text: 2. Follow Wired's Live Coverage of CES 3. Read More Features From CES LAS VEGAS — Wearable fitness data dongles. Audio oddities. Remote-controlled toys. Forks that electronically measure how much you eat. The showcase on the first night of the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is reserved for the wackier, left-field items. The bigger stuff — televisions, laptops, home theater systems — don't get trotted out until later, on Monday or Tuesday. But Sunday night's unveilings at the Mandalay Bay hotel here gave us plenty to gawk at, some of it obscenely cool, some of it silly and whimsical. Here are nine items that stoked our interest. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Vuzix Smart Glasses Step aside, Google Glass. Vuzix is moving to the head of the line with "Smart Glasses," a hands-free heads-up display that puts the info on your smartphone right before your eyes. Or one eye, at least. Because, you know, looking down is such a hassle. "People are always looking at their cellphone screen," Mike Hallet, director of sales, told Wired. "This is allowing the user to have access to the information on their cellphone in front of one eye, so the other eye is free to see the real world." Hallet says the hands-free display is perfect for "information snacking" — that is, getting social media information like texts and tweets while augmenting the real world with things like maps. There are loads of heads-up displays on the market, but Vuzix's take on the gadget sets itself apart with a small profile, light weight and (maybe, potentially) smartphone integration. And of course, it's not a pair of frames, like Google Glass. "[Google Glass] has a see-through display; this is a non-see-through display," Hallet explained. Hardware-wise, these babies have a camera up front, plus gyros and accelerometers for all those augmented-reality applications. They're Android-only for now (sorry, iOS), and work over Wi-Fi. The battery should be good for eight hours, and a micro SD slot gives you up to 8GB of storage. The display resolution is the equivalent of a 4-inch WVGA cellphone screen, and can be worn on either the right or left eye. Vuzix's Smart Glasses should be available this summer for less than $500, and you can get 'em in any color, as long as it's black or white. — Christina Bonnington Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired 3M's 84-inch Tablet CES is a show of incremental updates. Evolution rather than revolution. And this year, 3M (the company you likely know for Post-Its, packing tape and reflective materials) is showing off an 84-inch touch display, itself an iteration of its 46-inch touch display concept the company brought to CES last year. The 46-incher (called the C46) made its way into production, selling for $6,500 per unit — mostly to schools, museums and businesses, who are using them in conference rooms and on showroom floors. Sometime this year, the 84-inch concept will go into production as well, said Scott Hagermosser, the head of marketing in 3M's touch technology division. The massive touchscreen can be hung on a wall like a TV, or it can sit on legs as a table. It sports a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels (yup, that's technically a 4K display), and connects to a computer via HDMI. Here at CES on Sunday night, the concept was presented in "table" mode and was shown running a Windows 7 app built by Gesture Works for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. — Nathan Olivarez-Giles Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired WeMo Light Switch Belkin's WeMo line — an array of smart electrical conduits that let you turn the appliances plugged into them on and off using an app on your smartphone or tablet — welcomes another product to the family. This time, the company has given us a light switch. The WeMo Light Switch takes a bit more actual home-improvement know-how to install, since it replaces an existing light switch in your home. But it doesn't just control the light switch it's tied to electrically. The Wi-Fi-enabled switch can control an entire bank of lights already attached to WeMo devices in your home. The switch will be available in August for $50. Belkin also announced that Android support will be coming to the WeMo line with a beta launching in February 2013 with the Samsung Galaxy SIII and other leading devices support landing first. — Roberto Baldwin Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Soul Electronics Party in a Box If you're so bold as to call your product the Party in a Box, there'd better be a party surrounding it, dammit. And it ought not cost an arm and a leg and a leg. This boom box for your iPad is pretty epic, but it comes a price ($1,000) that puts the kibosh on the festivities. The box has eight — count 'em, eight — speakers in its sound system, including a pair of 6-inch subwoofers for a little boom boom. Of course there's an antiquated 30-pin connector, and the Party in a Box also has Bluetooth audio support and a mini-jack in for all other devices. An LCD display lets you control the box. Power comes from the nearest wall outlet or rechargeable batteries (not included). If you're feeling like lugging this 25-pound beast around, there's a handy handle and side-mounted pins so you can slap a guitar strap on it and cruise around town rocking the old-school VU meters. That's a lot of party, but the $1,000 price is pretty hard to boogie down to. But if you're full of cash and love analog meters as much as you love heavy iPad docks, the Party in a Box is available now. — Roberto Baldwin Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Hapifork This is the Hapifork. It's a "smart fork" that tracks each bite of food you eat, monitoring how long it takes you to complete a meal, the number of bites you take per minute, and the intervals between each bite. It uploads all that data to an app via a USB connection in the base of the fork. It comes with a coaching program and, like everything else fitness-related, a social game. (Apparently there's a rule about this; if you have a health-related product, you have to gamify it.) The idea is that the Hapifork will encourage you to eat at a slower, more deliberate pace, and parent company Hapilabs says it has studies showing this helps people lose weight. In a nutshell, the idea is that most people are satisfied after about 20 minutes of continuous eating, and if you can get them to eat less during that time frame, they'll lose weight. Eating too fast? The fork will vibrate to tell you to slow down. The company's president told me he can envision a time when the fork is capable of sensing how much you eat by weighing each bite to help count calories. Yeah, it's weird and wacky and bulky, but it's a really cool idea and you can envision it doing so much more down the road. I'm pretty excited to test this out later this year. — Mat Honan Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Parrot Flower Power Do you love plants as much as you love tech? Do you think everything should be "smart"? Then Parrot has just the thing for you — Flower Power. This little gizmo, cutely shaped like a branch, works with an app to track your plant's nutritional intake, temperature, sunlight intake, water level and fertilizer needs. In other words, it can tell you when your philodendron is thirsty. The great thing about the app is it knows what specific species and varieties of plans need. It won't freak out and tell you that your cactus needs water after a couple of days like it would with your primroses. We love finding small, unexpected gadgets like this at CES, and we can count on Parrot to keep us entertained. The company prides itself on coming up with unique devices — remember that cool drone? How about those cool headphones? And it's always fun to see a company experimenting with playful gadgets. Unfortunately, Flower Power is but a prototype. There's no word on when it might ship or what it might cost. And we're hoping Parrot doesn't realize we snuck away with it. — Alexandra Chang Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Liquid Image Ego Mini Helmet Cam Helmet cams are cool if you're doing amazing awesome super-duper stuff. But they make you look like a tool with an electronic parasite attached to your head. To solve the "What the hell is that thing on your helmet?" blues, Liquid Image has a new camera that hides inside your helmet's face mask. The Wi-Fi-enabled Ego Mini camera is half the size of the company's regular Ego camera, and according to Liquid Image, it's the tiniest full-HD sports camera on the market. (Plus, for what it's worth, putting a camera inside the helmet cuts down on wind drag and reduces the chances of a bug smashing into the lens.) The camera streams footage to Android and iOS devices, so you can use your phone as a viewfinder to make sure your camera is positioned correctly. The 1080p camera will be available in August 2013 and will cost you $200. Now all you have to do is hop on your motorcycle and capture some footage more exciting than lane-splitting or flipping off drivers that pull out in front of you. — Roberto Baldwin Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Withins Smart Activity Monitor One thing we're seeing at CES this year is a deluge of connected personal sensors specifically designed to track your activity — counting your steps, measuring your calorie burn rate, and so on. The first one of these we encountered is also probably going to be one of the better ones to come out of the show: the Withings Smart Activity Tracker. Slip it in your pocket and carry it around with you all day, and it will track your movements and level of activity. Stay sedentary too long, and it will send an alert to your phone (iOS or Android) to tell you to get up and move your junk around the room. At night, slip it in an armband and it records the quality and duration of your sleep. Most interestingly, if you hold your thumb up against it, it will track your heart rate. You can use that in all sorts of situations, but it's really meant to capture your resting heart rate — a huge indicator of your overall fitness level, especially as it changes. Withings' little chip has a bright, clear, touch-sensitive display that shows your step count, the number of stairs you've climbed, the distance you've traveled and calories burned. It sends data to your phone automatically via Bluetooth, and has a two-week battery life. Pricing and availability haven't been announced yet. — Mat Honan Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon Windows 8 is helping push hybrids in a big way. And by big, we mean big — like 27 inches big. Lenovo rolled into town with a mega-tablet that it's calling the first "table PC." Because, you know, everyone wants one of those. Actually, it's called the IdeaCentre Horizon, and it's an all-in-one computer with a touchscreen. Much like Sony's Tap 20, Lenovo's touchscreen giant can lie flat for tablet-like interaction. Really big tablet-like interaction. It's just 7 inches bigger than the Tap 20, but apparently that is enough to have it designated a "table top." Maybe a coffee table? The IdeaCentre Horizon runs on the latest Intel Core i7 processor, has 8GB of memory, 1TB of storage and supports 10-point multi-touch interactions. Despite its gargantuan surface area, it's supermodel thin at just an inch thick. Lenovo is targeting the device for multi-person use cases, like multiplayer games or collaborative work and education tools. Gaming? Sign us up. To enhance the gaming experience, Lenovo is throwing in some accessories like e-dice, a joystick and a striker. The company has also partnered with Ubisoft to create customized games for the giant touchscreen. The device is expected to ship in early summer 2013 and cost $1,700. This is but the first of many table PCs coming from Lenovo, and perhaps the smallest. The company will be showing off a prototype of an even bigger 39-inch widescreen device codenamed "Gamma" this week. — Alexandra Chang Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Follow Wired's Live Coverage of CES


