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DTS's New Initiative, Podcast, and Conference on Cultural Engagement
Dallas Theological Seminary has expanded and renamed the Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership to create more opportunities for the seminary to provide a biblical perspective on timely topics in contemporary culture.
DTS President Dr. Mark Bailey and DTS' Board of Incorporate Members have appointed Dr. Darrell Bock as Executive Director for Cultural Engagement at what will now be called the Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement.
"This new emphasis for the Center reflects our belief that cultural engagement is imperative in today's world," Dr. Bailey said. "Dr. Bock has long been on the cutting edge when it comes to theologians engaging with contemporary culture, so he is ideally suited for his new role."
The Center will now cover the media, arts, workplace topics, social issues, sexuality, other religions and a myriad of other subjects. The goal is to be a useful resource for the Church, as well as to make sure DTS students are better equipped to engage the complex array of issues that are a part of our world.
The Table Podcast
"Theology is profoundly relevant," Dr. Bock said. "Good cultural engagement with a sensitive yet challenging tone makes that clear. It helps us think about how God and culture connect. That is what we hope to show as we provide useful and significant resources for people to help them engage."
The Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement began producing weekly videocasts this month for the public on an array of God and culture topics. These videocasts, called "The Table" because gathering around a table denotes discussing complex topics from a variety of perspectives, include interviews and conversations with DTS faculty and major evangelical leaders such as Andy Crouch, executive editor of Christianity Today; Dr. Stanton Jones, Wheaton College Provost and Professor of Psychology; and Kerby Anderson, a noted Christian author and radio host.
The videocasts, as well as special DTS chapel services on culturally significant topics, are available on the seminary website, as well as on iTunes.
The Table Conference
As part of the new emphasis, the Center will host an annual event called "The Table Conference." The first one, titled "Presenting God to Those who See Christianity Differently," will be held April 19-20, 2013 at Bent Tree Fellowship in Carrollton, Texas. Dr. Bock said that best-selling author Lee Strobel will be one of the speakers.
Dr. Bock has served at DTS in the New Testament department for 31 years with a focus on Jesus and the gospels. He is a past president of the Evangelical Theological Society, editor-at-large for Christianity Today and has served in key supportive roles in recent years within the Lausanne movement, which works to unite Evangelicals to spread the Gospel around the world.
He is the author of many books that address contemporary issues, including a New York Times best seller, "Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Answers to the Questions Everyone's Asking." Dr. Bock has blogged on God and culture for Bible.org for more than six years, as well as being a weekly panelist for the religion blog at The Dallas Morning News for almost four years.
He is frequently interviewed and consulted in areas of the Bible and culture by the national media and for documentaries and films.
Please visit www.dts.edu/ccl for more information on the Howard G. Hendricks Center for Christian Leadership and Cultural Engagement, named after a legendary DTS professor who mentored many prominent Christian leaders.


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A common theme emerges when industry peers talk about Larry Taylor. He's an outstanding contractor, a great businessman, and a loyal friend and mentor. But he's also a devoted family man who has never lost sight of what's really important in life.
A 1970 graduate of the HVAC program at Oklahoma State Tech, Taylor started in the industry in 1971 as a service technician at TDIndustries and worked his way up through the ranks, becoming a technician supervisor, branch manager, vice president, and, eventually, an owner, purchasing AirRite Air Conditioning, Fort Worth, TX, in 1990.
Today, AirRite ranks as one of the finest residential heating and cooling businesses in the country. The company was named Contracting Business.com's Residential Contractor of the Year in 2004 and the Air Conditioning Contractors of America's (ACCA's) Residential Contractor the Year in 2012. Taylor is semi-retired, having sold AirRite late last year, but he remains involved in the company as a business advisor.
Taylor served as chairman of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) in 2001. That same year he received ACCA's highest honor, the "Spirit of Independence" Award, which is presented to an individual who has made significant and lasting contributions to the strength, success, and independence of HVACR contractors.
"Larry is a tremendous leader in our industry, an awesome businessman, and a great family man," says Mitchell Cropp, CEO of CroppMetcalfe, Fairfax, VA. "He's very trustworthy in everything he says and does. He'll help you out anytime you think you need him, and he'll be there before you think you need him."
Steve Saunders, CEO of Tempo Partners, Inc., and Tempo Mechanical Services, Irving, TX, says young technicians can learn much about how to build a career and a life by looking at Larry Taylor.
"Larry started as a service technician, worked his way through the ranks, then stopped being a technician and became a businessman," Saunders says. "He learned to work on the business, not in the business. He's entrepreneurial. Larry has always studied the trends of the present and turned that into a good vision about the future."
Saunders also tipped his cap to Taylor for sharing his knowledge widely and openly. "Larry found that he could learn more by teaching others what he knew," Saunders says. "Larry was and is always striving to be better, smarter, and have a positive impact on others."
Lee Rosenberg chairman and partner, Rosenberg Indoor Comfort, San Antonio, TX, says Taylor is a leader, an innovator, an entrepreneur, and a true gentleman who has been dedicated to the HVAC industry throughout his life.
"Larry has conducted himself in a professional manner and built his business on the ideals of honesty and integrity," Rosenberg says.
In nominating Taylor for the Contracting Business.com Hall of Fame, Patrice Pruitt-Story, former executive director of the North Texas Chapter of ACCA, says that even in his early years of ownership Taylor wanted to set AirRite apart from the rest of the pack.
"Larry immersed himself and his technicians into education and training," Pruitt-Story says. "He invested thousands of dollars and man-hours into learning from the best in the industry."
Today, Taylor is on the board of directors for the Service Roundtable and is a business coach and advisory board facilitator for the Service Nation Alliance. In addition, he returns the training knowledge in ways that improve the entire industry. C.T. Loyd, chief operating officer, Texas Home Energy Rating Organization (Texas HERO), Austin, TX, credits Taylor for his pioneering work as the founding president of the organization.
"Larry guided Texas HERO through the early years, enabling the fledgling organization to become respected, both in Texas and nationally," he says. "He could see the transecting horizons of the energy efficiency and HVAC industries and the need to work together. Larry has taught me a lot about what a leader should be."
"His love of family and friends parallels that of his love for the industry," Rosenberg says. "He is a true legend in our industry."
Steve Saunders concludes: "Larry never forgot to love his wife. Larry never forgot to care for his children. Larry always participated in his industry and his community. He is a good role model. This is how it is done."
Congratulations to Larry Taylor as he enters the Contracting Business.com Hall of Fame!

subset: commoncrawl


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Charlie Rose and Gayle King Joining CBS 'The Early Show'
CBS has tried many different hosts and many different formats on 'The Early Show,' but they still come in third place after NBC's 'Today' and ABC's 'Good Morning, America.' Now they have a new plan.
Turn the show into a news program.
Besides hiring new producers and changing the tone of the show, the network announced Thursday it is hiring PBS talk show host Charlie Rose and radio talk show host and Oprah BFF Gayle King to co-host the program. The show will try to separate itself from 'Today' and 'GMA' by focusing more on news and current events.
There's no word yet on what the format will be, but reports say that Rose would lead the first hour of the show and King would handle the second hour. Current anchors Erica Hill and Jeff Glor would remain with the program.
This means that current co-host Chris Wragge will leave the show. In a statement, Wragge said "CBS has been my home since 2004 and will be for the foreseeable future in whatever capacity they want. I am loyal and grateful to CBS."
CBS will make an official announcement on Tuesday.


