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One thing that makes modern humans special is our ability to build communities. Now, researchers have new findings on how Neanderthals - our distant cousins - built clans of their own. NPR's Geoff Brumfiel has more.
GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE: Neanderthals get a bad rap as cave-dwelling thugs with clubs. Laurits Skov says you really need to get that picture out of your head.
LAURITS SKOV: You know, this image of Neanderthals being brutes is not quite accurate. The more we learn about them, the more like humans they actually appear to be.
BRUMFIEL: They can make tools, sew clothes, and they lived in communities. But what did those communities look like? Well, that's been a little bit of an open question until now. Skov is a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and he's been looking at Neanderthals found in two caves in central Russia. Well, OK, he hasn't actually been to the caves.
SKOV: I really wanted to, but then 2020 happened with the COVID pandemic and now with the war between Russia and Ukraine...
BRUMFIEL: But he's been studying the bones - drilling tiny holes and then extracting their DNA. It's delicate work.
SKOV: One drop of my sweat would outweigh the Neanderthal DNA molecules a million to one or something like that. So you've got to be really careful.
BRUMFIEL: Publishing in the journal Nature, Skov and his colleagues revealed the genetic codes of 13 Neanderthals living in the caves, including several who were related.
SKOV: A father and his daughter - his teenage daughter, in fact.
BRUMFIEL: As well as a boy around the age of 10 who had a female relative - maybe a grandmother or an aunt. Lara Cassidy of Trinity College in Dublin says this is not the first time Neanderthals have been sequenced. What makes this study so special is that these 13 individuals all lived in or around the same place at roughly the same time.
LARA CASSIDY: That is really exciting because what we have is a community, and we can start to maybe understand a bit about how these communities worked.
BRUMFIEL: Cassidy, who is not a researcher on the study, says the family relations are intriguing, but she'd like to know more about what tied others in the cave together. Humans, for example, build social groups of unrelated individuals.
CASSIDY: A unique thing about Homo sapiens is flexibility. We seem to be able to put ourselves together in all sorts of different configurations. It would be nice to know if Neanderthals were as flexible.
BRUMFIEL: The genetic data isn't quite good enough to see if these folks are distant relatives or in-laws or just friends. Laurits Skov says he's working to get a clearer picture. There's one other mystery. How did the father and daughter and the boy and his relative die? Skov says there aren't any clear clues, but he suspects starvation.
SKOV: Life back then was rough. They survived by hunting bison. And you can imagine if, one year, they don't manage to hunt and catch all they need - you know, maybe something sad like that.
BRUMFIEL: These individuals lived about 55,000 years ago, at a time when humans were on the rise and Neanderthals were disappearing.
SKOV: There's very few left.
BRUMFIEL: But he says they didn't go completely extinct. Humans from outside Africa contain, on average, about 2% Neanderthal DNA. In other words - at least sometimes it seems - humans and Neanderthals found each other and built communities together. Geoff Brumfiel, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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subset: commoncrawl


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By the no-hair theorem, black holes can only have mass, charge and angular momentum. Does "charge" include "magnetic charge" (such as from a magnetic monopole)? Can black holes have magnetic charge in addition to electric charge?
[By the way, I believe theory says magnetic monopoles have to exist, the reason why we haven't discovered any is because inflation diluted them to such an extent that there are none or only a few in our Hubble volume.]
These three questions are similar but I think the answers will be different for each one:
What happens to an embedded magnetic field when a black hole is formed from rotating charged dust? It seems to me a rotating charged black hole must have a dipole magnetic field. But the strength of the dipole field seems like an extra parameter that black holes are forbidden by the no-hair theorem.
If a magnetic monopole falls into a schwarzchild black hole, what happens to the magnetic field? Here there would be only radial magnetic field lines leaving from the event horizon to infinity. So if magnetic charge is counted as charge this should be no problem. But if the black hole were rotating wouldn't that produce an electric dipole field?
When a neutral star with a magnetic field collapses to form a black hole, what happens to the magnetic field? Here there is no charge so how can there be a magnetic field associated with a black hole? That would definitely violate the no-hair theorem.


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Selected articles from the magazine SREE SAJJANA-TOSHANI or THE HARMONIST Edited by Paramahamsa Paribrajakacharyya Sri Srimad Bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Goswami Maharaj Published between 1927 - 1936
The two ways to know the science of the truth - ascending and descending:
The word dharma means "to understand." It is the means by which one can get to the truth about an object. Dharma distinguishes between matter and spirit. We are spirit souls, and as seers, we see the visible world. We can take initiative because of our independent nature, but matter cannot act on its own.
"CHARITY begins at home." Telescopic philanthropy as been the butt of much undeserved ridicule. It is necessary in the interest of all to reconcile the apparently contradictory claims.
Altruism should imply an inclination for serving all entities and doing harm to none. The propositions which we shall attempt to develop are, (1) that the only way of really serving all entities is to serve Vishnu and (2) that if Vishnu is not served one is under the necessity of consciously and unconsciously extorting service from all entities which process is identical with the practice of undiluted malice against oneself and every entity.
The 27th sloka of the third chapter of the Geeta contains an explanatory reference to the mode of operation of the gunas. It also supplies a definition of Godlessness. The Godless person thinks himself to be the master of his activities in as much as he allows himself to be deluded by the operation of the gunas. But it is people of a sattvika disposition who would be at all prepared to accept this proposition of the Geeta as a principle of conduct. The generality of the people is led by the rajasika and tamasika gunas and are bent upon ignoring the actual connection of God with the affairs of this world. The tamasika disposition may be defined as one of which is actuated by a consuming desire for worldly aggrandisement. Such blind passionate living leads ultimately to self annihilation. The life of indiscriminate material enjoyment is opposed to permanence...
Man has been defined as a rational animal. There is thus an element of rationality combined with animality in man. Man has a higher nature and lower nature. The common characteristics of man and animal have been shown in the following sloka: Eating, sleeping, fear and sexual intercourse-these are common to human beings and animals. Religion is the differentia of man from animal. All men, however, are not equal. Some are savage, some are civilized; some are intelligent, some foolish; some are rich, some poor; some are high, some very low. If a close study is directed to the nature of man it is noticed that he has a body and a mind...
Nothing in the world is good in itself, nothing which cannot but become good when used towards the service of Godhead.
On the plane of perfect reality the natural function of the unalloyed soul is to serve Godhead.
The 'real' spiritual plane is also the 'natural' plane of the unalloyed soul. The truly 'natural' is that which cannot but be independently of all conditions, therefore, also it is the truly 'real'. The truly 'real' alone is that which always is what it is; therefore, it is alone the truly 'natural'.
We must call these attempts of those scientists of misdirected intellects and the stubbornness of these undeveloped brains—as the outcome of a grossly atheistic turn of mind in challenging the Omnipotency and supreme authority of Godhead and denying the existence of the very source and cause of all existence. Godhead is called "Vishnu" because He pervades the whole universe making all existence possible and upholding the universe with its manifested phenomenon. Only the saints have the eyes to see it. So it is mentioned in the Vedas that only the saints do perceive the all-pervading, highest essence of Vishnu being the only Reality unlimited by space and time. It is not an hallucination but the sternest actuality more true and real than the limited senses can ever expect to perceive or comprehend.
The Word 'I' refers to the Speaker before us or the first person in our cognisance. The 'I' is generally identified with bodily figure of the speaker. In our attempts for identification virtually we cannot and, as a matter of fact, do not ordinarily go beyond the bodily form and make, the stature, the colour together with any distinguishing mark or marks the body of the speaker might have got, his sex, locality, nationality, mentality, parentage, learning and other acquisitions, profession and also any relationship in which the speaker stands to us.
A connecting link between the Transcendental word and human ears having been ordained by the kind providence. It has been possible to bring the Message of Sree Chaitanya to the doors of the people of this universe. It is not through the medium of the tie of the flesh but through that of sound or speech that we stand united with our fellows also in the ordinary affairs of life. We can have a peep into one another's mind not through our eyes, but through our ears.
The Transcendental Message of Sree Chaitanya runs in the channel of spoken communication. The Message advises us not to make any attempt to see the Form of the Absolute through our mundane eyes. The Absolute in the fullness of His Initiative and personality is our Eternal arbitrator and Regulator. In trying to see and hear Him by our initiative we shall see and hear things other than they really are. When the Transcendental Message entering through the ears reaches our liberated cognition, it opens our spiritual eyes to show the real thing in its true colour. By means of the transcendental sound a link can be established between us, the whole animated kingdom and the Absolute. It is the Divine Sound alone Who can give us a clue to what has never been seen not made cognisable by our senses.
Let me first of all perform the duty of making my obeisance of the lotus feet of the Vaishnavas.
All animate beings of this world are Vaisnavas or Servants of Vishnu, the all-pervasive Supreme Lord. All lifeless objects are also Vaishnavas. Those who possess the faculty of taking the initiative are Vaishnavas as also those who do not possess the power of initiative. The Highest of all persons Whom all these Vaishnavas serve, Who is the root and support of everything is Vishnu.