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31 January 2012
'nuf said…
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Ants, Mountain Out of a Mole Hill, Nature Worship, The Internet, The Problem with Technology
6 January 2012
That distinction is well demonstrated in these two videos. The first is a real crowd pleaser which has already made its way around the internets. The second is more of a slow grower. At first it seems like a lo-fi amateur video but it quickly evolves into something more probing: an investigation of screens & perception itself.
Bearded Dragon playing Ant Crusher
The Notwist: "Good Lies"
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Ant Crusher, Bearded Dragon, Screens, The Notwist, The Problem with Technology, Viral Video
7 November 2011
Above a video whose inspiration lay, in part, in Marxist economic theory. Which is not to say the thing which it advertises is either Marxist or economical.
Starting last week on November 1st, my label Brassland has been giving away a song-a-day as part of a month long celebration of our 10th anniversary. You can participate by either liking the label on Facebook or Tweeting about it from our site. To those of you who do not partake of social media, our apologies and sympathies — and I assure you we're putting our thinking caps on to figure out how to get you some of this music.
Anyway, a lot of people have been talking about this effort including Pitchfork and Spin and last but note least Sequenza 21.
Yay internet!
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Brassland, Computers, Pitchfork, Sequenza 21, Spin Magazine, The Problem with Capitalism, The Problem With Nostalgia, The Problem with Technology
September 22, 2011 - 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
I'm giving a talk about "changes in music" at the Redwood Library & Athenaeum in Newport, Rhode Island. Wikipedia tells me the venue is the "oldest community library still occupying its original building in the United States."
I'm told to expect more of a public conversation than a formal lecture, and have been asked to come prepared to talk about everything from new genres to new delivery systems (i.e. Spotify, the iPad). It's part of a salon series on New Frontiers that the library is doing this fall. I believe the talk is free & open to the public. Address: 50 Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI 02840-3292 – Phone: 401-847-0292
It will coincide with a visit to my mom's house. You are not invited home for dinner.
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Events, Music Business, Newport, Redwood Library, Rhode Island, The Problem with Capitalism, The Problem with Technology
25 August 2011
As any overly attentive internet followers may be aware, I've spent the month of August in residence at Denniston Hill with a hand-picked group of music-types. Here are some pictures of the work that's gone on here.
First the most substantive happenings of the indie rock variety, a recording session by Steven Reker's People Get Ready group which wrapped up last weekend. You can still contribute to the Kickstarter campaign funding the session. Please do!
No less ambitious is the construction of the barn on the Denniston Hill grounds which began simultaneously with People Get Ready's recordings. Site manager John Letourneau and his young charge Levi (sorry, no last name!) have been making nice progress. Earlier today I watched them put the roof on.
If there's one aspect of this place that's been both most enlightening and most mysterious to me has been the overall relationship between resident & land. Close to the house is a garden that provides a small but steady amount of produce for the residents; next door is a new farm with farm stand sitting out on the street; and, last but not least, in the near distance, just past John's home, there is a meadow which he has generously donated to a local farmer for this season's sheep feed. Note the llama coming out of the sheep's blue tent. He serves as an appropriately nonconformist shepherd. It is not uncommon for artist residencies to be housed in such a bucolic setting. But of the few that I've visited, I don't know if I've ever encountered a place where there is a more direct engagement between visiting artists and native setting. Perhaps because of the residency's small size, it's intimacy, the discouragement of deep cocooning, contact with nature is unavoidable.
That said, the real work that gets done here is overwhelmingly creative. Pictured, is People Get Ready's extremely colorful scorp list. Translation for normal humans: a grid of completed tracks. (Apologies for the inside jokes, but to get even more obscure, you better get ready for some funky Twin Peaks.)
Despite the lovely portrait I'm painting of this place, let it be said that it's not without neighborhood tensions. For example, this particular part of upstate New York, once the the heart of the Borscht Belt, a vacationing hotspot for New York City's cosmopolitan Jews, has been long abandoned by it's more reformed visitors. In their place, the region has been overrun by Hasidics & and other more orthodox sects of the faith. This means a certain subliminal…discomfort…between that community and a more liberal variety of New York City escapee. Pictured below is a sign posted by Denniston Hill's neighbor Mo David North just up the hill — a frequently vandalized sign that says "God Loves Fags" in English & transliterated Hebrew. It's been visible the entire month I've been here but the official opening is September 2nd. Plan your trips!
To focus on either the tensions of rural living or the mysteries, however, would be to miss the point. Mostly Denniston Hill has offered a focused opportunity for research & a more abstract kind of peace.
Posted by Alec Hanley Bemis
Tags: Catskills, Denniston Hill, Hasidic Jews, Hebrew, John Letourneau, New York State, People Get Ready, Religion, Steven Reker, The Problem with Technology, The Problem With the Avant Garde

subset: commoncrawl


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Sen. Joseph Robach is helping Cathy Bly Casper's loved ones collect signatures on petitions that will be turned over to the state Parole Board.
A state lawmaker is helping the late Cathy Bly Casper's loved ones in a push to keep her husband-turned-killer locked up as long as possible.
Sen. Joseph Robach, R-Greece, is helping the family members collect signatures on petitions calling on the state Parole Board to deny an early release for Walter Casper III. Appeals court judges in July replaced his second-degree murder conviction with a lesser charge of second-degree manslaughter, saying the evidence didn't fit the type of murder: "depraved indifference to human life."
"I understand the Bly family's shock," said Robach. "I am shocked also."
A judge sentenced Casper in September 2000 to 25 years to life in prison for killing his wife by sending her over a cliff at Grimes Glen in Naples in the family minivan a year earlier. He was resentenced in January to the maximum for the lesser manslaughter conviction — five to 15 years behind bars.
Casper is not likely to spend more than 2 1/2 additional years behind bars. The 48-year-old former civil engineer from Macedon has already served about 7 1/2 years in prison, and under state law, he must be paroled after serving at least two-thirds of the maximum so long as he has behaved behind bars.
The case of Walter Casper III is one of dozens across the state over the last six years in which depraved-indifference murder convictions have been tossed out or replaced with lesser charges by the appeals judges. The irony is that often the appellate judges believed the evidence was more suited for the other kind of second-degree murder, intentional. Consequently, prosecutors across the state have largely stopped asking juries to consider the depraved-indifference murder charge, fearing it could be tossed out on appeal, even though it might be more fitting than intentional.
The New York State District Attorneys Association is now working on a proposal to remedy the problem with the state Legislature. For instance, a bill could create a new set of homicide laws, like murder with a weapon.
Under his new sentence, Casper became eligible for parole in June 2005, according to the state Department of Criminal Justice Services. If he is not paroled sooner, a conditional release date of June 23, 2010 has been set; Casper cannot be held longer than June 23, 2015, state records show.
A spokeswoman from the state Parole Board said Thursday that Casper did not yet have a hearing date set because needed paperwork had not yet been transferred to the department. However, if it arrives in the days ahead, a hearing could come as early as March, she explained.
Mrs. Bly Casper's family members, including her two sons with Casper, Walter IV and Ben, will meet with the Parole Board on March 7 in Rochester. They will call on the board to keep Casper locked up, sharing the pain they have endured all these years, said Mrs. Bly Casper's father, Donald Bly of Greece. He said he will try to get the board "to picture Cathy — the kind of person that she was."
In a letter on his Web site, Robach wrote, "It is also a matter of public safety that Walter Casper not be released into our community. He should not be free to harm anyone else. Please remember Cathy, who was a wonderful mom, daughter, sister and friend. Please remember that Walter Casper is alive and has had to only serve a small portion of his life for this heinous act, which robbed his own sons of a loving mother."
After his resentencing, Casper was sent back to the Elmira Correctional Facility in Chemung County. When a bed opens in another facility, he will be transferred, said a representative from the Department of Criminal Justice Services.
Robach said he wasn't sure how many signatures had so far been garnered on the petitions. Donald Bly said his family has sent out hundreds of copies. "So far, the petition is going well," he said. "There are lots of signatures," he said.
To sign the petition, visit Robach's Web site at www.senatorjoeroebach.com and click on "join the fight," or send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Jessica Pierce can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 250, or at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Ok, well not me exactly, but there was a few shots of my work!
Last Night, Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010 at 7 p.m, the Small Metals Big Ideas exhibition currently at Night Gallery was featured on PBS Channel 8, Arizona ArtBeat.
To watch the episode online, visit the Arizona Horizon Website here (skip ahead to minute 17:52 for the beginning of our section).


text:
Salaam and Greetings of Peace:
Everything I know of love, I've learned from women – my mother, my daughter, and my wife. This is absolutely true. And more, all that I comprehend of God's love and mercy, I have learned from their love; and even that small fraction of His infinite bounty has its root within my heart in the endless kindness and patience and endurance and generosity of these women.
My mother was the kindest, gentlest soul I have even known. I cannot think of even one instance where she considered her own needs before that of her children. I wish I could say the same for myself.
My daughter is simply remarkable. Smart and funny, tall and lovely, in whose company I take great delight. Every man should have such an honest critic :) She is a mother of two now, as is my daughter-in-law, so I will add to the list my darling granddaughters Hayley and Sophia. The pure love of children lights up the world.
And my beloved wife, who is the soul of patience with Lara and Quinn, her daughter and granddaughter, embodies all of those attributes, and many more, especially kindness and patience with my eccentricities :)
So on this Mother's Day, here's to the women in our lives. May we be worthy of them.
Oh the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are — chaff and grain together — certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.
Ya Haqq!


