text:
Simon–Ehrlich wager
Julian L. Simon and Paul Ehrlich entered in a widely followed scientific wager in 1980, betting on a mutually agreed-upon measure of resource scarcity over the decade leading up to 1990. Simon had Ehrlich choose five commodity metals. Copper, chromium, nickel, tin, and tungsten were chosen and Simon bet that their prices would decrease, while Ehrlich bet they would increase.
The contest occurred in the pages of Social Science Quarterly, where Simon challenged Ehrlich to put his money where his mouth was. In response to Ehrlich's published claim that "If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000"—a proposition Simon regarded as too silly to bother with—Simon countered with "a public offer to stake US$10,000 ... on my belief that the cost of non-government-controlled raw materials (including grain and oil) will not rise in the long run."
Ehrlich lost the bet, as all five commodities that were bet on declined in price from 1980 through 1990, the wager period.[1] However, economists later showed that Ehrlich would have won in the majority of 10-year periods over the last century,[2][3] and if the wager had included all important commodities instead of just five metals, or if it was extended by 30 years to 2011, Ehrlich would have won.[3]
In 1968, Ehrlich published The Population Bomb, which argued that mankind was facing a demographic catastrophe with the rate of population growth quickly outstripping growth in the supply of food and resources. Simon was highly skeptical of such claims, so proposed a wager, telling Ehrlich to select any raw material he wanted and select "any date more than a year away," and Simon would bet that the commodity's price on that date would be lower than what it was at the time of the wager.
Ehrlich and his colleagues picked five metals that they thought would undergo big price increases: chromium, copper, nickel, tin, and tungsten. Then, on paper, they bought $200 worth of each, for a total bet of $1,000, using the prices on September 29, 1980, as an index. They designated September 29, 1990, 10 years hence, as the payoff date. If the inflation-adjusted prices of the various metals rose in the interim, Simon would pay Ehrlich the combined difference. If the prices fell, Ehrlich et al. would pay Simon.
Between 1980 and 1990, the world's population grew by more than 800 million, the largest increase in one decade in all of history. But by September 1990, the price of each of Ehrlich's selected metals had fallen. Chromium, which had sold for $3.90 a pound in 1980, was down to $3.70 in 1990. Tin, which was $8.72 a pound in 1980, was down to $3.88 a decade later.[4]
As a result, in October 1990, Paul Ehrlich mailed Julian Simon a check for $576.07 to settle the wager in Simon's favor.
According to Paul Ehrlich's website:
In 1980, Julian Simon repeatedly challenged environmental scientists to bet against him on trends in prices of commodities, asserting that humanity would never run out of anything... Paul and the other scientists knew that the five metals in the proposed wager were not critical indicators and said so at the time... They emphasized that the depletion of so-called renewable resources — environmental resources such as soils, forests, species diversity, and groundwater — is much more indicative of the deteriorating state of society's life-support systems... Nonetheless, after consulting with many colleagues, Paul and Berkeley physicists John Harte and John Holdren accepted Simon's challenge in late 1980...[5]
Julian Simon won because the price of three of the five metals went down in nominal terms and all five of the metals fell in price in inflation-adjusted terms,[5][6] with both tin and tungsten falling by more than half. So per the terms of the wager, Ehrlich paid Simon the difference in price between the same quantity of metals in 1980 and 1990 (which was $576.07). The prices of all five metals increased between 1950 and 1975, but Ehrlich believes three of the five went down during the 1980s because of the price of oil doubling in 1979, and because of a world-wide recession in the early 1980s.
Simon offered to raise the wager to $20,000 and to use any resources at any time that Ehrlich preferred. Ehrlich countered with a challenge to bet that temperatures would increase in the future.[5] The two were unable to reach an agreement on the terms of a second wager before Simon died.
Ehrlich would likely have won if the bet had been for a different ten-year period.[2][7] Asset manager Jeremy Grantham wrote that if the Simon–Ehrlich wager had been for a longer period (from 1980 to 2011), then Simon would have lost on four of the five metals. He also noted that if the wager had been expanded to "all of the most important commodities," instead of just five metals, over that longer period of 1980 to 2011, then Simon would have lost "by a lot." [3]
The price of raw and other natural commodities such as oil, gold, and uranium have risen substantially in recent years, due to increased demand from China, India, and other industrializing countries. However, Simon has argued that this price increase is not necessarily contrary to his cornucopian theory.[8] Ehrlich has dismissed the bet as a side issue and stated that the main worry is environmental problems like the ozone hole, acid rain, and global warming.[9]
The proposed second wager
Understanding that Simon wanted to bet again, Ehrlich and climatologist Stephen Schneider counter-offered, challenging Simon to bet on 15 current trends, betting $1000 that each will get worse (as in the previous wager) over a ten-year future period.[5]
The trends they bet would continue to worsen were:
- The three years 2002–2004 will on average be warmer than 1992–1994.
- There will be more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 2004 than in 1994.
- There will be more nitrous oxide in the atmosphere in 2004 than 1994.
- The concentration of ozone in the lower atmosphere (the troposphere) will be greater than in 1994.
- Emissions of the air pollutant sulfur dioxide in Asia will be significantly greater in 2004 than in 1994.
- There will be less fertile cropland per person in 2004 than in 1994.
- There will be less agricultural soil per person in 2004 than 1994.
- There will be on average less rice and wheat grown per person in 2002–2004 than in 1992–1994.
- In developing nations there will be less firewood available per person in 2004 than in 1994.
- The remaining area of virgin tropical moist forests will be significantly smaller in 2004 than in 1994.
- The oceanic fishery harvest per person will continue its downward trend and thus in 2004 will be smaller than in 1994.
- There will be fewer plant and animal species still extant in 2004 than in 1994.
- More people will die of AIDS in 2004 than in 1994.
- Between 1994 and 2004, sperm cell counts of human males will continue to decline and reproductive disorders will continue to increase.
- The gap in wealth between the richest 10% of humanity and the poorest 10% will be greater in 2004 than in 1994.
Simon declined Ehrlich and Schneider's offer to bet, and used the following analogy to explain why he did so:[10]
Let me characterize their offer as follows. I predict, and this is for real, that the average performances in the next Olympics will be better than those in the last Olympics. On average, the performances have gotten better, Olympics to Olympics, for a variety of reasons. What Ehrlich and others says is that they don't want to bet on athletic performances, they want to bet on the conditions of the track, or the weather, or the officials, or any other such indirect measure.
Other wagers
In 1996, Simon bet $1000 with David South, professor of the Auburn University School of Forestry, that the inflation-adjusted price of timber would decrease in the following five years. Simon paid out early on the bet in 1997 (before his death in 1998) based on his expectation that prices would remain above 1996 levels (which they did).[11]
In 1999, when The Economist headlined an article entitled, "$5 a barrel oil soon?" and with oil trading in the $12/barrel range, David South offered $1000 to any economist who would bet with him that the price of oil would be greater than $12/barrel in 2010. No economist took him up on the offer. However, in October 2000, Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economist with The University of the West Indies, bet $1000 with David South that the inflation-adjusted price of oil would decrease to an inflation-adjusted price of $25 by 2010 (down from what was then $30/barrel). Madjd-Sadjadi paid South an inflation-adjusted $1,242 in January 2010. The price of oil at the time was $81/barrel.[12]
See also
- Long Bet Project
- Malthusian catastrophe
- Oil price increases since 2003
- Peak oil
- Richard Rainwater
- Simmons–Tierney bet
- ↑ Gorelick, Steven M. (2009). Oil Panic and the Global Crisis: Predictions and Myths. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 104. ISBN 978-1405195485.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sabin, Paul (September 7, 2013). "Betting on the Apocalypse". Retrieved 24 October 2013.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Grantham, Jeremy (July 2011), "Resource Limitations 2: Separating the Dangerous from the Merely Serious" (PDF), GMO Quarterly Letter, GMO LLC, p. 12, retrieved 2013-06-05<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Regis, Ed (February 1997). "The Doomslayer". Wired.com (Issue 5.02). Archived from the original on 2008-05-18. Retrieved 2008-05-18.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Center for Conservation biology". Stanford.edu. 2005-03-16. Retrieved 2009-09-07.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ [1] Archived August 6, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Worstall, Tim (2013-01-13). "But Why Did Julian Simon Win The Paul Ehrlich Bet?". Forbes. Retrieved 24 October 2013.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ Simon, Julian (1996). The State of Humanity. Wiley–Blackwell. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-55786-585-4.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ John Tierney (December 2, 1990). "Betting on the Planet". The New York Times Magazine.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ http://jasoncollins.org/2011/05/20/the-simon-ehrlich-bet/
- ↑ "The Simon South Bet On Pine Sawtimber". Forestry.auburn.edu. 1998-02-08. Retrieved 2009-09-07.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
- ↑ "The Madjd-Sadjadi South Bet On Oil". Forestry.auburn.edu. 2010-01-31. Retrieved 2012-01-29.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
Further reading
- Sabin, Paul (2013), The Bet (Yale University Press).


