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There seems to be a major memory problem with the amavisd setup with ISPConfig when configured as per the "perfect server" instructions. After doing the below I was able to scale my cloud server back to 512 memory (from 1gb). It was causing my server to have swap file in use of over 512 mb.
Here is how to disable it:
Edit: /etc/postfix/main.cf
Coment this two lines:
content_filter = amavis:[127.0.0.1]:10024
receive_override_options = no_address_mappings
Looks like this:
#content_filter = amavis:[127.0.0.1]:10024
#receive_override_options = no_address_mappings
Edit: /etc/postfix/master.cf
Comment all lines bellow:
amavis unix – – – – 2 smtp
Here is what it should look like:
#amavis unix – – – – 2 smtp
# -o smtp_data_done_timeout=1200
# -o smtp_send_xforward_command=yes
#127.0.0.1:10025 inet n – – – – smtpd
# -o content_filter=
# -o local_recipient_maps=
# -o relay_recipient_maps=
# -o smtpd_restriction_classes=
# -o smtpd_client_restrictions=
# -o smtpd_helo_restrictions=
# -o smtpd_sender_restrictions=
# -o smtpd_recipient_restrictions=permit_mynetworks,rej ect
# -o mynetworks=127.0.0.0/8
# -o strict_rfc821_envelopes=yes
# -o receive_override_options=no_unknown_recipient_chec ks,no_header_body_checks
# -o smtpd_bind_address=127.0.0.1
Now stop amavis-new and clamd:
/etc/init.d/amavisd stop
/etc/init.d/clamd.amavisd stop
Now disable amavis and clamd form starting on system boot:
chkconfig amavisd off
chkconfig clamd.amavisd off
Now restart postfix:
/etc/init.d/postfix restart
Now you have IspConfig/Postfix working postfix without Amavis and Clamd.


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The NBA informed that its management teams and coaches can start talking to players around the league starting from next Monday morning. Although the notification has not been announced officially Draymond Green Womens Jersey , sources close to the league confirmed that the approval has been completed, which means that players and free agents begin to receive offers from the respective teams. The decision is also one more step to have everything ready for December 9 to begin training camps and signing new contracts for free agents.
The same sources reported that the league also keeps the same restrictions established on Wednesday, which states that no verbal or written agreement can be struck with free agents because "technically" the lockout still in effect until the signing of the new collective agreement.
Such restrictions mean that the coaches of the teams in the NBA can't supervise the player's workouts in the sports facilities, but teams could start physical exams to free agents.
Meanwhile, the NBA commissioner Nick Young Womens Jersey , David Stern and National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter, worked until Saturday in the negotiation of the different parts of the collective agreement had not been closed yet and hope to continue on Monday after taking Sunday off.
The objective of the work of Stern and Hunter is to have ready all the full text of the interim agreement for presentation on Wednesday to the respective executive committees of the owners and the union. Players and owners have an electronic vote scheduled for next Thursday, so that Friday the agreement can be approved and signed, which will allow to make contracts to free agents and start the training camp.
However, it is certain that on Friday is not going to register any major firm of agents with more value in the market Kevin Durant Womens Jersey , such as pivots Nene Hilario and Tyson Chandler and David West, as their representatives are unaware of concrete terms that may be negotiate under the new collective agreement.
Free agents will need time to consider before the meeting time, such as the rights of their clients in the new employment regulations to be approved and has involved a considerable loss of money from the players.
In a letter to players Thursday, Hunter wrote that the owners and NBPA "still must negotiate numerous non-economic matters, including the anti-drug agreement Stephen Curry Womens Jersey , commissioner and team discipline, and workplace rules, together with relatively smaller economic and other contract issues."
However, the union expects no problems and Hunter is confident that the interim agreement achieved on last November 26 is closed and reasy to be presented to the general assembly that the union will take place on Wednesday in New York.
"If both the players and owners vote to ratify the agreement," Hunter wrote of Thursday's scheduled balloting for both sides Klay Thompson Womens Jersey , "then training camps will open the following morning on Friday, December 9."
Hunter added: "As with the union authorization process, the American Arbitration Association will supervise the ratification process. Every player will have an opportunity to vote on the proposed agreement."
The first day of competition is scheduled for Christmas Day with five games to let the duels between the Dallas Mavericks against the Miami Heat and the Lakers against the Chicago Bulls. There are a lot of men and women who dread getting to write papers or articles. A lot of just really feel like it appears to be too significantly function and it all just goes to waste when no 1 reads the. To some folks, reading articles appears like work to, especially if the write-up is boring and really bland. Nicely Draymond Green Jersey , articles are supposed to be read, thats their purpose to impart your message and info. If it is not read then it is a waste of time and effort.
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three) Use Sub-headings to sub-divide your paragraphs in the page. Doing this will break each and every point into sections but still would be incorporated into one entire article. It would also be straightforward for the reader to move on from.

subset: commoncrawl


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Machined and Milled Plastic Enclosures
At Lincoln Binns, we specialise in the customisation of electronic enclosures. We provide a machining and milling service to all our customers so that their bespoke boxes fulfil their requirements. This same service is still available for our new range of plastic enclosures, allowing us to mill connector holes into either aluminium or plastic enclosures.
Milling your plastic enclosure
Our customisation process is quick and easy as we can process everything in-house, from design to the production of your milled plastic enclosures. First a customer must select from our wide range of Hammond plastic boxes, choosing a size and the attributes of a box.
Customers can either supply their own engineering drawings or we can use CAD-CAM to design their milled plastic enclosure for them. These machined plastic enclosures are unique and therefore perfectly suited to every customer's circuit board requirements.
We are able to further this customisation process with our in-house plastic enclosure printing.


text:
Freescale aims to extend is dominance in communications processors with new low-end Power Architecture models at under $10 each. Look for Freescale's communications processors to dip below the $5 point within three years. RColinJohnson @NextGenLog
The PowerQUICC features an e300 Power Architecture core at a lower price point and with reduced power consumption.
Here is what EETimes says about under-$10 communications processors: Freescale Semiconductor unveiled a low-end addition to its family of Power Quicc II Pro communications processors at the Freescale Technology Forum, held Aug. 18-19 in Bengaluru, India. The highly integrated MPC830x chips offer lower price/performance points as well as lower power consumption for applications such as line cards, WLAN access points, intelligent network interface cards, smart energy meters and industrial control...
Full Text: http://bit.ly/NextGenLog-aNNf


text:
AEGIS® QUIK KIT Windshield Repair Kit
Create your own QUIK KIT. Choose your model of UV lamp, resin formulas, add a drill and adapters if you choose.
- Our most affordable windshield repair kit.
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- Works in 30 minutes.
- Pays for itself before the resins are used up!
- One year warranty.
- Made in the USA.
- Shipping Weight: 7 lbs.
The QUIK KIT Includes:
- Quik repair fixture
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- UV lamp of Your Choice (Final price will vary. LMP2001 is standard and pictured.)
- Connector hose
- Supplies, including Mylar squares (100), razor blades and seals
- Glycerin (for suction cup conditioning)
- 2 Bags of Single Shot Resins of Your Choice (25+ Repairs/Bag)
- Tool box carrying case
- Instructions
Recommended Additions:
- PWR5040 Dremel 7.2 Volt Cordless Drill OR PWR5200 Proxxon Micromot Drill & Adaptor 110 Volt.
- FIX2045 QUIK KIT Large Pit Adapter increases diameter of repair chamber for larger breaks.
- FIX2048 QUIK KIT Vertical Repair Adapter allows repairs on vertical windshields.


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Oh, hi there! This might be a boring post for you if you are looking for food porn pictures, so if that's the case move along. However, if you want a straight up simple recipe for amazing pumpkin pie with whipped (coconut) cream, then you've found the right place.
Step 1:
Go to New Seasons or your local goodfood mart and buy whatever frozen, gluten free pie shells they have on offer. You only need one but they often come in twos.
Step 2:
Pre-bake the crust as directed on the packaging, and while you're doing that follow this recipe for the pumpkin pie filling. I used cornstarch, not arrowroot, beet sugar in place of cane sugar, and full-fat coconut cream, not almond milk.
Step 3:
Make coconut whipped cream using this recipe. I experimented with full fat coconut milks from Whole Foods (their brand), Thai Kitchen, and Trader Joe's (coconut cream), and by far the best one was Trader Joe's. The whole thing was nothing but rich cream, whereas the Whole Foods brand did not solidify at all and the Thai Kitchen one yielded less than half solid cream.
Refrigerate your coconut milk and make your pie one day ahead of when you want to serve it. Both need to sit overnight to set up. The next day you can make your whip right before you serve, and it will be great, or you can make it in the morning so it has a chance to set up a bit before you serve. Either way it's totally delicious!
Thanks to Oh She Glows for the recipes! Angela* keeps a really pretty plant-based food blog, so while you're there you should definitely browse around and check out her other recipes.
*I say that like I know her but I don't. I've just been following her blog for a long time.


