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1. I love my SUV. Why can't we continue to use oil and gas as in the past?
George W. Bush has given us one reason why we need to make changes – Unstable foreign oil supply. Al Gore has given us another reason – Climate change.
There is a third reason that trumps the first two – WE DON'T REALLY HAVE A CHOICE. Demand for both oil and natural gas continues to rise each year, as the result of China, India and other countries wanting to adopt a lifestyle more like that in the United States. As we saw in Oil Quiz – Test Your Knowledge, world oil supply is likely to decline in the near future. With demand increasing and supply decreasing, there is certain to be a significant gap in the not too distant future.
Natural gas is similar. Like oil, we started with a finite quantity of it, and it is now depleting. The main difference is that we are dealing primarily with a gap between North American supply and demand, rather than world supply and demand, because natural gas is difficult to transport. Demand is rising, because natural gas is viewed as a less-polluting source of energy.
Natural gas supply is likely to decline in the next few years, because most of the larger, more productive sites have already been tapped. New natural gas wells are getting smaller and smaller, so that more and more new wells need to come on line each year, just to stay even. For a while, we were able to make up our shortfall with imports from Canada, but these have begun to decline. In the next few years, both US production and imports from Canada will be declining. It is doubtful that liquified natural gas imports from overseas will be able to fill the gap.
2. How much of the fuel we use is oil? How much is natural gas?
For the United States, 40% of our energy use is petroleum and 23% is natural gas, as shown in Figure 1. In total, these fuels which are expected to be in short supply comprise 63% of our energy supply.
Another 23% is coal, which is the other fossil fuel. Because of its high carbon content, it generates more carbon dioxide than petroleum and natural gas, contributing to global warming. If climate change is a major issue, coal usage should be reduced as well. Together, the three fossil fuels comprise 86% of our fuel supply.
The remaining fuels are nuclear at 8%, and renewables at 6%. The largest renewable is hydro-electric. Other renewables include wood, landfill gas, biofuels, geothermal, wind, solar, and many other new types of energy. Since renewables total only 6%, all are very small in comparison to fossil fuels.
3. Won't ethanol cover our fossil fuel shortfall? I know we are growing a lot of corn for ethanol and it is supposed to be a clean fuel.
A few years ago, corn ethanol looked like a very good idea. It would provide an additional market for farmers' corn, thereby helping to hold the price up. Also, as a fuel additive, it would act as a substitute for MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether), which makes gasoline burn cleaner, but does not easily biodegrade, so tends to pollute the groundwater.
While corn ethanol works as a replacement for MTBE, it does very little to increase the liquid fuel supply. It takes a huge amount of corn to produce a small amount of ethanol (20% of the 2006 corn crop added the equivalent of 2.4% to the US gasoline supply energy level.) When the fossil fuels used in growing corn and making ethanol are considered, the net energy gain to the fuel supply in 2006 was virtually nothing (0.4% or even negative, depending on the study).
Ethanol from corn has increased greatly in recent years, because of the significant subsidies it receives. The wisdom of increasing corn ethanol production further is now being questioned because of its poor net energy gain, its indirect impact on food costs, and its adverse environmental impacts (including soil erosion and aquifer depletion, due to its high water usage).
4. How about Brazilian ethanol from sugar cane? Will this cover our fossil fuel shortage?
Brazilian sugar cane ethanol is a little better than corn ethanol, but is still unlikely to be more than a small part of the solution to the fossil fuel shortage. It is better than corn ethanol, in that it requires less fossil fuel input, because manual labor is used to harvest the sugar cane and because the unused stalks ("bagasse") are burned to provide the heat for the ethanol processing.
It is likely to be only a partial solution to the fuel shortage for many reasons. The amount of sugar ethanol produced in Brazil currently is similar to the amount of corn ethanol produced in the United States. Even if Brazil doubled its production, and sent the entire increased production to the United States, we would be talking about only a 2% to 3% increase in our gasoline supply.
Furthermore, we are again taking about a foreign source of fuel. Climate change issues have been raised regarding the clearing of land for the use in planting more acres of sugar cane. The United States cannot easily follow this sugar cane model, because we do not have much land suitable for growing sugar cane, our growing season is shorter, and our minimum wage would result in much higher labor costs.
5. Could we solve our problem by replacing our SUVs with very energy-efficient models, like Priuses?
This would certainly be a step in the right direction. A couple of things to keep in mind – First, it would be very difficult to do this in practice, except over many years. Once SUVs are viewed as problematic, their resale value will drop greatly, so that they will have little trade in value. Manufacturers will need to produce a huge number of the high milage cars – many more than they would normally sell in a single year. It would take them several years to manufacture the number of cars needed.
Another point to consider is that even if we solve our fuel shortage with respect to transportation, we will still have major shortages in other areas. Figure 2 shows energy use in the United States, divided among buildings, industrial, and transportation. Surprisingly, transportation is the smallest of the three.
One reason for the high amount of energy used in buildings is that our houses are very large, and we expect them to be heated and cooled to a constant temperature year around. Another area where a large amount of energy is used is in producing our food — diesel is used for tractors and transportation; natural gas is used to make fertilizer. Manufacturing goods for sale, whether they are cars or appliances or new houses, takes a large amount of energy as well. We will either need to expand our energy sources to meet the needs of these sectors, or we will need to find ways to use the available energy more efficiently.
6. What are our best options for offsetting expected shortfalls in oil and natural gas production?
In Oil Quiz Question 10, we learned that implementing even a known technology on a large scale takes 10 to 20 years. Since implementing a new technology takes even longer, and since declines in oil and gas production are expected in the next few years, our best options for offsetting the shortfall are technologies that already are available. These include:
- Coal – "Coal to liquid" technology for producing liquid fuel has been available since World War II, but technology for sequestering carbon dioxide (necessary to prevent global warming) has not yet been perfected.
Nuclear – Can be expanded, but waste disposal is an issue.
Hydroelectric – Most good sites for dams already taken, but a few smaller sites may be available.
Waste products used as liquid and gas sources, including landfill gas and biofuels from waste products can likely be expanded.
Geothermal heat pumps. Can only be used in certain locations.
Wind. Can be expanded.
Thermal solar energy and photovoltaic solar energy. Can be expanded.
Biomass such as wood burned for fuel. Difficult to expand significantly.
Biofuels from food crops, such as ethanol. At best, a very small part of the solution.
Some technologies which may be developed in the next few years include:
- Biofuels from plant material other than foods, including algae.
Improved batteries, to permit electric cars. May possibly be powered by solar panels on roofs of garages.
Improved electrical storage, to permit more extensive use of wind energy.
Electrical power from more distributed sources, to reduce power loss in line transmission.
Technologies to capture wave energy and tidal energy.
Some of these possible technologies will be discussed more in later posts. It might be noted that hydrogen powered vehicles appear to many years away, so are unlikely to be part of any solution. Hydrogen is very bulky, making fuel storage in a vehicle difficult.
7. What is the likelihood that the technologies described in (6) will allow the US energy supply to continue to grow?
Not very high, considering the portion of energy supply that is declining, and the sources available to make up the shortfall. We are expecting a decline in petroleum and natural gas production. These sources together comprise 63% of the US energy supply. This leaves only 37% of energy resources which might be increased (Figure 1).
The largest of the remaining resources is coal, which comprises 23% of the total. While we have all heard stories that the United States has 200 years worth of coal in reserves, some recent analyses suggest that this estimate is very much overstated, and that coal production may also decline in a few years. Even if there is an adequate supply, it is difficult to increase coal production quickly, because of the need to build additional railroad capacity to transport the greater supply. There are also global warming issues with increasing coal production.
Nuclear energy can probably be increased, but lead times for new facilities are very long and there are waste disposal issues.
If we exclude coal and nuclear, we are down to renewables, which comprise only 6% of the energy supply (Figure 1). Starting from such a small base, it is difficult to increase production enough to make up for a shortfall in the oil and gas supply.
8. What can be done, if the various sources for increased energy production do not fully offset the decline in oil and gas production? If this happens, our total energy supply is likely to decline, instead of continuing to increase.
Conservation will likely need to be a part of any future energy plan, to make the best use of the energy that is available. We currently are very wasteful in the way we use energy, so there are likely ways to reduce energy usage, without hardship.
This also will be discussed at greater length in a future post.
To Learn More
Ethanol and Biofuels: Agriculture, Infrastructure, and Market Constraints Related to Expanded Production Report by Congressional Research Service, published March 16, 2007.
Richard Heinberg's Summary of the Coal Situation, published March 22, 2007.
Crude Oil: Uncertainty about Future Oil Supply Makes It Important to Develop a Strategy for Addressing a Peak and Decline in Oil Production GAO Report published February 2007
Questions for Discussion
1a. In Oil Quiz (Question 7), we said that most geologist predict that oil production will begin to decline between now and 2012, but some predict the decline will begin as late as 2020. We said that governmental agencies, like the US Energy Information Agency, are projecting that oil production growth will continue until at least 2030. Some of the independent oil companies are also projecting long-term growth in production.
Print out pages 13, 47, and 48 of the GAO report listed in the "To Learn More" section. Mark each of the graph items on page 13 as "governmental agency", "oil company", or "probably geologist", based on the information on pages 47 and 48. Also, print out page 8 of the Hirsch Report, prepared for the Department of Energy in 2005. Based on the projections shown in these reports, would you agree or disagree with our description of the situation?
1b. Is there any reason why an oil company might want to show rising oil production for an extended period? A government agency? If you were preparing the GAO report, would you give equal weight to the predictions of the oil companies, governmental agencies, and independent geologists?
2. The GAO report was issued to the public on March 28, 2007. How much press coverage do you expect it to get? Why?
3. Divide up into two groups. Based on what you have learned in the press and what you have learned here, debate whether corn ethanol production should be expanded.
4. In total, what percentage of the gap between supply and demand for oil and natural gas do you expect to be made up by alternatives of the types listed in Question 6? How much of the gap will be made up by conservation? What will happen if neither of these are very successful?