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Got two new zines from Mildred and Pacolli for us to share with you. Pacolli's The Last Chance Kids is published through Volcom's Artist Series and is 40 pages and sells for only $7 printed on thick quality heavy stock.
Mildred's newest Whats This Bullshit not only has bad lanugage in the title, but is also 40 pages of black & white gloriousness and comes signed by the artist himself for only $6. You can purchase both zines here.
zine by Mildred
The Last Chance Kids
zine by Pacolli
Whats This Bullshit
zine by Mildred
The Last Chance Kids
zine by Pacolli
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The Ricoh GR Digital III is a 10-megapixel compact camera with a 1/1.7-inch image sensor. The GR Digital III features a fixed 28mm equivalent lens with a f/1.9 aperture, as well as a high resolution 920,000 dot LCD.
Ricoh GR Digital III Availability
Ricoh GR Digital III Reviews
For its relatively minimal size and weight, the GR Digital III is a fairly comprehensive unit that packs a long list of features and capabilities into a discreet little body capable of delivering quality images across an array of shooting conditions and scenes.
I'll gladly give the GRD III compact a 9.5 out of 10 in total.
Ricoh GR Digital III Press Release
Tokyo, Japan, July 27, 2009—Ricoh Co., Ltd. (president and CEO: Shiro Kondo) today announced the development and release of the GR DIGITAL III camera. Successor model to the GR DIGITAL II, it achieves a whole new level of image quality.
Representing the further evolution of concepts introduced with the GR DIGITAL model (October 2005), the GR DIGITAL II (November 2007) achieved superb image quality by packing superior resolution, low noise, and low color aberration performance into a thin, compact body. In the 20 months since its release, it has been very popular with a wide range of customers, especially professional photographers and experienced amateurs.
The new GR DIGITAL III takes the GR line's traditional high image quality to an even higher level with a new image processing engine, a new CCD, and the newly developed 28 mm/F1.9 GR Lens. Performance has also been enhanced in areas such as quick shooting, operability, and power of expression.
In order to fully respond to the needs of our customers, for the GR DIGITAL III Ricoh will continue to offer the customization services (fine tuning of shutter release button sensitivity, AE/AWB, etc.) that we have provided since the introduction of the GR DIGITAL.
Main features of the GR DIGITAL III
1. Newly developed large-aperture lens.
?The adoption of the new F1.9, f-6.0 mm (equivalent to 28 mm for 35 mm film cameras) lens for the GR DIGITAL III takes compact-body cameras into a new realm of images. This lens makes it possible to shoot with a faster shutter speed than could be used on previous models, or to shoot with the same shutter speed but at a lower setting for ISO sensitivity.
?Despite the large F1.9 aperture, the new lens achieves a resolution level equivalent to that of the F2.4 GR Lens.
?The use of a newly developed lens drive system has made it possible to achieve greater image quality in macro photography.
2. Taking the GR DIGITAL concepts another step forward, the GR DIGITAL III achieves even greater image quality.
?The new image processing engine GR Engine III is installed. Using newly developed noise reduction technology, it enables highly sophisticated noise processing to be done while maintaining superior resolution, tone characteristics, and saturation.
?The new high-sensitivity CCD (1/1.7 inch, approx. 10 megapixels) achieves high-sensitivity properties through the use of a new process. The combination of the newly developed GR Lens and GR Engine III significantly increases shooting performance in low-light scenes.
3. Even faster shooting capabilities for capturing fleeting shutter opportunities.
?Algorithm improvements have reduced focusing time in low-light scenes. With the Pre-AF function, focusing speed is further accelerated by adjusting the focus to match the movement of the subject.
?The new "full-press snap" function shoots at a preset distance for a one-push full-press of the shutter button.
?Up to five RAW images can be recorded in consecutive shooting* and bracketing.
*When noise reduction is OFF. When it is Weak or Strong, the maximum is four images.
4. Enhanced expression capabilities make good use of GR Lens performance.
?Shutter speed priority AE is now available in addition to aperture priority AE.
?A more extensive range of image settings enables the photographer to control hue and saturation. This makes it easy to create images with a wide variety of coloration.
?When photographing subjects with mixed color temperatures, the multi-pattern auto white balance function makes it possible to achieve optimum color reproduction.
5. Large, high-visibility 3.0-inch VGA LCD monitor.
?The 3.0-inch, 920,000-dot VGA LCD monitor provides high resolution, a wide viewing angle, excellent color reproduction, good visibility outdoors, and a surface that resists soiling. The sRGB comparison for color reproduction range is 100%.
?The micro-thumbnail display function displays 81 thumbnail images on a single screen.
6. Operability further enhanced.
?The My Settings on the mode dial have been expanded to three sets. The number of Fn (function) buttons on the back of the camera body has been expanded to two.
?A function has been added for assigning names to My Settings sets and storing and retrieving them. A maximum of six sets can be defined and stored.
7. Expandability further enhanced with addition of new options.
?The 21 mm wide conversion lens GW-2 and hood and adapter GH-2 will be sold.
?The available soft cases are the GC-3 for the body only and the GC-4 quick-shooting case type compatible with the GV-2 viewfinder.
? There are also plans to introduce the GF-1 external flash, which can handle TTL flash using auxiliary flash, in the autumn of 2009.
8. Function to be expanded using firmware.
? Even after the GR DIGITAL III is introduced, we will continue to add new functions through the release of new firmware. By updating their firmware, GR DIGITAL III owners can continue to utilize the latest functions.
Customization service
(1) Shutter release button adjustment service (suggested retail price: 3,000 yen, consumption tax included: 3,150 yen)
?We fine tune shutter release button sensitivity.
(2) AE/AWB adjustment service (suggested retail price: 4,000 yen, consumption tax included: 4,200 yen)
?For customers with two or more GR DIGITAL III cameras, we fine tune AE/AWB to reduce individual differences.
*It is not possible to adjust differences between a GR DIGITAL III and a GR DIGITAL or GR DIGITAL II model.
(3) Lens name ring replacement service (suggested retail price: 2,000 yen, consumption tax included: 2,100 yen)
?We replace the "GR LENS f=6.0mm 1:1.9" ring on the lens barrel, with one finished all black.
* For customization services, cameras must be brought directly to the Ricoh Ginza Camera Service Center (Ginza), the Digital Camera Service Center (Shin-Yokohama), or the Ricoh Osaka Camera Service Center (Esaka).
GR DIGITAL III Option Table
Product Model
?Hood and adapter GH-2 *1
?Wide conversion lens *2 GW-2 *1
?External TTL flash GF-1 *3
?External viewfinder GV-1
?External mini viewfinder GV-2
?Cable switch CA-1
?Soft case GC-3 *1
?Soft case (GV-2 compatible) GC-4 *1
?Neck strap (GR DIGITAL logo) GS-1
?Neck strap (Ricoh logo) ST-2
?AC adapter AC-4c
?Rechargeable battery DB-65 *1
?Battery charger BJ-6
GR DIGITAL/GR DIGITAL II options GH-1, GW-1, GT-1, GC-1, and GC-2 cannot be used.
*1 Newly introduced option.
*2 Hood and adapter GH-2 is required when using wide conversion lens GW-2.
*3 This option is to go on sale in autumn 2009.
GR DIGITAL III – Major Specifications
No. of Effective Pixels (Camera):
Approximately 10.00 million pixels
Image Sensor:
1/1.7-inch CCD (total pixels: approx. 10.40 million pixels)
Focal length: f=6.0 mm (equivalent to 28 mm for 35 mm ?lm cameras)
F-aperture: F1.9 – F9 (exposure control with both aperture and ND filter when F8.0-F11 displays in auto shooting mode)
Shooting Distance (from the front of the lens): Approx. 30 cm – infinity; Macro (from the front of the lens): Approx. 1 cm – infinity
Lens Construction: 8 elements in 6 groups (aspheric lens: 2 elements and 2 surfaces)
Digital Zoom Magni?cation:
Digital Zoom: Approx. 4.0x; Auto Resize Zoom: Approx. 5.7x (VGA images)
Focus Mode:
Multi AF (CCD method) / Spot AF (CCD method) / Manual Focus / Snap / Infinity (Focus lock and AF auxiliary light available. For Multi AF and Spot AF, full-press snap and pre-AF are possible.)
Shutter Speed: *1
Still image: 180, 120, 60, 30, 15, 13, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3.2, 2.5, 2, 1.6, 1.3, 1 – 1/2000 sec. (maximum and minimum shutter speeds vary depending on shooting mode and flash mode)
Movie: 1/30 – 1/2000 sec.
Exposure Control:
Exposure Metering Mode: Multi (256 segments), Centre Weighted Light Metering, Spot Metering (TTL-CCD metering method, AE lock possible)
Exposure Modes: Program shift AE/Aperture priority AE/Shutter priority AE/Manual exposure
Exposure Compensation: Manual Exposure Compensation +/-2.0EV (1/3EV Steps), Auto Bracket Function (-0.5EV, ±0, +0.5EV / -0.3EV, ±0, +0.3EV)
ISO Sensitivity (Standard Output Sensitivity):
White Balance Mode:
AUTO / Multi-Pattern AUTO / Outdoors / Cloudy / Incandescent / Fluorescent / Manual / Detail, White Balance Bracket Function
Built-in ?ash mode: Auto (during low light and when the subject is backlit), Red-eye-Reduction, Flash On, Slow Synchro, Manual Flash, Flash Off
Built-in ?ash range: Approx. 20 cm – 3.0 m (ISO Auto)
Flash compensation: +/-2.0EV (1/3EV Steps)
3.0-inch Transparent LCD (approx. 920,000 dots)
Shooting Mode:
Auto Shooting Mode / Program Shift Mode / Aperture Priority Mode / Shutter Speed Priority Mode / Manual Exposure Mode / Scene Modes (Text / Movie / Skew Correction / Dynamic Range Double Shot) / My Settings Mode
Picture Quality Mode: *2
F (Fine) / N (Normal) / RAW (DNG file format) *3
No. of Pixels Recorded:
Still image: [4:3]3648×2736, 3264×2448, 2592×1944, 2048×1536, 1280×960, 640×480
[3:2] 3648×2432 [1:1] 2736×2736
Movie: 640×480, 320×240
Text: 3648×2736, 2048×1536
Recording Media:
SD memory card, SDHC memory card, Internal memory (approx. 88MB)
Storage Capacity (Pictures/Time):*4 (internal memory 88MB)
Still image: 3648×2736 (RAW: 4, F: 22, N: 38) / 3648×2432 (RAW: 5, F: 25, N: 43) / 2736×2736 (RAW: 6, F: 29, N: 50) / 3264×2448 (N: 47) / 2592×1944 (N: 72) / 2048×1536 (N: 109) / 1280×960 (N:175) / 640×480 (N: 705) / Text: 3648×2736 (38), 2048×1536 (109)
Movie*5: 640×480: 30 frames/sec. (51 sec.), 640×480: 15 frames/sec. (1 min. 42 sec.), 320×240: 30 frames/sec. (2 min. 12 sec.), 320×240: 15 frames/sec. (4 min. 19 sec.)
Recording File Format:
Still Image: JPEG (Exif ver. 2.21) *6 , RAW (DNG)
Movie: AVI (Open DML Motion JPEG Format compliant)
Other Major Shooting Functions:
Continuous / S-Cont / M-Cont, Self-Timer (operation time: approx. 10 sec. / approx. 2 sec.), Interval Timer (shooting interval: 5 sec. – 1 hour (5 sec. steps) *7, Color Bracket function, B&W (TE), Color Space Setting, Noise Reduction, Histogram, Grid Guide, Depth of Field, Electronic Level, Hot Shoe
Other Major Playback Functions:
Auto Rotate, Grid View, Enlarged Display (maximum 16x), Resize
USB 2.0 (High-Speed USB) Mini-B, Mass storage*8 / Audio Out 1.0Vp-p (75?)
Video Signal Format:
NTSC, PAL switchable
Power Supply:
Rechargeable Battery: DB-65 (3.7V) x1, AAA Dry Alkaline Battery x2, AAA Nickel-Metal Hydride Battery x 2, AC adapter (AC-4c option) 3.8V
Battery Consumption: *9
Based on CIPA Standard: Using the DB-65, approx. 370 pictures / Using AAA Dry Alkaline Battery x2, approx. 25 pictures*10
External Dimensions:
108.6 mm (W) x 59.8 mm (H) x 25.5 mm (D) (excluding projecting parts)
Approx. 188 g (excluding battery, SD memory card, strap), Accessories approx. 30 g (battery, strap)
Operating Temperature Range:
*1. Shutter speed upper and lower limits vary depending on Shooting Mode and Flash Mode.
*2. The picture quality modes which can be set vary depending on the image size.
*3. A JPEG file in Normal 640 or Fine/Normal mode with the same size as the RAW file is recorded at the same time. The DNG file format is a RAW image file format and is the standard format of Adobe Systems.
*4. Estimated number of still images it is possible to record and estimated amount of movie recording time.
*5. The maximum length for one instance of movie recording is 90 minutes or the ?le size upper limit of 4GB.
*6. Compatible with DCF and DPOF. DCF is the abbreviation of the JEITA standard "Design rule for Camera
File system." (Full compatibility with other devices is not guaranteed.)
*7. With ?ash off.
*8. Mass storage driver is compatible with Windows (R) 2000, XP, and Vista; Mac OS9.0-9.2.2 and Mac
*9. Shooting capacity was measured using CIPA-standard parameters. This is only an estimate, and
performance may vary according to usage conditions.
*10. Using Panasonic AAA alkaline batteries.


