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About JarHead
Yeah, and then the American PEOPLE asks "Why do they hate us so much". While I don't agree nor condone it, I can understand why many outside the US see the US as a whole is justified target, be it civilian or military, and prone to war mongering persuasion. US foreign policies seemed hell bent to creating more enemies than friends, and in the eyes of those who live where their survival depends on how closely they watch the skies for yet another US attacks, US civilian is as guilty as those who actually pulled the trigger, if not more. At least the military didn't ask "why do they/you hate us so much".
Seems to me the western world is making itself a perfect target for terrorist of any stripe. All it takes is one successful attack and all the cockroaches come scurrying for cover, making things worse for all the citizens. Sometimes needing less than a successful attack. Any impact is amplified hundredfold.
What a perfect target
Hmm, one news source I've read said there's TV blackout as well, except for military prepared broadcast.
So much for the people's movement, when the people "expressly" demand no voting/election whatsoever to be taken place to replace Yingluck.
...to be statutorily required to take reasonable measures to prevent disclosure or use of information, such as IP addresses, websites visited, customer location information and other data, and they would be precluded from using this information without customer consent.
Maybe I'me wrong about what this, but my understanding of the case is a battle over using a particular language.
Let me illustrate. Let's say "walking/ to walk". According to webster it means "to move with your legs at a speed that is slower than running". The involved procedures are (extremely simplified here):
1. Raise one leg
2. Shift balance of the body to one side (forward/backward/to the side)
3. lower the raised leg
4. Repeat 1-3 for the other leg
So the difference between API and libraries within the software dev world goes like this:
Walking = (from the above) Step 1, step 2, ...
Walking = to move with your legs at a speed that is slower than running
Now, you've said "The literal expression is protectable, the idea/method/function/etc. is not, and there is a gray area in between.". And you also said "But it was (correctly) undisputed that the API could have been written (by its original author) in many different ways while achieving the same purpose and performing the same task.".
What you've said applies to what "Library" is, cos it is (in terms of software dev)
1. literal expression of an operation
2. could have written/arranged another way
but it is not apply to API once it is set, cos it is
1. a definition/description
2. couldn't have written another way as to avoid confusion.
Point 2 above is where Alsup's interoperability kicks in. Imagine someone have a copyright/patent on the word/verb and meaning of "walk", and can deny anyone else from using it or setup a toll on it. Everyone else who want to stay within the law then have to come up with something new every time they want to convey "walk". This will lead to comprehension nightmare.
Hence it boils down to whether someone can copyright/patent the english language (for example, any other language apply) and preclude everyone else from using it. I dunno if someone could "legally" do it, but if it is, it's utterly ridiculous and dangerous, not to mention defeating the purpose of having a language in the 1st place.
Reading the post, I think you're inaccurate. He's not saying that the US, as in the US government, is beyond criticism. There's indeed an implied criticism to the US government in that post.
What I think he's saying is that the US people is beyond criticism. I think this is way worse than saying just the US government is beyond criticism. The implied message seems to be that the US people is a distinct higher species that the rest of the human race, which fits nicely to American Exceptionalism sentiment.
Remember the last time a group of people think that way and do something about it? (-cough- ww2 -cough-)
Reading from the post, I think you're inaccurate. He's not saying that the US, as in US government, is beyond criticism. There's indeed implied criticism to the US government in that post. What he's saying instead is that the US people is beyond criticism. I think this is much worse than saying just the US government is beyond criticism, cos the implied message is then that the US people is a distinct higher species than the rest of the human race. Remember the last time some group of people think that way and do something about it?
Have you read this?
...OpenID Places Security Responsibility in Wrong Place
Let's say that this ID is only required when accessing govt sites/services. Without an express regulation that this ID cannot be used beyond that, the situation degrade really fast, even without further govt intervention.
Private sites will then see that the ID can cut the cost of maintaining their own database, and allocate those resources to other things. Before long, the ID became standard.
Yes, it is not certain that it'll roll out that way, but will you leave things like privacy and security to chance?
Correct me if I'm wrong here, I think what you're talking is like white/blacklisting rights. The end goal is "controlling" who have rights to what, but differs on approach and initial assumptions.
With blacklisting, the initial assumption is the target have every rights possible. Controls are implemented by having a list which lists the exceptions. If something is not listed on that list, then by default it is assumed the target have that right.
In whitelisting, the initial assumption is that the target doesn't have any right whatsoever. The list then contains the exception to that rule, that is the rights the target have. If something is not listed, then by default it is assumed the target doesn't have that right.
The Constitution then can be seen as a whitelist, in which it grants only those rights/powers to the government, which assumed to be inherently powerless/without rights. So it can be said that Constitution grants Powers to Government.
So how is it not limiting the goverment? In a sense it is, but the term limiting conjures the image that the government can do everything under the sun except those which are listed/regulated in the Constitution. This is a dangerous idea which can drive people complacent/apathy if the government do something outside it's mandate.
"You are guilty until you grease the right palm(s)"
Innocence is just propaganda
There's such thing as BDSM you know....
So? The only sure way not having any terrorist on board is not having anyone boarding the plane, problem solved case closed. Anything less is the TSA or whatever alphabet-soup.org not doing it's job protecting American people.
A compromise will be prohibiting anyone carrying anything on his/her person. ANYTHING. So passengers will board the plane buck naked. There's ton of advantages of this rule:
1. Flying still an option for travel (see above)
2. The cost of security theater can be significantly reduced, as
3. Search & grope can be minimized
4. Scanner use can be minimized
5. Entertainment value all round, esp when boarding along with supermodels and/or various beautiful people
I'm amazed why this solution still hasn't enforced yet.
The 1st 2 arguments I can understand, though not necessarily agree with, but the last, wow. I hope you're trolling. Torturing for vengeance is morally right? Now I have to wonder what background are you coming from. If you're the one charged for the safety of society, I don't want to be safe anymore. Better face a 1000 jihadist screaming for my blood than face a single person with such conviction.
The next question will be how much do you trust the encrypter and the system. To what level the NSA successfully weaken them, either by weakening the algorithm used by the encrypter, or installed malware on the system, or some other ways not known by us at the present.
To do a binary search, or any other search more advanced than brute force 1 to 1 comparison, the data/records must 1st sorted, or arranged into some format. That sorting will require an entire database records comparison, at least initially. Later records can then be inserted efficiently without doing that initial brute force comparison.
One can argue if that constitute entire database search. If you argue that search is only done at the time an analyst type in a query, for one record and receive the immediate result (0 hop), you're most likely right, algorithms are devised to minimize entire database search. But then again there are threshold number of seeds and hops that can make the search look at the entire database.
However, if one is to consider the entire lifetime of a database, then it can be said that the entire database is queried. A search is nothing more than comparing a myriad number of items against a sample item to get a match. Wouldn't the initial construction of the data structure of a database satisfy that definition?
In where I come from, it is known for a fact that if your name sounds arabic and/or islamic, you can kiss visa to US goodbye. The rejection rate for those people is 99.99%. Even if you fight for it, and lucky enough, you'll have to wait at least 43 days for your papers to be shipped, reviewed, and considered at US homeland.
It doesn't matter who you are, unless you have some pull to make it a diplomatic disaster for the US.
Wow, IDK if you're just pulling my leg or if it's truly your ideal. Can't bring myself to trust 100% even my closest/best friend let alone some nebulous people who are doing the monitoring, cos that's one of the things required for your "ideal" to come true. That much power means great temptations to resist.
If you're true to your ideal, why don't gather others who share it and build a walled garden where you have total surveillance and 0 privacy. That way you get to live your dream.
It's not the act of reading by itself that can be a disclosure, but it's the how.
Yes, what you've said are true, from the standpoint of most/sane people. However, there are other ways to look at the matter. For people dabbling with classified information, things are not as simple as that. I think Jeremy has eloquently explain how people managing classified information see things, and I found it entirely plausible. Please remember, these people are paid to be paranoid and want all things covered. What they want with these kind of policies are not dumbing down down their employees, nor forcing them to live in a fantasy land, but to stop further leaks.
I imagine these policies only enforced on workplace network. Those people can still access the said information as long as they're not using something which can be traced back to the workplace network. Rather than including those caveats in the policy, thus further complicating things for the morons-in-a-hurry masses, the policy writer just be done with it and made it like it's all encompassing.
So, you're right, from the standpoint of most people, it's a dumb move. But Jeremy is also right, from the standpoint of an information manager, it's a smart move.


