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Persian Luri 1149
Persian Luri 1149
Size (cm):
250 x 125 cm
Size (Feet):
8' 3" x 4' 1"
The tribe of Lors are an ancient people living in the Zagros mountains of south western Persia. Many still live a nomadic life.
What is interesting is how the weaver for the Luri run out of black wool and replaced it with brown and then returned to black.
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eToCache5 = ""; ?> Addict guitar chords, guitar tabs and lyrics - chordie
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CP Entertainment
Tuesday, Jul 29, 2014
Meagan Good Gets Emotional at Church After Describing Judgement
• (Photo: One Church International via Christian Post)
February 14, 2013|3:35 pm
Meagan Good recently broke down in tears when describing how she identifies with Christians who are judged for their appearance while speaking with husband DeVon Franklin at Pastor Toure Roberts' One Church International in Los Angeles.
Good and Franklin both appeared at the Los Angeles church on the night before Valentine's Day to reveal how God united them in holy matrimony. However, Good became emotional when she spoke about people judging her appearance and assuming that she was not a woman of God.
"What's really exciting for me is a lot of people know the background or perception or persona of me as the sexy girl or whatever it might be. What I realize was interesting that God was doing is one, I do feel sexy and comfortable with myself," Good told the church. "But what I realized is God was making it so I could appeal to a certain type of person. And that person is the person that is often told that they're cut out of God's promise because they have too many tattoos, because they have their cleavage out. Because of this, because of that because they don't look like a Christian should look."
Good, 31-year-old "Deception" actress, described why she felt so passionate about the topic after Roberts told her that she was the new face of what church is.
"I'm so passionate about what was constantly said to me. You're not a real Christian," Good said. "You're not this, you're not that. You're not good enough for this. And I love God so much."
The actress began to cry when speaking about her love for God.
"I love him with everything. To have people tell you that … my heart goes out to the misfits and underdogs and the people who are looked down upon and judged because of people looking down at their appearance and what they've been through and what they've experienced," Good said. "It breaks my heart. I realize what God put me in the position to do and it grows every day is to tell those people I look just like you."
Franklin, a SONY Executive and Seventh Day Adventist preacher, admitted that some people did not support the idea of him marrying Good because of their perception of her.
"Some were supportive, others were like what is going on? What happens good or bad is someone sees a public persona and they don't know you. They don't know about you," Franklin said at the One Church International event. "And based on what they know about you they think they know what is good for you. But they don't know you. 'He's a preacher and she's this.' It blew my mind how many people had an opinion."
Still, Franklin insisted that people may not agree with his decision to marry Good but that God is the entity that ultimately decided his fate.
"And I wrote about it in my book, God is the only one that directs our story. He knows where our story is going to go," Franklin said. "The danger is when we live for religion or when we live for other people's opinions we begin to let them develop our story when we don't know where the story is going."
Good supported her husband's point.
"It doesn't matter if you're in King magazine. At the end of the day that promise is for you too. God loves you too. There's nobody in this room that's better than you," Good told the church. "If I can impart that to people that feel left out and broken and worst off told by the church more so than anybody else who they're supposed to be that's not how God works. If God wants you to do something different, if he wants to change something about you whether it's your appearance, what you're doing for a living or whatever it is he will tell you. If you seek him on it, he will make it so clear for you."
Source URL : http://www.christianpost.com/news/meagan-good-gets-emotional-at-church-after-describing-judgement-90101/
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The Gift of Healing
This is an extract from The Gift of Healing by Ron Phillips. To buy the book now, click here
Chapter one
Healing and the
Abundant Life
Our Lord Jesus Christ came that believers might
live what He called an “abundant life.”
and to destroy. I have come that they may have
life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
—John 10:10
The word abundant translates from a word in the
original Greek that means “a life with no lack which goes
beyond the ordinary.”
The same verse indicates that it is the stated goal of
Satan to kill, steal, and destroy. Those three words paint
a picture of the cause of sickness and disease in our world.
The word steal comes from the Greek word klepsee, from
which we get our word kleptomaniac. Satan’s obsession is
to steal all that we need in our lives, especially our health.
The word kill is not the usual word for kill. It is the
word thusee, which means “to blow on a fire or to blow the
smoke of a sacrifice.” It came to mean “to slaughter” or
“immolate for the purposes of sacrifice.”
Its implication is that Satan will cause diseases to spread like fire so that
your life might be a sacrifice to Satan’s evil intent.
The third word is destroy, translated from the word
apolesee, which means “to break down and destroy.” This
is what sickness does to the human body. It is interesting
that all three of these verbs are in the “aorist tense,” which
means “once and for all.” Satan’s unyielding desire is to
break down people’s health, destroy their purpose, and
finally kill them.
Jesus came and died that we might live a life that is
abundant, that goes beyond what is ordinary. In 3 John 2,
the great apostle John writes:
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things
and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
Here John blesses his readers by conveying God’s gracious
intent for all believers.
The word health comes from the word hugiaino, from
which our English word hygiene is derived. It means “to be
healthy, well, whole, uncorrupted by disease.” This little
verse will form the basis for this entire study. There are
several keys to understanding healing in Scripture that
are hidden in this verse.
First, the word translated pray is the word euchomai,
which means “to wish one well.” This implies prayer, but it
indicates that those for whom this prayer is released have
some choice in the matter. Our prayers and wishes for
others to be healed also requires right choices by those for
whom we are praying.
Second, the word prosper comes from two Greek words,
eu and hodos, which together mean “good journey.” It came
to mean success from right choices on the journey. This
includes material prosperity and physical health. Again,
healing requires right belief and right lifestyle choices.
This indicates that there are already healing instincts
in the body that work when we make right choices. These
choices can include faith, prayer, and also medical treatment.
If I get a severe cut, I can choose to have a doctor
stitch it, but my body must heal the wound.
Several years ago, the retina in my right eye detached,
and I went blind in my right eye. When this happened,
I prayed for healing; I also went immediately to a retina
specialist who reattached it! After the retina is reattached,
a gas bubble holds it in place for ninety days. I asked my
doctor the day after surgery if it worked. He said, “Ask
your boss,” speaking of God! He had put it together, but
only God could complete the healing.
Also, John adds “as your soul prospers.” The word soul
comes from the Greek word psuche. This word is also
often translated as “mind.” This helps us to understand
that our health and healing flow from right thinking and
right choices. It is important to pray but also important to
choose to live healthy.
The goal of this book is to build faith so that you can
appreciate God’s gift of healing purchased by the blood of
Christ, whatever form that healing might take.
A second goal is to celebrate the preciousness of life
that is given to us by God. There is a mystery surrounding
those who are challenged in body by injury or disease,
that in spite of everything we do they remain in that condition.
Yet these are some of the most faithful and productive
For all that we understand about physical healing, we
know it is temporary. We live in a body that is the last
remnant of Adam’s fall. Paul called our bodies “ . . . the
body of this death” (Rom. 7:24, nas). All earthly healing
is temporary, and ultimate healing will happen for us all
at the resurrection.
I’m reminded of a scene from the classic film The Robe.
Marcellus, the chief centurion present at the crucifixion of
Jesus (who won the titular robe in the casting of the lots,
and who, incidentally has been tormented with nightmares
and guilt ever since), is tracking down Christians
to create a list of followers when he encounters a crippled
woman named Miriam. This beautiful woman is the picture
of peace, joy, and hope. Marcellus ridicules her by
pointing out that though she claims Christ could work
miracles, He left her as He found her. She explains to
Marcellus that Jesus could have healed her body, and then
“it would have been natural for me to laugh and sing; and
then I came to understand that He had done something
even better for me . . . . He left me as I am so that all others
like me might know that their misfortune needn’t deprive
them of happiness within His kingdom.”1
The joyful truth, however, is that physical healing is
possible in this life. With that in mind, it is my desire to
explore every possible way to activate healing in our lives.
This book will examine every avenue that leads to healing
and health. As I send this study forth, I do so humbly as
one still seeking to know the mind and will of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
There is healing at the fountain,
Come and find it, weary soul,
There your sins may all be covered;
Jesus waits to make you whole.
There is healing at the fountain,
Look to Jesus now and live,
At the cross lay down thy burden;
All thy wanderings He’ll forgive.
There is healing at the fountain,
Precious fountain filled with blood;
Come, oh come, the Savior calls you,
Come and plunge beneath its flood.
Oh the fountain!
Blessed healing fountain!
I am glad ’tis flowing free;
Oh the fountain!
Precious, cleansing fountain!
Praise the Lord, it cleanseth me.
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Sitting on a bench outside Pumphouse Creamery with a scoop of strawberry sorbet, I watched a class of fencing students spill out from the neighboring Chicago Avenue storefront, a gaggle of awkward teens who might one day fill our ranks of theater directors, video game programmers, and morticians. As one of the dads escorted his boy, a bespectacled redhead with a frame as thin as his fencer's foil, through the doors of the scoop shop, it struck me that this was a scene I'd always taken for granted. That the rest of the country wasn't necessarily like this. That somewhere on a Santa Monica sidewalk, a teenage girl in thick black eye makeup, miniskirt, and moose hide mukluks was waiting in line outside the local Pinkberry, listening to her iPod and texting her boyfriend as she tried to decide whether she wanted to top her 98-calorie cup with the Fruity Pebbles or the Cocoa ones.
There's something quintessentially Minnesotan about being a regular at the neighborhood ice cream shop. There are scoop shops all over the country, sure, but for a metropolis of our size—and particularly one with summers as short as a cone's melt—we have an abundance of artisans who craft frozen confections as seriously as Wisconsinites do cheese and Californians do wine. I don't know if it's a function of all the dairy farms, or the Dairy Queen franchises, but eating ice cream, and particularly going out for ice cream, is as deeply ingrained in our cultural fabric as polite refusals and excessive apologizing. It's something people in other parts of the country just don't seem to understand. As my neighbor and I walked to Sebastian Joe's, he mentioned that his friend from the West Coast had called just as he was leaving the house. "When I told him I was going out for ice cream, he said, 'What are you, six?'"
The friend didn't get it. His loss. Here in Minnesota, ice cream is an all-ages affair: kids with their parents, packs of sweaty teenagers, elderly folks, and plenty of people in the age bracket that typically hangs out in clubs or bars. After licking my way across Minneapolis and St. Paul, I've come up with a short list of the best shops, their most distinguishing features, and why I think we deserve to be the handcrafted ice cream capital of the country.
Scooping out the action in the Crema Cafe courtyard
Jana Freiband
Scooping out the action in the Crema Cafe courtyard
Location Info
Crema Cafe
3403 Lyndale Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55408
Category: Restaurant > Breakfast
Region: Uptown/ Eat Street
CREMA CAFE 3403 Lyndale Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612.824.3868
SEBASTIAN JOE'S 1007 W. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, 612.870.0065
Related Stories
More About
Crema Cafe
The courtyard outside Crema Cafe looks more like Italy than south Minneapolis, with its stucco facade, thicket of plants, and weathered blue door. With Etta James singing "At Last" on the stereo, accompanied by the tinkle of the water fountain, the cafe's setting is as beautiful as what it's serving.
A few years ago, Crema started offering wine, beer, brunch, and dinner, but the heart of the operation will always be Sonny's ice cream. Its namesake, Sonny Siron, passed away in December at the age of 81, but his 60-year legacy of ice cream making will not soon be forgotten. Sonny's son, Ron, and his partner, Carrie Gustafson, continue to uphold the quality and traditions of using premium ingredients and experimenting with flavors—everything from wasabi ice cream to pine tree sorbet.
In the off-season, Ron spends one day a week working at jP's restaurant, just up the street, where he says he's been picking up ideas for more savory flavors. Last time I stopped in Crema, I sampled the carrot dill lassi, in which cantaloupe-sweet organic carrots were complemented by hints of sour yogurt and spunky dill. I also tried the margarita sorbet, which has an almost slushy texture that's a little sweeter and less boozy than the cocktail version. But I settled on the olive oil with sea salt—the oil makes the texture ultra creamy and gives it a slightly cheesy flavor. It was so rich I wondered if wiggling my tongue might churn it into butter.
Pumphouse Creamery
Barb Zapzalka, Pumphouse Creamery's owner and a lifelong dasher-licker, has a hyper-local focus at her shop. During peak berry season, Zapzalka sells ice creams and sorbets made with locally grown strawberries and raspberries (the red ones are grown by her sister and brother-in-law), and she should be scooping her beloved blueberry buttermilk any day now. Zapzalka used to source cherries from Door County, Wisconsin, but now she's getting them even closer, from an orchard in Cold Spring. "I like supporting local farm economies," she says. "I know where my ingredients came from and what the farmers put or don't put in their crops."
Zapzalka buys her milk and cream from Crystal Ball Farms, an organic dairy in Osceola, Wisconsin. The browned butter comes from Hope Creamery, just south of Owatonna, the beer from Surly in Brooklyn Park, the chocolate from Rogue Chocolatier in Minneapolis. And, oh, the ice cream made with Rogue's Hispaniola: It has a dense, mousse-like texture, and the flavors in the chocolate reminded me of Willy Wonka's three-course-meal chewing gum, changing from ripe plum to burnt caramel to roasted nuts. When I bought a pint of the stuff, the kid at the counter was kind enough to warn me that it cost nine bucks, more than double the cost of Ben & Jerry's. Is it worth it? I'd say yes: It keeps money in local pockets, and it's the best chocolate ice cream I've ever had.
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Amusing C++: funny tricks
, 22 Oct 2011
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A few uncommon code sample
Amusing C++
Q.: How many apples Bart has got?
A.: Who knows? We're still unaware of how many apples he had got before!
Can C++ be funny? Let's check it out! Here are some examples that gladden the programmer's eye. Be welcome to look at them!
int a = 5;
int b = a++ + ++a;
What does b equal? Are you sure? Smile | :) The point is that the right value lies somewhere between 10 and 14! My GCC returns 12, but that's not the limit yet! The C++ Standard does not presuppose the calculation of the ++ operator before the assignment operator is done - so that the answer may vary depending on the compiler, it may even depend on the optimization keys. Note that the result of the operation i = i++ is not defined either! People who want to learn more, can google "C++ sequence point", while we go on!
What do you think - is this code workable?
int i[i];
int j = j;
x x;
int y::y = x.x;
const int i = 1;
const int j = 2;
struct x
int x;
namespace y
int i[i];
int j = j;
x x;
int y::y = x.x;
Let's go on with the next example. Here's another nice code I've gotten you into! Smile | :) This one marked the beginning of my collection of C++ pranks, and I like it the most. Apart from being a really cool prank, it also comprises a psychological trick. Just look at this:
T t1;
T t2(t1);
T t3 = t1;
T t4();
• default constructor,
• copy constructor,
• assignment operator, and
• default constructor again,
then you are mistaken... twice! Of course, first comes the default constructor; second comes the copy one, which apparently follows from the syntax. But in the third case, in spite of the = sign, ye good olde copy constructor is activated: we create a new object, not initialize an existing one! In the last case, that's not the creation of an object at all, that's... the declaration of a function! The latter does not take the parameters and returns the type T; compare:
int func();
class C {
Also, you have a code that involves it:
void prn(int n)
cout << n << ": ";
int main()
const int i = 0;
prn(1); C c1();
prn(2); C c2 = i;
prn(3); C c3(i);
prn(6); C c6 = static_cast<c>(i);
return 0;
What will be displayed on the screen then? To be honest, I made a mistake myself here. And that mistake was severe and reiterated Smile | :) So, please be extremely concentrated. Done? The right answer is:
1: 2: long
3: int
4: int
5: int
6: int
Here's the last example - maybe the most "practical" among those cited. Suppose you need to create a cycle, in which the value of a variable tends to zero. Certainly, you can use the operator for. But we can also do like this!
int i = 10;
while (i --> 0)
cout << i << endl;
Here were the tricks originating in our more-than-native language. And then, C++0x may well come, which conceals lots of such pranks, I guess. As for now, let us keep in mind that this code is nothing but a joke - it ain't a blueprint for action! Smile | :)
Table of authorities
• C++ Standard
• Internet surfing
About the Author
United States United States
No Biography provided
Comments and Discussions
GeneralReason for my vote of 1 not impressed PinmemberGiri Ganji9-Nov-11 1:32
GeneralBeautifully explained!! PinmemberGPUToaster™24-Oct-11 23:07
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 Thanks for 10 minutes of fun. PinmemberPablo Aliskevicius24-Oct-11 22:56
GeneralReason for my vote of 5 a nice one PinmemberKarstenK24-Oct-11 20:38
Reason for my vote of 5
a nice one
QuestionThis thingamajig is called "arrow operator" PinmvpRichard MacCutchan22-Oct-11 0:52
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Cuckoo for coconuts? Hold on
My patients ask me about coconut oil all the time. They see talk shows and websites claiming that it helps with everything from losing weight to preventing diabetes, atherosclerosis, heart disease and a host of other ailments.
If only losing weight and avoiding disease were that easy.
Unfortunately, there just isn't much credible research to support these claims -- not yet anyway. Scientific knowledge is always evolving, and as a dietitian focused on preventing and treating heart disease, I will be watching this issue closely. But for now, here's what the most current, science-based evidence tells us:
• Coconut oil is a fat, and like all fats, it is very high in calories; you'll get 117 calories in just one tablespoon of it. Eat a lot of anything that's high in calories, and you are more likely to gain weight than to lose it.
• Almost 90 percent of the fat in coconut oil is saturated fat -- that's more than twice the saturated fat in lard, which is about 39 percent saturated. The science to date tells us that eating saturated fat harms your heart and blood vessels, rather than helping them.
What about those medium-chain fatty acids?
Many defenders of coconut oil base their beliefs on studies of medium-chain fatty acids, or MCTs (the T is for triglycerides, another word for fat). Studies of pure, 100 percent medical-grade MCT oil do show that the body processes these fatty acids differently, using them for fuel rather than storing them as fat. If coconut oil were 100 percent MCTs, we might be on to something. Unfortunately, there isn't a naturally occurring food on the planet that comes close to that level. In coconut oil, MCTs are a minor player, accounting for only about 10 to 15 percent of its total fat content. That's not nearly enough to trigger the weight loss benefit that proponents claim. When you factor in the calories and the much higher levels of saturated fat in coconut oil, any potential MCT benefit is significantly outweighed.
As for the other fatty acids in coconut oil, one type has been shown to raise HDL, the beneficial type of cholesterol; however, even that benefit is outweighed by the main fatty acids in coconut oil, which raise LDL, the harmful cholesterol.
So should you avoid coconut oil like the plague?
Not at all — there is room in a healthy, balanced diet for a little coconut oil, just as there is room for a little butter or bacon. Like all saturated fats, just use it in moderation. Most dietitians recommend limiting saturated fats to no more than 10 percent of your total daily calories.
One advantage of coconut oil is that it stands up well to high-temperature cooking, thanks to its high smoke point. In this one use, it beats olive oil, whose heart-friendly unsaturated fats break down and become less healthy at high temperatures. But — and isn't there always a but? — there are still better choices. Rice bran oil, used in many Asian restaurants, as well as vegetable and peanut oils, are all very good for frying and high-temperature cooking, and contain much less saturated fat than coconut oil.
Coconut water?
Some of my patients enjoy drinking coconut water after a workout, because it provides a small amount of electrolytes. While regular water is a lower-calorie choice, coconut water isn't too bad. It avoids the high calories and fat of coconut oil since it comes only from the liquid, rather than the meat, of the coconut. One cup has 46 calories, so if you like it, why not? Just read the label to make sure you avoid brands that add sugar.
As for coconut milk, it uses both the meat and the liquid of the coconut, so it falls into the use-only-in-moderation camp. One cup delivers nearly 450 calories and 48 grams of fat, 42 of which are saturated -- that's about a quarter of the calories and three times the recommended limit of saturated fat for an average woman for an entire day.
Go with what we know
As I mentioned, our understanding of what's healthy and what's not evolves every time a new, well-designed study comes out. Many of the studies supporting coconut oil as a miracle food fall apart quickly under close scrutiny. But the research continues. The saturated fat in coconut oil does appear to be somewhat different from other saturated fats — but whether that is a healthful, harmful or neutral difference remains to be seen. Another area of research is now theorizing that heart disease risks may have more to do with carbohydrate intake than saturated fat; this, too, is still under investigation. Until we know more, the cautious path is to go with what we know from the most current, credible and conclusive research. And right now, the research on coconut oil does not support the hype.
So if you like coconut oil, go ahead and have a little — but just a little. And don't expect miracles.
Jamie Libera is an RD, LD and cardiac dietitian with Providence Nutrition Services.
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The Representation Group has released a video supercut which juxtaposes how the media has failed women alongside the strides female representation in mainstream media has made in 2013
High points for the year include Orange is the New Black, Catching Fire, and Keri Russel being the first black lead actress to be nominated for an Emmy in over a decade. Low points include..well, there are a lot of low points the video manages to cram in the brief three minute and forty second video.
The video has even been picked up by Time Magazine and currently has over 1.5 million views on YouTube. A minute or so into the video both Grand Theft Auto V and Dead Island are used as examples of how the media failed women. Implying that video games-like other forms of media- are responsible for said failure.
The Representation Group highlights the marginalization and reinforced stereotypes against women found in film and media. You can watch the video above and draw your own conclusion as to whether GTAV and the special edition of Dead Island are contributors to the media's failing of women in the year 2013.
Our review of Grand Theft Auto V talks about how both the male and female characters in the game are all basically terrible people.
Personally, three minutes and forty seconds hardly seems like enough time to document how often the media fails women.
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Above, we get a closer look at the upcoming Dark Obsidian drop of the Flyknit Chukka from the Swoosh. The knit, lifestyle-esque makeup is branded alongside via black Swoosh tagging, while a contrasting white midsole provides additional offset underneath. Tonal laces are present on the forthcoming Flyknit footwear, which will be arriving on June 1 through select Nike carriers.
[via Ameblo]
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This Article
Bibliographic References
Add to:
Surveillance-Oriented Event Detection in Video Streams
May/June 2011 (vol. 26 no. 3)
pp. 32-41
Claudio Piciarelli, University of Udine, Italy
Gian Luca Foresti, University of Udine, Italy
Using the two main approaches to security-oriented event analysis, explicit event recognition and anomaly detection, the authors attempt to semantically interpret video sequences to detect anomalous, dangerous, or forbidden situations.
1. C. Micheloni et al., "Intelligent Monitoring of Complex Environments," IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 25, no. 3, 2010, pp. 12–14.
2. F. Fusier et al., "Video Understanding for Complex Activity Recognition," Machine Vision and Applications J., vol. 18, no. 3, 2007, pp. 167–188.
3. S. Hongeng, R. Nevatia, and F. Brémond, "Video Based Event Recognition: Activity Representation and Probabilistic Methods," Computer Vision and Image Understanding, vol. 96, no. 2, 2004, pp. 129–162.
4. Y.A. Ivanov and A.F. Bobick, "Recognition of Visual Activities and Interactions by Stochastic Parsing," IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 22, no. 8, 2000, pp. 852–872.
5. G. Medioni et al., "Event Detection and Analysis from Video Streams," IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 23, no. 8, 2001, pp. 873–889.
6. W. Hu et al., "A System for Learning Statistical Motion Patterns," IEEE Trans. Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 28, no. 9, 2006, pp. 1450–1464.
7. N. Johnson and D. Hogg, "Representation and Synthesis of Behaviour Using Gaussian Mixtures," Image and Vision Computing, vol. 20, no. 12, 2002, pp. 889–894.
8. D. Makris and T.J. Ellis, "Learning Semantic Scene Models From Observing Activity in Visual Surveillance," IEEE Trans. Systems, Man, and Cybernetics – Part B: Cybernetics, vol. 35, no. 3, 2005, pp. 397–408.
9. C. Micheloni et al., "An Autonomous Vehicle for Video Surveillance of Indoor Environments," IEEE Trans. Vehicular Technology, vol. 56, no. 2, 2007, pp. 487–498.
10. L. Lombardi and A. Petrosino, "Distributed Recursive Learning for Shape Recognition through Multiscale Trees," Image and Vision Computing, vol. 25, no. 2, 2007, pp. 240–247.
11. B. Schölkopf and A. Smola, Learning with Kernels: Support Vector Machines, Regularization, Optimization, and Beyond, MIT Press, 2002.
12. C. Piciarelli, C. Micheloni, and G.L. Foresti, "Trajectory-Based Anomalous Event Detection," IEEE Trans. Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, vol. 18, no. 11, 2008, pp. 1544–1554.
Index Terms:
intelligent systems, computer vision, event analysis, video streams, anomaly detection, explicit event recognition
Claudio Piciarelli, Gian Luca Foresti, "Surveillance-Oriented Event Detection in Video Streams," IEEE Intelligent Systems, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 32-41, May-June 2011, doi:10.1109/MIS.2010.38
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65260
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John Knox
From Conservapedia
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John Knox was the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Scotland during the 16th century.
In 1560, John Knox established the Presbyterian Church. When he was dying, he stated on November 24, 1572, "A man with God is always in the majority."
One of the descendants of John Knox was Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a President of Princeton while James Madison was a student there.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65261
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From Conservapedia
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Mahogany trees in Barbados
The Mahogany family consists of trees and shrubs with bitter, astringent bark, and aromatic wood valued for its lovely color. Although there are around one thousand species of mahogany in tropical regions, only one species of mahogany is native to North America.[1]
1. Field Guide to Trees: Eastern Region National Audubon Society
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65278
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Counting Cats in Zanzibar Rotating Header Image
To hell with them all
Why is everyone waiting on Leveson?
Where is the outrage at the idea that anyone should even consider that the state grant itself the right to speak truth to anyone?
Truth? From those with power? Are you out of your tiny cotton pickin mind?
Who cares what Leveson reports, why would anyone think the enquiry is anything bar an abuse in the first place?
Update: Govt will ‘err on the side of freedom’ – Hague
When it comes to regulation of the press the Government will "err on the side of freedom", William Hague has said.
The problem is that he even thinks he has any authority to exercise in the first place.
1. Edward Lud says:
NickM, there are no good answers to any of your questions.
2. RAB says:
It would be nice just once in a while for those in Power to tell the truth to the Press, but as we all know, the default position is to lie through their teeth on a daily basis. That’s why the Press has to use subdefuge and deception to weedle the truth out of the bastards.
Whatever Leveson comes up with should be completely ignored.
3. Paul Marks says:
Judge Leveson should be told to go and jump in the river.
The government will (as it does with the E.U. and everything else) try and “make a deal”.
Fudge rots your teeth.
And it is no good as a policy choice either.
REJECT Leveson – otherwise his poison will come in step-by-step.
Witht the courts saying that anyone who does not sign up to the new system has shown “reckless disregard”.
Translation into English…….
“Sign up – or we will automatically find against you in a civil action”.
So much for “British justice”.
4. Mr Ed says:
Ex Communist Lord Justice Sedley described the principle that a Claimant’s damages should not exceed his losses as a ‘bedrock of our law’. (Cerberus Software v Rowley).
The notion that damages should be punitive is, literally, alien. To increase damages for conduct not even connected to the tort does violence to the rule of law. You might ave hoped that another Lord Justice would at least acknowledge that in the breach!
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65284
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NAME LV - LV ♥ lvalue SYNOPSIS use LV qw( lvalue get set ); my $xxx; sub xxx :lvalue { lvalue get { $xxx } set { $xxx = $_[0] } } xxx() = 42; say xxx(); # says 42 DESCRIPTION This module makes lvalue subroutines easy and practical to use. It's inspired by the lvalue module which is sadly problematic because of the existence of another module on CPAN called Lvalue. (They can get confused on file-systems that have case-insensitive file names.) LV comes with three different implementations, based on Variable::Magic, Sentinel and `tie`; it will choose and use the best available one. You can force LV to pick a particular implementation using: $ENV{PERL_LV_IMPLEMENTATION} = 'Magic'; # or 'Sentinel' or 'Tie' The tie implementation is the slowest, but will work on Perl 5.6 with only core modules. Functions `lvalue(%args)` Creates the magic lvalue. This must be the last expression evaluated by the lvalue sub (and thus will be returned by the sub) but also must not be returned using an explicit `return` keyword (which would break its lvaluedness). As a matter of style, you may like to omit the optional semicolon after calling this function, which will act as a reminder that no statement should follow this one. The arguments are `get` and `set`, which each take a coderef: sub xxx :lvalue { lvalue( get => sub { $xxx }, set => sub { $xxx = $_[0] }, ); # semicolon } Note that the `set` coderef gets passed the rvalue part as $_[0]. `get { BLOCK }`, `set { BLOCK }` Convenience functions for defining `get` and `set` arguments for `lvalue`: sub xxx :lvalue { lvalue get { $xxx } set { $xxx = $_[0] } } As well as populating %args for `lvalue`, these functions also use Sub::Name (if it's installed) to ensure that the anonymous coderefs have sensible names for the purposes of stack traces, etc. These functions are not exported by default. `implementation()` Can be used to determine the current backend. Cannot be exported. BUGS Please report any bugs to . SEE ALSO lvalue, Sentinel. AUTHOR Toby Inkster . COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE This software is copyright (c) 2013 by Toby Inkster. This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as the Perl 5 programming language system itself. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES THIS PACKAGE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65309
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December 4
Covered and Protected
"He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust: His Truth shall be thy shield and buckler" (Psalm 91:4).
A condescending simile indeed! Just as a hen protects her brood and allows them to nestle under her wings, so will the LORD defend His people and permit them to hide away in Him. Have we not seen the little chicks peeping out from under the mother's feathers? Have we not heard their little cry of contented joy? In this way let us shelter ourselves in our God and feel overflowing peace in knowing that He is guarding us. While the LORD covers us, we trust. It would be strange if we did not. How can we distrust when Jehovah Himself becomes house and home, refuge and rest to us? This done, we go out to war in His name and enjoy the same guardian care. We need shield and buckler, and when we implicitly trust God, even as the chick trusts the hen, we find His truth arming us from head to foot. The LORD cannot lie; He must be faithful to His people; His promise must stand. This sure truth is all the shield we need. Behind it we defy the fiery darts of the enemy. Come, my soul, hide under those great wings, lose thyself among those soft feathers! How happy thou art!
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65319
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Subsequent to my two years of teaching maths at the University of Buea (UB) in Cameroon, Miranda Teboh followed me back to Lehigh and enrolled as a graduate student in the Department of Mathematics. This led to a stream of students from UB, some my former students, others friends of these students, etc. Below I list the students from UB who have enrolled at Lehigh, plus two other members of the local Cameroonian community.
In Cameroon one states one's name family name first, English name second, and African name third. This leads to lots of confusion in general and on my part in particular. Below I state the names in the order, English name, African name, family name. In some cases the English name or the African name is omitted. All degrees listed are from Lehigh.
Miranda Ijang Teboh-Ewungkem, MS in Statistics, 2003, PhD in Mathematics, 2003.
Julius Ewungkem, MS in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, 2004
Julius Ewungkem, Jr., BS in ???, 2023.
Eric Teyim, MS in Chemistry, 2005.
Bweh Esembeson, MS in Physics, 2004, PhD in Physics, 2008.
Samson Penn Tafon, Master of Engineering, 2003, PhD in Physics, 2007.
Francis Ndi, MS in Physics, 2001, PhD in Physics, 2007.
Clement Nkongnwi Mformbele, MS in Statistics, 2007, PhD in Mathematics, 2007.
George Ngwa, MS in Chmistry, 2004, PhD in Chemistry, 2007.
Sirry Mbong Alang, MS in Social Psychology, 2008.
Julius Esunge, MS in Statistics.
John Bosco Ambe, MBA&E in Computer Engineering, 2007.
Solomon Agbor-Tabi Makebe, BS in Chemical Engineering, 2008, MS in Chemical Engineering, 2010.
Joseph Teyim, Undergraduate, class of 2016.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65356
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"Game of Thrones" roleplayers sit on Twitter's Iron Throne
Perhaps none are more delighted than a group who embody some of the key characters of the Seven Kingdoms (and beyond) on Twitter. The roleplayers often tweet multiple times a day about the troubles facing King's Landing, Dragonstone, and their fragile egos.
Lannister family patriarch Tywin hasn't tweeted since 2011, though the rest of his house members often snipe at each other. Tywin's account is still visible, so he's maybe taking heed of the House Greyjoy mantra "What's dead may never die."
Here's a look at some of the more compelling recent tweets and conversations between Lannisters, Starks, and Baratheons, even if we don't quite understand who'd want to roleplay as Joffrey.
Photo via @BoyOnTheThrone
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65377
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Men dancing with men
1. tassel45
tassel45 New Member
with pros in studios and during classes, sure. You are only an expert when you can do male and female steps (I can't) very well. Goes for both males and femals.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65378
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Two-tail Sneak (4e Feat)
From D&D Wiki
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Two-tail Sneak [Seishin Kitsune]
Prerequisite: Seishin Kitsune
Benefit: You gain a feat +2 bonus to Stealth. Chose one arcane encounter utility power of a level at least 2 lower than your own, you gain this power as a daily power.
Back to Main Page4e HomebrewCharacter OptionsFeatsHeroic Tier Racial
Back to Main Page4e HomebrewRacesSeishin Kitsune
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65381
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A brief overview of Nova’s new object model (Part 1)
As discussed at the Havana summit, I have been working with Chris Behrens (and others) on the unified-object-model blueprint for Nova. The core bits of it made their way into the tree a while ago and work is underway to implement the Instance object and convert existing code to use it. This unifies the direct-to-database query methods, as well as the mirrored conductor RPC interfaces into a single versioned object-oriented API. It aims to address a few problems for us:
1. Letting SQLAlchemy objects escape the DB API layer has caused us a lot of problems because they can’t be sent over RPC efficiently. The new object model is self-serializing.
2. Objects in the database aren’t versioned (although the schema itself is). This means that sending a primitive representation of it over RPC runs the risk of old code breaking on new schema, or vice versa. The new object model is versioned for both interface methods and data format.
3. Database isolation (no-db-compute) results in mirroring a bunch of non-OO interfaces in nova-conductor for use by isolated services like nova-compute. The new object model entirely hides the fact that object operations may be going direct or over RPC to achieve the desired result.
Hopefully the first two items above are fairly obvious, but the third may deserve a little explanation. Currently, we have things in the nova/db/sqlalchemy/api.py like the following:
def instance_get_by_uuid(context, uuid, columns_to_join=None):
return _instance_get_by_uuid(context, uuid,
def _instance_get_by_uuid(context, uuid, session=None, columns_to_join=None):
result = _build_instance_get(context, session=session,
if not result:
raise exception.InstanceNotFound(instance_id=uuid)
return result
def _build_instance_get(context, session=None, columns_to_join=None):
query = model_query(context, models.Instance, session=session,
if columns_to_join is None:
columns_to_join = ['metadata', 'system_metadata']
for column in columns_to_join:
query = query.options(joinedload(column))
#NOTE(alaski) Stop lazy loading of columns not needed.
for col in ['metadata', 'system_metadata']:
if col not in columns_to_join:
query = query.options(noload(col))
return query
This is more complicated than it needs to be, but basically we’ve got the instance_get_by_uuid() method at the top, which calls a couple of helpers below to build the SQLAlchemy query that actually hits the database. This is the interface that is used all over nova-api to fetch an instance object from the database by UUID, and used to be used in nova-compute to do the same. In Grizzly, we introduced a new service called nova-conductor, which took on the job of proxying access to these database interfaces over RPC so that services like nova-compute could be isolated from the database. That means we got a new set of versioned RPC interfaces such as the one mirroring the above in nova/conductor/api.py:
def instance_get_by_uuid(self, context, instance_uuid,
return self._manager.instance_get_by_uuid(context, instance_uuid,
I’ll spare you the details, but this turns into an RPC call to the nova-conductor service, which in turn makes the DB API call above, serializes and returns the result. This was a big win in terms of security in that the least-trusted nova-compute services weren’t able to talk directly to the database, and potentially also brought scalability benefits of not having every compute node hold a connection to the database server. However, it meant that we had to add a new API to conductor for every database API, and while those were versioned, it didn’t really solve our problem with versioning the actual data format of what gets returned from those calls.
What we really want is everything using the same interface to talk to the database, whether it can go direct or is required to make an RPC trip. Ideally, services that can talk to the database and those that can’t should be able to pass objects they retrieved from the database to each other over RPC without a lot of fuss. When nova-api pulls an object with the first interface above and wants to pass it to nova-compute which is required to use the second, a horrific serialization process must take place to enable that to happen.
Enter the Unified Object Model. It does all of the above and more. It even makes coffee. (okay, it doesn’t make coffee — yet).
Continued in Part 2.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65382
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Thursday, May 26, 2011
05/26 (Win or Bust) Quickie
Today's storylines: Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant vs. Expectations, Wilson Valdez vs. Buster Posey, Mike Brown vs. Kobe Bryant, Lightning vs. Bruins,
A common theme I write about here is the power of expectations, and it was on full display last night
*Marvel at Dirk's reaction to winning the Western Conference title:
That's because the conference title is meaningless to him. All that matters is the NBA title. Anything less than the NBA title is a failure.
For the past few years, the Mavericks have been one of the few teams that are actually trying to WIN NOW -- that particular season -- accompanied by the expectation of "NBA ring or bust."
And so the West title is necessary but not sufficient. It was refreshing to see Dirk saunter right off the court, not even bothering to do a postgame TV interview, because he couldn't care less.
Aside from not wanting the Heat to win, it's easy to get behind rooting for Dirk and the Mavs in the Finals.
*Meanwhile, there is Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Durant was devastated. Yes, the individual games were a few plays from breaking the other way, yet the series was not close. Durant looked like he was sure he was going to win the NBA title -- or certainly the West title -- and presented the entirely fair idea that he couldn't care less about the Mavs.
And yet the expectations for the Thunder -- let's say preseason (or even at the start of the playoffs) -- were that they would make some steps this season, but not yet be ready to compete for an NBA title. In that respect, they entirely matched their expectations -- perhaps even exceeded them.
If they had won a first-round series then lost in the West semis, the idea would have been "Progress." Getting to the West finals is "Progress!" It is not unreasonable to accelerate OKC's expectations in '11-12 that anything less than winning the West is a failure.
Welcome to real expectations.
*Lightning-Bruins going to Game 7 on Friday. Nothing better in sports than an NHL Playoffs Game 7 with the Stanley Cup Finals on the line (except with the Stanley Cup title on the line).
*Today's Name to Know: Wilson Valdez, the Phillies position player who got the pitching win last night when the Phillies-Reds game went 19 innings. Awesome. Watch this homemade video.
*Buster Posey: Yikes.
*Should the Lakers have consulted Kobe about hiring Mike Brown? Here's the downside: What if Kobe says he's not a fan. Then the Lakers either kowtow to their aging star or mock him by making the hire anyway.
(Here's the thing no one is talking about: The way the Lakers were drummed out of the playoffs this year? That's not going to get better. The Lakers are no more likely to win the NBA title next year -- or beyond -- than they were the day after they got swept out. As of now, they fall in the bucket of "fascinating, but not a real contender." In that case, who cares WHO is coaching? For that matter, if they love Andrew Bynum too much to trade him for Dwight Howard, why not trade Kobe? It's hardly heresy. The only thing keeping Lakers fans from dealing with this is their denial that the window hasn't slammed shut this year.)
Keep up with Quickish all day.
-- D.S.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65384
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More MySQL logs
March 18, 2003
The Error Log
The error log, as the name indicates, logs any MySQL errors that occur while the server is running, as well as startup and shutdown data. This includes data about invalid passwords, as well as syntax errors in the configuration file (my.cnf or my.ini) which can help when a startup fails. The error log is found in the data directory (usually c:\MySQL\data on Windows, /usr/local/mysql/data for binary Unix installations, /usr/local/var for source Unix installations or /var/lib/mysql on Red Hat Linux) and called either mysql.err (on Windows) or hostname.err (hostname being the name of the host). Here is a sample error log:
020805 13:51:24 mysqld started
Unknown prefix used for variable value 'wait_timeout=1000;'
/usr/local/build/mysql/libexec/mysqld Ver 3.23.47 for unknown-freebsdelf4.5 on i386
Use '--help' or '--no-defaults --help' for a list of available options
020805 13:51:24 mysqld ended
020805 13:52:13 mysqld started
/usr/local/build/mysql/libexec/mysqld: ready for connections
020806 1:18:51 /usr/local/build/mysql/libexec/mysqld: Normal shutdown
020806 1:18:52 /usr/local/build/mysql/libexec/mysqld: Shutdown Complete
020806 01:18:52 mysqld ended
020806 01:18:54 mysqld started
Keeping a close eye on the log can help you identify problems before they get too out of hand. Looking at the above log, you can see two problems. The first startup failed, because the config fie was not correct, (see the error regarding Unknown prefix used for variable value 'wait_timeout=1000;'), while the second error occurred when the user ian attempted to login with an incorrect password. If this is repeated a number of times in quick succession, that should be a cause for alarm, but a once-off like the above is probably just typical user error. The user is also identified with the hostname, so if the host is foreign to you, that should also raise your suspicions. A well-designed system should not allow access to your database server from outside, but sometimes this is unavoidable (especially on small websites, where a webserver and database server are on the same machine). There are many possible errors, and this article can't help you solve them all, but knowing what the error is, is a good first step, and that's where the error log is invaluable.
The Query Log
The query log logs all connections and all executed queries. It can be useful to see who is logging on, and from where, as well as identify what queries are being run at what time. It very quickly becomes a big log and can have performance implications, so is not used that frequently, and is switched off by default. To activate it, place:
log = [querylog_filename]
in the my.cnf or my.ini configuration file. The name is optional, if you don't supply a name the query log will be given the hostname. If you're just planning to use the log to see what changes have been made to the database, but don't want the overhead that goes with recording each and every query, a much better log to use is the binary update log.
Binary Update Log
The binary update log is activated by placing
in your configuration file (you should know where that is by now!). The filename is optional, and if you do not supply it, the log will be named hostname-bin, with hostname being the name of the host. Any extension (the last 3 letters after the dot) you supply will be dropped, as MySQL creates its own, starting at 001. This log stores all updates to the database in an efficient binary format (the deprecated Update Log stores the same data in a less compressed format). The binary log stores each SQL statement that makes a change to the database in the same order as they were executed, and for this reason is useful for restoring backups, or for replication. MySQL comes with an executable binary that allows you to view the contents of the binary update log; (since it is a binary format, viewing it in a text editor is no use). It's called mysqlbinlog, and can be accessed as follows, to view the sample binary update log.
% mysqbinlog homeserver-bin.001
# at 4
#020812 1:44:12 server id 1 Start: binlog v 1, server v 3.23.47-log created
020812 1:44:12
# at 73
#020812 1:44:12 server id 1 Query thread_id=237010 exec_time=0
use news;
SET TIMESTAMP=1029109452;
update storytracker set view_count = 929, last_time = '2002-08-12 01:18:08' where article_id = 'qw1028980982556B216';
# at 214
#020812 1:44:12 server id 1 Query thread_id=237002 exec_time=0
SET TIMESTAMP=1029109452;
You can see that the time each query started, as well as the time it took to execute, is stored.
A new binary update log is created each time the server is restarted, or the database server is flushed (with FLUSH LOGS, mysqladmin flush-logs or mysqladmin refresh), as well as when a single update log becomes too big (determined by the value of max_bin_log_size, which you can set in your config file. Each time a new one is created, the extension increments by one, from 001 to 002 and so on. The highest number will then always be the most recent log. The names of the update logs are stored in a binary update log index file. This is given the same name as the other binary update logs, but with the extension .index. A sample index file looks as follows:
To remove the excess binary update logs, and start again with 001, you can run the SQL command:
Be very careful when doing this though, as if you're replicating your databases you must ensure that all SQL commands have been replicated, and ensure that the databases stay in sync. In addition, if you plan to restore a backup, you need to make sure you only delete binary logs that were created before your latest backup. A full discussion of backups is beyond the scope of this article, but to restore the contents of a binary log to a MySQL server, you can use the following command:
% mysqlbinlog homeserver-bin.001 | mysql
Since the binary log stores the databases (note for example the use news statement in the above sample), there's no need to specify a database.
You don't need to store all updates in the binary log. You can tell MySQL to ignore certain databases, or to only store updates for specific databases. For example, to ignore the test database, place the following in your configuration file:
binlog-ignore-db = test
To only store updates for the critical_data database, place the following in your config file:
binlog-do-db = critical_data
You can have multiple binlog-do-db options in your configuration.
» See All Articles by Columnist Ian Gilfillan
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65389
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Financial Aid > Step-By-Step
Step One - Apply for an institutional scholarship by utilizing the Dodge City Community College Scholarship Application. Deadline is April 30th for the fall semester
Step Two – Apply for the US Department of Education student financial aid programs utilizing the online Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
• Go to
• Utilizing last year's federal tax return information, complete and submit the online form
• The FAFSA must be completed as soon as possible after January 1st each year for the following fall semester
• The Federal deadline is June 30th of the award year of the application.....don't wait that long
• The results of your application may be available to the Financial Aid Office in 5 to 7 business days
Step Three – Reply to requests for additional information from the Financial Aid Office immediately.
• The Financial Aid Office will not request information/documentation that it does not need
• Federal Work-Study and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant funds are limited
Step Four – If you need additional funds for your education, apply for a Federal Direct Student Loan
• The FAFSA process determines your eligibility for participation in the Federal Direct Loan Program, but that is not all
• You must complete an online application to participate
• Step 1: Go to
• Step 2: Sign in with your PIN that you used to sign your FAFSA.
• Step 3: Click on the “Complete Entrance Counseling” link and navigate through the counseling.
• Step 4: Complete the Master Promissory Note
• Step 5: Complete the Student Loan Data form and return it to the financial aid office
• Request Federal Direct Loan Program information from the Financial Aid Office
Step Five – Review the General Information & Procedures and the Satisfactory Academic Progress information on the DCCC Financial Aid website.
