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EFF Leaves the W3C over DRM Decision
Subject: General Tech | September 24, 2017 - 02:30 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: w3c, eff, DRM
On September 18th, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF, announced that they were leaving the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C, due to its stance on DRM, effective immediately. This was published in the form of an open letter from Cory Doctorow, which is available on the EFF's website.
There's several facets to the whole DRM issue. In this case, Cory Doctorow seems focused mostly on the security side of things. Creating an architecture to attach code that manipulates untrusted data is sketchy, at a time that browser vendors are limiting that attack surface by killing as many plug-ins as possible, and, in this case, a legal minefield is layered atop it due to copyright concerns. Publishers are worried about end-users moving data in ways that they don't intend... even though every single time that content is pirated before its release date is a testament that the problem is elsewhere.
We can also get into the issue of "more control isn't the same as more revenue" again, some other time.
As for the consequences of this action? I'm not too sure. I don't really know how much sway the EFF had internally at the W3C. While they will still do what they do best, fight the legal side of digital freedom, it sounds like they won't be in a position to officially guide standards anymore. This is a concern, but I'm not in a position to quantify how big.
HTML 5.1 Promoted to W3C Recommendation
Subject: General Tech | November 2, 2016 - 03:26 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: w3c
HTML is a format that translates text into a hierarchy of special objects, called elements, that can be arranged into Web content. The specification is controlled by the W3C, who just promoted HTML 5.1 to "W3C recommendation," which is their final stage for a standard excluding errata or a wholly new version.
Because standardization, intentionally, takes a very long time, this is not about new features or anything like that. In fact, one of the changes that I found interesting was the removal of appCache. This feature was originally designed for web applications to operate offline by ensuring everything it needs is stored locally. It wasn't really surprising, since Firefox actually warns users that it's deprecated since version 44, but notable none-the-less. (If anyone is wondering, Service Worker API replaced this API. Yes, I am aware of the Web standards joke "there are two standards for everything, but one is deprecated and the other is experimental".)
If you're interested in just the changes, they are summarized here.
HTML5 Finally Released as W3C Recommendation
Subject: General Tech | November 1, 2014 - 03:56 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: w3c, javascript, html5, html, ecma, css
Recently, the W3C has officially recommended the whole HTML5 standard as a specification for browser vendors and other interested parties. It is final. It is complete. Future work will now be rolled into HTML 5.1, which is currently on "Last Call" and set for W3C Recommendation in 2016. HTML 5.2 will follow that standard with a first specification working draft in 2015.
Image Credit: Wikipedia
For a website to work, there are several specifications at play from many different sources. HTML basically defines most of the fundamental building blocks that get assembled into a website, as well as its structure. It is maintained by the W3C, which is an industry body with hundreds of members. CSS, a format to describe how elements (building blocks) are physically laid out on the page, is also maintained by the W3C. On the other hand, JavaScript controls the logic and programmability, and it is (mostly) standardized by Ecma International. Also, Khronos has been trying to get a few specifications into the Web ecosystem with WebGL and WebCL. This announcement, however, only defines HTML5.
Another body that you may hear about is the "WHATWG". WHAT, you say? Yes, the Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG). This group was founded by people from within Apple, Mozilla, and Opera to propose their own standard, while the W3C was concerned with XHTML. Eventually, the W3C adopted much of the WHATWG's work. They are an open group without membership fees or meetings, and they still actively concern themselves with advancing the platform.
And there is still more to do. While the most visible change involves conforming to the standards and increasing the performance of each implementation as much as possible, the standard will continue evolving. This news sets a concrete baseline, allowing the implementations to experiment within its bounds -- and they now know exactly where they are.
Sauce Labs: Integration into modern.IE
Subject: General Tech, Mobile | April 13, 2013 - 03:16 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: w3c, Sauce Labs, modern.IE, IE
The main benefit of open Web Standards is that it allows for a stable and secure platform for any developer to target just about any platform. Still, due to the laws of No Pain: No Gain, those developers need to consider how their application responds on just about every platform. Internet Explorer was once the outlier, and now they are one of the most prominent evangelists. It has been barely two months since we reported on the launch of modern.IE for Microsoft to integrate existing solutions into their product.
Enter Sauce Labs. The San Francisco-based company made a name for themselves by providing testing environments for developers on a spread of browsers across Android, iOS, Linux, MacOSX, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows XP. The company, along with competitor BrowserStack, got recent recognition from Adobe when the software company shut down their own also-competing product.
When we first covered modern.IE back in February (again, here), the initiative from Microsoft was created to help test web apps across multiple versions of Internet Explorer and check for typical incompatibilities. With the addition of Sauce Labs, Microsoft hopes to provide better testing infrastructure as well as automatic recommendations for common issues encountered when trying to develop for both "modern" and legacy versions of their web browser.
In my position, this perfectly highlights the problems with believing you are better than open architectures. At some point, your platform will no longer be able to compete on inertia. Society really does not want to rely on a single entity for anything. It is almost a guarantee that a standard, agreed-upon by several industry members, will end up succeeding in the end. Had Microsoft initially supported the W3C, they would not have experienced even a fraction of the troubles they currently face. They struggle in their attempts to comply with standards and, more importantly, push developers to optimize for their implementation.
There are very good reasons to explain why we do not use AOL keywords anymore. Hopefully the collective Microsoft keeps this grief in mind, particularly the Xbox and Windows RT teams and their divisions.
After the break: the press release.
Microsoft Likes That Modern Will Not Get Them Sued: Compatibility Website "modern.IE" Launches
Subject: Editorial, General Tech | February 2, 2013 - 06:23 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: webkit, w3c, microsoft, internet explorer, html5
Microsoft has been doing their penance for the sins against web developers of the two decades past. The company does not want developers to target specific browsers and opt to include W3C implementations of features if they are available.
What an ironic turn of events.
Microsoft traditionally fought web standards, forcing developers to implement ActiveX and filters to access advanced features such as opacity. Web developers would program their websites multiple times to account for the... intricacies... of Internet Explorer when compared to virtually every other browser.
Now Google and Apple, rightfully or otherwise (respectively, trollolol), are heavily gaining in popularity. This increase in popularity leads to websites implementing features exclusively for Webkit-based browsers. Internet Explorer is not the browser which gets targeted for advanced effect. If there is Internet Explorer-specific code in sites it is usually workarounds for earlier versions of the browser and only muck up Microsoft's recent standards-compliance by feeding it non-standard junk.
It has been an uphill battle for Microsoft to push users to upgrade their browsers and web developers to upgrade their sites. "modern.IE" is a service which checks for typical incompatibilities and allows for developers to test their site across multiple versions of IE.
Even still, several web technologies are absent in Internet Explorer as they have not been adopted by the W3C. WebGL and WebCL seek to make the web browser into high-performance platform for applications. Microsoft has been vocal about not supporting these Khronos-backed technologies on the grounds of security. Instead of building out web browsers as a cross-platform application platform Microsoft is pushing hard to not get their app marketplace ignored.
I am not sure what Microsoft should fear most: that their app marketplace will be smothered by their competitors, or whether they only manage to win the battle after the war changes theaters. You know what they say, history repeats itself.
HTML5 Games: The Legacy of PC Gaming?
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Mobile | December 30, 2012 - 04:48 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: webgl, w3c, html5
I use that title in quite a broad sense.
I ran across an article on The Verge which highlighted the work of a couple of programmers to port classic Realtime Strategy games to the web browser. Command and Conquer along with Dune II, two classics of PC Gaming, are now available online for anyone with a properly standards-compliant browser.