text:
We have the following assertion:
In an abelian category that has enough projectives and in which every object has finite length, indecomposable projectives correspond bijectively to irreducibles (both up to isomorphism).
I see how to construct a well defined map from irreducibles (up to iso.) to indecomposable projectives, and to show that it is injective. What I do not know is how to show the following:
Given an indecomposable projective of finite length, how to show that it has a unique irreducible quoteint?
(I have edited the question; Sorry about the initial imprecision).
Thanks, Sasha

subset: commoncrawl


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Many of us have artifacts of our lives stored away in closets, drawers, cellars, garages, and other places that we intend to clean out and organize some day. Many of us have heard inside stories over the years and wish that somebody would write them down.
In an industry concerned with the future, few take time to consider the past. Myths grow up and, if unchallenged, become history. The two books I look at here focus on events that are worth thinking about.
Revolution in the Valley -- The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made by Andy Hertzfeld (O'Reilly, Sebastopol CA, 2004, 291pp, ISBN 0-596-00719-1, www.oreilly.com, $24.95)
Andy Hertzfeld was present at the birth of the Macintosh. He has cleaned out his garage and written down the stories of the time. Hertzfeld joined Apple in February 1981 and left in March 1984, when he went on a leave of absence and, for reasons he details in the book, did not come back. When he decided to record his recollections, he set up www.folklore.org, so he could compare notes with others who had been there.
I find this book fascinating. Reading about the people and the public events of the early 1980s brings back many memories for me. During the time when Hertzfeld was at Apple, the principal microprocessor vendors were Intel and Motorola. I worked for two of the others: Zilog and National Semiconductor, both of which had offices near Apple's. In January, 1984, when the famous Macintosh ad appeared during the Super Bowl, my article, "1984: The Year of the 32-Bit Microprocessor" appeared in Byte Magazine.
I obtained my first Macintosh in 1984, and I used Macintoshes almost exclusively until the early 1990s. I remember the day Andy Hertzfeld came to a meeting of Berkeley Macintosh Users Group to demonstrate his Switcher program. That all seems so long ago, but I enjoyed reading Hertzfeld's account of the bad design decision that made a program like Switcher necessary.
One of the many old books I have lying around is The Macintosh Basic Handbook by Thomas Blackadar and Jonathan Kamin (Sybex, 1984). This book describes a product that never saw the light of day, because of certain dealings that went on between Apple and Microsoft. I enjoyed reading Hertzfeld's account of those dealings and the repercussions inside Apple. Macintosh Basic was an excellent program for its time. I wish I could have had a chance to play with it.
While the book is fascinating, there are parts that are depressing. For example, Hertzfeld writes about his bad performance review. His technical work was fine, but he was "too big for his britches" and continually went over his boss's head. His boss told him to stop talking to Steve Jobs. All of this reminds me of similarly sordid corporate power games that I have seen first hand.
In Micro Review, May/June 2000, I reviewed Jef Raskin's book The Humane Interface and alluded to the widely held belief, or perhaps legend is a better word, that Raskin is "Father of the Macintosh." Hertzfeld examines that belief and concludes that it is not really accurate, though he does give Raskin a lot of credit for his contributions. Hertzfeld concludes that Steve Jobs deserves the title. It's hard to argue that point.
Hertzfeld's book, like many others, presents a mixed picture of Steve Jobs. Jobs is the brilliant visionary who sees what the product might become. He is also the quirky manager who promulgates Sayings from Chairman Jobs. A maxim like "It's better to be a pirate than join the navy" captures the Jobs style.
This industry has produced more than one quirky personality, so it's interesting to read about some of their interactions. For example, after Adam Osborne taunted some Apple employees at the 1981 West Coast Computer Faire, Jobs called Osborne and left a message with his secretary saying "Tell him the Macintosh is so good that he's probably going to buy a few for his children even though it puts his company out of business." Of course, Osborne put his own company out of business by obsoleting his cash cow, the Osborne 1, then failing to deliver its successor. And Osborne never saw the value in making a portable clone of the IBM PC.
Another interesting confrontation occurred between Jobs and Bill Gates, after Microsoft had announced Windows in November 1983 -- ten years before there was a decent working version. When Jobs accused Gates of stealing Apple's ideas, Gates replied, "We both had this rich neighbor named Xerox, and I broke into his house to steal the TV set, only to find that you had already stolen it."
The failed relationship between Steve Jobs and John Sculley is well known. Hertzfeld gives a clear picture of the situation that led to the confrontation in which Sculley removed Jobs from his executive position.
My favorite Steve Jobs story from the book concerns his attempt, seven months before the Mac was due to ship, to clone Sony's 3.5 inch floppy drive, rather than buying drives from Sony. This plan ultimately failed. Fortunately, the team anticipated this and continued to work secretly with the Sony engineers. At one point they had to hide a Sony engineer in a closet to keep Jobs from seeing him.
I have my own small Steve Jobs story. I remember the day I attended a big press event for NeXT computers. Steve Jobs promised to send me a NeXT machine to review for Micro, but he never did. He did give me a nifty Wingz World Tour jacket, though. In case you don't remember, Wingz was a spreadsheet designed for the NeXT machine. Somewhere I have a book about Wingz, though I don't believe it ever became commercially available.
Hertzfeld and Jobs are not the only players in this story. There are others I haven't mentioned, but Hertzfeld includes many anecdotes about them. This book is a collection of anecdotes, but together they give depth and color to the story of the Macintosh.
They Made America -- From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovation by Harold Evans (Little Brown, New York NY, 2004, 496pp, ISBN 0-316-27766-5, www.twbookmark.com, $40.00)
According to the publisher, Harold Evans was the editor of the Sunday Times of London for fourteen years and then the Times of London before settling in 1984 in America, where he has held a number of important publishing positions. In 2002, Britain's journalists voted Evans the greatest all-time British newspaper editor. He was knighted in Queen Elizabeth's 2004 New Year honors list. He lives in New York with his wife, Tina Brown (famous in her own right), and their two children.
In this book Evans brings his impressive journalistic talent to bear on an area that many consider America's greatest strength, namely, its ability to nurture and reward innovation. He tells the stories of innovators from the country's earliest days to the present.
This massive coffee table book is extremely interesting, but I am focusing on one small part of it: the story of the late Gary Kildall and his role in the personal computer revolution. Gary Kildall's company, Digital Research, made the CP/M operating system, which almost became the operating system for the IBM PC. Many people have heard the (untrue) story of how Gary Kildall chose to go flying instead of meeting with the IBM lawyers, so they chose Microsoft as their supplier instead.
I only visited the Digital Research headquarters at 801 Lighthouse Avenue in Pacific Grove once, in the very early 1980s. Starting from Cupertino, I drove the beautiful mountain roads to Pacific Grove. I came to pick up the Olivetti M20 personal computer that Digital Research had used to develop a Z8000-based version of CP/M. I had written a book about the Z8000, and Olivetti gave me the machine in hopes that I would write a book about the M20. I never wrote the book, but I ran a floating point benchmark on the M20 for Jerry Pournelle's survey. I still have the M20.
On that visit to the Digital Research headquarters, I experienced the wonderful relaxed west coast atmosphere and idyllic setting that must have seemed so foreign to the east coast IBM lawyers when they came to call. Contrary to legend, Gary Kildall did not stand them up, but the informal setting may have given the lawyers the impression, which later proved to be true, that they could take advantage of Kildall and get away with it. The full story is long and sordid, and Evans goes through it in detail. He draws on many sources, including Gary Kildall's unpublished memoir.
Telling Kildall's side of the IBM PC story is important, but I think that a more valuable and lasting benefit of Evans' research about Gary Kildall is to highlight the large and important influence that this brilliant, thoughtful, gentle man had on our industry. From the 1960s to his untimely death in the 1990s, Kildall never stopped working to make computers available to people.
Interaction Design
Thoughtful Interaction Design -- A Design Perspective on Information Technology by Jonas Löwgren & Erik Stolterman (MIT, Cambridge MA, 2005, 212pp, ISBN 0-262-12271-5, mitpress.mit.edu, $39.95)
Jonas Löwgren is Professor of Interaction Design at Malmö University, and Erik Stolterman is Professor of Informatics at Umeå University, both in Sweden. As you might expect, their book has a strong flavor of academia. It would certainly have benefited from the guidance of a good technical editor. They say at the start of their final chapter, "It is perfectly possible that this book seems diverse and incoherent so far," and I am forced to agree that it does. Nonetheless, it contains many nuggets of insight, and even some useful advice.
One of the oddest aspects of this book is its references to Robert Musil's great unfinished novel, The Man Without Qualities. Musil's ideas about thinking and creation resonate with the authors' ideas about interaction design. They even borrow his title and say that information technology deals with a material without qualities.
The key point I take from this book is that designing digital artifacts is difficult. You cannot prescribe simple rules and a definite methodology for doing this kind of design. Instead, you must inform yourself of many general considerations, then think about the situation before you. Your deep knowledge of the design process and your design ability will help you to see the larger context and contrive digital artifacts that fit that context.
This is a thin book, but not one that you can read casually. If you are in the business of interaction design, you should at least glance at this book. I don't know of another that takes the same point of view.


