text:
Building Multiservice Transport Networks
- By Jim Durkin, John Goodman, Frank Posse, Michael Rezek, Mike Wallace, Ron Harris
- Published Jan 10, 2012 by Cisco Press. Part of the Networking Technology series.
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A comprehensive handbook for understanding, designing, and deploying multiservice network architecture and applications
- Design, deploy, operate, and troubleshoot ONS 15454 applications and services
- Learn SONET/SDH and DWDM fundamentals
- Understand Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP) network architectures that support Ethernet, storage area networking, wavelength, and DWDM transport applications
- Extend your MSPP with Cisco storage solutions
A new generation of SONET and DWDM systems providing the functions of multiple network elements in a single platform has emerged. This new platform is called a Multiservice Provisioning Platform (MSPP). MSPPs are a popular solution for building new networks and upgrading existing networks to take advantage of new services and integration of voice and data. Cisco Systems provides an MSPP product, the ONS 15454, for both service provider and enterprise networks. Cisco Systems is the market leader in MSPP technology in North America. More than 1,000 Cisco customers use the ONS 15454 MSPP in their networks and over 40,000 ONS 15454s have shipped, creating a need for accurate, comprehensive technical information for users to understand and maximize the potential of this MSPP product. Building Multiservice Transport Networks will become an indispensable reference for Cisco customers and constituents who are deploying MSPP solutions. Building Multiservice Transport Networks teaches all facets of MSPP networks in an easy-to-understand manner and from both the service provider and enterprise perspective. It provides the background material necessary for readers to learn key aspects of SONET, SDH, DWDM, Ethernet, and storage networking, and does so through network diagrams, application examples, design guidelines, and detailed configurations.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Part I Building the Foundation for Understanding MSPP Networks
Chapter 1 Market Drivers for Multiservice Provisioning Platforms
Market Drivers
Increased Demand for Bandwidth by LANs
Rapid Delivery of Next-Generation Data and High-Bandwidth Services
Legacy Optical Platforms
Capital Expense Reduction
Chapter 2 Technology Foundation for MSPP Networks
What Is an MSPP Network?
Fiber Optic Basics
Optical Fiber
Light Propagation in Fiber
SONET/SDH Principles
Digital Multiplexing and Framing
SONET/SDH Rates and Tributary Mapping
SONET/SDH Equipment
SONET Overhead
SONET/SDH Transmission Segments
Synchronization and Timing
Global Positioning System
Chapter 3 Advanced Technologies over Multiservice Provisioning Platforms
A Brief History of Storage
Direct Attached Storage
Network Attached Storage
Storage-Area Networking
History of DWDM
DWDM Integrated in MSPP
A Brief History of Ethernet
Ethernet Emerges
Ethernet over MSPP
Part II MSPP Architectures and Designing MSPP Networks
Chapter 4 Multiservice Provisioning Platform Architectures
Traditional Service-Provider Network Architectures
Public Switched Telephone Networks
Frame Relay/ATM Networks
Service Provider SONET Networks
IP and MPLS Networks
Transport Networks
Heritage Operational Support System
Traditional Customer Network Architectures
ATM/Frame Relay Networks
Customer Synchronous Optical Networks
IP and MPLS Networks
MSPP Positioning in Service-Provider Network Architectures
How MSPP Fits into Existing Networks
Multiservice Switching Platforms
MSPP Positioning in Customer Network Architectures
Chapter 5 Multiservice Provisioning Platform Network Design
MSPP Network Design Methodology
Protection Design
Network Timing Design
Network Management Considerations
MSPP Network Topologies
Linear Networks
UPSR Networks
BLSR Networks
Subtending Rings
Subtending Shelves
Ring-to-Ring Interconnect Diversity
Mesh Networks
Chapter 6 MSPP Network Design Example: Cisco ONS 15454
ONS 15454 Shelf Assembly
ONS 15454 Shelf Assembly Backplane Interfaces
Timing, Communications, and Control Cards
Cross-Connect Cards
Cross-Connect Card Bandwidth
Alarm Interface Controller Card
Environmental Alarms
Power Supply Voltage Monitoring
User Data Channels
SONET/SDH Optical Interface Cards
Ethernet Interface Cards
Transport (Layer 1) Ethernet Service Interfaces
Switching (Layer 2) and Routing (Layer 3) Ethernet Service Interfaces
Electrical Interface Cards
DS1-14 and DS1N-14 Interface Cards
DS1-56 Interface Card
DS3-12, DS3N-12, DS3-12E, and DS3N-12E Interface Cards
EC1-12 Interface Cards
DS3/EC1-48 Interface Cards
DS3XM-6 and DS3XM-12 Interface Card
Storage Networking Cards
MSPP Network Design Case Study
MSPP Ring Network Design
OC-192 Ring Transmission Design
Network Map
Shelf Card Slot Assignments, EIA Equipage, and Tributary Protection Group Configuration
Cabling Terminations
Part III Deploying Ethernet and Storage Services on ONS 15454 MSPP Networks
Chapter 7 ONS 15454 Ethernet Applications and Provisioning
ONS 15454 E-Series Interface Cards
ONS 15454 E-Series Card Modes and Circuit Sizes
ONS 15454 E-Series Example Application and Provisioning
ONS 15454 G-Series Interface Cards
ONS 15454 G-Series Card Example Application
Important Features of the ONS 15454 G-Series Card
ONS 15454 CE-Series Interface Cards
ONS 15454 CE-Series Queuing
ONS 15454 CE-Series SONET/SDH Circuit Provisioning
ONS 15454 CE-Series Card Example Application
ONS 15454 ML-Series Interface Cards
ML-Series Card Transport Architecture Examples
RPR Operation in the ONS 15454 ML-Series Cards
Provisioning RPR Using the ONS 15454 ML-Series Cards
Chapter 8 ONS 15454 Storage-Area Networking
SAN Review
SAN Protocols
SONET or DWDM?
Data Storage Mirroring
A Single-Chassis SAN Extension Solution: ONS 15454
Storage over Wavelength
Storage over SONET
Fibre Channel Multirate 4-Port (FC-MR-4) Card
1G and 2G FC
Overcoming the Round-Trip Delay Limitation in SAN Networks
Using VCAT and LCAS
SAN Protection
Part IV Building DWDM Networks Using the ONS 15454
Chapter 9 Using the ONS 15454 Platform to Support DWDM Transport: MSTP
ONS 15454 Shelf Assembly
ONS 15454 Shelf Assembly Backplane Interfaces
Timing, Communications, and Control Cards
Optical Service Channel Module
Alarm Interface Controller Card
Environmental Alarms
Power Supply Voltage Monitoring
User Data Channels
ONS 15454 MSTP DWDM ITU-T Channel Plan
32-Channel Multiplexer Cards
32 MUX-O Multiplexer Card
32 WSS Multiplexer Card
32-Channel Demultiplexer Cards
32 DMX-O Demultiplexer Card
32 DMX Demultiplexer Card
Four-Channel Multiplexer/Demultiplexer Cards
Four-Band OADM Filters
One-Band OADM Filters
Channel OADM Cards
ONS 15454 MSTP Transponder/Muxponder Interfaces
2.5G Multirate Transponder
10G Multirate Transponder
4x2.5G Enhanced Muxponder
2.5G Multiservice Aggregation Card
ONS 15454 MSTP Optical Amplifiers
ONS 15454 MSTP Dispersion Compensation Unit
ONS 15454 MSTP Supported Network Configurations
Linear Topologies
Ring Topologies
Chapter 10 Designing ONS 15454 MSTP Networks
ONS 15454 MSTP DWDM Design Considerations
ONS 15454 MSTP DWDM Design Rules Examples
ONS 15454 MSTP Manual DWDM Design Example
Chromatic Dispersion
ONS 15454 MSTP MetroPlanner Design Tool
Comprehensive Analysis
Installation/Turn-Up Assistance
Chapter 11 Using the ONS 15454 MSTP to Provide Wavelength Services
Types of Wavelength Services
SONET/SDH Services
Storage-Area Networking Services
Ethernet Services
Variable Bit-Rate Services
Wavelength Services Protection Options
Y-Cable Protection
Dual-Transponder Protection
DWDM Trunk Split-Routing
Implementing Wavelength Services on the ONS 15454 MSTP
Fixed-Channel Optical Add/Drop
Managing Wavelength Services on the ONS 15454 MSTP
Fault Management
Part V Provisioning and Troubleshooting ONS 15454 Networks
Chapter 12 Provisioning and Operating an ONS 15454 SONET/SDH Network
Turning Up the ONS 15454
Installing and Powering the Shelf
Initial Configuration
Connecting the Optics
Final Configuration
Operating and Supporting an MSPP Network
Monitoring Alarms and Conditions
Adding or Removing Interface Modules
Provisioning Service
Troubleshooting Alarms or Conditions
Acceptance Testing
Software Upgrades
Chapter 13 Troubleshooting ONS 15454 Networks
Resources to Troubleshoot the ONS 15454
Cisco Transport Controller Online Help
Cisco Technical Assistance Center
Locating the Problem and Gathering Details Using CTC
Alarms Tab
Conditions Tab
History Tab
Performance Tab
Other Data and Items to Check
Data Gathering Checklist
Troubleshooting Tools
Possible Causes to Common Issues
Poor or No Signal of an Electrical Circuit
Errors or No Signal of an Optical Link
Unable to Log into the ONS 15454
Cannot Convert UPSR Ring to BLSR Ring
Signal Degrade in Conditions Tab
Ethernet Circuit Cannot Carry Traffic
Part VI MSPP Network Management
Chapter 14 Monitoring Multiple Services on a Multiservice Provisioning Platform Network
MSPP Fault Management
Using SNMP MIBs for Fault Management
Using TL1 for Fault Management
Using CTC for Fault Management
MSPP Performance Management
Ethernet Performance Monitoring
Using Local Craft Interface Application Versus EMS
Chapter 15 Large-Scale Network Management
Overview of Management Layers
Why Use an EMS?
