text:
What's the best way to ensure that traveling clients and employees constantly have your brand in their sights? With custom promotional luggage tags from IASpromotes.com! Help colleagues and customers identify their luggage, and keep track of it in case it gets lost, with our custom printed luggage tags. Personalized logo luggage tags are a promotional item that most people don't think about using and instead rely on those flimsy paper tags that every bag has. Customized luggage tags are a highly useful product that customers will greatly appreciate receiving.
Promotional logo luggage tags are a popular giveaway item because they are both affordable and extremely useful. Personalize them with your business name, corporate logo and contact information such as your website. Recipients will always remember your company whenever they travel, either for business or pleasure. Whenever people use your custom promotional luggage tags, they will always keep an eye out for your logo!


text:
Users in this career have rated it a 1.9 in terms of their own personal satisfaction with the career. This figure represents an average taken from the responses of 23 MyPlan.com users during registration.
Users were asked to rate their happiness in their current occupation as being either "Very Happy" (4), "Happy" (3), "Mixed / Neutral" (2), "Not Happy" (1), or "Miserable" (0).

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A while ago I made a turkey pho using some homemade turkey stock and leftover turkey and I really enjoyed it. Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle dish with a broth flavoured with star anise. The classical pho is made in a beef broth and is served with beef. Ever since I made the turkey pho I had been wanting to try making the traditional beef pho (or pho bo) from scratch. I started looking for a recipe in my bookmarks and the one that caught my attention was the one for pho bo on eatingclub vancouver . From there I amalgamated what I liked from a few different recipes to come up with this one.
The first step was to make the broth which required simmering beef bones for several hours. Luckily I was able to find the beef bones pretty cheap at a local butchers shop. This recipe calls for 2 cuts of beef in addition to the bones. The first cut of beef is a cheap cut that is simmered in the broth until it is falling apart tender. This adds even more flavour to the broth and then the braised beef goes into the final soup as well. The beef broth is also made with the star of the show, the star anise, and cloves, cinnamon, charred onions and ginger, fish sauce and sugar. Just with that list of ingredients it is sounding really tasty! Nice and beefy and sweet and salty and star anise'y with a hint of spices.
Once the broth is ready you are just about done; all that is left is to cook the rice noodles and assemble the soup. To assemble the soup, you place the braised beef in a bowl and top it with the cooked rice noodles followed by the second cut of beef, which is thinly sliced, along with the bean sprouts. The broth is brought to a boil and poured over the beef and beansprouts into the bowl. The boiling broth just 'cooks' the thinly sliced beef and blanches the beansprouts right in the bowl. Because you are just barely cooking the thinly sliced beef you will probably want a really nice and tender cut of beef like a tenderloin. Next you throw on your condiments such as basil, cilantro, jalapenos, hoisin sauce and chili sauce.
The pho bo broth took a bit of work and time to make but it was well worth it! It was nice and tasty and I really enjoyed the star anise flavour in a savoury dish like this. Other than the star anise, what I liked most about this soup was that it was nice and light and with all of the topping is was fresh and summery. The thinly sliced 'raw' beef on top was just perfectly cooked and nice and juicy and tender. What a great soup to enjoy on a cold winter day! Luckily I have leftovers so I will get to enjoy it for a few more days!
Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
- 4 pounds beef bones
- 1/2 pound beef (a cheap cut)
- 1 onion (halved and charred)
- 1 3 inch piece of ginger (cut in half and charred)
- 9 star anise
- 6 cloves
- 1 stick cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or sugar)
- 8 ounces rice noodles (cooked as directed on package)
- 1/2 pound steak (good quality, sliced thinly)
- 2 cups beans prouts
- 1/4 cup Thai basil (thinly sliced)
- 1/4 cup cilantro
- 2 jalapeno peppers (sliced)
- 1 limes (sliced)
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons chili sauce
- Place the bones into a large stock pot and bring to a roiling bowl for a few minutes.
- Drain the water, rinse the bones and the pot and fill with clean water.
- Add the beef, onion, ginger, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, fish sauce and sugar and simmer for 2 hours.
- Remove the beef and continue to simmer for another 2 hours.
- Strain the solids from the broth and season the broth to taste with fish sauce and sugar.
- Shred the beef that was simmered in the broth and divide between 4 large bowls.
- Divide the noodles between the bowls along with the beansprouts and place a few slices of the raw beef on top.
- Bring the broth back to a roiling boil and ladle into the bowls. (This will cook the raw beef.)
- Garnish with the basil, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, lime slices, hoisin sauce and chili sauce.


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Northeastern Fireplace & Design – Albany and Upstate New York's Best Resource For Fireplaces, Stoves, Inserts & Accessories
If your fireplace, insert or stove isn't bringing you the warmth and enjoyment you desire, it may be time to start shopping for a replacement. Seem like an intimidating task? Here at Northeastern Fireplace & Design, we strive to make shopping for your new appliance and all the accessories you could ever want as easy as possible. From inserts to fireplace doors and ash containers, we have it all in one convenient shop!
Based in Selkirk, NY, our team of skilled and knowledgeable chimney technicians has been working to keep the hearths and homes of upstate New York warm and cozy for over 35 years. Having worked with just about every type and style of heating appliance, our technicians know which products are the best, and which ones aren't worth the investment. What does this mean for our neighbors? It means that when you purchase an appliance or hearth accessory from our shop, you can expect professional support and knowledge for the life of your purchase.
Our team is here to help you from the initial search to annual maintenance and repairs. Not sure what you want? We're here to listen and offer unbiased advice so that you can make a decision and a purchase that you can be confident in.
What Can You Find In Our Showroom & Convenient Online Shop?
We regularly stock the best of the best in:
- Fireplaces (electric, gas/propane and wood-burning)
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- Stoves (gas/propane, pellet/corn and wood-burning)
- Hearth Accessories (including mantels, mantel shelves, andirons, ash containers, bellows, cleaning products/paint & paint accessories, firebacks, fireplace doors, fireplace grates, fireplace hoods, fireplace screens & spark guards, firestarters, hearth pads & hearth rugs, steamers/kettles, tool sets, wood grate heaters, wood holders, trivets and more)
We Carry The Best Brands On The Market!
With industry-leading brand names like Dimplex, Envirofire, Harman Stoves, Hearthstone, Mendota, Minuteman, Pilgrim, RSF, Regency, Renaissance and Valor, we offer our clients reliable products that have proven themselves time and again. As industry experts, we can confidently say you won't find a better selection of trustworthy heating appliances and hearth accessories in Columbia, Albany, Hudson or Greene counties.
And don't forget to check out our showroom specials!
Visit Our Showroom Or Start Shopping Online, Today!
Whether you prefer the convenience of shopping online or would rather get up close and personal with your potential addition, Northeastern Fireplace & Design has you covered. We've worked hard to make your online shopping experience as easy and enjoyable as possible. Want to know more about a product or see and feel it for yourself? Simply call us at (518) 767-9314 or stop in and see us at:
1650 US Route 9W Suite 101
Selkirk, NY, 12158
We have the largest showroom in the area and the most knowledgeable and friendly staff around! Convenient to Columbia, Albany, Hudson and Greene counties, Northeastern Fireplace & Design is upstate New York's best hearth shop!
For directions to our store, please click here!


text:
Product Details:
Payment & Shipping Terms:
Filament Material: | Abrasive Filament | Base Material: | Stainless Steel,Hard Plastic, PP, Galvanized Metal, |
Color: | Customized | Size: | Length1000mm Or Customized |
Service: | OEM/ODM | HS Code: | 9603509190 |
Filament Diameter: | 1.8mm | Outer Diameter: | 200mm |
Filament Length: | 45mm | ||
High Light: | DuPont wire brush roller,Derusting wire brush roller,DuPont Derusting Roller Brush |
DuPont Wire Brush Roller for Derusting Polishing Copper Plated
Product Feature
Technical Parameters
Product Name | DuPont Wire Brush Roller for Derusting Polishing Copper Plated |
Filament Material | Abrasive filament |
Outer diameter | 200mm or customized |
Bristle length | 45mm or customized |
Hole shape | round or Customized |
Usage | Derust Polishing |
Production Process
Packaging & Delivery
Packaging Details:Standard Export Carton Box, Wooden Box, Customerized
Port:Shanghai and Ningbo
Lead Time:About 20-25 days after payment
Why choose us?
1. We offer top quality products & best price & best service
2. All products made by advanced equipments imported from German
3. Fast delivery leadtime
4. We have skilled workers & technicians and strict quality assurance team
5. We are the professional brushes manufacturer and offer direct sales
6. Samples available and Customization as per request and OEM products allowed
7. We offer the lowest and more competitive price, as we make all procedure production by our own factory from material - semi - finish finally...
8. We are highly responsible to every customer of ours, and always try best to let them satisfied
Q1. What is your terms of payment?
Generally,30% T/T in advance & 70% T/T upon shipment notice including copy of B/L
Q2. What is your terms of delivery?
Normaly, we accept EXW, FOB, CFR, CIF, LC at sight.
Q3. How about your delivery time?
Generally, it will take 20 to 25 days after receiving your advance payment. The specific delivery time depends
on the items and the quantity of your order.
Q4. Can you produce according to the samples?
Yes, we can produce by your samples or technical drawings. We can build the molds and fixtures.
Q5:Can you offer the samples and how much cost for the samples?
Generally, Sample is free,and we ask the freight collected.
Q6. Can you accept OEM ?
Yes, OEM are welcome.