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Seib & Wessel: Could U.S. Go Large in Syria?
Aaron David Miller from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars tells WSJ's Jerry Seib that President Obama's pledge for a limited military strike against Syria may be more flexible than many might imagine.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
the ... a few ... move down the path of degrading the military assets he could use to deliver chemical weapons you can talk about ... taking and is therefore she can talk about taking ad is missile capacity ... I even thought about getting air feels that's a pretty broad definition for action if you choose it to make that ... it is I think you'll you'll you'll probably will see during his initial strike so what is limited to me ... limited in comparison to what limited in comparison to well ... up on the Iraq War shawl ... by ... aam Ltd can be quite comforting answer particularly if they grind the targets set ... to include assets that could be legitimately considered either Delivery or protection systems for chemical weapons ... I think that's precisely what they're going to do well when ... we cannot afford an app easy and enjoy the impression ... after all it's can remember Jerry this is the most probably the most widely Telenet ever Chinese military mission in the history of modern warfare ... I mean the president over the last ten days ... since the twenty first of August ... both on and off the record ministrations vehicles to talk about the size the character ... and ... driven by a twenty four seven media with its graphics its May apps it's out ... accurate depictions of military deployments is targeting a net been quite extraordinary ... mall concluded ... that a significant military strike ... he's going to occur ... if one does not carry ... this seems to me there will be a huge gap between ... the regimes intentions even even if it's can find a chemical weapons delivery protections ... protection systems ... and aam and their behavior and their interaction and I don't think this kind of want this kind of build up ... any congressional authorization ... painstakingly formulated ... I don't think the administration of four to look we can all ...


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On Friday, April 5th Hollywood hotspot Lure Nightclub transformed into a full on DJ set and ultimate dance party. Bringing the best DJ's from around the world and under one roof Red Bull Thre3 Style played host to six of best DJs from across the nation. The five DJs: DJ Scene (Seattle), DJ Phsh (Philadelphia), Trentino (Chicago), Konflikt (Miami), Donnie Dee (Dallas), all battled it out for the U.S. championship title. The title came with a stamp of approval from judges, and world-renowned DJs, Jazzy Jeff, Z-Trip and A-Trak. The winner of the National Finals will represent the U.S. and compete in the Red Bull Thre3style World Championship in Toronto, Canada this November.
Throughout the night, these highly skilled DJs battled and gave a great performance in hopes to gain notoriety and express themselves in the party atmosphere. Unlike other DJ battles that are based on more technical aspects, Red Bull Thre3Style had a creative and unique format that seeks to find the DJ that has best perfected the true art of "party rockin'."
The top five DJs from around the nation fiercely battled to be named the "best on the decks in the U.S." as more than 1,900 music fans packed the dance floor of Hollywood's hottest nightclub, LURE. After a night of intense battles, Trentino was crowned victorious, and given the title of the Red Bull Thre3Style National Champion. The Chicago-based DJ will go on to represent the U.S. at the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals in Toronto, Canada from November 4-10, 2013. Rounding out second and third place were DJ Scene and DJ Phsh, respectively.
In addition to all of this excitement Grammy Award-winning DJ and producer Mark Ronson kept the crowd dancing with classic hip-hop songs from the 90s and early 2000s. Shortly thereafter A-Trak joined Ronson on the 1's and 2's and brought the beats. Hip-hop producer, Just Blaze, made his cameo and dedicated classics to Pharrell for his 40th birthday as well as dedicating the evening to the great DJ AM. Last but certainly not least was DJ Jazzy Jeff, who took the stage and had the crowd hyped as he played hits from Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre, Biggie, and more.
Sets from competing DJs are archived at http://www.mixcloud.com/redbullthre3style.
Congrats to all the DJs for making it this far in the competition and good luck to Trentino in the Red Bull Thre3Style World Finals!


text:
Former Destiny's Child member Kelly Rowland and Mexican superstar Paulina Rubio are in final talks to join "The X Factor," sources connected to the show confirm to E! News.
The news comes just days before Fox needs to have all four judges firmly in place, as they are scheduled to begin work on the new season on Tuesday, in Charleston, N.C.
Fox is not commenting.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
NEWS: Demi Lovato Texts Simon Cowell "X Factor" Panel Suggestions, Surprises Fans in NYC
Assuming the deals are finalized as expected, Rowland and Rubio will fill the seats left empty by Britney Spears and L.A. Reid. Simon Cowell and Demi Lovato will return for the coming season, airing this fall.
Sources tell us Fox is moving away from casting megastars like Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey in favor of somewhat lesser-known artists who already have experience on similar series. Rowland served as a judge on the eighth season of the UK version of "The X Factor," and Rubio served as a judge on "La Voz...Mexico." She also has been tapped as a judge for Telemundo's "La Voz Kids."
"Rowland was on the highest-rated UK season," a source close to the show tells us. "We have a lot of faith in her as a judge."
An announcement is expected Monday, according to Simon Cowell, who tweeted this weekend: "We start x factor auditions in charleston on Tuesday. The new panel will be announced Monday. This is going to be an interesting show!"


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"Follow, Follow: A Book of Reverso Poems" by Marilyn Singer
Of course there are two sides to every story — sometimes more. What author Marilyn Singer accomplishes here, much as Lynne Truss did in her celebrated "Eats Shoots and Leaves", is to show how dramatically the very same story, told in the very same words, can change.
In "Follow, Follow," as with its predecessor "Mirror, Mirror", Singer contrasts the viewpoints on opposite pages or columns. The text is the same on each side, but reversed.
So the story of the Emperor's New Clothes, as told by the vainglorious Emperor, begins, "Behold his glorious majesty: me. Who dares say he drained the treasury on nothing? Ha! This emperor has sublime taste in finery! Only a fool could fail to see."
And the reversed tale of the onlooker changes that utterly: "Only a fool could fail to see. Sublime taste in finery? This emperor has — ha! — nothing on!"
Smart, funny and, let's hope, a nudge toward helping young readers understand character and perspective. But don't worry kids; "Follow, Follow" is mostly just fun.


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A judge today levied $11,300 in campaign finance fines against a group run by anti-tax activist Douglas Bruce for not reporting what was spent to put three tax-slashing measures on the November ballot.
The fine against Active Citizens Together, the non-profit Bruce runs, is believed to be the largest-ever against an "issue committee," a group that financially supports ballot measures. The order issued by Administrative Law Judge Matthew Norwood also brings to an end a nearly year-long case that attempted to unearth who paid to have the three measures, Amendments 60 and 61 and Proposition 101, put on the ballot.
"ACT tried to conduct a secret campaign and got caught," said attorney Mark Grueskin, who represented Coloradans for Responsible Reform, the group that opposed 60, 61 and 101.
Bruce, a former Republican lawmaker from Colorado Springs, did not immediately respond to requests for comment today.


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by Hugh Hunter
The Drama Group is now running "Third" (2005) by Wendy Wasserstein, directed by Robert Bauer. Set in an academically prestigious New England college, it examines the mind and world of a feminist English professor.
Laurie Jameson is in the twilight of her celebrated teaching career. She fights through menopausal hot flashes long enough to lecture her freshman class on the politically correct interpretation of King Lear — it is patriarchal nonsense, she tells us — and you are struck dumb by her smugness.
Laurie just "knows what she knows." Feeling no need for larger justification, she takes an immediate dislike to Woodson Bull III (Zac Anderson), an athlete from Groton. Sizing him up as "a walking Red State," she later accuses him of plagiarism and hauls him before the Committee for Academic Affairs.
But Laurie gets no support, certainly not from an estranged, unseen husband. Nor from her best friend, Nancy (Colleen Bracken), a fellow teacher. Nor from her father, Jack (Wayne Snover), whose dementia cleverly parallels the King Lear story. While daughter, Emily (Julie Chen), has only one goal, to grow up to be nothing like her mother.
As director Bauer's actors nicely animate these characters, Laurie becomes increasingly hapless. In opposition to her ideas, life itself seems to sneak up on her, and she cannot handle it. Marjorie Goldman shines as Laurie, with well-timed changes in mood and gesture. Yet the role remains palpably difficult. How do you go about portraying someone who cannot break out of a mental straitjacket?
"Third" is Wasserstein's final play, (she died of cancer), and her canon parallels her own life as a self-reflective woman. "The Heidi Chronicles" won the Pulitzer Prize, and Laurie is essentially Heidi about 20 years later. As with many "idea" playwrights, the schematic structure of "Third" is more compelling than its dramatic intensity.
The outcome seems inevitable. Consisting of two acts, each with six or seven scenes, "Third" feels a little like participating in The Stations of the Cross. We also progress through the academic year, and the production's use of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" further enhances the sense of ceremonial march (sound designer, Kim Pelle).
Laurie comes to see the need to break out of her cloistered world and dogmatic way of thinking. She is in the same position as Nora at the end of Henrik Ibsen's "The Doll House." But where to go? What to do? "Third" is a later stage of knowing doubt in the feminist awakening.
The viewpoint of "Third" is exceedingly decent and follows a tradition of liberal self-criticism, a trail blazed by Lionel Trilling with "The Liberal Imagination" (1950). One wishes for a likewise development in their ideological opposite, but don't hold your breath.
The Drama Group is located at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, 6001 Germantown Ave. "Third" will run weekends, 8 p.m. through April 2. Reservations at 215-844-0724.