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del.icio.us schema
Sunday, April 24th, 2005Just read this discussion about possible del.icio.us database schema solutions. Interesting postulation. Here's how I'd do it, and in fact, that's how I set it up for tags in my blog's previous incarnation.
I would have three principle tables, much like the completely normalized version in Philipp Keller's blog. Of course, some modifications would need to be made to normalize this schema further to make it efficient for multiple users bookmarking the same URLs, etc. However, that's a topic for another day. Here's the MySQL-compatible table structures:
Items |
CREATE TABLE Items ( item_id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, item_description varchar(255) NOT NULL, item_url varchar(255) NOT NULL, item_extended varchar(255) NOT NULL, item_tags varchar(255) NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY(item_id), KEY(item_url) ) |
Items_x_Tags |
CREATE TABLE Items_x_Tags ( item_id int NOT NULL, tag_id int NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY(x_item_id,x_tag_id) ) |
Tags |
CREATE TABLE Tags ( tag_id int NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, tag_name varchar(255) NOT NULL, tag_item_count int NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY(tag_id), KEY(tag_name), KEY(tag_item_count) ) |
Here are some design decisions that were involved in this design. First of all, we want to be able to run statistics on tags, such as count the number of times they've been mentioned, etc. That's why the Tags table is separate, assigning a unique integer identifier to each tag as a primary key. We'll keep a count of the number of times that tag is used in this table as well, so it'll be easy to figure out which tags are most-used. For multiple-user situations, we'd want to do the same thing with a table that has URLs, their hash and a count of the number of times that URL has been bookmarked. Then the user's private URL name, tags, etc will just link to this table keeping track of hashes/counts for each URL.
When we add new Items to the database, we clean up the plain text string of tags the user submits, then check to see if each tag already exists (and get its tag_id, incrementing the tag_item_count). Otherwise we create a new Tags record with a count of one and take the newly created tag_id and use that. For each tag the user supplied, we insert a record into the Items_x_Tags with the newly inserted Item's item_id. Note that there's a field in the Items table that keeps the tag list in its character form. Why? First of all, its nice to have the original tag order. Second, this way we can display items without lots of joins, saving on database thrashing. Yes, its not 100% normalized. But then again, integer primary keys are excessive as well as far as normalization goes when the URL would serve as a good primary key for instance. I prefer to take a mid-line approach to normalization – just enough to make it practical, fast and well-suited for our purpose.
When modifying entries, we just unlink all tags, decrementing counts, then start over with the same procedure as for new items – link them again through the map, incrementing counts.
Ok, so now we have those three tables, populated with our tags. Lets try to design the querries that Philipp Keller's blog entry mentions – Intersection, Union and Minus.
Intersection (AND) |
SELECT * FROM (Items AS i INNER JOIN Items_x_Tags AS x ON i.item_id=x.item_id) INNER JOIN Tags AS t ON x.tag_id=t.tag_id WHERE t.tag_name IN ('bookmark', 'webservice', 'semweb') GROUP BY i.id HAVING COUNT(i.id) |
Union (OR) |
SELECT * FROM (Items AS i INNER JOIN Items_x_Tags AS x ON i.item_id=x.item_id) INNER JOIN Tags AS t ON x.tag_id=t.tag_id WHERE t.tag_name IN ('bookmark', 'webservice', 'semweb') GROUP BY i.i |
Minus |
SELECT * FROM ((Items AS i INNER JOIN Items_x_Tags AS x ON i.item_id=x.item_id) INNER JOIN Tags AS t ON x.tag_id=t.tag_id) INNER JOIN Tags AS m ON x.tag_id=m.tag_id) WHERE t.tag_name IN ('bookmark', 'webservice', 'semweb') AND NOT (m.tag_name IN ('semweb')) GROUP BY i.id |
Haven't tested the Minus query, but in theory it should work – do a four-table join, since its an INNER JOIN, we'll have only Items that have 'bookmark' and 'webservice' tags, but that don't have the tab 'semweb'. This might take some debugging, but in theory that's the way I'd approach that kind of Minus query.
Here's some extra reading: Philipp's original entry, some code snippets that deal with tags.


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Luke Bryan Posts Delightfully Cheesy Ode to Wife on Wedding Anniversary
Luke Bryan may have slipped up on the husband front by allowing his sixth studio album, What Makes You Country, to be released on his 11th wedding anniversary (Dec. 8). As might be expected, the singer/new American Idol judge pretty much ruined all plans for a romantic eve in favor of doing necessary promotion for the record.
However, he did make an effort to lighten things up, posting a delightfully cheesy message on social media to wife Caroline.
The Flipagram shows off a variety of silly photos of the couple -- as well as an inexplicable shot of a gorilla making an obscene gesture -- all accompanied by the ringing strains of the Little River Band's 1977 single "Happy Anniversary." (For what it's worth, that particular song is not a love song; the lyrics quite bitterly detail an imperfect marriage with a wife who's left her husband for another lover.)
Still, everyone knows Bryan is a big jokester -- including, of course, his wife herself. Caroline re-grammed the post on her own Instagram account, commenting, "Love you, love you, love you," to her hubby.
Bryan and Caroline Boyer met while attending Georgia Southern University together, and after first becoming friends, moved on to romance. After a few years of dating on and off, the couple married on Dec. 8, 2006. The couple have two sons together, but have also been raising his brother-in-law's kids since his death in late 2014.
41 Reasons to Love Luke Bryan


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We at Serotek, along with many, are engaged in a campaign to obtain access for the blind and others with print disabilities to e-books available for Amazon's new Kindle 2 e-book reader. The new reader, which Amazon is working to make fully accessible to the blind, has the ability to use text-to-speech to read these e-books aloud; but under pressure
from the Authors Guild, Amazon has announced that authors and
publishers will be allowed to disable the text-to-speech function.
The National Federation of the blind has joined with over twenty
other organizations to create the reading Rights Coalition, which has
set up an on-line petition to urge the Authors Guild and Amazon to
reverse course.
petition overview | letter
Allow Everyone Access to E-books
Target: The Authors Guild
Sponsored by: The Reading Rights Coalition
When Amazon released the Kindle 2 electronic book reader on February 9, 2009, the
company announced that the device would read e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology.
Under pressure from the Authors Guild, Amazon has announced that it will give authors
and publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech function on any or all of
their e-books available for the Kindle 2.
The Reading Rights Coalition, which represents people who cannot read print,
will protest the threatened removal of the text-to-speech function from e-books for
the Amazon Kindle 2 outside the Authors Guild headquarters in New York City at 31
East 32nd Street on April 7, 2009, from noon to 2:00 p.m. The coalition includes
the organizations that represent the blind, people with dyslexia, people with learning
or processing issues, seniors losing vision, people with spinal cord injuries, people
recovering from strokes, and many others for whom the addition of text-to-speech
on the Kindle 2 promised for the first time easy, mainstream access to over 245,000
books. We the undersigned insist that the Authors Guild and Amazon not disable the text-to-speech capability for the Kindle 2.
There are 15 million Americans who are blind, dyslexic, and have spinal cord injuries
or other disabilities that impede their ability to read visually. The print-disabled
have for years utilized text-to-speech technology to read and access information.
As technology advances and more books move from hard-copy print to electronic formats,
people with print disabilities have for the first time in history the opportunity
to enjoy access to books on an equal basis with those who can read print.
Authors and publishers who elect to disallow text-to-speech for their e-books on
the Kindle 2 prevent the print-disabled from enjoying these e-books.
Denying universal access will result in more and more people with disabilities being
left out of education, employment, and the societal conversation. We will all suffer
from the absence of diverse participation and contribution to the debates that occupy
us as a society.
Furthermore, we oppose the Authors Guild demands that this capability should be turned
off because many more books would be sold if text-to-speech remained available.
Not only does this feature benefit persons with disabilities, but it also helps persons
for whom English is not their native language. In an increasingly mobile society,
flexible access to content improves the quality of life for everyone.
There can be no doubt that access to the written word is the cornerstone of education
and democracy. New technologies must serve individuals with disabilities, not impede
them. Our homes, schools, and ultimately our economy rely on support for the future,
not discriminating practices and beliefs from the past.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this important matter.
Please read and consider signing petition to the Authors Guild and Amazon


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Associated Press
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Police say a man was critically wounded in a shooting at a crowded Memphis mall.
A statement released by Memphis Police spokeswoman Sgt. Karen Rudolph says officers responded around 5:45 p.m. to a call about a shooting at the Oak Court Mall and found the victim. He was transported to a hospital.
According to the statement, four men were later detained but no charges had been filed as of late Thursday.
Police say it appears the victim and suspects knew each other and officers were told there was a verbal confrontation before the shooting.
The mall was crowded when the shooting happened, and patrons ran for cover.
-Published by David Harris