Contact Person: Luna Shao
Tel: +8618955154985
Fax: 86-551-62992423


text:
Suns fall short in Game 5: There's no question -- Amare and Boris would have been worth at least the few extra points needed for the Suns to beat the Spurs in
Here's the X-factor for Game 6: Can the same "outrage" that nearly earned Phoenix an upset in Game 5 fuel the Suns on the road when Amare and Boris return to the lineup? I think it can, setting up an epic Game 7.
Meanwhile, Robert Horry -- who will not be playing in Game 6 -- says Steve Nash flopped. One man's flop is another man's "court-savvy."
NBA Must-Read: The Big Picture interviews Henry Abbott. (Zach does the best interviews with sports bloggers that you'll find. Always interesting and illuminating. And Henry is the sports-blog universe's resident "crossover" star.)
Speaking of Henry, he pulled the best quotes from David Stern's radio interview with Dan Patrick, which was the biggest ass-whooping of the playoffs so far. Rhetorically, DP is no match for Stern. Very few people are. Here's the link. Bottom line: Stern's point is very similar to the one I made yesterday -- primary blame goes to Amare and Boris for breaking the rule they should have known would bite them, their team and their playoff chances.
Nets beat Cavs in
Bulls-Pistons, Game 6: I'm predicting the atmosphere at the
MLB Stud, Active: Cole Hamels, who worked a perfect game into the 7th and finished with a 2-hitter in 8 IP. Best young LHP in MLB?
MLB Stud, Retired: Hank Aaron, who will get a bigger role with the Atlanta Braves following their sale from Time Warner to Liberty Media.
MLB Stud, Team: The Devil Rays, who notched another win at Disney World. Novelty = Wins! (Seriously, at this rate, they should consider a full-time relocation.)
MLB Dud: Josh Beckett, who will miss his start tomorrow with a skin issue on his finger. (Is that the same as a blister?)
Is there a videotape of Michael Vick watching dog-fighting at his house? Oh please oh please oh please let this exist. If you happen to have it, please upload to YouTube promptly. Thank you.
(Meanwhile, between prosecutors and investigators, the pressure is tightening around Vick. The questions remain the same as they were when the story first broke: (a) Will he be charged/convicted? (b) What will "Get-Tough" Goodell do about it, particularly given that Vick is one of the league's most popular players?)
Will the NFL play with
Oh, NOW Brett Favre is going to be at Packers mini-camp. As usual, he is all about messing with the minds of his team execs and his fans.
Stephon Marbury to appear on Oprah tomorrow: The biggest affirmation yet of his $14.98 sneaker program, which has single-handedly turned Marbury from self-absorbed athlete-jerk into magnanimous philanthropist. You can still dislike the player, but I have yet to hear of anyone who disapproves of what he's doing with his shoes.
Is Jim Buss ripping Phil Jackson about the coach's ripping players in the media or more about the coach dating his sister, Jeannie?
Indy 500: Danica had the fastest lap. The Danica subplot remains the biggest reason to tune in to the race.
Preakness: Street Sense is a 7-5 favorite. Come on: You've got to pick a different horse.
NBA Draft: Brandan Wright hires an agent, which means there's no turning back to UNC. Not that he was ever going to, given his locked position within the Top 5 picks.
Patterson will step on campus as the best power forward in the SEC and one of the top 3 PFs in the country next year, along with fellow one-and-done frosh Michael Beasley and
Hope Kentucky fans will enjoy Patterson for the one year they have him before he jumps to the NBA. (Does that sound like a
Neal Pollack + Paul Shirley = Must-Read.
Navel-gazing: I don't check my blog traffic as relentlessly as others, but I noticed that Monday, I got more page views than I had in a month -- and that was with my unusual absence all day from posting. At that rate, I will find the most blog success by simply not posting anything. Sheesh...


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The side effects of chemotherapy depend on the type of chemotherapy and the amount given. Anticipating and managing side effects can help to minimize them and provide the best possible experience for the person receiving chemotherapy.
Infection and chemotherapy
As each person's individual medical profile and diagnosis is different, so is his or her reaction to treatment. Side effects may be severe, mild or absent. Be sure to discuss with your cancer care team any/all possible side effects of treatment before the treatment begins.
Many chemotherapy drugs can damage the bone marrow, where blood cells are made. White blood cells are the cells that fight many types of infections, which means that chemotherapy can leave you at risk for infection. The bacteria that cause most infections are normally found on your skin and in your mouth, intestines and genital tract. Sometimes, the source of an infection is unknown. Infections can happen to people even when they are very careful.
How can I help prevent infections?
The following suggestions may reduce your risk of infection:
- Wash your hands frequently throughout the day, especially before eating, after using the bathroom and after touching animals.
- Clean your rectal area gently but thoroughly after each bowel movement. Consult your physician or nurse practitioner if the area becomes irritated or if you develop hemorrhoids.
- Avoid people who are sick with communicable (contagious) illnesses, including a cold, the flu, measles or chickenpox.
- Avoid crowds.
- Stay away from children who have recently been given "live virus" vaccines such as chickenpox and oral polio, as they may be contagious to people with a low blood-cell count.
- Avoid accidents and injuries. Be careful not to cut yourself in any way, including the cuticles of your nails. Use an electric shaver instead of a razor to avoid cutting yourself while shaving.
- Clean cuts and scrapes immediately with warm soapy water and an antiseptic.
- To protect your mouth and gums, brush your teeth after meals and before bedtime.
- Do not squeeze or scratch pimples.
- Take a warm (not hot) bath, shower or sponge bath every day. Pat your skin dry; do not rub it.
- Use lotion or oil if your skin becomes dry.
- Avoid contact with animal litter boxes and waste. Avoid bird cages and fish tanks as well.
- Avoid standing water such as in bird baths, flower vases or humidifiers.
- Wear gloves when gardening or cleaning up after others, especially small children.
- Consult your physician before receiving any type of immunizations or shot, such as flu or pneumonia shots.
- Do not eat raw fish, seafood, meat or eggs.
What are the symptoms of an infection?
If you experience any of the following symptoms, consider it a medical emergency and consult your physician or nurses right away, before taking any medications:
- Fever over 100° F
- Chills, especially chills that cause your body to shake
- Sweating
- Earaches, headaches or stiff neck
- Blisters on the lips or skin
- Mouth sores
- Severe cough or sore throat
- Sinus pain or pressure
- Loose bowel movements
- Frequent rush to urinate or burning with urination
- Unusual vaginal discharge or itching
- Redness, swelling or tenderness, especially around a wound, sore, ostomy (an artificial opening in the abdomen), pimple, rectal area or catheter site


text:
Local chef and restaurateur Cathal Armstrong hopes foodies far and wide will eat up his new wine bar and market, a marriage of American fare and European style, at 277 S. Washington Street.
When patrons begin trickling into Society Fair, slated to begin serving customers before January's end, they'll find a bar and demo kitchen blended with a bakery, butcher's shop and grocery store. There's nothing quite like it on the East Coast, Armstrong said.
"We were talking about how to describe it the other day and the word 'interactive' came up," he said, leaning against the combination check out counter and coffee bar as employees put the finishing touches on the store Tuesday. "[Interactive] reminds me of video games, but there isn't another word for it."
Like a particular glass of wine? Bring a few bottles home. Wonder what brand olive oil Armstrong prefers at his string of Alexandria restaurants? It's available for purchase at Society Fair.
"We want to be able to showcase the foods we love and share them," said Robbie Shinn, Armstrong's man in charge of retail development. "These are the things we love, anything from potato chips to home ware."
From the seed of an idea to fruition, the process lasted about five years. Two of his employees wanted to strike out on their own and Armstrong, owner of Restaurant Eve, Eamonn's and Virtue, among other local institutions, set about making it happen.
He gives his wife and business partner, Meshelle, full credit for the concept, but admits his Irish heritage played a role. His parents still go to one shop for fish, another for beef and a third for lamb. The idea is to take a typical European town center, flush with individual shops, and combine it into one stop.
And several nights a week patrons can reserve a seat at the demo kitchen to watch one of Armstrong's chefs prepare and serve a meal. Shinn compared it to dinner and a show or getting a front row seat to a Food Network taping.
"It's almost like dinner theater," he said. "The chef will talk about where [the ingredients and meal] comes from or why he chose this dish … It's kind of a fun, interactive way to do it."
Armstrong is banking on the country's rapidly growing interest in culinary arts and Alexandria's homegrown food fetish to spur Society Fair to success. Every product on the store's shelves will boast the additional distinction as an Armstrong-approved ingredient.
And if an amateur chef doesn't quite know how best to use a particular cut of meat or specialty item, Armstrong's employees will be on hand with suggestions.
"People are really interested in cooking and in food," he said. "Some of the stuff we sell here, if you searched around the Internet for a few hours you can find it, or you can come here and find it at arms reach."


text:
- Description:
A C++ toolkit containing machine learning algorithms and tools that facilitate creating complex software in C++ to solve real world problems.
The library provides efficient implementations of the following algorithms:
- Deep neural networks
- support vector machines for classification, regression, and ranking
reduced-rank methods for large-scale classification and regression.
This includes an SVM implementation and a method for performing kernel ridge regression with efficient LOO cross-validation. - multi-class SVM
- structural SVM (modes: single-threaded, multi-threaded, and fully distributed)
- sequence labeling using structured SVMs
- relevance vector machines for regression and classification
- reduced set approximation of SV decision surfaces
- online kernel RLS regression
- online kernelized centroid estimation/one class classifier
- online SVM classification
- kernel k-means clustering
- radial basis function networks
- kernelized recursive feature ranking
- Bayesian network inference using junction trees or MCMC
- General purpose unconstrained non-linear optimization algorithms using the conjugate gradient, BFGS, and L-BFGS techniques
- Levenberg-Marquardt for solving non-linear least squares problems
- A general purpose cutting plane optimizer.
