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The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) is well-known in both nature and captivity as an impressive maker and user of tools, but recently the New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides) has been championed as being equivalent or superior to the ape in elementary technology. I systematically compare the two taxa, going beyond simple presence/absence scoring of tool-using and -making types, on four more precise aspects of material culture: (i) types of associative technology (tools used in combination); (ii) modes of tool making; (iii) modes of tool use; and (iv) functions of tool use. I emphasize tool use in nature, when performance is habitual or customary, rather than in anecdotal or idiosyncratic. On all four measures, the ape shows more variety than does the corvid, especially in modes and functions that go beyond extractive foraging. However, more sustained field research is required on the crows before this contrast is conclusive.
1. Introduction
Until recently, the chimpanzee was the consensus choice as the most accomplished tool-user of living, non-human species. So say all the textbooks in biological anthropology, based on 50+ years of data on wild chimpanzees, starting with Goodall's [1] findings at Gombe, Tanzania. New findings on the elementary technology of chimpanzees continue to emerge, both from nature and from captivity [2–6].
In the past 10 years, the chimpanzee's paramount position has been challenged by three other primate taxa: Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), a great ape from Sumatra [7,8]; bearded capuchin (Cebus (Sapajus) libidinosus), a New World monkey from Brazil [9–11]; and Burmese long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis aurea), an Old World monkey from Thailand [12,13]. These diverse taxa are treated elsewhere in this issue, so no more need be said here about them, except to note that each of these taxa has yielded novel findings, compared with chimpanzees.
More surprisingly, the most impressive challenger to primate supremacy has come not from another mammal, but from a bird, the New Caledonian crow (NCC) from the South Pacific [14–16]. This species is the tip of the Corvidae spear, exemplifying the resurgence in research on the behaviour and cognition of this radiation of crows, jays, raven, rook, jackdaw, etc. [17–19]. The corvidologists' claims are sustained and notable (italics mine):
These population-level features [handedness and shaping] are unprecedented in the tool behaviour of free-living non-humans… [20, p. 403]
NC Crows in the wild manufacture and use tools in ways more sophisticated than do other non-humans… [21, p. 307]
The only credible evidence of technological evolution in nonhumans to date comes from New Caledonian crows. [22, p. 291]
'In the wild, [NC] crows manufacture, and use…the most sophisticated animal tools yet discovered…' [23, p. 313]
These claims have taken root: in the latest edition of their influential textbook, Manning & Dawkins [24, p. 282] state '…if we wished to demonstrate tool use in animals then probably by far the best subject would be the New Caledonian crow…' In Shumaker et al.'s [25] encyclopaedic second edition of Beck's monumental 'bible' on animal tool behaviour, their final chapter raises seven key issues or 'myths'. Three of these reflect the topic tackled in this paper:
Myth no. 3: 'Only primates use and make tools'.
Myth no. 4: 'New Caledonian crows use and make tools as well as, or even better than, chimpanzees'.
Myth no. 6: 'Chimpanzees are the most proficient animal tool users'.
The proposition in myth no. 3 is provocative but long-ago falsified, although it highlights an important distinction, between merely using found objects versus modifying objects, in order to improve their function. Tool users occur widely across animal taxa, whereas tool makers are a far more select subgroup. The aim of this paper is to answer the question posed in its title by comparing the two main contenders, chimpanzee and NCC. My emphasis is to go far beyond the 'do-they or do-they-not' tally of using or making of tools, which always has been a simplistic dichotomy.
2. Two other 'myths'
Before proceeding, two other common misunderstandings need to be cleared up, although these amount to painful 'home-truths' for some primatologists. First, most of the 200+ species (and some taxonomic splitters would double that number!) of the Order Primates never or rarely use tools, in nature or in captivity [25]. When they do, most cases are typically one-off anecdotes or idiosyncratic aberrancies, such as human-reared individuals. When captive primates use tools, they often have been laboriously trained to do so, in contrived laboratory settings. Only the four genera named above, of the 30+ genera of primates, are naturally technical; the other genera are technically no different from other mammals.
More pointedly, most apes do not use tools either. Of the six genera of the two families of living apes, Hylobatidae and Pongidae/Hominidae, only two species, Pan troglodytes and Pongo abelii, convincingly use tools in nature [25]. Despite decades of field study, neither gibbons nor gorillas nor bonobo (Pan paniscus) are proven tool-users. All of these non-technological taxa now have been studied long-term at close range, but none shows habitual or customary tool use. Instead, there are isolated descriptions of occasional incidents [26]. Moreover, even in the absence of behavioural data, no artefacts discarded by these other species have been detected, despite persistent searching. Especially striking is the contrast between two pairs of sibling species: chimpanzee versus bonobo, and Sumatran versus Bornean orangutan. In both pairings, the former species uses multiple types of extractive foraging technology but the latter none, despite living in similar habitats. Most dumbfounding is that all great ape taxa experimentally tested in captivity are proficient tool-users when placed in facilitating, scaffolded circumstances [27]. This is most confusing!
3. What is tool use?
The closest thing to a standard definition of tool use is Shumaker et al.'s [25], which is unwieldy and long but comprehensive and time-tested (see the electronic supplementary material tables for all definitions). Their definition of tool making is simpler and shorter but equally heuristic. Until recently, these two categories sufficed for comparative exercises, with more tool-using species than tool-making ones, apparently confirming the presumption that the latter is more cognitively demanding than the former.
However, in recent years, these minimal categories have proved to be inadequate for capturing the rich variety of animal technology. There has been an explosion of phenomena and terminology to describe more precisely the complexity of the phenomena uncovered. These newer categories have emerged piecemeal, often confusingly, with the same label being attached to different behaviours, or different labels being attached to the same behaviour [28,29]. I rely on Shumaker et al.'s scheme as the closest thing to a standard taxonomy, although I have done some tweaking.
Furthermore, rather than just classify tool use by type, Shumaker et al. [25] sought to characterize it by a second-order elaboration: 'alteration of form, position, or condition of an object, organism or user'. This they called a 'mode' (p. 13). Linked with this is a third-order classification by the consequences of tool use, which is called 'function'. This latter scheme is necessary if one wishes to go beyond description to the evolutionary adaptedness of tool use. For example, one of their modes is 'pry, apply leverage', which is defined as to 'push or pull on an object (the tool), using a fulcrum'. The function of this prising action is to 'amplify mechanical force'.
The corresponding exercise applied to tool making yields four more modes. For example, the manufacturing mode of 'subtract' is to 'remove and discard a portion of a tool or an eventual tool so the tool can be used, or used more efficiently' (p. 14). This mode of tool making functions as 'structural modification of an object or an existing tool by the user or a conspecific so that the object/tool serves, or serves more effectively, as a tool'.
Finally, these definitions say nothing about the frequency with which a behavioural pattern occurs in an individual, population or species. Shumaker et al.'s [25] scheme merely distinguishes between presence versus absence, in which the former could be just one individual doing one act one time, that is, a minimal anecdote. Clearly, one-off, rare or idiosyncratic events do not deserve the same status as commonplace ones. Whiten et al. [30] accordingly distinguished among customary patterns (occurring in all or most able-bodied members of at least one age–sex class), habitual ones (seen repeatedly in several individuals, consistent with some degree of social transmission) and present ones (clearly identified but neither customary nor habitual). Here, I combine 'customary' and 'habitual' (versus 'present'), as the former two often are not clearly differentiated in published reports. All patterns reported meet this frequency criterion, unless otherwise noted.
4. Comparing chimpanzee and crow
I compare the two pre-eminent taxa of mammal and bird by modes of tool use, modes of tool making, functions of tool use and associative technology. Shumaker et al. [25] did a similar analysis for three of these four tool categories, but they combined all birds into a single unit. They also combined wild versus captive into a single category of usage. Finally, new findings have enriched the picture.
The chimpanzee is a medium-sized, semi-terrestrial, hominid mammal with prehensile fingers and toes. The species naturally inhabits at least 20 tropical, sub-Saharan African countries and is widespread elsewhere in zoos and laboratories. It readily breeds in all settings, given appropriate resources. In nature, chimpanzees live in groups that regularly subdivide into parties of ever-changing composition ('fission–fusion'). They aggressively defend a group territory against neighbours, even to the point of fatality. Males are philopatric, but females often leave their natal groups and settle elsewhere to reproduce.
NCC is a medium-sized, volant, corvid bird with prehensile feet. In nature, the species inhabits the South Pacific island of Grande Terre in New Caledonia and a smaller offshore island (Mare). It occurs in only four settings in captivity, where breeding seems to be rare. In nature, the crows live in small family groups, but these encounter one another often [23,31].
Despite these differences, the two taxa have many traits in common. Both are omnivores, consuming plants, vertebrates and invertebrates. Both inhabit a range of ecotypes, from closed forest to open grassland, including former farmlands. Both are large-brained, for their taxonomic class and order [32,33, but cf. 15]. Both show impressive vocal communication that includes dialect differences across populations [34,35]. Both make simple shelters ('nests'), although these serve different functions. Both have been studied in nature, in laboratories and in ingenious field experiments [36]. Finally, both habitually make and use tools.
5. Components of elementary technology
First, I compare chimpanzee and NCC on Shumaker et al.'s five components of complex technology [25] (see electronic supplementary material, table S1 for definitions). Chimpanzees show all five in nature and captivity.
All known long-studied groups (communities) of chimpanzees have tool kits [37]. These repertoires range in size from 8 to 22 tool types, among the eight habituated groups for which there are published ethnographic data [38]. The median size is ca 20, but the three Ugandan study sites (Budongo, Kanyawara, Ngogo) have significantly smaller tool kits, for reasons yet unknown.
Chimpanzees leave behind assemblages of tools and their remnants at tool-use sites (ateliers), after sessions of extractive foraging. When coupled with observations, these tools can be matched to the individual users. Otherwise, lacking direct data, these discards can be analysed archaeologically [39]. Abandoned tools sometimes are reused later by the same or different individuals.
Chimpanzees craft many tools made of vegetation. A termite fishing probe is stripped of leaves, peeled of bark, split longitudinally and clipped at one end and frayed at the other [40].
Like all great apes after weaning, chimpanzees daily construct sleeping platforms (nest, bed), in which boughs, branches, twigs and leaves are combined into a single integrated whole [41–44]. Typically, these simple shelters are used only once, but they persist, sometimes for months, gradually degrading, although recognizable scars may persist for the lifetime of the tree used [45].
A chimpanzee shows tool-use multi-functionality by using a melon-sized stone as: hammer (pounding mode, functioning to amplify force), missile (throwing mode, functioning to extend user's reach), or signal enhancer (brandishing mode, functioning to create or augment signal value of social display). However, using thin, stripped-down, flexible probes of vegetation to fish for terrestrial termites versus arboreal ants is not multi-functional, as both the mode ('insert and probe') and function ('extend user's reach') are the same, despite the prey and context differing greatly.
How do NCC compare? They too show four modes in nature, but apparently one (multifunctionality) only in captivity.
In nature, NCC make tools of leaf, twig or stem to fish out insect prey, and some are clearly crafted, involving at least two steps. Most notable is the sculpting of hook tools from particularly detached twigs [14,16,46], a form of non-human extractive technology shown only by NCC. Whether detaching bits of a flat object such as a Pandanus leaf is three- or only two-dimensional is unclear, but folding the leaf to create a new shape surely qualifies [22]. Wire-bending by captive crows to make hooked tools, albeit with artificial raw materials, shows comparable extractive function [47, but cf. 48].
The NCC's tool kit is usually given as three components: straight stick tools, hooked stick tools and complex shapes of barbed leaf [15], but elsewhere grass-stem probing for lizards [49,50] and candle-nut dropping onto rocks [29] are described. Different populations of NCC have differing tool kits [16,51].
Assemblages of tools accumulate at sites where the crows extract prey from stumps or logs, but it is not always clear whether these are natural feeding sites or artificially provisioned ones. Detailed analyses of these collections of artefacts, such as spatial distribution, identification of debitage, etc. are beginning to be done [52].
Like all other passerines, NCC construct nests for depositing eggs and rearing nestlings.
Captive crows use familiar sticks both as tools to retrieve food items and to investigate novel objects [53], but this has yet to be seen in nature.
6. Modes of tool use
Here, I compare NCC and chimpanzees on 22 modes of tool use [25] (the electronic supplementary material, table S2 gives definitions). Chimpanzees show all 22 modes, but two of these (cut, hang) have been seen only in captivity.
Absorb. Wild chimpanzees use crushed leaves as 'sponges' to extract drinking water from tree holes [54,55]. This is a chimpanzee universal, found in all populations subject to long-term study [30].
Affix, apply, drape. Wild chimpanzees apply faeces to surfaces, such as buttress roots of trees, in order to extract passed seeds for re-ingestion (W. C. McGrew et al. 1976–1979, unpublished data). Wild chimpanzees drape themselves around the neck with vines or animal skins while walking quadrupedally [54]; in one case, a strip of colobus skin was knotted, creating a necklace [56]. No case of apes affixing with adhesive an object is known.
Bait, entice. Wild chimpanzees, especially juveniles, use objects to attract the attention of potential playmates [54]. More interestingly, chimpanzees solicit their companions to groom them by engaging first in 'leaf grooming', in which the normal patterns of grooming, often accompanied by 'lip-smacking' vocalizations, are directed non-functionally to a leaf [54].
Block. Wild chimpanzees use leafy twigs as 'gloves' for hands and feet or as 'cushions', when climbing or sitting in spiny trees, such as kapok (Ceiba pentandra) [57]. Chimpanzees sometimes leave tools in the 'fishing holes' of termite mounds, effectively keeping them from being closed by the termites [58]. These may function as plugs or stoppers to facilitate later reuse, or they may be just oversights; more investigation is needed. Gashaka chimpanzees sometimes leave thick sticks inserted into beehive entrances, apparently for the same function (V. Sommer & A. Pascual-Garrido 2013, unpublished data).
Brandish, wave, shake. Wild chimpanzees, especially adult males, show all of these patterns (and more) in agonistic displays, making use of both attached and detached vegetation [54].
Balance and climb, prop and climb, reposition, bridge. Koehler's [59] captive chimpanzees vertically balanced poles and climbed them to get bananas suspended overhead. Chimpanzees escaped from an enclosure by dismantling their climbing frames and using the poles as ladders to clamber over a high fence [60]. The same chimpanzees jammed sticks into seams in a fence, creating 'pitons' that they used to climb up and over [61].