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BlackBerry put on a pretty good show on Wednesday when it revealed the Z10 and the Q10, its first new smartphones in a year and a half. The demos were crisp, and the new BlackBerry 10 software looked clever. At the very least, it seems that BlackBerry has finally joined the modern smartphone era.
But despite my interest in BlackBerry's new phones, I'm still worried about the future of the platform, and not merely because it's been off the radar for a while. Looking at what BlackBerry did and didn't announce, and what reviewers are saying about the product, gives me a few big reasons for concern:
Apps, Both Present and Future
BlackBerry deserves credit for having lots of apps out of the gate–more than 70,000, the company says–including some important ones like Twitter, Facebook, Angry Birds and The New York Times. Still, there are some big names missing from the list, including Netflix, YouTube, Spotify and Instagram. You can't expect a new platform to have everything right away, though, so I don't want to judge BlackBerry's current app count too harshly.
It's the future that I'm really worried about. What happens when the next Instagram comes out, and becomes a sensation on the iPhone and Android? Will BlackBerry be like Windows Phone–that is, just an afterthought in the minds of up-and-coming app developers? The good news is that Android apps are relatively easy to port to BlackBerry 10 (in fact, roughly 40 percent of those 70,000 launch apps are simple ports, ReadWrite notes), so RIM just has to convince developers to make a relatively small effort. We'll see if they do.
Never Neglect Maps
The consensus among BlackBerry Z10 reviews is that its Maps app is subpar. The Verge complained about inaccurate data, and said the software couldn't reliably find local businesses. CNet bemoaned a lack of features, such as walking directions, transit maps and street views. Apparently the software doesn't even let you jump into the Maps app by tapping on an address or map in the web browser. That's just basic stuff. At least the Maps app includes voice-guided turn-by-turn directions.
In any case, having a good mapping service isn't just about telling you where to go. It's about using your location to deliver useful information. Google Now, for instance, can warn you about traffic before your commute home, and Apple's Passbook can call up a boarding pass when you get to the airport. These days, a really good standalone Maps app is only part of the equation, and BlackBerry doesn't even have that yet.
Voice Commands and Virtual Assistants
BlackBerry has added voice commands in its new phones, but the list of supported actions is paltry compared to what Android and the iPhone offer. You can't ask for movie times, the weather forecast, directions, or things to do. You can't tell the phone to start playing music, answer a trivia question, calculate numbers or set reminders.
You may argue that it doesn't matter, that most people don't rely too heavily on voice commands to begin with. I think that will change as these virtual assistants become faster and support more types of queries. They'll also become more useful in automobiles–in fact, some car makers are now starting to integrate Siri–and they may some day play a big role in wearable computing, allowing you to communicate by voice when your phone is just out of reach. It's still early days for this kind of technology, but Apple and Google already have a huge head start. BlackBerry, by comparison, is just getting started.
I'm not saying the new BlackBerry phones are no good, or that no one should use them. Like I said before, the software has some clever ideas, such as the Hub that combines all communications into one area, and the Balance feature that acts as a separate login for business use. But the smartphone industry moves quickly, and BlackBerry's period of rebuilding has taken its toll in a few key areas. As with before, it's going to be hard for the company to catch up.


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Skyfall Poster
First Look: The New Bond Movie
The dramatic teaser poster for Skyfall has just hit the internet, and the trailer is expected as early as Monday. The poster shows a brooding Daniel Craig coming at us from the eye of the iconic Bond gun barrel — another indication that 007 is going back to basics (just in time for his 50th anniversary).The trailer, meanwhile, is rumored to open with an interrogation sequence that will see Her Majesty's best-loved Secret Serviceman play a word association game under the watchful eye of senior agent Ralph Fiennes. It should then kick into a blistering series of snippets from the movie's action sequences, including the explosive chase through the London Underground. Keep an eye out for all the action on AskMen this Monday.
One massive sequence that won't be appearing in the trailer, though, is the Bond movie's traditional pre-credit scene; it was still being filmed this week in Turkey. The action involves Bond on a carnage-filled pursuit of a dangerous villain across the Istanbul skyline on a motorbike, culminating in a desperate ruckus on the roof of a train.
Footage from the Skyfall set shows a dapper Dan dangling precariously from the moving train. Spy video taken earlier this year showed the stunt team working out a brutal dustup for Craig to get his teeth into. The use of Istanbul is a nod toward Bond creator Ian Fleming's favorite city — another of the movie's many touches to celebrate 50 fabulous years of Bond blowing up the big screen.
Skyfall opens across North America in November.
Action Movies
movie reviews
Movie News


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Facebook obtained personal and sensitive device data on about 187,000 users of its now-defunct Research app, which Apple banned earlier this year after the app violated its rules.
The social media giant said in a letter to Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office — which TechCrunch obtained — that it collected data on 31,000 users in the U.S., including 4,300 teenagers. The rest of the collected data came from users in India.
Earlier this year, a TechCrunch investigation found both Facebook and Google were abusing their Apple-issued enterprise developer certificates, designed to only allow employees to run iPhone and iPad apps used only inside the company. The investigation found the companies were building and providing apps for consumers outside Apple's App Store, in violation of Apple's rules. The apps paid users in return for collecting data on how participants used their devices and to understand app habits by gaining access to all of the network data in and out of their device.
Apple banned the apps by revoking Facebook's enterprise developer certificate — and later Google's enterprise certificate. In doing so, the revocation knocked offline both companies' fleet of internal iPhone or iPad apps that relied on the same certificates.
But in response to lawmakers' questions, Apple said it didn't know how many devices installed Facebook's rule-violating app.
"We know that the provisioning profile for the Facebook Research app was created on April 19, 2017, but this does not necessarily correlate to the date that Facebook distributed the provisioning profile to end users," said Timothy Powderly, Apple's director of federal affairs, in his letter.
Facebook said the app dated back to 2016.
TechCrunch also obtained the letters sent by Apple and Google to lawmakers in early March, but were never made public.
These "research" apps relied on willing participants to download the app from outside the app store and use the Apple-issued developer certificates to install the apps. Then, the apps would install a root network certificate, allowing the app to collect all the data out of the device — like web browsing histories, encrypted messages and mobile app activity — potentially also including data from their friends — for competitive analysis.
In Facebook's case, the research app — dubbed Project Atlas — was a repackaged version of its Onavo VPN app, which Facebook was forced to remove from Apple's App Store last year for gathering too much device data.
Just this week, Facebook relaunched its research app as Study, only available on Google Play and for users who have been approved through Facebook's research partner, Applause. Facebook said it would be more transparent about how it collects user data.
Facebook's vice president of public policy Kevin Martin defended the company's use of enterprise certificates, saying it "was a relatively well-known industry practice." When asked, a Facebook spokesperson didn't quantify this further. Later, TechCrunch found dozens of apps that used enterprise certificates to evade the app store.
Facebook previously said it "specifically ignores information shared via financial or health apps." In its letter to lawmakers, Facebook stuck to its guns, saying its data collection was focused on "analytics," but confirmed "in some isolated circumstances the app received some limited non-targeted content."
"We did not review all of the data to determine whether it contained health or financial data," said a Facebook spokesperson. "We have deleted all user-level market insights data that was collected from the Facebook Research app, which would include any health or financial data that may have existed."
But Facebook didn't say what kind of data, only that the app didn't decrypt "the vast majority" of data sent by a device.
Google's letter, penned by public policy vice president Karan Bhatia, did not provide a number of devices or users, saying only that its app was a "small scale" program. When reached, a Google spokesperson did not comment by our deadline.
Google also said it found "no other apps that were distributed to consumer end users," but confirmed several other apps used by the company's partners and contractors, which no longer rely on enterprise certificates.
Apple told TechCrunch that both Facebook and Google "are in compliance" with its rules as of the time of publication. At its annual developer conference last week, the company said it now "reserves the right to review and approve or reject any internal use application."
Facebook's willingness to collect this data from teenagers — despite constant scrutiny from press and regulators — demonstrates how valuable the company sees market research on its competitors. With its restarted paid research program but with greater transparency, the company continues to leverage its data collection to keep ahead of its rivals.
"After its previous app was rightly taken down and blocked from operating, Facebook moved more quickly to reintroduce a market research product than it has to provide any substantial consumer privacy protections or resolve the significant abuse on its platform," Sen. Blumenthal told TechCrunch. "At a time when the company is under investigation for its data practices and anticompetitive actions, the Facebook Study app is at best tone-deaf and ill-considered."
Facebook and Google came off worse in the enterprise app abuse scandal, but critics said in revoking enterprise certificates Apple retains too much control over what content customers have on their devices.
The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are said to be examining the big four tech giants — Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google-owner Alphabet — for potentially falling afoul of U.S. antitrust laws.
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An official website of the United States government
News Release 2010-93 | August 10, 2010
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Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Office of Thrift Supervision
The federal banking agencies (agencies) today have agreed to publish an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (advance notice) regarding alternatives to the use of credit ratings in their risk-based capital rules (capital rules) for banking organizations. The advance notice is issued in response to section 939A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Act), enacted on July 21, 2010, which requires the agencies to review regulations that (1) require an assessment of the credit-worthiness of a security or money market instrument and (2) contain references to or requirements regarding credit ratings. In addition, the agencies are required to remove such references and requirements and substitute in their place uniform standards of credit-worthiness, where feasible.
Through this advance notice, the agencies are seeking to gather information as they begin to develop alternatives to the use of credit ratings in their capital rules. This advance notice describes the areas in these capital rules where the agencies rely on credit ratings, as well as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's recent amendments to the Basel Accord. The advance notice solicits comment on alternative standards of creditworthiness that could be used in lieu of credit ratings. It requests comment on a set of criteria the agencies believe are important in evaluating creditworthiness standards, including risk sensitivity, transparency, consistency, and simplicity. It asks for comment on a range of potential approaches, including basing capital requirements on more granular supervisory risk weights or on market-based metrics, as well as on how these approaches might apply to different exposure categories. It also seeks comment on the feasibility of and burden associated with alternative methods of measuring creditworthiness for banking organizations of varying size and complexity.
The advance notice addresses only the references to credit ratings in the agencies' capital rules. It is expected that proposals for removing references to credit ratings in other parts of their regulations will follow separately.
The advance notice, issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, solicits comment for 60 days after publication in the Federal Register, which is expected shortly. The Office of Thrift Supervision plans to join the other federal banking agencies in issuing this advance notice pending clearance by the Office of Management and Budget.
Dean DeBuck (202) 874-5770


