text:
The "American Pie" star took heat for off-color comments posted to his Twitter feed at the time of the Republican National Convention in August. The outpouring of criticism from parents groups, pundits and others led Nickelodeon to issue an apology for the actor's comments on the social media website. Biggs is providing one of the voices in the cable TV station's new animated series "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
"I made a political tweet, so I got a little bit of heat from the right," he said.
With elections over, Biggs says he's moving on.
He appeared Monday night in New York at the annual 24 Hour Plays event, which was sponsored by luxury pen-maker Montblanc to benefit the Urban Arts Partnership. The benefit draws more than two dozen actors who write, rehearse, and perform one of six plays that they began working on the night before.
Biggs' tweets have also poked fun at the Kardashians, Amanda Bynes, Lindsay Lohan and the ABC show "The Bachelorette."
"I'm more afraid of the Kardashians, than I am of the Republicans," he said.
He said he sees Twitter as an extension of the darker side of his humor.
As a three-time performer in 24 Hour Plays benefit, Biggs says he's grown to feel more comfortable with the process.
"It's a little easier. But it's still nerve-racking, man."


text:
Last month, we asked our audience: What are some of the inventive ways that people are addressing COVID-19 challenges in their community?
Dozens of NPR readers wrote in with nominees. Many are people who have found ways to put their special skills and talents to good use. A former toy-maker, laid off from his job, is putting on puppet shows in his living room window for passersby. An artist set up a socially distant art gallery in her backyard. Two siblings are helping local businesses provide low-cost meals to immigrant families in need.
Here are six profiles of volunteers who are making a difference.
Virtual classes fight free time and boredom
In the weeks after March 25, when India announced a nationwide lockdown to battle the coronavirus pandemic, Perpetual Nazareth, an English teacher at Don Bosco High School in Mumbai, India, was flooded with calls from teenage students who were bored and listless.
Although the school had pivoted to online classes, "I could tell that it was a tough time for them and for parents, too," she says. When Nazareth wondered how she could help, Joshua Salins, a former student, offered a suggestion: Why not teach them new hobbies?
Salins had already established a small business called The Hobby Tribe in October 2019 to make it cheaper and easier for people to pursue the kinds of activities that he himself enjoys — singing, making art and playing music. "We would rent a place, hire teachers and gather people who wanted to learn something new," he says. At first, the group offered six courses: dance, guitar, the keyboard, drums, tailoring and drawing Mandala art (an Indian art form that employs circular patterns and shapes) — at budget rates — ranging from a flat fee of $10-$20 for eight sessions.
After the lockdown, The Hobby Tribe ground to a halt, says the 21-year-old founder. Students couldn't attend in-person lessons. So the organization had to reinvent itself. Salins approached his alma mater to see if students would be interested in virtual classes. The response was heartening, says Nazareth, who is not affiliated with the program. Over 100 students signed up in a single day.
After shifting online, The Hobby Tribe hired more teachers and expanded to offer 40 courses, including coding, photography, beauty and makeup tips, cooking and trivia games at an even lower price — $2 for eight sessions.
Cheryl Moniz's 15-year-old daughter Tamara is taking photography lessons from their home in Mumbai. "Kids need an outlet like this. It gives them a chance to relax, keeps them connected and productive," she says.
As word spread, it sparked interest from all over the world, Salins says. Five hundred students are now enrolled. Many are Indians based in the U.S., U.K., Nigeria, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Cyprus, Hong Kong, Singapore, Oman and Qatar. People of all ages are welcome to join.
"In these tough times, hobbies do more than build character. It's an interesting way to interact with like-minded people," Nazareth says. "They can mold you into the person you want to become."
Kamala Thiagarajan is a freelance journalist based in Madurai, India, who has written for The International New York Times, BBC Travel and Forbes India. You can follow her @kamal_t.
DIY dispensers provide free face masks to all
For residents of 15-mile-long Lopez Island, which sits off the coast of Washington, finding a face mask is pretty easy. Thanks to Chom Greacen, 29, mask dispensers are scattered throughout the island. People can pull a free cloth mask from a dispenser whenever they need one.
Greacen normally conducts energy research in Thailand, but due to travel restrictions, she hasn't been able to continue her work. So she's been devoting her spare time to getting masks to the more than 2,000 islanders.
"Back in March and April, masks [of all types] were difficult to come by or they were expensive," Greacen says. While the islanders mobilized to get N95 masks donated to their EMTs and health care workers, she realized that everyone else would need a mask, too.
In March, Greacen came up with her DIY project, Grab-and-Go Masks. "I thought of the little sanitary product vending machines that are in public bathrooms," Greacen says. She made a prototype of a hanging rectangular box using leftover campaign signs from her husband's run for the school board. The durable, plastic material would protect the masks within.
The masks are also DIY, made using blue disposable shop towels made of polypropylene — they're heavy duty paper towels typically used for cleaning up grease, oils and spills in automotive repair shops. The recommendation for the material came from Dr. Peter Tsai, the inventor of the N95 respirator.
To date, 40 volunteers have helped make some 6,000 masks using kits — complete with directions and supplies — provided by Greacen. Volunteers also help restock the dispensers.
Greacen has not spent a cent on the project. Shop towels for the masks are donated by the Islands Marine Center (IMC), a local marina and boat dealership, which has two of Greacen's dispensers on its property.
"It was great that Chom sprung into action [at the start of the pandemic] because there was no way to get masks whatsoever," Tim Slattery, general manager of the IMC, wrote in an email to NPR. "We work in an essential business that was still up and running, so having masks available was a must."
Today, dispensers can be found all over the island, indoors and outdoors. They're in high-traffic areas such as grocery stores, a bakery, the fudge shop, the ferry dock and the farmer's market. Some hang on the front doors of businesses for customers to grab as they enter.
Greacen plans to keep the project going as long as masks are needed.
Lopez Island has only had three cases of the coronavirus to date, according to the San Juan County Health Department. Dr. Robert Wilson, the island physician who treated and diagnosed the three cases, says Greacen's promotion of mask usage and making them available to the public has been great.
"[Lopez Island] is your typical small town," Wilson says. "People here are more connected and more likely to get involved. They're interested in keeping each other safe."
Nadia Whitehead is a freelance journalist and science writer. Her work has appeared in Science, The Washington Post and NPR. Find her on Twitter @NadiaMacias.
A socially distant gallery brings art to the neighborhood
In early April, Shawana Brooks, an artist and a curator in Jacksonville, Fla., had a big idea: What if she started an art gallery in her backyard?
Because of the pandemic, her husband Roosevelt Watson III, also an artist, couldn't show his exhibit the Way Maker Series to the public. The eight-piece mixed-media project honors historical figures from Jacksonville who have fought for the rights and freedoms of the Black community, such as William Stetson Kennedy, who infiltrated and investigated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1940s, and James Weldon Johnson, who brought attention to racism and lynching as a member of the NAACP.
So Brooks convinced Watson to put his works outside their home and share it with the neighborhood. She created a sign encouraging others to enjoy the art while practicing social distancing.
And that's how 6 Ft. Away Gallery was born. The gallery, which sits on a half-acre of land on their property, is free and open daily to everyone — rain or shine. As in any gallery, the art is for sale.
Hundreds of people have already visited, Brooks says, and they now host backyard discussions where Watson talks about his artwork.
Watson says the gallery has given him an opportunity to share his art at a time when there aren't many opportunities for artists.
Brooks and Watson are planning to feature more artists in their backyard in the future. But for now, they are raising money to help local Black artists struggling to find work. The project, called Color Jax Blue, uses those funds to pay artists to create large-scale murals that encourage the Black community to vote.
Karen Barnes-Rivera, a former colleague of Brooks and a local business leader who nominated 6 Ft. Away Gallery for this piece, says the pop-up gallery and Color Jax Blue have offered hope to the Jacksonville community during the pandemic.
"These projects remind us that creativity, art, vibrancy and a sense of community can create resilience," Barnes-Rivera wrote in an email to NPR.
Nadia Whitehead is a freelance journalist and science writer. Her work has appeared in Science, The Washington Post and NPR. Find her on Twitter @NadiaMacias.
Former bee-suit makers sew masks for farmers
Susana Gómez Luz normally sews beekeeping overalls and veils for Maya Ixil, a cooperative of over 200 small-scale farmers that harvests, sells and exports coffee and honey in the remote village of Santa Avelina, Guatemala. But during the pandemic, the 23-year-old switched gears to learn how to make face masks, an idea spearheaded by the co-op, which paid for materials and her labor.
"I downloaded an image of the design and practiced it five times before getting started," she says. "It was easy."
With the help of two colleagues, Gómez Luz manufactured reusable face masks, made of finely meshed cloth with extra lining inside. Since May, they have sewn more than 200 masks and donated them to most of the indigenous farmers and beekeepers in the co-op.
Wearing a mask to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is mandatory in Guatemala. But a tight-fighting, multi-layered mask goes for about $2.50. With the cutback in hours due to lockdown restrictions, some workers make as little as $5 a day.
Although lockdown restrictions are now easing, farmers have only been able to work half days since the national quarantine was imposed on March 17, due to a 4 p.m. curfew that was lifted at the end of July. And while their wages have halved, the price of basic food basket items like eggs has risen by up to 50%, says co-op manager Miguel Ostuma.
The donated masks have been a huge help, says Domingo de la Cruz Toma, a 52-year-old beekeeper with the co-op. "It's been really beneficial."
Marcela Pino, co-director of the U.S. nonprofit Food 4 Farmers — which works with coffee farming communities like the Maya Ixil — says this resourcefulness is characteristic of the vibrant co-op. "They work so hard ... and they never lose spirit," says Pino.
Sophie Foggin is a journalist based in Medellin, Colombia, covering politics, human rights, history and justice in Latin America.
Local restaurants offer cheap comfort food to families in need
Siblings Esther Chong, 31, and Sam Chong, 34, knew they wanted to help families in need in Palisades Park, N.J., during the pandemic. The town, which has a large upper-middle class population, is home to the largest percentage, at 64%, of immigrants of any municipality in New Jersey. Many are of Asian and Latino descent. And many are undocumented and haven't had access to unemployment benefits and stimulus checks during the crisis.
So on April 6, the pair — who sell mobile phone accessories online as their day jobs — started Our Community Dinner Table (CDTable) to provide food to families in need. Using funds donated by the community, the Chongs buy pre-packaged dinners — at an average of about $6 each — from struggling locally run restaurants, helping to provide them with some income. Then, working with CDTable volunteers, they distribute the meals to families for free in the public library's underground parking lot, Monday through Friday.
Recipients queue on spray-painted lines, 6 feet apart for social distancing, to choose their meal for the day: usually Italian, Korean or Latin American.
"Every ethnicity's idea of comfort food is different," says Esther. "In America, a lot of people think of chicken noodle soup. For Asian communities, maybe it's more like rice porridge. We wanted this to be a source of comfort as well."
So far, CDTable has served nearly 16,000 meals — 300 a day at its peak in June — and raised more than $90,000 through grants and fundraising. Most of the funds go toward buying more meals as well as supplies like bags for the meal and personal protective equipment for volunteers. CDTable now partners with about 10 restaurants and has 10 to 15 volunteers who show up on a regular basis, including Mayor Chris Chung, who has helped distribute meals almost every day.
"The impact [of CDTable] has been enormous," says Chung, for both recipients and restaurants.
James Chang, assistant manager of Jin Go Gae, a longstanding Korean catering company, says their business took a "big hit" when large gatherings ceased because of the pandemic.
Providing discounted meals to CDTable has been a consistent source of income as well as a way to share their food with their community. "It gives us real joy," says Chang.
Joanne Lu is a freelance journalist who covers global poverty and inequity. Her work has appeared in Humanosphere, The Guardian, Global Washington and War is Boring. Follow her on Twitter: @joannelu
A window puppet show to entertain passersby
After being laid off from his job making toys for animals at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in early April, Matthew Owens was looking for a way to pass the time at home in the pandemic. So he decided to revive his longtime love of making puppets. A few weeks later, he started a project called the Lockdown Puppet Theater. Every Saturday afternoon since then, he has put on free 30-minute puppet shows for passersby from his second-story living room window.
The circus-themed show features characters such as the Tattooed Man, clowns and a high diver whom Owens drops from his window into a glass of water that his wife places on the sidewalk before the show.
The audience favorite is a toad puppet named Yoshi who lip syncs to a 1950s Japanese yodeler.
Owens now has over 50 different puppets, each of which he makes by hand. Owens does not take donations and pays for the materials with his own funds.
"I just want people to be happy and to have something to smile about," says Owens.
The show has become a local hit. Today, anywhere from 20 to 50 people, adults and children alike, line up to watch the shows. Since July, the state of Illinois has allowed public gatherings of 50 or fewer people; previously this was restricted to 10 or fewer.
For his part, Owens does remind the audience to maintain social distancing and wear masks throughout the show — and, for the most part, he says, people abide.
Emily Landon, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago, says audience members need to be responsible and take precautions for their safety. They should disperse, for example, if the crowd becomes too large.
Landon adds that Owens could end or pause the show if the audience is not taking those safety precautions. "In my mind, the sort of ethical responsibility would be to post a sign saying, 'Please stay 6 feet apart, please wear face coverings,' and if more than 50 people gather, then I have to stop," she says.
Hannah Long, a local Chicago resident who has seen the show twice with her two young kids, says the show was a reminder to her family that there are still "good and lighthearted things in the world" — and also restored a sense of community missing since the pandemic began, she adds.
"Some people say the show is the highlight of their week," Owens says. "Despite the fact that they are wearing masks, I am pretty confident the audience is smiling underneath."
Jessica Craig is an intern on NPR's science desk.
Thank you to everyone who nominated a problem-solver in your community. We enjoyed reading through them!
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
1 Zedekiah son of Josiah was made king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he reigned in place of Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim. 2 Neither he nor his attendants nor the people of the land paid any attention to the words the Lord had spoken through Jeremiah the prophet.
3 King Zedekiah, however, sent Jehukal son of Shelemiah with the priest Zephaniah son of Maaseiah to Jeremiah the prophet with this message: "Please pray to the Lord our God for us."
4 Now Jeremiah was free to come and go among the people, for he had not yet been put in prison. 5 Pharaoh's army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem.
6 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet: 7 "This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of me, 'Pharaoh's army, which has marched out to support you, will go back to its own land, to Egypt. 8 Then the Babylonians will return and attack this city; they will capture it and burn it down.'
9 "This is what the Lord says: Do not deceive yourselves, thinking, 'The Babylonians will surely leave us.' They will not! 10 Even if you were to defeat the entire Babylonian army that is attacking you and only wounded men were left in their tents, they would come out and burn this city down."
11 After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, 12 Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. 13 But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, "You are deserting to the Babylonians!"
14 "That's not true!" Jeremiah said. "I am not deserting to the Babylonians." But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. 15 They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.
16 Jeremiah was put into a vaulted cell in a dungeon, where he remained a long time. 17 Then King Zedekiah sent for him and had him brought to the palace, where he asked him privately, "Is there any word from the Lord?"
"Yes," Jeremiah replied, "you will be delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon."
18 Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, "What crime have I committed against you or your attendants or this people, that you have put me in prison? 19 Where are your prophets who prophesied to you, 'The king of Babylon will not attack you or this land'? 20 But now, my lord the king, please listen. Let me bring my petition before you: Do not send me back to the house of Jonathan the secretary, or I will die there."
21 King Zedekiah then gave orders for Jeremiah to be placed in the courtyard of the guard and given a loaf of bread from the street of the bakers each day until all the bread in the city was gone. So Jeremiah remained in the courtyard of the guard.
Jeremiah 37
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