The library also comes with extensive documentation and example programs that walk the user through the use of these machine learning techniques.
Finally, dlib includes a fast matrix library that lets the user use a simple Matlab like syntax. It is also capable of using BLAS and LAPACK libraries such as ATLAS or the Intel MKL when available. Additionally, the use of BLAS and LAPACK is transparent to the user, that is, the dlib matrix object uses BLAS and LAPACK internally to optimize various operations while still allowing the user to use a simple MATLAB like syntax.
- Changes to previous version:
This release adds a bunch of new image processing routines as well as many minor usability improvements and bug fixes.
- BibTeX Entry: Download
- Corresponding Paper BibTeX Entry: Download
- Supported Operating Systems: Linux, Macosx, Windows, Unix, Solaris
- Data Formats: Svmlight, Binary, Csv
- Tags: Svm, Classification, Clustering, Regression, Kernel Methods, Matrix Library, Kkmeans, Optimization, Algorithms, Exact Bayesian Methods, Approximate Inference, Bayesian Networks, Junction Tree
- Archive: download here
Other available revisons
Version Changelog Date 19.11 This release adds a bunch of new image processing routines as well as many minor usability improvements and bug fixes.
May 18, 2018, 04:19:52 19.9 This release removes the need for Boost.Python when using dlib via Python. This makes compiling the Python interface to dlib much easier as there are now no external dependencies.
January 23, 2018, 01:48:45 19.8 This release includes a lot of bug fixes, usability enhancements, and speedups. It also includes a new global optimization algorithm as well as new examples showing how to do semantic segmentation using dlib's deep learning tooling.
December 20, 2017, 03:29:02 19.7 This release upgrades dlib's CNN+MMOD object detector to support creating multi-class detectors. It also includes significant speed improvements, allowing the detector to run at 98fps when executed on a NVIDIA 1080ti GPU. This release also adds a new 5 point face landmarking model that is over 10x smaller than the 68 point model, runs faster, and works with both HOG and CNN generated face detections. It is now the recommended landmarking model to use for face alignment.
September 17, 2017, 15:10:23 19.6 This release brings a lot of new features to dlib. There is a dlib to caffe converter, a bunch of new deep learning layer types, cuDNN v6 and v7 support, and a bunch of optimizations that make things run faster in different situations, like ARM NEON support, which makes HOG based detectors run a lot faster on mobile devices. However, the coolest new feature is an upgrade to the CNN+MMOD object detector to support detecting objects with varying aspect ratios.
August 29, 2017, 00:24:32 19.5 This release brings a lot of new features to dlib. There is a dlib to caffe converter, a bunch of new deep learning layer types, cuDNN v6 and v7 support, and a bunch of optimizations that make things run faster in different situations, like ARM NEON support, which makes HOG based detectors run a lot faster on mobile devices. However, the coolest new feature is an upgrade to the CNN+MMOD object detector to support detecting objects with varying aspect ratios.
August 28, 2017, 01:54:41 19.3 This release adds a number of new features, most notably new deep learning tools including a state-of-the-art face recognition example using dlib's deep learning API. See http://dlib.net/dnn_face_recognition_ex.cpp.html for an introduction.
February 22, 2017, 04:37:31 19.2 This release adds a number of new features, most important of which is a deep convolutional neural network version of the max-margin object detection algorithm. This tool makes it very easy to create high quality object detectors. See http://dlib.net/dnn_mmod_ex.cpp.html for an introduction.
October 11, 2016, 01:54:09 19.1 This release adds support for cuDNN 5.1 as well as a number of minor bug fixes and usability improvements.
August 13, 2016, 20:24:13 19.0 This release adds a deep learning toolkit to dlib that has a clean and fully documented C++11 API. It also includes CPU and GPU support, binds to cuDNN, can train on multiple GPUs at a time, and comes with a pretrained imagenet model based on ResNet34.
The release also adds a number of other improvements such as new elastic net regularized solvers and QP solvers, improved MATLAB binding tools, and other usability tweaks and optimizations.
June 25, 2016, 23:04:08 18.18 This release has focused on build system improvements, both for the Python API and C++ builds using CMake. This includes adding a setup.py script for installing the dlib Python API as well as a make install target for installing a C++ shared library for non-Python use.
October 29, 2015, 01:48:44 18.17 This release adds new clustering tools as well as upgrades the shape_predictor to allow training on datasets with missing landmarks. It also includes bug fixes and minor usability improvements.
August 16, 2015, 04:33:39 18.16 This release adds a tool for solving linear model predictive control problems as well as improved python bindings and other usability improvements.
June 4, 2015, 04:50:55 18.15 This release adds an implementation of the least-squares policy iteration algorithm, a tool for plotting 3D point clouds, and a few bug fixes and usability improvements.
April 30, 2015, 03:49:28 18.14 This release adds an implementation of spectral clustering as well as a few bug fixes and usability improvements.
March 1, 2015, 23:51:06 18.13 In addition to a number of minor bug fixes and usability improvements, this release adds the following major features:
- A real-time video object tracker
- Python APIs for using dlib's shape prediction and face landmarking tools
February 4, 2015, 01:35:50 18.12 This release adds tools for computing 2D FFTs, Hough transforms, image skeletonizations, and also a simple and type safe API for calling C++ code from MATLAB.
December 20, 2014, 22:38:51 18.11 This release contains mostly minor bug fixes and usability improvements, with the notable exception of new routines for extracting local-binary-pattern features from images and improved tools for learning distance metrics.
November 13, 2014, 23:42:18 18.10 In addition to a number of usability improvements, this release adds an implementation of the recent paper "One Millisecond Face Alignment with an Ensemble of Regression Trees" by Vahid Kazemi and Josephine Sullivan. This includes tools for performing high quality face landmarking as well as tools for training new landmarking models. See the face_landmark_detection_ex.cpp and train_shape_predictor_ex.cpp example programs for an introduction.
August 29, 2014, 02:56:23 18.9 Fixed a bug in the way file serialization was being handled on MS Windows platforms.
June 17, 2014, 01:05:32 18.8 - Added the ability to set a previously trained function as a prior to the svm_multiclass_linear_trainer, svm_c_linear_trainer, and svm_rank_trainer objects.
Added a user settable loss to the structural_assignment_trainer and
structural_track_association_trainer objects.
- Added evaluate_detectors(), a function for efficiently running multiple fHOG based object detectors.
June 3, 2014, 01:54:28 18.7 The major new feature in this release is a Python API for training histogram-of-oriented-gradient based object detectors and examples showing how to use this type of detector to perform real-time face detection. Additionally, this release also adds simpler interfaces for learning to solve assignment and multi-target tracking problems.
April 10, 2014, 01:47:08 18.6 This release adds a tool for training histogram-of-oriented-gradient based object detectors and examples showing how to use this type of detector to perform real-time face detection. The release also adds multi-threaded training options for the multiclass classifiers as well as numerous other usability improvements.
February 4, 2014, 01:00:50 18.5 This release adds bound constrained non-linear optimizers using the BFGS and L-BFGS methods. It also includes a new tool for learning a max-margin Mahalanobis distance metric as well as routines for easily computing Felzenszwalb's 31 channel HOG image representation.
October 23, 2013, 00:58:35 18.4 This release has been focused on improving the speed and usability of dlib's structural support vector machine solver. This includes two new tutorial style example programs showing how to use the solver from either C++ or Python.
August 29, 2013, 01:06:53 18.3 This release brings a tool for solving large scale support vector regression problems to the library as well as a structural SVM tool for learning BIO or BILOU style sequence tagging models. It also adds python interfaces to a number of dlib's machine learning tools.
June 21, 2013, 23:53:04 18.2 This release has primarily focused on improving the flexibility and ease of use of the object detection tools.
June 1, 2013, 19:47:11 18.1 In addition to some bug fixes, this release also brings the following notable improvements to the library:
- The SURF feature extraction tool has higher matching accuracy than in previous dlib releases.
- The cutting plane optimizer is now faster
- A new tool for computing the singular value decomposition of very large matrices
- A new tool for performing canonical correlation analysis on large datasets
- A new tool for easily writing parallel for loops
March 25, 2013, 23:48:23 18.0 This release includes a large number of new minor features and usability improvements. It also includes a new machine learning tool for learning to rank objects. This is the dlib::svm_rank_trainer, an implementation of the well known SVM-Rank algorithm. Additionally, the implementation runs in O(n*log(n)) time and is therefore suitable for use with large training datasets.
February 5, 2013, 00:39:50 17.49 This release brings a number of new features to the library. The highlights include a probabilistic CKY parser, tools for creating applications using the Bulk Synchronous Parallel computing model, and two new clustering algorithms: Chinese Whispers and Newman's modularity clustering.
December 19, 2012, 01:39:59 17.48 In addition to a number of minor usability and feature improvements, this release also gives dlib's object detection tools the ability to model objects with movable parts.
October 19, 2012, 00:18:17 17.47 This release has focused on adding a set of graph cut algorithms. In particular, tools for finding the minimum weight cut on a graph, finding the MAP assignment of a Potts style Markov random field, and strucural SVM tools for learning the parameters of such a Markov model have been added.
