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Umbilical Cord Blood Banking
In This Article:
Benefits and cautions of umbilical cord blood banking
Why Do It?
Some parents choose to save and store umbilical cord blood so they will have a supply available in case it is ever needed by their child or a family member: Cord blood stem cells are a perfect match for the donor baby; they have 25 percent probability of being an exact match for a sibling, and can be potentially used for parents and grandparents. Others choose to save cord blood because of the possibilities that science might provide in the future. The blood can be collected only at birth and so many don't want to miss the opportunity. And some collect the cord blood and donate it to a public blood bank.
Umbilical cord blood donation is a new idea that is picking up after a slow start. Currently, there are just 11 public cord blood banks in the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) registry that accept donated cord blood. The NMDP website (www.nmdp.org) lists 10 non-NMDP centers around the country that also accept cord blood donations (but often only for related transplant recipients). The American Red Cross currently has seven active cord blood collection sites around the country, and The National Institutes of Health has committed $30 million to establish three national public donation banks.
Women who donate their cord blood can, theoretically, retrieve their own donation should they need it before the units have already been used by another individual who needs a stem cell transplant. Because donation is free, it is liable to be a more accessible option for many families. (But be aware that if your doctor charges a fee for drawing the blood, that will not be covered by the blood bank.) However, because cord blood donation is a newer stem cell option, donating is not available in all communities. If there is not a participating hospital in your community, you might want to try contacting a major university hospital or medical center in your local area to explore other options. Be sure to first check the NMDP's website for registered blood banks and more information about cord blood donations: www.nmdp.org; or call them at 1-800-MARROW2.
Words of Caution About Cord Blood Banking
As the concept of umbilical cord blood banking becomes more popular and common, the methods of obtaining the blood will become more standardized and routine. But right now, here are some factors you should carefully consider.
The hospital where you deliver is unlikely to offer umbilical cord blood banking. You must make all arrangements yourself and supply your doctor with the collection kit. If you talk to your doctor well in advance of your baby's delivery about your interest in cord blood banking, he or she might be able to refer you to a reputable cord blood bank in your area who will give you all the information and collection equipment you need.
Not all umbilical cord blood banks are equal. The Federal government is in the process of developing industry standards for the collection, processing, and storage of cord blood, but at this time uniform regulations do not exist. You should, at the very least, make sure that the laboratory you choose is accredited by the American Association of Blood Banks.
There is no way of knowing at this time how long stored cord blood will last. One study out of Amsterdam produced viable cord blood stem cells from blood frozen for 15 years. But the "shelf life" of cord blood is still tentative.
In most cases, medical insurance companies do not pay for umbilical cord blood banking. This is an out-of-pocket expense that can be very costly. You will also pay an annual storage fee to the blood bank for storing the blood. If you choose to move the cord blood to a different blood bank, you'll have to pay preparation and shipment charges.
If you give birth to multiples and want to draw umbilical cord blood, each child needs his or her own collection—the only direct match is from the direct donor. This, of course, raises the cost. However, some cord blood banks offer discounts for multiples and for additional children the parents might have at a later time.
Find out who has access to the cord blood's hidden information-the diseases and genetic traits shared by both infant and parents. Ask questions about the bank's policy regarding screening cord blood and ask whether all identifiers are stripped from the blood samples in order to protect the donor's privacy. Many physicians will advise their patients against donating cord blood to a blood bank that retains patient identifiers.
excerpted from:
Excerpted from The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth © 2004 by Michele Isaac Gliksman, M.D. and Theresa Foy DiGeronimo. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Alpha Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
To order this book visit Amazon's website or call 1-800-253-6476.


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This question has two components: firstly, can a character with Assassin levels trigger their Death Attack (after the three rounds of study, of course) by making a Coup De Grace against the helpless opponent they studied? Secondly, can I make a coup de grace and/or death attack with a melee touch spell such as Shocking Grasp, Vampiric Touch or Poison?
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Let's check the definitions.
Death attack (emphasis mine):
Complete Mage, Spell Compendium and Rules Compendium have no additional information on the subject.
Spellwarp Sniper 5 gains the ability to coup the grace with a ray spell that deals hit point damage.
This ability still doesn't allow to trigger Death Attack.
Addressing the second part, I'd say that yes, you can coup de grace with a touch spell. I'm basing this off the following, from Combat Actions:
So, an attack with a touch spell is considered a melee attack, and is considered an armed attack. An armed attack is generally one made with a weapon. Coup de grace requires you use "a melee weapon". This strongly points towards being able to use a touch attack for a coup de grace.
Further, you can score critical hits and sneak attack damage on this type of attack, and can deliver touch spells with a punch, so every ounce of "in game" sense tells us you should be able to deliver a coup de grace this way.
One thing you didn't bring up: In most cases you'd have to have touch spell already prepped, so you could simply deliver it with a regular unarmed attack -- which might bypass some of this discussion.
Note on the RAW
I think the wording of coup de grace would technically let you use a dagger to perform a coup de grace from across the room. They really meant to restrict it to a "melee attack" rather than a "melee weapon", and if they'd worded it differently this whole question would have been easier to answer. :)
I would always answer this question "Yes".
According to the 3.5 SRD "Touching an opponent with a touch spell is considered to be an armed attack", and it certainly is melee.
Since a touch spell that causes damage is basically the same as a natural weapon, or a trained unarmed strike, both of which can be used to coup de grace, I'm not sure why the answer would ever be "no". If an unarmed strike can coup de grace, Shocking Grasp can certainly coup de grace.
When the RAW aren't abundantly clear, I tend to fall back on visualization and my own sense of how things work in the world I'm running. The sections quoted by other answers here can certainly be interpreted as implied. However, when I envision a coup de grace with a dagger, I can understand how anyone could work out how to inflict a mortal wound against a helpless foe. That's harder to envision when using shocking grasp, chill touch, etc. without some serious anatomy knowledge. I would probably find my myself ruling on a case-by-case basis based on the spell effects and the character's skills.

subset: commoncrawl


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Program Highlights
The Summer Research program at China's Southwest University (SWU) is part of an exchange program that provides science majors at both institutions a unique opportunity for research/experiential learning and travel abroad. CSB/SJU students travel to the campus of Southwest University, located in the Beibei district of China's western municipal-province of Chongqing. There, they participate in a research project led by an SWU faculty member.
Southwest University is one of China's premier research universities. SWU boasts 97 bachelor programs, 2,650 full-time professors, and 9 post-doctoral research centers and a student population of nearly 50,000. SWU has been a CSBSJU partner school for 30 years. Recent research projects that CSBSJU Research Interns have participated in include: Isolation and Characterization of Phages, Asymmetric Organocatalysis, and the Three Gorges Dam Reservoir Project Research. 2013 Intern Krystal Heinin (Natural Science/Pre-Pharmacy, 2014) worked with Dr. He isolating organocatalysts. Her slideshow illustrates not only her work in the lab, but also her personal experiences as an intern abroad.
For the most part, I feel that I am acclimating well to the new surroundings. I love the food, am sleeping well, feel comfortable with my peers, and enjoy the different culture that Chongqing offers.
-Megan Levis
For Summer 2016, SWU faculty in biology, biochemistry, chemistry and environmental studies will participate in the program and accept CSB/SJU students as participants on their research project teams. CSB/SJU sophomores, juniors, and seniors in good academic standing are eligible to apply; preference is given to those who will be returning to campus as full-time students in Fall 2016. Ideally, successful candidates would possess at minimum a basic knowledge of the country's history and current socio-economic environment. There is no language requirement for the program and English is spoken by many students and all science faculty. The level of English, however, may vary, especially in non-academic settings. Some knowledge of Cantonese or Mandarin may therefore be useful and participants are encouraged to learn some basic phrases in advance of their program.
Research Projects
Project 1: Isolation and characterization of phages (Dr. Jianping Xie). 2-3 students with majors in Biology or Biochemistry will have the opportunity to work with Dr. Jianping Xie, whose lab isolated and characterized of the first mycobacterium phage from China (published in the Journal of Virology).
Project 2: Asymmetric Organicatalysis (Dr. Yanhong He). One Chemistry or Biochemistry student will have the opportunity to work with Dr. Yanhong He on a project for asymmetric organocatalysis. Specifically, her work centers on the synthesis and application of novel amino acid derivatives as catalysts for asymmetric reactions.
Project 3: Three Gorges Reservoir Region projects (Dr. Changxiao Li). Dr Li will invite 2-3 students with majors in Biology or Environmental Sciences to work with him in his lab this summer. These students will have the opportunity to participate in research projects studying: 1) the ecological rehabilitation and restoration of the water-level fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, and 2) the dynamic changes on plant secondary metabolites and soil nutrition in the water-level fluctuation belt of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region.
Some students are able to use this internship to fulfill the experiential learning requirement of the core curriculum or to earn independent learning program credit. Check with your major department and/or the Internship Office to determine eligibility and obtain registration information. Check with student accounts for information on the cost of summer internship credits. At least two must be academic references from CSB/SJU faculty members, one of them from your Department Adviser, who will also serve as the your Internship Adviser, should you be selected.
Accommodations & Meals
Research students live in the modern SWU International Student Dormitory. Students may buy and prepare their own food in the dormitory or visit the many cafes and restaurants around the University and in Beibei.
My accommodations exceed my expectations. Having a single room with air conditioning, a bathroom and fridge in China is fantastic.
-Patrick Deal
Program Dates
Approximately mid May through July (exact dates TBD). All participants are required to attend a background orientation program in late March and a pre-departure orientation at CSB/SJU in mid April.
Financial Considerations
Accommodations are provided by SWU at no charge. The basic cost for participation in the program is approximately $1800-2000 (round-trip airfare to Beibei China) minus any fellowship awarded. Other expenses, including those for passport application (if necessary); visa application/processing; tuition credit; ISIC Card for international travel; phone costs, and optional travel within the country are also the responsibility of the participant.
Application & Selection Information
The application deadline is Sunday, February 7, 2016, at 11:59pm. All application materials, including letters of reference should be received by CGE by the application deadline to be considered complete and on time. It is the applicant's responsibility to ensure that all materials have been submitted and received by CGE.
Please request your references at least 2 weeks prior to the deadline to provide adequate lead time.
Late applications will be considered on a space-available basis, but will be ineligible for fellowship funding.
Financing an Internship Abroad