text:
Ochheuteal Beach, known as UNTAC Beach in the early 1990s and it is now the most popular in Sihanoukville, offering the full spectrum of beach venues from upscale hotels and dining to laid-back budget beach bars and bungalows.
Ochheuteal is long, sandy and narrow, with 'Serendipity Beach' at the northern end, a golf-course development at the southern end, and a cluster of mid-range hotels and restaurants near the MP base in the middle. Grass umbrellas, rentable beach chairs and little drink huts line the beach from one end to the other.
It offers several nice hotels including the Seaside and Crystal, the mid-range Holiday, as well as some of Sihanoukville's better seafood restaurants, (Sea Dragon, Susaday, Sunshine and Les Feuilles), within walking distance of the hotels. Further south along the beach in front of the golf course develop-ment, a number of budget traveler/backpacker oriented bar/restaurant/beach hangouts have sprung up offering chairs, umbrellas, drinks and a chill-out atmosphere.
At Ochheuteal's extreme northern end, Serendipity Beach' is the only beach in Sihanouk-ville to offer bungalows and guesthouse rooms right on the sand. Over the past two years Serendipity's popularity has grown exponentially, as have the number of bungalows, hotels, and restaurants. The beach now offers several mid-range and budget places including Coasters' well-known bungalows, Uncle Bob's 24-hour restaurant and budget rooms, and The Beach?s mid-range rooms. There are also places popping up on the hill just above the Serendipity such as Diamond Guesthouse and closer to the traffic circle, Sanctuary Bar and Guesthouse. To get to Serendipity Beach follow Ekareach Street straight through the Golden Lion Traffic Circle and UP and over the hill.