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Pickup hits skateboarder in Morrisville
MORRISVILLE - A Cazenovia man was airlifted to a Syracuse hospital after being struck by a vehicle while he was skateboarding Monday.
At 6:35p.m., state police responded to a serious personal injury accident at the intersection of state Route 20 and Reservoir Road in Morrisville.
Police say that James C. Hotaling, 71, of Morrisville was driving a 1993 Chevrolet pickup west on state Route 20, when his vehicle stopped at the intersection of Reservoir Road before turning south onto Reservoir Road.
While he was making the turn, Hotaling failed to see Edward J. Wasilewski, 30, of Cazenovia and the passenger side of his vehicle struck Wasilewski.
According to reports, Wasilewski was skateboarding east on the south shoulder of state Route 20 on a skate board while wearing dark clothing.
Wasilewski was treated at the scene by Morrisville Fire Department Rescue and transported by Somac Ambulance to the Village of Cazenovia where he was transferred to Upstate Hospital by Onondaga County Air One. He remains in critical condition.
A passenger in the vehicle was transported to Community Memorial Hospital for minor injuries.
Hotaling was uninjured.
No tickets have been issued and the investigation is continuing.

subset: commoncrawl


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Brian Williams' news magazine, which has been waiting for a debut date, will take to the airwaves on Halloween night. It will be taking over the time slot vacated by the cancellation of "The Playboy Club," the first show of the new fall season to have its plug pulled.
"Rock Center With Brian Williams," NBC's prime-time news program, will make its premiere Monday, Oct. 31 at 10 pm, the network announced Tuesday. The show also will feature Harry Smith, Kate Snow and contributors from NBC News, including Meredith Vieira, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Richard Engel, Matt Lauer and Ann Curry.
The show replaces "The Playboy Club," starring Amber Heard and Eddie Cibrian, which the Associated Press reported was being canceled. Repeats of "Prime Suspect," the cop drama starring Maria Bello, will run in its time slot for the next three weeks.
U.S. & World
"Rock Center' will cover a slightly different world than anything else on television," said Williams. "The format will be good, real, hard journalism – and then some. We intend to be the new home of quality journalism on a weekly basis, and on the web at all times."
NBC News president Steve Capus was enthusiastic about the show's prospects.
"Brian Williams already anchors America's most watched, honored and respected nightly news broadcast. 'Rock Center' now gives him, and our all-star cast of journalists an opportunity to take viewers on a weekly journey of discovery," said Capus. "Smart, original and occasionally irreverent, we hope it will become a destination for viewers looking for something special."
The show will broadcast live from Studio 3B in Rockefeller Center. In addition to the broadcast, digital editions will be available online at RockCenterNBC.com and the show's iPad app, according to a press release.


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Click here for photos and more in the May 2018 magazine.
Meet the Charter Fleet: A Wealth of Bay Sailing Options
When you see big crewed charter yachts breezing across the Bay, do you ever wonder what sort of people pay to sail on them? You may be surprised to learn that some charter guests are accomplished sailors who own their own boats.
A few examples are: wedding ceremonies or receptions, family reunion sails, corporate teambuilding events, milestone birthday parties, retirement parties, divorce celebrations, you name it. As you'll see in the following listings of large-capacity vessels there's a great variety of boat types to choose from, including traditionally rigged schooners, modern former race boats and flat-sailing catamarans. All are accessible to folks of all ages with no sailing skills required whatsoever, as their charter prices include the services of professional crew. That said, participation in some of the sailing chores is often encouraged.
Bay Area charter boats vary in size from 20 to 50 feet, in comfort from stripped-out racers to comfy world cruisers, in performance from mellow daysailers to ULDBs, and in service from bareboat (sail-it-yourself) to fully crewed. We've attempted to be as comprehensive and up-to-date as possible in these listings. We regret any errors or omissions.
Adventure Cat: This 55-ft catamaran was built s
• Carries up to 90 passengers.
• Berthed at Pier 39, Dock J, in San Francisco.
• Available forprivate group charters and special events, including weddings and corporate programs.
• (415) 777-1630 or (800) 498-4228; www.adventurecat.com
Argosy Venture:This 101-ft Nevins motorsailer also offers expeditions beyond the Golden Gate. Built as a private luxury yacht in 1947, her brightwork and period styling are an eye-catching sight when she roars across the Bay at 12 knots.
Bay Lady: At 90 feet in length, she is the largest Coast Guard 'certified' traditional sailing vessel on the West Coast. Built of steel for chartering, her design combines modern strength and safety featureswith an old-time sail plan. Guests are invited to participate in sailing this great schooner.
Bay Wolf: This pedigreed Santa Cruz 50 ocean racer is a veteran of many Hawaii and Mexico races. With her new mast, rigging and other upgrades, she promises fast, exhilarating Bay sailing.
Cat Ballou: Originally a Caribbean charter yacht, this is a sweet-sailing Catana 42 catamaran. Chuck is a management consultant by trade, and specializes in teambuilding and private charters.
Chardonnay II: This sleek Santa Cruz 70 is one of the most popular charters on Monterey Bay. Custom built for fast sailing, she offers a wide array of themed charters and corporate teambuilding.
Club Nautique: Offering a wide range sized sail and power boats. Including pocket cruisers that range 31'-35' sail and 31'-37 single screw power.
Derek M. Baylis: With a large rear deck and yacht-like living quarters, this 65-ft wishbone ketch provides a safe, comfortable, fast, and environment-friendly platform for fun corporate, recreational and educational cruises.
Eros: This exquisite 103-ft schooner was built in the UK in 1939 for aristocracy. A museum-quality restoration of her was recently completed, making her one of the Bay Area's most eye-catching yachts.
Freda B: 80-ft Luxury schooner built along the lines of traditional coastal schooners from the mid-1800's. Restored in Bristol fashion, with the creature comforts of a fine yacht: knowledgeable crew, flat screen TV, iPod compatible, excellent catering paired with Sonoma and Napa Valley wines.
Gas Light: This 72-ft schooner is a modern example of an 1874 SF Bay scow schooner. Exceptionally stable and comfortable, she boasts an 18'x30' cabin and plenty of seating both above- and belowdecks.
Glory Days is a Morgan Out Island 51 staysail ketch. This luxury yacht is comfortable, fun and a great boat in the high winds of San Francisco Bay.
Just Dreaming: Rich deep teak and mahogany Gatsby-era yacht. Experience elegance from another era. Three staterooms, two heads (one with shower), full galley, and a luxurious main salon. Forward and aft decks allow plenty of space for socializing.
Nehemiah: This classic wooden ketch has circumnavigated twice, under previous owners. Solidly built and traditionally rigged, she is an ideal platform for pleasure sailing, as well as hands-on training, including "at-risk" youth sail training, the captain's true passion.
Osprey: Gulfstar 50 ketch built for ocean cruising. Passengers enjoy ample deck space for sightseeing, stay high and dry in the center cockpit or enjoy the large salon. Luxury sailing.
Passage Nautical: Cruise the San Francisco bay onboard one of our new Beneteau sailing or power yachts, or Lagoon Catamarans. Bring your favorite food and beverages and set sail for a great day in the Bay!
Privateer: This Islander Freeport 41 cutter has teak decks, finely varnished trim and many bronze fittings. Come see her mysterious stained glass.
Ruby: She started chartering in 1981 and proved her seaworthiness the next year by winning the Doublehanded Farallones Race. A veteran of cruises to Mexico, the Channel Islands and Delta, her skipper and crew have lots of party experience.
Santa Maria: Interestingly, this Islander Freeport 41 ketch was built for Wile E. Coyote cartoonist Chuck Jones. A complete refit was done on her in 2006, with a wall-to-wall teak interior.
Schooner Seaward: Owned by the nonprofit Call of the Sea. She sails during spring, summer and fall, with winter charters in Mexico. This lovely 82-ft staysail schooner's primary function is Marine Environmental Education for Northern California students. We offer programs combining education, seamanship, marine environmental studies, and fun in the sun.
Tahoe Cruz: This Santa Cruz 50 sails daily out of the Tahoe City Marina with Tahoe Sailing Charters, with captains Mike and Tyler, from May to October. Prevailing SW afternoon breezes make for ideal sailing conditions.
Tahoe Dreamer: Enjoy a private charter aboard this 36ft. power catamaran. Cruising daily on three-hour tours of Emerald Bay from Tahoe City. Complimentary beer, wine, snacks and appetizers served on all charters.
