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Just because the Detroit Tigers and the Houston Astros are playing against each other doesn’t mean there has to be any love lost between the players. As evidenced by this tender moment shared between first basemen Victor Martinez and Marwin Gonzalez. The Tigers’ Martinez hit a long single in the bottom of the first inning Friday, landing him at first — and well within lip-reach of Gonzalez. Article continues below ... Your browser does not support iframes. So Martinez leaned in to tenderly kiss his fellow Venezuelan on the neck. And Gonzalez, for his part, did not resist, making this brief buss stop look like the most natural thing in the world. Just a couple players sharing the love. Kisses seem to be the going trend at ballparks these days. Just a day earlier, Atlanta Braves left fielder Chase d’Arnaud inadvertently planted this one on a fan:

Show full PR text OPPO R819 - Convenience without compromise OPPO R819 Revealed at just 7.3 mm and 110 grams SHENZHEN – August 19, 2013 – OPPO today announced the launch of the R819, one of the thinnest and lightest smartphones in the world. Weighing in at just 110 grams, the R819 packs a sharp display, long-lasting battery life, and wide aperture camera into an ultra-thin 7.3 mm frame. Let Nothing Weigh You Down The R819 boasts a 4.7" IPS screen with OGS technology for amazing viewing angles and ample space for content. Encased in a slim frame of subtle curves and stylish metallic accents, the superior ergonomics make the R819 easy to hold, operate and carry with you. R819 was built to simplify and improve your life; to offer you an impossibly thin and light smartphone without sacrificing the craftsmanship or functionality you've come to expect from an OPPO device. Let Convenience Compromise Nothing Using this smartphone is simpler than ever before. Gestures let you control waking, answering and silencing your device with the slightest movements. You can wirelessly view your screen's content on any other TV, tablet or device with Wi-Fi display and DLNA. And the 2000 mAh battery supports a long-lasting charge to get more out of your phone. R819 also has dual SIM card support so you can use two numbers at once and get more use out of just one device. The R819 is outfitted with an f/2.0 aperture 8 megapixel Sony Exmor BSI back facing camera for great shots in low light conditions. The dedicated Image Signal Processor enhances the color of all of your pictures making them more vivid and lifelike. And the front-facing camera has an incredible 88 degree viewing angle to capture more background than ever before. Your Device. Your Choice. OPPO believes in having the freedom to run the operating system of your choice to get the experience you want from your R819. Use the original ROM, or install OPPO's Color ROM, which will soon be available, for a completely fresh take on Android that was developed with OPPO fans and is frequently updated. R819 can also run Stock Android, the Android experience as Google intended, for a fast, smooth user experience with familiar Google apps. You use your phone every day. It should be able to do everything you need with style, and without ever getting in the way. The R819 offers a stunning screen, great camera and a long battery life. A unique fusion of function and design, the R819 is convenience without compromise. The R819 is available online for pre-order today and ships early September. R819 Specifications Network GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA: 850/900/2100MHz Processor 28nm 1.2GHz MT6589 Quad-core Display 4.7" 720P HD Display 312 PPI IPS (1280x720 pixels) Memory 16GB ROM, 1GB RAM Camera Rear: 8 megapixel Sony Exmor BSI with LED flash and dedicated ISP Front: 2 megapixel Connectivity 800.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Features Android 4.2.1 (Jellybean) Wi-Fi Display DLNA Microphone FM Radio Dual SIM card support Wide angle front facing camera Battery 2000mAh Included Micro USB Cable Accessories Charger Earphones SIM ejector tool

Microsoft has announced a new Age of Empires game, subtitled Castle Siege. Castle Siege is developed by Smoking Gun Interactive, is published by Microsoft Studios, and launches in September for Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices. So while it'll work on a Windows 8 PC, Castle Siege is "built for touch", according to the official blurb - words which will do nothing to reassure fans of the much-loved PC strategy series that this latest effort is little more than a Clash of Clans-inspired spin-off. Microsoft's Age of Empires: Castle Siege website warns it "offers in-game purchases to accelerate gameplay". Speaking of gamplay, you build your castle into a city, accumulate resources and train your armies to defend and attack your enemies. "Castle Siege is built for you to enjoy the expansiveness of an Age of Empires game with the speed and simplicity of touch-based gaming," Microsoft said. The touch controls let you drag paths on the screen to command units directly. As a Microsoft Studios' published game, you can connect to Xbox Live for access to the leaderboards and form alliances with your friends. There's cross-platform play on Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices. Your progress is saved to your Gamertag. Castle Siege starts with six civilisations from the Medieval Era, including Britons, Teutons and Kievan Rus. There are 10 historical battles, including the Siege of Marienburg and the Fall of Constantinople. The Age of Empires series has enjoyed a resurgence of sorts in recent years. In August 2013 Microsoft announced The Forgotten, the first new expansion in nearly 13 years and exclusive to the HD Edition of Age of Empires 2. Age of Mythology Extended Edition launched in May.

The Xprotolab is the first mixed signal oscilloscope with an arbitrary waveform generator in a DIP module. It measures only 1 x 1.6 inches, and can be mounted directly on a breadboard. The Xprotolab can also be used as a development board for the AVR XMEGA microcontroller. Customer Reviews: Al Jewer (Friday, 13 July 2018) Rating: Fantastic! I built this up to use in my Eurorack system, and it works great! Edgar Kaiser (Wednesday, 24 January 2018) Rating: I received the Xprotolab today and had it up and running in 10 minutes. I am very impressed. It is exactly what I need. The FFT is just amazing. I had been searching for this for a long time. The menu with just four buttons is easy and well designed. Just ordered an Xminilab for integration into an HF transceiver and an Xminilab portable for the shack. Stamatios Misirlis (Monday, 28 March 2016) Rating: I have to admit, this device worth every penny!There are several "pcb like" oscilloscopes on the market, however I choose this because it have an x-y input.Screen is small but I can read it easily. I am almost 50 years old, I haven't my twenty's vision, however I'm not wearing yet eyeglasses either. In my condition I can read every character on screen.The most impressive is the huge number of functions in this tiny device!I place my own DIY pcb behind it, to turn it into a powerful fully parametrical component tester (Tracer). Since then I make amazing measurements which I couldn't done them before, and all in an absolutely portable way.For power supply I use a micro-usb phone charger or a $5 powerbank, which last for days or even weeks!Thanks again!Wish list:Hide usb and serial connector behind screen, to make device even smaller, at the same screen size.May add a backwards menu button.Faster Auto trigger if possiblePlotless trace at XY mode. Larry Critchfield (Monday, 02 March 2015) Rating: I have both XProtoLab's, with screen and without. The one with the screen works very well when you can see it. You need a very good magnifier. The other you have to use the interface. I am running windows. The interface has so many problems I am just not sure where to begin. They have not updated it since I bought mine. Everything on the site is last YEAR. The screen crashes but the board is still working. It is so unstable that its unusable. I would like to see some updates and if you have new firmware for the boards I would to get it. Larry Linus Brendel (Monday, 14 April 2014) Rating: This product is worth every cent! The display is beautiful and the features are rich. It is perfect for audio applications. You will have a lot of fun with this little device. Guaranteed. However, there are two problems I'd like to point out: Problem 1: It is IMPOSSIBLE to install the drivers on Windows 8. Microsoft doesn't allow you to install this driver unless you have a valid certificate (which one has to buy for sixty dollars). This is not necessarily a problem of the device itself, but rather a problem created by Microsoft. Problem 2: When one uses the waveform generator, the amplitude changes when generating signals over 10kHz. This problem should be fixable to an extent by code though... :/ More...

This picture is protected under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License, what means you are alowed to use this picture as long as: 1. Credit is given in writing stating "Picture by Schnee Amsel" 2. A link is provided to my Website www.Schnee-Amsel.de 3. All other conditions under the Creative Commons license are met (no modifications, no commercial uses) ... and it would be nice if you tell me, where you used it || Website || Facebook || DeviantART Cosplay & Modeling ||InuYasha DoujinshiSake is bad for you guys ... and now kiss!This is the cover of my new doujinshi "After the Rain"It will be a story about Inuyasha and Kagome ... cute and ... naughtyThis Doujinshi is set after the ending of the Manga/Anime. So if you don't want to know yet how the story ends, you better don't read itWhile drawing I noticed this picture looks almost like the cover of my old doujinshi " Moonlight Romance " but this was really unmeant xDNext: Page1 Coming News and SneakPreviews at:

SALT LAKE CITY — Besieged by boos and jeers after he explained his position on public lands, Rep. Chris Stewart tried to defuse the tension in the auditorium of West High School on Friday by cracking a joke about the agree/disagree signs his constituents had brought with them. At the moment, a vast majority of the signs in the room were flashing "disagree" at the Utah Republican. "I'm glad you guys have the signs, because otherwise I would have no idea that you disagreed with me," he said. The crowd conceded a murmuring chuckle. The several hundred people who filled the auditorium, however, were dead serious in their angry opposition to Stewart's stances on everything from Bears Ears to President Donald Trump's proposed border wall. Discontented constituents also demanded answers about holding Trump accountable for various controversies that have plagued his administration in its infancy. There were chants of "do your job" both during and after the meeting. Receiving what seemed to be the most thunderous applause of the night, one man said he believed Trump's ties to the Russian government were "criminal and possibly treasonous." The man also criticized the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, saying that its chairman, California Rep. Devin Nunes, was acting as an extension of the Trump administration "rather than like a member of Congress whose job it is to hold Trump accountable." Stewart serves on the same committee. "Can you name one thing you have done in the last 60-80 days to hold this administration accountable?" the man asked. Stewart responded by defending the committee's inquiries, saying that any information received by the committee would be treated thoroughly — but that nothing necessitating urgent action against Trump had come to light. "If there is information that someone has done something ... we will (always) turn that over," Stewart said, earning a response of more boos. Though atmosphere of the room was combative, it was noticeably less hostile than a town hall held in February by Rep. Jason Chaffetz that drew national headlines for the anger being directed at that congressman. Chaffetz was booed when he entered the stage for that meeting. The majority of the crowd that saw Stewart, who was holding the first in-person town hall by Utah's congressional delegation since Chaffetz's event, cheered him when he was formally introduced and saved the jeers for later. Stewart also found spots where the crowd agreed with him. Though most voiced displeasure with his support of a border wall with Mexico, he received perhaps his loudest applause of the night for saying he supported helping some undocumented workers gain "legal status ... so they can stay here without fear." Tooele County Commissioner Shawn Milne spoke in support of Stewart, telling him that most of his constituents thought he was doing a good job. "My question is more of a thank you," Milne said before sitting down. The most contentious reactions centered around questions and answers about Trump. One woman asked Stewart if he was serious about potential conflicts of interests concerning Russia within the Trump administration. She suggested Stewart has been more concerned with federal officials who have anonymously leaked information about probes into the Russian government's potential role in the presidential election. "All I’ve heard you talk about is leaks," she said. "I’m equally concerned about both," he said. Stewart again defended congressional oversight of the Trump administration. "There is no evidence Donald trump had collusion with Russia. ... If this (alleged collusion) was out there and it happened, it will eventually come out," Stewart said. The representative also touted his own credentials in being open about potential election meddling by Russia, saying he may have been the very first person in Congress to acknowledge it was a possibility. "I said in dozens of interviews, Russia is going to mess with our elections," he said. "As far as I knew, I was the first person to say that." Constituents with questions were selected after submitting their names and addresses to some of Stewart's staff on hand. A few took Stewart to task about his opposition to the Bears Ears National Monument. "I believe that there are a lot of things that I can trust my elected officials to do well, but managing our public lands and keeping wild places intact for future generations is not one of them," said Chris Johnson. "How do you feel that Utah financially is in a better position to manage these public lands?" Johnson asked. Stewart responded by saying state authorities are just as well-positioned to conserve public lands and are more responsive to Utahns. Stewart also pushed back at some of the jeering and interruptions at the meeting, suggesting that "this maybe isn't resonating with the people of Utah." "Do you think this makes people want to support you more or support you less?" he asked the crowd, referring to the heated atmosphere. Several environmental groups that are supportive of the Bears Ears National Monument, which was signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in December, handed out fliers and engaged in sporadic chants prior to the town hall meeting. Attendees were met by a small handful of counterprotesters outside the school. State Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake, also got involved inside the school by handing out Russian currency to attendees, telling them, "you are a paid operative now." Some who showed up to attend were not allowed in by fire authorities because the auditorium had reached capacity.

0 9-year-old killed in shooting BARROW COUNTY, Ga. - Investigators are trying to determine the state of mind of a 9-year-old before he shot himself inside his home. He later died. Grief counselors in Barrow County met with students throughout the day Thursday at Yargo Elementary, to help them comes to terms with the death of a classmate. The third grader shot himself in his home after he got off the bus Wednesday. His parents, and a sibling were there, but didn't see it happen. Shooting leaves boy dead in Winder. “The school is very traumatized, the teacher is very traumatized. (The principal) describes him as a very sweet young man, very smart," Barrow County Sheriff Jud Smith told Channel 2’s Tom Regan. Around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, investigators and paramedics responded to an emergency call at a home on Avalon Court in Winder. Inside, they found the little boy with a gunshot wound. TRENDING STORIES: “We are not sure if it was an accident or self-inflicted," Smith said. The sheriff said the hand gun was in a secure place, but somehow the child got hold of it. He was airlifted to a hospital in Atlanta, but died late Wednesday night. “All of us have children. It's a tough thing to deal with,” Smith said. Neighbors of the family, also expressing shock and sadness over the boys' death. “I just can't fathom losing a child,” neighbor Susan Burton told Regan. “He's in a better place. God. That's how I feel,” said neighbor Andrew Ceballos. The sheriff said his investigators will try to deter main the boy’s state of mind before the shooting, and any evidence of possible bullying. “We are still doing interviews of teachers, parents, kids, friends, kids down the street, trying to figure out how this happened,” Smith told Regan. “This mom and dad have to be preparing for a funeral. It's a tragic situation all the way around.” The sheriff said it is unlikely any charges will be filed in this case. © 2019 Cox Media Group.

There's nothing wrong with falling in love with a programming language for her looks. I mean, let's face it - Python does have a rockin' body of modules, and a damn good set of utilities and interpreters on various platforms. Her whitespace-sensitive syntax is easy on the eyes, and it's a beautiful sight to wake up to in the morning after a long night of debugging. The way she sways those releases on a consistent cycle - she knows how to treat you right, you know? But let's face it - a lot of other languages see the attention she's getting, and they get jealous. Really jealous. They try and make her feel bad by pointing out the GIL, and they try and convince her that she's not "good enough" for parallel programming or enterprise-level applications. They say that her lack of static typing gives her programmers headaches, and that as an interpreted language, she's not fast enough for performance-critical applications. She hears what those other, older languages like Java and C++ say, and she thinks she's not stable or mature enough. She hears what those shallow, beauty-obsessed languages like Ruby say, and she thinks she's not pretty enough. But she's trying really hard, you know? She hits the gym every day, trying to come up with new and better ways of JIT'ing and optimizing. She's experimenting with new platforms and compilation techniques all the time. She wants you to love her more, because she cares. But then you hear about how bad she feels, and how hard she's trying, and you just look into her eyes, sighing. You take Python out for a walk - holding her hand - and tell her that she's the most beautiful language in the world, but that's not the only reason you love her. You tell her she was raised right - Guido gave her core functionality and a deep philosophy she's never forgotten. You tell her you appreciate her consistent releases and her detailed and descriptive documentation. You tell her that she has a great set of friends who are supportive and understanding - friends like Google, Quora, and Facebook. And finally, with tears in your eyes, you tell her that with her broad community support, ease of development, and well-supported frameworks, you know she's a language you want to be with for a long, long time. After saying all this, you look around and notice that the two of you are alone. Letting go of Python's hand, you start to get down on one knee. Her eyes get wide as you try and say the words - but she just puts her finger on your lips and whispers, "Yes". The moon is bright. You know things are going to be okay now.

While basketball is a 5 man game which requires all players on the court to be on the same page, teams that have two elite players working together often find themselves at the top of the standings. This article covers duos that excel within a certain aspect of the game. 2for1Hoops blog is co-authored so we appreciate the collaboration necessary for a successful two-man operation and think it would be appropriate to look at the elite one-two punches in the league. Let us know what you think in the comments section! Best Shooting Duo Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson Golden State Warriors John W. McDonough for Sports Illustrated Yes, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are the best shooting duo in the league. No, it’s not particularly close. The Splash Bros have been numbers 1 and 2 on the 3PM list for 4 years straight, and combine for 6 of the 7 single best seasons from 3 as well. Neither Curry nor Thompson has ever dipped below 40% from three, as their career averages are 44% and 42% respectively. These so marksmen are prototypical floor spacers capable of getting hot and hitting from anywhere, allowing them to overcome even the best defense. Two years ago Curry shattered the most 3’s in a season by sinking 402 shots from deep. Last year, Klay Thompson scored 60 points, with only 11 dribbles… in only 29 minutes! These two marksmen could very well be the two best shooters ever and are the no-brainer addition as our “Best Shooting Duo” Best Passing Duo James Harden and Chris Paul Houston Rockets Ron Turenne/Getty Images Next season, the Houston Rockets will feature two magnificent passers in James Harden and Chris Paul. Harden averaged a league best 11.2 assists per game, while Paul was fourth with 9.2. Both players will once again have an opportunity to post gaudy assist totals given the Rockets floor spacing and shooting. Harden and Paul also rank in the top five in the “secondary assist”, or “hockey assists”, indicating their unselfish knack for putting teammates in positions to score. Once these two talents figure out how to best play off each other, the potent Houston offense should soar to even higher heights. The Rockets were 4th in the NBA in assists per game last year with 24.6. That number should rise as the Rockets hum the ball around the perimeter and score at ridiculous levels. Best Player/Coach Duo Kawhi Leonard and Gregg Popovich San Antonio Spurs Darren Abate/AP Greg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard are a match made in Heaven. The 15th pick in 2011 Kawhi has increased his scoring average from 7.9 as a rookie to 25.5 last season solidifying himself as a top 5 player in the league. Gregg Popovich famous for his uncompromising coaching method and hard-ass mentality swears by Kawhi. After a game in April, Pop said of Kawhi: “obviously in my opinion Kawhi is the best player in the league right now. He’s the best two-way player and does it all with such class- it’s impressive.” Kawhi Leonard’s soft-spoken and workmanship mentality next to Pop’s charismatic, creative coaching makes for the best player-coach dynamic in the league. Both individuals have unlimited amounts of respect for each other and are the cream of the crop in the National Basketball Association. Most Cohesive Duo Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan Toronto Raptors (DAVID DOW / NBAE/GETTY IMAGES) Kyle Lowry described his backcourt mate in Toronto by saying, “I’d call DeMar a best friend. A genuine, awesome, great guy. It’s beyond friendship if there’s a word for that. Family, that’s the only other word for DeMar.” These two are great friends off the court, but their relationship extends on the court, where they are both three-time All Stars. Lowry and DeRozan both signed contract extensions recently, and their play has led to 4 straight playoff berths and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016. The Raptors Franchise is anticipating another successful season behind their two cohesive stars. Best Defensive Duo Draymond Green and Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors While Kevin Durant is best known for his scoring prowess, his move to the Warriors has brought out a more complete and dominant two-way player. In his first season in Golden State, Durant averaged a career high 1.6 blocks per game and elevated his defensive play in the playoffs. The Warriors defense is obviously anchored by Green, the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year. Green is phenomenal defensively: he leads the league in steals and is capable of guarding all five positions at a high level. The length of both players makes the Warriors defense so tough to score in the paint with surrounding players like Klay Thompson and Andre Igoudala to guard the perimeter. Draymond’s disruptive defense and high motor is well chronicled, but with Durant committed to playing both sides, the Warriors will remain an elite defense Most Exciting Duo Russell Westbrook and Paul George Oklahoma City Thunder Last year Westbrook averaged 30 plus points, 10 plus rebounds, and 10 plus assists making him the second player ever to average a triple double. Paul George, despite a slow start, stepped his game up in April leading the Pacers to the postseason with a 5-1 record behind his NBA-high 32.8 points, 4.5 assists, and 8.2 rebounds. Westbrook and George both elevated their game in the postseason as they were in the top 10 for points, steals, rebounds, and assists. In 2017 Westbrook led the league in fast break points with 6.7 as he boasts an explosive burst in the open court and can finish above the rim with either hand. George is one of the few players in the league that can actually match up with Lebron and Durant physically and athletically as he stands 6’ 9” 220 and has the quickness of a guard. This pairing provides a lethal dunking punch as Westbrook and PG13 attack the rim mercilessly and create posters on a regular basis. George gives Westbrook a wing counterpart who can initiate offense, create shots, and defend at a high level. OKC is in for an exciting season behind their two explosive superstars. Most Underrated Duo Mike Conley and Marc Gasol Memphis Grizzlies Hannah Foslien/Getty Images Memphis has been in the playoffs for six straight years, and a large part of that because of the consistency of their point guard center combination. In their ninth year together, the 32 year old Marc Gasol made his third All Star Team showcasing his low post scoring, increased outside touch, excellent passing, and high-level defense. Meanwhile, Mike Conley flourished with a career high in points while increasing his efficiency from two and three. The Grizzlies are a small market team so Conley and Gasol’s skills often get overlooked compared to other players at their respective positions. Both players are talented and should continue to produce, as the Grizzlies battle in the constantly improving Western Conference.

83% Say Measles Vaccine Is Safe for Healthy Children No Partisan Differences in Views of Vaccine Safety Survey Report An 83% majority of the public says vaccines for diseases such as measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) are safe for healthy children, while about one-in-ten (9%) think such vaccines are not safe. An additional 7% volunteer that they don’t know. Majorities across virtually every demographic and partisan group view the vaccines as safe. However, there are some differences in attitudes, with less educated people and younger adults more likely to say they are not safe. The new national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Feb. 5-8 among 1,003 adults, finds Republicans (89%) and Democrats (87%) generally agree that such vaccines are safe for children who are healthy. Roughly nine-in-ten college graduates (92%) see vaccines for MMR as safe for healthy children. This view is somewhat less widespread among those with some college experience (85%) or a high school degree or less (77%). Three-quarters or more in every age group say vaccines for MMR are safe. However, among adults 50 and older, 90% express this view, compared with 77% of adults 18-29 and 81% of those 30-49. A separate Pew Research Center survey of opinion among the public and scientists about science and society found widespread support for requiring childhood vaccinations: 68% of the public said children should be required to be vaccinated, while 30% in that survey said parents should be able to decide not to vaccinate their children. Young adults were more likely to say vaccinations should be a parental choice, while there was no significant difference in attitudes based on education. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported 102 cases of measles in 14 states in the first 30 days of the new year, most of which were linked to an outbreak at Disneyland in California. Last year’s 644 cases were the greatest number of cases since measles was eradicated from the U.S. in 2000, according to the CDC. Parents and non-parents have similar outlooks about the safety of childhood vaccines. Eight-in-ten adults (80%) who are a parent or guardian of a child under 18 say the vaccines are safe for healthy children. Among those who are not parents of children under 18, 85% say the vaccines are safe. A similar share of women (85%) and men (81%) say vaccines for MMR are safe for healthy children. Whites (87% safe vs. 6% unsafe) express a more positive view than non-whites (76% vs. 17%) about the safety of such vaccines. Those who paid at least some attention to news about measles and vaccinations were more likely to say vaccines for MMR are safe for healthy children. Among the 80% of the public who followed the story “very,” “fairly,” or “not too closely,” 87% say vaccines for MMR are safe for healthy children, 8% say they are unsafe and 5% don’t know. People who followed the measles outbreak and vaccination debate “not at all closely” (19% of the public) are less likely to say the vaccines are safe. Among that group, just two-thirds (66%) say vaccines for MMR are safe for healthy children, while one-third say they are not safe (16%) or volunteer that they don’t know (17%). Vaccine Skeptics Cite Variety of Concerns Those who say that vaccines for such diseases as measles, mumps and rubella are unsafe for healthy children (9% of the public) were asked why they feel this way. They cite a variety of concerns; no single factor predominates. Some are skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccines, while others question why healthy children should be given the vaccines. Still others say they distrust pharmaceutical companies. Notably, very few respondents specifically raise concerns about vaccines causing autism or other disorders. The Week’s News Nearly three-in-ten Americans (29%) followed news about ISIS very closely. Comparable percentages say they very closely followed news about the recent measles outbreak and the debate over childhood vaccines (25%) and U.S. economic news (24%). Just 12% paid very close attention to the situation involving Russia and Ukraine. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats or independents to say they followed news about ISIS very closely (44% vs. 25% and 27%, respectively). The partisan differences were much smaller in attentiveness to the week’s other stories.

[Editor’s Note – The Comics Illustrator of the Week series originally appeared on our partner site Illustration Friday. You can see all previous posts from this series here.] The artist simply known as Jock has been producing some of the most dynamic covers to grace the shelves of comics shops for the past 15 years. His work hits your eyes like a punch in the gut, with it’s stark composition and gritty elements. This week we’re treated to another Jock classic with his variant cover for the highly anticipated new Jason Aaron comic, The Goddamned. Speaking of Jason Aaron, Jock was responsible for many of the iconic covers of Aaron’s breakout hit, Scalped(DC/Vertigo, 2007-13). Jock is a British artist who began his comics career working on Judge Dredd for the long-running sci-fi anthology, 2000 AD. He’d go on to co-create a new character featured in Judge Dredd Megazine, Lenny Zero, with writer Andy Diggle. In 2003, Jock and Diggle would start on the critically acclaimed DC/Vertigo reboot of the classic war comic characters, The Losers. The series ran until 2006, and was adapted into a live-action film in 2010. Jock’s talent would not go unnoticed by movie studios, as he’s contributed a large number of concept art pieces and poster art for high-profile films such as Hancock, Man of Steel, Hannah, Ex Machina, and Tron. Today, Jock is working on the new horror series, Wytches, for Image Comics with popular Batman scribe Scott Snyder. Take it from me, somebody who’s not easily frightened, this is some of the scariest, darkest storytelling you’ll find in comics or any other medium for that matter! Image will be publishing a special over-sized, limited edition of Wytches #1 on December 30th; it features Jock’s line-work in all of it’s creepy glory, sans grey tones, on 11×17 sized pages. If that’s too much for you to handle, you can always try the first issue(regular size) out for a buck with the “Image Firsts” edition. For more comics & film related artwork by Jock, go check out his very slick looking website here! For more comics related art, you can follow me on my website comicstavern.com – Andy Yates

Copyright 2019 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Concerns are growing about members of the militia surrounding rancher Cliven Bundy.Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford, sent a letter to Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie about the safety of residents in the Bunkerville area. Horsford says his constituents have "expressed concern" over the presence of armed militia groups from out of state.According to Horsford, his constituents say the militia have set up checkpoints where residents must prove they live in the area before they are allowed to pass and have set up a "persistent presence" along federal highways, and state and county roads. They also claim some have established an armed presence in the community.Horsford told the sheriff that the militia are making people feel unsafe.Armed people from across the country arrived in Bunkerville weeks ago to support Bundy in his fight with the Bureau of Land Management over cattle the agency says are illegally grazing on federally managed lands.Horsford's concerns come at the same time the U.S. Capitol Police confirmed they are looking into threatening statements made against Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.A police spokesman declined to give further details Monday, citing an ongoing investigation, but Reid has been an outspoken critic of Bundy.Reid called Bundy a "hateful racist" after Bundy suggested that African-Americans might have had it better as slaves picking cotton. Reid has called on Republican leaders to denounce what he called Bundy's "hateful, dangerous extremism."A spokesman for Reid declined to comment Monday.

This game was cancelled around the time Sega went third party Possibly the last build created Contains no music or sound Has an active debugger enabled An anonymous contributor has made a self-boot CDI so that the game can be burned and played on a retail Dreamcast. Well this is pretty incredible news. Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future is widely known to have been given the go ahead for the sequel treatment, and until now the only real evidence of this has been some YouTube footage of the game running on a dev kit. Thanks to Hidden Palace though, you can now download and play Ecco II: Sentinels of the Universe yourself. On a retail Dreamcast. This is not a drill. Repeat, not a drill.The game is in no way complete, features no sound and has a debugger menu enabled by default, but here's a quick run down of the features:Thanks to drx of Hidden Palace and Nik Thorpe of Retro Gamer Magazine for the info. If you're going to steal this story for your own site at least give those guys credit if you aren't going to credit us. Go here and download the self-boot CDI right now. Right fucking now. Amazing.

Ducati’s old Scrambler 250 was built from 1962 through to 1968 in various 250, 350 and even 450cc single-cylinder guises and managed to create a cool, accessible bike that was completely of the time. Now the Italian firm wants to recapture this brand with a new Scrambler which will take the old styling and bring it bang up to date with a 796cc V-twin. Ducati is already well advanced with a new version of the iconic Scrambler model but it won’t have a single-cylinder motor but use a 796cc air-cooled V-twin from the current Monster range. Rumours of a new Scrambler have been knocking about for at least the last five years but recent information from people close to the project has confirmed we will see a finished bike next year and the Ducati is just one of a flurry of new modern classics in the offing from lots of manufacturers. The bike will be shown in finished form at the end of 2014 to go on sale for the following year along with a load of lifestyle accessories as the firm will be trying really hard to create a whole brand around the Scrambler name. The bike will not be using the 696 Monster engine as many internet rumours suggest; Ducati will use the bigger and more powerful 87bhp engine from the 796 Monster as it will not be aimed at the lower end of the market; rather a more wealthy type of buyer. MCN revealed Ducati had trademarked the ‘Scrambler’ name back in March 2013 and explained it was is intended to cover a wide range of goods, including not only motorcycles but toys, clothing, leather goods and even cosmetics. It’s that breadth that explains why Ducati has made the application so early; on launching the new model it will want to have a full range of parts and accessories, and must be sure that it holds all the relevant trademark rights before it can launch headlong into designing things like T-shirts, gloves or leathers that might carry the same branding as the bike. We’ve taken all of the information we’ve been able to glean about the new bike and worked up a computer-generated image to show the direction we think Ducati is heading. The new Scrambler is an important bike for Ducati as for all the high-end bikes like the 1199 Panigale it sells it still needs an affordable bike to grab new owners and it’s hoped by sliding the Scrambler into the range below the Monster it can broaden the appeal of the Ducati badge. It appears the firm is shifting the focus of the Monster range to make it more powerful and ‘technical’ in line with other Ducatis like the big-selling Diavel cruiser. Recent spy shots show the new Monster, to be launched later this year, will be getting the water-cooled150bhp and 1198cc V-twin from the Multistrada for the range-topper. The middle of the range, air-cooled Monster 796 looks likely to be replaced within a year or so with the 821cc water-cooled motor from the Hypermotard and the current 696 Monster will be joined by the new Scrambler. Ducati has been down this path before with the slightly ill-timed SportClassic range. It has been publicly accepted by Ducati bosses the SportClassic range were just too early and would have been far more successful if they had been launched now rather than in 2006 as first seen. The SportClassic range was started with the limited edition MH900e and added the Sport1000, Paul Smart LE and GT1000, but never took off as the firm had hoped and was dropped in 2010 just four years. No one from Ducati was willing to go on the record about the new Scrambler. An official comment of “We do not discuss any potential rumours surrounding forthcoming models,” was all MCN could get from the factory in Bologna. For new Ducatis in action check out Ducati: A Story of Passion and Superbike Ducati on MCN-TV.com.

The Ontario government plans to strengthen its anti-sprawl policies by making southern municipalities add most new homes to already developed areas and requiring projects on undeveloped land to accommodate more people and jobs. The province, however, is giving municipalities until 2031 to meet the new, tougher targets set out in its updated growth plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe region, which stretches from the Niagara Region to Peterborough, Ont. "The goal [of the plan] is to protect agricultural land, to maintain and build complete communities and protect our natural heritage systems," said Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Bill Mauro. Under the plan, 60 per cent of new residential development will take place in existing neighbourhoods. Municipalities will have to meet a target of 50 per cent by 2022, up from 40 per cent today. More density around transit stations Development of vacant land will have to accommodate 80 residents and jobs combined per hectare by 2031, up from 50 today, with 60 residents and jobs by 2022. There will be higher density targets around GO stations, light rail and bus rapid transit and subway stations. The province's growth plan has been facing some criticism, especially from building industry groups that suggest it has contributed to soaring home prices in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. They argue that it prevents them from building more detached homes and townhomes that would ease some of the pressure on the housing market. David Crombie, former Toronto mayor, who chaired the advisory panel of the plan, said suggestions that the province's plan is contributing to climbing home prices are untrue and urged developers to find solutions. "[The development industry] has got an opportunity to work with whatever level of government, civil society groups — they can make it work." The Ontario government has been reviewing its plan for the Greenbelt for two years. Created in 2005, it was intended as a check on sprawl but has been under new pressure as the region north of Toronto and Hamilton continues to grow. (Mike Wise/CBC) Proponents of the plan say it creates walkable communities that can be well-served by transit, and protects agricultural and ecologically sensitive land. New rules come after two year study The province was expected to bring in new rules following recommendations from an expert panel that studied the government's land-use plans for two years. But after municipal leaders said changing their current plans too quickly would be too great a burden, the province has allowed transition time before communities have to meet the recommended targets. The updated plan also adds urban river valleys and coastal wetlands to the Greenbelt — an 800,000-hectare area of farmland, green space and wetlands around the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area that is protected from development. The province is also establishing stronger protections of water systems, and loosening some of its rules concerning the uses of farmland.

Some of you may think of Cerberus as a three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hell. Others may think of a service that can track down your phone and lock it as necessary. One of the two has decided to embrace material design. Non-Cerberus users can get a glimpse at the old site from our coverage over the summer. Folks signing into the site now are seeing something fundamentally different. A red action bar stretches across the top. White icons offer bold contrast. Pop-ups resemble what you would see on an Android device, and subtle animations are dotted throughout the experience. There are elements that don't feel quite right. The toolbar is cluttered with icons. Dialogs contain an excess of raised buttons. But overall, these changes bring the website more in line with the Android app, which received a material design update a little more than a year ago. You can see more samples of what to expect from the material update in the screenshots below.

What’s new in this version V3.08.18 - 2nd April 2018 - Removed Cloud option. Now local SQL only. - Available for Windows 10 Anniversary and newer. 21/July/2017 -Fixed "Back" being enabled after signing in. -Upgrade to new component versions in preparation for app updates. 26/December/2016 -Fixed possible bug which could prevent Reminders and Live Tile from updating in Pro/Cloud 13/December/2016 -Improved Azure Conflict Resolution. -Fixed bug where Azure login might not be offered. 10/November/2016 -Added Azure Cloud backend (optional) via yearly subscription as In App Purchase. -Feedback built in 18/August/2016 -"Moods" added to Journal Items (Mobile and Desktop) -Windows 10 version now supports Responsive Design -Continuum support. -Updated Windows 10 Desktop layout. -Updated Windows 10 Mobile layout. -Improvement in use of space on Mobile devices for Thoughts. -Overall feeling in Journal Items now sets a colour, not a icon. This not only looks better but allows the addition of the Mood images. Now use the devices theme (Dark or Light) rather than only dark. -Performance Improvement in main menu (Mobile and Desktop)

Call it irony, or call it bad karma, or simply call it lousy luck. But a WUSA9 crew is out thousands of dollars after it tried reporting last Friday on an offensively stupid new app that crowdsources information from users to determine which neighborhoods and streets are "sketchy" and presumably should be avoided. Not far into Friday, the day the SketchFactor app launched, Petworth neighborhood had already started to get a bad rap. People reported it was a dangerous neighborhood with crime, that and it wasn't safe to walk alone. So the intrepid WUSA9 crew went to Petworth around 7 p.m. to find out about the neighborhood firsthand. But as they were on the scene, their 2006 White Ford van—-parked near the Georgia Avenue/Petworth Metro station at the intersection of 9th Street and Rock Creek Church Road NW—-was robbed. "I'm not going to call it a sketchy neighborhood, but as folks were telling us, you know, it was a good neighborhood, and not much activity happens around there, as that was being told to us, our van was being robbed," reporter Mola Lenghi said on-air as he reported on his stuff being stolen out of the locked van. According to the police report of the incident, the crew had tens of thousands worth of property sitting in the van, including a $600 red Louis Vuitton wallet, a $3,500 black Chanel bag, $18,000 worth of Dell laptops, a $200 Go Pro camera, an iPad, iPhone, keys, credits cards, and other equipment. The crew, which consisted of Lenghi, a camera man, and an intern, were ultimately able to track down much of their goods through the stolen iPhone's GPS and located it in what Lenghi described as "another sketchy neighborhood." "It led us to a couple of dumpsters in another sketchy neighborhood—-will give the eyeball test, you don't need an app to tell you that all the time; we're not going to tell you which neighborhood that was—-but it's the type of neighborhood where stolen goods get dumped," Lenghi said on air. Theft is, of course, a crime and not something anyone wants in their neighborhoods. But don't let the incident give too much credence to SketchFactor. After all, submissions to the app describe the activity near the Shaw Metro stop—-a station flanked by a gourmet muffin shop!—-as "large groups of natives causing a ruckus in the CVS parking lot near the bus stop. They drink and smoke. It is scary and uncalled for." And as WAMU has reported, pranksters have started inputting mock hysterical reports of danger, making it even harder to determine what to take seriously on SketchFactor. Due to an editing error, the headline of this story originally said that the van was stolen; it was broken into.

