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This site is the archived OWASP Foundation Wiki and is no longer accepting Account Requests.
To view the new OWASP Foundation website, please visit https://owasp.org
OWASP News 2006
From OWASP
This page contains OWASP News Stories from 2006. For the latest news, see OWASP News.
- Dec 10 - SANS and OWASP Partner to Add #1 Web Application Security to SANS Top 20
- The SANS document is widely used, and we're extremely pleased that we could work with them to recognize the risks associated with web applications. From the document... "Every week hundreds of vulnerabilities are being reported in these web applications, and are being actively exploited. The number of attempted attacks every day for some of the large web hosting farms range from hundreds of thousands to even millions. All web frameworks (PHP, .NET, J2EE, Ruby on Rails, ColdFusion, Perl, etc) and all types of web applications are at risk from web application security defects, ranging from insufficient validation through to application logic errors."
- Nov 28 - JBroFuzz 0.3 Released
- This version adds a more stable core, length updating for fuzzed POST requests and allows you to specify your own fuzz vectors in a separate file.
- Nov 26 - OWASP Report Generator 0.88 Released
- A tool for security consultants that supports the documentation and reporting of security vulnerabilities discovered during security.
- Nov 26 - OWASP Site Generator v.70 Released
- A tool that allows the creating of dynamic websites based on XML files and predefined vulnerabilities (some simple, some complex) for testing application security tools.
- Nov 14 - Three great new OWASP projects
- 1) OWASP Encoding Project A nice encoding library that supports Java, .NET, PHP, Python, Perl, JavaScript, and Ajax. 2) OWASP WSFuzzer Project A fuzzing tool for Web Services to support penetration testing efforts. 3) OWASP Insecure Web App Project A realistic but insecure Java EE web application for use in learning and testing tools.
- Nov 12 - New OWASP Application Security Search Engine
- We're beta-testing a new Google-powered search engine for application security. The engine indexes the OWASP site and all the other sites dedicated to application security on the Internet. We've set up some simple refinements so that you can ignore commercial, product, or non-OWASP sites if you like. Please give us some feedback if you have ideas for improvement.
- Nov 7 - OWASP Hits Two-Million Page Views
- Thank you all for your support! We serve approximately 1/2 million page views every month.
- Oct 25 - OWASP AppSec Conference Presentations
- All the presentations are available on the conference agenda page. Stay tuned for all the audio from the conference.
- Oct 19 - WebGoat 5.0 is coming!
- Thanks to the OWASP Autumn of Code project award and the many contributions from individuals and companies the 5.0 release will have many new lessons and improvements. Now is the time to provide your feedback on existing WebGoat functionality and new lesson ideas. If you've made corrections/improvements to the existing installation and would like to have those changes integrated into the baseline, send the changes to me and I will merge your changes in. The 5.0 release will occur early 2007 so time is running out...
- Oct 15 - OWASP Videos Released
- Hours and hours of application security fun!
- Sep 29 - OWASP Autumn Of Code 2006 Projects Selected
- OWASP has completed the selection process for the OWASP Autumn of Code 2006 sponsorship program and 9 projects have been selected in total from 26 entries.
- Sep 26 - Infosecurity NY 2006 20% OWASP Discount
- OWASP Members are entitled to a discount off full conference registration – a $200 savings! Conference is October 24-25 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, NYC. Register today and provide Priority Code CD25 to receive your discount.
- Sep 7 - New PCI requires code review or WAF
- Under the new requirements, applications processing cardholder information MUST get either a code review or a web app firewall. The language isn't exactly clear about what happens in 2008. In addition, the OWASP Top Ten must still be addressed.
- Aug 31 - OWASP Autumn Of Code 2006
- Today we are lauching a new project called "OWASP Autumn of Code 2006" which will sponsor individuals to work on existing OWASP Projects.
- Aug 31 - Dinis Cruz video interview
- Dinis talks about .NET security, the future of OWASP, and the brand new Autumn of Code project.
- Aug 31 - Article about OWASP on Banca Finanza magazine
- Banca Finanza mag has interviewed Raoul Chiesa talking about the new risks for the on-line banking security. Raoul speaks about OWASP and web application security.
- Aug 14 - Detailed analysis of application security tools
- Holger Peine of the Fraunhofer Institute compares a number of free tools (WebScarab, Paros, Burp Suite, Spike Proxy), and commercial tools (AppScan, WebInspect, Acunetix). The methodology is quite detailed and uses OWASP's WebGoat and a 'normal' web application.
- Aug 14 - When Phishing Evolves to Pharming
- "Phishing is evolving into a new type of attack called pharming. Pharming redirects users to fraudulent websites seamlessly without any suspicious activity such as spam mail that asks a user to login at a website. This paper analyses possible vectors of pharming and creates a threat model for it with attack tree." OWASP would like to thank Cheong Kai Wee for the submission of this paper! Click here for details on submitting your own paper to the OWASP Papers Program.
- Jul 31 - CAL9000 v1.1 released
- Jul 31 - Fortify donates vulnerability research to OWASP
- Announcing a new extensive classification of software security vulnerabilities created and donated by Fortify Software Inc. The full set of vulnerabilities and the research that accompanies it is available in the OWASP Honeycomb Project.
- Jul 11 - Two part interview on Ajax with OWASP's Andrew van der Stock
- In this two part interview, Andrew discusses the key security threats facing Ajax applications and practical advice for securing them. "I expect more Ajax vulnerabilities and exploits to surface, and I expect researchers to come up with additional "new" flaws that need to be protected against."
- Jun 29 - OWASP .NET Project in now hosted at www.owasp.org
- Coming full circle, the OWASP .NET Project (lead by Dinis Cruz) is now hosted here at the www.owasp.org website. The objective is to consolidate all Owasp projects in one location, and to benefit from cross projects linkage. All information that was hosted at the previous www.owasp.net wiki has now been ported and in the comming weeks, more will be added.
- Jun 26 - OWASP PHP Top 5 Released
- OWASP is pleased to announce the immediate availability of OWASP PHP Top 5. The OWASP Top 5 is an education piece which provides up to date advice to PHP developers, hosters, and other PHP users. The Top 5 is produced by the OWASP PHP Project.
- Jun 23 - New version of WebScarab released
- The new version has a new logo, several new features, and some bugfixes. There are better capabilities for authentication and certificates, dropping conversations, and searching results. There are plugin enhancements to the spider, session id analyzer, and fuzzer. There's also a new extension for forced browsing to obvious extensions.
Jun 21 - OWASP WebScarab Ranked 35th on Insecure.org's Top 100 Security Tools
- Nmap's Fyodor asked users from the nmap-hackers mailing list to share their favorite tools, and 3,243 people responded. This allowed him to expand the list to 100 tools, and even subdivide them into categories. Anyone in the security field would be well advised to go over the list and investigate tools they are unfamiliar with. Respondents were allowed to list open source or commercial tools on any platform.
- Jun 8 - New OWASP CAL9000 Project Unveiled
- Chris Loomis has created an interesting JavaScript driven web application testing tool that allows manual requests, RSnake powered XSS verification, and many other utilities.
- Jun 6 - OWASP Java Project
- Stephen de Vries and Rohyt Belani have taken on the OWASP Java project and will be building the project roadmap shortly.
- Jun 3 - How to test session identifier strength with WebScarab
- New article shows you how to use one of the advanced features of WebScarab!
- Jun 1 - OWASP selected in top 100 security websites
- OWASP has been selected as one of the top 100 security websites. Thanks to everyone who's helped us along the way!
- May 26 - OWASP WebGoat 4.0 released
- Lots of new features, including multi-stage hands-on coding labs for access control, SQL injection, and cross site scripting.
- May 25 - OWASP CLASP project launched
- Thanks to Secure Software for donating the CLASP materials to bootstrap our secure lifecycle efforts.
- May 23 - OWASP 2.0 released
- OWASP is moving to the MediaWiki platform to encourage greater collaboration. We're in the process of moving over all the old content. You can still view the previous website.