These games, along with the Sierra classics I wrote about last February, are not just a renaissance of classic PC games: they preserve them. It is up to the implementer to follow the standard, not the standards body to approve implementations. So long as someone still makes a browser which can access a standards-based game, the game can continue to be supported.
A sharp turn from what we are used to with console platforms, right?
I have been saying this for quite some time now: Blizzard and Valve tend to support their games much longer than console manufacturers support their whole platforms. You can still purchase at retail, and they still manufacture, the original StarCraft. The big fear over "modern Windows" is that backwards compatibility will be ended and all applications would need to be certified by the Windows Store.
When programmed for the browser -- yes, even hosted offline on local storage -- those worries disappear. Exceptions for iOS and Windows RT where they only allow you to use Safari or Trident (IE10+) which still leaves you solely at their mercy to follow standards.
Still, as standards get closer to native applications in features and performance, we will have a venue for artists to create and preserve their work for later generations to experience. The current examples might be 2D and of the pre-Pentium era but even now there are 3D-based shooters developed from websites. There is even a ray tracing application built on WebGL (although that technically is reliant on both the W3C and Khronos standards bodies) that just runs in a decent computer with plain-old Firefox or Google Chrome.
HTML5 Defined!
Subject: General Tech, Mobile | December 19, 2012 - 02:56 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: w3c, html5
Open Web Standards has reached a new milestone on Monday when the W3C published their completed definitions for HTML5 and Canvas 2D. There is still a long and hard road until the specification becomes an official standard although the organization is finally comfortable classifying this description as feature complete.
HTML5 allows for much more media, interactivity, and device-optimization than its 1999 predecessor. This standard, particularly once finalized and recommended by the W3C, can be part of the basis for fully featured programs which function as expected where the standard does.
This is an important milestone but one by no means the final destination of the standard.
The biggest sticking point in the HTML5 specification is still over video tag behavior. The W3C pushes for standards it recommends to comply with its royalty-free patent policy. Implementation of video has been pretty heavily locked down by various industry bodies, most noticeably MPEG-LA, which is most concerning for open source implementations which might not be able to include H.264. There still does not appear to be a firm resolution with this recent draft.
Still, once the patent issues have been settled, video will not just be accessible in static ways. Tutorials exist to show you how to manipulate the direct image data resulting from the video to do post-processing effects and other calculations. It should be an interesting abstraction for those who wish to implement video assets in applications such as for a texture in a game.
HTML5 is expected to be fully baked sometime in mid-2014. It would be around that time where HTML5.1 would mature to the state HTML5 celebrates today.


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Terrence Nguyen needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 40 designs submitted by 20 freelance designers.
Final Take Studio is a professional video studio focus only on wedding. I am looking for a contemporary logo that can tell about cinematic style. I create a wedding video event in a movie style, you can tell by the name.
Final Take Studio
There are several characteristic that I'm looking for on this logo:
- Simple design and has some meaning
- Contemporary
- The main color will be blue, you can use other complementary color in conjunction
- A logo should tell audience about this studio as a film company rather than wedding business, so I don't want anything like heart shapes or bride & groom shape.
- A logo should tell something about art
- Would be great if graphic is in 3D look, but not the text
- Must be in blue, other complementary color is fine but no more than 3 colors including graphic and text
- Contemporary, text should be in a thin font
- Graphic at left, two lines on right
- Graphic and text should be usable alone
- Final delivery format has to be in Illustrator, vector based image
- Initials
- Anything too fussy
- Don't want to include any symbol of "production slate", too many logos of this type in market already
- All Capital, either first letter capital (FinalTakeStudio) or all lower cases
- Any heart shape, or bride and groom
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.

subset: commoncrawl


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Measuring the Economic Gain of Investing in Girls: The Girl Effect Dividend
Download: English
Although girls are approximately half the youth population in developing countries, they contribute less than their potential to the economy. The objective of this paper is to quantify the opportunity cost of girls exclusion from productive employment with the hope that stark figures will lead policymakers to reconsider the current underinvestment in girls. The paper explores the linkages between investing in girls and potential increases in national income by examining three widely prevalent aspects of adolescent girls lives: early school dropout, teenage pregnancy and joblessness.


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There are no Upcoming Shows listed for this artist.
Comedy Central Certified
Improv Turkey
It's that time of year! Time to get stuffed full of Jokes and basted in Punchlines!
The Improv's Annual Turkey Contest is here!
This Special Edition of our open mic night has two prizes this year!
The two prizes up for grabs are a beautifully delicious Turkey and a PAID EMCEE WEEKEND at one of the South Florida clubs!
Winners will be chosen based on Audience and Judges votes!
To sign up, email email@example.com!!


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Hi everyone!
Can someone advice about the wind statistic for El Gouna in Egypt during late July and early August?
I have never been in Egypt, so any recommendation about hotels and resorts in El Gouna or near would be appreciated.
I want the all included hotel in front of a super flat water spot. Is it El gouna the right place.
Is the Cable park already opened?


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A striking church in Barcelona, Spain, represents one of the great monuments of modernist architecture.
Among the few successful attempts to modernize medieval and baroque Catholic art and architecture is Antoni Gaud�'s Basilica de la Sagrada Familia (The Holy Family), in Barcelona, Spain. Gaud� (1852-1926) was one of the leading figures of the "Modernisme" (modernism) movement in architecture. He was a devoted Catal�n nationalist, and nearly all his buildings are in his beloved Barcelona. His work includes seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites, such as the Park G�ell, and the Casa Mil�, Casa Batll� and Casa Vicens apartment buildings.
But his universally recognized masterpiece is the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. He worked on his cathedral for 43 years until his death in 1926. Although the cathedral remains unfinished today —and hence almost perpetually marred by ugly scaffolding and cranes — it is still a stunning work of architecture. In Catholic terminology, the holy family refers to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, specifically in relation to the New Testament stories and later Catholic legends related to the Nativity, flight to Egypt and Jesus' youth in Nazareth.
Broadly speaking, the Holy Family cathedral contains most of the structural elements of traditional medieval cathedrals — cruciform layout, apse, nave, massive piers and columns, stained glass windows, huge open spaces and vaulted ceilings. While Gaud� kept all these architectural elements, he abstracted and "modernized" their forms. Fundamentally, Gaud� used a fusion of light, open space and geometric shapes to modernize traditional cathedral architecture.
The northern exterior of the cathedral has a monumental gateway and towers similar to the tripartite gates of traditional cathedrals, but modernized into stark geometric lines. The four towers above the gate are adorned by a central figure of Christ flanked by apostles, with the the Latin "Sanctus/Holy," the "Trisagion" hymn of the angels from Isaiah 6:3. The south gate is adorned with more naturalistic statues of the Nativity, surrounded by interweaving floral motifs and childlike angels singing "Glory to God in the highest!" (Luke 2:14).
Inside, the visitor is immediately struck by light and by the great open space created by the height of the vaulted ceilings. The use of modern steel and cement engineering techniques permitted Gaud� to make much higher columns and ceilings than medieval stone-building technology permitted. The tops of Gaud�'s columns split into treelike branches, with leaves of God's celestial light shining down upon the earth. The whole cathedral thus abstractly evokes the earthly paradise of the Garden of Eden.
In some ways it's helpful to know the traditional forms of medieval and baroque Catholic iconography to understand what Gaud� is trying to represent by the art and architecture of his cathedral. The baldacchino — a canopy over the high altar — was traditionally mounted on pillars; Gaud� places his suspended in air over a large crucifix; Christ on the cross is thus almost hovering like an angel. Traditional stained glass panels and rosettes depicting Jesus Christ, Mary, angels and saints are so completely abstracted into rainbows of glass so as to be unintelligibly beautiful.