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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghanistan's president on Monday ruled out signing a security deal with the United States until disagreements over sovereignty are resolved, but said he will convene a council of elders in one month to help him make a decision on the pending agreement.
Hamid Karzai made the pointed remarks about the languishing Bilateral Security Agreement even as he condemned what he described as repeated violations of Afghan sovereignty by the United States and allies.
The U.S. wants a deal by the end of October to give American and NATO military planners enough time to prepare for keeping troops in the country after the scheduled 2014 withdrawal -- instead of a total pullout similar to the one in Iraq. There are increasing indications the U.S. may in fact pull out all its forces.
"The United States and NATO have not respected our sovereignty. Whenever they find it suitable to them, they have acted against it. This has been a serious point of contention between us and that is why we are taking issue of the BSA strenuously in the negotiations right now," Karzai said.
Karzai's comments came on the 12th anniversary of the start of the American campaign in Afghanistan against al-Qaida that ousted its Taliban allies from power. The invasion was in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
Karzai's outburst came in response to a question about a NATO airstrike on Oct. 5 in Nangarhar province, near an airport used by U.S.-led international military coalition forces, that the government claimed killed 5 civilians. The coalition said they struck insurgents trying to mortar the base and that no civilians were hurt. NATO has opened an investigation into the incident.
"They commit their violations against our sovereignty and conduct raids against our people, air raids and other attacks in the name of the fight on terrorism and in the name of the resolutions of the United Nations. This is against our wishes and repeatedly against our wishes," Karzai said, using some of his harshest language to date against the U.S.-led military coalition.
Karzai has banned coalition airstrikes in populated areas because they sometimes cause civilian casualties.
He said there were various issues to be resolved before he could sign an agreement, which has been in negotiation for nearly a year and is said to be nearly complete. They include American guarantees against foreign intervention, a reference to Pakistan, and a counterterrorism force the U.S. wants to leave in Afghanistan to go after the remnants of al-Qaida.
"Therefore the BSA has become an instrument for us to gain respect for our sovereignty, to gain the protection of the lives of our people. So the BSA is where we will determine this. The United States and its allies, NATO, continue to demand even after signing the BSA they will have the freedom to attack our people, our villages. The Afghan people will never allow it," he added.
He told reporters that he will convene a Loya Jirga, or council of Afghan elders, in one month to discuss the state of the agreement. Karzai has said the deal needs to be approved by the Loya Jirga, but is doubtful any agreement will have been reached in a month.
Afghanistan and the United States have since last October been negotiating a security deal that will give the U.S. a legal basis for having forces in Afghanistan after 2014, and also allow it to lease bases around the country. If the U.S. does not sign the deal, it is unlikely that NATO or any of its allies will keep troops in Afghanistan. Germany has already indicated it will not commit the 800 soldiers it has promised if the U.S. deal is not signed.
Karzai, however, is pressing demands that the U.S. is reluctant to meet, and apparently thinks that the United States wants the deal more than he does -- and will eventually cave in to his demands. It is believed he also wants to shield himself from any possible backlash from signing a deal that some see as compromising too much Afghan sovereignty.
But there appears to be a growing perception gap in the Karzai camp as the United States and many of its allies are now openly considering a full military pullout.
President Barack Obama told the AP last Friday that he would consider keeping some American forces on the ground after the conflict formally ends next year, but acknowledged that doing so would require an agreement. He suggested that if no agreement can be reached, he would be comfortable with a full pullout of U.S. troops.
Karzai had called the news conference to thank candidates for registering to take part in the April 5 presidential elections. A total of 27 presidential candidates, along with two vice-presidential running mates, registered Sunday for the crucial vote next year.
"The participation and nomination for next year's presidential election showed the national unity of the Afghans and is another step toward prosperity and democracy," Karzai said.
He also called on government employees not to participate in any pre-electoral shenanigans and called on foreigners not to interfere with the vote.


