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Today, we're excited to announce that Adobe Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will be launching in early October. These milestone releases introduce the next generation of the technologies that deliver stunning content and apps to over a billion people — across screens including Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry PlayBook, Windows, Mac, and connected TV devices — pushing the boundaries of what's possible on the web.
Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 take these even further by introducing Stage 3D, a new architecture for hardware accelerated graphics rendering that delivers 1000x faster rendering performance over Flash Player 10. It enables new classes of console-quality games and immersive apps, such as Tanki Online and Zombie Tycoon (see videos below). Stage 3D enables content that efficiently animate millions of objects on screen, smoothly rendered at 60 frames per second — the result is fluid, cinematic app and game experiences. Additionally, these releases deliver new features to support theater-quality HD video, native 64-bit optimizations, high-quality HD video conferencing, and a powerful, flexible architecture for leveraging native device and platform capabilities. We're turning the dial up.
Building Blocks
Flash began with a few bits of colored plastic, inspired by experiences of playing with LEGOs as kids. Over 15 years, Flash has provided some of the most creative building blocks for designers and developers, pushing innovation and helping the web to evolve and iterate at a rapid pace defined by creativity. Flash made fluid animation an integral part of the web, defining our modern expectations for smooth, animated user interfaces. And since then, Flash has made features such as rich typography, beautiful interfaces leveraging dynamic vector and raster graphics, dynamic synchronized audio playback, advanced scripting, and seamless HD video mainstream — not just as experiments waiting to reach the world, but capabilities accessible to virtually every connected computer on the Internet. Many of the capabilities that Flash pioneered have over time moved into web standards and browsers, and will continue to do so as Adobe works closely with the web standards community and continues to develop products that support and advance HTML5. Piece by piece, Flash has enhanced and upgraded what's possible for over a billion people on web, and Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 continue that tradition.
The Next-Generation Console Has Arrived
Today, approximately 70% of web games are powered by Flash, along with 9 of the top 10 games on Facebook, about 70% of the games on Google+, and the top social games from companies like Zynga and EA. Games at their best are fluid, immersive experiences, and the unmatched consistency of Flash Player allows game developers to focus on making great games rather than fight fragmented technology. Games just play. And play big: Flash Player brings an audience over 11 times larger than that of the best-selling current generation game console.
Flash Player 11 is the next-generation console for the web: now with Stage 3D (codenamed "Molehill"), it provides a consistent platform for gorgeous games and rich engaging content — hundreds of millions of users will be able to instantly upgrade to a whole new level of games on the web with a simple update, ready to experience amazing games using Stage 3D when they come to market later this year and early 2012. With stunning hardware accelerated graphics, mature dynamic audio, immersive full screen, native support for mouse/multi-touch/camera input, low-latency peer-to-peer multiplayer networking, full HD 1080p video playback, and high-quality voice chat, Flash Player provides the building blocks for incredible games.
Everyone wins. Content using the new Stage 3D APIs will automatically take advantage of modern GPU hardware, from integrated graphics chips to the most advanced high-end graphics cards, to provide incredibly fluid graphics — and Stage 3D also provides accelerated software rendering for content on older computers (yep, even mom's old PC with Windows XP), where it runs up to 2-10x faster than software rendering in Flash Player 10. In other words, all computers with Flash Player 11 can benefit from the accelerated performance of Stage 3D. And game publishers can also package their Flash technology-based apps using AIR to deliver them across Android, iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry PlayBook, Windows, Mac, and connected TV devices. To learn about some of the benefits of the Flash Platform for game publishers, check out the new Adobe Gaming Solutions page at www.adobe.com/go/gaming.
Hear more about the Stage 3D accelerated graphics architecture from the Flash Runtime team:
Adoption of new Flash Player releases has been accelerating — nearly half of the web upgrades Flash Player within four weeks of a new release — so websites can expect that many of the over 1 billion people with Flash Player will be able to reap the benefits of Stage 3D soon, bringing modern GPU hardware acceleration to more people on the web than any other technology. The efficient Stage 3D architecture was designed from the ground up with resource-constrained mobile devices in mind — the full, optimized rendering model will be supported on smartphones and tablets as well, and we're making this support available in a private prerelease.
Combined with high-level graphics frameworks built on Stage 3D, including a range of specialized, optimized third-party graphics frameworks and game engines, Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 make incredible graphics performance everywhere accessible to a range of developers, whether they're building rich 3D visualization apps or sophisticated, expressive games. Some of these great frameworks include Alternativa 3D, Away 3D, Flare 3D, Minko, and Yogurt 3D. Adobe will also soon make a 3D framework technology preview called Proscenium available on Adobe Labs. Proscenium will allow developers using Flash Builder to rapidly prototype experiences focused on simple content interaction and display, whether for simple games, visualization, or high-quality rendering of small object collections.
And we're especially delighted to announce Starling, a flexible, lightweight framework for 2D graphics and animation that combines the simplicity of Flash with the incredible power of modern hardware accelerated graphics provided by Stage 3D. The Starling Framework is a free and open source ActionScript library designed to be instantly familiar to developers and designers using the traditional Flash display list. Starling and Stage 3D in Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 enable easy intuitive GPU-accelerated graphics programming for everyone. Beautiful is now simple.
Particle effects with Starling and Stage 3D in Flash Player 11:
Rolling Forward
We've seen lots of momentum with Flash Player and AIR, especially in these areas:
Gaming: Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 allow game publishers to instantly deliver engaging games to anyone with a PC, tablet, smartphone, or connected TV. And with Stage 3D, game publishers and developers can take their games to a new level, creating new opportunities for game developers and publishers to deliver and monetize their content. Two of the many upcoming games leveraging Stage 3D include Tanki Online and Ultimate Race Championship.
To experience a tablet game with Flash today, check out Machinarium, an award-winning puzzle and adventure game for the iPad 2 that within one day became the #1 game on iTunes in the U.S. and 12 other countries, #1 app overall, and "iPad Game of the Week" — and it's coming soon for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook (play a demo right in your browser with Flash Player). Visit the Flash Game Technology Center to learn more about building games with Flash. And check out this short video on Machinarium and upcoming Stage 3D -enabled content
Rich media and premium video: Leading content providers, including Amazon, ESPN, HBO, Hulu, and YouTube, deliver premium HD live video and video on demand (VoD) using Flash technology to reach multiple screens, while benefiting from adaptive streaming, content protection, smooth hardware-accelerated HD video playback, and expanded audiences with Adobe Pass for TV Everywhere. Even the animals are in on it: the California Academy of Sciences uses Flash to share a waddle of cuteness with the Pocket Penguins app for Android and iPhone.
Data-driven apps: Flash enables highly interactive, collaborative applications across devices and distribution channels. Using Flash and AIR, the St. Petersburg Times delivered the PolitiFact app on the Apple App Store, Android Market, and BlackBerry App World — a #1 paid news app on iTunes.
Snapping Key Pieces in Place
Some of the other benefits coming with Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 include:
A fully modern architecture. Flash Player 11 delivers full native 64-bit support for 64-bit browsers on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows, while also leveraging advanced processor optimizations to deliver additional performance.
Uncompromised experiences everywhere. Native extensions in AIR 3 allow developers to take advantage of existing native code libraries and deep native hardware and OS capabilities, such as sensors (gyroscopes, magnetometers, light sensors, etc.), multiple screens, native in-app payments, haptic/vibration control, device status, and Near Field Communications (NFC).
Simple, instant app install. Developers can package their apps with AIR 3 as a captive runtime for one-click, seamless installs on Android, Windows, and Mac OS (in addition to iOS) without any additional runtime download.
And there are dozens more new capabilities in Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 that web and app developers will be able to take advantage of to create beautiful new experiences. Check out our press release and Labs release notes to see the complete list of what's new, and we'll be highlighting more of these features in the future (and even more at Adobe MAX). We look forward to delivering the release versions in early October, and if you want to get your hands on them now, you can download the release candidate versions from Adobe Labs today. With Flash Player 11 and AIR 3, we're providing some amazing new building blocks. We're thrilled to see what you create with them.


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When the obituary of the bankable star is finally written, 2010 will be cited as the year that the patient began circling the drain, with "The Tourist" being mentioned as the film that pushed it into the intensive care unit.
Dating back to Johnny Depp's 1984 debut in "Nightmare on Elm Street," his and Angelina Jolie's films have combined to bring in more than $3.8 billion But this past weekend, the duo co-starred for the first time, taking in a measly $17 million, finished second behind "The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader," the third film in a fast-fading franchise. Five years ago, such results would've been unthinkable; now, it's just par for the course.
"The Tourist" isn't a bad film, in fact it's fairly entertaining. Depp's pretty funny, Venice looks great, it should appeal to woman and men equally, it's rated PG-13 and it was the only new movie in wide release other than "Dawn Treader." Yet it still tanked.
So what's going on? Ask a studio exec and he/she will launch into a turretic barking of phrases like "home video" and "piracy" and "The Chinese!" But that's only a small part of it. Look at the top 10 grossing films of 2010:
- "Toy Story 3"
- "Alice in Wonderland"
- "Iron Man 2"
- "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"
- "Inception"
- "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1"
- "Despicable Me"
- "Shrek Forever After"
- "How to Train Your Dragon"
- "The Karate Kid"
We've got five sequels, four animated films, two remakes, and exactly one film from an original script featuring an A-List actor, "Inception."
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Not even "Inception" is something folks like Jolie and Depp should pin their hopes on, because the success of that film was not really driven by Leonardo DiCaprio fans. Director Chris Nolan of "Dark Knight" fame was just as much a draw as Leo, to say nothing of a masterful buzz campaign, the sheer spectacle of it all, and great word of mouth
In addition to Depp and Jolie, Tom Cruise ("Knight & Day"), Russell Crowe ("Robin Hood"), Julia Roberts ("Eat Pray Love"), Nic Cage ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice"), Denzel Washington ("Unstoppable"), Harrison Ford ("Morning Glory") and John Travolta ("From Paris With Love") all rolled out box office stinkers this year. Our corporate cousins at Universal will tell you that "Robin Hood" took in more than $300 million globally, but don't think for a minute a whole room full of execs didn't throw up in their mouths when it topped out at $105 million domestically.
Even Matt Damon, one of the most well-liked and career-conscious actors in Hollywood unveiled his third and fourth duds in a row, "Green Zone" and "Hereafter." Combined with "Invictus" and "The Informant!," they failed to crack $150 million total. This is not an environment where banking on star power is guaranteed to reap many benefits.
There are other factors at work here, of course, like the "long tail" effect and the plummeting costs of film technology which is making it easier for people outside the system, like "Monsters" director Gareth Edwards, to make great films.
Of course in the long run, this will only be bad for A-List actors, while ultimately proving to be a boon to studios. Actors are the one major expense in a film's budget that's negotiable, and once everyone realizes that Angelina Jolie simply isn't worth $20 million off your film's bottom line, she's gonna have to start thinking seriously about working for half her normal payday.
And if none of this is enough to make your average movie star nervous, remember that George Lucas is planning to digitize all of you.

