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Sensory equipment enabling people to share a hug across cyberspace has been in development for several years, and experts insist it will one day become part of everyday life. Adrian Cheok, associate professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University developed one such system, based on the award-winning Hug-Shirt, that allows parents and children to share "cyberhugs" while miles apart. Teddy bears were fitted with sensors that detected when they were hugged by the parent, and the sensation was transmitted to the child via a special jacket fitted with heated copper wires. Speaking at the time, he told CNN: "For a while technology has been driving people apart, locking them in front of computer screens, now we hope to use it to bring them together." His product did not achieve global success but last year scientists based in Japan built a similar product – a wearable robot dubbed "iFeel_IM!" ("I feel therefore I am"). The prototype, which looked like a network of connected straps similar to a harness, was designed to add a human-like level of sensation to online conversations. It was unveiled last April by its inventor, Dzmitry Tsetserukou, an assistant professor at Toyohashi University of Technology, and his wife and colleague Alena Neviarouskaya, a researcher at the University of Tokyo. When connected to a computer, the machine used a series of sensors and motors to mimic a hug along with other sensations such as several types of heart beat, the sensation of having butterflies in one's stomach and a tingling feeling down the spine. Using special software it identified emotions expressed within messages and responded by providing the appropriate physical sensation. Mr Tsetserukou said he decided not to incorporate sexual arousal into the product because it may compromise his aim of improving emotional connection across the internet. But he predicted the system – which was 90 per cent accurate at detecting joy, fear, anger and sadness and only slightly weaker on nine further emotions – could soon become commonplace. He said: "I am looking to create a deep immersive experience, not just a vibration in your shirt triggered by an SMS. Emotion is what gives communication life. "This is really state of the art, there is nothing this accurate. "In a few years, this could be a mobile system integrated into a suit or jacket. It's not that far away."

Share. Make an ancient alien civilization your new playground. Make an ancient alien civilization your new playground. “ So begins the battle for Nexus. An exiled spacefarer has discovered a lost planet. A planet of legend, once home to a powerful race known as the Eldan. With excitement and exotic technology beckoning them from across the stars, other Exiles have traveled to this planet, Nexus, with the intent of building a new home. But the Exiles aren't the only ones with their eyes set on the tall mountains and lush forests of this exotic world. The people of the Dominion, an interstellar empire founded by the Eldan generations ago, believe the planet is theirs to claim. So begins the battle for Nexus. The galactic stage for the upcoming MMO WildStar. Getting Started Developed by Carbine Studios -- a team with roots in World of Warcraft, Everquest, and City of Heroes -- WildStar is spinning up its engines and preparing for a launch sometime this year. Carbine is finally ready to start talking details after going dark for a long while following WildStar's debut in 2011. Exit Theatre Mode "This is the first step of emerging from our hidden volcano lair," explained WildStar Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney. Gaffney and his team want to make "the next big MMO." A lofty goal, but an attainable one -- if early areas of Nexus are any indication. It's a big, colorful world. The team is striving for the same strong shapes and memorable characters Pixar employs in its work. The Exile and Dominion trailers are proof enough that Carbine is headed in the right direction. WildStar is governed by several important design philosophies. Chief among them: play the way you want to play. It may sound obvious, but Carbine believes that MMOs have probably failed you before. Maybe, Gaffney mused, getting to the end of an MMO sucked. Or maybe arriving at the actual end sucked. Either way, Carbine plans to protect you from these pitfalls by giving you a "big, frickin, interesting world" to level in, and free-form combat designed with flexibility in mind. Choose Your Path WildStar provides more play style variety than the standard selection of races, classes, and factions (but it has those, too). Carbine has built a path system to give you even more control over your time on Nexus. During character creation you can select one of four paths: settler, scientist, soldier, or explorer. Paths reward you for playing in a certain way. As a soldier you receive bonuses for killing critters and you can activate large group battles for other players in the zone. Alternatively, an explorer receives rewards for uncovering different areas in each zone and can access things like underground tunnel networks that make zone traversal much faster. Each path grants you special abilities, and each opens up specific quest types unique to that path. So not only can you select a faction, race, and class, but your path will fine tune that experience to suit your gaming preferences. It enables specific types of play outside of standard class progression, and caters to certain types of players -- like those that favor combat, exploration, or even lore. Customizable Heritage To date Carbine has revealed three races belonging to each faction. Humans can be selected for both Exile and Dominion players, as Carbine wanted newcomers to have a "safe choice" regardless of faction selection. Rounding out the Dominion races are the Mechari and the Draken. Fierce and fearless, the Draken are the warrior backbone of the Dominion's star-sprawling empire. They hunger for battle and are fueled by the desire to conquer challenges of strength and skill. The Mechari, created by the Eldan themselves, serve as the Dominion's intelligence agents and stewards. Cold and calculating, the Mechari are completely committed to the wellbeing of the Dominion. The Exiles also have humans fighting for their cause, though these humans are a scrappier, more rugged sort than their Dominion counterparts. The Aurin, with fluffy ears and fluffier tails, represent the nature-loving members of the Exiles, driven from their home world after the Dominion ravaged it for resources. Then we have the Granok, who support the rest of the exiled peoples on shoulders of stone. Strong of body, the Granok have "more boulders than brains," but their hearts are in the right place. They also enjoy drinking beer. Stay Classy Every MMO needs a diverse set of classes. So far WildStar has this covered with the warrior, stalker, and spellslinger (Carbine has other classes still in development). The warrior, as you might expect, handles up-close-and-personal combat, wielding massive melee weapons and close-range skills. The stalker fills the role of assassin in WildStar with a variety of stealth techniques that allow you to approach enemies unseen. This class uses dual claws to tear into unsuspecting victims. And then you have the spellslinger -- a wizard with guns -- that unleashes storms of magic with a pair of pistols. You can build the spellslinger to focus on one target or tackle a larger group of creatures. Or a little of both. So far the class-based skills in WildStar feel simple, perhaps overly so, but this is within the context of a few hours of play. Much more remains hidden in Carbine's secret volcano lair. Down and Dirty “ WildStar is fast and physical. The planet Nexus boasts a variety of zones, but Carbine only opened up one for show. Grassy plains, trees, rivers, and hills fill the savanna of Deradune, making the zone a pleasure to explore. The Draken have built a home here, charming in its simplicity. The walls of the village encase piles of skulls to honor the dead and celebrate the warriors that put them there. Because of the Draken presence in Deradune the wilds surrounding the village are especially dangerous, as the Draken drop containers filled with powerful monsters to better challenge their warriors in battle. Exit Theatre Mode When it comes to battle, WildStar is fast and physical. Every ability creates a visual "telegraph" that highlights the area of the ground about to be affected by the skill. These include offensives skills and defensive ones used by you and your party. These telegraphs force you to stay active when engaged in a fight and dance around enemy attacks while also keeping your own skills on target. More importantly, the visual cues function as an additional method of communication for parties. About to unleash a powerful healing ability? Lay down a telegraph so your fellow adventurers can run in and snag a health boost. Big Dreams Carbine has a lot more planned for WildStar this year. Many aspects of play, including the elaborate housing system, still wait in the shadows for a chance at the spotlight. But WildStar already boasts incredible potential. Its mix of science-fiction, bombastic color, and unique zone design promise to win over an MMO crowd hungry for something new. WildStar will launch "when it's ready," but hopefully that means by the end of this year. Ryan Clements writes for IGN. He's really looking forward to playing WildStar, and will force himself not to cave and make a bunny girl character. Follow him on Twitter at @PwamCider.

The case for Korra and Asami becoming girlfriends in 3x10, “Long Live the Earth Queen.” Written with the help of queertoonqueertoons Korrasami was censored. We ascertained this fact fairly quickly, given the lack of a kiss between the two women at the show’s end. It’s easy to get frustrated, but there is a distinct reason that there were limits on what could be openly shown in terms of Korrasami: LOK needed to be able to air in countries with heavy restrictions (namely China and Russia, two big/necessary markets) where explicit depiction of a romance between two women could be illegal (especially given LOK’s status as a “kid’s" show). Knowing there was this inherent constraint…that certain moments/scenes simply could not exist, it is wise for us to look past the presented, explicit narrative and seek the implied. Bryke were restricted in their telling of Korra and Asami’s story. So they did what they could to help us out: they included mountains of subtext. Thanks to a recent conversation with queertoonqueerstoons, I began to view the airship that Korra and Asami commandeer in the desert as an intentional a symbol in and of itself. The airship may likely have been a conscious effort on Bryke’s part evoke our “shipping” culture, and to suggest to the fandom that their romantic relationship had begun. What we are shown are the two women struggling to build a ship any way they can to escape the Earth Kingdom’s clutches, which in this particular case takes the form of a crew of all men led by a quasi-sexist captain. What does it mean? That this is the moment in time the S.S. Korrasami actually set sail…back in Book 3 Episode 10, Long Live the Earth Queen. “This ship isn’t going anywhere. And neither are you.” Those who work in animation can talk with more expertise on this matter, but according to queertoon’s practiced eye, there are several times in LOK where you can tell frames have been held. It’s a quick animator’s trick to apparently remove a couple of frames of animated content without changing the length of time. What are two scenes that happened to get this treatment? The Korrasami hugs. It could explain why the 3x12 hug looked slightly awkward, and almost definitely explains the difference in the screencaps between their Reunion hug in the episode proper, and the flashback to it from a later episode’s recap section. The “contact” moment was cut. Even going frame-by-frame for the 4x07 hug reveals some interesting animation choices: source (x) So where did that leave Bryke? Even their scenes that were intentionally written to be devoid of sexuality could still be on the chopping block for the perceived closeness of the two women. Well, one easy solution is to give winks directly to the fandom. Bryke not only gave us the subtext, but they put it in our language. We wanted the S.S. Korrasami so they gave us a very literal ship in an episode that starred Korra and Asami’s teamwork. And one should need no more proof of Bryke sending signals to the audience about Korrasami than the fact that in 3x01, they primed us: Korra used the word “girlfriend.” Bryke wanted to call attention to what was about to happen, and when it did happen, they sent in the fandom version of a bat signal: a mothafuckin’ ship. If this is the case…if the subtext is intentional (which I’ve become inclined to believe), the Korrasami narrative changes a bit. It is no longer a story of two women who took nearly 3 years to understand their feelings for one another, sharing what might have been a first kiss in the Spirit World. It is instead the story of two women who understood their romantic interest in one another and took advantage of it far sooner than we realized, thereby dating for over 3 years and ending in metaphorical elopement. As a quick note of clarification, given that Korra and Asami do end up together, the term “subtext” (aka parts of the narrative with a metaphorical or implicit meaning) is inappropriate to use for their relationship’s build up. It wasn’t just implied that Korra choosing to write solely to Asami had romantic undertones–it was confirmed. What many tend to call “subtext” in the Korrasami narrative is just…“text” (or the visual media equivalent). That’s not what I’m doing. It is not in question that Korra and Asami are together and their interactions in Books 3 and 4 had a romantic element. What I’m doing is pushing the envelope further to see what a Korrasami narrative would look like free of the external constraints. So with that in mind, if we take 3x10 as the true beginning of our ladies’ romantic relationship, how does that impact their story? Well, in this version of events, both Korra and Asami were definitely aware of feelings for each other earlier than suspected. Since rewatching Season 1 (and reading Bryan’s comments about being the “first Korrasami shipper”), I’m comfortable saying we can assume Asami was aware of her attraction towards Korra from the start. Korra, on the other hand, would still be a bit behind in her own understanding, mostly because she grew up completely sheltered and “hadn’t had a girlfriend before” (so she could easily have mistaken their sexual tension for a “girl crush”). That part remains the same. I would argue that it also makes the most sense for Korra to have never even considered any potential feelings for Asami until after she and Mako were 100% done. And by the way, none of this negates either girls’ feelings for Mako or the significance of their relationships with him. There was just also something palpable between Korra and Asami from the get-go, which makes sense given where they ended up. Continuing down this line of thought, at the start of Book 3, Korra is as we saw her: appreciative for and willing to deepen her friendship with Asami. Reading into the subtext, over the course of the Book, Korra slowly came to realize that her increased enjoyment being around Asami was underscored by romantic interest. This moment of realization occurred in the sands of the desert, interestingly enough the same moment sato-mobile chose as the one where Korra questioned her sexuality. The implied meaning of their sailing ship? That Korra and Asami successfully launched their relationship, becoming girlfriends. They sailed out of the desert together, Tonraq gave them his blessing, and by the next episode, Asami was offering to watch Korra’s body in direct parallel to the already established couple, P’Li and Zaheer. As a quick note, another implication in this version of the narrative is that that their friends definitely knew about their relationship. The airship sailing serves as both as signal to the audience and the characters in the series. Tonraq approves of Asami, the girlfriend. Grandma Yin asking Mako why he doesn’t date “two girls like this” replaces the awkward conversation of Korra and Asami telling Mako they’re dating, and Grandma Yin’s remark about Korra being “awfully muscular for a woman” is evocative of homophobic feedback we often associate with older generations. This character knowledge also fleshes out Mako’s choice to ward off Wu in 4x01, adding a really cute element to the Masami friendship. I’ll leave the development and extent of the Korrasami physical relationship to headcanons—I’ve argued before, but we can’t really make super informed decisions in this realm. Suffice it to say the subtext suggests there was at least charged hand-holding by 3x10 (*coughs*). Though I would be remiss if I didn’t call attention to this…you always learn something or other from the person you date. If we wanted to talk about the emotional arc on the other hand, we are lucky that the subtext stays in parallel as the version we’ve come to understand, so there’s little clashing in terms of head-canons about developing feelings and emotional significance. Asami still comes to realize that she is completely in love with Korra when Korra almost dies in 3x13. Their status as girlfriends going into that finale explains why she looks so anxious as Korra is deciding to turn herself in to Zaheer. Take this moment where the crew is waiting while Korra radios him (btw, Bolin’s talking about Pabu during this cap and Asami’s barely listening): The subtext suggests that the Asami we’re seeing here is the Asami who knows her girlfriend is quite possibly sacrificing her life. There’s a reason then, that Asami looked so deadly determined/fierce as she took down the Red Lotus guard to free the airbenders. Korra’s exact line was, “help me save the airbenders, then you can worry about saving me.” And it’s no coincidence that she was looking directly at Asami when delivering it. Korra, for her part, enjoyed her time with a new girlfriend in the very short period between their ship sailing and Korra dealing with Zaheer’s ultimatum. She likely had a deepening crush, yet not too much time to dwell on the extent of it. And then, as we saw, Korra was both mentally and physically broken at the end of 3x13, in no place to be reflecting on those feelings. Their scene at the very end of the episode (a scene which I will vociferously defend), therefore would have been one between two girlfriends, with Asami serving as a great role model for partners of abuse survivors and/or individuals with chronic illnesses to look to. I think I should call attention to the queer subtext for Korra in general here. Being a woman from the Southern Water Tribe who bucked gendered trends and was entirely unique by the inherent nature of being the Avatar, Korra was a very relatable figure to many queer individuals from the get-go. And this is for the very good reason that she was a queer character herself from the get-go. Bryke may not have realized this at first…that the way in which Korra was scripted was inherently queer (and this isn’t referring to her sexuality, but more how she was implicitly a non-normative character). Similarly, Bryke didn’t realize Asami was really a “good guy” until they began working with her character in the development stage and scrapped their Equalist Spy idea for her. Both Korra and Asami had a story to tell: a story they were desperately trying to get Bryke to listen to. Book 1 was Bryke cramming their characters into a box that didn’t quite fit out of necessity, in case it wasn’t picked up for a Book 2. They needed a neat ending presented with a bow on top, despite it not being the endpoint for the Korra character they were writing. Some feel that the conclusion felt forced, or that the pacing of Season 1 was off, and I think trying to tie everything up like that was the issue. They were constraining themselves with that ending, but by the nature of LOK’s production…they had to. It also happened to be a resolution that was incredibly normative/gender reinforcing, which didn’t quite fit with Korra, an inherently transgressive character, whose struggles were in many ways similar to the struggles of queer teens due to her “difference.” Cue Book 2, aka the “bridge” season. Bryke knew Korra’s spiritual journey—a journey where Korrasami happened to be the natural conclusion—but that required breaking down the walls of the normative box they gave us to neatly tie up Book 1. Korra needed to become the “first Avatar”; she needed to both free the Spirits and bring back the airbenders, and in doing so become not only transgressive to us, but outwardly transgressive within her own narrative: she bucked the trend of 10,000 years of Avatars before her. She changed the world forever and began a new spiritual age. Therefore, Book 3 was when Korra came into her own, and not surprisingly when all other characterizations were shored up as well. Bolin remained gullible but became a lavabender and found a mutually supportive relationship, Mako solidified his role as the slightly dour (and wonderfully nerdy) cop/devoted friend, and Asami finally showed off her technology prowess and fought front and center next to Korra. Then Book 4 showed how our characters had grown into adults, and where they would settle in the end. This was the story that Bryke wanted to tell, and it was a story guided by the characters. Mako was proud to have grown into the selfless friend who gets to follow the Avatar into battle. And yes…Jinora knew exactly what was up between Korra and Asami with her side-eye after Kuvira’s arrest. So Book 1 still gave us a Korra who was a queer figure given the difference inherently placed on her character. But this wasn’t a Korra that was understood as “queer” yet by her writers (again, not about in-verse sexuality). Book 3, as I just noted, was Korra as her rightful self: the first Avatar for the new spiritual age, now without connection to her past lives. So was there a moment of subtext somewhere in between that? A moment where audiences could make the connection of Korra’s “queerness” becoming fulling explicated? In fact there was: her re-fusing with Raava. I’ve talked before, but there were indeed subtle romantic undertones to the Wan/Raava relationship (search the #waava tag and look no further). If Raava, voiced by a woman giving a somewhat sultry performance, fusing with Wan seemed in any way romantic, then her subsequent fusing with Korra, especially given Korra just losing her past lives, sends a strong signal to the audience. And it’s even more poignant given that the main two past lives to whom Korra looked for guidance were both men: Aang and Wan. Korra’s connection was shattered with them, replaced by direct and intimate interactions with Raava. This is what put Korra’s innate “queerness” into our language. The reason I talk about the queer subtext is because it’s important in understanding just how organic Korrasami’s blossoming relationship was. As I said, given the “difference” the in-verse Korra character had placed on her, her struggles were evocative of queer teen struggles today. I would assume that there were a number of individuals struggling with identity who related all too well to that teardrop off the cliff in the Book 1 finale. And similarly, there are rather nuanced implications of Korra’s suffering at the hands of Zaheer; it is important to keep in mind that coping with traumatic events is not uncommon in modern-day queer narratives. Which is perhaps why Korra’s overall character arc was so moving, affecting, comforting, and even healing for many. That brings us neatly back to the Korrasami subtext. At the end of Book 3, we have Korra in a wheelchair about to enter one of the darkest periods of her life. Yet in this case, she’s doing so with a girlfriend. With that fact, Asami serving as Korra’s caretaker for two weeks, standing with Korra’s family, offering to drop her [rather important] job to essentially move in with Korra, now makes a lot more sense. And it’s rather heartwarming to think that this means Tonraq and Senna understand her importance to Korra by then. Korra’s decision to go to back to the South Pole and to decline Asami’s offer is still understandable and fits with what Korra felt she needed to do in order to heal. But perhaps we can take Korra only writing to Asami that one time as it really being that Asami was the only one with whom she kept constant correspondence. Then Mako yelling about “no letters” would really be him being upset that his letters didn’t contain anything of substance, or were infrequent. Asami may have even visited Korra during the 3 year gap, and perhaps Mako was upset that Korra didn’t want to see anyone else. And it was still during this time that Korra came to realize that she loved Asami. In fact, it really wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that Asami visited, and right after she left was when it hit Korra. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, but a sudden and brief presence to remind you of what you were missing works wonders. With their relationship status in mind, I’d argue that while Korra was sending Tonraq letters in the last few months of the 3-year gap (when she was lying about being in Republic City), she was also sending letters to Asami. Or at the least just one, to tell her girlfriend whom she loved that she needed to take a trip alone. This would explain why Tonraq never found out about Korra’s whereabouts when Asami would still be inclined to keep writing to the south pole, and why Asami chose that time in between 4x01 and 4x07 to deal with her emotional turmoil relating to her dad. She knew Korra was placing herself in danger and she didn’t know when Korra would be getting back…that’s definitely enough to push her towards confronting Hiroshi. This also puts The Reunion in better context. Korra’s blushing because she’s super in love with Asami (and aware of it) and Asami is hugging Korra so tightly that the animators have to remove part of Korra’s stomach. Their quarrel at the table was indeed a lovers’ spat, as we’ve been saying, but this time we can assume it’s subtext for “as girlfriends, here’s how they handle disagreements…in a very mature, supportive, and considerate fashion.” Asami’s “You don’t get to disappear for three years and act like you know what’s best for me” is the best example of a line that works better when the context is two lovers. The content of their fight need not be taken literally, though it’s not unreasonable for Asami reaching out to Hiroshi to be a source of disagreement. The implication of the scene is merely that as lovers, they can handle conflict harmoniously. Let’s look at more subtext. Remember their perfect synchronization with their fighting in both The Reunion and Day of Colossus where they instinctively knew each other’s whereabouts/actions before they happened? Subtext for their physical relationship. Further, Korra’s antagonistic demeanor towards Hiroshi (despite their task-focused dialogue) would therefore be Korra acting as a protective girlfriend. And of course, it makes the parallel between the last shot of Korra and Asami and the Zhurrick wedding shot all the more pointed, something to which Bryan specifically called attention in his post. By understanding that Bryke were externally constrained from giving us the depiction of Korrasami they wanted, the subtextual clues left by the authors do tell a compelling love story. But it’s a love story of a different nature: not one of two unlikely friends coming to understand their feelings for one another over the course of 3 years and beginning their romantic relationship just at the end of the series, but instead one of unlikely friends-become-girlfriends with a strong emotional connection, who stuck by each other through their darkest hours and ended up completely and stupidly in love. direct followup (x) other analyses (x) So this presented a different Korrasami story. But hopefully a story worth considering?

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS launched on Oct. 3 in the U.S., and even with only two days of data included in NPD’s September report, the game still managed to finish as the No. 4 best-selling software SKU for the month with more than 705,000 total units sold. Of that total, more than 135,000 units were sold digitally through the Nintendo eShop. The game’s biggest impact however may be on hardware sales. More than 140,000 units of the Nintendo 3DS family of systems were sold in September, an increase of 55 percent over sales in August. Sales of Wii U hardware also saw double-digit increases in September, increasing by nearly 50 percent over sales in August. These gains were driven in particular by two software titles: Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart 8. Hyrule Warriors launched on Sept. 26 and has already sold more than 190,000 combined units in the U.S. alone. Mario Kart 8 sold nearly 60,000 combined units in its fifth month on the market, bringing its lifetime total in the U.S. to nearly 1.2 million total units. A great lineup of games for Wii U begins on Oct. 26 with Bayonetta 2, the Wii U exclusive that currently holds a 91 score on Metacritic. That continues with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U on Nov. 21 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker on Dec. 5. Also launching on Nov. 21 is amiibo, Nintendo’s foray into the toys-to-life category. Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will be the first game to launch with amiibo integration. Other games that will support amiibo include Mario Kart 8, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10 and Yoshi’s Woolly World, with more to come. More details about compatibility and functionality of amiibo may be found at http://amiibo.com. The Nintendo 3DS library will soon be bolstered by two of the most anticipated games of 2014: Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire (Nov. 21).

The Swashbuckler, our take on a melee type character that relies more on grace and wits than a big-ass sword and heavy armor. I wonder if we'll get accused of "copying" or "stealing" this one? Anywho, you won’t reliably deal as much damage as a fighter, and what with a lack of heavy armor and shield—and, very likely, a lower Constitution—you can’t take as much punishment. To that end you’ll need to rely on the parry and resourceful moves to stay one step ahead of your opponent, and soak up some of the damage. This product contains two separate pdf files. The first is a digest-sized, 23 page pdf laid out like the Dungeon World rulebook. It includes: The Swashbuckler, a complete class with 20 advanced moves: improve your fighting technique, goad enemies into fighting you, attract a sidekick, and more! New equipment like the parrying dagger and buckler, as well as some firearms if your campaign features them (note: these were originally included in The Pirate ). ). Two new magic items, including an artifact: do what it wants, and it'll become more powerful! Seven moves that just didn't quite make the initial cut. A kind of behind the scenes look at some of the fiction and other content. The other is a 2-page, letter-sized character sheet for you to print out and actually use at the table. It features a Dungeon World character sheets. Note: If you purchase using the Buy Now button, we will also send you a complimentary copy through DriveThruRPG. By popular demand—seriously, we held a vote over on G+ and everything—here’s, our take on a melee type character that relies more on grace and wits than a big-ass sword and heavy armor. I wonder if we'll get accused of "copying" or "stealing" this one?Anywho, you won’t reliably deal as much damage as a fighter, and what with a lack of heavy armor and shield—and, very likely, a lower Constitution—you can’t take as much punishment. To that end you’ll need to rely on the parry and resourceful moves to stay one step ahead of your opponent, and soak up some of the damage.This product contains two separate pdf files. The first is a digest-sized, 23 page pdf laid out like therulebook. It includes:The other is a 2-page, letter-sized character sheet for you to print out and actually use at the table. It features a new layout that provides more room for gear and alternate moves than the "official"character sheets.If you purchase using the Buy Now button, we willsend you a complimentary copy through DriveThruRPG. Announcements The Kickstarter foris just over half way over (as of this post), and we'resome $300 away from funding (also, as of this post)! There are three big changes to the Kickstarter that I haven't talked about here.First, you can increase your pledge to get additional classes at a discount We're doing this because people have asked us to include additional classes that we've created, like, and. The problem is our classes are really popular, and we don't want people to pay for content they already own.This way you can getwhat you want at a discount. It should be noted that any classes you buy through the Kickstarter will be sent out at the campaign's conclusion: you won't have to wait for the rest ofSecond, per someone's suggestion, I'm going to write a kind of promo adventure for A Sundered World in time for GenCon . It will be aboutin length (so that ideally you can wrap it up in a couple hours), and will feature pregen characters, one of which will be of a race I haven't talked about before. Everyone backing at the $3 level or higher will get this when it's ready.Finally, there're going to be comics, short stories, maybe even novels (backers of any level can see the first page). The art is currently going to be done by Melissa and myself, and the writing will be by Brannon Hollingsworth. Everyone backing, even at the $1 level, will get the first comic when it is ready.

Hello youse, and Merry Christmas! At dinner, just the other night, the TOMY action game Screwball Scramble was brought out as a post-coffee treat. And a treat is exactly what it was. This wasn’t a board gamer’s house, and everyone in attendance was an adult. I played it while beautiful people watched, and it felt like something very real. SCREWBALL SCRAMBLE Screwball Scramble is a dexterity action game where players have to guide a steel ball through a set of obstacles to reach a goal. It’s a feat performed against a timer, but in the initial plays the challenge will be in completing the course at all. You are at the mercy of moulded plastic and your own frustration. The first challenge is a set of tilting platforms, controlled with one button, where your ball has to be eased from one to the other in a steady flow. It’s not actually a difficult thing to do. One button press rocks the platforms into one position, and the release of the button rocks them back. This undulation can carry the steel ball easily, if you just time it right and play it gently. But with eyes watching you and a timer running, it’s far more of a struggle than you’d expect. And as with many of this game’s obstacles – the more tense you are, the more difficult it is to control the carriage of your ball. Once past these platforms, your ball meets a little podium where you can swing a little magnetic crane around to pick it up. Failure at this point is rare – in fact, it feels like a nice moment of pacing in the drama of the game. The feel and the visual of the little crane picking up your ball is very pleasant, and it’s the perfect tonic after the anxiety of those rocking platforms. But then you’re onto the steel rails, and you’re back in Hell. The steel rails can be manipulated apart and towards each other, to carry the ball along the length of the track they make. Separate the rails too much and the ball will fall. Keep them too close together and the ball won’t move. It’s an absolute bastard of a thing. There’s something deeply unsettling about seeing your ball fall through those rails, particularly when it’s falling because you let it. This coming together and drifting apart, this closeness and then the lending of space, this is the dance that sees adult relationships succeed or fail. There is much to feel in Screwball Scramble. Onwards onto the little tray, which must be rocked and tilted so that the ball can pass by a scattering of studs. Another easy task, designed to give the player a breather before the hoppers. The hoppers. The ball sits on the lowest platform, and a tap of a button pops the ball up onto the next. And on the player must go, tapping the button so that the ball hops up and up and up. And the feel of that button is crucial. You know – I can feel it right now, in my mind’s eye, the muscle memory of exactly how hard I should tap that button. Not quite that much, but that much. Yes, that much. No harder than that. And then something goes wrong. You didn’t tap hard enough, and the ball doesn’t fly. You go harder, but your measure is off now, and the ball flips out. This section is all about that memory of how hard that button needs tapped – and if you have no memory of it, it’s about quickly finding just how much force you should be using and sticking with it. Forever. (It stands to reason that different editions of Screwball Scramble might call for different amounts of force and different subtleties of touch on the game’s controls. It’s something that might be worth testing, if anyone out there has different sets.) The final leap of the hopper is through a hoop. And it’s easy to rattle off the hoop itself and out of the game. Players often pause for a moment before this leap, because for some reason this little move feels much more in the lap of the gods than most. Once through the hoop, the ball is in the maze. The maze is an enclosed route, with one junction leading to a dead end. The maze is tilted to and fro so that the ball can carry through, and then the player has to make sure the ball doesn’t go all the way into the dead end and have to be tilted back out of there. There is no danger in this section other than the loss of time that can result from a ball being drawn into the dead end. It happens more often than you’d expect. Waiting outside the maze is a little ferry that will carry the ball towards the Hammer. The Hammer is the final moment of this game, the last little bit of drama in this story. The ball sits in the hammer’s head, and then the player has to strike a button to send the hammer swinging. A clean, measured strike will fire the ball down onto the finish bell, calling a halt to the timer. But a too-soft strike will not allow the hammer to fall. And a too-strong strike could bounce the ball right out of the game or — and this is an absolute worst case scenario — straight off the table. The bell rings. Like at the end of a boxing match. Like at the end of a battle. I had Screwball Scramble when I was ten years old. I don’t understand how I can be 38 years old. I don’t understand how I can be 28 years later and still 10 years old. I don’t understand how I can still be distracted by toys when my life is dark and heavy with adult puzzles. In what direction am I supposed to be tilting? Is someone timing this? Is anyone watching? Is everyone watching? I don’t know how heavy my touch should be. How gentle. How hard. I’m trying my best. I don’t want to fall. Merry Christmas.

Today, HRC and Equality Virginia strongly condemned the Virginia House of Delegates for passing HB 2025 -- discriminatory legislation that seeks to give taxpayer-funded agencies and service providers a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people under the guise of religion. The dangerous anti-LGBTQ proposal will now move to the Senate for consideration. “The Virginia House of Delegates’ decision to pass this legislation puts the state’s people, reputation, and economy at risk,” said HRC Legal Director Sarah Warbelow. “This reckless bill in truth has nothing to do with the right to practice one’s religion, which is already firmly protected by the First Amendment. Rather, it is a thinly veiled attempt to provide a special license to discriminate with taxpayer funds. The discriminatory measure would no doubt result in multiple, expensive legal challenges and fallout similar to the self-inflicted wound in North Carolina from HB2. The Virginia Senate must reject this legislative assault on LGBTQ Virginians and their families.” “We recognize that religion is a vital part of many Virginians’ daily lives, but HB 2025 does not protect religious liberty. Instead, it provides a license to discriminate against loving LGBTQ families,” said Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish. Furthermore, its broad and vague definition of ‘person’ would set a dangerous precedent for discriminatory individuals and groups to be protected by our religious freedom laws.” HB 2025 could allow taxpayer-funded organizations like homeless shelters and adoption agencies to refuse service to same-sex couples, transgender people, and anyone suspected of having intimate relationships outside of a heterosexual marriage (such as single mothers or a cohabiting straight couple) without losing taxpayer funding, contracts, licensing, or other forms of state recognition. A similar discriminatory proposal was vetoed in 2016 by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. Last summer, a Mississippi law with similar intentions -- HB 1523 -- was ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves just before it would have gone into effect. That law, deceptively titled “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” enabled almost any individual or organization to discriminate against LGBTQ Mississippians at work, at school and in their communities. It remains pending at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The fallout over North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law has been swift and severe, and it is a clear warning to lawmakers across the country considering anti-LGBTQ proposals. Following passage in March of 2016, HB2 triggered a national outcry of opposition and a broad range of voices continue to speak out demanding its full and complete repeal. The economic fallout alone includes hundreds of millions of dollars in lost business. In November, former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory became the only incumbent governor from either party to lose on Election Day specifically because he championed and signed HB2 into law. The attack on fairness and equality in Virginia is part of an onslaught of anti-LGBTQ bills being pushed in 2017 by anti-equality activists around the country. HRC is currently tracking 60 anti-LGBTQ legislative proposals in 19 states. For more information, visit http://hrc.im/ 2017legislature.

The Classical World Chess Championship 1995, known at the time as the PCA World Chess Championship 1995,[1] was held from September 10, 1995, to October 16, 1995, on the 107th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Viswanathan Anand, the challenger, in a twenty-game match. Kasparov won the match after eighteen games with four wins, one loss, and thirteen draws. Background [ edit ] In 1993, the reigning FIDE World Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov decided to split from FIDE because he felt the organisation was corrupt, and formed a rival organisation, the PCA (Professional Chess Association). In response, FIDE stripped Kasparov of his status and organised an event to determine a new champion — this event was won by Anatoly Karpov. Kasparov claimed that, as he had not been defeated by a challenger to his title in a match, and in fact had defeated the rightful challenger (Nigel Short in 1993), that he was still the reigning world champion. Thus, for the first time since the inaugural World Championship in 1886, there were two rival World Chess Championships. The PCA ran a world championship cycle similar in format to that in use by FIDE at the time. It was to be the only full championship cycle run under the auspices of the PCA. 1993 Qualifying tournament [ edit ] The PCA held a qualifying tournament and Candidates matches in 1993–1995. A number of leading players did not participate, most notably FIDE World Champion Anatoly Karpov. The events were held at a similar time as the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996, with many of the same players playing in both. The Qualifying tournament in Groningen in December 1993 had 54 players participating in an 11-round Swiss system tournament, with the top seven qualifying for the Candidates Tournament.[2] The top seven from the Qualifying tournament were joined by Nigel Short, the loser of the 1993 PCA championship match against Kasparov. The first round of Candidates matches were best of eight games, the semifinals were best of 10, and the final was best of 12. If the scores were tied, sets of two rapid chess games were played as tie breakers, until one player had a lead. The quarterfinal matches were held at the Trump Tower in New York City in June 1994 and opened by Donald Trump. The semifinals were played in Linares in September 1994, and the final in Las Palmas in March 1995.[3] 1995 Championship match [ edit ] The final was played at the World Trade Center, on the 107th floor of the South Tower.[4] The first player to reach 10½ points would be the winner. PCA World Chess Championship Match 1995 Rating (change) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Viswanathan Anand ( India ) 2725 (+13) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ 7½ Garry Kasparov ( Russia ) 2795 (-32) ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 10½ The match began with eight consecutive draws, a record for the World Chess Championship until the 2018 Carlsen–Caruana match. In game 9 Anand, with white, broke through Kasparov's Sicilian Scheveningen defence to win. Kasparov hit back immediately in game 10, with a novelty in the Ruy Lopez Open Defence. Game 11 was arguably the turning point in the match. Kasparov sprung a major surprise by playing the Sicilian Dragon with black - a once-popular defence which is now only played at the top level by a few specialists. Anand missed a comparatively simple combination and lost. After a draw in game 12, Anand again played weakly against the Dragon in game 13, losing again with white to go two points down. When Anand lost game 14, Kasparov had a commanding 8½-5½ lead and the match was effectively over. The players drew their remaining games.[5]

The ultimate sarcastic animated teenager has finally been portrayed by her perfect real-life counterpart. Aubrey Plaza, unofficial queen of the deadpan, plays the titular role of Daria Morgendorffer in this College Humor trailer of an (unfortunately fake) Daria movie. See also: 15 Celebrities Before They Were Famous While Daria graduated from Lawndale High School in 2002 — the same year the MTV show aired its final episode — this video imagines her going back home to attend her 10-year reunion. She meets up with old friends and objects of mockery alike. Don't worry, her sarcastic wit, stone-cold delivery and signature outfit are all still there. If you're a Daria fan, you're probably in tears that this movie isn't actually hitting theaters. But, for real, did this trailer just make your '90s dreams come true? BONUS: 20 Entertaining YouTube Videos Under 20 Seconds 20 Videos Under 20 Seconds Image: College Humor

This article introduces you to the comparison of the three most popular JS frameworks for the web namely AngularJS, Ember.js and Backbone.js. Choosing the right framework for your project has an impact on your ability to deliver on time and to maintain the code in the future. Deciding which JavaScript UI framework will best meet the needs of your project and organization is a challenge. We are doing an in depth comparison of three frameworks. Here I would be covering the following topics which are relevant to these frameworks. Introduction History of Frameworks Architectural Diagrams Features Size Getting Started with Frameworks Template Support Data Binding Router Views Introduction AngularJS AngularJS is a very powerful JavaScript library used in Single Page Applications (SPA’s) projects. It allows organizing large, client heavy applications into manageable ones. AngularJS is an open source web application framework. AngularJS brings server side services, such as view dependant controllers to client side web applications by using dependency injection. Ember.js Ember.js is an open source client-side framework for creating rich JavaScript web applications. Ember is used for building long-lived application. It has convention that helps to write a better code which can automatically determine the route and the controller name while defining the router resource. It is also based on Model, Views and Controller (MVC) pattern to maintain front ends. It is designed for Single Page Application. Ember.js eliminates the boilerplate (the section of code that has to be included in various places without any alteration) and provides standard application architecture. Ember.js has HTML and CSS at the core of the development model. Backbone.js Backbone.js is a basically light weight JavaScript library, which allows structuring and organizing for JavaScript code based on Model, View and Controller (MVC) pattern to maintain front ends. It works very well with any of the JavaScript libraries and used most in the web development community because it’s ease of use and provides structure to the JavaScript applications. It is literally a backbone upon which you build your application and provides set of base classes to create clean JavaScript code with a RESTful JSON interface on your server. The single page web applications or client side applications can be developed using this library those that run in a web browser. History of Frameworks AngularJS It was developed by Misko hevery and Adam Abrons and maintained by Google; used internally by them and MIT licensed. It is initially released in 2009 and current stable release is 1.3.3 (November 17, 2014) and is the oldest of the three frameworks. Ember.js It was initially called as SproutCore MVC framework, originally developed by Sproutlt and later by Apple. Later, it was developed by Yehuda Katz, a member of jQuery, Ruby on rails and SproutCore core teams and is released in 2011. The current stable release is 1.8.1 (November 04, 2014) and MIT licensed. Backbone.js It was created by Jeremy Ashkenas in 2010. It is based on the Underscore.js library which provides many functions to work with arrays, collections, objects, events and so on. It is initially released in October 13, 2010 and current stable release is 1.1.2 (February 20, 2014) and MIT licensed. Architectural Diagrams AngularJS Figure 1. Architecture Diagram of AngularJS. AngularJS contains modules which acts as container for the different types of application such as controllers, view, directives, factory etc. A module specifies how an application should be bootstrapped. Using a module, process will be easier to understand; you can reuse the code, end to end tests uses modules to override the configuration etc. It is place for creating, registering and retrieving angular modules. The config only accepts providers from modules, means every service, factory etc are instances of provider. Routes are used for linking URL’s to controllers and views. Views are used to add sophisticated handling of user events. It uses ngView directive that complements route service by template of the current route to the main layout (index.html) file. The controller controls the data of AngularJS applications which are regular JavaScript objects. AngularJS defines ng-controller directive which creates a new controller object using controller function and new child available to controller function as $scope as shown in the showed diagram. The views send element or attribute to the directives which tell AngularJS’s HTML compiler to attach specific behavior to the DOM element and its children. The factory is used to define AngularJS service and it called when service needs to be instantiated. Ember.js Figure 2. Architecture Diagram of Ember.js. The above figure demonstrates the architecture of Ember.js which divides the application into model, view and controller (MVC) which helps the developers quickly understand how everything fits together. Ember starts with route and loads the model then renders the template by using view and adds the template to the DOM. The router sets a model on the controller and events are passed to the controller to update the model. The controller sets the state on template and view. Let’s see the parts of Ember.js as follows: Model : Model manages the data of the application. It responds to the request of view and also responds to the instruction from the controller. : Model manages the data of the application. It responds to the request of view and also responds to the instruction from the controller. Router : Router is used to execute the actions and events which is an URL representation of application’s objects. : Router is used to execute the actions and events which is an URL representation of application’s objects. Controller : Controller is an intermediary between the model and view or template. It is auto-generated by Ember.js. : Controller is an intermediary between the model and view or template. It is auto-generated by Ember.js. View : View is associated with template, route and controller. : View is associated with template, route and controller. Template: Template is the HTML mark-up which automatically gets updated when changes are done in model. It displays the model to the user. Backbone.js Figure 3. Architecture Diagram of Backbone.js. The above diagram represents the architecture of Backbone.js. User requests a file such as a page, image etc from a web server using HTTP Request protocol. The Backbone routers are used for routing applications URL’s when using hash (#) tags. Router is required when web applications provide linkable, bookmarkable, and shareable URL’s for important locations in the app. It provides methods for routing client side pages and connecting them to actions and events. The DOM (Document Object Model) is an application programming interface which defines the logical structure of documents and the way a document is accessed and manipulated. The DOM sends event to the view. The view objects are associated with a fragment of DOM and constitute the user interface in an application. They are designed to tie models that need to present to the user. Views can be change as the model changes. The model moves the events to data source to get requested information of the user. The models are heart of JavaScript application which provides basic set of functionality for managing changes. It takes specific requested data from the database, synchronizes it, updates the model and DOM. Features AngularJS It is client side technology which provides powerful things that embraces and extends HTML, CSS and JavaScript. It has most useful feature, data binding which saves from writing boilerplate code by providing two way data binding to handle synchronization of data between model and view. It uses template which is plain old HTML to show information from the model and controller. It has one more feature called module which divides the application into reusable and functional components that can be integrated into other web applications. It contains directives to create custom HTML tags and decorate HTML elements with new, custom behavior to manipulate HTML elements. Ember.js Ember.js is used for creating long lived JavaScript web applications. It contains a feature called route which is a URL representation of application’s objects and serializes application’s current state. It has models which respond to the view request and instruction from the controller and contains data associated with application. Controllers act as intermediary between model and view or template and decorate the models with display logic. Ember uses templates to build application’s HTML and gets updated when changes are done in the model. Another feature called views which handles the user input events and binds the model events and methods, renders model and interacts with user. Backbone.js It is a JavaScript library uses MVC pattern to maintain front ends. It uses only required functionality wherever necessary in the application. It can be integrated easily with other frameworks, so it is called as minimalistic. Backbone uses views which reflect how data model should look like. Uses models to store data, validate data and provides access to different parts of the data in the application. Backbone also contain router feature for routing applications URL’s when using hash (#) tags. Size It is important to understand what is the size of each these frameworks to download and what you are getting for that extra weight in the application. In many cases user wants to download the application as fast as possible. The size of the framework is important parameter which adds overall size of your application. There are two factors which should be considered when loading time of the application, one is framework size and another is time taken by the framework to bootstrap. The size affects the performance but also gives an idea about how ambitious a framework is and how much time it takes to learn the technology as well as how many features does it support and how robust they are. The size of the framework is important especially when you are building mobile applications. JavaScript assets are usually minified and gzipped, so we will compare size of these frameworks depending on minified – gzipped versions. AngularJS contains gzipped size of 36kb approx which does not have external dependencies. contains gzipped size of 36kb approx which does not have external dependencies. Ember.js comes with gzipped size of 90kb and it also includes external dependencies jQuery plus Handlebars with size of 136.2kb. The more ambitious and rich framework is the more in size and also more difficult to integrate with others on the same page of an application. The less flexible framework will be less in size and requires developers to write lots of code. comes with gzipped size of 90kb and it also includes external dependencies jQuery plus Handlebars with size of 136.2kb. The more ambitious and rich framework is the more in size and also more difficult to integrate with others on the same page of an application. The less flexible framework will be less in size and requires developers to write lots of code. Backbone.js has gzipped size of 6.5kb which includes external dependencies requires jQuery plus Underscore with size of 43.5kb and Zepto plus Underscore with size of 20.6kb. Getting Started with Frameworks AngularJS It is easy to use. It provides features of two way data binding which makes custom tags, attributes which encapsulate built-in directives that make extending functionality of HTML easier. It is a flexible framework and versatile used for large app projects or small element. It is distributed JavaScript file and can be added to a webpage by using following line: <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/angularjs/1.2.26/angular.min.js"></script> Ember.js It is a two way data-binding which is based on Model, Views and Controller (MVC) pattern to maintain front ends. It requires some learning to get started with on the basic things. It is optional about how you name your objects and how you organize your files. Ember allow4s writing better code and helps to facilitate the collaboration between different developers working on the same project. To start with ember.js, you should add the following lines in your application: <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script> <script src="http://cdn.jsdelivr.net/handlebarsjs/1.3.0/handlebars.min.js"></script> <script src="http://builds.emberjs.com/release/ember.min.js"></script> Backbone.js It is collection of cohesive objects and its basics are easy to learn. It has fewer conventions such as it does not default to any template, does not have default project structure and no built in testing recipe. It is easier to implement on small portion of page and easier to get started with and allows for greater control over the method of implementation. It supplies models with key value binding and custom events collections with API functions, views with event handling and connects it to your existing application over RESTful JSON interface. To get start with backbone.js, you need to add below lines in your code: <script type="text/javascript" src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.5.2/jquery.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.cdnjs.com/ajax/libs/underscore.js/1.1.4/underscore-min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://ajax.cdnjs.com/ajax/libs/backbone.js/0.3.3/backbone-min.js"></script> Template Support A template is a project skeleton of a simple single page web application. AngularJS AngularJS does not include any angular specific file templates. It comes with set of live templates to create controllers etc by using template engine. It also does not support 3rd party template engine. The AngularJS template engine is a simple HTML with binding expressions surrounded by double curly braces as shown in the below code: <div ng-app=” “ data-ng-init=”names=[‘Sachin’,’Sehwag’,’Gambhir’,’Dhoni’]”> <p>Looping with ng-repeat</p> <ul> <li data-ng-repeat=”myname in names” title=”{{myname.description}}”> {{myname}} </li> </ul> </div> Ember.js Ember.js contains template is the HTML markup which gets updated automatically when changes are done in the model. It uses handlebars templating library which is like regular HTML which allow embedding expressions that change what is displayed. This template will automatically get compiled and display the message on the page when it gets loaded. We can define handlebars template inside your HTML by putting it inside tag as follows: <script type=”text/x-handlebars”> <ul> {{ #each names}} <li {{bind-attr title=description}} > {{ myname }} </li> {{/each}} </ul> Backbone.js It uses templates which create bunch of different reusable copies of markup that populates each component with different data. By default, Backbone.js uses Underscore.js template engine which includes its own micro-templating solution. Backbone has hard dependency on Underscore.js. Underscore is JavaScript library that provides functional programming support without extending built-in JavaScript objects. You can get advantage of template engine of backbone.js without adding additional dependencies for the application, because already you will be having underscore.js on your page. The below simple format shows the templating engine of Underscore.js <ul> <% _.each(names, function( myname) { %> <li title=”<%- myname.description %>”> <%- myname %> </li> <% }); %> </ul> Flexibility These frameworks provide plug-ins and libraries to do specialized things and have ability to be easily modified. AngularJS It is flexible framework for developing dynamic web applications. It includes integrated toolset that helps to develop well structured, rich applications in modular format with less code and more flexibility. The main reason for AngularJS’s success is the flexibility in the building blocks the framework provides. It extends HTML by providing functionality of directives that allows creating dynamic templates and also creating your own directives that fill your needs and abstracting away all the DOM manipulation logic. Ember.js It is a flexible framework that embraces the concept of fast web page. It speeds up the performance of your application without reloading the whole page. Ember.js gives flexibility to change UI interaction very easily. It allows scaling existing functionality and makes easy to add new one. Backbone.js It is smaller and well documented flexible library for building JavaScript applications that interact with web services. It is built on top of regular DOM events which make mechanism versatile and extensible. It gives you a lot of flexibility by providing models and collections to represent data entities with create, read, update and delete operations. Data Binding Data binding is a process that establishes connection between application user interface and business logic. AngularJS In AngularJS, data binding is fully supported which is the automatic synchronization of data between view and business logic of the application. It provides two types of data binding namely one-way data binding and two-way data binding. One-Way Data Binding Figure 4. Architecture Diagram of one way binding. The one-way data binding binds the data in one direction and merge the template and model components into view. When merge occurs, changes to the model will not be reflected automatically in the view. So developer needs to write code separately for view with model and model with view Two-Way Data Binding Figure 5. Architecture Diagram of two way binding. Compare to one way binding, it works differently. First template compiled on the browser which produces a view when model variable is bound to an element that can change and display the value of the variable. In simple words, when the model changes, the view reflects the change and vice versa. You can say that view is simply an instant projection of your model. Two way binding can be applied to those elements that allow the user to provide data value such as input, text area, select elements etc. Models uses JSON properties such as car.color=”red”; and provides option for creating custom bindings. Ember.js In Ember.js, data binding is fully supported which creates link between two properties when one property changes, the other property will get updated to the new value. Binding can connect same object across different objects and in bindings, ember.js can be used with any object not just between views and models. A model uses getters and setters but binding is automatic and better than backbone. Two- way binding can be created as shown in the below simple code: Company1=Ember.Object.create({ totalProfit: 100000 }); Company2=Ember.Object.create({ totalProfit: Ember.computed.alias(‘company1. totalProfit’) }); company2=Company2.create ({ company1=company1; }); company2.get(‘totalProfit’); //100000 company2.set(‘totalProfit’,120000); company1.get(‘totalProfit’); //120000 You can change bound property as many times without worrying synchronization bindings because ember waits until your application has finished running before synchronizing changes. One-way binding can be done in one direction. One way binding useful when you want to defines specific behavior such as address of shop etc. For instance: name=Ember.Object.create ({ comany_name: “Techbuds” }); C_Name=Ember.View.extend ({ Comany_Name: Ember.computed.oneWay (‘name.comany_name’) }); c_name=C_Name.create ({ name: name; }); name.set(‘comany_name’, “Techbuds ”); // changing name of user object on the view. C_Name.set(‘Comany_Name’, “Techbuds IT Solutions”); // It will become “Techbuds” now name.get(‘comany_name’); //displays “Techbuds” Backbone.js In Backbone.js, data binding is not supported by default. There is plug-ins available to support data binding. Epoxy.js is extensible data binding library for backbone.js which provides rich extensions of Backbone’s model and view components to hook view elements directly to data models. It includes some features such as automated dependency mapping, view updates, computed model and view attributes. Router Routers are used for routing your applications when using hash (#) tags. Router maps an URL to JavaScript function. AngularJS It supports concept routing which is quite similar to backbone.js. Angular after all is a framework used for creating single page applications. This technique usage in angular, is called routing. Routing is a process of loading sub templates depending upon the URL of the page. In AngularJS, routing is taken care of by a service provider that Angular provides out of box called $routeProvider to handle routing. By using this, AngularJS will handle all of the technique required to get new file and inject it into your layout. Following format shows specifying root URL in AngularJS: var MyApp=angular.module(‘MyApp’, [‘ngRoute’]); MyApp.config(function($routeProvider){ $routeProvider .when(‘/’,{ templateUrl : ‘techbuds/home.html’, controller : ‘MyController’ }) .when(‘/careers’,{ templateUrl : ‘techbuds/careers.html’, controller : ‘CareerController’ }) .when(‘/contact’,{ templateUrl : ‘techbuds/contact.html’, controller : ‘ContactController’ }) ; }); Ember.js In ember.js, router is used to execute the actions and events which is an URL representation of application’s objects. The URL can be changed manually by the user and specified URL is used by ember to understand what application state to be sent or present to the user. It is responsible for loading the data and displaying templates when it matches the current URL to the routes which you have defined. The router can link views based on its application state. Below code shows the simple format of specifying a root URL in Ember.js: App.Router.map(function() { this.route("home", { path: "/home" }); this.route("contact", { path: "/contact" }); }); Backbone.js The backbone routers are used for routing applications URL’s when using hash (#) tags i.e. it is an URL representation of application’s objects. Router is required when web applications provide linkable, bookmarkable, and shareable URL’s for important locations in the app. It provides methods for routing client side pages and connecting them to actions and events. When router maps URL, it triggers the actions and events for the matched routes. It is still very useful in providing URL routing facility for an application. In URL routing, anything after hash (#) tag is interpreted by the router. Following format shows specifying root URL in Backbone.js: <script type="text/javascript"> var Router = Backbone.Router.extend({ routes: { 'route/:id' : 'MyRoute' }, }); var router = new Router(); Backbone.history.start (); </script> Views In general, views are used to define how stuffs are displayed in the screen. AngularJS AngularJS uses HTML and its own templating language to specify views. The views are specified declaratively as HTML. AngularJS defines ng-app directive which becomes placeholder for views. AngularJS uses ng-view directive as container to switch between views. When the route changes, the view changes according to the configuration of the $route service. You can create ng-view in your application by using following format: <div ng-app=”app”> <ng-view></ng-view> </div> Ember.js It has extensive view type support. Ember views are responsible for how and what to display from our application. Views are used to reflect “how your data model looks like”. It has own Dom element which knows about its model or collection. It handles the user input events and binds the model events and model methods and renders model or collection and interacts with user. Views can be created for the reasons such as when you need to handle user events and to create reusable component and handlebars are used for templating. Below code shows the format of how to define view in the program var view = Ember.View.create({ template: Ember.Handlebars.compile(“enter your message here…”) }); Backbone.js In backbone.js, views are simple and straight forward and it represents the logical chunk of UI in the DOM. Vview classes do not know anything about the HTML and CSS. Each view can be updated independently when the model changes without reloading the whole page. It’s easy for developer with jQuery and Dom skills. Views allow defining DOM events declaratively without having to worry about render function to the model into HTML using a template data. We can create the backbone view by simply extending the existing View class of the backbone i.e. Backbone.View which creates initial element outside of the DOM, if existing element is not provided. You can create view constructor of the backbone views as shown below: var AppView = Backbone.View.extend({ hello: function(){ alert(‘Hello...This is example of view!!!'); } }); Conclusion At this point in the tutorial, we have covered comparison between AngularJS, Ember.js and Backbone.js. Each framework has unique features and it would be unfair to say that one is better than the other. All the frameworks have similar goal to make the process of development faster. What we need to consider is, the requirement list of the project and the adaptability of the framework on those requirements. There are lots of factors we need to take care of before selecting the framework for our application. Deciding which JavaScript UI framework will best meet the needs of your application you want to build and your preferences as developer. Links Official AngularJS website https://angularjs.org/ Official Backbone.js website http://backbonejs.org/ Official Ember.js website http://emberjs.com/guides/

