their mutual hostility and join in promoting a new type of empire, "one based not on force, but on a reputation for fairness and generosity, and the respect and influence that come from such a reputation" (248-49). On a deeper level, Xenophon's belief in the gods as guarantors of human order ensures that his history is not meaningless; there is a divine purpose to apparently chaotic and confused events, even if human eyes are unable to discern it.
There is much that is praiseworthy in this book, not least of which is Dillery's attempt to examine Xenophon on his own terms, marked by his military experience under Cyrus and Agesilaus and his friendship with Socrates. Furthermore, Dillery successfully demonstrates how Xenophon, while very much a product of his times, offers in the Hellenica a conception of history which is, in many ways, unique. Likewise, Dillery is generally convincing in two of the major themes of his book, that Xenophon was not unaware of Sparta's faults and in fact attributed her eventual failure to them (although I am not certain that, in light of recent work on Xenophon, one can still consider "Xenophon as the blind eulogist of Sparta and King Agesilaus" to be the "prevailing view", as Dillery states on p. 100), and that Xenophon presented paradigms of individuals and communities not only for a moral-didactic purpose, but also as a means of historical explanation (perhaps not too surprising a conclusion, given Xenophon's oft-acknowledged interest in good leadership).
Dillery also has some useful suggestions to make on certain points. Some that I found especially interesting and insightful are his interpretation of Xenophon's use of false beginnings as a means to draw attention to the strife endemic in Greek inter-state relations (22-27), his attribution of Xenophon's brief (and puzzling) allusion to the Ten Thousand at the beginning of Book 3 of the Hellenica (3.1.1-2) to his intention to establish them as a model against which future Spartan expeditions can be measured and found wanting (99-119), and his observation (esp. 90-95) that the Ten Thousand is most similar to a democratic polis at the time when it begins no longer to function properly as an army. On this last point, however, Dillery does not quite make explicit the corollary, that the properly-functioning army, with its top-down chain of command, is similar to an oligarchic polis; I wonder if it is possible to explore this angle for another explanation of Xenophon's association of military and political virtue.
While on the whole Dillery delivers the goods (to borrow, in the opposite sense, his blunt assessment of Xenophon's historical work on p. 253), I do have some reservations about certain aspects of this book. I shall begin with what is more an observation than a criticism, that Dillery comes across as somewhat cautious in his argumentation. This tendency can be seen, for example, in Dillery's response to the standard questions associated with the composition of the Hellenica, where he adopts a compromise position on each of the three issues discussed (9-16). Still, in the case of Xenophon, whose work is now increasingly recognized as complex, perhaps a certain amount of caution is appropriate.
There are also some instances where Dillery's arguments appear overly compartmentalized. For example, Dillery concludes that Xenophon's conception of order comes from the world of the military, and cites four episodes from Book 4 to demonstrate that "disorder in the ranks is an almost infallible predictor of defeat in the Hellenica" (28-29). The first two examples come from the eighth chapter of Book 4, which renders them especially significant because Xenophon has introduced this section of his narrative at 4.8.1 by saying that he will only include actions which are axiomnemoneutos. In addition to failing to maintain order in the ranks, Anaxibius ignores the unfavourable results of a sacrifice (4.8.35), while Thibron is distracted from Struthas' impending attack by passing time inside his tent with his flute-player (4.8.18-19), which renders him guilty of lack of self-control, an important quality for Xenophon, as Dillery recognizes elsewhere (134-35).3 In the third example, it is undoubtedly not coincidental that immediately prior to Xenophon's narrative of the destruction of the Spartan mora at Lechaeum (4.5.11-18), we find a hint that Agesilaus may be responsible for the burning of a temple of Poseidon (4.5.4) and a reference to Agesilaus' delivering a group of suppliants into the control of their enemies (4.5.5).4 In the final example, that of the Phliasians' defeat by Iphicrates (4.4.15), one wonders if Xenophon's political views may also be at work, because he makes it clear that the ruling party in Phlius at this time is democratic (and therefore less capable militarily?).5 While it is true that disorder in the ranks is the immediate cause of the military defeat in all four examples, as Dillery makes clear, there are other factors in each which may playa part in the unfavourable result, at least in Xenophon's opinion. This is not to say that Dillery's observations on the importance of order are not important and valuable to our understanding of Xenophon; it is just that there is more in each of these episodes than he brings out.
An argument which I do not find persuasive (although perhaps other scholars will disagree) is Dillery's distinction (36-37) between an "archaic view of the gods as arbitrary or vengeful powers" and an "alternative and opposite understanding" of the gods as the guarantors of order which developed during Xenophon's lifetime. As an example of what he considers the archaic conception of the divine, Dillery cites the phthoneros kai tarachodes deity of the Herodotean Solon (1.32.1). Surely, however, as has been pointed out by Immerwahr and others, Herodotus conceived of the divine as the guarantor of the proper balance in the universe,6 which renders Dillery's distinction illusory. Such a distinction also appears unnecessary in the two episodes in the Hellenica where Dillery finds "vestiges of the old archaic view of the gods as arbitrary or vengeful powers" (37). One is Jason's observation (6.4.23), not long before his assassination, that "the god often takes pleasure in making the small great and the great small." Given that Jason contemplated impiety (6.4.30) and aimed at tyranny (or so people thought, 6.4.32), it is likely Xenophon considered his assassination to be the proper restoration of order rather than the action of a capricious deity. Likewise, the Spartans' overwhelming victory over Argive troops (4.4.12) is not unexpected or arbitrary, because these very Argives had previously been responsible for the massacre of suppliants (4.4.2-3), an episode where Xenophon denounces the offenders in uncharacteristically strong language. Here too, the divine, far from acting capriciously, has restored order. Similarly, I wonder if Dillery's distinction later (184-86) between the limited awareness attributed to the gods during the archaic period and Xenophon's view of the gods as omniscient and omnipresent should not be attributed to genre rather than belief, for all of the examples he cites for this archaic view come from Homer or Hesiod.7 Finally, I remain unconvinced by Dillery's suggestion that with the speeches of Callistratus (6.3.10-17) and Procles (6.5.38-48) Xenophon offers a positive model of a joint Athenian-Spartan hegemony (241-49). First, Xenophon must have had a wider purpose in mind than a narrow political prescription when he conceived of his Hellenica, for it is a work which, as Dillery suggests (11), was intended to occupy a unique place in the Greek historical tradition. Second, the aftermath of both speeches, the Spartan defeat at Leuctra (6.4.1-15) and Athenian bumbling caused by uncharacteristic incompetence on the part of Iphicrates (6.4.49-52), reveal Athenian attempts at supporting Sparta as unsuccessful. Thus, unlike Dillery, I do not see any optimism mitigating Xenophon's bleak view of Greek inter-state relations.
These quibbles aside, this is an work of careful scholarship and deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone interested in Xenophon or the intellectual history of the fourth century. Dillery strikes the right balance in his assessment of Xenophon, not making him out to be an undiscovered genius, but seeking to understand his interpretation of the history of his times (flawed as it maybe, in our estimation) on his own terms. In this aim, for the most part, he succeeds.
1. Dillery cites specifically (4-5, nn. 2 and 3) C. H. Grayson, "Did Xenophon Intend to Write History?" in B. Levick (ed.), The Ancient Historian and his Materials (Westmead 1975) 31-43 and Christopher Tuplin, The Failings of Empire: A Reading of Xenophon Hellenica 2.3.11-7.5.27 (Stuttgart 1993).
2. Xenophon: A History of My Times, trans. Rex Warner, introduction and notes by George Cawkwell (Harmondsworth 1979).
3. See Clifford Hindley, "Eros and Military Command in Xenophon," CQ 44 (1994) 347-66 (too recent for Dillery to consult), which confirms the suspicion that I have always had that Xenophon here refers to a homosexual incident.
4. Cf. Peter Krentz, Xenophon: Hellenika II.3.11-IV.2.8 (Warminster 1995) 138, also too recent for Dillery to consult.
5. Cf. Ronald P. Legon, "Phliasian Politics and Policy in the Early Fourth Century B.C.," Historia 16 (1967), esp. 326-28.
6. See, e.g., H.R. Immerwahr, Form and Thought in Herodotus (Cleveland 1966) 311-14.
7. Cf. Jon D. Mikalson, Athenian Popular Religion (Chapel Hill and London 1983) 113.
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
E-Learning and the Panopticon
What are the ethical implications here?
Should university administration make their presence known when dropping in to an academic course? Who "owns" the course? The university, the faculty teaching it, or the learners enrolled in it? Should class discussions be a private matter between students and insructor? Should students have a right to say who should have access to the "content" they generate during the course? Do students have the right to be notified when someone other than the instructor is ovserving them online?
bill7tx said...
My approach probably would have been to tell the (apparently lying) colleague exactly what I had discovered from the LMS, as soon as I had the information. If the colleague had no reasonable explanation of this discrepancy, and made no effort to do an actual diligent review of the courseware offerings, I would have no problem informing his manager about it.
John Caddell said...
Jane, I loved this post and the "panopticon" metaphor. The dilemma you describe is an important one. I work with call center recordings, reviewing them to help clients find patterns they can use to improve their products, training and customer service.
From my perspective, the most important thing is that the subject of the study must be made aware that surveillance is possible and is likely to be used. The purpose of the surveillance must also be shared. In this case, it's trying to help someone improve.
If the subject doesn't know, it compromises the lessons learned, and causes conundrums like the one you describe.
regards, John
Dave Ferguson said...
This is a tougher question than it appears. One consideration (I'm musing, not asking) is the nature of the arrangement with Megan Manager. Was this a favor for a colleague, or activity included in a formal (as in for-hire) arrangement?
The closer to the latter, the more I'd feel obligated to be candid with Megan, whose interest was in improving the performance or the effectiveness of Ian Instructor. What other resources does she have for determining whether Ian in fact studied the system to the extent he claims?
Whatever that arrangement, having discovered the gap between what Ian said he did, and what the LMS said he did, what's the next step? An email to Ian, making clear that the system does track and that its record differs substantially from his, does two things: makes him aware of the tracking, and lets him know how easily the records can be retrieved.
It's possible, though unlikely, that the system failed to track his activity. It's also very likely that the next time in, he'd spent quite a bit more time, and visit quite a few more pages.
In a corporate or organizational setting, I don't think there's any question: the organization has a right to see data from the progress of its employees or students through courses that the organization provides or requires.
Who gets to see that may vary, but there are few courses with data as sensitive as a list of the employees who consulted the Employee Assistance Program counselors (or the students who visited the Student Mental Health Center). Instructor/student relationships are not protected in the way attorney/client ones are.
Speaking of which, I don't think just anybody should be able to rummage around inside the LMS, but in a hierarchical organization, some people can make that happen--as can a lawyer who delivers an interrogatory.
Tommyboy12 said...
Hey Jane. Love the philosophical tone you're taking. Panopticon is a good metaphor for the new level of surveillance we can all be under. I never considered the rights of the college student, and the effect lurking by management could have on the learner-teacher relationship and the learner's willingness to provide content. Interesting food for thought, as usual! Tommy
Cheryl T. said...
Sometimes we're our own worst enemies, aren't we? How many times have I said, "it's not about us."? Your experience is disturbing. I thought this stuff only happened where I work.
Nagtad Host said...
Jane - I have discovered recently that my employer is now blocking me from blogs, including the professional association blog I lead.
I appreciate very much the protection. Apparently, blogs are only used for personal use, especially e-dating.
I'm sure, my friend, that you get my obscure point. Passing judgment without actually looking for content....liar, liar, pants on FIRE!!!!
RGoutal said...
Quite fascinating topic and nicely introduced. I have been creating my own online course and while it does not utilize any elearning platform, it is somewhat interactive, involving email exchanges and other activities. Many of the lessons utilize a small inexpensive quiz program. When the student presses "submit" the data goes directly to my email box. (I cannot afford an LMS.) This is not evident to the user. Sometimes I am literally watching student punch through the quiz repeatedly 7-8 times in a row, with an start/submit time averaging every 2 minutes. If that isn't "just guessing until I pass" what is it? In a similar way, as I piloted my material, I felt troubled by confronting the user (by email long distance or by telephone) about the silly behavior. It occurred to me that it would be better to have full disclosure, like those phone calls "which may be recorded for training purposes." I subsequently addressed this in the orientation piece to the series of lessons. During the orientation, they try out the quiz mechanism with some guaranteed easy questions, and I respond with an email that shows the exact data that I received after they submitted it. I also comment that I will be observing the number of trials and the length of time it takes to complete the activities. And although the quiz program provides its own automatic feedback, I inform the user that they can expect me to provide help and comments as I observe them work, beyond the built in responses.
In other words, would your dilemma cease to exist if every user were informed of how your eLearning is "transparent" to the trainers, or some such... thus essentially warning your colleague that what time he took online was tracked?
Christiana said...
Great post! As a former higher ed DE instructional designer, I was once almost fired for telling a then-WebCT-hating professor that his course would do just as well in Yahoo or Google groups. The professor thought I was a pillar of academic freedom. The DE director forbade me from speaking to him anymore.
My thought pattern was: at this uni, no one tells the prof what books to select, where to make his handout copies, what to say, what research to do, what videos to show...he has one even looks at him anymore. Why should they suddenly care what web portal he uses to disperse his digital content?
Jane Bozarth said...
Christiana: A professor at NC State University got into trouble some years back for teaching a course via MySpace. Not only did it upset those with access to the panopticon, it upset the registrar/budget people, too.
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It seems coconuts are all the rage these days. Coconut water is suddenly available everywhere and I have recently learned about a whole line of coconut products from Coconut Secret, including coconut aminos and coconut vinegar.
Something else new I learned is that you can harvest “sap” from coconut blossoms, before they have grown into actual coconuts. The sap has a low Glycemic Index of 35 and is nutrient rich, containing a bounty of amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. It is from this sap Coconut Secret sources all its products.
Coconut Aminos
I first heard of coconut aminos while reading the paleo cookbook Well Fed. Having long ago given up soy sauce due to both the soy and gluten content, I was pleased to discover a healthy alternative. Soy sauce, like ketchup, seems to have that uniquely “soy sauce” taste to it that no gluten-free alternative can replicate, and while coconut aminos fail to completely mimic soy sauce they are the most pleasant alternative I have yet encountered.
In addition to being both gluten and soy free, the advantages of coconut aminos over soy sauce also include lower sodium and a higher level of 17 different amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins in our bodies and are essential to our nutrition.
Coconut aminos offer a great alternative to any recipe or food that would typically include soy sauce, as well as being great for making dressings and marinades. While they don’t taste exactly like soy sauce, they do indeed taste good, and I would recommend trying them.
Coconut Vinegar
Anyone who has seen my kitchen can tell you I have a vinegar addiction. I enjoy cooking and making my own dressings, so consequently I have collected an assortment of vinegars over time. Needless to say, I was intrigued by the idea of coconut vinegar.
On the Coconut Secret website they position themselves as a better alternative to apple cider vinegar. They also go into great detail to explain the difference between vinegar made from coconut sap versus coconut water. The end argument being that because Coconut Secret coconut vinegar is aged over an eight to twelve month process and made from sap without any added catalysts to the fermentation process, it is a more natural and more nutritious option to vinegars made from coconut water.
For my personal taste, health aspects aside, I find coconut vinegar to be a nice, mild, slightly sweet vinegar. It won’t have the tang of other vinegars, but it is nice for some of the sweeter dressings or foods you might consume. Unlike the aminos, however, I am not sure if I will restock the vinegar once this bottle is empty.
Along with coconut aminos and coconut vinegar, Coconut Secret also produces: coconut nectar - an alternative to agave, coconut crystals – a low-glycemic sugar substitute, and coconut flour – a low-carb, gluten-free flour. The website is worth some exploring and all the products I tried were of high quality.
Coconut Secret products are available on their website along with recipe tips, nutrition info, and detailed ingredients.
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Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire have been announced!
Celebrity (Trainer class)
From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.
Jump to: navigation, search
050Diglett.png This article is incomplete.
Reason: Japanese names.
タレント Talent
Spr B2W2 Ace Trainer F.png
Celebrity sprite from Black 2 and White 2
Other names
Introduced in Generation V
Appears in Black 2 and White 2
Gender Female only
Male Counterpart {{{counterpart}}}
Notable members {{{members}}}
Anime debut [[]]
TCG debut [[ (TCG)|]]
TCG card {{{card}}}
Manga debut {{{manga}}}
A Celebrity (Japanese: タレント Talent) is a type of Pokémon Trainer that first debuted in the Generation V games Pokémon Black and White 2. This Trainer class is given to Ace Trainers Scarlett and Amie during the filming of their roles as Little Sis Pollyanna in part three of Nate and Rosa's version of the Full Metal Cop Series respectively.
Both Amie and Scarlett use only a single Sewaddle during filming.
Spr B2W2 Ace Trainer F.png Ace Trainer f OD.png
Image from
Black 2 and White 2
Overworld sprite from
Black 2 and White 2
Trainer list
Pokémon Black 2 and White 2
Trainer classes in the Pokémon main series
Unova Ace TrainerArtistBackersBackpackerBakerBattle GirlBeautyB2W2BikerBlack BeltBoss TrainerB2W2Champion
ClerkCyclistDancerDepot AgentDoctorElite FourFishermanGAME FREAKGentlemanGuitaristB2W2Harlequin
Nursery AideParasol LadyPilotPokéfanPKMN BreederPKMN RangerPKMN TrainerPoliceman
PreschoolerPsychicRich BoyRoughneckSchool KidScientistSmasherSocialiteStrikerSubway Boss
SwimmerTeam PlasmaTeam Plasma GruntThe RichesBWTwinsVeteranWaiterWaitressWorkerYoungster
Pokéstar Studios Only:B2W2
A-list ActorActorActressBig StarCelebrityChic ActressChild StarComedianFine Actor
Movie StarNew ActressStar ActorSuit ActorUnique StarVeteran Star
Pokémon World Tournament Only:B2W2
Junior RepresentativeMaster RepresentativeSenior Representative
World ChampionWorld FinalistWorld Runner-up
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Enumerating linear inhabitants
This is post number four in an ongoing series (#1, #2, #3) exploring the combinatorics of linear lambda calculus. In this literate Haskell post, I exhibit some code for enumerating all possible linear inhabitants of a given type, making use of the Logic monad from the logict package. It ended up quite a bit shorter and more elegant than I was expecting. To be fair, however, I haven’t proved it correct, but it seems to work on all the examples I’ve tried so far.
We start with some imports. We’ll be using the State and Logic monads, as well as some Sets to represent contexts.
> {-# LANGUAGE GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving #-}
> import Control.Applicative ((<$>))
> import Control.Monad
> import Control.Monad.State
> import Control.Monad.Logic
> import qualified Data.Set as S
> import qualified Data.Foldable as F
> import Data.Char
To start out, I’m going to simplify things in several ways (more general versions perhaps to follow in some future posts). First, we restrict ourselves to type schemes, that is, polymorphic types where all the quantifiers are at the very beginning. In other words, we rule out higher-rank types. This simplifies things because we won’t have to explicitly represent quantifiers; every type variable will be implicitly quantified. (Also, higher-rank types are scary.) This is not a huge restriction, however, since most of the types we have been considering (with the notable exception of some of gasche’s ideas) have been type schemes.
Second, for now we’ll leave out pairs. This does greatly restrict what we can do; most of the interesting types we’ve explored involved tupling. But we have to start somewhere! I hope to show how to extend this program to pairs in a future post.
Types and Terms
We start out with a representation of types. Due to our simplifications, we have only type variables (represented by Int) and arrow types. We also define a few abbreviations which we can use to help make examples more readable.
> data Ty = TyVar Int
> | Arr Ty Ty
> deriving (Show, Eq, Ord)
> [a, b, c, d] = map TyVar [0 .. 3]
> (-->) = Arr
> infixr 1 -->
We’ll need a few utility functions for manipulating types. result extracts the final result of a type; for example, the result of (a \to a) \to b \to c is c. args extracts a list of the argument types of an arrow type. For example, the arguments of (a \to a) \to b \to c are [a \to a, b].
> result :: Ty -> Ty
> result (Arr _ t2) = result t2
> result t = t
> args :: Ty -> [Ty]
> args (Arr t1 t2) = t1 : args t2
> args _ = []
And now for terms: we have term variables (again represented by Int), lambda abstraction, and application. (As a side note if you’ve ever played with these sorts of first-order term representations with binding: since we’re not going to do any reduction or substitution, just building terms, we won’t need to be particularly sophisticated about names or alpha-equivalence or anything of that sort.)
> data Tm = Var Int
> | Lam Int Tm
> | App Tm Tm
> deriving (Show, Eq, Ord)
We’ll need one utility function on terms, to build up the nested application resulting from applying a term to a list of arguments. We also implement a quick and dirty pretty-printer for terms.
> apply :: Tm -> [Tm] -> Tm
> apply = foldl App
> ppr :: Tm -> String
> ppr t = ppr' 0 t ""
> where ppr' _ (Var x) = pprv x
> ppr' p (Lam x t) = showParen (p > 0) $
> showChar '\\' . pprv x . showString ". " . ppr' 1 t
> ppr' p (App t1 t2) = showParen (p > 1) $
> ppr' 1 t1 . showChar ' ' . ppr' 2 t2
> pprv :: Int -> ShowS
> pprv = showChar . chr . (+ ord 'a')
Contexts and the Logic monad
As we’re going about our search for linear inhabitants, we’ll need to keep track of a context which contains the variables available for our use, together with their types. We can represent this as a simple set of pairs. We don’t use a Map because we never need to look up variables by name, instead we will be looking at the types in order to pick out an appropriate variable to use.
> type Context = S.Set (Int, Ty)
Now for the declaration of our custom monad, using some GeneralizedNewtypeDeriving goodness:
> newtype M a = M { unM :: StateT Context Logic a }
> deriving (Functor, Monad, MonadState Context, MonadLogic, MonadPlus)
What’s the Logic monad? Essentially, it lets us write backtracking searches in a very nice way, and even has combinators for doing fair (interleaved) searches among several alternatives, although we won’t need that facility here. We use return to indicate a successful answer and mzero and mplus (from the MonadPlus class) to indicate failure and choice, respectively. Think of it as a very efficient list monad on steroids. (For further reading on MonadPlus, try reading Doug Auclair’s article in Issue 11 of the Monad.Reader; for more on the Logic monad, see Edward Yang’s article in Issue 15.)
What about that StateT Context bit? Well, while we’re searching for terms we need to keep track of the variables which are available to be used (and their types). When we use a variable, we’ll delete it from the context so that it’s no longer available to be used as we continue our search. And at the end of our search we’ll just require the context to be empty, to ensure that no variables go unused.
Why StateT Context Logic as opposed to LogicT (State Context)? Does it matter? Yes, it matters quite a bit! Monad transformers do not, in general, commute. The LogicT (State Context) monad has a single context that gets threaded around the entire backtracking search; changes to the context are permanent. In contrast, with StateT Context Logic, changes to the context get "rolled back" whenever the search backtracks. Put another way, each alternative search path forks off a "local copy" of the state that doesn’t affect other search paths. It’s this second semantics that we want: if we try something that doesn’t end up working out, we want restore the context to the same state it was in before, and try something else. If you’re wondering how I knew which was which, the honest truth is that I just made up a simple example and tried both! But you can also figure it out by staring at types for a bit: "running" a LogicT (State Context) a computation (using runStateT and observeAll) yields something like ([a],s), whereas running a StateT Context Logic a computation yields [(a,s)].
OK, with that out of the way, we have a few utility functions to define. First, a function to run an M computation by starting it in the empty state and observing all possible results:
> runM :: M a -> [a]
> runM = observeAll . flip evalStateT S.empty . unM
Next, some functions for making up new variables that don’t conflict with anything in the context. We don’t need to do anything fancier than this, since the only time we need to make up a new variable is when we are creating a new lambda abstraction, and the only things that could go inside it are the things currently in the context, or more lambda abstractions.
> freshFor :: Context -> Int
> freshFor ctx | S.null ctx = 0
> | otherwise = 1 + F.maximum (S.map fst ctx)
> fresh :: M Int
> fresh = gets freshFor
Here are functions for extending the context with a new variable and its type, and ensuring that a context is empty. Note how we use guard to ensure the context is empty, so that the whole computation will fail if it is not. The effect is that we can simply state "ctxEmpty" at a certain point in order to require the context to be empty. If it is, the search proceeds; if not, the search backtracks to the last choice point and tries something else.
> extendCtx :: Int -> Ty -> M ()
> extendCtx x ty = modify (S.insert (x,ty))
> ctxEmpty :: M ()
> ctxEmpty = get >>= guard . S.null
The last utility function we will need is chooseBinding, which really forms the heart of the search procedure. It has the effect of nondeterministically choosing and deleting one of the bindings from the current context. To see how it works, first note what the locally defined choose function does: given a binding (that is, a pair of a variable and a type), it deletes that binding from the context and returns the binding. So, chooseBinding gets the context, converts it to a list, and maps choose over it, resulting in a list of actions, each of which will "choose" one of the bindings from the context by deleting and returning it. We then use msum (which simply combines all the elements of a list with mplus) to offer all these actions as independent choices.
> chooseBinding :: M (Int, Ty)
> chooseBinding = msum . map choose =<< gets S.toList
> where choose bind = modify (S.delete bind) >> return bind
Finding inhabitants
And now for the main enumeration procedure. We run the linearInhabitant computation, which gives us all the solutions. linearInhabitant, in turn, calls inhabitant to generate some inhabitant, and then requires the context to be empty.
> linearInhabitants :: Ty -> [Tm]
> linearInhabitants ty = runM linearInhabitant
> where linearInhabitant = do
> inh <- inhabitant ty
> ctxEmpty
> return inh
And now for inhabitant. Given a type, how do we generate an inhabitant of that type? Doing this turns out to be surprisingly easy, given our custom monad and the simple tools we have built up.
First, every inhabitant of an arrow type must be a lambda abstraction. Actually, this isn’t precisely true — for example, if there is a variable of type a \to b in the context and we want an inhabitant of a \to b, we could just use that variable. What I really mean is that it doesn’t hurt to always generate a lambda abstraction for arrow types. Essentially it means we will always generate fully eta-expanded terms, e.g. \lambda a. f a instead of just f. We could "optimize" things so we generate nicely eta-reduced terms when possible, but I leave this extension as an exercise. For now, if we see an arrow type \tau_1 \to \tau_2, we generate a fresh variable x, put it in the context with type \tau_1, and generate the term \lambda x. t where t is an inhabitant of \tau_2.
> inhabitant :: Ty -> M Tm
> inhabitant (Arr ty1 ty2) = do
> x <- fresh
> extendCtx x ty1
> Lam x <$> inhabitant ty2
The other case is when we want an inhabitant of a type variable a. At this point you might (as I did at first) start thinking about two cases, one where there is a variable of type a in the context and one where there isn’t. But it turns out we only need one general rule. The only way to get something of type a is to find something in the context whose result type is a, and apply it to some arguments of the right types. This neatly encompasses the degenerate case where something of type a is already in the context: we just apply it to zero arguments! (If you are at all familiar with the Coq proof assistant, this is essentially the apply tactic.)
So, we nondeterministically choose something from the context and require its result to be the type we are looking for. We then try to generate inhabitants for each of its argument types, and apply it to the generated terms. Notice how we use mapM (as opposed to map and msum) to generate inhabitants for the argument types, which sequences all the computations together. This ensures that the changes each computation makes to the context will be seen by the rest, since we don’t want any of the arguments re-using variables that were already used by previous ones.
> inhabitant a = do
> (f,ty) <- chooseBinding
> guard $ result ty == a
> as <- mapM inhabitant (args ty)
> return $ apply (Var f) as
That’s all! Let’s try it out.
> printInhabitants :: Ty -> IO ()
> printInhabitants = mapM_ (putStrLn . ppr) . linearInhabitants
First we’ll try generating some identity functions:
*Main> printInhabitants $ a --> a
\a. a
*Main> printInhabitants $ (a --> b) --> (a --> b)
\a. (\b. a b)
What about something with more than one inhabitant?
*Main> let aa = a --> a in printInhabitants $ aa --> aa --> aa --> aa
\a. (\b. (\c. (\d. a (b (c d)))))
\a. (\b. (\c. (\d. a (c (b d)))))
\a. (\b. (\c. (\d. b (a (c d)))))
\a. (\b. (\c. (\d. b (c (a d)))))
\a. (\b. (\c. (\d. c (a (b d)))))
\a. (\b. (\c. (\d. c (b (a d)))))
And here’s something a bit fancier, with some sort of continuation mumbo-jumbo:
*Main> printInhabitants $ (((a --> b) --> b) --> c) --> a --> c
\a. (\b. a (\c. c b))
Cool, it seems to work! Next time I’ll show how to extend this to handle pairs as well (but of course, feel free to save this post into an .lhs file and try extending it to handle pairs yourself).
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One Response to Enumerating linear inhabitants
1. Pingback: Monad transformers: a cautionary tale | blog :: Brent -> [String]
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sometimes i think that i am not so stereotypical of an american
and then i remember that i consider the coke freestyle machine one of the greatest modern inventions
i mean look at this thing
it’s beautiful
over 100 choices, computerized mixing, one spout, touch screen, ice dispenser
like wow
have u ever seen anything so wondrous and beautiful??
(via wholockedcumberwumber)
minimum wage doesn’t even TOUCH a living wage, racism and sexism are alive and well, children are killed in schools on a regular basis, those who make it to college end up with hundreds of thousands in debt, our basic rights are being stripped from us daily, and adults actually believe that SELFIES are the cause for this generation’s demise
(via youdtearthiscanvasskinapart)
#let’s play guess the endgame one more time
Okay you know what I was just gonna reblog this and say nothing but you know what, I’m pissed off and you wanna know why?
Ted is a Nice Guy. I don’t mean a nice man, no. I mean the motherfucking “Nice Guy” who moans and complains about how women just won’t flock to him and be exactly who he expects of them. He knew from the beginning Robin wanted to focus on her career before marriage. He knew from the beginning she didn’t want kids. She rejected him time after time before they dated the first time. She rejected him time after time after that, for nine goddamn fucking years. His refusal to stop pursuing her, and accept she did not fucking love him, destroyed his relationship with Victoria TWICE. He is the whiny high school teenager bitching because the popular girl he obsesses over just isn’t into him. He is the goddamn Nice Guy, the kind whose every action, every so-called kind deed is done purely out of trying to get Robin to date him.
Robin motherfucking Scherbatsky was an independent woman who not only relied on herself, but expected the men she wanted to be with to be independent and rely on himself, as well. She was career-minded and strong and independent and self-reliant. Those were the traits that doomed her and Ted.
In this gifset we see that Ted did not respect Robin for who she was. He didn’t want her to be self-reliant—he wanted her to rely on him. He’s like so many men out there, so many Nice Guys. Baby, let me take care of you while you put me before everything else, You’re too independent, Robin. I need you to need me, I need you to rely on me. The reason they didn’t work out was because they both wanted and needed different things in relationships, and that’s okay—what isn’t okay is that instead of accepting that, Ted blames her. Tells her that SHE is the reason why they broke up, and something about her is WRONG. He insults her, tells her that her fundamental personality is wrong, and that she is why their relationship failed; that they they just aren’t compatible, no; because she is broken.
She is so upset at this she goes to another ex. He’s the Jerk, you know; the guy who all the Nice Guys in the world call The Asshole. And you know what? You know what this Asshole does? He comforts her, he compliments her. He tells her that those traits, teh traits she’s been belittled and taunted over, the traits that make her broken, the reason why She Can’t Find A Man, are what make her wonderful. Barney loved her for her insecurities, and he supported her independence. He supported her self-reliance. In one scene, this Asshole prove to be far more accepting and mature than the so-called Nice Guy.
So who do she end up with?
how i met your mother ending is bullshit
I’m angry again lmao!!!
(Source: neuralmente, via romechai)
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Anime parents syndrome (APS); a brief medical exploration
In response to the recent attention towards ‘Anime parents syndrome‘ after the mysterious death of Tsukumi’s mother in Kuragehime, I decided to provide what medical knowledge I gathered concerning this illness that, for years, been killing off our beloved anime protagonists’ parents. Please note that this is a very serious article. If you have any additional information regarding this matter, do not hesitate to share.
For years, numerous anime parents have suffered a slow death inflicted by mysterious illness. Their death caused immeasurable negative impact to the world of anime and also to the well-being of remaining anime characters. To date, the true nature of this disease remains illusive and no curative treatment is available. Recently, in an attempt to create universal understanding, the author have named this illness ‘Anime parents syndrome (APS)‘ and have briefly mentioned this disease in the common health problem article.
Anime parents syndrome (APS) is the chronic idiopathic and usually fatal illness defined by prolonged generalized fatigue and wasting of anime character who is the parent of the anime’s main character.
APS is apparently one of the most common cause of death among anime characters next only to trauma/accident. Its prevalence is highest in female of reproductive age. All of whom already have children. Male characters are rarely affected. APS shows ethnic predominance among Asian population. There have been sporadic cases of APS inflicting more than one generation of characters which raises the possibility of underlying genetic association.
The true cause of APS is unknown. Nevertheless, since APS is the illness of anime parents, there are some speculation regarding the association of pregnancy and this disease. Genetic cause remains a possibility but no solid evidence is yet to be found.
Clinical manifestations
Although fatigue and physical wasting are the staple of APS manifestation, patient with APS may present with extremely wide range of signs and symptoms which are mostly non-specific. The most common manifestations are listed below.
Symptoms: fatigue, malaise, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, chills, cough with or without bloody sputum, difficulty of breathing, exercise intolerance, fainting, weight loss, pallor, muscle pain, weakness of limbs, headache, abdominal pain, chest pain and many others
• pale skin
• dark patch around the eyes
• muscle atrophy or wasting most prominent in cheeks and eye sockets
• epistaxis (nosebleed)
• messy or tangled hair
• tremors of hands on motion
• weakness prominent in lower extremities resulting in walking difficulty
• seizure
• depressive mood, delirium or delusion
• cognitive impairment, amnesia
Diagnosis and differential diagnosis
No diagnostic criteria has been set up. Diagnosis depends heavily on the doctor’s judgment and exclusion of other treatable disease must be made before diagnosis of APS. The differential diagnosis includes other systemic diseases that may manifest with similar non-specific signs and symptoms which includes chronic infectious disease such as human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) infection, Tuberculosis and other atypical bacterial or protozoan infections; malignancy common in young adult to adult population such as leukemia or lymphoma; autoimmune disorder such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
No diagnostic test specific for APS is available. The investigation mainly aims for excluding other treatable diseases which may mimic the clinical picture of APS.
Currently, no definite medical or surgical treatment proves to be able to slow or stop the progression of APS. The general management is mostly supportive and symptomatic. Oxygen supplement should be provided if the patient is dyspnic or develops oxygen desaturation. Blood transfusion is indicated for patient suffering from severe anemia or having anemic symptoms. Adequate pain control is advised. There are some reports suggesting that psychological support from the patient’s close relatives provide temporary improvement of symptoms. Nevertheless, a visit from a long loss love or children of the patient may lead to sudden deterioration of symptom resulting in extremely swift death.
Since the etiology of APS is still unknown, no effective vaccination or secondary prevention is available. The only way to avoid this disease is to refrain from having any children. This method is highly recommended in high risk population.
Take home message: If you are a woman and your children are the main characters of the anime, you will die soon or you are already dead and this is all flashback scene.
Author’s note: the content of this article can be altered if new information regarding APS emerges.
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30 responses to “Anime parents syndrome (APS); a brief medical exploration
1. Only from a physician, ha! Brilliant post – these lines are keepers:
2. I think I’ll believe that anime children are highly stress-inducing, and anime mothers often cover it up nicely until they’re gone. O_o
3. Somehow, anime parents also seem to be accident-prone. Or maybe I’m just thinking about Key protagonists as of late since one parent got hit by a car (but survived) while Tomoya’s mom in Clannad just kinda went and nary a mention was ever made of her.
I think the cure might be to just not have children or send them away for adoption. Make sure you send them so far away that they won’t be able to see you for over 50 years, so that when you get sick when they finally do find you, you’ll already be old and won’t really care.
• Interestingly, if the parents died in an accident, they would just be briefly mentioned like ‘her parents died in an accident when she was young and she was alone ever since’. But if they are alive at the beginning of the show, the parents are more likely to die by APS. ^^
4. I don’t know about this disease. I think it’s all a bunch of hogwash. I mean, here, I’ll make a deal with you.
My wife, Nagisa, happens to be pregnant right now. If she becomes sickly and dies for no apparent reason just because of a child then maybe I’ll believe this junk, but I think we all know that that isn’t going to happen.
5. The cure is to make sure your children don’t have a teary, dramatic life. Hope that they do nothing but go to school or work at a bakery without much difficulty, distress or fighting. Their stress is converted and sent through the air like an air-borne virus, eventually looking for you – the creator – which then results in the APS.
6. You know what’s a good cure for this? Alchemy. Zombification is another viable treatment. What could possibly go wrong?
7. Haha, this was a blast to read. ^ ^
8. Excellent medical explanation as always.
An update on the etiology has just been proposed.
Recent research shows a significant correlation between the condition and exposure to the sudden unexplained white beam of light covering the female external genitalias when shown during their late teens/early twenties, resulting in a slow type of radiation sickness with above mentioned symptoms. Symptoms are usually sub-clinical until old age, however the condition can be accelerated by the high levels of estrogen during pregnancy. Organ failure usually occurs 15-18 years post-partum, but a fulminant case have been described with of a young girl living with her parents in a bakery shop. The credibility of the case is however questionable because of the patient being severely skizofrenic with several optical and auditory hallucinations of a small starfish-fixated girl, as well as having and autist-like obsession with a certain type of bun. There are even reports suggesting this particular girl was seen alive and well some days after she allegedly passed away.
However not only is the mother affected by this strange ray of light.
During pregnancy prenatal post-exposure radiation damage to the featus can be seen as well resulting in the well known Anime Girl Syndrome with girls having atypical cranial growth with hyperthrophic eyes, a small and narrow mouth with severe atrophy of the lips and agenesia of the nose. Often an abnormally hypertrophia of the bosom follows during puberty as explained in one of your previous articles. Usually tendencies of a psycological dependent or avoidant personality disorder follows including a situation-specific motorical development disorder making them drop coffee-mugs and plates when working in a cafe or fall on random young males.
The hunt for a cure for APS continues, and rest assured that a Nobel Price in medicine awaits the fortunate one who finds a cure for this cruel and deadly condition.
• No comment has ever made me laugh so hard like yours! *shakes hand repeatedly*
Who would have thought making fun of Clannad would be this fun? Fuko is indeed an extreme case, closely followed by Nagisa. According to Baka-raptor, alchemy maybe a useful postmortem treatment option. Though I doubt he would care about Nobel prize :P
Anime girl syndrome sounds good but aside from the physical deformity you mentioned, other symptoms are still too diverse to form specific disease entity.
Thanks for a very entertaining comment. ^^
• Well, as I can tell from your blog, quality humour is part of being an MD outside my country as well :-)
Keep up the good work :-)
9. At first I thought you were referring to parents that watch anime. Really interesting article. That’s some serious anime research. It’s SO TRUE!
10. Pingback: Amagami SS ep 22, Tsukasa arc part II – Phase Shift
11. I believe being a single parent also highly raises the chances of APS? Is this correct in your opinion?
• It is likely because the death of single parent affect the child more since the child is left completely alone after that. *seriously contemplating*
• When I think over how many orphan characters there are in my series…it’s a SURPRISING amount. I don’t have exact numbers but I’m having a tough time coming up with a series without an orphan.
• Interesting theory, but I beg to differ. Single parents cannot afford to waste away slowly of anemia since they are the sole income bringers of their household, so they are more likely to suffer from FAFS. (Freak Accident Fatality Syndrome) Please look at police documents detailing the death of a single mother in a car accident, whose pure hearted daughter then went on to live with three unmarried males in the middle of the woods.
• LOL, That’s good theory and there should really be some specific term for Parent’s sudden death even though that may be less common compared to slow, wasting death.
12. Pingback: Kuragehime: anime review – There’s geek for anything, even jellyfish | Canne's anime review blog
13. Pingback: Otaku Links: Mega ultra otaku links 2 | Otaku Journalist
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Jeremiah 3:6-7, I thought she would return but she did not.
"Then the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king, "Have you seen what faithless Israel did? She went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and she was a harlot there. 7"And I thought, ‘After she has done all these things, she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it." (Jer. 3:6-7).
What we see here is an anthropomorphic expression (God using human terms, forms, and means) from God about Israel. God speaks to Israel as a husband speaks to his wife. John Frame sums it up beautifully:
"In Jeremiah 3, God interacts with Israel as a husband with his unfaithful wife . . . this passage deals with God's relation to Israel in history, not his eternal decrees and eternal foreknowledge. The thrust of the passage is that recent history should have motivated the repentance of Israel and Judah, but in fact they continued their spiritual adultery. As their husband, God had hoped (this hope being an expression of his preceptive will) for something better."1
For clarification, the term Mr. Frame used, "preceptive will," is a theological term denoting the will of God that is contrasted with His decretive will. In God's decretive will, He ordains certain things to occur, and they will occur. In God's preceptive will, He allows certain things to occur (like the fall, sin, rebellion, sickness, etc.,) that are not in His decretive will. Another way to look at it is to say that it is God's "permissive" will; that is, He permits sinful things to occur even though sin is contrary to His perfect will.
Nevertheless, this passage demonstrates the manner in which God relates to His people in human terms. Therefore, we should expect human type statements.
• 1. Frame, John, No Other God: A Response to Open Theism, Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 2001, p. 196.
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TurnKey Linux Virtual Appliance Library
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2014 NFL Combine: GM Ted Thompson, Full Press Conference
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2014 NFL Combine: GM Ted Thompson, Full Press Conference
You'll hear the dulcet tones on CHTV's own Aaron Nagler, Brian Carriveau and myself here. I finally feel like a part of the Packer family as Thompson told me "I won't give you my real answer' to my quarterback question
*sniff* I BELONG!
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• -61 points
DG's picture
Why does TT even do press conferences? He basically says nothing. In fact, we should call him Teddy Ruxpin, ask a question, pull the string and get a canned response. "Well it's not unlike any other year of free agency, there are a few more this year." Basically, I will answer all of your questions...without actually answering any of them. Gotta love it, treat it like the CIA Teddy!
Vrog's picture
Scintillating indeed!
MadJam's picture
I'd have Ted on my poker team.
Derek in CO's picture
The guy is just so incredibly vanilla and boring, it's almost like he's Bill Belichick's dad.
Hank Scorpio's picture
Never tell anyone outside the family what you're thinking.
Eraserhead's picture
I killed Sonny.
Jamie's picture
I'd hit it
ray nichkee's picture
I heard TT wants to trade up in the third round to grab a punter. wait that was sherman. He thought he had the next ray guy. Bust.
Arlo's picture
Go away, troll.
Or say something worth reading!
Jack Stark's picture
TT obviously has never read "How to Win Friends and Influence People."
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ChemWiki: The Dynamic Chemistry E-textbook > Development Details > Approaches > Demos > Burning Magnesium
Burning Magnesium
The property displayed in this demonstration uses magnesium metal to display what happens to metal when it reacts with oxygen gas, that is found in the air around us. Magnesium metal and its alloys are explosive hazards; they are highly flammable in their pure form when molten or in powder or in ribbon form. Burning or molten magnesium metal reacts violently with water. When working with powdered magnesium, safety glasses with welding eye protection are employed, because the bright white light produced by burning magnesium contains ultraviolet light that can permanently damage eyes.
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When magnesium is in its metal form it will burn very easily in air. However, in order to start the reaction (the burning) the magnesium metal needs a source of energy. The flame provides a source of heat so that the magnesium metal atoms can overcome their activation energy. Activation energy is the minimum energy required in order for a chemical reaction to proceed. When the magnesium metal burns it reacts with oxygen found in the air to form Magnesium Oxide, which is a compound. A compound is a material in which atoms of different elements are bonded to one another. Oxygen and magnesium come together in a chemical reaction to form this compound. After it burns, it forms a white powder of the magnesium oxide. Magnesium gives up two electrons to oxygen atoms to form this powdery product. This is an exothermic reaction. An exothermic reaction is a term that describes a chemical reaction in which there is a net release of energy.
2 Mg (s) + O2 (g) → 2 MgO (s) + energy
Magnesium is also capable of reducing water to the highly-flammable hydrogen gas. This in turn is ignited by the excess heat given by the reduction reaction.
Mg (s) + 2H2OMg(OH)2 (s) + H2 (g)
• strip of magnesium metal ribbon - 4 inches long
• lighter
1. Hold the piece of magnesium metal ribbon in a pair of tongs.
2. Take the lighter and hold the magnesium metal ribbon in the hottest part of the flame.
3. It will soon catch fire and emit a very bright light.
4. CAUTION DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE BRIGHT LIGHT. Briefly gaze at the light out of the corner of your eye.
• Wear goggles.
• Do not let children do this.
• Do not look directly at the light emitted from the metal.
• Make sure you hold the metal securely with the tongs.
• Keep away from combustible materials.
As a result, water cannot extinguish magnesium fires; the hydrogen gas produced will only intensify the fire. Wear googles that filter out UV light. Throw the powder in the garbage.
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Russia and the Ukraine: Past not dead — or past
by George Will, columnist
March 20, 2014 12:24 AM | 873 views | 0 0 comments | 17 17 recommendations | email to a friend | print
“Boys from another school pulled out the severed head of a classmate while fishing in a pond. His whole family had died. Had they eaten him first? Or had he survived the deaths of his parents only to be killed by a cannibal? No one knew; but such questions were commonplace for the children of Ukraine in 1933. ... Yet cannibalism was, sometimes, a victimless crime. Some mothers and fathers killed their children and ate them. ... But other parents asked their children to make use of their own bodies if they passed away. More than one Ukrainian child had to tell a brother or sister: ‘Mother says that we should eat her if she dies.’”
— Timothy Snyder, “Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin” (2010)
While Vladimir Putin, Stalin’s spawn, ponders what to do with what remains of Ukraine, remember: Nine years before the January 1942 Wannsee Conference, at which the Nazis embarked on industrialized genocide, Stalin deliberately inflicted genocidal starvation on Ukraine.
To fathom the tangled forces, including powerful ones of memory, at work in that singularly tormented place, begin with Snyder’s stunning book. Secretary of State John Kerry has called Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “a 19th-century act in the 21st century.” Snyder reminds us that “Europeans deliberately starved Europeans in horrific numbers in the middle of the 20th century.” Here is Snyder’s distillation of a Welsh journalist’s description of a Ukrainian city:
“People appeared at 2 o’clock in the morning to queue in front of shops that did not open until 7. On an average day, 40,000 people would wait for bread. Those in line were so desperate to keep their places that they would cling to the belts of those immediately in front of them. ... The waiting lasted all day, and sometimes for two. ... Somewhere in line a woman would wail, and the moaning would echo up and down the line, so that the whole group of thousands sounded like a single animal with an elemental fear.”
This, which occurred about as close to Paris as Washington is to Denver, was an engineered famine, the intended result of Stalin’s decision that agriculture should be collectivized and the “kulaks” — prosperous farmers — should be “liquidated as a class.” In January 1933, Stalin, writes Snyder, sealed Ukraine’s borders so peasants could not escape and sealed the cities so peasants could not go there to beg. By spring, more than 10,000 Ukrainians were dying each day, more than the 6,000 Jews who perished daily in Auschwitz at the peak of extermination in the spring of 1944.
Soon many Ukrainian children resembled “embryos out of alcohol bottles” (Arthur Koestler’s description) and there were, in Snyder’s words, “roving bands of cannibals”: “In the villages smoke coming from a cottage chimney was a suspicious sign, since it tended to mean that cannibals were eating a kill or that families were roasting one of their members.”
Snyder, a Yale historian, is judicious about estimates of Ukrainian deaths from hunger and related diseases, settling on an educated guess of approximately 3.3 million, in 1932-33. He says that when “the Soviet census of 1937 found 8 million fewer people than projected,” many of the missing being victims of starvation in Ukraine and elsewhere (and the children they did not have), Stalin “had the responsible demographers executed.”
Putin, who was socialized in the Soviet-era KGB apparatus of oppression, aspires to reverse the Soviet Union’s collapse, which he considers “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.” Herewith a final description from Snyder of the consequences of the Soviet system, the passing of which Putin so regrets:
“One spring morning, amidst the piles of dead peasants at the Kharkiv market, an infant suckled the breast of its mother, whose face was a lifeless gray. Passersby had seen this before ... that precise scene, the tiny mouth, the last drops of milk, the cold nipple. The Ukrainians had a term for this. They said to themselves, quietly, as they passed: ‘These are the buds of the socialist spring.’”
U.S. policymakers, having allowed their wishes to father their thoughts, find Putin incomprehensible. He is a barbarian but not a monster, and hence no Stalin. But he has been coarsened, in ways difficult for civilized people to understand, by certain continuities, institutional and emotional, with an almost unimaginably vicious past. And as Ukraine, a bubbling stew of tensions and hatreds, struggles with its identity and aspirations, Americans should warily remember William Faulkner’s aphorism: “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
George Will is a columnist for The Washington Post.
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HOME > Chowhound > Home Cooking >
Poached Salmon Lore
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When I was a child I remember my mom telling me about a party she went to where the hostess had such a large piece of salmon that she ended up using her dishwasher to poach the fish. Is this something that is possible to do? Dishwasher poaching in general? You just run the dishwasher with "heat drying" without soap and put the fish in there? Has anyone else done this?
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1. I have heard of that, too, but have never done it.
1. Surreal gourmet does this-you can find the recipe at http://www.salon.com/nov96/salmon9611...
1. Oy vey! A few years ago we were hosting a Sunday brunch and I wanted to poach a whole salmon, like 10 lbs. and serve cold. So I wrapped the fish in cheesecloth with lemons, onions, little onion, seasonings and ran through the wash cycle on the upper tray where glasses go. Worked like a charm, fish was moist and succulent. The reason I would NEVER do this again was the smell it left in the dishwasher. I must of ran it 12 times with baking soda to neutralize the odors. The smell kept permeating because every time I ran it, the house stunk up. I thought for a while we would have to buy a new appliance. Not worth it. Either cut up fish or borrow a fish poacher!
1 Reply
1. re: Diane in Bexley
I wondered about that.....
Perhaps if I'm ever in a place where I'm about to get a new dish washer I'll keep it in mind. I'd been getting to the point where I was beginning to think that I'd made the story up.
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HOME > Chowhound > Cookware >
Staub Mussel Pot
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I just scored a Staub Mussel Pot at the local flea market. I like mussels and imagine I can use it for clams, which we like better. But ho knows what else I can cook in it? Any reason I can't use it like a traditional Staub cocotte and use it, say, for foul in the oven?
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1. Similar to a yellow or a red card in the oven ?
A foul fowl perhaps ?
1. Hi, jallenrouman:
Good score. This particular vessel is good for steaming or anything you might want to cook that would benefit from pouring off liquid--the shape and the mesh strainer piece make that a snap. That being said, the base is quite small, so poaching, etc. would not be a great application.
Wahine "won" one of these as a service award, and we use it occasionally. But it is so specialized we keep it at the beach house, where steamer clams are 50 feet away.
3 Replies
1. re: kaleokahu
Very helpful. Thank you both. (And Mahalo to Kaleo!)
1. re: kaleokahu
I have one as well. As Kaleo mentions, the base is quite small. I find it awkward to use on my stovetop grates. I prefer to poach/steam in a saucepan and serve in the Staub. It works in the oven fine as a cocotte for unusually shaped items.
1. re: khuzdul
Nice. Thank you khuzdul. I'm going to give it a try in the oven.
2. What a great score!
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HOME > Chowhound > Cookware >
Did Mauviel phase out this model (6625.24) of copper cookware?
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I remember really wanting a certain mauviel pan 4 or 5 years back but didn't have enough saved up to buy it. I'm trying to find it again online but it seems that it's nowhere to be found. All I was able to find was this link
This specific saucier is nowhere on the mauviel site, and it's a shame. It's the only round pan with some height that is the full 2.5 mm copper gauge, and is a perfect 9.5 inches in diameter.
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1. I have this pan. It's one of my favorites( I also have a larger size version but with only two people use this one more)...looking at both the US and the French website I don't see it anymore. Too bad....maybe you can find one on ebay? I bought mine at SLT several years back but they cleared out t the 2.5mm line some time ago so it's unlikely to turn one up there but you could try calling their customer service to see if there's one hiding on a clearance rack somewhere in the country.
1 Reply
1. re: ziggylu
Couldn't find any on ebay or amazon. I highly doubt anyone will want to part with such a magnificant pan :(. I found the model on some slightly sketchy sites...I'm suspecting they haven't updated their site in a while. Or perhaps I might get lucky, who knows. I'll try to see if they have any contact info. I already sent Mauviel USA an email and will probably give them a call tomorrow, but I will be totally bummed if there is no more these in circulation
2. Hi, tadaki:
Is there some reason the Falk sauciers are unacceptable? I think their small one is still a discounted Try-Me.
I am somewhat dubious that the Mauviel (even if you could find it) employs a full 2.5mm of copper. Some Hound that has this pan should mike it; my bet is, as with Falk, that the 2.5mm is the overall thickness, which would put the copper foil thickness around 2.3mm.
Good luck with Mauviel USA and SLT customer service. They're both terrible. You might try calling Dehillerin or Fantes and talking with someone knowledgeable.
Good Luck,
4 Replies
1. re: kaleokahu
Wow! That try me deal is great! I much rather prefer a large pan, but it's hard to pass up something like that. I'll think about it.
Falk isn't unacceptable but for some reason I wasn't looking into that brand that much. They seem to have the same stuff at cheaper prices. How is the quality compared to mauviel?
1. re: takadi
I think they are functionally the same, and very high quality. Falk only comes with a brushed finish. The handles are a little different--but that's strictly personal preference. I like the polished finish and larger rivet heads on Mauviel, but I like Falk's handles better.
If you want a larger saucier than the Try Me, ask Michael Harp if he'll discount a bigger one a litle bit for a first-time customer. No harm in asking...
1. re: kaleokahu
Eh I didn't think very long and went ahead and bought the try me deal, lol. Oh well. I didn't want to commit to anything too expensive yet and this seems like a perfect little starter to a potential collection.
It looks like though they give a 10 percent discount on any order of 250. So that would make the 3 quart one around 260, still a very good price.
I've been reading around and apparently the Mauviel gauges, though they state 2.5 mm, are actually 2.0 plus the .5 from the stainless steel? And 2.3mm for the falks. Seems like the only ones that are actually 2.5 are the bourgeats, and those are just ridiculously expensive.
1. re: takadi
Hi, takadi:
I have no definitive authority on this, but I think the foil layers on Falk and this Mauviel are identical, about 2.3mm of copper and 0.2mm of SS.
Interestingly, it now seems proven that there *are* 3mm copper SS-lined pans out there, but (a) I've not seen one of these rounded sauciers/sauteuses in that gauge; and (b) I don't think anyone is currently making them that thick. That's one reason why I and many other collectors stick with tin-lined--the universe of really thick vintage pans is then a lot larger. You can wait months and years for a 3mm bimetal pan.
2. That pan is pretty much identical to the Bourgeat. It comes in 4 or 5 sizes, and is the one I almost always reach for when I am using a whisk.
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HOME > Chowhound > Greater Seattle >
Do any Sichuan restaurants use whole, good-quality peppercorns here?
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Hi! I'm a long-time Chow lurker who just moved to the Seattle area from Dallas.
My favorite Sichuan restaurants in Texas—Sichuanese Cuisine in Plano (owned by the same people who run the ID and Redmond locations here) and Mala Sichuan Bistro in Houston—used whole, high-quality peppercorns. Their mala dishes were loaded with large, seedless, explosively glorious huajiao that would leave me salivating.
Fast-forward to today, and I'm very disappointed in the Sichuan food around here. For some reason, Seattle restaurants seem to be extremely stingy with the huajiao: most of the time I can't even tell it's there, and when I (barely) can, it's powdered rather than whole. I have so far been to:
* Spiced (Bellevue),
* Shu Yi (Bellevue),
* Little Garden (Bellevue),
* Bamboo Garden (Bellevue),
* Sichuanese Cuisine (Redmond),
* Sichuanese Cuisine (ID), and
* Seven Stars Pepper (ID).
Out of all the above, I've only encountered whole huajiao at Shu Yi, and the peppercorns were tiny, full of seeds, and extremely weak.
I've found old posts that referenced whole peppercorns being used at a couple of the restaurants on my list, but I can attest that they no longer do—not on any of my visits, anyway.
Does anybody know of a Sichuan restaurant in the Seattle area that uses whole peppercorns, high-quality ones, and is not stingy as hell with them?
Thank you guys in advance! I look forward to being part of the community.
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1. Tacoma Szechuan does the last time I was there. It is in south Tacoma near the border with Lakewood.
1. * Sichuanese Cuisine (Redmond)
I used to work right by there, and every time I ordered the chili fried chicken there were a handful of whole salty blooming spicy peppercorns among the fried onions and chicken. I loved picking them out and chomping on them whole!
1. @BallardFoodie: I'll give it a try sometime, though Yelp shows lots of bell peppers and broccoli in dishes that shouldn't have them. How authentic would you say this place is?
@Brunhilde: How long ago was that? I've been there several times and had pretty much all the obligatory mala dishes, and there have been no whole peppercorns in anything I got. I can taste it (in powdered form) in some dishes, but there's absolutely no numbing going on. Like you, I also love picking out the peppercorns.
Thanks, guys. Next, I'll be trying Spicy Talk Bistro (Redmond) and Szechuan First (Renton).
6 Replies
1. re: basteagow
I don't think that Spicy Talk and Szechuan First will be any better.
There are 2 other places up in Lynnwood - Taste of Szechwan and Szechwan Garden that might be worth exploring. Haven't been to both in quite some time, though.
Also, keep in mind that many of these restaurants on your list like to exercise food censoring for non-Chinese diners. That may be a reason why your peppercorns do not readily present themselves (assuming your avatar matches your real life appearance).
1. re: HungWeiLo
Yes, I'm well aware of that unfortunate phenomenon. I do what I can, without being pretentious, to let severs know I'm not one of "those people." I only order authentic dishes (and often get weird looks, like when I got mung bean jelly the other day), turn down forks, ask for bowls, request extra mala, etc.
I sometimes peek at the server's notepad to make sure they're not writing "watered down for white person" next to my order, and I look at Chinese patrons' dishes to make sure they're prepared the same way.
Even at Spiced, where the ability to individually customize ma and la levels is displayed prominently on the menu, asking for maximum everything still does not result in whole peppercorns appearing—merely a ton of powder being used.
I'll try the Lynnwood restaurants you suggested. Thank you!
2. re: basteagow
About 1 1/2 years, I guess. I always called the order in and picked up for lunch. Oddly, the one time we ate in for dinner it was not very spicy. Maybe they adjust for the Microsoft lunch crowd?
1. re: Brunhilde
Perhaps. Another thing I've noticed Sichuan restaurants here being lazy about is chili peppers: most of them toss them in whole and rely on added-in chili flakes for heat instead of taking the time to chop the chilies. Little Garden is good about this: there's usually a lady sitting in front of a huge tub of chilies in the dining room, cutting away with a pair of scissors. Sadly, their food is otherwise nothing to write home about.
1. re: Brunhilde
Spicy Talk's chef is now at Uway Malatang (though I think he's still involved at ST?)
2. re: basteagow
Its been about two years (come to think of it, that's about when kid #2 was born). I see the yelp reviews seem to suggest a downhill slide recently. If so, its too bad.
3. Interesting discussion. As I write this I'm sitting here eating some Huang Feu Hong Spicy Peanuts (highly recommended, if you haven't had them), chock full of whole peppercorns that are spilling across my paperwork. Anyway.