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Durham, North Carolina
43 Reviews | Review This Place | Photos and Maps| Homes For Sale
+49.2% since 2020
Unemployment Rate
Cost of Living
97.5 / 100
Median Home Price
Median Income
Comfort Index (Climate)
6.9 / 6.6
summer / winter
Previously, the so-called "Durham" metro area was part of the larger Research Triangle triumvirate of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill metro area. Now Raleigh, and the large suburban enclave of Cary, have been split off into a metro area of that name, leaving the western half of the former metro area under the name Durham. The Durham area includes Chapel Hill, so on the surface, the two major cities in the area are both college towns – Durham is home to Duke University, while Chapel Hill is home to the University of North Carolina. But that's where the similarities end. Durham is an old tobacco town, not too prosperous, not too interesting but livable. Some of the old tobacco processing plants in town add some historic interest.
Chapel Hill, on the other hand, is a model college town, with the usual nice small-shop and restaurant oriented downtown, plenty of trees, and a vibrant, moderately upscale feel. Homes in the Chapel Hill area are set on large wooded lots and are noticeably more expensive. Employment is strong and stable throughout the area, anchored by the immense and unique Research Triangle Park business and technology complex which actually straddles the line between the Durham and Raleigh-Cary areas.
The Durham side is more peaceful with a slower pace and relatively easier commutes to the center, and is somewhat less affected by urban sprawl. While cost of living is low on a national scale, it is relatively high for the region. While home prices for the area in general are reasonable, prospective residents will find prices in Chapel Hill much higher. Balanced positives across all ranking categories help drive the high ranking.
Durham and Chapel Hill are located in a transitional zone between the Coastal Plain and the Piedmont Plateau. The surrounding terrain is rolling and heavily wooded and becomes more so in Chapel Hill and west. The central location between the mountains and coast means a favorable climate aside from some summer heat. The mountains form a partial barrier to cold-air masses, resulting in few winter days with temperatures below 20 degrees.
During summer, tropical air is present over eastern and central sections of North Carolina, producing warm temperatures and high humidity. Rainfall is well distributed year-round with most occurring in summers as thunderstorms, some of which can be intense. The area is far enough inland to reduce the effects of coastal storms. While snow and sleet usually occur each year, excessive accumulations are rare.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Hey Canada, New Belgium Brewing Co. has chosen you as the first country outside the United States to receive its tasty Colorado-crafted beer. Probably known to you Canadians as the brewer of a wide variety of award-winning beers including Fat Tire Amber Ale, New Belgium will be available in British Columbia this September.
The brewery has signed an agreement with Beerthirst to serve as its agent and will officially kick off its entry into Canada at the Great Canadian Beer Fest on Sept. 6. New Belgium will begin selling beer at retail locations three days later. The brewery will initially roll out six-packs and drafts of Fat Tire, Ranger IPA and its current seasonal release. Ninety days later, New Belgium will begin to release limited selections from its Lips of Faith, Hop Kitchen and Trip series, as well as Rampant Imperial IPA.
"For our first adventure in exporting outside the U.S., British Columbia makes perfect sense," said New Belgium Brewing Sales Co-Pilot Brian Krueger. "This has been a great period of learning and exploring new territories for us, and we're excited to bring New Belgium's portfolio to our good friends up north."
New Belgium began distribution in Alaska and Louisiana earlier this year, enters Florida this month and will come to Delaware in August. For more information on the brewery, visit the New Belgium Brewing Co. website.


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Summary: A shopaholic wife returned from a buying binge and a bored husband find their day is turned upside down when their beloved Daisy is taken by a stranger. Keywords: Palm Sunday
Style: Light-hearted. Duration: 6min
Actors: 1M, 1F
H: Husband
W: Wife
(H seated in chair reading paper. W comes in with loads of shopping bags. She is a shopaholic, he is less than impressed. )
W: Honey I'm home!
H: (sarcastically) Hello dear, how was the shopping?
W: (starts showing him what she bought as she talks) Well, I could only pick up a few things because I forgot to take Daisy with me, so just two pairs of shoes, this lovely dress, some handbags, a necklace, three scarves ...
H: Hang on, back up a minute, what did you say?
W: Only two pairs of shoes, and they're Manolo Blahsteins so you're paying for the quality of course ...
H: No, no, not about the shoes, although we'll come back to that later. What did you say about Daisy?
W: Oh I forgot to take her with me to help me carry things so I wasn't able to buy the Laura Ashman quilt or those lovely decorative crystal Sabbath candle holders I saw, they had these darling little pearl drop ribbons and satin backed seder stands ... but don't worry, I'll pick them up next time I'm in town (she sees his face) ... or not.
H: I'm not worried about that... but if you didn't take Daisy, then where is she?
W: What do you mean where is she? Here of course. She was in the front yard when I left.
H: Well, she's not there anymore.
W: (walking over to look) What do you mean she's not there ... oh no Daisy's gone! My darling Daisy! We have to go look for her. Quick!
H: (getting up slowly) Your darling Daisy! Five minutes ago you were ready to load her up like a pack horse.
W: Don't say such terrible things about Daisy, she's an absolute blessing to me in my sartorial pursuits, she is. Who would have taken her? Something terrible must have happened!
(They walk outside the house.)
H: What in tarnation .... have a look at this! Someone's cut all the branches from our palm tree. What is going on here? Something's not right.
W: Oh now it's your beloved garden, you're worried.
H: (pointing) Hang on. What's that going on there down the street? What are all those people doing? Is that Daisy with that man in the middle of the crowd?
W: (panicking) It looks like a crazed mob. Oh my word, it's a riot! Oh my poor Daisy!
H: A crazed mob rioting with palm branches? I don't think so! They're waving to him. I think they're welcoming him. And look, there are clothes strewn all over the road.
W: (perking up) Did you say clothes?
H: Shh! Listen, I think I can hear them calling out. What are they saying? It sounds like Susannah?
W: (almost hyperventilating with excitement) And Trinny?? Could it really be?
H: For goodness sake. Trinny and Susannah? I don't think they're going to be giving out fashion advice for a couple of thousand years. Which play are you in?
W: Sorry, got a bit carried away there.
H: They're not saying Susannah, it's Hosanna. What does that mean again? We do speak Hebrew in this country remember?
W: Hosanna ... um ... is that the code word for fire? Riot? Crazed mob with palm branches? It's something to do with calling out for help!
H: Help? Of course, that's it, it means Save us. It's the word people use when they think the Messiah has come!
W: Messiah? Saviour? Maybe it is Trinny & Susannah.
H: Not that kind of Messiah. THE Messiah, the one God promised our people generations ago. The King, the Son of David, the Saviour of the world. Do you think he has finally come? That he could really be here? (pause) And with our Daisy?
W: What would a King want with our Daisy? I mean I love her to bits and all, but surely a King would want something a bit classier, a bit more regal?
H: Well, maybe He's not exactly the kind of King everyone has been expecting. Let's go find out for ourselves.
(They head off into the distance)
Wife (to crowd): See that donkey the Messiah's riding? That's my Daisy!
© Copyright Melinda Cousins 2009, all rights reserved. The script may not be reproduced, translated or copied in any medium, including books, CDs and on the Internet, without written permission of the author.
This play may be performed free of charge, on the condition that copies are not sold for profit in any medium, nor any entrance fee charged. In exchange for free performance, the author would appreciate being notified of when and for what purpose the play is performed. She may be contacted at:


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The Cedar Springs Red Hawks hit the gridiron this week for the first football games of the year. The varsity will take on last year's OK-Blue champ Comstock Park, on the Panther's home turf, Thursday, August 28, at 7 p.m., in the first of four non-conference games.
This game should be a great matchup between two highly competitive teams. An Mlive.com article predicted that Cedar Springs will finish second in the OK-Bronze behind Forest Hills Northern, and that Comstock Park will finish second behind West Catholic, which moved from the OK-Bronze to the OK-Blue.
The Wyoming Wolves were moved into the OK-Bronze to take the place of West Catholic.
The Red Hawks have played the Panthers 26 times since 1950, for a record of 11-15. They competed against them regularly when they were both part of the OK-Blue between 2005 and 2011, and as non-conference rivals between 1998-2002. They also competed yearly between 1960 and 1969, when they were both in the Tri-River Conference, and 1950-1953 in the Kent-Ottawa Conference.
The Red Hawks, under Coach Gus Kapolka, will need to be at the top of their game from the first whistle. In their first four games, the Red Hawks will face four teams that all made the playoffs last year—Comstock Park, Sparta, Belding, and Grand Rapids Catholic Central. Last year Comstock Park went 12-1, losing to South Christian in the Division 4 semi-final game.
Head out Thursday night, August 28, and support your Cedar Springs Red Hawks at Comstock Park. Game time is 7 p.m.


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Leatherhead Food Research's CEO, Paul Berryman, is stepping down from his role in order to pursue new career opportunities.
"After two years as research director and nearly six as CEO, I think it's time to pass on the baton," said Berryman. "It has been an honor and privilege to lead an organization with such a superb reputation and caliber of staff. I have particularly enjoyed working with such friendly and intelligent colleagues and being involved in so many interesting research projects that have a real effect on foods that we eat every day."
Geoff Spriegel, Leatherhead's chairman, will step in as CEO in an interim capacity. "The process to recruit a new CEO will commence immediately," said Spriegel.
Berryman's highlights over the last eight years include: rebranding and restructuring the company resulting in four science platforms and a world-renowned regulatory service. He helped turn the company around from loss making (2001-2006) to profitable and helped to develop new services for clients including SenseReach, a new iPad-based consumer research tool; FoodLaunch, a strategic partnership with Mintel, and DirtyLab, designed to deliberately contaminate food and equipment with bacteria to study sanitation techniques. He also helped to develop research programs, leading to innovative partnerships with Universities and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).


