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SAN FRANCISCO — A research firm expects Twitter's ad revenue to double this year as the online messaging service delivers more marketing pitches aimed at consumers using smartphones and tablet computers.
In a report issued Wednesday, eMarketer projected that Twitter's worldwide ad revenue will climb from an estimated $288 million last year to $583 million this year. In 2014, eMarketer predicts Twitter's ad revenue will approach $1 billon.
EMarketer believes mobile devices will account for more than half of Twitter's ad revenue this year.
The research firm makes educated guesses about Twitter's revenue based on market trends and data. Twitter, based in San Francisco, is privately held and doesn't disclose financial figures.
Twitter hasn't set a timetable for an initial public offering of stock.


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Stuart Fury
Dark, Epic and Emotional Sound
While you will find a few uplifting tracks, my portfolio consists mainly of dark, epic music, heavily laden with emotion.
I do my utmost best to instill a deep sense of emotion in my music. Whether it be sadness, joy or a sense of impending doom, the song will speak to some part of your soul, and ultimately convey the required emotion in your project.
Below you will find collections describing the general tone of the tracks in those collections.
If you purchase one of my tracks, please rate it, and try to let me know what it has been used for so I can help with marketing and awareness.
I'm also available for freelance work, please send me a message through my profile page and we can get the ball rolling.

subset: commoncrawl


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Ukemi: pluses and minuses
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Dojo: 鷹松道場|Takamatsu Dojo ATL
Location: ATL--GA
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 220
Re: Ukemi: pluses and minuses
I think this confusion about ukemi goes to the heart of so much trouble in the aikido community. Anyone in a koryu or other budo that keeps close the kata teaching model probably shakes their head in disbelief over this type of confusion. In the budo kata model, the uke side is the teaching/senior side, the side with greater experience. So the senior is almost always allowing the technique to function and guiding the interaction toward the ideal set forth in the kata. Does anyone think that armed with greater experience, ability and foreknowledge the uke is doing anything else? The senior knows the kata, is feeling for the application of correct principles and movement, and is providing the appropriate and safe ukemi for the benefit of the student who is trying to perfect the same. Whenever Daito ryu or Aikido abandoned that model of kata (or claimed there were no kata) and reversed the roles, I think the seeds of confusion were sown. It seems to me that aikido practitioners spend altogether too much time agonizing over the distraction of effectiveness because they've spent all their time trying to make "techniques" work in an unrealistic antagonistic environment instead of taking the time to learn the kata in the first place. As for evidence of that, you'll probably never hear a fellow aikido practitioner say, "The kata for shihonage goes like this." and get general agreement. Rather what you hear is, "X sensei teaches shihonage like this, but Y sensei says it goes like this." Or worse still: throw, throw, throw, "Dozo."
-Doug Walker
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Often sidelined as shorthand for reproductive rights, so-called "women's issues" were nowhere in evidence at the first debate of the 2012 election – the only one slated to cover domestic issues. But the full list of issues that affect women in profound ways runs through every tributary of American life. Women, after all, make up, half of the electorate.
So, naturally, there was bound to be plenty of discussion of issues that directly affect them at Wednesday's debate between President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney, right?
Writing in the Nation, Bryce Covert laments: "Given all the unfettered candidate talking points and potpourri of disconnected issues, you'd think someone would have uttered the word 'women.' But, alas, it went unsaid. In an election cycle where women's hearts and votes are being fiercely battled over while our rights and needs are getting hammered by Republican vote after Republican vote, you'd think we might come up once. Nope."
Why was this? It's not as if there has been any shortage of hot button and highly polarizing headlines in recent months. The Republican platform alone should have made the issues that women care about most a focus of the debate, if not the entire election. From proposed personhood amendments to Rep Todd Akin's profoundly tone-deaf remarks on rape to Rush Limbaugh's slut-shaming of Sandra Fluke, there has been plenty of fodder for each candidate to draw sharp distinctions against his opponent.
VIDEO: What Kids Think About the Election
For the record, the president supports access to abortion. The Affordable Health Care Act he engineered requires contraceptives to be available for free for women enrolled in workplace health plans.
Romney, for his part, favors limits on abortion, though he famously has previously supported access to it. A Romney presidency would likely seek to overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing individual states to move to ban abortion. Romney has also said that funding for Planned Parenthood is among the cuts he wants to make in the federal budget.
You wouldn't know any of this if you had tuned in to the debate, though.
"It seems that everyone participating in last night's debate, including debate moderator Jim Lehrer, forgot that women have the right to vote," Zerlina Maxwell blogged for the New York Daily News. Of course, that didn't stop most of the media punditry from unanimously declaring Romney the winner of last night's debate for looking good and coming on strong.
To be completely fair, issues that affect women weren't completely in absentia. Obama evoked his grandmother, who lived a fiercely independent life until the end, with the help of entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare – both invaluable to women, who tend to live longer. Romney pledged to overturn Obama's Affordable Care Act, which covers contraception as a preventative care.
Both candidates have have repeatedly claimed to be pro-teacher – the majority of whom are female. Where Obama outlines a plan to hire 100,000 new educators, Romney has said only that we need fewer government employees, which ultimately translates into fewer public elementary school teachers.
But none of the dots were explicitly connected to how the issues affect women.
And it's not as if voters don't care. Jobs and balancing the budget are the top issues for voters in Colorado, where the debate was held. But voters in swing suburban counties outside Denver have told reporters repeatedly that so-called "social issues" matter too.
"The biggest issue, and no one will admit it, is women's rights on abortion," George Cohan, a 69 year-old independent voter from Centennial, told New York's WNYC public radio.
Laid off and forced into retirement when he lost his job as a manufacturing engineer, Cohan is a victim of the economic downturn. But still, he told reporters his biggest concern this election year is abortion.
"It was the issue that was the biggest thing in 2008, the Republicans didn't get the message, and it's the biggest thing this year too."
He's not alone. According to a recent Denver Post poll, half of Colorado voters say abortion should be legal. Two-thirds of voters who say abortion should be legal are voting for Obama, but almost a quarter are voting for Romney. A full 10 percent of Colorado voters say abortion should be illegal in all cases, and they're overwhelmingly backing Romney.
The next presidential debate is slated to cover foreign policy, so it is entirely possible that many of these issues will go undebated by both candidates. One of them will still win. But either way, half of the country loses.


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Weatherproof Outdoor Speaker Recommendations?
Q: Are there any affordable waterproof outdoor speakers you can recommend for the backyard entertainer? I'm looking for a speaker set which is adaptable for "anywhere" placement, so I can move it around or figure out where they'd best be positioned long term, while also being sort of invisible in presence. I want my guests to notice my brisket, not the speakers, but want decent performance without worry of damage from weather.
Sent by Hollis
Editor - Polk Audio has a great system of all-weather speakers for outdoor applications. Their Atrium series outdoor, weatherproof speakers are especially affordable and flexible, and we think the Atrium Sat30 Speakers are great for hidden in the garden or hanging from the post positioning around the backyard. There's even a funny looking matching subwoofer which would easily hide amongst your terra-cotta potters
Got a good question you'd like answered? Send your queries and please include a photo or two illustrating your question, and we'll see if the Apartment Therapy Los Angeles team or our readers can help answer your question.


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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Anchor of top-rated "Daybreak" stepping away from local news
It is with mixed emotions that WGRZ-TV announces that Jodi Johnston, co-anchor of Western New York's top-rated morning show, "Channel 2 News Daybreak," will be leaving her position at the end of November.
Johnston, who started with "2 On Your Side" in the summer of 2000, is leaving WGRZ-TV after 12 years to take a position in the local banking industry.
Johnston became the co-anchor of "Daybreak" shortly after she arrived at the station in 2000, and added the "First at Five" anchor duties in 2005. During her 12 years of getting Western New Yorkers going each morning, "Daybreak" climbed in the ratings to a dominant No. 1 position in the market.
In addition to her on-air anchoring duties, Johnston represented the station very well in the community, hosting countless charitable events and fundraisers.
"I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in television and waking up with Western New Yorkers every day," Johnston said. "I am fortunate to have been offered an opportunity at an organization that shares my passion for this community. This is a natural progression of the next phase of my career."
"Twelve years is a long time to wake-up at 3 a.m. to be on the air delivering the news as professionally and gracefully as Jodi has," said Jeff Woodard, WGRZ news director. "Her ability to connect with viewers, her genuine presence and demeanor, and her commitment to her community will be dearly missed."
Johnston came to WGRZ after previously working as a program host for Adelphia. She graduated with a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from Canisius College.
"2 On Your Side" will begin the search process to find a new co-anchor to join John Beard, Andy Parker and the rest of the "Daybreak" team weekday mornings from 4:30 to 7 a.m.


