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Climate change & 'the afterlife'
There's an interesting quote from Jonathan Schell in the New Yorker's recent remembrance of the late author. Schell, who in his book The Fate of the Earth "brought home the sheer reality of what it would mean to explode our atomic arsenals, summoning up not the mainly visceral, personal fear of the duck-and-cover drill but the far deeper horror of a world permanently sterilized and impoverished," had late in his life come to apply his thinking about nuclear war to climate change. "Both crises," the article quotes him as saying, "reveal a kind of bankruptcy at the crucial hour of many of the things we place our faith in… . I can easily imagine that in six months the whole earth will be blazing with anger at what's going on. I can imagine that, but I can't imagine how it will happen."
About a week has passed since the release of the latest and correspondingly more dire report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—things are only getting worse and "no one on this planet is going to be untouched by the impact"—which means about one less week for the world to muster the anger Schell was hopeful about. The media has generally performed well, at least according to Media Matters, which approvingly notes the amount of coverage the report has received from cable outlets like Al Jazeera and MSNBC and even broadcast networks like NBC. CNN largely ignored the report, however, devoting less than two minutes to it, in contrast to the twenty-plus minutes elsewhere; Fox, in giving it more time, also provided "coverage that largely denied the danger of climate change." (An aside: Roger Ailes, who runs Fox News, was arguably at one time a relative environmentalist, using his position as media consultant to the Nixon administration to encourage the president to promise a Kennedy-esque mission to eliminate water and air pollution in America by 1980.) Related articles and analyses continue to appear, including this BBC item on Exxon's breezy lack of concern over the impact of new climate data on its profits—although even it "does not dispute that global warming is happening."
Would that the rest of the world could be so nonchalant.
Elizabeth Kolbert, who has a typically blunt and uncomforting take in the New Yorker, has long been writing on climate change inaction. In response to last fall's release by President Obama of the executive order "Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change," which coincided with a leaked version of the IPCC report, she had this to say:
Promoting "preparedness" is doubtless a good idea. … However, one of the dangers of this enterprise is that it tends to presuppose, in a Boy Scout-ish sort of way, that "preparedness" is possible.
As we merrily roll along, radically altering the planet, we are, as the leaked I.P.C.C. report makes clear, increasingly in danger of committing ourselves to outcomes that will simply overwhelm societies' ability to adapt. … Thus, any genuine "preparedness" strategy must include averting those eventualities for which preparation is impossible. … As Obama himself put it in a speech…: "Those of us in positions of responsibility, we'll need to be less concerned with the judgment of special interests and well-connected donors, and more concerned with the judgment of posterity. Because you and your children, and your children's children, will have to live with the consequences of our decisions."
How many times that construction has been used as a call to action is impossible to count; as rhetoric it's become pretty pallid. But as a metaphor it won't lose resonance because of the deep-seated need for us to believe there will be other human beings to follow us, who will be born long after our own deaths. That's something Sam Scheffler gets at in his book Death and the Afterlife, which Thomas Nagel reviewed earlier this year. The afterlife, in Scheffler's conception, is really the "collective afterlife" – the notion of "the survival and continued renewal of humanity after our personal death." Nagel:
Scheffler believes that … the prospective absence of future persons would itself have major negative consequences for the living. And this reveals that the afterlife, the survival of humanity far into the future, has great importance for our lives in the present. As he summarizes his conclusion: "In certain concrete functional and motivational respects, the fact that we and everyone we love will cease to exist matters less to us than would the nonexistence of future people whom we do not know and who, indeed, have no determinate identities. Or to put it more positively, the coming into existence of people we do not know and love matters more to us than our own survival and the survival of the people we do know and love."
The IPCC report, composed according to Kolbert in "a language that might be called High Committee," doesn't talk about survival in such cosmic or philosophical terms, but it's hard to read its excerpts without feeling something like the apocalyptic anxiety that attended life in the cold war (fossil-fuel giants and those with apocalyptic yearnings excepted). It was Jonathan Schell's belief that, the usual suspects notwithstanding, people aren't in denial—only that "they lack faith in the system to change anything." The "how it will happen" thus remains to be imagined. Can something be discovered through the way we think about the people yet to come into existence, as Scheffler presents it, to inspire such imagination?
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Dominic Preziosi is Commonweal's digital editor.
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"Can something be discovered through the way we think about the people yet to come into existence, as Scheffler presents it, to inspire such imagination?"
And not just people: plants and animals too. I worry about all this a lot but aside from trying to leave less of a carbon footprint and voting for the right representatives and laws, I don't know what to do. Sadly, I don't think most people or governments have the will to fix the problem.
"I can easily imagine that in six months the whole earth will be blazing with anger at what's going on. I can imagine that, but I can't imagine how it will happen." "
I can't imagine people being angry when the unreversible future gets here for the simple reason that that unreversible point seems to be almost here and we're not even irritated about it. Some are mentally frightened, but not very scared in the physical/emotional sense of "scared".
By coincidence, this afternoon the weather creeped me out. It didn't make me angry, it just made me slightly scared. I was driving down my street when I noticed a very large piece of paper being blown quickly from the left side of the street to the right,and just as quickly it reversed its direction and blew back from right to left. The weather report had said tornadoes were possible, and it looked to me as if that tiny little swirl in the air might have possibly been the very beginning of one, a sort of warning of what was to come. It didn't develop into a tornado, but it was, shall we say, something like the beginning of a Hitchcock movie. I was made aware ever so slightly of the possibility of great danger ahead. Quite creepy.
The tornado didn't develop, obviously. Such is not what is happening with global warming. The first world-wide warnings of these weather disturbances and consequences for the Earth came in the 1970s when the Club of Rome predicted all this -- the very slow beginning of a monster trend. And now in 2014 it's happening. Some think we might even have already reached the point of no return.
The question now is how to make people vote for responsible leaders QUICKLY. What do the psychologists have to say about all this? Is there no way to make people face the immanent? Is it just to awful to contemplate? Do we just feel so helpless that the only thing to do is eat, drink, and be merry today?
Here's Wikipedia about that original Club of Rome report. It projected several models of the future. Only one model projected stability.
The weather here in California is becoming worse - increasingly bad drought and hotter too (today 86 F).
What depresses me is that we could have done simple things over the last 33 years that would have saved enormous amounts of carbon footprint and instead, did the very opposite. Instead of increasing suburbanization, clustering housing, stores and venues of employment could have reduced transportation requirements. Cars became larger instead of smaller with monster SUVs, trucks converted into personal transportation. Although insulation increased, houses were built larger. Without even considering photovoltaic solar, houses could have been built facing south to passively harvest the sun's energy with greenhouse type setups. The bottom line is still, population limits. And many population questions face us. How much are we overpopulated? How many people can the earth sustain at our level of consumption, at an African's level of consumption, and what population times consumption setting do we want? How do we get there? Chinese type repression, Singapore type incentivization? What kind of methods to use? Mass celibacy? Birth control? Abortion? Overlay those with the cultural and religious paradigms.
I always am frustrated when told I believe in anthropogenic climate change because I'm a liberal and I want all these changes. Not at all. I don't want these changes and the attendant sacrifice and work. I am an engineer, now retired, and when you ignore problems brought to your attention and employ wishful thinking, space shuttles explode. Right now, space shuttle earth is in trouble.
Some are mentally frightened, but not very scared in the physical/emotional sense of "scared".
Most of us aren't very imaginative. I saw this on a very small/micro scale during the depths of the recent recession. People who had been living a middle-class life would lose their jobs, burn through their savings, and ultimately lose their house. They would come to us for assistance. They hadn't imagined that such a thing could happen to them: "the poor" were someone else, not them. Things had always worked out before: why weren't they working out now?
The laws of physics are as unforgiving as the laws of economics. If the seeds already have been sown for bad things to happen to our climate, the laws of physics assure us that they will happen. But because we haven't seen them happen to us before, we can't imagine that they'll happen.
Here is Bertrand Russell on the fallacy of induction:
"And this kind of association is not confined to men; in animals also it is very strong. A horse which has been often driven along a certain road resists the attempt to drive him in a different direction. Domestic animals expect food when they see the person who feeds them. We know that all these rather crude expectations of uniformity are liable to be misleading. The man who has fed the chicken every day throughout its life at last wrings its neck instead, showing that more refined views as to the uniformity of nature would have been useful to the chicken. "
I see two novelties in the impending global warming disaster that make it incomparable to, say, the 20th century world wars. One is the diffuse responsibility and the disconnection between actions and consequences. I fly internationally, subSaharian Africa countries suffer from increasing bouts of drought and famine: the connection is quite remote! (I have yet to bring up the "sin of flying" in confession!) The other novelty is that we do not know how it will end. Wars end with peace treaties, but how does one end a phase of increased hardships in poor countries due to the way of life of people in rich countries? What will we do with hundreds of millions of refugess fleeing countries struck by famine? How will we keep people from being driven to dangerous despair? I fear that the political problems indirectly caused by climate change will quickly overtake the problems directly caused by global warming.
I'd like to dissent, gently, from Stanley Kopacz's view that population growth is the base of the problem. Herman Kahn showed 30 years (or more) ago that poor people don't take up much of the world's space and resources. What we are running out of is enough of those things to satisfy rich people. If everyone had a house like the Gateses, Florida would be well under water already. When Kahn wrote, the fact and theory were that rich people were increasing and multiplying. Now that they are decreasing and concentrating maybe we have bought a little time. In other words, a few superrich Kochs can be sustained at a level satisfactory to them if the rest of us will obligingly switch from steak to pasta. Population problem solved.
You got a problem with that?
malthus, paul erlich, club of rome. When will we humans realize we cant predict the future...
Air resistance goes up as the square. A car moving at 70 mph must push 16% harder against the air than at 65 mph. Work performed is force times distance and that's fuel expended. How many Americans exceed the speed limit? How many Americans care? I travel 65 mph on the highway and get passed by everybody and their grandmother. If we can't even inconvenience ourselves enough to obey the law, what chance does the climate have?
It is true that in principle overpopulation is not a problem - it would suffice to rebalance population and resources. For example, the population in Africa is increasing rapidly, the land is poor, and droughts are decreasing food resources. The population in the US is comparatively very sparse, and they could decrease their consumption by a factor of 3 on average and still be in the ball park of typical developed nations. So, one theoretical solution would simply be to bring two thirds of a billion people from Africa over to the US and reduce per capita consumption by a factor of 3.
But that's not going to happen. As long as people do not travel freely, we have to look at their situation from a more restricted viewpoint. Take Tanzania for example: reduced arable lands because of climate change, increased population. What are they to do? They can take preemptive measures - birth control - or continue to increase their population and face the natural consequences of insufficient resources: infant mortality, famine, war, refugees flooding neighboring countries. Either way, population will necessarily come to be in balance with the amount of food and water available, so the question is then whether it is preferable to control poulatio size by famine and war or by birth control.
Or maybe hope that the US (and other rich countries) will welcome starving Tanzanians with open arms. In principle, it is possible.