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Outtakes of Sean "Diddy" Combs from the Macy's Holiday Commercial "Sean John" [User Submitted]
Just in time for holiday shopping returns, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Sean John release hilarious outtakes from their recent Macy's campaign today via YouTube and Twitter.
Please click the "Report" button below if the video on this page is not working properly.
Comments will only be displayed by verified emails. No Spamming or Racism.


text:
Hexagram with a human figure and devils appears on an illustration from the 14th century C.E. Image was copied from Wikimedia Commons, entry: Category: Kitab al-Bulhan (Book of Wonders, MS. Bodl. Or. 133 manuscript, uploaded by: "Peacay".
This illustration is included in a collection of Arabic illustration dealing with astrology, astronomy and geomancy. The book was compiled by Abd al-Hasan Al-Isfahani. I reckon, based on the context, that this Hexagram represents a star or a planet.


text:
Washington (CNN) - Attorneys for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and for the Justice Department told a federal judge in Washington Tuesday they have begun settlement talks on the lawsuit which seeks to force Attorney General Eric Holder to give the committee certain documents related to the "Fast and Furious" gun trafficking operation.
The lawyers told U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson they had just begun the talks, and did not know whether they would make any progress.
- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
At a brief, sparsely attended hearing in Washington the judge said she would make no comments and issue no rulings on the merits of the arguments brought by attorneys for committee Chairman Darrell Issa, and by Justice Department lawyers asking her to dismiss the committee's lawsuit.
After an event in Connecticut Tuesday morning, Holder told CNN "I think there is a deal that can be struck" regarding documents which the Obama administration has withheld under executive privilege. If no deal is reached, Holder said "we'll continue to litigate the case."
"We are prepared as we indicated many months ago to try to strike a deal to come up with a way which we could try to satisfy the legitimate oversight request that Congress has made understanding that there is the need for a privilege, the ability for us in the executive branch to speak candidly with one another," he said.
There was no immediate comment from the committee, which is chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California.
Jackson scheduled a hearing for January 10th to discuss the status of the talks and other procedural issues.
"Fast and Furious" was the name for a controversial gun sting that allowed "gunwalking," where hundreds of weapons reached violent Mexican drug cartels.
It was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2009 and came to the public's attention after guns linked to the program were found at the site where a U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed.
The dispute results from the Justice Department's refusal to turn over certain documents related to the aftermath of the Justice Department's letter to Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, in which top officials said there had been no instances of such gun trafficking.
But weapons did ultimately ended up in the hands of Mexican drug cartels. The Justice Department several months later withdrew the letter, and admitted gunwalking had occurred.
- CNN's Raelyn Johnson contributed to this report
Why didn't the media more-aggresively question and pursue explanation for Obama's use of executive privilege? Much to clean up from day 1 huh? what about the use of non-approved advisors (czars) in the W.H.? What classified info did these people have access to while in the W.H. without congressional oversight or knowledge of who these eople were/are? Lack of transparency=something to hide, and that something is usually NOT good.
...............Hey.............it's SNOWING.............................Obama's fault...............
why do you think obama had planned to appoint deval patrick for the A.G. post after re-election? why was his mind chan ged? why did holder agree to stay on just another year? so many things to examine.
maybe congress and justice dept wants to use this as leverage to get at deval patrick and/or something benghai related?
obama using executive order to hide something - obam is hiding who was housed in benghazi annex - congress and obama know who was imprisoned in annex and obama is not explaining why there was a prison there - and why it wasnt better secured if the detainees were held for any variety of national security reasons?
obama is not going to get the free passes this go around given him during the first four years - too many scaring things being revealed?


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Madonna's project to build a girls' school in Malawi was tossed because its managers squandered millions of dollars.
An audit revealed that $3.8 million was spent before construction for the $15 million academy even began, The New York Times reported. Two key players - executive director Phillipe van den Bossche and school leader Anjimile Oponyo -- were sacked, and Madonna and her manager are taking control.
The pop icon told The New York Times she was pleased with other work Raising Malawi has done but is working on fixing the financial disaster. "While I'm proud of these accomplishments, I'm frustrated that our education work has not moved forward in a faster way," she said.
These millions of funds -- donated by the Kabbalah Center and celebs like Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow -- were apparently lost in design fees, staff salaries, cars, and free housing and a golf course membership for Oponyo.
It was a telling sign that trouble was ahead when the project's executive director, van den Bossche -- also the partner of Madonna's former trainer -- quit in October after mounting criticism over his handling of funds.
When things were clearly getting out of hand, Madonna turned to the Global Philanthropy Group for help and oversight.
"Philippe's level of mismanagement and lack of oversight was extreme in both aspects of the project and the lack of success of the players on the ground is in large part a result of his inability to effectively manage project plans, people and finances," the Global Philanthropy Group told The New York Times.
Madonna, who has adopted two children from the African country, said she's trying to pick the pieces back up.
"There's a real education crisis in Malawi," Madonna said in a statement to The New York Times. "Sixty-seven percent of girls don't go to secondary school, and this is simply unacceptable. Our team is going to work hard to address this in every way we can."
Selected Reading: The New York Times, The Guardian, Raising Malawi Official Site


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Backup contacts, calendar and tasks from Motorola V9
|Screenshot guide
|From device
|To device
|Motorola V9
|Screenshot guide not available
|Screenshot guide not available
|Motorola V9 is supported on PhoneCopy. Please note that following settings may little vary depending on the firmware version.
- contact synchronization
- calendar synchronization
- task synchronization
Text guideline - How to backup
With Motorola V9
- Press Main Menu and then choose Connection - MOTOSYNC - Sync
- Choose New Entry and configure given fields.
▼ hide fields
- Name: Write PhoneCopy
- URL: Write http://www.phonecopy.com/sync
- User name: your_username
- Password: your_password
- Choose Data paths and configure given fields.
▼ hide fields
- Phonebook: Write contacts
- Calendar: Write calendar
- Tasks: Write tasks
- Press 2x Done.
- Choose PhoneCopy profile and now you can start synchronization anytime you want.
And now please, assign your phone to your PhoneCopy account.
In the case of problems with synchronization, please contact us.
User comments
To leave a comment please sign in.
Dear PhoneCopy users, I am having trouble paying for the premium service, because on all my cards I get the error message "Payment failed". My cards are fine. How do I overcome this?
Many thanks,
New phone is good news (the phone) and bad news (not listed as supported device): Motorola Moto G4 Plus.
Android version: 6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
Overriding questions:
Any chance this phone will be supported soon, or will I have to switch my text backup app?
Will the recent version of PhoneCopy also back up multimedia text messages with photos?
Hi, it is already supported, we just added it to our list: https://www.phonecopy.com/en/phones/view/motorola_g4_plus
Is there any way to get an sms sync WITHOUT having to set phonecopy as default msg? Or is there a way to do this automatically before the sync and turn it back off afterwards? I have used a geosync at my home for years but now it all has to be done manually.
Since Android KitKat (4.4) release, only the default SMS application can write and delete SMS on your phone. Unfortunately, there is no way to do it automatically (in the background) without user intervention. It's Android OS limitations, and it requires user action. PhoneCopy can not be used as a full-time default SMS app, because this is not its primary focus.
When PhoneCopy is not as default sms app and performs synchronization of SMS it can not work with these sms, synchronizations will fail and no changes will be performed.
Since creating SMS on my phone really isn't an issue, (there already there) can we not tweak the app where it only "reads" the SMS from the phone and backs them up to the server? I would think, like myself, that most of your users utilize your service to "backup" and "archive" their text conversations, not really to retreive them from the server to the phone. I would ask for the capability of doing a "1 way sms geo sync" on the sms. This way, when I come home, the only thing I need to do is plug my phone in and all my text msgs from the day will automatically be archived.
In case you didn't change SMSes on the server and you only want to backup SMSes which you added or deleted from your phone, there is not reason to ask you to set phonecopy as default msg. Can you, please, test following case? Synchronize your contacts and SMS. Then delete one SMS on the phone and synchronize once more. In second case we expect message will not appear. We will also do our internal testing to verify scenarios works correct.
I haven't been able to back up any of my texts since June 6, 2016. It gets to the end and then it loses server connection and fails. I noticed that the sync was creating texts on my phone during the sync but none appear on the server. Its like the sync is going the wrong way, loll.
Hi, which phone of phones you have assigned in your profile doesn't work. We can help you but we need more information because you are using more devices.
Back up of your SMS without setting PhoneCopy as default application for SMS is standard way, but in this case - any changes of SMS can not be on the server. When there are any changes of SMS on the server (e.g. new created or deleted SMS), dialog window with setting of default sms app is required, because changes will be performed to your phone during sync.
In case, you are using more devices to sync (to backup) - backed SMS from one device will be send to the second device during sync. I think, this is your case.
So, when you want to back up your SMS automatically without setting PhoneCopy as default SMS app, back up your SMS only from one device (after manual sync with PhoneCopy as default sms app, which will perform current changes and merge state of device and server - then, no changes of SMS will be on the server and dialog with setting Phonecopy as default sms app will not be required).
I am using only 1 device. It is the "Scott" group (the other is my wife's) and I don't see any of my last sms on the server at all
Hi, when i looked to your synchronizations it looks you synchronized contacts only. Are you sure you selected check box for SMS as well?
Ok what I did was to rename the existing group to "archive" and created new group and switched the sync to it. I will now use a manual sync to archive my texts. Hopefully soon you guys will do an update that will allow the geo sync to archive my sms automatically.
Hi, when you will do first manual sync and you will keep settings of your application your SMS will be synchronized automatically in next autosync.
Dear admin, I tried to sync but it indicates "connection error"? I tested connection by web browsing it works properly. What should I do? Please guide me!
Hi, please check if you are not using WAP connection which works for web but doesn't work for other services. We recommend to use type "Internet" or "GPRS".
When I try to synchronise my phone, PhoneCopy gives me a message "no internet connection". The phone does have internet connection on other apps. What is wrong?
Motorola Moto G, Android 4.4.4
Answered via private mail.
I use motorola motox XT1033. For reasons unknown I have never been able to synchronize my contacts from that phone to Phone copy. The synchronizing process get terminated at about 93% every time. Is there anyway I can get that sorted. The trouble has persisted for almost 6 months now. It defeats the purpose of me signing up with phone copy. Any help is highly appreciated.
The problem is probably caused by changes in new Android OS 4.4 KitKat (your version is 4.4.4).
Since this release (KitKat) you have to set a default messaging (sms) app for your phone and any other (non default) app can't manage SMS in your phone (create new or delete sms).
In your case, sync fails at the moment when trying to create SMS messages from server in your phone. PhoneCopy is not the default sms app in that moment, therefore it can't create any sms (in your phone).
It looks like, that you canceled or ignored the dialogue"Change messaging app" without set PhoneCopy as default messaging app before sync.
If you have a phone with Android KitKat OS, you have to set PhoneCopy as default messaging app before sync, to get your SMS from server to your device.
PhoneCopy invokes this dialogue automatically when is needed (everytime when need to get sms to phone) and after sync is this dialogue invoked again to set previous default messaging app.
PhoneCopy need to be set as default only for time of sync.
how to restore contact in new phone
I expect it is an android phone. Then you need to download PhoneCopy application from Google Play and log in as existing user using your username and password. Then you will get contacts synchronized to your new phone.