June 16, 2012, 01:46:21 17.46 This release has focused mostly on minor usability and feature improvements. Some highlights are better support for learning to do sequence labeleing from unbalanced data, new image processing routines, and new tools for performing Kalman filtering and recursive least squares filtering.
April 12, 2012, 01:21:01 17.45 This release contains a number of new features and bug fixes. Some highlights are:
- A structural support vector machine method for learning to solve assignment problems.
- New feature extractors for detecting objects in images.
February 3, 2012, 00:39:10 17.44 This release contains a number of new features and bug fixes. Some highlights are:
- A structural support vector machine method for learning to do sequence labeling.
- A graph-based image segmentation tool.
November 22, 2011, 03:46:18 17.43 This release contains a number of new features and bug fixes. Some highlights are:
- A structural support vector machine method for learning to detect objects in images.
- Two new tools for finding the most likely assignment in a graphical model. One for chain-structured graphs and the other for approximate inference in general graphs.
October 23, 2011, 13:26:20 17.41 - Added optimizations to the threaded and distributed structural svm solvers for the case where there are many data samples and the separation oracle is quick to evaluate.
- Added Austin Appleby's excellent MurmurHash3.
- Various usability and documentation improvements.
June 12, 2011, 15:21:48 17.39 The structural support vector machine solver can now be distributed across many networked computers and multi-core processors.
May 22, 2011, 18:51:29 17.38 - Various usability improvements
- Improved the feature vector caching in the structural SVM solver
May 7, 2011, 17:47:26 17.37 - Added a multiclass SVM
- Added a tool for solving the optimization problem associated with structural support vector machines
- Added an implementation of the Hungarian algorithm for solving the optimal assignment problem
- Improved the efficiency of the cutting plane optimizer used for SVM training
- Added a ridge regression implementation optimized for use with the linear kernel
- Minor bug fixes
March 25, 2011, 02:05:14 17.34 This release includes new interfaces to the quadratic program solvers as well as implementations of C-SVM, epsilon-insensitive support vector regression, and one-class SVM algorithms. Additionally, general purpose tools for creating one-vs-one and one-vs-all multiclass classifiers have been added.
January 4, 2011, 01:14:19 17.33 The major new feature in this release is a general purpose trust region routine for performing non-linear optimization as well as a Levenberg-Marquardt implementation for solving non-linear least squares problems. This release also includes a variety of feature improvements and optimizations to the linear algebra support library.
December 5, 2010, 20:33:10 17.31 This release adds LAPACK support. In particular, now all matrix decomposition routines make use of LAPACK whenever DLIB_USE_LAPACK is #defined.
September 16, 2010, 05:34:32 17.30 Minor bug fixes
September 16, 2010, 05:34:10 17.31 This release adds LAPACK support. In particular, now all matrix decomposition routines make use of LAPACK whenever DLIB_USE_LAPACK is #defined.
September 16, 2010, 05:33:25 17.30 This release adds LAPACK support. In particular, now all matrix decomposition routines make use of LAPACK whenever DLIB_USE_LAPACK is #defined.
July 29, 2010, 03:08:47 17.29 This release adds a tool for performing kernel ridge regression on large datasets. It also implements an efficient method for computing leave-one-out cross-validation error rates. Finally, a new example program detailing the steps necessary to create custom matrix expressions is included.
July 25, 2010, 20:50:21 17.27 This release adds a non-linear SVM training algorithm capable of learning from very large datasets. It also adds a tool for performing large scale manifold regularization.
May 17, 2010, 03:56:36 17.26 This release adds a general purpose implementation of the OCA optimizer, OCAS SVM trainer, and support for loading and saving LIBSVM formatted data files.
March 7, 2010, 21:37:42 17.25 This release was primarily devoted to bug fixing and usability improvements.
February 6, 2010, 00:54:08 17.24 This release improves the documentation, adds a few example programs, and fixed some bugs. Additionally, the following new components have been added:
- A semi-supervised PCA
- A tool for computing empirical kernel maps
- The BOBYQA algorithm for box constrained derivative-free optimization
January 5, 2010, 01:17:24 17.22 This release adds a kernel cache and support for training on highly unbalanced data to the PEGASOS SVM training module. Additionally, the library now includes an implementation of the L-BFGS algorithm for unconstrained optimization.
September 11, 2009, 04:09:11 17.20 This release has been focused mostly on maintenance and usability improvements.
July 14, 2009, 03:04:23 17.18 This release adds kernels capable of operating on sparse vectors. It also includes various optimizations targeted at speeding up algorithms that operate with linear kernels.
April 6, 2009, 00:57:16 17.17 This release has two main updates:
- The Pegasos SVM training implementation now has a parameter to allow the user to directly control the number of output support vectors.
- The documentation has been cleaned up and example programs updated
March 17, 2009, 03:49:11 17.16 In addition to a lot of small usability improvements, this release adds a sparse kernelized version of the Pegasos SVM training algorithm.
March 9, 2009, 02:21:49 17.15 Initial Announcement on mloss.org.
June 13, 2008, 13:55:10
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AUSTIN, Texas — Lance Armstrong has finally come clean.
Armstrong confessed to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey taped Monday, just a couple of hours after a wrenching apology to staff at the Livestrong charity he founded and has now been forced to surrender.
The day ended with 2 1/2 hours of questions from Winfrey at a downtown Austin hotel, where she said the world's most famous cyclist was "forthcoming" as she asked him in detail about doping allegations that followed him throughout his seven Tour de France victories.
Speaking on "CBS This Morning," Winfrey said Tuesday she had not planned to address Armstrong's confession before the interview aired on her OWN network but, "by the time I left Austin and landed in Chicago, you all had already confirmed it."
"So I'm sitting here now because it's already been confirmed," she added.
The session was to be broadcast on Thursday but Winfrey said it will now run in two parts over two nights because there is so much material.
Winfrey would not characterize whether Armstrong seemed contrite but said he seemed ready for the interview. "I would say that he met the moment," she said.
"I don't think 'emotional' begins to describe the intensity or the difficulty he experienced in talking about some of these things."
The confession was a stunning reversal for a proud athlete and celebrity who sought lavish praise in the court of public opinion and used courtrooms to punish his critics.
For more than a decade, Armstrong dared anybody who challenged his version of events to prove it. Finally, he told the tale himself after promising over the weekend to answer Winfrey's questions "directly, honestly and candidly."
The cyclist was stripped of his Tour titles, lost most of his endorsements and was forced to leave Livestrong last year after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a damning, 1,000-page report that accused him of masterminding a long-running doping scheme.
The International Cycling Union, or UCI, issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was aware of the reports that Armstrong had confessed to Winfrey. The governing body for the sport urged Armstrong to tell his story to an independent commission it has set up to examine claims it covered up suspicious samples from the cyclist, accepted financial donations from him and helped him avoid detection in doping tests.
Armstrong started Monday with a visit to the headquarters of Livestrong, the charity he founded in 1997 and turned into a global force on the strength of his athletic dominance and personal story of surviving testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain.
About 100 Livestrong staff members gathered in a conference room as Armstrong told them "I'm sorry." He choked up during a 20-minute talk, expressing regret for the long-running controversy tied to performance-enhancers. He stopped short of admitting he used them.
Before he was done, several members were in tears when he urged them to continue the charity's mission, helping cancer patients and their families.
"Heartfelt and sincere," is how Livestrong spokeswoman Katherine McLane described his speech.
Armstrong later huddled with almost a dozen people before stepping into a room set up at a downtown Austin hotel for the interview with Winfrey. The group included close friends and lawyers. They exchanged handshakes and smiles, but declined comment.
Winfrey has promoted her interview, one of the biggest for OWN since she launched the network in 2011, as a "no-holds barred" session, and after the voluminous USADA report — which included testimony from 11 former teammates — she said she went into the session with 112 questions ready to go. Not all of them were asked, she said, but many were.
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, a longtime critic of Armstrong's, called the drug regimen practiced while Armstrong led the U.S. Postal Service team "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." USADA did not respond to requests for comment about Armstrong's confession.
For years, Armstrong went after his critics ruthlessly during his reign as cycling champion. He scolded some in public and didn't hesitate to punish outspoken riders during the race itself. He waged legal battles against still others in court.
At least one of his opponents, the London-based Sunday Times, has already filed a lawsuit to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel case, and Dallas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny Armstrong a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring another lawsuit seeking to recover more than $7.5 million awarded by an arbitration panel.
In Australia, the government of South Australia state said Tuesday it will seek the repayment of several million dollars in appearance fees paid to Armstrong for competing in the Tour Down Under in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
"We'd be more than happy for Mr. Armstrong to make any repayment of monies to us," South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said.
Betsy Andreu, the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, was one of the first to publicly accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs. She called news of Armstrong's confession "very emotional and very sad," and choked up when asked to comment.
"He used to be one of my husband's best friends and because he wouldn't go along with the doping, he got kicked to the side," she said. "Lance could have a positive impact if he tells the truth on everything. He's got to be completely honest."
Betsy Andreu testified in SCA's arbitration case challenging the bonus in 2005, saying Armstrong admitted in an Indiana hospital room in 1996 that he had taken many performance-enhancing drugs, a claim Armstrong vehemently denied.
"It would be nice if he would come out and say the hospital room happened," Andreu said. "That's where it all started."
Former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit that accused Armstrong of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service. An attorney familiar with Armstrong's legal problems told the AP that the Justice Department is highly likely to join the lawsuit. The False Claims Act lawsuit could result in Armstrong paying a substantial amount of money to the U.S. government. The deadline for the department to join the case is Thursday, though the department could seek an extension if necessary.
