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6 WWI Fighter Pilots Whose Balls Deserve Their Own Monument
#3. Willy Coppens
Poor little Belgium, sandwiched in between France and Germany and with all the natural defenses of a cabbage. Belgium did, however, manage to produce at least one genuine ass-kicking hero in World War I. Willy Coppens, despite being fobbed off with obsolete aircraft and inadequate supplies of ammunition, became the undisputed champion balloon buster of the war, with 34 kills to his credit. This would probably be a good time to explain that "balloon busting" wasn't a bizarre party game played on the battlefields during WWI, but a serious endeavor for the only the bravest pilots.
"That's gonna take one hell of a needle."
In the days before satellites and unmanned reconnaissance planes, armies would station observers in moored hot air balloons with wireless radios to report back on enemy action. And even though you'd think that taking pot shots at a giant bag of explosive gas would be child's play, it totally wasn't. Balloons were guarded by anti-aircraft batteries pumping wads of hot lead into the air, and they often had their own squadrons of fighter planes swirling around the area to protect them.
Get past all that, and you run into the mid-air booby traps the Germans set, which included surrounding the balloons with silk-covered kites attached to steel cables that were all but invisible to pilots until they noticed their airplanes being torn in two.
"Tee hee hee."
In other words, balloon busting was as foolhardy as setting up a mosh pit in a minefield. And Coppens was really good at it. In fact, Coppens's electric blue Hanriot airplane became such a pain in the ass for the Germans that they hatched a cunning plan to dispose of him. Basically, they took an ordinary observation balloon and jammed it so full of explosives that a single bullet would be enough to atomize anything within 500 feet of it. With Coppens regularly swooping in to attack from as close as 50 feet, he didn't stand a chance.
The Germans were so proud of their little plot that word of the scheme eventually got back to Coppens himself, who decided that after they went to all that expense and effort, it would be rude not to go have a look at this balloon.
In fairness, balloons kick ass.
When he got there, he discovered that the Germans had really made a day of it, with dozens of soldiers and staff officers standing around to watch the fireworks. The balloon itself was still being winched up and was, crucially, only at half its intended height. It was then that Coppens, demonstrating that fine line between bravery and just plain bat-shit insanity, said "Fuck it" and dove in shooting.
The resulting explosion sent his plane rocking through the sky like a kangaroo on a pogo stick, yet it remained intact. If the low height had saved Coppens, it proved disastrous for those below, with the resulting fireball killing and maiming dozens of the watchers on the ground. See, that's what you get for standing around watching a war.
#2. William Barker
By October 1918, Canuck pilot William Barker had already survived three years in the Royal Flying Corps, and his official score of downed enemy aircraft stood at 46. So, on Oct. 26, 1918, Barker was ordered home for a well-earned rest. While most people would skedaddle home in a heartbeat in war time, Barker elected to swing by the front lines. Sure enough, he quickly spotted a low-flying enemy two-seater observation plane, which he promptly shot down. But that was a mistake.
As was being alive in 1918.
Those sneaky Germans were using the two-seaters as bait while about 60 faster fighter planes lurked higher up, hidden in the clouds. Barker's first indication that all was not well was when an explosive bullet shattered his right thighbone, leaving the leg attached by the sinews.
Now able to make only left turns, Barker swung his plane around to discover an entire squadron of German fighter planes bearing down on him.
Bad odds ... for the Germans!
But instead of trying to flee like a normal person, Barker plowed through the middle of the squadron in a suicidal banzai charge, and he shot down both his original assailant and another luckless German who wandered into his sights. By now, the Germans had managed to get their shit together and began attacking him in a coordinated fashion, riddling his plane with over 300 bullets and wounding his left leg.
And that was when Barker fainted the first time.
Normally an occurrence only brought on by a quarter-gallon of trench-gin.
His aircraft went into an uncontrolled spin for over 6,000 feet before he came to and discovered that the Germans had followed him down, shooting all the way. Having long since given up any hope of surviving, Barker began attempting to ram the enemy and even managed to shoot one more down -- taking his tally to four in the space of less than 10 minutes. Then his left elbow was shattered by another bullet.
And that was when Barker fainted the second time.
He didn't regain consciousness until he was almost at ground level. But, crucially, by this time he had crossed over the Allied lines. Given that he was half-delirious from blood loss and pain and only able to move his right wrist, it's not surprising that he made a bit of a mess of his landing. And by "mess," we mean that he plowed into the ground at 90 mph.
Barker was pulled from the wreckage blood-soaked, unconscious and with both legs held on by threads. He lay in a coma for 10 days, and two days after he woke up, the war ended. Not bad for a guy who twice fainted in the middle of a dogfight.
#1. Manfred von Richthofen
Manfred von Richthofen was the first world war's ace of aces, with a score of 80 confirmed victories. As an utterly remorseless killing machine, Richthofen's greatest passion in life was hunting -- before the war it was boars, during the war it was men. Basically, the guy just really, really loved sneaking up on things and shooting them in the head.
He's standing behind you right now.
Richthofen quickly became Germany's leading ace and was awarded command of his own elite squadron, Jasta 11, which eventually became known as the Flying Circus because of the wild colors they painted their machines and their habit of traveling from one hot spot to another along the front with caravans and trailers.
In the camouflaged world of khaki and field gray that was the first world war, Richthofen's decision to paint his plane entirely red was a bold declaration of confidence bordering on arrogance.
Otherwise known as "peacocking."
By the April 1917, the British were so obsessed with finding the famous "Red Baron" that they coordinated a massive aerial raid on his home. And even though German intelligence alerted him to the coming onslaught hours ahead of time, Richthofen stayed put, allegedly hosting a lavish dinner for his officers in his dugout shelter. Not only did the Allied bombers attack and not kill the Baron, but he ended the month with 20 more kills added to his tally.
But it wasn't until after his death a year later that everyone really appreciated what an impact Richthofen had made on the fledgling German and British air forces. Because when the Baron was finally shot down in his last dogfight, the RAF ended up treating him like their own royalty. The Australian infantry that held the area he landed in stripped the plane for souvenirs, the British carried his flower-covered body to a hangar, where hundreds of soldiers filed past to pay their respects, and the next day, his former enemies buried him with full military honors.
And a fine line of frozen pizzas.
John Lepper doesn't have a site of his own, but you can visit this one his friends made.
There's plenty more true stories crazier than any action movie in our new book! And once you get it, make sure you take a picture of yourself with it, then upload it to our Facebook fan page for a chance to win $250!
To read about more war heroes, check out 5 Real Life Soldiers Who Make Rambo Look Like a Pussy.


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My thoughts on Sith Master difficulty [spoilers warning]
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My thoughts on Sith Master difficulty [spoilers warning]
Hi all!
I'd like to share a few thoughts/tips with you concerning going through TFU on the hardest difficulty setting. I will only tell you what I remember, as it was a couple of weeks ago that I acually finished the game. I mean going for the achievement, i.e. starting from scratch.
1. The game is *really* annoying - one false step/move and you go back to the previous check point (only on Sith Master do you notice how inconveniently they are placed). You will toss the pad a lot. You will die a lot, too, so be prepared.
2. Tie fighter factory is fairly easy - including master Kota. No special techniques are necessary here.
3. Raxus prime - Scrap Guardians - grip and long way down obviously
Junk titan No. 1 (the one with the generator thing at the ceiling) - get rid of the scrap guardians (after the Titan is already there) and then: either hide behind the edge and electrocute him until he's dead (easy but long way) or electrocute the 'generator' or whatever it is, which will stun him and then saber/lighning him (AXXXY). Recharge, rince and repeat. Kazdan is not that difficult as he seems at first. As far as i remember - force push him, when he is down, grab him and toss around the room (he has to hit one of the statues or equipment - walls do NOT count, as does force pushing him out of the room).
4. Felucia - either dash through the level (sometimes there are way to many Felucians) or fight them one by one (you need XP after all) - hide and run if neccesary. Rancors - get to the platform on the right side (covered on the side), grab incoming felucians, lightning grenade and toss into Rancors. For the last one, you will need to go across to the other side and electrocute him (it?) from over the edge. Master Shak Ti - force repulse, hit her while she is down and watch out for the tentacles.
5. The Empirical. Short level, but annoying. Try to attack from distance - especially from behind the door - in the escape pod room and at the end, when fighting purge trooper. Do NOT force push the door wide open. Try to grab the stormtroopers first, and throw them at the purge trooper. Then force lightning through the hole in the door and move on to the final stage. Top level - easy. Try not to go down, as there are two (or three?) purge troopers. Force lightning them from distance and stand in such a way that they do not hit you with missles. When there is only one left - go down, keep him mid-distance, i.e. not close enough for them to grab you, but not far enough to fire projecticles. If you are low on HP - kill one of the officers behind the laser gates to refill.
6. Cloud city - easy, except for the Shadow Guard. I think I just combo'ed him (use combos infusing the blade with lightning). Not sure of that - sorry.
7. Imperial Kashyyyk - watch out for jump troopers (force lighning them), when fighting AT-STs, get rid of the turrets first, then AXXXY (air combo finished with force lightning before you drop). In the skyhook stage, move slowly towards, lightning grenade whoever you can, watch out for snipers - take them out first. When going around the skyhook - snipers first, lightning grenade Purge Troopers, release the Wookies - they are a useful diversion, when there is only a Purge Trooper left. They sometimes kill them too. The final AT ST - lightning grenade until he is down.