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The green turtles hang on
From the Gulf of Ulloa to south San Diego Bay
Daniel Powell 9:30 a.m., Nov. 19
The woman on the other end of the phone is in tears. "I was just praying to God when you called," she says.
"That He'll help us with what happened to our daughter. We are Christian. We are not allowed to commit suicide."
It's Pari (Mrs. Zung Tin Par), Rebecca Zahau's mother. Rebecca is the 32-year-old Burmese-born millionaire's girlfriend who died at the Spreckels mansion in Coronado. She was found hanging from a rear balcony, completely naked, on July 13.
And her mother, who lives in St. Joseph, Missouri, with Rebecca's father (Mr. Khua Hnin Thang), wants to know why. Suicide, the official verdict, is not an option.
"Why would they say that?" she says. "That she committed suicide? Our family is hurting. We're a poor family. We can't pay for investigators. My husband says nothing. All his feelings are trapped inside. But we know for sure, she wouldn't ever kill herself. And she was very modest. It is our Asian way. She would never do a thing like that, and never without clothes on. But nobody will listen to us."
I didn't make this phone call. My wife Lita did. We had been discussing how little the public knew about Rebecca.
"You should talk to the family," Lita said. And in her direct way, she picked up the phone and dialed 411. In half an hour she was talking to Rebecca's mom. But not for long. It was too emotional for Pari. She gave Lita the number of Mary Zahau-Loehner, Rebecca's older sister.
"Mary Zahau-Loehner?"
And so began a conversation about what this investigation looks like from Rebecca's family's point of view.
∗ ∗ ∗
"We were pretty close," says Mary. "We talked to each other almost every day, either by text or by phone. If not every day, at least two or three times a week.
"Rebecca is more outgoing than I am. She is a jolly person. She can laugh about simple things. She's cheery, she likes to cheer everybody up. She just likes to live life. I don't know how else to explain it. She's a year and a half younger than me. We have another sister [living in Germany]. We're all close, but Rebecca and I got really close because we can talk to each other here."
The sisters were born in the town of Falam, in the Chin Hills of northwest Myanmar (formerly Burma), near the border with India. The Chin people live in a hard area, less fertile than anywhere else in Myanmar. To add to their woes, the Myanmar military has regularly persecuted the Chin people and reportedly used them for hard labor.
It's what turned the Chin to Christianity. An early missionary, Adoniram Judson, first visited the area in 1813. The Chin have embraced Christianity, especially over the last century, despite the persecution it brought.
About two years ago, Rebecca became involved with Jonah Shacknai, who founded Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation, based in Arizona, and owns the Spreckels mansion in Coronado.
Then on July 13 came the appalling news.
"I found out from my husband Doug that my sister had died," Mary says. "Jonah had called him. He came to my work, and he told me that we need to go to my office to talk. And that's when he told me.
"I felt desperation, wanting to believe it's not true. Maybe some prank. He said he was told that it was suicide by hanging. I said 'No!' I remember saying, 'No. Where is she? I need to talk to her.'
"We didn't know Jonah well. I called him the day of [Rebecca's death], and he said he didn't know, he didn't know [what happened]. That's all he answered me."
What sort of partner was Jonah Shacknai to her sister?
"We had met him a few times [before this]. My husband has met him twice, and I think that I have met him four or five times. Jonah is a difficult man to read. We didn't [ever] have much of a conversation. Usually it was dinner or something like that. He was busy. Most of the time when I visited my sister, I just hung out with her. He was gone a lot, and we might have a dinner here and there, [but] it had to be arranged ahead of time."
Mary thinks Rebecca, who was an ophthalmic technician, met Shacknai through work.
But she says it wasn't easy for Rebecca to fit into the privileged family, which included two teenaged children from Shacknai's first marriage; Max, 6, from Shacknai's second marriage; and Max's mother, Dina, Shacknai's recently divorced second wife.
"I didn't ever meet Jonah's ex-wife," says Mary. "I just know that she was making Becky's life difficult. I think she was rude to her a lot of times, requesting that Becky not attend any function with the kids, especially Max. Things like that."
Was Shacknai in love with Becky?
Mary hesitates.
"I don't know. I couldn't read [them]. I mean, were they affectionate with each other? No, not really. Not in front of us. If I saw them, I probably wouldn't get that impression. Becky told me that she did love him but that she was disappointed in a lot of ways because he wouldn't…she was disappointed in his [teenaged] kids, [how] they were allowed to be openly rude to her. Those other two children didn't want her, period. They resented her. And Jonah would not defend her [against them], stop that. Not really. Not by my impression."
By this summer, it was coming to a crunch for Rebecca.
"We talked about it; that if the teenaged kids' behavior doesn't improve she was considering telling Jonah at the end of this summer that she…needed to have some time to herself.
"I don't know if she ended up telling him or not."
Did he give emotional support to his lover's family?
"Emotional support?" says Mary. "No. He talked a few random times, yes. He talked more with my husband, but it was more of technical things like funeral arrangements and that kind of stuff."
According to the "investigation", the victim wrote a cryptic message (in someone else's handwriting), bound her feet, then gagged herself and wrapped the shirt around her neck, put the rope around her neck, then tied her hands together, then got those tied hands behind her back, then somehow hoppped over a balcony in such a way that the pre-tied rope was neither too long nor too short...
There's no word of any Internet evidence, but we do know that former DA Paul Pfingst was on the scene immediately. Did he prevent the investigators from examining mobile devices and computers in and around the mansion to glean searches or GPS location? Was the ex-wife or brother ever even questioned by investigators?
Almost immediately, police publicly speculated it was a suicide. In fact, it seems that the focus of the "investigation" was to somehow prove it to be nothing other than a suicide...regardless of all the evidence pointing at something or somebody else.
Now, with word that the "investigators" did not even properly interview the victim's sister, but rather devoted themselves to selling the family the suicide story, it's very clear what happened.
There is no other reasonable conclusion but that this is a cover up. Whether due to the influence of those involved, or just a desire to avoid association an unseemly case while running for higher office...it's still a cover up.
This case cries out for independent investigation. DA Bonnie Dumanis should be asked about this case at every campaign appearance as she runs for mayor.
Also, the Attorney General of California, or perhaps the FBI should be asked to re-investigate not only the alleged suicide, but also the reason for such a blinkered and flawed "investigation". If the Sheriff claims this is based on "science", ask if he's familiar with the Congressionally mandated National Research Council report on how seriously flawed and unscientific forensic "science" truly is...
(See: http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=12589 )
There's a lot to be done yet, and a need to put pressure on the authorities who have the power to re-open this investigation -- this time without blinders.
If Mary is reading this, I urge her to contact her own representatives in Congress (don't bother with the San Diego delegation) to ask them to request the DOJ to investigate (or get advice on what can be done next, if that isn't the proper course).
Fred Williams former member San Diego Crime Commission
Fred, can you update us on this?
Never mind the ex-wife or brother being questioned. What about Ms.Zahau's "younger sister," who happened to be staying there for the summer and was witness to Max's "accident." Oh yeah, I forgot--she was whisked off and sent back home right afterward.
I have been following this case from Switzerland. I really feel sad for the family, but I think that the conclusion of the police that Rebecca committed suicide is probable. From what I can gather from the interview with Mary, the relationship Rebecca had with Jonah doesn't seem to have been very serene, especially since the 2 older children plus one of the ex wives and her didn't get along. This puts a strain on every relationship. Then the terrible accident with Max. There must have been resentments and Rebecca's life within this family must have become very difficult. She had given up work as well, was divorced once already, so her future can not have looked very bright. Mary says that Rebecca and her were very close, and yet she doesn't seem to know a lot about her sister's life and Jonah who was going to be her brother-in-law. You never know what's going on in people's mind. May Rebecca rest in peace.
Are you for real??? Do you know how many marriages end in divorce??? 60%.
Hardly a reason to claim the future was "not very bright"
Are you for real??? Do you know how many marriages end in divorce??? 60%.
I guess my wife and I skew those stats just a tad bit. Earlier this year we celebrated our 35th anniversary.
35 is some accomplishment. Don has you beat I am pretty sure........
Yeahb but Do Bauder is what, 75? My wife and I both recently celebrated pur 61st birthdays.
You know, I dont know how old Don is off the top of my head, I think he has mentioned 73????? Don't really know. But is is a long time he has been married, more power to him. To anyone that lasts longer than the 7 year average.
As I see it the following six elements make this case if in fact a suicide a deviation from any known female suicide on record. 1. Woman committing suicide by hanging while naked? An Asian woman of moral upbringing with no known mental illness committing suicide naked. 2. Step-mother committing suicide over the loss of step-child? 3. A Woman with no prior history of suicide and no known mental illness binding hands and feet as part of suicide? 4. A Women with no known mental illness committing suicide with noose outside hair? 5. Women with no known mental illness gagging herself as part of hanging suicide? 6. Women with no known mental illness committing suicide using a combination of any the above?
People who are wishing to aid the Zahau family in obtaining justice for Rebecca, please sign the online petition to reopen the case. All we concerned citizens can do is pressure the "public servants" to do the right thing and reopen this case. I am astounded that Sheriff Bill Gore and his band of merry men have so little regard for the intelligence of the people of San Diego, that they would dare to hoist that shoddy "suicide" designation on us! Shameful.
Thank you for your signature. http://www.change.org/petitions/california-attorney-general-open-an-independent-investigation-into-the-death-of-the-rebecca-zahau
Please sign this petition to help get Rebeccas's case get reopened. She was a very sweet and loving person. The manner of her death just doesn't add up.
Hi have been whaching from the beginning....there's just too much to say.....I tptally agree with the person above Jennijenn...I mean ---Every one almost)...And "their dogs",,,,Can See ---this was Not a suicide...I have read many comments ---All,,@ especially women ...Know Right away ----No way this is [email protected] yes ---like one of the 1st commenters wrote --Shame on the Sherrrif, [email protected] the DA ....ms Bonni ---who's apparently running for [email protected] Yes ----wherver she goes ---Please Bring it Up....I would like to Her eyes Lowering Down ( for some reason...). In the beginning ---they Suspected Foul Play...then something [email protected] it feels like "somebody" was working hard on this....While Rebecca ---Laid there on the grass for some many hours...without any one covering Her....where was Adam to dot hat....Any one can say : Oh'....I went to get coffe"...when I saw Her..One can't Ignore ----the silence of these People..Adam has disappeared...Never been Interviewd, nor Jonah or Dina....There was No break In...If the thought of that had crossed her mind ----She would have called her sister right away!....No woman ---on the face of the earth or heaven -especially Asian ----would even think about doing it like that...This should be traced to the Top ---Why are they Not Interested....In Openning the Investigation ----Especially, that there are New and Very disturbing revelations....Like that a Man Heard a woman scream for Help from that House arownd 11 pm ?? the Police refuse to listen to Him ----If Jonah has "Friends in high Places"....then ?? This may have been Used to cover things...It certainly Looks Like an Act of revenge --from someone she [email protected] Footprints Not belonging to Police ---where fownd near Her Bad..+2 brashes + 2 knives.....I am Appalled by the story Mr. Black....Mr. Gore,...Mr. Jonathan ---have been "Pushing" this story of suicide....Rediculos.!!!....too many "Giveways" "Loopholes"..It's clear to Us..did somebody enter the house from the chimney ? or the veranda ? ----If No ---ther was One man there.......thanks..
I'm in toal agreement with what "Fooforever" wrote...Very [email protected] very Good......Evey word he wrote ----,,I support [email protected] at the end He put ---"Shamefull"...for the sherrif Bill Gore ---I Totally Agree....It's like He --- the sherrif ---have "sold Joseff for a Piece of cloth"....( story in the Bible..) If Hes sherrif ----Show it then ----Open the Investigation according with the New Fowndings.....there are Severall Very Important Findings.....If Money was at "Play" here -----we want an Investigation....that will Lead to the sorce of It.......In the Meantime ----No one has been able to Interview Jonah or [email protected] They are "Laying Low"....would anyone know as to why ?? People with Nothing to hide ---are not afraid of an Interview..JOnah said right away that he wants his life to contine " Buisness as Usuall"....But ----I don't think So.....
Sorry ---I first want to Acknowlege the Wonderfull article By Mr. Fred Williams....( meant to do so earlier..)It's exactly as Many of Us see the [email protected] I'm glad ---that He's So Helpfull caring Person from the SD crime commition. I do Hope that Mary @ Ms. Ann Bremner pursue This advice --( hoping they read It..) Becouse so far ( oct 23rd ) I'm not aware of any change regarding the Sheriff @ "His marry Band"[email protected] I don't Understand ----Why on earth ---any of the Higher offices..aren't Steppping In....I do think / Feel @ Hope ---that this "thing" will get Uncovered....Who Is Above the Gore"..Kamla ( who hasn't stepped In yet)...So..Yes ---Turn to the congress Men --excellent Idea.. Something ---All of It ---Does Not make sense at All......
hmezei, I'm forced to admit that for all the sound and fury, nothing has happened. The California Attorney General opted not to review the case, meaning it's going to stand as is unless a much higher power intervenes...
It stinks. It really, really stinks.
As an old song goes, "Justice isn't blind, it just looks the other way".
Dear Fred Williams....thank YOu....You are very [email protected] we are Gratefull for that...I woder if that is Ms. Kamla...I'm also sorry to Notice ---that She doesn't show Interest In Helping This Important case...Why are People ---who are Not Interested to Help @ are Inni a Position to Help ---don't show Interest...that Includs Ms. Bonni D. This Is a reflection on them....I Just heard ---that D. Phill....wil be dealing with this case ----I was very Happy to hear this...This Is a step in the right [email protected] Yes, like You said----This Needs to Go...as High as Possible ----where there's No chance of Bribe....I Must say ----It's a shame...On Whoever Has alllowed This to go that way...( astray...) with Love...
Bill Bass is an honest, highly competent individual who has exposed a lot of fraud in medical examiners and coroners. It is retired but still active. If asked, he would probably comment or assist.
What can we expect? K Harris was a do-nothing district attorney against criminals (even one that killed a police officer) in San Francisco. And apparently Bonnie D is running for some kind of office so she doesn't want to rock the boat. Yes, appeal to U.S. congressmen in CA and MO to get to DOJ to look into this. An Asian woman, such as Rebecca, would not kill herself, and would certainly not kill herself in such a way, taking her own clothes off and hanging herself on a building balcony for all to see and photograph.


