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"They're my favorite band of all time - my ideal band." - Jimmy Page
|So Page told the magazine Zigzag a few years after he'd seen Kaleidoscope at Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco when he was a member of the Yardbirds. Something in the LA band's high level of musicianship & exotic eclecticism obviously stayed with him. That his memory of them contributed to his conception of Led Zeppelin is probable. (That he got the idea of bowing the guitar from watching Kaleidoscope founder David Lindley is also possible.)
Says Solomon Feldthouse, whose deep musical connection with Lindley spawned what would become Kaleidoscope:
"We never were a group for screaming teeny boppers, but you bet your sweet ass every damn town we'd play in all the other professional musicians in town would show up to catch every last set we'd play."
Nor did they go unheard in other quarters. Says Jac Holzman, founder of Elektra Records:
"One of the great things about groups in the '60s and very early '70s was how distinctly different they sounded, unlike today when a mere shift of stress seems to proclaim a new sound.
Far more than just a 'few degrees of separation.' Kaleidoscope was a very emotional group while still parading their eclecticism. They crafted their music from numerous threads (blues, folk, flamenco riffs, middle eastern etc.), linking them together into something that was very fresh to my ears. And the lyrics were good, the musical changes often unexpected and the production tight. It was great music to float on while in the thrall of cannabis."
They also had their critical champions, including Pete Welding of Down Beat, who dubbed them "eclectic electric."
Says Chris Darrow, a member of the original lineup, being in Kaleidoscope was "like going to college. It wasn't easy learning that stuff that was unfamiliar to you. I think it changed everybody's life in terms of the way they approached music, because you were kind of forced by virtue of being in the context of this to take on things that you probably wouldn't take on yourself." No other band of the time could play so many kinds of music, and so authoritatively.
A commercial breakthrough, however, was not forthcoming. Dubious management and almost non-existent record label support, coupled with the band's lack of conventional "sex appeal" or an easily-categorized sound contributed, no doubt. In any case, the band went through a few upheavals in personnel before giving up the ghost. Ultimately, says Lindley, Kaleidoscope was "a genetical experiment that produced several mutant strains of unknown origin and eventually ate itself. "
5 years or so after the band's demise, Kaleidoscope started receiving some attention in British magazines, notably Zigzag and Comstock Lode.
As Mac Garry memorably put it in his 1976 series on Kaleidoscope for Zigzag, "They were pioneers... rolling across all that uncharted land in search of the unknown, the undreamed of. Before long, of course, at least a thousand and one bands had stampeded in the grooves of their wheels."
This site makes no claims to being either "official" (though it has enjoyed the active support or at least the good wishes of most of the ex-members) or definitive. What you will find here is a repository of Kaleidoscopiana. An absence of editorial agenda on my part may result in, for some, a possibly confused picture of things.
Readers will draw their own conclusions, but wouldn't even be here if they didn't at least have some curiosity about that most curious of 60s bands, Kaleidoscope.
Comments, corrections & contributions are always welcome.
This site wouldn't amount to much more than wishful thinking on my part without the kind support & contributions of the following souls. Thanks to Stuart Brotman, Chester Crill, Chris Darrow, Solomon Feldthouse, Paul Lagos, David Lindley & John Vidican, first of all. Thanks also to Lars Andersen, Brad Bechtel, Steve Cahill, Kim Fowley, Pete Frame, Kjell Fredell, Mac Garry, Paolo Ghelfi, Mike Gion, Paul Gouldhawke, Beth Grobman, Jac Holzman, Harvey Kubernik, Joanie Lindley, "Pooh" Matsuoka, Paul Moews, Frazier Mohawk, Phil McMullen, Faren Miller, Doc Muir, , Alec Palao, Johan Pap, the late John Platt, Hans-Hermann Pohle, Alex Shackelford, Tim Stone, Richie Unterberger, Bob Warford, Bill Wasserzieher, Jeff Watt, & Pete Welding
Kaleidoscope 1966 - Chris Darrow, Solomon Feldthouse, David Lindley, John Vidican, Chester Crill


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Someone In Congress Actually Understands Mixtapes And Mashups?
from the could-it-be? deptSean Garrett writes in to point out that at a recent Congressional hearing, there was a Congressman who actually seemed to understand the ridiculousness of the RIAA-backed SWAT raid on a well known DJ who was often hired by RIAA labels to create mixtapes for their artists. Garrett has typed up the transcript of Representative Doyle and added some of his thoughts as well.
Congressman Doyle: Mr. Chairman, I want to tell you a story of a local guy done good. His name is Greg Gillis and by day he is a biomedical engineer in Pittsburgh. At night, he DJs under the name Girl Talk. His latest mash-up record made the top 2006 albums list from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork and Spin Magazine amongst others. His shtick, as the Chicago Tribune wrote about him, is "based on the notion that some sampling of copyrighted material, especially when manipulated and recontextualized into a new art form is legit and deserves to be heard."Of course, don't expect the rest of Congress to figure this out any time soon. The very next Congressman to speak, started with: "Hey, Mr. Chairman, I was just trying to figure out half of the words that Mike Doyle just mentioned. I am clueless...."
In one example, Mr. Chairman, he blended Elton John, Notorious B-I-G, and Destiny's Child all in the span of 30 seconds. And, while the legal indie-music download site eMusic.com took his stuff down due to possible copyright violation, he's now flying all over the world to open concerts and remix for artists like Beck.
The same cannot be said for Atlanta-based, hop-hop, mix-tape king DJ Drama. Mix-tapes, actually made on CDs, are sold at Best Buys and local record shops across the country and they are seen as crucial in making or breaking new acts in hip-hop. But even though artists on major labels are paying DJ Drama to get their next mixtape, the major record labels are leading raids and sending people like him to jail.
I hope that everyone involved will take a step back and ask themselves if mash-ups and mix-tapes are really different or if it's the same as Paul McCartney admitting that he nicked the Chuck Berry bass-riff and used it on the Beatle's hit "I Saw Her Standing There."
Maybe it is. And, maybe Drama violated some clear bright lines. Or, maybe mixtapes are a powerful tool. And, maybe mash-ups are transformative new art that expands the consumers experience and doesn't compete with what an artist has made available on iTunes or at the CD store. And, I don't think Sir Paul asked for permission to borrow that bass line, but every time I listen to that song, I'm a little better off for him having done so....

subset: commoncrawl


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Snap o' the Day: brownish 'green' roof
The "green roof" put on City Hall last May (over the objection of at least one former Councilor) is looking a little brown these days–- or at least on Friday, February 27, the date of this photo. However, it's just wintertime dormancy, according to City spokesperson Ric Barrick, who also expects a second year growth spurt. As for the financial controversy, Barrick points out that City Hall envisioned spending $338,000 for a thermoplastic olefin roof. The green roof came in under budget at $397,000, so the green premium, he says, was just $59,000. However, Barrick also notes that the the total project cost was $472,000, which includes "soft" costs such as architecture, engineering costs, bidding, printing, and construction management. (The County built a "green roof" of its own in 2005.)
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Maybe a story should be done on what the city spends on upkeep on this roof vs the maintanance free roof thay could have purchased. The extra 60k they spent on this could have purchased at least an acre of land or easements along the rivanna. That would be more green space and something the taxpayers could actually use.
But at least we all "feel" good.


