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Privacy Policy
In compliance with the European General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) and Spanish Organic Law 3/2018, December 5th, on Personal Data Protection, this Privacy Policy describes how STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L. processes personal data about you, how We use and protect this information, and your rights in relation to this information. This Privacy Policy shall be applicable to all the devices, websites, customer service platforms and applications operated by STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L. that refer to the Privacy Policy or contain any link to it.
Data Controller
STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L., Tax Number B66035734 address Calle Maracaibo 1, Naves 2 a 6 – 08030 Barcelona (Barcelona) .
Legal basis for processing personal data
Consent arising from an email address sent by an interested party (Article 6.1.a GPDR) and data provided in the APPs.
Data Categories: email address, name and surname, image
Data Processing Purpose
Give and send information about the company and its products and / or services
Data Storage
As long as there is consented relationship
Data Subject, Hosting located in Spain
Data Subject Rights
Right to access, rectify, restrict, erase, object, withdraw consent and request the portability of your personal data by sending a letter to that effect to the registered office address, as well as to file any complaints that they deem appropriate with www.agpd.es.
Who is responsible for processing your personal data?
The personal data controller is STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L., Tax Identification Number. B66035734 address Calle Maracaibo 1, Naves 2 a 6 – 08030 Barcelona (Barcelona).
What personal data do we collect?
"Personal Data" is the data that will identify you individually or can be related to an identifiable person. We can collect your email address. If you provide us with personal information regarding other people, you declare that you have the appropriate powers to do so and to allow us to use such information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
How do we collect personal data?
We will collect personal data when you send us your email address directly through the Website or you link to us and/or publish information our official pages in social media sites.
What purposes do we use your personal data for?
a. Processing your personal data processing is necessary to deal with your contact request or enquiries about information regarding the products and/or services included in the Website and to adequately manage our apps.
b. By providing your personal data, and in compliance with GDPR 2016/679, article 7, you explicitly and unambiguously consent to data being processed for the purposes set out in the previous paragraph.
c. STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L., commits to fulfil its obligations regarding the secrecy of personal data provided by you, as well as to process such information in a confidential manner and to protect them taking to that effect appropriate measures considering the state of technology to avoid their alteration, loss, unauthorised processing or access in compliance with the GPDR.
d. Any data filed marked as (*) is obligatory required in order to process and complete orders, and manage requests sent to the Web platform. The remaining data, which is optional for you to complete, is requested for the purpose of getting to know you better and improving the services we propose and will be kept private at all times. Unless you exercise your right to revoke and let us know otherwise, STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L., will be able to send you emails with information about the Website and promotions for products offered in our platforms. Your data can be shared with partner companies providing the products or services.
e. It is the User responsibility to provide STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L., with up to date information to ensure that the data we keep about you in our files is correct and up to date.
How long do we store your personal data for?
We will keep the personal data that you provide us until our relationship with you and the information exchange related to an enquiry has come to an end, as long as you do not revoke your consent.
What legal basis do we have to process your personal data?
The legal basis for processing your personal data is your consent to us sending you information of commercial and other nature.
Who do we share your personal data with?
Your personal data will not be revealed to any third parties, except in the case of customer consent or legal obligation to so. Your personal data will not be transferred to, nor stored, nor processed outside of Spain.
What rights do you have over your personal data?
You can exercise your rights to access the personal data we store about you, as well as to request the rectification of inaccurate or incomplete personal data and to request the erasure of your personal data when such data is no longer necessary for the initial purposes for which it has been initially collected.
You can also restrict our processing of your personal data, request the portability of your personal data and object to our processing of your personal data in regard to the given circumstances and for reasons related to your particular situation.
In addition, you have the right to withdraw the consent you may have granted to a specific processing, at any time. Such withdrawal will not apply retrospectively to any data processed prior to your revocation.
You can exercise all the above-mentioned rights, under the terms and conditions set by the current law, in the registered office of STEROS GPA INNOVATIVE S.L.. Revoking your consent to receive information will not affect under any circumstances the fulfilment of previously undertaken commitments.
In the event that you are not satisfied with our response to your request and you wish to make a complaint or seek further information regarding any of the above-mentioned rights you may take the matter to the data protection authority of Spain, Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (www.agpd.es – C/ Jorge Juan, 6 de Madrid).
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy will be subject to changes, as deemed necessary from time to time. If We change this Privacy Policy, We will notify you of the changes with advance notice so that you are aware of how we intend to use your personal data before the changes come into effect.


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[Video] Chavis - Penny Hoarder (prod. by Luke White)
Chavis releases the visual for his single, "Penny Hoarder" directed by HQ Films. The song is produced by Luke White and features lyrics discussing Chavis's frustration with money. Chavis describes the record, "The song depicts how saving can push you to do whatever to make a nickel, dime, or pennies." Check out the music video on YouTube now and stream "Penny Hoarder" on Soundcloud & Spotify.
Stream "Penny Hoarder" Below:
Follow Chavis:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chavisworldd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chavisworld

subset: commoncrawl


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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081010/...TiFcpxNaWs0NUEScientists: Virginia shark's pup a 'virgin birth'
RICHMOND, Va. - Scientists have confirmed the second case of a "virgin birth" in a shark. In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center contained no genetic material from a male.
The first documented case of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, among sharks involved a pup born to a hammerhead at an Omaha, Neb., zoo.
"This first case was no fluke," Demian Chapman, a shark scientist and lead author of the second study, said in a statement. "It is quite possible that this is something female sharks of many species can do on occasion."
Those who are doubting about Jesus birth should reconsider. Sharks have umbilical cords, just like mammalian babies.


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I know that many of you readers come here, read what you want to, take what you want to, do what you want to without me knowing that you ever came here! So, if you have been a silent reader of my blog and want to know the benefits of leaving comments on a blog's posts, let me give you some tips on why you should be doing it.
1. Do you know me?
If you regularly leave comments on a particular blog, it will make the blog owner recognize you and also your website. When you do this on multiple blogs, you will be socially recognized in the blogging community. Also, most of the blogs nowadays use Gravatars which can help in branding and getting some popularity for your own blog. I think that leaving comments on popular blogs is the best way to be known around the Internet.
2. Building Community
A community is built around people and their views. Leaving comments is a way of showing that you care and want to share your opinion with others including the owner of the blog. The comments can be a suggestion, feedback, appreciation or even criticism. They are good as long as they are not spammy or abusive. So, even if you are just stopping by, try to make that little effort of writing a comment, even if its just a line.
3. Getting What you Want
You should leave a comment because that's the only way the blog owner can judge what the reader/customers want without getting a written e-mail or any other form of communication.
4. Link Building & Traffic
Most of the blogs allow you to leave your website link/s when writing comments (Dofollow or Nofollow) for the blog. This can help you in getting good inbound links and also some additional traffic to your site.
5. Selling yourself
If you are a service provider or have something to sell, comments can be an unobtrusive way to do this. I am not asking you to write your sales pitch in the comments but when you build a relationship with the people through commenting on their blogs, it gets easy to sell your wares to them. Cheap advertising for you 🙂
6. Go down in the Blogging history
This is for the people who do not run websites or blogs but just like to surf the Internet. Someday, when someone tries to search for your name on Google, believe me or not, if you mentioned your name in the comment author, the search results will pop out the comments that you wrote. For some people, the results can be very fascinating 🙂
7. Show off your writing style
Finally, if you have good written English skills, comments can be the platform where you can flaunt them. A lot of people will read them.
And last but not the least, when you leave a comment on a post, it is sort of a reward or a small prize for the blog owner. So, you know now what makes leaving comments so special! Go on, leave a comment and show me that you learned something 🙂


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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump wants to send man back to the moon — and on to Mars.
Trump signed a policy directive Monday instructing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to "refocus America's space program on human exploration and discovery."
The move, Trump said, "marks an important step in returning American astronauts to the moon for the first time since 1972 for long-time exploration."
"This time we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprint," he said, "we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday, to many worlds beyond."
Past presidents, including George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, have also proposed returning to the moon and missions to Mars, Budget constraints derailed their plans.
Trump was joined at the White House by several current and former astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, and former U.S. Sen. and Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, the next-to-last person on the moon.
"Today we pledge that he will not be the last, and I suspect we'll be finding other places to land in addition to the moon," Trump said.
No human has been on the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972. Only 12 men have set foot on the moon, all have been Americans.
Under the directive, the government is also expected to work closely with other nations and private industry.