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Jointly funded by the Office of the Vice President (Research) and the Faculty this initiative will provide one-year funding to established eligible investigators who no longer hold NSERC funding and who have participated in at least one NSERC competition in the previous year. Research Board funding will be directed towards addressing specific deficiencies in the most recent grant submissions as highlighted in referee reports (eg. HQP training, publication rate, generation of preliminary data etc), and that can be reasonably expected to lead to increased success in subsequent grant competitions.
Award recipients will be required to apply for external NSERC support within two years of the grant start date.
FLORENCE LOURDES - firstname.lastname@example.com Grants Co-ordinatorResearch Development & ServicesRoom 5150, Suppport Services BuildingThe University of Western OntarioLondon, Ontario, Canada519 661-2111


text: Requirements -Grandfathered family plan -Upgrade Available (Transfer and use on dumb phone) -At least 1 dumb phone line Basically you use the dummy line to get the subsidized pricing and add on the basic 2GB data plan. Then once you get the iPhone you switch it to your unlimited data line and put the dumb phone back to its line and cancel the data plan (no penalty) since it's no longer needed. An online rep confirmed this: https://community.verizonwireless.com/thread/780799 Edit: Linked the wrong thread, sorry! Edit 2: Confirmed via phone rep as well.


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Mammals dominate modern terrestrial herbivore ecosystems, whereas extant herbivorous reptiles are limited in diversity and body size. The evolution of reptile herbivory and its relationship to mammalian diversification is poorly understood with respect to climate and the roles of predation pressure and competition for food resources. Here, we describe a giant fossil acrodontan lizard recovered with a diverse mammal assemblage from the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of Myanmar, which provides a historical test of factors controlling body size in herbivorous squamates. We infer a predominately herbivorous feeding ecology for the new acrodontan based on dental anatomy, phylogenetic relationships and body size. Ranking body masses for Pondaung Formation vertebrates indicates that the lizard occupied a size niche among the larger herbivores and was larger than most carnivorous mammals. Paleotemperature estimates of Pondaung Formation environments based on the body size of the new lizard are approximately 2–5°C higher than modern. These results indicate that competitive exclusion and predation by mammals did not restrict body size evolution in these herbivorous squamates, and elevated temperatures relative to modern climates during the Paleogene greenhouse may have resulted in the evolution of gigantism through elevated poikilothermic metabolic rates and in response to increases in floral productivity.
1. Introduction
Modern terrestrial herbivore ecosystems are dominated by mammal faunas that originated with the evolution of ungulate folivores during the middle Eocene [1]. Conversely, herbivory is comparatively rare among extant squamates [2]. Squamates do not efficiently metabolize plant matter compared with mammals [3], and digestion requires elevated body temperatures which are correlated to large body size [2,4–6] and restriction to tropical climates for most taxa [7].
The relative roles of physiology and ecological pressures from mammals as constraints on upper body size limits of herbivorous lizards are unknown, however. Direct and indirect interactions with ungulates and carnivorans are known to limit distribution and densities of carnivorous squamates [8–10] and the largest extant herbivorous reptiles only occur in insular, mammal-free habitats [3,11], suggesting competitive exclusion or predation pressure may limit maximum body sizes. Conversely, squamate body size can be affected by ambient temperature and food resources [3,12], and maximum body sizes of extant taxa may be limited by Holocene climatic maxima.
Fossil squamates generally demonstrate similar size and diversity patterns as extant herbivores during the Cenozoic, but the squamate fossil record is poorly sampled and generally restricted to the mid and high latitudes of North America and Europe [13–16]. The relative paucity and geographical restriction of the squamate fossil record confounds efforts to examine the historical relationship between body size and environment relative to faunal competition, climate and historical contingency in poikilothermic herbivores.
Here, we describe a giant acrodontan lizard from the rich, low-latitude vertebrate fossil record of the late middle Eocene Pondaung Formation of central Myanmar that includes a diversity of eutherian mammals, turtles, squamates and crocodylians recovered from siliciclastic sediments representing fluvial depositional environments [17–21]. Analysis of the new acrodontan's inferred diet and estimated body mass in the context of the co-occurring fauna and in comparison to modern vertebrate communities allows us test the relative influences of mammalian competition versus climate regime as a regulating mechanism of herbivorous reptile body size by examining herbivore community structure in past and present vertebrate ecosystems and by estimating minimum paleotemperatures necessary to support a giant poikilothermic herbivore based on the mass-specific metabolic relationship between body size and climate in living herbivorous lizards.
2. Systematic paleontology
Squamata Oppel 1811
Iguania Cuvier 1817
Acrodonta Cope 1864 sensu Estes et al. 1988
Barbaturex morrisoni gen. et sp. nov.
(a) Etymology
Barbatus (L) 'bearded' + rex, 'king', referring to the presence of ventral ridges along the mandible and giant size of the taxon. Species nomen honors Jim Morrison, vocalist and lizard king.
(b) Holotype
UCMP 142227 (University of California Museum of Paleontology), partial right dentary (figure 1a–d).
(c) Referred specimens
UCMP 128388, anterior dentary; UCMP 128410, 130290, 130291, partial left dentaries; UCMP 130292, fused frontals assigned to the taxon on the basis of size; NMMP-KU 0092, partial left dentary; NMMP-KU 1923, partial left dentary; NMMP-KU 1924–1926, partial right dentaries [20] (figure 1e–p).
(d) Locality and horizon
The type locality is UCMP V96009, a locality number used to designate a stratigraphically low purple mudstone underlying red beds at Thandaung kyitchaung [18,22], Pondaung Formation, northwest of Mogaung village, Sagaing District, Myanmar. Fossil-bearing beds of the Pondaung Formation near the village of Bahin have been dated to 37.2 ± 1.3 Ma. [23]. Referred specimen localities are UCMP V96009, V78090, PGN1, Kdw-42 (Kyawdaw area, [21]), Mgg-53A, B (Mogaung area, [21]), Tmk-35, Pondaung Formation, Sagaing District, Myanmar.
(e) Diagnosis and description
Large bodied acrodontan lizard (approx. 100 cm snout-vent length = SVL) with a mandibular dental formula of two anterior pleurodont teeth and more than 10 mid- and posterior acrodont teeth. Posterior teeth are triangular with continuous wear facets, and lack accessory cusps (figure 1e,k). Wide, tall, anteromedially oriented ridges are present on the ventral margin of the anterior mandible (figure 1a–j), the dentary possesses a deep ventral extension below the Meckelian groove (figure 1a,g,j), the angular is fused to the dentary (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S1), the inferior alveolar foramen is formed by the dentary dorsally and splenial ventrally (figure 1j), the posterior mylohyoid foramen is absent, the Mecklian groove passes ventrally beneath the posterior margin of the mandibular symphysis, the anterior margin of the coronoid articular facet is just posterior to last tooth position (figure 1a,g,j), the parietal processes of the frontal are reduced and contribute less than 50 per cent of the posterior orbital margin (figure 1l,m). Additional descriptions are provided in the electronic supplementary material.
3. Material and methods
(a) Phylogenetic analysis
Molecular and morphological data provide disparate hypotheses of the interrelationships of acrodontans, which limit the ability to resolve the phylogenetic status of fossil taxa [24]. To determine the interrelationships of Barbaturex to extant acrodontans sensu [25], we coded all preserved characters for the only extensive morphological phylogenetic analysis of constituent taxa [26]. Because Barbaturex remains preserve only a small fraction of described characters (5/122), we estimated the phylogenetic position of the taxon by optimizing character distributions onto tree topologies derived from combined morphological and molecular sequence data [2,27] (figure 2) and only molecular sequence data [33,34] (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2). Phylogenetic position of Barbaturex was estimated by optimizing character distributions using Mesquite v. 2.75 [35]. Character codings for Barbaturex based on the matrix of [26] are as follows: 57(1), 58(0), 59(0), 65(2), 66(0).
(b) Body size estimation
We estimated maximum body size measured as SVL in mm for Barbaturex by reduced major axis linear regression of natural log transformed measurements of SVL onto natural log transformed dentary lengths measured in a straight line from the anterior tip of the element to the posterior margin of the lateral coronoid process in mm for extant acrodontans (see the electronic supplementary material, table S1) using PAST v. 2.16 [36]. The resultant equation (LN SVL = 1.115*LN dentary length + 1.34, R2 = 0.89) was used to estimate body mass based on the general lizard SVL-mass equation of BM = 0.031*SVL2.98 [4].
(c) Body mass comparisons