subset: commoncrawl


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The 23-year-old R&B and pop star Rihanna Tweeted a photo of herself on Jan 25 showing off a faint, scar-like, pink-colored imprint of the phrase "Thug Life" on her knuckles. It is the name of the former group of Shakur, who also went by the nickname 2Pac and sported a tattoo on his stomach that read "T.H.U.G. L.I.F.E." He was shot dead at age 25 in 1996. The killer was never found. Perhaps her new tatto is inspired by that slain rapper. Rihanna's picture was taken at the Shamrock Social Club in Hollywood, the tattoo parlor of Mark Mahoney, who also appears in a photo posted by Rihanna.
"All these bitches screaming that 2pac back #THUGLIFE," Rihanna said in a message underneath her photo, quoting a line from the song "Tupac Back," which was released by rappers Rick Ross and Meek Mill in mid-June 2011 on what would have been Shakur's 40th birthday.
The late rapper's "Thug Life" tattoo stood for "The Hate U Give Little Infants (Expletive) Everybody." Like him, Rihanna has several tattoos all over her body, including on her neck, wrist and back.
In another photo posted on her Twitter page around the same time, the singer is seen lying on her stomach on a table, holding a beer bottle, as a man bends over her back. His face is not shown. Rihanna wrote under the picture:
"Tat my (expletive) name on u girl so I know its real!!! #MINE"
The sentence is a lyric from "Free Spirit," a song released last year by hip hop singer Drake, Rihanna's longtime friend and collaborator, that also features Ross.
I #LOVE my new tattoo!!!" she Tweeted. "Can't wait for yall to see it!!! I got it in "Tibetan" this time!!!"
|Tupac Shakur
|Rihanna with Michale Jackson