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PureDWTS Weekend Media Tidbits And An Amusing Twitter Exchange To Wrap It Up
Awww, isn't it good to see Anna Trebunskaya again?! She tweeted out the photo above when she attended an AdmeTech Foundation event last night.
Anna wasn't the only dancer from Dancing With The Stars to make an appearance at a Red Carpet event these past few days. Below is troupe member Sasha Farber at the "Warm Bodies" premiere in Hollywood. You can see more pics of him at Getty Images. Girlfriend and troupe member Emma Slater was also pictured with him. You can see a picture of her with Sasha in this tweet.
Speaking of Sasha and Emma, they've been making their rounds across the country dancing in "America's Favorite Dancers". You can watch one of their dance routines below. You can view more videos of them at Sasha's You Tube Channel. So energetic, quick, and full of passion.
Derek Hough, Kym Johnson, Chelsie Hightower, Mark and Corky Ballas also made a showing at one of the "America's Favorite Dancers" events in Marksville, LA. Corky tweeted the picture below of them out after dancing. You can view more pics and coverage of this show at Pure Derek Hough. Too fun and Derek is fine fine wearing a black satin lined suit. 😀
Last, but, not least, and speaking of Corky Ballas, I ran on to this little twitter exchange yesterday that had me giggling. Note below how Lee Meriwether and Miss America would like to tag team with Mark Ballas to dance or better yet, Miss America can have Mark and Lee can have Corky.
Lol! So cute, but, don't take this exchange too seriously. They are just having fun and as Heidi said privately to me, the season Lee stops talking on Dancing With The Stars all together is most likely when she will seriously be dancing. Then again, who knows? It's fun to picture, dream or speculate on none the less.
And that is all for now, Beautiful Readers!!!! Have a great Sunday! 😉 xxxxx

subset: commoncrawl


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Size of 35 mm main tube is a rarity, a kind of a compromise done by only a couple of companies: the Romanian IOR and the USA based Vortex and Leupold. Why did they choose to use this diameter is a mystery by itself. Especially in time when all other rifle scope manufacturers are producing scopes of the same Category with 34mm tubes. Due to this reason, there are only a couple of manufacturers of mounts that produce mounts with this diameter. Almost all mounts for such scopes are of tactical nature, either in the form of tactical rings or tactical mono-block mounts. The most well known brands of mounts of this diameter are Rusan, IOR, Leupold, Vortex, Spuhr and INNOmount.
35mm rings and mono-block mounts are usually very wide, with at least 20mm width. This way there is a huge contact surface between the scopes and the mounts.
The most important thing when mounting a rifle scope with rings is to be aware of the torque needed to fasten the screws in the rings. Go over the limit and the structural integrity of the rifle scope will be compromised. Rings can also leave a visible mark if not tightent acordingly. The amount of torque should not exceed 2.2 Nm
Lapping is a process that is essentially lining two mounting rings perfectly to one-a-another. It is done with special cylinders that grind off the excess metal.
In the worst case scenario the axis that runs through the center of the rear ring does not completely match the axis that runs through the center of the front ring. For this reason the scope, if mounted into such rings is under unwanted structural stress. The most obvious problems that occurs due to this reason is less than perfect optical performance, tracking problems, the side focus mechanism can stop working and the point of impact groups can be dispersed.
With 35mm rings there is also quite problematic to get a suitable lapping tools, since most of them are produced in 30 and 34mm diameters. It is a good idea to use a ribbon cut from latex/rubber gloves on the lower contact surface in the rings.
Lapping is also not required with mono block mounts and all mounts made from one piece of material and alignment of both rings is usually perfect. Lapping is also not required with high quality European mounts, since their tolerances are minimal.
Scroll down to products


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*This post was written eight years ago and in that time the legend of the Apache Death Cave has only grown, largely thanks to the internet. You will now find guided tours of the cave on YouTube, and plenty of blogs have re-told the tale of the grisly events. Ahem. Anyway, a few years ago a comment was left below by someone calling themselves "Kirvia" citing a lack of primary source material and calling the whole thing into question. In the time since I have grown to suspect that Kirvia may be correct. Henry "Indian" Miller was far from a reliable narrator and accounts of the killings predating his arrival have indeed never surfaced. After leaving Two Guns, Miller went to Lupton, AZ, where you'll still find tourist attractions on the New Mexico border. There he opened a trading post in the "Cave of the Seven Devils." Sound familiar? Anyway, below is the oft-told story of the Apache Death Cave and Two Guns Trading Post, just bear in mind that the first part of the story may not actually be true. Caveat emptor! Otherwise, hey, enjoy!*
Anyone that's interested in abandoned buildings, ghost towns, and history is going to find themselves in some places where fairly unsavory things have occurred. Sometimes there's just a bad vibe that surrounds a place even when you don't know exactly what's happened there. Other times maybe you've cracked a few books or done a Google search beforehand and you know where those bad vibes are coming from. Such is the case with Two Guns, Arizona, now not much more than a slowly decaying jumble of collapsed stone buildings off a long-closed portion of old Route 66.
Two Guns miserable history goes back to a time well before it was known as Two Guns. The town, such as it became, was built beside Canyon Diablo, the site of a mass execution of Apaches by Navajos in 1878. The Apaches had been raiding the Navajos for some time and had just nearly wiped out two entire villages in one day. Twenty-five Navajo warriors followed the Apaches back to Canyon Diablo but had nearly given up their search when two scouts detected warm air coming out of a crack in the ground.
A few decades later a shortcut to Winslow was built through Canyon Diablo. (As an aside, if you're not up on your Spanish, Canyon Diablo translates as "Devil Canyon.") In the 1920's, Earle and Louise Cundiff opened a trading post, campground, and rental cottages near the road, just beside the canyon. The main store was constructed at the southern end of what would soon be a large, concrete bridge spanning Canyon Diablo. Then a man called Henry "Indian" Miller came along, claiming to be an Apache chief named Crazy Thunder. Miller was no Apache (he was really part-Mohawk), but he and his wife partnered up with the Cundiff's and Miller constructed a long stone building north of the canyon that he named, "Fort Two Guns." Cundiff then wanted to proclaim this miniature community a town and dub the whole place Two Guns. However, the post office rejected this name, insisting instead on Canyon Lodge, a moniker that has nearly faded from memory.
Miller went about turning Fort Two Guns into something like a zoo, including bobcats, snakes, porcupines, and mountain lions. He also built fake cliff dwellings, which he passed off as authentic, just above the cave in which the Apaches had been killed. The cave was called "Mystery Cave" because the Navajos had been unable to find it following earlier raids by the Apaches. It was also known as the "Apache Death Cave," and Miller lured motorists off Route 66 with canyon tours, refreshments, and tales of carnage. He sold the bones of the dead Apaches to tourists. For awhile, Two Guns prospered.
While all this was going on, for some reason the Cundiff's decided to lease their store to a drifting couple. These drifters eventually absconded into the night with most of the Cundiff's merchandise. Then, Cundiff began to argue with Miller over the terms of their contract. On March 3, 1926, Miller shot Cundiff dead and was, for reasons unknown, quickly acquitted. But Miller wasn't off the hook. Upon returning to Two Guns he was nearly killed by his captive mountain lion. Later he was nearly killed by his lynx. After his daughter was killed in a car crash, Miller had finally had enough and left Two Guns for good.
In 1938, Route 66 was rerouted to the south, bypassing Two Guns. But Louise Cundiff re-married and, with her second husband, rebuilt Two Guns, even re-opening Miller's zoo. But the renewal didn't last long. By 1950 everything was closed again and the property was sold. Several people tried to resurrect Two Guns but, in 1971, just as I-40 was slated to open with a designated exit for the "town," the entire complex burnt down. And so it has remained for 40 years, a strange, cursed place that nobody wants. Except perhaps for Russell Crowe, who is rumored to be the property's current owner.
I didn't have much time during my visit and I did not go looking for the Apache Death Cave. The cave has apparently largely collapsed and is no more than a fissure in a rock wall. Nor did I go looking for meteorites, bits of which have been pulled out of the canyon, a nice treasure indeed for the lucky prospector. I didn't even have time to search for the remains of the town of Diablo Canyon, just a couple miles from Two Guns, which was forced into being when the railroad ran out of money for a time and workers were stranded. Diablo Canyon was said to have surpassed Tombstone for murder and debauchery. Its main street was not named "Main Street" but "Hell Street."
I may make a return trip to Two Guns someday but I admit that I am wary. It seems no one who has gotten close to Two Guns has fared well in the end. It is a quiet, eerie, forlorn place, strewn with the rocks that the Miller's and Cundiff's once used to build their dream. Maybe I'd be better off investigating the abandoned truck stop to the west. Its name? Twin Arrows.
Information for this post came from Weird Arizona by Wesley Treat. The best source for information on the execution of the Apaches is probably Treat's on-line Roadside Resort. I got some information about the settlement of Canyon Diablo from Wikipedia.