Using the ONS 15454 Element-Management System
Ethernet Management
Integrating to an OSS Using the Northbound Interface
Other Things You Might Like
- Synchronizing 5G Mobile Networks
- Book $55.99
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- eBook (Watermarked) $53.59
- Metro Ethernet
- eBook (Watermarked) $38.39


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Dotnuva 15th Jan 39 | |
We received your letter, you probably also received our letter, and our opinion is equal and the same, that you should put the money in your name in a government bank. We don't intend to get interest from it, only that the fund will be safe. About your question: how much money we should get, we don't remember exactly, because we sent the documents (signed by us) back to America, but we're sending you a copy, you'll know where to go to remember about it. After all, it's impossible to completely trust and believe by the way, when you receive part of the amount, you should only sign for the amount that you get. I believe that you understand how to arrange it. We haven't received a letter from Reizale [Shoshanna] for several weeks. We don't understand the reason for it. Last week we received a letter from Leah'le, she writes that they're healthy and satisfied, but she doesn't write anything about Reizale, and what she thinks. Maybe it's not pleasant for them to write explicitly that she wants to travel from Israel, but, nevertheless, we want to know what they think about it. We don't have news. We continue to run the restaurant. We hope that it yields us all that we need to live on. May we be healthy. Moshe was home for Hanukkah. He's healthy, and he lives not bad. Thank God all of us are healthy.
Be well. Greetings to Avraham's parents and to his family My Dear! Today we received from Shoshanna the letter that we've been waiting for a long time. Leah came to stay with her, and it seems that at that time they decided that Shoshanna will not leave Eretz-Yisrael and she doesn't want, under any circumstances, to travel to another country. She asks if the documents would be good for one of us.
We wrote you that Sara Goldin is traveling to America, and indeed, she already left Lita, but we weren't able to say goodbye to her. Miriam isn't home, she traveled to Yev'ye [Vievis], and there's no happy news there. Our uncle [Avraham, Shlomo's brother] is gone, and it has been two weeks since he died. Father still doesn't know about it, we want wait at least until after the Sheloshim to tell him. It will be a great pain for him, even though he knows that our uncle, may he rest in peace, was very ill, and under other circumstances, what happened now could've happened long ago. Chaya asked that one of us will come to them, and Miriam traveled. We told father that Miriam traveled to Raseiniai to visit Moshe. There's no new at home. I stayed in Kroki [Krakes] last week. This Sunday, there's going to be a chuppah in Kroki. Mina Rabinovich is getting married. Fried's children will also come. Pessie Mother planned to write, but she missed the mail. At the beginning of the second page, on top, is the beginning of a letter from mother: My beloved dear children, And a note from Pessie; Mother will write another letter because I don't want father to see my letter. P. |
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for verification.
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Our mission is to produce a translation of the original work and we cannot verify the accuracy of statements or alter facts cited.
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Updated 22 Jun 2012 by LA

subset: commoncrawl


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text:
Sharyl Attkisson hinted last night on Twitter that she would have something "interesting" on Benghazi today. The CBS reporter didn't disappoint. Although it's not exactly a blockbuster revelation, the change in tone in White House trial balloons in its defense of the Benghazi debacle is stunning:
Obama administration officials who were in key positions on Sept. 11, 2012 acknowledge that a range of mistakes were made the night of the attacks on the U.S. missions in Benghazi, and in messaging to Congress and the public in the aftermath.
The officials spoke to CBS News in a series of interviews and communications under the condition of anonymity so that they could be more frank in their assessments. They do not all agree on the list of mistakes and it's important to note that they universally claim that any errors or missteps did not cost lives and reflect "incompetence rather than malice or cover up." Nonetheless, in the eight months since the attacks, this is the most sweeping and detailed discussion by key players of what might have been done differently.
"We're portrayed by Republicans as either being lying or idiots," said one Obama administration official who was part of the Benghazi response. "It's actually closer to us being idiots."
Be sure to read it all, but this effort to push a new storyline for Benghazi is both broad and striking. It was easy to see how problematic the release of the e-mails was this week when the White House sent them out — and then had Barack Obama deliver a live speech on the IRS scandal less than an hour later. The distraction didn't help, and the media seemed a lot less interested in Obama-administration apologetics after the raid on the AP's phone records.
Now, more than eight months later and nine days after State Department whistleblowers embarrassed the White House, administration officials are beginning to admit that they botched Benghazi before, during, and afterward:
Thursday, an administration official who was part of the Benghazi response told CBS News: "I wish we'd sent it [FEST]."
Mark Thompson, who ran the counterterrorism unit at State, testified last week that after he insisted on dispatching FEST, he got excluded from any further meetings on the immediate response. Who shut him out? Wouldn't that have to have come from the highest levels of the department? Well, that depends on who you ask:
The official said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's deputy, Patrick Kennedy, quickly dispensed with the idea. A senior State Department official Thursday told CBS News, "Under Secretary Kennedy is not in the decision chain on FEST deployment" but would not directly confirm whether Kennedy or somebody else dismissed the FEST.
As soon as word of the Benghazi attack reached Washington, FEST members "instinctively started packing," said an official involved in the response. "They were told they were not deploying by Patrick Kennedy's front office… In hindsight… I probably would've pushed the button."
Don't forget that another whistleblower, Eric Nordstrom, claimed that the ARB board deliberately protected Patrick Kennedy. Looks like those days may be over.
One reason for this incompetence was that the people making the decisions were, er, idiots when it came to understanding FEST capabilities. Why? State never convened the Counterterrorism Security Group (CSG) — even though the Benghazi situation is exactly why CSG exists. Tommy Vietor, who was in the e-mail chain on the talking points, told CBS in October that "I don't know what [FEST] is… it sounds antiquated."
But once again, the question is why Thompson got shut out of the meetings. Had he been included, he could have explained FEST to Vietor and everyone else.
The issues aren't just confined to the White House, either. Who made this brilliant decision?
In an unfortunate turn of events, on Sept. 11, a special U.S. military force based in Europe, designed specifically for quick reaction to unforeseen emergencies, was off on a training mission in Croatia. By the time the so-called Commander's In-extremis Force was diverted to an airfield at Sigonella, Italy, an hour's flight from Benghazi, the attacks were over.
Let's just ponder that a moment. We took our quick-response team offline on the anniversary of 9/11? Who made that call?
Oh, and as for being idiots instead of liars, consider this from Attkisson:
Even today, nobody will say on the record, or even off the record to CBS News, who was at the Deputies meeting on the morning of Sept. 15, where the talking points were drastically pared down for Rice's use. The approved version called the attacks "demonstrations" that "evolved" after being "spontaneously inspired" by protest at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. All mentions of terrorism, al Qaeda and previous warnings given by the CIA had been excised.
Bob Woodward was right. This story is far from over. A few more whistleblowers in the same vein we saw last week and we might finally get around to the truth, which is that the question isn't a choice between idiots and liars, but whether we have both.
Update: I buried one lede here that Mediaite catches, emphasis mine:
According to Attkisson's report, a FEST team was ready to intervene in the Benghazi attack and was preparing to respond but were never given the approval to engage.
"With U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens reported missing shortly after the Benghazi attacks began, Washington officials were operating under a possible hostage scenario at the outset," Attkisson's report reads. "Yet deployment of the counterterrorism experts on the FEST was ruled out from the start."
Probably at the same time Thompson found himself locked out of the confabs.
Update: This seems to indicate that Patrick Kennedy might go under the bus on FEST. What will that do to the credibility of the ARB report? I wonder if Thomas Pickering will be as anxious to testify about that to Congress, especially given Nordstrom's earlier criticism.


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text:
A light hearted look at coaching conversations
Regular one-on-one meetings with team members are one of the most useful tools in a manager's kit bag. They are simply conversations between a leader and their team member where they talk about how things are going. What's going well and what needs to change. It's very much a two way communication. They're a great way to know team members better and be aware of all the things, at work and outside work, that might be inhibiting a person's ability to do their job.
So why don't more managers use them? The answer is usually that they either aren't aware of the need to do them or they aren't sure how to do them.


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But I'm going to hand it over to NPR's Justin Richmond talking with David Greene about the new Spike Lee movie out today that's got a lot of people talking.
DAVID GREENE, BYLINE: It is called "BlacKkKlansman." and if that title does not give it away, well, it is about a black detective who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan. This movie won second place at the Cannes Film Festival this year with some there calling it a return to form for the director. And here to talk more about this is NPR's Justin Richmond.
Hi, Justin.
JUSTIN RICHMOND, BYLINE: Hey, David.
GREENE: So you saw this film?
RICHMOND: I did.
GREENE: Tell me about it.