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Romans terms stakes barn conditions "ridiculous"' O'Neill blames the problem on the messenger; both trainers discuss how it could affect the outcome and talk about race strategy; Gutierrez is tired but having a good time, likes the wide open space of larger race tracks, and has been doing his homework.
THE MODERATOR: You had some richly‑deserved time away up in Canada last week, but now you're in the heart of all the action. How has it been being in New York and being thrust into all of this media attention?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: It's been fine. A little bit tired at the moment. But I'm happy. Trying to enjoy every single minute of it.
THE MODERATOR: Doug, I know you were given a DVD of some of the past Belmont stakes. Have you had a chance to review any of that with Mario yet?
DOUG O'NEILL: Mario had mentioned that he had watched a bunch of Belmont replays back in L.A. before coming here. I think Mario is ready to roll and the horse seems ready to roll. There's probably not a real need for me to watch the replays. I haven't had a chance to, but if I do, I will.
THE MODERATOR: Doug, if you would, tell us how I'll Have Another did this morning and how he seems to be acclimating to his new surroundings in the Belmont Stakes barn.
DOUG O'NEILL: He's settled right in like we thought he would. We had a really good day of training today. I thought he showed good energy and he cooled out really well. So we are very happy with where we are here two days out.
THE MODERATOR: I guess it's your role to be something of a killjoy here, but in the spirit of fair play, and I'm sure Doug and Mario would not want it any other way but how is Dullahan coming into the race? I know your owner, Mr. Crawford, said it was his idea to bypass the Preakness. With the benefit of hindsight, do you think that might actually help your chances here on Saturday?
DALE ROMANS: This does help us. I think we would have been competitive in the Preakness. Yeah, having the extra time, you can do a few more things, try to get your horse ready to go a mile and a half and you can bring a fresh horse in here. It has to be beneficial.
Q. Mario, your plans for the future, are you going back to Canada and making your base going forward after this?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Since I came to Santa Anita, my goal was break into California circuit racing. So after all of this is done, I'm going to go back and make California my base and see how it is.
THE MODERATOR: And I imagine Doug is just fine with that plan?
DOUG O'NEILL: Awesome.
Q. Just wondering if any time during I'll Have Another's career, especially early on, if you were surprised he was not favored in any of the races?
DOUG O'NEILL: Obviously the Bob Lewis, we were not surprised. And the Santa Anita Derby, that was a pretty deep field and I think a lot of people thought that Bob Lewis was a fluke, so that wasn't really that ‑‑ yet Baffert and a lot of the big name guys with the top horses, that wasn't that big of a shocker.
And then in the Preakness, with Bodemeister shortening up in distance, again with Baffert, it wasn't that big of a shock.
But I will be shocked if we are not favored on Saturday. (Laughter).
Q. Doug and Dale, your thoughts on the security barn; what's it like now that everybody is in there?
DALE ROMANS: The barn is ridiculous. There's too many horses in there doing the same things at the same times. There's too many people in there. There's three or four people for every horse, and then everybody trying to walk in in the afternoons and graze. It's just ridiculous.
They could have found such an easier way to accommodate the horse, and I don't think anybody who set that barn up or made the rules was thinking about the horse. (Applause). Thank you very much.
DOUG O'NEILL: Wow, I love that, that's great. I mimic that. Actually one of these days I wouldn't mind having a few stalls here at Belmont.
DALE ROMANS: I will say that NYRA did the best job they could possibly do to make a bad situation good. They fixed the barn up as nice as it could possibly be. The whole area is as well prepared as it possibly could be ‑‑ well, I know it's not NYRA, it's the racing world. But there's a huge disconnect between the regulators and what's the reality of the back side. Now that's a major problem in horse racing in my opinion.
DOUG O'NEILL: You know, Dale has got a huge point. It's obviously an inconvenience for everybody, and you know, I think we are just ‑‑ the state is trying to show everyone how clean the game is and that it's not polluted with a bunch of crooks and cheaters like some people have written about.
DALE ROMANS: Well, what this situation does is it brings back perception to the game. They could have quietly put guards on every horse and never been talked about in the paper.
I think this causes poor perception and it makes people think even worse of the game; when really, this is a very clean sport. It's run properly. There's enough regular checks and balances put into place to make sure it's an even playing field, and this whole thing isn't really necessary.
DOUG O'NEILL: I'll vote for Dale if he's the national commissioner. Go ahead, run for commissioner. That's what we need, a horse man who has the huevos to say what's right, and you're completely right. But hopefully it's just a clean‑run race and everyone is settled by Saturday.
DALE ROMANS: This is true. The horses seem to be fine. It's not going to affect the outcome of the race, I don't believe. But it just not right to take them out of their environment and move them out somewhere else three days out from the biggest day of their life.
Q. You may have already answered this but could the security barn for the Belmont Stakes get a horse beat?
DOUG O'NEILL: If I get beat, I'm going to blame the security barn.
DALE ROMANS: And that's the problem, the rest of the world will, too, and that's not fair to the horse that wins. But no, I don't think the barn will get the horses beat. These are classy horses. They are strong‑minded horses, or they would not have gotten to this level. I don't think it's going to affect the outcome of the race.
But it may affect public opinion after the race. If Doug's horse were to happen to lose, it will be human nature for people to say, well, they got him in the detention barn. That's not fair. It diminishes his performance in the first two races of the Triple Crown, and it will also diminish the winner's performance in the Belmont.
Q. Mario, could you talk about your experience racing at Hastings Park and how that time helped advance your career?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: I started in Mexico, in Mexico City, the race track, it's huge. It's still a mile race track.
So when I first moved to Vancouver, I was in shock because you know, it's a little tiny race track, tight turns, lots of horses. So you really have to look at like what is the next play, what the guy beside you is doing. Otherwise accidents are going to happen, accidents happen really fast on those kind of race tracks.
It did help me a lot, just to see where I am, like right now, you come after that six years of racing in Vancouver, coming here again to a big race track, you see more spaces and you can see more clear horses. You have a lot of space where you can move. You always have a second choice to make.
Q. Although you have been out on the track with a pony, so far, what are your impressions at just how large Belmont is from the short time you've been here?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: It is pretty big, mile and a half. I gallop a couple horses, I ran one horse today. It is big. I felt really comfortable. I was happy to go out there and just take a look around. But I'm not the only one who is going to be there. My other fellows are going to be there with me and we are all going to run the same distance.
Q. You're confident?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Well, I believe in my horse, right, but I'm not ‑‑ I respect everybody in the race, too, for a reason. I'm going to be looking over for every single one of them. It's not an easy race, so everybody is going out there to fight for the win and I'm going to do the same.
Q. Everybody is talking about you coming to this gigantic racetrack at Belmont. After you rode at the bull ring in Hastings, did Santa Anita or Hollywood seem gigantic compared to Hastings?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Mexico City racetrack is huge, too.
Q. Is that a playoff beard and will it come off after a Triple Crown win or the Kings win the Stanley Cup?
DOUG O'NEILL: The fact that I'm follicly challenged on top of my head, I kind of like it. It's a good way to hide a few chins if you're not working out regularly. So that's a good question. We'll have to kind of ‑‑ that would be a good problem to have.
DALE ROMANS: I think if he wins the Triple Crown, he should leave it on forever
Q. Doug, if you could discuss the evolution of Mario as both a jockey and a person?
DOUG O'NEILL: He's a real pain in the ass, and he's very opinionated, and he won't listen to anything we say to him. So other than that ‑‑ no. You know, when Paul and Zillah mentioned using Mario, you could see he won like 27 percent of his races up at Hastings. So we knew he was a winner.
But as we got to know him, we absolutely fell in love with his personality and just the way he's programmed and he's always giving thanks to the horse, so he's just a breath of fresh air for us.
You know, obviously four for four, and I'll Have Another, those two get along so well. You know, I think Mario has always had a lot of talent, and he was just ‑‑ it took a horse like I'll Have Another to show all of us that it's here.
Q. How do you feel about Saturday? How are your preparations going?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Yeah, the preparation is the same. I try to do the same routine I did for the Kentucky for the Preakness, you know. All of those races I run like first time for me like this one.
No, I try to do the same, try to relax as much as I can and go out there in the morning, gallop horses and just same stuff.
Q. I think Doug said you were looking at old Belmonts; what, if anything, did you learn from those?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Yes, I did watch a lot of Belmont when I was in Vancouver, actually. I watched the losers. I watched all the horses that tried and failed. It's still experience. I know there's a lot of things that I have to learn. If I show what I think I saw on the videos, it's just going to open doors to more people saying stuff about me.
So I just prefer to keep it quiet and then no comment on anything. I'm going to take the race as a challenge for me like the other ones. It was first time for me Kentucky Derby and first time Preakness and it's going to be the first time, so just going to do the same thing.
Q. Have you allowed yourself to think about what you're on the verge of should you win?
DOUG O'NEILL: Not really, no. I mean, obviously other than the birth of my two kids, I don't know how it could get much better. And they are a pain in the ass every now and then. But it would be that kind of like 'wowing' moment. Yeah, just kind of have to ‑‑ hopefully it happens and I get a chance to experience that, and it would be awesome.
Q. Who is doing the Tweets for I'll Have Another? And could you explain in México, the scene of the racing that you did in the quarter horse races down there.
MARIO GUTIERREZ: It was part of growing up, part of growing up in the small place where I came from. Somehow in the farm that my dad was working, they got involved in quarter horse racing, so I got involved at an early age. I was six, seven years old at the time.
So I kind of grew up watching my dad racing quarter horses and that's when I wanted to be like him. I wanted to ride horses, too. It was tough at the beginning but I was happy to be on top of the horse.
Q. Who is doing all those Tweets?
DOUG O'NEILL: The horse is. I'll Have Another is. (Laughter). I'll leave it at that. I hate to expose who does his translation. He has a hard time with the hoofs on the keys.
Q. Do you feel that your horse as a Triple Crown candidate coming into the Belmont is getting all the respect that he deserves as befits a horse in that position?
DOUG O'NEILL: I think he is. Obviously being the first go‑around for me, he's had tons of media attention and he's 4-5 on the morning line. So I think he's getting a lot of attention. I just hope he lives up to the expectations.
Q. Can you discuss any friends or family of yours who will be watching on TV at home from México? Can you tell us who might be in that group?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: I think we are going to have a full house in México. My family and friends, I'm not sure, but I'm sure some TV station is going to put like a big TV screen, so they are going to watch it live for the first time. Because they were able to watch it by Internet the two races before, so now they are going to have a real TV so they can watch it and watch it with a lot of my friends, so that will be nice.
Q. Comment if you would on Mario and how you think he's handled all of this Triple Crown attention and his performance on the track in his first go around, and secondly, for Mario, well, you answer that and we'll get to Mario.
DALE ROMANS: I had never really heard of Mario before coming to the Derby. But I was impressed with his ride there, and even more impressed with his ride in the Preakness when it looked like Bodemeister was getting away from everybody, he showed presence of a veteran rider to sit and wait and knew his horse and knew he had enough horse to run him down. And I've been very, very impressed with the way he's handled himself in front of the press and the way he's handled everything in English, and seems like a good, young man.
Q. How important is your mount on Boxer Des Rues in the Brooklyn on Friday, mile and a half on the dirt, 24 hours ahead of time, how important is that as part of your preparations for Saturday?
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Well, it's very important, very important. Any help I can get before the race, like racing that long, it's going to be really good for me. I can go and see how it feels like to be on this kind of track and long distance race, so it's going to help a lot.
Q. Talk about the perhaps unique strategy that comes into play in a mile‑and‑a‑half dirt race given the fact that that distance is so seldom run?
DALE ROMANS: It's such an odd race and such an odd distance in American racing that I don't think anybody, any of us, have a really good handle on it.
Talking to my jockey, I said, I don't want you to be quite as concerned with how fast you're going as you are with how much horse you have under you. Don't worry about if you're five lengths off or ten lengths off. Just try to be in tune with the horse, how much horse you think you have, and just realize that you have a long ways to go, even when you start into the final turn.
But that's ‑‑ we have got a good riders here; good, experienced jockey and hopefully he'll be able to handle it.
DOUG O'NEILL: Yeah, I agree with Dale. I think it's one of those where you know, to add to that, you just have to have a horse who can go a mile and a half, which like Dale said, we don't get a lot of opportunities to look for races like that. But I don't think you can talk a horse that can't get a mile and a half and do anything special training‑wise to get a mile and a half.
So I think Dale and I both think our horses can get the distance, and it's just a matter of how they are feeling that day.
Q. Doug, I was watching a preview of the show that's going to be on NBC Sports Network tonight at 7:30, the all‑access behind the scenes and it showed you and Mario in the infield at Pimlico before the Preakness and your brother commented after the fact that if you watch the video, Mario looks calm as can be, and you looked nervous as could be. Do you expect that that could be the same deal again on Saturday?
DOUG O'NEILL: This is before the race?
Q. Yes.
DOUG O'NEILL: Oh, I'm sure. I'll be pumped up and fired up. I'm sure I'll have an adult beverage or two in me before. Too bad you can't do that. That's what it's all about.
This is the big stage and the whole enchilada, if you will. So this is what we are all dreaming about and not to add any pressure, it's not that big of a race really. It's just another race. As long as I'll Have Another continues to do as well as he is, I think we've got a big, big chance.
Q. With all of the attention and off the track hoopla like Empire State Building and throwing out first pitches, how have you managed to keep your focus for the races themselves?
DOUG O'NEILL: Tequila. (Laughter). No, I think for Mario and I, I don't want to speak for Mario, it's our first go‑around.
So maybe if this was like our third or fourth go‑around, it might be a little bit draining. But I think both of us have taken a lot of pictures along the way and just, you know, we are living it like we'll never be back here again and we're enjoying every aspect of it. So I think that's ‑‑ it's been more energizing than it has been draining.
MARIO GUTIERREZ: Same. (Laughing).
Q. Can you comment on your assistant, Jack Sisterson?
DOUG O'NEILL: Yeah, Jack has been with us for a couple years now, and he's a real bright kid. He just absolutely loves the game. He grew up around horses in England. He's worked for Todd Pletcher and Eddie Kenneally while he was going to the University of Louisville. He actually went to University of Louisville on a soccer scholarship and blew out his knee.
But he always has dreamt of doing something in the racing world to pay his rent, and I love having him around the barn. He's a great asset. He's very organized. He's very professional. He's very responsible and he's been a huge addition to our team.
Q. What's the status of the first pitch at the Yankee game Friday night?
DOUG O'NEILL: Yeah, the race is supposed to go off at 5:40 and they want us there at 6:15. So they were kind enough to offer a helicopter, but I think at the end of the day, it's not going to work.
It would be an unbelievable experience, but I think more importantly having Boxer in the Brooklyn and having him run good and giving Mario experience is the most important thing.
THE MODERATOR: I want to thank Dale Romans, Mario Gutierrez and Doug O'Neill for your time today, and best of luck to all three of you on Saturday.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports