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Photo: google.com
General Information
Islamic Society of Central Jersey (ISCJ), a non-profit corporation incorporated in the State of New Jersey is a non-profit, religious, charitable and educational organization. Islamic Society of Central Jersey is committed to providing Islamic services to the Muslims in the Central Jersey and neighboring areas
- Name: Islamic Center Of NJ
- Type: Mosque
- Address: 39 E Paul Ave, Trenton, NJ 08638, USA
- City/Locality, State: Trenton, New Jersey
- Established: Unknown
- Madhab (School of thought): Sunni
- Language Services: English
Local Date/Time Now
Jul 14, 2020 07:16 AM
(Timezone: America/New_York, Daylight Savings Time is in effect)
Prayer Times
(Waqt and Iqamah)
July 23, 2019 is out of valid range! We display iqamah schedules for up to 30 days in past or in future dates. View today's schedules
Odhu (wash)
- Adequate Odhu (wash) facilities
- Restrooms are available
- Shower facility may not be available.
- Nearby streets parking only
- Parking is sometime available
Facilities for Women
- Prayer space available in (curtain) shared prayer hall.
- Odhu facilities may not be available.
- Restrooms may not be available.
- Shared entrance.
Wheelchair accessiblity
- Prayer area is accessible
- Odhu area accessibility is unknown.
- Restrooms may not be accessible.
- Street parking may be accessible.


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2010 was another great year for new albums. Bands from all different genres of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal released good albums this year and I was on the frontlines buying them up as they were released. Of course there were some bad albums too. I bought more new releases, and had more new albums submitted for review, in 2010 than I have any other year that Heavy Metal Addiction has been active so there were bound to be some bad ones in the pile. In previous years, I've received a lot of email about my decision to call this the "Worst" albums of the year, some people have thought that it is too negative. My feeling is that no matter if the album is a major disappointment because you were looking forward to it so much, or the album is just plain awful from the packaging, to the production to the performance, then it qualifies under the heading of "Worst". Of all the albums I picked up some releases were just plain bad, some were huge disappointments, some I just couldn't stand…..so here is my list of The 5 Worst Albums of 2010:
Methods Of Mayhem – A Public Disservice Announcement (2010): Without a doubt, this is the WORST album I heard in 2010. I tried, I really did, but it was so hard to try and sit through the entire album and I tried at least a half dozen times. I'm all for solo projects, I'm all for experimenting with different styles but when you advertise and market a new album in Hard Rock and Heavy Metal circles then it better have some Hard Rock or Heavy Metal in it! This is Alternative, Nu-Metal and Rap beats all thrown together, with outside contributions from guest musicians and fans, to create a wall of sound that is so just a bunch of noise. This album is 10 years too late and even then that's a stretch. I never bought this album and I am so glad I didn't waste my $13, I just feel bad for the guy I borrowed this from because there's no way this album was worth 13 cents rather than $13. I would even go as far as saying that this album might even be worse than last year's Worst Album of the Year.
Bret Michaels – Custom Built (2010): Big bad Bret is no stranger to the Worst of the Year list because he made the list in 2008 with his last "new album" ROCK MY WORLD (2008). The problem the last time was that Bret advertised ROCK MY WORLD as a "new studio album" and only three songs were actually new with the rest coming from previous Bret solo records. Fast forward two years and Bret is at it again with CUSTOM BUILT! He advertised this album as a "new studio album" but only four songs were actually new with the balance coming from the out of print FREEDOM OF SOUND (2005) and LETTERS FROM DEATH ROW (1998). Add in a cover and a couple alternate mixes/demos and you've got a 1/3 of a new album. Is it right to rip-off fans like this? Why not re-release the three real studio albums Bret has done outside of Poison? I understand you want to promote your reality television career but what about the fans? If it wasn't for Tommy Lee, Bret Michaels would take the top honors this year.
Dark Age – Acedia (2010): This is one of those albums that got released everywhere else in the world in late 2009 but got a North American release in early 2010. Dark Age is a Melodic Death Metal from Germany and one of my goals this year was to open myself up to more of the extreme forms of Metal. The problem with ACEDIA is that it's very light on the Death Metal and very heavy on the Nu-Metal and Alternative Metal. The comparison I made in my review was Linkin Park…..I'm not and never have been a fan of Linkin Park and their style of whining Rap infused music. This album is ten or eleven years too late to the party, I'm not sure if Dark Age's previous albums were a lot heavier and more Death Metal but there really isn't a lot of Metal here to enjoy. I may not be an expert in the Death Metal, or Melodic Death Metal, scenes but I've heard enough to know that there is still Heavy Metal in it!
Slash – s/t (2010): This new album from Slash was highly anticipated and highly disappointing, making it a leader for "Worst Album of 2010" since it's release. There's no doubt that Slash is a guitar icon and that he has had a hand in some excellent Hard Rock & Heavy Metal albums with Guns 'N Roses, Velvet Revolver and Slash's Snakepit but not everything can turn to gold or platinum. There's an all-star cast on this album and some of the names are well known in Metal circles: Lemmy, Ozzy, Duff, Izzy and Dave Grohl. Then there are the names well known in Pop circles: Adam Levine from Maroon 5, Kid Rock and Fergie. Fergie? Are you serious? I'm all for Slash experimenting with different musicians and different styles but, when you advertise an new album heavily in Metal magazines and Metal television shows, shouldn't you put some extra Metal in it? I really wanted to like this album because I really like Slash, especially in GNR and Snakepit, but Fergie? The guy from Maroon 5? I would have rathered Slash make an entire rock record with one singer handling most of the album and adding in the Lemmy, Ozzy and Ian Astbury tunes, I'm sure Myles Kennedy could have done some Rock songs instead of the mid-tempo/ballad types he did here. But Fergie? Really?
Vince Neil – Tattoos & Tequila (2010): I really debated adding this album in because I did hear some other albums that could have qualified but TATTOOS & TEQUILA was a major disappointment. Vince had all the cards lined up: a summer tour coming with Motley Crue on Ozzfest, the album was being released on Nikki Sixx's label, solid producers and a great backing band. This had the potential to be a really good album on par with the latest albums from Vince's main band Motley Crue. The problem is that there was no effort. Vince has "Bret Michaels Syndrome" (BMS): let's hype a new record as a "new studio album" and then give the fans only a couple new originals. Granted, Vince didn't re-release previously recorded material like big Bret but how hard is it to go in and sing some well known cover tunes? I read all the press and hype and it went from "a brand new studio album" to "an album of songs that influenced me"…..let's call it what it is, a quick cash grab! I bought it, I listened to it, I was fully disappointed especially when the two originals were really good. Then again, Vince didn't have a hand in the writing so where's the effort?