Step Six – Contact the Financial Aid Office if you have questions
Step Seven – Explore other outside scholarship opportunities such as:
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65394
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2004 Calcos do Tanha Reserva, Douro
Vintage: 2004
Date tasted: 27 August 2007
Price when tasted: £12.80
Tasting notes
Using grapes sourced from Baixo Corgo (the Douro Valley's most westerly wine-growing region), this wine is full of vigour, with punchy primary dark fruit aromas and a medicinal twist. The flavours are similarly robust, with plenty of black cherries, purple fruit and a dash of white pepper. Drink up to 2012. £12.80
Stockists & Price
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65407
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Definitions for Epic
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word Epic
Princeton's WordNet
1. epic poem, heroic poem, epic, epos(adj)
a long narrative poem telling of a hero's deeds
2. epic, heroic, larger-than-life(adj)
3. epic, epical(adj)
constituting or having to do with or suggestive of a literary epic
"epic tradition"
1. epic(Noun)
An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a deity or demigod (heroic epic) or other legendary or traditional hero.
The Icelandic epic took all night to recite.
2. epic(Noun)
A series of events considered appropriate to an epic.
The book was an epic in four volumes.
3. epic(Adjective)
Of, or relating to, an epic.
Beowulf is an epic poem.
4. epic(Adjective)
Momentously heroic; grand in scale or character
5. epic(Adjective)
Extending beyond the usual or ordinary; extraordinary, momentous, great.
The after-prom party was epic.
6. Origin: From epicus, from ἐπικός, from ἔπος.
Webster Dictionary
1. Epic(adj)
2. Epic(noun)
an epic or heroic poem. See Epic, a
1. Epic
"Epic" is a song by the American rock band Faith No More. It was released in 1989/1990 as the second single from their third album The Real Thing in US and in 1990 as their second single from that album in the UK and Europe. The song was a breakthrough hit. It peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100, and their first Number One single on the Australian charts. It is the band's most popular song and a staple in their concerts. "Epic" was ranked number thirty on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs, number sixty-seven on their 100 Greatest One-hit Wonders list, in 2009, it was named the 54th best hard rock song of all time also by VH1, also in 2009 it charted number 46 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of All Time, the largest music poll in the world.
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
1. Epic
a poem that treats of the events in the life of a nation or a race or the founder of one, agreeably to the passion inspiring it and in such form as to kindle and keep alive the heroism thereof in the generations thereafter; or a poem in celebration of the thoughts, feelings, and feats of a whole nation or race; its proper function is to disimprison the soul of the related facts and give a noble rendering of them; of compositions of this kind the "Iliad" of Homer, the "Æneid" of Virgil, and the "Divine Comedy" of Dante take the lead.
Translations for Epic
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary
a long poem telling a story of great deeds.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65410
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Pizza Hut’s New “Double Sensation” Possibly Craziest Pizza to Date
Double SensationPizza is usually a pretty simple concept — there's the crust, the cheese, and maybe some toppings. However, the latest creation from Pizza Hut Singapore is mind boggling to pizza enthusiasts everywhere.
According to Brand Eating, the "Double Sensation" pizza has two rings of crust. That's right, the outer crust is there like a typical pizza, but the middle of the pie features a second ring of crust. The offer is special for the holidays, and Pizza Hut boasts on its website that the "Double Sensation" is, "Twice the happiness. Twice the surprise."
The surprise can be found inside the two separate crusts. The outer ring is filled with 3-flavor cheese and the inner layer is stuffed with a rather strange-looking "cheesy sausage."
As if this pie didn't have enough going on already, it's topped with smoked chicken and turkey ham. The pizza also features two different sauces buried under all that cheese: Pepper Alfredo and Salsa. The photograph seems to suggest that in addition to everything else, there are also some veggie toppings such as zucchini, mushrooms, red and green peppers, and red onion.
Perhaps the weirdest part about the entire pie is the lone maraschino cherry sitting directly in the center of the pizza. While the double crust is intriguing, the sauces and toppings seem to be a little too festive. That being said, Singaporeans can order the pizza through the end of December, and the wacky creation can be purchased as part of a Christmas meal special.
What do you think of the "Double Sensation" pizza? Would you try this pie, toppings and all?
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Tags: Pizzas, fast foods
Zoe Bain
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Wednesday February 20, 2002 Homily by Fr. Robert Altier First Week of Lent
Reading (Jonah 3:1-10) Gospel (St. Luke 11:29-32)
You can see from the Gospels that, when Jesus speaks of the sign of Jonah, He is speaking of two different things. On one occasion, He speaks of the sign of Jonah as being a sign for the people of Israel. That is, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the belly of the earth. But today, He is speaking of the sign of Jonah to the Ninevites. The Ninevites did not know about Jonah being in the belly of the whale; all they knew was that this man from Israel came and preached that the city was going to be destroyed in forty days. The people believed his word and they repented.
Now we have to consider exactly what that would entail. Consider today the President of the United States, for instance, believing if somebody marched through Washington, D.C. saying, "Forty days more and this country is going to be destroyed." They would normally call the psychiatric unit and not believe in something like that and actually turn themselves around. But here was a man who obviously believed in God or at least had some reverence for the divine. They were not Jewish, and that is what makes this such an amazing sign. When Jesus said that Jonah was a sign for the Ninevites, they were pagans. These are people who did not know of the Lord, and yet obviously, as I pointed out, had some sort of reverence for something divine. But they did not know the person of God. Yet when they heard the word of God, they converted.
Now Jesus has said in other places to the Pharisees that "the prostitutes and the tax collectors will enter into Heaven before you do" because when they heard the preaching of Our Lord they converted. And so, it is something that we need to listen to. That is, people who do not know Christ are converting, but what about us? Because we already know the Lord and because we have an idea of the way that the Faith is to be lived, sometimes what we do is we refuse to let it into our hearts. We think that, because we already know it, we do not really have to do too much more. Maybe just a tiny bit of fine-tuning, but really, certainly, nothing major - we have already determined that we believe in Christ. But we need to ask ourselves seriously about that. What would Our Lord say?
If somebody came through today (and we knew that they were not crazy, but that they were from the Lord) and they started preaching, "Forty days more and this place will be destroyed," would you look at yourself and say, "No problem. I've got everything totally under control. My life is in great order. I can stand before the Lord forty days from now and be totally confident that there is no problem with me." Now if you can do that, then all you have to do is maybe tweak it a little bit for some fine-tuning. If, on the other hand, you are like most of us, you are probably going to say, "If I'm going to die in forty days, I'd better get my house in order. I'd better make sure that things are right. And I don't have just a little fine-tuning to do; I have some major work."
Then we had better learn from the Son of Man. As Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so is the Son of Man a sign to this present age. He is greater than Jonah; He is God - not the messenger of God, He is God Himself. And He came down and called us to repent, not to mediocrity, not just to be a lukewarm Catholic: He called us to repent and to live our faith in its fullness.
And so, if we would hear those messages and think that we had better get some things in order, then hear the message now and put things in order because that is what the Lord is asking of us. Not that we are necessarily going to die in forty days, but that we would get our house in order. And not for a selfish reason - because we think that we are going to have to stand before God in a few weeks - but rather, because we love God and we want to serve Him and we want to do what is right and we want to live holy lives. To be in love with Jesus Christ - that is the reason. To do the right thing for the right reason - that is what the Lord is giving us the opportunity to do now: to look at our lives, to listen to His preaching, to repent, and to reform our lives.
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Tip of the Day
Language: C#
Expertise: Advanced
Feb 7, 2005
VB6 introduced the CallByName function which allows you to call a function or subroutine using the subroutine or function name stored as a string value. While this function still works in ASP.NET, you do have another option: you can use the Invoke method of the MethodInfo class. This class is a member of the System.Reflection namespace and it provides access to a method's metadata. Consider the following subroutine:
Public Sub CallMe(ByVal arg1 As String, ByVal _
arg2 As String)
'do something
End Sub
To call this subroutine using the Invoke method, you can use code similar to the following:
Dim SubName As String = "CallMe"
Dim arguments() As String = _
{"Hello ", "world."}
Dim PageType As Type = Page.GetType()
Dim MyMethod As System.Reflection.MethodInfo = _
MyMethod.Invoke(Page, arguments)
The GetMethod method obtains information about the function and the Invoke method calls it using the argument list. This is an excellent tool to help you streamline your code—especially if you have several different functions, but you won't know which one to call until runtime.
For example, suppose you have a new, edit, and delete routine for updating database records. Instead of using an Parthasarathy Mandayam
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Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome is a form of drug withdrawal in newborns. This syndrome has multiple causes but the most common situation occurs when the mother is taking narcotics during pregnancy. The drugs get transferred through the placenta to the baby and the baby’s body becomes relient on that chemical. The newborn essentially becomes addicted to the same substance as the mother. Common substances that cause this syndrome include heroin, oxycodone, morphine, marijuana, and even caffeine.
Further Reading:
Symptoms: Some examples include sweating, fever, tremors, poor feeding, poor sleeping and an elevated respiratory rate.
Treatment: Infants are just given supportive treatment (treat the symptoms). The syndrome usually passes after a few days, although it can take as long as a few weeks, depending on the narcotic used.
One Response to Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
1. Pingback: Tweets that mention Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome | Diagnosis A Day --
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18-Apr-2013 (Thu)
Wherein it may finally be time to ditch Justin.TV.
I guess it's time to find another video hosting service.
Meanwhile, a few new photo galleries:
Nightmare Fortress
Tales from the Donner Party
9 Responses:
1. grェ says:
Maybe http://zencoder.com/en/ ? I haven't used it myself... but thankfully it's possible to do live streaming to iOS devices now even. There's also wowza (licensing costs vary, also doesn't include a CDN to redistribute content and I don't seem to recall the club's bandwidth being the greatest, so you definitely want something to ease load).
I would be really tempted to recommend Bittorrents p2p live streaming system, but iirc it still required a browser plugin (and not flash, their own); but it seems they've been making some headway into getting bittorrent clients running without plugins in-browser thanks to all the insanity of html5 and websocket.io stuff and the like, so who knows - that may be a better option imminently than it was when I last looked at it: http://live.bittorrent.com
fwiw, live streaming systems I've worked on setting up or maintaining were generally some iteration of: windows media streaming server (pretty decent, but not what you want), real media streaming server (I hope no one wants this anymore), and then bitgravity (though one of their primary founders left long ago and support has gone downhill in some ways, it was good for its era).
• jwz says:
Obviously I'm talking about a CDN. Without that it's nothing.
• grェ says:
Yup, well Zencoder seems to fit the bill, as would bitgravity; while live.bittorrent.com side-steps the need for a CDN. There are other lesser video streaming services that offer CDN stuff as well, but I'm pretty sure even Zencoder is commercial (I know bitgravity is). I'm spacing on the name of the streaming CDN that I know some people at; but they charge too - more than just bars are trying to make ends meet. ;)
2. Craig says:
"Can you recommend one that is free, and won't spam my video feeds with ads?"
Isn't that a little bit like me asking "I want to see a show at DNA Lounge, and I don't want to buy a ticket, any suggestions?"
• Phil says:
I would guess that framing the video feed with ads is OK. I think the main issue is the interruption.
• jwz says:
I have been getting rebroadcasting for free and without spamming my viewers for 12 years now, and I wish to continue doing so. If that's not possible, I'll just turn the whole thing off. I am already spending more than enough money to give these free webcasts to ungrateful fucks like you, and I'm not spending any more.
So yeah, your implication that I'm some kind of freeloading leech is duly noted. Go fuck yourself.
• Laura Rubin says:
No, it's more like him asking "Hey, can you please help me pass out this free stuff to people?"
3. Problems says:
Justin.tv seems to have moved all of their effort to their Twitch.tv brand, so maybe you can get them to respond if you try contacting them through there. Though they seem to be pushing for more ads everywhere.
Also I would like to know if there exists a streaming service that didn't require ads or flash plugin in a browser to broadcast.
4. I've been playing around with:
Although if its because of bandwidth, I can understand why you'd go elsewhere.
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Painting With Light
Painting With Light
Painting With Light
Diffused light is wonderful for taking pictures. A cloudy day is perfect, the clouds provide a diffuser for the sun but if you can’t wait for the perfect cloudy day there are other things that can be done to get nice lighting on your subjects. If taking the picture outdoors doing in open shade of a building with the family facing towards the edge of the shade is one of my favorite places. Indoors near a north facing window is a good option.
Times the sun is high in the middle of the sky, typically from 10 to 2 and direct light are things you want to avoid. If a shadow leaves a line that you could trace it’s not a good time or location for pictures.
The best way to learn about lighting is to practice. Not just practicing with the camera but take along a pen and paper too. Make a sketch of where you were standing, where the sun or other light source was and anything else contributing like a building casting a large shadow. Then compare the pictures you took and make notes of what worked and what didn’t.
A good resource for those using SLR or DSLR cameras is Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera (Updated Edition).
If you have any comments about tips or tricks you have learned about lighting please share. If you have a question, please ask and I will do my best to answer it.
Article written by
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Nokia Lumia 820 driver and firmware
Drivers and firmware downloads for this Nokia item
We have a direct link to download Nokia Lumia 820 drivers, firmware and other resources directly from the Nokia site. To protect our site from spammers you will need to enter the verification characters below in order to access the download link.
Lumia 820 driver download page on the Nokia site
Access Nokia Driver Download Link
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Related Nokia Lumia 820 Manual Pages
Download the free PDF manual for Nokia Lumia 820 and other Nokia manuals at
• User Guide - Page 2
User Guide Nokia Lumia 820 Contents Safety Get started Keys and parts Back, start, and search key ... 37 38 38 40 44 Messages Mail Camera Take a photo Use different scene modes Download Nokia Lenses from Store Record a video Camera tips Save ... Entertainment Watch and listen Nokia Music Sync music and videos between your phone and computer Store Games 46 50 55 55 56 57 58 58 58 58 59...
• User Guide - Page 37
... for example Access Nokia services with a single username and password on your computer or phone. Buy music from Nokia Music Sync your favorites in Maps Download content from Nokia services Save details about your phone model and contact info. You can also add your payment card details to your Nokia account. The available services may vary. To...
• User Guide - Page 46
...Your phone automatically backs up your messages to SkyDrive. If you change to a new Windows Phone device, you can get your messages to your new phone during the setup. If you don't want to ...up messages, you can turn it off in the messaging settings. You can send text messages that... can be sent in a single message. Using services or downloading content may cause transfer of large amounts...
• User Guide - Page 61
... or a trip, organize your photos into albums according to subject, for example. If your computer is a Mac, install the Windows Phone app from the Mac App Store. 1. Connect your phone to a compatible computer with a... 7 or Windows 8, you can also use the Windows Phone app. With Windows 7, you can download it from Delete an album When you delete ...
• User Guide - Page 62
... your computer? Use your computer's file manager to copy or move your photos. If your computer is a Mac, install the Windows Phone app from the Mac App Store. 1. Connect your phone to a compatible computer with a ... 7 or Windows 8, you can also use the Windows Phone app. With Windows 7, you can download it from Edit a photo You can do quick ...
• User Guide - Page 67
... connection when traveling. On the start screen, swipe left, and tap Nokia Maps > > download maps. To download and update maps, switch Wi-Fi networking on. 1. Tap download new maps. 2. Tap , and select the country or region. Update an existing map Tap update current maps. Delete a map Tap download new maps. Tap and hold the map, and tap delete. ...
• User Guide - Page 75
Nokia Music With Nokia Music on Windows phone, you can download songs on your phone and compatible computer. On the start screen, swipe left, and tap For more info, go to Nokia Music. This service is not available in all countries or regions. Nokia may use personal data for certain uses relating to this service, as detailed in the Nokia privacy policy or ...
• User Guide - Page 77
...videos between your phone and computer. 1. Connect your phone to a compatible computer with a USB cable. 2. In your computer's file manager, such as Windows Explorer or Finder, drag and drop your songs and videos to your phone....Browse Store to find the latest content for you and your phone. You can download: © 2012 Nokia. All rights reserved. 77
• User Guide - Page 78
...for download depend on your region. To download from Store, you need to be signed in to your Microsoft account on your phone. When you're signed... with your phone. You can search for and download content directly to your phone, or browse Store content on your computer and send links from ... game, or other item Download free apps, games, or other stuff, or buy more content for your phone. 1. Tap Store....
• User Guide - Page 80
Download games Get new games on your phone on the go from Store. 1. Tap Games. 2. Browse the selection in Store, and tap the game you want. 3. To download a free game, tap install. 4. To try a game for free, tap ... this online, on your Xbox console, and on your phone in the Games hub. Tap Games. Swipe to ... in your area in Store, you can either download a trial version or buy it right away. Resume ...
• User Guide - Page 86
Use multiple calendars When you set up mail accounts on your phone, you can see the calendars from .... If your company has apps available, you are given the option to download them, as soon as you've finished adding the company account to your phone. If an app ... your company to add safeguards to your phone, often to protect confidential or sensitive information. To set up your company account, tap ...
• User Guide - Page 87
...backups, lock your phone, and keep the software up to date. Keep your phone up to date Learn how to update your phone software and apps. Software updates Stay in step with the beat - update your phone software and apps to get new and enhanced features for your phone. Updating the software may also improve your phone performance. © 2012 Nokia. All rights reserved. 87...
• User Guide - Page 88
...your phone software No computer needed - update your phone software wirelessly for new features and improved performance. Before starting.... By default, your phone automatically downloads available updates whenever the data connection settings, for example roaming, ... updates if my data settings allow it. Settings > phone update > Automatically download Use a high speed connection...
• User Guide - Page 93
... phone and computer. If your computer is a Mac, install the Windows Phone app from the Mac App Store. 1. Connect ...from your phone to the computer or from your computer to the phone. Tip: If your computer's operating system is Windows 7 or ... also use the Windows Phone app. Windows 8 installs the app automatically. With Windows 7, you can download it from © 2012 Nokia. All ...
• User Guide - Page 97
..., there are several support channels for you to check. Troubleshooting info Discussions News on apps and downloads Software update info Further details about features and technologies, and the... about a minute, put the battery back in, and switch the phone on. Update your phone software. Reset your phone. This restores the factory settings, and erases all ...
• User Guide - Page 98
... provider. You need a subscription with a service provider. Using some features and downloading content require a network connection and may result in... two separate places, such as your device, memory card, or computer, or write down important information. During ... your Nokia products at For more info on recycling, see "Mobile Phone Recycling Explained in 2...
• User Guide - Page 99
... device again. For more info, contact your service provider. Windows Phone software license terms The software in this device includes software licensed by Nokia from Microsoft Corporation or its affiliates. To access the Windows Phone software license terms, select Settings > about . Please read the terms. Please note that by using the ...
• User Guide - Page 101
... or otherwise be harmful to your device or computer. Be cautious when accepting connectivity requests, browsing the internet, or downloading content. Do not accept ... from sources you do not trust. Only install and use services and software from sources that you trust and that offer adequate security and protection. Install antivirus and other security software on your device and any connected ...
• User Guide - Page 103
... Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows and the Windows logo are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. Downloading of maps, games, music and videos ..., author, composer, or publisher. You will only be entitled to use music downloaded from Nokia Music in accordance with the restrictions on use that apply to that particular piece of music as set out under "Rights" on ...
• User Guide - Page 107
...58, 60 60 95 74 63 34 95 97 95 97 92 97 29 35, 72 95 97 45 26, 42 SIM card SMS, See text messages social networks software update start screen status updates Store -browsing -buying -downloading -reviewing -searching support switching on/off T text input themes tones -personalizing touch screen transferring content troubleshooting U updates ...
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The Counseling and Psychology Center - Psychological Assessments
The Counseling and Psychology Center - Dr. Sharon Gray, Psychologist
Benefits of Psychological Assessments for Adults or Children
Dr. Gray may recommend psychological testing to determine your and/or your child’s strengths and weaknesses so that everyone involved—including physicians, counselors, family and teachers or employers— can better understand how your and/or your child’s brain and reasoning skills work.
These standardized tests evaluate cognitive functions such intelligence, language, visual-motor skills, attention and organizational skills.
Testing is helpful when diagnosing or developing treatment plans for certain mental health conditions (ADD/ADHD, Dyslexia or other reading problems, Autism Spectrum Disorder including Aspergers Syndrome, Depression, OCD, Mood Disorders),learning disabilities, or problems at school or work.
The primary goal of psychological testing is to give you and/or your child the attention he or she needs to succeed in all aspects of life.Then, if necessary, we’ll connect you with the right resources to help you and/or your child succeed at home at school or at work.
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Kerala astronomers
This is the diagram of Manda Kriya, Reduction to the Heliocentric Coordinate System, given by the equation R e Sin M, where e is eccentricity, R is the Radius of the Circle, M is the Anomaly.
The Manda Anomaly is found out by subtracting Aphelion, Mandoccha from the Mean Longitude.
Mean Longitude – Aphelion = Manda Anomaly.
R = 360/ 2 Pi or 180/Pi or 57.3*60*60 = 206265 seconds or Vikalas.
This amount thus got is added to the mean longitude if ML > 180 and deducted if ML < 180.
The Kerala astronomers predate their Western counterparts, particularly Kepler and Laplace by centuries. In his Thesis ” The Model of Planetary Motion in the works of the Kerala astronomers”, Prof Ramasubramaniam, Physics Professor, Madurai University observes ” In conclusion, it may be noted that there is a vast literature on astronomy, including mathematics, both in Sanskrit and Malayalam produced by the Kerala School during the period 14-19th century. Only a fraction of it has been published and so far only a few studies of these texts have appeared “.
The era and the astronomer
Parameswara – 15th century
Neelakanta – 16th century
Kepler 17th
Laplace 18
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Letters: Why challenge Voting Rights now? - East Valley Tribune: Letters To The Editor
Letters: Why challenge Voting Rights now?
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Posted: Thursday, September 29, 2011 3:30 am
Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne is using state resources to challenge the federal government on the Voting Rights Act. Tom Horne said, "Arizona has been subjected to enforcement actions for problems that were either corrected nearly 40 years ago and have not been repeated, or penalized for alleged violations that have no basis in the Constitution."
Really? In 2006 Congress unanimously reauthorized Arizona to remain on the list of states that require pre-clearance. I wonder why our attorney general feels it is necessary to challenge the requirement now. Is our attorney general convinced that intentional racial discrimination does not occur in Arizona's voting laws? Or is he seeking to make a larger name for himself, paid for by you and me.
Suzanne Jones, Mesa
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@techreport{Zibrowius2012Convergence, abstract = {Using a rich panel data set, I estimate wage assimilation patterns for immigrants in Germany as an example of a key European destination country. This study contributes to the literature by performing separate estimations by skill groups. Comparisons with similar natives reveal that immigrants' experience earnings profiles are flatter on average, although clear differences exist between skill groups. The effect of time spent in the host country is significantly positive and thus partly offsetting the diverging trend in the experience earnings profiles. Still, wage differences between natives and immigrants remain. They are particularly noticeable for highly skilled immigrants, the group needed most in Germany's skill intensive labor market.}, address = {Berlin}, author = {Michael Zibrowius}, copyright = {http://www.econstor.eu/dspace/Nutzungsbedingungen}, keywords = {F22; J31; J61; 330; international migration; wage differentials; assimilation; longitudinal data}, language = {eng}, number = {479}, publisher = {Deutsches Institut f\"{u}r Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)}, title = {Convergence or divergence? Immigrant wage assimilation patterns in Germany}, type = {SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10419/62343}, year = {2012} }
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Petrina cover
It's New Year's Eve, 2091. Party time at the Heavenly Retreat space habitat, The Sleaziest Place In The Solar SystemTM.
The crew of the space freighter Big Momma think they've found an easy job, carrying cargo from the Heavenly Retreat to the backwater asteroid of Petrina. But life is never easy around the kind of passengers willing to pay for a cabin on their ship.
Horror Movie cover
Horror Movie
An indie crew shooting a werewolf movie in a remote part of Britain run into something worse than the producer's sex drive.
Coming Soon
Short Stories
One That Got Away cover
The One That Got Away
My uncle has told some tall tales in his time, but this one is a whopper. Time travel, aliens and fishing on Europa?
4,000 word short story.
Endless Love cover
Endless Love
Cara has two problems. Bob the rugby-playing accountant wants to marry her, but Geoff the mad scientist whose inventions are going to make him rich and famous one day doesn’t.
Fortunately Geoff’s new invention might solve both problems at once.
SF short story, approx 4,000 words.
Petrina cover
2070 Universe
The universe where many of my stories are set. Expect plenty of short stories and novels there in the next few years.
Final Contact cover
The Future
Far future high-tech space opera. Expect plenty of short stories and novels there in the next few years.
Area 52: Arrival cover
Area 52
When Ron Durston is called up for National Service, all he wants is to be posted somewhere sunny like Tahiti or Weymouth where he can fraternise with the native girls and come home with a medal or two to impress the local girls. Instead he finds himself standing guard in Ass-End, Yorkshire where the winter is cold, the native girl is invisible, the Nazis haven't accepted that the war is over and the local wildlife includes a large furry creature with big teeth and a doll fixation.
Stories from a parallel universe where every supernatural or conspiracy story you ever heard happens to be true.
Space Weasels cover
Dirk Beretta
Once the poster boy for the Space Marines, Dirk Beretta quit after the Space Weasels killed most of his battalion at the Battle of Din Bin Foo... then served them for lunch with a nice Merlot. Now he makes a living as a galaxy-spanning trouble-shooter and playboy.
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Manijeh Razeghi
Manijeh Razeghi wins IBM Faculty AwardWe are very pleased to announce that Prof. Manijeh Razeghi has won the IBM Faculty Award for 2013! The IBM Faculty Award is a monetary award to university faculty members to foster collaboration between researchers at leading universities and those in IBM research, development and services organizations.
The awards are selected based on the global competitiveness and intended openness of the project. In addition, the program aims at promoting open courseware and curriculum innovation to stimulate growth in disciplines and geographies that are strategic to IBM.
To receive a Faculty Award, candidates must be nominated by an IBM employee with common interests who will serve as a liaison for the collaboration. Read more about the IBM University Awards.
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famous poetry
Hunting Of Pau-Puk Keewis, The Analysis
Author: Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Type: Poetry Views: 163
Full of wrath was Hiawatha
When he came into the village,
Found the people in confusion,
Heard of all the misdemeanors,
All the malice and the mischief,
Of the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis.
Hard his breath came through his nostrils,
Through his teeth he buzzed and muttered
Words of anger and resentment,
Hot and humming, like a hornet.
"I will slay this Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Slay this mischief-maker!" said he.
"Not so long and wide the world is,
Not so rude and rough the way is,
That my wrath shall not attain him,
That my vengeance shall not reach him!"
Then in swift pursuit departed
Hiawatha and the hunters
On the trail of Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Through the forest, where he passed it,
To the headlands where he rested;
But they found not Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Only in the trampled grasses,
In the whortleberry-bushes,
Found the couch where he had rested,
Found the impress of his body.
From the lowlands far beneath them,
From the Muskoday, the meadow,
Pau-Puk-Keewis, turning backward,
Made a gesture of defiance,
Made a gesture of derision;
And aloud cried Hiawatha,
From the summit of the mountains:
"Not so long and wide the world is,
Not so rude and rough the way is,
But my wrath shall overtake you,
And my vengeance shall attain you!"
Over rock and over river,
Through bush, and brake, and forest,
Ran the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis;
Like an antelope he bounded,
Till he came unto a streamlet
In the middle of the forest,
To a streamlet still and tranquil,
That had overflowed its margin,
To a dam made by the beavers,
To a pond of quiet water,
Where knee-deep the trees were standing,
Where the water lilies floated,
Where the rushes waved and whispered.
On the dam stood Pau-Puk-Keewis,
On the dam of trunks and branches,
Through whose chinks the water spouted,
O'er whose summit flowed the streamlet.
From the bottom rose the beaver,
Looked with two great eyes of wonder,
Eyes that seemed to ask a question,
At the stranger, Pau-Puk-Keewis.
On the dam stood Pau-Puk-Keewis,
O'er his ankles flowed the streamlet,
Flowed the bright and silvery water,
And he spake unto the beaver,
With a smile he spake in this wise:
"O my friend Ahmeek, the beaver,
Cool and pleasant Is the water;
Let me dive into the water,
Let me rest there in your lodges;
Change me, too, into a beaver!"
Cautiously replied the beaver,
With reserve he thus made answer:
"Let me first consult the others,
Let me ask the other beavers."
Down he sank into the water,
Heavily sank he, as a stone sinks,
Down among the leaves and branches,
Brown and matted at the bottom.
On the dam stood Pau-Puk-Keewis,
O'er his ankles flowed the streamlet,
Spouted through the chinks below him,
Dashed upon the stones beneath him,
Spread serene and calm before him,
And the sunshine and the shadows
Fell in flecks and gleams upon him,
Fell in little shining patches,
Through the waving, rustling branches.
From the bottom rose the beavers,
Silently above the surface
Rose one head and then another,
Till the pond seemed full of beavers,
Full of black and shining faces.
To the beavers Pau-Puk-Keewis
Spake entreating, said in this wise:
"Very pleasant Is your dwelling,
O my friends! and safe from danger;
Can you not, with all your cunning,
All your wisdom and contrivance,
Change me, too, into a beaver?"
"Yes!" replied Ahmeek, the beaver,
He the King of all the beavers,
"Let yourself slide down among us,
Down into the tranquil water."
Down into the pond among them
Silently sank Pau-Puk-Keewis;
Black became his shirt of deer-skin,
Black his moccasins and leggings,
In a broad black tail behind him
Spread his fox-tails and his fringes;
He was changed into a beaver.
"Make me large and make me larger,
Larger than the other beavers."
"Yes," the beaver chief responded,
"When our lodge below you enter,
In our wigwam we will make you
Ten times larger than the others."
Thus into the clear, brown water
Silently sank Pau-Puk-Keewis:
Found the bottom covered over
With the trunks of trees and branches,
Hoards of food against the winter,
Piles and heaps against the famine;
Found the lodge with arching doorway,
Leading into spacious chambers.
Here they made him large and larger,
Made him largest of the beavers,
Ten times larger than the others.
"You shall be our ruler," said they;
"Chief and King of all the beavers."
But not long had Pau-Puk-Keewis
Sat in state among the beavers,
When there came a voice, of warning
From the watchman at his station
In the water-flags and lilies,
Saying, "Here Is Hiawatha!
Hiawatha with his hunters!"
Then they heard a cry above them,
Heard a shouting and a tramping,
Heard a crashing and a rushing,
And the water round and o'er them
Sank and sucked away in eddies,
And they knew their dam was broken.
On the lodge's roof the hunters
Leaped, and broke it all asunder;
Streamed the sunshine through the crevice,
Sprang the beavers through the doorway,
Hid themselves in deeper water,
In the channel of the streamlet;
But the mighty Pau-Puk-Keewis
Could not pass beneath the doorway;
He was puffed with pride and feeding,
He was swollen like a bladder.
Through the roof looked Hiawatha,
Cried aloud, "O Pau-Puk-Keewis
Vain are all your craft and cunning,
Vain your manifold disguises!
Well I know you, Pau-Puk-Keewis!"
With their clubs they beat and bruised him,
Beat to death poor Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Pounded him as maize is pounded,
Till his skull was crushed to pieces.
Six tall hunters, lithe and limber,
Bore him home on poles and branches,
Bore the body of the beaver;
But the ghost, the Jeebi in him,
Thought and felt as Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Still lived on as Pau-Puk-Keewis.
And it fluttered, strove, and struggled,
Waving hither, waving thither,
As the curtains of a wigwam
Struggle with their thongs of deer-skin,
When the wintry wind is blowing;
Till it drew itself together,
Till it rose up from the body,
Till it took the form and features
Of the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis
Vanishing into the forest.
But the wary Hiawatha
Saw the figure ere it vanished,
Saw the form of Pau-Puk-Keewis
Glide into the soft blue shadow
Of the pine-trees of the forest;
Toward the squares of white beyond it,
Toward an opening in the forest.
Like a wind it rushed and panted,
Bending all the boughs before it,
And behind it, as the rain comes,
Came the steps of Hiawatha.
To a lake with many islands
Came the breathless Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Where among the water-lilies
Pishnekuh, the brant, were sailing;
Through the tufts of rushes floating,
Steering through the reedy Islands.
Now their broad black beaks they lifted,
Now they plunged beneath the water,
Now they darkened in the shadow,
Now they brightened in the sunshine.
"Pishnekuh!" cried Pau-Puk-Keewis,
"Pishnekuh! my brothers!" said he,
"Change me to a brant with plumage,
With a shining neck and feathers,
Make me large, and make me larger,
Ten times larger than the others."
Straightway to a brant they changed him,
With two huge and dusky pinions,
With a bosom smooth and rounded,
With a bill like two great paddles,
Made him larger than the others,
Ten times larger than the largest,
Just as, shouting from the forest,
On the shore stood Hiawatha.
Up they rose with cry and clamor,
With a whir and beat of pinions,
Rose up from the reedy Islands,
From the water-flags and lilies.
And they said to Pau-Puk-Keewis:
"In your flying, look not downward,
Take good heed and look not downward,
Lest some strange mischance should happen,
Lest some great mishap befall you!"
Fast and far they fled to northward,
Fast and far through mist and sunshine,
Fed among the moors and fen-lands,
Slept among the reeds and rushes.
On the morrow as they journeyed,
Buoyed and lifted by the South-wind,
Wafted onward by the South-wind,
Blowing fresh and strong behind them,
Rose a sound of human voices,
Rose a clamor from beneath them,
From the lodges of a village,
From the people miles beneath them.
For the people of the village
Saw the flock of brant with wonder,
Saw the wings of Pau-Puk-Keewis
Flapping far up in the ether,
Broader than two doorway curtains.
Pau-Puk-Keewis heard the shouting,
Knew the voice of Hiawatha,
Knew the outcry of Iagoo,
And, forgetful of the warning,
Drew his neck in, and looked downward,
And the wind that blew behind him
Caught his mighty fan of feathers,
Sent him wheeling, whirling downward!
All in vain did Pau-Puk-Keewis
Struggle to regain his balance!
Whirling round and round and downward,
He beheld in turn the village
And in turn the flock above him,
Saw the village coming nearer,
And the flock receding farther,
Heard the voices growing louder,
Heard the shouting and the laughter;
Saw no more the flocks above him,
Only saw the earth beneath him;
Dead out of the empty heaven,
Dead among the shouting people,
With a heavy sound and sullen,
Fell the brant with broken pinions.
But his soul, his ghost, his shadow,
Still survived as Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Took again the form and features
Of the handsome Yenadizze,
And again went rushing onward,
Followed fast by Hiawatha,
Crying: "Not so wide the world is,
Not so long and rough the way Is,
But my wrath shall overtake you,
But my vengeance shall attain you!"
And so near he came, so near him,
That his hand was stretched to seize him,
His right hand to seize and hold him,
When the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis
Whirled and spun about in circles,
Fanned the air into a whirlwind,
Danced the dust and leaves about him,
And amid the whirling eddies
Sprang into a hollow oak-tree,
Changed himself into a serpent,
Gliding out through root and rubbish.
With his right hand Hiawatha
Smote amain the hollow oak-tree,
Rent it into shreds and splinters,
Left it lying there in fragments.
But in vain; for Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Once again in human figure,
Full in sight ran on before him,
Sped away in gust and whirlwind,
On the shores of Gitche Gumee,
Westward by the Big-Sea-Water,
Came unto the rocky headlands,
To the Pictured Rocks of sandstone,
Looking over lake and landscape.
And the Old Man of the Mountain,
He the Manito of Mountains,
Opened wide his rocky doorways,
Opened wide his deep abysses,
Giving Pau-Puk-Keewis shelter
In his caverns dark and dreary,
Bidding Pau-Puk-Keewis welcome
To his gloomy lodge of sandstone.
There without stood Hiawatha,
Found the doorways closed against him,
With his mittens, Minjekahwun,
Smote great caverns in the sandstone,
Cried aloud in tones of thunder,
"Open! I am Hiawatha!"
But the Old Man of the Mountain
Opened not, and made no answer
From the silent crags of sandstone,
From the gloomy rock abysses.
Then he raised his hands to heaven,
Called imploring on the tempest,
Called Waywassimo, the lightning,
And the thunder, Annemeekee;
And they came with night and darkness,
Sweeping down the Big-Sea-Water
From the distant Thunder Mountains;
And the trembling Pau-Puk-Keewis
Heard the footsteps of the thunder,
Saw the red eyes of the lightning,
Was afraid, and crouched and trembled.
Then Waywassimo, the lightning,
Smote the doorways of the caverns,
With his war-club smote the doorways,
Smote the jutting crags of sandstone,
And the thunder, Annemeekee,
Shouted down into the caverns,
Saying, "Where is Pau-Puk-Keewis!"
And the crags fell, and beneath them
Dead among the rocky ruins
Lay the cunning Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Lay the handsome Yenadizze,
Slain in his own human figure.
Ended were his wild adventures,
Ended were his tricks and gambols,
Ended all his craft and cunning,
Ended all his mischief-making,
All his gambling and his dancing,
All his wooing of the maidens.
Then the noble Hiawatha
Took his soul, his ghost, his shadow,
Spake and said: "O Pau-Puk-Keewis,
Never more in human figure
Shall you search for new adventures'
Never more with jest and laughter
Dance the dust and leaves in whirlwinds;
But above there in the heavens
You shall soar and sail in circles;
I will change you to an eagle,
To Keneu, the great war-eagle,
Chief of all the fowls with feathers,
Chief of Hiawatha's chickens."
And the name of Pau-Puk-Keewis
Lingers still among the people,
Lingers still among the singers,
And among the story-tellers;
And in Winter, when the snow-flakes
Whirl in eddies round the lodges,
When the wind in gusty tumult
O'er the smoke-flue pipes and whistles,
He is dancing through the village,
He is gathering in his harvest!"
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Parrot's introducing a new device today, the 3400LS-GPS, a Bluetooth car kit equipped with GPS that can send the vehicle's position to a smartphone or PDA. Apparently, it's the first time a Bluetooth hands-free kit has been combined with a color LCD and a GPS receiver (though we're hesitant to peg that as truth). The system should be compatible with most navigation software, including Navigon, Route 66, Tom Tom and Viamichelin, as well as most all Bluetooth-enabled phones and PDAs. Once installed, the 3400LS lets you make and receive calls using voice recognition, and pipe those calls through your car's speakers. It'll even let you sync up ringtones and wallpaper with your cellphone. Doesn't appear to be any word on price just yet though, so stay tuned.
[Via Slashphone]
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cowon plenue z2
Just mention the company's name, and a pair of things come to mind: world-beating sound quality, and above-average prices. Such is life when you're Cowon, which has informed us that its Plenue Z2 portable media player will be shipping to the US of A in May. Based on details shared to us from a Cowon spokesperson, "early May" is the targeted release window, which makes sense given the unit's FCC debut back in December of 2011. We've learned that it'll ship in 16GB (white only) and 32GB (black only) sizes, with prices set for $279.99 and $319.99 in order of mention. As for specs? Glad you asked. Rather than relying on one of Cowon's proprietary operating systems, the Z2 will ship with Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), while measuring 62.8- x 116.5- x 11.8-millimeters, weighing 116 grams and boasting a 3.7-inch (800 x 480) capacitive touchpanel.
On the audio side, you'll get a typical 20Hz to 20,000Hz frequency range, 29mW + 29mW maximum outlet and a 95dB signal-to-noise ratio. There's also an HDMI output, a microSD expansion slot, built-in FM radio tuner, 802.11b/g/n WiFi module, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR and an internal microphone. The outfit claims that this guy can last some 22 hours when playing back music alone, while video junkies will see 8.5 hours of their favorite Family Guy clips before needing a rejuvenation session. Not surprisingly, the Z2 also supports a smorgasbord of file formats, including AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MKV, MPG, DAT, 3GP -- tired yet? -- DivX, XviD, H.264, WMA, OGG, PMC and FLAC. We managed to grab hold of a unit prior to its launch here in the States; head on past the break to hear our take.
Gallery | 57 Photos
Cowon Plenue Z2 hands-on and unboxing
In many ways, the Plenue Z2 is a refashioned D3. If you'll recall, we applauded Cowon for choosing Android as the underlying OS on its D3 around 13 months ago, but the underpowered processor and kludgy nature of it all made it impossible for us to wholeheartedly recommend. The Z2, in a phrase, is what the D3 should've been. The design isn't anything jaw-dropping -- the hard, sharp corners remind us of an era gone by -- but it manages to work. The soft-touch rear is smooth to the touch (and won't easily slip out of a sweaty subway palm), and in addition to a volume rocker, there's a thoroughly brilliant trio of buttons that allow users to skip to the next track, rewind a track or play / pause whatever's spinning. The ability to throw a playlist on and use physical buttons to do the rest while the device stays in one's pocket is a serious boon for fitness junkies.
The screen itself is surprisingly crisp and responsive. Thankfully, Cowon has opted for a capacitive display here, and the touch response was just as good as on our Galaxy S II. In fact, that's indicative of the overall system. Unlike the D3, which pained us with its sluggishness, the Z2 is stunningly quick. Bootup takes but a few seconds, and both apps and new screens load instantly. This is how an Android PMP is supposed to run. Commands are simply accepted and completed; there's no perceived lag, no "thinking." It just works. The system speed improvement is the single most impressive update to the Z2, and it's sure to give those looking into a Galaxy Player something else to consider.
Per usual, Cowon's ability to support a multitude of files and deliver them with the world's best sound quality makes this unit a contender. We're thrilled to report that the audio quality here is just as good as it has been on all prior Cowon units, and in fact, it may even be a bit better. We tested out a number of earbuds -- everything from the (fairly substandard) included ones to the higher-end Klipsch Image X10i -- and were consistently blown away. Lows were tight and punchy, mids were powerful without being muddy, and highs were punctual without being shrill. It's also worth commending Cowon again for the JetEffect EQ presets. We're typically not ones to hand praise over to gimmicky audio filters, but the ones included here are genuinely useful, and we're pretty sure there's a preset that'll bring more life out of whatever headphones or car speakers you have at your disposal.
There's also Bluetooth (for audio streaming) and WiFi, the latter of which we found to be greatly useful. Cowon has thrown in a basic calendar, email client, VoIP dialer, web browser and Twitter application, all of which help to make this more than your average MP3 player. Sadly, there's still no access to the Android Market Google Play, but sideloading APKs is indeed supported. It's worth noting that the internal storage arrives formatted as NTFS, so devout Mac users will need to invest in Paragon (or similar) in order to write files to the memory. That aside, we're pleased as punch to see a microSD slot for adding your own room, and a conventional micro-USB port instead of some proprietary socket.
Overall, the Z2 is a fantastic unit for those who cherish audio quality above all else, but there's no question that the price tag will frighten off all but the most serious audiophiles. The gap isn't as large as it once was, but a 32GB Plenue Z2 is still $20 higher than a 32GB iPod touch, and Samsung's new Galaxy Player 4.2 will soon sell for just $199.99. That said, we'd rate Cowon's audio quality, file support and battery life higher than either of those rivals; if your priorities are arranged as such, you'll find lots to love in May.
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Homework Help
Describe any piece of music that carries a political message.What is the message and is...
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Jessica Gardner | High School Teacher | eNotes Employee
Posted September 7, 2012 at 6:12 PM via web
dislike 11 like
Describe any piece of music that carries a political message.
What is the message and is it effective for conveying the belief or political message?
3 Answers | Add Yours
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iklan100 | College Teacher | Valedictorian
Posted September 7, 2012 at 9:24 PM (Answer #1)
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I would also like to add that a very famous musical composition, with an obvious, strong and passionate 'political' influence and 'message,' is Beethoven's Symphony No 3, in E flat major, generally/popularly known to us as the 'Eroica' (Italian for 'heroic') Symphony. It is probably one of the loveliest works in 19th century Western classical music, and steeped in a Romantic idealsm that quite signified the times, when Romanticism was replacing Classicism in a transitional phase.
In technical terms, the symphony is broadly divisible into four 'movements' i.e. 1st a sonata allegro; the 2nd a funeral march in C minor ; the 3rd is a scherzo, with lively tone and the 4th, a set of variations often termed the 'Eroica variations'. Together, the symphony is a true masterpiece imbued with bold and subtle strokes, composed between 1804-1806 probably.
This ws the time when the 18th century with its rigid 'classical' doctrines was fading out and artists such as Beethoven still remembered and celebrated the recent past events of the French revolution (1789-1792) and found inspiration in this upheaval which had torn aside the old rigid aristocratic system in France and brought in a new air of hope and optimism in all of Europe, one which promised freedom and democratic liberties. Beethoven himself was deeply inspired and infleunced by the events of the revolution in France and especially, admired the young 'first Consul' of France, Napoleon Bonaparte--of course, later when Napoleon declared himself an 'Emperor' and became a bit of a tyrant, Beethoven and many other admirers of Napoleon were disillusioned--but, still, at the time of the composition of this particular symphony, dedicated to Napoleon, it was the young, dashing, heroic 'people's army general' who had defeated all the forces of the great 'reactionary' nations and all their best commanders who was firmly in Beethoven's mind, and to him did he dedicate the symphony.
There is, perhaps, no other work of music in the classical repertoire, which is so idealistic, so simply beautiful and yet, so impregnated with a deep and abidng humanitarian, political vision and lofty hope.
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rrteacher | College Teacher | (Level 1) Educator Emeritus
Posted September 7, 2012 at 6:44 PM (Answer #2)
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There are innumerable examples of music, popular and otherwise, that are political in nature. One particularly powerful song that took a major issue head-on was Billie Holliday's "Strange Fruit," which sought to draw the issue of lynching into the national consciousness. The lyrics, which were written by Abel Meeropol, were damning, and worth quoting at length:
Southern trees bear strange fruit
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh
Here is fruit for the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop
Here is a strange and bitter cry
The lyrics juxtaposed an idealized version of the "gallant south" with a visceral evocation of the physical effects of a lynching, including blood, the "bulging eyes" of a hanged man, and "burning flesh." In so doing, it painted Southern whites as hypocrites. But equally essential to the song's power was Holiday's delivery of these sad lyrics. Holiday recorded the song over the objections of her label, financing the project herself, and her delivery was both haunting and powerful. She sang the song in a hushed, mournful tone, a decision that only underscored her indignation. For years, she ended most of her live shows with the song, which she usually began with her eyes closed and head bowed as in prayer. She also insisted that waiters stop serving drinks during the performance of the song, so as not to interfere with its gravity. The song, which has been named "song of the century" by multiple music critics, is a dramatic example of how powerful lyrics and considerable vocal talent can be brought to bear on a political issue.