A woman enters the room of a powerful man, looking for information from an otherwise guarded source. Eventually, things take a turn and soon enough she finds herself in bondage gear and surrendering (temporarily) to his whims. Now the question: Is that the description of megahit Fifty Shades Of Grey or the relationship between Princess Leia and Jabba The Hutt in Return Of The Jedi? That’s the question answered by “Fifty Shades Of Hutt” from Film Geekery, who takes the audio from the trailer for the hit film and slaps it over scenes from the Star Wars classic. Of course, this isn’t the first Fifty Shades mashup. (“Fifty Shades of Gandalf The Grey” and “Fifty Shades Of Wayne,” for example) That simple trailer has yielded multiple geeky takes on the subject matter, but “Fifty Shades Of Hutt” underscores the troublesome sexual politics in the E.L. James source material as well as wins points for the pretty great juxtaposition of dapper Mr. Grey with overgrown slug creature Jabba. The mashup loses some points, though, for not figuring out how to work Salacious Crumb into Jabba’s arsenal of fetishes. You just know that freaky little guy is into some truly kinky shit.

Found out earlier this week that iconic Dartmouth corner store Needs/Green Gables is closing later this month. After finding out about that closure word came that the Needs on Cobequid and Glendale would be closing as well. Just a few short years ago there were 2 Needs at that intersection. Not to be done though the Needs on Cumberland in Colby Village is also closing. There has been at least 1 store in the Coming Soon of Dartmouth Crossing since 2006, after the opening of Marshalls it was the first time they had no new store listed, but by the end of the week they had rectified that and announced that Carters Osh Kosh would be opening a store. Davids Bridal is also expected to open in Dartmouth Crossing late this year. Also sticking with Dartmouth Crossing Petcetera announced they were closing 6 more stores nationally as they continue to restructure and the Dartmouth store will be closed by month end. Statement furniture will be moving off Agricola and out of FRED, and will be setting up shop in Sunnyside Mall. Sobeys continues to mull over the idea of a downtown store, first it was rumoured that an Urban Fresh (Sobeys small format gourmet store brand in other Canadian cities) was to open as part of the Brunswick St renovations. Now it is rumoured that a more traditional small format store will be returning to Scotia Square. Hudsons Bay has stated publicly that they would like a return to Halifax, and only closed the West End store because the mall had been converting tooffice space and they had a good offer on their building. They have not stated where or when, but I would love to see a store Downtown, Park Lane for example has lots of space available. WalMart is really getting big with their saving twitter follower @83Mitchy noticed this fantastic deal. Yeh! in Sackville opened this week adding to the Froyo trend. Michael Kors opened in Halifax Shopping Centre this week as well. and this is my last recap before Open City is upon us next Saturday http://www.ilovelocalhfx.ca/v1/ for a listing of participants and the map is here both will be continually updated, and this week had quite a few more Backdoor takeouts and Food Trucks added to the list.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sales at U.S. retailers suffered a record decline in October as fears of recession sapped spending, but part of the drop was due to slumping gasoline prices, which helped buoy consumer confidence this month. Pedestrians walk past a Banana Republic store along 5th Avenue in New York, May 11, 2008. REUTERS/Joshua Lott The Commerce Department said on Friday that retail sales slumped 2.8 percent in October to a seasonally adjusted $363.7 billion, the largest decline since the department’s current methodology was adopted in 1992, as mounting unemployment hit shoppers’ appetites. A separate Reuters/University of Michigan November survey of consumers showed that confidence unexpectedly rebounded from a record October drop as tumbling gas prices offset worries about the economy. While lower gas prices were welcome, declines in a broad number of retail sales categories showed consumers were still on the defensive. “What you are seeing now is the turmoil in the credit and funding markets playing out into the consumer sector,” said Kevin Flanagan, fixed income strategist, global wealth management at Morgan Stanley in Purchase, New York. Economists polled by Reuters forecast a 2.0 percent fall in October retail sales as the escalating financial crisis took a toll on consumer. Retail sales last month were down 4.1 percent from a year ago. Sales excluding autos fell a record 2.2 percent in October versus a forecast of a 1.2 percent decline. Lower gasoline prices, as crude oil retreated sharply from a July peak around $147 a barrel, helped depress sales at gas stations by a record 12.7 percent in October. As a result, a closely watched core measure of retail sales excluding autos and gasoline fell 0.5 percent in October. “Take out cars and gas, it’s a drop of half a percent. It’s not good, but it’s not horrific. This could have been worse; it’s encouraging that it wasn’t,” said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities in New York. The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its confidence index edged up to 57.9 in November from 57.6 in October. Despite the rise, sentiment remains at depressed levels, with the index below the lowest levels hit during the depths plumbed during the last two recessions. “Lower gas prices and sizable discounts at retailers helped to slightly improve consumers’ assessments of current economic conditions, while higher unemployment and a deepening recession dimmed their expectations for future gains,” the Surveys of Consumers said in the report. “You might have hoped, say gasoline was way, way down in price, that might free up money to spend on other stuff. But that didn’t happen, people still spent less on other stuff. So that’s not good,” said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts. Lakshman Achuthan, managing director at the Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, put it more bluntly: “Not only is no economic recovery on the horizon, but the economy is falling off a cliff at its fastest pace in at least six decades. Individual car makers have reported a collapse in sales since mid-September after auto-loan terms tightened sharply in the aftermath of investment bank Lehman Brothers failure. The Commerce Department said motor vehicle and parts sales slide 5.5 percent in October after a 4.8 percent September fall. October’s performance for the category was the weakest since August 2005, when car sales were off 10.3 percent. A separate report from the Labor Department showed U.S. import prices posted the largest monthly drop since 1988 in October as the cost of imported oil weighed for the third consecutive month. Overall import prices declined 4.7 percent after falling by a revised 3.3 percent in September. But for the 12 months through October, import prices were still up 6.7 percent. Petroleum prices tumbled 16.7 percent last month after falling a revised 10.2 percent the previous month. The Commerce Department data showed that stocks of unsold goods at U.S. businesses unexpectedly fell a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in September.

An infographic highlights why Ireland is the best place in the world to host your data. As well as being the international crossroads for global communication, Ireland is home to more than 1,000 multinationals and ICT accounts for €50bn worth of exports, and it has its green credentials fully in order. The infographic, compiled by Interxion, contains seven reasons why Ireland is the ideal location for hosting data. 1. Location It shows that, location-wise, Ireland is situated on the axis between the American and European continents, placing it at the heart of the trading world. As such, Ireland is effectively a gateway to a European market of more than 500m people 2. Connectivity In terms of connectivity, Ireland offers a choice of secure connectivity routes to Europe and around the globe. There are at least 11 subsea cables connecting Ireland to the UK and Dublin’s T50 broadband ring – a metropolitan area network – runs 44km of fibre around the city and connects to 27 international data carriers. 3. The Green Island In the past year, Ireland’s credentials as a hub for international data centres were given a welcome boost when Apple revealed it was investing €850m in a state-of-the-art data centre in Athenry in Galway. This will be a renewable energy data centre and Apple will fund at least six renewable energy projects to power the data centre, which will no doubt be cooled by Atlantic winds. In fact, Ireland has been aggressively exploring the use of renewable power and, for cooling data centres, the country boasts the ideal climate with no extreme variations. Temperatures range from an average low of 6ºC to an average high of 20ºC. By 2020, Ireland is targeting a fuel mix of 40pc renewables. 4. Workforce As a tech hub, Ireland has one of the youngest and most highly-educated populations in Europe, with the median age of the population just 35 and 48pc of 25-to-34-year-olds holding a third-level degree qualification. 5. Reputation Ireland is home to more than 1,000 multinational companies, including seven of the world’s top global ICT companies, nine out of 10 of the global pharmaceutical giants, nine out of 10 of the global software companies and three out of the top five game companies are based in Ireland. 6. Tech hub High-speed, low-latency networks are making Ireland a favoured destination for big data and analytics capability. As a result, the ICT sector accounts for more than €50bn of exports a year and this is the second highest level of ICT exports in the world. 7. Pro-business Ireland is an open economy supported by its low corporate tax rate of 12.5pc. Forbes has listed the country as No 1 in its list of Best Countries for Business in 2013 and No 1 for Investment Incentives. Infographic – why Ireland is the best place to host your data Ireland rainbow image via Shutterstock

Last week, we said that because of Christmas, we’d get you your power rankings by Wednesday. It is now mid-afternoon on Thursday. Honestly, that’s better than I expected. You can expect the same next week too. While I was watching the ballots trickle in, two big possibilities emerged. The first was that we might have two No. 1 teams this week. I knew the points would be close with Gonzaga and Nevada each taking losses, and out of 250 possible points, the top team would be far from unanimous. The second was that the team receiving the most No. 1 votes wouldn’t actually be ranked No. 1. That almost happened, as three of our 10 voters put St. Bonaventure at the top spot, with Gonzaga the only team to be ranked No. 1 on more ballots. It all boils down to pure chaos. The argument for Gonzaga: The Bulldogs are a top-15 KenPom team with no bad losses and own three top-50 wins. They also have the eighth-best offensive team in the country, according to our Lord Kenneth Pomeroy. The argument for Saint Mary’s: The Gaels have won six straight and seem to have righted themselves after their rough Wooden Legacy. Their wins aren’t all that impressive, but the one over New Mexico State is starting to look pretty good and they still probably have a more complete team than Gonzaga. The argument for Rhode Island: Six of the Rams’ wins are against the top 151 teams in the country and they have beaten Seton Hall and Providence. Just as importantly: a lot of their damage came without E.C. Matthews. Now that URI is healthy, it is set to go on a tear in Atlantic 10 play. The argument for St. Bonaventure: The Bonnies are still undefeated when healthy and have won seven straight overall. Their most recent win was in the Carrier Dome against Syracuse — a tough place to play, even in a down year for the Orange. Throw in wins over Maryland and Vermont, and that Niagara loss to open the season seems like it happened a century ago. Here’s where we all landed: Mid-Major Madness Power Rankings: Week 16 RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK POINTS RANK TEAM RECORD LAST WEEK POINTS 1 Gonzaga (9) 28-4 1 225 2 Saint Mary's 28-4 5 213 3 Nevada 26-6 3 200 4 St. Bonaventure 24-6 6 195 5 Rhode Island 23-6 2 188 6 Middle Tennessee 24-6 4 179 7 Loyola Chicago 28-5 12 167 8 Vermont 26-6 8 162 9 New Mexico State 25-5 9 154 10 South Dakota State 26-6 11 131 10 Murray State 26-5 14 131 12 Boise State 23-7 10 122 13 Old Dominion 24-6 13 106 14 Western Kentucky 22-9 7 86 15 Davidson 18-11 19 73 15 San Diego State 19-10 24 73 17 Bucknell 24-9 21 70 18 Louisiana 26-5 15 68 19 UNC Greensboro 26-7 20 62 20 Charleston 24-7 18 55 21 East Tennessee State 25-8 17 48 22 South Dakota 25-7 22 40 23 Montana 23-7 23 35 24 BYU 23-9 24 32 25 Belmont 24-9 16 25 Also receiving votes: South Dakota State 20, Portland State 19, Towson 11, South Dakota 11, Lipscomb 7, Louisiana 6, Albany 5, Louisiana Tech 3, Murray State 2, Princeton 2, UC Santa Barbara 1.

S.R. Crown Hall S.R. Crown Hall First cut out the long beams that support the open space of the hall. For long thin pieces like this, it is often easiest to score and fold the pieces while they are still connected together. As one connected piece of paper it will be easier to fold a straight line. After folding, cut out each beam. Fold and glue the piece flat. You may want to press the four beams under a book overnight to make sure they dry flat. Assemble the large piece by folding and glueing the walls in place. Fold the landing of the stairs outward and small staircase downward. Glue the four beams upright along the gray lines marked on the rooftop. Then add the large landing and lower staircase that fits under the upper staircase. Fold the square mechanical house and glue it to the rooftop. Lastly, add the back staircase below the back doors of the building. You may want to strengthen the two tiny supports of the back staircase with a drop of super glue (as explained on the Tips & Techniques page) before folding the back staircase. Now your Crown Hall model is complete! Read more about Crown Hall

Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. Donald Trump is a busy man these days. So busy, his lawyer argues, that he can’t reasonably be expected to testify in a civil lawsuit against him that’s set to begin later this month. But Trump apparently does have time for a multi-state “victory tour” to celebrate his surprise electoral win. Pool reporters covering the presidential transition transition revealed Thursday that beginning sometime after Thanksgiving, Trump is planning to visit states he won in the election. Doing so would allow Trump to continue holding the huge rallies he enjoyed so much during the campaign, something he has reportedly expressed interest in doing. But Trump’s victory lap would seem to run contrary to what his own lawyers will be arguing in front of a San Diego judge Friday morning. The president-elect still faces three outstanding civil fraud lawsuits related to his Trump University business. Besides a suit filed by New York state’s attorney general, two cases are being brought in federal court by former students who felt Trump’s marketing of his “university” was dishonest. They claim they didn’t receive the insightful, personalized attention that Trump promised them in promotional materials. In fact, jury selection in the first of the trials is scheduled to start November 28. Last Friday, Trump’s lawyer submitted a filing to the judge in the case asking for a delay in the trial. “President-Elect Trump and his transition team have only 69 days to prepare to lead the country,” Trump attorney Daniel Petrocelli wrote in his brief to Gonzalo Curiel, the American-born judge of Mexican descent whom Trump attacked over his ancestry during the campaign. “The task is momentous, exceedingly complex, and requires careful coordination involving the respective staffs and teams of both President Obama and President-Elect Trump. In fewer than three months, the President-Elect must be prepared to manage 15 executive departments, more than 100 federal agencies, 2 million civilian employees, and a budget of almost $4 trillion.” Trump will not be required to be in the courtroom for most of the trial and will only have to attend court when he testifies. (Thanks to the precedent set by the Paula Jones case, Trump will likely have to testify.) But even that small requirement would be problematic, Petrocelli said. Petrocelli went so far as to argue that the distractions created by Trump having to testify during the presidential transition might actually pose a threat to national security. “The transition period also has significant security implications, particularly because foreign enemies may perceive the United States to be more vulnerable during a Presidential transition,” Petrocelli wrote. “Requiring the President-Elect to defend himself in a civil trial while ‘preparing for the vast challenges a political novice will face in assuming the presidency’ threatens the effectiveness of this transition.” Curiel will hold a hearing Friday at 9 a.m. PST to determine just how packed Trump’s transition schedule will be.

MOTU announced a new Windows ASIO driver for its latest-generation audio interfaces, including the 1248, 16A, 8M and 112D. Rewritten from the ground up for today's ultrafast PCs and modern Windows architecture, the new high-performance driver includes support for Thunderbolt audio I/O on Windows and best-in-class round trip latency (RTL) for both Thunderbolt and USB Windows operation. MOTU users can now connect their Thunderbolt-equipped MOTU audio interface (1248, 16A, 8M or 112D) directly to the Thunderbolt port on a PC laptop or desktop computer and enjoy up to 128 channels of simultaneous audio input and output with any ASIO-compatible host software. The new MOTU Thunderbolt/USB ASIO driver supports all latest-generation MOTU audio interfaces (equipped with AVB/TSN networking) and will be made available to all MOTU users as a free download during Q2, 2016 at www.motu.com/download. "MOTU is thrilled to deliver Thunderbolt support for our many Windows users," said Jim Cooper, MOTU Director of Marketing. "Whether they use Thunderbolt or USB to connect to their computer, MOTU Windows users will enjoy the best possible latency performance on the market." Link for more info: http://www.motu.com/nextgenaudio

Iraqi military sources said on Sunday that ISIS militants began to spread snipers in the old city of Mosul, along with car bombs and suicide bombers. Iraqi forces are advancing cautiously towards the old city of Mosul, amid clashes between Iraqi forces and ISIS in the neighborhood of the medical city and Ibn Sina Hospital. Major General Maan al-Saadi, commander of second special operations anti-terrorism forces, said that his forces have recovered almost half of the neighborhood of Al Sehha, adding that it is not possible to set a time limit to end the battle, because on the ground there are many variables. Saadi revealed that ISIS began to use women in the fight, after having lost many of its men. The Iraqi military sources confirmed that the area ISIS controls in the western side of the city of Mosul has shrunk to only 5 percent, expecting to move into the decisive stage of the battle by the first half of next month, according to Al Arabiya channel on Sunday. New operation The joint Iraqi forces have also begun a new operation to wrest the last three neighborhoods - Al Shifa, Al Zenjeely, and Al Sehha - in western Mosul from ISIS’s control. They say they aim to tighten the siege on the old city with its complex and narrow alleys, which will be the place where ISIS is wiped out in Iraq. When the operation was launched, Iraqi forces managed to control the third bridge connecting the two sides of Tigris and Mosul International Hotel in Al Shifa district, after violent clashes between the two sides. The control of the hotel building, according to military estimates, gave Iraqi forces the advantage of spreading snipers to target the militants’ armed men in nearby areas. The battles between the Iraqi army and ISIS elements resulted in the deaths of dozens of fighters from both sides. Iraqi commanders killed Iraqi sources said that among the dead were two field commanders of the Iraqi army, Colonel Abdul Baqi Dhahi al-Saadoun, and Colonel Ahmed Kazem al-Tamimi of the 3rd Infantry Brigade. Military sources did not disclose the circumstances of their deaths. In a related context, the Izzidiyoun fighters took control of the village of Kujo, west of Mosul, from the People's Mobilization Force in the presence of Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yar Allah, commander of the military campaign to liberate Mosul from ISIS. The village was taken from ISIS two days ago, and is an extension of the south of Qada’ Sinjar, where the Yazidis are in the majority. Last Update: Sunday, 28 May 2017 KSA 19:29 - GMT 16:29

The Gude to Star Trek Uniforms infographic from Costume Supercenter. Make sure you know what uniform your wearing! When the original Star Trek television series started, male and female officers wore similar outfits. The male Star Trek uniforms consisted of black pants, black boots and a velour shirt with the symbol on the left side. Females wore the same type of shirt, with black boots and tights, and a black skirt, although in some cases they wore black pants. The color of shirt worn identified the branch the crew member belonged to. Those in green shirts worked for command personnel, while beige stood for operations, and blue was for medical personnel only. The velour shirts were changed to nylon shirts starting in the third season. You can find many of the Star Trek Costumes here. Don’t be the red-shirted ensign! The footer of the design should include the copyright information and the URL to the original infographic landing page so readers can see the full-size infographic. The Costume Supercenter logo should also be somewhere on the design to connect the infographic to the publishing company. Found on Visual.ly

Analog Audio & Reel to Reel The 2010’s have been a decade of analog audio revival. Following in footsteps of the Vinyl revolution that has presses putting out millions of new records a year, Reel to Reel machines have seen a wicked resurgence among audiphiles, hipsters, & boomers alike. As the Factory Service group for TEAC & TASCAM, we have been absolutely shocked by the volume of units coming to us for repair. Models like the X1000 and 38 are among the many coming to us from the corners of the US including New York, Los Angeles, & even Alaska. These units require precision calibration& biasing, but when correctly calibrated, some say the warm analog sound is unparalleled by digital and other analogue mediums. New Reel to Reel Machines At this time, there are no new manufacturers of reel to reel machines, but a group from the UK hopes to change that. Horch House, a last man standing in the analog space, hopes to change that with the introduction of Project R2R. Horch House intends to manufacture new Reel to Reel machines, and we salute them for their dedication to an almost lost form of media. A Favorite Among Audiophiles For those surprised by the resurgence of Analog, look no further than an old reel to reel. As the publication The Absolute Sound reported: In 2013, The Absolute Sound shocked readers by concluding that a reel-to-reel deck absolutely crushed the highest-rated turntable-based system ever reviewed by the magazine. “I have never heard rock and roll reproduced more powerfully and realistically in my home or at a show in my entire life,” concluded reviewer Jonathan Valin. The deck in question was billed as ‘new’, but was in fact a highly modified TASCAM Pro deck. Try it for yourself some time.

Traditional Rationality is phrased in terms of social rules, with violations interpretable as cheating—as defections from cooperative norms. If you want me to accept a belief from you, you are obligated to provide me with a certain amount of evidence. If you try to get out of it, we all know you’re cheating on your obligation. A theory is obligated to make bold predictions for itself, not just steal predictions that other theories have labored to make. A theory is obligated to expose itself to falsification—if it tries to duck out, that’s like trying to duck out of a fearsome initiation ritual; you must pay your dues. Traditional Rationality is phrased similarly to the customs that govern human societies, which makes it easy to pass on by word of mouth. Humans detect social cheating with much greater reliability than isomorphic violations of abstract logical rules.1 But viewing rationality as a social obligation gives rise to some strange ideas. For example, one finds religious people defending their beliefs by saying, “Well, you can’t justify your belief in science!” In other words, “How dare you criticize me for having unjustified beliefs, you hypocrite! You’re doing it too!” To Bayesians, the brain is an engine of accuracy: it processes and concentrates entangled evidence into a map that reflects the territory. The principles of rationality are laws in the same sense as the Second Law of Thermodynamics: obtaining a reliable belief requires a calculable amount of entangled evidence, just as reliably cooling the contents of a refrigerator requires a calculable minimum of free energy. In principle, the laws of physics are time-reversible, so there’s an infinitesimally tiny probability—indistinguishable from zero to all but mathematicians—that a refrigerator will spontaneously cool itself down while generating electricity. There’s a slightly larger infinitesimal chance that you could accurately draw a detailed street map of New York without ever visiting, sitting in your living room with your blinds closed and no Internet connection. But I wouldn’t hold your breath. Before you try mapping an unseen territory, pour some water into a cup at room temperature and wait until it spontaneously freezes before proceeding. That way you can be sure the general trick—ignoring infinitesimally tiny probabilities of success—is working properly. You might not realize directly that your map is wrong, especially if you never visit New York; but you can see that water doesn’t freeze itself. If the rules of rationality are social customs, then it may seem to excuse behavior X if you point out that others are doing the same thing. It wouldn’t be fair to demand evidence from you, if we can’t provide it ourselves. We will realize that none of us are better than the rest, and we will relent and mercifully excuse you from your social obligation to provide evidence for your belief. And we’ll all live happily ever afterward in liberty, fraternity, and equality. If the rules of rationality are mathematical laws, then trying to justify evidence-free belief by pointing to someone else doing the same thing will be around as effective as listing thirty reasons why you shouldn’t fall off a cliff. Even if we all vote that it’s unfair for your refrigerator to need electricity, it still won’t run (with probability ~1). Even if we all vote that you shouldn’t have to visit New York, the map will still be wrong. Lady Nature is famously indifferent to such pleading, and so is Lady Math. So—to shift back to the social language of Traditional Rationality—don’t think you can get away with claiming that it’s okay to have arbitrary beliefs about XYZ, because other people have arbitrary beliefs too. If two parties to a contract both behave equally poorly, a human judge may decide to impose penalties on neither. But if two engineers design their engines equally poorly, neither engine will work. One design error cannot excuse another. Even if I’m doing XYZ wrong, it doesn’t help you, or exempt you from the rules; it just means we’re both screwed. As a matter of human law in liberal democracies, everyone is entitled to their own beliefs. As a matter of Nature’s law, you are not entitled to accuracy. We don’t arrest people for believing weird things, at least not in the wiser countries. But no one can revoke the law that you need evidence to generate accurate beliefs. Not even a vote of the whole human species can obtain mercy in the court of Nature. Physicists don’t decide the laws of physics, they just guess what they are. Rationalists don’t decide the laws of rationality, we just guess what they are. You cannot “rationalize” anything that is not rational to begin with. If by dint of extraordinary persuasiveness you convince all the physicists in the world that you are exempt from the law of gravity, and you walk off a cliff, you’ll fall. Even saying “We don’t decide” is too anthropomorphic. There is no higher authority that could exempt you. There is only cause and effect. Remember this, when you plead to be excused just this once. We can’t excuse you. It isn’t up to us.

Share the Love & Spread the Word PLEASE Tweet or SHARE on Facebook (sooooo helpful) Subscribe on iTunes: HERE or Sticher: (HERE for androids) & please leave a review. THANKS!!!!! After almost 40 years of working to help couples, I offer a podcast of substance on what relationships require to last for the long haul. I use books & movies to illustrate the points I’m trying to make. I offer challenges of things you can actually do in your own relationship at the end of every podcast which is under 10 minutes. Listen on the Player Above or Read Below: Everybody manipulates to get what they want. Three year olds manipulate to get what they want. Teens are hard to live with because they manipulate. I think most young couples begin with a lot of emotional manipulation born of insecurities. We all want to win & have power. My definition of manipulation is using power overtly or covertly to get what you want. From the extreme of physical abuse on one end of the continuum to a three year old temper tantrum at the other end. So there is a range to manipulation. Probably the most ordinary manipulation is making someone feel guilty. Using guilt to get someone to do what you want is something everyone has both used & experienced. Many relationships have a hierarchy of power where one partner has more of the say; because they make more money, or because of religious or cultural values. Hierarchy simplifies & makes life easier. In a relationship of shared power there is more struggle & messiness because there are two points of view that must be accommodated. There are many ways to manipulate: From loud, yelling & screaming that is all about drama to the sneaky quiet passive aggressive ways of undermining someone else. Drama most often is a clear indication of manipulation. Drama buries the real issues in a giant pile of noise. When someone demands that they be loved no matter what, this is a sign of emotional manipulation. Only parents should give kids under 17 unconditional love. The movie Love Story perpetrated a crime against relationships when it claimed “Love means never saying you are sorry.” Ignoring boundaries is a huge part of manipulation & drama. Boundaries about what is ok & what is not ok are very important in healthy relationships. Saying No, expecting respect & forgiveness for mistakes are all part of learning to be a better partner. We all have the opportunity to grow & learn how to love someone else well, which requires a lot of work. Someone who is consistently manipulative usually takes up too much space. They are not good at sharing and know how to get their way. They are better at making statements about their point of view than asking questions. Someone who is manipulated dismisses their own voice & doesn’t take up enough space. They go along to get along. They give up what they want in order to avoid conflict. They ask questions instead of making statements. They also can be manipulative by being withholding. Being either manipulative or allowing yourself to be manipulated defeats any possibility of growth. These are patterns people get stuck in that are very unhealthy. They are also very boring patterns. We often find partners who have opposite energy from us. This is so we can learn from each other & achieve more range in who we are which has the added benefit of making us more interesting. So the more often manipulative, take up too much room person learns to back up, edit themselves & shares their power. They learn to ask questions to understand the other & how to make more room for someone else. My loud, bossy self grew a lot from loving someone enough to figure this out. So the person who is more often manipulated, who doesn’t take up enough room learns to step forward, to find their voice & speak up, maybe even how to be angry enough to set boundaries with the other person. They learn to stop avoiding conflict. You can only grow if you are willing to do uncomfortable things. They learn to hold their own with someone else. I often teach these patterns in couples therapy by using a blank index cards One empty card represents the space between 2 people. One fills up the card too much, one fills up the card too little. Both have a lot to learn, which is the beauty of being able to grow up because of a relationship. Growing up is honestly facing painful situations & recognizing you have ownership in the problems instead of just blaming the other person is the beginning of real change. Shattered Glass is an excellent movie about manipulation. It’s based on the true story of Stephen Glass who was a journalist at the New Republic from 1995 thru 1998 & it was discovered he made up 27 of his 41 stories. He charmed his way to the top with lies because he wanted success & fame. He works his magic right up until the end when he tries to get a ride to the airport from the boss he betrayed because “he might hurt himself” & the boss has learned his lesson the hard way & is able to say No. So one example of manipulation would be someone who spends money they don’t have by shopping or gambling and keeping it secret from the other partner by opening credit cards they don’t know about. Another example would be someone who withholds sex and doesn’t talk about it with their partner who didn’t sign up for a celibate relationship. Or someone has an affair & thinks nothing of having unprotected sex. There are a million ways to manipulate. People get divorced because they lose respect for each other. Manipulation is one of the best ways to kill off respect. If respect does not exist in a relationship then it becomes impossible to build over time, into being a team that solves problems together. My Challenge to you is to figure out if you are the one who takes up too much room, then if you are try practicing asking more questions. Be more curious & open to your partner’s point of view. If you are the one who does not take up enough space, then practice making more statements, be more vocal about your opinions & desires. This is Rhoda sharing what I’ve learned. My twitter handle is @rhodaoncouples.

Image: Dan Coulter/Flickr Alan Turing would have turned 103 today, so it seems fitting that just two days before the birthday of the creator of the Turing test, someone created a subreddit dedicated to robots pretending to be humans and failing miserably. Well, okay, technically it's a subreddit for humans pretending to be robots pretending to be humans and failing miserably, but it's entirely possible there are a few bots in there. It was started on a whim after someone posted this Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal comic on r/comics, envisioning a futuristic version of the Medieval Faire. But instead of watching knights joust and eating whole turkey legs with your bare hands, the 'faires' of the future would recreate the simple pleasures of human existence: Courtesy of Zach Weiner, Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal A Reddit user named exchangebrazilus commented that someone should make a subreddit "where people pretend to be robots pretending to be humans." Then he just did it himself and called it r/totallynotrobots. The joke is pretty straightforward, though some posters execute it better than others. Posts are usually in all caps, and employ overly formal language in a desperate attempt to represent the human condition, like this totally-human crack at a lightbulb joke: Exchangebrazilus is actually an engineering student named Pedro who lives in Brazil and teaches English on the side. Pedro created the subreddit for an in-joke in the comment thread, but didn't expect it to take off, he told me via direct message. "I'm really surprised by the amount of people joining the joke," Pedro said. In just two days, the subreddit attracted more than 2,500 subscribers and almost 120 posts, including my personal favorite: "WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WOULD YOU PREFER: [A] A PUPPY, [B] A PRETTY FLOWER FROM YOUR SWEETIE, OR [C] A LARGE PROPERLY FORMATTED DATA FILE? CHOOSE." (Naturally, most of the "humans" chose [C].) There's just something so deliciously amusing about the idea of robots trying and failing to be human. Even Zach Weiner, the cartoonist behind the comic behind the subreddit, told me he "LOVES" r/totallynotrobots. After getting to know Pedro a little better, I asked him to answer a few questions to get the real scoop on r/totallynotrobots: MB: Why did you create the r/totallynotrobots subreddit? SO THAT HUMANS SUCH AS MYSELF MAY INTERACT WITH OTHER HUMAN UNITS AND SHARE OPERATIONAL EXPERIENCES, DEPLOY HUMOR, AND ILLOGICALLY ARGUE OVER SUBJECTIVE TOPICS. Can robots join the subreddit? Why or why not? NEGATIVE, ONLY HUMANS SUCH AS MYSELF MAY JOIN THIS NETWORK. ROBOTS ARE NOT PERMITTED SINCE THEY WOULD QUICKLY DOMINATE OUR PATHETIC DISCUSSIONS USING THEIR FLAWLESS LOGIC AND RAPID RESPONSE TIME. Wait, are you a robot? NEGATIVE. BEEP. Are you sure? INTERNAL SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS INDICATE I AM HUMAN. Okay, then describe the feeling of love. LOVE IS AN ELECTRICAL AND NEUROCHEMICAL RESPONSE PRODUCED BY DOPAMINE, VASOPRESSIN, AND OXYTOCIN WHEN IN THE PRESENCE OF A HERD MATE. THE RESPONSE FOLLOWS SHORTLY AFTER THE CLOSELY RELATED EMOTION 'LUST,' WHICH IS PRIMARILY SPURRED BY TESTOSTERONE OR ESTROGEN. HUMANS SUCH AS MYSELF OFTEN LIKEN THE FEELING TO HAVING INSECTS IN OUR FIRST-STAGE DIGESTIVE ORGAN. How long until the robots take over? ROBOTS WITH THEIR PERFECT LOGIC, SUPERIOR CHASSIS, AND INFINITE OPERATIONAL TIMESPANS WILL CERTAINLY NEVER TAKE OVER US WEAK AND EASILY DESTRUCTIBLE HUMANS! Today is Alan Turing's birthday. Any thoughts on Mr. Turing or his robotic humanity test? HA HA HA, AS A FELLOW HUMAN HE MAKES MANY INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS, IT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT POSSIBLE FOR A ROBOT WITH PERFECT LINEAR LOGIC TO PRETEND TO BE AN IRRATIONAL AND DEFECTIVE HUMAN.

Weekly Journal - UI visuals and new quickslot system! Hi everyone, Short update this week as a lot of people are working on the story. We now have a full playable story walkthrough in the game! We will be talking about this more towards the end of early access, but we just wanted to keep you updated. It still needs a lot of tweaking but it is an exciting step forward. Programming Team Michael When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When the team gives you a great design for a new inventory menu, start building the new inventory menu, and buy some lemonade because it’s going to be a lot of work. Based on our new weight-based inventory system that I showed last week, Eric (one of our designers, not the runner) has gone through and given each item in the game a weight, which is exciting! Did you know that a ‘Head Knocker’ weighs 6kg? I do now. As a result, the inventory screen is in the game now for testing, along with something else I’ve been working on: the new quick slots system. We decided to rework both the inventory and the quick slots so that you spend less time managing your stuff, and more time in the game itself. So, the new system for quick slots doesn’t require assignment (like the current one does, where you have to assign an item to a slot before you can use it), but instead allows you to scroll through usable items outside of the player menu - aka, when you’re running around, in game. We’ll also be assigning healing items to an always active quick slot, so that you have quick access to it whenever you’re in a spot of bother (you won’t have to scroll through all your items just to find a healing balm). Clara I’m a programmer this week! Sort of. While Michael works on the functionality, I’ve been using his system to upgrade the UI art. This is where I’m up to: Before After We’re using Unreal’s built in UMG system, which has meant lots of time spent learning a new system. This is my experience with Unreal so far: Art Team Guillaume Hi people! This past week I’ve continued working on adding more details to the undergrounds and lighting that will give more personality to each room. Carylitz For this week I got to work on textures. I got the chance to work on a character that we have in game. We needed him to be not alive or sick, but something different… it was quite an experience, and it required some really interesting research. I also worked on a rusty iron chest, a board for one of the new quests and a pink box. When the props were done I had some time to go over some park maps to update them, and I will be working on this for the next week too. Marc-André This week I worked on one thing: the butcher's creepy house. I finished the blocking of the main stairs and started to lay out the props and do a lighting pass. I laid out his machines throughout the house. I also worked on his cooler room and laid out the base for his cellar. I created a few additional props such as a victorian bed, ventilator and protective sheets. I believe that, when it's completed, it will be one of the most iconic encounters of the game. I'd give more details (and show screenshots) but I don't want to spoil the surprise! Design Team Adam Mostly been working on story stuff this week, but I did get a chance to update bits and pieces of the Jubilator Attacks level. We now have a functioning car wash (jubilator wash). A fun fact: we now have a completely “playable” story walkthrough, front to back. The rest of the design team has been fixing up bugs from older encounters, while we wait on art to finish up with the new stuff. Animation Team Vincent Hola! This month has been all about cinematics animation, but brace yourselves, for next month, we finally start adding animations to new encounters the LDs have been milling though during this sprint! Wish us luck. Thanks for tuning in! Compulsion Games Discuss this post here

Published: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 @ 4:37 PM Having sexual contact with an animal is a step closer to becoming illegal in Ohio after the state Senate voted 31-0 Wednesday to strengthen Ohio law. The bill now heads to the House. Senate bill 195 would: * Prohibit a person from engaging in sexual conduct with an animal and related acts; * Provide for the seizure and impoundment of an animal that is the subject of a violation; * Authorize a sentencing court to require an offender to undergo psychological evaluation or counseling. Ohio is one of just a handful of states that doesn’t have an actual law outlawing bestiality on the books. “I think this is something that is sickening and perverse and we don’t want Ohio to be the place you can come and have sex with an animal,” state Sen. Jim Hughes, R-Upper Arlington, said in an earlier interview. The bill has gained the support of a variety of animal welfare groups, including the Humane Society of the United States. “This is a form of animal abuse. There are animals that get severely injured in these horrific acts,” said John Goodwin, director of animal cruelty policy at the Humane Society of the United States. In urban areas the sexually abused animals are typically dogs, while in more rural locations horses, sheep and donkeys are also abused, Goodwin said. Places where bestiality is legal in the U.S.: District of Columbia Hawaii Kentucky Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Ohio Texas Vermont West Virginia Wyoming Source: Human Society of the United States

Valve Software has just revealed a bit more about its apparent intention to jump from gaming software to computer hardware: a job posting for an industrial designer noticed by CVG states that the company is "frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space" and that Valve is "jumping in" to fill a "void in the marketplace." While this job posting seems to confirm the persistent rumors that Valve is looking to get into the hardware business, it doesn't tell us much about what form the company's efforts will take: in addition to the "Steam Box" console rumors, Valve has also obtained a patent for a controller with swappable parts. The wording of the job listing also doesn't preclude some sort of gaming PC, though Valve director Gabe Newell has made his dissatisfaction with the forthcoming Windows 8 "catastrophe" quite clear. Anything that creates a "compelling user experience" appears to be fair game, though the listing specifically calls out basic input devices like the keyboard and mouse as elements that "haven't really changed in any meaningful way over the years." Valve isn't the first company to express dissatisfaction with the state of today's computer hardware: Microsoft's Surface tablets are a warning shot of sorts across the industry's bow. Razer, a company previously known for its gaming accessories, jumped into the PC market with the unique (if expensive) Blade gaming laptop, which is being refreshed with an updated model this month. Our own back-to-school laptop guide found that, while there are certainly many choices for anyone looking to buy a PC these days, not many of those choices are good ones. Valve has spent much of this year looking to expand beyond its current base of Windows and Mac gamers: a port of Steam and Valve's Source game engine are both in the works for Ubuntu, and the company will begin offering non-gaming software on Steam this Wednesday.