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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released the names of those invited to join its ranks this year, including Bradley Cooper, Russell Brand, Beyonce Knowles, Jessie Eisenberg and Mila Kunis. These actors were among a total of 178 film-industry workers invited to the near-6,000 member Academy, reported The Associated Press.
The Academy, in what they are calling an "unprecedented gesture," also invited documentarian Tim Hetherington into the Academy, though posthumously. Hetherington was killed earlier this year when reporting on the turmoil in Libya. His film Restrepo was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year.
Connecticut senator and one-time presidential-bid contender Christopher Dodd was on the list as well, under the "at large" category, according to The Academy's website.
Selected Readings: The Associated Press, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences


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Examples of how geological map data can be transformed to help society more efficently use our planet's natural resources.
- The
Australian Mines Atlas website
- Pdf maps with various commodity emphasis for mineral exploration.
- Online GIS websites for mineral explorers
- A 3D geological model of Tasmania
- The
Australian Marine Spatial Information System - for a variety of
offshore purposes
- Geobank - database of Brazil geological survey
- Geoambiental
maps- GEOBANK - database - Brazil geological survey
Geological information that helps the management of the territory - scale (1:1.000.000).
- Ressources
minérales et développement durable (Mineral resources and sustainable
No 1 Géosciences, la revue du BRGM pour une Terre durable
Issue 1 of BRGM's journal for a sustainable Earth
- Swedish
mineral and bedrock resources database
The mineral and bedrock resources database contains information concerning mineral, bedrock and hydrocarbon resources in Sweden. The database includes information on minor occurrences as well as deposits where metals, industrial minerals or bedrock have been or are being exploited economically. The amount and quality of information on each deposit in the database is highly variable. The following information is present for all deposits:
- name
- position (RT90)
- type of deposit
- commodity
- economic status
- literature references
At the present time the database comprises information on 11,500 deposits and is continuously updated. The present map service shows only a selection of information from the database.
- Swedish
ore deposit database
The Swedish ore deposit database contains information on the 260 largest metallic ores and mineralisations in Sweden. The database is the Swedish contribution to the Fennoscandian ore deposit database (FODD), a joint project between the Geological Surveys of Norway (NGU), Sweden (SGU), Finland (GTK) and Russia (VSEGEI and SC Mineral) with the purpose to create a common ore database for the Fennoscandian Shield.
The database contains information on the location of the deposits, the geology and mineralogy, present status, mining activites, grade and tonnages and referenses to the information.
If you have other examples of an application of geological map data on the web, and would like your link included here, please let us know - email@example.com.


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Task force: Keep legal SBC name, but adopt informal name, 'Great Commission Baptists'
Originally posted Monday, Feb. 20. Updated 1:10 p.m. Eastern Thursday, Feb. 22 with updated estimate of members present for vote.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- The task force appointed to study a possible name change of the Southern Baptist Convention is recommending the convention maintain its legal name but adopt an informal, non-legal name for those who want to use it: "Great Commission Baptists."The report Monday (Feb. 20) ended weeks of speculation by Southern Baptists and fellow evangelicals as to what the task force would do. The convention was formed in 1845, and a name change was first proposed in 1903, although one was not adopted then, or since.
The task force was appointed by Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright.
"This is an issue that just won't die," task force chairman Jimmy Draper said in presenting the task force's recommendation to the Executive Committee, which approved the recommendation Tuesday, sending it to SBC messengers for a vote at the June annual meeting in New Orleans. With about 70 Executive Committee members present, only about six members voted in opposition.
The name "Southern," Draper said, is a barrier to the Gospel in some regions of the country.
The recommendation would mean that the legal name of the convention would remain "Southern Baptist Convention" and could be used by any church which wishes to use it. But other SBC churches could call themselves "Great Commission Baptists" if they wish. Draper said the new term would be a "descriptor."
"We believe that the equity that we have in the name Southern Baptist Convention is valuable," Draper said during the task force's recommendation. "It is a strong name that identifies who we are in theology, morality and ethics, compassion, ministry and mission in the world. It is a name that is recognized globally in these areas."
The goal from the beginning, Draper said, "was to consider the removal of any barrier to the effective proclamation of the Gospel and reaching people for Christ."
Website URLs already have been secured, the task force said, in case the convention approves the informal name.
Changing the legal name, Draper said, would have been fraught with problems.
"We believe that the potential benefits of a legal name change do not outweigh the potential risks that would be involved in a legal name change," Draper said. "Changing the name of the convention would require a great cost in dollars and in energy, and would present huge challenges legally that create a multitude of issues. The value of a name change does not justify the risks involved.
"At the same time, we are concerned about the negative perception that the word 'Southern' may carry in certain geographic areas of North America. But even there, the opinions are mixed on this issue. From leaders in non-Southern states, one-half of those we heard from reported that it would be a benefit to them to change the name, but the other half said it would not be a benefit. It is true that the leaders of African American and other ethnic Southern Baptist churches indicated that it would be helpful to them."
Keeping the legal name while using an informal, non-legal name would be a "win-win" situation, Draper said.
Two task force members spoke to the Executive Committee regarding the report: Ken Fentress, pastor of Montrose Baptist Church in Rockville, Md., and Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
"Why am I Southern Baptist?" Fentress asked. "This is a question that I've been confronted with several times over the years, and it's probably true that most African Americans are Southern Baptist despite objections of many in the larger black Christian community."
The convention's ties to slavery upon its founding in 1845 are a barrier to some in the African American community, Fentress said, saying the name "Southern Baptist" is "full of meaning, significance and history.
"For many African Americans, our reasons for being Southern Baptist are theological -- not cultural, not political, not geographical," Fentress said. "... I am a Southern Baptist specifically because of the theology for which the Conservative Resurgence stood."
The 2009 SBC Annual Church Profile report showed that 6.5 percent of SBC congregations were predominantly African American while an additional 12.5 percent reflected other ethnic identities.
The SBC name, he said, has been "a source of difficulty for church planters ... serving in areas outside the American South." It also "has been a source of difficulty among African Americans precisely because of its identity and the history of the Confederacy."
During Tuesday's discussion about the report in the Executive Committee, Darrell Orman -- an Executive Committee member who was staunchly opposed to a name change last fall -- said he supported the recommended. He called it a "brilliant Solomonic compromise." Orman is pastor of First Baptist Church in Stuart, Fla.
"We have an opportunity," Orman said, "to keep our name and fortify 'Southern Baptist Convention,' and we have an opportunity to extend an empathetic hand to some of our other brothers and sisters in Christ and say, 'I love you and I'm sensitive to your situation. It's not just about me in South Florida or Georgia or Alabama or Mississippi. It's all about you, too.'"
Borrowing an illustration from Draper, Orman likened the "Great Commission Baptists" descriptor to the "good hands" phrase used in Allstate advertisements. People know what "good hands" references, Orman said, but it's not the name of the insurance company.
Paige Patterson, a task force member and president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, told Executive Committee members Monday he has favored a name change of the convention for a while, saying the convention is no longer regional and that "Southern" is offensive to some.
The report, he said, is one that "satisfies my conscience on all levels to a degree I never thought possible. I support it enthusiastically."
Patterson also urged Southern Baptists to discuss the issue with charity in coming months.
"If at the end of the process, you do not agree, that is fine," Patterson said. "But may we agree that we will debate and decide the issue without recourse to a discussion of motives and intentions of the heart which only God can see and know."
At a news conference, Draper said that in recent history, messengers have not been given a report explaining the rationale behind the argument for a new name.
"I don't think Southern Baptists, at large, ever really saw the bigger picture, and when we came to the conventions, the vote was usually an emotional vote," Draper said.
The task force, Draper said, is praying that when messengers come to the convention in June "the people [will] at least have a background on which to make a decision."
"We're not stipulating that anybody do anything," Draper said of a church's usage of a name. "Already, Southern Baptists can do anything they want to do. But it really would very helpful ... to so many that have become disenchanted [that] if they use a name other than Southern Baptist, Southern Baptists said, 'That's OK.'"
The task force believes "Great Commission Baptists" can be trademarked, Draper said.
The usage of the term, Wright emphasized, is purely voluntary.
"Every entity, every state convention, every local church is just going to have to decide how they can best use the phrase 'Great Commission Baptists' as a way of communicating to the world who we are and what our mission is."
Added Draper: "It can become a rallying call."
Frank Page, president of the Executive Committee, was asked by one Executive Committee member if adoption of the recommendation would necessitate a change in the SBC logo. Page said the logo "would not have to change," but that "we would do everything that we could" -- if messengers approve the recommendation -- "to put that descriptor as part of our publications, as part of our publicity."
Michael Foust is associate editor of Baptist Press.


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Cinematographers for GE captured airplanes landing in a precisely orchestrated order using the company's new Required Navigation Performance (RNP) system and combined them in one shot. It's like watching the game Flight Control in real life, but with more accuracy.
GE's attempting to use on-board navigation instead of ground-based radar beacons to better choreograph the landing of commercial aircraft. The goal is to reduce fuel usage, shorten flights, and lower the noise from landing aircraft by shortening the routes. It's pretty cool.
According to GE, there are 5,000 planes in the sky every hour, 50,000 operating every day, and 621 million people flying yearly. The filmmakers pointed out they had to take 13 flights and wear four security badges to get this film made.