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Cisco Open Packet Telephony (OPT) provides the framework for delivering voice services over packet-based data, voice, and video networks. OPT encompasses a broad range of hardware platforms and Cisco software, delivering a continuum of voice solutions from core infrastructure to enhanced services over circuit and packet networks. The Cisco PGW 2200 (PSTN Gateway) is at the center of Cisco OPT solutions.
Provisioning a Cisco PGW 2200 is the process of preparing it to communicate with an SS7 network, with Cisco media gateways, and with the other components of an OPT solution. The Cisco Voice Services Provisioning Tool (VSPT) provides an easy-to-use graphical tool to provision Cisco PGW 2200.
All support information for


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The University of North Carolina Wilmington has created this statement to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy to the extent allowed by law. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for the website www.uncw.edu and the network of websites making up the UNC Wilmington network.
Pages on the www.uncw.edu website strive to meet current accessibility standards, including those defined by Section 508 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act as well as, at minimum, Priority 1 of the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Visitors having problems viewing PDF documents with assistive technology may try a free online conversion service that turns these document into simple text or HTML.
Cookies are pieces of information stored by your Web browser on behalf of a website and returned to the website on request. This site may use cookies for two purposes: to carry data about your current session at the site from one Web page to the next, and to identify you to the site between visits. If you prefer not to receive cookies, you may turn them off in your browser, or may set your browser to ask you before accepting a new cookie. Some pages may not function properly if cookies are turned off. Unless otherwise notified on this site, we will not store data, other than for these two purposes, in cookies. Cookies remain on your computer, and accordingly we neither store cookies on our computers nor forward them to any external parties. Unless otherwise notified on this site, we do not use cookies to track your movement among different websites and do not exchange cookies with other entities.
The links provided on UNCW websites are intended to acquaint the users of this site with information, services, and organizations at UNCW, in the local community, and on-line. The views or opinions of these organizations do not necessarily reflect those of the University of North Carolina Wilmington. The links on this website do not constitute an endorsement of any organization or its activities, and UNCW does not vouch for the accuracy of material on any linked website.
The UNCW logos contained on this site are copyrighted and service or trademarked protected. The copying, publication, display, or use of these marks, for either commercial or non-commercial purposes, without the express written permission of UNCW is expressly prohibited. Permissions for the use of these marks and logos may be submitted to the UNCW Office of University Relations.
In the course of ensuring network security and consistent service for all users, the University employs software programs to do such things as monitor network traffic, identify unauthorized access or access to nonpublic information, detect computer viruses and other software that might damage University computers or the network, and monitor and tune the performance of the University network. In the course of such monitoring, these programs may detect such information as e-mail headers, addresses from network packets, and other information. Information from these activities is used only for the purpose of maintaining the security and performance of the University's networks and computer systems. Personally identifiable information from these activities is not released to external parties without your consent unless required by law.
The views and opinions expressed on student and faculty Web pages on the http://student.uncw.edu and http://people.uncw.edu Web servers are strictly those of the page author. The contents of these pages have not been reviewed nor approved by the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
University websites routinely collect and store information from online visitors to help manage those sites and improve service. This information includes the pages visited on the site, the date and time of the visit, the internet address (URL or IP address) of the referring site, the domain name and IP address from which the access occurred, the version of browser used, the capabilities of the browser, and search terms used on our search engines. This site makes no attempt to identify individual visitors from this information: any personally identifiable information is not released to external parties without your consent unless required by law.
If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this website, you can contact firstname.lastname@example.com.
Last updated: 4 January 2011


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Selecting the best summer time camp for the child could be a challenging and often overwhelming task. Since there is a apparently endless number of options to consider, matching the perfect camp for your child's interests, personality, and hectic agenda could be daunting. In addition, being a parent, you will find the responsibility of making certain the camp ground you select for the child is operated inside a safe and appropriate manner for the child's age and talent levels.
This is a camp selection listing for moms and dads to think about when thinking about summer time camp possibilities for his or her kids:
1. Find out the camp's program emphasis. Every camp includes a different philosophy and program emphasis. Some camps promote structured group activities, while some give campers more individualized freedom to select the person activities that attract them. Some camps offer strictly traditional activities, like horse riding and archery, while some may focus solely on sports, drama, or surfing. Or, maybe your son or daughter would achieve an aggressive camp atmosphere whereas another child are the best off taking part in non-competitive camp activities. By knowing your son or daughter's personality, interests, character traits, and learning style, you are able to better find out the right camp for you personally.
2. Make sure the camp ground is accredited through the American Camp Association. To be able to earn accreditation through the American Camp Association (ACA), camps must comply with as many as 300 best-practice industry standards associated with camper health, safety and program matters vital that you a camp's operation.
3. Inquire about the camp ground director's background. To make sure that the camp ground director is qualified, make certain they satisfy the minimum standards set through the ACA. Such standards suggest that camp company directors hold a bachelor's degree, attend least twenty five years old, have in-depth experience of camp administration, and also have performed in-service training over the past 3 years.
4. Camper-to-counselor ratios. To make certain your son or daughter gets the person attention and supervision she or he needs for age, compare the camp's counselor-to-camper ratio to ACA standards. For day camps, the overall ratios vary from 8:1 for six, 7 and eight year olds, to 10:1 for 9 to 14 year olds, and 12:1 for campers ages 15 to 17. For sleepaway camps, the overall suggested ratio is 6:1 for 7 and eight year olds, 8:1 for 9 to 14 year olds and 10:1 for campers ages 15 to 17.
(Please be aware, the above mentioned-reported child-to-counselor ratio standards are just ACA's general, MINIMUM recommendations and could vary based on various situations and/or conditions. Furthermore, there might be additional standards associated with specific programs and/or activities where more supervision might be prudent, otherwise needed. Accordingly, you need to use your personal judgment and conduct your personal research to determine what's suitable for your child and you.)
5. Question camp staff. Your son or daughter's counselors could make or break children's camp experience. Additionally to facilitating camp activities, counselors function as heroines and really should be dependable, reliable, and show enthusiasm for his or her role. For safety reasons, counselors ought to be First aid and cpr-Certified, and also have gone through criminal record checks just before employment through the camp.
6. Accommodation of special needs. If your little one has special needs because of an allergic reaction or any other medical problem, make sure to inquire if the camp ground is outfitted to deal with these special needs for the child.
7. Learn about the way the camp handles discipline. As with any business, rules are essential, and also the camp's disciplinary approach ought to be fair and freely conveyed. Positive reinforcement, a feeling of fair play and assertive role-modeling are essential factors to consider. If penalties affect certain violations, camp staff should apply them fairly, comfortably and without unnecessary critique.
8. Look into the camp's references. References can present you with a peek at the encounters others have experienced in a camp, and they're an essential method of looking at a camp's history and status. Prior to choosing a camp, the camp ground company directors ought to be prepared to provide references upon request.


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Alpha the Ultimate Magical Girl !
Alpha the sexy Ultimate Magical Girl. A this time she training to save innocents and for that she work with the Love-love compagnie to fight vilain. But why the compagnie fight bad guy ? Do it have some secret purpose ? In futur Alpha will discover the ugly truth, but by doing this she will officially be associate white evil people by the Love-love compagnie. How do she could be safe ?
Around 20h of work, Illustration made for my rpg YuuKaï.
Music : Infected Mushroom - 2007 - Vicious Delicious 03. Vicious Delicious 05. Suliman 06. Forgive Me 10. Change The Formality 11. Before


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Maskeen Overseas is dedicated to creating engaging and innovative play areas in Longding that cater to the diverse needs of children's recreational spaces. As esteemed Play Area Manufacturers in Longding, we are committed to designing and constructing play areas that prioritize safety, durability, and fun. Our meticulously crafted play structures in Longding, including slides, swings, and interactive installations, are designed to stimulate children's imagination and encourage physical activity. By combining quality materials with creative designs, we aim to provide play areas in Longding that not only entertain but also contribute to children's holistic development.
With a commitment to delivering products that meet international safety standards, we ensure that every play area in Longding is equipped with durable and reliable structures that can withstand extensive use. We take pride in being prominent Kids Play Area Suppliers in Longding, offering a diverse range of play area solutions that cater to various age groups and spatial requirements. Whether it's for public parks, schools, or residential communities, our goal is to create vibrant and inclusive play areas in Longding that provide children with a safe and enjoyable space for exploration and recreation.