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Like I said last time, the conversation with Vigil is my favorite part of the game. That incredible music plays, you've got your two favorite companions with you, and Vigil lays it all out. He explains just how long the odds are, just how powerful the enemy is, but he also explains the little glimmer of hope you have.
Fridge Logic
As much as I love this section, you knew we weren't getting through it without a little nitpicking, didn't you? Let's paraphrase / summarize this conversation:
So Vigil, what are the beacons and why do they show us these psychedelic visions of machine murder?
Those are our telephone system. The vision wasn't clear because you're not Prothean. But good on you, Shepard. You managed to get the gist of it.
What's the deal with the Reapers? Why do they kill us meatbags every 50k years?
We don't know either.
Why haven't the Reapers invaded yet?
We sabotaged their ambush machine. It won't stop them, but it has given you this fighting chance to get ready for them. I sure hope you don't spend the entire next game dicking around with a secondary threat instead of working on this problem, because that would make you a monumental idiot. Good luck!
What's the deal with Sovereign?
Sovereign probably stayed behind to keep an eye on the galaxy and wait until there was a society advanced enough to fully appreciate just how much it sucks to experience genocide on a galactic scale. But since we sabotaged the Keepers, when he rang the dinner bell the Keepers didn't open the door to dark space. So all his Reaper buddies are probably still out there, napping.
What's the deal with Saren?
The Reapers indoctrinate servants and use them to infiltrate the cultures they're killing. Did I mention they're assholes? They are patient and cautious. Rather than just brazenly assaulting the Citadel all by himself, Sovereign went around and indoctrinated some followers. Saren probably isn't the only one, he's just the most visible and active. Not trying to make you paranoid or anything, but, you know… heads up.
Okay so Saren was looking for the conduit. And he attacked Eden Prime to find it. But the purpose of the conduit is to give him access to the Citadel, so he could get to the Council chambers, since that's where the controls for the station are. But, like… he was a Spectre. Why would he attack Eden Prime to gain access to a magic door that will let him enter a room that, presumably, he was already allowed in?
I don't understand the question?
Why didn't Saren just walk into the Council chambers and push the button? Why didn't Saren just undo whatever the Protheans did to the Keepers, so Sovereign could go back to Plan A?
Those are great questions, Shepard. Good thing you never ask them in the game!
Conjecture on my part:
Saren could indeed walk up to that control panel, but he'd be doing it right in front of the Council, which is roughly the equivalent to walking into the office of the American President and thumbing through his big book of nuclear launch codes. It's a safe bet that security would provide a spirited response. Saren is a badass, but presumably he's not a match for all of C-Sec. So while he can walk into the chambers alone, what he needs is to walk in there with an army of Geth. And the only way to get that many Geth into the Citadel without starting a war is to use the conduit. Sovereign only gets one chance to poke this particular hornet's nest, so he probably doesn't want to take any chances. Beaming an army of Geth into the station is a lot like usual plan of popping Reapers in around the station. It's got that sudden surprise invasion vibe that seems to appeal to Reaper sensibilities.
Saren's plan does seem to have a few cracks in it like this. The difference between Saren and antagonists of the future is that Saren's plans seem mysterious at first, and then only seem questionable once you know the full story and have time to let the fridge logic to settle in. This is different from adversaries in the subsequent game, who seem to do confusing or stupid things, which are then sort of half-justified if you read enough codex entries and selectively believe certain sub-section of the things the Illusive Man says. It's the old gradient of plot holes at work again. No story is perfect, but the job of the storyteller is to avoid those plot holes that immediately launch you out of the story and require you to begin authoring your own headcanon to get back in.
The Slog
Saying goodbye to Vigil, Shepard chases after Saren and drives the Mako through the conduit to land at the "statue" of the mass relay in the presidium. From there it's a massive hike up the tower, while Sovereign looms on this new indoor horizon. The arms of the station have closed, hiding the nebula and the stars around the station. The new sky consists of the wards – the cities filled with the people Shepard is fighting to saveToo bad the textures are so painfully low-fi that it looks like a giant blurry circuit board. Alas..
It's a long hike up the tower, fighting against the same two or three enemies you've been fighting for a majority of the game. The designers do what they can to keep it fresh by changing the terrain, but it still feels like BioWare's standard mook-fest padding. It's the classic late-game slog for which RPGs have become infamous. KOTOR, KOTOR II, all the Mass Effects, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Oblivion, Skyrim, and numerous others. Dragon Age: Origins subverted this by having their slog in the middle-ishAlthough if you ask me, I think the whole game was a bit of a slog. Don't tell Josh I said that., and making the end-game mooks all low-level pushovers. There's always a misguided attempt to increase the tension by loading us with combat, but for me it ends up sucking the drama out of the story. Changing Star Wars so that the final X-Wing dogfight was an hour longNote to George Lucas: THIS IS NOT A SUGGESTION. would not make the payoff at the end bigger.
Ideally, I think it would be best to design things so that the section from Ilos to the closing credits should all fit in the average game session. In any case, whatever happened to the Fallout 1 idea of using disguises, bullshit, and subterfuge to avoid all that combat? I'm not saying they needed to do that here, I'm just saying I wish somebody was still doing that sort of thing now and again.
At the top of the tower Shepard has a fight with Saren – right in the council chambers where the two of them debated at the start of the game. If you've been investing in Paragade, then Shepard can even convince Saren of just how lost he is, so that he can find redemption through suicide. Regardless of which gun kills him – Shepard's or his own – once he's down Shepard opens the arms of the station so the fleet can get at Sovereign. We get an epic space battle and we get to see the Normandy spearhead the attack. Sovereign blows up like the Death Star. A chunk of Sovereign comes in the window and seems to crush Shepard's team.
But no! Music swells, and Shepard emerges, injured but strong, standing atop the carcass of the slain Reaper! He's backlit, and everyone else is looking up at him.
Is it a bit hokey? Yes. But it works. It's far too early to begin the long autopsy of the Mass Effect 3 ending, but I want to peek ahead for just a moment so we can compare how the two games handled their big "moment of truth" finale, at least in cinematic terms. Let's compare this staging to the same scene at the end of Mass Effect 3.
Here in Mass Effect 1, the author had already established the locations of the tower and Sovereign. They placed the control panel in the council chambers, which placed the final shootout between Shepard and Saren in the same room. So when the writer wanted Shepard to symbolically stand on top of a dead Reaper, at the seat of galactic power, they didn't have to contrive a way to move those plot elements together, because the earlier parts of the story – going all the way back to the first hour of the game – had carefully laid the groundwork for this. Instead of feeling forced, it feels inevitable. Of course! It had to end here, like this.
In Mass Effect 3, the Citadel isn't immediately invaded in the initial wave, even though that's Standard Reaper procedure. Then when they do finally invade the Citadel, they move it into Earth orbit, which isn't something we knew it could do and which doesn't really fit very well with what we already learned about them from Vigil. It looks like Shepard is standing in space without a helmet and without an explanation, and while there's a huge space battle in the background we're disconnected from it.
The ME3 writer crudely shoves the plot elements into position and proclaims, There! NOW FEEL STRONG EMOTIONS ABOUT THIS!" If they're feeling generous they might shove a half-assed justification into the codex to shut up the whiners. It's very brute-force, and so when Shepard is talking to the Star Child with the ruins of the Earth in the background, it doesn't feel like a natural culmination of everything that came before, it feels like a clumsy and heavy-handed attempt at being profound in the most banal way possible.
The end of Mass Effect 1 shows that details-first stories can have drama too. They can have iconic imagery, symbolism, foreshadowing, irony, and catharsis. They can have heroic poses and blunt, on-the-nose camera framing. They can have cliché situations and musical cues. They just have to do their homework first. They have to plan ahead. They have to earn it.
We're not quite done with Mass Effect yet. We're going to talk about the ending for a couple more entries before we move on to Mass Effect 2.
[1] Too bad the textures are so painfully low-fi that it looks like a giant blurry circuit board. Alas.
[2] Although if you ask me, I think the whole game was a bit of a slog. Don't tell Josh I said that.
[3] Note to George Lucas: THIS IS NOT A SUGGESTION.
Silver Sable Sucks
This version of Silver Sable is poorly designed, horribly written, and placed in the game for all the wrong reasons.
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round
I'm not surprised a fighting game has an absurd story. I just can't figure out why they bothered with the story at all.
What Does a Robot Want?
No, self-aware robots aren't going to turn on us, Skynet-style. Not unless we designed them to.
Free Radical
The product of fandom run unchecked, this novel began as a short story and grew into something of a cult hit.
A game I love. It has a solid main story and a couple of really obnoxious, cringy, incoherent side-plots in it. What happened here?