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So there was this guy, a busker, and he was playing the most beautiful guitar. I didn't have any cash on me, so I went to tell him I liked him but had no money. He told me he could take a small payment by phone, if I liked.
"After all," he said, "even if you're sleeping on the streets you can still pick up a phone." I gave him a dollar just by passing my iPhone near his phone.
A fantasy? Maybe, but Apple's iPhone seems on course to finally open up the market for near field communications technology, with RFID-based, highly secure, paperless payments. What follows is a selection of ideas, which seemingly lead to this mobile payments mardi-gras.
Apple was first reported to be testing RFID iPhones last year.
There's already several iPhone-as-payment-system offerings for merchants. Indeed, the $100 million iPhone developer KPCBs iFund is thought to have invested in some of these systems.
Now, speculation suggests Apple may intend kick-starting this sector, beginning with the acquisition of contactless/near field communications tech firm, VIVOtech.
Based in Santa Clara, ViVOtech provides "Contactless/near field communications (NFC) payment software, NFC smart posters, contactless readers/writers, and over the air card provisioning, promotion, and transaction management infrastructure software," according to its own company description.
The speculation begins at Bloomberg, where IDC analyst, Will Stofega, reportedly suggested VIVOtech could become a potential Apple acquisition target, citing recently revealed Apple patents for mobile purchasing and touch-screen technology.
The analyst later told PaymentsSource that contactless payments and financial transactions -- just like that small payment to that busker -- are "an interesting thing that kind of hasn't taken off."
Why? Because the technology needs to reach a level of advancement sufficient to foster an experience that's seamless, secure and consumer friendly.
An Apple acquisition of Vivotech could help the company deliver just that. It would also give Cupertino the expertise it needs to refine a system that could work -- and appeal to -- the broad consumer market.
Apple has a range of patents which could be utterly emancipated by such secure near field technologies.
Take the recently published Motion Based Input Selection patent, this couples with RFID and an onscreen combination lock to act as a wireless, non-physical iPhone-controlled key, the so-called 'iKey' patent.
A June 2009 Apple patent revealed it has developed a method for building an NFC (Near Field Communictions) antenna into a touch screen. The 'touch screen RFID tag reader' patent application explains that:
The RFID antenna can be placed in the touch sensor panel, such that the touch sensor panel can now additionally function as an RFID transponder. No separate space-consuming RFID antenna is necessary.
More recently, the US Patent Office published details of Apple's iTravel solution. This is evidently being developed with help from the airlines and aims to let you use your iPhone instead of your airline ticket, with features including airline check-in and baggage identification, advanced electronic ID, car rentals, hotel and airline reservations."
"Apple's iTravel is yet another Near Field Communications based application within a host of recent revelations," Patently Apple explains.
Apple has similar patents covering event ticket purchasing, and more.
We've barely scratched the surface of what Apple may intend for NFC-based solutions in future iPhones. A little more intense scrutiny of its published patents reveals dozens of patented technologies which could be unlocked by the future introduction of NFC-equipped iPhones.
Granted, at this stage the notion of NFC or RFID-equipped iPhones is pure speculation. Even Gizmodo's stolen iPhone 4G unit wasn't identified as carrying RFID.
That these patents are emerging at an ever faster frequency while the company engages in uncustomarily frequent acquisitions suggest this is reaching an important point. (Though Apple sometimes shows its biggest clues years before products it is developing reach market).
It does seem pretty clear the company sees location awareness, personal information, social networking and geo-positioning as a series of market drivers for a full-scale evolution of what is possible in the mobile market. (I touched on this in yesterday's post).
Returning to Vivotech. The company already has over 600,000 contactless point-of-sale readers in use globally.
Former Vivotech exec, Todd Ablowitz, president of the Double Diamond Group, thinks Apple may be after those 600,000 points of sale to kick-start its payment plans.
Quick assessment: We now have iPhones as payment systems, potentially we have Vivotech for points of sale, where's the money?
iTunes, that's where.
A long way since SoundJam, iTunes has become Apple's media and apps management, discovery and acquisition solution. And it's not just sitting on the shelf. iTunes already holds the account details of 100 million customers, and already has a payment processing system capable of scaling between small sub-dollar payments all the way to more.
"If they want to build a payments ecosystems, what would be a better target?" Ablowitz said, speaking to Payments Source.
Tie those accounts up to payment processing systems and 100 million people would feasibly be able to use their near field Apple device to pay for goods and services at any participating outlet.
Once that solution scales down to consumer-to-consumer payment systems, then PayPal has a problem, and that busker I met on the street in the story up above?
He gets paid.


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271 E Lewis St. Lafayette, LA 70503
(337) 456-7969
Zeus has deep roots that embrace the unique Mediterranean cuisine and culture native to the Balbeisi Brothers Restaurant Group, married carefully to the flavors of Louisiana that they have lovingly embraced.
This backbone of Mediterranean flavors creates a menu bursting with nutritional, healthy food prepared when ordered that tastes fantastic because it is made with the freshest ingredients available. The dining environment is welcoming and traditional. Customer satisfaction has been a foundation of the Zeus philosophy since its founding, as diners have flocked to the restaurants to experience new and interesting flavors.
The cross-cultural creations that come from the kitchens and imagination of Zeus – from the chicken shawarma to the flavor-packed gyros, hummus and fresh salads – is just part of the personal history of family, food and community that goes into the Balbeisi Brothers dedication to hospitality.
To view all locations click here.


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Streetsblog Network
Ohio DOT Hosts Transit Meeting That No One Can Reach Via Transit
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Historian Sherman "Dilla" Thomas: the more Chicago improves its transit, the better life on the South and West sides will be
Thomas made his remarks at the Ventra electronic fare payment system's 10 year anniversary celebration.
Safe Streets Advocates: 1, NIMBYs: 0. After years of surreal opposition, CDOT finally begins building Dickens Greenway
After [checks watch] 4.5 years of stonewalling by some Lincoln Park residents, yesterday the Chicago Department of Transportation started constructing the bike route.
Ald. William Hall (6th): The best way to reduce car dependency is make neighborhoods more walkable, profitable, and appealing
"If you want to see less car use, then make the proposition that it wouldn't make sense to leave my neighborhood."


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Royal Philips, the global leader in lighting, is introducing a new GreenPower LED production module for multilayer applications. The new solution is especially advantageous in vertical city farms as well as for the propagation of young plants. It will offer you more control, improved and uniform crop quality and energy savings of up to 75%. The energy-efficient LEDs also give off less heat and create a more uniform light distribution, making the module ideal for conditioned environments.
50 micromol output
Although this new GreenPower production module uses only 23 W – its predecessor used 32 W – it still produces the same 50 micromol output, and therefore increases yield and quality. And it reduces energy costs by up to 75% compared to fluorescent lamps, making it the most energy-efficient LED solution in this category.
Proven light recipes
Several spectral versions of the GreenPower LED production module have been developed, with different colors for different growing requirements. With these versions we offer the best 'light recipe' – dedicated combinations of spectrum, intensity, moment of lighting, uniformity and positioning – for each situation. These light recipes make it possible to steer specific plant characteristics such as compactness, color intensity and branch development, resulting in optimized crop yield and quality.
The GreenPower LED production module is successfully proven in many full-scale commercial applications, including lettuce plant propagation in the Netherlands, multiple crops in the USA, and leafy vegetables in Japan. All these commercial applications report significant increases in yield and quality
Advantages for all
The GreenPower LED production module can be used in a new installation, as a replacement for fluorescent lamps or as an energy-efficient supplement to natural daylight. It can even be used in greenhouses and in conditioned environments which are not suited to conventional lighting, thanks to its significantly lower heat radiation.
- Philips GreenPower LED production module leaflet