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Tagged: Shin Choo-Soo
Sometimes Money Does Matter…
The Hunger Games…
When the Yankees said they were going to be big spenders during the opening signing period for international prospects, I still didn't imagine how aggressive they would be. Based on MLB.com's list of top international prospects, the Yankees have apparently signed five of the top ten players:
• Dermis Garcia, SS, Dominican Republic, #1
• Nelson Gomes, 3B, Dominican Republic, #2
• Juan De Leon, OF, Dominican Republic, #5
• Jonathan Amundaray, OF, Venezuela, #7
• Antonio Arias, OF, Venezuela, #9
In the second ten (11-20), they grabbed three shortstops:
• Hyo-Jun Park, SS, Korea, #13
• Wilkerman Garcia, SS, Venezuela, #14
• Diego Castilla, SS, Venezuela, #16
They also signed the #25 player in catcher Miguel Flames, Venezuela.
At first pass, it seems like a number of shortstops but I've read that Dermis Garcia will eventually be a corner infielder and Wilkerman Garcia may be switched to second base.
Dermis Garcia, the prized signing, represents the most the Yankees have spent on the international market since they signed top catching prospect Gary Sanchez in 2009. Garcia received $3.2 million, while Sanchez received $3.0 million.
It's interesting that Garcia was born in 1998, perhaps the greatest year of the modern Yankees era.
I can still remember when the Yankees selected an 18-year-old Derek Jeter out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Hopefully, the 16 year-old Garcia will be a presence in pinstripes for more than 20 years too.
Of course, while the Yankees were focused on position players, the Boston Red Sox quietly signed the top two pitchers in Christopher Acosta, Dominican Republic, and Anderson Espinoza, Venezuela.
I thought it was a telling choice in the selection of the catcher (Flames). The Yankees seems overloaded with catching prospects and the Flames arrival is probably the prelude to the inclusion of another catching prospect such as Sanchez or John Ryan Murphy in a potential trade this month. I would not want to lose Sanchez for a middle-of-the-road starting pitcher but if the return were say someone like David Price, then I am all in.
With the international signings at approximately $14 million, the cost could be as much as $30 million with penalties plus the Yankees will be non-players in the next two signing periods as they'll be restricted to no more than $300,000 per player. But with their aggressive approach this year, the Yankees have infused significant future talent into the lower levels of the farm system.
The future is now…
I saw a reference that Park would be the first Korean-born Yankee but that's unfair to AAA second baseman Rob Refsnyder. Although raised in CA since he was 3 months, he was born in Seoul, South Korea to Korean parents. So I'd say Refsnyder will be the first Korean Yankee. Speaking of Refsnyder, I seriously hope that his Bronx arrival is sooner rather than later. The Yankees need to upgrade second base. Brian Roberts was once a great player but he'll never be that guy again. Why not go with a younger player who has upside potential? The sooner we can put Robinson Cano in the rear view mirror, the better.
What have you done for me lately?…
So much for the rags to riches story for career minor leaguer Yangervis Solarte. After a terrific start to the season, he has been non-existent for the past month and it earned him a free ride to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. His replacement is actually an older career minor leaguer, Zelous Wheeler, so we'll see how this goes. If it were me, I would have brought up Refsnyder. But there's a reason that Brian Cashman is GM and I am not, so I'll just have to have faith in the decision.
Too little, too late?…
Honestly, I am not sure there is anything the Yankees can do to save this season. They are a game under .500 entering play tonight and have played with virtually no offense. They only win if they can hold the opponent to a couple of runs or less. Robinson Cano is one player that could ignite the offense but obviously there's no way the Seattle Mariners are going to give him up. In retrospect, the Yankees should have overpaid to keep Cano. Alfonso Soriano was that kind of player at times last year but he's been in a season long slump that almost certainly means this is his final year in pinstripes. I thought that Brian McCann would be hitting by now but he is showing that he's one of those guys who needs a long acclimation process to the Bronx. Carlos Beltran is merely showing that he is a 36-year-old outfielder. The other off-season right field option, Shin Choo-Soo, has fared no better in Texas.
At this moment, the Detroit Tigers stand as the team to beat in the American League. For the past couple of weeks, they've been invincible and easily handled the second best Oakland A's this week. Joba Chamberlain is probably loving life at the top.
While I recognize the Yankees will make a move this month, I hope that they do not trade any top prospects unless the return is top shelf (i.e., David Price). I'd hate to lose Gary Sanchez and still finish 3rd or 4th in the AL East.
Oh well, tonight the Yankees play Phil Hughes in Minneapolis. Let's hope the results are better than the last time they saw Hughes in the Bronx when he and the Minnesota Twins dominated the Yanks.


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By Karin Calloway
Related Menus
Lamb and Black Bean Chili Mole
Chili is a wonderful dish for cooks who like to experiment in the kitchen. A little of this, a little of that, and you may just cook up a signature chili all your own. There are many ways to vary the dish – using chicken, lamb or pork instead of the usual beef, adding spice with fresh jalapenos or smoky chipotle peppers, adding an unexpected flavor boost from cinnamon or cocoa powder or mixing up the beans.
This Lamb and Black Bean Chili Mole was the result of one such kitchen experiment. The unique, gamey flavor of lamb is layered with fresh jalapeno, the usual chili seasonings or cumin, oregano and chile powder, a hint of sweet from brown sugar and depth of flavor from cocoa powder. Like most chili recipes, the flavors improve if made a day or more in advance.
There are two options when it comes to the lamb for the recipe. You could purchase a 2-pound boneless leg of lamb and cut it into small pieces or use 1 1/2 pounds of lean ground lamb. The accompanying photo shows the recipe when made with ground lamb. If your family doesn't love the flavor of lamb, substitute extra lean ground beef or a bottom round roast cut into small pieces. Add some corn muffins (see Lowfat Corn Muffins on this site) and a tossed salad for a winter meal that will surely satisfy.
Brown remaining lamb cubes, remove from skillet to the dinner plate and set aside. If using ground lamb, heat the olive oil in the skillet, season the ground lamb with salt and pepper and brown in the hot skillet until no longer pink. Drain well and set aside.
Heat the remaining oil and add the jalapeno, cumin, onion and bell pepper in the same skillet. Saute until vegetables are soft and begin to turn golden. Add the garlic, cocoa powder and nutmeg and stir 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and stock or broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and return the lamb to the skillet. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Stir in the black beans and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes more. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed. Remove from the heat and let stand 10 minutes before serving.
Makes 8 servings.


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Calpurnia Virginia Tate is nearly twelve and Fentress, Texas in 1899 isn't big enough to hold all her questions. Callie Vee is right in the middle of seven children, the only girl, and her rambunctious household gives her some cover to pursue her real interests. No tatting lace and coming out parties in her imagined future. But what is it she really wants to do?
The day Calpurnia discovers that she is a naturalist she also finds her best ally in the grandfather who has retired to putter around his laboratory in an old shed out back. Walter Tate, who amassed a tidy sum innovating cotton gin systems and working the family acreage, lends Callie an original copy of The Origin of the Species, given to him by his longtime correspondent Charles Darwin. And they are off, spending long hours exploring the scrub and the river, examining plants and insects, scribbling field notes. Grandaddy is an accomplished amateur naturalist and he enlists Calpurnia to collect specimens, take notes and engage in scientific inquiry through the long, fiercely hot Texas summer and fall.
Grandaddy was an awe-inspiring figure Callie avoided for most of her life but he turns out to be a respectful mentor and partner-in-crime. She is overcome by a swig of pecan moonshine he is attempting to distill, raises a huge hairy caterpillar they find on a walk but gets more than she bargained for when it hatches, and helps him to discover an odd specimen of vetch that may be botanically significant. When Grandaddy predicts that men will someday travel to the moon, the good folk of Fentress raise their eyebrows but Calpurnia thinks events will prove him right—in about a thousand years.
Calpurnia tells the tale in a wonderful, distinctive voice at once droll, wise beyond her years and full of childlike wonder. She is such a terrific character and this is such a delightful glimpse of history and the dilemmas of a bright young girl at the turn of the last century that it is no surprise the book was a Newbery Honor pick for 2010. There are pet turkeys slated for Thanksgiving dinner and various brothers who keep developing inconvenient crushes on unsuitable young ladies. A piano recital is disastrous enough to win a permanent reprieve from future musical entertainments. Cooking lessons are sticky, gluey and unsuccessful and knitting socks is pure torture.
But the volvox in a drop of pond water under a microscope is a marvel, a telephone line connects Fentress to Austin and the rest of the world one memorable day, and the fair introduces the astonishments of a horseless carriage and a new fizzy drink, Coca Cola. Calpurnia skips in and out of trouble while she worries about how a girl could ever go to the university to become a scientist and rages at the unfairness of corsets and her Christmas book, The Science of Housewifery. You root for her all the way through that long season of discovery and suspect she will find her own clever way to realize her dreams.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is a middle grade book with chapters introduced by epigraphs from Darwin. I would give it to a kid in a heartbeat—after I finished reading it myself. Kelly's book is a great example of why I love really fine children's stories, often even better than the jaded and mannered tales aimed at adults.
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate Jacqueline Kelly | Henry Holt and Company 2009