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Fabtech/Welding Show/METALFORM
Filling nearly 400,000 sq. ft. of booth space that displayed the wares of more than 1000 exhibitors, the giant trade-show displayed more than 500 new products. What follows represents a small sampling of the new products introduced in Chicago last November; we'll present more product introductions from the show in future issues of MetalForming.Award Winners
As part of the show's activities, the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) Next Generation Leaders Division awarded three exhibiting companies with Innovation Awards. Next-generation leaders in attendance at the tradeshow visited the booths of companies displaying new materials, equipment/services, and software/machine controls, and then evaluated those companies to determine the winners of the third-annual Next Generation Innovation Awards. Winners were presented with a certificate from Division Chair Jeff Aznavorian of Clips and Clamps Industries, and Vice Chair Rick Bachman of Feintool North America.
The Best New Equipment/Service Innovation Award went to Magnetic Products, Highland, MI, which displayed the Micromag high-intensity magnetic filter manufactured by Eclipse Magnetics, based in Sheffield, UK. Micromag filtration technology uses high-power neodymium rare-earth magnets to remove ferrous and paramagnetic contamination from fluids and proves particularly effective with machine-tool oils, coolants and hydraulic-fluid machinery systems. Removed contamination can be recycled, eliminating disposal costs, and high filtration efficiency means lubricants and coolants last longer; www.mpimagnet.com, www.eclipse-magnetics.co.uk.
The Best New Software/Machine Controls Innovation Award went to Wintriss Controls, Acton, MA, for a new version of its LETS Line Efficiency Tracking Software
Wintriss also introduced its SmartPac2 Servo, (above) a control package developed specifically for servo-mechanical presses. The control uses a inear position sensor to monitor slide position and then save unique bottom and top return positions for each die. It can monitor as many as 10 stages of slide motion, and features three selectable, built-in motion curves for programming limit switch and sensor timing—sinusoidal (similar to a mechanical press), proportional (similar to a hydraulic press) and asymmetrical (three variable-resolution curves are built in, proportional through the top of the stroke with high-resolution areas at the bottom); www.wintriss.com.
The Best New Materials Innovation Award went to Tower Oil & Technology Co., Chicago, IL, for developing Saf-T-Vanish, a synthetic, VOC-free stamping lubricant to replace typical vanishing oils. Saf-T-Vanish contains no hazardous ingredients, uses renewable resources and is totally biodegradable. Drying time is typically half that of solvent-based fluids, and the lubricant does not contain the typical extreme pressure additives, has a high lubricity factor and offers excellent corrosion protection; www.toweroil.com.
Link Electric & Safety Control Co.
Metalformers looking to upgrade the controls on manually fed or moderately automated presses with an affordable resolver/encoder-based press controller need look no further than the new OmniLink System 5100-MPC package from Link Electric & Safety Control Co., Nashville, TN. As described by company officials, the control is ideal for use on smaller presses that don't need more expensive and feature-laden controls. It features the OmniLink 805 operator terminal, System 5100 card rack and other System 5100 components that provide motor and clutch-brake control, auxiliary press-system control, automation sequencing and interface and production-process monitoring.
Pax Products
A completely new type of shaker conveyor was introduced by Pax Products, Celina, OH, called the EGD (ellipelliptical gear driven) conveyor. The elliptical gear drive produces a reciprocating, varying acceleration motion that conveys parts and scrap exiting a stamping die out of the press area. Compared to a standard linkage design, the use of elliptical gears in a sealed gear box, company officials say, provides four times the acceleration rate and a significantly higher conveying speed at a lower RPM.
At the show was the Model EGD-75, with a maximum total tray weight of 75 lb., maximum part/scrap weight of 250 lb., maximum crossbar length of 72 in. and a fixed conveying speed to 25 ft./min. The company expects to release two additional models in 2010. www.paxproducts.com
Accurate Die Design
LOGOPRESS Corp., Besancon, France, along with its North American distributor and U.S. technical center Accurate Die Design Inc., New Berlin, WI, unveiled the 2010 version of its Logopress3 tool-design software. The new version includes Logopress3 Blank for FEA
The multi-user environment in Logopress3 2010 has been enhanced to better facilitate multiple die designers working concurrently on the same tool design. Also, an often-requested enhancement from users now has been implemented so that when using the Round Draw module, the user can enterndividual reduction percentages in each stage of the draw process.www.accuratediedesign.com; www.logopress3.com/en
Moeller Manufacturing Co.
Moeller Manufacturing Co., Plymouth, MI, introduced to the North American metalforming market the LifePlus lineup of nitrogen die springs
Lempco, Farmington Hills, MI, showcased its redesigned ball cages with several improvements and enhancements. Newly improved orbital staking enhances ball-bearing retention and prevents the loss of ball bearings during use. And the ball cages are now black anodized to provide a protective hard coating. Stampers that use the ball cages will enjoy high-speed press production with less-frequent replacement, said company officials, avoiding costly downtime. www.lempco.com
Lincoln Electric
Amongst the crowded and equipment-laden booth of Lincoln Electric we spied a cool new feature added to the firm's Power Wave welding power supplies called WeldScore. WeldScore is quality-monitoring software that scores each weld based on a trained sample of an acceptable weld, so that managers can easily monitor weld conditions and variability—on the plant floor or in a training environment. Metalforming companies can use WeldScore to evaluate the consistency of repeat production welds, monitor actual conditions at the welding arc, and train welders when taking on new jobs. www.lincolnelectric.com
Because metalforming shops
Nestled a in a corner of the huge Trumpf booth, which featured six new products in all, the new TruBend machine showcases Trumpf's innovative spirit with several design features developed to enhance operator comfort and working conditions. Among them: bright LED lighting in front of an behind the ram for optimum lighting conditions without creating heat, and a tilting control panel and height-adjustable worktable to allow the operator to run the machine sitting or standing. Trumpf even includes gas-spring-supported adjustable foot pedals with the machine. www.us.trumpf.com
T. J Snow Co.
While state-of-the-art control technology has brought outstanding reliability and repeatability to the resistance-welding process in terms of precise weld timing and current, not until the addition of servo-actuated welding machines has the variable of welding pressure also enjoyed such precision. And T. J Snow Co., Chattanooga, TN, has accomplished just that with its new servo-actuated press welders that offer a slow approach of the upper welding electrode to minimize electrode wear and optimize weld appearance; improved weld-force repeatability; and instant generation of weld force—no need to wait until air pressure builds as with a pneumatic system.
While servo-actuated robotic resistance-welding guns have been used for years in automotive plants, T. J. Snow now makes the technology available for standard pedestal-type machines for spot and projection welding.www.tjsnow.com
Ross Controls
To optimize the performance of press clutch and brake systems on small gap-frame presses, cylinder presses and even small shears, Ross Controls, Troy, MI, introduced to show attendees its DM2 Series D double valve, a Category 4 Size 2 unit with dynamic monitoring and memory functions, optional status indicator for valve feedback and several fault-reset options. Port sizes—1⁄4 and 3⁄8 in. Valves will lock out due to asynchronous movement of elements during actuation or deactuation, resulting in a residual outlet pressure of less than 1 percent of supply; overt action is required to reset the unit.www.rosscontrols.com
Wilson Tool
Wilson Tool, White Bear Lake, MN, explained to MetalForming that the 2009 edition
See also: Accurate Die Design Software, Inc., DAYTON Lamina Corporation, Lincoln Electric Co., Link Systems, Magnetic Products, Inc., Moeller Precision Tool, Pax Products, Inc., Ross Controls, T. J. Snow Company, Tower Metalworking Fluids, TRUMPF Inc., Impax Tooling Solutions, A Div. of Wilson Tool International, Wintriss Controls Group LLC, LOGOPRESS
Related Enterprise Zones: Automation, Fabrication, Lubrication, Presses, Sensing/Electronics, Tool & Die, Welding
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General Manager at Steinweg Sharaf FZCO
Founded in Dubai/UAE, SCLG is a membership driven industry business group with 200+ corporate members. SCLG is expanding internationally to continuously enhance its global foot-print.
Managing supply chain and logistics more effectively shall contribute to positive growth of economy in range of 3% to 5% (GDP terms).
Impact of climate change on managing supply chain should be on agenda of all supply chain professionals.
Oil and Gas industry should enlarge its theme to manage supply chains of larger energy domain.
Reduction in current level of wastage in food supply chain shall help mitigate poverty.
Managing Fresh water supply chain needs attention of all.
Sophisticated demand forecast and planning for sure helps improve efficiency of supply chain.
Refining & Petrochemicals World Thailand 2019 , Bangkok, Thailand 23rd -24th January 2019
5th Middle East Leasing summit 2019 , Dubai, UAE 16th -17th January 2019
Breakbulk Middle East 2019 , Dubai, UAE 11th -12th February 2019
Middle East Rail 2019 , Dubai 26th -27th February 2019
Block Chain Summit , The Mira Hong Kong 27th -28th February 2019
World Mobility Show , Dubai, UAE 06th -07th March 2019
Saudi Maritime Congress 2019 , Riyadh, KSA 11th -12th March 2019
Block Chain Summit , Kap Europa, Frankfurt 25th -26th March 2019
IOT Asia 2019 , Hall 1 Singapore EXPO 27th -28th March 2019
8th Supply chain innovation summit 2019 , Shanghai China 16th -17th May 2019
5th Logistics innovation summit 2019 , Shanghai China 16th -17th May 2019


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This is the last leaf that fell from the tree. Well, not really but still. Anyways, here is "how to draw an autumn leaf", step by step. I wanted to make a simple leaf pattern that resembled a leaf that comes from one of those odd trees that hide away deep in the woods. After I was done with drawing the leaf, I looked at it and said "eh, not bad". So here is my not bad version of drawing an autumn leaf. It's not much, but it's something that can be tweaked and improved. Adios people and like always... enjoy!
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Niyc Pidgeon Series: An Abundance Mindset
This is article number two of a six-part series.
Last week, I shared the Diamond of Success to help you understand just how important it is to make sure you are putting your efforts in to balanced growth of your knowledge, skills, and attitudes.
This week I am sharing the importance of vision, and holding an abundant mindset to help you create your goals and dreams.
3 Ways To Shift In To An Abundance Mindset (And Stay There)
Having a vision for the future is essential in helping you move forwards because it increases your levels of hope and optimism, which in turn allow you to feel more positive, happy, and motivated.
When you are living from an excited and joyful place, your entire mindset opens up and becomes more creative. You also notice opportunities around you more easily.
Your long term vision is key to help you move through your short term struggles, and your vision has to be something that is true for you.
The great thing about life as a Forever Business Owner is that you get to decide your own destiny. You have the power to choose your vision for the future and you have the freedom to make it happen.
Depending which mindset you choose, you can find yourself in a place of scarcity, uncertainty, and worry…
Or, you can choose to live from a place of intention, abundance, and optimism instead.
If you're finding something tough at the moment then remind yourself of what it is you are working for. Remind yourself that if you quit now, you're also quitting on your vision.
If your vision, purpose, and big why reason are strong enough, then quitting will not be an option.
Instead I want you to keep your head up, and your eyes focused forwards, making sure that you are mindful of the action you are taking, and that it is in the direction you desire to go.
It can be easy to get stuck in small time, short term thinking and focus on what isn't going your way right now, though this only serves to keep you in a place of scarcity and operating from lack.
Here's 3 things you can do to shift in to an abundance mindset, and stay there:
- Focus on what you do have and what you can do.
By putting your attention on the things that are going well, you immediately move your mindset into a place of gratitude, strength, and abundance. We know through the science of positive psychology, that doing more of what you're good at allows you to feel accomplished, and make even more progress towards your goal. Instead of worrying about what might happen, or what isn't working, choose to focus on what you can do, and identify your next positive step in the right direction.
"Focus on what you can control, let go of what you can't"
- Get crystal clear on your vision
Have you ever been asked to close your eyes and visualise your future and been greeted with a blank canvas inside your mind? What really helps is to get clear on your vision through writing down what you desire to create, in each different area of your life. Then when you come to close your eyes and connect in with your vision you are much more able to see clearly.
Consider each of the following areas in turn; your health, wealth, relationships, career, personal development, fun, and environment. Take each area and write down how you see yourself in this particular area of your life, when everything has gone as well as it possibly could. You can then put all of the parts together to create a complete and clear vision for yourself inside your mind.
TIP: When creating a vision for yourself, be sure to attach a specific time frame to it. This might be 1, 2, 5, or 10 years in to the future. By attaching a time frame you are getting even more clear on what you desire, which gives you an anchor towards which you can move.
- Remind yourself that all things are possible with perspective
Next time you are feeling the stress or struggle, connect back in with that bigger vision you just created. Ask yourself if five years from now, the thing you are worrying about right now will really matter – or if you'll even remember it! Taking a step back from something that you are struggling to find the positive within can help to renew your sense of hope, and your commitment and drive towards your goals.
You might also ask yourself the question, "what would my role model do in this situation", in order to gain perspective. By putting yourself in the shoes of your favourite Forever leader, or a thought leader like Sir Richard Branson, you are able to let go of your attachment to the situation, take a deep breath, and look from a new perspective.
Being consistent with your vision, your self belief that you will get there, and your willingness to take action to make it happen are supported through choosing to find perspective on your challenges.
This week, choose to get clear on your vision, keep your mindset abundant, and stay focused on your long term goals and success.
With Gratitude,
Positive Psychologist MSc BSc CTTLS IPPA
Global Success Coach
Hay House Author
About Niyc Pidgeon
Niyc is a Positive Psychologist MSc and Global Success Coach, on a mission to help a million people change their lives using positive psychology by the year 2020.
Niyc is from the UK, where she recently won Young Entrepreneur of the Year, and is currently living in Los Angeles and travelling the world speaking, coaching, and helping people to overcome self doubt and burnout, and live their lives of joy, personal power, and unstoppable success.
Niyc has already coached hundreds of FBO's for success, and her 30 Day Happiness Guide, Now Is Your Chance is available for pre-order on Amazon globally now, published with Hay House.
Pre-order your copy of Now Is Your Chance http://amzn.to/2cpLW13