8. Imperial Felucia - fairly easy as such - your force powers should be powered up enough now. But Maris/Rancor is just crap. One of those moments in the game when you want to get rid of the game or at least use a cheat. It is doable, however! Sorry, I do not remember how I did that. A youtube video helped me with that. As far as I remember - no jumping, lightning-infused combos and watch out for the girl. The second stage of this fight is much easier. I think I used force repulse or push and stab/combo her while she's down.
9. Imperial Raxus Prime - most of it is not really problematic. But, the further you go, to more annoying it gets. When you get to the imperial installation - kill snipers and storm troopers, force lightning the first purge trooper, go to further platforms - kill storm troopers, snipers, throw lightning grenades at Purge Troopers and force lightning them (from safe distance, of course). Same goes for the ATST and the hangar crew. As for the Star Destroyer - a piece of cake. Force lightning Tie Fighters, grab and pull the destroyer until the new wave of tie fighters starts firing. Took me 4 or 5 such waves, did that the first time. Later on it's easy until the Proxy fight, which will cause real trouble when he turns into Darth Maul. You will see the cutscene a lot
Important thing - block. When he starts his combo - you are dead. Next - hide behind columns so that he can't lightsaber throw you. And I thing force repulse stab-while-down does the trick. Do not rush it - wait for a clear shot, otherwise - you're dead.
10. Death Star - the beginning is crappy, until you realise you don't have to fight all those guys. So - use the elevator to go up, get rid of snipers, move quickly as you can be hit with a missle and fall down. Next, jump down right to the gate/hatch on the floor, force repulse and that's it. That did the trick the first time I tried. Next - ATSTs -either force lightning from behind the edge, or fight one, but hide from the other one behind the one you are fighting. AXXXY, rince and repeat. Next get rid of the Purge Troopers on each floor, as you might get hit with a missle while fighting the guards. And here we get to the most annoying point of the game. When you go up to fight shadow guards and you die - you have to repeat the laser stage all over which really sucks. Anyway - get the sith holocron and use leaping slash for all the guards (found it on one of forums - maybe even here
Works like a charm - really.
While fighting Vader wait for force push charge and jump behind him. Slash him with a 3-hit combo. Escape. You can even grab him, but I managed to do that only once. Lightning combos tend to work as well. Next stage of the fight - be the first to toss stuff at him and get to him for a 2-hit combo, rince and repeat.
For the final boss I chose Vader (missed the dark side achievement
and here aerial combos are the best. Watch out, however, as you need to blow 3 hits before you punch the ground and lift Vader. What I did was I started the combo in the direction AWAY from him, only to turn around for the punch (do it far away from Vader - he will be approaching you). Good timing is essential here.
This is how I got through TFU on the hardest difficulty. Maybe there are easier ways to do that - don't know. I tried acquiring other players' techniques, as I got stuck A LOT. And yeah, I know some things may be obvious but I decided to put them here anyway (you never know who might find the hints useful).
Hope that helps some of you
ps. Yesterday I got my final achievement for the TFU - yay
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Sith Master really wasn't that bad if you really understand how to exploit every opponent's weakness.
Originally Posted by
For the final boss I chose Vader (missed the dark side achievement
and here aerial combos are the best. Watch out, however, as you need to blow 3 hits before you punch the ground and lift Vader. What I did was I started the combo in the direction AWAY from him, only to turn around for the punch (do it far away from Vader - he will be approaching you). Good timing is essential here.
In fact, I would recommend doing the Vader fight instead of the Sidious fight for Sith Master. I did both and I would say that Vader was much, much easier.
You should try Sidious to see if you can do it.
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Well, I haven't fought Sidious on sith master (did that three times on other difficulty settings though), Vader took me long enough.
And since I have unlocked all the achievements - I will not fight either of them any more (in the forseeable future
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Basketball roundup: Thomaston, Kaynor boys net wins
Drew Gagne netted a game-high 21 points for the Thomaston High boys basketball team, which used a big second half to down Lewis Mills, 55-33, in Berkshire League action Wednesday night at Thomaston.
Alex Gagne chipped in with 10 points for the Bears (5-3), who outscored Mills, 38-13, in the second half after trailing by three at halftime.
Lewis Mills (3-5) was led by Alex Daigle with nine points and Nate Cook with eight.
Kaynor Tech 61, O'Brien Tech 37: Tre'Von Gibbs scored a game-high 20 points with 14 rebounds, three steals and two blocks for the Panthers in Waterbury.
Tre-Kel Douglas added 15 points, Terrance Thompson scored 14 points with six assists for Kaynor Tech (7-1), and Rayon Thompson chipped in with five assists.
Shaquan Jackson had a team-high 17 points for the Condors (5-2).
Bullard Havens 60, Wolcott Tech 59: Down by 11 points heading into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats' rally fell one point short in Torrington.
Danneij Diaz scored 24 points and Luke Pergola added 19, including eight in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats outscored Bullard Havens, 18-8. Wolcott Tech feel to 0-6.
Tarif Winston had 18 points for Bullard Havens (5-3).
Taft 70, Kent 48: Joey Flannery recorded 27 points, 23 coming in the second half, and seven rebounds for Taft as it defeated Kent in Watertown. Flannery also netted 11 consecutive points for the Big Red (5-2) as part of a 17-2 run midway through the second half.
Shawn Strickland contributed 12 points and seven assists. The Lions (4-4) were led by Leon Tambue with 15 points.
@Quote, name:Girls basketball
Taft 53, Deerfield Academy 28: Chelsea Robinson scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds to lead Taft to victory in Deerfield, Mass. Katie Harpin netted a team-high 10 points for the Big Red (2-3), while Morgan Manz and Maggie O'Neil added seven points apiece. Madison Haskins also chipped in with six points.
Libby Murray led all scorers with 13 points for the Big Green (0-8).
Bullard Havens 41, Wolcott Tech 29: Michaelanne Albreada scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Wildcats in Bridgeport.
Jen Hislop scored eight points to go with seven rebounds and three assists for Wolcott Tech (2-8), and Kimmie Stacke hauled in five rebounds.
O'Brien Tech 52, Kaynor Tech 47: Adrianna Crisanti scored 19 points for host O'Brien Tech as it picked up the win over Kaynor Tech in Ansonia. Gaya Perron had 15 points for the Condors (4-5), and Nicole Belade added 12.
Audra Spellman led the Panthers (3-7) with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Daelyn Kale added 12 points. Cinthia Vega also contributed seven points and six rebounds.
Sacred Heart Academy 54, Cheshire 34: Shyla Osmond netted 12 points for Sacred Heart Academy as it defeated Cheshire in SCC competition in Hamden. Siobhan Fennell and Micaela Montini added 10 points each for the Pacers (7-3).
Lauren Como had a team-high 14 points for the Rams (6-4), who played without injured leading scorer Missy Bailey, whose status is day-to-day.
Bunnell 64, Oxford 56: Jess Bogdwicz poured in 32 points to lead Bunnell over Oxford in an SWC matchup in Stratford. Lauryn Kostopoulos added 14 points for the Bulldogs (4-5), who rallied after Oxford led, 26-17, at halftime.
Taylor Drayton led the Wolverines (2-6) with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal, while Sarah Woolfrey had 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Canterbury 50, Greenwich Academy 47: Abby Jones scored a team-high 27 points to lead host Canterbury in its win over Greenwich Academy (1-4), after trailing, 23-20, at halftime.
Shannon Lenihan-Burke chipped in with 12 points for the Saints (3-2), and Abby Woodworth added nine.
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This question is an extension of this question. While my answer did answer the question, there was one part that wasn't answered: how do I share a Wi-Fi connection via a Wi-Fi hotspot?
You can't "share" a Wi-Fi connection via a Wi-Fi hotspot.
What is misleading everybody is the inapropriate use of the technical term of sharing when the function we are talking of is a redistribution.
When 2 PC are connected on the same Wi-Fi hotspot they are truly sharing the same connection: they are using the same Wi-Fi channel, they are sharing the router IP public address.
When you start up
MacOS X doesn't provide such a virtualisation function.
You can't redistribute your Ethernet connection toward your Ethernet
Connectify (on Windows 7) is simply selling a standard function of Windows which permit to create 2 virtual Wi-Fi interfaces on top of one physical one (see: Wi-Fi hotspot for Windows 7). Then Windows redistribute the network access of the primary Wi-Fi toward the second one.
Mac OS X has an "internet sharing" feature in the Sharing panel in System Preferences.
As several people have already figured out in the question and answers here, it lets you share the connection from one hardware interface via any other hardware interface, but it can't use a single Wi-Fi interface as both the main connection and to re-share. (Windows 7 can do this, thanks to "network virtualization" features added by Microsoft, which essentially allows a single hardware Wi-Fi interface to respond to multiple SSIDs, and that's the underlying feature that Connectify leverages.)