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I fry, fry again
I walked into my apartment and, to my horror, thought my boyfriend had been electrocuted. He was sprawled on the kitchen floor by an open electrical outlet with wires sticking out. There was a screwdriver near him, and the skin on his arm and hand was discolored. I ran over and started crying and shaking him. He started laughing and yelled, "April fools!" It hadn't occurred to me that it was April Fools' Day, because I truly thought he was dead. He says he thought I'd freak for a moment and then bust out laughing. I'm finding myself unable to forgive him, despite the fact that he says he is sorry and meant it to be a joke.
You, like a lot of women, probably love surprises — just not the sort that leave you kneeling over your boyfriend's lifeless body, wondering whether to call EMS or the coroner. (What? Was there no Saran wrap he could put across the toilet bowl?)
The power of laughter can get a little oversold. (If it truly were "the best medicine," hospitals would skip the morphine drip and hang a chimp in overalls from that metal pole by the patient's bed.) Laughter does seem to be pretty good medicine for relationships — assuming a guy's attempt to make a woman laugh doesn't make her hold a grudge. Researchers have found that the ability to be funny is correlated with high intelligence — a plus in a partner — and with what cognitive psychologist Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman deems "the Woody Allen effect," the possibility for even geeky-looking guys to get and hang on to girlfriends. (Woody Allen didn't attract the ladies because, in pitch darkness, he looks just like Clive Owen.)
As for why your boyfriend pulled this stunt, the phrase "Seemed like a good idea at the time" comes to mind. A guy can get so caught up in making authentically gruesome char marks on his arm that he never considers how hilarious you're likely to find it when the man you love appears to be lying dead on your kitchen floor. As for your inability to forgive him, it probably feels "safer" to cling to your grudge because it puts distance between you and the potential for future hurt. Unfortunately, it also distances you from the good stuff — love, affection, connection, and the continuation of your relationship.
To decide whether to break up with your grudge or your boyfriend, ask yourself a few questions: Does he now understand why you were so upset? Is this number 3,024 in a long line of painful idiocies or just a one-time painfully stupid thing? And outside of when he's pretending to have died horribly, does he show you he cares about your feelings and well-being? Unless you have reason to believe Faked Death: The Sequel or other major insensitivities will pop up in your future, it's probably time to give that grudge you've been holding a pat on the butt and a bag lunch and send it on its way.
To halve and halve not
I've been with two men for nearly 10 years. (Yes, they know about each other.) My BFF has been my boyfriend on and off, but he broke my trust long ago, and the sex isn't good. The other man's an amazing lover, but we just have a weekly fling because he's in a relationship. Friends say to drop both and start fresh, but that's not so easy! Seeing the fling guy endears me more to the BFF, and seeing the BFF makes me long for the fling guy.
When they say that to find a prince you have to kiss a lot of toads, this isn't supposed to mean kissing the same two toads a lot — week after week, for 10 years. Now, Flotsam and Jetsam here aren't without their merits, such as how being with one endears you to the other — much in the way stomach flu must make you long for strep throat. And if, as a little girl, you lay awake imagining yourself being shuffled between an untrustworthy bad lover and a man with a girlfriend, well then, congrats — you're living your dream. Otherwise, perhaps you've forgotten something: You have freedom of choice and lots of men out there to choose from. Of course, for freedom of choice to work, you actually have to choose — have standards and not drop them and your panties every time a bad deal texts you that it wants to come over. No, it won't be "easy." It's just what you have to do if you want more — like a guy who can't wait to see you, and not because his girlfriend's yoga class is only 45 minutes or he's hot to make up for violating your trust with some unsatisfying sex.
(c)2012, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved. Got a problem? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com (www.advicegoddess.com)
It's Amy Alkon's Advice Goddess Radio — "Nerd your way to a better life!" with the best brains in science solving your love, dating sex, and relationship problems. Listen live every Sunday — http://www.blogtalkradio.com/amyalkon/ — 7-8 p.m. PT, 10-11 p.m. ET, or download the podcast at the link. Call-in during the show: 347-326-9761 (NYC area code).
Read Amy Alkon's book: "I SEE RUDE PEOPLE: One woman's battle to beat some manners into impolite society" (McGraw-Hill, $16.95).