I'm not sure I buy the argument that they are just catering to white Seattlites by skimping on the peppercorns. I go to Szechuan regularly with a Chinese friend and the food is no different when I go with her. I've had her ask the waitresses for extra ma la but nothing comes of it. Once in a while I'll get something that has good peppercorn coverage but it's really random. Many of those spots (including Bamboo Garden, where I'm a regular) cater to a Chinese crowd, but I wonder if it's really a spice-loving Chinese crowd (beyond what you'd typically get at Szechuan, anyway). My friend doesn't love her food too spicy. So I wonder if in general, the clientele, Chinese and white, of these places is perceived to be not as tolerant of numbness/heat as the customers in a Houston restaurant would be. And so these restaurants think they can cheap out on the peppercorns because none of us will mind.
But I've eaten a lot of Szechuan in NYC and the Bay Area and it hasn't been different. In fact I've generally been disappointed when eating at legendary places like Spicy and Tasty in Flushing because I thought it would be SO much better than what we get here. It was good but not amazing. And not discernibly more full of peppercorns (and in general, I always want more peppercorns). But when traveling, maybe being a non-regular and a blonde does come in to play.
8 Replies
1. re: christy319
Those peanuts look awesome. I haven't had them, but I now surely will!
When you say you "go to Szechuan regularly," are you referring to the name of a specific restaurant (e.g. Szechuan Chef in Bellevue or Szechuan First in Renton)?
I agree that the issue is likely a regional one rather than a matter of racial profiling. Another example would be the fact that, at all of the Sichuan restaurants I've been to in Texas, you're served water by default and tea is extra. Here, they all serve tea by default and water is optional. I'm not complaining, but I don't get it at all.
1. re: basteagow
Yeah, come to think of it, no Szechwan place up here really strikes me as particularly spicy. And I did not grow up with spicy food. It's probably a regional thing.
When I talk about the "racial profiling", I should elaborate that the same standards also apply to Chinese people as well. The waitresses judge you by your accent to make an educated guess as to how spicy you're likely to enjoy your food (based on what Chinese sub-group they think you probably belong to). Shoot, I've had good friends who still assume we like less-spicy less-oily stuff for me and my wife just because "hey, you southern Chinese can't handle what we northerners eat, so let's just take it a little easy on ya".
1. re: HungWeiLo
Good point. The other day I was at Little Garden and ordered my chongqing chicken "five stars," and it was hot enough that you could tell just by looking at it. I'm used to getting surprised looks of approval by Chinese patrons, but this time they thought it looked too spicy—a couple of them even commented on it. And it was indeed very la, but not at all ma. :(
1. re: basteagow
I like the cilantro chicken at Little Garden. That dish has more peppercorns than chicken and the flavor is great.
1. re: HungWeiLo
I just had that dish there last week and there were NO peppercorns! How would I ask them to make it like they did yours?
2. re: basteagow
Basteagow, we're regulars at Bamboo Garden and visit 7 Stars and a few other places occasionally. Haha, there's no "Szechuan Regularly" restaurant...
1. re: christy319
I never thought "regularly" was part of the name, hence the lack of capitalization in my reference. ;) I was just wondering if you were referring to the name of a particular restaurant and had omitted a second word, or the full name altogether.
3. re: christy319
There is much better Sichuan in Flushing and Manhattan than Spicy and Tasty!
This popular Chinese snack Huang Feihong (or Fragrant Crispy Peppers if you will) can also be used in a stir-fry dish, as found in a Qingdao restaurant in Flushing several years ago. Or eaten alone at your desk anytime.
黃飛鴻 Huáng Fēi Hóng or (黄飞鸿) is a Chinese folk hero.
Huang Feihong:
4. Update:
* Returned to Sichuanese Cuisine (Redmond) with a Chinese companion and had her place our order. No peppercorns.
* Szechuan First (Kent): Asked for extra mala; server acknowledged. Very hot, yet no peppercorns.
So I went to 99 Ranch Market for the Huang Fei Hong peanuts that @christy319 recommended, and I'm eating them as we speak. My tongue is numb and I'm in heaven.
Why do I have to resort to a prepackaged snack for my huajiao fix?!
18 Replies
1. re: basteagow
Peppercorns aside, how would you rate Szechuan First?
1. re: Gizmo56
The food is otherwise great and I'd rate it above several of the other restaurants I listed. I'd already eaten at Szechuan First while visiting Seattle on multiple occasions before I moved here, but I wasn't worried about peppercorns back then.
2. re: basteagow
What are you ordering?
1. re: Brunhilde
Chongqing lazi ji, mala ji, xiangla ji, lazi ji, mapo tofu, shui zhu nuirou, among others. At least one of these should have peppercorns, shouldn't it?
1. re: basteagow
Yes, they should. You may have to convince them you will be a regular and that they should not be afraid in holding back by stopping in again and again, until they get it right.
Or perhaps the owners and/or chef are not from Sichuan at all...
1. re: scoopG
Maybe scoopG is on to something. This was in a blog post on peppercorns by Fuschia Dunlop:
"Incidentally, I reckon the main reason for the scarcity of decent hua jiao in Chinese supermarkets is that they are mainly run by the Cantonese, who have little taste for the numbing sensation that the Sichuanese adore. Outside Sichuan, and Sichuanese restaurants abroad, Sichuan pepper is mainly used in spice mixtures, and for its medicinal qualities, so a lack of ma zinginess is not really missed."
It couid be that the cooks up here aren't from Sichuan and just don't see the need for it.
1. re: christy319
@christy319: Thank you; this would explain a lot.
I also have an issue with the quality of huajiao available in stores: small, bland, and full of seeds and twigs. When I cook, I end up tossing 40% of the peppercorns because I don't want to take the time to seed the "bad" ones. I almost want to go back to Plano and ask the owner of Sichuanese Cuisine where he gets his—I wouldn't be surprised if they smuggled them in. They were also way more potent than anything I've bought from a store, indicating that they may not have been sterilized as required by the USDA.
1. re: basteagow
Have you tried the Szechuan peppercorns at either World Spice or Penzy's? I bought a jar at World Spice about a year ago, and found it to be both well sorted and potent, with the caveat that I'm not an aficionado, so probably have lower resolution standards.
1. re: Booklegger451
@Booklegger451: I haven't. My experience has so far been limited to 99 Ranch Market, Asia Food Center and Uwajimaya here, and a few others back in Dallas. I did notice a fancy spice brand, India Tree, at Uwajimaya which clearly catered to white people and had Sichuan peppercorns at $6/bag (insane) which didn't look any better. I think this is why I haven't bothered with non-Asian-specific stores, but I'll give your suggestions a try. Thank you!
1. re: basteagow
World Spice, and to an only slightly lesser extent, Penzy's, are very reputable spicers. World Spice works mostly from bulk, so if you want to try a very small amount of their product for quality, they can probably accommodate you.
2. re: scoopG
Little Garden and Spicy Talk are run by Cantonese.
But having actually eaten in both restaurants and homes in Sichuan and Yunnan, I really don't think the spice levels are off by THAT much. Or maybe I'm too numb to notice these days...but I don't think the spice level of Cantonese-run places like Little Garden are that different than, say, the other non-Cantonese-run places.
1. re: HungWeiLo
Interesting. Do you think the peppercorn levels specifically are pretty close? While I, like the OP, find myself wanting more peppercorn flavor, I have no idea if that's indeed what I'd get in Sichuan.
1. re: christy319
They do indeed have more peppercorns in it. But for me, they add a bit of the sourness/stinginess than just plain hot which is the more interesting aspect for me anyway.
Though I suspect I just don't have that sensitive of a palate anymore.
2. re: HungWeiLo
Sort of a tangent, but would you (or others) mind listing off some of the best (or daresay "must-try") dishes at Little Garden? I have been thre once and it was hit-or-miss from the section designated Hunan specialties. The dinner menu is so long and many names are sort of generic. http://bit.ly/1mdvDR8
Thanks so much.
1. re: equinoise
@equinoise: The good thing about Little Garden's PDF menu is that it's actual selectable text. I recommend copying and pasting the Chinese names of the dishes in which you're interested into Google Images.
1. re: basteagow
And your OP reminded me of a separate discussion on this topic circa 2010, in which I provided photo evidence of whole 'corns in a dish of 2x cooked frog from Bamboo Garden. It's truly puzzling how much variance there seems to be.
2. re: equinoise
Not necessarily the best items there, but some of what I've tried: (I haven't yet fully explored the Hunan section as much as the other stuff)
#7 - plain thick noodles stir-fried peasant-style w/ choice of meat
#26 - wontons w/ spicy broth slapped on it
#35 - Sichuan staple of sliced beef and offal in spicy broth
#36 - same as #35 but with sliced pig ears
The soups are worth trying at least once.
#114 - I like this one, though peppercorn load may vary; I'll have to try #115 next time
#117 - a bit too KFC, but still pretty tasty
#125 - swimming fire fish - but with beef
#152 - irrational love for eggplant
#165 w/ garlic - irrational love for pea vines
#185 - not as good as the handmade tofu at Szechwan99, but the flavor's there
#187 - swimming fire fish
Many of these items use identical/repeated descriptors, altered only by the meat.
The frustrating part about eating there is the wait as they seem to do every dish in the kitchen serially. I almost always get takeout now.
1. re: HungWeiLo
Thanks very much. I need to get back to Little Garden soon. Every time we head east for Chinese food, my family clamors for DTF, Facing East or Bamboo Garden, so it's hard to make it there.
2. It's been some time since I was last there, but I feel like Chiang's Gourmet had the peppercorns the last time I was there.
4 Replies
1. re: BallardFoodie
Thanks! I think I can see some. I wish Yelp had higher-resolution pictures.
1. re: basteagow
I have higher resolution photos of Chiang's... here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/thegast... not sure if you can see peppercorns anywhere--and really only the fish would call for them...
1. re: dagoose
Beautiful pictures!
1. re: basteagow
I have never had good luck with Chiang's, though I know some here like it. Their food seems heavy, oily and bland to me--not spicy or peppercorn-y at all.
2. A bad thing happened this weekend, related to the complaints in this thread.
We've been regulars at Bamboo Garden for years and are very friendly with the waitresses, who take great care of us. While I'd agree they don't use the amount of peppercorns they should, it's always spicy and delicious and not dumbed down.
We went in Saturday and started noticing a bunch of new faces. So many new faces, and all the old waitresses gone. Only the bussing staff is the same. So they cleaned house, or there was a mass exodus. Someone new took our order, and: our pea vines with garlic had no garlic. Our Szechuan crab had NO peppercorn flavor. It wasn't bad, but it was more like a salt and pepper crab. There was no ma la. The other couple things we got weren't meant to be spicy so there was no problem there, but I wonder if it were just an anomaly, or if we no longer have cred there, and are going to get dumbed down food. :(
3 Replies
1. re: christy319
I'm sorry to hear that, christy319. Please report back if you return and have a better experience next time, or if you try a different place altogether.
1. re: christy319
I wonder if it's because of all the real estate transactions going on down that way. Looks like the lot that the restaurant sits on (along with their toy store neighbor - "no, dear, those are not toys for you") is up for sale. The same thing is happening to the lot that houses Joi's. So in short order, 2 above average Bellevue eateries could be replaced with more bland condos and bland sandwich shops / wine bars.
I hope I'm wrong and they're not starting to fold up their tents in anticipation.
1. re: HungWeiLo
They do plan to move, since they know the land will be developed, but they've told us they haven't figured out where they'll be moving to.
2. I order the Chili Fried Chicken at Sichuanese Cuisine in Redmond at least once a week over the last 9 months and often once a month from the Sichuanese Cuisine in ID (where it is called Pepper Chicken).
I would estimate I receive 30+ sichuan peppercorns over 80% of the time, including today. The dish seems to vary slightly over time. Sometimes there are more peppercorns and onions, sometimes there are no peppercorns and onions and it is mostly just chili. There is always an obscene (positive) amount of chiles.
It is my favorite dish in Seattle. I am new to wok cooking and my attempts at finding recipes or history on this dish led me to this thread. I have found a similar dish called Chef's Special Dry Chili Chicken or Tony's Chicken with Three Chili (they appear different but similar) from Lao Sze Chuan in Chicago.
If you know more about this dish, history/preparation, please share. I am working on sourcing proper Sichuan peppercorns now (like I receive in the dish from Sichuanese Cuisine in Redmond regularly). Their menu describes it as Chongqing style and Sichuan style.
I hope you have a chance to try the dish again and receive it with peppercorns. It might be worth asking. I find if you're there (in Redmond) after around noon on weekdays, there is a gentleman with perfect English that is friendly and knowledgeable and should be able to help ensure you get what you're looking for.
13 Replies
1. re: TimDogg
I think I know that dish as Chong qing hot chicken:
If that's the same one, you can reliably find that on Szechuan menus, though it sounds like you've found a great version. Thanks for the tip.
1. re: christy319
That dish is sometimes listed as 1000 chili chicken and is really outstanding when done with bone-in dark meat chunks rather than breast meat, if you are lucky enough to find it that way. Getting it for takeout tomorrow just two hours north of you :-).
The quest for ma la and a proper huajiao fix is a familiar one -- my holy grail is topnotch waterboiled fish, ideally with lots of whole green Sichuan peppercorns (I prefer the green to the more ubiquitous red or yellow). Anyone have a favourite spot for sho zyu yu in Seattle?
1. re: grayelf
Sho zyu yu is my absolute favorite. Seven Stars Pepper does the best version, I think.
1. re: Brunhilde
Cool, thanks! Does the Seven Stars version have just beans sprouts or does it also include glass noodles, a variation I think may be Shanghainese?
1. re: grayelf
Are you guys talking about water boiled fish (one of the many names for the dish)? I'm not getting any Google results for the name you use. If so, Bamboo Garden's Swimming Fire Fish is my favorite version of this dish I've ever had, from NYC to BC ( disclaimer: I've never had it on China). 7SP version is lackluster IMO, or, at least it was-maybe I need to give it another shot. I don't think mine came with sprouts or anything but fish, which was one of my complaints.
1. re: christy319
That is indeed one of the legion of names it shows up under in the English version on menus. I learned how to say the dish's name phonetically because of the many variants. I'm sure I'm still mangling the pronunciation/intonation, but so far I've been able to order it in a number of restaurants without incident. I rather like Swimming Fire Fish -- that's one I hadn't seen before.
1. re: christy319
I don't doubt that it could be made better. I've had it at three places in the ID, 7SP is the one we go back to. I've never been to Bamboo Garden, if I ever get to that side of the lake with someone willing to try it with me I'll have to check it out.
(being carless means I make it to the east side maybe once a year)
1. re: Brunhilde
I'm familiar with the pepper fried chicken we've been talking about, but I'm not at all familiar with this fish dish. This is another really hot dish with sichuan peppercorns?
1. re: TimDogg
I don't find it particularly hot though it often comes covered with a layer of whole chile peppers and lotsa hua jiao or Sichuan peppercorns. These are typically skimmed off with a slotted spoon and then you dig in to tender chunks of white fish suspended in a broth and oil combination. Underneath the fish will be either bean sprouts and/or glass noodles, though I've occasionally run across other veg such as cabbage. Beef can also be done this way but I prefer the fish.
Clearly there are variants as you can see from these images: https://www.google.ca/search?q=water+...
1. re: grayelf
All the versions I've had are fish & cabbage, but that's the description of what I've had. At Sichuanese Cuisine it's the "Sichuanese Boiled Fish" (I've only had this at the ID location because my Redmond co-workers wouldn't go for it), at 7SP it's "Boiled Fish with Hot Sauce", and at Red Lantern it's "Sichuan Boiled Fish".
I pretty much only get it when I go with our work group downtown, and we always order a boat load of dishes and eat everything family style. And I'm never the one ordering because they all speak Chinese.
2. re: TimDogg
It's exactly as spicy as it should be. :) (It's not really that spicy, but it looks like it is). The Bamboo Garden version has wood ear mushrooms, tofu and sprouts, and I love the extra stuff in it. Lol, the fish is probably my least favorite part. I've seen the dish made with tofu, and with chicken, in the Bay Area--I think a similar broth is used as the base for a lot of different combos.
I actually haven't been back to BG since the staff change fiasco I described earlier in this thread (this is the longest I've gone without going there in...ever) and I'm really scared they won't serve us the right version of Swimming Fire Fish, that they'll dumb it down somehow. I will be crushed.
2. re: TimDogg
That was one of my favorites there as well when I worked on the East Side! Glad to hear that they're still loading it with spice.
We used to order for my office of 4 the Chili Fried Chicken, Hot Beef Chow Mein, Dry Fried Green Beans, and the Fried Dumplings. I remember because I was always in charge of calling :)
1. re: TimDogg
I just had this again this week and took pics of the sichuan peppercorns. It was great, btw.
(I had already separated out the chili peppers, FYI)
2. Is there a good Mapo Tofu in the ID or elsewhere in Seattle proper? This should have huajiao.
Thanks, Pete
1 Reply
1. re: ClubChapin
I haven't found mapo tofu with whole huajiao anywhere around here—just a hint of powder. That said, my favorite is Sichuanese Cuisine's.
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-- Blogmeister
Sophia's blog-
Mr. G's Blog
Mr. G's Class Facebook Page
by teacher: Alfonso Gonzalez
Blog Entries
This week and the last week we were doing environmental experiments on how different materials can change over time! The materials that we used was red sand, yeast, polyachrylate, radish's, and brine shrimp. We put them all into viles which were filled with three different liguids that were filled with salt water, sugar water, and plain water. There was no changes for any of the materials in salt water, they were all nonliving. Even the brine shrimp didn't hatch in the salt water, which is very unusual because that's where brine shimp live. For the sugar water only 2 materials were living which were the radishes and the brine shrimp. The radishes are living because they grew sprouts and the brine shrimp was living because they moved and hatched. In the regular water 2 things were living which were the same things that were living in the sugar water. Some of the living features appeared nonliving because they only can live in certain waters. Some things can't live in salt water, sugar water or regular water. Also seeds hibernate so they don't live or grow sometimes. This is my blog for the environment, thanks for reading!
Article posted October 20, 2011 at 12:26 PM • comment • Reads 63 • see all articles
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Canadian Mathematical Society
Canadian Mathematical Society
location: Publicationsjournals
Search results
Search: All articles in the CMB digital archive with keyword lattice
Expand all Collapse all Results 1 - 8 of 8
1. CMB 2014 (vol 57 pp. 277)
On Mutually $m$-permutable Product of Smooth Groups
Categories:20D10, 20D20, 20E15, 20F16
2. CMB 2012 (vol 57 pp. 132)
Mubeena, T.; Sankaran, P.
Twisted Conjugacy Classes in Abelian Extensions of Certain Linear Groups
Keywords:twisted conjugacy classes, hyperbolic groups, lattices in Lie groups
3. CMB 2011 (vol 56 pp. 659)
Yu, Zhi-Xian; Mei, Ming
Asymptotics and Uniqueness of Travelling Waves for Non-Monotone Delayed Systems on 2D Lattices
We establish asymptotics and uniqueness (up to translation) of travelling waves for delayed 2D lattice equations with non-monotone birth functions. First, with the help of Ikehara's Theorem, the a priori asymptotic behavior of travelling wave is exactly derived. Then, based on the obtained asymptotic behavior, the uniqueness of the traveling waves is proved. These results complement earlier results in the literature.
Keywords:2D lattice systems, traveling waves, asymptotic behavior, uniqueness, nonmonotone nonlinearity
4. CMB 2011 (vol 54 pp. 645)
An Extension of Craig's Family of Lattices
Categories:11H31, 11H55, 11H50, 11R18, 11R04
5. CMB 2011 (vol 54 pp. 277)
Farley, Jonathan David
Categories:06D05, 06D50, 06A07
6. CMB 2008 (vol 51 pp. 15)
Aqzzouz, Belmesnaoui; Nouira, Redouane; Zraoula, Larbi
The Duality Problem for the Class of AM-Compact Operators on Banach Lattices
We prove the converse of a theorem of Zaanen about the duality problem of positive AM-compact operators.
Keywords:AM-compact operator, order continuous norm, discrete vector lattice
Categories:46A40, 46B40, 46B42
7. CMB 2004 (vol 47 pp. 191)
Grätzer, G.; Schmidt, E. T.
Congruence Class Sizes in Finite Sectionally Complemented Lattices
The congruences of a finite sectionally complemented lattice $L$ are not necessarily \emph{uniform} (any two congruence classes of a congruence are of the same size). To measure how far a congruence $\Theta$ of $L$ is from being uniform, we introduce $\Spec\Theta$, the \emph{spectrum} of $\Theta$, the family of cardinalities of the congruence classes of $\Theta$. A typical result of this paper characterizes the spectrum $S = (m_j \mid j < n)$ of a nontrivial congruence $\Theta$ with the following two properties: \begin{enumerate}[$(S_2)$] \item[$(S_1)$] $2 \leq n$ and $n \neq 3$. \item[$(S_2)$] $2 \leq m_j$ and $m_j \neq 3$, for all $j
Keywords:congruence lattice, congruence-preserving extension
Categories:06B10, 06B15
8. CMB 2002 (vol 45 pp. 483)
Baake, Michael
Diffraction of Weighted Lattice Subsets
Keywords:diffraction, Dirac combs, lattice subsets, homometric sets
Categories:52C07, 43A25, 52C23, 43A05
© Canadian Mathematical Society, 2014 :
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45775
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RDLC mraster-detail report in ASP.NET (CSASPNETRDLCMainSubReport)
This ASP.NET sample demonstrates how to build a detail-report which get data from SQL Server based on a primary key passed from the master-report, then use the ReportViewer control to show that master/detail report in the web page.
C# (73.9 KB)
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45776
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MSDN Samples Gallery - Frequently asked questions
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Last modified on 6 February 2012, at 07:35
Globus cruciger
The globus cruciger (Latin) is an orb (globus) topped with a cross (cruciger), a Christian symbol of authority used throughout the Middle Ages on coins, iconography and royal regalia. It symbolises Christ's (the cross) dominion over the world (the orb), literally held in the dominion of an earthly ruler (or sometimes celestial being such as an angel). The first known use was in 423 on the reverse side of the coins of Emperor Theodosius II.
The globus cruciger was used by powerful rulers and celestial beings alike; it adorned portrayals of both emperors and archangels. It first appeared on coins in the early 5th century and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages in coins, iconography and royal regalia. Even in the modern era in England, the Sovereign's Orb symbolises both the state and Church (of England) under the protection and domain of the royal crown.
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Background and Flavour for the Avern, a HB Race
1 post / 0 new
So I've written up the stats for the Avern, a 'somewhat airborne' race, but I haven't really thought much about the flavour. While it's not strictly character development, I wondered if anyone had any particular ideas that would make this race interesting more than just mechanically.
All I particularly have in mind for these creatures is that they're fairly reclusive, living high up on mountain peaks and in towns carved into tall cliffsides, and are relatively peaceful and thoughtful, at least as far as they don't tend to go to outright war.
I want to avoid having them be too much like generic birdmen, and I have the idea that they're not too radical in appearance.
Really, anything you think of might be useful, from creative names for their feats to a design of their concept of civilisation. I'm trying to stick to the official race format as much as possible, so ideas for example characters would be helpful too.
Please take a look at Avern - a Somewhat Airborne Race! Possibly my favourite thread of all time!
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Discovering the Jewish Jesus
Jesus Christ is the most famous Jew of all time, but is today remembered as a Christian.
Surprisingly, the Jewish community has accepted this distortion of history, and tends to regard Jesus as an apostate. How odd that the Jews would accept a Christian version of one of their brethren rather than seeking to discover the man entombed beneath the myth.
Like a mummy whose bandages must be removed, 2,000 years of Christian gauze must be stripped away so we may discover the Jewish Jesus. We may do so by reading the original story of Jesus in the New Testament, before it was modified by Pauline and Lucan editors, who worked after the failed Jewish rebellion against Rome in the years 66-70, and whose intention it was to make Jesus less Jewish and more Roman, less a political rebel against Roman rule and more a Jewish religious revolutionary who inveighed against a corrupt Jewish hierarchy.
These Christian editors hid the real Jesus' message of political revolution against Rome, thereby transforming him into a sound-bite-speaking do-gooder who loved the Romans and hated his people.
THE REAL Jesus was a deeply religious Jewish patriot who despised the Romans for their cruelty to his people and for their paganism. He never once abrogated the laws of the Torah, and expressly condemned those who advocated doing so (Matt. 5:18). Jesus walked the earth with a yarmulke and a beard rather than a halo and a cross.
The portrayal of Jesus as being at odds with the Pharisees, the Jewish rabbinical leadership, is a later Christian device designed to implicate the Jews in Jesus' death. The proof that Jesus was a committed Pharisee throughout his life can be gleaned from how nearly all of his teachings are merely restatements of classical biblical and Pharisaic (talmudic) teachings.
Examples include some of Jesus' most celebrated sayings, like the Sermon on the Mount's "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," which is a restatement of Psalms 3: "The meek shall inherit the earth, and delight themselves in the abundance of peace."
Likewise, Jesus' pronouncement that "If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. 5:39) is a restatement of Lamentations 3:30: "Let him offer his cheek to him who smites him."
When Jesus is described by the Gospels as desecrating the Sabbath, he offers well-reasoned talmudic arguments for doing so, arguments based on sound Pharisaic teachings. As Hyam Maccoby writes in The Mythmaker: "Jesus' celebrated saying, 'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' is found almost word for word in a Pharisee source, where it is used to support the [rabbinical] doctrine that the saving of life takes precedence over the law of the Sabbath."
Jesus shows no interest in founding a new religion or in converting non-Jews, a point he makes repeatedly in the Gospels. Indeed, at various points Jesus expresses contempt for Gentiles (Matt: 10: 5-7, Matt. 15:22-26), an attitude that would be consistent with the extreme anti-Romanism he preached.
WHILE CLAIMING to be the Jewish messiah, Jesus did so only in the Jewish historical sense of a promised Jewish king who would arise to fight Israel's enemies, evict them from Israel and reestablish Jewish sovereignty over the Holy Land. Fired by his religious zealotry, Jesus' intention was to lead a political insurrection against Roman occupation, for which he was killed.
Luke 23:2 makes it abundantly clear that the charge against Jesus was political rebellion: "We found this fellow perverting the nation and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ, a King." This is also why we find Jesus instructing his followers each to buy a sword, in preparation for a military action with the Roman cohort in the Garden of Gethsemane.
The Romans ordered his swift execution because any claimant to the throne of David was met with instant crucifixion. Jesus' enemy was therefore the corrupt Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, who was Rome's political muscle in Jerusalem and was despised by his fellow Jews as a collaborator.
Indeed, Luke 13:31 makes it clear that the rabbis had previously saved Jesus' life, and that the Pharisees later saved the lives of Peter, Paul, and the rest of the apostles from execution by the corrupt High Priest and his cronies (Acts 5:33-40; 23:6-9).
MANY JEWS today believe that the rabbis hated Jesus because he claimed to be divine, but he never made any such claim. His oft-repeated expression, "Son of Man," is common among Jewish prophets, especially Ezekiel. Likewise, Jesus' penchant for speaking in God's name in the first person singular is practiced by Moses in Deuteronomy and by Elijah in the book of Kings. Prophets often failed to distinguish between themselves and God, since they were deputized to speak in God's name.
Later, after millions of Jews were killed in the revolt of the years 66-70, the Gospels were edited to purge Jesus of any trace of anti-Roman vitriol. The story was changed to a conflict between Jesus and the hated Jews rather than Jesus and the powerful Romans. But the editing was incomplete, and a great deal of the original story remains, especially since there were so many different Gospel texts.
The transformation of Jesus from lover of Israel to a sworn enemy of the Jewish people, with John 8 quoting Jesus as berating the Jews as children of Satan who are condemned to damnation in hell, is a contemptible act of character manipulation that led to 2,000 tragic years of Christian anti-Judaism.
Restoring Jesus to his Jewish roots, by contrast, could usher in a new era of Jewish-Christian rapprochement. Jews and Christians may not meet through the same religion. But for the first time in two millennia they can forge a bond of kinship using the personality of Jesus of Nazareth as a bridge, even as they continue to understand him in completely different ways.
The writer, a rabbi and author, regularly participates in broadcast discussions with leading Christian scholars and is currently working on a book on the Jewish identity of Jesus (www.shmuley.com).
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mobile photography technology, culture and community
Simple Photo Tips: 6 steps to sharper photos
Getting a sharp image with your smartphone is not difficult. Two things that help make it happen are good light and a steady grip of the device.
The rapid adoption of smartphone cameras has introduced a wider audience than ever to the joys of making pictures. And if you're new to photography, nothing is more frustrating or perplexing than feeling like you've got a great shot, only to find that it's come out blurry. The good news is that there are concrete, practical steps you can take to maximize your chances of capturing a crisp, sharp image. In this installment of our Simple Photo Tips series, I'll show you six of them.
Clean your lens
It may seem a bit obsessive to carry around a lens cloth for your phone, but keeping the lens's optical path clean is one of the most basic ways to improve picture quality. Whether your lens sits flush with the phone's exterior or even worse, extends outward, it's inevitable that a finger or other oil-depositing object will frequently come into contact with its clear protective cover, leaving residue that can smear image details.
Fingerprints can leave smudges that appear in your photos as vertical smears that are particularly noticeable with brightly lit objects against dark backgrounds like the lampposts you see in this image.
A quick wipe with a clean lint-free cloth (available from any camera or eyewear shop) before you start the day's shooting session ensures a clear view of your subject.
Get a (good) grip
There's no denying the convenience and portability of a smartphone compared to even a compact standalone camera. It's equally true, however, that the small size and light weight of smartphones can actually make them more difficult to hold steady while taking a picture. And a shaky camera equals a blurry photo. The most stable method of holding your smartphone is with two hands, whether you're holding the phone in a horizontal (landscape) or vertical (portrait) format. Just as with a dedicated camera, keep your elbows tucked in towards your body and hold the phone closer to your face rather than extending it at arm's length.
To minimize camera shake, keep the phone as steady as possible. I recommend a two-handed grip with your index fingers resting along the phone's top edge and your remaining fingers curled and supporting the camera from its lens-facing side.
When shooting in portrait orientation, wrap one hand around the rear of the phone and use the other to provide additional support with your thumbs positioned to use either the onscreen or physical shutter button.
If you take a picture by tapping the screen, you should know that many phones and/or camera apps allow you to designate the volume button as a shutter release, eliminating the possibility of nudging the phone while tapping the onscreen shutter button. The iPhone, shown in the example above, has its volume "+" button along the side of the phone and in both images my left thumb is positioned to use it to take the picture. The size of your phone and your hands may influence your choice of external versus onscreen shutter release. Use whichever feels more comfortable and of course, results in less camera movement.
You may also find that a hard rubber 'bumper'-style case provides a more reassuring grip. And if you have larger hands, a phone case that creates a larger surface area may actually feel more comfortable in hand.
Zoom with your feet
All current native smartphone lenses have a fixed focal length, and it's a relatively wide one, anywhere from about 28mm to 35mm (compared to a full frame camera sensor). Any zoom features on offer are of the digital, rather than optical variety. This means that the image is simply resized, or more specifically, upsampled, after the image is taken to produce a magnified view. Digital zoom always produces a lower quality, less detailed image.
This indoor shot was taken with my iPhone set to its maximum zoom.
In this 100% crop you can see obvious upsampling artifacts.
What's more, magnifying your scene elements, whether by optical or digital zoom will actually accentuate the effects of any camera shake. Photographers have always countered this by purposely setting faster shutter speeds when shooting with telephoto lenses; an option you may not have on your phone. So the next time you're tempted to drag your camera's zoom slider, use your feet instead and get closer to your subject. You'll end up with a much clearer and more detailed image as a result.
Shoot in good light
The best hand-holding technique in the world won't help much if your subject is moving during the length of the exposure. Smartphone lenses have a fixed aperture (the size of the lens opening) so one way your camera controls scene brightness is via the shutter speed (the amount of time the sensor receives light). When you shoot in low light, the shutter will stay open longer to allow enough light to produce an image. Unfortunately, this can make it all too easy to record even the slightest movement by your subject. This is known as motion blur.
Shooting outdoors under a bright sky lets the camera choose a shutter speed high enough to freeze even fast movement.
Choosing a location with ample light also allows your camera to choose a low ISO setting, which gives a more detailed, sharper image.
The other method your camera has at its disposal for handling low light scenes is increasing the ISO setting, in essence making the sensor more sensitive to light. There's no such thing as a free lunch, however, as this increased sensitivity inevitably leads to a nosier, less detailed image.
Use an anti-shake app
There are times, obviously, when you're forced to hold your smartphone in a less than ideal position or shoot in dim light. In those instances, you'll be thankful for having an app with an 'anti-shake' option.
The ProCamera app for iOS has an Anti-Shake option that automatically waits until the camera is still before taking a picture. Camera ZOOM FX provides this functionality for Android users.
Name aside, 'anti-shake' doesn't actively prevent camera motion. Instead, this feature uses the phone's accelerometer to detect when the camera is still. You press the shutter button as usual, but now the camera will hold off on taking an exposure until it detects no camera movement. In addition, since the shutter is fired after you press the button, you don't run the risk of accidentally nudging the camera with a shutter button press at the time of exposure.
Carry a minipod
Even in the smartphone era, the fundamental principles of photo technique apply. And photographers have always recognized that taking the sharpest possible picture involves using a tripod. Several small, inexpensive and easy to use options exist that are made specifically for smartphones. Joby, maker of the popular GorillaPod, has a range of support options for your smartphone.
The GripTight Micro Stand (US $29.95) is a sleek three-legged tabletop device that supports your phone in both landscape and portrait orientations while providing 36 degrees of tilt in any direction.
The GripTight Micro Stand is a tabletop tripod that tilts 36 degrees in any direction ...
... and packs down into a 3.2-inch long package when folded.
The company also offers mounts that allow you to use your smartphone with the very flexible GorillaPod (shown below) or any standard tripod's 1/4 inch screw thread.
For a more flexible (literally) option when a flat surface is not available, the GorillaPod provides bendable legs that can be secured around irregular objects.
The final word
As you can see, getting a sharp picture isn't just random luck, but it doesn't require a Herculean effort either. All it really takes is being conscious of keeping the camera as still as possible. Try one or more of these tips the next time you pull out your camera phone and you'll see sharper results that are well worth the extra bit of effort.
Total comments: 8
Deleted pending purge
By Deleted pending purge (Nov 25, 2012)
There's another tip so often forgotten, and that is to read a book or two on photography. It does not matter what hardware one uses; from the days of photographic plates till today, the light remained the same, and the great part of the "old" knowlege still applies. Having apps to evade ooops! is just not enough. :)
You're welcome to use some of those:
Comment edited 2 times, last edit 4 minutes after posting
1 upvote
By CorrectingPeople (Nov 24, 2012)
The Nokia N93 had optical zoom and yes, it is a smartphone. S60v3 had more functionality than iOS for a long time.
David Hart
By David Hart (Nov 24, 2012)
Carry a cloth to clean the lens? What is this, the dark ages?
I would recommend a small Lens Pen. All a cloth does is spread oil and dust around and scratch the lens. Use the brush side of the Lens Pen to clean away dirt and dust off the lens. Then use the round tip end, and it's carbon compound, to clean up the remaining oil smudges. You'll be amazed at the results.
Use a micro-fiber cloth to clean fingerprint smudges on your phone or tablet. Anything else can remove coatings and,over time, reduce touch sensitivity.
By massimogori (Nov 23, 2012)
7 - Use a real camera.
By evoprox (Nov 23, 2012)
... not trendy enough; what will my friends say ???
Amadou Diallo
By Amadou Diallo (Nov 23, 2012)
Sure, but every tip here other than zoom and app apply to "real" cameras as well.
By Mishobaranovic (Nov 24, 2012)
They are real cameras.
1 upvote
By neo_nights (Nov 24, 2012)
Photosnob detected!
Total comments: 8
About us
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Friday, April 20, 2012
I've moved. Like, deal, and stuff.
Looking for that sweet, sweet, Constant Revisions goodness you'd become accustomed to? Alas, my blog is no longer hosted here. I decided to go all professional and get my own domain. All the cool kids were doing it. I'm a sucker for peer pressure.
Vodka? Yes, please!
You can find my musings, and all my archives--ranging from sententious to silly--at the new site:
Click on through for your daily (or, er, weekly) dose of snark, sarcasm, and random, won't you?
Hope to see you there, friends!
1. Oh no! Wordpress! :( Grrr ... but you twisted my arm with that vodka pic ...
2. I was just thinking about you the other day...wondering what was going on in your writing life, where you'd gotten off to. I will check out your new domain. Is this what the cool kids are doing???
3. Jessica: Just doing my bit to evade the Google hegemony. You know how it is. :)
Yvonne: This is what *I'm* doing. Don't know what the cool kids are doing. You could always ask them. ;)
Marsha: My thanks, good lady. See you over there!
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Journal Publishing Compared to Slavery
CommuniK Commentary by K. Matthew Dames
“Traditional publishers are the slave traders. And the research articles and the many academics are the slaves.” — Richard Smith, board member, Public Library of Science (PLoS).
Last month, Richard Smith, a member of the board of directors at the Public Library of Science (PLoS), gave a speech (.mp3) in which he accused journal publishers of acting like slave owners and open access of acting like abolitionists. A PowerPoint presentation (.ppt) containing gory images of slavery accompanied the speech.
While we at Copycense support the core aims of the open access movement, we find any attempt to use the gruesome, wrenching, genocidal reality of human slavery as a comparative or promotional tool for open access is insulting and entirely unacceptable.
As we condemned former MPAA CEO Jack Valenti for comparing piracy to terrorism, and RIAA spokesperson Matthew Kilgo for comparing the profit from mixtapes to profits gleaned from the sale of illicit drugs, we must also condemn Richard Smith for comparing publishers to slave traders.
The increasingly dark, dire imagery used to characterize issues within the digital content debate too often goes far beyond framing, spin, or public relations. Language like this is grossly unprofessional and personally indecent. Nothing in this debate is nearly as urgent or serious as terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, or slavery, and the people who insist on perpetuating this language should be censured. Enough is enough.
Written by sesomedia
03/19/2007 at 09:00
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Article from:
Creation Volume 32Issue 2 Cover
Creation 32(2):46–47
April 2010
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Bones of Contention (Revised and Updated)
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Human evolution: oh so clear?
© iStockphoto/Haze64
Some evolutionists claim that orangs are our closest relatives, not chimps.
Everyone ‘knows’ that humans shared a common ancestor with chimpanzees. DNA similarities prove it, don’t they?
The DNA evidence does nothing of the sort.1 Most importantly, similarities could be due to our having a common Creator rather than a common ancestor. Our Creator could have created the similarities to show us that there is one mind behind the design of all living things. Our similarity with the apes connects us to all other creatures, suggesting one Creator, not many.2 That’s one reason we have no excuse for not believing in one Creator-God (Romans 1:20), rather than no Creator (atheism or pantheism) or multiple creators (polytheism). Of course we also have to have the same basic biochemistry as other created living things so that we can have something to eat!
The supposed evidence for human evolution is open to wildly different interpretations, so it is obviously not clear at all, contrary to the propaganda
Some have pointed to precise similarities in DNA segments that they claim have no function (‘junk’ DNA). They say that such similarities must be due to evolution because God would not create similarities in ‘junk’. We will leave aside how they know what God would or would not do. But the notion of these sequences being ‘junk’ is unravelling. The scientific evidence grows daily that these stretches of DNA that are similar are not junk at all, but have functions. That being the case, the similarities are due to function; they have to be similar to function properly.
Furthermore, detailed comparisons of other similar DNA sequences that might actually be non-functional suggest that the similarities are due to a strong tendency of mutations to occur in the same spots in the DNA, not evolution (common ancestry).3
Among the different ‘camps’ of evolutionist views on human origins, there are two small ones whose very existence shows that neither the DNA data nor the fossils prove that chimps are our closest cousins.
1. The orangutan camp
A controversial paper published in 2009 claims that orangs are our closest relatives, not chimps.4 This paper caused a firestorm of controversy.5 The authors gathered a data set of similarities and differences between the various living apes (such as chimps, orangutans and gorillas), fossil apes and humans. Assuming evolution, they found a family tree that best fitted the data. This ‘best’ tree placed orangutans, not chimps, closest to humans. Note: being the best tree does not mean that the family tree is a reality; a collection of designed objects, such as wheeled vehicles or teaspoons, can also be arranged in a family tree using similar techniques.
The idea of orangutans being our closest ape relative is not new; Schwartz, one of the authors of this recent paper, has been arguing this since the 1980s.6
The authors dismiss the DNA data that supposedly ‘proves’ chimp-cousin relationship, commenting: “Molecular analyses are compromised by phenetic procedures such as alignment and are probably based on primitive retentions.” In other words, these authors claim, the DNA data is not conclusive because there are biases in doing any of these studies and the similarities can be explained in ways other than assuming a close relationship between humans and chimps. True!
Interestingly, the editorial in New Scientist, while supporting the publication of the paper, warned of a downside: creationists might use this against evolution by saying that, “this is evidence that the theory of evolution is crumbling”. No, I would say that it shows that the supposed evidence for human evolution is open to wildly different interpretations, so it is obviously not clear at all, contrary to the propaganda that we endure continually.
2. The aquatic ape camp
Other evolutionists propose that mankind had an aquatic ancestor.7 Elaine Morgan is the main proponent of this idea,8 but she has some significant support.
Humans have many features that are lacking in those apes that are normally held up as our relatives or ancestors. Aquatic ape proponents deduce from these differences that we cannot have derived from those apes. They propose that our ancestor must have been some unidentified aquatic primate with those characteristics. They say it evolved into possibly Homo habilis or Homo erectus.9
The characteristics peculiar to humans and absent from our supposed ape relatives include: walking upright, restricted sweat glands with very salty sweat, tears, the ability to hold breath, subcutaneous fat, ability to swim at birth, descended larynx, a soft palate capable of sealing off the wind-pipe (which keeps water out of the lungs) and love of water.
The ever-changing story of human evolution
It seems that almost every paleontologist who finds some primate fossil claims that it demands the radical re-writing of the story of human evolution. This merely underlines the conjectural nature of the whole story. The hype over the ‘Darwin year’ primate fossil known as ‘Ida’ is an example,10 and more recently, ‘Ardi’.11 As one evolutionist quipped some years ago, in reference to human evolution:
No real ‘ape-men’ will ever be found, because they never existed. The only witness to the origin of mankind, God, inspired the writer of Genesis to inform us that He took dust and made a man …
The ‘facts’ of human evolution told 40 years ago in museums and popular magazines such as National Geographic have almost nothing in common with evolutionary stories of today. The ‘ape-men’ of the past have fallen out of the human tree. Some of these include Ramapithecus, Eoanthropus (Piltdown man, found to be completely fraudulent), Hesperopithecus (Nebraska man, based on a single tooth of a type of pig), Pithecanthropus (Java man), Sinanthropus (Peking man),13 Paranthropus robustus, Paranthropus boisei and Paranthropus aethiopicus. We might also include ones once claimed to be directly ancestral to man but now relegated to a side branch of the supposed family tree, such as Australopithecus africanus. I dare say, given another 40 years the story will be very different again, but museums, textbooks and Time will still portray it as the ‘fact of human evolution’.
We are justified in approaching all such claims about our history with a healthy dose of skepticism. No one was there to observe these events and the evidence available today is clearly open to widely differing interpretations, even within the evolutionists’ ranks. No real ‘ape-men’ will ever be found, because they never existed. The only witness to the origin of mankind, God, inspired the writer of Genesis to inform us that He took dust and made a man … (Genesis 2:7).
Related Articles
Further Reading
References and notes
1. What about the similarities between ape and human DNA? Return to text.
2. Also, in most cultures, such a pattern of similarity would bring honour to the Designer and would also indicate mastery of His designs. See Holding, J., Not to be used again: homologous structures and the presumption of originality as a critical value, Journal of Creation 21(1):13–14, 2007; Return to text.
3. Carter, R., The slow, painful death of junk DNA, Return to text.
4. Grehan, J. and Schwartz, J., Evolution of the second orangutan: phylogeny and biogeography of hominid origins, Journal of Biogeography 36(10):1823–1844, 2009. Return to text.
5. Lawton, G., Are orangs our nearest relatives? New Scientist 202(2713):6–7, plus editorial, p. 3, 2009. Return to text.
6. Schwartz, J., The evolutionary relationships of man and orang-utans, Nature 308(5959):501–505, 1984. Return to text.
7. Bergman, J., The Aquatic Ape Theory: challenge to the orthodox theory of human evolution, Journal of Creation 21(1):111–118, 2007. Return to text.
8. Morgan, E., The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis: The Most Critical Theory of Human Evolution, Souvenir Press, London, 1999. Return to text.
9. Some evolutionary paleontologists think that Homo habilis is an “invalid taxon”, meaning that it never actually existed as a creature, but came about by treating the name as a ‘wastebasket’ into which various fossils from different creatures were dumped. Homo erectus is of the human kind. See Line, P., Fossil evidence for alleged apemen Part 1: the genus Homo, Journal of Creation 19(1):22–32, 2005; Return to text.
10. Batten, D., Ida: Darwin fossil hyper-hype, Creation 32(1):44–46, 2009; Return to text.
11. Wieland, C., Ardipithecus again: a recycled ape man,, 5 October 2009. Return to text.
13. The fragmentary fossils of Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus were placed in Homo erectus (part of the human kind, not an ‘ape-man’). Return to text.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45842
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Social Security Investment In Equities I: Linear Case
Peter A. Diamond John Geanakoplos
Among the elderly, Social Security income is distributed very differently than private pension and asset income. For the bottom quintile of the income distribution, 81 percent of income comes from Social Security, while only 6 percent is from pensions plus income from assets. For the top quintile, 23 percent comes from Social Security, while 46 percent is from pensions and assets – dramatically different percentages. Similarly, there are great differences in saving and investing among current workers. Among all those who were paying social security taxes in 1995, fully 59% held no stock, either directly or through pension plans. Even among those between 45 and 54 years of age, 50% held no stock, directly or indirectly. These differences have important implications for the proposal to invest part of Social Security trust fund reserves in private securities.
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St. Benedict and St. Scholastica
St. Benedict and St. Scholastica
Our only source of information on the life of Benedict of Nursia (480?-547?) is the second book of the Dialogues of Pope Geogory the Great (540-604). This work dates from less than 50 years after the death of Benedict and is based upon the reminiscences of persons who knew the Abbot, yet it is not history or biography in our modern sense. Instead it is intended as an edifying and didactic tale illustrating the means by which humans journey towards God.
Benedict, whose name in Latin means "Blessed," was born to a Christian family in the mountains to the northeast of Rome. The Roman Empire was crumbling and the Goths and Vandals controlled Italy. As a youth, he was sent to Rome for schooling and there experienced a religious awakening which caused him to renounce corrupt secular society and to join a band of Christian ascetics. He later became a hermit, living in the hill region of Subiaco. His fame as a holy person grew until he was importuned to become the abbot of a group of monks, who eventually became so peeved by his reforming zeal that they attempted to poison him. Benedict left them to their evil ways and began organizing groups of his own followers into small monasteries. In about A.D. 529, he and a few disciples came to the mountain above the city of Cassino where they established the monastery now known as Montecassino. This is probably where he wrote the monastic Rule, the only document which remains to us from his hand. Benedict's death occurred about 547, and tradition tells us he died standing before the altar, supported by his brothers, a model of fidelity and perseverance for all of his followers.
Scholastica is, according to tradition, the twin sister of Benedict. She is a shadowy figure whom we know from a single charming story in the Dialogues. She led some form of consecrated life with a group of Christian women. Gregory tells us that yearly she journeyed to meet her brother at a small house midway between their residences. On one momentous occasion, as evening fell, Benedict packed up his monks to return to the monastery from which, according to his own Rule, he was not permitted to be absent overnight. Scholastica begged him to make an exception and stay over so that they could continue their holy conversation. When Benedict refused, Scholastica wept and prayed and immediately such a torrent of rain fell that no one could leave the house. As Gregory says, the woman's prayers prevailed with God because her love was the greater. When Scholastica died, Benedict had her body brought to Montecassino and placed in his own tomb. Scholastica's name means "she who has leisure to devote to study." Some skeptical historians have suggested that she is only a literary device: a personification of the Benedictine practice of reflective study. She remains very real, however, to Benedictine women, with the reality which can transcend simple historical existence, as a model of the feminine aspects of Benedictine monasticism, and an example of the power of the soul who loves God.
Sr. Margaret Clarke, O.S.B.
For additional information:
Terrence Kardong, O.S.B. The Benedictines Michael Glazier Books, 1988
Life and Miracles of St. Benedict by St. Gregory the Great Liturgical Press
RB 1980: The Rule of Benedict Liturgical Press, 1981
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Thursday, December 13, 2012
Why Jerry Coyne is Wrong (about Ethics)
Every few days I find something on the internet to blog about. I start typing, and then I get busy and give up on it. I will try to do better with today’s entry: Why Jerry Coyne is Wrong (about Ethics). Catchy, huh?
So, I like the stuff Coyne posts, and mostly I agree with it. I wish that I were in a position that I could make my colleagues take some responsibility for their friendly, no-strings-attached, totally-not-supporting-right-wing-crazies, and they-never-tell-me-what-to-conclude-even-though-strangely-all-the-many-opinions-I-have-that-directly-contradict-everything-they-believe-never-see-print Templeton money. Thus, I say with respect, Coyne is here totally wrong about objectivity and truth in non-scientific contexts.
Let’s begin.
Coyne is respectfully disagreeing about scientism, the view that science is the only way to acquire objective knowledge of external reality. His friend Eric McDonald disagrees and argues for the existence of objectivity or truth in other areas besides science.
Coyne writes about McDonald's post (forgive the long quotation, but I want to be fair),
His post, “On the strangely beguiling notion of scientism,” takes the stand that there are indeed ways to apprehend objective truth beyond the purview of science, and that those who claim otherwise are guilty of scientism.
We still disagree about this. I’m sorry to say that Eric’s piece, like nearly all pieces on scientism, fails to make a case for (or even give more than one example of) “truth” apprehended by other than scientific means—and I’m defining “science” as the combination of empirical observation, reason, and (usually) replicated observation and prediction that investigates what exists in the universe.
I’ll be brief here, as I’ve posted a lot on this topic lately, but I want to discuss what Eric sees as “objective knowledge” that goes beyond science.
It’s “moral knowledge”:
And though Jerry Coyne (this is one of the small number of areas where he and I differ significantly in our approach to things) may dismiss ideas concerning value as matters of opinion, it is very doubtful that girls in Afghanistan, who have acid thrown in their faces or see their schools being destroyed, share that view. It is not just a matter of opinion that their right to learn should be recognized and honoured; how we establish what can justly be considered objective moral understanding is something worthwhile considering.
. . .
Now I agree, of course, that throwing acid in the face of Afghan schoolgirls for trying to learn is wrong. But it is not an “objective” moral wrong—that is, you cannot deduce it from mere observation, not without adding some reasons why you think it’s wrong. And those reasons are based on opinions. In this case, the “opinion” is that it’s wrong to hurt anyone for trying to go to school. In other words, Eric claims that moral dicta are objective ones, on the par with the “knowledge” of science.
But such dicta are not “truths,” but “guides for living”. And some people, like the odious Taliban who perpetuate these crimes, do disagree. How do you prove, objectively, that they’re wrong? You need to bring in other subjective criteria.
The problem with “objective” moral truths is much clearer in less clear-cut cases. Is it objectively true that abortion is wrong, or that a moral society must give everyone health care? You can’t ascertain these “truths” by observation; you deduce them from some general principles of right and wrong that are, at bottom, opinion. (Of course, some opinions are more well-founded than others, and that’s what philosophy is good for.)
What precisely is Coyne’s position and reasoning? As far as I can tell, he agrees that certain actions (throwing acid in an Afghan girl’s face for going to school) and people (the Taliban) are morally wrong, but that his agreement or disagreement with McDonald is only a matter of their sharing certain subjective attitudes towards those actions and individuals. What reasons does Coyne offer for his opinion about morality?
Some people (e.g. the Taliban) disagree about the morality of these actions.
Therefore, there is no fact about the morality of these actions.
This is a strange argument coming from a leading voice in the debate with creationists. Clearly those odious individuals disagree about science, but we would not conclude that there is no objective truth in science but only opinion. Clearly, there is more going on. The second point:
“How do you prove, objectively, that they’re wrong?”
So, it is not the mere fact of disagreement that troubles Coyne, it is that he can find no common ground that one could use to prove to the satisfaction of the Taliban that their actions are wrong.
Still, I don’t think this helps much since Coyne himself has shown how difficult it is to find common ground with the creationists in order to convince them that they are wrong. We need not convince the Taliban that they are wrong, just as we need not convince the creationists that they are wrong, in order for there to be objective facts for them to be wrong about.
Coyne’s appeal to problem cases is a red herring. If one were to judge the objectivity of science only by appeal to its most problematic cases (e.g. string theory), one would similarly come to the conclusion that science also is not objective. The fact that there are cases in which we do not have answers is irrelevant as well since every living discipline has problem cases about which more research is needed.
Thus, what we need is a set of procedures or a method that can be used to show objectively that one is right. That is, we need something akin to the scientific method which relies not on the intuitive judgments or subjective opinions of the arguer in order to establish the claims. For example, we would not like to be caught in a debate on the ethics of torture only to have each side bellow at the other that their opinions are right and the other side’s are obviously wrong, as judged by some direct perception or intuition. In science, that independent arbiter is experiment, double-blinded and peer-reviewed, to show that the conclusion does not depend on anything purely internal to an agent.
Indeed, this is a challenge of moral epistemology, to find such an independently verifiable means of testing ethical claims. However, now Coyne has changed the subject from one of the reality or objectivity of ethical claims to our knowledge of those ethical claims. We may lack a clear method for adjudicating disputes about ethics, but it in no way follows that there is no objectivity or truth about ethics. We do not know, for example, whether there is intelligent extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe (Let’s hope so because “there’s bugger all down here on earth.”), but it does not follow from this lack of knowledge that there is no fact about the existence of such life. The fact that we do not know, that we may never be in a position to know, does not prove that there is no objectivity or truth.
Still, Coyne says, we need a method. The difference, he would no doubt claim, is that while we do not now know the answer to this question about extraterrestrial life, we do know how we could go about looking for it, and we would know what sorts of things would count as evidence for or against its existence. So, the scientist is apparently one up on the ethicist in having some idea what those methods are, but this is still irrelevant because the existence of standards for verifying or falsifying claims tells us nothing about reality. Epistemology and metaphysics, knowledge and reality, are distinct, and we cannot conclude from our inability (perhaps even a permanent inability) to formulate objective standards for knowing morality that there is no objective moral reality at all. The “How do you know?” question is a good one to ask, but it tells us nothing about the existence of objective reality.
But perhaps we can see what some methods in philosophy and ethics might be. Before that, one more quotation:
In other words, Eric is committing here the very sin he decried (as I recall) in Sam Harris’s book The Moral Landscape: he is saying that there are scientifically establishable truths about ethics. And if that’s true, then let Eric tell us what those truths are—without first defining, based on his taste, what is “moral” and “immoral.” Let him give us a list of all the behaviors he considers objectively immoral.
I don’t know McDonald’s critique of Harris, but I included this to be funny. Please tell us, Dr. Coyne what are all the scientifically establishable truths about science? If there are such truths, Coyne should be able to “give us a list of all” of the ones he considers to be true and all those he considers to be false. Allow me to reiterate, we do not need to know what the truths are in order to know that there are truths. If we did, then science (indeed investigation of any kind) would be pointless. Are there objective truths to discover about the world? We don’t know until we can first say what they are, but, having stated them, we now find ourselves with no need to attempt to discover them.
Wait, sorry. I think what Coyne was trying to say was that McDonald should be able to state in principle what sorts of claims are “scientifically establishable” in ethics. Obviously, if these claims were scientifically establishable, they would not be non-scientific claims, as McDonald says they are, so Coyne appears to be demanding that McDonald explain which non-scientifically establishable claims are scientifically establishable. I have rarely seen a question so begged.
Still, I cannot help feeling dirty, what with the quoting and all, so I will get back to the epistemic issue. Perhaps Coyne would be happy enough with moral skepticism. He might be better off saying that there are objective truths in ethics but no one is ever in a position to say what they are given the lack of intersubjective standards of verification. A reminder:
Should we be skeptical? It depends on what you mean by 'skeptical', of course. At any rate, we need not think that no ethical claim is any better justified than any other. We need not be extreme or Pyrrhonic skeptics. For example, as Coyne notes, philosophy is good for establishing ‘opinions’ as better founded than others. We should, of course, always be cautious and recognize the potential for fallibility in our method. And here’s where we get to the methods of philosophy and ethics. We use reason and argument based on some general principles, perhaps, but often these are based on intuitive judgments of individual cases.
Isn’t this just more subjectivity and opinion? No. How do we know that modus ponens is a valid form of argument? Modus ponens is the following argument form: If p, then q; p; therefore q. This argument form guarantees that true premises will result in a true conclusion, and our judgment of this is not based merely on popular opinion. It is based not on popularity, but on careful consideration of the concept of the conditional.
Psychologists have studied conditional reasoning using the Wason selection task and have shown that undergraduates are more likely to view the fallacy of affirming the consequent as valid than they are to view the valid argument form of modus tollens as valid. Affirming the consequent goes like this: If p then q; q; therefore p. Something like 70% of subjects apparently (given the structure of the selection task) believe that this is valid. Yet we can see that it is not. Here is a parallel argument. If you are driving legally, you must be 16 or older (in America without a learner’s permit etc.). Suppose you are 16 or older. Does it follow that you are driving legally? Obviously not, you might not have a driver’s license; you might be drunk; you might not be wearing your prescription eyewear.
On the other hand, modus tollens (considered by fewer than 10% of the subjects to be valid) is valid. Modus tollens goes like this: If p, then q; not q; therefore not-p. And we can see that this is valid by considering that the conditional indicates a necessary condition (that is, a condition without which the antecedent would not occur). So, using our previous example, we know that being 16 or older is a necessary condition for driving legally. It follows from this that if you are driving legally, you must be 16 or older. Now, consider what happens when the necessary condition is not met. In that case, the possible fact it is necessary for, the driving legally, cannot obtain. In short, supposing you are not over 16, you cannot drive legally.
This reasoning is not difficult to follow; it is familiar to everyone. I do not know how to characterize it. Is it deduction from general principles? Well, there clearly are general principles involved, but the role of the examples is essential in getting people to recognize those principles. In any event, it is not just opinion. Should I use all caps? If Coyne wants to tell us that these principles are just opinions, then he must be willing to agree that other people might have different opinions about basic logic, and so there is no possibility of arguing with, reasoning about, anything at all.
Moreover, consider what Coyne is claiming here. Ethics is merely a matter of opinion. What is the basis of this view? Is it also just opinion? If so, it is not my opinion, so I am perfectly within my rights to reject it. Is it society’s opinion? Not likely. We have consistent public opinions that rely on belief in objective moral fact. We don’t just outlaw murder because we do not prefer it; we outlaw murder because we think it is wrong (because of harm [another moral concept] to innocents [still yet another moral concept] etc.). So, it is not society’s opinion that ethics is mere opinion. Perhaps it is the opinion of the community of experts treated as knowledgeable (!) about such matters? If so, again ethics is not considered mere opinion; if one polls philosophers and ethicists one will find they believe ethics to be objective. So, if Coyne is correct that ethics is a matter of opinion, he must provide some argument for that conclusion that is based on something other than his own opinion.