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By: Lesley
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Oakville Psychology & Counselling
Oakville Ontario Lesley Hannell Psychology & Counselling is a safe place to talk with a qualified therapist to provide a major part of gaining insights and awareness of underlying blocks and positive options available to return to emotional, mental and spiritual health.
In a series of one-hour sessions clients engage in an open process of communication, revelation and resolution. They are guided towards insights and awareness of the positive choices and options available to them to foster a return to emotional, mental and spiritual health. Moving towards a resolution of often highly-charged emotional issues provides individuals with greater feelings of self-awareness, self-empowerment and self-esteem.
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BERLIN (AP) — The eurozone failed to reduce its government debt in the third quarter of last year, as meager growth offset efforts by several of the bloc's 17 nations to improve their finances by cutting spending and raising taxes, according to official data released Wednesday.
The countries' total government debt relative to their annual economic output was barely changed at 90 percent of gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2012 compared with 89.9 percent for three months earlier, the EU's statistics office Eurostat reported. It was up from 86.8 percent of GDP a year earlier.
"The cause behind the slight increase is no longer a growing debt pile, but a shrinking gross domestic product," said Ulrich Kater, an economist with Germany's DekaBank.
"It is positive news that the trend of increasing debt, which began with the financial crisis five years ago, has been stopped," he added.
But shrinking economies make it difficult for eurozone countries to get debt levels under control despite pushing through harsh spending cuts and reforms because shrinking output makes the value of a country's debt as a proportion of the size of its economy worse.
The International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, downgraded its growth forecast for the eurozone Wednesday from 0.1 percent to a minus 0.2 percent contraction, warning that the eurozone "continues to pose a large downside risk to the global outlook."
Given the bleak economic outlook, "one has to be prepared that the debt level in the eurozone will rise further," said analyst Christoph Weil of Germany's Commerzbank.
More than three years after Europe's debt crisis started in Greece, the eurozone only registers very meager growth, with seven member countries still in recession —Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Portugal, Slovenia, and Finland — according to Eurostat.
Government debt across the entire 27-nation EU totaled 85.1 percent at the end of September, compared with 85 percent in June, according to Eurostat. The European debt levels compare to about 110 percent in the United States, 88 percent in Canada, or 240 percent in Japan, according to IMF data.
"Compared to the U.S. or Japan, Europe's average debt level looks excellent," Weil said. "But the eurozone is not one entity guaranteeing all of its member states' debt. The problem is the unequal distribution, with some countries like Greece or Portugal having an unsustainably high debt burden," he added.
The highest increases of the quarterly debt level were indeed recorded in the countries worst-hit by the crisis: Ireland's rose by 5.9 percentage points to 117 percent, in Portugal it was up by 3 percentage points to 120 percent. Greece, which is in sixth year of a severe recession, recorded an increase of 3.4 percentage points to 153 percent, the eurozone's highest debt ratio.
"Once growth returns the eurozone's debt ratio will decrease, although we don't expect that to happen before 2015-2016," Kater said.
Germany has been the main reason why the eurozone as a whole has not fallen into recession — technically defined as two quarters of negative growth in a row — but Europe's biggest economy is showing signs of slowing down as the debt crisis takes its toll on the country's exports. Its economy shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2012 and the government this month lowered this year's growth forecast to a meager 0.4 percent.
Geir Moulson contributed to this story.
Juergen Baetz can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz


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Man Finds Dead Mouse In His Monster Energy Drink!
"Man is suing after drinking can of Monster Energy drink which contained the carcass of a dead mouse"
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Citizens Property Insurance customers will pay up to 26 percent more for hurricane coverage in Sarasota County and 22 percent more in Manatee County after Florida regulators approved new rates for the state-run insurer Tuesday.
Rates will increase 10.8 percent on average statewide for the typical Citizens homeowners' policy in 2013, with increases varying by policy type and region.
Most of the 90,000 Citizens customers in Sarasota and Manatee counties will see the wind insurance portion of their bill -- typically about half the total cost for homeowners' coverage locally -- increase by 10 percent. Those closer to the coast will pay more.
Homeowners in other parts of the state will pay up to 40 percent more for wind coverage from Citizens, the state's largest property insurance company with 1.4 million policies.
The higher rates are part of an aggressive campaign by state lawmakers and Gov. Rick Scott to shrink the state-run insurer, an effort that is drawing increasing criticism from those who say it will hurt struggling homeowners and impede Florida's economic recovery.
"The governor wants to turn the state around and get people back to work, but people won't be living here because they can't afford the home they're living in," said Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey.
Citizens' board chairman Carlos Lacasa said the insurer tried to balance homeowners' concerns about rising costs with the need to maintain a strong company.
"I'm sensitive to the need to keep the rates as affordable as possible," Lacasa said, adding that the board also must "get Citizens to an adequate rate to have enough to pay claims when a storm comes."
Citizens currently has a $6.2 billion surplus, enough to cover all but the most catastrophic hurricanes without resorting to taxes on insurance policies statewide.
The rates approved Tuesday were reduced slightly from an 11.8 percent average increase requested by Citizens' board.
Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the approved rates represent a "reasonable approach."
"Our primary goal is to ensure Citizens policyholders are treated fairly and retain an opportunity to return back to a robust private insurance market as the Florida Legislature intended," McCarty said.
The final rate decision came after months of often rancorous debate about Citizens' future. The company rapidly absorbed policies discarded by insurers such as State Farm and Allstate, which accelerated their efforts to pullout of Florida in the wake of the record 2004-05 hurricane seasons.
State leaders say Citizens now represents a huge financial risk to average Floridians because the company can levy taxes on insurance policies statewide if it runs short of cash to pay claims after a major disaster.
They rarely mention that the same taxes are levied to pay claims when private insurers fail. Some of Florida's private property insurers, including relatively new and untested companies, may be more at risk of becoming insolvent than Citizens.
Regardless, Citizens has pushing hard to shed customers. The company is encouraging private insurers to take some of its policies; more than 200,000 Citizens customers will soon receive letters notifying them that a private company is offering to take over their coverage.
Citizens' board has taken other actions -- from reducing coverage to stripping discounts -- to make the company less attractive, but rate increases may have the greatest potential to drive customers away. The board even considered circumventing a state law that limits the company's average rate increases to 10 percent for everything other than sinkhole coverage.
Efforts to lift the rate cap ultimately were abandoned. The move outraged many homeowners and some public officials.
Fasano noted that Citizens already boosted rates for many homeowners this year through an inspection process that has revoked many policyholders' hurricane mitigation discounts. At the same time, the company is reducing coverage and no longer insures structures such as pool cages and car ports.
"They have already gotten their rate increases for the next three to five years from what Citizens has done through the backdoor," Fasano said.
Englewood retiree Bruce Pomeroy recently received a letter from Citizens indicating his pool cage will no longer be covered.
The 77-year-old pays $1,750 a year for property insurance for a home valued at $97,000. He understands the desire to shrink Citizens but worries about the rising cost of home insurance.
"I know some folks are paying a heck of a lot more money than I am but I'm a retiree and we live on a fixed budget," he said.
INSURANCE: In Sarasota, some rates will rise up to 26%; in Manatee, 22%
Citizens Property Insurance customers will pay up to 26 percent more for hurricane coverage in Sarasota County and 22 percent more in Manatee County after Florida regulators approved new rates for the state-run insurer Tuesday.


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Dr. Parker is one of the few physicians offering abortion services to women in Alabama, and his Pink House is the very last remaining abortion clinic in Mississippi. Awarded the 2015 Planned Parenthood Federation of America Margaret Sanger Award for his dedication to the reproductive justice movement, Parker believes that it is his duty, both as a medical doctor and as a Christian, to help women in need, and to do so without judgment. His frank, illuminating memoir recounts the professional and spiritual paths that led him to give up private practice, obstetrics, a Hawaiian penthouse, and fundamentalism, and to take up the life of an outspoken and courageous itinerant abortion provider.
Parker is in conversation with Katha Pollitt, "Subject to Debate" columnist for The Nation and author of Pro.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.