USA 76: 84-ft America's Cup IACC yacht that raced in the 2003 Louis Vuitton Cup in NZ. America's Cup champion Brad Webb brought her to the Bay to share the thrills of pro racing in a rare, participatory experience.
Yukon Jack: Check out the adrenal thrill of blasting across the Bay on this ultralight Santa Cruz 50. A former ocean racer, she once sailed from San Francisco to Tahiti in an impressive 19 days.
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My friend Mathis was kind enough to call me on something.
My friend Michael gave me the opportunity.
I'm grateful to them both.
I was having lunch with Mathis one day a while back, and he was pitching me on a project he thought I should undertake as a potential way to make money. And I was debating why I wasn't sure that it would actually work as a revenue source. To be fair, I still agree, though I have sort of begun recently to work on the project regardless, just for the sake of doing it.
Mathis finally looked at me, and said, "Fine, let me put it a different way — Get off your butt."
And he was right. In the three months or so I'd been out of work at that point, I'd written very little. In fact, at that point, I was blogging only very sporadically and had pretty much stopped writing in my journal.
I needed to write.
So I started writing.
First by just taking my blogging more seriously and then by returning to journaling.
And then Michael gave me a chance to do a bit more.
Michael runs the DrawingTeachers.com website, and needed some articles to go on it, so he said he'd pay me to write some for him. I not only have something to write, I'm selling words again! It's nice.
But I've particularly enjoyed it because it's been a fun challenge. I know very little about drawing, certainly not teaching people to draw, so Michael has given me the information for each page on how to write the articles in such a way as to help people who are looking for the lessons to find them. Basically, I'm learning how to write better for the web, and I'm getting paid to do it. How cool is that!
Feel free to go check out the website, I have my own David Hitt writer page and have several articles up already, with more coming soon:
Filed under: Editorial, Writing | Tagged: art, drawing, postaday2011, writing | 1 Comment »


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Sweet Potatoes Kitchen in Savannah, Georgia
From May 22 to May 31, I traveled across country, from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, California. Here's a snippet from that week.
About five miles from "downtown" Savannah, Sweet Potatoes is an unpretentious gas station neighbor with "endearing food," as the restaurant likes to call it. They serve Southern fare with an eclectic, sometimes fruity Caribbean twist, and in honor of the namesake, a different sweet potato dish each day. As someone who loves the sweet orange spud, I was already giddy in the parking lot.
During our late lunch (thankfully, they never close between lunch and dinner), the sweet potato du jour was baked in a foil jacket, topped with melted pecan butter and apple mash. Other days, the mash is made of banana or pineapple. As with most country cooking, the sides here are just as important as the entree itself. Choices include roasted Brussels sprouts, lemon collards, black-eyed peas, cheese grits, okra and tomatoes, corn pudding, and dilled lima beans. Thankfully, each entrée came with two sides, so all three of us divided and conquered to cover most options.
What's New On Serious Eats
What to Order
Entrées: Pecan-crusted trout, peach-glazed barbecue chicken, Jamaican jerk chicken salad (or substitute chicken for tilapia), meatloaf sandwich, or blackened catfish with tomato relish.
Sides: Okra and tomatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, or any of the sweet potatoes du jour.
Desserts: Peach cobbler and pecan bread pudding were tempting, but we were too ridiculously full to try them.
A Sweet Potato-Filled Home Away from Home
Though none of us had family connections to Georgia, we all felt overwhelmingly at home here, hence some prolonged lingering and staring. The décor had a lived-in kindergarten classroom feel with painted flowers all over, and one wall listing "home" in every thinkable word and phrase, like "Home Run" and "Home is Where the Heart is" and "Homing Pigeon." The last one, you don't hear everyday, but it was still endearing. Just like everything else here.
Sweet Potatoes
6825 Waters Avenue, Savannah GA 31406 (map)
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Satnav reflection technology for remote sensing of the Earth
A rain of navigation signals falls constantly upon the Earth from GPS and the initial satellites in Europe's Galileo system, enabling an ever-increasing number of positioning and guidance services.
Afterwards these microwave beams bounce back to space – where a proposed ESA mission aims to harness them as a scientific resource and explore their potential for terrestrial remote sensing applications.
Intercepting reflected satnav signals and calculating their travel time is a way to track the changing contours of the Earth's ocean, land and ice surfaces. And because this detector technology – known as the Passive Reflectometry and Interferometry System (PARIS) – can track multiple signal bounces at once, it can build up a rapid picture of fast-moving mid-sized (so-called 'mesoscale') phenomena such as storms, current eddies and high waves.
"At the heart of the mission is a double-sided antenna made up of many small elements that can track multiple signals from above and below in parallel" explains PARIS project researcher Manuel Martín-Neira of ESA. "The phase difference of original and bounced-back signals originating from the same satellite are then compared to reveal the difference in their travel time and obtain ranging information. The principle has been proven with airborne demonstrators, but the high-gain satellite-tracking antenna we require for maximum ranging accuracy can only be tested in space."
The proposed PARIS In-Orbit Demonstrator mission would include a 1.1-m antenna to prove the concept, with any future operational mission being equipped with a larger 2.4-m antenna.
Making measure of the world
PARIS would measure multiple points with a faster revisit time...
PARIS is a passive variation on an existing instrument called a radar altimeter, currently flying on ESA's Envisat and other Earth-observing satellites. These altimeters fire 1800 microwave pulses downward per second then measures their echo return time to calculate sea surface height. As ocean currents and eddies form height undulations on the sea surface of the order of tens of centimetres, altimetry results gradually yield to a rich and scientifically valuable map of ocean circulation. Current altimeters sample only one point at a time, while PARIS would measure multiple points with a faster revisit time, yielding new data on rapidly-changing features.
"PARIS would complement rather than replace existing altimetry," says Martín-Neira. "In the first generation of these satellites, we would get only around 5 cm accuracy, while conventional radar altimeters go down to 2 cm. So this excellent performance of current radar altimeters has to be maintained, to study sea level rise, ocean circulation and other long-term phenomena. What we would try to cover is the mesoscale part of the ocean, so together a fuller overall view would be provided. The PARIS In-Orbit Demonstrator would sample four points at once, while an operational follow-on would sample 16 or 20 points at the same time, yielding information you cannot get at with just a single track."
More GNSS satellites means greater accuracy
the more satellite signals that are available the greater the system's accuracy
While highly-accurate military-grade positioning data are coded into the navigation signals, one of the strengths of the PARIS system is that it does not need access to them. Instead, all the information required is extracted by the process of combining the original and reflected beams. And the more satellite signals that are available, the greater the system's accuracy in time and space – within a decade a figure of more than 150 satellites looks likely.
The US Defense Department's Global Positioning System (GPS) was the first operational Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), but many other systems are set to join it. The first test spacecraft of the joint ESA-EU Galileo GNSS are already in orbit, and the system is due to become operational around 2015. Galileo will also be joined by China's Beidou system, while India and Japan are planning regional systems and Russia is considering upgrading its own GLONASS navigation system to make it inter-operable with other GNSS systems.
The PARIS concept was first proposed the year that GPS became operational in 1993. Extensive research followed, working with partners including the UK National Oceanographic Centre (NOC), the French Institute for the Exploration of the Sea (IFREMER), Spain's Institute of Marine Science and Institute of Space Studies of Catalonia, Germany's GeoForschungsZentrum and French altimetry specialists Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS).
Along the way the range of potential applications has grown from oceanic monitoring to wind and wave measurements, as well as useful measurements of soil moisture and forest biomass and even ice thickness, based on proven satellite detection of reflected GNSS signals from icecaps. PARIS would also gather realtime data on variations in the ionosphere – an electrically charged portion of the atmosphere that can cause delay in the propagation of GNSS signals.
Manuel.Martin-Neira @ esa.int


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In 1665, Samuel Pepys recalls in his diary that he stayed up till 2am one morning, reading a best-selling page-turner which he called "the most ingenious book I read in my life." It wasn't a book about history, or a play, or anything from the arts: it was the world's first popular book about microscopic images.
Titled Micrographia: Or Some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies Made With Magnifying Glasses With Observations and Inquiries Thereupon—catchy—it was written by famed scientists Robert Hooke. Now, it's available on Google Books for you to read, and it doesn't cost a cent.
It's well worth taking a flip through: there are some wonderful drawings in there, of everything from fleas through bark to the edges of razors, and it's exciting to see what constituted cutting-edge scientific understanding all the way back in 1665. If you're interested, Carl Zimmer has written a wonderful review to whet your appetite further. [Googe Books via Download the Universe]


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Gender-based violence tends to increase after natural disasters, researchers have found. Haiti, unfortunately, is no exception.