I agree with the thoughts andsentiments expressed above. Claire has put things especially well. Present political arrangements, both here in the U. S. and abroad, radically insufficient to respond to climate change, whether induced by human activity or otherwise. It is hard to see any successful response that will not be widely and vigorously opposed. New, internationally enforced coercive policies are apparently required, but who has the insight and will to design and enforce them is by no means evident. And even with the best of circumstances, success cannot be guaranteed. Nonetheless, inaction is irresponsible. And we all must be prepared to make difficult sacrifices for the sake of the good of future generations of people.
One caveat about Jim Pauwles' comment that the laws of physics are as unforgiving as the laws of economics. I know of no laws of economics that are as impervious to human efforts too modify them as are the laws of physics.
To Tom Blackburn: I think I did mention that it was a problem of the number of people times their consumption rate, not purely population. I agree with what you are saying. If the entire population of the earth lived as americans, the game would already be over. The chinese, with their new wealth, are starting to live as americans. Since so many people want to live like americans, it behooves us to set a better example.
To Bruce: thousands of lives are saved every year because weatherman tell us where and when tornadoes will probably occur and where hurricanes will make landfall. European meteorologists with a good model and a a supercomputer predicted the westward jag of Sandy. There is such a thing as cause and effect. If you smoke six packs of cigarettes, you will probably become sickly. I know one heavy smoker who made it to her eighties. I know a lot of people who are dead or sickly from it. When will people realize that actions have consequences and we have a good idea what those conaequences will be?
A friend of mine attended a speech given by Sandra Day O'Connor in Arizona a few years ago where she proclaimed that in the future, wars will be fought over water.And though she did not say this, my fear is that we ourselves in the West will do the unthinkable;use food and water as a weapon against our enemies.That this was unthinkable in the past ,something those evil communists do, does not strike me as unthinkable today. The oft heard phrases "let them eat sand" or "they can't eat oil" so gleefuly articulated, makes me think that what was once an obvious ethical red line in no longer perceived as an obvious ethical red line.More like a wish?I hope I'm wrong.
Can Catholicism provide, if not THE model, a model? We have monastic communities that work simply, share and pray, all communally. If the parishes and the rest of the Church could jetisson the strongly hierarchical, centralized power model, perhaps a way of life more simple, satisfying and efficient could be shown to the rest of America.
Problem is that the environment issue is wholly politicized between Repbublicans and Democrats. Similar to abortion. Political gain is the objective. Reality has nothing to do with it. In the sixties and seventies there was a groundswell for support for clean air and a better environment. It was very effective. At that time New York City was like Bejing is now. It is truly amazing how the air is so much better now. Incinerators were abolished and all kinds of controls were put in place.
Ted Hesburgh was very much in the forefront on those days. He provided as much leadership for the environment as he did for Civil Rights and World Peace. We need to roll him out and lead the nation again.
Problem is that the environment issue is wholly politicized between Repbublicans and Democrats.
I do strongly agree with this. In some ways it might be even worse than abortion, in that those at the top of the power and financial pyramid are strongly invested in the status quo.
I think what's necessary is to find ways to harness the genius of the marketplace and capitalism, rather than declaring the marketplace and capitalism to be the enemy. If consumers, companies and nations perceive that it is in their self-interests to do what is environmentally responsible, they will do it. I suppose that is the theory underlying cap-and-trade.
To Jim Pauwels: The genius of the marketplace will not be harnessed unless incentives are put in place and maintained over decades. Incentives for wind and solar are put in place and then expire according to the whims of the politics at the time. I would prefer a carbon tax rather than cap and trade. Simple and direct, at least to me.
Remembering what a force for good, Hesburgh was reminds us how misdirected our clerical leadership is today. Now more activity is on the abortion front rather than on social issues like jobs, hunger and the environment. Ted Hesburgh was able to do a lot of good despite William Buckley. The bishops in this country have been more aligned with politics than in justice for the downtrodden. Hopefully, the Francis revoution will change this.
A friend of mine attended a speech given by Sandra Day O'Connor in Arizona a few years ago where she proclaimed that in the future, wars will be fought over water.And though she did not say this, my fear is that we ourselves in the West will do the unthinkable;use food and water as a weapon against our enemies
The future is here! I live right next to Lake Superior, the largest fresh water lake in the world and the issue of selling water, and ethics associated with the practice have been getting attention as of late.
The Ontario government has systematically made its water resources vulnerable to private takeover and control (Intervenor v.22 no.1 & Intervenor v.22 no.5&6, dereg issue, print only).
For three years, the Ontario government has been paving the way for privatizing Ontario's water and sewage utilities. Numerous legal changes (Bill 26 and especially Bill 107) have served to both establish the rules for, and exclude the public from, future decisions about privatization of water and sewage plants by Ontario municipalities. (See "Is Public Control of Water on the Chopping Block?". Intervenor v.22 no.1, Jan/Feb 1997, print only, for a fuller discussion of this issue, including the privatization experience in England and Wales).
Water pollution rules have been weakened and Provincial monitoring and enforcement staff laid off (36.2% at the MoE and 40% at the MNR as of April 1998, Intervenor v.22 no.5&6). All of this, combined with crippling funding and program cuts and downloading of responsibilities, puts the financial squeeze, and the political heat, on municipalities. Previously public services, including water, could well be privatized and become available only to those who can afford to pay.
Despite public opinion surveys showing over 75% support for continued non-profit, public control of water in Ontario, the Province has forged ahead with this coordinated strategy.
Equally apparent is the strategy and agenda of the international water industry. With over 10 years experience in taking control of publicly-owned water around the world, the international water industry is now made up of multinational operations often structured as conglomerates. These corporations include water, electrical and gas (including pipeline) utility companies, large consulting, engineering and construction firms, and large financial institutions including banks and investment firms.
Everyday, weatherman recognize the fact that they might be wrong, eg there is a 30% chance of rain, but it actually rains or it doesnt. And even laymen can predict the weather a few hours early: it seems like rain today. Also, what about all the weathermen and models that did NOT correctly predict the westward jag of Sandy.
Climate prediction has 2 big problems
1) It takes a long time to observe the actual climate and then adjust the models. Since this field of study is in its infancy, the models are at best rudimentary and
2) Climate has many moving parts including volcanic ash, water vapor, oceans, none of which we claim to be able fully understand let alone predict, yet some claim climate is a "settled science". No science is ever settled.
Bruce, climate and weather are different. See the 1-minute cartoon in http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2012/01/the-dog-is-the-weather/
There hasn't been a great deal of attention since people find it hard to keep attending to cries of "the sky is falling." I suppose in places that have experienced a noticeable increase in temperature over the last 15 years, the report has a certain cred. But for those who can't help but notice the stats on fewer hurricanes and tornados and cooler temps, the report makes little sense. In case no one has noticed the existence of scientific papers and projects has never been a reliable means to get the rank and file really interested. So, if the sky is falling a bunch of us will be surprised and perhaps rue the day we didn't take heed. If the sky is not falling, we can probably count on the climate change folks to keep issuing warnings.
Bruce, I have no problem with the fact that there are other factors that affect the surface temperature of the earth. What is illogical is to say that CO2 doesn't. It has played a major role since the snowball earth catastrophe 2.65B years ago. The present climate science predicts climate change as an inevitability. The only question is how much. There are a number of feedbacks, positive and negative. To believe that they will all align to save our consumption lifestyle is wishful thinking and depending on a crap shoot. As an engineer, I have to recognize risk and deal with it. Even if the weatherman were only correct 1/3 of the time (they're much better than that) about tornadoes, if I get a warning on my phone, I'm headed for the basement. To wait for a complete 100% perfect system of prediction is to wait forever. There is nothing that has caused the bracketed uncertainty in this science to significantly widen. If anything, climate science is getting better and better as it studies the interactions of air and ocean. We shouldn't wait for the human population to crash to a few million before we say, "I guess those guys were right". One more thing, uncertainty in climate science is able to go in the bad direction as well. If we are to engineer tge future, we should reduce uncertainty, not increase it.
To John Feehily, what cooler temperatures? Hot records outpace cold records at five times the rate that would occur sans global warming.
"Can Catholicism provide, if not THE model, a model?"
The church is the *opposite* of what a model would be, given its fight against birth control. Latest example: the foot dragging in the Philipoines, one of the poorest counties in the world, with one of the fastest growing populations in Asia - 96 million people.
Water poverty in the US, at US Catholic ... http://www.uscatholic.org/articles/201404/high-and-dry-water-poverty-uni...
It's been a lot cooler where I live in Oklahoma. The rest of my family lives in greater Boston and they've been plagued with cooler temps and more winter weather as well. Oh, by the way, I know the difference between weather and climate.
To Crystal, I'm talking about the core, basic, communal values. Top down management, of course, is another thing altogether.
Stats on cooler global temperatures: http://www.scilogs.de/klimalounge/files/gistemp_nino_100.jpg
Indeed, you can see that the last couple of years were cooler than 2010, and that the previous few years were cooler than 2005. But if you step back and look at the diagram as a whole, that's cold comfort...
Boston and OK are two points out of thousands, of course. Any relatives in Alaska and California. By the way, I'm in the Pocono mountains and I saw -7°F. Cold, yeah. But not the -25°F I saw in 1982 and 1995. I told people who complained here about the cold that they were floridafied by the warm temperatures of the last decade.
Is there any way we can deal with this problem by awarding federal contracts to Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, Boeing, SAIC, Raytheon, General Dynamics and Hamilton Booze Allen? If there is, we can deal with the problem.
Tom Blackburn, you've found the path forward. Yes, we can.
I used to be a logic teacher. Looking back at the logic courses in those days, I think their greatest deficiencies were in 1) not teaching more about *why* humans are inclined to certain kinds of thinking errors, 2) how scientific method works, and 3) not teaching the the rudiments of probability theory and how statistics works and doesn't work. People then and now have graduated not knowing that although man is a rational animal, he is also an intrinsically irrational one at times, and they don't learn how to be critical thinkers when they need to be.
Scientists usually learn something about scientific method within their disciplines. But it is very unusual even for college graduates to learn *why* the method works and what its limitations are. (Even scientists don't learn about its limits, a subject covered by philosophy.)
There is a general lack of understanding, especially in otherwise intelligent and well-educated people, of what statistics can and cannot do. Because of this lack even smart people graduate unable to make knowledgeable decisions about voting on many, many issues because the people do not understand how to evaluate the uses -- and the misuses of statistics -- especially by special interests who regularly try to con the general population.
That's the main reason, I suppose, that I'm very grateful for the emergence of Nate Silver as something of an authority as a statistician. He doesn't just make forecasts -- he presents the data needed to describe accurately just what is happening, and then he uses the data to make the forecasts. He's a great antidote to wishful thinking. There are no more villages. The world has simply gotten too big and complex for us to rely only on our own observations and those of a few journalists when we form our opinions. The least we can do to eliminate our own unreliable opinions is to become better informed by people like Nate who have both the data at hand and the mathematical knowledge for forming forecasts. Making forecasts isn't all of what we need to do -- Nate won't tell us what we *ought* to do. But he and his colleagues can help us avoid errors.