RICHMOND: So it's based on a true story and set in the '70s. It stars John David Washington, who's Denzel Washington's son.
GREENE: A black detective actually infiltrated the KKK. This really happened.
RICHMOND: And yes, a black detective really did in the '70s. His name was Ron Stallworth. He talks his way into the Klan - a local chapter of the Klan - over the phone. But once he has to show up for the meeting, he has his colleague, who happens to be Jewish - he's played by Adam Driver - stand in for him. And here's Driver's character talking to the black detective about why he doesn't think the case is all that important.
ADAM DRIVER: (As Flip Zimmerman) For you, it's a crusade. For me, it's a job. It's not personal, nor should it be.
JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) Why haven't you bought into this?
DRIVER: (As Flip Zimmerman) Why should I?
WASHINGTON: (As Ron Stallworth) Because you're Jewish, brother, the so-called chosen people. You've been passing for a WASP, white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, cherry pie, hot dog, white boy.
RICHMOND: That's one of the more serious moments in the film, and there's a lot of those. But it's also a pretty funny movie, too. It's kind of like just a buddy cop with a message.
GREENE: OK. What exactly is the message we should get from this?
RICHMOND: It's a little hard to pin down, like a lot of Spike Lee's movies. It's pretty all over the place. But one thing he's definitely trying to say is that the racism Spike captured in the 20th century is still here. I mean, Spike's not holding back. He basically calls the president of the United States a white supremacist, and it comes off heavy-handed. He didn't need to keep hammering the point. It was a little obvious what he was trying to say.
But, you know, there were times where it does work and where Spike was a little more subtle. There's a scene where the grand wizard of the Klan, David Duke - he's played by Topher Grace - is toasting members of the Klan. And he ends his toast with a phrase you might recognize.
TOPHER GRACE: (As David Duke) I want to thank you so much for never putting your country second. America first.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) America first.
GRACE: America first.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) America first.
GREENE: You're saying that's one of the more subtle moments in the film?
RICHMOND: Yeah, it actually is. But I'm saying that because it actually has some history to it, that phrase. It's a phrase the KKK and David Duke actually used for decades. And that historical context kind of allows the scene to work on multiple levels. It references the present, but it also pulls from the past. And you know, what really works for me was the film's coda.
GREENE: Coda - that's something Spike Lee often does in his movies. Right? So what did he do here?
RICHMOND: Yeah. So here, he used footage from the "Unite the Right" rally that happened in Charlottesville...
GREENE: Oh, yeah, last year.
RICHMOND: ...About a year ago. Yeah. And it's really horrendous footage. It shows the car attack that happened where a white supremacist drove into the counterprotesters at high speeds. It shows that video multiple times and from multiple angles. And then it shows a picture of Heather Heyer, the white woman who was killed in that attack. It also leaves you wondering, you know, how much things really have changed. And so it's pretty effective and really is the most powerful part of the film.
GREENE: Do you see why people at Cannes were saying that this film is Spike Lee really returning to his old form?
RICHMOND: I mean, not really. I was thinking about how "Do The Right Thing" came out 29 years ago and actually also debuted at Cannes (laughter).
GREENE: It's been that long. Wow.
RICHMOND: Yeah. And that's a movie that also deals with race, obviously, in America. But I thought it was more effective because it doesn't take sides. It kind of just allows you to view what's happening on this - in this neighborhood in Brooklyn and kind of decide for yourself. That's obviously a little tough with movies like "BlacKkKlansman," where you're dealing with the Ku Klux Klan. There's not a lot of nuance there, not a lot of room for nuance. So is it a return to his more provocative films of the '80s and '90s? No. But it is really entertaining and sometimes powerful.
GREENE: NPR's Justin Richmond. Thanks, Justin.
RICHMOND: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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We all do it—ogle over the astrophotographs taken by the masters. The deep-sky images look so exquisite with their masses of detail and perfectly round, pinpoint stars. We know they didn't come easily and that one point of these awe-striking images involves guiding a telescope for imaging.
Impressive celestial photography is a lot more feasible for amateurs now than it was a generation ago. But good results still require a willingness to learn the intricacies of cameras, focusing techniques, exposure times, and miscellaneous equipment. In particular, taking deep-sky pictures requires a skill that's involved in no other kind of photography: guiding a telescope for imaging on a star.
Why Guide?
To get a sharp image from a long exposure, you must keep a guidestar centered on cross hairs for the entire time the shutter is open—from a few minutes to an hour or more. While watching the star, you must often adjust the telescope's aim slightly to keep the star on the crosshairs and the image motionless on the film.
With few exceptions, most telescope drives, no matter how well made, can eliminate the need for guiding a telescope for imaging. Any gear system contains some periodic error that shifts the telescope back and forth slightly in right ascension, typically with a period of 4, 8, or 15 minutes. If the telescope is not perfectly polar aligned it will probably drift slightly in declination too. The telescope tube may flex a little as it tracks the subject across the sky. Atmospheric refraction varies as an object's altitude changes, altering the object's apparent position enough to blur photographs after as little as a few minutes. The electricity running the drive motor may be slightly irregular. And the slowest component of atmospheric "seeing," or turbulence, can make a whole star field creep around slightly with a characteristic time of many seconds. You have to guide the telescope on a star to follow all of these image motions.
The aiming corrections required are so tiny—just a few arcseconds—that you cannot push the telescope by hand. Instead you need an electronic drive corrector that speeds or slows the telescope's drive motor. This allows fine guiding in right ascension (east-west), where the most frequent corrections are needed.
You also need a fine-motion control in declination (north-south). A turn-by-hand control will work only if the mounting is rigid enough so it doesn't wiggle at high power when you turn the knob. An electric declination motor usually gives much better results. Typically the buttons or joystick for controlling both right ascension and declination are mounted on a single hand paddle.
How To: Guiding A Telescope for Imaging
The first thing you need to do is polar align your mount. This means aligning the right-ascension axis parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. Otherwise, even with perfect guiding a telescope for imaging, everything in the photograph will circle slightly around your guidestar, a problem known as field rotation.
How good a job of polar alignment do you need to do? That depends on the exposure time and image scale of the picture you are taking. Wide-field photography with a normal (50-millimeter) camera lens requires minimal alignment. Simply pointing the mount's polar axis at Polaris as best as you can judge is usually enough for normal-lens exposures of a few minutes.
When you start using longer lenses or a telescope, you need better alignment. Some mounts come with a polar alignment finder, a miniature telescope with an engraved reticle that you position on Polaris and surrounding stars. These devices work quickly and well. If you want the best possible alignment, however, especially for a permanently mounted telescope, use the declination drift method described in the article Accurate Polar Alignment; it takes a little time, but it's simple and needs no special equipment. Nothing else gets you closer to the celestial pole.
Piggyback Photography
The easiest way to enter the realm of guided deep-sky astrophotography is by the piggyback method. Simply attach a camera to the side of the telescope, point skyward, and open the shutter. You guide the camera by tracking on a star seen in the telescope itself.
Piggyback photography puts the least demands on your guiding a telescope for imaging ability. Most piggyback photographers start with a normal or a wide-angle lens (such as 28 mm) that will capture whole constellations at once. Almost any camera lens has a much shorter focal length than the telescope, so the image scale is much smaller. This means you can make numerous small guiding mistakes without affecting the photograph. Piggybacking provides just the type of practice you need to gain experience for other, more difficult forms of astrophotography.
Guiding Eyepieces
What kind of eyepiece do you need for watching the guidestar? For piggyback guiding you might try a plain, extremely-high-power eyepiece with no cross hairs or reticle. Simply keep a bright guide star centered in it as best you can judge.
For photography at longer focal lengths, you need an eyepiece with an illuminated reticle or cross hairs. Dozens of guiding eyepieces are on the market, and many perform other functions as well. What do you really need?
Some people feel that the best design is still the old-fashioned plain cross hairs. Any motion is revealed when the star emerges from behind their intersection. Some astrophotographers like to keep the star in view, tucked in a corner adjacent to the intersection. If you use a double or dual cross hair, the guidestar can be placed at any of the four intersection points or defocused to nearly fill the small central square.
Another approach is to use an eyepiece reticle with concentric circles, each denoting a different guiding tolerance. If you can keep the star inside the appropriate circle, you know that all is well. For this approach to work, however, you have to know the guiding tolerance for your particular photographic setup and which circle on the reticle this corresponds to. Guiding tolerances are usually very tight, so most astrophotographers simply prefer to guide as accurately as they possibly can and hope it's good enough.
One often overlooked approach is the projection reticle. This device superposes a reticle's image onto the view in an ordinary eyepiece. Some designs have a 3x Barlow lens built in to allow the use of medium-power eyepieces that have comfortable eye relief. Another advantage is that the reticle's image can be moved around the field to align on a guidestar; you don't have to move the whole telescope to the star. This allows more flexibility in aiming and composing your photographs.
Reticle illuminators today are a vast improvement over the incandescent bulbs with their tangles of wires that were the rule in the past. Today's standard illuminator is a dim, red LED (light-emitting diode) that draws only a tiny current from a small battery that's right inside the eyepiece unit itself. The brightness should be adjustable so you can set it to the best level for any guidestar. One of the latest and greatest improvements is the blinking LED, which gives you alternate views of the guidestar with and without the cross hairs. This allows much fainter stars to be used for guiding a telescope for imaging.
