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South African Journal of Science
On-line version ISSN 1996-7489
Print version ISSN 0038-2353
S. Afr. j. sci. vol.107 n.1-2 Pretoria Jan./Feb. 2011
Analysis of the modern distribution of South African Gerbilliscus (Rodentia: Gerbillinae) with implications for Plio-Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
Timothy L. CampbellI,II; Patrick J. LewisII; Justin K. WilliamsII
IDepartment of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, United States
IIDepartment of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas, United States
There are four extant species of Gerbilliscus, formally classified as Tatera, native to the southern African subregion, each exhibiting varying degrees of environmental tolerance. These species are also routinely reported from many of the palaeontological and archaeological sites in the region. We used a geographic information systems analysis to examine the distribution of modern Gerbilliscus by georeferencing museum specimens. The distribution of Gerbilliscus was then compared to the latest treatment of the vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland in order to quantify the genus's environmental tolerances and propose a new niche model for this taxon. Palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are made possible by defining the tolerance limits of modern taxa that have persisted relatively unchanged throughout the Plio-Pleistocene. Tolerance limits can then be applied to fossil-bearing localities where these taxa are known to have occurred in the past. Results from our analysis indicated that Gerbilliscus exhibits a wide range of environmental tolerances that must be considered when reconstructing palaeoenvironments.
Small mammal faunas are particularly useful in reconstructing past environments as they often have relatively small home ranges and some demonstrate habitat specificity with precise ecological and environmental tolerances.1,2,3 Micromammals, for example, have been used to estimate such environmentally meaningful aspects as vegetation, temperature, seasonality and variation in rainfall.4,5,6,7,8,9 Furthermore, the near ubiquitous nature of rodent microfauna in fossil bearing localities allows for the study of changes in palaeoenvironment and dispersal patterns over wide temporal and spatial ranges.5,6,7,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 With a lack of well-defined diagnostic dental characters, a better understanding of the habitat preferences and range of temperature and precipitation tolerances exhibited by Gerbilliscus is needed for their accurate use in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Results from our analyses indicate that Gerbilliscus exhibits a wide range of temperature and precipitation tolerances and occupies many different habitats, all of which should be considered in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.
The use of small mammals in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction is based on the principle of actualism, in which the environmental tolerances of extant taxa are presumed to be similar to the fossil specimens they most closely resemble.14,15,16,17 Consequently, it is important that precise neontological data on modern environmental tolerance limits be collected to ascertain the fullest extent of their ecological, or fundamental niche. A taxon's fundamental niche is defined as the set environmental tolerance limits in multidimensional space within which a taxon is potentially able to maintain a viable population indefinitely.19 These tolerances must be qualified, however, as conditions influencing a modern taxon's biogeography may not be the same as those that existed in the past.14,15,16,17 Factors such as competition, predation and other biotic interactions may serve to limit a taxon's distribution to a smaller subset of their fundamental niche, known as their realised niche.20 Nevertheless, an accurate assessment of modern environmental tolerance limits, as currently known, is a prerequisite for any actualistic approach. When accurate data on modern tolerance limits are obtained and applied to fossil-bearing localities, changes in faunal palaeocommunities can be used as proxies for environmental shifts and climatic change.
Within the family Muridae, the ratio of the subfamilies Gerbillinae to Murinae has been used as a faunal indicator of aridity.21,22,23,24,25 As a group, modern Gerbillinae are generally associated with open, arid environments while the Murinae are generally associated with more closed and moist environments. A higher number of individuals or genera belonging to Gerbillinae relative to Murinae, therefore, can yield a rough indication of an area's relative aridity. As differential preservation between these two subfamilies in fossil faunas can occur, factors such as taphonomic and predation biases must be considered when using this approach.21,23
While differences in the frequencies of micromammal remains have been shown to yield important information on changes in past environments,26 in some instances it may not be possible to fully assess the taphonomic and predation biases that have contributed to the accumulation of a fossil assemblage. In these instances the use of presence/absence data may be more appropriate to avoid the habitat signatures of one or a few taxa masking the actual environmental signature as a result of unknown biases.27 The development of niche models for use in cumulative taxonomic habitat indices has been shown to be a useful, abundance-free method for reconstructing past environments.13,23,27,28,29 This approach takes into account the habitat preference variability of modern faunas at different hierarchical levels and allocates values for each habitat proportional to their presumed habitat indication with the sum of all scores totalling 1.13,23,27,28,29 For example, if a taxon is found with equal frequency in grasslands, savannas and deserts, each of these three unique categories would be given a score of 0.33. At the genus level, scores are derived by adding up all the scores for each individual species and dividing by the total number of species in the genus. This process is again repeated for each higher taxonomic level with the values applied to the fossil specimens corresponding to the level at which modern representatives can be found. By averaging the niche model values for each habitat class for all taxa present in a fossil assemblage, a cumulative taxonomic habitat index is generated.
Among African Gerbilliscus there is considerable phenotypic plasticity in characteristics such as hair colour, hind foot length and number of mammae.1,2,3,30,31,32,33 Similarly, dental characters for this group are ambiguous and definitive dental apomorphies are difficult to define because of varying degrees of interspecific overlap.34,35,36 Nevertheless, fragmentary maxillae and mandibles are the most common diagnostic elements found in fossil-bearing localities and are heavily weighted in taxonomic assessments. When dental characters are described for members of Gerbilliscus, they are typically poorly defined and qualitative in nature1,3,30,31,32 and therefore suspect in species level identification. While some success has been shown in separating out species within Gerbilliscus using multivariate analyses,34,35,36 to date, we are unaware of any comprehensive treatment examining the range of inter and intraspecific variation existing throughout their distribution.
Within Gerbilliscus there are four species currently recognised in the southern African subregion, defined here as the mainland area of the African continent south of the Zambezi river and the northern border of Namibia.37 These species include the bushveld gerbil, G. leucogaster; the Cape gerbil, G. afra; the Highveld gerbil, G. brantsii and the Gorongosa gerbil, G. inclusus. Of these four species, G. afra is the only member endemic to South Africa. With a distribution extending from Nieuwoudtville in the Northern Cape, eastwards along the coast to Herold's Bay, G. afra exhibits the only distribution completely allopatric with other members of the genus.3 Whereas G. brantsii and G. leucogaster are widely distributed throughout the subregion and their distributions are sympatric with each other throughout a large part of their ranges. Finally, G. inclusus is not found within conterminous South Africa, instead being found in eastern Zimbabwe and central Mozambique south of the Zambezi river.3 Throughout its distribution G. inclusus is sympatric with G. leucogaster.
Members of Gerbilliscus utilise a wide variety of habitats including grasslands, savannas, woodlands and cultivated areas.1,3,33 In Botswana, however, their habitat preference has been said to be independent of vegetation cover, with a majority of specimens being caught on sandy soils or sandy alluvium substrate.33 While most authors have reported that members of this genus are found predominantly in sandy soils1,2,3,33 there are several exceptions. Notably, G. leucogaster has been reported on hard substrate in mopane woodlands in Botswana,1,3,33 and G. brantsii has been reported in peaty soils around marshes and pans.1,2
Southern African species of Gerbilliscus also display a wide range of environmental tolerance for variation in mean annual precipitation (MAP). Because of the unique geographic and climatic patterns of the area inhabited by G. afra, the range in MAP varies greatly throughout its distribution.38 While G. leucogaster and G. brantsii are widely distributed and sympatric throughout a large part of their respective ranges, G. brantsii has been reported to inhabit areas that receive less than 200 mm MAP.3 G. leucogaster, however, has been said to avoid areas that receive less than 250 mm MAP,1 although their presence has been reported in areas of Namibia that receive less than 100 mm MAP.3 Sympatric with G. leucogaster,G. inclusus is the most mesic adapted of the four species and confined to the north-eastern parts of the subregion in areas that receive greater than 800 mm MAP.3
We georeferenced museum specimens with the latest treatment of the vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland39 to better define the thermal and precipitation tolerances associated with Gerbilliscus and to propose a quantitative genus-level niche model based on known distributions. Thermal and precipitation tolerances were examined at different scales corresponding to the averages reported for the various biomes, bioregions and, when necessary, vegetation units of the area.39 The biomes, bioregions and vegetation units used here represent a three-level nested hierarchy.40,41 At the lowest level, vegetation units are defined as 'a complex of plant communities ecologically and historically (both in spatial and temporal terms) occupying habitat complexes at the landscape scale'40. Intermediate between the levels of vegetation unit and biome, bioregions are defined as 'a composite spatial terrestrial unit defined on the basis of similar biotic and physical features and processes at the regional scale'41. At the highest level, the criteria used by Rutherford et al.41 to define a biome closely follows that of Rutherford and Westfall42, but emphasis was placed on the vegetation and floristic diversity to the exclusion of faunal components. Additionally, no scale limitation was implemented by Rutherford et al.41 To evaluate if the geographic range of Gerbilliscus was evenly distributed throughout biomes, we examined the percentage distribution of localities and individuals within each biome and compared them to the relative proportion of total area for each biome within the study area. Finally, we compared the number of localities within the biomes and bioregions with the number of individual specimens to evaluate collector bias.
Materials and methods
An initial data set of 2747 records of Gerbilliscus collected within South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland was obtained from the mammal collection catalogue of the Transvaal Museum (TM), South Africa and online records from the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Washington DC, Division of Mammals Collection Database. All records for which latitudinal and longitudinal data were not available were removed, resulting in 1881 entries. During this process all specimens with latitudinal and longitudinal data reported in a box grid system were considered too coarse for this analysis and were excluded. All specimens were then projected using geographic information system software package ArcMap 9.243 in the Hartebeesthoek94 coordinate system. The Hartebeesthoek94 coordinate system was developed to refine older South African coordinate systems and correct distortions which became apparent with the advent of GPS technologies.44 In developing this new system the WGS84 reference system was used for the recalculations, thus making the two systems essentially compatible.44 The decision to project all points into this system was made with the realisation that some of the specimens were collected prior to the introduction of the Hartebeesthoek94 coordinate system and georeferenced using older coordinate systems, such as the Cape Datum system. As a comprehensive vetting of collectors's field notes associated with specimens was beyond the scope of this project, the decision was made to standardise the coordinate system using Hartebeesthoek94 and accept any resulting error that may occur. In general, for those specimens from which latitudinal and longitudinal data were derived using the Cape Datum system, projection into the Hartebeesthoek94 coordinate system can result in errors ranging between 20 m and 90 m for the longitude and 292 m and 300 m for the latitude.44
Once all the data from both the TM and NMNH were projected, provenance and data validity was assessed. Vegetation, geopolitical and infrastructural data were obtained from electronic shapefiles provided with the latest comprehensive treatment and reclassification of the vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland.39 Ecological and environmental data were obtained from the accompanying text.39 All points that were found to fall outside the coastal and state boundaries of the study area were compiled and the converted latitudinal and longitudinal data were rechecked against those found in the original electronic records. After correcting any data entry errors, points still found outside the study area were then individually examined to assess discrepancies. In instances where points were found to be positioned on top of or slightly over boundary lines (usually < 200 m), minor corrections were made to their latitudes and longitudes to place them at the closest straight-line point within the boundary from their original position. All points for which provenance could not be adjusted were subsequently removed.
In the second round of data assessment, all points within the study area were first queried against the major rivers, lakes and dams. Points found within these areas were subsequently checked for data entry errors against the original electronic records. Points still falling within a major river, lake or dam were then adjusted as before, to the closest point from their original position not within an aquatic area. Next, all points for which the state or provincial placement was recorded in the original museum data were queried against the current boundaries found within base maps. Numerous specimens were collected before the redesignation of provincial boundaries and thus contained outdated provincial designations. For points found on or over the state boundaries of Lesotho and Swaziland, verification of data entry and corrections were made following the methods previously outlined. Points found on or around provincial boundaries for which records were assumed to be accurate were also verified and corrected following the methods previously outlined. In these cases, accuracy was assessed by comparing specific locality data (e.g. near town X or road Y) recorded in the original museum data with that obtained from the available infrastructural maps. All records with specific locality information that differed from what was known to be around the point locality were removed. After removing all specimens determined to have erroneous provenance, a total sample size of 1877 georeferenced individuals was obtained.
To assess genus presence within specific vegetation types, a search was run cross-referencing georeferenced specimens with the corresponding biome and bioregion for each locality. Consequently, embedded within the major biomes and bioregions are areas in which unique hydrogeological and pedological conditions exert a primary influence on floristic composition resulting in distinctive habitats.40,45 Although the nature of these influences vary by locality, processes such as waterlogging, flooding and the presence of soil types with high salinity levels can produce habitats atypical from those of the surrounding biome and bioregion. Collectively termed Azonal Vegetation,39 these areas can be differentiated into unique habitats found exclusively within an individual biome or bioregion, termed Intrazonal, or they can be found within several different biomes or bioregions, termed Azonal sensu stricto.45 We used the broad definition of Azonal Vegetation and afforded it biome-level status to indicate a unique habitat which differs from that typical of the surrounding vegetation. At a lower hierarchical level, Inland Azonal Vegetation can further be divided up into three major types, Freshwater Wetlands, Alluvial Vegetation and Inland Saline Vegetation.45 These unique subdivisions, further differentiated by water and salt contents, we afforded bioregion-level status to possibly elucidate additional factors dictating the distribution of Gerbilliscus. Hereafter, we refer to Azonal Vegetation and the rest of the biomes collectively as biome level units (BLUs). Additionally, we collectively refer to the inland subdivisions within Azonal Vegetation along with the rest of the bioregions as bioregion-level units (BRLUs).