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Kate Gosselin isn't known for tact. Heck, she's really just known for having a ton of babies, at one point sporting a rooster haircut, and having an affair with a bodyguard I'm still not sure why she needs. But not tact. I mean, the woman hashtagged the hurricane under the phrase "SuperfunSandy." Sensitive much? Bless her heart.
Getting back to her infamous hair, the reality television loving mom of eight went from cock-a-doodle-do to coiffed 'do thanks to the Ted Gibson Salon. She got her sleek new look a few years ago after nearly twenty hours in the stylist's chair. We all know Kate likes to get things for free, but had she not gotten the complimentary hairdo it would have reportedly cost $7,000. It's no wonder she was so excited when her salon regained power after the super storm…because that's what's important in light of the devastation.


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OpenEXR is a high dynamic-range (HDR) image file format originally developed by
Industrial Light & Magic for use in computer imaging applications.
OpenEXR is now maintained by the Academy Software Foundation.
OpenEXR is used by ILM on all motion pictures currently
in production. The first movies to employ OpenEXR were
Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone, Men in Black II,
Gangs of New York, and Signs. Since then, OpenEXR has
become ILM's main image file format.
OpenEXR's features include:
ILM has released OpenEXR as free software. The OpenEXR software
distribution includes:
The OpenEXR software distribution is now licensed under the modified BSD
license, available here.
Sep 19, 2019 - OpenEXR version v2.4.0 is available for download at https://github.com/openexr/openexr/releases/tag/v2.4.0
This release contains no major new functionality, although it does
include many miscellaneous bug and security fixes. The major new
feature is a completely rewritten CMake setup, which should work
reliably on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The installation instructions
and project documentation are also freshly revised. See the release
notes for the complete details.
The project also now supports continuous integration via Azure
Pipelines and code analysis via SonarCloud, services supported by the
Academy Software Foundation. Links to the dashboards are through
the"Azure Pipelines" and "quality gate" badges at the top the GitHub
repo home page.
Summary of changes:
This version fixes the following security vulnerabilities:
Sep 5, 2019 - OpenEXR version v2.4.0-beta.1 is available for download at https://github.com/openexr/openexr/releases/tag/v2.4.0-beta.1
May 1, 2019 - OpenEXR has been adopted by the
Academy Software Foundation.
August 13, 2018 - OpenEXR v2.3.0 has been
released and is available for download.
Build Fixes:
Full release notes are here:
OpenEXR source can be obtained from the downloads section of www.openexr.com or from the project page on github: https://github.com/openexr/openexr
November 30, 2017 - OpenEXR v2.2.1 has been
released and is available for download.
This maintenance release addresses the reported OpenEXR security vulnerabilities, specifically CVE-2017-9110, CVE-2017-9111, CVE-2017-9112, CVE-2017-9113, CVE-2017-9114, CVE-2017-9115, CVE-2017-9116.
August 10, 2014 - OpenEXR v2.2.0 has been released and is available for download. This release includes the following components:
This significant new features of this release include:
This release also includes improvements to cross-platform build support using CMake.
November 25, 2013 - OpenEXR v2.1.0 has been released and is available for download. This release includes the following components (version locked):
This release includes a refactoring of the optimised read paths for RGBA data, optimisations for some of the python bindings to Imath, improvements to the cmake build environment as well as additional documentation describing deep data in more detail.
April 9, 2013 - Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Weta Digital announce the release of OpenEXR 2.0, the major version update of the open source high dynamic range file format first introduced by ILM and maintained and expanded by a number of key industry leaders including Weta Digital, Pixar Animation Studios, Autodesk and others.
The release includes a number of new features that align with the major version number increase. Amongst the major improvements are:
Although OpenEXR 2.0 is a major version update, files created by the new library that don't exercise the new feature set are completely backwards compatible with previous versions of the library. By using the OpenEXR 2.0 library, performance improvements, namespace versions and basic multi-part/deep reading support should be available to applications without code modifications.
This code is designed to support Deep Compositing - a revolutionary compositing workflow developed at Weta Digital that detached the rendering of different elements in scene. In particular, changes in one layer could be rendered separately without the need to re-render other layers that would be required to handle holdouts in a traditional comp workflow or sorting of layers in complex scenes with elements moving in depth. Deep Compositing became the primary compositing workflow on Avatar and has seen wide industry adoption. The technique allows depth and color value to be stored for every pixel in a scene allowing for much more efficient handling of large complex scenes and greater freedom for artists to iterate.
True to the open source ethos, a number of companies contributed to support the format and encourage adoption. Amongst others, Pixar Animation Studios has contributed its DtexToExr converter to the OpenEXR repository under a Microsoft Public License, which clears any concerns about existing patents in the area, and Autodesk provided performance optimizations geared towards real-time post-production workflows.
Extensive effort has been put in ensuring all requirements were met to help a wide adoption, staying true to the wide success of OpenEXR. Many software companies were involved in the beta cycle to insure support amongst a number of industry leading applications. Numerous packages like SideFX's Houdini, Autodesk's Maya, Solid Angle's Arnold renderer, Sony Pictures Imageworks' Open Image IO have already announced their support of the format.
Open EXR 2.0 is an important step in the adoption of deep compositing as it provides a consistent file format for deep data that is easy to read and work with throughout a visual effects pipeline. The Foundry has build OpenEXR 2.0 support into its Nuke Compositing application as the base for the Deep Compositing workflows.
OpenEXR 2.0 is already in use at both Weta Digital and Industrial Light & Magic. ILM took advantage of the new format on Marvel's The Avengers and two highly anticipated summer 2013 releases, Pacific Rim and The Lone Ranger. Recent examples of Weta Digital's use of the format also include Marvel's Avengers as well as Prometheus and The Hobbit. In addition, a large number of visual effects studios have already integrated a deep workflow into their compositing pipelines or are in the process of doing so including:, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Pixar Animation Studios, Rhythm & Hues, Fuel and MPC.
In addition to visual effects, the new additions to the format, means that depth data can also be assigned to two-dimensional data for a use in many design fields including, architecture, graphic design, automotive and product prototyping.
July 31st, 2012 - OpenEXR v1.7.1 has been released and is available for download. This release includes the following components:
Of particular note is the introduction of PyIlmBase. This module forms a comprehensive set of python bindings to the IlmBase module.
In addition, contained in this release is a number of additions to Imath as well as a minor tweak to Imath::Frustrum (for better support for Windows platforms) as well as other minor fixes, including correction for soname version of IlmImf.
June 18, 2012 - We're pleased to announce the first public Beta release of OpenEXR v2.
Development of OpenEXR v2 has been undertaken in a collaborative environment (cf. previous github announcement) comprised of Industrial Light & Magic, Weta Digital as well as a number of other contributors.
Some of the new features included in the Beta.1 release of OpenEXR v2 are:
* Deep Data. Pixels can now store a variable length list of samples. The main rationale behind deep-images is to have multiple values at different depths for each pixel. OpenEXR v2 supports both hard surface and volumetric representation requirements for deep compositing workflows.
* Multi-part image files. With OpenEXR v2, files can now contain a number of separate, but related, images in one file. Access to any part is independent of the others; in particular, no access of data need take place for unrequested parts.