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This apartment is currently off the market. Go to the building page to see availabilities.
$3,9952 Bedroom, 2 Baths
Available immediately
4720 Center Boulevard
Long Island City, NY 11109
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47th Road, 47th Avenue
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Building Features & Amenities
- Elevator
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- Tenant Lounge with Wet Bar
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- Built 2006
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Pet policy: Pets OK , Dogs under 50lbs ok, and up to two cats
Owner:: Sitting on the East River,, EastCoast 4720 Central Blvd. offers highly impressive rentals overlooking the esplanade, Gantry Plaza State Park, piers, and the captivating Manhattan skyline. Tone-up at the complementary fitness center on a rainy day, relax after work on the rooftop terrace, or go for a stroll in the private park all offered to its tenants by the EastCoast. In choosing from a variety of spacious studio, one, two and three bedroom units or sensational penthouse duplexes, each option has floor-to-ceiling windows, luxury fixtures such as granite kitchen counters and marble accented bathrooms. Some units even have their own private balconies and washer/dryers. With its location just outside New York City in Long Island City, your daily commute is only minutes away by subway. LIC is quickly becoming an extension of Midtown Manhattan. This city has transformed over the years to one with galleries, waterfront parks, and brownstone blocks. If what you are looking for is a piece of serenity after a long day of work, than The EastCoast 4720 Blvd. is the place for you.
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NHL players vote in step toward dissolving union
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The New Road to Serfdom: A Letter of Warning to America (Paperback)
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A thoughtful and articulate spokesman for conservative ideas, Daniel Hannan, a conservative British MEP, is better versed in Americas traditions and founding documents than are many Americans. In The New Road to Serfdom, Hannan argues forcefully and passionately that Americans must not allow Barack Obama to take us down the road to European Unionstyle social democracy. He pleads with Americans not to abandon the founding principles that have made our country a beacon of liberty for the rest of the world. In this updated edition, Hannan explores Barack Obamas attitude toward Britain and offers an insightful analysis of what it reveals about Obamas perception of our country, our Constitution, and our exceptionalism.
About the Author
Daniel Hannan is a writer and politician. He contributes to several newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal and the London Daily Telegraph. A former president of the Oxford University Conservative Association, he was elected to the European Parliament in 1999, at the age of 27, and has been twice reelected.
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Daniel Hannan...spells out the dangers, brilliantly summarizes the state of play, and showsexactly why the American Constitution both deserves and needs protection from the newruling class.
-American Spectator
"Conservatives, libertarians, independents, progressives and just about anyone canfind something to like in The New Road to Serfdom."
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Cleverly written, witty, and worldly...a must read for anyone in the Tea Party movement or with an interest in American politics.
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It was just a fabulous course to be at peace and more centered, to be more at ease. It was simply great to be able to control the breath and realize how it is moving through my body. I was able to put all that together.
Sheree Camel, Katrina survivor


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Never Pair Hives Facing Each Other
By Willard Silvey Just a friendly letter. I have quit bees as I am 87 and have given your catalogue to a nephew of mine and my few hives of bees. I do not know if he will develop. Here is something of interest. When I was 14, some "idiot" published in a bee journal that it was a good practice to pair Read more >


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Community: Season 1 on DVD for $14.99
Donde esta la biblioteca?
9 Comments add a comment
Cool. Cool cool cool.
If you don't own season 1, then you're streets behind.
Same price on Amazon with lower required price for free shipping: http://amzn.com/B002N5N5LG
Great show. Great cast. Great season. Good features (commentary, outtakes, etc.) Good price.
@rsmoker: just about to post this. nice catch. in for 1 via amazon w/free ship.
If you've never seen it, then chang something new. Er, I mean, make a chang in your life. No, how about chang it up!
Oh, I suck trying to work Senor Chang's name into things.
@rsmoker: great find. Everyone go to Amazon instead!!
Glad to see so many other fellow Community lovers. Surprisingly funny series. I disliked Joel McHale before seeing him in this show. He is so perfectly cast for the role of Jeff and is surprisingly charismatic.
Favorite scene:
"Then you give him the Forest Whitaker eye."
This is definitely the best (relatively) new show out right now.
Not a bad price at all. Amazon had it for $12 during the holidays but this is still a good price for all the content you get with this set. Hell, $30 would still be a great price for this set.


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Action Alerts
IMBA Action Alerts keep you informed about the threats and opportunities that shape trail access. They are also the best way to stay informed about developments in Public Lands Initiative campaigns.Sign up for IMBA's RSS service to stream web-ready IMBA News items to your website, RSS-reader or e-mail application. Or Register online for free, monthly eNewsletters from IMBA.


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The 5 Stupidest Ways Movies Deal With Foreign Languages
#2. Everyone Really Speaks English (Just Like Real Life)
Since explaining universal translators can be such a headache, some scriptwriters just have everyone actually speak English. In the Stargate TV series, most of the aliens they visit via Stargate speak English. They are often humans, but usually humans that were sent out to those planets thousands of years ago before English was invented. Even odder, the TV series directly continues the plot line from the Stargate movie where the Earth team's attempts to figure out the extraterrestrials' language (ancient Egyptian, sort of) is a pretty big deal. In some episodes, the aliens continue to speak alien Egyptianese occasionally, and then sometimes suddenly switch to English, for no apparent reason. (Well, no story-related reason. Obviously feeding actors fake Egyptian lines for an hour-long episode is tiring!)
The Highlander TV series really takes the cake here though.
Duncan awakens a 2000-year-old Egyptian mummy whose first words are, "Does Rome still rule the world?" In English.
I realize the Highlander TV series is not where you go for historical accuracy, or any kind of accuracy whatsoever, but this is still a bit much.
But is where you go for tantalizing but unfulfilled promises of nudity.
#1. Have Actors Speak The Foreign Language Whether They Can Or Not
We do this all the time. Pretty much every time you've seen an American actor pretend to speak Spanish or Chinese.
And sometimes when you've seen them pretend to speak English.
Americans don't usually notice. They accept that this super-spy or brilliant scholar is speaking flawlessly to the natives with their own language even though half the time, it's so badly spoken that the international version of that movie needs subtitles when it goes to that country.
To imagine what this looks like to them, think of Arnold Schwarzenegger. We had a thickly accented Austrian guy forced on us playing American soldiers, American cops, an American running man, an American killer robot and an educated genius who can speak 12 languages (all of them in a thick Austrian accent I guess), over and over again. Finally we got tired of it and put him into political office so he would stop.
Arnold Schwarzenegger being pregnant is more believable than Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking 12 languages.
Keep that image in mind when you consider how American audiences raved about Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, while Chinese audiences winced as they watched Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, Cantonese speakers, stumble through their Mandarin lines. To non-Chinese speakers, the dialogue comes across as nuanced and flowing, while to a Chinese speaker, it is like watching Arnold Schwarzenegger's voice come out of a Chinese martial artist.
Good, now you can't enjoy that scene anymore either.
With all the hassle of representing foreign languages in movies, it seems like the only real solution is to stop having foreigners in movies. I'm personally looking forward to a refreshing epic retelling of how the Americans beat the Americans in World War II.
For more from Christina, check out 4 Nobel Prize Winners Who Were Clearly Insane and The 6 Worst Parts of Being Chinese (Not In The Stereotypes).