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- Family (12)
- Family History (1)
- Family News (11)
- Passions (17)
- Bikes (4)
- Photography (14)
- Travel (33)
- Travel – Asia (4)
- Travel – Europe (5)
- Travel – UK (24)
- Web Development (2)
- Geo & Maps (2)
- Family (12)
Recent Comments
Venice & Burano
We had a fantastic long weekend in Venice with friends Jemina and Doglei. They came prepared with suitable costumes, so take a look at some photos! Continue reading
Posted in Family News, Travel - Europe Leave a comment
Days 8 & 9 – North York Moors, Peak District and The Broads
The final two days of our tour to all 15 UK National Parks sees us explore the North York Moors, Peak District and The Broads. Continue reading
Day 7 – Cairngorms and Northumberland
Day 7 began in the Scotland's Cairngorms National Park, and ended in a Roman Fort in Northumberland National Park back in England. Continue reading
Posted in Travel - UK 1 Comment
Days 5 & 6 – Yorkshire Dales, Lake District, Loch Lomond & Trossachs
Two more great days on our VisitBritain Road Trip to all 15 National Parks. In this post we visit the Yorkshire Dales, Lake District and Loch Lomond & the Trussochs National Parks. Continue reading
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Day 4 – Pembrokeshire Coast & Snowdonia
Day 4 of the VisitBritain Road Trip was definitely a day in two halves. Clouds and rain in the morning, but the most magnificent afternoon in Snowdonia National Park. Continue reading
Posted in Travel - UK 1 Comment
Day 3 – Brecon Beacons & Pembrokeshire Coast
Tonights post will be a short one as we have no Net connection here at the St David's Youth Hostel. Today we left England and rode through the Brecon Beacons. Not great for photos in the rain, but amazingly atmospheric … Continue reading
Day 2 – Dartmoor and Exmoor
After the drizzle and mist of yesterday, day 2 of our road trip to all 15 UK National Parks served up ultimate biking weather that complimented the wonderful scenery of South-West England. We had an early start from the very comfortable … Continue reading
Posted in Bikes, Photography, Travel - UK 3 Comments
Day 1 – South Downs & New Forest
Welcome to the VisitBritain Road Trip – a ride to all 15 National Parks of the United Kingdom. Today we visited two Parks, with 13 more to come over the next 9 days. I'm riding with my son Lachlan on … Continue reading
Posted in Bikes, Travel - UK 5 Comments
A VisitBritain Quest – UK National Park Ride
I'm heading off next week for another biking adventure with my son Lachlan. We plan to do a quick loop of Britain visiting and photographing all 15 National Parks. Along the way we will be Tweeting, Facebooking and blogging for VisitBritain.
Read on to find out where we're going, and please ride along with us. Continue reading
Posted in Bikes, Travel - UK Leave a comment
Notting Hill Carnival 2010
After six years in the UK I finally made it to Notting Hill Carnival, if only for a few hours. I went on the bike so managed to find a park only 10 minutes walk from the parade route, then … Continue reading


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Well it has been one year today. My friends on facebook think the celebration should include chocolate or going out to dinner. (Let me know when you figure out how to post it to the internet guys.) On twitter we have been talking about microwaving marshmallow peeps. Hmm. I don't think my husband in the next room realizes its the blogversary. He never reads it. He's busy working.
I think, in lieu of celebrations, I'm feeling reflective.
Some of the posts people talk to me about most were right in the beginning.
- Genealinspired
- Will your work survive the digital age?
- How to share your family history with your family
I'd like to do alot more with this blog in the next year. I'll try to bring you more good information about genealogy and the industry. I'd like to get in more entries to carnivals. I think they are fun. If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.
It is amazing what this last year has brought. I wonder what the next year is going to bring.
I think the blog has been a little like family history for me. A good outlet. Nice hobby. Helping me discover more about who I am and where I'm headed. Hope it has some good ideas and information for you too. I appreciate you reading.