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Many commercial gauges are missing excellent features found on traditional versions.
By Dean Jansa
Pages: 36-39
From the December 2006 issue #159
Buy this issue now
Note: For the complete article including the special segments on "Types of Gauges" and "Marking Gauge Pins – Where's the Flat?" download the complete PDF of the article.
The simple marking gauge, often overlooked, even taken for granted, is critical in the hand-tool shop. It allows you to create uniform surfaces quickly with planes, to accurately transfer measurements from one board to another and to help duplicate measurements across similar parts.
Inventories of 18th-century toolmakers show that they made gauges for sale, but the inventories also show quantities of marking gauge pins that woodworkers would use to build their own gauges. Despite the fact that these pins are no longer commonly found for sale, you can build a gauge – a gauge superior to mass-produced gauges – with common shop sundries and wood from your offcut pile.
Building a Gauge
I chose to copy a marking gauge found in the tool chest of Benjamin Seaton, an 18th-century English chest that has survived with most of the original tools intact. This simple gauge, sometimes referred to as a "French gauge," offers features often absent on modern gauges: You can adjust and lock the gauge with one hand thanks to a captive wedge, and the head has a comfortable shape, which helps you direct pressure and control the depth of cut.
The basic dimensions of the gauge as shown are not set in stone. Feel free to modify the dimensions to fit your needs. For example, I made my gauge arms a bit shorter than the original Seaton gauges so they would fit in my tool chest's trays. I recommend you make the arm's width and thickness match a chisel width available in your kit. The head of the gauge can be scaled to fit your hand.
Gauges made of beech and birch were common, however hard and soft maple, cherry and mahogany work as well. Use 6/4 stock for the head of the gauge and straight-grained 4/4 stock for the arm. Pins made from 4d finishing nails or cut brads are soft and easy to shape; however, they do not hold an edge as long as a harder material. Twist drill bits (I use 5⁄64″) are easy to shape on a grinder and take and hold an edge well. Use the photos and illustrations on the right to build the gauge.
Using the Gauge
The head shape and captive wedge of the Seaton gauge offer benefits compared to a modern mass-produced gauge. I hold the gauge with my thumb and index finger, wrapping my hand over the top of the head. My free fingers fall naturally around the arm. Holding the gauge like this allows me to lock, unlock and adjust the gauge with one hand. The reason for the bevel on the bottom of the head – indeed, the reason for the overall shape of the gauge – became clear to me the moment I held a completed gauge. It was an "a-ha" moment in my shop.
With your hand in this position you can scoot the head forward or backward with your thumb. If the head slides too freely on the arm, lightly engage the wedge to create friction. Once the desired setting is achieved, press the wedge with your thumb. A final light tap on your workbench firmly locks the gauge. A quick tap on the opposite side of the wedge unlocks the gauge.
In use, the gauge's pin is rarely perfectly perpendicular to the work, rather it trails behind the arm. The closer to vertical the pin, the deeper the gauge cuts. You control this angle by rolling your wrist about the gauge arm.
When making long-grain marks I make my first pass with the pin barely engaged with the wood. If a deeper mark is required – in coarse-grained wood for example – I make a second pass with a more aggressive angle of attack. Cross-grain marking requires a lighter touch to avoid tear-out. Despite shaping my pins like small knives, I still use a very low angle of attack for cross-grain marking.
You can use this wrist-rolling technique to speed up marking mortises. Mark the start and end points of the mortise with a marking knife. Next set the gauge to the appropriate offset from the face. With the gauge's pin very lightly touching the wood, drag the gauge until you feel the pin drop into the mortise start point. Roll your wrist to deepen the cut and mark until you feel the pin intersect with the mortise endpoint.
Gauging, Not Measuring
Gauging is the use of a tool to transfer a measurement from one board or surface to another. For example, in casework you set a marking gauge with the mating board when marking dovetail baselines. Using a gauge to lay out dovetail baselines eliminates errors by avoiding transferring measurements from a ruler.
Creating Uniform Surfaces
Uniformly thick boards can be quickly made by hand using this gauge as a guide. Begin by flattening one face of the board. Then use the gauge much like a dial caliper and find the thinnest spot in the board. Set your gauge at that point, mark the thickness around the board's four edges, and plane down to the mark. Working this way saves any extra effort needed to create a uniform board. You are removing only the minimum amount of material necessary for uniformity. Not all 4/4 lumber need be 3⁄4″ thick.
Repeatable Measurements
Creating a number of boards of the same thickness or width follows a similar set of steps. Set the gauge to a board of the desired thickness or width and mark each remaining board with the gauge. The gauge will be correct. Each mark will be exactly the same as the last. Your results are repeatable.
Combining gauging, uniformity and repeatability speeds your work. If you need a number of uniformly thick boards, begin by flattening one face of each board. Then find the thinnest spot on the entire group of boards.
Mark the remaining boards with this setting and plane each board to the mark.
Large panel glue-ups can also use this technique. Face joint the individual boards. Match plane the edge joints and glue up the panel.
After glue-up, make any necessary adjustments to the face side of the panel. Again, find the thinnest spot remaining in the panel with your gauge, mark the panel thickness, and plane to the mark. This eliminates planing the non-face side of the boards twice.
The simple marking gauge is a critical tool in the hand-tool shop. From stock preparation to cutting dovetails, the gauge plays its role. It improves your speed and minimizes your effort with planes. It offers lessons about building accurately by defining what you need to produce accuracy: parts that fit other parts (gauging), parts that are all the same (repeatability), or parts that have uniform surfaces (uniformity).
Despite its many tasks, the marking gauge is simple to build, yet has features that should not be overlooked: Pin shape, head shape and single-handed use.
With these features in mind, building your own gauge is easy. I'll bet you can't stop with just one. Make some out of your favorite exotic wood to avoid losing them in the pile of shavings you're sure to make. PW
From the December 2006 issue #159
Buy this issue now
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.