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The United States' borders with Mexico and Canada will remain closed for non-essential travel through February 21, the Department of Homeland Security announced this week.
The land borders have largely remained closed since March at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Air traffic between the countries is still permitted, but significantly curtailed due to the virus. For instance, those traveling to Canada are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, and must be traveling for an essential purpose.
Air travel between the US and Mexico is continuing with more minimal interruptions.
The borders remain open for essential purposes, such as trade and for transporting goods.


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'So what are you doing about Brexit' demanded my 90-year-old Mum. 'Why should I be doing anything about it?' I asked. 'Because every other sentence on the news channels since Friday morning has contained the word Negotiation' she said.
Point taken. Not only Teresa and Michael haggling about who should be the next Prime Minister, Tom Watson colluding with Angela Eagle to avoid being the next Leader of the Opposition, Nicola Sturgeon desperately searching for a negotiating partner in Brussels – anyone will do - but most importantly the UK Government-to-be negotiating the relationship between the UK and Europe with 27 other heads of state, once the exit process has been triggered. There do seem to be a lot of negotiating opportunities created as a result of last Thursday's vote and you would have thought that will translate into lots of demand for negotiating training and consultancy to help the negotiators to speed the process through and reduce the uncertainty which will taint our future prosperity as a nation if we become embroiled in years of deal-making.
But it probably won't because the unbelievably large numbers of civil servants who will be doing the grunt-work of the Brexit negotiating don't think they need any help, despite all the evidence to the contrary. Why has it taken Canada 8 years to (almost) get a trade deal with the EU? Why did Norway end up with a deal which lumbered them with all the costs of belonging to the single market without a seat at the table? Why did Switzerland, which used to be the banking centre of Europe, get a deal which amazingly did not give them full access to the Single Market for financial services? Why has it taken Turkey over 20 years to agree only one of 35 protocols in their attempt to accede to membership of the EU? Ask the civil servants who have been employed for years on these projects, at significant salaries and with generous perks.
I have great admiration for senior UK civil servants. Typically they were top of their class at school and University. Many of them are well connected – they know people who know people. Most of them have been government employees all their working life. They are very clever, well read, and au fait with the latest theories. And about as street-smart as Mr Bean. Perhaps more worrying is the fact that they don't recognise this about themselves. So street-smart training isn't on their horizon. They just don't think they need it.
Here is an example of the naivety. The Leave campaigners, no doubt encouraged by their aides, centred their economic argument on our trade deficit with Europe – that the EU sell more to us than we sell to them. German and French car manufacturers, they told us, will not tolerate tariffs on cars if that means that they sell fewer cars to the UK and as a result have to reduce their workforce. And since Germany and France have elections coming up, their governments won't want to be negotiating trade deals with the UK on a platform which translates into higher unemployment.
So Boris and Co presumably think that these trade arrangements can be finalised quickly. In reality EU politicians will play hardball in their own interest. If tariffs don't work for them for these reasons they will demand other things; things that will cost us and have value for them. In other words they will negotiate street-smart. Not because they are sore with the UK for upsetting the status quo. Nor because they want to demonstrate to some of the other wavering members that there is value in belonging to the club. But because they understand the nature of power-play, the flexibility of time, and the importance of being creative in how they get value for any concessions they might make to the UK. And the bureaucrats who have to turn these headline ideas into treaties will have a field day. So these upcoming negotiations will be painfully slow, hard fought, often unpleasant, and rarely straightforward.
The only saving grace for the UK is that the EU civil servants are mostly as unworldly as ours are. I just wish they would all take a good hard look in the mirror because once they see Mr Bean staring back at them that should jolt them into getting some advice from street-smart experts. Like Scotwork.
Cheers Mum.
Stephen White


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After a couple of days of near-death, which followed a week or two of crawling speeds, following about a year of general sluggishness due to high traffic, the MMM blog has finally been massively upgraded to a completely new and very speedy web server. Whereas loading the main page used to be sort of a "whirrr..clunk..clunk..hmppphlzzz..plop" experience, as I test it today, it is decidedly more "Vssshhhhhh…BANG!!"
While I'm excited at the time savings this brings to my own daily life, I'm even more excited for how much time it will save YOU. If you multiply our 2.3 million pageviews in the past month by the average of 3 seconds of loading time the new server should eliminate, you get 1916 hours per month or about 80 days of people's lives which are no longer wasted, every month. If we value your time at $40 per hour, this server upgrade is saving about $76,640 of the readers' collective time every month. And yet the upgrade is costing me considerably less than that. So I apologize for not getting this done sooner!
Although in the end we just moved a bunch of bits around on hard drives scattered around the Internet, it was actually a pretty dramatic story. Without getting into too much technical detail, here's how it all went down.
MMM: "Damn! This website has really slowed down recently. We used to be able to handle up to 900 simultaneous people, but today it seems to be capping at 100. What gives?
Mrs. MM: "Don't worry – it's probably just some temporary stuff that will resolve itself"
Website: "Yeah, good luck on that fantasy, suckas. ERROR ESTABLISHING A DATABASE CONNECTION!"
Mrs. MM: "Shit, I guess this is serious. Here, I'm poking around and I think I found some problems that should speed things up"
MMM: "Oh, thanks so much, honey! You are great. I'm going out to work on some stuff outside."
Website: "ERROR ESTABLISHING A DATABASE CONNECTION! ERROR! ERROR! I'm only serving 80 simultaneous readers now! The other 200 can wait!"
The Mustachians: "WTF Dude!? Can you fix your site, or what? I'm going to go read something else now"
Google Search Engine: "Your website is too slow, I think I will lower your rank and stop sending you visitors"
MMM: "Faaack. I think we need to upgrade to a bigger webhost. Let's try ServInt, since Pat Flynn used it for a while. His recent website crash was probably just a fluke and I'm sure it's good enough for us, right?"
Mrs. MM: "OK, I'm cool with setting that up. Doot dee doo, click, type, workworkwork"
MMM: "Wow, what a great wife you are! I guess I'll just go out and do some more fun construction stuff while the weather's nice"
later that night…
Mrs. MM: "I am TIRED! But I got the whole site transitioned to ServInt. Whew! I'll just set the DNS servers to switch over and we'll see how it looks tomorrow morning.
even later that night..
ServInt Web Server: "La-dee-daa, I'm a brand new website running on a nice $600/year VPS server, I can handle lots of traffic.. WHOOM!!!!… ACK!! NOT THAT MUCH TRAFFIC! TURN IT OFF! TURN IT OFF!! CRASH!!!."
the next morning..
Mrs. MM: "Umm.. ServInt Customer Support, why is our brand-new website not working?"
Servint Customer Support: "Uh… well, your server had too much traffic, so we had to throttle it. It looks like all legitimate traffic and not a denial-of-service attack, but there's just like 200 people trying to access your WordPress blog at once. That's too much for us"
Mrs. MM: OK, so you're telling me that this service is slower than our Bluehost Pro account that costs less than half as much. I guess I'll keep shopping around. Buh-bye"
Web Developer Superstar Kevin Worthington:
Mrs and MMM: Hmmm…
At this point, we had to gaze deep into our souls and make a big decision. This blog has been a family-run deal since its inception, and when you bring in an outside developer, you need to hand over your administrative passwords and the feeling of control and safety that you get when you know your fate is in your own hands. But we also knew that in exchange for forking over some trust, you usually get a lot more than you give away. I've wanted to get more creative people involved with MMM for a long time, since the potential for growth would be unlimited. A filmmaker making rich little films for the YouTube channel. A bike advocacy flash mob team that makes people start biking all around the world. Co-ops of various sorts where you can build and invent things and help others do the same. A foundation that funds things. The more, the merrier. Anyway, that's the future. Right now we don't even have a website.
Mrs and MMM: YEAH! How can we do it?
Kevin: Well, I like the web host called Digital Ocean. It's super-advanced and speedy, but the configuration is more manual so you need pretty advanced Linux system administrator skills to set it up. But I'll do it for you. I'm an MMM reader, and we're just cool like that.
THEN, we can make it even faster, by hooking up a Content Distribution Network in FRONT of the server, so a worldwide network of other servers blasts out the images and other static content based on geographic proximity, which will lessen the load on your main server even further, making the thing crazy, blazing fast.
Mrs. and MMM: Umm.. SURE!!
a few hours later…
Kevin: OK, I got everything working.
A Large Number of Mustachians: Thank You Kevin Worthington Superstar Developer!
There is still more neat stuff to come behind the scenes – the CDN mentioned above, plus with Digital Ocean we have the option of seamlessly upgrading our speed every time the site grows to the next level. I'm thrilled to have a real, brilliant, up-to-date tech guy on our side and hope this partnership will blossom over the coming years. He will obviously get a fine place on my Recommendations page. But for now, let us all just bask in the fact that the website works again.
Update: while we've got much faster load times in general, there will still be some bumps and brief periods of downtime as the optimization continues. So if you get a delayed load time occasionally or a 404-not found error, just give it a minute and reload.
Further Detail: I took down yesterday's post about the transition-in-process to avoid confusion, but here is a comment Mrs. MM wrote which I didn't want to lose, since it sums up some of her thoughts on the process:
Hi everyone!
I just wanted to mention a few things and write a quick update.
First, Bluehost has been awesome and I would highly recommend them to anyone starting a blog. It is VERY easy and they do a great job. It is one of the few places where you can install WordPress and get a site going extremely fast. They also have a lot of support and documentation. I have heard that there have been issues in the last week for some, but I'm sure it will be resolved.
Some of the other web hosts we have tried have been much more complicated to use and require more skill (so far we've tried AN Web Hosting, ServInt, and now our site is on Digital Ocean!). I would not recommend those other hosts unless you really know what you are doing or if you get a lot of traffic on your site and need more than what bluehost is offering (apparently Bluehost is coming out with more options soon though, so stay tuned).
As for the update, we initially made our move to ServInt this morning and as soon as we went live, the server immediately CRASHED! ServInt informed us that our traffic was too big for them to handle. Huh, that is pretty crazy. So, even Bluehost did better than them in this regard.
I was desperate and even though I always try to do everything myself, I realized it was time to ask for help. So, when @kworthington tweeted that he would be willing to help, I jumped on the chance. You can find him at http://kevinworthington.com/. He knew exactly what to do and got right on it.
He set us up with Digital Ocean (a Linux based server that I would have had no idea how to configure) and got us up and running in no time. Even the forum works! (we're still working on e-mail, by the way).
From what I've seen so far, the site is lightning fast and Kevin has ideas to make it even faster. We could not be happier.
This was a big lesson for me. Sometimes outsourcing is worthwhile when you don't know what the f*ck you are doing. I was practically up all night working on this and Kevin got it all done in only a couple of hours.
Anyway, thanks for your patience and we're excited to move forward on our new server!!