But still, perhaps we can establish that science is the best way of discovering the truth about reality. If so, everything else would be second-rate. Such an argument would not show that ethics does not traffic in objectivity and truth, but it would puncture the ethicist’s pretensions. Actually, probably not. Most ethicists and philosophers are well aware, better than anyone else, of the limits of their methods. Still, can we establish that science is the best way of discovering objective truth about reality?
Coyne is aware of this argument since he quotes McDonald making exactly this point:
I want to differ with Eric on one other point: his claim that there’s no way to show a priori that science provides truth about reality. (Well, I agree with him in principle, but think it’s completely irrelevant as a criticism of science.):
[There follow quotations from various philosophers noting that the superiority of the scientific method is not itself a scientific question.]
Eric should be careful here, because he’s beginning to tread the road paved by people like Alvin Plantinga—theologians who try to drag science down to the level of faith because science can’t justify logically that it can finds truth.
My answer to this claim is this: “so fricking what?” While philosophers draw their pay by arguing interminably about such stuff (and achieving nothing by so doing), science goes ahead and accomplishes things: we find out what causes disease and then find cures; we put people on the Moon; we build computers and lasers. In other words, by assuming that there are external truths that are apprehended by science, we accomplish what we want to do, including alleviating suffering that no faith-healing could ever relieve. The tuberculosis bacterium is not an illusion. I don’t give a rat’s patootie for the philosophers who tell us that we can’t justify science’s ability to find truth by a priori lucubration. Let them squabble while science moves on. The success of science justifies its assumption of objective truths and its program for apprehending them.
Ahoy, mateys, it’s the dangerous and elusive (well, not really) slippery slope. If we think that science is not capable of justifying itself, then we will soon be like Alvin Plantinga denying evolution, rejecting science, and whatnot; it will be dogs and cats living together, the end of the world. But, as to his substantive answer, “so fricking what?” The what is that one cannot justify science (or induction, in Hume’s terms) in scientific terms on pain of circularity. We could appeal to the success of science on pragmatic grounds (and I would as well), but the point is that this appeal is itself not a kind of scientific knowledge. If it were, the justification would be circular and hence not really a justification at all. The point is that apologists for science must rely on some reason other than science to justify use of science. No one (except the aforementioned Plantingeans) wants to take your science away. At least no one around here does. I have no dispute with this pragmatic justification of science; I am as big a fan as you will find of science and the scientific method. This is not to say that we should not do science, or that science is not effective. But that’s not the issue. The point is, again, that even those who advocate for the superiority of science must base that argument on some non-scientific reasoning. That reasoning is, in this case, reasonable, but it is also absolutely essential if one is to justify science. Thus, there must, if science is to be trusted, be objective truth and knowledge of non-scientific matters (here, the epistemology of science).
One more attempt: Anyone who uses reason and argument to critique philosophy and philosophical method must, in the end, just be engaging in more philosophy. That’s not an attempt to reject science. Neither is it an apology for religion or superstition. It’s a simple recognition of the need for reason and argument that is not purely scientific or observational.
Let’s consider one last possibility. Coyne analogizes morality to religion, and, God forbid, I wouldn’t want to do that. Still, there might be an objection that the intuitive judgments about ethics differ from intuitive judgments about philosophy (and these self-referential arguments about morality and science) and logic. There are, of course, many poor arguments in ethics, just as there are poor papers in science journals, but at bottom there are principles of ethics that seem no less certain than the principles we rely on in these arguments for objective philosophical truth (such as, for example, the pragmatic argument for the value of science).
One such principle is the principle of equality: We should treat everyone in the same way provided there is no relevant difference between them.
I know that Coyne would love this example since it makes use of vague language and requires interpretation to apply. What is it to treat people the same way? Should I give everyone in the universe a size extra large Santa sweatshirt because I am buying one for my brother for Christmas [sorry, dude]? Clearly not. The ‘relevance’ clause also involves considerable potential for abuse. Are African-Americans or women relevantly different from white men so that I am justified in refusing to hire them? Presumably not. However, the vagueness and interpretation are necessary for the statement to have the status of truth. One should resist the temptation to critique the equality principle on the grounds of vagueness or interpretability because such a critique would be implicitly accepting the principle and only disagreeing about its application. There are not likely to be universally correct moral claims such as “Do not kill”. Correct principles will have to be abstract and general, such as the equality principle, in order for them to be true. Does 1 + 1 = 2? Obviously, but if you take one water droplet and add it to another water droplet, you don’t have two water droplets, you just have one bigger water droplet. Does this silly example show that our fundamental mathematical understanding is incorrect? No, we just have to recognize the limits of application of universally true principles. Readers are free to come up with counterexamples to the equality principle, but I would bet that all of them are questions of application, not questions of the truth of the claim.
So, in the end, philosophy is unavoidable no matter how we try. ("Oh, Lord, how I did try!") And ethics is as reliable a part of philosophy as any other (or approximately so). It’s not anti-scientific to believe this, and it’s not superstitious or religious either. There are, as they say, more things [objective truths, that is] in heaven and earth, [Dr. Coyne], than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
I apologize if I have run on at too great a length, but for one brief afternoon I have time to do what I want. So, here it is. I hope that it was at least worth the effort.
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Tattle Tale of Two Pups
One day Puptot and Pupteen were playing outside when Puptot said, “Time out! I have an itch!”
Puptot scratched the itch, “Ugh. I can’t reach it! Will you scratch my back, Pupteen?”
So Pupteen thought, “Ah, it’s such a nice day. I think I’ll tease Puptot.”
“You have an itch? UH OH. You know what that means. Mom’s gonna give you a bath! And shave you! And put stinky lotion on you!”
(“Heh, heh, heh”)
Luckily, Mom was nearby, and being loving and wise like good Moms everywhere she said, “Oh dear. I’m so glad you told me. Looks like I will have to give you a bath and shave you and put goo on you and dip you in sugar and pop you in my mouf and eat you right up!”
We’ll scratch your back if you scratch ours, pauxcide.
1. dubyah1 says:
‘ . . . and THAT’s where we get Puptarts! The end.’
2. Casey Dia says:
are those klee kai?
3. PUFFY LIL POOCHES!!!!…so floofy :)
4. must…be…held….
5. Puptot (giggle)
6. Does that puppy have like, one adorable pink toesie?
7. Malle Babbe says:
I’ll just nibble on one toe-bean; I have to save room for dinner
8. only one? That means I GET THE REST
muahahahaha !
9. I call the lone pink one in the last pic!
10. @tracylee…not the earsies?? I would’ve figured you would’ve nommed the ears first.
11. tracylee says:
Dang, you’re right… those are some cute earsies… I’ll get those too *ommnomnom*
12. Mary (the first) says:
YES! My first thought also. One pink toe!! * sigh *
13. If so, one would be a wee klee kai.
14. bookmonstercats says:
Pass the Hello Kitty Duct Tape so I can I tape my asploded head back together
15. Excellent. :D
16. Catwhisperer says:
Genius post title, Pyrit! (And you obvy have older sibs, am I right?)
17. skippymom says:
We’re having a duct tape workshop here this afternoon; I could ask the kids to make a bandage for you if you can wait a couple of hours.
18. skippymom says:
and, yes, we do have Hello Kitty
19. so chubby!!! and so innocent.
20. I love Puptot and Pupteen.
21. lds7yrs says:
But Pupteen can be so mean!
22. But deep down Pupteen loves Puptot, I’m sure. Pupteen would surely defend Puptot against any real threat!
23. noellesbootcutkittenpants says:
When I was a little’un, my big brother (8 years older) used to tease me incessantly, and my mom would say “He wouldn’t tease you if he didn’t love you.” Finally it occurred to me to reply, “I wish he didn’t love me so much!”
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Structure of the Code
There are three types of JavaScript code:
• Utilities
• Schema
• Service
The utilities code is a fixed set of JavaScript that provides some browser compatibility and XML management. This code is delivered in the distribution in the file etc/cxf-utils.js. If you are using the ?js URL handler, it is delivered at the beginning of the response (unless you add &nojsutils to the URL). If you are generating JavaScript using the tools, it is up to you to copy this file and to use it.
Schema Code
The Schema code generates one object for each 'bean' used in your service. This code is organized by XML Schema. The code for each schema starts with a comment like:
The generator generates a JavaScript constructor for each global complex type and element in the schema. Generally, you will find that the service methods are defined in terms of types, not elements. However, depending on whether you use Document or RPC, and depending on exactly how you configure your parts and types, you may find that a particular method is defined in terms of an 'element'-based JavaScript type instead of a 'type'-based class.
A typical JavaScript class for a type looks like:
This is very simple type, derived from the return part of a Document/Literal service. It has one piece of data in it, called 'responseType'. Note that the code style here is to define getters and setters over 'private' properties. The code does not go to elaborate lengths to make the properties private; it just puts an _ on the front of the names.
Service Code
The code for a service starts with a comment, followed by a constructor for the per-service object:
There are two important properties defined here: url and synchronous.
You are responsible for setting the url property with the URL of the web service. The generated JavaScript does not include any concept of services and ports. You simply put the appropriate URL into the property. Note: CXF's JavaScript clients don't support cross-scripting. If you want to cross-script, you have some choices:
• Stick with Mozilla/Firefox and sign the code.
• Modify the utils to use some of the common workarounds that permit cross-scripting in some browsers in some circumstances.
Synchronous and Asynchronous processing
The CXF JavaScript code generator is designed to facilitate typical, AJAX, asynchronous processing. As described below, the per-operation functions take callbacks as parameters, and call them back when the server responds. If you want to use synchronous communications, you can set the 'synchronous' property to 'true'. That does not change the API, but rather changes the behavior. With this setting, the operation functions do not return until after the server has responded and the callbacks have been called back.
Per-Operation Functions
The code generator generates a function for each operation. Unless the operation is one way, the function will take two callback parameters, plus the parameters for the operation itself. The first two parameters are the success callback and the error callback. OneWay operations have no callbacks; they are "fire and forget."
The success callback is called back with one parameter: the JavaScript object corresponding to the response.
What is that object? Well, that depends on the schema of the operation. If you are using Document/Literal/Wrapped, it will be a JavaScript object corresponding to the wrapper object for the output part. If you are using Document/Literal/Bare, it will correspond to the output part. If the output part has a simple type, such as String, the response callback will be called with a simple JavaScript object.
The error callback will be called only when the server responds with an HTTP error status. It will be called with two parameters: the HTTP status number and the HTTP status text.
When/if the client JavaScript generator is improved to have more comprehensive support for faults, the protocol will change to pass
fault information as a third parameter to the error callback.
Understanding the Parameters of Operation Functions
If you have a choice in the matter, and you are using Document/Literal, the present author recommends bare as opposed to wrapped methods. This pushes all the type management from the front end (JAX-WS or Simple) to the data binding (JAXB or Aegis). The data bindings offer much clearer configuration control over namespaces, minOccurs, and such than the frontends.
In general, you will probably feel the need to read the JavaScript code to understand the binding in complex cases. One possible future enhancement of the generator is to generate more comments, or perhaps even an HTML explanation, to assist in this process.
Examples of Calling Services
Here are some snippets of calls to services. You should expect to inspect the generated JavaScript to learn the names of classes and functions.
A Document/Literal/Bare Service
The present author finds that, at least for JAX-WS, BARE has a lot to recommend it, as it avoids surprising interactions between JAX-WS and JAXB.
xs:any Example: Using a Described Type
The following function calls a Document/Literal/Bare method. The bare parameter element is declared as:
The target namespace for this schema is uri:cxf.apache.org:jstest:types:any.
This particular xs:any allows any single XML element from some namespace other than the target namespace of the schema containing 'acceptAny1'.
(Note that JAXB only supports xs:any for ##other, and interprets it to forbid unqualified elements. If you need more flexibility, consider
another data binding.)
The WSDL contains a reference to another schema, with target namespace uri:cxf.apache.org:jstest:types:any:alts. That namespace includes
an element named alternative1. In the function below, the JavaScript creates an object for the service, and then an object for the acceptAny1 element.
It fills in the slots for the simple before and after elements.
For the xs:any element, it creates an object of type org_apache_cxf_any_holder. This type, defined in cxf-utils.js, holds an object for an element
defined in the WSDL's schemas. To construct one, you supply the URI and local names of the element, and then the value. For built-in types, use the XML Schema URI
(http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema) and the name of the type (e.g. 'string').
What if your xs:any calls for more than one item? You supply an array of holders, since each holder could be some different element.
xs:any Using Raw XML
CXF also allows you to provide the XML yourself. The XML you provide must be valid. If the elements are qualified, you must
define the namespace definitions with appropriate xmlns attributes. Here is an example. Note in this example that the
element is qualified; it lives in the uri:iam namespace. JAXB does not permit unqualified elements (at least in the current version
of the reference implementation that CXF uses).
If your xs:any accepts multiple elements, you supply a single holder with a XML fragment containing multiple elements.
Note the use of org_apache_cxf_raw_any_holder to pass the XML to CXF.
Also note that CXF does not support raw XML passed from the server to the client. In a return value, you will always find a
org_apache_cxf_any_holder. However, the raw holder has a 'raw' property with value 'true', and the non-raw holder has a 'raw' property with value
'false'. CXF may be enhanced to support passing non-described elements to JavaScript at a later time.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45859
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Conference on Technorealism March 19, 1998
Transcript of Panel 1:
W H A T I S T E C H N O R E A L I S M ?
Nesson: On behalf of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, it's my pleasure to welcome you to this, which I hope will be a fun event. I'm very curious about it myself. I have to tell you that this event is the complete brainchild of Andrew Shapiro, with, maybe, a little Dave Marglin behind the scenes. And I want to thank Andrew very much for his initiative in getting this started.
At the same time, Harvard is, well, it's an open place. At least this part of it is. And there are questions, real questions to be asked about technorealism. I mean what is it? I actually think of myself as a techno "unrealist." Or maybe a technosurrealist, I think.
Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson
opens the event
I'd like to introduce you to three people: First, Larry Lessig; Larry Lessig will moderate the first of these panels. Larry, I'm proud to say, is the Berkman Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. And he will, otherwise, distinguish himself for you. Second, Jonathan Zittrain. Jonathan is my partner in the Center, the Executive Director of the Center, and he will moderate the second of these panels, along with me. And last on the list, Andrew Shapiro. And without further ado, Andrew, may I turn it over to you.
Shapiro: Thanks, Charlie. I'm just going to introduce people on this panel and in advance of the second panel, as well. The so-called technorealists, we're a group of writers, people who think about technology stuff, and we came together fairly loosely and informally, a couple months ago to try to articulate some principles that we thought were basically fairly uncontroversial, reasonable principles regarding how we might think about technology, politics and culture.
It's not a top-down philosophy; it's not a way of life. It's just trying to inject a more critical perspective into the debate about how new technologies are affecting our lives. And we're going to try to use these two panels this afternoon to improve upon that effort, to get into more depth, to explain what technorealism is, and maybe explain what it's not.
The first panel is entitled, "What is Technorealism?" And it's an overview. And Doug Rushkoff, on this end, we'll start with Doug, he's written four or five books, hard to keep track, he's a contributor to Time Digital, and to the New York Times Syndicate, and regularly thought of as a leading social theorist about all things digital and cyber.
David Shenk, next to him, is the author of "Data Smog," an acclaimed book about the digital age and, particularly information overload. He's a commentator for National Public Radio and he's written for leading magazines, such as Harper's and the New Republic.
Mark Stahlman is one of the co-founders of the New York New Media Association. He writes regularly about cyber culture and politics.
"Technorealism is not a top-down philosophy. It's just trying to inject a more critical perspective into the debate."
He is also a noted gadfly in the cyberspace field, and is well noted by people all over the spectrum for putting up a good fight.
Simson Garfinkel lives out in Martha's Vineyard. He writes for Wired magazine, for the Boston Globe, you've probably seen his technology column. He runs an ISP out there called Vineyard Net. And he's a computer security expert; he writes books on those topics.
Paulina Borsook came in from the Bay area. She's working on a book called "Cyberselfish," which will be out shortly. Paulina is a leading critic of cyber libertarianism and has written for Wired and many other publications.
I'm going to quickly identify the other people who are on panel 2, who constitute the rest of the original signers of the technorealism statement. I see Dave Bennahum here, in the front. David is a contributing editor at more magazines than one could mention. But I think among them are Wired, ID, Lingua Franca; we'll stop there, I guess. David is finishing a book which is out this fall and is a personal memoir of computers and growing up with computers.
Brooke Biggs came in from the Bay area, also, and Brooke is a journalist at the San Francisco Bay Guardian On Line, and at the CMP Insider Techweb, and does work with other major online organizations, as well. We're glad to have her here.
Andrew Shapiro, Berkman Center
Steve Silberman is with Wired News, a senior writer there, and an all-around guru of, I'd say, Bay area living. ...(laughter)
We are waiting for three people who, because of the inclement weather, I think, have gotten a little bit delayed, but they're on the second panel anyway. But I'll quickly mention them: Steven Johnson and Stefanie Syman run what I think is probably the most interesting online 'zine, called FEED. And if you haven't checked it out, you should at And they started it a couple of years ago. Steven is also the author of "Interface Culture," which is a very interesting book, and Stef has written for Rolling Stone, Wall Street Journal and other important outlets.
And also Marisa Bowe, the former editor-in-chief of Word, one of the most important online 'zines, as well. And I guess, with that, I'm going to turn it over to Larry Lessig to start Panel One. And I'm Andrew Shapiro by the way. And I'm a- (applause) fellow here at the Center.
Lessig: Okay, so I'm Larry Lessig and I'm a moderator, and I'm a moderate moderator, independent of everything that goes on up here, and of course, independent of everything else in the world. I have no ideas and no thoughts ...(laughter) I'm here to bring out some ideas and thoughts, and start with a kind of critical summary of what this stuff is supposed to be about. It's a little bit bizarre, this stuff, technorealism. The sociology of technorealism is a little bit bizarre.
When the realists first pulled themselves together, I guess, I was struck by the extraordinary number of people who were furious about the existence of the technorealists. Now, I understand some people being furious, namely the people that are supposedly attacked by technorealism; it's the other people who aren't really attacked who are furious that I'm a little bit miffed by. You know, some of us were never cool enough to be considered a potential technorealist. So we weren't really worried by this at all.
"The sociology of technorealism is a little bit bizarre.... What the hell is this stuff about?"
But maybe there's a class of people who are almost cool enough to be a technorealist, who weren't called technorealists or something. They're furious about this. So there's something exciting here just because of the fury, right? But then, as I sat down and had to think about what, really, this stuff is about, as I go through these eight principles of technorealism, I think here is a kind of odd confusion and conflict in this list, that is fun to kind of puzzle through. And I tried to puzzle through. And the way, I think, I think in three's, and it just turns out that there are basically three ideas in these eight principles. And I'd like to just kind of put them in context. And I think that two of them, you guys will have no problem with, and one you might have a problem with.
So here are the eight principles of technorealism, a little bit obscured on the left, but that's appropriate, I think. ...(laughter) The eight principles of technorealism, that are this weird mixture of the following ideas, right? Here's the first, simple, banal idea that technorealism is about. It's great, it's important, but it's number two, not number one. And this is just about the idea that, look, we've got to take technology seriously, as technology is real. So who could disagree with that? This is the idea that we need to take this stuff seriously as a part of social and political life.
The second set, I think, is the more interesting set of technorealist principles, and it's interesting to me, because I'm kind of a, you know, boring law professor, who likes to think about the links between this and other historical movements in legal thought. There is a historical movement in legal thought, this law school contributes to its development quite importantly, that happened at the end of the last century. That's called "legal realism." And here's what legal realism responds to. There's a group of people out there who talk about something called "the market," and they say, "What we need is no regulation of the market. The market is just a natural order that exists out there that takes care of itself, and if we just stepped aside, the market would take care of all of our problems, right?"
Larry Lessig, Berkman Professor of Law
Now this, you know, way of "thinking" ...(laughter) dominates thought for a period of time, until people come around and say, "Wait a minute, this is bizarre that anybody would think this." The market is fundamentally political. It is constructed by government, contract and property, these are government's tools to construct the market. And the realists begin to say, "We need to think critically about the market, and how the market actually advances social policies, and doesn't advance social policies, and be realistic about that."
Now, there is a link from legal realism to technorealism in these three principles. Principle number one, technologies are not neutral, like markets, they're not neutral. We must think about the political values implicit in particular technologies.
Three: Government has an important role to play on the electronic frontier. Here's where these guys get in trouble. But, great, wonderful, right? Here is the "We need to think about how to regulate" in this context to advance values where these values have been displaced because of this market, sort of, laissez-faire ideal.
And number three is something like-- turns out to be number eight: Understanding technology should be an essential component of global citizenship, once again, the idea that people must see the politics in architectures that constitute the Web. These three ideals of technorealism, I think, are fundamentally important continuations of a critical tradition in law, and in critical thinking, generally, about anti-laissez-fairism in the sense of, "Let it all take care of itself and Panglossian ideals will bloom," right? That's what these three are about.
Now, there's another four. I don't know, I didn't have a really good name for them. Sometimes, I like to call them hype, and other times, just hype. But here they are. And who knows what these things mean, right? Or better, who are the opponents to these four ideas? Must be Barlow, right? You disagree with all four of these, right? Barlow, of course, says information is knowledge. Who says information is knowledge? Information is not knowledge, principle four. Okay, great. Wiring schools will not save them. I missed that claim. Who made the claim that wiring schools will save them? But somebody apparently did. These guys are against that idea--
Information wants to be protected. Well, we know the origin of the meme that this responds to, but this is bizarrely controversial, because if you read the real play of this, information wants to be protected, turns out to be, we need to replicate the real space copyright fair use regime in cyberspace, in some form. That's a nice thing for us to argue about.
And finally, the public owns the airwaves; the public should benefit from their use. Great. I don't know what that means but great. So here are four claims; I have no idea what they really mean or what they're really about. They don't seem to connect with much in my tradition, except the hype in my tradition, which is quite important, of course. But that's where I want to start. Andrew, what the hell is this stuff about, these four ideas?
Shapiro: I'll start with the last one. The spectrum giveaway, by the United States Congress, taking space, taking goods, which are essentially owned by the people and giving them to private actors who benefit from use of those goods and that space and profit from it, in a manner which is completely exclusive and does not trickle down to the public, this is the digital television spectrum giveaway. It's a perfect example of how public resources, particularly in the arena of communications and technology, are often squandered, because of special interest pressures, because of a lack of foresight about public property and public ownership and public spaces, the public sphere.
And in response to that, actually, I don't think it's that controversial to say, that the public deserves more, when its resources are given away to private actors. So if Harvard Square, and I mean Harvard Square in the non-Harvard/Cambridge public property sense, were to be given to, oh, I don't know, Harvard ...(laughter) or some private entity, and they said, "Well, you know no more use of the public square because we're just going to use it, and every time you want to cross through this way, you have pay $5, and only certain activities will occur here, and speech will really only be free in the sense that we allow it to be free here," we basically think that it's important for the public to re-claim its ownership of the airwaves, and to be credited for it, and paid for it when those airwaves are essentially given away. That's one principle. And that's an important principle for technorealism. But I think that's something that a lot of people would agree on.
Lessig: Right. What does it show that we've missed, though? Because you start the whole claim about technorealism by saying there's a certain blindness out there. People aren't getting something. Because they're either trapped in the neo-Luddite mentality, or in the techno-utopian reality, but what is this missing here? David?
Shenk: I think I want to take issue with your premise, because that's not what we meant to do. And if people are reading it that way-- actually, no, what we said was that this is not a manifesto;
David Shenk, author, Data Smog
we deliberately did not use the word "manifesto," because we didn't want to connote that this was a body of knowledge that the twelve of us secretly had gotten together and discovered, and we were going to release it on the world. In fact, just the opposite. We see most people working in this realm, in this very nuanced, very interesting middle realm. It's not neo-Luddite and not techno-utopian, as we call it.
But the debate is, we think, too often, dominated by the extremes, which are still out there and quite vocal. And what we were trying to do was formally articulate a lot of the intelligent things going on, and a lot of the debate in this center, with a name and some words, and to try to order it. And we haven't, maybe, done a particularly good job ordering it, according to you, but now, we never claimed that it's our new information. We just, in fact, we explicitly said that we've seen this out there, and we're just trying to put a name on it and help foster the debate.
Stahlman: But, Larry, this shouldn't be confusing, at all, if you followed the details of either the PCS auctions, or the digital television spectrum give-away, the first thing you'd notice is that there was no intelligent public debate about either of those questions. What technorealism is calling for is an intelligent public debate about all these questions. And so we go back to the PCS spectrum auctions, which were justified, based upon a budget deficit that no longer exists. So we have long-term leases on major pieces of the spectrum, for a reason that disappeared There should have been a debate about that. And I happen to know, because I attempted to get op-eds published unsuccessfully, attempted to get George Gilder to write something about this, unsuccessfully. He later changed his mind and wished that he had written something. But there was absolutely no discussion in the pages of the New York Times, or anyplace else, above what was going on.
And likewise, this whole digital television exercise. Why did the FCC force upon the television industry a 2006 turn-off of analog television? No one in the television industry wanted it. They accepted the spectrum as a part of a series of trade-offs that all happened well out of the public eye. And so the item that you happened to have picked here is the most logical, in a sense, of all-- ..(simultaneous conversation)..
Rushkoff: Yeah, and, I mean, it could have as easily been about domain server registration or any of the other kinds of resources that seem to be moving more towards private and profit-control.
Lessig: But what I want to just get you to think about here is the relationship between that claim, right, that there is not "public debate," and the last, sort of, what I think of, as the realist set of views here, that are about the idea that government must be involved here. Because what is the fact? The fact is that this spectrum was given away by the "government." No public debate translates into no effective public debate, but it doesn't translate into non-governmental action. The government was playing a role there.
Now what I like is, the sort of three realist principles talk about the need for government; who are you talking about? Because all these things you're complaining about in the second, and the domain names is a good example and--
Mark Stahlman, co-founder,
New York New Media Association
Stahlman: I completely disagree. The government was not involved, even thought the agencies are the US government. But when you walk into Congress, as many people have written, extensively, who in the government stands up and speaks authoritatively about technology policy questions? A very small number of people. There's only a couple people in Congress, a couple people in the Senate, the FCC; there are a lot of other people in the Pentagon and other places who don't talk publicly about this, for a variety of reasons, but the government, in the sense of a constitutional republic, holding some sort of major discussion about something important like this did not happen.
Lessig: That's what sings in your second set, "The government, in the sense of a constitutional republic. Then, realism comes back. Not technorealism, but real realism, we look around and say, "Where is this government? This constitutional republic? Who are invoking, except, processes that already exist right now?" So what are you giving us, beyond what exists right now, which we all, I think, when I said it was hype, it was in the sense that I didn't see what was controversial about the claims.
Garfinkel: Well, you're correct in that we've found some general principles, and then we have some specific things that we're angry about. And the specific things that we're angry about, and I'd sort of put number four in the general principles, but wiring the schools and the breakdown of intellectual property protections, and control, by writers over what they write, the airwaves. What we're seeing in our society today, is the abdication of reasoned debate and, as you said, with the laissez-faire allowing the market to run wild.
And we seem to be at this point in our society, where the idea of capitalism and the free market, as an ideology as the dominant religion of our time. And in part, that's because the Soviet Union collapsed, socialism has been completely discredited in people's views; and it's unfortunate that we've come to such a consensus in social policy at the exact point that we're laying the framework for the 21st century. Because many things are being built into the structure of tomorrow's society, which will reinforce these market notions. And I'm very uncomfortable with many of those market notions.
"What we're seeing in our society today is the abdication of reasoned debate."
Now, to move the argument away from the airwaves and over to the schools, yes, the government, our government has made a lot of decisions about the schools. So we want to government to play a role on the electronic frontier, but we also think that there are many other roles that the government should be playing, and on the whole, when our government has been making decisions about technology, it's been adopting a techno-utopian point of view that the best thing the government can do for the schools is to give then Internet connections. And we have this global fund, some sort of tax, on our telecommunications services, so that we can bring Internet connections to our schools. And I think we're saying that these are not reasoned ideas, and that they're not decisions that have been made, taking full account of the underlying technologies we're working with.
Shenk: And just to jump in, to answer a question you asked earlier, who said that wiring the schools will save them-- Bill Clinton said there will be revolution in education because of Internet connections.
Stahlman: Actually, John Gage of Sun Microsystems wrote a piece of the State of the Union speech, that Bill Clinton then stood up and read.
Rushkoff: The other thing that might help is that I would admit to being as utopian as almost anybody who talks about this stuff. And I probably still am but--
Shapiro: He's a recovering utopian.
Author Doug Rushkoff, "recovering
Rushkoff: I am. But much of my own online experience and when I've talked to other people, their experience of online community and online conversation has changed dramatically over the past few years where, if anyone's been on a usenet conversation or on The Well, any discussion immediately polarizes into two extremes and those polarized extremes are what we, as journalists, end up, pretty much writing about. So you see, in USA Today, you'll see some guy writing, "Oh, there's computers in our kids' schools and no one knows how to use them; they're all in the closet, we shouldn't give any money to that at all."
And then you've got someone like me going, "Oh, computers are going to save the classroom and the kids will go and it will be great and they will be 'screen agers,'" and for the general public, and I think there is a general public, they see these two extremes and they go, "Well, duh, can't you just get a few less computers and then hire someone who also knows how to use them and, maybe, teach people." And no one's saying that. So I think the "duh's" in here are essentially acknowledging to the public, saying, "Yes, we're having this weird extremist talk about 'legal realism'," which I just learned about today, thank you, "and libertarianism, and all these deep issues, but there are a few of us who understand that, yeah, there is a middle ground and there is a way to do this logically and realistically."
Lessig: But still, I want to come back to understanding, who is the government, here, right? Because--
Panelist: We, that's what I learned, we are the government, we the people.
Lessig: Well that would be nice. We the people, we, these technorealists? I mean who's the "we" here, right? Simson sort of talks about how it's bad that all of a sudden, we've all settled on market capitalism as the solution, and what does that mean? That means that pretty much we, in the sense of constitutional democracy, at least as expressed through the governments that I know, embrace market capitalism as the solution.
And what they do is, as Doug's complaining, we sell out, we sort of think about how to privatize domain names. We very poorly privatize the air space. So market solution, as expressed through "We the people," in our government, is the dominant solution, and you guys come along and say, "I don't know, a different 'we' is what? What is the contrast here, and who are you appealing to?"
Rushkoff: Well, it's not Newt Gingrich, I guess, is what we're saying.
Lessig: Well, that's too easy. I mean, nobody's going to appeal to Newt Gingrich.
Rushkoff: It's different elected officials. I mean when we started out on the Internet, the government was seen as the enemy,
"Can't you just get a few less computers and ten hire someone who also knows how to use them and, maybe, teach people?"
at least when I did, in '88, '89, the government was the enemy of the hackers. The government isn't the enemy. That's not the "they" that we're afraid of anymore. The "they" that I feel more afraid of is this corporate America, so I've found, or they've found me, people who I formally consider policy wonks, it's like, "Okay, protect us. Do that government thing that you guys do ...(laughter) and make this more civic again."
Lessig: Okay, good. So step one was a world where the techno-utopians said, "Government bad." And here's John Perry over here, "Government bad." ...(laughter) And not just government bad, but government bad and government can't do anything anyway. Those are two ideas that sort of start in the very beginning.
Barlow: Government incompetent.
Lessig: Government incompetent, right. ...(laughter) So now government can't do anything in two senses: One is that they're just incompetent, and the other is that the architecture of the Net is such that you can't regulate anyway. You guys come along, and Paulina, from a long time, has been attacking this type of view.
The second step now, is you guys want to say, "Look, government is not bad, especially when you look at the other 'bads' that are out there," and here's one of them, you just identified it, corporate. Is that really a principle here? Anti-corporate influence in this?
Shapiro: Not anti-corporate influence, but look, I think if there's one word that summarizes what this is all about, it's balance. And the legal realists understood that the market came down to questions of balance. Contract and property don't work in the state of nature. Someone takes your stuff, where do you go to get it back? No where. You need balance. But balance doesn't mean communal ownership. Because as Simson said, that hasn't really worked either. But a balance between free market, autonomy,
"If there's one word that summarizes what this is all about, it's balance."
individualism, and at the same time, some conception of the public interest, protection of that public interest, and a role for equity and fairness, is what the people should be demanding of their government.
Now, I want to take issue with one thing that Barlow just said: "Government bad versus government incompetent." I think that the two got so confused during the early years of this space, because actually, you're right about the empirical claim: government, yes, mostly incompetent. But the difference between that view and the technorealists' view is that our view is aspirational. It says--
Q: Utopian?
Shapiro: It's not utopian, ...(laughter) it's aspirational. Let me just finish the point, which is, I get in debates all the time online with cyber libertarians who say, "No government intervention in cyberspace!" My favorite thing to say is, "The Internet is a government intervention." And of course, we would all have to acknowledge the truth of that, the Internet would not exist, but for the government's intervention into the so-called market or the sate of nature, or whatever it was. TCP/IP is a government standard, essentially. It would not be here, were it not for public funding, and the public driving of all the efforts to create the Net.
Stahlman: I'd like to try again to move the conversation away from the specifics of the form of government to the question of public debate. And without unduly focusing on John, he once wrote, in Spin Magazine, the future of governance would be post-reason. Basically, the only thing he could say about what the future of governments would be, but it wouldn't be reason; it would be post-reason. And that is precisely what we're talking about. We have already moved into a realm that appears to be post-reason. There's no reason behind these decisions that are being taken. Because there isn't a larger public debate. And so it is the distinction between information and knowledge in one of our principles here, which may be the cornerstone, in some sense, of all that we're talking about.
I would also reduce all of these principles into a smaller set. ...(laughter) The two, however, are the one you identified about the state, which we've been talking about; but the other condensation of this is this demand on our part that we somehow step away from opinion and wild claims and justifications for things that make no sense when you really examine them, into something that has more of a basis in knowledge, and, therefore, some more broad public debate, which is what we are calling for. It's the--
Lessig: Okay so you're not--
Stahlman: --future of the governance must be reason, not post-reason.
Lessig: Okay, so we have the facts here. Don't bring the facts in John Perry. ...(laughter) That's really cheap.
Panelist: Information is not knowledge, John. ...(laughter)
Lessig: Facts are not knowledge.
Q: ...(inaudible)
Lessig: Right. But then you're not talking about something particular to cyberspace, right? Now, you're complaining about-- I mean it's a good complaint, you're complaining about democracy in America today, in general.
"These points [don't] necessarily have an enemy...I mean the enemy to them would just be ignorance."
Rushkoff: And I think part of this for me is that a lot of these issues are not particular to cyberspace, and in some sense, maybe there's not a hell of a lot that is particular to cyberspace. We have government, which isn't a terrible thing. They made libraries and parks and all sorts of things that, maybe, they'll be good at providing in an online environment, as well. Maybe there is no real difference.
Lessig: Okay, so who's the enemy?
Stahlman: Bullshit.
Lessig: Bullshit is the enemy.
Stahlman: Yeah.
Lessig: Well this is controversial. ...(laughter)
Rushkoff: I don't think that these points necessarily have an enemy and I don't think that they depend, I don't think that the sanctity of these arguments depends on an objective enemy to them. I mean the enemy to them would just be ignorance.
Lessig: Right, but you want to disagree with somebody, right?
Rushkoff: You want to disagree with us, but I don't think we're looking to disagree with anyone in particular.
Lessig: Only for another half an hour, do I want to disagree with you. ...(laughter)
Rushkoff: No, I really think what we're trying to do is to provide, actually, a sounding board for what we think is a great majority of people.
Shenk: Why did the principles have to be controversial to be worth talking about and interesting?
Lessig: Maybe they're not. I'm just interested in the way that they are controversial. They happen to have gotten a lot of people upset, so I want to know what it's about.
Rushkoff: The only reason people got upset was because anything online gets people upset. ...(laughter) Really.
"Cyberspace is like a centrifuge... As soon as you've put an idea there, there're going to be people looking for which side it's on, and 'how do we attack it?'"
I mean, cyberspace is like a centrifuge, so as soon as you've put an idea there, there're going to be people looking for which side it's on, and 'how do we attack it?' Because it's like there's no ground there. Or because people go, "Oh, this one has a book coming out so they're trying to--
Shapiro: The fact that if you look at the list of signatories to technorealism, and this is not just shades of gray, this is paradox and contradiction, on the list of signatories, are Kevin Kelly, Executive Editor of Wired magazine, often thought of as one of the leading cyber utopians of libertarians, and someone like Langdon Winter or Richard Schlove, or Howard Rheingold or others. I mean, Rheingold's not the best example, but others who have been identified in public forums as Luddites or neo-Luddites. So technorealism doesn't need to be situated on a spectrum.
Lessig: Except in the middle. ...(laughter)
Garfinkel: I want to answer your question and then have Paulina say something.
Borsook: Whether she wants to or not.
Garfinkel: Yeah, whether she wants to or not. ...(laughter) Earlier, you asked who we were appealing to, and that would sort of be like a question in the 1965 - 68 time period, asking the environmentalists of the time, "Well, who are you appealing to? We know pollution is bad, but who are you rally appealing to?" And the government has made decisions to let rivers catch on fire and lakes go dead.
Simson Garfinkel, columnist, Boston Globe
Well, I think we're appealing to that great reservoir of American common sense and American people saying, "Look up and seize control of your country. And realize that there are decisions being made that are not in your interest. And the only way that you can make those things happen that are in your interest is to take an active part and to educate yourself. And to take place in this public discussion."
Thirty years ago, the environmental movement was gaining steam. And I hope that today, we're going to be putting in motion a technorealism movement that's going to be gaining steam to say, "Let's look at these technological issues rationally, and not just equivocate or abdicate our responsibility to make decisions on them. Let's figure out where there's a role for government, where there's not a role for government, which technologies are desirable, which ones we should not do, what is an appropriate use of public money what's an appropriate use of private money, and move forward. What we've been doing is we've been trying to move forward as fast as we can with our eyes closed. And that's a mistake. And I want to hear what Paulina has to say.
Borsook: Well, I always say I'm not intellectual and my brains are made of fluff. But a couple of things have been on mind when I've been listening to everybody talk here. Because one of the things I'm always harping on, and when you talked about what is the relationship over government with all this stuff or who is the "we", is that I feel like there's so much imbedded government in how technology works. Everything from the fact that we more or less live by rule of law here, and the interstates more or less work, and your work study job is more or less paid for, there's a million things where you may not see the cop showing up at the door, but the government is making all this good technology come about.
There's another thing that I find myself thinking about is that the dynamic tension between the regulation and the market is a good one, and they should continue to bark at each other.
Paulina Borsook, author
And that's kind of a boring and obvious thing. And then this wiring the school thing is particularly irritating to me, because there's this phenomenon, now I live in Northern California, and I realize that that's a very strange place, but there's thing that I call "cat dead ratness", which is, if a cat loves you, it will give you a dead rat, whether you want it or not, because it's the thing it loves most. And so you see a lot, in Northern California, of throw technology; if you throw technology at the problem, it will solve it. And so maybe around here, people are more enlightened and they don't hear this "wiring the schools will save them" thing. But I see it everywhere I go. Now that's perhaps too specific a response.
Garfinkel: It's a great response. ...(laughter)
Lessig: You're taking back the mike now. ...(laughter)
Garfinkel: Because the wiring the schools is one that I'd like to focus on. You know, we've seen a tremendous amount of money spent on this whole idea of bringing the schools up to line, but we're really bringing up the schools to line to 1997 technology. And in five years, we're going to be saying, "Well, we have to re-wire the schools for the new technology."
Lessig: So you're against wiring the schools?
Garfinkel: Oh, well we can talk about that, but ...(laughter) that's--
Lessig: No, that's what I'm trying to do. I want to talk about it. What are you against? Are you against wiring the schools?
Garfinkel: I'm for paying teachers more money. ...(applause)
Lessig: Yeah, okay, me too. But I want to know, are you against wiring the schools?
Garfinkel: It's unfair to say yes or no. Since there's a finite amount of money that society seems to be willing to spend on schools, I'd rather see that money going into the pockets of teachers than going into the pockets of Cisco Systems and 3Com.
Lessig: I think that's a great position. I just want to be clear what the answer is.
Garfinkel: But this is a misallocation of resources.
Lessig: Right, so you're against wiring schools.
Garfinkel: Yes, I am.
Lessig: Okay, fine. ...(laughter) So that's all I'm asking. (applause) What it is is you're against the wiring of schools and you want to use the money to pay teachers more.
Garfinkel: That's right.
Shapiro: Let me just jump in to put the spot on David, since you may not know this. In David's book, he also makes the points, not just the question of if we had the money,
"Ideas like cyber-utopianism have an important influence on public policy... People read this stuff in Washington; they make policies accordingly."
David makes the point that putting computers in every classroom is kind of like, make sure I get this right, putting a power plant in every home, something like that? And that there might actually be something about judgment and reason and cognitive development that is not well served by wiring schools, even if we had the money to do all of Simson's great stuff and wire them.
Shenk: And I would also say that, and really the most important point about it to me, and I honestly don't know how I feel about wiring the schools without any of this context, but I agree with Simson that in the context of the resources we have, I think that I'd rather see them spent on other things. But I think it's also important to realize, you know, we, in this society, already know how to do, successfully, many, many things very, very well. And one of them is we can educate people very, very well.
Before computers came along, we knew how to do that. I think, now you could argue that computers are going to help us educate more people more cheaply; it's going to save us money. I don't agree with that. I think we know how to do it very, very well, and if we spend the money, not just spending the money, but if we follow the prescription that many, many schools follow pre computers, we can do a wonderful job and I happen to think it's the most important thing we can do, as a society, is educate our children.
Stahlman: I know that David and Simson have young children. I'm probably the only one on the panel old enough to have old enough children to have gone through this phenomenon. My fourteen-year-old daughter will be an excellent example here of what has been demonstrated over and over again, even though it is resisted for a whole host of reasons, which is that fundamentally, the only thing that really impacts kids' performance in school is whether the parents care about the kids' performance in school. And the reason why some sub-groups of the population do much better or much worse, it seems to me, is very straightforwardly a matter of hope within those families and the way that hope is expressed, in terms of the parental/child relationship. So I'd be very enthusiastic about some design to use technology to encourage parents and kids to care a lot more about their performance in schools. But that's absolutely not the way it's being done.
Lessig: Right, well it is the most interesting of your proposals, because it does seem to me a little bit inconsistent with, again, the set of proposals about how government needs to intervene in the following sense: In this context, government doing "nothing" is to not wire the schools. We know that if government does nothing, rich kids will have access to computes and poor kids won't. And I think that it's not controversial, right that--
Rushkoff: But is government doing nothing thought, having Cox Communications go in and do Channel One with McDonald's and all that?
Lessig: No, I--
Rushkoff: By government doing nothing, you're saying, would lead to no wiring of the schools and that's not necessarily true.
Panelist: ...(inaudible)
Rushkoff: There might be more wiring. I'm actually for wiring the schools; just doing it a little more intelligently than thinking of, you know, we're going to save them--
Lessig: Okay, so what are the principles, then, that guide us in wiring the schools? Simson's against it but you're for it. And now we're trying to figure out what you're for when you're for wiring the schools.
Stahlman: Well, let's be rational about it. We have enormous amounts of anecdotal, all sorts of studies. We've got all we need to know that it's the parent/child relationship. We don't need to study this anymore. And yet it gets, for a whole variety of institutional reasons, get's buried. So what we're precisely saying here is, government is involved with this but not rationally.
Shapiro: And I just had a quick point, which I think, one of the reasons that we included, since none of us are experts in education, to have the moxie to put this in there in the first place, was because it's an exemplar of a rhetorical style which is so predominant in this area, that we could have been talking about almost anything, tele-medicine, for that matter.
And I think it's good that we point out that the culprit here is not some dreamy person from Silicon Valley, but the President of the United States. And this is an indication that ideas like cyber-utopianism, have an important influence on public policy. They trickle down or up. People read this stuff in Washington; they make policies accordingly, like let's do universal service funding for e-rate education, libraries, schools.
But the other point about it is that it's a rhetorical style. And President Clinton is as much beholden to it as anyone. I mean he has described the Internet as a "free trade zone." What does that mean? The Internet is not a free trade zone. I mean this whole debate about taxation on the Internet, "No taxes on the Internet," well, what does that mean? That's not actually what the bill says. The bill says "no discriminatory taxation up and above what you'd pay L.L. Bean when you order a sweater and you get it through UPS, over the phone.
So there's a kind of grandiosity to the way we talk about technology that just doesn't serve us well. And that's what technorealism is about countering, if anything. It's about extending the debate and bringing it back to a real level.
Shenk: Let me "piggy back" on that point. I think another way of saying what Andrew just said is that language matters. And one of the things that we observed as we were just kind of thinking about this very vaguely, before we even started writing anything, is that there isn't a word, there wasn't a word in our lexicon to connote the idea of someone who's very enthusiastic about technology,
"And he said, 'Well, you're either a technophile, or a technophobe; which one is it going to be?'"
who thinks the Information Revolution is one of the most wonderful things happening to society now, but who's also very, very concerned about aspects of technology.
And this hit home for me 20 or 30 times when I was publicizing my book last summer; and just very quickly a story, which I think kind of is representative of what's happened to me many times. I went into a radio station, KPFA in Berkeley and met the host outside in the hallway, and he had read my book, which was wonderfully reassuring.
Q: ...(inaudible)
Shenk: And he said he read it-- no, we talked about many of the ideas in the books. And he understood what I was trying to say and he understood that I was someone who was a skeptic, in the healthy sense of the word. I was enthusiastic about technology, but I was also very concerned about various issues. We get inside the booth, he flips up the mike, the light goes on, we're on-air, the headphones are on, and he says, "This is David Shenk, he's written a book called 'Data Smog,' which basically says that the Internet is a giant hoax."
Now, that may seem just completely out there and how could anyone say that? But that is just an extreme version of what many, many people have said, and just recently, I had an argument with John Tierney of the New York Times, where he called me a technophobe. And I said, "I'm not a technophobe."
And he said, 'Well, you're either a technophile, or a technophobe; which one is it going to be?" ...(laughter)
Rushkoff: Exactly, and I would get the opposite. I would go on that, probably that same radio show and they'll say, "Oh, so when our children are living in cyberspace, will they still come home for dinner?" ...(laughter)
Lessig: And what's the answer? ...(laughter)
Rushkoff: Of course not! ...(laughter)
Garfinkel: They can't eat in cyberspace. You can't eat in cyberspace; there's no place to. But I'd like to, since we only have like ten minutes left on this panel, move--
[end of side A]
--move to number six, which everybody says is the Disney point of view, you know, the one that Disney paid us to put in..
Lessig: Are you collecting royalties on that yet? ...(laughter)
Garfinkel: I'm still waiting, you know. But sarcasm is very dangerous. And number six has come across as saying that we're in favor of big business being able to control its property on the Net, and we're opposed to things like free speech, and we're opposed to things like the rights of the people to pass information around. And I think that's a real misreading of this point.
Lessig: So what does it say?
Garfinkel: It says, "Information wants to be protected," and--
Lessig: No, I understand that. ...(laughter)
Garfinkel: --it's an argument against, information wants to be free. And I signed onto point number six, because I'm tired of not having my work, as a writer, being protected against large, corporate interests.
Panel 1
Panel One
And I'm tired of the power of the market, and the large media empires exercising their control in negotiating contracts that are very unfavorable to me.
And I think that, as we're moving into this new world, we need to understand that, we need to take none and to understand what's happening to information and understand what the subtext are to "information wants to be free." I don't like it when my stuff is given away for free, because there's some company that benefits from that, but I don't benefit from that, myself.
Lessig: Yeah, but this is getting more and more bizarre to me, right? Because what this thing actually says, your sort of subtext explanation is that we ought to create a kind of equivalent to the real space mix between property controls and fair use in cyberspace. And you start by saying, "I'm really upset about the real space, controls that exist right now for copyright. So what precisely are you disagreeing with? Do you want--
Garfinkel: No, I think that you're reading this as an electronic manifesto. And I don't think that number six is specifically discussing saying that-- well go ahead, I'm sorry.
Lessig: It's not discussing what, then?
Garfinkel: You know, it's not proposing a solution; it's saying that we need to be looking at what's happening with information and with ownership of information.
Shapiro: But there are specific policy controversies that number six responds to.
Lessig: Barlow's performance exercise.
Shapiro: Well, Barlow's performance exercise, yeah. I mean, there are certain critics who have claimed that copyright can not exist in a digital world; whether we are talking about copyright of material online or off, I think becomes irrelevant. Because eventually, all material will be in digitized form and will be essentially, online in some way. And there have been proposals by Esther Dyson and others who have said, "Instead of compensating people with the traditional form of copyright, which is a limited exclusive license to use works, in order to incentivize to get people to create 'good stuff' for society, let's compensate them in other ways. Like writers will be compensated by giving lectures for five or ten thousand dollars a pop at, you know, big corporate conferences--
Panelist: ...(inaudible)
Panelist: Some writers. But there's also a whole bunch of other things that are going on in the copyright arena, attempts to criminalize copyright statutes, to create what's called sui generis information protection for databases; when we say, "Information wants to be protected, we want it to be protected from those kinds of conglomoratized, monopolized aggregations of information.
We're calling for a balance, between the exclusive interests that come from wanting people to create stuff, creativity on the one side, and fair use; fair use is the idea that the public has an interest in essentially cutting into that exclusive right and saying, "You know what? I want a quote from your book, and I don't care if you have a copyright on it. Because it's important to social knowledge and free speech for me to be able to quote from this book."
And that principal has worked pretty well, up until now, because--
Lessig: Okay, but let's put this a little bit more in context. John Perry Barlow writes an article, the last part of this article is the one that's forgotten, the part that's forgotten. And I think the part that's most interesting. The last part of John Perry Barlow's article, the one that says, "Information want's to be free and copyright's going to be dead," is "Well you know, there's this technology out there, encryption technology, that could, and he suggests, maybe, should develop to permit copyright owners to control their words through code, rather than through law," right?
Now, you could use the code, the architecture of cyberspace to protect your words and digital copyright management systems and trusted system, by Mark Stefik, at Xerox Park, visions of this, to use the architecture or cyberspace to protect the copyright--
Rushkoff: That's true. And you can hire a private army to protect your property instead of depending on the US armed forces.
Lessig: Let me just finish this point. Because I want to respond to exactly what you were saying. You can use this code to protect information, rather than using copyright law. Now, here's the question, I want to know about this claim of information wants to be protected. The problem with using code to protect information is, as Andrew was just saying, there's no necessary fair use built into the architectures of these code systems, right? Trusted systems doesn't require that you have fair use built into it. So when you say, "Information wants to be protected," I read it to be that Barlow's idea will take off and all these architectures of control will be built into the Internet and information will be protected and fair use will be dead. Now, are you against that?
Shapiro: We are against that, strongly against it.
John Perry Barlow, Co-Founder,
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
Panelist: ...(inaudible) ...(laughter)
Barlow: What I said was that we could have it both ways. But we're not going to be able to have it both ways ...(inaudible) by the industry.
Lessig: No, say more, John.
Barlow: Well in essence, I thought that it was unlikely that copyright was going to preserve itself under conditions where there were no copies ...(inaudible) where someone could make an innumerable copies and distribute them infinitely at zero cost. And if you were go try to preserve the method that you've been using into cyberspace, what you were going to be doing, in essence, was to preserve the ability of large, corporate entities, publishers and other kinds of distributors, to go on doing what they've been doing, to the greater diminishment, as it has been all along, of the creative people.
I wanted to set something, set up an architecture that would make it possible for creative people to protect their own work and not use law, which is going to be naturally inclined to protect publisher and not creators--
Stahlman: Do I misremember your saying at a conference in New York, that the Berne Convention was fundamentally the ultimate bulwark of the nation state, and that it would only be by destroying copyright that we would finally be rid of the nation state.
Barlow: No, you have a marvelous way of taking what I say and turning it into something that you're thinking I'm saying. But what I said was that if you wanted to have a global system, whereby the nation state could preserve itself, something that would extend beyond its own boundaries, and maintain the ability of the nation state to restrict freedom of expression in a global environment beyond its jurisdictions, the best way it could do it would be through the Berne Convention, and it was already doing it. And imposing the constraints of the Berne Convention on cyberspace would be the only method the nation state would have to rule cyberspace. That's what I said, essentially.
Lessig: Okay, but let's pick up the last part of the question. So let's imagine that these code architectures develop, and the code architectures develop such that they don't preserve what traditionally is protected by fair use in law, right now. Now, your view about that is what?
Barlow: Well, first of all, I think that the code architecture is something that a lot of people are going to want to use to preserve them through a transition of confidence. I mean, I think there are a lot of people who think they ought to get paid for the work that they have done and not the work that they will do. I find that bizarre. But nevertheless, that's how people feel comfortable; that's what they're used to.
If they want to get paid for the work that they have done and not the work that they will do, there are technical means of assuring them that. I think that, in the long run, the market is going to show them that this is not in their best interest, that they are far more advantaged to do what I have been advantaged twice by, which is giving their work away, and making themselves a lot more available to a general following in readership than they otherwise would have been.
Because that increases the value of what they haven't done yet, enormously, which it did for the Grateful Dead, as an entity, and it has done for me. And I think most people who go into a completely un-materialized information economy will find this to be true. And fair use will be preserved because it is simply practical and in the self interest of actual creators.
Lessig: Okay, so there's a belief that it will naturally lead to the case that fair use is protected.
Barlow: That's a belief, that there may be something utopian about that but I've seen it work for me twice, and I've seen it work for a number of, practically everyone else who ever tried it.
Shapiro: Would you support the right of the government, using law, to essentially work against this code architecture in certain limited circumstances, when individuals could say, "You know, in the old world, I would have had a fair use right to use Barlow's words to criticize him; but because of the new trusted system, crypto copyright management perfect controlled information system, I can't. I can't take Barlow's three sentences, write an article about them and criticize them because there's no more fair use. And I need the power of the state behind me--
Barlow: You'd still be able to misquote me to criticize me, as you've essentially done. ...(laughter)
Garfinkel: Let me take the microphone a second and say that now we're really showing the danger of discussing number six without discussing number eight. ...(laughter) You see, my big fear of this code architecture of the future is that in order to make it enforceable, you have to control the software that runs on every computer. And you have to remove the ability of people to control their own machines. And I've spoken with the people at InterTrust, and basically, they envision an architecture where you can see a document and, if the person who wrote the document doesn't want you to be able to print it, there's no print button. And no matter what you do, you can't make that document print.
And that's okay. That certainly is part of the code architecture. But the dangerous thing, and the reason I'm bringing up number eight here, is that people who are having the discussions about code architectures and crypto protections don't understand the deep technical implications that that architecture brings about.
Lessig: Political or technical?
Garfinkel: Technical implications. And that's because they don't understand the technology. And that's an essential component of the global citizenship.
Lessig: It sounds like we have an agreement here; you two are both saying that we ought to ask what the political implication is, from a particular code architecture and intervene if we don't like it. That's certainly what Andrew was saying.
Garfinkel: I think that's what the entire technorealism document is.
Lessig: So you want to reserve the right to intervene if you don't like it; you say we're not going to need to intervene.
Barlow: I say I'd like to preserve the right to intervene if we have the means.
Stahlman: What we're saying is you need to understand it. We're not really focusing on the question of precisely, mechanically, how you intervene. It's much more fundamental than that. We don't understand it because we haven't been talking about it before now.
Borsook: I'm just going to ask a really moronic question here, which is, how is it you get compensated for stuff you do in the future, but not for stuff you do in the past? Isn't that an infinite, like, regress?
"I'm a starving writer. How do I get compensated?... I'm not going to be licensing lunch boxes."
Barlow: Well, a machinist doesn't come to work everyday to make caulks because he's getting a royalty on all his previous caulks.
Borsook: No, don't use a beautiful metaphor.
Barlow: I'm not using a "beautiful metaphor"; I'm using reality. Most people get paid for the work that they haven't done yet.
Borsook: I'm a starving writer. How do I get compensated? Right now, I get compensated; I write something and people pay me. I believe in fair use. Sometimes it gets reproduced without my permission, sometimes it doesn't. That's the system as it works now. It's imperfect but it works okay enough. In your ideal universe, five years down the road, how will the system work? Aside from whatever fancy speaking gigs I may get, which nice, but I don't see myself, fundamentally, as a speaker. I see myself fundamentally as a writer. And I don't see myself fundamentally as a personage, either, and I'm not going to be licensing lunch boxes. ...(laughter)
Barlow: God damn, sorry to hear that. I wanted one. ...(laughter) No, Paulina, most writers, I mean, first of all, most writers aren't getting paid very much to write, to begin with.
Borsook: Sure.
Barlow: And I would submit that most writers don't write for the money unless they're fools, despite what Samuel Johnson said. Most writers write because they feel a strong need to express themselves. ...(inaudible) It would be a good thing if that expression could be properly compensated for. I think it's more likely to be compensated for by the system that we're already using, which is where people are getting paid to write by publications. I mean, Stephen Levy is not getting paid much in royalties on his columns, but he is getting paid pretty well by Newsweek to write them every week, or every month, or whenever it is.
Rushkoff: But not significantly ahead of the moment where he actually writes them, though. ..(simultaneous conversation).. They say, "Here's my ten cogs; here's your ten dollars. Now, tomorrow, I'll make 100, can I have that now?" I mean they're not going to pay him for--
Shenk: You work for two weeks and you get a check at the end of two weeks.
Barlow: Well, what's wrong with that?
Rushkoff: Well then it's not your future work. It's the cogs that you made.
Lessig: Okay, it seems to me, and you'll correct me, I'm sure, if I'm wrong. ...(laughter) It seems to me you have two stories about how people would be paid in the future. Both of them are plausible, it seems to me. One story is the giving-away story, which is completely plausible; we have examples of it. The other story is, the code architectures facilitate the payment for people who won't get paid by giving it away, but need to be paid on the margin for every small thing that they actually produce.
Barlow: Well, the central story I have is that you're protected, not by property, but you're protected by the relationship that you can form with the people who are interested in what you produce, creatively--
Lessig: But you need code.
Barlow: --and if you think about how most people who make their livings with their minds right now, are compensated, whether they're doctors, lawyers, stock brokers, whomever, they're not using copyright to do it. Not even copyright lawyers use copyright to do it. They use the relationship that they have with their clientele.
Lessig: But you're using code to help assure that this relationship turns into money for the writer. And the only difference it seems that you've got here between this, I mean, who knows whether it turns out like this, Paulina, right? Who knows whether giving it away will work and who knows whether trusted systems will work? The only difference it seems that you guys have is reserving the right to intervene. And it's not even clear that that's a difference, because you're not promising us anything, are you? It would be nice if you could.
Barlow: There was actually a moment last night where I thought I could make this whole thing go away if I simply signed. ...(laughter) Then you guys wouldn't have anything.
Rushkoff: It's okay, Kevin Kelly tried, but it didn't work.
Barlow: I know.
Lessig: Right, so you don't see any real essential difference here, do you? No essential difference here. Let me just ask one last round. So is there a techno-utopian that you're attacking?
Garfinkel: We are not attacking anybody.
Lessig: Okay, no, everybody's-- ..(simultaneous conversation)..
Stahlman: --but Larry, look what's happening here. When the New York Times covered this release, I wasn't happy, I don't know if anybody else here was happy with the story, even though it was in the New York Times, very prominently presented, because it was couched in exactly those terms. "Who are we against? Who's fighting whom in this?" There's a very particular reason why this whole thing revolves around point number four.
"We don't want to fight. We want a real dialogue, which moves at least to the level of knowledge, as opposed to opinion."
Information is not knowledge. Information is what we get everyday with the personalities that flow through the news, that are always in combat with each other, and all that you see is the combat of the personalities and this opinion against that opinion. We want to step back from all of that.