Through the Telescope
When it comes to deep-sky photography through a telescope, you have two choices: using a separate guidescope or an off-axis guider.
A guidescope attaches to the main telescope via mounting rings that allow it to be aimed independently to some degree. This lets you choose any guidestar up to a couple of degrees from the field being photographed. As a rule of thumb, the guidescope should have about as long a focal length as the telescope you are photographing through. It should also have a reasonably large aperture. Such a guidescope is a substantial instrument in its own right, adding a lot to the whole setup's cost, size, weight, and demands on the mounting.
Guide Scopes have another problem: flexure. During an exposure the guidescope must not bend, shift, or otherwise change orientation with respect to the main telescope's optical axis. Nor can anything in the main telescope bend or shift. Otherwise stars will come out elongated, double, or irregular even when you guide perfectly.
For such reasons the guidescope has been largely eclipsed in the last 20 years by the off-axis guider. This device allows you to look through the main telescope at the same time you're photographing through it.
Off-axis guiders generally use a little "pick-off" prism to divert a small part of the image to the guiding eyepiece. The pick-off prism is near or outside the edge of the camera frame, so its shadow has little or no effect on the photograph. You maneuver the prism around to find a good guidestar before starting the exposure. Alternatively, some guiders use a full-aperture window called a pellicle that transmits most of the light to the film while reflecting 10 or 20 percent to the eyepiece.
At long focal lengths, off-axis guiding a telescope for imaging gives the best results. The starlight you see in the eyepiece goes through the same optical assembly, by and large, as the light going to the film, so tube flexure ceases to be an issue. If it happens you just guide it out.
There are, however, a few inconveniences to consider. Finding a guidestar can be tough, because the area of the field accessible to the pick-off prism is limited. The guiding eyepiece extends out at a 90° angle to the light path of the telescope, and to find a good star you may have to rotate the eyepiece holder around the optical axis to an inconvenient angle. (Some new off-axis guiders allow the eyepiece holder to be rotated independently of the camera.)
Focusing is another consideration. To focus, aim at a bright object, look through the camera's viewfinder, and turn the focus knob until the image seen through the camera is as sharp as you can get it. Leave everything right there. To focus the guiding eyepiece, slide it up or down in its holder; resist the temptation to touch the main focus.
Finally, what you see in an off-axis guider is not exactly what you get. You cannot use a star to guide on a moving comet or asteroid. To track such an object you either have to revert to a guidescope, in which you can track it directly, or calculate the object's expected motion and move your guidestar slowly and steadily at exactly the right speed in the right direction.
Whether you use a guidescope or an off-axis guider, photography through a telescope requires that you work with very high power. The rule of thumb is to use a magnification about five times the telescope's focal length in inches. Thus, with an 8-inch f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain (focal length 80 inches), try guiding a telescope for imaging at about 400x. In an off-axis guider, a 9- or 12-mm eyepiece with a 2x Barlow lens will always be just about right, no matter what your telescope.
Guiding Technique
Get comfortable, center the guidestar, and take a couple of minutes to practice before opening the shutter.
Astrophotographers generally align their cross hairs north-south and east-west, parallel to the motions of the equatorial mount. This makes it easy to see the corrections to make. However, if you're guiding a telescope for imaging on a faint star you may prefer to orient the cross hairs 45° to these directions. This way, as soon as the star begins to drift it will move into open space rather than remain hidden behind a cross hair.
If you have a four-button hand controller, hold it in the same orientation as east-west and north-south in the eyepiece so you won't have to think about which button to push. If the north-south buttons work right but the east-west buttons are reversed, turn the paddle over to orient them correctly. In this case you'll have to press the buttons from underneath.
Declination drives are notorious for having a little loose play -- a "dead zone" -- where nothing happens for a couple of seconds whenever you reverse direction. A trick that may help a bit with this problem is to unbalance the scope slightly; this way its weight stays hanging on one side of the dead zone. In some cases, however, imbalance just makes the situation worse. Another trick is to set the polar alignment slightly east or west of the true pole. This creates a very slow declination drift, but it will always be in the same direction, so you'll never have to reverse direction and go across the dead zone. Just don't misalign so much that you get field rotation.
In many telescopes, especially commercial Schmidt-Cassegrains, the optics themselves have a certain amount of play. The primary mirror can sometimes make a sudden shift after the telescope crosses the meridian. This "mirror flop" may be so large that you can't guide it out, and you end up with doubled or tailed stars. To keep this from happening, if it proves to be a problem with your scope, start your exposure after the subject has crossed the meridian or finish before it gets there.
It sounds almost too good to be true: a robotic device that watches the guidestar and adjusts your telescope automatically, with a machine's tireless precision, while you relax or even sleep. It's no pipe dream; this is part of the CCD revolution that swept high-end amateur astronomy at the start of the 21st century. A CCD (charge-coupled device) is a chip that records images electronically and sends them to a computer, which in this case is rigged to drive the right ascension and declination motors. An autoguider can use a modest, low-cost CCD (or CMOS) detector, making this capability affordable at something like the $200 level and up.
Some CCD cameras themselves (as opposed to autoguiders) have a "track and accumulate" function that allows them to take many short exposures, then stack them by computer, finding the best possible fit, to create one long exposure. This reduces and can even sometimes eliminate the need for guiding a telescope for imaging. Some advanced CCD cameras include two CCD chips—a small one to autoguide the telescope and a bigger, better one to record the image.
We've come a long way from the days when amateur astrophotography was limited to fanatical tinkerers who had their own machine shops, darkrooms, and entire nights to spend attempting to make things work. Astroimaging has opened up to anyone willing to buy the gear and take the time to gain skills using it. And now the day has arrived when, once completely set up and running, you can literally sleep through the whole thing!


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After a trying day, Ranma is off brooding about his life when he gets an unexpected visitor; but what he does with the chance she offers is even more unexpected… (Comedy) Ranma 1/2 / Ah! My Goddess crossover. Immortality is a "what if" story. What would happen if you take Ranma Saotome out of Nerima and then bring him back a few years later, altered enough that he's no longer just what he was? I tried melding the elements of Ranma ½ as well as the crazy world of Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. Hopefully this will be an enjoyable read. (Semi-Dark) Ranma ½ / Vampire Chronicles crossover. The Nerima Ward of Tokyo is the center of a final defense of Tokyo from the invading forces of the Zeon Archduchy. But with supplies hard to come by, it looks like the end is near. Then one day a young man named Ranma Saotome comes to town in a Mobile Suit stronger than anything seen before in all of Japan… (Adventure) Ranma ½ / Mobile Suit Gundam crossover. Nemesis is an anime-style original story set in a faraway land that has a high degree of technomancy. It was well-ruled for decades, until fate struck a cruel blow… (Adventure) Original. Summoner's song is about a prophesy that has to be fulfilled, a reluctant hero who has to fulfill that prophesy, the price he and the others around him must pay so that others won't have to, and lastly, it's about Darkness and Light. Vague, so far? Good… keep reading. Oh yeah, it's about Ranma, too. (Adventure) Ranma ½. What happens when all hope dies, when the heart no longer feels the warmth of love? Will the person wish only to die, or can they be made to live again? (Not yet rated) Ranma 1/2 / Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon crossover. |
Short Stories | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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When I was done with this week's French Fridays with Dorie recipe, Shrimp and Cellophane Noodles, it looked nothing like I had imagined and probably nothing like what Dorie had in mind as well! First off, I don't eat shrimps, so I had to find a suitable substitute for that. Secondly, I grabbed the wrong kind of noodles in my rush to grocery shop this afternoon. Instead of glass or cellophane noodles, which is string-like and clear when cooked, I brought home a packet of flat rice-noodles instead. The mistake is forgivable (at least I hope so), the noodles were clear while uncooked and it never occurred to me to read the ingredients label properly. Rice noodles actually turn white and opaque upon cooking, unlike the transparent glass noodles. Okay, that was the very least of my worries.
The other day, I had bought a box of fresh black fungus, not really knowing what they were or what to do with them. Then when I opened up Dorie's cookbook and did a little research on Chinese ear mushrooms. Whatddya know? They're also known as black fungus, and since I had fresh instead of dried ones, I could skip the soaking part and threw them straight into the cooking pan. Crunchy little things, these are... and really great additions to soups and stir-fries. I sliced them into strips for ease of consumption - especially the chewing part - because black fungus has a crunchy, chewy texture akin to bone cartilage. I kid you not!
Black fungus - they remind me of crunchy ears!
Labeled as a medicinal food for thousands of years and known for its rich nutrients such as iron, protein, fat, vitamins, polysaccharide, and other minerals, black fungus tastes neutral and is said to be able to replenish "Qi" (essential energy), enrich and activate blood, purify lungs and intestines, etc. Considered as a 'meat' in vegetables, the iron contained in black fungus is one the highest among all the vegetables; people who eat it regularly tend to be at lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and have a normal blood viscosity - a similar result to the effects of aspirin. So a big Yay! to black fungus.
I opted out from using the prescribed tomato sauce (2 cups...really?). Instead I roasted some tomatoes, peeled and chopped them up, then sauteed that along with the black fungus and tofu. Which reminds me, the tofu slices served as my prawn impostors. I simply sliced firm tofu into thin slices and deep-fried them before tossing them into the tomato and mushroom 'sauce'. These noodles were pretty cool... they do nothing to remind me of French food, of course, but that's beside the point!