Pin It Want to make friends fast?? Serve these Caramelitas or give them as a gift and you’ll be everyone’s best friend! Ooey-Gooey Caramel + Chocolate + Oatmeal = Simply Decadent! These Caramelita Bars are amazing, but they are very rich so you can cut them in small servings. The recipe makes an 8×8 pan which will be plenty unless you are feeding a crowd (simply double the recipe for a 13×9 pan). Next time you need to take a dessert try these – you’ll be the talk of the party {In a good way of course}. Caramelitas Ingredients: 32 caramel squares, unwrapped 1/2 cup heavy cream 3/4 cup butter, melted 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup flour 1 cup rolled oats 1 teaspoon baking soda 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips Directions: Combine caramel and cream in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until completely smooth; set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, and baking soda. Press half of the oatmeal mixture into the bottom of an 8×8 pan sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven and sprinkle chocolate chips over the crust. Pour caramel mixture over the chocolate chips. Crumble remaining oatmeal mixture over caramel. Return to oven and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool completely before cutting. Notes: These take a while to cool down. A short stint in the fridge will help if you are in a pinch for time, but don’t serve them cold; they should be served and stored at room temperature.

Terry Crews took to Twitter on Friday to accuse WME of “retaliation” in his ongoing legal battle with the agency. Last month, Crews accused the then-head of WME’s Motion Picture Department, Adam Venit, of groping him at a party. Now, he’s accusing the agency of hacking his son’s computer and possibly bugging his family. “I believe my family is being tracked and possibly bugged,” Crews said in a series of tweets, “Someone hacked into the computer my son and I built together. I have to shut it down and replace the hard drive.” Also Read: Terry Crews Signs With UTA After Sexual Assault Accusation Against WME Exec Crews also said WME executives attempted to use Russell Simmons to “pressure me into dropping my case.” “Somehow they thought he was the “King of Black people,” he wrote. WME declined to comment. Since coming forward with the allegation against Venit last month, Crews filed a sexual assault report with the Los Angeles Police Department and filed his own lawsuit against the agent. “LAPD task force detectives let me know these people don’t play fair. There are a lot of secrets to protect, and they will do anything to keep them,” Crews wrote. “The town is compromised. But me, and my team, are not. If I were to have a timely “accident” — you know where to look.” Also Read: Terry Crews Says Embattled National Enquirer Editor Threatened Smear Campaign Last month, WME completed its two-week investigation into Venit’s conduct and stripped him of his position as head of the agency’s motion picture group, opting to keep him on as an agent. Crews responded to news of Venit’s return and demotion with disapproval on Twitter, writing: “Someone got a pass.” “Retaliation in some form is expected- I would be naive to think otherwise,” the Friday tweetstorm concluded. “But vulnerability and openness is actually my best protection. I’m ready.” My assailant Adam Venit is the founding partner at @WME, a corporation worth over $8 billion. I believe my family is being tracked and possibly bugged. (Cont’d) — terrycrews (@terrycrews) December 16, 2017 I also believe @unclerush was asked to pressure me into dropping my case by @WME execs. Somehow they thought he was the “King of Black people”. Someone hacked into the computer my son and I built together. I have to shut it down and replace the hard drive. (Cont’d/2) https://t.co/HHcwBN4RH6 — terrycrews (@terrycrews) December 16, 2017 LAPD task force detectives let me know these people don’t play fair. There are a lot of secrets to protect, and they will do anything to keep them. The town is compromised. But me, and my team, are not. If I were to have a timely “accident” — you know where to look. (Cont’d/4) https://t.co/Hz1btFZC8r — terrycrews (@terrycrews) December 16, 2017 @WME general counsel Seth Krauss surreptitiously brought up my wife’s name to my former attorney re: my case.@TMZ met me and my wife at the as we left the airport, then mysteriously edited out my comments about how they collude with the studios and agencies. (Cont’d/) https://t.co/kdtSLBJZGD — terrycrews (@terrycrews) December 16, 2017 Retaliation in some form is expected- I would be naive to think otherwise… But vulnerability and openness is actually my best protection. I’m ready. (End) https://t.co/tWzsVWzt0m — terrycrews (@terrycrews) December 16, 2017

Joel Pecotich and Leo Contziu have known each other since high school. In Sydney they're normal twenty-somethings with average jobs, but they spend half of each year fighting wildfires out of helicopters in the remote Canadian wilderness. Alex McClintock reports. At home, Joel Pecotich is an arborist; Leo Contziu is a university student. But for five months each year, the Sydney friends work as professional firefighters in a remote region of Alberta, Canada. You fly around in helicopters chasing lightning storms, you get to see big raging fires, get paid very well for it and have a blast out in the bush. Leo Contziu, firefighter Working from a base six and a half hours north of the provincial capital Edmonton, the pair are part of an Alberta Department of Agriculture and Forestry 20-man response team. Their job is to travel by helicopter to new forest fires and get them under control as quickly as possible. So how do two Australian friends end up fighting fires in the remote Canadian wilderness? 'Four years ago I was travelling and I met this really friendly dude at a hostel in Vancouver,' says Pecotich. 'We got chatting, he'd just finished his fire season. I figured I'd do it the next year.' A photo posted by Joel P (@boredwithadd) on Nov 4, 2014 at 7:00pm PST Before he got the job, however, Pecotich had to pass a battery of physical tests, including long-distance runs carrying 30 kilo pumps and hose packs, and get through an interview process. This year 1,100 people applied for 90 positions. When Pecotich came back to Australia at the end of the season, Contziu was intrigued. 'It sounded like this insane job,' says Contziu. 'You fly around in helicopters chasing lightning storms, you get to see big raging fires, get paid very well for it and have a blast out in the bush. 'I was still studying. I realised I'll probably be starting a career in the next five years. This is the kind of thing I'll never get another chance to do.' So in 2015 Contziu packed his things and headed for Canada. 'Any time there's a fire started by a quad bike or a lightning strike we go straight out and we try to supress it, whether it's a single tree or it's a 500,000 hectare fire like Fort Mac,' says Contziu, 26. 'Fort Mac' is Fort McMurray, the northern Alberta town of 61,000 that was evacuated earlier this month in the face of an enormous and fast-moving blaze. While that fire is still burning, there's hope that cooler conditions over the past few days will help fire crews keep it away from the region's oil production facilities. Contziu and Pecotich are currently fighting a different, though still enormous fire. 'We're fighting a fire that started in British Columbia about two weeks and it crept up and crossed the Alberta border and blew up,' says Pecotich, 27. 'It's threatening a bunch of cabins and oil and gas industry infrastructure, so we're out there trying to cut this thing off. 'The province is really jumpy at the moment because of what happened in Fort Mac. Resources are stretched and they don't want another incident.' And despite the temporary respite in the weather (temperatures range from minus three degrees at night to 26 during the day), the pair anticipate a long, difficult season. 'Two years ago we were standing in snow at this time,' says Pecotich. 'This year we haven't had snow for two months. It's been drier than hell up here. My first season we had 21 fires, last year there were over 200 fires, this year it's been every day.' Though they've been in some sticky situations together, Pecotich says he's not worried about the danger. 'The thing I tell people is that firefighting up here in Alberta is like firefighting with cheats on in a video game. You have unlimited resources; things that no other country or province would ever have. 'There's huge helicopters that work logging; if you want bulldozers they're just waiting; there's caterpillar trucks; there's heavy machinery used for oil and gas during the winter. You call them, they'll be there.' Though the pair don't share a cabin at their base near the town of Manning, they spend a lot of time together and have a tendency to finish each other's sentences. 'On our days off we just take road trips,' says Contziu. 'This last day off…' '...we went to a bar,' supplies Pecotich, 'the closest pub with girls I guess you could say, which is two and a half hours away. 'The longest we've driven for a day off is 17 hours north. We spent a lot of time in the car but we really wanted to get as far as we could, so we drove to Dawson City…' '…in the Yukon,' says Contziu. It's wild…' '…and we could have gone back to Alaska,' finishes Pecotich, 'but someone didn't have their passport.' Though the isolation is clearly a challenge, both men say they wouldn't trade it for anything. 'We see bears and elk and moose; we get to get right up close,' says Contziu. 'We get to see giant storm systems rolling across Albertan plains…' '... you see lightning strikes, the northern lights, you see 40-foot flames,' offers Pecotich. 'I don't think I can work indoors anymore. It's kinda screwed me over in that respect.' Subscribe to RN Drive on iTunes, ABC Radio or your favourite podcasting app.

Converting a single photon from one color, or frequency, to another is an essential tool in quantum communication, which harnesses the subtle correlations between the subatomic properties of photons (particles of light) to securely store and transmit information. Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have now developed a miniaturized version of a frequency converter, using technology similar to that used to make computer chips. The tiny device, which promises to help improve the security and increase the distance over which next-generation quantum communication systems operate, can be tailored for a wide variety of uses, enables easy integration with other information-processing elements and can be mass produced. The new nanoscale optical frequency converter efficiently converts photons from one frequency to the other while consuming only a small amount of power and adding a very low level of noise, namely background light not associated with the incoming signal. Frequency converters are essential for addressing two problems. The frequencies at which quantum systems optimally generate and store information are typically much higher than the frequencies required to transmit that information over kilometer-scale distances in optical fibers. Converting the photons between these frequencies requires a shift of hundreds of terahertz (one terahertz is a trillion wave cycles per second). A much smaller, but still critical, frequency mismatch arises when two quantum systems that are intended to be identical have small variations in shape and composition. These variations cause the systems to generate photons that differ slightly in frequency instead of being exact replicas, which the quantum communication network may require. The new photon frequency converter, an example of nanophotonic engineering, addresses both issues, Qing Li, Marcelo Davanço and Kartik Srinivasan write in Nature Photonics. The key component of the chip-integrated device is a tiny ring-shaped resonator, about 80 micrometers in diameter (slightly less than the width of a human hair) and a few tenths of a micrometer in thickness. The shape and dimensions of the ring, which is made of silicon nitride, are chosen to enhance the inherent properties of the material in converting light from one frequency to another. The ring resonator is driven by two pump lasers, each operating at a separate frequency. In a scheme known as four-wave-mixing Bragg scattering, a photon entering the ring is shifted in frequency by an amount equal to the difference in frequencies of the two pump lasers. Like cycling around a racetrack, incoming light circulates around the resonator hundreds of times before exiting, greatly enhancing the device's ability to shift the photon's frequency at low power and with low background noise. Rather than using a few watts of power, as typical in previous experiments, the system consumes only about a hundredth of that amount. Importantly, the added amount of noise is low enough for future experiments using single-photon sources. While other technologies have been applied to frequency conversion, "nanophotonics has the benefit of potentially enabling the devices to be much smaller, easier to customize, lower power, and compatible with batch fabrication technology," said Srinivasan. "Our work is a first demonstration of a nanophotonic technology suitable for this demanding task of quantum frequency conversion." This work was performed by researchers at NIST's Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology. Q. Li, M. Davanço and K. Srinivasan. Efficient and low-noise single-photon-level frequency conversion interfaces using silicon nanophotonics. Nature Photonics, 18 April 2016. DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2016.64

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele on Friday declared his opposition to the Afghanistan war, saying the nine-year-old conflict was of President "Obama's choosing," and that the mission is "probably a lost cause" – prompting at least one prominent Republican to call for his resignation. Steele made the comments at a fundraiser in Connecticut just two days after the Senate unanimously confirmed Gen. David Petraeus as the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Petraeus is taking over for Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was ousted over his and his aides' scornful remarks of Obama's national security team to Rolling Stone magazine, at a time when America's casualty rate in the war is at record high and the offensive is falling short of expectations. "This was a war of Obama's choosing," Steele said. "This is not something United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in." The war in Afghanistan began shortly after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, in the first year of President George W. Bush's first term. Obama, at the time, was a state senator in Illinois. "It was [Obama] who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan," Steele said in his delivery, which was posted on YouTube. "Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that's the one thing you don't do, is engage in land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed." Steele's comments led William Kristol, editor of the conservative magazine The Weekly Standard, to call upon the GOP chairman to resign over the July 4 weekend as "an act of service for the country you love." "At a time when Gen. Petraeus has just taken over command, when Republicans in Congress are pushing for a clean war funding resolution, when Republicans around the country are doing their best to rally their fellow citizens behind the mission, your comment is more than an embarrassment," Kristrol said in a letter to Steele. "It's an affront, both to the honor of the Republican Party and to the commitment of the soldiers fighting to accomplish the mission they've been asked to take on by our elected leaders," he wrote. "There are, of course, those who think we should pull out of Afghanistan, and they're certainly entitled to make their case," Kristol added. "But one of them shouldn't be the chairman of the Republican Party." Erick Erickson, the editor of the popular conservative website RedState.com and an opinion driver among younger Republicans, also called for Steele's ouster. "Michael Steele must resign. He has lost all moral authority to lead the GOP," Erickson said. Fox News contributor Karl Rove, a senior White House adviser to former President George W. Bush called Steele's comments "boneheaded," saying the Afghanistan war was "chosen for us by the people who ran Afghanistan -- the Taliban and their allies, Al Qaeda." Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse said it was "simply unconscionable that Michael Steele would undermine the morale of our troops when what they need is our support and encouragement. Michael Steele would do well to remember that we are not in Afghanistan by our own choosing, that we were attacked and that his words have consequences." Steele sought later to clarify his comments by noting that Obama said on the presidential campaign trail that the U.S. should concentrate fighting the war on terror in Afghanistan, not Iraq. "Now, as president, he has indeed shifted his focus to this region," he said in a written statement. "That means this is his strategy. And, for the sake of security of the free world, our country must give our troops the support necessary to win this war." "As we have learned throughout history, winning a war in Afghanistan is a difficult task," he added. "We must also remember that after the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, it is also a necessary one. That is why I supported the decision to increase our troop force and, like the entire United States Senate, I support Gen. Petraeus' confirmation. The stakes are too high for us to accept anything but success in Afghanistan." Steele has been prone to gaffes that have enraged congressional Republicans. In the last year, he predicted the GOP won't win House control this fall. He also drew GOP ire when he criticized fellow Republicans in a book that party leaders didn't know he was writing until it was published. His GOP critics were irked further when he told them to "get a life" and "shut up." Earlier this year, his oversight of the RNC was called into question because of lavish spending, including money to entertain donors at a lesbian bondage club in Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Kurtley Beale's return to action will be well worth the wait and could come in Sunday's Champions Cup tie against Connacht, according to Wasps director of rugby Dai Young. The 60-capped Australia utility back agreed a switch to England from the Waratahs in a deal said to be worth some £700,000 per season as one of Wasps' marquee players, only to suffer a serious knee injury. It has been a long road back to fitness for the 27-year-old, but Young revealed his recovery from the potentially season-ending patella tendon problem was almost complete. Kurtley Beale's return to action will be well worth the wait, according to club's chief Dai Young Wasps director of rugby Young said he could feature in Champions Cup tie against Connacht Young is excited by the prospect of Beale's impact in both the domestic Aviva Premiership and European campaigns. He said: 'First of all, Kurtley is really excited. It is difficult for him as you can imagine. 'There was a lot of fanfare about us signing him and then unfortunately he got injured, which was then surrounded by questions of was it going to be a three-month, six-month or nine-month injury? 'Coming to a new club at the other end of the world pretty much injured has been difficult for Kurtley really, and it is a long rehab process. 'In fairness to him, he has got his head down and worked his socks off.' Young continued: 'Kurtley is really excited about getting involved. He has got a couple of sessions to get through yet (this week), but we are pretty confident that he will have some involvement on the weekend. Beale of the Waratahs looks to the sideline after injuring his leg during a clash in May this year The Australia star left the Waratahs in a deal said to be worth some £700,000 per season 'If he is looking extremely confident with everything, then we will probably start him, otherwise we will put him on the bench. That is hoping he does not get any reaction through training, but at the moment he is not having any of that so fingers crossed he will be available.' Young believes Kurtley will certainly bring something different to Wasps' dynamic. 'He is a world-class player, without a shadow of a doubt,' he said. 'It will probably take him a little bit of time to settle into our patterns and get his sharpeness back, but some of the touches he has done in training already, there is no denying the quality he possesses.' Wasps have been blighted by injury this season, but still sit just a point behind Saracens in the Premiership and are also second in Champions Cup Pool 2 as they prepare to take on leaders Connacht at the Ricoh Arena in the first of back-to-back European games. Beale slides in for a try during Australia's rugby test match against France in Brisbane in 2014 Young reports the likes of fly-half Jimmy Gopperth, wing Christian Wade and prop Jake Cooper-Woolley are all 'positive' ahead of the weekend, but Danny Cipriani, centre Kyle Eastmond and lock Matt Symons remain doubtful. 'Hopefully we will get a couple back, but we won't get the full contingent,' he said. 'It has been a difficult period, but every team has it and you just have to get on with it.

Guest commentary from Steve Ghan A good writer knows their audience, and Roy Spencer knows his. There are plenty of people who would love to hear a compelling argument for why no action is needed to mitigate global warming, and Spencer’s book “The Great Global Warming Blunder: How Mother Nature Fooled the World’s Top Climate Scientists” will give uncritical readers the argument they’ve been looking for. As Sarah Palin said, “while we recognize the occurrence of these natural, cyclical environmental trends, we can’t say with assurance that man’s activities cause weather change”. That is really the essence of Roy’s argument. What is the Great Blunder? According to his book, “a fundamental mistake has been made in previous interpretations of satellite data”…”a mix-up between cause and effect when analyzing cloud and temperature variations”. Who made this mistake? Invariably, it is “the IPCC researchers”. He cites a couple of specific papers by Piers Forster, but finds no fault with them. So he casts aspersions into the wind. Spencer’s assertion in his book of that there has been a “mix-up between cause and effect” is quite a different conclusion from his recent article published in the Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres in 2010, which concluded innocuously that “since the climate system is never in equilibrium, feedbacks in the climate system cannot be diagnosed from differences between equilibrium climate states” … despite the fact that this is the exact diagnosis supporting his conclusion in the book. In his book Spencer contends that short-term fluctuations in the energy balance and surface temperature are consistent with a low climate sensitivity: “A careful examination of the satellite data suggests that manmade warming due to a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide could be less than 1ºC – possibly much less.” Why does Spencer consider his “discovery” of a mix-up between cause and effect to be so important? Because “natural cloud fluctuations in the climate system will cause a bias in the diagnosed feedback in the direction of positive feedback”, which means those careless IPCC researchers have vastly overestimated the climate sensitivity. He then asserts that “if the real climate system looks sensitive to climate modelers, they will build their models to be sensitive also.” But he never mentions the fact that climate models have produced climate sensitivities of 2-5ºC per doubling of CO 2 concentration for decades, well before the Forster papers and before satellite measurements were available for those careless anonymous IPCC researchers to produce biased estimates of climate sensitivity. Moreover, how could models explain the observed warming during the 20th century if the climate sensitivity is as low as it is, unless aerosols don’t cool and there is some other warming mechanism? Spencer addresses this question with a hypothesis that natural cloud variability is the cause of longer term trends. He proposes a relationship between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and clouds by considering a variety of combinations of initial ocean temperature, ocean thickness, cloud feedback, and forcing by clouds (neglecting forcing by CO 2 and the water vapor feedback entirely) in a simple energy balance model, and finds a relationship between PDO and clouds using 9 years of satellite data. By exploring parameter space randomly he found the agreement with the observed 20th century warming was best for an initial ocean temperature 0.6ºC below normal, which means almost all of the warming that his model explains is simply the ocean returning to normal, not the response to decadal variability in clouds. (Ed: note that the details of this calculation are heavily criticised by Barry Bickmore in a series of posts). Of course, decadal variability in clouds can only be a response to decadal variability in the surface conditions or atmospheric circulation that drive cloud formation, because the lifetime of cloud systems is days rather than decades. How, then, does Spencer explain the ice ages? He essentially punts, saying he believes the ice core record is “irrelevant”, that “we don’t have a clue” what was causing those climate variations. But if climate really is as insensitive as he claims it to be, the climate forcing producing the ice ages must have been huge, much larger than the radiative forcing from orbital changes, surface albedo, and greenhouse gases. He claims to prefer empiricism to theoretical models, yet when the paleo data supports the higher climate sensitivity simulated by climate models, he blames some unknown mechanism. It reminds one of the old cartoon of the physicist drawing mathematical theories madly on the blackboard, completing his theory with the statement “and then a miracle occurred”. Spencer does make a valid point about the potential for bias toward exaggerating problems because it can bring in more funding. We all must be wary of this. On the other hand, it’s worth noting that the book market tends to financially reward a bias toward contrarianism. But for me his credibility as a climate scientist was most compromised with his assertion that “it would take only one research study to cause the global warming house of cards to collapse.” So much for weighing the evidence. As Arnold Schwarzenegger said about the diversity of views of climate scientists, if your child is ill and 98 out of 100 doctors call for life-saving surgery and 2 say it is not necessary, your decision is obvious. Roy Spencer is respected for his remote sensing expertise, but the conclusions of his book are nothing like those in his JGR article. What a difference an audience can make. Suspension of comments: Due to Roy Spencer being caught up in a loss of power related to the tornado outbreak in Alabama, we are suspending comments on this post until he is in a position to respond (should he choose to). Update (05/05/11): Comments have been re-opened.

In this April 2014 photo, University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe participates in a news conference in Rolla, Mo. (Jeff Roberson/AP) UPDATE: Tim Wolfe resigned Monday as the University of Missouri System president. Wolfe said his resignation is effective immediately. ______________________________ ORIGINAL POST: To the students, Tim Wolfe seemed to be speaking another language. The University of Missouri system president emerged from a fundraiser on Friday night dressed in sharp suit and a baby blue tie. For weeks, he had sidestepped questions about a string of racist incidents on campus. When surrounded by protesters at a homecoming parade, he had driven off. Now a group of African American students were waiting for him. Spurred on by the hunger strike of a fellow student, the small crowd peppered Wolfe with questions. As the head of their university, did he even know what systematic oppression was? “I will give you an answer, and I’m sure it will be a wrong answer,” Wolfe said. “You gonna Google it?” one of the students asked sarcastically. “I will give you an answer, and I’m sure it will be a wrong answer,” Wolfe repeated. “Systematic oppression is when you don’t believe that you have the equal opportunity for success ….” He didn’t get any further. Stung by the suggestion that racial oppression was more imagined than real, the crowd erupted in anger and disbelief. “Did you just blame us for systematic oppression, Tim Wolfe?” a student shouted angrily as Wolfe turned his back and walked away. “Did you just blame black students?” Barely 24 hours later, however, the war of words had become something else: a fight over finances. And that the businessman-cum-college president could understand. On Saturday night, a group of African American students on the University of Missouri’s football team — including several stars — announced that they were joining protesters. “We will no longer participate in any football-related activities until President Tim Wolfe resigns or is removed due to his negligence toward marginalized students’ experiences,” they wrote in a statement posted to Twitter along with a photo of them locked arm-in-arm with Jonathan Butler, the student on a hunger strike. [Black grad student on hunger strike in Mo. after swastika drawn with human feces] On Sunday, MU football coach Gary Pinkel seemed to throw his entire team’s support behind the protests, tweeting a picture of his players along with the protest’s #ConcernedStudent1950 hashtag and the message: “The Mizzou Family stands as one. We are united. We are behind our players.” “After meeting with the team this morning, it is clear they do not plan to return to practice until Jonathan resumes eating,” Pinkel and Athletic Director Mack Rhoades said in a statement. [Missouri football players threaten to boycott season amid racial tension] At stake is more than just pride for the struggling Southeastern Conference squad. If the football team’s boycott doesn’t end by Saturday, when Mizzou is scheduled to play Brigham Young University, the school won’t just forfeit the game; it will also automatically forfeit $1 million for breaking a contract between the two colleges. For MU, the total cost likely will be far higher. If Wolfe was sluggish to respond to repeated complaints of racism, then the threat to the university’s bottom line seems to have spurred the former businessman into action. “It is clear to all of us that change is needed,” he said in a statement released Sunday afternoon. “My administration has been meeting around the clock and has been doing a tremendous amount of reflection on how to address these complex matters. “Clearly, we are listening to all sides, and are confident that we can come together to improve the student experience on our campuses. We want to find the best way to get everyone around the table and create the safe space for a meaningful conversation that promotes change.” Wolfe said the university has been working on a “diversity and inclusion strategy,” which it had intended to announce in April 2016. The plan, he said, would address many of the concerns voiced by the growing Concerned Student 1950 movement. Even if the football financial threat finally seems to have Wolfe and the protesters speaking the same language, however, it might be too late to save the university president’s position. The university’s board of curators has called a special behind-closed-doors meeting on Monday morning, according to the Associated Press. Even if the board doesn’t fire him, Wolfe is under mounting pressure to resign. On Sunday, the state’s top legislator on education called for Wolfe to step down. “… It has become clear that the MU system leadership can no longer effectively lead and should step aside,” said Rep. Steve Cookson, Republican chairman of the Missouri House Committee on Higher Education, citing a string of alleged missteps by Wolfe, according to the Missouri Times. “The lack of leadership Mizzou has been dealing with for months has finally reached the point of being a national embarrassment,” added state Rep. Caleb Jones, another Republican who represents Boone County, home to the university’s flagship Columbia campus. “It’s time for a change in leadership and start the healing process.” Student mobilization against Wolfe also appears to be accelerating. Two graduate student groups at MU have called for walkouts this week in support of the protesters. The Steering Committee of the Forum on Graduate Rights and the Coalition of Graduate Workers have organized student walkouts for Monday and Tuesday to demand Wolfe’s resignation, according to the Associated Press. And on Sunday night, a group of about 150 students gathered on campus to pray for Butler and call for Wolfe to step down. Members of Concerned Student 1950, the student activism group at the University of Missouri, describe the atmosphere they experience on campus and demand the removal of University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe, on Nov. 4. (Ellise Verheyen and Matt Hellman/Columbia Missourian) The swelling chorus of opposition has clearly surprised Wolfe, a former software executive who took over the MU system nearly four years ago. His tenure wasn’t supposed to turn out this way. When he was appointed MU system president on Feb. 15, 2012, curators hailed him as a hometown hero who could run the university like a tech company. Wolfe was a former local high school football star whose father taught communications at Mizzou. After studying business at the school, Wolfe went to work for IBM, rising up through its executive ranks over the course of 20 years. He then moved to Novell, a nearly $1 billion software company, where, as president of its Americas division, he oversaw more than 3,000 employees. University of Missouri curators saw Wolfe as an ideal successor to Gary Foresee, a former Sprint Nextel chief executive who had become the first nonacademic to run the college system. Even their praise was couched in business jargon. “He can sell to others the vital importance of our university,” board of curators chair Warren Erdman told the Rolla Daily News. But when he was asked how his business background would help him as the head of a university system, Wolfe seemed vague, if not downright stumped. “I’ve had the great fortune to work with a lot of different companies and executives,” he told the St. Louis Business Journal. “There’s a six degrees of separation and we can get access. Even if you don’t have a personal relationship, you can use your LinkedIn network and can typically find a mutual friend who can initiate an introduction.” It quickly became clear that Wolfe was being brought in to cut costs in a state where legislators were eager to slash taxes, depriving the university of revenue. “Erdman and his colleagues asked campus leaders and incoming President Tim Wolfe to further tighten spending,” the AP reported shortly before Wolfe officially took office. “We’re entering a new chapter,” Erdman told the Rolla Daily News, adding that Wolfe had been given a “change” agenda. In this Oct. 10 photo, Missouri running back Russell Hansbrough, center, fights his way past Florida’s Nick Washington, left, and Jordan Sherit, right, during an NCAA college football game in Columbia, Mo. (L.G. Patterson/AP) But that change wasn’t always popular. One of Wolfe’s first acts was to approve a 3 percent tuition hike, drawing the ire of parents and students. A few months later, Wolfe stirred anger again by shutting down the university’s highly regarded publishing house in order to save $400,000 a year. After an outcry from professors and authors across the country, however, Wolfe changed course. The controversy was heightened by the fact that Wolfe was, at the same time, pushing for a $72 million expansion of the university’s football stadium. Last year, the board of curators voted to extend Wolfe’s contract, praising him for his business-minded approach. “President Wolfe has thoughtfully transformed our strategic planning process in a way that focuses our limited resources on priorities while reducing or eliminating waste and redundancies,” the board said in a statement. This semester, however, Wolfe’s corporate cost-cutting appeared to go too far. Just a few days before the start of the semester, the university announced it was eliminating subsidies that graduate students use to pay for health insurance. Graduate students revolted. Thousands, including Butler, protested against the cuts. They issued demands and walked out of classes. Ultimately, the university relented and restored the subsidies. Now a similar pattern is playing out over the issue of racist incidents on campus, from African American students repeatedly being called the N-word to a swastika being smeared in feces on a dorm room wall. Aside from his resignation, however, there is no quick fix to the mess in which Wolfe now finds himself. The university president was caught on video ignoring protesters, even as they surrounded his car during a homecoming parade on Oct. 10. It took Butler’s hunger strike for Wolfe to issue an apology on Friday — almost a month after the incident. “I am sorry, and my apology is long overdue,” he said. “My behavior seemed like I did not care. That was not my intention. I was caught off guard in that moment. Nonetheless, had I gotten out of the car to acknowledge the students and talk with them perhaps we wouldn’t be where we are today. I am asking us to move forward in addressing the racism that exists at our university – and it does exist. Together we must rise to the challenge of combating racism, injustice, and intolerance.” While Concerned Student 1950 has blamed Wolfe’s sluggish response, in part, on his “white male privilege,” others have pointed to his and his administration’s mechanical, money-driven approach. “The administration bought into the corporate model of education years ago, and they largely don’t know how to even begin to have an honest dialogue about campus climate that goes beyond touting whatever new bells and whistles have been added in any given year to attract more students (new multimillion dollar Rec Center! New suite style residence halls!), all while jacking tuition up and cutting benefits like health insurance to graduate students, most of whom teach several classes for next to nothing already,” wrote one commenter. With the football team’s boycott poised to cost the school at least $1 million, the protests are now putting the university’s finances on the line alongside its reputation. On Monday, the board of curators could decide that’s an offense that can’t be ignored. More from Morning Mix Why we can’t trust Ben Carson’s memories — or anyone else’s Starbucks ‘removed Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus,’ Christian says in viral Facebook video With $1 million at stake, U. of Missouri’s president now taking protests seriously

The girls absolutely love Pocky Sticks. If you’re not familiar with them, they're a popular Asian snack consisting of long, thin crackers dipped in icing. I received several packs of strawberry-flavored Pocky Sticks from Asian Food Grocer, and instead of just letting the girls devour them, I thought it would be fun to use them in a dish. I adapted one of Ina Garten's brownie pudding recipes and made it look pink to match the Pocky Sticks. I used mini marshmallows to create teeth and Godiva chocolate pearls for the eyes. The Pocky Sticks serve as the hair. I’m thinking of serving these happy-looking treats to the kids for Halloween in a couple of weeks. Last year, I made witch-looking finger cookies that looked so realistic, children in my little munchkin’s class refused to eat them! There are only a few days left for the chance to win a $50 gift certificate. Don't forget to enter the giveaway; it takes only a few seconds to participate!

Tigerair dumps flights from Australia to Bali, blames Indonesia Updated Low-cost airline Tigerair has dumped its Australia to Bali flights permanently, saying the Indonesian Government refused to provide regulatory approval for the flights. Key points: Tigerair suspended flights almost three weeks ago, citing new regulatory requirements Indonesia says airline breached operating license by offering one-way tickets Virgin Australia will assist passengers stranded in Bali, Tigerair says The budget airline said Indonesian authorities had told the carrier they required "an alternative regulatory solution for Tigerair's operations to Bali". The company said this would take at least six months, and "would compromise the airline's ability to offer low-cost airfares to travellers". Tigerair said it had today decided to suspend the route permanently. In a statement, chief executive Rob Sharp said the company's only option was to withdraw the Australia to Bali flight routes permanently. The statement said Tigerair would work with Virgin Australia to support any passengers still in Bali and needing to travel home to Australia. The company was also offering full refunds to customers booked to travel to Bali with them. Tigerair says it had approval The move follows the company's suspension of flights between Australia and Bali last moth, which saw thousands of people stranded in Bali, and plunged school holiday travel plans for many into chaos. The company was due to resume flights today, saying it had secured approval to fly using its Airbus A320 aircraft. Tigerair, which is owned by Virgin Australia, initially claimed the Indonesian Government had imposed "new" administrative requirements which forced the suspension. But the Indonesian Government hit back, accusing Tigerair of breaching its regulatory license. Tigerair declined an interview request from the ABC. Refunds could take time: Consumer Protection Consumer protection authorities are warning passengers any refunds could take up to a month to be processed, and they should think carefully about spending extra money to continue with their trip. Consumer Protection WA acting director of retail and services Lanie Chopping said the airline was obliged to provide a replacement flight or a full refund within a "reasonable time". "We would (have) thought a reasonable time in this case would be no more than 30 days," she said. Ms Chopping also urged passengers with travel insurance to contact their providers to discuss the terms and conditions, while those who purchased their tickets on a credit card should contact their bank. "People who have purchased by credit card are actually able to go back to their bank and seek what's called a chargeback," she said. Ms Chopping said Australian consumer law regulators were attempting to contact Tigerair to get re-assurance they would compensate customers, but passengers concerned Tigerair was not doing enough to compensate them could contact the Airline Customer Advocate. Aviation commentator Geoffrey Thomas said the move was unexpected, as Tigerair had an in-principle agreement with the Indonesians to come up with a new arrangement for their operations to Bali, and they had started to sell tickets again. "I don't think the Indonesians will be having regrets, they are really being overwhelmed by visitors to Bali," he said. "This might be Indonesia's way of turning the tap off." Topics: air-transport, industry, bali, indonesia, perth-6000, melbourne-3000, adelaide-5000 First posted

Mayur Kamat, the product manager of Hangouts and Google Voice, shared some non-Hangouts 4.0 news with us this morning that still should bring some of you some pleasure. You can now drag and drop photos in Hangouts conversations in Gmail and the Chrome extension! I’m trying not to overdo my excitement here, but if any of you have ever tried to share photos in a Hangouts conversation, you know that this is a big deal. Before today, if you dragged a photo into a Hangouts conversation, it would wipe out your entire page, replacing it with a massive preview of that image in your browser. In order to share, you had to tap the little photo sharing icon, then drag and drop to that window. It was tedious, at best. Sooooo, as Kamat mentions, all you need to do is refresh your Gmail or reload your Chrome extension and the drag/drop goodness should start working.

Scotland Yard is carrying out a full forensic review of the Daniel Morgan murder 25 years ago amid allegations that the News of the World under Rebekah Brooks attempted to subvert the inquiry into the killing. The revelation came as Nick Herbert, the police minister, told MPs a judicial inquiry into the murder was under consideration. The death of Morgan, a private detective who was killed with an axe to the head, has for two decades been mired in allegations of police corruption involving a detective agency using officers to provide information to sell to tabloid newspapers. Speaking at an adjournment debate brought by the Labour MP Tom Watson, Herbert said it was a serious issue, and that the corruption and the lack of justice for the family needed to be addressed. He said the home secretary was considering a judicial inquiry but another option of an outside force being brought in with the oversight of a QC was also being considered by himself and the home secretary. "This is a matter of utmost seriousness … It's important to consider what options are now available to identify and address issues of police corruption and bring those responsible to justice," said Herbert. He revealed that the Morgan murder – one of the Met police's most notorious unsolved killings – was now being overseen by the assistant commissioner Cressida Dick, who would bring "fresh eyes" to a controversy which has run through the stewardship of five Met police commissioners. He said the Met under Bernard Hogan-Howe was carrying out a full forensic review of the case – similar to the one undertaken in the Stephen Lawrence murder which led to the successful conviction of two men earlier this year. Watson urged the minister and the home secretary to give Morgan's family the judicial inquiry into the murder which they have requested, and which the Metropolitan Police Authority and the former acting commissioner Tim Godwin have endorsed. Watson said Morgan's family had always believed he was killed as he was about to expose a network of police corruption involving his business partner Jonathan Rees, his friend the Met police detective Sid Fillery and a network of corrupt police officers. Rees's private detective agency worked for the News of the World and other newspapers. One of Rees's close associates was Alex Marunchak, who was the News of the World's crime correspondent. The men were so close they shared a business address for their companies. Watson also told MPs that Southern Investigations settled Marunchak's debts. Surveillance footage filmed by the police in operations over the years to investigate the murder showed Marunchak and Rees were in frequent contact at his agency. "Jonathan Rees and Sid Fillery were at the corrupt nexus of private investigators, police officers and journalists at the News of the World," said Watson. "Southern Investigations was the hub of police and media contacts involving the illegal theft and disclosure of information obtained thorugh Rees and Fillery's corrupt contacts." Rees has always been a suspect for the murder. But the first investigation was corrupted – the Met police has since admitted – by the presence of Fillery on the investigating team. Fillery interviewed Rees, but never disclosed to the investigation that the pair were close friends and business associates, MPs heard. After Morgan's death Fillery became Rees's partner in Southern Investigations. Watson told MPs Morgan had been about to take his story about police corruption to the News of the World and its crime reporter Marunchak at the time he was killed and had been promised £40,000 for the story. The Leveson inquiry heard this week that the News of the World under Brooks put the senior officer who led the fourth and fifth investigations into the Morgan murder under surveillance. Detective Chief Superintendent Dave Cook and his then wife Jacqui Hames believed that the suspects in the Morgan murder had encouraged the tabloid to watch them. Hames told the inquiry she believed the News of the World had put them under surveillance because "suspects in the Daniel Morgan murder inquiry were using their association with a powerful and well-resourced newspaper to intimidate us and try to attempt to subvert the investigation". The fifth inquiry into the murder collapsed last year and Rees and two other men were acquitted after the judge ruled senior police had coached one of the main supergrasses in the case, and it was revealed that large amounts of evidence had not been disclosed as a result of the vast material gathered over so many years. But Watson said: "What the family didn't know during the investigation was the extent to which the relationship between News International, private investigators and the police had such an impact … Southern Investigations sold information to newspapers in the 90s … but I think exclusively to News International after Rees was released from jail in 2005 [on another offence]. The main conduit was Alex Marunchak. "Rees and Marunchak had a relationship that was so close they both registered their companies at the same address. Rees's confirmed links to Marunchak take the murder of Daniel Morgan to a new level." Morgan's brother Alastair, who was at the debate on Wednesday, said afterwards: "The seeds of the hacking scandal that is unravelling at the Leveson inquiry were planted a quarter of a century ago in a car park in south-east London where my brother was murdered." He said he still wanted to know the extent to which journalists interfered with the five murder investigations and the political response to allegations of police involvement in the murder. • This article was amended on 6 March 2012. The original said that Marunchak and Rees were in frequent contact with Rees at his agency. This has been corrected.