text:
Take your vehicle to the next level with Fuel alloy wheel
Bring a panache of uncompromising luxury and sophistication to your vehicle. Alloy wheels are a true jewelry born to impress from any angle and bond to get noticed on any vehicle. They demonstrate both precision craftsmanship and artful mastery through their extraordinary styling available in unique, trend-setting finishes, providing exclamation marks that end the bold, uncompromising statement manifested by your vehicle.
- Engineered to enhance your truck's overall performance
- Unique design to personalize your vehicle's appearance
- One-piece cast construction for maximum stiffness
- Guaranteed to withstand the toughest off-road abuse
- Model: D615 Contra
- Diameter: 20"
- Width: 10"
- Bolt pattern: 6x135 / 6x139.7
- Color: Gloss Black Milled


text:
TVER, Russia — Sasha Panin called himself "Gribodemon," and his evil works in the world of cybercrime have bedeviled millions.
Panin is a 20-something Russian computer whiz who until a few years ago lived in obscurity with his grandmother in this struggling riverside city.
Context: Lessons from the capture of Spyeye's mastermind
Working from a Moscow apartment, federal prosecutors say, Panin developed SpyEye, one of the most destructive computer software programs ever launched in the Internet's criminal underworld, the dark Web where hackers ply their trade.
Panin's software tool kit, which sold for a few thousand dollars on underground websites, systematically infected more than 1.4 million computers, where it collected bank account credentials, credit card numbers, passwords and personal identification numbers.
The world's cybercriminals — from lone hackers like Panin, who supply the software tools, to elaborate, multilevel crime syndicates that steal billions of dollars every year — wreak havoc on computer systems: Witness the data heists that struck Target and Neiman Marcus during the holiday shopping season last year.
An examination of Panin's case, his lifestyle, his eccentric ambitions and his ultimate capture by U.S. authorities reveals how youthful hackers hiding behind anonymous screen names in unlikely corners of the world can use their personal computers and programming skills to create malicious software, called malware, with the power to penetrate computers at multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments — and steal your credit card numbers or even your identity.
The threat from hackers for hire, state-sponsored cyber intrusions and organized cyber syndicates is so dire that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lists cybersecurity as the greatest global threat, edging out terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.
To catch Panin, who awaits sentencing in a U.S. prison after pleading guilty this year to bank and wire fraud, FBI agents crisscrossed the globe, hacked into computers and posed as cybercrooks themselves.
The investigation is chronicled in criminal and civil court records and cyber-research reports examined by USA TODAY.
To crack the case, they sifted through millions of lines of computer code, wrestled with law enforcement officials in Thailand, Bulgaria and Britain, and finally waited patiently for Panin to leave Russia before they could bring him to justice, leaving his family in shock.
The young Sasha dreamed, his mother, Inessa Rozova, told USA TODAY, of creating artificial intelligence, obsessing over transhumanism, a cultural movement bent on transforming human life through technology.
"When he was 16, he told me he wanted to do everything possible to live forever," Rozova said.
Unbeknown to her, the sweet boy with the keen mind who bought her a tea kettle with his first paycheck had an alter ego as Gribodemon, one of the most destructive and prolific hackers in the world. Rozova said she had no idea her son had become a hacker until she learned of his arrest in June by authorities in the Dominican Republic, acting on an Interpol warrant from the United States. The hacker had been visiting a friend there.
Panin's capture and guilty plea represent one of law enforcement's great successes in the battle against cybercrime. But U.S. efforts to catchcriminals are often stymied by layers of encryption, secret screen names and uncooperative foreign governments. Panin's case illustrates the intricate, sprawling tangle that U.S. law enforcement must unravel to find and prosecute hackers who prey on American consumers, banks and retailers.
While Panin sits in jail, the creator of the ZeuS malware, the predecessor to Panin's SpyEye, remains elusive. That hacker, known only by screen name Slavik, passed the mantle to Panin and slid quietly off the radar screen into retirement, untouched thus far by law enforcement.
"One of the challenges that we face is that to be a hacker all you really need is a computer and an Internet connection. You can reach anonymously into a victim's bank account from halfway around the world," says U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, whose office in Atlanta prosecuted Panin. "We have to chase their digital footprint."
Hackers like Panin write thousands of lines of computer code to develop malware tool kits — ready-made malicious software packages that are as easy to operate as the legitimate software sold off the shelf at Best Buy or Office Depot to do your taxes or track the family budget.
Once they're ready, the tool kits are sold in underground Web forums. The criminals who create the forums use the onion router, known as TOR, to conceal the location of the computer servers hosting the websites. TOR ensures privacy by randomly routing computer messages through several places on the Internet, wrapped in encrypted code, so no single point can link the source to the destination.
The tool kits are "very easy, very customizable," says Roel Schouwenberg, principal security researcher at Kaspersky Lab, which helps businesses defend against malware. "They are template-based, so any attacker can change the template to meet their needs."
Once hackers have used malware to infiltrate a computer, they can interfere with its operating system to see what the user does, capture any data they want and install their own software. In the Target case, for example, cyberthieves penetrated point-of-sale credit card readers and Target's internal computer system to steal credit card data and personal information, including PINs, e-mail addresses and phone numbers, from as many as 110 million Target customers, putting them at risk of bogus credit card charges, identity theft and other types of fraud.
The hackers who hit Target used an off-the-shelf tool kit, Schouwenberg noted.
Among the creators of the tool kits, "there's something of a philosophy," Schouwenberg says. "They say, 'We are only creating the weapons. We are not pulling the trigger.' "
Indeed, at Konyayev College where Panin studied computer science, teacher Larisa Ishkova recalls his work as "exceptional" and says students there still admire and respect him.
"The kids are proud of him, not because he broke the law but because they see hacking as the height of mastery of computer science," Ishkova says.
SpyEye arrived on Jan. 10, 2010, when the hacker known only as Gribodemon pitched it for sale on www.darkode.com,an underground marketplace, court papers say.
For years, that forum had been Slavik's domain and the ZeuS malware reigned. ZeuS, created in 2007, had infected more than 13 million computers and had been used to steal over $100 million, according to court papers filed by Microsoft in 2012.
"SpyEye made its notoriety by going after and competing with ZeuS," says Wade Williamson, senior threat researcher of Shape Security, a computer security firm. "SpyEye was the upstart."
Gribodemon placed ads for SpyEye on websites for the underground hacker marketplaces, Williamson says."The ads said, 'I'm a better hacker than ZeuS. … He was kind of bombastic."
SpyEye is top-shelf malware. The tool kit automates the collection of confidential personal and financial information using multiple approaches, including a keystroke logger and data grabbers. A basic SpyEye tool kit sold for $1,000; top-of-the-line versions cost up to $8,500.
The FBI estimates Gribodemon had 150 clients, including one client known as "Soldier" who allegedly used the software to steal $3.2 million from bank accounts over six months. Federal agents say that Panin sent his clients more than 80 e-mails from his Gmail account with SpyEye updates and security patches, and that he provided after-sale maintenance, updates and technical support as well.
SpyEye can hijack Web browsers or present fake bank webpages that prompt users to enter their logins and passwords. SpyEye also had a credit card grabber that could scan infected computers for credit card credentials. Once the information is collected, the malware directs the computer to send the data to an infected master computer, known as a "command and control" server, or C2 server, where the criminals can collect it.
By October 2010, the hacker behind ZeuS gave his source code to Gribodemon and the two hackers merged their operations. Afterward, Slavik disappeared.
The FBI investigation into SpyEye caught its first break in February 2011, when agents seized and searched a SpyEye C2 server near Atlanta that Hamza Bendelladj, Gribodemon's online collaborator, allegedly operated remotely from his home in Algeria. That server controlled more than 200 computers infected with SpyEye, including computers connected to 253 banks in North Carolina, New York, California and Virginia.