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Pyaray Afzal Finale Review
by inbetweenroses
It was one of the first agreements that I had made to myself before setting out to create a blog that I can call my own. I shall consistently post content, irregardless of its quality. Indeed, what is more important is to write, to observe and to share. But alas, the world wide web is witness to my this failing!
As a little peace offering to the ever-so-wonderful followers of In Between Roses, here's me (embrassingly!) ranting and rambling away:
Oh pyaray, pyaray Afzal of ours!
To my keen followers of پیارے افضل, the Pakistani romantic drama serial that aired on ARY Digital, I feel ya! Afzal's untimely, but arguably he-had-it-coming-for-him death left me baffled. Of course, it would be unprincipled to impute the not-so happily-ever-after conclusion, wherein we, the viewers were deprived of witnessing the (greatly) anticipated union of Farrah Ibrahim, the khat walli and pyaray Afzal, the cricket khel nay wala…but…still I brood. Kids, it comes as a lesson to us all – if thou kills, thou shalt pay a certain amount of due in return.
– Side note: Evidently, whilst the phone conversation between Afzal and Farrah was intended to placate faithful FarZal shippers, it had me quite affronted. Why, oh, why did you not ask for help, Afzal?! If you can hold an entire, poetic conversation with your long time love (despite two brutal gunshots), surely, you could have been treatable. Surely, if you had called for aid, you could have saved yourself! Argh! To be completely honest, the whole scene came off as a bit comical when you analyze the logistics, which, naturally, I cannot help but do. But alas, the hopeless romantic within me forsake practicality to enjoy the sorrow-filled OST which drew the curtains to one of Pakistan's most beloved serials. The witty dialogues, the enchanting OST, the charming cast, the subtle humor and the equally balanced doses of drama were indeed all elements to relish upon.
Of course, it is not just I who bids farewell to the charming weekly serial – many others have shared their goodbyes and parting thoughts through YouTube's good ol' comment section:


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Posted on Monday, April 09, 2018
The Montney Tight Gas Fairway (MTGF) exists in the same region as the tight gas deep basin for many other formations. Disposal formations (that may be prolific producers to the east) become too tight within the MTGF. Other candidates are limited to specific geologic anomalies – such as the Leduc reefs or Debolt faults. Wells drilled into these formations outside of these anomalies are not productive enough.
Existing injection wells within the Montney Tight gas fairway are generally for pressure maintenance with marginal disposal capacity. While useful for secondary recovery, there are not economically viable without the benefit of oil recovery. In many cases these secondary recovery schemes exist on geological sweet spots with higher porosity and permeability that are limited in aerial extent.
Within the Montney tight gas fairway there are simply none of the hugely prolific disposal wells found elsewhere. Whereas there are single wells in the Edmonton/Ft. Saskatchewan area capable of taking > 100,000 m3/month, a prolific MTGF well might take only 10,000 m3 per month. Immediately east of the MTGF, a prolific well might take approximately 30,000 m3/ per month. Compounding the problem of the low quality of many potential candidate formations is the fact that the Fairway exists along the edge of the deformation front. This means that the drilling depth to candidate formations can be significantly deeper. For example, a Leduc formation disposal well in the Kaybob area can be found at 2,600m depth and easily accept >25,000 m3 per month. In the Kakwa/Gold Creek area in the MTGF, a Leduc well would be completed at >3600m depth and accommodate <20,000 m3 per month.
Finally, the Montney is sour across some of the fairway, particularly in the deepest parts of the basin on the Alberta side. This complicates water disposal, as it either limits potential disposal formations or requires treatment to remove H2S.
These factors are driving up disposal costs to uneconomic levels. As such, our Water Hub designs are incorporating higher water reuse strategies, sour water sweetening/reuse and evaporator systems to reduce disposal volumes. With careful planning and technology selection, we are driving down the cost of water disposal and improving economics.


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Other Recipes from MEATSStewed Squabs
Yorkshire Steaks
Filet Of Beef A La Rossini
Yorkshire Pudding
Cold Roast Beef Stewed
Stewed Cold Mutton Or Beef
Lamb With Macaroni
Stewed Fresh Tongue
Pork Pie
To Boil A Ham
Mexican Tripe
Pickled Beef Tongue
Pan Roast Beef
An Easy Pot Roast
Pot Roast. Braised Beef
Brisket Of Beef (brustdeckel)
Rolled Beef--pot-roasted
Mock Duck
Roast Beef, No. 1
Roast Beef, No. 2
Roast Beef (russian Style)
MEAT PIE(Meats) - (The International Jewish Cook Book)
Cut any left-over beef, lamb or veal in small pieces, removing all
excess of fat; parboil one green pepper (seeds removed) cut in strips,
two cups of potatoes and one-half cup of carrots cut in dice, and one
onion chopped fine. Add to the meat. Thicken with one-fourth cup of
flour moistened in cold water. Put in a baking dish. The crust is made
as follows: One cup of flour, one heaping teaspoon of drippings, pinch
of salt, one-fourth teaspoon of baking powder, one teaspoon of sugar and
cold water to mix, about one-third cup. Roll out to fit baking dish, cut
holes for steam to escape, after covering the contents of the dish. Bake
in a quick hot oven one-half hour.
Take four quarts of water, adding enough salt to float an egg, boil this
salted water, when cool take four or five pounds brisket of beef,
seasoned with whole and ground peppers, one large clove of garlic,
pierced in different parts of the beef, one tablespoon of sugar, one bay
leaf and one teaspoon of saltpetre. Put meat into deep stone pot, pour
the boiled water over it and store in a cool place for ten days or two
Other Recipes
VEGETABLE MEAT PIESoak one-half cup of Lima beans overnight; in the morning let them boil
rapidly for one-half hour. Drain, slip the beans from their skins and
split them in halves. Blanch one-quarter cup of almonds and chop them
with one-quarter cup of peanuts. Boil four potatoes, and when done cut
two of them into small cubes. Mash the remaining; two and use them for a
dough, adding four tablespoons of hot milk, a little salt and
one-quarter cup of flour. Put a layer of beans in the bottom of the
baking-dish, a sprinkling of nuts, a little hard-boiled egg, then the
potato blocks and one-half tablespoon each of chopped parsley and
chopped onion, one-half teaspoon of salt and one-half saltspoon of
pepper and so on until the material is all used. Roll out the potato
dough the size of the baking-dish; put it over the dish, brush with milk
and bake half an hour in a moderately quick oven.
The ordinary recipe generally states the time required for cooking its
ingredients, but an approximate table is occasionally of use as giving a
general idea of the time required for certain things. In any case, it is
approximate only, for things should be cooked until done, and various
conditions modify the time stated. The atmosphere, altitude, kind of
oven or mode of heating employed, and the age of certain things, such as
vegetables, all have to be considered, so that hard and fast rules
cannot be laid down.
Other Recipes
POTATO AND MEAT PIE.Take mashed potatoes, seasoned with salt, pepper, and butter; line a
baking dish with it; lay upon this slices of cold meat (any kind),
with a little pepper, salt, catsup, and gravy; then another layer of
potatoes, another of meat, and so forth till pan is filled, having the
last a cover of potatoes. Bake until thoroughly warmed. Serve in the
dish in which it is cooked.
Other Recipes
Meat PieOf whatever kind, let the pieces of meat be first fried brown over a
quick fire, in a little fat or butter, and seasoned with pepper and
salt; put these into a pie-dish with chopped onions, a few slices of
half-cooked potatoes, and enough water just to cover the meat. Cover the
dish with a crust, made with two pounds of flour and six ounces of
butter, or lard, or fat dripping, and just enough water to knead it into
a stiff kind of dough or paste, and then bake it for about an hour and
Other Recipes
5 Meat Pie With Potato CrustCut cold roast beef into thin slices, removing the fat and gristle;
cover the bones and trimmings with cold water; add a few slices of onion
and carrot, and a stalk of celery, if at hand; let simmer several hours;
strain off the broth and simmer in it the slices of beef, until they are
perfectly tender. Season with salt and pepper, and pour into a baking
dish; cover with a round of potato crust in which there is an opening;
bake until the crust is done (about 15 minutes) Janet M. Hill in
"Boston Cooking School Magazine."
POTATO CRUST Sift together 2 cups of flour, half a teaspoonful of
salt, and 2 level teaspoonfuls of baking powder. With the tips of the
fingers work in half a cup of shortening, and then 1 cup of cold mashed
potatoes; add milk to make a soft dough, turn on to the board, handle as
little as possible and pat and roll out to fit the dish.
Viewed 2393 times.
Most Viewed Recipes from The International Jewish Cook BookCookies
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Least Viewed Recipes from The International Jewish Cook BookGlacÉ For Candies
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Pudding À La Grande Belle
Tripe À La Creole
|Home Made Cookies.ca


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Pingree Grove Fire Dept. Open House
Elgin | Website
This event occurred in the past.
Map | Find Parking
The Pingree Grove Fire Protection District hosts a community Open House in the Village of Pingree Grove. The Open House offers the opportunity to meet the firefighters, to participate in "hands on" activities, to take a tour of the Fire Station, and to watch live demonstrations. Also, food is available for purchase.