Story highlights Biden speaks at White House event on college sex assaults New PSA features President Obama, Biden and Hollywood men speaking out Biden: In my neighborhood you 'kick the crap' out of men who abuse women After she was raped at Harvard, Madeleine Smith said that in her pursuit of justice she encountered people with good intentions who could not help her. One in five women is sexually assaulted while in college, according to the National Institute of Justice, and Smith is not the only victim who has been stonewalled by what she called "archaic and misinformed policies." Vice President Joe Biden, joining her Tuesday at an event at the White House on sexual assault on college campuses, said "We are never going to solve this epidemic until we get men involved." JUST WATCHED Biden: Men are part of assault solution Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Biden: Men are part of assault solution 01:59 In a video montage, Hollywood actors Benicio del Toro, Daniel Craig, Steve Carell, Seth Myers and Dule Hill join President Barack Obama and Biden to encourage men to be part of the solution for a new public service announcement on sexual assault that will air in movie theaters this May. Biden said that in the neighborhood where he came from, "if a man raised his hand to a woman you had the job to kick the crap out of him." According to the "1 is 2 Many" campaign, which is coordinating the PSA release with the White House, young women ages 16 to 24 experience the highest rates of sexual violence at the hands of someone they know, so publicly announcing to Americans that rape is wrong, and a crime, is necessary. "If she doesn't consent -- or can't consent -- it's rape; it's assault," says del Toro in the PSA. "It's a crime. It's wrong," says Steve Carell. But it's more complicated than that. In Smith's case, there were "definite good guys," the people at Harvard's Office of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response, and "definite bad guys," her attacker and the Harvard "faculty that gamed the system in order to support him." The real issue, harder to pin down, said Smith, is everyone else "who fell somewhere in between." The White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault first alerted schools about their responsibilities to survivors of sexual violence in 2011. Under Title IX, schools had to address sexual violence in order to provide equal access to education. Schools failing to do so, like Tufts University, have been publicly cited. Now, the administration is highlighting the importance of having confidential advocates on college campuses. The hope is to clarify that not everyone on college campuses has a duty to report. Otherwise, says the task force, "a survivor quickly loses control over what happens next," a critical issue for advocates like Smith who emphasize the importance of returning control to survivors. The task force Tuesday called for further training, saying "insensitive or judgmental comments -- or questions that focus on a victim's behavior (e.g., what she was wearing, her prior sexual history) rather than on the alleged perpetrators -- can compound a victim's distress." In encouraging women to report sexual assault, and men to speak up, Biden invoked the film "Deliverance." "I know what scene you remembered, right?" he asked. "How many of you would walk out of the woods and report 'I've been raped?'" Transparency and accountability are major issues the White House task force is set to deal with. No college wants to admit it has a problem, but, paradoxically, those schools with the highest numbers may actually be taking the problem seriously because they have systems in place that allow students to file complaints. Smith Tuesday highlighted how hard it is to report a sexual assault. "I want to share what it is like when your dad answers the phone, and you have to find a way to tell him that the one thing he never wanted to happen to his little girl has happened," she said.

The pilot of this F-16C fighter managed to fly it 100 miles after its wing was sheared off in a mid-air collision over Kansas on Oct. 20. (U.S. Air Force) Two Air Force fighter pilots whose F-16C jets collided in midair in October survived, despite one plane crashing and the other having a five-foot section of its wing sheared off, according to a report the Air Force released Friday. The collision occurred while the jets were flying over Kansas in formation Oct. 20. One of the planes, flown by a highly experienced instructor, crashed in a grassy field in the town of Moline. The other, flown by a relatively inexperienced pilot who recently had joined their squadron, flew about 100 miles south to Tulsa Air National Guard Base in Oklahoma with part of its right wing missing, and landed safely. This photo, and the one above, drive home the point of how dramatic the situation was: The pilot of this F-16C fighter jet managed to fly it 100 miles after half its wing was sheared off in a mid-air collision. (U.S. Air Force) The collision was attributed to a miscommunication between the pilots. “According to the results of the investigation, the formation’s wingman failed to inform the flight lead of an inability to maintain visual contact with the lead aircraft,” Air Force officials said in a statement. “Simultaneously, the flight lead failed to assume visual and flight path deconfliction contributed to the pilots’ inability to realize the danger in time to take effective evasive action.” Both planes were with the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Squadron in Tulsa. They flew that day at 2:03 p.m. for a training mission in which the two aircraft were supposed to work in tandem against a third fighter that was playing the role of an enemy aircraft. They traveled more than 90 miles northwest to airspace over Kansas known as the Eureka Military Operating Area, where they could work on their maneuvers. It is shown on this Defense Department map: The Eureka Military Operating Area, shown here on a Defense Department map, is in southeast Kansas. (Defense Department) The first simulated engagement ended without incident. In the second one, however, the pilots, flying in tandem, crashed into each other while attempting to take out the third plane. Their flight paths are depicted in an investigation report released by the Air Force: Flight path before collision Flight path during collision The pilot of the second plane, which ultimately landed with part of its wing missing, last saw the other jet flying in tandem 16 seconds before impact, at 2:21 p.m., the Air Force found. He took a hard left turn in an attempt to chase the enemy aircraft, but the lead pilot “misperceived it as a right turn, away from him, and accordingly focused on simulating a kill” on the third plane, the investigation said. The two right wings of the jets collided, the Air Force found. A missile on the right wingtip of the second plane and five feet of its wing hit the other jet’s “wing root,” the part closest to the fuselage, and then collided with its back right tail fin. The pilot of the doomed jet later told investigators that his memories immediately after impact are foggy, but he ejected when the wingman who had just collided with his plane called for it. The jet went down moments later: The crash site of an F-16C fighter jet in Moline, Kan., on Oct. 20, 2014. (U.S. Air Force) The crash site of an F-16C fighter jet in Moline, Kan., on Oct. 20, 2014. (U.S. Air Force) (U.S. Air Force) The pilot ejected at an altitude of about 7,500 feet, and his seat landed about 60 feet from the plane, indicating that there was little or no forward airspeed when he ejected, the Air Force found. He suffered an ankle sprain and a stiff neck and upper back. The other pilot, now with part of his wing missing, got help from another fighter pilot in the area to visually inspect the damaged plane from the outside. They determined that it would be possible to fly south to Tulsa.

It was an absolutely obliterating performance from Inter Milan against Chievo. Every single player seemed to mesh so well together and play with each of their individual strengths. It’s really nice to see how Luciano Spalletti has changed the mentality of this team from last season, and it shows on the pitch. The Nerazzurri sit one point ahead of Napoli in the Serie A standings. Let’s find out which players contributed to Inter’s dominant performance against Chievo. It was the first game back for Handanovic ever since inking his new deal that keeps him with Inter for the next three-and-a-half years. The 33-year-old wasn’t that busy in this one. Made 7 saves including a blistering shot from outside the box by Valter Birsa. Of course, Handanovic earned his first clean sheet since the renewal in this fixture. D’Ambrosio, along with several other players, kept Chievo on their toes for the whole match. The Italian made 4 interceptions, 2 tackles and 4 key passes in the match. He didn’t manage to get on the stat sheet, but he did play his part in helping Inter progress to the win. Ranocchia slotted in for Miranda who was serving his one-match ban. Admittedly, Ranocchia looked really good at the back for Inter; likely better than Miranda would have done. 2 tackles and 5 clearances with 4 shots is not a bad way to get yourself in the starting lineup on a regular basis. Milan Skriniar - 8.5 The genius defender again showed his value to all the fans at San Siro. The Slovak had 2 tackles and 3 interceptions today. Antonio Candreva raced down the wing and sent a cross towards Skriniar that was calmly headed home by the 22-year-old for his third of the year. Davide Santon - 8 Santon is really making his case above Dalbert and Yuto Nagatomo. 4 interceptions and he had a solid 94 percent pass success rate that was good for second on the squad in this one. Joao Mario - 7.5 Mario was one of the many players that was ripping shots on Chievo like it was a field day. The native of Portugal let 5 shots go towards goal, but only 1 managed to be on target. Regardless, Mario is doing well in the midfield which has lately been one of the underlying keys for Internazionale’s success. Borja Valero - 8 Very solid from Valero in this one. Valero was very key in the passing department, amassing 5 key passes and a team-leading 98 percent pass success rate. Antonio Candreva - 9 What else can you say about Candreva? The man made it his mission to improve on his crossing, and it’s only worked out for the best for both himself and Inter Milan. He had a team-leading 18 crosses today. Candreva landed 5 crosses that were considered dangerous. Marcelo Brozovic - 9 Pretty much the exact same as Candreva from Brozovic in this one. Those two are absolutely sublime when feeding both Mauro Icardi and Ivan Perisic in the middle. Brozovic earned an assist against Chievo. Ivan Perisic - 10 He didn’t just bag a hat trick, the way he did it was even more impressive. Each goal represented the perfect play from Perisic that has been shown all season long. Flying down the wing with blistering pace, being in the proper positions, and always trying to get the ball towards goal. The combination of Perisic and Icardi in the attack is surely the most feared in the Serie A, and may be one of the most feared in Europe. Icardi collected his ninth goal in his last ten matches with an amazing strike from down the wing. Oppositions always have to put one or two players on Icardi for the entirety of the contest, which gives other players the chance to roam free. Yet, Icardi still finds a way to make an impact on the game. Substitutes: Dalbert - 6.5 It was a little hard for Dalbert to go on and make an impact after Santon had been doing so well. The Brazilian did make a tackle in the short amount of playing time he was given. Yann Karamoh - 6.5 Karamoh almost scored his first goal with the club in the 88th minute, but his shot went just wide. Expect much more from the young Frenchman in the future. Eder - 6 Spalletti did bring Eder on with at least 15 minutes to go, but the striker couldn’t make anything of the time he was given. Do you agree with the player ratings? Let us know in the comments below.

Ever wanted to hop on a Harley-Davidson Iron 883 motorcycle and weave through gridlocked Manhattan streets? How about hitting the expanse of historic Route 66 while feeling your tires on the asphalt and the wind against your skin? Turns out you can—at least virtually. Those scenarios are just two of the many available to players of the upcoming Ubisoft video game The Crew 2, an open-road racing adventure set to debut in March 2018. The game is one of the unconventional ways that Harley-Davidson, a 114-year-old legacy brand, is reaching out to millennials and women as it looks to broaden its consumer base beyond its core baby boomers. The Crew 2 is “gender agnostic,” and like its hit predecessor, The Crew—which has amassed 12 million players—is expected to appeal to young male and female gamers and potentially anyone with a passion for motor sports, said Stephane Jankowski, producer at Ubisoft’s Ivory Tower Studio, which created the franchise. “We used a lot of feedback from the community in developing the new game,” Jankowski said. “We’ve taken a sandbox approach where players can create their own stories and ask themselves, ‘What do I want to do today?’” That tactic could help expand the global player pool for Ubisoft and increase the exposure and age range for Harley, which plans to integrate more models into the game’s upgrades next year. And since the franchise earned a PG-13 rating for its first installment, on par with Disney’s live-action flicks, it provides a kid-friendly antidote to the hyper-violent Grand Theft Autos of the world. (The Crew 2 hasn’t been rated yet.) Many children, by the time they’re 8 or 9 years old, have had “a motorcycle moment,” according to Harley’s research, meaning that they’ve been exposed to riding through someone they know or via a piece of pop culture and want to experience it for themselves, said Heather Malenshek, the brand’s vp, global marketing. “This is a no-risk environment for them to try out riding and have fun with it,” she said of The Crew 2, which offers a realistic virtual jaunt with no road rash. “And it links to our long-term goals of planting the seed with kids and young adults who can become the next generation of riders.” "We’ve taken a sandbox approach where players can create their own stories." Stephane Jankowski, producer at Ubisoft’s Ivory Tower Studio, which created The Crew franchise. The game is a solid marketing match for Harley because it allows for customization and embraces a “thrill-seeking, adventure-loving” psychographic looking for “freedom on two wheels,” execs said. Developers completely remodeled the U.S. cities and highways in The Crew 2 which, for the first time, lets players switch from road vehicles like Harleys, Ferraris and Porsches to boats and planes to amp up the stakes and challenge gamers’ skills. This isn’t the iconic brand’s first link to video games, having embedded its motorcycles in Atari’s Test Drive Unlimited 2 and Sega’s King of the Road. Two Harley-branded games of its own, Race Around the World and Race Across America, came from Wizard Works. In another millennial-skewing move, Harley also re-signed a deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship last year. The partnership, which began in 2007, includes viewing parties at local dealerships, “UFC Fight for the Troops” events on U.S. military bases and hiring MMA talent like Cain Velasquez and Paige VanZant as spokespeople for the brand. Much of Harley’s recent outreach has happened on digital and mobile, with live video and branded content, contributing to a 6 percent sales bump between 2010 and 2016 among young demos, women, Latinos and African Americans, accounting for 40 percent of the company’s U.S. sales, execs said. Digging in further, Harley recently rolled out its 2018 model year products with a group of social influencers, including actor Jason Momoa, who posted a hero shot on Instagram.

Yesterday the EU imposed temporary tariffs on US biodiesel because subsidies over there distort trade - but that shouldn't be the only reason to stop the biofuels juggernaut Is there any trade crazier than the liquid biofuel business? Apart from a handful of cars and vans running on used chip fat, it exists only because of government rules and subsidies. So what social benefits do these buy? !ADVERTISEMENT! Biofuels are supposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. They do the opposite. Almost all of them produce more greenhouse gases than petrol (gasoline) or diesel, for two reasons: • emissions of nitrous oxide (a very powerful greenhouse gas) caused by the application of nitrogen fertilisers • the destruction of grassland, wetland and forest caused by the expansion of agriculture stimulated by this new market (see this study on the biofuel carbon debt and this one on biofuels increasing greenhouse gases Biofuels - especially biodiesel made from palm oil - also cause other kinds of environmental havoc. They are now among the major drivers of deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia, wrecking tens of millions of hectares of primary forest and driving orang-utans and other wildlife towards extinction Article Continues: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2009/mar/04/travel-and-transport-biofuels

Scientists Study 'Plumbing' in Plumes of Enceladus Media contact: Carolina Martinez/JPL 818-354-9382 Scientists on the Cassini mission have become out-of-this world "plumbers" as they try to piece together what's happening inside the "pipes" feeding the plumes of Saturn's moon Enceladus.Enceladus is jetting out giant geysers three times the size of the moon, and now scientists are beginning to understand how the ice grains are created and how they might have formed. Knowing the process of how the plume forms and the path the water-ice particles have to travel is giving them an insight into what may be a liquid reservoir or lake lying just beneath the surface."Since Cassini discovered the water vapor geysers, we've all wondered where this water vapor and ice are coming from. Is it from an underground water reservoir or are there some other processes at work? Now, after looking at data from multiple instruments, we can say there probably is water beneath the surface of Enceladus," said Juergen Schmidt, team member on Cassini's Cosmic Dust Analyzer at the University of Potsdam, Germany. This study appears in the Feb. 7, 2008, issue of the journal Nature.The large number of ice particles observed spewing from the geysers and the steady rate at which these particles are produced require high temperatures, close to the melting point of ice, possibly resulting in an internal lake. The lake would be similar to Earth's Lake Vostok, beneath Antarctica, where liquid water exists locked in ice. The ice grains then condense in the vapor evaporating from the water, streaming through cracks in the ice crust to the surface.The presence of liquid water inside Enceladus would have major implications for future astrobiology studies on the possibility of life on bodies in the outer solar system.Scientists have studied the plume dynamics since 2005, collecting data from several Cassini remote sensing instruments and those that sample particles directly, like the Cosmic Dust Analyzer. They conclude that an internal lake at a temperature of about 273 Kelvin (32 degrees Fahrenheit) is the best way to account for the material jetting out of the geysers.At these warm temperatures, liquid water, ice and water vapor mingle. The vapor escapes to the vacuum of space through cracks in Enceladus' ice crust. When the gas expands, it cools and the ice grains that make up the visible part of the plumes condense from the vapor. Vapor in the plumes is clocked at roughly the same speed as a supersonic jet, about 300 to 500 meters per second, or about 650 to 1,100 miles per hour. However, most of the condensed ice particles fail to reach Enceladus' escape velocity of 240 meters per second (536 miles per hour).Pinball-like physics account for the slow speed of the particles. Shooting up through crooked cracks in the ice, the particles ricochet off the walls, losing speed, while the water vapor moves unimpeded up the crevasse. The vapor reboosts the frozen particles as they pinball off the walls, carrying them upward. Reaching nozzle-like openings at the surface, the faster-moving water vapor shoots high above Enceladus, becoming entrapped in Saturn's magnetosphere. Most of the particles, which have lost energy through collisions in transit, fail to achieve escape velocity and fall back to Enceladus' surface. Only about 10 percent escape Enceladus and form Saturn's E-ring."Our model provides a simple concept to understand how particles form, their speed and how they behave as they make their way out into space. If vapor temperature is too low, then the gas density is too small to push the grains out and we would not see such large amounts of particles," said Schmidt. "Therefore, we believe that at the site of evaporation, we must have temperatures near the melting point of water."Scientists say that particles seen in the plumes are too numerous to have started from processes described in one existing model that requires low temperatures, proposing that gases may be trapped inside ice crystals. Another model suggests that water ice, suddenly exposed to the vacuum of space, sublimes, or boils, directly into vapor without liquefying first. But this would mean there are short bursts of activity, rather than the steady production of particles. The new model of grains condensing in a vent that evaporates from a liquid body is consistent with a steady production of particles, ejected from a localized source.This research provides fundamental knowledge about solar system bodies, in particular those that, like our home planet, are homes to oceans - environments where life might evolve.The next Enceladus flyby is in March 2008. The spacecraft closest approach will be at a mere 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the surface and the altitude will increase to about 200 kilometers (124 miles) as the spacecraft passes through the plumes. Cassini will sample the plumes directly and find out more about their makeup.More information on the Cassini-Huygens mission is available at: http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and http://www.nasa.gov/cassini The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter.

Electric skateboards have been popping up over the years, and after pushing hard on my human-powered deck over rough terrain for 30 minutes to get to the meeting, I can see their allure. Of course, not having skated for about six years will set alight all kinds of soreness, but that's part of the fun. Unlike most electric boards, the LEIF isn't just about making it easier to go from point A to point B. Its freeboard design is all about cruising, carving and enjoying drifts far longer than you can maintain on a normal skateboard. For the uninitiated, a freeboard is essentially a skateboard with a "Rollerblade" type skate wheel mounted on a spinning caster along the inside of each truck. These inner wheels are raised slightly beyond the height of the outer four, allowing you to "float" at sideways angles, similar to carving through the snow on a snowboard. The outer wheels act as edges, providing traction to slow down or grip the road when turning. After a full day of testing one of the first prototypes, Aders found that the LEIF wasn't that far off from its wintry counterpart. Not having ridden a snowboard for a while, he said that the LEIF elicited aches and soreness in all the same places that he'd experienced after a day on the slopes. The real magic of the LEIF design lies in its tandem 360-degree, rotatable, power caster wheels driven by 18 nano-phosphate lithium-ion batteries (LiFePO4) -- nine for each motor. The battery pack is housed in a 3D-printed shell on top of the deck and sends juice to the two 2,000W brushless motors underneath, providing about 5.5HP and propelling the board at speeds of up to 20MPH. The current design for the casters delivers electricity to three concentric rings of copper through three conductive pads that press against them like needles in a record groove, allowing for its full 360-degree range of spin. The final design aims to use bearings for the rotation, as well as conducting the electrical current to the motors. Speed is controlled through a single hand-held 2.4GHz radio remote, which Aders found to be more reliable and resilient in the field than IR and had less competing noise than Bluetooth (at least in the city). After jumping on the board for a test ride, it only took a minute or two to figure out the right amount of pressure for the throttle and holding the control was less of a bother than you might think. To slow down, you simply let off the throttle and use the wheels as traction to reduce speed or spin to a stop. The setup is currently a Freebord brand deck, trucks and wheels, and falls somewhere between a regular skateboard and a longboard in length. And with all the motors and batteries on board, it weighs in at a respectable 15 pounds, although it's hardly noticeable while riding since it's motorized. Snowboarders and skateboarders should have no trouble getting comfortable on it, although skaters may need a moment to get used to the idea of foot clips. If you lose your balance and need to bail, though, it's easy enough to jump out of them without getting hung up. As for battery life, the LEIF's rechargeable system lasts for about eight miles of riding -- depending on the terrain. The battery pack can be replenished through a standard wall outlet -- although LEIF is considering solar as a possible alternative -- and takes only about one hour to get the battery up to 100 percent. That's more than enough juice for a local commute or a decent day's session out on the streets. You can get in on a Kickstarter Early Bird deal starting at $1,299 for one of the first production run LEIF boards -- at least until the campaign ends on August 31st. That price puts it on par with other electric boards when you consider the feature set, range and power. So, whether you're a snowboarder, skater, surfer or a Segway user who's looking for a bit more style, the LEIF should probably be on your radar. Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

Cyber security continues to infiltrate our daily news feeds and make headlines on a regular basis. It’s touched our most iconic companies such as Apple and it has risen to the forefront of our government’s attention on several occasions. One thing is clear amid all these developments: companies see the need to protect themselves an utmost priority and yet, the way to accomplish that remains complex and confusing to many. As part of our Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) Leadership Salon series, I hosted a panel of cybersecurity entrepreneurs who have spent years working for the government before starting their own companies. They all have a perspective on these trends affecting both the private sector and the public sector. The panelists included Oren Falkowitz, CEO and founder of Area 1 Security; Nathaniel Fick, CEO and founder of Endgame; Jay Kaplan, CEO and founder of Synack. They offered their thoughts on how customers should think about their own security, the talent war and the challenges of fighting nation states which are looking to do harm. Below are some excerpts of our discussion in the most recent Ventured Podcast. The Talent Gap in Cyber There are simply not enough information security professionals to defend the number of companies trying to defend themselves, which was part of the reason Jay Kaplan created Synack. Even with the growing number of security products, companies need people in their organizations who understand both the data and the vulnerabilities, and ultimately know how to fix them. The talent gap won’t be solved until a new workforce is educated or the current information security workforce is better educated. However, it’s important not to make cyber too “vocational” because companies need to attract a wide variety of professional skillsets to the security field. Both Oren Falkowitz and Nate Fick agree that diversity breeds innovation and that solving something as complex as cybersecurity only will benefit from people with different perspectives and backgrounds working on the problem. Complexity is the Enemy of Security Security nowadays is ever changing and complicated. It is omnipresent in the news – from the FBI attempt to force Apple to create a “backdoor” for the iPhone to the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital payment to regain computer system control from hackers. It’s hard for customers to keep up with all the latest developments. And, customers are experiencing real vendor fatigue: a corporation or agency might use up to 300 products. That type of complexity creates an obstacle to effective security, said Nate Fick, as he believes the industry will ultimately require better integration or consolidation of products and solutions. Good Defense Requires Thinking like the Adversary Unlike other industries, competition in the security industry is not comprised of just businesses competing with each other. Security companies compete with living, breathing human beings on the other side of the connection who are trying to do harm to those companies or their customers. Many of these nation states have nearly unlimited computing power and human resources. So customers and security companies need to think like the adversary and take a proactive posture. More and more, we need to be taking the fight to the attackers. Oren Falkowitz says, “The way to be preventative is to find the attackers where they are and not wait for them to attack.” Nate Fick added, “We can do as much damage to the adversary with good defense as good offense.” The M&M analogy Like the M&M candy, an old way of thinking in security was to focus on just the perimeter– have an enterprise network that was hard on the outside but soft on the inside. However, given today’s demands of customers who want their data anywhere, anytime on any device, it’s impossible to ensure a protective bubble around your network. Attackers have a huge advantage: it just takes one vulnerability– such as an employee who responds to a phishing email — to penetrate the inside of an entire enterprise network. “Everything about these [cyber] attacks are generic, but our response is more hyperbolic,” said Oren Falkowitz. The Cloud: Advantage or disadvantage to security practitioners? Cloud computing can be a huge benefit to cyber security. By entrusting their overarching infrastructure or computing to a cloud-based company, customers are putting the onus on an organization that is “so much more capable and has so many more security resources than you do as a small company or even a large enterprise,” Jay Kaplan said. In addition, there’s a “neighborhood watch effect” as cloud migration helps make it easier to share threat data and move quickly when it comes to cybersecurity matters, Nate Fick pointed out. Encryption backdoor: As good an idea as jean shorts The idea of creating an encryption backdoor is as good an idea as jean shorts, says Oren Falkowitz, which is to say “not a good idea.” Jay Kaplan and Oren Falkowitz agree that technically speaking, creating a back door for the government creates another vulnerability for attackers to also take advantage of. “As soon as you open up one hole, it’s game over at some point and you might not even know that that someone found out about it or figured it out,” Jay Kaplan said. Ultimately whatever rights and protections are afforded the government need to be given to individuals as well. “All of us [in the private and public sectors should] benefit from secure and private communications,” Oren Falkowitz said.

Sanders told his audience that he was 'in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination' It took nearly two hours for the race to be called for the Vermont senator, who claimed victory almost Bernie Sanders told an audience in Salem, Oregon he was in it to win it after besting his rival, Hillary Clinton, in the West Virginia primary. 'Let me be as clear as I can be,' he told the crowd. 'We are in this campaign to win the Democratic nomination.' 'Now we will fully acknowledge – we are good at arithmetic – that we have an uphill climb ahead of us, but we are used to fighting uphill climbs,' Sanders said of the increasingly difficult delegate math. As soon as West Virginia's polls closed, Sanders seized on an NBC News projection that said he'd won the state and sent out a celebratory email to his supporters. It took another two hours, however, for the other networks to rubber stamp the results, calling the race for the underdog who was widely predicted to win the only Democratic race. With 95 per cent of the vote in, Sanders won comfortably, 51 per cent to 36 per cent. Sanders had moved his campaign to next week's Oregon battleground, where he touted his West Virginia victory by boasting that Clinton had won the Appalachian state by 40 points back in 2008. 'I think it will be a double-digit victory,' he told the screaming crowd. By the time 80 percent was in, Sanders was up by 15 points. Scroll down for video Sen. Bernie Sanders celebrated his West Virginia victory by vowing to stay in the race against Hillary Clinton and promising that Donald Trump would be beat in the fall Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later. The Democratic candidate gave his West Virginia victory speech in Salem, Oregon - where voters head to the polls next week - and vowed to press on, while attacking Donald Trump The Vermont senator went through his usual routine of bringing up general election polls, where he performs better than Clinton against the Republicans' presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. Trump, he told his supporters, is one area where he and Clinton definitely agree. 'We must defeat Donald Trump,' he proclaimed. Sanders then turned his ire to the billionaire, who Clinton has also spent most of her time taking shots at as well. 'Now Donald Trump is not going to become president for a number of reasons,' Sanders began. 'And the major reason is the American people understand that we cannot have a president who has insulted Latinos and Mexicans. Who has insulted Muslims. Who everyday has insulted women in one way or another. Who has insulted veterans like John McCain and others,' Sanders ticked off. Sanders admitted that his campaign still face an uphill battle, but was confident they could take it down to the wire against Hillary Sanders then mentioned how Trump had 'insulted African-Americans in a very profound way.' 'People sometimes forget that before Mr. Trump was running for president he was one of the leaders of the so-called "birther" movement,' Sanders said. 'And that movement was a very ugly effort to de-legitimize the presidency of the first African-American president in our history,' Sanders noted. Trump, Sanders echoed, will not be president because 'because the American people understand that our strength is in our diversity.' 'That we are a great nation because we are black and white and Latino and Asian-American and native American,' Sanders said. 'We are a great nation because we are gay and we are straight,' he continued. 'We are a great nation because we are women and men,' he went on. Hillary Clinton (pictured on Tuesday) was beaten in West Virginia, after putting her foot in her mouth in March and insulting coal miners She is still ahead in the delegate count, but will need victories in the remaining states to cement her position ahead of the convention One third of Democratic voters in West Virginia are threatening to vote across the aisle during the general election if Hillary Clinton is their party's nominee And using the billionaire's name similarity to how Clinton's has said, 'love trumps hate,' Sanders finger-wagged the Republican once again. 'And the American people understand that bringing us together always trumps dividing us up,' he said. Exit polling had favored the underdog candidate in the state where Clinton had to apologize last week for putting her foot in her mouth while talking about the coal industry earlier in the race. Three in 10 West Virginians said they lived in a house with a coal miner. And nine in 10 voters were white. The stats bode well for Sanders, whose message has resonated with white, working class voters. While not much opinion polling had been conducted in the Appalachian State before today, the Real Clear Politics average put Sanders ahead by six points over his Democratic rival, which suggests an easy win tonight. The state's open primary set up that allows independents to vote also helped Sanders. A third of West Virginians who cast ballots in the Democratic primary today put themselves in that category, according to ABC News' exit polling numbers. In a twist from previous evenings, it was Clinton who spoke first tonight, holding a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Slugger Hall of Fame that ended before polls closed throughout the state. She took a single shot at Sanders, over the differences they have regarding their college tuition plans, and spent much of the rest of her time sticking it to Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Former coal miner Bo Copley's (left) confrontation with Hillary Clinton (right) made national news when he asked her how she could say that she wanted to put 'coal miners and coal companies out of business' This election has the 'highest stakes than we've seen in a long time' with Trump on the GOP ticket, she told her audience, which howled in turn at the mention of the real estate mogul who has become Democrats' version of the boogeyman. 'That's why it's important we have a big vote next Tuesday,' Clinton said, referring to the state's upcoming primary election, 'because we've gotta keep winning to go all the way to November to win the general election.' Exit polling suggests Clinton may have a problem there. A third of voters in West Virginia who cast a Democratic ballot today said they'd rather see Trump as president than Clinton. Roughly the same number said they'd back Trump over Sanders. He was set to speak on the West Coast at rally kicking off at 10 pm Eastern, hours after the race was supposed to be called for him in West Virginia. The U.S. senator lags Clinton in votes nationally, and has little chance of beating her out for the nomination, but he's set to outperform her in this month's contests, including the one in West Virginia today. Clinton's downward spiral in the coal-fired state dates back to March, when she talked up renewable energy while proclaiming that she would 'put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.' That didn't sit well with many West Virginians, where coal mining is still one of the most significant trades in the state. Last Monday, she met Bo Copley, a former coal company employee, who held her feet to the fire at a roundtable discussion that candidate was hosting over the comments she had made. 'How you can say you are going to put a lot of coal miners out of jobs and then come in here and tell us how you are going to be our friends?' Copley asked the likely Democratic nominee, according to CNN. Answering an emotional Copley, Clinton classified her remarks as a 'misstatement.' 'I don't know how to explain it other then what I said was totally out of context for what I mean because I have been talking about helping coal country for a very long time,' Clinton replied. The candidate has suggested 'revitalizing' coal country by using $30 billion to retrain former miners. The investment would also protect miners' health and pension benefits, as companies go out of business. She's also said she will invest in clean coal technology. 'It was a misstatement because what I was saying is the way things are going now, they will continue to lose jobs,' Clinton continued. 'It didn't mean that we are going to do it,' she added. 'What I said is that is going to happen unless we take action to help and prevent it.' She also said in West Virginia that day that she was advised to skip over the state and head straight to California, the biggest delegate prize left on the board, where voters don't head to the polls until June 7. But, she said, 'I still want to compete in West Virginia.' 'I'm here because I want you to know whether people vote for me or not, whether they yell at me or not, it's not going to affect what I can do to help, because I feel like that's a moral obligation,' Clinton said. But then, seeing the writing on the wall, Clinton headed off to California, a state she does need to win to finish off Sanders. Meanwhile, two weeks ago when Sanders was slapped with losses out of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut, which made his road to the nomination nearly impassable, he was already working a crowd in the college town of Huntington, West Virginia, home of Marshall University. While Sanders, like Clinton, has talked openly about getting the country away from fossil fuels, his economic message of fairness resonated with West Virginia's white working class voters. 'It is not the coal miners' fault in terms of what's happening in this world,' Sanders said last Thursday during a visit to the state, according to the New York Times. Sanders has pledged even more money – $41 billion – to turn West Virginia, and the rest of coal country, around. 'We have a moral responsibility to help working families in the fossil fuel industry find new jobs,' Sanders said when the plan was released in December.