To examine the status of Barbaturex within the Pondaung vertebrate fauna, we ranked body masses of terrestrial herbivores, omnivores and carnivores and compared them to ranked masses for extant faunas that include the largest extant herbivorous squamates. Body masses were obtained from literature references (see the electronic supplementary material, tables S2–S5). Taxonomic and geographical range data for all extant mammals for comparisons with living herbivorous squamates is from [37], and body masses are from [38]. Maximum body mass reports and estimates for the largest extant herbivorous squamates, as well as Pondaung Formation mammalian body masses, are listed in the electronic supplementary material. Island endemic squamates [39,40] from faunas lacking folivorous mammals could not be compared with the Pondaung fauna, and completely arboreal, nocturnal and granivorous mammal taxa were not included in this analysis as their ecologies are not directly comparable to the examined squamates.
(d) Paleotemperature estimation
Body size scales predictably with environmental temperature for a given mass-specific metabolic rate in poikilotherms [41,42]. We derived paleotemperatures as minimum mean annual temperature (MAT) for the Pondaung Formation from body size estimates of Barbaturex based on the relationship between SVL and minimum MAT for the largest living herbivorous squamates (see the electronic supplementary material, table S6) using the metabolic scaling equation from [42]: where MAPT is mean annual paleotemperature, SVLB is SVL for Barbaturex, SVLC is SVL for Cyclura nubila, MAT is minimum mean annual temperature within the geographical range of C. nubila (24.6°C), α is the metabolic scaling exponent of 0.33 [41], and Q10 is a mass-specific metabolic rate of 2–3 for reptiles [43]. We use C. nubila because it is the largest extant herbivorous lizard [5,7] and scaling the size-temperature model on it best fits the size-temperature distributions for other herbivorous taxa (figure 4).
4. Results and discussion
We assign Barbaturex to crown Acrodonta relative to priscagamines and more fragmentary stem taxa based on the character combination of reduced numbers of pleurodont anterior teeth, acrodont cheek dentition with deep, continuous interdental grooves and reduction of the splenial to the posterior region of the dentary [25,26,44–46]. Character optimization results in monophyly of Barbaturex + Uromastycinae for both morphological and molecular topologies, with tree lengths one to two steps shorter than all other alternate topologies based on the morphological + molecular scaffold (figure 2) and two to four steps shorter on the molecular scaffold (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2). Character support for this hypothesis includes the absence of the posterior mylohyoid foramen and the ventral orientation of the Meckelian groove at the anterior tip of the dentary (figure 1p). The presence of two pleurodont dentary teeth [32] and a shortened parietal process of the frontal are additionally shared by the clade consisting of Uromastycinae, Barbaturex, and Leiolepis (figure 2).
The stratigraphic occurrence of Barbaturex is consistent with our hypothesis of interrelationships (figure 2). The oldest fossil records of unambiguous crown acrodontans consist of uromastycines from the early Eocene of Europe and Asia [31,47], Barbaturex in the late middle Eocene of Asia and possibly the lineage including extant Leiolepis from the late Eocene of North America [24]. The first occurrence of the clade including agamines, draconines and amphibolurines may be early middle Eocene [32], but the late middle Eocene age of the Pondaung record precedes the first occurrences of crown members of this clade, which are early Neogene in age, consistent with molecular divergence estimates [48].
We estimate a SVL of 981 mm ± 107 mm, and a mean body mass of 26.7 kg (range of 36.9–18.9 kg) for Barbaturex based on the relationship of dentary length to body size in extant taxa. Barbaturex was over twice as long as the largest extant agamid [7], and estimated body sizes are larger than all extant and known fossil terrestrial lizards with the exception of extant Varanus komodoensis [49] and extinct V. priscus and Chianghsia nankangensis [50–53].
Body size, dental morphology and phylogenetic relationships of Barbaturex allow for inference of feeding ecology. Large body size is correlated to herbivory in squamates [5,54], except for the largest varanids, which are carnivores [10,55,56]. Barbaturex lacks dental adaptations for carnivory including recurved, serrated and laterally compressed teeth [57]. Instead, it possesses an acrodont dentition with precise shearing occlusion as indicated by continuous wear facets on mandibular dentition (figure 1). The same occlusal mechanism facilitates herbivory in extant agamids [58,59], and tooth crown morphology in Barbaturex is most similar to herbivorous adult Hydrosaurus. Herbivorous agamids will consume animal protein [60], and omnivorous agamids consume both plants and insects [61]. It is probable that Barbaturex would have opportunistically preyed on invertebrates; however, prey size scales with body size in carnivorous lizards, including iguanians [62] and large body size in Barbaturex probably precluded insectivory as a major component of feeding ecology, at least in mature individuals. The phylogenetic interrelationships of Barbaturex relative to crown agamids are also consistent with herbivorous feeding habits. Optimization of feeding habits on crown acrodontan phylogeny demonstrates that Barbaturex is nested within an omnivorous to herbivorous clade as the sister taxon to fully herbivorous Uromastycinae and bracketed by omnivorous Leiolepis (see figure 3 and electronic supplementary material, figure S2).
Body mass of Barbaturex falls approximately in the middle of size ranges for the Pondaung ungulate guild (figure 3a), and is larger than estimated body masses [63] for the smaller perissodactyls and most artiodactyls. The position of Barbaturex within the body mass distribution of the Pondaung vertebrate fauna is unique relative to extant herbivorous squamates. In all three examined modern faunas, there is no overlap in body mass between ungulate herbivores and squamates. Instead, squamate body masses are far smaller and fall within a range of carnivorous mammals, omnivores and non-ruminant herbivores for all modern faunas, including those from open, xeric environments (figure 3b), and both dry and wet forested environments (figure 3c,d). Difference in body size of Barbaturex relative to extant lizards cannot be explained by differences in ungulate body mass because Pondaung ungulates are both larger and smaller than extant taxa. Instead, body mass overlap between Barbaturex and Pondaung Formation mammals indicates that direct competitive exclusion or predation pressure did not restrict body size of these herbivorous squamates, despite differences in metabolic rate and dietary efficiency between poikilothermic and homeothermic herbivores. Similarly, indirect depression of biomass and diversity in extant squamates by environmental modification of ungulates does not appear to have been present in the Pondaung ecosystem based on both size and numbers of recovered specimens of Barbaturex.
Based on the relationship of maximum body size to minimum MAT in extant herbivorous squamates, Barbaturex at 981 mm SVL would require minimum MATs of 27.0–28.4°C (range = 26.0–29.9°C for SVL range of 874–1088 mm) to maintain efficient metabolism (figure 4). The late middle Eocene was an interval of cooling from the Middle Eocene climatic optimum [64], but included ice-free poles and extremely warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of 22.4–20.5°C at 65°S [65] during the temporal interval spanning the radiometric age estimates of the Pondaung Formation [23]. Model latitudinal SST gradients for the middle Eocene indicate higher SSTs by 6°C relative to modern at a paleolatitude of 13° N [65, figure 3], consistent with MAT differences of approximately 2–5°C for Myanmar in the region of locality UCMP V96009 between the late middle Eocene and modern [66].
Elevated middle Eocene MATs would have allowed for the evolution of large body sizes for a given mass-specific metabolic rate, as inferred for other giant early Paleogene squamates [42], and would have resulted in greater floral productivity than modern ecosystems at low latitudes [67]. Larger body sizes produce increased thermal inertia and may have resulted in elevated temperature-dependent metabolic processes, including digestive efficiency and nutrient uptake [68]. Increased plant productivity affects body size in extant herbivorous iguanians [69], and the comparatively wider range of Pondaung Formation ungulate body mass relative to modern faunas also suggests high primary productivity (figure 3).
Convergent gigantism in Barbaturex and other Cenozoic squamates [42,53] as components of diverse vertebrate ecosystems demonstrates a greater past ecological breadth and diversity than expected from surveying extant herpetofaunas. These discoveries indicate that hypotheses of competitive advantage in extant mammals due to elevated metabolic processes are probably artefacts of modern climate and should not be used as models for inferring historical patterns of diversification and dominance in non-analogue deep time climates.
We thank the National Museum in Yangon, Myanmar for access to fossils, David Blackburn, Jens Vindum (CAS), Kevin Seymour (ROM), James Mead (ETSU) and Chris Bell (TMM) for access to comparative specimens. Chris Bell additionally provided access to obscure literature. Greg Brown (University of Nebraska State Museum) expertly cast, molded, and retrodeformed NMMP-KU specimens. K. Lindsay Eaves read and improved the manuscript. We acknowledge the late Donald E. Savage for the discovery of the first specimen of Barbaturex morrisoni and thank Jack Conrad and an anonymous reviewer for formal review. Funding for fieldwork in Myanmar was provided by the Smithsonian Foreign Currency Program, the LS.B. Leakey Foundation and the University of California Museum of Paleontology. J.J.H. was funded by a NSERC Discovery Grant and a Layman Award (UNL).
- Received March 14, 2013.
- Accepted May 13, 2013.
© 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.