The biblical seraphim of Isaiah 6 are said to have been brightly flaming angels who used their six wings to cover their bodies and face so as to not be overwhelmed by the glory of God. For Gaud�, they have become geometric wings with feathers represented as beams of flaming, "seraphimic" light. The Trisagion ("three holies") — the hymn eternally sung by the Seraphim before the throne of God (Isaiah 6:3)— appears not as the traditional Latin "Sanctus" but in Gaud�'s native Catalan as "Sant, Sant, Sant," written on the tips of the Seraphim's wings.
Gaud� transforms the glorious and intricate stained glass panels of traditional medieval cathedrals into Picassoesque geometric abstractions of prismlike primary colors of the rainbow, perhaps representing the phases of creation, or the realms of underworld (reds), terrestrial world (greens) and celestial world (blues).
Gaud� likewise enlists stone, using the same geometric patterns and abstractions. Angels are batlike in form, with polyhedrons for bodies and smooth lightly feathered wings.
Whether Gaud� succeeds or fails in his grand design of remaking Christian architecture probably rests in the eyes of the beholder. With the passing of the Modernisme movement in the 1910s in Barcelona, the meaning of the cathedral has become increasing obscured from the casual viewer. It still has the power to awe by its grandeur and magnificence, but can it still inspire?


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RoseLovesJack said …
I amor all of them but Carlisle is my favorito Posted over a year ago
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Rose P.O.V
No. There was no way my baby, no, my CHILD is going to go through the unbearable transformation. I know the kind of pain that it is. It awful. There is no way she is going through that. Those were the thoughts that ran through my head when Alice said her vision. When Emmett stood up he startled me, he had no nervousness on his face. He escorted me outside.
" Rose, its OK, It was going to happen. I was figuring way worse than this." he said. I stared dumbfounded at him. He stared back at me. "what?" he said.
Sydney's P.O.V
Renesemee was heavy. I smiled at her. She was a beautiful child. She had some of her mother, and some of her father. That much was obvious. She would tell me about herself in her special way. I sat down with her in my lap on the coach while everyone else did what they wanted to do.
After awhile, Renesmee told me everything that she wanted to and demanded that i told about myself. I shifted uncomfortably.
My past... Horrible. Wretched. Scarring. Tormenting. She saw my discomfort right away and frowned. The others saw my discomfort too....
Sydney's P.O.V
The house was absolutely ginormous. My mouth hung open as i gasped. The pale house had at least 2 stories with 7 rooms on each floor. The forest surrounding it was amazing. Everything fit together like a puzzle that was now complete. I had a huge grin on my face.
I looked at my new family. " You LIVE here?" I asked, amazed. Dad shook his head. " WE live here," he said, then put on his grin. I smiled back. I already loved it here. I looked back to the house where i saw another amazingly beautiful vampire. She was blond, thin, and perfect....
I couldn't stop smiling. I had a daughter now, Rose would be ecstatic, and Sydney had a home. A real home. The guys let me have time with Sydney while they packed up. She had a bunch of questions.
" Whose Rose? Alice? Where are you guys from? What kind of family do you have? Will i live with you?" she asked one after another. " Easy, easy. We have a lot of time to answer all these questions. Now what is your first one?" i asked her.
She thought about that for a while. " Who is Rose?" she decided. I smiled. " Rose is my world, the reason that I am alive. She is...
Rose P.O.V
I kept staring at Alice. Wanting her to spill what she saw, but she wouldn't tell me she said that it was a "surprise" or something. I wasn't sure what to do neither was Bella. I looked at her then to the other room signaling for her to come with me. I got up to go upstairs then she followed me.
" What do you think she saw?" i mouthed so she wouldn't hear us. " I have no idea," she mouthed back " Lets ask Esme" she said. I nodded, and signaled for her to follow me. We found Esme in the yard just staring at the nature. Waiting for her man to come back too....
I waited anxiously all night. Pacing, watching, thinking, smiling. I knew that Rose would be so happy with this. She always wanted kids, now she will get what she wants! All of it depended on her answer of course. If she didn't say yes, then we would probably have to kill her. The Volturi don't like humans knowing about our existence as vampires. I have no idea what she would choose i could only hope for the best.
My brothers stared at me all night, Edward kept smirking as he read my thoughts. Jasper tried to calm me down. Carlisle just looked at me. " you guys can stop...
We were all traveling together for a while, out wives tolde us to go and have fun. We would be make in about a week. My name is Emmett, and we are vampires. My brothers Jasper, and edward were play fighting, while i was watching closely. My adoptive father carlisle who is a vampire too. Was thinking to himself.
Thats when i heard the noise. Evrything stopped the fighting, the thinking. We were all locked on the bushes from which the sound came. We were all crouched perpared to spring. Thats when she revealed her self.
twilight guys we all want one but no body gets them. So, who are you crushing on edward (robert) jasper (jakson) jacob (taylor) emmett (kellan)?
have you ever had one of those dreams we you marry edward jacob jasper or emmett? Why are twilight girls so crazy over twilight guyz?
A qustion no one can seem to anser. Than again have you relized that taylor robert kellan jakson all have mais fãs that amor them now is it because we amor them or because we amor edward jacob emmett and jasper? the world will never know. my main qustion is why are twilight guys so hot?
Hey! I know that everyone has their own opinion, b ut yeah I'm Team Switzerland (my friend says I'm just greedy). But it's true that everyone does pick on Jacob! Edward has a mase of age on him, he is from another century! Jacob is a regular boy, arrogant and sometimes moody! Edward was brought up to be polite and handle himself, unlike Jacob. But have the girls in the world are falling for Edward Cullen because of his looks, but if you see the difference in him and Jacoob. Edward gets on like he is over his mutual age, and Jacob is accually normal. But I like both their attitudes, and they...
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Robert Pattinson 24/7 Fansite best known as Edward Cullen in the movie Twilight also as Cedric Diggory in the Harry Potter film Goblet of fogo
Robert Pattinson was born on May 13, 1986 in London, England. He enjoys música and is an excellent musician, playing both the violão, guitarra and piano.
Have you entered the ECJ Twilight fã Art Contest? Enter now to win your own character in an upcoming entry & be displayed in recent Twilight news!
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Spice Hunting: Cumin
Your guide to the world of herbs and spices—how to spot them, where to get them, and how to cook with them
Lamb with Cumin and Chiles
Get the Recipe
After black pepper, cumin is the most-used spice on Earth. A flower related to parsley originating around Egypt (spices have weird family trees), it's followed people around wherever they go. Cumin has an unmistakable flavor: it tastes earthy, musky, gamey, and spicy.
Cumin complements chiles beautifully, bringing additional heat to a dish while balancing their fruitiness. And for those who want great flavor but can't handle much spiciness, cumin offers much more flavor and aroma for its heat than many chiles. Its pungency is perfect for any gamey meat like goat, lamb, or venison. It elevates beans and rice pilaf to new heights. It's oddly delicious when used in place of caraway in borsch and split pea soup.
And it makes salsas sing, adding contrast and a pleasant crunch. Cumin is used so extensively it's hard to find dishes where it doesn't work well. Pick up a dirt-cheap bag from an ethnic grocery and you'll plow through it in no time.