According to the attorney, who works outside the government, the lawsuit alleges that Armstrong defrauded the U.S. government based on his years of denying use of performance-enhancing drugs. The attorney spoke on condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak on the record about the matter.
The lawsuit most likely to be influenced by a confession might be the Sunday Times case. Potential perjury charges stemming from Armstrong's sworn testimony in the 2005 arbitration fight would not apply because of the statute of limitations. Armstrong was not deposed during the federal investigation that was closed last year.
Armstrong is said to be worth around $100 million. But most sponsors dropped him after USADA's scathing report — at the cost of tens of millions of dollars — and soon after, he left the board of Livestrong.
After the USADA findings, he was also barred from competing in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career. World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation.
Armstrong confesses to doping in interview with Oprah
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About the course
Cybersecurity attacks are increasing and evolving so rapidly that it is more difficult than ever to prevent and defend against them. Does your organization have an effective method in place to detect, thwart, and monitor external and internal threats to prevent security breaches? This course helps you master specific, proven techniques and tools needed to implement and audit the Critical Security Controls as documented by the Center for Internet Security (CIS).
As threats evolve, an organization's security should too. To enable your organization to stay on top of this ever-changing threat scenario, SANS has designed a comprehensive course on how to implement the Critical Security Controls, a prioritized, risk-based approach to security. Designed by private and public sector experts from around the world, the Controls are the best way to block known attacks and mitigate damage from successful attacks. They have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, state governments, universities, and numerous private firms.
The Controls are specific guidelines that CISOs, CIOs, IGs, systems administrators, and information security personnel can use to manage and measure the effectiveness of their defenses. They are designed to complement existing standards, frameworks, and compliance schemes by prioritizing the most critical threat and highest payoff defenses, while providing a common baseline for action against risks that we all face.
The Controls are an effective security framework because they are based on actual attacks launched regularly against networks. Priority is given to Controls that (1) mitigate known attacks (2) address a wide variety of attacks, and (3) identify and stop attackers early in the compromise cycle.
The British government's Center for the Protection of National Infrastructure describes the Controls as the "baseline of high-priority information security measures and controls that can be applied across an organisation in order to improve its cyber defence."
SANS' in-depth, hands-on training will teach you how to master the specific techniques and tools needed to implement and audit the Critical Controls. It will help security practitioners understand not only how to stop a threat, but why the threat exists, and how to ensure that security measures deployed today will be effective against the next generation of threats.
The course shows security professionals how to implement the controls in an existing network through cost-effective automation. For auditors, CIOs, and risk officers, the course is the best way to understand how you will measure whether the Controls are effectively implemented.
Course Syllabus
SEC566.1: Introduction and Overview of the 20 Critical Controls
During day 1, we will cover an introduction and overview of the Critical Security Controls, laying the foundation for the rest of the class. For each control the following information will be covered, and we will follow the same outline for each control:
- Overview of the Control
- How it is Compromised
- Defensive Goals
- Quick Win Controls
- Visibility and Attribution Controls
- Configuration and Hygiene Controls
- Advanced Controls
- Overview of Evaluating the Control
- Core Evaluation Test(s)
- Testing/Reporting Metrics
- Steps for Root Cause Analysis of Failures
- Audit/Evaluation Methodologies
- Evaluation Tools
- Exercise to Illustrate Implementation Or Steps for Auditing a Control
In addition, Critical Security Controls 1 and 2 will be covered in depth.
- Critical Control 1: Inventory of Authorized and Unauthorized Devices
- Any time a new device is installed on a network, the risks of exposing the network to unknown vulnerabilities or hampering its operation are present. Malicious code can take advantage of new hardware that is not configured and patched with appropriate security updates at the time of installation. Attackers can use these vulnerable systems to install backdoors before they are hardened. In automating critical control 1, it is critical for all devices to have an accurate and up-to-date inventory control system in place. Any device not in the database should be prohibited from connecting to the network. Some organizations maintain asset inventories by using specific large-scale enterprise commercial products or by using free solutions to track and sweep the network periodically. To evaluate the implementation of Control 1 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team will connect hardened test systems to at least 10 locations on the network. This will include a selection of subnets associated with DMZs, workstations, and servers.
- Critical Control 2: Inventory of Authorized and Unauthorized Software
- An organization without the ability to inventory and control its computers' installed programs makes its systems more vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, poorly controlled machines are more likely to be running software that is unneeded for business purposes, introducing potential security flaws. Compromised systems become a staging point for attackers to collect sensitive information. In order to combat this potential threat, an organization should scan a network and identify known or responding applications. Commercial software and asset inventory tools are widely available. The best tools provide an inventory check of hundreds of common applications, pulling information about the patch level of each installed program. This ensures that it is the latest version and that it leverages standardized application names, like those found in the Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) specification. In addition to inventory checks, tools that implement whitelists (allow) and blacklists (deny) of programs are included in many modern end-point security suites. To evaluate the implementation of Control 2 on a periodic basis, the team must move a benign software test program that is not included in the authorized software list on 10 systems on the network. The team must then verify that the software is blocked and unable to run.
CPE/CMU Credits: 6
SEC566.2: Critical Controls 3, 4, 5 and 6
During day 2, we will cover Critical Security Controls 3, 4, 5 and 6.
- Critical Control 3: Secure Configurations for Hardware and Software on Laptops, Workstations, and Servers
- Default configurations of software are often geared to ease-of-deployment and ease-of-use and not security, leaving some systems exploitable in their default state. Attackers attempt to exploit both network-accessible services and client software using various forms of malware. Without the ability to inventory and control installed and running, enterprises make their systems more vulnerable. Organizations can implement this control by developing a series of images and secure storage servers for hosting these standard images. Configuration management tools can be employed to measure the settings of the installed software and to look for deviations from the standard image configurations used by the organization. To evaluate the implementation of Control 3 on a periodic basis, an evaluation team must move a benign test system (one that does not contain the official hardened image, but does contain additional services, ports, and configuration files changes) onto the network. The evaluation team must then verify that the systems generate an alert or e-mail notice regarding the changes to the software.
- Critical Control 4: Continuous Vulnerability Assessment and Remediation
- Soon after new vulnerabilities are discovered and reported by security researchers or vendors, attackers engineer exploit code and launch it against targets of interest. Any significant delays finding or fixing software with critical vulnerabilities provides ample opportunity for persistent attackers to break through and gain control of vulnerable machines. A large number of vulnerability scanning tools are available to evaluate the security configuration of systems. The most effective vulnerability scanning tools compare the results of the current scan with previous scans to determine how the vulnerabilities in the environment have changed over time. All machines identified by the asset inventory system must be scanned for vulnerabilities. To evaluate the implementation of Control 4 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team must verify that scanning tools have successfully completed their weekly or daily scans.
- Critical Control 5: Controlled Use of Administrative Privileges
- The most common method attackers use to infiltrate a target enterprise is through an employee's own misuse of administrator privileges. An attacker can easily convince a workstation user to open a malicious e-mail attachment, download and open a file from a malicious site, or surf to a site that automatically downloads malicious content. If the user is logged in as an administrator, the attacker has full access to the system. Built-in operating system features can extract lists of accounts with super-user privileges, both locally on individual systems and on overall domain controllers. These accounts should be monitored and tracked very closely. To evaluate the implementation of Control 5 on a periodic basis, an evaluation team must verify that the organization's password policy is enforced and administrator accounts are carefully controlled. The evaluation team does this by creating a temporary, disabled, limited privilege test account on ten different systems. It then attempts to change the password on the account to a value that does not meet the organization's password policy.
- Critical Control 6: Maintenance, Monitoring, and Analysis of Audit Logs
- At times, audit logs provide the only evidence of a successful attack. Many organizations keep audit records for compliance purposes but rarely review them. When audit logs are not reviewed, organizations do not know their systems have been compromised. Attackers rely on this. Most free and commercial operating systems, network services, and firewall technologies offer logging capabilities. Such logging should be activated, and logs should be sent to centralized logging servers. The system must be capable of logging all events across the network. The logging must be validated across both network and host-based systems. To evaluate the implementation of Control 6 on a periodic basis, an evaluation team must review the security logs of various network devices, servers, and hosts.
CPE/CMU Credits: 6
SEC566.3: Critical Controls 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
During day 3, we will cover Critical Security Controls 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11.
- Critical Control 7: Email and Web Browser Protections
- Web browsers and email clients are very common points of entry and attack because of their high technical complexity and flexibility, and their direct interaction with users and within the other systems and websites. Content can be crafted to entice of spoof users into taking actions that greatly increase risk and allow introduction of malicious code, loss of valuable data, and other attacks. Organizations must minimize the attack surface and the opportunities for attackers to manipulate human behavior through their interaction with web browsers and email systems.
- Critical Control 8: Malware Defenses
- Malicious software is an integral and dangerous aspect of Internet threats. It targets end users and organizations via Web browsing, e-mail attachments, mobile devices, and other vectors. Malicious code may tamper with a system's contents, capture sensitive data, and spread to other systems. To ensure anti-virus signatures are up-to-date, effective organizations use automation. They use the built-in administrative features of enterprise endpoint security suites to verify that anti-virus, anti-spyware, and host-based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) features are active on every managed system. They also run automated assessments daily and review the results to find and mitigate systems that have deactivated such protections or do not have the latest malware definitions. The system must identify any malicious software that is either installed, attempted to be installed, executed, or attempted to be executed, on a computer system. To evaluate the implementation of Control 8 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team must move a benign software test program appearing to be malware onto a system and make sure it is properly discovered and remediated.