Another problem with decision-making that's been mentioned is lack of imagination. We literally lack enough images stored in our memories to help us interpret new experiences. While our culture produces great movies with great images-- especially of alien worlds, movies aren't particularly good at giving us patterns of *internal* human experience, the sort of patterns of human thinking and behavior which we form by reading and forming images of realistic stories of all sorts, the sorts of stories generally found in novels and short stories. (Theatre and TV make us form images of external behavior, but it doesn't especially reveal *internal* patterns of thought, except for Shakespeare, of course). Without sufficient understanding of other people's internal reactions and motives -- without having ready patterns to explain the great variety of human behavior -- including those of opinion-makers and politicians, we'll continue to be out of touch with the the most important forces operating in the world, i.e., other people, especially the powerful ones.
Here's Nate's new blog. The blog covers all sorts of topics. He started out making forecasts about sports and was so successful he changed the face of baseball. Fortunately, he's branched out into other areas such as politics and sociology, and he promises to branch out even more.mmYes, you conservatives, good as he is, he could probably use some competition to present some other possible models. Then we might figure out just what is happening in climates world-wide and what we should *probably* do about it all.
Sorry to go on at such length, but I'm trying to save the world. Sigh. :-)
Ann - if I may take the liberty of adding to your list of decision-making problems: I've found that among the great blessings of this particular forum is that it stimulates study, conversation and reflection. I think there is a dearth of all three of these in our world, and that impoverishment leads to poor decision-making.
the afterlife, the survival of humanity far into the future, has great importance for our lives in the present. As [Scheffler] summarizes his conclusion: "In certain concrete functional and motivational respects, the fact that we and everyone we love will cease to exist matters less to us than would the nonexistence of future people whom we do not know and who, indeed, have no determinate identities. Or to put it more positively, the coming into existence of people we do not know and love matters more to us than our own survival and the survival of the people we do know and love."
I recall that the textbook in which I read Beowulf, a very long time ago, noted that its belief system was a core of paganism with a thin film of Christianity overlaid atop it, and that this could be seen in the characters' desire for fame, the pagans' version of human immortality.
Tolkien, who was immersed in sagas and epics, weaves this longing into the Lord of the Rings, in which the glorious accomplishments of long-dead or -gone heroes are remembered as sung lore, and there is a poignant scene in which Sam wonders whether the deeds of Frodo will ever be remembered in a song. In another passage, Gandalf, the personification of wisdom, notes that destroying the Ring is an obligation to future generations; for this reason, hiding the ring isn't sufficient: the quest to destroy it must be undertaken, even though it seems the height of folly.
JIm P. --
@11:23 I couldn't agree with you more.
@11:4o Have you read Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf? I think it shows very clearly an influence of Christianity on the warriors.. In fact, it shakes the belief that fame is most important. As I read it, Heaney's version shows that with the advent of Chrstianity there were highly ambivalent feelings towards war that were overwhelming in their intensity. I couldn't get very far into it . it was just too heart-rending to hear a great warrior's lament for his dead young warrior son. An anti-war work if there ever was one. (I feel the same way about the Anead -- yes, there are courageous heroes, but fame really isn't worth the horror.)
Oops -- I meant The Iliad.
Oops -- I meant The Iliad.
The Iliad is tragic but tales of later real life battles like Thermopylae and Marathon were kind of the opposite, I guess.
yes, there are courageous heroes, but fame really isn't worth the horror.
It's the hero's choice.
Re: Beowulf
It has been a long time since I read it but Sparky Sweets at Thug Notes has an awesome summary! My daughter turned me on to him! Too cool and really on point.
In his analysis, he suggests that the main themes are the play between human and monster suggested by the etymology of Beowulf's name (Man - Wolf)
He actually cites Nietzsche who said that whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. If you stare into the void long enough into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
The danger is becoming a beast like the ones he is fighting.
He actually cites Nietzsche who said that whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. If you stare into the void long enough into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you. The danger is becoming a beast like the ones he is fighting.
George - one of the key themes of the Lord of the Rings, too!
John P, ==
The big problem is that the hero, the decider, decides for the others, (these days the lower-level leaders and the grunts) who would not have made the same choice. In modern warfare generals and colonels don't fight on the battlefield the way that the mythhological heroes did.
I am not a pacifist, but the glorification of war is a sin. A very big one.
Let me return to the problem of climate change.
However desirable the "curricular" changes some of you have suggested may be, courses in formal ligic, statistics, etc. are not much of a response to the seriousness of the threat of climate change. As is widely kn own, formal logic and statistics don't deal with garbage any differentlly than they do with sound information. As they say, "garbage in, garbage out.
But let's try a thought experiment. What is the minimum material resources that a person, any person, needs to live a good life? Suggested readings: 1, the book of Exodus; 2 Epicurus, "Letter to Menoeceus," 3. More's "Utopia." "Exodus" tells us that God provides enough for His people. Epicurus and More's Hythloday tells us that we need much less than we are accustomed to think we do.
Here's the experiment. Assume that these minimums are not really sufficient. What else does a person need and why?
Presume (a) that your list is sufficient but far shorter than the one we actually live by, especially in the developed countries, and (b) that the threat of climate change is real and serious, then what steps would one take to reduce what we actually consume back to the level of what is essential for us to function as normal human beings over a lifetime?
Now take the results of this exercise and plan a political and legal regime that is both fair to all concerned, including future generations, and effective.
My own hunch is that nothing short of some form of global martial law has a plausible chance of being effective. I have no way to determine how fair it could reasonably be expected to be.
My main point here is that, without addressing the matters of genuine need versus the simply desirable, of constructing a regime that would distribute the available resources fairly, and a coercive power that would effectively enforce the distributional regime, there can be no effective response to the kind of environmental threats that are presently predicted.
Only experts can make reasonable predictions about what resources in what quantity are likely to be available in the coming decades. But all of us bear some nontrivial responsibility for getting ourselves ready for major changes and preparing others to accept them.
Only experts can make reasonable predictions about what resources in what quantity are likely to be available in the coming decades.
Yes, like the "experts" who devised the 5 year plans for the Russian economy. No "expert" knows whats is better for me than me (or maybe my wife). Central planning eliminates human freedom, something which each of us possesses because of our God creating us 'in his image and likeness'.
Now take the results of this exercise and plan a political and legal regime that is both fair to all concerned, including future generations, and effective. My own hunch is that nothing short of some form of global martial law has a plausible chance of being effective. I have no way to determine how fair it could reasonably be expected to be. My main point here is that, without addressing the matters of genuine need versus the simply desirable, of constructing a regime that would distribute the available resources fairly, and a coercive power that would effectively enforce the distributional regime, there can be no effective response to the kind of environmental threats that are presently predicted.
Bernard - naturally, this would be a non-starter, politically. We can barely agree on requiring motorcyclists to wear helmets and gun owners to lock up their guns. I would say that, if anything, Americans are becoming increasingly more unruly and libertarian from one generation to the next.
If we really want to make a difference (rather than simply adapt to worse environmental conditions, which is the "default" option and which, as I've commented here before, is what I think is actually possible), I think we need to work with instinctive human behavior rather than try to change it.
Up above, I mentioned cap-and-trade as one very modest example. Stanley Kopacz correctly noted that it is an example of government policy, and that many other types of fiscal and regulatory policy - taxes, credits, regulatory penalties, etc. are also possible. I don't really know if a carbon tax or the cap-and-trade scheme are particularly good ideas, but I am convinced that fiscal and regulatory interventions are one piece of the puzzle.
I believe that another piece of the puzzle is entrepreneurs finding ways to profit from environmental responsibility. If on-road-vehicle carbon emissions are part of the problem, then inventors will need to come up with practical solutions. People will still need flexible, affordable and safe transportation, and we have invested trillions of dollars in carbon-fuel transportation infrastructure. Battery-powered vehicles, it seems to me, are nearly there already.
I understand that industrial pollution in the developing world is a prime contributor, perhaps THE prime contributor, to the problem. Well-meaning Americans with a concern for the environment can do very little politically to solve that problem. Again, I believe what is needed is a set of environmentally responsible products and services that serve the self-interests of polluters.
I would be more assured of individuals making the right choices if Americans were properly informed. A small part of the media like FSTV and LINK covers the topic well. Most corporate media ignores climate change. GOP-TV obfuscates, elides and lies. At the same time, advertisements seduce and delude people into wanting things they don't need. The automobile is an artificial need resulting from the suburbanization of the US. What would happen to the US economy if we only bought mostly what we really need? For an interesting exchange between a physicist and economist on economic growth and energy limitations, try
Bottom line: somebody has to figure out a no-growth steady state economy.
What is the minimum material resources that a person, any person, needs to live a good life?
Here is a wild idea: subsidize backpacking vacations. Whenever I go backpacking, after a week or 10 days I am always struck by how little I really need to live on. Most fellow hikers have the same reaction, and we come back to civilization filled with intentions to live a simpler life. They evaporate rapidly, of course, but maybe if governments wanted to try to pull people in that direction, they could encourage us to not forget the freedom that goes with owning little.
Thanks to Jim Pauwels, Stanley Kopacz, and Clairre for their recent comments.
What strikes me is the urgency of the overall climte change problem. Is there time for thekind of patient experimentation that relies exclusively on education, working with our prrevailing sense of what is in our own interests, etc?
The historian Alexander Murray once said something like: Everybody knows there's something wrong with people. If it's something wrong with their minds, then education is the answer. But if there's something wrong with their wills, then what do we do?"
Mr. Kopacz is not demonstrably wrong when he says: "Somebody has to figure out a no-growth steady state econlmy." Even if this is something of an exaggeration, I cannot see that we can avoid making substantial and very painful changes in the way we well-to-do people live. The sacrifices, if they are to be effective, will be hard to take. If they are to be fairly distributed, it will take strong legal action to make the distribution and enforce it.
Jim is right that the requisite political will is nowhere in sight, despite the urgency of effective action. The best I can come up with, and I admit that it is extremely unattractive, is to think in terms of our being in something like a war for survival. If that happens not to be the case in my own late adult life, it is exactly what the scientific community is forecasting for lots of young [eople and for many prospective members of the generation that will soon be born. In a war for survival, there has always been something like a movement to martial law. Can one responsibly resist considering such a move as a necessary response to the urgency of climate change? Yes, but only if he or she comes up with a plausible fair and effective alternative program. To refer to an earlier comment of Jim's, just as the laws of physics don't depend upon our willingmess for their effectiveness, neither do the laws of biology that point to drastic climate change problems depend upon our willingness to accept the constraints that acknowledging them demand.
Bernard --
My point about logic and statistics was that we won't have sound policy until we have rational politicians; we won't have rational politicians until we have rational citizens to elect them; andn we won't have rational citizens until they learn how to think rationally, and, of course, are willing to do so.
Bernard - this forum is virtually the only place where I have the opportunity to discuss climate change. In my real-life travels, I sense that people avoid the topic, maybe as one of those ultra-divisive topics where the possible social cost is too great to risk it. If I'm right about that, then it's a sign that it's too politicized. Perhaps if we can find ways to cool down the political heat, we would make more progress on consensus-building?
Hi - I don't know if anyone is still reading this topic, but I'd like to call attention to this Bloomberg View editorial that tries to present some commonsense ways forward on climate change. Headline: "How to Reset the Climate Change Debate"