One option that Mac OS X has that isn't quite an answer to this question, but is useful in some of the same situations, is that it can use Bluetooth to create a Personal Area Network (PAN), and its internet sharing feature can share the internet connection from Wi-Fi over the Bluetooth PAN, as documented here.
I've used this successfully to get an iPad to piggyback on a Macbook's Wi-Fi connection, so both were able to access the internet simultaneously in a hotel where I could only get one device on Wi-Fi. I was not able to get an iPhone 4S to connect to the PAN in the same situation, but supposedly it works for iPod Touches. I don't know if other computers (Mac OS X, Windows, Linux or otherwise) are able to join the PAN and use it as their internet connection.
Install Windows (using rEFIt if you're on a Mac). Install Connectify.
If you're a developer and use Linux, it should be possible to develop a new kernel module that will accomplish the "full duplex endpoint + repeater" functionality. For starters, target one specific device that you can get the wifi chipset datasheets for; you need bus architecure, register numbers, memory addresses, interrupt numbers, signal timings, radio boot routine, and the function list (synchronous and asynchronous).
I made a video on how to do this with a virtual windows PC running inside the Mac OS. The video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoLxujScJSY
Things needed for my answer to work:
If you mean on a computer, you can use Connectify. I use it it work it's great if you are connected to WiFi; your computer acts a router to all your other devices. If you mean a hotspot on your iPhone go to Settings > Network > Turn Cellular Data On and then enable the hotspot.
You can share using USB wifi modem.Connect to internet using usb wifi.In settings->sharing configure sharing from USB wifi to wifi.Make sure to turn off firewall if not your hotspot doesn't allow DHCP to assign IP to client devices. This worked on my Yosemite.


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For any set $S$ one can consider the free abelian group $\mathbb{Z}[S]$ generated by this set. Now suppose, there is a topology on $S$ given. Is it possible to find a topology on $\mathbb{Z}[S]$ in such a way, that:
i) The map $S\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}[S]$ is a homeomorphism onto the image.
ii) The addition and the inverse map are continuous
And if it is possible, is this topology unique?


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I'm looking for an rpg that is basically about hunting/gathering, and surviving as a tribe. Mostly for mechanical ideas. Has anyone ever tried/heard of such a game? How does it work? Who makes it? Is it still available?
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closed as not constructive by Pat Ludwig Mar 22 '12 at 15:41
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GURPS has a couple of sourcebooks for that sort of play. GURPS Ice Age is exactly what it says on the box; it's about tribes and ice ages and so on. GURPS is pretty crunchy, so I imagine you'd get the mechanics you're looking for. GURPS Fantasy II is also about paleolithic tribesmen and survival, but it takes place in a really seriously weird fantasy world. E.g., the "gods" of the setting are thinly veiled Winnie the Pooh characters, which Robin Laws nonetheless makes sinister. So maybe not as useful, but no list of paleolithic games is complete without it.
GURPS Ice Age is actually quite in-depth. It was a short book but packed with info, fun to read, and it even has an adventure. I'd highly recommend it if you are interested in this style of play.
Og by FireFly Games looks like the kind of thing you're after.
Or there's Operation Caveman and Grunting: The race for fire.
Although before spending any money I'd be tempted to just run that using Fudge on the Fly.
You could re-flavour the fudge success ladder words with a caveman bent.
I think Tribes from Steve Jackson Games fits the bill quite nicely. It's not a traditional RPG in that there's a winner at the end and the GM is basically just rolling on random events tables. The game is heavy on social interaction between the players (who gets the food, who gets to mate, etc.). Every character type has a special ability that the other characters don't have. This forces the party to work together to survive while at the same time each player individually is trying to win.
In addition to Gurps Ice Ace I recommend also Gurps Low Tech (as, for example, hot air balloons and hang-gliders can be made at tech level 0). They're both available on Warehouse23 from the relevant products' pages.
If you can find a copy of John Wick's Orkworld, it is exactly about hunting and gathering, and surviving as a tribe. It deals with the cycles of nomadic living, and about how strength, cleverness, and orating ability are valued in that kind of society.
The orks can easily be switched up for prehistory humans just by saying so, although changing out the culture for a different one would be more work than it'd be worth. That said, the culture of Wick's orks was developed to be tribal and nomadic first instead of "orcish", and specifically ignored what people think of when they hear the word "orc" in an RPG context.
There have been articles on using AD&D and a couple other games for doing paleolithic games.
Traveller has rules for harvesting animals for food, and for primitive weapons, and does have a suitable career (Barbarian) in supplements for some editions and core rules for others.
Of the above, I know that Orkworld and Stone Age deal explicitly with the difficulty of gathering food, maintaining shelter, and such. GURPS Ice Age doesn't have the resource driven mechanics, but does touch on it in the text. Og ignores the whole food issue; Og's about the humor, not the realism.
If you are open to culturally specific games, there's also Brennan Taylor's How We Came to Live Here, which is about the ancient Pueblo people of the American Southwest. Very, very cool game and just got nominated for an ENnie for Best Writing. It's very much about surviving as a tribe and has amazing guidelines for being parts of different clans and societies in the village.
Kevin Allen Jr's game Primitive is a really interesting take on this, very freeform and focusing on communication without language. Super weird and cool.
Greg Porter's Dreamtime supplement for CORPS was a short, sweet paleolithic setting for his generic CORPS gaming engine. You can find PDFs of the supplement (and the original CORPS rules as well) on various online e-RPG stores, and they're reasonably inexpensive. You could also use the supplement with pretty much any simulation-y generic rules set (like EABA, HERO, GURPS, BRP, etc) and a bit of elbow grease.
Porter's designs are elegant and reasonably fluid, but they're not rules-light, necessarily, and because it's mostly one guy doing the work on is own schedule, they're not graced with acres of supplementary material: CORPS had a "bestiary" book that was scheduled to appear that, for various reasons, never did. EABA would make a good second home for "Dreamtime", and it's "Stuff" supplement does contain some guidelines for building creatures, but Greg hasn't gotten around to producing a new version of the Dreamtime book for the EABA rules-set.
Jason Godesky's Fifth world is very much a game about hunter-gatherers and the animist world-view. The setting is post-apocalyptic, but not in the usual rpg sense of mutants and barely understood technology - rather, humanity moved on to animist culture.
The game is free, open-source, and very anarcho-primitivist. System-wise it is based on Fudge, but the rules about establishing relations and situations are worth reading and fairly unique, from what I know.


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i've tried most blogging packages around and WordPress has easily come out on top, imho.
i've tried most blogging packages around and WordPress has easily come out on top, imho.
No great reason I suppose - just started a blog and it's done what I asked of it, and wasn't hard to get going. Not an expert, so maybe as I learn things will change....
That depends. If you just want to have your own personal blog site, almost any of the packages are decent. But if you want to have yourself and 10 of your friends blogging on your site, that's a different story.
Of the choices mentioned, b2evo is the easiest one to use for multi-user multi-blogging system. But really, none of them are that great for this. I've tried setting up a multi-user blog on Nucleus and b2evo but it takes a lot of work to get it to look how you want it to look. I just said forget it. Wait until the software matures. WordpressMU might be promising, but it's in alpha stage and it looks like no one is really working on it.
Originally Posted by petcampbell
Can you tell me how I can use Fantastico - or the best and simplest way/process/procedure to host a WordPress blog with BlueHost? I get a bit overwhelmed with the technical aspects - I'm more a designer... actually html is not the problem, it's just having a clear map or steps to take so I can do it. I have WP downloaded already and am ready to go, domains set up on BH. Couldn't find much on this at the BH knowledge base... thanks so much for any help - much appreciated.
Martin Hurley
The Original Aboriginal :-)
Drupal can be setup as a blog as well - it just has a lot more features related to categorizations, RSS, etc.Originally Posted by PilgrimsPolitics
I don't use Fantastico; when I came to BlueHost in December I already had been running Drupal 4.x.x on sites for about 2 years after too many problems with MovableType.
Taran Rampersad
Presently in: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
Looking for contracts/work!
"Criticize by creating." Michelangelo
Hi, I had a previous site on my current domain and i tried changing it to a blog using wordpress however whenever i open up my webby, instead of the new wordpress blog i had created what was displayed was still the old webpage although i had already deleted its index.html file.
Help anyone?
If you're still unsure of what to use, I have a small list of 15 free blog scripts with a little description of all of them.
You can check it here: Free blog scripts.
I like WordPress because it integrates right into my website, instead of just being a stand alone blog. I use Xoops.


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Fact Sheets
Fact Sheets
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Recent News
Arab World
Council of Ministers
Foreign Aid
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Saudi US Relations
Prior Years
Saudi Arabia In Focus
no Prince Saud, John Kerry confirm alliance Prince Saud, John Kerry hold press conference in Riyadh
Prince Saud, John Kerry confirm strength of U.S.-Saudi relations
November 4, 2013
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal confirmed the enduring strength of U.S.-Saudi relations during a joint press conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Riyadh today. Addressing the recent "rumors" in the press that relations between the Kingdom and the United States are "deteriorating and passing a critical and dramatic stage," Prince Saud stated, "Such analyses have ignored the historic ties binding the two countries, which were always based on independence, mutual respect, serving the common interests as well as constructive cooperation when dealing with regional and international issues addressing world security and peace."