Club, beat. Wild chimpanzees hit one another or other species with various objects, especially sticks, but also with dead prey [54].
Contain. Wild chimpanzees fold leaves to make simple containers for drinking water [55]. Captive chimpanzees readily use human-supplied containers but also create their own, such as filling an empty coconut shell with water and carrying it elsewhere to drink [62].
Cut. Wild chimpanzees have not been seen to slice with an object but instead use their teeth. Captive chimpanzees readily learn to use sharp-edged objects, and both chimpanzees and bonobos make functional stone flakes that cut rope [63].
Dig. Wild chimpanzees at Issa, Tanzania, use woody objects to dig up tubers for food [64].
Drag, roll, kick, slap, push over. Chimpanzees drag objects, including uprooted saplings, in bipedal agonistic displays [54]; youngsters drag piles of leaves in invitation to potential play partners [65]. All known chimpanzee populations drum on buttress roots of trees in acoustic communication, using the palms of the hands (slap) and soles of the feet (stamp) [66]. Chimpanzees push over rotting tree stumps as part of agonistic display [54].
Drop. Agitated wild chimpanzees drop branches onto humans and other threatening large mammals; this is a chimpanzee universal [54].
Pound, hammer. West African chimpanzees use stones or wooden hammers to crack open nuts on stone or wooden anvils [67,68]. Chimpanzees pound hand-held, hard-shelled fruit on stone or wooden anvils, as technically assisted, percussive food processing [69]. When the anvil is portable, it is tool use; when the anvil is fixed (e.g. boulder, root, outcrop), it is not [25].
Hang. Captive chimpanzees reposition ropes, cloth, etc. and play, rest or locomote on them. Wild chimpanzees have not been seen to do so, perhaps lacking the appropriate raw materials.
Pry, apply leverage. Wild chimpanzees use sticks as levers to widen entrance holes to honeybee colonies in tree cavities or underground [70,71].
Probe. Chimpanzees insert linear objects, usually vegetation, into cavities to extract their contents. This foraging ranges from delicate threading of a flexible probe in termite or ant fishing [1,72] to 'dip-sticking' honey from a bees' nest [6].
Reach. Chimpanzees use elongate objects to poke at or retrieve other objects, ranging from a sleeping conspecific to a found dead animal [54].
Scratch, rub. Chimpanzees scratch inaccessible parts of their bodies (e.g. back) with sticks [54].
Stab, jab, penetrate. Chimpanzees use sharpened, sturdy sticks as 'skewers' to dislodge bushbabies from their sleeping holes [73]. Central African chimpanzees use stout sticks to force passageways in the soil, providing access to underground termite colonies [6].
Symbolize. Chimpanzees, usually males, clip leaves in courtship. Repeated tearing of the leaves acoustically attracts the attention of the sought-after female [74]. This may be an arbitrary signal to the female, in which the sight and sound of leaf-clipping may represent the libidinous state of the male. However, seeking to show by observation alone that any act is symbolic is well-nigh impossible methodologically. Captive chimpanzees readily learn to use symbols, for example, in simple token economies, numerosity, etc. [70].
Throw. Chimpanzees throw objects, usually sticks or stones, at conspecifics, prey or predators, or hurl objects without aiming as part of agonistic displays [1,54].
Wipe. Chimpanzees use leaves as napkins to wipe clean their or companion's body surface of blood, sap, semen, faeces, etc. [54].
NCC show four modes of tool use in nature and four in captivity.
Drop. Wild NCC drop candlenuts (Aleurites moluccana) from branches onto rocks below, in order to crack them open [50]. Such standardized (aimed?) release from a specific launching site seems to be unique to NCC, but many species of corvids drop food objects onto hard surfaces [75]. Captive crows drop stones as tools to raise levels of liquid, thus gaining access to floating objects [76] or to collapse a platform to release an object [77].
Pry, apply leverage. Crows in captivity bend segments of wire to make a hooked tool, by using the lip of a glass cylinder as a fulcrum [47]. (Strictly speaking, the bending is tool making, not using.)
Insert and probe. Wild crows insert elongated segments of various kinds of vegetation (leaf, petiole, stem, twig) into cavities or crevices, in order to extract prey items (e.g. long-horned beetle larvae) contained therein [14,15,78–81].
Reach. Captive crows use probes to retrieve objects from behind barriers [28,51] or to investigate novel, artificial objects [53], but this has not been seen in nature.
Jab. NCC use grass-stems to dislodge lizards from crevices, and this behavioural pattern may be common in farmland habitats [50]. Jabbing to flush prey from their refuges is common in NCC (C. Rutz 2013, personal communication).
7. Modes of tool making
Shumaker et al. [25] distinguished four modes of tool manufacture (see the electronic supplementary material, table S3 for definitions). Chimpanzees show all four of these.
Detach. Chimpanzees disconnect, usually by hand or mouth, plant parts from their source, whether woody or non-woody; the detached objects range in size from leaf to entire sapling [62]. Such detachment varies greatly in precision and force applied, from gross stripping to pointed plucking.
Reduce. Chimpanzees separate extraneous elements from a detached, incipient tool, discarding what is removed (debitage), such as removing the leaves from a twig, so that it can be inserted as a probe into a narrow passageway.
Reshape. Chimpanzees fold leaves into crude, spoon-like containers to drink water from a tree hole [55].
Combine. Chimpanzees pick and crush individual leaves into a single sponge-like mass for absorbing water, either from a tree-hole or a puddle [54,67].
NCC show three of the four modes of tool making.
Detach. Using the bill, NCC tear strips from the spiny-fringed leaves of Pandanus trees, producing probes [14]. Some populations repeat the technique with successive, narrower tears, thus producing a 'stepped' tool [21]. The process is rarely observed but it leaves behind the artefactual 'negative' of the tool that is taken away, which can be analysed archaeologically.
Reduce. NCC remove and discard side-twigs, leaflets and bark from woody twigs in the process of making hooked probes [16,20]. They shorten non-hooked stick tools before or during use [15].
Reshape. In finalizing the making of a hook tool, the crows 'sculpt' the hook from the existing fork of a twig, by bending the end of the twig, removing small pieces of wood, and sharpening the point [16,20,46]. They fold the wide tools made of Pandanus leaf [22].
There seems to be no record of crows joining or connecting two or more components to make a single tool.
8. Functions of tool use
Shumaker et al. [25] distinguished seven classes of function in tool using (see the electronic supplementary material, table S4 for definitions). Chimpanzees show six of these seven, lacking only hide/camouflage (i.e. conceal user). However, one captive chimpanzee regularly conceals stones (but not itself), in order to retrieve them later to throw at human targets [81].
Amplify force. Chimpanzees hold or propel by hand objects that increase the impact of the tool being used. Often the action is ballistic, with the inertia supplied by muscular extension and centripetal force. Examples: throw, club, pound, pry, dig, stab.
Augment display. Chimpanzees use objects to enhance the signal value of displays in agonism, courtship and play. Examples: drag, brandish, entice, drape.
Control substances. Chimpanzees use objects to manage fluids (e.g. blood, semen, etc.) for consumption or removal. Examples: absorb, contain, wipe.
Enhance comfort. Chimpanzees use objects to facilitate rest, locomotion or hygiene. In nature, they cushion their hands and feet from thorny bark with leafy twigs [57]. A more ubiquitous example is the nest or sleeping platform, but it is not a tool, as noted above [82]. Examples: bridge, block.
Extend reach. Chimpanzees hold, propel or release objects by hand, foot or mouth that expand access to goal objects in three-dimensional space. Such tools may be used to repel or retrieve objects on or in a substrate. Examples of modes: drop, hang, reach, insert and probe.
Symbolize. Chimpanzees appear to use objects to signal, abstract or represent reality. Wild chimpanzees play with 'dolls', by directing typical cradling and other caregiving behaviour to inanimate objects, such as lengths of woody vegetation [83]. Whether this is sign or symbol or neither is hard (or impossible?) to discern in nature, but fantasy play occurs in both wild and captive apes; much of it involves objects as instigating devices [84].
NCC show two of the seven functions of tool use.
Extend reach. Crows hold or release objects in the beak that expand their access to goal items by contact or through space. Probes stuck into cavities fish out larvae or winkle out lizards.
Amplify force. Wild crows dropping nuts onto a hard substrate enlist gravity's force to crack them open. Controlled release from a proven point in space increases the probability of success [29]. Captive crows learn to drop stones into a vertical tube to release a reward, even without specific training [77].
9. Modes of associative technology
Here, I compare chimpanzee with NCC on Shumaker et al.'s five modes of associative technology (see the electronic supplementary material, table S5). Chimpanzees show all five: three are habitual or customary in the wild, but two (sequential and secondary) are presently known only in captivity (see review in [70]).
The best-known chimpanzee tool set is the use of a stout perforating tool to open a passage, followed by a thin, flexible probe for fishing out subterranean termites [6,54]. Sets of up to five components have been recorded for dipping honey from bees' hives [85]. The order of use of tool types in a set is obligatory: a dipstick cannot be used to extract honey from a cavity until the cavity has been punctured.
The iconic composite tool is hammer and movable anvil to crack open nuts [39,68]. One without the other is useless for processing small, dense, hard-shelled objects. (Another form of percussive technology, the use of a fixed anvil alone to pound open larger objects, does not qualify as tool use. Chimpanzees smash large fruits such as baobab (Adansonia digitata) directly on root or boulder anvils, without hammers [69]. Similarly, Nimba chimpanzees 'cleave' basketball-sized Treculia africana fruits with stone hammers and anvils, but evidence for this plant 'butchery' remains preliminary [86].)
A less co-dependent form of composite tool in nature occurs in dipping for army ants (Dorylus spp.) [87]. Chimpanzees use long, stiff wands of vegetation to extract ants from their subterranean nest, but the anti-predatory defence of the biting ants is fierce and painful. By elevating themselves off the ground, via bending over a nearby sapling and perching on it, the ape reduces its exposure to the swarming ants below. Creating the perch increases the effectiveness of the wand's use, but only indirectly, as the perch does not act directly on the wand.
The closest thing to a metatool in wild chimpanzees may be their use of 'wedge stones' to modify the orientation of an anvil stone, in nut-cracking [68]. A wobbly or tilting anvil may be stabilized or levelled by inserting one or more smaller stones beneath it. However, this is positional modification (see definition of tool use in electronic supplementary material, table S1), not structural modification.
Secondary tool use has been induced in the laboratory: captive chimpanzees and bonobos readily use one stone to fracture another, then use the resulting sharp-edged pieces to cut rope, which gains them access to a food-item (Garufi, unpublished data and [63]). This may amount to a crude form of stone knapping, in which the cobble strikes the core.
Chimpanzees in captivity have been known for decades to use tools sequentially, that is, use one tool to acquire another; this task is induced artificially by placing the additional tools behind artificial barriers [70]. Such a challenge is hard to imagine in nature, although wild bearded capuchin monkeys use stones to knock free from the substrate embedded stones, which then become hammers [10].
Shumaker et al.'s construction is not tool use, but it is associative technology, in that two or more objects are physically combined to create a functional item. Every wild chimpanzee past weaning daily builds at least one sleeping platform (a.k.a. nest, bed) of fresh vegetation. These interwoven pallets comprise bent and broken boughs and branches and are lined with leafy twigs [41–45].
NCC in nature appear to show no associative technology, that is, combinations of tools, but do show sequential tool use and tool sets in captivity.
Experimental induction of sequential tool use has been demonstrated and replicated: the crows spontaneously used a short stick to retrieve a long stick from beyond a barrier, then used the long stick to retrieve a bait from a deep hole. An extended version of this task involves an extra step, whereby three tools are necessary to solve the problem [88]. A variant design has the crows obtaining the first tool by pulling up a string, then using it to extract a long-enough tool from a toolbox, then using the long tool to extract food from a cavity [89].
Captive crows showed a tool set when they pulled a string to obtain a short stick, then used the stick to retrieve a longer stick, which was then used to extract food from a hole [90].
At least two studies of captive NCC have claimed to show metatool use [28,88], but both used definitions that differ from Shumaker et al.'s. In one case, the metatool was defined as 'to use one tool on another' [28, p. 1504]; in the other it was defined as 'a tool directed towards other tools' [89, p. 2]. In Shumaker et al.'s scheme, this is sequential tool use.
NCC construct nests for rest and reproduction, but their architecture seems not to have been compared systematically with that of chimpanzees or any other primates.
10. Conclusion
No one disputes that chimpanzees and NCC are excellent makers and users of tools, or that each is the paramount technologist of their respective taxonomic orders. But when we move beyond mere species tallies of presence versus absence of types of tool use, a wide gap opens. (see summary in table 1). Both taxa show all five components of elementary technology. For the 22 modes of tool use, the apes again show all but the crows only four. For the four modes of tool making, the two taxa come close to equivalence: four by the apes versus three by the crows. For the seven functions of tool use, the apes show all but one, but the crows only two. Of the five types of associative tool use, the apes show all but the crows only two.
Overall, what emerges, especially from modes of tool use, is that the NCC is a relatively specialized extractive forager, using a variety of tools to access embedded food items. In this regard, NCC may well match the chimpanzee, as shown by the modes of tool making employed by both. However, the ape's technology goes far beyond subsistence, notably into social and self-maintenance realms, neither of which is expressed by the crow, as seen in the ranges of functions displayed. Finally, despite the impressive range of social cognition displayed by other corvid species [17–19], it is unclear whether NCC's cognition extends into higher-order cognition, such as theory of mind [16,70,89]. Thus, the chimpanzee is a truly generalist technologist, more akin to the other hominins than to any other living non-hominin species [37].
So, why have so many strong claims been made about crow and ape equivalence? One possibility is novelty. Chimpanzee technology is old hat, being known for more than 50 years in nature [1], and almost 100 years in captivity [59]. NCC technology is striking and fresh, especially against the background of absent natural tool use in the rest of the corvid radiation. A more substantial explanation for the contrast may be that field studies of NCC lag decades behind that of chimpanzees [91]. The apparent differences may reflect that much less research effort has been spent so far on the crows, by comparison with the apes. When continuous close-range observations of the crows are achieved, much more may be revealed [92]. This is an exciting prospect.
I am grateful for support in writing this paper to a Leverhulme Trust Emeritus Fellowship and for other funding from and stimulating discussions with members of the Leverhulme International Network Group on Percussive Technology and the European Research Council Starting Grant on Primate Archaeology. I especially thank Christian Rutz for helping me to tackle the crows, Anthony Collins, Linda Marchant and Caroline Tutin for crucial collaboration in chasing chimpanzees, and Christian Rutz, Alejandra Pascual-Garrido and an anonymous referee for critical comments on the manuscript. Finally, I offer longstanding thanks to Ben Beck, the encyclopaedic pioneer of animal tool-behaviour studies.
One contribution of 15 to a Theme Issue 'Tool use as adaptation'.
- © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.