Have a peek at what other's made out of this recipe over at FFWD. Should be pretty interesting...
Spend the weekend doing something beautiful, that's my wish for you!


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1) Short for Dynamic Link Library, a library of executable functions or data that can be used by a Windows application. Typically, a DLL provides one or more particular functions and a program accesses the functions by creating either a static or dynamic link to the DLL. A static link remains constant during program execution while a dynamic link is created by the program as needed. DLLs can also contain just data. DLL files usually end with the extension .dll,.exe., drv, or .fon.
A DLL can be used by several applications at the same time. Some DLLs are provided with the Windows operating system and available for any Windows application. Other DLLs are written for a particular application and are loaded with the application.
2) Short for Delay Locked Loop, Delay-Locked Loop (DLL) supports high-bandwidth data rates between devices. These DLLs are circuits that provide zero propagation delay, low-clock skew between output clock signals throughout a device, and advanced clock domain control. These dedicated DLLs can be used to implement several circuits that improve and simplify system level design.


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Since the Republican takeover of the House, the Immigration Subcommittee of Rep. Lamar Smith's Judiciary Committee has held numerous hearings portraying immigrants as "criminals" who "steal jobs from Americans" and should be removed from the country by any means possible. Smith, who endorsed Mitt Romney, sets the GOP agenda on immigration. He's a proponent of mass expulsion, although he calls it "self-deportation."
On Wednesday, the House Immigration Subcommittee will renew and expand its attack on immigrants with a hearing to "examine" the Obama Administration's updated Performance-Based National Detention Standards (PBNDS). These are national policies about the way we treat people held in civil immigration detention, and it's pretty basic stuff. Like, someone with cancer should not be denied access to early screenings and life-saving treatment. Seriously, they needed to create a standard for that.
Also, victims of sexual assault in detention facilities should feel safe reporting the abuse and should receive the mental and physical treatment they need. And if detainees feel that their health or safety is in danger, they should be able to file an emergency grievance so that their concerns can be addressed quickly. These are all the basics of a civilized society. But that's too much for Smith.
Basically, Smith and his anti-immigrant colleagues are opening another front in the war on women. This time, with the help of Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council, they're targeting women in detention – including undocumented immigrants, mothers, lawful permanent residents, survivors of torture, asylum seekers, and pregnant women.
In a preview of what we'll see at the Wednesday hearing, Smith called the 2011 PBNDS manual a "hospitality guideline for illegal immigrants." He's got an ally in Perkins, who recently appeared on Fox News to make link between the war on immigrants and the war on women. Talking about the PBNDS rule on abortions, which says the government will assume the costs of terminations in situations of rape or incest or where the mother's life is in danger, Perkins said:
You talk about the issue of rape, that's such a small percentage of pregnancies that are out there. Plus, how do you verify that that, in fact, is the case? That it's a case of rape? Again, this comes down to government funds being used to advance radical social policy that is masquerading as health care.
What Perkins calls "radical social policy," most people would consider just basic humanity. The callousness that House Republicans and their allies are showing toward immigrants detained by our government is galling, and this hearing is not an isolated incident.
There have already been ugly immigration hearings before Smith – like the one trying to pit Latinos against African-Americans. Fortunately that was a complete fail.
But, this one is going to be especially ugly. To put it bluntly: People going through the deportation process—one of the most traumatic and difficult experiences imaginable—are denied basic legal and human rights. They're extremely vulnerable. So, Smith intends to mock their situation in an attempt to score very cheap political points. Smith has even titled this hearing, "Holiday on ICE."
It's not enough to push to deport as many immigrants as possible – he wants to make the deportation process even more painful and inhumane.
The US government failed to protect women from sexual abuse in detention, and failed to punish abuse when it happened—leading to nearly 200 complaints of sexual abuse from 2007 to 2011. Via Elise Foley at Huffington Post:
The ACLU of Texas lawsuit was filed on behalf of three women, identified by aliases to prevent future harm, who say they were assaulted by detention guards and officers. The three allegations are strikingly similar, according to first-person accounts by each person posted to the ACLU website. In each case, the victims say they were abused on the way to the airport after posting bond to be released from detention facilities.
All three women say they came to the United States — without authorization — to escape sexual or physical abuse in their native countries, according to the ACLU. Each says the abuse she suffered by detention officers gave her frightening reminders of earlier abuse.
"As he was doing this I was having a flashback to what happened to me in my home country," a woman referred to as Sarah Doe said in her first-hand account. "I thought, this man is never going to take me to the airport, he is going to take me to a certain place where he will do whatever he wants to me."
Last October, FRONTLINE did an in-depth report on the detention issue. One segment of the report was titled, How Much Sexual Abuse Gets "Lost in Detention"?
A FRONTLINE investigation found no evidence that the vast majority of complaints had been investigated or resolved. Most of the complaints went through the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General's (IG) Office, which is the primary office responsible for investigating outside complaints. IG records show only 15 "reports of investigation," which resulted in six substantiated or partially substantiated cases. Two guards were convicted of sexual abuse; three others have been terminated from their positions.
The documents, together with interviews of dozens of detainees, employees, investigators and officials, present a portrait of detainees with few effective recourses if they are victims of crimes while in detention. Many say they face continuous pressure to sign deportation orders. And unlike in the criminal justice system, immigration detainees do not have a guaranteed right of legal representation, and so have difficulty with access to counsel if they have a grievance.
A former mental health coordinator at Willacy Detention Center in Raymondville, Texas, told FRONTLINE that officials attempted to cover up complaints of sexual abuse, which she described as common among female detainees. The coordinator said she later resigned because of the treatment of detainees at the facility.
You'd hope Tony Perkins would be worried about those kinds of crimes against women. But, of course, he's not. And, again, that's what the House GOP, led by Lamar Smith are calling "Holiday on ICE." Some holiday.
The attack goes beyond women. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) made it clear that he sees immigrants as less than human, when discussing the case of a man who was denied a kidney transplant on account of his undocumented status:
If they're dead, I don't have an objection to their organs being used. If they're alive, they shouldn't be here no matter what.
By using the culture war to chip away at the new detention standards, Perkins, Rohrbacher, Smith, and others are playing ugly politics with people's lives. They're really going after some very vulnerable people here. Abuses perpetuated in detention centers over the last several years have been nothing short of appalling. For example:
For 11 months, Francisco's penile cancer went undiagnosed and untreated as ICE officials refused to let him get a biopsy, which they called an "elective" procedure. By the time the cancer was diagnosed in February 2007 and the growth had been removed, the cancer had spread. It killed Francisco a year later.
In addition to suffering from another undiagnosed and untreated case of cancer, Hiu Lui Ng spent the last four months of his life in excruciating pain with a broken spine. ICE officials refused him any treatment whatsoever. A video recorded a week before his death in 2008 shows detention officers dragging him down a hallway while he screams in pain.
Rev. Joseph Dantica, a Haitian refugee who came to the U.S. to seek asylum from the gangs who had ransacked his home, fell ill in detention in 2004 and was accused of "faking" as he vomited profusely. He died in a hospital prison ward, in leg restraints, after not having seen a doctor for 24 hours. His niece, writer Edwidge Danticat, recounted his painful story in the book "Brother, I'm Dying."
Boubacar Bah suffered a skull fracture while in detention in 2007. He was left in an isolation cell for 13 hours without treatment before an ambulance was called. According to the New York Times, as he lay in a coma after surgery, ICE officials plotted to release him to avoid "increased scrutiny and/or media exposure"; he died before they were able to do so.
As the detention system has grown exponentially over the past few years (with the help of ALEC, as Paul Krugman noted on Monday), numerous governmental reports, human rights organization, media investigations and federal lawsuits have documented systemic problems with the way immigration detainees were treated under the care of the U.S. government. Lack of access to medical screenings and treatment led to unnecessary suffering and preventable deaths.
Immigrants in detention are waiting for a civil administrative hearing on whether the government has the authority to deport them. But they are held in jails or under jail-like conditions, and until recently were not even guaranteed the same standards for care as incarcerated convicts. The Obama Administration's detention standards are the minimum of what our government should do to protect the lives of people in its care and custody.
Women's organizations, medical experts, and almost anyone who has ever been inside an immigration detention facility are outraged – and they should be. Republicans are opposing basic humanitarian treatment of immigrants in civil detention. The war on immigrants, like the war on women, is ugly and un-American. And, it has to be stopped.


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Content with tag aries .
Forecast 2017 – High Voltage Rooster
Forecast 2016 – Year of the Fire Monkey
The Scariest Forecast For The Year 2015
Love Forecast 2015
Stargazer Ram 2015
Horoscope Poem for Aries 2013
The end of winter is confusing, Promise turns into illusion… When the Sun returns to you, You have a lot of things to do! In the end of May and June Your social life is bright and...
Autumn Eclipse 2012
The total solar eclipse will take place on November 14-15 in sign of Scorpio. It will be most significant for natives of Scorpio, Taurus, Aquarius and Leo born from the 7th to the 21st of November,...


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URBAN warehouses, derelict buildings and high-rises are the last places you'd expect to find the seeds of a green revolution. But from Singapore to Scranton, Pennsylvania, "vertical farms" are promising a new, environmentally friendly way to feed the rapidly swelling populations of cities worldwide.