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portd | (Level 3) Associate Educator
Posted September 7, 2012 at 6:50 PM (Answer #3)
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One song that carries a political message, is an older one, "Monster" by the band Steppenwolf. The song is an anthem against corruption, greed, war, and such. The Monster of the song are the combined forces of destruction that are wreaking havoc on America; Especially poignant is the verse:
America, where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster
John Kay and Jerry Edmonton, band members of Steppenwolf, wrote this song.
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Drawing The Line
Watching your telephone expenses like a hawk so you don't pay for unnecessary employee calls or carrier charges is always a good idea. But are you also looking for signs of toll fraud? Although large businesses with bigger phone systems are more at risk, no business is immune, especially as high-tech thieves become more advanced in finding new ways to violate your business.
One way hackers commit toll fraud is by breaking into voice-mail systems and using them without authorization. Although active mailboxes that are password protected are rarely at risk, unused mailboxes are easier targets. Hackers get forwarded to the "phantom extension" from an operator and then enter a default password programmed by the manufacturer to get a dial tone, which they can then use for personal calls.
Calling cards are another area for potential abuse. Known as "shoulder surfing," thieves observe numbers that are punched in when you or your employees call from pay phones or use telephones in unsecured areas.
There are several ways to protect your business. First, never let employees forward callers to an unknown company extension, and change your personal identification numbers frequently. Also, analyze bills as soon as they arrive; excessive calls to certain areas, particularly the 809 area code in the Caribbean, is usually a sign of a problem. Also, some companies, including MCI, soon plan to release software that will allow small businesses to analyze their calling patterns to help spot potential abuses.
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This article was originally published in the August 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Name-Calling.
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When should I call an ambulance?
An ambulance is only needed if a person has a life-threatening seizure or problems after a seizure. Examples of when to call an ambulance include:
• A seizure lasts 5 minutes or longer.
• Seizures occur closer together than usual for that person.
• Breathing becomes difficult or the person appears to be choking.
• The seizure occurs in water.
• Injury may have occurred.
• The person asks for medical help.
Remember, you don’t need to call an ambulance for every seizure! Most seizures occur on their own within a few minutes.
For more information on seizure first aid:
Authored by: Steven C. Schachter | Patricia O. Shafer, RN, MN | Joseph I. Sirven, MD on 9/2013
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Book (TBFGK)
Page by page (19)
Panel by panel (19:1)
Page Info
Turn Number:3 AW
Side's Turn:Gobwin Knob
Previous TBFGK 18 Next TBFGK 20 [edit]
TBFGK 19.jpg
Panels: 9
Previous TBFGK 18 Next TBFGK 20 [edit]
Panel 1
Wanda looks down at Stanley, who is gesturing at a still-crouched Parson. Parson has both hands on his head again.[edit]
Stanley the Plaid: You can't tell me this quivering pail of pus has lead armies.
Parson Gotti: Hundreds.
No. I think... prolly thousands.
Panel 2
Stanley turns his attention fully to Parson again, gesturing with both hands, his mouth falling wide in exasperated disbelief. Wanda glances sideways back at her Ruler, with a long-suffering and somewhat irritated look.[edit]
Stanley the Plaid: And you're going to tell me you've won them all?
Wanda Firebaugh: He is alive, Lord.
Panel 3
A diagonally split panel shows Stanley crossing his arms and sneering, while Parson looks up, his face furrowed but his hands lowered from his temples.[edit]
(In Unison) Stanley the Plaid and Parson Gotti: Debatably. [edit]
Panel 4
Stanley grunts and gestures back at Wanda, striding closer to Parson, who is still crouching. Wanda, her expression dark and her hands behind her back, stands aside.[edit]
Stanley the Plaid: Hunh.
Stand up, Warlord.
What is your name?
Panel 5
Parson half-closes one eye, the other wide, and clenches his teeth in a mixture of anger and extreme discomfort.[edit]
Parson Gotti: Parson Gotti.
And I'm kind of in a lot of pain, dude.
Stanley the Plaid: It was an order.
Panel 6
Stanley raises his fist and shouts.[edit]
Stanley the Plaid: And what kind of a stupid name is that?
Parson Gotti: My granddad's name?
Stanley the Plaid: Get...up!
Panel 7
Wanda continues to look very irritated. She tips her head forward and raises her hand, presumably gesturing towards Parson as she is addressing him.[edit]
Wanda Firebaugh: Commander Parson, if you refuse an order, the spell which summoned you will end your existence entirely.
You must serve your Lord's will and desires. Forever.
Panel 8
Lord Stanley gestures with both hands towards Parson, looking angrily at Wanda as he speaks. Wanda, however, is looking up at Parson... looking way up at Parson, her eyes wide and her mouth forming a comical "o" of surprise. Parson's enormous shadow stretches across the floor. The panel is from Parson's perspective, and his new coworkers look tiny.[edit]
Parson Gotti: Lovely.
Stanley the Plaid: I haven't made him a Commander yet.
I'm not putting this blubbery bag of--
Panel 9
Parson looms far, far above Lord Stanley, eclipsing the light in the Tower of Efdup. Stanley looks up at his new Warlord, who stares down with a very annoyed expression.[edit]
Stanley the Plaid: Wow, he's tall.
You're tall.
Parson Gotti: Or everyone else is short.
Stanley the Plaid: I already have enough reasons to disband you.
I'll ignore one height crack.
[edit] Notes
1. ^ This could be a reference to Erfworld, or just a random grunt of pain.
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Effects of Climate Change on Environmental Resources
A conceptual diagram showing regional environmental resources from the Environmental Consequences of CO2-Climate Interactions: The Need for Integrated Resource Analysis, ORNL/CDIAC-28, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
How will environmental resources such as forests, water, and agriculture be affected by climate change, and what effects will these changes have on the human environment?
State-of-the-art climate impact assessment has several serious shortcomings. Most assessments have studied the response of individual resources to changing climate. For the most part, they have not assessed the role of important interactions between resources. These linkages may cause the effect of climate change on a resource to be greater or lesser than what might be expected from an analysis of the resource considered in isolation.
A comprehensive database of the environmental resources in a region is essential to an integrated regional study, both to characterize the area's resources as they exist today and to serve as input for modeling the response of resources to climate change.
Cushman, R. M., J. C. Waterhouse, and M. P. Farrell. 1989. Environmental consequences of CO2-climate interactions: The need for integrated resource analysis. ORNL/CDIAC-28. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
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Emerson’s Gnostic Democracy
Eric G. Wilson
In 1991, Allen Ginsberg, still stoked by Blake’s sunflower, told the following story to a graduate class of which I was a member.(1) During the sixties, he was asked by a leftist organization to organize an anti-war parade that would feature the usual forms of protest: didactic banners and chants. Weary of such oppositional political practices, Ginsberg suggested a third way.(2) Instead of simply reversing the ideas of the government, and thus rebelling in terms determined by the status quo, why not, he asked, plan a parade in which children would carry flags decorated not with slogans but flowers and fruits? The political organization rejected this seemingly whimsical notion. However, as Ginsberg, studied in Blake, well knew, perhaps the most potent political behaviors are not matters of corporeal warfare, angry masses pressing ideas. The most powerful political acts can be events of spiritual warfare: people awakening to the unseen possibilities of concrete presences. Ginsberg realized that a republic could be, precisely, a republic—a realm of life in which the thing, the res, is the primary concern of the people, the publicus.
Spiritual rebellion grows from attention to a particular presence. Corporeal attack relies on faith in abstract ideology. These apparent contradictions can be resolved in a vision of the thing. If things are not temporal copies of eternal forms or hunks of matter pushed around by mechanical force but numinous events proffering heterogeneous possibilities, then attention to these sites releases one from stale heavens and iron laws and throws one into unrealized horizons, invisible abysses. Likewise, if ideological positions are not meditations on evanescent currents or excursions into abysmal voids but ciphers of impalpable systems, then faith in such political views divorces one from the hums of ungraspable particulars and marries one to predictable forms—the same ideas, the same bodies, the same ruts.
In this context, political agendas of radical and conservative are equally oppressive. The conservative wishes to corral changing energies into prefabricated abstractions: traditional values. The radical defines his system in opposition to stabilities of the right and thus both supports his enemy and severs himself from concrete potentials.(3) The only way out of this impasse of warring abstractions is to embrace a third term beyond the conflict. This tertium quid is the unbridled particular, at once a site for the most traditional and the most radical: the original energy of the ancient universe, the disruptive power of the unpredictable present.
This politics of the thing is problematical. It relies on the idea that one can escape abstraction and the notion that one can transcend political bias. In our contemporary intellectual landscape, in which everyone is “always already” inscribed in discourse that preemptively conceptualizes and politicizes all particular experiences, these speculations concerning the thing sound especially troubling. However, figures like Ginsberg, Blake his teacher, and Emerson, who inflects Blake toward Ginsberg by way of Whitman, suggest that a true democracy—in which each being enjoys the widest range of possibilities for action and thought—emerges precisely from attention to particulars. Though based on an abstract theory of the thing, this concrete scrutiny might briefly liberate from abstraction. Though defined politically as the transcendence of ideology, this focus on the immediate could emancipate from political opposition. This theory is potentially “gnostic”: an attempt to transcend the hylic measures of the demiurge, to reveal the pneumatic sublimities of original things.(4)
In this essay, I explore Emerson’s politics of the thing, a gnostic democracy, to illuminate the possibilities and problems of his ideal republic as well as to emancipate him from reductive interpretive oppositions. A recent collection of essays, The Emerson Dilemma (2001), explores tensions between Emerson the transcendentalist and Emerson the reformer—between the self-reliant contemplative and the communal activist, the idealist haunting the palaces of thought and the pragmatist abolishing injustice.(5) Though this collection ably examines the relationship between these two Emersonian currents, it fails to address the third term I have been sketching—Emerson’s sense of concrete events. In excluding Emerson’s sensitivity to the particular—in presenting him as either a conservative contemplative or a radical reformer—this collection supports a bifurcation that has plagued Emerson studies for years, one that overlooks a major element of his political vision.(6)
Before turning to Emerson, I should borrow a lexicon from Blake, the visionary of the paradoxical interplay between concrete perception and gnostic liberation. Long before his spirit recited “Ah, Sunflower!” to the young Ginsberg, Blake in his marginalia to The Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1798) intoned, “To Generalize is to be an Idiot To Particularize is Alone Distinction of Merit.”(7) “General Knowledge” does not exist, while “Singular & Particular Detail is the Foundation of the Sublime.”(8) These distinctions reverse traditional expectations. Ideas—generally the essentials of knowledge—become delusions. Immediate perceptions—flashes usually corralled into concepts—are now revelations of the real. Theories are ignoble reductions. Direct apprehensions of particulars open into the sublime: the infinite.(9)
Setting aside for the moment the fact that Blake’s statements are themselves abstract theories, let us pause on Blake’s statement on the sublime. Unlike Burke, who maintained that the sublime grows from terrifying empirical experiences, and unlike Kant, who held that the sublime emerges from the mind’s transcendence of forms to the formless,(10) Blake, taking a middle way, believes that the sublime arises from a sensual scrutiny so intense that it penetrates to an unbounded energy at the heart of distinct forms. As Blake intones in The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793), “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite.” This cleansing requires enhanced sensation: “the whole creation will appear infinite” only through “an improvement of sensual enjoyment.” Favoring the abstract over the concrete, one “sees all things only thro’ the narrow chinks of his cavern.”(11) Practicing immediate perception, one apprehends infinity in a grain of sand, and in a bird, an unseen world of delight.
How does abstraction, seemingly attuned to spirit, lead to narrowness and illusion? How does intense perception, ostensibly shackled to matter, open to infinity, to eternity? For Blake, abstraction is egocentric and retrospective. One’s concepts, no matter how putatively universal, arise from past personal experiences. My conception of my ego is an abstraction extrapolated from a selection of past experiences that arrange themselves into a consistent narrative. My ideas of love and redness and black cat and whatnot are ghostly précis arising from numerous particulars of my past, mostly forgotten. These memorial abstractions are necessary for negotiations of experience; however, if one believes that the retrospective ego and its abstractions are the only realities, then one reduces the present to a cipher of the past. He flattens the world to a double of his interior archives. He is doomed to undergo the same experiences over and over. He turns and turns and turns in what Blake calls the “same dull round.”(12)
Intense perception is charitable and prospective. If one breaks through egocentric, retrospective abstractions and immediately apprehends a particular moment, then one does not encounter an example of one’s past, a reduction of the world to the ego’s double. He experiences the concrete event as a discrete, unique pattern of a transpersonal, ungraspable energy. Scrutinizing this thing, here, now—his beloved, or a crocus—he moves from self-consciousness to other-consciousness. He becomes entranced by this particular “isness.” He gazes with increasing intensity. Suddenly, he senses in this entity, naked existence, the mystery of being. The thing becomes an event: a confluence of form and energy, other and same. This vision is of eternity in time.
But what is eternity? It is not unending duration, time everlasting. It is the pure present, not bound to memory and fraught with nostalgia or regret, and not bound to foresight and vexed with fear or anticipation. Not troubled by the pressures of history, eternity is not tensed, not tied to finite verbs. It is infinite. Infinite does not mean boundlessly large, space unceasing. Infinity is pure presence, beyond comparison with other presences that have surrounded and will surround, beyond environmental limitation. Transcending temporal and spatial distinctions, eternity and infinity—negations of the abstractions of minutes and points—are abysmal openings into a realm in which before and after, here and there, blur into a hum of ungraspable being.(13)
This recondite language (ironically abstract) can be viewed in a concrete context. Blake in his annotations to Lavatar’s Aphorisms on Man (1788) says: “the Philosophy of Causes & Consequences misled Lavatar as it has all his cotemporaries. Each thing is its own cause & its own effect Accident is the omission of act in self & the hindering of act in another, This is Vice but all Act [<from individual propensity>] is Virtue. To hinder another is not an act it is the contrary it is a restraint on action both in ourselves & in the person hinderd.”(14) To expect people and things to conform to a determining past and a determined future, to a limiting environment and a bounded horizon, is to hinder them—to impose upon them grids that deprive them of ineffable impulses and unexpected swerves. If one sees only those characteristics that conform to these abstractions, then he commits vice: the reduction of self and other to stable units forever divided—cause and effect, subject and object. In contrast, if one can break through abstractions and perceive immediately another person or thing, then one experiences a being that is the effects of its own causes, free of past and future, context and horizon. To see a being in this way—as an unrepeatable revelation of eternity and infinity—is to enjoy virtue: the unwillingness to hinder the irreducible otherness of that, or this; the willingness to open to how the event uniquely torques the abiding though unknowable pressure of being.
For Blake, Urizen, “horizon” and “your reason,” conspires against eternity and infinity. This faculty is hungry to reduce energy to form, numinous to number. As Blake proclaims in The Book of Urizen (1794), it most desires “joy without pain” and a “solid without fluctuation.”(15) Those who allow this faculty to dominate their perceptions maintain that the cosmos was created and is still maintained by a rational demiurge—Plato’s geometer, Newton’s clockmaker. For these disciples of Urizen, the real is the rational—only those events that correspond, however imperfectly, to prefabricated ideas of order, law, predictability enjoy substantial existence. Irrational and arational occurrences are unreal, wispy denizens of some impalpable void seething with illusion, chaos, error.
The most ardent students of Urizen are, on the one hand, the priest and the king, and, on the other, the heretic and the revolutionary. Not surprisingly, the potentates of religious and political orthodoxy value an organized status quo. Desiring to dictate and police what is real and what is not, they attempt to plot the potentially disruptive perceptions of their subjects onto predictable graphs. Less obviously, iconoclastic rebels are also, often unknowingly, students of Urizen, for they are controlled by the bifurcations of the tyrant. Taking seriously Urizen’s distinction between order and chaos, the rebel sides with turbulence. However, once the iconoclast topples his enemy’s structures, he must impose his own prefabricated arrangements on the world. Hence, he converts from chaos to order, and thus becomes an exemplar of the Urizen he wanted to vanquish. As Blake makes clear, when Urizen aspires to power, he creates his rebellious opposite, Orc.(16) The two principles comprise interdependent systems, each nourishing the other, each secretly mimicking that which it appears to hate.
For Blake, the poetic genius, not the political organizer, emancipates the wounded cosmos from this vicious round of tyranny and anarchy, order and chaos, conservative and radical. Blake’s genius liberates not by conceiving and concocting utopian allegories but through intensely perceiving and painting the minute pulses of the sensual world. The priest and the heretic alike, regardless of their political views, reduce the sun to ratio, the lowest common denominator of all recorded perceptions—to a coin in the sky. Hence, they do not really see the sun at all but an abstraction that keeps vital rays at a safe distance. The poet, unhindered by the politics of the agora, gazes though his eye at the strangely illuminated horizon and witnesses the sun explode into angels intoning “Holy Holy Holy.”(17) He thus experiences the sun as a numinous revelation of imaginative possibilities. Disclosing such visions in his works, he transcends the round of competing abstractions. He shocks his readers with the irreducible weirdness of things. He frees them from a temporal, closed universe, its horizons darkened by the mundane shells of memory. He opens them to an eternal, infinite cosmos, fields resilient to retrospection.
Without tracing formally the actual Gnostic influences on Blake (or Emerson), we can understand how Blake’s politics of the particular suggests a gnostic democracy.(18) The Gnostic tradition of the ancient world was not, recall, a homogeneous movement devoted to anti-materialist dualism.(19) Though heresiologists—like Irenaeus and Epiphanius—wanted to reduce a heterogeneous field of visionaries to a horde of apostates, the fact remains: a major current enlivening certain Gnostic sects of Alexandria and Rome in the early centuries of the Common Era had nothing to do with crass dualism and everything to do with perception—seeing, not fasting, as liberation.
Certainly some Gnostics, like Marcion and the anonymous author of The Secret Book According to John, focused on the corruptions of the cosmos crafted by an evil demiurge. In his Antitheses, a work no longer extant but described by Tertullian, Marcion argued that the God of the Old Testament is not the same as the God of the New. For Marcion, the Old Testament deity is inferior to the New Testament one. The former is poor creator, able to craft our botched material cosmos, and a petty tyrant, fixated on rigid codes of justice. The latter is transcendently spiritual, beyond the trappings of the material universe, as well as a font of mercy, indifferent to the laws of the fallen world.(20) The anonymous author of The Secret Book according to John dramatizes Marcion’s theory of two gods. For “John,” the origin of everything is not the Jehovah but a radically transcendent power, an “immeasurable,” “unfathomable,” “unlimited,” “invisible” void—a vast nothing. Out of this mystery emanates several thoughts, or androgynous aeons, each of which is a unique manifestation of its source. This source and its polarized outflows comprise the pleroma, the first fullness. However, one of these aeons, Sophia, disrupts the harmony, causing division, discord, and descent. This error produces the monstrous Ialtobaoth, who is exiled to an inferior material realm outside of the pleroma. He stupidly believes he is the first and only god and proceeds to produce a cosmos poorly modeled on the pleroma. This universe is our own: material instead of spiritual, hierarchical instead of polarized, ruled by a dictator instead of a supple power.(21)
While these two accounts characterize the pervasive dualism in the Gnostic tradition, other, more psychologically sophisticated Gnostics, such as Valentinus and Thomas, meditate less on the evils of matter and more on the emancipatory possibilities of sight.(22) In the Gospel of Truth, Valentinus suggests that inert matter is not a substance but a psychological condition.(23) In the beginning the abysmal plenitude itself, the unknowable deity, spawned from its own depths some primal error, the first ignorance. The instant ignorance emerged, matter appeared in the form of a dense fog. From this miasma grew the more fixed materials of forgetfulness and fear. Eventually, a world coalesced from these states, our own universe ruled by inflexible envy and hard strife, the last precipitates of the initial mist. As long as the subjects of this cosmos are ruled by ignorance—as long as they believe that the universe of the tyrannical demiurge and his viceroys, the priest and the king, is real—they suffer in this dark prison. However, when these denizens cast off psychological fear and desire, then strife and envy, fear and forgetfulness, and ignorance, all fade away, and what is left a nimble, springing abyss of energy and light: the origin of being, the spark of life.(24) In a similar way, in Thomas’s Gospel, Jesus claims that most men are “intoxicated” by images that cover the light at the core of all things. Only by becoming a “passerby,” by not dwelling on these images, can one penetrate to the light. This light, coeval with the primal abyss and Jesus’ own eternal presence, is immanent, coursing under the clumsy exteriors with which men clothe and control the cosmos: “Split a piece of wood: I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there.”(25)
For Blake, and Emerson, Thomas’s wood and stone would be tantamount to the abstract images that grow from egocentric fear and desire—the fear of the disturbing blooms of the unknown, the desire to reduce the world to predictable bits of discrete stuff. These abstractions—products of the primal error, the first ignorance—stick men and women into self-imposed prisons and divorce them from the mercurial streams of ineffable light. Redemption comes only in passing through these rigid concepts and facing events denuded of ideological trappings. The naked particular erupts into nothing yet seen: an unexpected inflection of the nothing that is everywhere. Beholding this thing, here, now—a ravishing grackle fading to purple—the observer is freed from the ideas that comprise his past, fraught with nostalgia or regret, and the theories that constitute his future, nervous with anticipation or dread. He is shocked by the present—a glimmer of untensed energy beyond seconds—and by the presence—a formless luminosity unhindered by points. His enduring ideologies become constraining illusions. His immediate perceptions turn vital currents.
These meditations on the political life of the thing suggest two problems and two points that I should note before turning to Emerson proper. First of all, this theory of the thing is itself an abstraction and thus part of a system of expectations that could easily divorce one from immediate perception. If I approach an event—a crocus, say, or a man sewing—and expect it to bloom into eternal glimmers and infinite currents, then I am necessarily imposing onto this instant a set of general suppositions that blind me to unique resonances. Even though Blake in gazing at the sun avoids empiricist ratio, he still seems to rely on the concepts of Christianity—angels intoning over the holy. How, then, is this theory of the concrete perception distinct from other abstractions that preclude immediate witness? Blake’s theory, though necessarily abstract, separates itself from other abstract theories in this way: its only reason for being is to undercut abstract theories. It is a self-erasing proposition, a map to be discarded once the destination appears over the horizon. Hence, even if it is difficult to escape abstractions once and for all, at least this vision of the particular questions the power and reality of abstractions and thus possibly opens an uncanny space where the long repressed thing can return.
But what if it is impossible for humans to transcend abstractions? What if, as the Derrideans and the Foucauldians maintain, everyone is inscribed in a sign system that dictates what can be seen and said, that like a Kantian category excludes the ding-an-sich? What if Blake envisions not the sublime sun but the discourse of his day? If there is nothing outside the text, nothing beyond the discourses of power, then things are but mere ciphers of the human rage for order. Yet, surely something unhuman existed for the millions of years before the eye opened into consciousness. The same endured for the additional millennia upon millennia before the tongue began to speak. An unfamiliar current springs and dives beyond thought and word. Even if humans are incarcerated in a prison house of language, these same humans have coursing through their veins the curious rhythms that have been thumping since the primal soup first felt lightning. If we are ever going to break through this prison to the sublime indifference of nonhuman things—and there is good reason to believe that some, like Blake and Emerson, already have—then in the cells themselves hides the key: a theory, comprised of words and thoughts, that says that the prison, also made of languages and ideas, is only half-real, a phantom through which one might one day slide, and find on the other side palpable bloods and saps that were formerly only the sceneries of dreams.
This theory of the thing relies on the optative mood.(26) One cannot say of it, it is true. One can only intone: this vision inspires actions that might shatter the very ideas on which the vision is based and leave one extended into a sublime realm of disturbing yet gorgeous possibilities. In this way, Blake’s, and Emerson’s, sense of the thing weakens the rift between idealism and pragmatism. Relinquishing all abstractions is probably impossible. Yet, even if the desire to be free from conception is ideal, it is a worthy yearning, for it qualifies existing abstractions and makes one more attuned to the ineffable. This idealist striving is not escapist fantasy but pragmatic labor. Refining abstractions, one discards those ideas furthest removed from particular strangeness and keeps remolding those notions closest to concrete breathing.
Gathering pragmatism and idealism into a creative dialectic, the political possibilities of concrete perception also suggest a common ground between political action and transcendental contemplation. The familiar argument goes: the contemplative, attuned to the eternal rhythms of the cosmos, is a quietist who intones, all is well and all shall be well; the activist, worried about local injustices, is a reformer who ameliorates a botched world. The sense of the thing as a site of the sublime merges these two views. Perceiving in the particular a unique inflection of the eternal present, of infinite presence, one contemplates the intrinsic value of each being. Inspired by this vision, one engages in activities—artistic, philosophical—that open others to the importance of the singular. These activities are political, for they connect the same to the different, the habitual to the strange.
Unlike Blake, who learned his vision of particular from his artistic discipline, Emerson gleaned his theory of the thing from his scientific studies. Neglected in discussions of the political Emerson, the sciences emerging at the turn of the nineteenth century significantly informed how he came to apprehend the relationship between the many and the one, individual and the collective, the bounded and the boundless. To study Emerson’s idea of the political life in the contexts of his embrace of certain trends in early nineteenth-century science is to find the third term capable of bridging the ostensible gaps between transcendentalist and reformer, idealist and pragmatist.
Recent theorists such as Katherine Hayles have cautioned against connecting politics and nature.(27) This admonishment grows out of fear that organic visions of nature, in which parts move only in relation to a whole, translate to totalitarian states, in which the whole determines the motions of the parts. Yet, this fear is based on a limited idea of the organic. One can see an organic universe as a system in which a homogeneous spirit dictates heterogeneous forms. But one can also view a living cosmos as a tense, dynamic, unpredictable interaction between boundless energy and bounded form, abyss and pattern, chaos and order. In this latter case, individuals are not mere exponents of a stable whole but non-identical eddies on tumultuous current, paralogical sites of stasis and flux. As Jean-Francois Lyotard has argued, a politics of emancipation might correspond to this cosmos—a vision skeptical toward totalizing narratives and attuned to the strange differences of particulars.(28)
As Emerson knew, several late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century scientists hungered for the sublime. In his Critique of Pure Reason (1781), Kant not only inaugurated a Copernican revolution in epistemology. He also contributed to a major scientific upheaval: the removal of matter as substance. Countering the Newtonian dogma, Kant claimed that matter is force, a field of energy in varying degrees of density and rarefaction.(29) He was not merely speculating, but rather drawing from his 1755 Theory of the Heavens, in which he had concluded that the universe is an evolving plenum of attractive and repulsive forces.(30) This theory was substantiated by William Herschel in a 1789 paper entitled “Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens,” in which he describes the heavens as “a luxuriant garden” ceaselessly germinating, blooming, fading, and reviving.(31) As Joseph Priestley found in his experiments on plants, as above, so below. Describing his discovery of photosynthesis in Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air (1776), he showed that plants, like humans, live and breathe.(32) At about the same time, Goethe’s scientific studies led him to conclude in On Morphology (1823) that “Nature has no system; she has—she is—life and development from an unknown center to an unknowable periphery.” Emerging from an abyss to an ungraspable end, the cosmos nonetheless thrives in polarized rhythms—centripetal and centrifugal forces at creative odds.(33) This emphasis on abysmal yet polarized energy over mechanism extended even to geology, whose leading exponent, Hutton, demonstrated in his Theory of the Earth (1788) that the earth is a metamorphosing pattern of infinite durations and forces.(34)
The most powerful instances of this vision came from the scientists of lightning, who found the secret of matter and perhaps life itself in boundless galvanic currents. In 1807, Davy discovered chemical affinity: electricity combines certain elements while dividing others. This revelation inspired him to conjecture in his Elements of Chemical Philosophy (1812) that matter is not comprised of corpuscles but rather of “physical points endowed with attraction and repulsion” and therefore “capable of being measured by their chemical relations.”(35) A few years later, Faraday found evidence for Davy’s hypotheses. Drawing from H.C. Oersted’s 1820 discovery of the equation of electricity and magnetism and from A.M. Ampere’s articulation of the electrodynamic law during the same year, Faraday in 1831 discovered electromagnetic induction. As he later argued in a paper published in his Experimental Researches in Electricity (1831-52), this finding proved that electromagnetic currents fill all space.(36) He explains this theory further in an 1844 essay entitled “A Speculation Touching Electric Conduction and the Nature of Matter”: “[M]atter fills all space, or, at least, all space to which gravitation extends. . . for gravitation is a property of matter dependent on a certain force, and it is this force which constitutes the matter. In that view matter is not merely mutually penetrable, but each atom extends. . . throughout the whole of the solar system, yet always retaining its own centre of force.”(37) An atom, then, is not solid but a bundle of force, a discernible pattern of infinite energy, discrete and distributed simultaneously.
Emerson’s studies in these sublime sciences—especially those of Goethe, Davy, and Faraday—revealed to him that things are not isolated atoms but unique bundles of an unbounded field.(38) Objects are not nouns but verbs, not states but events: tense coincidences of energy and form, centrifugal and centripetal force, stream and vortex. As Emerson proclaimed in an early lecture, “The Naturalist” (1834), “the whole force of the Creation is concentrated upon every point.” A plant, for instance, is a pattern of vast “agencies of electricity, gravity, light, and affinity.”(39) In another early talk, “The Humanity of Science” (1836), Emerson maintains that each thing inflects an abysmal power pervading nature “from the deep centre to an unknown circumference” (EL 2:29). He still confirms such ideas in a late lecture, “Perpetual Forces” (1862): though the fruit falls from the tree without violence, “lightning fell and the storm raged, and strata were deposited an uptorn and bent back, and Chaos moved from beneath to create and flavor the fruit” (W 10:60). Between these pronouncements, Emerson in 1841, in “The Method of Nature,” says that things are mixtures of order and turbulence:
The wholeness we admire in the order of the world is the result of infinite distribution. Its smoothness is the smoothness of the pitch of the cataract. Its permanence is perpetual inchoation. Every nature fact is an emanation, and that from which it emanates is an emanation also, and from every emanation is a new emanation. If anything could stand still, it would be crushed and dissipated by the torrent it resisted, and if it were a mind, would be crazed” (CW 1:124).
Singular events are curling waves on an ocean beyond sounding. This sense informs this terse claim, from the 1841 “Circles”: “There are no fixtures in nature. The universe is fluid and volatile. Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit” (1:89).
Emerson knew that he could only achieve these sublime visions through attention to particulars. Even in the rather abstract Nature of 1836, Emerson’s famous vision is dependent upon intense perception. He turns into a “transparent eye-ball,” becoming nothing to see all, while closely registering the minutia around him—the bare common, snow puddles, the crepuscular half-light, the cloudy sky. Attending to these details, he escapes the egocentric abstractions that reduce the world to a double of self. Dropping his “mean egotism,” he realizes that his particular being, like all particular beings, is a unique inflection of the “currents of Universal being”: a manifestation of an energy that is eternal—not bounded the burden of the past or the fear of the future—and infinite—not constrained by where it has been or where it is going (N 12-13). Later, in the 1841 “Self-Reliance,” Emerson turns the twilight meadow into a morning rose: “Those roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.” Most men miss this instance of pure presence, for they “do not live in the present” but with “reverted eye lament the past, or stand on tiptoe to foresee the future” (CW 1:38-9). Grasping the abstractions of memory and prediction, these men cannot be “happy or strong, a state that comes only through living with “nature in the present, above time” (39). Still later, in the 1844 “Nominalist and Realist,” Emerson proclaims that nature “resents generalizing, and insults the philosopher in every moment with a million fresh particulars. It is all idle talking: as much as man is a whole, so is he also a part; and it were partial not to see it. . . . You are on thing but nature is one thing and the other thing, in the same moment. She will not remain orbed in a thought. . . . She punishes abstractionists” (2:139). Static concepts fail, as Emerson adds, before particular men, who, like particular things, contain “somewhat spheral and infinite” (140).
Emerson in transcendentalist pieces like “The Over Soul” (1841) favored the ideal over the real. In reform lectures like “The Fugitive Slave Law” (1851), he hailed concrete protest over abstract theorizing. But sometimes Emerson drew from his scientific studies to combine these two modes. Only through intense attention a particular thing or person, can one break through to the eternal present, infinite presence. Only through embracing each thing and person as an intrinsically valuable inflection of sublime being can one become sensitive to the value of existence.
These related ideas inform Emerson’s overt political statements. In “Self-Reliance,” Emerson expresses skepticism toward political institutions, for they require conformity and reduction—the conformity of a heterogeneous mixture to an ideology, reduction of teeming particulars to two principles, us and them, good and evil. These forms of society, liberal or conservative, are in conspiracy against singular presences, against the “thousand-eyed present.” Self-reliance is the “aversion” to these ideologies. It mimics the whims of the morning rose, the flower’s untimed, unspaced spontaneity, instinct, and intuition (CW 1:29-32, 37). Hence, as Emerson proclaims in his 1844 “Politics,” “the less government we have, the better.” The ideal government is “befriended by the laws of things” and thus organized by the “universal” fact of “two poles, of two forces, centripetal and centrifugal.” Reflecting these oscillating polarities, this government is not ideological but regulative: a flexible structure that fosters the “growth of the Individual,” that allows creative antagonism among heterogeneous factions without allowing one faction to overpower the others (2:126). As Emerson adds in “New England Reformers,” also from 1844, only non-conforming individuals, not official governments or ideological institutions, can bring this ideal political body into existence. While party men reduce themselves to abstract principles and thus commit intellectual suicide, individuals, like the auroral roses they imitate, might achieve total regeneration. Open to vital currents of each unpredictable moment and point, they reform with each fresh word and gesture the original energy of being (2:154-5).
Does this mean that all spontaneous actions are political? The unconscious rhythms of nonhuman nature are obviously apolitical. However, when a human animal, self-conscious, tries to perceive immediately the pure present and attempts to participate in the curious processes he senses, then he moves toward a political consciousness close to that of Blake. He tries to live in such a way that he does not hinder others with his egocentric abstractions, and he engages in activities that shatter the narcissistic conceptions of his fellow citizens. Attempting to merge his gnosis of the morning rose and his desire to ameliorate the lives of others, Emerson works to reform aesthetically—to awaken his audiences to the political life through his art.
This does not mean that Emerson pens dogmatic political statements. On the contrary, through his notoriously cryptic, contradictory, uncanny style, he awakens his readers to the irreducible indeterminacy of words, to the sublime strangeness of the image. Perusing dense pieces like Nature, “Self-Reliance,” “Experience,” and “Fate,” one often feels as one does before a blur of colors by Pollock or a stark square of Malevich. One beholds suchness unadorned, concreteness so immediate that it resists interpretation. One experiences what Gaston Bachelard in The Poetics of Space calls the “poetic image,” a unique reverberation of being so striking that it challenges intellectual categories. The poetic image quivers with an unrepeatable novelty. It is an unpredictable, disarming eruption of fresh experience that cannot be causally connected to what has come before or what will come after.(40) Wanting his books “to smell of pines” and to “resound with the hum of insects” (CW 1:34), Emerson in his essays created aesthetic arrestings of prefabricated abstractions. This aesthetic, profoundly non-didactic, is deeply political, a call to release things to be what they are.
Take, for instance, the “transparent eye-ball” passage. Though this sequence may by now seem almost a “transcendentalist” cliché, an abstract formula of Emerson’s philosophy, it is in fact perpetually irreducible to cogent interpretation. It arrests like the crepuscular cloud, jolts like the blowing rose. Notice the first sentence of the passage: Standing on the bare ground,--my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space,--all mean egotism vanishes” (N 12-13). Enacting in language the transformation of ego into “nothing,” Emerson employs a dangling modifier. He does not provide the subject, “I,” that the phrase “[s]tanding on bare ground” clearly modifies. The “I” falls away. Yet, it immediately reappears in another form: “I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God” (13). How can Emerson’s visionary be both nothing and something, formless and formed? Moreover, if he is a purely transparent lens, and thus unable to reflect light (and thus blind), how can he see anything, much less everything? Either he is totally transparent and therefore both blind and clear-sighted, or he is simultaneously transparent and opaque and hence actually capable of sight. We further ask: As a “current” of the “Universal Being,” is this visionary a physical flow, an electromagnetic current, or a divine power, a spiritual draft? Finally, why is the visionary “part or particle” of God? If a part, is he then a synecdoche of God, a cogent pattern revealing and containing the whole? If a particle, is he a speck or fragment broken from a whole, and thus separate from God?
Emerson’s language here is a striking particular, an uncommonly arresting disclosure of nature’s turbid harmonies. Like all disarming events—a cloud gloomy and on fire, an auroral rose quivering—the passage reveals what is always already true of everything else, all other things, though hidden, lurking under stiff abstractions. Emerson’s eye-ball passage, like many of his especially intricate linguistic sequences, functions like a sublime eruption, an event that stuns one to the core. Such explosions move beholders to consider the possibility that all matter patterns immense energy, that all material forms are polarized—that all things, properly, intensely seen, are unique inflections of eternity, infinity.
In the “transparent eye-ball” sequence, Emerson, like Blake before him, demonstrates how aesthetic power can become political inspiration. He and Blake do not crudely maintain that political art relies on political dogma. Their respective aesthetic disciplines gain political power by transcending didactic political statements.
Joyce’s Stephen Dedalus is the best guide to this paradox: the most apolitical art is the most political art. In chapter five of Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1914), Stephen propounds his aesthetic theory. He claims that the aesthetic event is not kinetic, a spur to desire or loathing, but static, an arrest of fear and desire. Kinetic art is “improper art” because it is either “pornographical or didactic,” inciting the urge “to posses, to go to something” or the impulse “to abandon, to go from something.” In this way, all overtly political “art” is improper, for it is both pornographical—proposing that this ideology is desirable—and didactic—arguing that that ideology is deplorable. Feeding the fearing and desiring ego with comforting abstractions, political statement divorces from the concrete, turns men and mollusks to ghosts.(41)
In contrast, “proper” art disarms abstractions by briefly arresting the fears and desires that generate didacticism and pornography in the first place. For instance, tragic pity does not evoke a desire toward a suffering object but “arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the human sufferer.” Likewise, the terror evoked by tragedy does not induce an aversion from the fearsome event; rather, it “arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and constant in human sufferings and unites it with the secret cause.” In the same way, comedy does not encourage temporary pleasure or pain but stills the mind before what is constant in human joy.(42)
These proper arts elevate the mind beyond fear and desire, didacticism and pornography, through their revelations of the concrete resonances. What Stephen calls the “esthetic image” first strikes the mind as a “luminously” “selfbounded and selfcontained” event arising uniquely from “the immeasurable background of space and time.” It shines as this thing and nothing else. It is one whole. It possesses integrity, integritas. The mind follows the “immediate perception” of the synthetic whole with an “analysis of apprehension,” an attention to how the parts cohere into the whole, how the whole gathers the parts. The image now appears as a “complex,” a harmony of many and one. It manifests consonantia. After one has immediately perceived the image as one thing and mediately apprehended it as a consonance of whole and parts, one is finally struck by its shimmering claritas, its radiance as this thing and nothing else, its unique whatness, quidditas. Only this image, here, now, merges parts and whole in quite this way. Only this event, in this instant, devoid of past and future, only this place, beyond surroundings and horizon, inflects existence, life, being, in this particular manner. The mind beholding this thee-fold beauty experiences “the luminous silent stasis of esthetic pleasure, a spiritual state. . . [an] enchantment of the heart.”(43)
Stephen’s radiance, emerging from a concrete experience of a particular image, is akin to gnosis—a sudden insight into the engaging mystery of this particular resonance and no other. This aesthetic gnosis releases events—things and people—from the tyranny of abstraction, the prisons of ideology. Inspired by Blake’s suns and grains of sand, by Emerson’s bare common and his blowing rose, this vision is a momentary liberation of events from edicts.
Following Blake’s prophets and presaging Joyce’s Dedalus, Emerson envisions a “non-representative government”: a civic body that resembles a natural event in presenting the unpresentable, patterning the ungraspable, and merging the irreconcilable. Though this republic is ideal, it is a horizon toward which one can pragmatically pine. Political ideologues will likely avoid as jejune a banner boasting kiwis and petunias, a sun spangled with angels, a snow puddle in the evening. Yet, the engaged artist might cultivate in the blighted world a startling vision of a rare stalk, here, in twilight, under a cloud. From this sight might spring a democracy, gnostic, liberating abysmal things from the deceptive abstractions concocted by tyrannical demiurges.
Eric Wilson's new book, The Spiritual History of Ice (publisher's link here)
1. Ginsberg told this story in a graduate seminar on the Beat literature, which he taught at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where I was matriculated as a Ph.D. student.
2. I do not recall if it was Ginsberg who wanted to feature banners with fruits and flowers or Bob Dylan. Regardless of the particulars of the story, Ginsberg was certainly in favor of this form of protest.
3. I’m obviously being rather reductive here—indeed, rather abstract—in designating only two main political camps: the conservative and the radical. Clearly, not all conservatives merely embrace the status quo and not all radicals simply rebel against the system. Likewise, there are many nuanced positions between these two extremes. In this essay, however, I have for the sake of concision and clarity deployed this distinction that Emerson himself uses in “The Conservative” (1841): the distinction between the conservative and the radical. For Emerson, this is the archetypal conflict in the political arena, between the centripetal pull of the conservative and the centrifugal counter-pull of the radical. Though no one falls purely on one side or the other and though everyone bears elements of both sides in his perspective, these oppositions, simplified as they are, still possess explanatory and rhetorical power.
4. The Emerson Dilemma: Essays on Emerson and Social Reform, ed. T. Gregory Garvey (London and Athens: Univ. of Georgia Press, 2001). The essays in this fine collection explore, as T. Gregory Garvey says, “the relationship between Emerson’s understanding of ‘genius’ and ‘practical power’ as a means of integrating the substantial body of scholarship that explains Emerson’s transcendentalism with recent scholarship that has begun to recover his advocacy of abolitionism and other social reform movements. At the heart of the connection between the essays in this volume is the authors’ desire to understand how Emerson’s reform activism emerges out of his transcendentalism and how the transcendentalism that he developed early in his career shaped his involvement in reform movements during later periods” (xi). In my mind, the only problem with this otherwise excellent connection is that it does not address how Emerson’s interest in the thing, informed by his embrace of science, affected his political vision.
5. This is a point that will become clear later, but it is worth mentioning now: throughout this piece, I use “gnostic” as a generic term to designate a certain set of assumptions, regardless of historical era: one, the origin of the cosmos is not a harmonious One or an orderly Jehovah but an ungraspable abyss containing all oppositions; two, this abyss does not manifest itself in the world as good as opposed to evil or matter opposed to spirit but rather in pairs of mutually interdependent contraries; three, each being in this cosmos is a pattern of this abyss—not a unit of fallen matter separated from eternal harmony or God—and thus a coincidence of opposites, a microcosm of the macrocosm; four, this abysmal energy can be revealed and channeled by certain arts. I use the related term “Gnostic” as a more specific term to signify the historical phenomenon known as “Gnosticism,” which largely took place in Alexandria and Rome in the second and third centuries A.D. The “Gnostic” vision of course shares many elements with the “gnostic” one. Still, Gnostic is more interested in revising Judaism and Christianity than is the gnostic. Likewise, the Gnostic tends to be more averse to matter than the gnostic, and thus more hierarchical, more willing to say that matter is evil and spirit is good.
6. There have of course been excellent studies of Emerson’s political vision. None, however, has attend to how Emerson’s seemingly apolitical sense of the thing—emerging from his passion for natural science—informs his idea of the political. For me, the most profound and provocative meditations on Emerson’s politics are Stanley Cavell’s “Emerson’s Constitutional Amending,” in Philosophical Passages: Wittgenstein, Emerson, Austin, Derrida (Oxford: Blackwell, 1995), 12-41; and George Kateb’s Emerson and Self-Reliance (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1995). Cavell in this essay discusses the ways in which Emerson’s “aversive” philosophical style turns away from reductive concepts and thus enacts the difficulty of being free—of endlessly facing the vital skepticism that accompanies “onward” thinking. In a similar fashion, Kateb argues that Emerson’s “mental” self-reliance—as opposed to “manual,” “physical,” or “practical” self-reliance—is a powerful political act, for it unselfishly studies the very root of the democratic vision: the ability to experience plurality, conflict, and debate without grasping hard to one view that violently excludes all others. Not surprisingly, not all critics have been so well-disposed toward Emerson’s political thinking. Maurice Gonnaud in his An Uneasy Solitude: Individual and Society in the Work of Ralph Waldo Emerson, trans. Lawrence Rosenwald (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1987) (first published in French in 1964) explores the contradictions plaguing Emerson’s supposed liberalism, his constant oscillations between revolution and reaction, especially on the question of slavery. Quentin Anderson in his elegant The Imperial Self (New York: Knopf, 1971) suggests that Emerson, in his desire to transcend culture, was politically anemic, an overly abstract thinker with no attachment to the everyday (48-51). More recently, Christopher Newfield in The Emerson Effect: Individualism and Submission in America (Chicago and London: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1996) disparages Emerson’s ostensible “celebration of democratic freedom” as a ruse for his real concern: to preach submission “to preestablished and unequal conditions” (2). This wide variety of response—and these are only a few among many responses to Emerson’s politics—suggest that none of them is sufficient. However, if, as Kateb urges, Emerson is the “American Shakespeare,” then he seems to posses the quality that Keats found in the Bard: Negative Capability, an aptitude for “being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason.” Certainly Emerson probably inhabited each of these positions at particular times, and never settled once and for all on any one of them. Given this pluralism, it appears that Cavell and Kateb are closer to Emerson’s spirit than Gannauld, Anderson, and Newfield. I hope in this essay to inflect Cavell’s and Kateb’s senses of Emerson through Emerson’s interest in the political possibilities of the thing.
7. William Blake, The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake, ed. David V. Erdman, comm. Harold Bloom (Berkeley and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 1982), 641.
8. Blake, 647.
9. My remarks on Blake’s senses of the concrete are largely informed by Northrop Frye’s still brilliant study Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1947), 3-30.
10. Edmund Burke in A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful (1757), defines the sublime thus: “Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling.” Kant in Critique of Judgment (1790) encounters this empirical sense of the sublime by claiming that “[s]ublimity. . . does not reside in anything of nature, but only in our mind, insofar as we can become conscious that we are superior to nature within, and therefore also to nature without us.”