text:
Engel, my computer, just freezed. Even Linux hangs sometimes without reason but there's nothing wrong with this, I'm going to check it later.
After this introduction, I must say that everything rebooted fine again but RSSOwl, which seems to be broken, yields a "nice" error everytime I start it: "Read past EOF". It was updating feeds just before the hang.
The way to go with this is so simple but there isn't any trace about. Just copy your subscriptions*.opml files from $HOME/.rssowl2 and delete this folder.
By the way, it's curious that Google doesn't throw any result for this error with RSSOwl in the query. Instead, the error itself seems to be from Lucene.
Shine on you, crazy owl.
Read past EOF in RSSOwl 2
Engel, my computer, just freezed. Even Linux hangs sometimes without reason but there's nothing wrong with this, I'm going to check it later.
About Meneame's shaking
Warning: some links go to content in spanish, sorry. And that's my opinion. You can agree or not, you are free!
Today is bad day for the spanish Digg-like Menéame (Shake me). The admins are banning hundreds of users in a tyranic way because these users didn't agree with the decision of one admin, Perl, to ban one of the most active users, MMPET.
This user did a post protesting for some admin attitude. And he was banned for this and publishing a list of public negative voters.
By the way, I'm one of the banned users, of course. I did everything to get banned as protest measure. And I was banned, after posting some troll-like news. That's absolutely right and I assume my actions. I know I provoked them.
That's price to advocate in favour of freedom. I think that nobody can allow to be banned with poor reasoning: MMPET was a very active user and he had been banned for suspicious microblogging, which is not allowed in Menéame, but it didn't matter when sometimes a clearly microblogging new achieved the front page. The real reason, as you can see here
In the net, there is a lot of info about it flowing everywhere, like Twitter, Meneame itself, some other blogs including MMPET's blog, etc.
There is a curious fact. There had been two big waves of banning actions. The second, after a few hours of calm peace, only broke by the trolling news (some mine) in the queue list, had been bloody. They banned more very popular users, just to be against them.
Of course, we can't deny the other side. Here you have the official answer from Menéame's blog.
Actually, it was something that everybody felt in the air (not in a phsycial way, of course). A lot of news were sunken by negative votes from the admins. A lot of arguments, flames, bad manners from everyone, etc.
It's a shame, because it was a great site but this is Internet and the show must go on. New possibilities are available, like Apezz, which seems to be down by the rush of users coming from Menéame, Digg, Reddit, etc.
For more information, check all the links and this one.
Sometimes democratic web goes wrong. Welcome to BAN DAY.
"Name or service not known" error on Webrick under JRuby
Working on a little tool for me in JRuby/Ruby I found a nasty message while trying to get up the Webrick HTTPServer:
[2009-03-26 22:53:56] INFO WEBrick 1.3.1
[2009-03-26 22:53:56] INFO ruby 1.8.6 (2009-03-16) [java]
[2009-03-26 22:53:56] WARN TCPServer Error: initialize: name or service not known
/home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:73:in `new': initialize: name or service not known (SocketError)
from /home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:73:in `create_listeners'
from /home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:70:in `each'
from /home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:70:in `create_listeners'
from /home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:75:in `listen'
from /home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:63:in `initialize'
from /home/dario/software/opt/jruby-1.2.0/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/httpserver.rb:24:in `initialize'
from src/main.rb:26
After googling for a while, I didn't find anything about how to solve it. So, I gave a try to MRI, which throw me this trace:
[2009-03-26 22:48:24] INFO WEBrick 1.3.1
[2009-03-26 22:48:24] INFO ruby 1.8.7 (2008-08-11) [i686-linux]
[2009-03-26 22:48:24] WARN TCPServer Error: Permission denied - bind(2)
[2009-03-26 22:48:24] WARN TCPServer Error: Permission denied - bind(2)
/usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:73:in `initialize': Permission denied - bind(2) (Errno::EACCES)
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:73:in `new'
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:73:in `create_listeners'
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:70:in `each'
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/utils.rb:70:in `create_listeners'
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:75:in `listen'
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/server.rb:63:in `initialize'
from /usr/lib/ruby/1.8/webrick/httpserver.rb:24:in `initialize'
from src/main.rb:26:in `new'
from src/main.rb:26
Ok, it wasn't that hard. I was trying to start up a server, which defaults to port 80, as non-privileged user under Linux.
Actually, it was a little headache but given the poor results found, I decided to report this to JRuby project as an improvement.
trustAnchors empty, trustStore not found
In the last days, at work, while deploying our Java servlet-based application we got the following exception's message:
java.lang.RuntimeException: Unexpected error: java.security.InvalidAlgorithmParameterException: the trustAnchors parameter must be non-empty
The full stacktrace doesn't matter, really. That was the root-cause of everything and we couldn't deploy anything. So, what is the meaning of this?
After doing some search, we did't find an absolute answer. They were all about "I did
Then, we checked everything in application's files and we found that our trustStore (with certificates), which path is defined in Java property "javax.net.ssl.trustStore", wasn't there! Just moved it where it belongs and it worked!
So, the meaning is: Those anchors are empty because I don't have a valid trustStore to load. Easy, right?
PhotoRec: tu próxima salvación
Hay ocasiones en que algún programa (llamémosle Microsoft Word 2003, para preservar su intimidad) en que hacen cosas extrañas, como borrar un fichero de una memoria flash sin motivo alguno.
Y así, luego llaman al vecino informático para que lo recupere.
En ese instante, tú, el vecino informático, te preguntas: ¿Cómo? Las sinapsis saltan y, en un rincón de tu cerebro, una neurona ávida de dar respuestas te recuerda una web: PhotoRec.
Sabes que no la has usado nunca, pero... de perdidos al río. Vas a la web y parece que lo puedes conseguir. Tras bajarlo y usarlo, recuperas el fichero perdido, siguiendo las instrucciones de la documentación.
Por increíble que parezca, PhotoRec es de uso sencillo: sólo debes saber seleccionar la opción correspondiente, guiado por el mismo asistente.
Conclusión: un vecino tranquilo porque no ha perdido horas de trabajo y tú, vecino informático, satisfecho de saber que dispones de una herramienta potente, multiplataforma y que cubre un gran número de sistemos de ficheros para esos casos, propios o ajenos, en los que necesitas recuperar un fichero.
Puntuación: 5 sobre 5.
nginx + php-fpm issue solved
While trying to setup nginx + php-fpm (PHP with Fastcgi Process Manager) following this post from Homo-Adminus Blog, I got a vexing error: "No input file specified".
After searching through my system logs (an Arch Linux box), I found the following message in /var/log/everything.log:
Oct 18 18:08:27 engel php-cgi: PHP Warning: Unknown: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/etc/nginx/html/hello.php) is not within the allowed path(s): (/home/:/tmp/:/usr/share/pear/) in Unknown on line 0
Once I changed the open_basedir in /etc/php/php.ini to the correct value, it worked flawlessly.
I hope this post can help to everybody who can find themselves in the same quest to get nginx+php-fpm setup to work.
Welcome international readers!
Just a quick note for my first internationals readers from USA: welcome to my blog (Google Analytics told me about you *wink*).
Byte Fo-ji is intended to collect ideas, projects, serendipities, etc. I started this with xnikt, my little refactoring XSD tool, and reviewing a nice cross-platform and cross-DB Java tool, SQuirreL SQL Client.
I hope you find useful some post and receive your feedback about everything.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"How Can Latin American 'Revolutionary' Leaders Support Gaddafi?"
Because they very much enjoy annoying the Americans.
"And how on Earth can Castro, seen by many as a voice of national liberation and social revolution, refuse his support to the overwhelming majority of Libyans in their battle for freedom?"
See the answer above.
I may be thuggishly reductionist here, but I think it really is that simple. If the scenario in that bloody awful film Armaggedon - Barrack Obama sending Bruce Willis to destroy an asteroid that threatens to wipe out all life on Earth - ever played out in reality, Hugo Chavez would probably cheer for the asteroid. He might even offer it a cut-price petrol deal into the bargain, because he's just that kind of guy.
It's worth recalling that the likes of Chavez or Ortega are, in large part, popular with so many of their people precisely because they devote so much of their time to coming up with new ways to annoy the Americans. Frankly, I'd expect a bit more out of my head of state, even though ours spends half of her time wringing pheasants' necks, eating swans and other such cruelties to anything feathered that has the misfortune to cross her path.
Nonetheless, if the modern Latin American strongman prefers to spend his time woofing at the United States rather than, say, hosting Soviet nukes or hurling his nation into murderous civil wars, I'd say that we're getting off pretty easy. After all, the more time Chavez spends boring his citizens to death on Venezuelan TV, the less time he has for poking Colombia's twitchy military with a stick.