In March, the world's largest vertical farm is set to open up shop in Scranton. Built by Green Spirit Farms (GSF) of New Buffalo, Michigan, it will only be a single storey covering 3.25 hectares, but with racks stacked six high it will house 17 million plants. And it is just one of a growing number.
Vertical farms aim to avoid the problems inherent in growing food crops in drought-and-disease-prone fields many hundreds of kilometres from the population centres in which they will be consumed. Instead, Dickson Despommier – an ecologist at Columbia University in New York City who has championed vertical farms since 1999 – suggests that food should be grown year-round in high-rise urban buildings, reducing the need for the carbon-emitting transport of fruit and vegetables.
The plant racks in a vertical farm can be fed nutrients by water-conserving, soil-free hydroponic systems and lit by LEDs that mimic sunlight. And they need not be difficult to manage: control software can choreograph rotating racks of plants so each gets the same amount of light, and direct water pumps to ensure nutrients are evenly distributed.
The whole apparatus can be monitored from a farmer's smartphone (see "Farming from afar"), says GSF's R&D manager, Daniel Kluko. He says the new farm in Scranton will grow 14 lettuce crops per year, as well as spinach, kale, tomatoes, peppers, basil and strawberries. Its output will be almost 10 times greater than the firm's first vertical farm, which opened in New Buffalo in 2011.
Proponents see vertical farming as a way to feed a global population that is urbanising fast: 86 per cent of the people in the developed world will live in cities by 2050, the United Nations predicts. It could make food supplies more secure as well, because production can continue even when extreme weather strikes. And as long as farmers are careful to protect their indoor "fields" from pests, vertical farming needs no herbicides or insecticides. They also conserve water far better than earthbound farming.
GSF's first farm was inspired by the long-term drought that has been afflicting many parts of the US. "Water is a big issue," says Kluko. "We have designed our vertical farms to recycle it, and they use 98 per cent less water per item of produce than traditional farming." That's done in part by scavenging water from the grow room's atmosphere with a dehumidifier. It's a machine with a dual role, as excess humidity can lead to problems like leaf mould.
Most vertical farms rely on natural light as much as possible. In sunny, near-equatorial Singapore, entrepreneur Jack Ng's SkyGreens vertical farm needs no artificial lighting to promote growth. Instead, his four-storey glass-sided farm contains mobile racks of Chinese cabbage and lettuce that rotate slowly up to the sunnier heights of the building on a low-power elevator.
Conversely, in Japan, Kyoto-based Nuvege (pronounced "new veggie") runs a windowless indoor farm. In a cavernous facility reminiscent of an aircraft hangar, Nuvege's LED lighting is tuned to two types of chlorophyll, one preferring red light and the other blue. "Tuned to these spectra, you can grow a plant no matter where it is," Despommier notes. Indeed, Nuvege produces 6 million lettuces a year in this way, for customers including Subway and Disneyland Tokyo.
In such arrangements, the electricity bills can add up quickly. Today's LEDs are only about 28 per cent efficient, which keeps the cost of produce high and prevents vertical farms from competing in regions where cheap vegetables are abundant. However, lighting engineers at Philips in the Netherlands have demonstrated LEDs with 68 per cent efficiency, which could dramatically cut costs.
And the latest research shows that plants do not need always-on artificial sunlight, Despommier says: they can experience light that varies in intensity through the day – moving from an artificial dawn through to noon and dusk. Mimicking these changes will save energy too. Such tricks already play a small part at GSF: infrared LEDs mimic 5 minutes of a fading sunset at the end of each day. "It puts peppers and tomatoes into their flowering period quicker," says Kluko.
Advances in vertical farms could trickle through from other sources, too. The US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is using an 18-storey vertical farm in College Station, Texas, to produce genetically modified plants that make proteins useful in vaccines. Adversity also plays its part: the tsunami-sparked nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011 is leading to innovation in vertical farming because much of the region's irradiated farmland can no longer be used.
"Fukushima has had a riveting effect on this field," says Despommier. "People were taking their food to the Geiger counter before the checkout counter."
This article appeared in print under the headline "Legume with a view"


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Dirty, Reckless Love by Lexi Ryan
Release Date: August 14, 2018
Genre: Contemporary Romance
I'm in love with a man who tried to kill me. At least that's what they tell me . . .
Six weeks ago, paramedics found me unconscious in my own home. Beaten. Bruised. Hardly breathing. When I woke up, I couldn't remember the last three years or anything about my life in Jackson Harbor. They tell me my fiancé, Colton McKinley, is on the run for what he did to me. They tell me I'm safer if I stay away.
I don't care if my memories ever come back. I want nothing to do with those missing years . . . until a sexy stranger with angry eyes shows up on my doorstep and demands I stop ignoring him.
Levi Jackson is my fiancé's best friend, but seeing him sparks something inside me. As the truth unravels in my mind, I know they're wrong about Colton. My own secrets are far more dangerous than the man I was engaged to.
I return to Jackson Harbor to search for answers and find myself running from a faceless boogeyman and seeking refuge in Levi's arms. And in his bed.
I can't deny my feelings for Levi. But as the pile of lies between us grows, I realize that sometimes the truth can't set us free. It may be the very thing that could destroy us.
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The man searches my face. "That's why you won't come home. You're afraid of Colton."
"I don't want anything to do with that life."
He exhales heavily and rolls his shoulders back, as if he's trying to shake off a ghost. "That's not fair to the rest of us. To everyone who loves you, everyone who was sick with worry when they put you into that coma. Not. Fucking. Fair."
I shrug. "Maybe losing a child and almost dying has made me a little selfish."
His gaze drifts down to my stomach, and I cover it with my hand without thinking. "I'm sorry about the baby."
I nod, tears springing to my eyes. "Me too." So sorry.
"I understand if you want to live here now, but don't cut us out. We all lost something that night."
"Did you?"
He narrows his eyes. "You think I didn't care? That this was all some game to me, and losing you was nothing?"
I wrap my arms around my chest, as if the pressure might weaken this force pulling me toward him by the solar plexus, this inexplicable need to be closer and let him wrap me in his arms. "Losing me? When was I ever yours to lose?"
He jerks his gaze away from me, slides off his stool, and downs the rest of his beer. "Thanks. I guess that clears up where we stand after everything."
I open my mouth to apologize but swallow the words and meet his steady gaze.
Then he backs away and grabs his bags off the bar. He pulls an envelope from his pocket and hands it to me. "I was going to leave this for you with the barista next door, but I guess I can save myself the trouble."
"What is it?" I ask, staring at the crisp black calligraphy that reads Ellie Courdrey.
"An invitation to Ava and Jake's wedding. Despite what you seem to think of me, I'm not fucking my future sister-in-law."
"Their wedding?"
He nods. "They thought about canceling after everything, but . . ." He stares at me for a long beat. "They decided to put love first."
That feels like a jab. At me? At them? I don't know. "I don't want to go back there."
"Maybe it's not always about what you want." He shrugs as if it's no different to him either way, but I can tell by the tension in his shoulders that it matters a lot.
He steps forward—too close—and I let him, closing my eyes at his scent. Then a flash.
He's over me. The weight of him presses into my hips, his calloused hands holding my face, his fingers in my hair. "You're sure?"
I nod. Slide my hands down his back and lift my hips. "Yes. Please."
He searches my eyes. "No regrets."
I hold on to the memory of this man, wanting to examine it, to figure out what it means, but I'm too distracted by his closeness in this moment. He's big. Strong. Warm.
He lowers his mouth to my ear. "I never stopped loving you. Even when you told me to. Even when you chose him." And then he walks away.
Meet Lexi:
Lexi Ryan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of emotional romance that sizzles. Lexi is the 2018 winner of the Romance Writers of America® RITA® award for Best Long Contemporary Romance. She considers herself the luckiest girl around to make a living through storytelling. She loves spending time with her crazy kids, weightlifting, ice cream, swoony heroes, and vodka martinis.
Lexi lives in Indiana with her husband, two children, and a spoiled dog. You can find her at her website: www.lexiryan.com
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L.B. Gilbert
(The Elementals #2)
Publication date: November 28th 2016
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal
Despite being the junior Elemental, Logan's never had to worry about failing a mission before. Not until an overgrown and annoyingly attractive shifter comes along.Being an Elemental is in Logan's blood. Hers is the gift of Air, a vast power she's still struggling to control. Then a Were named Connell hunts her down. His wolf is missing, and he blames her.A den of werewolves is the last place Logan wants to be. The testosterone alone is enough to make her choke. But she has a mystery to solve. She will find out who is stealing wolves even if kills her.Unfortunately, that's exactly what the enemy has planned…
—Book 1: FireBook 2: Air, Available November 28thBook 3: Water, Coming Soon
Connell tried to drag the Elemental toward him, but she didn't budge. Instead, she glanced at his hands. For a second, he could have sworn amusement flashed across her face. Then she was gone—wind whipping him in the face so hard it stung.
He turned around in a circle, scanning the air and the land around him. God, he couldn't lose her now. He needed to get his wolf back. Not having the extra other in his head was tearing him apart. The empty space inside him was like a crawling emptiness. Sometimes, it was in his head. Other times, it was in his heart.