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Doe v. Chao
Top News
- Court Dismisses Suits Against OPM Over Data Breach that Affected 22 Million: A federal court in Washington, DC has dismissed two lawsuits against the Office of Personnel Management over the data breaches that compromised the records of 22 million federal employees and family members. The court acknowledged the "troubling allegations" raised by OPM's victims but ruled that "the fact that a person's data was taken" is not "enough by itself to create standing to sue." EPIC has long argued that data breach victims should not wait until they suffer identity theft to sue the parties that failed to protect their data. EPIC also filed comments last year with OPM recommending limits on data collection, has recommended updates to the federal Privacy Act, and has urged the Supreme Court to recognize a right to "informational privacy" and to ensure Privacy Act damages for non-economic harm. (Sep. 20, 2017)
- Congress Considers Bill to Strengthen Privacy Act: Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11) has introduced legislation to update the federal Privacy Act. The "Safeguarding Individual Privacy Against Government Invasion Act of 2014" would compensate individuals for non pecuniary harms after Privacy Act violations. The proposal is a response to FAA v. Cooper, a Supreme Court case holding that the Privacy Act does not cover mental and emotional damages. EPIC filed a "friend of the court" brief in that case, explaining that privacy laws routinely provide recovery for mental and emotional harm, that such damages are the most common consequence of privacy violations, and that civil remedies are necessary to ensure enforcement of the Privacy Act. Following the decision in FAA v. Cooper, EPIC set out proposals to strengthen the Privacy Act. EPIC has recently recommended that the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board prioritize Privacy Act enforcement. For more information, see EPIC: FAA v. Cooper, EPIC: Doe v. Chao, and EPIC: The Privacy Act of 1974. (Dec. 8, 2014)
- EPIC Urges Privacy Board to Focus on Privacy Act Enforcement: EPIC has recommended that the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board prioritize Privacy Act enforcement. The Board is planning to host a conference "Defining Privacy." EPIC stated "The Privacy Act provides a sound framework for privacy protection in the United States. Government agencies within the PCLOB's purview contravene the Privacy Act's intent and pose substantial privacy risks by claiming broad exemptions from coverage under the Act. The Board must improve agency accountability by auditing programs for Privacy Act compliance and recommending expanded authorities under the Privacy Act." EPIC recently provided expert commentary at a Georgetown University Law Center conference celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Privacy Act. For more information, see EPIC: FAA v. Cooper, EPIC: Doe v. Chao, and EPIC: The Privacy Act of 1974. (Nov. 12, 2014)
- Federal Appeals Court Affirms Civil Penalties in Privacy Act Case: A federal appeals court held that the Privacy Act provides monetary damages for harms stemming from inaccurate government records. The case arose in 2006 when Julia Shearson and her four-year-old daughter, both U.S. citizens, reentered the country over the Canadian border. A customs database incorrectly identified Shearson as "ARMED AND DANGEROUS," after which she was handcuffed, questioned for several hours, and then released without explanation. Shearson sued under the Privacy Act and sought damages from the Department of Homeland Security for the agency's failure to ensure the accuracy of its computer records. DHS argued that the Privacy Act permitted the agency to exempt itself from monetary damages provision of the law. The Sixth Circuit disagreed and held that Congress specifically intended that the Privacy Act provide civil remedies for government failures to comply with the Act's mandatory duties. EPIC routinely files comments on the obligation of federal agencies to comply with the Privacy Act and EPIC has also filed a Supreme Court brief in support of damage awards in Privacy Act cases. For more information, see EPIC: Doe v. Chao (US 2004). (Apr. 25, 2011)
- Social Security Protection Act of 2010 Becomes Law: President Obama signed a bill aimed at reducing identity theft by limiting the Government's use of and access to social security numbers. The bill, which passed the House and Senate, prohibits government agencies from printing social security numbers on checks and from allowing prison inmates access to social security numbers. "Social Security numbers are among Americans' most valuable but vulnerable assets," said Sen. Feinstein, a sponsor of the bill. "Identity theft is a serious concern for all consumers, and we should make every effort to protect personal information." EPIC has testified many times before Congress on the need to safeguard the SSN, including House hearings in 2000, 2001, 2006, 2007 and EPIC has also litigated important cases on SSN privacy. For more information, see EPIC: Social Security Numbers, EPIC: Identity Theft, and EPIC: Doe v. Chao. (Dec. 23, 2010)
- Supreme Court Requires Actual Harm for Privacy Act Damages. The Supreme Court has ruled (pdf) in a 6-3 decision in Doe v. Chao that an individual must prove he has suffered actual harm before he can receive a $1,000 minimum statutory award when the government wrongfully discloses his Social Security Number. EPIC, along with a coalition of civil liberties organizations and technical and legal experts, filed a friend of the court brief (pdf) in the case, arguing that the Privacy Act provides damages for those who suffer "adverse effects," though no actual harm. (Feb. 24, 2004)
EPIC collaborated with numerous consumer and privacy organizations, legal scholars and technical experts to submit an amicus brief in Doe v. Chao, an important privacy case before the Supreme Court. This case concerned the wrongful disclosure of the Social Security Number by a federal agency and whether a person should be required to prove actual damages to obtain relief under the Privacy Act. Our view, and the view of most federal courts, was that it should only be necessary to show "adverse effects" to obtain the minimal $1,000 damages under the Act.
In this case, the Department of Labor was sued by a class of coal miners who filed claims with the government for black lung benefits. To process the benefit claims, the Department of Labor used each applicant's SSN to identify that applicant's claim. As identification numbers, the SSNs were subsequently disclosed to other applicants, as well as those applicants' employers and lawyers. The SSNs were also made publicly available in administrative law decisions and computerized legal research databases.
Several coal miners filed suit against the government, alleging violations of the Privacy Act. The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia consolidated the miner's claims and assigned their case to a magistrate to make recommendations with regard to motions for summary judgment and class certification. The magistrate recommended that the district court grant summary judgment against all the miners with the exception of Buck Doe, finding that they were unable to prove damages. The district court adopted the magistrate's recommendation and granted summary judgment in favor of the government on all claims except that of Doe. With respect to his claim, the court entered summary judgment in favor of Doe, awarding him $1,000 in statutory damages. The court explained that an individual must prove "actual damages" to obtain the $1,000 statutory damages available under the Privacy Act, and that because emotional distress is the chief means of proving damage in privacy cases, such emotional distress is sufficient evidence to allow recovery under the Privacy Act. The court found that Doe had demonstrated enough emotional distress to justify recovery, and thus was entitled to statutory damages.
The miners (other than Doe) appealed the district court's decision to the Fourth Circuit, arguing that proof of "actual damages" is unnecessary to recover under the Privacy Act, and in the alternative, that the district court's holding with respect to Doe was correct because emotional distress is sufficient evidence of injury to permit an award of damages under the Privacy Act. The government also appealed the district court's decision, claiming that recovery under the Privacy Act is limited to individuals who can produce evidence of "actual damages," which includes only monetary loss and not emotional harm. The Fourth Circuit adopted the government's view and determined that Doe was not entitled to damages under the Privacy Act because he failed to show that any tangible consequences flowed from the emotional distress he experienced due to the disclosure of his SSN.
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in June to consider the question of whether an individual bringing suit under the Privacy Act for wrongful SSN disclosure must prove that he suffered actual monetary damages as a result of the disclosure in order to recover the minimum damages provided by the Privacy Act. On February 24, 2004, the Supreme Court ruled (pdf) in a 6-3 decision that an individual must prove he has suffered actual harm before he can receive a $1,000 minimum statutory award when the government wrongfully discloses his Social Security Number.
Our RoleThe amicus brief first outlined the grave dangers posed by SSN disclosure, specifically discussing identity theft. The brief then pointed out that Congress has provided liquidated damage-the amount of which is determined in advance so that a dollar amount doesn't have to be specifically proved-in other privacy laws to enforce rights that are difficult to put a money value on. Finally, the brief reviewed the Privacy Act's legislative history to demonstrate that Congress has long recognized the risks to privacy posed by unnecessary SSN disclosure. EPIC argued that the award of actual damages in compensation for SNN disclosure under the Privacy Act should be triggered not by a showing of specific monetary damages, but by a showing of adverse affect to the individual, defined as risk of SSN misuse.
Legal Documents
Doe v. Chao History
- Supreme Court's opinion (pdf)
- Supreme Court's grant of certiorari (pdf)
- Supreme Court Docket in Doe v. Chao
- Solicitor General's Opposition to Petition of Writ of Certiorari
- Fourth Circuit opinion
- Doe's Brief on the Merits (pdf)
- Solicitor General's Brief on the Merits (pdf)
- Doe's Reply Brief (pdf)
- EPIC's amicus brief (pdf)
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press amicus brief (pdf)
Legislative Materials
- The Privacy Act of 1974
- Report of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems (HEW Report)
- How Much Is Privacy Worth?, Wired News (Dec. 3, 2003)
- The Supreme Court Considers Whether a Privacy Act Plaintiff Can Recover $1000 Even Without Proof of Damages, Findlaw.com (Nov. 25, 2003)
- Access Reports news brief (July 5, 2003)
- Supreme Court Will Settle Privacy Case, Durham Herald Sun (June 27, 2003)
- Supreme Court Will Hear Privacy Case, Sacramento Bee (June 27, 2003)
- 4th Circuit Rules No Recovery Under Privacy Act for Disclosure of SSNs Without Showing of Actual Damages, Tech Law Journal (Sept. 20, 2002)
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You can download this image in best resolution from this page and use it for design and web design.
FBI badge PNG with transparent background you can download for free, just click on download button.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, the FBI is also a member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U.S. counter-terrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, the FBI has jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crimes.
Although many of the FBI's functions are unique, its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and the Russian FSB. Unlike the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which has no law enforcement authority and is focused on intelligence collection abroad, the FBI is primarily a domestic agency, maintaining 56 field offices in major cities throughout the United States, and more than 400 resident agencies in smaller cities and areas across the nation. At an FBI field office, a senior-level FBI officer concurrently serves as the representative of the Director of National Intelligence.
Despite its domestic focus, the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint, operating 60 Legal Attache (LEGAT) offices and 15 sub-offices in U.S. embassies and consulates across the globe. These foreign offices exist primarily for the purpose of coordination with foreign security services and do not usually conduct unilateral operations in the host countries. The FBI can and does at times carry out secret activities overseas, just as the CIA has a limited domestic function; these activities generally require coordination across government agencies.
The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation, the BOI or BI for short. Its name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1935. The FBI headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover Building, located in Washington, D.C.
In 1896, the National Bureau of Criminal Identification was founded, which provided agencies across the country with information to identify known criminals. The 1901 assassination of President William McKinley created a perception that the United States was under threat from anarchists. The Departments of Justice and Labor had been keeping records on anarchists for years, but President Theodore Roosevelt wanted more power to monitor them.
The Justice Department had been tasked with the regulation of interstate commerce since 1887, though it lacked the staff to do so. It had made little effort to relieve its staff shortage until the Oregon land fraud scandal at the turn of the 20th Century. President Roosevelt instructed Attorney General Charles Bonaparte to organize an autonomous investigative service that would report only to the Attorney General.
Bonaparte reached out to other agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, for personnel, investigators in particular. On May 27, 1908, the Congress forbade this use of Treasury employees by the Justice Department, citing fears that the new agency would serve as a secret police department. Again at Roosevelt's urging, Bonaparte moved to organize a formal Bureau of Investigation, which would then have its own staff of special agents.
Beginning in the 1940s and continuing into the 1970s, the bureau investigated cases of espionage against the United States and its allies. Eight Nazi agents who had planned sabotage operations against American targets were arrested, and six were executed (Ex parte Quirin) under their sentences. Also during this time, a joint US/UK code-breaking effort called "The Venona Project"—with which the FBI was heavily involved—broke Soviet diplomatic and intelligence communications codes, allowing the US and British governments to read Soviet communications. This effort confirmed the existence of Americans working in the United States for Soviet intelligence. Hoover was administering this project, but he failed to notify the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of it until 1952. Another notable case was the arrest of Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in 1957. The discovery of Soviet spies operating in the US allowed Hoover to pursue his longstanding obsession with the threat he perceived from the American Left, ranging from Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) union organizers to American liberals.
The FBI has been frequently depicted in popular media since the 1930s. The bureau has participated to varying degrees, which has ranged from direct involvement in the creative process of film or TV series development, to providing consultation on operations and closed cases.[100] A few of the notable portrayals of the FBI on television are the series The X-Files, which started in 1993 and concluded its eleventh season in early 2018, and concerned investigations into paranormal phenomena by five fictional Special Agents, and the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) agency in the TV drama 24, which is patterned after the FBI Counterterrorism Division. The 1991 movie Point Break depicts an undercover FBI agent who infiltrated a gang of bank robbers. The 1997 movie Donnie Brasco is based on the true story of undercover FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone infiltrating the Mafia. The 2015 TV series Quantico, titled after the location of the Bureau's training facility, deals with Probationary and Special Agents, not all of whom, within the show's format, may be fully reliable or even trustworthy.
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3 Tips to Use Big Data To Create Personalized Experiences
Data is the new gold. It's not just for businesses and governments anymore: personal data is also a valuable commodity. Your customers are generating reams of information about themselves every day, and if you can tap into that data and use it to create personalized experiences for them, it will be hugely rewarding for you both in terms of brand loyalty and revenue streams.
Identify Personalization Opportunities
Now that you've got a better understanding of what personalization is, let's get into the nitty-gritty.
The first step to creating an engaging experience is identifying opportunities to personalize your website. Look for ways to make the site more engaging and fun by adding in features like:
- A welcome message that welcomes the visitor by name or with some other personalized greeting
- An interactive photo gallery where users can upload photos of themselves and include information about themselves (like their favorite color) as part of their profile
- Quizzes or polls that ask users questions about themselves so they can learn more about each other
A/B Test Personalization Strategies
As a business owner, you want to create a personalized experience for your customers. But how do you know which strategy will work best? A/B testing is the answer.
- A/B testing is when two different versions of something are tested against each other and compared in order to see which one performs better. In this case, we're talking about testing different personalization strategies on your website or app. For example: "I want my users to see this section first" vs "I want them to see this section first." You can then use the data from these tests to determine what works best for your audience–and use that information as part of your overall strategy going forward!
Make Data the Foundation of Your Strategy
It's no secret that data is the foundation of your strategy. Data can tell you all about your customers, their needs, and their wants. But what if we told you that there's a way to use this information to create personalized experiences?
In fact, there are several ways! Let's take a look at three of them:
Use big data to create a personalized experience for your online customers.
You can use big data to create a personalized experience for your online customers.
- Use big data to identify personalization opportunities. Big data tools can help you identify where there are opportunities for personalization, such as product recommendations or cross-selling other products that might be of interest to the customer.
- A/B test personalization strategies across different customer segments using the data from these experiments in order to determine which strategies work best with each segment and why they do or don't work well so that you can make better decisions about how best ____(fill in blank)____(fill in blank)____(fill in blank).
In today's digital world, it's easy to forget that we are all unique. We have different preferences, needs and goals. And yet our businesses still treat us as though we're all the same. That needs to change–and big data is a great way to start making this happen. By using your customer data and insights from others like them, you can create personalized experiences for each person who visits your website or app


