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5 Simple Ideas That Could Make Travel (And Life) Way Easier
#2. Obliterate Road Signs
It was a typical Dutch small town in the North Friesland region, so dull it barely had a name. That is, until one day someone removed all the road signs.
We're not just talking about a few spare stop signs, either. They utterly destroyed every single aspect of traffic control on every single road. No lane markings, no lines and no signs. Only directional signs, 15 traffic lights (as opposed to the previous 5,000) and complete anarchy.
Look out! She's got sophisticated societal ideals! And a bike pump!
Except that, surprisingly, things didn't go Mad Max in a heartbeat. Instead of holding impromptu street racing competitions in spiky dune buggies, people actually slowed down and paid extra attention to their surroundings. As a result, serious accidents took a dramatic nosedive. Pedestrian fatalities at some particularly risky junctions dropped to zero.
Yes, things got better.
The mysterious someone who had removed the signs had, of course, been the government. The whole thing was an experiment by town planners of the Friesland area who felt like seeing how pedestrians, drivers and cyclists would fare if left to their own devices. While the plan had all the makings of the biggest, most dickish practical joke in recorded history, the results were extremely positive. All stripped roads quickly became so safe that pedestrians could cross with their eyes closed.
Not that anything was particularly stopping them before.
The idea behind the experiment was the theory that relying on signs means you aren't paying as much attention to other people on the road. Remove the signs, and road users actually have to rely on their eyes and acknowledge each other. Also contributing to the safety is the fact that without signs to tell how fast to drive, town area traffic has instinctively slowed to an average 18 mph. The near-absence of traffic lights has helped traffic flow more smoothly, so the overall journey time doesn't slow down too much, either.
"Hey wait, is that car being operated by a human? Move on, good sir!"
The idea of sign-free traffic is spreading through Europe like wildfire. Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria and Belgium have all taken their first baby steps in removing theirs. Others still are considering giving it a go.
Mind you, the whole no-signs schtick only works on urban areas. We're no experts, but we're guessing the removal of, say, speed limits on a motorway would quickly result in Blues Brothers levels of wrecked vehicles.
"We got a full tank of gas, it's dark, we're wearing sunglasses and my leg is broken in about seven places."
Oh, wait, the autobahn replaced the speed limit with a request that drivers use common sense, and it has a better safety record than U.S. highways. And lest you think that wouldn't work in America, Montana has tried highways both with and without speed limits. The very presence of speed limits doubled the number of fatal car accidents. Again, traffic engineers have been fighting for higher or nonexistent speed limits on highways for years based on evidence that driving without speed limits makes us more cautious when it comes to lane changes and buckling up.
"Your limitations actually seem more like a challenge, Smiley Face Guy."
#1. A Really Obvious Change in New York City Airspace
Ah, New York City! The biggest metropolis on the coast that gets America's day started. A giant knot of humanity, defined by its constant flux of people coming and going. Oh, and the source of 75 percent of all nationwide delays in air travel. It doesn't matter if you live in St. Louis or Seattle, 3 out of every 4 flight delays you've experienced in your life started from New York.
"And if you look to your right, you'll see what the entire world revolves around. Assholes."
As counterintuitive as that might seem, it makes sense. Apart from being one of the globe's angriest hornet's nests for business, the Big Apple is also one of the most popular holiday destinations, playing host to an insane 48.7 million tourists in 2010 alone.
Yet the insane amount of travelers is only a small part of the problem. The real issue is the routes that airliners use to enter and leave the city airspace. They weren't originally designed to handle the two million flights that pass over the city every year. They were designed for the mail planes that connected New York and San Francisco.
In the 1920s.
When the only two directions were "up" and "face down in a ditch."
Back then, New York was lucky if a thousand flights passed through a year. The fact that these routes haven't been updated in 90 years means that a handful of poor, stressed-out air traffic controllers have to maneuver the aeronautical equivalent of an elephant stampede through a drinking straw. Obviously, they're not always perfect, which is what it would take. Flights that leave one of New York's airports a minute late can cause hourlong delays in Los Angeles, giving the phrase "New York minute" a completely new meaning.
That's the time between air traffic control telling you to move off and the plane behind you smashing into your economy class.
The solution, not surprisingly, is to use more sky than they'd originally been using for the handful of mail planes in the '20s. It's not like the sky is getting smaller or anything. The reason we'd been running out all these years is because we just weren't using it. In 2007, after decades of dicking around, the FAA finally started dealing with the issue. Their catchily named "New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Airspace Project" has the noble goal of knocking three all-important minutes off each plane's takeoff time by 2012.
The plan involves three key elements. First, they expanded the designated New York airspace area from its former limits to a much wider area that extends over four states. Next, they added six new westbound flight paths to the current two. Finally -- and this is the kicker -- they reorganized the flights so that multiple planes can use the same flight path. For years, the fact that they were tracking planes on a 2-D map meant they treated planes like they were driving around on a flat surface. It took them until 2007 to figure out planes are able to fly at different heights. The people responsible for the whole nation's air travel have wasted decades of people's lives by failing to take into account the third dimension of air travel.
"Holy shit, is that ... is that sorcery?"
Every time you've sat in an airplane terminal cursing whatever unavoidable circumstance intervened in your life, it's much more likely that it was caused by a handful of guys in New York operating under the assumption that planes magically become as tall as skyscrapers as soon as they take off.
The fact that they're finally correcting this assumption could be taken as a sign that we're headed in the right direction. Just try not to think about the fact that it took one city almost a century to figure that out.
You can find more from Adam at Alert Level Stork! He also helped to write Four Humors, an anthology of short stories published for charity by Wordplague. His friend Kevin Axt also runs the brilliantly funny webcomic Donuts for Sharks and you should go there right now.
For more blatantly obvious things we've been overlooking, check out 7 Basic Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong and 6 Death-Defying Stunts That Are Secretly Easy to Do.
And stop by LinkSTORM to get back at your boss for making you work today.
And don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get sexy, sexy jokes sent straight to your news feed.
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Members of the media who wish to reach students, faculty, staff, or a spokesperson of the College, please email Media Relations or call 802-440-4399.
Bennington College
Office of Communications
One College Drive
Bennington, VT 05201-6003
The famed electric chamber ensemble Bang on a Can All-Stars premiered a commission composed by faculty member Nick Brooke this month at the Merkin Concert Hall as part of the inaugural Ecstatic Music Festival—a three-month, 14-concert event showcasing collaborations between songwriters, composers, and performers from classical and popular music traditions.
Brooke's piece, "Menace (Sousa Medley)," was inspired by (and incorporates) the music of John Philip Sousa, the famous American composer and conductor known for his military and patriotic marches.
The concert was aired as one of WNYC Radio's New Sound Live Web casts. To hear Brooke's composition, click here (jump to the 10:40 mark).

subset: commoncrawl


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January Detox has never been my thing. It always seemed pointless to steam through Christmas and New Year eating and drinking with impunity to then arbitrarily stop on January 1st or 2nd for a month. With a feeling of entitlement you then look forward to a February 1st blowout. Added to which January is, in the UK at least, a bit depressing. It's dark and cold, the lights of Christmas have been stripped away and the corpses of dead Christmas trees litter the pavements. To deny yourself that slender enjoyment of an odd pint just did not make sense.
That was until Decembergeddon. I spent last month in a perpetual cycle of consumption. It started on the 1st of December with a trip to the States. At 11am it started with a Full English Breakfast and a pint of Bass at Heathrow. What followed was 10 days of Breakfast Burrito's, Burgers, French Dips, the odd Reubens and more Beer (craft and otherwise) than you can drunkenly wave a stick at. On returning to the UK it was straight into Christmas party week with all that entails (minus storeroom cupboard and photocopier antics). Christmas in Cornwall would have been easier if I just stuck an I.V. in my arm and sat by the fridge. You get the idea. The predictable result was a bloated, lethargic version of the 30th November Me. Something had to be done and so I resolved to cutback. No meat. Less drink (well you didn't think i'd completely abstain did you?) and no pub until the second week of January. In just a matter of days the scales were edging in the right direction and the trip to the tailor was off the cards. Hardly laudable but I was chipping away at the French Dip induced poundage.
Then came a much tweeted BBC article suggesting that abstinence was indeed futile. If Auntie says it so then who am I to disagree? What then followed was much "pint related workplace daydreaming". Within a matter of minutes I find myself sending that email. You know the one. It's the one that has no content and merely a subject line that says Beer. No question mark, as you aren't taking no for an answer. There's a flurry of communication and a few hours later you find yourself stood at Liverpool Street with your trusty sidekick (yes, that's you [English] that is) debating whether the Central Line is quicker to Craft Beer Co. (English's assertion) or the Farringdon option of the Circle, Hammersmith & City or Metropolitan (my assertion). Any normal person wouldn't give it a second thought but i've been starved of Bacon and Beer and so we go our separate ways to test the assertions.
As I sit quaffing (one only quafs when feeling smug) my half of Magic Rock, High Wire I watch the clock. With each minute I feel more and more vindicated. Without this premature breaking of my resolve we wouldn't have answered this most important of questions. On this lone trial it is in fact 5min and a whole 38 seconds quicker via Farringdon. We will of course have to carry out further iterations of the trial over the coming year to provide a definitive answer. Selfless, I know.
Halves of Southern Tier Farmers Tan and Mikkeller Ris ala Male follow. We declared 2012 the Year of the Half (or was that half measures), before the sidekick leaves and the sidekick understudy, Silvio continues to test my resolve. With a move to The Gunmakers for dinner it's back to the pint, a Trinity by Redemption. A perfect January beer. At 3% ABV you can convince yourself that it's a sensible choice! An then there's the food. The Gunmakers is rightly known for the jovial atmosphere thanks to Jeff and the team and great beer, but I think it's equally becoming known for the food. As I look over the chalkboard I keep coming back to Oxtail or Steak. There are fish options, or plain veggie options but my mind is already working out excuses for ordering steak. I came up with, no meat at home or prepared lunches, but eating out is fine. It's weak sub clause to the original resolution but just strong enough to justify a ribeye. Needless to say I devoured it in all its medium rare, buttery goodness.
By this morning the self loathing had set in and much cursing of my weak will. I couldn't even last 4 poxey days. To compound the woe I pull out the scales, step on and look through one eye at the result. Down on the previous weigh in. I step off and back on again. Same result. I repeat to check that despite my indulgence I have in fact proven that complete abstinence is not necessarily the way forward in January.
I perhaps kid myself but for the time being the resolution is re-resolved, if that makes sense… Carry on regardless.