That summer, FBI informants communicated with Gribodemon on www.darkode.com to purchase a SpyEye tool kit. They paid $8,500.
By December, agents had enough evidence of criminal acts for a 23-count indictment against Bendelladj, but they still didn't have a name for the SpyEye creator. A grand jury indicted "John Doe."
Aleksandr Andreevich "Sasha" Panin was born in Tver in 1989, two years before the Soviet Union and its economy collapsed. His mother, Inessa Rozova, struggled to make ends meet. He was in fifth grade when his parents divorced and he moved from the family home into his grandmother's two-room apartment.
Panin did well in school, showing particular aptitude for math and computers.
In this city of 400,000 people 100 miles north of Moscow, computer programmers are in demand and earn a healthy living, his teacher, Ishkova, said. But after graduation, Panin found his skills weren't needed. He attended a local institute but dropped out after six months, his mother says.
After school, he moved to Moscow and traveled abroad. Panin rarely talked about his work. and Rozova is unsure what he was doing and where he was living.
Now he writes to her from prison.
In an Oct. 28 letter, Panin told his mother he wasn't sure when he started to think about dedicating himself to transforming life through technology.
"I started to generate an idea that it is imperative for me to spend my life obtaining money to invest it in the necessary technology," he wrote. "Only now have I started to understand that was a bad idea."
Panin pleaded guilty Jan. 28 and will be sentenced on April 29.
"It's not that they are innocent boys," says Arkady Bukh, a Brooklyn, N.Y., lawyer who represents Panin and several other convicted Russian hackers. "They are young boys who were greedy and did the wrong thing. That's why they took a plea."
The FBI considers several Eastern European countries "hot spots" for cybercrime and has embedded agents in police departments in Estonia, Romania and Ukraine. Bukh says young computer programmers in Russia and other Eastern European countries turn to cybercrime for lack of opportunity. They are highly educated, with strong math skills, but cannot get top-flight jobs in Russia or visas to work in Silicon Valley or high-tech centers in Scandinavia and the Netherlands.
Panin, he said, fits that profile.
"You're talking about an 18-, 19-year-old boy who is a brilliant computer analyst, a brilliant programmer," he says. "Plain and simple, it is greed and a lack of opportunity in Russia."
He compares the hackers to Mikhail Kalashnikov, the Russian general who designed the AK-47 but isn't responsible for starting the war in Afghanistan. Panin, he says, never got rich off his malware and never used it to steal. He lived modestly in a small rental apartment and rode a bicycle, the lawyer says.
Panin "is not a bank robber. He's an excellent, brilliant computer programmer who created bad things," Bukh says. "Of course, he knew it would be used for invasive and illegal purposes."
Prosecutor Yates sees hackers like Panin differently.
"We're not talking about misunderstood genius here. These are not just nerdy kids up to mischief in their parent's basement," Yates says. "They are breaking in and they are stealing."
The world of cybercrime has evolved into a loosely knit group of specialists. Cybercriminals who buy malware often work with hackers called "bot herders," who specialize in finding unprotected computers and infecting them to create a network known as a "botnet."
Other hackers use a C2 server to remotely control the "botnet" and force the infected computers to execute commands. Still others collect the credit card and bank data, which is then sold on underground "carder" forums known as dumps where an American credit card number can sell for about $3 each.
One of those "carders" is Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, 27, of Moscow, known online as "BadB" and one of the founders of "CarderPlanet."
Founded in 2001, CarderPlanet maintained a Web marketplace where it sold millions of stolen credit card numbers. Federal investigators say it operated as an organized crime ring and had a hierarchy that mirrored the Mafia. After police shut down CarderPlanet in 2004, Horohorin moved on to malware.
Horohorin and his team of hackers used malware to infiltrate the computers of RBS World Pay in Atlanta, the credit-card-processing division of the Royal Bank of Scotland. They stole the debit card numbers and altered the accounts to raise the balances and withdrawal limits on the cards, court papers say.
The hackers then distributed 44 counterfeit payroll debit cards and PINs to "cashers," including Horohorin, who used the account numbers at 2,100 ATMs in 280 cities around the world, ultimately stealing $9 million in less than 12 hours, court papers say. The cashers took a 30% to 50% cut and then submitted the rest of the money back to the crime syndicate bosses in Estonia, Russia and Moldova through Web money accounts.
Horohorin withdrew more than $125,000 from ATMs around Moscow, court papers say.
At the time of his arrest as he boarded a plane in Nice, France, Horohorin possessed more than 2.5 million stolen credit card and debit card numbers, prosecutors said. The Justice Department called Horohorin "an international credit card trafficker thought to be one of the most prolific sellers of stolen data."
Horohorin pleaded guilty on Oct. 25, 2012, to device fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He is serving seven years in a New Jersey prison.
In the ecosystem of cybercriminals, it's the cashers — people who attempt to use the stolen credit cards at a store or ATM and whose faces are captured on security cameras — who are easiest to catch.
"The hackers put a layer of separation between themselves and the real buyer," says Shape Security's Williamson. "They can stay fairly safely tucked away in Eastern Europe."
Key to catching cybercriminals are the white-hat cybergeeks who work as computer security researchers, identifying the suspicious bits that signal malware among the billions of bits that make up computer code.
In the SpyEye case, the FBI and Justice Department cited the work of Trend Micro, a computer security firm in Dallas, which has 1,200 threat researchers working full time to identify and stop malware attacks.
SpyEye caught Trend Micro's attention four years ago, says Rik Ferguson, vice president of security research.
"It was very effective, pernicious and persistent," Ferguson says.
After identifying the signature characteristics of the malware and mapping out its infrastructure, including IP addresses and C2 computers, company researchers infiltrated an underground forum often visited by the SpyEye creator and his customers, says Loucif Kharouni, a senior threat researcher at Trend Micro who investigated the malware.
Gribodemon and a coder he worked with known online as 'bx1' periodically let slip e-mail addresses and information about instant messenger accounts, which could lead to actual identities, Kharouni says.
"Very often, it's poor operational security that leads you to the beginning of the trail," Ferguson says. "It's detective work — good, old-fashioned detective work."
On one SpyEye server, Kharouni retrieved and decoded the configuration files that made the software operate. Among the bits, he found an online handle "bx1," an e-mail address and login credentials for virtest, a detection-testing service used by cybercriminals.
Kharouni matched that information with handles used in the underground criminal forum to tie the computer code to one of Gribodemon's online collaborators.
Trend Micro turned the information over to law enforcement authorities, Ferguson says.
The FBI in February 2011 searched and seized the SpyEye command-and-control computer in Georgia that allegedly showed communications between the Atlanta-based server and infected computers in the United States and around the world. The evidence against SpyEye includes two hard drives, more than 40 disks and over one terabyte of data, court papers show.
In June and July 2011, FBI undercover employees purchased a top-of-the-line SpyEye tool kit from Gribodemon and, following his instructions, paid for it with money electronically transferred to a digital account at Liberty Reserve, a Costa Rica-based money processor shut down by federal agents last year, court papers say.
Even after federal investigators linked Panin to Gribodemon, the evidence and the new indictment remained under seal for two years so Panin wouldn't know he had been identified. Russia does not have an extradition treaty with the U.S., so federal agents had to wait until Panin left Russia.
Thai authorities arrested Bendelladj on Jan. 5, 2013, at the airport in Bangkok as he traveled from Malaysia to Egypt. He was extradited in May to face the U.S. charges. He has pleaded not guilty.
Authorities caught up with Panin in June when he visited a friend in the Dominican Republic. Dominican police arrested Panin as he attempted to board a flight home to Russia.
Though Panin now sits in prison, his malware survives, and new hackers are recycling the old source code to design new tool kits, computer experts say.
"We're dying a death by a million cuts," says Chester Wisniewski, a senior security adviser at data security firm Sophos. "We'll go after SpyEye or the Target gang. Every year, we go after two or three of these guys, but nothing is ever really done."
Leinwand Leger reported from Washington. Contributing: Alexei Kosorukov of Komsomolskaya Pravda