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WASHINGTON — The federal government will act to ban thousands of flavors used in e-cigarettes, President Donald Trump said Wednesday, responding to a recent surge in underage vaping that has alarmed parents, politicians and health authorities nationwide.
The surprise White House announcement could remake the multibillion-dollar vaping industry, which has been driven by sales of flavored nicotine formulas such as "grape slushie" and "strawberry cotton candy."
The Food and Drug Administration will develop guidelines to remove from the market all e-cigarette flavors except tobacco, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told reporters during an Oval Office appearance with the president, first lady Melania Trump and the acting FDA commissioner, Ned Sharpless.
Trump, whose son Barron is 13 years old, said vaping has become such a problem that he wants parents to be aware of what's happening. "We can't allow people to get sick and we can't have our youth be so affected," he said.
Melania Trump recently tweeted her concerns over the combination of children and vaping, and at the meeting, the president said, "I mean, she's got a son — together — that is a beautiful, young man, and she feels very, very strongly about it."
Trump's first public comments on vaping come as health authorities investigate hundreds of breathing illnesses reported in people who have used e-cigarettes and other vaping devices.
No single device, ingredient or additive has been identified, though many cases involve marijuana vaping.
The restrictions announced by Trump officials would only apply to nicotine vaping products, which are regulated by the FDA.
The FDA has had the authority to ban vaping flavors since 2016, but has previously resisted calls to take that step. Agency officials instead said they were studying if flavors could help smokers quit traditional cigarettes.
But parents, teachers and health advocates have increasingly called for a crackdown on flavors , arguing that they are overwhelmingly to blame for the explosion in underage vaping by U.S. teens, particularly with small, discrete devices such as Juul's.
"It has taken far too long to stop Juul and other e-cigarettes companies from targeting our nation's kids with sweet-flavored, nicotine-loaded products," said Matthew Myers, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in a statement.
Federal law prohibits e-cigarette and all other tobacco sales to those under 18.
But federal health officials said Wednesday that preliminary data shows more than 1 in 4 high school students reported vaping this year, compared with 1 in 5 students in 2018. Federal health officials have called the trend an "epidemic," and they fear teenagers who vape will eventually start smoking.
More than 80 percent of underage teens who use e-cigarettes say they picked their product because it "comes in flavors that I like," according to government surveys.
A ban on flavors would be a huge blow to companies like San Francisco-based Juul, which sells mint, fruit and dessert flavored-nicotine pods.
Juul and others have argued that their products are intended to help adult smokers wean themselves off traditional paper-and-tobacco cigarettes.
But a Juul spokesman said in a statement that the company "strongly" agreed with the need for "aggressive action" on flavors.
"We will fully comply with the final FDA policy when effective," he stated.
The Vapor Technology Association said in a statement the flavor ban would force smokers "to choose between smoking again ... or finding what they want and need on the black market." The group represents vaping manufacturers, retailers and distributors.
Some health experts have seen vaping as offering an "off ramp" for smokers, but the proposed ban casts enormous uncertainty over those hopes.
A 2009 law banned all flavors from traditional cigarettes except menthol. But that law did not apply to e-cigarettes, which were then a tiny segment of the tobacco market.
"We simply have to remove these attractive flavored products from the marketplace until they can secure FDA approval, if they can," Azar said.
Azar said flavored products could apply for FDA permission to reenter the market. But under agency standards, only products that represent a net benefit to the public health can win FDA clearance.
Azar said the administration would allow tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes to remain available as an option for adult smokers until May 2020, before undergoing their own mandatory FDA review. But he said that if children begin using those products, "we will take enforcement action there also."
It will take several weeks to develop the flavor restrictions. Azar said the policy could be implemented as soon as 30 days after it is finalized.
Significantly, the Trump plan is expected to bar menthol and mint vaping flavors. FDA officials have previously exempted those products from any sales restrictions because they were thought to be useful to adult smokers. Anti-vaping advocates criticized that decision, pointing to survey data showing more than half of teens who vape use mint and menthol.
"Finally, the FDA is doing its job," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who has prodded the agency for months to take action on flavors.
Scott Gottlieb, who stepped down as FDA commissioner in April, said in a tweet that Juul bore particular responsibility for forcing the administration's hand.
"Unfortunately the entire category of e-cigs was put at risk largely as a result of the youth abuse of mostly one manufacturer's products," Gottlieb said.
Wednesday's announcement came despite months of aggressive lobbying by Juul, which spent $1.9 million in the first half of the year to try and sway the White House, Congress and the FDA.
Several former White House officials, including communications aide Josh Raffel, and Johnny DeStefano, who served as counselor to Trump, have gone on to work for Juul.
A few local governments, including San Francisco, have passed bans on flavored tobacco. And this month Michigan moved to become the first state to ban flavored electronic cigarettes.
E-cigarettes have been on the U.S. market for more than a decade. But FDA officials have repeatedly delayed enforcing regulations on them, referencing industry fears that regulation could wipe out thousands of small companies.
Most experts agree the aerosol from e-cigarettes is less harmful than cigarette smoke since it doesn't contain most of the cancer-causing byproducts of burning tobacco. E-cigarettes generally heat liquid containing nicotine. But there is virtually no research on the long-term effects of vaping.