As a result of the complexity of Azonal Vegetation, climate data for this BLU and its constituent BRLUs was derived by averaging the scores from all the respective vegetation units.45 As the Desert BLU is characterised by ecological extremes resulting from several features responsible for differences in aridity and seasonality, climate data for this area was derived by averaging the scores from the selected weather stations provided.46 Similarly, climate data for the Gariep Desert BRLU was derived by averaging scores provided by weather stations from that area.46 Because of the fragmented nature of southern African forests, climate data for the Azonal and Zonal & Intrazonal Forest BRLUs was derived by averaging all the scores from the respective vegetation units.47 Finally, as the Indian Ocean Coastal Belt (IOCB) BLU is comprised of a mosaic of zonal, intrazonal and azonal vegetation units, climate data reported here was derived from the specific vegetation units where georeferenced specimens were located.48
As the museum specimens used were collected by numerous individuals at different times, percentage locality and specimen occurrence within each BLU and BRLU was calculated and compared to assess if individual sampling intensity and methodology influenced the results, hereafter called collector bias. In instances where a lack of specimen or locality data for a specific region may result from specimens collected from that area being curated at a regional repository not sampled here, the term collection bias is used.
By comparing all entries with the vegetation types, it was found that the data intersected with 147 individual vegetation polygons, 41 of which were duplicate hits on the same vegetation type. In total, 365 localities containing Gerbilliscus were found in 106 individual vegetation types contained within 25 BRLUs and 9 BLUs (Figure 1). The total number and percentage of both specimen and locality occurrence within each vegetation level are reported here along with mean annual temperature (MAT) and MAP (Table 1). MAP for all localities containing Gerbilliscus ranged from 63 mm to 964 mm while MAT ranged from 13.9 ºC to 22.3 ºC. Figure 2 is a comparison of the percentage of total specimen and locality occurrence by BLU to the relative proportion of each BLU area in South Africa. In the Savanna BLU, the percentage occurrence of localities and individuals were double that of the relative proportion of its area. The percentage occurrence of localities and individuals located in the Forest BLU were almost double that of the relative proportion of its area. In the IOCB BLU, while the percentage occurrence of localities was slightly higher, the percentage occurrence of individuals was slightly lower than the relative proportion of its area. All other percentage occurrences of localities and individuals by BLU were smaller than their respective proportion by area.
Our data largely agree with previous interpretations that Gerbilliscus is predominantly a Savanna Biome taxon. Accordingly, while this BLU represents roughly one-third of the total land area examined, around two-thirds of our specimens and localities were located within this region (Figure 2). In regards to environmental conditions, although the average MAP for this BLU was 495 mm, within it the MAP ranges from 184 mm to 708 mm between the Kalahari Duneveld and Lowveld BRLUs respectively (Table 1). This illustrates that even within the Savanna BLU there is considerable variation in precipitation regimes occupied by Gerbilliscus. When all BLUs are considered, the range of environmental tolerances for Gerbilliscus is even greater.
When the percentage of specimens within each BLU was compared to the percentage of localities, it was found that the results were largely congruent with one another for most categories (Table 1). From this we surmised that, because of the large sample size used in this analysis, the effects of collector bias are at least minimal at the scale of the BLUs. The one notable exception to this is the Desert BLU where only one specimen was found. If this datum point is removed from the analysis the lower range of MAP shifts from 63 mm to 105 mm in the Namaqualand Sandveld BRLU and the upper range for MAT shifts from 22.3 ºC to 21.1 ºC in the Maputaland Coastal Belt BRLU. When comparing the percentage locality against species occurrence at the bioregion level this trend starts to fade, possibly resulting from an increased susceptibility of lower level vegetation units to collector bias. Although not reported here, the congruence between specimens and localities is further reduced when examining individual vegetation units. (Copies of the complete species and locality occurrence by vegetation unit can be obtained from the corresponding author.)
Two BLUs where Gerbilliscus was underrepresented in comparison to the relative proportion BLU area are the Nama-Karoo and Succulent Karoo. The Nama-Karoo BLU can be characterised as a large, arid landlocked region with a predominantly sandy substrate.49 Average MAP and MAT for this area are 208 mm and 16.3 ºC, respectively, although, the range within the constituent BRLUs is variable. In the Succulent Karoo BLU, average MAP and MAT are similar to those of the Nama-Karoo at 168 mm and 16.8 ºC, respectively, although the range among its constituent BRLUs tends to be less and is more inclined towards xeric conditions.50 Additionally, the Succulent Karoo BLU has a fair number of sandy substrates, although the diversity of soil types is much greater.50 Considering previous descriptions of the habitat preferences of Gerbilliscus, it is interesting that so few localities and specimens are found in this BLU. These data, however, agree with published maps of their distribution that show a general lack of specimens from these areas.1,3
Another BLU in which Gerbilliscus appears to be underrepresented is the Fynbos. As the only endemic member of this genus, G. afra is primarily confined to this BLU, the incongruence between relative area and percentage of locality and species occurrence may be the result of collection bias. It follows that as only one of the museums from which specimen data were obtained represents a regional repository (TM), distance from this museum and the presence of closer repositories may limit the number of samples obtained. While proposed here in relation to the Fynbos BLU, the effects of this bias are certainly not limited to this region. Indeed, all areas in which a local repository is located are probably affected by this bias to some extent. Specimen data from regional repositories may therefore be necessary to further explore these discrepancies.
Finally, Gerbilliscus is found in all BLUs except that of the Albany Thicket. Located primarily along the south-eastern coast between 24º30'E and 28º00'E longitude and between 32º30'S and 34º00'S latitude, this BLU is a mosaic containing tracts of the Forest, Grassland, Savanna, Nama-Karoo, Succulent Karoo and Fynbos BLUs.51 While distributional maps vary, De Graff1 suggests that the presence of G. brantsii is possible in the northern part of this BLU. MAP and MAT for this area are well within the tolerance limits for Gerbilliscus, being 431 mm and 17.2 ºC, respectively, and therefore are probably not a mitigating factor. Instead, other factors may be responsible, such as an unpredictable rainfall regime, a dense, woody, semi-succulent and thorny vegetation or pedological factors.51 Further investigation is needed to identify what factors are promoting the lack of evidence for Gerbilliscus from this area, although a collection bias is again possible.
In developing niche models for extant taxa, it has been previously pointed out that no clear methodology has been proposed to assess and distribute niche model values across habitat classes.29 Previous works have either relied on published habitat descriptions13,28 or personal observations,23,27 thus generating unique niche model values, or have borrowed published niche model values and modified them where needed.29 Furthermore, depending on the geographic area under investigation, choice of what habitat classes to use and how these classes are defined may vary from study to study.13,23,27,28,29 Without standardised habitat classes or clearly defined conventions for assigning niche model values, results from different analyses are not directly comparable. One way to standardise the partitioning of niche model values is to quantify the percentage occurrence of modern taxa within current habitat classes using museum specimens. As pointed out by Reed29 in his analysis of micromammals from the Serengeti, however, when developing niche models it is important to not confuse a taxon's habitat indication with its habitat association. A taxon's habitat indication is the probability of a particular habitat for a given taxon while a taxon's habitat association is the probability of finding a particular taxon in a given habitat.29 As some taxa are common in one environment yet rare in others, there exists the possibility that they have not been adequately sampled throughout their distribution. This is further complicated by the influences of both collection and collector biases and may explain why our data show an absence of Gerbilliscus in the Albany Thicket BLU. With the use of large sample sizes from multiple repositories, however, the chances of detecting the full range of habitats utilised by a taxon for a study area increases. Furthermore, by comparing the number of specimens found within the various habitat classes with the number of localities in which the specimens were found, one can begin to assess the degree to which these probabilities differ. When the values for both the number of specimens and number of localities in a particular habitat are largely congruent, it may be assumed that these values approximate the actual habitat indication for a given taxon.
Although we have analysed the macrohabitat classes in which Gerbilliscus is found, some rodents may have specific microhabitat requirements that can be found embedded within a variety of different macrohabitats.13,27 Their distributions may therefore reflect the use of these microhabitats irrespective of the more inclusive broader scale habitat classes they are found in. In an analysis of the palaeoenvironment of the late middle Pleistocene site of Hoedjiespunt 1, Matthews et al.13 addressed this issue by developing both macrohabitat and microhabitat niche models for the taxa examined. Unfortunately, because of the nature of this analysis, identification of microhabitat usage was not possible. While this information may be obtainable in the field notes associated with the museum collections, a thorough vetting of these records was beyond the scope of this project.
Two final issues that must be considered when applying these data as niche models are the range of study area examined and the comparability of the habitat classes. As the habitat classes we used here only covered the countries of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, we limited our analysis of the distribution of Gerbilliscus to these areas. As such, this analysis fails to capture the full range of temperatures, precipitations and habitats occupied by Gerbilliscus even within the subregion. Additionally, several of the habitat classes used here are unique to the study area and thus do not have direct correlates with other habitats found throughout Africa. While these issues must be considered when applying these data to localities outside the study area, this analysis presents quantified habitat values that can be adapted to fit alternative models. Ideally, niche models should take into account the entire realised niche for a given taxon. For Gerbilliscus this would entail georeferencing specimens throughout most of Africa and would cover a wide range of environments, all of which should be considered when reconstructing past environments unless species level characters can be identified for the remains commonly found in a palaeontological setting. Our data represent a first step in accurately assessing the entire range of environments inhabited by Gerbilliscus.
Using molecular markers, Chevret and Dobigny52 estimated the origin of African Gerbilliscus at about 4.81 ± 1.02 MYA. This places their emergence at approximately the same time as that of both eastern and southern African hominins. Moreover, fossils of Gerbilliscus are found in deposits containing hominin remains5,15,53 making an understanding of their environmental tolerances important. As previous palaeoenvironmental reconstructions cite the presence of Gerbilliscus as evidence for dry or unstable conditions,10,14,15,54 consisting of either savanna grasslands or savanna woodlands vegetation,5,55,56 or for the presence of a sandy substrate,13 an accurate assessment of their entire modern environmental tolerance limits is necessary. While these data largely support previous interpretations, the range of habitats in which Gerbilliscus is found varies and is not exclusive to savanna or grassland environments. Aside from the lack of evidence for Gerbilliscus in the Albany Thicket BLU and underrepresentation in the Nama-Karoo, Succulent Karoo and Fynbos BLUs, the distribution of Gerbilliscus is broad and encompasses a wide range of thermal and precipitation regimes. Furthermore, their underrepresentation in xeric areas characterised by sandy substrates suggests that these two criteria may not be limiting factors influencing the distribution of Gerbilliscus. Alternatively, these conditions may be associated with other factors such as dietary preference, seasonality of climate, or biotic interactions that dictate the habitat specificity of Gerbilliscus. An analysis of species level distributions could clarify some of these issues. However, as species level identification is not currently possible with most palaeontological specimens, the use of specific level environmental parameters in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions is not recommended. Instead, in order to avoid distorted signatures, it is more conservative to incorporate the total range of environmental tolerances known for this genus into palaeoenvironmental reconstructions.
We thank the staff of the Transvaal Museum for access to their databases and all their help: Teresa Kearney, Curator of Mammals; Stephany Potze, Curator of Palaeontology and Tersia Perregil, Information Specialist, and the faculty and staff in the Department of Biological Sciences and the College of Arts and Science at Sam Houston State University. We would also like to acknowledge our second data source: the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Division of Mammals Collection Database. This database was accessed on 14 July 2009 (http://collections.nmnh.si.edu/vzmammals/pages/nmnh/vz/DtlQueryMammals.php). Finally, we are grateful to three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and insightful critiques which greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. This research was funded in part by a Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research and a Paleontological Society, Lane Student Research Award (TLC).
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25. Matthews T, Denys C, Parkington JE. Community evolution of Neogene micromammals from Langebaanweg 'E' Quarry and other west coast fossil sites, south-western Cape, South Africa. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol. 2007;245:332-352. [ Links ]
26. Avery DM. Micromammals as palaeoenvironmental indicators and an interpretation of the late Quaternary in the Southern Cape Province, South Africa. Ann S Afr Mus. 1982;85:183-374. [ Links ]
27. Andrews P. Owls, caves and fossils. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; 1990. [ Links ]
28. Evans EMN, Van Couvering JAH, Andrews P. Palaeoecology of Miocene sites in western Kenya. J Hum Evol. 1981;10:99-116. [ Links ]
29. Reed DN. Serengeti micromammals and their implications for Olduvai palaeoenvironments. In: Bobe R, Alemseged Z, Behrensmeyer AK, editors. Hominin environments in the east African Pliocene: An assessment of the faunal evidence. Dordrecht: Springer, 2007; p. 217-255. [ Links ]
30. Davis DHS. The affinities of the South African gerbils of the genus Tatera. Proc Zool Soc London. 1949;118:1002-1018. [ Links ]
31. Davis DHS. Contribution to the revision of the genus Tatera in Africa. Ann Mus Roy Afr Centr Zool. 1966;144:49-65. [ Links ]
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34. Crawford-Cabral J. A craniometric study of Angolan gerbils of the subgenus Tatera (Mammalia, Rodentia, Gerbillidae). Part I: Results from a principal components analysis. Zool Abh. 1988;43:169-192. [ Links ]
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36. Granjon L. Morphological and morphometrical analyses of three cryptic species of Tatera Lataste, 1882 (Rodentia: Muridae) from West Africa. Belg J Zool. 2005;135(supplement):97-102. [ Links ]
37. Wilson DE, Reeder DM, editors. Mammal species of the world. A taxonomic and geographic reference. 3rd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2005. [ Links ]
38. Rebelo AG, Boucher C, Helme N, Mucina L, Rutherford MC. Fynbos biome. In: Mucina L, Rutherford MC, editors. The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia. 2006;19:53-219. [ Links ]
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41. Rutherford MC, Mucina L, Powrie LW. Biomes and bioregions of southern Africa. In: Mucina L, Rutherford MC, editors. The vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Strelitzia vol. 19. Pretoria: South African National Biodiversity Institute; 2006. [ Links ]
42. Rutherford MC, Westfall RH. Biomes of southern Africa: An objective categorization. 2nd ed. In: Leistner OA, Momberg BA, du Plessis E, editors. Memoirs of the botanical survey of South Africa no. 63. Pretoria: National Botanical Institute; 1994. [ Links ]
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Correspondence to:
Timothy Campbell
Postal address: Department of Anthropology
4352 TAMU, College Station
TX 77843-4352, United States
email: email@example.com
Received: 03 Dec. 2009
Accepted: 19 Nov. 2010
Published: 28 Jan 2011