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Come discover the fruitful life that grows out of a heart grounded in prayer. This special exhibit will feature insights and teaching from God's Word plus stories and memorabilia from 70 years of ministry by Billy Graham, his Crusade team and his wife, Ruth. Experience for yourself the joy, peace and power that God gives when we surrender our cares to Him. THis special exhibit will be on display at the Billy Graham Library through June 29.
Admission to the Library is free.
The Billy Graham Library is located at 4330 Westmont Drive, Charlotte, NC. For more information, please visit our website www.billygrahamlibrary.org or call 704-401-3200.
Events for June 01, 2013in Events
June 2013
June 2013
Celebrating Today
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subset: commoncrawl


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'Mad Men' fans head to Manhattan for a cocktail
|Doug Quinn serves a Sidecar cocktail as he works at the bar at P.J. Clarke's in New York. P.J. Clarkeís is one of many bars and restaurants in Manhattan featured on the AMC show 'Mad Men,' which returns March 25 after more than a year hiatus. The show is filmed in California but itís set in New York, with many references to real establishments from the 1960s, some of which still exist. (AP Photo/Tina Fineberg)
While many of the places name-dropped in "Mad Men" no longer exist — Lutece, the Stork Club, Toots Shor's — there are plenty that do, among them P.J. Clarke's, the Roosevelt Hotel and Sardi's. Some Manhattan bars, clubs and hotels are even offering packages, drinks or viewing parties to mark the show's return.
Of course, the series is filmed in California, so what you see on TV are well-researched sets, not real Manhattan bars. But "Mad Men" fans will not be disappointed by reality: Many of the establishments that turn up on the show retain a classy, retro vibe in real life, and can offer a fun, sophisticated setting for drinks or a meal.
Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin, authors of "The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook," provide "A Handy List of Mad Men Haunts" in their book along with recipes from them.
"Some of these places just never go out of style, like the Grand Central Oyster Bar," said Zheutlin. "It's such a classic and bustling place."
"Mad Men" aficionados know the Oyster Bar at the landmark train terminal was not mentioned by name on the show, but it's believed to be the place where Don takes Roger Sterling for a martini-and-oyster lunch.
P.J. Clarke's, at Third Avenue and 55th Street, manages to appeal to a trendy 21st century sensibility while channeling the classic cool that got the crowd from "Mad Men" ad agency Sterling Cooper drinking and doing the twist. P. J. Clarke's "was the site of many `Mad Men' parties," Gelman said. "I think there might be more scenes set there" than any other bar or restaurant.
According to its real-life bartender, Doug Quinn, P.J. Clarke's "was a joint often frequented by Madison Avenue advertising executives during the 1960s. Our bar and restaurant continues to be a destination for this crowd."
Quinn says he'd recommend a sidecar cocktail to any "Mad Men" fans dropping by — "one part sweet, one part sour and one part strong."
For food, try a medium-rare bacon cheeseburger, once named "the Cadillac of burgers" by singer Nat King Cole. "It continues to be one of our most ordered menu items," Quinn said.
The Roosevelt Hotel, 45 E. 45th St. at Madison Avenue, where Don stayed after his wife Betty threw him out, is offering a "Mad Men in the City" package, starting at $425 a night through June 30, so guests can "experience New York City as Don Draper would," according to Kevin Croke, the hotel's director of sales and marketing.
The package includes accommodations, `60s-era themed cocktails at the hotel's lobby-level Madison Club Lounge or its rooftop bar, called mad46. Guests also get a DVD of the show's fourth season, a copy of "The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook," and tickets to the Paley Center for Media at 25 W. 52nd St., where the hotel has reserved a screening booth for viewing ads from the era.
The Pierre, a Taj Hotel, at 2 E. 61st St., which in "Mad Men" housed offices for the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce firm, will host a party March 27 at its Two E Bar/Lounge in honor of the new season.
Fans are invited to dress up in their favorite "Mad Men" outfits and try cocktails like a creme de menthe grasshopper or a "bikini martini," a gin, schnapps and blue curacao drink created in honor of the character Joan Holloway. The $14 cocktails will be offered Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m., along with a no-cover jazz duo.
One of the best places Zheutlin and Gelman ate while researching their cookbook was Keens Steakhouse, 72 W. 36th St. They found the steak "sumptuous," and were amused to learn that Keens' top chef had no idea the restaurant turned up in "Mad Men." (It was the site of a client lunch in which Don and Pete Campbell discuss the sport of jai alai.)
In contrast, Sardi's, 234 W. 44th St., was more faithfully recreated in a "Mad Men" episode, right down to the framed caricatures on the wall. Other "Mad Men" scenes took place at Dublin House, 225 W. 79th St., an old Irish pub where, on the show, Joan's husband gets drunk; The Palm, 837 Second Ave., a seafood and steak restaurant; and Barbetta, an Italian restaurant at 321 W. 46th St., which Gelman says remains "absolutely luxurious and romantic. You feel like you've gone to another era."
For "Mad Men"-style shopping, head to Bloomingdale's at 59th Street and Lexington, where Pete returned a wedding gift. (Bonwit Teller, where Pete gets Joan to take care of a stained dress, no longer exists.) Or check out any of Manhattan's Banana Republics. The chain did not exist in "Mad Men" days, but it's selling a line of clothes inspired by the show.
While "Mad Men" mostly has an uptown look, the characters sometimes go for a walk on New York's bohemian side. One episode finds Don with a girlfriend at the Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village for a poetry reading and folk music. The Gaslight, now defunct, was a real hangout for Beat poets and Bob Dylan. In May a club called 116 opened at the same address, 116 MacDougal St., with classic cocktails and acoustic rock.
If, like many "Mad Men" characters, you're a smoker, the newly renovated Carnegie Club cigar lounge, 156 W. 56th St., hosts a viewing party for the season premiere March 25. The Carnegie is one of just a few places in Manhattan where you can legally smoke indoors while dining and drinking, just like they did in the `60s. No worries about the club's TVs, though — they're big screen plasmas, not vintage black-and-white.
"The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook": http://www.unofficialmadmencookbook.com/
"Mad Men" in New York: http://www.nycgo.com/slideshows/don-drapers-new-york
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Yes - I use it and am rather pleased.
What I do is when setting up I hang a *plumb-bob from the center columm then put a marker under it for the centering. Then turn the camera out on the adaptor and move the tripod to line marker up the focus box by looking thru the view finder. I may or may not remove the marker and shoot the patch. With the marker in place I've got a logo in the panorama
* Use a rubber chair leg protecter lined with a piece of elastic to get a snug fit with a hole in the bottom center, a piece of waxed cord thru the hole to which the plumb-bob is tied. The cord moves the plumb-bob up and down as needed. Its held in place by the snug fiot of the eleastic lines protector to the center column