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Vijay Modi, a professor of mechanical engineering, is working to create sustainable energy models for cities, such as New York, where current infrastructure will not be able to support future demand, and for countries as far away as Tanzania, where power costs are high and energy is inefficient.
Modi and Bianca Howard, a Ph.D. student in mechanical engineering, along with collaborators from the School of International and Public Affairs, the Earth Institute and the Mayor's Office, have undertaken a building energy mapping project in New York City. Buildings in New York City used a total of 248,487 gigawat hours of energy in 2009. Although this energy comes from a variety of sources, if it were all from oil, it would be equivalent to 7 gallons of oil per person per day.
"The current energy distribution infrastructure in many urban areas either cannot support anticipated future energy use or would require significant rehabilitation even if current use were maintained," Modi and Howard wrote in a paper explaining the study. They used a mathematical model based on statistics, not private information from utilities, to estimate the annual energy consumption values of buildings throughout the five boroughs and were able to break down what type of energy is being used, for which purpose and in what quantity.
Modi hopes that an understanding of urban energy demand patterns can spur measures to curb power usage, update and enhance infrastructure and introduce alternative energy sources. They also plan to make their database available to the public.
"Information is the first step toward sustainability," Modi said.
Modi also focuses his attention thousands of miles from New York, by creating Shared Solar, a Columbia University/University of California, Berkeley research group that aims to "reach people at the bottom of the pyramid," he said. He has devoted much time to understanding the energy needs of the poor in Africa and India. "They want flexibility, they want the ability to purchase electricity in small quantities just when they need it, and pay for in small amounts."
For the last five years, Modi's work in this realm has centered on "Millennium Villages" in Africa, where the Earth Institute is carrying out public health, education, and environmental initiatives based on United Nations Millennium Project recommendations. In 2002 a U.N. advisory board, led by Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs, developed an action plan for ending extreme poverty in the world. Environmental sustainability was one of its eight major goals.
"Research throughout the Millennium Villages has shown that the rural poor are paying as much as $5 per month for kerosene, batteries and other energy inputs that could be more efficiently and cheaply supplied by electricity from a centralized source," Modi wrote in a Shared Solar research paper. Several obvious solutions, such as expanding electricity grids and installing in-home solar units, are too cost prohibitive, he added.
"The unfortunate irony is that the poorest are paying the most per unit of useful energy and for the poorest quality of service. Unfortunately the high cost of running wire from central power plants and connecting them to a grid does not present an appealing, profitable business model," Modi wrote.
His solution, already instituted in more than 2,000 households and businesses in Mali, Uganda and Tanzania, involves shared micro-grids with prepaid metering. Participants can purchase the equivalent of a prepaid calling card and text the card's number to a server, which credits the customer's account. The grid's meters control the output of solar-generated electricity based on the customer's usage and remaining credit. The model has low upfront costs and allows customers to pay only for what is being delivered, Modi said.
It was first launched last year in Palengana, Mali, where users have reported that lighting, once powered by batteries and kerosene, has significantly improved. "Shopkeepers, tailors and barbers are happy because they can stay open later," Modi said. Education is also benefiting—one school hooked up to a shared micro-grid, and Modi has heard reports that students in the village stay up later to study.
Source: Columbia University
This free educational webinar will provide a detailed process for climate-driven "pre-response" in a variety of key areas including: Supply Chain Disruptions, Employee Safety and Productivity, Regulatory and Compliance Risks …and many more areas.


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Ten Days of Sightseeing and More
Welcome to Japan's capital city. Hotel rooms are available for mid-afternoon check-in.
Meet your Tour Director and traveling companions prior to morning sightseeing in Tokyo. Your tour takes you to the MEIJI SHRINE, a magnificent 20th-century Shinto monument set in a man-made forest, followed by a drive to see the Imperial Palace. Next, visit an artist's studio and learn to write like a local during a CALLIGRAPHY CLASS with a master calligrapher. Here, you'll also have the opportunity to try on a traditional KIMONO and partake in a TRADITIONAL TEA CEREMONY, a wonderfully choreographed ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea. Last stop is the ASAKUSA KANNON TEMPLE and the NAKAMISE SHOPPING ARCADE. The balance of the afternoon is at leisure. Tonight, join your traveling companions at a welcome dinner hosted by your Tour Director.
This morning, leave Tokyo and head south along the coast to the beautiful Five Lakes region. Here, take a CABLE-CAR RIDE (weather permitting) for panoramic views of Lake Kawaguchi and spectacular Mount Fuji, Japan's highest mountain. You will also have a spectacular view of Mount Fuji from CHUREITO PAGODA, part of the Arakura Sengen Shrine, built as a peace memorial in 1963. Return to Tokyo and enjoy the remainder of the day at your leisure.
Journey to Matsumoto, gateway to the Japanese Alps. Visit famous MATSUMOTO CASTLE, dating back to 1593, and discover the history at the MATSUMOTO CITY MUSEUM. Later, travel through the ruggedly beautiful Japanese Alps to Takayama. Tonight, enjoy a wonderful Japanese-style dinner at your hotel.
Today begins with a visit to the MORNING MARKET, where farmers display locally grown fruits, vegetables, and flowers. Then, visit TAKAYAMA JINYA, a former government office during the Edo Period from 1692-1868. This well-preserved building is a national historic site and the only remaining building of its kind in Japan. Continue on to the San-Machi Suji historic district—famous for lacquerware shops and sake breweries, and identified by the sugidama, balls made of cedar branches that hang over the entrances. Stop at one of the breweries for a SAKE TASTING. The balance of the day is at leisure, providing you time to explore the narrow streets where merchants buy and sell as they have for 300 years.
This morning, enjoy a drive through the mountainous Shokawa Valley to Shirakawa. This remote region of Japan is home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites due to the unique GASSHO-ZUKURI-style (joined hands) thatched houses that can be found only here. Continue to the scenic town of Kanazawa, situated between the mountains and the Sea of Japan—once the country's richest region. Your Tour Director leads you on a tour of one of Japan's greatest gardens, KENROKU-EN, the "Garden of Six Qualities," dating from the 1670s. Afterward, partake in a GOLD LEAF CLASS, where you learn more about this ancient traditional craft and make your own bento box souvenir.
This morning, board the THUNDERBIRD EXPRESS TRAIN for your journey to Kyoto. Upon arrival, stop at SANJUSANGENDO TEMPLE, famous for its 1,001 statues of Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. Flanking the main statue are 1,000 more life-sized statues, covered in gold leaf, with 40 arms said to have the power to save 25 worlds. After lunch, visit the FUSHIMI INARI SHRINE, renowned for the thousands of brightly colored Torii Gates. Afterward, continue on to the Higashiyama District to visit KIYOMIZU TEMPLE, the "Pure Water Temple," with stunning views over Kyoto. Along the way, walk through the busy streets, where shops and restaurants have been catering to pilgrims for centuries. This evening, you have the option to stay in a traditional Japanese ryokan (additional expense).
This morning starts with a visit to stunning Kinkakuji, the TEMPLE OF THE GOLD PAVILION. Next, visit YUZEN HANDMADE CORNER to learn about the Yuzen dyeing technique used to decorate kimonos by painting dye directly on the cloth. You will be invited to participate in making your own souvenir using this traditional method. For lunch, participate in a special JAPANESE COOKING CLASS. Under the instruction of a local chef, you will learn how to make miso soup, teriyaki chicken, and makizushi, more commonly known as a sushi roll. The afternoon is at your leisure to explore this fascinating city on your own.
This morning, take an excursion to NARA, the oldest capital of Japan. Here, visit two separate UNESCO World Heritage Sites. First, at Nara Park, is TODAIJI TEMPLE, built in 752 AD and one of Japan's most famous significant temples. Rebuilt after a fire in 1692, the temple is only two thirds its original size, yet remains the world's largest wooden building. The Daibutsu (Giant Buddha) inside the main hall is made of copper and bronze, and is the largest in all of Japan, weighing 250 tons and standing some 49 feet tall! Nearby is KASUGA SHRINE, known for its 3,000 stone and bronze lanterns. Return to Kyoto for some leisure time. Tonight, your Tour Director hosts a farewell dinner to celebrate your discovery of Japan. (B,D)
Your tour ends with breakfast this morning. Homebound flights from Kansai International Airport in Osaka should not depart prior to 11 am.