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My baking math skills are embarrassing. One of the many stories about my baking math shortcomings (that I probably shouldn't share) takes place at my friend Bryan's house. Someone needed three teaspoons and Bryan handed them a single measuring spoon. I looked over and said the line that I will never live down: "Wow! You have a three teaspoon spoon?" If you don't get why that is funny, you definitely need The Smart Baker's Cheat Sheet Apron (shown above).
|Note the bottom line, 3 tsp = 1 tbsp
Before The Smart Baker sent me the Cheat Sheet Apron for review, I'd inevitably gunk up my laptop keyboard Googling with batter-laden fingers whenever I had a baking math question. Now, I just look down!
|The measurements are all upside-down so that the
wearer can read them!
How to Win Your Own Cheat Sheet Apron
The folks at The Smart Baker have offered to give away an apron to one lucky Cupcake Project reader. The apron will be personalized for you where mine says "Cupcake Project."
To enter, simply leave a comment on this blog post (not on Facebook, email, or Twitter) with the following:
- Since we are talking about measurements, I'd like to know about a different kind of measurement. Tell me in your comment how you measure the success of your recipes. Is a recipe successful if you love it, if your significant other loves it, if your kids will eat it, if people ask you for the recipe, or something else? What factor is most important to you? (My answer: Success for me is when someone makes my recipe and tells me that it turned out perfect and they were thrilled.)
- If you have any embarrassing baking math stories, please share them as well. It's not required, but it will help me feel less alone.
- A way to contact you if you win.
The fine print:
- All entries must be in by January 31, 11:59 PM CST.
- The prize can only be shipped to a U.S. address.
- If I do not hear back from the winner within one week of contacting him/her, I will draw another winner.
I'm going to host another giveaway for a different product from The Smart Baker on my Facebook page later this week. Be sure to like my Facebook page so that you don't miss it.


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Labor veteran John Faulkner has received the backing of senior ALP figures for his push to ensure members found guilty of corruption are automatically expelled from the party.
Senator Faulkner on Tuesday warned community cynicism about a lack of integrity in politics was "corrosive of democracy".
He pointed to the recent Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) hearings in NSW which are hearing serious allegations against Labor figures.
"It is time to publicly acknowledge that there have been some in our party's ranks with neither political principles to defend nor moral convictions to uphold," Senator Faulkner said in a speech to the University of Melbourne Law School on Tuesday.
"They are a small minority in a very big majority of decent, ethical people. But the fact that they are few in number does not diminish the gravity of the accusations against them, or the seriousness of their acts."
The party has also been rocked by scandals involving the Health Services Union and the Australian Workers' Union.
NSW ALP secretary Sam Dastyari agreed the party could not go on with "politics as usual" and reform was needed.
"I get to talk to a lot of different party members, and quite frankly they are all appalled what they are hearing coming out of ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) every day," Mr Dastyari told Sky News after the speech.
Senator Faulkner said the party should have a "one strike and you're out" policy for any Labor member found guilty of acting corruptly.
"A culture has developed in the NSW branch where, for some, being caught out at sharp practices is worn almost as a badge of honour. Our party would be immeasurably better off without such people," Senator Faulkner said.
Finance Minister Penny Wong said on Tuesday she supported the "one-strike" policy.
Senator Faulkner also called for an end to factions being able to "bind" MPs in caucus votes or ballots, something also supported by Mr Dastyari.
"There is ... a great deal wrong with a situation where a Russian doll of nested caucuses sees a tiny minority of MPs exercising a controlling interest over the majority," Senator Faulkner said.
The former minister said federal lower and upper house MPs needed to "get serious" about a code of conduct, which he suggested should be drafted by a joint select committee and accompanied by a parliamentary integrity commissioner.
A motion by independent MP Rob Oakeshott on a code of conduct passed the lower house last week, but it did not cover senators and failed to gain the approval of the coalition.
Senator Faulkner also said the government needed to finalise its national anti-corruption plan as well as public- and private-sector whistleblower protection schemes before the 2013 election.
Mr Dastyari said it was important to reform the party and government, but some changes would take longer than the next election.
"The big message out of this is ... reform or die," he said.


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The Premier League is the world's number one football league, with amazing teams, stunning stadiums and passionate fans. Broadcast to 4.8 billion people worldwide every football club has an army of loyal followers cheering them on throughout the season from all parts of the world.
One of the founding members of the Premier League, Middlesborough's primary victory was a League Cup win in 2004. After a number of years in the Championship, Middlesborough were promoted back to the Premier League in 2016. Their nicknames include 'the Boro' and 'Smoggies'.
Called 'The Clarets' after their wine-coloured jerseys, Burnley FC were one of the founder members of the Football League in 1888. In 2016 they were promoted to the Premier League.
Formed in 1904, Hull's nickname 'the Tigers' comes from their black and amber strip. They played in the FA cup final in 2014 and were promoted back into the Premier League in 2016.


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A discussion of the value of friends.
Friends are an important part of our lives. I've heard it said that if you want to know if you're on the right track, just look at the friends in your life. They compose a reflection of you. Clearly that's an over simplification, but it does make sense. I suppose some people think they can do without friends, but it's a difficult thing for me to imagine. Even our relatives can be our friends. Of course, that's not always the case, but it's certainly desirable. We need to have a feeling of support in our lives, people we can talk to about problems we have. We also need people with whom we can share the good things that happen to us.
Friends can come from almost anywhere. Sometimes they are colleagues first, and then over time, become friends. Even people who were once married but currently divorced sometimes become friends. It can be difficult for superiors to befriend people who work for them, much as it is problematic for teachers to befriend their students. It's difficult to maintain a sense of authority when friendship enters the mix.
Many people live all of their lives in a rather confined area and draw their friends from a pool that undoubtedly goes through some changes, but remains pretty much the same from year to year. Others of us have our lives divided into segments. This is more than likely determined by geography. If we live for ten years in one part of the country and then move to another part of the country, for example, we have to make new friends and associates.
For me, there have been a number of segments of my life. I am still in touch with someone from each segment of life. Old friends have the advantage time, but new friends can quickly prove their value in one's current environment. I spent a good many years teaching school. Some of the friends in my life have been friends for many decades. I'm approaching my 50th high school reunion. I've stayed in touch with a number of people I went to high school with. Former students of mine from various places I taught have become friends in a continued association when no superiority is indicated. This is a great blessing for me. I believe it we Dr. Samuel Johnson who said that the secret to a youthful life was to surround oneself with younger people.
A couple of weeks ago I took a road trip to the small town in Iowa where I had my first teaching job. I haven't seen most of those people for more than thirty-five years. I can't really call these people friends, but rather, past associates. That changed in seconds once we reunited. It depends on whether there's any ice to break. I've come in contact with many friends after long separations to find that we merely pick up from where we left off. That, in my opinion, is an indication of true friendship.
I have called some people friends and then learned that their friendship depended on my agreeing with them at all times. It's deflating to learn that someone we thought of as a friend simply has no use for us if we cannot be of service to them, especially if we refuse to do their bidding in conflict with our own views. Some friendships end up being one sided. That's much less satisfying. Being a friend is a full time job. Those interested in part time friendship need not apply.
We are most likely to have good friends if we can conduct ourselves in the manner we would like to see in our friends.