We don't want to fight. We want a real dialogue, which moves at least to the level of knowledge, as opposed to opinion, even though all of us get paid for opinions, as columnists, up to the level of knowledge, and possibly, even beginning to introduce some wisdom into the situation, as difficult as that might be. And that's what this whole thing revolves around. Number four. Anyone else want to talk about number four and why it's not a battle? ...(laughter)
Shenk: Well, I'd rather just talk about, I mean, I want to, again, disagree with you. I don't think, and if Barlow feels that this is all about him and that this would go away if he signed it. What I've been telling people is that, "Look, if this document is obvious to you, if everything on here seems beyond debate, great. Give me your e-mail address and I will send you the million words that have been written last week, arguing with the ideas in here about whether government should be involved in some of these questions at all."
These people are very vocal; they're very articulate and they're very political. And what we saw was that most of the conversation, most of the more interesting things going on were going on in this realm, just to quote very briefly, even as the debate of technology has been dominated by the louder voices at the extremes, a new, more balanced consensus has quietly taken shape. Not here, we're just trying to put a name on it. We're just trying to encourage people to have more conversation in that nuanced area. And it's not an attack on people, it really isn't. It's about--
Shapiro: ... a silent majority
Lessig: The silent majority.
Shapiro: I mean, it's a joke, but it's not really a joke. This goes to more about the nature of media than anything else. I mean this is a different iteration of Mark's point, that personalities get attention; ideas don't. And it's not just personalities that get attention, but buzz words do. And I think we'll be the first ones to admit that what happened was we were looking around at one and other and saying, "Gee, none of the people we know who think about this Internet and cyberspace stuff subscribe either to the far out utopian view, or the neo-Luddite view. And yet there's nothing that describes who we are. And so, yeah, we took the very, sort of, media-savvy, whatever, step of trying to come up with a name for it.
Shenk: And it would be wonderful if this becomes irrelevant.
Lessig: Okay, well, then I want to draw this to a close so we can take a break and then move to the second one. But it seems to me then, there are one or two ways to understand what we're singing about here. One is a general attack on the media. Because what you're talking about, when you're talking about the way that the media reports cyberspace, I don't know how it's distinguishing the media from anything else. So this might be a good vehicle for arguing about the media.
But that's not directly what these principles seem to be about. what these principles are about something that's an advance over what you're taking to be the extremes in the position, I do think it is an advance; I do think it is an advance to the extent that, for the first time, somebody's coming forth and saying that we need to use government to be critical about the emerging architectures of cyberspace. And to that extent, it's saying something that is in disagreement, I think, with some people out there. And I don't know why you should be so upset about disagreeing with people, right?
Shapiro: We're not scared of disagreeing, but we don't have to say we're the anti-anybody group.
Garfinkel: We're not attacking anybody. ...(laughter)
Lessig: Right, not attacking anybody, you're not anti-anybody, but you're disagreeing with a lot of people.
"If this document is obvious to you, if everything on here seems beyond debate, great."
Rushkoff: No, you could make a statement that people would disagree with, without making that statement in order to infuriate Louis Rosetto or Bill Clinton or Stewart Brand or whoever, or Ned Brainard, or whoever might get upset by what you've said.
Shenk: And I think there's an important distinction to be made between an attack on the media, which I don't think this is, and a critique of the conversation, most of which, is taking place in the mass media.
Rushkoff: And much of which, we actually participated in and exacerbated. ...(laughter)
Barlow: I was going to mention this irony. There is a profound irony here. And it's contained in the very beginning of your document. You use, at the very outset of the document, two media cartoons that I, as the victim of one of these cartoons, have been trying to fight for a long time. I mean, people are constantly trying to characterize me as saying that the Internet is going to bring nothing but good. That's like saying that the weather is going to bring nothing but good. It's an absurd thing to say.
Rushkoff: It is absurd to say about you, and it's just as absurd for people to say that about me, which they've also been saying for the six or seven years I've been in this. And that's part of why I'm on this document is to say, "No, I'm not one of those people.
Barlow: But the more substantive discussion to have here is really a discussion that's been going on for a long time and it's just found a new venue, which is the debate between liberalism in the classic sense of the term and libertarianism in the classic sense of the term. And that's what we're really talking about.
"Saying that the Internet is going to bring nothing but good [is] like saying that the weather is going to bring nothing but good."
Shapiro: Fair enough. I think we're the liberals and someone else is the libertarians.
Lessig: Okay, with that, we're going to take a break and we'll--
Nesson: Can I just jump in for a second? My sense of the room is that there's just a whole lot of people who'd love to jump in here. And instead of taking a break and killing that, why don't we just take a few more minutes and open up the floor and see what happens?
Lessig: Okay.
Q: Andrew, earlier, you used the metaphor of a centrifuge, you said whenever you throw anything out on the Internet--
Rushkoff: No, that was me.
Q: Sorry. It gets thrown out of the center. And so what I've been wanting to say for a couple minutes is to ask you whether your goal is to create a hot burning core of reason and critical discourse about technology and democracy. Would that a be a fair way of--
Rushkoff: Sounds good.
Q: I don't want to go home and think, "Yeah, okay so I heard some people arguing about technology and the Internet." That's not interesting to me. What I'm really interested in is, okay, so like we agreed that there are failures and weakness and polarizations and what-- okay, maybe all you want to do is say, "You know, we can do better than what we're doing right now." And that would be a worthy gesture in itself.
But is the goal of the Berkman Center to produce some form of a think tank policy? I mean maybe you don't know yet. Maybe you're just like the people who got together and said, "We should say this thing."
Shapiro: Do you have some connections to some funding? I mean look, if you wanted to summarize it and encapsulate it in one sentence, it's to enhance the idea of technology criticism. I mean, one of the things we say in here is it's so weird from, again, a language standpoint, that we don't have people called technology critics who are not presumed to be against technology.
Q: I like that analogy to art critics, and I like that because I think that a lot of cultural studies, and-- I mean there are a lot of people who do things like this who are not specifically associated with technology, necessarily. Although, I think that's an emerging field. Which is why I think it's exciting that you're here, which is why I want to hear what we're trying to do, as opposed to what we're not doing over there.
Shapiro: I think the second panel is going to focus, I mean the second panel is called "Technorealism Applied." And one of the things that we are going to try to develop is turning ideas into action plans.
Q: And do you think that the better way to approach that would be to identify specific issues, such as wiring the schools, or some of the other specific issues? Or to try to discuss some fundamental principles
A question from the audience
that relate to questions of technology and democracy?
Shapiro: Both. But here's something really specific that we could say needs to be done that's completely in the realm of action. The Office of Technology Assessment in the Congress was de-funded three or four years ago--
Q: Two years.
Shapiro: --two years ago, thank you, at the very time when we needed that office to be boosted and to be enhanced with scholars and critics who would help us understand this time.
Q: So it would be fair to say that you--
Shapiro: It would be fair to say that we should all lobby for the reinstatement of the OTA.
Q: We live in a world where we're constantly accelerating the number of dollars that we put into developing technologies that we don't understand. We need to develop the modes to be able to think about them ethically and responsibly, and imaginably about the future.
Q: I'm Mitch Kapor, and I'm the other co-founder of the EFF. I just wanted to say I'm extremely proud of the group of original signers. I don't know if I have any right to have pride over this or not. But I guess being 47 must have some virtue to it. Because I think it's very difficult in an atmosphere that lends itself to extreme polarization and adversariality, not to fall prey to that. And I especially want to commend the panel, despite Professor Lessig's enthusiastic efforts to propel this in a direction of adversariality, for your non-adversarial resistance to that. I think actually, that, in itself, is a wonderful thing.
John Perry Barlow and Mitch Kapor, co-founders of the EFF, square off in the audience
And the very ability to be in the midst of very heated dialogues and not turn into a pit bull, even for what you think is the right cause is probably the thing that's the most missing. So I want to both commend all of you for stepping up to this.
One of the reasons I dropped out of EFF was my own frustration at having lost the ability to synthesize some sort of a balance on a board that had dominated by libertarians and techno-utopians, a fact that I've never spoken out on. But I certainly feel very strongly that way. More power to you.
Shenk: That means a lot to all of us, and just to speak for myself, because we did strive for that tone, not only the substance, but the tone that spoke of balance and reason.
Q: I don't think you got it. You had six people, non-lawyers, sitting in a row, basically saying for an hour, that lawyers do productive work, that technology can't really be deployed, without some solutions of the kind of theoretic problems that, example of the airwaves, the technology to do the various kinds of broadcasts was discovered. But it doesn't become useful without making it into some kind of property of some other kind of vehicle that keeps you from all speaking at once.
And what they're saying is that those kinds of dilemmas are what we're stuck with forever, and that the technology changes and ruins the pre-existing solutions to them and we'll perpetually need to come up with new solutions. That's work for lawyers. Why weren't you happy?
Garfinkel: Of course lawyers do productive work.
Q: But the basic problem of solving the predicament caused by our different interests in trying to use this technology and the fact that often, they can't be used at all without some kind of social contract is, it seems, what you're talking about, that we are moving the structure of the existing social contract, is perpetually disrupted by the new technologies, and it needs to be repaired, looked at critically and there needs to be a mechanism for driving that process forward.
Lessig: Right, critical thought. That's what you guys are saying.
Q: The methods of broadcast were discovered, but indirectly, somehow, I hired a bunch of guys in blue suits with guns and clubs to tell me whether or not I could use it. And, in fact, if I look at what actually happened on the ground, they basically told me I couldn't use it and somebody else could. That's a problem. And that kind of problem will continue to unfold. I imagine there are all kinds of things that are just over the horizon. Imagine when it's possible, when organs are really property items, in the real sense, can be transferred easily without rejection problems. Are we ready for that? It seems like these people are saying something that you should have been very much receptive to.
Lessig: Well, you've got to understand my role. I'm the moderator, right? ...(laughter) And don't be upset if I'm not happy. I mean people are so upset if I'm not happy. Okay, I'm happy. You guys are great. I love you.
"Our tradition is, be critical about these structures... The market's political, the code is political, and we have to be reflective about it."
But my job here, and I agree with Mitch, here, completely, You know, what I want to do is see if you guys can be pushed from one side to another. Here they are, right at the center, saying we have to maintain critical perspective on technology and policy here together. We're not going to buy the libertarian view that no government plays; we're not going to buy the utopian view that the market's going to take care of it or technology is going to take care of it.
Great for them. They're right in the center and that's what I was saying is our tradition. Our tradition is, be critical about these structures; it's politics in the sense of, we should be critical about it all the way down. The market's political, the code is political, and we have to be reflective about it, and we have to be governance-focused about it. Absolutely. There's my "immoderate" moderator speech. Let's have this one and then we'll take one over here.
Q: I'm Mark Dessaur, and I'm working on education and technology issues for the Global Information Infrastructure Commission. Just, I think, providing critical thought is great, and what you're doing is, perhaps, and this might sound arrogant, but translating a lot of the issues from the extremes and bringing about many of the different perspectives. What I see you're missing on education, John Gage was talking about why you should wire the schools, it's bringing the parents into the schools to realize what poor shape they're in, to say, "Hey, get parents involved. Get the community involved."
This isn't just, you plug in the school and you let it go. But you're seeing, once they realize what shape the bathrooms are in, they're like, "How are we going to do this? Maybe I should vote for that tax increase." And I think technology right now in schools, the problem is you're applying the old industrial way of thinking in technology, teaching a certain way. And there are theories out there, and hopefully, that mix will be found. That's my point.
Nesson: So let's take a break here.
Lessig: I promised this one guy over here.
Nesson: Yeah, you did, you promised.
Q: My name is John Bloah (?) and I used to be a writer; I'm now a content provider. ...(laughter) I'd like to come back to point six, which intrigued me. Information wants to be protected. It sounds very attractive, doesn't it, on the face of it? In fact, it's nonsense. What it should read is that the providers of information or the creators of information want to be protected. I followed the discussion about copyright and content providers like myself being paid for that, in bits and pieces, the thoughts and ideas I throw out there, with an increasing sense of incredulity and surrealism.
We heard about the highly techno method of encryption and somehow you'd provide a code: You can't print because there's no print button. Paulina, I think it was talked about that. I think the point has been missed that we are all publishers now. This medium makes everybody a publisher. If I buy John Perry Barlow's book, a proportion of that $19.99 or whatever it is, falls its way down through the ladder into his pocket. That's conventional. Once you start publishing digitally, that relationship disappears.
Now, I don't believe the answer of content providers like me, being paid for what they provide lies within the conventional spectrum of compensation. Perhaps we need to step outside of the frame on this one and start looking at, perhaps taxing the medium of transmission, as opposed to the content of transmission. Perhaps this could take the form of Internet service providers buying into, if you like, content. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? It sounds like an America Online model. But strangely enough, the news that MCI and Yahoo are doing precisely that, which seemed to bear out the kind of model that I'm proposing just off the top of my head. I think everybody on this panel has failed us here, in terms of how we get compensated for what we put up there. I found there was a rather poor ...(inaudible) of imagination there. That's my two cents' worth.
Lessig: Okay, so the second panel is going to go into applications of this. And so this might be an application. Let me take this opportunity to thank this panel and we'll take a break. (applause)
[end of tape]
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This Guy Makes Dwight Howard Look Like Mark Price
free throw
by Tommy Gimler
And no, we’re not talking about this guy’s skin being so dark that he makes Dwight Howard look white.
Check out this free throw attempt by Appalachian State backup center Brian Okam from Saturday’s game against Western Carolina:
The DUD Breakdown
1) For starters, check out how many seats are empty. Why do either of these schools even have a basketball program? It looks worse than a WNBA game out there for Christ’s sake.
2) I guess now we know why Okam plays for Appalachian State instead of North Carolina as well as why he rides the pine for the Mountaineers. Hard to believe that he once played for Rutgers, but then again, Rutgers hoops these days are about as relevant as the black guy from Miami Vice.
3) In case you’re failing to decipher just how bad Okam’s attempt was, when you’re home during the upcoming holiday season, take your six-year-old nephew outside in the freezing cold and let him chuck the rock from the free throw line, and watch how much closer he gets. Hell, take the retarded girl from across the street, you know, the one who holds her eating utensils with her wrists, wheel her over to your driveway, and give her a shot. Odds are she’ll come closer to making it than Okam.
4) If there was ever a time for an on-air announcer to drop an F-bomb while describing a play, that was it. It’s not like he would have gotten in any trouble for it. Chances are pretty good that nobody was tuning in to watch the action in the first place…
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45874
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EDM #23: Draw your foot
I started with a simple shape in gouache, a bit of Light Ochre and some Zinc White. When it was dried, after 15 minutes or so, I whipped out the old bamboo. I dipped it in India ink and drew a heavy outline, then lightly added some fur bits. FInally I mixed in a little diluted white to add the tendons and highlights and some water-down primary blue to show the blue blood coursing through my veins.
My favorite bit: the overprinted feeling of the ochre next to the undulating black line of the bambo pen.
10 thoughts on “EDM #23: Draw your foot
1. My feet, my sleeping dog and my (empty) wine glass are most recurring subjects in my sketchbook! I will definitely add the veins and the ochre overprint to new foot sketch (luckily no visible furry bits – yet!)
2. Great sketch!…glad you described the technique. We have loads of bamboo in our garden, I’m now wondering if a piece trimmed up would make a pen?!? perhaps I’ll give it a go (-: ◄ left-handed smiley, as I’m left handed – cool aye
3. Danny Gregory, the caption should read, “Comical Foot,” since you drew your foot to look like Bluto’s! Can you do a scratch and sniff page on the computer, too?
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suche ein beliebiges Wort, wie timebomb:
noun, a combination of the word frugal and miser, a person is being frugal while at the same time being a miser. Is also thought to have German dissent from the word Frügalmeiser.
Sam: why are you always such a frugalmiser when it comes to money
John(the frugalmiser): Because you never pay me back
von Goatz Man 15. August 2011
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45893
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LINQ to XML in a Nutshell
Data may exist in much form. You may have data in relational tables residing on a relational database or portable data in form of XML. Since data exist in many forms, obviously there are many ways to manipulate or access them. One of the most popular ways of sharing data is as XML.
Considering prominent presence of XML as way of data sharing, LINQ to XML got introduced in C# 3.0 to work effectively and efficiently with XML data. LINQ to XML API contains classes to work with XML. All classes of LINQ to XML are in namespace System.XML.Linq.
Objective of this article is to understand, how could we work with LINQ to XML?
Let us start with below image. It depicts an isomorphic relationship between XML elements and cross-ponding LINQ to XML classes.
XML Element is fundamental XML constructs. An Element has a name and optional attributes. An XML Elements can have nested Elements called Nodes also.
XML Element is represented by XElement class in LINQ to XML. It is defined in namespace System.Xml.Linq. And it inherits the class XContainer that derives from XNode. Below tasks can be performed using XElement class
• It can add child element.
• It can delete child element.
• It can change child element.
• It can add attributes to an element.
• It can be used to create XML tree
• It is used to serialize the content in a text form
XElement class got many overloaded constructors. You can pass XAttribute to create XML elements with attribute.
If you examine below code snippet, I am creating XML with root element Root and many child elements. Child Element Data1 and Data2 got attributes name and ID respectively with value Dj and U18949
Code Listing 1
XElement xmltree = new XElement("Root",
new XElement("Data1", new XAttribute("name", "Dj"), 1),
new XElement("Data2", new XAttribute("ID", "U18949"),
new XAttribute("DEPT","MIT"),2),
new XElement("Data3", "3"),
new XElement("Data4", "4")
On executing above code you should get below output,
Let us stop here and examine how Attributes of XML is mapped in XAttribute of LINQ to XML. XML Attribute is a Name/Value pair associated with XML elements. XAttribute class represents XML Attributes in LINQ to XML. XAttribute class is overloaded with two constructors. Most frequent used constructor is one takes name and values as input parameter. In CodeListing1 , attributes to element is being created using XAttribute class.
A XML tree can be constructed using XAttribute and XElement class.
Assume you have a list of Authors as below code listing, Author is a custom class.
Code Listing 2
static List<Author> CreateAuthorList()
List<Author> list = new List<Author>()
new Author(){Name="Dhananjay Kumar",NumberofArticles= 60},
new Author (){Name =" Pinal Dave ", NumberofArticles =5},
new Author () {Name = " Deepti maya patra",NumberofArticles =55},
new Author (){Name=" Mahesh Chand",NumberofArticles = 700},
new Author (){Name =" Mike Gold",NumberofArticles = 300},
new Author(){Name ="John Papa",NumberofArticles = 200},
new Author (){Name ="Shiv Prasad Koirala",NumberofArticles=100},
new Author (){Name =" Tim ",NumberofArticles =50},
new Author (){Name=" J LibertyNumberofArticles =50}
return list;
class Author
public string Name { get; set; }
public int NumberofArticles { get; set; }
XML tree can be constructed from List of Authors as below code listing,
Code Listing 3
List<Author> list = CreateAuthorList();
XElement xmlfromlist = new XElement("Authors",
from a in list
new XElement("Author",
new XElement("Name", a.Name),
new XElement("NumberOfArticles", a.NumberofArticles)));
Above code snippet will create Authors as root element. There may be any number of Authors as child element inside root element Authors. There are two other elements Name and NumberOfArticles are in XML tree.
There may be scenario when you want to create XML tree from a SQL Server table. You need to follow below steps,
1. Create Data Context class using LINQ to SQL class
2. Retrieve data to parse as XML
3. Create XML tree
4. Create elements and attributes using XElement and XAttribute
5. WCF is name of table.
Code Listing 4
DataClasses1DataContext context = new DataClasses1DataContext();
var res = from r in context.WCFs select r;
XElement xmlfromdb = new XElement("Employee",
from a in res
new XElement("EMP",
new XElement("EmpId", a.EmpId),
new XElement("Name", a.Name)));
By this point you know various ways of constructing XML tree and saving on file system. Now next thing come to your mind would be how to parse XML files using LINQ.
Parsing of XML document means reading XML document, identifies the function of each of the document and then makes this information available in memory for rest of the program. XElement.Parse () method is used to parse XML. This is an overloaded method. This takes a string input parameter to parse. Second overloaded method takes extra input parameter LoadOptions. LoadOption defines where to preserve space in information or not?
Below code snippet is parsing a string with space preserve.
Code Listing 5
XElement xmltree = XElement.Parse(@"<Address><Name>Dhananjay Kumar </Name> <Road> Padma Road </Road> </Address>",LoadOptions.PreserveWhitespace);
After knowing all the pieces of LINQ to XML, let us go ahead and find how we could put all information we have so far to bind information from XML file to DataGrid of Silverlight. It is a common requirement when you need to bind or display data from XML File to Silverlight Data Grid.
Essentially there are three steps you need to execute to bind XML to Silverlight Data Grid.
1. Download content of XML file as string using WebClient class.
2. Parse XML file using LINQ to XML
3. Bind parsed result as item source of Data Grid.
Very first you need to prepare XML file as data source. Put XML file in bin folder of Silverlight project. However you can parse XML file from remote location as well.
We are going to bind Data.xml residing in client bin folder to Data Grid.
Code Listing 6
<Student RollNumber="1" Name="John Papa" />
<Student RollNumber="2" Name="Scott Gui" />
<Student RollNumber="3" Name="Jessy Liberty" />
<Student RollNumber="4" Name="Tim Huer" />
<Student RollNumber="5" Name="Victor G" />
<Student RollNumber="6" Name="Mahesh Chand" />
<Student RollNumber="7" Name="Pinal Dave" />
<Student RollNumber="8" Name="Suprotim Agarwal" />
<Student RollNumber="9" Name="Dhananjay Kumar" />
<Student RollNumber="10" Name="Kunal Chawudhary" />
<Student RollNumber="11" Name="Abhijit Jana" />
<Student RollNumber="12" Name="Shiv Prasad Koirala" />
Next task you need to design XAML page. I am keeping it simple and putting a Button and DataGrid . On click event of button datagrid will be bind with data from xml file.
Xaml design would look like below code snippet.
Code Listing 7
<StackPanel Orientation="Vertical" Margin="50,50,50,50">
<Button x:Name="btnDemo" Content="Click To get Data From XML File" Height="62" Width="362" />
<sdk:DataGrid x:Name="grdXmlData" Height="Auto" Width="Auto" AutoGenerateColumns="True" />
On click event of button, make an asynchronous call and download the file.
Code Listing 8
private void btnDemo_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
WebClient client = new WebClient();
Uri uritoXML = new Uri("Data.xml", UriKind.Relative);
client.DownloadStringCompleted += new DownloadStringCompletedEventHandler(client_DownloadStringCompleted);
Once string is downloaded, you need to parse the downloaded XML.
Code Listing 9
void client_DownloadStringCompleted(object sender, DownloadStringCompletedEventArgs e)
if (e.Error != null)
MessageBox.Show("There is Error Downloading Data from XML File ");
XML can be parsed as below. On examining below code, you will find XML file is loaded using XDocument. After loading file is being traversed using Descendants method. On getting the values for each Student node, you need to create instance of Student and add it to the list of Student.
Code Listing 10
void ParseXMLFile(string dataInXmlFile)
lstStudents = new List<Student>();
XDocument xmlDoc = XDocument.Parse(dataInXmlFile);
lstStudents = (from r in xmlDoc.Descendants("Student")
select new Student
Name = (string) r.Attribute("Name").Value,
RollNumber =(string) r.Attribute("RollNumber").Value
grdXmlData.ItemsSource = lstStudents;
1. Function is taking string as input parameter. Here we will pass e.Result from Downloadcompletedstring event.
2. Creating an instance of XDocument by parsing string
3. Reading each descendants or element on Xml file and assigning value of each attribute to properties of Entity class (Student).
We need to create an Entity class to map the data from XML File. I am going to create a class Student with properties exactly as the same of attributes of Student Element in XML file.
Student class is listed as below,
Code Listing 11
public class Student
public string RollNumber { get; set; }
public string Name { get; set; }
On running you should get the expected output.
Assume you have data in XML file as below. This file is save in location d drive.
<book id="bk101">
<author id="1">Gambardella, Matthew</author>
<title>XML Developer’s Guide</title>
<book id="bk102">
<author id="2">Ralls, Kim</author>
<title>Midnight Rain</title>
<description> A former architect battles corporate zombies,an evil sorceress, and her own childhood to become queen of the world.</description>
<book id="bk103">
<author id="3">Corets, Eva</author>
<title>Maeve Ascendant</title>
<description>After the collapse of a nanotechnology society in England, the young survivors lay the foundation for a new society. </description>
<book id="bk104">
<author id="4">Corets, Eva</author>
<title>Oberon’s Legacy</title>
<description>In post-apocalypse England, the mysterious agent known only as Oberon helps to create a new life for the inhabitants of London. Sequel to Maeve Ascendant.</description>
<book id="bk105">
<author id="5">Corets, Eva</author>
<title>The Sundered Grail</title>
<description>The two daughters of Maeve, half-sisters, battle one another for control of England. Sequel to Oberon’s Legacy.</description>
To fetch all the Books, just you need to parse the XML file. Find the descendants book and fetch it in anonymous class.
XDocument document = XDocument.Load("D:\\Data.xml");
#region Fetch All the Books
var books = from r in document.Descendants("book")
select new
Author = r.Element("author").Value,
Title = r.Element("title").Value,
Genere = r.Element("genre").Value,
Price = r.Element("price").Value,
PublishDate = r.Element("publish_date").Value,
Description = r.Element("description").Value,
foreach (var r in books)
Console.WriteLine(r.PublishDate + r.Title + r.Author);
If you want to fetch a particular book, you need to apply where condition while parsing XML file.
var selectedBook = from r in document.Descendants("book").Where
select new
Author = r.Element("author").Value,
Title = r.Element("title").Value,
Genere = r.Element("genre").Value,
Price = r.Element("price").Value,
PublishDate = r.Element("publish_date").Value,
Description = r.Element("description").Value,
foreach (var r in selectedBook)
Console.WriteLine(r.PublishDate + r.Title + r.Author);
You need to fetch author Id of a particular book with Id bk102. To do that you need to select as below,
var selectedBookAttribute = (from r in document.Descendants("book").Where
(r => (string)r.Attribute("id") == "bk102")
select r.Element("author").Attribute("id").Value).FirstOrDefault();
To fetch the entire author name, you need to execute below query.
var allauthors = from r in document.Descendants("book")
select r.Element("author").Value;
foreach(var r in allauthors)
I hope this article was useful. Thanks for reading Smile
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4 thoughts on “LINQ to XML in a Nutshell
1. Pingback: Dew Drop – October 31, 2011 | Alvin Ashcraft's Morning Dew
2. Pingback: Monthly Report October 2011: Total Posts 31 « debug mode……
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45912
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California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Native Plants and Invasive Species
California hosts approximately 1,100 species, subspecies, and varieties of plants that did not naturally occur in the state, but have become naturalized and continue to reproduce in the wild. Of these, approximately 183 are currently listed on the Pest Ratings of Noxious Weed Species and Noxious Weed Seed developed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which categorizes them as invasive plants capable of damaging the environment and economy of our state. Other non-native plants have not yet been introduced into California, and some are already in California and still have the potential to become invasive. Invasive plants not only crowd out crops, degrade rangeland, increase the potential for wildfire and flooding, consume valuable water, and degrade recreational opportunities, but they also pose a serious threat to California’s native plant species. Invasive plants tend to out-compete California’s native flora for resources such as space, light, water, and nutrients, are sometimes avoided by animals which can cause an increase in pressure on native plants, and can entirely replace natural vegetation communities. In fact, one of the most drastic changes of plant community dominance in the world occurred in California’s Central Valley.
California’s Central Valley
Few areas have had their vegetation so completely altered as California’s Central Valley (Mack 1989). The invasion of non-native plants began in 1769 with Spanish settlement. Evidence of invasive plants has been found within the old adobe bricks of the Spanish missions along the California coast (Hendry 1931). Although weeds may have been spread by Spanish livestock during this time, the introduction and spread of invasive plants into California exploded with the flood of human immigration after the discovery of gold in 1848. Invasive plants were likely introduced through contaminated seed lots, imported forage, and packing materials. Remaining native vegetation of the Central Valley was so trampled and devastated by the flood of livestock that even more invasive plant species were deliberately introduced as forage. The extreme pressures from livestock, competition with invasive plants, natural flooding, drought, and cultivation of much of the Central Valley all led to the rapid transformation of the Central Valley’s vegetation. By 1880, the Central Valley was almost completely transformed into a non-native annual grassland (Mack 1989). Since that time, the vegetation has been exposed to additional waves of plant invasion. Although perennial grasses are believed to have been much more prevalent before these invasions, little information about the native species composition of the Central Valley currently exists. As a result, botanists can’t be certain of the plant species composition of California’s Central Valley before it was overrun by invasive plants.
Threatened and Endangered Species
The spread of invasive plants is one of the most significant threats to the native plant species and vegetation communities of the state, second only to habitat destruction. Threatened and endangered species are particularly vulnerable to the pressures of invasive plants. A sample of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recovery plans showed that 73 percent of the threatened and endangered species reviewed are threatened by exotic species (Lawler 2002). Many of California’s most imperiled species occur in close proximity to human development, and with development comes invasive plants. These invasive plants encroach upon the last bastions of many endangered plant species and could be the final straw driving them to extinction. The control and prevention of invasive plant infestations is of the utmost importance for maintaining the biodiversity of California and preventing the extinction of rare, threatened and endangered plant species.
Additional Information
CDFW Invasive Species Program
Hendry, G.W. 1931. The adobe brick as a historical source. Agric. Hist., 5, 110-27.
Lawler JJ, Campbell SP, Guerry AD, et al. 2002. The scope and treatment of threats in endangered species recovery plans. Ecol Appl 12: 663–67.
Mack, R. N. 1989. Temperate grasslands vulnerable to plant invasion: Characteristics and consequences. In: Biological Invasions: A Global Perspective. (J. Drake, ed.) pp. 155-179. Wiley & Sons, New York.
For more information on any of the topics above, please contact
Help Rare Plants at Tax Time
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45947
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From Joomla! Documentation
Revision as of 20:23, 27 April 2011 by Doxiki2 (Talk | contribs)
Replacement filing cabinet.png
Joomla 11.1 JControllerForm::add
Method to add a new record.
Description:JControllerForm::add [Edit Descripton]
public function add ()
• Returns mixed True if the record can be added, a object if not.
• Defined on line 131 of libraries/joomla/application/component/controllerform.php
• Since Joomla 11.1
See also
SeeAlso:JControllerForm::add [Edit See Also]
User contributed notes
<CodeExamplesForm />
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45948
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From Joomla! Documentation
Revision as of 03:13, 23 April 2013 by Wilsonge (Talk | contribs)
Notes on how to write a Glossary entry
Create a page for the term (in its singular form if relevant), but instead of entering the text directly include the term as a documentation chunk. Add the page to the Glossary category and if required (which is the norm) add it to the Landing Pages category too. For example, for the term "extension", create a page called "Extension" (the first letter is automatically capitalised so don't worry about that). In the page enter the following text:
Save the page, then click on the "Chunk:Extension" link that you will see. Enter your glossary explanation there. At the end of the page, add the following text to make it appear in the Glossary. Make sure there is nothing (not even a newline) between the last character of your text and the following.
<noinclude>[[Category:Glossary definitions|{{PAGENAME}}]]</noinclude>
If the term has a commonly used plural form then you should add a redirect to the singular form. To do this create a page for the plural form and add a #REDIRECT statement to it. If required (which is the norm) add it to the Landing Pages category too. Do not add it to the Glossary category. For example, to add the term "extensions" which will redirect to "extension", create a page called "Extensions" and enter the following text:
#REDIRECT [[Extension]]
[[Category:Landing Pages]]
Updating The Glossary
I've marked this page as needs review as
1. I feel that having Mambots on the list of extensions is plain unhelpful.
2. I feel there is no need to have Joomla 1.5 references on this list anymore (references to Legacy mode, Sections etc.)
3. The upgrade package section needs to be updated ironically to mention the Joomla Updated that shipped in 1.7
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45959
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Want to help Google beef up its images index? Want to kind of have some fun in the process? Google Image Labeler is a new pseudo-game from Google designed to add meaningful keywords to the millions of images in its index while keeping you kind of entertained. It works like this: When you start the game you're assigned a random partner. Then you and your partner are shown the same random image,...
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45968
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Los Macuanos are on a deep cover mission to make you move. They weave through the night, sirens streaking the air like vapor trails of adrenaline and warning. They rush the alleys hot on your heels. They’re stuck like glue to your shoes no matter how fast you flee. This heavily-shaded team are not the police but they will chase you to ’til the end. Los Macuanos are agents of your own design. Your conscience has created these ghost echoes. They have been conjured to arrest you with rhythm. You can’t escape so move, move, move.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45982
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The Night Land, by William Hope Hodgson
The Maid of the Olden Days
Now, as you shall perceive, all mine utter despair was turned in a moment into an huge gladness and a great hope; so that it did seem to me that I should be with my dear One in but a little while. Yet was this an over-hope and expectation, and was not like to have a swift satisfying; for, truly, I was made aware of naught, save that I did perceive the shape of a great pyramid, going upward into the night.
And I knew that the Pyramid did surely stand upon an hill in the midst of that dark Country, for only so might it show so great and high. And I set me to run swift downward into the Land, so that I should make a strong going unto the Pyramid.
And I ran for a few little minutes, and lo! I fell headlong, and did truly feel as that I had brake my neck with the hardness and pain of my fall. And I had no power to go forward any more for a great while; but did just be there where I did fall, and very helpless and moaning a little; so that any creature had been able to slay me, if that it had come upon me in that time.
Yet, presently, I was able to sit upon the earth, and did hold my neck with my hands, and afterward the pain went away; so that I gat once more to my feet. But now I went forward very wisely, and had, moreover, an anxiousness in my heart; for, indeed, how did it be that the Pyramid was so utter dark, if that it did be the Lesser Refuge, in truth. And immediately there did rise in me a fear that it should be some House of Evil in the dark of that Land, or some wicked Force working a Pretence and a bewilderment upon my sight. Yet, truly, the thing was plain now against the far-off fires of the Land; and I did have little thought but that it should be, in verity, the Lesser Refuge.
Now in the first moment that I did perceive the dark Pyramid, I had been without wit, save to run very quick and blind unto the place; for you to remember how long I had made so great a search. And afterward, I had been minded to call unto Naani with my brain-elements, sending the Master–Word, and my speech after to tell how that I was come unto her. But now I did heed to have caution, and to discover what this darkness should truly mean.
And so did I go downward again into the night of that Land, at the first with a carefulness; but presently with a fierce eagerness and expecting of the heart, the which had been dulled a little time with the horrid shaking and pain of my fall.
Now I had climbed unto the upper plain of the great volcano in, maybe, thirteen hours; but I went downward of that great Hill in ten, and had made a greater speed, but that I was sore shaken and unsure, by reason of my fall.
And in the end of the tenth hour, I perceived that I was come again to the great Plain of the Land; and I had no more any proper sight of the Refuge, because that it was upward afar in the darkness of the night. Yet was I abled now to see that there went a bulk between me and the far shinings, and did know that this great thing was surely the hill on which the Pyramid did stand.
And I went four hours across the Land, and did pass in this place and that, fire-holes that made a little red-shining in the night; and because of the fires in those far parts and a-near, there was not an utter dark.
And when I was gone four hours towards the Pyramid, I could no more see the distant shinings, for the bulk of the hill-bottom stood up between, and made all a blackness that way. And by this thing, I did guess that I was come nigh unto the hill; but yet was a great hour more before that I came to it. And in that five hours, since I was come down from the great Volcano, there had past me thrice and again, the sounds of things running in the night, and once there did be a sound as of a giant roaring afar, and a strange and horrid screaming.
Now I began to go up the hill. And, at the first, an utter excitement took me in the heart; so that I could have shouted the name of the Maid aloud in the night, with vain hopings that she should hear me and make an answer. But this state went from me very swift, as I did go upward, and there came a caution again about me, and a coldness of fear, as that my spirit did wot of something that my heart did not perceive.
And, presently, I was come upward almost to the top of the hill, the which took me nigh three hours. And surely, when I was come that I could see the grimness of the Pyramid, going upward very desolate and silent into the night, lo! an utter shaking fear did take me; for the sweet cunning of my spirit did know that there abode no human in all that great and dark bulk; but that there did await me there, monstrous and horrid things that should bring destruction upon my soul. And I went downward of the hill, very quiet in the darkness; and so in the end, away from that place.
And I was four great hours before that I was come clear away from the hill, and I did feel that there was not any safety for my spirit in all that Land. And surely I went a little blindly, in the first, and did go with no heed unto my way.
And presently, I was upon the shore of the olden sea, and had no knowing how that I was come there; for, surely, I did think it to be a great way off. But now I do think that the dry bed of the sea did curve around unto that place, or that there did be two, or more, olden seas in that Country of Night.
Now, presently, I sat me down, very weak and bewildered; for it was as that my heart did lie dead within me. And, in verity, you shall perceive how this thing was, for I did know by the tellings of my spirit that there abode evil things in the dark Pyramid upon the hill; and I doubted not but that destruction had come upon the Peoples of the Lesser Pyramid, and that evil creatures and Powers did now abide in that place. And if this thing did be truly so, I was come over-late to the saving of the Maid; and with this thought I was very glad that some evil thing should come that I should fight with it and die quickly; for there was naught then in all the world to make me glad to have life.
And so shall you know the utter desolation that was in my heart; and, truly, I can perceive both the wiseness and the unwisdom of my reasonings; for, indeed, I did have no sure knowing that the dark Pyramid did be truly the Lesser Refuge. But yet, in verity, my spirit did know with a certain sureness, and there was no doubt concerning this thing, in all my being.
And, after that I had sat there awhile, I did mind me suddenly that I should send the Master–Word through the night; for, indeed, how else might I ever know whether Naani did yet live; though, in truth, I had little, save desperate hope in this matter; but yet did remember how that I had seemed odd times of my journey to hear the beat of the Master–Word with my spirit, out of all the dark of the world. And, in verity, if Naani answered not to the Word, but there came instead an Evil Power to destroy me, I should but cease me of mine utter heart-ache.
And I stood me upon my feet, and looked outward about me into the blackness of that Land. And I sent the Master–Word with my brain-elements; and immediately I called Naani, thrice, sending the call with my brain-elements.
And lo! in a moment, as it did seem, there broke around me out of all the mystery of night, low and solemn, the Master–Word, beating in the night. And immediately there did sound within my brain a far, small voice, very lone and faint, as that it had come from the end of the world. And the voice was the voice of Naani and the voice of Mirdath, and did call me by mine olden love-name.
Then, indeed, I did near to choke with the utter affright of joy that did take me in the heart, and also I was shaken with a mighty excitement, and my despair was gone, as that I had never known it. For, in verity, Naani did live and did call unto me with her brain-elements; and surely I had not heard the voice of mine Own for an utter age of grim labour and dread.
And the voice was, as I did say, as that it came from one that did be in a far place of the earth. And, in verity, whilst I stood dazed with a great joy that the Maid did live, I knew within me, concerning the fear that she was utter far off; and what peril might come anigh to her, before that I should stand to her side, to do battle for her life and well-being and mine own joy.
And lo! in the same moment, and before that I made further speech unto Naani, I did wot that someone did be a little way off from me, in the bushes, where a fire-hole did burn anigh to me; and it was as that my spirit knew this thing, and told of it unto my brain. And I made no answer unto the Maid, across all the dark of the world; but went very swift into a great bush that was nigh to the fire-hole, upon this side.
And I lookt through, into the open space that did be about the fire-hole. And there was a little figure that did kneel, sobbing, upon the earth, beside the fire-hole; and truly it was a slim maid, and she did seem as that she harked very desperate, even whilst yet she did sob. And surely, mine own soul did Know, all in one white moment of life. And she there, unknowing, and harking unto a cry of the spirit, that she did think to come through all the desolation of the night — even from the Mighty Pyramid. For oft, as I did perceive, had she cried unto me in all that lonesome month, and known no answer; neither that I was making a desperate way unto her; for, indeed, her weakness was great, so that she had no power to throw the Word strongly afar, neither to make plain her spiritual cryings through any mighty space of the æther.
And lo! I drew in my breath, and set my teeth a moment, to steady my lips; and I said: “MIRDATH,” out of the bush where I did be, and using natural human speech. And the Maid ceased from her weeping, and lookt this way and that, with an utter new fear, and with a frightened hope that did shine with her tears in the light from the fire-hole. And I divided the bush before me, and went through the bush, so that I came out before her, and did be there in my grey armour; and I did pause then, and was all adrift in myself; for my heart said that I should take this Maid into mine arms again; for that I was come again to be with Mirdath after an utter lost Eternity. But yet was I all paused; for truly she was Naani and she was Mirdath, and she did be a stranger in mine eyes, and very dainty and pretty and shaken with woe and sore trouble and grief.
And in that same moment of my coming unto her out of the bush, she screamed and fell back from me, and strove weakly to gain unto the hither bushes; for, truly, she knew not what was come upon her in that first little moment. And immediately she saw that it did be an human man, and no monster to slay her, and in that instant I said the Master–Word unto her, aloud, that she should have knowledge of peace and help. And I told my name, and said I am That One. And she knew this thing, even as my lips made the sounds. And she cried out something in an utter broke voice, and ran unto me, and thrust her two small hands into my charge and keeping, and fell thence into a great sobbing and shaking, so that I was all in trouble to ease her; but did keep a silence and held fast her hands, for I had not on mine armoured gloves.
And she leaned against me, very weak, and seeming wondrous like to a child. And lo! in a while she ceased to sob, and did but catch her breath this time and that, but said no word. And I bethought me that she did suffer of hunger, for I perceived that she had been long wandering and alone, and was come unto the end of hope, when that I did come.
And the Maid stood there yet silent, for she might not yet command her mouth to speak. And she trembled as she stood. And I opened my left hand, and lookt at the hand within my palm, and surely it was utter thin and wasted. And I made no more pause, but lifted mine Own and set her easy upon the earth, with an hump of smooth rock unto her back. And I stript off my cloak very quick, and put it about her, for she was scarce covered with her clothes that had been all torn among the bushes; so that part she shook with an utter chill, and part because of weakness, for she was nigh to be starved unto her death, and destroyed with her grief and lonesomeness.
And I took from my back the scrip and the pouch, and I gat a tablet from the scrip, and brake it into my cup, and with the water I made a little broth very swift upon an hot rock that was to the edge of the fire-hole. And I fed the broth unto the Maid, for truly her hands did shake so that she had spilt it all, if that I had done otherwise.
And she drank the broth, and was so weak that presently she did fall again to sobbing, yet very quiet; so that I strove not to be troubled in the heart; for, indeed, this thing was but reasonable, and not cause for me to have an anxiousness. But I put my hands under the cloak and took her hands into mine and held them strong and firm; and this did seem to bring something of peace and strength unto her; so that presently the trembling and the weeping went from her. And, indeed, the broth was surely helpful in this matter.
And presently, I knew that her hands did stir a little within mine, and I loosed somewhat of my grip; and immediately, she graspt my hands with a weak and gentle grasp; but lookt not yet at me; only did stay very quiet, as that she did gather her strength within her. And, indeed, I was content; save that an anxiousness of the heart did stir me this time and that, lest some monster should come upon us. And because of this trouble, I did hark about me, now and oft, and with a new and strange fearfulness of danger, because that now mine Own was given unto my charge; and surely my heart would break, if that there came any hurt unto her.
Now, of a sudden, the Maid did make as that she would rise, and I loosed free from her, to give help. And she gat me by the hand, and slipt sudden to her knees, and did kiss my hand, and did begin again to weep. And surely I was so utter abashed that I stood very stupid and let her do this thing. But in a moment I drew free from her; for this thing might not be. And I gat me to my knee likewise before her, and took her hands, and kist them once, newly humbled, as it were; and thus should she know all that was in my heart, and of mine understanding. And she did but sob the more; for she was so weak, and utter moved unto me, because that I had come to her through the night of the world. And this thing I knew, though no speech had yet past between us. And I gave up her hands, lest she need them for her tears; but she left them to lie in my palms, as she did kneel there; and she bowed her head a little over her weeping; but did show that she was mine, in verity, unto the very essence of her dear spirit.
And I took her into mine arms, very gently and without caress; but presently I stroked her hair, and called her Naani and Mirdath, and said many things unto her, that now I scarce do wot of, but she did know them in the after time. And she was very quiet in mine arms, and seeming wondrous content; but yet did sob onward for a great time. And oft did I coax her and say vague things of comfort, as I have told. But truly she did ask no more comfort at that time than that she be sheltered where she did be. And truly she had been lonesome and in terror and in grief and dread, a great and horrid time.
Now, presently, she was grown quiet; and I made to put her comfortable in the cloak against the rock, that I should have freedom to make her more of the broth. But yet she did nestle unto me, with a little sweet wistfulness, that made warm my heart in a most wondrous fashion; for surely she was mine Own. And she to begin to say odd words to me. And so to have gentle obedience, and to rest quiet against the rock, the while that I did make the broth. Yet ever her gaze did follow me, as I knew; for I must look oft her way.
And I took the broth to her, and she drank it, using her own two hands; and I sat by, and eat three of the tablets and drank some of the water, for truly it was a foolish great time since last I had eat.
Now, in a while, the broth did make bright the eyes of the Maid, and she did begin to talk; and at whiles had pauses, because that she lacked of strength, and there was more to be told than an human may have the heart-strength and cunning to make plain. And twice she did come again to sobbing; for, truly, her father was dead and the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt all slain and dispersed through the night of that Land.
And I learned that an Evil Force had made action upon the Peoples within the Lesser Redoubt; so that some, being utter weak by reason of the failing of the Earth–Current, had opened the Great Door, and gone forth into the night. And immediately there had come into the Lesser Pyramid, great and horrid monsters, and had made a great and brutish chase, and had slain many; but some had escaped forth into the night.
And with these had come Naani, after that her father, the Master Monstruwacan, had been slain by a shaggy man, very brutal and monstrous. And there had been three maids with Naani, when that she made escape into the night; but there had come certain creatures upon them, as they did sleep among the bushes, and had stolen two, and the other maid had run off, as did Naani, and they had neither met the other any more.
And this dreadful happening unto the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt, had been a great while gone, as it to seem to her; but she had no means to tell me how long this time should be; for, in verity, how should she make a count. Yet had it been a dread long while unto her; and I found presently, that she had been lost through all that time that I did make my journey unto her; for, indeed, this thing I discovered by asking concerning my callings unto her. And she had heard none that did come to her, in any time since she had escaped out of the Lost Refuge into this dreadful Land.
Yet, in verity, oft had she callen unto me, until that her heart did grow sick with the desolation of her lonesomeness and her utter forsakeness. And her callings had told unto the Evil things of the Land that she did be in this part and that; for there had come things and beasts in search for her; but having the gift of the hearing, she had known of their approach, most whiles, and had come free from them; yet oft-times with piteous and fearful runnings and hiding among the rocks and the bushes, so that she had grown afterward to make no calling unto me, save odd whiles, lest she bring the monsters upon her. And, indeed, as you do know, naught had come plain unto me, for she was so utter weak that she had no power of her brain-elements to send the Word afar or the tellings of her spirit.
And because that she was so sorely chased, she had come nigh to be naked, even as I found her; for the bushes and the rocks had torn her garments from her, and she had naught with which to make any proper mending of them. And for food she had eat the moss upon the rocks, and odd strange berries and growths, and had drunk of the waters of the hot springs; and oft had she been made utter sick, because of the sulphur, or somewhat, of the water and, maybe, the poison of odd plants. Yet, as I did think, it was like that the first did save her life from the second; but in this thing I do make only a guessing.
And in all that dreadful time, since that she had come to be quite alone, she had heard a score drear things; for there had been once the slaying of a young maid nigh unto her, by some Brute out in the darkness of the Land; and thrice and more had she heard the feet of people running this way and that, and the tread of giants pursuing. And by this telling I did understand those things which mine ears had told to me as I did go across that Land, and surely a new pity and sorrow and horror did come upward within me. And the Maid told me how that she came once upon certain of the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt, as they did hide among the bushes; but they ran, with no heed to her callings that she did be human, even as they; and by this is it plain the sore and dreadful panic that was upon the hearts of such.
And the bitter chill of the Land had made her to strive alway to be nigh unto the fire-holes that were very plentiful; but even as this did be needful unto her, so was it a thing that drew the Monstrous Brutes of that Land, even as I had found in the Night Land, and in the Upward Gorge. And because of this, she was oft made to stay afar off in the utter cold of the night.
Yet, in truth, odd whiles she did be so desperate, that she would make the venture, and so mayhaps have a time of warmth; and because of this, she had been nigh slain in her sleep, twice and thrice. Moreover, there were snakes about the fires, though not over-plentiful in all parts, and there did be spider-crabs and monstrous scorpions.
And, indeed, even as she had lain by the fire-hole, very weak and seeming near unto her death, even this time when my call had come unto her to stir her unto life and bitter knowledge of despair, even then was she all surround by creatures that were like to crabs, that did squat all about her, and did but wait for her to die; so that she had been feared to sleep, lest they destroy her in her slumber.
And by this thing, she had known that her death was surely nigh; and lo! out of all the night of the world had come the beat of the Master–Word, strong and powerful, beating as a low and spiritual thunder out of all the dark of the night. Yet had she thought of me, only as speaking from the far-off Mighty Pyramid; so that the cry had brought naught of hope unto her, but only a newer and more known despair. And, behold, in a little minute, there had come her name, spoken surely with the tongue; and a name that was different from the name that my spirit had said after the beat of the Word. And immediately, I had come out of the bush, and she had fallen back in a sudden great fear that a monster was stolen upon her; and then did see a young man in grey armour, and did know in one instant that I was that olden one of her memory dreams, and the one that had spoken unto her in the spirit across half of the dead world, as it did seem. And now was I come through all that unknown desolation and affright, to succour her. And she was immediately safe; but yet all broken because of her weakness and her utter joy and her sweet honour for me.
And this is the chief of that which she did tell unto me; and the way that she had seen and did regard the marvel of this our coming together. But, surely, no man was made ever to be worthy of the way that she did look upon me, or of the words that she did say unto me in her weakness and happiness.
Now, with the Maid having speech concerning the spider-crabs, I lookt presently well around, and surely, in a minute, I saw that they were not gone away; but did be a circle of silent and steadfast watching and impudence and horror all about us. And surely this thing put an anger and disgust upon me; so that I gat to my feet, and went unto the border of the light, and I spurned this little monster and that, and did truly kick maybe a dozen, before that they were content to be gone. And by this thing shall you know of their calm and foolish assurance; but yet were they seemingly without courage; for they made not to attack me. Yet a true crab of this day been wishful to pinch me, had I put my toe forth unto it.
Now, I went back to the Maid, and she did laugh with a little, weak gleefulness; so that I perceived that she was like to be a very joyous maiden, if but I did have her in health. And I made her another cup of the broth, and she drank it very easy. And afterward, I made a very stern and playful order that she must sleep, and, indeed, she to need it sore, for she was gone again from her excitement, and her weakness upon her; yet very happy and content and without fear.
And I made a smooth place for her, and put the pouch and the scrip to be for a pillow, and I did lay her there very quiet and sweet in the cloak, and covered her feet; but, indeed, I saw first that they did be sore cut and without any gear to them; so that I perceived that Mine Own had worn out her foot-gear utter in her lonesome journeyings, and in running from Brutes that did come to find her. And so I to know more in the heart, somewhat of the true dreadfulness and fear that had companioned Mine Own. And I was minded then that I would wash and bind up her feet; but yet was she so utter worn, that I did prefer that she sleep so soon as she might, and afterward, when she was come wakeful again, then should I take a proper heed of her feet. And truly, they were very small and shapely.
And presently, she slept; and, surely, I doubt whether she had slumbered so peaceful and proper for a great month; for she never to have known when any evil thing should come upon her in her sleep. And this to be a very dreadful feeling, as you do know well; for you do know how I had been in this same matter.
Now, while Naani did sleep, I stript off mine armour, and took off mine under-suit, which was named the Armour–Suit, and a very warm and proper garment, and made thick that it should ease the chafe of the armour. And afterward, I put on the armour again; but the suit I folded, and laid beside the Maid; for, truly, she was nigh unclothed, by reason of the bushes and the rocks, that had rent her garments all-wise.
And I stood watch for the Maid, the while that she did slumber; and surely she went ten long hours. And I walked upon this side of the fire-hole and now upon that, and did oft cease, that I might hearken both with mine ears and with my spirit; for, truly, I was all wakened to a new care and delight, and did have a fresh and doubled fear of any Horrid Creature or Force of Evil. And this shall be very plain to you.
And in the end of ten long hours, the Maid wakened, and I ran to her all joyed that she was come again to knowledge and to be that I could talk with her.
And she sat upward and looked at me, and there was new light and movement in her, so that I knew her strength was come back into her. And for a little minute, she said naught unto me, the while that I did ask how she did be; and she lookt at me very keen, so that I wondered some wise in a daze, what was in her mind.
And she askt me, of a sudden, how long it did be since that I had slept. And having not thought to put away her asking, because that the question was over sudden, I said four-and-eighty hours, which should be three days and the half of a day of four hours and twenty; and this thing I knew, because that I kept alway a very careful counting of the hours, lest that I get all adrift, and know not how long I was taken to come to this place and that.
And, truly, even as I told this thing to the Maid, I was grown very quaint in the head; for, indeed, I was gone a wondrous while without slumber, and had done much and bitter work in that time; and before then had been much lacking of rest, as you do know.
And, sudden the Maid cried out something, and tost the cloak from her, and had me into her arms, and did heed not to have any foolish shame of her nakedness. And, in verity, I knew not how I was gone so strange; but do see now that I was nigh to swoon for lack of slumber and rest.
And she kept me very steady for a little, and afterward helped me to be laid upon the ground; and she put the scrip and the pouch under my head; and so I did lie very calm and restful, and did be the more so, because that I was grown so tired in the heart, the which did make my head to be very husht, as that all the world was grown very quiet in a moment.
And the Maid did mind then that she did lack to be properly covered, and she gat the cloak, and put it about her, and did afterward sit a little beside me, and did rub my hands. And presently, I was something more to myself, and she did grow more happy of her mind, and made to give me something for my stomach; for, indeed, I was grown those late hours to be foolish and to have no wiseness to proper eating.
And she did lift my head, the while that she did take the scrip from under, and kept me very sweetly upon her knee, and so until she had gat free a pack of the tablets, and the flask and the cup; for I had put all matters back into the scrip before Naani had gone unto sleep, and because of this, I had not been able to eat or drink aught, save by wakening her, as you perceive; for, indeed I had put the scrip and the pouch under her head for a pillow, as I have told.
And she would not bide that I should do aught; but only did ask concerning the making of the water, and was wondrous amazed to see how the powder did fizz up and become water; and indeed, she had too much into the cup, for, truly, it rose up and ran to the ground. And when she had done thus, and ceased to marvel, she put three of the tablets into the water, and made me a broth, even as I had made a broth for her; but, indeed, I was in no need, and had done very well to eat the tablets and drink the water. Yet, truly, I was not wishful to lack the love of her way, as you may think.
Now while I did drink the broth, I did be very restful upon the earth, and mine head against mine own Maid; and I did mind me now that I tell her concerning the Armour–Suit that I did mean for her wear.
Yet I said not that I had stript it from me, for then she had been like to say nay, and to trouble that I was like to come to a chill, as is the way of a woman. But, indeed, I might so well have told her, for truly, she did know on the moment, and set to a little unto weeping; yet very gentle and sweet, and did kiss me as I lay there, and say such things as should make a young man the better to have heard, if but that his own dear Love doth say the same.
And she would nowise wear the garment; but yet in the end I prevailed by gentle reasonings and because that I was her master, as I was born to be; and moreover, her own sweet sense did show that I spoke for wisdom; for how should she come through all the bitter way before, if that she had not a strong and close-made garment; and as you do mind, her coverings did be in utter rags, as I have told; yet very sweet and clean, as I had known; so that I ween she had stript oft in the lonesome night, and washt her garments in this or that hot spring of the sulphur waters and other matters.
And, in verity, alway she was much given to washings, as I did soon perceive.
Now, presently, I did be very well again; but with a sore slumber that did press upon my head. Yet, ere I should sleep, I did mean that I bathe her feet and bind them with ointment and with my pocket-cloth; and truly her feet were very small and pretty.
And I sat me up, talking my head from her knee; and told her of mine intent. But, in verity, she did but throw her arms about my neck and give me one loving kiss, and laught so hearty that I did think to do this thing when indeed she was the better able to mind it, and I the better suited to have me to my rest. And, surely, this was very true, and I made no ado, save to give her the ointment; but lay back, and did be quiet.
Now I did be upon my right side, and she went to my back, and took the cloak from about her, and spread it upon me, and afterward stoopt over very dainty, and kist me, and bade me to go very swift to my sleep, for that she did mean to make her toilet and to get into mine Armour–Suit.
And I made no foolishness in this matter; yet told her to ease the cloak a little about me, so that I should have room to take the Diskos from my hip; and this thing I did, and took the Diskos to my breast, as was my habit; and surely I saw that her eyes did look at me with a little shining, because that I had so strange and fierce a bed-mate.
And I made her to promise that she keep a very keen harking, the which was like that she should do, and to call me on the instant that she did perceive any unease in the night. And after that, I shut mine eyes, that I should not shame her, and put out mine arms, and kist her once and turned from her unto my slumber; and she away to my back that she might be modest to her needs.
And surely, I was asleep in but a little moment, and with a great love and delight in my heart and in all my being.
And, truly, I waked not for twelve great hours. And when that time was gone, lo! I came awake, and surely the Maid did sit beside me, so bonny, and so winsome and pretty that mine arms went unto her in a moment, and she into them, and gave me a loving and tender kiss; and afterward slipt away from me, very sensible and loving; and did stand up and turn about to be lookt at. For she did wear the Armour–Suit, and surely it was loose upon her; but yet very pleasing, being close-knit. And I to my seat, from lying, that I might see the Maid the better. And, in verity, I must kiss her again; for she did be with her hair all about her, that she look pretty unto me; and her little feet did be bare, and so that they made my heart new tender to look upon them; for truly she was utter lost of foot-gear. And I to my knee to her; and she, not to deny me, did come to be kist again.
Now when I found how great a time I had slept, I did scold Mine Own; but yet, as she did say, I must have long slumber if that I go so long wakeful, else should I lose my strength. And I askt how oft she had eat, and she told me but the once, and that six hours off.
And on this I did scold again; but surely she put a very pretty finger sudden upon my lips, so that I might do naught but laugh, and kiss that same finger.
And, after that, we did eat and drink, and made plans. And once I did comfort the Maid; for, indeed, her sorrow did rise in her, because that her father was come unto his death, and the Peoples of the Lesser Redoubt all destroyed, and adrift in the night amid the monsters of that Land.
And, in verity, I was set that we go quickly out of that place, ere there came an horrid Destruction upon us; and, surely, there should scarce be any human, beside, in all that Land; for there must have come death upon the chief of those that did make escape.
And after we had eat and drunk, I did count the packs of the tablets, and was thankful in all my being that I had been careful and denied my belly; for I did perceive that there were left enough for our needs, if that we made a good speed, and did not fear to be empty. And of the water-powder, as it might be named, there were left two full flasks, and somewhat of that one that I had drunk from, all my journeying. And by this thing you shall perceive that we did not be like to die for the need of such matters.
And here, as it doth occur unto me, I do ponder how it did be that we had no thought to slay any small creature for our food; but, mayhap, we had no knowledge this way; for surely, they did not this thing to my knowing in the Mighty Pyramid. But yet, as I have said before this, I have not all knowledge of the doings of the Peoples. But, in verity, I never saw joint meat in all the time of that far Life that I do wot of. Yet, had we but slain somewhat for our hunger in that great wandering, we had been less empty in the belly.