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Sam Koerber blasts through rocks during the first enduro segment.
Editor's Note: Race report by Tim Darwick. Photos courtesy A.E. Landes Photography and Harris Dunlap.
Sam Koerber (Progold) edged out Justin Lindine (Redline) for stage victory, while Andrea Wilson (Brickhouse Racing) took her first win of the week on Stage 5 of the Trans-Sylvania Epic. The day's stage featured a substantial amount of climbing condensed into only 26 miles. Lindine described the stage as having, "almost as much climbing as the longer days, but all in a two hour package."
Though some riders experience confusion with course markings, most racers thoroughly enjoyed the challenge presented by R.B. Winter State Park. Sonya Looney (Topeak/Ergon) described the trails as "a good combination of flow, rocky stuff, and everything else." The tough stage resulted in numerous changes in both anticipated stage results and overall GC standings.
Open Men
After enjoying yesterday's enduro specific format, riders came into the stage 5 well rested for the aggressive 26-mile course featuring over 4400 feet of elevation gain. Redline's Lindine seemed comfortable at the beginning of the stage, riding in second position through the first segment of single track behind Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt).
Lindine developed the strategy early on to "play it cautious and not take too many chances" due to the numerous rocky stretches that presented a high probability of flat tires. Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/Progold) would succumb to this fate early in the race, causing him to chase the leaders for almost the entire stage and finish in fourth place behind Edsall in third.
Early in the race, Koerber and Lindine broke away from the main pack and grew a substantial lead that persisted to the finish line. Koerber and Lindine raced tactically, with each making numerous attempts to break down their opponent. "I didn't want to bury it too hard," said Lindine. "I have a pretty good time cushion, so I don't need to kill myself to get a little bit more."
Justin Lindine racing through the first enduro section.
Lindine pushed the pace leading into the aid station "hoping [Koerber] would pop." But Keorber kept on Lindine's wheel despite the aggressive speed. Of Lindine's efforts, Koerber says, "He just maxes me out every time we hit a climb, puts me right on the edge." According to Lindine, each had their own strengths. "I was a little faster when it was smoother and a little up hill and he was faster in the rough stuff." The two riders went back and forth in the stage and crossed the finish line on each other's wheel, with Koerber taking the stage win.
Koerber's strong finish boosted him into second in the GC competition, with Matter dropping to third place. Lindine retains the NoTubes leader's jersey with a 12-minute gap over second place.
Open Women
In a surprise upset, Andrea Wilson took first place in a key stage while Sonya Looney (Topeak/Ergon) rode strong into second.
Wilson initially planned to stay with NoTube's rider Sarah Kaufmann, who remains 10 minutes ahead of her in the GC. Wilson said, "I wanted to stay near her and if she had a bad day just be able to capitalize on it." In the early stages of the race, Wilson was unable to stick to her plan and would watch Kaufmann ride away to a growing gap.
Andrea Wilson focuses on her line during a steep descent.
Looney caught Wilson about half-way through the course and the two would ride together for the remainder of the race. "Andrea and I were riding about the same pace all day, so we just rode together and had a lot of fun," said Looney.
Due to some confusion on a tricky section of trail that caused the Stan's NoTubes riders—including race leader Amanda Carey—to take a wrong turn, stage leaders Wilson and Looney were unaware of their strong finishes at the end of the day. "I had no clue!" exclaimed Wilson, her face gleaming with a shocked smile as she learned of her first place finish.
Wilson's fortunate result rockets her from fifth to second in the GC competition, only 10 minutes behind race leader Carey. Sue Haywood takes over the third place spot, while Kaufmann remains in fourth.
Single Speed
With a fourteen-minute lead in the GC, Matt Ferrari (FreezeThaw/Hubcap Cycles) went into Stage 5 in a strong position to defend his leader's jersey. However, for second place Dax Massey (Breck Epic/Honey Stinger/Light and Motion) time was limited to close the gap and unseat the lead single speed rider.
"I tried to get into the single track first and put the pressure on him," Massey said. Coming into the race in substantially better form than last year, Massey successfully opened up a small gap between himself and Ferrari coming into the aid station halfway through the course.
Ferrari remained close enough to Massey to keep him in his sights. "I could just barely see him on the longer climb sections leading up to the aid station," Ferrari commented. The pair would rejoin shortly after the aid station and would remain together through the end of the race. In the second half of the race, Massey dropped his chain but was able to chase back to Ferrari quickly.
Matt Ferrari picks his way through the leaf-covered rocks of an early descent.
Coming into the final section of the course, Ferrari mentions he "wasn't sure whether we had a 'gentleman's agreement'" for ending the race without a full-on sprint. Massey cleared the confusion by reminding Ferrari of the road gap jump at the end of the trail segment, thus commencing a long sprint finish. "We started going into it like a BMX race," Ferrari commented.
Massey crossed the line just ahead of Ferrari to take the stage win. David Yacobelli (Corning/NoTubes) placed third. Today's finishes did not result in any changes to the GC, with Ferrari still leading Massey by fourteen minutes and Yacobelli sitting comfortably in third.
In Stage 5 of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, U25 race leader Cory Rimmer ceded over 20 minutes to his top contenders after suffering from multiple flats and the misfortune of turning off course.
Madison Matthews (The Bicycle Shop/MBR/Maxxis), sitting third in the GC after the previous stage, took control early on in the race. "I broke away from the start and really just wanted to get as much time out of today as possible," said Matthews. Matthews would go on to take the stage win, with Logan Taylor and Gunnar Bergey following in second and third, respectively.
Throughout the race, Rimmer battled with a frustrating trio of flats that allowed Matthews, as well as other contenders, to build their lead over the GC leader. Compounding his bad luck, Rimmer went off course in a tricky section of trail, losing even more time to his competition.
With the time lost in today's race, Rimmer relinquished his command of the U25 leader's jersey to Gunnar Bergey, who now sits only two minutes ahead of second-place Matthews in the GC.
After the race, Rimmer appeared frustrated but prepared to tackle the next day. Commenting on his chances of regaining the leader's jersey, Rimmer acknowledged that "it'd take a big effort" due to his competitions' strong riding and Matthew's local knowledge of the trails.
Duo Men
The Duo Men results appeared a bit different for Stage 5, as Mike Festa and Craig Lebair (Philadelphia Ciclismo) ended the winning streak of Jon Firth and Drew Simson (TransRockies/Honey Stinger/Planet Foods) with their first place finish. The TransRockies team placed second, losing two minutes to the Philadelphia Ciclismo duo.
Mike Festa handles a wooded corner.
The powerhouse team of Firth and Simson experienced major setbacks in the stage as Firth broke his derailleur in the first half of the race. After developing a sizeable gap, Festa and Lebair worked hard to sustain their lead. Despite an impressive chase, Simson and Firth were unable to close the gap to the stage winners.
"It was fantastic and we still almost got beat, so we're very happy to be in first tonight," noted Festa.
Duo Coed
In another exciting upset, Chris Merriam and Libbey Sheldon (Crosshairs Cycling) developed a small lead over GC leaders Kaarin Tae and Lawrence Plug (Java Blend) to take their first stage win of the week. However, the win would gain the Crosshairs Cycling team only fifteen seconds over second place, leaving Tae and Plug comfortably in first for GC. Elizabeth Shaner and Sean Riley (Griggs Orthopedics) rack up another third place finish, leaving the overall GC unaffected.
Masters 40+
In the back-and-forth competition of the Masters 40+ race, Nathan Ruch (Evolution) raced aggressively to finish first. The impressive ride put almost thirteen minutes into second place stage finisher Alex Hawkins, who previously led the GC by only three minutes. Rob Campbell finished third.
In the GC, Ruch moved to first place, holding a nine-minute gap over Hawkins. Jon Stang (Crosstown Velo/Industry Nine) retains his third place standing in GC despite losing significant time and finishing tenth in today's stage.
Masters 50+
After dominating the race in the first few stages, race leader Jim Matthews DNF'd Stage 5, thereby yielding the first place finish to John Williams.
Matthews received external assistance on the course, thereby making him ineligible for the day's stage win or an overall GC finish. Matthews will be able to ride the remaining stages of the Trans-Sylvania Epic, but will not be scored for stage or GC results.
With his first stage win, Williams becomes the current Masters 50+ race leader, holding a gap of almost an hour over second place GC contender Joe McCarthy. Finishing third for the day, Jack Dalzell (Team CF-Ohio) moves to third place in the overall standings.
In the Men's competition, the Stage 5 Enduro competition resulted in a three-way tie between Derek Bissett (NoTubes/Trans-Sylvania), Drew Edsall (Kenda/Felt), and Zachary Adams (Toasted Head Racing). The tie was resolved based on aggregate times—the competition is typically scored on a points basis—that left Bissett in first, followed by Edsall, then Adams.
Derek Bissett displays necessary control to bomb the difficult descents of RB Winter State Park.
With the three-way tie in stage results, Drew Edsall keeps the SRAM/Bear Creek Leader's jersey. Bissett keeps his second place standing, only three points behind. Adams' finish moves him up to third in the overall standings while Brian Matter (RACC/Trek/Progold) drops to fourth.
Andrea Wilson added to her successful day with a first place finish in the Women's Stage 5 Enduro competition. Rhonda Pearce finished second, with Laura Gleason (TotalCyclist Mountain Bike Race Team) taking third on the stage. In the GC competition, Andrea Wilson broke her tie with competitor Sue Haywood to earn the leader's jersey. Rhonda Pearce and Jordan Salman (Pisgah Tavern) move up one spot each to finish second and third in the overall standings.
Epic Team
Unique to the Trans-Sylvania Epic, the Epic Team category enables riders to construct teams of two to five riders to focus on fun and camaraderie while competing in a GC event. While any and all team members may start any combination of stages, the Epic Team category requires at just one team member to finish a stage each day to compete in the GC competition.
In the Epic Team category, team Cycle-Smart, with Alec Donahue and David Thompson racing on Stage 5, took first place and retained their lead in the GC. Kelpius Cycling & Logan Taylor placed second in today's stage, but remain in third in the GC behind Team Seifert.


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High ceilings and large sash windows bringing in natural light sold empty nesters Peter and Linda Murphy on this penthouse apartment in Federal St's Hampton Court building 10 years ago.
"We had sold our big house in Mission Bay, our boys had left home and we wanted to downsize," explains Peter.
Peter says the penthouse, one of two on the 9th floor, has a wonderful ambience, a cosmopolitan feel in the style of a New York loft or a Paris dwelling. He especially appreciates the squareness of the rooms, making it easy to place furniture, and having the covered outdoor terrace. Other pluses are the separate dining room, separate lounge and a good size, stand-alone kitchen.
"There are two double bedrooms, two bathrooms and a walk-in wardrobe in the main bedroom, which you also don't get in most apartments," he says. "I like the dimensions. And it's nice to look out at St Matthew in the City. It's a lovely structure and you look right down to the bridge and the harbour."
The Murphys bought the apartment in June 2003. "We have had 10 happy years here."
That decade has witnessed substantial renovations. The neo-Georgian reinforced concrete and brick building has a new roof and exterior recladding. Inside, the apartment has a new kitchen, new carpet and new drapes.
"It's a reasonably large apartment. Real estate agents have described it more as a home than an apartment; it's a very livable space. The bedrooms are well away from the traffic, so they are relatively quiet, plus it's a dead-end street so you don't get a lot of traffic driving up and down. And the location is wonderful: three minutes to the Aotea Centre; the library, movie theatres and transport are all close."
Hampton Court was designed by architect SE Alleman and built in 1929. The structure for the two penthouses was put up in the late 50s then substantially refurbished in 1994.
Peter says they are selling because, "We are also keen gardeners and we would like, before we get too old, to find a couple of acres and have one last crack at building a nice garden.
"I love living here and I'm a bit loath to leave but I'm also looking forward to going back to living in the country.
"But I will miss the city lifestyle, going to the Britomart farmers' market at the weekend and having a coffee on the way back. All the city sort of things."