text:
Stella McCartneyPosted by tb4
The adidas by Stella McCartney collection has had some new pieces added to it. I would never wear any of this stuff but I have always though it was a very well designed product for all the ladies out there. My fiance always saysStella McCartney's stuff is super cute but a bit out of her price range.


text:
Today is your 4th birthday. I can hardly believe the amazing little man you have blossomed into in 4 short years. You started pre-kindergarten a few weeks ago and today you will get on the bus to go to school for the very first time! Your excitement to ride the bus with your big brother is infectious!
Time goes way too fast, of course, so I want to make sure to capture all the little things about you that change and disappear so quickly!
You love to build things, create things, and take things apart. You brought me a toy the other day that had been broken for as long as I can remember. At some point it had lost a screw and you had found one (somewhere!) and used the screwdriver you got in your toolbox at Christmas to fix it. Daddy came in one day to find you taking the door latch off your bedroom door.
You truly are my sunshine. You are insanely adorable, charming, and a bit manipulative. You know exactly how to get your way and how to use your charms for good (AND evil!) :)
You LOVE to get dirty. You are always playing ball, digging in dirt, or getting wet any way you can.
You still pick fuzz from your blanket when you're tired.
You are so funny, silly and goofy and have such a fun-loving, crazy, fearless, monkey side.
You are a special little boy, Boo. I love your spirit and the sheer joy you radiate! I know we've had our fair share of power struggles this past third year of your life. I look forward to your 4th year to see how you grow, learn, and (*gulp) change even more. Remember that you will ALWAYS be my little boy. Your snuggles will never get old, your smile will never fail to make me warm inside and out, and you'll always be my favorite Alex! I love you to the ends of the earth!