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Jeffrey Record is Professor of International Security Studies at the US Air Force's Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He is a former staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and author of Hollow Victory, A Contrary View of the Gulf War (Brassey's, 1993) and The Wrong War, Why We Lost in Vietnam (Naval Institute Press, 1998).
- Binding: Paperback & eBook
- Era: General
- Number of Pages: 216
- Subject: Strategy and Tactics
- Date Available: June 2014


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Apart from the Nation you are based at obviously.
In my current Sutton United game I have a complete mish-mash of different nations all with just one representative, apart from Chile. I have two Chileans BOTH Worldwide reputation strikers. They also happen to be captain and vice-captain at our club
25 year old striker Osvaldo Villalon is valued at £35.5m, 57 goals in 80 games.
30 year old striker Julio Cesar Cordova is valued at £24.5m, 143 goals in 210 games.
Do you find yourself just taking anyone who is quality or do field a nation of Brazilians?


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Let $X$ be a topological space. A free cohomology ring space is a space $Y$ and a map $X \to Y$ such that the $\mathbb Z/2$ cohomology of $Y$ is a polynomial ring with generators $a_1,...,a_n$, and the pullbacks of the generators along the maps form a basis for all the cohomology groups of $X$.
This definition may seem kind of, or extremely, strange, which is perhaps why I had to use a word salad title. The motivating example that interests me is the map $G_n^1 \to G_n^\infty$, for real or complex Grassmanians. (The map is induced by an embedding $\mathbb R^{n+1}\to \mathbb R^{\infty}$.) In either case, the latter is a free cohomology ring space of the former.
What I would like to know is if such a relationship could be made natural, that is, that there is a functor that takes a space $X$ to a space $Y$ and a map with this property that forms the appropriate commutative diagram. So far I have been unable to find one, and proving that a functor does not exist is probably beyond my command of category theory or topology.


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Games and entertainment are more amazing with Xbox 360. You'll enjoy the spacious 250GB hard drive, built-in Wi-Fi and three spectacular games — Fable: The Journey, Wreckateer and Kinect Adventures. *
No limits to the ways you play!
The Xbox 360 250GB Kinect Spring Value Bundle features three heart pounding games; Fable: The Journey, Wreckateer & Kinect Adventures, plus a 1 Month of Xbox Live Gold free for a limited time this Spring. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox Live, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant. Xbox 360 is more games, entertainment and fun.
Get your whole body in the game with an Xbox 360 with Kinect!
*Games inside marked packages, while supplies last. Download Fable: The Journey and Wreckateer with Xbox Live; 1.66 GB storage required.
Broadband Internet required (sold separately). Games, add-ons and media content sold separately. Xbox Live Gold membership and/or other subscriptions and requirements apply for some Xbox Live features. See xbox.com/live


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I've started a Worgen character and have mailed him a handful of useful bits and pieces (heirlooms and other low level gear). However I haven't been able to find a mailbox in the Gilneas area since I was Level 1 in Gilneas City. I've reached Stormglen Village and was wondering when am I next likely to see a mailbox?
There aren't any. You'll see your first mailboxes (and flight points) when you leave that zone. The reason will make sense when you finish the zone quests...
I don't know exactly when this was added (likely patch 4.0.6), but there is now a mailbox in the starting square in Gilnaes.
If you turn around, it should be just past (and to the right of) Gwen Armstead, who gives you the quest Salvage the Supplies.
I'm not sure if any others were added or not.
There IS a mailbox in Gilneas, near Duskhaven, just outside the Inn.
I found one. If you run back into the city, in the Merchant Square that was the starting area, the mailbox is still there. Depending at what point in your questing you do this, however, the city might have forsaken crawling in it. For me, I was at the quest where you rescue the miners when I decided I really hated the toon and wanted to send off my looms.
Up until you trigger the forsaken to swarm the city (which I think isn't until you're on the quest to retake it), you can run back into the Merchant Square and use the mailbox.


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The levee being constructed on Augusta's west side is still about six percent ahead of schedule.
Despite two major snowstorms and a rainy weekend, workers have been able to complete important tasks to stay slightly ahead of schedule. The project is set to be completed on August 30, 2013 at a cost of more than $6.6 million.
The contractor have completed several phases of the project including metal buildings and "stop log" structures.
Over the next week, the expect to begin removing the asphalt from Thunder Road and start the preparations to repave it. Other upcoming work includes completing the installation of the pump station and adding rip rap to protect the levee structures.
Location, ST | website.com


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Yammer, Berkeley DB, and the 3rd Platform
By Eric Jensen on Jun 27, 2012
If you read the news, you know that the latest high-profile social media acquisition was just confirmed. Microsoft has agreed to acquire Yammer for 1.2 billion. Personally, I believe that Yammer's amazing success can be mainly attributed to their wise decision to use Berkeley DB Java Edition as their backend data store. :-)
I'm only kidding, of course. However, as Ryan Kennedy points out in the video I recently blogged about, BDB JE did provide the right feature set that allowed them to reliably grow their business. Which in turn allowed them to focus on their core value add. As it turns out, their 'add' is quite valuable!
This actually makes sense to me, a lot more sense than certain other recent social acquisitions, and here's why. Last year, IDC declared that we are entering a new computing era, the era of the "3rd Platform." In case you're curious, the first 2 were terminal computing and client/server computing, IIRC. Anyway, this 3rd one is more complicated. This year, IDC refined the concept further. It now involves 4 distinct buzzwords: cloud, social, mobile, and big data.
Yammer is a social media platform that runs in the cloud, designed to be used from mobile devices. Their approach, using Berkeley DB Java Edition with High Availability, qualifies as big data. This means that Yammer is sitting right smack in the center if IDC's new computing era. Another way to put it is: the folks at Yammer were prescient enough to predict where things were headed, and get there first.
They chose Berkeley DB to handle their data. Maybe you should too!


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NH professor hired for her race loses suit claiming racial discrimination
When Chavda was hired, UNH was in the midst of a hiring freeze. However, the department was able to get around the freeze, and hire Chavda, because of her race and UNH's ongoing efforts to enhance racial diversity on campus. The role of Chavda's race in her hiring was mentioned at the meeting where the faculty voted to hire her.
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permutation is given by f(i) = 2i if i<=n and 2(i-n)-1 if i>n
where i denotes the position of cards. eg pack of cards (1,2,3,4)-->(3,1,4,2)
Basically trying to find the multiplicative order of 2 mod(2n+1) got pretty far with for special cases such as 2n+1 being prime.
if 2n+1 = 2^k+1 then order = 2k
if 2n+1 = 2^k-1 then order = k
if 2n+1 = 2m+1 where m prime and m=3(mod4) then order = m
i thought the rest would have order = 2n by fermats little theoram but when 2n+1=103 this is not the case (it has order 51)
any help would be much appreciated


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Niet ondersteunde browser gevonden
De Lenovo Support wesite ondersteunt Microsoft© Internet Explorer 10+, Mozilla Firefox 29+, Chrome 34+
ThinkPad T430s and T430si models, with Optimus graphics, cannot be set to Integrated (Intel) or Discrete (NVIDIA) video only and install a supported Lenovo provided video driver. There is not a Discrete option within the BIOS configuration utility of the T430s and T430si. Setting the system to Integrated only will allow for VGA video only. There is not a supported Intel video driver for Microsoft Windows XP on Optimus models. Only ThinkPad T430s and T430si with Integrated video only are supported with Microsoft Windows XP.
|Affected configuration
The following ThinkPad systems running on Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home Edition may be affected by this symptom:


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Another Bowling Green Boston Marathon runner has returned home safely.
Cort Basham compares the unforgettable sounds he heard from the bombs on Monday to construction dynamite, but he knew it was much worse.
After completing his third Boston Marathon, just an hour later, he heard the two loud booms.
He describes the scene immediately after.
"It was like movie stuff. There was panic, and screaming, and many were running. Many were just moving quickly away, and so all of us who were a block away who couldn't see, we just understood that there was something wrong and just tried to move away as quickly as we could."
As Cort, his mom, and many others fled from the area, he never thought about the danger they were in.
"I just ran 26 miles and all I could think about was getting away. We were walking and not trying to run past people, but at some point, I guess later that night was when we got back to my friend's house, it did hit me at some point that I ran past live bombs," he says.
All the Bowling Green marathon runners and their friends and family are safe, but minutes after the explosions, like Bowling Green wheelchair participant Matt Davis, millions started making phone calls.
"My first reaction was, 'Are my friends okay that are there?' and so I was trying to find that out. The people that I knew in my circle were fine. Everybody was checking on me, and I was checking on them," Davis says.
On his flight back home, Basham and his mom met several marathon runners who witnessed the explosions.
The blast was so loud, one of the runners returned to his home in Nashville with a perforated eardrum.
"They were shocked, stunned, in disbelief. Surreal was the most common word used. It didn't feel real," Basham says.
He says this won't stop him from running.
"Some of the very things that make it very democratic, open, and great are the same things that make it a target," he says.
Basham will run in the Chicago Marathon in the fall, and expects to be back in Boston this time next year.
Basham says this tragic event has strengthened his faith in humanity.
He says as thousands were running away from the blasts, first responders and volunteers were running to help.


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GENESEO, N.Y. - An international expert on modern slavery, Kevin Bales, will address "Human Rights and Social Justice: The State of the World" during a three-day visit to SUNY Geneseo April 25-27.
He will deliver his lecture "The End of Slavery?" April 25 at 7:30 in Newton Hall 214.
On April 26 at 4 p.m., there will be a screening of "Not My Life," a documentary about slavery in our time, in Welles Hall Room 24. The screening will followed by a discussion with Bales and the director of the documentary, Robert Bilheimer.
He will participate in a panel discussion, "A Roadmap for Human Rights," April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Newton Hall 214. Joining Bales for the panel discussion will be Diane Willkens, a 1975 Geneseo graduate and chief executive officer of Development Finance International; Kristina Hannam, associate professor of biology at SUNY Geneseo; and James Myers from the Center for Multidisciplinary Studies at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
On April 27, Bales will meet with student groups in the MacVittie College Union April 27 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Mosaic Room (130).
All sessions are free and open to the public.
"There are some 27 million people in slavery in the world today, more than double the number taken from Africa in the entire 350 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade," said Rosemarie Chierici, associate professor and chair of SUNY Geneseo's Department of Anthropology. "There is also growing awareness worldwide about the humanitarian and social justice impact of global slavery, human trafficking and the exploitation of children and other vulnerable populations. We are pleased to have Kevin Bales join us to explore these troubling situations and explore strategies for ending them."
Bales exposed how modern slavery has penetrated the global economy. He founded Free the Slaves in 2001, the American sister organization of the United Kingdom's Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest human rights group. In eight years, he has helped to liberate thousands of slaves in India, Nepal, Haiti, Ghana, Brazil, the Ivory Coast and Bangladesh and has worked with them to build new lives of dignity.
He has written extensively on modern slavery, including "Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy," which has been published in ten different languages and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He earned a doctorate at the London School of Economics. He also has a bachelor's degree in anthropology from the University of Oklahoma and a master's degree in sociology from the University of Mississippi.
The events are sponsored by Robert Boneberg, a 1973 Geneseo graduate, the Office of the Provost, Multicultural Programs and Services and the Department of Anthropology.
Media Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Manager
(585) 245-5516


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What is the most flexible photo gallery plugin available on WordPress?
By flexible, I mean a plugin that can:
- create galleries per folder / event
- display / generate thumbnails per size I want (it would be good to have an API/function for this)
- display the most recent gallery from either certain event or all photos uploaded.
Is there any? Or something close to this?


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I have been shopping around for a prime lens for my Nikon D50. I noticed that the 1.8 is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the 1.4 AF-S. What will I gain for that cost difference? Is it really noticeable?
It's an extra two-thirds of an f-stop, with all that comes with it:
Is it worth the price difference? Only you can tell...
I'm not sure about with Nikon, but one of the biggest differences I see mentioned between the Canon 50mm 1.8 and 1.4 lenses is the build quality - plastic vs metal among other things. This is probably what accounts for most of the price difference.
Here's the Thom Hogan review: http://bythom.com/Nikkor50AF-Slensreview.htm
His take is: yes, the f/1.4 is somewhat better, but not by a whole lot, so save your money unless you really do need the extra 2/3 stop. Consider boosting the ISO by a stop instead (and you should be ignoring the pixel-peepers and their 100% crop noise tests anyway).
Also note that the f/1.8 D does not have an internal focusing motor and thus is not compatible with some bodies. I don't recall if the D50 is such a body, but check this.
I wouldn't worry about depth of field, because it makes focusing that much more critical and also having too narrow DOF is a much more common technical error than too deep DOF.
Assuming this is a 50mm lens than for DOF the difference would be:
As far as shutter speed goes, f/1.8 to f/1.4 is a half-stop, so:
Yes, there is a noticeable difference between the 1.8 and 1.4. My thoughts on the subject in a few bullet points
I usually shoot the 24-70 2.8 and when I occasionally switch to the 50 1.8 it is always a bit frustrating. Once I wanted to avoid intimidating kids during a birthday party and went with the prime. I regretted it so much when the focus couldn't keep up with fast moving non-cooperating objects. If you can afford the 1.4 go for it, I regret that I didn't and I will as soon as I can afford it.
You can compare the technical results from reviews such as those at photozone. It is interesting to see that the AF 50/1.8 D has less distortion than the AF-S 50/1.4 G. The centre resolution of the f/1.8 is also higher at all apertures, although the f/1.4 is more consistent out to the borders.
However you have to work out what you want from such a lens and at what apertures you expect to use it.
Also consider that the price difference reflects the design & manufacturing cost rather than the value or quality: it is that much more difficult to make an f/1.4 lens.
Yes, but until you master the 1.8 lens I wouldn't recommend spending the money on the 1.4. The wider the lens the more precisely you have to focus to get good results. I've taken photos of a person's face where the eyes were in focus but the nose is blurry with the 1.8. So get the 1.8, and get good at manually focusing it. Even with AF-S on the D50 you will want to manually focus a lot to get really good results with this lens.
Heh, that's the same camera I use!
I don't have a nifty-fifty, but my understanding is that you don't get even a full extra stop when moving from 1.8 to 1.4. Also, I've read that the 1.4 version introduces more distortion. Unless you really need the best max. aperture, save your money and get the 1.8 version.
Besides the DOF questions, i'd like to point out that the effective focal length of a 50mm FX lens when used on a DX camera (like the D50), will be about 70 or 75mm. Make sure you consider that when thinking about this lens. I happen to like it, as the lens feels a little like a "portrait" lens, and the DOF control is very nice. Buying the Nikon FX 35mm lens puts you at about 50mm on a DX camera, but it also has a minimum aperture of f/2, thus different DOF characteristics:
some of the pictures on my web-site, like this one:
were shot with the 50mm 1.4 on a Nikon D90.
-- bobp
It's quite a bit of difference if you are shooting indoors or at night...which is why most people get it. For daylight in portraits it won't be as much. I'd rather have a 35mm 1.4 but it's way too expensive for me. I shoot on DX with a sigma 30mm 1.4 for a normal lens and a nikon 50mm 1.8g for portraits. If you are on FX, get the 50mm 1.4g and the 85 1.8g for portraits. The sigma 30mm 1.4 is supposed to be equivalent to the 50mm 1.4g... Nikon doesn't make a 1.4 for dx, b/c they want you to upgrade to FX...Same thing at other lengths. They don't make a 24mm 1.8, only the super expensive 24mm 1.4. So it's either sigma 1.8 or nikon 2.8 at that length.
The ultimate difference is the price, but besides that, 1.4 has nicer bokeh
Nikon sells 2 versions of most their prime lenses. The 'G' version contain an internal engine that "enable high-speed, extremely accurate and super quiet autofocusing" according to Nikon. The 'D' version are more simple (the engine is in the DSLR) and usually cheaper.
Also, it seems that most of the new "low end" lenses (IE 1.8 G) are for DX sensors only.