I can't believe I lost her. He'd had her in his hands, and then poof. At this
point, she could be anywhere. A strangled sigh escaped from deep in his chest. It sounded pathetic and broken, even to him. He checked the house to make sure she wasn't there, and then he walked back out to his rented jeep. Damn it, he was going to have to start tracking her all over again.
"Hey, what's your name?"
Stunned, Connell tripped. Pivoting on his heel, he turned to see the sprite standing on a huge boulder in the distance. He was so damn surprised to see her that he lost his tongue. He just stared at her like an idiot.
Apparently, she agreed. "I can't keep calling you tall, dark, and stupid, now can I? What…is…your…name?" she repeated, over- enunciating each word.
He was too relieved to get upset over the fact she was talking to him as if he were slow. "Connell Maitland."
The imp turned away and started addressing the air around her, "He says he's one of the Maitlands. American accent, so one of the Colorado ones. Yeah. It's severe. I haven't seen anything like it. It's like his wolf was torn out of him somehow. He thinks we did it. Hold on a sec—" Her words broke off as Connell started to run toward her.
A gust of strong air slammed him down to the ground before he cleared the rise.
"Stay there," the sprite ordered in a glacial tone.
Frigid as the wind, he thought as he regained his footing. Hell, everything about her should be ice-cold. Instead, he felt like he was burning up around her. It was disconcerting. So was the hard edge in her voice. That kind of steel shouldn't be coming out of such a tiny, doll-like girl.
"Yeah, yeah. It's fine. He's on a leash," the imp said a touch smugly.
Connell growled low in his throat. At least that hadn't changed. Prey the world over would still react instinctively in fear at that sound.
But the imp didn't even blink. And she had heard him. She just hadn't cared. She kept on talking like some gossipy housewife on the phone. Except she was addressing no one.
"Who the bloody hell are you talking to? Invisible fairies? Can anyone even hear you?" he asked incredulously.
Author Bio:USA Today bestselling author L.B. Gilbert spent years getting degrees from the most prestigious universities in America, including a PhD that she is not using at all. She moved to France for work and found love. She's married now and living in Toulouse with one adorable half-french baby.She has always enjoyed reading books as far from her reality as possible but eventually the voices in her head told her to write her own. And so far the voices are enjoying them. You can check out the geeky things she likes on twitter @elementalauthor, facebook www.facebook.com/elementalsauthor, or www.elementalauthor.com*If you like a little more steam with your Fire, check out the author's Lucy Leroux titles*
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Columbia State to Present Classical Recital
Photo Caption: In addition to teaching music and singing, Christine Poythress has an active career in film.
(COLUMBIA, Tenn. - April 14, 2014) - - - Columbia State Community College welcomes Christine Poythress to the Cherry Theater stage Monday, April 28 at 6 p.m. for a classical vocal recital that includes arias by George Frederic Handel and art songs by Robert Schumann and Claude Debussy.
"We are fortunate to have very talented adjunct music faculty at Columbia State," said Emily Gaskill, associate professor of music. "Christine is a new addition to our music department, and we all look forward to an entertaining and enlightening vocal music performance."
Poythress also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Middle Tennessee State University and Chicago City Colleges. She studied classical voice at California State University at Northridge, and she studied voice with Seth Riggs while in Los Angeles and Keith Davis while in New York.
While earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in music from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, Ga., Poythress was a soloist with regional symphonies and a guest vocalist at First Lutheran, Wesley Monumental United Methodist Church, and Unity Church of Savannah.
Poythress also earned a Master of Music degree in vocal performance from Belmont University where she studied with Marjorie Halbert. Since moving to Tennessee she has presented a recital at The Renaissance Center in Dickson and is a frequent vocalist at MTSU.
Joining Poythress is Joseph Walker, an adjunct faculty member at MTSU where he received his Master of Arts degree in collaborative piano. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from AASU. Having studied under Dr. Kevin Vogelsang, Dr. Kevin Hampton, Dr. Caleb Harris, and Dr. Leopoldo Erice, Walker has gone on to have an active career as a collaborative pianist and a vocal coach to the vocal performance majors at MTSU. He has also performed for numerous faculty and student recitals.
The rescheduled recital is free and open to the public and is co-sponsored by the Lyceum Committee and the Department of Music. The Cherry Theater is in the Waymon L. Hickman building on the Columbia campus located at 1665 Hampshire Pike.
Columbia State is a two-year college, serving a nine-county area in southern Middle Tennessee with locations in Columbia, Franklin, Lawrenceburg, Lewisburg and Clifton. As Tennessee's first community college, Columbia State is committed to increasing access and enhancing diversity at all five campuses. Columbia State is a member of the Tennessee Board of Regents, one of the largest higher education systems in the nation. For more information, please visit www.columbiastate.edu.
Tennessee's Community Colleges is a system of 13 colleges offering a high-quality, affordable, convenient and personal education to prepare students to achieve their educational and career goals in two years or less. We offer associate degree and certificate programs, workforce development programs and transfer pathways to four-year degrees. For more information, please visit us online at tncommunitycolleges.org.


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"Henotheism n. Belief in one god without denying the existence of others." (American Heritage Second College Dictionary)
"Monism n. philos. A metaphysical system in which reality is conceived as a unified whole." (American Heritage Second College Dictionary)
"Monotheism n. The belief or doctrine that there is only one God." (American Heritage Second College Dictionary)
"Pantheism n. 1. The doctrine identifying the Deity with the various forces and workings of nature. 2. Belief in and worship of all gods." (American Heritage Second College Dictionary)
"Polytheism n. The worship of or belief in more than one god." (American Heritage Second College Dictionary)
(Vivianne Crowley, WICCA: The Old Religion in The New Age, pp. 11-12)"To witches, deities manifest in different ways and can be worshipped and contacted through any form suitable to local conditions and personal needs. Wicca does not believe, as do the patriarchal monotheisms, that there is only one correct version of God and that all other God forms are false: the Gods of Wicca are not jealous Gods. We therefore worship the personification of the male and female principles, the God and the Goddess, recognizing that Gods are aspects of the One God and all Goddesses are different aspects of the one Goddess, and that ultimately these two are reconciled in the one divine essence."
Vivianne Crowley, a very capable spokesperson for British Traditional Wicca, identifies the core belief of Wicca (at least BTW) as Monism in the piece quoted above. However, she also opens the door to defining Wicca as duotheistic in principle with the subdivision of the monist reality into the praxis of worshipping both Lord and Lady.
However, there is yet a THIRD level of obscurity in Wiccan Praxis! Most Wiccans worship a threefold Goddess (Maid, Mother, and Crone) and many also worship at least a twofold God. So, are the Wicca REALLY polytheists or perhaps pantheists or even modified Henotheists as some have claimed? Or, perhaps, a new category altogether needs to be invented to accurately describe Wiccan belief and practice.
One suggestion has been made to add a word to our Thea/Theo-logical lexicon, perhaps "Cthonotheism" (provided we MUST have a "Theism") to describe "Theistic Wicca". One advantage is that it makes the assumption of worshipping that which was there to be found and worshipped, NOT a Deity or deities invented in 1939! (More on this later.)
The following is the only published copy of the (Gardnerian) Blessing Prayer that I know of.
"In the name of Dryghtyn, the Ancient Providence,
Who was from the beginning and is for eternity,
Male and Female, the Original Source of all things;
all-knowing, all-pervading, all-powerful;
changeless, eternal.
"In the name of the Lady of the Moon,
and the Lord of Death and Resurrection.
"In the name of the Mighty Ones of the Four Quarters,
the Kings of the Elements.
("Witch Blood! The Diary Of A Witch High Priestess!" by Patricia Crowther in chapter four (paperback edition 1974, House Of Collectibles, Inc.).) Courtesy of David Piper"Blessed be this place, and this time,
and they who are now with us."
Airmid (aka Erynn Darkstar), a contemporary craft scholar and researcher says of this new (to most of us) name of Ultimate Deity:
"Dryghtyn is also the name used for JHVH in some old English bibles. I think that was where the term actually originated. I think I saw a passing reference to it in some boxed comparative translated text in "In Search of the Indo-Europeans."
Grendel, an Asatruar from Seattle suggests the "Dryghtyn" may be an alternative spelling of the Teutonic "Drighten" meaning "Lord". I admit this is interesting, to me, as the closeness of the linguistic link between the Old English and Old German languages has been a scholarly "fact" widely known for many years.
As a side issue, this might be some evidence that runs contrary to the thesis put forth by Aidan Kelly that Gerald Gardner "manufactured" Wicca in 1939. From personal experience, I have found that one unique distinction of the non BTW strains of Witchcraft (some times called "FamTrads" of Family Traditions) is the incorporation of old Christian Imagery, often including ArchAngels for the four directions or elements. Though this instance does not include Archangels, it DOES include archaic (and relatively unknown) Christian terminology. If Gardner did discover a remnant of the Old Religion upon which he based his modern reconstruction effort, it is this sort of linguistic "artifact" which would have survived. Perhaps a more scholarly investigation than mr. Kelly's will "turn up" more evidence?
Jim Taylor, an Eastern Orthodox Theologian, also makes two (to me) illuminating statements, concerning "The Dryghtyn Prayer":
1. "'In the name of Dryghtyn, the Ancient Providence,
Who was from the beginning and is for eternity,
Male and Female, the Original Source of all things;
all-knowing, all-pervading, all-powerful;
changeless, eternal.'