Following its 2010 7.0 magnitude quake, anecdotal evidence from grassroots groups in Port-au-Prince showed gender-based violence, which includes but is not limited to rape, was on the rise. It was nearly impossible for women to keep themselves safe. Many lived in tents in camps with poor lighting and insecure housing. The social safety net their town or neighborhood could have supplied had been destroyed.
This news sparked groups working in Haiti, including UC Hastings, to organize to stem the crime wave and empower Haitian women to advocate for better laws to protect themselves and punish aggressors.
This spring, Blaine Bookey '09, Associate Director and Staff Attorney at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS) and Adjunct Professor for the Hastings-to-Haiti Partnership (HHP), traveled to Haiti with 2L Sasha Prokopets to participate in the third of three conferences sponsored by the World Bank and the Government of Haiti aimed at improving the Haitian response to gender-based violence.
The conference focused on legal reforms to the Haitian penal code that would facilitate prosecutions, for example, by defining rape on the basis of lack of consent, rather than a show of force. Reforms would also decriminalize abortion in limited circumstances, such as after a rape. UC Hastings provided recommendations for the reforms with MADRE, New York University and City University of New York law schools, Human Rights Watch, and the Institute for Justice & Democracy.
Working in conjunction with KOFAVIV, a grassroots women's group based in Port-au-Prince, Bookey and Prokopets trained women to testify before government authorities about rape and its effects. KOFAVIV runs a rape victim center and safe house in Port-au-Prince that works with lawyers at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux to pursue legal cases in the courts. Most if not all of its volunteers have been raped. Few have had their cases prosecuted, and none had previously testified before government officials.
"To date, rape has not been defined in Haitian law, which has posed a barrier to prosecution of individual incidents of rape," Bookey said. "Without a definition for rape as well as the clear absence of a corroboration requirement, the de facto requirement that a woman must present a medical certificate from a state hospital about her injuries before a rape charge will be investigated means many of these crimes go unpunished."
Grassroots women's groups were not part of the discussion on what legal reforms and other remedies to pursue, she said. "Three years ago, it is unlikely that government officials would have come to a conference featuring KOFAVIV and grassroots leaders. Armed with the methods we have developed with them, the women have gained the ear and respect of the Haitian Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Women."
Now, the police are collaborating with organizations like KOFAVIV. There is still a long way to go, Bookey said, and impunity for crimes of gender-motivated violence is still pervasive. But there has been much progress due to a concerted effort to address the problem at domestic, regional, and international levels.
Bookey and Prokopets said it is amazing how quickly, with focused attention, public opinion is changing and the laws are being reformed. The work has been successful in part due to UC Hastings' ties and annual trips to Haiti, and CGRS' research and documentation of gender-based violence in Haiti and elsewhere, primarily Central America. "Our Haiti advocacy programs are our most advanced given our longstanding and collaborative relationships with Haitian lawyers and advocates," Bookey said.
Each spring since 1999, UC Hastings has sent scholars and students to a law school in Jérémie, Haiti, to help further its mandate of teaching social justice and public interest law to Haitian law students and lawyers. HHP enables students to have a direct international law experience by participating in joint workshops with Haitian students and Haitian and UC Hastings faculty in key areas of law and model clinical training.
Helping the Haitian law school launch the first and only clinical program in the country enables its faculty to better train young lawyers who intend to work for public interest and social justice, including providing services to survivors of sexual assault. In turn, the new clinic will support and strengthen the rule of law in Haiti.
Prokopets, who is part of the Hastings-to-Haiti Partnership, said the trip was the most inspiring human rights work she has done. Previously, she worked as a policy fellow for Polaris Project in Washington, D.C., documenting legislation designed to curb human trafficking.
It was refreshing to get out from behind a computer and work with grassroots groups that are making a difference, she said. "The women there are so hopeful, and fiercely intelligent and strategic and committed to advancing justice," said Prokopets.
Prokopets continues to work with refugees fleeing violence as part of her ongoing clinic work with UC Hastings' Refugee and Human Rights Clinic. She currently represents a Mexican national seeking asylum on the basis of LGBT discrimination.


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Joe Paterno, who won more games than any other major-college football coach, and who became the face of Pennsylvania State University and a symbol of integrity in collegiate athletics only to be fired during the 2011 season amid a child sexual abuse scandal that reverberated throughout the nation, died Sunday in State College, Pa. He was 85.
His family announced his death in a statement released Sunday morning. The cause was lung cancer, according to Mount Nittany Medical Center, where he had been treated. Paterno's family announced in mid-November that he had received a diagnosis of lung cancer after a visit to a physician regarding a bronchial illness a few days earlier. He lived in State College.
During his 46 years as head coach, as he paced the sideline in his thick tinted glasses, indifferent to fashion in his white athletic socks and rolled-up baggy khaki pants, Paterno seemed as much a part of the Penn State landscape as Mount Nittany, overlooking the central Pennsylvania campus known as Happy Valley.
When Penn State defeated Illinois, 10-7, on Oct. 29, 2011, the victory was Paterno's 409th, and he surpassed Eddie Robinson of Grambling for most career victories among N.C.A.A. Division I coaches. Penn State's president at the time, Graham B. Spanier, presented Paterno with a commemorative plaque in a postgame ceremony shown on the huge scoreboard at Beaver Stadium.
It would be Paterno's last game. Within days his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky was indicted and arrested on multiple charges of sexually abusing young boys extending back to his time on Paterno's staff. On Nov. 9, Paterno and Spanier were fired by the university's board of trustees because of their failure to go to the police after they were told of an accusation against Sandusky in 2002.
Paterno's abrupt firing at 84 was something that could hardly have been imagined, although he had stubbornly clung to the spotlight at an age when most head coaches, whatever their renown, had retired.
He had held himself to an exceedingly high standard with what he called his "grand experiment": fielding outstanding teams with disciplined players whose graduation rates far exceeded that at most football powers. His football program had never been tainted by a recruiting scandal. His statue stood outside Beaver Stadium alongside the legend "Educator, Coach, Humanitarian."
Former players who succeeded in professional life far beyond the football field had told of their debt to him.
"Look how many go to medical school or law school," said Bill Lenkaitis, a dentist in Foxborough, Mass., who played for Paterno in the 1960s and became a longtime center for the New England Patriots. "Look how many become heads of corporations."
Many a Pennsylvania home was stocked with Paterno knickknacks: Cup of Joe coffee mugs, Stand-up Joe life-size cutouts, JoePa golf balls bearing his likeness.
Paterno and his wife, Sue, were major benefactors of Penn State. During his nearly half-century as head coach, donors gave hundreds of millions of dollars to the university, helping to shape it into a major research institution, seemingly an outgrowth of his having made Penn State a national brand name through its football teams.
All-Americans by the Dozen
Paterno was a five-time national coach of the year. He had five unbeaten and untied teams, and he coached Penn State to the No. 1 ranking in 1982 and 1986. He took his Nittany Lions to 37 bowl games, winning 24 of them, and turned out dozens of first-team all-Americans.
On Saturday afternoons at Beaver Stadium, crowds exceeding 100,000 cheered on Nittany Lions players recruited by Paterno largely from Pennsylvania and nearby states. Many went on to stellar professional careers, among them running backs Franco Harris and Lydell Mitchell and linebacker Jack Ham.
Paterno had a career record of 409 victories, 136 defeats and 3 ties. He was surpassed only by John Gagliardi, who has won 484 games at Carroll College in Montana and St. John's of Minnesota, coaching below the major-college level.
"Joe Paterno, to me, is maybe the greatest coach ever," Bobby Bowden, the former Florida State coach, who is No. 3 in major-college coaching victories, told The Associated Press in 2006. "I mean that truly, and I said that 10 years ago."
Penn State hired Bill O'Brien, the 42-year-old offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, to replace Paterno this month. O'Brien has never been a head coach, and the decision was criticized by some former Penn State players.
The sexual abuse scandal that unfolded in November received national attention beyond the sports world and brought new attention to the issue of child predators and the obligation to care for their victims and to act quickly to prevent new assaults by serial offenders.
After the accusations against Sandusky surfaced, the university's athletic director and the official who supervised the campus police were arrested on charges including perjury before a grand jury. They pleaded not guilty.