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ORGANIZER: Steve
EVENT: Tour de South Shore 2017
EVENT DATE: Sep 23, 2017
Steve Sypek wrote -
2017 TOUR de SOUTH SHORE Athletic Festivel...Bike (On/Off Road) Walk and "Fun" Run!
Wompatuck State Park, Hingham, MA
The McCourt Foundation's 2017 Tour de South Shore Athletic Festival now offers a 25 and 50 Mile Bike, a 12 Mile Off Road Bike, a 5K Walk and a 5K Fun Run. Now everyday athletes as well as avid cyclists can get involved to support and honor loved ones with these diseases in a fun, healthy, community event. Participants can join an established team, start a new team or go solo. Each participant is challenged with the goal to raise $200 to help the fight against MS, Alzheimer's, ALS and Parkinson's disease
On Road 25 or 50 Mile BIKE
The bike will travel through the towns of Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate, and Norwell with Police details throughout the course.
Start Location: Wompatuck State Park, Hingham, MA
- 6:30 am Registration
- 7:30 am 50 Mile Bike
- 8:30 am 25 Mile Bike
Off Road 12 Mile Mt. BIKE
This 12 Mile Bike will stay in the Park and travel through the already well establish trails.
- 8:30 am 12 Mile Off Road Bike
5K (3.1 Mile) "Fun" Run
The Fun Run will take place within the park on the walking trails and will be well marked.
Start Location: Wompatuck State Park, Hingham, MA
- 8:00 am Registration
- 9:00 am 5K (3.1 Mile) Fun Run
5K (3.1Mile) WALK
The walk will take place within the park on the walking trails and will be well marked.
For more details, visit our event webpage.
The McCourt Foundation is a 501c3 Nonprofit Charitible Foundation. All donations are tax deductable to State and Federal laws.


text:
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- Product Code: pink small combo
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Baby Care Sheet I Quick Dry Sheet for Baby I Waterproof Baby SheetWaterproof baby Sleeping Sheet Mat revolutionary product specially made for babies that provide them with protection against all kinds of allergens and irritants such as dust miles, bed bugs, mould, and dead skins. These waterproof sheets are washable, reusable and hygienic that keeps the baby healthy and active. Babyrose baby dry sheets absorb wetness and help in rapid evaporation of spills that keeps your babies soft, delicate skin dry. It provides a baby cosy & comfortable place to sleep. The waterproofing membrane ensures zero seepage by absorbing fluid and keeps the bed sheet dry and clean. This also works as a stain-proof barrier for your mattress.
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text:
This is my goodbye to Coffeed.
Many know the reasons so I won't go into it.
It's sad. I was involved in Coffeed from the beginning. There are so many great memories for me tied up in the site and the people involved. I hope that someone creates a new place and a new voice to counter the "establishment" within coffee.
I wish the best to Alistair and hope that he ends up with the community that he wants and that Coffeed can at the same time continue to be a voice for "doing the right thing" in coffee.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
Hi, I'm trying to learn a bit of c#.NET for a job placement that I've got over the summer and I was wondering if someone could clarify something for me.
I was attempting to implement a binary search tree - or rather have implemented it, since it works - (for practice as much as anything else) and I ran into a bit of trouble with the use of interfaces. Before going on I'll paste in the code for my BSTNode:
The problem that I'm getting is that when I attempt to implement the code, because I've set the types of left and right to IBSTNode I either have to then declare every use of BSTNodes as IBSTNode or I have to typecast, eg:Code:public interface IBSTNode { Comparable Data { get; set; } IBSTNode Right { get; set; } IBSTNode Left { get; set; } }
If anyone understands what I'm talking about and can give me a way round it that would be great - just please bear in mind that I've had about two days experience at c# or so :PCode:IBSTNode tmpNode = aNode; tmpNode = tmpNode.Right; or BSTNode tmpNode = aNode; tmpNode = (BSTNode)tmpNode.Right;


text:
Title: Kingdom Against Kingdom
Artist: Leonardo
Medium: Hand Painted Burlap Sack
Dimensions: Varies in size ranging 40" – 50" wide x 55"-70" tall
Price: $300
***Shipping on fine art pieces will be a separate charge calculated and charged separately. We will contact you via email with the shipping option quotes.***


text:
Dempster tosses water cooler as Cubs lose
Pitcher subject of trade rumors
PITTSBURGH — If Ryan Dempster did indeed make his final start for the Chicago Cubs, he left a lasting impression.
Pulled for a pinch hitter by manager Dale Sveum in the seventh inning Wednesday, Dempster threw a water cooler in the dugout as the Cubs went on to a 3-2 defeat to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
"I have a lot of respect for our manager, but I don't always have to agree with every move he makes," Dempster said. "I'm allowed to be upset, but I was over it as soon as I got to the clubhouse."
Dempster has had a lot on his mind this week. He is mulling whether to accept a trade to Atlanta and said he also is "keeping all my options open."
Chicago is off Thursday, and Dempster said he'll spend part of the day thinking about his situation. He has the right to veto any trade as a 10-and-5 player — he has at least 10 years of major league service time, including at least five with his current team.
The deadline for trades without waivers is Tuesday.
"I'm definitely going to think about Atlanta," Dempster said. "I know (Braves GM) Frank Wren from my days in Florida when he was the assistant GM there. I have a lot of respect for (manager) Fredi Gonzalez. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have a few days to think about it before the trading deadline."
Dempster (5-5) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
His ERA, which had been a major league-leading 2.11, rose to 2.25.
"I thought he pitched really well, but he had a long top of the sixth inning, and down by a run, we needed to get the leadoff man on base, which why I pinch hit," Sveum said.
Kevin Correia (8-6) won his career-best fifth straight start. Yet it might not be enough to keep him in the Pirates' crowded starting rotation.
Correia gave up two runs and four hits in six innings, helping Pittsburgh avoid getting swept at home from the first time since Sept. 9-11 against the Marlins.
Garrett Jones drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out double in the sixth inning. Walker and Michael McKenry homered for Pittsburgh.
Despite his winning streak, Correia has a 4.82 ERA in his last five starts and is a candidate to be moved to the bullpen following the acquisition of left-hander Wandy Rodriguez from Houston on Tuesday. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said before the game that he might also consider going to a six-man rotation, at least temporarily.
"We acquired a very good pitcher who is going to help us," Correia said. "Somebody is going to have to come out of the rotation. I thought about it a lot last night but it wasn't on my mind when I took the mound. I just tried to do the best I could to help the team win and the decisions about the rotation are out of my hands."
Relievers Jared Hughes, Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan followed Correia with one scoreless inning each. Hanrahan recorded his 29th save in 32 chances.
"That back end of the bullpen is as good as it gets," Sveum said.
The Pirates pulled ahead 3-2 in the sixth inning when Jones lined a double that scored Alex Presley, who singled with one out and took third on Andrew McCutchen's single.
"That was a good piece of hitting by Jones because I threw a pitch that was really down and he went down and got it," Dempster said.
Both teams hit solo home runs in the first. Anthony Rizzo connected for his fifth with two outs for Chicago and Walker countered with his ninth in the bottom half.
The Cubs went back ahead in the fourth as Rizzo singled in David DeJesus, who had doubled, with two outs. The umpires upheld their ruling on DeJesus' double after a video review showed a fan had touched the ball before it went over the center-field fence.
Pittsburgh tied the score when McKenry hit a two-out solo homer off the left-field foul pole in the sixth. Dempster retired 13 batters in a row between the home runs by Walker and McKenry.
"We're a very resilient team," McKenry said. "Dempster was pitching great but we found a way to come back and beat him. It was a really good win for us."
NOTES: Chicago LF Alfonso Soriano got the day off after going 4-for-8 with two home runs and four RBIs in the first two games of the series. … Rodriguez is expected to join the Pirates on Thursday in Houston when they open a four-game series against the Astros. Rodriguez pitched Monday night against Cincinnati, so the earliest he would likely be able to pitch is Saturday. … RHP A.J. Burnett (11-3, 3.59) is scheduled to start for the Pirates on Thursday night against LHP Dallas Keuchel (1-2, 4.03). … Chicago opens a three-game series Friday against St. Louis. LHP Travis Wood (4-5, 4.33) is the probable starter for the Cubs and will face RHP Lance Lynn (12-4, 3.10).


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text:
Breakfast smoothie
Prep: 5 mins
Make the most of the berry season with a glass of fruity goodness
Nutrition and extra info
- Gluten-free
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal124
- fat1g
- saturates0.1g
- carbs25g
- sugars24g
- fibre5g
- protein2g
- salt0.01g
- 1 small ripe banana
Probably the best known, most popular tropical fruit, their name probably derives from the…
- about 140g blackberries, blueberries, raspberries or strawberries (or use a mix), plus extra to serve
Once available in Britain for just a brief period during the summer, strawberries are now a year…
- apple juice or mineral water, optional
- runny honey, to serve
Honey is made by bees from the nectar they collect from flowers. Viscous and fragrant, it's…
Slice the banana into your blender or food processor and add the berries of your choice. Whizz until smooth. With the blades whirring, pour in juice or water to make the consistency you like. Toss a few extra fruits on top, drizzle with honey and serve.
Recipe Tip
Giving it a twistUse melon or a slightly over-ripe mango instead of the banana. Or add a pot of low-fat natural yogurt to make an extra-creamy smoothie.
You may also like
Comments, questions and tips
10th May, 2015
LOVE THIS RECIPE!! have this for breakfast most mornings but because I am always in a rush I like to put the fruit in a freezer bag in the freezer the night before then in the morning all I have to do is empty the bag of fruit and add a tiny dash of juice(and yoghurt if I want a thicker smoothie) Be careful not to add too much juice though unless you want a thinner consistency
11th Apr, 2014
I find the best combination is 1 banana, a heaped tbsp of greek yoghurt and a handful of frozen berries with a good splash-2 tbsp of fruit juice (any), this is a good amount for one person, i don't add honey as trying to keep as mcuh sugar out my diet (i know honey is natural sugar) i just don't think its needs any more sweetness but guess that's my personal taste