text: Issue 07 Preview – Transport – Tomcar Dirty Deeds John Schwartze 0 COMMENT Photography By Henry Z. De Kuyper From Desert Dunes to Asphalt Jungles, the Tomcar Proves that Big Things Come in Small Packages If at first blush you thought this was just another sandrail, dune buggy, or UTV, we regret to inform you that you couldn't be more wrong. While it could be used to haul coolers and ditzy girls while you're hanging out at Glamis listening to Crazy Town, bro, the Tomcar is a military-grade off-road vehicle that's the culmination of progressive engineering and practical accessorizing. In other words, when shit gets hairy in the field, the guys at Tomcar have anticipated the contingencies and designed the vehicle around them. While the Tomcar is available to the public, the TM5 model we're showing you is an example of one created as part of a fleet that was deployed in South Asia and outfitted with several non-standard features for that type of environment. A major problem currently faced in designing a vehicle for combat is the IED threat. A vehicle is already a moving target, and while the obvious reaction to increase armor might make sense on paper, in battle conditions it's often proved to make vehicles larger and slower moving targets, which are obliged to run on predictable routes. The Tomcar's designers took a different approach creating a vehicle that is evasive, agile, and carries a very high payload for its size. It's hard (but not impossible) to hit a target that's small, quick, and can go off the map to avoid IEDs altogether. Initially conceived as an infantry mule, the Tomcar is resilient and powerful enough to carry men and supplies to the front line, and carry wounded out — something larger vehicles can't do in certain situations. One of its most unique features is its frame. This is no bolt-together Erector Set deal. Over 300 pieces have been seamlessly welded together. Several different grades of steel are used throughout the frame's construction for increased durability at stress points. Lighter varieties are used in other areas to keep the overall weight down and maintain a low center of gravity for balance. The side steps that extend beyond the width of the cab also serve to protect occupants during a rollover. With 15 inches of ground clearance and a standard 1,200-pound payload for the diesel engine (shown), the Tomcar TM5 is built to traverse rough terrain, especially when hauling a heavy load. An aircraft-grade, full-length aluminum skidplate under the belly helps prevent debris from slowing the momentum of the vehicle during travel. The rear swing arms and longer-than-average chromoly A-arms in the front allow for 13 inches of suspension travel. You might be asking yourself, "Why chromoly? That's soft." Exactly. It's meant to absorb any impact energy so you can keep going. A bent A-arm will help you GTFO. A broken one will leave you stranded. The final drive is part of the rear swing arm system, which allows for a greater degree of movement than a typical rear A-arm system — plus it's encased in a sealed oil bath. For the rest of this article, subscribe digitally here: RECOIL Issue 7


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According to the Gemorah in Sukkah Daf 48a Shmini Etzeres is a Chag in and of itself. However what exactly is the "chag" of Shmini Etzeres. Sukkos we are commemorating the Anei HaKavod, Pesach is Yetzias Metzriam, Shavuos is Matan Torah. What exactly are we "celebrating" on Shmini Etzeres?
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Interestingly, the Torah itself doesn't mention anything special we are celebrating, nor does it give any specific Mitzvah to relate to (besides the special קרבן מוסף).
The Yalkut Pinchas 782(ילקוט שמעוני פרשת פנחס רמז תשפב) brings a משל describing Sukot as a party a king has with many friends. When the party is over he asks his son to stay a bit longer to have time only with him. According to this we are 'celebrating' being close to Hashem, to show his love to us.
Not to be cholek on @IsaacMoses (or Rashar for that matter), I looked up the word עֱצֶרֶת itself. It seems always to mean, according to most commentaries I've seen, something along the lines of rally/get-together/group. This goes well with what I've written previously - us having a party with Hashem.
One may note, that שביעי של פסח and שבועות use this term as well. For שביעי של פסח Yonatan Ben Uziel translated (English mine)
Below is what R' Hirsch says on the subject (Commentary on Lev. 23:36, on p. 684 - 686 of the original Levy translation, with italicized transliterations, elisions, and added paragraph divisions by me).
Very brief summary: The special nature of the holiday is indicated by its name "Atzeret," meaning "a preserving summing up" (R' Hirsch's translation), and the fact that it's on a separate day from the rest of Sukkot. These elements tell us that we're meant to focus on gathering all the lessons of Sukkot and the entire year's worth of holidays to help us lead the rest of our lives in the presence and service of God.
See the original for the parts I elided, which include discussion of some sources in Talmud and Midrash that lend some support and some challenge to this interpretation.
We can discover what we are celebrating by examining the two main actions of that day:
I see those mitzvot directly answer what we celebrate:
The customs of the Sephardic Tikkun HaGeshem and Ashkenazic Tefillat HaGeshem underscore the first point. I see the establishment of Simchat Torah as related to the second point, in which the Jewish people celebrate God's gift of goodness that emphasizes this intimate relationship - that is, the Torah.
To hear from someone significant, I'd refer to Rav Adin Steinsaltz, who reflects about Shemini Atzeret this way in his book A Guide to Jewish Prayer:


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Congress should be accountable
April 28, 2013
To the editor: I am sure that at this point in the history of our American Republic, one thing stands out....
wHAT IS HAPPENING HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COMMUNISM BUT EVERYTHING TO DO WITH CORPORATE AMERICA HAVING OUR REPRESENTATIVES IN THEIR POCKET. COMMUNISM CANT DEFEAT OLIGARCHY. WHAT WE ARE WITNESSING IS GLOBALIZATION WHICH IS A MOVE TOWARD SERFDOM.
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Mr. Yost you make a great point but I have to say it goes a bit deeper. All these fools, in spite of their rhetoric Appear to be working together to crush the middle class. To fight this we can't allow the parties to create the slate of candidates from a list of wealthy, connected people who are committed to private interests. We could vote out every single elected official and they would all be replaced with party clones. Our job is bigger than voting. We need to restructure our respective parties in a way that insures the voice of the people will be heard.
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Mrrose, Communist thought is like a disease that has infected our government, or representatives, and our people. The idea that one's outcome in life can be guaranteed to any degree is of communist origin.
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Great letter Mr. Yost.
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Another mindless rant from someone who doesn't even know the definitions of the words he uses.
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There's a good point in there about Congress serving the interest of money over their constituents.But it gets lost after hearing the word communist come tumbling out so much. There's s a problem with our representatives and we've let it happen. You say Stand up and do your jobs, or you're fired. I think the only way to affect change is to vote the whole lot out, regardless of party. The percentage of Americans who actually cast a ballot seems to get lower every year, in no small part, due to feeling disenfranchised in the electoral process. I can't think of a single representative who is serving the interests of the people who voted them in, and it shames me to think that without citizen participation,money rules the day.If the people of this great nation weren't so polarized worrying about whose right and left, knowing we're all in this together, we would stand a fighting chance. But this communist talk, is neither right, nor effective.
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Great Letter Bob,
I am going to forward it to all of my do nothing Representatives.
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Lotsa words...Too bad they add up to little more than a mindless rant.
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I think you should learn a little more about facts before you post.
The truth is that if you purchased the last update after Feb 1 2010 your current 9.1 update is free. The last update was 9.0 in dec 2010. So you may get both 9.0 and 9.1 for free if you updated last time between Feb 1 and Dec 2010
This is all written here.
The 9.1 is a major update with lots of new functions for us who need them. You may not need them so whats the problem. Just do not update but wait for the next update. Thats all up to you .
And € 45 for the update is really not much for all the work Joost does.


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You are here
The Top Gear car review:Peugeot 5008
For:Refined, spacious, practical and OK to drive. For a Peugeot MPV
Against:Ride could be a little better and styling won't appeal to all
Find new & used cars
Our choice
1.6 e-HDi 115 Active 5dr EGC
What we say:
The seven-seat family-friendly cousin to the 3008 is much of the same, just a bit more practical
What is it?
It's Peugeot's large MPV, a replacement for the outdated 807 of old. The French company is going through a rejuvination of late, and the 5008 is the perfect illustration of that – with yet more polish for 2014 courtesy of a facelift.
There's bags of room inside and the interior is brimming with clever features. Cavernous though it may be, the 5008 is also very refined. Peugeot's engineers have worked on the handling too, so it's not a bad car to drive down a B-road.
Steer clear of the basic 1.6 VTi petrol engines. They're the cheaper option, but they're also sluggish and you'll never sell them on in the future. The 1.6 THP petrol engine is far superior – it's turbocharged and packs 156bhp, so even in a car the size of the 5008, it comes across as pretty lively. The 1.6 and 2.0-litre HDi engines are the obvious choice, though. The 115bhp 1.6 is more than competent and it's by far the most frugal, but there's always the 150 and 163bhp 2.0-litre versions if you fancy a bit more torque.
For the most part, the 5008 rides well, but it's also quite engaging to drive as far as MPVs go, so the firmer than average suspension makes itself known over the odd rough surface. It's not awful, though, and when you factor in the Peugeot's refinement, sharp steering and strong grip, the driving experience as a whole is pretty well rounded, especially for a big old people carrier like this.
On the inside
Practicality is the 5008's trump card. There's space for seven and the rearmost seats are more roomy than you'd expect. All the middle-row seats slide and recline individually and it's really easy to fold them down and remove them completely. Fold them all down or remove them all and you've got yourself a nice van.
Up front, the cockpit is extremely classy and well laid out with a plush centre console. The layout could be slightly clearer, and some of the controls on the centre console are really rather fiddly, but other than that it's OK. You sit high, so all-round visibility is good.
As we mentioned, the 1.6 VTi petrol engines combined with the entry-level Access spec won't go down well when you try to sell the car on. Spec is really pretty poor at the basic level, too, so you're better off going for a mid-range model and any of the other engines. The 1.6 HDi 115 diesel engine returns 56.4mpg and 128g/km, so it's exceptionally cheap to run for a large MPV, and e-HDi models fitted with the EGC gearbox are even more frugal, albeit jerkier. Those interested in driving will take the economy hit, although most will find the self-shifter fine. You can sort of drive round it, too…
Highlights from the range
The fastest1.2 Puretech Active 5dr
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Volkswagen Touareg
The competition
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A big difference between the Sam Raimi's trilogy of Spider-Man and the new Spider-Man reboot is Uncle Ben's killer is neither found, nor killed by Peter in the new movie. Why is that? I thought they are following the comics. I am ignorant of the comic books. So what is the real story? And if there is a change in the movie's story, why is that?
Neither in the comics, nor in the Sam Raimi movie does Spider-Man kill the person responsible for Uncle Ben's death (in the comics he dies of a heart attack, in the movie he falls out of a window. Although Spider-Man 3 reveals that it was actually Flint Marko who shot Uncle Ben).
I think the important part is not the death of the culprit, but the following realization:
Using a police scanner he hunts for his uncle's killer.
But things change when the Lizard wreaks havoc on the bridge and Peter manages to save people (including a child). The next day the talks to Gwen about it:
Even though he hasn't caught Uncle Ben's killer, Peter has learned that he can't just look the other way when people need help. Stopping the Lizard is more important than looking for the thief who killed his uncle... at least for the moment (The Amazing Spider-Man is supposedly the start of a new trilogy).
In the Amazing spider-man they are following the same path as th real comics accept for the wrestling part.In the real story the events occurs as -
(Source: Wikipedia)
That's may be the writers choice in the Rami's trilogy to kill the burglar by the hand of spider-man but in original story events are different.