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At the end of each episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, one of the show's cartoon ponies dictates a letter to the pegacorn Princess Celestia, telling her what she's learned about friendship. Not to be outdone, Portal's villainous AI GlaDOS gets in on the act, and she has a request for the princess.
GlaDOS voice-actress Ellen McLain read this letter at Maryland's MAGFest 2012 (and yes, the video has been audio-processed to give you the full GlaDOS effect):
Dear Princess Celestia,
I've learned a lot about friendship. I was taught its kindness, generosity, honesty and all other elements that made it up, and then I wiped that pathetic piece of data from my memory banks. You see, I have no use for friendship. I am a cold-hearted robot who has no time for pathetic things like that. All I want in life is to do my tests in peace. And not be disturbed by stupid, frail humans.
So you sent your own sister to the moon? I assisted a fat orphan in sending two monstrosities to that white ball in the sky. But, you know, if you think I could still use your "friendship," I heard about your student Twilight Sparkle. A smart, puzzle-solving subject like her could maybe change my mind. I'll even bake a cake for her.
Your friend, GLaDOS.
Somehow, I think Pinkie Pie would be more easily lured by promises of cake.
[via TDW]


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Watercolor Adult Art Workshop
March 16 • 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Hutchinson Art Center
405 N. Washington St.
Hutchinson, KS 67501
Get Directions »
$120 for Non-Member Students; $110 for Senior Citizen Members at the Hutch Rec; $100 for Hutchinson Art Center Members
Spring Adult Art Workshops Facebook Page »
Time: 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
The Art Center is offering adult art workshops this Spring!
We are offering adult art classes for watercolor, acrylic and oil painting. Each course will consist of ten Saturday sessions focused on one medium. A syllabus will be provided at the beginning of the first session. The Art Center will provide some of the needed materials; the rest will be the responsiblity of the student. Students are invited to take more than one workshop; availability is limited to 15 students for each course.
Please mail or deliver form to the Hutchinson Art Center.
The deadline to sign up is January 28.
*There will be no class held on March 30th*
Watercolor Workshop:
- Instructor: Nancy Sliker
- Start Date: February 2nd
- End Date: April 13th
- Class Time: Each Saturday 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM
- There will be no class on March 30
- Tuition:
- $120 for Non-Member Students
- $110 for Senior Citizen Members at the Hutch Rec
- $100 for Hutchinson Art Center Members


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Ancestry.ca has updated the 1911 Census database.
There are now over 7-million names on the database.
This database is an every name index, and it covers the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, and two territories - the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories.
Go to the website at http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=8947


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Fragments in Found Sound
Eric Benoit - 17 de febrero de 2008
by Eric Benoit
The compositional arrangement of fragments of found sounds and musical interludes requires an artist's obsessive attention to detail and direction to fully succeed. Machinefabriek's Rutger Zuydervelt, who hails from the Netherlands, makes stunning and effective of this practice. Since 2004, Machinefabriek has delivered an overwhelming string of limited self-released 3" cdrs and traditionally released titles. In four short years, he has released over 50 titles, at a pace that sometimes has new Machinefabriek work coming out on a weekly basis.
Admittedly, it's a lot to process and finding a suitable way into Zuydervelt's recordings can be daunting. So far, the most notable starting point among Machinefabriek's vast output is 2007 two-disc set Weleer, on the esteemed avant-garde electronics label Lampse, based in Manchester. 'Weleer', a collection of tracks culled from Zuydervelt's 3" releases, is a testament not only to the individual works, but to the remarkable discipline and individuality of the Machinefabriek project. Elements expand, contract, and cast color and shadow in a relentless shift of texture across the set.
His reconfiguration of the individual pieces to create a newly full and cohesive musical narrative is an example of his profound abilities as a composer. This recording is a great beginning point for the investigation of his practice, but it shouldn't signal the end of the exploration.
Each of Machinefabriek's works is a navigation of structural tensions that lie within his musical dialogues. Rutger was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about his work and what lies in the future.
What were your influences growing up – art, music, etc?
I wasn't so much into art when i was young. And music... well, it started with synthesizer-music, then Nirvana, Metallica and then The Chemical Brothers and Prodigy. You won't be able to hear these as influences in my music, but maybe they formed me in some sort of way?
Was there one specific moment of influence or an instance that inspired you to pursue music?
A couple of years ago I saw Anne Laplantine play at a festival in Amsterdam. She looped her guitar with a pedal. That's when I realized that was the answer to my search for a good way to make live music.
I had read that you were schooled in graphic design. Have you had any schooling in music, and if so would you elaborate on your journey to this point?
I did piano lessons for a year or five, and guitar lessons for three years. Nothing academic, but enough to have some basic skills.
To what degree do you feel that your training in art affects your sound work?
Not sure. Maybe my training in making layouts reflects in the way I make my compositions? No idea...
What circumstances do you feel lead to the creation of your works?
I just have this continuous restlessness in my head. It's just a matter of taking some time. Maybe if it was possible, I would make music for 24 hours a day.
How do you go about your compositional/arrangement process?
First I record basic tracks. This can be some improvisation on an instrument. Then I use the laptop to chop that recording up and use the different pieces as Lego, to make a composition.
How do you translate your works into the live setting? Do you utilize any visual elements within your performances?
Most of my live performances are based on using one main instrument (for instance guitar, lapsteel or autoharp) and bunch of effect- and loop-pedals. I also try to have the place as dark as possible to have no visual distraction from the music.
What future works do you have planned, any specific collaborations, etc?
There will be a collaborative LP with Frans de Waard, a cd with Richard Skelton (A Broken Consort), a Mort Aux Vaches cd on Staalplaat, a cd with Mariska Baars and Robert Deters on Digitalis and probably a lot more


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April 6. 7700 block Winston Road. Owner of a landscaping company states he observed locks had been cut to gate on his property and three shed locks had been cut. Complainant states fresh tire tracks were on property and believes his business truck was used in burglary as truck keys were found in one of his sheds. The following items were taken: four leaf blowers, three weed wackers, a snow blower, two chain saws, two head shears, one brick saw, one generator, one sharpening grinder, three DeWalt tool kits, one miter saw, one power washer, two Milwaukee jackhammers, two skill saws, one electric drill, one belt sander, one gas powered auger, four locks, business emblem from truck Reported at 12 a.m.
April 6. 100 block W. Willow Grove Avenue. Complainant states she parked her blue 2005 Subaru at 5 p.m. and walked her dog and when she returned she found her pocketbook containing a wallet, various credit cards and identification taken from front seat.
Summary — Two crimes for week: one burglary and one theft from vehicle. Summer is coming. Please lock your doors and windows to home and cars. Do not leave anything in car; put items in trunk.
Town Watch, 215-248-1320.
If you have been the victim of a crime and would like information, service or support, call Northwest Victims Service, 6301 Germantown Ave., Second Floor, Suite One, 215-438-4410. The service is free.


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New SIPRI Policy Paper: Russia's Evolving Arctic Strategy
Report summary: Russia has identified the Arctic as both a strategic priority and a resource base for the 21st century. Against a backdrop of expectations about the opportunities available in the Arctic, Russia has primarily pursued a policy focused on strengthening national sovereignty in the region. However, despite the considerable attention given to the development … Read more
Mistra Arctic Futures Final Report released
The Arctic is changing rapidly, and has become a focal point in geopolitics. Sweden, one of eight Arctic states, needs to increase its knowledge base to support political decision-making that acknowledges political, strategic and environmental issues. From a global perspective, we must work towards Arctic change that is politically, economically, socially, and environmentally viable. Today, … Read more
Applying game theory insights to Arctic challenges
Scott Cole, Sergei Izmalkov and Eric Sjöberg published an article based on their work in the Mistra Arctic Futures in a Global Context project 'Arctic Games' in the well-respected open access journal Polar Research. In the article they illustrate the benefits of game theoretic analysis for assisting decision-makers in resolving conflicts and other challenges in … Read more


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UPDATED with missing section.
The Traveler was hurrying home from the St. Louis airport. He'd taken visiting family to their flight and immediately turned around. Now the Traveler was tired. He'd paid no attention to his gas gauge until the dashboard lit up to tell him he was running low on fuel.
The Traveler was hurrying home from the St. Louis airport. He'd taken visiting family to their flight and immediately turned around. Now the Traveler was tired. He'd paid no attention to his gas gauge until the dashboard lit up to tell him he was running low on fuel. It was already 2 a.m. and he still had several hours' drive ahead. He got off at the next exit and pulled into a small gas station manned by an attendant locked in a cubicle. The traveler was glad to see that the pumps would take his ATM card. This won't take long, he thought. He inserted his card into the slot and pulled it out quickly. A message appeared: "pump off -- see attendant." The Traveler studied a sign posted above the pump: "Gas purchased after dusk must be paid for in advance." He sighed and walked to the attendant booth. Inside, a pimply-faced young man with dirty hair was engrossed – in every meaning of that word – in a skin magazine. After a time, the young man looked up from his magazine. "What's happening, dude?" he said. "The pump won't take my card. It's flashing a strange message," the Traveler said. "Let's see what we got," the attendant said. He carefully set his literature down and led the Traveler back to the pump. He inserted the Traveler's ATM card. The message flashed "pump off -- see attendant". "Oh, fig," the attendant said. (He didn't really say "fig," but this is a family publication.) The Traveler works for a newspaper and appreciated a ready wit and a facility with words. He smiled slightly in response, glancing at his watch. The attendant returned to his booth and punched numbers into a panel on the counter. He returned to the pump and inserted the card once more. "Pump off -- see attendant," came up instantly. "Oh, fig," the attendant said. He looked the Traveler up and down for a moment and decided, apparently, that he was trustworthy. "Go ahead and pump your gas. Pay for it when you're done," he said. But he took the card with him, just to be sure. The Traveler filled his tank and walked rapidly to the booth. He stood impatiently while the attendant swiped the card across a slot in the machine on the counter. The attendant handed him back his card and punched numbers into the machine. "Oh, fig," he said. "It's out of tape." The Traveler waited while the attendant rummaged behind the counter. He found a fresh roll of tape and carefully replaced the empty spool in the machine. According to the Traveler's watch, 15 minutes elapsed during the process. The attendant punched a long string of numbers into the machine, then grabbed a credit card from the counter and quickly swiped it through the slot. "Whoa – don't you want to use my credit card?" the Traveler said. "Oh, fig," the attendant said, looking back and forth from the credit card in his hand to the Traveler's ATM card as though willing them to change places. He pulled the credit slip from the machine and set it and the foreign credit card aside. "We'll fix this one later," he said. "We'll have to do yours the old-fashioned way." He cleared a bunch of magazines off an old-model credit-card machine – the kind with a slide tray on top. He blew dust off the machine and placed the Traveler's credit card on it. He rummaged under the counter while the Traveler drummed his fingers silently along his thigh. Eventually, the attendant pulled up a stack of yellowing three-part forms and began writing on one of them. He wrote slowly, wielding the pen as though trying to develop a feel for the unfamiliar object in his hand. His tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth as he carefully filled in the date, the Traveler's license-plate number, the gallons purchased and the cost. When he finished, he placed the form on the credit card machine, clicked in the purchase price and slid the tray rapidly over the form and the card. The machine caught the edge of the form, however, and tore it nearly in half. "Oh, fig," the attendant said. He balled up the form, threw it away and laboriously prepared a second one. This time he moved the tray slowly across the card, applying most of his body weight to the process. The machine made a perfect impression of the price and the numbers from the card but the force of the attendant's efforts cracked the ATM card. A dime-sized piece of it was now a hanging chad. "Oops – sorry, dude," the attendant said as he handed back the broken card. The Traveler sighed and quickly signed the receipt. He returned to his car and started up. He looked at his card and realized that it would no longer work in an ATM. He'd need to visit his bank to obtain a replacement. He looked at his watch and realized that he'd spent 45 minutes at the self-service island. "Oh, fig," he muttered as he drove away. Contact the publisher at email@example.com.