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Maps are interesting things; the thing to remember about maps is that they sometimes have mistakes.
As you can see from this 1831 map (on the right), Perry County once included land on the east and west sides of the Tennessee River. But in spite of what this map seems to indicate, the county seat of Perry County was never Barrysville, on the east side of the river, but Perryville, on the west side of the river. OOPS!!!
In 1846 the part of Perry County west of the river was turned into a separate county called Decatur County. The county seat of Perry County ended up at Linden, in the middle of what we now call Perry County. (See the current Tennessee highway map, on the left).
Perryville had an interesting history. It was an important stop on the Tennesee River, and among the famous Tennesseans who visited Perryville were Andrew Jackson, David Crockett, James K. Polk and Sam Houston. Unfortunately, the Perryville that they would have remembered is gone now, flooded when the Tennessee Valley Authority built Kentucky Dam.
Here's another story about Perry County that illustrates what a big deal the Civil War was. In 1860 there were about 5,400 people living in Perry County, about half of them male. Obviously, a lot of them were either too old or too young to fight. Nevertheless, 800 of them went to fight the Civil War – about 600 for the South and about 200 for the North. Many of them didn't come home.
Today -- nearly a century and a half after the Civil War -- less than 7,000 people live there. So Perry County also has the distinction of being one of the slowest growing counties in Tennessee.
In spite of the low population of Perry County, a lot of boys have fond memories of the place. Perry County is the home of a boy scout canoe base called Grimes -- located on the oft-canoed Buffalo River.
Here is the Perry County courthouse.


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Mangoes are one of the world's most prized tropical fruits. Indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, they are today cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. Their unique flavor and richness in vitamins and minerals make them popular with consumers around the world.
However, erratic fruiting habits make mango cultivation challenging: being very seasonal, mango trees bear fruit only one month in a whole year. Sometimes they bear fruit well in one year, but do not bear fruit at all in the next year. To overcome these challenges and make mango cultivation more commercially viable, in the early 1970s Philippine horticulturalist Dr. Ramon Barba set out to develop a chemical solution to induce early flowering in mango plants.
Research and Development
Already as a student, Dr. Barba, who holds degrees in plant propagation and horticulture, was very interested in the problems of mango production: "We already had a unique practice in the Philippines of using smoke to bring on flowering. But it was a tedious practice, and expensive. So as students we were all thinking, 'how can we make the mango flower?'", he recalls.
His research activities at the University of the Philippines Los Baños established that the presence of ethylene in the smoke was responsible for the flowering effect. "But you cannot just use ethylene – it is a gas, you would have to cover the tree", Dr. Barba points out. So, he started experimenting with other chemicals: "Potassium nitrate was low on the list, but I included it because I know from other studies that there is a link between potassium nitrate and ethylene", he says.
The application of potassium nitrate worked, and Dr. Barba was amazed by the results: "The process was very simple. You just get one kilo of potassium nitrate, put it in 100 liters of water, spray it on the plant once – and within a week you can see the buds forming. In two weeks the buds are already forming into flowers. It was... unprecedented. I have never seen any reaction so spectacular." Spraying mango trees with the liquid doubles or triples the yield, in addition to making them fruit at different times of the year.
In further research, Dr. Barba analyzed whether forcing mango trees beyond normal fruiting had any impact on them and found that they were affected: "After eight years of induction they are 15 percent smaller than those that are not treated. But there was no bad effect, no damage to the mango. Trees that have been sprayed with potassium nitrate for more than 30 years are still producing", he reports.
Overjoyed with his revolutionary invention that any grower could use, Dr. Barba completely forgot to protect his discovery: "I forgot all about the patenting aspect – until I read in the paper that somebody else had patented potassium nitrate for mango flower induction. I said, 'But how can this be? I think I discovered it; everybody in the scientific community thinks I discovered it; and here it is patented!'"
He immediately contacted the Philippine patent office, who confirmed that they had received an application, but that no patent had been granted yet. With the help of a lawyer, he applied for a patent and contested the existing application. "Fortunately because of the records I had, I could show that the invention was mine. So the process went through and the patent office gave me the patent", he recalls.
However, he is well aware of the risk he incurred in not protecting his invention straight away: "If a patent had been granted, then the other person would own my invention. I would not be recognized as the inventor, so would lose the credit scientifically and lose any financial possibility".
During the process, he learnt that patents can do many things: "Patenting both protects your rights and helps you make the benefits of your invention available. Patents give some inspiration because the reward is there, and the recognition. In the Philippines there needs to be more information, more education about it. If we could introduce the subject in school science classes it would be a big step", he says.
Business Results
The use of potassium nitrate to induce flowering in mango plants has revolutionized the Philippine mango industry: "It has been said that no single plant commodity has benefited as much from a single technology as the mango has from potassium nitrate induction. From 1974, when it was virtually neglected, it has become our number one fruit crop", reports Dr. Barba. "The effects are felt in all areas related to mango production. Everybody has benefited: the companies selling pest control chemicals, the people who harvest, the people who package, the people who bring the fruit to market, and the people who make baskets for mangoes", he continues. Today, with an annual production of about 900,000 tons, the Philippines are among the top ten mango producers worldwide, making the crop one of the country's top exports.
Dr. Barba's mango flower induction method is now used in many countries around the world. He has received numerous prestigious awards for his research, including the IBM-DOST Award in 1989, the DA-Khush Achievement Award in 1995, the Crop Science Society of the Philippines Best Paper Award in 1974 and 1981, and the Gamma Sigma Delta Achievement Award in 1995. What he finds most rewarding is the impact of his discovery: "I am very proud of having invented the potassium nitrate technology. As a scientist, I feel that one technology that has a positive impact on agriculture justifies a lifetime of research".
One Creative Idea, One Patent, Many Positive Effects
Patenting helped Dr. Barba disseminate his invention: the security that he had all the rights to his discovery enabled him to share his technology with a maximum number of people by choosing not to enforce his patent. His ingenuity has contributed to increasing food security and has benefited a wide range of communities involved with mango growing, in particular in developing countries, where most mangoes are grown.
This case study is based on information from:
- http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Ramon_Barba
- http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancor
- http://sntpost.stii.dost.gov.ph/NewPOST/AprJun2008/technologygenerators/Dr_Ramon_Barba.htm
- http://www.upd.edu.ph/biotech/plant/patena.htm
- http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2008/03/article_0001.html
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2H8ySx_YMg


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In cooperation with the MIT Energy Initiative, our energy competencies range from the fundamentals of energy conversion (fossil fuels, solar) to economics and public policy.
Study shows that pavement deflection under vehicle tires makes for a continuous uphill drive that increases fuel consumption.
Transportation@MIT and the MIT Transportation Club are pleased to announce the continuation of the Transportation Seminar Series.
Transportation@MIT is a vast undertaking that brings together multiple disciplines and schools. What better place to take on a problem so inextricably linked to data and technology? Where else to analyze the world's urban infrastructure and how it can best facilitate the efficient and ecologically sound movement of people and goods?
Places second in the Silicon category — comprising cars that raced with off-the-shelf, terrestrial-grade silicon solar cells.
An MIT team led by Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering Yang Shao-Horn has found a method that promises to dramatically increase the efficiency of the electrodes in one type of fuel cell, which uses methanol instead of hydrogen as its fuel and is considered promising as a replacement for batteries in portable electronic devices.
Cindy Barnhart, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering Systems, Director of Transportation@MIT, Associate Dean of Engineering for Academic Affairs
John Heywood, Sun Jae Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and Director of the Sloan Automotive Laboratory
Alice in Wonderland and the Cheshire Cat: Which Way Are We Going, and Does it Matter? Thinking Globally, Acting locally, and Walking the TalkFred Salvucci, is a civil engineer specializing in transportation, in particular infrastructure, urban transportation, public transportation and institutional development in decision-making. He was the Secretary of Transportation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under Governor Dukakis. He is a Senior Lecturer at MIT in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
P. Christopher Zegras, Urban Studies and Planning
Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Why Chemomechanical Design of Materials is Critical to Sustainable Transportation InfrastructureKrystyn Van Vliet, Materials Science and Engineering
John Sterman, Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management; Director, MIT System Dynamics Group; MIT Sloan School of Management


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WASHINGTON—A bomber from the Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen sent to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner last month was actually a Saudi intelligence agent who infiltrated the group and volunteered for the suicide mission, U.S. media reported on Tuesday.
The explosive device was intended to be smuggled aboard an aircraft undetected and then detonated.
The double agent arranged instead to deliver the device to U.S. and other intelligence authorities waiting outside Yemen, the L.A. Times reported. The agent arrived safely in an unidentified country and is being debriefed.
Experts at the FBI's bomb laboratory in Quantico, Va., are now analyzing the device to determine if it really could have evaded airport security, the newspaper said.
If such a device could be brought on board an aircraft, it could in theory be detonated without the knowledge of aircraft passengers and crew.
The main charge was a high-grade military explosive that "undoubtedly would have brought down an aircraft," the New York Times reported, citing a senior American official.
It appeared to be an upgraded version of the so-called "underwear bomb" that failed to down a passenger jet over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009, the L.A. Times said.
"Like that bomb, this device bears the forensic signature of feared Al Qaeda bomb maker Ibrahim Hassan Asiri," who is believed to be hiding in Yemen, the L.A. Times website reported.
The operation relied not on the high-tech and satellite surveillance for which the CIA has been known in recent years, but old-fashioned human intelligence work.
It did, however, produce intelligence that helped the CIA locate top Al Qaeda operative Fahd al-Quso, who was killed on Sunday when a CIA drone targeted him with a missile as he stepped out of his car in Yemen, the newspapers reported.
Also on The Star:
Guantanamo's Starbucks Sunday helps fuel 9/11 trial
9/11 trial: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four accused make a statement with silence