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I have read that TeX is Turing complete. I was wondering if making TeX Turing complete gave raise to unwanted effects.
Yes, there is a drawback: instead of "only" writing your thesis you start to code LaTeX packages like
Having it Turing complete enables an infinite number of additions, but of course required some initial investment when TeX was created. All TeX distributions I know make sure that TeX's power can't be used to harm the user, e.g. shell escape is disabled or restricted by default and you can't overwrite files using an absolute or parent folder etc. There is no real drawback for the user but a lot of benefits.
First Disadvantage: Hard to Analyse
One big disadvantage of being Turing complete is that TeX "programs" are subject to Rice's theorem, which basically means that for a given document d and TeX source file f, it is undecidable in general whether f generates d (or not).
There are a lot of corollaries to this theorem, but for TeX the most important one is that it is impossible in general to find out what exactly some piece of TeX source does, especially not with another computer program, short of executing it with TeX.
This actually lies behind the apparent impossibility to convert TeX into something else. It is simply computationally impossible unless "something else" is either just another syntactic variant of TeX source or somehow "isomorphic" with
This extends to seemingly simple tasks, i.e. it is also undecidable, in general, whether (or not) a piece of TeX source will produce the letter "d" at some point in time, will have undefined labels, will output colored text, will produce more than one page or whatever other basic property of a document you'd like to find out.
This situation is completely different for non-Turing-complete notations like RTF, HTML or FO.
Second Disadvantage: High Demands on Engines
Another consequence is that there is no "almost compliant" TeX engine. While it is no problem to support a subset of HTML because it is rather easy to estimate what happens when parts of the formalism are not supported, for TeX even the slightest deviation from the intended behaviour can lead to arbitrary devastating and unexpected consequences.
This means all "alternative" TeX engines either just don't get the basic task of document generation right (like
The only thing that works is to start from the original TeX engine and add things on top which it couldn't do before, like with
Third Disadvantage: Low Fault Tolerance
Turing-complete formalisms have so much expressive power that it is hard to deal gracefully with errors.
If I randomly replace half of a HTML file by gibberish, then a browser will still be able to render those parts which look like HTML almost correctly.
For a "TeX program" with errors, if it doesn't conform to some strict "markupish" syntax standard like LaTeX, the engine will be unable to generate meaningful output from the correct parts if the computation as a whole fails.
Turing's result is that essentially any non trivial programming language is computationally equivalent. If it has the power to encode arithmetic, it can do anything that any programming language can do (rough paraphrase).
Thus if you want a formatting language that can do arithmetic, or to be able to measure boxes and take different decisions depending on lengths matching user-specifiable conditions, then a Turing complete language is almost inevitable.
One unwanted effect is the possibility for creating and releasing malicious code, because TeX has the capability to write to the local filesystem. Also, using the special modes for passing content through to PDF machinery, it is possible to embed malicious content inside a PDF document generated from TeX source.
Neither of these possibilities actually require that TeX be Turing-complete, but it becomes much easier to hide malicious code if it is.
Some links:
There is quite some confusion about the exact meaning and relevance of Turing-completness in the question as well as in the answers so far.
Seamus' comment puts it very well. In fact, I am pretty sure that neither the examples given by Martin, nor David nor Todd actually require TeX to be Turing-complete for any practical purpose.
Turing-completeness basically requires three properties:
Number 3 is the important point here. You need to have the necessity to do "endless calculations" to actually require Turing-completeness. Given that for any practical purpose the output of TeX is finite, intuitively Turing-completeness is not really required. (Of course, we do need
The only real disadvantage of Turing-completeness is that the halting problem (the question if a program eventually terminates or not) is undecidable.
Turing completeness implies that processing a document might not terminate. Obviously this is a bug caused by looping code but that it is possible at all could run against intuition of non-programmers. Personally I am willing to pay this price in exchange for the power it gains but it is one of the costs of Turing completeness.
Addendum: The undecidability of the halting problem for Turing-complete languages further implies that TeX cannot incorporate a program analysis phase to detect non-terminating code. While possible, it also does not implement a heuristic.
Another consequence is that LaTeX code is difficult to analyze in general without executing it. This makes it hard to analyze it in particular for security problems like it would be useful if LaTeX is provided as an online service.
I tried to restrain myself from answering this question, but I could not hold it.
Simply put, Turing complete means that you can perform any computational task (well, any Turing-computable function). If you can simulate a universal Turing machine, you have a Turing complete system.
Gosh, I wrote "Turing" four times in that sentence.
Now, to the point of your question: the disadvantages of TeX being Turing complete. I'd say that, despite the fact that you can perform any task, there's no garantee for it being executed efficiently. And being able to do any task doesn't mean it will be easy. At all. So it'd say the tricky part here is how.
TeX being Turing complete means that I could, say, write something extremely complex with it. I could, but just don't ask me how.
One of the minor side effects is frustrating people who think they're going to knock off a quick little TeX-to-Foo converter. Or rather it frustrates people who find the resulting converter on the internet and expect it to do something sensible with the document they want to convert.
To actually work, every TeX-to-Foo converter has to be a full blown TeX compiler.
Compare the following:
The Art of Unix Programming, Eric S. Raymond


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Corn and potato crops may soon provide information to farmers about when the plants need water and how much should be delivered, due to a CU-Boulder invention. A tiny sensor clipped to plant leaves charts their moisture content, a key measure of water deficiency and accompanying stress. Data from the leaves is sent wirelessly over the Internet to computers linked to irrigation equipment, ensuring timely watering, reducing excessive water and energy use, and potentially saving farmers millions of dollars a year.
The technology invented by Research Associate Hans-Dieter Seelig of CU-Boulder's BioServe Space Technology Center, a NASA research partnership center for the commercialization of space, was originally designed for use in conserving water for plant growth during long-term space flight.
The new technology has been optioned to AgriHouse Inc., a Berthoud, Colorado, high-tech company. Richard Stoner, AgriHouse founder and president, likened the plant communication aspect of the invention to a scene in the 1986 comedy film Little Shop of Horrors when a giant carnivorous plant tells humans to "feed me."
"This technology allows plants to say, 'water me,'" Stoner said. "Basically, this is a device that will allow plants to talk to humans and communicate their needs, like when to water and apply fertilizer."


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The Shannon capacity of a graph is defined as $$\Theta(G) = \sup_k \sqrt[k]{\alpha(G^k)}.$$
So, $\alpha(G) \leq \Theta(G)$ but $\Theta(G)$ can be strictly greater than $\alpha(G)$. I am wondering if there is any upper bound based on the independence number itself? Specifically, are there graphs where $\Theta(G) \geq \alpha(G) + 1$? It seems like the structure of the strong product limits how much the independence number can grow. The independence number would have to grow pretty quick just for $\sqrt[k]{\alpha(G^k)}$ to get up to $\alpha(G) + 1$ for some $k$.