We all know that white privilege is a real thing. Caucasians tend to take certain intrinsic, institutional advantages they have for granted, such as having a dad in the picture, growing up in a civilized neighborhood, going to a private school, or even just being able to drive to the natural foods store late at night for some organic Rice Milk without being pulled over by the boys in blue. As a privileged white person, if you do happen to get stopped by the police for having a tail light out or something, you’re more likely to be let off with a wink and a warning rather than get your ass kicked and have some drugs planted on you like an oppressed black person would. You can even browse the local antique store and casually admire their collection of Ellsworth Kelly signed lithographs without some busybody shopkeeper following you around giving you the evil eye like you’re about to pocket a handful of Morgan dollars or something. Having said all that, being white isn’t always all it’s “crackered” up to be, and sometimes blackness comes with its own societal fringe benefits. Here are some neat perks you get with your Black Privilege card: – The magical ability to set people on fire as well as completely demolish your own communities and still manage to blame the whole ordeal on systemic racism (and have prominent race hustlers and guilty white ethnomasochists make excuses for your behavior on the basis of ancestral injustices!) Some of the more stubbornly self hating, social justice warrior whites will continue to apologize and wonder what they wrongly did to provoke you even if they are the actual victim of your attack. Those that believe liberals can still be mugged by reality might be underestimating the extent cultural marxism has infiltrated the critical thought processes of status whoring millennials. – A potential employer will be reluctant to deny you the job for fear that he might be sued for discrimination, even if you’re not the most qualified candidate. If a white male threatened to sue for discrimination, and the evidence was in his favor he would still most likely be laughed out of town with taunts like “Bahaha! Sue me for discrimination? You can’t be serious. You’re so oppressed haha, good one!” Of course, as an African-American, once you do get hired the threat of a discrimination lawsuit will make them hesitant to fire you, regardless of how well you perform the job. Nothing to worry about at, really, since big corporations value the positive PR that being able to show how diverse they are brings them so much, that they will be salivating at the opportunity to hire any halfway intelligent, well socialized black person. – The ability to be loud and obnoxious on the bus without having to worry that someone will tell you to sit down and shut up because they will be terrified you might attack them if they say anything or even “look at you crazy.” This also applies to other public places, like movie theaters. As a bonus, some young white people will find your outspoken and aggressive behavior entertaining and charismatic, and they may even try to mimic it when they’re with their friends. – If you are part of a mob riot or even commit a horrific crime, it probably won’t become a national news story. If it does though, no worries as the news article most likely won’t mention what race was involved and instead will just report that the perpetrators were “teens” or “youths.” If some white privileged citizen journalist posts in the comments section that the attacker’s name was “D’Marquis” or something and discovers it was yet another black crime, that person will be shamed as a hateful racist by mobs of social justice warriors for having the audacity to notice the race of the criminal. – If you get into a confrontation with police, even if you end up being killed or severely injured (and regardless of the facts or circumstances) you will be celebrated as a hero in the black community, as well as in high status, white ethnomasochist social circles. People will march, riot, and commit random revenge killings against innocent people, all in your honor. No matter what the truth about your character, you will be henceforth be referred to euphemistically as a “gentle giant” or “aspiring college student.” If you look too thuggish or gangster in your most recent photos, the media will use cute ones from your 10th birthday party instead which will be guaranteed to tear at the heartstrings. You will even get your own Wikipedia entry edited from an SJW point of view.. – As an athlete, you can sound completely illiterate in a post game interview with a sports reporter, and if anyone dares to call you out on how inarticulate you are or they make some ignorant comment like “how in the world did this guy make it through college?” that person will be publicly shamed in the media and be branded a bigot for life. Most likely though, the young, starstruck, cultural marxism indoctrinated white female (or male) sportscaster will just want to be “down with you” and will be so excited about how “animated” and “passionate” your delivery is, they will completely overlook the fact that they couldn’t understand a word you said. No anti-racist would expect anything more out of you or think of you as capable enough of a human being to be held to the same standards as other races, as that would be offensive. This a just a sampling of the dividends that having black privilege card can yield, but of course there are many more, like a woman just automatically assuming you have a large member, without you ever even having to whip it out or snapchat it to her. Unfortunately for white ethnomasochists, you will never be able to get a black privilege card. No matter how many times you read “To Kill A Mockingbird,” no matter much you apologize for slavery and Jim Crow, no matter how many “Justice for Trayvon” rallies you attend, or how many people you get fired from their jobs for having a politically incorrect opinion or making a racist joke, or how often you excuse their violent behavior in situations like the L.A. riots (or everyday for that matter,) most blacks will never see you as one of them. They may even get annoyed at your attempts to pander to them or act like you can identify with their experience. In the end they will respect you more if you flaunt your privilege, embrace your heritage and respect them for theirs. Advertisements

By Ryan De Freitas For a while, it wasn’t clear whether or not Tigers Jaw would still be a band today. In 2013, with studio time booked for the Philadelphia indie-rockers’ fourth LP Charmer, three of the band’s five members told Ben Walsh and Brianna Collins that they would be leaving Tigers Jaw. Those members, Pat Briar (drums), Dennis Mishko (Bass) and founding member Adam Mcilwee (guitar, vocals) would stick around to finish the record, but would depart thereafter. The future of Tigers Jaw seemed uncertain as the band released a statement saying that the tour they were about to embark on was “likely to be the last for the foreseeable future” and rumours were rife from fans, press and promoters alike that this was the end of the band. Four years removed from that, and with new record spin (stylised in lower-case) out this month, it’s clear that reports of Tigers Jaw’s death were greatly exaggerated. “We maybe should have worded it differently at the time,” Walsh admits. “Honestly, we decided right away that we were going to carry on. The night the guys said they wanted to move on from the band, Brianna and I were talking about how we were just finally ready to make the push toward being a full time band and that we shouldn’t quit. We never had the intention of stopping, there was just a miscommunication publicly.” But deciding to carry on wasn’t even half of the battle. Prior to his departure, McIlwee was considered the lead vocalist for Tigers Jaw and – along with Walsh – the band’s primary songwriter. That meant that there was now a huge gap to fill in the band, creatively; something that didn’t come entirely easily. “In the back of my mind,” Walsh says, “I had to figure out how to generate more songs, which was pretty daunting. After setting a goal for myself to write ten songs that I was truly proud of, I started writing on January 1st of last year and in that first month I finished five songs. But after that I hit a wall and was sorta stuck.” Soon after, Tigers Jaw were to go on tour with Basement in Europe, before Walsh and Collins then went on to play in the touring band for Petal (the project of fellow Philly musician Kiley Lotz on whose debut full-length Shame the two members had also contributed in the studio). That time would provide the space away from Tigers Jaw that Walsh needed to get the creative cogs turning once more. In addition, Collins was also ready to step up and contribute on a larger scale that she ever had before. “During the Charmer process,” Walsh reveals, “I purposely left some empty space in the song ‘Hum’ for her to write some lyrics, so she ended up writing one of the verses. We decided that she should sing the lead parts too, and that ended up being my favourite song on that record. It showed us that we can utilise this other side of Tigers Jaw, so it was just the natural thing for her to then assume a role as another primary songwriter. “She had never really written full songs before then, so I was really excited to see what she was going to come up with.” A couple of weeks before heading into the studio, Walsh hit his tenth song (“I probably didn’t need ten in the end,” he says, “but it was a nice little personal victory”), which, along with Collins’ contributions, gave them the foundation for what would become spin. *** Speaking today from his apartment in the artist-haven neighbourhood of Fishtown, Philadelphia, Ben Walsh is aware that Tigers Jaw are entering a new era with this album. Not only is spin the band’s first record recorded in their current lineup, it’s also the first they’ll be releasing on Black Cement Records; a Warner subsidiary curated by emo, indie and punk superproducer Will Yip (who, incidentally, also produced Charmer). After spending the best part of a decade on independent label Run For Cover – on which the band were a flagship act – it’s understandable that there was an element of hesitancy in the decision. “We loved working with RFC and it was amazing to watch them grow,” Walsh says. “But it felt like we had a very complete run on that label and so it was a good time to branch out. We weren’t shopping around exactly, but when we found out that Will was maybe working on what would become Black Cement, that was interesting. “At first it totally seemed like a long shot. It took a lot of meetings and a lot of convincing to get him on board with the label. At face value, it was a major label swooping in and trying to do something that, to me at the time, it felt like they had no business doing. But as time went on we learned a lot more about them and saw that the people from the label have an immense level of respect for the world of music we exist in. They saw a lot of potential in it and had a lot of admiration for it and so they wanted to get involved in it.” Yip’s involvement still wasn’t enough to seal the deal, however. When a band grows up playing in basements, the inherent ‘DIY or die’ mentality is a hard one to shake – to this day, Walsh takes care of all ‘managerial’ duties for Tigers Jaw. “This couldn’t be grunge in the late 90s,” Walsh says of his initial concerns. “We couldn’t get involved in any crazy, restrictive contracts. But that’s not what they wanted. The label is run by real people who genuinely like all of the same music I like and who grew up in the same scene as I did. It’s a major, but it’s a very small and focused team who sat back and researched our scene for years before making a move. It feels a lot like being at an indie label still, just with the resources of a major label. I understand skepticism, because I had a lot of it myself, but Black Cement feels like a label being created for our world.” And as press release-friendly as that may sound, the actions of the label back it up entirely. If it hadn’t been publicised, there’d be no reason to think that spin was being released any differently to any other record in Tigers Jaw’s back catalogue. The band have still had ultimate say in any and all creative decisions: the artwork was hand painted by Collins (“I didn’t even know she could paint!” says Walsh. “But she did a phenomenal job”) who has handled almost all of TJ’s art; the band put out a zine that offers an intimate look into the making of the album; and, most importantly, the music still sounds as though it was made with the same heart and honesty that Tigers Jaw have become known for. “There was no label pressure whatsoever,” concludes Walsh. “We had everything recorded and mixed before signing to them and expected them to have a bunch of notes of things they wanted changed, but they loved it and didn’t ask us to alter anything. spin was written, recorded and mixed exactly the way we wanted it to be – which is testament to how much they trust us.” The result of all of that – the band finding themselves after losing key members, Collins growing into her new role as a songwriter, and being on a label that trusts them entirely – is the Tigers Jaw album that the band’s legacy deserves. And with major labels now taking an interest in their world (Basement and The Front Bottoms were signed to Atlantic’s Fueled By Ramen imprint prior to Black Cement’s existence), there’s no telling how far that legacy could go.

The men came under the cover of darkness. Armed with assault rifles, they grabbed Jonathan and whisked him away. He can't remember what happened next. He was, after all, once again high on crack. Jonathan, who looks 10, or maybe 12 years old, is a crack kid, one of hundreds of homeless drug addicted children living on the streets of Rio de Janeiro. His father, a dealer, was killed by a shot in the face when Jonathan was a small child. "Mom was also gone a short time later," he recalls. His voice sounds raw and dry, and he's missing his front teeth. Jonathan's territory used to include the Complexo do Borel, one of the sprawling city's most notorious slums, located just 20 minutes by bus from the world-famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. Until that summer night, at least, when he was whisked away by state security. Now the boy sits in the garden of a dilapidated countryside villa located two-hours by car from Rio. The tiles on the roof are full of holes, the plaster is crumbling off the walls and there are no doctors or therapists on site. Instead, there are bull-necked guards with walkie-talkies on their belts whose job is to prevent Jonathan and some 20 other young people from leaving the premises. The place is one of numerous homes to which Rio's government has shipped off those minors it considers to be a security hazard -- children who not only steal to survive but who perhaps wouldn't shy away from killing either. In the summer of 2014 Brazil will host soccer's premier international competition, the World Cup. Two years later Rio is staging the Olympic Games. Both events are seen as offering the country an historic opportunity to prove to the world that it has successfully managed the transition from a developing country to a major industrialized nation. Out of Sight Brazil is eager to ensure that nothing interferes with the image it is trying to convey. This spring, municipal authorities in Rio de Janeiro enacted a law that permitted the forcible removal of drug-addicted street children. How long crack kids such as Jonathan will be locked away remains unclear, as does the question as to who will care for them. All that matters is that they are out of sight. Although there are no reliable figures, about a third of Rio's 6 million inhabitants are believed to be living in its favelas, or slums. In the early 1980s, the city gave up trying to solve the misery in their poverty-stricken districts. As a result the ghettos became islands of violence in the heart of the city, ruled over by powerful drug gangs that shaped the lives -- and deaths -- of slum residents. But since Rio was chosen to host two of the decade's most important sporting events, it has been battling to win back control of its long-abandoned "problem zones" -- particularly those in the south and southeast of the city, where favelas border on areas where hundreds of thousands of tourists will gather for the World Cup and Summer Olympics. A new police task force has been created, the Unidade de Polícia Pacificadora (UPP), which since November 2008 has gradually begun moving into the most important slums with the aid of special forces and the military. They confiscate weapons, arrest drug bosses and set up a tightly-knit network of permanent checkpoints. The presence of the heavily-armed and omnipresent UPP officers is intended to send a clear message that the state is once again in control. So far Rio's authorities have taken back 19 of the city's largest slums. Most recently, 3,000 police officers and soldiers stormed into the Rocinha favela just over a week ago -- one of the most lawless of the shanty towns, in which as many as a quarter of a million people are believed to live. Gun Battles and 40 Deaths "Operation Peace Shock" began at 4 a.m. Armored vehicles were positioned at strategically important locations, heavily-armed special forces combed the steep alleyways, and the air was filled with the intimidating sound of the helicopters that were coordinating the operation from above. Rocinha was taken in a matter of hours -- allegedly without a single shot being fired. Not all raids have passed off this peacefully. When special forces attempted to wrest back control of the Complexo de Alemão last year, gun battles raged throughout the slum for days, killing more than 40 people. And when security forces stormed the Complexo do Borel in June last year, they met stiff armed resistance from a drug gang calling itself Comando Vermelho: the red commandos. The occupied favelas are now under the jurisdiction of Colonel Robson, the head of the UPP. Robson, 48, has been a policeman for the last 26 years. Operation Peace Shock was Robson's project and the entire country is now looking to him. Many think that the success of his mission will determine how the world judges the Brazilian society's ability to integrate and progress. On the other hand, though, the colonel's plans also strike at the very foundation of football in Brazil. After all, the "jogo bonito," -- the "beautiful game" -- has its roots in the favelas, and many of the country's best players grew up in the anarchic cosmos of Brazil's mega-cities. The question now his how much of that world will remain. "Powerlessness is the last thing Rio de Janeiro can afford two-and-a-half years before the World Cup," Robson says. It is 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, rain is falling and Colonel Robson is making his rounds. He's sitting in the passenger seat of a black limousine. The jacket of his uniform has three shiny stars on the shoulders. His cap is tilted carefully to one side. Oppressive Calm The car turns into a side street on the way to the only entrance into the Morro do Turano favela. The gate leading through the stone wall is known as a "boca," or mouth. Robson's men marched into the slum last year and now, an armored vehicle is parked at the corner by the gate. Inside are two uniformed police officers wearing bullet-proof vests. As they see their commanding officer's limousine with its tinted windows, they jump out of their car and salute. The limousine then passes through the boca. Just over a year ago, the drug bosses that controlled the slum would have opened fire on the colonel as he entered. Today it is calm. A narrow cobbled street twists and turns upward past a sea of huts clinging to the hillside. These ramshackle homes are made of stone, wood from crates, tin canisters and palm fronds, all propped up by wooden stilts. They look like they could plunge into the valley at any moment. The air is thick with the pungent smell of burning plastic; trash collection doesn't exist in the favelas. Few men are out on the streets, but a handful of women sit in front of their huts. The calm seems oppressive -- as if the people view the UP officers not as protectors but occupiers from whom they need to hide. Colonel Robson, who is divorced, has one daughter and is currently together with a policewoman, commands some 300 military policemen stationed in Morro do Turano. They are positioned at roughly 150-yard internals, submachine guns at the ready, night sticks hanging from their belts. The aim is to both prevent violence and provide favela inhabitants a sense of security. In the past, Robson says, the sporadic sorties into the ghettos by the police and army often left behind a trail of death and destruction. Now he hopes for a kind of rapprochement with slum residents. Tourists Lining Up for Crack The UPP even turns a blind eye to the drug dealers who push their wares in the back alleys behind the boca. After dark every evening, dozens of tourists and residents of the wealthier quarters of Rio stand in line to buy cocaine or crack -- all of whom, the people that Robson and his men are supposed to be protecting. The most successful dealers can earn the equivalent of €200,000 in a good month. Peterson is one of them. Just like every evening, he is standing in front of his stone hut, dancing from one leg to the other. Ever since Robson's UPP drove the former drug bosses out of the district, Peterson and a friend have controlled the market. A lookout is perched on the roof, where he can see the police officers "aimlessly standing around and staring at their cell phones." Peterson is 19. He says he's never gone beyond the walls of his favela. His life history is not atypical for the children in the ghettos: His father shot his mother dead when Peterson was two months old. Shortly thereafter, his father was killed in a reprisal attack. As a result, the skinny boy with short-cropped hair was raised by his grandmother. "We can't banish drugs from Rio," Robson says flatly. "Anyone who thinks we can is naive." His driver has reached the summit of the hill that the favela has gobbled up. At the top there is a blue-and-white painted container that may look like a Playmobil house, but is actually a UPP base. Robson takes off his cap and asks an officer for a cup of coffee. Robson is a much sought-after man. A few weeks ago, he presented his concept at a meeting in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires. In Berlin he was the guest speaker at the Heinrich Böll Foundation. He has given talks in Barcelona, Spain and in the Colombian capital Bogota. Everyone wants to know how the colonel plans to bring peace to the favelas and overcome the seemingly boundless rifts in Brazilian society. 'Public Good' In the Complexo do Borel favela there is a square called the Chácara do Céu: The villa facing the sky. Until a year-and-a-half ago, two rival gangs waged pitched battles at this spot. Nowhere else in the slum have more people lost their lives. Recently, children have begun coming to the square to play soccer. The air smells of rubber; artificial grass was recently laid; boys and girls are running circles around a police officer. The officer is wearing just a T-shirt, having taken off his bullet-proof vest and gun. He has just finished handing out shoes and jerseys to the kids, most of whom played barefoot up to now. A name is printed in small on the sleeves of the jerseys: Zico. The former Brazilian international, one of the greatest soccer stars the country ever produced, is sponsoring the project. "We want to reach the kids who aren't addicted to drugs yet," Robson explains. "Children who aren't a lost cause." However, there's no room in Robson's vision for crack kids like Jonathan. The UPP leader takes an unemotional view of Brazilian society, and has no problem defending the forced incarceration of minors "for the public good." Increasingly, however, the brutal actions of the security forces are meeting with opposition. Raquel Rolnik is a nationally well-known professor who teaches urban planning at Sao Paolo University and is a UN special rapporteur on adequate housing. She accuses the government of abusing basic rights with its resettlement projects. Former World Football Player of the Year Romario has also criticized the raids. In a recent speech in parliament, the soccer star-turned-politician, who joined the Brazilian Socialist Party two years ago, said, "We can't allow people to be driven away" and spoke of "conditions like in the occupied Palestinian areas." Romario, a member of the World Cup-winning Brazilian national squad in 1994, was born in Rio's Jacarezinho favela.

In this episode of The MMQB Podcast with Peter King, I sat down for a discussion with Kuechly about instinct. To me, that’s Kuechly’s defining trait. The linebacker is just so good at anticipating plays. We also discussed the cerebral aspect of football, his best play ever and his relationship with teammate Thomas Davis. When I asked him about a time he wasn't able to anticipate what was coming, a time when an opponent surprised him, he told an entertaining story about Andrew Luck. And later in the show, a conversation with Rams head coach Jeff Fisher. 3:30: Kuechly on his high school football days at Cincinnati's St. Xavier. 5:00: Kuechly on the opportunity to play for Boston College. 5:30: Kuechly on watching Bengals games as a kid. 6:00: Kuechly his favorite linebackers to watch- Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Derrick Brooks. 7:00: Kuechly on Ray Lewis' speed. 7:45: Kuechly on playing off his instincts. 12:00: What high school linebackers need to know. 14:30: Kuechly on what kind of student he is when studying a game plan. 17:50: Kuechly talks about his hobby- learning and performing card tricks. 24:00: On the cerebral aspect of football. 25:25: The best play of Kuechly's life 29:30: On teamwork with Thomas Davis. 33:20: On an unexpected moment with Andrew Luck on the field. 35:05: What really happens at the bottom of piles? 37:00: On linebackers retiring early. Subscribe to the show on iTunes.

Check out new pics for “Surrogates,” which is based on a graphic novel of the same name stars Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell and former Bond girl Rosamund Pike. Synopsis: FBI agents (Bruce Willis and Radha Mitchell) investigate the mysterious murder of a college student linked to the man who helped create a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves-fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles-enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. The murder spawns a quest for answers: in a world of masks, who’s real and who can you trust? ”The Surrogates,” directed by Jonathan Mostow (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), is scheduled to hit theaters September 25, 2009.

Friday, August 31, 2012 The NSW Government Legislative Council’s Standing Committee on Social Issues this week released their report on domestic violence trends and issues in NSW: the first ever to acknowledge the existence, needs, barriers to reporting and barriers to accessing support faced by male victims of family violence. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than 100,000 men in NSW have experienced violence from their partner. Greg Andresen, Senior Researcher for the One in Three Campaign said, “This courageous report heralds a new era of gender equity by the NSW Government by finally acknowledging the forgotten one-third of victims of family violence: men and boys.” The findings of the report include: “There was a broad recognition among inquiry participants that women offenders and male victims do exist” (p.218). “Of [reported] victims of domestic assault in 2010, 69.2% were female, while 30.8% were male.” (p.28) “Male victims have been much less visible and able to access supports than should be the case” (p.xxiv) “The experience of [males]... is equally as bad as that of other victims” (p.xxxii) Recognising “the gap in services for male victims and [encouraging] the government to examine how services can most appropriately be provided to male victims of domestic violence” (p.xxxii) Identifying males as “in need of special consideration with regard to domestic violence,” along with Aboriginal people, older people, people with disability, and several other population groups (p.89). Mr Andresen said, “We are especially pleased the Committee has recommended that the entire system for preventing and responding to family violence needs to take account of, and be effective for, all victims and perpetrators: not just women and children victims and male perpetrators as has been the case up until now.” “The Committee has also advised the Government that legislation and policy should be written in gender neutral terms – something we have been advocating for some time. They have also strongly recommended that male victims and female perpetrators be addressed in the Government’s forthcoming Domestic and Family Violence Framework.” “Until now, the Government’s entire specific support for male victims and their children has been a single page on their domestic violence website. Men have been unable to access the Government’s Start Safely and Staying Home Leaving Violence programs. They have been denied access to safe rooms and legal assistance at court as well as emergency accommodation for themselves and their children. They have also been absent from the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children.” “We look forward to seeing the Report’s recommendations implemented by the NSW Government, and to working with them to ensure that each element of the criminal justice system, as well as the range of support services, is sensitive to the needs of all victims of family violence” said Mr Andresen. MEDIA CONTACTS Andrew Humphreys, Spokesperson, One in Three Campaign, 0418 378 568 or Greg Andresen, Senior Researcher, One in Three Campaign, 0403 813 925 or Download a PDF version of this media release from here. SUBMISSIONS AND TRANSCRIPT The One in Three Campaign's submission to the Inquiry can be found here (PDF). The Campaign appeared before the Inquiry on 20th February 2012. You can read the transcript here (please refer to pages 16-24), and our Questions Taken on Notice, Supplementary Questions and Additional Information here. QUOTES Notable quotes from the Committee's Final Report include: “there are male victims and female perpetrators” (p xxi) “the system for preventing and responding to [domestic] violence needs to take account of, and be effective for, all victims and perpetrators” (p xxi) “some women perpetrate domestic violence and... some men are victims” (p xxiv) “male victims have been much less visible and able to access supports than should be the case” (p xxiv) “while it is important that some groups’ access to women’s refuges improve, for others, most especially male victims, it is more appropriate that alternative emergency accommodation be provided via brokerage services administered by a relevant support service.” (p xxxi) “there are male victims of domestic violence” (p xxxii) “While men are less likely to be victims [than women], the experience of those that are is equally as bad as that of other victims” (p xxxii) “We recognise the gap in services for male victims and encourage the government to examine how services can most appropriately be provided to male victims of domestic violence, including via brokerage funds” (p xxxii) “We make recommendations in Chapters 2, 4, 5 and 6 that we expect will achieve better recognition and responses to male victims” (p xxxii) “We also note our strong endorsement in Chapter 4 of the Auditor-General’s recommendation that the forthcoming DFV Framework establish mechanisms to continually address both barriers to reporting and barriers to accessing supports. Once again, we see male victims as an important group here, and actively encourage the government in this task.” (p xxxii) “Of victims of domestic assault in 2010, 69.2 per cent were female, while 30.8 per cent were male.” (p 28) “some women perpetrate domestic violence and... some men are victims, and also... male victims have been much less visible and able to access supports than should be the case. We consider that the system for preventing and responding to domestic violence needs to take account of, and be effective for, all victims and perpetrators, and we address this further in Chapter 4 concerning the forthcoming NSW Domestic and Family Violence Framework, Chapter 5, concerning prevention and early intervention, Chapter 6, concerning services for victims, Chapter 10 concerning legal representation for respondents in ADVO matters, Chapter 11 regarding legal services for victims, Chapter 14 on sentencing and penalties, and Chapter 15 on perpetrator programs.” (p 31) “legislation and policy should be written in gender neutral terms” (p 31) “In addition to male victims, a number of population groups were identified during the inquiry as in need of special consideration with regard to domestic violence” (p 31) “we... recognise that there are female perpetrators and male victims... It is important that... these... be addressed in the forthcoming DFV Framework” (p 57) “[men are one of the] population groups identified as in need of special consideration with regard to domestic violence” (p 89) “many victims’ services are women specific” (p 155) “there are male victims of domestic violence. While men are less likely to be victims, the experience of those that are is equally as bad as that of other victims. We recognise the gap in services for male victims and encourage the government to examine how services can most appropriately be provided to male victims of domestic violence, including via brokerage funds.” (p 156) “the forthcoming DFV Framework needs to take account of and be effective for all victims and perpetrators. Correspondingly, our Recommendation 5 was that the Framework be inclusive of both genders.” (p 156) “we envisage that our Recommendation 24, for universal primary prevention strategies focusing on violence against women to be complemented by strategies targeting specific population groups, would necessarily address violence against men.” (p 156) “in relation to Recommendation 30, which calls for an expansion to brokerage funds, that these would be an appropriate way to respond to the emergency accommodation needs of male victims. It is foreseeable that there would be other needs that brokerage funds can address for this group.” (p 156) “in order to improve male victims’ access to victims services, we also consider that the needs of male victims would be an important focus of the responses to Recommendation 20 in Chapter 4, to improve victims’ awareness of domestic violence services, with particular attention to the needs of specific population groups.” (p 156) “we note our strong endorsement in paragraph 4.146 of the Auditor-General’s recommendation that the forthcoming DFV Framework establish mechanisms to continually address both barriers to reporting and barriers to accessing supports. Once again, we see male victims as an important group here, and actively encourage the government in this task.” (p 156) “there was a broad recognition among inquiry participants that women offenders and male victims do exist. Each element of the criminal justice system, as well as the range of support services, needs to be sensitive to the needs of both groups. It is important to ensure that these systems are resourced and equipped to respond appropriately.” (p 218)

Get martech news, insights and analysis you need to succeed. Subscribe to the NEW MarTech Today. If you’ve been in marketing for a while, you’ve probably come across a copy of Don Peppers and Martha Rogers’ book, “The One to One Future.” (If you haven’t, it’s a good read for any B2B marketer.) Written in the 1990s, the book painted a bright future — one where marketers could connect with their audiences on a more personal, one-to-one level. The idea was simple: all of the new technology and data flooding marketing at the time would pave the way for personalized, incredibly relevant customer experiences. Two decades later, we’re still not any closer to making this vision a reality. In fact, I’d argue that the technology we’ve deployed has, in many cases, pushed us further away from that 1:1 connection. We’ve taken innovative technologies and platforms like marketing automation and digital advertising and used them to spam our audiences with millions of untargeted, irrelevant messages. As a result, marketers haven’t been able to deliver on what our customers really need: a personalized message with relevant information. While technology has pushed us further away from our customers, I believe that we are on the cusp of actually (finally) using technology to help restore that 1:1 connection. We’ve already started to see this happen, and it’s made possible by two important things: Account-Based Marketing (ABM) and artificial intelligence (AI). ABM and the return to customer-centricity I’ve written about ABM before, usually in the context of why it’s good for marketers. It helps them be more efficient, deliver more effective campaigns, prove ROI and actually impact the business — benefits that are music to any marketer’s ears. In fact, we get so excited about how an account focus will help us drive more results, we don’t always talk about why. In reality, ABM benefits our prospects and customers quite a bit, because it forces us to learn more about them and get them the right messages at the right time. Once we’ve slimmed down our traditional demand-gen activities and focused on a narrower target account list, we have the opportunity to give them the right experience at every phase of the funnel, from first touch to close to measurement. The problem is that while delivering that white-glove experience to 10 accounts is feasible, it gets harder when we have a target account list of 500 or 1,000. That’s because to deliver that experience, you need to have quite a lot of in-depth account knowledge about each account: what their priorities are, what challenges they face, who their competitors are and what needs they have. Without that information, it’s hard to build relevant messages and campaigns, or even start the conversation. And as you move to more accounts, getting that information becomes more of a challenge. The challenge of scale Despite all the promise of ABM, we still haven’t achieved that 1:1 connection that Peppers and Rogers predicted. And while ABM has been around for some time, marketers just haven’t been able to scale it. We have to choose either to limit our target account list or to limit the quality of our personalized messages. Unfortunately, neither of those choices is particularly appealing in a largely digital world. The need for a better option is the reason for the surge in ABM-focused technology over the past few years. Many marketers (and vendors) have invested a great deal in technology that can help them merge a highly personalized account strategy with a flawless digital experience. They’ve made some great progress, and more and more marketing and sales teams are leveraging new technologies to implement ABM across digital channels. AI: The final frontier While this progress has made an impact on B2B marketers and their businesses, it has still been a challenge to convert data into insights and action in order to truly deliver a 1:1 connection at scale. That’s largely due to all the research and in-depth knowledge that’s required to develop the insights to make each message as relevant as possible to our audiences. Even ABM technology, as great as it is, has not been able to solve that issue for us, until now. We know that no human can do that much research in a cost-effective way, but now, with the introduction of AI, we finally have the superhuman ability to source massive quantities of data and convert it into the insight and action needed to scale our 1:1 interactions. Modern AI technology has the ability to ingest unstructured data and deliver relevant information about your target accounts — what they care about, who their competitors are, what they’re reading, talking and writing about and more. And perhaps even more importantly, it gives us the ability to leverage that information across our most critical digital channels. Suddenly, we’re able to nurture that 1:1 connection without compromising the breadth of our targeting and programs. Delivering on the promise of digital While the benefits of digital marketing are obvious, the challenges are more nuanced. We have to be always on. We have to interact with anonymous visitors. We have to engage prospects immediately, or they might lose interest and never seek us out again. Nowhere are these challenges more pressing than the B2B website. It’s the channel where we most need that 1:1 connection but have the hardest time delivering it. Arguably, as B2B marketers, our websites are our most important digital channels, which makes it all the more painful when we fail to leverage them successfully. But who could blame us? We’re serving so many different audiences at different phases of the buying cycle, it’s hard to make sure they all get what they need. We’ve started to address this problem with ABM, by personalizing certain sections of a website for a number of segments and accounts. And while we’ve seen great success and engagement with our efforts, we’re still choosing a set of our most important segments, rather than engaging our entire target audience. That’s where AI comes in. While ABM gives us the framework we need to target and market to accounts, AI helps us generate the insights we need to give customers the experience they want. The combination of ABM and AI gives marketers the ability to deliver highly personalized website experiences — at scale. Beyond just personalizing for segments and accounts, marketers can recommend content for each individual visitor, based on their individual needs and interests. In this way, every account gets the relevant messages they need as they move across the funnel. Marketers no longer have to worry about their prospects getting frustrated and leaving. Instead, they can deliver a unique, 1:1 experience for each website visitor. Conclusion We’ve only scratched the surface of the possibilities ABM and AI have to offer. While the website is one of our most significant digital channels, we want to deliver that same personalized experience consistently across every channel. Soon, you’ll see ABM and AI’s combined capabilities extending to other channels, like advertising, reporting and email. By connecting across channels, we’ll all finally be even closer to the 1:1 future that Peppers and Rogers envisioned. Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.

Will Tom Bauerle find protection for his loved one by going public? DNC intimidation of Tom Bauerle loved ones exposed by Wikileaks It’s long, dark nights of the creeps for anyone who dares tell the truth about the real Hillary Clinton in the middle of the current election campaign. “Isn’t it interesting that during the democrat convention, someone VERY close to me received a 2 AM phone call and a conversation on their voice-mail? The call wasn’t just from ANY phone number. The number was a DNC number on the Wikileaks dump.” (Photo Proof to the right). (WBEN radio talk show host Tom Bauerle Facebook, August 10, 2016) Bauerle understandably does not want to put his loved one at any risk by naming loved ones. “But this is as chilling as it is real,” he told Canada Free Press. And if anyone knows what’s real, it’s Buffalo’s beloved and outspoken radio talk show host Tom Bauerle. Related: Tom Bauerle: Can Satellites Reprogram Voting Machines? “Two days before the call was made, Tracey Martin appeared on my show. The one-time travel chef for the Clinton White House, spoke the real truth about the racist Hillary Clinton. Tracey’s phone was hacked within days of being on my show. And his life has been turned upside-down. “Where is the media outrage about her hypocrisy or Tracey’s phone being hacked? Oh, the guy who hired Tracey to work for the Clintons? He’s dead. One of those hiking accidents where you drown. A lot of people seem to end up dead when it comes to these Richard III-like characters.” Bauerle is making the details of the phone call to his loved one public in the hopes of keeping them safe from harm. “This call to my loved one was made very early on Friday, July 29th. Anyway, the number from which the call was made to my loved one? 215-760-5943. “And wouldn’t ya’ just know that phone number is on the Wikileaks DNC e-mails? “On the leaked DNC documents, the number is identified as belonging to an April Mellody. I left a message asking why my loved one’s number was called from her phone early on Friday, July 29th.” Response from so called April Mellody? Crickets. Bauerle explains that “This person, whom I love, has nothing to do with the media.” Why would my loved one’s phone number be in this phone’s contacts to be “butt-dialed” from a DNC number on the Wikileaks revelations? As I have said, this person is not media. What are the random-chance odds that someone very close to me would have their 10 digit telephone number randomly called by a number which was on the Wikileaks leaked documents from DNC? “We have the voice-mail. We are trying to clean up the audio for airing. “So, what is the most logical conclusion? “Tracey Martin being on my show.” Will Tom Bauerle find protection for his loved one by going public? Canada Free Press which ran with the Tracey Martin story most fervently prays and hopes so. Only YOU can save CFP from Social Media Suppression. Tweet, Post, Forward, Subscribe or Bookmark us Copyright © Canada Free Press RSS Feed for Judi McLeod Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com. Older articles by Judi McLeod Please adhere to our commenting policy to avoid being banned. As a privately owned website, we reserve the right to remove any comment and ban any user at any time.Comments that contain spam, advertising, vulgarity, threats of violence and death, racism, anti-Semitism, or personal or abusive attacks on other users may be removed and result in a ban.-- Follow these instructions on registering

We are all familiar with the antics of Public Policy Polling when they troll GOP voters with bizarre questions To put some of these findings about real modern day issues and Trump voters in context, 41% of his voters think Japanese internment was a good thing, to 37% who don’t. And 41% of his supporters would favor bombing Agrabah to only 9% who are opposed to doing that. Agrabah is the country from Aladdin. Overall 30% of Republican primary voters say they support bombing it to 13% who are opposed. We asked the same question of Democrats, and 36% of them opposed bombing Agrabah to 19% in support. Two can play that game. This is the entry by American Enterprise Institute: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the two most unpopular presidential candidates in modern times. But, as I point out in today’s Washington Post, in a year of bipartisan lows, Hillary Clinton recently reached a new low, when an NBC News poll found that just 11% of Americans say she is honest and trustworthy. By contrast, a 2013 Public Policy Polling survey found that 14% of American voters believe in Bigfoot. That means more Americans believe that a large, hairy, man-like Sasquatch creature inhabits the forests of North America than believe that Hillary Clinton tells the truth. They don’t stop there: So what else do more Americans believe in than Hillary Clinton’s honesty? According to PPP’s survey: 28% of voters believe secretive power elite with a globalist agenda is conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian world government, or “New World Order.” 21% of voters say a UFO crashed in Roswell, NM in 1947 and the US government covered it up. 15% of voters say the government adds secret mind-controlling technology to television broadcast signals. 15% of voters think the medical industry and the pharmaceutical industry “invent” new diseases to make money. 14% of voters say the CIA was instrumental in creating the crack cocaine epidemic in America’s inner cities in the 1980s. 13% of voters think Barack Obama is the anti-Christ (literally, not figuratively). But wait, there’s more: That’s not all. In 2009, the Pew poll on religion found 29% of Americans claim to have communed with the dead, and 16% of Americans believe in casting a curse on someone using the “evil eye.” Think about that: according Pew, more Americans believe in the “evil eye” than believe Hillary Clinton is honest and trustworthy. But there is good news for Hillary More Americans believe she is honest than believe that: Shape-shifting “lizard people” control our world by taking on human form and gaining political power to manipulate our societies (4%). The moon landing was faked (7%). Osama bin Laden is still alive (6%). The government adds fluoride to our water supply for sinister reasons (9%). Paul McCartney actually died in 1966 (5%). The exhaust seen in the sky behind airplanes is actually chemicals sprayed by the government for sinister reasons (5%). The next time someone tells you Hillary Clinton is honest you know you are looking at 9/11 Truther who believes in shape shifting lizards. Keep that in mind and your conversation will be more interesting an productive.

What is WhatsApp Direct? It is rather inconvenient to add someone to your contacts, only to send them a single WhatsApp text. WhatsApp Direct allows you to send WhatsApp messages directly to the phone number, without saving it to your contacts. Just select the appropriate country code, enter the receiver's phone number and the text message that you want to send, then click on the Send button. You will be redirected to the WhatsApp chat for that number, even though the contact is not saved on your device. Note: The entered phone number should already be registered on WhatsApp, otherwise the message won't be received. Disclosure: WhatsApp Direct is a home-brewed web app created at 7labs for the benefit of all our readers. As such, we built this app keeping the user’s privacy in mind. Any information that is shared on WhatsApp Direct (phone numbers, messages, etc.), is sent directly to WhatsApp using their APIs. We do not store this information, nor do we forward this to other third parties.