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Having ice, cool drinks and ice cream in summer is normal and no one wonders what people did before the invention of fridges and freezers. These electrical appliances have not always been around, though, and there has not always been electricity to operate them. What did people use to do to make ice or ice cream?
The Serra de Tramuntana might be said to have been one big ice-making factory in winter, supplying the rest of Mallorca with ice in spring and summer. This system has been described as an ice industry, with the creation of a job known as a nevater. It also led to the construction of ethnological and architectural heritage that can still be seen today in the Serra de Tramuntana, in addition to numerous toponyms.
The system was a very easy one. Snow was collected for storage in cases de neu (ice stores), using baskets, spades and buckets. The ice store was a hole dug into the ground, taking advantage of a crevice or natural depression if possible. This big pit, which was then covered with a manmade one or two-sided roof, had several openings: a door for the nevaters to enter and work inside it and windows known as bombarderes, used for throwing the snow inside.
The snow, laid in horizontal layers, was trodden on for about three hours to make compact blocks of ice. Each layer was covered in reed leaves. When the ice store was full and the layers had reached the top, the doors and windows were sealed as hermetically as possible so that the cold could not escape and the ice would stay frozen until well into the warmer months.
En Galileu ice store, recently restored by the Consell de Mallorca © Photo: Gabriel Lacomba
The snow was collected using baskets, spades and buckets, before being taken to an ice store
Some forty ice stores have been documented throughout the whole of the Serra de Tramuntana, from Puigpunyent to Pollença
The ice store was normally reopened in early spring (traditionally on the first day of April), and the ice was removed in blocks known as pans de neu. It was then transported to the closest towns and villages for subsequent distribution throughout Palma.
The ice store was normally reopened in early spring (traditionally on the first day of April), and the ice was removed in blocks known as pans de neu. It was then transported to the closest towns and villages for subsequent distribution throughout Palma.
Ice stores can be found in the highest parts of the Serra de Tramuntana, often at an altitude of over one thousand metres. This made it complicated for the ice to be brought down to towns and villages, since it had to be transported swiftly and efficiently to stop it from melting. Some ice stores, like those of Puig d'en Galileu on the Massanella massif, have a network of paths leading up to them, created in what was a genuine feat of engineering by the local people.
The ice was mainly used for therapeutic purposes or for food and drink. It had many different medicinal applications, such as bringing down temperatures or helping to treat spasms caused by nervous disorders. It was also used to reduce inflammations caused by knocks, lumps or bruising. When mixed with oil, it could also relieve burns.
Likewise, ice was used to make ice creams and cold refreshing drinks. The recipes were very basic ones, for example aigua llisa (a drink made of water, ice and a few drops of lemon juice). Two variations were aigua de canyella, with cinnamon, and aigua dolça with sugar.
Some forty ice stores have been documented throughout the whole of the Serra de Tramuntana, from Puigpunyent to Pollença, providing substantial information about the importance of Mallorca's ice industry.
The first historical references to snow being used in Mallorca date back to the 14th century. From then on through to the early 20th century, it was very typical to use snow, although the industry reached a peak in the 18th century. The ice industry may have changed, but ice cream lovers now know that our grandparents were also tempted by such things.