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Galina Mezentseva
Posted 12 May 2004 - 02:29 PM
Posted 15 May 2004 - 03:59 PM
Posted 20 May 2004 - 11:55 AM
Posted 25 May 2004 - 07:42 AM
Posted 25 May 2004 - 08:54 AM
This may be a Great Cultural Divide. I've been told by colleagues who saw her dance in Russia 15 years or so ago that American and British critics, to a person, went and said "Oh, what a beauty!!!!" -- about Asylmuratova. And the Russians, to a person, said, "What? NO! You must see Mezentseva."
I'm still asking why? why? why?
Posted 25 May 2004 - 09:12 AM
Posted 25 May 2004 - 12:23 PM
Ditto that Alexandra! I have several Kirov tapes with Mezentseva in them, and only one she starred in - the 1982 "Giselle" with K. Zaklinsky. Based on the recorded evidence, I concluded long ago that she was mediocre. After time goes by the worst reviews tend to stick in your mind. I remember when the Kirov came to L.A. in 1989. Martin Bernheimer, whose not given to diplomacy, completely flipped out when she danced the Lilac Fairy. He said, "Mercifully, she didn't wear the nighty. She had feet that groped rather than skimmed the floor." I will never forget that. Three years earlier he questioned the Kirov "... favoring her with the central assignments." Her coach was Olga Moiseyeva, and even she called her a great ballerina :shrug:. Her main partnership was with Zaklinsky. IMO I think he made her; not the other way around. He was a very earthy, handsome, competent and generous danseur noble. He knew how to present her.
canbelto, I am so glad you wrote that. I agree completely. I have never understood her high reputation -- and it's my understanding that she really is revered as a top ballerina in Russia. To me, she's not at the top in anything: technique, artistry, dramatically, or even in physical beauty. I have seen her live several times and I did not admire her performances.
This may be a Great Cultural Divide. I've been told by colleagues who saw her dance in Russia 15 years or so ago that American and British critics, to a person, went and said "Oh, what a beauty!!!!" -- about Asylmuratova. And the Russians, to a person, said, "What? NO! You must see Mezentseva."
I'm still asking why? why? why?
I can't remember the name of the book, but I read that the Russians likened her, (IMO frightening), thinness in ballets like 'Giselle,' 'Bayadere' and 'Swan Lake' as ethereal and ghostly. In 'Giselle' she did look like a wraith. Her Mad Scene was contrived. She had no lightness nor lyricism for me. Technically she was just ok. Perhaps during the Soviet era she was a party member and had the favor of the powers that were. She did receive many State awards and titles. Other than that, I don't see how she made it.
Posted 25 May 2004 - 12:30 PM
I once was at a reception with dance students in their late teens, and I remember asking one which ballerina she most admired. "Mezentseva," she said, unhesitatingly. "Why?" I said, trying to maintain an impassive, though bright and intrigued, expression. "Oh, the technique, the artistry. Her beauty. Everything." "Oh," I said. "She's so THIN," said the young dancer. And on that, we could agree.
Posted 25 May 2004 - 01:45 PM
Posted 25 May 2004 - 02:10 PM
Galina Mezentseva is a DIVINITY.
She is the epitome of classical ballet. she is one of the best examples odf the best school of classical ballet.
she is tops in everything in technique, artistry, dramatically and in physical beauty.
I cant understand how can someone put her down based in watching one tape of her performing.moreover in giselle ,she was sublime, she was not " stiff,icy or inexpressive". she was expressive and with a divine subtlety she conveyed all the emotion s of this difficult role.
she is one of the best giselles of all time and extraordinary in swan lake. she is not icy, she is reserved and subtle in her emotions. ( maybe you would prefer her to roll on the floor like a madwoman)
if you had seen her dancing the dying swan in the zubkovskaya jubilee in st petersburg, you would not criticise her so stupidly and harshly. you would understand that her artistry comes from an unbroken line of divine dancers and paedagogues, like olga moiseyeva and agrippina vaganova.
I am so sad that the usa americans have these divinities teaching and coaching like mezentseva and kolpakova and you dont appreciate them.... please learn and appreciate men..
all this reminds me of a moment from the american documentary about the ABT from 1995 called Dance when the divine kolpakova is coaching Susan Jaffe in la Bayadere. when the rehearsal ends a couple with their little girl that have been watching the rehearsal, rush to susan jaffe and ask their autograph. they prefer a famous but run-of-the-mill dancer to a divinity. very sad...
josé manuel
Posted 25 May 2004 - 02:15 PM
and I am very happy to read that kirov dancers still look at her in awe. not all hope is lost,then.
jose manuel
Posted 25 May 2004 - 02:15 PM
I only have seen Mezentseva on film, in "Backstage at the Kirov". She didn't make either a positive or negative impression from that. I guess she's one of those dancers that, if you don't get her, you never will.
Posted 25 May 2004 - 02:18 PM
jose manuel
Posted 25 May 2004 - 02:20 PM
And a general comment on the thread: We want to foster an atmosphere on this forum where people aren't afraid to say what they think. And so while we're happy to have strong opinions here, we ask that you state them positively: say what you admire about the artist, rather than insulting or dismissing those who disagree, please.
Edited by Alexandra, 25 May 2004 - 04:25 PM.
Posted 25 May 2004 - 04:24 PM
"I am so sad that the usa americans have these divinities teaching and coaching like mezentseva and kolpakova and you dont appreciate them.... please learn and appreciate men.."
I think the above comment is harsh, has nothing to do with ballet, and is uneccesarily critical of our country. Please refrain from such, thank you very much.
Mezentseva is glorious, she was also able to teach, tour, and spread her art in the USA.
Kolpakova lives and teaches in NY and Indiana.....
No one forces them to be here, we are extremely fortunate to have artists of their calibre and they are obviously here because they can make a living and pass their art on to future generations.
Who has GM's Giselle on video? Can I get a copy from you? Please, please????Please PM me--
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USC frat house reborn: A modern makeover for Phi Sigma Kappa
With help by architect Ana Henton and her team at Mass Architecture and Design, an Animal House has been remade modern for a new generation. Goodbye stripper pole, hello salad bar.
This photo gallery is featured in these articles:


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- Jena Economic Resea...
- Volume 3
- Voluntary Cooperati...
- author
Max Planck Institute of Economics
- Published
- Tue Apr 21 2009
- Number of discussion paper
- keyword(s)
Finite horizon
Folk theorem
Prisoners' dilemma
- abstract
Unlike previous attempts to implement cooperation in a prisoners' dilemma game with an infinite horizon in the laboratory, we focus on extended prisoners' dilemma games in which a second (pure strategy) equilibrium allows for voluntary cooperation in all but the last round. Our four main experimental treatments distinguish long versus short horizon and strict versus non-strict additional equilibrium compared to the control treatment, a standard prisoners' dilemma. Quite surprisingly, according to our results, only a strict additional equilibrium increases cooperation rate for a given time horizon. As expected a longer time horizon promotes cooperation.
- article pub. typess JER
- Research article
- article languages JER
- Englisch
- article research fields JER
- experimental economics
- JEL-Classification for JER
- C73 - Stochastic and Dynamic Games; Evolutionary Games; Repeated Games ; C91 - Laboratory, Individual Behavior


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(CNN) -- Mitt Romney's campaign, along with the Republican National Committee, raised $170 million in September, the campaign announced Monday.
The number comes more than a week after President Barack Obama's team said they raised a record $181 million for the president's re-election effort.
Romney's campaign said it finished the month with $191 million in the bank. Ninety-three percent of all donations were $250 or less, amounting to $43.15 million of the September haul, the campaign added.
"President Obama has demonstrated that he can't defend his record of four years of failure," RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement. "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have a much different vision than President Obama's policies of larger government, a stagnant economy, and more government dependence.
In August, the collective effort known as the Romney Victory Fund, which also includes state parties, raised $112 million. In the two months prior, the team raised just over $100 million each month.
Romney officially accepted his party's nomination on August 30 in a speech that concluded the Republican National Convention. September kicked off with the Democratic National Convention, a week full of prime time speeches targeting GOP policies while also bolstering the president's re-election effort.
The GOP nominee's $170 million haul came in before Romney's widely proclaimed win in the first presidential debate, which essentially changed the tone in the campaign.
And the GOP nominee's numbers come in spite of what many political observers noted as a difficult month of September for Romney. The candidate faced negative headlines after video emerged of the Republican making controversial remarks at a private fund-raiser in May. In his comments, Romney argued half the country was dependent on government and viewed themselves as victims. They story dominated the news cycle for much of the week.


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When I press Print Scrn in XFCE and choose to save it, the automatically generated and offered file name is like
Screenshot - 141012 - 02:21:10.png (
Screenshot - DDMMYY - HH:mm:SS.png).
I hate to use Windows-incompatible characters (like
:) and sorting-unfriendly date formats in file names and moreover the name looks too long:
scrnYYYYMMDDHHmmSS.png would be much better.
Is it possible to set-up?


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I need to figure out how to get a diverse sample of emails with inline images in them. Our web application has to be able to identify inline images in email and then display the email and image in a discussion format. I am looking for any suggestions on how and where to get as many unique examples of this as possible.
Sign up
- Anybody can ask a question
- Anybody can answer
- The best answers are voted up and rise to the top
closed as not constructive by user246, dzieciou, corsiKa♦ Nov 28 '12 at 20:40
As it currently stands, this question is not a good fit for our Q&A format. We expect answers to be supported by facts, references, or expertise, but this question will likely solicit debate, arguments, polling, or extended discussion. If you feel that this question can be improved and possibly reopened, visit the help center for guidance.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.
Host an Open Beta, soliciting such emails.
You need to clarify your question. What do you mean by diverse sample of emails. Are you talking about different encodings, emails from different providers, different fonts, etc., or are you just talking about emails with embedded images? Also, is there a size limitation on the inline images?
A simple approach may be to generate random strings of words then randomly insert images at 1 or more points within the message body. Parameterized test data generation is a very potent way to increase data coverage and increase test variability.
As for where to get the images...the Internet has an amazing amount and variety of images that are publicly available.


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PaloSanto Solutions is pleased to offer 24x7 Elastix support directly from our team of Certified Elastix Professionals. The Elastix Web Chat Support is the best way to found quick support and assessment for any Elastix topic. From "how to" procedures to estimation of implementation projects you will always find the right and shortest way to configure your Elastix based system or perform your project with 2nd and 3rd level of support behind your back. You can purchase an hour of support or a bundle of 5 hours. Use them for an estimation, a scheduled maintenance, a survey or keep them as a "Stand By" support technician you can consult at any time. With the purchase of Elastix Web Chat support you will get:
A ticket number which allows you to automatically access our support system
The ticket number covers up to one, five or ten hours of Elastix Web Chat based support
You will be attended by one of our certified engineers 24 hours 7 days of the week You can reuse the ticket number several times until your time is exhausted. The time used is not rounded to hours. So, you can save time in comparison with other systems
Fast support with remote log in via ssh
The support tasks could include:
All Elastix related configuration covered
Hardware setup
Integration issues
Elastix Support will be performed based on availability of our technicians or Scheduled to your convenience.
The support tasks does not could include:
Elastix/Asterisk bug fixing
Provision of call recordings
Troubleshooting of issues with third party software*
Any other services not listed as included
*Some software included in the Elastix Distro, e.g. Vtiger, SugarCRM, A2Billing, etc are third party software.
This support is provided by PaloSanto Solutions directly and is valid at any time.
Considerations and Requirements for Remote Access
You must have enabled ssh access (port 22) and web access (port 443), to the Elastix server that must be configured. This must be setup before the support attention to avoid time loses. It is also allowed the use of remote access software such as Logme-in, VNC, etc.
Our Elastix Support Engineers can only do suggestions about changes in the network configuration of the client. These suggestions will be related to solve any problem related to networking at the moment of support. Our Elastix Support Engineers will not perform any network configuration at any moment.
The chat support is not a valid way to perform development of Elastix functionality. Any requirement that involves development should be requested and will be scaled to our development team. This work will follow the policies and procedures of this area.
It is recommended, before requesting a support, to verify that the problem is not already reported in the Elastix bug tracker. Any solution related to bugs will be released by our development team with available patches.
If you require support for third party hardware it is possible that our technical team will need time to do some research. In this case the technical support team will estimate, if it's necessary, and will inform you if there is any additional time.
Any hour related with research will be discounted of the total amount of support hours.