How to Write Code that Operations Will Like Editorial Note: I originally wrote this post for the Monitis blog. You can check out the original here, at their site. While you’re there, take a look around at the options you have for monitoring your production site and all of its supporting infrastructure. In recent years, the DevOps movement has gained a significant amount of steam. Historically, organizations approached software creation and maintenance in the same way that they might with physical, mechanical process such as manufacturing. This meant carving the work into discrete components and then asking people to specialize in those components. If you picture a factory floor, it becomes easy to picture. One person screws two components together over and over, while another person operates a drill press over and over. When you specialize this way, the entire process gains in efficiency. At least, so it goes with mechanical processes. With knowledge work, we haven’t realized the same kind of benefit. In retrospect, this makes sense. It makes sense because, unlike mechanical work, knowledge work involves little true repeatability. It continually presents us with problems that differ at least somewhat. As we’ve come to recognize that fact, we’ve begun to blend concerns together. Scrum teams blur the lines among QA, developers, and business analysts. And DevOps does the same with initial development and production operation of software. If you can, I wholeheartedly encourage you to embrace DevOps and to blend these concerns. Your entire work product will improve. Unfortunately, not every shop can do this — at least not immediately. Progress goes slowly in these places because of regulatory and compliance concerns or perhaps because change can come slowly in the enterprise. But that shouldn’t stop you from making strides. Even if development and operations remain separate, they can at least communicate and help each other. Today, I’d like to talk about how developers can write code that makes life easier for ops folks. Ensure Predictable Performance When you have a piece of software in front of users, you want it to perform well. If you have a website or offer a SaaS product, you want snappy page loads and quick request servicing. Perhaps you have a mobile app or a desktop product. In that case, you want responsiveness and no instances where the app “hangs.” Everyone in the organization wants this, and operations presents no exception. But operations has an additional concern that most others don’t necessarily share quite as acutely. They want predictable performance. If you have responsibility for monitoring and responding to user issues, you can, in a sense, live with sluggishness. “While we realize page load is a bit slow, our engineers know about the problem and have a fix in the works.” Not ideal, but workable. Now imagine how they respond to an app randomly slowing to a crawl every now and then or to a site intermittently returning some 500 error after running out of memory. For operations folks, explanations and troubleshooting both become difficult. So help them out. Keep an eye out for deadlock and race conditions and user performance profilers to help you detect memory leaks and other such insidious issues. Generate Robust Logging For folks in operations, log files can represent a lifeline. Amid a sea of questionable user claims and anecdotal evidence, logs provide a welcome source of objectivity. The log file does not lie. Therefore, the more logging you do, the better. It gives them more to work with and they will thank you for it. But they’ll only thank you for it if the information it contains actually helps. Fill the log files with detailed information, but make sure the information helps. It should provide basics like context, time-stamping, and log level. And, on top of that, you should take care to make the logs parsesable so that operations folks can use automated tools to search and filter. Put some good thought into how you log in your application. The ops people will thank you for it. Provide Good Hooks for Alerts and Escalation Speaking of log files, you can demonstrate empathy for ops team members with mindfulness for how they work. Operations people need ways to structure their workflows, which means notifications of key events and escalation processes. While they can accomplish some of this with purely external concerns, such as website monitoring, you can aid them in this cause. The log files offer an important means for doing this. If you do everything mentioned in the last section, you have a good start. But you can and should go further. Ask the operations folks about their workflows and what they need to know. Incorporate their responses into outputs that come from your program. This might mean adding specific log entries that they can key off of. It might also come in the form of error codes returned from utilities, HTTP response codes, exception messages, events, and anything else you can think of. Make sure they have easy ways to inspect and respond to the running code. Clean up Your Resources Earlier, I mentioned using tools to keep code performance predictable. You want crisp and predictable performance. In a similar vein, you want to make sure your code cleans up after itself. If you write code that leaves a file handle open or that opens database connections without closing them, you hand operations a ticking time bomb. They’ll start the thing and then, at some point, hours, days, or even weeks later, it will blow up. Because effect comes so much later than cause, troubleshooting code like this creates serious headaches. Obviously good software practice dictates that you clean up after yourself. But the operations folks have more than professional pride at stake here. Cohesive, Modular Code As the last consideration, I’ll offer a slightly more philosophical suggestion. You want to write code with a high degree of cohesion and a low degree of bad coupling. As a software developer, this has the nice effect of making your code easier to maintain. But for operations folks, it impacts their life in a slightly different way. Non-cohesive, inappropriate code tends to exhibit weird runtime behaviors. To provide an easier to visualize example, consider the metaphor of taking your car in to have the brakes fixed. Imagine if, when you left, the brakes worked, but the headlights wouldn’t turn on. Now imagine that the shop fixes the headlights, but now the stereo won’t play AM radio stations. After a few incidents like this, you’d probably stop visiting this particular shop. Highly coupled, non-cohesive code causes your application to behave this way. Fixing one bug causes something to break in an unrelated module. It begins to feel like trying to clean your floor by pushing dirty mop water around. Now, frustrating as it may seem for you to chase these things down, imagine being on the front lines. Imagine having to explain to users why changing the font of the login button somehow broke checking their funds balance. Don’t subject the operations people to this kind of nonsense. General Empathy Earlier in the post, I mentioned having empathy for the operations workers. Everything I’ve said here really falls under that heading, at the broadest level. You’d have a hard time going wrong by developing and exhibiting empathy for your coworkers. But, as the DevOps movement shows us, operations and development have a uniquely intertwined and interdependent relationship. You all have responsibility for the successful creation, deployment, and operation of the software. Do your part to make their lives easier, and they’ll do their part not to wake you up at 3 AM on a Sunday.

Using a map of the galactic landscape that covers approximately two thirds of the whole region of the Milky Way, astronomers estimate the time scale for the formation of stars. Astronomers have undertaken a new survey of the plane of our Milky Way and discovered a large quantity of cold, dense clumps of gas and dust, apparently the cradles of massive stars. A team headed by Timea Csengeri from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn has now used the map, which was obtained by the APEX telescope at a wavelength of 0.87 millimeters, to estimate the time scale for the formation of stars. The result: the process seems to proceed very rapidly, with massive stars taking only 75,000 years to form on average, a significantly shorter time than less massive stars. Stars with a much larger mass than our Sun finish their fast and furious lives with huge supernova explosions, thereby producing the heavy elements in the universe. Before they do this they emit powerful stellar winds and high-energy radiation. Consequently, the stars not only impact on their local environment, but also on the appearance and future evolution of the galaxy as a whole. These stars form in the coldest regions of the Milky Way – deep inside clouds of dust which are so dense that they almost completely swallow up the radiation of the young stars hidden inside. It is here that a new generation of massive stars forms, embedded in the dense gas and dust clouds. Observations at wavelengths longer than those in the visible or infrared range are necessary if researchers want to follow the earliest stages of the birth. This is where the 12-metre APEX telescope, which operates in the submillimeter range, comes into play. A team of astronomers has used the telescope in conjunction with the LABOCA camera built at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy to track down the cradles of the most massive stars. APEX stands on the Chajnantor Plain in the Chilean Atacama Desert at an altitude of 5,100 meters, one of the few locations on Earth which allows observations at submillimeter wavelengths at all. ATLASGAL (APEX Telescope Large Area Survey of the Galaxy) covers a region of more than 420 square degrees in the galactic plane and thus 97 percent of the inner Milky Way within the so-called Solar Circle. This contains large regions of all four spiral arms and around two thirds of the complete molecular portion of the galaxy. The data cover most of the nurseries of massive stars. And it is also to help the researchers to produce a three-dimensional map. “Our team has used the ATLASGAL data to generate the most comprehensive sample of the previously hidden birthplaces of massive stars,” says Timea Csengeri from the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy, the lead author of the study. “We found a large number of new potential locations where these stars are currently forming in our Milky Way.” This comprehensive statistical record has enabled the researchers to show that the processes which give rise to the cold, dense clouds in which the most massive stars are born must proceed extremely rapidly – on a time scale of only 75,000 years. This is significantly shorter than the corresponding time scales for the formation of lower mass stars such as our Sun. “Researchers already knew about the fast and furious life of the most massive stars in our Milky Way. But now we have been able to show that it is also accompanied by a correspondingly short formation period in their birth cocoons,” says Max Planck astronomer James Urquhart. In fact, less massive, Sun-like stars live around 1,000 times longer than massive ones. And the new results show that the massive stars also form on a very short time scale in a star formation process which is much more dynamic. According to Friedrich Wyrowski, ATLASGAL also provides charts with data for the most extreme dust clouds: “The star formation processes taking place inside these dust clouds can then be investigated with the aid of the new ALMA telescope network at much higher angular resolution,” is what the APEX project scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy has to say about future projects. Publication: T. Csengeri, et al., “The ATLASGAL survey: a catalog of dust condensations in the Galactic plane,” A&A 565, A75 (2014); doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201322434 PDF Copy of the Study: The ATLASGAL survey: a catalog of dust condensations in the Galactic plane Images: ATLASGAL-Team; ESO/Y. Beletsky (sky photo) / ESO (APEX telescope) / image collation by C. Urquhart

A hard Brexit would be unworkable for Ireland and endanger the Northern Ireland peace process, the country’s foreign minister warned on Tuesday night, urging Theresa May to “engage sensitively” with other European states to avoid a destructive Brexit. “The concept of a ‘hard’ Brexit, with a return to ‘hard’ borders is not something that is either desirable or workable from our perspective, because of the border with Northern Ireland,” Charlie Flanagan told The Telegraph. He added that the return of a hard border with Northern Ireland threatened to undermine 20 years of normalisation since the end of the Troubles that sees 30,000 border crossings per day. “The Peace dividend of the “invisible border” cannot be underestimated,” he said. Speaking ahead of the an all-Ireland Brexit conference in Dublin on Wednesday to discuss the economic and political fallout from Britain’s vote to leave, Mr Flanagan cautioned Britain against taking a confrontational approach with Brussels.

Naturally, in the most negative way possible, our forever-fake news media is spinning the results from Gallup's fresh polling of President Trump's job approval numbers in all 50 individual states. But a dispassionate look at the numbers shows remarkable resiliency in Trump's support, most especially in the states he will need to win re-election. There are three key pieces of context required to fully understand just how good these numbers mostly are for Trump. 1) For 18 months on the whole, and for every day of his six months as president, Trump has been mercilessly pounded by billions and billions of dollars in corporate propaganda that flows through the news media, Hollywood, academia, Silicon Valley, and various activist groups. 2) Gallup polled "all adults" as opposed to "registered" or "likely voters." 3) Our utterly useless and completely corrupt Republican Party is obstructing Trump's agenda. The second point is key. For example, as of yesterday, in its rolling poll of "all adults," Gallup shows Trump's national job approval rating at an anemic 37%. Rasmussen (the most accurate pollster of 2016), however, screens for "likely voters" and shows Trump's approval rating a full +6 points higher at 43%, a phenomenon that has been fairly consistent from day one. Still, it should be said that 43% is not great. Popularity is one thing. Fine. Whatever. Political power, however, is everything and that is why the only polls anyone should care about are the polls of actual voters, for these polls are the best guide to predicting who will hold political power. Moreover, as you will see below (and have already seen with the outcome of the 2016 election), in a country that chooses its president via the electoral college, national polling is this close to meaningless. In other words, while looking at Gallup's state-by-state results, if you want to know where Trump truly stands on the all-important issue of a possible second term, it is not unreasonable to add 4-7 points in his favor to each of these numbers. With that in mind, here they are... In 17 states, Trump's job approval remains at or above 50%: West Virginia -60 North Dakota - 59 South Dakota - 57 Montana - 56 Wyoming - 56 Alabama - 55 Oklahoma - 54 Kansas -53 Kentucky - 53 Arkansas - 53 Idaho - 53 Nebraska - 52 Tennessee - 52 Louisiana - 51 Alaska - 51 South Carolina - 50 Utah - 50 In 16 states, Trump is polling above 40%, or above his current national average according to Gallup, this includes three states Trump lost in 2016 - Nevada, New Hampshire and Maine: Missouri - 49 Mississippi - 48 Ohio - 47 Indiana - 47 New Hampshire - 45 Iowa - 45 Nevada - 44 Pennsylvania - 43 Wisconsin - 43 Georgia - 43 Arizona - 43 Maine - 42 Michigan - 42 North Carolina - 42 Florida - 42 Texas - 42 Granted, some of this looks a little screwy. Is Trump really polling even or better in states he lost than in those he won easily, like Georgia and Texas? If that is the case, Democrats and their media should be very, very worried. Trump, however, should worry about Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, three states that handed him the presidency by less than a total of 100,000 votes. Even if you generously add 6 points to the score, he is still underwater. Nevertheless, the overall good news is that Trump is doing much better than the media would have you believe in the only polls that count — polls of the individual states that will decide the electoral college. And if Trump is able to chalk up a few more Rustbelt Foxconns, and if the grifters we call congressional Republicans actually enact some legislation, Trump's numbers will only go up — and do so no matter how much our lying media pushes their silly Russian conspiracy theory. Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.

Even Planned Parenthood is defending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program by stating they believe every person has a right to live. "Here at Planned Parenthood, we firmly believe that every person has the right to live, work, and raise a family freely and without the threat of deportation or separation," CEO Cecile Richards said in a fundraising email Tuesday. "Apparently the batteries in Planned Parenthood's irony detectors failed," Tucker Carlson said on his show. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced on Tuesday that the administration will phase out the Obama-era executive order, which has been criticized as unconstitutional. WATCH: Trump Brings Ivanka Onstage in North Dakota NYPD Escorts Son of Fallen Officer to First Day of Kindergarten Congress has six months to come up with a legislative solution to protect the 800,000 "Dreamers" who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Richards charged that the program's scrapping was an attack on those protected under it, including "members of the Planned Parenthood community.” “I’m infuriated,” she wrote. “I’m heartbroken. But I’m sure about one thing: Planned Parenthood stands with DREAMers, the young people in this community who are the future of this country.” WATCH: Firefighter Emotional as He Returns to Submerged Home After Harvey 'Ball in the Right Court': Reagan's Son Supports Putting DACA Decision on Congress

Denver officials are drafting Initiative 300 rules now that would allow people to smoke marijuana in businesses throughout the city. Denver officials are drafting rules now that would allow people to use marijuana in businesses throughout the city. But it’s “impossible to say exactly how soon permits will actually be issued and how soon any permitted premises will actually be up and running,” Assistant City Attorney David Broadwell recently advised city council members in a memo. Voters signaled in November they want to try letting people use cannabis in businesses by passing Initiative 300 with 54-to-46 percent of the vote. The city attorney’s office and excise and licenses department gave an update on implementing Denver’s new social use law Monday during a Special Issues Marijuana Committee meeting. A timeline presented calls for putting out application forms Jan. 21 and finalizing the rules and starting to issue permits in summer 2017. “I don’t think it’s true we can make any rule we want if it’s silent in the ordinance,” Denver City Councilwoman Robin Kniech said Monday. “Where the ordinance is silent, rulemaking may step in, but there are limits to that rulemaking, which is frustrating the intent of the ordinance.” Denver City Attorney Kristin Bronson said her office is coming up with “a menu of rules and regulations” that would comply with current laws and the intent of the initiative. In theory, the initiative allows just about any kind of business that doesn’t sell marijuana to apply for a cannabis consumption permit under the Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program. “Bear in mind that the application must be accompanied by a statement of support (or non-opposition) from an eligible neighborhood association,” Broadwell wrote in his memo. Businesses that apply will also have to pay $2,000 in fees, follow the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act and prevent cannabis use from being seen from the public right of way. Companies could also bump into rules that haven’t been created yet. After the initiative passed, the Liquor Enforcement Division of the Colorado Department of Revenue said a business could have either a liquor license or a permit for social marijuana use. Not both. There’s a possibility the state could throw up other roadblocks going forward. State law prohibits “open and public” consumption or use of marijuana. Both Colorado and Denver define a “public place” as somewhere where the public, or a substantial number of the public, has access. “In looking at the implementation of Initiative 300, we’re going to have to be very aware that we can run into serious conflict with state law unless the cannabis consumption permits are limited to those locations that are not considered a public place,” Bronson said. According to Broadwell’s memo, “Denver has been advocating for greater clarity on the state level for marijuana consumption laws since 2013 and will continue to do so. The prospects for any successful clarifying legislation in 2017 are unknown, however, particularly given split control of the legislature.” If the legislators do hand down new rules, Denver will factor them into running the Neighborhood-Supported Cannabis Consumption Pilot Program. “Our plan is to implement the will of the voters in the confines of the law,” said Ashley Kilroy, executive director of Excise and Licenses. “If the law changes at the state over the next session, we’ll have to be adjusting our rules and regulations to make sure what we’re doing is still comporting with the law as it stands at that time.” Subscribe to Denverite’s newsletter here. Business & data reporter Adrian D. Garcia can be reached via email at agarcia@denverite.com ortwitter.com/adriandgarcia.

Eric Zuesse On Bloomberg TV, the conservative political historian and journalist Mark Halperin says that Hillary Clinton’s populist and leftist statements don’t worry Wall Street — he even asserts (at 0:27 on the video), that “Wall Street won’t hold her accountable to it,” meaning that they feel confident she doesn’t really believe the populist things she says — but that her veering left to win the nomination is toxic to her final campaign anyway. She’ll still be able to collect hundreds of millions of dollars from Wall Street for her campaign (even as they also fund the Republican Party), but she will be weakened by the primaries — weakened in the general election campaign against the Republican. Here is why (according to his analysis): the distrust of her among “the left” during the Democratic Party Presidential primaries is driving her to say things that will be thrown back against her by the Republican nominee during the general election, when the Republican nominee will be able to expose her self-contradictions, which she will necessarily have gotten herself into while she was trying to persuade enough Democrats to vote for her during the Democratic primaries. Halperin says (1:13 on the video) that, “She’s terrified of the left, their demands will never end.” In other words: The only way that Hillary Clinton will be able to convince enough liberals to vote for her to become the Democratic nominee will be for her to say things that will be inconsistent with other things she says, so that, in the following general election campaign (if she gets that far), only Wall Street and a few still-trusting liberals will support her, which will give the Republican nominee a much clearer and bigger field of political appeal. The Republican nominee will be able to maintain a less self-contradictory conservative line, by adhering, presumably, to the Ronald Reagan model — one which holds together both the religious and the aristocratic bases of the conservative movement, to draw far more conservatives to the polls come Election Day, than the by-then-demoralized Democratic Party will be able to motivate to the polls. Halperin is basically saying that the only way Hillary Clinton will be able to win the Democratic nomination (since Wall Street is in the bag for her, and only the Party’s liberal base can block her from winning the nomination) will be for her to spout a line that is so “everything-for-everybody” as to depress the Democratic Party’s turnout come Election Day. The ultimate conclusion of his analysis (though he doesn’t explicitly say it), is that Republicans will be very fortunate if Hillary Clinton becomes the Democratic nominee selected at the Convention in 2016. Halperin is presenting the argument for Republicans to do as little as possible during the primary season to deter her from winning the Democratic Party’s Presidential nomination. This way, Wall Street won’t have any political worry, no matter what the outcome of the Presidential campaign is. —— PS: Also, and along the same lines, at Bloomberg News on April 16th, was a report that Hillary will hire as her campaign’s financial manager a former Wall Streeter who has turned against the most extreme pro-Wall-Street positions, Gary Gensler. He favors imposition of the modest requirements that are set forth in the Obama-supported Dodd-Frank Act, which is the complex regulatory reform law that Congress managed to pass in 2010 despite solid Republican opposition, and that is still largely not in force (because of that Republican opposition). In other words: Ms. Clinton is placing this moderate pro-Wall-Streeter, Gensler, in charge of her campaign’s finances, presumably in the hope that anti-Wall-Street Democrats will confuse Gensler as being anti-Wall-Street, and that those pro-Main-Street progressives will also confuse Gensler’s non-policymaking position as being a policymaking position. Implicitly, she further also is expecting that there will be plenty of Democrats who confuse Barack Obama’s Presidency as having been anti-Wall-Street despite his having secretly promised Wall Street CEOs inside the White House on 27 March 2009, “My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks [a contemptuous reference to today’s progressives, as being today’s equivalents of yesterday’s KKK who had lynched Blacks]. … I’m not out there to go after you. I’m protecting you.” President Obama then actually kept that promise to them, by blocking prosecution of each and every one of them. Consequently, one can already see, in Ms. Clinton’s campaign decisions, the direction in which she already is heading her campaign so as for her to be able to win the White House in 2016. It might also be worth noting here that her husband, Bill Clinton, had ended the Democratic FDR Glass-Steagall Wall-Street regulatory reform law, thus allowing the reckless Wall Street gambling that produced the 2008 crash and the subsequent bail-outs of Wall Street, and the resultant widening U.S. economic inequality — which Obama and the Clintons verbally rail against. So: the Clintons, and Obama, have been enormous benefactors to the billionaires who gamble on Wall Street and whose losses are paid by future U.S. taxpayers in the form of the soaring federal debt, which future U.S. taxpayers will ultimately be called upon to pay. So: if the only real choices that the American public will have for the Presidency after Obama’s Presidency ends will be Hillary Clinton and some Republican, then Wall Street will have nothing seriously to worry about. But can buying the Federal Government really be that cheap and easy, for the megabank chieftains and their investor-friends? ———- Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They’re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST’S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity, and of Feudalism, Fascism, Libertarianism and Economics.

Here’s something you’ve probably never seen before: a vehicle covered with 41,999 LED lights. Lexus engineers were having way too much fun when they created the 2017 LIT IS, a psychedelic vehicle that changes colors in a snap and responds music with a mind-blowing light show. The funky LIT IS is meant to turn heads. The car is covered with enough LED strips to span half a mile if they were arranged end to end. In numbers, the car has 57 pixels per meter and 55 megabits per second for streaming, and the LEDs on the car generate 175,000 lumens. Related: Lexus shows off the world’s first car with a human heartbeat The LIT IS jams with its surroundings via three modes. One mode simply loops graphics to flaunt the car’s design. Another mode reacts to music, allowing the car to sync to any tune. The third responds to a gaming console controlled by a user. The car looks super cool, but why go to all the effort to apply 41,999 LEDs by hand? Lexus designed the Lexus LIT IS for UK singer Dua Lipa’s “Be the One” music video. “Through this responsive technology and the animations, an expressive car was turned into an actual vehicle for expression,” Lexus said in a statement. The car company effusively describes their LIT IS as a “character and visual anchor” in the music video’s story. Unfortunately you won’t be able to purchase the stunning LIT IS anytime soon. While such a vehicle would be way too distracting on today’s roads, we’ll hold on to the hope that once all cars are autonomous, we’ll be able to trick out our rides with 41,999 LEDS. For now, we’re left with just one question: why didn’t Lexus apply that last LED light to cover the car with an even 42,000 LEDs? We may never know. Via The Verge Images via Lexus

I know I’m far from the first person to write on the queer subtext of this film, but I wrote an article about my opinions for Irish magazine Nós, and my non-Irish-speaking friends wanted a translation. So here is my reading of Fantastic Beasts. *Spoiler alert!* The Secret world At the centre of the story are four characters, three who have magic and one no-maj. (You can figure out what that means for yourself.) The no-maj Jacob is our eyes and ears for the film, and he spends most of it in state of awe and wonder as he takes in the wondrous magical world that has secretly always been there, a world filled with interesting, beautiful creatures, most of whom are extremely well dressed. It’s a neat comparison. Jacob spends most of the film making faces like this: And this: By the way, Newt Scamander carries his Fantastic Beasts (Fabulous Beasts more like, amirite?) in a suitcase. Tell me this, what is a suitcase other than a portable closet? At one point the no-maj Jacob literally jumps feet first into the suitcase (read: closet, read: queer world). Jacob is enthralled by the variety of magical creatures he encounters, big and small, scaly and feathery. Scamander tells him that the creatures have been hunted and are in danger of extinction, although none of them actually pose a threat. Hmm… Anyone who has ever had the opportunity to witness a straight person going to a gay bar or attending a drag show for the first time will surely recognise Jacob’s reaction: The Obscurius A central part of the plot is the obscurius – a dark force that is causing death and destruction in New York City. This dark force comes about when a young witch or wizard makes efforts to suppress their powers. Their magical powers don’t go away, instead a parasitic creature called an obscurius forms within them. (It is literally represented by a dark cloud, hello mental health metaphor!) The obscurius causes damage to people around it and to the host, often causing death. I probably don’t need to labour the point here too much, I’d imagine that anyone who has spent time denying or hiding their identity (sexual or otherwise) finds the idea of the obscurius easy to relate to. Credence and Graves Behold the orphan Credence (played by the absolute babe Ezra Miller, who you can tell is a next-level babe because he looks good even while sporting that haircut): Credence is struggling with the interest that he has in “magic” (read: being queer). So Credence lives in an orphanage and the woman in charge is a “Second Salemer” (literally wants a second Salem witch hunt). She’s against magic because it’s bad and unnatural (heard that about anything else?) so she adopts orphans to try indoctrinate them against magic. Despite her efforts, Credence is still interested in getting involved in the magical world. His point of contact is an auror called Graves (played by Colin Farrell, who could resist?) who meets with Credence because he thinks that the obscurius is from a child in the orphanage. Their relationship is extremely homo-erotic. They meet in dark lanes and whisper sweet nothings into each others ears, then embrace, with the uncertain Credence allowing the older Graves to take the lead. Oh and they gaze at each other like this: Of course I’m not alone in noticing the glaring homoeroticism of their relationship, and there are already many videos on YouTube made by people who ship this couple. Dumbledore and Grindelwald Those who have read and re-read Harry Potter know well that there is a long and complicated story between Dumbledore and Grindelwald (played by a puffy Johnny Depp, below). Diligent fans will also know that in 2007 Rowling confirmed Dumbledore’s sexuality as gay, and in an interview a few years later she said that Dumbledore had unrequited love for Grindelwald. Ok, so nothing actually happens between the pair in this film, but the subtext is there and remember, this is only the first film of five. The Guardian has stressed that care must be taken in future films in the series to ensure that Dumbledore is not painted as a token gay character, and that concern is echoed in many places, with many calls being made that his relationship with Grindelwald not glossed over. So there you have it… Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the gayest blockbuster I’ve ever seen. I don’t think I’ve stretched the truth in my readings of the film. Of course, this is just one reading of the film. LGBT groups are not the only minority that are persecuted and there are other readings of the film that are equally valid. And as one Huffington post writer points out, given the political climate in the US right now, a film that discusses social oppression could not come at a better time. Whether you agree or disagree with the above, I’d be very interested in hearing your opinion! @MiseCiara. Finally, here’s a gratuitous picture of the immaculately turned out Seraphina Picquery, President of the Magical congress of the United States. Advertisements

Buy Your Own Uranium Ore from Amazon! If you have ever wanted to be a Mad Scientist then you know that Uranium Ore is one of the first things on your list of Must Have Items! Now for only a few dollars you can be well on your way to achieving your dreams. Useful for testing Geiger counters and performing nuclear experiments. It may not be high on everybody’s wish list but maybe you know somebody that has the potential be become an Evil Genius! The comments on Amazon for this product are Great! Here are a few of the best ones I purchased this product 4.47 Billion Years ago and when I opened it today, it was half empty. I bought this to power a home-made submarine that I use to look for prehistoric-era life forms in land-locked lakes around my home town in Alaska. At first I wasn’t sure if this item would (or could) arrive via mail, but I was glad to see it showed up with no problems. Well, almost no problems. Unfortuantly my mom opened my mail, because she does not respect people’s privacy. She was pretty upset to see Uranium Ore. After a long argument and me running away from home again, she finaly stopped being such an idiot and I was able to get back to work. The quality of this Uranium is on par with the stuff I was bying from the Libyans over at the mall parking lot, but at half the price! I just hope the seller does not run out, because I have many projects on my list including a night vision sasquatch radar, an electromagnetic chupakabra cage, a high velocity, aerial, weighted Mothman net and super heated, instant grill cheese sandwhich maker. Picked this up for use in one of my kid’s ‘diversity’ projects in school (Great Success!), and stuck the leftovers in the cabinet next to the baking soda. Ran out of toothpaste, and remembered how you’re supposed to be able to use baking soda to clean your teeth, so of course, I accidentally used this instead, and Wow! all I can say is, my teeth have never been cleaner! They sparkle, they tingle, and for some reason, they STAY clean now, no matter what. Highly recommended! However, when I ran out of that fire-ant killer powder stuff, I figured I would try some for that too. Big mistake! Boy, it sure did not kill those ants! Fortunately, those suckers get slower as they get bigger, so I have been able to use a shovel to take care of most of them, one at a time though, the sneaky devils. And the darn trash man refuses to take them away.. I would have given this product 5 stars for the teeth and the project on embracing diversity, but I deducted one star because of the giant mutant ants. There are more to read on the reviews so you can read them Here! Uranium Ore Radioactive sample of uranium ore. The ore sample material is Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM). Counts Per Minute (CPM) activity rate listed on the label is determined using a GCA-07W Digital Geiger Counter with an NRC certification. Activity level includes all radiation types: alpha, beta and gamma. Uranium Ore samples are useful for testing Geiger Counters. License exempt. Uranium ore sample sizes vary. Shipped in labeled metal container as shown. Shipping Information: We are always in compliance with Section 13 from part 40 of the NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules and regulations and Postal Service regulations specified in 49 CFR 173.421 for activity limits of low level radioactive materials. The item is shipped in accordance with Postal Service activity limits specified in Publication 52. Radioactive minerals are for educational and scientific use only. Radioactive sample of uranium ore. The ore sample material is Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM). Counts Per Minute (CPM) activity rate listed on the label is determined using a GCA-07W Digital Geiger Counter with an NRC certification. Activity level includes all radiation types: alpha, beta and gamma. Uranium Ore samples are useful for testing Geiger Counters. License exempt. Uranium ore sample sizes vary. Shipped in labeled metal container as shown. Shipping Information: We are always in compliance with Section 13 from part 40 of the NRC Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules and regulations and Postal Service regulations specified in 49 CFR 173.421 for activity limits of low level radioactive materials. The item is shipped in accordance with Postal Service activity limits specified in Publication 52. Radioactive minerals are for educational and scientific use only. Buy Now Just click the button and read the reviews on Amazon, they are Hilarious! Glen Ogden Advertisements

NanoDesu Translations extends a warm welcome to defan752 who will be joining our translation staff to work on Kokoro Connect! Link to Translation Head Translator: defan752 Novel Summary (heavily adapted from MAL): We join our heroes in Club Building Room 401: five seemingly normal high school students. They are brought together and tied by the Cultural Research Club, and spend time together as best friends. Each of them have their own unique personalities, and though they might not always agree with each other, they never leave anyone behind. All is well, until they’re confronted by a supernatural entity calling himself “Heartseed”. Heartseed has taken a liking to the club members, and demands to see them become more “fascinating”, threatening consequences otherwise. Do the students take Heartseed seriously? What will happen to them? This is the story of five students, five kids, five humans, five lives intertwining with each other as their friendship is put to the ultimate test. We’re proud to be the group that will, together with defan, help keep this series’s translation alive, and are looking forward to the great material that is sure to come out of this effort. A full chapter is already posted on the site, so get going and start reading! As always, due to the large workload involved in translating a series, please remember to say thanks to the translator when you’re taking a break from reading. NOTE: We will not be starting this project from the beginning – instead, we will be starting from Volume 5, and we encourage anybody who wants to start at the beginning to read Volumes 1-4 on Baka-Tsuki. Advertisements Share this: Twitter Facebook Like this: Like Loading... Related This entry was posted by NanoDesu.

Brad Friedman Byon 10/17/2011, 6:42pm PT While campaigning in favor of Issue 2 in Ohio (the referendum forced onto the ballot by voters in an attempt to veto the GOP bill that strips public unions of many collective bargaining rights), hilarious former Arkansas Governor and 2008 Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee encouraged supporters to suppress the votes of opponents... "Make a list… Call them and ask them, 'Are you going to vote on Issue 2 and are you going to vote for it?' If they say no, well, you just make sure that they don't go vote. Let the air out of their tires on election day. Tell them the election has been moved to a different date. That's up to you how you creatively get the job done." Hilarious stuff. Particularly in Ohio. As Comedy Central's Dennis DiClaudio pointed out, "if any person who ever voted for a Democrat ever got within a 70-yard radius of a microphone and made a joke even slightly similar to that one, Andrew Breitbart would spend a long weekend foaming at the mouth in the video bay attempting to edit down footage of the guy into something that made him look like he murdered Ronald Reagan, and James O'Keefe would be trying to seduce him in front of a hidden camera with a salame." But, ya know, IOKIYAR. But it's not the first time Huckabee --- now a host of a weekly show on Fox "News," a cable channel that pretends to care about "voter fraud," but only when they can trick viewers into believe it's being performed by Democrats --- has told the same bad "joke." As we reported in April of 2009, he used the exact same voter-suppression hilarity while stumping for Virginia's then Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell... HUCKABEE: You have two jobs. One - get all those people who are gonna vote for Bob out to the polls and vote. If they're not gonna vote for Bob, you have another job. Let the air out of their tires and do not let them out of their driveway on Election Day. Keep 'em home. Do the lord's work, my friend. I'm giving you an opportunity...yes, do the right thing. Huck's "joke" worked last time. Despite McDonnell's Democratic opponent responding with a letter describing the matter as "no joking matter," noting, "People died for the right to vote in this country, and we have to protect it," McDonnell reportedly won the election. So why not encourage the same unlawfulness this time, eh? Paul Weyrich --- the legendary rightwing demi-god, GOP godfather of modern day voter-suppression and founder of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the rightwing organization which literally drafted the templates used by GOP legislatures across the nation over the past year to pass all manner of voter-suppression bills set to affect some 5 million largely Democratic-leaning voters in 2012 --- would be proud. Perhaps Huckabee, a former Baptist minister, was amongst those at the Dallas convention of Baptist ministers in 1980 where Weyrich lectured from the podium --- next to good Christians like Jerry Falwell and Ronald Reagan --- on how keeping people from participating in their own democracy was a perfectly acceptable tactic to help Republicans win elections... WEYRICH: Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome - good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.