Sandusky had retired after the 1999 season, but he had retained access to the Penn State football facilities, where he escorted disadvantaged young boys being helped by a foundation he created. In what became the most notorious episode, a graduate assistant said he tried to explain to Paterno that he had seen Sandusky sexually abusing a boy in a team locker room late one night in March 2002. Paterno reported a version of the story to two superiors, saying that he set up a meeting between the graduate assistant and the athletic director and university vice president, but evidently never followed up.
Paterno's firing, and his replacement by his assistant Tom Bradley on an interim basis, came hours after he said he would retire, although he planned to coach the final three games of the season after compiling an 8-1 record.
When word came of Paterno's ouster, thousands of Penn State students rampaged through the downtown area near the university in support of him, engaging in sporadic vandalism and clashing with the police.
Paterno remained at his ranch house less than a mile from the campus on the Saturday after his firing, when Penn State played Nebraska at Beaver Stadium. Many students in the crowd of more than 100,000 came dressed as Paterno, with pants legs rolled up, white socks and thick-framed black eyeglasses. Hundreds wore T-shirts reading "Joe Knows Football."
Rather than sprinting onto the field, the Penn State players walked from an end-zone tunnel hand in hand, and a moment of silence was dedicated to victims of child abuse. When Paterno's son Jay, the quarterbacks coach, arrived at his parents' home after the game — a 17-14 Nebraska victory — he pumped his fist in the air and chanted "We are. ..."
"Penn State!" responded some two dozen cheering students, completing the traditional campus chant.
Joseph Vincent Paterno was born on Dec. 21, 1926, and grew up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. His father, Angelo, obtained a law degree after working as a court clerk and encouraged his children to pursue education.
Joe Paterno played football and basketball at Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit-run high school, and studied the classics, which he said taught him the importance of being committed to an ideal.
He entered Brown University in 1946, played quarterback and defensive back, and majored in English. A younger brother, George, was a teammate, as he had been in high school.
Paterno planned to attend Boston University Law School upon graduation. But when Rip Engle, Brown's head football coach, left to coach Penn State in 1950, Paterno went with him to coach the quarterbacks.
Paterno proved intense, brash and ambitious, and in June 1964 he was named Penn State's associate football coach. He turned down an offer to become Yale's head coach, then succeeded Engle when he retired in 1966.
Engle never had a losing season at Penn State, but although his teams appeared twice in the Liberty Bowl and twice in the Gator Bowl, they never made it to a high-profile bowl game. His last squad had a 5-5 record.
A Fast Ascension
Paterno was 5-5 as well in his first season as the head coach, but his team went 8-2-1 the next year, when he devised a new defensive system designed to confuse opposing offenses with shifts after the ball was snapped.
Then came the team's breakout on the national football scene. Penn State went 10-0 in 1968 and in '69 before victories in the Orange Bowl each season, and was unbeaten for 31 straight games before losing to Colorado in September 1970.
Early in 1973, Paterno turned down an offer to become the head coach of the New England Patriots. That June, he became the first Penn State football coach to deliver the university's commencement address.
But Paterno was long stymied in his bid for a No. 1 ranking. His 1973 team, starring John Cappelletti in his Heisman Trophy season, was 12-0 without a top ranking. His 1978 squad was unbeaten in the regular season but lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in the battle for the No. 1 spot. Paterno finally reached the top ranking with his 1982 and 1986 teams.
Joe Paterno, the Face of Penn State
16 Photos
View Slide Show ›
Paterno seemed indestructible, but in November 2006, he sustained a broken leg and a severe knee injury in a sideline collision during a game against Wisconsin. He had surgery and did not return to the sideline for the rest of the season. But he went onto the Beaver Stadium field for Penn State's 2007 opener, beginning his 42nd season there as the head coach and surpassing the major-college longevity record at one program set by Amos Alonzo Stagg at the University of Chicago from 1892 to 1932.
Paterno was walking with a cane early in the 2008 season, in pain from leg and hip problems. He began coaching from the press box in October, then had hip-replacement surgery on Nov. 23. Penn State nonetheless made it to the Rose Bowl, with a No. 6 national ranking, and Paterno coached his team, again from a press box, in a loss to Southern California.
His 2009 team was 11-2 and beat Louisiana State in the Capital One Bowl, but his 2010 squad was 7-6 and lost in the Outback Bowl to Florida. Then came his final season, when Penn State had lost only once when the end came.
Usually preferring a conservative ground game, Paterno was best known as a strategist for his defensive units. Penn State was known as Linebacker U.
Paterno spent endless hours plotting strategy, and he was demanding at practice, where little escaped his notice. He was devoid of flourishes. His players wore high-top black shoes and white helmets with a simple blue stripe, forsaking fashionable school logos and little stars representing individual achievements, and their blue and white jerseys were unadorned by names on the back, all to project toughness and a selfless attitude.
"He's a tremendous motivator," said Kenny Jackson, who was a wide receiver on Paterno's 1982 national championship team and who later coached under him.
In December 2007, Paterno became the third active coach inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
But as Paterno coached on into his 70s, his teams faltered. He had only one winning season from 2000 to 2004 and seemed overmatched in the Big Ten, which Penn State had joined in 1993 after years of success as an independent. There were several off-the-field incidents as his teams struggled — one quarterback needed stitches after a fight at an ice rink, and a center was held out of games for damaging an apartment wall by firing a bow and arrow. The episodes added to the air of disappointment surrounding Paterno, who prided himself on his athletes' character.
Some critics also complained that Paterno's run-oriented offense remained too conservative. High school stars were said to be looking elsewhere, assuming that Paterno would soon be gone.
In August 2004, Spanier, then the Penn State president, called Paterno "a brilliant man, the school's greatest ambassador, the school's best fund-raiser and a philanthropist." (Paterno's family had donated more than $4 million to the university, which named a wing of its expanded library for Paterno and his wife in 2000.)
But the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day 2004, Spanier and three top university administrators went to Paterno's home, suggesting he retire, although he had been given a four-year contract extension the previous spring.
In an interview with The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette late in 2005, Paterno said he had told the university officials that Penn State was close to returning as a national power. "They didn't quite understand where I was coming from or what it took to get a football program going," Paterno said. "I said: 'Relax. Get off my backside.' "
They did.
Paterno's team lost only one game in 2005 and captured the Big Ten championship before defeating Florida State in the Orange Bowl in 2006.
"You guys think that you write something and all of a sudden I'm bothered?" Paterno told The Associated Press at the outset of the 2007 season. "I don't read it."
In addition to his wife and his son Joseph Jr., known as Jay, Paterno is survived by his sons David and Scott; his daughters, Diana Giegerich and Mary Kathryn Hort; and many grandchildren. George Paterno died in 2002. Joe Paterno's wife and his five children were Penn State graduates.
The Classics as a Prism
For all his achievements, Paterno insisted that there was more to college football than results on the scoreboard. As he wrote in The New York Times on the eve of the 1989 season:
"A hard-fought, well-fought, hairline-close game is as classical in sports as tragedy in theater. A tragedy usually ends with the stage strewn with bodies from both sides of a struggle, and you can't tell who won and who lost. Victory is contained within defeat, and defeat is contained within victory. That's the way it is in the best of games. What counts in sports is not the victory but the magnificence of the struggle."
Paterno said he was disappointed by the trustees' decision to fire him after he announced he would retire at the end of the 2011 season. But in a statement just before the board acted, he expressed remorse over his personal failing. He chose a word that he had used in describing what he saw as the spirit of athletic competition back in 1989, but this time in a very different context — the episode that ended his career and left his reputation in tatters.
"This is a tragedy," he said. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."


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Version 1.8 of WP Business Directory Manager is ready. Please read and heed the following before you upgrade:
Backup before you upgrade.