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A running discussion on the Cincinnati Reds and everything else in the baseball universe.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Fixing the Big Donkey
And, one of the first things I posted on this blog was a blurb about the likelihood that Adam Dunn would suffer an early decline. Dunn's game has always been predicated on the old-player skills of power and patience. And, Bill James first postulated that old-player skills were more susceptible to aging than the young-player skills of speed and batting average. The theory being that the loss of a step or the slowing of the bat would cause a player lacking young-player skills to fall off the cliff. For example, which player is better suited to survive a slowing bat and the loss of a step, Adam Dunn or Ichiro? Dunn is at the bottom of the acceptable spectrum in both outfield range and contact rate, while Ichiro is at the top. So, a slowing bat or loss of a step could be devastating for Dunn's production, while easily manageable for Ichiro. Anyway, I bought into that philosophy, which was a big reason why I was opposed to locking Dunn into a multi-year extension that would take him well into his 30s.
Now, that said, this year has been an utter nightmare for Adam Dunn. It's been so bad that it almost defies description. I still buy into the old player skills argument, but it's difficult to imagine the wheels completely and utterly coming off the wagon like this. Is it possible? Sure, in fact the old player argument expects an earlier and faster decline, but I would have thought he would have gone from ultra productive to mediocre to massive struggles. Instead, he skipped the intermediate step and went right to the massive struggles. Regardless, I'm going to take a swing at helping the Donkey out. Once a Red, always a Red.
There are countless possible reasons for Dunn's struggles. The change in leagues and resulting unfamiliarity with the pitchers, the change from playing in the field to being largely a DH, potential injuries, the weight of the contract and the corresponding expectations. It could be one or all of those factors. The more potential variables that exist, the harder it is to pinpoint the specific cause of the struggles.
But, to me, the first thing that I see is a subtle change in his swing mechanics.
Below are two At Bats against one of the toughest pitchers in all of baseball: Justin Verlander. The games are 11 days apart in 2011, but Dunn does the same exact thing in each of them. It looks to me like Dunn has simply fallen into a bad habit in his swing. It's easy to do and occasionally difficult to both identify and fix. But, Dunn utilizes a much more extreme bat waggle/hand position with the ChiSox than he did during his time in Cincinnati and Arizona.
If you watch this video (I suggest pausing it at the 2 second mark and again at the 26 second mark), look at how long it takes Adam Dunn to get his bat up into hitting position. He lays the bat on his shoulder, actually past horizontal and somewhat pointing to the ground. And, he maintains that position for a LONG time. In fact, Justin Verlander gets past the apex of his leg kick before Dunn begins to bring the bat up into a more vertical position. Verlander is probably the hardest throwing starting pitcher in baseball, but Dunn waits until Verlander is unpacking his leg kick and beginning to drive to the plate before bringing his bat up.
If you are slow to get the bat up into hitting position, then you are going to be slow to the ball. And, against MLB pitching, you can't afford to be even a fraction of a second late. In this instance, Dunn makes it work (in part because he gets an 89 mph offspeed pitch), but I really don't think that bat position is a recipe for success.
And, below, here's another At Bat against Verlander, this time almost 2 weeks later, but the same bat waggle and delay in getting into hitting position. This time, Verlander gets the better of him. Stop the video at the 32 second mark and look at how far into the windup Verlander has gotten compared to the bat position of Dunn. How can Verlander be unpacking the leg kick and Dunn still have the bat parallel to the ground??? How can you hit like that??? Being slow to get the bat up into proper hitting position will very likely make him slow to the ball, but it also likely means that he is now moving his hands into hitting position at the very same time he is moving other parts of his body to trigger the swing. At times, it almost seems as if the barrel of the bat is still moving up and in towards the plate when the body begins moving forward to meet the pitch. The simultaneously moving parts to his swing could also help explain his struggles.
Now, let's take a look at a few of Dunn's At Bats while he was with the Reds.
First, here's a battle with one of the best starting pitchers in baseball, C.C. Sabathia. Look at Dunn's bat position against C.C. You can see that he doesn't rest the bat on his shoulder and he never gets past parallel. Also, he brings the bat up to a vertical hitting position before Sabathia begins to unpack his leg kick. So, he's a hair quicker in making his move to bring the bat up into hitting position and he has a shorter distance to travel to get into that position.
(For whatever reason, MLB.com isn't properly embedding the older Reds video clips, but if you click on the black box it'll open up the videos in a new window)
And, finally, here's a look at Dunn against Wandy Rodriguez. If I was Dunn, I'd use this video as an example of what my swing mechanics should be. The bat position is much higher and only occasionally is it horizontal to the ground. And, when Wandy is at the apex of his leg kick, you can see Dunn's bat is in ideal position. In this At Bat, he hasn't rested his hands on his shoulder and is never past parallel or pointing the bat at the ground. To me, this hand position makes him significantly quicker to the ball and puts him in better position to drive the ball.
Maybe Dunn has succumbed to the curse of Old Player Skills and an early career decline. Maybe he was right all these years when he told everyone that he didn't want to play 1b or be a DH, but rather was a leftfielder. Maybe he's just scuffling with the change in leagues.
But, if there was one thing I'd like to see Adam Dunn do over the final month-and-a-half it would be to stop resting the bat on the shoulder and pointing the barrel at the ground. Dunn isn't Rod Carew. He's not a handsy singles hitter who is going to slap and slash singles to all fields. Carew could afford to hit with a horizontal bat wrapped around his body. Dunn is a power hitter and needs to take a big swing to get his money's worth.
It's possible that Dunn has lost a bit of bat speed, but at the very least he hasn't gotten any faster. And, as he gets older, he should be trying to get quicker and use a more direct path to the ball, but instead Dunn has gone the other way. He has dropped his hand position, forcing him to travel farther to get into proper hitting position and meet the ball. Dunn needs to go back to the hitting position he used in the Wandy Rodriguez and CC Sabathia At Bats. Stop holding the bat horizontal to the ground and get it up into hitting position earlier. When a pitcher is running it up there at 95+, you simply can't wait to get your hands into hitting position until after the apex of the leg kick: that's just too late. Get quicker to the ball. Maybe that will get him back on track this year and it will certainly become more important as he ages and loses a bit of bat speed, as he doesn't have all that much margin for error at the plate.
This change might be part or all of what's ailing Adam Dunn. At the very least, if he went back to what worked in Cincinnati and Arizona, then he could cross the new hand position off the list of potential explanations for his struggles. Whatever the reason, the baseball world is just a bit more enjoyable when the Big Donkey is launching the ball into the stratosphere, so let's hope he gets back to doing just that...and soon.
7 comments:
- AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 1:20 PM
Not really interested in Dunn. But would love to see some more top prospect posts.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 7:15 PM
I appreciate the insight, Lark. I have to say, I didn't see such a steep decline so quickly.ReplyDelete
In conjuction with Dunn, what the hell happened to Kearns? Was it the Ray King incident?
Also, what are your thoughts on Travis Wood?
Thanks, Adam.
I should have the next one up ASAP.
Man, I haven't thought about Kearns in a while. I remember when I thought Dunn would be the 40 homer guy and Kearns would be the .300 hitter with 30 homers guy. One lefty, one righty, a very impressive duo for the future. The wheels came off far too early for Kearns.
I think you simply have to point to injuries with Kearns, but I can't be certain which was the real reason. Everyone points to the Ray King incident, and maybe that's it, but I wonder if all the hand problems he suffered weren't the real culprit. That would tend to be my take. Unless I'm misremembering (which is entirely possible), he had some type of repetitive use skin/bone injury on his hand where the the bone wanted to rub/wear through the skin. Something like that that lingered for a while.
But, whatever the reason, when I saw Kearns a while after he left the Reds I was really surprised by how different his swing looked. In short, he had a hitch in his swing that I didn't remember from his Reds days. It really jumped out at me, so it wasn't a subtle difference. And, frankly, I think it was really a detrimental change to his swing, as it made his swing longer and slower to the ball. I'd have to imagine that the swing change was predicated on the injuries. It could have been hand injuries (my take) or the shoulder injury or both. Whatever it was, it's clear the injuries impacted his swing and level of performance.
As for Wood, I still like him a lot. I'm a sucker for a very good changeup and Wood has a plus-plus one. Not to mention, I'm not sure how many plus-plus (or even plus) pitches the Reds have in their rotation. Who else has one that fits the bill? Aroldis obviously has a plus-plus fastball and a plus slider, but he's in the bullpen.
Wood had a 5.02 ERA, but a much more respectable 4.17 FIP, which was more in line with how I thought he was pitching. So, I don't think he was performing as bad as he was made out to be and I'm not sure he should have lost his spot in the rotation. Overall, I'd love to see him get back into the rotation in 2012 and I think he can be a very successful pitcher for us. His changeup and cutter alone should be enough to at least ensure him a career at the back of the rotation, but his ceiling is better than that.
Overall, I think he has a good chance to land in the rotation next year, especially since we will be short on southpaws in the rotation. I'm hopeful that Wood can bounce back, as the Reds could definitely use him.
Anyway, thanks for the comment!
- AnonymousSeptember 2, 2011 at 1:22 PM
I think you're wrong here. It's an interesting take on the situation, but I think pre-swing and stance is one of the most overrated aspects of a baseball swing. It really doesn't matter how you stand, or where the bat is before the pitcher throws. Look at some of the crazy stances we've seen over the years. A batting stance is all about comfort and timing. Your stance should reflect what is most comfortable for you while standing in the box and waiting for the pitch. Dunn properly gets the bat into position and I paused the video as the pitch was midway to Dunn and he was in perfect position-- elbow and shoulder up, head down. Most hitters in the Major Leagues, regardless of stance, all get to about the same hitting position. Once they take their stride, they all look very similar. So I find his bat position to be much less of an issue than the fact that Dunn just doesn't look good at the plate. He's swinging at pitches early in the count that he never did as a Red. Once he started to struggle, he started to press at the plate. This is where hitters start swinging at bad pitches HOPING to get a hit, rather than batting with the confidence that they're going to get a good pitch and make solid contact. Fixing Dunn won't be easy because the mental block he is most certainly going through is the toughest thing to break. You won't have much success at the plate if you don't have confidence and a solid hitting plan. Dunn, right now, has neither.ReplyDelete
Actually, we're in agreement, so I think you misunderstood or perhaps I was unclear.
My problem isn't with Dunn's pre-pitch position per se, but rather the fact that he's so late to get OUT of it and into proper hitting position. Dunn's pre-pitch position has gotten significantly more extreme than it was with the Reds. That's a red flag for me, as I suspect he's gradually slipped into a bad habit and is now trying to use his old swing with a more extreme hand position. And, frankly, I don't think it's working.
I agree with you that pre-pitch position doesn't matter as long as you get into proper hitting position. It IS, however, a problem if your pre-pitch position makes you late to get into good position. I think that's the case with Dunn.
At this point, I'm sure Dunn has no confidence, but I don't buy that Dunn has struggled for an entire season because of a mental block. I can see a new contract and the corresponding expectations weighing on a guy, but they don't completely collapse like Dunn. Jayson Werth, for example, has struggled in a new environment with a new contract, but he's still at least mildly productive.
Another reason I don't think it's mental is because his plate discipline stats are largely the same. His "outside the zone" swing percentage was 28.5% in 2010 and 28.1% in 2011. He's not flailing at more pitches outside the zone, but he was productive in 2010 with the Nats and not with the White Sox in 2011. His contact rate in 2010 was 68.2% and in 2011 is 69.9%. His overall swing percentage was 45.0% in 2010 and 43.2% in 2011, which is in line with his 41.1% career rate. He saw 4.11 pitches per plate appearance in 2010 and 4.36 in 2011.
So, he hasn't changed his approach to any significant degree. His approach is the same, but he's just not doing anything when he gets the pitch. That tells me it has more to do with mechanics than mental issues.
Additionally, if you look at how fangraphs rates Dunn's performance against various pitches, I think they bear out my argument.
Here is Dunn's runs above/below average on various pitches in 2010:
Fastball: +29.8
Slider: 0.0
Cutter: -2.8
Curveball: 0.5
Changeup: -4.5
Splitter: 0.8
Now, here's how he grades out in 2011:
Fastball: -9.4
Slider: -7.5
Cutter: -3.7
Curveball: 0.9
Changeup: -4.7
Splitter: -0.7
If you look at the biggest drop off from 2010 to 2011, you are really looking at the fastball. Dunn crushed the fastball in 2010 and that has been the story throughout his career. However, in 2011, he's gone from substantially above average to well below average on the fastball.
He has also fallen off on the slider, but his 2011 performance against the slider is in line with 2 of his previous MLB seasons. However, nothing in his career comes close to comparing with his performance in 2011 against the fastball. In fact, over the course of his career, he is always at least 22 runs above average against the fastball. The 2011 drop off is very, very dramatic.
Personally, I think that supports my theory that he is late to get into proper hitting position. If he's late getting his hands up into hitting position, then he'll be slower and later to the ball. And, if you're slower to the ball, then the fastball will be the toughest pitch to handle. It'll just eat you up.
And, I've had similar experience at the plate. There was a time when my hands had drifted too far forward and I wasn't getting them back far enough or quick enough to trigger the swing. It was difficult for me to self-diagnose and it affected by ability to handle fastballs and drive the ball with any authority.
Personally, I just don't see any justification for waiting until Justin Verlander starts to unpack his leg kick before getting the hands up into hitting position. It's inexcusable. To me, that's way too late to catch up to a 95+ mph fastball and I don't think you can drive the ball as effectively with such a late set position.
Anyway, I really think there is something to Dunn getting into hitting position so much later than he did with the Reds. If I was the hitting coach, then this would be the first thing I would address. It could certainly a number of different things with Dunn, but I'd start there and see what would happen.
Thanks for the comment!