In addition, OpenEXR v2 also contains platform independent mechanisms for handling co-existing library version conflicts in the same process space. (Currently implemented in IlmImf)
Finally, a reminder that this is a Beta release and potentially incompatible changes may be introduced in future releases prior to the v2.0.0 production version.
OpenEXR v2Beta.1 can be found at: https://github.com/openexr/openexr/tree/v2_beta.1
June 18, 2012 - We're pleased to announce that the OpenEXR source code is moving to github.com. You can browse, download and branch the code at www.github.com/openexr/openexr.
We're looking forward to taking advantage of the collaborative features presented by git and github.com and of course community contributions. Please see the developer Wiki pages for more information regarding participation.
July 23, 2010 - New feature version of OpenEXR is now available. This release includes support for stereoscopic images, please see the adjoining documentation in the MultiViewOpenEXR.pdf. (Many thanks to Weta Digital for their contribution.) In addition, we added support for targeting 64 bit Windows, fixes for buffer overruns and a number of other minor fixes, additions and optimisations. Please see the Changelog files for more detailed information.
OpenEXR 1.7.0, OpenEXR_Viewers 1.0.2, IlmBase 1.0.2 and OpenEXR-Images-1.7.0 can be downloaded from the downloads section of www.openexr.com
October 22, 2007 - New versions of OpenEXR and CTL are now available.
This release fixes a buffer overrun in OpenEXR and a Windows build problem
in CTL, and it removes a few unnecessary files from the .tar.gz packages.
OpenEXR 1.6.1, OpenEXR_Viewers 1.0.1 and IlmBase 1.0.1 can be downloaded
from the downloads section of www.openexr.com. CTL 1.4.1 and OpenEXR_CTL
1.0.1 can be downloaded from http://www.oscars.org/science-technology/council/projects/ctl.html.
August 3, 2007 - New stable versions of OpenEXR and CTL are now
available. The source code has been tested on Linux, Mac OS X
and Windows (Visual Studio 7 and 8).
Here's a summary of what has changed since the last release:
OpenEXR 1.6.0
OpenEXR_CTL 1.0.0
OpenEXR_Viewers 1.0.0
IlmBase 1.0.0
OpenEXR 1.6.0, OpenEXR_Viewers 1.0.0 and IlmBase 1.0.0 can be
downloaded from the downloads section of www.openexr.com. CTL 1.4.0 and OpenEXR_CTL 1.0.0
can be downloaded from http://www.oscars.org/council/ctl.html.
January 22, 2007 - CTL has been released.
The Color Transformation Language, or CTL, is a programming language
for digital color management. Color management requires translating
images between different representations or color spaces. CTL allows
users to describe color transforms in a concise and unambiguous way
by expressing them as programs. In order to apply a given transform
to an image, a color management system instructs a CTL interpreter to
load and run the CTL program that describes the transform.
The image viewers included in the OpenEXR software distribution,
exrdisplay and playexr, both support color rendering via CTL.
For more information see http://www.openexr.com/OpenEXRViewers.pdf.
Sorce code and documentation for the CTL interpreter can be
downloaded from http://ampasctl.sourceforge.net. Please note
the license under which CTL is distributed; it is similar but
not identical to the OpenEXR license.
January 4, 2007 - OpenEXR wins an Academy Award for Technical Achievement.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the 15 winners of Scientific and Technical Academy Awards. A Technical Achievement Award goes to Florian Kainz for the design and engineering of OpenEXR, a software package implementing 16-bit, floating-point, high dynamic range image files. Widely adopted, OpenEXR is engineered to meet the requirements of the visual effects industry by providing for lossless and lossy compression of tiered and tiled images.
Congratulations to all for making OpenEXR such a success!!!
Click here for the official Press Release
December 15, 2006 - A new development version of OpenEXR is now available.
We have tested the code in this version internally at ILM, but we would
like to get feedback from others before we release a production version.
The new version includes several significant changes:
August 8, 2006 - We have released an updated set of sample OpenEXR
images. This release includes several new images that are useful
for testing OpenEXR applications. The images are organized by
subdirectory according to their image type or purpose. Several
of these subdirectories contain README files that explain the
contents of the images in those subdirectories.
August 2, 2006 - OpenEXR 1.4.0 is now available. This is the next
major production-ready release of OpenEXR and offers full compatibility
with our last production release, which was 1.2.2. This version
obsoletes versions 1.3.x, which were test versions for 1.4.0.
If you have been using 1.3.x, please upgrade to 1.4.0.
June 8, 2006 - OpenEXR 1.3.0 is now available. This is
a test release. The major new feature in this version is
support for multithreaded file I/O. We've been testing
the threaded code internally at ILM for a few months, and
we have not encountered any bugs, but we'd like to get some
feedback from others before we release the production version.
Here's a summary of the changes since version 1.2.2:
March 15, 2005 - We're pleased to announce the release of OpenEXR 1.2.2. This is a relatively minor update to the project, with the following changes:
August 10, 2004 - ILM's OpenEXR color management proposal,
presented at the Siggraph 2004 "OpenEXR, Film and Color"
Birds of a Feather meeting, is now available online.
See the documentation section.
June 6, 2004 - OpenEXR 1.2.1 is now available. This is a fairly minor release,
mostly just a few tweaks, a few bug fixes, and some new documentation.
Here are the most important changes:
May 11, 2004 - OpenEXR 1.2.0 is now available. This is the first official,
production-ready release since OpenEXR 1.0.7. If you have been using the
development 1.1 series, please switch to 1.2.0 as soon as possible.
We believe that OpenEXR 1.2.0 is ready for use in shipping applications.
We have been using it in production at ILM for several months now with no
There are quite a few major new features in the 1.2 series as compared to the original 1.0 series:
Mar 27, 2004 - OpenEXR 1.1.1 is now available. This another
development release. We expect to release a stable version, 1.2,
around the end of April. Version 1.1.1 includes support for PXR24
compression, and for high-dynamic-range luminance/chroma images
with subsampled chroma channels. Version 1.1.1 also fixes a bug
in the 1.1.0 tiled file format.
Mar 27, 2004 - We are pleased to announce that
Pixar Animation Studios has contributed code to OpenEXR
for a new lossy compression method, which compresses 32-bit
floating-point data quite a bit better than OpenEXR's other
compressors. This new compressor is called PXR24 and is
available as of the 1.1.1 development release of OpenEXR.
It will also be included in the upcoming 1.2 stable release.
Thanks to Loren Carpenter and Dana Batali of Pixar, for making
this happen!
Feb 6, 2004 - OpenEXR 1.1.0 is now available. This is a major new release
with support for tiled images, multi-resolution files (mip/ripmaps),
environment maps, and abstracted file I/O. We've also released a new set
of images that demonstrate these features, and updated the CodeWarrior project and Photoshop plugins for this release. See the downloads section for the source code and the new
Jan 8, 2004 - Industrial Light & Magic has released the source code for an OpenEXR Shake plugin.
The plugin is supported on Shake 3.0 on the GNU/Linux and MacOS X platforms. See the downloads section.
Jan 7, 2004 - OpenEXR 1.0.7 is now available. In addition to some bug
fixes, this version adds support for some new standard attributes, such as
primary and white point chromaticities, lens aperture, film speed, image
acquisition time and place, and more. If you want to use these new
attributes in your applications, see the ImfStandardAttributes.h header
file for documentation.
Our project hosting site, Savannah, is still recovering from a compromise
last month, so in the meantime, we're hosting file downloads here. Some of the files are not currently
available, but we're working to restore them.
April 3, 2003 - OpenEXR release 1.0.5 is now available. It
includes support for Windows and improved support for OS X. It also
includes support for hardware rendering of OpenEXR images on NVIDIA
GeForce FX and Quadro FX video cards. See the
downloads section for source code and
prebuilt packages for Windows, OS X 10.2, and RedHat.
April 3, 2003 - Industrial Light & Magic has released the source code for an OpenEXR display driver for
Pixar's Renderman. This display driver is covered under the OpenEXR free software license.
See the downloads section for the source code.
January 22, 2003 - OpenEXR Press Release click here
January 22, 2003 - openexr.com web site is officially launched.
OpenEXR has been ported to GNU/Linux, OS X 10.2, Win32, and IRIX.
It should be fairly easy to port to other UNIX-like operating systems.