Honolulu, HI - The National Marine Fisheries Service failed to properly analyze the Hawaii-based swordfish longline fishery’s impacts on the endangered loggerhead sea turtles it kills and injures before permitting an expansion of that fishery in 2012, a federal court has ruled. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals also found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Migratory Bird Treaty Act by allowing the longline fishery to kill albatrosses and other protected seabirds in the course of fishing operations. The ruling refutes the Trump administration’s new opinion that the Act does not prohibit incidental killing of migratory birds by the energy and fishing industries. Consistent with the findings of numerous federal courts, the decision undermines the legal reasoning behind the administration’s Dec. 22 announcement that it will no longer prosecute industries that accidentally kill birds. The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Turtle Island Restoration Network and the Center for Biological Diversity, after the National Marine Fisheries Service allowed the fishery to double the number of sea turtles it hooks or entangles. Hawaii’s swordfish industry uses longlines up to 60 miles long, with nearly 1,000 baited hooks, that often catch endangered leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles, as well as protected migratory birds such as black-footed and Laysan albatrosses. The court found the agency improperly ignored that the Hawai’i fishery kills sea turtles that are already heading toward extinction and must now study the consequences of contributing to that problem. The court also held that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act — one of the nation’s oldest conservation laws — does not allow the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to give commercial operations like the longline fishery, which provides no conservation benefits to birds, a free pass to kill them, even accidentally. Methods to minimize such accidental bird deaths have been studied and are available, but the longline industry has refused to adopt them. SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Help Keep Common Dreams Alive Our progressive news model only survives if those informed and inspired by this work support our efforts “Both the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service, which are supposed to be protecting our wildlife, have instead been illegally helping the longliners push them to the brink of extinction,” said Earthjustice attorney Paul Achitoff. “We won’t allow it. And we won’t stand by while the Trump administration turns its back on our children’s natural heritage.” “The Hawaii longline fishery has gotten away with murder for years, killing and injuring seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals, and this is only one of many court rulings trying to rein in their carnage,” said Todd Steiner, biologist and executive director of Turtle Island Restoration Network. “This ruling is also another black eye for the Trump administration, which is trying to dismantle the very laws that protect these defenseless animals.” Sea turtles become hooked while trying to take longline bait, or become entangled while swimming through the walls of nearly invisible lines and hooks — encounters that can drown the turtles or leave them fatally injured. Seabirds such as Laysan and black-footed albatrosses also dive for the bait and become hooked; worldwide, longline fishing has caused precipitous declines in most albatross populations. “Sea turtles could go extinct if these deadly longlines aren’t better regulated. We’re happy to see the court reject the reckless expansion of this fishery’s lethal impact on sea turtles and seabirds,” said Kristen Monsell, a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “But it’s disappointing that the Trump administration is trying to give the energy and fishing industries a free pass to indiscriminately slaughter migratory birds.” ###

BERLIN/RIGA (Reuters) - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier downplayed a magazine report on Saturday of tensions with NATO over hawkish comments about Ukraine made by the Western alliance’s supreme allied commander. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier addresses the 28th Session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Pierre Albouy Der Spiegel news magazine said an official in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s offices had complained of Air Force General Philip Breedlove’s “dangerous propaganda” over Ukraine and that Steinmeier had talked to the NATO General Secretary about him. “It’s true that I asked in two instances, in which the information we had from our sources was not entirely consistent with the information that came from the United States or NATO,” Steinmeier said at a European Union foreign ministers meeting. “But I also say that we have no interest in any dispute emerging from this,” Steinmeier said at the meeting in Riga. “We have to see that we stay closely together, also in the question of assessment of risk, and not differ in our advice.” Der Spiegel said German government officials were surprised when Breedlove said on Feb. 25 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “upped the ante” in eastern Ukraine. “What is clear is that right now it is not getting better. It is getting worse every day,” Breedlove said in Washington. German officials said information from their BND intelligence agency and other sources was that a ceasefire agreed in Minsk was shaky but holding. The battles between the Ukraine army and pro-Russian separatists had mostly halted and heavy weapons were being withdrawn. When asked about the Der Spiegel report, Breedlove said in a statement: “It is my responsibility as the commander of NATO’s military forces to deliver clear assessments regarding potential threats in our periphery. “Sometimes realities on the ground are unwelcome and sobering. But public communication has been critical during the Ukraine crisis, because Russia has embarked on a deliberate strategy to confuse using disinformation and propaganda.” Breedlove said much of his information comes from military and civilian experts from 33 NATO member and partner nations. He said NATO’s assessments are shared and intelligence agencies are encouraged to offer alternative analysis. “So it is to be expected that these assessments do not always exactly match the assessments of individual nations. However, the overall conclusions generated by military analysts from NATO and from individual nations share a great deal of common ground. It is normal that not everyone agrees with the assessments that I provide.”

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A North Laurel man is in custody and another suspect remains at large in connection with the double shooting that injured two cousins over the weekend in Howard County, according to police. Davon Phillip Jones, 20, of the 9200 block of Bridle Path Lane, is being held without bond at the Howard County Detention Center, police said. There is a $5,000 reward for information about the second suspect in the shootings, which occurred around 1:30 pm. Sunday in the 9400 block of Woodsong Court and injured two men. Kaiyon Stanfield, 20, of Columbia was found in a vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds in the 9400 block of Woodsong Court, police said. He remained in critical condition Wednesday at the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center, according to officials. Khalil Stanfield, 21, of Silver Spring, was located nearby in the 9300 block of Daly Court with gunshot wounds as well, according to officials. Police said he was in serious but stable condition at shock trauma. Drugs were found at the scene of the shootings, according to police, who said the incident may be drug related. The investigation led detectives to Jones, who has been charged with eight offenses: two counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of attempted second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of using a firearm to commit a felony. He was arrested Tuesday, court records show. Investigators believe two suspects were involved in the crime. Authorities are offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information about the second suspect in this case. Contact the Howard County Police Department at 410-313-STOP or HCPDcrimetips@howardcountymd.gov. Related: After Double Shooting in HoCo, Cousins in Critical Condition

This Article Originally Appeared On Vulcan Post. Singtel, one of the main telcos in Singapore, has just unveiled the newly rebranded Singtel. The last time Singtel changed their logo was 16 years ago, when Singtel was first corporatized. Our editor Liang Hwei is currently at the event to bring us live updates of its unveiling. As a reminder, here’s how the original logo looks like: New tag line: Let’s Make Everyday Better New Logo Here’s Singtel’s new logo which was leaked to Vulcan Post few days ago. And this was just unveiled at the media event: The new logo retains its signature red and black. The arc is now made of circles, is said to signify the progression that they are promising customers, making “everyday better with its service, technology, and content”. New Singtel Comcentre: So why the rebrand? According to Singtel, there are customers who were not satisfied with their services. This may not come as much of a surprise, with some of its customer base having given it the nickname ‘Stinktel’, thanks to its patchy service and less than ideal customer service. “Customers tell us that it is the everyday things going wrong that really annoys them,” said Singtel Group CEO Ms Chua Sock Koong at the Singtel launch. “Customers want things simpler, faster, and delivered by people and companies that truly care and listen to them.” Along with the new rebranding, Singtel has also made a new brand promise of a better customer experience. Other than the consumer front, Singtel is also retraining some of its staff and working on improving their existing apps and online services. They hinted that there are changes being made to their infrastructure, but didn’t want to go further than to say that they will be utilising “technology and innovation” to improve customer experiences. Singtel also promises a faster response time for enterprise customers, and to expect updates on that front in the next few months. Other than that, Singtel products like MioTV will also be evolved to hold the Singtel brand. The service will now be called SingtelTV instead. Customer service better? Other than Singtel’s new facelift, there are new service enhancements put in place that aim to improve feedback channels. Instead of taking a Q ticket at a Singtel shop when they visit one, they can instead opt for an SMS alert to when they will be served. This is already in place. If customers are strapped for time, they can also lock in an appointment time instead via the Singtel website through hourly slots. Appointments can be made as early as 3 days for mobile services and 30 days for non-mobile services, and as soon as 6 hours before intended time for visit. If they intend to recontract their service, they can check their eligibility, check out the availability of popular handset models, and make a reservation of the device they want to purchase. This will be available on their web-based customer portal, My Account, from the 21st of January. For people who absolutely hate waiting on the phone for crappy customer service, you can dial 1688 to book a time for a customer service care agent to call you back instead. Half-hour slots are available from 9am-11am and 2pm-4pm. This service will only begin in March, and will eventually be made available on their web based and mysingtel app. Will all these changes make a difference? Will Singtel’s brand promise of better customer experiences? Well, whether you’re skeptical or hopeful, at least we have a random new facelift to look at whenever we’re going through Somerset. Editor’s Note: Two of our readers pointed out that the new logo bear some resemblance to Amazon’s logo. What do you think?

If you would like to see more articles like this please support our coverage of the space program by becoming a Spaceflight Now Member . If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further. Expertise, input and advice from seasoned NASA engineers will improve SpaceX’s chances of nailing the first commercial landing on Mars as soon as late 2018, a senior space agency official said Wednesday, but Elon Musk’s space transport company will likely seek more independence from U.S. government support on later expeditions to the red planet. While considered high risk by NASA standards, the Red Dragon Mars mission revealed by SpaceX in April has a “reasonable likelihood” of success, according to Phil McAlister, NASA’s director of commercial spaceflight development. McAlister said NASA will act as a consultant to SpaceX on the Red Dragon project, the first of a series of Mars landers planned by the Hawthorne, California-based company. NASA’s participation will diminish in later missions, he said. “NASA’s role is somewhat limited,” McAlister said in a conference call with space industry experts Wednesday. “We don’t have full insight into the overall mission design, nor should we.” SpaceX plans multiple robotic Mars missions over the next decade leading up to a human expedition. It is all part of Elon Musk’s long-term vision to colonize Mars, a topic the business mogul plans to discuss in detail during a presentation at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico, next week. The company’s first Mars mission — Red Dragon — is slated to launch from Cape Canaveral as soon as May 2018 aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, SpaceX’s heavy-lift launcher that is now scheduled for its maiden flight in the first quarter of 2017. SpaceX recently announced the Falcon Heavy’s debut will slip from later this year as the company investigates a major launch pad mishap Sept. 1 that destroyed a Falcon 9 rocket and its communications satellite payload. Any impact from the accident on Red Dragon’s 2018 launch date — a schedule NASA officials already said was ambitious — is unclear. Red Dragon will not carry any people — Dragon is not designed to transport astronauts all the way to Mars on its own — but it is based on the human-rated spaceship SpaceX is developing under the auspices of NASA’s commercial crew program to haul residents between Earth and the International Space Station. Musk has hinted at a concept for an “Interplanetary Colonial Transporter” to ferry people from Earth to Mars and beyond. The system would be launched by a giant rocket that is still on the drawing board. McAlister said SpaceX approached NASA in late 2015 seeking help with the Red Dragon mission, and the parties concluded an agreement in April. NASA is not providing any funds to SpaceX, but the agency is contributing labor and expertise valued at approximately $32 million over four years, according to Jim Reuter, deputy associate administrator for programs in NASA’s space technology mission directorate. Reuter said in July that he estimates SpaceX is spending about 10 times more than NASA’s planned expenditure on Red Dragon, or roughly $300 million. SpaceX has not said how much it is spending on Red Dragon, and McAlister did not offer his own cost estimate Wednesday. “NASA’s participation, the way SpaceX characterized it, is it was highly desired, but it was not enabling necessarily,” McAlister said. “Our participation, we believe, will increase the likelihood that it will be successful, and SpaceX agrees with that, too… But SpaceX could eventually do all this on their own.” The Red Dragon spacecraft will weigh between 8 and 10 tons when it lands, Reuter said in July, up to ten times heavier than the Curiosity rover, largest vehicle ever to reach the Martian surface. A new type of landing system is needed to accommodate the leap in mass, replacing braking parachutes with rocket engines. NASA engineers believe supersonic retro-propulsion, using thrust from large rocket engines to do the parachute’s job, is the best way to deliver hefty spacecraft to the Martian surface. The Red Dragon spacecraft’s SuperDraco thrusters, mounted in pairs on four pods outside the capsule, will ignite at supersonic speed after the ship passes through the hottest part of its entry into Mars’ atmosphere. Landing legs should deploy just before the craft settles onto Martian soil. McAlister said all of NASA’s concepts for placing large habitats and crews on Mars employ supersonic retro-propulsion, a capability already demonstrated by SpaceX in Earth’s atmosphere during recoveries of the company’s large Falcon 9 first stage boosters. NASA needs data on how supersonic retro-propulsion works at Mars before sending people there, and McAlister said the Red Dragon partnership will give NASA the results it needs “at least a decade sooner and at a small fraction of the cost” than if the agency developed its own mission. “We don’t even have a mission on the books, so it’s not even clear how long it would take, but certainly at least a decade,” McAlister said. “They like to get 80 percent of the answers sooner, as opposed to getting 95 percent of the answers later,” McAlister said of SpaceX. “They’ve got a desire to get on with this.” Earlier this year, Musk said SpaceX intends to send a robotic mission to Mars during every launch opportunity. Mars launch windows come about every 26 months when the planets are properly positioned in their orbits. “SpaceX’s goal is to increase their independence from NASA on each mission as fast as possible,” McAlister said. “The heaviest reliance will obviously be on this first mission. “How fast that happens is completely to be determined,” McAlister said. “We’ll have to see, but I would suspect future campaigns to be potentially more independent as we go forward.” NASA will provide deep space communications support to Red Dragon through a network of dish antennas in California, Spain and Australia, and experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will provide navigation solutions to help plot the spacecraft’s trajectory. Government engineers will give advice to SpaceX on the capsule’s entry, descent and landing at Mars, the design of the spacecraft and its heat shield, and the aerodynamic environment in the rarefied Martian atmosphere. “In return, we are receiving most of SpaceX’s EDL (entry, descent and landing) flight data,” McAlister said. “This is a critical, critical technology for us. This is flight data that would not be available for us by any other means.” NASA is also charged with advising SpaceX on planetary protection and the steps required to ensure the Dragon capsule does not contaminate Mars with Earth-based microbes, which could ruin future research into potential extant or past life there. McAlister said the government is still working on a plan to certify or approve commercial spacecraft for landings on other planets. The Red Dragon mission is “charting new territory” in planetary protection requirements and oversight authority, he said. “The paradigm for approving this mission is still somewhat immature,” he said. “It’s not necessarily NASA’s role to approve that. It is the responsiblity of the U.S. government. We are still working out the roles and responsibilities among the various agencies.” NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. State Department might be involved in that process, he said. SpaceX and NASA are also discussing whether Red Dragon could fly with research instruments, such as payloads to demonstrate how future astronauts could live off resources in the Martian environment. McAlister said NASA would not share data on the Red Dragon’s performance during entry, descent and landing, but lessons learned could improve the agency’s computer models. “This has never been done before — putting a large mass into the Mars atmosphere using supersonic retro-propulsion,” McAlister said. NASA aims to put human crews in orbit around Mars by the mid-2030s. Two keystones of that plan are the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule. NASA may procure commercially-built habitats and electric propulsion units for the half-year trips to and from Mars. McAlister said he sees SpaceX’s Mars efforts as vital to NASA’s “Journey to Mars,” an often-repeated tagline that permeates the space agency’s communications and public relations campaigns. “We need efforts of all U.S. capabilities, NASA and the private sector, if we’re going to be successful on our ‘Journey to Mars,'” he said Wednesday. “We’re going to Mars as a nation. It’s not just NASA’s journey. It’s U.S.-led, but (it’s) even an international journey. “I think redundancy — multiple capabilities to do even the same thing — I see that as a feature, not a bug,” McAlister said. “We’ve seen through crew, and particularly cargo, to the International Space Station (that when) one system goes down and another system can do the same thing, that is a strength. “I don’t believe in having one uber czar in charge of a specific technology or a specific capability.” SpaceX’s own privately-developed Mars exploration plan would rely on the company’s own rockets and spaceships, plus other systems expected to be revealed by Musk on Sept. 27. “SLS has got its own unique mission,” McAlister said. “It’s a very difficult mission. It’s going to be one of the biggest launch vehicles ever built, and we’re going to need that if we do deep space exploration.” Email the author. Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

Benitez delighted by Ashley Cole’s new contract Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole is set to extend his contract with the club, according to manager Rafael Benitez. The England international’s future with the Blues has been in doubt for some time, with rumours that owner Roman Abramovich looking to phase out high earning, older players. This saw the 32-year-old linked with the likes of Manchester United, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, who were all keen to draft him in on a free transfer. However, Cole is now set to sign a one-year extension within the next few days, news that has delighted Benitez: “I am really pleased, the paperwork has to be done but the agreement is there,” he is quoted by Sky Sports. This move has increased speculation surrounding the future of Frank Lampard. The 34-year-old midfielder’s contract is also set to expire at the end of the season, and there are rumours that he will be allowed to leave. He has been linked with LA Galaxy in recent times, with the MLS club believed to see him as the ideal replacement for David Beckham. Despite his impressive recent form, Benitez hinted that his future is far from guaranteed: “(He is) doing a great job … he is playing well, it is not my decision” [cat_link cat=”chelsea” type=”grid”]

DistroWatch Weekly, Issue 649, 22 February 2016 Feature Story (by Joshua Allen Holm) A review of Zorin OS 11 Core Zorin OS is an Ubuntu-based distribution designed to provide a familiar desktop experience to Windows users. Normally, there are four different versions of Zorin OS for each release: Core, Lite, Business, and Ultimate. The Core and Lite versions are free, while the Business and Ultimate versions cost €8.99 and €9.99 respectively. The paid versions come with support and a few extra features. For Zorin OS 11, only Core and Ultimate are available at I write this. For this review, I will be looking at the Core release, but I will touch upon some of the extra features available in the paid versions. Zorin OS 11 is based on Ubuntu 15.10 and uses version 4.2 of the Linux kernel. Zorin OS 11 Core and Zorin OS 11 Ultimate are both available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions. The 64-bit Zorin OS 11 Core ISO I downloaded for this review was 1.6GB. Version 11 will be supported until July 2016. Users interested in what Zorin OS offers, but in need of a distribution with a longer support period can use Zorin OS 9, which is based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS and is supported until April 2019. In addition, the LTS release also has free Educational and Educational Lite versions along with the four editions listed above. Because Zorin OS 11 is Ubuntu 15.10 with added packages, the installation experience will seem familiar to anyone who has ever used Ubuntu or one of its other derivatives. Create a bootable flash drive using the ISO, boot computer using the flash drive, and Zorin OS starts up. Very quickly, the user is presented with the option to try Zorin OS or install Zorin OS. The Try option loads the desktop environment and lets the user play around with a fully functional system, and the Install option runs a slightly customized version of Ubuntu's familiar Ubiquity installer. Being based on Ubuntu does provides Zorin OS with the benefits of a familiar installer and a large selection of software packages, but it is what Zorin OS adds and changes that makes it stand apart. Instead of using Ubuntu's Unity desktop and changing the window decorations and other artwork, or doing the same with some other desktop environment, Zorin OS uses a combination of components in a unique desktop experience. Most of the applications used are from GNOME 3.16, but instead of GNOME Shell, Avant Window Navigator, Compiz, and a custom Zorin Start menu/launcher create a desktop experience that behaves a lot like Windows. Zorin OS 11 -- The default desktop environment (full image size: 894kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels) The default desktop is designed to work like Windows 7. It is not a perfect clone, but it does behave similarly enough that it should provide a comfortable experience for users who only have experience with using Windows. What is really nice about this Windows 7 clone is that it behaves like Windows 7, but it does have its own unique look. Zorin OS's look and feel is visually distinct and provides an attractive and consistent user experience. At least among the bundled applications, nothing ever looked out of place. Zorin OS 11 -- Custom Firefox start page (full image size: 154kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels) For users that want something a little different, two other desktop styles are available in Zorin OS Core. The desktop can work like Windows XP or GNOME 2. Switching to Windows XP mode changes the layout of the application menu to one that closely matches the Windows XP Start menu and makes other changes to make the system behave more like Windows XP. Switching to GNOME 2 mode uses the traditional, two-panel GNOME layout. Users of the paid versions also have the option of using Mac OS X, Unity, and Windows 2000 layouts. In addition to being able to change the behaviour of the desktop, Zorin OS comes with three color themes (White, Black, and Dark), each of which can be customized with five different highlight colours (Blue, Green, Orange, Red, and Grey). Zorin OS 11 -- Look and theme changers (full image size: 720kB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels) Of the three desktop layouts available in Zorin OS 11 Core, I much prefer the Windows 7 mode. It seems to be the most polished of the three. When I tried to use Windows XP mode on my test machine, I found the right-click menu for items in the application menu to be completely unusable; it required me to hold down the right click button to keep the menu open, making it impossible to left-click on the items in the menu with my laptop's touchpad. I had no problem right-clicking in other places in Windows XP mode, only the Zorin application menu had problems. If my touchpad had two physical mouse buttons, it would probably work better. When I tried out Zorin OS in a virtual machine, the differences in how mouse/touchpad events were handled were enough for me to be able to use the right-click menus like I should be able to. GNOME 2 mode was nice, but oddly used monochrome icons in the application menu, which looked strange because only some of the applications had monochrome icons available, making the menu look very inconsistent. Truthfully, I do not understand the logic behind making only half of the desktop layouts available to users of the free versions of the distribution. I can understand having a paid version, and I can understand having premium features. I just do not understand the reasoning behind the premium features the Zorin OS developers have selected. In addition to the three extra desktop layouts mentioned above, the paid versions also come with a utility to change the splash screen displayed during the boot process and a utility for using video as the desktop wallpaper. None of the premium features are ones that would entice me to move up to the paid versions. Aside from the work done creating the multiple desktop layouts, the distribution is not much different than any other Debian style Linux running the GNOME desktop environment. The core bundled applications are largely what one would expect: Firefox, LibreOffice, and the usual GNOME applications and utilities. However there are some notable differences. The default e-mail client is Geary and the OpenShot video editor is installed by default. Even though Firefox is the default browser, a utility is included to help the user install Google Chrome, GNOME Web, and Midori, should they wish to use one of those browsers instead. Zorin OS also includes WINE, WineTricks and PlayOnLinux by default, making it easier for Windows users to make the transition to Linux. Like Ubuntu, Zorin OS does come with "restricted extras" like mp3 support and Adobe's Flash Player. Zorin OS 11 -- Installing alternative web browsers (full image size: 1.0MB, resolution: 1366x768 pixels) If the bundled applications are not enough, Software Centre and Synaptic Package Manager are available for users to add whatever software they want. Everything that is available in the Ubuntu 15.10 repositories is there, so there is plenty of software to choose from. For hardware support, Zorin OS can install proprietary drivers just like Ubuntu and it even includes a graphical tool for using ndiswrapper to install Windows wireless networking card drivers. On my test machine, Zorin OS 11 Core performed nicely. With no applications running, the system used approximately 950MB of RAM and switching between the different desktop layouts did not seem to alter the memory usage. Minor issues with the Windows XP and GNOME 2 desktop modes aside, Zorin OS 11 Core is a very solid release. It makes good use of its Ubuntu core while developing its own identity. It just is not a very exciting release. My experience with Zorin OS 11 Core was positive. I liked it well enough, I am just not sure I would recommend this particular release of Zorin OS to Windows users looking to make the switch to Linux. The current Long Term Support release, sure. A future version based on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, almost certainly. Do not get me wrong, Zorin OS 11 is very good, but it will only be supported for six months, making it a hard sell to Windows users used to longer time periods between releases. That said, I do encourage Linux users with an interest in user interface design to give Zorin OS a test drive. A user interface that can transition between three different desktop styles (six in the paid versions) on the fly is worth exploring if only just to learn from it. * * * * * Hardware used in this review My physical test equipment for this review was an Acer TravelMate X483 laptop with the following specifications: Processor: Quad-core 1.5GHz Intel Core i3-2375M CPU Storage: Seagate 500GB 5400 RPM hard drive Memory: 4GB of RAM Networking: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter Display: Intel HD Graphics 3000 Miscellaneous News (by Jesse Smith) Tumbleweed hits a speed bump, openSUSE launches two new editions, Ubuntu 16.04 to ship with ZFS support and GNOME Software, Antergos gains ZFS support, Debian's Iceweasel might be renamed to Firefox, Linux Mint's web server compromised Tumbleweed is the openSUSE project's rolling release edition. Tumbleweed receives regular updates and snapshots which showcase the latest versions of open source packages. Last week the openSUSE project announced Tumbleweed has hit a speed bump as their testing systems (called workers) are overloaded. " The automated testing of openQA is currently running with only two workers left instead of the usual ten. The remaining workers are largely overloaded and can't cope with the workload to produce new snapshots. Various solutions are being evaluated to get new workers for openQA, which includes borrowing machines from other SUSE owned instances. Thank you SUSE! The team has opted to hold back creating new snapshots until more workers for openQA become available. " This blog post provides a list of pending updates to Tumbleweed. In other openSUSE news, the project has announced two new editions for people who want to experience the latest software coming out of the KDE project. " The release of Argon, which is a live installable image based on openSUSE Leap, and Krypton, which is a live installable image based on openSUSE Tumbleweed, offer packages built for KDE Git using stable and tested openSUSE technologies to track the latest development state of KDE software. Users have a choice on how they get up-to-date packages of Qt and other additional cutting-edge offerings from KDE through the Argon and Krypton live installable images, built directly from the latest sources in KDE Git through the Open Build Service. " More information on the Argon and Krypton editions can be found on the project's news page. * * * * * Last week Dustin Kirkland, a member of the Ubuntu Product and Strategy Team, reported that Ubuntu 16.04 will be shipping with support for ZFS, an advanced storage pool and file system technology. ZFS has been popular in the Solaris and FreeBSD communities and provides such useful features as file system snapshots, copy-on-write and automatic repair. " What does `support' mean? You'll find [the] zfs.ko [kernel module] automatically built and installed on your Ubuntu systems. No more DKMS-built modules! The user space zfsutils-linux package will be included in Ubuntu Main, with security updates provided by Canonical (as soon as this MIR is completed). As always, industry leading, enterprise class technical support is available from Canonical with Ubuntu Advantage services. " This news follows Debian's announcement stating ZFS will soon be an optional add-on through Debian's software repositories. Documentation for using ZFS storage pools on Ubuntu can be found on the distribution's wiki. In related news, Ubuntu 16.04 is expected to drop the Ubuntu Software Centre as the primary package manager. In its place, the distribution will ship with GNOME Software, a more streamlined package manager. Iain Lane posted to the Ubuntu developer mailing list: " We're switching from Ubuntu Software Center to GNOME Software, and many packages need fixing in order to show up there. As you might know, we will be moving to GNOME Software for our default software management application for the 16.04 release. " * * * * * The Antergos developers have updated their distribution's system installer, Cnchi. Among the changes and bug fixes, one feature in particular stands out: " The most notable change in Cnchi 0.14 is beta support for ZFS (in Automatic Installation Mode). It is now possible to install Antergos with ZFS as your chosen file system. You simply tell Cnchi which drive to use and it will take care of formatting the drive and configuring ZFS for you. " Further details on Cnchi's ZFS support and other changes can be found in the project's announcement. * * * * * Years ago the Debian project renamed their Firefox package to Iceweasel. This change in brand was brought about due to a complex situation where Debian was patching the Firefox software and therefore running into conflict with Mozilla's trademark agreement. In short, Debian's copy of Firefox was different from Mozilla's version of Firefox and therefore Debian could no longer call their web browser Firefox. The Debian project named their patched version of Mozilla's web browser Iceweasel. Times change and it looks as though there may no longer be a conflict between Mozilla and the Debian project, meaning Debian may be able to call their copy of the Mozilla browser Firefox again. Sylvestre Ledru has suggested Debian resume using the name Firefox in order to avoid confusion and reduce the effort to maintain the web browser package. " Mozilla & Debian both acknowledge that the branding issue mentioned in bug 354622 is no longer relevant. The Firefox logo was released under a free copyright license which matches the DFSG . To simplify the maintenance of the current stable Debian release, the name Iceweasel will remain. Debian Stretch, the next release, will have Firefox as package name. * * * * * Linux Mint's lead developer, Clement Lefebvre, announced over the weekend that an attacker had broken into one of the project's servers and replaced a link to an ISO file with a link to a compromised version of the distribution. " What happened? Hackers made a modified Linux Mint ISO, with a backdoor in it, and managed to hack our website to point to it. Does this affect you? As far as we know, the only compromised edition was Linux Mint 17.3 Cinnamon edition. If you downloaded another release or another edition, this does not affect you. If you downloaded via torrents or via a direct HTTP link, this doesn't affect you either. Finally, the situation happened today, so it should only impact people who downloaded this edition on February 20th. " The Linux Mint blog has additional details and checksums for the project's media so Mint users can verify the status of their installation media. Since the original post, the Linux Mint team has asked members of their support forum to change their passwords on other websites if people have been using the same password for multiple accounts. Tips and Tricks (by Jesse Smith) The Firejail security sandbox Sandboxing is a term which describes isolating programs from each other (or from specific system resources) by limiting their scope or access to parts of the operating system. There are many forms sandboxing can take, from virtual machines to Docker containers. Other mechanisms we can use to isolate processes from resources include SELinux, AppArmor and control groups. These tools are lightweight and powerful, but they can be quite tricky to set up, especially for inexperienced users. SELinux in particular uses a cryptic syntax which people find difficult to master. Luckily, for those of us who want lightweight, powerful security that is easy to use there is Firejail. The Firejail project describes its software as follows: Firejail is a SUID sandbox program that reduces the risk of security breaches by restricting the running environment of untrusted applications using Linux namespaces, seccomp-bpf and Linux capabilities. It allows a process and all its descendants to have their own private view of the globally shared kernel resources, such as the network stack, process table, mount table. Firejail can work in a SELinux or AppArmor environment, and it is integrated with Linux control groups. Firejail allows us to quickly and easily prevent a process from accessing certain files or directories, disable a process's ability to gain access to the root account, block or limit networking access and set up temporary file systems for an application to use which will later be discarded. We will get to Firejail's long list of powerful features in a moment. First, we need to actually download and install Firejail. The Firejail software is available in the repositories of Debian, Ubuntu and their derivative distributions. The Firejail project also maintains packages and installation instructions for a variety of Linux distributions, including Fedora, CentOS, openSUSE, Gentoo and Arch Linux. Apart from the Firejail command line software, the project also maintains a desktop application which can be used to sandbox some popular applications with a base level of security. I will come back to the desktop application later, first I would like to start with the command line program. Before getting into my hands-on experiences with Firejail, I want to acknowledge Firejail has excellent documentation. The Firejail manual page clearly explains what Firejail does, covers the available options and provides a lot of practical examples we can try. It is not often I encounter a piece of software with such clear documentation and it really gave me a good first impression of Firejail. Typically, when we want to run an application inside a Firejail sandbox, we can simply run the firejail command and pass it the name of the program we want to run. For example, we can launch Firefox using firejail firefox The above command sets up a sandbox and launches Firefox. The web browser will have limited access to our file system and only be able to save files in a few locations, such as our Downloads directory. This means that if a website hijacks our web browser, it will only be able to save files to designated places, like Downloads, but will not be able to over-write files in our Documents folder, protecting us from threats like randsomware. When we run Firejail, the sandboxing software looks at the name of the application we want to run in the sandbox -- Firefox in the above example. Firejail then looks through a list of known profiles which are stored in the /etc/firejail/ directory. When a matching profile is found, that profile's rules are loaded and enforced. Firejail ships with a default set of profiles for around 50 applications, including Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Thunderbird, the VLC media player, XChat, Filezilla and Transmission. If we try to run an application inside a sandbox and Firejail has no existing profile for the application, a generic profile will be used. The generic profile blocks access to most sensitive files, including common virtual machine locations. Much of our home directory becomes read-only as do important configuration files. Access to the root user account is also blocked to prevent programs run with a generic profile from causing too much trouble on our operating system. The profiles Firejail uses are written in a clear syntax with one rule on each line of the file. This makes it quite straight forward to modify existing rules or to create new ones. For instance, to block access to the /etc/ directory we could use the line blacklist /etc To grant read-only access to our personal collection of programs, stored in the bin directory of our home, we can use the rule read-only ${HOME}/bin To make sure our sandboxed program will always have access to our Downloads directory so it can save files, we can use the instruction whitelist ${DOWNLOADS} What I like about this fairly simple style of syntax is that it tends to be easier to read than AppArmor's profile files. Plus, it is much more clear what Firejail's instructions are doing when we compare them against SELinux's often cryptic rules. Firejail does not just allow or block access to specific files and directories, the sandboxing software provides a number of other useful features. One of the options I explored was limiting upload and download bandwidth. Many programs include this feature built in, but bandwidth is usually a set-and-forget setting, meaning we cannot change it later. Firejail allows us to dynamically adjust bandwidth usage. This means we could start downloading a file at full speed, then limit its bandwidth with Firejail later, perhaps to allow us to stream a video. Then we can resume the download at full speed later on. The Firejail software allows us to turn off some features. For example, we can disable sound using the "--nosound" command line parameter. Let's say we want to run a game with the sound disabled, we can use Firejail like this: firejail --nosound supertuxkart Another feature of Firejail I liked was the ability to disable access to the root account. Firejail can block access to the root user's account, preventing many types of local exploits. Access to networking features that require root access (like the ping command) is then unavailable. Sandboxes also disable access to tools used to become root, such as sudo and the su command. Yet another aspect of Firejail I like is if we run the sandbox without any application specified, Firejail runs a command line shell in its sandbox. This allows us to run most command line programs is a very clean environment (there are just two processes visible to the sandboxed shell: Firejail and the shell itself). With access to most commands and features, but with access to root blocked and other users' processes rendered invisible, this gives us a relatively safe environment in which to experiment. (Though, by default, we can still delete many of our own files, so care should still be taken.) We can use Firejail to open a command line shell that runs in a sandbox we have already opened. This means we can manipulate the process we are running in the sandbox via the command line shell after the sandbox has been created. This can be accomplished by listing the sandboxes we are currently running and then running Firejail with the "--join" flag. For example: firejail vlc & firejail --list 12733:jesse:firejail vlc firejail --join=12733 In the above example, we launch a sandbox with the VLC multimedia player. The next command lists all running sandboxes with their identification numbers in the first field. We can then open a shell in the existing sandbox using the "firejail --join" command. When we are done exploring the sandbox, typing "exit" returns us to the normal, non-sandboxed environment while VLC continues to run in its sandbox. One last feature of Firejail that I enjoyed was the ability to create a file system over top of the existing file system. This basically gives us an empty file system in which to work. Any files we create or destroy are temporary as the sandboxed file system is destroyed when our application is closed. This is a useful feature to have when we are dealing with a potentially destructive program or we need to set up a very specific test environment. The only downside I found to this feature is it requires relatively modern kernels, the system needs to be running Linux 3.18 (or newer) for the temporary file system to work. Firetools 0.9.30 -- Running Firefox in a sandbox (full image size: 383kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels) Most of the powerful features of Firejail are accessible through its command line program, but the project does offer a desktop front-end that will provide the necessary features most people will want. The desktop sandbox launcher is called Firetools. The Firetools program displays a red launch bar on our desktop with a list of popular program icons. Double-clicking on a program's icon launches the selected application in a sandbox. Right-clicking on an icon gives us the option of changing the parameters the application runs with. There is an empty section of the Firetools launcher and right-clicking on it gives us the chance to add a new program to the launch bar. Right-clicking on the launcher and selecting "Tools" brings up an information screen where we can see a list of running applications and resource statistics. Clicking a button labelled "Join" opens a terminal window inside the selected sandbox. This is about the extent to which we can use Firetools, but it is what I think most people will find useful. People who want to run Firefox or Thunderbird without digging down to the command line will benefit from this point-n-click interface that requires no configuration on their part. Firetools 0.9.30 -- Monitoring a sandbox (full image size: 365kB, resolution: 1280x1024 pixels) I am far from the first person to review Firejail and I peeked at some of the comments other people have made about the Firejail software. I was a bit disappointed to see many have a lukewarm opinion of the sandboxing software. Not because it lacks features or fails to produce the desired results: everyone seems to agree Firejail works as advertised. But some other reviewers have suggested that Linux is secure enough on its own. They seem to feel we have sane file permissions, SELinux, AppArmor and Docker containers, why do we need a new security tool? Open source software usually behaves itself so why do we even need to sandbox it? I have a few thoughts to share on the nature of Firejail and its usefulness, some of which are in response to these sceptics. One point I would like to make is that SELinux and AppArmor are relatively cryptic to work with. SELinux in particular has a reputation for being hard to troubleshoot. Docker, while relatively easy to set up, still takes some command line know-how to get working properly and is not designed with end-users in mind. These tools are intended to be used by developers and system administrators. An end user will rarely fiddle with their features or even be aware if these technologies are working. In comparison, Firejail is end-user friendly. It has a nice graphical interface, so one need not drop to a command line shell. Even if we do end up exploring the command line options, Firejail has a simple, clear syntax and the documentation provides practical examples to follow. Firejail may not be the best technical solution, but it is much more likely to be used by a wide audience because Firejail provides good security with virtually no effort on the part of the user. Firejail also makes it easier to set up profiles for new applications so the list of programs Firejail can work with can be expanded quickly. On Linux our software is usually open source and comes from vetted repositories so there is less chance we will be hit by malware or misbehaving software. However, there are unknown bugs and exceptions to be considered. Many Linux users install non-open applications such as Steam or the Chrome web browser. Some of us might have other non-open programs on our systems and it is nice to have these locked down to prevent any unexpected behaviour. Firejail does this in a simple manner. All programs, even audited open source applications, can have exploitable bugs and Firejail limits the damage an attacker can do by hijacking our web browser or media player. In brief, Firejail provides a useful layer of protection, is easy to set up and requires virtually no knowledge to use. This means Firejail can be used with very little effort and no understanding of the underlying technologies being leveraged. At first I was a little worried Firejail might gobble up resources or result in poor performance. However, I found Firejail had no visible impact on the performance of applications like Firefox, VLC and Steam. There was no increase in CPU usage when using Firejail. Running the Firefox web browser inside a sandbox used less than 50MB more memory than running Firefox without the sandbox. The Firejail software isolates processes, increases our security, uses very few resources and requires almost no effort to use. In today's world of security breaches and privacy concerns, my opinion is: Why wouldn't someone use Firejail? Torrent Corner Weekly Torrents Bittorrent is a great way to transfer large files, particularly open source operating system images, from one place to another. Most bittorrent clients recover from dropped connections automatically, check the integrity of files and can re-download corrupted bits of data without starting a download over from scratch. These characteristics make bittorrent well suited for distributing open source operating systems, particularly to regions where Internet connections are slow or unstable. Many Linux and BSD projects offer bittorrent as a download option, partly for the reasons listed above and partly because bittorrent's peer-to-peer nature takes some of the strain off the project's servers. However, some projects do not offer bittorrent as a download option. There can be several reasons for excluding bittorrent as an option. Some projects do not have enough time or volunteers, some may be restricted by their web host provider's terms of service. Whatever the reason, the lack of a bittorrent option puts more strain on a distribution's bandwidth and may prevent some people from downloading their preferred open source operating system. With this in mind, DistroWatch plans to give back to the open source community by hosting and seeding bittorrent files. For now, we are hosting a small number of distribution torrents, listed below. The list of torrents offered will be updated each week and we invite readers to e-mail us with suggestions as to which distributions we should be hosting. When you message us, please place the word "Torrent" in the subject line, make sure to include a link to the ISO file you want us to seed. To help us maintain and grow this free service, please consider making a donation. The table below provides a list of torrents we currently host. If you do not currently have a bittorrent client capable of handling the linked files, we suggest installing either the Transmission or KTorrent bittorrent clients. Operating System Torrent MD5 checksum DragonFly BSD 4.4.2 dfly-x86_64-4.4.2_REL.iso.bz2 701bfe6fa154127a86c443462a2d42ec Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5r0 parsix_8.5r0-amd64.iso 86421b45ad25cdcbcc9864ab4756a95d Archives of our previously seeded torrents may be found here. All torrents we make available here are also listed on the very useful Linux Tracker website. Thanks to Linux Tracker we are able to share the following torrent statistics. Torrent Corner statistics: Total torrents seeded: 165 Total data uploaded: 29.4TB Released Last Week Upcoming Releases and Announcements Opinion Poll Package managers The open source ecosystem is home to many different package managers. Some of the more popular methods for working with software packages include the APT utilities on Debian-based distributions and YUM/DNF in the Red Hat family of distributions. Of course, there are many other package managers and this week we would like to know which one you use. If your package manager is not on our list, please let us know which one you use in the comments. You can see the results of our previous poll on customizing desktop environments here. All previous poll results can be found in our poll archives. Package manager APT: 1460 (56%) DNF/YUM: 198 (8%) Nix: 18 (1%) Pacman: 556 (21%) Portage: 80 (3%) Urpmi: 39 (1%) Zypper: 113 (4%) Other: 156 (6%)

He spent his boyhood in Tours, France, where his father was studying surgery, before returning to Libya when he was 12. He taught himself how to use a computer and began frequenting cybercafés. In time he became adept at games including Half-Life, Counterstrike, Soldier of Fortune, Wolfenstein, Call of Duty, Medal of Honor, Quake, Doom, and World of Warcraft. "Each café had a team, and they played one another at weekends," he says. "There were skilled players. But what they didn't realize was that, in Europe and America, gaming had been taken to the professional level." In 2007, a Libyan expat in Greece -- whose name Layas and Drebika say they don't know -- arranged for Libyan gamers to compete in the ESWC. Invite-only qualifier matches were held in Tripoli, and Drebika was among those selected. Then the Libyans went to France and got clobbered. Their opponents were seasoned competitors, and many had sponsors, Drebika says. "They had much better internet connections in their countries, and much more experience. After what happened in France, I thought, 'We need to be a part of this'." Around that time, Drebika met Layas and they started thinking about new ways to organize gaming in Libya. The government mouthed interest, but nothing came of it. Restrictions on associations suffocated hope for a national league. Only after Qaddafi was toppled in August 2011 could they start working. There are a half-dozen or so big international gaming tournaments held regularly around the world. The ESWC, founded in 2003, is one of the biggest. Last fall, Layas and Drebika got approval from ESWC for Libyan players to compete in two games at the November 2012 competition: FIFA 13, a soccer game, and Starcraft II, a futuristic strategy game set in outer space. To choose contestants, they organized last October's qualifier matches in Tripoli. Layas took the microphone, and the theater quieted. The angled glare of stage lights caught his slender form as he thanked everyone and explained the rules. Then play commenced. Before long, some new gamers appeared in the parking lot. They were looking for Counterstrike. Counterstrike is a popular first-person shooter game -- or FPS, in gamer lingo -- a genre of game that consists of charging around and blasting your opponents. It features in most tournaments, including the ESWC. When one of the new guys discovered that Counterstrike was unavailable, he threw a tantrum. "It says right here, 'ESWC'," he yelled, waving a flyer for the qualifier tournament under Layas' nose. He had very short hair and muscly gorilla arms. "It says 'tournament' and there's no Counterstrike?" Layas also snapped. "I've worked a year on this," he cried. "I've spent my own money!" In reply, the Counterstriker leaned forward in a half-squat, held the flyer up, and slowly, deliberately tore it in half.