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BICKLETON – Two games into the 2013-14 season and it's become clear the Bickleton Lady Pirates are going to have to fine-tune their shooting techniques.
Unable to get a lot of its shots to fall, the Bickleton girls basketball team dropped a 53-30 decision to a touring club from Australia this past Saturday.
As in their season opener two days prior, the Lady Pirates had a difficult time in getting the ball to drop through the hoop.
"Another slow start and a very low shooting percentage seem to be plaguing the girls," Coach Emily Barnhart said of Saturday's non-league game.
The Australian Titans, who got double-digit scoring performances from Erin Watson, Megan Kenneth and Cody Manning, jumped out to a 17-6 first-quarter lead. The Titans pushed their advantage to 32-12 by the time halftime rolled around.
Bickleton, which got a team-high 12 points from eighth grader Jayce Alexander, stayed with the Australians the second half, pumping in 18 points to the Titans' 21.
From an individual standpoint, sophomore Heather Goodnight had the top rebounding effort for the Lady Pirates. She collected 11 loose balls off the boards. Alexander, besides being the top scorer for Bickleton, came up with a team-high three steals.
The Lady Pirates varsity (0-2) continues the non-league portion of its schedule this coming Tuesday at home against the Zillah JV.
Australians – Erin Watson 14, Alana Fensom 8, Sally Houlihan 7, Megan Kenneth 11, Cody Manning 10, Jade Tiller 3, Jacquelin Widdison 0, Natalie Short 0
Bickleton – Jayce Alexander 12, Lindsay Brown 5, Kira Harvey 5, Lacy Cannon 8
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Difference between revisions of "Birmingham (England)"
Revision as of 22:33, 25 April 2013
Birmingham [32], in the West Midlands, is Britain's second largest city (by local authority district). Known in the Victorian era, as the "City of a 1000 Trades" and the "Workshop of the World", Brum as locals call the city, is enjoying a 21st century resurgence as a great shopping and cultural destination.
Birmingham (the h is silent, and, in the local dialect, the g is hard, as in Birming-gum) was at the heart of the UK's industrial revolution, and its wealth was built upon the multitude of trades that were spawned. This led to a massive canal network, with more miles of canals than Venice or Amsterdam (though they're very different types of canal).
Much of the city centre was destroyed during the Second World War, and the replacement buildings added little to the city. However, since the 1990s, Birmingham has been undergoing a radical change and many of the post war buildings have been replaced. The majority of the city centre is now pedestrianized, and the canals cleaned up to make for attractive walkways. Locals credit the City Council for the recent transformation, as the city retains its industrial heritage while now appearing modern and forward looking.
The city's notable associations are as diverse as HP Sauce, Tony Hancock, Cadbury's chocolate, The Lunar Society (whose members included James Watt and Matthew Boulton), Black Sabbath, UB40, Jasper Carrot and the Spitfire and the Mini (car, not skirt).
Birmingham has many literary associations - not only JRR Tolkien, but also Washington Irving, who wrote Rip Van Winkle while lodging here with his sister's family, and Conan Doyle, who bought a violin in Sherlock Street while a medical student in Birmingham. The authors Jim Crace, Judith Cutler and David Lodge are also residents.
The nearby locations of Shropshire, Warwick, and Stratford-Upon-Avon provide more of the stereotypical images of "olde" England. However, Birmingham has many of its own tourist attractions, has an extremely lively night life, and the shopping is arguably one of the best outside of London.
Get in
By plane
Birmingham International Airport (IATA: BHX) (ICAO: EGBB), [33] is a major airport situated just outside the city, in Solihull, about 8 miles east of central Birmingham, serving the city and the rest of the West Midlands region with frequent domestic and international flights. There are several direct arrivals a day from all major UK and European destinations, and one or two from more far-flung places such as Delhi, Dubai (twice daily), Islamabad, Luxor, New York and Toronto.
A free Air-Rail Link connects the airport Passenger Terminals with Birmingham International Rail Station between 05:15 and 02:00; it runs every two minutes and the journey time is less than two minutes. From the Birmingham International Rail Station trains run to New Street Station every 5-15 min from around 6:15 (Su 8:45) to 23:15. The journey takes 10-20 min depending on whether you get an express or local (stopping) service and costs £3 one way (local service) or £7 (express service).
Bus service 900 runs every 20-30 min between Birmingham and Coventry via the airport from around 6:10 (Sa 6:30, Su 7:00) to midnight, takes around 25 min and costs £2.00 one way. If you buy a day pass for £3.90, you can use the city buses for the rest of that day.
A taxi from the airport to central Birmingham will take around 20-30 min and will cost around £22.00.
National Express coaches serve the airport every 30 min during the early hours of the morning, which is very handy for morning flights, as the trains rarely start until later in the morning.
The National Exhibition Centre is adjacent to the airport and can be accessed by the Air-Rail Link in Terminal 1 via Birmingham International Station.
Aeroparks [Airport Parking] service Birmingham Airport provides a Meet and Greet Service and Park And Ride off site.
By train
Wikitravel has a guide to Rail travel in the United Kingdom
Birmingham is a major hub of Britain's rail network. The main station is New Street, with Snow Hill and Moor Street carrying significantly fewer services, but include superior service from London Marylebone station. New Street also has faster, but more expensive, services to London Euston. New Street and Moor Street are a 5 minute walk apart, and Snow Hill is around 10 minutes walk from each.
Allow plenty of time to find your train at New Street station as it is huge and very confusing, and as it is currently undergoing modernisation the layout is constantly changing. Most platforms (tracks) are divided into sections (e.g. Platform 4A, 4B and 4C) and it's not uncommon for two trains bound for different destinations to depart from the same track, so make sure you wait in the right area and board the right train! New Street Station is notorious for last-minute platform changes so it's advisable to wait close to the stairs and keep close attention to the information screens and PA announcements as you may need to make a quick dash to the opposite side of the station with only 3 minutes until departure!
All areas of Britain are well-served, with half-hourly services (M-Sa daytime) from Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and stations in between. Timetables can be checked at National Rail Enquiries [34] (0845 748 49 50) and booked on-line or over the phone through the train operator. Train tickets can be purchased online from Birmingham based retailer,[35] takethetrain.co.uk who do NOT charge any booking fee.
By coach
Intercity buses, unless clearly stated otherwise, will terminate at the newly rebuilt and modernised Birmingham Coach Station. The City Centre is around a 5 minute walk from the station along the slightly tatty Digbeth High Street, but people need not be alarmed as the Selfridges Building and skyline are clearly visible to guide you in the correct direction. If you arrive at night (or have large amounts of luggage), consider getting a bus or taxi as the Digbeth area is not a very pleasant part of the city and is home to many pubs and other nightlife, which may intimidate strangers.
Birmingham Coach station has a booking office, two cafés, shop and other basic facilities. There are currently toilets (30p), vending machines (24 h), an internet cafe (£1/20 min) and information desk.
There are half-hourly (or more frequent) services from London (service 420), and services from most major cities (including Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Oxford and Sheffield) every two hours.
If you are taking the coach to an airport (such as for your journey home), leave at least 3 h early, as coach trips have been known to face significant delays if mechanical or personnel problems are encountered.
National Express promises only to get you to the destination within the same day and will take no responsibility if the service runs late (the optional National Express insurance covers only your personal safety and your possessions).
By car
Birmingham is well sign-posted and surrounded by motorways; the M42, the M5, and the M6 which includes the infamous Spaghetti Junction (Gravelly Hill Interchange). Once in the West Midlands:
Birmingham City Council operated car parks are available throughout the city, a list is accessible online [38].
By boat
Due to its industrial heritage, Birmingham has an extensive canal network and is on both the "Worcester & Birmingham" and "Grand Union" canals. Visitors travelling by narrowboat can choose from several tourist moorings, managed privately or by British Waterways. Although the moorings are very busy in spring and summer, call ahead for availability.
Get around
By Public Transport
Bus, Train and Metro all come under the authority of Network West Midlands (Part of Centro, the PTE of Birmingham and surrounding area), their website is the best source for all information required on public transport in the region [39].
Birmingham City Council has public transportation information available online [40] as well.
By bicycle
Birmingham is not a particularly cycle-friendly city (especially compared to the rest of Europe), but it is possible to get around without too much trouble. There are plenty of places to lock a bike up in the city centre, but few cycle lanes and lots of pedestrians. Unless you're touring the UK on pedal power, the best use for a bike is to do one of the following: explore the extensive canal network, enjoy the country parks, travel to out-of-town attractions, or experience more distant places such as Warwick, Leamington Spa and Stratford-upon-Avon.
Birmingham City Council produces an excellent cycling and walking map of the area. You can pick one up from any local library, tourist information office, leisure centre or bike shop.
Road and cycle path maintenance in the area is far from perfect, and it is not uncommon for trees and parked cars to obstruct the right-of-way. The standard of driving is as bad as in other cities, so exercise extreme caution on main roads and at night. The canal network can be accessed in the city centre from the Broad Street/Gas Street area, or at most road crossings elsewhere. The towpath is generally well-maintained to within a few miles of the city, and after that tends to be packed earth with plenty of mud and embedded bricks. A permit from British Waterways (free) is needed for towpath cycling.
The Sustrans National Cycle Network [41] Route 5 (Oxford to Derby) passes through Birmingham from the south to the north-west. The local stretch is known as the Rea Valley Route, there is also the Cole Valley Route to the east.
Bicycle hire:
By bus
All areas of Birmingham are well-served by bus routes, operated almost exclusively by National Express West Midlands [44] (NEWM) with some competition from smaller providers, notably Diamond Buses [45]
There is no central bus station for local services, buses depart instead from various locations in the city centre (principally Bull Street, Colmore Row, Corporation Street and Navigation Street). Bus stop maps are available from libraries, tourist information offices and the Network West Midlands (NWM) office at New Street Station.
Route maps and timetables are available from the outlets mentioned above, and there are extensive online versions on the National Express West Midlands and NWM [46] websites. If you do not have a lot of time to spare tracking down which buses serve which areas, you can use the Traveline Midlands Journey Planner [47] (0870 608 2608).
Single fares are currently £1.90 for on NEWM services, valid on only 1 trip. However, for £3.80, you can get a day pass good on all buses until the end of service that day. NEWM buses do not give change, so make sure you have the exact amount required for the fare (in coins) ready when you board the bus. Buses end around midnight.
National Express West Midlands operates a shop in the Pavillions Shopping Centre (opposite Moor Street Station) which provides longer term tickets, there are also numerous agents around the City which sell bus passes.
Birmingham's bus system is roughly radial, with frequent services in and out of the city centre from most locations especially along the main radial routes, buses normally start from around 05:00 and finish at midnight. There are also two useful circular routes, the Inner Circle 8 and the better known service 11 Outer Circle, which can be useful while travelling between different areas and avoiding the City Centre.
There are also numerous services linking many suburbs, hospitals and shopping centres, on the whole these services are generally less frequent and some have no or poor evening or Sunday services. Unlike London, Birmingham has few bus lanes, which can result in much longer journeys at peak periods.