Now, before that we should do aught beside, we must contrive that Naani have some gear for her feet; and to this intent, I did make a search into the pouch, and surely I found that there did be a change pair of inner shoes, that were made to go within mine own shoes of the grey metal.
And at this I was wondrous glad, and did make the Maid to sit upon a little rock, while that I made a fitting of the shoes. And, surely, they did be utter big and clumsy upon her little feet; so that I was in surprise to know how great is a man, beside a Maid. But in the end I had a cunning thought, for I cut off all the side of a strap, throughout the length of the strap, very thin and careful, and so had a lace to tie the boots around the tops, which were soft and easy for such a purpose. And after that, I stood away to look at the Maid, and neither she nor I were truly pleased; for, indeed, she was too pretty to be so hid and muffled. Yet were we glad otherwise; for now she might go without hurt to her feet.
And afterward, we packt our gear, and she did make a bundle of her torn garments; for, truly, they might be proper somewise to our need. And so we to begin the way out of that Desolate Land.
And we went forward together across the Land, and the journey was no more a weariness, but of a close and sweet joy; yet did I have a new anxiousness, as you do perceive, lest that any monster come to harm Mine Own.
And we went twelve great hours in the bed of the olden sea, and did eat twice in that time. And surely the Maid did grow utter weak and weary; for she was not come proper unto her strength; yet did she make no odd saying to tell me of this thing. But indeed, I did know; and I stopt in the thirteenth hour, and took her into mine arms, even as I should carry a babe; and I went forward with her, and did hush her protesting with a kiss, and afterward she did but nestle unto me and shelter against my breast.
And I bade the Maid to sleep; but, indeed, she had no power to this end, for her body did ache very sore; but yet did she strive to give me an obedience in this thing. And in the eighteenth hour, when that I stopt to have food and drink, surely she did be awake, yet had she been utter silent; and I made to scold her; but she gat from mine arms, and did go upward upon her toes, and put her finger against my lips very naughtily. And afterward she did be impudent unto me, and did deny me to kiss her. But she went unto my back, and did open the scrip, and gat me to my food, even as a quiet and proper wife should go. As she did be so sedate that I knew she had mischief her heart of harmless kind.
But afterward this did pass sudden into weeping; for she had a quick and sore memory of her father and of the Destruction; and I took the Maid into mine arms, and did let her be there very gentle, and made not to kiss or to comfort her; but yet to give comfort.
And presently she ceased from weeping, and did slip her hand into mine, and I to keep it within, very soft and quiet; and afterward, she began to eat her tablets, yet always she did be very husht; so that I did be quiet also, and feel as that my love did be round her as a shield. And I knew that she had knowledge of this thing in her heart.
And oft I harked into the night of the Land; but there was nowhere any sound, or disturbing of the æther, to trouble me. And the Maid in mine arms did know when that I harked; for in verity, she had the Night–Hearing and the understanding spirit that doth be needful to such. And odd whiles did I look down to her through the gloom that did be about us; and presently I did perceive that she lookt up to me, out of mine arms.
And I kist her.
Now, in all that day, we had come nowhere upon any fire-hole in the bed of the olden sea; and truly I did ache to be nigh unto the warmth of such; for I did feel the cold of the Land, because that I was weary, and because that I had not the thickness of the Armour–Suit below mine armour to warm me.
And the cloak did be about the Maid; for I had feared that she should grow cold as I carried her. Yet, now she did know subtly that I was come to feel the utter chill of the Land; and she gat from mine arms, and put the cloak about me, and afterward came again into mine arms. And I let the cloak bide there, and drew it forward to be around her, also. Yet, truly, I was joyful that I did be cold, as you shall perceive. For it was sweet to the heart to bear somewhat of that dread chill for Mine Own; and she half troubled and likewise with understanding of my heart, because that I was less clothed than I had been.
Now, in a little while, the Maid did pack the scrip; and so we did make ready again to go forward, for I was grown anxious, as you may suppose, that we should come to some fire-hole, that we have a place for sleep that had warmth and light; for, truly, the cold of the Land did be drear and horrid.
And I stoopt to take the Maid into mine arms, that I should carry her; but she did say nay, that she did be well rested. And I not to gainsay her, for she did mean the thing, as I perceived, and I had no desire to force my way upon her, save when I saw truly that she did seem to go unwisely. And, indeed, when such did be the case I did strive with her, only with a nice reasonableness, as you shall know.
And the Maid walkt by my side, and wondrous silent; but yet very nigh to me, so that I knew she did be very full of love to me, and of that quaint and sweet humbleness that love doth breed odd whiles in a woman when she doth be with her man, if but that man be also her master.
And presently, I perceived that the cloak did be over mine own shoulders, and I took it and would have put it about the Maid; but truly she did not allow this; and when I did be stern with her, that she obey me in this matter, she did stand upon her toes, that she might kiss me, and pulled my head down, and surely she kist me and coaxed me that I wear the cloak, else should I give pain to her, in that I did surely be cold because she did wear the Armour–Suit.
Yet, I would not hark to this thing; so that the Maid did be truly in trouble. And first she made a threatening that she wear but her olden garments that did be only rags, if that I did persist. But this I saw to be foolishness and scarce-meant, and did as much need to smile at her as that I did think to scold her; but I did be firm that she wear the cloak.
And lo! she went sudden into crying; and this had been beyond my thoughts. And truly, it set me all adrift; for I perceived that she did be greatly distrest concerning this matter, when I had conceived that she did but mean this thing for tenderness’ sake. But mine heart helped me to understand, and I saw how she did be truly shamed, in her sweet womanhood, if that I helped her not in this matter; for she did feel that she was made to do hurt unto that one that was her Love. And this thing I do pray you to think upon, that you understand; for, indeed, until that I was made to think, I had not seen it thiswise, for her.
And in the end, I came to agreement with the Maid, that we wear the garment hour by hour, in turn; and she to wear it the first hour and I to wear it the second hour; and so to go forward.
And truly, this did be an happy arranging; but yet she stampt her foot a little, as I put the cloak about her. And thrice in the hour did she ask me concerning the time that was gone; and surely, when the hour was but up, she had the cloak off in a moment, and went to my back and cast it upon my shoulders, and after to my front, and made it fast upon my breast; and so eager and naughty was she to this, that I took her by the shoulders, and shook her, somewhat, even as she had made to stamp at me; yet mayhaps with more of laughter. And she to take no heed at all; but to button the cloak and be very sedate. Yet, in verity, I caught her up into mine arms, and kissed her, for a sweet and naughty Maid; and she very willing, now that she had gotten something of her way.
But yet in an hour, I did have the cloak about her, again; and so did straiten matters, as you shall conceive.
Now, when we had gone forward, through five great hours, I perceived that the Maid did be utter worn, but yet did make presence that she was unwearied. And because I saw how she did be, I did heed and be anxious only that we come to some rock, to be for our safe refuge, and mayhap there to find an hole or cave, that should be somewhat to keep our heat about us; for there was nowhere any fire-hole anigh in all those hours.
And presently, we came to a part where there did be rocks, and we went to and fro in the gloom, and came in the end to a place where the rocks did go upward into the night, as that it had been a small and ancient cliff.
And surely in a while I found a hole that did go inwards of the rock; and the hole did be above mine head; yet when I was come to it, and had made the Diskos to spin therein, that I should have light to see whether there did be any creature or creeping thing in the hole, I was well pleased; for truly it did be sweet and dry.
Now the Maid had cried out a little to see the sudden shining that did come from within the hole, when I made the Diskos to spin, and because of the low roar of the weapon. But I answered her that there did be naught to have fear concerning; and so was she peaceful again, but yet a little trembling when that I came down to her; for, indeed, the Diskos did make always a strange sounding and a quaint and drear shining, as you do know; and she did be feared for me that some Evil Force had come upon me out of the cave; for she had neither knowledge nor conceiving that ever there did be so wondrous a weapon in all the world.
And I gave the Maid an help upward to the little cave, and came after, myself; and so we did be in a very nice and cosy place, that did not be easily gotten at by any monstrous thing. And surely I was utter glad for such a place, so that both should have safety that we might sleep in the same hours.
And, in truth, this was a needful plan; for if one had stayed wakeful to keep a watch for the other, then had our sleep taken us double hours; and this thing might not be, else should our food be done, and we to be twice so long as need be, ere ever we did come unto the refuge of the Mighty Pyramid; and I utter wearied and anxious of the heart and spirit that I bring Mine Own soon unto the safety and glory of my Mighty Home, and so free from the Destruction that did hang above our two souls for ever in that Land, and the peril that did be everywhere, save in the Last Redoubt.
Now when we were come into the hole of the rock, the Maid did slip the scrip and the pouch from my shoulders; and she gat out the tablets, and made some of the water, and did be very swift and natty, and all to the despite of the gloom that did be utter in that little cave.
And we eat each of us two of the tablets and drank some of the water; and I made jest with the Maid how that the tablets did be proper for strength, yet very lacking to fill the belly; though, indeed, I named it otherwise.
And she to agree, and did pat mine arm, and did tell me how that she should cook me a monstrous tasty and great meal when that we were come unto the Mighty Pyramid. And immediately afterward, she did make to laugh upon me, and to name me impudently for so much thought unto my feeding; and afterward again to silence, and to patting my hand.
Now, when that we had made an end of eating and drinking, I was very ready for sleep; for, truly, it was six and twenty great hours since that I did last slumber; but for the Maid it did be eight and thirty great hours; for, as you do mind, she had made no sleeping when that she did lie in mine arms for six hours of our journeying.
And I made how we should sleep; and put the cloak about the Maid; but surely she did refuse, very piteous, and seeming to have also somewhat of doubt and puzzlement. But in this thing I did be very stern and intending; for she did not be over-warm clad, as you do know, and moreover, she was but a little One, while I did be wondrous hardy.
And, in verity, I made her to obey, and gave her the scrip and the pouch for her pillow; and she, as it did seem to me, to sob to herself a little in the gloom of the night. But yet did I stay my heart a little stern to mine intent. And I wrapt the cloak about her, and set the scrip and the pouch very nice beneath her head; and afterward, I knelt over to kiss her, before that I came unto mine own slumber. Yet did she turn her mouth from me, and did put her hand above her face to ward me off, the which did grieve me; for truly, I did heed alway that I should never thrust my love upon her in her lonesomeness; but only let it be to her for a shield and for all comfort unto her heart.
And I turned my back, and went a pace away and lay down; for truly there did be no way else but to be near unto the Maid, for it was but a little cave. And I lay very husht, because that I was so sore in the heart. Yet, truly, I could not come unto my slumber, for I was so disturbed in my love; and I stayed very quiet maybe for a great hour; and did fight that I shake not mine armour to jinglings with the utter cold that did make me to tremble. But the Maid did sleep very sweet and calm, as I perceived by her breathings.
Yet, in verity, the Maid did be so much awake as I, and with some sweet and naughty intent of the heart, as my spirit did sudden perceive. And I lay very husht, and did wait to discover what this thing might be.
And I made my breathing to seem as the breathing of one that did sleep, even as that naughty Maid did make pretending. And surely, in a while I did know that she moved very quiet, and came unto me; and I made yet that I slept very sound and strong; though the cold did nigh to conquer all my quietness.
And in a moment I perceived the intent of the Maid; for I did feel the cloak spread over me with a wondrous gentleness; and afterward there did be a soft kiss put upon my hand; and the Maid back then to her pillow; yet, as I did hear, she brought it something more nigh to me; as that she did crave to be near unto me that was her own Love.
And I sat up, and I put forth my hands suddenly and took the Maid into mine arms; and she to nestle unto me so that I did be wordless, because that I loved her so utter.
And presently, I felt her to stir in mine arms; and I loost her somewhat; for I did be always very mindful that I impose not upon her dear liberty of maidenhood. Yet she made not to go from me, but only to gather the cloak about her; so that we did both be in the cloak. And she askt why this might not be; for surely it did be madness that one should starve and the other be very nice in warmth. And, indeed, this did be but wisdom; yet it might not come the first from me.
And I said to Mine Own that this thing should be; and she reached out, and brought the scrip and the pouch, and placed them for a pillow for my head, and told me that I should put my head thereon. And I askt her how this did be right; for she did need a pillow the more than I. But she bid me to bide, and to have obedience in my turn. And when I was so, she spread the cloak over me, and afterward crept under, and did lie down beside me, and did seem as that she was asleep in one moment.
Yet, though she did be so sedate and matter-of-the-fact, as we do say, while that she was wakeful, she did yet nestle unto me very sweet and childlike in her sleep. And surely I did want to kiss her; but yet did refrain from my love; for, truly, I did well that I treat her very gently, at such a time, as you do perceive. And, in verity, such a Maid doth make a reverence in the soul of a man.
Now, presently, I was gone over unto sleep; and in seven hours I waked; and in that time had the Maid slumbered through eight hours; yet did I intend that she be not disturbed, until that we were aready to the journey. And I slipt from under the cloak, and put it round her, very gentle. Yet it to be as she did miss me, even in her sleep; for it to seem to me that she put out her arms in the darkness, and she made a little moaning in her slumber. Yet, in a moment, she did be quiet, and afterward I put the cloak about her again.
And I went then to the opening of the little cave, and put forth my head, and lookt well about, and harked a long while; but there stirred nothing in the night thereabout; neither did my spirit wot of any matter for trouble unto us.
And presently, I gat out two of the tablets; for, as you do know, the Maid had given me the scrip and the pouch to be my pillow, so that I had power to come at these matters, without awaking her; but for her own part, as I did learn after, she had used her torn garments to be for a pillow; yet had made no explaining, as you do mind; and surely this was one of her naughty whimsies; and mayhap she had been so full of a playful happiness — as doth take the heart betimes — that she had made a little mystery where there did be no mystery; and this but to release her joy, and so to say masterful things unto me, out of her impudence; and afterward had meant that she tell me; but yet was gone unto slumber, ere that she did mind her.
Yet, since that time, a new thought hath come unto me that she did mean in the first that she should come into mine arms to sleep, and thereby need no pillow. But afterward, it may hap that she saw with a sudden olden wisdom, all in one moment; and afterward did act lovingly, yet with understanding. And so did change from her intent; yet with no improperness of modesty; but only with a niceness of Sense, which she did make no talk of; but yet did have. And surely, how oft is a man thus wisely ordered, unknowing.
And to cease from these thinkings, and to go forward, I eat two of the tablets, and afterward made some of the water. And lo! the fizzing of the water waked the Maid; and I knew that she reached out very sudden to me; but afterward knew in a moment what did make the sound, and that I did be up and making ready for the journeying.
And she gat up in the darkness, and said my name, and came unto me, and kist my forehead in the dark; and immediately she ran her hands gently downward of my left arm, and when she came to the cup, she took it from me, and slapt my hand, very dainty. And afterward I knew that she took a sip from the cup, and then did turn that side to me, and so gave me to drink, and did scold me that I had not waked her to tend to my needs; for surely she did be Mine Own, to have her duties to me.
And after that I had drank, she took the cup, and did finish it; and she gat two of the tablets, as I did think, and came afterward and sat upon the rock to my side, and did nestle somewhat against mine armour, and took mine arm and set it about her; and so did make to eat.
But first she put her tablet unto my lips, in the dark, that I should kiss it; and surely this was an olden way of Mirdath My Beautiful One; so that I did be all shaken of the heart. And I kist the tablet; and immediately she nestled unto me, and did begin to eat.
And truly it was as that Eternity had been rolled backward; for I had discovered the soul of mine olden Love in this dainty Maid to my side. Yet, in looks had Mirdath been of an utter differing; but, in verity Naani was wondrous lovely. But, though I to be so stirred, I did be silent; for my heart was very full of memory.
And as the Maid eat, she slipt her fingers between mine, curling them softly; and surely her fingers did be very little; and she stirred mine olden memories again in this thing. And surely I was dumb before my Memory.
And presently, she put up the second tablet, as I did think, that I should kiss it; and I kist it, as before. Yet, ere she did begin again to eat, I did wot suddenly that she hid some intent from me.
And I caught her hand very quick in the dark; and her fingers did close upon the tablet, very guilty; so that I perceived that I had guessed aright. And I opened her fingers; and I found that there did be but the half of a tablet within her hand. And surely she had taken but that one tablet, and had given me the one end to kiss, and afterward the other; so that I should suppose she did eat two proper and complete tablets.
And I perceived that she had done this thing secretly, being minded that if she eat always but one tablet, then should I never lack, even if that we did be over-long coming unto the Mighty Pyramid.
And I askt how oft already had she eat but one, for two. And she confessed in a very quiet voice that this did make the fifth time. And I was so angered, that I took her hand and whipt it thrice, so hard that she had screamed if that she had been any coward. And she said nothing to me, neither went away.
And she began again to eat the half of the tablet, and did eat it from the other hand, as I to be aware, because that her left hand did be hurt. And she wept not, but was very quiet by me; and presently I knew that she kist the whipt hand secretly in the dark.
And afterward, I put mine arm again about her; and she did be there in it, very sober and happy. And when she had made an end of the first tablet, I gave her the second, and she eat it very quiet and content.
And presently I talked with her, and showed her how that this thing did hurt my heart, even as she had been hurt that I did be cold garmented, the while that she did be warm. And I showed her the wickedness that she had done, that she did play so foolish with her life and strength; and well might she be weak and all a-lack.
Yet, did I think a little sweet impudence came into her, as I told her concerning her wickednesses. And I took her then into mine arms, and I showed her how that I knew all the unselfishness and wonder of her heart; and I kist her, and truly her lips did have a lovely glad humbleness as they came unto mine; so that it was as that I had not kist her truly until that moment. And I made her to promise that she never deceive me in such matter again. And indeed she promised; but yet with no ready tongue.
And afterward, we made proper for the journey; and when we had gotten our gear together, I went downward of the rock, and gave the Maid help to come down. And when we did stand at last upon the bottom of the rock, I askt Naani how she did feel, and whether her feet did hurt. And she answered that she did be very well and had no soreness in her feet.
And we went forward then, and she close unto me; and odd whiles with low speech, but more oft with silence, because that we did need that we hark alway for any danger or horror; and also there did be so utter a silence upon that part of the Land, which did be the bottom of the olden sea.
And we eat and drank at the sixth and the twelfth hours; and in the fifteenth hour, we came upon a great slope of the earth; and lo! it did be the far side of the sea. And we went upward for a long hour; and so came to the upward part, and did be able once more to look over the greatness of that Land.
Last updated Saturday, March 1, 2014 at 20:38
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Custom and Myth, by Andrew Lang
The Divining Rod.
There is something remarkable, and not flattering to human sagacity, in the periodical resurrection of superstitions. Houses, for example, go on being ‘haunted’ in country districts, and no educated man notices the circumstance. Then comes a case like that of the Drummer of Tedworth, or the Cock Lane Ghost, and society is deeply moved, philosophers plunge into controversy, and he who grubs among the dusty tracts of the past finds a world of fugitive literature on forgotten bogies. Chairs move untouched by human hands, and tables walk about in lonely castles of Savoy, and no one marks them, till a day comes when the furniture of some American cottage is similarly afflicted, and then a shoddy new religion is based on the phenomenon. The latest revival among old beliefs is faith in the divining rod. ‘Our liberal shepherds give it a shorter name,’ and so do our conservative peasants, calling the ‘rod of Jacob’ the ‘twig.’ To ‘work the twig’ is rural English for the craft of Dousterswivel in the Antiquary, and perhaps from this comes our slang expression to ‘twig,’ or divine, the hidden meaning of another. Recent correspondence in the newspapers has proved that, whatever may be the truth about the ‘twig,’ belief in its powers is still very prevalent. Respectable people are not ashamed to bear signed witness to its miraculous powers of detecting springs of water and secret mines. It is habitually used by the miners in the Mendips, as Mr. Woodward found ten years ago; and forked hazel divining rods from the Mendips are a recognised part of ethnological collections. There are two ways of investigating the facts or fancies about the rod. One is to examine it in its actual operation — a task of considerable labour, which will doubtless be undertaken by the Society for Psychical Research; the other, and easier, way is to study the appearances of the divining wand in history, and that is what we propose to do in this article.
When a superstition or belief is widely spread in Europe, as the faith in the divining rod certainly is (in Germany rods are hidden under babies’ clothes when they are baptised), we naturally expect to find traces of it in ancient times and among savages all over the modern world. We have already examined in ‘The Bull-Roarer’ a very similar example. We saw that there is a magical instrument — a small fish-shaped piece of thin flat wood tied to a thong — which, when whirled in the air, produces a strange noise, a compound of roar and buzz. This instrument is sacred among the natives of Australia, where it is used to call together the men, and to frighten away the women from the religious mysteries of the males. The same instrument is employed for similar purposes in New Mexico, and in South Africa and New Zealand — parts of the world very widely distant from each other, and inhabited by very diverse races. It has also been lately discovered that the Greeks used this toy, which they called ῥόμβος, in the Mysteries of Dionysus, and possibly it may be identical with the mystica vannus Iacchi (Virgil, Georgics, i. 166). The conclusion drawn by the ethnologist is that this object, called turndun by the Australians, is a very early savage invention, probably discovered and applied to religious purposes in various separate centres, and retained from the age of savagery in the mystic rites of Greeks and perhaps of Romans. Well, do we find anything analogous in the case of the divining rod?
Future researches may increase our knowledge, but at present little or nothing is known of the divining rod in classical ages, and not very much (though that little is significant) among uncivilised races. It is true that in all countries rods or wands, the Latin virga, have a magical power. Virgil obtained his mediæval repute as a wizard because his name was erroneously connected with virgula, the magic wand. But we do not actually know that the ancient wand of the enchantress Circe, in Homer, or the wand of Hermes, was used, like the divining rod, to indicate the whereabouts of hidden wealth or water. In the Homeric hymn to Hermes (line 529), Apollo thus describes the caduceus, or wand of Hermes: ‘Thereafter will I give thee a lovely wand of wealth and riches, a golden wand with three leaves, which shall keep thee ever unharmed.’ In later art this wand, or caduceus, is usually entwined with serpents; but on one vase, at least, the wand of Hermes is simply the forked twig of our rustic miners and water-finders. The same form is found on an engraved Etruscan mirror.182
Now, was a wand of this form used in classical times to discover hidden objects of value? That wands were used by Scythians and Germans in various methods of casting lots is certain; but that is not the same thing as the working of the twig. Cicero speaks of a fabled wand by which wealth can be procured; but he says nothing of the method of its use, and possibly was only thinking of the rod of Hermes, as described in the Homeric hymn already quoted. There was a Roman satura, by Varro, called ‘Virgula Divina’; fragments remain, but throw no light on the subject. A passage usually quoted from Seneca has no more to do with the divining rod than with the telephone. Pliny is a writer extremely fond of marvels; yet when he describes the various modes of finding wells of water, he says nothing about the divining wand. The isolated texts from Scripture which are usually referred to clearly indicate wands of a different sort, if we except Hosea iv. 12, the passage used as motto by the author of Lettres qui découvrent l’illusion des Philosophes sur la Baguette (1696). This text is translated in our Bible, ‘My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them.’ Now, we have here no reference to the search for wells and minerals, but to a form of divination for which the modern twig has ceased to be applied. In rural England people use the wand to find water, but not to give advice, or to detect thieves or murderers; but, as we shall see, the rod has been very much used for these purposes within the last three centuries.
This brings us to the moral powers of the twig; and here we find some assistance in our inquiry from the practices of uncivilised races. In 1719 John Bell was travelling across Asia; he fell in with a Russian merchant, who told him of a custom common among the Mongols. The Russian had lost certain pieces of cloth, which were stolen out of his tent. The Kutuchtu Lama ordered the proper steps to be taken to find out the thief. ‘One of the Lamas took a bench with four feet, and after turning it in several directions, at last it pointed directly to the tent where the stolen goods were concealed. The Lama now mounted across the bench, and soon carried it, or, as was commonly believed, it carried him, to the very tent, where he ordered the damask to be produced. The demand was directly complied with; for it is vain in such cases to offer any excuse.’183 Here we have not a wand, indeed, but a wooden object which turned in the direction, not of water or minerals, but of human guilt. A better instance is given by the Rev. H. Rowley, in his account of the Mauganja.184 A thief had stolen some corn. The medicine-man, or sorcerer, produced two sticks, which he gave to four young men, two holding each stick. The medicine-man danced and sang a magical incantation, while a zebra-tail and a rattle were shaken over the holders of the sticks. ‘After a while, the men with the sticks had spasmodic twitchings of the arms and legs; these increased nearly to convulsions. . . . According to the native idea, it was the sticks which were possessed primarily, and through them the men, who could hardly hold them. The sticks whirled and dragged the men round and round like mad, through bush and thorny shrub, and over every obstacle; nothing stopped them; their bodies were torn and bleeding. At last they came back to the assembly, whirled round again, and rushed down the path to fall panting and exhausted in the hut of one of a chief’s wives. The sticks, rolling to her very feet, denounced her as a thief. She denied it; but the medicine-man answered, “The spirit has declared her guilty; the spirit never lies.”’ The woman, however, was acquitted, after a proxy trial by ordeal: a cock, used as her proxy, threw up the muavi, or ordeal-poison.
Here the points to be noted are, first, the violent movement of the sticks, which the men could hardly hold; next, the physical agitation of the men. The former point is illustrated by the confession of a civil engineer writing in the Times. This gentleman had seen the rod successfully used for water; he was asked to try it himself, and he determined that it should not twist in his hands ‘if an ocean rolled under his feet.’ Twist it did, however, in spite of all his efforts to hold it, when he came above a concealed spring. Another example is quoted in the Quarterly Review, vol. xxii. p. 374. A narrator, in whom the editor ‘had implicit confidence,’ mentions how, when a lady held the twig just over a hidden well, ‘the twig turned so quick as to snap, breaking near her fingers.’ There seems to be no indiscretion in saying, as the statement has often been printed before, that the lady spoken of in the Quarterly Review was Lady Milbanke, mother of the wife of Byron. Dr. Hutton, the geologist, is quoted as a witness of her success in the search for water with the divining rod. He says that, in an experiment at Woolwich, ‘the twigs twisted themselves off below her fingers which were considerably indented by so forcibly holding the rods between them.’185 Next, the violent excitement of the four young men of the Mauganja is paralleled by the physical experience of the lady quoted in the Quarterly Review. ‘A degree of agitation was visible in her face when she first made the experiment; she says this agitation was great’ when she began to practise the art, or whatever we are to call it. Again, in Lettres qui découvrent l’illusion (p. 93), we read that Jacques Aymar (who discovered the Lyons murderer in 1692) se sent tout ému— feels greatly agitated — when he comes on that of which he is in search. On page 97 of the same volume, the body of the man who holds the divining rod is described as ‘violently agitated.’ When Aymar entered the room where the murder, to be described later, was committed, ‘his pulse rose as if he were in a burning fever, and the wand turned rapidly in his hands’ (Lettres, p. 107). But the most singular parallel to the performance of the African wizard must be quoted from a curious pamphlet already referred to, a translation of the old French Verge de Jacob, written, annotated, and published by a Mr. Thomas Welton. Mr. Welton seems to have been a believer in mesmerism, animal magnetism, and similar doctrines, but the coincidence of his story with that of the African sorcerer is none the less remarkable. It is a coincidence which must almost certainly be ‘undesigned.’ Mr. Welton’s wife was what modern occult philosophers call a ‘Sensitive.’ In 1851, he wished her to try an experiment with the rod in a garden, and sent a maid-servant to bring ‘a certain stick that stood behind the parlour door. In great terror she brought it to the garden, her hand firmly clutched on the stick, nor could she let it go. . . . ’ The stick was given to Mrs. Welton, ‘and it drew her with very considerable force to nearly the centre of the garden, to a bed of poppies, where she stopped.’ Here water was found, and the gardener, who had given up his lease as there was no well in the garden, had the lease renewed.
We began by giving evidence to show (and much more might be adduced) that the belief in the divining rod, or in analogous instruments, is not confined to the European races. The superstition, or whatever we are to call it, produces the same effects of physical agitation, and the use of the rod is accompanied with similar phenomena among Mongols, English people, Frenchmen, and the natives of Central Africa. The same coincidences are found in almost all superstitious practices, and in the effects of these practices on believers. The Chinese use a form of planchette, which is half a divining rod — a branch of the peach tree; and ‘spiritualism’ is more than three-quarters of the religion of most savage tribes, a Maori séance being more impressive than anything the civilised Sludge can offer his credulous patrons. From these facts different people draw different inferences. Believers say that the wide distribution of their favourite mysteries is a proof that ‘there is something in them.’ The incredulous look on our modern ‘twigs’ and turning-tables and ghost stories as mere ‘survivals’ from the stage of savage culture, or want of culture, when the fancy of half-starved man was active and his reason uncritical.
The great authority for the modern history of the divining rod is a work published by M. Chevreuil, in Paris, in 1854. M. Chevreuil, probably with truth, regarded the wand as much on a par with the turning-tables, which, in 1854, attracted a good deal of attention. He studied the topic historically, and his book, with a few accessible French tracts and letters of the seventeenth century, must here be our guide. A good deal of M. Chevreuil’s learning, it should be said, is reproduced in Mr. Baring Gould’s Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, but the French author is much more exhaustive in his treatment of the topic. M. Chevreuil could find no earlier book on the twig than the Testament du Frère Basil Valentin, a holy man who flourished (the twig) about 1413; but whose treatise is possibly apocryphal. According to Basil Valentin, the twig was regarded with awe by ignorant labouring men, which is still true. Paracelsus, though he has a reputation for magical daring, thought the use of the twig ‘uncertain and unlawful’; and Agricola, in his De Re Metallica (1546), expresses a good deal of scepticism about the use of the rod in mining. A traveller of 1554 found that the wand was not used — and this seems to have surprised him — in the mines of Macedonia. Most of the writers of the sixteenth century accounted for the turning of the rod by ‘sympathy,’ which was then as favourite an explanation of everything as evolution is to-day. In 1630 the Baron de Beau Soleil of Bohemia (his name sounds rather Bohemian) came to France with his wife, and made much use of the rod in the search for water and minerals. The Baroness wrote a little volume on the subject, afterwards reprinted in a great storehouse of this lore, La Physique Occulte, of Vallemont. Kircher, a Jesuit, made experiments which came to nothing; but Gaspard Schott, a learned writer, cautiously declined to say that the Devil was always ‘at the bottom of it’ when the rod turned successfully. The problem of the rod was placed before our own Royal Society by Boyle, in 1666, but the Society was not more successful here than in dealing with the philosophical difficulty proposed by Charles II. In 1679 De Saint Romain, deserting the old hypothesis of secret ‘sympathies,’ explained the motion of the rod (supposing it to move) by the action of corpuscules. From this time the question became the playing ground of the Cartesian and other philosophers. The struggle was between theories of ‘atoms,’ magnetism, ‘corpuscules,’ electric effluvia, and so forth, on one side, and the immediate action of devils or of conscious imposture, on the other. The controversy, comparatively simple as long as the rod only indicated hidden water or minerals, was complicated by the revival of the savage belief that the wand could ‘smell out’ moral offences. As long as the twig turned over material objects, you could imagine sympathies and ‘effluvia’ at pleasure. But when the wand twirled over the scene of a murder, or dragged the expert after the traces of the culprit, fresh explanations were wanted. Le Brun wrote to Malebranche on July 8, 1689, to tell him that the wand only turned over what the holder had the intention of discovering.186 If he were following a murderer, the wand good-naturedly refused to distract him by turning over hidden water. On the other hand, Vallemont says that when a peasant was using the wand to find water, it turned over a spot in a wood where a murdered woman was buried, and it conducted the peasant to the murderer’s house. These events seem inconsistent with Le Brun’s theory of intention. Malebranche replied, in effect, that he had only heard of the turning of the wand over water and minerals; that it then turned (if turn it did) by virtue of some such force as electricity; that, if such force existed, the wand would turn over open water. But it does not so turn; and, as physical causes are constant, it follows that the turning of the rod cannot be the result of a physical cause. The only other explanation is an intelligent cause — either the will of an impostor, or the action of a spirit. Good spirits would not meddle with such matters; therefore either the Devil or an impostor causes the motion of the rod, if it does move at all. This logic of Malebranche’s is not agreeable to believers in the twig; but there the controversy stood, till, in 1692, Jacques Aymar, a peasant of Dauphiné, by the use of the twig discovered one of the Lyons murderers.
Though the story of this singular event is pretty well known, it must here be briefly repeated. No affair can be better authenticated, and our version is abridged from the ‘Relations’ of ‘Monsieur le Procureur du Roi, Monsieur l’Abbé de la Garde, Monsieur Panthot, Doyen des Médecins de Lyon, et Monsieur Aubert, Avocat célèbre.’
On July 5, 1692, a vintner and his wife were found dead in the cellar of their shop at Lyons. They had been killed by blows from a hedging-knife, and their money had been stolen. The culprits could not be discovered, and a neighbour took upon him to bring to Lyons a peasant out of Dauphiné, named Jacques Aymar, a man noted for his skill with the divining rod. The Lieutenant-Criminel and the Procureur du Roi took Aymar into the cellar, furnishing him with a rod of the first wood that came to hand. According to the Procureur du Roi, the rod did not move till Aymar reached the very spot where the crime had been committed. His pulse then rose, and the wand twisted rapidly. ‘Guided by the wand or by some internal sensation,’ Aymar now pursued the track of the assassins, entered the court of the Archbishop’s palace, left the town by the bridge over the Rhone, and followed the right bank of the river. He reached a gardener’s house, which he declared the men had entered, and some children confessed that three men (whom they described) had come into the house one Sunday morning. Aymar followed the track up the river, pointed out all the places where the men had landed, and, to make a long story short, stopped at last at the door of the prison of Beaucaire. He was admitted, looked at the prisoners, and picked out as the murderer a little hunchback (had the children described a hunchback?) who had just been brought in for a small theft. The hunchback was taken to Lyons, and he was recognised, on the way, by the people at all the stages where he had stopped. At Lyons he was examined in the usual manner, and confessed that he had been an accomplice in the crime, and had guarded the door. Aymar pursued the other culprits to the coast, followed them by sea, landed where they had landed, and only desisted from his search when they crossed the frontier. As for the hunchback, he was broken on the wheel, being condemned on his own confession. It does not appear that he was put to the torture to make him confess. If this had been done his admissions would, of course, have been as valueless as those of the victims in trials for witchcraft.
This is, in brief, the history of the famous Lyons murders. It must be added that many experiments were made with Aymar in Paris, and that they were all failures. He fell into every trap that was set for him; detected thieves who were innocent, failed to detect the guilty, and invented absurd excuses; alleging, for example, that the rod would not indicate a murderer who had confessed, or who was drunk when he committed his crime. These excuses seem to annihilate the wild contemporary theory of Chauvin and others, that the body of a murderer naturally exhales an invisible matière meurtrière— peculiar indestructible atoms, which may be detected by the expert with the rod. Something like the same theory, we believe, has been used to explain the pretended phenomena of haunted houses. But the wildest philosophical credulity is staggered by a matière meurtrière which is disengaged by the body of a sober, but not by that of an intoxicated, murderer, which survives tempests in the air, and endures for many years, but is dissipated the moment the murderer confesses. Believers in Aymar have conjectured that his real powers were destroyed by the excitements of Paris, and that he took to imposture; but this is an effort of too easy good-nature. When Vallemont defended Aymar (1693) in the book called La Physique Occulte, he declared that Aymar was physically affected to an unpleasant extent by matière meurtrière, but was not thus agitated when he used the rod to discover minerals. We have seen that, if modern evidence can be trusted, holders of the rod are occasionally much agitated even when they are only in search of wells. The story gave rise to a prolonged controversy, and the case remains a judicial puzzle, but little elucidated by the confession of the hunchback, who may have been insane, or morbid, or vexed by constant questioning till he was weary of his life. He was only nineteen years of age.
The next use of the rod was very much like that of ‘tipping’ and turning tables. Experts held it (as did Le Père Ménestrier, 1694), questions were asked, and the wand answered by turning in various directions. By way of showing the inconsistency of all philosophies of the wand, it may be said that one girl found that it turned over concealed gold if she held gold in her hand, while another found that it indicated the metal so long as she did not carry gold with her in the quest. In the search for water, ecclesiastics were particularly fond of using the rod. The Maréchal de Boufflers dug many wells, and found no water, on the indications of a rod in the hands of the Prieur de Dorenic, near Guise. In 1700 a curé, near Toulouse, used the wand to answer questions, which, like planchette, it often answered wrong. The great sourcier, or water-finder, of the eighteenth century was one Bleton. He declared that the rod was a mere index, and that physical sensations of the searcher communicated themselves to the wand. This is the reverse of the African theory, that the stick is inspired, while the men who hold it are only influenced by the stick. On the whole, Bleton’s idea seems the less absurd, but Bleton himself often failed when watched with scientific care by the incredulous. Paramelle, who wrote on methods of discovering wells, in 1856, came to the conclusion that the wand turns in the hands of certain individuals of peculiar temperament, and that it is very much a matter of chance whether there are, or are not, wells in the places where it turns.
On the whole, the evidence for the turning of the wand is a shade better than that for the magical turning of tables. If there are no phenomena of this sort at all, it is remarkable that the belief in them is so widely diffused. But if the phenomena are purely subjective, owing to the conscious or unconscious action of nervous patients, then they are precisely of the sort which the cunning medicine-man observes, and makes his profit out of, even in the earliest stages of society. Once introduced, these practices never die out among the conservative and unprogressive class of peasants; and, every now and then, they attract the curiosity of philosophers, or win the belief of the credulous among the educated classes. Then comes, as we have lately seen, a revival of ancient superstition. For it were as easy to pluck the comet out of the sky by the tail, as to eradicate superstition from the mind of man.
Perhaps one good word may be said for the divining rod. Considering the chances it has enjoyed, the rod has done less mischief than might have been expected. It might very well have become, in Europe, as in Asia and Africa, a kind of ordeal, or method of searching for and trying malefactors. Men like Jacques Aymar might have played, on a larger scale, the part of Hopkins, the witch-finder. Aymar was, indeed, employed by some young men to point out, by help of the wand, the houses of ladies who had been more frail than faithful. But at the end of the seventeenth century in France, this research was not regarded with favour, and put the final touch on the discomfiture of Aymar. So far as we know, the hunchback of Lyons was the only victim of the ‘twig’ who ever suffered in civilised society. It is true that, in rural England, the movements of a Bible, suspended like a pendulum, have been thought to point out the guilty. But even that evidence is not held good enough to go to a jury.
182 Preller, Ausgewählte Aufsätze, p. 154.
183 Tylor, Prim. Cult., ii. 156. Pinkerton, vii. 357.
184 Universities Mission to Central Africa, p. 217. Prim. Cult., ii. 156, 157.
185 Quoted in Jacob’s Rod: London, n.d., a translation of La Verge de Jacob, Lyon, 1693.
186 Lettres sur la Baguette, pp. 106-112.
Last updated Friday, March 7, 2014 at 22:03
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45986
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While modern test instruments can compute decibels for us, we should know what a decibel is and how to manually calculate gain or loss.
We all have a direct, personal interest in the decibel (dB) since our ears respond to all sound in a logarithmic fashion; thus our ears' response can be described using decibels, since they also are logarithmically based units (using a base of 10). But, this isn't the only reason to be knowledgeable about decibels.
The decibel is also used in electrical measurements throughout our industry in innumerable ways. For example, the ability of an isolation transformer or a power-line filter to reduce (attenuate) electrical noise over some range of frequencies is but one example of this, since the performance is generally described using decibels. Another example is how much of a signal is lost over a transport path such as a coaxial cable or similar metallic path. Also, the gain of an amplifier is generally expressed in decibels.
Even though we now enjoy having dB computed for us by sophisticated test instruments such as solid-state oscilloscopes, we do need to know what the dB is and how to work manually with the dB. This will prevent us from being snowed by what our instrument displays when we push the button.
The basics
The dB is typically expressed in relation to the electrical unit it's to be used with. For example, dBV and dBmV are used for decibels expressed in terms of voltage or millivolts; dBA and dBmA are used for decibels expressed in terms of amperes and milliamperes; and dBW is used for decibels expressed in terms off watts. Oddly enough, dB expressed in terms of mW is simply abbreviated as dBm, and the "W" is just left off. (It's very important to express dB in this manner if confusion is to be avoided.)
Prefixing dB with a minus sign (-) means a loss, and either no sign or a positive one (+) means a gain.
Logarithmic approach
A lot of signal processes are nonlinear and actually are best described as being logarithmic in nature. Hence, if you try to use simple ratios to describe them, the results get either unrealistically spread-out at one end and are bunched-up at the other end of a chart or graph. This makes the information very hard to use.
An example of this problem can be cited using the ear again. When a linear resistance potentiometer is used as an audio volume control, all of the control is confined to the last few degrees of shaft rotation and the majority of the rotation doesn't appear to have much effect at all. However, when a logarithmically tapered control is used, the adjustment of volume is nearly uniform throughout the full rotational range of the potentiometer.
Another example is graphing a signal on linear marked graph paper. Because the signal is logarithmic in nature, its graph here either will be confusing due to the curvature of the plot or unusable due to the contraction and expansion of the data plot (similar to that encountered with the volume control and sound). Using logarithmic marked graph paper allows the "curved" plot to be generated using straight or almost straight lines. This makes for easier interpretation and general usage. An example of this is the charging or discharging of a capacitor over time.
General equations
A description of the general equation for determining the dB of gain (+dB) or loss (-dB) for any set of two voltages on a path of equal impedance is shown below.
dB =20 log ([E.sub.1]/[E.sub.2]) (equation 1)
Solving this form of equation is not difficult with a calculator that has a "log" key on it. All you have to do is first compute the ratio of the input to output voltage ([E.sub.1]/[E.sub.2]), press the "log" key, and then multiply the whole thing by 20. This gives the result in terms of -dB or +dB depending upon whether signal was lost or added to in the circuit. You can substitute current (I) for voltage using this equation if you desire.
Power calculations are a different matter. They're calculated in much the same manner as above, except the equation uses a factor of 10 as opposed to 20. Shown below is the basic power equation for computing dB in a circuit of the same impedance.
dB = 10 log ([P.sub.1]/[P.sub.2]) (equation 2)
The values of dB (calculated using equations 1 and 2) based on varying ratios of power and voltage/current are shown in the accompanying table. You might want to commit a few of the really important relationships in dB to memory since you may want to quickly estimate something. For example, the following common values should be remembered.
* Voltage or current:
Doubling or halving of voltage (or current) is a [+ or -]6 dB change.
A numerical ratio of 10 is 20 dB, 100 is 40 dB, 1000 is 60 dB, and so on.
* Power:
Doubling or halving of power is a [+ or -]3 dB change.
A numerical ratio of 2 is 3 dB, 4 is 6 dB, 10 is 10 dB, 100 is 20 dB, and so on.
The nice thing about dB notation is that gains and losses in any given circuit are simply added and subtracted arithmetically to find the final value of gain or loss. Then, with a little algebra or with the anti-log key (10x) on your calculator, you determine the voltage, current, or power ratio from the resulting answer.
Example 1
Let's see how the gains and losses of a given signal transport (losses) and amplifier (gain) system work together to produce a given output from a specified input.
Suppose you know the [+ or -]dB at any point in a system. You then can compute the voltage or current ratio. This is a simple algebra problem that's easy to do with a calculator. Let's say that the above "system" has 12 dB of gain. How do we compute the output voltage (or current) based upon knowing the input and the dB of gain? The answer lies in the following equation.
([E.sub.1]/[E.sub.2]) = [10.sup.(dB/20)] (equation 3)
This is the basic equation for computing the voltage ratio in a circuit of the same impedance when the [+ or -]dB is known. To use it, we first divide the known dB value by 20. The result is the power we wish to raise 10 to. Using our trusty calculator, we push the Xy key. The resulting value is the ratio between the input voltages.
Getting back to our example, we have 12 dB of gain after the signal is "processed and transported" from the source to the load. Using equation 3 and the procedure previously described, we find that this 12dB works out to a ratio of 3.98:1. This value times 10 = 39.8V output.
The ratio for power is computed in the same manner as in equation 3 except that 10 is used in place of 20 in the exponent's divisor. This is shown in the following basic equation for computing the power ratio in a circuit of the same impedance when the [+ or -]dB is known.
([P.sub.1]/[P.sub.2]) = [10.sup.(dB/10)] (equation 4)
Warren H. Lewis is President of Lewis Consulting Services, Inc., San Juan Capistrano, Calif. and Honorary Chairman of EC&M's Harmonics and Power Quality Steering Committee.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/45999
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No Retreat, No Surrender!
ell, well, about this, huh?! An actual update...
I've been in a serious creative slump in order to bust out of it, I thought I'd buy me a brand spanking new sketch book! I did a little sketching in front of the TV last night. I had it on Vs. channel and some MMA action was on. The character just came about after doing the studies you see there in the background.
Those are some tough ass dudes.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46025
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Last modified on 26 May 2014, at 22:19
From be- (out, over, across) + give. Compare Dutch begeven (to give up, forsake), German begeben (to issue, endow), Danish begive (to go), Swedish begiva (to proceed, start for, go).
• 2004, Communion,
Derived termsEdit
Related termsEdit
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46026
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Last modified on 11 January 2014, at 06:58
sound out
to sound out (third-person singular simple present sounds out, present participle sounding out, simple past and past participle sounded out)
1. (transitive) To question and listen attentively in order to discover a person's opinion, intent, or preference, especially by using indirect conversational remarks.
You'll have to ask them—sound them out.
2. (transitive) To pronounce a word or phrase by articulating each of its letters or syllables slowly in sequence.
3. (intransitive) To speak or sing loudly, to call out.
• c. 1855, Walt Whitman, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," stanza 9,
• "sound out" at OneLook® Dictionary Search.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46029
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A graph of the A-, B-, C- and D-weightings across the frequency range 10 Hz – 20 kHz
Video illustrating A-weighting by analyzing a sine sweep (contains audio)
A-weighting is the most commonly used of a family of curves defined in the International standard IEC 61672:2003 and various national standards relating to the measurement of sound pressure level. A-weighting is applied to instrument-measured sound levels in effort to account for the relative loudness perceived by the human ear, as the ear is less sensitive to low audio frequencies. It is employed by arithmetically adding a table of values, listed by octave or third-octave bands, to the measured sound pressure levels in dB. The resulting octave band measurements are usually added (logarithmic method) to provide a single A-weighted value describing the sound; the units are written as dB(A). Other weighting sets of values - B, C, D and now Z - are discussed below.
The curves were originally defined for use at different average sound levels, but A-weighting, though originally intended only for the measurement of low-level sounds (around 40 phon), is now commonly used for the measurement of environmental noise and industrial noise, as well as when assessing potential hearing damage and other noise health effects at all sound levels; indeed, the use of A-frequency-weighting is now mandated for all these measurements, although it is badly suited for these purposes, being only applicable to low levels so that it tends to devalue the effects of low frequency noise in particular.[1] is also used when measuring low-level noise in audio equipment, especially in the U.S.A.[citation needed] In Britain, Europe and many other parts of the world, broadcasters and audio engineers[who?] more often use the ITU-R 468 noise weighting, which was developed in the 1960s based on research by the BBC and other organizations. This research showed that our ears respond differently to random noise, and the equal-loudness curves on which the A, B and C weightings were based are really only valid for pure single tones.[citation needed]
History of A-weighting[edit]
A-weighting began with work by Fletcher and Munson which resulted in their publication, in 1933, of a set of equal-loudness contours. Three years later these curves were used in the first American standard for sound level meters.[1] This ANSI standard, later revised as ANSI S1.4-1981, incorporated B-weighting as well as the A-weighting curve, recognising the unsuitability of the latter for anything other than low-level measurements. But B-weighting has since fallen into disuse. Later work, first by Zwicker and then by Schomer, attempted to overcome the difficulty posed by different levels, and work by the BBC resulted in the CCIR-468 weighting, currently maintained as ITU-R 468 noise weighting, which gives more representative readings on noise as opposed to pure tones.[citation needed]
Deficiencies of A-weighting[edit]
A-weighting is only really valid for relatively quiet sounds and for pure tones as it is based on the 40-phon Fletcher–Munson curves which represented an early determination of the equal-loudness contour for human hearing.
Because of perceived discrepancies between early and more recent determinations, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) recently revised its standard curves as defined in ISO 226, in response to the recommendations of a study coordinated by the Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Japan. The study produced new curves by combining the results of several studies, by researchers in Japan, Germany, Denmark, UK, and USA. (Japan was the greatest contributor with about 40% of the data.) This has resulted in the recent acceptance of a new set of curves standardized as ISO 226:2003. The report comments on the surprisingly large differences, and the fact that the original Fletcher–Munson contours are in better agreement with recent results than the Robinson-Dadson, which appear to differ by as much as 10–15 dB especially in the low-frequency region, for reasons that are not explained. Fortuitously, the 40-phon Fletcher–Munson curve is particularly close to the modern ISO 226:2003 standard.[2]
Nevertheless, it will be noted that A-weighting would be a better match to the loudness curve if it fell much more steeply above 10 kHz, and it is likely that this compromise came about because steep filters were difficult to construct in the early days of electronics.[citation needed] Nowadays, no such limitation need exist, as demonstrated by the ITU-R 468 curve. If A-weighting is used without further band-limiting it is possible to obtain different readings on different instruments when ultrasonic, or near ultrasonic noise is present. Accurate measurements therefore require a 20 kHz low-pass filter to be combined with the A-weighting curve in modern instruments. This is defined in IEC 61012 as AU weighting and while very desirable, is rarely fitted to commercial sound level meters.
A new technology sound level meter complying with IEC 61672 : 2003
B-, C-, D- and Z-weightings[edit]
A-frequency-weighting is mandated by the international standard IEC 61672 to be fitted to all sound level meters. The old B- and D-frequency-weightings have fallen into disuse, but many sound level meters provide for C frequency-weighting and its fitting is mandated — at least for testing purposes — to precision (Class one) sound level meters. D-frequency-weighting was specifically designed for use when measuring high level aircraft noise in accordance with the IEC 537 measurement standard. The large peak in the D-weighting curve is not a feature of the equal-loudness contours, but reflects the fact that humans hear random noise differently from pure tones, an effect that is particularly pronounced around 6 kHz. This is because individual neurons from different regions of the cochlea in the inner ear respond to narrow bands of frequencies, but the higher frequency neurons integrate a wider band and hence signal a louder sound when presented with noise containing many frequencies than for a single pure tone of the same pressure level.[citation needed] Following changes to the ISO standard, D-frequency-weighting should now only be used for non-bypass engines and as these are not fitted to commercial aircraft — but only to military ones — A-frequency-weighting is now mandated for all civilian aircraft measurements.
Z- or ZERO frequency-weighting was introduced in the International Standard IEC 61672 in 2003 and was intended to replace the "Flat" or "Linear" frequency weighting often fitted by manufacturers. This change was needed as each sound level meter manufacturer could choose their own low and high frequency cut-offs (–3dB) points, resulting in different readings, especially when peak sound level was being measured. As well, the C-frequency-weighting, with –3dB points at 31.5Hz and 8 kHz did not have a sufficient bandpass to allow the sensibly correct measurement of true peak noise (Lpk)
B- and D-frequency-weightings are no longer described in the body of the standard IEC 61672 : 2003, but their frequency responses can be found in the older IEC 60651, although that has been formally withdrawn by the International Electro-technical Commission in favour of IEC 61672 : 2003. The frequency weighting tolerances in IEC 61672 have been tightened over those in the earlier standards IEC 179 and IEC 60651 and thus instruments complying with the earlier specifications should no longer be used for legally required measurements.
Environmental noise measurement[edit]
A-weighted decibels are abbreviated dB(A) or dBA. When acoustic (calibrated microphone) measurements are being referred to, then the units used will be dB SPL referenced to 20 micropascals = 0 dB SPL. dBrn adjusted is a synonym for dBA.
The A-weighting curve has been widely adopted for environmental noise measurement, and is standard in many sound level meters. The A-weighting system is used in any measurement of environmental noise (examples of which include roadway noise, rail noise, aircraft noise). A-weighting is also in common use for assessing potential hearing damage caused by loud noise.
A-weighted SPL measurements of noise level are increasingly found on sales literature for domestic appliances such as refrigerators, freezers and computer fans. Although the threshold of hearing is theoretically around 0 dB SPL, sound at this level is practically inaudible and appliances are more likely to have noise levels of 30 to 40 dB SPL.
Audio reproduction and broadcasting equipment[edit]
Although the A-weighting curve, in widespread use for noise measurement, is said to have been based on the 40-phon Fletcher-Munson curve, research in the 1960s demonstrated that determinations of equal-loudness made using pure tones are not directly relevant to our perception of noise.[3] This is because the cochlea in our inner ear analyses sounds in terms of spectral content, each 'hair-cell' responding to a narrow band of frequencies known as a critical band. The high-frequency bands are wider in absolute terms than the low frequency bands, and therefore 'collect' proportionately more power from a noise source. However, when more than one critical band is stimulated, the outputs of the various bands are summed by the brain to produce an impression of loudness. For these reasons equal-loudness curves derived using noise bands show an upwards tilt above 1 kHz and a downward tilt below 1 kHz when compared to the curves derived using pure tones.
This enhanced sensitivity to noise in the region of 6 kHz became particularly apparent in the late 1960s with the introduction of compact cassette recorders and Dolby-B noise reduction. A-weighted noise measurements were found to give misleading results because they did not give sufficient prominence to the 6 kHz region where the noise reduction was having greatest effect, and did not sufficiently attenuate noise around 10 kHz and above (a particular example is with the 19 kHz pilot tone on FM radio systems which, though usually inaudible is not sufficiently attenuated by A-weighting, so that sometimes one piece of equipment would even measure worse than another and yet sound better, because of differing spectral content.
ITU-R 468 noise weighting was therefore developed to more accurately reflect the subjective loudness of all types of noise, as opposed to tones. This curve, which came out of work done by the BBC Research Department, and was standardised by the CCIR and later adopted by many other standards bodies (IEC, BSI) and, as of 2006, is maintained by the ITU. It became widely used in Europe, especially in broadcasting, and was adopted by Dolby Laboratories who realised its superior validity for their purposes when measuring noise on film soundtracks and compact cassette systems. Its advantages over A-weighting is less understood in the US, where the use of A-weighting still predominates.[citation needed] It is universally used by broadcasters in Britain, Europe, and former countries of the British Empire such as Australia and South Africa.
Though the noise level of 16-bit audio systems (such as CD players) is commonly quoted as −96 dBFS (relative to full scale), the best 468-weighted results are in the region of −86 dBFS.[citation needed]
Function realisation of some common weightings[edit]
Although they are defined in the standards by tables with tolerance limits (to allow a variety of implementations)[citation needed] the weightings can be described in terms of a weighting function R_X(f) that acts on the amplitude spectrum (not the intensity spectrum), or an offset X(f) that must be added to the unweighted sound level in dB units. Appropriate weighting functions are:[4]
R_A(f)= {12200^2\cdot f^4\over (f^2+20.6^2)\quad\sqrt{(f^2+107.7^2)\,(f^2+737.9^2)}
\quad (f^2+12200^2)}\ ,
R_B(f)= {12200^2\cdot f^3\over (f^2+20.6^2)\quad\sqrt{(f^2+158.5^2)}
R_C(f)= {12200^2\cdot f^2\over (f^2+20.6^2)\quad(f^2+12200^2)}\ ,
The offsets (2.0, 0.17 and 0.06 for A, B and C, respectively) ensure the normalisation to 0 dB at 1000 Hz.
h(f)=\frac{(1037918.48-f^2)^2+1080768.16\,f^2}{(9837328-f^2)^2+11723776\,f^2}\ .[5]
Transfer function equivalent[edit]
The gain curves can be realised[6] by the following s-domain transfer functions. They are not defined in this way though, being defined by tables of values with tolerances in the standards documents, thus allowing different realisations:[citation needed]
H_A(s)= {k_A \cdot s^4\over(s+129.4)^2\quad(s+676.7)\quad (s+4636)\quad (s+76655)^2}
kA ≈ 7.39705×109
H_B(s)= {k_B \cdot s^3\over(s+129.4)^2\quad (s+995.9)\quad (s+76655)^2}
kB ≈ 5.99185×109
H_C(s)= {k_C \cdot s^2\over(s+129.4)^2\quad (s+76655)^2}
kC ≈ 5.91797×109
H_D(s)= {k_D \cdot s \cdot (s^2 + 6532 s + 4.0975 \times 10^7)\over(s+1776.3)\quad (s+7288.5)\quad (s^2 + 21514 s + 3.8836 \times 10^8)}
kD ≈ 91104.32
The k values are constants which are used to normalize the function to a gain of 1 (0 dB). The values listed above normalize the functions to 0 dB at 1 kHz, as they are typically used. (This normalization is shown in the image.)
See also[edit]
1. ^ a b Richard L. St. Pierre, Jr. and Daniel J. Maguire (July 2004), The Impact of A-weighting Sound Pressure Level Measurements during the Evaluation of Noise Exposure, retrieved 2011-09-13
2. ^ Precise and Full-range Determination of Two-dimensional Equal Loudness Contours, archived from the original on 2007-09-27
3. ^ Researches in loudness measurement. doi:10.1109/TAU.1966.1161864.
4. ^ "Frequency weighting equations". Cross Spectrum. 2004. Archived from the original on 2011-03-30. [unreliable source?]
5. ^ RONALD M. AARTS (March 1992). A Comparison of Some Loudness Measures for Loudspeaker Listening Tests. Audio Engineering Society. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
6. ^ Noise Measurement Briefing, Product Technology Partners Ltd., archived from the original on 2008-06-30
• Audio Engineer's Reference Book, 2nd Ed 1999, edited Michael Talbot Smith, Focal Press
• An Introduction to the Psychology of Hearing 5th ed, Brian C.J.Moore, Elsevier Press
External links[edit]
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AviaBellanca Aircraft
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation
Type Aeronautics
Industry Aircraft manufacturing and design
Founded 1927 (adopted current name in 1983)
Headquarters Alexandria, MN
Key people Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, Founder
AviaBellanca Inc. website
Alexandria Aircraft website
Bellanca 14-13-2, manufactured in 1947
Bellanca Citabria 7ECA, manufactured in 1980
AviaBellanca Aircraft Corporation is an American aircraft design and manufacturing company. Prior to 1983 it was known as the Bellanca Aircraft Company. The company was founded in 1927 by Giuseppe Mario Bellanca.
The company[edit]
After Giuseppe Mario Bellanca, the designer and builder of Italy's first aircraft, came to the United States in 1911, he began to design aircraft for a number of firms, including the Maryland Pressed Steel Company, Wright Aeronautical Corporation and the Columbia Aircraft Corporation. Bellanca founded his own company, Bellanca Aircraft Corporation of America, in 1927, sited first in Richmond Hill, New York and moving in 1928 to New Castle (Wilmington), Delaware. In the 1920s and 1930s, Bellanca's aircraft of his own design were known for their efficiency and low operating cost, gaining fame for world record endurance and distance flights. Lindbergh's first choice for his New York to Paris flight was a Bellanca WB-2. The company's insistence on selecting the crew drove Lindbergh to Ryan.[1]
Bellanca remained President and Chairman of the Board from the corporation's inception on the last day of 1927 until he sold the company to L. Albert and Sons in 1954.[2] From that time on, the Bellanca line was part of a succession of companies that maintained the lineage of the original aircraft produced by Bellanca.[3]
First Flight - Model / Military number - Name
1922: Roos-Bellanca Aircraft is formed in Omaha
1923: Roos-Bellanca merges with Wright Aeronautical to form Wright-Bellanca.
1927: Giuseppe Bellanca acquires the rights to the WB-2 Columbia and forms the Columbia Aircraft Division of Bellanca Aircraft.