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You should always run the latest version of the Digi ConnectCore Smart IOmux.
When you launch the application, you may be notified about software updates.
When a new version is available:
A notification appears asking you to update the application to the new version. Click Yes to start the update process.
When the installation process is finished, you must restart the application so new changes can be applied. When prompted, click Yes to restart the application.
You can also check for updates and manually update the application by clicking Help > Check for updates.
The status bar displays the general progress of the update process. You can click on the status bar to see more details. |


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Installing a Weber 32/36 DGV, DGAV, DGEV |
(For Weber Kits with 2 piece adapter) |
These instructions are intended as a general guide for installation. Certain steps may vary slightly for different vehicle. |
[Disassembly] [Bench Assembly] [Kit Installation] [Idle Setting] |
Jetting Specifications |
Jetting specifications of carburetors supplied in kits may vary slightly but will always be correct for the intended application. |
Combination, box or open-end Wrenches | 1 ea. Weber 32/36 DGV, DGAV, DGEV |
Socket set | 1 ea. Carburetor Adapter (2 piece style) |
Screwdrivers (regular and Phillips) | 1 - hardware kit |
Pliers | 1 ea. Linkage kit |
6mm Allen Wrench | 1 ea. Chrome air filter |
Gasket Scraper, Knife | |
Wiping rags, cleaning solvent | |
Gasket Sealer |
All engine tune-up specifications for the WEBER carburetor remains the same as those specified by the factory for the original unit. Emissions tune-up should be carried out by a suitable qualified Dealer or Independent garage. |
NOTE: Late model vehicles fitted with Emission Control Systems have many vacuum lines and electrical connections in their fuel systems. It is essential when dismantling the unit that disconnected lines must be identified with corresponding number tag or label system. Establish a function of any device disconnected or reconnected. |
1. Install a new fuel filter when installing this kit. |
2. Many late model vehicles use high pressure fuel systems. The WEBER only requires 3.5lbs. of pressure. Check the pressure in your system and replace the pump if necessary. |
| Bench Assembly
| |||||||||||||||
Idle Setting |
Warning: Failure to follow this procedure may cause rough idle, poor driveability and stalling and will void manufacturer's warranty. |
The "Lean Best" idle setting procedure can be used to adjust your carburetor in the absence of an infrared exhaust gas analyzer. (Customers with an analyzer should proceed to set the idle mixture and speed to the vehicle's manufacturer's factory specifications.) |
Note: Before adjusting carburetor, be sure engine is at operating temperature, (choke is off) air cleaner is removed and vacuum lines plugged off. |
(1) The Weber DGV/DGAV idle speed screw should be adjusted to its "preliminary" set point before adjusting the idle mixture. To set the idle speed screw, follow these steps: |
(2) Back "out" the idle speed screw until the tip of the screw no longer touches the throttle lever. Then slowly turn the screw in until it just comes in contact with the throttle lever. |
(3) From the "contact" position, turn the idle speed screw "in" one (1) full turn. |
(4) If a tachometer is available, install it prior to starting the engine. If a tachometer is not available set idle mixture 'by ear". |
(5) Start engine. Be sure the choke is not engaged. Proceed to adjust the idle mixture. |
(6) Turn the idle mixture screw "in" clockwise until the engine's RPM begins to fluctuate on the tachometer. (If adjusting by ear, until a noticeable drop in speed is heard). |
(7) Back "out" (counterclockwise) the idle mixture screw slowly until the engine idle becomes steady. Try to obtain the leannest setting without affecting the idle spped. If necessary, repeat steps 6 and 7 until the best setting is achieved. |
(8) Once the idle mixture is set, fine tune the engine's idle speed. If necessary, by adjusting the idle speed screw (Note: Turning "in" (clockwise), the idle speed screw will increase engine speed. Turning "out" (counterclockwise), the idle speed screw will decrease the engine speed). |
(9) If idle speed is reset, go back and repeat steps 6 and 7. |