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6 Factors That Secretly Influence Who You Have Sex With
#3. The Taste in a Kiss
The Romantic Notion:
"Ah, the kiss, the connection of two souls, the action that binds both young and old lovers for eternity. The romantic tension ... the passion ... the intimacy ... the lust ... the burning desire ... the hunger for more ..."
The smell of an egg burrito and last night's bourbon on your partner's breath ...
Science Says:
There's a cluster of chromosomes present in the body called MHC (major histocompatibility complex) that controls part of your immune system. And when you're out looking for someone to breed with, MHC is probably the most influential aspect of a partner that you didn't know you were judging. MHC controls your ability to fight off infection, and if you breed with someone whose MHC is similar to your own, the pregnancy is less likely to take. Finding someone whose MHC is different means a more diverse immune system for the child.
In other words, evolution supports getting strange with strangers.
In fact, according to a report in Psychology Today, the scent of MHC might be the second-most-important factor in determining how attractive a woman finds a potential mate. While you might not realize you're secretly judging someone you just met on how well your child would be able to fight off a cold, that's what's happening. Your body tries to instinctively make sure that each potential partner has the sexual compatibility seal of approval. Now how does it do that?
MHC is present in both pheromones and saliva, meaning that to really detect whether a partner is suitable, one must be in close proximity (to smell the MHC), and there must be an exchange in saliva (to taste the MHC). Now, what usually happens when these two events are placed together? That's right, ladies and gentlemen -- the kiss is in fact a goddamn taste test. We've adapted the behavior to make sure we find someone with whom our chemicals match up.
"Wow! We both taste like shame."
So all that stuff about loving someone's soul? You could go out and find someone who shares your interests, reads the same manga, orders the same pizza, gets along with your parents and even gets the "subtle intelligent humor" that you (and only you) understand. All it would take is the taste of that person's saliva for that interest to go from "I want to make love to you right now! I don't care if the kids I'm babysitting are watching" to "I like you, but more like a brother."
#2. The Pill
The Romantic Notion:
"If you truly love someone, know him better than you know yourself and want to spend the rest of your life with him, only then should you get married."
Unless he's super rich.
Science Says:
If she's been on birth-control pills the whole time you dated, there's a chance you're both being tricked into marrying exactly the wrong person by your own bodies.
When a woman is actually pregnant, her body decides, "It's not like I can get more pregnant," and it stops doing a bunch of the things it normally does. The pill basically uses hormones to convince a woman's body that it's already pregnant. The woman doesn't want to get pregnant, her body thinks it's pregnant, everyone's happy.
Except for the pacifier industry.
Or at least, they would be if it weren't for that pesky MHC stuff controlling who you can fall in love with. Just as a pregnant woman might find herself suddenly craving food she used to find repulsive, her taste in MHC undergoes a polar reversal. She's no longer attracted to people with MHC that is dissimilar to hers, and way more attracted to men with similar MHC. From an evolutionary perspective, this was probably so that women would want to spend more time around family members in a protective environment rather than out at a bar trying to get laid again. In a modern context, it's probably why pregnant women so often want to murder their husbands with a meat cleaver: He no longer smells like her type, and it's far too late for that.
A woman on the pill gets exactly the same effect, without the belly or the appearance of the boob fairy. For the entire time she's on the pill, a woman will prefer people with MHC that is similar to her own. This is why some psychologists believe that the high divorce rate in modern times can be blamed on the pill. Two people can be dating for years, thinking they're meant for each other when in reality, their MHC is the exact opposite of compatible. Of course, they only find out when they're ready to hatch one and she goes off the pill, which of course is often way, way too late.
Thanks, Syntex. This wasn't on your leaflet.
#1. Timing
The Romantic Notion:
"It's OK, Jimmy -- you don't have to talk to her now. Whenever you get the courage, whenever fate and destiny decide, that's the right time."
And if fate and destiny need a little lubrication? That's where Cutty Sark comes into its own.
Science Says:
Whether you end up getting rejected by someone or falling in love with her can be totally determined by the day of the month you meet her.
Whether a woman wants babies or not, her body definitely does. Every month, a woman's body fires up the baby maker, releasing a fertile egg into the line of fire in case she gets lucky. To help improve her luck, her body also makes sure she looks ripe for the picking by raising the size of her breasts, dilating her pupils and increasing the pitch of her voice. All of this is accompanied by a cocktail of pheromones wafting off her body into the air around her.
"I'm sorry -- you smelled like you wanted it!"
Yes, there is a time every month that each woman is basically signaling to the world that she wants to have sex. How good are men at picking up on these signals? One study showed "that strippers who are ovulating average $70 in tips per hour, those who are menstruating and thus unable to conceive make $35 and those who are doing neither make $50." Women have also reported "that when they're ovulating, their partners are more loving and attentive and, significantly, more jealous of other men."
This means that women who meet Mr. Wrong during ovulation are more likely to sleep with him, and he's less likely to say no. So if Romeo and Juliet had met two weeks earlier, there's a pretty good chance the play would have been called The Capulets Throw an Uneventful Party.
And if the timing had been different in other plays? West Side Orgy.
So ladies, if you're wondering how you keep ending up with jerks, take a look back through your inbox. Do the emails you send your friends about how you "met the greatest guy at the bar last night" tend to fall around the same time each month? It might be because ovulation actually lowers women's standards for sexual partners and even goes so far as to increase their likelihood of sex with multiple partners.
And guys, if a douchebag runs into your dream girl at a sexually convenient time, it might not even matter if he's the type of person who would request a "bridesmaid sandwich" in their wedding vows. He's going to have the edge.
Sami would like to thank Andrew, Kadir and Matt for their inadvertent assistance; Mark M. freelances and dispenses bad philosophy and relationship advice. Follow Kathy on Twitter, befriend her on Facebook or read the rest of her Cracked articles here.
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For more ways to improve your chances of finding true love, check out 6 Ways You Can (Accidentally) Attract the Ladies and 6 Things Men Do To Get Laid That Science Says Turn Women Off.
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And stop by Linkstorm (Updated Today!) to learn how to meet women online. (Real women -- not dudes in wigs.)
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Do you have an idea in mind that would make a great article? Then sign up for our writers workshop! Do you possess expert skills in image creation and manipulation? Mediocre? Even rudimentary? Are you frightened by MS Paint and simply have a funny idea? You can create an infograpic and you could be on the front page of Cracked.com tomorrow!


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Choose FLEXability for your home
The two FLEXability machines, Anterior and Posterior, are the products that Technogym has designed to help you while you stretch, after a workout session or in your spare time.
To accentuate and enhance the relaxation phase, we recommend that you should place the products in a special area of your home: a more secluded and quiet area where people are not constantly passing through.
Besides the correct positioning of the product, there are other factors to be considered when you plan and create a stretching area:
- lighting, an essential aspect for the purposes of relaxation. It must be adjustable so that you can achieve low diffused and soft lighting;
- including a number of decorative items such as plants, mirrors, carpets, pictures and posters will make the area more pleasant so that the time you spend stretching will be more enjoyable.
If the area is a totally separate room, so that you can purposely decorate it, we recommend that you use natural and warm elements to provide tactile and visual comfort.
Examples are wood of all kinds, natural stone, natural coloured leathers, natural fabrics such as hemp and linen.
>> Download the Wellness Design™ Catalogue
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Otoe County Commissioners agreed Tuesday to simultaneously seek bids for demolition and a buyer for the Duff mansion located near Nuckolls Square Park in Nebraska City.
The home of a pioneer family, the mansion was donated for county use in 1949. It was last used as office space by Nebraska Health and Human Services, but has been vacant for several years.
Commissioners said they would offer the building and land for sale until their last meeting in January.
Mark Easter, real estate agent and auctioneer, said the county could auction off individual architectural antiques from the mansion, such as the main staircase and doorjamb woodwork, or sell the architectural features together to one bidder.
Before deciding how to dispose of the property, commissioners agreed to seek a buyer who would preserve the building, which commissioners described as beautiful, historic and unique.
Roy Schneider of Duff's Friendship Villa said the building's fate will not impact Duff's Friendship Villa, which operates a 63-bed nursing home on the same block but does not rely on the mansion itself.
If the lot were cleared, he said, a nice outdoor area and storage building could be established in its place.
Commissioners said they would prefer if someone wanted to use the building for a home or business that is appropriate for its neighborhood, such as a bed and breakfast.
The house is the former home of Edwin Duff, the son of an Irish immigrant and president of the Duff Grain Company until 1934.
The house was donated to the county in 1949 for use as a nursing home.
Location, ST | website.com


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Members visit free all year! Join or renew today.
Avoid the line!Print your ticketsat home.
Your donation makes a World of Difference.
Jasper: Male, captive hatched around 1985.
Babe: Female, captive hatched October 16, 1992.
Both were donated to the Zoo by a private breeder on April 13, 2000.
Aviary by Bird Lake. Weather dependent.
This is the largest of the parrots with a deep violet blue color and bright yellow cheek patches. The male and female look alike. They occupy well forested habitat primarily where they have access to plenty of palm nuts. Their characteristic hooked parrot beak is the strongest of the parrots making it easy for them to break the hard shells of palm nuts, Brazil nuts and other very hard nuts.
The lifespan of the hyacinth macaw in the wild is not known. In captivity, average longevity is around 25 years of age but they can live into their 40's. Because hyacinth macaws can be long lived this is one of the reasons the Philadelphia Zoo's Best Bets for Pets recommends that only advanced hobbyists or professionals consider keeping one as a pet (they can also be very destructive and extremely loud!).
Commonly, Hyacinth macaws are found in pairs or family groups (pair plus one or two still dependent offspring). They will form groups that can exceed 20 birds when they are foraging. Hyacinth macaws have a very clever way of saving time opening up palm nuts when foraging in the wild. Getting through the outer fibrous layer of the palm nut can be time consuming and this part is not edible to macaws. Some of the local rodent species do like to eat these outer layers but leave the hard shell covering the nut intact. Hyacinth macaws will drop the whole palm nuts on the ground and come back later when the husks have been removed by other animals and eat the nutritious nut inside once they have cracked the hard shell.
Hyacinth macaws are monogamous birds like most of the parrots. In the wild, they typically nest during the wet season but a pair will rarely attempt to breed every year. Eggs are laid in a tree cavity, hatching out 25 to 28 days after they are laid. A typical clutch contains 2 eggs although often only one chick survives to fledging. The young fledge from the nest about 15 weeks after hatching but remain dependant on the parents for over a year. Hyacinth macaws typically reach breeding age at about 8 years of age.
The body length averages about 39 inches.
Weights range from 3-4 pounds with males often weighing more than females.
Hyacinth macaws have extremely strong beaks designed for cracking the shells of very hard nuts. In the wild these birds feed primarily on a variety of palm nuts but their diet also includes fruit and other vegetable matter. At the Zoo, the base diet of the macaws is a commercial biscuit formulated specifically for large parrots and macadamia nuts in the shell. Their diet also can include a variety of other nuts and fruit, which are offered at the discretion of the keepers responsible for the birds for training and enrichment.
North to South central Brazil, NW Paraguay and Eastern Bolivia. Used to be much more widespread.
On the 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the hyacinth macaw is listed as Endangered.
To learn more about the conservation efforts at the Philadelphia Zoo, click here.