text:
Ask Vicki: When should I quit a job?
In this answer on Quora, Monster career expert Vicki Salemi tells you the warning signs that should make you quit a job.
Each week, Monster's career expert Vicki Salemi—a former recruiter who utilizes 15-plus years of experience in recruiting and human resources to empower job seekers—answers user questions on Quora. We'll be republishing the answers here. If you have a question for Vicki, send it to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Q. When should I quit a job?
A. There's no right or wrong answer to this question. Some job seekers have told me they want to quit because they're just sick of their company, their commute, or their job. Simply stated, they needed a change of scenery. That's a valid reason.
Other people want to quit because they're underpaid, work for a toxic boss, have been passed over for a promotion, or don't feel surrounded by smart, ethical people. These are all valid reasons to quit a job.
Overall, when you're being treated poorly, start searching for a new job. Also, be on the lookout for signs that your company is not performing too well in the marketplace. Are budgets are on hold? Are there cutbacks? Are they nickel-and-diming everything, right down to not filling the printer with paper? Those are other signs that you should look for the nearest exit door.
Overall though, don't wait until you become miserable before you look for a new job. Otherwise, you'll likely get so fed up that you'll want to quit, and you'll take any job that comes along, whether or not it's the right one for you.
Keep your eyes open for new opportunities at all times. Set up job alerts on Monster so opportunities can land in your inbox, see what's out there, and know your worth.
Looking for more expert insights? Join Monster today. As a member, you'll get career advice and useful tips sent directly to your inbox to help you craft your resume, ace the interview, negotiate the offer, and much more.
Read Vicki Salemi's answer to "When should I quit a job?" on Quora.


text:
I just received my new stamp sets from Your Next Stamp. I just HAD to whip out those Window dies/stamps!!! I was cruisin around the blogs and stopped by my buddy Corinna's blog to get caught up on the challenges over at Ribbon Carousel Challenge Blog and saw Danielle L was the hostess and the challenge is a color challenge. Lollipop, Cotton Candy and Easter Grass. I had just been to Corinna's house and picked up some AWESOME paper and some paper from Bazzil and it just happened to be that Lollipop color. OMGOSH! I LOVE it! Anyway, I am entering my card into the challenge over there. Why don't you too?
Everday Eclectic/Twine Cotton Candy/
YNS and RCC62
4 comments:
Great card Kelli what a super sofa , fab idea too ! well done Hugs ElaineReplyDelete
EEK! Super FUN Kelli! I love it! I got that awesome paper from Corinna too! Wish I lived close enough to pick it cause I need some more!!! LOLReplyDelete
So cute!! Like your watermark, too.ReplyDelete
Super cute! LOVE the scene you created!!!ReplyDelete
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Do YOU Want McCain Answering That Phone at 3 AM?
--Major General Paul Eaton, a Clinton supporter
"I studied leadership for a long time during 32 years in the military. It is all about character. Who can motivate willing followers? Who has the vision? Who can inspire people? I have tremendous respect for John McCain, but I would not follow him."
--Major General Scott Gration, an Obama supporter
"One of the things the senior military would like to see when they go visit the president is a kind of consistency, a kind of reliability. [Obama is] not that up when he is up and not that down when he is down. He is kind of a steady Eddie. This is a very important feature. [On the other hand] McCain has got a reputation for being a little volatile."
--General Merrill McPeak, an Obama supporter
3 comments:
- Tom said...
Here's how I think Obama should respond to the Clinton ad and the idea of McCain being the most-able and -experienced guy on foreign policy.
Obama should make an TV commercial where they show sleeping children and a family at night. Only instead of having the red phone answered after six rings, like in the Clinton commercial, Barack answers it in the middle of the first ring and immediately, maturely makes things happen. In the voice-over, it tells us Obama will act vigorously, with the brightest and best appointed to Cabinet positions and other positions of high authority [as opposed to Bush], without anger [McCain] or psychodrama [Clinton]. Tagline: "Obama will make us safe."
- Nagarjuna said...
Tom, I think Obama ought to hire you as a political consultant and let you make that ad. Great idea!
- Tom said...
The cover of the March 10 Time magazine shows the back of Obama's head and asks "How much does experience matter?"
The answer is that experience doesn't matter much. If you're too experienced, you get rutted in your ways and your brain can become unalert. If you're totally inexperienced, you can get rattled -- so, obviously, that's not good. a job like president plays on a lot of experience you can have gathered. What's important for a job like president is to be plastic and nimble and to be willing to stretch yourself.
I think Obama would be an excellent president, but I guess it is true that he needs to understand some of the blunders that Bill Clinton made at the beginning of his presidency and avoid similar over-reaches.
Thanks, nagarjuna. I DO think my Obama commercial idea is a good one. If I get hired as a consultant, I'll send you your 10% commission.