November 22, 2015 New U.S.-Turkish Bluster For Open War On Syria The U.S. media, especially cable TV, seems to create full hysteria over the Islamic State and Muslim in general. I assume that this campaign is supposed to prepare the U.S. public for war on Syria. The way thereto has its own logic. Tom Toles catches the salami slicing drift into it. It is exactly how the open U.S. involvement in war on Syria unfolded so far. How the U.S. goes to war. Every. Single. Time. The neocons, here Robert Kagan who wants Hillary Clinton as next president, are already salivating. He claims there is a "crisis of world order", which is something that never really existed, and he wants U.S. troops to invade Syria and Iraq: What would such an effort look like? First, it would require establishing a safe zone in Syria, providing the millions of would-be refugees still in the country a place to stay and the hundreds of thousands who have fled to Europe a place to which to return. To establish such a zone, American military officials estimate, would require not only U.S. air power but ground forces numbering up to 30,000. Once the safe zone was established, many of those troops could be replaced by forces from Europe, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, but the initial force would have to be largely American. ... The heretofore immovable Mr. Assad would face an entirely new set of military facts on the ground, with the Syrian opposition now backed by U.S. forces and air power, the Syrian air force grounded and Russian bombing halted. But why would Russia and Syria allow this? Why would they halt their bombing of the anti-Syrian insurgents? Kagan does not say. The last quoted sentence is the only mentioning of Russia in the whole lame op-ed. By what means does he want to convince the Russian to agree to that plan? He does not say. Kagan also wants another 20,000 U.S. troops to directly fight the Islamic State guerrilla. Such an effort alone would need trice that number and would likely escalate further. Kagan is a certified lunatic but for whatever reasons his views are taking seriously in U.S. policy circles. In the UK prime minister Cameron is also moving towards war: The prime minister is likely to make a statement to MPs on Thursday, the day after Osborne’s spending review, and he will give them up to a week to digest his argument before deciding whether to call a Commons vote before the December recess. There is speculation in Westminster that political opinion has shifted in favour of British involvement in Syria. The unanimous support in the UN security council for a resolution calling on member states to take all necessary means to eradicate Isis in the wake of the Paris assault is believed to have helped change the mood among MPs. But the relevant UN resolution does not allow for war against Syria. It restricts all action to international law and the UN Charter. "Who cares," might Kagan say and Cameron think. Well, the Russians do. And they will have a say on this issue. Meanwhile Turkey is introducing another proxy army into Syria. After official protest against Russian attacks on "Turkmen" insurgents Turkey is upping the propaganda and claims to have sent volunteers to defend Turkmen in Syria against the Islamic State. Two border villages were captured. But the Turkmen story does not make much sense. There are hardly any Turkmen in Syria except those Chinese Uyghur Jihadis Turkey smuggled in on false Turkish passports. The volunteers Turkey claims to have send are also not harmless. Even the Syrian opposition propaganda outlet in the UK calls them out: The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that the villages had been captured from IS but said the campaign had been waged by rebel and Islamist factions and not just Turkmen fighters. 250 of the "volunteers" are men from the Alperen Ocaglari, the youth movement of the Great Union Party. These are real islamo-fascists combining hard right nationalism and radical Islamism into a crude ideology. M.K. Bhadrakumar believes that Erdogan wants to take, and keep, a big slice of Syria up to Aleppo and that this is the beginning of a new phase: In strategic terms, a defining moment has been reached in the Syrian conflict – the “first step” in the creation of a swathe of land in northern Syria that will be out of bounds for military operations by Syrian government forces, Russian aircraft, or various militia groups such as Hezbollah who are fighting on the side of the Syrian regime. Put differently, the race for Aleppo has begun. But neither Syria nor Russia will agree to that and it is unlikely that Erdogan will be able to send his official army. And make no mistake. Russia HAS the means to prevent Erdogan from further developing this scheme. One unconfirmed report said that a Russian cruise missile already hit one of those "Turkmen" towns. I am not sure that it is more than a rumor but it sounds like a good idea. I doubt that the U.S. will send its soldiers to occupy Syria for Erdogan. Obama is unlikely to want to risk war with Russia. So for now I regard all this as bluster. But should some kind of (allegedly) Islamic State related terror incident happen in the U.S. all bets are off. Obama may then turn to Kagan for "advice" and start a war that will confront another superpower. Posted by b on November 22, 2015 at 11:04 AM | Permalink Comments next page » next page »

The UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has successfully demonstrated the automatic threat detection capabilities of its wearable sensor technology, dismounted close combat sensors (DCCS) system. The new DCCS system was developed in a collaboration between Dstl, Roke Manor Research, QinetiQ and Systems Engineering and Assessment (SEA) for use in military and emergency services. This wearable sensor system enables navigation even when GPS signals are not available, by using inertial and visual navigation sensors. It considers last known GPS locations and integrates information from visually tracked features captured by a helmet camera and inertial sensors. The DCCS accurately tracks the location of an individual within buildings and tunnels, Dstl said in a statement. "In addition to providing military advantage, we’ve also seen how DCCS lends itself as a testing platform to bring technology to the frontline faster." Roke Manor Research DCCS project lead engineer Mark Coleman said: “We independently considered 252 fledgling technologies from across industry, academia and beyond, before developing, distilling and fusing them to create the concept of an integrated wearable sensor system, which we then built and trialled. “In addition to providing military advantage, we’ve also seen how DCCS lends itself as a testing platform to bring technology to the frontline faster.” The system has a combination of camera, laser and orientation sensors mounted on the personal weapon. Its acoustic and camera technology automatically identifies where enemy weapons are being fired from and this information is transmitted to the wearer and to commanders. DCCS is expected to enter service in the 2020s. Image: The new dismounted close combat sensors (DCCS) system enables navigation even when GPS signals are not available. Photo: courtesy of UK Government.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity mixed it up with conservatives over on Twitter last night, and let’s just say it got a little heated after he lectured on the importance of unity to defeat Hillary Clinton in November: Repeat after me. President Hillary Clinton. U will get the Government u deserve. UNITE. https://t.co/Jc7IzYNbLp — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 31, 2016 And here’s the response from conservatives who feel Hannity has been too pro-Trump this year: Repeat after me.: U are as responsible as anyone in America for the Frankenstein monster splitting up Ur party. https://t.co/IIST5936G8 — Popehat (@Popehat) March 31, 2016 Sean Hannity, who has done nothing but give Trump free media nightly, wants you to fall on the sword for him. https://t.co/RSJq31ku8B — John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) March 31, 2016 If Hillary takes the oath of office, you will have richly earned a good share of the blame. https://t.co/iCEHzuQQh8 — Michael Freeman (@michaelpfreeman) March 31, 2016 LOL. Look at this clown. https://t.co/csLCOpmqrE — T. Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) March 31, 2016 I refuse to unite behind a charlatan and a fraud. He is not conservative. https://t.co/3OBFlHY8Ga — Nĕ’və (@pipandbaby) March 31, 2016 Repeat after us all Sean! #NeverTrump! Unlike you, we work for a living, we don't just talk & talk & talk some more https://t.co/vtbrKnRoip — Stop Trump PAC (@StopTrumpPAC) March 31, 2016 You back Trump, you own this, not me. https://t.co/jvM8IA7Uye — Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) March 31, 2016 Up next: @seanhannity helps burn down a house, urges everyone to shelter indoors. https://t.co/H2jqzWyFCY — Just Karl (@justkarl) March 31, 2016 Who will you blame when she steamrolls Trump in the general, Sean? Just for the record. https://t.co/qHVUZkaT2D — neontaster (@neontaster) March 31, 2016 Yes. Thank you, Sean. This is what happens if Trump gets the nomination. https://t.co/LgCZUXo8kj — Jay Caruso (@JayCaruso) March 31, 2016 Cruz? Fine. But Hillary Clinton > Donald Trump. Trump is a dangerously uninformed man. Cannot ever be CiC. https://t.co/s9xU8NSVWI — T (@FirstTeamTommy) March 31, 2016 Yes, indeed. The best propaganda money can buy. You are doing a FABULOUS job dividing this country, Sean. FABULOUS. https://t.co/aA1gUauCuE — Stephan J Harper (@stephan_harper) March 31, 2016 Let’s also not forget that Trump literally said hours before this tweet that he wouldn’t necessarily “unite” behind the GOP nominee if it’s not him: Didn't Trump just get done saying he won't necessarily support the GOP candidate? Like, in the last few hours? https://t.co/IlIR5BgzF0 — Omri Ceren (@cerenomri) March 31, 2016 Will Hannity lecture Trump on the importance of uniting at his Trump rally on the eve of the Wisconsin primary? I will sit down with @realDonaldTrump in WI on MONDAY for an exclusive one hour event and you can be a part of it! https://t.co/NwTrTx9wJQ — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 31, 2016 We’ll see. Hannity went on to defend his decision to continue to have both Trump Cruz on his show, citing an increase in his ratings: I have had @SenTedCruz on as much as @realDonaldTrump What you are really mad it is my section to let voters decide https://t.co/vUnYMINYsU — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 31, 2016 Go ahead with a circular firing squad. If people do not unite around the winner, either Trump or Cruz, u will lose https://t.co/rwEKTkta5Y — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 31, 2016 @seanhannity us real conservatives have stopped watching you.. — luna liberty (@Jewelsc6luna) March 31, 2016 I noticed, my ratings were up 40% the last 3 months, more than any other show on FNC. https://t.co/ueP9tsISji — Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) March 31, 2016 ***

Originally Posted by The Wise Coffin Originally Posted by It's a shame to hear this, but i really don't care to much for this one. I am sorry for all fans and creators, i don't want to bash you guys. For what i played of EBII, it is a great mod, really, but what i think that it's a downer for manny people and the lack of enthusiasm is that this is a reboot of the first EB. I believe that this would get much more attention if it was a sequel, like AD15 to maybe the fall of Rome. I really was sad whend i saw that EBII was a reboot. However....EB is a mod that deserves attention and even that i don't like it i want to help. Now i can't because i'm to busy with my mod, Rise of Persia, that actually no one has ever helped, for like a year now i am working all alone on almost everything, but still i have hope. Whend i finish my work on ROP, to which is going to end soon, i'll maybe help. For EB also help me with borrowing models of their first game for ROP, so i believe i must thank them by aiding them. However, i don't know very much of what you guys need. If some of you teach me i will do those, but now i just know the easy stuff, like making images for units, stats changes, and other normal stuff.

Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. *Introductory pricing schedule for 12 month: $0.99/month plus tax for first 3 months, $5.99/month for months 4 - 6, $10.99/month for months 7 - 9, $13.99/month for months 10 - 12. Standard All Access Digital rate of $16.99/month begins after first year. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. Thank you for supporting the journalism that our community needs! For unlimited access to the best local, national, and international news and much more, try an All Access Digital subscription: We hope you have enjoyed your trial! To continue reading, we recommend our Read Now Pay Later membership. Simply add a form of payment and pay only 27¢ per article. But the crowning touch, which will make Winnipeg's downtown different from any other downtown on the planet, according to CentreVenture CEO Ross McGowan, will be dozens upon dozens of "funnelators." It would also feature an outdoor public plaza -- size and location yet to be determined -- and a colourful new shuttle vehicle -- maybe a rubber-tired trolly or a tricked-out bus -- to ferry people between the SHED, the Exchange District, the cultural district and The Forks. The centrepiece of CentreVenture Development's vision for the new downtown is a so-called sports, hospitality and entertainment district (SHED), which would be awash in brightly lit buildings and sidewalks, electronic billboards, overhead banners, street planters and benches. It's the Jetsons meets Times Square as development officials flesh out their vision of what Winnipeg's new downtown will look like. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/11/2011 (2672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 3/11/2011 (2672 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. It's the Jetsons meets Times Square as development officials flesh out their vision of what Winnipeg's new downtown will look like. The centrepiece of CentreVenture Development's vision for the new downtown is a so-called sports, hospitality and entertainment district (SHED), which would be awash in brightly lit buildings and sidewalks, electronic billboards, overhead banners, street planters and benches. It would also feature an outdoor public plaza — size and location yet to be determined — and a colourful new shuttle vehicle — maybe a rubber-tired trolly or a tricked-out bus — to ferry people between the SHED, the Exchange District, the cultural district and The Forks. But the crowning touch, which will make Winnipeg's downtown different from any other downtown on the planet, according to CentreVenture CEO Ross McGowan, will be dozens upon dozens of "funnelators." The funnelators and the signature shuttle vehicle are the newest developments in the evolving SHED plan. McGowan described funnelators as funnel-shaped "street features" that will vary in size and colour and serve as everything from media or information centres to outdoor heating stations. Or just somewhere pedestrians can go to get out of the rain or listen to a street performer. "It's our understanding they will be absolutely unique to Winnipeg," he said. "They're being trademarked and copyrighted." He said they might be made out of metal, polyethylene, or fibreglass. Some might be one storey tall and others two storeys tall. The funnelators are the brainchild of Commart, a Portland-based urban-design firm that's helping CentreVenture come up with a design for the SHED. Winnipeggers could get their first glimpse of the funnelators next spring or summer, when CentreVenture streetscapes the section of Donald Street between Portage and Graham avenues. McGowan said they'll likely install a funnelator on each corner of the intersection of Donald and Graham. The streetscaping will be completed in time for the anticipated opening next September of the redeveloped Metropolitan Theatre, which Canad Inns is converting into a multi-function entertainment centre at a cost of $16 million. McGowan said the Donald Street streetscaping plan will be used as a prototype for similar street upgrades in the SHED. Under a plan first unveiled last year, the SHED will encompass an 11-block area of the downtown that includes the MTS Centre, the Winnipeg Convention Centre and the Metropolitan and Burton Cummings theatres. CentreVenture wants the area designated as a tax-increment financing zone so property-tax revenues from new developments in the area can be used to help fund even more improvements. McGowan said negotiations with the city and province are continuing, and he hopes to have an agreement in place within the next couple of months. Want to get a head start on your day? Get the day’s breaking stories, weather forecast, and more sent straight to your inbox every morning. He said the goal is to attract more sports, hospitality and entertainment businesses downtown, which in turn will draw more people to the area. And more people on the streets, coupled with increased police foot patrols, should help make the downtown a safer, more desirable place to be. The transformation of the area will begin next month, when construction crews begin demolishing buildings on the north side of Portage Avenue between Donald and Hargrave streets to make way for a $75-million hotel/office/retail/parkade development. The Longboat Development Corp., project is the first of nearly $600 million of new projects planned for the SHED. The others include a $200-million expansion of the Winnipeg Convention Centre and the redevelopment of two surface parking lots owned by Manitoba Public Insurance — one on Carlton Street between Graham and St. Mary avenues and the other south of Graham between Donald and Hargrave streets. An MPI spokesman said Thursday the provincial Crown corporation has drawn up a request for expressions of interest from developers for the two sites, but hasn't decided when it will issue them. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

A tractor rumbles down the village street as chickens cluck in a nearby garden and a goat nibbles on a roadside tree. The only business here, a small café, is shuttered for the day. This small town of 601 people in deepest rural France is hardly the place you would expect to find one of the country’s few black politicians. Simon Worou, originally from Togo, is the first person from Africa to be elected mayor in the Aveyron region, in south central France. When he first came here 20 years ago to meet his future wife’s grandparents, they had never met a black man before. But since he settled down, he has felt nothing but full acceptance here. “I’ve been in this town longer than a lot of people here,” says Mr. Worou, opening the double doors to the town hall to prepare for an afternoon meeting. “Now, when people see me, they see me – Simon – not a black person.” Worou’s presence here illustrates how radically France has changed in recent decades from an ethnically homogenous society into one of Europe’s most diverse nations. His election by the villagers as their mayor is a pointer to greater acceptance of immigrants by traditional white, European French citizens. But standard French values and principles are not shifting to make room for the varied cultural traditions of its six million strong immigrant-descended population. And recent debates about those values, the nature of French identity, and the integration of immigrant youths have done more to divide society than unite it. “The reality of France has changed even if the image is still of a white man with a beret and a baguette,” says Marie-Hélène Bacqué, a sociologist and urbanist at the University of Paris Ouest. “France is very multicultural with people coming from very diverse places. One of the challenges now is how to take this diversity into account.” 'Where are you from?' Lifelong Sainte-Juliette residents Serge Bodou and Hervé Mader, loading a dying 4x4 onto a car trailer, say they found nothing shocking about Worou’s election. “There are people in town who hide in their yards when you walk by, but Simon always says hello, he’s everywhere and participates in everything,” says Bodou. “Why should we have a problem with him being mayor? He’s French.” “Being French,” however, is fraught with emotion in France, where the intellectual and political establishment is united around secularism as a foundation stone of French identity. That means no concessions to cultural or religious traditions – no halal meat at school cafeterias, for example – a stand that many French Muslims regard as hostile and intolerant. Professor Bacqué says that the debate has been distorted because it takes identity as a fixed and stable concept. “Identity is always moving and changing,” she says. “There’s not just one French identity. There have always been many,” though they have rarely been acknowledged. “Some people say that the people in the suburbs don’t feel French, but it’s that they don’t feel recognized,” says Bacqué. “The question is how to exist in this society with your identity and your culture.” Immigration is not new in France, though the nation’s struggle to integrate its recent Muslim immigrants has brought the issue to the fore. Millions of newcomers arrived after World War II and in the wake of Algeria’s independence in 1962, took French citizenship and started families. Those families may have been in France, and French nationals, for three generations, but if they are not white they are often referred to as “immigrants,” says Erik Bleich, a professor of political science at Middlebury College in Vermont. Professor Bleich spent a year in France researching the strong pressure on immigrant families to adopt French secularism, language, and political culture – unlike the US, where people can often hold onto their cultural customs. He found that a majority of French descendants of immigrants told researchers that they felt very French. This was true even for Muslims, although they were subject to more than 400 Islamophobic threats or actions in 2015, according to government figures. “However, the problem came when these people encountered [certain French people] who didn’t see them as French, asking them, ‘where are you really from?’” he says. “All it takes is one person to treat you differently for you to feel not fully French and it can really stick with you.” Worou, who has become a naturalized French citizen and mastered the local Aveyron accent, says he regularly faces the “where are you from” question. “This question is often asked of people who come here from outside the region,” he says, “but if you’re a person of color, you understand it differently.” Race and égalité While Worou remains the only person of color in Sainte-Juliette, ethnic diversity is spreading across France. In nearby Rodez, a mid-sized city of around 24,000 people, immigrants represent 7.5 percent of the population, slightly below the national average of 8.8 percent, according to the most recent data from national French statistics bureau INSEE. But INSEE cannot tell the ethnic origins of these immigrants. Identifying citizens by their race is illegal in France – a reaction to the use that the authorities made of such data during World War II to identify and deport Jews. Distinguishing among citizens on the basis of their ethnic origins is also seen as an assault on the founding republican principle of égalité, and thus outlawed. This has made discussions about race difficult, says Bleich. “The upside of not having race statistics is that you don’t have people that are overly aware of their racial identity and dealing with these small negotiations as they go through life as we do in the US,” says Bleich. “But the negative is, you’re not able to express to the public at large about the life chances of people across religious and racial lines.” Those social trends may have been invisible to statisticians, but they exploded into the public consciousness in January 2015 when three French-born second-generation immigrants killed 15 people in separate attacks on a satirical magazine and a kosher delicatessen. The terrorist attacks sparked an anguished debate over the failures of French social and economic integration policies. The government cannot legally measure the problem, but it knows it exists: it is harder to find a job or a house if you are black or brown than if you are white. The authorities recently launched an advertising campaign against job discrimination and set up a hotline to report racial discrimination. Back in Sainte-Juliette-sur-Viaur, the issue of race is almost all but forgotten – except when Mayor Worou has to go to a regional meeting of mayors in the Aveyron. “I’m always the only non-white mayor out of the 300 in the Aveyron,” he smiles. “Sometimes people in neighboring towns still tell me they’re shocked I was elected.” But it’s not a shock for most people in Sainte-Juliette, who laugh when asked whether it was a surprise for a black man to be named mayor. Get the Monitor Stories you care about delivered to your inbox. By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy “It’s the person that counts, not the race,” says local resident Dominique Coufinhal, as she lays a concrete slab for a garden shed. “Why should it matter if he’s black? He can do the job and he does it well.” This was part 8 of Who is 'Europe'?, a weekly series on how European natives and residents are responding to pressures from terrorism, migration, nationalism, and the 'European project.' See all of the stories on the series homepage.

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. I'm Dave Bleja of Volnaiskra. For the past 3 years or so, I've been making Spryke, an immersive and deeply crafted platformer about a deep sea cyberfish who discovers the joys of dry land. As the only full-time member of the Spryke team, I'm responsible for many parts of the creative and technical process. Some roles are tedious, most are enjoyable. But my favourite has easily been the animating, and I'm about to share with you five animation tips that I've picked up over the years. TIP 1: SOMETIMES, QUANTITY MAKES QUALITY The phrase "Less is more" is such a well-worn cliché that it feels almost controversial to suggest what I'm about to suggest. OK, brace yourself. Sometimes, less is.....less! There's no substitute for quality, and as artists we should always strive for it. Having an idea of how anatomy, physics, and lighting work in the real world will improve your game graphics; not knowing that stuff will harm them. But occasionally, one of the most important building blocks of quality is simply quantity, and this is especially true of animation. On a fundamental level, animation is about quantity. The animator produces hundreds of still images, crammed so tightly together, that the mind can no longer process them individually, and the magic of movement is created. This same principle often applies to making animations that move well. Take these bubbles. They look pretty good, right? (Of course they do - they're from Spryke, which is awesomeballs and you totally should go and back it on Kickstarter right now!) Wait, where was I? Oh yeah, the bubbles. They look good, but the base bubble graphics themselves are incredibly simple - basically just circles. What makes them look good is quantity. But not just the large quantity of bubbles - also the large quantity of things that are happening to those bubbles at the same time. Let's break it down: (1) bubbles with varied opacity and size (2) + slightly varied shapes (3) + randomised quiver and smaller origin (4) + randomised trigonometric (ie. curvy) movement (5) + multiple origins (6) + water refraction, bubbles move and split into smaller bubbles upon player collision. Each step of this process is simple (the quivering and veering movements use some light trigonometry, but nothing too crazy). On their own, none of the steps are particularly impressive or believable. But when all stacked together, they make a complex, compelling whole. By the time you get to #6, there are too many things happening at once for your conscious mind to keep track of separately, and the individual components of the animation melt into a pleasing, dynamic whole. I want to stress that this doesn't just apply to objects that are numerous, like bubbles. The same "quantity makes quality" approach applies when animating just about anything. Most things in the natural world tend to move in myriad, often subtle ways. Closely watch someone standing still and you'll likely observe a dozen little movements, from blinking to swallowing to a shift in the hips. Watch someone walking and you'll see almost every part of her body and face move in some way - not just her legs and arms. In general, the more things happening at once in an animation, the less mechanical it seems, and the more organic and interesting. This can also apply to objects that are actually mechanical, such as this door: About a dozen things are happening in this door animation, and most of them are very simple: parts moving up/down, lights blinking on/off, screens glowing and changing color, and basic smoke particle effects. But because these simple movements contrast with each other (some things move up/down, others side-to-side; some flicker, some glow), and because they're all timed slightly differently, they combine to create a complex whole. The extent to which you can add complexity to your animations will depend partly on the animation method you use. In-engine animation is probably more limited in this regard (though it has other advantages, like randomisation and dynamic reactivity...see the bubbles above). Spryke herself uses primarily pre-rendered animation, which allows me to really ramp up the complexity beyond what would be practical in-engine. For good pre-rendered animation, I highly recommend a program like Toon Boom Harmony Premium that lets you rig a character using nodes. Spryke, despite only appearing at roughly 70x70 px in-game, is composed of 30+ moving parts, all controlled and interconnected using some 250 individual nodes. This allows for very flexible, nuanced movement across a variety of poses. TIP 2: UGLY FRAMES CAN MAKE YOUR ANIMATION MORE BEAUTIFUL As we know, much of the magic of animation happens at the borderlands between the conscious and subconscious. This fuzzy sweet spot is where an animation 'melts' into your subconscious and becomes greater than the sum of its parts. But in some cases, an element of an animation must be kept strictly beyond the conscious to be effective. A good technique for getting more oomph or zip out of an animation is one that the Warner Bros animators particularly excelled at: that of the single, highly exaggerated frame. The trick here is to pick a moment of impact or quick movement, and slip in one (and only one) frame that shows the pose in a highly caricatured state. Seen consciously, this frame would seem over-the-top and inaccurate. But when merely 'felt' in an animation, it pulls the rest of the animation into a more satisfyingly wacky place. That one extreme frame of the scared snail critter doesn't look very convincing when viewed as a still (ie. consciously). But if you put your hand over the slowed version on the right and look only at the left, you don't really notice how 'wrong' it looks. Instead, it gives the animation a satisfying extra little jolt. In this exaggerated frame of a coyotebug (that's what I call them, in honour of Wile E. Coyote!), I distorted the various bodyparts so much that the illustration actually 'breaks'. But this brokenness doesn't really register in the real-time animation, and that frame just enhances the drama of the moment. TIP 3: BLURRY, SMEARED FRAMES CAN SAVE YOU PRECIOUS MILLISECONDS Just as you can add extra oomph to an animation by smuggling in a caricatured frame, you can add extra whoosh by smuggling in a blurry, 'smeared' frame. This technique lets you create a very fast movement in a very short amount of frames, which makes it ideal for many game scenarios where control responsiveness is paramount. The trick here is to take two outside frames of a movement, and then combine them into a 'smeared', blurry, third frame that sits in the middle. There are a couple of things to keep in mind here. Firstly, the blurred frame should feel like a composite of the start and end frames, not an average. In other words, the area it covers should roughly correspond to the area covered by both the start and end frame (this will make the object in the blurred frame bigger than usual - that's ok). Secondly, pay special attention to small, key components of your character, such as the eye. If the eye is very far apart in the start and end frames, then placing it in between the two for the middle frame will result in choppy animation that loses fluidity. So instead, smear the eye from start to end in that middle frame, as in the example below: This mid-movement frame looks dreadful when seen consciously, but enables a very quick, whooshy transition when animated (cover the right side with your hand to check!), helping Spryke to feel like she grabs that wall really fast. The smeared eye helps the eye travel smoothly from starting to ending positions. TIP 4: REMEMBER THAT THE NINE OLD MEN NEVER PLAYED VIDEO GAMES If you haven't heard of the 12 principles of animation, you owe it to yourself to read up about them. They're sound principles developed by the masters of animation at Disney, the so-called Nine Old Men. But in certain video game contexts, some of these principles can actually be problematic. Take the highly effective principle of anticipation. This principle observes that most movements should be first telegraphed by a countermovement: a pitcher throwing a ball forward first pulls his arm back; a person shouting will first inhale and clench her facial muscles. Incorporating such anticipation movements into your animation makes them feel more lifelike and satisfying. Unfortunately, this principle is sometimes at odds with the needs of good game design. When players press jump, they want the character to immediately jump. If you cushion that jump with several frames of anticipation, it might look better, but it'll feel worse (less responsive). Same with the principle of Slow In and Slow Out: a jump animation that has significant ease-in might look nice, but it likely won't feel right. Therefore, many games simply omit these principles in some of their animations - even beautifully animated games such as Rayman Legends. Notice below how Rayman has anticipation when he punches the ground, and NPCs have anticipation when they jump, but when it comes to Rayman's jumping animation, he suddenly loses his usual rubberiness and instantly rises from the spot as if he were a chess piece being picked up. While this results in a supbar animation, it results in better responsiveness, and hence better gamefeel. While Rayman's jumping puts responsivenes before animation, the original Prince of Persia did the opposite. Notice below how when jumping to a ledge, there's almost a full second of anticipation. It looks good, and it's faithful to the physics and anatomy of how people jump in real life, yet it introduces a delay that the player must endure each time she wants to jump. I'd argue that this was actually the right decision in Prince of Persia, which was all about wowing us with an unprecented level of realistic animation. But it's not something many players would put up with today. When animating Spryke's jump, I worked out a compromise that tries to incorporate a bit of anticipation without hindering game feel. The solution here was to make Spryke jump immediately, while making her animation contain a bit of anticipation. So, Spryke visually registers a sense of anticipation, even though she already starts shooting forward the moment the player hits the button. This isn't as effective as a few frames of pure anticipation, but I think it's a decent workaround. The timing and movement of these two sequences is identical. In the animated one, notice how Spryke's overall mass jumps immediately, just as the non-animated version does. Yet within her animation, she has a bit of anticipation: she recoils a little, transferring her weight from her centre to her back. This in turn causes her antenna and crests to fling forward for a few frames, before they eventually fling backwards. Notice, however, that while most of her body recoils with that little bit of anticipation, her eye does the opposite: it projects forward immediately and charges ahead to her desired destination. I found that this helped to accentuate her instant upward movement, even while the rest of her body showed subtle signs of anticipation and delay. Along with anticipation, the principle of slow in and slow out (a.k.a. "easing") is one that can interfere with gamefeel. Take a look at these two animations from The Witcher 3: It's hard to deny that the animation on the left looks better: the movement is more believable, and has more weight and masculinity. The one on the right is zippier, but it looks highly unrealistic and kind of silly. It makes Geralt look light as a feather, and makes the world look like it's missing some physics. There are a few different things going on here, but one of the main ones is simply the less pronounced ease in/out that causes Right Geralt to zigzag with barely any inertia. The left version is what The Witcher 3 started out with. But due to popular demand, CD Projekt Red patched in the alternate movement on the right. When I first tried the alternate movement in my playthrough, I was shocked at how much it damaged the realism and immersion of the game. Suddenly this game full of gritty gravitas began feeling like an arcadey Darksiders. Yet, although it broke my heart a little, I stuck with it for the remainder of the game: the newer movement simply felt better. I'm all about immersion, as both a gamer and a game developer, but the needs of control responsiveness and gamefeel are so paramount that even I wasn't to willing to compromise them. TIP 5: DO MECHANICS, THEN ANIMATION, THEN MECHANICS AGAIN Animation isn't just something that sits over the top of mechanics - it fundamentally alters the mechanics. A great piece of game design advice that's at least as old as the first Mario game is to first make your game with no graphics - just blocks. Only once those ugly blocks are fun to play with should you think about beautifying them. Otherwise you might mistake fun graphics for fun gameplay and end up with a game that doesn't feel as good as it looks. Spryke spent a good 3 or 4 months in pure block form. I knew I wanted to create a platformer with especially agile and compelling movement, and I endlessly fiddled with inertia, acceleration, jump curves, ceiling and floating mechanics until moving that little square block around the level started to feel addictively fun. At this stage, Spryke the character hadn't even been conceived yet, and her design eventually grew out of the requirements of the abstract mechanics of that block. It became clear early on that the best shape to get the sort of agile, zippy movement I wanted was a small square of about 50x50 pixels. So when it came time to design Spryke, we knew she had to be small and somewhat ball-shaped, so she could be agile in all directions. We then worked through many iterations of her design until her character and personality started taking shape, at which point I animated her various movements. An interesting thing happened at this point: playtesters began to remark how much better the mechanics were. They said the controls were much more responsive and tight. The thing is, the mechanics were identical - nothing had changed except for the animations. I realised that my experience of the mechanics had always been colored by the rough vision of the animation I always had in mind - while my playtesters would have played without this. You can see the difference in the comparison below. Without animation, Spryke looks and feels like a bowling ball. She sticks to the ceiling as if magnetised, and clunks and thuds along the ground when she jumps. Her jump itself feels like a somewhat artificial parabola. When the exact same movement is animated, Spryke becomes squishy and zippy. Her jump appears more natural (possibly even feeling a little longer), and she appears to bounce along the ground with a spring in her step. Technically, nothing about the mechanics changed, yet it may as well have. The animation altered the gamefeel, and Spryke effectively became a different game. Since animation is so powerful in changing the feel of a game, it doesn't make sense to stop the design process after it's done. Instead, this is the time when you should reasses the mechanics from the ground up: is your initial vision of the mechanics still shining through? Do some variables need to be tweaked? Has the animation exposed something cool that you should further enhance by revisting the mechanics? In our case, most of Spryke's movement felt great - more like a fullfillment of the stage 1 mechanics than a reinvention. The main exception was the floating mechanic. Spryke had always had a floating mechanic that let you slow down mid-fall to avoid a danger or better reach a platform. But once I had animated this mechanic in a bubble, it took on a life of its own. The floating felt so different that it no longer looked right. The existing mechanics had it as basically just a speed reduction that could be triggered in mid-air, yet this new bubble animation begged for it to feel somehow lighter and springier. I ended up redoing the floating mechanic from scratch. I created a new physics component that lets you swoop as if on a cushion of air, using your own momentum to propel you. The new instabubble has a very satisfying feeling to it that I don't know how to describe other than to say that it feels very...whooshy. The instabubble is now one of the most unique things about Spryke, and one of the most enjoyable core mechanics of the game. And it was born of animation! Or, more precisely, it was born of a process that first let function determine form, but then allowed the resulting form to improve the function. First, mechanics. Second, animation. Third, mechanics. OK, that's it. I hope you enjoyed my 5 tips, and I hope that they've been useful to you! And if you like what you've seen of Spryke, please support us and back Spryke on kickstarter - we need your help to get Spryke to the finish line!

At NerdWallet, we adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners. Here’s how we make money NerdScholar’s scholarship study, an analysis of the NerdScholar Scholarship Tool‘s 5,864 verified private scholarships, showed that there are 4 times as many scholarships specifically designated for women as opposed to those for men. This particular finding was not surprising, considering that scholarships are traditionally meant to support those that have had to face personal obstacles on their road towards a higher degree. Historically, women have been the minority in the educational landscape and have had to face greater acceptance in that space. However, many have argued whether the support for females specifically should still exist, citing a higher graduating rate of females than males. Have males truly become disadvantaged in the higher education space? A new study published by Ohio State University (OSU) which took data fro the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth an looked at student loans and graduation rates of 3,676 individuals for over 10 years, has provided an interesting answer to this debate. 1. Women are more likely to take out loans than their male counterparts 40% of females acquired loans as opposed to only 34% of their male counterparts. 2. Women were willing to go into greater debt for the degree According to the study by OSU, typically, greater debt correlates with greater graduation rates. However, there is a threshold where greater debt doesn’t necessarily mean greater graduation–where students might say “this is too much debt” and continue to drop out of school. For women, this was $14,682 as versus $$12,711 for men. 3. Women fare worse off without a college degree than their male counterparts It was found that males who dropped out of college received almost the same as males that graduated early in their careers, while women who dropped out received $6,500 less than females who graduated. Thus, OSU researchers concluded that the degree meant more to these women, but why? According to the BLS, women make, on average, 81% of what men make. So, it’s not that women have a greater “advantage” in the higher education space–they’re fighting tooth and nail for that degree and going into greater debt because that degree helps them fight their disadvantage in the work space. That diploma can mean a much higher starting salary for these women moreso than for their male counterparts because of the nature of career opportunities available to women without an education as versus one with. So, four times as many scholarships may not seem like such an advantage when one considers the fact that there are still careers where women earn less than 70% of what men make. Women that graduate are deeper in debt than their average male counterpart and these scholarships can at least equalize that barrier. Read more about Scholarships: March, the month with the most scholarships.

SHARE By of the The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee police chief who was placed on administrative leave and demoted to police captain after trading Internet messages of a sexual nature with a female student has been terminated by the university. Michael Marzion, accused of "inappropriate and unprofessional conduct," lost his job at the conclusion of a disciplinary process and investigation into his communications with the student last spring. Marzion was on administrative leave, with pay, while the university followed the required disciplinary process. His salary was $125,671; he became chief in January 2010. An independent investigator, former Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Gary A. Gerlach, concluded in June that Marzion did not violate school policies involving discriminatory conduct during exchanges with the female student between April 7 and 15. But Gerlach said he found the chief's conduct a concern because the campus police department at times investigates reports of campus sexual harassment. The student accused Marzion of sexually harassing behavior. Marzion acknowledged that he sent messages to the student, demonstrated a "lack of judgment" and could not explain his conduct. Gerlach found the student encouraged the communications, and "in some instances, communications of a sexual nature."

The Government’s Deregulation Agenda is now administered by the Department of Jobs and Small Business, due to the Administrative Arrangements Order introduced on December 20, 2017. Previously the Deregulation Agenda (earlier known as the Regulatory Reform Agenda) was administered by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) which administers Regulatory Impact Analysis requirements remains within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Regulations are essential for the proper functioning of society and the economy. They include any laws or other government-endorsed ‘rules’ where there is an expectation of compliance. In Australia, regulation is made at the federal level as well as by the states and territories, in the form of legislation and subordinate legislation and at a local government level as regulations and by-laws. Australia is recognised internationally for its Deregulation Agenda and governance arrangements, particularly its approach to Regulatory Impact Analysis. The Australian Government remains committed to improving the quality of its regulation, including minimising the burden of regulation on businesses, community organisations and individuals. Commonwealth Government portfolios promote regulatory quality through the preparation of Regulation Impact Statements under the Government’s Regulatory Impact Analysis system. They also review the Government’s regulatory regimes to ensure they remain fit for purpose in the 21st Century. The Government’s Deregulation Agenda frameworks assist in keeping the Australian economy as efficient, flexible and responsive as possible. Key frameworks include: Regulatory Impact Analysis requirements: Every policy proposal designed to introduce or abolish regulation must now be accompanied by a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS). The 2014 Australian Government Guide to Regulation provides high-level principles for policy-makers and outlines the requirements and process for developing a RIS. The Commonwealth Regulatory Burden Measure (RBM) is used by policy-makers to assist in calculating the compliance costs of regulatory proposals on businesses, individuals and community organisations. The Regulator Performance Framework (RPF) guides Commonwealth regulators in minimising their impact on those they regulate while still delivering the vital role they have been asked to perform. Underpinning these frameworks is a commitment to best practice regulation to improve regulatory quality. This includes an ongoing focus on managing the Commonwealth stock of regulations to ensure they remain fit for purpose. We also engage internationally to promote Australian regulatory policy priorities and achievements while contributing to international regulatory capability development, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet administers the Regulatory Impact Analysis requirements of the Australian Government and the Council of Australian Governments ( COAG ). The OBPR also conducts training and provides guidance to assist agencies in preparing Regulation Impact Statements and fulfils other regulatory review and reform obligations. The Australian Government reports regularly on implementation of regulatory reforms and administration of Regulatory Impact Analysis. These reports are publicly available. Between September 2013 and December 2016, decisions were taken that could reduce the burden of Australian Government regulation by around $5.8 billion a year, in net terms, when implemented.

The NFL draft is this week and former Oklahoma State quarterback Brandon Weeden is determined to show that despite being the oldest quarterback in the group, he might be one of the most accurate. Weeden took the spotlight on "Sport Science" this week to show off his accuracy and velocity by hitting moving clay pigeons with a football. According to the show, Weeden's throws were going 48 miles per hour. Scroll to continue with content Ad [ Also: Pat Forde: Arkansas hit a home run hiring John L. Smith as football coach ] Yeah, it's as awesome as it sounds. Weeden said on Twitter it took him seven tries to hit the first one, but after that, he hits four of five, which is a pretty spectacular feat. - - - H/T to Pistols Firing for the video "Like" Dr. Saturday on Facebook for football conversations and stuff you won't see on the blog. And follow Dr. Saturday at its new home on Twitter: @YahooDrSaturday Related Weeden video: Other popular content on the Yahoo! network: • Rafael Nadal breaks losing streak to Novak Djokovic • Eric Adelson: Tiger Stadium opened same day as Fenway Park but ignored in Detroit • Y! News: Scientists finally understand what causes a brain freeze

This is why gaming aficionados can sit playing for hours on end. Applying those principles to the classroom has the same effect, says Larry Graykin, a language arts teacher at Barrington Middle School in New Hampshire. "The key benefit in my opinion is that it provides context for work that might not otherwise have a clear context," says Graykin, who gamified his classroom two years ago. "We can say, 'You need this for high school,' and that works for a certain population of kids. But for a lot of kids, they don’t see that far into their future." Another benefit is the shift in emphasis from getting a grade to learning the material. In most gamified classrooms, students work for experience points (known as XP) instead of grades on tests or exercises. Rather than being penalized for what they don't know, students are rewarded for continuing to try until they learn the material. "That's one of the things that I think is most critical in terms of this being a sort of paradigm shift," Graykin says. "In the traditional classroom, an unfortunate side effect of averaged grades is if a student does very poorly on one big test, or something like that, that's it. I've actually heard in teacher room conversations, 'Oh, well, there's no way he could possibly pass now.' And this eliminates that. They can rally at the last minute­—and they do. " Typically, every student in a gamified classroom starts out with zero XP, accumulating quests and accomplishments that translate into a letter grade by the end of the class. "They are participating, they are engaged," Sheldon says. "If for example, somebody doesn't do well on an exam, they can take the exam again. I'm trying to teach them, I'm not trying to trick them." The result is that students feel that they are in control, with the teacher merely serving as a game master. They challenge themselves and collaborate with one another—and develop healthy competition when necessary—because they see the benefit to their own progress in the game. "The goal," says Lee, "is to make learning more about intrinsic motivation—to leverage a learner’s desire to explore, be curious, gain mastery, and so on. If a learner can gain experience points and level up as they gain knowledge, perhaps we can cultivate life-deep, life-wide, and lifelong learners." The practice is not perfect, and not the right fit for every instructor. "Some teachers may not feel sufficiently equipped to try designing a game layer for their classroom," Lee says. "It takes some creativity, patience, and sometimes extra work to do gamification the first time. It’s much easier to not take a risk and to do education the safe, traditional way." And some students just aren't that into it either. Juho Hamari and Jonna Koivisto of the University of Tampere in Finland have studied gamification extensively, and they've found that some students simply dislike competition. "Similarly," Hamari notes, "all students might not appreciate narratives and, for example, role-playing type of interactions."

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in parliament on Tuesday. "I was the only MP—state or federal—to call out the alleged corruption in Ipswich not just in relation to funding but also other circumstances as well. "In relation to my time as police minister, I told the Premier that the then mayor was allegedly corrupt and I believed had access to information confidential to the Ipswich police comms centre." As the opposition seized on the comments made during debate about moves to pressure the LNP into revealing the origins of more than $100,000 of political donations to the former Newman government, the premier play down concerns. A spokesman for the premier said the allegations were made when she was opposition leader and Ms Miller was urged to take them to the Crime and Corruption Commission, which she later confirmed she had done. "The Premier urges all Members to take any allegations of corruption to the CCC for it to independently and thoroughly investigate," a spokesman said in a statement. "That is what the Premier said when Member for Cairns Rob Pyne tabled allegations of corruption in State Parliament this month." Ms Miller said she raised issues such as "money changing hands and suspicious trips all over Australia and internationally" but was rebuffed. "I got told, 'Oh, he's very popular.' It was his political immunity and alleged corruption, and he was also a member of the ALP," she said in Parliament. "It reminded me of another era in this parliament—the Sir Joh era when he, too, was popular. Ms Miller was sacked as Police Minister in December 2015 after a string of controversies and a public stoush with Mr Pisasale over the Queensland Police Service's plan to close down a communications centre at Yamanto, west of Brisbane. On Tuesday night, she accused the Premier of standing by "an allegedly corrupt former mayor and "(getting) rid of an honest police minister". "In relation to my time as police minister, I told the Premier that the then mayor was allegedly corrupt and I believed had access to information confidential to the Ipswich police comms centre," she said. "My concerns were ignored and all I got was, 'Just fix it,' which was code for directing the Police Commissioner under the Police Service Administration Act. I refused to do it." The Member for Bundamba's allegations came amid a sustained push from Labor-turned-independent MP Rob Pyne for an inquiry into local government, in which he has repeatedly used parliamentary privilege to reveal allegations of misconduct and corruption. Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said the allegations struck at the heart of the state's democracy. "Labor's claims of accountability and transparency are in tatters," he said, in a statement. "This is beyond serious, these allegations shine a bright light on the murky world of Labor's internal politics and twisted priorities." Ms Miller's claims also came the day before Mr Pisasale most recent court appearance on an extortion charge, which he has indicated he will fight, and accusations of interfering with witnesses. Mr Pisasale, who the court heard was in a New Farm mental health clinic and too unwell to speak to investigators, missed his last court date and has been threatened with arrest if he doesn't show up on Wednesday. A spokeswoman for Ms Trad said Ms Miller's concerns were appropriately referred to the CCC. "We look forward to the outcome of the CCC's Belcarra and Fadden Forum investigations and will consider those recommendations," she said.

The French government has voted in favor of greater powers of surveillance, giving it intelligence-gathering capabilities on a par with the NSA. The move came in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attack which led to the deaths of 12 people and prompted the Je Suis Charlie support campaign. The new laws allow for NSA-style mass collection of metadata online as well as setting up the National Commission for Control of Intelligence Techniques (CNCTR) to oversee data collection. It has been criticized by some as being the French equivalent of the Patriot Act and the ruling Socialist Party is accused of prying too far into the private lives of normal people in the name of counter-terrorism. As is to be expected, the move has outraged civil liberties groups as well as -- oddly -- the far right Marion Marechal-Le Pen who said French citizens should not have to choose between security and privacy. As well as setting up the CNCTR to oversee the activities of France's intelligence services, the new laws determine how public complaints will be handled. As is often the justification for the activities of the NSA and other similar agencies, the French government sold the need for increased surveillance powers off the back of terrorist attacks. The government also said that it wanted to bring the surveillance of modern communication methods into an existing legal framework, but critics say the laws -- which "define the purposes for which secret intelligence-gathering may be used" -- go too far. The delicate subject matter that prompted the law to be rethought -- cartoons featured in the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo that mocked the prophet Mohammed -- means that the privacy versus national security debate has not been split along the usual party political or ideological lines. Left- and right-leaning parties united to vote through the law 438 votes to 86, with notable opposition coming from the Greens and the Left Front. Outside of government, however, there is vocal opposition to the laws. While there is sympathy for the reasons behind the law change, privacy advocates and civil liberties groups are unhappy with how it has been approached. It's something that Privacy International has described as a "dangerous and broad surveillance bill". Photo credit: Yulia_B / Shutterstock

Updated Friday 2/4 at 9:30 a.m. Jacksonville City Councilman Bill Gulliford said he’s planning to introduce an option for the public to vote on whether the city's’ human rights ordinances should protect LGBT people. Gulliford announced his plans at a special City Hall meeting Thursday, where he invited speakers to discuss issues with a human-rights bill already moving through the council. Gulliford began the meeting by stating he’s not a “bigot, hater or homophobe” but wants to discuss issues and questions with the HRO bill set to be voted on in committees next week. It would add LGBT protections to the city’s anti-discrimination laws that already protect people on the basis of characteristics like religion and race. The speakers commented on how they believe the bill would infringe on small business owners’ and nonprofit heads’ religious liberty if they don’t want to serve LGBT people. Of the six who spoke, two live out of town. Roger Gannam, a former Jacksonville resident, is an attorney with the Orlando-based nonprofit Liberty Counsel, which boasts of helping defeat similar HRO bills in Jacksonville in years past. Palm Coast resident Charlene Cothran, a former lesbian activist, said God transformed her lifestyle. A couple of their concerns are with exemptions in the bill. For instance, businesses with fewer than 15 employees would be allowed to discriminate against LGBT people in hiring, but if the business is, say, a restaurant, it would still have to serve them. Jason Gabriel with the city’s Office of General Counsel confirms that. “To the extent that there’s any business out there, no matter how big or small, that opens themselves up to the public, the ordinance would be applicable,” Gabriel said. Religious institutions would also be exempt, but what about religious nonprofits unaffiliated with specific places of worship? That was the question from lawyer and speaker Jim Radloff, who is board of directors president of a Christian women’s help center. Gabriel says he’d research that and provide council members a definition of “religious institutions.” And though his church would be exempt, First Baptist of Jacksonville Associate Pastor Heath Lambert said he opposes LGBT protections in any circumstance, based on his religious conscience. “The passage of this ordinance would be the decision to pick a favorite, to choose the convictions of one member of our community over the convictions of another and to discriminate with the force of law,” Lambert said. Previous Supreme Court rulings have found laws to not be in violation of religious liberty, as long as they’re not specifically targeting a single religion, according to Florida Coastal School of Law Professor Greg Pingree. Attorney Jimmy Midyette with the LGBT-advocacy group Jacksonville Coalition for Equality also sat in on the meeting and says he didn’t hear any convincing arguments. ”The folks in there who are saying that it’s going to cause all sorts of unintended consequences,the reality is that over 20 states and over 250 municipalities in the country have this very law on the books, and it has led to increased opportunity,” Midyette said. As for Gulliford’s referendum, he didn’t say when he’d ask council members to consider it. Gulliford introduced an HRO referendum bill last year too, but it was withdrawn along with a similar HRO bill that wouldn't require a referendum. Councilman Reggie Brown said Thursday he would not support a referendum, but Councilman Sam Newby said he would. The original bill, sponsored by Councilmen Tommy Hazouri, Jim Love and Aaron Bowman, is set for a council vote on Feb. 14. Interested in the conversation about the Jacksonville HRO? Join us for a live television show, “Community Thread: LGBT Rights on the First Coast” at WJCT Studios on Feb 8. Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.