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I had a catered lunch the other day that had grilled fruit (apples, pineapples) it was great and I wanted to try it at home. Are there any tips as far as preparation or what to glaze them with or basic techniques?
Bananas! I grill it as 1 piece with the skin on. When the skin gets dark it is ready.
My rule of thumb is that, if it's a harder fruit then it can be grilled, and usually it can only be grilled on the non-skin side.
Further to grilled pineapple.
I like to quarter it and then marinate it in a bit of rum (1 oz), a bit of lime juice (1-2 tbsp) and then generously sprinkle some brown sugar over it.
Garnish with mint.
I love grilled pineapple myself...You can put it on skewers, and marinate it, or you can just throw slices straight on the grill. Any kind of sweet marinade will do fine. Brush it with butter and brown sugar, and throw it on a jerk chicken sammich in lieu of a tomato.
Plantains are great grilled: don't let the banana appearance fool you, they're tough enough to grill, as long as you don't slice 'em too thin. Brush 'em with a little butter and maybe some sugar if you're doing them as a desert.
I'm a huge fan of grilled mango, and to be honest, I don't really do anything to it at all. Slice it, skewer it, grill it. The taste of a grilled mango slice is so much different than a fresh mango slice, even the picky eaters at my house liked the complexity of flavor when grilled (whether they like fresh mango or not).
In my experience, mango can get too charred very fast, so keep an eye on it. I've seen recipes that say to cut cross-hatch marks in them, but in my experience they get too soft too fast when doing this. I generally grill 2-3 minutes per side, with a high flame beneath them. If they're not slightly charred around the edges by this point, I'll give them another minute per side (I leave the skin on so I can use its char level as a gauge).
Mango can be tricky to cut, here's a video to get you started if you're not familiar:
I agree with satanicpuppy's pineapple recommendation, I've had them marinated and just plain. The butter/brown sugar combination is awesome! You can also soak them in a good rum first (yum), but be forewarned, when they hit the grill you'll have quite the temporary light show, so place them using long tongs, NOT your hands.
I remember once, I had grilled pears at someone's house. From what I remember they were just sliced and grilled, no seasoning or marinade, but I wasn't there when they were prepared so I don't have any specific recommendation there other than to give it a shot - they were delicious!
A few recipes suggest soaking the fruits in water or a lemon/water combination for 20 minutes before grilling. The water is supposed to help the fruit stay juicy; the lemon helps it hold color. I have tried the water technique, I didn't notice a huge difference other than I had to wait 20 more minutes to enjoy my fruit! And since I generally grill fruit for myself, I don't really care if the color changes, but it's something to keep in mind if you're grilling for a party.
I can also recommend grilling pineapple and then adding it to a salsa with onions, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno. Good stuff.


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Shield Fade for Samsung Galaxy S IIINEW
Shield Fade for Samsung Galaxy S IIINEW
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Galaxy S3


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You will be able to find numbers and characters on the side of the tires. Usually for the modern tires the size almost always presented this way: P165/70R13, this one says that the tire is 165mm wide, the aspect ratio is 70% and the wheel diameter is 13 inches. All of these numbers are critical in helping you to find the traction products that will fit your tire.
Since the drive tires are the ones provide force, they are where the tire chains should be mounted. On vehicles with front-wheel drive this would be the two front tires, of course if you have rear wheel drive vehicle you only need to chain up two rear tires. If you don't know what kind of drive you have, then check the vehicle owner's manual. One more thing, if you have a four wheel drive vehicle, you are only going to have two tires chained up, which axle should be chained up should be determined by the owner's manual of your vehicle. If you're not feeling comfortable with chaining up only 2 tires on your AWD vehicle, get all tires chained up will be the choice.
Under normal driving conditions, all wheels of a vehicle will have about the same amount of traction, making you feel normal when asserting brake, acceleration and cornering. When driving under snow or ice conditions this balance will be distorted. If only front tires get chained up, you will find the rear tires will swing when braking and driving. If only the rear tires have the car snow chains on, the steering ability of the vehicle is limited. To balance the force, the vehicle should be completely equipped with snow chains. Remember that traction devices are sold in pairs, if you want to cover both axles on the vehicle, two pairs will be required. Remember there are truck tire chain and car tire chain , the car tire chains are smaller in size and cheaper on price than truck tire chains.


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Well, the title is self-explanatory. What sorts of snowfall can we generate using Mathematica? There are two options I suggest to consider:
1) Continuous GIF animations with smallest possible number of frames.
Dynamic-based animations.
Well, the title is self-explanatory. What sorts of snowfall can we generate using Mathematica? There are two options I suggest to consider:
1) Continuous GIF animations with smallest possible number of frames.
My simple version using
A slightly prettier version, same basic idea but now with flakes.
I happened to create some snowflakes and snow fall a couple weeks back, and its nice to have some place to share with others!
First, we create some algorithmically generated snowflakes with some randomness using a kind of iterated function system based off the 6-pointed "star" shown below.
To construct the snowflake we just make copies of this star which are translated by some random amount and rotated (for 6-fold symmetry), and scaled in size.
We can seed some random real numbers to generate unique snowflakes
There are various parameters one could adjust here including some like x, y position and spin to rotate a snowflake which will be used later to animate snowfall. Here is a sample of several snowflakes after fixing a particular choice of parameters and ranging Q to seed different random reals:
To generate snowfall, we parameter the x,y position, and spin of each snowflake with time t. I used the following code. Notice that Snowflake[] was used twice and combined with Show[]. The reason this was done was to create a better simulation of depth in the snowfall. The only difference between the two is the size the snowflakes are allowed to randomly range through. Here, Q1 and Q2 can be varied to generate different snowflakes, and F1 and F2 control the number of snowflakes.
This animated gif loops seamlessly with 40 frames, but can of course be made smaller if desired. In my original project, I included some text (code not shown):
My attempt adresses the second option. These are simple falling circles with random shift and color depending on the radius of the "snowflake".
The usage is
And finally a "full screen" version:
This approach uses a voxel-based snowflake that actually looks quite realistic because of the way
With this, we now create an animation by rotating the data array downward:
So you have to wait several seconds for the frames to be generated. Here is the result:
By choosing the
If you're really patient, you can add some sideways wind as Rojo was suggesting in his
This is a snow storm. The reason why this takes so much longer to create is that I can't take the
Edit: making a GIF into a dynamic animated notebook display
Since the question asked about
The second step is now to re-import the
The output cell can be copied anywhere you like, even into a new notebook. To reiterate: you only need to copy the output by selecting its cell bracket, without having to regenerate the movie by re-evaluating the input. So the function
An important ingredient in this function is actually not really used in this context: the ability to have a varying frame rate. This utilizes a solution by Heike to the question When importing GIF animation, how to find the correct list of "DisplayDurations"?.
This could be a start for someone who wants to play around in v9
and then
To animate snowflakes, we first need to create them. Here's a simple way to create snowflake-like objects:
This uses the fact that multiplication by $\exp(i\phi)$ is a rotation by $\phi$ in the complex plane to successively rotate a straight line to create one arm of the flake, then rotating the whole thing a few times to create the whole flaks.
Here's how it looks:
Some might say that this looks more like a spaceship than a snowflake. Maybe it does.
This may be animated using a minimal modification of faleichik's code (minimal means that I left everything alone except what I had to change, so bits are redundant):
so eg
You may be wondering where all the snow seen in the brilliant and amazing answers above (assuming you've sorted answers by votes) ends up... The answer is, down here, on the floor. Sadly, I can't upload this riveting movie in its full unabridged splendour, although at least my cat enjoys watching the full 3-hour version.
This is how it starts:
and here is the epic finale:
I created some (semi-random) snow for a Christmas related notebook I recently wrote. Thought it was worth sharing:
The final output of the notebook also adds some (again semi-randomly placed) trees and hills, along with Santa himself
Part of the answer lies in generating snowflakes.
If one is truly interested in a random-generated snowflake, I suggest using varying initial conditions and rules for a 2D Cellular Automaton on a hexagonal grid to generate them. A demonstration for this already exists.