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Select Triangular UFO Cases
(Bob Pratt files)
(9/7/2006 Links have been repaired)
March 18, 1965, 7:06 P.M. Takamatsu, Japan (MUFON). Pilots of two airliners flying from Osaka to Hiroshima reported being chased by a strange object over the Seto Inland Sea. The first aircraft, a Toa Air Lines Convair 240 with 28 passengers aboard, was over the Deshima Islands when the pilot suddenly noticed an oblong, luminescent object approaching his plane. It came close to the airliner, causing the pilot to make a 60-degree turn to avoid a collision. The object then stopped, made an abrupt turn and flew along with the aircraft for about three minutes. It finally disappeared toward Takamatsu. About 30 seconds later the pilot of a Tokyo Air Lines Piper Apache made an emergency radio call to the Takamatsu tower, saying a UFO was pursuing his plane over the city. The Convair pilot said the craft was about 15 meters in diameter and radiated a greenish light, which prevented him from determining the shape of the object. However, the chief engineer and two other workers of an electric company saw the object from the ground and reported it was "shaped like a triangle whose top radiated brilliant light. It was in sight for about 10 seconds."
June 1970. Near Ponce, Puerto Rico (MUFON). A pilot holding a high federal government position reported that at dawn pilots of two airliners sighted a large balloon-like object. It was drifting slowly southwestward at 5,000 to 7,000 feet and was subsequently detected on radar and tracked. Its movement was four to eight knots. The pilot was flying with the Puerto Rico National Guard and was a member of a flight of F-104s and a T-33 aircraft that went to the site. On becoming airborne from San Juan, the pilots could see the object. It was approximately 40 miles southwest of Ponce and above 60,000 feet. The pilot flying the T-33 and the pilots of the four F-104s all noted that the object was (1) a manufactured item, (2) at least 125 feet in both width and length, (3) shaped like the forward third of a speedboat hull with a flat rear section and a pointed nose section, (4) the object was drifting slowly against the wind at eight knots, and (5) there were no apparent signs of propulsion. Extensive gun-camera film was collected and a B-52 from Ramey Air Force Base locked onto the target with its radar. As soon as it did, the B-52 received electronic jamming. The object was kept under surveillance throughout the day and was lost after dark. According to the San Juan Star, most of the people of Puerto Rico saw the object that day.
1973, night. Flatwoods, Kentucky. The dispatcher for the Flatwoods police department heard a "strange buzzing sound" outside the station and went outside to investigate. "I looked up and saw a triangular-shaped object hovering over a city parking lot and standing about a foot above the roof of the station. It threw out a real bright silverish-gold glow. I walked up under this thing. I was not afraid. It shot out in a 90-degree angle." He went back inside the station and as he thought about what he had seen, a woman came into the station, crying and screaming. After she calmed down she said she had been driving on a nearby country road when her engine and lights suddenly shut off. She said a triangular-shaped object had passed over her car making buzzing noises and then disappeared up into the sky.
April 3, 1975, 1:45 a.m. until sunrise. Southeast North Carolina (MUFON). Law enforcement officers in five counties pursued a V-shaped craft with two spotlights. First seen by Lumberton police, the object was traveling 200 to 300 feet above the ground, heading north along Interstate 95. At 1:50 a.m., two St. Pauls officers saw it take off from open ground 10 miles north of Lumberton. The object darted around, making right-angle turns and accelerating rapidly. It was brilliant and silent. During the night at least 100 sightings were reported, with at least nine police officers seeing eight craft similar to the V-shaped object reported earlier. One officer said it was 40 to 50 feet long and bathed in a blue tint. Residents of one town said the object's searchlights lit up the entire town. The police chief of White Lake reported that as he was driving, the object came down and lit up the whole area like daylight. He went on about 300 yards, then stopped and got out. The light from the object was so bright he had to look away. It was V-shaped, silent and lit up an area about 500 feet on either side of the road. The chief then got a powerful light of his own from his cruiser and shined it at the object. He blinked the light and the object blinked back. Then it suddenly went straight up in the air at about 200 miles an hour and disappeared.
May 17, 1977, 3:30 a.m. Memphis, Tennessee (Pratt). Two Tactical Squad police officers in a van were driving south on an interstate highway through city when one spotted a triangular-shaped series of lights 35 to 50 feet above high tension towers just east of the expressway. Uncertain as to what it was, they turned around in the median and returned to the area but saw nothing. They drove a short distance farther north, then turned around and again headed south and this time saw the object hovering about 500 feet above a golf course on the west side of the interstate. They drove off an exit road, stopped, got out of their van and watched the object. It was triangular-shaped with white, red and green lights with a white glow around the silhouette itself. It was stationary over the golf course. The red and green lights were flashing alternately and the men could see what looked like portholes or very dim lights along the side of the object, which appeared to be metallic. One of the officers got a rifle with a telescopic sight out of the van to get a better look at the object. As soon as he shouldered the rifle, the object began moving away from them silently at a slow speed. The white and green lights went off but the glow was still visible. Then two red lights came on on the rear and the object simply disappeared across the horizon in one to two seconds. The sky was clear and visibility was good. Earlier in the evening, about 11 p.m., three other Memphis officers at a substation 15 miles northeast of the golf course saw a triangular series of lights passing over the city at a fast speed. One officer said it looked like a "flying Christmas tree." Air traffic controllers at Memphis International Airport had nothing unusual on radar during these sightings. For further details, click here.
November 22, 1977, 11:45 p.m. Plymouth, New York (midway between Utica and Binghamton) (Pratt). A farm couple had just gone to bed when they heard a loud roaring noise "like a jet plane coming right in on top of the house." The noise continued and suddenly the house started vibrating and the whole yard lit up. The farmer jumped out of bed, looked out a window and saw a huge triangular-shaped object hovering over the house and driveway, 100 to 150 feet above the ground. The noise was like that of a rocket. "You could hear the atmosphere around it cracking from the tremendous noise of this contraption," the farmer said. "It looked like a big triangular-shaped deal and the back end of it wasn't flat from point to point. It was more concave, like an arrowhead, and it looked like it had four engines in the back because you could see the orange fire that was in them." It appeared to be 75 to 80 feet wide and at least as long. There were four to six oscillating red lights. The couple's seven-year-old female German shepherd dog "just about went through conniptions when all this went on." The light from the object was so bright that the security lights in the barnyard, operated by photoelectric cells, went off. All this time the object was moving slowly, perhaps 10 to 15 miles an hour, and took 15 to 20 seconds to pass over the house and barns. It then quickly vanished over the hills at treetop level. Just a few minutes later another couple with a teenage son who live three miles away heard a loud noise that kept getting louder and louder. Then they saw "a huge object in the shape of a stingray fish, like a triangle but rounded in the front." The object lit up their front yard and the family could see "a bunch of square windows on it." It was about 50 feet off the ground. The family watched it for about five minutes before it passed out of sight. For further details, click here.
December 15, 1977, 7 to 10 p.m. Area from just southwest of Eureka Springs, Arkansas eastward through much of Carroll County (Pratt). Dozens of people, including two retired scientists and a police officer, saw a giant triangular or kite-shaped UFO move slowly eastward 25 to 30 miles across the county. About 7 p.m. a woman in Eureka Springs watched it for about 15 minutes as it approached and passed over her home. She described it as diamond-shaped with a bottom that looked like "raw wood." It had a red signal-like light in the middle and three or four smaller red lights elsewhere. The two scientists, a 73-year-old biologist and her husband, a 69-year-old nuclear chemist, saw the object about 9:25 p.m. near Beaver Lake, about five miles southwest of Eureka Springs. They were traveling home in separate vehicles about a mile apart when each saw two big bright lights passing slowly overhead toward Eureka Springs. Each stopped, got out and looked and neither heard any sound. Between 9:30 and 10, dozens of other people watched it pass over Berryville (ten miles east of Eureka Springs), going east. Most said it was diamond or kite-shaped, had three or four lights on it, sometimes pointed downward like spotlights, and was moving at a speed of 5 to 10 miles an hour. A policeman said it was triangular-shaped. He watched it with binoculars for 30 to 45 minutes from atop the highest hill in Berryville. Some people said they heard a humming sound. It was seen in Green Forest, a community seven miles southeast of Berryville, and was last seen passing over Oak Grove, nine miles northeast of Berryville, heading toward the Missouri border, about three miles beyond. For further details, click here.
February 9, 1978, 7:45 p.m. Island Lake, near South Lyon, Michigan. Several residents reported seeing a huge oval object hovering near their homes. One resident, a former Air Force aircraft mechanic, reported seeing a boomerang-shaped object the size of three 747s with a "great intensity of light coming from the center fuselage area." It was going west, flying at a low rate of speed. At least three adults and a number of children also saw the object, which made a humming noise. The slight noise confounded the ex-mechanic, who said a craft that size with conventional engines should have made enough noise to "blow out every window in the area." Police received about two dozen calls about sightings.
March 1, 1978, 9:30 to 11 p.m. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Pratt). Several hundred people saw an enormous object estimated by some to have been at least 600 feet across. None of the witnesses said the object was triangular in shape, but other characteristics of the object are remarkably similar to those associated with triangle reports. Most people saw two very bright front lights. One young couple saw the object twice. The first time, about 10 p.m., they were driving in the central part of the city when they saw a bright light in the southern sky. It kept getting bigger and brighter and they soon made out two lights slowly sweeping back and forth from left to right. It appeared to be very large. As they watched, a smaller object came from the north very fast, flashing red, white and blue lights. It passed right over their car, made a 180-degree turn in a second and headed toward the large object. Both disappeared over a hill. Intrigued, the couple drove to a reservoir in a park that is the highest point in the city, to see if they could locate the object. A minute later they saw the big one again, coming from the downtown area. It stopped almost above them, perhaps 2,000 feet in the air. They could hear a low humming noise. It appeared to be a dull gray color and had several steady white lights. The underbody seemed to consist of a steel grating and in the middle was a cylin-der or cone protruding from the base. Recessed inside this cylinder were three triangular lights with their ends butted together to form a fourth triangle. The triangular lights lit up in sequence, one after the other. After a few minutes the object started to drift away and suddenly just disappeared. The witnesses estimated the object was as big as Three Rivers Stadium (home of professional football and basball teams and since torn down), which was 200 yards in diameter. Another witness, a woman who lived about five miles to the west, also said the object was as big as the stadium. In an interesting experiment in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Center for UFO Research, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a brief report about the sightings without giving any details and said the UFO group was seeking additional information. Within 24 hours the center received more than 150 phone calls from people who had seen the object. For further details, click here.
End of December 1978, 8 p.m. Antofagasta, Chile. Three Chilean Air Force F5-Es were sent aloft to intercept a giant UFO that had been detected by radar. The object was reported to be at an altitude of about 10,000 feet over Calama in the northern part of the country. There were no clouds and the sky was semi-dark. The flight commander spotted the object and a lieutenant in another plane ten miles away confirmed the sighting. The object, which was "between round and triangular and was very bright," according to the commander, was about 50 times bigger than the F5-Es. The incident was not revealed to the public until May 29, 1979, the day a similar incident occurred (see below). The Air Force could not explain what the object was.