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Expert Africa's Kenya safaris are based on local flights to areas like the Maasai Mara…
Video of Kenya
Flight from Nairobi to the Maasai Mara, landing at Siana airstrip
KenyaStraddling the Equator, and stretching from the Indian Ocean's coral reefs and white-sand beaches to the colossal spread of the Great Rift Valley and beyond, Kenya is a country of huge variety and exceptional natural beauty. The country's lush grasslands, riverine forests, high plains and moorlands, mountain slopes and semi-deserts provide an amazing range of habitats for the full panoply of East African wildlife, and an equally wide choice of options for Kenya holidays. 'Safari' was a concept invented here – the word means journey in Swahili.
Wildife in KenyaThe wildlife in Kenya is often remarkably approachable. While never tame (and you should treat all wildlife with great caution), Kenya's wild animals have lived with a comprehensive hunting ban for the last 40 years, meaning their fear of humans is greatly reduced. There are few other places on earth where you can easily watch large predators hunting, or megafauna such as giraffe, elephant and hippo interacting and behaving quite naturally while you capture their images on a sensor.
Kenyan safarisOur safaris in Kenya are fly-in safaris, based around hops in light aircraft out of Nairobi and staying at small to medium-size safari camps. You may be under canvas, but you're definitely not camping in the normal sense of the word: Kenyan safari camps consist either of very large, permanent, fully furnished luxury tents with built-in bathrooms, or are built around the concept of imaginative open-air rooms incorporating thatched roofs, twisting branches, extensive deck areas, outdoor showers and 'loos with a view'.
Not only does Kenya offer terrific wildlife safaris but it is also home to peoples of more than 40 different cultures, with their own languages, music and traditional dress. Traditional cultural expression is still very much alive, especially in the Mara region, throughout the north and in pockets around the rest of the country, and while we don't offer any purely cultural safaris you are very likely to experience some fascinating encounters with the various Kenyan tribes in your host communities – whether trying your hand at warrior-training with the Maasai at your safari camp, leaning about Samburu life-cycle ceremonies during a village visit, or simply picking up folklore and phrases in the local Kenyan language from the night guards at your camp every time they escort you to and from your tent.
Kenya's well-justified popularity means it has some very large and busy lodges. As the country plays host to some of the most popular safaris in Africa, certain areas can be especially busy at key times from July to September and over Christmas and New Year. This is where Expert Africa's depth of knowledge is invaluable. We'll help you design a trip that avoids many of the crowds while advising about the Kenyan climate and highlighting Kenya's best features: superb camps and lodges, good infrastructure, and breathtaking wildlife encounters in some of the world's most spectacular landscapes.
We have taken time to develop our Kenya safari holiday programme and we're confident that the range of locations, safari lodges, camps and hotels offers an unrivalled programme of tailor-made wildlife safari and Kenya beach options. We're able to advise you about these with genuine expertise, on the basis of personal experience.
On a Kenya safari with Expert Africa you will be met and transferred at each stage, usually by a driver-guide in a 4WD vehicle from the safari camp or lodge where you're spending the night. Game drives, bush walks and other activities are conducted by the host or guides at your camp. Sometimes you will have exclusive use of a vehicle (this partly depends on the size of your group), but usually you will be sharing a safari vehicle with other guests. Depending on the style and size of the camp, meals on safari are eaten either at individual tables or hosted by the camp manager with other guests. If you prefer to eat separately, join up with others, or have dinner on your veranda, these options can usually be arranged. Stylish informality is the hallmark of many tented camps in Kenya and you are encouraged to let them know about your preferences.
Kenya in the newsOf course, if you keep up with the news, you'll know that Kenya isn't all postcard-perfect. Kenyan politics are complicated and fast-moving and it's a good idea to understand some of the background to the country's present challenges – and keep the news in perspective when considering safety in Kenya.
Where to goThe simplest geographical division in Kenya is between the Indian Ocean coast and the highland interior – or 'up-country' as Kenyans often call it. The two are different worlds, separated by south-east Kenya's vast plains of dry bush and scrub. Once you start exploring the country, you'll find it divides into numerous regions, in many of which we can offer safaris. The following short sections provide a quick overview of safari areas in Kenya.
The Maasai MaraThe land of Big Cat Diary and Disney's African Cats and location of one of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Migration, the Maasai Mara is at the top of most people's wish lists on a Kenya safari holiday. The Maasai Mara (also known as Masai Mara, but the double-a spelling is increasingly common as it's the way the word is spelled in the local Maa language) is a gloriously beautiful, wildlife-rich savannah landscape, where traditionally dressed Maasai pastoralists herd their cattle and goats. It's also where herds of minibuses jostle for the best photo opportunity amid a panorama of African wildlife. We're not going to pretend otherwise: 'the Mara' is one of the busiest of Kenya's safari regions. Happily, there are strategies for avoiding the crowds on a Maasai Mara safari – and we have lots of experience in doing just that.
LaikipiaOn the other side of the Great Rift Valley, north-west of snow-capped Mount Kenya, the high plains of Laikipia are increasingly recognised as one of the best wildlife regions in Kenya (Ol Pejeta being one Laikipia's most popular areas), challenging the Maasai Mara for overall safari experience, if not for raw numbers of animals. With the occasional exception of Ol Pejeta, which does get busy, you won't need to escape from any crowds here: in an area not far off the size of Wales, there's plenty of room for a few people on safari.
SamburuAnother 100 kilometres further north, where the Ewaso Nyiro – Kenya's biggest northern river, the life-blood of the region – turns east, the hot, dry, much lower country is the traditional territory of the Samburu. The Samburu are Maa-speaking camel-herders who migrated into the region several centuries ago, along with the Maasai. The river banks in Samburu National Reserve are distinguished by the area's characteristic forked doum palms, branching out above thick stands of riverine acacia forest, offering cover to prey and predators alike. A safari in Samburu is always rewarding and the reserve's small size means game drives concentrate on watching animals rather than covering the miles.
Meru National ParkMeru National Park, where George and Joy Adamson released their most famous lioness, Elsa, back into the wild (a story immortalised in the book and film Born Free), is increasingly re-appearing on Kenya safari itineraries. For more than a decade in the late 1980s and 1990s this entrancing wilderness was virtually off limits due to out-of-control poaching. Then, championed by the French Embassy, the park became a KWS cause célèbre and was comprehensively restored, with newly cut earth roads, a dedicated force of rangers and, near the main gate, a poacher-proof rhino sanctuary that is home to both black and white rhinos. More and more visitors are opting to included Meru in their safari holidays.
Northern KenyaMost of northern Kenya is arid country, scorched and roasting under the equatorial sun, and sometimes going for months or even years without a drop of rain. The landscapes vary from craggy, volcanic cinder fields to impassable areas of sand-dune systems and gritty scrub where jackals scamper and ostriches peck. But the mountains that rise from the deserts are often luxuriantly forested and the region makes for some of Africa's most adventurous safaris. The north is where safaris are as much about culture as about wildlife and you'll have plenty of opportunity to meet members of Kenya's traditional tribes.
Rift ValleyThe Great Rift Valley runs north-south through Africa from Jordan to Mozambique. Some of its most dramatic landscapes are found in Kenya, where a string of lakes - Baringo, Bogoria, Nakuru, Elmenteita, Naivasha and Magadi – create pools of colour and vegetation in the dry plains and bush country. While 'big game' is generally less prolific in this region, bird-watching safaris are particularly good here.
Amboseli & the Chyulu HillsOn the broad, flat plains south of Nairobi, Amboseli is Kenya's elephant park par excellence. One of the oldest parks in Kenya, originally part of the colonial era's 'Southern Maasai Reserve', Amboseli became a wildlife sanctuary in the 1940s and was declared a national park in 1974. It is rightly one of Kenya's most popular safari regions and, with its iconic views of the wildlife against a backdrop of majestic Kilimanjo is a highlight of many Kenya holidays.
Tsavo West National ParkAlthough they share a name – and a common border, coinciding with the Nairobi–Mombasa highway – Tsavo West and Tsavo East are two distinct national parks with different eco-systems: the open, flat-to-undulating plains and scattered bush of Tsavo East and the much more wooded and hilly landscapes, dotted with volcanic cones and dramatic, black lava flows, that characterise Tsavo West. To the south of Tsavo West National Park, the Lumo Community Wildlife Sanctuary is one of Kenya's most successful new community conservation initiatives. Lumo offers a very affordable safari experience, making it great for families.
Tsavo East National ParkTsavo East is by far the biggest of Kenya's parks. At more than 13,700km2, it's nine times bigger than the Maasai Mara National Reserve: indeed you could fit the whole of the Mara reserve into the southern tip of the park, south of the Voi River. Most famous for its huge herds of dust-red elephants (more than 10,000 of them bulldoze their way around this vast park), Tsavo East has another big draw: while on safari you can set off on a game drive across the seemingly empty wilderness, and return to camp three hours later without having seen a single other vehicle.
The Kenya CoastSome of the first contacts between East Africa and the wider world were along what is now the Kenyan coast. The monsoon winds dictated the Indian Ocean's annual trading calendar: merchant ships arrived from the Persian Gulf and the Arabian peninsula, but had to wait for the annual change in the wind to return home. So they anchored here, in the creeks and ports, for months at a time. Such a long stay in Kenya might turn anyone's head and, every season, some visitors chose to settle on the coast.
Over the course of the first millennium AD, Swahili society was born – still today a vibrant and complex cultural mix of African roots and imported styles; a classic Bantu language with hundreds of Arabic loan words; and a highly nuanced class structure in which claims of overseas ancestry are as critical to high-status families as they are to the Norman aristocracy in Britain or to American descendants of the Mayflower pilgrims.
Fascinating as its history is, most people visit the Kenya coast after the intense experience of a safari, simply to relax on the beach. Kenya beach holidays are the real deal: endless stretches of fine white sand lapped by an azure, bath-warm sea, looking out to the coral reef at the ocean's edge across a safe expanse of shallow, tidal lagoon. And if you're in the mood for more wildlife action, a safari in the beautiful Shimba Hills National Park is only a short drive from the coast.


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ESP Careers: Clerical Services
One Education Workforce Serving The Whole Student!
About Us and Our Work
- 76% of us work in school buildings, and 19% work in central office and administration buildings.
- 25% of us work with special education students. 37% have been asked to give medications to students.
- 91% of us work full time. On average, we work 11 months a year.
- 98% of us are female. 81% of us are married.
- Our average age is 52.
- 71% of us have at least some college.
- On average, we have been NEA ESP members for 11 years.
We are experienced: 12.4 years is the average we have been working in our field. We have been with our current employers 11.5 years.
We are committed: 89% of us currently plan to stay in the ESP field, and 67% plan to stay in our jobs until we retire.
We're the second largest ESP job group: within NEA's nine K-12 ESP job groups, we are the second largest, making up 17% of the ESP membership. With approximately 405,000 clerical services ESPs working in the nation's K-12 public schools, we are also the second largest, making up 18.6% of the U.S. K-12 ESP work force.
We live in our school districts: 77% of us live in the school districts where we work.
We are active in our communities: 80% of us volunteer in community organizations.
We are focused on student safety: 64% have intervened to prevent bullying behavior in school or stop school violence, such as intimdation or harassment.
Our Workplace Conditions and Issues
Our jobs need to be better defined. For those of us who have a job description, 22% feel it does not accurately describe the kind of work we do. 14% have no written job descriptions. 51% are often or sometimes asked to perform duties outside of our job descriptions.
We interact closely with parents and the public, often in situations of stress, conflict, or crisis. We also supervise students, including student workers and students who are being disciplined through office detention. We sometimes work with students who are ill or have special needs.
Many of us want more opportunities for professional development and in-service training. We need training with new computers and software in order to meet our ever-changing job expectations. We enjoy our freedom to decide how to do our jobs and the personal fulfillment we get from our work. We'd like better wages and benefits and more chances for promotion and advancement.
How We Help Make Public Schools Great For Every Student
We provide courteous and helpful assistance to school and office visitors. We are on the front lines of all office operations, working in settings from schools to administrative offices to transportation facilities. We interact daily with students, parents and staff, and make our first impression a lasting impression about our school and its district.
Clerical Services ESPs: Who We Are
- Secretaries and Stenographers
- Typists and Word Processors
- Administrative and Office Assistants
- Bookkeepers and Accounting and Financial Assistants
- Data Entry, Payroll, and General Office Workers
- Registration, Records, and Attendance Technicians
- Receptionists and Telephone Operators
- Couriers
- Nonmanagerial Office Supervisors
Visit the ESP Publications page and download a copy of the Who We Are brochure to learn more about ESP Careers!
How We Advocate For Students
- ESPs Meeting the Needs of the Whole Student
- ESP Coloring Book (English)
recommended for pre-k to 5th grade
- ESP Coloring Book (Spanish)
recommended for pre-k to 5th grade
- ESP Superheroes Poster
- ESP Superheroes Handout Cards
- ESP Ensuring Student Success Poster
- ESP Ensuring Student Success Handout Cards