by Barcelona. From Liberia, to Tokyo, to the Cherokee Nation and Old Europe, more and more people are talking about Basic Income in all kinds of different forums. If the global economic and environmental crises have had any positive effect it would be that people are fighting back. As history has so often shown, the neediest people are those who best understand human rights (in their absence). For more than three millennia the three basic principles of human rights, freedom, justice and human dignity, have been inscribed on clay and stone tablets, parchment and paper, usually after they have been shouted for and fought for, all around the world, in streets, squares and a variety of battlefields, from Mount Vesuvius (Spartacus) to slave ships. Nobody has to be taught these principles because all humans understand them as their rights. In the concept of “universal human rights”, “universal” is redundant since the qualifier “human” means all humans. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), it qualifies “Declaration”, suggesting the geographical scope of the proclamation rather than rights for all humans. In any case, the “universal” rights it pledged were swiftly rendered into separate “generations” of broken promises floating above and outside social and juridical institutions, without any mechanisms of guarantee and bestowed piecemeal by leaders or in the warped forms of humanitarianism and charity, although it is obvious that the generalised nature of a human right theoretically distinguishes it from any privilege confined to a group, class or caste. Now, with the obscenely growing gap between rich and poor, when it is estimated that by 2016 the richest 1% will own more than the rest of the world, the universal principle is more urgent than ever. Basic Income is one very practical example of a universal human right. It is not just an economic measure to eradicate poverty but an income paid by the State to each member or accredited resident of a society, regardless of whether he or she wishes to engage in paid employment, or is rich or poor, independently of any other sources of income and irrespective of cohabitation arrangements in the domestic sphere. The fact that everyone receives a Basic Income doesn’t mean that everyone gains: the rich lose. How to finance it is as important as the quantity involved and we favour progressive tax reform which redistributes wealth from the rich to the rest of the population. Precisely the opposite of recent trends. In guaranteeing the most basic right of all, that of material existence, it would bring a host of side benefits, as many studies show. In the case of work, for example, it could have a major positive impact, not only in this regard but also in other spheres. With her momentous climate change alert This Changes Everything, Naomi Klein pulls together elements of science, politics, geopolitics, economics, the “stupid growth” and “stupid profits” of capitalism, “extractivism”, patriarchy, psychology, ethics and activism, inter alia, which shape the future of the planet. She concludes that there is an urgent need for valuing work that we currently don’t value and specifically mentions Basic Income, saying, “there has to be a stronger social safety net because when people don’t have options, they’re going to make bad choices”. For Klein, the “universal” sense of Basic Income is that it could help to transform the way we treat and think about our whole (social and physical) environment. After years of having relatively few supporters, the idea of Basic Income is now spreading around the world. In Spain – probably “the place on Earth where the debate around Basic Income is most advanced” – after five years of public spending cuts, depressed demand, record unemployment, burgeoning poverty, and a growing public debt now at around 100% of GDP, and after twenty years of discussion in universities, grassroots movements and social networks, Basic Income is finally going mainstream. Although the new game-changing left-wing political party Podemos has temporarily retreated from its initial Basic Income proposal in favour of “full employment” (more fitting, perhaps, for the welfare states of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s), many party members are Basic Income stalwarts. Other political organisations now proposing it include Equo, Pirata and Bildu (a coalition in the Basque Country) and, in Galicia, Anova, while still more small parties have projects which, while not strictly a Basic Income, come close. A recent number of the Basic Income Earth Network newsletter gives an idea of the worldwide spread of different versions of Basic Income. In Greece the new ruling party Syriza has declared its aim to establish “a closer link between pension contribution and income… and provide targeted assistance to employees between 50 and 65, including through a Guaranteed Basic Income scheme so as to eliminate the social and political pressure of early retirement which over-burdens the pension funds”. In Finland, 65.5% of 1,642 (out of nearly 2,000) candidates for the parliamentary elections on 19 April publicly support the policy. Cyprus has passed a new law giving low income families a Guaranteed Minimum Income of €480 a month. In 2013, a grassroots movement in Switzerland called for a Basic Income of 2,500 Swiss francs per month and received over 100,000 signatures needed to force a referendum on the proposal. Ninety per cent of the members of Hungary’s Green-Left party Párbeszéd Magyarországért (“Dialogue for Hungary”) have voted for a Basic Income to which all citizens would be entitled, €80 per month for children, €160 for adults and €240 for young mothers. The poverty line in Hungary is estimated at around €200 for a single adult. In Portugal, where Basic Income is relatively unknown and misunderstood, the political party LIVRE has included Basic Income in its draft political programme for the autumn elections this year. Now recognising that inequality and social justice are also “green” issues, the fast-growing Green Party of England and Wales has announced that a Basic Income will be included in its manifesto. Outside Europe, Basic Income is gaining support in other industrialised countries including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. Alaska is an outstanding example because since 1982 it has had its own particular form of Basic Income, an unconditional annual dividend paid on an individual basis to all people who have lived there for at least twelve months (except those convicted of felony in the past year). The Alaska Permanent Fund (APF), consisting of 25% of the proceeds of the state’s mineral (oil and gas) sales or royalties, foots the bill. The annual payout is based on a five-year average of APF earnings and has varied from $331.29 in 1984 to $3,269 in 2008. Although this “Basic Income” doesn’t entail tax reform, its benefits are undeniable. Alaska features among the states with the lowest poverty rates in the United States and is one of the least unequal. In 2009, the dividend added US$900 million to Alaskans’ purchasing power, the equivalent of 10,000 new jobs. The idea of Basic Income has taken root in the countries of the South as an anti-poverty measure, for example in Brazil, Namibia and South Africa. Brazil is the world’s first country to have adopted a law (2003) calling for gradual introduction of a Basic Income. In South Africa, trade unions, churches and many NGOs are calling for it and, in Namibia, the Basic Income Grant Coalition (headed by the Council of Churches, National Union of Namibian Workers, Namibian NGO Forum, National Youth Council and the Namibian Network of AIDS Service Organisations) conducted a two-year pilot project (2007–2009) in Otjivero-Omitara, a low-income rural area, where 930 inhabitants received a monthly payment of 100 Namibian dollars each (US$12.4). The payment was small but the results were surprising: numbers of underweight children went from 42% to 10%; school dropout rates fell from 40% to almost 0%; the number of small businesses increased, as did the purchasing power of the inhabitants, thereby creating a market for the new products. However, the Namibian government has thus far balked at introducing a national Basic Income. In Mexico City a pension paid as a right to all people (some 410,000) of 68 years and over has also paid social dividends: increased autonomy and freedom of the aged, more respect in the family milieu, greater public visibility, improved self esteem, better nutrition and health, and a decrease in social inequality. In 2010, a partial Basic Income was introduced in India in a UNICEF-supported pilot scheme conducted by the trade union Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA). For one year, 6,000 individuals in rural areas of Madhya Pradesh received an unconditional payment, working out at about US$24 per month for the average family. The project ended with improved nutrition, health, education, housing and infrastructure, economic activity and, especially, educational attainment. Other initiatives, related to Basic Income to the extent that they are “free money programmes” have given one-off payments to homeless people in London, to the poor inhabitants of a village in the west of Kenya, and to girls and women in Malawi. All of them show clear correlations between free money and lower crime rates, reduced inequality, less malnutrition, lower infant mortality and teenage pregnancy rates, less truancy, better school completion rates, greater economic growth and higher emancipation rates. Then there is the interesting case of Cherokee, North Carolina (population 8,000) where the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation owns the casino. In 1996, the tribal council voted to distribute half the casino’s profits evenly among its approximately 15,000 members so as to give the community a share in the gambling wealth. The payouts have risen from $500 to about $10,000 per person per year. Jane Costello, a Duke University researcher who has been studying the effects of these payments on 1,420 Cherokee-area children over the last twenty years, comparing the lives of poor children who got the payments with those who didn’t, found that, some years on, those getting the payments were one grade ahead in school compared with those who didn’t, overall mental health improved, and behavioural problems in this group decreased by 40% and crime rates by 22%. The “partial” Basic Income programmes and one-off “free money” initiatives are instructive because they demonstrate that small unconditional payments can make great differences in social and mental health. If a one-off non-universal payment can have such positive effects, what could a “true” Basic Income do? But what is a Basic Income? There is some confusion here because what is often thought to be “Basic Income” takes many forms and different names. Spain, for example, has a “renda garantida de ciutadania” in the Statute of Catalonia, while in other Autonomous Regions it appears as a “salario social” or “renta mínima de inserción”. However, these are all conditioned subsidies for people below a certain income threshold. Podemos came up with an impeccably defined Basic Income in the heady days of its win at the European elections but then opted out, while the smaller parties, Bildu, Anova and Equo, have programmed a Basic Income close to the definition used by the Spanish Red Renta Básica (Basic Income Network). This coincides with that adopted in November 2007 by the Universal Declaration of Emergent Human Rights, approved at the Universal Forum of Cultures in Monterrey. Basic Income is enshrined as a human right in Article 1 (3): The right to a basic income or universal citizen’s income that guarantees to every human being, independently of age, gender, sexual orientation, civil or employment status, the right to live in material conditions of dignity. To this end, a regular cash payment, financed by tax reforms and covered by the state budget, and sufficient to cover his or her basic needs, is recognised as a right of citizenship of every member-resident of the society, whatever his or her other sources of income may be. Rather than holding out a right to having certain minimal vital needs covered in cases of poverty or some catastrophe, Article 1 (3) enshrines Basic Income as a right, an ongoing guarantee to every single individual of being able “to live in material conditions of dignity”. No one would be excluded by poverty from engaging in social life and exercising her or his rights and duties as a citizen. It conceives of this right on a universal scale, for rich and poor, developed or developing countries alike. A guaranteed basic income, above the poverty line, for everybody, would offer a much firmer, autonomous base of existence to (theoretically) all the world’s citizens. The economic independence furnished by a basic income, paid not to households but to individuals, would establish a kind of domestic “counter-power” that could strengthen the bargaining position of women, especially those dependent on the husband or male head of the family, or low earners in exploitative, part time or discontinuous employment. Many farmers in poor countries and workers in developed countries are struggling to survive. In capitalist economies, unemployment is comparable with the landlessness of small farmers in agrarian societies because both economies are characterised by dispossession of land and other means of production. The dispossessed must then sell their labour, usually in crushing conditions, in order to subsist. One of the basic features of today’s economic functioning is the great power of capital to bring the working population to heel. Underlying this disciplinary capacity is the existence of a large, jobless part of the population. When the possibility of dismissal looms ever-larger, the working population must accept increasingly worse conditions from bosses having the whip hand. In a situation close to full employment, when this existed, the power of employers was diminished. A Basic Income would represent an effective tool for countering the disciplinary power of capital and would make leaving the job market a viable option. Although it may seem paradoxical at first sight, many unions (with a few honorable exceptions) have failed to understand the enormous capacity of Basic Income for undermining the discipline that capital can and does impose in a situation of widespread unemployment. In poor countries this possibility of non-dominated organisation of labour power could bring into being alternative networks of production while also protecting traditional ways of life. For example, a group of small farmers could buy a tractor to increase food production, and a truck to take their produce to a market. This would expand productive networks and encourage sustainable community development, which would then give villagers more effective leverage in claiming essential or improved infrastructure, for example schools, clinics, roads and bridges. In a post-conflict situation, a Basic Income would also have beneficial effects by enabling a return to traditional forms of community-based production and, thus reintegrating people, would help to defuse the potential for violence that flares up periodically and dramatically especially among uprooted young people who have no opportunities to work, or because evident signs of increasing social inequality in a traumatised society are a permanent flashpoint for a generalised feeling of injustice. Food security is vitally important. Such a basic matter as a well-balanced diet could be greatly favoured, for example, if people could transport vegetables to the coast and fish to inland villages. This alone could make a notable difference in the overall health of the population. Economic development is better achieved by breaking ties of dependency and promoting robust productive initiatives at both individual and group levels, projects that are conceived and planned within the society as opposed to the often drastically inappropriate schemes that are imposed from outside aid agencies. A Basic Income is not difficult to finance, as a recent exhaustive study for Catalonia has shown. Another study recently carried out for the Kingdom of Spain as a whole, based on a sample of almost two million income tax declarations, showed that a Basic Income at the poverty threshold of €7,500 per year (and a fifth of that to under-eighteens) could be financed without touching any social service and, moreover, saving a lot in administrative costs and welfare payments of lesser sums, which would be abolished. A person getting a pension of €1,500 per month would receive the same (€650 as Basic Income and €850 as a pension) but the person now receiving benefits or a pension of €400 would receive €650, more than 60% extra. These two studies are based on a system of progressive income tax redistribution in which the richest 20% would finance the Basic Income, which they would also receive. The lower-income 70% of the population would gain; a neat reverse of the present situation. Introducing a Basic Income is not an economic problem but a political one. Each zone and country is different, but financing should basically entail changing budgetary priorities, reform of taxation systems or increasing VAT and excise duties on luxury goods, cars, alcohol or tobacco, and financial transaction taxes, for example. This achieves a substantial reduction in inequality of income distribution and greater simplicity and internal coherence in taxation and welfare systems. Basic Income isn’t a panacea that would solve all the world’s social and economic problems, but it would mean wider-spread opportunities for people to participate in productive activities, enhanced social inclusion within stronger communities, greater political and social participation, and a major reduction of poverty and poverty-related problems. It is not an isolated economic policy but part of an overall project in the domain of political economy, aiming to guarantee and fortify the material existence of the whole population. It is an institutionally guaranteed and inclusive form of property that might also be seen as a kind of indemnification of past and present wrongs because it calls upon the more privileged citizens to contribute towards achieving the right of existence for everyone. Herein resides the political obstacle to Basic Income. Daniel Raventós is a lecturer in Economics at the University of Barcelona and author inter alia of Basic Income: The Material Conditions of Freedom (Pluto Press, 2007). He is on the editorial board of the international political review Sin Permiso Julie Wark is an advisory board member of the international political review Sin Permiso. Her last book is The Human Rights Manifesto (Zero Books, 2013).

When you have any kind of pelvic pain or sexual disorder, nothing that has to do with your vagina is simple. You even have to be concerned with the way you dress it. As annoying as this fact may be, selecting the right kind of underwear for your pain is essential for your day-to-day comfort. Before I had pelvic pain, jaunting into Victoria’s Secret and picking out sexy underwear was a favorite activity. I was relatively young, just beginning to explore my sexuality, and was thrilled that someone actually found me attractive. Dressing up my new womanly body was thrilling (I loved me some cheeky cut undies). All of that changed when I began feeling the pain and especially after I was diagnosed. When you have pelvic pain, choosing what kind of underwear you want to buy suddenly isn’t about how cute it makes your booty look or finding a pretty pattern. It becomes a giant speculation session.”Will it aggravate my damaged nerve?,” “Will it protect me against incontinence?,” “Is this going to make my V flare up?,” “Is this going bring on another UTI?” Take your pick. The questions on your mind may depend on the condition, but regardless, underwear shopping turns into an ordeal when you have pelvic pain. My solution? I just stopped wearing underwear altogether. Not only did I find that underwear aggravated my pain, I also found other evidence indicating that foregoing underwear now and again was actually healthier. So what’s the story behind underwear and going commando? Well here’s my version of it. Going Commando Is The Way to Go When it came to underwear, I didn’t go cold turkey. It was a gradual process. I originally started going commando regularly because I was a busy college student that often found doing laundry on the bottom of my to-do list. Going commando not only saved me from household chores, but also made it immensely more comfortable to walk, sit, and perform every other life activity. Many other pelvic pain patients – particularly those with pudendal neuralgia or pudendal entrapment – find that underwear can cause anything from discomfort to agonizing pain. Why? Because underwear tends to cut right into all the wrong areas — no matter how comfy the panty style is meant to be. There’s nothing quite like sitting in a work meeting trying to pay attention, but feeling so much discomfort that you just want to stand up and publicly pick your underwear out of your crotch. If you’re going commando, this nagging sensation is no longer an issue. Going commando can also help reduce the risk of contracting bacterial infections. This seems illogical considering that underwear provides an extra layer between your lady parts and the outside world. But underwear -– particularly if made from materials like silk or polyester –- actually traps moisture and creates the perfect environment for a yeast party. Are you guaranteed to host the biggest yeast bash of the year between your legs if you slip into some silk panties tonight? Probably not. If you start going commando, will you never get a yeast infection? Unfortunately, no. There’s never a golden ticket to vaginal health. But considering that there have been recent studies that show yeast infections have actually been getting worse over the years, you might want to try going commando for a few months if you’re unusually susceptible. It might help you out. I’m Not That Kind of Girl Going commando is loaded with a lot of baggage. Many consider it risqué — the kind of thing that only “slutty girls” do. The kind of underwear you wear (or lack thereof) serves as a symbol of your sex drive and/or level of sexual promiscuity. Is that true? Absolutely not. Can it say something about how comfortable you are with your body? Sure. But again, that still just comes down to stereotyping. It also doesn’t mean you’re trying to project some hippie image or sexy persona. I go commando all the time, and no, it does not mean that I’m trying to be sexually promiscuous or “free spirited.” In fact, it really doesn’t mean anything at all. What’s my ultimate point with all this? If you’re worried about going commando because of the stigma that can be involved, then rethink your position. Enduring a lot of pain for an outdated taboo is not only silly, but also completely unnecessary. Now I’m not going to claim that going without panties doesn’t sometimes seem like a thrilling and sexy thing to do. It’s lost a bit of its novelty for me now, but it did feel quite freeing in the beginning. Remember, there’s never anything wrong with getting in touch with your sexy side and feeling good about your body. Getting comfortable with yourself actually is one of the top ways to reduce many types of sexual pain! From another (completely not medically-related) standpoint: You’ll never have to worry about panty lines ever again. Commado: 1 Underwear: 0 But What About All the Gunk that Comes Out? One of the top concerns about going commando that I hear from my girlfriends –- and women in general –- is dealing with vaginal discharge and menstrual blood flow. I usually wear cotton underwear during my period (at least when I go out), so I never have to worry about sitting down for lunch with a friend and finding a little red surprise when I go to leave. As for the discharge, I can usually feel it. I simply take a trip to the bathroom and clean myself. As far as I know, it’s never run down my legs, gotten on any furniture I was sitting on, or any other horrific scenario that might be running through your head right now. Most of the time, our fears about our discharge are highly exaggerated — the product of a society that raises women to be ashamed of their sexuality and their own bodies. Use common sense and be aware of your hang-ups to determine the right course of action for your body. But What About the Pants? If you’re a fan of wearing pants, the discharge isn’t a worry, but this presents its own host of issues. Wearing pants can actually aggravate pelvic pain and in this scenario, going commando might be even more painful than wearing underwear. Luckily, there’s a product available to solve this problem. Commandos are little cotton liners with adhesive that you can paste on the inside of your pants to catch anything that might come out and create a barrier for your lady parts. If you don’t wish to spend the extra money on cotton pant inserts, head over to your local drug store and buy regular ol’ panty liners (minus the actual panties of course!) This adds a barrier between yourself and that pesky seam that runs right along the crotch of your pants. The Answer My Friend, Is Blowin’ in the Wind If my aversion to wearing underwear happens to come up in conversation, I’m always asked about walking around outside amid the capricious breezes of mother nature. I’m a loyal dress and skirt wearer, and people are simply baffled that I could walk around constantly at risk of being exposed to the world. It happens rarely, but I try not to let it make me sweat. To my knowledge, getting a quick flash of my butt has yet to inspire world wars, suicides, or genocide. A moment of embarrassment is a small price to pay for being comfortable. Whether you’re wearing panties or not, your butt is never safe from possible public exposure if you’re walking around outside. Nature and her winds do what they please. To me, this means the difference between getting your dress blown up while wearing underwear and getting your dress blown up while going commando is basically a moot point. The ultimate answer to the Commando vs Underwear argument is simple: Whatever blows your skirt (pun totally intended). I highly recommend going commando before slipping into some panties, but ultimately it’s all about you, your boundaries, and your comfort. Still Not So Hot On Feeling A Breeze Between Your Legs? Everyone has their reasons for wearing what they wear. If you just feel uncomfortable going commando despite what I’ve written here, I get it. Maybe you just don’t like the breeze flowing between your legs. It can also take a little while to overcome feelings of insecurity, self-doubt, or disapproval from other people. No matter what your reason, that means you might want to be looking into some other options. What underwear should you wear for maximum comfort? All women -– whether they have pelvic pain or not –- should be regularly wearing relatively loose-fitting, cotton underwear. This fabric is breathable and slowly releases moisture throughout the day, reducing your chances of contracting a yeast infection. Wearing your underwear a little looser also reduces friction between the fabric and your vulva. Slipping into some cute synthetic underwear to show off to your partner for a few minutes won’t make your lady parts burst into flames, but it’s not recommended for long-term, daily wear. This is especially true for women with vulvodynia or unexplained vulvar pain. For my fellow pudendal neuralgia or pudendal entrapment sufferers, be sure to stay away from underwear with elastic in the legs. It’ll grip right around your nerve and give you a whole lot of grief. As far as cut goes, this can be a tricky one. The ideal cut varies depending on the problem. For most pelvic pain conditions, thongs are a no-go. Thongs can aggravate nerve issues and put too much pressure on the vulva. You’re basically taking a taut string and pulling it right against your most sensitive areas. Dropping thongs wasn’t really a problem for me, because I’ve never been a big fan of the feel or the aesthetic of this cut. After all, why wear a thong when I could just wear nothing? Boyshort underwear is generally the best pick for pelvic pain suffers. The leg seams usually don’t sit right on the pudendal nerve and the fabric doesn’t cling to the vulva if properly fitted. They’re not traditionally sexy, but they’re comfy as hell and have a breezy, cutesy charm that can grow on you (and your partner). Like most of the advice I give on this blog, the best way to find out what works for you and your pain is to experiment. If there was a cure-all or guaranteed way to make you feel comfortable, then this blog wouldn’t exist. Good luck! Advertisements

Verizon LTE in Rural America service launched by all 21 partners Verizon Wireless announced a deployment milestone in its LTE in Rural America program, noting all 21 rural telecom operators participating in the initiative have launched LTE services connected with the program. Those 21 participants are providing services across 15 states. More specifically, Verizon Wireless said the rural telecom operators now cover 225,000 square miles in 169 counties; are using more than 1,000 cell sites in support of their LTE deployments; and cover more than 2.7 million potential customers. Verizon Wireless also noted participating carriers have certified more than 50 devices for use on the network. Verizon Wireless launched the LRA program in late 2010 just as it was about to launch its own LTE service. The LRA program calls for Verizon Wireless to lease upper C-Block 700 MHz wireless spectrum to rural carriers in areas where Verizon Wireless does not plan on building out LTE services. The program relies on tower and backhaul assets from rural operators, with Verizon Wireless offering up 22 megahertz of wireless spectrum and core LTE equipment. The deal also provides for a reciprocal roaming arrangement among the parties. “Verizon has always been a responsible steward of spectrum resources,” said Philip Junker, executive director of strategic alliances at Verizon Wireless and a leader of the LRA program. “We had a vision of partnering with the rural carrier community, we put our resources behind that vision and we delivered what we promised for our customers.” The program initially rubbed some operators and trade associations the wrong way, although operators that have signed up for the plan note it has allowed them to quickly launch LTE services. In addition to the LRA program, some rural carriers have also launched their own LTE networks running alongside the Verizon Wireless sponsored program. Kentucky-based Bluegrass Cellular launched LTE services in 2013 using its 700 MHz, A-Block spectrum holdings as part of a fixed-wireless broadband offering. Partners in Verizon Wireless’ LRA program include: Bluegrass Cellular Cross Telephone Pioneer Cellular Cellcom Thumb Cellular Strata Networks S and R Communications Carolina West Custer Telephone Cooperative KPU Telecommunications Chariton Valley Communication Corporation Appalachian Wireless Northwest Missouri Cellular Chat Mobility Matanuska Telephone Association Wireless Partners Triangle Communications Nemont Mid-Rivers Communications Copper Valley Telecom Bored? Why not follow me on Twitter

I love this simple soup, which is somewhere between a dhal and a soup – it reminds me of the curry that is served in southern India with dosas. This soup is cleansing and clean, thanks to being spiked with turmeric and a lot of lemon. It’s what I crave if I’ve over-indulged or been around food too long (an occupational hazard – a very nice one). Turmeric is a favourite spice of mine. If I am feeling off-colour I stir a teaspoon into hot water and sip it as a reviving tonic. I love the vibrant, deep saffron-gold colour, the clean, sharp, savoury acid note and the hard- to-put-your-finger-on flavour. It’s a real star on the health front, as it is an anti-inflammatory and has anti-carcinogenic properties. What a spice. Serves 4-6 INGREDIENTS a splash of olive or rapeseed oil 1 leek, washed, trimmed and finely sliced 1 teaspoon ground turmeric 2 teaspoons ground cumin 2 teaspoons black mustard seeds juice of 2–3 lemons 250g split red lentils 1 veg stock cube, or 1 tablespoon veg stock powder 4 handfuls of kale (or other greens), washed, trimmed and shredded To serve (optional) yoghurt, stirred with a little sea salt

The latest company to receive a permit to test self-driving cars on public roads in California only just revealed that it wanted to build its own automated driving software four months ago. Ride-hail service Lyft just popped up today at the bottom of the California DMV’s list of permit holders, a sign that the ride-hail service was preparing to test its first robot taxis. What isn’t clear is whether Lyft will test autonomous vehicles using its own proprietary software and hardware suite, or the technology of one of its many self-driving partners. The ride-hail company has teamed up with companies like Ford, General Motors, Waymo, NuTonomy, Drive.ai, and Jaguar Land Rover, with the intention of being the platform on which those manufacturers deploy their self-driving cars. A spokesperson for Lyft did not immediately return a request for comment. Lyft doesn’t want to get left out of the party It could also be the case that Lyft simply doesn’t want to get left out of the party. California’s list of autonomous vehicle testing permit holders is a veritable who’s who of automakers and tech companies. It was only a matter of time before Lyft decided to throw its own name onto the pile. The company’s decision to apply for a permit stands in stark contrast to its main rival Uber and the mess it created when it attempted to test its own self-driving cars in California without approval. The DMV revoked the licenses of Uber’s fleet of cars, forcing the company to eventually acquiesce and obtain a permit.

This Thanksgiving, while I give thanks for my Medicare, Speaker Paul Ryan and his Republican Congress are actively plotting to dismantle it. Medicare is government-provided health insurance for those aged 65 and over, as well as for those with disabilities so serious and permanent that they cannot earn enough to support themselves. Those two groups total more than 55 million of us. Poll after poll shows that those of us who are covered by Medicare love it. Other industrialized countries have what amounts to Medicare-For-All. Residents of those countries enjoy health care as a matter of right, from cradle to grave. But not here. And those of us who do have Medicare may not have it for long if the Republicans just swept into power have their way. President Franklin Roosevelt supported universal, government-provided health insurance -- in essence, Medicare-For-All. He established an interagency working group to develop a universal health insurance proposal as part of his Social Security Act of 1935. In the end, though, he feared that those who saw the world the way today's Republicans do, and hated the idea of government providing health insurance, would use the proposal to bring down the entire Social Security bill. So, he did not push it. President Harry S. Truman also supported the idea. He pushed hard for what would have been Medicare-For-All, but never succeeded Learning from those earlier struggles, the pragmatic President Lyndon Johnson, perhaps the most effective lawmaker of all time, decided to take an incremental approach. His advisers debated whether to start with children, but chose seniors instead. Not only do seniors vote, there was already Social Security, a program designed to provide economic security in old age. Everyone recognized that true economic security did not exist, if retirees were one illness or accident away from bankruptcy. And that concern of bankruptcy was real. Before Medicare, most seniors could not afford health insurance. Those who could, paid three times more than younger people, despite having, on average, half as much income. So LBJ started with Medicare, expecting Medikids to follow shortly. After that, it would be simply a matter of closing the gap in ages. The initial age of eligibility for Medicare could be gradually lowered from age 65. And the age at which children no longer were covered by Medikids could be gradually increased. And voila! Meet in the middle and we have Medicare-For-All. But that is not what happened. Just a few years later, President Richard Nixon did expand Medicare to cover people with disabilities. But President Jimmy Carter, who ran as an outsider to Washington, failed to build on the legacy of the New Deal and the Great Society, so no further progress towards Medicare-For-All was made. President Bill Clinton could have proposed building on Medicare's success, but he didn't. Clinton fought to expand health insurance coverage, but, styling himself a New Dem, implicitly rejected expanding Medicare and instead embraced the Republican ideology of private markets. His proposal mandated that people obtain private health insurance, with the government providing subsidies for those who couldn't afford the costs. Throwing people into the arms of the private health insurance market, no matter how regulated, is at base a Republican idea -- though not one they chose to support. Instead, they united against so-called Hillarycare and helped hand the newly elected President his first major defeat. Complicated to explain and understand, Hillarycare never received the support that expanding Medicare undoubtedly would have. An inferior idea, proposed as a third way, was soundly defeated. The Affordable Care Act embraced the same basic approach as Hillarycare. Like Hillarycare, Obamacare relies on private markets and competition. Unlike the expansion of Medicare, relying on for-profit health insurers is a flawed, Republican idea. Among its flaws, Obamacare is difficult to explain and understand -- and Republican opponents have taken full advantage of that flaw. Republicans have used opposition to Obamacare to win election after election. Having now won control of both Congress and the White House, Republicans have announced their intention to repeal it. But today's Republicans are not just threatening to end Obamacare. Ironically, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is threatening to convert Medicare into Obamacare. He is plotting to end government-provided health insurance and force those with Medicare to buy insurance on the private market, with only subsidies to offset the cost of what the private sector wants to charge. If the Republicans succeed, I and my fellow Medicare policy holders will be on our own, forced to negotiate on our own with for-profit companies, rather than enjoy the protections of our government. Thanks, but no thanks. Donald Trump ran on a promise NOT to cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. How ironic! After railing against Obamacare for years, Ryan and his fellow Republicans want to turn Medicare into Obamacare. The Affordable Care Act was better than nothing but far inferior to Medicare. Medicare-For-All is easy to explain, easy to understand, and far superior, in virtually every way, to Obamacare. Despite the fact that Medicare covers those with the greatest health needs -- old people and people with disabilities -- it has lower administrative costs, per capita, than private insurance. We could cover everyone and save money, as a society! Like Social Security, Medicare is an earned benefit. Everyone -- seniors and people with disabilities who are currently covered by Medicare and workers who are earning that coverage with every paycheck -- must mobilize. This is a real threat. And it is coming now. This is classic bait-and-switch. Republicans ran on repealing Obamacare. Now they have their crosshairs aimed directly at Medicare. Donald Trump ran on a promise NOT to cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. No one who won in 2016 (or for that matter, in any prior election in the nation's history) ran on a platform to dismantle Medicare -- but that is what we are likely to get by Thanksgiving of next year. Indeed, Ryan is threatening action perhaps as soon as January. Democrats should propose Medicare-For-All as a substitute for Republican plans to repeal Obamacare and destroy Medicare. And all of us should call our members daily to protest Ryan's proposed gutting of our successful and popular Medicare. I urge everyone -- Trump supporters, Clinton supporters, and everyone else -- to join the fight. The message is simple: Keep your hands off our Medicare!

Netflix just sent out the following e-mail to notify customers that they are keeping the Profiles feature: Todd on the Netflix Community Blog had the following to say: For users of Profiles, I have good news to report: we will keep the feature with no plans to discontinue it. We were persuaded by the well-reasoned, sincere responses of loyal members who very much value this feature. As someone who enjoys helping his four-year-old daughter manage her one-DVD-at-a-time, G-rated sub-account, I identified with these thoughtful pleas to maintain Profiles. Because of an ongoing desire to make our website easier to use, we believed taking a feature away that is only used by a very small minority would help us improve the site for everyone. Listening to our members, we realized that users of this feature often describe it as an essential part of their Netflix experience. Simplicity is only one virtue and it can certainly be outweighed by utility. As for improving Profiles, there are no definite plans in place yet, but, like everything at Netflix, we seek to make it better and we are open to suggestions. Non-users of the feature and new members will be able to access Profiles in 2-3 weeks. Existing users will be able to continue their use, uninterrupted. We apologize for any inconvenience the previous announcement caused. Thanks to Sean, Dave, Chris, Chris, Holly, Adam, Arul, Ken, Doron, Andy, Joseph, Timothy, Brian, Simon, Robert, Jason, Matt, Katelyn, and everyone else for sending this in.

Sea turtles' migration mystery is 'solved' Loggerhead sea turtles are able to navigate oceans when still hatchlings. Until now, how species such as loggerhead sea turtles manage to migrate thousands of miles across oceans with no visual landmarks has been a mystery. Now researchers from the University of North Carolina believe they have found the answer. Loggerhead sea turtles appear to be able to determine their longitude using two sets of magnetic cues. It is the first time this ability has been shown in any migratory animal. This research is published in the journal Current Biology. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote This not only solves a long-standing mystery of animal behaviour but may also be useful in sea turtle conservation” End Quote Dr Kenneth Lohmann University of North Carolina Suprising discovery Although several species of turtles are known to use magnetic cues to determine latitude, it was believed that this wasn't possible for longitude. However, the loggerhead turtles have managed to surprise researchers by developing a method that involves using the strength and angle of the Earth's magnetic field. Nathan Putman, the lead author of the research, emphasised that "the most difficult part of open-sea navigation is determining longitude or east-west position". "It took human navigators centuries to figure out how to determine longitude on their long-distance voyages." Loggerhead hatchlings, however, are able to manage this feat as soon as they reach the sea from their nests. On reaching the sea, the hatchlings are able to establish the correct course to the open ocean. The young loggerheads then spend several years successfully navigating complex migratory routes over thousands of miles of ocean. Continue reading the main story Loggerhead Sea Turtle Scientific name: Caretta caretta Loggerheads in the North Atlantic cover more than 9,000 miles Loggerheads are found in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. Considered "endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). To carry out the research loggerhead hatchlings from Florida were placed in circular water containers and tethered to electronic tracking systems to monitor their swimming direction. The hatchlings were then exposed to magnetic fields which replicated the fields they would come across in two locations on the same latitude but different longitude along their migratory route. The turtles reacted to each magnetic field by swimming in the directions that would, in the real location, take them along their circular migratory route. The researchers say this shows that the hatchlings are able to determine longitude using information from the magnetic field. Nathan Putman explains that "along the migratory route of loggerheads, nearly all regions are marked by unique combinations of intensity (field strength) and inclination angle (the angle that field lines intersect the surface of the Earth)". "Thus, turtles can determine longitudinal position by using pairings of intensity and inclination angle as an X, Y coordinate system". Further applications Dr Kenneth Lohmann, director of the laboratory where this research was carried out, said the research "not only solves a long-standing mystery of animal behaviour but may also be useful in sea turtle conservation". The research might even have a role to play in the development of human navigational technologies, according to Nathan Putman. "There may be situations where satellite might not be available, where this system of using two aspects of a magnetic field could be very useful".

Conor English, brother of Finance Minister Bill, has been appointed to advise the Reserve Bank on monetary policy. Conor English, the brother of Finance Minister Bill English, has been appointed by the Reserve Bank to advise it ahead of interest rate decisions. On Thursday the central bank said English, the former chief executive of Federated Farmers, had been appointed as a "part-time external monetary policy adviser". Tony Caughey, an Auckland company director has also been appointed to the role. "The appointees take part in the provision of advice to the Bank's Governing Committee leading up to the setting of the Official Cash Rate eight times a year. The appointees' roles will start with the June Monetary Policy Statement." One of the key aspects of New Zealand's monetary policy is that it is entirely independent of the Government. Last week the bank's deputy governor gave a speech which many commentators took as critical of the Government for the absence of a tax on property speculation. READ MORE: RB call to look at untaxed property gains The RBNZ statement made no reference to Conor English's relationship to the Finance Minister. A spokeswoman for Bill English said the Finance Minister was not consulted on his brother's appointment or given advance warning of Thursday's announcement. The Reserve Bank declined to comment beyond its statement. "The Reserve Bank employs these advisers to bring valuable additional outside perspectives into our processes and to help ensure the Bank is well-informed about developments in the New Zealand economy," RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said. "These appointments add significant value to the Bank by bringing in fresh viewpoints."

It was not quite the lifelong political marriage that the former Massachusetts governor pledged. Turns out, there’s a little cheatin’ going on. Last year, William F. Weld stormed out of the Republican Party, registered as a Libertarian Party member, and joined its national ticket as a vice-presidential candidate, vowing his fidelity to his new political home. That was then. Advertisement Now Weld is returning to his roots — at least temporarily. He is helping to head up a big fundraising event in Cambridge next week — for the state Republican Party. And he is throwing his support to GOP US Senate candidate Beth Lindstrom and Governor Charlie Baker in the 2018 election. Get Metro Headlines in your inbox: The 10 top local news stories from metro Boston and around New England delivered daily. Sign Up Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here At Tuesday night’s event, he will join Baker, Mitt Romney, and Jane Swift as the featured draw by the state Republican Party, which is looking to use its former leaders to raise money. Meanwhile, just four days after he cavorts with his old GOP pals, Massachusetts Libertarians will hold their annual convention in Westborough — an event Weld is not going to attend because, he says, of a prior commitment. He is taping a message for the gathering. His flirtation with the state GOP is jarring for anyone who remembers that Memorial Day Weekend last year when Weld pledged his undying allegiance to the Libertarian Party — and renounced his Republican roots in no uncertain terms — at a boisterous national convention. He told them it was a “relief” to break his ties to the GOP. Advertisement “This is how we should all feel: Free, free at last!” Weld declared. “If you hear nothing else from me, hear this: I pledge to you that I will stay with the Libertarian Party for life.” That speech was enough for him to barely eke out enough votes among the skeptical delegates to get a place on the national ticket. Reached this week, Weld attributed his flirtation with his old state party to his personal relationships within the state GOP. He said he is not able attend the state Libertarian Party convention on Oct. 14 in Westborough because of a longstanding commitment to be in Waltham. As for his declarations of being free of the GOP, he said he remains committed to the Libertarians — but apparently with a caveat. Not in Massachusetts. “I am close to Charlie Baker and [Lieutenant Governor] Karyn Polito and Beth [Lindstrom],’’ he said. “It would be odd not to support them.” Advertisement Weld’s moving back and forth across the party lines is, as his old political team affectionately says, just Weld. (In 2008, he voted for Democrat Barack Obama for president.) But he gets brickbats from both sides. Some anti-Baker GOP loyalists on the state committee are angry, calling for the party to break their ties to him. And he has never calmed down a good many Libertarian activists who never trusted his conversion in the first place. Frank Phillips can be reached at frank.phillips@globe.com

​The Thunder are still in the midst of figuring this whole thing out. The first 20 games the season are in the books, but OKC's record certainly isn't what the team expected heading into the year. It may be time to just reset, relax, and get back to having fun. Russell Westbrook seems to be the one most willing to lead the way. Russell Westbrook’s reaction to Steven Adams’ euro-step is great.  pic.twitter.com/sqcEg135KH — NBA Gods (@SportsLeakers) December 2, 2017 After watching Russ do it so many times, Steven Adams elected to take a page out of his book as he led the Thunder fast break and topped it off with an unexpected Euro step finish. Slow? Plodding? Yes. But not bad for the bulky 7-foot Kiwi. Adams finished with 27 points and six rebounds as the Thunder got back on track and earned some revenge on a Timberwolves team that beat them twice earlier in the season. The Thunder's 111-107 victory over Minnesota on Friday gives them their ninth win of the year, and more importantly, puts an end to their ​three game losing skid. A tip of the cap to Adams for helping them do it with style.

A leaked presentation from the RIAA shows that online file-sharing isn't the biggest source of illegal music acquisition in the U.S. The confidential data reveals that 65% of all music files are "unpaid" but the vast majority of these are obtained through offline swapping. The report further shows that cyberlockers such as Megaupload are only a marginal source of pirated music. In April, one of the RIAA’s key employees informed a group of music industry insiders about the upcoming six-strikes anti-piracy scheme in the U.S. TorrentFreak received a copy of the presentation sheets which include a rather interesting chart on where people get their music files from. The data presented by the RIAA comes from NPD’s Digital Music Study but has never been published in public in its current form. While NPD’s press release mentioned a decline in music acquisition through P2P file-sharing and hard drive trading, these numbers were not placed in a larger context. A strange decision, because the chart below is of critical importance for the debate on music piracy. As it turns out, two thirds of all music acquired in the U.S. is unpaid. However, offline trading is a much bigger source of unpaid music than online piracy. Of all “unpaid” music less than 30 percent comes from P2P file-sharing or cyberlockers. Music sources In total, 15 percent of all acquired music (paid + unpaid) comes from P2P file-sharing and just 4 percent from cyberlockers. Offline swapping in the form of hard drive trading and burning/ripping from others is much more prevalent with 19 and 27 percent respectively. This leads to the, for us, surprising conclusion that more than 70% of all unpaid music comes from offline swapping. The chart is marked “confidential” which suggests that the RIAA doesn’t want this data to be out in the open. This is perhaps understandable since the figures don’t really help their crusade against online piracy. The RIAA is lobbying hard for legislation and voluntary agreements to deal with the online piracy problem, an issue that might seem less severe in the chart above. While not insignificant, the fact that less than one in five music acquisitions can be traced back to online file-sharing isn’t really that convincing – especially when one takes into account that only a tiny fraction represent a lost sale. Even if all online music piracy disappeared tomorrow, more than half of all music acquisitions would be unpaid. But maybe the RIAA will go after these offline swappers next. The TSA could perform piracy scans of travelers’ computer equipment, for example. Or perhaps schools could search MP3 players, phones and computers of their students for unpaid music? Just a thought. More revealing findings from the RIAA will be published soon.

A MAGISTRATE who described a former businessman's two-year physical, psychological and verbal bullying of his employees as "disgusting and appalling" has declared that such behaviour "must be stamped out". The magistrate Hugh Radford said the effects of Kevin Andrews' conduct against his workers at an industrial laundry near Mildura was "harrowing and profound". Mr Radford noted that Andrews told a woman she "should have been drowned at birth" and called another "porky", "wog" and a "big fat bush pig". He threatened to dissolve employees in acid, told a woman a rapist was "waiting for you" and said all women were "dogs" who were "only good for one thing". Andrews also grunted and yelled at staff, threatened to lock them up with a dog and struck employees' desks with sticks or threw items.

This article is the third installment of a 4-part series on the theory and origin of Bitcoin value. In the first two articles, we looked at two different value theories presented by two prominent thinkers in the Bitcoin community, Konrad S. Graf and Detlev Schlichter. In the last installment of this series, part 2, we looked at the Bitcoin value theory advanced by Detlev Schlichter. His theory holds that Bitcoin, or any other modern currency, does not need to posses a direct-use value in order to become a currency. The fact that other currencies already exist absolves Bitcoin from having to undergo the full transitory process of going from being a regular commodity, becoming a medium of exchange, and then becoming a widely accepted currency. Bitcon can merely “piggyback,” or bootstrap, onto the pre-existing currencies through their established price systems and can gradually replace them, eventually becoming a unit of account in itself. At the end of part 2, we concluded that Schlichter’s theory for the origin of Bitcoin value is a very accurate description of the value bootstrapping process, but it does not provide a satisfactory solution to the real problem at hand. Schlichter’s theory does not explain how Bitcoin became a medium of exchange that was capable of bootstrapping to fiat currency in the first place. In order to provide a sound economic theory for the origin of Bitcoin value, we must determine how Bitcoin became a valuable medium of exchange, rather than treating its value as a given and merely describing its linkage to fiat. In this article, we will examine the theory advanced in part 1, Konrad S. Graf’s Bitcoin value theory. A Summary of Graf’s Bitcoin Value Theory Graf’s argument, as covered in part 1, states that Bitcoin does indeed have a direct-use value and is currently going through the transitory process entailed in Ludwig von Mises'(picture below) regression theorem. According to Graf, there is no question as to whether or not Bitcoin violates or adheres to the regression theorem; this issue is not a question of economic theory, but rather a question of history. The real question here is: At what point did Bitcoin go from being a consumer’s good to a medium of exchange, when was the last day of barter? Once we recognize this question as the real problem involved in determining the existence of a direct use-value in Bitcoin, all we have to do is look to Bitcoin’s history in order to obtain a satisfactory solution to the problem at hand, according to Graf. If the solution to this conflict is as simple as identifying Bitcoin’s last day of barter, then we can say with complete confidence that Bitcoin had a direct-use value the day before the first fiat-for-bitcoins exchange ever took place. With a brief look at the “History” page of en.bitcoin.it, Bitcoin attained an official exchange rate on October 5th, 2009. If we adhere to Graf’s Bitcoin value theory, which maintains that Bitcoin did indeed have a direct-use use value, then October 4th, 2009 was the last day of barter for Bitcoin. At that point in time, Bitcoin was solely a consumer’s and was not a currency in any way. However, answering this historical question does not reveal any information on the valuations imputed upon Bitcoin before it attained an exchange ratio with fiat currency. Graf says that this lack of data does not matter, though, because the regression theorem is an apoditic truth, it can never be violated by any good in the process of becoming a medium of exchange. So, even if we do not know explicitly what Bitcoin’s direct-use value was, we still know that one necessarily existed. Otherwise, it would never have become a medium of exchange and it would not have established a definite exchange rate with the various fiat currencies. Graf argues that as long as we can determine that there was a period of time in history when Bitcoin had no monetary value, then there was definitely a direct-use value present regardless of whether or not we can identify what that use-value was. Therefore, the regression theorem is satisfied. Although Mr. Graf argues that identifying Bitcoin’s use-value is not a requirement in determining whether or not that value actually existed, he still attempts to identify this elusive use-value. He cites the historical work of Peter Surda in providing his hypothesis on the subjective valuations of the “pre-exchange-value” era in Bitcoin’s history. The early Bitcoin miners and users, he claims, did not value Bitcoin as a currency; rather, they likely had some other valuation that had something to do with an interest in the technology involved in Bitcoin or the protocol itself. The value came from the satisfaction experienced when solving a problem, exposing a bug or flaw in the system, or just tinkering with a new technology. Regardless, these valuations were entirely subjective and their contents do not matter for the purposes of praxeology. All that matters is that the valuations took place and that they had logical consequences, which of course resulted in Bitcoin embarking upon a journey of becoming a legitimate currency. Confusing Motives and Ends But, there is one major flaw in Graf’s theory and his speculations on the subjective valuations that made up the origin of Bitcoin value. In his theory, Graf has confused motives and ends. He speculated that the use-value of Bitcoin was the satisfaction, or fun, gained from solving a code, advancing computer science research, etc. However, those satisfactions were not ends, they were merely factors that motivated the early Bitcoin miners and developers to test its viability as a currency. Satoshi stated explicitly in the White Paper that his intent was to create a trustless, digital cash system. Because of this explicit statement of intent, the ends aimed at when working on Bitcoin are clear; anyone who decides to work on developing the protocol or testing its strength does so to determine Bitcoin’s validity as a currency. There is no question on that matter, the ends involved in working on Bitcoin have been unequivocally stated in the White Paper. Therefore, any kind of satisfaction gained from testing the viability of Bitcoin can only serve as a motivation for taking on the task, not an end in itself. The end is making Bitcoin a better currency, the motivation for doing so is advancing the scope of computer science. No matter what the circumstances are, “advancing the scope of computer science” can never be an end that is aimed at, it can only act as a form of social recognition which serves to motivate individuals to pursue ends. An individual cannot create a new coding language by advancing computer science, that is totally illogical. The individual advances computer science by creating a new coding language. The same logical rules apply to Bitcoin. One cannot strengthen Bitcoin by advancing cryptography, he or she must advance cryptography by strengthening Bitcoin. Of course, Graf would very likely fall back on his argument that, no matter what, the regression theorem cannot be violated, so whether or not he has confused motives and ends is of no importance to the matter at hand. He would likely argue that Bitcoin is a currency, therefore it satisfies the regression theorem. The regression theorem can not be violated, nor can it be wrong because Ludwig von Mises said that it is a universal law. But is that argument not a resort to aggressive dogmatism? To say that Bitcoin fits into the regression theorem because the theorem says that it must do so engages an a bout of circular reasoning. Mises was indeed a brilliant man and is seen by many as an authority in Austrian theory, even in posterity, but that does not relegate Mises to a position of divinity or omniscience, so it does not absolve his theories from criticism. In order to keep economics scientific, all theorems must be examined with a critical eye no matter how fond we are of their authors. Arguing that the fact of Bitcoin being a medium of exchange confirms that it had direct use-value because the regression theorem is universal law does nothing for the problem at hand; such statements do nothing but lend more ammunition to the critics of Austrian economics who claim that its practitioners are unscientific. We should dismiss Graf’s Bitcoin value theory simply because he resorts to such dogmatic tactics In conclusion, Konrad S. Graf’s theory on the origin of Bitcoin value does not satisfactorily answer the question at hand. Bitcoin was deliberately created to serve as a monetary system, with the bitcoins being intended to serve as currency. How can there be any direct use-value for a currency that was designed to function as a currency and nothing more? How can Bitcoin have a direct use-value if it was not made of any physical materials that could have been used as consumption or production goods? Is Mises’ regression theorem correct, or is it a fallacious theory? We will attempt to tackle these important theoretical problems in the fourth, and final, installment of this series on the origin of Bitcoin value.

Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press The Canadian military has been secretly test-driving a $620,000 stealth snowmobile in its quest to quietly whisk troops on clandestine operations in the Arctic. The Canadian Press has learned that soldiers have taken the new hybrid-electric snowmobile prototype on trial runs to evaluate features such as speed, noise level, battery endurance and acceleration. The Department of National Defence even has a nickname for its cutting-edge, covert tool: "Loki," after the "mythological Norse shape-shifting god." Word of the federal hunt for a stealth snowmobile first surfaced two years ago when National Defence's research and development agency posted a public tender. That 2011 tendering document, however, offered few details on the future of these missions, except for the top priority: silence. The project kicked off at a time when the Conservative government was laying out promises to boost Canada's military muscle in the Far North, in a once-vaunted package of Canadian Forces upgrades the feds have largely failed to implement. Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in the Arctic on Sunday for a six-day tour of the region, where his government's main focus has gradually moved from improving the country's northern military capabilities to promoting economic development. The stealth-snowmobiles project has withstood that political shift. National Defence has made it clear it does not intend to spend any more money on Arctic mobility for eight years, but its research branch says the evaluation of the silent snowmobile, though still in its early stages, will continue. The Canadian Press obtained a report that offers a behind-the-scenes peek at how soldiers ran the prototype through "informal" tests in February across varying snow conditions on Canadian Forces Base Petawawa. "These experiments compared Loki against commercially available snowmobiles already in use, testing a wide variety of the snowmobiles' characteristics, including speed, towing capacity, endurance, mobility, usability, and of course, noise emissions," says the heavily redacted report, acquired under the Access to Information Act. In one test, military personnel used sound-meter readings to compare the prototype's noise performance against two gas-powered snowmobiles. Another trial saw the machine driven at a steady speed on a mix of flat terrain and hilly snow-covered roads until batteries died. Soldiers wielding a radar gun also tested the stealth snowmobile's acceleration as it raced 100 metres down a flat, snow-packed track. "The prototype must be at least nearly as capable and reliable as a standard internal combustion snowmobile, while providing a significant noise reduction," the report said. "For military purposes, it is not enough for a snowmobile to operate quietly." The report also found potential gaps in the military's assessments. "One of the difficulties encountered in evaluating Loki is the lack of a standard set of CF snowmobile requirements," the document said. The quest, meanwhile, to develop a silent snowmobile remains highly secretive. Large sections of the May report, such as test results and comments, were blacked out. The document justified its omissions under different provisions of the Access to Information Act, including one that says information is withheld because releasing it could be injurious to the defence of Canada or the detection, prevention or suppression of subversive or hostile activities. A government spokesman declined to make the report's author available for comment, nor did he answer questions on why Canada's military wants the unconventional snow machine. "In general, anything in the military that's quieter is going to be advantageous," Noel Paine, a spokesman for Defence Research and Development Canada, said. "Whether it flies or goes on the sea or anywhere else, if it's quieter it's advantageous to any military." Later, in an email, Paine said the testing and evaluations are ongoing. He also said the Canadian Forces are looking at different small vehicles that "can be modified to traverse all types of difficult terrain, under various conditions. This includes, but is not limited to, vehicles such as snowmobiles." In the original federal tender, Ottawa said it was seeking a snow machine that would run by gas-powered engine, but would have the capability to easily switch to a "silent mode" electric motor. "The noise level of an internal combustion engine cannot be reduced to an acceptable level for missions where covertness may be required, especially given the increased propagation of sound in cold, dry, Arctic air," read the tendering document, which also indicated bids could not exceed $550,000. It also said National Defence's research agency was "pursuing the development of a 'silent' snowmobile for winter operations in Canada, specifically in the Arctic." The Canadian Press obtained the contract, which listed the revised price tag at nearly $620,000. The winning bid came from CrossChasm Technologies, which is based in Waterloo, Ont., and also has an office in Montreal. Simon Ouellette, the firm's director of project development, refused to discuss the stealth snowmobile due to a confidentiality agreement with National Defence. One Arctic policy expert questioned whether the cost of developing such a vehicle is money well-spent, particularly since he doesn't believe there are any significant security threats in the Far North. "I don't see a whole lot of evidence that criminals and terrorists are scooting around Canada's North on snowmobiles and that we have to sneak up on them," said Michael Byers, a former federal NDP candidate who teaches international law at the University of British Columbia. Byers said he's not sure whether defence officials have an accurate picture of Canada's actual needs. Perhaps, he added, they have an obsession with high technology. "I can't help but wonder whether they've been watching too many (James) Bond movies."

Idris (Arabic: إدريس الأول‎; El Sayyid Prince Muhammad Idris bin Muhammad al-Mahdi as-Senussi; 12 March 1889 – 25 May 1983)[1] was a Libyan political and religious leader who served as the Emir of Cyrenaica and then as the King of Libya from 1951 to 1969. He was the chief of the Senussi Muslim order. Idris was born into the Senussi Order. When his cousin, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, abdicated as leader of the Order, Idris took his place. Cyrenaica was facing invasion from the Italians. Idris formed an alliance with the British, through whom he entered into negotiations with the Italians, resulting in two treaties; these resulted in the Italian recognition of Senussi control over most of Cyrenaica. Idris then led his Order in an unsuccessful attempt to conquer the eastern part of the Tripolitanian Republic. Following the Second World War, the United Nations General Assembly called for Libya to be granted independence. It established the United Kingdom of Libya through the unification of Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Fezzan, appointing Idris to rule it as king. Wielding significant political influence in the impoverished country, he banned political parties and in 1963 replaced Libya's federal system with a unitary state. He established links to the Western powers, allowing the United Kingdom and United States to open military bases in the country in return for economic aid. After oil was discovered in Libya in 1959, he oversaw the emergence of a growing oil industry that rapidly aided economic growth. Idris' regime was weakened by growing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist sentiment in Libya as well as rising frustration at the country's high levels of corruption and close links with Western nations. While in Turkey for medical treatment, Idris was deposed in a 1969 coup d'etat by army officers led by Muammar Gaddafi. Early life: 1889–1913 [ edit ] Born at Al-Jaghbub, the headquarters of the Senussi movement, on 12 March 1889, the son of Sayyid Muhammad al-Mahdi bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Senussi and his third wife Aisha bint Muqarrib al-Barasa,[2] Idris was a grandson of Sayyid Muhammad ibn Ali as-Senussi, the founder of the Senussi Muslim Sufi Order and the Senussi tribe in North Africa. He became chief of the Senussi order in 1916 following the abdication of his cousin Sayyid Ahmed Sharif es Senussi. He was recognized by the British under the new title "emir" of the territory of Cyrenaica, a position also confirmed by the Italians in 1920. He was also installed as Emir of Tripolitania on 28 July 1922. Idris' family claimed descent from the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter, Fatimah. The Senussi were a revivalist Sunni Islamic sect who were based largely in Cyrenaica, a region in modern eastern Libya. By the end of the nineteenth century the Senussi Order had established a form of government in Cyrenaica, unifying its tribes, controlling its pilgrimage and trade routes, and collecting taxes. Head of the Senussi Order: 1913–22 [ edit ] The traditional provinces of Libya; Idris was from the eastern province of Cyrenaica After the Italian army invaded Cyrenaica in 1913 as part of their wider invasion of Libya, the Senussi Order fought back against them. When the Order's leader, Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, abdicated his position, he was replaced by Idris, who was his cousin. Pressured to do so by the Ottoman Empire, Ahmed had pursued armed attacks against British military forces stationed in neighbouring Egypt. On taking power, Idris put a stop to these attacks. Instead he established a tacit alliance with the British, which would last for half a century and accord his Order de facto diplomatic status. Using the British as intermediaries, Idris led the Order into negotiations with the Italians in July 1916. These resulted in two agreements, Al-Zuwaytina in April 1916 and Akrama in April 1917. The latter of these treaties left most of inland Cyrenaica under the control of the Senussi Order. Relations between the Senussi Order and the newly established Tripolitanian Republic were acrimonious. The Senussi attempted to militarily extend their power into eastern Tripolitania, resulting in a pitched battle at Bani Walid in which the Senussi were forced to withdraw back into Cyrenaica. At the end of World War I, the Ottoman Empire signed an armistice agreement in which they ceded their claims over Libya to Italy. Italy however was facing serious economic, social, and political problems domestically, and was not prepared to re-launch its military activities in Libya. It issued statutes known as the Legge Fondamentale with both the Tripolitanian Republic in June 1919 and Cyrenaica in October 1919. These brought about a compromise by which all Libyans were accorded the right to a joint Libyan-Italian citizenship while each province was to have its own parliament and governing council. The Senussi were largely happy with this arrangement and Idris visited Rome as part of the celebrations to mark the promulgation of the settlement. In October 1920, further negotiations between Italy and Cyrenaica resulted in the Accord of al-Rajma, in which Idris was given the title of the Emir of Cyrenaica and permitted to autonomously administer the oases around Kufra, Jalu, Jaghbub, Awjila, and Ajdabiya. As part of the Accord he was given a monthly stipend by the Italian government, who agreed to take responsibility for policing and administration of areas under Senussi control. The Accord also stipulated that Idris must fulfil the requirements of the Legge Fondamentale by disbanding the Cyrenaican military units, however he did not comply with this. By the end of 1921, relations between the Senussi Order and the Italian government had again deteriorated. Following the death of Tripolitanian leader Ramadan Asswehly in August 1920, the Republic descended into civil war. Many tribal leaders in the region recognised that this discord was weakening the region's chances of attaining full autonomy from Italy, and in November 1920 they met in Gharyan to bring an end to the violence. In January 1922 they agreed to request that Idris extend the Sanui Emirate of Cyrenaica into Tripolitania in order to bring stability; they presented a formal document with this request on 28 July 1922. Idris' advisers were divided on whether he should accept the offer or not. Doing so would contravene the al-Rajma Agreement and would damage relations with the Italian government, who opposed the political unification of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania as being against their interests. Nevertheless, in November 1922 Idris agreed to the proposal. Following the agreement, Idris feared that Italy — under its new Fascist leader Benito Mussolini—would militarily retaliate against the Senussi Order, and so he went into exile in Egypt in December 1922. Soon, the Italian reconquest of Libya began, and by the end of 1922 the only effective anti-colonial resistance to the occupation was concentrated in the Cyrenaican hinterlands. The Italians subjugated the Libyan people; Cyrenaica's livestock was decimated, a large portion of its population was interned in concentration camps, and between 1930 and 1931 an estimated 12,000 Cyrenaicans were executed by the Italian Army. The Italian government implemented a policy of "demographic colonization", by which tens of thousands of Italians were relocated to Libya, largely to establish farms. The Cyrenaican flag used between 1949 and 1951 Following the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Idris supported the United Kingdom—which was now at war with Italy—in the hope of ridding his country of Italian occupation. He argued that even if the Italians were victorious, the situation for the Libyan people would be no different than it had been before the war. Delegates from both the Cyrenaicans and Tripolitanians agreed that Idris should conclude agreements with the British that they would gain independence in return for support during the war. Privately, Idris did not promote the idea of Libyan independence to the British, instead suggesting that it become a British protectorate akin to Transjordan. A Libyan Arab Force, consisting of five infantry battalions made up of volunteers, was established to aid the British war effort. With the exception of one military engagement near to Benghazi, this force's role did not extend beyond support and gendarmerie duties. After the defeat of the Italian armies, Libya was left under the military control of British and French forces. They governed the area until 1949 according to the Hague Convention of 1907. In 1946, a National Congress was established to lay the groundwork for independence; it was dominated by the Senussi Order. Under British and French pressure, Italy relinquished its claim of sovereignty over the country in 1947, although still hoping that they would be permitted a trusteeship over Tripolitania. The European powers drew up the Bevin-Sforza plan, which proposed that France retain a ten-year trusteeship in Fezzan, the UK in Cyrenaica, and Italy in Tripolitania. After the plans were published in May 1949, they generated violent demonstrations in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica and drew protests from the United States, Soviet Union, and other Arab states. In September 1948, the question of Libya's future was brought to the United Nations General Assembly, which rejected the principles of the Bevin-Sforza plan, instead indicating support for full independence. At the time neither the UK nor France supported the principle of Libyan unification, with France being keen to retain colonial control of Fezzan. In 1949 the British unilaterally declared that they would leave Cyrenaica and grant it independence under the control of Idris; by doing so they believed that it would remain under their own sphere of influence. Similarly, France established a provisional government in Fezzan in February 1950. In November 1949, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Libyan independence, stipulating that it must come into being by January 1952. The resolution called for Libya to become a single state led by Idris, who was to be declared king of Libya. He had been reluctant to accept the position. Both the United Kingdom and the United States—who were committed to preventing any growth in Soviet influence in the southern Mediterranean—agreed to this for their own Cold War strategic reasons. They recognised that while they would be able to establish military bases in an independent Libyan state sympathetic to their interests, they would have been unable to do so were Libya to have entered UN-sponsored trusteeship. The Tripolitanians—largely united under Selim Muntasser and the United National Front—agreed to this plan in order to avoid further European colonial rule. The concept of a kingdom would be alien to Libyan society, where the loyalties to the family, tribe, and region—or alternately to the global Muslim community—were far stronger than to any concept of Libyan nationhood. King of Libya: 1951–1969 [ edit ] On 24 December 1951 Idris announced the establishment of the United Kingdom of Libya from the al-Manar Palace in Benghazi. The country had a population of approximately one million, the majority of whom were Arabs, but with Berber, Tebu, Sephardi Jewish, Greek, Turkish, and Italian minorities. The newly established state faced serious problems; in 1951, Libya was one of the world's poorest countries. Much of its infrastructure had been destroyed by war, it had very little trade and high unemployment, and both a 40% infant mortality rate and a 94% illiteracy rate. Only 1% of Libya's land mass was arable, with another 3–4% being used for pastoral farming. Although the three provinces had been united, they shared little common aspiration. The kingdom was established along federal lines, something that Cyrenaica and Fezzan had insisted upon, fearing that they would otherwise be dominated by Tripolitania, where two-thirds of the Libyan population lived. Conversely, the Tripolitanians had largely favoured a unitary state, believing that it would allow the government to act more effectively in the national interest and fearing that a federal system would result in further British and French domination of Libya. The three provinces had their own legislative authorities; while that of Fezzan was composed entirely of elected officials, those of Cyrenaica and Tripolitania contained a mix of elected and non-elected representatives. This constitutional framework left Libya with a weak central government and strong provincial autonomy. The governments of successive Prime Ministers tried to push through economic policies but found them hampered by the differing provinces. There remained a persistent distrust between Cyrenaica and Tripolitania. Benghazi and Tripoli were appointed as joint capital cities, with the country's parliament moving between the two. The city of Bayda also became a de facto summer capital as Idris moved there. According to the reporter Jonathan Bearman, Idris was "nominally a constitutional monarch" but in practice was "a spiritual leader with autocratic temporal power", with Libya being a "monarchical dictatorship" rather than a constitutional monarchy or parliamentary democracy. The new constitution granted Idris significant personal power, and he remained a crucial player in the country's political system. Idris ruled via a palace cabinet, namely his royal diwan, which contained a chef de cabinet, two deputies, and senior advisers. This diwan worked in consultation with the federal government to determine the policies of the Libyan state. Idris was a self-effacing devout Muslim, he refused to allow his portrait to be featured on Libyan currency and also insisted that nothing should be named after him except the Tripoli Idris Airport. Idris' regime soon banned political parties from operating in the country, claiming that they exacerbated internal stability. From 1952 onward, all candidates for election were government nominees. In 1954, the Prime Minister Mustafa Ben Halim suggested that Libya be converted from a federal to a unitary system and that Idris be proclaimed President for Life. Idris recognised that this would deal with the problems caused by federalism and would put a stop to the intrigues among the Senussi family surrounding his succession. He asked Ben Halim to produce a formal draft for these plans, but the idea was dropped amid opposition from Cyrenaican tribal chiefs. Al Iza'a magazine, 15 August 1965 King Idris on the cover of the Libyanmagazine, 15 August 1965 Under Idris, Libya found itself within the Western sphere of influence. It became the recipient of Western expertise and aid, and by the end of 1959 it had received over $100 million of aid from the United States, being the single biggest per capita recipient of American aid. U.S. companies would also play a leading role in the development of the Libyan oil industry. This support was provided on a quid pro quo basis, and in return Libya granted the United States and United Kingdom usage of the Wheelus Air Base and the al-Adem Air Base. This reliance on the Western nations placed Libya at odds with the growing Arab nationalist and Arab socialist sentiment across the Arab world. The Arab nationalist sentiment promoted by Radio Cairo found a particularly receptive audience in Tripolitania. In July 1967, anti-Western riots broke out in Tripoli and Benghazi to protest the West's support of Israel against the Arab states in the Six-Day War. Many oil workers across Libya went on strike in solidarity with the Arab forces fighting Israel. During the 1950s, a number of foreign companies began prospecting for oil in Libya, with the country's government passing the Minerals Law of 1953 and then the Petroleum Law of 1955 to regulate this process. In 1959 oil was discovered in Libya. The 1955 law created conditions that enabled small oil companies to drill alongside larger corporations; each concession had a low entry fee, with rents only increasing significantly after the eighth year of drilling. This created a competitive atmosphere that prevented any one company from becoming crucial to the country's oil operation, although it had the downside of incentivising companies to produce as much oil as possible in as quick a period as possible. Libya's oil fields fuelled rapidly growing demand in Europe, and by 1967 it was supplying a third of the oil entering the West European market. Within a few years, Libya had grown to become the world's fourth largest oil producer. Oil production provided a huge boost to the Libyan economy; whereas the per capita annual income in 1951 had been $25–35, by 1969 it was $2000. By 1961, the oil industry was exerting the greater influence over Libyan politics than any other issue. In 1962, Libya joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). In ensuing years the Libyan state furthered its control over the industry, establishing a Ministry of Petroleum Affairs in 1963 and then the Libyan National Oil Company. In 1968 they established the Libyan Petroleum Company (LIPETCO) and announced that any further concession agreements would have to be joint ventures with LIPETCO. Libya experienced rampant corruption and favouritism. A number of high-profile corruption scandals impacted on the highest levels of Idris' government. In June 1960 Idris issued a public letter in which he condemned this corruption, claiming that bribery and nepotism "will destroy the very existence of the state and its good reputation both at home and abroad". King Idris meeting President Nasser of Egypt In April 1963 Idris abolished Libya's federal system. Both the provincial legislative assemblies and the provincial judicial systems were abolished. Doing so allowed him to concentrate economic and administrative planning at a centralised national level, and thenceforth all taxes and oil revenues were directed straight to the central government. As part of this reform, the "United Kingdom of Libya" was renamed the "Kingdom of Libya". This reform was not popular among many of Libya's provinces, which saw their power curtailed. According to the historian Dirk Vandewalle, this change was "the single most critical political act during the monarchy's tenure in office". The reform handed far greater political power to Idris than he had held previously. By the mid-1960s, Idris began to increasingly retreat from active involvement in the country's governance. In 1955, failing to have produced a male heir, he convinced Fatima, his wife of 20 years, to let him marry a second wife, Aliya Abdel Lamloun, daughter of a wealthy Bedouin chief. The second marriage took place on 5 June 1955. Both wives then became pregnant, and each bore him a son.[60] Overthrow and exile [ edit ] King Idris after his exile from Libya. Idris used the oil money to strengthen family and tribal alliances that would support the monarchy, rather than using it to build up the economic or political apparatus of the state. According to Vandewalle, Idris "showed no real interest in ruling the three provinces as a unified political community". Idris' regime had little support outside Cyrenaica. It had been weakened by endemic corruption and cronyism in the country, and growing Arab nationalist sentiment following the 1967 Six-Day War. On 1 September 1969, while Idris was in Turkey for medical treatment, he was deposed in a coup d'état by a group of Libyan Army officers under the leadership of Muammar Gaddafi. The monarchy was abolished and a republic proclaimed.[64] The coup pre-empted Idris's abdication and the succession of his heir the following day. From Turkey, he and the Queen traveled to Kamena Vourla, Greece, by ship and went into exile in Egypt. After the 1969 coup, Idris was put on trial in absentia in the Libyan People's Court and sentenced to death in November 1971. Gaddafi's regime portrayed Idris' administration as having been weak, inept, corrupt, anachronistic, and lacking in nationalist credentials, a presentation of it that would come to be widely adopted. In 1983, at age 94, Idris died at the Sultan Palace in the district of Dokki in Cairo. He was buried at Al-Baqi' Cemetery, Medina, Saudi Arabia. Legacy [ edit ] According to Vandewalle, Idris' monarchy "started Libya on the road of political exclusion of its citizens, and of a profound de-politicization" that still characterised the country in the first years of the twenty-first century. He informed the US ambassador to Libya and an early academic researcher that he had not truly wanted to rule over a unified Libya. Gaddafi's policies with regard to the oil industry would also be technocratic and bore many similarities with those of Idris. Although the King died in exile and most Libyans were born after his reign, during the Libyan Civil War, many demonstrators opposing Gaddafi carried portraits of the King, especially in Cyrenaica. The tricolour flag used during the era of the monarchy was frequently used as a symbol of the revolution and was re-adopted by the National Transitional Council as the official flag of Libya.[68] Personal life [ edit ] Vandewalle characterised Idris as "a scholarly individual whose entire life would be marked by a reluctance to engage in politics". For Vandewalle, Idris was a "well meaning but reluctant ruler", as well as "a pious, deeply religious, and self-effacing man". The Libyan Prime Minister Ben Halim stated his view that "I was sure... that [Idris] sincerely wanted reform, but I knew from experience that he became hesitant when he felt that such reform would affect the interests of his entourage. He would gradually pull back until he abandoned the reform plans, moved by the whisperings of his entourage." Idris married five times: At Kufra, 1896/1897, his cousin, Sayyida Aisha binti Sayyid Muhammad as-Sharif al-Sanussi (1873 Jaghbub – 1905 or 1907 Kufra), eldest daughter of Sayyid Muhammad as-Sharif bin Sayyid Muhammad al-Sanussi, by his fourth wife, Fatima, daughter of 'Umar bin Muhammad al-Ashhab, of Fezzan, by whom he had one son who died in infancy; At Kufra, 1907 (divorced 1922), his cousin, Sakina, daughter of Muhammad as-Sharif, by whom he had one son and one daughter, both of whom died in infancy; At Kufra, 1911 (divorced 1915), Nafisa, daughter of Ahmad Abu al-Qasim al-Isawi, by whom he had one son who died in infancy; At Siwa, Egypt, 1931, his cousin, Sayyida Fatima al-Shi'fa binti Sayyid Ahmad as-Sharif al-Sanussi, Fatimah el-Sharif (1911 Kufra – 3 October 2009, Cairo, buried in Jannat al-Baqi, Medina, Saudi Arabia), fifth daughter of Field Marshal Sayyid Ahmad as-Sharif Pasha bin Sayyid Muhammad as-Sharif al-Senussi, 3rd Grand Seussi, by his second wife, Khadija, daughter of Ahmad al-Rifi, by whom he had one son who died in infancy; At the Libyan Embassy, Cairo, 6 June 1955 (divorced 20 May 1958), Aliya Khanum Effendi (1913 Guney, Egypt), daughter of Abdul-Qadir Lamlun Asadi Pasha. For two short periods (1911–1922 and 1955–1958) Idris kept two wives, marrying his fifth wife with a view to providing a direct heir. Idris fathered five sons and one daughter, none of whom survived childhood. He and Fatima adopted a daughter, Suleima, an Algerian orphan, who survived them. Honours [ edit ] Idris was grand master of the following Libyan orders:[71] He was a recipient of the following foreign honours: Ancestry [ edit ] References [ edit ] Bibliography [ edit ] Bearman, Jonathan (1986). Qadhafi's Libya. London: Zed Books. ISBN 978-0-86232-434-6. Bruce St. John, Ronald (2012). Libya: From Colony to Revolution (revised ed.). Oxford: Oneworld. ISBN 978-1-85168-919-4. Mortimer, Gavin (2014). LKill Rommel!: Operation Flipper 1941. London: Bloomsbury Publishing. Synge, Richard (2015). Operation Idris: Inside the British Administration of Cyrenaica and Libya, 1942-52. Silphium Press. ISBN 978-1900971256. Vandewalle, Dirk (2006). A History of Modern Libya. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521615549. Media related to Idris of Libya at Wikimedia Commons

Promising midfielders Kristoffer Olsson and Gedion Zelalem have been included in Arsenal’s travelling party for the Asia Tour along with five other players from outside the first-team squad. Ignasi Miquel, Chuks Aneke, Serge Gnabry, Chuba Akpom and Thomas Eisfeld will also make the trip, but there is no place in the squad for Damian Martinez and Nico Yennaris, who have both been left at home and will instead feature for the U21s away to Sutton United on Friday. Zelalem has only just become a first-year scholar but, such is the high esteem in which he is held by Arsene Wenger and his coaching staff, the Germany U16 international, who has featured just four times for the U21s, has been included. Olsson, meanwhile, travels off the back of a highly-impressive 2012/13 campaign, during which he established himself as a regular for the second-string. The Swedish midfielder featured for the first-team during a pre-season tournament at Southampton last summer, but is yet to make a competitive appearance. Miquel’s inclusion was a near-certainty after Thomas Vermaelen’s injury left just Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny as the first-team’s only available centre-backs, whilst Aneke, Gnabry and Eisfeld have all featured competitively for the senior side in the past. Akpom’s inclusion was also expected after the striker enjoyed a phenomenal campaign last season, establishing himself as the first-choice striker for the U21s during his first full year in the Academy. Martinez’s omission is something of a surprise given that the Argentinian was expected to provide back-up to senior shot-stoppers Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, whilst Yennaris will be especially disappointed not to have been included as he enters the final year of his contract at the club. Hector Bellerin would also have been included had he not been on international duty with Spain U19s. Isaac Hayden, meanwhile, trained with the first-team today but didn’t make the final cut. Wellington and Samuel Galindo will stay at home and could potentially feature for the U21s during pre-season, whilst Benik Afobe, Jon Toral and Zak Ansah are all currently injured. The majority of the first-team squad are making the trip, with the exceptions of Emmanuel Frimpong and Abou Diaby (injured), Yaya Sanogo (international duty), Santi Cazorla and Nacho Monreal (rested) and Ju-Young Park, Nicklas Bendtner and Joel Campbell, whose respective futures are as yet unresolved. It is not currently clear whether Marouane Chamakh will travel or be left at home. Arsenal will play four fixtures in Asia, against an Indonesian Dream Team, Vietnam, Nagoya Grampus Eight and Urawa Red Diamonds. Arsenal squad for Asia Tour: Wojciech Szczesny, Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta, Lukas Podolski, Jack Wilshere, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Aaron Ramsey, Lukasz Fabianski, Gervinho, Ryo, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Chuba Akpom, Kristoffer Olsson, Ignasi Miquel, Serge Gnabry, Chuks Aneke, Thomas Eisfeld, Gedion Zelalem (+ potentially Marouane Chamakh). * Please note that this is a provisional list and is subject to change. Advertisements

A Framingham State University police officer facing several charges was ordered to stay away from the school’s campus at his arraignment Tuesday in Framingham District Court.Watch reportWilter Dormevil will remain free on $500 cash bail while he awaits trial on charges of open and gross lewdness, wanton and lascivious conduct and intimidating a witness. Judge David Cunis ordered Dormevil to have no contact with the victim in the case and to stay away from school grounds, the Daily News reported.Dormevil was arrested over the weekend following an investigation by the Framingham Police Department. Dormevil and his lawyer declined to comment on the incident on his way out of the court house."I'm innocent until proven guilty," Dormevil said.FSU campus police supervisors were notified at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday of what the university described as an “incident involving an FSU police officer and inappropriate conduct.”During a brief hearing Tuesday, Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Susan Harris said the incident involves a student who also works for the FSU campus police.In a statement released over the weekend, the school said it immediately relieved Dormevil of his duties and requested assistance from Framingham police to investigate the matter.Dormevil has since been placed on administrative leave and is prohibited from entering the campus while the investigation continues, according to the school.In its statement, FSU said it holds campus police to the highest standards and considers the safety of students, faculty and staff as “paramount.”“The situation was isolated and there is no ongoing threat to the university,” the statement reads.Dormevil is next due to appear in court Oct. 17 for a pretrial conference.Get the WCVB News App A Framingham State University police officer facing several charges was ordered to stay away from the school’s campus at his arraignment Tuesday in Framingham District Court. Watch report Advertisement Wilter Dormevil will remain free on $500 cash bail while he awaits trial on charges of open and gross lewdness, wanton and lascivious conduct and intimidating a witness. Judge David Cunis ordered Dormevil to have no contact with the victim in the case and to stay away from school grounds, the Daily News reported. Dormevil was arrested over the weekend following an investigation by the Framingham Police Department. Dormevil and his lawyer declined to comment on the incident on his way out of the court house. "I'm innocent until proven guilty," Dormevil said. FSU campus police supervisors were notified at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday of what the university described as an “incident involving an FSU police officer and inappropriate conduct.” During a brief hearing Tuesday, Assistant Middlesex District Attorney Susan Harris said the incident involves a student who also works for the FSU campus police. In a statement released over the weekend, the school said it immediately relieved Dormevil of his duties and requested assistance from Framingham police to investigate the matter. Dormevil has since been placed on administrative leave and is prohibited from entering the campus while the investigation continues, according to the school. In its statement, FSU said it holds campus police to the highest standards and considers the safety of students, faculty and staff as “paramount.” “The situation was isolated and there is no ongoing threat to the university,” the statement reads. Dormevil is next due to appear in court Oct. 17 for a pretrial conference. AlertMe

Earlier today, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell sent this message to the White House email list on President Obama's action to protect Bristol Bay. Didn't get it? Make sure you sign up for email updates here. Just now, the President took action to protect a place called Bristol Bay, Alaska. Here's why that matters: It places a national treasure -- and one of the nation's most productive fisheries -- off limits for oil and gas leasing. Alaskans have been fighting to preserve Bristol Bay for decades. Today, we got it done. Bristol Bay helps to produce 40 percent of America's wild-caught seafood each year. It supports $2 billion every year in commercial fishing, and supports good jobs in sport-fishing and tourism. These waters are beautiful and valuable, and today's action will ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy their bounty. It's a big deal. Watch the President's announcement, and take a look at these photos of the place this Administration just took definitive action to protect: This is Bristol Bay, Alaska, a national treasure that President Obama is protecting for all of us. A humpback whale with shearwater birds in Bristol Bay. The beautiful Bristol Bay helps to produce 40% of America's wild-caught seafood every year. Thanks, Sally Secretary Sally Jewell Department of the Interior @SecretaryJewell

Every single day we find ourselves stuck in some form or another: Stuck on hold for an hour. Stuck in a job we don’t like. Stuck across town because a meeting was cancelled. Stuck with an obligation that someone else signed us up for. Stuck in a failing company. We’re stuck—we don’t have a choice about that. But we do have a choice about something else: What will we do with this time? In 1946, Malcolm X was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Even accounting for the shameful American racism and whatever systematic legal injustices existed at the time, Mal­colm X was guilty. He deserved to go to jail. And now he had roughly a decade to sit in a cage. As Malcolm X entered that prison he faced that same choice. He faced what Robert Greene—a man who sixty years later would find his wildly popular books banned in many federal prisons—calls an “Alive Time or Dead Time” scenario. How would the seven years he would serve play out? What would Malcolm do with this time? According to Greene, there are two types of time in our lives: dead time, when people are passive and waiting, and alive time, when people are learning and acting and utiliz­ing every second. Every moment of failure, every moment or situation that we did not deliberately choose or control, presents this choice: Alive time. Dead time. Which will it be? Malcolm chose alive time. He began to learn. He explored religion. He taught himself to be a reader by checking out a pencil and the dictionary from the prison library and not only consumed it from start to finish, but copied it down long‐hand from cover to cover. All these words he’d never known existed before were transferred to his brain. As he said later, “From then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading in my bunk.” He read history, he read sociol­ogy, he read about religion, he read the classics, he read philosophers like Kant and Spinoza. Later, a reporter asked Malcolm, “What’s your alma mater?” His one word answer: “Books.” Prison became his college. He transcended confine­ment through the pages he absorbed. He reflected that months passed without him even thinking about being detained against his will. He had “never been so truly free in his life.” And yet, here we are, stuck in our own way. Maybe you’re sitting in a remedial high school class, maybe you’re watching for the numbers to come in on your newest launch, maybe it’s a trial separation, maybe you’re stuck making smoothies or living at home while you save up money, maybe you’re stuck waiting out a contract or a tour of duty. Maybe this situation is one totally of your own making, or perhaps it’s just bad luck. The ego in all of us wants to complain about how this situation sucks. How it’s unfair. How we’d rather be doing just about anything else. And it’s this attitude that creates dead time we can never get back. In this way, ego is the mortal enemy of alive time. But if we’re humble, accepting and creative, we can transform seemingly terrible situations—a prison sentence, a dysfunctional job, a bear market or depression, military conscription, a failing company— turned those circumstances into fuel for greatness. We can ask ourselves: What can I accomplish here? What can I do with this time? Think of what you have been putting off. Issues you declined to deal with. Systemic problems that felt too over­whelming to address. Dead time is revived when we use it as an opportunity to do what we’ve long needed to do—from having difficult conversations to squeezing in some quiet reading time. Francis Scott Key wrote the poem that became the national anthem of the United States while trapped on a ship during a prisoner exchange in the War of 1812. Viktor Frankl refined his psychologies of meaning and suffering during his ordeal in three Nazi concentration camps. Not that these opportunities always come in such serious situa­tions. The author Ian Fleming was on bed rest and, per doc­tors’ orders, forbidden from using a typewriter. They were worried he’d exert himself by writing another Bond novel. So he created Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car by hand instead. Walt Disney made his decision to become a cartoonist while laid up after stepping on a rusty nail. “Many a serious thinker has been produced in prisons,” as Robert Greene put it, “where we have nothing to do but think.” Well, at the very least, our situation can be used for that. To get some serious thinking done. It’s easy to angry, to be aggrieved, to be depressed or heartbroken. I don’t want this. I want ______. I want it my way. But this accomplishes nothing! As they say, this moment is not your life. But it is a moment in your life. How will you use it? Let us say, the next time we find ourselves stuck: This is an opportunity for me. I am using it for my purposes. I will not let this be dead time for me. The dead time was when we were controlled by ego. As Booker T. Washington most famously put it, “Cast down your bucket where you are.” Make use of what’s around you. Even the dead time. Because while its occurrence isn’t in our control. Its use, on the other hand, is. This piece is adapted from Ryan Holiday’s book Ego is the Enemy, published by Penguin Portfolio Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Ego Is The Enemy and three other books. His monthly reading recommendations which go out to 50,000+ subscribers are found here.

Yesterday, head coach Peter Horachek confirmed something that we seemingly get confirmed to us every couple of sleeps – Joffrey Lupul is going to be out of the lineup for a couple of games because something is bugging his body. Specifically, he’s expected to miss at least the next three games with a lower-body injury similar to the one he just came back from. Out of curiosity, I stitched together something. Not Joffrey Lupul, that would be too easy, but a bit of a timeline of the past couple of years. The Injuries Injury Start Injury End Injury Type Games Days 3/7/2012 4/7/2012 Separated Shoulder 16 32 1/24/2013 3/15/2013 Forearm 25 51 4/5/2013 4/15/2013 Concussion 5 11 10/23/2013 10/28/2013 Bruised Foot 2 6 11/26/2013 12/9/2013 Strained Groin 7 14 4/2/2014 4/4/2014 Lower Body 1 3 4/6/2014 4/12/2014 Knee Surgery 3 7 10/29/2014 11/25/2014 Broken Hand 12 28 1/1/2015 1/28/2015 Lower Body 11 28 2/11/2015 TBD TOTAL 82 180 Yep, there’s a lot of them. This will be the tenth time that Lupul disappears from the lineup due to an injury since joining the Leafs and the ninth since he signed a five-year extension during the 2012/13 season (which means it’s actually in year two right now). The Games He’s Played In Lineup Start In Lineup End Games Days 2/10/2011 4/9/2011 28 59 10/6/2011 3/6/2012 94 153 1/19/2013 1/23/2013 3 5 3/16/2013 3/20/2013 2 5 3/25/2013 4/4/2013 4 11 4/16/2013 5/13/2013 13 28 10/1/2013 10/22/2013 10 22 10/29/2013 11/25/2013 12 28 12/10/2013 4/1/2014 46 96 4/5/2014 4/5/2014 1 1 10/8/2014 10/28/2014 9 21 11/26/2014 12/31/2014 17 36 1/29/2015 2/10/2015 6 13 TOTAL 245 478 On the bright side, he, uhh, still plays hockey sometimes! In his defence, he’s pretty good at it. Always has been, and as long as he’s still standing, probably will be for quite some time. Since making his Leafs debut in February of 2012, Lupul is third on the team in 5-on-5 goals and points per sixty minutes, and has one of the highest shooting percentages (which with a 197 game sample, is genuinely impressive). His relative possession numbers aren’t particularly impressive (even with score adjustment), but playing with Nazem Kadri has given them a boost in recent times. Overall, a healthy Lupul exemplifies a lot of qualities that the fanbase loves. He produces points, always appears to be putting a ton of effort into his play, shows relative fearlessness, and goes to the dirty areas. What’s not to like? The Glaring Issue This leaves us with this: Joffrey Lupul is almost never in the Leafs lineup. It’s one thing to call him injury prone, it’s another thing to see just how much time he’s missed. Everybody thought that his injury issues were behind him once he came to Toronto, and for 94 games, it looked like that was the case. But ever since then, he’s missed 36% of the potential games played. It’s not like it’s just been a case of one or two long injuries, either. Between his shoulder injury in 2012 and his return from his strained groin in late 2013, Lupul never spent more than four consecutive weeks as an available selection in the Leafs lineup without getting hurt. Three times in that span did he find himself missing time (once due to a suspension) within five games of returning to the lineup. Things looked okay again when he played 46 games in a row from December 10th, 2013 to April Fools Day 2014, but again, he hasn’t played more than seventeen since. Since arriving to Toronto, Lupul has averaged about eighteen games between each lineup disappearance; or just eleven since the shoulder injury. By contrast, he’s averaged nine games missed per injury that he’s suffered. If the stars align in all the wrong ways on this one, he could get dangerously close to 50/50. Is It Changing His Play? This is just a short note, because I feel like something like this requires more research. War-On-Ice added scoring chances at the start of this year, and I felt like it was a very useful addition to the site. It’s based around shot location, rebounds, and rush shots; a wet dream for somebody like Lupul, who thrives on shots in high percentage areas, particularly off the rush and via rebounds. A full explanation can be found here. I figure a good way to see if Lupul is confident with his body is to see how many of his shot attempts come in scoring chance situations. My guess was that his numbers would rise as he started in Toronto and got used to his back being in good shape, but I had no idea how they’d look beyond that. Here’s what I found: The original increase that I expected to see did, in fact, happen, and progressed even after his shoulder injury and his forearm injury (which was suffered in front of the net). We’ve definitely seen a dip over the past couple of years, which means he’s taking more of his attempts from outside. I wonder if this has a connection to the injury, or if there’s a strategical reasoning behind it. My original hypothesis was that it may be due to playing with David Clarkson, who usually ends up in front of the net when they’re together, but they’re not together at even strength very much. Whatever the case, it may be something worth looking into.

Toxic groundwater will be investigated in the industrial area of Fishermans Bend – which is to be redeveloped as four new residential suburbs – almost three years after a secret state government report detailed soil and water-table contamination. The report, kept confidential until recently, was completed just before the now Opposition Leader Matthew Guy announced the rezoning of the Fishermans Bend Urban Renewal Area. Helen Halliday and former Port Phillip councillor David Brand, from the Fishermans Bend Network group, outside contaminated land in South Melbourne. They want better planning for the new area. Credit:Luis Ascui The rezoning doubled or even tripled land values overnight, but failed to set aside infrastructure like parks that could cost taxpayers hundreds of million of dollars. Now, the Environment Protection Authority has launched an investigation into toxic groundwater across the massive site, used since the mid-1800s for some of Melbourne's most intensive industrial activity.

No new offshore oil and gas leases will be offered in the Alaskan Arctic through 2022, according to a new five-year plan for offshore drilling released Friday by the Obama administration. President-elect Donald Trump could overturn the ban, but that could take years and may not draw much industry interest if oil prices stay low. The Interior Department's five-year plan laid out all of the proposed auctions for drilling rights on the outer continental shelf of the United States. It allowed for no leases between 2017 and 2022 in the Beaufort or Chukchi seas, Arctic waters north and west of Alaska. A prior draft of the plan included the potential for offshore drilling in both the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas when it was released in March. The current plan limits potential leases in the next five years to the Gulf of Mexico and the Cook Inlet off south-central Alaska. "The plan focuses lease sales in the best places—those with the highest resource potential, lowest conflict, and established infrastructure—and removes regions that are simply not right to lease," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said. "Given the unique and challenging Arctic environment and industry's declining interest in the area, foregoing lease sales in the Arctic is the right path forward." Some Republicans voiced opposition to the plan before it was even published. "This would not only unilaterally harm Alaska's economy and kill thousands of good jobs, it fundamentally misunderstands what is going on in the country right now," Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) said on the Senate floor on Thursday. "It fundamentally misunderstands the enormous opportunity of energy for America." Sullivan said the ban on Arctic drilling was another Obama administration policy that delays and disrupts energy development in America. He cited the unsuccessful attempt by Royal Dutch Shell to drill in the Arctic, which Shell abandoned last year. "Shell had to spend 7 years and $7 billion to get permission from the Obama administration to drill one exploration well in 100 feet of water," Sullivan said. "And eventually they just said we give up, we're leaving." Shell left the Arctic after failing on multiple fronts. It encountered costly equipment malfunctions, including a major accident with its drilling rig the Kulluk in 2012. In the end, its exploratory well, which it spent $4.1 billion on, did not produce enough oil or gas to make it worthwhile. "Shell pulled out in 2015 not because of some regulatory problem, but simply because the economics of this drilling are not viable under current oil price conditions," said Pavel Molchanov, an equity research analyst at Raymond James & Associates in Houston. "At current price levels near $50 [a barrel] this type of very high risk drilling is not something the industry is interested in." Shell has three years remaining on its lease, but when it pulled out last year, the company said it had no immediate plans to return to Arctic waters. Its lease is one of nearly 40 existing leases in Arctic waters that are not affected by the new five-year plan. Those leases will all expire in the next few years. Trump could reverse the Obama administration's ban by drafting a new five-year leasing plan. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, an ardent drilling proponent, has been mentioned as a possible nominee for Interior Secretary, suggesting the new administration may pursue a new plan. Such a restart, however, would take time. The five-year leasing program announced Friday, for example, took two years to develop. Since the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion caused a cataclysmic spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the Interior Department has taken a more careful approach in analyzing potential impacts of leases, according to Michael Levine, Pacific senior counsel at the environmental group Oceana. "It's possible that a Department of the Interior led by President Trump would walk back all of that progress, but it wouldn't be easy nor would it be sound fiscal or environmental policy," Levine said. "The statute has relatively few timelines built into it, but I think it would be difficult to create a new five-year leasing program on an extraordinarily expedited schedule." New leases available in the Arctic might not draw the interest of the oil and gas industry. "Right now it's a moot point," Molchanov said. "Five years is a long time, if oil prices stage a strong recovery in the medium term, then perhaps there will be some desire on the part of oil and gas producers to pursue Arctic drilling, but definitely not now. There is no such desire now."

The prime minister doesn't need to give voice to his exasperation with the Senate expense scandal as he heads to Calgary for a two-day policy convention. Stephen Harper pantomimes his frustration almost every time he rises in the Commons to answer another barbed question. He raises his palms heavenward, shakes his head balefully and repeats how "crystal clear" he's been since May in telling Senator Mike Duffy that he had to repay $90,000 in improperly claimed living expenses, in saying his former chief of staff resigned for deciding, on his own, to pay that money back out of his own pocket, and in reiterating that — had he known — he would have directed Nigel Wright not to do it in the first place. Written down like that, it does all seem crystal clear. Except the prime minister has said more than that. Much, much more. And what he's said about Wright, in particular, keeps changing. From month to month, week to week, day to day. Here's what Harper said May 19 in accepting Wright's resignation for his role in the Duffy affair: "I accept that Nigel believed he was acting in the public interest, but I understand the decision he has taken to resign. I want to thank Nigel for his tremendous contribution to our government over the past two and a half years." Compare that with what the prime minister said in a radio interview on Monday: "As you know, I had a chief of staff who made an inappropriate payment to Mr. Duffy. He was dismissed." Or to what Harper told the Commons on Tuesday. "Once again, Mr. Speaker, on our side, there is one person responsible for this deception, and that person is Mr. Wright. Mr Wright by his own admission. For that reason, Mr. Wright no longer works for us." Changing message Fired or resigned. Acted in the public interest, or out of deception. These are just two examples of Harper's changing answers. And that makes the prime minister a key player in keeping the Senate scandal alive heading into a policy convention that was supposed to lift the party away from the Senate morass and into the orbit of priorities they can campaign on in 2015. Still, turning on your former chief of staff seems out of sync for a leader who demands absolute loyalty from his people, and a strict adherence to message control. When Wright first resigned, a number of his former colleagues praised his integrity, work ethic and honesty. They called his decision to personally repay Duffy's expenses a regrettable error. Those same people are silent now as Harper dismantles Wright's reputation. Oxford defines to deceive as to "deliberately cause (someone) to believe that something is not true, especially for personal gain." There's been no suggestion Wright was motivated by personal gain. In fact, just the opposite is true. He dashed off a payment in an attempt make a political problem go away for the prime minister. Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks with Senator Claude Carignan, the Leader of the Government in the Senate, following a party caucus on Parliament Hill on Oct. 30. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press) Harper's new lines suggest he's trying to put more distance between himself and the actions of his former chief of staff. He is doing so using the bully pulpit of his office and the privilege attached to anything said in the Commons. In the meantime, the facts in the Duffy-Wright affair are not yet fully known. The RCMP continue to investigate. In reality, Harper and the Conservatives want to deflect attention from him, and to keep it on the Senate where the debate over whether to suspend Duffy, Pamela Wallin and Patrick Brazeau without pay drags on and on. Their punishment was to have been meted out before this weekend's convention. It was supposed to allow Harper to tell party faithful that these three senators had been held accountable for misusing taxpayers' money. Instead, Harper spent the week fending off questions about his own role, and his changing answers. At the crossroads The Senate isn't on the official agenda in Calgary, but Conservatives acknowledge the expenses controversy and Wright-Duffy affair will play out in the hallways among party supporters who were promised Senate reform by Harper, not scandal. It's also the focus of a daylong panel discussion leading into the convention, sponsored by former Reform Party leader Preston Manning's foundation, which says the movement to change the Senate is at a crossroads. "It's time to assess where we've been, where we are and where we are headed," the foundation says in promoting the event. How the prime minister deals with the Senate question is another matter. Harper will address the convention Friday night. Certainly some of his advisers are suggesting he steer clear of the subject altogether. Senior cabinet ministers are already signalling the focus of the speech will be on the Conservatives most familiar calling card. "I think Canadians expect us to focus on the issues that matter to them and their lives," Treasury Board President Tony Clement said Wednesday after the Conservatives' weekly caucus meeting. "And we are doing so. The biggest trade agreement in the history of our country. Focusing on jobs. That's what people care about." Only the media, he suggested, cares about the Wright-Duffy affair, or whether the prime minister's former right-hand man betrayed him. Pressed for an answer, Clement stuck to what is now the approved message. "The prime minister has been clear on that."