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Carolina Alive is a vocal jazz ensemble of 12-16 singers chosen by audition. In addition to traditional vocal jazz, they sing jazz arrangements of popular tunes.
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Media Releases
WAG Presents Out of Mind – Into Creativity: Mental Health and the Arts Symposium
The Winnipeg Art Gallery, partnering with Artbeat Studio Inc., presents Out of Mind - Into Creativity a symposium on the topic of mental health and the arts. This important event will explore the relationship between creativity and mental health, open up discussions on its links to social...
Read more about WAG Presents Out of Mind – Into Creativity: Mental Health and the Arts Symposium
Oct 31, 2011
Recipe Swap Part of WAG Exhibition for Foodies!
Feast, a new exhibition opening at the Winnipeg Art Gallery on October 29, is all about food. What role does food and feasting play in our lives? How does one extol the virtues of a fine glass of wine, a bag of greasy French fries from the local chip truck? Feast is a unique and tantalizing...
Read more about Recipe Swap Part of WAG Exhibition for Foodies!
Oct 25, 2011
Four Hundred Years of Violins at the WAG
Violins in the galleries! Music in the Galleries, a fascinating presentation at the Winnipeg Art Gallery at 7:30pm on Thursday, October 27 will feature the WSO's Associate Concertmaster Karl Stobbe with an in-depth presentation of several interesting and important violins and bows dating back to...
Oct 21, 2011
WAG Announces Selection of Artists for Major Contemporary Show
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2012, the Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG) is Canada's oldest civic art gallery and one of the country's largest. The WAG is planning a milestone year of celebrations of art, programs, and special events from September 2012 through August 2013. It all kicks off on...
Read more about WAG Announces Selection of Artists for Major Contemporary Show
Oct 20, 2011
Nuit Blanche at the WAG Attracts Thousands
"After this past Saturday's event, it's clear that the success of last year's inaugural Nuit Blanche was no fluke – the WAG's second Nuit Blanche, held on Saturday, October 1 and continuing through the night, was a huge success with close to 4,500 attending and hundreds more wanting to get in,"...
Oct 3, 2011
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If you want to win a blogging contest, you have to take it a step further than "just" blogging! These tips and strategies will help you win first place in any blog contest – or any writing contest, for that matter.
To win, you need skill, discipline, and organization. Here, a blogging expert outlines six steps to winning. If you're curious about how to blog, this is the place to start.
Vince Lombardi says, "Winning isn't everything, but the will to win is everything" — and that's one thing Holly Jahangiri definitely has.
Jahangiri is one of the finalists in the nine-week long Surviving the Blog Contest, and she shares her tips on winning blog contests below.
6 Tips for Winning a Blogging Contest
Guest Post ~ Holly Jahangiri
When I was fifteen, I took to harassing the DJs at my favorite radio station. For one thing, they had made the mistake of letting me know they had The Unicorn Song, by The Irish Rovers, on tap.
I also took to entering contests – just little contests run by my favorite DJs – the same guys who'd let me do a completely fictitious weather report from a completely fictitious airport (it was actually a bar with one sad-looking wind sock flying from the rooftop) every morning. I played for pizzas, beanies, penny ante stuff. Mostly, I played for fun.
I've always preferred contests – games of skill – to lotteries, sweepstakes, and other games of chance. I'd rather go head to head in a blog writing competition and pit my skills against another qualified competitors than to have my name chosen by a number drawn from a hat. So I'm going to share with you what's worked for me. I think that you can apply most of these tips to setting life goals, as well.
Get in the game
You cannot hope to win a blogging contest if you don't get yourself in the game. No one cares about your excuses; don't let your inner critic, the biggest manufacturer of lame excuses on the planet, get the better of you. If you hear a tiny voice saying, 'You're not good enough,' or 'You never win anything,' just imagine putting a big ol' strip of duct tape across the creature's mouth.
Read the rules and understand all the requirements
In most blog writing contests, the ability to read and follow rules will weed out the casual entrants and leave only the more dedicated competitors. I've run contests, as well as entered them; trust me when I say that the rules – and your adherence to them – are like a giant sieve through which most entries will fall, and fail to qualify. The same is true, incidentally, for writers who hope to get their work published but fail to read and heed the publisher's guidelines.
Get organized and plan your strategy for winning
Don't just dive right in. Most blogging contests involve some combination of the following: write good content, generate insane amounts of traffic, encourage lots of comments, or get lots of social media shares. So what's your plan of attack?
Here are a few things to consider:
- What do you know enough about to write credibly and quickly? If you must write on a topic that is unfamiliar to you, how can you quickly, efficiently do the research you need to do in order to start writing?
- Warn your friends and followers that you're about to become very obnoxious about asking them to do lots of 'social media activities,' like commenting on and sharing your work. Don't be shy about asking; do be aware that obnoxious nagging, begging, and arm-twisting can quickly backfire and cost you much-needed help from people who would otherwise be happy to help. Remember to thank them.
- Figure out how you're going to track your progress. Do you have all the necessary information and skills to do that?
- What serendipitous hints and help are tossed your way? What opportunities come knocking? Are you so focused on what you're doing that you forget to open your eyes and notice?
Be disciplined and diligent
If I had applied half the discipline, diligence, and seat-of-the-pants writing to NaNoWriMo that I've applied to blogging contests, I'd have two or three novels to show for it come December. This contest I'm in right now is in its NINTH week. There have been times I was tempted to simply give up – anything for a one-hour nap! Do you know the story of the Tortoise and the Hare? The hare should, by all rights, have won the footrace, but he slacked off. He napped under a tree. He blew off the tortoise and the tortoise blew right past him for the win.
Avoid distractions – stay focused on winning the blog writing contest
Are you like Atalanta, slowing to pick up every 'pretty, shiny' golden apple thrown in your path? Keep Your Eye on the Goal tells the story of the mythical princess, Atalanta, who was thwarted in her efforts to outrun the men and avoid marriage by a young man whose magical golden apples – a gift from the goddess Aphrodite – distracted her long enough for him to cross the finish line first, keep his head on his shoulders, and win the beautiful Atalanta's hand in marriage.
Our 'golden apples' are email, Facebook, Twitter, and lint picking. Shut down the browser and write your posts offline, if you have to. If it feels like you're slogging through it, keep slogging – keep slogging until real inspiration hits, or until you've turned out an acceptable bit of writing in spite of the lack of inspiration you feel.
For more tips on achieving your life goals, read 7 Steps to Setting Goals for Your Life.
Never underestimate the competition
Through the blogging contest I'm currently participating in, I have assumed that the 'other guy' always had something devious and remarkable up his sleeve. Occasionally, that was even true. More often than not, there was no hidden arsenal of posts saved in drafts; there was no army of commenters waiting in the wings; there was no concerted "shock and awe" attack at the eleventh hour. But never let up; if a contest is worth entering at all, it's worth entering to win. What's the saying? You can rest when you're dead.
For more blogging tips, read The Huffington Post's Blogging Tips – How to Blog Better.
And remember that losing a blogging contest can actually open up new doors! Here are a few things to do when you lose a writing contest.
Have you ever entered a blogging or writing contest? If you have tips or strategies, please comment below …
About the Author: Holly Jahangiri lives in Texas and claims to channel the spirits of Edgar Allan Poe, O. Henry and Erma Bombeck. She has known since fifth grade that she wanted to be a professional writer. Holly is a technical communicator whose imagination is allowed free rein in her short stories, children's books, and poetry. You can visit her personal blog, It's All a Matter of Perspective.
About the Editor: Sharon Hurley Hall is a word nerd, a Scrabble fiend and fanatical about grammar. She has been mentoring other writers at Get Paid To Write Online since 2005 to help them improve and build sustainable and successful writing careers. She also blogs professionally; check her out on sharonhh.com and Google+.
Need encouragement? Sign up for my weekly "Echoes of Joy" email - it's free, short, and energizing. Like me! Is your relationship in trouble? Get 7 Steps to Fixing Your Marriage from relationship coach Mort Fertel. It's free and helpful, no strings attached.


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Greg Sharpe on Taylor Martinez's Status, Minnesota Match-up for Nebraska Cornhuskers
After a second, and final, bye week for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, there are no more rest stops in the 2013 regular season, as the Huskers head back to the field this weekend at Minnesota.
The game with the Gophers Saturday kicks off a stretch of six games against teams that, as of now, have winning records: Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Iowa.
The big question heading into the second half of the season is the health of quarterback Taylor Martinez, who has been battling a turf toe injury and hasn't played since September 14th against UCLA.
Head coach Bo Pelini said this week that Martinez is 'likely to play' Saturday, but wouldn't confirm whether or not he's starting.
I asked the 'Voice of the Cornhuskers' Greg Sharpe about how the senior signal caller looked in practice this week:
One guy Nebraska will not have back is guard Spencer Long, who's career, and a string of 33-straight starts, are over because of a left knee injury.
It's obviously a big loss for this offensive line with six games to play in the regular season:
While Nebraska (5-1) is the rested team in Saturday's game at Minnesota, the Gophers (5-2) are the team with momentum, after a surprise win on the road last weekend at Northwestern:
Minnesota has notched five wins with a rather unique offensive approach in 2013, getting it done by committee at quarterback and at running back. In fact, as of Friday afternoon, the Gophers still hadn't named a starting quarterback for Saturday morning's game:
On defense, tackle Ra'Shede Hageman is one of the top lineman in the Big Ten, and he had a big game at Northwestern last Saturday, knocking down three passes and grabbing an interception.
But behind him, the Gophers are banged up - especially in the secondary - where cornerback Derrick Wells and safety Cedric Thompson won't start because of injuries:
One of the best ways to neutralize another teams' momentum is to jump out to a fast start, and that's exactly what Nebraska has done against Minnesota in their last two meetings, outscoring the Gophers 58-0 in the first half:
This game kicks off a crucial stretch that finds the Huskers at Minnesota, at home with Northwestern, at Michigan, a home date with Michigan State, at Penn State, and at home with Iowa to end the regular season.
Those six games will reveal a lot about this Nebraska football team:
One thing is certain: if Nebraska wins at Minnesota Saturday, the Huskers will notch their 6th win of the year, making them bowl eligible. That would make 50 bowl appearances for Nebraska, something only Texas and Alabama have achieved in college football history:
Kickoff in Minneapolis is Saturday at 11:00am.
You can listen to the game live on your home for Huskers football in the Sioux Empire, ESPN 99.1!


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