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I've got three partitions at installation of Ubuntu 12.04, whose mount points are:
But I needed a partition so I merged
/usr/local by copying all its contents into a folder named local2. Then I dismounted and formatted partition of
/usr/local, and then I moved the folder local2 to
Ubuntu seems to work fine, but when I turn on PC, Ubuntu start screen says (more or less):
/usr/local partition not found. Press S to skip or M to mount it manually.
How can I fix this?


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Top 10 Tips for Parents Who Have a Child with LD
7 of 11
Involve Your Child in Helping Someone Else
Too often students with learning disabilities fall into the "poor me" syndrome. Parents can not only put a stop to this but also boost their child's self-confidence by giving him or her the opportunity to help someone else. Children with learning disabilities have successfully tutored younger children, helped the elderly, worked in homeless shelters, or in other capacities. Even very young children have served others successfully.
Next: Keep Your Expectations for Your Child High But Realistic


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Paris Night Bike Tour
Paris Night Bike Tour is perfect for both those new to the city and Parisian veterans. For the beginners, this tour will offer you a fantastic orientation and give you an opportunity to see virtually all of the sites you've read about. For the veterans, you will learn new facts and stories about Paris that you've never heard before. You are sure to agree that riding a bike is the best way to see the "City of Light".
- Choice of several departures throughout the day
- See the sights illuminated at night
- Cycle the city streets to absorb the local atmosphere
- Travel by boat and see the sights from the water
The ride is not the least bit strenuous, rather relaxing, energizing and fun. And of course you will stop regularly for photo opportunities. There is more riding involved and slightly less information than on the day tours, but the city at night is fantastic! You will cruise through Paris as the city lights up and you see Paris from both bike and boat (free wine is included on the boat cruise). It is a more relaxed atmosphere as the wine tends to loosen everyone up a bit.
Highlights of the Paris Night Bike Tour include:
Highlights of the Paris Night Bike Tour include:
- Notre Dame - the most famous cathedral on the planet. Learn about the famous flying buttresses, the history inside the cathedral and how Paris can trace its roots to the Ile de la Cite.
- The Boat Cruise - the most popular activity of the Night Tour is a one hour cruise on the Seine through the heart of the illuminated "City of Light". Sail past the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Hotel de Ville and Musee D'Orsay just to name a few.
- The Louvre Museum - this is a truly magical place at night. Standing in the back courtyard of the Louvre will make you feel that you've been launched back into medieval times.
- Berthillon Ice Cream - by far the most famous ice cream shop in Paris. If you like, buy a scoop of about 20 offered flavors as your guide tells you about the early history of Paris. Eat on the Pont (bridge) St. Louis, connecting the Ile de la Cite and the Ile St. Louis, which provides one of the most beautiful vistas the city has to offer.
You will also see the Eiffel Tower, the Cite and St. Louis islands, St. Chapelle, the Latin Quarter, Academie Francaise, the Pont des Arts, the Champs-Elysees, Princess Di's Flame, the Arc de Triomphe and much more!
Recent Photos of this Tour
Schedule details
Select a month to view a calendar of availability and departure details.
Departure Dates:
Departure Point:Central Paris
Departure Time:Paris Night Bike Tour 2015
6pm - until November 30
2016 Time:
5:30pm: February 12-March 26
October 30 to November 30
6:30pm: March 27-October 29
Duration:4 hours 30 minutes (approx.)
Return Details:Returns to original departure point
Pricing information
Click the link below to check pricing & availability on your preferred travel date. Our pricing is constantly updated to ensure you always receive the lowest price possible.
5pm Departure
Code: PM1700
Tour departs at 5pm (February 14 - March 28 and October 25 - November 30)
EUR44.00Pricing details
6:30pm Departure
Code: PM1830
Tour departs at 6:30pm (March 27- October 29)
EUR44.00Pricing details
Pricing information
Biking Tour of Paris
- Cruise
- Insurance
- Bicycle and helmet
- Small group tour (maximum 22 people)
- Gratuities (optional)
- Hotel pickup and drop off
- Entrance fees
- Food and drinks, unless specified
- Rain gear is available at a fee of 1EUR paid direct which will be refunded if not used
Additional Information:
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- You do not stop for dinner during the tour
- If a children's bike is required, you must advise at time of booking
Voucher Info
You can present either a paper or an electronic voucher for this activity. What's this?
Local Operator Information:
Complete Operator information, including local telephone numbers at your destination, are included on your Confirmation Voucher. Our Product Managers select only the most experienced and reliable operators in each destination, removing the guesswork for you, and ensuring your peace of mind.
Cancellation Policy
If you cancel at least 7 day(s) in advance of the scheduled departure, there is no cancellation fee.
If you cancel between 3 and 6 day(s) in advance of the scheduled departure, there is a 50 percent cancellation fee.
If you cancel within 2 day(s) of the scheduled departure, there is a 100 percent cancellation fee.
Additional details
If you cancel between 3 and 6 day(s) in advance of the scheduled departure, there is a 50 percent cancellation fee.
If you cancel within 2 day(s) of the scheduled departure, there is a 100 percent cancellation fee.
Additional details


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Governor Ernie Fletcher says: "One is too many. And certainly something to come here and let the family know the appreciation we have for their sacrifice."
Governor Fletcher expressed the feelings of the hundreds of mourners who showed up to say goodbye to Ryan Montgomery. Around town signs display the sense of loss within the community. Mourners waited in a long line to shake hands with his father and twin brother Bryan, to offer their condolences.
Kentucky National Guard Adjutant General, Donald Storm, says: "We are a family as you've heard me say numerous times. And it is like losing a family member."
Members of the Green County Fire and Rescue were seated near the family to honor their fallen brother. Pictures of happier times with Ryan were on display in the front of the gymnasium, along with the medals he was given posthumously for his service to the United States.
Gen. Storm says: "This is just another tragic loss. And it just quite frankly rips your heart out. But the price of freedom is indeed very expensive."
The Fire and Rescue squad led the funeral procession, as they took the 22-year-old to his final resting-place. The family of Ryan Montgomery say they will always remember him for the smile on his face and the love he had for his truck, his country, and God.
They say they are happy he is now in a better place.
Ryan Montgomery is the seventh member of the Kentucky National Guard to be killed in Iraq since the war began.


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The Kiowa County Mavericks blew out a struggling Skyline T-Birds on a chilly night in Greensburg on Friday with a 50-0 win. The Mavericks entered the game with a 3-and-2 record in their first five contests, while the T-Birds (5-0) had yet to win a game this season.
It took only two quarters for the Mavs to invoke the 45-point rule, officially ending the game 26 seconds before halftime when #24 Creighton McDonald ran in a 9-yard TD.
Skyline couldn't muster any offense and crossed the mid-field only twice.
It has been a rough season for the 'Birds who are now 0-and-6, and it shows.
The cobbled energy they carried onto the field in their first possession quickly vanished when #8 Trever Powell made an interception-for-touchdown in the Skyline red zone on the third play of the game.
Powell had four touchdowns on 93 yards rushing and McDonald had three touchdowns on 119 yards.
Though the game officially ended at the half, both teams continued play in the second half. Most of the crowd shuffled out following a rousing performance from the Little Pepsters as temperatures hovered in the low forties with strong northerly winds.
The Mavericks (4-2) will head to Fairfield next Friday.
Read the full article in Wednesday's print edition.
Location, ST | website.com


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Is Oracle Policy Automation a Fit for My Agency? I'll bet it is.
By jeffrey.waterman on Jul 09, 2012
Recently, I stumbled upon a new(-ish) whitepaper now posted on the Oracle Technology Network around Oracle Policy Automation (OPA). This paper is certain to become a must read for any customer interested in rules automation.
What is OPA? If you are not sitting in your favorite Greek restaurant waiting for that order of Saganaki to appear, OPA is Oracle's solution for automated streamlining, standardizing, and the maintenance of policy. It is a specialized rules platform that simplifies the automation of rules and policies, putting the analysis in the hands of the analysts, not the IT organization. In other words, OPA allows the organization to be more efficient by eliminating (or at a minimum, reducing the engagement of) the middle man from the process.
The whitepaper I mention above is titled, "Is Oracle Policy Automation a Good Fit for My Business?". This short document walks the reader through use cases and advice for the reader to consider when deciding if OPA is right for their agency. The paper outlines many different scenarios, different uses of OPA in production today and, where OPA may not be a good fit.
Many of the use case examples revolve around end user questionnaires or analyst
research. What is often overlooked is OPA's
ability to act as a rules engine behind the scenes. That is, take inputs from one source (e.g., personnel
data), process that data in OPA and send the output (e.g., pay data with
benefits deductions) to a second source. The rules have been automated, no necessary human intervention to
perform analysis. A few of my customers have used the embedded OPA solution to improve transaction processing and reduce the time spent analyzing exceptions.
I suggest any reader whose organization is reliant on or deals with high complexity, volume or volatility in rules that are based on documentation – or which need to be documented – take a look at Oracle Policy Automation.
You can find the white paper on Oracle Technology Network.
You can find the white paper in the Oracle Policy Automation of the OTN.
You can find more information around OPA on oracle.com.
Finally, you can send me a question any time at firstname.lastname@example.com
Thank you for reading. If you have any topics around Oracle Applications in the Federal or Public Sector industries you would like to see addressed in this blog, please leave suggestions in the comments section and I will do my best to address in a future post.