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Stampede Ruff Riderz Fender Flares 8424-5
- Our Price: $435.49
- Shipping:FREE SHIPPING
- Part Number: 8424-5
- Rating: (14)
$435.49Free Shipping
Select your vehicle details above to ensure item compatibility.
- Tough "Bolted-On" looks for your truck
- Extra-durable, UV-stable Tri-Blend material
- Protect your vehicle from rocks, debris, and mud
- OEM black finish - can be easily custom-painted
- Easy to install with included 3M adhesive tape
- Won't crack or damage your truck's finish
- Lifetime Warranty
Give your truck rugged "bolted-on" fenders without all the work! Stampede Ruff Riderz Fender Flares are custom-made for your vehicle and wraps under your truck's body for a fully finished look. And they install quickly with included automotive-approved 3M tape, so you get the bolt-on style without ever breaking out the drill.
Stampede RuffRidrz Fender Flares are crafted from a super durable Tri-Blend plastic material. Tri-Bend will not fade in the sun, nor will it warp or crack in extreme hot or cold. It absorbs road vibrations without damaging your trucks' factory finish. Your Ruff Riderz come in a matte OEM black that looks great on its own or can be custom-painted to match your ride.
Your Stampede Ruff Riderz Fender Flares are covered with a Lifetime Warranty.
Stampede 8424-5 fits:
- 2011-2016 Ford F-250
- 2011-2016 Ford F-350
- 2011-2016 Ford F-450
There are no reviews for this application.
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Paul Allen, who founded Microsoft with Bill Gates in the 1970s and later went on to become an investor, philanthropist and sports owner, died Monday after his latest battle with cancer at age 65.
The world lost a great technology pioneer today. Paul Allen's contributions to world of technology and philanthropy will never be forgotten. #PaulAllen #Microsoft pic.twitter.com/g1x9maeDmw
— Maz Vaziri (@MazyarVaziri) October 16, 2018
"My brother was a remarkable individual on every level. While most knew Paul Allen as a technologist and philanthropist, for us he was a much loved brother and uncle, and an exceptional friend," Allen's sister Jody said in a statement announcing his death.
In recent years, Allen was known as the owner of the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, and part owner of the Major League Soccer team the Seattle Sounders, along with a variety of business and charitable ventures.
One of the world's wealthiest billionaires, Allen also founded Stratolaunch Systems, which built the world's largest plane designed as a colossal rocket-launching aircraft touted as the future of space travel.
The craft was on track for its first launch demonstration as early at 2019.
Allen died just two weeks after publicly revealing that non-Hodgkin's lymphoma he fought into remission nine years ago had returned. The incurable cancer affects white blood cells.
He never married and had no children.
Thank you, Paul. ❤ pic.twitter.com/SDj5Xp34jj
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) October 15, 2018
He was a high school classmate of Gates in Seattle, and later, while working as a computer programmer, persuaded his friend to drop out of Harvard to create Microsoft, which became the world's most valuable company in the 1990s.
Allen had left Microsoft by 1983 for health reasons but held on to shares which made up the bulk of his fortune, estimated at some $20 billion.
"All of us who had the honour of working with Paul feel inexpressible loss today," says a statement by Vulcan, the investment firm that managed his operations.
"He possessed a remarkable intellect and a passion to solve some of the world's most difficult problems, with the conviction that creative thinking and new approaches could make profound and lasting impact."
Microsoft says Allen's "contributions to our company, our industry and to our community are indispensable."
"As co-founder of Microsoft, in his own quiet and persistent way, he created magical products, experiences and institutions. And in doing so, he changed the world," adds the company's CEO Satya Nadella.
Statement from Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the passing of Paul Allen: pic.twitter.com/1iLDLenLKz
— Microsoft (@Microsoft) October 15, 2018
While Gates attended Harvard, Allen studied at the University of Washington and invested heavily in research projects in his hometown of Seattle.
He invested $100 million to found the Allen Institute for Brain Science in 2003.
A decade later, he founded the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence to study the impacts on society of new technologies and the Allen Institute for Cell Science to fund research for treatment of diseases.
In the world of sports, Allen in 1988 bought the Trail Blazers, taking the team to the NBA finals twice.
He was also credited with putting Seattle on the map for the NFL.
"Paul Allen was the driving force behind keeping the NFL in the Pacific Northwest," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
"His vision led to the construction of CenturyLink Field and the building of a team that played in three Super Bowls, winning the championship in Super Bowl XLVIII. "
His personal charitable foundation gave to a diverse array of causes including anti-poaching initiatives in Africa, climate and energy research, and projects on homelessness, as well as the arts and culture.
In his 2011 memoir "Idea Man," Allen described a somewhat stormy relationship with Gates in the early days of Microsoft.
Allen wrote that he had expected a 50-50 split in the new company, but Gates insisted on taking 60 percent, and later raised it to 64 percent, claiming that Gates schemed to "rip me off."


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1. Inflation can cause difficulty in many ways. Which group would have the greatest problem during periods of high inflation that last several years?
a.) Older, working couples saving for retirement.
b.) Older people living on fixed retirement income.
c.) Young couples with no children who both work.
d.) Young working couples with children.
2. Which of the following is true about sales taxes?
a.) The national sales tax percentage rate is 6%.
b.) The federal government will deduct it from your paycheck.
c.) You don't have to pay the tax if your income is very low.
d.) It makes things more expensive for you to buy.
3. Rebecca has saved $12,000 for her college expenses by working part-time. Her plan is to start college next year and she needs all of the money she saved. Which of the following is the safest place for her college money?
a.) Locked in her closet at home.
b.) Stocks.
c.) Corporate bonds.
d.) A bank savings account.
4. Which of the following types of investment would best protect the purchasing power of a family's savings in the event of a sudden increase in inflation?
a.) A 10-year bond issued by a corporation.
b.) A certificate of deposit at a bank.
c.) A twenty-five year corporate bond.
d.) A house financed with a fixed-rate mortgage.
5. Under which of the following circumstances would it be financially beneficial to you to borrow money to buy something now and repay it with future income?
a.) When you need to buy a car to get a much better paying job.
b.) When you really need a week vacation.
c.) When some clothes you like go on sale.
d.) When the interest on the loan is greater than the interest you get on your savings.
6. Which of the following statements best describes your right to check your credit history for accuracy?
a.) Your credit record can be checked once a year for free.
b.) You cannot see your credit record.
c.) All credit records are the property of the U.S. Government and access is only available to the FBI and Lenders.
d.) You can only check your record for free if you are turned down for credit based on a credit report.
7. Your take home pay from your job is less than the total amount you earn. Which of the following best describes what is taken out of your total pay?
a.) Social security and Medicare contributions.
b.) Federal income tax, property tax, and Medicare and Social Security contributions.
c.) Federal income tax, social security and Medicare contributions.
d.) Federal income tax, sales tax, and social security contribution.
8. Retirement income paid by a company is called:
a.) 401 (k).
b.) Pension.
c.) Rents and profits.
d.) Social Security.
9. Many people put aside money to take care of unexpected expenses. If Juan and Elva have money put aside for emergencies, in which of the following forms would it be of LEAST benefit to them if they needed it right away?
a.) Invested in a down payment on the house.
b.) Checking account.
c.) Stocks.
d.) Savings account.
10. David just found a job with a take-home pay of $2,000 per month. He must pay $900 for rent and $150 for groceries each month. He also spends $250 per month on transportation. If he budgets $100 each month for clothing, $200 for restaurants and $250 for everything else, how long will it take him to accumulate savings of $600.
a.) 3 months.
b.) 4 months.
c.) 1 month.
d.) 2 months.
11. Sara and Joshua just had a baby. They received money as baby gifts and want to put it away for the baby's education. Which of the following tends to have the highest growth over periods of time as long as 18 years?
a.) A checking account.
b.) Stocks.
c.) A U.S. Govt. savings bond.
d.) A savings account.
12. Barbara has just applied for a credit card. She is an 18-year-old high school graduate with few valuable possessions and no credit history. If Barbara is granted a credit card, which of the following is the most likely way that the credit card company will reduce ITS risk?
a.) It will make Barbara's parents pledge their home to repay Karen's credit card debt.
b.) It will require Barbara to have both parents co-sign for the card.
c.) It will charge Barbara twice the finance charge rate it charges older cardholders.
d.) It will start Barbara out with a small line of credit to see how she handles the account.
13. Chelsea worked her way through college earning $15,000 per year. After graduation, her first job pays $30,000. The total dollar amount Chelsea will have to pay in Federal income taxes in her new job will:
a.) Double, at least, from when she was in college.
b.) Go up a little from when she was in college.
c.) Stay the same as when she was in college.
d.) Be lower than when she was in college.
14. Which of the following best describes the primary sources of income for most people age 20-35?
a.) Dividends and interest.
b.) Salaries, wages, tips.
c.) Profits from business.
d.) Rents.
15. If you are behind on your debt payments and go to a responsible credit counseling service such as the Consumer Credit Counseling Services, what help can they give you?
a.) They can cancel and cut up all of your credit cards without your permission.
b.) They can get the federal government to apply your income taxes to pay off your debts.
c.) They can work with those who loaned you money to set up a payment schedule that you can meet.
d.) They can force those who loaned you money to forgive all your debts.
16. Rob and Mary are the same age. At age 25 Mary began saving $2,000 a year while Rob saved nothing. At age 50, Rob realized that he needed money for retirement and started saving $4,000 per year while Mary kept saving her $2,000. Now they are both 75 years old. Who has the most money in his or her retirement account?
a.) They would each have the same amount because they put away exactly the same
b.) Rob, because he saved more each year
c.) Mary, because she has put away more money
d.) Mary, because her money has grown for a longer time at compound interest
17. Many young people receive health insurance benefits through their parents. Which of the following statements is true about health insurance coverage?
a.) You are covered by your parents' insurance until you marry, regardless of your age.
b.) If your parents become unemployed, your insurance coverage may stop, regardless of your age.
c.) Young people don't need health insurance because they are so healthy.
d.) You continue to be covered by your parents' insurance as long as you live at home, regardless of your age.
18. Don and Bill work together in the finance department of the same company and earn the same pay. Bill spends his free time taking work-related classes to improve his computer skills; while Don
spends his free time socializing with friends and working out at a fitness center. After five years, what is likely to be true?
a.) Don will make more because he is more social.
b.) Don will make more because Bill is likely to be laid off.
c.) Bill will make more money because he is more valuable to his company.
d.) Don and Bill will continue to make the same money.
19. If your credit card is stolen and the thief runs up a total debt of $1,000, but you notify the issuer of the card as soon as you discover it is missing, what is the maximum amount that you can be forced to pay according to Federal law?
a.) $500
b.) $1000
c.) Nothing.
d.) $50
20. Which of the following statements is NOTcorrect about most ATM (Automated Teller Machine) cards?
a.) You can generally get cash 24 hours-a-day.
b.) You can generally obtain information concerning your bank balance at an ATM machine.
c.) You can get cash anywhere in the world with no fee.
d.) You must have a bank account to have an ATM Card.
21. Matt has a good job on the production line of a factory in his home town. During the past year or two, the state in which Matt lives has been raising taxes on its businesses to the point where they are much higher than in neighboring states. What effect is this likely to have on Matt's job?
a.) Higher business taxes will cause more businesses to move into Matt's state, raising wages.
b.) Higher business taxes can't have any effect on Matt's job.
c.) Mark's company may consider moving to a lower-tax state, threatening Matt's job.
d.) He is likely to get a large raise to offset the effect of higher taxes.
22. If you have caused an accident, which type of automobile insurance would cover damage to your own car?
a.) Comprehensive.
b.) Liability.
c.) Term.
d.) Collision.
23. Scott and Eric are young men. Each has a good credit history. They work at the same company and make approximately the same salary. Scott has borrowed $6,000 to take a foreign vacation. Eric has borrowed $6,000 to buy a car. Who is likely to pay the lowest finance charge?
a.) Eric will pay less because the car is collateral for the loan.
b.) They will both pay the same because the rate is set by law.
c.) Scott will pay less because people who travel overseas are better risks.
d.) They will both pay the same because they have almost identical financial backgrounds.
24. If you went to college and earned a four-year degree, how much more money could you expect to earn than if you only had a high school diploma?
a.) About 10 times as much.
b.) No more; I would make about the same either way.
c.) A little more; about 20% more.
d.) A lot more; about 70% more.
25. Many savings programs are protected by the Federal government against loss. Which of the following is not?
a.) A U.S. Savings Bond.
b.) A certificate of deposit at the bank.
c.) A bond issued by one of the 50 States.
d.) A U.S. Treasury Bond.
26. If each of the following persons had the same amount of take home pay, who would need the greatest amount of life insurance?
a.) An elderly retired man, with a wife who is also retired.
b.) A young married man without children.
c.) A young single woman with two young children.
d.) A young single woman without children.
27. Which of the following instruments is NOT typically associated with spending?
a.) Debit card.
b.) Certificate of deposit.
c.) Cash.
d.) Credit card.
28. Which of the following credit card users is likely to pay the GREATEST dollar amount in finance charges per year, if they all charge the same amount per year on their cards?