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Full fiscal autonomy (FFA) – or as SNP would now have it, full fiscal responsibility (FFR) is now the Westminster unionist politician's favourite topic with which to bait SNP MPs. In this, they are ably assisted by the media, with The Daily Politics' Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn acting as straight man/woman to the likes of a sneering, sniggering Michael Forsyth, as in this clip.
It never seems to have entered their heads to have a look at what it means, or more specifically, what it meant in the context of the independence referendum and what it means now in the context of a NO win on September 18th 2014, the Smith Commission proposals and the SNP's astonishing electoral triumph in the general election on May 7th 2015.
But why do the hard thinking and the hard work when it's more fun to assist Westminster unionists - especially failed Scottish politicians who are now unelected Lords - to giggle and gurn, shouting "Cowardy custard! You wanted it in 2011 through to 2014 – you wanted it after The Vow. Had you won the Referendum, you claimed you would have been fully independent on March 24th 2016. Why don't you want it now, immediately! When do you want it? Tell us, tell us …"
Let me do the work for them – unpaid and unsung as always – offering a service to democracy and to rich media pundits, sundry Lords and politicians, a gift from a simple old Scottish voter, a humble Glesca slum boy – pause to brush away a sentimental tear … (VOICE OFF: "Oh, **** off, Peter!")
Independence confers full fiscal autonomy automatically – well, it would, wouldn't it? But what is it?
Had we (the YES component of Scotland's electorate) won the referendum, it would have come with everything else that full independence brings – full autonomy on every aspect of the governance of Scotland, with all the benefits and risks that independence brings.
The nub of the present argument and the childish Bullingdon Boys farce being enacted in a forum near you hinges on a key question – asked superficially but without any wish to receive a detailed answer. The question is -
What is the difference between full fiscal autonomy as it would have resulted from a YES vote in September 2014 and full fiscal autonomy in the June 2015 context of a historical NO vote and and SNP landslide on May 7th 2015?
What is it? It's setting and raising our own taxes – all of them – and spending the money thus raised as we see fit.
In the context of the independence referendum - and the context of the Scottish, UK, European and global economy circa Sept 2014 - had we won a YES vote, negotiations – wide-ranging, complex negotiations on every aspect of Scotland independence, including fiscal autonomy would have commenced, with both rUk and Scottish negotiating teams, backed by experts and advisors from the civil service and academia, bargaining on a huge range on inter-locking and inter-dependent issues, defining the nature of the post-independence relationship between Scotland and rUK and, after a heads of agreement was reached in April/May 2016, then devising complex plans to implement that negotiated agreement.
By definition, those plans and their implementation processes (although realistically the Treasury and the Civil Service would have to some degree prepared the ground in parallel with the negotiations) could not have properly started until final agreement was reached in the spring of 2016. The full implementation of the plans would continue for possibly years after Independence Day 24th March 2016.
Of course, bang in the middle of those negotiations, we would have had the general election campaign of April/May 2015, with Parliament prorogued, no government, and major, unpredictable – and a badly predicted(!) outcome.
But we would have dealt with it. After all, countries declare UDI, gain independence by bloody or velvet revolutions or other means, still manage to survive - so we'd have been OK, even with the oil price collapse. We'd have had a currency union or we wouldn't, and then have had our own currency under one of the Fiscal Commission viable alternative options – plans B,C,D and E of blessed memory – which may well still be relevant after 2016!
What's different now, in June 2015? Well, even to a boneheaded or disingenuous unionist anxious to make a superficial point, there are three key differences -
1. We lost the Referendum, and FFA would not be implemented in the context of Scotland being an independent nation.
2. It's not 2011 or even 2014 – the economic situation and the global economy has changed – crude oil price have nosedived, a EU Referendum looms, with Brexit as possibility.
3. The general election result was predicted by no one, and Scotland is a dramatically different place politically than in September 2014.
In other words, Scotland, the UK, Europe and the world have changed, and only fools hang on to plans that events have made out-dated. So what does FFA mean in the June 2015 context?
FFA post-June 2015 – implementation and timeframe
Instead of getting the block grant (the proportion of our taxes UK deigns to return to us) from the UK Exchequer as at present, the Scottish Parliament would receive all taxation levied in Scotland and be responsible for most of its spending in accordance with its own priorities.
Scotland would pay to the UK government Scotland's share of the cost of providing defined UK-wide services, including defence spending and conduct of foreign affairs. In other words, it would be Scottish fiscal autonomy, but not full political independence. It would still be controlled by rUK in significant areas.
That would involve a negotiating agenda with significantly different priorities from the same negotiations as part of an independence mandate, as would have been the case in a different outcome to September 18th 2014 – and those negotiations would have had radically different dynamics even if the economic situation, the global economy and the price of crude oil had remained the same or risen.
So even if the new Tory government, with their shaky majority and divided party and confusion over Brexit, human rights and immigration policy, were to offer full fiscal autonomy tomorrow, there would have to be a lengthy period of negotiation about the exact nature of its terms and implementation.
Of course they have no intention of doing any such thing, and while it's tempting to call their bluff and say "We'll have it, right now, thank you ..", that would be a nonsensical response, and just about as infantile as the wee Laird o' Drumlean's schoolboy posturing on Daily Politics today.
So away and birl in yer kilt, Michael Forsyth, and if ye birl fast enough, yer wee heid might wind up in that portion of yer anatomy where it's best fitted tae be, oot o' mischief's way …


text:
This question is no longer theoretical. But we must ask, "What does God's Word say?"
War is a constant threat. This world situation prompts these oft-raised questions, "Should daughters and wives be in combat?" and "should daughters, wives, and mothers even serve in the military?"
No results found in .
Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


text:
Photo is courtesy of the artist, Jacques Heller.
Copyright: © Jacques Heller 2008
This is one of the about 30 works in different sizes, which were exhibited around Europe in 1977-1978, under the title "religious art". We see in it a tree holding broken triangles, which reminds us of the broken tables of the covenant and of a broken Magen David. The tree reminds us of the Tree of Life.


text:
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