text:
Over the last few years, many small business owners have developed a love-hate relationship with online reviews. On one hand, when you consider the popularity of sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Foursquare—online reviews are a great way to get discovered online. On the other hand, if you've ever received a negative
Over the last few years, many small business owners have developed a love-hate relationship with online reviews.
On one hand, when you consider the popularity of sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Foursquare—online reviews are a great way to get discovered online. On the other hand, if you've ever received a negative review, you know just how frustrating it can be.
But whether you love them or hate them, for 90% of consumers online reviews do have an influence.
Plus, find out which email marketing best practice is now being put into action by 73% of businesses.
Check out these top stories and more in this week's marketing news roundup.
1. Survey: 90% of consumers say buying decisions are influenced by online reviews
A new survey from research firm Dimensional Research provides an interesting look into how reviews on sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and other online listing sites impact consumer buying decisions.
According to the survey, which included responses from 1,046 respondents in the US, 90% of consumers who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive reviews influenced their decision to buy. On the flipside, 86% said that negative reviews had also influenced buying decisions.
The survey also found that while negative reviews are most commonly found on popular review sites, positive reviews are most frequently seen on social media—with 44% coming from Facebook.
Bottom Line: If you own a small business, you're probably already aware that online reviews play an important role in how customers are finding your business online. And the power of online reviews are more important now than ever.
Today more than ever, consumers want to know they can trust businesses to provide a positive experience before deciding to make a purchase, sign up for a service, or even visit your place of business.
As a business owner, the best thing you can do to get the most out of online reviews is to encourage the people who know you best to share their feedback. While it can be intimidating to ask, the reviews and recommendations from your best customers can have a major impact on your business.
Check out our free guide to get the help you need to overcome the fear of asking for referrals.
2. 73% of businesses carry out basic email segmentation
Are you segmenting your email contacts?
If you're like 73% of participants in a recent survey conducted by Econsultancy, the answer is yes.
According to the survey, which looked at responses from more than 1,300 marketers, the number of businesses taking advantage of the value of segmentation is on the rise—with 16% expecting to do more in the next year.
Other email actions that are on the rise amongst businesses include:
- 52% Encouraging sharing of content
- 49% Regular list cleansing
- 38% Use of video
Bottom Line: If you're not already, now is a great time to consider segmenting your contact list. Segmentation allows you to better target your message and deliver content that's more relevant to all the people who shop at your store, visit your website, or interact with your business online.
You can segment your readers from the point of signup or can collect information to help you do it overtime. You can even use your reporting to make smarter decisions about the content you create and send to your audiences.
Here are 5 examples of how small businesses and nonprofits can segment their list.
3. Foursquare makes it easy for users to discover local businesses with latest update
Foursquare released an update to its iOS app this week—expanding its emphasis on search and location-based recommendations.
One of the biggest changes was the relocation of Explore, Foursquare's location search feature. Now, when users open the mobile app Explore will be located at the center of the main screen—rather than on a secondary tab within the app.
In addition, users will also be able to access updates about trending locations, recommendations, and other local happenings within their own activity feed.
Bottom Line: Over the last year, Foursquare has rolled out a number of updates and new features to help give users a better way of discovering new businesses in their area.
And business owners have taken notice. According to a new survey from SinglePlatform, 62% of small business think it's important to be seen on major mobile apps.
People who search on mobile apps aren't just browsing the web, they are actively looking for a place to eat or shop. If you're not listed, they won't find you. If you haven't already, make sure to claim your business on Foursquare.
4. LinkedIn amps up content, acquires newsreader Pulse
LinkedIn confirmed this week that it has acquired Pulse, a newsreader app that aggregates news and social-media feeds.
In announcing the acquisition, Deep Nishar, LinkedIn senior vice president of product had this to say,
"We believe LinkedIn can be the definitive professional publishing platform – where all professionals come to consume content and where publishers come to share their content. Millions of professionals are already starting their day on LinkedIn to glean the professional insights and knowledge they need to make them great at their jobs."
Bottom Line: Over the last year, LinkedIn has taken huge steps toward making the site a hub of valuable content. For LinkedIn, the decision to do so has been part of an ongoing attempt to keep users engaged and coming back every day.
Providing content that users can use and apply to their own lives has been a strategy that seems to be working for LinkedIn. It's also a strategy that could work for your business or organization as well.
Keep an eye out for some of the great content that could soon be coming to LinkedIn and check out these resources for creating content of your own.
- How Your Local Bookstore Can Help You Consistently Create Content For Your Newsletter
- I Can't Find Enough to Say In My Email, Where Do I Turn for Email Content Ideas?
- 10 Content Marketing Challenges (And How Small Businesses Can Overcome Them)
- 20 Places to Find Email Content — It's Closer Than You Think!
- Guide: Content Marketing: What, Why, How
Source: 90% of Consumers Say Online Reviews Impact Buying Decisions … And Other Hot Topics | Constant Contact Blogs