text:
Showing Collections: 1 - 1 of 1
Jose Quintero Papers
Identifier: 1998-009
Scope and Contents
The Jose Quintero Papers consist largely of materials related to Quintero's directing and teaching, supplemented by professional and personal correspondence, manuscripts, and other theater memorabilia. The papers are arranged in five series: Theater Papers, 1950-1996 (6 boxes), Correspondence, 1949-1999 (2 boxes), Works, (1 box), Career (1 box), and Posters.The papers arrived at University of Houston Special Collections directly from Jose Quintero and Nicholas Tsacrios. They were...


text:
75' Cruiser New Year's Day Charters Sydney
The newly refurbished Aquarius boat offers the perfect platform for New Year's Day boat charters in Sydney Harbour. With all the facilities you will need on offer, Aquarius combines style with affordability to bring luxury cruising well within your reach. Relax and unwind aboard this Sydney harbour charter boat.
New Years Day Hire (this page) Aquarius Boxing Day Charter Aquarius Australia Day Charter
Total cost = Vessel Hire + Food + Beverages + Wharf fees
Includes Captain New Year's Day $960 per hour Minimum 4 hour charter $3840 Includes a surcharge for the public holiday A 20% surcharge will occur on all food and beverages
Wharf fees
Pick up and drop off wharf fees apply (Usually $100 total). Check your quote and contract for more info.
Refundable Booking
Starting from November 25, 2021, we provide all our customers with Refundable Terms so if you are unable to attend your booking due to unforeseen circumstances outside of our control, you may be entitled to a refund - please see our full set of Refundable Terms and Conditions here. You may find all instructions on how to apply for a refund online via your booking confirmation email after payment. Scenarios include: Positive PCR test | COVID-19 Infection, Isolation and family illness - see details, Illness, accident, injury, Public Transport failure to the booking, Private Vehicle Failure to the booking, Home Emergency, And many more..
A 20% surcharge will occur on all food and beverages
Sea Escape Canape Menus Minimum order of 20 guests For groups below 20 people, chef fee of $240 is applicable Oyster Bay Canape Menu $65 per person Select 3 hot and 3 cold Looking Glass Canape Menu $85 per person Select 4 hot and 4 cold includes madras curry served in a noodle box and dessert canape Hot Canapes Beef and Lemongrass meatballs with a delicate sweet chilli dip Petite vegetarian quiches leek and gruyere, tomato, feta and olive Herb crumbed fish bites with lime mayonnaise Mini beef bourguignon pies with home-made tomato and roast capsicum salsa Spinach and ricotta mini triangles Petit chicken schnitzels with béarnaise sauce Spinach and porcini mushroom arancini served with pesto mayonnaise dip Cold Canapes Finger Sandwiches - Chicken, toasted almonds and mayonnaise, egg, chive and mayonnaise Parmesan shortbreads - Topped with creamed feta and semi dried tomato Sushi nori rolls - Includes salmon sashimi, avocado and wasabi and vegetarian Crostinis - Topped with creamed feta, tomato, grilled capsicum and fennel salsa Vietnamese Vegetarian Spring Rolls - Fresh, healthy and accompanied by a sweet chilli dip Smoked salmon blinis - Topped with smoked salmon and spicy avocado salsa
Sea Escape Buffet Menus Minimum order of 20 guests For groups below 20 people, chef fee of $240 is applicable Steele Point $45 per person Canapes 2 per guest - chef's selection Buffet Gourmet Sausages. Marinated BBQ chicken fillets Selection of 2 salads from the salad menu Selection of cheese and seasonal fruit platters Huntley Point $55 per person Canapes 2 per guest - chef's selection Buffet Eye fillet of beef served with condiments Marinated chicken fillets Selection of 2 salads from the salad menu Selection of cheese and seasonal fruit platters Bennelong Point $75 per person Canapes 3 per guest - chefs selection Buffet Fresh seasonal prawns Oysters served in half shell w dipping sauce Eye fillet of beef with condiments Marinated chicken fillets Selection of 3 salads from the salad menu Selection of cheese and seasonal fruit platters Salad Menu Mixed Garden Salad - Mesclun salad leaves, avocado, spanish onion, cherry tomatoes V GF Indian rice Salad - Basmati rice, lentils, chickpeas, cashew nuts, currants, shallots with yellow curry dressing. V GF Rocket Salad - A refreshing mix of rocket, pine nuts, parmesan and cherry tomatoes. V GF Thai Noodle Salad - Hokkein noodles, carrot, shallots, capsicum, sesame seeds in Thai sweet chilli sauce. V Quinoa Salad - Quinoa, black beans, red onion, red pepper, parsley in a homemade vinaigrette dressing. V GF Greek Salad - Lebanese cucumbers, cherry tomato, Spanish onion, capsicum, feta cheese and olives. V GF Potato Salad - Potato, parsley, shallots, Dijon mustard and full egg mayonnaise. V Pesto Pasta Salad - Spiral pasta, capsicum, cherry tomato, parmesan, mint, basil, parsley in a delicious pesto vinaigrette. V Add ons Whole glazed and baked ham ( additional $10 per person) Oven baked salmon fillets ( additional $10 per person)
Sea Escape Beverage Packages Premium Beverage Package $15 per person per hour Peroni Corona Pure Blonde Light Beer Wine Champagne Soft Drinks Spirits Beverage Package $20 per person per hour House Spirits Peroni Corona Pure Blonde Light Beer Wine Champagne Soft Drinks
Sea Escape Beverages on Consumption Bar Beverages on Consumption Bar $240 per wait staff for a 4 hour charter 1-20pax – 1x wait staff required 21-40pax – 2x wait staff required 41-50pax – 3x wait staff required
All prices in $AUS. and include GST Prices are subject to change without notice 50% deposit required to confirm your booking Public holiday 20% surcharges apply No stiletto heels to be worn on board
Brand : Custom Built
• Newly refurbished • Enclosed fly bridge with seating for full wet weather protection • Fully equipped galley with plenty of storage space • Table with seating on back deck • Full walk around deck • On board icemaker • BBQ • Heated Spa available for additional $250. Can fit up to 6 people • 55 inch TV in main saloon • Wireless connectivity throughout boat
Boat Suitability :
Sydney harbour charters, corporate team building Sydney, wedding cruises on Sydney harbour
Click here to view detailed booking information
Maximum number of guests 50 passengers Please note: An infant, regardless of age is considered a passenger Dining and seating arrangements Standing cocktails - 50 guests Casual buffet - 40 guests Formal dining - 22 guests Length of charter Minimum charter length during peak season (October - January) is 4 hours. A 3 hour rate is available during February - September. Extra time can be organised at additional cost per hour. Arrival at the wharf We recommend that your party arrives at the wharf 30 minutes prior to your charter. The boats need to book the wharves and have a limited time to pick up and drop off your guests. Pick up and drop off locations There are a number of locations available for pick up and drop off, including King Street Wharf. Please enquire as to a suitable location for your party. Multiple pick up and drop offs We do not recommend multiple pick up and drop offs as this can waste a considerable amount of your charter time. Instead, we are happy to supply you with a water taxi contact number that can deliver or pick up guests at their convenience. Catering Options Sea Escapes offers a full range of catering from cocktail to buffet dining. No BYO food permitted. A full beverage range is available in a package or on a consumption basis. What to bring As with any outdoor venue, we recommend that your guests dress for the season (i.e. sunscreen and hat in summer, a warm jacket in winter). Bring your own portable media device along if you have not booked a DJ. Booking and Payment We require a 50% deposit to lock in the date for you. Once we have received the deposit payment we will generate a contract for you with all your charter details. 2 weeks prior to the charter date we require final numbers and the balance of the payment. If you a taking a consumption bar option, we require credit card details and the consumption bar total will be processed at the conclusion of the charter. Cancellation Policy Please see General Booking Information below.
Max Passengers: 49
From $1,900 Per Hour
Min 5 hour charter
$1900 per hour 5 hrs chareter $9500 Note: A 25% surcharge applies to catering and 50% surcharge on waitstaff.
Max Passengers:
Max Passengers: 45
From $3750 Per Hour
Min 4 hour charter from $15,000
Many wharves available for pick up/ drop off


text:
Unleash the power of your business
Driving the change of our world
AI-based digital customer journey
5G networking technology standard (loT, wearable …)
Human- and business-centric cyber security
Cloud-native technology enabling fast innovation
Direct-to-consumer strategy (D2C)
Shared economy & subscription models
With the introduction of CRM, we have taken a big step with regard to the processing of credit card applications. I am very pleased with how the project has gone.
Swisscard AECS AG
We are confident that we are sustainably positioned with the Salesforce/Defacto technology stack. The new technology allows us to run our Omni-Channel CRM program using the latest methods. Through continuous releases, we are able to react promptly to agile customer behavior.
Daniel Gehring
Chief Operating Officer at Orsay
The implementation of the IBM QRadar SIEM early warning system ensured visibility across the entire network and system infrastructure through automated analysis of information flows passing through key devices. Thus, the organization gained an in-depth look at the security of information from a single console with a custom interface. Threat and hazard intelligence information flows were integrated, as well as state-of-the-art additions such as AI and malicious behavior predicting.
D Commerce Bank AD


text:
Number: 111- 61
Date: December 8, 2010
The House Passes S. 3789,
Social Security Number Protection Act of 2010
Social Security Number Protection Act of 2010
On December 8, 2010, the House passed S. 3789, the "Social Security Number Protection Act of 2010," by voice vote, clearing the measure for the President. The House-passed bill contains the same provisions of interest as passed by the Senate on September 28, 2010 (see Legislative Bulletin 111-53).
The bill includes the following provisions of interest to SSA:
Prohibition of Use of Social Security Account Numbers on Checks Issued for Payment by Governmental Agencies
- Would prohibit the display of the Social Security account number, or a derivation of such number, on any check issued by a Federal, State, or local agency.
Would be effective with respect to checks issued 3 years after the date of enactment.
Prohibition of Inmate Access to Social Security Account Numbers
- Would prohibit any Federal, State, or local agency from employing, or entering into a contract for the use or employment of, prisoners in any capacity that would allow them access to the Social Security numbers of other individuals.
Would be effective 1 year after the date of enactment.


text:
His website -- Peterkreeft.com -- offers a generous helping of writings and audio recordings. And that's where I found his essay, Discernment, which leads off with the question asked in the title of this post. I found myself alternating between exclamations of "Amazing!" and "Well, of course!", always a sign that I'm in the presence of good thought and good writing.
Here's an excerpt, though I strongly encourage you to check out the whole thing:
Five general principles of discernment of God's will that apply to all questions about it, and therefore to our question too, are the following:
- Always begin with data, with what we know for sure. Judge the unknown by the known, the uncertain by the certain. Adam and Eve neglected that principle in Eden and ignored God's clear command and warning for the devil's promised pig in a poke
- Let your heart educate your mind. Let your love of God educate your reason in discerning his will. Jesus teaches this principle in John 7:17 to the Pharisees. (Would that certain Scripture scholars today would heed it!) They were asking how they could interpret his words, and he gave them the first principle of hermeneutics (the science of interpretation): "If your will were to do the will of my Father, you would understand my teaching." The saints understand the Bible better than the theologians, because they understand its primary author, God, by loving him with their whole heart and their whole mind.
- Have a soft heart but a hard head. We should be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves," sharp as a fox in thought but loyal as a dog in will and deed. Soft-heartedness does not excuse soft-headedness, and hard-headedness does not excuse hard-heartedness. In our hearts we should be "bleeding-heart liberals" and in our heads "stuck-in-the-mud conservatives." [Ed. note: Is this not the most delightful and incisive sentence you have read all day?]
- All God's signs should line up, by a kind of trigonometry. There are at least seven such signs: (1) Scripture, (2) church teaching, (3) human reason (which God created), (4) the appropriate situation, or circumstances (which he controls by his providence), (5) conscience, our innate sense of right and wrong, (6) our individual personal bent or desire or instincts, and (7) prayer. Test your choice by holding it up before God's face. If one of these seven voices says no, don't do it. If none say no, do it.
- Look for the fruits of the spirit, especially the first three: love, joy, and peace. If we are angry and anxious and worried, loveless and joyless and peaceless, we have no right to say we are sure of being securely in God's will. Discernment itself should not be a stiff, brittle, anxious thing, but—since it too is part of God's will for our lives—loving and joyful and peace-filled, more like a game than a war, more like writing love letters than taking final exams.