4 of 14 Issac Baldizon/Getty Images 15. George Hill, Utah Jazz (Previous Ranking: No. 12) Age: 30 Per-Game Stats: 16.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.2 blocks Advanced Metrics: 18.6 PER, 3.19 RPM, 91.84 TPA The Utah Jazz are a substantially different team with George Hill on the floor. Their offensive and defensive ratings improve by 3.8 and 2.9 points per 100 possessions, respectively. And that's what makes it especially concerning that he's showing signs of decline after his hot start to the season, even averaging just 14.3 points and 3.4 assists while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from downtown since his last return from injury March 11. 14. Jeff Teague, Indiana Pacers (Previous Ranking: No. 15) Age: 28 Per-Game Stats: 15.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.3 steals, 0.4 blocks Advanced Metrics: 19.3 PER, 1.59 RPM, 96.12 TPA "The biggest, most thrilling aspect of [Jeff] Teague's current season—one that maybe even the Pacers didn't predict—is how varied his overall game has become. He's averaging career-highs in assists, rebounds and free-throw attempts," Mac Gushanas wrote for Hoops Habit. "Even with fewer points and shots, it's clear that Teague's maybe more active than he ever has been." Myles Turner has gone through the occasional sophomore slump. Paul George has been unable to hit the perilous highs he's reached in previous seasons with any sort of consistency. The team's depth is often inconsistent, as well. But Teague keeps serving as the steadying force for the Indiana Pacers. 13. Goran Dragic, Miami Heat (Previous Ranking: No. 14) Age: 30 Per-Game Stats: 20.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.2 blocks Advanced Metrics: 19.9 PER, 1.29 RPM, 129.29 TPA Even though he's been stopped around the rim more frequently than in the past, 30-year-old Goran Dragic is still converting at a 60.4 percent clip from inside three feet. For the sake of comparison, the uber-athletic Russell Westbrook is hitting 58.2 percent of his attempts within the same zone. That's impressive enough, but Dragic's offensive game reaches that proverbial next level when his touch shots from the paint, penchant for drawing fouls and distributing are added into the equation. 12. Eric Bledsoe, Phoenix Suns (Previous Ranking: No. 13) Age: 27 Per-Game Stats: 21.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.5 blocks Advanced Metrics: 20.7 PER, 1.9 RPM, 149.75 TPA Before Eric Bledsoe was shut down for the season, he was playing incredible basketball—using his physicality to thrive on defense and shouldering immense offensive responsibility. Don't be fooled by the fact he was leading one of the NBA's bottom-feeders, because he was doing everything in his power to drag the squad back toward relevancy. Even in his final dozen games, he averaged 20.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 7.3 assists while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from downtown. 11. Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers (Previous Ranking: No. 8) Age: 25 Per-Game Stats: 25.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.4 blocks Advanced Metrics: 23.0 PER, 2.04 RPM, 113.69 TPA "When you've got one of the top-three point guards in the league and the best player in the world, that's your job. You're supposed to carry us and do what you've been doing," Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said after his team's loss to the San Antonio Spurs, per ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne. He's obviously referring to Kyrie Irving, and it's not difficult to see how he could think such a thing when serving as a firsthand witness to his dribbling exploits and high-scoring ways. But there's not much of an argument to support Lue, and there won't be until Irving shores up his atrocious defense, functions as more of a playmaker and gets more efficient as a scorer. He's still more than a tier below the top three, even if his flash can occasionally contradict that statement.

President Trump said he enjoyed hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the White House on Friday, despite some bad press, and called out Germany for owing 'vast sums of money' to NATO. "Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel," he wrote Saturday morning on Twitter. "Nevertheless, Germany owes ... vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!" Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes..... — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017 ...vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 18, 2017 Trump's broadside against coverage of the meeting comes after many journalist commented on what they saw as an awkward rapport between the president and Merkel. A Washington Post article said the two showed "little rapport." NPR called it "the Axis of Awkward." Trump made the point that money countries, like Germany, owe "vast sums of money" to NATO for U.S. protection at his joint press conference with Merkel on Friday. He said he pressed the chancellor "hard" on NATO dues during their meeting.

Winkler tells jurors about day that Ritter died Ritter's family is suing two doctors in a wrongful-death case that will turn largely on dueling medical experts who disagree over whether an emergency room physician properly treated Ritter the day he died. Winkler -- who testified in Glendale civil court on behalf of Ritter's widow and children, provided a dose of celebrity in a trial grounded in medicine. By that afternoon, however, Winkler said, he had noticed that Ritter "was sweating. He said, 'You know, I really need to get some water.' That was the last time I saw him." In a cameo courtroom appearance, actor Henry Winkler told jurors Wednesday that his friend John Ritter seemed in top form on the set of his television show Sept. 11, 2003, the day he died. The defense contends that Ritter exhibited the classic signs of a heart attack and that his treatment was appropriate. He died of a tear in the aorta. Attorneys for actress Amy Yasbeck, Ritter's widow, and his four children said in court this week that the actor might have lived had he gone home from the set of his show, "8 Simple Rules," without seeking medical intervention. Ritter died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank about four hours after walking into the emergency room. In court Wednesday, Winkler, an author and director as well as an actor, said that he got to know Ritter 30 years ago and that they became close friends. Winkler, who played the iconic role of Fonzie in the television series "Happy Days," recalled his friend's "excitement for life." On the day Ritter died, Winkler was making a guest appearance on "8 Simple Rules." Ritter's family, which has already collected $14 million from other defendants, says the actor could have earned more than $67 million over the course of the show, which had just begun a second season. Winkler told jurors of his friendship with Ritter, and how great a loss his death was to his family. "Every thought that John had included his children, all four children," Winkler said. "Every conversation we had somehow wrapped around his children. His pride, his love, his worry, his making sure that every one of them was fine." Ritter and Yasbeck were "an unbelievable team," he said. "They were like a perfect whole," both with an extremely sharp comedic sense. "I couldn't keep up with him when he went on a comic tear. The only one who could was Amy," Winkler said. Winkler also told jurors that Ritter was thrilled that he had found new success on TV so many years after he rose to fame in the 1970s as Jack Tripper on "Three's Company." "He was, every day, grateful that lightning had struck again," Winkler said of "8 Simple Rules." "He loved that cast. They loved him like a second family. He watched over everybody." Winkler testified for about 30 minutes before the trial turned to medical issues. Dr. John Elefteriades of Yale Medical School said Ritter's medical records show that doctors wrongly thought he was having a heart attack when he was in fact suffering from an aortic dissection, or a rupture in one of the layers of the aorta.

Politico recently pointed out that FOX News correspondent and O’Reilly Factor field producer Jesse Watters, known for his ambush-like interviews in his Factor “Watters World” segment, donated $500 to the Obama Victory Fund (you can look up the FEC Disclosure here:) Now why would a guy, who has said very nasty things about Obama and his supporters in the past, on a network that has a reputation for saying very nasty things about Obama and his supporters in the past and present, give his hard-earned dollars to Public Enemy No. 1? And why would he contribute to the “Obama Victory Fund 2012” PAC (net contributions totaling $445 million) rather than the far-more-popular “Obama For America” committee (net contributions totaling $3.18 billion)? (See “Find the Data” for more information about these committees). It’s definitely intriguing, and at the time of this writing, no answer is forthcoming from Bill O’Reilly, FOX News, or Watters himself. And while one would hope this was a topic that would lead to titillatingly scandalous news, we here at Addicting Info suspect the reason to be fairly innocuous. As it turns out, Watters’s donation happened to fall on the same day as the deadline for the final “Dinner With Barack” contest of the campaign, where three winners and a guest of their choosing would receive a trip to dine with the President. Thus, Watters was likely attempting to gain a once-in-a-lifetime chance at an ambush interview with the biggest game in the country. (The real question is whether Watters would have chosen his wife or O’Reilly to accompany him.) Still, we had a lot of fun coming up with theories behind the unlikely donation from the conservative Watters. For instance: Watters made a deal with Gawker.com to stop abusing him if he agreed to donate to Obama’s campaign fund. Watters, who once said on the Aug. 23, 2007 edition of “The O’Reilly Factor” that the only thing he was afraid of was coming back from an ambush interview empty-handed for O’Reilly, quickly converted to Democrat rather than face his boss when he failed to get an interview with Vice President O’Biden at Dartmouth a few days before making his donation. Watters has always been a secret liberal operative, which would explain why FOX News always makes so many questionable decisions that do the Republican party more harm than good. Watters, after slandering the White House’s former Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Van Jones, had to make a secret out-of-court settlement that included an Obama campaign donation. Watters bet Roger Ailes (founder/chairman of FOX News corporation) that General David Petraeus would agree to run for president if Ailes just asked him – loser had to donate to Obama’s campaign fund. Watters’s wife, Noelle, host of FOX News’ iMag Style, made him do it. We’ll keep you posted if and when Watters ever reveals the mystery behind his actual motives. If you have any ideas, please post them in the comments below.

DURING the Balkan wars of the 1990s, old fault-lines of religion and ethnicity seemed to be opening up across Europe, with tragic results. Muslim nations lined up to support Bosnia; Europe’s Catholic heart rediscovered old links with the Croats; and Serbia received moral support from an Orthodox fraternity linking Russia, Greece and Cyprus. But after 1999, when NATO bombing forced Serbia to back down, talk of civilisational clashes in the Balkans receded as the region fell under broadly Western influence. Every country in the neighbourhood was either in the European Union or wanted to be. Recently though, religiously inspired nationalism and ultra-nationalism have returned to south-eastern Europe—not yet as a dominant force but as a spectre that is growing more visible. Get our daily newsletter Upgrade your inbox and get our Daily Dispatch and Editor's Picks. For a symptom of that, glance at a video which has just been posted by Greece’s far-right Golden Dawn party, whose leaders have been on trial since 2015 on charges of running a criminal organisation. (The accusations relate to attacks on immigrants and activists of the left. They have not dented the party’s passion or zeal. Earlier this month, some 25 supporters of GD were arrested after a scuffle, outside the courthouse, in which a lawyer said she was punched in the face.) The video celebrates the Greek movement’s consolidation of relations with the Serbian Radical Party, whose founder Vojislav Seselj was tried for war crimes, and eventually acquitted last year, following the post-Yugoslav wars. At an event in Thessaloniki, sharp-suited young men from both parties hailed the establishment of a common front against both Islam and liberal globalisation in their region. The two far-right parties draw deeply on religious rhetoric. At the event it was noted that leading members of both groups had just paid a joint visit to two of the most conservative monastic houses on the nearby peninsula of Mount Athos: the ultra-zealous Esphigmenou monastery and the Serbian monastery of Hilandar. Neither Golden Dawn nor the Serbian Radicals are in the mainstream of their respective countries, but they are not irrelevant outsiders either. Golden Dawn has 16 deputies in Greece’s 300-member legislature. The Serbian Radicals took 8% of the vote in last year’s Serbian election, propelling Mr Seselj back into Parliament. Aleksandar Vucic, elected this year as Serbia’s president, began life as a Radical but then broke away in 2008 to form a more moderate political group. Among the commonalities between Golden Dawn and the Serbian Radicals are a dislike of alien cultures, including those brought by immigrants; an enthusiasm for Vladimir Putin and warmer relations with Russia; and, last year, a positive reaction to the election of Donald Trump. Golden Dawn saw it as a vindication for forces which are “in favour of clean ethnic states” and “in favour of self-sufficiency in the national economy.” Happily neither the political life of the Balkans, nor even the religious life, begins or ends with these strident voices. But they are undoubtedly being projected with greater confidence, as though for the first time in a couple of decades, history was on their side.

Get the biggest daily news 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 An inventor's £160,000 crowded-funded submarine has sunk "in 30 seconds" after the vessel suffered technical problems and went missing overnight in Copenhagen Harbour. Owner Peter Madsen, who designed and built the UC3 Nautilus before launching it in 2008, confirmed he was safe and well. The Danish inventor said the problem was with a ballast tank valve but the matter became "very serious" as he tried to repair it. "I took about 30 seconds for Nautilus to sink and I could not shut up or something," he said in a rough translation of local media. (Image: Peter Madsen) (Image: Peter Madsen) "But that was probably very good, because I'd still been down there." Local TV network TV2 said that Mr Madsen had told them he was alone on board. However, Swedish police told the station a Swedish woman disappeared in connection with the submarine, saying she was a journalist on board the submarine. The journalist's boyfriend was the one who raised the alarm when the boat did not return on time, the station said. Divers have been sent to the sunken sub. Two rescue helicopters and three ships from the Danish Armed Forces were looking for the privately built submarine, built at a cost of 1.5million DKK, in Copenhagen Harbour this morning. But Defence had called on Danes who had access to a boat with sonar equipment to help look for the sub. (Image: Peter Madsen) (Image: Peter Madsen) "The more we are looking for him, the better," Defence Commander Christer Haven told TV2 . The U-boat was reported missing at at 2.30am when it failed to return as planned after leaving the dock at 8.30pm last night. The owner of the sub is inventor Peter Madsen, who designed and built the vessel before launching it in 2008. Forsvaret tweeted at 9am today (UK time): "Private submarine Nautilus found sailing in Køge Bay."

Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Droga5 art director Kevin Weir has lots of cool work in his portfolio, like his Flux Machine, a Tumblr in which he turns old photographs into nightmares thanks to some carefully crafted animation—sometimes crazy, sometimes subtle, always disturbing. Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Advertisement Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Advertisement Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Your browser does not support HTML5 video tag.Click here to view original GIF Advertisement Kevin Weir grew up in the woods of rural upstate New York, just outside of Binghamton. He enjoys "bears, space, gifs, table tennis, mountains, science fiction, surrealist art, popcorn, animation and Jeff Goldblum." He is an art director at Droga5 in New York City. This is part of a series in which we are featuring really cool 2D or 3D illustrations and animations. If you are an illustrator or animator with high quality work, please drop me a line here. Advertisement SPLOID is a new blog about awesome stuff. Join us on Facebook

This story has been updated to include comment from IBM. Amazon is suing the government over a $150 million contract for a massive intelligence community computer cloud that the CIA first awarded to the Web giant but later yanked after an auditor said the intelligence agency gave Amazon an unfair advantage. Amazon filed its suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on July 24. The complaint is sealed because Amazon said it contained proprietary information. “We believe strongly that the CIA got it right the first time," an Amazon Web Services spokeswoman said in an email. "Providing true cloud computing services to the intelligence community requires a transformative approach with superior technology." Amazon Web Services is Amazon's cloud computing division. "We believe that the CIA selected AWS based on AWS’ technically superior, best value solution, which will allow the agency to rapidly innovate while delivering the confidence and security assurance needed for mission-critical systems," the spokeswoman continued. "We look forward to a fast resolution so the agency can move forward with this important contract." Federal Computer Week first reported on the lawsuit on July 24. IBM also competed for the cloud contact and challenged the award to the Government Accountability Office, which recommended CIA rebid the contract by August 6. IBM intervened in the Court of Federal Claims suit July 25, noting that it stands a good chance of winning the rebid contract and that “Plaintiff [Amazon Web Services] now seeks to enjoin the agency from executing its corrective action.” The Court of Federal Claims is typically the final stop for government contracting disputes that can’t be resolved by the GAO. GAO decisions aren’t binding but agencies often follow them. IBM said in a statement: "Now more than ever, the United States Government needs the safety and security of IBM's decades of experience in managing sensitive data." CIA gave Amazon a leg up on the initial cloud contract because it agreed during post-award negotiations to weaken a requirement that all software in the cloud be verifiably free from computer viruses that might let unauthorized people see intelligence data, GAO found. Amazon asked that it only be required to vouch for software it had built itself, not for third party and open source software it planned to include in the system. If IBM had known in advance that requirement might be loosened, that could have substantially changed both the company’s bid and its competitiveness, the auditor said. The planned CIA cloud will be built on government property with a high level of security, according to the GAO decision. It will include both infrastructure-as-a-service and software-as-a-service components. That means intelligence agencies will be able to use the cloud as a storage space for their own operating systems and also rely on operating systems provided by the vendor. Computer clouds typically offer cheaper storage space than traditional government data centers and allow agencies to perform more complex computing operations with larger amounts of data. (Image via RoboLab/Shutterstock.com)

Hello, college basketball fans of America’s struggling programs. Please dry your eyes. Life ain’t that bad. Remember, you could be a Minnesota basketball fan. On Sunday, Minnesota’s projected starting center for the 2016-17 season, Reggie Lynch, was suspended indefinitely after an arrest on suspicion of criminal sexual conduct. On Tuesday, we learned that head coach Richard Pitino, who has never led the Gophers to the NCAA tournament and finished with a combined Big Ten record of 16-38 after his third season, overspent on private jet travel during his first three years with the program. We’re not talking pennies here, people. According to an internal audit acquired by the Star Tribune, Pitino has exceeded his allotted budget for private jet travel by $175,000. Say it again to yourself. One. Hundred. Seventy-Five. Thousand. Dollars. The school gave him $50,000 per year or $150,000 total for private travel during his first three seasons. Pitino spent $325,000 during that stretch. Folks don’t sweat budgets when teams win. But when you finish 51-51 with a weak nonconference schedule in your first three seasons and continue to rack up negative headlines, financial issues become bigger problems for a team with a knapsack full of them. The authors of the audit have advised school officials to recoup some of the cash from Pitino, who occasionally hopped onto a private jet because he didn’t feel like making a three-hour drive: According to the report, as of February, Pitino had already spent $53,388 on private jet usage for fiscal year 2016. During the three-year period, Pitino also took two private jet flights that were “unallowable” because they were less than 200 miles from campus. That’s $53,388 through February, folks. The fiscal year ends in June. That’s not good. But it gets worse. Pitino’s other budgetary transgressions: In addition to the private jet spending, both basketball programs spent more than allowed on hotels, private cars, birthday or holiday parties, meals and valet parking. The audit even flagged “unreasonable” spending by Pitino involving “multiple” rental cars returned without full gas tanks and instances of parking at the airport even though the team had rented a bus. Bruh. You gotta fill up the rental cars. That’s simple stuff. And why is he driving to the airport, which is just 15 miles from the Minnesota campus, if the school arranges private buses to shuttle the players and staffers to their destinations? But school officials, who still haven’t hired an athletic director after Norwood Teague resigned last year following sexual harassment claims, can’t do much about this. Pitino isn’t going anywhere. He has assembled the program’s best incoming recruiting class in recent years, and he’s sitting on a $7.1 million buyout that he worked out with Teague before the latter’s resignation. So, yeah. Just imagine if you were a Minnesota basketball fan right now. Now go tell your favorite teams how much you appreciate them.

LAS VEGAS -- If you thought America's wireless infrastructure was overtaxed now, just wait: 4G connectivity is coming to the car. General Motors' OnStar division -- yes, they of the little blue button -- announced last night here at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show a partnership with Verizon to bring more bandwidth to the family vehicle. And in a way, it's the best use of 4G yet. 4G speeds are welcome by everyone, but the technology comes with drawbacks -- among then, limited availability and a battery-eating reputation. It might be wonderful to buy the latest Google Android 4G smartphone, but unless you're near a major city and don't stray too far from an outlet, it's of no use. With an alternator under the hood that keeps things charged, the car solves the latter problem easily. It's a welcome hurdle to lower as GM courts third-party app developers to work with its platform. It's also quite necessary to advance the capabilities of in-vehicle telematics: though some drivers will find 4G best suited to keeping four noisy kids occupied in the backseat, others will notice how it enables real-time diagnostics, GPS navigation and "smart" connectivity -- such as instructing the garage door to open before you arrive. Simply, you'll want access to the cloud on hand when the "check engine" light comes on 300 miles from home. The car of the future is connected indeed, but that vision requires a wireless broadband infrastructure that's as robust as the physical roads and streets the car is actually traveling on. With OnStar, Verizon putting its toe in the water to test it all out.

Online attackers are using encryption to lock up our files and demand a ransom — and AV software probably won’t protect you. Here are ways to defend yourself from CryptoLocker — pass this information along to friends, family, and business associates. Forgive me if I sound a bit like those bogus virus warnings proclaiming, “You have the worst virus ever!!” But there’s a new threat to our data that we need to take seriously. It’s already hit many consumers and small businesses. Called CryptoLocker, this infection shows up in two ways. First, you see a red banner (see Figure 1) on your computer system, warning that your files are now encrypted — and if you send money to a given email address, access to your files will be restored to you. The other sign you’ve been hit: you can no longer open Office files, database files, and most other common documents on your system. When you try to do so, you get another warning, such as “Excel cannot open the file [filename] because the file format or file extension is not valid,” as stated on a TechNet MS Excel Support Team blog. As noted in a Reddit comment, CryptoLocker goes after dozens of file types such as .doc, .xls, .ppt, .pst, .dwg, .rtf, .dbf, .psd, .raw, and .pdf. CryptoLocker attacks typically come in three ways: 1) Via an email attachment. For example, you receive an email from a shipping company you do business with. Attached to the email is a .zip file. Opening the attachment launches a virus that finds and encrypts all files you have access to — including those located on any attached drives or mapped network drives. 2) You browse a malicious website that exploits vulnerabilities in an out-of-date version of Java. 3) Most recently, you’re tricked into downloading a malicious video driver or codec file. This article is part of our premium content. Join Now. Already a paid subscriber? Click here to login. Feedback welcome: Have a question or comment about this story? Post your thoughts, praise, or constructive criticisms in the Have a question or comment about this story? Post your thoughts, praise, or constructive criticisms in the WS Columns forum CryptoLocker: A particularly pernicious virus

PRESSEMITTEILUNGEN Dokumentsuche Datum Nummer Suchbegriff Hilfe Kalender 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Jan. Feb. März Apr. Mai Juni Juli Aug. Sep. Okt. Nov. Dez. Pressemitteilungen » Pressemitteilungen aus dem Jahr 2019 » Pressemitteilung Nr. 43/14 vom 6.3.2014 Siehe auch: Urteil des 2. Strafsenats vom 5.3.2014 - 2 StR 616/12 - Bundesgerichtshof Mitteilung der Pressestelle Nr. 43/2014 Bundesgerichtshof bestätigt Verurteilung wegen versuchten Betruges durch Betreiben so genannter "Abo-Fallen" im Internet Das Landgericht Frankfurt am Main hat den Angeklagten unter Freisprechung im Übrigen wegen versuchten Betrugs zu einer Freiheitsstrafe von zwei Jahren verurteilt und deren Vollstreckung zur Bewährung ausgesetzt. Aufgrund überlanger Verfahrensdauer hat es angeordnet, dass vier Monate der verhängten Strafe als vollstreckt gelten. Nach den Feststellungen des Landgerichts betrieb der Angeklagte verschiedene kostenpflichtige Internetseiten, die jeweils ein nahezu identisches Erscheinungsbild aufwiesen, unter anderem einen sogenannten Routenplaner. Die Inanspruchnahme des Routenplaners setzte voraus, dass der Nutzer zuvor seinen Vor- und Zunamen nebst Anschrift und E-Mail-Adresse sowie sein Geburtsdatum eingab. Aufgrund der vom Angeklagten gezielt mit dieser Absicht vorgenommenen Gestaltung der Seite war für flüchtige Leser nur schwer erkennbar, dass es sich um ein kostenpflichtiges Angebot handelte. Die Betätigung der Schaltfläche "Route berechnen" führte nach einem am unteren Seitenrand am Ende eines mehrzeiligen Textes klein abgedruckten Hinweis zum Abschluss eines kostenpflichtigen Abonnements, das dem Nutzer zum Preis von 59,95 € eine dreimonatige Zugangsmöglichkeit zu dem Routenplaner gewährte. Dieser Fußnotentext konnte in Abhängigkeit von der Größe des Monitors und der verwendeten Bildschirmauflösung erst nach vorherigem "Scrollen" wahrgenommen werden. Nach Ablauf der Widerrufsfrist erhielten die Nutzer zunächst eine Zahlungsaufforderung. An diejenigen, die nicht gezahlt hatten, versandte der Angeklagte Zahlungserinnerungen; einige Nutzer erhielten zudem Schreiben von Rechtsanwälten, in denen ihnen für den Fall, dass sie nicht zahlten, mit einem Eintrag bei der "SCHUFA" gedroht wurde. Das Landgericht hat den Angeklagten im Hinblick auf die einmalige Gestaltung der Seite nur wegen einer Tat und im Hinblick darauf, dass die Ursächlichkeit der Handlung für einen konkreten Irrtum eines Kunden nicht nachgewiesen sei, nur wegen versuchten Betrugs verurteilt. Gegen dieses Urteil hat sich der Angeklagte mit seiner auf die Verletzung formellen und materiellen Rechts gestützten Revision gewandt. Er hat vor allem beanstandet, dass unter Berücksichtigung europarechtlicher Vorgaben eine Täuschungshandlung nicht vorliege und im Übrigen den Nutzern auch kein Vermögensschaden entstanden sei. Der 2. Strafsenat hat das Rechtsmittel verworfen. Er hat ausgeführt, dass durch die auf Täuschung abzielende Gestaltung der Internetseite die Kostenpflichtigkeit der angebotenen Leistung gezielt verschleiert worden sei. Dies stelle eine Täuschungshandlung im Sinne des § 263 StGB dar. Die Erkennbarkeit der Täuschung bei sorgfältiger Lektüre schließe die Strafbarkeit nicht aus, denn die Handlung sei gerade im Hinblick darauf unternommen worden, die bei einem – wenn auch nur geringeren - Teil der Benutzer vorhandene Unaufmerksamkeit oder Unerfahrenheit auszunutzen. Dies gelte auch unter Berücksichtigung der Richtlinie 2005/29/EG des Europäischen Parlaments und des Rates vom 11. Mai 2005 über unlautere Geschäftspraktiken im binnenmarktinternen Geschäftsverkehr zwischen Unternehmen und Verbrauchern (Richtlinie über unlautere Geschäftspraktiken). Die Richtlinie führe jedenfalls hier nicht zu einer Einschränkung des strafrechtlichen Rechtsgüterschutzes. Auch ein Vermögensschaden sei gegeben. Dieser liege in der Belastung mit einer bestehenden oder auch nur scheinbaren Verbindlichkeit, da die Gegenleistung in Form einer dreimonatigen Nutzungsmöglichkeit für den Nutzer praktisch wertlos sei. Urteil vom 5. März 2014 - 2 StR 616/12 Landgericht Frankfurt am Main - Urteil vom 18. Juni 2012 - 5-27 KLs 12/08 Karlsruhe, den 6. März 2014 Pressestelle des Bundesgerichtshofs 76125 Karlsruhe Telefon (0721) 159-5013 Telefax (0721) 159-5501

Independent senator Bob Day has launched a High Court challenge to the Turnbull government's senate voting reforms, which threaten his and other crossbench senators' seats at the next election. The changes, which aim to prevent minor parties from using preference deals to turn a small primary vote into a seat in Parliament, were passed last week after a marathon 40-hour debate, with the support of the Greens and independent senator Nick Xenophon, paving the way for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's double dissolution announcement on Monday. Senator Day asked the High Court late on Tuesday to declare that the changes were invalid and to prevent the South Australian electoral officer and the federal government from issuing the new ballot papers for the next Senate election, to be held on July 2 if the Senate fails to pass the Coalition's key industrial reforms. High Court Chief Justice Robert French will preside over the case's first directions hearing on Thursday in Perth via video link to Sydney, where barristers will appear for Senator Day and the defendants, the South Australian electoral officer and the Commonwealth of Australia.

‘Eco-based’ engineering systems may be key to protecting cities that face up to eight times more risk from rising tides, storm surges and floods, says study Rich nations spend huge sums to keep the seas at bay but wealth may not save them indefinitely. New research suggests that the probability of flooding in cities and megacities built on river deltas is on the increase and over time, the Mississippi and the Rhine may become up to eight times more at hazard from rising tides, storm surges or catastrophic downstream floods. The study, published in the journal Science, calculates the challenges ahead for 48 major coastal deltas in the Americas, Europe and Asia, right now home to populations of more than 340 million people. Deltas are natural sites for cities: they offer direct access to the sea and upriver to the hinterland; their wetlands provided good hunting and, when drained, became fertile farmland, ever renewed by fresh deposits of silt from frequent flooding. So civilisation got a head start in the Nile delta, the Indus, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra, the Yangtze, and elsewhere. But dams upriver to conserve water or generate electricity stopped the downstream flow of silt. The draining of the wetlands allowed the soils to compact. The abstraction of water for industry and for huge numbers of new citizens meant that soils compacted even more. The reclamation of wetlands meant that the highest tides had nowhere to go but on to the streets and into city basements. And the sea began to encroach, which meant more investment in sea defences. In the Mississippi delta, according to another study in the same journal, the citizens of Louisiana and New Orleans have bade goodbye to up to 100 sq km of land washed away every year since 1900, and in the Netherlands, after centuries of soil drainage and subsidence, 9 million people live below sea level, behind costly sea dikes. By 2100, according to recent research, as sea levels rise in line with global warming, coastal flooding could be costing nations $100,000bn a year. Zachary Tessler of City University in New York – a city taken calamitously by surprise by Hurricane Sandy in 2012 – and colleagues report in Science that they looked at relative risks and how these might be altered over time, not just by sea level rise and climate change and a greater frequency of extreme events, but by the things humans continue to do to lower the level of the land at the same time as sea levels continue to rise. They found that while 340 million were directly at risk in their 48 major coastal deltas, there were also an estimated 140 million people living within a 25km radius of the vulnerable regions. And they found that although the poorer nations were inevitably more vulnerable, relative risk continued to grow – from four to eightfold in some cases – for the wealthiest delta regions as well. These included not just the Mississippi, the Rhine, the Han, Chao Praya and Yangtze, but also the Parana, Rhône and Pearl deltas. Not surprisingly, they conclude that deltas are “highly sensitive” to the balance between sediment supply and wave energy. “Our study demonstrates that economic ability and decisions to deploy engineering solutions will be key factors in determining how sustainable deltas become in the long term,” they warn. In the Ganges Brahmaputra delta in Bangladesh and India, home to 170 million people, the surviving wetlands are up to 1.5 metres above the embanked and reclaimed land. When the wetlands are disconnected from the rivers the land no longer naturally builds up with sea level rise. So Stijn Temmerman of the University of Antwerp and Matthew Kirwan of the College of William and Mary at Gloucester Point in Virginia, in the US, spell it out: the answer may lie in “eco-based” engineering systems to put sediment-laden water back on to the delta plains. In the Mississippi, that would prevent the loss of 500,000 hectares of wetlands and reduce annual flood damage to New Orleans and the Louisiana coast by between $5.3bn (£3.4bn) and $18bn in 50 years. And by judiciously letting the river do the job, instead of transporting settlement by barge, or by pipeline, the costs could be reduced.

Ah, New York—the sparkling skyline! The bustling streets! The... poop-filled water tanks? According to a new report from The New York Times, the city's roughly 17,000 water tanks are totally unsanitary and widely unregulated. First of all: Why does NYC still use water tanks? The answer is relatively simple: Many buildings taller than six or seven stories need their own method of supplying water pressure to the floors below. There are thus nearly 20,000 of these tanks in the city, supplying drinking water to hundreds of thousands of people. Advertisement However, perhaps because of their ubiquity and permanence, it turns out the tanks have been relatively immune from safety inspections. The New York Times took samples from water tanks in 12 buildings, and eight of them tested positive for coliform—an indicator for the presence of "pathogenic organisms of fecal origin." Five also came back positive with E. coli. Some tanks aren't actually closed to the outside, opening them up to squirrel and bird poop—anecdotes about animals (and even homeless people) living in the space between the water and the container top abound. Perhaps more upsetting than that relatively small sample size is the fact that almost half of buildings randomly inspected by the health department couldn't even provide proof that they test their tanks for bacteria at all. Many justify these findings by saying the samples are taken from a thick layer of mud and sediment that rests below the intake pipes—meaning that the water that arrives at your sink isn't actually contaminated. But even a basic knowledge of biology disproves that rationale. Then there are the chemical contaminants, like an epoxy used by tank-building companies—made from a bisphenol A-based polymer (otherwise known as BPA). Advertisement In short, it's a pretty scary read, even if you're not a germophobe. But it's also interesting, in a way, that a city that's become so preoccupied with public health could overlook so major a source of contamination. How many other unregulated systems and infrastructural networks do each of us depend on? We tend to think of ourselves—and our government—as the product of a centuries-long evolution of thinking on public health and science. In fact, we're still discovering the many ways in which we put ourselves at risk. [The New York Times]

(BREITBART) California Democrats used Monday’s swearing-in ceremonies in the State Assembly and State Senate to introduce and pass resolutions condemning President-elect Donald J. Trump’s rhetoric and his anticipated immigration policies. House Resolution 4 (HR-4) states that “the Assembly condemns in the strongest terms bigoted, racist or misinformed descriptions of the immigrant community” and “urges the President-elect not to pursue mass deportation strategies that needlessly tear families apart to target immigrants for deportation based on value and unjustified criteria.” HR-4, co-authored by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Panorama), also states: “… the Assembly implores the President-elect to reject any expansion of the ‘expedited removal’ process that operates without administrative oversight and robs individuals of due process.” It also “urges President-elect to continue President-Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which grants ‘Dreamers’ — people who were brought into the country as children by their parents — a temporary reprieve from deportation.”

Wantaway midfielder Luka Modric has returned to training with Tottenham at Spurs Lodge, the club have confirmed. Modric has been fined for missing training amid speculation of a move away, with Real Madrid thought to be the favourites for the Croatian's signature. He did not join Tottenham on their pre-season tour of the United States but was back at the club's training ground on Monday. Return A statement on the club's official website on Monday night read: "The club can confirm Luka Modric has returned to training today (Monday) at Spurs Lodge. The coaching staff will now determine the remainder of his pre-season preparation." Modric has stated his desire to leave the North London club this summer, having remained faithful to them last season after widespread interest - including from Chelsea, then managed by current Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas. Tottenham are willing to sell Modric at the right price, but it is understood they are looking for a fee nearer to £40million than the widely-reported figure of £35million. Manchester United and Paris St Germain are also reported to be interested in the 26-year-old. Manager Villas-Boas, currently in the States with Spurs, confirmed the midfielder had been fined for missing training. He said in a press conference in Los Angeles broadcast on Sky Sports News: "The situation as it stands is that the player is under club discipline for not being present. "There is close interest in him but we have to hold onto our values and our rights and at the moment the situation for Luka is that he is under club discipline. "Unfortunately for him he's going to have to be fined for the club for not being present. "He's a player who has offered so much for Tottenham so we also have a sense of respect for what he has done over here for us but the chairman feels the fact he is not present is not common professional behaviour. "Hopefully the situation can be solved in either of two ways, those being that the clubs' interest meets the demands of Tottenham regarding the player's value or the player continues and returns to club duty." Advice Asked if reports Modric was being fined £15,000 a day held any truth, the manager added: "I'm not sure on the extent of the amount. "Hopefully this isn't a situation that won't drag on for long. "We don't doubt his human qualities. We don't know what kind of advice he is receiving."

Thought of the Day is a new addition to my blog, where I hope to highlight some of the current and pertinent issues within the world of wildlife, in a condensed format. I hope the topics will stimulate discussions and an exchange of ideas. Don’t hesitate to let me know your views. Here’s today’s musing… There is relatively little financial reward for working in the wildlife sector, when compared to so many other professions. I’m struggling to think of another sphere of work that is so underfunded, underpaid and generally overlooked by government. You just never get the impression that wildlife conservation is a priority for many governments worldwide, and the pay and resources available to wildlife charities and other organisations reflects that. More often than not, supported by countless unpaid volunteers, but very few paid positions and even fewer adequately paid posts. For example, rangers tackling the poaching crisis across our planet generally speaking get very little financial reward for placing their lives in danger each day. There is no ‘bankers’ bonus’ for conducting painstaking – sometimes lifelong – research and conservation work in often environmentally and politically adverse locations, that can result in saving a species or entire ecosystem from extinction. I know of no other sector where you have to do so much for so little reward. But then again, the average conservationist’s moral compass functions a lot better than the average banker’s. Advertisements

A University of Kansas football player who KU kicked off campus for allegedly sexually assaulting two women followed his former coach to another NCAA Division I football team. It appears that happened without the knowledge of the new school’s top athletics officials, though it’s unclear exactly what — if any — university policy lapses enabled it. In new court filings, KU says its actions aren’t to blame for the banished player’s ability to join the other school’s team. The school the player transferred to has since kicked him off the team, disciplined the coach and changed admission procedures to prevent something similar from happening again, officials at Indiana State University said. With KU, at question is whether the player was technically expelled or allowed to withdraw immediately instead, and whether the misconduct was noted on his transcript. After learning the man joined Indiana State’s football team, the women accused KU of misleading them to believe he was expelled and questioned whether KU followed through with a nonacademic misconduct transcript notation, as university officials assured them would happen, according to Kansas City, Mo., attorney Dan Curry, who is representing both women in federal Title IX lawsuits against KU. With that understanding the women agreed to forgo a final hearing in which they could have challenged KU’s sanctions against John Doe G, as he’s called in the suits. On Friday, in a court filing responding to the women’s new accusations, KU attorneys said the women misunderstood. KU reiterated that university officials wrote to the women that the football player was “effectively permanently expelled” — emphasis on the word effectively. KU said he withdrew, was not eligible for readmission and was banned from campus for 10 years. “The most severe punishment the University can offer is to remove a student and prevent him from returning — which is what the University of Kansas did,” KU’s response said. KU, in the filing, said KU’s actions didn’t enable the man to transfer and suggested other “more plausible explanations” to account for how he got on another college football team. “He may have enrolled at the other university at a freshman level, without providing his University of Kansas college transcript; thus, the other university would not have been aware of the transcript and its notation,” KU’s attorneys wrote. “Another possibility is that the other university may have simply overlooked the notation on the transcript. Finally, another possibility is that the other university met with John Doe G and decided to admit him despite the notation. The University of Kansas does not know which, if any, of the above scenarios may have occurred.” Indiana State officials did not answer that question, but the school has revised its transfer student application to ensure the situation is not repeated, said Libby Roerig, Indiana State’s communications director. Specifically, she said, Indiana State added two questions that weren’t on the application before: • “Have you ever been suspended or expelled from an institution of higher education?” If yes, “Please identify the reason for this suspension or expulsion: Academic or Conduct/Behavior.” • “Have you had any communication with a member of the coaching staff at Indiana State University to participate in Division I athletics?” Indiana State Athletics also changed its vetting process for athletes, a process that traditionally is more stringent for those receiving scholarships. “Coaches have been asked to vet walk-on athletes more thoroughly,” Roerig said. Two women suing KU The women, who have since left KU, were both on KU’s rowing team. Their lawsuits allege the university failed to adequately investigate their sexual assault reports and discipline the man to protect them from retaliation and harassment as required by federal Title IX. Daisy Tackett was a freshman in fall 2014 when, she said in her lawsuit, one night after a Halloween party the football player raped her in his apartment at KU’s Jayhawker Towers, the on-campus facility where many athletes live. Tackett reported the rape to KU a year later, in October 2015, after another rower told her she’d been assaulted by the same man. Tackett did not file a police report. Sarah McClure was a week in to her freshman year on Aug. 29, 2015, when the football player sexually assaulted her in her apartment at Jayhawker Towers, where he also lived, McClure said in her lawsuit, filed under the name Jane Doe 7. In October 2015, McClure reported the assault to KU and also filed a police report, though the report did not result in criminal charges. The man remained enrolled and on KU’s football roster until March 2016. That’s when, according to the lawsuits, KU had finished its investigations, determined that it was more likely than not that he committed both assaults and disciplined him. Accused player finds a new team During KU’s investigation of the sexual assault reports, the accused player’s position coach, KU special teams coach Gary Hyman, was moved to an off-field role. That move, announced by KU head coach David Beaty and KU Athletics in late December 2015, was “football related,” said Jim Marchiony, KU associate athletics director for public affairs. Hyman soon left KU to become special teams coordinator at Indiana State, where he was hired in February 2016, according to Indiana State Athletics. A few months later, John Doe G settled in Terre Haute, too. He enrolled for the fall semester and walked on to the Sycamores’ football team, again practicing under coach Hyman. Indiana State removed him from the team Aug. 25, university spokeswoman Roerig said. Indiana State Athletics Director Sherard Clinkscales told Terre Haute’s Tribune-Star newspaper that he’d heard about accusations against the student the previous day, but didn’t say how. “The upper administration of the athletics department was not aware of the allegations surrounding [the student], and upon becoming aware of such information, he was removed immediately from the football team,” Clinkscales said in the Tribune-Star report. The student played two seasons at KU before transferring to Indiana State, but the Sycamores’ roster didn’t say that. Unlike typical roster listings for transfers, the Indiana State football roster did not list the player as a KU transfer before his name was removed, the Tribune-Star reported. The roster also listed him as a freshman instead of a junior, according to the Tribune-Star. KU and Indiana State officials declined to answer Journal-World and other media questions about when and how much Hyman knew about KU’s sexual assault investigations and disciplinary action against the player. The Journal-World was unable to reach Hyman last week. However, Indiana State disciplined Hyman in connection with the situation. He was suspended for two days, Roerig confirmed, Sept. 2 and Sept. 3, which included Indiana State’s home opener. “Based on the athletic director’s inquiry into the matter, he and the head coach determined the disciplinary action was appropriate,” Roerig said. Clinkscales told the Tribune-Star at the time: “We are 100 percent committed as a university, athletic department and football program to Title IX and all it entails… We have high expectations for all of our coaches, and this is not anything that is representative of all our departments. It’s an isolated instance. We just have to do a better job.” The former player remains enrolled as a student at Indiana State this semester, Roerig said. No transcript notation? Attorney Curry said his clients were angry and confused about how the man who assaulted them got a spot on another school’s football team. They are now questioning whether John Doe G’s misconduct was ultimately noted on his transcript as they were told. KU and Indiana State officials both declined to confirm last week whether his transcript has a notation, citing student privacy laws. See related story Oct. 23, 2016: Regents drop discussion on statewide transcript notation policy for sexual assault findings If the man had been technically expelled, under KU policy and past practice, his transcript should have a notation. When a student is expelled for sexual assault, KU’s policy is to place a notation on the student’s transcript indicating he or she was expelled for nonacademic misconduct, without further explanation, KU spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said. The policy is only for expulsions, not suspensions, she said. Federal student privacy laws allow schools to share details about misconduct findings with one another. Upon seeing such a transcript notation, officials from the admitting school can contact the student’s previous school to find out more before deciding whether to accept the student. “On a case-by-case basis we would check with a transferring student’s previous institution, and they would do likewise” Barcomb-Peterson said of KU’s practice of following up on nonacademic transcript notations. Previous students expelled for violating KU’s sexual harassment policy have received transcript notations. All 13 students expelled from spring 2012 to fall 2015 had their transcripts noted, according to KU’s publicly available list of sanctions doled out to sexual harassment policy violators, which was last updated in September 2015. The next most serious punishment on the list is suspensions, none of which indicated transcript notations. In March 18, 2016, letters emailed to both women, filed by Curry in federal court, KU vice provost for student affairs Tammara Durham said that a notation would be placed on the football player’s transcript. The letters say John Doe G “has been effectively permanently expelled from the University of Kansas. He was withdrawn from the university effective March 17, 2016. He is not eligible for readmission. A notation will be placed on [the man’s] transcript.” He also was banned from campus for 10 years. Durham also said, in a letter to McClure, that she personally met with the entire football team twice in fall 2015 and again in early March 2016 to provide training on sexual violence, and that KU’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center director would return in April to give the team more training on sexual harassment and consent. The football player requested that the charges against him be resolved without a formal hearing because he agreed to the listed disciplinary action, Durham said in the letter to McClure. “From the university’s perspective, this achieved what you requested and what was possible to obtain through the formal hearing process,” Durham wrote. Based on that, both women agreed to close the process without the hearing, according to correspondence filed in court. Curry has filed proposals to amend the women’s initial lawsuits with new accusations involving the expulsion and transcript notation questions. “KU sent John Doe G a different letter that informed him he was being allowed to withdraw in lieu of expulsion,” Curry wrote in court filings. “KU concealed the fact that they … permitted John Doe G to withdraw in lieu of expulsion while leading Plaintiff to belief he had been expelled for fear of being sued by John Doe G.” The court has yet to decide whether to allow the new accusations to be added to the petitions. Federal regulation drives investigations Title IX is the federal law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in education. It requires schools to investigate and adjudicate reports of sexual harassment — including sexual violence — to ensure students can access their educations in an environment that is not hostile. The Journal-World is not naming the male student in this case because he was not arrested, charged with a crime or named in the women’s civil lawsuits, and KU student affairs documents including his name are not public record. Attorneys representing his family have said in media reports that the man denies the women’s allegations of sexual assault. In accordance with federal Title IX guidance, KU finds responsibility for sexual harassment based on a preponderance of the evidence; that is, it is more likely than not that misconduct occurred — a lower burden of proof than the guilt beyond a reasonable doubt standard required in criminal cases. According to KU student affairs letters to the victims, filed in federal court, KU’s investigations found the football player responsible for engaging in sexual intercourse with Tackett without her consent and for fondling McClure’s breasts without her consent. The Journal-World does not identify people who claim to have been sexually assaulted but did so in this case because the women wanted their identities to be known publicly.

The simmering standoff between the police and Native Americans and their allies who oppose a giant oil pipeline project in North Dakota is the most visible sign of an emerging movement that is shifting the debate about how public lands across North America should be managed. From the rocky, pebbled beaches north of Seattle, where the Lummi Nation has led the fight against a proposed coal terminal, to southern Utah, where a coalition of tribes is demanding management rights over a proposed new national monument, to the tiny wooded community of Bella Bella, British Columbia, 350 miles north of the United States border, Native Americans are asserting old treaty rights and using tribal traditions to protect and manage federally owned land. “If you want to own it, you have to act like you own it,” said Kelly Brown, the director of resource management for the Heiltsuk Nation in Bella Bella. The Heiltsuk pressed the Canadian government for joint management of the local herring fishery and won this year through a campaign of sit-ins and political lobbying.