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It appears that Foursquare has just crossed the 2 million users mark this morning. The location based social network has been growing fast, adding 100,000 users per week. Only three months ago, Foursquare passed one million users after taking a year to accumulate one million members.
Over the past several months, Foursquare has had a number of impressive stats for a startup. Some of them involved SXSW, some involved overall check-ins numbers. And it seems to be growing faster than its main competitor, Gowalla.
Of course, to expand upon this growth Foursquare has just raised $20 million in funding at a $95 million pre-money valuation, led Andreessen Horowitz with existing investors Union Square Ventures and O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures participating. The new funding is going to be used to hire additional staff, for product development and a new office space. And we know that Foursquare has some interesting ideas to incorporate gaming with check-ins.
It's important to note that other competitors have already crossed this mark. MyTown, another location-based network hit that number in May, Brightkite hit 2 million users in February. And, Loopt just passed 4 million users.
Congrats to Travis E for being Foursquare's 2 millionth member.
Hat Tip to Finbarr.


text:
Grades: 4-5: The Whole-School Holiday lessons make up a spiral curriculum, in which each lesson focuses on a different aspect of Jewish holiday, value, or key subject. With some exceptions, Whole School Holiday lessons are built around a matrix that allows students to have an unique experience each year.
When you purchase this lesson you will be provided with a link to download the lesson. Make as many copies as you need for your school and only your school.
Materials that are downloaded are not returnable.
Teacher Guide not included.


text:
Hiya friends ! Be sure to check out this online article at Style at Home (thank you Lauren!), featuring '7 Stylish DIY bloggers' including a blushing yours truly.
I'm honored to be named along with Jen from Made by Girl, Sean and Jennifer at Rambling Renovators, Aubrey + Lindsay, Brooke from All Things Thrifty, Melissa from 320 Sycamore, and Michelle from Three Men and a Lady. Check them out, they will surely be new favorites of yours too !
Style at Home is one of my go-to sources for design inspiration, you must pay a visit, or two, or three, you'll be hooked !
As if that wasn't enough to make my day, guess who promised to help me install some wainscoting for Mother's Day ? I'm not sure my hub quite comprehends what he's gotten himself into . . . maybe I haven't either. We shall see, we shall see . . .


text:
I've got a short write-up I've been working on about the Office 2010 Tech Preview leak (see my screenshot galleries for more) but, what the heck, it's the long weekend and I'm up in Vermont with my wife, recouping from my marathon jam session getting Windows 7 Secrets done. So here's another look at what's new in Office 2010 to tide you over. It's a good one:
I had a feeling that 2010 wasn't going to be an upgrade to Office like what Windows 7 is to the Windows family. Having said that, Office 2010 Technical Preview does show some promising upgrades. In between giving my exams I did find some time to play around with the leaked version of Office 2010 & found some improvements over Office 2007. One of the biggest additions to Office 2010 will be it's online collaboration capabilities. Here are some noticeable improvements in the technical Preview build:
1. Built-In Screen Capture Tool
2. Background Removal Tool
3. Protected Mode
4. New Smart Art Templates
5. Author Permissions
6. Completely Revamped Options Under the Office Button
8. Jumplists in Outlook 2010
Check out the blog post for screenshots and more discussion. I'll post something more about Office 2010 later in the week. In the meantime, back to that latte…
Thanks to Dmitry for the link.