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- From: Matthews, BM (Brian) <firstname.lastname@example.com>
- Date: Fri, 5 Jul 2002 16:55:00 +0100
- To: "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <firstname.lastname@example.com>, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <firstname.lastname@example.com>, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <firstname.lastname@example.com>, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <firstname.lastname@example.com>, email@example.com, email@example.com, "'firstname.lastname@example.com'" <email@example.com>, "'email@example.com'" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
(We apologize if you receive multiple copies of this Call) CALL FOR PAPERS http://www.w3c.rl.ac.uk/Euroweb/CallForPapers.html EuroWeb 2002: 2nd European World Wide Web Conference The Web and the GRID: from e-science to e-business 17-18 December 2002 St Anne's College, Oxford, UK http://www.w3c.rl.ac.uk/Euroweb/ Conference Chair: Prof. Michael Wilson, W3C UK and Ireland Office Programme Chair: Dr. Brian Matthews, CLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory The conference theme is intended to prompt debate on convergence of developments pioneered for e-science on the GRID and web services in order to provide business applications. The communities who identify with the web, the GRID, Web Services, Grid Services and Semantic Web should not be isolated from each other, but need to come together to unify their approaches to meet the real needs of information, data and knowledge technology users. EuroWeb 2002 will be a major international forum at which research on GRIDs and Web Services is presented. EuroWeb 2002 follows on from the success of the EuroWeb 2001, which was held in Pisa in December, 2001 on the topic of the web in public administration. Scope ----- The conference seeks original contributions on, but not limited to, the following topics: * Agents * Applications of Web Services * Applications of GRID services * Authentication and Authorisation Services * Beyond SOAP: Web Services Invocation Framework * Bootstrapping, growth and economic models * Case Studies * Computational Economy * Database technologies * Data/Information/Knowledge integration, mediation and storage * Digital libraries, publishing, and e-Books * Distributed file sharing * Distributed computation * e-business and large-scale knowledge management * e-learning * e-science and the Grid * Grid Middleware and Toolkits * Grid Information Services * Grid Object Metadata and Schemas * instant messaging * Mobile, situated and diffuse computing * Multimedia data * Open Grid Services Architecture (OGSA) * Peer to peer services * Performance Evaluation and Modeling * Resource Management and Scheduling * Portals for GRiD and web services * Remote Data Access and Management * Scalability * Searching and querying * Securing Web Services * Services, including description, discovery and interoperation * Services and the Semantic Web * The GRiD and XML technologies * Web services and XML technologies * Trust * User interfaces * Visualisation and modelling * Web mining * Web service registries * XML Protocol and HTTP Messaging Publication ----------- The proceedings will be published on paper for attendees, and electronically thereafter in the British Computer Society Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC). The British Computer Society guarentee that the electronic publication will be freely available on the web for at least 10 years, and accessible as a resource registered with an ISBN number. Submission ---------- Papers are sought in two categories: 1). research papers: should describe original research, a survey/overview of areas of research, or tool, system and application descriptions relevant to the theme of the conference. When printed in the prescibed format, research papers should not exceed 10 pages. 2). position papers: should consist of brief statements of the authors' position w.r.t. some aspect of the theme of the conference, or describe work in progress of sufficient maturity to warrent attention. When printed in the prescibed format, position papers should not exceed 4 pages. Papers should be submitted as HTML documents validated by the W3C validator conforming to the eWIC formatting instructions and the EWIC template. Only electronic submission will be acccepted. Further details of the submission procedure will be available nearer the submission date. Authors will retain copyright, but authors of accepted papers will be required to sign a license to publish. Important Dates --------------- - Paper submission: Friday 27th September 2002. - Paper acceptance details: Friday 25th October 2002 - Final camera ready copy: Friday November 8th 2002 - Conference: 17-18 December 2002 Further Information ------------------- Conference Website: http://www.w3c.rl.ac.uk/Euroweb/ If you require further information please e-mail: email@example.com
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The impending shortage of ventilators for U.S. hospitals is likely already a crisis, but will become even more dire as the number grows of patients with COVID-19 that are suffering from severe symptoms and require hospitalization. That's why a simple piece of hardware newly approved by the FDA for emergency use — and available free via source code and 3D printing for hospitals — might be a key ingredient in helping minimize the strain on front-line response efforts.
The Prisma Health VESper is a deceptively simple-looking three-way connector that expands use of one ventilator to treat up to four patients simultaneously. The device is made for use with ventilators that comply to existing ISO standard ventilator hardware and tubing, and allows use of filtering equipment to block any possible transmission of viruses and bacteria.
VESper works in device pairs, with one attached to the intake of the ventilator, and another attached to the return. They also can be stacked to allow for treatment of up to four patients at once — provided the patients require the same clinical treatment in terms of oxygenation, including the oxygen mix as well as the air pressure and other factors.
This was devised by Dr. Sarah Farris, an emergency room doctor, who shared the concept with her husband Ryan Farris, a software engineer who developed the initial prototype design for 3D printing. Prisma Health is making the VESper available upon request via its printing specifications, but it should be noted that the emergency use authorization under which the FDA approved its use means that this is only intended effectively as a last-resort measure — for institutions where ventilators approved under established FDA rules have already been exhausted, and no other supply or alternative is available in order to preserve the life of patients.
Devices cleared under FDA Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) like this one are fully understood to be prototypes, and the conditions of their use includes a duty to report the results of how they perform in practice. This data contributes to the ongoing investigation of their effectiveness, and to further development and refinement of their design in order to maximize their safety and efficacy.
In addition to offering the plans for in-house 3D printing, Prisma Health has sourced donations to help print units for healthcare facilities that don't have access to their own 3D printers. The first batch of these will be funded by a donation from the Sargent Foundation of South Carolina, but Prisma Health is seeking additional donations to fund continued research as well as additional production.


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They didn't make Amazon's final cut, but these cities still hope to welcome big business
| Detroit
For some of the 200-plus cities knocked out of the running for Amazon's second headquarters, the effort may turn out to be a trial run for other opportunities. But they're advised to not make the same kind of promises to just anyone.
Cities such as Detroit; Memphis, Tenn.; and Gary, Ind.; failed to make Amazon's first cut as the online giant narrowed its list to 20 prospective sites for the $5 billion project that could employ up to 50,000 people. Looking on the bright side, several leaders whose proposals didn't make it say the time spent putting together juicy tax incentives, massive chunks of land, and infrastructure studies was not wasted.
"We used this opportunity to showcase all the options in Delaware not just for Amazon, but for any business looking for a location to set down roots and grow," the state's governor, John Carney, said.
"This exercise showed us new ways to showcase our city that we are already using to attract other businesses," Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said.
Seattle-based Amazon made clear that tax breaks and grants would be a big factor in its decision.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan floated an incentive package of more than $5 billion to lure the second headquarters to Montgomery County. New Jersey's pitch contains $7 billion in tax breaks and Boston's offer includes $75 million for affordable housing for Amazon employees and others.
Generous tax breaks and other incentives can erode a city's tax base. Economists have said the Amazon headquarters is a rare case in which some enticements could repay a city over the long run.
But the pursuit of Amazon could reignite an incentive war between cities, regions, and states to lure companies and jobs, says Tim Bartik, a senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research in Kalamazoo, Mich.
Just because they offered certain things to Amazon, doesn't mean every company should get the same, Mr. Bartik said. " 'Now that we've offered the store to Amazon, let's offer the store to someone else,' " he added. "I'd be little concerned with that."
Amazon's list includes New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Washington, D.C., Denver, Miami, Atlanta, and Chicago. Texas' Austin and Dallas made the cut, as did Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. The others are Columbus, Ohio; Montgomery County, Md.; Nashville, Tenn.; Newark, N.J.; and Raleigh, N.C. The list also includes towns in northern Virginia and Toronto.
Detroit's absence from the list muted what many see as an exciting time in the city as it makes progress since its 2014 exit from bankruptcy. Businessman Dan Gilbert led the team that put together the Motor City's proposal, which included a video showcasing the city and a more than 240-page, color, spiral-bound book. The cost of the proposal has not been revealed.
"We are not deterred in any way, shape, or form," said Mr. Gilbert, founder of online mortgage lender Quicken Loans and Bedrock commercial real estate. "Detroit is the most exciting city in the country right now and the momentum continues to build every single day. There are numerous large and small deals you will continue to see develop into reality in the months and years ahead."
Some spent big on their pitches to Amazon. Worcester, Mass., released invoices showing that it spent more than $10,500 on its proposal, most of it on a video. Connecticut shelled out $35,000 for renderings and drone footage. Virginia Beach, Va., reported spending at least $85,000. That included $3,000 to build a sand sculpture at the beach to promote its application.
For areas considered longshots, going after Amazon was a bit of an experiment.
"As much as this process helped identify our major assets, it also helped us to assess our gaps and where we can continue to improve," said Birgit Klohs, chief executive of Grand Rapids, Mich.-based The Right Place Inc. The economic development organization was part of the team making the pitch for Grand Rapids.
Gov. Chris Sununu said New Hampshire's proposal "was the most comprehensive business marketing plan" the state had produced.
"We are excited that it is already serving as a template for other businesses that now have New Hampshire on their radar," Governor Sununu said. He did not name specific companies, and Democrats argued that if Sununu truly wanted to attract businesses, he would invest more in education, workforce development, and increasing the minimum wage.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.