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bring (someone or something) up to date
bring (someone or something) up to date
To share or incorporate the most current information about someone or something. Bring me up to date on these candidates for the job. This schedule doesn't include the latest changes—can you bring it up to date?
bring someone or something up-to-date
to modernize someone or something. We brought the room up-to-date with a little paint and some modern furniture. I can bring you up-to-date with a new hairdo.
See also: bring
bring someone up-to-date (on someone or something)
to inform someone of the latest information about something. Let me bring you up-to-date on what is happening in the village. Please bring me up-to-date.
See also: bring
bring up to date
Convey information up to the present; also, make one aware of or conform to new ideas, improvements, or styles. For example, Bring me up to date on the test results, or We've been bringing Grandma up to date with a little makeup and some new clothes. The term up to date comes from bookkeeping, where it signifies account entries to the present time. [Late 1800s]


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Russell Ramsey
executive creative director,
I saw the new Weight Watchers ad over the Christmas holidays. It's a big, bold move to make a three-minute TV spot, but I actually thought it was an ad for sanitary towels. Lots of women singing - or should I say miming - the word "always" (which is a brand of sanitary towels) over and over again, confidently and proudly showing their active lives, wearing high heels and new clothes. Then there's a nearby pool with women confidently and proudly swimming. The whole cast appears to be having a great time and Alesha Dixon appears at the front of the crowd, which is swarming down Marshall Street in Soho. The whole thing is pretty naff.
I thought maybe it's because I'm a bloke that I hated this film. Do women really want to behave like that? Apparently not - most of the women I spoke to about it hate it as well. The media spend, we are told, is a hefty £24 million, so expect an uplift nonetheless. The endline is "Play Weight Watchers", with the addition of "Like the people in this film have". Which is a slightly pointless addition worthy of Ernie Wise. You can see interviews with the participants online talking about their weight-loss experiences, but the "making of" film is surely only of interest to the people who are actually in it.
Much more of interest is the British Heart Foundation ad, which opens with Vinnie Jones in gangster guise and two comical cronies standing behind him. Vinnie explains to us the procedure for resuscitating a collapsed person. No kissing, thank God. The film is made with humour and charm. The writing, the casting and the directional touches mean it's informative and entertaining at the same time. Vinnie's performance is pretty good and the Bee Gees' Staying Alive playing in the background is a light-hearted way of getting the message over. I enjoyed it.
Next up are two sale campaigns, which you'd expect in January.
The British Airways ads are neat and tidy, and get a retail message over in quite a stylish way. Ice sculptures of the Chrysler Building, a dolphin and an ice-cream illustrate the places you can go or the things you can do instead of putting up with a British winter. Maybe they're not quite as good as the "big sale" ads from last year, but still quite nice.
Next is Harvey Nichols, which has a heritage of producing award-winning print campaigns. However, I find these ads a bit dull and I don't actually understand them. They're split portraits showing people wearing different clothes on either side. It's not clear to me that the "NOW" is better than the "WAS", or why or what the visuals actually have to do with the Harvey Nichols sale. Not sure this campaign will have the success in the awards shows of some of its predecessors.
Next up is Asics. A slightly lesser-known sports brand that must be hoping to unseat Nike and Adidas as the sports darlings of the awards shows. It won't do it with this film. It's dull in the extreme. A dull voiceover, with very dull music, is layered over very ordinary visuals of people doing various sports. The female voiceover is trying to be profound, but just comes across as meaningless. Lines such as "I am made of belief, not barriers" or "I am everything to come, not just what has been" aren't going to convince anyone to shift out of their Nike LunarEclipses.
Lastly, another ad in the Aviva campaign, which continues with Paul Whitehouse playing a Brummie trout fisherman who's got a "bostin'" deal on his car insurance as opposed to a "stoatin'" deal in the last ad. Quite a formulaic structure for an ad, but quite amusing nonetheless. "I need a wee now" is a great line to end an ad with.
Moray MacLennan
worldwide chief executive,
M&C Saatchi
"The most severe test in decades." "The crisis will go on." "More sacrifice is required." "Not for the faint-hearted." Just a small selection of the cheery forecasts for 2012 from our European leaders. In response, I've decided to adopt a stance that could be labelled Canute, or possibly even ostrich-like - relentlessly cheerful, upbeat, focusing as much as possible on the positive.
So, Asics. A series of sporting vignettes that aim to capture the essence of sport and the importance of preparation and training. I could choose to mention that I've seen this ad quite a few times for other brands and even made it once myself (which is a shame as Asics is a genuinely differentiated brand), but instead ... the positives. Some nice lines - "sweat, not swagger" - and a good thought, "I am made of sport", which has room to get better as the campaign develops.
The British Heart Foundation. What to do if someone has a cardiac arrest: "hands-only CPR". This is easy. Vinnie Jones and a few of his mates put in excellent performances as Lock, Stock ... characters. The Bee Gees lend a hand with apposite lyrics (Staying Alive) and rhythm (correct beat for CPR). Well-cast, simple, witty, memorable and brilliantly PR'd. I saw it on all the national news channels and heard it on Radio 4 and 5 live.
British Airways. An ice sculpture of the Chrysler Building with the headline "The Goodbye Winter Sale". Clean and reasonably eyecatching and, continuing to plough my positive furrow, I will take the blame for not understanding what I, or they, are saying "goodbye" to. Can't be winter because it's a picture of ice, not a palm tree. Is it a pun? Too clever for me. To solve the puzzle, I looked online for other images that do, indeed, include a palm tree, and the campaign makes more sense.
Weight Watchers. Alesha Dixon was commissioned to write a song inspired by weight-loss. Successful Weight Watchers perform the song, some looking distinctly uncomfortable. Credit has to be given for an original approach that is being talked about. It looks like it was fun to make and be a part of. Which is more than can be said for watching it, as it goes on for three minutes and 15 seconds without anything interesting happening. But I have a sneaking suspicion the campaign will work because it takes a joyous rather than miserable approach to weight-loss.
Harvey Nichols. Another brand I am uniquely unqualified to comment on. Having said that, I did enjoy the "walk of shame" viral just before Christmas - it should make the male equivalent. This is a press ad for the Harvey Nichols sale. Affordable glamour, I suppose, is the message and it probably says more about me that I preferred the outfits on the left-hand side and didn't think the overall effect was particularly glamorous - a bit on the drab side. But to conclude on an upbeat note, I liked the too-posh-to-price approach in a sales ad: very much on-brand.
Aviva. Johnny Depp, no less, recently described Paul Whitehouse as the best actor in the world, and this series of commercials do show off his acting talent admirably. This time around, he's a Brummie fisherman flogging a third off when you insure your second car. I do now associate Paul almost as much with Aviva as I do with Harry Enfield, which is possibly a good thing for Aviva. I just wanted him to be funnier and I didn't get the offer until I repeat-viewed.
As you can see, my reservoir of goodwill is running dry and my resolve to focus on the positive is waning. Best to stop.