Don't bother with ground cumin, whether home-ground or store-bought. Grinding intensifies spices' flavor but at the expense of their rounded depth. It's a useful technique to release flavor from large pods, like star anise, if you aren't going to stew them for hours. But whole cumin seeds are small enough to provide plenty of flavor, and if left whole their unique musk and bitterness come through all the more. Plus, whole spices are just easier to work with. When I'm feeling too lazy to pull out my spice grinder, cumin is my salvation.
When cooking with cumin seeds there are two critical choices: how to heat them (to excite their volatile oils) and when to add them to a dish. How you initially cook the spice affects how it flavors the end result.
To keep the flavor more confined to the seeds, toast them in a dry skillet till just fragrant (then remove them to a plate or bowl so they don't overcook). To infuse the entire dish with cumin goodness, fry them in hot oil until they make cracking sounds before adding additional ingredients. Either way, don't cook them longer than you have to, as small spices especially can burn easily. If you do burn them, toss them out and start again; there's no rescuing bitter cumin.
Cumin added at the start of a dish, common in a curry or rice pilaf, forms an earthy, spicy backdrop, but long cooking kills its subtleties. When just tossed in at the end, it works more like an herbal garnish. Try tossing some toasted seeds on roasted potatoes or vegetables with some coarse salt. Or drizzle some cumin-fried oil in a bowl of soup in lieu of olive or sesame oil. To really make cumin the star of a dish, start with some toasted or fried cumin and finish it with more of the same. These toasting, frying, and timing tricks can be used for a variety of spices.
I love cumin most paired with lamb—they build off each other's gamey intensity—and nothing does that better than a Muslim-influenced Chinese dish served in a bun or over noodles. If you've been to Xi'an Famous Foods, this is my loose approximation of the lamb they serve in their "lamb burgers" and on their noodles.
While cumin is usually used in balance with several other spices, here it's an all-out assault on the tongue, a celebration of the depth of flavor and forceful punch cumin lends to whatever it touches. This recipe illustrates cumin's amazing versatility: it intensifies the meat's gaminess, balances the chiles' fruity aroma, and contrasts the tender lamb with crunchy seeds. Given all this variety and flavor potential in a tiny seed, it's no wonder cumin is a culinary rock star around the world.
Lamb with Cumin and Chiles recipe »
What are your favorite uses for cumin?
Get the Recipe
This post may contain links to Amazon or other partners; your purchases via these links can benefit Serious Eats. Read more about our affiliate linking policy.


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The Adeptness of Visuals
Oft again but yet true, "a account is account a thousand words" accurately signifies the adeptness of beheld images in the eCommerce industry. As added and added retailers are developing new strategies to affix with barter over a advanced ambit of hand-held devices, visual-search engines are getting accustomed as the next-big thing. In the eCommerce space, beheld seek reads images to analyze color, shape, and admeasurement and even argument to analyze cast and artefact names. Such a seek offers a abundant advantage over keyword-matched search, in which seek after-effects are alone as acceptable as the user's adeptness to call an item. With the abrupt client absent to accomplish a quick acquirement and move on, anecdotic data or characteristics of a artefact is time consuming. In this fast affective world, isn't it again added acceptable for the client to just yield a picture, upload it on the image-based seek engine and let the engine do the job?
The Algorithm Behind Image-based Search
So how does image-based seek technology work? As an angel seek engine is advised to acquisition an image, the seek can be based on keywords, an image, or a hotlink to an image. Agreeable based Angel Retrieval or CBIR as it is bargain known, incorporates eyes techniques to analyze images based on colors, shapes, and proportions. The after-effects depend on seek belief such as metadata, the apparatus of the angel or the seek address that the browser uses:
• Angel seek by allocation is based on allegory of metadata associated with the angel as keywords, tags, text, or description and is acquired as a set of images sorted by relevance. The metadata associated with anniversary angel can advertence the appellation of the image, format, resolution, color, etc. However, such a adjustment of seek does not consistently accomplish authentic results.
• On the added hand, angel seek by archetype offers seek after-effects through a allegory amid images application a absorption technique. The seek groups calm images agnate in agreeable and examines altered aspects of the angel such as color, shape, or texture, authoritative it a added able and reliable method.
Features of Image-Based Seek Engines.
Image based seek engines are getting offered by several software companies that are enabling eCommerce giants to action a absolutely adorable user experience. Some of the solutions that are getting offered application accoutrement such as JAVA, MongoDB, OpenCV, Python, HTML, JavaScript, WCF include:
• Web aperture & adaptable app with congenital beheld seek technology
• Computer eyes segmentation
• Angel allocation and allocation algorithms
• Machine acquirements algorithms
• App affiliation with angel seek algorithm
• Performance optimization
The Benefits that Image-based Seek Offers
In adjustment to augment the online arcade acquaintance and addition order-conversion, online retailers and eCommerce website owners today are accumulation able image-based seek engines. With angel based seek engines, retailers can:
1. Augment the All-embracing Arcade Experience: The accustomed online client is generally bombarded with bags of items and visuals on eCommerce websites. Many a times, the client brand a artefact but is apprenticed for time to accomplish the purchase. When the client allotment to the website to accomplish the purchase, he consistently has to go through endless abortive searches on his laptop to acquisition the artefact he had ahead apparent and liked. With beheld seek technology, shoppers can just yield a simple photograph of their adapted artefact and seek for the artefact in the angel seek engine to retrieve the exact product, abundantly abbreviation the browsing time and assiduity the all-embracing arcade experience.
2. Respond Bound to Chump Queries: With millions of items getting awash on eCommerce websites, online retailers accept a boxy time in responding bound to chump queries. Existing means of analytic for articles requires users to manually seek for products, which is not alone time-consuming but aswell annoying and an bootless way of shopping. By automating the action of analytic application CBIR, barter can now acquisition the articles they ambition to acquirement through a simple upload of an image.
Empower Customers
Image based seek engines advice empower customers, enabling them to abutting the gap amid affection and purchase. Such technology offers an aberrant amount of user-friendliness, acceptance faster seek results, a college amount of after-effects accuracy, and appropriately a added acceptable e-commerce acquaintance for your customers. Learn added about image-based seek engines and their applications here.


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Style Forecaster
The Future of Fashion
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Photo Courtesy: Tim Binning, theswimpictures.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Nick McCrory capped off his weekend at the 2010 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships with a national title in platform diving adding to his second and fourth-place finishes in three-meter and one-meter diving. His performance was good enough to shatter the previously-standing NCAA championship meet record. The individual national title is the first in Duke swimming and diving program history.
McCrory got off to a slow start in the preliminary round, his first dive going for just 48.10 points. From there, the Chapel Hill native got into a groove, nailing his 6243D (Armstand Back 2 Somersault 1.5 Twist Free) and drawing a couple of 9.5's from the judges for a round total of 86.40 points. His highest-scoring dive of the preliminaries came in the fifth round; a 307C (Reverse 3.5 Somersault Tuck) which earned 9.5's and 10.0's. However, it was not enough to eclipse Purdue's David Boudia who was the top seed headed into finals.
From his second dive in finals, McCrory dominated the field, leaving no question as to who would be the platform diving national champion. In a repeat performance of the ACC Championships, McCrory nailed his third dive, a 407C (Inward 3.5 Somersault Tuck), for straight 10's and a total of 96.00 points. His final dive of the championships was, in fact, his highest scoring; a 5255B (Back 2.5 Somersault 2.5 Twist Pike) with a degree of difficulty of 3.6 which he completed for 9.0's.