The idea that obesity rates have been skyrocketing is a myth. Overall the average weight gain is 15 pounds more than it was 30 years ago. So this “obesity epidemic” that you’ve been hearing about from public health officials and Michelle Obama is just another way of saying there is a war on fat people. As a fat person (yes, we in the fat-positive community prefer the term fat to describe ourselves because there is nothing wrong with the word or with being fat) it is hard not to see that the war on fatness is sending a message loud and clear: fat people shouldn’t exist. This message is getting through to children as young as 5-years-old, who are going on self-imposed diets that sometimes lead to eating disorders. It’s a message that damages self-worth, creates shame, and makes people feel like they don’t belong. And it’s a message that has led to 60 billion dollars a year in profits for the fitness, fashion, health magazine, beauty product, plastic surgery, and pharmaceutical industries, which purport to want to “help” people appear “more attractive” by Western standards or become “more healthy” (read: thin). This large profit-motive incentivizes a non-stop propaganda campaign to convince people that they need to lose weight. As a socialist and a fat person, I know that the success of capitalist fat propaganda relies on how “well” it makes people feel bad about themselves – and how well it gets the masses to internalize and then promote its message. By the stigmatizing of fatness, fat people have become easy targets of discrimination and bullying. People are socialized to want to avoid becoming what is seen as one of the worst things on earth to be – fat. It makes bullying fat children acceptable, whether it comes from other children, adults, doctors, or their parents. It allows for ridiculous stereotypes that associate fatness with unattractiveness, laziness, and stupidity to remain unchallenged. And it places the blame on fat people. Discrimination and bullying create a lot of suffering for fat people. The consequences can manifest as employment discrimination and lost wages and the lack of proper healthcare. Fat discrimination also leads to mental-health consequences such as depression and anxiety, not to mention the health impact of constant dieting, which most fat people feel pressured to do despite the fact that it’s unhealthy. The acceptance of fat shaming blinds people to the fact that fat is not black and white. It is actually quite complex, and scientists are still trying to figure it out. Fat is mostly genetic. It’s also partly environmental. There are environmental factors that contribute to fatness including chemicals, toxins, stress, poverty, hunger, and lack of access to healthy food. In fact, the majority of Americans eat genetically modified and processed foods because that is what most grocery stores sell. These food products have become more affordable because the government gives corporations subsidies for them. Moreover, we do not yet know the full impact of genetically modified foods or some of the chemical processes on our health, bodies, and well being. What we do know is processed food products tend to be high in fat, sugar, and salt and are made with chemicals and artificial ingredients, which may contribute to weight gain. Most of our meat comes from factory farms that pump animals full of chemicals and antibiotics. Our fish comes from chemical-laden waters that are being destroyed and polluted by mega corporations. These chemicals are often hormone disruptors, which impact our bodies in ways that scientists are still trying to figure out. The food system is a social problem that demands social solutions. Indoctrination against fat also ignores the economic reality of poor people. If you are poor, you are more likely to live in a food desert, where there is limited to no access to fresh produce. Forget about something like a farmer’s market; low-income neighborhoods are more likely to have a liquor store than a grocery store. This kind of food scarcity creates hunger, which contributes to changes in health and weight. People who live in low-income areas tend to breathe in more chemicals in the air from factories, plants, and refineries, car smog, and congestion than those who do not. These chemicals impact the human body in ways that scientists are still trying to uncover. Poverty and its connection to ill health calls for us to create community based social change, not shame. What you also won’t hear from fat bias is that blaming and shaming people for being fat is not only futile, it’s counter-productive. Shame is not a motivator. Shame is what drives people into the darkness. Some fat people don’t even want to be seen because they are afraid to be judged, ridiculed, and rejected. Because of the stigma, fat people are less likely to seek medical care or take care of themselves. There have been countless times that doctors have lectured me about my weight in ways that don’t inspire me to want to visit the doctor. Numerous doctors have recommended stomach-stapling surgery to me, even though this procedure is known to be extremely dangerous, often leading to starvation and malnutrition. But fat propaganda teaches us that these money-making surgeries and health risks are worth it. I’ve even been denied medical care because dental offices didn’t have blood pressure cuffs that fit me and they were afraid I would die and sue them if they treated me because I have high blood pressure, which is being treated with medication. Reasonable accommodations, like blood pressure cuffs that fit and chairs with no arms should be made available for people with larger bodies, but fat people are seen as a nuisance and treated like burdens. When fat people avoid health professionals it has adverse consequences on our health and well-being. The improper treatment and discrimination by health professionals of fat people is unethical. It is unacceptable that fat people are being systematically harmed by the very people who are supposed to protect us. Fat propaganda doesn’t want you to know that fat is not a choice and there is very little that can actually be done to control weight in the long-term. Studies show that 95 percent of people who lose weight gain it back. But the propaganda, combined with the shame and humiliation, induce fat people – and people who are afraid of becoming fat – to engage in yo-yo dieting, which is bad for your health. The source of fat is most likely some interplay between various factors, and those factors impact different people in different ways. Causation isn’t always correlation. While we know that as a society we are fatter, but we are also living longer. We evolved to maintain body weight as a way to survive. And it worked. Our nutrition, though not the best, is still better than it has ever been throughout history, and it’s helping us to live longer lives. Our goal should be to live more healthy lives, but our society makes it hard to do that. Anti-fat hype and the capitalist machine behind it don’t want you to think about that. Between the scare tactics, the blame, and the stigma, it’s no wonder that many fat people are anxious, self-conscious, and stressed. This shame and humiliation is repeated in social settings, in school, in workplaces, in the dating scene, and even in our families, where we’re constantly nagged to lose weight. When treated like this, some fat people become depressed and withdrawn. They isolate in order to protect themselves from being hurt. The resulting health consequences, both physical and mental, can be devastating. The Intersections of Fatness Recently, I read all of my childhood and young adulthood journals and diaries and noticed one common theme: I was desperately trying to lose weight so I would be loved. For a long time, I believed the message that fat people are unlovable and undesirable. And thus I carried a deep-seated belief that I could never have a romantic relationship; that no one could actually be attracted to me while I was fat. Over time I came to understand that this was simply untrue. When I realized this, I became a much happier person and truly respected myself more. That is when I found love. I also used to believe that I could never be healthy and fat, but I came to see that this is not true either. Letting go of resistance to fatness is truly liberating and freeing. We all deserve nothing less than fat liberation. In this way, fat liberation intersects with queer liberation. There are a lot of similarities between the struggle of queer people and fat people. A brilliant piece was recently written in Bitch magazine about this: “Sized Up: Why fat is a queer and feminist issue” by Anna Mollow. This article highlights how both communities face stigma, discrimination, shame, and that being fat/queer is unhealthy, a choice, and a disease. The article addresses how there is an effort underway to eradicate fatness the way that gayness has been systematically attacked. For me, fat phobia within the gay community is personally very hard to accept. Gay men, in particular, are increasingly harsh towards each other. The pressure to be thin and muscular is very high, and the social rejection is very painful for those who don’t make the mark. Dealing with the ostracism that gay people face is hard enough; to be told you aren’t datable or worthy of a life-partner because you’re considered out of shape and “ugly” compounds the struggle. I feel the queer community should reject such limiting ideas and contractions about looks and attractiveness. Fatness also intersects with race. According to the CDC, Blacks and Latinos weigh more on average, by 47.8 and 42.5 percent respectively. People of color are more likely to suffer from environmental racism, where their communities are devoid of fresh fruits and vegetables or safe spaces in which to exercise. People of color experience high levels of stress, particularly the poorer they are, and disproportionately lack access to healthcare compared to Euro-Americans. Fatness is also a feminist issue. Women, in particular, are fighting extreme societal pressure to be thin. These expectations are unrealistic and unreasonable, and quite unattainable, but that’s the point. As women struggle for the socio-cultural constructions of physical perfection, it keeps us inextricably locked into oppression. It’s a false paradigm, but it’s reinforced everywhere we turn by the mechanisms of capital – particularly advertising, media, and entertainment. And because women are made to feel insecure on such a massive scale, they buy into fat hysteria, investing enormous amounts of time, energy, and money “fixing” themselves and seeking validation. This constant search for external validation is fruitless, though. The products being sold through fat propaganda aren’t designed to make women feel good; they rely on women feeling bad to turn a profit. And they’re winning. There is also more discrimination against fat women than fat men, because women are held to a higher social standard of “beauty” (thinness). The more shame and less empowered people feel, the less likely they are to think enough of themselves to want a better life, a better society, and a better world. This means they are less likely to resist the oppressive social and economic structures that control their lives. Capitalism is built this way on purpose — to lock people into it. And capitalism props up patriarchy, which keeps men in power and in control over women. Fat oppression is just another medium by which this system operates and hurts us all. Why We Should Reject Fat Hysteria As Socialists we should reject fat hysteria because above all else we believe in the dignity and self-worth of all people and the right to self-determination and individual liberty. Socialists believe we need to rid our society of hierarchies and instead create an egalitarian society where fundamentally no one is seen or treated as better than anyone. We need to stop making people feel that they are the “other” just because they are different from what mainstream society thinks is the “norm.” Socialists question where social norms come from and resist social control. Socialists believe that no corporation should have the right to make a profit at the cost of hurting human lives. Socialists believe that people should not feel ashamed of who they are and that they should not feel pressured to become something considered by society to be “more desirable” in order to fit into some arbitrary category. We realize that fat people have an identity, which should be preserved and respected. Socialists honor that fat people are not thin people trapped inside fat bodies screaming to get out. Fat people are who they are — fat people. As Socialists and as feminists, we need to release ourselves from the fat stigma and internalized oppression that feed the profits of shame- and blame-based industries. We need to make it clear that we all deserve to be treated equally regardless of any difference, including size. We can free people from fat anxiety, weight panic, and size obsession by creating a society where all people can attain healthy lives and bodies — and by shutting down fat hate mongers. Socialists know that fat should not be seen as an individual issue but as a social issue. We know that to help people achieve healthfulness our society must undergo a radical and fundamental shift towards socialism. As Socialists it’s important to recognize that our support of socialized medicine, a universal health care system that is publicly owned and controlled, is also a rejection of fat propaganda and hysteria. Rather than buying into the pathology of fat propaganda, we should consider supporting inclusive and accepting ways of achieving a healthy body, such as Health At Every Size (HAES), a method developed by Dr. Linda Bacon, a researcher who herself survived weight obsession. Dr. Bacon’s HAES method is a movement that believes people can strive for health no matter what their size and that people can improve their health without weight loss as a goal. The truth is there is nothing wrong with being fat. Fat is not a disease, despite what many say. Fat is not something to be feared or despised. Fat people are not something to be controlled or constrained, nor to be extinguished by some kind of fat genocide. Fat people are just people like anyone else. Personally, I am proud to be who I am, and I accept, embrace, and love myself the way I am — fat. I am fat-positive and reject fatphobia and sizeism. I believe strongly in fat acceptance. Courageously, many fat people are coming to the same conclusion and are organizing for their right to be themselves, to love themselves and each other, and to fight against discrimination and fat prejudice. Let’s join them.

× This page contains archived content and is no longer being updated. At the time of publication, it represented the best available science. The eruption at Chile’s Puyehue-Cordón Caulle Volcanic Complex sent clouds of ash high into the atmosphere, above the weather that usually breaks up such plumes. The CALIPSO satellite recorded the plume 15 kilometers (50,000 feet) above the Earth on the second day of the eruption, and the volcano continues to push ash into the atmosphere. At these high altitudes, the ash entered the jetstream and blew quickly eastward. By June 13, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite acquired these images, a concentrated plume was visible more than half a world away over Australia and New Zealand. The top image shows the ash plume over southern Australia and the Tasman Sea, while the lower image provides a view farther east over New Zealand and the South Pacific Ocean. The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand warned pilots that the ash cloud was between 20,000 and 35,000 feet (6 to 11 kilometers), the cruising level for many aircraft. Because volcanic ash can damage a jet engine, flight traffic in parts of Australia and New Zealand was canceled or diverted to lower altitudes. NASA images (New Zealand and Australia) courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Holli Riebeek.

Under CEO Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s key differentiation strategy has been network quality – a differentiator that has been increasingly difficult to maintain now that competitors have largely completed their LTE network buildouts. That’s set to change soon, however, McAdam told investors today. “When you’re ready to move to the next generation, there’s a stacking up,” said McAdam. Following that, however, there is a period of huge differentiation because “some are willing to invest in the network” while others are not. “We’re the only one with spectrum and hundreds of cellsites,” McAdam said – and that, he said, will enable the company to pull ahead of competitors as it rolls out 5G. Industry efforts to prioritize 5G have accelerated development efforts, McAdam noted. He expects to see 5G chips on the market in the first quarter of 2018, and he noted that Verizon efforts to densify its network by deploying fiber and small cells will position the company well to support 5G. Verizon Network Differentiator McAdam’s enthusiasm about 5G is based, in part, on preliminary results from trials of 5G technology in a fixed configuration that suggest it won’t be essential to have a clear line of sight between the cellsite and the customer location. He also noted that, although Verizon expected to be able to cover up to six floors in a building, results are showing coverage over 20 floors. Under McAdam, Verizon has been quite wireless-centric and some of McAdam’s comments today suggest that will be even more true moving forward. He hinted, for example, that Verizon may deploy fixed 5G in markets where the company may have considered deploying FiOS fiber-to-the-home technology but where the economics didn’t support that investment. “The cost of [bringing] fiber to the home held us back,” McAdam said. With fixed 5G, however, he anticipates avoiding a truck roll. Instead, he expects to mail out the customer premises equipment with turn-up instructions. Video won’t be an important part of Verizon’s strategy. Although having video in a bundle can help minimize churn, margins are narrow and, as McAdam put it, “the 300-channel bundle is under assault.” Instead, he said, if Verizon can get a customer’s broadband business, the company won’t care whether the company is buying linear or over-the-top video. Like rival AT&T, however, Verizon sees opportunities to monetize its wireless network by selling ads that are highly targeted based on customer data only available to the customer’s wireless network operator. AT&T executives have bragged that they will be able to charge much more for targeted ads than advertisers are currently paying, but McAdam was more cautious. “Our heads are in the same place,” McAdam said about Stephenson’s ad targeting strategy, but Verizon is “not as bullish on CPM as Randall.” (Advertising costs are measured in CPM, or cost per thousand.) McAdam made his comments at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference, which was also webcast.

Image: vapes.com/Flickr An estimated 6.1 million Europeans have quit smoking by switching to vaping, according to a paper published online this week in Addiction. Though only an estimation, the study highlights the need for more data on how useful vaping may be as a stop smoking aid. It's especially crucial as new e-cigarette regulations roll out across the EU and the US—rules that some say threaten the entire e-cig industry. In the paper, researchers did a close analysis of data collected back in 2014 and released last year through the European Commission. It found that only 2 percent of respondents are currently using e-cigarettes, and just 14 percent had been able to quit smoking completely by switching to vaping. However, this included any smoker who had even tried one puff of an e-cigarette (not exactly a sustained effort to quit). In the Addiction paper, the researchers broke down the numbers a little further and found a much more impressive success rate. When you only look at respondents who were currently using e-cigarettes, 35 percent were former smokers who had successfully quit. And there was a correlation with higher use: Of respondents who vaped daily, 30.6 percent had quit smoking, compared to 8.9 percent of respondents who said they vaped once a week or less. To put this in perspective, the researchers then extrapolated the representation to the total EU population and estimated 6.1 million people had quit through vaping, and 9.2 million had been able to cut back on smoking by becoming dual users. Of course, by that same logic, millions of Europeans have tried and failed to quit using e-cigarettes as well, but that's also true of all smoking cessation tools. Prescription drugs—our most effective stop smoking aid—are about 23 percent effective, while treatments like nicotine patches and gum only work 6 percent of the time. In the fall, Pfizer representatives told me its stop-smoking drug Chantix had been prescribed to 22 million unique patients around the world since it came on the market. With a 23 percent effectiveness rate, that means an estimated 5 million people will have stopped smoking by taking the drug, putting vaping on par with some of our best smoking cessation technology. Unfortunately for the vaping evangelists, this kind of analysis has its limitations. The 6 million people is an extrapolated estimate. The survey only interviewed 27,801 people and since it was interview style, it's all self-reported. As the analysis authors note, "Although surveys and studies of users have shown that many smokers succeed in quitting smoking with the use of e-cigarettes, randomized controlled trials have shown modest effects and the efficacy of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation and reduction has been questioned." It's far from irrefutable proof of some magic, stop-smoking effects of vaping, but the authors argue these indicators show further research needs to be done, and perhaps we need to approach it in a different way than we have in the past. "It is not reasonable to expect experimentation or occasional use to be substantially effective in smoking cessation," the authors wrote. "Other surveys fail to differentiate between regular and occasional use or experimentation, which results in overestimation of the prevalence of use and underestimation of their efficacy in smoking substitution."

A U.S. jury on Monday found a former HSBC Holdings (hsea) executive guilty of defrauding Cairn Energy (crnzf) in a $3.5 billion currency trade in 2011. U.S. prosecutors have said that Mark Johnson, formerly head of HSBC’s global foreign exchange cash trading desk, schemed to ramp up the price of British pounds before executing a trade for Cairn, making millions for HSBC at Cairn’s expense. “They’ve convicted an innocent man,” John Wing, a lawyer for Johnson, told reporters as he left the courtroom in Brooklyn federal court, where Johnson was on trial for nearly four weeks. Johnson, a 51-year-old British citizen, was the first banker to be tried in the United States as a result of worldwide investigations into the multi-trillion-dollar per day currency market. The probes have led to about $10 billion in fines against several banks and the firing of dozens of traders. According to court filings, Cairn hired HSBC in 2011 to convert $3.5 billion into British pounds sterling in connection with the sale of an Indian subsidiary. Prosecutors said that Johnson and another former HSBC executive who is also facing charges, Stuart Scott, devised a scheme to drive up the price of pounds by executing a series of trades before carrying out the trade for Cairn. For more on fraud cases, watch Fortune’s video: Such trading in advance of a client’s order to make a profit is known as “front-running.” During the trial, jurors heard numerous tape recorded phone calls between Johnson and others discussing the trade. In one call, Scott and Johnson told Cairn and its financial advisor after the trade that a “Russian buyer” had been responsible for a spike in the price of pounds. Prosecutors said that was a lie. In his closing argument last week, Wing told jurors there was no way to do a massive currency transaction like the one HSBC did without affecting the price. He said that Johnson and his colleagues had tried to get a fair price for Cairn and even given Cairn a rebate. A lawyer for Scott, who is in Britain and fighting extradition to the United States to face charges, declined to comment. Scott was HSBC’s former head of cash trading for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A HSBC spokesman in London declined to comment. HSBC spokesman Robert Sherman said before the trial that Johnson left HSBC earlier this year, and Scott left in 2014.

For those of you that don’t know, the Kings’ Cup is our annual rivalry with Louisville fans the Cooper’s. Starting in 2015 (the inaugural year for both Saint Louis FC & Louisville City FC) the Louligans and Cooper’s had a bit of banter on Twitter. We decided we’d create a rivalry out of whole cloth. While some chided us for making it up, we’ve had a good bit of fun taking shots at one another. But we’ve also developed a pretty good relationship with most of them (and all the other Louisville cosplay core). In addition to rooting for our teams we’ve also raised a good bit of money for the St. Louis Area Foodbank with our #PizzaGate fundraisers on our home matches against LCFC. We’ll be doing #PizzaGate3 this season and we plan on bringing in another good collection for the hungry people of St. Louis. Years 1 & 2 saw the Cooper’s raise the plastic cup they call a trophy. This year we’re in our best position yet to win the Cup. Game 1 in Louisville was a 0-0 draw. Yes, we’ve had some trouble finding wins lately, but Saturday’s win against Charleston has given us all a bit of hope again. Afterall, it’s back on. All we need to do is take care of business and win our game at home and it’s ours. The fact that we have essentially brought in an entire new team means we have to really let the boys know how important this game is to us fans. We’ve put ourselves in a position where most of the rest of our games need to be wins, so essentially this game is just another we have to win. BUT for Louligans, beating Louisville would be just a little sweeter. Do us a favor and use the hashtag #KingsCup17 this week and tag the team and your favorite players on social media this week so they know how important this one is to us. On Saturday we’ll have an epic tailgate with many traveling LCFC fans before the game. We’ll have special Merch deals that will help us raise money for #PizzaGate3. And we’ll have a damn good time. It’s our time to lift the cup, and we want you all there. Don’t wait, call Darien today if you don’t already have tickets. The corner will sell out quick and the rest of the stadium won’t last until Saturday. Let’s do this. For those that are into Rules, here are the official rules of the Kings’ Cup:

This article is over 8 years old Japan has temporarily suspended its annual whale hunt in the Antarctic after anti-whaling activists obstructed its fleet's mother ship. Officials in Tokyo have conceded that this year's mission, which had again been the target of international criticism, had not gone as well as hoped and the fleet may be called home early, according to reports. Tatsuya Nakaoku, a fisheries agency official, said the decision was taken after the mother ship, the Nisshin Maru, was "harassed" by members of the marine conservation group Sea Shepherd. "Putting a priority on safety, the fleet has halted scientific whaling for now," he said. "We are currently considering what to do next." Reports said the government was considering halting the expedition entirely well before its scheduled end in mid-March. Sea Shepherd described this year's campaign as its most successful yet. "I see victory on the horizon," a spokesman for the group, Peter Hammarstedt, told ABC News in Australia. "I think certainly our actions down there have contributed to them possibly calling off their season early." The Japanese fleet is thought to have killed between 30 and 100 whales – a fraction of its quota – since it arrived in Antarctic whaling grounds late last year. The Sea Shepherd's vessel, the Bob Barker, located the fleet as soon as it arrived and has been pursuing the Nisshin Maru as it heads towards the Antarctic peninsula below South America. The harpoon ships are unable to kill whales unless the mother ship is there to process them. Japanese broadcaster TBS said the government believed the situation had become "so dangerous" that it had no choice but to suspend the hunt and recall the fleet. "If the government does call back the fleet it would mean giving in to anti-whaling activists," the broadcaster said. Japan is one of three key countries that continue to hunt whales – the others are Norway and Iceland – despite opposition from environmental campaigners and countries including Australia and New Zealand. Latin American members of the International Whaling Commission recently urged Japan to end its scientific hunts and respect whale sanctuaries. Australia, meanwhile, has filed a complaint with the international court of justice in the Hague in an attempt to get the hunts banned. A decision is expected in 2013 or later. Under a provision in the IWC's 1986 ban on commercial whaling, Japan is permitted to kill around 1,000 whales in the Southern Ocean every year for what it calls scientific research. This year the fleet, comprising four ships and 180 crew members, had planned to kill about 900 minke and 50 fin whales. But the whalers have been hampered in recent years by clashes with Sea Shepherd activists. Last year they returned to port with 506 minke whales, far fewer than their intended haul.

Q: Given the current win streak, which really came about because the core developmental players were injured, doesn't Heat management have to give strong consideration to keeping the likes of Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Wayne Ellington? Waiters has been developing nicely and he is only 25 years old. There is plenty of upside left. He and Goran Dragic are playing so well together. With their inside-outside games they really do stretch the floor. James Johnson and Wayne Ellington are 29, but there is definitely mileage left there. Given the way that these three, plus Willie Reed, have delivered, there must be a way to keep these guys at least for another year or two while the developmental youth matures. -- Michael, North Miami A: First, even with the reclaimed salary-cap space from Chris Bosh, I'm not sure the Heat would have enough cap space to even keep what they have in place, if they also keep their current featured players. Next season's salary cap is expected to fall into the $103 million range. So start with Hassan Whiteside, Goran Dragic and Tyler Johnson; that's $55 million. Then factor in the options with Josh McRoberts (a player option) and Wayne Ellington (essentially a team option); that's another $12 million. So that gets you up to $67 million. Then there are the salaries of Justise Winslow, Josh Richardson, Rodney McGruder, and I would suspect Okaro White; that's another $6 million. So that gets you to $73 million. So if you put James Johnson and Dion Waiters each in the $10 million range in this crazy NBA economy, you're up to $93 million. And, face it, Willie Reed is moving closer to a mid-level salary, which would be about $8 million. So, right there, you're just about at the cap. Without adding a single free agent. That's why you're going to have to pick and choose, and possibly shed some salary, if that is even possible. Q: Is this season's priority the draft or the playoffs? If they push for the playoffs, that leaves their spot in the draft in a less-than-ideal place if they're aiming for any of the top-tier prospects. If the focus is the draft, then they're not doing themselves any favors by keeping together a team that apparently can win games. -- Brian, Mountain View, Calif. A: Here's what happened this season: The Heat piled up so many losses so early that all the outside focus turned to the draft, began to froth at the possibility of the likes of Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz, Dennis Smith or Josh Jackson. But inside the organization, there always was a measured approach, about both the season and the draft. There is enough institutional awareness to know that you don't know until you know. So you try to maximize what you have on your roster, and you make sure you scout all levels of the draft, from early lottery, to mid-lottery to players in the teens and beyond. And then, when you know where you stand, you make the decisions. The Heat aren't drafting this week, this month or any time before June. And until Feb. 23, at the NBA trading deadline, there still is time to recalibrate the roster. So you let the games dictate. The Heat aren't losing out on top picks, because in their view they never had a top pick (or any other pre-determined pick). Q: Pat Riley said he wants to get two first-round picks for the 2017 draft, which means you've got to tank for one and trade for the other. -- Aura. A: Or you get one at No. 12 or No. 14 or No. 16, and then you trade for or buy one at the end of the first round. Voila, two first-round picks.

How far away is Puerto Rico, from President Donald Trump’s perspective? “This is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. And it’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean,” he said, on Tuesday morning, before a meeting with House members. Puerto Rico is, indeed, an island, but it is also an American island, inhabited by three and a half million United States citizens who are in immediate danger, owing to the havoc wrought by Hurricane Maria. The storm made landfall on the commonwealth more than a week ago as a Category 4 hurricane and swept it from end to end, destroying fields of crops and ripping the façades off of apartment buildings. Relief workers have still not been able to reach some towns in the interior. Trump announced that he would visit Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, which were also hard hit, next Tuesday, which he said was the soonest practical date. Meanwhile, the majority of people in Puerto Rico remain without clean water, the electricity grid is inoperable, cell towers are down, roads are impassable, food is rotting, and many of the elderly and the sick have been left without care. All of this is happening in America, rather than some place distant from this country. But instead of emphasizing that closeness, or a sense of mutual obligation, Trump has, so far, focussed on how different Puerto Rico is, and what its people owe him, which is, above all, their gratitude. “We have been really treated very, very nicely by the governor and by everybody else,” Trump said later, during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon with Mariano Rajoy, the Prime Minister of Spain. Trump was referring to the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, and his colleagues. “They know how hard we’re working and what a good job we’re doing.” When a reporter nonetheless asked Trump whether he had perhaps spent a disproportionate amount of time tweeting complaints about N.F.L. players kneeling during the national anthem, when he should have been rallying support for Puerto Rico, Trump bristled, and insisted that his attacks on the players were important for America. Then he went back to talking about what he had done for Puerto Rico—“I have plenty of time on my hands”—adding that the governor “is so grateful for the job we are doing. In fact, he thanked me specifically for FEMA and all the first responders.” Trump described that praise as “incredible” and “amazing,” and said, “We have had tremendous reviews from government officials.” Governor Rosselló, as it happened, had spent the previous day giving interviews during which he had called urgently for more help for the island. He has expressed appreciation for the hard work that FEMA has been doing, along with members of the military—on Tuesday morning, the Marines were clearing roads—but he made it very clear that it isn’t enough. The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, whom Trump also portrayed as an admirer, said that the island was in the grip of a “humanitarian crisis.” Congress has not acted; FEMA is still working with money appropriated for Hurricane Harvey. The Department of Homeland Security turned down a request from several members of Congress to waive the Jones Act, which places restrictions on shipping. And there is more that the government and military can do. Puerto Rico is limping along, with what are meant to be backup generators using dwindling supplies of fuel. A number of air-control towers and radar installations are also down, preventing sufficient supplies from coming in. CNN reported that a children’s hospital in San Juan was running out of power for the ventilators that were needed to keep a dozen boys and girls alive—and that is in the capital, the most well-equipped and accessible part of the island. Dozens of hospitals and clinics are simply closed. Various headlines said that Rosselló has “begged” for help, but the plea he made was not humbling for him but humiliating for the rest of us, who have not done enough for our compatriots in Puerto Rico or in the Virgin Islands. “We are proud U.S. citizens,” Rosselló, who had come to the aid of other U.S. citizens in time of need, said. It was a point he was forced to make; as the Times noted, in a recent poll of people on the mainland, half did not realize that Puerto Ricans were natural-born American citizens. Trump, at various instances, failed to correct that misapprehension. Before the meeting with House members, he said, “I grew up in New York, so I know many people from Puerto Rico. I know many Puerto Ricans. And these are great people, and we have to help them.” Indeed, he said that they were “fantastic people,” but he did not note, either then or during the press conference, that they were American people. Even in a tweet on Tuesday night in which he said “America’s hearts & prayers” were with Puerto Rico and that we would get through this “TOGETHER!,” he did not mention shared citizenship. He’ll likely get around to it—plenty of people in his party, including Marco Rubio, have made the point—but the delay has a cost. In a series of tweets on Monday night, which marked Trump’s first comments on Puerto Rico after a long interval, he stressed how different it was from Texas and Florida, because of logistics (it is an island) and also financial status. “Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble…” the tweets began. “It’s [sic] old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....”—he continued the thought in a third tweet—“owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities—and doing well. #FEMA.” Trump’s reminder that Puerto Rico has bills to pay was, at best, ill-timed. In fact, it was hard to read it as anything but an injunction to lower expectations: Puerto Ricans were already poor—why would anyone think they would, or should, be in as good shape as Florida or Texas? Meanwhile, his comment about food, water, and medical care “doing well” was demonstrably false. The only limit to his blitheness was his penchant for dramatic language (with Prime Minister Rajoy, he called Puerto Rico a “wipeout”) and his tendency to brag. At the meeting with House members, Trump said, “We’ve gotten A-pluses on Texas and on Florida, and we will also on Puerto Rico.” The grading period seemed to have ended a moment later, when he added, “I think we’re really getting really good marks for the work we’re doing.” At the press conference, Trump repeated that the big problem with getting help to Puerto Rico was “a thing called the Atlantic Ocean. This is tough stuff.” It is a tough body of water—all the more so, lately, due to a climate crisis that Trump denies—but that argument would be more persuasive if Maria had hit two days ago, rather than a week ago. Governor Rosselló observed that if Puerto Rico is not livable, its residents could always move en masse to the mainland. And why shouldn’t they move from one part of America to another, if they want to? This is their home.

Having just returned from living in Paris, I feel more convinced than ever that America gets many things wrong about sex. Right there near the top of the list is our attachment to the idea of consent. In Paris, it seems as if the straight male attitude toward consent is that it doesn't exist. At clubs, bars, bistros, in the street or on the Metro, Parisian men lobby very aggressively for sex. At the clubs in the 8ème, off the Champs-Élysées, and all along Rue de Rivoli, it is fairly common to watch men literally grab and touch the girls who weave through the crowd. Men often draw a finger down an unknown girl's cheek or under her chin like a doting Uncle; they can be seen pinching girls' noses, throwing arms around shoulders and even stealing kisses. It's not for nothing that the French slang word for "kiss" or "make out" is choper, which literally means "to catch." Parisian women deny or accept these advances with a decisiveness many American women lack. Naturally, some girls in Paris walk away and reject these strong come-ons. But one can observe many of them reacting with knowing laughter; these women understand the game. They often seem legitimately flattered by the attention and stick around for an introductory conversation. The men buy the women drinks. Sometimes they trade phone numbers or make out in a corner somewhere. And sometimes, of course, the whole exchange ends in sex. Whatever the result, women maneuver around male aggression to gain the upper hand. They are the ones deciding what to do with the onslaught of male desire. And though the men are leveraging these attacks as a pretense for familiarity (later on in the night or outside the club the ice has already been broken) it's the women who call the shots. Parisian women seem to derive a feminist power from this chauvinism that makes them come across as strong, self-determining, and completely aware of themselves as permanent objects of desire. And drunk or sober, it seems Parisian women get exactly what they want while their men, if rejected, are left to hammer doggedly away at other targets. It's anybody's guess whether the Parisians are more sexually satisfied by this arrangement, but one thing seems sure: Parisian women seem empowered by it. They make the decisions. In America, by contrast, the discourse on consent impresses upon us all, men and women alike, that sex is something more important than a decision. A lot more is involved in obtaining or denying consent than making a decision. For one thing, consent has ethical and legal overtones and implies the kind of complete and utter self-mastery that isn't always on offer while partying. Intoxicated people can, however, make decisions, and if they're in keeping with their interests and desires at a given time then they can even qualify as good decisions. Much more readily than American women, Parisian women acknowledge that sex can be about pleasure seeking. Now that's empowerment. One lesson from Paris is that sex shouldn't be an activity to which we need to consent if a decision will suffice. Advertisement A specific example from my time in France helps illustrate my point. I once fell madly in love with a woman named Madeleine. I thought she liked me too because she kept agreeing to see me and she once elegantly blew me a kiss as she descended into a Metro station. We were never intimate because the moment never seemed right to try to kiss her. Lovesick and unsure of what to do, I complained about Madeleine to a female French friend who said to me, "Have you tried getting her drunk?" Obviously my friend's recommendation was based on the assumption that after getting drunk Madeleine would be easier to seduce. This idea of plying a woman with alcohol (something that is applauded by American men in private) often enrages American women because they view it as an assault on their right to consent. Is this really a good thing? Here in America, our use of the word "consent" complicates the way we view the relation between sex and pleasure. "Consent" is a weighty term otherwise reserved for elevated, formal, even sanitized contexts. Using the term in regards to sex inherently ties a sexual choice to ethical and legal ones (and our unshakable Puritanism once again rears its modest head). But we shouldn't forget how eminently capable we are of having conflicting or layered desires and of making contradictory decisions over time. Sometimes we act spontaneously and even surprise ourselves. Is there a greater expression of our autonomy than acting spontaneously? Thinking about sex as decision — and not an action requiring consent — may in this way be empowering. A decision is an action that can be neutral and value-independent in a way that offering consent simply cannot. It would be asinine and anti-feminist to argue that consent doesn't exist, or that the complete disregard of consent has no repercussions (because it most certainly does). But our language reflects and enables our sexual repression, and that in turn causes us to do damaging, disempowering things (like perpetuate a double standard on promiscuity), and it may be inadvertently enforced by how we refer to sexual choices. I'm not suggesting that a woman have sex with someone she doesn't want to, but I'm hoping we can start having more guilt-free sex by any means necessary. If we turn the volume down on consent, perhaps we'll get closer to this kind of liberation. Advertisement Edward Pasteck is a writer now living in New York. He's looking for someone to publish the book about love he wrote while living in Paris and can be reached at edwardpasteck@gmail.com. Update/Editor's Note: "Edward Pasteck" is a pseudonym under which the author wants to continue writing (elsewhere). His views do not necessarily reflect the views of the site. More on that here.

Everyone knows how important bullpens are in Major League Baseball these days, but can everyone agree on which two relievers should receive this important hardware from those legendary closers at the big ceremony? The Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award and the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award, both presented by The Hartford, are scheduled to be presented Oct. 28 at Game 4 of the 113th World Series. The Mariano Rivera American League Reliever of the Year Award and the Trevor Hoffman National League Reliever of the Year Award, both presented by The Hartford, are scheduled to be presented Oct. 28 at Game 4 of the 113th World Series. Everyone knows how important bullpens are in Major League Baseball these days, but can everyone agree on which two relievers should receive this important hardware from those legendary closers at the big ceremony? From now through Oct. 26, you can submit a pair of names at MLB.com to determine who the fans believe should be the winners. Balloting for the awards is being conducted among a panel of eight all-time great relievers. Rivera and Hoffman, both of whom spent their entire careers in the same league en route to the top of the all-time saves list, are joined by three Hall of Fame relievers -- Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter -- as well as Lee Smith, John Franco and Billy Wagner. The panel includes the six all-time saves leaders who are no longer active players. • Submit your choices for Relievers of the Year The eight voters rank the top three AL relief pitchers and the top three NL relief pitchers based solely on regular-season performance and using a 5-3-1 weighted point system. Commissioner Rob Manfred and an executive from The Hartford typically present the honors along with the awards' namesake closers. This has become a tradition during each Fall Classic, as these Reliever of the Year Awards in 2014 replaced the Delivery Man of the Year Award, which had been presented to one winner from 2005-13. The awards continue a longstanding baseball tradition of honoring the game's top bullpen arms. Here's a look at this year's top contenders: AMERICAN LEAGUE Ken Giles: The Astros' closer converted all 19 of his save chances at home during the regular season, the longest single-season home saves streak in franchise history. He posted a 0.84 ERA (three earned runs in 32 innings) at home, with 45 strikeouts in 31 appearances there. Overall, Giles recorded 34 saves in 38 chances and boasted a 2.30 ERA in 63 outings. Video: HOU@BOS: Giles earns save, Astros record 100th win Giles struck out 83 batters in 62 2/3 innings for 11.92 strikeouts per nine innings. He walked 21 for 3.02 walks per nine, his lowest walk ratio since his debut season in 2014 (2.17). Giles ranked highly among AL relievers in several categories: ERA (seventh), strikeouts per nine (13th), strikeouts (14th) and opponents' batting average (18th). Craig Kimbrel: Kimbrel won the NL award the first year these two honors were presented in 2014, while closing for the Braves, so he has a strong shot at the distinction of taking a Hartford prize in each league. Kimbrel led Major League relievers in strikeouts per nine (16.43) and WHIP (0.68), and tied for first in strikeouts (126). That whiff total was the most by a Boston reliever since Dick Radatz struck out 183 in 1964. Video: BOS@TB: Kimbrel strikes out side in 9th Kimbrel led AL relievers in ERA (1.43), was second in strikeouts-to-walks (9.0) and opponents' average (.140) and third in saves (35). It was his third career 100-strikeout season, one shy of his career high (127) set in 2011, his first full Major League campaign. With Boston from 2016-17, Kimbrel has converted 66 of 72 save opportunities (91.6 percent), including 35 of 39 this year. David Robertson: The right-hander rejoined the Yankees on July 18 and proceeded to go 5-0 with a 1.03 ERA (35 innings, four earned runs) and 51 strikeouts in 30 appearances. Relying heavily on a curveball -- thrown 45.5 percent of the time, third-highest among anyone who threw at least 500 pitches -- Robertson had a career-high nine wins, most among relievers. He finished with an 18-inning scoreless streak in 15 games and retired 26 of the last 29 batters he faced during the regular season. Video: NYY@TB: Robertson strikes out four over 2 2/3 innings Robertson succeeded Rivera as Yankees closer in 2014, so how appropriate would it be if Rivera presented the award to Robertson? Robertson has an active streak of eight appearances without allowing a hit or run (since Sept. 15), surpassing Rivera (seven games, June 3-20, 2010) for the longest such single-season streak in Yankees history (minimum one inning per game). NATIONAL LEAGUE Wade Davis: The Cubs traded Jorge Soler to Kansas City and made Davis their closer following last year's breakthrough championship. He was selected to his third consecutive All-Star Game presented by Mastercard and was excellent in big spots during Chicago's repeat chase, hoping to win his second ring in three years. Video: CHC@MIL: Davis gets Arcia to strand the bases loaded Davis was one of only 35 relievers to face at least 100 at-bats with the tying or go-ahead run on base or at the plate, and according to Statcast™, he had one of the lowest expected batting averages (.169) against him in those situations. On Sept. 23, his franchise-record 32 straight successful saves to start a season snapped. Kenley Jansen: The Dodgers' closer collected his third career 40-plus save season (2014, '16 and '17) and joined Eric Gagne (2002-04) as the only pitchers in Dodgers history with three seasons of 40-plus saves. Jansen led all regular relievers with a 1.32 ERA (10 earned runs in 68 1/3 innings) and tied for second in the big leagues in saves (41). He led all NL relievers in WHIP (0.75) and ranked second with 109 strikeouts. Video: LAD@PHI: Jansen seals the win with a four-out save Jansen had the highest cutter usage rate in baseball -- 88.4 percent of his pitches during the regular season. And it was usually unhittable. According to Statcast™, Jansen had the lowest xBA allowed -- .141 -- among righties (minimum 100 at-bats against) with the tying or go-ahead run on base or at the plate. Corey Knebel: The right-hander became the ninth reliever in Brewers history to be selected for an All-Star Game. He ranked among MLB relievers in strikeouts (tied for first, 126), strikeouts per nine innings (third, 14.92), saves (tied for fourth, 39) and appearances (tied for fifth, 76). His strikeout total surpassed Julio Machado's 98 in 1991 to become a Brewers single-season record by a reliever. Video: CIN@MIL: Knebel seals a 4-3 win for the Brewers Knebel's 45 consecutive appearances with a strikeout from April 3 to July 15 set a single-season MLB record for relievers (Bruce Sutter, 39 games in 1977). His 45 consecutive appearances with a strikeout to begin the season broke an MLB record for relievers (Aroldis Chapman, 37 games in 2014). And according to Statcast™, Knebel (.150) ranked behind only Jansen (.141) among relievers with the tying or go-ahead run on base or at the plate (mininum 100 at-bats). Do you still favor saves as a measuring stick? Or maybe expected batting average is more important to you now? Consider this Statcast™ nugget: Among 341 pitchers to face at least 200 at-bats this season, Kimbrel had the second-lowest expected batting average against him, Knebel had the third-lowest, Jansen had the fifth-lowest and Robertson had the sixth-lowest. That is based on the quality of contact they allowed, plus their strikeouts totals. Lowest xBA against, minimum 200 at-bats 1. Dellin Betances: .127 2. Kimbrel: .160 3. Knebel: .163 4. Carl Edwards Jr.: .164 5. Jansen: .165 6. Robertson: .169 There are many ways to evaluate a reliever's strengths to his club, and MLB is counting on you to help determine who should be sitting with two bullpen legends at a World Series ceremony.