11. Blake, 39.
12. Blake expresses this idea—that abstract “Philosophical and Experimental” perception reduces experience to repetition—in “There Is No Natural Religion” (1788) (Blake, 2-3).
13. I am here also influenced by Frye, 45-8.
14. Blake, 601.
15. Blake, 71.
16. As Blake claims in Milton (1804), when Urizen rebels against the other forms of life, or Zoas—Luvah (emotion), Tharmas (sensation), and Urthona (imagination), Urthona immediately falls into space and time, divides into male (Los) and female (Enitharmon), and gives birth to Orc the revolutionary (Blake, 97-8).
17. Blake gives this account of seeing the sun in his description of his painting, A Vision of the Last Judgment, now lost (Blake, 565-6).
18. For a good discussion of Blake’s Gnostic influences, see Kathleen Raine, Blake and Tradition (Princeton: Bollingen Press of Princeton Univ. Press, 1968), and Paul Cantor, Creature and Creator: Myth-Making and English Romanticism (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984). For Emerson’s relationship to this esoteric tradition, see Harold Bloom, Agon: Towards a Theory of Revisionism (London and Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press, 1981) and Arthur Versluis, The Esoteric Origins of the American Renaissance (London and New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2001).
19. Of course, Michael Allen Williams in Rethinking “Gnosticism”: An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious Category (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1996) argues that “Gnosticism” as it is usually conceived—as a cogent theological rebellion of the second and third centuries—does not really exist. He shows how the movements traditionally housed under the concept of “Gnosticism” are simply too heterogeneous to form a cogent movement. Williams is convincing in questioning the idea that Gnosticism is a homogeneous phenomenon. However, until another, more accurate term emerges into the lexicon, I feel constrained to use “Gnosticism” (or “gnosticism” [see note 5]) to refer, however loosely, to the set of ideas that I discuss in the following paragraphs.
20. Tertullian, Against Marcion, The Ante-Nicene Fathers: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325, eds. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans, 1979-82), vol. 3, pages 272-285.
21. The Secret Book According to John, The Gnostic Scriptures: Ancient Wisdom for a New Age, trans. and ann. Bentley Layton (New York and London: Doubleday, 1987), 28-38.
22. To sense immediately the heterogeneity of the “Gnostic” movement—ranging from matter-hating dualists to monists hoping to redeem the cosmos—one needs only to glance at the varied works in The Nag Hammadi Library, gen. ed. James M. Robinson (San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1990) or in The Gnostic Scriptures. For an excellent, and moving, account of the heterogeneous fecundity of the Gnostics, see Jacques Lacarriere, The Gnostics (San Francisco: City Lights, 1989).
23. Lacarriere claims that for Valentinus, the awakened man still lives in the material world but is “totally freed from the fetters and corruptions of material nature” (69). Likewise, Hans Jonas states that in the Valentinian speculation, “matter would appear to be a function rather than a substance on its own, a state or ‘affection’ of the absolute being, and the solidified expression of that state” (174). As we shall see, Thomas also views matter as a way of seeing more than as a stable substance. In the cases of both Valentinus and Thomas, matter is negative only when it is framed as a fixed abstraction; when it is freed into concrete perception, it becomes a positive pattern of the divine.
24. Valentinus, The Gospel of Truth, in Layton, 253, 257.
25. Thomas, Gospel According to Thomas, in Layton, 385, 394, 387, 394.
26. I borrow this phrase from Emerson, via F.O. Matthiessen. Emerson in “The Transcendentalist” (1842) states that “Our American literature and spiritual history are, we confess, in the optative mood.” Mathiessen borrows this for the title of his first chapter in his still magisterial American Renaissance: Art and Expression in the Age of Emerson and Whitman (1941).
27. Katherine Hayles, “Introduction: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science, Order and Chaos: Complex Dynamics in Literature and Science, ed. Katherine Hayles (London and Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press, 1991), 15.
28. Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge, trans. Brian Massumi (Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press, 1985), xxiv-xxv.
29. Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason, trans. Norman Kemp Smith (New York: St. Martin’s, 1965), 279.
30. Kant, Theory of the Heavens. Kant’s Cosmogony as in His Essay on the Retardation of the Rotation of the Earth and Natural History and Theory of the Heavens, trans. W. Hastie, ed. Willy Ley (New York: Greenwood, 1986), 59-70.
31. Sir William Herschel, “Remarks on the Construction of the Heavens,” William Herschel and the Construction of the Heavens, ed. Michael A. Hoskin (New York: Norton, 1963), 115.
32. Joseph Priestley, Priestley’s Writings on Philosophy, Science, and Politics, ed. and intro. John A. Passmore (New York and London: Collier, 1965), 140-9.
33. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “Problems,” Goethe: The Collected Works: Scientific Studies, vol. 12, ed. and trans. Douglas Miller (Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1988), 43-4.
34. James Hutton, Theory of the Earth. John Hutton’s System of the Earth (1785); Theory of the Earth (1788); Observations on Granite (1794), intro. Victor A. Eyles (New York: Hafner, 1973), 304.
35. Sir Humphry Davy, Elements of Chemical Philosophy. The Collected Works of Sir Humphry Davy, vol. 4, ed. John Davy (London: Smith, 1839-40), 39.
36. Michael Faraday, Experimental Researches in Electricity. Great Books of the Western World, vol. 45, eds. Robert Maynard Hutchins, et al (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952), 265-85.
37. Faraday, “A Speculation Touching Electrical Conduction and the Nature of Matter,” Great Books of the Western World, 855.
38. For Emerson’s rich and complex relationship to this science tradition, see Eric Wilson, Emerson’s Sublime Science (London and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999), 76-97.
39. I use the following abbreviations in citing Emerson’s works throughout the remainder of this essay.
CW The Collected Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ed. Robert E. Spiller, Joseph Slater, et. al., 5 vols. (Cambridge, MA, and London: Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press, 1971- ).
EL The Early Lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ed. Stephen Whicher and Robert E. Spiller, 3 vols. (Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard Univ. Press, 1959-72).
N Nature: A Facsimile of the First Edition, intro. Jaroslav Pelikan (Boston: Beacon, 1985).
W The Complete Works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, ed. Edward Waldo Emerson (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1903-4).
40. Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space, trans. Maria Jolas, fore. Etienne Gilson (Boston: Beacon Press, 1969), xi-xiv.
41. James Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (New York: Everyman’s Library, 1964), 256-7.
42. Joyce, 256.
43. Joyce, 266-8.
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Commentary: Who You Callin a B-tch?
A couple weeks back, I'm transferring from one subway train to another at a busy stop in Brooklyn. It's after rush hour so it's like Metro Center in DC crazy, but not Grand Central in Manhattan crazy. So there's this woman walking. She's in loose sweats, minding her business as she heads down the corridor. It's not lost on me, a woman, that she has an Erykah Badu booty. So there's a man walking behind her, enjoying the view. He's a little blatant in his eye-humping, but she can't see it. She turns, walks up the stairs. The man keeps looking at her go, almost running into another. He catches himself just before impact and by way of excuse and apology he says to the gent, "bitch got a fat ass." Record skip. I screwed up my face and glared. Why she gotta be a bitch? All the words in the English language to describe a woman and "bitch" is the one he goes with off the top? It stung even if it wasn't directed at me. Just because here's this woman just walking, minding her business and this, THIS is how she's considered just for being and having the misfortune to attract the attention of this guy for being shapely on a warm day. This, THIS is how someone somewhere has considered me simply for being at any given time. And no, I don't know those people, I hope. And I should not care what they think. But I do. 'Cause when people talk about you as less than human, they view you as less than human, and then they treat you less than human. That interaction got me to wondering what is wrong with us as a people where this, this calling women out of their name without a second thought is "okay." Because it's not the first time I've heard a woman blatantly disrespected for no reason. And surely it won't be the last. I've certainly been called a bitch, by guys in arguments, by guys driving by with booming systems, by guys on the street, etc. I've been in conversations with men or groups of men where interchanging "woman" and "bitch" in the presence of a woman wasn't a passing thought. "Bitch" (and "ho") is either so commonplace in their lexicon that it rolls off the tongue or so frequently used by everyone around them that they don't even realize it's offensive. It's like some guys, even educated ones, just all together missed an obvious social cue. And often, they are startled when I check them on it. And I always check men I know if they use it to refer to women in general or in "unsubstantiated cases." (Last week a guy at the barbershop was talking about how his girl locked him out of the house and he was left outside banging on the doors. He called her a "bitch." I let it slide, but he apologized for his "French" anyway.) As a writer, I know words are not just words. Our choice says a lot, say the way CNN has Blacks "looting" food during Katrina while White folk "found" it. The way "bitches" just rolls off the tongues of so many Black men would seem to speak to a larger cultural issue that reveals the general dismissal, or maybe disdain, for Black women by some Black men. And perhaps that sub-par-ness and hostility in which we are viewed, as evident by the words chosen to describe us, has some to do with the tragedies that are played out upon us. And when I say tragedies, I'm thinking about domestic violence (35% higher for Black women than that of White females), murder (5x higher than White women), etc. Like, wouldn't it follow if you don't see me as worth respecting that it's that much easier to disrespect or mistreat me? Bright and early this morning, my BFF Tariq hit me with an untitled email. I click. It read: "You can at least say 'hi' you dirty bitch," says the gentlemen to the young lady as she walks by and ignores his overture of 'hey sexy.'" He overheard that on the way to work. Discuss. Demetria L. Lucas is the Relationships Editor at ESSENCE and the author of the upcoming dating advice guide, A Belle In Brooklyn: Advice for Living Your Single Life and Enjoying Mr. Right Now (Atria, June 2011) Follow her on Twitter at @abelleinbk
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2 April, 2012 by
Win the Behavior Change “Battle”
Perhaps this is an image familiar to you: It’s been decided that your sales force needs new selling skills and behaviors. A great new sales training program and new sessions have been put into place. It’s time for that first session. The facilitator is at the front of the room and the sales reps are all in their seats. You’re in the back, enjoying the view. But before anything is said, you feel it; a little anxiety. You spot a few cold looks and evil eyes from reps aimed at the facilitator. You feel confident, but you are increasingly unsure about how this is going to go. And then you see it…the line has been drawn in the sand, with your sales reps on one side and sales leadership and training on the other. Gulp.
Sound familiar? Are you thinking, been there done that? Now, this is most likely not happening to everyone, all the time, but it’s a common situation we hear from our members. And in today’s constantly changing B2B sales environment, the stakes have never been higher to get sales training right. In fact, when we asked sales leaders where they would spend the next dollar if they had one, they put sales training at the top of the list.
This puts exceedingly high expectations on the training programs we are creating for our sales reps. Often times, after a new program, we see the scenario above play out. Or perhaps things go well early, but we fail to see the behavior change long-term. But why? Aren’t these the skills needed for future success?
There are two main reasons we don’t get the behavior change we invested in:
1. Failure to Learn: Reps resist learning new skills. Surprised by this one? Probably not. Either reps believe they already “do it right” or they don’t believe the new skills will help them.
2. Failure to Apply: On-the-job barriers hinder application. There are several reasons we see this happen. Day-to-day job tasks just get “in the way”. Who’s got the time, really? Additionally, managers coach to what they did, rather than to the new skills. Isn’t that just easier? Finally, there are always other requests for reps’ time that often conflict with training.
Often times, doesn’t it feel like the battle is lost before we’ve even gotten started?
Well, there’s good news to share. We can take specific action to have the upper hand in this “behavior change battle” and declare victory or, at least, avoid surrender.
In our time working with SLR members, we’ve been able to identify the critical principles world class sales development programs adhere to:
1. Think about development as LONG-TERM, rather than as ad-hoc, single learning events
2. Individuals attend sessions only RELEVANT to their needs. It’s not a one-size fits all approach
3. Reps must SELF-DISCOVER the need to change behaviors
4. EQUIP managers with resources to coach to and reinforce behaviors
5. RECOGNIZE reps for demonstrated behaviors(and this is not simply handing out a certificate at the end of the day)
How does your current sales development program compare to these five principles? Where do you have room to run?
Building or evolving a training program to include these five principles is possible. We’ve seen one organization run at these concepts very hard—gen-i (a telecommunications company) created an end-to-end learning process that links all stages of development together under a start-to-finish framework, which they call their Sales Academy.
SLR Members, view highlights from gen-i’s program or listen to a more in-depth discussion from our recent webinar on sales academies. You can also review implementation advice from the creator of gen-i’s sales academy.
As we continue to develop sales reps of the future in this ever-changing marketplace, the need for more sophisticated reps to sell to increasingly sophisticated customers keeps growing. This means we must continuously work to build world-class development programs based on the five principles above. If we can do this, there’s no battle to be waged in the first place. The picture painted at the beginning will cease to exist. Now that’s change!
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65671
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Fun to Change Avatars
I love changing my avatars. So I can have different avatars to look at and all my friends and other EP members can see my new avatars.
mother1983 mother1983 26-30, F 3 Responses Jul 17, 2008
Your Response
Thanks Donalh and ArmyWifeUK
you sure do, many times, shows different sides to you
I like changing mine too! :)
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65678
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Juan Meléndez Valdés
Meléndez Valdés, Juan (hwän mālānˈdāth väldāsˈ) [key], 1754–1817, Spanish neoclassic poet. He studied classics and law and later taught humanities at Salamanca. After much political vacillation during the rise and fall of the Bonapartes, he was forced to flee to France. As poet he was outstanding in an otherwise undistinguished age of Spanish poetry. Although often sentimental and obvious, his work is musical, rich in language and imagery, and distinguished by a fine sensibility. His themes range from the sensual and joyous, celebrating love and nature (e.g., Los Besos de Amor ), to the philosophical, deploring Spanish poverty and backwardness and pleading for liberal reforms.
See study by R. M. Cox (1974).
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Spanish and Portuguese Literature: Biographies
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65679
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Shimrom (shĭmˈrŏm) [key] or Shimron –rŏn, in the Bible. 1 Son of Issachar. 2 Unlocated town of Zebulun. This may be the same as Shimron-meron, a place whose king Joshua defeated.
More on Shimrom from Fact Monster:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Biblical Proper Names: Biographies
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65688
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Switch to full style
Forum rules
Post a reply
Re: texting
Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:26 am
Rabbit Holler Flash wrote:...I am a professional driver and have no tolerance for thoose steering wheel holdin Billy Big Riggers that are just in it for a buck.
I wanted to shake my fist at the guy! But, I wasn't in my CDL truck, I was in a railroad pickup truck. And, being a railroader that drives CDL trucks puts me in an awkward position with other truck drivers because most of 'em just don't like the railroad for obvious reasons. They think I've "crossed the fence" and went to work for the enemy. In fact, it was the other way around. The RR made me get a CDL to keep my job. Anyway...
If we get caught texting while driving, along with the big fat federal fine, we also get an even bigger fine from the Federal Railroad Administration, and 30 days off work with no pay from the railroad.
People just need to figure out that you just DON'T NEED TO TEXT AND DRIVE! I use a high dollar earpiece with my cellphone for talking on the road. And, I only do that because its necessary for my job, and because they require us to use a cell phone in hands free mode on the road. If it were up to me, I would leave it off! But, we gotta do what the boss man says.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65721
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Finnix, the LiveCD for system administrators
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The Finnix logo is somewhat simple to produce, and these instructions are what is needed to reproduce it. However, please do not reproduce the Finnix logo unless needed. The logo is available above in both black and white variants, 72 points at 72 and 300 DPI, which should be sufficient for most needs.
• The font is Trebuchet MS Bold, and may be recreated in Adobe Photoshop, with "sharp" antialiasing, default "metrics" kerning, and no scaling.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65737
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Social Question
jazzjeppe's avatar
What's the differences between North American dialects?
Asked by jazzjeppe (2266 points ) February 28th, 2010
I know this a big question but I won’t go in to regional dialects. Sometimes you hear people making fun out of the Canadian dialect but I am having a hard time to distinguish between common US dialect and the Canadian. Are there any obvious differences, like in sounds or pronunciation I can listen to?
I am also wondering if the Alaska dialect, if it’s more of a Canadian one?
Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0
6 Answers
funnynerd's avatar
In Minnesota, we emphasize our “o” sounds, like they do in Swedish and Finnish, and we also have long “a” sounds, presumably also similar to the vowel sounds in Northern European languages.
In Canada, it’s common to hear “about” pronounced “aboot”, likely because of Scottish influence.
Sarah Palin sounds like she’s from Minnesota because of the Minnesotans who relocated to Wasilla somewhere around WWll.
The conclusion I would draw from this is that our accents are heavily influenced by who settled where.
marinelife's avatar
The Alaska dialect is not Canadian sounding.
faye's avatar
I’ve never heard ‘aboot’, must be down east.
Seek's avatar
When you’re dealing with such large countries, you really have no choice but to take regional dialects into account. New York talks differently than New Orleans, and Atlanta is a completely different world from Chicago. I’ve never been further west than that, but I’m sure Houston is a world apart from Seattle.
Jeruba's avatar
This is a huge question and one that would be very hard to answer in writing. The speech of people in some parts of the U.S. is virtually unintelligible to people in other parts, both in terms of accent and with the use of strictly regional expressions. Some think the speech of certain regions sounds ridiculous. Yet it all comes under the heading of American English. Not many of us speak like the characters and announcers on American television. Put someone from New Jersey, someone from South Carolina, someone from Maine, and someone from Iowa in the same room, and you’ll hear a difference, all right. And Canadian English, of course, has traits of its own.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65755
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My F&W
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Dried Cherry Compote with Shortbread and Mascarpone
Sugary desserts often overwhelm dry reds like Bordeaux, but this dish is so subtly sweet it almost doubles as a cheese course. The mascarpone’s creaminess smooths out the wine’s tannins; the compote and shortbread echo its hints of cherry and anise.
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User avatar #3 - pappathethird (10/27/2013) [-]
That transformation was less effective than first antiscipated
User avatar #40 to #3 - artjunk ONLINE (10/27/2013) [-]
you could even say that it was rather... anti-climactic
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65826
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Your opinion on Sweet Tooth's Supers?
#1Bestia_SomniaPosted 12/3/2012 8:46:17 AM
Particularly his lvl 2 & lvl 3.
IMO his lvl 3 needs some serious buffs. It's the worst transformation Super in the game and questionably the worst Super in the game in general. Just stay by his feet and he can't touch you because the stomp is so slow that it's easily roll evaded on reaction.
He should be allowed to use any of his attacks whilst jumping, leaving him hovering in place whilst he's firing his shoulder missiles or gatling gun (just like in Twisted Metal). There should also obviously be an aerial version of his stomp that looks sort of like the one that Sweet Tooth does himself out of the air with D1. Also, he should be able to hover and float around by holding X. Or at least boost in a direction like Light mode Jak can.
The lvl 2 missile needs to create a bigger explosion. I remember in the early builds of the game when he could combo into it after his ground-bouncing grab. That needs to be possible again.
#2AndKevinBaconPosted 12/3/2012 8:52:12 AM
The stomp needs to be faster, the effect needs to last longer, and/or it needs to cover a greater vertical range to prevent people from just standing underneath Sweet Bot and avoiding its slow, predictable stomp.
#3TaizukuPosted 12/3/2012 8:55:58 AM
His level 2 is terrible for anything other than FFA and even then...
--- <---Mind****
PSN: MobileFlame
#4Thunder097Posted 12/3/2012 8:56:52 AM
Sweet Tooth lb 3 is not the worse the super. I. always get at least 5 kills with it evee if they try to hide under him. When someone get lv 3 the best thing u have to do is run to the corner. Then once its activated u his gattling gun and u can get 3 kills that easy. Its also more likely that if ur oppenents try to get under you they will jump and hit the block button. So u was time the ground stomp once they are about to hit the ground. It depends how the player use it.
#5Ray Ledgend 46Posted 12/3/2012 9:02:32 AM
Lv. 2 might just be the worst in the game.
Lv. 3 is decent, especially on bigger stages where it takes longer to approach him, but that stomp needs some kind of buff for it to be truly great. Lv. 3 is better in 2 v 2 when you can count on your ally to keep people from just standing underneath and jumping.
#6Cosmos90Posted 12/3/2012 9:09:14 AM
Lv 1 too slow and only 1 kill
Lv 2 big joke slow missle and blast radius is small
Lv3 is decent but slow
So in conclusion all his supers are slow.
#7KindertotenwaldPosted 12/3/2012 9:11:44 AM
I fail to see the problem with his level 3 if you just go to one end of the map and use the mini gun.
His level 2 is very good SITUATIONALLY otherwise I find it lacking.
Level 1 is fine for what it costs if a tad predictable.
PSASBR: Big Daddy, Raiden
PSN: Omnisignificance
#8IAmMC2Posted 12/3/2012 10:31:07 AM
I got 6 kills off his level 3, it really depends on the stage TBH.
#9wwinterj25Posted 12/3/2012 10:33:07 AM
Cosmos90 posted...
Lv 1 too slow and only 1 kill
1 kill? If done right you can get 2 at least. His level 3 is alright but his level 2 sucks ass.
#10CyborgTwentyPosted 12/3/2012 10:35:55 AM
level 1 = great
level 2 = terrible
level 3 = below average
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65828
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Question from Kairose
Asked: 4 years ago
Help: Quest 69 (You Scratch My Back...)?
I went to the guy who was supposed to have the wand I was looking for, and he said he threw it into Tywill Cave, but a monster probably got it by now. I've looked all over the cave, but haven't found it. Where is it? Or am I just supposed to beat up the weak monsters in the cave at random until I get it?
Additional details - 4 years ago
Is there any specific part of Tywill Cave I should kill monsters in, or a specific monster I should kill then, or should I just kill whatever I find wherever I want in the area?
Accepted Answer
From: eXaphor 4 years ago
I'm pretty sure you only need to kill a specific monster, the Salamarauder.
Just kill them until they dropped the wand, you can find lots of them spawning in the Tywll Cave - L2.
Rated: +0 / -0
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Submitted Answers
Exactly, run around slaughtering the poor things till it drops.
Rated: +0 / -0
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65829
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Review by CodieKitty
"Maybe If This Was Actually Made By Sunsoft It'd Have More To It."
The Story
Four years have passed sine Jason defeated the Lightning Beings in Blaster Master. One night, a storm arises and lightning strikes his house. The roof collapses and he's knocked unconscious. When he awakens, he goes out to the abandoned barn where he hides SOFIA to find her in pieces and the upgrades he got for her gone. He puts her back together (how is anyone's guess), straps on the armor, and takes off.
7/10 - They look good. There's lots of detail like busted down trees in the first area and great looking bosses. But somebody who's played the original Blaster Master is going to be very disappointed in the way SOFIA and Jason look (like myself). First, let's talk SOFIA. She is no longer red and white, she's black and blue. She's also a bit taller. Now, Jason. Yes, they put legs on him. But is it just me or are his legs short? In general, he looks like a buffed up stormtrooper with orange thighs. His running animation in regular mode is almost as bad as the guy from Rygar. Only reason it's better is because he doesn't flail his arms around while he's at it. And while he doesn't try to do midair splits in boss mode, he walks like a robot.
5/10 - Average. The sounds are pretty average. Some songs aren't bad. Some songs, like the area 4 tune, have some irritating parts to them. Some songs, like the final area and ending themes, are downright annoying the whole way through.
3/10 - This makes Startropics' controls look perfect. While Jason and SOFIA respond well, there's several movement things and button combos that are just plain annoying. First, SOFIA clings to slopes. This will throw you off. Here you are setting up to fire at something, then run up a cliff and miss your shot. Second, SOFIA locks when she aims. So, if you're in a diagonal position and you try to fire the other way, SOFIA will just back up with the gun facing the same direction. You've got to go back to neutral before she'll turn. Now, Jason's problems. Don't park SOFIA above a ladder. The eject-hop in combination will end up taking you down the ladder instead of into SOFIA. Problem #2. An enemy comes up to you. You fire your gun, but it goes over the enemy's head. So you press down in an attempt to duck only to start shooting yourself in the foot... I have no idea why shooting down was programmed into there. Now, overhead mode. The control pad moves SOFIA around. Now, you want to shoot that enemy to the right of you, right? You have to press two of your regular buttons to move SOFIA's turret, and it moves slow. I'd rather it work like the jeep in Firepower 2000.
While not totally linear, it's much more linear than Blaster Master. The level order is a line. You go from 1 to 2 to 3 and so on. And the exit isn't even hidden. You just use an item you get to either reach the second door (sometimes obtaining the first item just, say, breaks down a wall to allow you access to the second item). You do have to do a bit of searching for you items. You can two items a level with the exception of the last.
5/10 - You can alter your Continues at the beginning of the game. The bee and fish bosses are probably the hardest things you'll come across during the side-scrolling part of the game. The overhead mode is a bit harder. The final boss is lamer than the Albatross from Bionic Commando.
Once you beat it, you may say ''I think I'll play that again in two years or so''.
Pros and Cons
Good Points:
- The jetpac.
- Jason has legs.
- This is the only non-voiced Blaster Master game where Jason's name is mentioned within the game (and only if you do something in area 3).
Bad Points:
- Awkward button combinations.
- The foot shooting thing.
- Jason and SOFIA share health.
- Half the items are used once or twice.
Should I Get It?
Only if you really love Blaster Master or are very bored.
This is what happens when a crap company like Software Creations (who I believe was Acclaim under a different name. Like Konami and Ultra, you know?) makes a game, then a good company like Sunsoft gets its name slapped on it.
Reviewer's Score: 5/10 | Originally Posted: 05/28/02, Updated 10/13/02
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65830
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Review by Almajo19
"Final Fantasy XIII, a bad game?"
Final Fantasy XIII is a bad game.
"Whoa! Hold on," you're saying, hypothetically. Then you say some other stuff but I'm not listening because you're stupid. That's fine. Most people aren't immediately capable of distinguishing hype from reality, especially after making the requisite time and money investment to determine that said game is, indeed, trash. In writing this review, I hope to objectively determine why FFXIII is a disappointment and what games would better serve the aforementioned intellectual underclass.
If I had to use one word to describe what FFXIII lacks, it's 'Interactivity'. The majority of the game is spent walking down linear corridors. Most encounters can be solved with only the autobattle command. Character customisation is superficial and amounts to nothing, because the best class choices are the most obvious and the development tree is almost entirely linear.
Many recent games have had similar issues with a lack of meaningful player choice. Mass Effect 2 boasted a Paragon/Renegade system where opposing choices would have equivalent consequences, as well as a points system that forced the player character to stick to a single alignment, or else be penalised throughout the game. Renegade options could vary between being reasonably sensible, to disrespectful, to downright racist, and your character is held hostage to the whim of the script.
On the other hand, Mass Effect 2 did give the player some choice over developing the skills of their characters, even if they were capable of learning most of the abilities by the end. And although the combat is not comparable to that in any turn-based RPG, it did require a greater level of decision-making and strategy than the turn-based system present in FFXIII. Admittedly, boss fights require an element of strategy, but you won't know that until you spend hours engaging in no meaningful interaction with the game-world. It's not good enough by far.
I played FFXIII on the Xbox 360, so it's only fair that I point out that the graphics probably looked beautiful in high definition. The 360 edition doesn't output in high definition, however, resulting in aliasing problems and a grainy image. FMV appears to be heavily compressed; the game opens into a CGI cutscene, showing us a view of a sky replete with artifacting and washed-out colours that you would typically associate with streamed footage. This issue wouldn't be so severe were it not for the game's insistence on using pre-rendered in-engine cutscenes to depict things beyond the capabilities of the console; it soon becomes obvious what is and isn't being rendered in realtime on account of the poor image quality, and the effect is often jarring.
Once you strip away the bland gameplay and unfulfilled graphical spectacle, you're left with the music, storyline and character interaction.
The music is okay.
FFXIII fails to immediately grip you, as the game opens with a completely unexplained group of freedom fighters at war with a presumably-corrupt authority. The story is constructed from tired cliche upon tired cliche and at first fails to inform the player of who these people are and how they know each other. Rather than being in control of the central character, it often feels that you're an observer, watching events happen from your bubble without the proper context or access to the thoughts of the character you are supposed to control. This approach only serves to deepen the isolation felt by the player, who must already consign themself to countless hours of non-interactive combat and weak customisation.
If apathy hasn't already set in, it will do by the time you're introduced to the cast. They're not so much obnoxious as they are boring. You have a whiny brat, brooding lady, happy-go-lucky girl, comic relief, well-meaning-but-stubborn guy, and so forth. Your party members evoke the exact same feeling as a pint of mass produced lager: insincerity. There's nothing real about these people. There's no rapport with the player and no relation to the real world. Like everything else they serve only to isolate the player and, in turn, the game becomes an unfulfilling experience.
At this point, I would like to recommend a few games to the newly enlightened. Lost Odyssey is the most enjoyable turn-based jRPG on the Xbox 360 and succeeds over FFXIII by virtue of a mostly excellent cast and somewhat more exploration. Tales of Vesperia is easily my favourite Xbox 360 game, featuring an entirely likable cast of characters, a fast-paced real-time combat system, character customisation and world exploration including a world map and the gaining of abilities that allow you to access secret areas. Finally, for anybody prepared to try out an FPS/RPG hybrid, the obvious recommendation is Deus Ex on the PC. The game sports subpar shooter mechanics but has the huge focus on player choice, exploration and allowing the characters actions to shape the character interactions rather than depending on dialogue choices. It's essential playing for anybody who is moderately interested role playing games and is available on Steam.
Reviewer's Score: 3/10 | Originally Posted: 04/09/10
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65838
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Defender Review
Defender holds a special place in the hearts of gamers over thirty. Most can probably remember the first time they saw the game, because when it debuted it was better looking and more exciting than any other arcade game to date. There have been plenty of arcade classics re-released in an attempt to capture feelings of nostalgia in aging gamers, but rather than repackaging the game's original code Midway has updated the classic game bringing it into the world of 3D gaming and into the 21st Century.
The basic aspects of the original game are still there. Alien landers drop from the sky to snatch spacesuit-wearing colonists without the sense to stay out of the open. If a lander captures a colonist, it will soon thereafter merge with the colonist into a deadly and aggressive mutant. You are charged with preventing this from happening and saving the colonists by blasting the invading aliens out of the sky. You can also pick up the colonists before the landers reach them, and up to three at a time can hang on for dear life under your ship. If you take the colonists to a designated drop-off zone, you will be rewarded with additional ammunition or with health power-ups.
ScreenshotsThe original Defender game gave you a single ship armed with a laser weapon and a smart bomb that would take out everything on the screen in a single blast. Now you'll have your choice of one of six ships, although you'll have to unlock some of them by completing missions. Each ship is rated on speed, armor, agility, and strength, and you can feel the difference in control when flying each of the ships. Ship selection makes a difference in the missions, as some missions will require you to cover a lot of ground rescuing colonists while others will have you going toe-to-toe against waves of alien invaders. Each ship also comes with a slightly different array of weapons, which include guided missiles, multiple projectile weapons, and ground attack bombs. If you score well in a mission, you are given points that you can use to purchase additional weapons for your selected ship before the start of the next mission .
As alluded to earlier, gameplay has evolved beyond the repetitive nature of the original. Instead of simply facing progressively faster waves of landers, you're given a variety of mission types. Of course, in a nod of respect to the original game you will face missions that require you to pick up colonists before the waves of landers can capture them and mutate. However, other missions include objectives such as ship escort and base defense. The initial missions are set in the outer reaches of the Solar System, and you must fight your way through 20 levels, eventually reaching Earth and fighting to free it from the invaders.
Unfortunately, the 20 missions do not contain as much gameplay as you might think. Some missions are surprisingly short, and you'll be able to play through the entire game in around ten hours, maybe even less. The mission objectives are surprisingly forgiving, and you can advance to the next mission even after achieving a negative score. The game features two multiplayer modes to help extend the life of the game: deathmatch and cooperative. Defender is primarily a shooter, so the deathmatch mode does not provide enough to hold the interest of players for too long. You can only fly around in circles, furiously tapping the fire key until someone blows up, for so long. You'll get more mileage out of the cooperative mode which teams you up with a friend to protect colonists from the aliens.
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Super Mario World
Developer: Nintendo EAD
U.S. Publisher: Nintendo of America
U.S. Release: June 1991
Platform: Super NES
Games | Super NES | Super Mario World
Article by Kat Bailey? | November 14, 2009
Super Mario World was both a tantalizing and terrifying prospect for a child circa 1991. For anyone weaned on Mario's NES adventures, it was dazzling -- now Mario could flip to the background on a gate, graphics scrolled in independent layers, and gigantic Bullet Bills had to be ducked to be avoided. Even the shot of the cape-clad Mario seemed bigger and bolder than ever before. Ten minutes with the kiosk was all I needed before I knew it was worth the upgrade to 16-bit power.
Dazzled as I was by all the fireworks, though, I was also a little scared. What was this that I kept hearing about multiple exits, I wondered? Which one was the right one? And what was all this about a Star Road? The very name suggested the unknown, a world in which exploration wasn't just an option, but a necessity. Having never played Metroid or Castlevania II, I was thoroughly worried. Explore? I thought. I don't want to explore. I want my hand held at all times. I want the comfort of knowing exactly where I'm going. Let the blanket of linearity warm me as I cross from Point A to Point B, never deviating as I crush any koopa troopa that has the temerity to get in my way.
Let's just say that if you had shown me Super Mario 64 in 1991 -- a game that doesn't technically even have exits -- you'd still be scraping me off the walls. As it turned out though, I was overreacting, as usual. The world hadn't been turned completely upside down, there was still a Point A and a Point B. It's just that Shigeru Miyamoto's team had seen fit to throw in the occasional Point C as well. Otherwise, the linear progression from level to level remained intact, and all was well.
Well, mostly. At first, I was content to make my way to the gate waiting at the end of each stage, collect my extra lives and move on. But as I saw more and more of those discolored dots -- the ones that told me that there were still secret exits left to be found -- I began to wonder what I was missing. What exactly what this mysterious Star Road anyway, I wondered? If it was a road, where did it go? I decided to make it my business to find out. I had seen the keys scattered through the various stages a few times before. And based on the commerical, I knew that there was also a keyhole hidden somewhere in the stages with the secret exits. All I had to do was bring the two together, and before I knew it Mario would be swallowed up by the black portal and sent along a new path.
This mystical union wasn't so easy to pull off in the first stage I tried to do it in, though. Donut Plains 1's key doesn't have far to go to unlock the accompanying secret exit, seeing as it's sitting not more than a foot away from the keyhole. The trick is actually getting up to it without hitting the green switch palace, since a mess of pipes is in the way. Feathers are a neccessity, and luckily they're quite plentiful in this stage. Unfortunately, that doesn't account for the flying part of the equation. As most people know, Mario World's cape isn't quite the same as the time-honored raccoon leaf. Rather than reaching the apex of flight and gently wafting downward, Mario is able to swoop and use the cape to gain extra air, or pull off a dive bomb attack, the latter of which sent me down many a pit as I tried to catch some extra airtime. The cape doesn't offer a whole lot of room for error in comparison to Mario 3's leaf, making the squeeze beneath the pipe upon which the secret exit sits harder than it looks for those who were unfamiliar with Mario's new mode of transit.
After much trial and error, though, I finally managed to force my way through my first secret exit. From that moment, the hunt was on. As it turned out, it wasn't nearly as hard or scary as I thought it would be to find the keys and drop them in the keyholes -- save for one instance. I'm sure Mario fans the world over will remember the Cheese Bridge area, and all the frustration they experienced as they tried to unearth that troublesome secret exit. I spent hours flying around with Blue Yoshi, utterly confused as to why I could not find the key anywhere. Finally, I relented and checked a FAQ, and the terrible truth became clear to me. I took the leap of faith and glided downward with the help of my cape, my fate seemingly sealed as I dipped below the gate, unable to make a safe landing. Then I leapt from Yoshi's back, sending the poor dino to his doom as I emerged on the other side of the gate. Even now, I'm not sure we're on speaking terms.
Star Road, meanwhile, wasn't nearly as obtuse as the Cheese Bridge. I was pleased with myself when I finally reached what I considered the summit of the Mario World experience, but the secret exits turned out to be quite easy to discover. The main attraction was in picking up yellow, red and blue Yoshis, and, of course, opening the way to the super secret stages -- the ones with names like "Gnarly" and "Groovy." I took particular pleasure in beating those stages, my phobia for exploration long forgotten. My earlier FAQ consultation notwithstanding, I felt like a great explorer. I had explored every last inch of Dinosaur Land, planted my flag, and claimed it as my own.
To this day, I still regard Super Mario World as perhaps the ultimate realization of Miyamoto's original idea for the series. In the thrall of my misplaced terror, I hadn't realized exploration was hardly anything new in the Mario series. Even during the original Super Mario Bros., Mario was constantly straying from the beaten path. Those warp pipes were secret exits, too; I just didn't think of them as such because I knew them so well. Super Mario World was virgin territory, though, so I suppose it was only natural to be afraid of areas like the Forest of Illusion, from which there was seemingly no escape without uncovering the secret exits.
Yet when I finally gave in to my curiosity and started to (ahem) plumb Mario World's depths... that was when the magic truly began. I still play Mario World on a regular basis, and I always go for all of the secrets. It just doesn't feel like a complete playthrough with without them. People love their Super Mario Bros. 3, but even now I don't think it quite compares to the satisfaction of uncovering that secret area in Cheese Bridge yet again. I suppose watching Yoshi plunge to his untimely death will never get old.
GameSpite Quarterly 2 | Previous: 10. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | Next: 8-EarthBound
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65880
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Help :(
Started by Cynthia Braxton on Friday, June 10, 2011
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Showing all 5 posts
Private User
6/10/2011 at 4:00 PM
Hello Cynthia Braxton. I recognized your all cap GUSSA. (I was a music major in school so your guitar caught my eye, too! Check out Google's Doodle for today honoring the birthday of Les Paul!)
I was actually working with some of your profiles in a different line. You had a previous account and I have management of some of those profiles. I've been merging some of those old profiles with your newly created equivalents.
If you care to send me some links to the area you mention above, I'll see what, if anything, I can do to help out.
(You may want to delete your message above. It could be reported for language.)
Private User
6/10/2011 at 5:47 PM
Go to one of the related profiles. Copy the URL address, then past it here or in a direct message to me with information or directions about what actions need to be taken.
6/11/2011 at 7:10 AM
I made an attempt to sort this out, but frankly, it's a mess. There are a number of Elizabeth (Doniphan) Shipps born at different times. There are also a number of Thomas Shipps. It would have been helpful, Cynthia, if you had provided some specific profiles. Further, there appears to be no documentation for any of the various Elizabeth (Doniphan) Shipp and Thomas Shipp profiles, even though some are labeled as Master Profiles.
Cynthia, you had a professional genealogist do research for you. Presumably, s/he provided you with documentation to support her/his research and conclusions. How about adding that documentation to Geni via its source feature so that we all can view it and evaluate it?
Additionally, Joyce (aka the "bitch"), since you have chosen to override Cynthia's information, it would be helpful if you could document your assertions and explain your conclusions. Using the same Geni feature that I suggested for Cynthia, you could share your documentation with the rest of the Geni community.
There will always be legitimate disagreements among genealogists. That is why it is important to document our work.
Private User
6/11/2011 at 9:01 AM
Well said Joe.
Document, document, document!
6/11/2011 at 3:40 PM
Folks, please keep the language civil.
Showing all 5 posts
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65904
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2. Rich. Pretty. Alpha in traning.
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In A Nutshell...
1. Raeding and English Language Arts
2. Drama and Color Guard.
3. Dance is cool to watch
4. shopping!!!!
5. baby animals...any kind
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8. people smile
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1. All shows on Disney Chanel r cool.
2. The Clique
3. Ariana Grande
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5. Eew...those are 4 boys
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1. Ariana Grande
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3. Strawberry
4. Mascara, Gloss, eyeliner, blush, and shadow
5. All of my dresses!!!!!
1. I had 2 BF's. I dumped one and had to move away fom the other
2. None...I am keeping my eye's open though...I am boyfasting all summer...
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4. Harry Styles and Zayne from 1D.
1. Acting. I already have experience...
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65910
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Legumes For Health
How often do you eat legumes? Do you give enough importance to these protein sources? It is suggested that we should include legumes in our diet once or twice a week for a healthy body.
What are the most popular legumes in Turkish cuisine? The most loved one is beans. The dish called dried beans is like our national food although it’s less known than kebab or doner. Other legumes we use in dishes very often are romano/haricot beans, black-eyed peas, dried faba beans, chickpeas, green and red lentils.
Protein bioavailability in legumes increases when they are combined with grains like rice and bulgur. I’m not sure if this is the reason why our national dish, dried beans is always accompanied by rice or bulgur pilaf, but we do something healthy for sure!
Besides containing vitamin E and types of vitamin B except B12, legumes are also a great source of calcium, magnesium and iron. When they are combined with vitamin C sources like citrus fruits, walnut and pepper, iron bioavailability rises.
Legumes are the best source of fiber, which balances blood sugar by slowing down the absorption of glucose through small intestine. It prevents constipation, and has effects on preventing rectal cancer. It also keeps blood pressure and cholesterol at right level. Fiber in legumes has also antitoxic effects and reduces the effects of toxic substances caused by additives and some medicine.
You can find Turkish dishes with legumes here.
Don’t forget to combine them with grains. You can find pilaf recipes here.
Suggested salads with legumes:
Chickpea salad
Black-eyed pea salad
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65912
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HP Slate 7 Review: Great Price, Poor Screen
Google’s Nexus 7 has been ruling the cheap tablet market with its budget-sourced iron fist. But HP’s now giving it a crack with an upcoming bargain-basement 7-incher, also running stock Jelly Bean, and priced just $199 in Australia (currently pre-orders only).
What Is It?
Who’s It For?
People who can’t afford a Nexus 7.
The Slate 7 is about as generic as generic black rectangles come — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You get a 16:9.375 (more on that in a moment) 7-inch screen on the front, covered by something that isn’t Gorilla Glass; flat metal-lookalike edges, and a fairly pleasing grey soft-touch rubber on the back.
The combination of the wide bezels and flat sides make the Slate 7 pretty easy to one-hand, and while the soft-touch rubber on the back isn’t quite as grippy as the stuff found on the Nexus 7, it isn’t going to spontaneously fly out of your hands any time soon.
Fit and finish is pretty good, for something that costs $199: sure, the materials are pretty cheap, but the build is solid enough, only creaking if you really stress it.
In terms of ports and buttons, there aren’t a lot. The usual micro-USB port is in its traditional position at the centre of the bottom side, flanked by two speakers. Moving up, there’s a volume rocker on the right-hand side, while the left is bare naked (apart from a tiny and slightly annoying QR code that sits next to the serial number).
Using It
Let’s get the biggest problem with the Slate 7 on the record: the screen is terrible. The resolution is 1024×600, which people with long memories might remember as being the same as on the original Samsung Galaxy Tab — yeah, the one from 2010. That’s 169 PPI, compared to the 215 PPI of the Nexus 7 or Kindle Fire HD. Real world, that means text and icons just aren’t as sharp as anyone who’s accustomed to current-gen smartphones would expect.
It’s more than just a problem of pixels, though — the viewing angles and brightness aren’t great, and the screen has that washed-out look that makes it appear like the actual pixels have been bleached, with blacks appearing as more of a sickly lying-on-their-deathbed grey. That said, the screen is at least fairly matte, so watching stuff outdoors or on strip-lighting-lit tube trains is actually possible.
But the screen’s biggest problem isn’t any of those things. No, the real problem is that the pixels aren’t square. The screen’s resolution is 1024×600, which your maths should tell you is an aspect ratio of 1:1.706. But the physical screen gives an aspect ratio of 1:1.737, which, according to some sums I made earlier, is four per cent bigger.
Therefore, the screen is essentially stretched by four per cent lengthways: the pixels are taller than they are wide; rectangles instead of perfect squares. But every app and element of Android is designed for a screen with square pixels, so everything on the Slate 7′s screen appears stretched vertically. You can see that in the image above: while the Chrome logos from the Nexus 4 and Slate 7 are the same width, the Slate 7′s Chrome logo is taller. It’s not such a massive difference as to be immediately obvious, but there’s a nagging feeling throughout the whole tablet that things are being squeezed.
Using It
Screen aside, using the Slate 7 is a relatively pleasant experience. It’s packing a no-name Cortex A9 dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM, which is enough to make Jelly Bean hum along decently enough. In fact, the only real niggle with day-to-day performance is the RAM, which just doesn’t seem to be enough — webpages and apps often have to reload when you fast-switch in and out of them, which kinda kills Android’s normally excellent multitasking vibe.
The only connectivity option here is Wi-Fi, which works exactly like you’d expect, although the antenna deserves a mention for being pretty good, managing to hold a connection in the well-known Wi-Fi blackspots in my house.
Internally, the Slate 7 only packs 8GB of storage (boo), but that microSD card slot up top lets you expand that by up to 32GB (yay!). Of course, we’d prefer the option for one with more internal storage, as SD card storage isn’t quite the same as in-built stuff — running apps off the SD card, for example, requires going nine rounds with the OS.
The software, as mentioned, is a pretty blemishless Android 4.1.1. The changes made by HP are tiny and few: a control panel for the Beats Audio, an HP ePrint app, and incredibly annoying typewriter noises for the keyboard. As a result, you can (hopefully) expect updates on a regular basis, though it’s still a disappointment that it’s not shipping with the latest Android 4.2 version.
Oh yeah, and there’s a camera on the back. It’s 3MP, and you’ll hopefully never use it. The pictures it spits out are more or less what you’d expect — blurry, noisy, and totally not worth looking like a camera-tablet-wielding-prat for.
Here’s a Lego baseball player looking at me disapprovingly for being a tablet photographer.
The camera on the front works fine for Skype and the like, or even selfies if you’re that narcissistic.
The Best Part
It’s a working, usable Android tablet for $199 in Australia. Despite the flaws, you can still do all the wonderful things that tablets let you do, without paying much money.
Tragic Flaw
In case you hadn’t picked up on this already, that screen. It’ll do you fine for watching SD-quality films and casual app usage, but unless you’re as chronically short-sighted as I am, any protracted e-reading sessions will have you clawing at your eyeballs.