text:
As mentioned by various Arab media outlets, both candidates to the US presidency have made very little attempts to attract the vote of approximately 1.5millions Arab-Americans, who in some states (Michigan, Ohio) make a significant minority. These might even prove more crucial if the race is tight. While McCain seems at all uninterested in this community, Barack Obama went out of his way to distance himself from any display of Muslim support for his campaign, even asking young veiled women to step out from a camera shot during a rally. This is hardly surprising for the son of a Kenyan Muslim who spent his early years in Indonesia. His advisors know that while Christian America might forgive him for being Black, it will not allow him any flirtation with the 'Evil Religion'.
To be fair to Senator Obama and his opponent, the Arab-American community is neither homogeneous nor united. It is split down many religious, socio-economical and cultural fault lines that go beyond the generational gap common to every immigrant community. In general terms, Lebanese (also Syrian and Iraqi to a lesser extent) Americans of Christian extraction form a distinct sizeable group who maintain strong links to their motherland but are keen to show themselves as 'faith cousins' fully integrated to the American dream. Coptic Egyptians are a smaller but well organised group with a militant Christian streak. They are socially conservative on issues such as abortion, gay rights and the death penalty and feel comfortable in enlightened republican circles. Many Muslim Arabs of various origins are as socially conservative but find it harder to show their American credentials due to a heavier religious and cultural load. In some cases this extends to public expressions of faith (The veil) which for the insulated average American belong to the enemy. Their Arab identity is emphasised in relation to other Muslims but more recently the two groups have grown closer as a consequence of wholesale prejudice against them and the Islamisation of the Palestinian struggle. US intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan only served to confirm their beliefs in a conspiracy targeting the existence of their religion.
The issue or Israel remains essential to understanding the relation between Arab-Americans and their adopted country. The US has been unwavering in its support for the Zionist entity since its creation in 1948 providing it consistently with the financial, technological, military means to dominate the Middle East and wreck the hopes of one Arab generation after the other. This is unlikely to change regardless of who takes over the White House come November. But two factors Arab voters should consider while casting their votes. The first factor is that An Obama administration will not be motivated by ideology in its position vis-a-vis Israel while remnants of the neo-conservative and evangelical Christian agenda will persist in a Bush-McCain transition. Pragmatic policies might still be detrimental to the Palestinians but are easier to debate and challenge than those backed by divine intervention. The second factor is that the election of a Liberal modern Black man to the highest office will be good for America, whatever foreign policy he adopts. This is a revolution in the making and as all astute immigrants know it is by joining hands with the locals for the common good that you gain acceptance. As the American poet Gil Scott-Heron cynically puts it: 'The revolution will not be televised...' but the election certainly will!


text:
How to Avoid Severe Weather
To avoid severe weather:
- Tune a portable radio to a local station that gives weather updates. Listed below are the VHF-FM radio stations that broadcast National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather reports, which are updated each hour.
- Be alert to weather conditions. Accumulating dark clouds, shifting winds, and graying skies all may be indications of danger. Listen for distant thunder.
- Track changes in barometer readings. A rising barometer indicates fair weather. A falling barometer indicates foul weather is approaching.
- Watch for wind direction shifts, which usually indicate a weather change.
- Watch for lightning and rough water. If not electrically grounded, boats (particularly sailboats) are vulnerable to lightning.
- Be observant of weather from all directions; however, closely watch the weather to the west, the direction from which most bad weather arrives.
- Watch for fog that creates problems in inlets and bays. Typically, fog will form during the temperature changes of the early morning or evening hours and can persist for lengthy periods.
- Head toward the nearest safe shore if a thunderstorm is approaching.
VHF-FM Stations for NOAA Weather Reports
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts weather forecasts and warnings using these frequencies:
- 162.400 MHz
- 162.425 MHz
- 162.450 MHz
- 162.475 MHz
- 162.500 MHz
- 162.525 MHz
- 162.550 MHz


text:
Guest Post by Alan Abbs, a.k.a. White Trash
Midnight Saturday morning, and I was well on my way to Hohenwald- the signs even said so. We were over 40 hours into "The Last Annual Volunteer State Road Race", a 500k race from the Northwest to the Southeast corners of Tennessee, and I was hoping to hit the 48 hour mark with over 150 miles behind me. I was racing unsupported- nothing but a small pack with a 3 liter bladder, some socks and medical stuff, a jacket and poncho, a handbottle, some cash, a drivers license, and health insurance info. I was three hours on the road from a brief stop at the Commodore Hotel in Linden, where for $56 I spent an hour and 45 minutes showering, working on my feet, digesting some food, and getting a 45 minute nap. Other than 10 minutes the previous night, it was the first sleep I had.
I was eyeing a sub 5 day finish and banking some serious time, but having a bit of an emotional lull, and looking forward to getting to Hohenwald to charge me back up. It was the City of Hohenwald, however, that taught me the cruelty of Tennessee municipal planning. Sometime after midnight I passed the Hohenwald City Limits sign, but the city itself teases you. I alternate running and walking and my feet are killing me, but I don't see the lights of city. Miles later I see two people walking with a flashlight towards me, and I note it's about 3:30. "How far to downtown?" I ask. "A long way." "Really, like miles?" I ask. "You'd be surprised." When I finally get to something that resembles a downtown I figure I've gone over 10 miles since I passed that city limits sign. I find out latter that Tennessee cities incorporate huge strips along major roads for tax purposes, but a recurring theme on my run is the giddiness of passing a city limits sign only to be disappointed when a populated area doesn't immediately appear.
It's too early in Hohenwald for anything to be open, so I plop down by a vending machine on the main drag and buy two bottles of soda, drinking one and putting the other in my handbottle. I start running out of Hohenwald, go up a short climb and down a long downhill into a sparsely populated valley. There's a bit of fog and it's pleasant to run a bit and then fast walk a bit. At 7:30am I check in with 154 miles for 48 hours, and I'm feeling good, but sore in the feet and tired. As the fog starts to burn off I can see it's going to be a hot day, and I haven't filled up on water since the night before. But this highway is nothing but road with an occasional driveway going off to a farm in the distance. I check my guide book and its miles before I come to the campground at the Natchez Trace overpass. Depressed, I send a text to Bev itemizing my ailments.
Highway 412 has major construction work going on, but on a Saturday there's not too much activity. I start looking at every piece of road equipment for the ubiquitous water cooler, but there's none to be found. On the right side of road, however, I spot a half full bottle of water. Could it be? Yes, it is! Water left over from a road flagger from the day before. It's only 8 ounces, looks like water and tastes like water. I drink some and pour the rest into my handbottle. I find another, and then another. Who's lips the bottle had touched was not my concern. I up my game (or lower it if you will) and dig a bottle out of a ditch that had been tossed, and when I get to the campground I decide to press on rather than take the detour inside to stock up. Five days looks well within reach, and I start wondering how much more I can take off.
I restock in the town of Hampshire, and the next big town is Columbia. The sun is high, it's hot, and the road to Columbia has no shoulder and is punctuated with rolling hills. Some of the relay teams had taken a few hours rest the night before, and we began leapfrogging. Chasing relay runners pumps me up, but my feet are really burning on the hot asphalt in the sun! I look down and also realize my shoes are black. I wonder why on earth I would bring black trail shoes and black socks to a hot road race. I stop and slice some blisters with a pocket knife, apply some lube, and keep moving. Laz is at a turnout and I stop for a moment and chat. Everyone's wondering whether I can keep the pace up to break the hallowed 5 day barrier. I'm feeling good I assure him, but I'm worried about my hot feet, that I'm not sweating, and I have some serious chaffing, with infections, going on "down there."
Hot feet and chaffing. That's all I'm thinking about as I make the approach to Columbia, birth place of James K. Polk. We're just into day 3 and I'm thinking about my shoes. Should I try to get some new shoes? I look at the tread and I see I've done a pretty good job of wearing them down close to the sole. The distance from the hot asphalt to my feet is a centimeter or two. I should take them back to the store and say- "Look at these, I've only worn them for 3 days." Ha Ha. On the outskirts of Columbia I stop in a minimart, stock up, and ask if there's any shoe stores nearby. The cashier starts giving me directions somewhere and I rapidly determine that's way off course for me. Across the street I stop in a Dollar General. There's no shoes, but I get some flip flops and a tube of triple antibiotic for "down there." Shoes in hand, I flip flop for a bit and my feet feel a little cooler in the hot sun. A mile later I stop in another minimart for fluids, and ask again about shoes. The dude there talks about a sporting goods store that sounds like it might be on the course. Good deal. Scott from the relay team says he'll be eating at a local café in Columbia square, but I decline because I want to hit that sporting goods store before it closes. It's a bust though, as there's nothing over a size 11 available, and at any rate it's only Keen sandals.
Dejected, I push on. I've made a lot of stops in Columbia with only a pair of flip flops and some antibiotic cream to show for it. Still, before leaving town just before 5 I need to make one more minimart stop to stock up. I'm not feeling hungry, but I eat two sandwiches. I'll stock up next in Glendale at the Bench of Despair for the long night. My feet feel like they're burning up, so I stop just outside of Columbia to work on them. A lady drives up and asks me if I'm o.k. Another stops and says she gave some other folks Gatorade, but she ran out, and would I take money instead? I'm fine I assure them, and at any rate, I'm going to get to the Bench of Despair before it closes at 6pm.
Just after 6:10 I arrive at the Bench of Despair. It's locked up tight. Stopping for my feet blew my chance of getting there in time. The owners left a cooler of bottled water outside, but food wise I'm screwed. I have 2 gels for emergencies. I consult the guidebook and there's a "café" 4.5 miles up the road in Culleoka. If it's a café, it must be open later in the evening, but I get there, and it's locked up tight. I'm really screwed. Next up is a minimart in Mooresville 5.8 miles away, and it's about time to check in so I turn on my phone and log in 187 miles, which is right on schedule despite all my stops. Wow, I have a lot of text messages here. Its lots of friends telling me how great I'm doing, some with pictures! How can I feel sorry for myself with people rooting me on like that?
That still doesn't address my food problem though. The café has a vending machine, and with the small bills and change I figure I can get 3 bottles of soda, but the machine steals enough of the coins that I come out with 2 bottles of Sun Drop, a Mountain Dew equivalent. I drink one with a gel, and put the other in my bottle, stand up, and prepare to leave.
The bag in the garbage can catches my eye. Lays. The end is rolled up, but could it be possible it has food? I pick it up, knock off bits of who knows what, unroll it, and sure enough it's half full! I will hold onto this just in case, I tell myself, but I knew I would be eating them before the night was through. Armed with one more gel, some potato chips, a Sun Drop, and the adrenaline from a phone full of text messages, I decide to shake off feeling sorry for myself, and I start running. I hit Mooresville 55 minutes later in a light rain and as I suspected, the store was closed. I laid on their table, ate the chips and gel, slept for 15 minutes and woke up shivering. My metabolism was going haywire from the day's heat, intermittent hydration, lack of food, and nonstop effort. As I leave I notice the repair business across the street with all the junk strewn out front, and I walk around it looking for garbage I might consider eating.
The next big city is Lewisburg, and it looks promising as there's a major highway that intersects with the road I'm on. But my feet are still having problems, and I alternate with flip flops, shoes, and even a hundred or so yards barefoot. Nothing feels good. But as I finally crest the last hill and start heading down into Lewisburg at midnight, I see lights! I enter the minimart at 12:30 and the owner is getting ready to close up. He gives me a discount on the fried chicken he was about to throw away, along with a biscuit and red beans and rice. I buy a few other items and ask if it's o.k. if I hang out in front of the store. No problem he says, so I grab some concrete, prop my feet and eat dinner upside down.
It was the best meal I've eaten in a long time, but there was no time to savor it. This was a race, I had to keep moving, and I had to deal with this foot issue. It was Sunday, and the road was beckoning.