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Earlier his week, The Gloss featured old photos of prostituted women in order to highlight the fact that being poor and having to service nasty-ass dudes in the early 1900s also involved wearing cool tights. A comment left on the post reads: "Well, I'm obviously going to be an old school sex worker for Halloween this year." — I can't tell if that's sarcastic or not, but I think it shows that The Gloss really made their point.
Of course, I think it's super awesome that The Gloss, who claims to be "a big fan of both sex workers and women of the past," is promoting prostitution as an outfit you put on. What I think is even more awesome is Louis Vuitton's ad campaign promoting "prostitution chic." Working the streets, hanging out in alleys wearing lingerie, and getting into cars with strange men is super chic and sexy, y'all. Apparently some think "the film is tongue in cheek, and playfully risque," but I tend to think violence against women isn't a super cute, playful, sexy joke.
Katie Grand, the editor-in-chief and a collaborator of Louis Vuitton's creative director Marc Jacobs, has now issued a completely sincere apology that shows how very clearly she understands the implications of glamorizing exploitation and abuse, saying: "It certainly wasn't my intention to cause offence." No, no. It wasn't your "intention to cause offence." It was your "intention" to sell clothes.
All this does is reinforce my impression of the fashion industry as one filled with vapid, self-centered, bougie hipsters who think they're artists and, therefore, post-oppression.
Luckily not everyone buys this BS, and a number of lefties, feminists, and intellectuals complained about the campaign, accusing it of "assimilating luxury with the world's second most profitable criminal activity after drug trafficking." A letter published in Libération, a leftwing, French newspaper asks if Louis Vuitton realizes "they are promoting violence, pornography and sexual slavery."
Oddly, a writer at The Gloss complains about the campaign — Though mostly concerned that it "stereotypes" prostitutes, the author, Jamie Peck, also represents those who spoke out against the campaign as being naive about the fact that the fashion industry (are you all sitting down?) also objectifies women. DUN DUN DUNNNNN.
Peck goes on to say: "So long as you support a capitalist system whereby people are forced to sacrifice their time and bodily autonomy in exchange for food and shelter, you have no business telling anyone what they should or shouldn't do to survive."
Well true that. I hope no one ever tells the author that most abolitionists are not actually fans of capitalism, that the Nordic model is a socialist model, and that most feminists who advocate for an end to the exploitation of women also advocate for affordable housing and social safety nets (which are decidedly not capitalist concepts), because that might blow her mind.
Anyway, where's the apology from The Gloss? Do they really believe that being "fan[s] of sex workers" is the same as representing prostitution as fashion choice or a costume?


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The typical employee at Google is relatively young, according to a lawsuit brought by an older programmer who is alleging age discrimination.
Robert Heath, a software engineer, was 60 when he applied in 2011 for a job at a rapidly growing Google. He wasn't hired despite having "highly-pertinent qualifications and experience," and being deemed by a Google recruiter as a "great candidate," according to Heath's lawsuit. The complaint was filed in U.S. district court in San Jose, California.
In a statement, Google's response to the lawsuit was: "We believe that the facts will show that this case is without merit and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously."
The lawsuit appears to make its case, in part, around some specific age data.
Between 2007 and 2013, Google's workforce grew from 9,500 to more than 28,000 employees, "yet as of 2013, its employees' median age was 29 years old," the lawsuit claims.
That's in contrast to the median age of nearly 43 for all U.S. workers who are computer programmers, according to the lawsuit. Heath's lawsuit seeks class-action status.
The data the lawsuit uses to set the median age at 29 was collected by Payscale, a benefits and compensation research company. The data was based on 840 profiles of full-time, regular, U.S.-based employees. In the case of Google, the margin of error was about 4%, according to Katie Bardaro, Payscale's lead economist and director of analytics.
Payscale operates an ongoing online compensation survey. "People come to our survey to understand their price in the labor market and how they compare to others like them," said Bardaro said. In the survey, participants are asked about their job, their employer, background characteristics and demographics.
In the complaint's account, Heath was contacted by a recruiter with Google's engineering staff. The company was looking for candidates with experience in C/C++ and Java. "After reviewing your experience, I thought you would be a great candidate to come work at Google and add value," wrote the Google recruiter to Heath.
There was a technical telephone interview that, as described in this lawsuit, appears to have been handled oddly. The interviewer was 10 minutes late to the call, "barely fluent in English," and "used a speaker phone that did not function well." Heath politely asked him, repeatedly, to use the phone's headset but the request was declined.
Consequently, Heath and the interviewer had difficulty understanding each other. One part of the interview involved writing a short program to find the answer to a problem posed by the interviewer. Heath accomplished the task and offered to share it via Google Docs or email, but, instead, the interviewer required Heath "to read the program coding over the phone." It did not go well. The interviewer "seemed not to understand" what was being read, the lawsuit states.
Heath was not offered the job.
Heath, who lives in Boynton Beach, Fla., has a bachelor's degree in computer science, and has worked for IBM, Compaq and General Dynamics. He also has a master certification in Java, which he achieved with a certification test score "higher than 96% of all previous test takers," according to the lawsuit.
Prior to bringing the lawsuit, Heath filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission as well as the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, and received right to sue notices from each.
Heath's lawsuit cites a prior age discrimination lawsuit filed by a former technology manager at Google, who was called an "old fuddy duddy." That case was settled out of court.
"The disproportionately low number of older workers and the history of discriminatory remarks at Google provide significant evidence of age discrimination, and we're hopeful that this lawsuit will help end discriminatory practices at Google and deter discrimination in the industry," said Daniel Low of Kotchen & Low, in a statement, which is representing Heath.
Editor's note: The story was updated to add the lawsuit's source for the data on the median age of Google employees, a benefits and compensation research company called Payscale.


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Microsoft on Friday issued a blog post describing how well it's Office for Mac 2011 productivity suite works with the recently released Mac OS X "Lion." Suffice to say, there are a few issues.
We've been working with Apple from the early days of Lion, and collectively have been able to address many issues leading up to the Lion release. Many of our Office for Mac engineers have been running Lion for months, and are generally having no problems running Office 2011 on it.
There are two large- and several smaller Office for Mac 2011 issues (on Lion) that we want to highlight. First, Communicator for Mac crashes when you send an instant message or start an audio/visual call. We will fix this issue in an upcoming update to Communicator for Mac. (Note that many users may never use Communicator, because it's a corporate product, and not included with the mainline Office products.)
Second, on Lion, Outlook can't import mail from Apple Mail. We're reviewing this and don't yet have a plan to fix it. However, if your mail is already in Outlook, then this issue won't affect you.
The smaller Office issues are fairly minor or cosmetic, things like windows that might not align as they did in Snow Leopard, and we will continue to work together with Apple to fix these in our next regular updates.
There are apparently some issues with Office 2008 (the previous Mac version of Office) as well, but Microsoft says those will be addressed in the future, after the latest version has been updated. Anyone who's used Mac Office is no doubt familiar with the never-ending drone of Automatic Updates, so this situation will likely be more of the same.