McCrory ended up winning the championship by 64.50 points and almost had the title in hand before even climbing up the ladder for his final dive; the next closest finisher was freshman Riley McCormick of Arizona State University with 469.50 points. McCrory finished with a total of 534.00 points, establishing a new NCAA championship meet record.
Not only is this the first NCAA individual title in Duke swimming and diving history, but it is also Duke's first NCAA individual title since Mallory Cecil outdid the nation's best tennis players last spring.
As the only individual from Duke, McCrory scored 52 points for the team, leading the Blue Devil men to an 18th-place finish in the nation. This is the first time the Duke men have placed at the NCAA Championships under head coach Dan Colella and it is the highest national finish in program history.
McCrory said of leading Duke to 18th place, "It is a big confidence booster for me. I am happy to be here scoring points for Duke and it was exciting."
For McCrory, this NCAA title wraps up a phenomenal freshman campaign which included an undefeated regular season, three Duke records, three Taishoff Aquatics Pavilion records, two ACC titles, two ACC championship meet records, two ACC conference records, two NCAA Zone titles, and a three-time All-America honoree.


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Professor Salim T S Al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) and 1001 Inventions, was one of the keynote speakers at the Uniday (Students Day) conference on 22nd of October 2011 at Stadthalle in Bielefeld, Germany.
Professor Salim T S Al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC) and 1001 Inventions, was one of the keynote speakers at the Uniday (Students Day) conference on 22nd of October 2011 at Stadthalle in Bielefeld, Germany.
There were more than 3000 people at the event, predominantly young German Turks. Amongst the special guests that spoke at the event we mention Prof. Mahmud Erol Kiliç, world expert on Sufism, poet Serdar Tuncer and musician Göksel Baktagir. According to IGMG, the symposium is a formal meeting in which scholars and researchers gather to discuss topics ranging from current affairs to those of an intellectual basis. In particular, these conventions seek to define the process behind perceptions between "myself" and the "other." Also, elucidating the process of change within these perceptions by associating the hardships that Muslims living in Europe face on a daily basis with the theoretical issues causing these hardships.
The slogan of the event was 'Our dreams rely on the past'. Celal Tüter, Chairman of IGMG Student Department, explains that: "Earlier our slogan was "The future is intertwined with tradition" and "Those who do not repeat cannot renew". With steadfastness, we continue on this path of personal development. We strive to build our futures based on our rich traditions for it is within our broad history that we may find the horizon from which our future rises".
Introducing Professor Salim Al-Hassani by the Master of Ceremonies
In 1999, Professor Salim Al-Hassani and other colleagues founded the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC), and he continues to be the Chairman of the Foundation. FSTC is a not-for-profit educational foundation which aims to generate social cohesion, inter-cultural appreciation, and to promote science and learning as an alternative to negative and extremist behaviour. It does this by illuminating the shared scientific heritage of humanity, with its initial efforts centring on uncovering the very significant scientific contributions by the Muslim Civilisation. In its various projects, from books to lectures, seminars, exhibitions, films and electronic publications, FSTC is supported by a large network of historians of science, academics, writers and intellectuals.
The projects carried on by FSTC are a compilation of stories that tell the history of science, technology and culture dating back to a thousand years, which school books, particularly in the West, lack. This thousand year time frame corresponds to a period after the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe, the period commonly known as the 'Dark Ages.' This is a misnomer as this period was not really dark, and outside of Europe people were living in a golden age, in the sense that the age of discovery and science had never really ceased. This period also corresponds to a time when the Muslim civilization was flourishing. Yet, when we look at European sources on mathematics, astronomy, chemistry, physics, technology and medicine, we find a one thousand year gap. Does this mean that the readers who derive their knowledge from these sources suffer from a thousand years of amnesia? This amnesia is of a dangerous type, in that it both feeds the superiority complex, and introduces an inferiority complex among other nations, particularly within young Muslims.
This gap in our history is destructive, rather than productive. Moreover, it will not help create or maintain peace in the world. Therefore, we are using the history of science as a new platform for dialogue. Our foundation is non-religious and non-political. Our researchers have chosen from among thousands of inventions to bring life into some of those that still are present in modern society. We have gathered together a large number of academics and experts in this field to ensure that the information we place in the public domain meet high academic standards.
The significance of this new platform is its ability to use the roots and routes of scientific inventions to enhance social cohesion and to induce cultural inter-appreciation.
For more information about these subjects, please visit MuslimHeritage.com.
FSTC's initiatives include 1001 Inventions which has become a global success story attracting one million to its travelling exhibition which has toured London, Istanbul, New York and Los Angeles and its Library of Secrets film starring Sir Ben Kingsley has received 21 international awards and has been downloaded 12 million times; Curriculum Enrichment for the Common Era (CE4CE) was established in 2009 to further develop work with education in schools, prisons and communities around the world and receives 200 monthly users of its online teaching materials; the Muslim Heritage Awareness Group(MHAG) is expanding globally with networks in the UK, Turkey and the USA. The Arabick Roots exhibition opened in June at the Royal Society is proving to be yet another great success story
Highlights of Prof. Salim T S Al-Hassani's Speech
- Prof. Salim greeted the cheering crowd in Turkish, German, Arabic and in English. Then he showed the 13 mins "Library of secrets" film which was interrupted with cheers and ovation.
- In his lecture, he pointed out how the 1000 years amnesia (in the minds of people and in school textbooks) encourage two dangerous trends in society. The first is that it engenders a feeling of superiority amongst westerners, and Europeans in particular, as they do not see any names from other non-European cultures in the books of science and technology which jump over 1000years of history, calling them the Dark Ages. At the same time, this 1000years amnesia is exported to other cultures, through translations of school texts, particularly to Muslims. This causes the reverse trend, generating an inferiority complex. These trends result in a huge gap between Muslims and the rest of society in Europe, and at the same time generate a gap between Muslim countries and Western nations. The gap breeds imbalance, hostility and misunderstanding.
- Prof. Al-Hassani questioned: Why shouldn't Muslims be allowed their right to own some of the great discoveries of Mankind? He addressed the audience by these strong words: "You people are the children of great men and women - scientists and inventors. If you look at the 1001inventions book and website you will see what I mean. You will find we are surrounded by their inventions and innovation.
- "I am sure if you tell this to your non-Muslim German colleagues, they will appreciate you, but more important is that you take those great people as your role models. They were principled people, they wanted to improve the quality of life through dedicated research and innovation. They were exemplary in their behaviour. They worked alongside non-Muslims. Christians, Jews and Sabeans worked shoulder to shoulder in Science and Technology (S&T) in the early years of Muslim civilisation."
- ?He continued by explaing that our Muslim predecessors in the Golden Age understood the essence of Islam through a very important verse which appears many times in the Quran. "Alladhin Amanu wa A'milu al-Salihat". They understood that Iman (Faith) is a private matter between a person and God but that Faith needed to be manifested in good useful work ('Amal Salih). Faith is like petrol, you need it for the car, which is required for useful work. People did not argue about which kind of petrol or which company they buy it from, but they were more focused on the movement and direction of the car. Iman is the input; useful deed is the output.
- Unfortunately many people have a very low efficiency. Little output but big input. In fact the Prophet (PBUH) warned against negative output, i.e. having done prayers, Quran reading, fasting, pilgrimage and so on, and yet on the day of Judgment, he appears in front of Allah with so many mischiefs against other people whom he has cheated, backbitten, robbed, lied to, etc. This individual would lose all the rewards of his worship and instead he ends up in hellfire.
- So it was really very simple. Connection with Allah (that is what Salat (–Prayers in Arabic ) means) and then one should do useful deeds. All good and useful deeds are done to improve the quality of life on this earth, whether within a Muslim or non-Muslim society.