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text:
The Tweet and Lowdown:
The Dynamo face a few insecurities heading into the 2010 season, but who in Houston is ready for a breakout season?
Setting the Scene:
The Houston Dynamo played five games before winning their first on April 19, but that victory against the Colorado Rapids sent Dominic Kinnear's men on a 10-game unbeaten tear for 26 points. The Los Angeles Galaxy stopped the run -- and later Houston's season in a bizarre Western Conference championship game.
Kinnear, as expected, built his 2009 team around a solid defensive core, and Houston finished the regular season tied for the league's best defense. Many pointed to Stuart Holden's breakout year as the highlight of the Dynamo's season, but now it's Holden – who replaced the departed Dwayne De Rosario – who's left Houston and left a void at attacking midfielder.
Defensive midfielder Ricardo Clark's move to German Bundesliga side Eintracht Frankfurt could also unsettle the Dynamo's chemistry, especially if Geoff Cameron has to move into the midfield after a stellar year on the back line. Will the move weaken Houston's prized defensive core?
Key Changes:
Players In: Francisco Navas Cobo (Dynamo Academy), Lovel Palmer (Harbout View, Jamaica), Adrian Serioux (Toronto FC)
Players Out: Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Star Attraction: Brad Davis
Having lost Holden and Clark to Europe, Kinnear will likely hand the keys of the Dynamo midfield to Davis. Everything suggests the eight-year league veteran will shine without his former teammates, even if he does shift from his preferred flank position to the middle, where he occasionally deputized for Holden.
Davis -- a two-time MLS Cup champion, a Dynamo original and a firm fan-favorite -- can shoot, pass and hustle with the best in MLS. He finished as a joint leader in league assists and added five goals in 2009, and now that the 28-year-old has most likely missed his chance to make Bob Bradley's World Cup roster, Davis will be fully committed to keeping the Dynamo an elite team in 2010.
Unsung Hero: Brian Mullan
Mullan doesn't register big-time stats, so the 31-year-old is often absent from conversations about national team call-ups or end-of-season awards. However, the versatile midfielder/forward has been a major contributor to the franchise. Since joining as a San Jose Earthquakes player in 2003, Mullan has played in at least 25 games per season, and his teams have never missed the playoffs. Oh, and he's won three championships.
Mullan's ability to be a key player when it matters most - and that often means helping out on defense - was made manifest in last year's playoffs, when he made a crucial goal-line clearance in the first leg of the conference semifinal against Seattle Sounders FC. He also set up the series-winning goal in the second leg.
Ready for Primetime: Geoff Cameron
Sure, Cameron earned a MLS Best XI selection and a call-up to the U.S. national team camp in 2009, but that doesn't mean he's already "primetime." Cameron has yet to fulfill his potential, and could assume either Clark's defensive role or Holden's further up field after a superb effort on Houston's backline last season.
Whichever move he makes, it'll carry a weight of responsibility. But there's no reason why the 6-foot-3, third-year player won't make the position his - and excel there. And if he succeeds, he'll be lauded for bringing stability to a potentially insecure Dynamo midfield.
Storylines to Watch:
Unlike last season, the Dynamo won't have to contend with fixture congestion in 2010, since the team failed to progress in the current CONCACAF Champions League campaign. However, there's a risk of losing star forward Brian Ching to World Cup duty this summer. Ching's fitness may also be called into doubt -- the 31-year-old forward, who has been the club's leading scorer for the past three seasons, has been rehabbing a knee injury throughout the offseason.
Houston is stacked in the midfield, with plenty of young players to compete with veterans Mullan, Davis, Corey Ashe, Richard Mulrooney and Craig Waibel. Expect a breakout season from Cameron, but also keep an eye on upstarts Danny Cruz and Mike Chabala, as well as new signing Lovel Palmer. And with all the talk about the gaps left by Holden and Clark's departures, it's worth mentioning that each player signed short-term deals that expire with their respective European clubs around May. Should things not work out for the pair, and they decide to return to MLS, Houston will have first dibs on them.
What He Said:
"A lot of the big news has been about the players that have departed -- players that were good for us and good for this league, and they're not coming back. I still think, though, that we have enough depth in our team with guys coming back from injuries, and that still makes us one of the better teams in the league."
-- Head coach Dominic Kinnear
If Everything Goes Right:
The West looks to be a strong conference again -- even state foes FC Dallas looks like the real deal. But be surprised if the Dynamo miss the playoffs, or even fails to win the conference -- there's just too much quality in Houston, from the coaching staff through to veteran goalkeeper Pat Onstad.
If everything goes right for Kinnear's side, the Dynamo won't miss Holden and Clark, just as it barley missed a beat while replacing De Rosario the previous year. In an ideal world, Houston's new-look midfield will immediately gel, Designated Player Luis Ángel Landín will be the player he's paid to be, and the Dynamo will ease into the postseason. Anything beyond that, though, is probably icing.