Given iPad mini sales weakness, management is placing a big bet on larger iPad screens. By lowering the entry-level cost of the 9.7-inch model to $329, Apple is looking to make the most appealing iPad size more accessible. At the same time, the company is offsetting margin and ASP pressure by moving up market with more capable iPad Pro SKUs and accessories. The Apple Pencil accessory is one of the most underrated Apple products in years. Solving the Mac Dilemma Since large screen iPads having shown much more resiliency over the past few years, Apple's recent iPad changes seem peculiar. Why double down on the iPad now? Apple is pushing the iPad like never before in order to solve its Mac dilemma. Ultimately, management has two options for the Mac: Double down. From a product perspective, there is a clear path forward for the laptop and desktop form factors at Apple. The company could continue bringing elements of mobile to the Mac. Apple can control more of the core technologies powering the Mac, and this would include bringing a version of iOS to the laptop and desktop form factors. The effort would take years to accomplish and utilize a significant amount of resources. Move beyond the Mac. This option would begin with more sporadic updates to the Mac line and then eventually lead to Apple placing less and less attention on the category as other products gain priority and resources. While Apple would still sell Macs, it would become clear that the company's focus is on newer products designed to handle the tasks currently given to the Mac. Management faces a difficult choice between the two options as the Mac is still selling very well. The product category is bringing in nearly $23B of revenue per year, $4B more than iPad thanks to a much higher ASP. Some companies are powered by Macs (although Apple executives seem to rely quite a bit on their iPads these days). Tens of millions of users rely on Macs to get work done every day. A portion of these users are adamant that a move away from Mac is nearly impossible given their current workflows. My suspicion is that Apple is pushing larger screen iPads because management is determined to move beyond the Mac. Apple thinks now is the time to raise awareness that the iPad is a legitimate PC alternative for hundreds of millions of consumers. A move away from the Mac goes against much of the public commentary from Apple management. Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, and others have been quick to mention Apple's long-term commitment to the Mac with Phil Schiller even saying the laptop form factor will be around for another 25 years. However, management's recent actions speak louder: Tim Cook calling the iPad the clearest expression of Apple's vision of the future of personal computing. The new iPad Pro ad campaign elevating the iPad at the expense of Mac. Aggressive iPad pricing highlighting Apple's desire to position the device for mass market consumption, while Mac pricing is more reflective of a niche product. The iPad Strategy As seen in Exhibit 4, the sales gap between large screen iPads and Mac peaked five years ago. The gap has since closed, with large screen iPad sales bouncing around 30M units annually and Mac sales seeing a slight improvement to 19M units. If Mac were to outsell iPad, this would certainly make Apple's goal in moving beyond the Mac that much more difficult. It would demonstrate how Apple has a serious problem on its hand as the iPad is not able to entice users away from Mac. Management is interested in avoiding that outcome. Apple wants to push iPad sales now like never before in order to widen the sales gap between iPad and Mac. Large screen iPads have experienced some momentum in recent months. Management is building off that strength to unveil a broader campaign to boost iPad sales. If Apple is successful in increasing large screen iPad sales to a 40M unit sales annual pace (a 30% increase from current levels), iPad would be outselling Mac by 2x. This would certainly help change the iPad versus Mac narrative in the marketplace, giving Apple that much more motivation to dedicate attention and resources to other products. Exhibit 4: Mac, Large Screen iPad Unit Sales (TTM)

Enter one or two keywords to search my sayings. Hint: keep it simple, like life or moving on Facebook share Tweet This Email this Beauty Quotes and Sayings Quotes about Beauty by Jonathan Lockwood Huie There is beauty and adventure in the commonplace for those with eyes to see beyond. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Related topics: Inspirational Wisdom Best-Quotes Perspective Vision Gratitude The beauty does not live out there; the beauty's in my eyes. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Do not blame the thistle that you see no beauty. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Like Beauty, Joy and Suffering are in the Eye of the Beholder. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Please sign-up for my Free Inspirational Daily Email on the form below. Sign-up for your free subscription to my Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote email. Your E-Mail Address: Your Name: To confirm your subscription, you must click on a link in the email being sent to you. Each email contains an unsubscribe link. We will NEVER sell, rent, loan, or abuse your email address in ANY way. See beauty in the familiar. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Choose to See Beauty and Joy: Much in life can be seen as ugly or beautiful - it's our choice. Why would we choose to see any part of life as ugly? - Jonathan Lockwood Huie You have a choice about the perspective you take on life. See tragedy, and the world is tragic - see beauty, and the world is beautiful. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Flowers are Nature's messengers - reminders of an unspeakable beauty. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie There is beauty and serenity in the eye of the storm. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Pause to appreciate the beauty around you. Whether rainbow or butterfly, mountain or tree, painting or poem - whether crafted by nature or by a human hand - beauty adds a magical element to life that surpasses logic and science. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie My own gratitude list begins with health, family, friends, and the beauty around me - from the butterflies and rainbows, to the dolphins, to the birds, to the works produced by the human hand. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Look closely... See with new eyes... Don't just pass by what is familiar without a thought. Pay attention and look closely. There is beauty - there is discovery - there in a whole new world hiding beneath the face of the familiar. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Take time today to appreciate beauty - natural beauty, art, people. Slow down, breathe deeply, smile. It's a beautiful world. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Adventure Quotes and Sayings Know that the greatest fear is fear of the unknown. Seek to meet the unknown with courage and a sense of adventure. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Life is an adventure. I can only wonder what treasure awaits at the top of the path. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Choose what lies in the shadows to be a matter for discovery and adventure, rather than fear. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie How do you want to be remembered? Live life full out - Begin today. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Choose to be as a young child - fully awake, eager for the next experience. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Choose to soar. Choose to fly your dreams. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Life is always lived in the eye-of-the-storm - Jonathan Lockwood Huie No one was ever named "Hero" for following the crowd. Heroes set their own course. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Life is lived in the living. Set aside convention, caution, and arbitrary "rules" about how life is supposed to be lived. Choose! Explore! Adventure! Live life to the fullest. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Winners Dream Big Dreams. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Powerful Dreams Inspire Powerful Action. When you can taste, smell, and touch your dreams, you can enroll the world. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Life expands to fill your dreams. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I set my own course through the ocean of life. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I welcome change as a great adventure. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I Act with Bold Courage: Standing in the inspiring vision of my future, I boldly take every step - large and small - with courage and intent. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Adventure is the child of courage. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Know that your life is designed to be an adventure. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I sail the seas of life as the MASTER of my ship. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Today is your day to dance lightly with life, sing wild songs of adventure, invite rainbows and butterflies out to play, soar your spirit, and unfurl your joy. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Remember that life is an ADVENTURE, and cheer Whee... all the way down the slippery razor-blade of life. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Dance Lightly With Life: Today is your day to dance lightly with life, sing wild songs of adventure, soar your spirit, unfurl your joy. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Action is our greatest weapon against fear. Left to molder, fear grows upon itself, but in the face of action, fear is left in the dust. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie To the young child, all life is a great adventure - when did we grow so dull and brittle. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie The unknown is like the darkness of a cave - it can be illuminated by the brief light of one adventurer's small candle. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I won't give up 'til goats sing and walruses fly. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I ride the storm - cheering wildly. I gather strength from the storm. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Drive Change, don't wait for change to drive you. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie CHOOSE your future, and take ACTION - be the hammer, not the nail. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Ride the storm. Cheer wildly. Gather strength from life's storms. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Life is a dangerous - ultimately fatal - endeavor, so you may as well live it full out. Chart your course, cast off the lines, and boldly sail the seas of life. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Know that you sail the seas of life as the master of your own ship. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Scuttle the Assumptions, dash the Expectations, and hoist the sails of CHOICE to harness the winds of JOY. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Today is your day to Spread Wing and Soar. Fly Life on Free Wings, and Sing to its Glory. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Play full-out and enjoy all of Life. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Powerful Dreams Inspire Powerful Action. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Be curious; be adventurous; live life full-out. Accept the challenge, and reach for the brass ring. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Our opportunity is to Soar our Spirit. To see Light and Joy in everything. To spread our wings and fly boldly. To give thanks for rainbows and butterflies - our symbols of renewal and rebirth. To offer daily Thanksgiving - for ourselves, our family, our friends, our community, for the whole world. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Take charge of your life! You are responsible to yourself - not to others. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Paint Your Life In Bold Colors. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Welcome the Unexpected. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Be Utterly and Dependably Unexpected. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Choose wisely - then act decisively. Do it today! - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Cherish the uncertainty of life's adventures. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I Walk Today's March With Courage. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Dream. Begin. Persevere. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Make Today count. Today - each Today - is the most important day of your life. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie We all have an instinctive fear of the unseen. Make a conscious effort to discover and embrace the unfamiliar - to view the unknown not as a lurking monster, but as a glorious adventure. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Incite a riot of new ideas. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Take Action - Now. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie The path of the adventurer is a path of joy. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie When was the last time you took a different route to work ... just because? Consider shaking up your life a little (or a lot) ... for no reason, except to do it. Let your life be an adventure. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie If you want to do it, Do It - TODAY. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie In the midst of crisis, boldly seize opportunity. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Curiosity keeps one young - in thought and in action. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie I Sing Wild Songs Of Adventure. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Take the initiative - don't wait for life to come to you. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Consciously adopt the mindset of a young child, to whom all of life is a grand adventure. Life is your playground. Fashion grand castles and sweeping boulevards, defeat fire-breathing dragons, leap tall buildings in a single bound. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Happiness cannot thrive within the prison of obligation. Live wild, life free, live as master of your own fate. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Thank you for visiting these Beauty Quotes and Sayings - Quotes about Beauty. Please sign up on the form below to receive my Free Daily Inspiration - Daily Quotes email. You can also search the sayings (Quotes) I have composed. May the world be kind to you, and may your own thoughts be gentle upon yourself. - Jonathan Lockwood Huie Sign-up for free Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote email Daily inspirational quotes and motivational thoughts for joyful living, Enter Your E-Mail Address: Enter Your Name (what you want to be called) : Put my Daily Positive Affirmation widget on your own blog, website, email signature, or anywhere else that accepts html. <a href= "http://www.jonathanlockwoodhuie.com/"><img src= "http://www.jonathanlockwoodhuie.com/?format=jpg" alt="" /></a> Get a Positive Daily Affirmation each day by email or in your feed reader. Jonathan Lockwood Huie "Philosopher of Happiness" I am an author, trainer, personal coach, and speaker, creator of the Regaining Your Happiness in Seven Weeks 2.0 e-Training Program, creator of the popular Daily Inspiration - Daily Quote free email, author of 100 Secrets for Living a Life You Love.

Harmonix has announced details of Rock Band 3, including its keyboard controller and Pro mode. Gameplay for the 25-key MIDI keyboard will be closer to the real-life equivalent than ever, with a full two-octave range. Pro mode, however, takes this further. New guitar controllers based on the Fender Squier Stratocaster (official) and Fender Mustang Pro (Mad Catz) will have six actual strings to strum. In-game, Pro mode's notations will be closer to real music, and the guitars will interpret your input in a way that, ultimately, will mean you are learning how to play the instrument in real life too. Drummers will have three new cymbals to master on their standard four-drum pads, while vocalists already know about the inclusion of Beatles and Green Day-style harmonies. Other modes include a new goal-based career with a story, and it will be possible to drop in and out of gameplay without disrupting song playback. Which is just as well, because bands can now have up to seven members playing at once. Good news for those of you who have been hoarding Rock Band Music Store downloads, too - Harmonix is promising a new filtering system. Check out a USA Today report on YouTube to see a bit of the game in action. Rock Band 3 is due out this autumn.

My wife’s photos misused in a Czech hoax! I had never imagined my photographs would be used to fool so many media outlets in Europe and Asia! Here’s how it all went down… Any photographer is happy for wider audience to see their photos, so when I got an email from somebody in the Czech Republic back in 2009 asking if they could use some photos I’d taken of my wife during our time in China, I was happy to share. Here’s the email he sent me on Flickr explaining what the photos would be used for (at the time, yanglong7 was my Flickr name – Yang Long is my Chinese name that I used for convenience when living in China): At the time, I was young and green, and had never imagined I’d ever be able to use photography in a professional context, so I was just happy that someone had liked some photos I’d taken enough to want to use them for something that would be published. So, considering they promised a copy of the book the photos were to be used for, I agreed. I think excitement at the prospect of getting photos published clouded my judgement at that time! It wasn’t until a Vietnamese friend of mine posted a link on my Facebook page that I realised the photos had been misused. The link was to an article in a Vietnamese paper about a Vietnamese-Czech writer who had won a literary prize in the Czech Republic for a novel she’d written. My friend had posted it, as she thought the author looked remarkably like my (then) girlfriend. She WAS my girlfriend! The guy who had asked for the photos had used her photos and claimed that they were in fact the author Lan Pham Thi. I thought to myself “Wow, this author must be pretty damned ugly if they’ve agreed to have someone else’s photos represent them”! But at the time, I didn’t know just how deep the deceit went or how many people would be fooled. When the book this author had written won a literary prize in Europe, Czech and Vietnamese media outlets all scrambled to publish articles about her, all of which featured photos of my girlfriend (now wife)! I emailed the guy, saying that I had not agreed for her photos to be used in other publications, especially in a misleading way, and he said “I’m sorry, somebody at one of the the newspapers misused the photos”. He agreed to send me $100 to make up for it. Naive me thought the guy must be genuine, especially when the money actually arrived to me in Australia, so I gave the guy the benefit of the doubt. It was only down the track when I used Google images to search for some of my photos to see which ones had been stolen (it happens a lot when you have stuff in Flickr), that I discovered the true extent of the hoax. It turns out that there is no Lan Pham Thi at all! She was a fabrication. The man who had asked me for use of the photos was actually a Czech writer called Jan Cempirek. He had written a novel called “White Horse, Yellow Dragon” about racism experienced by a Vietnamese girl in the Czech Republic, and used the fictitious author’s name. The Wikipedia page about Mr Cempirek outlines the hoax. As does this article and this one. Again, translate to English in Chrome. Most interesting is this interview with Cempirek after it all came to the light. For those of you that can read Vietnamese, here’s a link to the Tuoi Tre coverage of the fictitious writer before the world knew the truth, and another article written after the truth came out. Now I know that it’s common for authors to use pseudonyms, and it’s quite interesting the extent to which this guy went to to create a whole identity for Lan Pham Thi (she even had her own blog), but what got me mad was the way the images were used for a purpose different from the one I had agreed to, and that they were then (and still are) plastered on countless Czech and Vietnamese websites without my consent. A hundred bucks isn’t enough to make up for that betrayal of trust. As I said, I was naive at the time, and I guess that’s how you learn. These days, there’s little that can be done about theft or misuse of images (at least without a great deal of expense). Seems my wife attracts this kind of thing, because this image… …is offered as a mobile phone screen background here, despite my requests for them to remove it. The desire to share images with a wider audience by displaying them online has a large drawback in the likelihood of your work being stolen or misused. For me, sharing the world through my eyes will always be more of a motivating factor to pick up the camera than financial incentive, so I will continue to share my photos online. I will, however, be a little smarter about how I do it.

As subprime mortgages tanked in May 2007, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress “At this juncture, however, the impact on the broader economy and financial markets of the problems in the subprime market seems likely to be contained”. Coming at the start of the biggest bust since the Depression he made his name studying, it might be best to take his utterances with a pinch of salt. So it with his latest, defending the Federal Reserve from charges that its rampant money printing, academically dignified as ‘quantitative easing’, is causing the commodity price rises which, in food prices, helped trigger the unrest that is shaking the Middle East. Last week Bernanke claimed that his injection of $600 billion dollars into the economy was not inflationary. Commenting on a rise in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s food price index to 230.7 points from 206 points in November, Bernanke said “Clearly what’s happening is not a dollar effect, it’s a growth effect” This came soon after Bernstein, a research house whose oil price predictions proved uncannily accurate in 2010, predicted an average price of $90 per barrel over 2011. Cotton prices hit a 150 year high. Bernanke is surely right that demand pull pressures are playing a role in this. According to the International Energy Agency global oil use is predicted to be 89 million barrels per day this year, up 17% from the 2001 figure of 76 million barrels per day. But the price, $30 per barrel in 2001, has tripled. Plainly something else is also at work. We have been here before. The 1970’s were famously a decade of rising prices. In 1975 future Nobel Laureate Robert Mundell produced a paper titled ‘Inflation From an International Viewpoint’. He noted that the Bretton Woods arrangement of fixed but variable currencies, in which the dollar was tied to gold at $35 an ounce and other countries fixed to the dollar, had broken down due to excessive pressure on the dollar-gold link by excessive money creation by the Federal Reserve. Realising the weakness of the link holders of dollars began to cash them in for gold. It soon became apparent that there wasn’t enough gold in the US to redeem all these promises so, on August 15th 1971, President Nixon suspended dollar convertibility. Without the ‘wobbly anchor’ of the gold link the Fed’s printing presses could run free. Almost immediately, as noted by Nathan Lewis in his book ‘Gold – The Once and Future Money’, OPEC members, who priced their oil in dollars, became understandably worried about being paid in increasingly worthless dollars. In September 1971 OPEC resolved that Member Countries shall take necessary action and/or shall establish negotiations, individually or in groups, with the oil companies with a view to adopting ways and means to offset any adverse effects on the per barrel real income of Member Countries resulting from the international monetary developments of 15th August 1971 Mundell recorded, as quoted in the excellent new book ‘Econoclasts’ by Brian Domitrovic, Confidence in currencies in general declined and a shift out of money and financial assets commenced. A worldwide ‘scarcity’ of land and…raw materials…emerged. [Soon] the prices of metals, foods and minerals more than doubled. Shortages of beef, sugar and grains appeared, but gold and oil led to the most dramatic ‘crises’ and received the most attention from the public Sound familiar? As now, the blame was placed on supply and demand factors. Rocketing oil prices were blamed on the OPEC embargo which followed the Yom Kippur war in 1973. This despite the fact that oil prices had been rising rapidly before the embargo, since, in fact, Nixon’s floating of the dollar. As Lewis notes, following Robert Bartley’s ‘The Seven Fat Years’, Oil had traded around $2.90 per barrel, or 1/12 ounce of gold, at $35 per ounce. On the eve of the “oil shocks”, with the dollar around $100 per ounce and OPEC still accepting about $2.90 per barrel for oil, the OPEC producers were getting only 1/35 of an ounce of gold for their oil. After they pushed the price to around $10 a barrel in early 1974, with the dollar around $120 per ounce and falling, they were getting around 1/12 ounce of gold for a barrel of oil. OPEC was simply raising its prices, like every other shopkeeper, in response to currency devaluation CRB futures The same was true of other commodities. Wheat, corn and soybean prices began rising on the demise of Bretton Woods. As Lewis notes [OPEC] was actually rather late to the game; prices of most other internationally traded commodities had been rising in response to the sinking dollar since the late 1960’s. There had already been a sharp rise in food prices in 1972 – 1973 This didn’t stop policymakers fishing for explanations in the now discredited ‘Population Bomb’ as they laid the blame for rising oil prices at the door of OPEC. These, Lewis says, gave the country a popular foreign scapegoat when it’s elites weren’t quite ready to accept the fact that they had brought the disaster upon themselves As we face similar circumstances now, just pose this simple thought exercise to people: divide the number of dollars in the world by the number of units of a given commodity to get its price. Now double the number of dollars and do the same thing. What happens? As we’ve noted here before, Keynes once famously wrote Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose. The whirring of Ben Bernanke’s printing press overturning the unpopular regimes of the Middle East. Will it stop there?

Marathon Ventures recalled seven brands of packaged raw macadamia nuts over a possible salmonella contamination. The recalled products were sold between July 2, 2015 and Feb. 3, 2016, through grocery, foodservice, other retail outlets, including Target stores, and direct mail orders via company website nationwide, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Consumers who have purchased the items should not consume the product and instead return it to the store of purchase for a full refund or replacement, the FDA says. The recalled brands and products include: UPC BRAND PRODUCT DESCRIPTION UNIT WT CODE DATE / LOT NUMBER LOT CODE LOCATION 0 15400 86635 4 Shurfine Macadamia Diced Nuts 5oz / 142g Best By: 2 SEP 2016 Front of bag - top right 0 15400 16635 5 Western Family Macadamia Diced Nuts 5oz / 142g Best By: 3 AUG 2016 Front of bag - top right Best By: 4 AUG 2016 Front of bag - top right Best By: 2 SEP 2016 Front of bag - top right 0 75450 13287 8 HyVee Macadamia Nuts 2oz / 57g Best By: 10 JUL 2016 Back of bag - mid right 0 85239 52108 3 Market Pantry Chopped Macadamia Nuts 2.25oz / 64g Best By: 13 AUG 2016 Back of bag - right side Best By: 11 SEP 2016 Back of bag - right side 0 75049 42186 4 Pear's Gourmet Macadamia Nuts Raw 16oz / 454g Best By: 11 SEP 2016 Front of bag - near top Best By: 25 SEP 2016 Front of bag - near top 06509 Cash-Wa Distributing Macadamia Nuts Raw 5lbs / 2.27kg 15204 Bot right on case label 15260 Bot right on case label Bulk Case Nutpro C.C. Macadamia Nuts Style #5 25lbs 79818 Case label For more information, consumers may direct their questions to Marathon Ventures. at (402) 934-8223 or via e-mail at qa@marathonventuresinc.com.

Tornadoes rattle Midwest and South leaving thousands without power as nation braces for ANOTHER Arctic blast Flash floods hit Illinois as snow began to melt on Thursday As many as 24,000 people were without power in the state into Friday Storm also cut power as it moved across the South and downed trees More than 1,400 flights canceled so far on Friday Wintry storm will slam Midwest this weekend as temperatures plunge to 20F below normal - before the real biting weather arrives next week Heavy snow will also be dumped on the area while the Northeast will be whipped by heavy winds and the South will get rain Severe storms have lumbered through Illinois and the South - damaging homes, sparking floods and knocking out power to thousands as the nation braces for yet another Arctic blast. Hail the size of golf balls fell in Illinois overnight, while possible tornadoes left 24,000 people without power and flash floods swept through towns as snow began to melt. Tennessee was also rattled by high winds and rain as the storms plunged 4,450 customers into darkness before heading east, where tornado warnings remain in effect, CNN reported. In Alabama, homes suffered damage and vehicles were overturned, while trees were downed in Georgia. Scroll down for video Storm: A photograph shows a tornado rattling Illinois on Thursday evening as the area suffered a stormy night Destruction: Green Valley Circle homes are damaged in Fort Payne, Alabama during a storm early on Friday Upturned: Tractor trailers lie overturned in Fort Payne, Alabama during a possible tornado Damage: A tornado also touched down in Laurens County, Ga. at around 8:30am on Friday As Southerners held on to their hats amid more tornado warnings on Friday, the Midwest, Great Lakes and the Northeast prepared for wintry storms. Blizzard conditions are forecast for Minnesota and Iowa, and strong winds are expected across the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, The Weather Channel reported. Tornado and severe thunderstorm watches are in effect for much of Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. And the heavy rain and warming temperatures also sparked flood watches in Cleveland, Philadelphia and Buffalo, New York. By Friday afternoon, more than 1,400 flights had been canceled, with more than 10,000 delayed, according to FlightAware, with eastern airports most affected. Surveying the damage: Residents of an apartment look for damage after the fierce winds in Fort Payne Downed: Crews work in the aftermath of the storm that hit in northern Laurens County, Georgia on Friday Flooded: A car drives through a large puddle in Ann Arbor, Michigan as snow melted in warmer temperatures Warnings: A forecast for Friday shows tornado warnings in the southeast and heavy winds in the north The Weather Service said there were as many as eight tornadoes in central Illinois on Thursday and that towns had reported damaged buildings and minor injuries. 'We have some power lines down and a little water in the road in some places,' Pam Jacobs, the director of the Effingham County Emergency Management Agency, told CNN. John Dwyer, the emergency management coordinator for Champaign County, reported road flooding and water in fields, which he said was caused by rain on Thursday and melted snow. The storms will be met with snow and freezing temperatures this weekend and into next week. The wintry weather is expected to hit the Midwest on Sunday, bringing temperatures as low as 35 degrees below normal. After rattling the Midwest, it will stretch into the South and East at the start of next week, according to Weather Underground. On its way: A map shows the frigid weather on its way to the country early next week Snow escape: A 6 to 10 day forecast shows a swathe of cold temperatures expected to hit the country next week - with the Midwest, South and East expected to get temperatures colder than normal Chill: A runner passes the lake shore in Chicago on Friday as strong winds rattled the city A six-to-ten-day forecast from NOAA also reveals a terrifying swathe of cold temperatures starting in the Midwest on Tuesday and stretching south and to the coast - where the mercury is expected to plummet to temperatures below average, while a higher than average amount of rain is also due. 'Temperatures 20°F below normal will likely invade the Upper Midwest on Sunday, and gradually spread southeastwards during the week,' Dr Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground said. 'The peak cold is predicted to occur late next week, with temperatures 20 - 35° below normal covering much of the eastern 2/3 of the country.' Ten-day forecasts by Weather.com show that temperatures will stay below freezing, with Embarrass, Minnesota enduring lows of -29F next Friday. And it won't be over quickly as forecaster predict that the best chance of snow is believed to be between February 26 and March 3, as temperatures on the East Coast remain at least 15 degrees below normal, Philly.com reported. Here we go again: An image taken in January in Detroit, Michigan shows a homeowner shoveling snow in scenes that are expected to continue for the rest of the month following a brief thaw in the Midwest Brutal: Another file image shows a man battling cold temperatures in Michigan. This weekend, temperatures around 20 F below normal are expected to creep into the area Masters added that due to these predicted temperatures, the cost of natural gas is soaring. This latest Arctic blast follows a major thaw across the Midwest, where temperatures remained above freezing in Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit for the second day. But Dr Masters warned that with these warmer climes - with temperatures reaching the low 50s - come new problems of dangerous flash flooding. 'Much of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, and Indiana are covered by snows of 10 to 30 inches that if melted, would be equivalent to 2 to 6 inches of rain,' he said. In New York City, there are other warnings - as sheets of ice are falling from buildings as temperatures begin to rise, posing risks for pedestrians below. New storm: A forecast shows the Northeast can expect high winds on Saturday, while the Midwest will see heavy snow from Monday as the South suffers heavier rain Cold ahead: A March forecast shows temperatures will remain below normal in the Midwest for the month It will come as yet more grief for the Midwest, southern and eastern areas of the country, which has been battered with grueling weather while the West largely suffers from droughts. The relentless snow and ice storms this season have been connected to scores of traffic-related deaths and have led to the highest number of flight cancellations in more than 25 years.

I’ve never been to South Africa, but during the Oscar Pistorius trial I became more aware of Johannesburg. It is, I learned, one of the most dangerous cities on Earth, and has become a city armed against itself. Here’s how one blogger describes it: Crime is for real and is definitely no joke. Every single person I have met has a scary tale, so it is understandable that they are vigilant in all aspects of their daily life. That explains why SA homes are built more like fortresses than houses. Seriously, when you walk down the street here there are lawns in front of lovely homes, but they all lie behind huge layers of security. The typical view when walking down the street is wall, gate, electric fence, wall, gate, dog, fence. You don’t see lawns and homes unobstructed. Instead you see fences, gates, walls, and signs all designed to keep the people inside safe and keep the criminals out. Many of the fences and walls are topped with razor wire and are electrified. And it seems to be every residential street in the city. Here are the first three spots around Johannesburg I picked randomly on Google Street View: Norfolk Avenue: Dunnotar Street: St. Gothard Avenue: Johannesburg is a violent place, but one aspect of all the wall-building is the legacy of Apartheid. The result is streetscapes that feel like a city under siege. Halifax’s older neighbourhoods stand in stark contrast to Johannesburg’s walled city. Here, for example, is Maynard Street, north of Cunard Street: Here’s Fuller Terrace: Here’s the east side of Bauer Street: It’s not just that there are no walls on the Halifax streets; there’s also an attractive, inviting transition from private to public spaces. Although there are certainly property lines, there is no clear visible delineation from the household to the sidewalk. A resident might be tending the gardens along the street; a neighbour could sit on the porch to talk. Happenstance meetings, like running into someone as they’re leaving their house, are not just possible but likely. This is a walkable, welcoming neighbourhood. You don’t need a wall to destroy the aesthetic. I’ve written about the west side of Bauer Street before: These are buildings on the west side of the street, which were evidently built somewhat recently. Note the garages dominating the first level facade, and the accompanying curb cuts and concrete driveways. The curb cuts remove on-street parking, and so residents are parking on the driveways. The result is a very pedestrian-unfriendly stretch of sidewalk, and no front porches that are conducive to interaction between neighbours and pedestrians. So while you don’t need a wall to destroy the pedestrian-friendly, welcoming aesthetic, it certainly helps. Consider the new apartment building at the corner of Harris and Maynard Streets: The border between private and public spaces is clearly demarcated, and walking along the building provides no visual breaks, no reason to care: Likewise, the new apartment building at Maynard and Roberts Streets: The building is going for a sort of industrial chic. I’ll leave it for others to decide if that works for them, but the effect on the sidewalk is this: Walking down Maynard Street is beginning to feel like walking down a Johannesburg-like city under siege. The buildings are in the neighbourhood but not part of the neighbourhood. The residents of the new buildings are walled off from their neighbours, and the implicit message is that people out there are dangerous. In a racially diverse neighbourhood like this, the symbolism is corrosive and unhealthy. This is not a new phenomenon. Consider the old West Street fire station, between the two new buildings, which doesn’t even have a window looking out onto the street: New buildings don’t have to be built as fortresses. Consider Almon Street, west of Isleville Street. Here’s a new-ish building on the south side of the street built as a fortress, with an unwelcoming sidewalk wall: And here’s the north side of the same block, with another new building: Note how the shop windows and flower boxes blur the visual boundary between private and public spaces, and help to create an inviting, welcoming sidewalk. This is precisely why ground-floor retail is desired in new large apartment buildings: it brings life to the street. But it’s possible to create that inviting, welcoming sidewalk space even when the ground floor is residential. Here’s the new St. Joseph’s Square building: There is no street-side walling off of the public, and the ground floor residential units are placed such that, again, the visual lines between public and private space are blurred, and the sidewalk is welcoming: The retail spaces work, too: That said, I’m creeped out by the rear of the building, which seems to loom over the school playground: Across the street from St. Joseph’s Square, and also across the street from the Hydrostone Market, is the ugliest building in Halifax: There are a lot of reasons why this building is so ugly, but one of them is, yep, the sidewalk wall: As I’ve written before: Consider this: you’re going to build an apartment building directly across from the Hydrostone Market, a remarkable bit of post-Explosion urban planning focused on small retail spaces and walkability, complete with a pocket park, and you build this? The apartment building is like a black hole in the Hydrostone, managing to suck all street life out of existence by walling off the sidewalks. Any sensible developer would have wanted to capitalize on the street life and put in small retail spaces at ground level — as have the new buildings (hosting Getaway butchers and the Starbucks, etc.) to the west; those buildings add to the neighbourhood experience, but the pedestrian comes up against the black hole of this monstrosity, and I fear the Hydrostone won’t recover until some sane person takes a wrecking ball to the thing. Our city planners like to say they’re all about building pedestrian-oriented neighbourhoods with interesting streetscapes, and yet time and time again new buildings are being built with sidewalk walls that destroy the pedestrian experience. I don’t know what has to be changed to make it happen, but we’ve got to end the Johannesburgization of the north end.

This time, I’ll be talking about the winning works of 30th Fantasia Grand Prize, an annual light novel award held by light novel publisher Fujimi Shobo. These new works will be published under Fantasia Bunko label on January 20, 2018. A special campaign has also been updated on the official website, in which the heroines from each of the works are voiced by four popular voice actresses. So, without further ado, let’s go over these four new titles! Grand Prize Winner: Kane wa Haisha no Mawarimono Author: Nagi Kujou / Illustrator: Mika Pikazo Heroine Voice: Maaya Uchida Synopsis: There is a money that can buy anything. And yet, there is still a wish that it can’t buy. A money that can buy various miracles, “Magic Stone Currency”. Haito Ushinai, a boy who is fighting for that money, comes into possession of a girl called Maria from the assets that he won one day. However, the value that the girl possesses is so unusual that it drags the two into endless competition!? This is the story that has been all over my head for months ever since I read about the synopsis in a Dragon Magazine issue in September. Playing around the theme of money, assets, and battle, it quickly invoked my memory of Tatsunoko’s 2011 anime, C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control. I can’t wait to read the whole thing and find out if it can really live up to the premise. Gold Prize Winner + Judge Special Award + Web Reader Award: Renai Shijou Toshi no Couple Author: Yuu Shinomiya / Illustrator: Kekocha Heroine Voice: Sakura Ayane Synopsis: Well then, Senpai! Let’s save the world while being all lovey-dovey with Aiha today! The world where Yuuya and Aiha, the strongest Couple (Twin Knights), were sent to for a mission—is the “Romance Supreme City” where the energy born from romantic feelings is converted to power!? The two who are expected to fight in order to slay the demon king are forced to… “please hug me tightly and gently,” hug each other in the middle of battle, “Senpai, your face is too close… My heart isn’t ready yet,” do a kabedon while training, “this combat wear’s skirt is too short…” and wear borderline erotic clothes!? Despite always maintaining an audacious attitude towards Yuuya, Aiha who actually has feelings for him can’t hide her heart’s pounding!? Skinship that gradually becomes extreme, all for the sake of saving the world! A lovey-dovey battle fantasy of the Couple inexperienced about love! This is the work that won the most number of awards, and it’s as you can see: a pretty generic battle light novel with a simple premise. The fact that a H-doujin artist is being responsible for the illustrations, you can definitely expect actual lewd stuff. The fact that Ayaneru is in charge of the heroine’s voice is probably a huge plus. Gold Prize: Otasuke Chara Kanojo ga Iru Wake Nai Janai Desu ka Author: Hamubane / Illustrator: sune Heroine Voice: Mai Kadowaki Synopsis: I’m only keeping her secret, it’s not like I’m her boyfriend… right? My classmate Shoukawa-san is a Light Magical Girl. (She’s so cuuuuute!) I’ve promised to back her up in order to hide her identity, but—”Please don’t transform in the middle of the classsssss!” It turned out she’s a huge klutz! In order to be able to back her up, I will have to be prepared to spend more time together with her…. “Shoukawa-san! Please (physically) go out with me!” “Ah, okay.” All right! With this, eating lunch together, going to school together, going to the amusement park together—my follow-up as her support character is perfect! …Hm? Lovers? No, no, there is no way that a support character like me has a girlfriend, right? A misunderstanding love comedy full of unawareness! So basically, a klutz magical girl and a protagonist who becomes her “fake boyfriend” in order to be able to help her hide her identity. Personally not so intrigued with the plot, but we’ll see. Tomohiko Itou Prize / Special Award: Judgment/Blood Author: Yuuhei Hasebe / Illustrator: Byulzzi Heroine Voice: Aika Kobayashi Synopsis: Engraving the way of vampire on the world, a moral reform battle action! “You lot, don’t you have any self-consciousness as a vampire?” In the near future where the vampires are living out in the open, the anti-vampire organization “Kessen Kyoku” member Ibuki Shinguu is faced with an unforeseen fate of becoming a scout for a True Ancestor vampire one day. Ibuki who was fully prepared for death in the negotiation was met with a surprise… “I wish to join the Kessen Kyoku.” “Alright.” The True Ancestor Victoria accepts the offer!? However, Victoria who was supposed to be invited as a deterrent actually resents the current disorderly state of the vampire world. Reforming the defective ones, taking over fights within her family, sometimes getting hooked on a vampire anime—before she realized, Victoria’s actions have caused an uproar in the world more than anyone else! A moral reform battle action of the one who is both the starting point and the top of vampires! Tomohiko Itou Prize is a special award given by Tomohiko Itou, one of A-1 Pictures’ anime directors who was responsible for Sword Art Online, Silver Spoon, Erased, and a lot other works. Knowing that, I guess it makes sense that a story like this made it; it definitely sounds like something A-1 would animate in years to come. A vampire voiced by Yohane‘s voice actress also sounds like a huge bait. Advertisements

This is an April Fools article This article is a Blizzard April Fools joke. Its content is not part of official Warcraft lore, but represents one of Blizzard's jokes. Please do not edit these notes as they were originally posted by Caydiem on the Official Forums as a 2006 April Fool. 1.11.0 Patch Notes Edit Live Patch Notes Disclaimer: While we make every effort to include all upcoming changes in our patch notes, please be aware that occasionally some changes are unintentionally omitted. World of Warcraft Client Patch 1.11.0 (2006-04-01) Edit New Dungeon Visitation Limitation System Edit Contents show] With the many improvements to end-game dungeons implemented last patch, we decided that it was necessary to limit the number of times a player can enter a dungeon per day. This was done to prevent the economy from being flooded with overly valuable items, and to ensure that players weren't acquiring too much gold during what we'd consider a reasonable amount of play-time. We realize that many players enjoy repeated trips to their favorite dungeons, so we've made this new limitation as least restrictive as possible. Each character on a player's account may enter the same dungeon up to three times per day, and may visit a total of five dungeons over the course of a twenty-four hour period. Keep in mind, each character on your account is flagged separately so with eight characters, that's a total of 40 dungeon-runs per day! Flightpath Scenery Improvements! Edit Tired of seeing the same old flightpaths? We've completely reworked each flightpath in the game so that the angle and view are shifted just enough to give all of Azeroth's traveling inhabitants the feeling that they are headed to an all new destination. That's not all, each flightpath has been fleshed out to ensure that the player sees every single detail of the passing terrain, which means that for the same reasonable traveling cost, you'll purchase a ride that's twice the length, and in some cases three and even four times as long! General Edit Number keys can no longer activate character abilities. In many cases, this gave certain players a slight advantage over those that used their mouse to activate their abilities. Black Tabby now called Little Cat. Jumping while mounted will now automatically dismount you. Night Elves will now lose a small percentage of experience after jumping. The non-combat pet 'Murky' will now be required from every player wishing to enter Onyxia's Lair as we wanted this raid encounter to feel very special. Mac Edit Various emotes have been disabled for Mac users, including /dance, /smile and /thank. Battlegrounds Edit Each player will only be allowed to pick up one flag per game in Warsong Gulch. While this decision is slightly restrictive, we do feel the value of teamwork it will teach by allowing each player more opportunity to shine outweighs any negative side-effect. 'Friend of Deserter Debuff' will now apply to those chatting with players under the effect of the Deserter Debuff. This has the same effect as the standard Deserter Debuff, except other players do not risk penalty when engaging in a conversation with you. New Level 1 only Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin bracket available! If a match-up begins and drops everyone due to lack a lack of players, Horde automatically wins. Druid Edit Run speed reduced by approximately 20% when in Bear Form and Dire Bear Form. It should now feel more "bear-like" for players when changing into these forms. Innervate now only works on caster. Gnomes can now select Druids as an available class! New Cub and Kitty forms available! Shapeshifting will now only be possible outside of dungeons. Hunters Edit A simple check mechanic has been implemented which will prevent Hunters from rolling on items that are more optimal for another class in the party, when using the group loot system. Hunters can now be affected by their own traps. This should add a sense of danger, and increase the Hunter's need to strategize his decisions. Pets have a small chance to attack the Hunter when hungry. The chance increases with each passing moment that the pet isn't fed. Mages Edit Mage Armor - Now has another new, unique icon. Paladin Edit Paladins will now receive a 2% increase to DPS for every cloth item worn. In addition, chance to crit will increase by 5% if a dress is worn. This is to encourage a wider variety of itemization for the Paladin. Paladin can no longer target self with Lay on Hands as the spell was intended to help others. New Form: Bear Form and Dire Bear Form! This new ability should help the Paladin tank in five, ten and twenty player-capped dungeons. Priests Edit A diminishing return has been placed upon Fade, which will prevent it from reducing threat if used a second time in a single encounter. This was to prevent certain unscrupulous players from simply standing way in the back of a raid healing a significant amount of life with very little risk of threat penalty. Shadowform now lasts five minutes with a ten minute cooldown. Mana cost reduced slightly. Fear Ward is now only available to Dwarf Females. Inner Fire will now cause its caster to take a small amount of fire damage while active. Rogue Edit Moving while stealthed has a very small chance to break stealth. This was to reduce the frequency at which players were being ambushed or backstabbed in player vs. player environments. Discovering a stealthed rogue will now produce a large alert symbol above the rogue's head similar to the Hunter's Mark. The alert can only be dispelled by using the Vanish ability. Vanish has been increased to a 30 minute cooldown. Fixed bug which allowed Rogues to wield two weapons at the same time. This was never intended to happen. Shaman Edit Physical damage will no longer destroy totems. While in Ghostwolf form, the Shaman is now considered to be only partly connected with the real world, as a result dodge and armor have been improved by 35%. To ensure that the Shaman would want to take advantage of these improvements, all spells and abilities will be usable while in this form. Troll Shaman will gain the full benefits of Berserk despite their percentage of health. Reincarnation will now only have a cooldown of 30 minutes, untalented. Reagent cost doubled. Shock spells no longer share the same cooldown. Warlocks Edit Standard bags will no longer hold soul shards. This should make obtaining larger size soul shard bags feel more rewarding. To compensate for the change at lower levels, we've added new soul shard bags to various vendors throughout Azeroth. These bags are designed to hold between 4 and 12 soul shards, depending upon the size. Using friendly emotes will now significantly increase the Infernal and Doomguard's chance to remain loyal to the Warlock. Friendly emotes are no longer available to the Warlock. Warriors Edit There will now be a 15 second cooldown when changing stances to prevent players from breaking Fear effects too often. Dwarf Females now generate rage at a rate three times greater than normal. Intimidating Shout now has a chance to intimidate its user. Items Edit The drop rate for class specific equipment will now be reduced by a small percentage for every member of a given class beyond one that is present in a party or raid. This should encourage players to seek a more varied group of classes. Several new items can be found at various vendors which do double and triple damage to players of a specific class or race. We'll add more each patch, but right now Gnome Stomper, Ancient Warlock Destroyer and the Roguebane are immediately available. Herod's Shoulder will now result in a decrease to main hand damage by 45% to compensate for the unbalanced weight. Linen Cloth will now only stack in groups of 5. Moonwells are now located exclusively inside Blackwing Lair, near the Alchemy Lab. Professions Edit Players may now choose only one secondary profession. Too often we saw players choosing Fishing, Cooking and First-Aid when originally our intent was for players to simply pick one or two. Explosive nodes may now spawn in the place of select herbs and mines. Damage will be percentage based upon level. Skinning now requires that you have the equivalent skill in daggers, i.e. in order to skin a 225 beast, you must work your dagger skill up to 225 as well. Quest & Reputation Edit Many quests which con green to a player will no longer yield experience, but rather grant a monetary gain at a small percentage of the new exp to gold conversion system. While this will make leveling up more challenging, players will have an easier time obtaining their mounts. Improving faction with Timbermaw Hold will now decrease your faction with Argent Dawn, and vice versa, as we want to encourage players to make more important choices at higher levels. New level 35 quest series added which teaches players to detect stealth. We feel that by this time, players have lived in fear of Rogues long enough. Raid & Dungeons Edit Majordomo Executus will no longer be killed by Ragnaros, as such was very depressing. Instead he will now assist in the battle, making for a much more challenging encounter. Placeholder art for the four world dragons will be used while we fix an animation bug associated with their actual design. The placeholder art will be the standard farm chicken, however, each will have a unique color to ensure that one is distinguishable from another. Scholomance is now spelled "Sko-lo-mance" to alleviate confusion about its pronunciation. In addition, a sound file has been added outside the instance portal which will phonetically sound out the name upon zoning. Edwin Vancleef will occasionally shout "Hey you guys!" as players fight their way through Deadmines. New wing added to Scarlet Monastery called the Graveyard! Check it out! New RageFire Chasm quests added for Alliance players as currently only Horde had quests there. User Interface Edit The global cooldown timer has been added to all spells and abilities. The Raid UI now allows a maximum of 3 rogues or hunters per raid. Target and player health updates will be limited to once every 5 seconds to save on packet traffic. To minimize potential abuse, you can no longer see opposing faction player names. The use of 'if', 'for' and other flow control statements has been deemed exploitable, and have been removed from the Lua script implementation. World Environment Edit

The number of dead continues to rise in Bangladesh as rescuers sort through the debris of an eight-story building that collapsed Wednesday morning, claiming at least 123 lives so far in just the latest workplace disaster to hit the country. The victims appear to be mostly poor garment workers employed in the building known as Rana Plaza. According to reports out of Bangladesh, the facility had developed cracks in its facade on Tuesday, drawing a visit from local government officials. Although the facility houses a number of different businesses, including a bank and shops, it appears that workers employed at the garment manufacturers in the building were some of the only people who showed up for work on Wednesday. The building collapsed around 9 a.m. The bank, Brac Bank, had asked its employees to stay away from the building due to the cracks. After the collapse, rescuers could hear the cries and prayers of victims inside the rubble, and they struggled to get water to those who were still alive. Television reports noted that emergency responders appeared ill-equipped to handle such a disaster. The Bangladeshi army is leading the rescue operation. "It seems only 20 percent of the work has been completed. It will take days to complete the work," Ashik Hossain, a journalist who was on the scene Wednesday, told HuffPost. Sumi Akhter, 25, told the Bangladeshi news site bdnews24.com that she and other workers had been ordered to work despite the obvious structural problems at the building. “I did not want to enter the building. But management told us to join,” said Akhter, who was being treated at a local hospital. “Hour later, it collapsed." On Wednesday, HuffPost reached Kabir Hossain Sarder, a local government official who had visited the building on Tuesday. Sarder said officials didn't see an imminent danger given that garment workers had already evacuated the building by then. Pressed on what precautions local officials took to make sure no one re-entered the building Wednesday, Sarder hung up. Wednesday's disaster is a grim reminder of the dangers faced by impoverished Bangladeshi garment workers, many of whom produce clothing for American consumers. Hundreds die in fires and other disasters each year. Many of the factories they toil in are in disrepair, receiving weak oversight from government officials and poor enforcement of labor laws. The Tazreen factory that burned in Bangladesh last year, taking more than 110 lives, had been producing clothes for Walmart, among other retailers. Emergency exits had apparently been blocked and windows covered with steel bars, and managers had told employees who'd heard rumors of a fire on another floor to go back to work. Many survivors had jumped from the building. "It says a lot about the priorities of the apparel industry," Scott Nova, director of the non-profit watchdog group Worker Rights Consortium, said of Wednesday's building collapse. "It's not just the people running these factories. It's also the psychology of that constant price and delivery pressure, by brands and retailers, that are produced on the management class in the country. They feel they can't afford any interruptions, or pay the price of losing their business. "These are the predictable consequences," he added. As of Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't clear what Western companies may have had clothing produced at the factories in the Rana facility when it collapsed. One factory in the building has an online website listing several European and Canadian buyers, including Walmart, though it isn't clear how accurate or up-to-date it is. A Walmart spokesman told HuffPost the company was looking into the situation. "We are sorry to learn of this tragic event," spokesman Kevin Gardner said. "We are investigating across our global supply chain to see if a factory in this building was currently producing for Walmart. We remain committed and are actively engaged in promoting stronger safety measures and that work continues." Retailers Dress Barn and The Children's Place had once had arrangements with producers in the building, but both companies told HuffPost that they no longer buy products from them. "We haven't purchased anything in this facility for at least the past three years," said Jeff Gerstel, president of Dress Barn, who said the company has developed its own compliance program. "When we see something like this happen, we're touched by the tragedy, but it's also a wakeup call to make sure our suppliers are acting within our policies." Canadian apparel maker Joe Fresh has said it did have clothing produced at the facility. As HuffPost noted, the company said it was "extremely saddened" by the deaths. "We will be working with our vendor to understand how we may be able to assist them during this time," the company said in a statement. Local journalists on the scene of the disaster told HuffPost Wednesday that many workers had apparently showed up for work out of fear they'd be docked their pay. "The workers were told through their supervisors that they would be [marked absent] for two consecutive days had they not gone to work Wednesday morning," Selim Ahmed, a reporter for bdnews24.com, said. The average Bangladeshi garment worker earns around $63 a month. "An absence of two days means a lot to a garment worker," Ahmed said. Upward of 5,000 workers were estimated to be in the building when it collapsed, according to Bangladeshi media reports. Negligent actors often go unprosecuted in Bangladesh after such garment factory tragedies, and as of Wednesday afternoon no arrests had been made. Mohammad Sohel Rana, the local ruling-party politician who owned the building, was reportedly escorted from the area by party sympathizers amid a public fury, local journalists on the scene told The Huffington Post. President-elect Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Opposition leader Khaleda Zia mourned the deaths and expressed their condolences to the victims’ families on Wednesday. The government has declared Thursday a national day of mourning.