- Critical Control 9: Limitation and Control of Network Ports, Protocols, and Services
- Attackers search for remotely accessible network services that are vulnerable to exploitation. Many software packages automatically install services and turn them on as part of the installation of the main software package. When this occurs, the software rarely informs a user that the services have been enabled. Port scanning tools are used to determine which services are listening on the network for a range of target systems. In addition to determining which ports are open, effective port scanners can be configured to identify the version of the protocol and service listening on each discovered open port. The system must be capable of identifying any new unauthorized listening network ports that are connected to the network. To evaluate the implementation of Control 9 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team must install hardened test services with network listeners on ten locations on the network, including a selection of subnets associated with DMZs, workstations, and servers.
- Critical Control 10: Data Recovery Capability (validated manually)
- When attackers compromise machines, they often make significant changes to configurations and software. Sometimes attackers also make subtle alterations of data stored on compromised machines, potentially jeopardizing organizational effectiveness with polluted information. Once per quarter, a testing team should evaluate a random sample of system backups by attempting to restore them on a test bed environment. The restored systems should be verified to ensure that the operating system, application, and datum from the backup are all intact and functional.
- Critical Control 11: Secure Configurations for Network Devices such as Firewalls, Routers, and Switches
- Attackers penetrate defenses by searching for electronic holes in firewalls, routers, and switches. Once these network devices have been exploited, attackers can gain access to target networks, redirect traffic on that network (to a malicious system masquerading as a trusted system), and intercept and alter information while in transmission. Organizations can use commercial tools that will evaluate the rule set of network filtering devices, which determine whether they are consistent or in conflict and provide an automated check of network filters. Additionally, these commercial tools search for errors in rule sets. Such tools should be run each time significant changes are made to firewall rule sets, router ACLs, or other filtering technologies. To evaluate the implementation of Control 11 on a periodic basis, an evaluation team must make a change to each type of network device plugged into the network. At a minimum, routers, switches, and firewalls need to be tested. If they exist, IPS, IDS, and other network devices must be included.
CPE/CMU Credits: 6
SEC566.4: Critical Controls 12, 13, 14 and 15
During day 4, we will cover Critical Security Controls 12, 13, 14 and 15.
- Critical Control 12: Boundary Defense
- By attacking Internet-facing systems, attackers can create a relay point to break into other networks or internal systems. Automated tools can be used to exploit vulnerable entry points into a network. To control the flow of traffic through network borders and to look for attacks and evidence of compromised machines, boundary defenses should be multi-layered. These boundaries should consist of firewalls, proxies, DMZ perimeter networks, and network-based intrusion prevention systems and intrusion detection systems. Organizations should regularly test these sensors by launching vulnerability-scanning tools. These tools verify that the scanner traffic triggers an appropriate alert. The captured packets of the Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) sensors should be reviewed using an automated script each day, which ensures log volumes are within expected parameters, are formatted properly, and have not been corrupted. To evaluate the implementation of Control 12 on a periodic basis, an evaluation team must test boundary devices. This is done by sending packets from outside a trusted network, which ensures that only authorized packets are allowed through the boundary. All other packets must be dropped.
- Critical Control 13: Data Protection
- The loss of protected and sensitive data is a serious threat to business operations, and potentially, national security. While some data is leaked or lost as a result of theft or espionage, the vast majority of these problems result from poorly understood data practices. These include, but are not limited to, a lack of effective policy architectures and user error. The phrase "Data Loss Prevention" (DLP) refers to a comprehensive approach covering people, processes, and systems that identify, monitor, and protect data in use (e.g., endpoint actions), data in motion (e.g., network actions), and data at rest (e.g., data storage) through deep content inspection and with a centralized management framework. Commercial DLP solutions are available to look for exfiltration attempts and detect other suspicious activities associated with a protected network holding sensitive information. The system must be capable of identifying unauthorized datum leaving the organization's systems whether via network file transfers or removable media. To evaluate the implementation of Control 13 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team must attempt to move test datum sets (that trigger DLP systems but do not contain sensitive data) outside of the trusted computing environment via both network file transfers and via removable media.
- Critical Control 14: Controlled Access Based On Need to Know
- Some organizations do not carefully identify and separate sensitive data from less sensitive, publicly available information within an internal network. In many environments, internal users have access to all or most of the information on the network. Once attackers have penetrated such a network, they can easily find and exfiltrate important information with little resistance. This control is often implemented using the built-in separation of administrator accounts from non-administrator accounts. The system must be able to detect all attempts by users to access files without the appropriate privileges and must generate an alert or e-mail for administrative personnel. This includes information on local systems or network accessible file shares. To evaluate the implementation of Control 14 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team must create test accounts with limited access and verify that the account is unable to access controlled information.
- Critical Control 15: Wireless Device Control
- Attackers who gain wireless access to an organization from nearby parking lots have initiated major data thefts. This allows attackers to bypass an organization to maintain long-term access inside a target. Effective organizations run commercial wireless scanning, detection, and discovery tools as well as commercial wireless intrusion detection systems. The system must be capable of identifying unauthorized wireless devices or configurations when they are within range of the organization's systems or connected to its networks. To evaluate the implementation of Control 15 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team staff must configure unauthorized but hardened wireless clients and wireless access points to the organization's network. It must also attempt to connect them to the organization's wireless networks. These access points must be detected and remediated in a timely manner.
CPE/CMU Credits: 6
SEC566.5: Critical Controls 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20
During day 5, we will cover Critical Security Controls 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20.
- Critical Control 16: Account Monitoring and Control
- Attackers frequently impersonate legitimate users through inactive user accounts. This method makes it difficult for network watchers to identify attackers' behavior. Although most operating systems include capabilities for logging information about account usage, these features are sometimes disabled by default. Security personnel can configure systems to record more detailed information about account access and utilize homegrown scripts or third-party log analysis tools to analyze this information. The system must be capable of identifying unauthorized user accounts when they exist on the system. To evaluate the implementation of Control 16 on a periodic basis, the evaluation team must verify that the list of locked out accounts, disabled accounts, accounts with passwords that exceed the maximum password age, and accounts with passwords that never expire has successfully been completed daily.
- Critical Control 17: Security Skills Assessment and Appropriate Training to Fill Gaps (validated manually)
- An organization hoping to find and respond to attacks effectively relies on its employees and contractors to find the gaps and fill them. A solid security skills assessment program can provide actionable information to decision makers about where security awareness needs to be improved. It can also help determine proper allocation of limited resources to improve security practices. The key to upgrading skills is measurement, not with certification examinations, but with assessments that show both the employee and the employer where knowledge is sufficient and where there are gaps. Once the gaps have been identified, those employees who have the requisite knowledge can be called upon to mentor the employees who do not. The organization can also develop training programs that directly maintain employee readiness.
- Critical Control 18: Application Software Security
- Criminal organizations frequently attack vulnerabilities in both web-based and non-web-based application software. In fact, it is a top priority for criminals. Application software is vulnerable to remote compromise in three ways:
- It does not properly check the size of user input
- It fails to sanitize user input by filtering out potentially malicious character sequences
- It does not initialize and clear variables properly
- To avoid attacks, internally developed and third party application software must be carefully tested to find security flaws. Source code testing tools, web application security scanning tools, and object code testing tools have proven useful in securing application software. Another useful tool is manual application security penetration testing by testers who have extensive programming knowledge and application penetration testing expertise. The system must be capable of detecting and blocking an application-level software attack, and must generate an alert or send e-mail to enterprise administrative personnel. To evaluate the implementation of Control 18 on a monthly basis, an evaluation team must use a web application vulnerability scanner to test software security flaws.
- Criminal organizations frequently attack vulnerabilities in both web-based and non-web-based application software. In fact, it is a top priority for criminals. Application software is vulnerable to remote compromise in three ways:
- Critical Control 19: Incident Response and Management (validated manually)
- Without an incident response plan, an organization may not discover an attack in the first place. Even if the attack is detected, the organization may not follow proper procedures to contain damage, eradicate the attacker's presence, and recover in a secure fashion. Thus, the attacker may have far higher impact on the target organization, causing more damage, infecting more systems, and possibly exfiltrating more sensitive data than would otherwise be possible. After defining detailed incident response procedures, the incident response team should engage in periodic scenario-based training. This includes, but is not limited to, working through a series of attack scenarios that are fine-tuned to the threats and vulnerabilities the organization faces.
- Critical Control 20: Penetration Tests and Red Team Exercises (validated manually)
- Attackers penetrate networks and systems through social engineering and by exploiting vulnerable software and hardware. Penetration testing involves mimicking the actions of computer attackers, and exploiting them to determine what kind of access an attacker can gain. Each organization should define a clear scope and the rules of engagement for penetration testing and red team analyses. The scope of such projects should include, at least, systems with the highest value information and production processing functionality.