This is Weird
In the process of the relentless austerity drive, the Slate 7′s acquired a few quirks. There’s no auto-brightness sensor, so you’ll have to keep adjusting it manually, which is a bit of a pain, but hardly a deal-breaker. More annoyingly, it seemingly refuses to charge off most USB chargers — only the official HP charger, an iPad charger and, weirdly, a laptop USB port are capable of giving it juice. Even chargers for other Android tablets, with the same voltage etc, can’t revive a dead Slate.
Testing Notes
• Battery life’s on the average-to-low end for a 7-inch tablet. In a rundown test against the iPad Mini and Nexus 7, streaming video over Wi-Fi with the screens set to 200 nits brightness, the Slate 7′s 3500mAh battery managed 7 hours 12 minutes, compared to the Nexus 7′s 8 hours 45, and the iPad’s 12 hours 17. Real-world usage backs this up — you can expect somewhere between five to ten hour’s usage, depending on what you’re doing and how much you’re abusing the poor screen’s brightness control. It’s not quite enough to get you through a transatlantic flight, but it’ll see you through a daily commute. Charging takes about 4 hours 30 minutes.
• Beats Audio is its normal self — that is, it’s nothing but a bass-heavy EQ. In the Slate 7, Beats Audio is really confined to the headphone jack; you can’t turn Beats on and off for the speakers (which are pretty terrible, by the way). As software gimmicks go, it’s fairly harmless and non-intrusive, but it’s certainly not a reason to buy the Slate 7 over anything else.
• If you’re the sort who likes rooting and tinkering with devices, the Slate 7 won’t be the one for you. HP hasn’t even released USB drivers for the Slate 7, so any tinkering over ADB requires a solid few hours of messing around just to get the Slate 7 talking to your computer. And with no unlocked bootloader on the horizon, you’re almost certainly better off plumping for the Nexus 7.
Should You Buy It?
Can you afford a $249 Nexus 7? No? Can you save up a little more over the next few months, and then afford a Nexus 7? Still no? Then buy the Slate 7. Otherwise, you’ll be much better served by the Nexus. Aside from the markedly better screen and better battery life, the Nexus 7 also has NFC, auto-brightness, GPS (teamed up Google Maps it makes a pretty killer satnav), and it’s thinner and lighter to boot.
If you want much better speakers than the Nexus 7 (or slightly cheaper), there’s also the Kindle Fire HD, which aside from Amazon’s Android skin (which can be removed) is a pretty stellar movie-watching device, with a far better screen and speakers the HP Slate 7 would die for.
Taken as a stand-alone device, the Slate 7 is tremendous value for money. A totally usable tablet for $199 is a serious achievement. But with much better options just a couple of forgone pints away, it’s difficult to recommend the Slate 7 to all but the most skint. [HP Australia PRE-ORDER]
HP Slate 7
Price: $199
Screen: 7-inch 1024×600
Processor: 1.6Ghz Cortex A9 dual-core
Size: 116x197x10.7mm
Weight: 370g
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News you wish you didn't know.
President Barack Obama upstaged at photo op by kid planting big kiss
A picture tweeted by @barackobama shows the president hanging out with a group of children, one in particular who steals the show.
obama photobombEnlarge
President Obama poses with students in Florida. ((Courtesy @barackobama/Twitter)/AFP/Getty Images)
It was the kiss that stole the US president's limelight.
Barack Obama surprised the kids of the Daughter of Zion Jr Academy in Delray Beach, Florida with a drop-in photo op after a campaign event at Delray Beach Tennis Centre on Tuesday, Yahoo News reported.
The kids appeared excited, as one might imagine.
All except for a boy in the back row, who seemed a little preoccupied by the girl sitting next to him. So much so that he planted a kiss on her cheek while the camera clicked.
Obama's campaign later released the photo in a tweet captioned "Photo of the day." As of early Wednesday, it had been retweeted nearly 2000 times and "favourited" by over 1000 people.
Australia's Fairfax media pointed out that it was not the only time a candidate had been "photobombed" on the campaign trail, referring to an excited Denver man who posed with Mitt Romney at the Chipotle restaurant in Denver.
Marty Arps' alarming expression made headlines around the world, with him later explaining that: "I [did that] when I met Nicki Minaj. It's like, 'Ah, it's them, right there in front of you!' They're not from another world'."
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65942
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The Gold-Oil Relationship
September 5, 2006
Below is an extract from a commentary originally posted at on 29th August 2006.
If you spend (waste) a lot of time reading or listening to the explanations in the mainstream financial press for why the gold market did what it did on a particular day you will probably come away with the impression that the oil market drives the gold market. For example, whenever gold and oil prices fall on the same day you'll almost certainly see headlines such as "gold follows oil lower"; and whenever both markets rise together there will usually be headlines such as "gold bounces in response to higher oil price".
The idea that the oil price is an important driver of the gold price has also been given weight by the commentaries of the many gold bugs who, over recent years, have often cited the rising oil price as a reason to expect a higher gold price. Some gold bugs even claim, in one breath, that a higher oil price is bullish for gold and then, in the next breath, that gold is money. It seems not to have occurred to them that there's no reason for the demand for money and the demand for industrial commodities to move in the same direction.
On a side note, gold is unfortunately not money right now, but in many respects it still trades as if it were. For example, it typically turns in its best performances when real economic growth and confidence are falling.
When a particular viewpoint becomes entrenched it will often be self-fulfilling in the short-term. For instance, the idea that the widening US trade deficit all but guaranteed a continuing decline in the dollar gripped the markets during the final quarter of 2004 and encouraged a lot of speculative 'shorting' of the dollar. Even though it was based on a false premise this speculative 'shorting' had the effect of pushing the dollar down at the same time as interest rate differentials were setting the scene for a US$ recovery. In a similar way, the mistaken view that the oil market is an important driver of the gold market is causing a stronger correlation between the two markets than there should be, which, in turn, reinforces the faulty analysis.
But just as the "dollar is going to plunge due to the widening trade deficit" idea that was so popular at the end of 2004 was eventually overwhelmed by real interest rate differentials (the true fundamental drivers of intermediate-term exchange-rate trends), we suspect that the "oil price drives the gold price" idea that is currently quite popular will, before much longer, be overwhelmed by genuine fundamentals.
In our opinion, changes in the oil price are neither here nor there as far as the price of gold bullion is concerned. Under the current monetary system the directions of the long-term price trends in oil and gold will tend to be the same because inflation is a primary driver of both markets, but it is what's happening on the monetary front, not what's happening with oil supply/demand, that matters to the gold market.
Changes in the oil price do, however, have an important effect on gold mining shares, but it's not the effect that most people would expect. To be specific, as far as gold mining equities are concerned a rise in the oil price is BEARISH and a fall in the oil price is BULLISH. The reason, of course, is that gold miners are major CONSUMERS of oil (a large chunk of a gold miner's costs are energy-related).
In theory, therefore, a comparison of longer-term charts of oil and the AMEX Gold BUGS Index (HUI) should reveal a slight inverse correlation. Fortunately, this is what the following chart comparison of the oil price and the HUI actually does reveal (we say "fortunately" because it's nice when market trends make sense). In particular, the chart shows that:
a) The start of the long-term bull market in gold shares in Q4-2000 coincided, almost to the day, with an intermediate-term PEAK in the oil price
b) The largest percentage gains made by gold shares occurred between Q4-2000 and Q4-2003, a period during which the oil price was basing
c) Oil's upside breakout from its base coincided with the start of a major downward correction in the gold shares
d) Between November of last year and May of this year the oil price and the HUI both surged upward. In light of what happened over the preceding 7 years this action was anomalous, although it simply reflected the fact that the gold price was rising at a faster rate than the oil price during this period (gold was strong enough relative to oil to offset the adverse effects, on the profit margins of gold miners, of higher energy prices)
Of interest, but not shown on the below chart, is the fact that ALL the gains in the major gold shares relative to the gold price were made while the oil price was below $35.
In summary, the oil price does not drive the gold price and the only reason the two markets have similar long-term trends is that they have one important long-term driver in common: monetary inflation. There is, however, an inverse relationship between the oil price and the prices of gold shares, but this relationship only comes to the fore during periods when the oil price is moving sharply lower or sharply higher relative to the gold price.
5 September 2006
One-month free trial available.
Steven Saville
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65963
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The Two Suns
of Election MM
by Goro Adachi
Uploaded: December 4, 2000
As if in commemoration of the Millennium Year, intense uncertainty engulfs the world at the end of the year 2000. In the Middle East the Peace Process has gone down the tubes and Israel is just one step short of erupting in an all-out war. In the United States, history is being made as the nation, so equally divided, is unable to elect the next President. As the stability of the whole world largely hinges on the condition of Israel and the United States at this time, the outcome of the current unrest is of not local but global importance. The need for insights and foresight into the situation, then, is paramount in order to get a clearer sense of direction as to be able to sail through the rough waters and get to the new era.
While I do not claim to have the script of the future, part of my specialty - the main thrust of the Etemenanki website - is recognizing trans-temporal aspects of 'reality' or symbolic pattern recognition; and I do see some quite intriguing 'pattern' emerging in the current events that may shed some light on their deeper meaning or 'resonance' through which 'projecting' some aspects of the future with regard to the pertinent events becomes possible. So let me here share some of my ideas - and these will involve the quatrains of Nostradamus and their hypnotic interpretations provided in Conversations With Nostradamus (Dolores Cannon) which I have not discussed for quite a long time. Indeed, I was forced to come back to these old subjects - because of certain predictive information provided by the CWN material in conjunction with Quatrain VII-41.
Quatrain VII-41
For those relatively new to the website, let me quickly explain the nature of the information provided in CWN (Conversations With Nostradamus). This material differs greatly from all other books on the prophecies of Nostradamus in that the quatrains are not interpreted intellectually but are used only as a tool for prompting information through hypnotized subjects (in deep trance). The quatrains, in other words, are used in a way only as 'key words' to search for information in the 'web', or 'matrix', of that which is beyond individualized and localized consciousness. How clearly the hypnotic 'interpretations' relate to the original quatrains, therefore, is of no immediate consequence. The interaction between the original quatrain and the extracted 'interpretation', however, would, if treated carefully, yield further insights - and those insights would spawn yet more insights and so on... and there is not really limit to it, sort of like a stream of consciousness. It may also be likened to an initiation process.
But how accurate are those hypnotic 'interpretations'? Although accuracy is not a concept that should be applied directly to the information as, again, it should be treated more as initiatory 'clues' that would lead to localized 'answers', there have been some amazing direct/literal 'hits' in the past such as the appearance of the enigmatic Hale-Bopp comet in 1997 (that I've discussed in depth in the past) to warrant its predictive quality.
And, although perhaps not as impressive as the Hale-Bopp prediction (which specifically named the year '97), it appears that the CWN material managed to predict the present state of the U.S. Presidential election which virtually no one would've considered a possibility. This, the hypnotic subject 'Brenda' did in conjunction with Quatrain VII-41:
Century VII-41
Les oz des pieds & des main enserres,
Par bruit maison long temps inhabitee:
Seront par songes concavent deterres,
Maison salubre & sans bruit habitee.
The bones of the feet and the hands locked up,
Because of the noise the house is uninhabited for a long time:
Digging in dreams they will be unearthed,
House healthy and inhabited without noise.
Amazingly, it reads like a current news report on the election. Although this particular prediction falls short of perfection in that it does not specify the time period for the event, the resemblance is still obviously very eerie and uncanny.
But it can be enhanced further through other quatrains - for instance, IX-4:
Century IX-4
L'an ensuivant descouvertz par deluge,
Deux chefs esluez le premier ne tiendra
De fuir ombre a l'un d'eux le refuge,
Saccager case qui premier maintiendra.
The following year revealed by a flood,
Two leaders elected, the first will not hold on
For one of them refuge in fleeing shadows,
The victim plundered who maintained the first.
The relevance of this quatrain is first suggested by the CWN 'interpretation' that links it to the Watergate scandal (insinuated by the mention of a 'flood' in Line 1), an event associated also with the foregoing VII-41. And reading the second line ('two leaders elected') quickly makes it apparent that it is congruently also applicable to the current U.S. presidential election - thus it functions to corroborate the VII-41 interpretation. And from this quatrain, we seem to get additional information - that the one elected will not last long ('the first will not hold on').
What does this mean? The President elected out of the great mess will create even more mess by not staying in the White House long? It turns out this issue opens up a new dimensionout through another quatrain.
Resonance: Presidency & Papacy
The quatrain, VIII-45, that I will now introduce here catches our attention initially because its first line 'With his hand in a sling and his leg bandaged' very closely resembles the first line of VII-41, 'The bones of the feet and the hands locked up':
Century VIII-45
La main escharpe & la jambe bandes,
Longs puis nay de Calais portera.
Au mot du guet la mort sera tardee
Puis dans le temple a Pasques saignera.
With his hand in a sling and his leg bandaged,
the younger brother of Calais will reach far.
Then he will bleed at Easter in the Temple.
The quatrain also ominously mentions a death possibly in reference to the short reign of the next president. But of greater consequence is how it is one of the many quatrains that have been indicated by the hypnotic subjects in CWN to relate to the next pope who, too, is predicted to have a short reign.
The issue of the next two popes that are to follow John Paul II is one of the major recurrent themes in the CWN material and something that has been discussed in depth on this website in the past. According to the information, there are only two more popes to go before the dissolution of the Church and the next one is to be quickly assassinated to make way for the succeeding and final pope. This is also echoed by the prophecy of St. Malachy, an Irish bishop who visited Rome in 1139 and supposedly had a vision in which he saw all the popes that would sit in St. Peter's Chair. He subsequently wrote down two-word Latin mottoes for each pope that would prove to correspond to the popes' most striking events or their coat-of-arms with surprising accuracy. And according to this pope list, there are only two more popes left - 'De Gloria Olivae' ('of the Glory of the Olives') and 'Petrus Romanus' ('Peter the Roman').
Curiously, the designation of the final pope makes a reference to the first 'pope', Peter, and this would resonate with the name 'George W.' (Bush) reflecting the first president, George Washington. And 'of the Glory of the Olives' would nicely relate to the Gore-Lieberman ticket in that the olive tree is symbolic of Judea/Israel and Lieberman is noted for being a Jew, and it may be added that Florida's largely democratic (i.e. pro-Gore) Palm Beach County that has been at the center of the recount controversy is significant for having a large number of Jewish residents. It may perhaps be inferred from this, then, that there is a symbolic parallel between the last phase of the papacy and the on-going presidential situation. In fact, this would nicely correlate with the statement I made on 2/2/2000 elsewhere on this website that 2000/2001 is to bring the United States one of the biggest events it has ever experienced which will be associated with the concepts of 'termination' and 'New World' (this was based on certain information that I was not, and still am not, ready to divulge).
Moreover, in 1999: The Ark of Sirius, I projected that the turn of the millennium would be the designated time period for the drama of the final two popes - which may now be interchangeable with the next two presidents - to play out. But not only that, using II-41 and II-48 (which CWN links together), it was also projected that it would involve a hung election! Here is a relevant excerpt from 1999: The Ark of Sirius:
Century II - 41
La grand' estoille par sept jours bruslera,
Nuee fera deux soleils apparoir:
Le gros mastin toute nuit hurlera,
Quand grand pontife changera de terroir.
The great star will burn for seven days,
The cloud will make double sun appear:
The large mastiff will howl all night
When the great pontiff changes his abode.
Century II - 48
La grand copie qui passera les monts.
Saturne en l'Arq tournant du poisson Mars:
Venins cachez soubs testes de saumons,
Leurs chief pendu a` fil de polemars.
The great army which will pass the mountains.
Saturn in the Arc turning from/of the fish Mars:
Poison hidden under the heads of salmon,
Their chief hung with cord of "polemars".
Line 4: "When the great pontiff changes his abode"
Notice that this line shifts the focus from Sirius to the issue of the Church completely, even though the foregoing interpretations made this transition very smooth. And this line is relatively straightforward. [...]
Incredibly, if we go back to Line 2, it appears to describe the nature of the upheaval in more detail:
Line 2: "The cloud will make two suns appear"
This now can be interpreted to be referring to the next pope election. To see the connection, we need to first look at the process of the election. The most common way to elect a pope is by ballot. By lot, the cardinals choose from their group three who collect the ballots of the infirm, three who counts the votes and three reviewers of the results. Two votes are taken every morning and two every afternoon until a two-thirds plus one majority is obtained. The crowd in St. Peter's Square follow the bolloting by watching the smoke that comes from the chimney on the palace roof - the smoke is from burning all the ballots. If the necessary majority is not reached, the ballots are burned in a way that creates black smoke. When the majority is reached, the ballots are burned in a manner that creates white smoke to signal the election.
Now, the word Nostradamus used for "cloud" was 'nuee' which actually implies a big/black cloud rather than a nice/white cloud. Therefore a more fitting translation would be:
"Black cloud will make double sun appear"
Next, the "sun" appearing is symbolic of the successor to Pope John Paul II, because he is the 'pope of the solar eclipse' (JPII was born during a solar eclipse May 18, 1920; and he was given the name "De labore Solis" - 'of the labor/eclipse of the sun' - by St. Malachy [...]. So, [...] the 'sun appearing' would metaphorically refer to the pope who follows the 'eclipse pope', John Paul II.
But the line says there would be 'two' suns. When combined with the "black cloud" part (which means unsuccessful vote), it's not that difficult to derive the meaning of the whole line; it would refer to a situation of 'pope vs. antipope' (i.e. one elected or claiming to be pope in opposition to the pope canonically chosen). And the indications are that those two 'popes' will be the last popes. At least there are no more popes after them in Malachy's prophetic list of popes. Perhaps it could be viewed that the dissolution of the Church is to begin in the summer/fall of 1999 with the next election.
As it turns out, even the first line of II-41, 'The great star will burn for seven days', which I interpreted to refer to Sirius in '1999: The Ark of Sirius', is very much applicable to the US presidential election as well. In this case, instead of Sirius, the 'star' would quite nicely relate to the ISS (International Space Station) that may, remarkably enough, be viewed as a symbolic Sirius as 'ISS' strongly evokes Isis (they are nearly identical in both spelling and pronunciation) and Isis is the very goddess represented by the star Sirius in ancient Egyptian tradition. And the news about ISS happen to overlap the election controversy as the space station is at this time (early Dec.) joined by space shuttle Endeavor - launched from, where else?, Florida! - and receiving huge solar panels which are about to make the ISS the brightest object in the night sky after the Moon and Sirius. In other words, the symbolic 'great star' Sirius is about to 'burn' as per II-41's first line! As for the 'for seven days' part, it may correspond, at least approximately, to the 11-day mission of the Endeavor (the installation of the solar panels began on Sunday, Dec. 3), or it may be alluding to the 7-day festival of Saturnalia (Dec. 17-23), especially because II-48 mentions 'Saturn', during which perhaps the ISS is to light up the night sky in some way (literally or symbolically).
Thanks to the remarkable correspondences, we now have more capacity, through the utilization of Quatrains II-41 and II-48 used above, to 'decode' the hidden meaning of the presidential election.
Presidential Ark
The important second line of II-41, 'The cloud will make two suns appear', by transposing the context, would identify the two presidential candidates, George W. Bush and Al Gore, as the 'two suns' coming out of the 'cloud' of uncertainty produced by the indecisive election. Is there any justification for this seemingly baseless association? Yes. One is that the state of Florida - the eye of the current electoral storm - is nicknamed the 'Sunshine State'. But the other solution to the association will add yet another dimension/parallel to the matter.
To understand this, we need to start, interestingly enough, with another space station, Mir - the aged Russian space station - the relevance of which to the events at the turn of the millennium was discussed in 1999: Final Solution. It has recently been announced that the Russian space station will finally be brought down into the earth (though they may change their mind yet again) to end its long 15-year career in February 2001. And since the name Mir means 'peace', the end of Mir has the ominous symbolic implication of the 'end of peace'. But 'peace' would also relate to Jerusalem, the (ironic) 'city of peace', which happens to be at the center of the great unrest in Israel occurring concurrently with the US election controversy, as well as to Solomon, the son of King David, who built the Temple to house the Ark in Jerusalem as the name Solomon, deriving from salaam, means 'peace'. Here, then, we are seeing a hint of the issue of the election beginning to merge with the familiar Ark-Grail theme, the theme that has become central to the discussions on this website since more than a year ago.
Since the planned termination date of Mir (or 'Solomon') closely coincides with the end of President Clinton's presidency (early 2001), it may be hypothesized that Clinton is to be compared to Solomon. This, actually, turns out to be supported by very coherent implications. For example: just as Solomon is inseparable from the Ark, Clinton happens to be from Ark. (i.e. Arkansas); just as Solomon was symbolically the 'peace' of Israel, Clinton contributed much to the Peace Process of Israel; just as Solomon is associated with unusual sexual relationships with outsiders (the Queen of Sheba and a daughter of Pharaoh), Clinton is infamous for his improper 'sexual relationship' with the intern, Monica Lewinsky; just as the end of Solomon's reign marked the division of Israel (into Israel and Judah), at the end of Clinton's presidency the country is intensely divided over who should be the next president; just as the reign of Solomon was notable for its peacefulness and prosperity, the Clinton era of the United States saw quite peaceful and incredibly prosperous economy. The last point is also echoed by Pope John Paul II - the pope corresponding to Clinton in our model - being a devoted peace maker who has traveled outside of the Vatican more than any other pope to convey his message of peace to the world.
Now, through Solomon, Clinton may be associated also with a pharaoh in ancient Egypt, Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty (c. 1400 BC) because the remarkable and controversial theory of Ahmed Osman (Out of Egypt, 1998) - which I have a personal reason to consider largely valid - proposes that key biblical figures such as David, Solomon, Moses, etc. are actually modeled after certain Egyptian kings of the 18th Dynasty, and Osman identifies Solomon specifically with Amenhotep III the characteristics of whose reign very closely resemble Solomon's. And the king succeeding Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Osman identifies with Moses. While the reader has to wait for my book to see my reason for valuing Osman's theory, the Akhenaten-Moses association is actually an idea shared by some other scholars such as Sigmund Freud, the father of modern psychology.
As a result of the Amenhotep III-Clinton identification, we can then go on to infer that Clinton's successor will correspond to Akhenaten who ascended the throne after Amenhotep III. And Akhenaten, as it happens, was no ordinary pharaoh. He was a 'rebel' who abolished all the traditional Egyptian gods and held the Aten, represented only by the sun-disk, as the only god to be worshipped. Akhenaten, in other words, introduced monotheism - a most alien concept to the Egyptians (and many other ancient cultures) - to suddenly deviate greatly from the by then nearly 2000-year old tradition of ancient Egypt. And he also moved the seat of power from Thebes to a peculiar site he personally selected which he named Akhetaten, now known as Tell el-Amarna, situated about half way between Giza and Thebes on the Nile. Due to such great changes brought about, the era of Akhenaten and the succeeding rulers related to the rebel king (Semenekhkare, Tutankhamun, and Ay) is now specifically known as the Amarna period and seen apart from other periods of the 18th Dynasty.
The drastic policy changes implemented by Akhenaten understandably caused so much distress for the Egyptian community and the priesthood that the king apparently faced a growing antagonistic sentiment and consequently, it seems, either he was killed or had to step down as the king. This, then, would nicely echo the short reign projected for the next pope/president who has been interpreted as a version of Akhenaten.
But more strikingly, and here is the second justification for equating Bush and Gore with the 'two suns', Akhenaten is not only inseparable from the sun-disk god (Aten) but he is sometimes even dubbed a 'Sun-King'. The presidential candidates - the symbolic 'Akhenatens' - would therefore also be 'Sun-Kings', i.e. the 'two suns'!
With regard to the correspondence between Akhenaten/Moses and the next president, in addition, it may be noticed that the name Bush is rather evocative of the 'burning bush' through which 'God' spoke to Moses, and Bush's reputation for butchering words (in addition to being intellectually-challenged) correlates nicely with Moses described in the Bilble as a poor speaker. And it is interesting, too, that the big event of Florida that preceeded the election controversy, the saga of the Cuban boy Elian Gonzales, was symbolically relatable to Moses as I discussed on 4/22/2000. The Moses association is also fitting in that the election controversy is, as we've seen, overlaid with the aura of the Watergate scandal, and Moses is closely linked with the concept of water (the name 'Moses' denotes 'saved from water' - which he was - and his Ark, through its parallel with Noah's Ark, relates to the Flood).
Future Projection
Based on the quatrains, patterns, and correspondences we've identified above, we can now make some projections as to how things will turn out in the near future: [Note: some out-of-date projections have now been edited out.]
• [...]
• Just as the next pope is predicted to have a short reign and Akhenaten's reign was (apparently) cut short, the next president may not last long.
• Based on VIII-45's fourth line, "Then he will bleed at Easter in the Temple," the end of the next president may come as early as Easter (though it may not necessarily refer to Easter of 2001).
• Based on the interpretation that the next two presidents parallel the final two popes that are predicted to succeed Pope John Paul II, it may be inferred that those presidents (or candidates, Bush and Gore) will in some way mark the end of presidency or the United States as it exists today.
• [...]
• The presidency-papacy parallel may manifest temporally as well since Pope JPII is rumored to step down soon.
• In general, revolutionary changes seem to be coming in 2001 onward. That 2001 is 1929 + 72 is a ominous sign especially for economy as the year 1929 saw the stock market crash marking the beginning of the Great Depression and 72 is a mythologically and astronomically important number connected to the concept of time and cycles.
Copyright © 2000 by Goro Adachi
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65977
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How Cool a Grandparent Are You?
Answer these pop culture questions to find out how savvy you are with the teen scene
By Phoebe Assenza
• What boy band is the No. 1 fave of tweens everywhere?
• "Pretty Little Liars" is:
• Which popular young adult book series features the characters Katniss and Peeta?
• Your tween grandson spends all day trying to master a new skateboard trick, only to fall so hard he sprains his wrist. He and his friends would call the botched stunt:
• If robots are the new ninjas and ninjas were the new pirates and pirates were the new unicorns, then:
• What actress portrayed a royal grandma in the teen-favored flick The Princess Diaries?
• Destiny Hope is the real name of this 19-year-old star of film, TV, and music, whose father is a one-hit wonder country star from the 90s:
• The Last Remnant, Mass Effect 3, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II are all:
• Which of the following is not a popular social-networking website for tweens and teens?
• According to the most popular usage, what does "LOL" mean?
« Prev Question
1 of
Next Question »
I only missed one, but I still have teens at home! :-) on 2014-06-30 00:29:58
I'm a cool Grandma! I knew that lol!
Bigsister71 on 2014-06-26 16:33:31
Only missed one, and I believe that was a trick question. Lol... on 2014-06-24 00:24:44
1 wrong i knew i was cool
sarahsfree on 2014-05-07 19:03:25
Compatibility Horoscope
Find out here.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/65992
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Breakfast Recipes
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Sunday, 21 April 2013
Secrets of the SIM
First project that I would like to share is regarding the SIM card's "secret" key derivation algorithm, the COMP128.
I was requested to put together a small presentation about the old GSM system's security at my former employer.
As I really hate presentations without any real hands on experience, I wanted to actually show the internal mechanisms of the SIM and the mobile phone as well as the base station's communication in the presentation so I did a "quick" search (took two days) about the current situation of GSM related software and tools available to a simple person, that can be used to put together something interesting.
The results are a bit shocking... but in a good way :)
I will describe the mobile phone and the BTS emulation part later, since all of the information about them can be found on the Internet already.
To show the internal mechanisms of a SIM card as well as the communication between the SIM and the mobile phone, I found the following tools to be handy:
1. SimTrace
This little hardware is awesome!!! It sniffs the communication between the SIM and the telephone and integrates into Wireshark with a normal dissector for parsing the raw data, so you are able to see what goes on the wire on-the-fly.
2. A programmable SIM card
This programmable SIM can be used like a standard SIM but you can actually change the master key (Ki) used for key derivation. Also it can switch the used derivation algorithms (COMP128 v1/v2/v3), which is really handy.
And that's it for tools. For the next step to put this part of the presentation together I had to refresh my memory about how the authentication and encryption is carried out in GSM. Wikipedia and Google is here to help as always.
Security features in GSM in a nutshell:
1. Challenge-Response Authentication
2. Symmetric encryption (A5)
The common secret is a 16 byte number stored in the SIM card and also it's stored at the respective mobile operator, it is called "Ki". Since the SIM is a smartcard, it is considered secure and we all hope that our mobile operator is storing it in a real secure way also :).
(otherwise every call and data could be decrypted if it falls in the wrong hands)
GSM authentication
1. The base station sends a 16 byte random number RAND (I'm really curious if it's really random...)
2. The SIM card gets this RAND and uses the Ki (the secret number) to feed the A3A8 (other name is COMP128) algorithm. The output is a 12 byte long number, call it OUTPUT.
3. The OUTPUT is split into two parts, the upper 4 byte is called the SRES the lower 8 byte is the Kc.
4. The SRES will be sent back to the base station as the authentication response.
on the other end of the line, the mobile operator does that same algorithm, because he knows our key (Ki), he will calculate the SRES and the Kc. If the mobile operator's SRES matches the SRES we sent back, then we are authenticated on the network
5. The Kc is sent to the mobile phone from the SIM card. It will be used as the encryption key for the A5 algorithm (not discussed here)
Key derivation
Using SIMTrace and Wireshark, we can see that the mobile phone sends only one command to the SIM card together with the RAND, and the card sends back the SRES+KC bytes. This can be observed in plain text :)
The big question remained, that how does exactly the COMP128 algorithm work?
After some searching I found that there are three versions of the COMP128, but only the first one could be found available for everyone.
A little history: after version 1 of the COMP128 got published it turned out that from observing the input and the output of the algorithm for several inputs, one can easily recover the secret key Ki. This means SIM card cloning! And also means, that if someone previously "checked" your sim card before you obtained it from the shop or from your company, he will know the secret key so if he manages to sniff your calls over the air, he will be able to decrypt the communication without much effort. So far only version 1 is known to be weak against this birthday-paradox based attack,and this is why it's not used any more (discontinued in 2002).
Since version 2&3 have not been officially published (again I have not found any publication of it so far), excessive cryptanalysis probably have not been carried out on it (khmm.... just saying...)
It seems that version 2 and 3 has not been published yet, or I was looking on the wrong Google?
So I kinda became frustrated that this presentation will be a bit incomplete, so I decided to dig a bit further. Luckily I "found" a test software used for SIM card compliance checks, which had the feature to check the version 2 & 3 of the algorithm also! Only one thing was left, reverse engineer the software to get to know the actual algorithm and then check against a valid implementation to be sure -remember the programmable SIM card I mentioned? :).
Using IDA I was able to recover the two algorithms from the software and implemented them to pure python. (Have I mentioned that I love Python?) It took some time, but I think it was a really good opportunity to learn a bit more about IDA :)
The testing part almost took the same time as the reverse engineering, because the command to change the algorithm of the programmable SIM was not working as described in the documentation -if we can call that poorly written nothing documentation- (I'll post the working command but right now I don't know where I have put it)
For this, I have written a small python script to load a key into the programmable SIM, generate 1024 random 16 byte long RAND number, then send it as the argument of the AUTH command, and store the response. (doing this to both v2 and v3 is like a little brute forcing huh?) Another script was responsible to cross check the results from the SIM with the result from the python script. No errors were found :) This however doesn't mean that my implementation of the COMP128v2 and v3 is perfect and completely following the standard (as this part of the standard is not published as far as I know), so please check it yourself and let me know the details.
Some words about the COMP128.
In v1 and v2 the last byte of the Kc was always 0x00, and the byte before the last was guessable -could only be 4 different value if I remember correctly, This means that the key used to encrypt your communication was weakened on purpose. In v3 this "limitation" was finally removed, but that doesn't help much to increase the security since the encryption algorithm used in GSM communication (A5) is officially broken. If you want security switch to 3G, the algorithms used for encryption and authentication there are public and so far there are not publicly known weakness in them (as far as I'm aware)
I hope by sharing this algorithm I help everyone who wants to know how the SIM card works to get a better understanding. I was thinking about implementing this algorithm into a Java card thus creating programmable SIMs, or using it as a software emulated SIM solution to test some weaknesses in the GSM network but so far I have a lot of work to do, If someone will do this please drop me a mail :)
Implementation and some test vectors -not a well defined test vector set I know-:
Thank you for reading!
p.s.: this is my first blog ever, suggestions how to do it better are always welcome
1. Hi
in the file is only comp128v2 could you make the comp128v3 and comp128v1 to compare a sim card that i have.
i want to try something
1. Sorry for the late reply.
If you look carefully you will find that version 3 is also included in the script :)
Version 1 is all over the internet, it has been published in 1998. But here is a link:
2. hi m working over a project OPEN BTS IN GSM and so i want to kno how to work for obtaining imsi of a sim or should i use programmable sim...if so then how can i program it
1. Hello. The easiest way is to sniff the data between the SIM card and the mobile phone while you turning it on.
You can use this :
You will have to use a programmable sim card eventually for testing.
3. Hi
May I know how to find out the type of encryption algorithm which is used in SIM cards
1. It will not be hundred percent true, but something like this:
1. COMP128v1 is not used anymore, so you will probably never encounter it. 2. COMP128v2 generated Kc last byte always 0x00 3. COMP128v3 the last byte can by anything.
After 1 or 2 challgenge-response requests you will be able to tell the version.
4. Dear H.P.,
Your article is really interesting, and your skills and commitment to understand SIM technology is impressive.
Although I would like to discuss this (or other) theme with you, I pretty much an ignorant in these matters.
Nevertheless, congratulations.
5. it's very interesting.. anyway, I don't understand a thing :
The sim card that contain algorithm v2 or next, the input for authentication on the sim card is the same?
in other words
step 1. sendToSim("AUTH",RAND)
step 2. receveFromSim(SREQ,Kc)
1. Yes, it's the same on all three versions of COMP128
6. Excellent work.
I hope you don't mind, but i've done a C port of your algorithm and Comp128-1. They're available here:
This now allows FreeRADIUS to act as an AuC for EAP-SIM authentication which is pretty neat.
I couldn't see a license attached to your original code. It'd help us (the FreeRADIUS project), if you released your code under something like GPLv2 so there are no legal issues later down the road.
Of course if you don't want your code redistributed in the form (above), i'll remove it from our repository.
I've credited your website ( as being the original author. If you'd like your real name and email address listed there instead, don't hesitate to contact me (just send me a message on Google+).
If you happen to have a document which describes Comp128-4, that'd also be very useful as it'd allow us to implement support for that also.
Anyway, thanks again for this excellent work.
1. I have posted the code for anyone to use. I'm happy for it to have landed in a project such as yours :) I believe COMP128-4 is still under development, therefore nothing to hack on it so far.
2. Also, I give up on Google+... can we discuss things in mail?
3. Sure
7. Great article. You mention in it that you worked out the command sequence to get the sysmocom grcard working. Is there any chance you can post that info? I know it would same many of us a lot of time since the documentation sysmocom has available is pretty thin.
Thanks in advance.
1. If it's still an open issue, drop me a mail. I wanted to create a new post on the technical howto, but I did not have time for that :( I still have the Python scripts somewhere...
8. thanks for the Article its very useful
9. Hello,very nice article,congratulations,can I email you?
10. Is it possible to make this into an application that could be used with a card reader? I have an old card reader lying around and was hoping to put it to use.
11. Great stuff. I would like to use it in my pyprotosim tool (see
You will be credited and your site linked.
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Halo Array
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Jump to: navigation, search
"Halo doesn't kill Flood, it kills their food! Humans, Covenant, whatever - we're all equally edible! The only way to stop the Flood is to starve them to death. And that's exactly what Halo is designed to do: wipe the galaxy clean of all sentient life!"
The Halo Array, known individually as Halos or Halo rings,[1] referred to by the Covenant as the Sacred Rings,[2][3] and labeled Fortress Worlds[4] and Installations by the Forerunners and Monitors, is a system of colossal ring-shaped superweapons.
The first array of twelve Halos was constructed by order of Master Builder Faber circa 101,000 BCE with the intent of being an ultimate weapon, one that would secure the preeminence of the Builder rate in Forerunner society.[5] Later, the weapons would be refined further and a new array of six smaller and significantly more lethal rings was constructed. Eventually, eleven were destroyed and/or lost while the remaining seven were used by the Forerunners as a last resort when combating the parasitic Flood. All sentient beings in the galaxy were killed, robbing the Flood of hosts and starving it to death.
Readout of the seven Halos.
A section of a Halo's surface.
A total of eighteen Halo rings existed during the reign of the Forerunners; an older array of twelve 30,000-kilometer-wide rings produced by the greater Ark and six 10,000-kilometer rings, constructed at the newer lesser Ark. Of these, only seven survived to be included in the final Array. Most of the Halos,[9] including the two most well-known Halo installations, Installation 04 and Installation 05, are deployed in orbit over large gas giants, though this is not the case with all of the rings; Installation 03 orbits a rocky planet.[10] Installation 04 maintained an atmospheric mining facility in Threshold's atmosphere until it was destroyed by the Covenant.[11]
Though separated by thousands of light-years, the installations are networked together and capable of remote activation at the Ark, their extragalactic construction foundry. Each Halo installation has a maximum effective range of 25,000 light-years in every direction.[12][13] The method utilized by the array to conduct this "mass sterilization protocol"[14] involves the superluminal conveyance of a burst of cross-phased super-massive neutrinos, tuned to emit a harmonic frequency that destroys the nervous system of any life form within range. Simpler organisms lacking a neural system are unaffected, along with inanimate structures. Precursor technology, however, is extremely susceptible to damage from the Halo effect due to its quasi-living neural physics composition.[15][5]
The Halo Array in its entirety has been fired only once in known history, approximately 100,000 years ago, by the IsoDidact in order to stop the Flood from overwhelming the galaxy. All beings in the Array's effective range, including Forerunners themselves, were wiped out by the Array's pulse,[7] with the exception of those who took refuge on the shield worlds. A number of Forerunners survived at the lesser Ark but chose to exile themselves from the galaxy.[16] The array has come close to activation three times since; Installation 04 was almost activated by the Master Chief, Installation 05 was activated by Commander Miranda Keyes at the behest of the Jiralhanae Chieftain Tartarus, and Sergeant Johnson was forced by the Prophet of Truth to activate the Array from the Ark. None of these attempts were successful; the first was stopped by Cortana, while the second and third were halted by UNSC and Covenant separatist intervention. A replacement Halo for the destroyed Installation 04 was successfully activated outside of the galaxy, eliminating the Flood massed at Installation 00, but it was incomplete and thus not networked to the rest of the Array.[17]
Each of the Halo installations in the final Array is given a designation number, from 01 to 07, and is overseen by a single monitor. The monitors are given control of the Installations' Sentinel automatons, from Aggressors to Constructors and Enforcers, and are responsible for containing the Flood test subjects in their research facilities and protecting the Halo from intruders.
The Array also encompasses Installation 00, an extragalactic construction facility that can create replacement installations in the event that one is destroyed. All Halos can also be remotely activated from the Ark without being subjected to their effects, as the megastructure is out of the Array's range.[18] The Forerunners also built shield worlds as a means to escape the effect without having to leave the galaxy.[19]
A Forerunner observes the construction of a Halo.
However, at this point, the Librarian went to the Council and invoked the Mantle, stating the the Halos should be used as biological preserves in the Conservation Measure, a plan to repopulate the galaxy should the Array ever be activated. The Council approved her request, and ordered that the Halo installations be constructed to have a range of natural environments for the Lifeworkers to preserve their biological specimens in. The Builders also agreed, seeing the inclusion of biological preserves as an effective means of competing with the Didact's shield worlds which incorporated similar measures.[20] However, the Master Builder later altered the initial plan, and his researchers began to use these specimens for a series of brutal experiments involving Flood infection.[21]
Forerunner-Flood war[edit]
The Halo Array fires, ending the conflict.
The first test of a Halo installation was conducted by 05-032 Mendicant Bias, who fired Installation 07 in the system of Charum Hakkor and Faun Hakkor on a low power setting, destroying all of the sentient life on the latter planet and inadvertently releasing a Precursor from captivity on the former planet. Mendicant Bias then brought the released Precursor to the Halo for study and began a 43-year-long interrogation of it.
In the final hours of the Forerunner-Flood war, the ecumene's leadership retreated to the greater Ark, also home to Omega Halo, the sole remaining Halo of the twelve original rings, apart from the repurposed Installation 07. When a Flood attack became imminent, it was decided that the IsoDidact go to the lesser Ark where he would deploy and fire the final Halo Array. Before relinquishing the coordinates to his secret Ark,[26] the Master Builder met the IsoDidact in the control room of Omega Halo and fired the ring, obliterating a small portion of the star roads laying siege on the Ark and cleansing the Large Magellanic Cloud of life.[28]
The Flood and the star roads destroyed both Omega Halo and the greater Ark, but the IsoDidact managed to escape to Installation 00 to fulfill his mission. Arriving at the lesser Ark, the IsoDidact had the rings' Index collection distributed to their respective installations aboard a Lifeworker vessel over the Ark. The installations' primary monitors were also formally given their assignments to their final posts. Each monitor also received a new name and numeric designation, each intended to serve as a form of memorial to the Forerunners.[29] With the assistance of Offensive Bias, the IsoDidact deployed the remaining six Halos from the Ark's Citadel. Together with Installation 07, these installations comprised the final Halo Array of seven rings.[27]
As Mendicant Bias and the Flood prepared their final assault on the lesser Ark in order to stop the firing of the Halos, the IsoDidact activated the Array. Installation 04 was first in the Array to fire, with the others following sequentially as their fields intersected.[30] The pulse covered the entire galaxy, killing all sentient life within range and destroying the Precursors' neural physics architecture, including the Domain the Forerunners used to hold dear.[31] Whether the pulse would destroy star roads and other Precursor artifacts in faster-than-light transit was uncertain even to the Forerunners themselves, due to the largely unknown mechanisms of Precursor superluminal travel.[32] However, their total destruction seems apparent from the fact they were no longer in evidence when the Forerunners repopulated the galaxy.[16]
The seven Halos then remained relatively dormant for approximately one hundred thousand years, though at least one of them experienced a major Flood outbreak, and at least one have experienced brief visits by other species,[33] including a major crash-landing in 40,000 BCE.[34]
The destruction of the original Installation 04.
The partially constructed Installation 04B hovering over the Ark.
The human survivors returned to Earth and resumed their fight against the Covenant, who had uncovered a large structure on Earth, which they assumed to be the Ark. The Covenant landed the Forerunner Dreadnought in the center of the structure, activating it. However, the structure was soon revealed not to be the Ark, but a generator of a portal to the actual Ark, a massive artificial world located outside the galaxy. Human and Covenant separatist forces proceeded through the portal to the newly-discovered installation to prevent the Covenant from activating the remaining Halo rings remotely. Eventually, the Gravemind arrived at the Ark aboard High Charity, the Covenant's capital city, which had been turned into a Flood hive. The hive crashed onto the Installation, releasing the Flood.
By January 2553, the UNSC had begun an active search for the remaining Halo installations, with the intent to decommission the Halo Array.[38] By at least July 2557, UNSC scientists were studying the Array for decommissioning, with facilities at Installations 03 and 05. Installation 07 was superficially observed by the Office of Naval Intelligence, but no extensive operations or facilities were initially established on or around the ring.[39] At the asteroid field orbiting Installation 03, the scientists located the Composer and accidentally activated it, causing them to become digitized. However, the sensor data left over from the incident led to the discovery of the shield world Requiem. Later, the Didact traveled to Ivanoff Station near Installation 03 to retrieve the Composer and used the device to kill the entire research staff before heading for Earth.[40]
The foundational latticework of a Halo installation.
The Halos encountered in the modern times are 10,000 kilometers in diameter; this size is roughly similar to that of Earth, which is 12,756 km in diameter. While the original twelve Halos had a diameter of 30,000 kilometers,[41] concerns about their structural stability and transport led to the second series of rings being reduced in size.[25] The surface of each ring is 318 kilometers wide,[42] and 22.3 kilometers thick.[43][44] The main structure of the ring is constructed of a superdense foundational material,[45] with elaborate scaffolding and cantilever structures laid over it to support the artificial landmasses and the myriad tunnel networks and caverns that riddle the installation's internal structure.[17] Many of these tunnels are transit conduits meant for use by the ring's Sentinels, though some of them can be traversed by humanoid beings.[46]
The Halos are capable of repairing themselves to some degree, replacing damaged plates of foundation material and restoring biological sections.[48] Some of the 30,000 km-diameter Halos could also be reduced to a smaller size by shedding large portions of the foundation.[25] In order to prevent the ring from falling apart during this process, it can generate a hard light hub with spokes which hold each of the foundation plates in place.[49] However, the self-reduction process was far from perfect and made the original Halos prone to instability and collapse.[25]
Each installation in the final array orbits a large, dense planet—most commonly a gas giant—which serves as a gravitational anchor.[9] For example, Installation 04 and Installation 05 orbited Threshold and Substance, respectively, which are both large gas giants, while Installation 03 is anchored to a large rocky planet.[10]
343 Guilty Spark, Monitor of Installation 04.
The Installations are designed to be run by advanced artificial intelligence constructs specially assigned by the Forerunners. The highest intelligence on each Installation is a single Monitor.[50] The Monitor's task is to ensure that the installation's Sentinels, which range from Constructors to Aggressors and Enforcers, repair, maintain, and defend the ring from damage, contain Flood specimens, and ensure that their own installation is ready to fire on demand, including running activation simulations.[3] Monitors also have access to their respective installation's defensive system.[51]
Although first and foremost designed as weapons of mass destruction, the Halos are also designed as habitats for transplanted lifeforms, including but not limited to humans. After Master Builder Faber's plans were co-opted by the Librarian, the Halos were given terrestrial surfaces to support catalogued specimens. The Master Builder intended to allow these specimens to be infected by Flood forms contained on the rings, and then subsequently terminated in order to test the Halos' effectiveness.[6] The Halo installations support a wide range of environments, habitats, ecosystems, and climates. Installation 04 and Installation 05 supported warm, temperate forests[53] that were both deciduous and coniferous, swamps, and cold, snow covered tundra environments.[54][55] Installation 00 had climate ranging all the way from tundra,[56] to forest,[56] to desert.[57]
While the terrain of a Halo ring may appear to be naturally formed at first glance, it is actually artificially constructed. Strato-Sentinels extract raw materials from the source, process them in transit, and deposit building materials at the Installation.[58] Four huge terraforming factories then move across the face of the installation to "skin" it with landmasses and bodies of water. These factories also hold in the ring's nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, which is then leaked out to the surface, eventually pouring through the superstructure, and tugged in place by centripetal force.[59] The installation's buildings are then built by Constructors and Sentinels. An intricate layer of metallic panels is laid down several meters below the surface of the terrain, upon which rock, soil, and eventually vegetation is added. Slopes, hills and mountains can be created by sculpting these panels.[17] Some features, such as landslides, are the result of time, and have been formed naturally. Others, such as the frigid conditions of the Quarantine Zone or the lake near the Temple on Installation 05 were artificially created.[60] There are also numerous indigenous life-forms that live on the Halos; these were brought on the installations as part of the Lifeworkers' conservation project.