text:
This year's Flourish Conference was held at the University of Illinois in downtown Chicago (UIC). The Flourish web site describes Flourish as:
The goal of the Flourish Conference is to promote the use and adoption of Free Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) by demonstrating the practical applications of FLOSS in the business and academic world. While everyone is familiar with businesses that focus on creating non-free proprietary software, the same cannot be said for those who specialize in developing and supporting FLOSS software, and an Open Culture.
I missed a part of Bruce Perens' Innovation Goes Public presentation due to Chicago's closing several sidewalks that go over or under the tristate. I'm not quite sure I agree with him that the road a head for open source is all rosey. Perhaps I misunderstood him but it seemed to me that the idea of simply giving the source of an application to the public would allow the programmers to still be paid via the support/service agreements. This may work for some applications, but for others there wouldn't be a sufficient number of support contracts to financially support the programmers Personally, I prefer open source but I will also pay for commercial proprietary software. I use what works.
The company I work for, Sungard Investment Systems, uses open source for many internal projects. One such product uses VMware and Linux for a portable monitoring system so I was highly interested in rBuilder Online from rPath. I attended the Appliance Development and Conary session presented by Stephanie Watson from rPath. I'm currently investigating on how well and easy it is to make a VMware appliance that would house a Sybase ASE server (DBMS) with no unnecessary os files. If the testing turns out well, I will ask my fellow Sybase ASE DBAs whether Sybase need certify it or whether we are 'on our own'. The monitoring machine itself really doesn't need Sybase ASE on it but since we have the license….
Dr. John Waclawsky, from Motorolla, gave a feel good presentation about the state of communication between wireless gadgets. The Revolution at the Edge of the Network Abstract. Short version: things are going to get very interesting in the next year 🙂
James Gray, from IBM, presented IBM's Open Source Strategy – Turning Threat into Opportunity. While essentially a case study of how IBM has interacted as a semi-liason between the business executives and the open source community. IBM, to me, has seemed to be stuck in a love/hate relationship with open source and a dislike/hate relationship with the Free Software Foundation. That being said, it is necessary to give IBM credit giving credence to the open source community with the business executives. The IT folks no longer had to quietly use open source in the business but were free to use it extensively in many places. Linux, in particular, is no longer the wild west in many CTOs' eyes but a integral part of their business.
I met Tony Wong in the Chicago Perl Mongers 'booth'. We discussed the upcoming Yet Another Perl Conference (YAPC::NA 2008) that is being held in Chicago and the horrible documentation of the Catalyst MVC web framework. I informed him that the only way to learn Catalyst was the new book Catalyst by Jonathan Rockway (ISBN: 978-1-847190-95-6). I also warned him that the book should have gone through another round of proofreading prior to being published due to excessive example code errors, etc. I playfully suggested that Joshua McAdams be tormented because he wasn't able to make it Friday morning.
The panel discussion on Friday afternoon was highly entertaining and a bit of a kangaroo court for Bobby Moore of Microsoft. I do not believe Mr. Moore was expecting Bruce Perens to repeatedly ask very pointed and informed questions. Moore did an excellent job of remaining cool and listening with an open mind to the criticism of Microsoft as a company. He explained that, yes, Microsoft did some not so nice things in the past but they are attempting to work with the open source community. Bruce Perens, Jon "Maddog" Hall, and James Bottomley brought up the pending MS Office OpenXML standard format issue where much of the format is proprietary and the published format won't actually be used by Microsoft. Moore conceded that it was unlikely that Microsoft would use the published format as-is but the Office developers would likely base the actually used format off of the published format. Perens, Hall, Bottomley and James Gray all expressed their opinions that this was very typical of Microsoft. (side note: Microsoft has been accused of having the attitude of Embrace, Extend, Eliminate when it comes to industry standards.)
Perens, Hall and James Bottomley, as well as members of the audience, pummeled both James Gray of IBM and Bobby Moore of Microsoft for their companies' approach and support of software patents.
Unfortunately, I was only able to attend the first day as my mother was in town from North Dakota to visit my three month old daughter (and the rest of us). If only I could have cloned myself… Don't forget to check out the Flickr photo group for the Flourish 2008 Conference in Chicago!


text:
- Browse by category
I have a 5x8 desktop letterpress marked Leach Printing Supply CO Los Angles. This is the same body style as and Kelsey Excelsior, but the scale is off and doesn't have the Kelsey makers mark under the handle. As far as I can tell it's a Kelsey bootleg. It maybe a display or promo model. Has a good pair (only used a couple times) of rollers, but the case is missing. Would like $2000 or best offer. Would have to arrange to pick up or shipping.


text:
Bahraini Al-Khawaja's health deteriorates one week after open hunger strike
SHAFAQNA – The health status of detained Bahraini rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja deteriorated one week after he launched an open hunger strike, reports said.
Al-Khawaja's daughter, Maryam al-Khawaja posted on her twitter account that her dad is suffering lower back pain because of his kidney. She also noted that he is suffering cramps in his muscles, while his tests showed low blood pressure as his weight dropped excessively to only 56 kg.
Maryam al-Khawaja said in her twitter post "Since the beginning of his hunger strike, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja has been allowed to see doctors without shackles".
She also noted that he refused to be transferred to the military hospital, for fear of being forcibly fed, like what happened during his 2012 hunger strike.


text:
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
1. George Stroumboulopoulos is single and has two cats.
2. The Kyoto Protocol comes into effect tomorrow.
What do these two things have to do with each other? Well, David Suzuki will be on Strombo's show tonight to talk about Kyoto. And maybe talk about me, and about how George is single, and how I'm single, and how we both love cats and Adidas sneakers, and stuff?
I told David about my not-so-secret crush on Strombo.
"But I thought you liked Simon Whitfield?" he asked.
"No, no. He's engaged," I told him. "George is so smart and cute. He's 32, he has two cats and he's single. So can you say hi to him for me tonight?"
"Is he a friend of yours?" asked David.
"No. I've never met him," I said.
"Okay. I'll tell him Sarah sends her deepest affections."
Awesome! I've got David Suzuki pimping me to George Stroumboulopoulos. Although I suspect he's just humouring me, I'll be watching the show closely, just in case.
Strombo's biggest fans: Sarah, Jane, Hilary and Claire Marchildon (absent from photograph is Anne Marchildon, who does not own a TV and subsequently is not a Strombo fan).
21 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Hey Sarah,
I was flipping channels and am watching David Suzuki on The Hour, so naturally I thought that you must have set this up and clicked over to your blog to see if you had anything to say about your latest scheme.
It's ingenious.
Step 1. Get David Suzuki to sing your praises.
Step 2. ???
Step 3. Live happily ever after.
Good luck! -K
- February 15, 2005 5:21 PM
- Sarah said...
Well, my little plan backfired. David "forgot" to give George my regards off-camera.
Too bad I'm not more clever because if I was, I would have done what Bill D. suggested -- have David go on the show wearing a t-shirt with a picture of me on it!
Next time....
- February 16, 2005 9:22 AM
- thestraightpoop said...
Argh! Sarah, I swear I would have never forgotten such a thing...I actually sing your praises to any single, eligible man who passes my various tests. A few have now, but unfortunately it ends there because it seems men are just shy!!
I have to say when I was single I found friends to be my greatest resource, or my biggest frustration. They always say they will say something and either forget or don't do it. It is the odd one who actually follows through on matchmaking.
I am disappointed that the Doc forgot!!
- February 16, 2005 9:59 AM
- Sarah said...
Ha! He didn't really forget. That's why I put quotation marks around the word "forgot." He was just humouring me.
What was he going to say? "Hey George, there's this girl that works for me. She says hi and, like, thinks you're hot."
As if!
Sarah "much more grounded in reality than she lets on" Marchildon
- February 16, 2005 10:23 AM
- Kathryn said...
Am embarassed to say exactly how I stumbled across your blog. Suffice it to say that it correlates directly with yesterday's post. Have since read a few (okay, more than a few) of your entries and think they are fab. As is, obviously, your taste in crushes. The boys at my office are giving me a super hard time about it, but who cares, really. As for having the good doctor pimp for you, why not? The fact that one of the boys I work with's sister-in-law knows Mr. Stroumboulopoulos from his previous employemnt definitely has potential in that regard.
(like you, am actually quite grounded in reality, but sometimes feel the need to escape)
- February 16, 2005 12:04 PM
- Sarah said...
Hi KC,
Welcome to the "I have a crush on George" club! I guess we'll have to line up behind the 500,000 other Canadian 30-something women who like him too!
Sarah "depressed now" Marchildon
- February 16, 2005 1:36 PM
- misschief said...
we should make t-shirts
i heart george ( with like studs and saftey pins around it)
too much time on my hands......
- February 16, 2005 3:48 PM
- Sarah said...
I don't know if I should admit this, but I would actually buy a t-shirt like that.
Best suggestion so far comes from Bill D. who says next time Suzuki is on George's show, I should get Suzuki to wear a t-shirt with a picture of me cuddling a kitten.
- February 17, 2005 10:01 AM
- Kathryn said...
Would it make you feel any better if I said that I would too?? :=)
- February 17, 2005 10:48 AM
- Anonymous said...
woah! i was just checking out your cool blog and noticed that gorgeous girl in the pink scarf!!!! who is that? tell me about her? she looks pretty cute (wink, wink)and sarah, i imagine if she's anything like you she's got to be pretty cool and have a hot bod! spill the beans!
- February 17, 2005 11:04 AM
- Sarah said...
Hi "anonymous,"
The person sitting beside me wearing the pink scarf is my sister Jane (doesn't anyone read the caption below the photo).
And I'm pretty sure the person who wrote the above comment is also Jane Marchildon.
Jane...I think it's pretty sad that you're posing as an anonymous person and writing about yourself like that. Pretty transparent.
- February 17, 2005 11:50 AM
- Anonymous said...
ok i'm sorry. but you told me to post a comment! i thought it was funny, did anyone else? i'll stop posting...
- February 17, 2005 6:51 PM
- Anonymous said...
Hi Sarah,
I read your blog about George. I don't know if this will be good news or bad news....I've seen the dude in person -- he's like 5'2, honestly. Now, nothing wrong with that but it does kind of shock you. He's still super smart and hot, but thought you should have all available information.
- February 18, 2005 6:41 PM
- Sarah said...
Geez...he's 5'2" really? That could be a problem since I'm about six inches taller than him, without heels. I generally like tall guys, but for him I'd make an exception :)
- February 19, 2005 3:40 PM
- Anonymous said...
Not just 30 somethings with a crush on George. There are some of us who just turned 40 that think he'd make a nice accessory. And I'm shorter than he is
- March 02, 2005 1:06 PM
- Anonymous said...
After, recently, developing my own crush on G.S, tonight I was doing a Web search to learn more about him. After following one link and then another, I first came across your blog entry. But then I came across a recent Globe and Mail (March 12th) article about him.
Quoting the article:
"It helps if we like the guide with whom we're hitching a ride through the universe, and Stoumboulopoulos is completely lovable. (His long-time girlfriend, by the way, is Jasmine Tuffaha, a 27-year-old television producer for the main CBC network.) His eyes are great pools of feeling, and he reaches out to touch me so often that I decide to leave my arms folded on the table between us, just to make it easier for him."
This sucks, doesn't it!
- March 19, 2005 4:17 PM
- Anonymous said...
no wonder he's so arrogant
short guys try too hard
- March 24, 2005 2:57 PM
- Anonymous said...
lomg-time girlfriend?..... uh. i...*runs away and cries*
- April 02, 2005 3:36 PM
- mandy said...
hahaha..i'm wth the person above me.
- April 02, 2005 3:38 PM
- CanadaGirl said...
Hey ... us 20 somethings have a thing for him too. At least, I do. And I'm 24.
- April 03, 2005 12:35 PM
- Anonymous said...
Hi there,
Big nig fan of George's, and I have to say he is NOT 5'2"!! I met him, stood very close to him, breathed in and out..... anyways, he is taller than me. I am 5' 5.5" and he is a couple inches taller than me for sure. mmmmmm and he is very sweet, friendly and smart in person.
- April 11, 2005 9:33 PM