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Sunday, March 15, 2015
When the shower curtain rod falls down0 comments Posted by Rebecca at 11:27 AM
Here's what's been going on:
Before Christmas I had the tumor that they found in my spine radiated and I was scheduled to go back to Mayo in early February for some scans. Well, in keeping with most of my recent visits to Mayo, everything went to crap with those scans. The PET scan showed active cancer in my liver and lungs which wasn't too surprising but was still disheartening. The PET scan also showed a new tumor in the ball joint of my right shoulder. Not cool. Looking at the CT scans showed that the growth in my liver and lungs wasn't huge but enough that my oncologist felt we need to put all of the preventative things we were doing to try and stop any recurrence of the breast cancers on the back burner and focus again on the cholangiocarcinoma. His recommendation was some radiation for the tumor in my shoulder and then a new chemo to try and shrink the tumors in my liver and lungs. Both of these treatments he felt I should be able to get closer to home and so he sent all of my information and scans to the oncologist I have been working with here. Both oncologists were in agreement, but they were not able to get the radiologist on board with them here to take care of my shoulder (it's a long story that makes me angry to tell). Since I am going back up to Mayo in March, my oncologist there okayed just starting the chemo and after we see my next set of scans we will decided about the radiation. So I started my new chemo on the 17th of February . I hate it. No, I despise it. It is a 4 hour infusion and then I go home attached to a 46 hour slow infusion of another drug that I get to carry around in a very stylish fanny pack. I have two of these treatments so far but I can confidently say that it is the worst chemo that I have ever dealt with. Never has a chemo made me so sick. Even with a 20% dose reduction and new pre meds, I have had to go in for fluids the day I get my pump unattached and the day after. For at least three days after chemo, I am useless. I can barely move from being so exhausted. This is a tired I have never experienced before. So tired that my chest aches and my arms feel heavy. Sleep is all I want to do, but even then, I wake up still sick and still tired. Who has time for that kind of crap?
In the midst of all the cancer crud that has been going on last year through the present, we have managed to get are bathroom closer to being finished. We need some paint and cosmetic type stuff, but we have a sink! So, with this bathroom project, I recently (before Christmas) got a new shower curtain and shower curtain rod. Yea! Looks great! BUT, the stinking curtain rod (it's a tension rod) has been just randomly falling down. Sometimes when I'm getting out of the shower, sometimes when my child is in the shower, sometimes just because we sneezed two rooms away. It's annoying and, if you're in the shower when it happens, rather inconvenient. I don't know if it's the tile in our shower or the rod not being grippy (it's a word, right?) enough, I've tightened the heck out the thing... still falls down. There was even a day when both the shower curtain rod and the towel rack came crashing down at the same time. But ya know, things could be worse right?And that's how I've been feeling about my life lately. The shower curtain rod keeps falling down. We radiate something and "put the curtain rod back up" and then I get a scan that shows more cancer and "the rod comes crashing down again". New chemo, "put the rod back up", sick for three days, "shower curtain on the floor again". It feels endless, and it's exhausting, but there's hope, right? We can always put the shower curtain rod back up and one day that it is going to stay!
Just as an aside, as I am typing this post I am reminded of a post that I wrote quite awhile ago that has a similar theme. You can find it HERE.
I would be lying if I said that all of these new changes and treatments don't scare the hell out of me. I look at Eric and Kylynn and our day to day struggles and it breaks my heart. I think about this new chemo I'm on and I can only remember that it is the same chemo that two dear friends with the same diagnosis were on when they passed away, it keeps me up at nights. I think of all the really cool things that Kylynn is learning and doing with her schooling. She has been going through this amazing period where you can almost see the connections being made in her brain and she just lights up with excitement over her discoveries. And I have to miss that for a few days when I'm sick after chemo. I HATE that. Eric and my family are always having to pick up the slack when I'm sick after chemo and I feel like such a burden. BUT through all of this, even when my shower curtain rod keeps falling down, I have been surrounded by people who love me and Eric and Kylynn. Someone has always been willing to step in and help "put the shower curtain back up". That love and support is what gets us through, even on the rainiest day.


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Organic Ashwagandha Root Powder 1300mg – 120 Vegan Capsules with Black Pepper Extract for Better Absorption – Natural Anti Anxiety, Stress Relief, Mood, Thyroid & Adrenal Support Herbal Supplement (1)
What Is Ashwagandha? Ashwagandha is an incredibly healthy medicinal herb that is very popular in Ayurveda. Also known as Indian ginseng, it has been used for thousands of centuries in Ayurvedic medicine for it's effective medicinal and therapeutic properties. It is classified as an adaptogen, meaning it helps your body manage and adapt to stress.… Read More »


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Zeppelin Flatline Automatic Power Reserve Cream Dial 7366-5
- BandLeather Strap
- Case MaterialSteel
- ConditionBrand New
- MovementAutomatic
Zeppelin Flatline – Automatic Power Reserve Cream Dial
The popular Flatline series now has a new look: the elegant casing nestles wonderfully against the wrist. A particular eye-catcher is the new interpretation of the power reserve, which is offset at 30° and gives this watch an unusually striking look. The open heart model provides a glimpse into the mechanical movement. A detail that makes this watch a timeless classic with understated nobility. Automatic power reserve with calendar dial
Zeppelin 7366-5 - features
• movement Cal. 9132, mechanic, self-winding, 26 jewels
• power reserve indicator
• crystal exhibition back
• cream dial with white digits / markers
• stainless steel case, polished/matte
• diameter: 40 mm, Height: 12 mm, weight: 70 g
• water-resistant up to 5 atm
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Apricot & blueberry crumble cake
Nutrition and extra info
- Freezable
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal443
- fat18g
- saturates11g
- carbs66g
- sugars29g
- fibre2g
- protein8g
- salt0.84g
- 200g butter, softened
Butter is a dairy product made from separating whole milk or cream into fat and…
- 225g golden caster sugar
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
Baking powderbay-king pow-dah
Baking powder is a raising agent that is commonly used in cake-making. It is made from an alkali…
- 3 eggs, beaten
The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition packed with protein and a…
- 2 tbsp milk
One of the most widely used ingredients, milk is often referred to as a 'complete' food…
- 150g pot vanilla yogurt
Yogurt is made by adding a number of types of harmless bacteria to milk, causing it to ferment.…
- 300g apricots, skinned, halved and stoned, or use a drained 410g tin instead
A relative of the peach, nectarine, plum and cherry, apricots are fragrant, with a soft, velvety…
- 225g punnet blueberries
Blueberries are one of the few edibles native to North America and credited with being…
For the crumble
Line an oblong traybake tin (21 x 30cm) with baking parchment and heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Beat the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs and milk together until creamy. Spoon into the tin, level the top, then bake for 25 mins until almost set.
Meanwhile, get the yogurt and fruit at the ready and make the crumble by rubbing all the ingredients together.
When cake has baked for 25 mins, whip it out of the oven. Working quickly, spoon over the yogurt, scatter over the fruit, then top with the crumble. Return to oven for 15-20 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Serve warm as a pudding, or cooled and cut into squares with tea.


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Syl Arena examines Canon's new radio Speedlite flash system
By Syl Arena
Canon's launch of the Speedlite 600EX-RT flashgun and the Speedlite Transmitter ST-E3-RT is a quantum leap forward in flash technology. For the first time ever, two-way radio communication between master and slave has been built into a Canon flashgun and transmitter.
For those photographers who, like me, have used the previous generations of Canon Speedlites for many years, the introduction of an entirely new system raises the legitimate question of whether or not to upgrade. While the entire range of benefits from this new technology is not realised without the use of a 2012 model Canon DSLR camera (the EOS-1D X or EOS 5D Mark III), I discovered compelling functionality when pairing the new Speedlite system with pre-2012 cameras. In this article, I will share the insights that I gained after putting the new gear through extensive tests on several shoots using my EOS 5D Mark II and EOS 60D DSLRs.
New LCD and menu system – easy to learn, easy to remember
While the radio system offers amazing potential (for reasons that I will discuss below), I think that the new interactive menu system and the dot matrix LCD of the 600EX-RT are equally revolutionary. For many, who shoot with just a single Speedlite, this new user interface will be reason enough to upgrade.
In previous generations of Speedlites, every icon was stuffed onto a single screen and illuminated as necessary. Now, with a dot matrix LCD, the icons are no longer hard-coded onto the screen. The new technology provides icons that are larger than before and have a consistency in layout. For instance, the mode icons (ETTL, M for Manual, Multi etc.) are now displayed consistently in the upper left corner of the screen. So, learning and remembering the interface is easier than before.
Another important feature of the new LCD technology is that it provides for an interactive menu system. While the new Speedlite flashgun and transmitter retain the four-button layout under the LCD screens, the function of each button changes in response to mode and wireless settings. Essentially now, we have a 'one button, one function' system. It is no longer necessary to remember that some functions lie beneath other functions. The label for each button is displayed on-screen above each button. One only needs to remember to press the right-most button to scroll through additional menu options for advanced features like Multi and wireless shooting.
The new LCD also means that the cryptic codes for Custom Functions are a thing of the past. Rather than having to remember that C.Fn. -01 1 meant that power saving has been disabled, the new system shows a Speedlite with zeds (ZZZZ…) floating away. Press the Set button, and you see the options 0 - Off and 1 - On. Setting Custom Functions directly on an EOS camera's LCD is still easier, because you can read the descriptions in the language of your choice. Still, for on-the-fly changes during a shoot, the new LCD makes quick changes to the Custom Functions possible without having to have a 'cheat sheet' in hand.