The Control Room of Installation 04.
Each Halo has several assets that are uniform to all installations. Each contains a Control Room located somewhere upon its inner surface, from which a Reclaimer must manually insert the installation's Activation Index to activate it. Each also possesses a Library, a large structure protected by an energy shield, where the Index is housed and protected by Sentinels.[8][61] The index itself is a semisolid holographic representation of the data needed to activate the ring, and can only be directly inserted successfully by a Reclaimer.
Installations also possess Cartographer facilities, which contain the complete, real-time record and schematic of the installation,[62] including its inner passages and networks, to be used as a navigational reference for traversing the installation. Flood containment and research facilities are also standard, used by the installation's monitor to conduct research on and observe the surviving Flood specimens; these are protected by Sentinels to prevent an outbreak.[63]
Installations also contain advanced teleportation grids, allowing instantaneous transportation for a Monitor or Reclaimer to any place on the installation. These grids cannot be controlled by the Flood, though the Gravemind was able to use that of Installation 05 by controlling 2401 Penitent Tangent.[3] For Sentinels, the installation is riddled with tunnel and cave networks for access and transportation.[63]
The Halo installations are also equipped with drive engines spaced along their rim. In the event of an emergency, a Halo can maneuver itself to avoid damage from a collision or weaponry.[64] In addition, they possess hard light reinforcement to stabilize and protect them against tidal and gravitational forces from other objects.[65] One of the most extraordinary systems possessed by the Halos is their ability to lock entire sections of the ring, or, if necessary, the entirety of it, into reflective slipspace stasis. This suspends these sections in time and renders them invulnerable to damage from the outside. However, it also consumes an enormous amount of energy.[66]
Firing method[edit]
When activated, the Halo rings release a burst of cross-phased supermassive neutrinos.[69] This burst of neutrinos is carefully tuned to possess a harmonic frequency, which destroys the nervous system of any macroscopic organism that possesses one, even one as rudimentary as a notochord, as shown in the aftermath of a low-powered test firing of a Halo performed by Mendicant Bias in the system of Charum Hakkor. The Halo effect is able to target and eliminate most forms of neural structures, from biological nervous systems to esoteric neural physics constructs, although the effect does not extend to artificial intelligences. Simpler life forms that do not possess a neural system, such as microbes, fungi, algae, mosses, and traditional plants are unaffected.[70]
The radiation is propelled at superluminal speeds and will eventually propagate at a near-infinite velocity. This was known to generate causal paradoxes when the rings first fired, with two of the Halos reporting pre-echoes of the combined activation before the rings had been fired.[30] Once activated from Installation 00, all installations will cumulatively trigger one another as their radiation fields intersect, amplifying the effects of each individual Halo.[32] The energy discharge covers the Array's effective range and cleanses it of all affected sentient life.[68] Individual Halos can also be fired independently from the rest of the Array; this is known as a "tactical pulse".[18]
The final Halo Array, comprising the six smaller Halos (and the reduced Installation 07) were designed to fire in all directions, within a spherical radius of 25,000 light-years;[13] together, the rings were capable of killing all sentient life within three radii of the Milky Way's center.[13] The original twelve Halos were designed to fire laterally, generating a cone-shaped field with a maximum effective range of hundreds of thousands light-years. When fired from the greater Ark to the Large Magellanic Cloud, the blast was wide enough to cover the entire 14,000 light-year-wide satellite galaxy.[28] The rings could also be fired on a lower power setting, cleansing specific planets or systems within a relatively small area of effect.[70]
The nervous systems of all beings are targeted by the Halos and destroyed, rendering them useless to the Flood; however, the Halo effect does not disintegrate biomass, leaving the victims' bodies mostly intact.[71] Left untreated, lifeforms killed by the pulse will decay in great masses, which could lead to ecological devastation spread by a miasma of rotten biomatter. Therefore, Lifeworkers sprayed target biospheres with a solute that would cause any animal killed by the Array to instantly decay into its component molecules,[72] resulting in flash-desiccation.[68] Due to the Forerunners' use of solute, 21st century paleo-archeological studies gave no indication of the mass extinction caused by the Array's firing. However, in 2332 the Ross-Ziegler Blip revealed a tiny aberration in Earth's fossil records.[73]
Main article: Containment protocol
List of installations[edit]
Final Array[edit]
Designation Name Location Monitor Status
Installation 00 The Ark / lesser Ark Extragalactic space Unidentified AI Severely damaged
Installation 01 Beta Halo N/A 001 Intact
Installation 02 Epsilon Halo N/A 007 Intact
Installation 03 Gamma Halo Khaphrae system 049 Abject Testament Intact
Installation 04 Alpha Halo Threshold orbit, Soell system 343 Guilty Spark Destroyed
Installation 04B Alpha Halo (replacement) Over Installation 00 343 Guilty Spark Destroyed
Installation 05 Delta Halo Substance orbit, Coelest system 2401 Penitent Tangent Surface glassed
Installation 06 Kappa Halo N/A 16807 Intact
Installation 07 Zeta Halo N/A 117649 Intact
Name Location Monitor Status
The greater Ark Extragalactic space Offensive Bias Destroyed
Omega Halo Orbiting the greater Ark N/A Destroyed
Main-Superintendent.png Browse more images on this article's gallery page.
List of appearances[edit]
1. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level The Truth and Reconciliation
2. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 38
3. ^ a b c Halo 2, campaign level Gravemind
4. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 193
5. ^ a b c Halo: Cryptum, page 274
6. ^ a b Halo: Cryptum, pages 313, 334
7. ^ a b c d e Halo 2, campaign level The Great Journey, 343 Guilty Spark: "After exhausting every other strategic option, my creators activated the rings. They, and all additional sentient life in three radii of the galactic center, died, as planned."
8. ^ a b Halo: Combat Evolved, level The Library
9. ^ a b Halo: Silentium, page 237
10. ^ a b Halo 4, campaign level Composer
11. ^ Halo 2, level The Oracle
15. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 132
16. ^ a b Halo: Rebirth
17. ^ a b c Halo 3, campaign level Halo
19. ^ Halo: Ghosts of Onyx, page ??
20. ^ a b Halo: Silentium, page 44
21. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 188-190
23. ^ Halo: Silentium, pages 250-251
24. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 45
25. ^ a b c d Halo: Silentium, page 91
26. ^ a b c Halo: Silentium, page 270
27. ^ a b c Halo: Silentium, page 314
28. ^ a b Halo: Silentium, page 273
29. ^ Halo: Silentium, page 313
30. ^ a b Halo: Silentium, pages 326-327
31. ^ Halo: Silentium, pages 322-323
32. ^ a b Halo: Silentium, page 312
33. ^ "Conversations from the Universe"
34. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Terminals 5-6
35. ^ Halo 2, multiplayer level Burial Mounds
36. ^ Eleventh Hour reports - #5
37. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 14
38. ^ Halo: Glasslands, page 50
39. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 341
40. ^ Halo 4
41. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 310
42. ^ Halo: The Essential Visual Guide, page 6
43. ^ Halo: The Fall of Reach, page 339 (2001)
44. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 13 (2003)
45. ^ Halo: The Flood, page 340
46. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, campaign level Halo
47. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved campaign level, The Maw
48. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 77-78
49. ^ Halo: Primordium, pages 345-346
50. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, level 343 Guilty Spark
51. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Terminal 1
52. ^ Halo 2, level Sacred Icon
53. ^ Halo 2, level Uprising
54. ^ Halo: Combat Evolved, level Assault on the Control Room
55. ^ Halo 2, level Quarantine Zone
56. ^ a b Halo 3, level The Covenant
57. ^ Halo 3, level The Ark
58. ^ The Art of Halo 3, page 30
59. ^ The Art of Halo 3, page 116
60. ^ Halo 2, campaign level Delta Halo
61. ^ Halo 2, level Sacred Icon
62. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 295
63. ^ a b Halo: The Flood, pages 240-242
64. ^ Halo: Cryptum,, page 314
65. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 311
66. ^ Halo: Primordium, page 331-332
67. ^ Halo Encyclopedia, pages 170-174
68. ^ a b c d Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Terminal Eight
69. ^ Halo: Cryptum, page 274
70. ^ a b Halo: Cryptum, pages 131-133
72. ^ Halo: Silentium, String Two
See also[edit]
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/66040
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Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Portable Source Gear › Remote for D-25S!
New Posts All Forums:Forum Nav:
Remote for D-25S!
post #1 of 20
Thread Starter
I just won an auction on ebay for a Sony D-10 PCDP which includes a wireless remote control kit which according to the D-25s manual will work for it too. The D-10 looks like it might be a predecessor to the D-25 (and D-15), and uses the same battery (edit: the out-of-production BP-100 battery, not the D-25S's BP2EX battery is shared) and power supply. Unfortunately Sony no longer carries owner's manuals for the D-10, so I won't have any specs available for the player.
Now granted, wireless remote control for a PCDP (even a stationary one like the D-25S) is by no means necessary, but I think it is a pretty cool feature to have available.
post #2 of 20
Id be fine with a wired stick remote like on MD's. Honestly...we are headphone listners who sit less than 3 feet away from the source...do we really need a wireless remote?
post #3 of 20
I want a wired remote for my D-25S. Where can I get one?
post #4 of 20
I've got a Sony D-113CR pcdp which I purchased in 1992. It has a wireless remote the size of a credit card. I just pulled it out of a drawer (haven't looked at it in ages) and this thing is in mint condition! I tried to find a photo on the web for a link, but no luck.
post #5 of 20
Thread Starter
Originally posted by Audio&Me
Sony doesn't sell them anymore, your best bet would be to keep an eye on ebay for either just the remote (RM-DM2), or another PCDP that includes the remote. I think I've seen one recently, but can't remember what auction it was for.
post #6 of 20
sorry, meithkiller, the d-10 does not use the same battery as
the d-25 or the d-15. i got all 3 of them and the d-10 just has
the option the use the external bp-100, which seems to be
attached on the photo (it's a plate under the discman). mine
is dead as might be yours.
there is no internal battery slot - maybe it wasn't intended
for protable use in the first place.
the following discman (as far as i know) use the bp-2ex:
d-15, d-25(s), d-99, d-90. both the d-99 and d-90 have the
possibility to use normal mignon batteries with an adapter
which is/was included. you can see it on the picture here:
but the d-10 is a wonderful discman, sounds great, too.
congratulations !
post #7 of 20
Thread Starter
Thanks for clearing that up. I was assuming (always get in trouble when I do that) that since the D-25 manual said that it could use either the BP-2 or BP-100 battery, that it meant in the battery compartment. I then saw that on the Sony parts web site the original BP-2 battery had been replaced, I thought there was some relationship with the BP-100 again, but now I come to understand that they probably mean that the original BP-2 was replaced by the BP-2EX. Unfortunately Sony doesn't make the BP-100 anymore. I really wasn't planning on using the D-10 for portable use though, I have plenty oF others for that.
Do you know approximately when the three CD players you mentioned were originally released? I assume (there I go again) that the D-10 was first, followed by the D-15, then the D-25? (edit: never mind, I saw your other post which gives the timeline for some selected Sony PCDP's, thanks for the info)
post #8 of 20
as far as i call recall it the bp-2 is a 4v-500mAh battery and the
bp-2ex is a 4v-600mAh battery. i guess this means longer battery
besides from that they're exactly the same.
post #9 of 20
Wireless Remote
What are the model numbers of the remote and receiver you've shown in the picture above?
I've been searching for a wireless remote for a recently acquired D-25s, but I'm not getting very far. Perhaps you can answer a couple of questions?
Is the RM-D1K a remote, or a receiver, and what is the model number of it's compatible counterpart?
Is the RM-DM5K/RM-DM5 combo compatible with the D-25s?
post #10 of 20
Thread Starter
I haven't received it yet, but on the auction page the remote kit is listed as a RM-DM1K / RM-DM1 Remote Kit. The owners manual for the D-25S lists the "wireless remote control kit RM-DM1k" as one of the optional accessories. I'll let you know for sure when I get the D-10.
post #11 of 20
Thread Starter
Well, I finally got the D-10 yesterday. It came with the BP-100 battery pack, an AC-940 9V wall wart, and the RM-DM1K wireless remote control kit. Well, after charging the battery for 9-10 hours on the D-25S, I got a whopping 10 minutes of playback I guess that is actually pretty good for a lead-acid battery that is 15 years old. Oh well.
The D-10 itself is great. No provisions for battery power other than the dead battery pack that is out of production. Good powerful sound just like the D-25S. It is in surprisingly good shape for being almost 15 years old (mfd date of June 1987). One or two segments of one of the LCD digits weren't working, but after taking it apart and cleaning it out a little they work again. There is no backlight (not sure if there is supposed to be), but most of the features and controls and accessories are the same as the D-25S.
The remote control kit is pretty neat. It consists of a RM-DM1K receiver with an 1/8" stereo plug that goes in to the side of the D-25S/D-10, and an RM-DM1 full size remote control that has a keypad for direct track access, repeat and shuffle buttons, track skip and search buttons, and play, pause, and stop. Not the most practical thing for a portable, but I can think of a few situations where it could come in handy. Sony may have other similar remote kits that might work on the D-25S as well, if the forwards/backwards compatibility of their later remotes is any indication, as long as the connector/plug is the same (1/8" three-conductor headphone type plug/jack) most remote functions should be supported.
post #12 of 20
Sony pcdp Remotes & what works w/d-25?
From Sony's Parts and accessory catelog:
Remotes available for PCDP's
DISCMAN Model Remote Unit Part Number Price
D-365 RM-DM25L 8-917-553-90 55.95
D-E554 RM-DM3 1-475-994-11 131.95
D-E880 1-418-608-11 93.95
D-E885 RM-DM32 1-475-995-11 87.95
D-EJ01 RM-CD01ELT 1-418-559-11 98.95
D-EJ815 RM-CD6 1-418-670-11 33.95
There is a BIG mess of RM-DM29's on ebay for sale. Will it or one of the avove work with the D-25.
post #13 of 20
Thread Starter
AFAIK, only the RM-DM1K wireless remote system, and the RM-DM2 wired remote will work on the D-25/S. I have the RM-DM1K, but have never seen the RM-DM2. Neither of these are available from Sony anymore.
From what I have seen, Sony PCDP's from 1985 to 1992 use an 1/8" three conductor plug for the remote control, while Sony PCDP's from about 1993 to present time use the same integrated plug for the remote control. The headphone jack has a second plug beside it for the remote. The early and late remotes are not interchangeable with eachother, but anything past '93 or '94 is interchangeable, but some functions may not work, such as the later LCD or digital volume with earlier models.
post #14 of 20
Infrared Remote for D-25(S) and others?
The infrared remote pictured above is the RM-DM1K, which as noted is no longer available. However, thanks to the wonders of Sony parts ordering, you can get the two components seperately: (no manual... but no biggie, right?)
RM-DM1,REMOTE COMMANDER 146380811 $ 34.95
thought I would share the info, is very expensive, but for those REALLY interested, at least they are new...
post #15 of 20
Thread Starter
That's kinda strange that Sony sells the parts separately but not together as a package. I guess if someone wanted to save some money, they could just buy the receiver, and if they already had a universal remote, just get the correct codes and program them into the remote. Actually the cheapest way is to probably keep an eye on ebay. I've won two auctions for older Sony PCDP's with the remote kit now, and I guess a person could always resell the CD player and keep the remote. Probably would only be a net cost of $20-30 that way.
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Immunization Laws in Minnesota
The student, child care, and early childhood immunization pages have been updated to reflect the new immunization requirements that begin September 1, 2014.
• HIPAA and Immunization
MDH legal memo on immunization data sharing and HIPAA and MMWR article on HIPAA and public health.
• Homeless McKinney Vento
The McKinney-Vento Act allows homeless students to enroll in school without the standard immunization and medical record documentation. Attention: Non-MDH link
Updated Saturday, 19-Jul-2014 09:43:57 CDT
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/66051
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Can cysts be itchy? - health problems 101
Health Problems & Symptoms
Position：Health Problems 101 > Pain > Content
Can cysts be itchy?
Cysts don’t usually itch, but another skin bump, a dermatofibroma, is a red, brown, or purple growth that can change colors over time and can be characterized by tenderness, pain, and itching! See a doctor for a diagnosis! on! Any Suggestions here?
1. Lesley Reply:
Constant Itching From Cysts in a Canine. Dogs can develop cysts that can cause constant itching. Many of these cysts are the result of allergies or insect bites. Detail:http://www.ehow.com/facts_6058866_constant-itching-cysts-canine.html
2. Genevieve Reply:
Nov 18, 2003 I have cystic acne and have had it for several years, my skin is very oily. I have used every thing available including accutane which worked up
3. Gala Reply:
go see a doctor More:http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081218132954AAA6Jzv
4. Ramonita Reply:
i have two dark itchy acne or cysts. What is it? the two itchy acne spots spots on my face(one on each side) and they feel like knots feel hard to the touch like something is
5. Heide Reply:
relax! I used to get those, too! annoying, arent they?? but they are not harmful! just!!!painful! Keep putting medicine on it and DONT TRY TO POP THEM ANYMORE! popping this type of acne will result in scarring! They should go away within a week!
6. Mistie Reply:
I have i guess whats called polycystic ovarian syndrome( lots of cyst in or on my ovary) but the only problem i had from that which i was diagnosed.
Your Answer
Spamer is not welcome,every link should be moderated.
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Highsnobiety Op-Ed
Highsnobiety Op-Ed Jun 3, 2014
100 Things Every Highsnob Man Should Do Before He Dies
Highsnobiety Op-Ed Apr 10, 2014
Highsnobiety Op-Ed | Sexuality, Clothing and Hip Hop
Around a decade ago the rise of a supposedly positive term left a bitter taste in the mouth of a generation. “Metrosexual,” which was by all means coined and popularized by older white men running morning talk shows, became a … Read more
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The Horse Forum
The Horse Forum (/)
- English Riding (
- - How to get a more engaged behind/collection (
Hidalgo13 04-30-2013 10:08 PM
How to get a more engaged behind/collection
I read somewhere that you need to try and push your horse forward and then recycle some energy through the reins to transfer it to the back and gain impulsion. Is that correct? I've been trying to do that (trying), not necessarily doing it properly I suppose, as when I look at videos of me riding my school horse I feel he's lacking a bit of impulsion. It's not horrible, sometimes it's actually quite good, but at other times it's really not ideal. (I can post videos if need be).
Also, how can I get him to round his back?
Thank you :D
waresbear 04-30-2013 10:11 PM
It's more of a lift or an elevation than a push. Their back muscles lift up, they get light in the front end and shift the power to the rear. It is not something I can give instructions for through writing down, way too many factors.
toto 04-30-2013 10:31 PM
To collect a horse you shake their head down till its bent- all else will follow. Youre doin it right when your horse looks like a carousel horse- and the gaits feel bouncy.
bsms 04-30-2013 10:42 PM
Oh my. This should be interesting.
In any case...I don't know how to get a horse truly collected. But at my very low level of riding, I've noticed two things.
1 - Riding in two point seems to encourage them to use their back, probably because it means my potato sack butt isn't discouraging them.
2 - They tend to follow my weight. If I'm forward, they are too - which is fine for a sprint. If I settle back, they shift their effort more to the rear end than the front.
And 3, which is one more than I said - doing tight turns with them regularly, and trying to make those turns circles and not just turns, seems to help. A horse can't do a good, tight turn by pulling from the front end. I know, because both of mine have tried and failed...
If you are already beyond those tips...great!
existentialpony 04-30-2013 11:08 PM
The way my instructor has me engage my horse's behind is by "imagining" (bear with me here...) that I have two metal rods from my hip bone to my seat bone on each side, and my saddle is a huuuuuge magnet. When I want impulsion, the magnet "turns on" to pull my seat bones down, and I sit deep to push forward with my seat (does that make sense?) in rhythm with the horse's movement. Even if you're posting the trot-- on that down beat, you're sitting deep (not plopping down-- it's different) and squeezing.
Additionally, I applying rhythmic leg encouragement (for the walk I kind of push the barrel side to side between my legs, for the trot it's a squeeze, squeeze, squeeze).
All of this pushes my horse into the bridle. Assuming he is accepting the contact, pushing with your seat (and leg) in this manner will encourage them to be more forward and get that "recycling" going that you're talking about.
I hope that helps! :lol:
Hidalgo13 04-30-2013 11:11 PM
Thank you everyone! All your bits and pieces of info clarified some thing for me. ;) If anyone has more, keep it coming though. :)
existentialpony 04-30-2013 11:13 PM
Originally Posted by bsms (Post 2395826)
This! When I feel my horse falling onto the forehand, I remind myself to sit up tall (tall enough to make a big gap between your last rib and your hips) and deep and encouraging as I described.
Muppetgirl 04-30-2013 11:17 PM
1. Do t worry about his head and neck - it will come when he starts engaging his back and using his hocks
2. Have gentle steady contact through the reins
3. Sit tall, shoulders back, head up looking forward
4. Squeeze with your legs and think 'up' and get him moving out, maintain steady rein contact
5. Keep squeezing
6. Have him moving out ask, ask, ask,
7. As soon as you 'feel' that lift, his hocks will engage, his head will lower and he will feel like he is pushing you up in the saddle
8. Remember to sit deep but not hard in the saddle
9. - this is key - when you feel him lift, left him go for a few strides and gently release for a few strides and ask again, if you don't offer that release he will have no incentive to do it for you.
As time goes by he will be gaining the strength to maintain that arc in his back, engaged hocks and abdominal lift and he should feel like butter in your hands.
Hope that helped, it's easier said than done but is a wonderful feeling when you can get a horse there. One noticeable thing is you will see the wither 'lift'.
Muppetgirl 04-30-2013 11:36 PM
Oh.....and that was a very basic outline I gave!!! Kayty or Anebel may stop in and give a more complete explanation!!!!
Hidalgo13 04-30-2013 11:51 PM
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/66127
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How to Find Niche Markets
Learning how to find niche markets is a key skill if you want to make money online. Your ability to choose niche markets and build businesses around them will have a very direct effect on how much you can earn as an Internet marketer.
Finding good niche markets to target is a skill which is really an art and a science at the same time. It combines the ability to analyze and interpret numbers with using your creative mind to think of potential ways of making money.
Find Niche Markets: Start with Your Passions
Many would-be online entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking finding a niche market is only about the numbers a keyword tool spits out. If you start a business based on numbers alone you're unlikely to experience optimal success. This is because there needs to be an element of knowledge and passion for you when you find niche markets.
If you find niche markets you know nothing about or which really don't interest you at all, you're going to have a hard time succeeding because you simply won't have the passion you need to put the hours into making your business work. That's why, although numbers are extremely important, you need to have both good numbers and a topic you're passionate about (or at least interested in) to be successful.
Find Niche Markets: Check the Numbers
So once you've chosen a few topics you have a passion or interest in, then you can start crunching numbers using a keyword tool. There are many keyword tools out there and they differ quite a bit in terms of their accuracy and effectiveness.
You can use the Google Keyword Tool to get started, but there's a big problem with this tool: although it gives you search numbers, it doesn't give you any stats to indicate how competitive a keyword will be when you're trying to rank at the search engines. To create an intelligent keyword list and find an Internet niche with a lot of low hanging fruit (keyword which have good demand but low competition) you'll need to use a more advanced tool.
Find Niche Markets: Niche Tools
Site Build It is a complete web business creation package which includes a keyword research tool that gives you information on search demand, competition and a variety of other factors. This is a handy tool because it's grouped in with all the other tools you need for your web business in the SBI package.
In terms of standalone keyword research tools there are a handful of good ones. Market Samurai provides detailed and fairly accurate data, although it tends to have a lot of software bugs and requires frequent updating. Other options include Traffic Travis, Micro Niche Finder and Brad Callen's Niche Finder.
In any case, regardless of which tool you use you should be trying to find niche markets where you have a lot of related keywords with good numbers. What qualifies as good numbers? Well first of all, you need search demand. There needs to be a high number of people searching for that term on Google. There also needs to be low competition (or at least beatable competition).
Another factor you need to think about is the commercial potential of the keyword does it indicate a searcher wants to buy something, or are they just after free information?
One warning: when you're looking at keywords using a keyword tool with a match-type filter, like the free Google Keyword Tool, always set the match type to exact. This will give you the most accurate idea of how many searches each term gets. If you look at Broad Match numbers, you'll get an inflated view of how many people are searching on the keyword each month. That's inevitably going to lead to a disappointing amount of real visitor traffic coming to your website. It's always best to assume the numbers you're seeing are higher than what you're really going to get that way you won't be disappointed.
Another good point to keep in mind is that the search numbers you see are not the same as the actual number of visitors you'll get from a keyword phrase, even if you get a number 1 ranking for that phrase. The number one spot still only gets, on average, around 40-60% of the total search traffic for that term. So when you're looking at raw exact match search numbers, divide that number in half and you'll get a general idea of how much traffic you'd get with a number 1 ranking for that term.
Find Niche Markets: Arrange the Sub-Topics
Once you've found a bunch of related keywords with good numbers, you need to organize them into a logical framework. Ideally you want to group your keywords together into sub-topics under your main niche heading. So, for example, you main niche keyword might be golf. Sub topics might then be:
• golf gear
• golf tips
• golf techniques
• golf clothing
And so on. You'd then find other keywords that relate to each of your sub-topics so you might have 10 keywords related to golf gear, 10 related to golf tips, and so on. This allows you to organize your site into a logical structure. This structure is not only good for human visitors, it will also help your website rank better at the search engines.
If you're struggling to find sub-topics and related keywords with good enough numbers within your Internet niche, it may simply mean that the niche you've chosen is too small and there's not enough demand out there. Try expanding your niche idea to something more general for example, you could go from German Shepherd puppy training up to puppy training in general.
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Aaron Greenspan
Aaron Greenspan
Posted: May 21, 2008 10:41 PM
Fact-Free Hypocrisy from CNN's Glenn Beck
A response to Glenn Beck's "Tax-free hypocrisy from higher education" on
There's an industry out there, and it's making money hand over fist while you're barely able to cover your mounting credit card debt.
It's an industry where it's not uncommon for companies to make upwards of four billion dollars in net profit in a single year.
The corporations that comprise it can afford to hire armies of accountants and lawyers whose sole job it is to avoid tax liability through tricks such as mark-to-market accounting and the relocation of corporate "headquarters" to places like the Cayman Islands. Often, these corporations don't have to pay any taxes at all.
Sometimes, these companies even give voice to previously-unheard-of new hires, not because they believe that they'll provide high-quality services or create products of considerable value, but solely for the purpose of creating controversy where there really is none.
Are you angry, because even if there was a Congressional committee that took investigations seriously, it's most likely that nothing would come out of a lone hearing anyway? Well, you should be, because I am of course referring to the media industry, and Glenn Beck's recent commentary on Harvard's endowment is a prime example of everything wrong with it.
Beck begins by suggesting that Americans should be outraged at the combined amount of wealth that the top five institutions of higher education have amassed in their endowments, citing a figure of $100 billion. It's a large number, no doubt. Outrage would seem to be in order if universities were squandering this money on frivolous benefits for professors and students -- year-round Alaskan crab in the dining halls, perhaps -- but even having seen some of the new attractions that universities have binged on just to lure students, such as new gymnasiums, I haven't felt much outrage. Actually, some might even say that it's great that education is taken seriously enough in the United States that alumni actually want to give their money back to the same system that they derived benefit from.
Of course, Beck says, he has no problem with schools being wealthy. If we're to take him at his word, then his real grievance is that "colleges and universities are only working to spread the radical political views of some of their professors."
The mere notion that the sole purpose of institutions of learning is, or has somehow been twisted to be, the dissemination of "radical" views alone, is so absurd that Beck should be embarrassed to have written it. By definition, learning involves the introduction and analysis of original thought. Given the necessity of learning for survival, it's self-defeating to equate places that people learn with connotations of danger and subversiveness. Perhaps when Beck is one day in need personally of some radical economic ideas to boost his employer's stock price, radical statistical modeling to explain his television show ratings, or radical medical research, he'll change his mind. But probably not.
With a masterful generalization, Beck also frets that the liberal elitist professors locked away in their ivory towers have nothing better to do than raise the price of private education beyond a level that any typical family could conceivably afford. The phrase "financial aid" does not appear once in his diatribe, making it seem as though the practice does not even exist. In fact, a recent Bloomberg article with the headline "Harvard, Yale Struggle to Attract Low-Income Students With Aid" states the following: a student "was persuaded to apply when recruiters said financial aid would cover almost all of Harvard's $47,215 in annual costs, including room and board. 'It was so influential,' she said. 'It was actually cheaper for me to go to Harvard than to go to a state school where I live.'"
One has to wonder what exactly is wrong with Glenn Beck. I don't particularly care that he identifies himself as a conservative. I have many conservative views myself. The problem, I think, is that he doesn't actually know anything. Not everyone at Harvard, let alone every university, is a liberal. When I was at Harvard four years ago, two of my roommates campaigned for George W. Bush and the remaining one was a Muslim who went to mass more frequently than he entered a mosque. The endowments are huge because university alumni, on average, take what they've learned, put it to use, and give back -- often with complicated restrictions that make it difficult to spend what's accumulated except in extremely specific scenarios.
Beck's conclusion, that universities fail at "consistency and accountability," seems to be based on nothing more than the kind of sound byte CNN loves to play about every political issue.
Harvard, and education in general, should be affordable. Each school's endowment does present a vehicle by which the financial burdens of students should be eased whenever possible. Then again, Time Warner, the parent company of CNN, is a multi-national corporation with a fifty-nine billion dollar market capitalization. With his calls for Harvard to donate more due to its wealth, I'm sure Glenn Beck wouldn't mind if his employer decided to give his salary to charity this year. Or every year.
This article originally appeared on
Aaron Greenspan is the author of the forthcoming Authoritas: One Student's Harvard Admissions and the Founding of the Facebook Era.
Follow Aaron Greenspan on Twitter:
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ATV Offroad Fury 3
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Release Date: November 2, 2004
ATV Offroad Fury 3
Is it three times a charm or three strikes and you're out for Sony's ATV series?
Sony's hit ATV Offroad Fury series has fallen into the more than capable hands of Climax (of MotoGP 2 fame). Before you frantically wave the Rainbow Studios flag of vengeance above your head, know that the Englishmen and women behind that acclaimed Xbox racer have definitely done this series justice. Offroad Fury 3 is easily the best ATV racer in existence and it also represents a sizeable, appreciated step forward for the franchise and online console gaming in general.
Before you get to trouncing friends and enemies over the Internet, you're probably going to want to look at the game itself. If you do, you'll first notice the new graphics engine and how it resembles the original two in terms of overarching style and aesthetic fundamentals. There are a lot of differences, but they're small. Fury 3 now offers up more richly detailed, cluttered environments in addition to wonderfully articulated ATVs and riders and more environmental interactivity than before. It's a showcase of polish and fluidity over any single, unnecessarily spectacular effect (though we are quite fond of the dust plumes).
The differences don't stop at eye candy, Offroad Fury 3 also feels somewhat different than before. Again, it's not one big drastic change that unexpectedly punches you in the back of the head, but rather a collection of very subtle taps. The physics, for starters, make the ATVs feel heavier and lighter (depending on what you're riding). The wheels now seem to grip and grind into the Earth with a bit more weight than before. Rebounds and off target lands are also more predictable -- more logical. And, interaction with roadside hazards like picket fences and boundary stacks do not imply instant deaths. This time around the ATVs don't always hit impenetrable walls; they now move through what they should be able to move through depending on speed and approach vector. In general, it's a more grounded, believable experience (though nothing comes close to snagging a tree limb in real life and wheeling off to one side).
Drawing Far
Even though these changes have been put in place, it's still a game that focuses on the sense of speed and emphasizes strategically tight cornering while distributing rider weight to preload and time jumps. Because of this, ATV appeals to a certain type of gamer who will remain happy thanks to the series constants that have been kept (jumping, land, careening through bends, try not to crash). Now, it may seem that the casual gamer is getting a bit of a nod in the form of the new powerslide maneuver, but that just isn't the case. It's still a game for a certain type.
By holding R1 in turns it's possible to whip around corners quicker, while potentially losing balance and ultimately a few seconds if you don't do it in the right place at the right time. Don't think of this as a Need for Speed influenced drift. It's actually implemented in such a way that its use isn't mandatory, and its effectiveness is not a prerequisite of success. In fact, if you watch all the movies we've thus far assembled, you probably won't even know when we're powersliding.
Powersliding isn't the only bit of new to Offroad Fury's gameplay. This time expect some brains. Yes, there have been some AI advancements, meaning the computer doesn't always try to land on your damn head in the more challenging races even if it means screwing itself over royally. Don't worry though, this is still a title that's easy enough for the casual gamer to get into right away, but difficult enough so that later on, only the avid player who is willing to contend with some trial and error will be successful. It's not generally that bad, but at times the level of trial and error in some of the freestyle objectives that require you tool around searching for green and red icons in specific timeframes is pretty ridiculous.
The whole point to playing through all this and ranking and performing linking combo tricks to earn credits is to unlock new stuff (you purchase just about everything in ATV with earned credits). Unlockables include tracks (40 of 'em across six terrain types), music videos (taken from a pool of around 30 licensed artists and about 35 songs), ATVs, and parts.
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Game Details
Developed by: Climax Studios
Genre: Racing
Release Date:
United States: November 2, 2004
MSRP: 19.99 USD
E for Everyone : Mild Lyrics
Also Available On: PSP
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No photo available. Represent John Rodney? Add or change photos at IMDbPro
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John Rodney (I) (1914–1996)
John Rodney was born on March 7, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Key Largo (1948), Pursued (1947) and Fighter Squadron (1948). He died on January 1, 1996 in Frederick, Maryland, USA. See full bio »
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1964 The Tycoon (TV Series)
- East Meets West (1964) ... Turner
1963 The Fugitive (TV Series)
- The Girl from Little Egypt (1963) ... Ratliff (uncredited)
1963 Arrest and Trial (TV Series)
Frankie Prentice
- Some Weeks Are All Mondays (1963) ... Frankie Prentice
1963 McHale's Navy (TV Series)
- Alias Captain Binghamton (1963) ... Taggart
1963 Bonanza (TV Series)
Edwin Booth
- The Actress (1963) ... Edwin Booth
1963 Gunsmoke (TV Series)
- Blind Man's Bluff (1963) ... Barkeep
1963 Death Valley Days (TV Series)
- A Gun Is Not a Gentleman (1963) ... Prentice
1962 Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (TV Series)
Trial Judge
- The Sleeping Sentry (1962) ... Trial Judge
1962 Wagon Train (TV Series)
Major Groff
1961 Cheyenne (TV Series)
Deputy Maxon
- Retaliation (1961) ... Deputy Maxon
1961 Sea Hunt (TV Series)
Defense Attorney / Commander Royce
- Crime at Sea (1961) ... Defense Attorney
- Hit and Run (1961) ... Commander Royce
1952 Short Short Dramas (TV Series)
- I Am Not Alone (1952)
1949 Studio One in Hollywood (TV Series)
Ben Wilson
- The Storm (1949) ... Ben Wilson
Hide Hide Show Show Actor: Movie (4 credits)
1948 Fighter Squadron
Col. William 'Bill' Brickley
1947 Pursued
Hide Hide Show Show Self: Movie (1 credit)
1951 Gods of Bali (Documentary)
Narrator, American version (voice)
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Application Security Testing: The Double-sided Black Box
Posted by Rohit Sethi on Feb 26, 2013 |
One of the biggest risks with software security is the opaque nature of verification tools and processes, and the potential for false negatives not covered by a particular verification technique (e.g. automated dynamic testing).
Despite many best practices around secure Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) most organizations tend to primarily rely on testing to build secure software. One of the most significant byproducts from current methods of testing is that organizations rarely understand what is being tested - and more importantly - what is NOT being tested by their solution. Our research suggests that any single automated assurance mechanism can verify a maximum of 44% security requirements. The NIST Static Analysis Tool Exposition found that all static analysis tools combined reported warnings on 4 out of 26 known vulnerabilities in Tomcat. Because the practice of relying on opaque verification processes is so pervasive, it has become the industry standard and consequently many organizations are content with testing as the primary means to secure software.
Suppose, for example, you hire a consultancy to perform a penetration test on your software. Many people call this testing "black box" based on the QA technique of the same name, where testers do not have detailed knowledge of the system internals (e.g. system code). After executing the test, the firm produces a report outlining several vulnerabilities with your application. You remediate the vulnerabilities, submit the application for re-testing, and the next report comes back "clean" – i.e. without any vulnerabilities. At best, this simply tells you that your application can't be broken into by the same testers in the same time frame. On the other hand, it doesn't tell you:
• What are the potential threats to your application?
• Which threats is your application “not vulnerable” to?
• Which threats did the testers not assess your application for? Which threats were not possible to test from a runtime perspective?
• How did time and other constraints on the test affect the reliability of results? For example, if it the testers had 5 more days, what other security tests would they have executed?
• What was the skill level of the testers and would you get the same set of results from a different tester or another consultancy?
In our experience, organizations aren’t able to answer most of these questions. The black box is double-sided: the tester doesn't understand application internals and the organization requesting the test doesn't know much about the security posture of their software. We're not the only ones who acknowledge this issue: Haroon Meer discussed the challenges of penetration testing at 44con. Most of these issues apply to every form of verification: automated dynamic testing, automated static testing, manual penetration testing, and manual code review. In fact a recent paper describes similar challenges in source code review.
Examples of Requirements
To better illustrate this issue, let’s take a look at some common high-risk software security requirements and examine how common verification methods apply to them.
Requirement: Hash user passwords using a secure hashing algorithm (e.g. SHA-2) and a unique salt value. Iterate the algorithm multiple times.
This requirement is particularly timely with well-known passwords breaches in LinkedIn, Last FM, and Twitter in the past year.
How common verification methods apply:
• Automated run-time testing: Unlikely to have access to stored passwords, therefore unable to verify this requirement
• Manual run-time testing: Only able to verify this requirement if another exploit results in a dump of stored passwords. This is unreliable, therefore you cannot count on run-time testing to verify the requirement
• Automated static analysis: Only able to verify this requirement under the following conditions:
1. The tool understands how authentication works (i.e. uses a standard component, such as Java Realms)
2. The tool understands which specific hashing algorithm the application uses
3. The tool understands if the application uses unique salt values for each hash
In practice, there are so many ways to implement authentication that it is unrealistic to expect a static analysis tool to be able to verify this requirement across the board. A more realistic scenario is for the tool to simply recognize authentication and point out that secure hashing and salting are necessary. Another scenario is for you to create custom rules to identify the algorithm and hash value and verify they meet your own policy, although in our experience this practice is rare.
• Manual code review: The most reliable common verification method for this requirement. Manual assessors can understand where authentication happens in the code, and verify that hashing and salting meets best practices.
Requirement: Bind variables in SQL statements to prevent SQL injection
SQL Injection is one of the most devastating application vulnerabilities. A recent flaw in Ruby on Rails allowed SQL Injection for applications built on its stack.
How common verification methods apply:
• Automated run-time testing: While run-time testing may be able to find the presence of SQL injection by analyzing behavior, it cannot verify the absence of it. Therefore, automated testing run-time testing cannot verify this requirement completely
• Manual run-time testing: Same limitations as automated run-time testing
• Automated static analysis: Generally able to verify this requirement, particularly if you are using a standard library to access a SQL database. The tool should be able to understand if you are dynamically concatenating SQL statements with user input, or using proper variable binding. There is a chance, however, that static analysis may miss SQL injection vulnerabilities in the following scenarios:
• You use stored procedures on the database and are unable to scan the database code. In some circumstances, stored procedures can be susceptible to SQL injection
• You use an Object Relational Mapping (ORM) library which your static analysis tool does not support. ORMs can also be susceptible to injection.
• You use non-standard drivers / libraries for database connectivity, and the drivers do not properly implement common security controls such as prepared statements
• Manual code review: Like static analysis, manual code review can confirm the absence of SQL injection vulnerabilities. In practice, however, production applications may have hundreds or thousands of SQL statements. Manually reviewing each one can be very time consuming and error prone.
Requirement: Apply authorization checks to ensure users cannot view another user’s data.
Every year we hear about new instances of this vulnerability.
How common verification methods apply:
• Automated run-time testing: By accessing data from two different users and then attempting to access one user’s data from another user’s account, automated tools can perform some level of testing on this requirement. However, these tools are unlikely to know which data in a user’s account is sensitive or if changing the parameter "data=account1" to "data=account2" represents a breach of authorization.
• Manual run-time testing: Manual run-time tests are generally the most effective method of catching this vulnerability because human beings can have the domain knowledge required to spot this attack. There are some instances, however, where a runtime tester may not have all of the information necessary to find a vulnerability. For example, if appending a hidden parameter such as “admin=true” allows you to access another user’s data without an authorization check.
• Automated static analysis: Without rule customization, automated tools are generally ineffective in finding this kind of vulnerability because it requires domain understanding. For example, a static analysis tool is unable to know that the “data” parameter represents confidential information and requires an authorization check.
• Manual code review: Manual code review can reveal instances of missing authorization that can be difficult to find with run-time testing, such as the impact of adding an “admin=true” parameter. However, actual verifying the presence of authorization checks with manual code review can be laborious. An authorization check can appear in many different parts of code, so a manual reviewer may need to trace through several different execution paths to detect the presence or absence of authorization.
Impact to you
The opaque nature of verification means effective management of software security requirements is essential. With requirements listed, testers can specify both whether they have assessed a particular requirement and the techniques they used to do so. Critics argue that penetration testers shouldn't follow a "checklist approach to auditing" because no checklist can cover the breadth of obscure and domain-specific vulnerabilities. Yet the flexibility to find unique issues does not obviate the need to verify well understood requirements. The situation is very similar for standard software Quality Assurance (QA): good QA testers both verify functional requirements AND think outside the box about creative ways to break functionality. Simply testing blindly and reporting defects without verifying functional requirements would dramatically reduce the utility of quality assurance. Why accept a lower standard from security testing?
Before you perform your next security verification activity, make sure you have software security requirements to measure against and that you define which requirements are in-scope for the verification. If you engage manual penetration testers or source code reviewers, it should be relatively simple for them to specify which requirements they tested for. If you use an automated tool or service, work with your vendor to find out what requirements their tool or service cannot reliably test for. Your tester/product/service is unlike to guarantee an absence of false negatives (i.e. certify that your application is not vulnerable to SQL injection), but knowing what they did and did not test for can dramatically help increase the confidence that your system does not contain known, preventable security flaws.
About the Author
Rohit Sethi (@rksethi on Twitter) is lucky to work with amazing people at SD Elements, focusing on application security requirements. He has helped improve software security at some of the world’s most security sensitive organizations in financial services, software, ecommerce, healthcare, telecom and other industries. Rohit has built and taught SANS courses on Secure J2EE development. He has spoken and taught at FS-ISAC, RSA, OWASP, Secure Development Conference, Shmoocon, CSI National, Sec Tor, Infosecurity, CFI-CIRT, and many others. Mr. Sethi has written articles for InfoQ, Dr. Dobb's Journal, TechTarget, Security Focus and the Web Application Security Consortium (WASC), has appeared on Fox News Live, and has been quoted as an expert in application security for CNN, Discovery News and Computer World. He also created the OWASP Design Patterns Security Analysis project.
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Rohit is great by Pen Tester
This is a wonderful article.
The primary problem is that appdev teams leave security until the last minute. There is no time to do manual security testing. There is no time to do manual code review. Almost all work has to be fully automated today, which leads to massive gaps. 15 percent of vulns discovered when there's 100 percent coverage means that we're doing something wrong.
If you are an app owner, or know an app owner -- make sure that they know that they need to submit as much information about their risky projects to their appsec leads as soon as possible in the process. Have an automated system that pushes wireframes, source code fragments (e.g. prototypes, frameworks/libraries/components -- especially 3rd-party, et al), and buildable source code (including all target artifacts such as tests and all) to your infosec teams. They'll know what to do with it.
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ISO/IEC 14496-22:2007
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Information technology -- Coding of audio-visual objects -- Part 22: Open Font Format
This standard has been revised by: ISO/IEC 14496-22:2009
ISO/IEC 14496-22:2007, "Open Font Format Specification", defines the extensible font data format representation for interchange of digital font information in different multimedia applications.
Historically, scalable digital fonts have come in two basic flavours: PostScript (registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated) Type 1 and TrueType (trademark of Apple Computer Incorporated). Both of them are multi-platform outline font standards. OpenType (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation) is the unification of these two most powerful and widely used font formats, PostScript and TrueType, into a single font format. Designed to handle languages with complex typographic requirements, such as Arabic, it supports alternate glyphs and contextual ligature substitution.
ISO/IEC 14496-22:2007 defines the data format for scalable digital fonts that is based on the OpenType specification, version 1.4.
ISO/IEC 14496-22 addresses the following goals:
• high-quality scaling of glyphs, based on the advanced TrueType hinting capabilities;
• broader multi-platform support;
• better support for international character sets and the Unicode standard;
• better protection for font data using digital signatures in font files;
• smaller file sizes to make font distribution more efficient;
• broader support for advanced typographic features and text layout.