- In fact an interesting example of the characteristics of a Muslim businessman is defined by the four letters in the Arabic word Tajir. T from Taqwa (God consciousness), A from Amanet (Trustworthiness), J from Jassaret (Courage) and R from Rahmet (Mercy).
- Prof. Al-Hassani commented by asking: "Please tell me if the Business and trade in the world had these qualities, would we have ended up in the economic mess we are in nowadays? So my message to you is: Learn from the past to build a better future. But the best lesson to learn is that through good behaviour, hard work in your studies, exemplary conduct in your employment, law abidance, cleanliness, trustworthiness, mercy, courage and God-consciousness, love for all humanity, respect for the opinion of others and emulate the best from all that your great great grandfathers and grandmothers had. If you behave along these lines then you will be respected, you will be loved, you will feel great and you will feel you have a role in this world. We remember Fatima Al-Fihri because she built the first university in the world in 859 CE in Fez. What would you like to be remembered by?"


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By Rob Glidden
Staff Writer
As part of his budget proposal announcement last week, Governor Dannel Malloy announced additional Education Cost Sharing (ECS) funds for districts in the state. The news came as a relief to many school administrators, although the coming budget year is still expected to be difficult.
In the midst of another tough state budget process, local education leaders heard rumors that the ECS funding could be reduced. School districts rely heavily on these funds and would struggle to make up the difference if the amount decreased.
Southington is expected to receive $20,278,567 in the upcoming fiscal year, an increase of about $87,000, or 0.43 percent. In the second year of the two-year state budget, that amount would increase to $20,365,939.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Erardi welcomed the news, but was concerned that the ECS gains could be compromised by other issues within the planned state budget, including the already controversial proposal to cut municipal car taxes.
"I am both pleased and concerned with the proposed funding package for Southington," Erardi said. "Pleased that the ECS funding took a small step forward, however, deeply concerned that the larger picture for Southington shows significant hardship on the local community which is best illustrated by the loss of revenue in public school transportation and the loss of revenue pertaining to the car tax proposal. Garry [Brumback, Town Manager] and I will continue to work in partnership and make consensus recommendations to our respective boards."
Plainville is expected to receive $10,379,837 in ECS funds for the coming fiscal year, an increase of about $30,000 (0.33 percent). In the following year, the amount is set to go up to $10,413,535.
"It's certainly a much better starting point than we had anticipated," said Plainville Superintendent Jeff Kitching. "Compared to what we had heard, this paints a better picture for Plainville."
However, the governor's plan still has to survive negotiations in the state legislature, which are not expected to be concluded until well after municipalities finish their own budgets. School districts have become used to incorporating expected ECS funds into their budgets without knowing for sure if the numbers will hold.
"We try to plan accordingly, but at the same time it can't drive all our planning," Kitching said. "We take a leap of faith that the funding won't be catastrophically reduced."
Bristol is expected to receive an additional $4.2 million over the next two years.
School officials at last week's finance committee meeting said they were pleased to hear about the additional funding. However, it comes because of administrators and boards of education's hard work.
Bristol's current level of ECS money is nearly $43.1 million. Malloy is proposing a $1.4 million increase for the next fiscal year, which would bring that total to a little over $44.4. For the following year, the governor has proposed an additional $2.8, to bring the total over the next two years to a little over $45.8 million, or a 6.55 percent increase.
According to a press release from the governor's office, under the proposal "a $50.7 million increase in ECS aid for fiscal year 2014 and a $101.5 million increase in fiscal year 2015 will provide enhanced education aid to 117 cities and towns, as well as focusing aid to Alliance Districts — 30 schools districts that educate approximately 41 percent of all Connecticut students."
"We have an obligation to each and every student in our schools to provide them with a quality public education so they can compete in the 21st Century economy," Malloy said in the press release. "By recommitting these resources, we are taking a giant step forward toward achieving that goal."
Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor said the additional funding will be able to help the state's school districts "to advance key reforms, such as teacher evaluation, implementation of the Common Core, and turnaround of low-performing schools."
Reporter Kaitlyn Naples contributed to this report.


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Dell XPS One 27 All-in-One System Review: Big Screen, One Wire
The Dell All-in-One
Reviewers, at times, can be somewhat myopic. I speak for myself in this particular instance. My job as a writer is to test hardware on a daily basis, and as such I have a very keen understanding (or so I hope) of the intricacies of computer design. If I need to build a machine, whether for test purposes or something that my wife can play Song Pop on, I have a near infinite variety of components that I can choose from to fit the needs of the project. As such, we often forget that not everyone has that level of expertise. Most people, in fact, just want to be able to buy something that not only fits their needs, but also simply just has to work.
Dog is unimpressed with packaging. UPS complained profusely though.
This is the reason why we have the Dells, HPs, and Lenovos of the world. The vast majority of people out there are unwilling to build their own machine and support it themselves. They neither have the time nor patience to dive in and learn the ins and outs of a modern PC and the software that runs them. This is not a bad thing. Just as I do not have the patience to learn how to sew, I still like wearing clothes. At least during our podcasts. For the most part.
We must also admit that we are moving well away from the typical beige box that dominated the 90s and early 2000s. Manufacturers have a much better eye for not only functionality, but also aesthetics. No longer do we have the hulking CRTs of yesteryear, and neither do we have the large boxes that are nearly indistinguishable from one or another. Multiple form factors abound and these large manufacturers have design teams that pay very close attention to things like compatibility, power consumption, and thermal dissipation. With these things in mind, they are able to create unique devices that not just serve the needs of consumers, but also just simply work.
Apple has been at the forefront of this type of design for quite some time. This is a company that has prized fit, finish, and functionality far more than they have pursued cost cutting and homogenization. This has lead to much higher margins for the company, and a nearly rabid following by the people buying their platforms. We certainly can argue that they probably perfected the "all-in-one" machine back in the Macintosh days, and since that time they have not stood still. The iMac was a further advancement in that field, but the introduction of relatively inexpensive and large LCD panels allowed them to further shrink the all-in-one. It also allowed them to further sculpt the design into what we see today.
Everything is nicely supported in the box.
Obviously people around the industry have noticed this trend, and noticed the devoted following of the Apple consumers. It is hard to miss. The world is a big place though, and surely there are people who crave the type of design that Apple pushes, but do not necessarily want to jump on that particular bandwagon. Dell has recognized this and created their XPS One lineup of products. Not everyone wants to run OSX and pay the Apple tax. If this is the case for a reader, then this might be the product that catches their attention.
Continue reading our review of the new Dell XPS One 27-in PC!!
XPS One 27" General Overview
Dell has designed an entire lineup of all-in-one systems built around the 27" PLS 2560x1440 panel. PLS is a technology from Samsung that appears to be an extension of IPS, but with advantages over the previous panel type. Samsung claims that it is superior to the more traditional IPS technology, but cheaper to produce. While I do not know of the cost of manufacturing these parts, I can attest to the overall quality of the panel. The lowest end XPS One 27 is approximately $1299 and it scales up to around $1999 when fully upgraded to maximize memory size. The unit I have uses Windows 7, but all current XPS One models will be shipping with Windows 8 as standard.
Removing the top packing exposes the amount of space given this system so that it is not harmed during shipping.