I was also pleasantly surprised by the usefulness of the LCD's ability to change the colour of the background light. I have my flashguns set so that the backlight is green in normal and master modes and orange in slave mode. This makes it quite easy to confirm that the flashgun is, indeed, set as a slave.
Breaking the line-of-sight connection
The addition of 2.4 GHz radio into the 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT units opens up a world of functionality that could not exist with the previous, optically based, wireless communication between master and slave. Now the signal can penetrate opaque surfaces, which I quickly discovered enables shoots that were impossible with the old optical system.
My set for the portraits above was a small balcony at an apartment that overlooks San Francisco. If you click on the Set tab, you will see that the balcony was just over a metre deep and about three metres across. For the shoot, I used a Speedlite 600EX-RT in the hotshoe of my EOS 5D Mark II as master and a pair of 600EX-RTs firing into the Kacey Beauty Reflector. My shooting spot was slightly forward of the dish and wedged against the door frame.
As much as I love the light coming from the Kacey Beauty Reflector, in the past I have found that its design makes it virtually impossible to use it with optically controlled Speedlite flash units. As you can see in the detail shot (shown left), the front-facing slave sensors are literally pressed up against the Kacey beauty dish. To further complicate the situation, for this shoot, I found it necessary to angle the head of my on-camera master Speedlite to the left so that I could bounce fill flash off the wall of the building. Thanks to the radio control capabilities, the shoot flowed very smoothly despite the extremely tight confines of the balcony area.
Slaves that talk back to the master
One of the unexpected windfalls of the new radio system is that, for the first time ever, the slaves can talk directly with the master. Previously, with the optical system, the master would flash instructions and the slaves would follow. Now, when each slave has recycled, it sends a ready confirmation to the master. When all the slaves check in as 'ready' the master (flashgun or transmitter) illuminates the test button in red and, optionally, sounds a beep.
This two-way communication proved invaluable for the shot above, which is a concept shot for a snowboard ad series based on the theme of 'Spring Training'. Not only was the snowboarder balancing on a stack of concrete blocks and a tyre, but also I was perched on a ladder trying to direct him as I framed the shot through the lens. Neither the model nor I wanted to remain aloft any longer than was necessary.
As you can see in the set shots, I used a pair of Westcott Apollo 70cm softboxes for fill flash. The upper box had a pair of 600EX-RTs and the lower softbox had a single 600EX-RT. To maximize the flash output, I pulled the diffuser fabric to the side, which meant that the optical slave sensors were blinded by the sun reflecting off of the silver interior. Using the ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter in the hotshoe of my EOS 5D Mark II, I was able to concentrate on guiding the model's gestures on this precarious set rather than worry about whether the slaved Speedlites had fired or not. I knew as soon as I heard the beep from the ST-E3-RT that the all of the slaves were ready to go I could fire another frame.
Extended wireless range
Another compelling reason to upgrade is that the radio system provides greater range that the optical system. Canon states in the user manuals for the 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT that the effective range of the radio system is 30 metres, which is twice the range of optically controlled slaves.
To put this to the test, I headed outside onto a road near my home. There I found that I was able to change modes and set Flash Exposure Control (FEC) or change power on a 600EX-RT from a distance of 100 metres. This test was conducted in the countryside, where there were no nearby sources of radio interference. In a business or industrial environment, where RF interference is likely, I've no doubt that the range will be closer to that stated in the user manuals. Still, for wedding and event photographers, I think that the extended range of the radio, when combined with the freedom from line-of-sight issues, makes a compelling argument for the new system.
The question of Sync Speed
The area of greatest uncertainty about the new system is that of sync speed. Canon states, in the user manuals, that for pre-2012 modes (every Canon DSLR camera other than EOS-1D X and EOS 5D Mark III) the maximum sync speed is depreciated by one stop. This would mean that, for example, on an EOS 5D Mark II, the maximum sync speed would be 1/100sec. My experience, on both my 5D Mark II and 60D, did not confirm these limitations. To the contrary, I have been able to shoot direct hotshoe flash and wireless flash at all shutter speeds in both normal and High-Speed Sync (HSS).
As you can see in the series above, I successfully shot across a wide range of shutter speeds, from 1/60sec to 1/1000sec, with my EOS 5D Mark II. When I changed the shutter speed from 1/125sec to 1/250sec, the camera shifted the trio of 600EX-RTs into High-Speed Sync (which I had previously set as my sync option on the ST-E3-RT attached to my camera's hotshoe). At 1/500sec, E-TTL continued to increase the flash power to accommodate for loss of flash power in HSS. Then, at 1/1000sec, the flash power appears to dim, not because of sync issues, but rather because HSS consumes more power as the shutter gets faster.
My experience, across nearly 1,000 shots with the new Speedlite system, is that there are no issues with sync on either the EOS 5D Mark II or EOS 60D cameras. Of course, the experience of others, using different cameras under different circumstances, may yield different results.
Other improvements
Canon has made a number of other improvements to the 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT units that increase the system's functionality and ease-of-use over previous generations of Canon Speedlite flash units.
- Dedicated wireless button – we now have a dedicated button that cycles the 600EX-RT from normal mode to master to slave. This can be set to cycle into the radio system only, the optical system only, or into the radio system and then the optical system. As with the new LCD technology, this new button makes the 600EX-RT far easier to use in wireless mode than its predecessors.
- Locking switch – the power switches on both the 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT now have an intermediate step that locks the settings. This is extremely helpful when shooting in low light situations where an inadvertent change to settings might not be noticed. So now, once you have set the flashgun and transmitter to your needs, you can move the power switch to prevent further changes.
- Wider and longer zoom – the zoom on the 600EX-RT now ranges from 20mm to 200mm. As I routinely set the zoom on my flashguns manually to create the effect of a vignette, I appreciated the tighter pattern created by the extended zoom. I expect that sports and wildlife photographers will find the extended reach of the 600EX-RT to be appealing.
- Linked Shooting – both the 600EX-RT and ST-E3-RT have the ability to fire remote cameras. This is accommodated via the NC-E3 cable on pre-2012 cameras and through the hotshoe of the EOS-1D X and EOS 5D Mark III DSLRs. I'm sure that wedding, sports, and wildlife photographers will discover many benefits of this new technology.
Using the new system with existing Speedlites
One of my first questions about the new Speedlite system was: 'Will it work with my existing arsenal of Speedlites?' The answer is both 'no' and 'yes'. Let me explain. Canon's implementation of radio in Speedlites is a quantum leap forward. It relies upon technology that didn't exist five years ago, when the Speedlite 580EX II was introduced. So, at present, there is no way to directly control previous generations of Speedlites through the new radio system.
That said Canon has done a brilliant job of carrying forward all the features of the old 580EX system into the new 600EX-RT system. Specifically, in addition to radio, the 600EX-RT also has the same functionality as the 580EX II flashgun when switched into wireless via optical transmission. I found that the 600EX-RT is happy to serve as a wireless master or slave with my 580EXs and 580EX II flashguns. The caveat is that every flashgun must use the optical system. You cannot control a remote 600EX-RT via radio and have it optically control 500-series or 400-series Speedlites.
However, I have discovered a 'work-around'. By attaching old-fashioned optical slave sensors to my 580EX flashguns, I was able to trigger them in conjunction with the 600EX-RTs firing as radio slaves. So, in this instance, it is possible to use both radio and optical wireless at the same time. The caveats are:
- All the flashguns have to operate in Manual mode so that there is no E-TTL pre-flash.
- The optical slave sensors must be the green-based Sonia sensors (the only ones I have found to work with Canon Speedlites).
So, using this work-around, I was able to put one 600EX-RT and two 580EXs inside of an Apollo softbox and fire all of them via radio. The only downside is that I could not adjust the power level from my camera. Still, given the low cost of the slave sensors, this seems like a sensible 'stepping stone' towards building a system built entirely on the new radio technology.
(Note: the 580EX II has a PC-sync port which to which an optical slave sensor can be attached directly. For earlier generations of Speedlites, you must attach use a hotshoe adapter between the foot of the flashgun and the optical slave sensor.)
Final thoughts
My initial journey with Canon's new Speedlite system was an emotional rollercoaster. Initially, I was elated to learn that we now have state-of-the-art radio control. Then my enthusiasm plummeted as I read about in the user manual about limitations on sync speed and the inability to work simultaneously in radio and optical wireless.