By car
Birmingham's city centre is partially pedestrianised and has several unintuitive one-way systems. A car is a viable way of getting around the city and other areas, but a good map or sat-nav is essential.
Birmingham City Council produces a map of city centre car parks (available from tourist information offices). Expect to pay £1-£1.50 per hour in Pay & Display areas and more on street meters. Parking attendants patrol popular areas regularly, so expect a fine if you return late or a clamp if you're parked illegally.
Car hire is possible both in the city centre and at the airport.
By motorcycle
Motorcycles and mopeds are becoming increasingly popular in Birmingham as a way of avoiding rush hour traffic jams, and usually enjoy free parking in city centre car parks. Although not a lot of car parks have bike areas, there are a number of bays around the centre but none of them have any rails to lock your bike to.
By taxi
Birmingham has an abundance of taxi ranks all over the city, the best-served being New Street Station. Both hackney carriages and private hire vehicles are easy to find, but you should exercise caution and not get into an unmarked car or one you haven't booked.
Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest times due to clubbers going home in masses, and there can be waits of over an hour if you're somewhere busy like Broad Street.
Popular providers include:
By train
There is an extensive overland rail network serving most of Birmingham and the West Midlands area, operated mainly by London Midland.
Route maps and timetables are available from libraries, tourist information offices, railway stations and the Traveline Midlands Journey Planner [53] (0870 608 2608). You can take bicycles, pushchairs and wheelchairs on board without prior reservation, and there is usually a designated carriage.
Fares vary with distance, but you can expect to pay between £2 and £5 for a day return to a local destination. Fare-dodging is rife, and there has been a crackdown recently with ticket barriers at stations (cross-city line and Snow Hill) and on-board checking. The penalty for not having a valid ticket is a £20 on-the-spot fine (which can be contested in court, but is rarely worth the hassle). From New Street station, the cross-city line runs between Lichfield Trent Valley in the north and Redditch in the south, stopping notably at Sutton Coldfield (for Sutton Park), Aston (for Aston Hall), University (for the University of Birmingham), Bournville (for Cadbury World) and Barnt Green (for Lickey Hills). Local services also run to Hereford (via Worcester and Malvern), Leamington Spa, Northampton (via Birmingham International Airport, Coventry and Rugby), Nuneaton, Shrewsbury (via Wolverhampton), Stafford (via Walsall), Stratford-upon-Avon, Tamworth and Warwick. Additional services to these areas run from Snow Hill and Moor Street stations (they are on the same line), and you may not be able to catch a specific train from New Street.
By tram
Birmingham has a single metro line, running between Snow Hill Station and Wolverhampton, via the Jewellery Quarter, West Bromwich, Wednesbury and Bilston. Plans are afoot to extend the service out to Five Ways, via the City Centre and along Broad Street.
The Metro runs from roughly 6:30AM-11:30PM M-Sa, and 8AM-11PM Su and bank holidays. Fares vary with distance, but expect to pay around £2 for a single, £3.50 for a return and £4.50 for a day pass (combined bus/train/Metro passes are also available). Full route, timetable and fare information is listed on the Midland Metro website [54], and there is additional information on the Centro website [55].
By water bus
Water buses and taxis operate out of the canal offices in Gas Street Basin (underneath Broad Street). They also provide tours of the area. Obviously, they are limited to the local canals and are significantly slower than other forms of transport.
On foot in the City Centre
Birmingham's City Centre is partially pedestrianised, and most things to see and do can be reached on foot. Birmingham walking directions can be planned online with the walkit.com [56] walking route planner.
Visitors would enjoy the delightful walk from the International Convention Centre (ICC) and the Symphony Hall on the top of Broad Street to the Bull Ring shopping complex (the longest distance likely to be covered on foot), which would take around twenty minutes (not counting stops along the way) and may involve only one easy surface road-crossing. From the ICC, you walk east by the Repertory Theatre in Centenary Square; then literally through the Central Library to Chamberlain Square; with the Museum and Art Gallery to your left and the Class I listed building, the Town Hall, on your right, you make your way to the spacious Victoria Square. At Victoria Square, you will find the Town Hall to the west, the Council Offices to the north, and the Post Office to the South; the path you want to the Bull Ring is east, down New Street, which is a pedestrianized street lined with shops, stores, and kiosks. About five blocks down New Street, you will come to a signal at Corporation Street, the only road crossing you need to make on this walk. A few blocks later, New Street will turn into Rotunda Square. Bearing south towards St. Martin's Church, you will find the 21st-century Bull Ring Shopping Complex to your left and right.
Birmingham has a large canal network. In the city centre, extensive development has enhanced the environment and level of amenities around these canals, making them excellent pedestrian routes in their own right. Visitors would enjoy the peaceful ten-minute car-free canal stroll from Brindleyplace, National Sea Life Centre, and Sherborne Wharf, all next to the ICC, eastward under Broad Street, through the Gas Street Basin, to The Mailbox (the former Royal Mailbox turned into shops and restaurants).
Other walks in the City Centre include the wheelchair accessible summer Floral trail from The Mailbox to St Paul's Square, which in turn is the beginning point of another walk, the Jewellery Quarter in Bloom trail.
Birmingham doesn't have a reputation for being especially picturesque, but there is a lot of interesting architecture in the city centre that the shops and crowds sometimes obscure. For such a (relatively) large population centre, the countryside (in the form of country parks) is surprisingly close.
Museums and art galleries
For a place with a strong industrial heritage, Birmingham does not have the large range of historical attractions you may expect, however, this is offset by the arts being extremely well-represented.
Parks and nature
There are small parks and green spaces all over the city and suburbs, and the countryside is only about thirty minutes away in any direction. The country parks and nature reserves usually contain a wealth of information about local flora, fauna and conservation efforts.
Religious buildings
Birmingham's population is very diverse, and communities from just about any country in the world can be found somewhere. This is turn has led to numerous centres for all the world's major religions.
The city hosts some of Britain's most popular clubs and events. Student nights are especially fun, with cheap drink and entry offers and busy clubs. Do not miss out on visiting at least one of these brilliant events:
Concerts, theatre shows and other events are comprehensively listed and reviewed on Birmingham Alive! [71].
Birmingham's cinemas are quite reasonably priced due to stiff competition for the student market. Don't expect a huge range of "alternative" films, as even the independent places screen mainstream blockbusters to keep their revenues up.
Pub quizzes
A great way to pass an evening with friends in a friendly atmosphere and even pick up some useless trivia along the way.
Birmingham hosts some of the largest events, exhibitions and conferences in the country, which may or may not be of interest to a visitor.
Lap dancing
Birmingham has seen a rapid proliferation of lap dancing clubs in recent years, to the extent that they are now touted as a typical night out for business people. Around a dozen clubs are scattered over the city centre, including Legs Eleven (a favourite haunt of Premiership football players) and Spearmint Rhino.
Live music
The live music scene in Birmingham is vibrant and varied, and something can be experienced just about any night of the week. Libraries, tourist information offices and music-related bars and shops will stock copies of The Fly or "Ryan's Gig Guide" free publications with exhaustive listings of every music event going on in the city and surrounding area.
In addition to the main venues mentioned below, there are several small theatres scattered around the city and the suburbs; pick up a What's On guide from a library or tourist information office for full listings.
Council-run leisure centres [95] are liberally scattered throughout Birmingham, typically offering swimming pools, sports courts, fields and exercise equipment, all available at much lower prices than you'd expect to pay at privately-run gyms. There's also plenty of golf courses, both municipal and private, across the city including the world famous Belfry complex.
Theme Parks
There are fifteen further education colleges dotted around the city, and community adult education centres in most suburbs. Most offer evening classes in a variety of academic and vocational subjects. There are also regular workshops at places such as the Midlands Arts Centre (see Cinema) and the Country Parks (see Parks and nature).
Birmingham is home to three universities, who enjoy a mostly-friendly rivalry (mainly fought out in the student press). Aston and Birmingham are campus institutions, with Birmingham City University spread out over several buildings and campuses around the city.
The vast number of shops, bars and restaurants in the city centre means that there is rarely a shortage of menial job vacancies. You will often see positions for minimum wage service or retail positions advertised in windows. There are also a lot of temping agencies able to find temporary office, driving and other jobs for travellers packing suits and CVs.
During the last few years Birmingham has developed enormously as a regional shopping centre, with the old Bull Ring complex (once a notorious 1960's eyesore) being demolished to make way for a large shopping centre that includes Selfridges. There are also a number of lesser known shopping centres located near to the Bull Ring complex [121] such as the Pavillions, The Mailbox [122] and the Pallasades (The Mall), which is located directly above New Street Station. The principal shopping streets are New Street, High Street and Corporation Street. All include the usual assortment of high street chain-stores and discount outlets.
The Pavillions is home to the largest Waterstones, Marks & Spencer and HMV stores in the region.
The Mall at the Pallasades has become run down as of late, containing only one known shop to speak of, HMV (currently in administration), however, it provides a fast link from the Debenhams side of the Bull Ring, directly into New Street Station, with relatively little pedestrian traffic.
Martineau Place is a small, recently developed shopping centre, which holds a Gap, H&M, O'Neill Store and Freespirit, as well as an obligitary Starbucks Coffee House.
Birmingham's High Street has become run down as of late, holding mainly discount stores, due to the attraction of the Bull Ring to larger name stores. However, New Street, going towards Victoria Square has many upmarket stores. As does the Mailbox, home to the region's only Harvey Nichols, as well as many other Designer Boutiques.
The Jewellery Quarter [123], to the north of the city centre, specialises in jewellery and contains many small workshops and retailers.
Some of the more useful, unusual or independent shops include:
Birmingham is the balti capital of England, as the balti was invented here in 1977. The much-promoted "balti triangle" covers around 50 restaurants on Ladypool Road and Stratford Road in Sparkbrook, about 2 miles south of the city centre. Travel West Midlands has a deal with eight of the larger eateries whereby you can get a 15% discount for travelling by bus, pick up a Balti Triangle by Bus leaflet for full details. A taxi to the area will take around 10 minutes and cost £5. Although the area looks a bit run-down, there is little crime as the abundance of restaurants ensure that the streets are always busy.
Birmingham has a large student population, and the usual cottage industries have sprung up in campus areas to cater for their lack of cash. There are around a dozen cheap eateries in the Selly Oak area of Bristol Road, mainly Indian but also Chinese, Italian and English.
The usual fast food chains, kebab shops and burger vans are also scattered around the city and surrounding areas.
The mid-range chain eateries are much the same as the ones you'd find in any British city, and you'll rarely be more than a few hundred yards away from one.
Birmingham has quite a few upmarket places, mainly due to the number of high-rolling businesspeople that drift in for conferences and other dealings.
Vegetarian & Vegan