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BIOGRAPHYreceived her B.S. degree from the Ohio State University, in Electrical Engineering (2011). Currently, she is a PhD student in EECS department at UC Berkeley, working with prof. Clark Nguyen. Ruonan's research interest mainly focuses on micromechanical resonant switches, and the applications of this novel type of MEMS switches such as DC-DC power converters and power amplifiers.
A Micromechanical Power Converter [BPN433]The overall goal of this project is to demonstrate a switched-mode power converter (e.g., a charge
pump) using micromechanical switching elements that allow substantially higher voltages and potentially
higher conversion efficiencies than transistor-switch based counterparts.
back to Researchers


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Wabash Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, will celebrate "It's a White County Christmas" with Festival of Trees located at the Old National Bank room. The event will take place from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17.
All are encouraged to stop by to view the trees and to register a vote for a favorite tree by making a $1 entry donation vote. Also, baked goods and crafts will be sold and registration for a door prize will be available.
Location, ST | website.com


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Book your room at Staybridge Suites Hot Springs
Get an overview of this hotelLakefront Hot Springs hotel in Lake Hamilton with free breakfast
Located in Lake Hamilton, this hotel is 2 mi (3.2 km) from Hot Springs Mall and within 9 mi (15 km) of Bathhouse Row and Hot Springs National Park. Oaklawn Park and The Gangster Museum are also within 9 mi (15 km).
Hotel Features
Along with an indoor pool, this smoke-free hotel has a 24-hour fitness center and a 24-hour business center. Free buffet breakfast is provided, as well as free WiFi in public areas, free self parking, and a free manager's reception. Additionally, coffee/tea in a common area, a meeting room, and dry cleaning are onsite.
Room Amenities
All 85 rooms feature kitchenettes with refrigerators, stovetops, microwaves, and dishwashers. Free WiFi and free wired Internet are standard, as are flat-screen TVs with cable channels.Would you like to give us feedback? Share it! Opens in a new window
Staybridge Suites Hot Springs103 Lookout Circle Hot Springs AR 71913
Hotel Amenities
Hotel Amenities
Staybridge Suites Hot Springs features an indoor pool and a 24-hour fitness center. Public areas are equipped with complimentary high-speed wired and wireless Internet access. This 3-star property offers access to a 24-hour business center and a meeting room. Guests can enjoy a complimentary breakfast as well as a complimentary manager's reception (may not be available daily). Event facilities measure 650 square feet (60 square meters). This business-friendly hotel also offers barbecue grills, multilingual staff, and coffee/tea in a common area. Onsite self parking is complimentary.
Staybridge Suites Hot Springs is a smoke-free property.
- 24-hour business center
- 24-hour fitness facilities
- 24-hour front desk
- Barbecue grill(s)
- Coffee/tea in common areas
- Free newspapers in lobby
- Free reception
- Conference space size (feet) - 650
- Conference space size (meters) - 60
- Dry cleaning/laundry service
- Express check-out
- Fireplace in lobby
- Free breakfast
- Free self parking
- Free WiFi
- Free wired high-speed Internet
- Grocery/convenience store
- Indoor pool
- Laundry facilities
- Luggage storage
- Multilingual staff
- Number of buildings/towers - 1
- Number of floors - 4
- One meeting room
- Safe-deposit box at front desk
- Smoke-free property
- Television in common areas
- Total number of rooms - 85
- Year Built 2008
Family Friendly Amenities
- Cribs/infant beds (complimentary)
- DVD player
- Free Wi-Fi
- Full-sized refrigerator/freezer
- Grocery/convenience store
- Indoor pool
- Kitchenette
- Laundry facilities
- Microwave
- Rollaway/extra beds available
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi , Free wired high-speed Internet
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi , Free wired high-speed Internet
Free self parking
Room Amenities
- Air conditioning
- Cable TV service
- Coffee/tea maker
- Free weekday newspaper
- Cookware, dishware, and utensils
- Free cribs/infant beds
- Daily housekeeping
- Desk
- Dishwasher
- DVD player
- Flat-panel TV
- Free local calls
- Free WiFi
- Free wired high-speed Internet
- Full-sized refrigerator/freezer
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Kitchenette
- Microwave
- Phone
- Rollaway/extra beds available
- Stovetop
Where to Eat
Guests are offered a complimentary hot/cold buffet breakfast. A complimentary manager's reception is offered on select days.
Nearby Things to Do
Recreational amenities at the hotel include an indoor pool and a 24-hour fitness center.
To make requests for specific accessibility needs, complete the "Special or Accessibility Requests" section of "Trip Preferences" when you book your hotel.
- Accessible bathroom
- Roll-in shower
- In-room accessibility
Hotel Policies
Minimum check-in age is 18
Check-in time starts at 3 PM
Check-out time is noon
Payment types
- Pets allowed for an extra charge of USD 75 per pet, per stay, plus a deposit of USD 75.00 per stay
- Up to 80 lb
- Restrictions apply
- For more information contact the property at the number on the booking confirmation
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
Optional extras
- Pet deposit: USD 75.00 per stay
- Pet fee: USD 75 per pet, per stay
- Rollaway bed fee: USD 10 per night
Hotel Name
- Hot Springs Staybridge Suites
- Staybridge Suites Hot Springs
- Staybridge Suites Hotel Hot Springs
- Staybridge Suites Hot Springs Hotel Hot Springs
We should mention
Children 18 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. Guests can arrange to bring pets by contacting the property directly, using the contact information on the booking confirmation (surcharges apply and can be found in the Fees section).


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Get your empty nester friends together and stir up new and hilarious conversations with the Empty Nester edition of Mommy Tonic. A sassy, no rules card game.
It's super easy to play. Just pick a card and respond to the question. There are no wrong answers, no winner or losers, and no pressure to chime in. It is a happy game, like Peek-a-Boo. Don't want to play a game? No problem! Use the cards as wine coasters to get the party started. It's a great way to make new friends! For ages 18 and up! Made in the USA.
- Item #: 2MT1018


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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
Dance faculty member and professional mediator Susan Sgorbati has been awarded a six-week Creative Research residency at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC).
Beginning in April 2012, Sgorbati will use the residency to continue her research on emergent improvisation, a dance form that she's been studying for more than 20 years.
By presenting a series of showings, panels, and dialogues with artists, scientists (including longtime collaborator Stuart Kauffman), and community leaders, Sgorbati hopes that a new improvisational form exploring multiple perspectives may relate how emergent structuring principles apply to collaborative problem solving and conflict resolution, she says.
Sgorbati, who is currently making a film on emergent improvisation with distinguished filmmaker Elliot Caplan, serves on the Vermont Human Rights Commission, and is Bennington's Barbara and Lewis Jones Chair of Social Activism.
She has taught dance and mediation at Bennington since 1983.


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Beauty and the BeastSun, December 16, 2012 - 7:00 PMOrpheum Theatre Omaha in Omaha, NE
We are sorry, the date for this event has already passed. This event took place on 12/16/2012. Click here to view upcoming events for Beauty and the Beast.
Still unsure? Check out our user reviews for:
Have a question? Need help? Call us at 800.477.5285


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Q&A is a series on the Business Intelligence from the Swamp Blog that interviews key members of the Pentaho team to learn more about their focus at Pentaho and outlook on the Business Intelligence industry.
If you have attended a Pentaho training class, most likely you have had a chance to meet the knowledgeable and entertaining Lynn Yarbrough. To get to know Lynn and our training classes better we asked Lynn 5 questions.
1. What brought you to Pentaho and what do you do?
I am a trainer at Pentaho. After almost 20 years in the BI and Data Integration industry working at companies like Information Builders and Hyperion, I wanted to work at a smaller Business Intelligence company and I found a job posting for a training position at Pentaho on Monster.
2. How many classes have you taught and do you have a favorite that stands out?
I have been with Pentaho almost 4 years and probably taught 40 classes last year alone. My favorite class is the Pentaho BI Suite BootCamp. I especially love the morning of Day 3, because that when we complete the creation of an OLAP cube and can view the data of Pentaho Analyzer in the Pentaho User console. It is very rewarding to see the result of all of the work and often this is when students have an 'aha' moment, and say 'this is why we need Pentaho, to give our users this power.'
3. What elements do you think are necessary to make a successful training class?
Knowledge of the product, knowledge of the industry (in my case Business Intelligence) and a sense of humor. We in training have also made many of the classes very 'hands on' which help students learn and retain the product. One of the problems we face in the classroom is that we are teaching students who have a variety of skill levels to make the class beneficial to all we have added "optional" labs for the more advanced students.
4. Can you tell us more about the Agile BI for Business Analyst class and how it contrasts to the 'early days' of training
We began talking about and shaping the Agile BI class over 2 years ago, but it didn't really take-off. The product didn't have the "ease of use" it has today. Now, Pentaho Agile BI has matured to the level where the class is engaging and quite fun to teach since is so easy to create a data model and analyze the data.
5. As we kick off 2011, what are you most excited about regarding training for the upcoming year?
2011 will add many new key features to the product which will not only impact customers, but will make training easier, as the product improves in "ease of use" it also get easier and more fun to teach. We also plan to add new training classes suggested by our customers such as 'Pentaho for the End User' giving hands-on training for our front end tools and 'Pentaho On-Demand' for customers interested to gain more experience with our cloud solution. Things are never boring at Pentaho.
Do you have additional questions for Lynn? Is there someone or a certain role at Pentaho you would like us to interview? Leave your questions in the comments section below. We'd love to hear from you.