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Monitor your baby's activity
- :womenshealth.gov
- 856
After 28 weeks, keep track of your baby's movement. This will help you to notice if your baby is moving less than normal, which could be a sign that your baby is in distress and needs a doctor's care. An easy way to do this is the "count-to-10" approach. Count your baby's movements in the evening — the time of day when the fetus tends to be most active. Lie down if you have trouble feeling your baby move.
Most women count 10 movements within about 20 minutes. But it is rare for a woman to count less than 10 movements within two hours at times when the baby is active. Count your baby's movements every day so you know what is normal for you. Call your doctor if you count less than 10 movements within two hours or if you notice your baby is moving less than normal. If your baby is not moving at all, call your doctor right away.
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- Science
- Not Exactly Rocket Science
Here's What Happens Inside You When a Mosquito Bites
The video above shows a brown needle that looks like it's trying to bury itself among some ice-cubes. It is, in fact, the snout of a mosquito, searching for blood vessels in the flesh of a mouse.
This footage was captured by Valerie Choumet and colleagues from the Pasteur Institute in Paris, who watched through a microscope as malarial mosquitoes bit a flap of skin on an anaesthetised mouse. The resulting videos provide an unprecedented look at exactly what happens when a mosquito bites a host and drinks its blood.
For a start, look how flexible the mouthparts are! The tip can almost bend at right angles, and probes between the mouse's cells in a truly sinister way. This allows the mosquito to search a large area without having to withdraw its mouthparts and start over.
"I was genuinely amazed to see the footage," says James Logan from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who studies mosquitoes. "I had read that the mouthparts were mobile within the skin, but actually seeing it in real time was superb. What you assume to be a rigid structure, because it has to get into the skin like a needle, is actually flexible and fully controllable. The wonders of the insect body never cease to amaze me!"
From afar, a mosquito's snout might look like a single tube, but it's actually a complicated set of tools, encased in a sheath called the labium. You can't see the labrum at all in the videos; it buckles when the insect bites, allowing the six mouthparts within to slide into the mouse's skin.
Four of these—a pair of mandibles and a pair of maxillae—are thin filaments that help to pierce the skin. You can see them flaring out to the side in the video. The maxillae end in toothed blades, which grip flesh as they plunge into the host. The mosquito can then push against these to drive the other mouthparts deeper.
The large central needle in the video is actually two parallel tubes—the hypopharynx, which sends saliva down, and the labrum, which pumps blood back up. When a mosquito finds a host, these mouthparts probe around for a blood vessel. They often take several attempts, and a couple of minutes, to find one. And unexpectedly, around half of the ones that Choumet tested failed to do so. While they could all bite, it seemed that many suck at sucking.
The video below shows what happens when a mosquito finally finds and pierces a blood vessel. On average, they drink for around 4 minutes and at higher magnifications, Choumet could actually see red blood cells rushing up their mouthparts. They suck so hard that the blood vessels start to collapse. Some of them rupture, spilling blood into the surrounding spaces. When that happens, the mosquito sometimes goes in for seconds, drinking directly from the blood pool that it had created.
When the mosquitoes were infected with the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria, they spent more time probing around for blood vessels. It's not clear why—the parasites could be controlling the insect's nervous system or changing the activity of genes in its mouthparts. Either way, the infected mosquitoes give up much less readily in their search for blood, which presumably increases the odds that the parasites will enter a new host.
Many hours after a bite, Choumet's team found Plasmodium in the rodents' skin, huddled in areas that were also rife with the mosquito's saliva. The mosquito starts salivating as soon as it probes the mouse's skin, releasing substances that prevent blood vessels from constricting, stop blood from clotting, and prevent inflammation. Sometimes, Choumet could see the saliva as small bubbles that hung around the tips of the mouthparts. And even after the mosquito stops feeding, pockets of saliva linger in the lower layers of the skin. Plasmodium parasites seem to stay in the same place—perhaps they work together with the salivary chemicals to suppress the mouse's immune system.
The team also tested "immunised" mice, which were loaded with antibodies that recognise a mosquito's saliva. "Some people, especially in Africa and Asia, are bitten several times every day, so we wanted to know if mosquitoes behaved differently when they bit animals that were immunised against their saliva," says Choumet.
She found that the antibodies reacted with the insect's saliva during a bite, forming noticeable white clumps at the tips of the probing mouthparts. This clogged up smaller blood vessels, which stopped the mosquitoes from drinking from them. But the insects got around this problem by probing around for longer, and by hitting the largest blood vessels.
Beyond the stunning videos, these discoveries are unlikely to lead to new ways of preventing or treating malaria by themselves. However, they do tell us a lot more about the event that kicks off every single malaria case—a mosquito bite. It's a resource that other researchers will undoubtedly use. "I have submitted a grant application to investigate aspects of the interactions between mosquitoes, hosts and parasites," says Logan. "The techniques and discoveries from this paper are very exciting to me, and will be of value to future activities of my own research group."
Hat-tip to James Logan for alerting me to the story via Twitter, and inspiring the headline!
Reference: Choumet, Attout, Chartier, Khun, Sautereau, Robbe-Vincent, Brey, Huerre & Bain. 2012. Visualizing Non Infectious and Infectious Anopheles gambiae Blood Feedings in Naive and Saliva-Immunized Mice. PLoS ONE http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0050464


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Bias Binding - 18mm - Green Camouflage Print
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Read Each One of Hiccup and Toothless's Adventures in Order!
A young Viking boy goes on adventures with Toothless, his mischievous dragon, in the New York Times bestselling books that inspired the hit movie trilogy!
Follow Hiccup, Toothless, and a cast of zany characters from book 1 all the way to book 12. Then check out THE COMPLETE BOOK OF DRAGONS, a guide to every dragon known to exist in the land of Berk and its surrounds. Once you have studied up on your dragon-knowledge, you can record your own dragon doodles and heroic musings in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: A JOURNAL FOR HEROES.


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Where Should We Begin When Developing HR Competencies?
Updated: Apr 23, 2019
Dear Workforce:
What are the steps to developing a competency framework for human resources?
— Building a Foundation for Recruiting, HR consultant, financial services, Lagos, Nigeria
Dear Not Negotiable:
Dear Building:
Developing an HR competency framework—often called a competency model—should be done thoughtfully, but the process needn't be complicated. In fact, helping leaders build a basic competency framework as a foundation for selecting talent, developing leaders and reinforcing a successful culture ought to be in the tool kit of every HR professional.
For example, when you ask a hiring manager which characteristics future candidates should possess, you are talking about competencies. Let's start with a basic definition: Competencies include the skills, knowledge and attributes essential for success. Skills may vary from being able to program operating equipment to cutting steel with a lathe to injecting medications through a syringe or checking blood pressure. Knowledge is not as easily observed but the relevant know-how is. An expert on marketing would be expected to possess broad knowledge on markets, measurement and marketing strategies. A science teacher would likely need to know great detail about how varied species reproduce and maintain their genetic viability. In human resources, you'll need in-depth knowledge of some or all of the specialty areas such as benefits, compensation and training or employee relations. Attributes typically refer to the behavioral characteristics needed in a position. Those attributes might be decisiveness, customer focus, attention to detail, tenacity or creativity. Competencies can apply for an individual job, for a function (such as human resources or marketing) or an entire organization. You've probably heard people talk about culture change and how difficult it is to create. That's because a set of behavioral competencies have come to characterize an entire culture. Think of cultures that are team-oriented or authoritarian, risk-averse or indecisive. When a predominance of the members of the culture have adopted similar characteristics, the culture can be firmly set.
Within HR, focus on competencies that will spell success for the department, particularly as it must meet the needs of your organization. When developing a competency model for HR, be sure to consider the competencies that will meet emerging needs, as well as the competencies that have led to your success thus far. For example, your HR department may be known for its quick response to manager requests and an ability to meet needs using proven processes. Going forward, you may be facing the need to reduce costs and so may want to include creativity, which can result in low-cost solutions, in your new HR competency model.
Often, a department competency model will be updated when a leader sees the need for change. If this is your situation, be sure to ask your strongest performers and key stakeholders for their input on the competency model for the future, and then communicate to all employees why the competencies were selected, why they are important to your future, and how they will be used to select and develop employees in the department.
Tags: #DearWorkforce #CompetencyModels #Culture #HumanResources


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Current Stable version (2.0)
| The latest stable release version of Crystal Space is 2.0 (03 July 2012).
This version has been tested on Windows, GNU/Linux, and MacOS/X and should work with no major problems on those.
If you encounter a problem then please report it!
| The latest stable release version of CEL is 2.0 (03 July 2012).
This version is compatible with Crystal Space 2.0 and is also tested on the three target platforms.
CEL also provides the source code for CELstart.
Crystal Space requires a number of external libraries for a few basic and some optional features.
A list of required and optional dependencies can be found in the "External Libraries" section of the manual.
- For Windows users, "cs-winlibs", a package with precompiled support libraries, is available for download either in 32 bits or in 64 bits.
Download source archive
The source packages are available in the formats .zip, .tar.gz and .tar.bz2
and is an all-you-need package, containing the sources for all plugins, required data,
demo applications and maps as well as the user's manual and API documentation.
|Download links
|Crystal Space from crystalspace3d.org
|CEL from crystalspace3d.org
MD5 sums for crystalspace-2.0 archives.
MD5 sums for cel-2.0 archives.
SHA256 sums for crystalspace-2.0 archives.
SHA256 sums for cel-2.0 archives.
Download from Subversion repository
The below links are for downloading a read only versions of the repository. These are not intended for developers with write access to the repository.
- SVN tags will get you the exact same files as provided in the 2.0 source archives:
- CS: svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/crystal/code/CS/tags/V2.0 CS_V2.0
- CEL: svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/cel/code/cel/tags/V2.0 CEL_V2.0
- SVN URLs will get you the latest code from the 2.0 branch:
- CS: svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/crystal/code/CS/branches/release/V2.0 CS_V2.X_BRANCH
- CEL: svn checkout svn://svn.code.sf.net/p/cel/code/cel/branches/release/V2.0 CEL_V2.X_BRANCH
The 2.0 planning Trac page has information about the 2.0 SVN branch.
Download binaries
Sorry, there are no binaries for SDK released yet.
Sorry, there are no binaries for CELStart released yet.
Refer to the user manual for changes between this and previous releases.
However, you can see the release highlights page for new features.
The 2.0 planning Trac page has informations about revisions merged from the main code trunk since 2.0 branch creation.
Other versions
- Development version (SVN trunk/2.1)
- 1.4.1
Below are legacy releases. Theses should not be used and documentation for them may not be accurate. You delve here at your own risk.