He continued, "A true relationship between friends is based on sincerity, candor and frankness, rather than mere courtesy. Therefore, it is not surprising for us to have our points of agreement and differences at the same time. This is normal in any serious relationship that deeply explores all issues, presents various points of view and seeks to address issues through dialogue at all levels, thus leading to a common perspective which reflects positively on resolving such issues."
Regarding the Kingdom's decision to reject a seat on the United Nations Security Council, Prince Saud said that the move in no way represents a rejection by the Kingdom of the UN. He expressed appreciation of the UN bodies dealing with humanitarian and economic aid, health issues and other fields. The problem, Prince Saud insisted, lies in the inability of the Security Council to deal with political crises, especially in the Middle East. He pointed to the Palestinian conflict, which is still unresolved after sixty years, as evidence of this failure, along with the huge humanitarian crisis in Syria and the lack of action to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone.
Despite the tactical difference between the Kingdom and the U.S., Prince Saud reported, "Our two friendly countries are busy dealing with these issues with all seriousness and transparency, pursuing policies that provide no room for emotion or outrage. Instead, the language of wisdom and logic is overwhelming, based on mutual confidence that guides us to the best ways of addressing those issues."
During his remarks, Secretary Kerry described the U.S.-Saudi relationship as "strategic, enduring and covering a wide range of issues." The two countries have been cooperating for seventy years, he pointed out, and joint work is ongoing in the fields of energy, counterterrorism, training, investment, science, technology, medical matters, education and external exchanges. "We have the capability to cooperate as we have done for several years," he added. "We may disagree once or twice on the tactics and techniques here or there, but these differences will not change anything."
On his earlier talks with the Saudi King, Secretary Kerry said, "I would like to thank the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud on the important time he offered to conduct these discussions, and on the level of dialogue that took place between us. I will report to President Obama that he can rely on the fact that he has a sincere strong friend who is King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. We believe that this cooperation will enable us to achieve more together, and we will continue to cooperate continuously. I would like also to reiterate my gratitude to Prince Saud Al-Faisal on this partnership and friendship."
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GENESEO, N.Y. - The State University of New York at Geneseo has been recognized for its efforts in environmental sustainability by the newly-released "The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges" guide.
The guide cites SUNY Geneseo's commitment to "thinking Geneseo green," including the establishment of its Environmental Impact and Sustainability Task Force, introducing the Geneseo Public Bus Service and promoting "Geneseo Gives Back," a waste diversion program that keeps an estimated 15 tons of materials from landfills at the end of each academic year.
"The Princeton Review's Guide to 286 Green Colleges" is a joint effort between The Princeton Review and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The guide can be downloaded at www.princetonreview.com/greenguide and www.usgbc.org/campus.
The Princeton Review is an education services company. It is not affiliated with Princeton University or Education Testing Service.
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction.
Media Contact:
David Irwin
(585) 245-5516


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We Have Your Voucher for a Free Flu Shot
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Starting today, Kroger is partnering with The Salvation Army and Feeding America to offer free flu shots to thousands of uninsured and underinsured individuals.
Customers interested in the free vaccine should stop by their local Salvation Army of Feeding America food bank to pick up a flu shot voucher. They're good at Kroger stores or a Kroger banner pharmacy such as City Market, Dillons, Jay C, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's.
Every year 5 -20 % of Americans get the flu, while more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu-related complications, and about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes.
The Salvation Army and our partners are committed to promoting health and wellness and hope these vouchers will help protect many families and individuals this season.


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Wolcott's Nicol preparing his game for Western Connecticut
Ever since his 2012 football season ended in the Class M playoffs, Wolcott's Mike Nicol has had his eyes set on continuing his quarterback career.
Nicol will get that opportunity at Western Connecticut State University, beginning this summer. To prepare himself for training camp, Nicol is one of two quarterbacks for the National Guard team, which meets the Marines on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in the Connecticut High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame Military Bowl at Rentschler Field in East Hartford.
Nicol and Tim Boyle, an Xavier High graduate who is UConn-bound, have shared equal repetitions at quarterback in practice at Xavier the past two weeks. No starter had been named by midweek, but that hasn't faze Nicol.
The two players have different styles. Nicol is a running quarterback who can also throw down field. Boyle has more of a drop-back passing style.
The team is working out of the running spread and read-option formations.
"I just want to try to win the game, and my goal is to do the best that I can," said Nicol. "Things have been going really well. We have a lot of great receivers (including Dillon McMahon of Derby). We're sharing the ball nicely and giving everyone a chance to show what they can do. There is a lot of overall great talent on this team."
Including the 6-foot-4, 200-pound Boyle, the state Gatorade Player of the Year, threw for 2,488 yards and 24 touchdowns to lead the Falcons to their third straight Class LL state title.
Boyle had initially verbally committed to Boston College, but later signed with UConn.
"Tim is a great player," said Nicol. "His throws are right on the spot. It's cool to watch him play."
Football fans have also enjoyed watching the Eagles' two-year starter Nicol, as well.
As a junior, he earned the starting role in the preseason, and led the Eagles to their first of two staight playoff appearances and an 8-4 record.
Last season, he rushed for 1,271 yards and 20 touchdowns and passed for 1,553 yards with 19 touchdowns, leading the Eagles to a 9-2 overall record. He earned Class M All-State honors and was the Republican-American's Red Zone Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder has worked on his footwork and arm strength throughout the winter and spring.
"I've conditioned my whole body, not just my arm," said Nicol. "The key is to stay healthy. I've only played quarterback for two years and I've tried to pick up as much knowledge as I can. I have a lot to learn. I'm really looking forward to college. This All-Star game is giving me a chance to play at a high level of football before I get ready for the preseason."
He reports to Western on Aug. 18.
While it is too early to see when Nicol will get playing time and make an impact in college, he only needs to look back to another ex-Eagles' QB who played at Western.
James Williams, an All-State QB in 2005, started four years for the Colonials, and holds records for most completions in a career with 628 and passing yards for a career with 7,370 from 2006-09, according to the school's statistics.
Reach Mark Jaffee at email@example.com or on Twitter @TheRealJaffman.
Reader Comments
The following are comments from online readers like you. In no way do they represent the view of The Republican-American.
Disgusted.... wrote on Jun 28, 2013 12:26 AM:
" This is completely ridiculous.... Although I love Nichol, does rep-am know that a 17 year old classmate of Nichol was drafted in this years MLB draft? How many Waterbury area boys get drafted?! By my count not many at all. Yet this newspaper has yet to print a single word about this kid getting drafted? Or the kind of season that he and his team had! You should be embarrassed Jaffee... If he was a holy cross student, it'd be front page news,,, I'm disgusted!!! "
Mark Jaffee wrote on Jun 28, 2013 11:43 AM:
" To disgusted.
I was in contact with the person you are referring to, and he will be written about real soon. He is away at a baseball tournament. You probably don't know that.
We did have his draft announcement, but calls were not returned intitally after from another member of our staff tried several times, and I was on vacation from day of draft until this week. "
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It seems that in most theorems outside of set theory where the size of some set is used in the proof, there are three possibilities: either the set is finite, countably infinite, or uncountably infinite. Are there any well known results within say, algebra or analysis that require some given set to be of cardinality strictly greater than $2^{\aleph_{0}}$? Perhaps in a similar vein, are any objects encountered that must have size larger than $2^{\aleph_{0}}$ in order for certain properties to hold?
The Zariski tangent space at any point of a positive dimensional $C^1$-manifold $X$ has dimension $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}= 2^{\frak c}$. Let me explain in the case when $X=\mathbb R$.
Consider the ring $C^1_0$ of germs of $C^1$- functions at $0\in \mathbb R$ and its maximal ideal $\frak m $ of germs of functions vanishing at zero. The cotangent space at zero of $\mathbb R $ is $Cot_0=\frak m /\frak m ^2$ and the Zariski tangent space is $T_0=(Cot_0)^{\ast}$ (dual $\mathbb R$-vector space). Now the germs of the functions $x^\alpha $ are linearly independent modulo $\frak m ^2$ for $\; \alpha\in(1,2)$ . Hence $dim_{\mathbb R} (Cot_0)=\frak c$ and so indeed the Zariski tangent space at zero of $\mathbb R$ is $dim_{\mathbb R} (T_0)=2^{\frak c}$.
It is noteworthy that many textbooks erroneously claim that for an $n$-dimensional manifold of class $C^1$ the Zariski tangent space defined above has dimension $n$. Or they make some equivalent mistake like claiming that the vector space of derivations of $C^1_0$ has dimension $n$ . An example of such an error is on page 42 in Claire Voisin's (excellent!) book Hodge Theory And Complex Algebraic Geometry I published by Cambridge University Press.
To end on a positive note, the phenomenon I am describing only raises its ugly head for $C^k$-manifolds with $k<\infty$. For $n$-dimensional $C^\infty$-manifolds the Zariski tangent space at any point has dimension $n$, as it should. The heart of the matter is that a $C^\infty$ function $f$ , on $\mathbb R$ say, which vanishes at zero can be written $f=xg$ for some function $g$ which is also of class $C^\infty$, whereas $g$ would only be of class $C^{k-1}$ if $f$ were of class $C^k$.