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What are the advantages of having one ?
What are the advantages of having one ?
With the NN3 MKII complete package your get a set of rings, they are placed inside the the rotator. To get another number of steps, you have to open up the rotator, change the ring or turn it around and refixe. Have a look to the manuals.
Same with an RD8 / RD16: just replace the detend plunger to another setting and off you go. Plus a different possible number of stops between the rotators. Keeps things simple. You carry one set up, not a number of rings as well.
But anyway, to change the ring is done quickly without a camera on top.
All advantages using the nodal ninja, and if you use the elever2 better yet, know how hard it is to adjust the level of the stand in an appropriate lifting and tucking legs ..... ha, ha, that work to you quuita the levels that are controlled with one hand.
As for the advantages of having a panoramic labeled, if they can make a show of hands, but a panorama of 5 or 6 photos and will give you errors of parallax, but I imagine a 360x180 or just a 180 horizontal without a tripod and a panoramic head or rotor, is a real disaster to panoramic without patella.
Nodal ninja 5 , ez eleverII, canon eos 5D, 5DmarkII, Hasselblad, Pase one P21,


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In baking souffles, I find that they start deflating from the moment I remove them from the oven. One chef suggested adding xanthan gum which is hard to find and quite expensive. Do you think arrowroot might work, or can you suggest another alternative to stabilize them?. Many thanks.
Try a small amount of cream of tartar instead of xanthan gum. Cheaper, more readily available, and the acid stabilizes the protein matrix.
Also, some tips from Better Homes and Gardens: use a collar, beat your egg whites to a stiff peak but remember to GENTLY fold them in, and don't open the oven door for at least 20-25 minutes to prevent cold air from collapsing the rising souffle.
And yes, even properly cooked souffles do deflate somewhat. Serve immediately and be gentle when removing from the hot oven - no banging the pan down onto the table.
Its normal for a souffle to deflate after leaving the oven. In the past with chocolate souffle i have had success with whipping the egg whites to a stiff peaks then carfully folding the mixture together. Keep in mind that you have only a minute or so to get the souffle to the guest carefully with out banging it on the table. The longer you can keep your souffle hot and steaming, the longer it will stay risin.


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I am interested in solving a differential equation from the two-body problem. This is not homework, and I just thought of this on my own during physics class one day. However, after many attempts, I still cannot find a way to go at this. I know Wikipedia does something with the center of mass of the system but that is not a solution that satisfies me or one that I understand. That's why I'm asking in Math.SE and not Physics, which would just tell me to look at the com. So, if the following is solvable (general solution), please, let me know how.
For two masses $m_1$ and $m_2$, and constant $G$, we know that $$ m_1\frac{d^2\vec r_1}{dt^2}=G\frac{m_1 m_2 (\vec r_1-\vec r_2)}{|\vec r_1-\vec r_2|^3} $$And that $$ m_1\frac{d^2\vec r_1}{dt^2}=-m_2\frac{d^2\vec r_2}{dt^2} $$ My approach:
Let $\vec v_n$ correspond to $\frac{d\vec r_n}{dt}$ $$ \int_0^t\int_0^tm_1\frac{d^2\vec r_1}{dt^2}dtdt=\int_0^t\int_0^t-m_2\frac{d^2\vec r_2}{dt^2}dtdt $$ $$ \int_0^tm_1(\vec v_1(t)-\vec v_1(0))dt=\int_0^t-m_2(\vec v_2(t)-\vec v_2(0))dt $$ $$ m_1(\vec r_1(t)-r_1(0)-t\vec v_1(0))=-m_2(\vec r_2(t)-r_2(0)-t\vec v_2(0)) $$ $$ \frac{-m_1}{m_2}(\vec r_1(t)-\vec r_1(0)-t\vec v_1(0))+\vec r_2(0)+t\vec v_2(0)=\vec r_2(t) $$ Now that $\vec r_2(t)$ can be expressed with $\vec r_1(t)$ and constants, I replace it in the DE. For brevity consider that for a function $f$, $\vec r_2 = f(\vec r_1)$ $$ m_1\frac{d^2\vec r_1}{dt^2}=G\frac{m_1 m_2 (\vec r_1-f(\vec r_1))}{|\vec r_1-f(\vec r_1)|^3} $$ Now, convert to $x_1$ and $y_1$ $$ m_1\frac{d^2x_1}{dt^2}=G\frac{m_1 m_2 (x_1-f(x_1))}{D} $$ $$ m_1\frac{d^2y_1}{dt^2}=G\frac{m_1 m_2 (y_1-f(y_1))}{D} $$ D is the denominator: $$ D=|\vec r_1-f(\vec r_1)|^3=((x_1+\frac{m_1}{m_2}x_1 +c_1 )^2+(y_1+\frac{m_1}{m_2}y_1 +c_2 )^2)^{3/2} $$ Where $c_1$ and $c_2$ in the above are constants dependent on the initial conditions.
I can't even imagine beginning to take the Laplace transform of those equations, let alone using it to solve for $x_1$ and $y_1$.
Any suggestions?