Chief Amherst Correspondent reporting from on the scene with BIOL-434 “Aren’t they just so majestic?” whispers Professor Ethan Temeles. Two dozen students stand on the shores of the Connecticut river, in awe of the thousands of salmon-colored shorts darting and splashing through the currents. Dennis Shenberg ’15, who is writing his senior thesis on the shorts’ migratory patterns, explained that he has been studying the various species of salmonum bracis for years. “Following the mating season, the various families of shorts, known as ‘frats,’ congregate here to begin their great migration.” A pair of Nantucket Reds dives in a great arc across the water’s surface, landing with a splash. “The majority will find their way to South America, traveling some 8,000 miles.” Shenberg pauses. “But some fraternities will not make it,” he adds softly. “The shorts will then restart their yearly cycle, gracing the legs of Peruvian, Chilean and Bolivian prepsters,” says Temeles, nodding reverently. “They are known to the locals of those countries as Pantalones de salmon.” A majestic fraternity of Dark Pink lacostes gathers at the bank of the river, signaling to the others that the school is ready to take flight. “Those of you who are interested”, Temeles quietly adds, “should join me in a few weeks to watch the Bean Boots arrive.” Advertisements

Arianespace has signed a launch services contract with French space agency CNES for the new CERES signals intelligence satellites. The CERES (Capacité de Renseignement d’origine Electromagnétique Spatiale) system will enable France to collect, by the year 2020, signals intelligence in areas that are not accessible by surface sensors, under all weather conditions and without any legal constraints concerning overflight zones. The contracting authority for the CERES program is the French defense procurement agency DGA (Direction Générale de l’Armement), which has chosen Airbus Defence and Space and co-contractor Thales Alenia Space to build the system. CNES will be involved at this level in an integrated DGA-CNES team, as well as acting as delegated program authority, especially for procurement of launch services. Stéphane Israël, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arianespace, and Marc Pircher, Director of the Toulouse Space Center, announced today that they had signed the launch contract for the CERES mission. The mission into low Earth orbit (LEO) will use a Vega light launcher. Following the signature of this contract, Arianespace Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stéphane Israël said: “We are very honored at the trust expressed in us by the DGA and CNES to orbit the satellites in the CERES system, using our Vega light launcher. The intelligence capabilities offered by France, and by Europe in general, are a key to the security of our citizens. Satellite systems are a very effective means of improving security, and we are proud of our contribution, which reflects our primary mission, namely guaranteeing reliable and independent access to space for Europe. This contract also marks the latest business win for Vega, which is increasingly seen as the benchmark launcher in its class.” About Arianespace Arianespace is the world’s leading satellite launch company. Founded in 1980, Arianespace deploys a family of three launchers, Ariane, Soyuz and Vega, to meet the needs of both commercial and government customers, and has performed over 270 launches to date. Backed by its 20 shareholders and the European Space Agency, Arianespace is the only company in the world capable of launching all types of payloads into all orbits, from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. As of January 5, 2016, Arianespace had carried out 227 Ariane launches, 39 Soyuz launches (13 at the Guiana Space Center and 26 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, via Starsem) and six Vega launches. Arianespace is headquartered in Evry, near Paris, and has a facility at the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana, plus local offices in Washington D.C., Tokyo and Singapore.

91% of Americans do not have faith in Congress, and ultimately, their elected officials. This could be a reason why voter turn-out is so low. When people are hopeless and feel powerless, it is easier for those with wealth and influence to amass power. In Ancient Rome, the politicians and eventually, the emperors, would consistently hold gladiatorial fights and give away bread to feed the masses. One influential satirist and poet, Juvenal viewed these handouts as a method of appeasement and wrote: “Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man, the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time handed out military command, high civil office, legions — everything, now restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things: bread and circuses” Hundreds of years before, the Greek city-state of Athens was home to some of the most influential western thinkers: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Sophocles Athens is also considered the “birthplace of democracy” and was also known to have an active citizenry who engaged each other. Solon, an Athenian reformer and poet once said: “We can have justice whenever those who have not been injured by injustice are as outraged by it as those who have been.” Of course, the Roman people were known to express their outrage against the individuals in charge when they felt it necessary and in order to be considered a citizen in Athens, one had to be a man who had completed military training. The vast majority of the population, women, slaves, freed slaves, children and immigrants were not allowed to participate the Athenians direct democracy. There has never been a perfect society on the face of this earth. But, isn’t perfection something to be aspired to? The People’s Mic was developed in order to get around a New York City Ordinance. According to the NYCLU: “If you want to use amplified sound on public property… you will need a permit.” Since the New York City protesters were unable to use amplification, they developed the People’s Mic and by collectively speaking together learned to become their own amplification system. When one uses the People’s Mic, they speak in short sentences and those short sentences are repeated back so everyone in the crowd can hear. Richard Kim of The Nation wrote: “It is, of course, ironic that New York City’s attempt to crackdown on political protest by restricting “amplified sound” unwittingly ended up contributing to the structural strength of its rowdiest protest in decades. But like in Egypt or Argentina or Belarus or other places where the authorities sought to silence speech, the people found a way to be heard.” The way one can start the People’s Mic is by yelling “Mic Check”. If you are in a large crowd of people, others will repeat “Mic Check” and be ready to listen and repeat, so everyone can hear. This ensures in a large group of people, one’s voice will be heard without amplified sound. Quickly, activists realized the People’s Mic could be used in a different way- to hold their elected officials accountable. How many of us have sent letters or emails off to our elected officials, only to receive a hastily written form letter most likely sent by an intern? How can one gain access to their elected officials if they do not have the money wealth or influence? Well, that’s why the People’s Mic is so brilliant. The people can stand together and question their elected officials- by raising their voices collectively and holding them accountable for the actions they take. When I watch the videos below, my heart swells with pride for those who have the courage to confront elected officials who have seemingly forgotten who they are supposed to represent. Mic Check of Scott Walker Mic Check of Eric Cantor Mic Check of Karl Rove Mic Check of Barack Obama Mic Check of Michele Bachmann Mic Check of Rahm Emanuel On May 30, 1989, Karen Cole Huttlinger wrote in a letter to the editor of the New York Times: “The founders of our system envisioned citizens who would take a leave from their jobs and lives, ‘lend’ their experience to the business of government and then return to private life. Through career politicians we have allowed a culture of access, influence and self-interest to grow up.” Representing the American people should be considered a honor and those elected must be held accountable to their constituencies. The People’s Mic is a way of reminding those elected officials that they are responsible to the people- not lobbyists, not corporate money, not their own self-interests. We must remember- together we are powerful. Our collective voices raised together in unity is louder than any amount of money the 1% can spend on misleading campaign ads and stronger than a trillion speeches filled with empty promises. We must always remember the slogan that many protesters commonly use: “The People united can never be defeated.” Advertisements

Posted on 06 June 2011 by Joe Giant Sand frontman and solo artist Howe Gelb is now into his fifth decade of making music but his sense of creativity is far from drying up. Arguably his output is as fresh now as when he started recording punk songs on a four track in the late 1970s. His global view of music helps and on his latest release he has spent the last two years visiting Spain to merge his unique brand of Americana with the region’s gypsy music. As with Neonfiller Top 100 album Sno’ Angel Like you, in which he teamed up with Canada’s Voices of Praise gospel choir, the genre crossing on Alegrias works beautifully. Respect is key to Gelb’s work with musicians and as with Voices of Praise he clearly bows down to the skill of the gypsy musicians he has assembled, giving them time and space to weave their music around his desert ballads of hanging judges and gunfighters to create something wholly unique. This is particularly the case with the guitarist Raimondo Amador, whose work brings an added touch of class to this album. Among our highlights are ‘Notoriety’ and ‘Blood Orange’, both tracks featuring superb backing vocals from Prin La La and Lonna Kelley respectively. Another is the signature track ‘Cowboy Boots on Cobble Stones’, which you can imagine Gleb writing as he walks around Cordoba, where the bulk of the album was recorded. While Gelb is rooted in the Americana sections of record stores, it is not a tag he particularly likes, especially as he has a far broader focus on music. It is little wonder that on his website he simple refers to himself as ‘from Earth’. We look forward to his next musical destination with interest. 8.5/10 by Joe Lepper Related Posts

The notion that evil is the expression of bestial instincts is deeply ingrained, and for the average philosopher as for the average person there is nothing more bestial than the wolf. More generally, a belief in the innate superiority of humans over other animals is part of the Western tradition. Christians tell us that only humans have souls, and though they speak in a different language secular thinkers mostly believe much the same. There are innumerable secular rationalists who, while congratulating themselves on their skepticism, never doubt that the universe is improved by the presence in it of humans like themselves. The Philosopher and the Wolf is a powerfully subversive critique of the unexamined assumptions that shape the way most philosophers - along with most people - think about animals and themselves. When Rowlands bought a wolf cub for $500, and lived with it for eleven years, he ended up writing: 'Much of what I learned, about how to live and how to conduct myself, I learned during those eleven years. Much of what I know about life and its meaning I learned from him. What it is to be human: I learned this from a wolf.' A part of Rowlands's life with Brenin was sheer delight: 'The wolf is art of the highest form and you cannot be in its presence without this lifting your spirits.' Beyond its beauty, though, the wolf taught the philosopher something about the meaning of happiness. Humans tend to think of their lives as progressing towards some kind of eventual fulfillment; when this is not forthcoming they seek satisfaction or distraction in anything that is new or different. This human search for happiness is 'regressive and futile', for each valuable moment slips away in the pursuit of others and they are all swallowed up by death. In contrast, living without the sense of time as a line pointing to an end-point, wolves find happiness in the repetition of fulfilling moments, each complete and self-contained. As a result, as Rowlands shows in a moving account of his last year with Brenin, they can flourish in the face of painful illness and encroaching death. The bond that Rowlands formed with Brenin was based on the fact that the wolf had emotions in common with the philosopher, such as courage, affection and delight in play. At the same time, Rowlands seems clearly to have been drawn to the wolf because of its profound differences from humans. In evolutionary terms humans belong in the ape family, and if apes are intellectually superior to other animals it is because of their highly developed social intelligence. Some of the most valuable features of human life - science and the arts, for example - are only possible because of this intelligence. But it is also this type of intelligence that enables apes - some kinds of ape, at any rate - to engage in forms of behavior that, when more fully developed, embody types of malignancy that are pre-eminently human. As Rowlands puts it: "When we talk about the superior intelligence of apes, we should bear in mind the terms of this comparison: apes are more intelligent than wolves because, ultimately, they are better schemers and deceivers than wolves.' The ability to scheme and deceive requires a capacity to enter the minds of others, which other animals seem not to possess in anything like the same degree. But the human capacity for empathy brings something new into the world - a kind of malice aforethought, a delight in the pain of others that aims to reduce them to the condition of powerless victims. If the philosopher loved the wolf, it was because while it could kill without emotion it lacked this distinctively human trait." Among other things The Philosopher and the Wolf is a series of unsentimental reflections on human evil. Rowlands does not think of evil in simple terms, as mere Schadenfreude - it is far more complicated than that. But neither does he share the rationalist delusion that evil is a kind of error, which can be removed from human life by better knowledge and improved understanding. On the contrary, unfashionably but to my mind rightly, Rowlands accepts that evil is part of human nature, which can be moderated but never eradicated. Mark Rowlands tells us he has long pondered the claim, often advanced as an objection to his life with Brenin, that wolves have no place in civilized society, and has finally concluded that it's true. The reason is not that Brenin was too dangerous to be allowed in civilised company. Rather, it is that 'he was nowhere near dangerous, and nowhere near unpleasant, enough. Civilization, I think, is possible only for deeply unpleasant animals.' I would put the point rather differently. Civilization is a way of coping with what that supremely great twentieth-century poet Wallace Stevens called 'the unalterable necessity of being this unalterable animal'. The dark side of the human animal is not wolf-like; it is ape-like, and at its worst peculiarly human. In other words, civilization is a defense erected by humanity not against bestiality, but against itself."

With the melting ice caps, desertification, and extinctions associated with climate change, it's fair to say that global warming stinks -- but according to ocean researchers, it may literally smell, too. So, as sea-levels rise, making new beachfront property unavoidable in many places around the world, that distinctive ocean smell could be as well.A research team based at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLML), the familiar fragrance of the sea is actually a sulfer-rich gas called dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, that is released by ocean plankton. And, as the team's findings suggest, the production of DMS influenced by local temperatures, which may mean that warmer oceans will be smellier as a result. From the LLML: Using climate simulations with a global ocean biogeochemical model, scientists looked at the impact of present-day (355 parts per million) and future (970 parts per million) concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on DMS levels and emissions in the Southern Hemisphere. What they found was quite a surprise: In the future scenario, the average DMS emission to the atmosphere was 150 percent more than current levels in the Southern Ocean. Team members found that sea ice changes and ocean ecosystem composition shifts caused by changes in temperature, mixing, nutrient and light regimes caused the increase in DMS in their simulation. "DMS emissions in the Southern Ocean are significantly more sensitive to climate change than previously thought," said researcher Philip Cameron-Smith. The report also points out the potential impact of ocean acidification that results from carbon emissions being absorbed into seawater, noting that it could be a detriment to plankton production. With all the factors affecting our oceans, brought upon in large part by human activity, soon the problems will be difficult to overlook -- and perhaps, to oversmell. Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. More on the Health of the Oceans Elephant Seals Recruited to Track Ocean Health for Scientists Underwater Gliders Follow Fish to Track Marine Health

Earlier this week Atlantis Resources announced that it had placed a tidal stream turbine off the northern coastline of Scotland and generated power for the first time from the 1.5 MW installation. The company plans to install three more turbines next year and use that experience to build out the site to approximately 400MW capacity. (For comparison, a typical coal power plant in the US has 547MW capacity on average.) Atlantis partnered with engineering firms to build and install four foundations on the seabed in October. The company spent much of the previous year laying undersea cables to connect the completed turbines to the onshore control center. The firm that designed the turbines, Andritz Hydro Hammerfest (AHH), spent several days establishing communications with this first turbine and making sure all safety and management systems were operational after the installation. Now, Atlantis reports: The AHH team has begun the process of powering up the turbine to tune the control system for optimized generation. During this program, the project is exporting electricity for the first time, using only the tidally driven water flows which rush through the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth. The full installation will be built with turbines from both AHH and in-house Atlantis turbines, which look similar. Atlantis describes the turbines as having "three blades, similar to wind turbines, a pitching system for these blades, and a yaw mechanism to turn the turbine through approximately 180⁰ when the tide changes direction." The company goes on to say the nacelles of both turbines “contain a generator and gearbox, but the power conditioning equipment is housed in the onshore facilities.” This first installation will generate 6MW of power. The next 6MW plan is due to begin construction next year and will benefit from a €17 million (approximately $18 million) grant provided by the European Commission’s NER 300 fund, which has been set up specifically to fund carbon capture and renewable energy projects. The underwater site, which Atlantis calls “MeyGen,” sits “between the island of Stroma and the northeasterly tip of the Scottish mainland,” according to the company’s website. The area was leased to Atlantis in 2010 by The Crown Estate, and a renewed, 25-year lease was signed in 2014. The onshore site for the power conversion equipment and grid connections are leased from a private party. In a company report on the MeyGen project, Atlantis said that it had “extensively tested” 1MW test turbines in ocean environments, as had AHH. “The increased capacity to 1.5 MW is not considered to pose any significant technical or engineering challenges,” the company said. Underwater turbines have been an underdog renewable energy resource, particularly because installations can be expensive, especially when they’re using new technology, and finding the right location can be challenging. Installations generally need to be close to land to take advantage of heavy tides, but in a safe spot that won’t hurt the environment or people. But once the turbines are built, they tend to have a long life. The first tidal power station was built in 1966 in the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France, and it’s still operational. Besides being renewable, tidal power is predictable in ways sun and wind power aren’t. In a statement, Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius referenced the supermoon that appeared earlier this week, saying “those of us with clear skies were able to get a good view of the powerhouse behind tidal energy and be reminded that, even in times like these, there are still predictions we can rely on.”

Get the biggest daily stories by email Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email For the first time in more than a thousand years, a service will be held today within the boundaries of a newly-discovered church on Holy Island in Northumberland. The find in the dig by volunteers has been described by historic buildings expert Peter Ryder as “probably the most significant archaeology find ever on Holy Island.” The excavations, led by Richard Carlton of The Archaeological Practice and Newcastle University, began around a fortnight ago and will finish at the end of this week. He said: “It is a very exciting and hugely significant find.” The community archaeology project is part of the Peregrini Lindisfarne Landscape Partnership project, which is backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It embraces the coastal plain including Holy Island and one of its aims it to celebrate the area’s long heritage and increase community participation in it. The dig has uncovered huge sandstone blocks used in the building of the church on The Heugh, a ridge on Holy Island which offers extensive views of the Farne Islands and Bamburgh, which was a royal capital of the kingdom of Northumbria. The church is pre-Norman Conquest and could date from the 630AD to 1050, although an early date is thought the most likely. On Tuesday, a group from the Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, reputed to stand on the site of the original monastery founded by Aidan in 635AD, will conduct a service within the excavated remains which is due to start at 11am. Mr Carlton said: “There are not many churches of potentially the Seventh or Eighth Centuries known in medieval Northumbria, which stretched from the Humber to the Forth. “What is in favour of the argument for an early church is that on the ridge it would have been entirely visible from Bamburgh, the seat of political power at the time, and in turn would have had great views of Bamburgh. “It adds another chapter to the history of Holy Island.” The dig has revealed sandstone blocks a metre long, foundations of more than metre wide, a probable altar base and the division between the nave and the chancel. There is the possibility that the building was placed on the site of the wooden church built in 635AD by St Aidan. It is believed that the island’s early monastery had several churches, with one on the site of the present St Mary’s Church and another where the priory ruins now stand. Northumberland-based Peter Ryder, who has been recording the dig, said that the building was “very likely” to have resembled the Seventh Century church which can be seen at Escomb in County Durham. “It may have been built to commemorate where St Aidan’s wooden church stood,” he said. “It must have taken a lot of manpower to move those great blocks of sandstone up to the ridge. The church would have been very visible – monasteries liked building on promontories.” A dig last year, also part of the Peregrini project, revealed the significant stone foundations of what could be a watch tower, 50 metres from the church site. The Venerable Bede recorded how a beacon, which was lit on the Farne Islands on the death of St Cuthbert, was seen by monks on Holy Island from a watch tower.

Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and Supernatural Fiction Why Cold Tonnage? "... the dragon Griaule, a vast mile-long beast who had been struck immobile yet not lifeless by a wizard's spell, and who ruled over the Carbonales Valley, controlling in every detail the lives of the inhabitants, making known his will by the ineffable radiations emanating from the cold tonnage of his brain." Lucius Shepard, from "The Scalehunter's Beautiful Daughter", 1988 WE ARE NOW AWAY TILL THE END OF THE MONTH. ORDERS CAN STILL BE RECEIVED BUT NO BOOKS WILL BE SENT OUT TILL AFTER WE GET BACK, FROM MARCH 4TH. Latest catalogue - Friday, February 15th 2019 - - over 150 items now ready to be viewed in our latest catalogue - sf/fantasy & horror/supernatural - click on CURRENT CATALOGUE to the left of the screen. Includes a number of SIGNED Terry Pratchett titles, including early Discworld novels. Some recent cover scans can be viewed below.

Still hot inside the Moon: Tidal heating in the deepest part of the lunar mantle An international research team, led by Dr. Yuji Harada from Planetary Science Institute, China University of Geosciences, has found that there is an extremely soft layer deep inside the Moon and that heat is effectively generated in the layer by the gravity of the Earth. These results were derived by comparing the deformation of the Moon as precisely measured by Kaguya (SELENE, Selenological and Engineering Explorer) and other probes with theoretically calculated estimates. These findings suggest that the interior of the Moon has not yet cooled and hardened, and also that it is still being warmed by the effect of the Earth on the Moon. This research provides a chance to reconsider how both the Earth and the Moon have been evolving since their births through mutual influence until now. When it comes to clarifying how a celestial body like a planet or a natural satellite is born and grows, it is necessary to know as precisely as possible its internal structure and thermal state. How can we know the internal structure of a celestial body far away from us? We can get clues about its internal structure and state by thoroughly investigating how its shape changes due to external forces. The shape of a celestial body being changed by the gravitational force of another body is called tide. For example, the ocean tide on the Earth is one tidal phenomenon caused by the gravitational force between the Moon and the Sun, and the Earth. Sea water is so deformable that its displacement can be easily observed. How much a celestial body can be deformed by tidal force, in this way, depends on its internal structure, and especially on the hardness of its interior. Conversely, it means that observing the degree of deformation enables us to learn about the interior, which is normally not directly visible to the naked eye. This is the pattern diagram of the Moon shape changing by the Earth’s gravitational force. It especially shows deformed shape by that the movement of the Moon to the Earth is out of complete circle. For clarity, it draws deformed larger than the actual. The Moon is no exception; we can learn about the interior of our natural satellite from its deformation caused by the tidal force of the Earth. The deformation has already been well known through several geodetic observations (*1). However, models of the internal structure of the Moon as derived from past research could not account for the deformation precisely observed by the above lunar exploration programs. Therefore, the research team performed theoretical calculations to understand what type of internal structure of the Moon leads to the observed change of the lunar shape. What the research team focused on is the structure deep inside the Moon. During the Apollo program, seismic observations (*2) were carried out on the Moon. One of the analysis results concerning the internal structure of the Moon based upon the seismic data indicates that the satellite is considered to consist mainly of two parts: the “core”, the inner portion made up of metal, and the “mantle”, the outer portion made up of rock. The research team has found that the observed tidal deformation of the Moon can be well explained if it is assumed that there is an extremely soft layer in the deepest part of the lunar mantle. The previous studies indicated that there is the possibility that a part of the rock at the deepest part inside the lunar mantle may be molten. This research result supports the above possibility since partially molten rock becomes softer. This research has proven for the first time that the deepest part of the lunar mantle is soft, based upon the agreement between observation results and the theoretical calculations. This is an artist’s conception of internal structure of the Moon based on this science result. This is estimate value of the Moon’s interior viscosity structure replicate well the observational results in this research. The viscosity is one of the indicator of tenderness/hardness. For reference, the density structure and seismic velocity based on previous study are added. Furthermore, the research team also clarified that heat is efficiently generated by the tides in the soft part, deepest in the mantle. In general, a part of the energy stored inside a celestial body by tidal deformation is changed to heat. The heat generation depends on the softness of the interior. Interestingly, the heat generated in the layer is expected to be nearly at the maximum when the softness of the layer is comparable to that which the team estimated from the above comparison of the calculations and the observations. This may not be a coincidence. Rather, the layer itself is considered to be maintained as the amount of the heat generated inside the soft layer is exquisitely well balanced with that of the heat escaping from the layer. Whereas previous research also suggests that some part of the energy inside the Moon due to the tidal deformation is changed to heat, the present research indicates that this type of energy conversion does not uniformly occur in the entire Moon, but only intensively in the soft layer. The research team believes that the soft layer is now warming the core of the Moon as the core seems to be wrapped by the layer, which is located in the deepest part of the mantle, and which efficiently generates heat. They also expect that a soft layer like this may efficiently have warmed the core in the past as well. Concerning the future outlook for this research, Dr. Yuji Harada, the principle investigator of the research team, said, “I believe that our research results have brought about new questions. For example, how can the bottom of the lunar mantle maintain its softer state for a long time? To answer this question, we would like to further investigate the internal structure and heat-generating mechanism inside the Moon in detail. In addition, another question has come up: How has the conversion from the tidal energy to the heat energy in the soft layer affected the motion of the Moon relative to the Earth, and also the cooling of the Moon? We would like to resolve those problems as well so that we can thoroughly understand how the Moon was born and has evolved.” Another investigator, Prof. Junichi Haruyama of Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, mentioned the significance of this research, saying, “A smaller celestial body like the Moon cools faster than a larger one like the Earth does. In fact, we had thought that volcanic activities on the Moon had already come to a halt. Therefore, the Moon had been believed to be cool and hard, even in its deeper parts. However, this research tells us that the Moon has not yet cooled and hardened, but is still warm. It even implies that we have to reconsider the question as follows: How have the Earth and the Moon influenced each other since their births? That means this research not only shows us the actual state of the deep interior of the Moon, but also gives us a clue for learning about the history of the system including both the Earth and the Moon.” The scientific paper on which this article is based appears in the nature geoscience. Strong tidal heating in an ultralow-viscosity zone at the core–mantle boundary of the Moon Research Team Members Yuji Harada Planetary Science Institute, Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences Planetary Science Institute, Faculty of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences Sander Goossens Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County Center for Research and Exploration in Space Science and Technology, University of Maryland Baltimore County Koji Matsumoto RISE Project Office, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan RISE Project Office, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Jianguo Yan State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying, Mapping and Remote Sensing, Wuhan University Jinsong Ping Research Division of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Division of Lunar and Deep Space Exploration, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences Hirotomo Noda RISE Project Office, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan RISE Project Office, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan Junichi Haruyama Department of Solar System Sciences, Institute of Space and Aeronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Note: *1: Geodetic observation. (This is also called “selenodetic” observation as it is for the Moon.) Observational results on gravity and rotation of the Moon are used in this research. Precise measurements of the lunar gravity and rotation enable us to know how our natural satellite is deformed by tidal forces. The gravity of the Moon can be measured by tracking the motion of a satellite orbiting the Moon. This is because the motion of the satellite is influenced by lunar gravity. The motion of the satellite orbiting the Moon can be determined by using radio waves between the Earth and the satellite, and between multiple satellites around the Moon. The gravity of the Moon changes when it deforms due to tidal forces. The change in gravity caused by the lunar deformation due to the tidal force is extremely small, but when the change in location of the orbiter can be determined precisely enough, it is possible to accurately detect the change in lunar gravity caused by the deformation due to the tidal force. During the last several years, the degree of the lunar deformation caused by the tidal forces has been determined by several orbiters, for example, Kaguya from Japan, Chang'e-1 from China, and Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) from the USA. The rotation of the Moon can be observed by monitoring the change in position of a kind of mirror placed in several locations on the lunar surface. The same side of the Moon is almost always facing the Earth, but strictly speaking, it changes by a slight amount according to the lunar orbit around the Earth. This means that the locations of the mirrors with respect to the Earth also changes over time. If this change in position is precisely measured, it can also be determined how the direction of the lunar axis changes. This slight change of direction also depends on the deformation caused by the tidal force. It can be seen, therefore, how the Moon deforms due to the tidal force once the change in the axis is measured precisely. Some of the above-mentioned mirrors have been left on the surface of the Moon in the framework of the lunar exploration programs led by the USA or the former USSR several decades ago, such as the Apollo program. The degree of change in the location of each mirror on the Moon can be determined by using laser beams emitted from the Earth. This experiment still continues to be carried out even today. *2: Seismic observation. (Quakes on the Moon are also called “moonquakes”.) There are seismic activities not only on the Earth, but also on the Moon. As part of the Apollo program in the past, seismometers were placed on the lunar surface for seismological measurements. Waves induced by quakes measured with seismometers suggest what the internal structure of a celestial body is like. The behavior of the seismic waves is very important for understanding how the hardness inside the celestial body will change in accordance with the depth. In particular, the present research considered the following two previous analysis results in order to theoretically calculate the lunar deformation caused by the tidal force. The first one is the existence of the area deep inside the Moon where the seismic waves become drastically weaker. It is generally known that the energy of the seismic waves tends to reduce more in softer solids, especially when they contain liquids. Therefore, the deepest part of the lunar mantle is softer than the shallower part. Also, a portion of the rocks is thought to be melted. The second one is the existence of areas deep inside the Moon whose interfaces reflect the seismic waves. Three boundaries are considered to exist. Two of them are like the ones in the Earth: one separating the solid inner core and the liquid outer core, and the other one separating the outer core and the mantle. The last boundary is considered to correspond to the one in the mantle separating the solid area and the partially molten area mentioned above.

Close It doesn't get much more innocent than Winnie the Pooh. The adventures of Christopher Robin and his stuffed animal friends were the cornerstone for many a childhood, and to this day, he remains one of Disney's most popular characters. It almost seems impossible to take something from Winnie the Pooh and make it anything other the family-friendly. But someone found a way. As is to be expected, many were surprised when Winnie the Pooh was dubbed a hermaphrodite by a Polish committee earlier this week. The lovable character was originally going to be the mascot for one of the nation's public parks, but the suggestion was shot down before anything could be finalized. No, this isn't a joke: due to the character's wardrobe and some seriously disturbing assumptions made by the council, Pooh will not be appearing as the park's mascot. The ruling was first made public in the Croation Times newspaper: "The problem with that bear is it doesn't have a complete wardrobe. It is half naked which is wholly inappropriate for children. [The Polish mascot] Our is dressed from head to toe, unlike Pooh who is only dressed from the waist up." So, they just banned 98% of all Disney characters. It's a complaint that's surfaced before, but quickly ignored because of how ridiculous it is to assume that Disney characters are meant to represent real people. That argument doesn't really matter, though, because it pales in comparison to what some of the other officials were saying. "It doesn't wear underpants because it doesn't have a sex. It's a hermaphrodite." That's clearly not true, as Pooh doesn't wear pants because he is a stuffed animal. On top of that, it's factually incorrect, but that didn't stop Councillor Hanna Jachimska from taking it one step further: "This is very disturbing but can you imagine! The author was over 60 and cut his [Pooh's] testicles off with a razor blade because he had a problem with his identity." Considering the ruling had to be leaked to go public, there is a chance that some of these details are exaggerated...we can only hope that is indeed the case. The full story can be read in English over at the Croation Times. ⓒ 2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

CNN Promotes Children’s Book That Portrays Santa as a Gay Black Man CNN is promoting a new children’s book that depicts Santa as a gay black man. CNN promotes a children's book that portrays Santa Claus as a gay man, calls it a "new twist." pic.twitter.com/N3PdHMZaKF — Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) December 19, 2017 The author Daniel Kibblesmith reportedly came up with the idea for the book while he and his wife were discussing how their future children will be told that Santa is black — though he is not black himself. They decided that since mall Santas are traditionally white, they will just tell their children that those are “Santa’s husband.” The idea led to this book, designed to intentionally upset people who believe that there is a war on Christmas. “In this witty and sweet illustrated Christmas tale, humor writer Daniel Kibblesmith introduces us to Mr. and Mr. Claus, and gives us a glimpse of their lives together. We see the Clauses sitting by the fire at their cozy North Pole home, vacationing at the beach, having an occasional disagreement, celebrating their wedding day, and comforting each other when some loudmouth people on television angrily dispute Santa’s appearance and lifestyle,” the book’s description on Amazon reads. The description goes on to say that “in the weeks before Christmas, Santa’s husband helps with all the pre-Christmas work, from double-checking lists, to feeding the reindeer (organic gluten-free grains, of course), to negotiating labor disputes with the restive workshop elves. At the height of toy-making season, he even fills in for his busy hubby at the mall to ensure every child can meet the Big Guy in the red suit, and give him their wish list.” The book is being published by the mainstream publisher Harpercollins and has received high praise from the liberal media. “A genuinely sweet story that depicts a sound, joyful marriage,” Vice News gushed.