text:
The Playboys1992 Drama | Romance
Gillies MacKinnon directed this charming Irish romance, taking place in a small Irish village in 1957, just before the first television set makes an appearance in this conservative hamlet. There is a scandal in the village concerning the beautiful and independent Tara Maguire (Robin Wright) -- Tara is pregnant and refuses to identify the father. She goes into labor during Sunday Mass, which raises the ire of the parish priest (Alan Devlin), who thinks God will bring bad times down on the village for Tara's effrontery. The priest feels Tara should marry the local town constable, Sgt. Hagerty (Albert Finney), a dyspeptic reformed alcoholic who is in love with Tara. But she doesn't love Hagerty. This becomes particularly clear when a traveling band of actors known as the Playboys come into town. One of the players in the troupe, Tom Casey (Aidan Quinn), is caught by Tara stealing one of her chickens. But it is love at first sight, although it takes a while for their attraction to take root beyond some electric glances. Hagerty sees where the relationship is going and he is determined to undermine the burgeoning affair. Tara is wary and doesn't want to be dependent upon any man, even to the point of smuggling supplies to the Irish Republican Army. When Hagerty hears someone in the village is colluding with the IRA, he suspects Tom and throws him in jail. But Hagerty is a walking time bomb and finally his rage erupts with violent force.~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide


text:
Sunday, January 16, 2011
FLIX CHATTER, my smart Australian angel Lyndylove from W.I.P. IT, my kind Native American angel Avalon from AVALON-MEDIEVAL, and my sweet American angel RaShelle from A Number 2 Pencil Stat. And yes, since they are gorgeous and smokin' hot, they might even pose for their Dezzy in angel's outfits :))
Now, as you know, HOLLYWOOD SPY has his own stellar constellation of stars which are watching over him from all corners of the world shinning with their love. Here they are, my own stars:
SF STAR of the year is off course Alex J. Cavanaugh. Although I didn't have a chance to read his book, we've all seen what kind of buzz his CASSASTAR created around the blogosphere last Autumn.
MITHRIL WISDOM, HOLLYWOOD SPY's own Indiana Jones, a brilliant young mind with a Master's Degree in Egyptology who lives near Catherine Zeta Jones (who is looking stunning tonight in the auditorium ;)
BUZZES CAFE, who also won a HOLLYWOOD SPY award last year, and who has tricked one lovely girl into marrying him last month so Nanny McDezzy is expecting his own Asian Godson or Goddaughter in about nine months :)
LISTEN TO THE VOICES, HOLLYWOOD SPY's own forensic expert and also our secret Mexican spy ;)
MUSINGS FROM DOWN UNDER one of the most kind beings from the Middle Earth.
LEAVING NADIR. A very talented writer and a great friend.
HAIRNETS AND HOPES an inspiring lady who fights for her dreams among hairnets and a bunch of children like a true hero.
THEMOVIE411. His kind soul and stunning looks have charmed us all. He shares this award with a breathtaking, superwitty hunk called Christian James whom I love heaps (and then some more).
CALVIN'S CANADIAN CAVE OF COOLNESS, whom we love for making posts like this one or this one. He almost never comments here, but he supports his favourite spy with numerous links.
TOSSING IT OUT, a man whom we deeply respect, admire, a writer with the most natural narrative talent and our favourite grumpy grandfather (he's fresh and young as daisy but he already has grandkids) :)
LittleVictory, Faboamanto, OneMoreLurker, Phylly, Nat, RAFanDreamer, Sinjoor, Kaprekar ... they all deserve this award.
Kelly Polark, Masy from THOUGHTS IN PROGRESS, Budd from MY ALTERNATE REALITY, Emily White from EMILY'S PLAYHOUSE, Melissa Bradley from MELISSA'S IMAGINARIUM, Andrew Green from WHO WANTS TATERS?, Mary from GIGGLES AND GUNS, Ellen from ELLA'S EDGE, Kristin Rae from KRISTIN CREATIVE, Bryan from THE SFFHUB, Matthew from THE QQQEXPERIMENT, Leigh from THAT'S WRITE, Terrence from SCARLETSPIDER'S BLOG, Falsy from COLORFUL RANTS OF A FED UP SISTA, and MJenks from VITA BREVIS.
81 comments:
Whoo! Thanks awesomely for the award, Dez! I think with the prospect of taking Zeta-Jones home then I win doubly :D Congratulations to all the other winners too!ReplyDelete
Tears well up as she steps to the podium. She fumbles with the speech because the paper is crumpled and wet.ReplyDelete
"I had a speech prepared but now I can't read it," she starts, "damn you, black ink!
"I would like to thank so many people. I think you know who you are.
"The blogging community. Without you, I would have no readers, no one to post writing complaints to.
"The other recipients. I know you all and you deserve such high honor.
"And lastly, Dez. You put so much time and effort prepare these awards... I feel honored. Thank you."
She walks off holding her Hollywood-Spy award high in the air for all to see.
Huge Thanks for the ASIAN STAR Award, Nanny McDezzy ;) Your party is full of celebs, it's a huge benefit for me, the Paparazzi! :)ReplyDelete
be careful with our Zeta Jones, she's married :)
big applause for our winner Clarissa, the CANADIAN STAR! The whole auditorium cheers in standing ovations! :)
watch out, the paparazzi could make a picture of you and Michelle Yeoh ... and you new Mrs. wouldn't like that ;))
Thank you, Dezz! And you deserve the awesome, charming "you-rock" award for your efforts and dedication to the blogging world and to bringing us the latest Hollywood scoop.ReplyDelete
I shall now launch into my guitar solo, accompanied by Kate Beckinsale's awesome dance moves...
Cool awards man :)) keep up the good work =]ReplyDelete
Thank you, dearest Dezzy, and a little bird told me it was a special day for you~ We're celebrating on my site! <3 heart you, too!ReplyDelete
thanks, Alex, glad you like the award, now hit the guitar and rock on!
thanks, Doo ;)
glad you like the HEART award, Leigh, a kiss to you ;)
What a cute idea! Glad I found your blog today... looks like a lot of fun. :)ReplyDelete
Hollywood spy 's annual awards ... whats that ? :) jkReplyDelete
aww dezz! thanks!!! you are soooo sweet! :)ReplyDelete
and congrats to everyone else! you have very cool followers dezz! :)
thanks, welcome to HOLLYWOOD SPY! Hope you will have fun with us at the afterparty ;)
the place at which you're just eating free caviar!
be welcome, darling, hope you like your award :) I indeed do have supercool followers as you can see around the blogosphere today :)
Congratulations to all winners, and all who entered ;DReplyDelete
Dez, you throw a wonderful award gala. You out did yourself this year. Thank you so much for my award. I'm speechless.ReplyDelete
Thoughts in Progress
Hugs and kisses, Dez! How you managed to get Johnny Depp to present me with my award I'll never know. Thank you so very much. I love you!ReplyDelete
I would like to thank all the wonderful, wonderful people I've met through the blogosphere. You are always ready with support and love. Congratulations to all the winners, may 2011 be our best year yet and see us all exceed our wildest expectations.
thanks, Jonia, come join the afterparty ;)
glad you like the award, Masy dearest! Loved your black gown at the red carpet! :)
Johnny came as soon as he heard he will be presenting an award to you, darling :) And I'm joining you in your wishes!
Oh what a surprise. I Have prepared a speech: ugh hmmm...ReplyDelete
I come to accept this award on behalf of Dempsey Sanders who unfortunately can't be with us tonight as he got his penis caught in his zip.
May I begin by saying how truly honoured I am to share this award with Demps, I did teach him all his charm, just unfortunately my wit never rubbed off on him. And one day when he is old and grey (which is no doubt very soon) and can no longer model, he will look at his best Charmer Award and think to himself 'I did it, I finally shared an award with CJ!'
Thank you all so much that have supported me and ThMovie411 and also who have shown Demps just as much love for a blog that really should of been mine.
Thank you, toodles x
I am indeed honored to be bestowed with such a prestigious award as the "Man Of Integrity Award". That's a lofty image to live up to and a big blanket to fill. Thank you from the bottom of my fingertips tapping the keyboard.ReplyDelete
Now let me make my way to the buffet table since I just woke up and I'm starved. What? No meat?
By the way, I'm impressed by the amount of work you put into this awards gala. Great job!
Tossing It Out
Congrats, winners! And thanks, Dezmond, for spreading the awesome!ReplyDelete
Well Dezmond, thank you very much, I have sneeked a visit backstage. I miss all my blogging activities at the moment and missing your news also, but thought I would quickly stop by and say thank you. I will be back very soon.ReplyDelete
And CJ you swine ha ha! Though i agree, you have got the wit.
Great award ceremony Dezmond, well done.
- AnonymousJanuary 16, 2011 at 4:50 PM
Wow what a surprise *me blushing*, I'm awarded as a RA angel among other wonderful ladies! Thank you very much Dezz, you're so sweet :D.ReplyDelete
Now off to the table, food looks yummy ;)
Congrats to all the winners! Very well deserved.ReplyDelete
eventhough I would prefer to die from too much bed activities, one of these days, Chrissy, you might just kill me with your wittiness ;) I'm off now to help poor Dempsey with his clothing ;)
don't worry, Lee, you've already filled up the blanket :)) And why do I have the feeling you're all here for the food? :)
thanks, Nicole, and welcome to HOLLYWOOD SPY!
glad to see you at the gala, just don't sneeze at other guests :) OK, you may just sneeze a bit on Chrissy he deserved it with the above comment about you ;) I'm popping by your house to bring you some soup for the flu and lotion for the zipped up parts of your body :))
be welcome, you and the ladies deserve the award for sticking with your spy for so long and on so many occasions ;)
I thank you in their names.
Oh so fancy. Everyone decked out in their finest duds. The buffet is delicious or was that at the event in the other ballroom? Congrats to everyone.ReplyDelete
DEZMOND - This is the BEST awards show, EVER!ReplyDelete
You look so handsome in your white tux - dashing.
A BIG, BIG thank you for my award. Grace. Kindness. Intelligence. And, LOVE. Four of my favorite words. I'm so honored. I'll be sure to display it with pride. Thanks for thinking of me.
Also, I get to share it with some amazing ladies, too. =D
ah, I again have a strange feeling that everyone is here for my food. I blame all of my recipes shared at Facebook :)
I knew you would like the show, the award and everything else, that's why you are one of the four angels ;) And I'm still stunned by your little black dress :)
Aww! Thank you! Thank you! I really was not expecting to win! *clutches award with death grip* :)ReplyDelete
awesome awards!ReplyDelete
I am a huge fan of Kal's too!ReplyDelete
Thanks Dez! You're so awesome man, it's great to know you.ReplyDelete
Awww Deezy! Thanks for the love! *rubs bald head for luck!* You sexy beast you! I'ma gonna show you some love back on my blog today!ReplyDelete
Great picks for the awards. The pictures of possible Bond stars kept distracting me.ReplyDelete
Oh...My....Goodness! Dezzy-baby-hun you are such a doll! Thank you so very much!ReplyDelete
I lost my speech but that wouldn't stop one of Dezmond's Angels:
I would like to thank my mum, the blogging community, but most especially I would like to thank Dezzy. You are awesome!
Thanks too for this special occasion. I had an awesome time!
glad I surprised you then :)
he will be glad to hear that ;)
thanks, glad you liked the award!
he he ... rub it all you want :) And thanks for coming to the gala ceremony ;)
yes, those Bond pictures tend to do that to people, just like most of the pics at HOLLYWOOD SPY do :)
be welcome. Yes, nothing can stop a Dezzy's Angel :)
At my age, what's a little flirting, already?ReplyDelete
*wink, wink*
These are great awards for a lot of outstanding people from a truly great guy. Thanks, Dez. You made my day.
Dezz, I had some drama getting ready for your gala event, I was mistaken for paparazzi...ReplyDelete
Phew, I finally made it; I wouldn't have missed it! Thanks for having the ER ready, I won't be fainting over Brad, though ;-D I am partying at my blog. I look forward to seeing you at the after party! You are such a wonderful host; I can't thank you enough for my award! You like me, You really like me... ;-D xXx
now is it really me who made your day or those young guys from the last row? :)))
yes, my penguin bodygards had strict instructions not to let any paparazzi in, they must've mistaken you because you were shooting private pics of Gerard Butler at the red carpet ;) Glad you like the award ;)
OOOOOO Thanks so much!! Lovely awards!! I've made my acceptance speech on my blog :)ReplyDelete
glad you like the award, Kristin, I'm heading over to your place now ;)ReplyDelete
OMG! Thank you Dezmond for thinking of me - and I'm shamefully late!!ReplyDelete
My stiletto got caught in my evening gown, the Rolls-Royce was late and now my mascara has run!
But hey, nothing a glass or two of good champagne wont fix :)
Once again, thank you so much dear Dezmond. And may I say, you're looking jolly handsome tonight my friend. Nice white number you've got on :)
What a great way to acknowledge all your bloggy friends! Love the personalization you did there, Dezz! I like the green flower too. :) Congrats to the recipients!ReplyDelete
yep, there's lots of champagne at the afterparty so no worries :) Glad you like your award, and me really is looking gorgeous tonight is I not? :))))
thanks, Carol, that was the whole idea of the gala ceremony :) Welcome to HOLLYWOOD SPY ;)
Oh, darn! I think Angelina has the same dress as me tonight!ReplyDelete
Thank you, dahling, for the fabulous Heart Award. You must know that of course I Heart you and your Hollywood Spy blog! Mwah!
Now please direct me to the champagne...
Wicked cool event, Dez! I had a great time...I'm heading to the after party. No reason to wast this hot hot hot dress on my closet.ReplyDelete
Congratulations to all the winners!
checking in from Kelly's blog and what a party this is! Whew! Great blog - love these awards, I know quite a few of these awesome bloggers! I'll be back!ReplyDelete
And special thanks for steering me to Ricky Martin's new video. I hadn't heard this one, and loved the vid!
I am proud to accept this award from you buddy. You are the real deal and it's an honor to feature you prominantly whenever I repost something terrific I have found here. You inspire me to work even harder in the next year.ReplyDelete
Thanks Dezzy - I'm truly honoured, you're the best!ReplyDelete
just follow the tail of Angelina's dress and you will find the bar at the gala :) Glad you like the award dahling ;)
glad you've enjoyed the gala ceremony ;) And the dress really was hot ;)
glad you stopped by and Welcome to HOLLYWOOD SPY where you can always find the freshest music hits beside film and TV news :)
ah, that's nice of you to say ;) There's nothing better than being somebody's inspiration :) Keep on supporting your spy in 2011 too ;)
be welcome my dear :) Thanks for stopping by!
Wow, I feel like I got a front row seat at the Golden Globes, without having to sit through the boring speeches!ReplyDelete
Awesome stuff, Dezzy!
Indeed, you do look gorgeous tonight dear Dezmond. Very angelic actually. White suits you :)ReplyDelete
Dez, thanks for the honor to be called an RAangel by you is truly sweet AND given an AWARD only icing on the cake!!!ReplyDelete
Now pass me a Cosmo!!!
Sinjoor - cRAzy FANny
- AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:00 AM
Oh my goodness!! I'm so HONORED to be one of your angels Dezzy... you definitely trumped Charlie as all your angels come from four different countries... all ready to strike a pose with you in the middle in your sleek white tux :D Why of course I look sexy in my sparkly gown, I mean you designed my dress remember? ;) THANKS for the lovely award Dezzy, it's such a blessing and privilege to know you and your blog ever since I started blogging, so this award is totally icing on the cake! Congrats to all the other HS award winners, let's continue to support our Dezzy in the years to come. Woot! Woot!ReplyDelete
Cool awards show! Who knows. Maybe next year I will get a shout out. I'm so new to blogging but your blog makes me want to work that much harder at my own. Job well done my friend!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 2:16 AM
So honored to be a part of the awards gala and this wonderful blog. I have to give Nat a special thanks, as without her, the extent of my crush probably wouldn't have cluttered your comment section. And, of course, a thanks to lovely Richard. If it weren't for him, I'd probably only have a healthy perspective on tall, dark and handsome actors. (How boring!) But most of my gushing goes to you Dear Dezzy who humors my musings and works hard to offer a delightful and informative forum for those who love film and appreciate beauty (in all its forms). Much love to you and your faithful visitors. And congratulations to the other winners! Ok, now where's the bar?ReplyDelete
That was fun! I'm new - followed the trail of excitement and sparkles! :)ReplyDelete
Ahhh...Thank you! I love being your angel:)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 4:51 AM
Well, I had written a big thank you speech, but, using my cell phone, it got messed up and wouldn't post. So here is my 2nd attempt!ReplyDelete
I'd like to thank the one and only Hollywood Spy and his Madagascar Penguins :) for the honor of this award! I have truly enjoyed supporting and being supported by The Hollywood Spy! Thank you for all of your great posts!
Dezz states that there's nothing you can do about the Hollywood Spy loving you. I disagree. The ONE thing you can do is accept and embrace it! As I embrace this award! Thank you once again! And here's to all of the rest of the award winners as well!
Congrats to all the winners - what a star-studded event!ReplyDelete
This is a lot of fun! A few of my friends are in there, go Kelly and Matt!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJanuary 17, 2011 at 10:14 AM
Congrats to the winners. *claps*ReplyDelete
Congratulations to all the winners! Dez, creative as always. :)ReplyDelete
thanks for not considering my speech boring :))
thank you dahling, you know you're always angelic to me ;)
ah, glad you like the award my dear ;)
and I'm privileged to have you as a friend in the blogosphere ;) And yes, you did look amazing in the gown from THE HOUSE OF DEZMOND ;)Now, strike the angel pose :)
if you keep up the good work and remain a charmer that you are you will for sure shine at next year's HOLLYWOOD SPY ANNUAL AWARDS :)
he he that was one of the best speeches of the evening :) Glad you like your award my dear!
ah, yes, my darling freaks have spread the excitement all around the blogosphere this weekend :)
be welcome my dear ;)
ah, you're the first one to thank my Madagascar penguins, and now I think you've become their favourite ;) The guest didn't like them too much since they were playing security officers during the gala.
thanks Susan :)
HOLLYWOOD SPY always tries to spread some fun around :)
hope you've enjoyed the gala, Medeia ;)
thanks ;)
Congrats to all for the awards! Dezz, you are awesome for doing this!ReplyDelete
Yay! Congrats to all the winners!ReplyDelete
Dez, i wanted to add that my stupid work computer blocked your blog (streaming media or some such reason) so i'm not usually able to comment (i'm on my home PC today) but i still read all your posts every day in google reader.
Congrats to all the winners!ReplyDelete
THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) I really appreciate the unique award. I wish I could've been there to properly accept it. It's also fun to read about so many other deserving & unique winners.
You're uber cool, Dezzy! :)
Dear Dez,ReplyDelete
These are the best awards ever! Thank you so much for the award, I will treasure it. I will also treasure being included with my fellow award friends!
Many hugs!
thanks, Lyds ;)
must be the naughty part of my site, although I don't think it's that naughty ;)
thanks, Chris, our winners are the best
be welcome, my dear, glad you like your award.
thanks, Myriam, you know I also treasure you and the RA ladies ;)
sorry so late thanking you. I was away from the computer all weekend. All well deserving winners. I must have slipped through by the skin of my teeth.ReplyDelete
hope you like your award, Budd!ReplyDelete
Wow, thanks so much Dez! You're always such a nice guy. While the acceptance speech is long overdue, I still greatly appreciate. Hopefully I will have more time to be around here soon. It's just that I'm so bloody busy I barely have time for me. But thanks Dez, you rock!ReplyDelete
better late then never, hm, Bry? :) Glad you like the award, hope you will proudly display it in your living room.ReplyDelete
Thank you, dearest Dezzy! I feel very honored to be recognized as an RA Angel on your fabulous blog. *hugs* I'm so glad I wasn't included on the worst dressed list that night... you must have given me some advice!ReplyDelete
Thank you for being so generous with your awards to include l'il ole me on your star-studded list. I have copied your lovely RA Angels icon to display proudly on my blog -- if you please?ReplyDelete
yes, Phylly, off course you can display the award at your blog, that's what awards are for to be proud of them :)ReplyDelete