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Daily Israel Report
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Video Footage Shows Flare Gun Attack, Terrorist's Demise
Terrorist fired flares at civilians at Tapuach Junction. Soldiers responded quickly and eliminated him.
By Gil Ronen
First Publish: 11/12/2013, 10:49 AM
Terror attak at Tapuach
Terror attak at Tapuach
A video from an unknown source shows the terrorist attack against civilians who stood at a hitchhiking station at Tapuach Junction, in Samaria, last Thursday evening.
The video appears to be from a security camera, and the voices heard speaking in the background seem to be those of soldiers discussing the incident as they view the video.
The video shows the terrorist approaching the hitchhiking station from the south. The camera, too, is facing south.
It then shows him firing what seem to be 10 or more flares in the direction of the station. Four of the people who were standing at the station flee, running northward. One of them, however, does not flee and remains facing the terrorist. Another Israeli figure – apparently a soldier – then appears from the eastern side of the junction, possibly firing at the terrorist. The terrorist appears to stumble, get up, and fall once again.
Three more men then come running from the north and west, two of them in uniform.
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Jain World
Sub-Categories of Jain Books
Step-2: The Seven Fundamentals (The Tattva)
Step-3: The Three Jewels (The Ratna)
Step-4: The Three Hallmarks (The Lakshan)
Step-5: The Five Worships (The Panch Parmeshthi)
First Steps To Jainism
The Seven Fundamentals (The Tattva)
(Step two)
The causes leading to manifestation of life in variety of forms have taxed the imagination of all thinking men, just as the universe. If all souls or the animate living-beings are in essence alike, being formless and conscious entities, why this extreme divergence from living beings with one sense (like the stationary trees and plants) to the five-sensed human beings. Again the heterogeneousness of humanity manifesting itself in differing capacities, behaviour, material adjuncts and feelings of pain and pleasure has defied logical or convincing explanation.
Then why is the world full of suffering? "Birth is suffering, death is suffering, separation from what is pleasing is suffering and association with what is displeasing is suffering." Thus concluded Buddha and renounced the throne. Similarly men�s helplessness vis-�-vis his lot, destiny or nature sent many a prophet and leaders to the caves or mountains to find solutions to these problems.
Buddha preached the middle path, Moses propagated the Ten Commandments and other prophets and leaders of men suggested their own panacea for the ills of the world. Broadly speaking, some schools of thought have accepted a personal God, as not only creator of the universe, but also that of life in all its varieties and as arbiter of its destiny. At the other extreme are those who suggest that the entire process of life, death and creation in all its manifestation is nothing but modification of matter and the part of a natural process.
Jainism does not accept a personal God as the creator of the variety of life and dispenser of pleasure and pain. Similarly matter alone is considered as dead and inert and cannot be held responsible for the creation and its variation. These are at best escapist approaches that are alien to Jainism. It holds the individual soul responsible for its actions, its destiny, its pleasure and its pain.
Jain metaphysics prescribes a seven fold approach that not only provides a satisfactory solution to the riddle of the creation, birth, death, pleasure and pain but also lays down the path of liberation of the soul from sufferings and for realization of its full powers. These seven are, therefore, rightly known as tattvas or the fundamentals or truths which are the subject matter of this chapter These form the core of the Jain religion and have been universally preached and practiced in all ages by successive prophets, last of them being Lord Mahaveera.
Before dealing with the seven fundamentals it may be recapitulated that Jainism believes that the universe consists of two distinct major constituents i.e. (1) living-conscious substance i.e. soul and (2) non-living element (group of five substances called matter, space, time, medium of motion and medium of rest). These two divisions (1) living and (2) non-living are the most important fundamentals out of the seven. These may be called the core of the core. The belief and knowledge of these two is the basis on which the structure of the seven fundamentals is built. Actually, the seven fundamentals are nothing but permutations and combinations of these two.
Out of the non-living substances we have seen that the four formless substances play a secondary role in the drama of life. To recapitulate, the space provides accommodation, time ensures modification and medium of rest and motion help in stopping and movement respectively to the living soul and the non-living matter. It may be clarified that out of the last two only the soul is the active and conscious agent, matter being inert and non-conscious.
The attachment of matter with soul is beginningless, just as the universe is beginningless, and it is under the influence of matter that the soul undergoes the cycle of life and death with concomitant pain and pleasure, changing the bodies through transmigration of soul in which Jainism, like the most oriental schools, firmly believes.
This interplay of soul (living) and matter (non-living) is in the form of (1) influx of matter into soul (known as asrava) (2) attachment or bondage of matter with soul (known as bundh) (3) prevention of influx (known as sanwar) (4) separation of this bondage (nirajara) and (5) complete liberation of soul from the matter (moksha). These are five fundamentals in addition to the living and non-living mentioned earlier which make the total of seven fundamentals.
It may be reiterated that out of the five nonliving substances, it is matter alone that has form, which limits and obscures the power of soul. But in so acting to overpower the soul which is formless, pudgals of matter-indivisible minutest particles-take invisible form of bodies known as karma. This brings us to the karma theory of Jainism-the theory of inevitable consequences of one�s action-to which passing reference is necessary at this stage. No doubt we shall deal with this at greater length in a separate chapter.
It has been admitted by the medical science that every intense mood of a man of joy or sorrow or anger or tension-causes chemical secretions from glands in human bodies which result in sickness (like blood pressure) or physical well being. Jainism goes a step further and holds that every activity of every being-through thought word and deed (mental, verbal or physical), result in vibrations in the soul which attract waves of matter from the surrounding area that enter the soul by becoming the karmic body. These obstruct the soul�s progress towards realization of its four-fold greatness (perfect perception, perfect knowledge, perfect prowess and perfect bliss). These karmic bodies may appear in person�s present life or life after death as they determine the destination of human soul after death. Thus the word karma not only implies actions or deeds as loosely interpreted but also material bodies consisting of force or energy or waves too fine to be discernible to senses but all the same real and powerful.
Thus when we talk of influx or bondage (asrava or bundh) of matter into or with the soul we refer to the matter in a restricted sense i.e. to its karmic form. These karmas can be harmful or beneficial to the degree they result in physical or mental pain or pleasure which depends upon the nature of one�s own actions. If the actions are good e.g. charity, or bad e.g. violence, they result in pleasure and pain respectively. Some even recognize these two also in the list of fundamentals calling them merit (punya) and sin (pap) to take the total number of fundamentals to nine. However, generally these are considered as part and parcel of influx and bondage. It may be clarified, however, that sin and merit are both fetters of the soul, may be fetters of gold or fetters of iron, and for complete liberation of the soul it is essential to get rid of both these types.
With the above background we now take up the description of the seven fundamentals which may be repeated as (i) Living soul (ii) Non-living matter (iii) Influx (iv) Bondage (v) Prevention (vi)Separation and (vii) Liberation.
1. The Living soul-the first fundamental :
While volumes have been and can be written on the subject of the living soul, it has been briefly dealt with already in the chapter of The Universe. Living soul being the center of the entire Jain philosophy, we may recapitulate in brief that it is non-material, eternal, conscious substance with perfect perception, knowledge, bliss and power. It is responsible for its actions and reaps the fruits thereof. It is numberless, the whole entity filling the entire body it occupies and tends to arise upward. The broad translation of a poem by Dr. Bharill of Jaipur, summarizes the attributes of the living soul which is given below. In this the soul describes itself in the following terms:
I am self sufficient,
without trace of anything else,
Tasteless, formless,
I have no truck with anything else.
Without colour, without attachment,
without hatred, I am unique,
I am indivisible body of consciousness, happy in my own physique,
I am responsible for my success or failure and none else,
I reside in me, needing no rest in anything else.
I am pure, omniscience, one, unaffected by other�s act.
I realise myself through me, I am knowledge and bliss perfect.
2. Non-living matter-the second fundamental:
This subject has also been dealt with earlier. Though the entire group of matter, time, space etc. forms nonliving fundamental, they are widely divergent from each other as mentioned earlier. The role played by matter is predominant and it is with the matter that we are primarily concerned in the present discussion. It may be added that karma matter has beginningless association with soul. Though with form, it is so subtle and fine that nothing can check it. It passes through all and it does not stand in way of anything else. Thus it travels with the soul from one body to another with its transmigration after death.
3. Influx-Third fundamental:
All worldly creatures are constantly engaged in some form of activity-mental, verbal or physical. All such activities create turbulence in the soul and attract corresponding amount of matter in the form of karma bodies into the soul. This flow of matter-Karma bodies into the soul is called influx-asrava the third fundamental. The activity of creatures that attracts is subjective influx (bhav asrava). While the actual flow of matter into the soul is material influx (dravya asrava). True to its arithmetical approach, in Jain scriptures the activities, causing influx, have been divided and sub-divided into numerous minute sub-divisions, a broad description of which is as under:
1. False vision-like wrong belief, skepticism, ignorance of true path and is of five types.
2. Undisciplined life- This implies indulgence in violence, untruth, theft, unchastity and undue accumulation (of wealth).
3. Negligence-This includes non-vigilance, gossip, undue sleep and is of fifteen types.
4. Indiscretion-in-use-of mind, body and speech by attachment, aversion and infatuation and lastly.
5. Passions-anger, pride, greed and deceit.
The above list is not exhaustive specially when only darker side of human nature has been taken into consideration. For obvious reasons these types of activities have to shunned. Similarly, the good and brighter side of human nature such as kindness, also result in activities which are of nine types i.e. charity, service etc. However, these also result in influx of favorable type of karma pudgals as elaborated later.
4. Bondage-the fourth fundamental:
Along with influx and depending upon the intensity of the activity of mind, speech and body, matter (karma) gets attached or mixed up with soul like water with milk. This is called bondage, subjective bondage being condition of soul and objective being the actual attachment of the matter.
In the advanced stage of spiritual development bondage occurs for a very minute duration time. Otherwise the soul is bound by karma matter depending upon the extent of involvement of mind, body or word in the activity. Thus stronger the passion like anger, or greed the stronger the bondage. This intensity determines the nature, duration, character and magnitude of karma bondage which in turn determines the future course of the soul in this world, and hereafter. The nature of karma, has been dealt with exhaustively in Jain scriptures and a separate chapter will be devoted to the same in the present series.
For the present it will be sufficient to explain briefly as under the nature, duration, character and magnitude of bondage:
1) Nature of Bondage (of karma) implies good or evil results that will be reaped by the soul from the said bondage.
2) Duration of Bondage will determine the time the said karma will take to expiate.
3) Character of Bondage will determine the intensity of the results of the particular karma.
4) Magnitude of Bondage implies the quantum of karma bodies absorbed by the soul.
It may be clarified that, as mentioned under influx, influx and bondage need not necessarily be painful or sinful. These may result in pleasure also as those arising out of meritorious activity e.g. charity, humility, service rendered through mind, speech and body etc. Such meritorious activity contrary to sinful one, results in influx or bondage which provides wealth and respect in this life or hereafter. However, this also does bind the soul and has to be got rid of for complete liberation of the soul.
Question may arise that how should one act or behave so as not to attract influx and bondage when both good deeds and bad actions result in bondage-and one cannot help activity of one sort or another as long as one lives. This question has been clearly answered in Jain scriptures that one should act with utmost vigilance without involving oneself too much in the activity or its result. Again the result of one�s action, should be accepted with equanimity and indifference. The simple formula for living in the world without attracting influx or bondage, thus hastening self realization or liberation of self is:
While acting exercise utmost vigilance;
When accepting results show indifference.
1. Prevention-The fifth fundamental:
The fifth fundamental implies that soul being a free agent should cease from such activities which invite influx. For this two fold action is required-firstly non-indulgence in all such acts which result in influx and secondly exercising positive restraint on mind, speech and conduct through constant practice, so as to avoid or minimize the influx.
There are five major divisions of prevention which are the counter-parts of those resulting in influx and are stated below in juxtaposition:
Items responsible for Influx
Items responsible for Prevention
False faith
Right faith
Undisciplined life
Disciplined life
Control over Passions.
On the positive side the purpose of prevention is automatically achieved by following the code of daily conduct for monks and laymen prescribed in great detail which is summarized in brief as under :
1. Five Vows-i.e. the vows of non-violence, truth, non-stealing, chastity and non-accumulation should be practiced.
2. Control of mind, speech and body.
3. Vigilance in movement, speaking, eating, handling things and evacuation.
4. Observance of ten commandments of Jainism i.e. forgiveness, humility, honesty, truthfulness, purity of mind, mercy, penance, renunciation avoidance of greed and chastity.
5. Meditation of twelve subjects e.g. contemplation of the Universe, religion, transitoriness of existence etc.
6. Toleration of suffering of twenty two types i.e. tolerance of hunger, thirst, cold, heat, insect bite, sickness, thorns, dirt, etc.
It will be seen that all the above discussion leads to Jain ethics which has described the duties of monks and laymen in the greatest detail. It is the most glorious part of Jainism. At the same time it is simple and practicable leading to the greatest good of greatest number. To summarize it is stated that just as one, who wants to empty a tank full of water, has to stop the inflow, while throwing out the accumulated water, to achieve the purpose in hand, similarly those desirous of liberation of soul from the accumulated karmas, by practicing the methods of prevention described, stop the inflow of matter (karma bodies into soul) and pave the way for segregation or separation of accumulated karma bodies from the soul which is the subject of the next item.
6. Separation-Sixth fundamental:
Ceaseless activities of the soul can be voluntary as a free agent and these result in influx and/or bondage with matter (karma bodies) as described above. However, the soul is not always a free agent. It is rather a slave of the karmas which it has already acquired through influx and bondage due to its past activities. Such past bondage makes the soul behave in a certain fashion and suffer consequent pain and pleasure in the bargain. This is the secret of human destiny and the cause of variation between man and man, even brother and brother. Such variation because of its unclear origin is wrongly ascribed to luck, chance or God or nature.
Indeed it is very difficult to precisely allocate the activities of the animate being (the soul) to its past karma or to its fresh voluntary efforts, resulting in further influx or bondage. This can be done precisely by perfect beings with perfect knowledge only. However, as a result of some of the activities of the soul, karma bodies having given results (good or bad) are separated from the soul automatically. This is the process of separation or Nirjara and is known as separation by fruition.
However, Jainism lays emphasis on efforts of soul and suggests way to separate matter from the soul by deliberate efforts to relieve its burden and to hasten the process of liberation. This is the way of penance and called separation without fruition.
This path of penance need not frighten any body though some methods are severe. However, simple good conduct and humility are also parts of penance. There are twelve types of penance-six pertaining to body and six pertaining to mind.
Detailed procedure of these has been prescribed in the learned treatises but we shall have to content with listing the twelve as under:
A. Pertaining to Body (Exterior-Bahiya)
Fasting (Anshan)
Eating less than one�s appetite (Anodari)
Eating what is received through begging (Bhikshachari)
Tastelessness (Ras Parityag)
Toleration of body pain (Kaya Klesha)
Withdrawal from bodily pursuits (Sallinta)
B. Pertaining to mind (Interior or Abhyantar)
Repentance (Prayaschit)
Humility (Vinaya)
Service (Vaiya vrata)
Study (Swadhyaya)
Meditation (Dhyan)
Indifference (to body and its needs) (Vyutsarga)
By these processes karma bondage of the soul gets loosened and separated slowly in addition to the natural process of fruition of karma described earlier. As an example we can consider the damp or wet apparel which if thrown in a heap may take its own time to dry. However, if it is spread in sun or waved in the breeze it dries up much more quickly.
With the separation of matter from the soul its genuine inherent powers begin to manifest themselves and the soul shines in its true glory of perfection of knowledge, belief, power and bliss which is the last and the most important of the seven fundamentals.
7. Liberation or Moksh-the Seventh fundamental:
Complete separation of the soul from the matter (Karma pudgal) is liberation or salvation. This is the aim of every living being (soul) to obtain emancipation from perpetual slavery of foreign element i.e. matter. Once this is attained there is no suffering of any type, no birth, no death and no transmigration. As soon as a soul becomes completely separated from the matter, no further Karma can pollute it any more because the soul and the matter are entirely distinct substances-original pollution being due to beginningless contamination of soul by matter which attracted further defilement.
Though liberation is a very difficult and laborious process taking millenniums yet the path of liberation is not desolate or uninhabited. Millions and millions, actually infinite number of souls have attained liberation and will continue to do so in time to come. Those, who may be harboring some concern that due to this one way traffic the Universe may become devoid of worldly souls, need not worry on that account. Because if this phenomena were to occur it would have already become devoid of worldly souls. Since this has not occurred in the past it will never happen in future, because number of souls eligible for emancipation is infinite and infinity never comes to an end.
It needs mention that even the process of separation (of bondage of Karma) is full of beatitude. While the subject will be dealt with separately it may be stated that even partial liberation of the souls leads to intellectual development, physical well-being and general material happiness, prosperity of the individual. Thus one need not wait for complete liberation of soul which is the ultimate end; the blessings start on the road to liberation itself.
Similarly attaining liberation is nothing unusual for a soul because actually it is realizing its true self and should be considered as a natural process. It is like the wolf boy being taught to behave like a human being, which he actually is. Due to past association with the foreign matter the soul has forgotten its genuine original form powers and attributes. With the liberation it is established on its original pedestal.
Since all liberated souls are alike there is no distinction between one liberated soul and another. All of them possess all the attributes of complete consciousness, bliss, knowledge and faith. There is no sex, no caste, no color and no form. They being formless, like light of a candle, occupy no space. Just as light of one candle can pervade a room or light of 100 candles pervades the same room simultaneously, a large number of souls can occupy and live in the limited area. Though there is no place earmarked where liberated souls reside but by their very nature of rising above, the souls when free from the bondage of karma rise and in one samaya reach the top of the Universe just on the border of non-universe. These cannot go beyond since there is no gravitational mediums of motion and rest beyond this point.
To conclude this part it will be appropriate to quote a Sanskrit couplet translated into English which describes the quality of a liberated soul:
Omniscience, boundless vision, illimitable righteousness, infinite strength, perfect bliss, indestructibility, existence without form, a body that is neither light nor heavy-such are the characteristics of liberated souls.
Before closing this chapter it may be recapitulated that just as the first fundamental is soul, the seventh fundamental is also soul. Though the first described the worldly as well as the liberated souls the last one deals with only liberated souls. Actually apart from the second fundamental i.e. non-living matter entire chapter and all the fundamentals describe different stages and process of evolution of soul in relation to karma pudgals. In this process the entire secret of existence, birth and death, pain and pleasure, difference between different individuals, mystery of chance and luck become resolved in the orderly pattern of behaviour of the soul. Also the pathway to solve the problem of human suffering is clearly demarcated and defined. Indeed the whole arrangement of the soul�s association with matter, attachment between the two, prevention of attachment and separation are all dependent upon the soul�s voluntary and involuntary efforts. It is elementary, simple and automatic that it does not require any intermediary like God or a Supreme Being. Jainism introduces an element of directness in the law of compensation or the rule of cause and effect and applies it to the spiritual world.
Simplicity and orderliness of Jain theory of the seven fundamentals is apparent and it is in tune with the theory of beginning-less Universe and animistic belief which are essentially simple and direct in approach. These are all in accordance with natural laws which are also simple in essence and direct in approach-as nature itself abhors complication.
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Jammer's Review
Star Trek: Voyager
"Dragon's Teeth"
Air date: 11/10/1999
Teleplay by Michael Taylor and Brannon Braga & Joe Menosky
Story by Michael Taylor
Directed by Winrich Kolbe
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
"When it rains, do you run from doorway to doorway, trying to stay dry, getting wet all the while, or do you just accept the fact that it's raining and walk with dignity?"
"Rain's one thing; plasma bombs are something else."
"But the principle is the same."
— Gedrin and Janeway
Nutshell: The first few acts are pretty good, with some interesting ideas and approaches, but the closing passages comprise a thoughtless mess that sinks the show.
Perhaps the toughest question at the heart of "Dragon's Teeth" is where to draw the line between helpfulness and caution, between trust and skepticism, between exercising the Starfleet way of seeking out new civilizations and in fending for yourself because those you're seeking out might want to take you for a fool and hijack your ship.
Actually, to say this question is at the "heart" of the show is probably wrong; this is an episode that can't maintain long enough focus on what's important. It ultimately can't really even seem to decide what's important. Or perhaps its most important goal is to supply a Trek show that has enough action and FX and bad guys to be worthy of November sweeps.
If I sound somewhat cynical about "Dragon's Teeth," it's because it's an hour with some ideas that hold promise and deserve better treatment than they get. A lot of that promise, though, seems to be playing second fiddle to improbable movements in the plot and action that exist to fulfill some need to create a new Delta Quadrant enemy rather than to tell the story at hand.
While "Dragon's Teeth" features some good elements, scrutiny uncovers too many moments that just aren't believable, and too many motivations that seem governed by the Plot Gods rather than believable characters within the given situations.
It all starts about 900 years ago (892 according to Harry's handy estimates), as a society known as the Vaadwaur is bombed virtually out of existence. Several hundred survivors go deep underground into stasis chambers where they expect to wake up five years later and rebuild their world. Fast-forward almost 900 years, where Voyager happens upon this destroyed world while being chased by This Week's Xenophobes [TM], named the Turei, who are determined to hunt down Voyager and force them to erase all data pertaining to the subspace corridors Voyager had accidentally wandered into. These corridors are quite the commodity, permitting travel across long distances in very short periods of time. Such a commodity, in fact, that any outside knowledge of them is prohibited.
Hiding out on the surface of the planet under an irradiated atmosphere, Voyager discovers the underground Vaadwaur survivors. In a moment of questionable judgment, Seven brings one of the survivors, a man named Gedrin (Jeff Allin), out of stasis. Gedrin tells the tale of his world's destruction, and we get an interesting recap of the Vaadwaur culture, which is revealed subtly over a number of scenes.
Among the show's strengths is the way it gradually uncovers who the Vaadwaur are and what kind of intentions they might harbor. I liked the idea, for example, that the word "Vaadwaur" meant "foolish" in an ancient Talaxian tongue—the implications of which are revealed with a good amount of storytelling care. Neelix's role in the plot as he uncovers the linguistic mystery is commendable; the cipher of last year is now actually getting some material that shows him as a useful contributor to the ship's operations.
There's also the interesting use of Vaadwaur beliefs that make for some good foreshadowing. Gedrin's analogy between falling bombs and falling rain ("Accept the fact that it's raining and walk with dignity") is a telling sign of the Vaadwaur warrior ethic, as is the Vaadwaur attitude to so easily accept death, as revealed in a scene (Torres' only scene, we must note) that draws a parallel between the Vaadwaur and the Klingons. And don't forget Naomi's reaction to the bad vibes she gets from the Vaadwaur children; in mass entertainment mediums, inherently perceptive kids who pick up bad vibes are never wrong.
Unfortunately, what I have trouble with is the fact the episode goes to these nicely conveyed lengths to show us the Vaadwaur are a potentially dangerous bunch, yet the Voyager crew doesn't stop to ask the tough questions. That is to say: How prudent is it to uncork the bottle and wake up the "dragon's teeth" when they have their own ships and outnumber your people four to one?
In fact, the placement of Chakotay's "dragon's teeth" tale hurts the overall scope of the episode. Said tale is about a slain dragon, whose teeth, after buried, became seeds that gave birth to new warriors to rise up against the enemy. A very interesting observation, I must say. But nobody seems to be listening. The episode makes the point and then the characters ignore it; Janeway agrees to help Gedrin's people escape the Turei by allowing him to wake up the remaining Vaadwaur survivors, who according to plan will escape the planet with Voyager's help, once the ship is repaired.
Meanwhile, Neelix and Seven find historical evidence that the Vaadwaur had a warlike history that once extended through the Delta Quadrant thanks to the far reaches of the subspace corridors. The Vaadwaur were eventually conquered, but Voyager might become the long-deferred next victim. The episode makes it clear for us when we see Vaadwaur characters making plans to seize Voyager and use it as their new device to become competitors in the current century.
So back to the first question posed in this review: Is Voyager obligated to help these people when turning away could mean the remainder of their culture being permanently annihilated? That's a toughie, and a question that somewhat justifies Janeway's decision to be a humanist and help out. But the episode itself doesn't consider the question long enough, and once it starts showing us evidence the Vaadwaur cannot be trusted, the plot hijacks the episode and makes almost every other choice in the course of the hour irrelevant. (At the very least, I am glad that Janeway didn't cave regarding the weapons issue, and that she wisely put her ship's safety first after Neelix's discovery was made clear.)
But what could've been good analysis of a tough situation turns into a mindless wind-up action toy. Once Janeway confronts Gedrin with the historical evidence, Gedrin gives assurances that he is willing to accept peace and change in the new Delta Quadrant. Unfortunately, he's the only one. When it becomes clear to the other Vaadwaur that an attempted dupe of Janeway isn't going to help them become renewed conquerors, the plot instantly becomes "Voyager versus the Vaadwaur bad guys."
This leads to an "action" finale where the Vaadwaur launch their ships to attack Voyager, and Voyager desperately tries to escape the planet's atmosphere before they are destroyed by the vengeful pack of Vaadwaur. Apparently realizing that the Vaadwaur alliance was a mistake all along, Janeway pulls a 180 and contacts the Turei and asks for their help to stop the Vaadwaur, who obviously want the subspace corridors back. Meanwhile, Tuvok and Gedrin beam down to the underground tunnels to contact an orbiting satellite that will help the Turei penetrate the atmospheric interference and bomb the remaining Vaadwaur from orbit.
These events constitute a chaotic mess without regard for what any of it means.
First of all, Janeway's 180 strikes me as based purely on convenience, as she essentially makes a deal to help one enemy destroy the other—while the story sits by and doesn't begin to consider the consequences. Sure, Voyager is in danger, but does that mean the entire remaining Vaadwaur culture is fair game for being destroyed by an orbital bombing (including the innocent children mentioned earlier in the episode)? That in itself might be debatable given the Vaadwaur's extreme actions, but my point is that this question is the farthest thing from the writers' minds. Janeway's decision seems more a result of the Plot Gods, who make the Vaadwaur into convenient Bad Guys who deserve to die for their cold, warrior-like inflexibility. Early in the episode the Vaadwaur (through Gedrin) can be seen as people, but by the end the Vaadwaur are hopeless villains with zero depth or desire to see reason. They're hell-bent on taking over the universe, or whatever.
Meanwhile, the action scenes just don't work very well. Tuvok beams down to help Gedrin contact the satellite, but later beams up (we assume) in a manner that is executed so awkwardly that it almost appears Voyager leaves Tuvok behind. (And how would he beam up through all the interference and blocked communication signals, anyway? Convenient how the crew can't get a transporter lock on someone only when it suits the plot.) This of course means Gedrin will die alone in a cave-in, since any good-guy subset of the Bad Guys must be killed for their beliefs. But what about those beliefs? What exactly is it that makes Gedrin different from the rest of the "bad" Vaadwaur, except for the fact that he's the guest character with the most lines? By the end, he seems practically eager to go along with Janeway's teaming with the Turei, never mind that his own people will be slaughtered as a result. I don't buy it. (There's no room here for subtlety or torn loyalties; either you're with Voyager or you're not. Bah.)
Voyager's escape from the atmosphere is anticlimactic, done with an unfollowable technobabble procedure that's supposed to have the urgency of, say, fighter pilots using flight jargon as they take emergency procedures to save themselves. Unfortunately, technobabble just doesn't have the same perceived credibility. This escape sequence is a joke.
And although it's been awhile since I've climbed aboard the musical Trek bitch-train, I must point out that Jay Chattaway's notably unmusical score also didn't help matters in this final act. Are random-sounding, discordant notes supposed to constitute excitement? (Tell you what: Just let David Bell score the rest of the shows and we'll call it a season.)
The deficiencies in action might've been okay if the ideas here were worthwhile, but the action is the episode's priority.
The final scene tries to give the show some perspective, and, in theory, I liked the idea that Seven's intention to revive a culture is turned upside down into a violent showdown. But, again, it doesn't wash. The ending purports that the handful of Vaadwaur that escape are somehow going to be the new fearsome bad guys of the Delta Quadrant. Excuse me, but how? Resourceful or not, I'm with Seven: Their technology is nine centuries out of date, there's only 50-some of their ships floating around, and even with access to the corridors they're hardly invincible (otherwise, why would they even have needed Voyager in the first place?).
I don't buy for one second Janeway's line, "the repercussions could be catastrophic," which was inserted solely for the audience's benefit as a cue that we'll be seeing the Vaadwaur again. (The whole idea is the writers' toss of a coin; if the line hadn't been there, we wouldn't expect to see them again and it'd be Voyager business as usual.) I also don't think the notion, however subtle, that this was in a way Seven's "fault" holds water. While I find interesting the idea that Seven perhaps set an ages-old conflict back into motion with one action, it ultimately isn't quite so simple. After all, Janeway's the one who decided to wake up the rest of the Vaadwaur.
This nonsensical ending is really a shame, because this episode makes good use of Seven, whose appropriately interesting desire to rebuild a culture turns into a tragedy; makes good use of Neelix, whose use of historical knowledge and research goes a long way toward making him a useful character; features some well-done scenes early in the episode that maintain patience in establishing the Vaadwaur; and asks a few interesting questions regarding caution versus exploration. It could've been a great episode. By the end it's an action-packed mess.
Next week: A three-century-old spacecraft intended to go to Mars has ended up in the Delta Quadrant. And Voyager happens upon it. How very nice.
Previous episode: Riddles
Next episode: One Small Step
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25 comments on this review
AJ Koravkrian - Sun, Nov 11, 2007 - 6:15pm (USA Central)
I'm sorry, but doesn't the prime directive apply here ? It's the incidents like this one that makes Janeway's claims of never having broken the prime directive completely baseless.
Pauly - Sun, May 18, 2008 - 6:32am (USA Central)
Even though we never see them again, and the episode is 100% plot driven - I find it one I like to watch over and over again?? I can't even put my finger on why I like it so much.
Aaron - Thu, Jul 31, 2008 - 2:30pm (USA Central)
Talk about an episode demanding two parts! The whole idea here is great. The first 20 minutes are great. And the last 25 minutes are so rushed and insane, that the episode falls apart. Pity.
Stephen - Wed, Apr 29, 2009 - 11:03pm (USA Central)
I'll admit that VOY definitely had plot problems throughout its run, but I always liked this episode. I think it may be that the special effects, at least for me, sell the "epic" quality that the show is going for. Sure, it fails in the present, but there are just enough establishing shots of the ruins, plus the attack in the teaser, that convince me that, even if the story as presented by the episode itself isn't very deep, there was a much bigger, and definitely much more interesting, story happening in the background. I know what matters onscreen is the only relevant part, of course, but for me what came before helps elevate what is happening now. I guess I'm more lenient to this show than you are because its something that inspires my imagination.
Ken Egervari - Wed, Dec 9, 2009 - 2:24am (USA Central)
A show like this is so frustrating... because a lot of it is very, very good. It's one of the few episodes to really grab me and hold my attention most of the way through. I liked it.
And like your review says... the ending sucks. It seems like the lesson is the wrong lesson. How many other episodes in star trek did we awaken people in stasis pods? My god... it's happened enough times that it's probably considered protocol.
And then leaving the aliens to fight off the battle for them while Voyager makes the escape... really? That seems... unethical. It just didn't sit right with me.
I wouldn't give it quite 2 stars... it's probably better at 2.5. There are worse episodes that have gotten 2 stars.
It's really too bad... because this is an episode that had promise.
Ken Egervari - Wed, Dec 9, 2009 - 2:52am (USA Central)
Oh, there's a few other things I thought up as well.
When they were fighting the ships and transported tuvok... didn't they have their shields up to protect them from the incoming fire? Isn't it established that you can't transport with the shields up? I caught this when watching it... and then as I read the review, I remembered I thought this.
I also didn't understand why Gedron was against his own people. I mean, there is so few of his race left... and he's going to kill them off? Who would be left? Ugh.
The one thing I never get with Voyager is... why are all the weapons comparable with voyagers? It would stand to reason that even 100 years of technology would give someone a MASSIVE advantage.
Let's put this in perspective. Computing systems typically become twice as fast every 18 months. When I was 19 years old (I'm 29 now), I think I had a 400mhz processor. These days, we have 3000mhz x4 processors. That's just 10 years! Not 900!
Now, I don't suspect that equating the Vaadwuar with Earth's technology 900 years ago... but come on... It's obvious that Voyager is way more superior. Those phasers on those Vaadwaur ships shouldn't even be scratching the shields on Voyager.
Yet, week after week, every other species' weapons are comparable to voyager... without fail. I mean seriously... they have little dinky ships... they are nomadic, spread out races... they only occupy 1 world... and they have ships to match. I can never believe it. The federation is composed of hundreds of worlds, is it not? At least dozens... over the course of what... 300 years or so? Are you seriously trying to tell me that 300 years and several dozen worlds can't make better shields and weapons than some lonely races out in the backwater delta quandrant? Give me a fucking break!
Nic - Fri, Feb 12, 2010 - 10:57am (USA Central)
According to Brannon Braga, this episode was initially planned as a two-hour telemovie, but he and Menosky decided while writing Part One that it would work better as a single hour. By the time the compressed version of the script was finished, their opinions had turned around again - but it was too late to re-expand the story.
This probably helps explain the messy second half of the episode. A two-hour show would certainly have given us enough time to explore all the issues that were raised in the first two acts.
Michael - Wed, Jul 7, 2010 - 2:38pm (USA Central)
I don't know why everyone is so scathing of this episode. I liked i enormously and, as someone said, it's one of the few shows that kept me riveted for much of its duration.
The premise and plot were great. There was no extraneous philosophizing, moralizing, sermonizing and analyzing. I personally don't need every loose end tied and everything to fall into place. Voyager left the two species to battle it out; so what! The denouement was that neither race was completely good or bad; no black and white. I thought that was what we wanted: Isn't Voyager often criticized for a simplistic moral polarization?
As for the holes and inconsistencies... *sigh* Hasn't it been established a billion times already that that's part and parcel of Voyager? If it wasn't so annoying at times, it would be almost part of its charm! :D
3-3.5 stars to this one.
Jay - Sun, Sep 4, 2011 - 7:25pm (USA Central)
How can the Vaudwarr know for sure that there are corridors still unknown to their enemies after nine centuries?
Jay - Sun, Sep 4, 2011 - 7:29pm (USA Central)
And...does Neelix live with the Wildmans?...he comes (presumably) home to (presumably) his quarters (at least he acts like they're his quarters) and Naomi is there, in (presumably) her bedroom.
Robots4Ever - Sun, Nov 27, 2011 - 5:52am (USA Central)
This worked for me. There were few sentimental interludes apart from the odd hint of Seven trying to join the human race. The revival of the guy from stasis seemed a better of the two evils. Events then unfolded, not necessarily as the only script choice, but one that had sufficient air of plausibility to carry through.
One issue is the corridor and a missed opportunity to go back home so easily lost.
Just Another Trekkie - Sun, Mar 25, 2012 - 5:49am (USA Central)
Another great review.
Anyone else notice the resemblance between the Vaadwaur and the Cardassians?
It seems to me to be a cop-out to have all the most frightening-looking races also be the most war-like.
What would REALLY be interesting is to have a harmless-looking race turn out to be the fiercest and more war-like. Thoughts?
Zero - Sat, Apr 7, 2012 - 12:46am (USA Central)
So this is very minor... but.
Janeway says, "What I wouldn't give for a Betazoid right now." But they had a Betazoid! In "Counterpoint" they have TWO Betazoids!!!
Captain Jim - Tue, Apr 10, 2012 - 9:02pm (USA Central)
Second episode in a row where I've thought Jammer was too harsh. Certainly there were some shortcomings, but all in all I found it a very entertaining hour.
Destructor - Wed, Jun 13, 2012 - 10:57pm (USA Central)
Agreed with the people commending the 'epic' feel of the episode. Yes, the knowledge that the Vadwaar were never encountered again does hurt the episode some, but as an ominous 'Part 1', it does a pretty good job of showing unintended consequences. I like it.
Billy - Sat, Dec 29, 2012 - 2:05pm (USA Central)
This episode packed so much I can't believe it wasn't a two parter - or an arc.
I loved the SFX with Voyager trying to take off from the destroyed city, eventually leaving a war zone behind.
Nina - Thu, Feb 14, 2013 - 7:25am (USA Central)
I kept wondering if the Vaadwaurs’ neck ridges were re-used Cardassian ones, just twisted the other way.
Jo Jo Meastro - Fri, Jul 26, 2013 - 11:54am (USA Central)
Jammers' review pretty much says what I had thought, which was basically; a good episode that got spoilt by a rushed and fuzzy conclusion.
Making it a 2 parter probably would have been best to allow the story room to grow and maintain its depth and intrigue.
I still enjoyed it, I just wish the ending to Dragons' Teeth had been at least more sharper and with more *ahem* bite. Perhaps a trip to the dentist was in order *bows head in shame*. 2 or 2.5 stars sounds right to me.
azcats - Mon, Aug 12, 2013 - 4:17pm (USA Central)
1. yes, didnt Janeway open up stassis units with the "the Clown" and "Amelia Earhart?"
2. fun episode, but it was ended abruptly. i REALLY enjoyed the premise. the beginning was very intriguing.
3. jammer always gets on voyager when janeway says "we will see them again." but yet they dont. so at least they dont follow script. lol
4. I agree with Jay. it looked like Neelix was coming home from a long day at work and Naomi is there? that was weird.
this was 4 star entertainment. 3 star overall episode!
Nic - Tue, Aug 13, 2013 - 10:50pm (USA Central)
@Just Another Trekkie: they actually did do that in the season 4 episode "Nemesis".
Luckily, the writers realized that they had botched the introduction of the Vadwaar and they never appeared again.
Lt. Yarko - Fri, Aug 23, 2013 - 12:38am (USA Central)
Unbelievable that Seven would open that stasis pod. She would know better by then. That was just silly. And, how stupid are the Vaadwaur? "We are weak. Let's attack our only hope of success!" The Klingons wouldn't even be that stupid. What a strange episode.
LT. commander holman - Mon, Jan 20, 2014 - 9:20pm (USA Central)
A update zero-
Voyager did have two batazoids but in the pilot the female helmswomen (can't remember her name) was killed when the caretaker flung them into the Delta Quaternet and suetter was the other who was killed by the kazons In basics part two so fyi janeway was correct in her statement when she said she wished there was a batazoid aboard...
mwallace85 - Wed, Feb 5, 2014 - 4:55pm (USA Central)
@ LT. commander holman - yea those 2 betazoids where killed BUT what Zero is referring to is the Voyager Crewman who had to hide in Counterpoint as they had telepathic abilities, we know of Tuvok and Vorik but what species where the other crewmembers? don't know of any other telepaths in the Federation so where they not Betazoids??
Dave in NC - Fri, May 30, 2014 - 2:31am (USA Central)
@ nwallace85: Next Generation had a telepathic Starfleet crewmember in the episode with the skeleton in the nacelle of the Enterprise D. I don't know the species, but he had a big forehead.
domi - Tue, Jun 17, 2014 - 1:40am (USA Central)
I found this episode to be interesting considering the complex political and ethical factors involved. Although the "alien double-crosser" was a little bit predictable, the episode still had plenty of suspenseful and unique elements. It's hard to understand why this episode got a lower rating than the shallow and cliche-filled "Alice".
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Open Access Highly Accessed Research
Ranking relations between diseases, drugs and genes for a curation task
Simon Clematide* and Fabio Rinaldi
Author Affiliations
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Published:5 October 2012
© 2012 Clematide and Rinaldi; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
The wealth of published information in the biomedical domain is at the same time an opportunity and a challenge. Accessing this information, and making sense of it, becomes an increasingly difficult task which requires a considerable expertise. In order to help the biologists quickly locate the essential information that they need, different organizations provide curated databases, which organize the available knowledge about a particular specific subject, for example UniProt/SwissProt [1] is one of the most authoritative resources concerning proteins, BioGrid [2] is the broadest database describing gene and protein interactions. Most reference databases are created and maintained using a very costly and expensive manual curation procedure, which involves highly skilled professionals. It has been observed already a few years ago that such an approach is not sufficiently efficient in order to cope with the increasing quantity of published results [3]. In order to support this process, researchers are turning their attention to text mining methodologies, not with the aim of replacing manual curation, which we consider not possible in the foreseeable future, but rather with the aim of providing tools that can make the curation process more efficient. Clearly such tools will need to be tailored to the specific task or database where they are going to be deployed, however some major tendencies are already clear and will shape the future development of the field. Some of the fundamental tasks that text mining systems are required to deal with are: term recognition, entity identification and the detection of important relations between entities.
The text mining community has been organizing a number of shared tasks aiming at providing an infrastructure for the comparative evaluation of different text mining technologies. One such task, which is of particular relevance to the work described in this paper, is the protein-protein interaction task which took place in the 2006 and 2009 editions of the BioCreative competitive evaluations [4,5]. The organizers provide a collection of annotated documents as a training dataset (typically derived from one of the curated databases) and a separate collection of unannotated documents as a test dataset. Participants have a limited time frame to process the training data and deliver results back to the organizers, who will then score these results against a previously withheld gold standard, using a set of metrics suited to the task. In this paper we focus on a different type of relations, namely those among genes, drugs/chemicals and diseases, and we use information derived from the PharmGKB database [6,7] and the CTD database [8] as our gold standard. These gold standards could be used in a text mining task analogous to the protein-protein interaction task defined in the BioCreative competitions.
We propose and evaluate a simple and practical method to achieve a high-quality ranked list of candidate relations based on the output of a term recognizer. Once entities have been identified, candidate relations can be generated with simple techniques, for example, co-occurrence within the same text span. However, such candidates would be too numerous to be useful, so proper ranking techniques are necessary in order to render these results accessible and really useful for a curation task. We use a machine learning approach suited for reranking of candidate relations by applying a maximum entropy method that integrates information from the vast amount of already curated relations from the PharmGKB and the CTD. This paper concludes with a brief overview of an integrated curation environment where the results described in the paper are applied.
First we give a proper characterization of the resources and the gold standard data derived from the PharmGKB and the CTD databases. Next we present the evaluation measures and tools used for the experiments. Then we continue to describe our methods for term recognition, entity scoring, relation extraction and relation candidate ranking.
In order to perform simple and replicable experiments we refrain from more sophisticated and resource-intensive entity recognition approaches and do not use any external database of names and identifiers, for instance, by leveraging synonyms from the UMLS [9] or BioPortal [10]. Instead we restrict the terminological dictionaries to the ones provided by the PharmGKB resp. the CTD that can be downloaded in a plain textual format. These resources include terms used in the curated papers and their unique identifiers for each corresponding entity. For the PharmGKB, we have 30351 terms (2986 IDs) for drugs, 28633 terms (3198 IDs) for diseases, 176366 terms (28633 IDs) for genes. For the CTD, we have 388384 terms (101030 IDs) for chemicals, 69483 terms (9657 IDs) for diseases, 711631 terms (79837 IDs) for genes. The terms for chemicals and disease of the CTD are largely from MeSH. The relationship data as available from the databases are represented as binary combination between two typed identifiers, supplemented with additional information regarding the type of evidence supporting the relationship. For all experiments described in this paper, we limit the set of relations to the ones based upon manually curated evidence from PubMed. In particular, we do not use inferred relations from the CTD and automatically created relation annotations from the PharmGKB, which were accessible in the past through their web interface.
From the PharmGKB, we get 26122 binary relations, which are based upon 5062 distinct PubMed articles. However, the number of relations attributed to an article varies strongly between just 1 up to 600 relations per article. Given that we consider only abstracts and not full-text, the task of extracting more than two dozens of relations seems not realistic. We therefore decided to restrict the data set for our experiments to all articles containing at most 20 relations. The resulting 4658 articles, which we then used for our experiments, contain 14825 relations. The source databases include some reflexive relations, i.e. relations between identical concepts, which we removed from our dataset. Table 1 shows the exact distribution of all relation types in our experimental data set split up by the number of relations in an article. As can be seen there, relations between the three different entity types, i.e. diseases (henceforth "Di"), drugs ("Dr") and genes ("Ge"), do not occur uniformly. In our data set, about 42% of all relations are of type Drug-Gene (Dr-Ge), about 37% of type Disease-Gene (Di-Ge) and only 18% of type Disease-Drug (Di-Dr). Relations between entities of the same type do exist, but they are marginal and contribute only about 3% of all relations.
Table 1. Distribution of relations per article in experimental data sets.
From the CTD, we get 294151 binary relations, which are based upon 27960 distinct PubMed articles. However, the number of relations attributed to an article varies strongly between just 1 up to more than 9500 relations per article. Given the fact that the CTD provides a lot more gold standard relations we restrict the data set for our experiments with the CTD to all articles containing at most 12 relations. The remaining 23257 articles contain 71856 relations. The lower part of Table 1 shows the exact distribution for these relations for the CTD. In this data set, about 73% are of type Chemical-Gene (for the sake of comparability with the PharmGKB, we recast the CTD entity type "chemical" as "Dr"), about 17% are of type Disease-Chemical (Di-Dr), and only 10% are of type Disease-Gene (Di-Ge). The CTD contains no relations between entities of the same type.
Measures and tools for evaluation
The format of the relationship file provided by the knowledge bases lends itself to an easy transformation into a format equivalent to the one used for the protein-protein interaction (PPI) task of BioCreative II.5 [5]. Given a text mining tool which can produce a ranked list of gene/drug/disease relations, it becomes then possible to score these results against the knowledge base data by using a scoring tool provided by the BioCreative organizers.
The BioCreative PPI evaluation tool returns results according to the standard metrics used in information retrieval (Precision, Recall, F-Measure) as well as a more novel measure called "AUC iP/R" (area under the curve of the interpolated precision/recall graph). The AUC iP/R measure (not to be confused with the more frequently used "AUC of the ROC curve" metric) provides an indication of the quality of the ranking of the candidate relations. The intuitive idea is that, given equivalent P/R/F figures, correct predictions which occur towards the top of the ranked list are more useful than the ones which are lower in the ranking. The implicit assumption is that a curator could use the ranking to decide where to stop looking at the candidate results, therefore a better ranking provides a better user experience. The AUC iP/R curve is defined in [11], a detailed operative description of AUC iP/R, as used in the BioCreative evaluations, can be found at webcite.