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Monte Carlo 3FSR52PND Polished Nickel / Matte Opal 52" Freestyle Semi Flush Mount Fan
Offer Ends
We still have product details, accessories, replacement parts and reviews below, scroll down to see them!
Technical Specs
|Installation Sheet
|Specification Sheet
|Blade Pitch
|Blade Span
|Blades Sold Separately
|Bulb Base
|Mini Candelabra (E11)
|Bulb Type
|CFM (High)
|Controller Included
|Energy Star
|Fan Control Type
|Remote Control, Wall Control
|Finish Application
|Flush Mounting
|Light Direction
|Down Lighting
|Light Kit Compatible
|Light Kit Included
|Motor Size
|172mm x 17mm
|Number of Blades
|Number of Bulbs
|Suggested Room Fit
|Bedroom, Dining Room, Foyer, Kitchen, Living Room, Office
|Modern, Transitional
|Watts Per Bulb
Contemporary / Modern 52" Freestyle Semi Flush Mount Fan
This Contemporary / Modern 52" Freestyle Semi-Flush Mount Fan comes with the Silver / Silver finish. The fan comes with premium power 172 X 17 mm torque-induction motor for whisper quiet operation and also features triple capacitor, 3 speed reversible motor with precision balanced motor and blades for wobble-free operation. The 13 degree blade pitch is designed for optimal air. An extra long 1 foot wire is included for high ceiling installation with longer downrods. This fan features a Wall Remote With Uplight with reverse and down light. A blanking plate is included for installations without light kit.
- Light Kit
- Wall Remote
- Downrod Canopy
Fan Features:
- Indoor / Outdoor: Indoor
- Motor: 172mm x 17mm
- Fan Height (downrod): 12.75"
- Fan Height (flushmount):
- Fan Width: 52"
- Blade to Ceiling (downrod): 9.33"
- Weight: 21.56 lbs
- Minimum Suggested Ceiling Height (downrod): 7' 6"
- Number of Blades: 3 Blades
- Blade Pitch: 13 Degrees
- Bulbs: 1 G-9 halogen 100w 120v bulb included (Blanking plate included fore ceiling fan installations without Light Kit)
- Integrated Light Kit: 1 Halogen G9 100w bulb included
- Integrated Up Light: NO
- Pull Chain: None
- Remote: "Two-In-One" remote included (wall mount/handheld) (Reverse and down light feature)
- Downrod Included: None
- Reverse Switch: On Remote
- Outdoor / Wet Rated: NO
- Energy Star Qualified: NO
- Rotations Per Minute: High: 190.0 / Medium: 148.0 / Low: 91.0
- Air Circulation: High: 5216.0 CFM / Medium: 4129.0 CFM: / Low: 2561.0 CFM
- Fan Energy Consumption: High: 56.0 watts / Medium: 34.2 watts / Low: 16.1 watts
- Amps: High: 0.47 Amps / Medium: 0.42 Amps / Low: 0.32 Amps
- Canopy Style (downrod): Flush Mount Only
Additional Monte Carlo Links
Our SKU: Freestyle PND
This product is listed under the following manufacturer number(s):
- Polished Nickel / Matte Opal*
*Denotes a finish or option that has been discontinued
Product Reviews
Monte Carlo Freestyle Collection
Warranty Info
Monte Carlo
Limited Lifetime Warranty
Monte Carlo Fan Co. extends the following Limited Lifetime Warranty to the original user or consumer purchaser of this ceiling fan. To assure that this limited warranty is effective, please complete the questionnaire on the return portion of the warranty card and mail to Monte Carlo's Customer Service Center within ten (10) days from the date of purchase to activate warranty coverage.
This Limited Lifetime Warranty includes motor and motor-related parts only, which will be replaced or repaired as determined by Monte Carlo Fan Co. during the period in which this warranty is in effect, as further defined below. For plated finishes, wood blades and switches, the warranty period is ninety (90) days. Glass globes are not covered by this warranty, but will be replaced if found broken at time of purchase. If parts should fail within the warranty period due to a defect in materials or workmanship, we will repair or replace the parts free of charge when the parts and labor are provided by our service center.
If the original user or consumer purchaser ceases to own the fan, this warranty and any other implied warranty will be voided.
No warranty, express or implied, including but not limited to any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is made in respect to light fixture, glassware, light bulbs, or the finish on any metal or wooden portion of the fan. This warranty is in lieu of all other express or implied warranties. The duration of any implied warranty, including but not limited to any implied warranty of merchantability of fitness for a particular purpose, in respect to any Monte Carlo ceiling fan motor parts or accessories is expressly limited to the period of the express warranty set forth above for such motor, parts, or accessories.
This warranty is voided if your fan is not purchased from an authorized dealer and installed in the United States or Canada.
This warranty does not apply and is voided in case of improper installation, failure or supporting devices not supplied, such as original mounting hardware, neglect, accident, misuse, exposure to extremes of heat or humidity, or as a result of modification to the original product. All costs of removal and reinstallation of the fan are the expressed responsibility of the original user/purchaser.
Monte Carlo Fan Co. reserves the right to modify or discontinue any product at any time and will supply equal or similar parts and/or product in the event of replacement. Repair, replacement or service to the fan motor, parts, or accessories should be secured by immediately contacting our Customer Service Department at 1-800-519-4092 (weekdays between


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STAR-CCM+ provides a range of tools to enable the modeling Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI). Whether you use the unique integrated finite volume stress capability or want to leverage an external computational solid mechanics (CSM) code, STAR-CCM+ has a solution.
For tightly coupled FSI problems, CD-adapco has partnered with Dassault Systemes Simulia to provide co-simulation with Abaqus Unified FEA. For loosely coupled problems,
STAR-CCM+'s industry leading data mappers may be used to perform file based coupling with a broad range of tools.
Where the deformation of the structure becomes large enough to influence the surrounding fluid, STAR-CCM+'s mesh morpher may be used to accurately and robustly deform the computational grid.
To ensure that STAR-CCM+s FSI capabilities are available to the broadest range of application, an open API is available allowing third party tools to link with the code to perform socket- based co-simulation. Whether you have a commercial or in-house code, the co-simulation API allows you to leverage the power of STAR-CCM+.


text:
Please enter a maximum of 5 recipients. Use ; to separate more than one email address.
| Ben DuBose, Hydrocarbon Processing,
Several strategies can be implemented to boost refining profitability, Indian Oil executive R.K. Ghosh explained, even in the face of increased competition in the global downstream industry.
By Ben DuBoseOnline Editor
NEW DELHI -- Private Indian refiners could see global export prospects diminishing in view of increased competition, the director of refineries for state-controlled Indian Oil said on Wednesday.
Speaking at the fourth annual International Refining and Petrochemical Conference (IRPC), R.K. Ghosh said Indias market share in Europe could be threatened by Middle Eastern and US producers, while the Asia-Pacific market could see increased exports from Japan and Australia.
Indian refiners may also face a problem for gasoline exports, in view of rising Middle Eastern capacity and lower gasoline demand in the US, said Mr. Ghosh, who gave the keynote address.
While Indian Oil is state-controlled and supplies its products primarily for the domestic market, private companies like Reliance and Essar could be threatened, thus impacting the broader Indian marketplace.
On the whole, India will continue to have a refined product surplus, Mr. Ghosh explained. The gap between refining capacity and product demand, which was at 42 million metric tons (MMT) in 2008-09, jumped to 65 MMT in 2011-12 and is forecast to jump to 122 MMT by 2016-17.
But even with the capacity overhang, Indian refiners have been quite fortunate, he said, based on a capacity utilization rate of over 100% during the past five years.
This largely reflects growing domestic demand, Mr. Ghosh said. High-speed diesel (HSD) demand is projected to grow at 5.5%/year for the next 10 years, while Indias gasoline demand is likely to jump by 8.4%/year over that same period.
In addition, several strategies can be implemented to boost profitability, Mr. Ghosh explained, even in the face of increased competition.
For example, Indian Oils new refineries have been designed to handle 100% high-sulfur crude. The company is also adding delayed coking units for bottom of the barrel upgrades, thus enabling the company to better handle heavy crudes.
Other strategies include crude blending at port locations and the advent of a heated pipeline to transport Rajasthan crudes, he said.
Indian Oil is also in the process of evaluating hydroprocessing technologies, he said.
There are significant opportunities for margin improvements in the crude mix and distillate yields, Mr. Ghosh said.
From a broader industry standpoint, Mr. Ghosh concluded by calling for better global cooperation in the sharing of knowledge and advanced technologies, as well as improved utilization of existing assets by stretching their operating limits.
We see the path forward, he said. Were in a transition phase. Weve gone through building refineries in India in various regions.
Now, we need to educate the public to look at profit. The forecast is ripe today. People have started understanding that we need to grow, we need to be more efficient, and we need to better use the molecules we have.Stay tuned to HydrocarbonProcessing.com for further IRPC coverage, including our running Day 1 blog with news stories, images and videos.
All comments are subject to editorial review.
All fields are compulsory.
What is more important for Indian Refineries is the $/bbl refining margin to be competitive internationally.The current trend fitting the cyclic nature of business is on integrated projects on Petrochemicals, to enhance profitability. Is IOC geared up for this change ?
sankar prosad mitra
Indian refineries need to be more innovative. The product prices are very high. This cannot be entirely attributed to the cost of crude oil.Manpower productivity needs to be looked into to contain the pricing aspect of petroleum products.
Akhilesh Kumar
Will transportation economics and logistics affect US product consumption in potential consumption areas of exports from India.
Virendra Kapoor
India has seen considerable improvement in conversion, processing and treating technologies in past five years particularly for heavy crude and trend is likely to continue. Quality of the products also match high international standards
Mohammad Syed
Mr. Ghosh, all this is good and certainly sounds good on paper but your challenge is in the implementation of this vision wherein the prevailing high corruption in your company and the entire bureacracy prevents efficiency and merit to come into play. Please clean house first or state enterprises like yours should be prepared to ride into oblivion very soon.
Tapas Bhattacharyya
Sir,It will be significant opportunities for margin improvements in the crude mix and distillate yields,and Hydrocarbon Processing will surelykeep us informed about evaluating hydro-processing technologies.
Sir ,We join you in wishing that let indian refiners have best GRM in the world by adopting best practices and explore the hydrocarbon reserves to the full potential so as to reduce our Current Account Deficit.
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A searchable database of project activity in the global hydrocarbon processing industry
Engineers and designers are highly skilled individuals. Forcing them to enter design changes using tables, forms and spreadsheets is unproductive and uneconomical, and it increases the likelihood of human error—this is the way that most instrumentation software systems currently work. For too long, software vendors have denied engineers and designers the simple practicality of a graphical visual engineering interface with "drag and drop" capability and inbuilt intelligence, ensuring changes are automatically replicated into all the associated data and databases.
Is 2016 the peak for US gasoline demand?
Too soon to tell
July 2016