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If you are ill while away from home or if you are not registered with a doctor but need to see one you can receive emergency treatment from the local GP practice for 14 days. After 14 days you will need to register as a temporary or permanent patient.
You can be registered as a temporary patient for up to three months. This will allow you to be on the local practice list and still remain a patient of your permanent GP. After three months you will have to re-register as a temporary patient or permanently register with that practice.
To register as a temporary patient simply contact the local practice you wish to use. Practices do not have to accept you as a temporary patient although they do have an obligation to offer emergency treatment. You cannot register as a temporary patient at a practice in the town or area where you are already registered.


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POLITICS-SPECIAL REPORTS: WASHINGTON, USA – 'Senator Tammy' still breaking barriers
WASHINGTON: Breaking down barriers is nothing new for Senator Tammy Duckworth, and that's the way she likes it.
The decorated Iraq War veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was shot down is an Asian-American woman in the mostly white, mostly male and very fusty Senate. And now, with a baby due in April, she'll be the first senator to give birth while in office.
And so, along with her legislative and political goals, the Illinois Democrat is adding a new one: educating the tradition-bound Senate on creating a workplace that makes room for new mums.
"She's been through things that you and I will probably never understand. So I'm sure for her (having a baby) is in no way daunting," said Representative (Lower House) Jaime Herrera Beutler, (Republican, Washington state), who had two children while serving in Congress. "She's also someone who's had a whole career in a male-dominated world."
Duckworth, who turns 50 in March, says she appreciates the historic nature of her baby's birth, as well as the fact that she represents working mothers and women having babies later in life. She fully expects to have to find a place to nurse in some quiet parlour off the Senate floor.
But she says having a baby, a second daughter, is just one of many stops on the trail ahead.
"This is the last job that I want," Duckworth said of the Illinois Senate seat once held by Barack Obama. The former president is one of several men she ticks off as mentors and role models. They include Senator Dick Durbin, Democrat-Illinois, former Senator Bob Dole, Republican-Kansas, and the late Democratic Senators Daniel Inouye of Hawaii and Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts – all backers of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which made the nation's landscape a little easier to navigate.
But she's sees both problems with compliance and efforts to undermine the law.
She points to flaws in Chicago's mass transit system, for example, and in a ladies' room at a US embassy overseas. And floating through Congress now is a bill designed to curb frivolous lawsuits under the ADA that Duckworth and others say weakens it.
Duckworth is already in the history books. She's the first female amputee elected to Congress, the first Asian-American to represent Illinois in Washington and the first member of Congress born in Thailand. Her story of resilience and grit set her in the rare company of grievously injured veterans who later served in the Senate – Dole, a World War II veteran, and John McCain, who was kept prisoner for more than five years in Vietnam.
"If you take gender out of it, it's not that new," said Duckworth, a year into her own Senate term.
But gender can't be ignored as the nation reckons with sexual misconduct at home and in the workplace, especially since Congress is not exactly known for being on the leading edge of equality. The first area specifically set up for lactation opened in the Capitol only a dozen years ago. The House installed its first lavatory for women lawmakers in 2011. The Senate has had its own women's restroom for 25 years.
Duckworth, one of 22 women in the Senate, has the experience to give her policy advice and criticisms of President Donald Trump an especially authoritative edge.
His demand for a military parade? "Our troops in danger overseas don't need a show of bravado, they need steady leadership," she said.
His complaint that Democrats didn't sufficiently applaud his State of the Union address?
"I will not be lectured about what our military needs by a five-deferment draft dodger," reads the Tweet pinned atop her page, referring to Trump's deferment from Vietnam due to a foot ailment. She refuses to "mindlessly cater to the whims of Cadet Bonespurs and clap when he demands I clap."
CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" gave Duckworth full credit for the nickname. In a gag ad earlier this month, a new GI Joe doll resembling Trump, named "Cadet Bonespurs," lolls in a hammock while his comrades march off to war.
When Trump tweets that Democrats don't care about the military, "she takes that personally. She answered personally," said Durbin.
Politics and the military were not Duckworth's original goals.
As she worked on a master's degree in international affairs in the early 1990s at George Washington University, Duckworth was aiming to become an ambassador. She signed up for ROTC to learn more about the military. She fell in love with the challenge – and with a cadet named Bryan Bowlsbey. They married in 1993. Duckworth has said she applied to fly helicopters because she wanted the same power as men – and because it was one of the few combat jobs open to women.
She was the senior officer co-piloting a Black Hawk on Nov. 12, 2004, when a grenade fired by an Iraqi insurgent exploded in a fireball at Duckworth's feet. She lost both legs and part of her arm and faced a gruelling recovery.
As she recovered, Duckworth befriended some important members of the Senate. Durbin invited Duckworth to be his guest at President George W Bush's 2005 State of the Union address. And Dole, who had lost much of the use of one arm to war, dedicated his 2005 book to her. Duckworth, he wrote, "represents all those with their own battles ahead of them."
But for all of her powerful patrons, achievements and drive, the Senate terrain can still seem bumpy.
One day in December as Duckworth wheeled around a corner in the Capitol toward the Senate's historic vote on tax cuts, a young police officer stopped her. The elevators, he said, were reserved "for members only."
Duckworth looked up and, all business, informed him that she's the junior senator from Illinois.
The officer let Duckworth through – with apologies. / The Bangkok Post /19 Feb 2018 at 03:26 / WRITER: ASSOCIATED PRESS
NOTE All photographs, news, editorials, opinions, information, data, others have been taken from the Internet ..aseanews.net | [email protected] |For comments, Email to : JARED PITT | [email protected] | Contributor


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Mobile App Developers in Hyderabad
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VirtuIT is catering some of the most reputed clients around the world, with its excellent software products. It is an ISO 9001:2009 certified company in app development located in Hyderabad, Vijayawada and UAE. The requirements of clients in app development for iPhones, iPads, Android, and Web are catered by VirtuIT by the best team of designers, artists, software developers and technical masters who are determined towards its world-class quality of apps. Contact at email@example.com or call to 9010811999
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text: "As Cerebro does as it was intended to do, Sinister does what Sinister does best and the future comes to an end. Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman (FF, NEW AVENGERS, INFINITY) continues his reshaping of X-History alongside breakout artist R.B. Silva (UNCANNY X-MEN). The Future of the X-Men begins here! Rated T+"


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We are one of the oldest Indie developers in The Netherlands. We've been in business since 2000 and are currently based in Amersfoort. Our goal is to create original gaming experiences respecting old school values while using new technologies. So no pixel art and chiptunes, but tight gameplay and a polished presentation is what we strive to deliver.
Our games overview will give you a good idea of the types of games we've created.
A short history
It all started with a puzzle game called Eggbert, co-developed for the MSX platform by our creative director while he was still in his teens. When we founded Two Tribes, we initially wanted to do a 2D shooter like Parodius, but decided to make a Game Boy Color version of Eggbert first. It took much longer than expected, and turned into Toki Tori, before it was published by Capcom in 2001. However, it wasn't until we recreated the game for WiiWare in 2008, and later iOS, Steam and PSN, that the game really took off.
In the meantime, we'd spent two years developing a physics puzzle adventure game called Three Tribes for Game Boy Advance, though it turned out to be impossible to find a publisher for such an ambitious concept. Thus we became a work-for-hire developer, making ports and licensed games for other developers and publishers. For example, we made Worms: Open Warfare 2 and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.
During this period, we learned a lot about game development, but ultimately it was the changing games landscape that finally got us to where we really wanted to be. The rise of online distribution platforms and gaming communities has now made it possible to self-publish to a global market. All by ourselves, we turned one of the minigames in Rubik's World into RUSH, and we brought great versions of games we admire by other developers to other platforms, including EDGE and Swords and Soldiers.
Recently we've released Toki Tori 2+ on Wii U and Steam and we are now working on RIVE for PC and consoles.