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Too cool for Coleslaw… I think not!
Oh slaw of cole, I applaud your monochromatic fabulousness.
Coleslaw is pretty simple. The one-note pony who went to the rodeo, it might look pretty boring, but this soothing side makes the perfect sidekick for spicy main courses. Who says simple can't be terrific?
Speaking of simple, easy coleslaw: rub your magic lamp and wish for coleslaw. Less easy, but still easy, coleslaw: score a bag of the raw, undressed, angel hair coleslaw (shredded green cabbage) from the store. Making your own dressing means you're off to the races! Or the picnic. Or your lip smacking spa day.
It's important to note that you can use heavy cream in this recipe (if you're following Atkins induction), but stir the dressing by hand, since heavy cream tends to bulk up (I ended up with whipped mayo topping). For the sweetener, I use Ideal sugar blend, found at Amazon.com and Albertson's stores nationwide. Whether you use Splenda, stevia, chicory or your own sweetness, be sure to use what you like, because them's the rules. It's the slaw! Get it?! The slaw! Don't make me come over there.
This slaw is so good, it tops every dish, including pop sensation Justin Bieber.
|Pop star made separately. credit
The recipe makes enough for a pound of cabbage covered bliss. Make the day before whenever possible to let flavors steep.
- 16 ounces shredded cabbage or slaw mix
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk or heavy whipping cream
- 1 Tbsp vinegar
- 1 Tbsp sugar substitute
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- optional: paprika for color
Mix all ingredients but slaw by hand or on low with a mixer to avoid whipping air into the cream (if using cream instead of coconut milk). Toss with a slaw and let refrigerate, preferably, overnight, to allow the flavors to meld together.
Makes 2+ cups of slathery goodness for 6 servings. Per 1/6 recipe: With heavy cream: Calories: 160, Total Carbs: 6g, Fiber: 2g, Net Carbs: 4g, Protein: 1g, Fat:15g With coconut milk: Calories: 161, Total Carbs: 6g, Fiber: 2g, Net Carbs: 4g, Protein: .75g, Fat:15g


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The Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) invites applications for a tenure-stream appointment in Statistics, at the rank of Assistant Professor. The appointment will begin on July 1, 2014.
The University of Toronto is an international leader in Statistics research and education. The Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences enjoys strong ties to other centres of research in Statistics, Mathematics and Computer Science within the University. The successful applicant will be expected to establish a strong, externally funded research program, to actively contribute to the enrichment of undergraduate programs in the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences at UTSC, and to participate actively in the Graduate Department of Statistical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
Candidates in all areas of Statistics are encouraged to apply. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in Statistics or a closely related discipline by the date of appointment or shortly thereafter. They must demonstrate excellence in research, the ability to pursue innovative research at the highest level, and a commitment to excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching. Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
All qualified candidates are invited to apply by clicking on the following link: https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/jobs/5227. Applications must include a CV, statements of research and teaching interests and three representative publications. Applicants should also arrange that letters of reference from at least three referees familiar with the candidate's research and teaching be sent through the Mathjobs website. If you have questions about the position, please contact Katheleene Smith in the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences.
Applications lacking reference letters will not be considered. All materials must be received by December 10, 2013.
For more information on the research and teaching activities of the Department of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, please visit our webpage http://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/csms/
The University of Toronto is strongly committed to diversity
within its
community and especially welcomes applications from visible
minority group
members, women, Aboriginal persons, persons with disabilities,
members of
sexual minority groups, and others who may contribute to the
diversification of ideas. The University is responsive to the
needs of
dual career couples. The University of Toronto offers the
opportunity to
conduct research, teach, and live in one of the most diverse
cities in the
world. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply;
however, Canadians
and permanent residents will be given priority.
Description: Adobe PDF document


text:
Below you will find a list of topics in the Chromium (Browser) forums at the Google Chrome Forums. Discussions on the open source browser by Google.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
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It is the curse of the modern age. After a day spent text messaging, emailing and browsing the web, your smartphone is dead. So now, after brushing your teeth and letting the dog out, there is another task: plugging in your phone.
But it never used to be like this. Simple handsets used to keep on going for days on end. So what changed? And more importantly, what is the mobile industry doing about it?
The big difference is of course the technology -we used to talk on 2G phones that ran on the old GSM networks. They could last for almost a week, partly because we asked so little of them. As detailed in the previous article in this series, smartphones became powerful computers because they needed to be to make strong, wireless connections to the network. And when they make those connections we ask them to do data-intensive tasks like stream video.
Every single step along the way involves information processing. That takes currents flowing around silicon chips; and currents running round silicon chips generate heat, wasting energy. PC and laptop users are constantly reminded about this by the whirr of the fans that keep their processors cool. We don't notice it on phones, because everything they do seems to happen so silently, so effortlessly. But when you look at the detail, energy drips way like water from a leaky tap. And it all adds up.
Take the work of Dr Angela Nicoara, senior research scientist at the Deutsche Telekom Innovation Center in Silicon Valley. She has become something of a digital dietician, counting the joules that go into feeding our smartphones' appetites. She recently laid out her findings in a report she enticingly called Who Killed My Battery?
In a collaboration with the group of Professor Dan Boneh at Stanford University, she connected a state of the art electronic meter to the battery of a smartphone, which typically store around 15-20,000 joules of energy, and then tracked the power for every millisecond it performed one of the most common applications for our handhelds: browsing the web.
What emerged when she broke down the actions millisecond by millisecond came as a surprise.
The first was that just hitting the "go" button and getting the phone to contact the network used 12 joules, as the phone exchanged details with the local base station, agreed transmission settings and so on. That's before a single byte was downloaded. When that process begins, the real surprises come thick and fast.
It turns out that the design of the web page has a massive impact on the energy it takes to put it on your mobile screen. For example, the BBC News website, specifically designed for mobile users, took another 3 joules to download and process all the bits for a news story. For the worst performer of the websites she explored, Apple.com, it took another 34 joules – 11 times more than the BBC. Wikipedia came just behind.
Careless websites, she found, are at least contributors to killing her battery. For our PCs and laptops connected to the mains, these numbers don't matter. With the constraints of a mobile battery they are critical.
The difference between these websites was in the way that they were built. For example, interactive elements that are used to customise a site experience and often run in the background of a site were a big drain. A half of those 34 joules needed to see the Apple page were down to these functions, without them even being touched; on Wikipedia, they alone cost 10 joules.
Another drain are the so-called CSS files that tell a browser how to layout the page. Again, on the Apple site, these required 12 joules to download and render onto the screen. Simple improvements reduce this by 5 joules.
Each joule might seem a trivial amount, but like a slimmer on a diet lots of small savings soon add up – especially when some websites take eleven times as much energy to visit as others.
Electronic warfare
But website design is not the only drain on a phone's batteries. The way we access these websites – and in particular the settings our service providers use - also has a huge effect, according to Hari Balakrishnan, Fujitsu Professor of Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Surprisingly, it is the network that decides what power setting our handsets use. When we need to transmit, the network tells our handsets to power up to maximum. But the network's interests are different from ours. We would like to power down again as soon possible to save our battery.
But only a slender portion of an already crowded radio spectrum is assigned for these so-called control messages, says Dr Balakrishnan. Because of that, the network tries to minimise the number of control signals it sends, even if that leaves our handset powering away while doing nothing.
"A classic example," says Dr Balakrishnan, "is when you're running an application that wakes up every 20 or 30 seconds and sends one byte of information. That would, in many cases, keep your radio in the high-power, active mode all the time. But it doesn't have to. That kind of trivial workload should consume next to no energy, but ends up using huge amounts of energy because of the sub-optimal controls implemented by the networks."
Like Dr Nicoara, Dr Balakrishnan decided to test his suspicion by wiring his battery to a meter and watching the battery drain. The results showed that by letting the phone control its own settings, he could halve the power consumed by the wireless transmissions with minimal effect on the network performance (although he stresses the details change from device to device, and from network to network).
Again, these might seem small improvements overall – but a network that can give our phones a few more hours of working battery life is highly likely to attract more customers these days.
Of course, it wouldn't matter how long your phone was fired up to exchange bits with the base station, if it could do so with minimal energy. But it turns out the mobile industry has been fighting a war with its electronics for years because they are so inefficient.
Specifically, it is the purity of the radio wave that they use to connect to the base station that requires so much power.
With radio spectrum restricted (see the two previous articles in this series) transmission frequencies are squeezed in close together, and any distortion in the signal would lead to catastrophic interference. And it turns out that the basic physics of the amplifiers that drive the antennae can only generate those pure waves when drawing a lot of electrical current.
When the 3G standards were introduced, manufacturers turned to a special design of amplifier first concocted back in the 1930s, because of the stringent demands of the networks. But even then, for every watt of transmitted radio power, there's more than another watt simply warming your handset to create this pure wave. Basically, simple physics is doubling the drain rate on your battery.
"The industry is racing furiously to mitigate this problem," says Joel Dawson, Professor of Power Engineering at MIT, who has himself come forward with a smart fix that involves electronically compensating for this distortion, something that could apparently halve the losses. But how soon any of those fixes will make it to the market remains to be seen.
Energy harvest
Of course these aren't the only drains on a battery. Modern smartphones pack everything from small accelerometers to energy hungry global positioning systems. And then there is the display - the whole selling point of the smart phone is the interface that lets you access the world wherever you are. Until researchers can develop electronic-inks similar to these used in the Kindle e-book or other pixelated passive systems that refresh as fast as lit screens, simply viewing the phone comes at a substantial cost.
The obvious solution would be to pack in a bigger battery, but of all the components in your handset, the battery is the one that represents seriously mature technology. Most of the electrochemistry was laid down a hundred years ago and, as one battery manufacturer confessed to me, there's little they can do about. The introduction of the rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the 1990s was something of a step change. But since then … well, while virtually every other phone parameter doubles in a year or two, it takes a decade to double battery performance.
There are ongoing efforts to improve battery technology (See: Charging Tomorrow's smartphones) but there may also be another route: harvesting energy from the environment.
Solar power is long-established, and has been tried many times with mobile phones, but has failed largely because of inconvenience. As the front of phones is crowded out with buttons, photovoltaic cells have largely been put on the back – but that has required turning a phone upside down to keep the battery charged.
But the form of the modern smart phone, freeing up the top face, has changed all that. And one potential solution is on display at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this.
WYSIPS ("What You See is the Photovoltaic Surface"), as it is known, is a joke, according to Francis Robcis, sales director for the new product. "Because you can't see it," he explains.
And it needs to be like that, because WYSIPS has silicon solar cells embedded within the large smartphone display.
"Go into the office, and most people will leave their phones lying around with the face up," says Robcis. So that when the set is idle, the tiny silicon strips (too small to see) are busy recharging the battery.
The challenge has been to integrate the photovoltaics into the display without dimming the image by more than 10 per cent – a reduction users should find acceptable. And to allow it to sit alongside the touchscreen function. If the system takes off, the future mobile screen could become a busy place.
The company hopes to have a pilot line producing screens by the end of the year, to prove the technology is viable.
Powering by sunlight, of course, is conventional, even if unfamiliar in mobile phones. At the University of Washington Seattle, ex-Intel researcher Joshua Smith is planning something much more radical: powering mobile phones - with gratifying circularity - by radio waves.
His lab, funded by tech giants Intel and Google, has already made great strides. "The largest TV towers in the US put out around a megawatt of energy," Smith explains. "We're able to operate our energy harvester as much as 30 km from one and get small but usable amounts of energy."
In essence, harvesting radio energy requires rewiring the phone antenna to extract not the signal but the power of the carrier wave. And it's not only powerful TV transmissions that you can tap into. Recently, Smith's lab has been able to harvest energy from mobile phone masts.
The quantities available are down in the microwatt range, so not enough to power voice transmissions. But enough energy can be accumulated, Smith says, to send short texts, or just to stretch the battery life.
"It would be enough to have perpetual standby. My favourite example is driving along in my car. My son is playing Angry Birds on the cell phone, and completely drains the battery. And then I get a flat tyre. It would be nice if I could send an emergency SMS using this ambient energy. And of course, compared to solar power, you could even do it at night."
All of which means that the daily ritual of recharging your phone could soon be a thing of the past.
If you would like to comment on this article or anything else you have seen on Future, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.