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On the map, Cyprus seems not to far away from Lebanon. Approximately 100 kilometers. Is it possible to see parts of Lebanon from anywhere in Cyprus?
I started trying to solve this by finding photos from Cyprus. I found some, but they're not very conclusive.
Then I realised we could do this mathematically!
The approximate distance to the horizon from an observer close to the Earth's surface is given by:
where d is in kilometres and h is height above sea level in metres.
As you've pointed out, it's about 100km - I plugged it into GMap-Pedometer and reckon it's about 105km.
So solving for h, we find we need to be at a height of 742m above sea level at the closest point.
Unfortunately nowhere even comes close on the eastern side.
So we have one shot - Mount Olympus, which is 1952m.
Solving for d, we can get d = ~170km.
However the distance from the top of Mount Olympus to the nearest point in Lebanon is well over 250km, meaning that NO, you cannot see Lebanon from any point in Cyprus.
The highest point in Lebanon is Qurnat As Sawda. So perhaps you can see from Olympus to here? Let's find out:
From the top of Olympus to the top of Qurnat As Sawda is about 302km as the crow flies. If we sum their heights, we get 5040m. To be able to see 302km, we solve for h, and work that out as a mountain which would need to be 6134m high. So again, no, but it is a bit closer :)
I've been on the Karpaz peninsula, the part of Cyprus that is closest to Lebanon and no, you can't see anything but sea, even from the very tip - though admittedly I didn't have binoculars or tried to find the highest point. But there aren't really any mountains in that area, just some minor hills.
Here's a picture from that area (and even pointing in the right direction, I think):
It doesn't look like it's possible, if you are standing on the beach and not taking photos from some elevated vantage point. The eastern part of Cyprus is fairly flat, with elevation of less than 50 m, especially on the side you'd be able to see Lebanon.
The easiest way to confirm is to look for photos taken in this region, and see whether you'd be able to see something there. I looked through some photos in Panoramio and wasn't able to find a single one on which the Lebanese coast is visible. Admittedly, the photos are not of highest quality, and the meteorological conditions are not perfect, but it seems that it's not possible.
For comparison, in my current residence in Jönköping, Sweden, the island of Visingsö is around 30 km north from the city in the Vättern lake, and is barely visible most of the days -- you can only see the mirrored image of the island "hanging" above the water, even in near-perfect conditions.
[I just saw Mark's excellent scientific answer, but if mathematics are not your thing, this sort of reasoning could be of use in similar circumstances.]
No, but you can see Syria. I found a photo of Syrian mountains seen from the Karpaz Peninsula early in the morning.


text: Wheeling's Out of The Blue will perform at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Coffeehouse at The Arbor located at 208 S. Chester St., New Cumberland. The band's repertoire includes bluegrass, gospel and oldies. Sandwiches and snacks will be available for purchase. Children with accompanying adults are welcome. There is no cover charge. Proceeds benefit the Arbor's after-school programs. For information or directions, call (304) 564-4411 or (304) 794-8275 or email firstname.lastname@example.com. -- Contributed


text:
Peppers - Organic
Pizza Pepper Organic
80 days. If you like the flavor of hot peppers but not so much fire, Pizza Pepper will be a hit. It is the heaviest, most thick-walled pepper we have ever seen. This means big pepper wedges with just a hint of zing, especially suited for topping your pizza. The 3-4 inch pendulous, cone-shaped peppers on 14-18 inch tall plants are most flavorful when green, and mildest when red. Early and prolific.
Also available as a plant.
Open Pollinated
- More Information
- Customer Reviews (1)
|Seed Depth
|Seed Spacing
|Soil Temp for Germ.
|Days to Germ.
|Thin Plants To
|Approximately 35 seeds per 1/4 gram.
|See Below
Capsicum annuum: Our wide array of fabulous peppers, both sweet and hot, offers one of the richest sources of nutrients in the plant kingdom. Hot peppers contain capsaicin, which revs up your metabolism and reduces general inflammation in the body.
CULTURE: Using a sterile seedling mix, sow seeds 8-10 weeks before your last frost. Germination rates may be erratic if soil is allowed to dry out. Once the seedlings have 2 sets of true leaves, they can be up-potted to a 3-inch pot and grown at 70°F during the day and 60°F during the night. Make sure the seedlings have plenty of light, and give them a liquid fertilizer solution, such as Earth Juice Grow. Remember, strong transplants perform best and will give the highest yields. Peppers grow very slowly, or not at all, in cold soils, so resist the temptation to plant outside too early. The timing for transplanting is perfect when the plants are just starting to become root bound and the garden soil has warmed to at least 65°F. Transplant peppers outside 2-3 weeks after tomatoes in rows 24-30 inches apart. The bed should be rich and well-supplied with nitrogen. Adding fertilizers such as blood meal, fish bone meal, or composted chicken manure will help the plants make vigorous, vegetative growth for their first 6 weeks in the garden. At planting time, use about 1/2 cup of a high-nitrogen fertilizer side dressed below and around each plant; and a 1/2 cup of complete fertilizer when they begin to flower. As an option, consider using Black or Green Mulch in the pepper bed. Also covering the plant with Reemay or Gro-Therm can be especially helpful in early plantings. Be mindful of high daytime temperatures as the season progresses, as even heat loving vegetables such as peppers can get too hot. Remember to keep peppers uniformly moist throughout the growing season and you'll be enjoying the explosion of color, flavor, and heat that peppers offer.
INSECTS/DISEASES: Most insects and diseases that attack tomatoes will also affect peppers. Pyrethrin or a floating row cover will effectively eliminate insect pests if used early in the season. Whenever possible use disease-resistant varieties and proper sanitation in the garden. If you have experienced disease problems with either tomatoes or peppers, don't plant in the same spot for 3 seasons and rotate with a green manure crop.
HARVEST: Fruit set after late August usually will not fully develop or ripen. Peppers are generally fully ripe and have the most flavor and vitamins when they turn red, yellow, purple, or orange. They can be kept in good condition for at least 40 days at 32°F and 95% relative humidity.
SEED SPECS: Minimum germination standard: 70%. Usual seed life: 2 years. Days to maturity are calculated from date of transplanting and reflect edible green fruit.
HR indicates high resistance.
IR indicates intermediate resistance.
PeMV | Pepper Mottle Virus
PVY* | Potato Y potyvirus
TEV | Tobacco Etch Virus
TMV | Tobacco Mosaic Virus
ToMV | Tomato Mosaic Virus
TSWV* | Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus
* Numbers indicate specific disease race.
Overall Rating: Write a Review
Don't Pass On This Pepper
Dec 1, 2015 | By Adam
I usually favor hot peppers but wanted to try this one for a change. Wow, was I happy... when they say thick-walled, they weren't kidding. By far one of my favorite peppers.


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I would like to know how many
Primary and
Extended Partitions I can create on a x86_64 PC with Linux running on it?
Update :
If there is a limit to the number of partitions, why is that the limit?
The limitation is due to the original BIOS design. At that time, people weren't thinking more than four different OSes would be installed on a single disk. There was also a misunderstanding of the standard by OS implementors, notably Microsoft and Linux which erroneously map file systems with (primary) partitions instead of subdividing their own partition in slices like BSD and Solaris which was the original intended goal.
The maximum number of logical partitions is unlimited by the standard but the number of reachable ones depends on the OS. Windows is limited by the number of letters in the alphabet, Linux used to have 63 slots with the IDE driver (hda1 to hda63) but modern releases standardize on the sd drivers which supports by default 15 slots (sda1 to sda15). By some tuning, this limit can be overcome but might confuse tools (see http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152404 )
In any case, this is becoming history with EFI/GPT. Recent Linuxes support GPT with which you can have 128 partitions by default. To fully use large disks (2TB and more) you'll need GPT anyway.
Sen, in response to @jlliagre, it should be noted that some operating systems will create a single partition, but essentially create sub-partitions within that space.
It is analogous, but not equal, to doing:
You could then use kpartx to access these sub-partitions:
The sub-partition(s) would appear as:
Of course, this isn't how FreeBSD and similar systems do their slicing, exactly, but it is essentially the same thing.
4 primary partitions or alternatively 3 primary partitions and an extended partition.
the extended partition can be subdivided into multiple logical partitions
You can use LVM and create all the crazy partitions you wish.