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What's going on here? Rob in LA edition
Dear Rob,
With you back in LA and traipsing around West Hollywood like nobodies looking has given us plenty of new material and it's been our daily ritual to trade pictures of your latest shenanigans back n forth as we break it down. Just like the good 'ol days. And today's no different. Only this time we're wondering what in the crap you've been up to and we think LTR readers have some ideas too… so let's get started shall we?
So clearly Tom took the paparazzo up on Rob's offer to let him take as many pictures in 30 seconds if he gave him the flannel. Poor Rob… too bad he doesn't know TomStu paid the pap off since that flannel completes his killer Halloween costume idea of being the Brawny Man.
Moon: who's the dude in the toyota driving them??
UC: THAT'S WHAT I SAID younger ben affleck? new friend? Tom's boyfriend? Kristen's brother? Kristen's boyfriend? will we ever know?
Moon: a guy who drove a car up to the back door waiting for one of the bar tenders to get off work, then they jumped in and who was like wtf?! but he drove off
UC: haha yes exactly OR .. it's a robstners boyfriend coerced with the promise of really good sex to act as a driver and get the goods aka film the back seat make-out session
Moon: and then dump them on the side of the road in a rush to get the video to the girlfriend and onto the internet
UC: his girlfriend is waiting by with a few 80s power ballads to use in the video and bella & edward montages to work in
Moon: and dont forget the roaring fireplace effect
UC: how could i forget!?
Moon: i know… and in reality it really just makes it look like rob/kristen/bella/edward are in a bad house fire
Moon: like this…
Next up…
Remember when you were younger and the cool thing to do was use bleach and rubber bands to make tshirts you thought were cool and in reality you just looked like a hippie or as if you had a big laundry accident. Rob is probably used to having Clare do his laundry so when he tried to do his own laundry for the first time he not only bleach the arm of the sweatshirt he shrunk it in the dryer. Thus the reason he quit doing laundry all together and why everyone thinks he doesn't shower. Mystery solved!
A big thank you, Rob for actually showing your face occasionally this week and giving UC and I something to blabber about in the mornings like we used to. It's been fun and educational but we're still wondering what is going on.
Off to tie dye some shirts!
Thanks to our lovely pal Gozde and her girls at Robsessed for always having the goods!
So what do YOU think is going on in these pictures? Give us your takes in the comments!!!
Our internet game is ridiculous: LTT, The Forum, Twitter, The Store
Tags: , Bella, Ben Affleck, Brawny Man, brother, caption, date, Edward, flannel, Jenny and Johnny, Kristen Stewart, Los Angeles, paparazzi, robert pattinson, Robsten, sweatshirt, tom sturridge, tomstu, Troubadour, west hollywood
« Breaking Down Rob's big night out in Weho | Hackers SUCK! And we love Rob »


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Located in a masterplanned community, Brightwater Towns is an incredible opportunity to live, play and work against the calming waters of Lake Ontario.
Meet Brightwater, a breathtaking mixed-use community covering 72 acres of land in Mississauga's beloved Port Credit Neighbourhood where nature, entertainment and convenience all come together. Moments from Lake Ontario, parks, shopping, restaurants, Port Credit GO Station, the QEW, the upcoming Hurontario LRT and so much more, Brightwater is exactly where you want to be. Amazing amenities mean you can stay in line with your wellness goals, entertain friends and more. This development will feature a 24-hour concierge, large parcel storage, entertainment lounges and party rooms, gym, yoga and meditation spaces, outdoor dining and BBQs, rooftop terrace and sun deck. Plus, a co-working space, pet spa, bicycle storage, smart home connections and a Community Village square for all seasons. With 20,000+ sqft of ground-floor retail, this truly is a masterplanned project.
Number of Units: 106 Towns
Address: Lakeshore Road and Mississauga Road, Port Credit
Storeys: 3.5
Developers: FRAM + Slokker, Diamond Corp, Dream, Kilmer Group
Architect: Giannone Petricone Associates
Pricing: TBD
Sales Launch Date: Early 2021
The difference between a good agent and a not-so-good one not only lies in their ability to find you a great property, but more so in their ability to make the experience a positive one. Our agents have access to a network of great third party partners, resources and of course, listings – and our brokerage regularly has priority access to some of the best pre-construction projects in the GTA.


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The name Miami brings to mind world-class parties, haute couture and glamour. Aside from the lavish lifestyle, Miami is home to so many other experiences. Filled with museums, concert halls, public gardens, stunning beaches and galleries, Miami is both an arts haven and design centre. Shop 'til you drop at the family-owned stores in Coconut Grove. Explore the celebrated buildings in the Art Deco district; where you'll find The Carlyle, a famous building featured in Hollywood classics such as Scarface and Random Hearts. Embrace the Cuban influence in Little Havana and enjoy incredible eats. At night, slip into your best outfit and experience the famed nightlife of South Beach. No matter your interests or desires, Miami is the perfect place to play, explore and relax.
Little Havana is the spot for everything Latin in Miami. Discover galleries, watch cigars being hand-rolled, pick up a classic guayabera shirt, and sample the delicious eats - especially the coffee and the Cuban sandwiches! If you can, time a visit during Viernes Culturales (Cultural Fridays), a monthly arts & culture event, where the sights and sounds of Little Havana are on full display.
Of course, no visit to Miami would be complete without hitting the sand and surf. Surrounded by water, Miami is a great place for just about every aquatic activity you can imagine. Windsurf, kayak, canoe, snorkel, paddleboard, fish, or just swim - you can do it all from here.
By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Centre Holidays.


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When the weather is cold, few experiences warm your soul – or your home – as effectively as sitting in front of a crackling fire. But if you've ever avoided building an evening fire in your wood-burning fireplace because you didn't want to wait up for the embers to go out, you might appreciate Scott Harrison's ingenuity.
Harrison, of Leawood, Kan., faced the typical dilemma of fireplace owners: What do you do when it's time for bed, the embers are still glowing and you can't close the flue against the cold? Typically, homeowners either avoid building a fire later in the day, stay up with the fire until the embers die down, or leave the flue open all night, thereby losing all the heat benefits of building a fire in the first place.
It's not just a question of convenience and comfort; safety is a key issue, as well. Half of all home heating fires are reported during the winter months of December, January and February, according to the National Fire Protection Association. More than 33 percent of Americans depend on fuel-fired sources like fireplaces for the primary heat source in their homes, according to the U.S. Fire Administration. The USFA also says homeowners should extinguish a fire before going to bed or leaving the house.
"I loved my wood-burning fireplace, but I hated the cold that got into the house whenever I had to leave the flue open at night," says Harrison. "I looked for years for a solution, but nothing seemed to work quite right."
So Harrison, a corporate real estate developer for 35 years, did what any enterprising American might do in his situation: he invented a solution. His brain-child, the Fireplace Blocker, is a cover made from the patented Pavenex fabric, a complex fire-resistant material used by firefighters for its heat- and fire-resistant qualities. The blanket-style cover goes over the outside of the fireplace screen. Industrial grade magnets, hidden within pockets of the fabric, keep the cover in place.
Because Pavenex is rated to withstand up to 2,200 F., homeowners can put the Fireplace Blocker over the screen at night and go to bed secure in the knowledge that their home is protected. The cover ensures no stray sparks escape from dying embers and the flue can stay open without losing heat up the chimney. In warm weather, the cover can also be used to ensure cool air doesn't escape either. In addition to being a safety tool, the product can also help consumers save on their energy bills, Harrison says.
He launched the Fireplace Blocker in 2011 through Skymall, the catalog found on most commercial airline flights, and now focuses full time on further developing and marketing his invention. The company has become a family affair, with his son doing IT work, his daughter serving as chief financial officer, and his wife managing the company's books.
The next generation of Fireplace Blocker, currently in design phase, will be decorative as well as utilitarian. Currently, the product is available only in plain black. To learn more about the Fireplace Blocker, visit www.fireplaceblocker.com. The cover is also available through Plow & Hearth and online at www.fireplaceblocker.com.


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$ 49.00
Ayka the Rhino, Sage
Ayka is our variation on the number "one", pronounced "ache" in Nepali. The greater ONE-horned Rhino is actually a very successful story in Nepal right now, as numbers have almost doubled in the past 10 years thanks to strict protection from Indian and Nepalese wildlife authorities. The number in Nepal now stands at 645 and counting, while the world number is around 3,500. One horned rhinos can grow up to 6,000 lbs and run 35 mph! The horn is actually not used for fighting but more for digging and finding food. Greater one horned rhinos can be fairly solitary, and hey who doesn't need some alone time now and then!
50% Cashmere, 50% Wool
Color: Sage
Measurements: 7" long