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Is there someone who can give me some hints/references to the proof of this fact?
To elaborate on Qiaochu's answer. The subgroup generated by the two matrices
$$\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 2 \\\ 0 & 1 \end{array} \right]$$ and
$$\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 0 \\\ 2 & 1 \end{array} \right]$$ is the Sanov subgroup. It consists, by an exercise in Kargapolov-Merzlyakov, of matrices of the form $$\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 4k+1 & 2l \\\ 2m & 4n+1 \end{array} \right]$$ and det=1. The congruence subgroup $\Gamma(2)$ consists of matrices of the form $$\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 2k+1 & 2l \\\ 2m & 2n+1 \end{array} \right]$$ and det=1. Those matrices from $\Gamma(2)$ and not in the Sanov subgroup have the form $$\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 4k+3 & 2l \\\ 2m & 4n+3 \end{array} \right].$$ Taking the product of any two such matrices gives us a matrix from the Sanov subgroup. So the Sanov subgroup has index 2 in $\Gamma(2)$, and index 12 in $SL_2(\mathbb Z)$.
There have already been a lot of answers to this question and I'm not going to go over the details of a proof that it is true. But I want to say something about the real strength of any of these standard arguments. The arguments generally have one of three starting points: (1) That $\text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ is isomorphic to $C_2 * C_3$, a free product of cyclic groups; (2) The group action of $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ on the hyperbolic plane or upper half plane; or (3) A group action of $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ on trees. The first starting point arguably dodges the question, because obtaining that the whole group is a free product is closely related to finding a free subgroup, The other two starting points are "geometric". But geometry is ultimately a human description of some other, more formal mode of reasoning. So what are the geometric arguments really saying?
It is important to realize that the statement that a group $G$ is free is ultimately a uniqueness statement for words in $G$ in its claimed free generators. More precisely, if $G$ is freely generated by $a$ and $b$, that says that every element of $G$ has unique reduced word in $a$ and $b$ and their inverses. In the case of this subgroup of $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ or $\text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$, the uniqueness property ultimately comes from and generalizes another, more familiar uniqueness property: The uniqueness of the Euclidean algorithm with positive remainders.
Suppose that you have two coprime positive integers $a$ and $b$ and you are allowed to subtract $a$ from $b$, or $b$ from $a$, but you are not allowed to create negative integers. Then there is a unique path from $(a,b)$ to $(1,1)$. The same statement in reverse, in linear algebra form, says that there is a unique word in the matrices $$\begin{pmatrix} 1 & 1 \\ 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \qquad \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 1 & 1 \end{pmatrix}$$ which, when applied to the vector $(1,1)$, gives you the vector $(a,b)$. Thus, these two matrices generate a free semigroup.
The uniqueness property is established by induction, and the obvious fact that if $a < b$ then you can only subtract $a$ from $b$, and vice versa. Obvious though it may be, this type of fact is what lets you build the tree on which $\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ acts. Or, in the hyperbolic geometry version of the argument, the inequality $a < b$ is associated with the sides of the ideal polygons that eventually yield the same tree. In the upper half plane model, the rational numbers $a/b$ with $a < b$ are a ray in the real numbers, and their convex hull in the hyperbolic plane is a half hyperbolic plane whose boundary is the geodesic connecting $\infty$ to 1. Uniqueness says that the orbit of this geodesic under the above semigroup consists of disjoint geodesics.
Well $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})\cong \mathbb{Z}/6*_{\mathbb{Z}/2} \mathbb{Z}/4$. $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$ acts on a tree $T$. Then you can consider its abelianization. It is $\mathbb{Z}/12$. So the commutator subgroup $\Gamma$ has index 12. It is free, as it acts freely on the same tree $T$. See for example Serre, trees for details.
EDIT: One can also investigae the rank of the free group. Thatfor one has to consider the quotient graphs $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})\backslash T$ and $\Gamma\backslash T$. The first Graph is a interval, where the stabilizers of representatives of one endpoint are isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}/6$ (resp. $\mathbb{Z}/4$ for the other endpoint). The stabilizer of a representative of the inverval is $\mathbb{Z}/2$.
Now $\Gamma$ acts freely on $T$ and $[SL_2(\mathbb{Z}):\Gamma]=12$. So the first endpoint (which is a $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$-orbit) consists of $12/6=2$ $\Gamma$-orbits and the second endpoint consists of $12/4=3$ $\Gamma$-orbits. Analogously the edge consists of $6$ $\Gamma$-orbits.
So the Euler Characteristic of $\Gamma\backslash T$ is $2+3-6=-1$, so this graph is homotopy equivalent to a wedge of $2$ circles and hence its fundamental group (which is isomorphic to $\Gamma$ by Serre, trees or covering theory) is $F_2$.
Start with the formula for $SL_2(\mathbb Z)$ in HenrikRueping's answer. Divide by the central $\mathbb Z/2$ to conclude that $PSL_2(\mathbb Z)$ is $\mathbb Z/3*\mathbb Z/2$. The kernel of abelianization for $SL_2(\mathbb Z)$ is the same as the kernel of abelianization for $PSL_2(\mathbb Z)$. The kernel of $G*H \to G\times H$ is always a free group with basis $ghg^{-1}h^{-1}$, $g\ne 1$, $h\ne 1$.
Maybe this works and maybe it doesn't: the index of the congruence subgroup $\Gamma(2)$ in $\text{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$ is $|\text{SL}_2(\mathbb{F}_2)| = 6$, and $\Gamma(2)$ contains a free subgroup of index $2$ generated by $\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 2 \\\ 0 & 1 \end{array} \right]$ and $\left[ \begin{array}{cc} 1 & 0 \\\ 2 & 1 \end{array} \right]$, which follows from the fact that its action on the hyperbolic plane is free.
Thanks for the question!; I asked this myself several times, without definite answer. But now I got it. We know from Henrik Rüpings answer that the kernel $K$ of $Sl_2 (Z) \to Z/12$ is a free group. Thus it remains to determine the rank. There is a notion of Euler characteristic for groups (it has rational values), see Brown's book, cohomology of groups. Theorem IX 6.3 (or better IX 7.3 b) of that book states that $\chi(Sl_2 (Z))= \chi (Z/12) \chi(K)$ in our case. The Euler number of $Z/12$ is $\frac{1}{12}$, the Euler number of $Sl_2 (Z)$ is $-\frac{1}{12}$, so the Euler number of $K$ is $-1$. But the Euler number of $F_n$ is $1-n$, so $n=2$, and you are done.
I would like to see a more elementary answer, though; one should be able to see this using the action of the upper half plane; then glue $12$ fundamental domains together in the correct way and see that the result is $C \setminus \{0,1\}$. But I never managed to do this properly.
I'm late to the party, but here's how I think about this fact. The approach I will present is perhaps slightly higher tech than some, but has the advantage that it's a completely general way of computing a free finite-index subgroup of a virtually free group.
To keep things simple, I'll do $PSL_2(\mathbb{Z})$, and then explain how to do $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$ at the end.
As you presumably know, $\Gamma=PSL_2(\mathbb{Z})\cong \mathbb{Z}/2*\mathbb{Z}/3$. You should think of it as the fundamental group of a graph of groups $G$, with one edge and two vertices, one of which, $u$, is labelled by $\mathbb{Z}/2$ and one, $v$, labelled by $\mathbb{Z}/3$.
Just as in the case of ordinary topology, any (conjugacy class of a) subgroup $H\subseteq\Gamma$ corresponds to a covering map $\widehat{G}\to G$. (This is a trivial consequence of Bass--Serre theory: take $\widehat{G}=T/H$ where $T$ is the Bass--Serre tree.) Coverings of graphs of groups are just like coverings of graphs, except that sometimes a neighbourhood looks like a quotient by a non-free action of a group, in which case you have to remember point stabilisers (cf. orbifolds). The subgroup $H$ is free if and only if every vertex of $\widehat{G}$ is labelled by the trivial group, in which case we can think of $\widehat{G}$ as a genuine graph and $H$ as its fundamental group.
To prove that $PSL_2(\mathbb{Z})$ has a free subgroup of index $6$, we now just have to construct a covering map $\widehat{G}\to G$ of degree $6$, where $\widehat{G}$ is a genuine graph. But this is easy. To do this, take three vertices $u_1,u_2,u_3$ of valence two and two vertices $v_1,v_2$ of valence three. Now glue them together however you like, such that each edge adjoins one $u_i$ and one $v_j$. (I think there are exactly two ways of doing this, up to permuting the $i$'s and $j$'s.) The covering map $\widehat{G}\to G$ sends $u_i\mapsto u$ and $v_j\mapsto v$, and each edge goes to the unique edge of $G$. Whichever way you do the gluing, the graph $\widehat{G}$ has rank two, so the subgroup is isomorphic to $F_2$.
It's also easy to see that these subgroups are the minimal-index torsion-free subgroups: any covering of $G$ by a genuine graph $\widehat{G}$ must have even degree, so that the vertices above $u$ have trivial label; and it must have degree divisible by three, so that the vertices above $v$ have trivial label.
Exactly the same argument can be made to work for $SL_2(\mathbb{Z})$, which you of course should think of as $\mathbb{Z}/4*_{\mathbb{Z}/2}\mathbb{Z}/6$. Indeed, if I have it right, these techniques should prove the following theorem, which is presumably standard, although I don't know a reference. (Warning: I haven't thought about this very hard.)
Theorem: If $\Gamma=A*_CB$ for $A,B$ finite, then a minimal-index free subgroup is of index $d=\mathrm{lcm}(|A|,|B|)$, and of rank
Note that this technique is powerful enough to let you compute all the conjugacy classes of all the subgroups of a given index, if you want. (Update: though there are some subtleties if you really want to do this; see below.)
(At the moment what I'm seeing doesn't quite square with some of the other answers/comments: I get one normal free subgroup of $PSL_2(\mathbb{Z})$ of index six, and one conjugacy class of non-normal free subgroups of index six, corresponding to a regular covering of $G$ and an irregular covering, respectively; this seems at odds with Mark's remark about different maps to
I had forgotten an important subtlety. A covering map of graphs of groups $\widehat{G}\to G$ includes an extra piece of information, viz:
For each vertex $\hat{v}$ of $\widehat{G}$ with image $v$ in $G$, and for each edge $e$ incident at $v$, a covering map specifies a bijection between the set of edges of $\widehat{G}$ incident at $\hat{v}$ that map to $e$ and the set of double cosets
$\widehat{G}_{\hat{v}}\backslash G_v/G_e$
(where $G_v$ is the group labelling $v$, etc). As such bijections always exist, this doesn't arise if you want to prove the existence of a subgroup. But the correct notion of equivalence for covering maps takes these bijections into account, so two different covering maps $\widehat{G}\to G$ may have the same underlying graph-map. This happens for the commutator subgroup and the Sanov subgroup: in both cases, the underlying graph is the first subdivision of the theta graph.
A remark on the original question: it follows from either the results of Gilman/Miasnikov/Osin or of Richard Aoun (for linear groups) that the subgroup generated by a random (in an appropriate sense) pair of elements in $SL(2, \mathbb{Z})$ is free. It can also be shown that such a subgroup will (with very high probability) be of infinite index in the modular group.
May be the discussion is out of date, but I like to present a simple way to show that the subgroup S generated by $$ \left(\begin{array}{cc} 1 & 2\cr 0 & 1 \end{array}\right) $$ and $$ \left(\begin{array}{cc} 1 & 0\cr 2 & 1 \end{array}\right) $$ has index 12 in $SL(2,Z)$. First of all Mark Sapir noted that by Kargopolov S is a group of matrices $$ \left(\begin{array}{cc} 1+4k_1 & 2n_1\cr 2n_2 & 1+4k_2 \end{array}\right) $$
Lemma. Let $G$ be a group, $H$ be a subgroup of $G$, $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$, that is subgroup of $H$. Then ind(G:H)=ind(G/N:H/N).
Proof. Indeed, let $x\not\in H$. Then $xN\cap HN\subseteq xH\cap H=\emptyset$. So the natural homomorphism $G\to G/N$ sends different classes to different classes.
Now consider the natural homomorphism $\phi:SL(2,Z)\to SL(2,Z_4)$. $G=SL(2,Z)$, $H=S$ and Ker$(\phi)=N$ satisfy the Lemma. So, ind$(SL(2,Z):S)$=ind$(SL(2,Z_4):\phi(S))=(2*4^2+2*2*2+4*2):4=12$


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Tequila Top Off
The Party
Small-batch tequila-maker Casa Dragones sampled its new special release, Blanco, with a lively crowd of culinary luminaries at a late-night rooftop party at Dancing Bear Aspen on June 21.
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The new integrated facility includes 1.22 million tpy of ethylene capacity, about 1.1 million tpy of polyethylene, 440,000 tpy of propylene and 400,000 tpy of polypropylene.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. announced that Saudi Polymers
Co. (SPCo) and its joint-venture partner, National Petrochemical Co. (Petrochem), have
started commercial production at their polymers manufacturing
facility in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
Commercial production was originally expected to commence in
the first quarter of 2012.
The integrated SPCo petrochemicals complex includes
units that are capable of producing 1.22 million tpy of
ethylene, 1.1 million tpy of polyethylene, 440,000 tpy of
propylene, 400,000 tpy of polypropylene, 200,000 tpy of
polystyrene, and 100,000 tpy of 1-hexene.
In addition to direct sales to serve Saudi Arabian demand,
SPCo will manufacture products to serve growing world demand
through its exclusive distributor, Gulf Polymers Distribution
Co., utilizing Chevron Phillips Chemical's global marketing
SPCo is owned 65% by Petrochem and 35% by Arabian Chevron
Phillips Petrochemical Co., a wholly-owned
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Ahmed Serri
i think its difficult specially for propylene & poly propylene production to reach the 440.000 tpy . but for ethylene & poly ethylene .i agree.
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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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Nice pic....
Main Content
great shot
awesome. very good photo
Stunning Shot! 50mm lense?
arpan congrats fr such a great shot... .who says cactus arnt beautiful
So clear!~ sharp, i love it
the beauty of nature
arpan, captured nice picture
The little guy looks sad. Maybe he pricked by a cactus. Great shot Arpan.
Good SHOT
The "eye" speaks !
Its just perfect. . .
why can't download it?
Which kind of pictures are downloadable?
amazing creature.wow
this is an amazing photo! captures the colors and the details perfectly.
Nice capture
loved that the lizard eyes gives me a sense of wisdom he/she knows a lot !
the cactus color and the hand detail is great
macro.. \wow/...
Great pic!!!!
Congratulations on this excellent capture of your crisp clear lizard (I call them little dragons) and your shot selected as Picture of the Day.
Good Snap
Beautiful shot, and beautiful creature too.
super pic
really good........ :-)
Attendance every day
Nice photo.. what thing does the lizard think about?
@Amin Karami Some are not downloadable. Go to "Wallpapers" in the top menu bar and you will find quite a few great images that can be downloaded.
@Karam Ahmed Where's my next fly?
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There was just something about this rusted old Mustang found while perusing car porn on Flickr. Although the photo's from 2006, we wondered if we could find it in Google Street View. Turns out we could. Now the only question is — is it still there?
Maybe it's just the combination of the bright lights at night and a rusty car. Whatever the reason, it grabbed our attention and held on for dear life. The photo, shot by Flickr user takomabibelot, was taken on Selway Lane in Silver Spring, MD the night of December 13, 2006. Even then, it already looked like it'd been nesting there for quite a long time. But, five years later, is it still there? Let's find out.
Thanks to the magic of Google Street View, we were able to locate the car from a different angle during the day. Since we know the Google Street View images were last updated in 2010, we know that sad 'stang's been parked outside for at least four years. There's the proof over there on the left.
Now, one year since those Google Street View shots, is it still there? Anyone care to head over to help us find out?
UPDATE: Jalopnik reader Douglas Sonders let us know on our Facebook page that he photographed some kids from a local band on the Mustang this past summer.
One of the photos is here over to the right and you can see the rest on the Flickr page for NoCoRock here. Now of course, these shots were taken six months ago — anyone seen it since then?
Anyone still want to head over there and check out whether the sad-looking pony car's still dejectedly sitting outside? Let us know what you find in the comments below.
(Photo Credits: takomabibelot and Google Street View!)