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Fox Ignores Food Stamp Facts To Push "Dependency" Myth
Written by Hannah Groch-Begley
Fox News repeated the conservative myth that there is an emerging "culture of dependency" and a "culture of entitlement" because of the supposed notion that people would rather collect food stamp benefits than work. In fact, most beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) are working-class Americans who already have jobs, and most leave the program after one year.
Fox Pushed Claim That People On Food Stamps "Are Not In A Hurry To Get Off"
John Stossel: "We Fund Dependency." In a column in which he described an intern's search for help getting a job at a government jobs center, Fox Business host John Stossel concluded that the centers "help people get handouts" and that the "government helps you apply for handouts immediately, but forces you through a maze if you want to work." He also claimed that "welfare creates dependency and hurts poor people." [Townhall.com, 10/3/12]
Megyn Kelly: There Is Evidence Of An "Emerging Culture Of Dependency On Taxpayer-Funded Money." Fox News host Megyn Kelly cited Stossel's column on her show as evidence of an "emerging culture of dependency on taxpayer-funded money." [Fox News, America Live, 10/4/12]
Mike Gallagher: "Frankly The People I Know" On Food Stamps "Are Not In A Hurry To Get Off." In a conversation about dependency on Fox New's America Live, Fox contributor Mike Gallagher said "frankly the people I know" on food stamps "are not in a hurry to get off" and "take the path of least resistance," rejecting the data that shows most Americans remain on food stamps for only a short period of time:
GALLAGHER: Do you know anybody on food stamps or on government assistance, Alan?
ALAN COLMES (radio host): I do. Yeah.
GALLAGHER: Okay. And I do too. It would be kind of interesting anecdotally to compare notes, because frankly the people I know are not in a hurry to get off. They are not, I think that is flat wrong to assert that most people want to be on food stamps for a year-and-a-half and the data doesn't back that up.
COLMES: I didn't say want to be. Most people are in and out of the system in year-and-a-half. The data does backs that up.
GALLAGHER: No.
COLMES: This notion that the right keeps promoting that people are lazy, they sit on their behinds, they sit on their keisters as Reagan would say. They don't want to work. They really want to take government money. You and I don't. Most people don't--
KELLY: Well there are some people like that.
COLMES: But that's not -- you're painting a picture of people that is really derogatory and insulting to those that need government assistance.
GALLAGHER: That is not fair. I'm not using the word lazy. But what I'm saying is people do take the path of least resistance. [Fox News, America Live, 10/4/12]
Gallagher: "President Obama Believes In More Government, More Entitlements." During the segment, Gallagher also claimed that "there's factual basis" in the claim that Obama is "the food stamp president." Gallagher stated: "President Obama believes in more government, more entitlements. When Newt called him the food stamp president, I mean, you know, there's factual basis for that." [Fox News, America Live, 10/4/12]
In Reality, Most Food Stamp Recipients Stay In The Program For A Short Time
U.S. Department Of Agriculture: "Half Of All New Participants Will Leave The Program Within Nine Months." According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), "SNAP helps families become financially stable and make the transition to self-sufficiency, getting them through the tough times. Half of all new participants will leave the program within nine months." [Department Of Agriculture, May 2011]
Center On Budget And Policy Priorities: "More Than Half Of All New Entrants To SNAP ... Participated For Less Than One Year." According to a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) on SNAP benefits, "More than half of all new entrants to SNAP in the mid-2000s participated for less than one year and then left the program when their immediate need had passed." [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/9/12]
Many Food Stamp Recipients Work
USDA: In 2010, 41 Percent Of SNAP Participants Lived "In A Household With Earnings." According to a USDA report on SNAP recipients for fiscal year 2010, "many SNAP participants had jobs." The report stated that "[n]early 30 percent of SNAP households had earnings in 2010" and "41 percent of all SNAP participants lived in a household with earnings." The report added, "For most of these households, earnings were the primary source of income." [Department Of Agriculture, September 2011]
CBPP: "In 2010 More Than Three Times As Many SNAP Households Worked As Relied Solely On Welfare Benefits For Their Income." A July report from the (CBPP) noted that "[n]early half of all SNAP households with children have earned income":
Over the last two decades, large shares of SNAP households have become working households. In 2010 more than three times as many SNAP households worked as relied solely on welfare benefits for their income. (See chart: "Working Households Have Risen.") Nearly half of all SNAP households with children have earned income.
Despite sharply higher unemployment, the share of SNAP families with children that have earnings has remained stable during the recession. SNAP benefits help these low-wage working families make ends meet. For a family of three with one wage-earner who works at $10 an hour, SNAP increases the family's take-home income by roughly 20 to 50 percent, depending on the number of hours worked. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 7/9/12]
Congressional Research Service Report: "There Is A Special Work Requirement For Able-Bodied Adults" Which Limits Benefits "Unless The Participant Works At Least 20 Hours Per Week." A Congressional Research Service Report examined the work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs) on food stamps:
In addition to SNAP's work registration and Employment and Training program requirements, there is a special work requirement for able-bodied adults, ages 18 to 49 who are without dependents (ABAWDs). This requirement for ABAWDs - often referred to as the "ABAWD Rule" - was added by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 ... SNAP law limits ABAWDs to benefits for 3 months out of a 36-month period, unless the participant:
- Works at least 20 hours per week;
- Participates in an employment and training program for at least 20 hours per week; or
- Participates in a SNAP "workfare" program for at least 20 hours per week.
... benefits can be terminated for those without at least a half time job once the 3-month limit is reached, unless the individual is covered by an exemption of a "waiver" of the ABAWD requirement. [Congressional Research Service, 9/14/12]
Food Stamp Usage Is Predicted To Decline Over The Next Decade
CBO: SNAP Enrollment Will Decline Over The 2012-2022 Period, "Reflecting An Improved Economic Situation." From CBO's April 2012 report:
The number of people receiving SNAP benefits will begin to slowly decline at the end of fiscal year 2014, CBO expects, reflecting an improved economic situation and a declining unemployment rate. Nevertheless, the number of people receiving SNAP benefits will remain high by historical standards, CBO estimates. That is partly because of a growing U.S. population and thus a greater number of potential SNAP participants. [Congressional Budget Office, April 2012]
In the overview of its report, CBO included the following graph showing a decline in SNAP enrollment after 2014:
[Congressional Budget Office, 4/19/12]
Obama Is Not The "Food Stamp President"
FactCheck.Org: Food Stamp Program "Has So Far Grown By 444,574 Fewer Recipients During Obama's Time In Office Than During Bush's." In a "fact check" of what it called "Newt's Faulty Food-Stamp Claim," FactCheck.org stated that "Gingrich strains the facts when he accuses Obama of being responsible," writing: "Newt Gingrich claims that 'more people have been put on food stamps by Barack Obama than any president in American history.' He's wrong. More were added under Bush than under Obama, according to the most recent figures." The article continued:
Gingrich would have been correct to say the number now on food aid is historically high. The number stood at 46,224,722 persons as of October, the most recent month on record. And it's also true that the number has risen sharply since Obama took office.
But Gingrich goes too far to say Obama has put more on the rolls than other presidents. We asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition service for month-by-month figures going back to January 2001. And they show that under President George W. Bush the number of recipients rose by nearly 14.7 million. Nothing before comes close to that.
And under Obama, the increase so far has been 14.2 million. To be exact, the program has so far grown by 444,574 fewer recipients during Obama's time in office than during Bush's.
It's possible that when the figures for January 2012 are available they will show that the gain under Obama has matched or exceeded the gain under Bush. But not if the short-term trend continues. The number getting food stamps declined by 43,528 in October. And the economy has improved since then. [FactCheck.org, 1/18/12]
CBS News: "Percent Increase In Beneficiaries During Mr. Bush's Presidency Was Higher Than It Has Been Under Mr. Obama." CBS News noted that the increase in food stamps enrollment "hardly makes Obama the 'best food stamp president in American history,' " adding that the "percent increase in beneficiaries during Mr. Bush's presidency was higher than it has been under Mr. Obama." From CBS News:
While the number of people on food stamps is indeed at a record level, that's in part because of eligibility rules being relaxed under the administration of George W. Bush. It's also due in part to the economic downturn that began under Mr. Bush.
For the most recent month with available data, October 2011, 46.2 million people were enrolled in the food stamp program, which is formally known the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Since Mr. Obama took office, the percent increase in enrollment has been 44.5 percent.
However, that percentage increase hardly makes Obama the "best food stamp president in American history," at least when you look at the question proportionally. The percent increase in beneficiaries during Mr. Bush's presidency was higher than it has been under Mr. Obama: The number of beneficiaries went from 17.3 million in 2001 to 28.2 million in 2008 -- an increase of 63 percent in years that are mostly considered non-recessionary. [CBS News,1/17/12]
For more on Fox labeling Obama the "Food Stamp President," click here
Media Matters intern Alessandra DiMonda contributed research for this post.