February 11, 1980, 10 p.m. to midnight. Argentina and Chile. Hundreds of people in more than a dozen communities in an area of Chile and western Argentina 600 miles long and 300 miles wide reported seeing a large, usually triangular object. Many sightings occurred between 10:50 and 11:10 in areas far apart, which makes one wonder if this weren't a meteor or falling space debris. However, details of individual sightings with numerous witnesses indicate otherwise. Examples: Shortly before 11 p.m., the mayor and 31 other people in Ahilinco, a small community in Neuquen Province 635 miles southwest of Buenos Aires, saw a brilliant object with a triangle of very strong light in the center. It was about 45 degrees high in the sky to the west over the Andes. The object remained motionless for three minutes, then the triangle disappeared, the lights began to gyrate, then went out and the object slowly disappeared toward the west. Residents in the nearby larger town of Chos Malal saw much the same thing. In the town of Ingeneiro Luis Huergo in Rio Negro Province (200 miles east-southeast), a 22-year-old man returning home about 10 p.m. saw a bright light about 200 meters away and 30 meters in the air. The next thing he knew it was 11 p.m., an hour later, and he was in his car 18 kilometers farther away near the town of Cervantes. The light was still in front of and above his car, which wouldn't start. He walked into town but when he returned with a policeman the object had gone. He described it as "a kind of big L. Where the two 'legs' of the L join was a kind of star. Inside the 'L' was a square and within the square a smaller one, a kind of TV screen." A mailman who lives two kilometers southeast of Cervantes said that at 10:55 p.m. he and four or five neighbors saw a large ball of light with a beam of light shining down. After three or four minutes it flew off at great speed to the north. Between 10:45 and 11 p.m., numerous people in Chepes, Barrealito, Tamberies and Chamical in San Juan Province, 600 miles to the north-northwest, saw a large triangular object with a "blue luminosity with a reddish hue" moving at great speed. Around 11 p.m. in Santiago, Chile (about 130 miles south), many people including military and police personnel saw an immense ball of light with two beams of light shining out. After ten minutes, it began to wobble and then disappeared at "an incredible speed." Around 11:30 p.m. near El Medano in Catamarca Province, Argentina (400 miles northwest of Santiago), a doctor, his wife and three children saw an enormous ball of intense orange light with three beams of light, one to the left, one to the right and one down to the ground. They saw five other people also watching it. After several minutes, it shot off across the horizon at great speed. At 11:45 p.m. in San Vicente in neighboring Santiago del Estero Province (about 100 miles northeast of El Medano), witnesses saw a triangular object that gave off intermittent green, red and yellow lights that shined down to the ground. It remained motionless for five minutes and then disappeared at great speed. Shortly before midnight, an unidentified object passed over the Pacific coast towns of Penco and Lirquen in Chile (just north of Concepcion and nearly 300 miles south of Santiago), and then landed in the waters of the bay. It floated for about ten minutes, shining searchlights that lit the whole bay, and then suddenly ascended and disappeared over the mountains to the east, leaving behind a trail of smoke that hung in the air for about two hours.
November 18, 1980, throughout the evening. About a dozen communities in northern-central Missouri, the largest of which are the small cities of Trenton and Kirksville (Pratt). Hundreds of people reported seeing a large triangular-shaped object move slowly back and forth several times over an area at least 100 miles wide for four to five hours. It was once spotted on radar and seen visually at the same time by a maintenance technician at an unmanned radar station north of Kirksville. It went through his area four or five times, he said, and he once tracked its speed at 45 miles an hour. He went outside to look at it twice. It was about six miles away and all he could see were lights. A number of people said it hovered overhead. Often two big bright lights like headlights were seen. Many said it was as big as a football field. One university student took a photo as it tipped on its side, showing a row of lights (they looked greenish, he said) like windows around a domed area on top. A teacher in Trenton said he could see white lights that looked like cockpit or cabin lights on the front of the object. A number of police officers saw it. One of them, a veteran highway patrolman, saw it hovering about six miles west of Trenton. He drove for about five minutes until he got underneath it, and saw it sitting silently 1,500 to 1,800 feet above him. After 30 seconds or so, it suddenly moved back east without turning around, making a low jet-engine sound as it moved away. It went out of sight in about 40 seconds. Near Kirksville, 60 miles east of Trenton, a sheriff's deputy who was also a pilot and another deputy saw the object suddenly go back in the opposite direction without banking or turning around. A farm woman saw a big bright light in a field on an adjoining farm, sent her son and husband to check it out and while they were gone she saw the white light suddenly turn very dark orange. She said it was "almost round but the right side was sort of cut off." Another farmer some distance away saw the object twice during the evening. The first time it went over his house at about 300 to 400 feet altitude. It had seven lights underneath and two big headlights on the front. It was triangular, moved at about 40 miles an hour and made a low rumbling sound. An aerial-refueling operation took place in this area at one point during the evening, and may account for some sightings. However, nearly all witnesses said they had seen refueling flights before and were emphatic about this not being a plane. In addition, a number of witnesses said they could see jets in the sky at the same time, although not in connection with the object. For further details, click here.
February 22, 1981, 10 to 10:30 p.m. La Vernia, Texas (20 miles east of San Antonio). At least 30 residents reported seeing a triangular object hovering in the area at the same time that TV sets and telephones were disrupted and a false fire alarm was set off. The object had two white lights at the front and a red light at the rear. The lights went up "real high" and came back down again. A "low whooshing" sound could be heard. A smell of burning tar or insulation wiring hung in the area but no fire could be found. One witness saw what appeared to be "the body of a large aircraft" with two bright lights and a red light. It was barely moving. Three men hunting raccoons had just released their dogs when they saw the object moving toward them. They saw two lights like streetlights, bright but not blinding, just glowing. When the object passed overhead, it appeared to be the size of "an eight‑room house" and made a humming sound. One of the men flashed an SOS signal with his flashlight but the object did not respond. Earlier, an Air Force mechanic reported seeing two "saucers" following a plane toward San Antonio and thought the plane was towing them. Then suddenly the objects passed the plane.
April 15, 1981, 7:35 p.m. Mount Sunapee, New Hampshire. A man driving in the area of Mount Sunapee saw a huge triangular object with red lights. It first appeared as "two huge, bright stars" to the east and was stationary. Then "one of the stars seemed to fall several miles straight down" and began moving westward. As it approached, the object took on the appearance of a huge metal triangle with several red lights on the side and a very bright, high-intensity white light on the leading edge. The object looked similar to "five B-52s in a low-altitude flight, flying in a staggered V formation." The object flew "very low, lower than the hills," and passed over the mans car going west.
April 15, 1981, about 7:45 p.m. Windsor, Vermont (about 27 miles west-northwest of Mount Sunapee, New Hampshire). Two employees of public radio station outside on a coffee break saw an object described as "V-shaped with a big white light in front." The object was said to have "definite dimensions and red side lights." Lights illuminated grid work underneath. It was moving very slowly. A heavy hum was heard.
September 28, 1981, 8 p.m. Rural area near Bancroft, Michigan (MUFON). A widow saw lights in a field near her home and thought they were National Guard helicopters. She phoned her son, who lives nearby, and asked him to take a look. Shortly thereafter he, his wife and her nephew went outside and saw three or four lights moving erratically with both horizontal and vertical darting motions. The lights then moved into a formation of sorts about 150 yards from their driveway. One light descended vertically and rose to its original position in the span of a second. Then out of the east came two more objects, and from the southwest one or two more. Soon after their arrival, one light moved considerably closer to the witnesses. Its surface was a dull gray and it hovered about 75 yards away, and then dipped its forward section toward them. It was sort of bat-like in shape with drooped wings. On each wingtip was a steady red light, while a piercing white flashing strobe light was on the underside. At the same time, the husband was watching another object that slowly glided into what he described as a "45-degree angle of attack." It then veered off to the southwest revealing its underside as a round-edged triangle or arrowhead shape. He then went inside to rest a leg he had injured some weeks earlier. The nephew had walked to the end of the driveway 60 feet away, and the wife walked out to join him. From there they watched a "room‑sized" irregular ball of brilliant light about 500 yards away. The nephew went inside to get rifle telescopes. The light was too bright and hurt their eyes. They soon spotted eight or ten more lights in a grouping in the sky. As the two of them looked up, they saw a triangular object pass over the house at a height of a few hundred feet. Through the telescopes they could see a gray undersurface. At each of its rounded corners was a depression or hole, surrounded by a ring or groove. Outside of these at the edge were blue flashing lights in the right and left rear and a red light on the front. Centered on its underside was a flashing white strobe light. Extending from the central light toward each ring was a bar-like attachment. The three outer lights were flashing in this sequence: Front, right rear, left rear, center. As the object passed over, they could hear a "swooshing" sound. They estimated its size as perhaps 25 to 35 feet long and 15 to 25 feet across. In the meantime, the husband had called some friends and four other adults soon joined them. Between 8 and 10:30 p.m. the group watched similar activity. The lights gradually dispersed by 10:30. On October 2, the wife saw a V-shaped object, and on October 12 saw a reddish-orange circular object, which was soon joined by a second object that appeared as a triangular pattern of lights.
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Subscribe To Tales Of Pirates II New Server Launching Tomorrow Updates
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A brand new server is on the way for IGG's ToP II and it will be accompanied by a series of events, including 4X experience bonuses and quizzes with cool prizes up for grabs. This is, of course, assuming you can tear yourself away from Call of Duty: Black Ops long enough to get any game time in with Tales of Pirates II.
As stated in the press release…
Come November 10th, a whole new server, Storm Sea, will make its splashy debut in TOP II! In celebration of the launch of this new server, there will be a series of awesome events hosted in Storm Sea.There's a complete list of goodies, events and things to do during the opening of the new server, which was brought about given the game's ever-expanding community of active players. You can check out the list of events below or pay a kind visit to the Official Tales of Pirates II Website to learn more about the game. Heck, it's free-to-play so you may as well download it if it tickles your fancy.
Tales of Pirates II Server Opening Events Features
I. 4X EXP, 4X the Fun!
During the event, enjoy 4X EXP when you battle against the vicious creatures of the pirate world!
II. The GM Quiz
The GM will be giving a quiz through the System Channel and pirates with quick minds and fast fingers who can answer the questions first in the World Channel will be up for big rewards!
III. Sandbag Critters' Party
There are a lot of low level Sand Bags running around in Argent City. They may only be Level 1-3, but the experience they offer is simply insane! Seize this chance and turn them into punching bags to help you level up fast!
IV. GM Shopping Tour
Our GM is in trouble. The Pirate Overlord has ordered a list of supplies and our GM is struggling to acquire such enormous quantities of everything. Help our GM out by selling these items at your stall. Though the GM is desperate to get the goods, the Pirate Overlord has given him a tight budget, so don't go charging any crazy prices!
V. Challenge the GM!
Are you a true warrior of the seas? Do you have the guts to challenge our powerful GM? Battle the GM and prove your mettle! He will appear at the PvP Map at the start of the event and will be waiting for those worthy enough to throw down the gauntlet. Defeat him and win awesome prizes to sweeten your victory!