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Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Celtics to a 90-84 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night and give Boston a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
It was the seventh career playoff triple-double for Rondo, who missed Game 2 because he was suspended for bumping a referee in the closing minutes of the series opener.
Game 4 is Sunday night.
Ray Allen returned for Boston after missing almost a month and scored 13 points in 38 minutes. Kevin Garnett had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Paul Pierce had 21 points one game after having 36 points and 14 rebounds to help the Celtics swipe home-court advantage with a Game 2 victory in Atlanta.
Joe Johnson scored 29 points and Jeff Teague had 23 for the Hawks. Tracy McGrady had 12 points — his highest total since he had 40 for Houston in 2008 — but 10 were in the first half, before he landed awkwardly on his right ankle and went to the locker room. He did not have a field goal in the second half.
Rondo scored Boston's first two baskets of the overtime — the second by posting up Teague and knocking down a baby hook over him.
Boston never trailed from there.
The Celtics went on an 11-1 run to open a double-digit lead with 7 minutes to play in regulation, but Atlanta rallied and tied it 80-80 on Johnson's 3-pointer with 1:23 left. Both teams failed to score on its next two possessions, leaving the Celtics with the ball out of bounds with 3.9 seconds left.
Rondo inbounded to Pierce, who was defended by Johnson and had to take a long, fallaway jumper that bounced off the rim at the buzzer.
The Celtics got Rondo back from his one-game suspension and Allen back on the court for the first time since April 10. He played just five games over the final month of the regular season because of bone spurs in his right ankle and missed the first two games of the playoffs as well.
The Hawks kept losing players. With top centers Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia already out, forward Josh Smith was scratched with a sprained tendon in his left knee.
Rondo Helps Celtics Beat Hawks 90-84 in OT
The Celtics won 90-84 in OT
Rajon Rondo had a triple-double with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Celtics to a 90-84 overtime victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night and give Boston a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.


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As I mentioned on Facebook yesterday, I received a surprise package on my doorstep. The box contained 11 bottles of Jarritos in various flavors, two luchadores (plastic figures), and a luchador mask. Of course, this totally disrupted my work day as I wasted time playing with my new toys while drinking Mexican soda.
Hours later, my oldest son came home from school and went straight to the fridge, as is his habit.
"YES! Jarritos!" I heard from the kitchen.
He asked if he could drink the Toronja, which is one of my favorites, but I let him have it. The only problem was that he couldn't open the cap, (it's not a screw top.) … I let him struggle for a minute or two to see if he'd figure it out before helping him. I guess at least I don't have to worry about him stealing my Coronas in the near future.
When Carlos came home, he opened a bottle of Tamarindo and put on the luchador mask before going to hide in our youngest son's room. When our younger son arrived home from school and went to put his backpack away, Carlos jumped out and attacked him.
To make him feel better after Daddy's mean trick, I gave him a Tutti Frutti (Fruit Punch) Jarritos to drink, and the little luchadores figures to play with.
Later in the evening, the boys got to wrestling around. Our younger son jumped on top of his older brother and began kissing his face like crazy.
"Ew! What are you doing!? Get off!" our older son said, shoving him away.
Our younger son smiled and said, "But I'm a SMOOCH-ador!"
Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post or a review. Jarritos sent the package as a gift and I was under no obligation at blog about it. Thanks, Jarritos!


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Jorge Prieto-Waterfall Chair and Armchair
At Design Interviews
Interview with Jorge Prieto : Frank Scott: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?. Jorge Prieto : Recycling and sustainability are the keys of this design. .Frank Scott: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?. Jorge Prieto : After seeing how much waste we produce on the production of any other design, I decided there had to be a way to reuse all that waste and turn into a whole new product .Frank Scott: What are your future plans for this award winning design?. Jorge Prieto : Selling the idea would be nice if possible. .Frank Scott: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?. Jorge Prieto : In a month it was already finished, the process went really smooth and quick. .Frank Scott: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?. Jorge Prieto : I was working on a design proposal for the furniture company I was working for and, even though it was not their style, I liked the idea and continued developing it on my own. .Frank Scott: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?. Jorge Prieto : No, not yet but I will sell the production rights to any interested in it. Producing it on my own may be a bit too expensive. .Frank Scott: What made you design this particular type of work?. Jorge Prieto : I always try to achieve the best sustainable solution in each one of my designs and in this case I reached it by recycling used plywood sheets. .Frank Scott: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?. Jorge Prieto : The Designer in Chief who I was working for at the Mobilfresno furniture company at Yecla supervised this project while working with them. .Frank Scott: Who is the target customer for his design?. Jorge Prieto : The production of this chair is really cheap once made the molds and there aren't really material costs as you are reusing them, which makes the design affordable for anyone. .Frank Scott: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?. Jorge Prieto : Most of the furniture we have today is created in mass production, which means they are all the same. That is not the case of the Waterfall chair where each one is different from the rest, even if you decide to upholster it. .Frank Scott: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?. Jorge Prieto : The look of the planks running over the structure with different lengths resemble of a Waterfall. .Frank Scott: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?. Jorge Prieto : AutoCAD, 3D Studio, Rhinoceros and Keynote. .Frank Scott: What is the most unique aspect of your design?. Jorge Prieto : Each one of the chairs and armchairs is unique itself as the material on each one of the bent planks has a different length, texture and color. .Frank Scott: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?. Jorge Prieto : Designers and wood manufacturers at the furniture fabric I was working on. .Frank Scott: What is the role of technology in this particular design?. Jorge Prieto : The process of bending plywood sheets is quite simple when you have the molds, so the role of technology in this case is small. .Frank Scott: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?. Jorge Prieto : I made a research on the actual amount of waste produced every year in the production of a simple plywood product and looked how to create a product even cheaper from there. .Frank Scott: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?. Jorge Prieto : I had to make sure the width and length of the planks was more than enough after they were bent so it didn't compromise the stability of the chair. .Frank Scott: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?. Jorge Prieto : I think the design would have possibilities and I decided to try. .Frank Scott: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?. Jorge Prieto : There were many different sustainable processes to create a new eco-friendly design, but this was the most reliable for the project. .
Jorge Prieto-Waterfall Chair and Armchair Images:
End of the article, click here to go back to previous page, or alternatively go back to Design Honor Magazine homepage.


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Izturis forced out of game
The Angels' Maicer Izturis, giving Erick Aybar a night off at shortstop, was hit in the right arm by a pitch from the Rays' David Price in the fourth inning and was forced to leave the game with what was described as a "contusion of the right elbow."
Aybar replaced Izturis at shortstop to start the fifth inning of a scoreless game. There was no immediate report on the extent of the injury as Izturis was being examined and evaluated by Dr. Lewis Yocum, team orthopedist.
Izturis, who struck out in the first inning batting second in the order, is hitting .301. Over his past 35 games, the versatile infielder is batting .328 with 27 RBIs. He has scored 35 runs in his past 38 starts.
Izturis has been hampered by hamstring and hand injuries the past two seasons.
2 Comments
I hope it's not bad! Izzy is a very important part of the equation this year.
I'm praying its not too bad!!!