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If you have an emergency, call 911 immediately. If the incident is of a serious nature, call the non-emergency number at 864-271-5333.
If the incident does not require the physical presence of an officer, or you are reporting an incident mainly for insurance purposes (such as a lost or stolen cell phone or minor private property accident), the front desk officer can take your report over the phone at 864-467-5258.
If you need to report a shoplifting incident at your business or want to report an incident of identity theft or petty theft (theft of item(s) valued at less than $2,000), you can file an online incident report.
Before calling the non-emergency or front desk phone number, please determine if the incident occurred within the city limits. You can do an address check here. If it occurred in Greenville County, you will need to contact the Greenville County Sheriff's Office at 864-271-5210.
Show All Answers
Call Crime Stoppers at 23-CRIME (864-232-7463). If your tip leads to an arrest, you could receive a substantial reward. You will be given a confidential number, which is the only identification provided to both informants and officers. No names are required or given. If your information leads to an arrest, a check from the Crime Stoppers organization will be left for you at a local bank with only numbers to indicate the recipient.
Call 911 if the crime is in progress. If the crime has already occurred and it occurred within the Greenville city limits, call the non-emergency number at 864-271-5333.
To commend the actions of one of our officers or employees, you can call 864-271-5333 and ask to speak to the officer's supervisor. You can also send a message online.
If you'd like to share your comments with Chief Thompson, you can send a letter to 4 McGee Street, Greenville, SC 29601 or email the Office of the Chief. Please be sure to include your name and address. The officer or employee will be notified of the commendation and it will be recorded in their personnel file. Depending on the circumstances, additional recognition may be given.
The Greenville Police Department encourages anyone who believes they have a valid complaint against an employee of this agency to file a report. All allegations of misconduct will be thoroughly investigated. Only by becoming aware of improprieties by our employees can we take the necessary corrective and/or disciplinary action to ensure that the department maintains the highest standards.
If you believe you have a valid complaint, please contact the Office of Internal Affairs at 864-467-5148. You can also fill out an online complaint form and someone from Internal Affairs will contact you. All complaints receive a response.
In order to maintain awareness of sex offenders living in your neighborhood, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office has added a Sex Offender Registry to their website. The registry allows you to enter any local address and provides a list of all registered Greenville County sex offenders living within a one-mile radius within the boundaries of Greenville County. You can also find information about a specific offender who is registered in Greenville County.
To retrieve evidence, you must have a court order or written authorization from the arresting officer or detective in the case. Bring the court order or written authorization, along with a photo ID and the case number, to the Law Enforcement Center at 4 McGee Street. If you are planning to pick up a car, gun or money, please call the Property and Evidence Unit at 864-467-5266 ahead of time. Their hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The Greenville Police Department maintains a record of all vehicle tows within the city limits that were involved in a traffic accident or traffic stop, abandoned on public property or illegally parked on public property. If you suspect that your vehicle has been towed from within the city limits, contact our Communications Division at 864-271-5333.
The City of Greenville code of ordinances is available online.
To contact a specific officer, call the non-emergency number at 864-271-5333. Please be prepared to give the operator the officer's name or unit number, the case number (if applicable), your contact information and the reason for the call.
The operator will take a message and forward it to the officer if he or she is on duty at the time of the call. Operators are not permitted to give out officers' phone numbers. The officer will return your call as soon as possible.
If he or she is not on duty, the operator may be able to advise you when they are scheduled to return to work so that you can call back during that time. Operators will not contact officers who are off duty.
To obtain a copy of your incident report, contact the Public Records Division at 864-467-5257. When your copy is ready, you can pick up it up at the Law Enforcement Center at 4 McGee Street, Greenville, SC 29601.
You can do a search on the Greenville County website to find out if someone has been incarcerated.
Due to the number of vehicle accidents that occur on a daily basis, dispatchers are unable to quickly identify individual accidents. Additionally, dispatch does not record the names of the individuals involved - only the vehicle descriptions and whether they were towed. Detailed information is taken by the officer on the scene but dispatch does not have immediate access to that data. We recommend calling area hospitals to see if they have been admitted.
You can follow the Greenville Police Department on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. You can also download the GPD mobile app for Android and iPhone.


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A new fashion for venues sharing a place on the F1 calendar is emerging.
The German Grand Prix has been shared between the Nurburgring and Hockenheimring since 2007.
The Japanese Grand Prix was briefly shared between Suzuka and Fuji, before the latter ended its brief return to the F1 calendar.
Spain's two F1 circuits are rumoured to be planning a similar arrangement in the near future.
And the Belgian round is expected to enter a race-share deal with France, where Spa-Francorchamps and Paul Ricard will hold rounds of the world championship every other year.
Race rotation is nothing new: The British Grand Prix was shared between Silverstone and Brands Hatch (and, before that, Aintree) until 1987. The French Grand Prix was shared between numerous circuits including Paul Ricard and Dijon before it too became a one-track race in the mid-eighties.
Rotating one round between more than one venue does bring more variety to the calendar – though this is perhaps a mixed blessing for those fans who count on making an annual trip to the same circuit closest to them.
Race organisers who have taken up race-share deals recently have done so to spread out the high cost of holding F1 races – most of which is the fees imposed by Formula One Group.
Although race organisers can save money by only holding races every other year, it also deprives them of the chance to earn money through gate receipts.
Only holding F1 races in alternate years also makes it harder for them to justify spending money on upgrading their facilities.
The recent example of the World Rally Championship provides a compelling case against relying on race rotation. Its calendar has shrunk in size since its organisers began pushing for race rotation and the popularity of the sport has suffered.
I say
Fans may appreciate greater the diversity in calendar that comes with race rotation. But this is not why it is being done.
Rather, it is symptomatic of the huge financial pressures on circuits that hold rounds of the world championship.
The high cost of holding races is increasingly being passed on to fans in the form of higher ticket prices. As a result, many circuits are already seeing poor or falling attendance. F1's move away from free-to-air television is only going to exacerbate this.
Rotating one round of the championship between two venues seems like a short-term fix that doesn't solve the root problem.
Worse, it tends to affect historic races at classic venues more than the new breed of races at identikit 'Tilkedromes'.
You say
Do you like to see F1 races rotated between venues from year to year? What does it say about the state of the sport if some races are unable to take place every year?
Cast your vote below and have your say in the comments.
Are you in favour of races being rotated in alternate years?
- No opinion (13%)
- No (54%)
- Yes (33%)
Total Voters: 305
An F1 Fanatic account is required in order to vote. If you do not have one, register an account here or read more about registering here.
Debates and polls
- Which F1 drivers will beat their team mates in 2024?
- Has anyone caught Red Bull? 20 questions for the 2024 Formula 1 season
- Which F1 team has the best livery in 2024?
- Does F1 now need rules to reverse the rise of colourless cars?
- Will Lewis Hamilton win a world championship for Ferrari?
Image © Red Bull/Getty images


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Coal Energy Drink October 02, 2011 The Renewable Energy Accountability Project. Share Get link Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Other Apps Labels Energy Share Get link Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Other Apps This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Comments
Find cities with similar climate June 01, 2017 This map has been created using The Global environmental stratification. The Global environmental stratification (GEnS), based on statistical clustering of bioclimate data (WorldClim). GEnS, consists of 125 strata, which have been aggregated into 18 global environmental zones (labeled A to R) based on the dendrogram. Interactive map >> Via www.vividmaps.com Related posts: - Find cities with similar climate 2050 - How global warming will impact 6000+ cities around the world? Read more
The Appalachian Mountains, the Scottish Highlands, and the Atlas Mounts in Africa were the same mountain range May 28, 2021 The Central Pangean Mountains was a prominent mountain ridge in the central part of the supercontinent Pangaea that extends across the continent from northeast to southwest through the Carboniferous , Permian Triassic periods. The mountains were formed due to a collision within the supercontinents Gondwana and Laurussia during the creation of Pangaea. It was comparable to the present Himalayas at its highest peak during the start of the Permian period. It isn't easy to assume now that once upon a time that the Scottish Highlands, The Appalachian Mountains, the Ouachita Mountain Range, and the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa are the same mountains , once connected as the Central Pangean Mountains. Read more
Human Emotions Visualized April 02, 2021 Despite significant diversity in the culture around the globe, humanity's DNA is 99.9 percent alike. There are some characteristics more primary and typical to the human experience than our emotions. Of course, the large spectrum of emotions we can feel can be challenging to verbalize. That's where this splendid visualization by the Junto Institute comes in. This visualization is the newest in an ongoing attempt to categorize the full range of emotions logically. Our knowledge has come a long route since William James suggested 4 primary emotions: fear, grief, love, and rage. These kernel emotions yet form much of the basis for current frameworks. The Junto Institute's visualization above classifies 6 basic emotions: fear, anger, sadness, surprise, joy, love More nuanced descriptions begin from these 6 primary emotions, such as jealousy as a subset of anger and awe-struck as a subset of surprise. As a result, there are 102 second-and third-order emotions placed on this emo Read more