text:
American Physical Society Sites|APS|Journals|PhysicsCentral|Physics Magazine
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The following article has not undergone any scientific peer review, since that is not normal procedure for American Physical Society newsletters. The American Physical Society reaffirms the following position on climate change, adopted by its governing body, the APS Council, on November 18, 2007: "Emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities are changing the atmosphere in ways that affect the Earth's climate."
By David Hafemeister & Peter Schwartz
Abstract: In this paper, we have used several basic atmospheric–physics models to show that additional carbon dioxide will warm the surface of Earth. We also show that observed solar variations cannot account for observed global temperature increase.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected a likely temperature rise of 3 oC (2 to 4.5 oC) from a doubled CO2 of 560 ppm in this century.[i] Many believe that a rise of 2–2.5 oC will cause a "dangerous anthropogenic interference with climate." Earth has already had a rise of 0.8 oC in less than one-half century, and it is projected to rise another 0.6 oC as the planet adjusts to the present level of CO2. Scientists have accumulated compelling evidence besides the temperature data to document a warming Earth. The observations include the shrinking of the northern ice cap (40% thinner in 30 years, and a considerable loss in surface area in the last year) and Greenland's glaciers, lakes are frozen a shortened time by about two weeks, and summer is two weeks longer as determined by animal and plant cycles. The discussion sensibly moves to two main questions: "Are non-anthropogenic causes of warming significant" and "how much warmer will Earth become?"
We will not review the scientific literature, as that path is well trod. Rather, we present some basic physics models, to shore up basic understandings. [ii] Put a blanket over a light bulb, and you will have a fire. For the full power of the light bulb to pass through the blanket, the inner temperature must rise considerably. The atmosphere is not a mere thermal resistor, but the analogy is illuminating. Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish physicist, first suggested in 1896 that increases in atmospheric CO2 would lead to global temperature rises. Below, we conduct an analysis in a similar fashion.
The naturally occurring greenhouse gases (present before industrialization) cause the earth to be 33 oC warmer than if there was no infrared trapping by the atmosphere. One can attribute 21 oC of that warming to the IR trapping of water vapor, 7 oC to CO2 and 5 oC to other gases. If we add even more CO2, we should expect it to increase the surface temperature. There are also feedbacks, but IPCC has observed that feedbacks are more positive than negative, meaning they will further increase warming. It is our belief that "theory leads experiment" on climate change because all well-accepted atmospheric models predict a temperature rise. The data over the past decade is now solidifying in general agreement with theory. General Circulation Models (GCM) and our basic models connect cause and effect. Some critics believe that the warming is "directly linked to two distinctly different aspects of solar dynamics: the short-term statistical fluctuations in the Sun's irradiance and the longer–term solar cycles." [iii] We will show that observed solar fluctuations cannot be responsible for the presently observed global climate changes.
The carbon released worldwide from burning carbon and deforestation has recently been about 7.1 Gt/yr. The number of CO2 molecules released is
NCO2 = (7.1 x 1015 g/yr)(6.02 x 1023/mole)/(12 g/mole) = 3.6 x 1038 molecules CO2/yr. (1)
The mass of the atmosphere is the surface area of Earth times the atmospheric pressure of 105 Pascal divided by g:
Matmos = PA/g = (105 Pa)(4p)(6.4 x 106m)2/(9.8 m/sec2) = 5.3 x 1018 kg. (2)
The number of O2and N2 molecules in the atmosphere is
Natmos = (5.3 x 1021 g)(6.02 x 1023/mole)/(29 g air/mole) = 1.1 x 1044 molecules. (3)
This gives the rate of increase in concentration of CO2 molecules,
cCO2 = NCO2/Natmos = (3.6 x 1038 CO2/yr)/(1.1 x 1044 air) = 3.3 ppm/yr. (4)
This is more than twice the atmospheric CO2 rise of 1.4 ppm/yr (325 ppm in 1970 to 354 ppm in 1990 to 370 ppm in 2000). Thus, about half of the CO2 remains in the atmosphere, the other half goes into sinks in the oceans and on land.
CO2 Before Industrialization. The pre-industrial CO2 level was 280 ppm in 1800. By 1959, the level had grown to 316 ppm. We can estimate total change in concentration by integrating backwards in time. Using a rate of 0.9 ppm/yr in 1959 and a global carbon rate growth rate of aboutl= 3%/year, the increase in CO2 concentration between 1800 and 1959 should be about
ΔcCO2 = (0.9) eltdt = 0.9(e0 – e)/l = 0.9/0.03 = 30 ppm. (5)
Subtracting this from the 1959 value of 316 ppm gives a pre-industrial CO2 level of 285 ppm, close to the accepted value of 280 ppm.
CO2 in the 21st Century. 2050 CO2 levels may be obtained by projecting 60 years growth onto the 1990 level of 354 ppm. Energy Information Agency estimated a business-as-usual approach will give 2%/yr global growth in fossil fuels, for a 2050 concentration of
cCO2 = (1.4 ppm/yr) e0.02t dt + 354 ppm = 162 ppm + 354 ppm = 516 ppm. (6)
This figure is consistent with most business-as-usual projections.
Upper-Atmospheric Temperature Ta.Earth's temperature is determined from a heat balance between absorbed energy from solar flux so = 1367 W/m2 and infrared emission to space. The solar power intercepted by the area of Earth's disk (pRE2so) is distributed over the entire spherical area (4pRE2), giving an average solar flux of so/4 = 1367/4 = 342 W/m2. Of this, 70% is absorbed by the Earth, and 30% is reflected (Earth's albedoa = 0.3 in the visible), giving an average fluxabsorbed by surface and atmosphere,
sabsorbed = (1 – a)(so/4) = (1 – 0.3)(1367/4) = 239 W/m2. (7)
Absorption by clouds and atmosphere reduces solar flux at the surface to an average of about 200 W/m2. The energy absorbed by Earth's surface is sent upward by infrared, evaporation and air currents, which is captured by the atmosphere or passes directly to space. In our first model, we assume that allthe absorbed energy is reradiated to space as IR from a thin surface at the top of the atmosphere.
The power balance at the top of the Earth's upper atmosphere is
Pin = (1 – a)(pRE2so) = Pout = esTa4(4pRE2), (8)
where temperature at the top of the atmosphere Ta is in Kelvin, s is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant, 5.67 x 10–8 W/m2K4, and e is emissivity (about 1 for 10–micron infrared). Solving for the upper atmosphere temperature,
Ta = [(1 – a)so/4es]1/4 = [239 W/m2/se]1/4 = 255 K = –18oC = 0oF. (9)
The temperature in the middle of the troposphere is 255 K at 5 km above the surface (and at 50 km.) This is 32 K colder than the observed average surface temperature of 287 K (14.0 oC with 1997 averages of 14.6oC in the northern hemisphere and 13.4oC in the southern hemisphere).
As a comparison we calculate Ta-V for Venus, which has a higher solar flux since the radius of its orbit is only 60% that of Earth:
so-V = so(rE/rV)2 = (1367 W/m2)(1.50 x 108 km/1.08 x 108 km)2 = 2610 W/m2. (10)
However, Venus's higher albedo of 0.76 reflects a greater fraction of sunlight, greatly reducing the average absorbed flux to
(1 – a)so-V/4 = (1 – 0.76)(2610 W/m2)/4 = 157 W/m2, (11)
which is smaller than Earth's 239 W/m2. The upper atmospheric temperature of hot Venus,
Ta-V = [157 W-m–2/s] 1/4 = 229 K (12)
is 26 K colder than Earth's 255 K. However, Venus's higher CO2 concentration traps IR, giving it a surface temperature of 750 K, three times Earth's surface temperature of 287 K.
Surface Temperature Ts. Our zero-dimensional box model did not take into account the following variable factors: Reflection, absorption and emission by air, aerosols, clouds and surface; Convection of sensible and latent (evaporation) heat; Coupling to oceans and ice; Variations in three dimensions; and Variable solar flux.
Next, we estimate the surface temperature Ts without considering Ta. We assume that all the solar flux that is not reflected is transmitted through the air and totally absorbed by the Earth's surface fabsorbed = (1 – a)so/4. The warmed surface radiates as a blackbody, and also loses heat through rising in air currents or evaporated moisture. We allow a fraction of the light radiated from the earth, fIR to be absorbed by the atmosphere, which is mostly in the infrared. The atmosphere radiates 50% of the IR absorbed flux to space and 50% to Earth, giving an IR flux downward of (fIR/2)fabsorbed. Again, a fraction fIR of this energy is absorbed in the atmosphere again and 50% of this radiates downward and is absorbed by the surface, (fIR/2)(fIR/2)fabsorbed. This process gives an infinite sum in the energy balance:
fabsorbed + (fIR/2)fabsorbed + (fIR/2)2fabsorbed + (fIR/2)3fabsorbed + ….. + (fIR/2)nfabsorbed = sTs4. (13)
After manipulation, this becomes
fabsorbed/[(1 – (fIR/2)] = sTs4. (14)
We obtain Earth's surface temperature of Ts = 287 K with fIR = 0.76. For the extreme case of no IR absorption in the atmosphere (fIR = 0), we obtain Ts = 255 K, the temperature of the upper atmosphere. For the other extreme case of 100% IR absorption in the atmosphere (fIR = 1), we obtain Ts = 303 K, consistent with the next calculation.
Ta and Ts Together: Next, we assume that all sunlight is transmitted through the air and absorbed by the Earth's surface. We vary the one free parameter, the emissivity of the atmosphere ea, but retain the surface of Earth as a blackbody with eE = 1. Equation 15 balances heat flow in the single layer of air. The left side doubles the infrared flux emitted by Earth's atmosphere, since IR goes both up into space and down to Earth's surface, essentially doubling the radiating surface area. This is balanced with IR flux emitted from Earth's blackbody surface and absorbed by the gray body atmosphere.
2easoTa4 = easTs4 (15)
Equation 16 is an energybalance at Earth's surface. The left side is the sum of solar energy absorbed at the surface and the absorbed downward flow of IR from the atmosphere, which is balanced with upward IR flux from the surface,
(1 – a)so/4 + easTa4 = sTs4. (16)
Solving equations 15 and 16 gives
Ts = 21/4Ta and sTs4 = (1 – a)so/4(1 – ea/2). (17)
If the air layer is a blackbody (ea = 1, considerable CO2), the atmosphere is Ta = 255 K (as before) and the surface is Ts = 303 K (16 K warmer than actual value of 287 K). If ea = 1/2 (from less CO2), the atmosphere is too cold at Ta = 230 K and the surface is also too cold at Ts = 274 K. By adjusting ea to 0.76, we obtain the "correct" surface temperature, Ts = 287 K.
Multi-Layer Atmosphere. Next we divide the planetary atmosphere into n zones, layered vertically. By using several layers, the temperature gradient in each layer is reduced, smoothing the temperature profile to become more continuous. The thickness of a layer is such that almost all incident IR on a layer is just absorbed in that layer, which then radiates it upwards and downwards. Planets with small amounts of CO2 and H2O have less than one zone, while Venus has many zones. Due to lack of space, we leap to the answer:
T0 = [(1 – a)so/4s]1/4 and Ts = (n + 1)1/4T0, (18)
wheren is the number of IR absorption layers Earth has. Earth's so = 1367 W/m2 and a = 0.3 gives T0 = 255 K, T1 = 303 K, T10 = 464 K, T20 = 546 K and T75= 753 K. The answer depends greatly on the amount of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Earth's surface temperature of 287 K is somewhat colder than that for one full layer (n = 1) at 303 K. The number of layers for the Earth's atmosphere is obtained by solving for n, giving
n= (Ts/T0)4 – 1 = (287 K/255 K)4 – 1 = 0.6. (19)
It is not surprising that Earth's atmosphere contains only 60% of an IR layer since O2 and N2 hardly absorb IR, leaving the task of IR absorption to trace amounts of CO2 and H2O. Venus, on the other hand, has a large temperature difference between the upper atmosphere at T0 = 229 K and the surface at Ts = 750 K. These temperatures give 74 IR layers for CO2 rich Venus!
Solar Variations. We might expect solar variations of 0.2% are possible since that is twice the present 11-year solar variation.The 0.2% variation gives a surface temperature variation of
ΔTs = Ts(Δs/so)/4 = (287 K)(2 x 10–3)/4 = 0.14 K. (20)
Correlation has been discovered between number of sunspots and surface temperature of Earth. However, for solar variations to explain climate change, there remains to be identified an additional solar heating mechanism beyond that already described. General circulation model calculations show extra heating in summer warms the stratosphere, strengthening easterly winds and changing wind patterns. However, the GCM changes predicted from solar variations are smaller than the observed changes. Other GCM calculations, which include interactive stratospheric chemistry with ozone, had more success in predicting an 11-year climate cycle. A theoretical link between solar variation and climate change needs a more active sun to emit considerably more ultraviolet. Extra UV would interact with ozone, raising stratosphere temperatures, but this would only raise the surface temperature at high latitudes by only a few tenths of a degree. Our calculation supports the IPCC findings that the contribution of solar variations to increased temperatures is not significant. Figure 3 in the paper by Judith Lean indicates that the cyclical amplitude of Earth's surface temperature is about 0.1 K, so the solar variational effect is not significant.[iv] On the other hand, our calculations, the GCMs, and Arrhenius can explain the observed global temperature rises with the observed increases in greenhouse gases.
Conclusion: Earth is getting warmer. Basic atmospheric models clearly predict that additional greenhouse gasses will raise the temperature of Earth. To argue otherwise, one must prove a physical mechanism that gives a reasonable alternative cause of warming. This has not been done. Sunspot and temperature correlations do not prove causality.
David Hafemeister and Peter Schwartz
Physics Department
Cal Poly University, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
[i] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2007: The Physical Basis, Cambridge University Press, New York (2007), http://www.ipcc.ch.
[ii] D. Hafemeister, Physics of Societal Issues: Calculations on National Security, Environment and Energy, Springer, New York, 2007.
[iii] N. Scafetta and B. West, "Is Climate Sensitive to Solar Variability," Physics Today 61, 50–51 (2008).
[iv] J. Lean, "Living with a Variable Sun," Physics Today 58, 32–38 (2005).
The Forum on Physics and Society is a place for discussion and disagreement on scientific and policy matters. Our newsletter publishes a combination of non- peer- reviewed technical articles, policy analyses, and opinion. All articles and editorials published in the newsletter solely represent the views of their authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Forum Executive Committee.