Here is an example from group theory.
The automorphism tower of a group G is obtained by iteratively computing the automorphism group:
$$G\to \text{Aut}(G)\to \text{Aut}(\text{Aut}(G))\to\cdots$$
Each groups maps homomorphically into the next by mapping an element $g$ to conjugation by that element. One may therefore continue the iteration transfinitely by taking a direct limit to get the group $G_\omega$ at $\omega$, and continue the process. At successor stages, take the automorphism group; at limit stages, take the direct limit of the resulting system. The question is whether the process ever terminates, whether one ever arrives at a group that is isomorphic to its automorphism group by that natural map. Such a group is complete, having trivial center and no outer automorphisms.
Wielandt (1939) proved that the automorphism tower of every finite centerless group terminates in finitely many steps. Hulse (1970) proved that the automorphism tower of any centerless polycyclic group terminates in a countable ordinal number of steps.
Simon Thomas (here at MO) proved (1985) in general that the automorphism tower of any centerless group $G$ terminates before stage $(2^{|G|})^+$ many steps.
This bound on the height of the automorphism tower is strictly larger than the continuum, even when the size of the group is not, and so it seems to be an example of the desired phenomenon. (There is a set-theoretic sense (Just, Shelah and Thomas) in which one cannot expect to prove a better bound.)
Thomas' papers are available on his web page.
Meanwhile, in the case of non-centerless groups, I proved that every group has a terminating transfinite automorphism tower (see Proceedings AMS 126 (1998)). The proof proceeds by showing that every automorphism tower leads eventually to a centerless group, and then appeals to Thomas' theorem. There is also an easy survey article available.
For general groups, the best known upper bound for the height of the automorphism tower is essentially the next inaccessible cardinal. Even for finite groups, no reasonable upper bound is known in the general (non-centerless) case.
The topic was also discussed at this MO question.
One of the quickest ways to demonstrate that there exist Lebesgue measurable subsets of the real line that are not Borel measurable is to compute the cardinality of the Lebesgue $\sigma$-algebra and the Borel $\sigma$-algebra. The former has cardinality $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$ (it contains the power set of the Cantor set), whereas the latter has cardinality $2^{\aleph_0}$ (by the transfinite induction construction of the Borel $\sigma$-algebra).
EDIT: Another potential place for larger cardinality sets to appear (though one which is still currently somewhat rare) is in nonstandard analysis. The usual construction of nonstandard models requires only countable ultraproducts, which do not increase cardinality that much. On the other hand, as a consequence, the models that one gets are only countably saturated. One can ask for more saturation by taking larger ultraproducts. In fact, if one iterates this process out to an inaccessible cardinal, one eventually obtains a monstrously large model which has saturation at all cardinalities smaller than that of the model. Such models have occasionally been used in analysis (e.g. in a recent paper of Hrushovski to attack the "noncommutative Freiman theorem" conjecture) but one can take the position that these tools are largely a convenience, and that one could work with a much less saturated model and still get the same applications at the end of the day (but perhaps with a lengthier argument).
I gather that something analogous happens in arithmetic geometry, in which it is convenient to work with Grothendieck universes which are again the size of inaccessible cardinals in order to obtain saturation-like properties, but that this is not absolutely necessary. (Though, I believe that the only extant proofs of Fermat's last theorem, for instance, still ultimately use Grothendieck universes, though perhaps not in a particularly essential fashion.)
The $\sigma$-algebra of all Lebesgue measurable subsets of $\mathbb{R}$ (i.e. the completion of the Borel $\sigma$-algebra) has cardinality $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$.
I think there are lots of familiar objects of cardinality $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$, so it might be interesting to concentrate on the ones that are larger.
For each $n$, there is a unique binary operation $*$ on $\{1,\ldots,2^n\}$ which satisfies $$a * 1 \equiv a+1 \mod 2^n$$ $$a * (b * c) = (a * b) * (a * c)$$ This is the $n$th Laver table $A_n$. The Laver tables have a purely number-theoretic definition (although see my other post concerning computation in them). These naturally project down to the smaller tables in such a way to give rise to an inverse limit. In this inverse limit, there is a copy of the generator and one can use it to generate an algebra $A_\infty$.
Here is the interesting part: the freeness of $A_\infty$ has been established from the assumption that, for each $n$, there is an $n$-huge cardinal (these are among the strongest of the large cardinal hypotheses). No proof is known in ZFC. See Laver's articles in Advances in Mathematics or Dehornoy's book "Braids and self distributivity" for more information. In my opinion this is the greatest problem in reverse mathematics.
These tables did originate in set theory, but they have natural connections to the study of braids (Dehornoy's book is testimony to this).
In his paper Higher set theory and mathematical practice MR0284327, Harvey Friedman shows how sets of higher rank are necessary to prove Borel determinacy.
Another instance is the Erdős–Rado Theorem, which says in particular that any graph on a set of size $(2^{\aleph_0})^+$ either has an uncountable clique or an uncountable anticlique (this result is best possible).
This is close to alephomega's answer, but looks less set theoretic. $\beta\mathbb N$, the Stone-Cech compactification of the natural numbers is the spectrum of the commutative $C^*$-algebra $\ell^\infty$. As pointed out above, the set is of size $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$.
For several results on the Ramsey theory of $\mathbb N$ (Hindman's theorem, Hales-Jewett theorem, even van der Waerden's theorem) it is very useful to consider compact semigroups that are Stone-Cech compactifications of countable discrete semigroups. As topological spaces these are homeomorphic to $\beta\mathbb N$.
In the same direction, the OP mentions "uncountable" sets, which often means sets of size $2^{\aleph_0}$. In Furstenberg's structure theorem which is used in his proof of Szemeredi's theorem, the cardinal (or rather, the ordinal) $\aleph_1$ figures prominently.
I have difficulties coming up with a set of size larger than $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$ that comes up in ordinary mathematics, though.
It seems that real "large cardinals" show up more often in this context:
The statement
that there is a non-trivial, $\sigma$-additive measure on $\mathbb R$ (i.e., one that measures every set) is equiconsistent with the existence of a measurable cardinal.
The existence of a Grothendieck universe is equivalent to the existence of an inaccessible cardinal, another notion of large cardinal.
For $X$ a countable $T_{3_{1/2}}$ space then the Stone-Cech compatification $\beta(X)$ has size $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$.
Also Shelah has written things about Dowker spaces of size $\aleph_{\omega+1}$.
Still in topology, $\mathbb{N}^{\aleph_1}$ is not a Cech-complete space. Recall that a Cech-complete space is space where the remainder $\beta(X) \backslash X$ is a $G_\delta$ set.
Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field. The Lefschetz principle states that, as far as "algebraic" statements are concerned, any algebraically closed extension of $k$ is "the same" as $k$. For instance, if $A$ is a finitely generated $k$-algebra and $K$ is an algebraically closed extension of $k$, then $A$ is a domain (or reduced, irreducible, normal,...) if and only if $A \otimes_k K$ is.
There is a precise version of this using model theory that can be used to prove the statements above (and a number of others), and hence is interesting to algebraists. It states that the theory of algebraically closed extensions of $k$ is complete. The standard way to prove this involves showing that for a sufficiently large cardinal $\kappa$, there is a unique isomorphism class of algebraically closed $k$-algebras of cardinality $\kappa$.
In particular, for this to be relevant, we must consider $\kappa > \lvert k \rvert$. If, e.g., $k = \mathbb{C}$, then we are using cardinalities greater than that of the continuum. Moreover, the fact that this cardinality is "large" is used in an essential way--it's not just a side effect of something else we're trying to do.
Denote by $H^\infty$ the Banach algebra of all bounded analytic functions on the unit disc. Then the maximal ideal space of $H^\infty$, (i.e., the set of all norm continuous, multiplicative linear functionals on $H^\infty$) has cardinality $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$. SInce maximal ideal spaces are used all the time in Banach algebra theory, this is an example of a naturally occuring ``large cardinal".
This is also an example of how knowing the (large) cardinality of a set may help direct us in research, even if this knowledge does not lead to a proof of anything. In this example, since the maximal ideal space is so wild, one realizes that it is ``hopeless" to find a nice analytic or geometric description of the maximal ideal space, and one is led to look for a suitable replacement. In algebras such as $H^\infty$ it is often the weak-$*$ continuous multiplicative linear functionals which are more useful (there are only $2^{\aleph_0}$ such functionals).
I have some other examples: tha cardinality of the family of dense non denumerable subsets of $\mathbb{R}^{n}$ (n=1,2...) is $2^{2^{\aleph_{0}}}$, the dimension of $\mathbb{R}$ like a $\mathbb{Q}$-vector space is $2^{2^{\aleph_{0}}}$, the cardinalitiy of the family of lebesgue non mesurable (and mesurables, mesurables with measure r (r a given real number), with infinite measure) sets is $2^{2^{\aleph_{0}}}$, the cardinality of the family of riemann integrable functions (in $\mathbb{R}^{n}$, n=1,2...)is $2^{2^{\aleph_{0}}}$, and so on...