Bellanca J300 of Adamowicz brothers after a transatlatic flight, July 2, 1934
1955: Bellanca Aircraft sold to Northern Aircraft (later named Downer then International Aircraft or Inter-Air) of Alexandria, Minnesota.
1967: Bellanca name resurfaces as Bellanca Sales, a subsidiary of Miller Flying Service of Inter-Air.
1970: Bellanca Sales acquires Champion Aircraft and changes name to Bellanca Aircraft
1978: Bellanca Aircraft becomes a subsidiary of Anderson Greenwood
1982: Bellanca Aircraft assets sold to Viking Aviation and Champion Aircraft.
2002: Viking assets acquired by Alexandria Aircraft LLC (consortium of Weber's Aero Repair and four Bellanca employees).
1968: Giuseppe Bellanca and son August restart the original Bellanca company.
1983: This new company becomes AviaBellanca Aircraft
Bellanca Aircruiser under restoration at the Western Canada Aviation Museum, Winnipeg, 2006.
2010: August Bellanca died of chemotherapy complications.
See also[edit]
1. ^ Mondey 1978, p. 96.
2. ^ "The Giuseppe M. Bellanca Collection". National Air and Space Museum, Archives Division. Retrieved 2013-08-23.
3. ^ Palmer 2001, p. 51.
• Mondey, David. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Aircraft. Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell Books Inc, 1978. ISBN 0-89009-771-2.
• Palmer, Trisha, ed. "Bellanca Viking Series". Encyclopedia of the World's Commercial and Private Aircraft. New York: Crescent Books, 2001. ISBN 0-517-36285-6.
External links[edit]
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
JSC AvtoVAZ Common
Type Public joint-stock company
Traded as MCXAVAZ
Industry Automotive
Founded 1966
Headquarters Tolyatti, Russia
Key people Bo Inge Andersson (President)[1]
Carlos Ghosn (Chairman)[2]
Products Automobiles
Revenue Increase RUB190.061 billion (2012)[3]
Operating income Increase RUB37.826 billion (2012)[3]
Net income Increase RUB29.180 billion (2012)[3]
Total assets Increase RUB141.778 billion (2012)[3]
Total equity Increase RUB67.506 billion (2012)[3]
Owner(s) Alliance Rostec Auto BV[4]
Website lada.ru
AvtoVAZ (Russian: АвтоВАЗ) is the Russian automobile manufacturer formerly known as VAZ: Volzhsky Avtomobilny Zavod (ВАЗ, Во́лжский автомоби́льный заво́д), but better known to the world under the trade name Lada. The company was established in the late 1960s in collaboration with Fiat. The current company name is "AvtoVAZ", which stands for "Avtomobili Volzhskogo Avtomobilnogo Zavoda" ("Cars of Volga Automobile Plant").[5] AvtoVAZ is the largest company in the Eastern European and Russian automotive industry.[6]
It produces nearly one million cars a year, including the Kalina, Lada 110 and the Niva off-road vehicle. However, the original Fiat 124-based VAZ-2101, and its derivatives, remain the models most associated with its Lada brand. In the past, the most famous models were also Lada Nova (VAZ2105) and Lada Samara (VAZ-2108/VAZ-2109). But now instead of Lada Nova, the factory produces the same model VAZ-2107 for the domestic market; and instead of Lada Samara, the same model VAZ-2114/VAZ-2115. Since April 2012, VAZ produces Lada Largus: DACIA Logan MCV.
The VAZ factory is one of the biggest in the world, with over 90 miles (140 km) of production lines, and is unique in that most of the components for the cars are made in-house.
The original Lada was intended as a "people's car" for consumers of the Eastern Bloc - lacking in most luxuries expected in Western-made cars of its era. Ladas were sold as a budget 'no-frills' vehicle in several Western nations during the 1970s and 1980s, including Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, though trade sanctions banned their export to the United States. Sales to Italy were forbidden by the agreement between the Soviet government and Fiat, to protect Fiat from cheap imports in its home market.
Administrative building
Technical and design center
The Volga automaking plant in 1969
With the aim of producing more cars, a brand-new integrated plant was decided upon in 1966, with Viktor Polyakov (later minister of Minavtoprom) as director, and Vladimir Solovyev was chief designer.[7] It was set up as a collaboration between Italy and the Soviet Union and built on the banks of the Volga River in 1966. A new town, Tolyatti, named after the Italian Communist Party leader Palmiro Togliatti, was built around the factory. The Lada was envisaged as a "people's car" like the Citroën 2CV or the VW Type 1. Production was intended to be 220,000 cars a year, beginning in 1971; car production actually began before the plant was finished in 1970.[8] The VAZ trademark, at first, was a grey Volga boat on a red pentagonal background, with "Togliatti" superposed in Cyrillic (Тольятти); the first badges, manufactured in Turin, mistakenly had the Cyrillic "Я" rendered "R", instead (Тольrтти), making them collector's items.[9]
The lightweight Italian Fiat 124 was adapted in order to survive treacherous Russian driving conditions. Among many changes, aluminium brake drums were added to the rear, and the original Fiat engine was dropped in favour of a newer design also purchased from Fiat. This new engine had a modern overhead camshaft design, but was never used in Fiat cars. The suspension was raised to clear rough Russian roads and the bodyshell was made from thicker, heavier steel. The first Lada models were equipped with a starting handle in case the battery went flat in Siberian conditions, though this was later dropped. Another feature specifically intended to help out in cold conditions was a manual auxiliary fuel pump. About 22,000 VAZ-2101s were built in 1970, with capacity at the end of 1973 reaching 660,000 a year; 21 December, the one millionth 2101 was built.[10] A third production line was added in October 1974, boosting output to 2,230 cars a day.[11] The same year, total VAZ production reached 1.5 million.[12]
Exports to the West began in 1974; under the original agreement with Fiat, the car could not be sold in competition with the 124 until its replacement (the Fiat 131 Mirafiori) had been released and all Fiat production of the 124 had ceased.
Engines fitted to the original Ladas start with the 1.2 L carubretted in the original and go up to the 1.7 L export model set up with a General Motors single point fuel injection system. Diesel engines were later fitted for the domestic market only. The drivetrain is a simple rear-wheel drive setup with a live rear axle. The engine is an inline four with two valves per cylinder and a single overhead camshaft.
The Fiat-based Ladas feature various headlight, trim and body styles. The original, Fiat style models included VAZ-2101 sedan and VAZ-2102 station wagon. 1972 saw the introduction of a deluxe version of the sedan, VAZ-2103, which was based on Fiat 124 Special 1968 and featured a new 1.5 L engine and twin headlights. In 1974, the original VAZ-2101 was updated with new engines and interiors; VAZ-2102 underwent the same improvements in 1976. The body style with two round headlights was manufactured until 1988; all others remain in production in slightly updated form.
The VAZ-2106 introduced in December 1975 was an updated version of VAZ-2103, really which was based on Fiat 124 Special T 1972, featuring different interiors and new 1.6 L engine. 2106 is the oldest and the most popular rear-drive model of AvtoVAZ; its production ended in 2001 from Tolyatti was postponed to Izhavto (Izhevsk), which was completed in December 2005.
VAZ-2105, still based on the 2101 but updated to 1980s styling, was introduced in 1980 and was marketed outside the Soviet Union under the Riva or Laika names, depending on country. Square headlights and new body panels distinguish this style from the old models. A deluxe version, VAZ-2107, was out in 1982; it featured a better engine, refined interiors and a Mercedes-like radiator grille. In 1984, the VAZ-2104 station wagon completed the line-up. In 2002 station wagon 2104 production was transferred to IzhAvto. Production of the 2105 was completed on 30 December 2010, and production of deluxe sedan 2107 was transferred to IzhAvto on March 2011.
In the domestic market, these classic models were called Zhiguli (Жигули). The Lada name was used for exports only, but a large share of Ladas was reexported from Eastern bloc countries, so the brand was well known in the domestic market as well.
AvtoVAZ designers proved that they had some original ideas when the VAZ-2121 Niva was introduced in 1978. This highly popular car was made with off-road use in mind, featuring a gearbox with a four-wheel-drive selector lever as well as a low- and high- range selector lever. It has an original body style and the most powerful 1.7 L engine in the VAZ range. The Niva has also been available with 1.9 L Peugeot sourced diesel engine. The Niva is still in production.
Based on the success of the Niva, the design department prepared a new family of front-wheel drive models by 1984, which was of a completely domestic design. Production started with the VAZ-21083 Sputnik 3-door hatchback; the series was later renamed Samara. The Samara engine was mostly designed and produced in-house, had a new single overhead cam design and was driven by a more modern rubber belt. The combustion chambers were developed in collaboration with Porsche. The line-up features a completely new body and interiors, front McPherson suspension and rear torsion bar, rack and pinion steering and an updated 5-speed gearshift. The 5-door VAZ-21093 hatchback followed in 1987, and the 4-door 1.5 L sedan, VAZ-21099, was introduced in 1990. The same year, the front sides and radiator grille were restyled on the whole Samara range.
The 2108-2109 models were in production until 2001, when they were restyled with new side panels, interiors and 1.5 L fuel injection engines (though fuel injection was available as early as 1995). The Lada 2109 hatchback was rebadged as Lada 2114, and Lada 21099 sedan was rebadged as the Lada 2115. The 2104-21099 model range was transferred to IzhMash and ZAZ and is still being manufactured. In 2004 VAZ also introduced Lada 2113, a restyled version of Lada 2108, but this car has never used much popularity, as the Lada 2108 was only popular for a short time.
The VAZ-1111 "Oka" micro-car, which resembles the Fiat Panda (though has no relation to it), was introduced in 1988, and in 1991 the production was transferred to the KamAZ and SeAZ factories.
The VAZ-2120 Nadezhda minivan is based on the original Niva and has been in low-volume production since 1998. A five-door version of the Niva, the VAZ-2131, has been in production since 1995.
The break-up of the USSR delayed the production of new 110-series by a couple of years. The VAZ-2110 sedan was introduced in 1996, the 2111 station wagon followed in 1998 and the 2112 hatchback completed the range in 2001. These models are basically based on Samara technology with a new body and fuel injection engines as standard features, though carburated versions have also been available up until 2001. The 110-series remains in production and has been continually updated over the years. For example, engines used to be 1.5 L units with either 8 or 16 valves, but these have now been upgraded to 1.6 L units that meet stricter emissions rules.
VAZ in 2008 was the largest automotive plant in Europe, able to build 750,000 cars a year.[13] The plant covers 600 ha (65,000,000 sq ft), with three assembly lines each 1,700 m (5,600 ft) long; at peak production, it employed 180,000.[14] And, unlike most Western factories, it is vertically integrated, producing almost every component in the plant itself.[15]
Market share[edit]
Tightening emissions and safety legislation meant that AvtoVAZ withdrew from most Western markets by the late 1997; often, there were also problems with spare parts. In the USA they were never sold due to the cold war, but they were available in Canada (where the Niva was quite popular). The rise in popularity of Far Eastern imports from newly established manufacturers such as Daewoo, Proton, Kia and Hyundai contributed to Lada's demise in the West. These Korean and Malaysian-manufactured vehicles offered modern, Japanese developed technology and standard equipment which Lada could not compete with, and by the turn of the millennium, had completely taken over the market niche that Lada had survived in for over 20 years.
Though the original Lada, and as of the early part of the new millennium, the Samara, have now been withdrawn, the Lada 110 and the Niva are still sold in certain Western European markets, as are the more modern models. The Lada is widely available in many Central and South American countries as well as in Africa, the Middle East and in all of the former Soviet Union and Communist Bloc nations.
Recent developments[edit]
As AvtoVAZ was allowed to sell cars to private dealers in the late 1980s, Boris Berezovsky arranged to resell the cars to the public through his LogoVAZ dealerships. In 1993 he started a campaign to collect funds for the "people's automobile" and created the AVVA venture, which stands for All-Russian Automobile Alliance; the AvtoVAZ held a major share in the venture. The plans were to build a completely new plant for production of the VAZ-1116 supermini. However, the financial crisis of 1998 put these plans to an end. The development concepts of 1116 instead became the foundation of the Lada Kalina range.
GM-AvtoVAZ, a joint-venture with General Motors, adopted an updated version of the Niva, VAZ-2123, that was considered for production since the 1990s. Named Chevrolet Niva, it's being built on the venture's plant since 2001 and is exported to Europe and Latin America. In 2004, the Chevrolet Viva, a four-door version of the Opel Astra G, was introduced.
VAZ has also tried to get into the sportier markets: several Ladas were factory-tuned and given a Momo steering wheel. A convertible was also produced. In 2003, VAZ presented the concept car Lada Revolution, an open single seater sports car powered by a 1.6 L engine producing 215 hp (160 kW). There are other experimental cars, such as the VAZ-210834 Tarzan SUV concept, VAZ-1922 monster truck and VAZ-2359 pick-up, all based on Niva. The VAZ-211223 110-series coupe, with the sister models 111 and 112 have been developed with a modern and luxurious look and feel, have been mass-produced, and are popular in Russia today.
Some models (mostly the police version) have a Wankel-type engine (like the Mazda RX-7), though development of this engine has since stopped. The main causes are special requirements for service and repair (mostly available only in Moscow & Togliatti) and very high fuel & lubricating oil consumption.
2005 saw the introduction of the new Kalina supermini lineup to the market. AvtoVAZ has built a new modern plant for this model and is hoping to sell some 200,000 cars annually. Test production of the Lada 1118 sedan started in November 2004 and full-scale assembly was launched in May 2005. The Lada 1119 hatchback and Lada 1117 station wagon with updated DOHC 1.6L engines followed in 2006.
The restyled 110-series model, Lada 2170 Priora, is produced since March 2007.
Project C, which has come to be known as the Lada 2116 or Lada Silhouette, is a family car jointly developed with input from both Porsche and Renault, is intended to finally replace the Classic models. Spy shots of the car appeared in 2007, suggesting a 2008 launch however contradicting reports have shown that the car will now not be ready until 2011. AvtoVAZ however began to move production of the Classic models (which were still selling strongly in Russia) out of Togliatti at the end of 2010 - fuelling further speculation that this is to free up production capacity for the 2116.
AvtoVAZ was considering the local production of Ecotec Family 1 (FAM-1) engines using the equipment transferred from Szentgotthard, Hungary plant. A transmissions plant was to be bought from Daewoo Moto India, a former Daewoo Motors subsidiary that was not sold to GM. The engines and transmissions were to be used in both GM-AvtoVAZ and Lada cars. As of Summer 2005, these plans are cancelled and VAZ is seeking another way to acquire some modern powerplant technology.
After some shakeups in the management caused by a recent acquisition from Rosoboronexport, AvtoVAZ is currently in talks with Renault to negotiate a CKD assembly of the Renault Logan. They have also contracted Magna International to design a new car platform and equip a new plant for its production.[16]
AvtoVAZ suffered considerably in the 2008-2009 world economic crisis. In October 2008, the company was reported to possess over 100,000 unsold units, and desperately needed money to repay short-term debts. On March 31, the value of AvtoVAZ shares jumped by almost 30%, due to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's proclaimed determination to support the auto giant. Putin visited Togliatti, expressed his approval of the management for not initiating massive layoffs, and promised more than $1 billion in loans, cash, and guarantees.[17] In May, 2009, Putin bought an AvtoVAZ Niva SUV to show his support for the hard-pressed domestic producer.[18]
On March 10, 2010 the Board of Directors of "AvtoVAZ" approved business plan for the period until 2020, by which expected to increase vehicle production to 1.2 million units per year by the end of the 2010s, as well as investments up to 3 billion euros.[6]
On 3 May 2012, the Renault-Nissan alliance has signed letter of intent to raise its stake in Avtovaz to a majority by taking a majority share of 67.13% of a joint venture with the Russian state-controlled company, Russian Technologies, to own 74.5% of Avtovaz. This would raise the share of the Renault-Nissan Alliance in AvtoVAZ to 51.01%.[19] Renault and Nissan will invest $750,000 000 in the joint venture.
In 2012, it was announced that Avtovaz and Sollers plan to jointly produce vehicles in Kazakhstan.[20] The plant, which will be open since 2016, will be built in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the eastern part of the country, and will produce around 120,000 cars a year.[21]
In 2013, Igor Komarov will be replaced with Bo Andersson as Chief Executive Officer of AvtoVAZ.[22]
Each model has an internal index that reflects the level of modifications, based on the engine and other options installed. For example, the VAZ-21103 variant has the 1.5 L 16V engine, while the VAZ-21104 uses the latest 1.6 L 16V fuel injection engine. Since 2001, trim levels are also indicated by including a number after the main index: '-00' means base trim level, '-01' means standard trim and '-02' designates deluxe version; for example, VAZ-21121-02 means Lada 112 hatchback with an 1.6L SOHC engine and deluxe trim.
The car's name is formed from 'VAZ-index model name. The classic Fiat 124-derived models were known on the domestic market as Zhiguli (Жигули) until late-1990s, when the name was dropped; thus, the 2104-2107 range, as well as 110-series, actually lack a model name. The restyled Sputnik range was renamed Samara, but the Niva and the Oka retained their names. By the 2000s (decade), the VAZ designation was dropped from market names in favour of Lada and simplified export naming conventions were adopted, so VAZ-2104 effectively became Lada 2104, VAZ-2110 became Lada 110, VAZ-2114 became Lada Samara hatchback or Lada 114 and so on, though model indices continue to be used in both technical and marketing materials.
The model names varied from market to market and as such should not be used except to indicate a certain export market. Instead, it is advisable to refer solely to the model number as these are the same for all markets.
Classic Zhiguli[edit]
The Oka is a Russian city car designed by AvtoVAZ and sometimes branded as a Lada. This model was built in Russia by SeverstalAvto and SeAZ (the Serpuhov Car Factory), as well as in Azerbaijan by the Gyandzha Auto Plant. Series production of the OKA was stopped in Russia in 2008 when SeAZ released the last batch of OKA's with Chinese EURO-2 engines.
Chevrolet Niva[edit]
Chevrolet Niva
The Chevrolet Niva is a GM modification produced at GM-AvtoVAZ, a joint venture between AvtoVAZ and General Motors, at its factory in Tolyatti from 2002. Although the body and the interiors are new, it is still based on the original VAZ 2121 engine, transmission and most mechanicals of the Lada Niva.
Nissan Almera[edit]
Nissan Almera
In December 2012, the second generation of the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy began full-scale manufacturing at the AvtoVAZ plant as the new Nissan Almera.[23]
It received its world premiere at the 2012 Moscow International Motor Show on 29 August 2012, and uses the same design as the Bluebird Sylphy, but a redesigned dashboard interior, adapted from the first generation Dacia Logan. It has a 1.6-litre petrol engine (75 kW), with a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission.
Models gallery[edit]
Fiat-based models[edit]
All are based on the Fiat 124
Other models[edit]
Experimental models[edit]
See also[edit]
1. ^ http://www.zr.ru/content/news/607991-bu-andersson-vozglavil-avtovaz/
2. ^ Jolley, David (29 June 2013). "Ghosn becomes chairman of Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ". europe.autonews.com. Automtive News Europe. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
3. ^ a b c d e "AvtoVAZ Group: International Financial Reporting Standards. Consolidated Financial Stataments and Independent Auditors' Report. 31 December 2012" (PDF). AvtoVAZ. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
5. ^ Report for the II quarter of 2009 // lada-auto.ru
6. ^ a b «АвтоВАЗ» во II квартале получил 1 млрд руб чистой прибыли // RIA Novosti, 13 July 2010
8. ^ Thompson, p.106.
9. ^ Thompson, pp.107 & 109.
10. ^ Thompson, p.106.
11. ^ Thompson, p.106.
12. ^ Thompson, p.106.
13. ^ Thompson, p.107.
14. ^ Thompson, p.107.
15. ^ Thompson, p.107.
16. ^ "ОАО "АВТОВАЗ". Официальный сайт" (in Russian). Lada-auto.ru. Archived from the original on 19 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
17. ^ Aervitz, Irina (2009-04-08). "AvtoVAZ: a New Beginning or a Dead End?". Russia Profile. Archived from the original on 11 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-13.
18. ^ Putin buys Russian in boost to carmaker, Russia Today TV, May 16, 2009.Retrieved 2009-11-25.
19. ^ Reuters (3 May 2012). "Renault-Nissan to Take Control of AvtoVAZ". New York: NYTC. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
20. ^ "Russia's Avtovaz and Sollers to produce cars in Kazakhstan — RT". Rt.com. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
21. ^ http://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/120-tyisyach-kazahstanskih-avto-v-god-budut-proizvodit-v-ust-kamenogorske-245229/
22. ^ "AvtoVAZ appoints ex-GM executive Andersson as first non-Russian chief". europe.autonews.com. Automotive News Europe. November 5, 2013. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
23. ^ http://eng.autostat.ru/news/view/7328/
External links[edit]
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46033
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Big Two
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"Deuces" redirects here. For other uses, see Deuces (disambiguation) and Big Two (disambiguation).
Big Two
People playing card games in the street.jpg
Origin Chinese
Alternative name(s) Big Deuce, Deuces, 大老二, 鋤大D, 鋤大地, 步步高昇, Pusoy Dos
Type Shedding-type
Players usually 4, but sometimes adapted to different numbers of players
Cards 52, 13 per person with 4 players
Deck Anglo-American
Card rank (highest to lowest) 2 A K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3,
(Spades) >
(Hearts) >
(Clubs or Clovers) >
Related games
Winner (爭上游)
Big Two (also known as Deuces and other names, see below; Mandarin: 大老二; pinyin: dà lǎo èr; Cantonese: 鋤大D; jyutping: co4 daai6 di2) is a card game similar to the game of Asshole, Crazy Eights, Bullshit, Winner, and other shedding games. It is sometimes called "Chinese poker" because of its Chinese origin and its use of poker hands, though there is actually a different game by that name of an entirely different nature. In Malta it is often referred to as Giappuniza or Ciniza due to its Asian origin.
This card game has many names, including Big Deuce, Big Two, Top Dog, "The Hannah Game" (used in Canada), Da Lao Er (Mandarin Chinese), Sho Tai Ti, Chor Dai Di, Dai Di (Cantonese), Cap Sa (Hokkien, used in Indonesia), and Pusoy Dos (a Philippine variant of the game). A common mistake is to confuse this game with Tien Len or Thirteen or 13 because these two games are actually different in the sense that Big Two involves poker hands but Tien Len does not.
The game is very popular in East Asia and South East Asia, especially throughout China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is played both casually and as a gambling game. It is usually played with two to four players, the entire deck being dealt out in either case (or sometimes with only 13 cards per player). The objective of the game is to be the first to get rid of all of your cards.
A commercial version of the game was published as Gang of Four[1] in 1990.
Note: Like many other popular card games, there are a wealth of variations to these rules. Rules with variations are noted.
Valid combinations[edit]
Cards may be played as singles or in groups of two, three or five (var. 1 and 8), in combinations which resemble poker hands. The leading card to a trick sets down the number of cards to be played; all the cards of a trick must contain the same number of cards. The highest ranking card is 2 instead of A. The combinations and their rankings are as follows.
• Single cards: Any card from the deck, ordered by rank with suit being the tie-breaker. (For instance, A beats A, which beats K.)
• Pairs: Any two cards of matching rank, ordered as with singular cards by the card of the higher suit. (A pair consisting of the K and K beats a pair consisting of K and K.)
• Triples: Three equal ranked cards, three twos are highest, then aces, kings, etc. down to three threes, which is the lowest triple. In some variations, a triple can only be played as part of a 5-card hand.
• 5-card hand: There are five (var. 2) different valid 5-card poker hands, ranking, from low to high, as follows (the same ranking as in poker):
• Straight (also known as a snake in Cantonese or mokke in Malaysia): Any 5 cards in a sequence (but not all of the same suit). Rank is determined by the value of the biggest card, with the suit used only as a tie-breaker. Therefore 3-4-5-6-7 < 2-3-4-5-6, since 2 is considered the largest card in the 2-3-4-5-6 straight. The largest straight is J-Q-K-A-2, while the smallest straight is 3-4-5-6-7.
• Flush (also known as a flower or sama bunga in Malaysia): Any 5 cards of the same suit (but not in a sequence). Rank is determined by highest value card and then by highest suit. In some popular variations, flushes are not permitted as a playable hand, and thus it is the lowest possible combination.
• Full House: a composite of a three-of-a-kind combination and a pair. Rank is determined by the value of the triple, regardless of the value of the pair. Also known as a Fullen.
• Four of a kind + One card (nicknamed King Kong, tiki, or Bomb or ampat batang in Malaysia): Any set of 4 cards of the same rank, plus any 5th card. (A 4 of a kind cannot be played unless it is played as a 5-card hand) Rank is determined by the value of the 4 card set, regardless of the value of the 5th card. It is also known as a poker. (Some play the Four of a kind hand as the beat all, therefore nicknamed the bomb, King Kong, or also tiki.)
• Straight Flush: A composite of the straight and flush: five cards in sequence in the same suit. Ranked the same as straights, suit being a tie-breaker. (Sometimes also played as a bomb or tiki or sunn in Malaysia, larger than a Four of a Kind)
The dealer (who may be chosen by cutting the cards, as usual) shuffles the deck to begin with and begins dealing out the cards singly, starting with the person of his right, in a counter-clockwise manner around the table. The cards are dealt out among the players as far as they can go while retaining an equal number of cards for each player. Leftover cards (not possible if there are 4 players) are then given to the player holding the 3. If this card is in the kitty, then the holder of the next lowest card adds them to his pile (var. 5).
At the beginning of each game, the player with the 3 (var. 6 and 9) starts by either playing it singly or as part of a combination, leading to the first trick. Play proceeds counter-clockwise, with normal climbing-game rules applying: each player must play a higher card or combination than the one before, with the same number of cards. Players may also pass, thus declaring that he does not want to play (or does not hold the necessary cards to make a play possible). A pass does not hinder any further play in the game, each being independent, referred to as jumping-back. (var. 7).
When all but one of the players have passed in succession the trick is over (some variations have when 1 player has passed the trick is over), and the cards are gathered up and a new trick is started by the last player to play. When a player plays the 2 either as a single or as part of a pair of 2s, it is often customary for that player to start the next trick immediately by leading a new card or combination, since the 2 cannot be beaten whether as a single or as part of a pair of 2s, and the passes are mere formalities.
It is often courteous for a player to warn others when he/she is one playing combination away from winning. The goal is, then, for the other players to play (and get rid of) as many cards as possible while avoiding the combination that would allow the calling player to win the game. For example, if the said player has one last single card, the other players would play doubles or other combinations to force him/her to pass.
The game ends when one player runs out of cards. Refer to scoring section.
In most popular variations, ending with a single or double two is not allowed.
Immediate win[edit]
In a 4-player game, when a player is dealt a 13-card straight (2-A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3, which is called a "Dragon", and they need not be of the same suit), the player is deemed to have won the game immediately. This is one of the more controversial rules of Big-2 (var. 13). The scoring will be done as if the player has cleared all his cards while the opponents are still holding 13 cards each. Thus if the triple for 13 cards rule is enforced (see Scoring), the winner will have won the highest possible 3x3x13 = 117 points. These rules may be voided for it is not widely accepted.
The chance of getting a Pure Dragon is \frac{ \tbinom{4}{1}^{13} }{ \tbinom{52}{13} } = 0.010568\% = 1:9462 games.
The chance of getting a Suited Dragon (Grand Dragon) is \frac{ 4 }{ \tbinom{52}{13} } = 0.000000000629908\% = 1:158753389900 games.
In some areas there are other ways to obtain immediate wins, usually among casual playing groups. One such way is known as the "Golden Whoopin'" This is when a player is dealt all four 2s in a single hand. The player may lay them down together (not as a valid hand such as a 4-of-a-kind) before anyone plays anything, regardless of the situation. The player then wins the hand automatically, no questions asked. The score (card count) of the losing players is tripled.
If a player receives a hand with only 3 points or less, he may declare his cards, and the cards shall be reshuffled and dealt again. Point counting rules: J=1, Q=2, K=3, A=4, 2=5, others=0. This pointing counting rules may vary from place to place, or may be voided. A variation states that a player holding a hand with no cards with faces on them (namely Jacks "J", Queens "Q", and Kings "K") may request a reshuffle and the cards shall be dealt again.
Scoring varies from place to place. The most common version is that after a game each player with cards remaining scores -1 point for each, unless they have 10 or more remaining, in which they score -2 for each. If they didn't get to play any cards at all, they score -3 for each. Then the winner of the hand scores +1 for every -1 his opponents got. (So, for example, if North won, and East, West, and South respectively still had 3, 11, and 8 cards left, East would score -3, West would score -22, South would score -8, and North would score +33.)
Likewise for a 3-player game, a player with 17 cards remaining is deducted triple points. A player with more than 11 cards and less than 17 cards remaining is deducted double points. An alternative scoring method to deduct one point per remaining card, is to double the count for each unused 2.
Penalty for assistance[edit]
If Player B won a game by playing his last card (the case of more than one card played is excluded) after Player A has played his or hers and Player A could have prevented this from happening by playing a higher card, he is deemed to have assisted Player B.
There are several ways to penalize Player A. The most common way is for Player A to be deducted the total points that the other 2 losers have lost on top of his own so that the other two lose no points.
This rule can vary between styles of play. If the scoring system is by ranks (e.g. who finishes first, second, third or last), then this rule doesn't apply.
1. Smack Down: The Smack Down can be played to defeat the "Big Two" only when the Two of Spades is played as a single. A Smack Down is either 4 of a kind or a run of pairs (Example: 4-4-5-5-6-6). The run of pairs may be any length of at least 3. After a Smack Down has been played, any player is allowed to "Smack Back" with a higher 4 of a kind or run of pairs of equal length as the Smack Down. "The Smack Down" and "The Smack Back" originated on the first floor of the Chemistry Building at UMBC and is often culminated with a violent smack of the playing surface.
2. If a player leads off with three 3's, you are required to play three 2's if no other play is possible
3. Some allow four-of-a-kind without extra card; twos rank high, as usual.
4. Some variations allowing four-of-a-kind without extra card do not allow for two pairs.
5. Some allow four-card combinations (two pairs or four cards alone, without an odd card). Four of a kind beats two pairs (this rule is extremely rare)
6. Some allow a sixth five-card combination called "two pair-junk" or "Butterfly", consisting of two pairs (of different ranks) and one odd card ("junk"); Rank is determined by the highest pair. This combination ranks below the straight.
7. Some allow the three-of-a-kind poker hand, consisting of a triple and two junk cards. This combination ranks below the straight.
Or it can be more specific, known as sisters, where two consecutive pairs are played, with any random card. This combo is lower than a straight, making it the weakest 5 card combo in the game, if it is played. An example of sisters is double Jack, double Queen and a single Nine. This would be beaten by a double King, double Ace and a three (only the 'sisters' count, not the random card.)
3-K-K-A-A > 9-J-J-Q-Q (tie-breaker rules vary)
8. Some variations allow for straights longer than five cards, or even as short as three cards.
9. There are many variations on ranking straights, suit of last card is tie-breaker unless otherwise stated.
• A-2-3-4-5 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < 2-3-4-5-6 (Singaporean variant)
• 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < A-2-3-4-5 < 2-3-4-5-6 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) (Malaysian variant)
• 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < J-Q-K-A-2 (Vietnamese & Indonesian variant)
• 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 10-J-Q-K-A < 2-3-4-5-6 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) < A-2-3-4-5 (Suit of 2 is tiebreaker) (Hong Kong variant)
• 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < 10-J-Q-K-A < A-2-3-4-5 (Suit of A is tiebreaker)
• 2-3-4-5-6 < 3-4-5-6-7 < ... < 9-10-J-Q-K < A-2-3-4-5 (Suit of A is tiebreaker) < 10-J-Q-K-A
• Q-K-A-2-3 < K-A-2-3-4 < … < 10-J-Q-K-A < J-Q-K-A-2 (Depending on variant, suit of last or highest card is tiebreaker)
10. Some rank flushes by highest suit, K-Q-J-10-8 in spades defeating A-6-5-4-3 of diamonds.
11. Some discard the extra cards. Some play that the lowest cards are consciously removed to avoid having the spade two, the highest card, in the kitty. Yet others give the kitty to the holder of the lowest diamond (not necessarily the lowest card).
Whereas sometimes in a 3-player game, the extra card is not revealed (or is revealed), and the holder of 3 is given a chance to make a decision to or not to trade his/her 3 for the extra card. If he/she does, the starting player will be 3 holder, or the previous winner depending on the rules.
12. Some switch and , to conform to contract bridge tradition, and play begins with the 3. Another variation rearranges the suit ranks from (lowest to highest) , , , . Another variation of suit ranks is (lowest to highest) , , , .
13. In some variations, suit rankings are not used, for example, a 3-single cannot be used to beat any other 3-single, and an 8-high straight cannot be used to beat any other 8-high straight.
14. A variant to discourage passing disallows a player from playing any further cards to a trick after he passes.
15. A rare variation involves a 3-player game, where each is dealt 17 cards. A "Dragon" consists of 13 cards in straight (A-K-Q-J-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2), is considered a valid combination and may be played once the player has gained control of the game. Suit of 2 is tie-breaker.
16. In Malta, a "Dragun" or "Dragon" is not a 13 card straight, but it is the initial 13 cards that he is dealt, consisting of 6 pairs and any other single card. When a person is dealt a "Dragon" he immediately wins the game. However, if the "Dragon" contains a pair of 3s it is called a "Dragun bla-bajd" and the player immediately loses.
17. In tournaments, this is only true for the first round. In subsequent rounds, the winner of the previous round plays first.
18. If only two players are available, deal 13 cards each and play as normal. When one player passes he is forced to pick up one card from the remaining deck and add it to his hand. This variation is taken from the card game Go Fish.
19. If three people are playing, deal four 13-card hands as if a fourth players were present. The hand to receive the last card that would normally become the dealer's now becomes the "ghost hand". No one plays the ghost hand and its cards are not shown, play continues as normal.
20. If three people are playing, deal three 17-card hands, leaving one left over. The one card is placed in the middle, and whichever player possesses the two of spades or three of diamonds receives that card.
21. In some places, owning 4 Twos is also a condition for Immediate Win. Some play Immediate Win rule in 3-player game too. There are more cards involved, the chance of occurring and points transfer is therefore very high. On the contrary, some variations said that it's an automatic draw when 1 player has all 4 twos, as having all 4 twos gives the player amazing amount of power.
The chance of getting 4 Twos is \frac{ \tbinom{48}{9} }{ \tbinom{52}{13} } = 0.264106\% = 1:379 games.
22. In some rules, four of a kind + one card and straight flush can also be played on a pair or a single card, regardless of value.
23. Some players rank all poker hand with traditional poker rules, except for the full house 2, which is higher than full house Ace, and you must win a hand exactly, not just by a tiebreaker of suit.
24. In some rules, a single spade of 2 is not allowed to be played as the last card. Others do not allow any combination that includes the 2 of spades to be played as the last hand.
25. A four of a kind can be used to beat all card combinations without a four of a kind.
26. Some require the person to call "Last Card" when he/she only have one card left right after the last play. If the person holding the last card won, but forgot to call "Last Card" beforehand, he/she will take the penalty of all the other player's remaining cards, while other players will score 0.
27. In some variations, a straight is considered higher than a flush. This can be determined beforehand.
28. In Hawai'i, the game Penning is played similarly to Big Two. The main difference is that the ranking of cards is Diamonds high, followed by Hearts, then Spades, and Clubs as lowest. When playing with three or four people, the 2nd and 3rd place titles are done by person with the lowest card going first.
29. Joker Rules: Jokers are added to the deck, and they can be played as any card with any suit. Also, the jokers are deemed higher than the Two of Spades, but the black joker is considered higher than the red joker. Another variation sets the Joker as valueless: it can be played to beat any card, but any card can be played to beat the Joker(s). These variations allow for more in depth and strategic game play.
30. No Poker Rules (AKA No Soccer Ball Rules): The players are not allowed to play a different type of 5 card hand over the current. For example, a Full House can not be played over a Straight.
31. In some variations, any five-card combination can be played on top of any other five-card combination with a lower card value, e.g. 4-5-6-7-8 can be played on top of 7-7-7-6-6 even though full house is higher than straight in standard Big Two.
32. Some variants do not score; rather, play continues till all but one person have rid all cards, and at the end, players are ranked according to the order they got rid of their cards, e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.
33. The direction of play (clockwise or anti-clockwise) can be determined by a race between the two players on either side of the leader (previous round winner, or holder of diamond 3).
34. Playing with 2 decks: this enables up to 8 players per game. In this case, five-of-a-kind defeats four-of-a-kind, but may or may not defeat a straight flush. Players may or may not be allowed to play a hand equivalent to the previous hand, such as diamond 3 followed by the other diamond 3.
The game of President using Deuces rules[edit]
This is a major variant of President using Deuces rules.
The usual rules of Deuces apply, with the following President game features:
• The first player to clear all his cards becomes the President for the next round. The players next to the new President can follow the President's last play if possible (singleton, pair, three of a kind, 5 cards). If no one can follow the President's last play or choose not to do so even when able (the player immediately next to the President has a strong incentive not to follow), the player next to the President gains control and may start a new sequence of his own. Eventually, this will produce the Vice-President, followed by the Vice-Bitch. The last player remaining becomes the Bitch for the next round.
• The first game proceeds without anyone being President, Vice-President, Vice-Bitch and Bitch.
• Subsequent games involve the following:
• President passes his lowest 2 cards to the Bitch. The Bitch passes his highest 2 cards to President.
• Vice-President passes his lowest 1 card to Vice-Bitch. Vice-Bitch passes his highest 1 card to Vice-President.
• A variant to the rule is where President passes any 2 cards to the Bitch, after receiving cards. This can make a difference as his 2 lowest cards may form a 5-card hand.
Team Play[edit]
It is possible to play in teams of two with four total players. Each player's teammate is the one opposite of him (i.e. the two players who you are adjacent to are your opponents). Teammates are not allowed to have any communication with each other regarding their cards, preferred combinations or the quality of their hands.
The winning team is determined by the total number of cards held by that team when the one player runs out of card. If one player plays his last card but his teammate has more cards left than the other team's total, his team loses. (Ex: Mike and Dave are on one team against Lionel and Brendan. Mike has 4 cards, Dave has 5, Lionel has 10 and Brendan has 1. Brendan plays his last card but Lionel has 10 cards and Mike and Dave have 9 cards total. By playing his last card Brendan has lost the game for his team.) Any player can ask what the card count is for each team at any point.
If the card count is tied at the end of a game the players proceed to a five card shootout. This is where each player receives 5 cards and the game is played as normal. The lowest card holder starts and the same team grouping is still used. Further ties lead to further five card hands; this determines the final winner of the original game.
Players in collusion with one another have massive advantages over a non-colluding player(s). The basic strategy of colluding players is to preserve the high "control" cards against the non-colluder, and not to waste these cards amongst themselves (a.k.a. "Holding"). Other collusive techniques include signaling techniques (through the played cards, e.g. odd/even as in bridge, or non-verbal cues) where the strength of the hand, number of controls, hand type, exact high cards and other features of the hands are transmitted to the partner.
Other cheating methods includes false shuffles, peeking and cold decking. Cheating, especially collusive techniques, is rampant in online and higher stakes games.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
1. ^ Gang of Four on
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Cirsium arvense
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
"Cursed Thistle" redirects here. For the medicinal plant, see Cnicus.
Cirsium arvense
Cirsium arvense with Bees Richard Bartz.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Tribe: Cynareae
Genus: Cirsium
Species: C. arvense
Binomial name
Cirsium arvense
(L.) Scop.
Cirsium arvense is a species of Cirsium, native throughout Europe and northern Asia, and widely introduced elsewhere. The standard English name in its native area is Creeping Thistle.[1][2][3]
Alternative names[edit]
A number of other names have been used in the past, or in other areas including: Canada Thistle,[4] Canadian Thistle, Lettuce From Hell Thistle, California Thistle,[5] Corn Thistle, Cursed Thistle, Field Thistle, Green Thistle, Hard Thistle, Perennial Thistle, Prickly Thistle, Small-flowered Thistle and Way Thistle. The first two names are in wide use in the United States, despite being a misleading designation (it is not of Canadian origin).[6]
Physical characteristics[edit]
Flowering Creeping Thistle
It is a herbaceous perennial plant growing 30–100 cm, forming extensive clonal colonies from an underground root system that sends up numerous erect stems each spring, reaching 1–1.2 m tall (occasionally more).
Stems are green smooth and glabrous (having no Trichome or glaucousness), mostly without spiny wings. The stems often lie partly flat by summer but can stay erect if supported by other vegetation. The leaves are very spiny, lobed, up to 15–20 cm long and 2–3 cm broad (smaller on the upper part of the flower stem).
The inflorescence is 10–22 mm diameter, pink-purple, with all the florets of similar form (no division into disc and ray florets). The flowers are usually dioecious, but not invariably so, with some plants bearing hermaphrodite flowers. The seeds are 4–5 mm long, with a feathery pappus which assists in wind dispersal.[3][7][8] The plant also spreads underground using rhizomes.
There are two varieties:[3]
• Cirsium arvense var. arvense. Most of Europe. Leaves hairless or thinly hairy beneath.
• Cirsium arvense var. incanum (Fisch.) Ledeb. Southern Europe. Leaves thickly hairy beneath.
As a subclassification of the "Eudicot" monophyletic group, Cirsium is a "true dicotyledon". The number of Pollen grain furrows or pores helps classify the flowering plants, with eudicots having three colpi (tricolpate).[9][10]
C. arvense is a C3 carbon fixation plant.[11] The C3 plants, originated during Mesozoic and Paleozoic eras, and tend to thrive in areas where sunlight intensity is moderate, temperatures are moderate, and ground water is plentiful. C3 plants lose 97% of the water taken up through their roots to transpiration.[12]
It is a Ruderal species.[13]
The seeds are an important food for Goldfinch and Linnet, and to a lesser extent for other finches.[14] Creeping Thistle foliage is used as a food by over 20 species of Lepidoptera, including the Painted Lady butterfly and the Engrailed, a species of moth, and several species of aphids.[15][16][17]
Status as a weed[edit]
The species is widely considered a weed even where it is native, for example being designated an "injurious weed" in the United Kingdom under the Weeds Act 1959.[18] It is also a serious invasive species in many additional regions where it has been introduced, usually accidentally as a contaminant in cereal crop seeds. It is cited as a noxious weed in several countries; for example Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States. Many countries regulate this plant, or its parts (i.e., seed) as a contaminant of other imported products such as grains for consumption or seeds for propagation. In Canada, Cirsium arvense is classified as a primary noxious weed seed in the Weed Seeds Order 2005 which applies to Canada's Seeds Regulations.[19]
Control methods include:
• cutting at flower stem extension before the flower buds open to prevent seed spread. Repeated cutting at the same growth stage over several years may "wear down" the plant.
• Applying herbicide: Herbicides dominated by phenoxy compounds (especially MCPA) saw drastic declines in Thistle infestation in Sweden in the 1950s.[11] MCPA and Clopyralid are approved in some regions.
Orellia ruficauda feeds on Canada thistle has been reported to be the most effective biological control agent for that plant.[20] Its larvae parasitize the seed heads of the plant feeding solely upon fertile seed heads.[21]
The rust species Puccinia obtegens has shown some promise for controlling Canada thistle, but it must be used in conjunction with other control measures to be effective.[22]
Aceria anthocoptes feeds on this species and is considered to be a good potential biological control agent.
Like other Cirsium species, the roots are edible, though rarely used, not least because of their propensity to induce flatulence in some people. The taproot is considered the most nutritious.[citation needed] The leaves are also edible, though the spines make their preparation for food too tedious to be worthwhile. The stalks, however, are also edible and more easily de-spined.[23]
The flower portion is also used by the Cherokee Indians to make blowgun darts. [24]
1. ^ Joint Nature Conservation Committee: Cirsium arvense
2. ^ Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Database
3. ^ a b c Flora of Northwest Europe: Cirsium arvense
4. ^ Nebraska Department of Agriculture Noxious Weed Program
5. ^ Californian Thistle (Cirsium arvense), Landcare Research, New Zealand
6. ^ Invasive and Problem Plants of the United States: Cirsium arvense
8. ^ Kay, Q. O. N. (1985). Hermaphrodites and subhermaphrodites in a reputedly dioecious plant, Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. New Phytol. 100: 457-472. Available online (pdf file).
9. ^ Kenneth R. Sporne (1972). "Some Observations on the Evolution of Pollen Types in Dicotyledons". New Phytologist 71 (1): 181–185. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1972.tb04826.x.
11. ^ a b Weeds and weed management on arable land: an ecological approach Sigurd Håkansson CABI Publishing Series, 2003, ISBN 0-85199-651-5
12. ^ Raven, J.A.; Edwards, D. (2001). "Roots: evolutionary origins and biogeochemical significance". Journal of Experimental Botany 52 (90001): 381–401. doi:10.1093/jexbot/52.suppl_1.381. PMID 11326045.
13. ^ p80
14. ^ Cramp, S., & Perrins, C. M. (1994). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Vol. VIII: Crows to Finches. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
15. ^ Finnish Lepidoptera Cirsium arvense
16. ^ The Ecology of Commanster: Cirsium arvense
17. ^ Ecological Flora of the British Isles: Phytophagous Insects for Cirsium arvense
18. ^ DEFRA: Identification of injurious weeds
19. ^ Weed Seeds Order 2005, Canada Gazette Part I, Vol. 139, No. 9
20. ^ Moore 1975, Maw 1976
21. ^ Lalonde
22. ^ Turner et al. 1980
23. ^ Plants for a Future: Cirsium arvense
24. ^
External links[edit]
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Downing College, Cambridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Colleges of the University of Cambridge
Downing College
A Bird's Eye View of Downing College
Founder Sir George Downing
Established 1800
Master Geoffrey Grimmett
Undergraduates 403
Graduates 252
Sister college Lincoln College, Oxford
Location Regent Street, Cambridge (map)
Downing College heraldic shield
Quaerere Verum
(Latin, "Seek the truth")
College website
JCR website
MCR website
Boat Club website
Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of the new colleges and the newest of the old. [1]
The current Master of the college is Geoffrey Grimmett, Professor of Mathematical Statistics at the University.
Upon the death of Sir George Downing, 3rd Baronet in 1749, the wealth left by his grandfather, Sir George Downing, who served both Cromwell and Charles II and built 10 Downing Street (a door formerly from Number 10 is in use in the college), was applied by his will. Under this will, as he had no direct issue (he was legally separated from his wife), the family fortune was left to his cousin, Sir Jacob Downing, and if he died without heir, to three cousins in succession. If they all died without issue, the estates were to be used to found a college at Cambridge called Downing.
Sir Jacob died in 1764, and as the other named heirs had also died, the college should have come into existence then, but Sir Jacob's widow, Margaret, refused to give up the estates and the various relatives who were Sir George's legal heirs had to take costly and prolonged action in the Court of Chancery to compel her to do so. She died in 1778 but her second husband and the son of her sister continued to resist the heirs-at-law's action until 1800 when the Court decided in favour of Sir George's will and George III granted Downing a Royal Charter, marking the official foundation of the college.
The Maitland Robinson Library by Quinlan Terry, completed in 1992.[2]
The architect William Wilkins was commissioned by the trustees of the Downing estate, who included the Master of Clare College and St John's College and the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, to design the plan for the college. Wilkins, a disciple of the neo-classical architectural style, designed the first wholly campus-based college plan in the world based on a magnificent entrance on Downing Street reaching back to form the largest court in Cambridge, extending to Lensfield Road. But this was not to be.
The estate was much reduced by the suit in Chancery, and the grand plans failed. Much of the north side of what was then the Pembroke Leys was sold to the University and is now home to scientific buildings ("The Downing Site"). In fact, only limited East and West ranges were initially built, with the plans for a library and chapel on the south face of the college shelved.
Downing College Chapel, built in 1951
The third side of the square was only completed in 1951 with the building of the college chapel. Where the fourth side would have been is now a large paddock (known simply as "The Paddock"), with many trees. Though not fully enclosed, the court formed before the Downing College is perhaps largest in Cambridge or Oxford (a title contested with Trinity College's Great Court). An urban legend amongst Cambridge students claims that Trinity pays an undisclosed sum to the college annually with the condition that it will never build the fourth side of the square, so that Trinity may maintain the distinction of having the largest enclosed court of all colleges of Cambridge.[citation needed]
The most recent building additions are the Howard Lodge accommodation, the Howard Building, and most recent of all the Howard Theatre which opened in 2010. These were sponsored by the Howard family and are located behind the main court around their own small garden. These facilities are used for conference and businesses gatherings outside of the student term.[3]
Student life[edit]
Downing students remain prominent in the University world; in the past few years Cambridge Union Presidents, Blues captains, Law and Economic Society Presidents and more have hailed from the college. It is also a politically active college, with politically active members and alumni occupying different parts of the British political spectrum, from the militant left to the extreme right (Nick Griffin, the leader of BNP, went to Downing). In this sense, it is quite different from other colleges, as the student body of many of the politically active colleges tend to incline toward one party or another.
The Griffin has been the undergraduate student magazine for over 100 years.[4]
Downing College boathouse on the River Cam, it was rebuilt in 2000. Here a trailer of rowing boats is shown outside the building.
The college fields teams in a range of sports including, men's football, men's and women's rugby, tennis and Ultimate Frisbee.
Downing College Boat Club is successful too, with the Women's first boat gaining Lents Headship of the river in the 1994 Lent Bumps, and most recently in 2011. The men's first boat has held the headship several times in the 1980s and 1990s (for example in 1994 to 1996) while gaining the Mays headship in 1996, on each occasion recognising the tradition of "burning the boat" (using an old wooden 8 oared boat), while the rowers of the winning boat jump the flames. They both currently hold positions at or near the top in both University bumps races [Lents and Mays].
People associated with Downing[edit]
The college is renowned for its strong legal and medical tradition, the former subject being built up by Clive Parry, his pupil and successor John Hopkins (now an emeritus fellow) and the current Director of Studies in Law and Senior Tutor, Graham Virgo. Legal notables who have been honorary fellows of the college include the late Sir John Smith, the pre-eminent criminal lawyer of his generation; Lord Collins of Mapesbury, the first solicitor to be appointed to the Court of Appeal and House of Lords; and Sir Robert Jennings, former President of the International Court of Justice.
Notable alumni[edit]
1. ^ "Downing College". University of Cambridge. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
2. ^ Quinlan Francis Terry Architects - Maitland Robinson Library, Downing College
3. ^ "Downing College Conferences & Functions, Cambridge". Retrieved 2014-05-15.
4. ^ "The Griffin" Downing College's undergraduate magazine.
5. ^ Bowler, Peter J., ed. (2004). "Lankester, Sir (Edwin) Ray (1847–1929)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
6. ^ "Rubel Phillips Obituary: View Rubel Phillips's Obituary by Clarion Ledger". Retrieved 2011-12-19.
7. ^ "Amol Rajan", David Higham (agent's page)
8. ^ Josh Halliday "Amol Rajan appointed as Independent editor",, 17 June 2013
External links[edit]
Coordinates: 52°12′02″N 0°07′26″E / 52.200623°N 0.123842°E / 52.200623; 0.123842
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Drop (liquid)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses of "raindrop", see Raindrops (disambiguation).
"Droplet" redirects here. For the type of applet in AppleScript which accepts files dropped onto it, see AppleScript#Applets and Droplets.
Water drops falling from a tap.
Surface tension prevents the droplet from being cut by a knife
Surface tension[edit]
The pendant drop test illustrated.
Liquid forms drops because the liquid exhibits surface tension.
Pendant drop test[edit]
In the pendant drop test, a drop of liquid is suspended from the end of a tube by surface tension. The force due to surface tension is proportional to the length of the boundary between the liquid and the tube, with the proportionality constant usually denoted \gamma.[1] Since the length of this boundary is the circumference of the tube, the force due to surface tension is given by
\,F_{\gamma} = \pi d \gamma
where d is the tube diameter.
The mass m of the drop hanging from the end of the tube can be found by equating the force due to gravity (F_{g} = mg) with the component of the surface tension in the vertical direction (F_{\gamma} \sin \alpha) giving the formula
\,mg = \pi d \gamma \sin \alpha
where α is the angle of contact with the tube, and g is the acceleration due to gravity.
The limit of this formula, as α goes to 90°, gives the maximum weight of a pendant drop for a liquid with a given surface tension, \gamma.
\,mg = \pi d \gamma
This relationship is the basis of a convenient method of measuring surface tension, commonly used in the petroleum industry. More sophisticated methods are available when the surface tension is unknown that consider the developing shape of the pendant as the drop grows.[2] [3]
In medicine, droppers have a standardized diameter, in such a way that 1 millilitre is equivalent to 20 drops. And, for the cases when smaller amounts are necessary, microdroppers are used, in which, 1 millilitre = 60 microdrops.
Drop adhesion to a solid[edit]
The drop adhesion to a solid can be divided to two categories: lateral adhesion and normal adhesion. Lateral adhesion resembles friction (though tribologically lateral adhesion is a more accurate term) and refers to the force required to slide a drop on the surface, namely the force to detach the drop from its position on the surface only to translate it to another position on the surface. Normal adhesion is the adhesion required to detach a drop from the surface in the normal direction, namely the force to cause the drop to fly off from the surface. The measurement of both adhesion forms can be done with the Centrifugal Adhesion Balance (CAB). The CAB uses a combination of centrifugal and gravitational forces to obtain any ratio of lateral and normal forces. For example it can apply a normal force at zero lateral force for the drop to fly off away from the surface in the normal direction or it can induce a lateral force at zero normal force (simulating zero gravity).
The term droplet is a diminutive form of 'drop' - and as a guide is typically used for liquid particles of less than 500 µm diameter. In spray application, droplets are usually described by their perceived size (i.e., diameter) whereas the dose (or number of infective particles in the case of biopesticides) is a function of their volume. This increases by a cubic function relative to diameter; thus a 50 µm droplet represents a dose in 65 pl and a 500 µm drop represents a dose in 65 nanolitres.
A drop with a diameter of 3 mm has a terminal velocity of approximately 8 m/s.[4] Drops smaller than 1 mm in diameter will attain 95% of their terminal velocity within 2 m. But above this size the distance to get to terminal velocity increases sharply. An example is a drop with a diameter of 2 mm that may achieve this at 5,6 m.[4]
Due to the different refractive index of water and air, refraction and reflection occur on the surfaces of raindrops, leading to rainbow formation.
Problems playing this file? See media help.
The major source of sound when a droplet hits a liquid surface is the resonance of excited bubbles trapped underwater. These oscillating bubbles are responsible for most liquid sounds, such as running water or splashes, as they actually consist of many drop-liquid collisions.[5][6]
The shapes of raindrops, depending on their sizes.
Scientists traditionally thought that the variation in the size of raindrops was due to collisions on the way down to the ground. In 2009 French researchers succeeded in showing that the distribution of sizes is due to the drops' interaction with air, which deforms larger drops and causes them to fragment into smaller drops, effectively limiting the largest raindrops to about 6 mm diameter.[8]
See also[edit]
1. ^ Cutnell, John D.; Kenneth W. Johnson (2006). Essentials of Physics. Wiley Publishing.
2. ^ Roger P. Woodward, Ph.D. Surface Tension Measurements Using the Drop Shape Method (PDF). First Ten Angstroms. Retrieved 2008-11-05.
3. ^ F.K.Hansen; G. Rodsrun (1991). "Surface tension by pendant drop. A fast standard instrument using computer image analysis". Colloid and Interface Science 141: 1–12. doi:10.1016/0021-9797(91)90296-K.
4. ^ a b "Numerical model for the fall speed of raindrops in a waterfall simulator". 2005-10-04. p. 2. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
7. ^ "Water Drop Shape". Retrieved 2008-03-08.
8. ^ Emmanuel Villermaux, Benjamin Bossa (September 2009). "Single-drop fragmentation distribution of raindrops.". Nature Physics 5 (9): 697–702. Bibcode:2009NatPh...5..697V. doi:10.1038/NPHYS1340. Lay summary.
External links[edit]
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E. H. Crump
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from E.H. Crump)
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E. H. Crump
E.H. Crump cph.3b20183.jpg
Crump in 1945
Mayor of Memphis
In office
Preceded by James H. Malone
Succeeded by George C. Love
Personal details
Born Edward Hull Crump
(1874-10-02)October 2, 1874
Holly Springs, Mississippi
Died October 16, 1954(1954-10-16) (aged 80)
Memphis, Tennessee
Edward Hull "Boss" Crump (October 2, 1874 – October 16, 1954) was an American politician from Memphis, Tennessee. He was the dominant force in the city's politics for most of the first half of the 20th century, and also dominated Tennessee state politics for most of the time from the 1920s to the 1940s. He was only mayor of Memphis from 1910 through 1915, and again briefly in 1940. However, he effectively appointed every mayor from 1915 to 1954.
A native of Holly Springs, Mississippi, Crump moved to Memphis, Tennessee on September 21, 1893, according to the Holly Springs Reporter.[1] When he first arrived in Memphis, the on-going Panic of 1893, the worst recession in the United States history to that time, made things hard for Crump. However, eventually, he obtained a clerical position with Walter Goodman Cotton Company located on Front Street in downtown Memphis.[2] This was the start of a successful business career.
In early 1901, Crump began seriously courting a 23-year old young woman by the name of Bessie Byrd McLean. Bessie, or "Betty," McLean was a prominent Memphis socialite and has been described as "one of the city's most beautiful and most sought after women."[3] Betty was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Robert McLean. Robert McLean was then serving as the vice president of the William R. Moore Dry Goods Company. Crump and McLean were married on January 22, 1902 at the Calvary Episcopal Church.[3]
Alongside his rising business career, Crump began to make the political connections that served him for the rest of his life. He was a delegate to the Tennessee Democratic State Convention in 1902 and 1904. In 1905, he was named to the municipal Board of Public Works, and was appointed Commissioner of Fire and Police in 1907.[4]
Starting in the 1910s, Crump began to build a political machine which came to have statewide influence. He was particularly adept in his use of what were at the time two politically weak minority groups in Tennessee: blacks and Republicans. Unlike most Southern Democrats of his era, Crump was not opposed to blacks voting as Memphis blacks were reliable Crump machine voters for the most part. One of Crump's lieutenants in the black community was funeral director N. J. Ford, whose family (in the persons of sons Harold Sr. and John Ford, daughter Ophelia and grandson Harold, Jr.) is still influential in Memphis politics today. A symbiotic relationship developed in which blacks aided Crump and Crump aided them. Crump also skillfully manipulated Republicans, who were numerically very weak in the western two-thirds of the state, but dominated politics in East Tennessee. Frequently, they found it necessary to align themselves with Crump in order to accomplish any of their goals.
Crump was influential for nearly half a century. He usually preferred to work behind the scenes and served only three two-year terms as mayor of Memphis (1910–1915) at the beginning of his career. He essentially named the next several mayors. His rise to prominence disturbed many of the state political leaders in Nashville; the "Ouster Law", designed to remove officials who refused to enforce state laws, was passed primarily with Crump and his lax enforcement of state Prohibition in mind. He was county treasurer of Shelby County from 1917 to 1923. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention seven times.
Crump became involved in earnest in state politics during the 1928 gubernatorial election when Henry Horton was seeking election in his own right; Horton had been speaker of the state senate and became governor when Austin Peay died.[5] Crump supported Hill McAlister in the Democratic primary while the Nashville machine of Luke Lea supported Governor Horton. Horton won the primary despite the lopsided McAlister vote in Shelby County. When Horton ran for reelection in 1930, Crump and Lea cut a deal and Crump swung his formidable political machine behind Horton.[6] Horton defeated independent Democrat L. E. Gwinn in the primary and Republican C. Arthur Bruce in the general election.