CPE/CMU Credits: 6
Who Should Attend
- Information assurance auditors
- System implementers or administrators
- Network security engineers
- IT administrators
- Department of Defense (DoD) personnel or contractors
- Federal agencies or clients
- Private sector organizations looking to improve information assurance processes and secure their systems
- Security vendors and consulting groups looking to stay current with frameworks for information assurance
Alumni of
- SEC440: 20 Critical Security Controls: Planning, Implementing and Auditing
- SEC401: SANS Security Essentials Bootcamp Style
- SEC501: Advanced Security Essentials - Enterprise Defender
- MGT512: SANS Security Leadership Essentials For Managers with Knowledge Compression™
- Other SANS Audit courses
What You Will Receive
In this course, you will receive the following:
- MP3 audio files of the complete course lecture
You Will Be Able To
- Apply a security framework based on actual threats that is measurable, scalable, and reliable in stop- ping known attacks and protecting organizations' important information and systems
- Understand the importance of each control, how it is compromised if ignored, and explain the defesive goals that result in quick wins and increased visibility of network and systems
- Identify and utilize tools that implement controls through automation
- Learn how to create a scoring tool for measuring the effectiveness of each controls the effectiveness of each control
- Employ specific metrics to establish a baseline and measure the effectiveness of security controls
- Understand how critical controls map to standards such as NIST 800-53, ISO 27002, the Australian Top 35, and more
- Audit each of the critical security controls, with specific, proven templates, checklists, and scripts provided to facilitate the audit process


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By Krzysztof Maria Różański, (Upior polnocy) (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
For several years, New Year's Eve always meant my sister Mary Jollette would have her friend Gail over for the night. It became a tradition for awhile. They enjoyed the sparklers too. Sometimes they played games.
It looks like I was off to a good start buying up properties around the Monopoly board. For some reason, I liked the railroads and utilities. |
What is Gail pouring into that beer stein? |
I actually remember that polka dot dress Gail is modeling, but I have no idea what that plaid sailor number is that Mary Jollette found. That salute! Good grief! |


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San Francisco is a beautiful city, home to millions, and as diverse as any in the world. From architecture to coastal beauty, there is something in this city for everyone. Photographically, there are numerous places to shoot, and people often don't have the time to visit all of them so they want to come along on a "best of" type tour. And that's just what we provide. Aperture Academy instructors have scanned the city for some of the best locations to get amazing images, as well as the best areas for opportunities to teach many of the camera functions that give photographers (of all skill levels) difficulties or confusion.
On this workshop, a group of eager photographers met professional photogs Brian Rueb and Scott Donschikowski at Baker Beach for a brief orientation, to allow our instructors to familiarize themselves with the students' experience level, gear, and expectations. It also gives the class a chance to familiarize themselves with the instructors, the other students, and ask any questions they may have about the day.
Once the formalities were done, it was time to SHOOT! The class set out to Baker Beach for a first shoot of the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. The first spot serves primarily as a location to go over the cameras and help newer students get accustomed to the manual settings. For more experienced shooters, we work more on composition and how to use leading lines of the surf and neighboring hills to help draw the eye into the frame. The students started to grasp some of the basic order of operations when setting up their shots (f-stop, shutter speed, then ISO if necessary). As they started to shoot, their minds were appropriately on continually changing settings as the light changed.
We didn't spend too long at Baker, as we had much more interesting locations to visit. The next stop was the old civil war garrison, Fort Point. Located directly under the Golden Gate Bridge, this piece of war history offers not only stunning views of the bridge, but exciting architectural nooks and crannies to photograph, as well.
Inside the fort, the class split into two smaller groups so Scott and Brian could take them around the fort into some of the more intimate areas, where larger groups would have difficulty photographing. In this section of the class, we typically visit areas that not only provide interesting compositional elements, such as repetitive shape and extreme symmetry, but also provide different lighting opportunities.
It's all artificial light in the powder room and with the row after row of repetitive barrel shapes, there is really a lot of different options for composition, such as shallow focus or more detailed shots of the whole area! The repetitive doorways of the officer's wing provides mixed natural and artificial light to work with, and the brick archways on the second floor are a great way to work in all natural light and begin to use the graduated neutral density filters to show how we can balance areas that are even a little brighter on one side of the shot.
These places are only a bit of the wonders in Fort Point. There are so many magical little twists and turns that one really needs to explore it for themselves to find their own images. We turned our group loose the last half of this location so they could wander and explore each nook and each cranny (what is a cranny?). While they explored, the instructors worked the fort in a game of "find the photographer" and then helped each student work on capturing the images they'd found in the magical fort.
When we left Fort Point, everyone had worked up an appetite and it was time to grab a late lunch/early dinner in Sausalito before heading out for sunset at the iconic Rodeo Beach.
Rodeo Beach is a wonderful little spot on the Marin Headlands. When you walk out on the sandy beach to the little cove and look out at the craggy sea stacks right off shore, it's hard to imagine that you're only a few miles from one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. We spread out across the rocky shoreline and Scott and Brian helped each student find a nice composition using the curves of the rocks in the beach, and how to balance them all out with the nearby sea stacks.
Once it was show time, Brian and Scott helped everyone dial in their compositions. They helped those with filters work with them to get the best results, and helped those without filters use one of the instructor's filters to see how they really help to balance exposure. We also used the polarizer to help bring out the reflections in the sand and give the sky some real nice contrast. There were SO many good shots on the students' cameras!
The sunset was great and faded fast, but we always like to end our class with a bang, so we made one last stop at the top of the headlands overlooking San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.
One student had seen the shot we have of the bridge in the gallery, and was really excited to finally get his shot to make his own version, and better yet, understand HOW it was made. "I'm like a kid in a candy store," he said, as he looked at the shot on his view screen.
That's the best part about photography, once the mystery has been erased from the creation process, it's all about enjoying the outcome!
Here's to enjoying photography,
Until next time,
Brian, Scott and the rest of The Aperture Academy Team
P.S. If you'd like to join us at one of our workshops, you can find the schedule/sign up here.
NOTE: You can see more workshop photos below the comments here.
Other Cool Stuff→ Past Workshop Photos → 72dpi.com → How-To Articles → Photographer of the Month |
Contact Us→ Contact Us → About Us → Site Map |


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Big Daddy Kane - Another Victory Lyrics
Big Daddy Kane Lyrics
Another Victory Lyrics
[Verse 1:]
Here comes the conquering brother that fathoms and never ceases.
Violators pick up the pieces (uh)
That are left behind as you're left to find
The fury of the five fingers of death are mine,
Rippin' on the microphone, receitin' poem,
Givin' competition a Big Daddy syndrome.
Some step up, (mmm) none kept up (mmm).
They rap a brief moment and then shut up.
Lips are sealed because all of this is real.
I'm not about frontin', I tell the real deal of society (what);
So how we livin,
Like a turkey on Thanksgiving or like Robin Gibbons?
Not to offend,
I just want you to comprehend every message I send (tell 'em),
'Cause I don't understand, I have to wonder, damn,
How could this lifestyle be fun to man,
To see a brother gettin' paid undercover,
Sellin' drugs to one another,
'Cause all the glamour you get is miscillaneous
And all the product you sell is real dangerous
Like um, um, let's say, un, poison,
Destruction to all your own boys and girls who like to buy and give it a try,
Admire and can't deny the high, that's why they soon die.
These are the games that a fool would play today
For our own kind to decay.
No sign of brotherly love,
Just scavengers in search of.....
[Another victory cut and scratched]
[Verse 2:]
When I'm ridin' in my Volvo, cops harass me.
They never ride past me, they hound me like Lassie,
Wantin' to give me a summons or a ticket.
Huh, I got a place for them to stick it (kick it).
They can't understand to see a black man
Drivin' a car that costs 25 grand.
The first thing they say is "Where'd you steal her?"
And then they assume that I'm a drug dealer.
Huh, that just makes me wanna laugh,
'Cause now I'm a star and your son got my autograph,
So all the cops on the highway gettin' me,
My name ain't Kieth, so could you please stop Sweatin' me
So I can flow and go on, so on and so on
To all the jams Cee throw on.
Reachin' a summit as you learn from it,
A lesson taught from yours truly, so here cometh
The royal majesty, others have to be
Fully prepared, though they still won't last with me,
So when you hope to hang or even handle,
I'll show the meaning of power and just cancel (period).
Out of order, conquer and slaughter,
You're comin' up shorter, boy, you'll need more to
Compete 'cause the heat is deep in concrete,
Defeat, bring up the fleet, flee 'fore we meet
Or stay away, puttin' new rhymes on layaway.
Then come get this when you're ready for business
'Cause aaaaah yeah, I'm with this (I'm ready).
Yo, Mister Cee, what is this?
[Repeat chorus]
[Verse 3:]
MC's and enemies I freeze at 32 degrees
Because they can't drop rhymes like these.
Competition never saw none done,
So pay attention as I mention the 411.
Just the other day, I heard a brother say,
"Taxi cabs don't even come my way.
They all be afraid they won't get paid
So they zoom right past and pick up a lighter shade,
And if they stop, the first thing they want,
No more than two people and the money up-front,
Treatin' me like I'm some type of thug.
It might sound bugged but they don't wanna get mugged."
Who's in the right or wrong? It's time to unite along
The righteous with a walk in success and be strong.
Instead of lookin' for someone to beef with,
A brother like the Big Daddy Kane is peace with
Rappers of today like (Kid'N'Play),
Hey, even my man L.L. Cool J,
(Stetsasonic) and EPMD,
Public Enemy and (BDP),
Salt 'N' Pepa 'cause we can't sever never,
Wheihter, whatever, we better stand together.
That means unite, not fightin' or fussin' or cussin'.
Save all the base for the pipe and start lovin'
One another 'cause separation is a flaw,
So endure for more and stop lookin'; for....
[Repeat chorus 'till end]
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If so, then this post is for you.
But everyone else will probably like it, too.
Aww. And that's really saying something, guys.
Finally, chocolate icing done right! Don't the swirls look like little bird nests?