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Patchy Wool Cushions and That Thing Called Life.
Well, don't I feel like the naughty schoolgirl who hasn't been doing her homework! It's been over three months since I posted anything on this poor old blog. It's almost as bad as those dreams you have where you turn up to school and find out you have a key maths exam that day that you haven't studied for. And to top it off you forgot to put your pants on before leaving home.
Needless to say, life has been busy and I've been busier. Three weeks to go in my third pregnancy. Half-way through house renovations (Kill me now. What the heck was I thinking trying to grow a baby, manage a household with two toddlers, run a small business AND renovate an entire house?? I'll admit, all I heard my husband say was 'new kitchen'. Hee hee.). And then there's just been the usual lifey stuff on top of that. You know, the stuff you can't possibly expect, that just turns up on your doorstep and expects you to take care of it..? Well.
But in amongst all of this I have been plodding along, plying my wares on Instagram and Facebook and Etsy. Just not this blog. Something's gotta give, after all. I may be Super-Mum and Super-Wife, but Super-Blogger I am not. *sigh* Please forgive me. (I'm not really any of those, just to clarify.)
So, if you're still here and interested, allow me to show you what I've been working on of late. Apparently it's winter here in Australia (my kids are currently walking around in shorts, so who's to say for sure), so I've enjoyed getting out my vintage wool blankets and having a play. I recently cleaned out my sewing room (not that you can tell now!), and after sorting out all my scraps I started fiddling and cutting and stitching and ironing and stitching some more, and this is what I came up with.
And then I just kept cutting and stitching and made another cushion top. And another one. And I think I may have started something I can't stop, but I don't think it's a bad thing necessarily, unless I become some kind of weird Dr Seuss-like caricature that collects patchy cushions... But that's what husbands are for, right? To prevent their wives from becoming weird Dr Seuss-like caricatures. Yeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss.
So, before I head off again, I just want to mention I'm having a 25% OFF SALE on selected items in my Etsy store, The Wife-made Emporium. It's only on the items that you can see in the 'Sale - Vintage' and 'Sale - Handmade' categories, so if anyone tries anything shifty, be sure I'll know!
And hopefully I'll be back here again soon, with some more pics of what I'm working on currently. And possibly even some pics of lovely finished renovations, although probably before that I'll have photos of an even more exciting project I've been working on for the last 8 months and is currently sitting on my lap in the shape of a very large basketball... No, it's not a crochet basketball cover, in case you were wondering.
P.S. I go on maternity leave in three weeks. It's basically a working holiday. Minus the holiday.