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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A lawyer for environmental groups say a Santa Fe judge has overturned a decision by New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez's administration granting a permit for a uranium mine to remain inactive without any cleanup.
Eric Jantz of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center said District Judge Raymond Ortiz's decision on Monday will send the case back to the state Mining and Minerals Division for further public hearings.
The agency renewed a standby permit last year for Rio Grande Resources' Mount Taylor mine near Grants.
The judge ruled Amigos Bravos and the Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment weren't adequately allowed to raise issues about protecting groundwater from contamination from mining waste piles. The judge also said the agency wrongly kept a company report confidential on the mine's economic viability.


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SIUE Wednesday Evening Ride
This is a group ride led by employees of Bike Surgeon occuring on Wednesdays at 6pm. This is a no-drop ride that begins at the RC field at SIUE.
Bike Surgeon brings a fleet of demo bikes on the first Wednesday of the month. We typically do about 12-14 miles including the short paved stuff on the way to the trailhead. The trails are beginner to intermediate with no major obstacles. Think tight and twisty dirt!
Bring at least a 200 lumen light for the dark winter months!
Be sure to ask on the forum (group rides - siue) if you are unsure if the ride is happening due to weather conditions.
Bike Surgeon's Facebook page may be the most up-to-date info on if a ride is cancelled.
November 13th, 2019 6:00 PM through 7:30 PM
SIUE Cross Country Trail
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL 62025
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Edwardsville, IL 62025


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Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia unveil long-term partnership
7 June 2011 (Joint release with Virgin Australia) - Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia group of airlines have signed a landmark agreement which will enable them to establish a long-term alliance.
Under the agreement, the two airlines propose to:
- Codeshare on each other's international and domestic flights;
- Offer reciprocal frequent flyer programme benefits and lounge access;
- Co-ordinate schedules between Singapore and Australia and beyond to provide seamless connections; and
- Engage in joint sales, marketing and distribution activities.
The alliance will connect Singapore Airlines' extensive international network with Virgin Australia's wide range of Australian and Pacific destinations. Through the Singapore Airlines network, Virgin Australia customers will have access to some 70 more destinations, while through the Virgin Australia network Singapore Airlines customers will have access to some 30 more destinations. Members of Singapore Airlines' KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem miles on Virgin Australia flights, while Virgin Australia's Velocity members will be able to earn and redeem miles on Singapore Airlines-operated flights.
The two airlines will lodge an application with the relevant regulatory authorities to enable them to co-operate across a broad range of commercial functions. Approval will allow the airlines to build a deep and integrated alliance with seamless service offerings to the travelling public.
Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong said: "Singapore Airlines has been committed to the Australian market for more than 40 years and we are always looking for ways to serve our customers better. With regulatory approval, the partnership will enable us to offer even more choice for domestic and international air travel. Together with Virgin Australia we will provide the public with access to an enlarged network, offering a first-rate, integrated travel experience."
Mr Goh added: "The partnership presents a significant opportunity for Singapore Airlines to drive growth in a manner consistent with our focus on service excellence, product innovation and network connectivity. It will enhance the attractiveness of Australia as a travel destination while also opening up new horizons for travellers from Australia."
Virgin Australia group of airlines CEO John Borghetti said: "We are delighted to be partnering with one of the most respected and innovative airlines in the world. When it first launched in Australia, Singapore Airlines revolutionised international air travel for Australians, providing a world class service to Asia, Europe and beyond."
Mr Borghetti added: "Asia is clearly a critical market for us as we build our international alliance network. Singapore Airlines' extensive network throughout Asia will be particularly attractive to our international business and leisure travellers and this partnership, along with our other alliances, will mean Virgin Australia can now offer truly global flight coverage.
"With the recent re-positioning of our brand and the launch of our product enhancements, including domestic business class, Virgin Australia and Singapore Airlines are ideally suited as airline partners."
As part of the announcement today, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia have agreed that from 1 August 2011:
- Singapore Airlines customers will be able to interline on Virgin Australia's domestic network, allowing them to travel through to a range of destinations with one ticket, through-checked baggage, terminal transfers and inclusive meals; and
- Virgin Australia Velocity Gold members and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold members will have reciprocal access to each airline's airport lounges.
Subject to approval from the relevant regulatory authorities, customers should be able to experience the full benefits of the alliance from late this year.
About Singapore Airlines
When Singapore Airlines was formed in 1972, it operated a modest fleet of 10 aircraft to just 22 cities in 18 countries. With a commitment to fleet modernisation, product and service innovation and market leadership, the Airline quickly distinguished itself as a world-class carrier.
Today, Singapore Airlines operates a modern passenger fleet of more than 100 aircraft and its network, including Singapore Airlines Cargo and SilkAir destinations, covers a total of 101 destinations in 40 countries. Singapore Airlines serves five destinations in Australia - Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney – with 92 round-trip flights per week.
In October 2007, Singapore Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, made aviation history as the first to fly the world's largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
About Virgin Australia
Virgin Australia group of airlines (ASX: VBA), formerly the Virgin Blue group of airlines, was launched in 2000 as the first sustainable low-fare airline in Australian skies. It has established a global reputation as an innovator and leader in the aviation industry; renowned for the warmth of its people and the quality of the service they provide.
Starting out as a single airline operating a single route with just 200 team members, today the group employs over 7,000 people and includes multi-award winning domestic airline Virgin Australia (formerly Virgin Blue); international long-haul airline V Australia; international subsidiary airline Pacific Blue; and Polynesian Blue, a joint venture airline with the Government of Samoa. Virgin Australia is currently in the process of re-launching its domestic and short-haul international product, and both V Australia and Pacific Blue airlines will operate as Virgin Australia by the end of 2011.
Virgin Australia operates a fleet of 89 modern Boeing 737, 777 and Embraer E-Jet aircraft flying to 32 Australian and 16 international destinations including the USA, UAE, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands.
Media personnel are welcome to get in touch with our Public Affairs Department at email@example.com