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• Brno -- The second largest city in the Czech Republic, Brno is the historic capital of the Moravian region and home to one of the country's wine districts, a former royal castle from the 14th century and an international music festival, held each summer.
• Bohemia -- Bohemia encompasses the western half of the country. In addition to Prague, the region of Bohemia features quaint villages to explore, castles and dense romantic forests.Czech is the official language of the Czech Republic, although German, English and Russian are also widely spoken. A minority of the people here speak Slovak, particularly in the eastern portion of the country.
The official Czech currency is the korun (crown). Euros are also sometimes accepted, particularly in tourist areas.


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Child Development & Family Studies
The goal of the Child Development & Family Studies Department at City College of
San Francisco is to provide a developmentally appropriate education for students,
families and children that reflects a commitment to high quality and a broad
understanding of how children learn and grow.
- Programs
Go to Programs to find out more about:
- Course, Certificate, Degree and Transfer Information
- Careers with Children and Youth
- Student Support Prgrams and Resources
- Services, Child Care and Programs for Parents
- Careers
Go to the Careers link for the information about career opportunities and placement centers.
- Admission
Enrollment is open to all students interested in working with children or youth in early childhood, K-12 classrooms or school-age and youth programs. Click here for Admissions and Records.
- Transferring to a Four-Year College
The AS Degree with a Major in Child Development allows students to earn a degree at CCSF that includes specialized courses in child development. A new AS-T degree is also available that is specifically designed for students interested in transfer to a four-year college or university to pursue further career goals. Students may continue coursework in child development, education, and related fields such as social work or counseling. Students may also continue to pursue an elementary, secondary or CTE teaching credential (required to teach in public K through 12 schools in California) or receive a BA or BS degree in a related field. Additional courses may be needed for future K-12 teachers.
- Certificates in Child Development
Child Development Department Certificates are available to students in a variety of topics including:
- Child Development: Practitioner Certificate - 18 units
- Infant Toddler Certificate - 18 units
- School-Age Certificate - 18 units
- Administration Certificate - 18 units
- Professional Development & Advocacy Certificate - 18 units
- Violence Intervention Certificate - 18 units
- Family Childcare Certificate - 6 units
- Pre-Teacher Certificate - 12 units
- Appreciating Diversity Certificate - 6 units
- Youth Worker Certificate - 24 units
- Special Education: Early Intervention or K-12 Focus - 18
Find out more about our programs on our Program page, or visit our catalog page, or register for classes, or call (415) 239-3172.
CDEV Department in the News!
Read about new CDEV Program in the SF Women's Jail. Feature article in SF Examiner, 7/23/15 - http://www.sfexaminer.com/unlocking-potential-s-f-county-jail-offers-first-college-credit-classes-to-inmates/
Changes to Child Development Permit Fees through the Commission on Teacher
Credentialing (CTC) and Child Development Training Consortium (CDTC)
reimbursement program.
The fee for Child Development Permits at CTC increased to $100 and $50, due to the state budget for fiscal year 2015-2016, and went into effect on July 1, 2015.
At City College of San Francisco, the Professional Development Project (PDP) Career Advisors assist with the permit applications. Upon completion of the application, Advisors issue a receipt as a Verification of Completion when that is requested. This serves as a proxy for some employers, and some funders, while permits are being processed through the CTC. For more information see:
Telephone: PDP at 415-452-5605 for services in English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese
NEW BOOKLOAN PROGRAM for Students!
Follow this link for information on borrowing your textbooks!


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Chondrosarcoma is an uncommon type of cancer that begins in cartilage around bones.
Chondrosarcoma most often affects adults older than 40. Though chondrosarcoma can affect any bone, it most often occurs in the hipbones and thighbones.
Read more about bone cancer.
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla., and Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Ariz., are ranked among the Best Hospitals for cancer by U.S. News & World Report.
Mayo Clinic works with hundreds of insurance companies and is an in-network provider for millions of people. In most cases, Mayo Clinic doesn't require a physician referral. Some insurers require referrals or may have additional requirements for certain medical care. All appointments are prioritized on the basis of medical need.
Chondrosarcoma is treated by experienced specialists in oncology, radiation oncology, orthopedic surgery, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and other specialists as needed.
For appointments or more information, call the Central Appointment Office at 800-446-2279 (toll-free) 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Standard Time, Monday through Friday or complete an online appointment request form.
For appointments or more information, call the Central Appointment Office at 904-953-0853 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday or complete an online appointment request form.
Chondrosarcoma is treated by experienced specialists in orthopedic oncology, medical oncology, radiation oncology, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and other specialists as needed.
For appointments or more information, call the Central Appointment Office at 507-538-3270 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday or complete an online appointment request form.
See information on patient services at the three Mayo Clinic locations, including transportation options and lodging.
Tests and procedures used to diagnose chondrosarcoma include:
Removing a sample of tissue for testing (biopsy). Doctors can confirm a diagnosis of chondrosarcoma by removing a sample of suspicious tissue with a needle or a scalpel and testing it in a lab.
A biopsy must be performed in a certain way, so that it doesn't negatively impact the ability to remove the cancer during a later operation. For this reason, many doctors recommend that the surgeon who does the biopsy should be the same surgeon who will do the operation to remove the cancer.
Mayo Clinic pathologists are experts at diagnosing rare tumors, including chondrosarcoma. Because chondrosarcoma is uncommon, specially trained pathologists with experience diagnosing this type of cancer are essential to obtaining a correct diagnosis.
Treatments for chondrosarcoma include:
Surgery. During an operation to treat chondrosarcoma, surgeons work to remove the cancer and a small margin of healthy tissue around it. The type of surgery you undergo will depend on the location of your chondrosarcoma.
When possible, surgeons work to remove the cancer, while avoiding amputation and maintaining your ability to function. Many specialized techniques are available to achieve this, such as cutting and freezing (cryoablation) the affected tissue.
Larger and more aggressive cancers may require amputation of the affected limb.
Mayo Clinic doctors and researchers are studying new ways to diagnose and treat chondrosarcoma. Research includes investigations in orthopedic surgery.
Cancer research is conducted in coordination with the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center. The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center receives funding from the National Cancer Institute and is designated as a comprehensive cancer center — recognition for an institution's scientific excellence and multidisciplinary resources focused on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
See a list of publications by Mayo Clinic authors on chondrosarcoma on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.
Original article: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chondrosarcoma/care-at-mayo-clinic/why-choose-mayo-clinic/con-20034739
Any use of this site constitutes your agreement to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy linked below.
Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit organization and proceeds from Web advertising help support our mission. Mayo Clinic does not endorse any of the third party products and services advertised.
A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.org," "Mayo Clinic Healthy Living," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.


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The sun is starting to peek through the clouds once more and there's that glorious feeling of love in the air. Is that because Valentine's Day is creeping closer and closer? It actually has nothing to do with Valentine's Day at all (but you can still address all heart-shaped boxes of chocolate to Sam Smith, MoM Towers, Tunbridge Wells). No, that lovely feeling is coming from the parcel that has found its way to my desk.
Hidden beneath a shock of shredded black paper sits a fancy looking black box tied up with quite a fancy leather string bow. It's the kind of box that people can only hold really awesome or really scary stuff. You're not going to get a box that looks like this with a stapler or a bike lock or a bank statement in it. It's either amazing or devastating. A gold ring or a ring finger. A puppy or too many scorpions. Cake or death. I'm quite partial to cake, to be perfectly honest.
Tags: highland park, valhalla collection, thor, loki, freya, single malt, orkney, whisky, scotch whisky, chariots, cats
Categories : Whisky | News | Tasting Notes
Read the full story (2 Comments )


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Lufthansa continually adds new destinations for the Oil & Energy Industry. Here you can find an overview about these great destinations.
America: Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Canada, Mexico, the USA.
Africa: Algeria, Angola, Ghana, Gabon, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Sudan, Tunisia, Republic of South Africa, Equatorial Guinea.
Asia: Azerbaijan, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Korea.
Europe: Great Britain, Norway, Russia.
The Near East: Bahrain, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia.
To the Lufthansa Route Map
Libreville, Gabon *NEW*
Gabon is one of the richest African countries in raw materials, with big offshore oil reserves. The economy is characterized strongly by the oil industry, and with the Total, Shell and Addax companies has a European focal point. Important trading partners are the USA, China, France and Belgium. Around 580,000 of Gabon's population of 1.5 million live in Libreville in the Northwest of the country.
Luanda, Angola
Angola's economy has undergone a period of rapid transformation in recent years, moving from the disarray caused by a quarter century of war to being the fastest growing economy in Africa and one of the fastest in the world. Growth is almost entirely driven by rising oil production which surpassed 1.4 million barrels per day in late-2005. The economy grew 18% in 2005; growth is expected to reach 26% in 2006 and stay above 10% for the rest of the decade.
Petroleum production and refining account for about 60% of Bahrain's export receipts, 60% of government revenues, and 30% of GDP. With its highly developed communication and transport facilities, Bahrain is home to numerous multinational firms with business in the Gulf. A large share of exports consists of petroleum products made from refining imported crude. Construction proceeds on several major industrial projects.
Calgary, Canada
The largest city in Alberta, and Canada's fifth largest metropolitan area, Calgary has grown with its oil and gas industry, and is the fastest growing region in Canada. 87% of Canada's oil and natural gas producers have headquarters in Calgary.
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
Malabo is the capital of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and located on the northern coast of Bioko Island.
Equatorial Guinea is currently one of the largest producers of oil in Africa. Its oil production has increased more than tenfold since 1995 and reached 360,000 barrels/day in 2004. Oil exports currently represent over 90 percent of total export earnings.
Doha, Qatar
The development of Qatar's oil and natural gas revenues enable its citizens to enjoy one of the highest per capita income in the world. Oil accounts for more than 30% of GDP, roughly 80% of export earnings, and 58% of government revenues. Current economic performance is good with an annual growth of 8.5% and inflation of 2.3%.