text:
Unblock Toilet Failsworth Manchester
Unblock Toilet Failsworth Manchester We provide professional unblocking services in your area. Whether you are dealing similar to a clogged drain, a blocked pipe, or a backed-up sewer system, our team of experts is here to help. With years of experience and state-of-the-art equipment, we can efficiently identify and resolve any blockage situation you may be facing.
When it comes to maintaining a healthy and dynamic property, one aspect that often gets overlooked is the drainage system. A well-functioning drainage system is necessary to prevent water damage, foul odors, and the potential for structural problems. In Halifax, residents and businesses alike can rely on the feat of Vantage Drain Services for all their drain unblocking, drain repairs, and drain patch lining needs. With years of experience and a commitment to excellence, Vantage Drain Services is your go-to assistant for whatever things Unblock Toilet Failsworth Manchester.
Unblocking Drains taking into account Efficiency:
Blocked drains can disrupt your daily routine and cause significant inconvenience. Whether it's a clogged sink, toilet, or a backed-up drain, Vantage Drain Services has the tools and capability to swiftly attend to the problem. Their team of intelligent professionals employs campaigner techniques and equipment to identify the root cause of the blockage and effectively remove it. By using non-invasive methods whenever possible, Vantage Drain Servicesensures minimal disruption to your property while efficiently restoring the flow of water.
Expert Drain Repairs:
Drains, like any other part of a property, are subject to wear and tear higher than time. Damaged drains can improvement to leaks, waterlogging, and even structural issues. That's where Vantage Drain Services shines. Their team of drainage specialists possesses in-depth knowledge of various drainage systems and is adept in diagnosing and repairing drain problems promptly. From cracked pipes to collapsed drains, they utilize state-of-the-art technology and industry best practices to provide enduring solutions. Rest assured, Vantage Drain Services will have your drains practicing optimally with again.
Innovative Drain Patch Lining:
Traditional drain repair methods often full of zip extensive excavation and disruption to the surrounding area. However, Vantage Drain Services brings a forward looking and cost-effective answer to the table – drain patch lining. This ahead of its time technique allows them to repair damaged drains without the infatuation for major excavation work. By inserting a supple liner coated taking into account a special resin into the damaged pipe, they create a new, structurally sealed interior. The upshot is a seamless, long-lasting fix that significantly reduces disruption and saves you grow old and money.
Customer-Focused Approach:
At Vantage Drain Services, customer satisfaction is their top priority. They comprehend the heighten and inconvenience that drain problems can cause, which is why they torture yourself to dispatch a hassle-free experience from start to finish. With their friendly and professional team, you can expect Definite communication, transparent pricing, and timely service. Whether it's a routine drain cleaning, an emergency call-out, or a combined drainage solution, Vantage Drain Services ensures that your needs are met next efficiency and professionalism.
When it comes to Unblock Toilet Failsworth Manchester, drain repairs, and drain patch lining in Halifax, Vantage Drain Services stands out as a well-behaved and experienced provider. With their faithfulness to exceptional service, innovative techniques, and customer satisfaction, they are the go-to experts for everything your drainage needs. Don't allow blocked or damaged drains disrupt your life – trust Vantage Drain Services to keep your drains flowing expertly and your property protected.
Contact Vantage Drain Services today to schedule an appointment and experience their top-notch drainage solutions firsthand.
CCTV Inspection
Unblock Toilet Failsworth Manchester With our cutting-edge CCTV inspection equipment, we can effectively assess and diagnose the condition of drains, making it an invaluable tool for unblocking and determining the root cause of any issues. Equipped behind state-of-the-art technology, our CCTV inspection equipment enables us to thoroughly examine the entire drainage system, even in hard-to-reach areas. This allows us to identify blockages, leaks, or any further potential problems accurately. By utilizing this unbiased equipment, we can meet the expense of efficient and perfect solutions tailored to your specific Unblock Toilet needs. Trust our completion and militant equipment for obedient and thorough drain inspections in Failsworth Manchester.


text:
Hawaii Luau Company Kaneohe
We provide the best private luau and wedding packages in Kaneohe, Oahu, Hawaii, complete with everything you'll need for your special day. We also have great packages for your Hawaiian wedding vow renewal. Make a special Kaneohe Beach Wedding or Vow Renewal! Hire us to perform a private luau for a party, birthday, or special occasion. Our Kaneohe Beach Hawaii wedding services include photography, videography, Hawaiian entertainment and music, marriage license, cake selection assistance, wedding officiant, fire knife dancers, and everything else you'll need to make your wedding perfect! Hawaii Luau Company can help you find the ideal location for your beach wedding reception. Are you excited for an event in Kaneohe, Oahu Hawaii? Call us!