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This article deals with parsing techniques involved in executing the sql server query. Nowadays, stored procedures forms a strong back ground in accessing the database. Why is it so???? how it's related to my query parsing technique
If we think about the query execution there are various steps involved in executing the query such as,
- Lexical phase - Code break up will happen at this stage. All my code breaks up as individual tokens.
Let us consider
int a;
- Syntax analysis - Here my code gets checked for its syntax.
In C program we have a standard rule like, if i want to declare a variable we have to specify the variable and followed by variable name and you can specify the values(initialization) followed by semicolor (
int i=0;
select colname from tablename where condition on the columns
- Semantic phase - Here the semantics will be checked. For example i am trying to execute a simple piece of code in c#,
Console.Writeline(a.ToString()); int a;
- Intermediate code generation - Its the fourth stage where an intermediate code will be generated by the compiler its like converting the high level code to machine level code.
- Code Optimization - My compiler will holds some optimization technique to optimize the code so that we can achieve effective execution of our code.
- Optimized code generation - After code optimization a final code will be generated which can be used to retrieve the data. In sql server this optimized code will be stored and used frequently to fetch the data from the database.
- Code execution - The optimized code gets executed against the database engine.
Please provide me your valuable feedback regarding this article.
Venkatesan Prabu . J


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The Wilderness Wars {RP} - 11-22-2008, 04:00 PM
[Note: Credit for the original idea goes to Spirit_Queen. I however fleshed out her idea for the RP. XD]
1. This RP is for experienced RPers only. That means that unless your name appears on the following list, then you can't join. The people who can join this RP are as follows: Spirit_Queen, Sarah_K_O_M, Silent_Wolf, TheHayleyDoll. If you are not among the listed RPers, please don't post in this RP asking to join or PM me asking the same.
2. Obey the main forum rules.
3. No Mary Sues or Gary Stus. Or I will hit you.
4. This RP is about myth creatures, not about deities so please don't create any deity characters. Myth creatures are the following, but not limited to: Fairies, Kitsunes, Unicorns, Mermaids, Dragons, Nekos, Brownies, Elves. Please stick to the mythological descriptions of said creatures rather than those in books and films, with one exception; you can give your myth creature a human-like form, however they can not look entirely like humans. For examples, Nekos and Kitsunes are animals that can take human shape, however they always have animal tails. Fairies might be able to have a large, human shape, but would still have their wings. Remember that the myth creatures don't want to blend in, they want to take over the world!
5. This RP has no character form; instead, describe your character in your primary post. By the way, this is the first group to use the newly opened door, but not the last; you can introduce new characters later on if you so wish. There can be human characters, however none of them are on the myth creatures' side.
Hundreds of years ago, our world was a very different place. People believed in different things, and feared different events. Creatures of myth roamed through our world, travelling from their own universe to ours through special doors. A farmer's wife might fear the wrath of the fairies if she didn't leave them out a bowl of milk and a few slices of bread every night. Sailors told tales about the mermaids who populated the ocean, combing out their long hair and singing as they arranged their tails on rocks, trailing their hands in the sea and weaving garlands out of seawe'ed and precious jewels to wrap around their bodies and place in their hair. Many a traveller through the Scottish highlands fell prey to the malicious water kelpies, who offered rides accross the lochs only to treacherously drown their riders halfway accross, and many a Japanese man gasped in horror as he danced with his new bride on their wedding night and caught a glimpse of a fox tail beneath her volumenous skirts, showing her to be not the demure human girl he thought her to be, but instead a kitsune bent on mischief. Dragons lurked in mountainous caves, and unicorns hid in the deep forests. Because the people of our world believed in these creatures, so they existed.
Now though, the world is changing. Many new events have happened since the days of yore when the myth creatures freely travelled between their world and ours. People now scoff at the idea of fairies, mermaids and others, and also at anyone who is foolish enough to even entertain belief for a moment. Modernisation is key, and old ideas and beliefs are soon discarded in favour of the new ones. The myth creatures faded from our world as the various paths, doors and chasms all closed, barring entrance to our world due to the new disbelief of its people in the creatures of myth. Stories of myth creatures became the legends of yesterday, bedtime stories for children at night, to be read with pleasure but only as fantasy tales, not believable and certainly not real. The myth creatures resigned themselves to remain in their world, a world of jewel bright seas, rolling hills, craggy mountains and airy skies. Life went on as usual in our world too, until one day.
A woman named Ryna Georges had studied mythology for a long time. She wanted more than anything to rule the world, and chose to use the forgotten creatures of myth to help her do so. Ryna read through the old books and scrolls until she happened quite by chance upon an old ritual created to open a door to that other universe. She spent the next month preparing for this spell; getting all the ingredients for the ritual fire, and creating the circle that would mean that she'd hold complete dominion over the myth creatures, therefore making herself their mistress and being able to send them as her minions to conquer the world in order that she should rule it as absolute queen. After setting up the spell, and lighting the ceremonial fire, Ryna began the spell. She chanted in order the four long verses that were needed for opening the door, and she had her circle in order to enact mastery over the creatures. But then, nothing seemed to happen. It was an anticlimax after all Ryna had hoped for, and in disgust she put out the fire and destroyed the circle. This was a very foolish thing to do; after all, not everything happens with a dramatic flourish.
For the door between the worlds was indeed open... and a group of myth creatures had already made the journey from their world to ours. They were appalled at what they saw. For the world of today was a very different place to the world that they remembered from the old days. The humans seemed hell bent on destroying the world and destroying each other. Animals were becoming extinct. Devastating bombs had been created for the sole purpose of the destruction of entire races. The land, sea and air were all polluted, and no-one seemed to care enough to try and stop it. Cars, lorries and vans replaced the vehicles drawn by beasts of burden, and high powered electric trains had replaced the old steam trains. All of these killed several humans per week, and no-one seemed to care about the danger. The myth creatures were angry. Not only had they been forgotten and their reverence and respect abandoned, but the humans seemed intent on destroying the entire world, even themselves. The myth creatures felt that the only thing they could do would be to wrest control of the world from the humans and save them from themselves.
One of the first group to go to what she always thought of as "the human's world", Kaori was a kitsune. She had long black hair, dark green eyes and creamy pale skin in her human form; in her fox form, she had red fur with a white chest and tail tip. The one part of her original form that she was never able to disguise was her fox tail; whenever in the past she'd taken human form, she'd always hidden her tail in long skirts. Kaori had even married human men on occasion, however, she had eventually been caught out and been forced to change back to her fox form and flee into the forest. She just could not resist playing tricks, that was her eventual downfall every time. She also had a tendency to be cruel, and also selfish and arrogant. Kaori, on the other hand, had no sense of fear so had eagerly volunteered to be part of the pioneering foray into the human world.
Part of her wished she had never come when the group first stepped thru the hidden door which only they, the myth creatures, could see, next to the main road. A terrifying creature, made of metal and emitting foul smoke shot past and Kaori clamped her hands to her sensitive ears at the fearful racket it made. "This can't be the right place!" she cried to her companions. "The world was never like this!" Kaori remembered beautiful gardens full of flowers, gently tinkling fountains and the cool stone of the walls of buildings, not this hellish place that seemed to be covered completely in concrete, with yet more terrible creatures like the one that had just come past appearing in the distance.
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Feds are trying to figure out how someone got a stun gun onto an airplane after cleaning crews found one neatly stowed away in the seatback pocket of a JetBlue plane that arrived at Newark Airport from Boston on Friday. All of this TSA shit talking is finally coming back to bite us in the ass. They've obviously just given up at this point.
Update: It was a stun gun, not a taser, the folks from TASER® International would like everyone to know.
[NYDN; image via Shutterstock]


text: Finally, after hundreds of graphite tutorials I am moving on to charcoal! I consider this starting from scratch since I have never drawn a purely charcoal drawing using a set technique. Hopefully with a bit of practice I will be able to make my charcoal tuts equal to my graphite ones. For now here's a lesson on how to draw a sunflower using charcoal.