Now, after putting the system through several challenging shoots, my enthusiasm has escalated to the realm where it is now fair to call me a 'zealot'. I have seen first-hand that the new system enables shots that would not have been possible with the old system. Not only does the new gear make the impossible possible, it makes the impossible easy.
Like any new technology, early adapters will pay a much higher price than those who wait. Think about the cost of a moderately sized HDTV five years ago compared to the cost of giant HDTVs today and you will get my point.
The decision to embrace the new technology now will be directed by one's financial resources and needs. For wedding and event photographers, the new system is a natural. For those who want a navigation system that is intuitive and easy-to-remember, the new system is attractive. For those who do not need the functionality of radio wireless or the convenience of the new menu system, then the need to upgrade immediately is less compelling. Either way, I have no doubt that, five years from now virtually every Speedliter who shoots multiple flashguns will have fully embraced the system that Canon has given us today.
Biografie: Syl Arena
© Syl Arena
Photographer Syl Arena became fascinated with photography at the age of eight when an aunt gave him a Box Brownie camera. He later studied at the Brooks Institute of Photography, before earning a BFA in photography at the University of Arizona. Today Syl Arena shoots the people, lifestyles and products of central California for advertising, editorial and corporate clients. He runs a regular blog, PixSylated.com, and in 2009 founded the Paso Robles Workshops. An expert in flash, his best-selling book 'Speedliter's Handbook: Learning to Craft Light with Canon Speedlites' is available in print and digital formats.


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Arlington Heights' first full-time firefighter dies
The Arlington Heights Fire Department hired its first full-time firefighters in 1957 after operating as a volunteer force since the 1800s. Badge No. 1 that year was given to David Mills, who stayed with the department for 32 years and rose to be deputy chief until his retirement in 1989.
Mills, 84, died Monday after a short illness. He is being remembered for his contributions as a "founding father" of the department.
"He was probably one of the finest people I ever met," said Charles Kramer, who joined the fire department in 1967 and worked with Mills for more than 20 years. "I never heard him say a bad thing about anybody. He was a leader, he was a friend, he was a teacher, he was a mentor."
Kramer later served as a deputy chief and is now an assistant emergency management coordinator with the village.
He said Mills was a calming factor in what could often be a high-stress job. The two men fought side by side in the 1985 fire that destroyed Arlington Park, which Kramer called a major event in both their careers.
Even more than 20 years after retiring, Mills would still come into the station to talk to firefighters, share memories and donate memorabilia from his years with the department, Kramer said.
"Everyone looked up to him," Kramer said. "He's going to be really, really missed."
Mills was born in Oak Park and grew up in Chicago. He served in the Coast Guard before joining the Arlington Heights Fire Department in 1957. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1964, captain in 1969 and deputy chief in 1975, Kramer said.
"He would rather be inside the building fighting the fire, on the hose line with everyone else, than outside directing crews," Kramer said.
Mills also was a member of the Illinois Fire Chiefs Association, Illinois Professional Firefighters Association and the International Association of Fire Chiefs and served as president of the Northeastern Illinois Fire Chiefs Association.
After retiring he volunteered as a reading tutor with the Northwest Suburban High School District 214, as well as in the genealogy department at the Arlington Heights Memorial Library.
Mills is survived by his wife, Joyce, three children, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He also had three stepchildren, nine step-grandchildren and seven great-stepgrandchildren. He was preceded in death by his first wife of 53 years, Genevieve.
Visitation will take place Thursday from 3 to 8 p.m. at Meadows Funeral Home, 3615 Kirchoff Road, Rolling Meadows, where services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Interment will be at Windridge Cemetery in Cary. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Midwest Hospice, 2050 Claire Court, Glenview, IL 60025.


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This year's summer holidays were one of the hottest and sunniest on record, according to the Czech Hydro-Meteorological Institute. The average temperature recorded for July was 20 degrees Celsius, which is 3.2 degrees more than the long-term average. The average temperature in August reached 21.2 degrees Celsius, 4.5 more than the long-term values. According to the institute's spokesman, this year's August was very probably the warmest in the history of measurements. The summer months were also exceptionally dry, with precipitation in July reaching 40 percent of the long-term average.
The capacity of asylum facilities in the Czech Republic is currently 90 percent full, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said at a press conference on Thursday. He also said that the Czech Republic is at the moment able to master the migrant crisis. The minister said he planned to visit some of the reception centres to find out more about the situation there. At the moment, the Czech Republic has three asylum facilities, in Zastávka near Brno, in Bělá pod Bezdězem, central Bohemia, and Vyšní Lhoty in north Moravia, with a total capacity of 1100 places. The Interior Ministry previously announced that it would like to increase the total capacity to 1400 places.
One third of Czechs would vote for Miloš Zeman if he stands in the 2018 presidential elections, according to a poll carried out by ppm factum agency in August. The Czech head of state was elected two years ago in the second round of elections with 32 percent of the vote; the poll suggests he would currently get 33 percent of the vote. When asked about the likely candidates for the next presidential elections, president Zeman was mentioned by 10 percent of respondents, followed by the current Finance Minister Andrej Babiš with seven percent and former Prime Minister Jan Fisher with six percent. Among the other names mentioned were Zeman's previous election rivals Karel Schwarzenberg and Dawn Party leader Tomio Okamura.
Police have charged two people who threw eggs at President Miloš Zeman at a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution last November, police spokesman Tomáš Hulan said on Thursday. The incident at Prague's Albertov was previously treated as a misdemeanour, which could have been punished with a fine, but the state prosecutor ordered the police to investigate it as disorderly conduct. If found guilty, the offenders could face up to two years in prison. The head of state had angered critics by some of his comments in support of Russia and his use of offensive language on state radio.
The Czech Police Presidium will set rules on how to identify migrants arriving in the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday. The announcement came in reaction to foreign media and Jewish organisations criticising Czech police officers for writing numbers on the hands of 214 migrants at Břeclav railway station on Monday night. In its report on Wednesday, the BBC noted that the ink marks carried an unfortunate visual resemblance to the Holocaust. The Interior Ministry said that it was not a standard procedure, adding that the officers were under pressure of time and tried to keep family members together.
The newly-built Blanka tunnel in Prague is set to open on September 20, deputy mayor Petr Dolínek said on Thursday, adding that no special ceremony was planned for the event. The tunnel, which has been under construction since 2007, was originally scheduled to open in 2011 but has been dogged by problems. The latest deadline in April had to be postponed after it turned out that hundreds of kilometres of electric cables had to be replaced after being damaged by rainfall. The tunnel, which has come under criticism for massive cost overruns, has cost Prague nearly 37 billion crowns. It is currently undergoing final testing of technologies and security systems.
Czech President Miloš Zeman held talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Thursday. The two heads of state are in China attending the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. The two officials discussed security issues and the Czech president called on Russia to join the international effort to stop Islamic State terrorism. On the subject of bilateral relations, Mr Putin said he hoped that the trade exchange between Russia and the Czech Republic, now affected by sanctions, would improve. Miloš Zeman met with Vladimir Putin for the second time this year. In May, they conducted talks in Moscow on the occasion of the end of war celebrations.
The Czech Post office has issued a special edition of stamps in honour of Sir Nicholas Winton, who saved the lives of 669, mostly Jewish children, by arranging their evacuation from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia before the outbreak of WWII. Sir Nicholas died on July 1 this year at the age of 106. The 13-crown stamp, entitled Tribute to Sir Nicholas, was designed by graphic artist Zdeněk Netopil. It was issued in 750,000 pieces and went on sale on Wednesday.
Czech police officers will no longer detain Syrian migrants, claiming asylum in Hungary but trying to reach Germany, the foreigners' police department has revealed. The Czech Republic has seen a growing number of refugees travelling from Hungary to the Czech Republic to try and reach their German neighbours. As of now, the Czechs will offer Syrians already registered in Hungary asylum in the Czech Republic as well; Syrian migrants who decline are to be escorted to railway stations from where will be allowed to continue their journey.
Prague City Hall is preparing plans to help up to 200 refugee families, Deputy Mayor Petr Dolínek has said. The idea was presented at a council meeting on Wednesday but the city will still have to draw up details for debate. The deputy mayor indicated that security was not the only factor in the current migrant crisis but also human decency. The aim is to especially help those with the very youngest children; families would not all be located in one area but across a number of city districts.