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As I remarked several years ago in my series of posts about applying to PhD programs in philosophy, it seems to be extremely difficult to gain admission to an elite PhD program in philosophy if you're not from an elite undergraduate institution. Inspired by a comment on a recent post, I decided to look at this a bit more systematically.
Here's what I did. First, I looked to see which of the top ten Leiter ranked philosophy PhD programs consistently displayed undergraduate institution information for their graduate students. Two did: Princeton and Berkeley. Of the 121 graduate students listed on their websites, 119 had undergraduate institution information listed. Of these, 25 were from foreign universities -- typically elite universities (especially Oxford). Excluding the foreign students leaves a pool of 94 students with US undergraduate university listed (21 also listed some graduate work, typically an MA). I then looked at the US News and World Report rankings of their undergraduate institutions.
Twenty-seven students (29%) come from just eight universities: The US News top 10 National Universities, excluding MIT and CalTech (Chicago, Columbia, Duke, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale).
Another seventeen (18%) come from the universities ranked 11-25 (Berkeley, Brown, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern, Rice, UCLA, USC, and Vanderbilt being represented).
Ten more (11%) come from universities ranked 26-50. And of these ten, seven are from universities with elite graduate programs in philosophy: Three from NYU (Leiter ranked #1 in the U.S.), 1 from Michigan (Leiter ranked #5), 2 from UNC Chapel Hill (Leiter ranked #9), and 1 from Tufts (Leiter ranked as the #1 master's program in the U.S). So, really, these universities are more elite in philosophy than their US News ranking would suggest. Rounding out the mix are Brandeis, UC Santa Barbara, and UW Madison. [Revised 10/28]
Only three universities ranked 51-100 are represented: Two students from Rutgers (whose PhD program is Leiter ranked #2), one from Northeastern (though this student took an MA from Minnesota first), and strikingly four students from Colorado (which has a mid-ranked PhD program: Leiter rank #26).
Many of the remaining students are from elite schools in the US News category "National Liberal Arts Colleges". Eight (9%) are from colleges in the top ten (Amherst, Claremont McKenna, Middlebury, Pomona, Swarthmore, and Williams represented), and seven more from those ranked 11-50 (Bates, Franklin & Marshall, Kenyon, Mount Holyoke, Oberlin, and Wesleyan represented).
Only eighteen students (19%) come from all the remaining universities in the United States combined. And even this number overestimates the number of students with genuinely nonelite backgrounds: Three are from Reed College, which though only ranked #57 among liberal arts colleges has a very strong tradition in philosophy; and at least another nine supplemented their undergraduate work with master's degrees or other work at elite schools or places with strong master's programs. Represented are: Arizona State, Biola, Catholic University, Cincinnati, Florida State, Houghton, Indiana-South Bend, Kalamazoo, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Reed, St John's College Santa Fe, St Vincent, and U Mass Boston.
To help give a sense of how thin a representation this is of nonelite schools, consider that there is not a single student on this list from the two biggest public university systems in the country: the Cal State system (412,000 students) and the SUNY system (468,000 students, but that number includes students in two-year colleges and technical institutes). Even the UC system is poorly represented once we exclude the two most elite universities (Berkeley and UCLA): The remaining campuses (Davis, Irvine, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz) are represented by only a single student from Santa Barbara.
I don't conclude that admissions committees are being unfair, much less explicitly elitist. Maybe students from Harvard and Columbia really are that much better. Or maybe the epistemic task of discerning the genuinely most promising applicants is so difficult that committees need to play the odds and the odds almost always say that the Harvard student is more likely to succeed than the Cal State student. Or maybe so much turns on the credibility of the letter writers that students whose letter writers aren't well known can't really be fully evaluated. Or, or, or, or.
But regardless how innocent the explanation, it's a shame.
Update, 5:44 pm:
Very interesting discussion in the comments! Let me clarify two points:
First: I interpret these results as applying only to the very most elite PhD programs -- roughly the Leiter top ten. There is plenty of evidence that lower-ranked PhD programs (like UCR, ranked #30) admit a substantial proportion of their students from nonelite schools (though I suspect there still is a large pedigree advantage). However, that fact is less consoling than it might seem if it's the case, as I suspect it is, the top ten PhD programs are vastly more successful than lower-ranked schools in placing their students into the sorts of elite research-oriented jobs and elite liberal-arts-college teaching jobs that many graduate students covet.
Second: I somewhat regret the impression that the title of this post might give that there is simply no chance to be admitted to an elite program from a Cal State or similar. There are a few exceptions, as should be evident from the data included in the post. At least some of the off-list schools are comparable in prestige to the Cal States and SUNYs. Whether these exceptions are frequent enough to constitute any practical chance even for awesome students from such schools, I'm not sure.
Update, October 28:
A reader compiled some data for me from Stanford. This list is not strictly comparable to the Princeton/Berkeley list, since it is list of last institution prior to Stanford, whether undergrad or graduate, but it's still probably somewhat comparable.
To my eye, the results look similar, with 28% (out of 40 total US students) from the top ten universities, and another 48% from the top 11-50 universities and top 1-50 liberal arts colleges. Only one student is from a university ranked 51-100, and that university, Pittsburgh, has an elite PhD program (Leiter ranked #4). 23% of the students (9 total) are from all the remaining universities in the US; and at least three of those are from well-regarded MA programs at those universities (to judge from those universities' MA placement lists: Cal State LA, Georgia State, and Texas Tech), while one more student is from a university that although not generally elite has a very strong PhD program in philosophy (Arizona, Leiter ranked #13). The remaining five students are from Illinois Wesleyan, Nevada-Las Vegas, Northern Arizona, Northern Iowa, and South Florida.
19%-23% representation from nonelite universities might not seem very skewed, but I think that would be a false impression. Many more students graduate from nonelite universities than from elite universities. Their low odds of admission are better seen looking up from the bottom than down from the top, as it were. If we take an arbitrary selection of nonelite schools, say all of the dozens of Cal States and SUNYs, we see not a single undergraduate from these schools in any of these three departments. (Caveat: Stanford has a CSLA MA student, and to judge from the comments section and private emails, at least two or three Cal State students have recently cracked other top ten departments; I haven't yet heard good news about any SUNY students.) Also if we look at the very good / marginally elite universities ranked 51-100 on the US News list -- schools which one might think could contribute substantial numbers of students to elite PhD programs -- we still see only very thin representation: Combining Princeton, Berkeley, and Stanford together, only four of those 50 schools are represented; only two if Rutgers and Pitt are reclassed as elite due to their top-ten rankings in philosophy. In contrast, almost all of the top 25 schools are represented, often multiply represented.
Here's another way of thinking about the distribution: In a typical smallish Princeton-Berkeley-Stanford class of six students, four will be from elite undergrad institutions, one will be from a (probably elite) foreign institution, and only one will be from any of the hundreds of good but nonelite US institutions -- and that one student as likely as not spent some time in some capacity either visiting an elite institution or at one of the top MA programs.
Update, August 7, 2013:
See these reflections by David Holiday on his failure to make the jump from a non-prestigious MA program to a PhD program. Starting a few paragraphs in he makes the case that "the student at the ho-hum department has no way of knowing what she doesn't know, and what she doesn't know is evident in her work". I do suspect this is part of the story.