Extending the answer by Stefan Geschke, another example is the enveloping semigroup of a compact dynamical system. Let $G$ be a topological group that acts continuously on a compact Hausdorff space $X$. Then each element of $G$ can be identified with an element of the function space $X^X$. The closure of $G$ in this space (under the product topology) is the enveloping semigroup of $(X,G)$. These are well studied in the theory of dynamical systems, for example they can be used to prove the Auslander-Ellis theorem.
The paper "On metrizable enveloping semigroups" by Glasner, Megrelishvili, and Uspenski (Israel J. Math 2008) gives some background and restates an explicit cardinality dichotomy between $2^{\aleph_0}$ and $2^{2^{\aleph_0}}$ in Theorem 6.1. That result is related to the group $\beta\mathbb{N}$ mentioned by Stefan Geschke and by alephomega. Their preprint is at http://www.math.tau.ac.il/~glasner/papers/metr.pdf .
For a discrete infinite amenable group $G$ the family of left-invariant means on $G$ is quite large having cardinality $2^{2^{|G|}}$. See Chapter 7 of
Although I am not sure how natural it is, there is a recent result of Farah and Katsura concerning the number of non-isomorphic hyperfinie $II_1$-factors with preduals having density character $\kappa>\omega$. This number is precisely $2^\kappa$. Since $2^\kappa$ is much bigger than 1, it is a pretty good reason to stick with separably acting von Neumann algebras. (Of course it may still happen that $2^\kappa = \mathfrak{c}$.)


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A paralyzing disease known as botulism has killed over 100,000 birds in parts of the Great Lakes since 1999. The outbreak is particularly harmful to some species of water birds, silencing the haunting call of many common loons and further threatening the federally endangered piping plover.
Scientific mysteries and partially answered questions surround the botulism outbreaks: How does the toxin spread through the food chain? What causes and sustains outbreaks in the Great Lakes? How can it be controlled or eliminated? The U.S. Geological Survey, in collaboration with the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners, and funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, is studying avian botulism to better understand and help mitigate deadly outbreaks in the Great Lakes.
"Botulism, we believe, is a consequence of Great Lakes ecosystems distressed by invasive species and disturbed delicate food webs," said Jonathan Sleeman, Director of the USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC). "We are working to detect botulinum toxin in the environment and determine how the toxin reaches and affects birds."
What is avian botulism?
Avian botulism is a deadly food poisoning of wildlife, caused by a toxin produced by the naturally occurring soil bacterium, Clostridium botulinum. The toxin likely accumulates in some invertebrate and fish species, which are then eaten by vulnerable water birds.
Two types of botulism are deadly to birds such as waterfowl, shorebirds, and colonial water birds. The majority of avian botulism is caused by Type C toxin, which can occur annually on wetlands, lakes, and ponds, while Type E toxin is limited primarily to the Great Lakes (but also occurs in Europe and other locations outside of the U.S.).
Botulism in humans is usually the result of eating improperly home-canned foods, which contain types A or B toxin. Type E intoxication of humans has been associated with improperly smoked fish. Thorough cooking destroys botulinum toxin that may be present in food.
An extensive problem
Outbreaks of avian botulism Type E have resulted in periodic and often severe die-offs of fish-eating birds in the Great Lakes since at least the 1960s, but have become common since 1999, particularly in Lakes Michigan and Erie.For example, in 2012, over 4,000 botulism-afflicted birds were found dead on Lake Michigan beaches.
On a larger scale, the USGS NWHC in Madison, Wisc., has developed an interactive national map showing the number of bird deaths primarily related to botulism Type C, when each outbreak occurred, and the top species affected, based on 25 years of bird mortality data.
At the base of the food web
Spores of the botulism bacterium are widely distributed throughout the environment, but can become active and produce toxins under suitable environmental conditions, such as warm temperatures coupled with the presence of decomposing plants and invertebrates. In some cases, birds may ingest the toxin by consuming decaying organic matter directly, or by eating live invertebrates whose food was laden with the toxin.
USGS and National Park Service scientists are studying potential connections between toxin production, lake-bottom sediment and water conditions, and the presence of invasive species such as zebra mussels, quagga mussels, and round gobies. The mussels create a hard surface on the lake bottom which allows algae to attach in places where it could not previously, and the mussels filter lake water and make it clearer. The clear water allows sunlight to reach further down into the lake and, combined with the increase in phosphorus from mussel excretion, human industry and agriculture along the shoreline, promotes extensive growth of the nuisance alga Cladophora. Later in the summer, the alga dies and decays on the lake bottom, creating a low-oxygen environment favorable to the botulism bacterium.
A paralyzing illness
The botulinum toxin attacks birds' nervous systems by preventing impulse transmission to muscles. Typical clinical signs of botulism in birds include:
Together, these impairments can lead to death by drowning, respiratory failure, or vulnerability to predators.
Battling back
The USGS and its partners are studying avian botulism on both microscopic and geographic scales as part of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Information gleaned from this research will help resource managers develop strategies to prevent or reduce the impacts of devastating botulism outbreaks in the Great Lakes.
Under the microscope
USGS researchers and their partners are investigating where and how Clostridium botulinum grows in Lake Michigan to uncover factors that cause botulism in water birds.
"Determining precisely where botulism outbreaks occur will allow us to further determine how birds ingest the toxin," said USGS microbiologist David Blehert. "To facilitate this research, we are working to improve our capacity to detect the botulinum toxin."
Laboratory tests following necropsies, or wildlife autopsies, are used to determine whether botulinum toxin was a cause of death in birds, and these analyses are conducted at the USGS NWHC. Work is underway to develop novel biochemical tests to more precisely determine the amounts of botulinum toxin in tissues from birds, fish or invertebrates. Molecular tests are also used to determine the amounts of toxin-producing bacteria in environmental samples, such as sand, mud, or water.
From the sky
The USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center (UMESC) in La Crosse, Wisc., is studying the distribution, movement, and feeding patterns of water birds to help determine where and how they come into contact with the botulinum toxin. This information will eventually help identify what drives botulism outbreaks in the Great Lakes for wildlife management purposes.
"Our research can help managers effectively focus their conservation efforts," said USGS scientist Kevin Kenow. "If we know where loons and other waterbirds obtain contaminated food, management tactics can be targeted to those areas."
Kenow and his colleagues use aerial surveys and tracking technology to determine migration and feeding patterns of the iconic common loon. Satellite
tracking devices implanted in loons from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Michigan Upper Peninsula help scientists determine where the birds are spending time on the Great Lakes during their seasonal migrations, and where additional research could focus to provide insight on routes of exposure to the botulinum toxin.
Other loons are tagged with electronic geolocators, which record daily information about the birds' specific feeding behavior. Geolocator data, such as location, temperature, light levels, and pressure, tell how far down in the water loons dive for fish: Close to 150-foot dives have been recorded, suggesting that loons may be exposed to the toxin in deep offshore waters.
The public can track loon migratory movements from current and previous aerial surveys on the USGS common loon migration page.
On the ground
A beach strewn with lifeless birds is a disheartening sight. However, some citizens have been channeling their concern into action through the Avian Monitoring for Botulism Lakeshore Events (AMBLE) citizen science program. Established by the USGS in 2011, AMBLE trained volunteers to monitor, count, and collect data on bird carcasses found along the shores of northern Lake Michigan. The 2011 AMBLE focus area was Door County, Wisc., and was expanded to include some of the Green Bay shoreline in 2012.
Data collected are entered into an online portal maintained by the USGS NWHC, and especially when combined with data collected by NPS volunteers and biologists around northern Lake Michigan, provide valuable information about the timing, severity, and bird species affected by botulism.
"We are using data collected by beach monitors to create a statistical model, or representation, of the pulses of reported mortality in space and time," said USGS scientist Jenny Chipault. "Repeat data from 2013 will validate and strengthen the model and ultimately help define Lake Michigan bird mortality trends."
Data on bird mortality are also being used to help determine the locations of intoxication based on the ecological characteristics of the species involved.
AMBLE volunteers are specifically trained in safe handling and disposal of wildlife carcasses they may find.
"In general, untrained people should not pick up or touch sick or dead wildlife," said Stephen Riley, USGS scientist and lead of the Great Lakes botulism study. "Instead, they should alert their state wildlife officials about the location, and those officials will properly dispose of the carcasses."
More information
For more information on USGS avian botulism and wildlife disease research, please visit the following websites:
USGS National Wildlife Health Center: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_botulism/index.jsp
USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/umesc_home.html
Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: http://cida.usgs.gov/glri/projects/habitat_and_wildlife/avian_botulism.html
USGS Michigan Water Science Center: http://mi.water.usgs.gov/
USGS Great Lakes Science Center:http://www.glsc.usgs.gov/
Restoring the Great Lakes, DOI publication on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (PDF file): http://greatlakesrestoration.us/pdfs/doi-glri-report-20131028.pdf
USGS Common Loon Migration Page: http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/terrestrial/migratory_birds/loons/migrations.html
USGS video podcast: Unraveling Mysteries of the Common Loon: http://gallery.usgs.gov/videos/688
USGS AMBLE citizen science program: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/amble/
USGS National Atlas Avian Botulism Wildlife Mortality Information: http://www.nationalatlas.gov/mld/wlbotut.html
Wildlife Health Event Reporter: http://www.whmn.org/wher/


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Yo his chiff is crazy. Its like hes holstering a banana!
by Uknowwho420 January 18, 2011
Trending Now
Top Definition
1.To act like an idiot or be in a stage that makes you act a certain way usually not a positive
2. to fuck someone over or get fucked over numerous times.