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My friend Mandy told me about an organization in Cincinnati called Bake Me Home. "Bake Me Home was established in 2008 by then 7-year-old twin sisters, Amy and Emma Bushman, with help from their mom Alison...(they) perfected their original Bake Me Home Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe for their (mason) jar, and added all the necessary baking supplies (bowl, pan, spoon, spatula, pot holder), including a Kroger gift card for butter and eggs (and a few other grocery items) to a tote bag for families in need...(they) serve people from 15 agencies (shelters, food pantries, and ProKids) in Hamilton, Clermont, Butler and Warren counties, and troops serving overseas. In addition to the primary Tote Bag Program, Bake Me Home offers a Family Portrait Program, Bake Me BACK Home Program, and Bake It Forward Program." Check out their website. The 8-year-olds in our troop were inspired to see how these young ladies are serving others. They are doing awesome work in our community!
When the majority of our girls selected the option to "pack meals for hungry people" on our planning worksheet, we decided to schedule a session with Bake Me Home. The girls were asked to bring a bag of Nestle Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips to donate to the organization. We were scheduled to volunteer for an hour on a weekday after school. Upon our arrival, they welcomed us with a plate of their Bake Me Home Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The girls were given name tags, and the rules were explained. Emma, Amy, and Alison also told us their story and gave us a tour of their new building. We pulled back our hair, and we were ready to start. We were asked to wash our hands, scrubbing for 20 seconds under warm water. Then we applied hand sanitizer to ensure our cleanliness before working with the ingredients.
The girls made their way through the line, adding each ingredient to the mason jar with a scoop and a funnel. Bake Me Home asks that three adults accompany groups with elementary-aged children. Extra hands are helpful!
Once we had packed and added Bake Me Home labels to 36 jars, it was time to clean up. Emma helped assign each girl a job. They vacuumed the volunteer workroom, swept the lobby, boardroom, and kitchen floors, wiped counters and baseboards, and dried dishes. We could have stayed much longer.
We ordered the cutest "Got Cookies?" fun patch for this event from our Girl Scout Council Shop. I imagine our troop and their families will continue to support this wonderful organization. They are really "changing the world, one cookie at a time."
I would like to close with one final note. We have started working on the Celebrating Community badge. To fulfill the first step, we chose to go on a flag hunt. During our 20 minute drive to the Bake Me Home building, the girls watched for different flags we passed along the way. The girls in my car spotted 58 flags. The girls in our co-leader's car counted 136 flags! They saw a cemetery that the girls in my car happened to miss. It was a fun challenge that fostered some friendly competition while allowing the girls to work together. Thank you for reading!


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This card fits the Dutch Dare card challenge, we have been asked to use embellishments we have made ourselves, I was playing around with shapes and made these faces, what I call a 'fun' card, especially using up scraps of card. The text was computer generated.
Friday, 18 December 2009
Fun card
Posted by Jose at 15:16 10 comments: Links to this post
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Gold Fantasy Tree
Penny Black challenge this week is asking for a Red and Gold card... so out came my Fantasy Tree again, I embossed it with gold, mounted it on gold card, put 4 red brads in the corners then attached it to my red base card. My sentitment was computer generated and again backed with gold card, the side of my card I embossed with my swiss dot embossing folder and to finish it I cut out gold stars from the gold card and attached them on top of the swiss dots.
Stamp Something challenge is asking for something that reminds you of winter, well the bare tree surely does that.
Posted by Jose at 18:27 10 comments: Links to this post
Labels: Challenge, Christmas, Creative Memories, cuttlebug, Embossing, Font, Penny Black, punch
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• Augustine predicts criticism from three sources: those who cannot comprehend, those who refuse or are unable to apply it, and those who believe it is not needed.
• Augustine devotes the rest of the Preface to refuting those who believe his teaching is not needed.
• Augustine supports his arguments with evidence from Scripture where humans taught humans.
• According to Augustine, those who believe his teaching is not needed do not believe rules are needed to interpret Scripture, but claim God communicates through "special gifts."
• Augustine points out Scripture teaches God uses angels to teach and guide men through human communities.
• Communities are the source of Christian love, according to Augustine.
• Augustine asks, "If Bible can be understood through divine gift, why do they teach?"
Book One
• "On Christian Doctrine" by Augustine, first teaches what should be learned from Scripture, then teaches how to convey what has been learned...
This section contains 1,697 words
(approx. 6 pages at 300 words per page)