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Welcome Team Narcissism: Class of 2009
Posted by rtmsf on June 26th, 2009Well, the 2009 NBA Draft has come and gone, and hundreds of players are waking up to the soul-crushing wreckage that inevitably follows. For thirty players last night, hummingbirds are carrying $100 bills around the hotel room, there's a case of empty Cristal at the foot of the bed, and the debilitating headache you're sporting today is a badge of honor – Welcome to the Show. For another thirty players, there's a melancholy tease of 'what could have been' as you realize your dream is only marginally within reach – no guarantees from here on… you're just a day-to-day wage-slave like the rest of us. For the remainder who were waiting on that siren's call from D. Stern last night, replace the Cristal with Boone's and the tease with 'what went wrong… I thought I was pretty good,' and you have what we like to call Team Narcissism.
Team Narcissism is filled with players who thought they were something they weren't: draftable. Or if they were draftable, they thought they were first-rounders when they were really second-rounders. These are players who left college early based on the tenuous premise that they were ready for the NBA, and that the NBA would welcome them into its arms… but… it didn't quite work out that way. Now they're left with the option of scratching and clawing their way onto a team for a minimum salary, or heading overseas to try to catch on somewhere else. Some of these players had absolutely no business declaring early, while others were victims of unfortunate timing and stock slippage. Still, Scotty Thurman says hello.
Team Narcissism
Dar Tucker, Depaul (undrafted) – the 6'5 Blue Demon thought because he could score 18 ppg on a terrible FG% (39%) that this made him a draft pick?
Shawn Taggart, Memphis (undrafted) – Taggart should be a gearing up for a senior season as a featured player in Josh Pastner's new offense. He never had a chance at getting drafted this year.
Brandon Costner, NC State (undrafted) – never had a chance, so why not stay in school for one more season and get your degree (see: Taggart)? (correction: stay in school and improve your game?)
Paul Harris, Syracuse (undrafted) – the first of two Syracuse clowns who were egregiously fooling themselves into believing they had a shot to get selected last night.
Eric Devendorf, Syracuse (undrafted) – it's true, he probably had nowhere else to go, but given what we know about Devo, he also probably saw himself as a lottery pick.
Daniel Hackett, USC (undrafted) – can't blame the kid for jumping off a sinking ship, but he probably could have returned and dominated on that team next year (plus get his degree).
Patty Mills, St. Mary's (#55) – this was a free-fall last night. Mills was a borderline first-rounder but his stock fell significantly in the last month, and he probably should have listened to the right people and returned to SMC for an injury-free junior all-american campaign.
Jodie Meeks, Kentucky (#41) – no surprise here, as Meeks was expected to go in the second round. Still think it was a poor decision, though.
Chase Budinger, Arizona (#44) – another free-fall player, as Budinger was a lottery pick not all that long ago. Don't really blame him much for leaving early, though, as his fall was swift and recent.
DeJuan Blair, Pittsburgh (#37) – good decision for an undersized Big Baby clone to leave early? Probably depends on whether he makes the team or not, right? Definitely a gamble.


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Obama Declares The Jersey Shore "Back In Business" [VIDEO]
President Barack Obama delivered an upbeat, pep-rally-like speech outside Convention Hall in rainy Asbury Park and declared, "The Jersey Shore is back in business!"
It was a quick trip for the President with an accelerated schedule due to the rain; he leaving Asbury Park by 1:45 p.m. The crowds were thin as he drove back down Route 71 through Sea Girt. The president's schedule was accelerated due to the rain
Following a rousing introduction by Governor Chris Christie, Obama told the crowd, "It is good to be back in Jersey," he said, amid cheers. "I love you back!" He said that New Jersey has proven it is "stronger than the storm" and was optimistic about the Shore's recovery from the storm. "If anyone ever wondered whether the Shore was going to be all right - you got your answer this weekend," said the president.
Obama spoke for just over 5 minutes and acknowledged there is still much work to be done. "We all understand there is still a lot of work to be done, there are homes to rebuild," Obama said. "We don't want people to think we've checked a box and moved on. That's why I came back."
Obama mentioned "3 great Congressman" as being from New Jersey, mentioning Democrats Rush Holt and Frank Pallone, whose districts include storm damaged shore communities as well as Donald Payne from Newark. Although the day was marked by the reunion of Republican Christie and Democrat Obama, who put aside politics to help New Jersey recover, Obama left out Ocean County GOP representatives Chris Smith and Jon Runyan.
State Senator & likely gubernatorial candidate Barbara Buono (D) was far behind the podium standing next to fellow Senator Loretta Weinberg. State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R), a friend of Christie's, sat up front.
The president and governor have arrived in Asbury Park as people held signs of the president reading, "Welcome to Jersey President Obama." Bruce Springsteen music played in the background and children from Midtown Community Elementary were on Memorial Drive in Neptune as the president's motorcade passed.
Obama and Christie stop to see the "Sandy Castle" on the beach in Point Pleasant Beach and about how he is building the structure. "He wanted to know the process. He wanted to know pretty much how we put it together," said sculptor Ed Jarrett.. "And then he was also interested in how long it lasts, and we told him that. It was more about the procedures of making it happen, and he was very excited about the school children and all the volunteers that helped. He was impressed with that process, or being able to utilize the community."
The boardwalk is lined with school children who were on field trips to the Jenkinson's Aquarium. Obama treated Christie to a game of Touchdown Fever; Obama doesn't throw well but Christie apparently won something on his toss.
Not everyone is an Obama fan: a man standing on the bridge into Pt. Pleasant Beach had a sign that said "Obama" with the name crossed out. He gave the motorcade the middle finger as it passed.
Obama is heading to Jenkinson's boardwalk in Point Pleasant via Route 71 which is lined with people waving at the motorcade. A large group of flag-waving school children from Brielle waited patiently for the president to pass.
11:52 p.m.
Crowds have been growing as the rain falls on the boardwalk in Asbury Park awaiting the arrival of Obama and Governor Chris Christie. Four helicopters accompanied the president's Marine One, landing at the National Guard Training Center in Sea Girt.
Keeping a promise he made seven months ago during his first inspection of damage from Sandy, Obama returns to the Jersey Shore on Tuesday to see first hand how the area has recovered from Hurricane Sandy. The scene will likely be a familiar one as Governor Chris Christie takes Obama for a walk along the Asbury Park boardwalk.
They will end up at Convention Hall where Obama will meet with families and businesses affected by Sandy and visit with families and businesses affected by Sandy. He will also make a short speech.
"As residents and businesses prepare for a busy summer season, President Obama will visit the Jersey Shore with Governor Christie on Tuesday to view the ongoing recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy devastated areas of the coastline last fall,' said the White House in a statement announcing Obama's visit.
Road Closures & Red Zones
Security will be tight as Obama makes his way to Asbury Park late Tuesday morning. The Borough of Manasquan warns on its Facebook page that Route 71 will be completely closed to traffic in Spring Lake Heights for extended periods of time between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. as the presidential motorcade passes through.
During that time vehicles will not be permitted to drive on the highway, cross the highway or exit from private or commercial driveways along the entire length of Route 71 through Manasquan, Sea Girt and Spring Lake Heights.
In Asbury Park a security zone will be established from 3rd to 6th avenues and East of Kingsley Street to the oceanfront. There will be no beach access between 3rd and 6th avenues. Those holding tickets to see Obama speak inside Convention Hall should enter at 3rd and Ocean avenues at 11:30 a.m.
There will be no parking on Memorial Drive or on Fifth Avenue east of Memorial Drive. Street and residential parking in these and other areas of the city may be restricted at times. Alternate side of the street parking will be suspended.
Tickets to enter Convention Hall for the President's address were distributed on Sunday.