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I have tons of stuff to do, and I get bogged down. I end up doing nothing for hours, sometimes even days. I have personal projects to complete and books to read, but sometimes I'm just flailing around in a cloud, mentally, and I end up face down on the couch, moaning into my pillow that I'm sooooooo bored. I need some method or software to help me manage my time effectively and get rid of this quirky funk I've been in. Excel Spreadsheets Perhaps? Has anyone here used Excel for this purpose effectively? Maybe some other software?
I know that saying "Tell me how to be motivated" would get this question locked and possibly my account would be suspended(as it was recently in StackOverflow), so I'm not going to do that. ;)


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Nike Mavrk Low 2 Men's Athletic Casual Shoes
Buy Online & Pick Up In-Store
The Nike Mavrk Low 2 Men's Athletic Casual Shoes are designed to give you board-gripping traction and a comfortable fit. Rule the streets with the men's shoes, featuring a combination suede, leather and nubuck upper that's lightweight and durable. Mesh lining keeps your foot cool and comfortable, and a rubber toe guard offers protection when you need it most. Get the traction you need on a variety of surfaces with the rubber outsole and traditional herringbone pattern.


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One of my friends controls hundreds of Macs for a school. They have Lion.
The 6th grade Macs have the 6th grade accounts (~100), the 7th grade Macs have the 7th grade accounts (~120) and the 8th grade Macs have the 8th grade accounts (~90). There are also some staff accounts.
He doesn't have all the users on all the Macs; I believe that he has them set up to grab the profiles from a server - thus, a user's desktop on one computer is synced with that user's desktop on another computer.
I'm wondering whether or not it's possible to put all ~400 users on each computer so that the grades can use each others' Macs interchangeably. Is it possible to put this many users on a Mac? And how many of these can be logged in at the same time?


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Elisabeth Bumiller
Recent and archived news articles by Elisabeth Bumiller of The New York Times.
Your Evening Briefing
Get caught up on the day's top stories.
October 17, 2014, Friday
No Ceremony for Bowe Bergdahl Upon Return to U.S. Soil
Exactly 1,809 days after he was captured, Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl returned to a homecoming void of any relatives and dampened by a controversy over his capture and release.
June 14, 2014, Saturday
Lesson for P.O.W.'s Father: Men Sometimes Do Come Back
Robert Bergdahl fought in Washington for his son's release from the Taliban for five years. On Saturday, President Obama said Bowe Bergdahl was coming home.
June 1, 2014, Sunday
Ties Fraying, Obama Drops Putin Meeting
The sides have been at loggerheads over arms control, missile defense, Syria, trade and human rights, and Obama aides said Moscow was no longer responding to their proposals.
August 8, 2013, Thursday
Panel Chairman Criticizes G.O.P. Request on Hagel's Financial Data
Senator Carl Levin told Republicans that they were out of bounds for demanding additional financial information from Chuck Hagel, the nominee for defense secretary.
February 9, 2013, Saturday
Panetta Warns of Dire Consequences to Military From Budget Cuts
The defense secretary, who has been cautioning about the impact of cuts for months, said in a speech that "this is not a game, this is reality."
February 7, 2013, Thursday
Democrats Seek to Stave Off $1 Trillion in Cuts
House Democrats were counting on the arrival of federal furloughs and layoffs to make Republicans more receptive to a solution that would combine cuts with closing tax loopholes.
February 7, 2013, Thursday
For Hagel, a Distinction Comes With an Asterisk
President Obama, in nominating Chuck Hagel, said he would be the "first person of enlisted rank" to run the Pentagon, but at least four defense secretaries were, too.
February 7, 2013, Thursday
First Pull-Ups, Then Combat, Marines Say
The announcement last week ending the ban on women in combat only accelerated a sweeping re-examination of fitness standards in the American military.
February 2, 2013, Saturday
Hagel Has Rough Outing Before Ex-Colleagues
Chuck Hagel, a Republican former senator and President Obama's nominee to be secretary of defense, met with sharp questions at his confirmation hearing.
February 1, 2013, Friday
Rss Feeds On Elisabeth Bumiller
Subscribe to an RSS feed on this topic. What is RSS?


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Improving Electronic System Design Productivity using Synopsys System Studio
- Posted: Dec 31, 2008 at 7:42PM
- 2,055 views
Right click "Save as…"
Synopsys System Studio and Saber products are now available on Windows HPC Server 2008. Join us for this informative webcast and get the latest information on how System Studio further improves performance and signal processing design productivity by taking full advantage of Windows HPC Server 2008 as a stable, extensible environment on high-performance CPUs. Learn how Saber helps automotive and aerospace supply chains meet stringent reliability and safety requirements for mechatronic systems in harsh environments. System Studio is Synopsys' model-based algorithm design and analysis offering providing a unique dataflow simulation engine with the highest performance for exploring, verifying and optimizing digital signal processing algorithms. Saber is Synopsys' technology-leading mechatronic design and analysis software, advancing Robust Design and Design for Six Sigma (DFSS) methodologies into today's automotive, aerospace, and commercial design.
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I'd like to use extra virgin olive oil for the above mentioned cooking methods as opposed to other oils/butter. Are there any downsides to it, or can it be used safely in all those cooking methods? Is there anything that it doesn't work well with?
I don't want to disappoint you, but the sad truth is that extra virgin olive oil is unsuitable for all the cooking methods you mention. When you heat any oil past its smoking point it starts to deteriorate and can even become dangerous. Olive oil, extra virgin in particular, has a lower smoking point than most other oils. In fact, you will be better off with an olive oil of lesser quality. Such an oil will have been processed and thus purified, increasing its smoking point.
You may think that butter is unhealthy, but at high temperatures it will actually withstand the heat better than extra virgin olive oil.
Good oils for the purposes you mention are canola oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, and grapeseed oil.
That oils' smoke points can be generically classified solely according to their type is a myth.
Robert Wolke, a professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh and food columnist for the Washington Post, claims that the smoke point for an oil varies widely depending on origin and refinement. While the smoke point does generally increase with respect to the degree of refinement of the oil, Wolke notes that generation of the nasty tasting free fatty acids is a function of time, i.e., the longer you cook the oil the worse it tastes. Therefore, if you are going to be using the oil for a quick fry/sauté, it doesn't really matter what type of oil it is. (I'm not sure if I'd use an unrefined oil for a long roast, though.)
Alton Brown, a US cooking celebrity who specializes in the science behind cookery, agrees:
I wouldn't recommend using an Extra Virgin Olive Oil for high heat applications, not because you're likely to get off flavors (if you work fast), but because it's a waste of money: You'll be losing the fruity notes for which you're paying a premium. Throughout Southern Italy and Spain, though, it is very common to use olive oil for frying (even Virgin olive oil). For example, Mario Batali (another US celebrity chef who is a widely acclaimed Italian chef) did it all the time in his old TV show.
I have used olive oil for all of those tasks when I didn't have anything else around. It's also my preferred oil for oven-roasting vegetables. As Henrik says, though, it has a low smoke point, so it doesn't work as well as some others for cooking in a wok, or other high temperature cooking.
Aside from agreeing with ESultanik, I wanted to add this additional answer:
Virgin olive oil is not appropriate for stir-frying because it would taste weird.
Unless you're doing a recipe which is specifically an Italian/Chinese fusion dish, or something which expects olive oil, you want to use a mostly flavorless vegetable oil for stir-frying. I prefer peanut oil, but canola, safflower, and sunflower also work quite well.
Mario Batali does it all the time, so it's safe to say you can use it for that. Should you? Probably not, but if the $$$ doesn't bother you...
You have to consider that extra virgin olive oil usually has a smoking point around 190 degrees celsius. For stir frying and getting the natural sugar of e.g. the vegatables to to be extracted and caramelized you need around 150 degrees celsius. I use extra virgin olive oil for fryin vegetables and it maintains it's fruity flavor plus all of it's health benefits. Make a test on your stove to figure out your extra virgin olive oil's smoking point, and make sure to keep the temperature below the oil's smoking point. I use gas so it's very consistent, and I've made a mark on the regulator, so I don't have to worry about the oil overheating every time I fry something. Once you get used to frying you immediately smell if the oil is smoking.


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I have a couple of related questions:
I read about an estimate, ascribed to Turing, of the entropy of English text to be between 0.6 and 1.3 bits per letter. The modern day corpus, including the huge and exponentially ever expanding volume of materials accessible via the Internet, is different from the one available a century back. Is there a revised estimate?
If one simply takes two books from one's small private library (that contains e.g. only very common novels) and arbitrarily select two starting points to combine with xor the letters, then the resulting pseudo-random sequence presumably could be argued to have a non-negligible risk of being attacked through brute-force by a knowledgeable opponent. But the actual choice of materials (including especially those via the Internet) to be combined is nowadays virtually unlimited. If one could thus appropriately choose a sufficiently large number of text sources to be combined, wouldn't the result be practically secure for crypto usages in view of the combinatorial explosion of the complexity that the attacker has to deal with? One could certainly also employ some more complex operations than xor and even a couple of different operations either simultaneously or in variations. Are some good schemes in this direction already being used in non-trivial practical applications?