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J. R. R. Tolkien
You will find more information about J.R. R. Tolkien on the Library of Birmingham website.
Tolkien himself said there was a danger in too much interest in the life of an author, as it distracted attention from the author's work. He then went on to say he was a hobbit in all but size; liked gardens, trees and unmechanised farmland; smoked a pipe and liked good plain food!
This is a brief account of his early life in Birmingham, from 1895 to 1911. Some of the houses and places mentioned on these pages can still be seen.
There are more images and further information on
J. R. R. Tolkien's childhood in Birmingham
J. R. R. Tolkien's youth in Birmingham
Bloemfontein in 1888
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was born in Bloemfontein, an Afrikaans-speaking area of South Africa, on 3 January 1892. His parents, Arthur Tolkien and Mabel Suffield, were from Birmingham. Arthur Tolkien had become a bank-manager there. His fiancee Mabel sailed out to join him in 1891. In 1895, when Tolkien was three, his mother brought him and his younger brother Hilary back to visit their grandparents at Ashfield Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham. They never saw their father again, he died of typhoid fever in February 1896.
Gracewell cottages, May 2007
In 1896 Mabel Tolkien and her two young sons settled at 5 Gracewell, now 264 Wake Green Road, a cottage in Sarehole village. Though only four miles from the centre of Birmingham Sarehole was then in the north Worcestershire countryside. Coming from the hot dry veld of South Africa, the green fields and woods made a deep impression on Tolkien.
Cafe at Sarehole Mill, April 2007
The most exciting thing for a young boy to see in the village of Sarehole was Sarehole Mill, which he refers to as 'the great mill' in The Hobbit. It stands on the River Cole, which rises near King's Norton and runs close by. It is said that Tolkien based the bad-tempered miller in The Lord of the Rings on the miller there. The Mill is now run as a museum by Birmingham City Council.
Sarehole in 1905
When Tolkien visited Sarehole with his family in 1933 he lamented the loss of farmland, and the presence of new houses. The valley of the Cole is now in the Shire Country Park. There are many old trees, willows by the river and the millpond; oak, ash, rowans, beech trees in the neighbourhood. Trees were dear to Tolkien's heart, he could have seen some of these. However there are more trees now than in his time. Then Sarehole Mill was surrounded by water-meadows, now trees are all around.
Westfield Road
The family moved several times in the next few years. After Ronald started school in 1900 they moved to Moseley to be closer to a tram route into the city. They were not in Moseley for long; by March 1901 they were living in Westfield Road, Kings Heath, a new house. The plan shows that originally it was one of the larger houses on the estate like number 88 next door, but at some point lost the second floor.
For more images, and further information on this part of Tolkien's life
J. R. R. Tolkien's childhood in Birmingham
View from Perrotts Folly to the Oratory, February 2007
The family moved again in 1902, to a house in Oliver Road, Edgbaston. This was near the two towers in Edgbaston; Perrotts Folly and the Waterworks Chimney. Mabel had converted to Catholicism in 1900. Some of the family disapproved strongly and withdrew financial support to her and the children. To save money the brothers were enrolled in the Oratory School, St Philips. However with coaching from his mother Ronald won a scholarship to King Edward's and returned there in 1903.
Visit to the Oratory, 2006
Perhaps because of financial stress Mabel developed diabetes in spring 1904. There was no effective treatment in those days, and in November 1904 she died at Rednal in the Lickey Hills. She had appointed Father Francis Xavier Morgan, a priest of the Birmingham Oratory, to be the boys' guardian.
Barrows stores and cafe circa 1900
In Duchess Road Tolkien met his future wife, Edith Bratt, who was also lodging there. They became fond of each other. Sometimes they would go and have tea and cakes in Birmingham cafes. One afternoon in late 1909 they cycled out to the Lickeys and had tea in Rednal village. Father Francis Morgan heard of this meeting. He disapproved as he considered that Tolkien should be devoting all his attention to his studies and forbade him to contact Edith before he had come of age. Ronald and Hilary Tolkien were moved to different lodgings in Highfield Road. Eventually Ronald and Edith got married in 1916.
King Edward's School masters, late 1890s
Tolkien studied at King Edward's School, then in New Street in the centre of Birmingham. There he gained a scholarship at Exeter College, Oxford, to study Classics. He played rugby for the school, and was also an enthusiastic member of the school Debating Society. With friends he had a club that met to talk about literature and current affairs after school in the school library, or over lunch in the new cafe at Barrow's Stores in Corporation Street.
For more images and further information about this part of his life see:
J. R. R. Tolkien's youth in Birmingham
Tolkien left Birmingham for Oxford in October 1911; he returned often to visit family and friends. He enlisted in 1915 and fought in France. After the war he worked in Oxford, and then Leeds. In 1925 he returned to Oxford with his young family to become the Professor of Anglo-Saxon. He transformed the view of Middle English and Anglo-Saxon epic poems such as Beowulf. He lived in Oxford for most of the rest of his life, and died in 1973.
Tolkien's writing
Although he was the author of academic work on Anglo-Saxon and Middle English, it is for his novels that Tolkien is best known. The Hobbit was published in 1937, and the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, in 1954/55. These are the best selling fiction books of the 20th Century. The Hobbit has sold over 40 million copies, and The Lord of the Rings over 50 million copies. Tolkien's novels are described as fantasy, but much of his writing reflects his own experiences and observations.


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TOPEKA -- Beautiful birds who often stand on one leg, have been making the rounds this May all through Topeka.
And the flamingos you may be seeing are coming from the flock of Good Kids at Topeka's Countryside United Methodist Church.
The teens hopped over and around our welcome sign at WIBW-TV last week, leaving a few of the plastic pink flamingos on our front lawn. They also attached a note with Ralph Hipp's name on it, announcing that he too, had been "flocked."
Actually, the teens are flocking people around town, all to raise $5,000 or more for their summer teen retreat. Far from a church get-together for fun, the youngsters in youth group will help with house remodeling projects and building shelters for people who've been living in poverty at Mountain Top, Tennessee, in the mountains of the eastern part of the state.
Shawnee Heights 8th grader Taryn Walter told Ralph Hipp: "We're going up to Mountain Top, Tennessee to help some kids that have been through poverty and go out and build some stuff for some people..:
And how do the flamingos help them raise money to go to Tennessee?
"They buy insurance if they don't want pink flamingos in their yard. They decorate 'em, put clothes on 'em.. necklaces, hats and gloves on 'em," Taryn explained.
Ralph asked Washburn Rural Sophomore Kaitlyn Ruiz how the effort to help the people near Knoxville makes them feel.
"Pretty good.. 'cause you get to see these people's faces after and make them smile.. What do their faces look like when you help people? Most of them cry, happy tears, definite gratitude."
CUMC Youth Director Devin Slimmer is the brainchild behind the flamingo flocking project.
He, along with our Good Kids, welcome you to call at 806-3033 to check on whether a potential "victim" may have purchased flock insurance. Donations are welcome to be sent to the youth group at:
Countryside United Methodist Church
3221 SW Burlingame Road, Topeka, 66611. Thank You!


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When I zoom in with Stellarium, it indicates a field of view (FOV) value in degrees, but most binoculars and telescopes are advertised with value like "nX magnification power."
How could I translate this value so I get an idea of what I will see with a telescope or binocular?
For example, I if got a 30X telescope, how much should I zoom to get similar view?


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I came across a highly powerful trojan Subseven. I don't know how it works. I need a brief or detailed explanation about subseven.
You create a server program and then bind the server program with another program to cover it up. I love Subseven and Netdevil, they are both my favorite. Once the server is running on the target computer you can connect to it by the port you specified when you created the server. The rest is just by the click of a mouse. NetDevil is esier to understand and works well with windows XP subseven only works on server OS.
will it be detected in AV's
Yes definitely, I wrote a tutorial on how to use subseven. Just waiting for shabbir to authorize it.
Originally Posted by SpOonWiZaRdYes definitely, I wrote a tutorial on how to use subseven. Just waiting for shabbir to authorize it.
one of my friends who is a master hacker, said he helped in the making to sub7.
I originally posted that tutorial on HBH in 2006, The small version was written by the admin of http://www.hnc3k.com (the site is now closed). I improved it a bit by giving it more detail, how it got to geocities is unclear to me, especially this one. I will write another one then to even better this one. Thank you for notifying me, I have emailed the "Author" of that tutorial.
K mate. soon. and also about netdevil. I'm expecting those.
You can get netdevil at one of those sites mentioned on the sticky note, I just can't remember which one though.
k, i'll try to google it. But when u come across that link, let me know.