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Jee-Money Vs. Revanon Rap Battle [Grind Time]
The last scheduled battle June 1st @ Redefine. Jee tries to get 2 wins in one day. WIll Jee-Money come through or will Revanon pull an upset.
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Economic FreedomSocialism
We live in an age when politicians decide what is "essential" and what isn't. It's a grave abuse of power and common sense.
SocialismPhilosophy and Methodology
Liberalism conceives of freedom as the absence of constraint, but Hegel's definition is more expansive. And, of course, the state is a necessary condition for it.
Big GovernmentMedia and CultureMoney and Banks
Our monetary system, combined with interventionist state policies, causes mass overconsumption, the destruction of wealth, capital consumption, and the destruction of nature.
The Entrepreneur
In a world of demanding and ever-changing consumers, there is always a way to do things better, with greater quality, and at a lower price. Entrepreneurs must learn how to do this, or they will lose out to those who can.
Entrepreneurs try to find gaps in the marketplace where consumers are not quite satisfied with the status quo. Successful entrepreneurs then fill in those gaps.
U.S. History
Both left and right now repeatedly push a myth: the myth that governments have been taken over by laissez-faire hard-core free-market economists who have turned the world into a landscape of untrammeled capitalism.
Harry Jaffa's disciples are rather sensitive to criticism.
Philosophy and Methodology
If governments do anything more than protect property rights, then they're too big.


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Fill out this simple, free quote request and we will be in touch within 24 hours (usually much sooner) with details on how we can help.
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Events for August 11, 2019
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Captain Pugwash Exhibition at Rye Station
If you can remember Captain Pugwash on TV or have ready any of the books written by John Ryan, then you will be thrilled with this exhibition. It is for adults and children alike. The author John Ryan lived in Rye and there is memorial bench and garden just outside the station which is dedicated […]Find out more »
HeART to Heart Sculpture Trail for St Catherine's Hospice
Welcome to Heart to Heart St Catherine's Hospice are delighted to be launching HeART to Heart, a brand new art trail in West Sussex and East Surrey, in Summer 2019! HeART to Heart will showcase 26 beautifully designed and completely unique large hearts across our community, alongside 11 stunning wire hearts that have been customised […]Find out more »


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1998 - 2003: Ph.D. Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
1990 - 1996: B. Sc. Mathematics, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia
Bargaining, Coalition Formation, Cooperation, Game Theory, General Equilibrium, Microeconomic Theory
2010 MBA Professor of the Year
2006 – Present: Assistant Professor, Business Administration Program, University of Washington, Bothell, WA
2004 – 2006: Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN
2003 – 2004: Post‐Doctoral Researcher, Institute of Economics,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
1998 – 2003: Research and Teaching Assistant, Department of Economics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
1997 – 1998: Financial Analyst, Diner's Club, Bogotá, Colombia
1996 – 1997: Consultant, Colombian National Planning Department, Bogotá, Colombia
Gómez, J.C. 2006. Achieving efficiency with manipulative bargainers. Games and Economic Behavior, Vol. 57, No. 2, pp. 254 – 263. Preprint version here
Bejan, C. and Gómez, J.C. 2009. Core extensions for non-balanced TU-games. International Journal of Game Theory, Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 3-16. Preprint version here
Balakrishnan, P. V., Gómez, J.C. and Vohra, R. V. 2011. The Tempered Aspirations solution for bargaining problems with a reference point. Mathematical Social Sciences, Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 144‐150. Preprint version here
Bejan, C. and Gómez, J.C. Axiomatizing core extensions. This article is forthcoming in International Journal of Game Theory, DOI: 10.1007/s00182‐011‐0316‐4. Preprint version here
Bejan, C. and Gómez, J.C. Using the aspiration core to predict coalition formation.This article is forthcoming in International Game Theory Review. Preprint version here
Bargaining problems with arbitrary reference points (joint work with P.V. (Sundar) Balakrishnan and Rakesh Vohra)
Competitive outcomes, endogenous firm formation and the aspiration core (joint work with Camelia Bejan)
On Market Games with Time, Location, and Free Disposal Constraints (joint work with Camelia Bejan)
Deciding when 'Pay What You Want' Pricing is Profitable (joint work with Sandeep Krishnamurthy) Presentation at UWB Research Seminar
Referee for Games and Economic Behavior, International Journal of Game Theory, Journal of Mathematical Economics, Review of Economic Design.
2008 – 2009 Chair of the MBA Admissions Committe
2006 – 2010 Member of the MBA Admissions Committee
2008 Hiring committee for Assistant Professor in Operations Managemen
2009 Hiring committee for Lecturer in Strateg
2007 – 2011 Course coordinator, Managerial Economics
2008 Co‐director of undergraduate thesis: "Fixed Point Theorems in Game Theory: Equivalence of Three Existence Theorems" by Santiago Saavedra, Department of Mathematics, Universidad de los Andes
(425) 352-3618