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It's a bit difficult to think about furs without sweating, especially since it will be 76 degrees here in OKC today. Perhaps a short fur with shorts or a bathing suit would be okay. Well, the show must go on so if you're ready for more fabulosity let's get started.
When you look like Alexis Smith you can get away with a fur over a brassiere. Of course if a star walked around in that today they would get arrested or worse. I hope Alexis had a handler.
Mary Carlisle. Nothing says look at me like a coat that wiped out an entire fox family!
Well that's enough furs for today but I do have one more photo to share. I've mentioned my mink stole that was passed down from my great aunt. Of course I've never worn it anywhere but I did have fun with it one night.
Several years ago my step mother Terry had this bright idea for us to start dressing up for movie night. This was the night we watched Sunset Blvd! Of course we threw a few hideous things together then smeared some high eyebrows and lipstick on. I think my widows peak and the red eyes give everything a nice touch. I'll spare you the photo of us the night we watched Boogie Nights. Poor Norma Desmond! Looking back now, we really did look like demented clowns!
Thanks for stopping by!


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WASHINGTON (RNS) Even as membership remains relatively stable in U.S. churches, the effects of the recession have caused contributions to drop by $1.2 billion.
According to the 2012 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches, the almost $29 billion contributed by church members represented a 2.2 percent decrease in terms of per capita giving.
The $1.2 billion decline in 2010 was nearly three times as large as the $431 million in losses reported in 2009, and "provides clear evidence of the impact of the deepening crises in the reporting period," the Yearbook's editor, the Rev. Eileen Lindner, wrote.
The Yearbook is produced annually by the National Council of Churches and is considered one of the most authoritative sources of church membership. The 2010 figures, released Tuesday (March 20), were collected from 228 U.S. denominations in 2011.
The Roman Catholic Church (No. 1) and the Southern Baptist Convention (No. 2) continued as the nation's largest churches in 2010, and both posted a decrease of less than 1 percent, the fourth year in a row of declining membership for Southern Baptists.
Overall, total membership in the top 25 largest churches declined 1.15 percent, to 145.7 million.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, though still in the top 10, reported the sharpest decline in membership, dropping 5.9 percent to 4.3 million members.
Four Pentecostal churches out of the top 25 showed a continuing increase in membership, with the Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. jumping up 20 percent, the highest out of all reporting churches.
Only six out of the top 25 increased in membership, according to the Yearbook. Some of those growing denominations include Jehovah's Witnesses (up 1.85 percent), Seventh-day Adventist Church (up 1.61 percent) and the National Baptist Convention, USA (up 3.95 percent).
The 10 largest U.S. Christian bodies reported in the 2012 yearbook are:
1. The Catholic Church: 68.2 million, down 0.44 percent.
2. Southern Baptist Convention: 16.1 million, down 0.15 percent.
3. The United Methodist Church: 7.7 million, down 1.22 percent.
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: 6.2 million, up 1.62 percent.
5. The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million, no membership updates reported.
6. National Baptist Convention, USA: 5.2 million, up 3.95 percent.
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: 4.3 million, down 5.9 percent.
8. National Baptist Convention of America, 3.5 million, no membership updates reported.
9. Assemblies of God: 3.03 million, up 3.99 percent.
10. Presbyterian Church (USA): 2.7 million, down 3.42 percent.


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Happy Friday everyone and welcome to a new challenge at Just Add Ink!
This week we have a lovely feminine and elegant Inspiration Photo for you to use in your projects as a legacy challenge from the lovely Trish who has just stepped down from the design team.
Make the main element of your project something that is inspired by the colours, patterns or whatever else catches your eye from the image. We so look forward to seeing what you will share with us!
Nikki Spencer
Kim Badelt
Christine Blain
Narelle Farrugia
Jan McQueen
Kim Badelt
Christine Blain
Narelle Farrugia
Jan McQueen
- Create a card, layout or 3D project using our challenge as inspiration.
- Link your post, NOT your whole blog back here.
- Your project must be new, created for this challenge and combined with no more than 5 other challenges.
- Please mention JUST ADD INK in your blog post and provide a link so others can come and join in the fun too.
- Please DO NOT use your challenge entry as self promotion. We are here to have fun and encourage creativity.
- We reserve the right to remove links that do not comply with the above guidelines.
- The challenge closes each Wednesday at 10.00 pm (AEST) Australian Eastern Standard Time.


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Subject: London Fly
Location: London
February 14, 2013 4:11 am
When I first saw this fly I thought it was just a somehow pretty and interesting version of the common fly (bottle/blow all the same to me then).
But, ever since I've developed a fascination with how much more intriguing flies are than I had thought, so now I've jumped from a Spider fan to a more general bug fan.
This bold fly who allowed me so close to take the picture (I just imagined it was too tired to care but now I know distinct flies have personality traits), was sitting on a railing for the Thames River near the beginning of time (Greenwich) on the opening day of the Olympics (making it August 27, 2012).
Because of this fly's consent as a model not only have I become much more invested in the flying life, but several of my friends who have seen it have expressed new found tolerance as they didn't realize how pretty a fly can be.
Oh, but that was before we picked up several as passengers in a car traversing 3 countries… those pics soon.
Anyway, it was what I would call standard, common fly size though it appears there is nothing common anymore about flies. In my mind before there was the Standard and the Jumbo (bumbling ones). 🙂
Hope you can help me decide which family of flies it might be in.
Signature: Curious Girl
Dear Curious Girl,
We scoured several websites including UK Nature, True Flies UK Safari, A Nature Observer's Scrapbook, UK Diptera and Amateur Entomologists' Society with no luck. Perhaps one of our readers will have better luck with this distinctive looking fly.
Eric Eaton provides an identification: Root Maggot Fly
Sure, that is the family Anthomyiidae (Root-maggot flies). Might be Anthomyia puella, and a female (using my Domino Guide to Insects of Britain and Western Europe).


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With only 3 weeks to go, have you got your tickets to the biggest Afro-beat concert in New York?
The One Africa Music Fest, brought to you by Upfront & personal is only 3 weeks away and the lineup is one you do not want to miss!
The event will take place at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York City at 7 PM on the 22nd of July 2016!
The unforgettable night will be hosted by Africa's R&B King Banky W.
Come see live performances from your favorite musical stars and Africa's biggest artistes such as Nigeria's Wizkid, Davido, Flavour and Tiwa Savage, Ghanaian artist Stonebwoy, East Africa's Diamond Platnumz, and special guest appearances from Praiz, Mafikizolo, Seun Kuti, Ayo Jay, Wale, Jidenna, Machel Montano and more!
Tickets to the show are on sale now and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 800-745-3000. Tickets are also available in person at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center (if tickets are still available).
This night in music is one you won't want to miss!


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Ex-SNC exec Roy suing for wrongful dismissal
By Canadian PressGeneral SNC-Lavalin
Former Lavalin controller argues he was only following orders.
MONTREAL – A former SNC-Lavalin executive who worked with the jailed ex-head of the company's construction division has launched a nearly $1-million wrongful dismissal and defamation lawsuit against the Montreal-based engineering giant. Stephane Roy said he was made a "scapegoat" and described as a "rogue employee" when he was fired a year ago despite always acting on the company's orders.
The former controller is seeking $930,000 in lost salary and benefits, including $100,000 in moral damages and for ruining his reputation. He also claims more than $270,000 worth of shares held in a stock option plan as of September when he tried to claim them.
Roy reported directly to Riadh Ben Aissa, who remains in custody in Switzerland on suspicion of laundering millions of dollars and bribing North African public officials. In Canada, Ben Aissa is accused, alongside former CEO Pierre Duhaime, with fraud relating to the construction of a new superhospital in Montreal.
Roy has never been charged but has been named in an RCMP affidavit with trying to smuggle former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Saadi, and his family into Mexico. None of the allegations against the former SNC-Lavalin officials has been tested in court.
In his lawsuit filed last week, Roy claimed that he always acted in good faith and in the best interests of his employer. He said SNC-Lavalin created "a corporate culture where it was common practice to do all that was necessary, including the payment of 'commissions' and other benefits to obtain contracts, including in Libya." Roy said he always followed the directives of senior executives, adding that the company made him a scapegoat by claiming to have fired him for just cause.
SNC-Lavalin spokeswoman Leslie Quinton said Roy was "terminated for cause in February 2012 for actions that were considered unacceptable and outside the scope of his official duties for the company. The company maintains that this decision was justified and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously," she said in an email.
Ben Aissa's brother, Rafik, has also filed a $5-million lawsuit in Quebec Superior Court alleging the company caused him harm for using his brother as a "scapegoat" while protecting its interests in Libya in the face of political change. SNC-Lavalin also faces class action lawsuits seeking more than $1 billion on behalf of disgruntled shareholders in Ontario and Quebec.
SNC-Lavalin's shares have nearly fully recovered from the hit that wiped out about $2.5 billion worth of market value when it initially disclosed last year that an internal investigation uncovered $56 million of questionable payments to foreign agents, breaching the company's code of ethics.
© 2013 The Canadian Press
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|Berhow, Mark
|Duval, Sandra
|Bowman, Michael
Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2013
Publication Date: 8/7/2013
Citation: Berhow, M.A., Duval, S.M., Bowman, M.J. 2013. Collision-induced fragmentation accurate mass spectrometric analysis methods to rapidly characterize plant extracts [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Phytochemical Society of North America, August 3-7, 2013, Corvallis, Oregon. p. 47.
Interpretive Summary:
Technical Abstract: The rapid advances in analytical chromatography equipment have made the reliable and reproducible measurement of a wide range of plant chemical components possible. Full chemical characterization of a given plant material is possible with the new mass spectrometers currently available. However, the software needed to automate the identification process is still not up to snuff. Even in the major agricultural crops, not all of the phytochemical components have been identified, and very few of the minor phytochemical components are available as pure standards for further nutritional evaluation. For phytochemicals, we have used the latest accurate mass LC-MS analysis to quickly characterize the potential chemical formulas for a series of unknown compounds in a variety of seed and leaf extracts using a standardized CID/HCD mass fragmentation experiment in which interpretation of the daughter ions allowed for the identification of phytochemical aglycones and various substituted fragments. These results – coupled with DEPT NMR analysis as needed – resulted in the identification of a series of phytochemicals in camelina seed extracts. Accurate LC-MS^N^ screening and characterization analyses can be coupled to more rapid non-destructive spectrophotometric analytical methods such as pulsed NMR and near infrared (NIR) spectrometry, which will allow for the rapid and non-destructive analysis of thousands of samples for a wide range of chemical composition parameters.