text:
This conversation was originally published at Rhizome
"But even if the internet is dead this doesnt mean it's over. It is all over."
When we met recently we talked about the glitch as it relates to contemporary image culture, but we also talked about the glitch as something to aspire to. In your essay, A Thing Like You and Me, you retell Walter Benjamin's parable of the Angel of History, pushed by the harsh winds of progress away from the rubble of history, its back facing into the unknown future. You say that we are the rubble, or at least, that we should align ourselves with the rubble. I'm fascinated by these allusions to excess and detritus in your writing, and I see something of the glitch aesthetic making its way into your video works. I thought we could start from these bruises and cracks; from the things we can't predict, control or maintain. How would you relate the glitch to Benjamin's rubble?
One of the biggest misunderstandings about digital information is that it is replicated identically, without loss or transformation. But anyone who works with such information knows that digital practice is constituted – like perhaps any technology – by malfunction. One has to constantly convert information in order to work with it across different platforms and softwares and on the way it is reformatted, translated, compressed or sometimes even blown up, it is enhanced or diminished: it changes. It changes its format or container or outlook or context.
Digital information is thus characterised by transformation, degradation, circulation, but also by its surprising ability to mutate and produce unpredictable results. The glitch, the bruise of the image or sound testifies to its being worked with and working; being passed on and circulated, being matter in action. History inscribes itself into the image in forms of bruises and scars. In their 1958 essay "Les Statues meurent aussi" Chris Marker and Alain Resnais write that the forces of heaven and earth are getting caught up in the scars of African statues. But all imaginable forces – aesthetic, political, technological, affective, social – are expressed by the scars of the digital image or sound. It condenses the tensions and contestations that constitute the image/sound and rip it open.
Glitches expose us to the inner dynamism of the digital, but I wonder what it is about the current conditions of our society that tend to turn us away from the tensions and contestations locked up there in the first place? Chris Marker and Alain Resnais impelled the 'dead statues' of their film to live again, turning colonial trophies into emotionally rendered subjects before the camera lens. The forces that compelled the statues to die in Western museums were, perhaps by definition, unable to render their scars as outward signs of anything.
Yes, we do have the same tension nowadays on many levels of the digital world. Marker and Resnais' film died just the same as the statues – not by commodification and colonialism as the African statues they are describing in their film, but by the wholesale commodification of cinema in the context of post 89 transitions. Their film literally became invisible as its infrastructure was destroyed by a neoliberal revolution that also changed the world of images and media. But it came back in form of YouTube files replete with artifacts, cut up and dispersed in fragments across the web to live again – if only for another while. But of course a similar dynamics repeats online, too and the growing development of the web as a tool for surveillance and conformism will force many of its most interesting phenomena to undergo similar deaths and rebirths in different aggregate states. The statues found a new life in film; the film found a new life as file: let's see what's going to happen to the files once they too will be forced to change and reformat within different states of matter.
"Is it an impulse of data, sounds and images to surpass the boundaries of information channels and to manifest"
Digital images feature highly in your work, as poor and bruised icons to their own dissemination; as quasi-subjects, devoid of the illusions of the flesh, and all the better for it. In the title of your collection of essays, The Wretched of the Screen, I hear echoes of Georges Duhamel, who saw the spectacle of cinema as "a pastime for helots, a diversion for uneducated, wretched, worn-out creatures" (referenced by Walter Benjamin). I also read a direct reference to Frantz Fanon's work, The Wretched of Earth. For Duhamel the masses were subjugated by the flickering images of popular-culture, and for Fanon, by the machinery of colonialism. For Fanon, at least, there was hope in the lumpenproletariat: the abject peasant class, forgotten by industrial rule and, perhaps, beyond psychological subjugation. The only hope of revolution lay with them. In your essay In Defense of the Poor Image, it is images themselves that are wretched, beyond redemption as subjects. Do you see the digital image as a contemporary lumpenproletariat? In what ways are images, and in turn we, subjugated by the flickering of the screen?
The poor image expresses the full ambivalence of Fanons idea of lumpenproletarians, which Arendt already beautifully and much more precisely described as mob in her "Elements of Totalitarianism". The mob does not consist of the underclasses, but the "refuse of all classes". The mob is composed of people expelled into a world characterised by violent colonialism, the expansion of industrial capitalism and subjugation; it is unable to make up its mind, distracted, easily corrupted, or rather corrupt by definition and always ready to betray anybody and everything in order to suck up to the elite. In the current moment of globalisation I see a new mob: people who cannot form a class but constitute the refuse of all classes. A mob of freelancers/mercenaries, moving from one country to another, trying to flee the devastations that finance capitalism and algorithms on the loose create, roaming the suburbs and lowlands of the web, scamming, spamming, phishing, pirating and otherwise trying to stay afloat in a fleeting world of dislocated images. Many artists belong to this category, too. Poor images express similar tensions – in the aggregate state of files. A visual mob, defined by mobility and mobilisation, spreading Hollywood preview copies with the same nonchalance as ads for penis enlargement or insurrectionary manifestoes. Contemporary digital mobs are subjected to similar states of compression and capture.
But this kind of images is not a new phenomena. We already see it in a certain genre of wood cuts from the floating world or ukiyo of the Edo period. The ukiyo was the world of fleeting beauty and the hardship of sex work. It was also the world of countless cheap images being reproduced by printing presses, of whores, wrestlers, actors and idols, a world which was essentially fluid and full of unstable reproductions. It was considered "low" art, disposable, defined by circulation and affect.
Claire Bishop expressed concerns late last year that contemporary art had not successfully articulated the 'digital condition', yet her argument still pandered to modes of dissemination and display most compatible with the context of the gallery. Today the majority of image production, dissemination, and commentary takes place online. It strikes me that the best place to go to grapple with the digital condition is not the art gallery, but tumblr, youtube and even 4chan. What place does art have in confronting the digital, when today's most successful digital expressions apparently come from contemporary art outsiders?
I hardly followed the debate around Bishop's text. But it seems to me that she very correctly described a quite ludicrous analog nostalgia in a specific corner of the artworld. Next time I see another 16mm film projector rattling away in a gallery I will personally kidnap it and take the poor thing to a pensioners home. There is usually no intrinsic reason whatsoever for the use of 16mm film nowadays except for making moving images look pretentious, expensive and vaguely modernist, all prepackaged with a whiff of WASPish art history. It made sense to use Bolexes in 1968, and indeed people used them to brilliant end. But today people use cellphones, Kinnect sensors and After Effects to deal with the present and shape it. And if artists do not expose themselves to the workflow and economies that come with contemporary means of production, they become souvenir peddlers. Or worse trying to conveniently package a bygone radical moment as a collectors item. I think Bishop said something similar more politely. Now I also understand people have been disappointed that she´s not been mentioning real contemporary practices more extensively. This complaint should be made to Artforum, though or in extension to the formally and technologically conservative artworld it represents, not to a single writer which isnt an expert in media art and never claimed to be. The debate expresses a real tension, which on the other hand is not so new either. The most interesting and challenging contemporary art was rarely acknowledged as such in it's time and often took place outside the artfield. So the real question is: could one build something outside of the existing artworlds? With what means? It's happening as we speak, because people fortunately don't usually care what Artforum thinks they should do or even about art as such. It´s happening as you said on tumblr and sites like jogging and many others. Its massively happening in the streets of Syria and Egypt, which are or recently were vanguard laboratories of new media development, with the online dissemination of protests and actions against sexual violence from Delhi to Stupidville or slave labour in the artworld. New media are brought into the world through contemporary social conflicts by the midwifes of violence, boredom, perpetual distraction. Enhanced by rumour and glamour, by uncertainty and intense speculation. Into an aggregate state of matter which is beyond art or the next art or non-art or after art as David Joselit wrote: expressing the tensions of globalising media worlds within post-democracy and accelerated capitalism. Its artifacts may be art or facts.
Another important question: many contemporary artworlds are irrevocably digital; beyond their incorporation of digital art. Their infrastructure and whole mode of operation deeply relies on digital technology. People dropbox their works which unfold in galleries like inflatable chutes. But this economy is also fundamentally based on digital technology, including hedging, betting, reputation engineering, accelerating circulation, aggregating jpegs, tele-exploiting interns, regurgitating 3D point clouds as deconstructive atriums where weapon manufacturers and oligarchs hang their dot paintings. This is the digital base of the artworld; embedded in its modes of operations.
In December I was lucky enough to visit your exhibition at the Chicago Institute of Art which showcased three new works, Abstract, Adorno's Grey and Guards. In particular I was drawn towards Guards, perhaps because it focussed so clearly on its two subjects, Ron Hicks and Martin Whitfield. As the camera follows Ron around the Chicago gallery, pursuing an imaginary assailant, the messy politics of the art institute became exposed to me. It struck me that subjects are usually more hidden in your video work, or at least, the emphasis of your work acts to distort and dislocate human subjects. I see this in your work In Free Fall, where you map the biography of the Boeing 707 aircraft, but also in more personal works such as November, 2004, in which the central identity of your friend Andrea Wolf is never quite pinned down. I wondered then if we could finish by talking about the relationship between subjects and objects. What is it about the current time that seems to draw you towards the object?
Whoever is an image is an object. Whoever is not an image raise their hand. Images have permeated our environments since long time ago. They crossed screens and incarnated: as junkspace, and all sorts of 3D spam. They materialised in form of our own bodies. Images do not represent reality, they create reality, they are second nature. Things among other things, image-objects, image-events, image-situations, images-bodies.
As to the protagonists of many of my videos, probably all of them inhabit at least two very different realms and negotiate the tensions between them. Andrea Wolf is both a martyr and a trash film heroine, the museum officers take their experiences of urban violence and warfare to a sanitised bourgeois White Cube, Mike Potter in "Free Fall" is both a shrewd scrap salesman and Hollywood consultant, Adorno´s Grey´s photographer is superimposed on an anonymous protester breaking through police lines using "Negative Dialectics" as a weapon. One could go on to extend the list… All of them including the crew and myself are both image and agents, quite uncontrollably and sometimes violently propelled into circulation, participating in images instead of controlling, reading, viewing or directing them. Sometimes one of us manages to twist it´s kinetic energy and to direct it back in a kind of jiu-jutsu move. Other times one can just try to enjoy the ride.
The protagonists of your works are buffered by tensions beyond their control and they act regardless. Perhaps the ride takes us back to where we started, the glitch: that unexpected fold or tear manifest for a moment on the surface of a complex substrate; the actions of images?
I don't care about what image/objects essentially are or represent. I'm fascinated about what we/they do and what happens along the way, about the interactions amongst image/objects and image/situations.
So it's not about object-ontologies but image-actions, image-gestures, thing-affinities, chains of reaction of objects, forces, and pixels, that manifest in scars and bruises, but also sometimes in the liquid harmony of the floating world of images.
Utamaro and Shunga JPEGs databent in an impromptu collaboration between Daniel Rourke, Hito Steyerl, and her texts. Glitchy GIF responses by Benjamin Berg (stAllio!).


text:
What is an Enfocus ID?
The Enfocus ID is the only account you need for all your Enfocus interactions:
- Activate licenses and subscriptions in the Enfocus products
- Manage Enfocus licenses and subscriptions in your account section on enfocus.com
- Buy products on the Enfocus webshop
- File and manage support cases
Go to the FAQ about the Enfocus ID
Trying to retrieve the password of your old activation account?
Did you know an Esko ID is also an Enfocus ID?