2. to fuck someone over or get fucked over numerous times.
You Oliver blazed adam so he didn't have to owe him nah i heard he was chiffed.
by KYLEISTHEBEST August 09, 2010
A term for oral sex. Often used when describing oral between two men. This is a word normally used in mixed company due to the ambiguity of the meaning.
"Carl lost they bet! He really doesn't want to chiff Roger."
by Avis Vir September 08, 2008
to rearrange into a chaotic sense of disorder to ones own personal taste.
Yo wisely, How 'bout I chiff your teeth so you be chewing bloody chiclets, bro?
by Manfred" /Bloomfield" Gabriel September 04, 2006
Even thoug it is pretty much impossible to do, it is similar to a queef, but you fucking fart out your cock.
I was fuckin your mom in the ass when all a sudden i chiffed in her asshole. She said it felt extremely nice.
by Kyle Smith July 05, 2004


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Ed Andrieski/Associated Press
Ed Andrieski/Associated Press
ENGLEWOOD � Derek Wolfe is a blur.
Whether it�s making up for a lost offseason or slipping past offensive linemen, the Denver Broncos� top draft choice is giving opposing coordinators and quarterbacks more to worry about in 2012 than just Pro Bowl pass-rushers Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller.
The Broncos drafted Wolfe in the second round (36th overall) out of the University of Cincinnati, but an NCAA rule kept him from joining them until his class had graduated. So, he showed up at training camp with some catching up to do.
He quickly made up for lost time, whether it was playing inside at tackle or outside on the edge. When left defensive end Jason Hunter went down with a torn right triceps earlier this month, Wolfe moved into the starting lineup.
�Oh, he�s the man,� said Miller, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year who tagged he and Dumervil as Batman and Robin during last preseason.
On second thought, make that the �Wolfe-man.�
�Hopefully we can get Broncos stadium howling a little bit,� Miller said with a laugh. �It�s truly a blessing to have him in there. He makes anything a lot easier. You�ve got Derek Wolfe, he�s 6-5. I�m 6-3. You�ve got Elvis, he�s 6-foot, so there�s a lot of stuff for guys to game plan around.�
When the Broncos signed Peyton Manning in March, Miller said he and Dumervil immediately thought of all that success the Indianapolis Colts� tandem of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis had rushing the passer whenever Manning gave them an early lead and forced quarterbacks to go to the air.
When the Broncos selected Wolfe, Miller said he figured this terrifying tandem would just have to be a troublesome threesome.
Here�s the rub: With Manning on board and Denver�s defense displaying this kind of pass-rushing prowess, opponents will try to run the ball on the Broncos to keep it out of the four-time MVP�s hands and to keep Dumervil, Wolfe and Miller off of their quarterback.
That�s where Wolfe, who had two sacks in his preseason debut at Chicago against the Bears, said he has to make strides.
The Broncos allowed the Seattle Seahawks to run wild on them last week.
�I blame myself for some of that, because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time sometimes,� Wolfe said. �Just get better every day. That�s what we�ve got to do. Come back next week and get better.�
Given how far Wolfe has come so far, the Broncos are confident he can make adjustments. After all, he wasted no time in catching up once camp started.
�Well, he picks up things quickly,� defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio said. �They did a lot with him in college, so he�s been exposed to a lot, and he played all around the front; he played from nose all the way out to defensive end out wide, so he�s done a lot of those different things. It was really a matter of him learning the terminology. He is an intelligent young man, and he�s done a nice job picking things up.
�He still makes his share of mistakes, and we still have a ways to go, believe me, he�s not a finished product. He�s got a lot of work to do. But I like the way he�s started.�
Del Rio described Wolfe as �slippery� at defensive tackle and �rugged on the edge.� He said Wolfe proved a quick study by deciphering the playbook and quickly putting those lessons to use on the field.
�I couldn�t do anything when I was out,� Wolfe said. �So everybody had a couple of weeks and the whole spring on me. So I had to really grind when I got here, stay with my nose in the playbook.�
Defensive line coach Jay Rodgers quizzed him on the playbook for a couple of hours each day until he had it down, and it paid immediate dividends.
�The one thing that can happen for young guys is sometimes they tend to want to be perfect, and then they�re thinking a lot, making a lot of mistakes, and they�re playing slow. He�s not doing that. He�s playing fast, playing hard,� Del Rio said.
And Wolfe is in just as big of a hurry to fix the flaws in his game, too.
�I haven�t arrived yet,� Wolfe said. �I�ve got to keep working.�


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Gadgets: iNotebook transfers writing to iPad
|The iNotebook, a joint effort between Targus and iDevices, gives iPad users the option to write or draw on paper and transfer it to the table wirelessly. (Targus/MCT)
The new device, gives iPad users the option to write or draw on paper and transfer it to the table wirelessly.
The hardware includes the Bluetooth-enabled writing receiver that communicates with the included stylus/pen to transfer the handwriting. Both are built with an internal rechargeable battery and are charged with the included mini USB cable.
A leather portfolio is included to house the iPad and notepad (compatible with standard A5 and 8-by-5 notepads), which isn't made of any special paper so it should be easy to find replacements.
Setup is simple, requiring download and installation of the free iNotebook app from the Apple App Store.
The app puts all the pieces together from the pen, to the paper, receiver and finally to the tablet.
There's not a lot to it; get all the pieces turned on and write away. Documents can be saved in the Apple iCloud.
Other features can be customized, such as how to organize the saved files, what the backgrounds look like and you can even email directly from the app.
Details: www.Targus.com $179.99
When you read the list of features in the Pelican ProGear S100 Sport Elite laptop backpack, you would think you're reading combat specs.
From a distance it looks like any other backpack but when you get up close you see the craftsmanship that a company like Pelican has become known for. Among the features are a built-in crushproof and waterproof case, lockable compartments, a TSA-ready laptop area, hip belt, shoulder straps and a lumbar pad with an ergonomic ventilated back.
It weighs 7.14 pounds empty and is carry-on friendly when traveling by air. The TSA aspect keeps your laptop (up to 17-inch) in a separate compartment so it can be inspected by airport security without obstruction.
Details: www.pelicancases. com $242.96
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April 20, 2014
Boulder campus Staff Council invites you to join the Spring Blood Drive! Make an appointment or walk in, call 303-363-2300 or visit www.bonfils.org and use Site Code 0248 to make your reservation.
You might think that Bonfils has enough blood donor support to maintain the blood supply, but in fact, the need for blood is constant. Bonfils Blood Center needs thousands of blood donors each week to meet Colorado's needs and to be prepared for unexpected events. All blood types are needed and we welcome new blood donors to join the Bonfils family.
April 21 - 24, 2014. UMC rooms 415-417. 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day. Walk-ins are always welcome.
If you are unable to donate at this time, please visit a Bonfils location, use code 0248 for donor credit to CU-Boulder's blood drive.
For phone questions, call Bonfils' Donor Relations department 303-363-2202 or 800-365-0006, option 1.
Thank you for passing this on to friends, colleagues and students.


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The Shady Agendas Behind 5 Popular Conspiracy Theories
Do you ever wonder why some conspiracy theories, no matter how retarded they sound, seem to never die? Where do these things come from, anyway?
Well, it turns out that politicians have realized that in the Internet age, a good conspiracy theory can work wonders. So why not just start one? You know, like...
#5. Barack Obama's Citizenship
The Theory:
Barack Obama isn't a natural born citizen of the United States and so legally cannot be president. He wasn't actually born in Hawaii and the Government is concealing this fact by refusing to release his Birth Certificate (or releasing a forgery).
Who's to Blame:
World Net Daily.
This one started spreading through chain e-mails during the recent Democratic primaries, when office workers the world over were reading about how Barack Obama couldn't be president (in-between learning how to increase the size of their penis for pennies a day). For some strange reason nobody seemed very concerned about his citizenship when he was a mere Senator, but that was probably just an oversight on the part of the rigorous journalists and fact-checkers who create chain e-mails.
What are you pointing to? Space? Are you secretly from space, Barack Obama?!?
However, it wasn't until the idea escaped the confines of the Internet and forced its way into the mainstream media that it truly emerged as a full blown conspiracy theory. This was in large part thanks to WorldNetDaily, an ultraconservative news site that was the first major media outlet to report the idea. After that, WND columnists brought the theory to radio talk shows, and then it spread to FOX News and other TV outlets, snowballing from a series of e-mails into a national talking point.
So, Why do People "Believe" It?
Despite the overwhelming physical evidence (the Obama campaign did in fact produce a copy of his birth certificate, and others even dug up the local Hawaiian newspaper from 1961 that has the Obama family birth announcement), it was promoted quite heavily by some Conservative commentators right up to Election Day and lives on in places like the Free Republic forums to this very day.
After all, you already had a guy with a foreign-sounding name, so what better way to influence a Presidential election than by suggesting the candidate is about as American as borscht?