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Cheers! Chicago: Can you possibly meet "The Right One" at a bar?Permanent link
Well, can you? It's a fair question, isn't it? A bar seems like a practical place to meet someone, right? If we're not there to blow off steam from the stresses of work or to hang out with friends, we're probably there because we feel a little, well, lonely. And where better to have a beverage and socialize than the local pub? In fact, the word "pub" is taken from the phrase "public house," which in reality operated more like a motel with a diner and bar. These types of social gathering structures have been traced all the way back to the Roman taverns and baths, and these days we have more leisure time as a society then ever before. As a people, we Jews embrace drinking as a function of prayer and thankfulness, not reckless intoxication or stress pacification. If you really think about it, since it's a part of each Shabbat and many holidays, the Jewish people have been drinking together as a community for a long time. We are a merry people and are not afraid to show it!
But let's get back to whether or not the bar can be a genuine place to find love for single Jews. Working as a single Jewish bartender in one of the hottest cities in the country, I have seen my share of successes and failures regarding the male-female interaction. Everything from buying drinks for the hottie at the end of the bar to watching guys write little cheesy love notes on the back of a cocktail napkin. I have heard lots of lines that would make your sides hurt and seen lots of obscene and rather intriguing behavior. I have even had the pleasure of watching two very drunk guys attempt to out-macho the other one and duke it out at the bar, trying to buy a drink for a hot brunette in a little pink number that just straddled the bar stool. Now I'll admit it, I may be a very observant person by nature, sometimes just too observant for my own good. However, I am NO dating doctor or expert body language reader; having said that, I've tried nearly everything when it comes to interacting with the opposite sex myself. Blind dates, online dates, speed dates, "casually bumping" into old flames (shameful, I know), all the way down to just striking up a conversation with a cute stranger at a bar. Which one of those scenarios do you think is the easiest or has the best chance of success?
I can definitely tell you things look quite different from behind the sticks, where you are in a position to make drinks, hear and see everything that might take place, and manage the crowd, all while sober. Hey, we're all there to have a good time, right? So why not be open to meet and have fun with some new people? Sure, it can be awkward to meander nervously toward a beautiful group of women by the bar and try to explain how un-creepy but interesting and fun you really are. Yes, it's true: alcohol does lower the inhibitions, but I'm talking about the right one and not a one-night stand. Now, I am sure there are some of you thinking that it's possible to turn a one-night stand into something serious, and you're probably right. But the likelihood of that occurring for every guy or girl is ridiculously slim, which leaves most of us single people to go out without any expectations other than having a great time.
But my question to you is this: do Jewish singles act or treat the dating world differently than the rest when they go to bars, or are they like everyone else, just looking for a good time? Is it easier or harder for Jewish singles to meet in these settings? How do these chances compare to meeting singles at temple, bar and bat mitzvahs, weddings and holiday celebrations? I bet you if I polled 100 single Jews here in Chicago, most of them would not expect to meet "the right one" at the bar, but would reserve some judgment over whether or not it could work out should they meet someone they like. What are your thoughts?
Have you ever tried to pick up your local bartender? On the lighter side, I went to jewishjournal.com and found a blog by Merissa Nathan Gerson, host of AskYourYenta.com, titled "Are All Bartenders Perpetual Boys?" Her answer to a non-Jew's question regarding dating bartenders and the bar scene as a function of social interaction is quite insightful. It even concludes with rays of hope for single Jewish bartenders, like me, by mentioning how even bartenders are prone to finding "the right one," too! So go out to the bars, grab a drink and have some fun! Who knows what might be waiting for you there…


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AMD Duron 800 MHz Review
This content was originally featured on Amdmb.com and has been converted to PC Perspective's website. Some color changes and flaws may appear.Just a few days after I completed the Duron Overclock Article, I received the latest in Duron processors from FedEx. A couple thoughts went through my head: should I use the Duron 800 in the same tests? Should I even bother reviewing it after completing the many tests with the Duron 700 MHz processor? The answer I came to for both was 'yes'.
The Duron 800 was announced and released in parallel with the Athlon 1.2 GHz processor. A new high-end processor and a new low-end processor to further compete and shove the competition out the way. While an 800 MHz CPU may seem like old news, at such a low cost to the mass market, 800 MHz sounds like gold. For budget-PC buyers, the higher the clockspeed, the better the machine: whether that is true or not.
For the hardcore buyer, the higher clockspeed usually just means you have a better chance of overclocking successfully. However, we are not the majority of the market share, so we think may not matter as much as we'd like it to.
Either way, the Duron 800 helps keep AMD on top of Intel in every category of processor for the highest clockspeed. Having just released their 733 and 766 MHz Celeron processors in Japan, and with problems getting anything at 1 GHz or higher out to sell, Intel is sure in a rut.
|(Duron 800 – Duron 650 (Yes, that is a copy of Maxim magazine behind them)
Pictures that you might have seen of the Duron processor show off its strong blue tint that has been on lacking previous Duron processors. Many readers initially believed that these processors came from the fab in Dresden, meaning they had copper interconnects like the 1+ GHz Athlons. They were wrong, however, all Durons were and are still being made only in Austin and have aluminum interconnects.
Well, after having your hopes dashed on that field, lets see the stats of the CPU itself:
- Socket A interface
- 0.18-micron manufacturing process
- 25 million transistors on a 100mm^2 die
- 128K L1 cache, 64K full-speed L2 cache
- Fully-pipelined, superscalar floating point engine
- 200MHz system bus
- Enhanced 3DNow! Instructions
For benchmarking the Duron 800 MHz CPU, I ran the benchmarks at 800 MHz, overclocked to 1000 GHz, and against the Thunderbird 800 MHz processor for easy comparison. Here is the system setup for the tests:
AMD Duron 800 MHz
AMD Thunderbird 800 800 MHz
AMD Duron 800 @ 1000 MHz
|Epox 8KTA+ Rev 1.1
|2 x 128 Mushkin PC133 222 SDRAM
|Hard Drive
|20.5 GB ATA66 7200 RPM Western Digital
|Video Card
|GeForce 2 GTS 64MB (Hercules)
|Video Drivers
|Detonator 6.31
|Operating System
Windows 98 SE
Windows 2000 Professional (SPEC tests)


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When Uber paid a $100,000 ransom so that hackers who broke into its data warehouse would destroy the personal information they stole, it allowed the ride-sharing company to keep a massive breach of 57 million user and driver accounts secret for nearly a year.
Uber spokesman Matthew Wing would not comment when asked how the company knows that the hackers destroyed the data they obtained, nor would he comment on other technical or legal issues. Instead, he deferred to new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi's blog posting announcing the breach on Tuesday.
Uber has said that for riders, hackers got only names, email addresses and telephone numbers. They did not get personally identifiable information such as trip details or credit card and Social Security numbers. For about 600,000 U.S. drivers, the hackers obtained driver's license numbers, and the company has offered them free credit monitoring services, the company has said.
The October 2016 hack started at the software repository GitHub, a platform where developers can go to host and review each other's code. Uber hasn't explained how its developers' private account on the site was compromised, but it likely involved some carelessness, said Kyle Flaherty of security firm Rapid7.
"It's like any other account you have," Flaherty said. "Be stringent with your own credentials and be aware of other login credentials that might be inside the repository itself, whether it's in the code or elsewhere." Bloomberg reported that two Uber developers had stashed credentials for the company's data stores in their code on GitHub.
GitHub said Wednesday that the breach was not the result of a failure of its own security, but declined further comment. It also reiterated that it recommends against storing access tokens, passwords or other authentication or encryption keys in code stored on the site—and warned developers who do so to use extra safeguards to prevent unauthorized access.
While many security experts have criticized Uber for paying off the hackers with a ransom—which the company later categorized as a more acceptable "bug bounty" awarded to security researchers—others saw the $100,000 payment as a relative bargain that also successfully secured users' data.
"Uber paid $100K to protect 57M people? Good," tweeted Dan Kaminsky, chief scientist at security firm White Ops. "I think people forget the goal is actually to prevent harm. Yeah, those hackers could totally have kept the data. But then, their identities were known, and they knew they might face consequences. Not ideal, welcome to the real."
The bigger problem for Uber—and its users—is not so much the payment as the secret maneuvers to keep it hidden, Flaherty said.
"Being open and honest about these types of things is usually the best way to go," he said. "That's the only way this stuff is going to change overall."
Now, though, in addition to yet another hit to its reputation with consumers, Uber faces a mountain of legal hurdles as state prosecutors launched investigations Wednesday and members of Congress called on the Federal Trade Commission to take action.
Many U.S. states have laws requiring that companies notify local authorities and consumers if data is stolen. As of Wednesday, attorneys general in New York, Massachusetts and Missouri had announced investigations.
Massachusetts AG Maura Healey, a Democrat, said Wednesday she has requested documents and other information from the ride-hailing service, adding her office is "keeping all criminal and civil options on the table."
The breach will also have repercussions outside the United States.
British officials said Wednesday that any fine against Uber for its large-scale data breach will be higher than usual because the firm did not promptly disclose the hack. Britain's Deputy Information Commissioner James Dipple-Johnstone said that "if U.K. citizens were affected then we should have been notified so that we could assess and verify the impact on people whose data was exposed."