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A nice slideshow about the Barstow Formation and the fossils it contains, from the San Bernardino County Museum.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
The Other California: Prairies Past and Some Nice Folding
A nice slideshow about the Barstow Formation and the fossils it contains, from the San Bernardino County Museum.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Other California: What to See When You've Run Out of Postcard Destinations
(published by Scope Enterprises, Inc) |
Geologists divide California into eleven geomorphic provinces, areas that share unique geologic histories, rock types and topography that are distinct from the surrounding areas. I generally refer to the province when I am describing a particular feature or place. I am categorizing the posts that exist thus far in the same way:
Say Hello to California's New State Dinosaur, Augustynolophus morrisi: The first dinosaur discovered in California was found in our county, Stanislaus.
The Prairie Lands: California has its own version of savannahs, both present and past.
Sharktooth Hill: That's about it...thousands and thousands of shark teeth and a great many other species.
The Day of the Fiddlenecks (A Trip Through the Mother Lode): A brief foray for wildflowers on Highway 132 in California's Mother Lode
There's an Endemic in those Red Hills! Life and evolution on one of California's unique environments, the serpentine soils. Exploring the Red Hills Area of Critical Environmental Concern
The California State Mineral Exhibit-This is art, darnit! One of the best ways to see the incredible mineral wealth of California is to explore the state mineral exhibit in Mariposa at the south end of the Mother Lode. Because of the morons in the state legislature, it is about to shutter its doors
It's a Real Grind...Chaw'se State Historical Park: A look at more grinding mortars than you'll ever see anywhere else, the Miwok culture, and some interesting metamorphic rocks
The Other California Goes Underground: Hella Hot Helictites at Black Chasm Cave: Never heard of helictites? That's because they are the first cave features to be destroyed. But we have a world class collection of them in the Sierra foothills
What do you do with a Used Forest?: The Sierra Nevada between Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks is terra incognita for most Sierra travelers. The region has been logged, mined, and grazed...and is still spectacular. We take an excursion on the Sierra Vista Scenic Byway
Why Worry About Yellowstone? We've got our own "supervolcanoes" in California. Some are active. Some have been extinct for tens of millions of years. At the Minarets we can explore one from the inside out
I've seen these mountains before! The Big Ripoff: Viewed on a geologic map, the Klamath Mountains look like a continuation of the Sierra Nevada, but lie sixty miles farther west.
I Need This Like I Need a Hole in the Head: Scenic Bodega Head at Bodega Bay was the nearly the site of one of the most mind-bogglingly stupid energy developments ever conceived by the minds of engineers
Baymouth Bars - It's Five O'Clock Somewhere? Along the incredibly rugged north coast amid the violent surf there are long, perfectly straight sand bars that seem to defy explanation. They're explained here Humboldt Lagoons State Park
A Mystery Photo For a Saturday: A look at San Francisco from a unique angle, Monte del Diablo
The Thicket of the Devil (the mystery photo revealed): An introduction to a place with an incredible view, Mt. Diablo. How it got its name and why every landowner in Central California should care
Limekiln State Park Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3: Limekiln is a beautiful gem of a state park on the Big Sur Coastline. Unfortunately we have morons in the state legislature and this park is closing. See what is being taken from us
The Calico Mountains: An exploration of a unique mountain range, well beyond the confines of the tourist trap ghost town.
A Monday Mystery Photo: A quick introduction to the Cajon Pass country where the San Andreas fault splits the San Gabriel Mountains from the San Bernardino Mountains
Cajon Pass and No Strange Sci-Fi Creatures: Cajon Pass, the major freeway access route into the Los Angeles basin, is filled with strange looking sedimentary rocks tilted this way and that. But it's not where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn...
The Mountains of My Youth: The eastern San Gabriel Mountains aren't all that familiar to people from outside the state, but they are spectacular and they were the mountains where I grew up. We explore an extraordinary gorge, San Antonio Canyon
Hemming and Hawing on the Hogback: The San Gabriel Mountains are the steepest mountains in the world. Often the only flat spots are on dangerous stream floodplains and on top of landslides. Several examples from San Antonio Canyon include the Hogback and Cow Canyon Saddle
A Canyon as Deep as the Grand, and a Road For No Reason: The Glendora Ridge Road offers some of the greatest panoramas of any road in southern California, and there doesn't seem to be a reason for it being there. I suspect I know what the reason is
The Forbidden Valley: An introduction to the San Dimas Experimental Forest
A Minor Challenge: A quiz to introduce the unusual geology of the Santa Clarita Valley
Dreams of Avarice and the First Gold Rush: You thought the gold rush started in the Sierra Mother Lode? There was a rush six years earlier, but the Mexican miners kept their secrets better (and there wasn't very much gold, either)
The Oldest Rocks (Well, maybe...): The San Gabriel Mountains have very old rocks, maybe the oldest in the state. But it depends on how you define "oldest". A short introduction to radiometric (isotopic) age dating
The Other California: Another Friday Fun Foto: A brief introduction to San Jacinto Peak, the highest mountain in the Peninsular Ranges, and one of the most prominent mountains in the state, with a 10,000 foot slope in one area.
A Mystery Photo for the Day: A view of a rock that looks like it belongs somewhere in the Sierra Nevada, but that is not where it is...
When is a Peninsular Range Not a Peninsula? Baja California is a peninsula, but the rocks continue into Alta California. This post explores the village of Idylwild next to the highest part of the province at San Jacinto Peak
I clearly have lots of ground to cover, and will update this page as necessary.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Dispatches from the Road: Pictures I Missed Before
The meadow in the foreground lies along the entrance road to Sunset Crater National Monument, which preserves one of the youngest volcanic features in Arizona. A look east from the same meadow reveals Sunset Crater itself.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The Other California: Another Friday Fun Foto (on Sunday!)
Friday, December 25, 2009
The Other California: A Friday Fun Foto!
A couple of clues: It is the southwesternmost peak in the United States that shows evidence of Pleistocene glaciation, maybe even the southernmost, period, and also has the southernmost grove of Aspen trees in the United States. As far as the "transformative" part, in the picture above, not one, but two strands of the San Andreas fault lie tucked between the ridges visible in this photograph.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all! Thanks to Susan Hayes for the photo.
UPDATE: As Chasmanian Devil and Forrest noted, it is San Gorgonio Peak, the highest mountain in Southern California at an elevation of 11,499 feet. The mountain shrunk three feet over the course of my life, as I grew up in SoCal with the highest point being officially 11,502 feet. It got too heavy, or else the surveying methods improved! San Gorgonio is a fascinating place to hike, especially if you like wilderness: many people follow the trails to the summit, but some wonderful lonely trails explore the flanks of the peak, especially at the headwaters of the Whitewater River. It was glaciated in the Pleistocene ice ages, and recent research has established the precise glacial chronology. It even has a few natural lakes, a rarity in southern California mountains. It's a place I am anxious to get back to! I highly recommend a book by Stephens Press called Call of the Mountains, a beautiful photo-essay about southern California's mountains.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Dispatch from the Road: Life Can Change in an Instant
Dust storms are a normal phenomenon of deserts, but they are made worse by poor agricultural practices and droughts. According to news reports, the worst dust of this particular storm was the result of plowing in nearby agricultural fields. I find myself wondering if the agribusinesses take high winds into account when they plow potentially dusty dry fields near major transportation corridors. A sign on a highway warning of dust is too easily ignored, and does not absolve those responsible when things go terribly wrong. This sort of tragedy is too common in the Phoenix region, as well as back home in the Central Valley.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Fading Into Insignificance: Mather Point, Grand Canyon National Park
It has been my experience that when I look upon a scene of such grandeur, my mind is not fully capable of taking in the true scale of the canyon. The vastness of the scene has been shrunk to a single image in the back of my eye, and my ego makes me much larger in relation to the canyon in front of me. One way to gain a truer sense of scale is to hike the canyon. Nothing drives home the depth of the gorge more than trying to walk back out. It looks a LOT bigger when you stand at the bottom and look up!
On the other hand, one can stand on the rim with a camera, and see what happens to people scaled to the immensity of the canyon. I stood this morning at Mather Point and snapped a shot of people enjoying the view (above).
I was actually some distance away, using a 30x zoom, so I back out to 15x or so, and a strip of the Kiabab Limestone becomes visible. The rock is a mixture of limestone and sandstone that formed in a shallow sea in Permian time, around 250 million years ago.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Geologic Evidence Points to a Giant Worldwide Flood...oh, and Cigarettes Don't Cause Cancer
Pascal was quite curious about how the creation-scientists would present their ideas on the field trip. Except for some strange questions and occasional references to processes not noted in most geology texts, the trip would not have seemed out of the ordinary to a normal geologist. Pascal discusses the issue of creation-scientists presenting data at science conferences and noted that:
Yes, the YEC crowd will put this as a shining feather in their caps [ironic, since they claim all of our work is wrong yet they view interaction with us as "proof" that their ideas have merit].
The "feather in the cap" has been published by the Institute of Creation Research, and it has some interesting perspectives. I am mostly struck by the way the ICR crowd feels it must hide its motives in their abstracts and field trips. Sure, being labeled a young-earth creationist at a GSA meeting would lead to perception problems, but labels have a reason sometimes.
I often start my classes with the statement that "recent research" indicates that cigarettes don't cause cancer after all. The students catch on pretty fast and ask "who did the research, and who paid for it?" They understand that if the research was presented by the tobacco lobby, that's one thing, but if it was published in a peer-reviewed journal by oncologists supported by the American Cancer Society, that is something else altogether.
So take their statement about two of the abstracts (here and here) presented this year:
Two of these papers were on the petrology of the Coconino Sandstone of the Grand Canyon... (the) Authors ... presented evidence that ocean water, not wind, deposited the distinctive crossbedding of the Coconino Sandstone. The evidence of ocean water currents was argued technically from the dolomite beds, dolomite grains, ooids, mica grains, microfossils, and bimodal texture.
The Coconino Sandstone in the Grand Canyon region is a real problem for young-earth creationist, as are most of the other sedimentary layers on the Colorado Plateau. By their "model" (giant world-wide flood 4,500 years ago), all 12,000 feet of the sedimentary layers of the region HAD to form in ocean environments and under extraordinary conditions at that. All of them. If one of them clearly formed on land, then their "model" is disproven. So the Coconino, generally recognized as a desert sand-dune deposit, had to form underwater. So ask yourself: would these people EVER find evidence of a land-based origin for this layer, or any other layer for that matter? Their researchers must agree with ICR doctrinal statements and tenets just to do research for ICR.
I also take issue with another of their claims. They seem to "take ownership", in a sense, of an organization called the Affiliation of Christian Geologists:
Christian geologists also expressed themselves through an organization within GSA called Affiliation of Christian Geologists. Around 40 GSA members attended the evening meeting ... approximately one third of whom were young-earth creationists. This shows that there are many within the GSA that take seriously the creation and Flood narrative text of the Bible. Their numbers and prominence within GSA appear to have been growing over the years (italics mine).
If you peruse the ACG website, it is apparent that they are reputable geologists who have serious issues with the young-earth creationists. I also have a slight problem of calling the 13 or 14 young-earth creationists "many" when compared to the thousands of geologists in attendance at the meeting.
I don't think creationists should be excluded from venues like GSA. On the contrary, I wish they would present more of their "research". But I would hope that their work will receive the same scrutiny that any poorly designed research would get. If they are trying to prove a worldwide flood 4,500 years ago, then present the evidence to the people who know the science, and be ready to get challenged. Don't hide your motives.
Today's photo is a slab of the Coconino Sandstone showing trackways of an animal walking across the surface of the sand dune. Several dozen different kinds of tracks are commonly found in the unit.
Greetings from the Road: Mojave Desert
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Musings on Gold...GOLD! Buy GOLD! The World is Going to End Anyway
On the other hand, the FOX Channel's Glenn Beck, fear-monger par excellence, has been shilling for a gold-selling company, while at the same time using his show to advise people to buy gold in these terrifying times. He tells us to "pray over it" ("Dear God and Jesus, should I use my money to give food to the poor, or buy gold???"; I wonder what voice speaks in his head, and what it says to him?). I'm sure there is no conflict of interest here...
I started thinking about gold because one of my very first efforts at web page design (1997, I think) still sits in a largely original state on my school website, a discussion about the history of the gold mining in the Mother Lode. It talks about the value of gold at the time, and the then current state of mining. A recent visitor to the site commented the price of gold had quadrupled since I wrote the piece, and suggested that interest in mining was up again (if you check out the site, be aware that some of my numbers are speculative).
First off, does anyone know of any ongoing interest in reopening any Mother Lode mines? I'd like to know about it. I must say, that if I were already operating a mine, I couldn't be happier. Great prices! But opening, or reopening a mine? Do mining companies trust that the price of gold is going to remain stable or continue to rise? Enough to make the incredible investments in equipment and regulatory paperwork? I've gotta say that the run-up in the price is very reminiscent of the dot.com craziness of the 1990's, the stock market craziness of the 2,000's, and the real estate insanity of the last 10 years. Wow...how'd they all do? What I remember the most was the maniacal exhortations to invest, invest, invest, even as prices started to fall.
If you are thinking of falling for one of these gold investment schemes, take a look at this article by Nouriel Roubini. For the record, he was one of those gloom and doom economists who predicted the ongoing recession-depression (does anyone believe it's over?) before it was fashionable. Can you spell "g-o-l-d b-u-b-b-l-e"? It may a good time to sell gold, but I wouldn't trust a banjo-strumming confidence man. See a reputable jeweler first. As for Glenn Beck and the other investment shills? Well, consider the source...
Late Add: Seems (surprise, surprise!) that some of those commercial gold buyers have gotten in trouble. Check out this report.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Geologists Travel...Part II
November included a tour of Pinnacles National Monument (above), and a Geology Club tour of Natural Bridges near Columbia in the Sierra Nevada Mother Lode.
Geologists Travel...Part I
I spent a fair amount of time close to home, but when you live in Central California, that means a lot of nice places to visit! In January, it was a wintertime journey to Yosemite Valley...
In February, it was our field studies trip to a rather snowy Death Valley National Park. From Dante's View, one looks down a vertical mile to the lowest point in the western hemisphere, near Badwater (-286 feet).
By March, the Sierra Nevada foothills were blooming; these are poppy fields in the Merced River Canyon, seen during our field studies trip in the southern Mother Lode.
In April, it was a return trip to Yosemite, to check out one of the biggest rockfalls in years, at Ahwiyah Rock near Half Dome. Luckily no one was hurt in this one
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The Other California: The Calico Mountains
Friday, December 11, 2009
Climate Change, Global Warming and the Deniers
On the former subject, I recommend a short note by four Yale professors describing just where we stand in our understanding of climate change. It provides a good geological perspective to charges that earth's climate has always been changing: it has, but not at the pace we are experiencing today.
From "The Big Picture":
"However, Earth's history has something to say about climate sensitivity and the role of carbon dioxide, as well.
The reconstruction of Earth's history reveals a story of slow and rapid climate change and clear evidence for immense variations in temperature. While most discussions in the popular press focus on the past 100 to a few 100,000 years and the precise relationship between carbon dioxide and temperature, it is informative to examine the full range of climate variations over millions of years.
Earth was, in fact, ice-free for most of its history. For example, Earth was much warmer and had no significant polar ice between 65 to about 34 million years ago. Fifty-five million years ago, rapid and massive releases of carbon acidified the oceans and warmed Earth's surface about 5 degrees Celsius above what was already a warm planet. At peak warming, about 50 million years ago, crocodiles roamed the Arctic amongst subtropical flora and fauna, even though the Sun's intensity was lower than today. Much higher carbon dioxide during this time is revealed by various paleoclimate reconstructions, and subsequent global cooling is shown to have followed carbon dioxide decline.
Earth's history tells us that the leading driver of climate change is the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Not the only driver, but the leading one. It also reveals that climate sensitivity to carbon dioxide is possibly much higher than discussed in policy-making circles. About five million years ago, carbon dioxide was as high or only slightly higher than 2009 values, and Earth reached temperatures 4 degrees Celsius warmer than now, with sea levels tens of meters higher. The present-day location of Yale University was underwater.
Many lines of evidence and study tell us about the effects of carbon dioxide release. In the past, large increases in carbon dioxide corresponded to major warming events. It is unwise to think that today's increase in carbon dioxide will, for some reason, produce a different outcome."
As to the idea of "manufactured doubt", recall the kinds of things that went on with the connection of smoking with cancer in the 1960's, and concerns about the decline of the ozone layer in our upper atmosphere in the 1970's and 1980's. It's happening again with the political battle (not the scientific debate) over the cause of global warming. For a good review of how to politically manufacture doubt about scientific research, check out this article at the Weather Underground:
"The history of the Manufactured Doubt industry provides clear lessons in evaluating the validity of their attacks on the published peer-reviewed climate change science. One should trust that the think tanks and allied "skeptic" bloggers....will give information designed to protect the profits of the fossil fuel industry. Yes, there are respected scientists with impressive credentials that these think tanks use to voice their views, but these scientists have given up their objectivity and are now working as lobbyists. I don't like to call them skeptics, because all good scientists should be skeptics. Rather, the think tanks scientists are contrarians, bent on discrediting an accepted body of published scientific research for the benefit of the richest and most powerful corporations in history. Virtually none of the "sound science" they are pushing would ever get published in a serious peer-reviewed scientific journal, and indeed the contrarians are not scientific researchers. They are lobbyists. Many of them seem to believe their tactics are justified, since they are fighting a righteous war against eco-freaks determined to trash the economy."
Of course, don't take my word for it. Do some research yourself, and not just from politically motivated sources. Global warming is clearly already affecting our planet, from massive ice loss from Antarctica, Greenland, and the mountain ranges around the planet, earlier and earlier springs, movement of species to higher latitudes and altitudes, larger and more intense wildfires in places like Australia and the western United States, and crippling droughts.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
The Other California: Geology and the other State Symbols Part 5
Now, it sounds like I'm demeaning the place, but actually I like it a lot. The Kenny Rogers album, long out of print, is one of my most cherished possessions. My family spent a lot of time there, and I even did my senior thesis in the area. It is fun, but it is not "the Other California" of my current blog series. It's on too many postcards and tourist brochures. It turns out the "Other California" can be defined in a few different ways. The magic, to me, of Calico is beneath the surface of the town, and in the surrounding hills, the parts a lot of tourists never hear about.
The ghost town is a genuine historic mining camp. Silver was discovered around 1881, and despite the horrific lack of water and blazing summertime temperatures, the town grew to a population of 1,200 before a drop in the price of silver killed the mines in the 1890's. There are claims that more than $20 million of silver was produced. The discovery of borates nearby caused a brief resurgence in 1907, but the town was abandoned within a few years.
In 1951, the whole town was purchased by Walter Knott (there really is a close connection with the theme park). He took some of the buildings to Orange County to construct the core of his amusement park, but he also rebuilt some of the ruins, and made a tourist attraction in the desert as well. He donated the park to the county in 1966.
Like Bodie, the town was threatened for a time by plans for renewed mining, and the large hill just west of town is criss-crossed with roads for the drilling rigs. The company was probably considering a large open-pit mine at the site. The scheme was eventually abandoned, probably because of low silver prices.
So, what really is special about Calico and the Calico Mountains? That will be in the next post!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
The Other California: Geology and our State Symbols, Part IV
In the decades following the fabled Gold Rush, hungry miners started to explore these regions, and a lucky few found the elusive metal. W. S. Bodey was one of these; his exploration party found gold in 1859 in the hills between Aurora and Mono Lake, a plateau region averaging 8,000 feet above sea level. He may have found the gold, but he wasn't lucky. He froze to death the following year while making a supply run near Mono Lake.
The mines took some time to take off. The discovery of a rich lode in 1876 led to the development of the Standard Mine, and thousands of people came to the town of Bodie (renamed for pronunciation purposes). The population peaked at 10,000 in 1880. The town developed a fearsome reputation for lawlessness, and one legend declared that a young girl, finding that Bodie would be her new home, said "Goodbye God, I'm going to Bodie". The town had its pride, too: an editor of the town newspaper insisted the punctuation was wrong; she had really said "Good, by God, I'm going to Bodie".
The mines were active for years, producing $34 million in gold (at a mixture of prices, $20/ounce in the 1800's and early 1900's, and $36/ounce in the 1930's). The gold is worth a great deal more at today's prices, perhaps $1 or 2 billion. As time went on, gold production waned, and the town began to die away. The Standard Mine (visible in the window reflection in the picture below) shut down in 1913, although sporadic efforts at mining continued through 1942. A disastrous fire in 1932 destroyed most of the buildings in the town (only 167 of the original 2,000 buildings remain).
It was mildly surprising to me that Bodie would be the pick for the California State Gold Rush Ghost Town, given how many historic towns line the Mother Lode in the Sierra Nevada foothills (actually, until I started this series I didn't even know California had an official ghost town). On the other hand, the competition and politics would have been deafening. As it was, controversy did ensue, as southern California pushed for the inclusion of another ghost town in the Mojave Desert (see my next post). After some compromises the state legislature elected to declare a "gold rush ghost town", and a "silver rush ghost town". Bodie received its designation in as the gold rush town in 2002.