The sculpted base of the unit is a solid chunk of aluminum. This is a relatively heavy piece, and it is needed as such to support (and stabilize) the large 27" panel and the internals of the unit. The unit has a nice heft to it, and the panel rotation is nice and stiff. Nobody likes their screen to start drooping during the middle of a movie, or writing an article. The body of the machine is not bulky at all. The panel has a nicely rounded back that does not bulge in odd places, unlike our intern Ken. All of the components fit nicely in this setup. The unit also features an internal power supply, so a large power brick is not required. This simplifies installation for users, and does not leave a large and ugly power brick just sitting around either on the desk or on the floor.
Our first full look at the XPS One 27". Some stylistic changes vs. the Apple product, but all "all-in-one" flat screen PCs will be very similar in appearance.
These products feature the Intel "Ivy Bridge" processors, and they range from the Core i5 3450 up to the Core i7 3770S. These are processors that go up to a max of 65 watts TDP, so they are not fire breathers that require hefty cooling systems. All of the machines utilize the Intel HD graphics solutions, but the top end adds the NVIDIA GT 640M 2GB card for a bit more muscle in 3D applications.
Video News
Nice write up Josh I really enjoy reading your hardware reviews. These type of form factor systems are becoming more popular, Dell are obviously targeting these at a certain demographic in the market and they are appealing.
Following all these years I had been undertaking
this exercise pondering it was going to whip me in shape, wow!
Great review, though for that price, I would have wanted to see at least a 670m to drive that display more effectively when it comes to 3D content.
Also wondering, how did the speakers sound? If they are using less cable clutter as a selling point and also focusing on media center type usage, then the speakers should at least be comparable to what you will find built into a decent TV
The speakers were pretty decent. I was honestly surprised by how good they were considering the form factor and size of the units. I did mention that they were a bit boomy in bass heavy content, but midrange and trebles were fine and not annoying. Soundstage OK but with good separation. Dialog came through nicely. I could listen to most music without issue, though it obviously does not compare well in depth to standalone speakers.
All in ones have a nice clean look that a lot of people want, until they see the price.
Then having a small black box off to the side or on the floor
doesn't seem that bad.
It's nice to see someone other than Apple pushing the form factor though.
Best thing about this PC: You get to enjoy your own reflection more than what's actually going on on the screen.
This should really be an Apple product.
Thanks for the review, Josh. How about for the casual gamer? My wife and I like to play 1st person shooters in LAN co-op, and I'm thinking of getting two of these for us. How are games when using a lower-than-native resolution? As long as they look at least *pretty* good, we mostly care about playability.


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Abstract Listing by Session
SY41 - Artificial Lights and Nature: Challenges for Dusk-to-Dawn Conservation Management
Salon 3
Sunday, 10:30 - 16:00
10:30 Artificial Night Lighting Alters Growth and Development of Aquatic Snails and Frog Larvae.
Buchanan, B.*, Utica College
Wise, S., Utica College
McCarthy, T., Utica College
Savage, H., Utica College
June, J., Utica College
Bingel, K., Utica College
The expanded global use of artificial night lighting increasingly exposes organisms to unnatural patterns of illumination within natural habitats. Growth and development of vertebrates and invertebrates is controlled in part by hormones that are produced in daily cycles associated with illumination-dependent shifts in the production of photoperiodic hormones like melatonin. We studied growth and development of snails (Physa acuta) and frog larvae (Xenopus laevis) exposed to different amounts of light at night in laboratory studies. All animals were exposed to diurnal illuminations of 100 lx and varying nocturnal illuminations of 0.0001 lx (starlight; dark control), 0.01 lx (moonlight), 1.0 lx (twilight), and 100 lx (dim room lighting). After 37 days of larval development, we photographed and measured frog larvae and established their developmental stage. Frog larvae grew the fastest when exposed to small to moderate amounts of artificial night lighting and their development was significantly delayed at these illuminations relative to dark controls. Snails monitored over 120 days responded similarly with peak growth occurring at low to moderate levels of artificial night lighting. Our results suggest that even small amounts of light pollution commonly found in aquatic habitats can significantly alter growth and development of aquatic organisms.
10:45 Chronobiological disruption and nature conservation
Haim A*, University of Haim
Most organisms are adapted to the daily and seasonal light variations that result from planetary motion. The biological clock of such organisms is entrained by these variations, acts both as a clock and a calendar. Light at night (LAN) and Light interference (LI) disrupt these circadian rhythms with deleterious effects. Several studies in our laboratory show that to short day acclimated rodents, LAN signals a long day acclimation and thereby disrupts seasonality. This creates a "seasons-out-of-time" effect, discovered in the thermoregulatory system of the social vole Microtus socialis. LAN may change conductance properties of the integument, meaning that exposure to low ambient temperatures will result in hypothermia if heat production cannot compensate for heat loss. These changes can be attributed to the interruption of melatonin production and secretion by the pineal gland. Rapid increase in light intensity (via an on/off switch) from minimal levels to 450 lux forms a source of stress and in M. socialis resulted in an increase of stress hormones levels. A comparative thermoregulatory study (diurnal versus nocturnal) Gerbils revealed different patterns likely stemming from activity time. LAN and LI also have a negative impact on the immune system. With the modern increase in LAN and LI, conservation biologists should be aware of these negative impacts on animal welfare in relation to light intensity, wavelength and duration of exposure.
11:00 Light alters movement of beach mice at the patch and landscape scales
Wilkinson, E, University of Florida
Branch, LC, University of Florida
Stoddard, MA*, University of Florida
Bird, BL, Oakland County Parks, MI
Effects of artificial light in coastal systems are poorly understood except with respect to sea turtles. Beach mice (Peromyscus polionotus spp.) are vulnerable to habitat loss from hurricanes, development, and introduced predators, and these factors likely are exacerbated by artificial light because light increases risks associated with moving across open landscapes. To project how artificial light might influence Santa Rosa beach mouse movement at the landscape scale, we used foraging paths to evaluate the effect of natural light levels (new vs. full moon) on: 1) width of open sand gaps crossed by mice during foraging, 2) size of resource patches, and 3) landscape context of foraging. Moonlight had a strong, negative effect on foraging activity of beach mice. Gap width crossed was similar under all conditions, but average size of patches visited was smaller during full vs. new moon periods, likely reflecting the need for animals to maximize cover from predators. Mice left dunes over a narrower range of angles during full moon periods, indicating they restrict foraging to certain parts of the landscape when perceived risk is high. Our results reinforce earlier research showing increased light (artificial or moonlight) restricts foraging time in beach mice and emphasize the importance of including coastal lighting in conservation planning for terrestrial species.
11:15 Impacts of Artificial Night Lighting on the Behavior of Nocturnal Salamanders
Wise, Sharon*, Utica College
Buchanan, Bryant, Utica College
Dawes, Patrick, Utica College
Racchumi, Joelle, Utica College
Rohacek, Alex, Utica College
Artificial night lighting (ANL) is of increasing concern as human habitation encroaches into natural habitats. The effect of ANL on amphibians has not yet been widely studied. We examined the impact of ANL on the nocturnal activity of terrestrial salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) in the natural habitat and in the laboratory. These salamanders remain under cover objects during daylight hours and emerge above-ground to forage and mate at night. We hypothesized that ANL affects the nocturnal behavior of salamanders by delaying emergence from under cover objects. We tested this hypothesis using forest transects (N= 12) in which half were dimly, artificially lit (10-2 lx) and six were left dark (10-4 lx). Fewer salamanders were active 1 h after dark in the lighted transects, suggesting a delay in time of emergence. In laboratory experiments in which salamanders were exposed to nocturnal light from 10-4 to 100 lx, we found that salamanders were more active at higher than at lower illuminations when no cover was available, but were less active at higher than at lower illuminations when cover objects were available. Results from the laboratory and field provide evidence that salamanders are avoiding higher nocturnal illuminations, resulting in increased activity when cover is absent and delayed emergence from cover under higher illuminations. Thus, ANL has the potential to alter the normal nocturnal foraging and breeding activity of salamanders.