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Same-sex couples will be considered "family relationships" in immigration proceedings, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a move that could help stem the deportation of those in gay or lesbian binational relationships.
Close family ties to the United States are a factor considered by authorities in deportation cases, and gay and lesbian advocates have long argued for same-sex couples to have the same immigration rights as opposite-sex couples.
"In an effort to make clear the definition of the phrase 'family relationships,' I have directed ICE to disseminate written guidance to the field that the interpretation of the phrase 'family relationships' includes long-term, same-sex partners," Napolitano said in a letter.
Eight-four members of Congress signed a joint letter to Napolitano on July 31 asking for her to put into writing an order to prevent the deportation and separation of immigrants from their American citizen same-sex partners.
One of those who penned the letter, U.S. Congressman Michael Honda of California, said Napolitano's response, which he received Thursday night, heralded "promising news."
"In the wake of this important victory, we must take a step forward and continue the fight for immigration reform. Current immigration laws are tearing families apart and separating American citizens from their loves ones," he said in a statement. "No one should have to choose between their spouse and their country, and no family should be left out of the immigration system."
Gay couples, where spouse is a foreigner, sue over DOMA
Same-sex couple fights to stop deportation, gay marriage ban
For some gay couples, fight goes on to marry — and stay in the US
There are an estimated 36,000 binational gay couples in the U.S. Two such couples have brought lawsuits challenging the Defense of Marriage Act, a U.S. law passed in 1996 that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriages and thereby denies various benefits given to heterosexual couples, such as the right to immigrate.
Rachel B. Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, called the announcement a "huge step forward."
"Until now, LGBT families and their lawyers had nothing to rely on but an oral promise that prosecutorial discretion would include all families. Today, DHS has responded to Congress and made that promise real. The Administration's written guidance will help families facing separation and the field officers who are reviewing their cases," she said in a statement.
Tiven was referring to the prosecutorial discretion laid out in June 2011, when ICE Director John Morton issued a memo requiring staff to consider the circumstances presented in individual deportation cases, such as whether the person has close family ties to the U.S.
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Now to find somewhere to store them all….
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Color swatches
Now to find somewhere to store them all….
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14th: From a management/production company
Congratulations on being chosen as a semifinalist for the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship. This is a very prestigious honor and quite an accomplishment.
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Par charlotte3nc le 23 Octobre 2016 à 05:48
From Undocumented to Citizen: USCIS Issues Certificate of Citizen to your Client
When our teenage client and her mother stumbled on our office, their concentration was obtaining some sort of legal status for your young woman. She likes to great grades-nearly all A�s. She well in front of her classmates. So when she starts her junior year, she actually is starting out make plans for faculty. Unfortunately, there�s one real problem. She's no legal status in the us. Previously being born in Mexico then brought illegally in the United States as an infant, our client was raised from infancy in South Carolina-but the Sc public university system will not recognize �undocumented� residents as �in state� for tuition purposes, making expenses nearly three-times as expensive. Furthermore, being an undocumented immigrant, our client is not eligible for federal student aid or loan programs.
Charlotte immigration attorney,
Our client and her family had spoken to other immigration attorneys-the suggestion ended up being apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. However, the DACA would only allow our client to get a visa, a social security card, and in the end a driver�s license. Sc is probably the 30 claims that tend not to recognize DACA students as �in state� for tuition purposes.
Within our first meeting, we quickly determined that the client was most probably already an American citizen. Our client�s mother was obviously a natural born citizen, and though our client was created in Mexico, her U.S. citizen mother met certain requirements to confer citizenship to her with the somewhat rarely applied Child Citizenship Act of 2000. We advised the household on how the law applied and what documentation we might need in order to demonstrate her eligibility. We filed her application for any certificate of citizenship-form N-600-and a half a year later our client is now scheduled for an oath ceremony to swear her allegiance for the U . s . and receive her certificate of citizenship. She'll be in a position to sign up for college being an �in-state� student, and in many cases obtain federal student aid and loan support.
About us: Charlotte Immigration Law practice is a boutique legal practice focusing exclusively around immigration and nationality law. Opened in '09, the Firm handles the full array of immigration matters, including employment and family based immigration petitions, removal defense, and appeals. Our Charlotte immigration attorneys and legal staff help aspiring Americans, their own families, and their employers navigate the complexities of U.S. immigration law. We represent our clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (�USCIS�), the manager Office for Immigration Review (�EOIR� or �Immigration Court�), the Board of Immigration Appeals (�BIA�), and consular posts worldwide.
You can expect affordable immigration advice and representation to folks, families companies locally and worldwide. Since your Charlotte deportation attorney we attempt to construct personalized legal methods for our clients, and deliver quality advice and competitive services in a trustful, honest, and professional manner. Our Charlotte immigration attorneys offer clients absolute confidentiality, an extensive and innovative way of your legal problems, even though the firm's light structure enables undivided personal attention and economical representation.
If you want advice about any immigration matter, please contact our Charlotte immigration attorney. Our Charlotte immigration attorneys provide business immigration advice and representation locally and worldwide.
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NASA / JPL-Caltech / Doug Ellison
This view of the Curiosity rover's surroundings on Mars was assembled from black-and-white photos sent back by the navigation camera on Sol 2 and Sol 12 of the mission. Doug Ellison of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory filled out the Martian sky artificially, using the lighting values from the pictures that were acquired.
NASA's Curiosity rover has sent back its sharpest image of the 3-mile-high (5-kilometer-high) mountain it will climb on Mars.
The mountain, known as Mount Sharp or Aeolis Mons, towers right in front of the rover in the middle of 96-mile-wide Gale Crater, where Curiosity landed two weeks ago. The shadow of the rover's mast is visible in the picture, which incorporates fresh imagery from the six-wheeled robot's navigation camera system. The high country of the crater's rim rises to the left and the right of the mountain.
Black-and-white frames showing Mount Sharp's summit in all its glory were received overnight. Doug Ellison, a visualization producer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, added the mountain vista to a 360-degree panorama of the rover's surroundings, and filled in the rest of the sky based on the lighting data he had at hand.
The earlier Navcam panorama showed the crater's towering rim, but did not take in the upper reaches of the mountainside. A separate color panorama, provided by the rover's Mastcam system, is being filled out but does not yet include pictures of Mount Sharp's peak.
The main objective of Curiosity's two-year, $2.5 billion primary mission is to make its way to Mount Sharp and document billions of years of the Red Planet's geological history by analyzing the different layers of rock along the mountainside. Studying the geology and chemistry of Mount Sharp's various strata could tell scientists how habitable the planet was in earlier epochs, and how Mars has changed since then.
Project scientist John Grotzinger said on Friday that Curiosity would study its relatively nearby surroundings during the first few months of the mission, then start out in earnest for Mount Sharp by the end of the calendar year. It may take one Earth year for Curiosity to get to the foot of the mountain, and the trek to the higher elevations may well require extending the mission beyond its primary phase.
Grotzinger and his colleagues are hoping that extension will happen: The primary missions for Curiosity's older, smaller siblings — NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers — were set to last 90 days, but both of those solar-powered rovers lasted years longer. Opportunity is still at work, more than eight and a half years after its landing on Mars. The 1-ton, car-sized Curiosity is a much more capable rover, and it has a nuclear power source that could continue to generate electricity for decades.
Mount Sharp is the name commonly used by the Curiosity team, to honor the late Caltech geologist Robert Sharp, but the mountain's formal name is Aeolis Mons, according to the International Astronomical Union. For extra perspective on the mountain, check out this 3-D view produced by Ellison, as well as a newly released picture of Mount Sharp's central mound, taken from above by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The viewing angle for the orbital image is 45 degrees from the side, as if it were being seen from an airplane window.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Doug Ellison
Doug Ellison of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory assembled this stereo view of the Curiosity rover's surroundings on Mars using imagery from two of the imagers that are part of the rover's navigation camera system. Red-blue glasses are required to get the stereo effect.
NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Ariz.
A long strip of imagery from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the central mound of Mount Sharp, as well as the sand dunes surrounding the mountain. The colors have been stretched to emphasize differences in surface composition. (That means the sand dunes are not really blue.) Although this image was acquired after the Curiosity's landing, the viewing angle is such that none of the spacecraft's hardware is visible in this image.
More about Mars:
- Laser-equipped rover gets ready to zap a rock
- Britney Spears to Mars rover: What's new?
- Rover reveals more of Martian peak
- Mars rover team faces the masses
- Mars fans make viral video
- Panoramas add spin to Mars
- Mars rover survives its 'brain transplant'
- Mars orbiter gets a long look at Curiosity rover
- Reprogrammed rover getting ready to roll
- Obama tells rover team: Watch out for Martians
- Search for life to shape future Mars missions
- Mars rover getting reprogrammed for science
- Why the rover has such a dinky camera and computer
- How to build your own Mars rover with Lego blocks
- The Puff on Mars: Photo mystery solved!
- Panorama reveals a colorful Mars
- NBC video: Panorama featured on 'Nightly News'
- Curiosity reveals a Martian Mojave
- Tour the Martian Mojave in 3-D
- Flying saucer spotted over Mars
- First 3-D pictures sent by Curiosity
- Orbital photo spots rover and its trash
- Curiosity sends color snapshot from Mars
- Rover video looks down on Mars during landing
- Mars orbiter spots rover in midair
- NASA's Mohawk Guy marvels at his fame
- Curiosity rover scores touchdown on Mars
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.