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About Me >>
I am a software architect for enterprise web solutions. I am also a professional theologian. With degrees in each field, I continually pursue both.
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Looking for help with direction? |
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I utilized the coaching services from Clare and Road to Clarity. Transitioning from a fast-paced-multi-tasking life and career of 27 years to retirement seemed overwhelming at first. Through the help of Clare and weekly phone conference with another retiree, I was able to explore many opportunities for growth, learning, and challenges, to ease into a satisfying rhythm. With Clare's honest feedback and gentle encouragement, I was able to develop a mindful retirement strategy that includes personal and spiritual growth. This process has enabled me to move forward and explore new options for my health and for living a positive lifestyle. I would recommend Clare for anyone exploring new territory to sort out directions and to explore road blocks. It was a very positive and rewarding experience for me.Mary K., Indiana
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We are breathing poison! Look at the extent of deteriorating air quality in north India. Post-Diwali, things have taken a turn for the worse. On the second consecutive day, the pollution in NCR remained in the 'severe' category with the air quality index (AQI) docking at 740. People are complaining of breathing issues.
A thick fog blanketed the national capital significantly causing visibility issues and disrupting flight operations at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport.
This distressing sight is from Mount Everest. Despite the mountain's remarkable climbing tales, the video highlights the unfortunate reality of climbers leaving behind trash. Decades of commercial mountaineering have turned Mount Everest into the ''world's highest garbage dump.''
According to United Nations scientists, a staggering 9.2 billion tonnes of waste were generated between 1950 and 2017, with approximately 7 billion tonnes being dumped in landfills or waste mountains.
This looks like a snow-covered river but one of India's most sacred rivers, the Yamuna, is covered in toxic foam produced due to industrial waste.
These visuals could be from anywhere in India. In various cities, all over the country remnants of firecrackers lay on roads, post-diwali the emissions from firecrackers have worsened the air quality in Delhi-NCR.
Delhi recorded 104 deaths due to COVID-19 in one day and that's a new record. Not just this, over 7,053 new COVID-19 cases were also recorded in the last 24 hours.
Delhi-NCR is choking again as air quality in many areas is hazardous. A layer of smog and haze is lingering over the national capital.
Anti-smog guns have been deployed at large construction sites amid rising pollution levels in the national capital. Over 10 anti-smog guns have been installed to control pollution.
Delhi Chief Minister launched a mega anti-air pollution campaign, saying polluted air can be life-threatening in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Vertical gardens will be installed underneath 14 flyovers of Chennai. The work has resumed after nearly seven months due to the COVID-19 lockdown and is expected to be completed by the end of October.
We have seen many shocking visuals of the Syrian War and this video of a Syrian father-daughter duo will further break your heart. War is devastating and traumatising especially for children who do not understand it. And what this father did will pull at your heart's strings.
You remember that lie detector test where the polygraph needles would go nuts trying to figure out what the truth is? Or the truth serum that was once injected to know what a human being is truly feeling? Are we really understood? Because we say so much, but most of it is misunderstood by people or understood at all. On this season of Tech Probe we met such great creators, but this one stands out. Here's why.
Public transport is the backbone of every city. In India, we have buses, trains and the metro, which is usually under construction. So the quick fix to our travel problems is the auto. Now in India, we have more than five million of these, so imagine the kind of pollution that's pumped into the system. But today on Tech Probe, we've found a solution to the auto, and this is the autocorrect we need.
Wagr is a small, light, and comfortable device which tracks your dog's location and activity. The device attaches to your dog's collar and through the companion, the mobile app tells you everything you need to know to ensure their safety and fitness.
Annie is the world's first self-learning braille device for the visually impaired. Rapyuta, a robotics company that's making it easier for businesses to use robotics and drone solutions without necessarily having in-house expertise. Watch Tech Probe only on Indiatimes to learn more.
Isn't watching a rocket launch a fascinating thing? Every rocket is expendable, it just falls off. Unfortunately, there are lot of these pieces of debris that remains up there. Ever wondered what happens to all of it? Apparently, satellites also have a graveyard.
Back when Mumbai was Bombay, the city introduced us to our favourite tea-time snack, the Bombay sandwich. You won't be wrong in calling it the city's superstar dish either. Join Kubbra Sait and Indiatimes as we discover India's flavourful history with #IndiaOnAPlate.
If you want to know how stuff works, this is the place to head to. Welcome to 'The Tech Probe,' a crazy world of inventions! It is safe to say that the future is automated. Watch it exclusively on Indiatimes.
Winter is here and what better than the comfort food 'chikki' during this season? Do you know how it's made? Here's a clue: the humble chikki was born right here in Lonavla. Join Kubbra Sait on #IndiaOnAPlate to find out the interesting tale behind this mouth-watering sweet snack.