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Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
Contributing Editor: Wendell P. Glick
Classroom Issues and Strategies
In my experience, an understanding of Thoreau rarely follows the initial exposure to his writings. The appreciation of the profundity and subtlety of his thought comes only after serious study, and only a few of the most committed students are willing to expend the necessary effort. Many, upon first reading him, will conclude: that he was a churlish, negative, antisocial malcontent; or that he advocated that all of us should reject society and go live in the woods; or that each person has complete license to do as he/she pleases, without consideration for the rights of others; or that he is unconscionably doctrinaire. His difficult, allusive prose, moreover, requires too much effort. All such judgments are at best simplistic and at worst, wrong.
If an instructor is to succeed with Thoreau, strategies to meet these responses will need to be devised. The best, in my opinion, is to spend the time explicating to students key sentences and paragraphs in class and responding to questions. Above all, students must be given a knowledge of the premises of Romanticism that constitute Thoreau's world view.
Major Themes, Historical Perspectives, and Personal Issues
What are Thoreau's premises, the hypotheses from which he reasons? Even the most recalcitrant young reader should be willing to acknowledge that the question of most concern to Thoreau is a fundamental one: "How, since life is short and one's years are numbered, can one live most abundantly?" In other words, what values should one live by? "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For," from Walden, was Thoreau's personal answer, but he insists that he has no wish to prescribe for "strong natures" who have formulated their own value systems. All persons should live "deliberately," having separated the ends of life from the means, he argued; and the instructor should aid students to identify those ends. Accepting without examination current social norms, most persons give no thought, Thoreau charged, to the question of the values by which they live.
Thoreau's absorption with physical nature will be apparent to all students. Stressing the linkage of all living things, he was one of the first American ecologists. But the instructor should point out that for Thoreau nature was not an end in itself but a metaphor for ethical and spiritual truth. A walk in the woods therefore was a search for spiritual enlightenment, not merely a sensory pleasure. One should look "through" nature, as Thoreau phrased it, not merely "at" her. Honest seekers would find the same truths. Belief in the existence of a Moral Law had had by Thoreau's day a venerable history. Jefferson, for example, opened the Declaration of Independence with an appeal to the "self-evident" truths of the Moral Law. Thoreau's political allegiance was first to the Moral Law, and second to the Constitution, which condoned black slavery.
In his letters to H. G. O. Blake, Thoreau spells out his personal philosophy.
Significant Form, Style, or Artistic Conventions
Thoreau's angle of vision is patently that of American Romanticism, deeply influenced by the insights of Kant and Coleridge and Carlyle. But Thoreau's style differs markedly from that of Emerson, whose natural expression is through abstraction. Thoreau presents experience through concrete images; he "thinks in images," as Francis Matthiessen once observed, and employs many of the resources of poetry to give strength and compressed energy to his prose. Widely read himself, he is very allusive, particularly to classical literature, and is one of America's most inveterate punsters.
Original Audience
The recognition that Thoreau was one of America's greatest writers, like the recognition of Melville and Poe, has been a twentieth-century phenomenon. Emerson recognized Thoreau's importance when the younger man died in 1862, detailing both the dimensions of his genius and his personal eccentricities in an extended obituary. James Russell Lowell, shortly after Thoreau's death, accused him of having been a "skulker" who neglected his social responsibilities. But a few nineteenth-century friends like H. G. O. Blake, William Ellery Channing, and Emerson kept Thoreau's reputation alive until Norman Foerster, F. O. Matthiessen, and an expanded group of later twentieth-century critics became convinced of the qualities of mind and art that have elevated Thoreau into the first rank of American prose writers. The Recognition of Henry David Thoreau (Michigan, 1969) traces the vicissitudes of Thoreau's reputation from the publication of his first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers (1849) to his present eminence in the literary canon.
Comparisons, Contrasts, Connections
Walden is sui generis though there are contemporary writers, e.g., Wendell Berry and E. B. White, who have clearly been influenced by this book in both style and thought. N. C. Wyeth, the American painter, confessed to being "an enthusiastic student of Thoreau." Of major twentieth-century writers, Frost has probably been most indebted to Thoreau. Martin Luther King's philosophy of passive resistance to the state is clearly borrowed from Thoreau's "Resistance to Civil Government." Some Thoreau scholars have discerned Thoreau's influence in Yeats, Tolstoy, and Gandhi.
Questions for Reading and Discussion/ Approaches to Writing
Though Thoreau's life was short, it was fully lived. Conscientiously, he recorded his thoughts in a journal that extends to many volumes over more than twenty years. Consequently, he has something to say about many of the issues that concerned people in his own time, and that still concern us today. I have found it profitable to ask students to write papers taking issue with him on some position he has argued, making certain that they fully understand what his position is. Thoreau is an economist, political theorist, philosopher, literary critic, poet, sociologist, naturalist, ecologist, botanist, surveyor, pencil maker, teacher, writer-- even jack of manual trades, so that whatever a student's primary interest may be, the probability is that Thoreau had something to say about it.
The issues of bigotry and racism that so concerned Thoreau will always provide topics for student papers.
Research now extant on Thoreau would fill a fair-sized library. Particularly useful in getting a sense of its scope and variety is The New Thoreau Handbook, ed. Walter Harding and Michael Meyer (New York, 1980). This should be supplemented with the section on Thoreau in the annually published American Literary Scholarship (Duke), and the running bibliography in the Thoreau Society Quarterly. Very useful also are the many articles on Thoreau in the annual Studies in the American Renaissance, ed. Joel Myerson. Collections of critical essays on Thoreau have been edited by Sherman Paul, John Hicks, Wendell Glick, and Joel Myerson. The standard biography is still The Days of Henry Thoreau by Walter Harding (New York, 1965).


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March 8, 2007
Musicovery - Music Tailored to Your Mood
The songs are visually connected in a graph and when you select a song, the view centers on the current song. This reminds me of MusicPlasma, that shows music artists based on their influence and similarity.
Musicovery doesn't have a huge database, but it's a good option if you miss a dark song from the 90s or you just want to hear a relaxing song.
8 comments:
Wow ! freaking awesome .. Mmm... on second thought, wonder whether I'll use it often. Already am hooked to Pandora. And all my music comes from itunes/limewireReplyDelete
Looks promising. Very interesting.ReplyDelete
I'm surprised you didn't mention Pandora. It's a "broadcast" music site that selects music based on a variety of criteria, all of which are used to determine a song's "type". A number of individuals originally contributed to the "typing" of a song database, which is now used to find other songs for which one creates a "channel".
Hmmm... I'm always a little too verbose. I'd check out the site to get a very quick understanding of how it works: www.pandora.com.
It's mostly ad supported, but one can buy a yearly subscription that essentially takes away the adverts.
I'd love to see more sites like these. All are making "music search" a very interesting technology.
I love Pandora and I've mentioned it in other posts, but Pandora lets you create a personalized radio by choosing a song or an artist as a starting point and then rating songs.ReplyDelete
Musicovery plays songs based on their tempo (mood), genre, release date etc. So there's no personalization, just predefined classifications and relationships.
Musicovery is nice when you're sad and want a playlist of mellow songs. In Pandora, you'd have to enter a sad song and then rate songs until the radio station only plays sad songs. In Musicovery, you just select the mood and music starts to flow.
another great site is last.fmReplyDelete
similar to pandora and also has plugins for winamp/wmp which tracks what you play and posts charts on the website
Also good for getting in touch with other users with similar interests in music
Well worth a look at.
- AnonymousMarch 9, 2007 at 10:08 AM
Thanks for the tip, very appreciated!ReplyDelete
A colleague of mine at university created an MP3 player that automatically sorts your playlists according to colour (mood)ReplyDelete
It's interesting, have a look.
Here is another experiment to discover great bands using a 'tag cloud' style of linking.ReplyDelete
Check it out!
- AnonymousDecember 12, 2007 at 11:27 AM
I thins musicovery is an amazing site. Like it more than lastfm. pandora etc becuase it's visually interactive and stimulating, and let's you chose genres/dates/hit/non hit.. love it!ReplyDelete


text:
From LinuxMIPSJump to navigationJump to search
This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it
The RM7000 is a higher performance successor of the R5000. This processor is used in the Cisco 7200 router. Despite of targeting the embedded market Silicon Graphics did use is to upgrade it's O2 workstation into the O2+.


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HIV: Acronym for the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). HIV has also been called the human lymphotropic virus type III, the lymphadenopathy-associated virus and the lymphadenopathy virus. No matter what name is applied, it is a retrovirus. (A retrovirus has an RNA genome and a reverse transcriptase enzyme. Using the reverse transcriptase, the virus uses its RNA as a template for making complementary DNA which can integrate into the DNA of the host organism).
Although the American research Robert Gallo at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) believed he was the first to find HIV, it is now generally accepted that the French physician Luc Montagnier (1932-) and his team at the Pasteur Institute discovered HIV in 1983-84.


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General information
You start out by finding a suitable problem to solve. Then you write code to solve the problem. After this, you submit the code to us for review. We will then compile your code and run it on some secret input. After some careful deliberation, you will get a judgement informing you whether your code behaved as expected or not.
Your program should read its input from standard input and produce output on standard output.
This can for instance be done using
readline library /
Input will always follow the input specification (so you do not need to validate the input). Your output must follow the output specification.
Compiler settings
For TypeScript, we use tsc version Version 5.2.2 with the following flags:
--module commonjs {files}.
Runtime settings
For TypeScript, we use node version v18.13.0 with the following runtime flags:
File Extensions
Files with any of the following file extensions will be used:
System libraries
You are allowed to use all standard libraries included with TypeScript.
We are currently using Dell PowerEdge R230 servers for judging. These are equipped with an Intel Xeon E3-1220V6 CPU running at 3.0 GHz and 8 GB RAM. A 64-bit Linux kernel is used.
We will inspect the exit code of your program. If it is non-zero, we will judge your submission as Run Time Error.
Solving a problem
Now lets get down to business and write some code. The short tutorial below goes through the solution of A Different Problem.
Step 1: The problem
You are tasked with writing a program that computes the difference between integers. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, as we will see, the problem still holds some small difficulties.
Step 2: Reading the input
One thing to note is that the integers can be fairly large, as large as 1015. Luckily, TypeScript's, number type is large enough.
Now that we have determined a suitable type, we just have to read the data. Reading is done from standard input. In this problem, we should read until the end of the file (in other problems, there might be an integer at the beginning of the input, specifying how much to read, or there might be a special indicator denoting that there is nothing more to read). Using the readline library, this can be done as below:
Step 3: Computing the answer
Now that we've read the input, it's time to actually solve the problem. Since 0 ≤ a, b ≤ 1015, we have that −(1015) ≤ a−b ≤ 1015, which means that there is no danger of overflow involved in just subtracting the two numbers a and b. Then, we can just take the absolute value by using the Math.abs function.
Finally, it's time to print the result. Using console.log (assuming the variable res holds the result):
Step 4: The solution
Now we are basically done, all that remains is to combine the above parts.


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Valve Wants it Painted Orange
"We're going to have one package, The Orange Box, available on the PC (US$49.99) as well as the 360 and PS3 (US$59.99)," said Valve's Doug Lombardi to IGN PC. "Those who purchase the PC version of The Orange Box will get three separate Steam product codes: One for the three new games, one for HL2, and one for Episode One. This way a PC Orange Box owner can give away their Half-Life 2 or Episode One unused Steam product codes if they don't need a copy of those games."
It is unknown whether this development will impact the Steam pricing models for the upcoming games. Shacknews has contacted Valve for more information, but had not yet received a response at the time of this printing.