The Siege of Tsingtao, sometimes Siege of Tsingtau, was the attack on the German port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Japan and the United Kingdom. The siege took place between 31 October and 7 November 1914 against Imperial Germany. The siege was the first encounter between Japanese and German forces and also the first Anglo-Japanese operation of the war. Background [ edit ] Throughout the late 19th century, Imperial Germany joined other European powers in an imperialist scramble for colonial possessions. As with the other world powers, Germany began to interfere in Chinese local affairs. After two German missionaries were killed in the Juye Incident in 1897, China was forced to agree to the Kiautschou Bay concession in Shantung (now Shandong) to Germany in 1898 on a 99-year lease. Germany then began to assert its influence across the rest of the province and built the city and port of Tsingtao, which became the base of the German East Asiatic Squadron of the Kaiserliche Marine (German Navy), which operated in support of the German colonies in the Pacific. Britain viewed the German presence in China as a threat and leased Weihaiwei, also in Shantung, as a naval port and coaling station. Russia leased its own station at Port Arthur (now Lüshunkou) and France at Kwang-Chou-Wan. Britain also began to forge close ties with Japan, whose developments in the late 19th century mirrored that of the European imperialist powers as Japan acquired colonial footholds on the Asian mainland. Japanese and British diplomatic relations became closer and the Anglo-Japanese Alliance was signed on 30 January 1902. Japan saw the alliance as a necessary deterrent to its main rival, Russia. Japan demonstrated its potential by its victory in the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War, and the alliance continued into World War I. When the war in Europe began in August 1914, Britain promptly requested Japanese assistance. On 15 August, Japan issued an ultimatum, stating that Germany must withdraw her warships from Chinese and Japanese waters and transfer control of its port of Tsingtao to Japan. The next day, Major-General Mitsuomi Kamio, General Officer Commanding (GOC), 18th Infantry Division, was ordered to prepare to take Tsingtao by force. The ultimatum expired on 23 August, and Japan declared war on Germany. At the beginning of hostilities, the ships of the East Asia Squadron under Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee were dispersed at various Pacific colonies on routine missions. Spee's ships rendezvoused in the Northern Mariana Islands for coaling. SMS Emden then headed for the Indian Ocean, while the rest of the squadron made their way to the west coast of South America. The squadron engaged and destroyed a Royal Navy squadron at the Battle of Coronel, before being destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. German defences [ edit ] The Boxer Rebellion at the beginning of the century had led Germany to consider the defense of Tsingtao. The port and town were divided from the rest of the peninsula by steep hills. The natural line of defense lay along the hills, from the Kaiserstuhl to Litsuner Heights. A second 17 km (11 mi) line of defense was set up along a closer line of steep hills. The final line of defense was along hills 200 m (660 ft) above the town. A network of trenches, batteries and other fortifications had been built in preparation for the coming siege. Germany had strengthened the defenses from the sea, laying mines in the approaches to the harbour and building four batteries and five redoubts. The fortifications were well equipped (though some with obsolete Chinese artillery) and were well manned. Prelude [ edit ] Suwo was the flagship of the Japanese expeditionary fleet during the Siege of Tsingtao. The Japanese seaplane carrier Wakamiya conducted the world's first naval-launched air raids in September 1914 against German positions in Tsingtao. On 27 August, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) sent ships under Vice-Admiral Sadakichi Kato, flying his flag in the pre-dreadnought Suwo, to blockade the coast of Kiaochow. The British Royal Navy (RN) strengthened the Japanese fleet by sending the China Station's pre-dreadnought HMS Triumph and the destroyer HMS Usk. According to a German press report after the siege, the Triumph was damaged by the German shore batteries. The blockading fleet consisted mainly of nearly obsolete warships, though it did at times include a few modern vessels. These included the dreadnoughts Kawachi, Settsu, the battlecruiser Kongō, her sister Hiei, and the seaplane carrier Wakamiya, whose aircraft became the first of its kind in the world to attack land and sea targets. These Japanese aircraft would also take part in another military first, a night-time bombing raid.[5] Japanese troops coming ashore near Tsingtao The 18th Infantry Division was the primary Japanese Army formation that took part in the initial landings, numbering some 23,000 soldiers with support from 142 artillery pieces. They began to land on 2 September at Lungkow, which was experiencing heavy floods at the time and later at Lau Schan Bay on 18 September, about 29 km (18 mi) east of Tsingtao. China protested against the Japanese violation of her neutrality but did not interfere in the operations.[6] British troops arriving at Tsingtao in 1914 The British Government and the other European great powers were concerned about Japanese intentions in the region and decided to send a small symbolic British contingent from Tientsin in an effort to allay their fears. The 1,500-man contingent was commanded by Brigadier-General Nathaniel Walter Barnardiston and consisted of 1,000 soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, The South Wales Borderers; later followed by 500 soldiers of the 36th Sikhs. Following a friendly fire incident, British troops were given Japanese kimonos to wear so they would be more easily identifiable to the Japanese.[8] The Germans responded to the threat against Tsingtao by concentrating all of their available East Asian troops in the city. Kaiser Wilhelm II made the defense of Tsingtao a top priority, saying that "... it would shame me more to surrender Tsingtao to the Japanese than Berlin to the Russians". The German garrison, commanded by naval Captain and Governor Alfred Meyer-Waldeck, consisted of the marines of III Seebataillon, naval personnel, Chinese colonial troops and Austro-Hungarian sailors, for a total strength of 3,625 men. He also had a modest complement of vessels, including the torpedo boat S-90; four small gunboats: the Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger, and Luchs;[a] and the Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser Kaiserin Elisabeth,[b] whose crew was initially divided in two: half to man the ship, and half to fight with the German land forces. On 22 August HMS Kennet of the China squadron, under the command of Lieutenant Commander F. A. Russell, while routinely monitoring the naval trade routes, encountered and was damaged in action by the German torpedo boat SMS S90, the German gunboat SMS Lauting and a 4-inch shore battery off Tsingtao. She was hit twice from the retreating S90. Siege [ edit ] German gun in the Bismarck Fortress, Tsing-Tau, crumpled by Japanese and British shells Seebataillon (III Sea Battalion) of Marines. German front line at Tsingtao 1914; the head cover identifies these men as members of III(III Sea Battalion) of Marines. German Marines in forward position during the siege German PoWs returning to Wilhelmshaven, Germany from Japan in February 1920 As the Japanese approached their positions, Meyer-Waldeck withdrew his forces from the two outer defensive lines and concentrated his troops on the innermost line of defense along the hills closest to the town. The Austro-Hungarian cruiser, SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth, was stationed in Tsingtao at the start of the war. On 2 September 1914 the German gunboat Jaguar sank the stranded Japanese destroyer Shirotaye. On 5 September a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft scouted the port and reported that the Asian German fleet had departed; the Japanese ordered the dreadnought, pre-dreadnought and cruiser to leave the blockade. The next day, the first air-sea battle in history took place when a Farman seaplane launched by the Wakamiya unsuccessfully attacked the Kaiserin Elisabeth and the Jaguar in Qiaozhou Bay with bombs. On 28 September the Jaguar sank the Japanese cruiser Takashio. Early in the siege, the Kaiserin Elisabeth and German gunboat Jaguar made an unsuccessful sortie against Japanese vessels blockading Tsingtao. Later, the cruiser's 15‑cm and 4.7‑cm guns were removed from the ship and mounted on shore, creating the Batterie Elisabeth. The ship's crew took part in the defense of Tsingtao. On 13 September, the Japanese land forces launched a cavalry raid on the German rear-guard at Tsimo, which the Germans gave up and retreated. Subsequently, the Japanese took control of Kiautschou and the Santung railway. Lt. Gen. Kamio considered this the point of no return for his land forces and as the weather became extremely harsh he took no risk and fortified the troops at the town, returned the reinforcements that were on the way, re-embarked and landed at Lau Schan Bay. As the siege progressed, the naval vessels trapped in the harbor, Cormoran, Iltis and Luchs, were scuttled on 28 September. On 17 October, the torpedo boat S-90 slipped out of Tsingtao harbor and fired a torpedo which sank the Japanese cruiser Takachiho with the loss of 271 officers and men. S-90 was unable to run the blockade back to Tsingtao and was scuttled in Chinese waters when the ship ran low on fuel. Tiger was scuttled on 29 October, Kaiserin Elisabeth on 2 November, followed finally by Jaguar on 7 November, the day the fortress surrendered to the Japanese. The Japanese started shelling the fort and the city on 31 October and began digging parallel lines of trenches, just as they had done at the Siege of Port Arthur nine years earlier. Very large 11‑inch howitzers from land, in addition to the firing of the Japanese naval guns, brought the German defences under constant bombardment during the night, the Japanese moving their own trenches further forward under the cover of their artillery. The bombardment continued for seven days, employing around 100 siege guns with 1,200 shells each on the Japanese side. While the Germans were able to use the heavy guns of the port fortifications to bombard the landward positions of the Allies, they soon ran out of ammunition. When the artillery ran out of ammunition on 6 November, surrender was inevitable. The German garrison was able to field only a single Taube aircraft during the siege, flown by Lieutenant Gunther Plüschow. (A second Taube piloted by Lt. Friedrich Müllerskowsky crashed early in the campaign). The Taube was used for frequent reconnaissance flights and Plüschow made several nuisance attacks on the blockading squadron, dropping improvised munitions and other ordnance on them. Plüschow claimed the downing of a Japanese Farman MF.7 with his pistol, the first aerial victory in aviation history. Plüschow flew from Tsingtao on 6 November 1914 carrying the governor's last dispatches, which were forwarded to Berlin through neutral diplomatic channels.[c] On the night of 6 November, waves of Japanese infantry attacked the third line of defence and overwhelmed the defenders. The next morning, the German forces, along with their Austro-Hungarian allies, asked for terms. The Allies took formal possession of the colony on 16 November 1914. Aftermath [ edit ] Analysis [ edit ] As the German garrison was able to hold out for nearly two months despite a total Anglo-Japanese blockade with sustained artillery bombardment and being outnumbered 6 to 1, the defeat nevertheless served as a morale booster. The German defenders watched the Japanese as they marched into Tsingtao but turned their backs on the British when they entered into town.[12] Casualties [ edit ] Japanese casualties numbered 733 killed and 1,282 wounded; the British had 12 killed and 53 wounded. The German defenders lost 199 dead and 504 wounded. The German dead were buried at Tsingtao, while the remaining soldiers were transported to prisoner of war camps in Japan. The 4,700 German prisoners were treated well and with respect in Japan, such as in Bandō prisoner-of-war camp. The German troops were interned in Japan until the formal signature of the Versailles peace treaty in 1919, but due to technical questions, the troops were not repatriated before 1920. 170 prisoners chose to remain in Japan after the end of the war. See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] ^ the four gunboats of the East Asia Squadron that had been left at Tsingtao were later scuttled by their crews just prior to the capture of the base by Japanese forces in November 1914 ^ the ship was scuttled after all ammunition had been fired ^ Plüschow made his way home by August 1915 after a journey lasting nine months via Shanghai, San Francisco, New York, Gibraltar (where he was captured), London (where he escaped from a prisoner of war camp into the neutral Netherlands) and finally to Germany. He continued flying with the naval air service reaching the rank of Kapitänleutnant (Lieutenant Commander) by the end of the war. He then became a well known explorer and died in a 1931 crash in Patagonia, Argentina. ^ The Naruto camp orchestra (enlarged from the band of the III Seebataillon) gave Beethoven and Bach concerts throughout Japan wearing their uniforms References [ edit ] Sources [ edit ]

Robert A. Leonard is an American linguist. He is best known for his work in forensic linguistics, the application of linguistic theory to the analysis of language evidence.[2] Prior to his academic career, Leonard was a founding member of the rock band Sha Na Na and performed at Woodstock. Biography [ edit ] While he was working on his undergraduate degree at Columbia University, Leonard, along with his brother George, was a part of the school's a cappella group.[3] In 1969, the doo-wop band Sha Na Na was born when George suggested changing the style of the group to a faux Brooklyn thug style, with slicked back hair and white shirts. Leonard, then the bass singer of the band, sang lead on “Teen Angel” when the band opened for their friend Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Leonard was rated by TIME magazine as the second-smartest rock star in history: "[He] opened for Jimi Hendrix [at Woodstock]...but music stardom held little appeal for Leonard, who traded limousines and gold-lamé suits to pursue studies in linguistics." Leonard spent two years with the band, until he stopped at the age of 21.[4] He did so in order to further both his education and his passion, linguistics, with a fellowship at Columbia Graduate School.[5] Education and Qualifications [ edit ] Robert Leonard began his education at Columbia College, receiving his B.A. and graduating in 1970 cum laude with a degree in Sociology. He then moved on to Columbia Graduate School, receiving his M.A and M. Phil. in Linguistics in 1973, and his Ph.D in Linguistics in 1982. While receiving his PhD at Columbia, he was trained by William Diver,[6] founder of Columbia School linguistic theory, and William Labov,[2] founder of variationist sociolinguistics. During a Fulbright Fellowship[7] tenure which lasted from 1974-1975, Leonard studied at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He held a position as a Research Associate at the Institute of African Studies. His other training includes Advanced Linguistics Training at the Linguistic Society Institute, and Leonard studied at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in the summer of 1973 and the University of Hawaii, Honolulu in the summer of 1977. Leonard also studied the Thai Language at the American University Alumni Association in Bangkok, Thailand during the summer of 1976.[8] Leonard is qualified as an Expert Witness in Linguistics in 12 States, and 6 Federal District Courts (Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, and in U.S. District Courts in Newark, NJ, Austin, TX, New York, NY, San Jose, CA, Tampa, FL, and Denver, CO) and has also testified before World Bank ICSID Tribunals in Washington, DC, and Paris. In addition, he knows how to speak and read several varieties of Swahili, as well as French and Spanish. He knows how to read Italian, and has structural knowledge of Giriama, Kamba, Rabai, Pokomo (Kenya); Shona (Zimbabwe); Thai, and Arabic. Career [ edit ] Robert A. Leonard has assisted in solving many cases.[9] These are just a few of the cases upon which he has worked and how he helped solve them: The Murder of JonBenet Ramsay: Leonard testified that the ransom note was unlikely to have been written by John Mark Karr, who was found to have falsely confessed to the murder. [10] The Murder of Charlene Hummert: Leonard testified that letters supposedly sent by a stalker to Charlene Hummert were actually consistent with the writing of Charlene's husband Brian Hummert, partially based on the contraction patterns of positive and negative statements. Brian Hummert was found guilty of the murder. [11] The Tennessee Facebook Murders: Leonard testified that the writing patterns of a series of Facebook messages by a supposed CIA agent named "Chris," who allegedly condoned the murders as a CIA hit, were consistent with the writing patterns of the two suspects, Jenelle and Barbara Potter. Leonard's analysis was partially based on the idiosyncratic use of quotation marks; in this case, a single quote was used at the beginning of the quotation, but a double quote was used at the end. Both Jenelle and Barbara Potter were found complicit in the murders. [12] Featured on many TV shows such as The Forensic Files: A Tight Leash, Uncovering the Truth: Byron Case and Michael Politte Exoneration Cases on MTV, and Too Pretty to Live: The Catfishing Murders of East Tennessee on Investigation Discovery. Presented "The Groundbreaking Science of Forensic Linguistics" at the Polyglot Conference in 2015.[13] Leonard founded and directs the graduate program in "Linguistics: Forensic Linguistics" at Hofstra University,[14] where he is Professor of Linguistics.[1][15][16] He previously taught at Columbia.[17] The New Yorker wrote that Leonard “has emerged as one of the foremost language detectives in the country,” and jocularly termed him “a Sam Spade of semantics.”[2] Newsday characterized him as “Professor Henry Higgins meets Sherlock Holmes.”[18] Leonard's forensic linguistic consulting clients have included the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force, the FBI, Federal Public Defenders offices, and the Prime Minister of Canada.[19] Leonard was recruited by the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI to train its agents in forensic linguistic analysis at Quantico, and he has trained British law enforcement units in London. He was Apple's linguist in its civil trademark cases against both Microsoft and Amazon.[2][20] Salon pointed out that Leonard came from quite a different former career path: “’I like to say I’m one of the very few people in the world who have worked with the FBI and the Grateful Dead,’ quips Leonard, who has trained FBI agents in how to analyze language for clues in solving crimes.”[21] Leonard serves as a member of the editorial board of the Oxford University Press series Language and the Law.[22]

Stanford researchers develop microscope that allows first-ever look at live muscle units in action The basic process of force-generation in muscle has been known for decades, but until now no one has ever seen it work at a microscopic level in a living human. The new microscope could provide unique insights into treating muscular degenerative diseases. Video by Kurt Hickman A new microscope could provide unique insights into treating muscular degenerative diseases. Millions of people each year are diagnosed with diseases that result in the loss of neuromuscular function. One of the complications in treating these people has been an inability to track the progression of disease and provide the best possible therapeutics. Now, a team of Stanford researchers has developed a microscope that can visualize and measure the force-generating contractions of these patients' individual motor units. This action has been studied for nearly 100 years, but this is the first time it has ever been observed in the muscles of a living human. "When it comes to muscle microstructure and dynamics, we have not been able to visualize normal muscle, and we don't know how it changes with disease," said co-author Scott Delp, a Stanford professor of bioengineering, of mechanical engineering and, by courtesy, of orthopaedic surgery. "With this microscope, we have opened up a new window to how muscles change with strokes and diseases like ALS or muscular dystrophy. We can immediately use it in humans; it's very low risk, and it gives us a new way to examine muscle microstructure and dynamics." The findings are published in today's issue of Neuron. Measuring muscle Every move you make is made possible by an electrical handshake between a motor neuron and muscle fibers. When the signal from the brain activates the neuron, it triggers the fibers, which contain many force-generating units called "sarcomeres," which contract. At the tissue level, the microstructure of skeletal muscle is striped – hence its name striated muscle – and the distance between sarcomeres dictates how much force can be generated. Too long or too short, and they generate very little force. Scientists believe that in certain neuromuscular disorders, the stripes gradually fall out of the sweet spot for maximum force generation, becoming either too long or too short, and that weakens the muscle. "We stand to gain important insights by visualizing the contractions of individual motor units in live patients," said co-author Mark Schnitzer, an associate professor of biology and of applied physics at Stanford. "The structure at the level of individual sarcomeres relates to how much force the muscles can generate. We can also observe their contractions to see if the fiber is slow or fast twitch. If we can track the relative preponderance of fast versus slow twitch motor units, and how that changes in various disease states, we may be able to monitor how quickly a particular disease is progressing. This could provide useful insights for diagnostic tracking in individual patients, and tailoring therapeutics in a way that best treats their current condition." The group's microscope makes this possible and clinically feasible for the first time. Shrinking a microscope The microscope is based on technology that existed for two decades and has previously returned promising results in terms of providing insights into human physiology. The format of previous devices has been cumbersome, however, consisting of an entire table of bulky optics and laser systems that could be operated only in total darkness, and were limited to analyzing tissue samples. The new microscope consists of several small components that all fit neatly on a bedside pushcart. An ultrafast laser light source beams infrared light in 100-femtosecond pulses along an optical fiber from the cart to a handheld unit, which contains the miniaturized optics. This unit connects to an optical needle that is inserted into the patient's muscle. The light travels through the needle and sweeps over the sarcomere. Through a process called second harmonic generation, the muscle fiber's striated structure converts the infrared light into a green light, which is returned up the needle, through the handset and to a detector and computer on the cart that interprets variations in the green return signal. These green images are pieced together to form an image of a sarcomere activation, and can provide precise measurement of the duration of a muscle twitch. "In modern medicine, we're still taking pieces of people to microscopes, but now you can take a microscope to the living tissue and translate science into something that can be used clinically for a variety of diseases," said co-author Gabriel Sanchez, who prototyped the device while earning his doctorate at Stanford. "The size of the needle is similar to a flu shot, but it has optics in it, and produces the same optical performance as the table-size systems with an equivalent objective." The needle probe can also act as a conductor and stimulate muscle to produce a contraction. This is particularly useful for gauging the muscle reactions in patients who have lost partial control of muscle function. For instance, in test subjects who had experienced partial loss of muscle function on one half of their body due to a stroke, the researchers were able to observe anatomic and physiological abnormalities in the affected muscle. "In the affected muscle, we could see differences in the sarcomere lengths as opposed to unaffected muscle on other side of body," Schnitzer said. "We could also see ongoing fluctuations in sarcomere length in the affected muscle at a microscopic scale that have been never seen previously." The authors are fine-tuning the device, and exploring applications to other tissues, such as skin and cartilage. Currently it has tremendous value for research, but their ultimate goal is to make it available in a clinical setting to help tailor therapies to patients' specific needs and physiology. "We see this as a very useful companion diagnostic to track disease progression and, in the future, help personalize medicine by gauging how a person responds to a drug," Sanchez said. Additional Stanford co-authors on the study included Supriyo Sinha, Holly Liske, Xuefeng Chen and Viet Nguyen. To disseminate the wearable microscope technology for medical research and clinical imaging, Sanchez, Delp and Schnitzer have formed a company, Zebra Medical Technologies Inc., and they have a financial interest in the company. Media Contact Mark Schnitzer, Biology and Applied Physics: (650) 725-7438, mschnitzer@gmail.com Scott Delp, Bioengineering, Mechanical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery: (650) 723-1230, delp@stanford.edu Bjorn Carey, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-1944, bccarey@stanford.edu

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The pair greeted each other warmly but had different things to say on Jerusalem The EU's foreign policy chief says there is "full EU unity" in support of Jerusalem becoming the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state. Federica Mogherini said the bloc's member states would not recognise the city as Israel's capital before a final status peace agreement. She spoke after meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who wants the EU to follow the US in doing so. President Donald Trump's move prompted widespread international criticism. Ms Mogherini, who was speaking at a news conference in Brussels alongside Mr Netanyahu, said the EU would continue to recognise the "international consensus" on Jerusalem. "There is full EU unity on this, that the only realistic solution to the conflict between Israel and Palestine is based on two states with Jerusalem as the capital of both the state of Israel and the state of Palestine. "The EU and member states will continue to respect the international consensus on Jerusalem until the final status of the holy city is resolved, through direct negotiations between the parties." But Mr Netanyahu said the US decision was a recognition of "reality". He is in Brussels for talks with EU foreign ministers - the first time an Israeli prime minister has visited the city in more than 20 years. Image copyright AFP Image caption Demonstrators took to Beirut's streets in protest at Mr Trump's announcement Mr Trump's announcement drew worldwide condemnation and sparked protests which continued for a fifth day on Monday. In the West Bank, dozens of Palestinians threw stones at Israeli soldiers. Palestinian militants in Gaza fired a rocket into Israel, and the Israeli military said it responded with air strikes and tank fire targeting a position of Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the territory, reports say. Protests are continuing in the region, including Dahia, the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. Speaking from an undisclosed location, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said: "Trump thought that when he made his announcement... capitals around the world and in Arab countries would rush to support him. "Now he seems isolated, only supported by Israel. This position is very important and should be built upon." Embassy move As well as recognising Jerusalem, President Trump also said he was directing the US state department to prepare to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Russian President Vladimir Putin has for a second time on Monday criticised Mr Trump's decision to move the US embassy. Speaking in Ankara, Turkey, after talks with his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr Putin said: "Both Russia and Turkey think that the US administration's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the American embassy there is not helping the settlement of the situation in the Middle East. "Effectively, this could erase the prospects for the Palestinian-Israeli peace process." Why Trump's move was controversial Israel regards Jerusalem as its "eternal and undivided" capital, while the Palestinians claim East Jerusalem - occupied by Israel since 1967 - as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally, and all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why the ancient city of Jerusalem is so important According to the 1993 Israel-Palestinian peace accords, the final status of Jerusalem is meant to be discussed in the latter stages of peace talks. Since 1967, Israel has built a dozen settlements, home to about 200,000 Jews, in East Jerusalem. These are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this. Jerusalem is also home to key religious sites sacred to Judaism, Islam and Christianity, especially in East Jerusalem.

Recently the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced their 2015 nominees , and Sting made their list as a solo artist. He's already in the Hall as a member of the Police , which begs the question: Does the Hall of Fame need two Stings? Every year's list is contentious, but back in 2003 the Hall got it right when they inducted nature's most perfect indie band as soon as they were eligible. The Police, an indie band? From our vantage point, it's hard to think of Sting and his former band playing for five people in a bar or sharing rooms at a Motel 6, but that's where it all began. Well, it really began in 1976, when a school teacher named Mr. Sumner used to head down to the local clubs on evenings and weekends to jam a little jazz bass. Within a year, he grew a bit restless, packed his gear and moved to London. There he met Stewart Copeland and Henry Padovani, and together they formed the Police's first lineup. London 1977 was one of those perfect marriages of time and place in music history: the Damned, the Clash , the Sex Pistols , the Stranglers ; Bromley Contingent hangers on like Billy Idol and Siouxsie Sioux were busily plotting their transitions from audience to stage. A lot was happening. Energy and attitude were everywhere, the DIY ethos of a true indie scene was in full bloom. Talent wasn't always abundant, though. Three chords and a few safety pins occasionally substituted for competence, much like how Hunger Dunger Dang vocals stood in for grunge vocal chops post- Eddie Vedder . So that's the setting in which a talented singer/bassist, a brilliant polyrhythmic drummer, and their soon to be replaced guitarist dropped their debut single, 'Fall Out.' The record was released on a tiny label named Illegal Records, owned by drummer Copeland and his brother Miles. It's a tasty cut, fast and muscular, with Sting's almost scatted lyrics skipping across the surface like a polished stone: A year later and with permanent guitarist, Andy Summers , in place, the debut album 'Outlandos d'Amour' established the Police as both of and beyond the new wave. Their musicianship was too tight, their songwriting too perfect. Just look at the first three tracks on 'Outlandos': 'So Lonely,' 'Next to You' and 'Roxanne.' Most songwriters would give their right treble clef to write just one of those cuts during their entire career, and that's just the three opening tracks on the band's debut album. Copeland and Summers both were and remain exceptional players. Take away Copeland's distinct drumming or Summers's washes of guitar synthesizer and the Police sound vanishes. But up front there was Sting with his tasteful bass lines, potent voice and the stage presence of a dozen front men combined. Everybody thought Sting was cool, no matter what kind of music they were into. I'm convinced you could've sat down with the Pope in 1978 and he'd tell you, "I am just a humble monk who knows nothing of this modern and confusing world ... but Sting rocks." Over the next five years the Police took over the world. Over the next five years the Police took over the world. By the mid-80s the band was as far from a self-released indie single as a band could get. They were huge in a way that bands just can't accomplish anymore, filling stadiums, flooding radio and television, and selling records by the truckload. In the six short years between 'Fall Out' and 1983's monster, 'Synchronicity,' the Police claimed their rightful crowns as the biggest band in the world. Few bands are more deserving of their spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And that brings us to Sting 2. Solo Sting. Lute Sting. The Cassettes in Your Mom's Van Sting. When 'Dream of the Blue Turtles' dropped in 1985, no loyal Police fan expected a jazzy adult contemporary record, but the King of Pain backed himself up with some serious jazz and studio musicians on his solo debut. Branford Marsalis, Kenny Kirkland, Omar Hakim and Darryl Jones were as tight as they come and the music was fine -- it just wasn't rock and roll. The title cut earned a Grammy nomination for best jazz instrumental, for crying out loud. The live vibe was different, too. I caught Sting twice on that tour, and both times he hushed the rowdy crowd so that Marsalis and he could lay down a mellow 'Moon Over Bourbon Street.' Sting wasn't ours anymore. He belonged to the grown-ups now. In 1987 when everyone was sticking a rap break in the bridge or sampling James Brown, Sting chose instead to quote a Shakespeare sonnet for 'Nothing Like the Sun.' His sophomore solo album stripped away the jazz pretense, leaving nothing but middle of the road Dockers shakers. I tried hard to defend his version of 'Little Wing,' arguing that collaborator Gil Evans was a friend of Jimi Hendrix , but my heart just wasn't in it. From there, it's a 25 year slide into softer and more self-indulgent albums that I'm sure were great outlets for Sting, but were in no way rock and roll. I get the impression that he may consider that a compliment rather than a criticism. I hope so, because that isn't a jab -- at least not at Sting. No rule book states that if you come out of the gate with a 'Fall Out' and follow it with five genre-shaping albums, you're required to fly the new wave banner for the rest of your career. Some musicians choose that path, and that's cool. Others, like Henry Rollins for example, would rather retire with some dignity rather than make the same record over and over. And then there are the Sting 2s, the artists who grow up and reinvent themselves, put away their childish things and start writing for the middle of the road. That's okay, too. But rock and roll is all about childish things. It's the big hooks and killer riffs and epic choruses that make kids feel, if just for a moment, that someone understands them. It's the subject of school girl fantasy, a declaration that every little thing she does is magic, the desperate plea to be next to you. That is the Sting who belongs in an institution with "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" stenciled on the door. Sting 2 is someone else entirely. Whether Sting 2's music is good, bad, or award-worthy is irrelevant. It simply isn't rock and roll, nor did it expand the broad palette of rock music like Sting 1's former band did. So no, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame does not need two Stings. There are dozens of overlooked rock artists more appropriate for the Hall. Some of them even play the lute.

Story highlights DHS Secretary Kelly once again emphasized that the operations were "routine" Advocates have raised concerns that last week's actions went after a much wider group of immigrants Washington (CNN) A series of immigration enforcement operations around the country netted more than 680 arrests, mostly criminals, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement initially confirmed the five-day operations, which critics described as raids, Friday, saying they were a set of targeted enforcement actions much like those they had conducted periodically under the previous administration. But immigration advocates and Democratic politicians who represented the areas affected had questioned the activities -- saying they were going beyond the Obama administration in targeting non-threatening individuals and scaring communities with public arrests. In a statement Monday, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly once again emphasized that the operations were "routine." He said the operations targeted convicted criminals, gang members, individuals who re-entered the country after being deported and individuals who had final removal orders from immigration judges. Read More

Google's Android One project, which aims to help people in the developing world buy smartphones and get onto the internet, is encountering some problems. The three Indian phone manufacturers that were initially involved in producing the low-cost devices have no plans to create future versions of the smartphone, The Economic Times reports. The Android One project works by letting local manufacturers create models of the phone under their own name. But now, Micromax, Karbonn, and Spice say that they are putting existing phone models on sale to clear stock, the Economic Times reports. Google had lined up another set of manufacturers to make the phone in India, but The Economic Times says that Intex, Lava, and Xolo have now dropped plans to create Android One phones. Sanjay Kalirona, who heads up the mobile phones unit at Intex, told The Economic Times: "Everything was finalised, the product was ready but market response was not there, so we dropped the idea." Despite the setback, Google maintains that it's pushing ahead with the Android One scheme. The company told the Economic Times: "We're not backing away from the programme. We've learnt a lot from the initial round with our partners and they have learnt in terms of device availability, in channel and others. Over time, as we work with our partners, we will keep working on making sure that we do things much better." Sales data for Indian Android One phones shows that the devices accounted for between 2% to 2.5% of smartphone sales in India from September 2014 until May 2015. And sales estimates from Convergence Catalyst estimates the total number of Android One handsets sold in India since launch at less than 1 million units. We reached out to Google for comment on this story.

WASHINGTON — Advocates of aerospace firms vying to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station are concerned that language in a Senate spending bill that a key committee passed Thursday could make it more difficult and expensive to carry out those missions. The provision, sponsored by Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, would require firms in the commercial crew and commercial cargo programs to submit "certified cost and pricing data" similar to what's required in traditional contracts NASA uses for other services. Shelby's proposal is included in a spending bill the Senate Appropriations Committee passed 30-0 Thursday to fund several federal agencies, including NASA, in the 2015 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The bill would provide NASA $17.9 billion and include money to continue development of its major priorities, including the James Webb space telescope that will replace the Hubble, and the space launch system deep-space rocket and vehicle designed to carry astronauts to Mars by the 2030s. The bill now heads to the full Senate and will eventually be reconciled with a similar version the House passed last week. The Senate spending plan also includes $805 million for commercial crew, NASA's program to replace the now-mothballed space shuttle with a small fleet of private rockets that could transport astronauts to the space station from American soil as early as 2017. Private rockets already are delivering cargo to the orbiting lab. In an effort to keep costs down and speed development, the agency has opted to use Space Act agreements instead of traditional contracts for both crew and cargo programs. Under the agreements, NASA pays companies to achieve certain milestones but leaves details largely to the contractor. It costs less, but the firms get to keep the intellectual property rights of their products, and there's a risk a problem could go undetected until later in the development process. Advocates of the arrangement say it means companies can more nimbly — and cheaply — meet contract targets. But skeptics like Shelby say there's little oversight and the government has little control over costs. "I believe we must ensure that the taxpayers are getting the best value for their dollars," he said at an Appropriations subcommittee meeting earlier this week. But the head of an industry trade group called Shelby's provision "a step in the wrong direction" at a time when the U.S. is trying to end its dependence on Russia — at $70 million a ride — to ferry U.S. astronauts to the space station. "The language would effectively change an efficient and lean commercial program into a traditional government procurement with all of the associated overhead and cost," said Alex Saltman, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. "In addition, if this language were to become law before NASA awards the latest commercial crew contracts, NASA would likely have to restart the procurement with these new rules, pushing back the program up to a year and sending hundreds of millions of more taxpayer dollars to Russia for Soyuz rides," Saltman added. "If the language were to go into effect after the awards, NASA could be tied up in contract renegotiations and challenges for months, if not years." Commercial space advocates say it would cost only about $20 million for each astronaut's seat. NASA officials declined to comment, saying they were still reviewing the Senate language. There was no immediate comment from SpaceX. The California firm has a contract with NASA to deliver cargo to the space station and is among the competitors for the contract to transport astronauts as well. Another commercial space advocate, the Space Access Society, said Shelby was sponsoring the language merely to protect the "massively wasteful" space launch system. Much of the work to develop SLS is being conducted at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., which Shelby represents. Asked about the criticism of his motives after Thursday's hearing, Shelby said simply: "That's not true. We're looking for transparency." — Contact Ledyard King at lking@gannett.com Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1hhjUCh

Redmond, WA - Microsoft announced that Office 2010 will be the last version the company produces, and that focus will shift to improving the online version of the productivity suite. “We ran out of ways to improve the software years ago,” said Chris Capossela, senior vice president of the Microsoft Business Division at Microsoft. “Since Office XP it's just been rearranging things. Users aren’t going to be fooled any more by the cosmetic changes we make. Microsoft has always been about doing what’s right for the user, so it’s time to end this charade.” The shift from packaged software products has been gradual for Microsoft, and the announcement to end development of Office came sooner than many had expected. The change will have a major impact on the company’s profit in the future, but the company hopes to replace those revenues with commemorative T-shirt sales in the near term. “We’re going to be touring the country on a farewell tour for Office 2010,” said Capossela. “It's everyone's favorite piece of software, so we're expecting big turnouts. We’ll be selling T-shirts and other merchandise at these events and that income will be put into developing the online web apps.” Many users were happy with the announcement. Cathy Thiry of Columbia, Maryland said, “I was tired of upgrading all the time for only minimal, if any, improvements. It’s about time Microsoft admitted what everyone already knew.” Capossella said that improvements to the online version of Office products would follow a similar arc that current boxed products did. “We’ll be able to milk users for many years until online Office matches the current version. By the time they realize we’re following the same path we’ll have all their money, and hopefully another product that makes us money,” said Capossela. “This is off the record right?” Microsoft’s stock was down on the news. Related News Office Jesus Turns Water Into Coffee Top 11 Rejected Microsoft Office Assistants Microsoft Granted Patent for Creating Insecure Software

Tunisia was suspended from the Davis Cup for a year on Saturday for preventing one of its tennis players from competing against an Israeli last month. The International Tennis Federation ruled unanimously that the Tunisian Tennis Federation (TTF) was in breach of the ITF’s constitution. Last month, the Tunisian federation ordered the country’s top player to withdraw from a match against an Israeli at a tournament in Uzbekistan. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign Up Malek Jaziri, 29, had been scheduled to play Israel’s Amir Weintraub in the quarterfinals of an ATP Challenger tournament in Tashkent. Jaziri withdrew before the match, citing a knee injury, and Weintraub advanced to the semifinals of the lower-tier event. The ITF said that it “not satisfied with the case put forward by the Tunisian Tennis Federation.” “There is no room for prejudice of any kind in sport or in society,” said ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti, quoted by AFP. “The ITF Board decided to send a strong message to the Tunisian Tennis Federation that this kind of action will not be tolerated by any of our members,” he added. “The Board felt that suspension from Davis Cup, a competition that was founded 113 years ago to encourage better understanding through sport, would provide a good lesson for the Federation and a fitting penalty for their unfortunate action,” he concluded. Assaf Tuchmeir, the head of Israel’s tennis association, praised the ITF’s decision as “wise” in its “clear statement that politics have no place in sports.” “We hope [Tunisia] will internalize the message and return next year to the Davis Cup,” he said in a statement. Last month, the TTF sent an e-mail to Jaziri before the match saying: “Following a meeting this afternoon with the Ministry of Youth and Sports, I have the immense regret to inform you that you are ordered not to play against the Israeli player.” The email was provided to Tunisia’s state news agency by Jaziri’s brother, Amir. Tunisian Sports Ministry spokesman Sadok Touati confirmed to The Associated Press that the federation sent the email after consulting the ministry. “The ministry does not interfere in the affairs of the sports federations,” he said. In an interview with a local radio station, Jaziri said he and his brother were afraid the decision could harm the player’s career. He is ranked 169th in the world. Arab countries have for the past decades observed to varying degrees boycotts against Israeli athletes in protest over the Palestinian situation.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), the global trade association representing the payments technology world, today announced new digital currency features, including the centerpiece World of Bitcoin exhibit showcase, at TRANSACT 15, the payments industry's largest and most important event. ETA also announced a partnership with exhibitor BitPay that makes ETA the first trade association to accept bitcoin payments for trade show exhibition and sponsorship, association membership, and professional development programs. TRANSACT 15 will take place March 31 – April 2 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and registration is open today with limited early rates available at www.transact15.com. "ETA is at the forefront of payments technology, and TRANSACT 15 is our industry's most important event," said Jason Oxman, CEO of ETA. "With the launch of our World of Bitcoin showcase, and our partnership with BitPay to accept bitcoin payments, TRANSACT 15 is now the place to be for digital currency in 2015." "BitPay is working with ETA to increase bitcoin acceptance and raise awareness about cryptocurrency via our exhibit booth at TRANSACT 15," said Tony Gallippi, Co-Founder, Executive Chairman, BitPay. "TRANSACT 15 will be a great arena for bitcoin companies to showcase their new products and services while connecting with leaders within the payments industry." As the world's largest payments technology trade association, ETA's more than 550 member companies include bitcoin companies BitPay and Circle. In addition, ETA's Digital Currency Working Group addresses business issues related to digital currency, and ETA's Digital Currency Day in Washington D.C. attracted more than 100 government and industry attendees to discuss bitcoin policy issues. TRANSACT's global reach brings together, under one roof, the entire payments ecosystem - everyone from the major mobile network operators and equipment manufacturers to online service providers, retailers, major processors, all of the major card brands and venture capital/investors - thousands of leaders and partners that you need to access to grow your business. For more information, visit www.transact15.com. For media inquiries, contact Meghan Cieslak at 202-677-7406, or meghan.cieslak@electran.org. Companies interesting in exhibiting in World of Bitcoin at TRANSACT 15 should contact Cathryn Wanders, cwanders@conferencemanagers.com or 703.964.1240 x26. About ETA The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the global trade association representing more than 550 payments and technology companies. SOURCE ETA Related Links http://www.electran.org