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In Poland, a renewal of memory — from Belzec to Rychwal
Published June 27, 2014
Two very different events I attended this week, hundreds of miles apart, demonstrated the wide range of ways in which the memory of Jews and the Holocaust are commemorated in Poland.
One was a simple grass-roots ceremony to dedicate a monument at the site of the destroyed Jewish cemetery in a small town called Rychwal, in central Poland.
The other was a high-level, international event marking the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the vast memorial at the site of the Nazi death camp at Belzec, on the Ukrainian border in southeast Poland, where about 500,000 Jews were murdered.
On June 23 in Rychwal, Poland's chief rabbi, Michael Schudrich and another Warsaw rabbi joined local officials, including a priest, in cutting the ribbon on a big boulder set up as a memorial at the long-forgotten site of the cemetery, now an open field.
In addition, new signage recounting the history of Jewish in the town has been set up, and the perimeter of the cemetery has been marked with stones.
No Jews live in Rychwal today, but local activists had worked for years with town officials on the project.
"It's very reassuring that these steps were taken by a community that is not the Jewish community, and they even did it from their own funds," Rabbi Stanislaw Wojciechowicz told the Polish news agency PAP.
"It is something that we had to do," activist Pawel Mazur told me. "It was the right thing to do, the moral thing to do."
Two days later, and 300 miles across the country, Schudrich joined the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors, Polish officials including a representative of the Culture Ministry, a Catholic bishop and a senior American Jewish Committee delegation to mark the 10th anniversary of the Belzec memorial.
Dedicated in 2004, the Belzec memorial was a joint project of the AJC and the Polish government and is one of the most powerful and devastating Holocaust commemorative sites.
The Nazis had obliterated all traces of the death camp, so Polish artists Andrzej Solyga, Zdzislaw Pidek and Marcin Roszcyk turned the entire area into a giant memorial sculpture.
The whole site is covered in slag, to resemble ashes, and a deep pathway cuts down to a memorial wall bearing the first names of Jews. Around the perimeter are twisted lengths of iron and the names of the scores of towns, mostly in southeast Poland and western Ukraine, whose Jews were killed there.
After the official ceremony, participants made their way down the path to light candles at the memorial wall.
"There are two things going on in Poland," Schudrich, who chanted El Male Rachamim at both ceremonies, explained. "Some Poles are discovering that they have Jewish roots. But also Poles are rediscovering a Jewish presence and patrimony, both at the grassroots level and at the highest level of government.
"It's happening again and again. The country is becoming a model of how to deal with lost memory, and to get it right."