This would be, entirely, an acceptable way of describing God, both for most Jews and for most Christians."
2. "'In the name of the Lady of the Moon,
and the Lord of Death and Resurrection.'
The Lord of Death and Resurrection would seem, to any Christian to refer to Jesus Christ."
This evidence of a possible mixing of an older (unrecorded) Christian Prayer may lend further credence to Gardners' claims of building on an older, hidden, traditional remnant.
I, personally, also agree with Mr. Taylors' statement that "the idea of Wicca being 'manufactured' in 1939 is far too pat, and ignores a great deal which ought not to be ignored. At the very least, some degree of recognition should be accorded to the obvious fact that most Wiccan practices and attitudes predate Wicca by considerable periods of time-possibly even millennia".
The existence of Monism, Duotheism, and Polytheism simultaneously in the belief structure of Wicca is one good example of one of the Five Mysteries of Wicca, that of Union. Wicca is a mystery religion, a PARTICIPATORY religion, and much of its symbology must be lived and practiced to have meaning because much of the real (some say hidden meaning is based on the knowledge of experience and not the intellectual knowledge of mere logic and conscious thought processes.
I am an eclectic Wiccan with strong ties in my beliefs and practice to British Traditional Wicca. I am a Monist, yet I have had strong direct experience with Brigid, Danu, and the Morrigan as well as the Earth Mother and the Horned Lord of the Forests. So my personal answer to the question of "What kind of Theism fits Theistic Wicca?" is "several, or none; it is not really a valid question in those limited terms"! But perhaps the concept of "Chthonotheism" would give a better label to this concept when attempting to discuss the idea of the peculiar theism unique to Wicca?
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Just south of the Bird and Flower Market and near to many of Kunming's flourishing Malls, Jinmafang is a useful landmark. Here are five good eating options for you in and around the area. Read More>>
A gathering ground for migratory birds, Kunming's scenic parks are a great place for bird-watching or to simply take a break from urban life. Read More>>
Kunming has always been an easy city to live in, and shopping is no exception. But with so many popular options, sometimes it can be hard to know where to go to get it all done. Whether it's purely clothes you're interested in, or the whole food ... Read More>>
The impressive variety of dishes available in Kunming is most certainly a reflection of Yunnan Province's multiethnic character. Local cuisine, such Cross the Bridge Rice Noodles, Clay Pot Chicken and Pineapple Rice, are characteristic of both the local ... Read More>>
Clear, blue, swimmable water – it sounds more like a fantasy than a description of a modern Chinese lake. But Fuxian Lake (抚仙湖) remains one of the country's best-preserved lakes, due to its remarkable depth and relative obscurity. Yunnan's ... Read More>>
Tsingtao goes great with Chinese food – that crisp, almost flavourless beer is refreshing with China's sauce-heavy dishes. But on its own, light Chinese beer doesn't always satisfy. When craving a heftier brew, Kunming beer-lovers seek out import beers. Read More>>
Twentyyears ago, Dianchi was a country lake. Kunming residents could escape the city for a daytrip out on the water, boating or fishing. Dianchi developed a reputation as a resort – a moniker that has stuck even as the area developed into a suburb. The ... Read More>>
At first glance, Kunming might seem an unlikely place to look for famous temples. Other Chinese cities are known for their elaborate and historical architecture – most prominently Beijing, but also Yunnan's own Dali and Lijiang. However, Kunming ... Read More>>
Only a few weeks ago, another food scandal hit China. This time, dairy company Mengniu recalled milk containing aflatoxin, a cancer-causing agent (蒙牛称毒奶事件). Citizen responses reflected accumulated outrage – in the last few years, food ... Read More>>
Many Yunnan travellers encounter a problem: how exactly do you get to Dali? Tucked between the mist-shrouded Cangshan and the flat expanse of Erhai Lake, Dali feels remote. But it's surprisingly easy to catch a bus, train or car from Kunming. A ... Read More>>
The diverse cuisine of Kunming's minority groups is not what you might expect. This isn't the land of dim sum, nor of Peking duck. Twenty-six minority cultures can be found in Yunnan, each with their own distinct culinary tradition. Often, the flavours ... Read More>>
The art of tea drinking is one of the deepest and most ancient aspects of Chinese high culture. The development of regional tea making techniques has spanned dynasties, and now there are thousands of tea varieties to choose from. These variations ... Read More>>
Kunming is a major transit hub for all kinds of tourists, and has a number of hotels, hostels and guesthouses for people looking for places to stay. While the number and diversity of Kunming lodging is its advantage, the short-term nature of its ... Read More>>
Kunming is a vibrant, colourful city full of adventure and wonder still waiting to be discovered. But the real gems of Yunnan lie in the outdoors, in the even wilder and pristine mountains, lakes and valleys of the Himalayan foothills. Be it backpacking, ... Read More>>
Great! After months of prodding, you've finally convinced one of your friends or family members to travel all the way to wild Yunnan to visit you. The only problem is now you've got to entertain someone who's just dropped a couple of thousand bucks ... Read More>>
For a city with a moderate amount of foreigners, Kunming has a robust pizza scene. Old mainstays like the Box and Sandra's still serve most of the city's pizza, each with a different approach. Italian-owned Box has a lot of Italian treats, and the owners ... Read More>>
The cultural nexus that is Kunming hosts an increasingly well-known art scene. Brought to the public by creative spaces like the Loft, Kunming's art community now offers a wide variety of artists and styles. Even a few years ago, it would have been ... Read More>>
An estimated 18000 plant species representing almost 5% of the world's botanical diversity grow in Yunnan, and out of the world's 600 species of edible fungus, 250 can be found in the province. It's no wonder then that Kunming hosts some ... Read More>>
It's easy to spend your free time in Kunming in the Wenlin Street bubble of foreign cafes and bars. However, you'll kick yourself if you leave the Spring City without having experienced some of the more unusual activities Yunnan has to offer. Here are our ... Read More>>
The mountains are high and the emperor is far away. However, western groceries are just around the corner! Here is a rundown of our favourite places from which to taste the best of the west in Kunming. Read More>>
The most beautiful place in Kunming has got to be the Green Lake (Cai Hu) area, and it's arguably also home to the best array of restaurants, bars, and teahouses in the city – making it a place where visitors come from all over to enjoy the unique venues ... Read More>>
Most expats have heard a horror story or two of a friend of a friend left bruised and battered by an incompetent and overzealous masseuse. A story that frequently does the rounds in Kunming is of an American woman who several years ago had to return ... Read More>>
Tucked away in southwest China, far from the major international metropolises of the east coast, Kunming might seem like one of the last places to find English reading material. In the past, a Kunming bookworm's worst fate was to finish reading ... Read More>>
Surprisingly for its size, Kunming has a thriving live music scene with several home grown bands, both Chinese and expat, playing regularly around the city and even nationally. From classical music to hardcore punk, the city has it all. If you see them ... Read More>>


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Sam and I celebrated our FIFTEENTH anniversary last month.
So I surprised my better half with a fancy date.
See? I told you he was surprised!
Up, up, up … the Space Needle! I made reservations at the revolving restaurant SkyCity — it seemed a little bit kitschy, very romantic, lots of fun, and more money than we ever spend on a meal — but I figure we can afford it once every fifteen years.
The view from up there.
We hung out in the tourist area until our reservation was ready. It was amazing to sit and be able to TALK uninterrupted! If you can swing a real, live date with your partner, I highly recommend it — even if it's every fifteen years or so.
Champagne toast to 15 happy years!
The man I'm still head-over-heels about spending the rest of my life with.
The Experience Music Project is just as funky from above.
I like that this roof was all-natural, and I was able to peer into the P-Patch community garden that's on top of a downtown parking structure, as well.
We pondered the safety precautions workers have to take and concurred that we never want a job that requires us to be on the outside of the Space Needle.
Waving to the boys back at home, spending a delightful evening with their aunt.
The food! Vegetable gâteau with herbed béchemel cheese, topped with root vegetable dust (of course) and a quail's egg. We split our entrées with each other, because we're an old married couple!
Pork chop from Carlton Farms, with stone fruit relish and a side of duck fat frites. Because why not live a little, yes?
I swear, this evening — the food, the astonishingly attentive waiter, the valet parking, the champagne — totally spoiled me. Now I feel so disgruntled by Denny's…
Revolving restaurants mean tomfoolery from the guests. I couldn't figure out why a demi-god would be named Chor, but I decided to respond with a greeting. In my "defense," I'd had quite a bit of champagne by this point.
A geeky tableau. Interesting note: I got a little motion sick from the revolutions of the restaurant. I didn't realize that would be a problem! I also got lost when I left to go to the bathroom and had to walk the whole eating area to find Sam again.
Time for the dessert menu!
Time flies when you're having fun.
What goes around comes around.
A beautiful evening above the city with a lovely date.
You'll also love interesting photos on the topic of History over at Natural Parents Network. Link up there, too!
at my super-cool collection of Wordless Wednesday linkies,
and let me know if you have one to add.
You can also link up a thumbnail from your post below!
I'm thinking of sending out an optional email notification when my linky is live.
Leave your email address in the linky if you want to be included on the list!


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The condition of an item is a very subjective matter. That is why we offer a full money-back guarantee (excluding postage and packing costs) on any item purchased with which you are not satisfied. Simply send it back to us and we will refund the full purchase price of the item.