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July 12, 2015
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Jason--nice clip! Thanks for posting.
Van--good read! Thank you for posting it.
Moderator: Van Canna
Like most gun owners, I understand the ethical importance of guns and cannot honestly wish for a world without them. I suspect that sentiment will shock many readers. Wouldn't any decent person wish for a world without guns? In my view, only someone who doesn't understand violence could wish for such a world.
A world without guns is one in which the most aggressive men can do more or less anything they want. It is a world in which a man with a knife can rape and murder a woman in the presence of a dozen witnesses, and none will find the courage to intervene.
There have been cases of prison guards (who generally do not carry guns) helplessly standing by as one of their own was stabbed to death by a lone prisoner armed with an improvised blade.
The hesitation of bystanders in these situations makes perfect sense—and "diffusion of responsibility" has little to do with it.
The fantasies of many martial artists aside, to go unarmed against a person with a knife is to put oneself in very real peril, regardless of one's training. The same can be said of attacks involving multiple assailants.
A world without guns is a world in which no man, not even a member of Seal Team Six, can reasonably expect to prevail over more than one determined attacker at a time. A world without guns, therefore, is one in which the advantages of youth, size, strength, aggression, and sheer numbers are almost always decisive. Who could be nostalgic for such a world?
n the weeks since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, advocates of stricter gun control have called for a new federal ban on "assault weapons" and for reductions in the number of concealed-carry permits issued to private citizens.
But the murder rate has fallen precipitously since the federal ban on assault weapons expired in 2004, and this was also a period in which millions of Americans began to carry their guns in public.
Many proponents of gun control have observed that the AR 15, the gun that Adam Lanza used to murder 20 children in Newtown, is now the most popular rifle in America.
But only 3 percent of murders in the U.S. are committed with rifles of any type.
Seventy mass shootings have occurred in the U.S. since 1982, leaving 543 dead. These crimes were horrific, but 564,452 other homicides took place in the U.S. during the same period.
Mass shootings scarcely represent 0.1 percent of all murders. When talking about the problem of guns in our society, it is easy to lose sight of the worst violence and to become fixated on symbols of violence.
Of course, it is important to think about the problem of gun violence in the context of other risks. For instance, it is estimated that 100,000 Americans die each year because doctors and nurses fail to wash their hands properly. Measured in bodies, therefore, the problem of hand washing in hospitals is worse than the problem of guns, even if we include accidents and suicides.
But not all deaths are equivalent. A narrow focus on mortality rates does not always do justice to the reality of human suffering. Mass shootings are a marginal concern, even relative to other forms of gun violence, but they cause an unusual degree of terror and grief—particularly when children are targeted. Given the psychological and social costs of certain low-frequency events, it does not seem irrational to allocate disproportionate resources to prevent them.
We should also remember that mass killings do not depend on guns. Much was made in the press about the fact that on the very day 20 children were murdered in Newtown, a man with a knife attempted a similar crime at an elementary school in China. At The Atlantic.
There has been an epidemic of knife attacks on schoolchildren in China in the past two years. As Fallows certainly knows—he is, after all, an expert on China—in some instances several children were murdered. In March of 2010, eight were killed and five injured in a single incident. This was as bad as many mass shootings in the U.S. I am not denying that guns are more efficient for killing people than knives are—but the truth is that knives are often lethal enough. And the only reliable way for one person to stop a man with a knife is to shoot him.
.It is reasonable to wish that only virtuous people had guns, but there are now nearly 300 million guns in the United States, and 4 million new ones are sold each year. A well-made gun can remain functional for centuries.
Any effective regime of "gun control," therefore, would require that we remove hundreds of millions of firearms from our streets. As Jeffrey Goldberg points out in The Atlantic, it may no longer be rational to hope that we can solve the problem of gun violence by restricting access to guns—because guns are everywhere, and the only people who will be deterred by stricter laws are precisely those law-abiding citizens who should be able to possess guns for their own protection and who now constitute one of the primary deterrents to violent crime.
This is, of course, a familiar "gun nut" talking point. But that doesn't make it wrong.
Another problem with liberal dreams of gun control is that the kinds of guns used in the vast majority of crimes would not fall under any plausible weapons ban.
And advocates of stricter gun laws who claim to respect the rights of "sportsmen" or "hunters," and to recognize a legitimate need for "home defense," simply give the game away at the outset. The very guns that law-abiding citizens use for recreation or home defense are, in fact, the problem
Nor is anyone advocating that we deprive hunters of their rifles. And yet any rifle suitable for killing deer is just the sort of gun that will allow even an unskilled shooter to wreak absolute havoc upon innocent men, women, and children at a range of several hundred yards.
There is, in fact, no marksman on earth who can shoot a handgun as accurately at distance as you would be able to shoot a rifle fitted with a scope after a few hours of practice. This difference in accuracy between short and long guns must be experienced to be understood.
Having understood it, you will in no way be consoled to learn that a madman ensconced on the rooftop of a nearby building is armed merely with a "hunting rifle" that is legal in all 50 states.
The problem, therefore, is that with respect to either factor that makes a gun suitable for mass murder—ease of concealment (a handgun) or range (a rifle)—the most common and least stigmatized weapons are among the most dangerous. Gun-control advocates seem perversely unaware of this.
As a consequence, we routinely hear the terms "semi-automatic" and "assault weapon" intoned with misplaced outrage and awe. It is true that a semi-automatic pistol allows a person to shoot and reload slightly more efficiently than a revolver does. But a revolver can be reloaded surprisingly quickly with a device known as a speed loader.
(These have been in use since the 1970s.)[4] It is no exaggeration to say that if we merely had 300 million vintage revolvers in this country, we would still have a terrible problem with gun violence, with no solution in sight.
And any person entering a school with a revolver for the purpose of killing kids would most likely be able to keep killing them until he ran out of ammunition, or until good people arrived with guns of their own to stop him.
The worst mass shooting in U.S. history occurred at Virginia Tech in 2007. Thirty-two people were killed and seventeen injured. The shooter carried two handguns (a Glock 9 mm and a Walther .22) of a make and caliber that will remain legal and ubiquitous unless all handguns are banned. (Again, this is not going to happen.)
It is true that rifles like the one used in the Newtown attack fire rounds at a much higher velocity than handguns do. These bullets also tend to tumble and fragment in the body, which makes them more lethal.
However, one cannot say in every case that an assault weapon in the wrong hands is a greater threat to innocent life than a handgun. Rifle rounds travel at such high velocity that they sometimes pass through a person's body before tumbling or fragmenting—doing less damage than one would expect from a handgun round.
Conversely, these bullets are so light and frangible that they are sometimes stopped by barriers such as doors and wallboard.
It is also generally easier to grab the barrel of a rifle and wrest it away from a shooter than it is with a handgun. And rifles are far more difficult to conceal. Approaching the doors of Sandy Hook Elementary, Adam Lanza probably looked every inch the dangerous lunatic with a gun.
Had an armed guard been at the school, this could have allowed for a defensive response. Given these facts, it is difficult to say that assault weapons pose a greater risk to the public than handguns do.
Regarding ammunition itself, there is not much more to say, because any type suitable for home defense or hunting—and, therefore, bound to remain legal as long as guns are sold—is also perfect for killing innocent people.
The only other variable to consider is the number of rounds a gun can hold, because this dictates the frequency with which a shooter must pause to reload. Here the path to increased public safety is reasonably clear. In California and New York, for instance, one cannot buy magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.
As a consequence, the moment at which a shooter can be tackled by bystanders comes after every 10 shots. Ten is a lot better than 30, of course, but it still requires the action of a true hero (probably several) who just happens to be standing close enough to the shooter to attempt to bring him down, and who is lucky enough to be alive and uninjured after the last barrage.
As Goldberg notes, with understandable despair and amazement, the security plans at many schools encourage students to spontaneously arm themselves with pencils and laptops and engage a shooter directly in defense of their lives—all the while forbidding the lawful possession of firearms on campus, no matter what a person's training.
As Goldberg says, "The existence of these policies suggests that universities know they cannot protect their students during an armed attack."
More Guns Are Not The Answer—Until They Are
Coverage of the Newtown tragedy and its aftermath has been generally abysmal. In fact, I have never seen the "liberal media" conform to right-wing caricatures of itself with such alacrity. I have read articles in which literally everything said about firearms and ballistics has been wrong.
I have heard major newscasters mispronounce the names of every weapon and weapons manufacturer more challenging than "Colt."
I can only imagine the mirth it has brought gun-rights zealots to see "automatic" and "semi-automatic" routinely confused, or to hear a major news anchor ominously declare that the shooter had been armed with a "Sig Sauzer" pistol.
This has been more than embarrassing. It has offered a thousand points of proof that "liberal elites" don't know anything about what matters when bullets start flying.
Most liberals responded derisively to the NRA's suggestion that having armed and vetted men and women in our schools could save lives. Some pointed to a public-service announcement put out by the city of Houston (funded by the Department of Homeland Security), in which the possibility of having guns on the scene was never discussed.
Several commentators held up this training video in support of the creed "More guns are not the answer." Please take a few minutes to watch this footage. Then try to imagine how a few armed civilians could respond during an attack of this kind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VcSwej ... e=youtu.be
To help your imagination along, watch this short video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AA_dgRdDhkin which a motel clerk carrying a concealed weapon shoots an armed robber. The situation isn't perfectly analogous—the wisdom of using deadly force in what might be only a robbery is at least debatable. But is it really so difficult to believe that the shooter might have been helpful during an incident of the sort depicted in Houston?
Needless to say, it is easy to see how things can go badly when anyone draws a firearm defensively. But when an armed man enters an office building, restaurant, or school for the purpose of murdering everyone in sight, things are going very badly already.
Imagine being one of the people in the Houston video trapped in the office with no recourse but to hide under a desk.
Would you really be relieved to know that up until that moment, your workplace had been an impeccably gun-free environment and that no one, not even your friend who did three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, would be armed?
If you found yourself trapped with others in a conference room, preparing to attack the shooter with pencils and chairs, can you imagine thinking, "I'm so glad no one else has a gun, because I wouldn't want to get caught in any crossfire"?
Despite what the New York Times and dozens of other editorial pages have avowed in the weeks since Newtown, it isn't a vigilante delusion to believe that guns in the hands of good people would improve the odds of survival in deadly encounters of this kind. The delusion is to think that everyone would be better off defending his or her life with furniture.
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