Now that Obama has been elected and the Supreme Court has shot down legal challenges regarding his citizenship multiple times, the vast majority of political commentators quickly let this one die. A few committed critics of Obama still cling to it, though.
After all, conspiracy theories never really die, they just wait for people to forget the evidence against it and bring it up later (hell, they've kept the JFK assassination conspiracy theory alive for 46 years). Right up until the day Obama leaves office, there will be a pocket of those who hold out hope that one day a birth certificate will emerge that shows Obama was born in the mountains of Pakistan from the womb of Satan, and then he'll be forced to flee the White House, revealed to the world as the gay communist Islamofascist terrorist they've always known him to be.
#4. The "Clinton Body Count"
The Theory:
While Governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, with the help of Hillary, was involved in a cocaine smuggling operation and that he's had upwards of 60 people assassinated for threatening to reveal his secrets or for just generally annoying him.
Who's to Blame:
Richard Scaife, a billionaire who really, really hated Bill Clinton.
Scaife was really unhappy about Bill Clinton being president. And not in the "I'll voice my displeasure with his administration with a rant in the comments section of this YouTube video about kittens" way. He preferred the "I'll invest millions of my dollars in a campaign to discredit him" method.
"This is the best possible way I can spend my money!"
So Scaife created the Arkansas Project, which ran a series of investigations designed to damage and ultimately end Clinton's presidency. A lot of what they looked into was legitimate, or at least believable: shady real estate deals, Bill's raging libido, and so on. And then, there was the suicide of Vince Foster, and they took the project to a new, crazy level.
Vince Foster was the White House Counsel (legal guy) who turned up dead. Three separate investigations ruled it a suicide, but members of the Arkansas Project produced a 1994 film that suggested, with the help of sinister music and shadowy witnesses, the Clintons were responsible for the murder of Foster and many more, killing anyone who was getting too close to their secret, drug-fueled past.
Well he certainly looks like a Soprano in this picture...
So, Why Do People "Believe" It?
Vince Foster's death became a huge talking point in Republican circles, fueling speculation about Clinton abusing his power. More importantly, it got people talking about the legitimate, non-fake scandals Foster was connected to, which ended up damaging the Clintons' image. And once something works in politics, you don't drop it until your dying breath. Or until the election is over.
A number of people involved in the Arkansas Project would eventually admit they thought the Foster thing was bullshit, and Scaife himself would later endorse Hilary Clinton for president, which suggests that either he agreed that the whole theory was retarded, or he had no problems with a mass murderer running the country.
#3. The Jews Secretly Run the World
The Theory:
All of the "big" conspiracy theories, the ones that claim shady organizations secretly run the world, all seem to blame the Jews at some point (often this is coded into "international bankers").
Who's to Blame:
A Russian book called The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.This is supposedly a book written by a secret cabal of Jews that details how Jewish people will take over the world through trickery and deceit. Also through porn, there are two chapters about that.
The book is a hoax, generally believed to have been fabricated in 1895 by a Russian journalist named Matevi Golovinski. In an act of outstanding journalistic integrity, he wrote a fictional ancient document by plagiarizing a satirical work that criticized Napoleon III. All Golovinski really did was replace Napoleon with Jews and called it a day, making him the laziest anti-Semite in the history of the world.
This one has been proven to be a forgery and a hoax many times over, and there's also the fact that anyone who is serious about conquering the world probably wouldn't write their plan out and make sure it was widely distributed. In fact, it's been known that the book is a fake since 1905, after an investigation was ordered by the Russian government.
But don't tell the conspiracy sites, Neo-Nazis and the world's angrier Muslims who still quote it as their key piece of evidence against the Jewish conspiracy. To them, that shit is as sacred as The Torah.
So, Why Do People "Believe" It?
Remember when we said that conspiracy theories never really die? Well it's even truer when they involve the Jews, who have been persecuted pretty much everywhere they've lived since, we don't know. Abraham?
And these days there's this little Jewish state called Israel that isn't on the best of terms with some of its neighbors. Well, the book was the perfect piece of propaganda and soon after Israel was established surrounding governments started cranking out copies. It's a best seller in Syria and Iran. Saudi Arabia teaches it as fact in their schools, and organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah give away large numbers of copies.
Strangely enough the book is also very popular in Japan, but in that translation the Jews are all 12-year-old schoolgirls that pilot kosher robots, so it's difficult to make any comparisons.


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Sometimes you have a choice about how your baby will enter the world; other times (due to medical necessity or emergency) you do not. As you wait out your pregnancy, it's a good idea to learn about possible types of delivery so that you can make an educated choice when you have an option. The basic methods of delivery are (1) natural, (2) medicated, and (3) cesarean.
Natural childbirth is delivery without benefit of powerful pain medications.
Natural childbirth is any delivery without powerful pain medications. Whether your child is born naturally after careful preparation in natural childbirth classes or born on the way to the hospital in the back of your car without benefit of medication or medical assistance, it is a natural birth.
Today, there are many natural childbirth methods, programs, and classes to help you prepare to give birth without pain or medication. If a natural birth is something you would like to experience, make sure you take the time to prepare well in advance of your due date. With proper training, a natural birth can be very rewarding and personally satisfying. Without advance preparation, however, it can be a painful and traumatic experience.
Learn all you can about the medication options available for delivery. This will help you feel more involved and knowledgeable when your partner goes into labor and asks for pain relief.
Not all women care for the idea of natural childbirth. They prefer to use medication to dull or completely eliminate the pain of labor and delivery. Choosing a medicated delivery is neither a good nor bad decision; it's simply another option for women today.
If you're interested in a medicated delivery (or even if you plan a natural birth, but want to know all the options), consider the various kinds of pain relief available. Then talk to your doctor. Her experience and expertise can help you understand the possibilities. You'll find that most doctors have the option of a variety of choices, depending on your specific needs. Most likely your doctor will choose the best pain relief for you from a number of analgesics, tranquilizers, and anesthetics. General anesthesia might also be necessary in a complicated case.
Analgesics are medications that relieve pain.
Anesthetics are medications that produce a loss of sensation.
You're familiar with analgesics such as aspirin and Tylenol. These are drugs that relieve pain. During childbirth stronger analgesics such as Demerol are frequently used. These drugs are usually given intravenously, through an IV drip. In this case the medication is "dripped" slowly through a needle that has been inserted in one of your veins or muscles (the buttocks, for example) after labor is well underway. Medication is fed to the needle through a tube connected to a plastic bag.
The effect of analgesics on the newborn depends on the dosage and how close to delivery the drug is administered. Some infants are born sleepy and unable to suck; others might have trouble breathing and need oxygen. These side effects are not dangerous and quickly wear off.
A forceps delivery is one that uses an obstetrical instrument that resembles a pair of tongs to gently grab hold of and pull the infant's head out of the birth canal.
If your partner delivers your baby under general anesthesia it is unlikely that you will be allowed in the delivery room. Find out in advance so you know what to expect if this happens.
Drugs that produce a loss of sensation are called anesthetics. These medications interrupt the pathway of nerves that carry sensations of pain to the brain. In effect they "block" pain messages and are commonly called "nerve blocks." During delivery your doctor can choose a nerve block that will completely numb you from the waist down or one that numbs a smaller vaginal area.
The most frequently used blocks are the epidural, pudendal, spinal, and caudal. Let's look at each in turn:
If you'd really like to be completely knocked out during your labor and delivery, you're not alone. Lots of women would be very happy to miss the birth, wake up, and jump right into motherhood. In years passed you might have gotten your wish. But today, general anesthesia (causing unconsciousness) is reserved in obstetrics for only a few dire cases.
General anesthesia is used only in special cases because…
Convinced? Unless general anesthesia is absolutely necessary, you will be awake during your delivery. The state of "absolutely necessary" occurs when a nerve block is not an option. This includes…
General anesthesia is also considered when…
You should discuss medication options with your doctor/midwife before your delivery so you have an idea of what will happen when you go into labor. After that you have to trust your doctor to make the right decisions based on your immediate needs at the time of delivery.
Cesarean birth (also called a C-section) is childbirth through an incision in the mother's abdomen and uterus. This is major surgery and carries its own potential for complications. But when a cesarean is necessary, it is the safest form of delivery for the baby. Many healthy babies who are born through a C-section would not have survived a vaginal delivery.
The reasons for a C-section birth are many and the final decision is up to the doctor. Although some women ask for a cesarean in hopes of avoiding the pain of a vaginal birth, it is not an elective operation. C-sections are performed for very specific, medically sound reasons, such as…
If your partner delivers your baby by cesarean section, she'll need lots of support. Reassure her that she did a wonderful job and that having a C-section takes away nothing from her status as a champion mother. Make sure she has help when she returns home.
Cesarean delivery is a last resort. It is avoided if possible because it can cause complications that affect both infant and mother. It is major surgery and therefore causes greater blood loss and higher anesthetic risk. It also requires a longer, more expensive hospital stay, a greater need for blood transfusions, and a prolonged recovery period. But if your doctor knows in advance that you might need a cesarean, you should feel gratified that this medical option is available to give your baby the best chance of a healthy delivery. If you expect to have a vaginal delivery, you probably will, but you should also know what a C-section is so that if a medical emergency during labor makes a cesarean necessary, you'll know what's going on.
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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