A recently proposed alternative evaluation measure for ranked results is the "Threshold Average Precision" (TAP-k) [12], which (in slightly simplified terms) averages precision for the results above a given error threshold. The TAP-k metric is easier to interpret and also directly relevant for the end user, who in most cases would not be willing to inspect a long list of candidate relations containing many false positives. The TAP-k mirrors the fact that a curator will stop validating a list of ranked relation candidates after having rejected a certain number k of false positives. In our main experiments, we set k = 10.
Note, that the values of the evaluation metrics reported here are always macro-averaged, i.e. the mean of the evaluation score is computed separately for each article.
Text processing and term recognition
For the experiments we use PubMed abstracts corresponding to the PubMed IDs mentioned by the relationship files from the knowledge bases. It would of course be desirable to work on full papers rather than abstracts, however, not all these publications are freely accessible, and most importantly, they are not available in a common format. The lack of a common format hinders the usability of full-text publications for practical text mining purposes, as it makes it more difficult to identify significant parts of the papers (e.g. results sections) or distinguish elements that require special processing (e.g. tables).
In the experiments, we apply the first processing steps of our OntoGene relation mining system (OG-RM) in order to annotate the input documents with the terminology provided by the respective knowledge bases. First, in the preprocessing stage, the PubMed XML is transformed into a custom XML format where sentences and tokens boundaries are identified using the LingPipe framework (for more information see webcite). Second, the OntoGene pipeline proceeds with a step of term annotation [13,14]. In order to account for possible surface variants and in order to allow for partial matches, a normalization step is included in the annotation procedure. The annotations generated by the OntoGene pipeline can then be used to generate candidate relations using a number of different criteria. Since each token in the OntoGene annotation framework is assigned a unique identifier, extracted terms can be related back to their position in the text.
Selecting textual material and metadata
The experimental settings described below vary according to the amount of metadata that is included in the text mining process:
1. only title and abstract of the article are used (henceforth t);
2. additionally to t the names in the chemical substance list of an abstract are used (henceforth tc);
3. additionally to t the MeSH descriptors and their qualifiers are used (henceforth tm);
4. all possible information is used (henceforth tmc).
The motivation for the inclusion of metadata such as MeSH or chemical substance lists is an improved recall of the term recognition. Table 2 shows the exact improvement for our experimental data set from the PharmGKB. Diseases have the lowest coverage of 67% and profit, as expected, substantially from the inclusion of MeSH terms (+8%). Drug recognition improves using the list of chemical substances (+3%), but does not further improve by adding the MeSH terms. As our term recognizer is tuned towards the detection of proteins and genes, we reach the highest coverage for genes, as expected. Using the metadata still gives an improvement of 2%. For all entities we cover 74% with text only (t) and 78% using all metadata (tmc).
Table 2. Coverage of term recognition for concepts and relations in experimental data
The lower half of Table 2 shows the corresponding numbers for the CTD data. Diseases again have the lowest coverage for text only (55%) and profit heavily from MeSH terms (+20%). Chemical coverage improves mostly by information from the chemical substance list (+7%), but the MeSH terms add also most of the important information. Detection of genes based on the text only is again high and improves slightly (+2%) when metadata is added, but remains clearly beyond the recognition rate achieved for the PharmGKB. Regarding the coverage of relations, we see an improvement of 6% in the case of the PharmGKB, and almost 11% for the CTD.
Relation extraction and relation ranking
There are several ways in which the entities recognized in an abstract can be combined, for example by co-occurrence in the same sentence, or by using a set of syntactic filters as done in our previous work on protein-protein interactions [15,16]. The approach which delivers the maximal recall is to generate all pairwise undirected combinations of all entities identified in the abstract.
As shown in Table 2 for the PharmGKB, this approach can deliver a recall of 58% using only text (t), 63% using additionally MeSH (tm) and 64% using all the metadata (tmc). Note, that the upper limit of the recognition rate varies strongly by the type of entities involved in a relation, disease-drug relations have an unexpected low upper limit in PharmGKB. The lower part of Table 2 shows similar numbers for the CTD, i.e., a recall of 56% (t), 66% using MeSH (tm) and 67% using chemical substance lists as well (tmc). Considering that only abstracts were used, this seems a reasonable term recognition coverage for our experiments. However, this approach will massively overgenerate, therefore ranking of the results becomes absolutely necessary.
In order to reduce the overgeneration of relation candidates, one could limit the set of candidate relations to entities that co-occur at least once in the same sentence. However, experiments we performed with such co-occurrence limits resulted in inferior performance. Table 3 explains this rather unexpected effect to some degree: for about 30% of the relations from the gold standard where our term recognizer is able to detect both entities in the article there is no sentence containing a hit for both entities in the PharmGKB. For the CTD, about 32% of the gold standard relation cannot be found in the same sentence. A term recognizer with improved acronym detection and coreference resolution may alleviate this problem.
Table 3. Occurrence of gold standard relations in the same sentence
Ranking relations by frequency
A baseline ranking of all candidate relations of an abstract can be generated on the basis of the number of occurrences of the respective entities:
where f(e1) and f(e2) are the number of times the entities e1 and e2 are observed in the abstract, while f(E) is the total count of all entities in the abstract. Once a score is assigned to each candidate pair, it is possible to filter out the most unlikely candidates, either by setting a threshold value for the score, or by selecting only the N-best candidates. Using one of these filtering techniques will result into variable values of Precision, Recall and F-Measure, depending on the exact value of the score threshold, or N parameter.
Title occurrence boosting
We know from our previous experiments [15] that giving a "boost" to the entities contained in the title can produce a measurable improvement of ranking of the results (measured by the AUC or TAP metrics). We have empirically verified that a sensible boost for abstracts is around 10. This is equivalent to counting the entities in the title ten times. In the rest of this paper, boosted frequencies of entities are expressed as fb(e).
The baseline approach for relation ranking described above will be referred to as m0 in the rest of this paper.
Preferring relations between unequal types
As shown in Table 1, relations between entities of the same type occur far less often in the PharmGKB than relations between different types. We can model this empirical fact by applying a type preference coefficient to the relation score that affects relations between entities of the same type. An empirically set coefficient of 1/10 proved to be useful:
In the experiments described in Section 'Results and discussion', we express the application of the type coefficient in the following way:
1. no type preference applied (henceforth e0);
2. type preference applied (henceforth e1).
Additionally, we experimented with using the relative frequency of a relation type taken from the training set as a type preference coefficient. Because results deteriorated consistently when using this setting, we do not take it into account for the evaluation. Note that the CTD does not contain relations between equal types, therefore the experimental settings for the CTD do not vary this parameter.
Scoring entities for being part of curated gold standard relations
The ranking of relation candidates using a simple frequency-based confidence score derived from textual evidence can be further optimized if we apply a supervised machine learning method (in our case a Maximum Entropy technique) that models the relevance of an entity using the curated relations from the gold standard and the documents where these relations occur. In our experiments described below, results computed using this technique will be tagged as m1.
There are two motivations for scoring concepts with regard to relation ranking: First, we want to identify automatically the false positive entities that our term recognizer detects in order to penalize them. The term recognizer eagerly modifies term entries from the dictionary while matching, i.e. material is removed from an entry in the term dictionary in order to allow for partial matches, or on-the-fly acronyms are created. For instance, the term form "neuronal" may be identified as the genes PA134898200, PA134924203, PA134896732 from the term database because they have "neuronal protein" as one of their lexical entries. Once identified such false positive partial matches could be ruled out by ad-hoc rules. However, for different terminological resources different rules may be necessary. We regard a general approach that works independently from the used terminological resources and that achieves an automatic adaptation as highly beneficial. In order to deal with such cases, we need not only to condition on the entities, but also on their textual representation.
Second, we need to adapt to highly ranked false positive relations which are generated by our frequency based approach by frequent but irrelevant entities. The goal is to identify some global (dis)preference that can be found in the PharmGKB or the CTD relationships.
Normalizing term forms
For a precise description of the ME-optimized ranking approach, we need to introduce some notation. In the following, the notation t refers to a normalized textual form of a recognized term. In the experiments, we vary four levels of normalization:
1. no normalization except lower-case initial characters (henceforth n0);
2. lower-case characters and some punctuation removed: '\\()\ /- (henceforth n1);
3. lower-case characters and only alphanumeric characters retained in tokens (henceforth n2);
4. same as 3, but token boundaries are removed (henceforth n3).
For instance, "Fc ( gamma ) - receptor" is normalized to "fc gamma receptor" in mode n1, in mode n3 we get "fcgammareceptor". Multiple spaces resulting from the deletion of characters are squeezed into one. [17] have shown that the removal of punctuation symbols does not harm the term recognition quality. The combination of a term t and one of its valid entities e is noted as t:e.
Applying counting caps
Because term frequency in an article seems crucial for an estimation of the relevance of a concept, we condition valid term-entity combinations additionally on their number of occurrences in an article. In order to reduce the resulting problem of data sparseness we apply different upper limits (so-called caps) on the raw frequencies:
In the experiments, we test different settings:
1. cap = ∞, i.e no cap is used (henceforth c0);
2. cap = 1, i.e. a term-entity is present or not (henceforth c1);
3. cap = 3, cap = 6, cap = 9 (henceforth c3, c6, c9).
Estimating gold probabilities
Next we define a predicate gold(A, e) which is true (i.e. 1) for an article A if there is at least one relation in the gold standard where entity e is part of, and false (i.e. 0) otherwise. Using the notions defined beforehand, we specify the overall probability of an entity e of being part of a gold relation given the entity e, a term form t, and their frequency f c (t:e) in article A:
We estimate P(gold(A, e) = 1 | e, t, f c(t : e)) with the help of the Maximum Entropy Modeling tool megam [18] using the recognized terms of the abstracts from a training set together with the gold standard information from the same document set. Technically, each value e, t, fc(t:e) from an article serves as a joint feature for the maximum entropy classifier and the value of gold(A, e) as its binomial class, i.e. a number between 0 and 1. This numeric value will be predicted by the model when features from unseen articles are presented. The model of a maximum entropy classifier consists of a weight for each feature of the training material. Formally, a conditional Maximum Entropy Model (aka. Logistic Regression) has the following exponential form:
where y is the joint feature e, t, f c(t :e) and x is the value of the gold predicate gold(A, e). In the formula, we designate Maximum Entropy features by Fi as the notation f is used for frequencies in this paper. The Maximum Entropy Modeling tool iteratively optimizes the feature weights λ in such a way that they maximize the conditional log-likelihood of the training material. There are two practical reasons for our choice for Maximum Entropy modeling: Firstly, this classifier does not suffer when dependent features are used, such as our smoothing features introduced below. Therefore, an approach as for instance a Naive Bayes classifier is not generally feasible for our method. Secondly, the Maximum Entropy tools performs very efficiently with ten thousands of features and it requires no parameter tuning as for example most Support Vector Machine tools.
Smoothing counts
For features not present in the training material there are no weights available. In order to reduce the resulting sparse data problem, we apply a smoothing method that works as follows: for each feature e,t, f c(t:e) add all additional features e, t, n with f c(t:e) >n ≥ 1. In our experiments described in the section 'Results and discussion', we evaluate the effect of feature smoothing as follows:
1. do not smooth (henceforth s0);
2. apply smoothing (henceforth s1).
In the case of applying a cap of 1 (i.e. c1), smoothing (i.e. s1) is not necessary and the equation for the gold probability simplifies to the following:
For unseen terms t, i.e. terms not present in the training data, the maximum entropy classifier assigns a default probability based on the distribution of all training instances. However, we can specify better back-off probabilities if we take into account the admissible entity/entities e of term t. Our current back-off model works as follows: if the entity e of an unseen t is seen in the article, the averaged probability of all seen term-entity pairs is used. Otherwise, the averaged probability of all entities of the same type as e is used.
Scoring entities
Finally, the resulting score of an entity e in an article A is the sum of the boosted term frequency weighted by the gold probability:
Scoring relations
Having determined the score of each entity e, we add them to a relation score similar to the baseline method:
This simple relation score function has the disadvantage that a single entity score with a high value produces a high relation score even if the other entity has a very low entity score. As an alternative we use the harmonic mean of both entity scores in order to decrease the relation score of entity combinations with highly disparate entity scores.
In the evaluation we encode the different relation score metrics as follows:
1. simple sum of entity scores (henceforth r0);
2. harmonic mean of entity scores (henceforth r1).
Experimental settings at a glance
For the cross-validation experiments described in the next section, we vary the following settings:
• title and abstract (t), including MeSH (tm), including chemical substances (tc), including all metadata (tmc);
• no type preference coefficient (e0); preference coefficient for unequal type (e1);
• relation score as sum (r0) or as harmonic mean (r1) of entity score;
• baseline approach (no weighting of entities) (m0) vs. maximum entropy (ME) weighting (m1);
• normalization of term forms for ME: first letter in lower-case (n0), all characters in lower-case and some punctuation marks removed (n1), lower-case alphanumeric characters with spaces (n2), lower-case alphanumeric characters without spaces (n3);
• caps for ME features: no cap, i.e. raw counts (c0), cap of 1, 3, 6 or 9 (cn);
• smoothing of ME features is off (s0) or on (s1).
Note that the settings n, c and s are only meaningful for the ME approach. The baseline system as mentioned in the following section is identified by the settings t-e0-r0-m0-n0-c0-s0 or t-e0-r0-m0 for short. The setting e1 is only applicable to the PharmGKB.
Results and discussion
In this section, we report on the systematic stratified 10-fold cross-validation evaluation using all different experimental settings mentioned in the preceding section. All numbers presented in this section are means of 10 different runs. Our data sets from the PharmGKB and the CTD were split into subsets stratified according to the number of relations per article. See Table 1 for the distribution of the frequency of relations per article. Note that we did not enforce a stratified distribution of different relation types in all subsets.
Taking into consideration all valid configurations of experimental settings leads to several hundred combinations to test for and to the same number of results to compare. For reasons of space we focus our presentation and discussion on the most important question to be answered by our results: which feature setting contributes how much performance increase to the baseline system or improvements thereof? We give a tabular overview of performance increase in terms of TAP-10 (Table 4) and AUCiP/R (Table 5) separately for the PharmGKB and the CTD.
Table 4. Evaluation of performance increase of TAP-10
Table 5. Evaluation of performance increase of AUCiP/R
These tables give a concise compilation of the following information:
• The mean and standard deviation (noted as "sd") from the 10-fold cross-validation results of a given setting.
• The single experimental parameter setting that needs to be changed in order to achieve the highest performance increase. Only if no single parameter with better performance can be found, two parameters (or more) may be changed at once.
• The absolute (Δabs) and relative (Δrel) amount of performance improvement.
• The statistical significance of the improvement given as the p value of a Wilcoxon signed rank test for dependent pairs.
• An estimate of the minimal improvement expected in 95% of all cases, i.e. the lower limit of the 95% confidence interval (ΔCIl) taken from the Wilcoxon test.
• Finally, the relative performance improvement in comparison to the baseline (Δrelbs).
The Wilcoxon signed rank test for dependent pairs is used to assess whether the improvement is significant or due to chance. The experimental setting of 10-fold cross validation leads to a small sample size and additionally the differences of means used for this kind of comparison are not always normally distributed in our data. In order to be able to apply the same significance test to all settings, such a non-parametric significance test is more appropriate than the parametric t-test. The p values and the non-parametric 95% confidence interval are exact values and not normal approximations (the test for improvement is one-sided and therefore only the lower limit of improvement is actually shown in the tables). We use the function wilcox.exact() from the library exactRankTests of the statistical software framework R. See the documentation for more technical details. Further discussion of the appropriateness of significance tests on results gained by cross-validation can be found in [19,20].
Although the tables mentioned above iteratively answer the question which settings actually increase the system performance, we know nothing about the upper limit of ranking performance (given the results from our term recognizer). In order to assess the distance to this upper bound, we take the results of our best system and build a perfect ranking on top of it by pushing all true positives in front of all its false positives. The Figures 1 and 2 plot this information for varying cut-off limits: the lower limit of performance is given by the baseline (t-e0-m0), the upper limit is derived from our best setting for the respective metrics.
thumbnailFigure 1. Evaluation of TAP-k. Mean macro-averaged results from the TAP-k tool. The horizontal axis shows the k value limiting the number of results that are evaluated by the tool by specifying a threshold on the number of false positives.
thumbnailFigure 2. Evaluation of AUCiP/R. Mean macro-averaged results for different cut-off limits using the BioCreative evaluation tool. The horizontal axis shows the cut-off value limiting the number of hits that are evaluated by the tool. The vertical axis shows macro averaged results of AUC iP/R for our different settings.
Evaluation of relation ranking: TAP-10
The evaluation metrics of TAP-k is of utmost significance for our application scenario of database curation due to the fact that curators are not willing to sort out a large number of false positive relation candidates. For both data sets we take k = 10, which means that after having seen 10 false positives no further results are taken into consideration.
The upper part of Table 4 shows the feature-specific performance increase of TAP-10 for the PharmGKB. The type preference coefficient e1 improves the baseline most, followed by the application of ME. Note that metadata (tmc) improves results only modestly for the PharmGKB, in fact, using metadata without applying ME optimization performs worse than the baseline. A cap of 9 (c9) never results in the best increase for TAP-10 on the PharmGKB nor does it in any other ranking evaluation. However, applying a cap of 6 seems to be the best strategy for the PharmGKB. As the baseline for the PharmGKB is already well performing, the overall relative improvement is limited to 53%.
As shown for the CTD in the lower part of Table 4, the order of features leading to the highest performance is similar to the one from the PharmGKB. However, the addition of metadata has a much stronger impact for the CTD. One reason for that may be the use of MeSH terminology in the CTD dictionaries. Having frequency counts in the gold probability features (i.e. having a setting other than c1) leads to a relatively small performance increase. The best settings for the PharmGKB and the CTD only differ in the cap (c6 vs. c3), which supports the conclusion that the techniques are generally applicable. In the case of the CTD, the rather low baseline performance is improved by more than 134%.
The plots in Figure 1 show that the best setting for the PharmGKB not only performs better in terms of absolute TAP scores than the best setting for the CTD. Additionally, the best setting from the PharmGKB reduces the distance to the upper limit far more than the best setting for the CTD. One possible explanation for this fact may be given by the different distribution of articles containing a single relation: in the PharmGKB almost 40% of all articles contribute just one relation whereas in the CTD only about 22% do this.
Evaluation of relation ranking: AUCiP/R
According to our application scenario we apply a cut-off limit of 50 relations to all evaluations of AUCiP/R. The upper part of Table 5 shows the feature-specific performance increase for the PharmGKB. In contrast to the TAP measure, the addition of metadata is more important, thus expressing the fact that AUCiP/R is more sensitive to the improvement of recall than TAP-k. Again, determining the best settings for the CTD is more straightforward than for the PharmGKB. Although the improvement for the different performance increase steps are statistically significant, there are only small differences between the top settings. Note that the top setting for TAP-10 and for AUCiP/R are different for the PharmGKB. In contrast, the lower part of Table 5 shows almost the same feature ranking for the CTD for both evaluation metrics. We regard the switch between the order of n3 and r1 not as important, given the fact that the lower improvement confidence interval CIl for n3 is much lower than the "random" empirical improvement of 0.0018. For the PharmGKB we achieve an overall improvement of 40%. For the CTD, which again has a much lower baseline, the best setting improves by 116%.
The plots in Figure 2 illustrate the dependency of AUCiP/R on recall. Note that whereas in Figure 1 the best settings for the PharmGKB seems apparently closer to the perfect ranking than the CTD, this difference is less prominent in terms of AUCiP/R.
Evaluation of metadata contribution
The inclusion of metadata such as MeSH or chemical substances into the text mining procedure improves the overall performance of relation ranking. Although this information is widely available from PubMed (or directly from the publishers), it may be missing for some texts. In Tables 6 we show how the performance of the best settings decreases from missing metadata. For the PharmGKB the difference is modest (under 5%) if all metadata is discarded. For the CTD the TAP-10 score is almost 13% higher if metadata is used. This difference correlates with the coverage improvements for metadata inclusion as shown in Table 2.
Table 6. Evaluation of metadata contribution
Evaluation of Precision, Recall, and F-Measure
The plots in Figure 3 show the corresponding numbers as computed by the Biocreative evaluation tool for the best system settings as resulting from the TAP-10 evaluation. Note that for small cut-offs, precision is high, e.g. the first solution is a correct relation in almost 60% of all cases on average in the PharmGKB, and almost 50% in the CTD. However, precision drops quickly given the fact that there are not that many articles with more than 5 relations. For the PharmGKB the baseline performs better than the best system using cut-off limits n > 30, which could be an adverse effect that our training material is limited to articles with at most 24 relations.
thumbnailFigure 3. Evaluation of Precision, Recall and F-Measure. Mean macro-averaged results from the BioCreative evaluation tool. The horizontal axis shows the cut-off value limiting the number of hits that are evaluated by the tool. The vertical axis shows macro averaged results of precision (P), recall (R) and F-Measure (F) for our different approaches. Note that these results were computed by ignoring documents without hits in the system responses (this is the default setting for the BioCreative evaluations).
Evaluation of the estimation of gold probabilities
A substantial part of the performance of the maximum-entropy-based ranking depends on the proper estimation of the probability of an entity to be part of a true positive relation. Therefore, we evaluated the probability scores separately with regard to the experimental settings. Table 7 shows significant performance improvements by smoothing the feature counts (s1), by using metadata (tmc), and by applying the strongest normalization (n3). Applying a cap of 9 (c9) improves minimally but is not statistically significant. Note that the best setting for the gold probability does not carry over as the best setting for TAP oder AUCiP/R.
Table 7. Evaluation of performance increase of gold probability
Usage in a curation environment
Advanced text mining techniques are now reaching a maturity level that makes them increasingly relevant for the process of curation of biomedical literature. As part of our research in this area we developed a curation system called "OntoGene Document INspector" (ODIN [21]) which interfaces with our OntoGene text mining pipeline (OG-RM). We have used a version of ODIN for our participation to the 'interactive curation' task (IAT) of the BioCreative III competition [22]. This was an informal task without a quantitative evaluation of the participating systems. However, the curators who used the system commented positively on its usability for a practical curation task.
More recently, we have created a version of ODIN which allows inspection of abstracts automatically annotated with PharmGKB entities (the annotation is performed using OG-RM). Users can access either preprocessed documents, or enter any PubMed identifier and the corresponding abstract will be processed "on the fly". For the documents already contained in the PharmGKB it is also possible to compare the results of the system against the gold standard. The curator can inspect all entities annotated by the system, and easily modify them if needed (removing false positives with a simple click, or adding missed terms if necessary). The modified documents can be sent back for processing if desired, obtaining therefore modified candidate interactions. The user can also inspect the set of candidate interactions generated by the system, and act upon them just as on entities, i.e., confirm those which are correct, remove those which are incorrect. Candidate interactions are presented sorted according to the score which has been assigned to them by the text mining system, therefore the curator can choose to work with a small set of highly ranked candidates only, ignoring all the rest (see Figure 4). Recent user experiments using our curation environment, which makes use of the ranking proposed by the method described above, have shown positive results [23]. Additionally, a relation reranking on a CTD dataset, based on the approach described in this paper, has contributed to competitive results in the recent triage task (task 1) of the BioCreative 2012 shared task [24].
thumbnailFigure 4. ODIN curation interface. Example of interaction with the ODIN system. Terms identified by the system are underlined in the abstract. Candidate relations are shown in the left-hand-side panel. Selecting a relation automatically highlights the terms in the document which correspond to the entities in the relation.
As a continuation of this work, we would like to estimate the number of relations to be found in a paper on the basis of its textual content. Being able to provide this information before or at the initial stages of the curation process would help the curators to decide at which point of the curation process it is most sensible to stop after having found a given number of correct relations. This is particularly relevant because documents differ greatly in the number of relations they describe, ranging from a single relation to several hundred ones in a few documents describing high-throughput experiments. In the PharmGKB we have observed that 40% of the documents contain only one relation, however they contribute less than 10% of all relations. Approx. 90% of the documents contain 10 or less relations, however these documents contain around 50% of all relations. So the remaining 10% of documents (which contributes more than 50% of the relations) have a much higher number of relations per document. In the CTD 23% of the documents contain only one relation and contribute to 2.2% of all relations. Approx. 90% of the documents contain 12 or less relations.
A possible limitation of the proposed approach is that it favors conservative assumptions, i.e. it privileges entities and relationships which have already been seen over totally new entities and relationships. The inclusion of contextual and linguistic features might help compensate for this bias. A further question left for future work concerns the use and impact of alternative term recognizers (e.g. BANNER [25], MetaMap [26]) and additional terminological resources [9,10].
We have presented a simple and practical approach for the mining and ranking of pharmacogenomic and toxicogenomic relations, and evaluated this approach systematically against two different knowledge bases, the PharmGKB and the CTD. We have implemented a Maximum Entropy technique for the optimized ranking of candidate relations using a purely frequency-based text mining approach. In order to estimate the relevance of a relation candidate for a new article, we combine textual evidence from the article with the evidence derived from the large set of relations found in curated articles. Our experiments show that this approach is feasible, and our results might offer a useful baseline for further developments that apply more sophisticated techniques from the field of protein-protein interaction detection [27]. Whereas for the experiments described in this paper we use only simple frequency-based features, the next step is to include contextual [28,29] and linguistic [30] features. The Maximum Entropy technique we applied so far is ideally suited for doing this.
We have used existing tools to score the results and to provide reliable evaluation metrics, including not only the traditional Precision, Recall and F-Measure, but also the increasingly important measures of ranking quality, such as AUC iP/R or TAP-k. The evaluation shows that the reranking techniques described in this article bring a considerable improvement to the results.
Finally, we have briefly mentioned the usage of these results within an assisted curation environment (ODIN), which is discussed more extensively in separate publications [23,24]. The experience from these experiments suggests that the usability of a curation environment is enhanced considerably by the presentation of properly ranked relation candidates.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
Fabio Rinaldi conceived the general experimental setting described in this article. Simon Clematide devised and implemented the Maximum Entropy approach for reranking of candidate interactions, and conducted all the experiments and evaluations described in this paper. This research takes place within the scope of the SASEBio project (Semi-Automated Semantic Enrichment of the Biomedical Literature, SNF 100014-118396/1) awarded to Fabio Rinaldi.
This research is partially funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF grant 100014-118396/1). Additional support is provided by Novartis Pharma AG, NITAS, Text Mining Services, CH-4002, Basel, Switzerland. The authors wish to thank their colleagues Gerold Schneider and Gintare Grigonyte for helpful discussions, and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments.
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Jewish Journal
A Child’s Murder, a Mother’s Strength
by Wendy Mogel
September 18, 2003 | 8:00 pm
When a crime takes place in my neighborhood, I play a mental trick. Of course that (naive) person was mugged. She was walking alone after dark. Naturally that (careless) family was burglarized -- they left their garage door unlocked. Why was that (foolish) person robbed in broad daylight? Because they live south of Third Street instead of north of it like me and my savvy neighbors. If the crime gets close, I just stretch. That robbery was on my block, true, but, please note, it was on the odd numbered side of the street.
Sociologists call this the "just world" phenomenon. We attribute meaning and logic to disturbing events so that we can get out of bed in the morning believing that the world is stable and predictable, that if we live according to the rules nothing bad will happen to us or our loved ones, that victims of misfortune deserve what happens to them.
When I started reading "The Blessing of a Broken Heart," Sherri Mandell's book about the murder of her 13-year-old son, I had plenty of grist for distancing myself from the horror of her loss. On the day he was killed, her son, Koby, and a friend skipped school (there you go) to go hiking in a scenic gorge near their home in a West Bank (need I say more?) settlement. There, they were brutally bludgeoned to death in a cave by Palestinians from a nearby village. The cave was located in an area in which travelers are required to have an armed army escort (case closed). That no one had ever been harmed in the gorge did not enter my computation.
By the time I finished this beautiful book, all of my tricks had failed me. Mandell, a journalist, chronicles her experiences during the year after her son's death with unusual breadth and compassion. She invites us to join her as she observes the different faces of mourning.
In this startlingly moving passage she talks to her daughter:
The night of the funeral, I go to Eliana, 10 years old, to comfort her. We are in her room, on her bed. Her hair is dark and tussled; her eyes look at me with infinite kindness. She rubs my back, asks if she can bring me tea. I tell her: "I'm the mother and I'm here to take care of you."
She says, "No, I'm your mother."
I say, "No, I am still your mother and this is very hard now, but we will get through it, we will go on, and I will still be your mother."
"No," she says," I'll be your mother."
"No, I am your mother, and I know this is hard, but your are my child, and I will take care of you," I say firmly.
"Okay," she says, "I'll be your grandmother."
And to her 6-year-old son:
Gavi asks me: "Who is Koby's mommy now?"
I wonder what to answer. It's true that I am still Koby's mommy, but I no longer am the one who takes care of him. I answer, "God is his mommy."
"Oh good," Gavi answers, "then he can see a falling star whenever he wants."
Mandell also explores the stages of her own grief. At first she wonders, "I am like the canary in the coal mine. I have been sent out to the land of the dead to see, can one live there?" She is surprised that the Jewish period for mourning a child is only 30 days. Then she comes to understand that when you lose a child, you grieve for the rest of your life.
"You don't need the rituals to remind you to grieve," she writes. "You will think of your child forever."
Later she sees how agonizing it is to modify the reflexes and habits of love. "Six months after your death," she writes Koby, "my body has phantom legs that walk to your bed to wake you for synagogue. My body lags in recognizing your absence. It is still moving towards you, like a flower to the light. The phantom legs walk to the door to welcome your home form school, bring you chips and salsa when your return."
Slowly, Mandell learns how better to communicate with God. "God speaks to me. I know that. But sometimes his voice is silent. Other times he mumbles. I have to keep learning, so that I can recognize his language. I have to keep my heart open...."
She understands that without an intimate knowledge of death we are not fully alive.
"The thought of life without death scares me now," she writes. "Grieving is also the place of God, the sacred place that connects heaven and earth. It is up to us as grievers to discover and dwell in that space. The sage says, 'Each moment is a miracle and an agony. A miracle that the world exists in all its glory. An agony that this world is one of suffering and pain."
I watch the news of unending conflict in Israel, and much as I wish it to be otherwise, the suffering of its families too often remains on the odd numbered side of my street. "The Blessing of a Broken Heart" gives the struggle a precious face and, at the same time, illustrates the power of Jewish faith, ritual and community to heal.
Wendy Mogel is the author of "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee." She is a clinical psychologist in Los Angeles.
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Rabbi Wilfred and Phyllis Solomon: Beth Israel Synagogue in the 1960s
Posted by jyuhasz
Beth Israel event - Rabbi Wilfred Solomon at podium
Rights - JMABC
Solomon, Phyllis
Solomon, Wilfred
Vancouver, BC
Tuesday, May 6, 1997
Digital audio recording #: 19.97-02
Interviewer: Marvin Weintraub & Cyril E. Leonoff
MW: Yes, well I remember very vividly your first visit to Congregation Beth Israel, Rabbi, when you came up from Spokane for the interview, for the position, I didn’t know that you were interested in [working in] Seattle also at the time. I’m glad we didn’t know, otherwise you would have gotten a much better deal with us! Can you recollect, now you didn’t come until the fall, I think August [1964]?
PS: In August, yes.
MW: Of that year, and by the time you both came I had the honour of being the first to welcome you, I was president of the Congregation at that time.
WS: Yes that’s right. To us you were the image of the Congregation.
MW: Oh yes.
PS: You succeeded Albert Koch right?
MW: Albert Koch was the president prior to me.
PS: When we were hired.
WS: That image hasn’t suffered at all.
MW: Thank you. Can you recollect any of your impressions of our Congregation and of our Jewish community at that time when you first joined us?
WS: Well not only I recollect my own impressions but all of the echoes in the community of what Beth Israel was to various people. And one of the things that at first shocked me was to know that there were many, many people who referred to our, to Beth Israel as the Reform Congregation.
MW: Really? I hadn’t heard that.
WS: I assumed that this was out of a lack of knowledge as to the difference between reform and conservative, but I think it was not entirely that, I think there was the impression that by contrast to Schara Tzedeck…
PS: Which by the way, apart from Beth Hamidrash which was very small, were the only synagogues in town. Beth Israel, Schara Tzedeck and the small Beth Hamidrash.
WS: The two synagogues, that’s right, people found it easy to sort of make things black and white. There’s so many grey areas in both congregations…
MW: This upset you, did it?
WS: At first. Not to the point where I felt crestfallen or anything like that but I felt that we’d have to do some image building here, and it wasn’t only for the purpose of giving the impression of being just as frum or Orthodox as you, but I intended to make the impression and the reality that conservative Judaism was not only just as authentic but just as intensive in many ways, not in only one direction, and could be more meaningful if it reached out to the community. So my…
MW: So this became your [deliberate] program as a result of that.
WS: My task was to see if we could approximate that goal.
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Counting Books
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Article in Picture Books and Juvenile Fiction categories.
This is a list of counting books to help your little ones learn their numbers! Many involve rhymes and rhythms they may already be familiar with (1,2 Buckle My Shoes and Over in the Meadow, 5 Little Monkeys), and some will introduce brand new rhymes to them! We've picked out some of our favorite picture books to help get you started.
Counting Sheep by John Archambault
Big Fat Hen by Keith Baker
The Water Hole by Graeme Base
Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
One Pup's Up by Marsha Wilson Chall
Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow
Click, Clack, Splish, Splash! A Counting Adventure by Doreen Cronin
Cha-cha Chimps by Julia Durango
Roar! A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards
Fish Eyes: A Book You Can Count On by Lois Ehlert
Shout! Shout it Out! by Denise Fleming
Let's Count Goats! by Mem Fox
Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox
I've Got an Elephant by Anne Ginkel
The Looking Book by Mary Ann Hoberman
1,2,3 A Child’s First Counting Book by Alison Jay
Counting Kisses by Karen Katz
Over in the Meadow by John Langstaff
One Drowsy Dragon by Ethan Long
I'm Dirty by Kate & Jim McMullan
Chicka, Chicka, 1, 2, 3 by Bill Martin Jr.
One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root
How Much is a Million? by David Schwartz
Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton
Let's Count to 100 by Masayuki Sebe
Counting Crocodiles by Judy Sierra
Ten Terrible Dinosaurs by Paul Strickland
The Big Storm: A Very Soggy Counting Book by Nancy Tafuri
Mouse Count by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Max Counts His Chickens by Rosemary Wells
Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
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Lecture Repeats
Posted by Notes from Parenting U on June 19, 2011
“BWAH-BWAH-BWAH” is the sound of grown-ups talking in Charlie Brown specials. Many parenting experts I have read say this is what our kids hear when we lecture them. Having been on the receiving end of many lectures growing up, I know this is partially true. But I do think when a lecture is repeated often enough with sincerity and backed up with parental example, the message does get through.
I base this on my experiences with my dad. My dad was (and still is at times) a great lecturer. He could go on and on and on about something if he thought I needed to be set straight. Since I was gifted with “book sense, but not much horse sense,” I heard a lot of lectures.
I can remember my thoughts wandering off during his lectures while I made sure to look like I was listening to every word. I can remember that my dad’s eyes would change colors if he was really upset. I can remember a lot of BWAH-BWAH-BWAH.
But I also remember the key messages of his favorite lectures. A good portion of my own moral code today is based on those messages my dad drilled into my head decades ago.
· Don’t waste food!
· Don’t waste water!
· If you have a chance to help someone, you better take it because you never know when you might need help.
· Always, always, always treat someone who works hard with respect no matter what job they do. A garbage man deserves as much respect a doctor or lawyer.
· Always vote with the Union because they stand up for working people.
Now these messages did not take right away. I would fill the bathtub too deep, leave food on my plate, avoid helping out if I could, and be snobby to others because I was teen and, therefore, superior. I even actively supported a non-Union candidate in a primary once while my dad shook his head. (For the record, four years later I worked my tail off for the very same candidate my dad and the Union had supported.)
Today I give these very same lectures to my kids. I am pretty sure some of them are word-per-word what my dad used to say to me. And when I notice my kids tuning me out, I don’t lose hope. I know important lessons take time, repetition, and parental examples to help them sink in. I have the words of my dad’s lectures down. My kids often tell me they have heard it all before from me. Now all I have to do is provide parental examples for my kids that are as good as the ones my dad gave, and gives, me. That, my friends, is a work in progress.
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NOR'BEASTER :: Shamrock Scavenger Hunt
Mon Mar 17
The Shamrock Scavenger Hunt is a resort-wide adventure hunt for teams or individuals. Each member of your team must register at the Killington Tent outside the Snowshed and K-1 Base Lodges. Participants must be at green circle ability level or above to enter this event. Ski/ride around the resort to find strategically placed Shamrock logos and return to the Killington tent to win a prize! All Shamrock logos will be hidden on green circle trails only and there will be only one prize per participant. Registration is open 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. at both locations. The event goes until all logos are found or 3:00 p.m., whichever comes first.
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Some medical tests at free preventative visits may cost - KPTV - FOX 12
CBS 5 Advocate
Some medical tests at free preventative visits may come at a cost
Posted: Updated:
A Scottsdale woman says she's getting billed for a medical test her doctor never authorized and one she thought was part of her routine free yearly exams.
Most health insurance plans cover routine exams, like physicals and mammograms, at 100 percent - with no cost to the patient. But if you're going to a medical provider for one of these routine exams, make sure you get full disclosure about any additional testing done during that visit.
"I think they should write it off," Anne Davison said.
Davison went to Scottsdale Medical Imaging (SMIL) for her annual mammogram. She says the preventative procedure was covered 100 percent by her insurance. A follow-up mammogram was also completely covered. But during a second visit, Davison says SMIL wanted to run a third test.
"Then the nurse came back and said we're going to do something else and I said okay, I really had no idea," Davison said.
The test was a breast ultrasound. Davison assumed it was a continuation of the same preventative visit and would also be covered 100 percent. Instead, she got a bill from SMIL for $103. Davison says her doctor never ordered an ultrasound, but a rep for SMIL saw it differently.
"'The receptionist at your doctor's office okayed it.' I said honestly, I think you're just making that up," Davison said.
It turns out the ultrasound didn't fall under preventative care covered at 100 percent. It was a diagnostic test - covered but only after she meets her deductible. Davison says SMIL won't write off the bill.
"You had the procedure, you went in, and you have to pay for it," Davison said.
Davison says no one at SMIL told her a test conducted during what was supposed to be a preventative visit might be billed. Had she known, Davison says she never would have gotten the ultrasound.
"I don't know if it was necessary or not because it was not evaluated by my doctor," Davison said.
SMIL told CBS 5 News by email that the Davison's doctor's office confirmed that they typically give orders for additional testing if recommended by SMIL. SMIL says it received the authorization; Davison says that never happened.
Patients can avoid this type of surprise by asking questions at the time of the procedure. If you know you're at a facility for a preventative exam and additional testing is recommended, ask if it's preventative or diagnostic (for a specific problem). If the test, exam, or procedure is considered diagnostic, it may be wise to reschedule the exam and consult your doctor about whether it's really necessary and your insurance company about the estimated cost to you.
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A Conference With the Birds is an ongoing project that investigates various relationships between birds and humans: neighbors, signs, partners and guides. Since the beginning of human history we have looked to them as harbingers of water, land, communications and sometimes transcendence, but they have become much more for us over the centuries. In this exhibit, a short video piece is a point of departure for an ongoing series of totem paintings.
Birds, like us, are storytellers, and the video aspect of this project retells one of the stories handed down from the birds to the poet Attar (long before the era that we call the 15th century). It is the story of an epic struggle that humans share with birds, but it also leaves us at the doorstep of one of the oldest philosophical questions: the question of the one and the many.
The exhibit opens with a celebration July 12th, 2014 (from 2pm-8pm) at the beautiful Echo Park Garden Gallery
(1858 Echo Park ave. LA, CA 90026). *There will be food, drinks, music, and activities for all ages. Viewings after that will be by appointment only.
To schedule one, e-mail me at: [email protected]
Content copyright 2014. KRISTACHAEL.COM. All rights reserved.
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FDA: 580 pets die, thousands sick from jerky treats - KTRE.com | Lufkin and Nacogdoches, Texas
FDA: 580 pets die, thousands sick from jerky treats
Posted: Updated:
(Source: FDA) (Source: FDA)
Hundreds of dogs and cats are getting sick in what investigators say is one of the most mysterious outbreaks they've ever encountered.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the animals all ate jerky treats.
The FDA said it has received reports concerning jerky pet treat-related illnesses involving 3,600 dogs and 10 cats in the U.S. since 2007.
More than 500 dogs and cats have died.
It's possible the treats are coming from China, but there isn't one particular brand to avoid.
The FDA has released a fact sheet so pet owners can be warned of possible symptoms. [Click here for the fact sheet]
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Pollok TX 75969
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View Full Version : What is a "Plasmat"
Bruce McCrory
20-Jan-2004, 21:51
This term is quite prevalent on the forum but I have found nothing to identify what a plasmat is. It sounds generic, like "coats". I even checked my copy of View Camera Techniques, 7th; College dictionary, and, Google. I think I ran across filters with same identity.
Since I'm sure the answer for the above term is something simple, do I need to open a new subject for "convertible" lenses?
My understanding is these are switchable elements of a lens group. Is there a way to recognize one besides being told? Again, Stroebel has nothing much on them. They sound like a good option for a beginner. "Two-fer-one" mentality.
Thanks, Bruce
Colin Carron
21-Jan-2004, 01:30
Bruce, As you say Plasmat is now used generically for a more-or-less symmetrical 6 element design introduced (I think) by Hugo Meyer in the 1920's. It had a larger image circle than the previous top of the line 4 element Tessar and better sharpness away from the centre of the image. It came into its own after WW2 when lens coating made the 6 element Plasmat a more viable proposition. Before that the Tessar was cheaper to make and had better contrast. Today most LF 'standard' lenses are Plasmat type e.g. Schneider Symmar, Rodenstock Sironar etc.
The early Schneider Symmars allowed the front element to be removed turning the 6 element Plasmat into a non-symmetrical 3 element lens with sufficient corrections to be used as a longer focal length lens so the 150mm Symmar becomes a 265mm. The quality of the triplet is OK for non-critical situations but it has a max aperture of f12 making it quite dim on the ground glass. The later Symmar-S and Apo-Symmar are not convertible. You can tell the convertible ones by the name (Just Symmar not Symmar-S or Apo-Symmar) and the second green aperture scale for the converted configuration.
The convertible Symmars are single coated as opposed to multicoated for the later types. This does not make a huge difference provided you shade the lens. They are a good economical way of getting a high quality LF lens because they are cheaper than the more modern versions and mostly still work fine. The convertible thing is probably not used much by most Symmar owners and I would concentrate on using a convertible Symmar in its primary focal length.
Dan Fromm
21-Jan-2004, 04:12
Plasmat = 6 element more-or-less symmetrical lens, elements arranged 2 + 1 + i + 1 + 2. 2 = cemented pair of elements, i = iris. LF Plasmats typically have max. aperture f/5.6 or smaller. Usenetters frequently assert that Plasmats aren't much good wide open, but I think this depends on the lens.
Opic/Planar = 6 element more-or-less symmetrical lens, elements arranged 1 + 2 + i + 2 + 1. Can be very fast, e.g., the f/1.9 Dallmeyer Super Six. The design isn't much used for LF lenses. Don't hit me, I know there are 5 element Planars too.
Arne Croell
21-Jan-2004, 06:20
Historically, the name Plasmat goes back to the Company Hugo Meyer, as mentioned above. It was derived from the Goerz Dagor, by splitting off the two inner elements from the cemented triplets of the Dagor. The designer was Paul Rudolph, the former Zeiss designer of Planar, Tessar and Protar fame (plus a few others). He had retired from Zeiss, but after World War I he had to go back to work because he lost most of his money in the finanacial turmoil after the war. He didn't go back to Zeiss but decided to work for Meyer, and the Plasmat was his main contribution there. Meyer actually had a similar design named "Euryplan", that came to them by the merger with the optics company Schultze and Billerbeck. However, Plasmat was the name that stuck with this design. Meyer made a convertible Plasmat ("Satz-Plasmat"), but also other versions not intended to be convertible like the Makro-Plasmat and the Kino-Plasmat. Like the Planar, it benefitted from the invention of coatings after WWII and became the standard design for moderate wide-angle LF optics. Meyer itself did actually not continue the design after the war, but it was picked up by other companies. Occasionally, another element is added like in the Apo-Sironar W to enhance coverage; despite having more than 6 elements, its still a Plasmat type.
Peter Collins
21-Jan-2004, 06:26
Thank you, you superbly knowledgeable forum buddies!!! I had no hope of learning this arcane and interesting stuff on my own, and here it is, clear as can be! Again, many thanks for educating me.
Bruce McCrory
22-Jan-2004, 15:05
Thanks for clearing up my confusion regarding Plasmat lenses. After a month of digging, LF is beginning to have an appearance of order. A long way to go, still.
Julio Fernandez
22-Jan-2004, 20:44
Arne: great posting, thanks! (and I thought I knew the answer, ha!).
Randy Cole
7-Nov-2005, 11:04
I have recently acquired a very clean Meyer & Co. Gorlitz Euryplan Satz Doppel Anastigmat 13.5cm triple convertible lens mounted in a dial set compur. The other two focal lengths are 26.2cm (front group), and 20.9cm (rear group). The serial number is 409306.
I am wondering if this is a plasmat lens, or a tessar type, as it appears to have only 4 elements - the lens groupings both unscrew to reveal a thin inner lens, and a thicker outer lens. I would like to ask, does anyone has an idea of coverage, sharpness and $ value for this nice old item? Any feedback will be appreciated.
Ole Tjugen
7-Nov-2005, 12:42
Convertibles are never Tessar type - or rather: Tessar constructions are never convertible.
The Euryplan is likely to be a Dialyte, 1-1-i-1-1 type. Just like the Rodenstock Eurynar of similar age. According to one of my sources, the Eurynar (I remember this since I have one) was one of the sharpest lenses available, easily outperforming the more famous Protar and Dagor lenses. However the 8 glass/air surfaces gave low contrast and lots of flare...
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