With Valentine's Day being a more intimate holiday [rawr], we see lots of sweet mini-cakes for the occasion:
This technique of overlapping the edge with a heart border is genius. GENIUS, I say.
Ack! So cute!
Here's a beautifully made version of Bakerella's box of chocolates cake:
(See what I did there?)
After all, there are still gems like this:
Seriously, check out the texture on the icing "icing." (Heh.) It looks like a gigantic spatula smoothed it on: just perfect!
And now some regular size cupcakes:
Louise over at Cake Journal has long been one of my favorite bakers:
And I am so jealous.
And finally, a Sweet that reminds me of a cheery, old-fashioned carnival:
Now, who's ready [eyebrow waggle]...for love?
Or maybe a slice of cake?
Yep, right there with you. Pass the milk, please. ;)


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Now streaming on:
There is a shot about a third of the way through "Like Someone in Love" of a pretty, perky young lady emerging from an apartment bathroom a different woman. Her hair no longer tied up in a bun but falling wide at her shoulders, her feet bare, her legs no longer moving with girlish timidity but easing along in languid strides that show off their shapeliness. She moves down the hallway to the bedroom, turned away from the camera as the rustle of her simple dress fills the silence. An invitation.
The effect is nearly as jaw-dropping as the helicopter attack in "Apocalypse Now," a quiet demonstration of shock and awe. She's in the apartment of an elderly professor, and he wasn't expecting this. How did writer-director Abbas Kiarostami choose to convey this moment of attempted seduction? A tracking shot behind the woman's swaying hips? A slow pan up the curve of her calves as she slinks away? A panicked handheld shot of the professor reacting to this provocation? No, he just offers a steady view of her trip to the bedroom, letting the moment breathe softly into our ears. An Iranian, Kiarostami has learned from the restrictions his government imposed upon filmmakers how to convey sensuality and smoldering inner life in ways that would force a censor to confess to having a filthy mind.
Unlike many of his Iranian peers, Kiarostami didn't encounter much censorship during production of classics like "Close-Up" and "Taste of Cherry" but simply found some of his films banned. He once analyzed the situation: "I think they don't understand my films and so prevent them being shown just in case there is a message they don't want to get out."
That was when Kiarostami was still working in Iran. He started making films a decade before the Iranian Revolution but stayed for decades after many colleagues fled the authoritarian regime. His rationale was that not remaining rooted in one place would have an effect on his filmmaking like constantly uprooting and replanting a tree would have on its fruit. After directing nearly 50 "rooted" films, he's now roaming the earth. His 2010 masterpiece, "Certified Copy," was shot in Italy and this one takes place in Japan. Yet the tight formal control and discretion remain. These strange new entries in an already strange and unpredictable filmography are the harvest of 40 years.
The befuddled but wise professor in "Like Someone in Love" struck me as a Kiarostami avatar, dispensing his wisdom to the young call girl/college student who ends up in his apartment by happenstance — which, typical of Kiarostami, is the result of many offscreen events that our imaginations must provide. (And if you're looking for a plot description right about now: sorry, friend. There is something like a plot unfolding in this film, but it's best discovered cold.)
The filmmaker is interested, as ever, in shape-shifting roles, surfaces and relationships, but Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), the acclaimed professor who finds himself caught in the middle of a young couple's turmoil, sounds a lot like the somewhat conservative and male chauvinist Kiarostami, who once told an interviewer that men are work-oriented whereas women are affection-oriented; that "marriage is essential for all women." (Kiarostami condemns one character who failed in life's marriage sweepstakes by framing her in a claustrophobic window sill that might as well be at Tochigi prison.)
The director who usually seems stoic because of his ubiquitous aviator shades, but actually wears them because of sensitivity to light, likewise keeps a tidy frame with precise, geometric arrangements and movements but is quite tender when relating a moment of affection or protectiveness. As with other great directors who understand the power of the frame, the former quality supports the latter. When the would-be seductress Akikio (Rin Takanshi) first explores Takashi's apartment, Kiarostami pans along at her pace, allowing us a tour of his bursting bookshelves and papers piled everywhere. Takashi's life story is told through carefully placed family photos and artworks.
Later, we learn that the professor has assumed the role of the call girl's "father" with almost desperate passion — not from histrionics or speeches but through revealing, repetitive actions. Messages on his antiquated answering machine let us infer that he's breaking a longstanding orderly routine to become this girl's protector. He ignores all business calls the instant he learns she's in trouble, and gets to his feet with as much vigor as an often desk-bound 80-year-old can muster.
All of which might sound pretty slight, but Kiarostami's eye and ear render it all in an intriguingly odd, often absurd light. So many of his long-take compositions could stand up to hours of museum scrutiny, which is not surprising for a commercial-illustrator-turned-director who has been experimenting with ways to suggest as many possibilities in a single (sometimes rock solid, sometimes constantly shifting) frame as possible since 1970.
Many critics have noted the wondrously jam-packed and disorienting opening shot inside a nightclub, but every shot in the film, really, is its own universe. Window panes and mirrors often relieve Kiarostami from cutting to and fro by including an offscreen character in a gorgeously warped, faded reflection. His joy in discovering a shimmering new canvas, the city of Tokyo, comes through in each cut to something quietly astonishing. It helps that sound designer Mohammad Reza Delpak makes such an enveloping "score" out of Tokyo's ambient urban cacophony.
Some critics who saw the film at Cannes last year had trouble with how abruptly and weirdly it ends. I'm semi-spoiling it for you now so that maybe you'll make less of it. The characters in "Like Someone in Love" are not very strong-willed or dynamic. The promise of income and social advancement in a ruthless economy lure them to adopt roles that fit them uncomfortably, which further prompts them to take on other roles that help conceal their shame and vulnerability.
Kiarostami presents indefinite people with indefinite motivations and desires. The way this film ends is perfect, I've decided (after wrestling with it for a few weeks) because it's a bracing slap to the face of not just these characters who have been slumming, pretending and withholding, but to many of us who might be going through life on some kind of autopilot. The film's craziest, most easily mocked character emerges as the one most fully alive. Old Kiarostami, master of paradoxes, is set in his ways, but his ways are never set.
109 minutes


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It's the very essence of the American dream: an irrepressible confidence that our children will live better than we do.
And now it is gone.
It has been slipping for some time, really, but a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll this month put an exclamation point on Americans' lost optimism.
When asked whether "life for our children's generation will be better than it has been for us," fully 76 percent said they do not have such confidence. Only 21 percent did. That was the worst ever recorded in the poll; in 2001, 49 percent were confident and 42 percent not.
When you look closer, things seem even worse, if that's possible. I called Fred Yang, the Democratic pollster who conducted the survey along with Republican Bill McInturff, and he told me the pessimism was universal.
The wealthy were as down as the poor (75 percent and 73 percent, respectively) and even those who felt that they were doing well personally didn't think their children would do as well (61 percent). Women are as grim as men, and there's little difference according to race (whites are slightly more pessimistic and Hispanics slightly less) or by region of the U.S. (Westerners are slightly less gloomy than the others).
The young are relatively less pessimistic than the old (64 percent to 86 percent) but still plenty discouraged in absolute terms. Republicans (88 percent) were more dour than Democrats (61 percent), just as Democrats were more dour than Republicans when the question was asked in 2006 (71 percent to 56 percent) during a similar stage in George W. Bush's presidency.
In other words, the gloom goes beyond wealth, gender, race, region, age and ideology. This fractious nation is united by one thing: lost faith in the United States.
Certainly, some of the dark outlook has to do with the slow economic recovery. And there's justification for the pessimism: Millennials are, by some measures, the first generation in U.S. history to see a decline in living standards. But now the economy is improving measurably, and optimism hasn't followed. "I keep thinking, boy, these numbers are going to turn around, and they don't turn around. They're enduring," said Andrew Kohut, founding director of the Pew Research Center.
Kohut attributes the phenomenon to structural problems such as income inequality, and he notes that people in other advanced countries have also been more pessimistic since the 2008 economic collapse. That's true, but Americans were already plenty pessimistic about the next generation (65 percent to 27 percent) back in 2006, when the economy was strong.
Yang's suspicion, which I share, is that something deeper is also at work: Americans are reacting, in part, to the breakdown of the political system, which leaves people quite rationally worried about American decline and the nation's diminishing ability to weather crises.
"One of the hallmarks of being an American is the optimism that your children will be better off," Yang told me. The lost optimism, he said, "says a lot about how shaken we are by the inability of our political system to address seemingly easy issues, and it leaves us worried about the future."
In a narrow sense, this is good news for President Obama because it means the problem is not of his making but the result of two decades of scorched-earth politics. That's bad news for the rest of us, though, because the problem is larger than any leader's ability to bring hope and change.
For much of U.S. history, optimism was a given. The Washington Post's polling analyst, Scott Clement, came up with a 1942 survey by Princeton University's Office of Public Opinion Research that found U.S. parents, by 43 percent to 27 percent, expected their children to be better off in 20 years. A Roper poll in 1983 found that 54 percent thought it likely that children would have a better life than their parents, versus 44 percent who didn't. In 1990, the WSJ/NBC poll found the optimists besting the pessimists, 50 percent to 45 percent.
Virtually all polling shows a steep decline in optimism since the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Yang doesn't see that improving much. "The unsettledness of the public is what is normal now," he said. "To me, this is less about economic reality than about our political system – our lack of confidence that our political leaders, regardless of party, are equipped to deal with the future."
Dana Milbank is a columnist for The Washington Post. He can be contacted at:
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