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Engineered Solutions
Retracting Tails
The capability to retract a conveyor, either manually or pneumatically, can improve system flexibility. The basic design of a retracting tail is a conveyor frame that retracts or extends, typically on slides or rails.
This function can happen infrequently with low accuracy or it can reoccur every few seconds with precision. Dorner has options available for both industrial and sanitary environments.
There are a variety of applications for retractable conveyor tails. Some of the major uses include:
- Reject for contaminated or rejected products
- Depositing products onto another conveyor or tray. This can be done in a precise, exact layout or simply dropping product.
- Product Routing into multiple lines.
- Walk-Through applications where you need quick and easy access to the other side of the line.


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Watch CBSN Live
Roman Fedortsov, a deep-sea fisherman based out of Murmansk, Russia, catches some strange looking creatures.
Fedortsov told CBS News that he takes pictures of fish that get caught in his net that don't get processed. He started posting the strangest of his finds on Twitter and Instagram, to his followers' delight ... and terror.
Credit: @rfedortsov
This fish looks like it came from the Upside Down of "Stranger Things."
Something about this reminds us of "The Shape of Water."
Look at that frown. Fedortsov described this as a "sad unusual fish."
One commenter on Instagram joked, "Ramen noodles... yum..."
Sure, this looks like a nightmare now, but breaded and deep fried, it might be quite appetizing.
You can almost hear him whispering, "My precious!"
We're not sure what's going on here, but this is a real dream-haunter.
Fedortsov remarked that this fish appears to have a "shoe's sole on it's head."
This fish has seen better days.
An Instagram user said this fish looks like "a cobra smoking a cigarette."
This faceless fish is the stuff of nightmares.
Gotta catch 'em all.
Fedortsov hypothesized that this fish, caught in the Norwegian Sea, might be a "genetic freak."
This fish would have taken a selfie, but it doesn't have hands.
"For me, all fish are beautiful," Fedortsov said of this opalescent creature.
One commenter wrote, of this cheerful-looking specimen, "I relate to this on every level."
Another Instagram user commented, "This looks like my sister."
And you thought the spiders on land were terrifying...
"Looks like a sock puppet," noted one commenter on Twitter.
"This reminds me of an ex-girlfriend," one Twitter user joked.
"Why do we search for aliens outside the Earth?" one Twitter user asked. "We have got enough."
Fedortsov write that this fish is an example of "the reality of a nightmare."
Fedortsov calls this a goblin shark.
One Twitter user asked: "You gonna eat it for breakfast or something?
Fedortsov said if he takes the picture at the right angle, "ordinary fish will look like a monster."
This is an American plaice, according to Fedortsov.
Fedortsov compared this fish to a zombie.
"Nervous people better not ... look," Fedortsov says.
Fedortsov says this is a type of shark.
"Not only terrible creatures live in the sea," Fedortsov writes about this little guy.
"The first rule of Fight Fish club is you do not talk about Fight Fish club," Fedortsov posted humorously with this picture.
"Cheshire Cat. My Sea Edition," Fedortsov says.
"The ocean is full of horrors," a Twitter user commented.
Fedortsov said this is a shark and called it "beautiful."
One Twitter user said this critter looks like a Pokémon.
"I'm never stepping foot in the ocean again," a Twitter user commented.
Some who commented on this photo thought this critter was "cute."
"Well, that looks a little prehistoric," a Twitter user noted.
"What is this I'm looking at?" one Twitter user asked of this distinctive-looking fish.
"Fish with a boot print on his forehead," Fedortsov said.
"Pirates of the Caribbean. Beginning. My version," Fedortsov writes.
One Twitter user commented that this looked like a "fish from hell."
A Twitter user said this fish evoked memories of the "The Twilight Zone."
"What a lovely fellow," one Twitter user said of this toothy specimen.
"'What big eyes you have,' said little red riding hood," one Twitter user commented.
"It looks like something from a horror movie," a Twitter user responded to this photo.
Fedortsov called this mouthy creature "friendly."
"Please tell me that's not an animal," one Twitter user remarked.
Fedortsov says this is a catfish, and calls it "beautiful."
"That fish looks like it fits a tenor voice," one Twitter user mused.
One Twitter user thought this guy was pretty "cute."
"Dinosaurs did not die off," Fedortsov writes. They are "simply disguised."
"The face I make when someone spills good gossip," a Twitter user joked.
Fedortsov says this fish is a sea robin.
Fedortsov says this beauty was caught in Morocco's fishing zone.
"Not slightly but very terrifying," a Twitter commenter wrote.
"Looks delicious," a Twitter user joked.
This was another critter that a Twitter user compared to a Pokémon.


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Riders rocked: Motorcycle community feels hit by ponzi
The alleged Bernie Madoff-styled fraud that has rocked Charlottesville's financial community may have had an even more devastating role among the motorcycle road racing world, which suspected Ponzi schemer John Donnelly used to inhabit.
A report on roadracingworld.com names Sam Fleming as the Donnelly acquaintance who contacted the SEC after a friend and fellow Donnelly investor alerted him that he'd been unable to cash out. The article notes that while Donnelly may have had some big time investors, many others handed over smaller amounts hoping that Donnelly's promise of big returns would help them build a nest egg.
Reached by email, Fleming, who according to his online bio is president of a Silver Spring, Maryland medical consulting business, "Wild Card Editor" for Road Racing World magazine, and a champion motorcycle endurance racer, calls the situation "an enormous tragedy for Donnelly, his family, his friends, his investors and the entire Charlottesville community."
He also notes that "there is nothing unique or special in this case" and says the allegations against Donnelly, if true, amount to "just a typical pyramid scheme that ran its sad course through a tight knit group of otherwise business savvy friends."
While the SEC has come under fire for failing to discover the Madoff scheme despite numerous alerts over many years, Fleming says he has been "deeply impressed by the diligence and coordination of the five federal agencies involved in this process."
Fleming adds that he is cooperating with authorities to "clean up the considerable mess of finances and lives left behind."
Donnelly remains behind bars at the Central Virginia Regional Jail awaiting a preliminary hearing on Thursday, March 19 at 1:30pm.
3 comments
money money money money...
i know these guys...
i rode with these guys...
life's a trip...
yeah, that poor Ponzi guy.
All the great memories & goodwill he built up in Happy Days, only to have his name repeatedly dragged thru the mud by a bunch of money-grubbing schmoes... ;^)
Donnelly is NOT a nerd! He's a dren! Funny how things turn out: Ponzi arrested to theft, Richie a world-class director, and Ralph Malph in "Celebrity Boxing."


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A few suggestions:
Dear Tom,
I'm writing to you because I want you to know how I spent my holiday in Northwold as you had advised
ly,I must say that the Star Hotel you told me about was very efficient andenjoyable and the staff was very efficient (an object [such as a hotel] can't be 'efficient'). Both the rooms and the restaurant were excellent.
However,the brochure said that the hill top castle and the winding street were amazing but the castle closed (or was closed) for the weekend, so I
hadn't haddidn't have the opportunity to visit ingit.That was quite disappointing!
Furthermore,I would like to add that The Festival Theatre,which I was really looking forward to visiting, opens only in summer.
Moreover, you should have warned me that most antique shops and both of the art galleries were closed and this
factannoyed me very much.
Lastly (or Finally), I
want to complain also aboutthe open-air swimming pool whichwas completely unapproachable beacause the climate was absolutely freezing.
As the result of my complaints and inconvenience, I think there should be due to me at least 50% of the
amount ofmoney I've paid to your travel agency.
Yours sincerely,
Student or Learner


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8 Replacements for High Fat Foods
Making big changes in your diet means starting small by substituting your high fat food items for lower fat or fat free versions. Check out the list below for some ideas.
1. If you currently use whole milk cheeses, try low fat or part-skim cheeses instead.
2. If you drink whole milk, give 1% or skim milk a try instead.
3. Don't drench your salad in fat with a creamy dressing--try vinaigrette, low-fat, or fat-free dressings instead.
4. Instead of full-fat mayonnaise for a sandwich, why not try a low fat version or mustard instead?
5. Does your toast thirst for a little something extra? Instead of butter or margarine, give trans-fat free margarine, or margarine made with plant stanols a shot.
6. Giving it a rest with red meat consumption can help decrease your fat intake. In its place, try chicken, turkey, fish, or lean ground beef.
7. Switch from tuna packed in oil to tuna packed in water for a decrease in fat.
8 Cream sauces are high in fat just like creamy salad dressings. Next time you're looking for a sauce, go with something tomato-based instead.
Page last updated: November 07, 2019


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Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education
The Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education (BACE) program focuses on equipping students with personal integrity and integration of theoretical and practical learning specially designed for educational effectiveness and profession. The purpose of the degree Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education is to equip persons for competent leadership in the educational ministries of the church, and the school, to the end that God would be glorified. This degree is designed to explore faith, to understand human lives, and to choose from a variety of ministry career choices. The courses are designed to aid students to equip themselves with the academic preparation and skills necessary to a deeper and more informed service and ministry to the Church and to the world. Especially, this degree is to serve the immigrant church by which students will be approached to study about the immigrant context and understood the Christian education in multicultural environment.
The students of the BACE program will be prepared to:
1. Utilize the deep knowledge about4. Reflect critically their immigrant church
3. Reflect critically their lives in the light of theological knowledge and the biblical understanding.
2. Interpret the various theological discourses and hermeneutics to the given contextual sites through teaching, preaching, and writing.
the Bible and its historical and cultural background in their ministries and their personal lives.to
analyze about the multi-cultural church and the multi-generational church to apply students' learned methods.
Program Requirements
The Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education degree program requires 126 credit hours plus IR (WS305 Institutional Requirement) is required while enrolled for graduation. The curriculum includes 45 credit hours in general education course, 81 credit hours in the major coursework, and IR credits for total semester enrolled until graduation. A full-time student following the course sequencing provided will be able to complete the program in eight semesters or four years.
The curriculum is available in the catalog on page 79, you can download it here