After years of working behind the scenes, Crump decided to run for U.S. Representative in 1930. He was easily elected to the Tenth District, which was then co-extensive with Shelby County (it became the Ninth in 1932). He served two terms: from March 4, 1931 to January 3, 1935. (The Twentieth Amendment was enacted in 1933, shifting the starting date of Congressional terms.) During this time, he was also a regent of the Smithsonian Institution. He remained hugely influential in Memphis as well, staying in constant communication with his operatives there and visiting during all Congressional recesses.
In 1936 Crump was named to the Democratic National Committee, serving on that body until 1945. In 1939 he was elected a final time as mayor, although that term was actually served by Walter Chandler. Chandler was U.S. Representative for the Ninth District, and Crump thought that Chandler's time was better spent tending to congressional matters in Washington than campaigning for mayor in Memphis. So, without a platform, without a speech, and without opposition, Crump was elected mayor of Memphis.[7]
Crump was sworn in at a few minutes past midnight on January 1, 1940, in a snow storm on the platform of the railroad station, just before leaving for New Orleans to see the Sugar Bowl. In high humor, he resigned immediately. Vice Mayor Joseph Boyle became Mayor till the next day, when the faithful City Commission met and elected Chandler. Watkins Overton's term had ended at midnight, and thus Memphis had four mayors in less than 24 hours.
Crump's statewide influence began to wane in the late 1940s. Two powerful opponents were elected to office in 1948. Gordon Browning, a one-time protégé whom Crump had helped elect governor in 1936, was elected governor again, now over Crump's opposition, while Congressman Estes Kefauver was elected to the United States Senate. For the rest of his life, Crump's influence was largely limited to Memphis. In 1952, his longtime associate, Senator Kenneth McKellar, was defeated in the Democratic primary—in those days, the real contest in Tennessee—by Congressman Albert Gore. The days of Crump's massive influence over Tennessee politics were almost over; his death came less than two years later. A final triumph for Crump was the victory of his chosen candidate, Frank G. Clement, over Browning for governor, also in 1952. Crump was interred at Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis.[8]
Statue of E.H. Crump in Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee.
Crump's marks on Memphis can be seen even today. Crump was a strong supporter of fire service and for many years the Memphis Fire Department was considered one of the very best in the country, and is still quite well regarded. He felt separate operations for each municipal utility were inherently inefficient; today, Memphis Light, Gas and Water is one of the largest combined municipal utilities in the United States.
He believed that cities should not be too noisy; Memphis has strong noise ordinances that are more aggressively enforced than those of many other jurisdictions. He was one of the early supporters of automobile safety inspections; all of Memphis-registered vehicles were inspected annually (twice a year until the 1990s), until June 28, 2013, when all city inspections ceased after a de-funding of the department by the Memphis City Council. The city's Crump Stadium and Crump Boulevard are named after him as well. Although many of these projects and innovations are said to have benefited Crump personally in one way or another, it is inarguable that they have benefited the city of Memphis greatly as well.
Crump's association with Georgia Tann suggests a less flattering view of his legacy.[9] Tann enjoyed Crump's powerful protection in Memphis as she illegally placed babies in adoptive homes; often these babies were stolen. Tann's legacy—and by extension, Crump's—lives on today, in that 32 states (as of January 2007) still have sealed birth certificates for adoptees.
1. ^ William D. Miller, Mr. Crump of Memphis (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1964) p. 25.
2. ^ William D. Miller, Mr. Crump of Memphis, p. 34.
3. ^ a b William D. Miller, Mr. Crump of Memphis, p. 38.
4. ^ David Tucker, "Edward Hull 'Boss' Crump," Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
5. ^ The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture: Henry Horton.
6. ^ Lee, David D. 1979. Tennessee in Turmoil: Politics in the Volunteer State, 1920-1932. Memphis, TN: Memphis State University Press. 204 p.
7. ^ Currotto, William F. 2000. Mr. Ed of Memphis: The Red Snapper or the Red Headed Man, 1874-1954.
8. ^ Find A Grave: Edward H. Crump.
9. ^ Barbara B. Raymond. 2007. The Baby Thief: The Untold Story of Georgia Tann, the Baby Seller Who Corrupted Adoption. Carroll and Graf. 320 p.
Further reading[edit]
• Miller, William D. (1964) Mr. Crump of Memphis Southern biography series. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
• Dowdy, G. Wayne. (2006) Mayor Crump Don't Like It: Machine Politics in Memphis Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
• Biles, Roger. (1986) Memphis In The Great Depression Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.
Political offices
Preceded by
James H. Malone
Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee
Succeeded by
George C. Love
Preceded by
S. Watkins Overton
Mayor of Memphis, Tennessee
Succeeded by
Joseph Patrick Boyle
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Hubert Fisher
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 10th congressional district
District eliminated after 1930 Census
Preceded by
Jere Cooper
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Tennessee's 9th congressional district
Succeeded by
Walter Chandler
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Incunabula Short Title Catalogue
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Incunabula in the ISTC by region[1]
The Incunabula Short Title Catalogue (ISTC) is an electronic bibliographic database maintained by the British Library which seeks to catalogue all known incunabula. The database lists books by individual editions, recording standard bibliographic details for each edition as well as giving a brief census of known copies, organised by location. It currently holds records of over 29,000 editions.[2]
Previous efforts to comprehensively catalog 15th century printing include Georg Wolfgang Panzer's Annales Typographici ab Artis Inventae Origine ad Annum MD (1793–97) and Ludwig Hain's Repertorium Bibliographicum (1822). Hain's work was later supplemented by Copinger's Supplement and Reichling's Appendices, which would pave the way for the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (1925). The Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke (GW) was the most comprehensive catalog of incunables to date (and still offers more in-depth information than ISTC),[3] but in recent decades work on the catalog has slowed to such a degree that the goal of cataloging all extant incunables under the GW's system is indefinitely far-off.[4]
The ISTC was created to establish a system of incunable cataloging that was simple enough to be expanded quickly, bringing the goal of a complete incunable catalog back into focus. Furthermore, the ISTC would use standardized entries that could be entered into a machine-searchable database.
Work on the ISTC began in 1980 under the leadership of the British Library's Lotte Hellinga. Frederick R. Goff's Incunabula in American Libraries (1973) was the first pre-existing catalog to be keyed into ISTC's database. Besides providing the catalog's first 12,900 entries, Goff's system for classifying information about incunables formed the basis for the structure of ISTC's records. Entries for all of the incunables in British Library and the Italian union catalog (IGI) were added next, followed by other national incunable catalogs.[5]
ISTC records retain many characteristics of the records from Goff's census. Each record represents one edition of a work. Information such as author, title, printer, place of printing, year of printing, language, and format is entered into discrete fields to make the records searchable by a computer. Catalogue entries are reduced to a standard form, for ease of indexing and access, which includes the use of standard names for authors and printers—a major issue in an era where the use of Latinised names and vernacular ones interchangeably was common—and contemporary English names for places. Dates are reduced to conventional years where possible.[6]
Scope and coverage[edit]
The ISTC has recorded 29,777 editions to date, although some of the records included in that number are actually 16th-century works that were included in previous incunable catalogs in error, so the number of true incunabula recorded is 27,460.[7] The number of extant incunabula is estimated to be approximately 28,000 editions, which puts ISTC extraordinarily close to completing its goal of total coverage. Documenting these last few hundred editions is a tremendous undertaking, as the works are scattered in unknown locations in many countries, leaving bibliographers with no organized way to search for them except to "look everywhere".[4]
While the ISTC is unsurpassed in coverage, it does not offer the same level of detail as the Gesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke or the numerous collection catalogs that are available. Rather, the ISTC complements these resources by providing a searchable index of editions, referring to other catalogs and bibliographies for further detail. ISTC does not include information about individual copies of a work as standard, though a brief census of confirmed locations is provided, and may contain brief notes.[3]
In general, the ISTC only covers extant editions, although records exist for some works that were sufficiently well-documented before being lost to fire or other calamities.
An illustrated edition of the ISTC was made available on CD-ROM in 1998. The addition of illustrations offers important information about a book's layout, format, and printing type. The images represent samples of each text rather than the full text.[7]
See also[edit]
2. ^ The British Library. Incunabula Short Title Catalogue.
3. ^ a b Needham, Paul (1993), "Incunable catalogs," Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 87:1, p. 371-372.
4. ^ a b Needham, Paul (1998), "Counting incunables: The IISTC CD-ROM," Huntington Library Quarterly 61:3/4, p. 456-529.
5. ^ Hellinga, Lotte, and Goldfinch, John (eds) (1987), Bibliography and the study of 15th-century civilisation: Papers presented at a colloquium at the British Library 26–28 September 1984 (London: British Library).
6. ^ About the ISTC
7. ^ a b The British Library, Incunabula Collections.
External links[edit]
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Interstate 78
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Interstate 78 marker
Interstate 78
Route information
Length: 143.56 mi[1] (231.04 km)
Existed: 1957 – present
Major junctions
West end: I-81 in Union Township, PA
US 22 in Fredericksburg, PA
PA 61 in Hamburg, PA
PA 309 near Allentown, PA
I‑287 in Bedminster, NJ
Route 24 in Springfield, NJ
G.S. Pkwy. in Union/Hillside, NJ
I‑95 / NJ Tpk. in Newark, NJ
East end: Canal Street in New York, NY
Highway system
Interstate 78 (abbreviated I-78) is an Interstate Highway in the Northeast United States, running 144 miles (231 km) from Interstate 81 northeast of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, through Allentown, Pennsylvania, and western and northern New Jersey to the Holland Tunnel and Lower Manhattan in New York City.
I-78 is a major road linking ports in the New York City and New Jersey area to points west, and sees over 4 million trucks annually, with trucks representing 24% of all traffic. Truck traffic on the road is projected to rise once the widening of the Panama Canal is completed in 2015, when more Asian ships are expected to use East Coast ports.[2]
Route description[edit]
Approaching the Interstate 78 interchange on Interstate 81 north in Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania.
I-78 begins at a directional-T interchange with I-81 in Union Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles (40 km) northeast of Harrisburg. Near the east end of the county, at exit 8, U.S. Route 22 (US 22) merges with I-78, running concurrently for the next 43 miles (69 km).[3]
At exit 51, in Upper Macungie Township, US 22 leaves the highway. Passengers traveling on I-78 eastbound must use this exit to access I-476 (Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike), and westbound travelers must use exit 53 (northbound Pennsylvania Route 309 (PA 309)) and then westbound US 22. From exits 53 to 60, I-78 runs concurrently with PA 309. The six-lane overlap bypasses the City of Allentown to the south and crosses South Mountain.[4][5]
At exit 60 (A-B going westbound), PA 309 south leaves for Quakertown.[6] 6 miles (9.7 km) later, there is an interchange between PA 412 and I-78 in Hellertown. PA 412 also goes to Bethlehem and Lehigh University. At mile marker 71, PA 33 intersects with I-78 at a trumpet interchange. PA 33 traverses the Pocono Mountains and goes to Bangor and I-80. The final exit on I-78 in Pennsylvania is for Morgan Hill Road, which goes to PA 611 and Easton. I-78 then crosses the Interstate 78 Toll Bridge and enters New Jersey.
New Jersey[edit]
After the Interstate 78 Toll Bridge, I-78 enters New Jersey as the Phillipsburg–Newark Expressway.[7] The road begins by running parallel with County Route 642 (CR 642) in the town of Alpha. At 3.94 miles (6.34 km), Exit 3, a partial cloverleaf interchange brings together US 22, NJ 122, and NJ 173 with Interstate 78 in Phillipsburg.[8] US 22 now runs concurrently with I-78 for the next 15 miles (24 km). Going westbound, exit 4 leaves to the right for CR 637 and Warren Glen. The next exit, Exit 6, is for CR 632 in Bloomsbury. However the route number is not signed on I-78. Exit 7 is the first of several eastbound exits for NJ 173. This one is located in Bloomsbury as NJ 173 begins to parallel the interstate. 4 miles (6.4 km) later, Exit 11 leaves to the right as another exit for NJ 173. CR 614 also is located off the exit. Exit 12, westbound is for NJ 173 again. However, Exit 12 eastbound is for a frontage road parallelling I-78.
I-78, US 1-9, US 22, and NJ 21 junction.
Exit 13 is only westbound and is another exit for NJ 173. Nearby the exit, going eastbound, the frontage road merges in.[8] Exit 15 is for NJ 173 and CR 513 in Franklin Township. Exit 17 is for NJ 31 in Clinton. In the town of Annandale, US 22 leaves I-78 at exit 18. US 22 continues towards Bound Brook and Union County. At exit 20, CR 639 intersects. CR 639 heads towards the Round Valley Recreational Area. Exit 24 is for CR 523 towards Oldwick. At exit 29, I-287, US 202, and US 206 interchange with I-78 in Bedminster. At this point, in Somerset County, Exits 33, 36 and 40 are for county routes in Warren Township. At exit 41, I-78 enters Union County.[8] At exit 45, CR 527 intersects after paralleling for some time. West of exit 48, I-78 splits into express and local highways. Exit 48 is for NJ 24 in Springfield. Exit 49A is for one of Route 24's spur routes, NJ 124. Exit 52 is for the Garden State Parkway in Union. At Exits 57 and 58, NJ 21, US 1, US 9, and US 22 intersect I-78. The exit provides access to Newark Liberty International Airport.
I-78 eastbound at the Newark Bay Bridge.
East of exit 58 at the eastern tip of Newark, I-78 becomes the Newark Bay Extension of the New Jersey Turnpike. Past the first toll plaza, I-78 has an interchange with I-95 (The New Jersey Turnpike) and crosses Newark Bay via the Newark Bay Bridge.[8] The first exit, 14A, is for NJ 440 in Bayonne. The Liberty State Park can be reached by taking Exit 14B. Exit 14C is the final numbered exit, providing access to the Liberty Science Center. NJ 139 runs concurrently with I-78 as it approaches the Holland Tunnel and enters New York State.
New York City[edit]
See also: Holland Tunnel
I-78's length in New York is only 0.5 miles (0.80 km)—half of the Holland Tunnel and the egress-only roundabout immediately beyond the end of the tunnel. The route was planned to run east and north through New York City to end at I-95 in the Bronx, but sections of the planned route, including the Lower Manhattan Expressway, were cancelled.
I-78 at the Holland Tunnel.
In New York City, I-78 continues through the limited access egress-only roundabout known as the Saint John's Rotary. The five separate exits from the Rotary are assigned numbers—exits 1 to 5—in counterclockwise order. The last one—and the logical continuation east—is Exit 5, Canal Street. Under the original plans, I-78 was to continue across Manhattan as the Lower Manhattan Expressway onto the Williamsburg Bridge, and then beyond I-278 on the never-built Bushwick Expressway through Brooklyn into Queens near the John F. Kennedy Airport. A section of I-78 at the airport was built as the Nassau Expressway, later I-878 and now NY 878, though most of the westbound side was never built. East of the airport, I-78 would have turned north on the Clearview Expressway (built north of Hillside Avenue in Queens and now I-295), run across the Throgs Neck Bridge, and forked into two spurs, ending at I-95 via the Throgs Neck Expressway (now I-695) and the Bruckner Interchange via the Cross Bronx Expressway (now part of I-295).[9]
Major intersections[edit]
Auxiliary routes[edit]
1955 map of I-178 and I-378
All of I-78's auxiliary routes serve New York City; however, none of these routes actually intersects I-78, following the route's truncation at the eastern end of the Holland Tunnel.
In eastern Pennsylvania, PA 378 into downtown Bethlehem was once I-378, but was redesignated as a state route after I-78 was rerouted to a new southerly alignment. An I-178 was initially planned as an extension into downtown Allentown, but was canceled due to local opposition.
See also[edit]
2. ^ "Delaware River I-78 ORT to open soon". TollRoadsNews. May 6, 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
3. ^ Google Inc. "overview map of I-78 in Lebanon, Berks, and Lehigh Counties". Google Maps (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc.,+PA&ie=UTF8&ll=40.450605,-76.065216&spn=1.92281,3.641968&z=8&om=1. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
4. ^ Google Inc. "overview map of I-78 southeast of Allentown". Google Maps (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc.,+Allentown,+PA&sll=40.486649,-76.065216&sspn=0.015014,0.028453&ie=UTF8&ll=40.570464,-75.538559&spn=0.239926,0.455246&z=11&om=1. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
5. ^ Google Inc. "overview Satellite Image of I-78 with six lanes". Google Maps (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc.,+Allentown,+PA&sll=40.486649,-76.065216&sspn=0.015014,0.028453&ie=UTF8&ll=40.564294,-75.483027&spn=0.001875,0.003557&t=k&z=18&om=1. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
6. ^ Google Inc. "Interstate 78 in Pennsylvania". Google Maps (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc.,+PA&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
7. ^ New Jersey Department of Transportation. "Interstate 78 straight line diagram". Retrieved 2007-08-31.
8. ^ a b c d Google Inc. "I-78, New Jersey, United States". Google Maps (Map). Cartography by Google, Inc.,+New+Jersey,+United+States&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
9. ^ NYSDOT - Traffic Count Information
External links[edit]
Route map: Google / Bing
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Jack Skurnick
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jack Skurnick (March 1910 - September 1952) was the founder and director of EMS Recordings and publisher and editor of the highly regarded music review, Just Records.
Jack Skurnick
Skurnick worked in a music store on West 44th Street near Madison Avenue in New York; the store was owned by his parents, Max and Anna Skurnick. The Elaine Music Shop had many loyal customers. Doris Day bought records there, and many of the great classical musicians came in to make purchases and chat with Skurnick. One of these was Edgard Varèse; another was Safford Cape, director of Pro Musica Antiqua. When Skurnick started his record company, EMS, he named it after the shop. He also convinced Cape and Varese to record with him. EMS was the first label to record Varese. [1]
In the magazine, which became internationally known, Skurnick sought to build respect for music as an art and to raise performance standards. In the EMS recordings, he put these principles into practice. His aim was to record a history of music, with special attention to the lesser known masterpieces, in performances that would be a model of authentic musicianship. He had mapped out plans far into the future when his work was suddenly interrupted.
Skurnick played the violin.
A movie buff, he wrote a script that he shot himself. Film director Jules Dassin, then an actor at the Artef, a Jewish theater in New York, appeared in it. It was shown to a small group at a space Skurnick rented in New York. A fan of old movies, Skurnick twice rented a hall in which to show them. Because he was not able to afford to rent the space regularly, he suggested the project to Betty Chamberlain, Director of the Department of Communications at The Museum of Modern Art from 1948–53, who subsequently introduced a more elaborate series of films at MoMA.
Skurnick was married to the painter, Fay Kleinman for 18 years, and had one daughter, Davida. After her marriage, Davida has been known as Davi Napoleon. She has two sons, Brian and Randy Napoleon, and a grandson, Jack Napoleon, who is named after him. Kleinman died in 2012.[2]
Skurnick died of a heart attack on September 6, 1952.
1. ^ Ferdand Ouelette, "A Biography of Edgard Varese", Translated from the French by Derek Coltman, The Orion Press, New York, 1966, p 170-171
2. ^ "Ypsi-based artist Fay Kleinman dead at 99". Annarbor.com. 2012-03-02. Retrieved 2012-06-05.
• Conly, John M. "They Shall Have Music" in The Atlantic, September 1960, p. 107. Jack Skurnick's work with recording engineer Robert Blake at EMS Recordings is explored.
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Joker (graphic novel)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Date October 17, 2008
Main character(s)
The Joker
Jonny Frost
Killer Croc
The Riddler
Harley Quinn
The Penguin
Page count
128 pages
Publisher DC Comics
Creative team
Writers Brian Azzarello
Artists Lee Bermejo
Inkers Mick Gray
Letterers Robert Clark
Colorists Patricia Mulvihill
ISBN 1401215815
Joker is an original graphic novel written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo. It was published in 2008 by DC Comics. It is based on characters from DC's Batman series, focusing primarily on the title character. It is a unique take on the Batman mythos, set in an alternate reality with a noir atmosphere and narrated by one of the Joker's henchmen.
Publication history[edit]
Azzarello and Bermejo had previously worked on a similar take on the main Superman villain in Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, and Joker grew out of a discussion following completion of the project and was greenlit by DC Editor Dan DiDio the following day.[1] The initial plan was to reflect this connection with a title sharing the same structure, Joker: The Dark Knight but it was felt to be too similar to the film The Dark Knight, and so the name was shortened.[1] When the writer was asked if he preferred writing villains he said "I relate to them. [Laughs] I don't relate to the heroes. The Man, tryin' to keep you down!"[2]
Bermejo's Joker is similar to the character's appearance in The Dark Knight. Bermejo did the same design as a gift for a Batman film site prior to the film's release.[3]
Jonny Frost, a low-level thug, is sent to Arkham Asylum to pick up the Joker. Joker immediately takes a liking to Frost, using him as a chauffeur. Frost drives the Joker to the lair of Killer Croc. The three go to the "Grin and Bare It" strip bar, which was formerly owned by the Joker. With the help of Harley Quinn, the Joker kills the new owner and asks the shocked audience if they are willing to help him take his city back. The next morning, the Joker robs a bank and coaxes the Penguin to invest the stolen money. The Joker embarks on a killing spree, murdering many thugs who stole his money, turf, and bizarre sense of reputation. Informed by the Penguin that Harvey Dent, a crime boss with a split personality, is evading a talk with him, an engraged Joker trashes a phone, kills one of his own henchmen, and then sets the "Grin and Bare It" on fire. The next day, Frost is detained by Dent, who warns Frost that the Joker will kill him. Subsequently, Frost is late to the Joker's meeting with the Riddler, a disabled weapons dealer. They exchange a briefcase, and the Joker leaves. Once on the road, the Joker's crew is shot at by off-duty cops hired by Dent, and Frost saves the Joker's life in the scuffle.
Joker embarks on a turf war against Dent, prompting him to meet with Joker. They meet at the city zoo. Joker brings the briefcase he got from the Riddler. Joker says he has learned Dent has two wives, and threatens to use the contents of the briefcase as leverage against him. The meeting becomes hostile. Joker attacks Dent, with shards of broken glass glued to his fingertips. When Dent's men raise their guns, Harley shoots each one in the head. After helping Frost get his ex-wife Shelly back from Dent, Joker rapes her. He says this makes them even, since Frost "cheated" on the Joker by not revealing his own meeting with Dent. Later, Harvey paints a bat on a spotlight, and pleads with Batman to stop Joker. When Joker and Frost return to their apartment, they find the window shattered and flee to Croc's lair. However, Batman has already subdued Croc and his gang. In a final attempt to escape, Joker and Frost flee to a nearby bridge. While Joker is "screaming through tears", Jonny inexplicably finds himself laughing, unable to stop. They find Batman in wait, and Joker, being provoked by Batman's tauntings, shoots Frost in the chin. Joker and Batman fight as Frost climbs over the edge of the bridge and falls.
The graphic novel generally received positive reviews. IGN stated "Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's Joker is a deeply disturbing and completely unnerving work, a literary achievement that takes its place right alongside Alan Moore's The Killing Joke as one of the few successful attempts to scratch beneath the surface of the Joker's impenetrable psyche".[4] AICN noted that "The story is compelling, especially the gut-wrenching showdown at the end of the book, and the art is mouth-wateringly good." [5]
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Kwilu River
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For the river in the Republic of the Congo, see Kouilou-Niari River.
Kwilu River
Crossing kwilu river.jpg
May, 2003 - Villagers crossing the Kwilu river
Mouth 3°23′07″S 17°23′04″E / 3.385251°S 17.384491°E / -3.385251; 17.384491Coordinates: 3°23′07″S 17°23′04″E / 3.385251°S 17.384491°E / -3.385251; 17.384491
Basin countries Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Length 965 kilometres (600 mi)
River system Kasaï River
The Kwilu River is a major river that originates in Angola and flows north through Bandundu Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to the city of Bandundu, where it joins the Kwango River just before this stream enters the Kasai River. In the DRC the river flows past the towns of Gungu, Kikwit, Bulungu, Bagata and Bandundu.[1] Lusanga, formerly Leverville, lies at the location where the Kwenge River joins the Kwilu, between Kikwit and Bulungu.[2]
The river is about 965 kilometres (600 mi) long. In the wet season the flooded area covers 1,550 square kilometres (600 sq mi). The headwaters of the river rise at elevations between 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and 1,800 metres (5,900 ft) in the Angolan highlands. They drop steeply to the flat central Congo Basin at between 500 metres (1,600 ft) and 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level. A 2011 survey found 113 species of fish in 21 families and eight orders.[3]
1. ^ Blaes 2008.
2. ^ C.J. Warrington (May 1972). "M'Bwa na Basenji". The Basenji. Retrieved 2012-02-02.
3. ^ Munene & Stiassny 2011.
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Mich d'Avray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Mich d'Avray
Personal information
Full name Jean-Michel d'Avray
Date of birth (1962-02-19) 19 February 1962 (age 52)
Place of birth Johannesburg, South Africa
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Manager (former Midfielder)
Club information
Current team
Bloemfontein Celtic
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1979–1990 Ipswich Town 211 (38)
1988 Leicester City (loan) 3 (0)
1991–1992 NEC Nijmegen 28 (2)
National team
1984 England U21 2 (1)
Teams managed
1991–1992 Moroka Swallows
1992–1995 Cape Town Spurs
1993–1997 South Africa U-23
2001–2006 Perth Glory
2008–2009 Bloemfontein Celtic
† Appearances (Goals).
Jean-Michel (Mich) d'Avray (born 19 February 1962 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a former professional association footballer who spent the majority of his playing career at Ipswich Town. He is currently a development coach with South African Premier Soccer League club Bloemfontein Celtic.[1]
Club career[edit]
D'Avray's professional football career began when he made his debut for Ipswich Town against Southampton at Portman Road in November 1979.[2] Over the next 11 seasons he made more than 200 appearances for the club, scoring nearly 40 goals. He also had a brief spell on loan to Leicester City where he made three appearances during the 1986–87 season. He went on to play for Dutch club NEC Nijmegen 28 times between 1990 and 1992.[3]
International career[edit]
While playing for Ipswich, d'Avray won two caps for England at Under-21 level.[4] He scored once, against Italy to help England into the final of the 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[5]
Managerial career[edit]
D'Avray started his managerial career in 1991 with the Moroka Swallows in Johannesburg where he remained for just one season before moving to the Cape Town Spurs. He was awarded the South African Coach of the Year award in 1993 before leading the Spurs to a league and cup double in the 1993–94 season.[1] From 1993 to 1997 he coached the South African Under-23 team, leading them out in 1994 for their inaugural game against Ghana.[6] He coached the squad for a total of 28 games, his final match coming in December 1997 against Uganda.[7]
In 1998 he moved to Australia to join A-League team Perth Glory as assistant manager before becoming manager in 2001. He led the team to the league title in 2003 and 2004.[8] and succeeded Lawrie McKinna as National Soccer League (NSL) Coach of the Year, winning the accolade in the 2003–04 season, the final time the award was made.[9]
D'Avray became Technical director of the Glory in 2005 but held the position for just one season. He joined Bloemfontein Celtic at the start of the 2008–09 season. In January 2009 he was replaced as Coach by Owen da Gama after a poor run of performances that left Celtic close to relegation. D'Avray remained on the staff as a development coach.[10]
He is married to his wife Angela and has 2 children. He holds a UEFA Pro Licence.[1]
1. ^ a b c "Player profiles - Mich D'Avray". Bloemfontein Celtic. 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-10-07. [dead link]
2. ^ "Mich d'Avray". Pride of Anglia. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
3. ^ "N.E.C. Spelerspas - Mich D'Avray" (in Dutch). NEC Nijmegen. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
4. ^ "England Under-21 Caps". The Football Association. Retrieved 2008-10-07. [dead link]
5. ^ "England Under-21 Goalscorers". The Football Association. Retrieved 2008-10-07. [dead link]
6. ^ "Under-23 National Team". South Africa Football Association. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
7. ^ "Full list of all SA under-23 matches". South Africa Football Association. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
8. ^ "History". Perth Glory. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
9. ^ "Coach of the Year". ozfootball.net. Archived from the original on 2008-07-20. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
10. ^ "Da Gama looks to the future". Bloemfontein Celtic. Retrieved 2009-01-09. [dead link]
External links[edit]
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Party Music
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Party Music
Studio album by The Coup
Released November 6, 2001
Recorded 2000−2001
Label 75 Ark/Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records
Producer Boots, Tahir
The Coup chronology
Steal This Album
Party Music
Pick a Bigger Weapon
Originally intended cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[1]
Blender 4/5 stars[2]
Pitchfork Media (7.9)[3]
Robert Christgau (A)[4]
Original cover[edit]
There's been a whitewash in the media over the past couple days over what the U.S.'s role in the world is, and the fact that they kill hundreds of thousands of people per year to protect profit. Now how can I get to the point where I could be saying that on the world stage, and interrupt the lies that CBS, CNN, NBC, and everyone is saying? In my view, that [would be] by keeping the cover. Not because I think by looking at the cover you get all of this message that I'm telling you, but as a way to have a platform to interrupt the stream of lies that are being told right now.[7]
Track listing[edit]
1. "Everythang"
2. "5 Million Ways to Kill a C.E.O."
4. "Ghetto Manifesto" (featuring T-Kash)
5. "Get Up" (featuring Dead Prez)
6. "Tight"
7. "Ride The Fence"
8. "Nowalaters" (featuring Kween)
9. "Pork and Beef" (featuring T-Kash)
10. "Heven Tonite" (featuring Kween)
11. "Thought About It 2"
12. "Lazymuthafucka"
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Philadelphia Bulletin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For other uses, see Bulletin (disambiguation).
For the 2004 resurrection of the Bulletin, see The Bulletin (newspaper).
The Philadelphia Bulletin
Type Daily newspaper
Owner(s) Charter Company
Founded April 17, 1847
Language English
Ceased publication January 29, 1982
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
1847 to 1895[edit]
The Bulletin was first published by Alexander Cummings on April 17, 1847 as Cummings’ Evening Telegraphic Bulletin.[1] It made history with its inaugural edition by publishing the first telegraph report in a U.S. newspaper, a dispatch from the Mexican War. Yet The Bulletin remained last in circulation of Philadelphia's 13 daily newspapers for the remainder of the 19th century.[2]
Cummings lost control of The Bulletin to stockholders in the 1850s.[citation needed] From 1859 until 1895, the paper was edited by Gibson Peacock.[citation needed] Upon Peacock's death, it was bought by businessman William L. McLean.[2]
1895 to 1975[edit]
When McLean bought the last-place Bulletin in 1895, it sold for 2 cents, equal to $0.57 today. McLean cut the price in half and increased coverage of local news. By 1905 the paper was the city's largest. McLean's son Robert took over in 1931. Later in the 1930s, the paper bought WPEN, one of Philadelphia's early radio stations. In 1946, it acquired a construction permit for Philadelphia's third television station.
However, later in 1946 the Bulletin bought out its evening competitor, The Philadelphia Record, and incorporated features of the Record's Sunday edition into the new Sunday Bulletin. By 1947 the Bulletin was the nation's biggest evening daily with 761,000 readers.[2] Along with the Record, it also acquired the rights to buy Philadelphia's third-oldest radio station, WCAU. In a complex deal, the Bulletin sold off WPEN and WCAU's FM sister, changed WPEN-FM's calls to WCAU-FM, and the calls for its under-construction television station to WCAU-TV. The WCAU stations were sold to CBS in 1957.
Journalism style[edit]
Describing the Bulletin's style, McLean once said: "I think the Bulletin operates on a principle which in the long run is unbeatable. This is that it enters the reader's home as a guest. Therefore, it should behave as a guest, telling the news rather than shouting it."[3] As Time magazine later noted: "In its news columns, The Bulletin was solid if unspectacular. Local affairs were covered extensively, but politely. Muckraking was frowned upon."[2]
Yet the Bulletin's understated brand of journalism won Pulitzer Prizes in 1964 and 1965. James V. Magee, Albert V. Gaudiosi and Frederick Meyer won the 1964 Pulitzer Prize for Local Investigative Specialized Reporting for their expose of numbers racket operations with police collusion in South Philadelphia, which resulted in arrests and a cleanup of the police department.[4] J.A. Livingston won the 1965 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his reports on the growth of economic independence among Russia's Eastern European satellites and his analysis of their desire for a resumption of trade with the West.[5]
Decline in circulation[edit]
As readers and advertisers moved from the city to the suburbs, The Bulletin attempted to follow. It introduced regional editions for four suburban counties and leased a plant in southern New Jersey to print a state edition. Reporters attended school and county meetings, but their efforts could not match the combined resources of the smaller suburban dailies.[2]
The Bulletin also faced difficulties that plagued all big-city evening newspapers: Late afternoon traffic made distribution more costly than for morning papers. The Bulletin faced even greater competition from television evening newscasts.[2]
The Bulletin's biggest problem, however, may have been the morning Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer was on the verge of extinction until Eugene L. Roberts Jr. became executive editor in 1972. Under Roberts, The Inquirer won six consecutive Pulitzer Prizes and gained national reputation for quality journalism.[6] The Inquirer grabbed the circulation lead in 1980. By 1982, The Inquirer’s was receiving 60 percent of the city’s newspaper advertising revenue compared to The Bulletin's 24 percent share. The Bulletin launched a morning edition in 1978, but by then the momentum had shifted decisively.[2]
Final months[edit]
In 1980, the Bulletin was acquired by the Charter Company of Jacksonville.[7] In December 1981, Charter put it up for sale. The Bulletin continued publishing while speaking with prospective buyers. City residents organized a “Save Our Bulletin” campaign. On January 18, 1982, 300 loyal supporters sporting S.O.B. buttons held a candlelight vigil in front of the paper's offices in subfreezing weather. Philadelphia Mayor William Green offered tax breaks and low-interest loans to help finance a purchase.[2]
With no prospective buyers, Charter attempted to give the newspaper away. No publisher, however, would assume the paper's $29.5 million in promissory notes and $12 million in severance costs to the paper's 1,943 employees. Four groups of buyers did come forward, but each found the newspaper's prospects too discouraging.[2]
After losing $21.5 million in 1981, The Bulletin was dropping nearly $3 million per month when it published its final edition on January 29, 1982. Said Charter Communications President J.P. Smith Jr.: "In the final analysis, the paper was unable to generate the circulation and additional advertising revenues ... it needed to survive."[2]
The headline of the final edition read "Goodbye: After 134 years, a Philadelphia voice is silent" and the paper’s slogan was changed to "Nearly Everybody Read The Bulletin" (emphasis added). A front-page message to readers appeared below the fold in which Publisher N.S. (“Buddy”) Hayden stated: "It’s over. And there’s very little left to say, except goodbye."[8]
The Bulletin's internal newsclipping files (approximately 500,000 pieces), card indexes, and photographs (ca. 3 million) are now held in the Temple University Libraries.[9] Thousands of the Bulletin photographs have been scanned and have been made available by the Temple Libraries for online study.[10] A limited sampling of Bulletin clippings are also available online.[11]
The Bulletin[edit]
References in popular culture[edit]
The Bulletin was referenced in the 1955 Alfred Hitchcock movie To Catch a Thief.
1. ^ Cummings’ Evening Telegraphic Bulletin, April 17, 1847, p. 1, reprinted in The Philadelphia Bulletin, January 18, 1984
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Castro, Janice (February 8, 1982), "Last Rites for a Proud Paper", Time
3. ^ McCalla, John (November 27 – December 4, 1997), "On Media: Nearly Everybody Remembers It", Philadelphia City Paper
4. ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes for 1964". Retrieved 2007-09-15.
5. ^ "The Pulitzer Prizes for 1965". Retrieved 2007-09-15.
6. ^ Henry III, William A. (April 30, 1984), "The Ten Best U.S. Dailies", Time
7. ^ "Charter Media To Buy Philadelphia Bulletin". 1980-04-10. Retrieved 2014-01-04.
8. ^ The Philadelphia Bulletin, January 18, 1982
9. ^ "Urban Archives, Temple University Libraries". Retrieved 2008-09-05.
10. ^ "George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Photographs". Retrieved 2014-01-04.
11. ^ "George D. McDowell Philadelphia Evening Bulletin Clippings". Retrieved 2014-01-04.
• Binzen, Peter, ed., Nearly Everybody Read It: Snapshots of the Philadelphia Bulletin, Camino Books (Philadelphia 1997)
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Presbyterian Church in Honduras
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The Presbyterian Church in Honduras was founded in 1960, by the National Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Guatemala. Presbyterian settlers come to Honduras and asked the Presbyterian Church in Honduras to send missionaries. The first church was formed in Guimaca. There are dozens of congregations within 150 km of Tegucigalpa.[1] The church recognise the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Apostles Creed, and Nicene Creed.[2] The congregations are small in size, and very poor.
1. ^
2. ^
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A brown rock or sediment face with horizontal layers, 18 of which are clearly visible. Some of the layers are obviously thicker than others - presumably the result of differences in annual deposition rates due to seasonal variations.
Pleistocene age varves at Scarboro Bluffs, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The thickest varves are more than half an inch thick.
A rhythmite consists of layers of sediment or sedimentary rock which are laid down with an obvious periodicity and regularity. They may be created by annual processes such as seasonally varying deposits reflecting variations in the runoff cycle, by shorter term processes such as tides, or by longer term processes such as periodic floods.
Rhythmites serve a significant role in unraveling prehistoric events, providing insights into sea level change, glaciation change, and earth's orbital variations which serve to answer questions about climate change.
Annually laminated rhythmites[edit]
Annually laminated deposits or varves are rhythmites with annual periodicity: annual layers of sediment or sedimentary rock are laid down through seasonal variations that result from precipitation, or from temperature, which influences precipitation rates and debris loads in runoff. Of the many rhythmites found in the geological record, varves are among the most important and illuminating to studies of past climate change. Varves are amongst the finest resolution events easily recognised in stratigraphy.[1]
Periodically laminated rhythmites[edit]
This photo shows a canyon cut into the surrounding flat soil with 32 distinct horizontal layers of soil, each clearly demarked from the layer below. Above the canyon a farm house can be seen in the distance - the farm house provide the perspective that helps the viewer establish that the cut is over 40 deep. The bottom of the cut is filled with tumble weeds.
Rhythmites may be deposited with periodicities other than annual. The geologic record captures both more frequent events (e.g., tides) and less frequent events (glacial floods).
Tidal rhythmites[edit]
Geologic tidal rhythmites display layered Carboniferous Period beds which record tidal cyclical events such as semi-diurnal, diurnal or neap tide, spring tide cycle. The geologic record captures layered beds comparable to those found currently in sediments in the Bay of Fundy in Canada and the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel in France.[2] The Storm Mountain area of Big Cottonwood Canyon, Utah, has rhythmites which record sea-level sedimentary deposit fluctuations consistent with the cycle of the tides.
Proglacial rhythmites[edit]
One common mechanism is the episodic flooding which results from glacial dam bursts. In one such example geologists estimate that the Missoula Floods cycle of flooding and reformation of the lake took an average of 55 years and that the floods occurred approximately 40 times over the 2,000-year period between 15,000 and 13,000 years ago. Distinct rhythmites with an approximately 55-year periodicity have been observed.[3][4]
Glacial epicycle rhythmites[edit]
Sea-level changes which correspond to the glacial periods also show up as extremely long-term rhythmites. As an example, the ice surge in the Quaternary resulted in changes in sea level of from 127 meters to 163 meters. The regression and transgression of the sea level from waxing and waning glaciers have been identified in the rhythmites of the Pennsylvanian and Permian periods.[5]
See also[edit]
1. ^ Hambrey, M. J.; Harland, Walter Brian (1997). Earth's pre-Pleistocene glacial record. Cambridge earth science series. ISBN 978-0-521-22860-2. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
2. ^ B.W. Flemming and A. Bartholoma (1995). Tidal signatures in modern and ancient sediments. Blackwell Science, Oxford.
5. ^ Washburn, Albert Lincoln (1997). Plugs and Plug Circles: A Basic Form of Patterned Ground, Cornwallis Island, Arctic Canada - Origin and Implications. Geological Society of America, Incorporated. ISBN 978-0-8137-1190-4. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
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Robert Bateman (painter)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Robert Bateman (naturalist))
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For other people named Robert Bateman, see Robert Bateman (disambiguation).
Robert Bateman
Steven Young-Robert Bateman-2009.jpg
Robert Bateman (2009)
Born (1930-05-24) 24 May 1930 (age 84)
Toronto, Ontario
Nationality Canadian
Alma mater Victoria College in the University of Toronto, Ontario College of Education
Known for Painting, wildlife
Robert Bateman, OC, OBC (born 24 May 1930) is a Canadian naturalist and painter, born in Toronto, Ontario.[1]
Bateman was always interested in art, but never intended to make a living from it. He was fascinated by the natural world in his childhood; he recorded the sightings of all of the birds in the area of his house in Toronto.[2] He found inspiration from the Group of Seven; he was also interested in making abstract paintings of nature.[3] It was not until the mid-1960s that he changed to his present style, realism.[2] In 1954, he graduated with a degree in geography from Victoria College in the University of Toronto. Afterwards, he attended Ontario College of Education. Although the stage was set for an expert wildlife artist, Bateman moved on to be a high school art/geography teacher.[1] However, he still painted in his free time. It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that his work started to receive major recognition. Robert Bateman's show in 1987, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, drew a large crowd for a living artist.[4]
Bateman also has approximately six books devoted solely to his paintings.[1] The majority are acrylic on various media .[5] Bateman's decision in 1977 to produce reproductions of his paintings through Mill Pond Press has been criticized by some who feel that the reproductions are "overpriced posters that cheapen the legitimate art market".[2] The reproductions are popular items, being sold in print galleries across Canada and more internationally.
In 1999, the Audubon Society of Canada declared Bateman one of the top 100 environmental proponents of the 20th century. [6]
Today, Robert Bateman lives in Saltspring Island in British Columbia with his second wife [7] Birgit Freybe Bateman.[2] Robert Bateman Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Robert Bateman High School in Burlington, Ontario, and Robert Bateman Elementary School, Ottawa, Ontario are named after him. He is an Honorary Director of the North American Native Plant Society.[8]
See also[edit]
1. ^ a b c Robert Bateman Official Website: Biography Retrieved October 23, 2007
2. ^ a b c d Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: the Life And Times of Robert Bateman Retrieved October 23, 2007
3. ^ Peninsula Gallery: Biography of Robert Bateman Retrieved October 23, 2007
4. ^ Pegasus Gallery Artist Profile: Robert Bateman
5. ^ Robert Bateman Official Website: Environmental Paintings Retrieved March 26, 2013
7. ^ "Biography of Robert Bateman".Bateman,Robert. 27 August 2010.
8. ^
9. ^ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
External links[edit]
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Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.jpg
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson
Born (1971-12-23) 23 December 1971 (age 42)
Hampshire, England
Occupation Author
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson (born 23 December 1971) also known as T P-T,[1] is an English socialite, "it girl", television presenter, columnist, model and charity patron.[2] Her activities have been well-covered by the British tabloid press, and in the mid to late 1990s, she wrote a weekly column for the Sunday Times and subsequently contributed to The Spectator, The Mail on Sunday, GQ, Eve, Harpers and Queen, Tatler, Instyle and The Observer sporadically.
Early life[edit]
Her parents are Charles and Patricia Palmer-Tomkinson (née Dawson). Palmer-Tomkinson's father has represented his country as a skier at Olympic level. Tara grew up on her parents' estate in Dummer, Hampshire, and was educated first at Hanford School,[3] then at Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset. After she left school she worked briefly in the City of London for Rothschilds bank.
Television appearances[edit]
In 2002, her public profile was revitalised[clarification needed] when she made an appearance on the British television series I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, finishing runner up. This included being gunged in the "Jungle Shower", one of the first 'bush tucker' trials. In November 2005, Palmer-Tomkinson presented her third 'behind the scenes' series on ITV2 for the hit show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! Now.
She has also appeared on the reality shows Spelling Bee and Cold Turkey, which followed her attempts to quit smoking with Sophie Anderton, celebrity specials of A Place in the Sun and Blind Date and in episodes of Tabloid Tales, With a Little Help from my Friends, Russian Roulette, Celebrities Under Pressure and Project Catwalk. Palmer-Tomkinson also appeared on Top Gear in 2002 as their "star in a reasonably-priced car".
Palmer-Tomkinson's presenting credits include Animals Do the Funniest things with Tony Blackburn, Junior Eurovision, The British Comedy Awards...Party On, What Kids Really Think, Popworld, Top of the Pops, SM:TV Live, Company Magazine Bachelor of the Year, Dumb Britain, Extreme, a role as a team captain on Bognor or Bust which was hosted by Angus Deayton and work for GMTV, Five, LBC radio, the music channel The Hits and the Living TV programme Dirty Cows.[4]
Palmer-Tomkinson is a regular talking head on celebrity based documentaries and in 2005, was named Woman of the Year by New Woman magazine. She played herself in the film Mad Cows[5] and an episode of Footballers Wives, has acted in a film version of An Ideal Husband and was for a period the face of Walkers Crisps replacing Victoria Beckham. She appeared on an episode of Airline as a member of EasyJet Cabin Crew for a day.
In 2014, Tara appeared on the celebrity special edition of The Jeremy Kyle Show in which she revealed the depths of her cocaine addiction and the truth behind her reported relapse.
Palmer-Tomkinson has been a contestant on Comic Relief Does Fame Academy for the BBC. She gave away tickets to see her compete in the show to "ordinary people" who had helped her out (the other contestants generally giving their free tickets to other celebrities). She invited the policeman who found her stolen car, the locksmith who helped when she was locked out of her house and her parents' local shopkeepers.[6] On Friday 16 March 2007 (Red Nose Day – Comic Relief) Tara won Comic Relief Does Fame Academy, beating Tricia Penrose in the final. She was a guest on the BBC's Would I Lie to You?, a comedy quiz which was aired in the spring of 2007 and August 2008, alongside regulars Lee Mack and David Mitchell. In episode 7 of series 2, she revealed that she had been shopping in Sainsbury's "wearing nothing but a trenchcoat".[7]
Other work[edit]
Palmer-Tomkinson plays the piano, as was demonstrated at events at the Royal Festival Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra, at the Royal Albert Hall with Mozart, and at The Coliseum during a Leonard Bernstein Tribute. She was also the star host of the Classic FM Gramophone Awards 2005. She once said she practises the piano daily for around 90 minutes.[8]
She will be releasing an album of self-written music (originally planned for January 2008), which will be preceded by a single, I Don't Need You Anymore which she revealed is "about a narcotic, but I guess if you were listening to it, you could relate it to anything you liked."[9]
In September 2007 her book The Naughty Girl's Guide to Life, co-authored with Sharon Marshall, was published by Sphere.[10] It was serialised in The Sunday Times Style magazine and reviewed widely.[11]
In October 2010 her first novel, Inheritance, was published by Pan Books.[12]
In November 2013 Tara became Patron of Scottish charity Speur Ghlan, which delivers early intervention for young children diagnosed with autism or developmental delays. The appointment garnered media attention for having been facilitated through social media.[13][14][15] She announced her acceptance of the role with the statement "It is a huge honour to have been chosen as patron of the Speur-Ghlan charity; I have been following with admiration the tireless work it does to bring help to children who have an autism diagnosis or developmental delay, and very importantly, the families and friends who surround them."
• Inheritance (2010)
• Infidelity (2012)
Other Books[edit]
Personal life[edit]
Palmer-Tomkinson hails from a family of landowners and Olympians. Her paternal great-great-grandfather was the landowner, and Liberal politician, James Tomkinson. His wife, Emily Frances, was the daughter of Sir George Palmer, 3rd Baronet. Palmer-Tomkinson's grandfather James Palmer-Tomkinson, uncle Jeremy Palmer-Tomkinson and father Charles have all competed at multiple Winter Olympic Games. Palmer-Tomkinson is the youngest of three children. She has a brother James and a sister, Santa Montefiore (née Palmer-Tomkinson). Her brother-in-law is the historian Simon Sebag Montefiore.
Palmer-Tomkinson's family have a close relationship with the British Royal Family. Her parents are friends of The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. She attended the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
In 1999, she was treated at the Meadows clinic in Arizona for a cocaine addiction, and since her recovery has supported various drugs charities.[16]
In 2006, Palmer-Tomkinson received extensive publicity after her septum nasi collapsed due to her former £400-a-day addiction to cocaine. Pictures were printed in several British tabloids. She underwent cosmetic surgery to have it rebuilt, at a cost of £6,000.[17] Some sources claim the surgery was carried out by cranio-facial surgeon Martin Kelly, the late husband of actress Natascha McElhone.[18]
Popular culture[edit]
Paul Harvey. Tara Palmer-Tomkinson.
1. ^ Walker, Andrew (30 August 2002). "BBC News "Tara Palmer-Tomkinson: Still got It?"". Retrieved 6 January 2010.
2. ^ "It-girl Tara backs autism charity". The Herald Scotland. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
3. ^ Swann, Yvonne (13 February 2009). "Me and my school photo: Tara Palmer-Tomkinson". Daily Mail (London: Associated Newspapers). Retrieved 5 May 2011.
4. ^ "Tara bags the prize in her TV dating show". Daily Mail (London). 8 September 2007.
5. ^ "Mad Cows". IMDb. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
6. ^ "Sky News "Tara's Kind Gesture"".
7. ^ "Would I Lie to You?". Would I Lie To You?. Series 2. Episode 7. 22 August 2008. BBC.
8. ^ "This Is London "My Life is so Lonely"".
9. ^ "Tara's Musical Plans". Sky News. 11 December 2007.
10. ^ Palmer-Tomkinson, Tara; Marshall, Sarah (2007). The Naughty Girl's Guide to Life. Sphere. ISBN 1-84744-137-8. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
11. ^ Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Sharon Marshall (12 August 2007). "The naughty girl’s guide to life". The Sunday Times (London). Retrieved 13 April 2011.
12. ^ Palmer-Tomkinson, Tara (2010). Inheritance. Pan Books. ISBN 978-0-330-51326-5. Retrieved 13 April 2011.
13. ^ "Tara P-T named as charity patron". Paisley Daily Express. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
14. ^ "Tara P-T named as charity patron". Localnews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
15. ^ "Breaking News: Tara P-T". A&C Advertiser. 1 November 2013. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
16. ^ "Daily Mail "The terrible toll cocaine has taken on Tara's face"". London. 29 June 2006.
17. ^ "Sky News "Tara's Drugs Ban"".
18. ^ Margarette Driscoll (14 September 2008). "Interview: Natascha McElhone". The Times (London). Retrieved 16 September 2008.
19. ^ Milner, Frank ed. The Stuckists Punk Victorian, p.76, National Museums Liverpool 2004. ISBN 1-902700-27-9
External links[edit]
Preceded by
Edith Bowman
Comic Relief Does Fame Academy Winner
Series 3 (2007)
Succeeded by
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Popular Science Monthly/Volume 19/May 1881/Editor's Table
From Wikisource
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THE elegant research of Professor Tyndall, which we publish in the present number, will well repay the careful attention of our readers. It is of interest, not only on account of the very complete confirmation of results previously obtained by this physicist, but also on account of the novel method employed, and the promise this gives of wide utility. The photophone is barely six months old, but these experiments show that it already has a large field of usefulness before it, and it is, perhaps, not too much to expect that it will prove to be one of the most delicate instruments at the command of the physicist. The experiments are further interesting for the very conclusive demonstration they afford of the causes to which the action of the instrument is due. From the first, Professor Tyndall states, he was convinced that the sounds given out by bodies upon which the intermittent beam of light impinged were due to their expansion and contraction tinder the influence of radiant heat, and this opinion is most fully borne out by the results obtained. The experiments, while showing the great delicacy of this beautiful instrument of Professor Bell, also incidentally show that some of the expectations with regard to it are unfounded. One of these is, that with it sounds upon the sun may be heard. The fallacy of this has been recently pointed out, and the arrangement of the apparatus adopted by Professor Tyndall clearly exhibits it. It consists in assuming that the sound given out by the absorptive body is the reproduction of a previous sound, while in reality all that is necessary is that the impinging beam be intermittent—its variations may be produced in any manner whatever.
Of the results of previous experiments confirmed by this later research, the most important are those regarding the behavior of dry air and the vapor of water toward radiant heat. By a long series of beautiful and refined experiments. Professor Tyndall had shown that the former was perfectly transparent to such heat, while water-vapor was a powerful absorbent of it. These results have been disputed by other experimenters, and it needed, to definitely settle the controversy, some more delicate method of testing these substances than that furnished by the instruments heretofore at command. This has been supplied by this latest acquisition of science, and the first use of it appears to fully sustain Professor Tyndall's position.
We often hear subdued expressions of doubt as to the quality of the physiological teaching prevalent in girls' schools. It is intimated that the knowledge the pupils get upon this subject is generally of a very loose and vague sort, so as to be but of little practical use. It is objected to what girls learn about in their physiological studies, that it is not entitled to be called knowledge at all—that is, they do not really know what they are studying about, but only remember certain statements as well as they can, while the information they get is not of a kind fit to be used. Whatever may be the fact in regard to our own schools, it is pretty certain that the physiology taught to girls in some of the English schools is marked with all the bad qualities sometimes ascribed to our own.
The London "Globe" gives a ludicrous illustration of the results of physiological teaching in the girls' schools of the English metropolis. It seems that the National Health Society, laudably desirous of promoting the increase of practical physiological intelligence, offered prizes to be competed for by the pupils of the girls' schools under the control of the London School Board. The response, however, was not very lively. Out of two hundred and thirty-four schools only eleven sent competitors, it being presumed that in the other schools physiology is either not taught at all or so poorly taught that there was no emulation. The eleven schools which were represented in the examination, we are to suppose, were the best girls' schools under the jurisdiction of the board. Two hundred and fifteen girls attended and competed for the prizes, the examination being conducted by Mr. McWilliam, who reported the result to the London School Board.
The "Globe" says: "Many of the children appear to have been utterly unable to understand the terms of the questions. 'Mention any occupations which you consider to be injurious to health, giving reasons for your answer.' This question, Mr. McWilliam says, especially appears to have puzzled them. One girl's complete answer to this question is, 'When you have a illness it makes your health bad, as well as having a disease.' Another says, 'Occupations which are injurious to health are carbolic acid gas which is impure blood.' Another complete answer is, ' We ought to go in the country for a few weeks to take plenty of fresh air to make us healthy and strong every year.' Another complete answer is, 'Why the heart, lungs, blood, which is very dangerous.' The word 'function' was also a great puzzle. Very many answered that the skin discharges a function called perspiration. One girl says, 'The function of the heart is between the lungs.' Another says: 'What is the function of the heart? Thorax.' Another girl, in answer to the sixth question says, ' The process of digestion is: We should never eat fat, because the food does not digest.'
"Another class of errors is that of exaggerated statements, one girl answering, 'A stone-mason's work is injurious, because when he is chipping he breathes in all the little chips, and then they are taken into the lungs.' Another says, 'A bootmaker's trade is very injurious, because the bootmakers always press the boots against the thorax, and therefore it presses the thorax in and it touches the heart, and if they do not die they are cripples for life.' Several girls insist that every carpenter or mason should wear a pad over the mouth; and one girl says that, if a sawyer does not wear spectacles, he will be sure to lose his eyesight. Finally, one girl declares that 'all mechanical work is injurious to health.' Another child says that 'in impure air there is not any oxygen, it is all carbonic acid gas.' Another says that if we do not wash ourselves 'in one or two days all the perspiration will turn into sores.'
"One girl states that 'when food is swallowed it passes through the windpipe and stops at the right side, some of it goes to make blood, and what is not wanted passes into the alimentary canal.' Another girl from the same school says, 'Venous blood is of a dark black color, and when it reaches the heart it is made by the heart a bright red color.' Several girls from the same school repeat this last error. Another girl says, 'The chyle flows up the middle of the backbone and reaches the heart, where it meets the oxygen and is purified.' Another says, 'The work of the heart is to repair the different organs in about half a minute.' Another says: 'We have an upper and a lower skin; the lower skin moves at its will, and the upper skin moves when we do.'"
It may be recollected that, at the close of his lectures in this country, 1872-'73, Professor Tyndall left all the money he had received, except what was consumed in expenses, as a trust, the income of which was to be devoted to the assistance of American students in physics desirous of completing their studies in Germany. The fund was intended, of course, for those who were without sufficient means of their own for the purpose, and was to be only available for such students as had shown an inclination for original studies, and some aptitude and capacity in pursuing them. Trustees were appointed to take charge of the fund, which was at first so small that it was thought best to let it accumulate until the income became sufficient to give a moderate support to two students. The increase of the capital has now reached a point at which the income of the trust becomes applicable for its purpose.
The original trustees appointed by Professor Tyndall were Professor Joseph Henry, of Washington; General Hector Tyndale, of Philadelphia; and E. L. Youmans, of New York. The two former are dead, and President F. A. P. Barnard, of Columbia College, New York, and Professor Joseph Lovering, of Harvard University, Cambridge, have been appointed in their places. Applications for the benefit of the trust can be made to either of the trustees.
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Appendix:List of Proto-Indo-European roots
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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Crystal Clear filesystem trashcan full.png This appendix has been nominated for deletion(+)
Please see that page for discussion and justifications. Feel free to edit this appendix as normal, though do not remove the {{rfd}} until the debate has finished.
Wikipedia has an article on:
The following is a list of Proto-Indo-European roots, given with their basic meaning and notable cognates in Indo-European languages. Note that there is some debate among scholars on whether certain roots belong to PIE or not.
Note that only roots are listed here; see Appendix:List of Proto-Indo-European nouns for nominal stems. See also w:Proto-Indo-European pronoun, w:Proto-Indo-European particle and w:Proto-Indo-European numerals.
Languages with abbreviations[edit]
External links[edit]
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
The "pirate speech" we hear/see/read, for example, on the website Talk Like A Pirate Day consists of a rhotic dialect characterized by phrases like "shiver me timbers," "ooh arh me hearties," and so on and so on.
What is its basis in fact?
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I wish I could upvote this question a million times. – JSBձոգչ Aug 18 '10 at 4:37
A discussion in The Guardian is Arrrr all film pirates really from Bristol?. (In passing, this site is a treasure trove(!) of semantic conundrums notes and queries.) – cindi Aug 18 '10 at 7:47
Cross-linking: Did pirates really talk the way they are currently portrayed? (Skeptics.SE). Edit (comment cleanup): note the dates. The question on Skeptics is two days old. This one here was asked 8½ months ago, half a year before Skeptics was even created. – RegDwigнt May 1 '11 at 17:27
"I'm Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate! Arrr." -Monkey Island :p – Garet Claborn May 6 '11 at 14:40
How can you tell that a C program has been pirated? When the parameters to main() are "arrrgggc" and "arrrgggv". – Jay Dec 6 '11 at 18:23
8 Answers 8
There really isn't much of a basis in fact at all, but it has some non-fiction roots.
"Nearly all of our notions of their behavior come from the golden age of fictional piracy, which reached its zenith in 1881 with the appearance of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island." - Adams, C. "The Straight Dope", October 12, 2007 The Straight Dope – Fighting Ignorance Since 1973
So, According to Wikipedia, and several other sources. Our notions of pirates, and their dialects, is just a result of popularized fiction. Such as novels and movies like The Pirates of The Caribbean, Sinbad The Sailor, and Treasure Island.
From: Slate
Summary: "Arrrg" is mainly fiction, but the accent could very well be a product of underclass European slang, and other languages picked up from around the world on trade routes.
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I edited this post quite a bit, but in the end, I think I supplied a pretty in depth answer. – MikeVaughan May 2 '11 at 18:32
I wish I could make this the 'accpeted answer'. – MikeVaughan Jan 17 '12 at 5:48
Indeed, underclass English is heavily rhotic. – AndrewS Apr 27 '12 at 19:05
A few answers here give good sources for various words that are commonly used when 'talking like a pirate'.