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I have found geometric puzzles to be an excellent springboard for mathematics lessons, as they are interesting to both students and teachers. They lend themselves to teaching some specific concepts as well as to building students' spatial sense and problem-solving skills. Moreover they show to a wide range of learners that exploring mathematics can be rewarding, irrespective of any "practical" application. As a result, geometric puzzles have consistently found their way into my classes, my workshops, and my books. In fact they were how I first broke into print.
There are many geometric puzzles that can be used in the classroom, such as for example tangrams and rep-tiles as presented in my book Geometry Labs, or Rubik's cube. In this article, I will concentrate on polyforms.
One-inch graph paper is useful for many of the activities described here.
Polyforms are the shapes you get by combining multiple copies of a given "form" (usually copies of a given polygon, attached to each other edge-to-edge.) The best known example are the polyominoes, which are created by combining squares, and the best known among polyominoes are the shapes obtained by combining four squares. Those shapes are known as tetrominoes, and are the basis of the electronic game of Tetris.
If you think of them as puzzle pieces you can pick up and turn over, there are five tetrominoes, as shown in the figure. (The shapes can be remembered with the mnemonic "square lint".) But if the pieces are one-sided and have to remain in the plane (as in Tetris), there are two more:
Polyominoes, by Solomon W. Golomb (the man who coined the word,) appeared in 1964. It is out of print, but the revised and expanded second edition: Polyominoes: Puzzles, Patterns, Problems, and Packings, is available from Princeton University Press, NJ, 1994. This is the polyform bible.
Several of Martin Gardner's books of Scientific American articles include articles on polyforms and related topics in recreational mathematics. (Look for polyaboloes, polycubes, polyhexes, polyiamonds, and polyominoes in the Gardner Index.)
The Journal of Recreational Mathematics (at university libraries) also includes articles on this topic, as does Michael Keller's games and puzzles 'zine.
On the Web, many sites devote substantial space and links to polyforms -- many more than I have time to keep up with. A search will turn them up. A few places to start are:
- Ed Pegg's Mathpuzzle.com
- Kate Jones's Kadon Enterprises
- Michael Keller's Counting Polyforms
In the classroom:
- My book Polyomino Lessons has about 40 pages of puzzles and activities on this subject. (It is a free download for your non-commercial use.)
- Fourteen activities in my book Geometry Labs are dedicated to polyominoes.
One of those, on polyomino perimeter as a function of area, is summarized on this Web site, in my article "A New Algebra". It is an activity which seldom fails to engage. It works well on the first day of an 8th or 9th grade algebra course to introduce such ideas as the deep connections between geometry and algebra, and the different representations of functions.
- A set of polyomino puzzles that did not fit in the book are available here to print and duplicate:
Tiling Rectangles with PolyominoesTeacher notes: An entire chapter of Golomb's book is devoted to this topic, and it mentions a number of unsolved questions. For example: the smallest number of a given polyomino that can be used to tile a rectangle is called the order of the pentomino; it is not known whether there are any polyominoes with odd order.
To be able to work on the puzzles on the worksheet, students need to know the names of the tetrominoes and pentominoes. (You may duplicate page 54 of Geometry Labs, or if you don't have the book, print and duplicate this Polyomino Names Reference Sheet.) A hint for #2 is that (surprisingly) the smallest rectangle that can be tiled with the Y pentomino is 5 by 10.
Pentominoes are made of five squares, and are the subject of many, many classic puzzles.
(The mnemonic "FLIP'N TUVWXYZ" is helpful in finding out quickly which piece is missing in an incomplete set.)
The earliest pentomino puzzle I know of is in H. E. Dudeney's 1919 book, The Canterbury Puzzles (available from Dover Publications), pages 119-121. In Arthur C. Clarke's science-fiction book Imperial Earth (Ballantine Books, 1976), Chapter 7 is mostly about a ten-year-old's exciting encounter with pentomino puzzles. "What had at first seemed merely a childish game had opened endless vistas and horizons... there was something strange here, something magical. It was Duncan's first glimpse of the power of intuition..."
What rectangles can be simultaneously covered with pentominoes from one set? Find the answer in Simultaneous Pentomino Rectangles.
In the classroom:
- Pentominoes home page
- Sample Pentomino Labs.
- Working with Pentominoes, by Henri Picciotto. A book of pentomino lessons, keyed to the Common Core State Standards. It is available from Didax, and comes with an eBook version on DVD. The latter can be projected on a screen or interactive whiteboard, and includes manipulable pentominoes. It is a good companion to the puzzle books described below, as it makes the curricular connections explicit. They also sell a downloadable PDF, which would be convenient to print specific pages for classroom use.
- I have brought pentominoes to many kids and teachers through my book: Pentomino Activities, Lessons, and Puzzles. It includes hundreds of puzzles and dozens of lessons, and you can find material in it for pretty much any grade level. It has been in print continously from 1984 to 2012, and has generated fan mail from inner city kids in New Haven and migrant farmworkers' children in the San Joaquin Valley, plus an eloquent missive from a second grader in Tennessee who found an error in the solutions. It is going out of print, but may still be available from McGraw-Hill.
- I also created The Math Machine Pentomino Puzzles (1984) and Pentomino Pattern Cards (a subset of same). Those too are going out of print, but they may still be available from Carson-Dellosa.
(Where to get these materials.)
You can freely download three of the books mentioned above for your non-commercial use — Pentomino Puzzle Books.
Also on this website: you can play with virtual pentominoes.
Supertangrams are the polyforms obtained by combining four unit isosceles right triangles snugly in every possible way. There are 14 supertangrams. Martin Gardner wrote about them under the name "tetraboloes" (in The Mathematical Magic Show, chapter 11). They are also known as "tetratans", a word I coined. The "supertangram" name obscures the fact that the figures are polyforms, but it does reveal the geometric connection with the classic tangram puzzle: both tangrams and supertangrams are made from right isosceles triangles, and in fact all three medium-sized tangram shapes are also supertangrams.
Supertangram puzzles are more difficult than pentomino puzzles, and much more difficult than tangram puzzles. In SuperTangrams for Beginners 2, I proposed a notation for the 14 pieces. (Mnemonic: "BaCH, PRouST", and/or "BeaCH PReSTo".)
A 14-piece rectangle is not possible (see Gardner). The proof generalizes to any rotationally symmetric shape (not, as Gardner claimed incorrectly, to bilaterally symmetric shapes). In 1989, I found and published two bilaterally symmetric convex 14-piece shapes:
I also found another symmetric 14-piece shape, as did Ed Pegg (see this page on Michael Keller's site.) Finally, Miroslav Vicher found six other 14-piece convex figures through a computer search.
In the classroom:
- I sell plastic supertangrams. More info: Supertangrams home page.
- Print and duplicate the supertangram Labs. This is a whole unit, starting with the discovery of the shapes, including many puzzles, and ending with a rich lesson on similarity and the square root of two.
- I have "written" five books of supertangram puzzles. They are available for free on this website.
Consider the two pieces that are created by drawing a quarter circle with radius one, centered at the corner of a unit square. Call these pieces monarcs. Their average area is 1/2.
Two monarcs can be combined to create diarcs in seven distinct ways. The average area of the diarcs is 1.
The total area of all of the monarcs and diarcs is 8. They can be combined into a 2x4 rectangle, or a pleasingly symmetric curvilinear figure:
There are 22 triarcs, with average area 1-1/2, and total area 33. In combination with the diarcs the area would be 40. All the usual polyform questions can be asked: What symmetric shapes can be constructed using all or some of the triarcs? All or some of the diarcs and triarcs?
In contrast to polyominoes, which have been researched extensively, little is known about polyarcs. If you or your students discover interesting polyarc figures, please send me copies of your solutions! Several puzzle enthusiasts did just that, as you can see below.
More on polyarcs:
A zipped Word file of the monarcs and diarcs, by Alex Link. Using Word's drawing tools, they can be dragged, flipped and rotated into interesting shapes.
Hundreds of monarc/diarc figures, by Alex Link.
Hundreds of solutions to diarc puzzles, by Bernd Karl Rennhak.
You can purchase a beautiful plastic set of diarcs and triarcs from Kadon Enterprises.
Diarcs and Triarcs, by Michael Keller.
Tetrarcs and Pentarcs, by Brendan Owen.
Polyarc numbers on the Online Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences.
In the classroom:
- A Polyarcs Lab for your students. Prerequisites: Students need to know how to find the area and perimeter of a circle.
- A related activity: Leonardo's Areas
- A blog post by Meghan Lee: Polyarcs in the Classroom


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Friday, March 16, 2012
More Culture War Nostalgia: Khalid Muhammad Says "They Didn't Die Hard Enough!"
7 comments:
- freebones said...
hello there. i am a new reader here and i like what i see. it is poignant. given the sociological nature of the material here, i feel like i should introduce myself. mid-20's. male. heterosexual. white. science grad student. atheist.
i have been reading your posts daily for a few days now, and i must admit that while i enjoy them, they are mostly outside my sphere of ability to comment critically and in a constructive way. after all, i am a white physical scientist, so i have never really studied or experienced any of the struggles this blog seems to deal with, and i don't like to assume i understand what it's like. this one, however, i feel i can comment on.
whenever anyone calls for the murder of anyone else in a public forum, most listeners understand that those calls are not whole-hearted plot hatching, but philosophical posturing. still, i would challenge any commenter of any background, to speak and preach the words, joke or not, that they wish they had been treated by.
does calling for the murder of all white folks, joke or not, really advance any cause? does it do anything but fuel the fire of the far-right racist underpinnings of the american south? of course not. it gives these ignorant hate-mongers more tools for indoctrination and incitement of violence. i condemn khalid's comment for these reasons. it hurts everyone. it emboldens the racist - hurting all believers in equality and also hurting the racist himself by making him feel his ignorance is justified, and leading him further from educating himself.
i am very interested in your writing. i'll be lurking! - March 16, 2012 at 11:42 AM
- chaunceydevega said...
@Freebones. Thanks for chiming in. And yes, you have lots to share and offer.
I am going to do a few these types of posts on occasion. Farrakhan sparked some memories, as we get older it is funny how what we take to be "politics" and "power" changes. Khalid and Farrakhan were/are magnetic voices. We can shake our heads now with the removal of time, space, and hopefully wisdom.
But, the fact that such theater was popular during the 1990s (and before) reveals much about that political moment. What? I am unsure, that is where we can help each other out. - March 16, 2012 at 12:22 PM
It still makes me really happy when I listen to Wesley Willis sing "Kill Whitey". I don't expect these sentiments to change the world, or move a cause forward, but I still find them inherently heart warming. If I was dropping a deuce in a public restroom and saw "kill whitey" scrawled in sharpie on the inner sanctum of the stall, it would bring a smile to my face. No need to shake your head..., shake your fist instead.
- March 16, 2012 at 10:38 PM
Interesting how white America remembers what they want to remember thousands of Black leaders preach love whitey
- March 17, 2012 at 9:12 PM
- fred c said...
Dr. Khalid had great skills, it's true. Very enjoyable clip. But for all of the "kill!" rhetoric, let's face it, these exhortations were purely symbolic. Nobody was talking about killing anybody, not really.
I was a regular reader of "Muhammad Speaks" back in the (pre-Dr. Khalid) day, and ongoing. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad was all the way into "White Devils" and such, all manner of very serious, angry formulations. Maybe he meant it, I don't know, but I never took it personally. (The Honorable Wallace M. eased off on it quite a bit when he took the helm.)
It was a good paper, the writing was generally good and they printed many dispatches from the Liberation News Service. I had many pleasant conversations with the bow-tied sellers, and I teased them about the rhetoric. They all got that not all White people were created equal, this was New York City, a fine laboratory in which to study such things. We knew that it was all show, no blow.
"White Devils," "kill them all!" It's one way to tell a story. - March 18, 2012 at 9:10 AM
- chaunceydevega said...
@Beard. Scat and "kill whitey." Perhaps, you could become the next
Basquait (sp?) or Warhol?
@Fred. You are a treasure. Can you please share some of those stories? How did the NOI brothers respond to you? - March 18, 2012 at 12:16 PM
- fred c said...
There's no real story to point to, no Eureka! moment.
One possible take-away is that the sellers and I, in my opinion, felt a certain communality of interest. I was one of the alienated, underground young people at the time, and I felt not only oppressed myself by the draft, and police, and politics, but I also understood that young Blacks had it much worse from all quarters. Similarly, in the service, I got along better with the Black sailors than the White ones, and it caused some tensions on our very small base.
I thought that I knew who the Honorable Elijah M. was referring to when he spoke of "White Devils," and I kind of agreed with that description. They're still around, making mischief.
I think that most of the boys that I went to high school with, and almost all of the girls, would not have been as comfortable as I was having a natter with the bow-tied sellers. I had no agenda, and you know that I make no claims to being particularly enlightened, mostly I just wanted a paper. Most of those guys were very friendly, and it felt natural to chat a little. The sellers responded to me just fine. I'm pretty sensitive to sarcasm and hostility, and I never detected any. - March 18, 2012 at 10:44 PM