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Welcome to Wheelers Chipping Norton Ltd, a family run business established for over 20 years. Based on the edge of the Cotswolds, we pride ourselves in offering the very best selection of used cars tosuit every budget. Operating from our new show room sales site and centrally located workshops we offer: Used car sales open 7 days. Full workshop and MOT facilities. Competitive finance packages. Cars purchased for cash.
Show businesses near Chipping Norton


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This Website was paid for by -
Auer Endowment
Meet Our Librarians
Our librarians aren't just librarians - they're also genealogists! Our team of expert genealogists can help expand your search.
Step 1: Do your "home" work.
In most cases, you will need to know some background information about your family before you go to a library or archives or before you log in to an online genealogy database. The very best way to begin a successful genealogy project is to gather information that you already know about your family, or can find out by talking to relatives and looking at sources that you have in your home. These might include birth and death certificates, obituaries and other newspaper clippings, family Bibles, letters, diaries, the backs of photographs, yearbooks and diplomas or any other family papers. Older relatives often can give you information about previous generations that you may not know.
Step 2: Organize your facts.
When you visit a library, it is helpful to have your starting information organized on a standard genealogy chart. This helps the librarian know at a glance where you should begin to look for more information, and also will help you keep track of the data you collect. Pedigree and family group charts are the most common types of worksheets used by genealogists. Many varieties of charts are freely available on the web. A good set can be found at the following PBS site: BYU Family History Library Forms. The most important information to gather when you are beginning your search are the names of direct ancestors, including the maiden names of women, and dates and places of birth, marriage and death. Other helpful information would include the places your ancestral families lived and the names of collateral family members, such as the siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles of your ancestors, and religious affiliation and military service.
Step 3: Continue your research.
Visiting a library's website before making a physical visit is helpful. Even the most comprehensive genealogy collections do not have everything; it still is necessary to visit courthouses, county libraries and other facilities for records that are not available elsewhere. Library websites often have a collection description so that you can determine whether the records you seek are likely to be there. You also may have access to the library's catalog and be able to create a list of books or microfilms that you would like to consult. Create a research plan with specific ideas about information you would like to find during your visit: "I want to find out when my great-grandfather John Jones died," for example, rather than "I want to know everything about my Jones family."
When using online sources, especially large subscription websites, the information you have gathered from home sources will allow you to create detailed searches in specific databases. This is likely to generate more meaningful results than a simple name search with no date or place specifics. Your background information also will help you distinguish between individuals of the same name.
It's the adventure of a lifetime!
"Discovering your roots just got easier!"
© 2010-2018 ACPL The Genealogy Center. All Rights


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In 1991, I was a fresh-faced, fairly naive information systems major who was about to graduate from college. A few months before the end of school, an alumnus who worked for Microsoft came to our seminar and showed us a video of a speech Bill Gates had made the year before at Comdex. The speech was entitled "Information at Your Fingertips" and it was Bill's first attempt at articulating a vision for the future of PC industry, a future where everyone would have instant and easy access to whatever information they could ever need or want (he gave another more-well-known version of the speech in 1995). Watching it today, one can't help but smile at Bill's enormous glasses, bad haircut, and cheesy delivery, but at the time, his vision looked incredibly cool to me. I knew then that I desperately wanted to be a part of making it happen.
I jumped into the software industry shortly after graduation, and spent nearly a decade designing, building, and managing software that could deliver information to people's fingertips. Although I had studied information systems, I did so at a small, integrative liberal arts college, so most of what I learned about the practice of software engineering was actually acquired on the job. I learned C, then C++, and a smattering of other higher-level languages. I became adept at relational databases and SQL. I read books on algorithms, object-oriented theory, design patterns, human-computer interaction, and obscure programming tricks. I learned to evaluate the efficiency of everything I did, to seek the optimal solution. I read Dilbert religiously. I watched a lot of sci-fi. I became an engineer.
As I acquired the technical skills of software programming, I also took on some of the more annoying behaviors that are often characteristic of engineers. I became quite arrogant, assuming that my computer skills were evidence of a broader intellect that enabled me to have the correct opinion on just about anything. I became easily frustrated when people chose what I deemed to be a suboptimal course of action. I figured that I was capable of solving just about any problem given the right set of tools and techniques. And by "any problem," I meant, any problem: automating sales reports was really just a special case of solving world hunger, homelessness, and the troubled middle east. All that was needed, I naively assumed, was a bit of rational decision making, supported by better computer systems that could catalog and deliver the right information at the right time.
After a few years, however, I started to notice that with every set of problems we solved, a whole new set of problems seemed to emerge. We would start every project with the greatest ambitions and expectations, but by the end we were already starting to see its shortcomings and thinking "oh well, we'll fix that in the next version" (and we always assumed there would be a "next version," even though our customers would have probably preferred us to just fix the problems in the existing one). Throughout the 1990s, we did automate scores of routine tasks, and developed tools that could catalog and retrieve information in ways similar to Bill's vision, but our greatest social problems still seemed as intractable as ever. In some ways, we may have actually made them worse.
By the late 1990s, I was starting to get pretty cynical about the software industry in particular, and technology in general, so one of my friends suggested that I read Neil Postman's book Technopoly. It was just what I needed. I can still remember how the following passage completely stopped me in my tracks:
You need only ask yourself, What is the problem in the Middle East, or South Africa, or Northern Ireland? Is it lack of information that keeps these conflicts at fever pitch? Is it lack of information about how to grow food that keeps millions at starvation levels? Is it lack of information that brings soaring crime rates and physical decay to our cities? Is it lack of information that leads to high divorce rates and keeps the beds of mental institutions filled to overflowing? (60)
I stayed in the software industry for a few more years, but reading Technopoly eroded my faith in modern technology's ability to solve our larger social problems. I channeled my inner grumpy old man, and started to wonder if modern technology was actually more the cause than a solution to our social ills. I read Thoreau and pined for the simpler life. We got rid of our TV and spent more time reading. We bought a dining table made from reclaimed factory floor boards. We replaced the overhead electric light with a candelabra that we diligently lit each night. I exchanged my power tools for manual ones. I replaced my GoreTex with wool. I bought a push mower. I became a Romantic.
Well, sort of. I'm a city-boy at heart, and I never really learned how to appreciate poetry, so I was never quite the card-carrying Romantic. Still, I became much more of a techno-pessimist and eagerly read all the prominent Christian critics of modern technology. I also began to wonder whether one could really be both a engineer and a sincere Christian. If, as Ellul and Borgman claimed, industrialists and engineers were primarily responsible for the modern mindset, including all the social ills that it led to, how could a sincere Christian continue to do that kind of work?
Shortly thereafter, I left software to go back to graduate school, hoping to deepen my understanding of the ways in which modern technology had influenced our culture, and determine if my Christian and my engineering selves could really co-exist. I had never been much of a historian (business and computer science are perhaps some of the most a-historical fields there are), but the critics I most admired seemed to be well-versed in the history of technology, so I thought I should pursue that as well. It turned out to be a good decision, but not for the reasons I originally thought.
As I began to study the history and sociology of technology, I discovered that most critics of technology, especially the ones who write for a popular audience, rely on a theory that is no longer supported by most historians. That theory, commonly known as "technological determinism," posits that technologies have a kind of one-way, deterministic "impact" on any society that adopts them. The stronger forms of this theory also hold that technological innovations advance according to an internal logic that makes technological progression inevitable and unstoppable.
Although technological determinism was the dominant historical theory for the first half of the 20th century, most current historians consider it to be only half right. Technologies most certainly change the societies that adopt them, but those changes are rarely, if ever, deterministic. Instead, detailed historical cases show that consumers play very active roles in shaping our understanding of what a new device is and is good for. In some cases, they also instigate a physical or functional reshaping of the new device as they seek to make it fit better into their lives (for example, the Kosher mobile phone).
This discovery opened up the possibility that I, as a Christian who was also passionate about technology, could actively engage in the reshaping and redeeming of these new devices. When we think as a technological determinist, we are left with a fairly bleak choice: adopt the new device and suffer the inevitable consequences; or completely reject it and hope you can convince others to do so as well. As Sherry Turkle has reminded us, this is the language of addiction—it's similar to the way an addict thinks about his or her drugs. But when we realize that both engineers and consumers play active roles in the shaping of new technologies, a new possibility arises: the opportunity for a participatory redemption.
This realization also helped me see how I might reintegrate my Christian and engineering selves. If technologies did not have deterministic impacts and did not advance entirely according to their own logic, then it was dreadfully important for more Christians to be actively involved in not only the engineering of new devices and systems, but also their early adoption. If Christians aren't there to inject their own values into the design, production, marketing, and adoption of new technologies, we really have no excuse if we don't like how things turn out. Blaming deterministic outcomes just obscures what is really a lack of engagement.
I also began to realize that my Romantic reaction was just as short-sighted as the techno-optimism of my youth. It was certainly good to question the purported benefits of modern technology, and perhaps reject a few things that were really more of a distraction than a help, but to deny the flourishing I felt when designing and building software was to deny an important part of who I was made to be. Not all of us are made to be farmers or poets. Some of us are made to be engineers and artisans.
Are you a Christian involved in some kind of engineering practice? If so, how do you integrate your faith and your work? What makes a Christian engineer different from a secular one?