Considering its size, Birmingham does not have a wide range of vegetarian-specific places to eat. All the eateries mentioned above will have vegetarian options, but the Indian and Chinese places tend to have better variety. If you are vegan ask for your balti/curry to be cooked without ghee (clarified butter). Naan breads are generally not vegan whilst rotis are.
The city and suburbs have the usual assortment of supermarkets, newsagents and corner shops. The city centre is especially well-served, with three Tesco, two Sainsbury's and one Somerfield outlets.
A great place to pick up cheap food (including fresh fruit and veg) is the Bull Ring Market (see Buy).
Selly Oak
Selly Oak is in South Birmingham and has its own train station with frequent services from Birmingham New Street. It can also be reached by buses, which stop along the Bristol Road. The University of Birmingham is located close by, and hence the majority of residents in Selly Oak are students, who live in terraced houses mainly in a rather poor state.
The shops and services on Bristol Road cater for the student population. There are many take-aways / junk food places, letting agents, off-licenses, cheap restaurants and pubs.
The Soak Very cheap and decent food available, as well as a wide range of drinks.
The Goose Cheap food and drink of mediocre quality. Chips are not bad. Efficient service. Generally a strange atmosphere with a large number of older people, in contrast to other Selly Oak pubs
Gun Barrels Very studenty pub with pool tables and the like. Quite big. Cheap drinks. Very popular with students, gets very crowded on some nights. Has a large beer garden. Part of the Scream chain.
The Bristol Pear Again part of the Scream chain but much smaller than the Gun Barrels. Cheap drinks.
Khanum Indian restaurant. Very good. Cheap. You can bring your own wine.
Chamon Indian restaurant. Pretty good. Cheap. You can bring your own wine.
Sheratton Indian restaurant, pretty good you can bring your own wine. They give you big discount
Cafe Eastern Delight Pretty Indian restaurant. You will have about 5 waiters behind your back if you eat there.
Suzen's Noodle Bar Food often too oily. Cheap.
Rimini Italian restaurant. Prices higher than usual in the area, but quality of food and presentation is usually better than most local restaurants. You can bring your own wine.
Pizza Land / Mama Wia / Luciano's All little shops that serve very cheap (but good) pizza cooked by people who probably get paid less than the national minimum wage.
Dolphin Chip shop situated on Raddlebarn Road. Do not even think of venturing in there. They served me chicken that tasted of fish, as they clearly cannot be asked to change the oil.
Selly Sausage Popular cheap student restaurant. Good for paninis, pancakes, omelettes and the like. Host of "the campus mate" - a dating section by the local student newspaper.
Kebab Land Name says it all.
Rooster Hut closed down as bigger, better and cheaper Rooster House opened across the road. Good chicken at low prices.
Adam's Place Usual range of junk food at low prices.
Big John's Usual range of junk food at low prices. Has been refurbished and now looks slightly more fancy.
Woodstock Formerly a nice place with great atmosphere. Since the shop changed owner in early 2009 it has got much less cozy and the food is not as tasty as before. Still very high reputation.
Dress code restrictions are rather common in Birmingham clubs, so be careful to check out each club's policy. Many clubs refuse to admit large groups of males in case of trouble, so go individually or in small groups. The usual excuse that door-staff give is that someone in the party is wearing the wrong type of shoes/coat/trousers etc. The general rule of thumb is no effort, no entry. This usually means shoes, not trainers, and a shirt, not a T-shirt. At the same time being dressed like that can be a hindrance, if you go to one of the cooler bars. It's best to check with someone who's been to the particular bar before. There are a number of areas in the city centre, which are defined below, but other areas to look for a night out are Digbeth, Kings Heath, Moseley, Harborne and Selly Oak.
If you are looking for the average drink, virtually any pub or bar will do. If you are a real ale aficionado, there are several excellent pubs to visit, where dress restrictions do not usually apply.
City centre
The Arcadian
In the middle of Birmingham's rather small Chinatown, this is an open at the centre shopping arcade which is mostly used by Chinese super markets and restaurants. Right in the middle though, its all bars. It tends to be a bit quieter and less rowdy that broad street and has some of the better clubs in the city. The dress code around here is extremely strict in regard to logos on clothes, they are a definite no! Most of the bars are interchangeable, but recommended are:
Broad Street
Broad Street, the No 1 party street of Birmingham, has a large range of clubs, bars and pubs. This is a good location for a decent English Friday night. However, at the same time it is one of the more rowdy areas, and if trouble happens it will normally be on this road. The chances of this affecting you are slim. Just of to the side of this road is Brindleyplace [155], a classier and better area of bars, clubs and restaurants. Recommended bars are:
Birmingham has a large Irish community and many Irish pubs. Most of the city centre ones are spread along Digbeth High Street beginning with The Bullring Tavern near the Bull Ring and finishing with The Rainbow near Camp Hill. ibis budget Birmingham Airport (previously Etap hotel), Ambassador Road, Birmingham International Airport, ☎ Tel. +44 121 780 5858, [17]. The most popular is probably The Dublinner, next to Digbeth Coach Station, which offers live music at weekends. (now burnt out, might be rebuilt)
Some recommendations in Digbeth are:
The Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Hosts a range of nights, from Drum n Bass to Electro, not to be missed. The Rainbow Pub, An ecclectic pub that hosts a variety of nights, one of the best places in Birmingham and is soon to be shut down. Also visit the Rainbow Warehouse, around the corner which is big on the rave scene and often joins with the Rainbow pub to host street parties such as S.L.A.G.
Hurst Street
Birmingham has a vibrant and visible gay scene centered around Hurst Street [157]. Every Spring Bank Holiday this area, often referred to by locals as the Gay Village, hosts a free gay-pride festival while its bars and clubs attract people from across the Midlands all year round. Hurst Street is well policed and homophobic attacks are rare, though the local fundamentalists may try to 'save your soul'. Birmingham is as gay friendly as Manchester, Brighton, and Blackpool. Birmingham has a large number of gay venues, the best being the Village, Eden, Equator, The Loft Lounge and the Queens Arms. The Fountain and Bolts are men only bars.
St. Paul's Square
Many of the more up-market bars and restaurants are located on St. Paul's Square in the Jewellery Quarter. This is also home to the Jam House, Birmingham's premier jazz club.
Harborne was once a separate village, is now a mainly residential area a bit North of Birmingham University. The old village center, along Harborne High Street, now has a lot of pubs with a mixed crowd; students, faculty and others. There's a tradition among the crazier students; try to have a half pint in every pub in Harborne in one evening. With over 20 pubs and several km of walking involved, and the limited opening hours of British pubs, this takes some doing.
"The Junction" on the High Street. An odd V shaped pub as the name suggests on the junction of the High Street and Vivian Road. A really nice pub sells some real ales and good selection of lagers. Sells good pub grub as well.
If you want a more social feel to your stay why not try one of the two very good hostels the city has to offer.
Cheap hotels are now being found in the city centre, one of them is The Etap Hotel, £35 per night for a double bed and single bed or The Paragon Hotel, prices starting at £45, 145 Alcester Street, +44 121 627 0627. There are also Ibis aplenty starting from £49 per night.
The national dialling code for the city is 0121, followed by a three digit area code, followed by a four digit number. A fully specified Birmingham number will be in the format 0121 000 0000. The minimum dialling requirement is 000 0000 within the national dialling code area.
BT payphones are dotted around the city, and most will take both cash and credit/debit cards. International calls are by no means cheap. There are no telephone centres, so if you're going to be making lots of calls home a pre-paid phone card may be a good option.
All GSM mobile networks have excellent coverage in all areas of the city.
All public libraries provide free internet access, though the connection can be slow and you may have to queue for a terminal; and, increasingly, you need a library membership card to use
It is also possible to get online from some BT payphones in the city centre (look for the ones with light blue broadband signs on them).
Wi-Fi is available in a number of cafes and other places, including the Bull Ring.
Stay safe
As with the rest of the UK, in any emergency call 999 or 112 (from a landline if you can) and ask for ambulance, fire or police when connected.
In general, Birmingham is a safe city. However, like most large cities, there are some good and bad areas. Certain suburbs (see below) have had their share of gun crime problems, but these are extremely unlikely to affect you unless you make yourself part of the larger drug gang problem. Avoid any offers of cheap drugs as you might be lured into a secluded place and then robbed.
Muggers in Birmingham tend to operate in groups of two or three, typically one will ask you a question (to judge whether you are local or likely to hit back) while the others move in behind you so they can force you to the ground. If you find this happening to you, then move to the side, so you have a clear escape path and cannot be grabbed from the rear.
The city centre is well-policed. The only trouble you might witness is a small scuffle on the Broad Street nightlife quarter as the nightclubs turn out in the early hours of the morning. However, take care at either end of Broad Street where the traffic flow speeds up.
It is advisable to stay away from the city centre when football matches between the city's two professional teams occur. Aston Villa and Birmingham City have a violent and raw hatred for each other, and violent clashes between supporters of both teams are a common occurence on match days. On other days, when the teams are playing at home against other teams, it is a little less unlikely for major violence to occur in the city centre, but you may encounter pubs full of chanting football supporters, and this may be intimidating for tourists.
As usual, common sense will keep you safe, avoid walking alone in deserted or poorly-lit areas, especially at night, keep your wits about you at cash machines, and do not get into unmarked taxis. The only higher crime-rate areas that tourists might want to visit are Aston and Sparkbrook: even these are fairly safe during daylight. Canal towpaths at night, if relatively near a road access point, can also be hazardous.
Every Friday and Saturday night, unofficial motor-races take place around the city centre ring-road (Queensway). Be aware of the danger that it presents to other road users.[174]
Birmingham, like many other large cities, has relatively high incidences of STDs compared to the rest of the UK. Having unprotected sex is asking for trouble.
Avoid people in New Street, near the junction with Ethel Street, who offer you a free "stress test" as they are trying to recruit you into the Church of Scientology.
Get out
Exploring by car.
The M5 will take you to the south-west, either the M42 then M40 or the M6 then M1 will take you to London and the south-east. In the other direction the M1 will take you to Leeds and the north-east. The M6 will also take you towards the north-west, Manchester and Scotland, or, via the M54, to north Wales.


text:
posted by Thom Holwerda on Wed 22nd Apr 2009 17:14 UTC, submitted by orfanum
A detailed simulation of a small region of a brain built molecule by molecule has been constructed and has recreated experimental results from real brains. The "Blue Brain" has been put in a virtual body, and observing it gives the first indications of the molecular and neural basis of thought and memory. Scaling the simulation to the human brain is only a matter of money, says the project's head. The work was presented at the European Future Technologies meeting in Prague.


text:
Afghan Presidential Front-Runner Escapes Assassination Attempt
Two Explosions Targeted Abdullah Abdullah as He Left Campaign Event in Kabul
KABUL—Afghan presidential front-runner Abdullah Abdullah on Friday escaped an assassination attempt, a twin suicide bombing that killed at least six people outside his campaign event in Kabul and highlighted the risks attending the upcoming election.
First, an attacker set off a car bomb next to Mr. Abdullah's armored Toyota Land Cruiser, just as he was leaving a gathering with supporters in Kabul's Ariana Hotel. Then, witnesses said, another suicide bomber detonated his device in the middle of a crowd that began to gather...