It may surprise some of you to learn though, that the 'accent' that most people go with (Rolled 'R's, dropped 'h's, gruff voice, etc.) actually originates from Robert Newton, the actor who played Long John Silver in the first sound production of Treasure Island.
So unfortunately, not a real pirate.
Sources: UK TV show, QI, which is rarely ever wrong and then follow up research that revealed Robert Newton as the 'Patron Saint' of Talk Like a Pirate Day for said reason.
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This hits the nail on the head. All you have to do is watch the opening seconds of Treasure Island to hear the modern origin of how pirates supposedly talk. It doesn't matter where Newton got the idea for the accent--the fact is he made his interpretation compellingly memorable. – Bill Lefurgy May 23 '12 at 20:24
It's supposed to be a Bristol accent. Which leads to the joke: Q -Why do people from Bristol sound like pirates? A- because they aaaaarrrrrrr! – Wudang Jul 10 '12 at 12:09
In my experience, it seems that the dialect largely comes from two things
• Pirates are generally drunken sailors which gives birth to the 'Tavern Slur' style of speech
• Pirate songs!
Here's an excerpt from Lighthouse Journal
Music was, apparently, an important part of morale aboard any ship – pirate or otherwise. Often there would be a musician member aboard and tavern songs were popular with seamen in general, the concertina (‘squeeze box’) being the most popular on-board instrument. These songs, called chants or ‘Sea Shanty’, became part of the pirate lore. There were songs or sea shanties like:
• Capstan Shanty or Windlass Shanty – song to sing while raising the anchor of a ship.
• Short Drag Shanty – song sung while raising the masthead or trimming the sails.
• Halyard Shanty – song sung while raising the heavy sails from the yards, the wooden cross-pieces.
• Pumping Shanty – sung while pumping out the water when emptying the bilge.
• Forecastle Shanty – sung in the quarters of the crew members, the forecastle (fo’ksul) is the forward part of the main deck.
• Celebration Shanty – sung to celebrate anything worth celebrating, such as battle victories. The most known song is a tavern song called Blow the Man Down.
That last example's famous line, "Yo ho and blow the man down!" is a fairly good example.
Here are some others:
Here's to the grog, boys, the jolly, jolly grog
Here's to the rum and tobacco
I've a-spent all my tin with the lassies drinking gin
And to cross the briny ocean I must wander
- from Here's to the Grog
To my, Ay, And we'll furl, Ay, And pay Paddy Doyle for his boots.
We'll sing, Ay, And we'll heave, Ay, And we'll hang Paddy Doyle for his boots.
- from Patty Doyle
But now th' month is up, ol' turk. An' we say so, an' we hope so! Get up, ye swine, an' look for work. Oh! Poor old Man! Get up, ye swine, an' look for graft. An' we say so, an' we hope so! While we lays on an' yanks ye aft. Oh! Poor old Man!
- from Dead Horse
Did roar, did roar, the crimps at me did roar.
There I went, me head all bent and the crimps at me did roar.
The first chap I ran afoul of was Mr. Shanghai Brown.
Well I asked him neat if he'd stand the treat; he looks me up and down.
He said "The last time yer was paid off you chalked me up no score.
But I'll give yes a chance and I'll take yer advance, and send yer to sea once more."
- from Shanghai Brown
All in all I think the modern usage comes from a combination of songs like these, lots of drinking and the general usage of English and naval terms in the pirating age. Aye matey.
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I'm not sure, but the answer is probably in this book, the Pirate Primer, which uses real pirates, movies, literature, etc as sources.
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OK, well it's a step in the right direction. – delete Aug 18 '10 at 3:12
Pirates portrayed in popular culture generally have an accent from the South West of England - usually Cornwall, Devon or Bristol according to Wikipedia. Karl's answer, that this originated with Robert Newton, is probably true, but why would Newton choose a Westcountry accent?
Pirates traditionally operated in the "new world" of the Caribbean and eastern coasts of the American continents, and as such English pirates would typically operate out of the western side of England. The biggest ports on that side of England are Bristol and Liverpool; Bristol is closer to London, where no doubt the pirates would want to sell their plunder, and it's also further south than Liverpool, thus marginally closer to the Caribbean.
Perhaps more telling though is the terrain of the South West Peninsula. Cornwall and parts of southern Devon have many cliffs, with sheltered coves, caves and bays that made ideal hideaways for smugglers and pirates. Indeed there is plenty of archaeological evidence for smuggling and related activities in the area. The rocky coast was also the cause of many shipwrecks, and historically the locals would think little of plundering the cargo of wrecked ships off the coast; with such activities ingrained in the local culture it's feasible that piracy was a natural next step for many. A final factor is that the main occupations in the area were fishing and mining; low paid manual work that provided handy skills in seafaring and boring rock to create secret tunnels and caves - very handy for smugglers and pirates!
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That goes a long way to explain why Gilbert and Sullivan placed their pirates in Penzance! – gmcgath Dec 19 '12 at 19:09
There was no standard language on a pirate ship. Crews were typically multinational in makeup. Often, crewmen were pressed from prize ships, so they could be from any number of countries.
The most interesting thing is that anyone on a pirate ship could understand anything at all, given the many nationalities the sailors pirates were. Not only English, Dutch and French aboard, but often African as well; former slaves often joined the ranks rather than return to a life of slavery. Can you imagine the conversations and dialects going on aboard ship during any down time? And how could they ever understand the commands required to run a large vessel on the open sea, let alone during the heat of battle?
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There was and remains to this day a dialect of British English wherein "arrr" would be the appropriate spelling to imitate their pronunciation of "aye", which is commonly used to express agreement with some statement. IMHO, those who append "g" are influenced by another popular expression (of disgust) usually rendered "aargh". Granted, pirate ships were crewed by miscreants from all of the British Isles and parts of Europe, and the romantic notion of a standardized pirate lingo is almost certainly fictional -- but, if I were to pick one element that most likely would have been heard on many pirate ships, "arrr" would be the winner.
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"Pirate speech" is taken solely from Long John Silver in Treasure island and, as it relates to pirates as a whole, is entirely fictional.
However, Long John Silver is speaking a real vernacular/regionalism of English from one specific region of pre-industrial England, the name of which escapes me at the moment. It is also the source of the present tense use of "be" as in "I be chill'in" that is common in parts of the American south settled by English of the region.
Louis Stevenson spent sometime in the region, liked the unique sound of the vernacular and used it to create one of the most memorable characters in English literature. I'm not sure if anyone still speaks it today.
I did a write up about it years ago when talk like a Pirate Day first started. I'll see if I can find the references.
Yep, it was the West Country Dialect as noted by others. You can see it in the following:
Low German Somerset Standard British English
Ik bün I be/A be I am
Du büst Thee bist You are (archaic "Thou art")
He is He be He is
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Your Answer
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
'O people!'
Can anyone give me an alternative interjection for 'O' in this example?
share|improve this question
Oh? void..... – Russell Dias Mar 26 '11 at 7:19
What sort of interjection do you want? That little sentence could mean a lot of things as I see it, most of which depend on context...as psmears points out in his answer, I just noticed. Still, a comment can't go amiss... – kitukwfyer Mar 26 '11 at 13:31
"O" is not really an interjection there; rather, it is a vocative marker. – Kosmonaut Apr 13 '11 at 1:16
1 Answer 1
up vote 2 down vote accepted
It depends on the context... what sort of situation is it for?
If it's to get the attention of a crowd, then maybe:
Hey, people!
or, more politely
Excuse me, people!
would do the trick. If, on the other hand, it's the start of some sort of formal address, then maybe
Dear people,
would be the way to start (although perhaps "Ladies and Gentlemen" would be more conventional).
share|improve this answer
As an opening attention-getting pragmatic marker: NOW, Ladies and Gentlemen ... . As a refocusing marker, RIGHT is often used, but is even more informal. A spoon on a champagne flute is a non-verbal pragmatic marker often used at various functions. – Edwin Ashworth Oct 20 '12 at 19:09
Your Answer
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Sunday, August 22, 2010
For all that is said about the internet and the forums and blogs that abound, it is the discussion that is inspired, and the exchanges of ideas and inspiration that make it of value to me.
Reminds me of two gents I saw at a stand in Pitti a few years back, having a heated conversation over a tie blanket. They were both right in their own minds, I'm sure.
1 comment:
1. This reminds me of the blankets we use at work to design wrestling singlets. We use the blankets to show different colors on the spandex and how they blend and merge together when dyed.
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The Painted Lady is perhaps the most widely distributed butterfly in the world, found all over Eurasia and the Americas. It looks like a common or garden butterfly, orange/tan with splotches of black fanning out to black with splotches of tan and white. The taxonomic name is Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus). It's also known as the Thistle Butterfly and the Cosmopolitan.
The adults live on thistles, clover, and lucerne (alfalfa) and a few other garden plants. The larvae like all sorts of things, such as thistles, hollyhock, borage, mallow, and peas, but more than a hundred host species have been found.
Clear pictures of it, and the underside of its wings, and its larva, at
The name is also used for, among other things, a variety of geranium (splashes of red with white eye); and a colourful Australian seashell covered in ornate patterns in pink. Its taxonomic name is Phasianella australis and it's also called the pheasant shell. There is a D.W. Griffith short silent film called The Painted Lady.
"Painted lady" is also an archaic term for a prostitute, commonly used in England from the 17th through early 20th centuries.
It derives from Biblical references to Jezebel, commonly characterized as a whore, who is mentioned as having "painted her face" in 2 Kings. This is compounded by the public perception that prostitutes tend to wear excessive amounts of makeup.
"Painted Lady" or "Painted Ladies" (for a collection of them) is the term given to the archtypical Victorian-esque row-houses that are common associated with Bay Area California (though they are found in other places, as well).
The "picture postcard" variety Painted Lady will be a mid-to-late 1800's row-house, though mansions and bigger homes will also fall into this category. As the name implies, the house will be ornately painted; sometimes (but not always) painted in outlandish or "loud" colours, the main stipulation is attention to details: the modlings, trellises, shutters and woodwork will all have focus independent of the siding itself, akin to the detail that one would lavish on a finely crafted childs playhouse.
In many other places, especially the Mid-west, they are also referred to as Gingerbread Houses.
All of the wings,
so carefully picked,
adjusted and posed.
Beauty frozen,
preserved in a frame.
In patterns,
based on those
the gods had already granted,
these beauties are placed.
Such gorgeous colors,
such beautiful creatures,
destroyed for aesthetics.
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Not exactly one of France’s finest hours….
The year is 1940 and the German Army has just danced around the Maginot Line. For whatever reason, the French signed an armistice (read surrender) agreement with Germany that essentially brought an end to the Third Republic.
Under the armistice, France was to be divided into two sectors. The first was a German occupied sector that included the Atlantic coast, the English Channel front and Paris. The second was an unoccupied zone in the southeast that was to be administered by the “Vichy Government” in, surprisingly enough, the city of Vichy, the new French capital.
On July 10th of the same year, in a joint session of the French parliament, the Republican regime was formally dissolved and what became known as the Vichy Government (headquartered in the town of Vichy) was installed. At the helm of the new government was one Marshall Henri-Philippe Pétain, an 83 year old French veteran of World War I.
Basically a pro-German puppet government, the Vichy Government wound up exporting over 70,000 Jews to Germany to meet their fate in the concentration camps. As if that weren’t enough, they also exported over 650,000 workers to Germany in order to assist in the war effort. They even went so far as to try and replace the ideals of the French Revolution, “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (Liberty, Equality, Fraternity) with the much more German sounding “Travail, Famille, Patrie" (Work, Family, Fatherland).
After the Allies liberated France in 1945, the Vichy Government packed its bags and headed for Germany. Many were captured and returned to France to stand trial and summarily executed for their role in aiding the Germans. Marshall Pétain, by that time 87 years old, was also sentenced to death but wound up having it reduced to life imprisonment.
Disclaimer…The intent of this node is not to bash the French (no matter how easy a target they might be). I’m sure many of their valiant countrymen performed heroically under the Free French Government set up in exile under Charles de Gaulle. It is meant to point out that some of their other countrymen did have a lot to answer for.
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1757-1827, English poet, artist, engraver, publisher and visionary mystic
He had no formal education to speak of. His father was a hosier. At an early age he became an apprentice to an Engraver. He is regarded now as being one of the earliest and greatest figures of English Romanticism. The first book, Poetical Sketches 1783. Songs of Innocence 1789 and Songs of Experience 1794, containing The Lamb, The Tyger, and London, are written from a child's point of view. In the 'Prophetic Books', including The Book of Thel 1787, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Milton (book) 1804-8, and Jerusalem (book) 1804-20, he created his own mythology. All his works were largely ignored and/or dismissed until years after his death. He was considered to be mad because he was single-minded and unworldly; he lived and died in poverty (not unlike Mozart.)
He wrote:
Related Nodes:
See William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Mary Wollstonecraft, William Godwin
Source: http://www.english.uga.edu/wblake/home1.html Welleck, Rene, Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces, The, W. W. Norton and Co., N.Y.1985 Last Updated 04.21.04
1994. (Lecture presented at St Joseph's Catholic School.)
1992. (Lecture presented at Pima Community College.)
One summer when I was a student I had a building job in south London, and I would go and sit to eat my lunch under the tree where Blake as a boy saw visions of angels.
Poor William didn't get to rest much - poverty dogged him all his life, and the need to earn a living must have severely reduced his output
Peter Ackroyd wrote an excellent biography of Blake, which I heartily recommend. He really places Blake in the London of his time, pieshops, pubs and Jacobin clubs.
William Blake (1757-1827) was born on November 28 in London. He was the third son of James Blake, a prosperous hosier.
Blake had his first "vision" when he was four years old and continued to experience visions throughout his childhood. He did not attend school but was taught to read and write by his father. When he showed a talent for drawing at age 10, he was given formal training in art and was later apprenticed to James Basire, an engraver to the Society of Antiquaries. He married Catherine Boucher in 1782.
In 1783, he published his earliest compositions, Poetical Sketches. He set up a printseller's shop in 1784. He also wrote a manuscript of An Island in the Moon, a satire-fantasy during this year. The manuscript contained the earliest of Songs of Innocence("The Lamb"). Blake's dead brother appears to him in a vision and gives him the secret of illuminated printing which he used to engrave several of his publications including Songs of Innocence in 1789. He engraves Songs of Experience in 1794.
Blake was never able to make money as an engraver because the art of engraving was losing ground to other art forms. His creative handling of assignments also alienated his clients who were unable to appreciate his work. His failure drove him to lifelong warfare with the "external world". He fell in with a band of intellectual revolutionaries and became a spokesman for them. He decried men for their meekness and pleaded with them to cast of forever through faith and daring their "mind forged manacles". As a result of his actions, he condemned himself to a life of poverty; yet his failure provided him with leisure time to write and engrave his "visions" of truth.
His Poetry:
Blake was a man of vision who claimed to have experienced states of mental illumination in which he beheld ultimate truth. The region of his vision was the region of the human mind, which for him became the region of Eternal worlds. To report the wonders of the magical unchartered region, Blake rejected tradition ("I will not reason and compare: my business is to create".) and substituted a confusing and complicated symbolical framework. In his poetry, he appeals to his audience for a renewal, through vision of faith in human integrity. Vision is for him the great secret of life. The whole of his work is an attempt to develop this faculty of vision that men may see to understand, and understanding, may forgive and act rightly.
It is very difficult to pin the ideas and beliefs of William Blake (1757-1827) down and label them with any accuracy in terms of being aligned with a particular body of political, social or religious thought and it is perhaps a futile exercise to try.
What Blake appears to have done, is explore numerous areas of thought, extracting segments which appeal to him and coming up with some kind of philosophy of his own.
It is true to say therefore that there have been a great number of influences on Blake, from the Muggletonians with their belief in one god (as opposed to a holy trinity), the tree of knowledge, “Reason” being the evil fruit and the “Fall” occurring when the serpent copulated with eve – to the likes of Emmanuel Swedenborg (Blake was evidently a sympathiser of the Swedenborgian “New Church of Jerusalem”), the Levellers (he was also sympathetic to didgeridoo playing fiddlers), the diggers, Thomas Paine and Mary Wolstonecraft.
It his through his own thought and the influence of so many others that Blake arrived at conclusions concerning the ‘human condition,’ Christ and man, the ‘Divine Image’, the Tree of Good and Evil, Reason and Moral Law, the Old Church and so on.
The two contrary states of the human condition
A great deal of Blake’s work deals, often deliberately, with contradictions. This is perhaps best illustrated by his collection of poems, ‘Songs of Innocence and Experience.’ This collection was to reveal the ‘Two Contrary States of the Human Condition’, which were represented both literally and symbolically by innocence and experience as the title suggests. ‘Songs of Innocence’ in its original form may have been written in the tradition of Isaac Watts’, ‘Songs for Children’ (1715) although the intentions were probably very different. Whether this section of the book was inspired by Watts’ work or whether it was a result of a private competition Blake had with the Rev. Joseph Proud to develop songs for the New Jerusalem Church is unsure. Either way they developed from the pastoral convention of presenting a child which consistently rated joy and freedom over discipline and illustrated to the reader one of the human conditions.
The contrary state to this is of course experience, which brings the innocent child figure into a world, which tries to constrain that innocence and where the child symbol comes into contact with such things as ‘Reason’. This therefore creates a multitude of contradictions between all things each state represents – The ‘innocence’ of Christ, faith, arts and senses verses the ‘experience’ of the God of the ten commandments, the Moral Law, science and reason respectively.
As an example of the conflict between these two states, one can look at the poems ‘The Divine Image’ and ‘A Divine Image’. In ‘The Divine Image’, Blake is addressing one of his main radical beliefs of the time, the belief that god is not separate from man but rather god is within all men. This therefore made god the human divine as opposed to a divine human. If god is part of man, it would then follow that god is that state of the human condition that Blake calls innocence.
This view is an understandable one to take at the turn of the century as it was parallel to how people began to view themselves. Until this time, people saw their destiny as being in the hand of an all-powerful god-head. With the advent of industrialisation however, people began to be valued by their labour, which in itself was life consuming. More and more people began to see their destiny as in their own hands and in the hands of society.
This notion clearly caused problems for a number of people, not least for those within the established church and who supported the ‘Moral Law’. Theoretically, if people no longer believed in one omnipotent god and view god as within themselves, then the Christian belief advocated by the church collapses, as does their control and influence. In addition, it was an idea that posed a threat of revolution with people seeing power as in their own hands – now they are ALL god.
As Blake often worked in binary (as I would argue do we all), there had to be a contrary element to the dispersal of god into everyone. Here enters the notion of the fabricated ‘God of the ten commandments’ created by or perhaps represented by the Tree of Good and Evil which the Muggletonians often spoke of as the Tree of Knowledge. It was the elements that surrounded this notion which are visible in ‘A Divine Image’ (originally to be included in Songs of Experience’) as being the contrary state to that presented above. This illustrated the less favourable elements of man, “Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love” , were now replaced by “Cruelty, Jealousy, Terror and Secrecy”.
This was also an attack on the ‘Old Church’ as it was via their Christianity that the tablets of the Commandments were being preached as a foundation for the ‘Moral Law.’ Blake’s contempt for the commandments is evident on plate 23 of ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell’,
“I tell you no virtue can exist without breaking these ten commandments…Jesus was all virtue and acted from impulse, not from rules.”
What Blake offered was a kind of justification by blind faith, something popular amongst radical groups, which of course undermined the establishment in theory, refusing to obey its laws. This was not a religion of obedience but one that was within all and therefore placed spiritual conflict as being within one’s self as opposed to within a church. These notions were obviously at odds with the priests and a large proportion of the ruling classes in England.
A further attack on the church can be seen in the poem, “The Garden of Love”, where he accuses the church of destroying paradise as per the final verse:
“And I saw it was filled with graves
And tomb-stones where flowers should be
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds
And binding with briars my joys and desires.”
This was also an account of how Richard Hindmarsh reformed the New Jerusalem Church for his own self-interest, making himself a high priest of the church which he saw as, “absurdity to say that the sheep have the right and power of choosing and dismissing their shepherd.” Hindmarsh was authoritarian in his conduct of the church which Blake despised believing that “active life perishes in ceremony.” Blake even used “thou shalt not” to mock the original writing over the church, “Nunc Licet”, meaning, “It is now allowable”. Hindmarsh’s church was as binding as the Old Church.
The image of binding was itself a recurring one in Blake’s work. It is used to express the way in which reason and the moral law with its corresponding state of the human condition, constrain and restrain people and in particular, the senses, affections and imagination. Blake felt that, “Without divine spirit or poetic genius in humanity, expressed in the affections and not the understanding, man could never transcend his own material nature.”
It was with this in mind that Blake often attacked people like Isaac Newton who were binding people with reason, laws and systems. Blake referred to this as the “Single vision of Newton’s sleep,” which were, “at fault because they cripple the progression from these contraries of innocence and experience.”
One only has to look at writings like ‘Urizen’ (clearly developed from “Your reason”) to see how strong Blake felt about such issues, which were combined with humanitarian radicalism to provide a harsh criticism of the social climate with the Church and the rationalist being the main perpetrators of unpleasantness.
This is evident in such poems as ‘The Chimney-Sweeper’ in which a boy is left to weep in the snow owed to the fact that his parents, “have gone up to church to pray.” It is in the final line of the first verse that we see Blake’s contempt as it is clear that he is stressing the hypocrisy of a church that would abandon those it implies it is praying for.
The chimney-sweeper becomes, “clothed in clothes of death”, presumably being rags and soot and emphasising the fact that a majority of chimney-sweepers died young whilst those that are responsible, in the words of the sweeper:
“…think they have done me no wrong
And are gone to praise God and priest and king.
Who make up a heaven of our misery.”
It must also be noted that the plight of the chimney-sweeper was becoming an important social issue at the time. Jonas Hanway was campaigning for them just 4 years before the poem was issued. As Bronowski writes in his book ‘Blake and the age of revolution’,
”Hanway had been trying to free apprentices to chimney-sweepers from their dangerous and cancerous work.”
Hanway described a chimney-sweeper as follows:
“He is now twelve years of age, a cripple on crutches, hardly three feet seven inches in stature…His hair felt like a hog’s bristles and his head like a warm cinder.”
It is evident where Blake found some of the imagery and inspiration for his work at a time when such issues were even being raised by the polite classes. The image of the chimney sweeper as a symbol of social and religious degradation was also to appear in “London”,
“How the chimney-sweepers cry
Every blackening church appals”
The church here being appalled by the chimney sweeper as opposed to their plight.
This is but one example of how Blake’s work combined his radical thought, expressed through his notion of the two contrary states as an antinomianist, an artist and a humanitarian, with a great awareness of the social conditions and movements around him. William Blake used his talents to try and raise awareness in others and as with many “Romantics”, this sets him apart from some of the stereotyping attributed to the term today.
One incident my English Literature teacher recalled to us really brought home how much of a humanitarian, and how much of a doer, as opposed to a thinker, the man was.
The London of Blake's day was, to put it lightly, a shithole. If you've ever visited either of the Pakistani cities Lahore or Karachi you'll almost understand just how foul Blake's London was. Nobody seemed to be happy, children lost their innocence too early. Single-room flats designed for one or two people occupied by whole families, that sort of thing. Not knowing where your next meal was going to come from. The worst parts of Dostoyevsky's St. Petersburg, and then some.
Well one day as Blake was walking through the streets of London, pontificating (as he did, in his fashion), he heard a commotion. What he saw was a boy was trying his best to run with his feet chained together. Apparantly he was trying to run away from home, from his father who beat and abused him, chained him up and locked him in the cellar. The father had obviously gone out, probably to spend his money in the alehouse or on prostitutes or whatever. This whole scene enraged Blake to such an extent that when he saw the boy's father going to beat the boy and throw him back in the house, and the onlookers pretending they saw nothing and trying to get on with their business, 'doesn't concern us, why should we interfere?', he thought right, I've had enough of this. He took the man and beat him till his brain bled, then beat him some more.
This little anecdote, little snapshot of the life of this great man is one of the many reasons why William Blake is the personal hero of my English teacher- and now me, too.
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(this node was empty, so i'm filling it)(that's early noderese for nodeshell rescue, btw)
In the language of flowers, a red rose is for passion(ate love). Other roses were for other kinds of love, but red - for intensity and blood, you know, the associations we all overused in high school poetry - red was for passion. Deep red, some sources say, is for unconcious beauty. Not the rohypnol kind, but the kind that causes bloodrushing first crushes and longing lurve. The kind that aches behind the eyes and all kinds of other untoward places.
A red rose was the symbol of the House of Lancastrians in the War of the Roses. White was the symbol of the House of York. When peace was attained (through marriage), the Tudor rose was invented, a red and white rose symbolizing unity. In combination, red roses and white roses symbolize unity too - though many sources say this, not too many of them trace it to the Tudors.
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Amongst hard-core science fiction fans, this contraction is strongly deprecated in its general sense, or used only pejoratively (pronounced "skiffy") to refer to space opera with minimal intellectual content and other commercial trash.
A bit of an odd abbreviation - arriving at "sci" from "science" isn't such a leap for anyone who's ever attended a post-secondary institution (Comp Sci? Poli Sci, anyone?), but how on earth does "fiction" lose its -ction? Even today the word tends to get shortened to a recognizable "fic", as in slashfic. Fi, isn't that Latin or something - Semper Sci Fi?
The inspiration for the "sci-fi" Forrest J. Ackerman coined (in popular usage - Robert Heinlein is actually credited as using it in private correspondance seven years earlier) in 1954 actually goes 20 years back to RCA Victor's "hi fi" (high fidelity) Red Seal 78 rpm records, first advertised as such in 1934.
It's definitely a weird bit of slang - denounced by some as nothing weightier than "the sound of two crickets screwing" - but let's be thankful that we ended up with it rather than its predecessors: following Hugo Gernsback's 1929 "Science Wonder Stories" - a mouthful indeed - the abominable portmanteau scientifiction and its appalling abbreviation stf (pronounced "stef" - but if you do, I'll tell you to stfu 8) enjoyed wide credence as the names for this new and spreading genre until the catchy (to some, twee to others) "sci-fi" came along and knocked them out as contenders.
A pity that it had to be saved from a silly name by a different silly name 8) Perhaps in the future, when regularized contact with extraterrestrial life forms, nanotechnology, FTL communications, Dyson spheres, artificial intelligence, satellites and submarines are no longer the sole territory of visionaries and crackpots but rather facets of everyday life the greatest and most fanciful minds of the future can put themselves to the ultimate task: of finally coming up with an appropriately dignified - yet catchy - name in which to suitably enshrine this style of speculative forward-looking.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46120
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John Milton, Shorter Poems: "On Shakespeare," "To the Lord General Cromwell," and "When I Consider How My Light is Spent"
Genre: "On Shakespeare" is a dedicatory poem for the Second Folio of Shakespeare's plays; "Cromwell" and "Light" are both sonnets, but directed to political and philosophical purposes rather than the usual love-pleas.
Form: "On Shakespeare" is 16 lines of iambic pentameter couplets, and the two sonnets are in a form of the Italian model (octave/8-lines + sestet/6-lines), rhyming abbaabba/cddcee ("Cromwell") and abbaabba/cdecde ("Light").
Characters: "Shakespeare" and "Cromwell" are the nominal subjects of their poems, but both poems are mainly arguments about the difference between common fame and the truly lasting accomplishments of a great mind. "Light," like Herbert's poems, imagines a dialogue with God regarding the poet's blindness.
Issues and Research Sources:
1. Milton is most famous now as author of Paradise Lost, but his work as Latin Secretary to Cromwell and his career as a writer of polemical essays had far more impact on his contemporary culture than that great poem. Nevertheless, it is possible to see Milton's career as occuring in three great periods: first the poetry of "Lycidas" and "To Shakespeare" that occured in the Mannerist era before the Civil War; then, his political period in which he turned more often to prose and matters of the current era; and finally, his Baroque period when he developed the enormous project of Paradise Lost while in the profound political isolation after the Restoration and the equally profound psychic isolation of his blindness.
• What might Raphael Hythloday say about Milton's work in the political sphere, and what might be Milton's response?
2. To what degree was Milton influenced by earlier seventeenth-century poets in his lyrics on religious themes (e.g., "When I Consider," "Methought I saw My Late Espoused Saint," etc.)? Poets you might examine might be Donne, Herbert, Herrick, and even Marvell, to the degree to which the younger poet's work might have been known to Milton. It might be said, however, that Latin was more nearly Milton's first language than English, and that Roman poets were his earliest and greatest models.
• How might a reading of the shorter poems of Virgil or Horace affect one's reading of Milton?
Back to English 211, Syllabus View.
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Penname: EmmyT [Contact]
Real name: Emmy
Member Since: 10/24/10
Beta-reader: Yes
Status: Member
I'm Emily, but I'm known as Emmy. I live in south-east Wales,where I've lived for the past ten years. I'm quite new to the world of fanfiction,but I've been a Harry Potter fan for a while!
My favourite fanfics are romance (Ron/Hermione & James/Lily are my favourites) and humour.
[Report This]
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Choose Theme:
The Full House by Nagini Riddle 1st-2nd Years
Dark Enough To See The Stars by Oregonian 1st-2nd Years
The Ties That Bind by Nagini Riddle 3rd-5th Years
Oread, Walking by Seren
And Now... by Oregonian 3rd-5th Years
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46137
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[FFmpeg-devel] [PATCH] Add av_file_get_size() and av_file_read(), replace cmdutils.h:read_file().
Michael Niedermayer michaelni
Mon Dec 27 17:29:50 CET 2010
On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 03:49:52PM +0100, Stefano Sabatini wrote:
> On date Tuesday 2010-12-21 13:02:52 +0100, Nicolas George encoded:
> > Le decadi 30 frimaire, an CCXIX, Stefano Sabatini a ?crit?:
> > > The problem is that the external function doesn't know the context of
> > > where the error occurred, and an error code is not enough, for example
> > > to distinguish if the error occurred in open(), lstat(), mmap() or if
> > > the file was too big (in this case an AVERROR(EINVAL) error code
> > > doesn't give a clue about the exact failure reason).
> > >
> > > I spent unnamerable hours figuring out the meaning of lame error
> > > messages which provided no hint about where the failure occurred, so
> > > as a software user I tend to give *much* importance to these usability
> > > issues.
> >
> > I have already met problem you are discussing here, as well as probably most
> > programmers.
> >
> > The core of the problem resides in the fact that "error reporting" covers
> > two similar but fundamentally distinct tasks:
> >
> > 1. reporting to the calling context a simple cause so it can hopefully be
> > recovered (EAGAIN/EINTR, EEXIST vs. EACCESS, etc.);
> >
> > 2. reporting to the used a detailed cause for the error so he can understand
> > the problem and fix it.
> >
> > The errno system works because libc functions are low-level and perform only
> > a simple task each: for example if opening a file fails, the calling context
> > knows which file was being opened.
> >
> > Anything higher-level that wants to use integer error codes imitating the
> > errno system will stumble on the problem sooner or later.
> >
> > Gtk+ has a nice way of solving the problem. Error causes are reported
> > through an additional "GError **" argument to each function that can
> > possibly fail. The GError structure has both an integer error code
> > (actually, a pair of integer error codes, allowing different parts of the
> > library to define new error codes independently) for automatic handling and
> > a human-readable string.
> >
> > Libav* could possibly imitate the solution. Of course, adding an extra
> > argument to all existing functions is not an option, but new functions could
> > benefit from it. Something like that maybe:
> >
> > - Add an AVError structure in avutil.
> >
> > - New functions that can have something subtle to report take an additional
> > pointer to an AVError. If it is null, the human-readable messages
> > automatically goes to av_log.
> >
> > - AVFoobarContext and similar structures gain an AVError field, so that
> > whenever there is a context available, there is a place to store the
> > error.
> >
> > What do you think about it?
> Currently we do:
> ret = av_foo(..., log_offset, log_ctx);
> if (ret < 0)
> return ret;
> with this approch is difficult to understand when the called will
> actually log something in case of error, which basically depends on
> the called function implementation (for example no error is logged in
> most cases when there is a memory allocation problem), also in some
> cases makes sense to log another more high-level message.
nothing stops you from logging a message before return <0
> Also this system is quite inflexible, for example what if you want to
> show the error message in a GUI? (Well I suppose you may implement a
> per-thread stack of error messages, and fill it with an ad-hoc
> implementation of the av_log callback, but this is not very
> convenient.)
I dont see what is inconventient to write a 10 line av_log_callcack() that
passes its strings to thread local storage (if the GUI has a log window
per thread) or global storeage through a mutex if theres one window
if what you have in mind is a kind of
getting this string can be implemented in log.c/h
it might look like this then:
if (ret < 0){
show_lasterror_in_window_to_user( get_log_buffer(log_ctx) );
return ret;
this also can easily show all prior warnings or debug or just errors depending
on log level
> when using the errbuf in the log_ctx:
> ret = av_foo(..., log_ctx->errbuf, log_ctx->errbuf_size);
and if errbuf_size is too small ...
> ...
> then we may find some way to automatically fill errbuf with the
> default error string for ret if no specific message is given
> (BTW extending av_log this way:
> av_log("Error occurred with code %e: %E"\n, errcode, errcode)
> may be useful).
> Another problem with this approach is when you have a deep stack of
> function calls, and each one needs to report the error message to the
> callee.
and each level may want to add to it
1. mmap failed
2. opening direct rendering window failed
3. playing foobar.avi failed
4. playing playlist entry line 125 of bar.list failed
> Also how to manage when we need to deal with messages with
> different log levels (not all messages pertain to error conditions)?
> In general to design a sane error reporting system is difficult (that
> explains why most software sucks with it).
Its not hard to do with av_log() but it involves some complexity that iam not
completely happy about. Also as said elsewhere there are some low level
functions like mmaping a file or a generic AVL tree where a av_log dependancy
is simply annoying.
Michael GnuPG fingerprint: 9FF2128B147EF6730BADF133611EC787040B0FAB
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46138
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[FFmpeg-devel] [RFC] av_decode_video and CODEC_CAP_DR1
Cyril Russo stage.nexvision
Mon Jun 7 16:44:45 CEST 2010
Hi all,
From the documentation, it's not possible to prevent av_decode_video2
from reusing allocated frame, unless these two conditions are set:
1) Codec support CAP_DR1 capability
2) codecContext's get_buffer et al are overridden
As I understand it, some codec might not have the flag set and in that
case, one must copy/duplicate the frame if it's stored for later
consumption (like in another thread)
I've checked all source tree to find out which video decoder doesn't
have this flag set, and only libschrodinger & libdirac doesn't.
So what about inverting/dropping the flag, and thus simplifying the code ?
Precisely, I think about adding some code in libschro&dirac like this:
// Pseudo code
int decode_frame(...)
[... Previous decoding code...]
if (codecContext.get_buffer != default_get_buffer)
// If user overriden get_buffer, let's call it and copy the
data in the generated buffer
frame = codecContext.get_buffer(...)
copyFrame(frame, frameFromOriginalCode);
This would result in easier documentation, and less complexity in user
The final documentation would say:
if get_buffer et al are overridden, av_decode_video2 will not reuse the
given frame internally.
When get_buffer is not overriden, then the current behaviour is kept as
it is now.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46140
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In the Center of a Restaurant
by MCRmygirl 6 Reviews
Twenty-nine year old Frank Iero is a waiter at THE LOTUS, a five star restaurant in Newark, New Jersey. Why on earth would HE of all people end up in prison? Let's find out, shall we?
Category: My Chemical Romance - Rating: PG-13 - Genres: Angst,Drama,Humor - Characters: Frank Iero,Gerard Way - Warnings: [V] - Published: 2010/12/16 - Updated: 2010/12/16 - 1502 words
Chapter Two- In the Center of a Restaurant
The Lotus. Five star restaurant. We served the best of the best. Only the most privileged chefs in Jersey were hired here. And I was lucky enough to be a waiter. I followed orders all day and didn't have to deal with the stress of the kitchen. There was absolutely nothing to set off my anger management issues.
I wore the black tuxedo and red tie that was the uniform of the waiters at The Lotus. The tuxedo covered all my tattoos but the scorpion on my neck and the word Halloween on my knuckles, which suited my employers just fine, though they quite disapproved of my lip ring/ However, they still allowed me the job. My short height (for I was only just over five feet) made me inconspicuous, and though I was petite, I was strong. This made me a great worker. My only ultimatum? I cold not deal with the rude customers. They agreed.
As I carried a large tray loaded with drinks to a group that seemed to be Procter and Gamble executives, I chuckled to myself, thinking of how much of a drastic change I had gone through since taking this job.
I had walked in for my interview at The Lotus eight years ago wearing skinny jeans, converse, and with a new tattoo on my left arm. My black hair was in a mo-hawk with ice-blond on one side and red on the other. I had entered the front office as a defiant boy and left a changed man. I returned home and immediately dyed my hair back to its original color, cropping it to one length. I changed my tone from sarcastic to civilized. And I began to control my rage, rather than letting it hurt others.
Oh, there had been times when I'd slipped up. Badly. Once, in one of my outbursts, I had taken a chunk out of my 'enemy' with my teeth. This had not only made me break my veganism, but once again triggered my bulimia, which my veganism had cured.
I shuddered, handing out drinks to the men and pushing the memory out of my head. Those days were long gone. Now all that was left was my tattoos, my lip ring, and a pair of fingerless skeleton gloves, which were nestled deep into the pocket of my slacks.
I tucked the empty silver tray under my arm and strode back to the counter outside thee kitchen. Meals and orders were exchanged over this counter like lightening, and I pity the employee who tried to interfere. I snatched a scrap of paper with the ease that only eight years of experience will grant you, and checked the sheet. Foi gras, table 21.
I carefully balanced the aforementioned dish on the palm of my hand and headed towards the table. I gently placed the dish on the table, avoiding eye contact as I had been taught, and was about to turn away when a familiar and hated voice greeted my ears.
"Frank Iero, as I live and breathe."
I froze. Memories flooded into my consciousness; maniacal laughter, a woman screaming, sirens. I fought to regain my control as I turned my gaze u to the face I loathed so much.
"Matt Pelissier. How... pleasant... it is to see you again," I forced out, choking on the syrup that coated my words. I quickly clasped my hands behind my back to hide the fact that my fingers were bleeding from how deep I had dug my nails in.
"Oh, the same to you, my dear boy!" he replied, a malicious gleam in his eye. "Tell me- how is Jamia?"
"I-I wouldn't know," I growled through my teeth, my thin frame now visibly shaking from rage.
"Ah, yes, she left you, did she not? After our little... accident?"
"Accident?" Something inside me snapped just then. My sight turned red as I stared into Matt's sneering face.
"WHAT YOU DID TO HER WAS NO ACCIDENT!" I screamed, slamming the table with my fist and knocking over the crystal glass of Merlot that Matt had been sipping only moments ago.
"Oh? Then why is it that all the poor girl remembers of that night was that it was your fault?"
"She says all she remembered is the pain, and that you weren't there to save her..."
"I DIDN'T KNOW, YOU FUCKER!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. The restaurant was in an uproar as the kitchen staff phoned security.
"Really? Because when she got out of the hospital, she told me she was sure it was YOU who hurt her. I showed her how much pleasure she could have. She said she was sure you never cared..."
Right then, I lost it. "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH HER!" I shrieked, flipping the only thing standing between Matt and me, the table, over, pinning him to the ground. The heavy oak was hardened in fire and string as steel, but with the adrenaline pulsing through my veins, breaking the leg off was like snapping a toothpick.
I raised the oak table leg over my head and began to beat upon Matt's torso, which was exposed from beneath the table that I was now kneeling on. I punctuated each blow with my words as Matt screamed in fear and agony.
Before I could go any farther, I felt strong hands grip my shoulders. I flailed and fought, but was lifted off the ground nonetheless and had my hands cuffed behind my back.
I was wrestled out the door and into the back of a police cruiser, red and blue lights flashing. As soon as the door was shut behind me, my anger towards Matt was replaced with dread. What had I done?
"Remove your piercing Mr. Iero."
"I can't."
"My foot you can't."
"I'm telling the truth." And I was. When I had first gotten my lip ring, my parent had told me to dispose of it. In an act of defiance, I welded the ring together, rendering it irremovable. I was punished severely, but they made no moves to stop me from getting my nose pierced as well, hoping I would take less drastic measures to insure my freedom of expression.
After proving to the guard the accuracy of my statement, he led me to rather large cell, made to be shared, that was occupied by a single man who was hiding in the shadows. The officer removed my cuffs and told me to strip, handing me the black prison uniform and politely averting his eyes as I changed. He gathered up my clothing and was about to walk away when I remembered.
"Sir, may I have my gloves?"
"Your what?"
"In the left pocket of my pants is a pair of gloves. May I have them?"
"I don't see why not." He plucked the tattered keepsakes out of the pants pocket and tossed them to me before closing and padlocking the cell door and strolling down the deserted corridor, taking my freedom with him.
I stared at my feet as I tugged on my skeleton gloves, glad for the familiarity of the cloth on my skin. It wasn't until he coughed that I remembered my cell mate.
He had risen and moved out of the shadows to meet me. I realized with astonishment that his hair was red. Not a normal, natural red, but a brighter red than the tie I had been wearing only moments ago. He was taller than me, which wasn't saying alot, and was very striking in the black clothing. He was studying me intently.
I stood there awkwardly for a moment before he stuck out his hand.
"Hi. I'm Gerard. Gerard Way. And you are?"
I shook his hand, taken aback by his civility.
"Frank Iero. Former waiter at The Lotus. Pleased to meet your acquaintance."
He nodded his acknowledgment of my past occupation before glancing down at my hands.
"Gloves, huh?"
"Yeah. I've had them since I was twelve. I'm surprised they let me keep them."
Gerard laughed. "I'm surprised they let you keep the lip ring! The last guy who was in the next cell had a piercing and he refused to take it off. They tore it off. Besides," he brought his fingers up to a pure gold locket that was dangling around his neck, "they let every prisoner keep one thing. It keeps us human."
He trailed off, lost in thought, his fist tight around the locket. The silence grew deeper, so I decided to ask the most cliche question of all-
"So. What are you in for?"
"Intentional homicide. I murdered a rapist. You?"
"Mental instability. I beat a rapist with a table leg in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Anger management issues."
Gerard grinned, his white teeth shining in the gloom.
"This is going to be a very fun fifteen years."
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Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Film #39: Full Metal Jacket
Maybe it's bizarre to start this review off with such an observation, but the problem with Oliver Stone's pre-emptive achievement with 1986's Platoon lay in that it, in effect, was Stone's (but perhaps not Hollywood's) simple way of glitzing over the true state of affairs during the Vietnam conflict, all in the name of good, clean, All-American storytelling. Stone's musculature was admirable; he'd finally brought out the fact that, deep down (for its fighters, at least), 'Nam was a war--not a cause for the generals or the protesters--but a bonafide war. That, in itself, was a telegram that required delivery.
But Platoon's downfall was thinly hidden within its maker's naive notion that warriors could be categorized into two broad subsets: the good and the bad. He oversimplified the matter, transforming the Vietnamese jungles into mere substitutes for the rolling plains of John Ford's Monument Valley, where the dirty virtuous fought--not always successfully--for victory over the supposed sinful. (Actually the film's not even as good as the typical John Ford western--it's more like a good b-film.) But that's not the end of Platoon's faults. Stone also made no attempt to address any of the real moral issues that inevitably surface in a war-time situation. He just showed the Vietnam jumble as how it's easiest to recall--as an updated, twisted rehash of Hollywood's Big One, WWII. There's the good sargeant (Willem Dafoe) and the bad sargeant (Tom Berenger, in embarrassingly ridiculous scar makeup). Now, to which one is our hero (Charlie Sheen) going to be loyal? Anyone who couldn't guess how this was all going to turn out was sound asleep.
That's why it's criminal Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket was released at a time in which it'd inevitably be compared to Stone's parable. For people who thought that 1986's Best Picture winner Platoon fully defined the Vietnam conflict, Kubrick's 1987 should have come as a harder, heart-stiffening jolt. It's nothing like Platoon; in fact, it's its antithesis. Platoon featured a group of men (including Johnny Depp, Kevin Dillon and Forrest Whittaker) whose enemy was discernable--they were all just a bunch of camouflaged gooks lurking in a few horizon-line bushes.
But, in Full Metal Jacket it often turns out that, in a militaristic environment where a soldier's life is threatened by the second, the enemy is very much within the predator as it is the prey. And whereas Stone preached the possibility of a black-and-white existence, Kubrick combats that with the view that the world and this relatively short-lived (but representative) situation is charcoal-colored. In this great director's purview, all death--Vietcong and American, hero and villain--is gory. As our hero, Private Joker (an extraordinary Matthew Modine) narrates while standing over a mass grave: "The dead know only one thing: it is better to be alive."
It is for this reason that Full Metal Jacket is the definitive Vietnam film. Very few filmmakers have even attempted to revisit it since its release in 1987, which should tell you something. Like the war itself, Kubrick's film has a rather "traditionally" unsatisfying ending, as it fails to provide audiences with pithy "don't let this happen again" axioms. And unlike the typical American vision of the war, Full Metal Jacket has sympathy and respect for ALL its characters, even those who didn't get a noble chance to fight. It finally, frankly realizes the utter madness that comes not only with combat itself, but with all things associated.
Based on Gustav Hasford's equally terse short novel The Short-Timers, Full Metal Jacket sports a completely gripping first third. In it, we're introduced to the freshly-shaved heads belonging to a new group of recruits, led by a tack-spitting D.I. named Sgt. Hartman (energetically played by real-life drill instructor R. Lee Ermey). It's Hartman's opinion that every man who enters the corps is destined only to be an emotionless, remorseless killing machine that's at no man's mercy. Throughout Ermey's thirty minutes of monologue time, we find his aim is to drive this notion home to his charges--even to those hardily resistant ones. Referring to all grunts by names he personally hands them (thereby reducing them to newborns), Hartman runs roughshod over sarcastic Private Joker, pipsqueak Texan Private Cowboy (Arliss Howard, in an overloooked performance), black Private Snowball (Peter Edmund) and a sloppily overweight bumbler deemed Private "Gomer Pyle" (Vincent D'Onofrio, in another of the film's acting standouts). Sgt. Hartman puts these men and more through a meat grinder of transformation: they become dull organs in a massive olive-drab death machine.
The kink in that Hartman eventually does his whipping job too well. The one man he's hardest on--the one that proves to be more gristle than apparent fat (Private Pyle)--is goaded too far into the game. He becomes, with the insolent help of his unsympathetic peers, one of the sharpest walking ironies that Kubrick and company ever concocted. Pyle इस the essence of what the Marines require of each of its enlistees: cold, concrete malice. But Pyle also personifies fully-armed insanity, the one condition that can do the military more harm than good. (Kubrick injects a bit of typical black comedy when he has Hartman holding such military-trained psychopaths as Charles Whitman and Lee Harvey Oswald up to his students as heroes to be emulated faithfully.)
After this gut-wrenching prologue to the real war (as if it hadn't already started), Kubrick's camera, to the appropriate tune of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Were Made For Walking," then turns to the battle-shredded streets of Vietnam, where Private Joker, along with his enthusiastic photographer Rafterman (Kevin Major Howard), is stationed as a reporter for Stars and Stripes, the military's in-barracks newspaper. After a few skermishes with the VC, Joker and Rafterman, both longing to get into the fight, are sent to the bullet-ridden streets of Hue City where the VC are trying to gain a foothold before the Tet offensive. There Joker is reunited with boot camp mate Cowboy, who is now third in command in a platoon that includes characters like leader Mr. Touchdown (Ed O'Ross), Eightball (Dorian Harewood), a vulgar and morbid hick called Crazy Earl ("You just don't lead 'em so much"--an memorably unfeeling line delivered by Kieron Jecchins), and a pitifully brutal grunt aptly named Animal Mother (yet another splendid performance, by Adam Baldwin).
All of this leads up to the second half of Kubrick's one-two punch (this is the very rare movie you'll see that doesn't have a third act--a courageous choice), in which the platoon led by Cowboy is having its members slowly picked off by an unseen sniper. The viewer, identifying with the extra-personable Cowboy, is confronted on all sides with such nerve-knotting stress that s/he hardly knows which way to turn: the company is miles away from its destination; the sniper is blocking a needed passageway; no assistance is coming; the enemy must be found, but can't be; two men are hurt but still alive; and what's left of the platoon is wasting its ammo on futile attempts at retaliation. The future, like the Vietnam sky, looks blighted and bleak. In this ultra-realistic, fatalistic finale Full Metal Jacket becomes almost unwatchable--which is, of course, Kubrick's goal.
If comparisons must be made to the director's past works, then this movie most closely resembles A Clockwork Orange more than its on-the-surface cousin Paths of Glory. Like the popular cyberpunk cult classic, Full Metal Jacket primarily deals with, in Private Joker's Nietzschian-appropriated words, "the duality of man"--the very fact that peace and violence coexists in all men (the famous graphic from the film's poster is the helmet worn by Joker that displays both a peace symbol and the painted-on boast "Born to Kill"). In A Clockwork Orange, one feels sorry for Alex (Malcolm McDowall) when he's driven to suicide by an enemy, even though earlier we sympathized with the enemy himself as Alex victimized he and his wife. In the same way, we feel hatred for towards the "Viet Cong" when they obstensibly mow down members of Cowboy's squad, but we also feel sickened at the film's end, or previously when joyous helicopter gunner Crazy Earl undiscerningly exterminates Vietnamese farmers as his chopper hovers over the innocent and the guilty as they run scared through an endless field of grain.
All of Kubrick's usual elements are certainly present in Full Metal Jacket: the fully-contorted, mask-like faces of the actors; the omnicient narration, delivered without feeling; the carefully chosen music (it's the first Kubrick film since Dr. Strangelove that doesn't contain any classical pieces--all of the original music is written by Abigail Mead, a thinly-veiled psuedonym for his daughter, Vivian Kubrick); the sumptuous, documentary like camerawork by Douglas Milsome (without which subsequent great war films like Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down would not've been possible); the scarily accurate art direction, all erected not in the Phillipines, like Platoon, but controvercially in merry old England by the late art director extraordinaire Anton Furst, later an Oscar-winner for his famous work on Tim Burton's Batman; the punny word play (Private Pyle, wrongfully sitting on a commode in the middle of the night while loading his M-14 is warned by Joker that, if their D.I. catches them, they'll be "in a world of shit," after which Pyle searingly exclaims amidst tens of toilets "I AM in a world of shit"); the extremely accurate writing by Kubrick, Hasford, and Dispatches / Apocalypse Now writer Michael Herr (who later composed the revealing, loving 2000 memoir Kubrick); the inventive setting (I love that the film takes place largely in a city, and not in the jungles as in most every other Vietnam movie); and a characteristically strange climactic mix of optimism and pessimism.
It's one trademark alone, though, that makes Full Metal Jacket essential viewing for anyone who even has a passing like for movies: Stanley Kubrick himself. Once again, in 1987, twelve years before his last movie Eyes Wide Shut, he proved himself the genius the filmmaking world always knew him to be. Bravo to a man who, until recently, may I say, was verily walking godlike upon the earth.
Hepcat B said...
Hey Dean,
Your old buddy Hepcat B here. Don't know if you know the handle but I'm sure you can figure it out.
Platoon is the perfect film to contrast to Jacket, the former seems to have flattened horribly with time for its reductionism, whereas Jacket just deepens in its mystery and menace. Of course its relevance at a time when our leaders struggle to sell us a "morally justified" war that is anything but, is obvious.
One thing I've always wondered about. R. Lee Ermey was a real former drill sergeant, yes? Did he have any qualms about Kubricks position about war and warriors? Dead Man Walking is another left-leaning film he has appeared in that has made me wonder about his politics.
Awesome site my friend! I'll be posting a sizeable contribution on your 2001 thread soon.
cialis said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...
thanks for sharing.
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What Percentage of Retirement Funds Should Bonds Be?
by Kevin Johnston Google
When you save for retirement, you can adjust your portfolio through the years to reflect your needs. For example, when you are young, you can afford to take some risks because you have time to recover lost money. As you approach retirement, you may want to consider safer investments, such as bonds. Once you understand the benefits of mixing bond holdings with stocks and other investments, you can choose the percentages that fit your needs and expectations.
The Age Rule
Some investors follow this rule of thumb: Subtract your age from 100 and put that percentage in stocks. Put the rest in bonds. For example, at age 50 you would put 50 percent of your money in stocks and 50 percent in bonds. At age 70, you would have 30 percent in stocks and 70 percent in bonds. Because you have individual needs, you don’t have to take this piece of Wall Street folk wisdom as a hard-and-fast rule. Instead, use it to remain aware that you should reduce your risk as you approach retirement. You can do this by increasing your bond holdings as you age. Bonds tend to be less risky than stocks over the long haul.
Overall Mix
You don’t have to choose a bond vs. stock mix. You can balance your portfolio with money market funds that keep your money in cash with banks, certificates of deposit that earn interest on cash you place in your local bank and real estate investment trusts that pool investors’ money to purchase properties that provide income and increase in value. If you have some of these investment instruments, you can re-evaluate your risk.
For example, money market funds and certificates of deposit offer safety. If you have a percentage invested safely already, you can cut back on the percentage you put into bonds. Let’s say an investor at age 50 with 25 percent of her portfolio in certificates of deposit can put 25 percent of her remaining investment money in bonds. Then she can put the remaining 50 percent in stocks for growth potential. This 25-25-50 allocation keeps half of her investments relatively safe.
An Aggressive Approach
If you need to make up for lost time, you may choose a smaller percentage of your portfolio to put in bonds. Bonds do not tend to grow in value and provide interest income instead. You can keep some of that income by putting a small percentage in bonds and most of your portfolio in stocks. For example, you could choose a mix of 30 percent bonds and 70 percent stocks. If your strategy pays off, your stocks could grow in value while you keep some of your money somewhat safe in bonds.
Bond Ratings
If you buy so-called junk bonds, you are not getting safety. These pay high interest rates but offer high risk as well. Ratings agencies rate the credit of companies so you have guidelines. Since bonds are essentially a loan on your part to a company, you need to know that company’s creditworthiness. The Securities and Exchange Commission recognizes 10 nationally recognized statistical rating organizations. The percentage of bonds in your portfolio depends on how much safety you want. Make sure you get that safety by only buying high-grade bonds. Then your percentage allocations will make sense.
Photo Credits
• Hemera Technologies/Photos.com/Getty Images
About the Author
Zacks Investment Research
is an A+ Rated BBB
Accredited Business.
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
weight loss diets recommend to drink 8 glasses of water a day, also to brighten skin. during a day, I think I drink too much water. I doubt that is it really true or it's just my illusion. the problem is when i try to drink water in a glass then i feel awful while drinking. so how can i measure how much water i drink a day?
share|improve this question
The water in a glass makes you feel awful? Does water from a bottle have the same effect? If it's just the water, there are loads of different sources for water... – Nathan Wheeler May 9 '11 at 19:54
just when i drink water in glass, i cant enjoy drinking it and i feel some forces! – ZiZi May 9 '11 at 20:12
Does it have the same effect when it's cold? I keep a pitcher of water in the fridge, which makes it more enjoyable. – Chris Pietschmann May 11 '11 at 20:15
You should also be questioning if you really need 64 oz of water a day: huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/14/…;. The 8x8 rule is now considered unsubstantiated. – jcollum Feb 2 '12 at 22:35
4 Answers 4
There are a couple of ways, and surely my listings are not exhaustive, ultimately you have to decide what's most convenient for you.
My recommendation is to get a transparent water bottle so you can see how much water/liquid is in it whenever you fill it up.
Every time you fill it up you know exactly how much water you will be drinking and is very portable.
enter image description here
Other Options
• Measure a large container, say a half-gallon of water (64oz = 8oz * 8 glasses of water). Every time you want a drink, fill your cup from the container. Your net consumption of the day will be what's left within the container (none = target met!).
There are problems with this because you have to store the water somewhere and it may not be convenient to carry large containers of water! Also if you drink less/more than your large container, you have to do a little extra measuring and math to get your total intake.
• Measure every time you get water from the source before you put it in your drinking cup.
This is very similar to my recommendation except you need a second utensil solely dedicated to measuring.
share|improve this answer
What you are concerned about is Hyponatremia. Essentially the conditions for that to occur are probably not something you are doing. For example:
• Drinking 2 galons of water in a 10 minute time frame. It's hard to do, and quite frankly doesn't even seem pleasant.
• During high intensity workout, you sweat too much and don't replace electrolytes before piling on the water.
Unfortunately, the symptoms of hyponatremia are similar to severe dehydration. The safest way to address both of those problems after you have been doing a high intensity workout is to use a sports drink that replenishes your electrolytes (see the article). Essentially, adding more water in this state will dilute your already low supply of electrolytes. The sports drink will help in either case.
Assuming you haven't just been doing a high intensity workout, and you are simply sipping water throughout the day, you are probably going to be just fine. Keep in mind that 8 glasses a day is a minimum recommended daily allowance. I personally drink roughly a gallon a day. According to the article linked to above I could go up to 1.6 gallons and still be OK. I don't know how I'd fit that in, but I could.
My office has a water filter, so I re-use a water bottle and fill it with the filtered water throughout the work day. Some people just can't drink cold water, and they need it room temperature. Filling the water bottle lets you have the water convenient to you and sip on it throughout the day. I'll have 1.5L in the morning, and another 1.5L in the afternoon (after lunch). I have another refillable water bottle that is .5L and I sip on that throughout my workout. I tend to work through two of those between the weightlifting and cardio work. By that time, I am set for my daily requirements.
Also keep in mind that when people recommend 8 glasses a day, they are talking about an 8oz glass (or .25L). That's only 2L a day.
share|improve this answer
i doubt about 8 glasses and less, is it Hyponatremia? – ZiZi May 9 '11 at 20:21
Did you follow the link? Hyponatremia is the technical name for water toxication--i.e. having too much water. I'm not sure what you mean when you say you "doubt about 8 glasses and less". Can you elaborate? – Berin Loritsch May 10 '11 at 10:12
I mean, I doubt if i drink 8 glasses of water a day or LESS.. i have illusion of having too much water – ZiZi May 10 '11 at 20:42
I'm thinking you don't have too much. – Berin Loritsch May 10 '11 at 21:48
Here's a couple things that I try to do regularly to help myself get enough water:
• 1 glass of water in the morning before breakfast
• 1 glass of water with each meal
• 1 glass of water during a work out
• 1 glass of water at snack times between meals
I have found that one of the keys to hydration is to drink water throughout the day, not trying to drink the entire days allotment within a couple hours. If I try to drink too much water to fast then I wont feel well. If I spread it out throughout the day, then it seems to work best.
If you only drink 1 glass with each meal (3/day) and 1 at each snack time (2/day) then you're already at 5 glasses a day. One during excercise and one just after waking up, then you've got 7. Much easier when it's spread out during the day.
I have also found that keeping my salt/sodium intake to a moderate to low level per day helps keep me hydrated more easily. Sodium does cause you to retain water, but it also can work to dyhydrate you in the process. That would be why you shouldn't drink salt water.
share|improve this answer
Good point about spreading it out, also makes it look like a lot less. Its slightly more than half a glass of water per hour when you look at it like this – Ivo Flipse May 11 '11 at 21:02
What works for me is to alternate between water and my favorite beverage. I drink one 12-16 oz glass of water, then a glass of whatever, then another glass of water, and so on. This is the only thing that has worked for me.
share|improve this answer
I suggest rewriting your answer for the person asking the question. What may work for you, while a valid technique, may not play out so well for another person. Consider crafting a response that is more centric on the asker and work your suggestions in that way. – Matt Chan May 11 '11 at 19:19
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/46201
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Default [Q] How to delete permanently delete (shred) personal files on Android devices
Hello, I am planning to sell my SG3.
Of course, I will perform a factory reset prior to that but I am concerned since factory reset does not shred the personal files and information and therefore leave them restorable.
Is there a way to shred the files and information?
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