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The SF K Files is a place for parents who are seeking a school in San Francisco. The site offers up reviews of public, private and charter schools, as well as lots of advice and opinions from the community.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Why I love Adda Clevenger
The Adda Clevenger Junior Preparatory and Theater School in Noe Valley, certainly falls into the unique category. The word parents at the school use most often to describe it is "magical," and so it is, for an energetic, outgoing child who thrives on variety.
Like many San Francisco schools, Adda Clevenger offers solid academics, a small-school environment, committed teachers, and a friendly, diverse community of families. Of course we love those things, but let's focus on what sets Adda Clevenger apart.
That would be the musical theater program, which is just as much part of the core curriculum as reading and math. From kindergarten on, Adda Clevenger students receive extensive daily training from respected professionals in singing, dance and acting. Each year, every child performs in two major musicals, a dance show, and a graduation concert. We continue to be astounded by the professional polish of the shows and the technical progress of the children, most of whom arrive at the school without any visibly remarkable talent. After nine years, an Adda Clevenger student will know vocal music, acting, ballet, tap and every social dance you can name. No other K through 8 school in San Francisco, public or private, offers such an in-depth theater arts program.
This would be of questionable value if Adda Clevenger let academics fall by the wayside, but most graduates are admitted to top public and independent Bay Area high schools. Also unique is the practice of having subject teachers at all grades, even kindergarten. Teachers teach subjects they love. No child spends a whole year in a classroom with a single teacher with whom he has a less-than-ideal relationship.
Students also enjoy possibly the best school fitness program in San Francisco, with PE and gymnastics 45 minutes daily.
Adda Clevenger is all the more remarkable for accomplishing what it does on an open-enrollment basis. There are no auditions, academic evaluations, or lotteries. If there is space and the family can pay, any child who can keep up with the curriculum may attend. Most children will excel. It is magical.
—Susie Allison
27 comments:
- AnonymousDecember 16, 2009 at 10:41 PM
Adda Clevenger is not accredited, and students get no standardized tests until 7th grade, when they take the practice SSAT -- so parents have NO idea how their student is achieving until that point. Friends of mine at Adda Clevenger were shocked when their son's SSAT came out at 34th percentile when they'd been told he was doing great. The result was that he was held back an extra year (at their expense -- Adda Clevenger offers no scholarship money) before moving on to high school.ReplyDelete
The school's leaders routinely claim that Adda Clevenger students are achieving two years ahead of their public-school peers, but students who transfer to public routinely find out that's not true.
Also, there's a very anti-public-school tone in the school.
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Adda Clevenger does have an amazing theater arts program. If this is very important to you, or you think your kid would really benefit from this emphasis, then definitely look at this school.ReplyDelete
However, if you have any questions about your kid's academic abilities or motivation, be careful. AC has some great teachers, but it's all, including curriculum, about the individual teacher. As the previous poster mentioned, there is almost no feedback about how your kid is doing until very late in the game. It's true that many AC kids go on to attend a fine array of high schools, but this has as much to do with the fact that the kids are well-resourced (ALL of them--there are no scholarships offered, so very little diversity in SF terms). These are all upper-middle class kids who as a group are likely, almost to an extreme, to do well almost anywhere, who have access to learning opportunties (books, museums, travel) in all parts of their lives. But if your kid is one who might fall through the cracks academically, or just not be up to potential, you might not know it until very far down the road.
On the other hand, if your kid is a personality who would really thrive and gain confidence by learning performance arts, it could be the right place.
Other points of info--AC is quirky and parents tend to love or hate it, so take all comments here with that understanding! It's not a non-profit, but rather privately run--I understand it's better run now that the headmistress's son has taken over. But it definitely has the stamp of the owner/family--there is no accountability to a Board of Directors or the parent community. You get what you get. Some families love it and indeed find it "magical." I think people who are attracted to it know who they are.
I wrote the essay and expected every one of the above comments and a few others.ReplyDelete
AC is not independently accredited.
AC has no financial aid. Tuition is about $4000 lower than other secular independents like Town or Burke's. There is no pressure to participate in the tiny amount of fundraising that occurs. Parents are encouraged to help with rehearsals and shows, but there is no volunteer hour commitment. This is a real benefit to families in which the parent(s) work(s) full-time.
AC does use an accelerated academic curriculum. However, given recent emphasis on academic acceleration and differentiated instruction in public schools, any claim that AC students are categorically "two years above grade level" should be taken with a large heaping of salt.
AC does not give standardized tests other than the SSATs. Many AC parents have their kids tested outside school and are satisfied. Private schools are not permitted to administer STAR tests, so it's not valid to complain that private school students are "not held to the same standards" because they don't take STAR tests.
Private schools generally don't publish standardized test results. That's something you live with.
Any school, particularly an open-enrollment school that does not emphasize standardized testing, is going to have some students who do not do well on the SSATs.
The fact remains, MOST AC graduates attend competitive public and independent high schools like Lowell and Lick-Wilmerding, and MOST are adequately prepared for the work.
The anti-public sentiment is irritating but less virulent than it apparently was in years past. Even the most ardent public school advocates will admit that there are systemic flaws in public schools that private schools can avoid: for example, limited curriculum choice, pressure to teach to standardized tests, and difficulty terminating poor teachers. If you don't agree with the rhetoric you can ignore it.
AC does occasionally expel students, but I have never heard of it happening without cause or without a serious effort to work with the family to avoid it. Expulsion happens at all private schools, even though most other private schools go through extensive pre-admission student screenings and AC does not.
The political views of AC's former head of school are not typical of most San Franciscans, nor of many families at the school including ours. It's up to the family to research personnel at potential schools using Google, newsmeat.com and similar online resources and decide how much difference they're comfortable with.
AC does not have a play structure on the playground, but at least they now have a playground that is not a parking lot.
Children in grades K-4 do not get school field trips, though the school has started bringing in special events, such as a recent visit from a NASA astronaut and the "Bubble Man" science show. The 5-8 graders see many performances outside school and travel to the Eastern US and Europe to perform.
Foreign language, computers and instrumental music are not taught.
Do bear in mind, the essay assignment was "What I Love About Our School" and limited to 375 words. That does not leave a lot of room to address potential critiques. No school is perfect or right for everyone.
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 12:01 PM
On the issue of standardized tests in private school: They give ERB tests at our school starting in the 4th grade. Parents receive score reports for their child with percentile calculations for all schools and for independent schools (e.g., on this section, the child scored X which was in the Y %ile for the overall population and the Z %ile for the independent school population). The tests are administered over the course of a week. The curriculum is not geared to the tests - often there are questions, especially in math, on topics that haven't been taught yet to the kids and not surprisingly most of them don't do so well on those questions.ReplyDelete
As a parent I like seeing the scores because it gives me an idea of how my children are doing, and track that they're covering material they should be covering at their grade level.
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Thank you for the honest appraisal of the school's strengths and weaknesses. It is much appreciated.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 12:19 PM
My kids go to public school and I have no intention of sending them to AC. But I know several families at AC who have been there for years. I think some of the negative comments above are out of line. The parents I know whose kids go there all universally love it -- and their kids are just absolutely thriving. It is a particularly helpful place if your kid (ahem, son) is a bit squirmy. Gymnastics and music and theater are woven into the daily curriculum in a way that is just not possible in public school. A friend whose kid went there all the way through said the great thing about the school was how "happily exhausted" their kid was at the end of a AC day. It is very well-rounded. Yes, there are some downsides as noted above, but if you can accept those there are lots of pluses to the school.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 12:38 PM
12:01, you are right about testing and academic feedback given to parents at most private schools. I think the point is that Adda Clevenger isn't doing that at the earlier levels. Whether that is a problem for you, on balance with the theater/performance program and other nice things, is up to you.ReplyDelete
Susie, I also appreciate your balanced assessment of AC.
A couple of comments on your characterization of the public schools, and trying to be balanced here as a public school parent: I do think you have a point about the difficulty in terminating teachers [protections can be a good thing, but they are too entrenched--therefore, reform proposals to trade this high job security for better pay should be looked at seriously]. Teaching to the test can be a problem, *especially* in lower-income schools. We haven't found it so in our schools which haven't been low-income concentrated [only 50-60% free/reduced lunch, not over 70%].
Finally, regarding your comment the limitations of curriculum, I flat-out disagree with you on this point. The CA curricular standards are strong across all subject areas. They are used by many parochial and private schools because they are really good. Add to that that our kids' teachers, especially the most experienced ones, have been wonderful about using a variety of innovative methods to reach the students who learn in all kinds of ways (visually, aurally, kinetically, artistically etc). I think it is GOOD to have strong standards about WHAT kids are learning--and combine that with a broad tool-kit about HOW they can learn--it's simply not limiting as you suggest.
Back to Adda Clevenger--it's just such a different school model that you have to decide for yourself if the upsides are worth the quirky downsides. There's almost no comparison to be made with other schools of any type--it's in a category by itself.
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Thank you so much for the thoughtfully written review of your school, Susie.ReplyDelete
I found another interesting online review of Adda Clevenger, written by a current student, and was dismayed by the following section of the review in which the poster writes of opportunities to experience "Singing in the White House for two administrations, singing at Carnegie Hall, honoring the Mayor of San Francisco with a specially requested performance, touring Switzerland, Germany, Italy, France, England, Luxembourg, Austria... The list goes on. These are experiences unheard of for children ages 10-14."
These are accolades all, but for each of these "unheard of" experiences, I can think of other equally priceless experiences which students at Adda Clevenger are deprived of, the most important one being the unstructured simplicity of childhood. While Adda Clevenger kindergartners are in classes until 4:30 pm, and 5:30 pm in older grades, and having after school lessons and hours of homework, other children are at home enjoying imaginative play, getting dirty in the parks or their backyards with friends, or playing in their homes by themselves, with siblings, friends or neighbors. I am dismayed by the way in which many parents in our urban area so wish for their children to perform and excel and grow up in a hurry, yet ascribed no value to imaginative play and all else that makes childhood so full of creativity and freedom.
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 5:58 PM
I entirely agree that most middle to upper class urban children today are badly over-scheduled and under too much pressure to achieve too quickly. However, our kid comes home from AC dirty and paint-splattered most days, and filled with stories of the imaginative games he and his friends make up during their free time. An advantage of the longer school day is a 45-minute lunch break and a 45-minute recess every day. AC is actually subject to occasional criticism for not giving enough homework. ("They won't be ready for the high school homework load," the complaint goes.) A key idea behind the school is that instead of arts-oriented families having to drag kids from one lesson to another, it's all in one place. It sometimes turns out that an AC student develops a passion for a sport or something else that the school does not provide. In those cases, the family generally moves on because the AC day does not have room for it. If parents pile yet more activities on top of the AC day, or a child loves the school but "just has to" take on something else, that's on the parents and/or kids, not the school. Most AC families we know do maybe one weekend class (soccer or swimming are common) and use the rest of the weekends for play dates, hanging out, and in some cases religious activity.ReplyDelete
Of all our public school, private school and weekend lesson acquaintances I know of one family with a stay-at-home parent. Otherwise, the families we know have their kids in day care or after-school programs until 5:00 or 6:00 anyway, not playing at home or in parks.
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 10:30 PM
I talked to the former headmistress of Adda Clevenger a couple of years ago about the schools' requirements, and she told me that the school doesn't admit children with academic problems. The reason there's no lottery is that the school isn't in huge demand, so it has room for anyone who does meet the criteria.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 17, 2009 at 10:40 PM
Susie, just for the record, nobody complained about these things:ReplyDelete
"Private schools are not permitted to administer STAR tests, so it's not valid to complain that private school students are "not held to the same standards" because they don't take STAR tests.
Private schools generally don't publish standardized test results. That's something you live with."
The point was that Adda Clevenger doesn't administer any standardized tests, not the fact that it doesn't participate in the California public schools' STAR testing program (as you note, no private schools do) or that it doesn't publicize test results.
That's not a bad thing, just something parents should know. But the fact that parents may be unaware of the fact that their kids are lagging until they take the practice SSAT is a point worth noting.
- AnonymousDecember 18, 2009 at 9:15 PM
We toured and loved the school. What impressed us the most was the kids. They were poised, articulate, and very engaged in the classrooms. We really were impressed by the 2 math teachers (one teaches lower grades, the other the upper grades I believe), and they were both moms with students at the school. Also, the music/singing teacher seemed great - I think he had kids there as well. The founder of the school was a definite turn-off, but nevertheless, I found myself agreeing with her philosophy more than I thought I would.ReplyDelete
In any case, we won't send our kids there because we really can't afford it. If we could, the next biggest obstacle for us would be the lack of diversity. there were only several African American kids there, and we are an adoptive family so that is an issue for us. I should say that otherwise, it did seem diverse racially. Also, I got the sense that most families were middle class, not wealthy. We didn't feel out of place in that sense. Anyway, its a very unique school.
- AnonymousDecember 18, 2009 at 10:00 PM
Thanks so much for this helpful review and the thorough discussion in the comments. I'd heard about the lack of accreditation and wasn't sure I'd even bother touring, but now I think it could be a good place for my kid, despite it's flaws--she would love all the theater and music and recess, and would likely do well in an accelerated curriculum program. Thanks for taking the time to write about it. Do I understand correctly that there's no admission deadline?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 18, 2009 at 10:54 PM
Adda Clevenger doesn't get enough applicants to need to establish enrollment deadlines or a lottery. While the non-rich or learning-disabled need not apply, most applicants have no trouble getting a spot.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 19, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Hi Susie:ReplyDelete
Thanks for giving us a glimpse into a school we hadn't thought about but one that might be a good fit for our child.
I was wondering how easy of difficult it might be to transfer into the school after K (2nd or 3rd grade)?
- AnonymousDecember 19, 2009 at 1:15 PM
Wow. Snotty.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 20, 2009 at 10:24 AM
It's easy to transfer into Adda Clevenger assuming you're an applicant they would have accepted anyway, because the school is not oversubscribed.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 21, 2009 at 4:14 PM
"The anti-public sentiment is irritating but less virulent than it apparently was in years past. Even the most ardent public school advocates will admit that there are systemic flaws in public schools ..."ReplyDelete
To many people, that still doesn't justify an ongoing attitude of disdain for public education, or make it more bearable -- especially when it's based on dishonesty ("our students are all two years ahead").
"Any school ... is going to have some students who do not do well on the SSATs."
Of course, but that wasn't my point -- my point was that the parents had no idea whatsoever that their son wasn't going to ace the SSAT; they believed the line that he was "two years ahead." Of course, they could have gotten him independently tested. It's just a cautionary note about this school.
Not to just dump on the school, but it's really one of the more controversial and problematic private schools around, so the glowing essay was a little startling. In the days of the former headmistress, an Adda Clevenger parent told me that no family had ever gotten through the school without at least one screaming fight with her. Glad to hear the son is an improvement and the anti-public-school sentiment is less virulent, but that's a striking contrast to the picture of a "magical" paradise.
- AnonymousDecember 21, 2009 at 5:31 PM
I don't find it a striking contrast at all. You have a few anecdotes about what the school used to be like. This review is from someone who has a child currently enrolled. I'll believe her "magical" over your "controversial and problematic".ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 21, 2009 at 7:04 PM
The author herself acknowledged the validity of the comments. If everything about the school had transformed, surely she'd have said so.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 21, 2009 at 7:34 PM
It's fine to believe the "magical" and not the "controversial and problematic." But in a forum of free and open discussion, isn't it a good thing that you're hearing other opinions and can make your decision about what to believe?ReplyDelete
- AnonymousDecember 22, 2009 at 10:33 AM
As a parent of an older child at Adda, I want to thank Susie for her post. One small point of correction, PE every day generally phases out at around 2nd or 3rd grade. In the upper grades the kids tend to have dance every day and PE 2 or 3 times a week. Other than that, I think Susie has written a quite accurate overview of the school.ReplyDelete
Also, I can happily refute the notion that every family has a screaming match with the headmistress. We managed 7 years without any serious confrontation. Now that Ben Harrison has stepped in, I guess we are in the clear. We are quite happy with the education our child is getting, and she continues to thrive.
Our daughter transferred in from a public, and I haven't picked up on any virulent anti-public sentiment. The school takes pride in sending a number of kids to Lowell every year.
We did choose to have our child independently tested. We felt it prudent given the lack of testing at the school. If we had found her results to be disappointing, we would have considered moving her, but she did very well. We feel the school is a good fit for her. Also, and this is no small point for a middle-schooler, she absolutely loves it.
- AnonymousDecember 27, 2009 at 3:50 PM
Adda Clevenger is more in the Mission than Noe Valley, at least by my standards. I think it's a funky fun option to the insane public and private school process, i.e. it's easy to get into, but it's nowhere near the top tier kind of experience you'd expect at those prices.ReplyDelete
I wish it were better. The idea is great. The execution is a little uneven.
- AnonymousDecember 27, 2009 at 4:03 PM
BTW I'm the 350 poster, and I just want to make clear that I live deep in the Mission and find it funny that people need to describe 23rd and Guerrero as Noe. My Nona lives on that block and insists it's the Mission. It's also two blocks from Synergy which is certainly in the Mission.ReplyDelete
ANYWAY. In this town, you must wonder about AC, when a school has no wait list and automatic entrance. I hope the son does a better job than the mom did. The idea of this school is just too good. In the right hands, it could be the jewel of the Mission/Noe neighborhoods. We need more good schools down here, public and private.
(Me, I ship my kids across town to a good public. Thank goodness for the Lottery.)
hai good informationReplyDelete
- AnonymousMay 28, 2010 at 9:31 PM
The people who had kids at Adda Clevenger and saw the SSAT scores were not good is mainly because of stress.A graduate of Adda Clevenger said,"The SSAT was nerve-wracking with the time limit and everyone counting on you to get into a good high school,I think I could have gotten a better score if i was not so stressed." This being a not easily intimidated smart cookie.ReplyDelete
Another reason may not be the teachers, it could be the students.Not all kids are as good at staying focused as we would like them to be even if their teacher was tremendous kids usually have alot on their minds.
Adda Clevenger is an amazing school. Teachers are good to very good, principal ownership is very good and the curriculum is excellent. The dance program, vocal training and performances really help the kids develop self confidence.ReplyDelete
We have two children enrolled and their development has been excellent. We would not trade it for any other place.