11:30 Shedding light on bat behaviour - street-lights disturb commuting bats
Stone, E.L*, University of Bristol
Artificial lighting schemes can damage bat foraging habitat directly through loss of land and fragmentation or indirectly by severing commuting routes from roosts, polluting commuting and foraging habitat. The effect of street lighting on bat activity was tested in experiments along commuting routes of lesser horseshoe bats at eight sites across Wales and South West England. Hedgerows were illuminated at a mean of 53 lux using two portable high pressure sodium street lights. Bat activity was recorded using AnaBat remote acoustic detectors. Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the effect of experimental treatment on bat activity. Treatment type had a significant effect on bat activity (p = <0.01). Contrasts demonstrated that all light treatments were significantly different from controls (p = <0.05), demonstrating that high pressure sodium light has a negative effect on lesser horseshoe bat activity. This study has provided the first empirical evidence of a negative effect of high pressure sodium lights on commuting horseshoe bats and has significant conservation implications for bat habitat management at sites affected by light pollution. Results from this study will be used to develop evidence based mitigation guidance for bats and lighting in the UK.
11:45 Attraction of nocturnal insects to street lights with special regard to LEDs
Eisenbeis, G*, Non-SBC member
Eick, K, Non-SBC member
Artificial lighting is a key factor for nocturnal insects, which are attracted in huge numbers to many sorts of light sources. Millions of lights illuminate urban areas and extend deeply into the open landscape, especially along roads. In the summer of 2008 the City of DĂĽsseldorf initiated a study to evaluate the insect flight activity to street lights. We compared modern lamp types such as metal halide and LEDs to older lamp types, e.g. high pressure mercury lamps, high pressure sodium lamps and fluorescent lamps. From June 24 to September 2, we used 20 traps to catch insects flying around the street lamps in a suburban area of DĂĽsseldorf. Traps were exposed in a daily pattern. We analyzed 964 nightly samples containing 33,896 insects belonging to 13 insect orders, of which 7 predominated while 6 were counted only in lower numbers. In comparing the flight activity we used the attraction to the high pressure mercury lamps as reference (=100%). On this basis we determined a sequence of attraction for all insect orders down to -80%. The 7 most common orders behaved very differently, e.g. the moths were attracted to minimum values in the range of -95%. Two orders were found to be attracted stronger than the reference. The most significant differences regarding the bulk of insects were between LEDs and all the other lamp types. They did not emit any UV and proved to be very insect friendly.
14:00 Attraction of petrels to artificial lights in the Canary Islands
RodrĂguez, A*, EstaciĂłn BiolĂłgica de Doñana CSIC
RodrĂguez, B, SEO/BirdLife
The extent and intensity of artificial night lighting has increased with urban development worldwide. The resulting light pollution is responsible for mortality among many petrel species that are active at night on their breeding grounds. We report light-induced mortality of petrels during a 9-year study on Tenerife, Canary Islands. A total of 9880 birds from nine species were found grounded, the majority of which were Cory's Shearwaters. Most grounded birds were fledglings (96%), which fall apparently while leaving their nesting colony for the first time. For almost all species, grounding showed a seasonal pattern linked with their breeding cycle. Certain phases of the moon influenced grounding of shearwaters, with the extent of grounding being reduced during phases of full moon. The ratio of fledglings attracted to lights to fledglings produced annually varied between species and years. Mean rates of adult mortality also varied between species. These light-induced mortality rates are of concern for petrels and small shearwaters. Thanks to efforts involving cooperation with human residents, 95% of grounded birds returned to the wild. To minimize this impact we recommend several conservation measures: continuing rescue campaigns, shielding upward radiation and reduction of light emissions during the fledging peaks. Furthermore, a monitoring program for petrel populations must be implemented, as well as further studies to assess the fate of released fledglings and continued research to address why petrels are attracted to lights.
14:15 Tracking Birds Migrating at Night through an Urban-rural Corridor and Quantifying the Effects of Light and Noise Pollution
Clark, J.A.*, Fordham University
Bricklin, R., Fordham University
Chan, O., Fordham University
Ross, J., Fordham University
Farnsworth, A., Cornell University
Many migratory bird species are in serious decline. Understanding how birds assess and use increasingly large, brightly lit, and noisy cities as they travel through urban landscapes and encounter tall buildings, towers, and aircraft is essential to their conservation. However, little is known about how birds evaluate obstacles presented by cities during migration, which generally occurs at night and is confounded by ubiquitous light pollution. We test a novel approach to tracking birds migrating through an urban-rural corridor and quantifying the effects of light and noise pollution on such migration. We recorded nocturnal flight calls at multiple sites along an urban-rural corridor from New York City north and simultaneously collected data on measures of light and noise. Some studies suggest birds are drawn to brightly lit areas and that bird density is artificially increased in cities. Consistent with these studies, we documented more nocturnal flight calls in brighter, noisier locations than in nearby darker, quieter green spaces. These higher calling rates may also reflect increased confusion of birds in noisy urban environments.
14:30 Bird-friendly Light?
Poot, H.*, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology
Donners, M.A.H., Philips Lighting
Marquenie, J.M., Shell EP Europe (NAM B.V.)
Millions of birds are affected by artificial light emitted from offshore installations they encounter during migration each year. Many are attracted and disoriented by the lights, causing collisions and exhaustion resulting in death. Because safety requirements or technical design rule out switching off these lights, new solutions are needed. Our idea was to investigate the effect of changing the spectral composition of the light on bird reactions. In 2003 we did a pilot study at the North Sea coast during autumn migration with colored filters in front of light sources, which showed that nocturnal migrants react stronger to white and red light, compared with blue and green light. Based on these results and a literature survey, we hypothesized that the red part of the spectrum (575–650 nm) causes most problems for migrating birds, and developed new light types containing less red, whilst still ensuring safe working conditions and good visibility for humans. We tested these light types in the field and found a positive correlation between the relative intensity of red in the spectrum and birds' reactions to the light sources, independent of total light intensity. The mechanisms underlying these results still need further investigation, but we already managed to develop a commercially available light type that may be defined as (more) bird-friendly.
14:45 Considerations in designing wildlife-friendly night lighting
Longcore, T*, The Urban Wildlands Group
Rich, C, The Urban Wildlands Group
Conservation lands with public access, including wildland parks, are places to be able to see and enjoy the solitude of unspoiled nature, where the natural rhythms of life are allowed to flourish with minimal disturbance from human interference. Managers of such lands therefore must balance the need to provide visitor infrastructure with its adverse effects on the environment. Although night lighting is considered an essential element for visitors in many circumstances, night lighting has a range of adverse ecological consequences for ecosystems and wildlife. With some planning, however, the effects of lighting on species and ecosystems can be reduced and in some instances avoided altogether. We provide an overview of the effects of artificial night lighting on wildlife and considerations for designing or retrofitting lighting that minimize impacts to wildlife and the nocturnal environment. These considerations are organized by habitat type: dunes, beaches, and shorelines; deserts and scrublands; wetlands; islands, oceans, and reefs; grasslands; deciduous and evergreen forests; alpine and tundra; and urban environments. Within the unique context of each of these environments, managers should consider five questions about lighting systems that address need, duration, intensity, direction, and spectrum as they relate to potential adverse effects.


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