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This is Jon Payne's Typepad Profile.
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On Business Be bold and take chances. Boldness will never replace skills, but boldness and skills can help create opportunity. Don't take unnecessary risks, but do step outside your comfort zone. The old adage is true "Nothing ventured; nothing gained". It can pay to be first, so always look for the shot to be first. Learn your subject matter better than anyone else. Don't just learn it, but practice and polish your delivery. There is a difference between arrogance and confidence. Weaker men may not be able to tell the difference; ensure you do. My clients are all adults and like to be treated as adults and with respect. You choose your clients; you have to know what direction you want to go and who you want as a client. My career in the United States Air Force was the same as many others; the difference was in my approach and application. USAF Service I entered the USAF in 1988 as a Security Policeman/Security Specialist. I was trained in Industrial Security, Air Base Ground Defense, and Anti-Terrorism. I qualified with... Continue reading
Posted Nov 11, 2015 at GABE SUAREZ BLOG
-Suarez International Tier 1 Staff Instructor Jon Payne We often are so comfortable with the past that we can stagnate and fail to see progress or recognize what the future can be? With technology changing so fast, can you really afford not to be on the cutting edge? Let's talk about the AK for a moment. We've all seen the Chicom Poster "Keep That Crap off My AK!" How long did it take us to get past that? First we added folders because it just made sense to make the rifle easier to store and carry. The next move was to add a flash suppressor because we wanted to dampen the fireball coming from the AK's muzzle and a compensator just isn't needed on a semi-automatic rifle. It wasn't long until we began mounting Aimpoint Micro's on our AK's using the Ultimak Rail. If you add a flashlight to the package you have a real squared away CQB rifle. Up until a short time ago an AK set up in this fashion was the apex of the Kalashnikov Fighting Rifle.... Continue reading
Posted Aug 29, 2011 at GABE SUAREZ BLOG
- Suarez International Staff Instructor Jon Payne I have been asked many times, "What classes should I take next"? If you're reading this there is a good chance you've gone through all the steps to acquire a handgun, obtained your CHL (if needed), bought quality concealment gear, and you're ready to take a basic course such as Defensive Pistol Skills (DPS). DPS is where it all begins. DPS introduces you to the fundamentals of marksmanship, basic weapon manipulation/gun handling skills, and immediate action. DPS also cultivates the Fighting Spirit or Warrior Mindset. By completing DPS you now have the same skills that are taught to police cadets and members of the military that are issued a sidearm. You should have confidence in your sidearm and your abilities to keep it in the fight. DPS is what I call a very good start. With a solid foothold with your fundamentals you're ready to start learning. So what's next? Close Range Gunfighting (CRG) is Suarez International's flagship course and an intermediate class. In order to attend this class you have to know... Continue reading
Posted May 17, 2011 at GABE SUAREZ BLOG
-Suarez International Staff Instructor Jon Payne So I ask myself, "Where did all this begin?" How does one become a gunfighter? First and foremost one has to recognize the need for self-preservation. There are people that will never willingly cause harm to another living creature. I can deal with that and even accept it as long as they don't portray themselves to be something they're not. Don't come at me with the judgmental moral high ground B.S., back in the days of caves and big sticks you would be mine. Want a glimpse of that cave man behavior? Look no further than the prison system. If you can't fight and protect what's yours, your possessions and your dignity will be taken unless you have something to offer of value to someone who can protect you. If you're reading this you've probably made the decision that you are willing to fight for what is yours. The way I see it, if it's not worth fighting for is it really worth having? Coming to the realization that only you are responsible for... Continue reading
Posted Feb 15, 2011 at GABE SUAREZ BLOG
The Realities of an Attack By Cliff Wiese and Jon Payne We have control of few variables in a real-life attack. Actual violence can happen to you anytime and anywhere…obviously, being in bad places at bad times increases the likelihood of an assault. How do we avoid attacks in bad places at bad times? Just don't go there. If only we could control all the variables of a real-life attack that easy. How many things about an attack do you control? Very few. When, where, time of day, gun, knife, the number of adversaries, the list goes on and on, all items that are out of our control and unknown. Does this make us helpless? Of course not, warriors fight through the unknowns, bringing overwhelming violence when the bad guy or guys decide to pay you a visit. How can we prepare to the best of our ability to win a confrontation? Mindset is an important aspect that we control. You must be ready to do whatever is necessary to win the fight. When fighting for your life there are... Continue reading
Posted Feb 3, 2011 at GABE SUAREZ BLOG
-Suarez International Staff Instructor Jon Payne I have seen the problem before; they will try and twist themselves into a pretzel trying to shoot anything you put in their hands. What I am seeing is "Cross-Dominance". People are either right-handed or left-handed with the majority being right-handed. Those who are right-handed are usually right-eyed. Those who are left-handed are usually left-eyed. I left the idea of being normal behind years ago and the law of averages never seems to work in my favor. I am "Cross-Eye Dominant". As a youngster I was not comfortable with a rifle and couldn't break glass in a phone booth with a shotgun. I took to the pistol very quickly, but it was years before I understood why. My father was a car salesman and my mother a surgical nurse. I was raised in a non-shooting home. Dad had a small revolver he kept for home protection, but I never saw him shoot it. My Papaw told me stories about hunting and growing up during the Great Depression but was too old to take me... Continue reading
Posted Jan 6, 2011 at GABE SUAREZ BLOG


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Deluxe Jedi RobeProduct # RU56089
Product Includes
- Hooded Robe
Purchase Product
Product Measurements
Product Description
Get a quality, officially licensed Star Wars costume accessory to match with one of our Star Wars Halloween costumes. The Star Wars accessory is brown polyester and features large over-sized sleeves as well as a hood. Don this robe as you slice through Sith Lords this Halloween, and add a Jedi lightsaber for extra authenticity!
- Deluxe Adult Jedi Robe
- 100% polyester
- Loose-knit nubby fabric
- Oversized hood, flared sleeves
- Officially licensed
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- EP2 Padme Amidala Costume
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- Anakin Skywalker Deluxe Kids Costume
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GILBERT, Ariz. -- Investigators are trying to determine what sparked an early morning fire at a Gilbert home Friday.
A neighbor called to report a fire at a home near Elliot and Cooper roads shortly before 6 a.m.
The homeowners were not there when the fire started, but crews did not know that right away.
"When our first crew got here, we didn't have anybody out front," Gilbert Fire Capt. Mike Conner said. "Normally we get here, we like to have somebody out front -- a homeowner that says, 'Hey, no one is inside.' We didn't have that. All the doors were closed up. We had heavy fire coming from the front of the building. Crews entered the house under the assumption that somebody was inside."
Once inside, crews were able to determine that nobody was home.
While firefighters were able to knock down the flames within about 30 minutes, it was no easy task.
"The home was in disrepair on the inside," Conner said, explaining that there also was quite a bit of stuff in the garage and backyard. He didn't call this a hoarding situation, but said the amount of debris complicated things for his crews.
"We were slow-moving, had some dangerous conditions on the inside," he continued.
While flames gutted the home, firefighters kept them from spreading to neighboring houses.
No injuries were reported, but two dogs are missing.
Firefighters are working with the police department to track down and contact the homeowner.
The fire is under investigation.


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How to Get Light into Your Layout or Lighten up a Paper
How to Get Light into Your Layout
Technique Used - for Designers and Scrappers: Selection, Gradient Fill, Wave and Blending
By Papierstudio Silke
Gradient Overlay
1. - Open any paper 3600x3600- 300 dpi
2. - create a new layer
3. - set foreground color to a light gray like this here #e9ebee
4. - set the background color to a dark gray like here: #949494
5. - pick the round selection tool and set the feather to 250
6. - create a big circle in the new layer with the selection tool
7. - set the fill tool to gradient and choose the round option
8. - fill the selection with the gradient (center your mouse and drag diagonally to the lower edge)
9. - Deselect
I find that this is too regular for a lightning gradient overlay, so let's make it a little bit irregular:
10. - go to filter > wave this gradient in order to distort a little bit this round area.
Filter > Distort > Wave (click the image below to enlarge)
Type - Sine is marked.
Number of generations: 1
Wavelenght: 556 - 561
Amplitude 94 - 318
Scale 100%
- Repeat Edge Pixels is marked
Enlarge this layer:
11. Now set this layer to a bigger size: 140% - select the layer, hit ctrl + T and set Width and High to 140% (or something like this - play with this setting)
Layer Blending:
12. set this layer to OVERLAY and change the opacity slider to about 63%
Ready ! see here below the before and after:
Thank you for visiting my blog and please, remember, I love comments!!
Happy Scrapping


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Friday, 10 April 2015
Another Tawny Pinion last night, this time at Thrupp Lake. Fairly chilly night and very low moth numbers but also had a Dotted Chestnut and what might well be the earliest Bright-line Brown-eye I've ever caught. Trap left overnight in BBOWT's Sutton Courtenay Environmental Education Centre (SCEEC) had 4 Powdered Quaker, Herald and a Pale Pinion amongst a small number of the usual suspects. Garden still quiet though was nice to find a Buttoned Snout in the outhouse and a Twenty-plume Moth was new for year. Marc Botham, Didcot
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Tuesday night was revolutionary: I didn't have anything planned, and I went to Starbucks with my AAMI book and did homework for over two hours. I got so much work done, I'm almost ready to start on 5A and 6A, which are large, time-intensive assignments.
Doing homework without distraction -- except for the occasional Starbucks employee asking me what I was studying -- was amazing. I didn't have to sit down in front of the computer and worry what the hell Sydney was getting into (right now, I am hearing rumors that she may have spilled an entire box of Goldfish crackers in the bathroom), or break up fights between the boys (even when Dustin is home, they still default to me), or look around the room and wonder what to do about the clutter. I just worked. I loved it. I felt so accomplished by the time I left. I definitely want to get out of the house to study at least twice a week. The problem is finding two night I can do it.
My family is over-scheduled, and I hate it. Monday nights are Cub Scouts (Dustin and boys), Tuesdays are therapy (me) and CSA (Dustin and kids), Wednesdays are puppy school (me), Thursdays I'm teaching CBE (just for this month; then not again for a few months), Friday is Nerd Night (Dustin), and Sunday -- allegedly -- Emily and I go out, although it's been about a month (Emily, call me!) On top of this, the boys have baseball practice two nights a week, and games once a week! Also, I meet with the occasional doula client during the week.
I want to make changes. Baseball and my teaching and the CSA ends in two weeks, thank goodness. I'm happy for the boys and Dustin to do cub scouts because that's only one night per week. As for me, I want to continue puppy school because I love it, and of course my apprenticeship and midwifery school, but the rest - HASTA LA VISTA. Well, except for therapy, but I can probably cut that down to twice a month -- if I cut my schedule, we'll definitely have less to talk about!
What I love about being a doula is helping women have good birth experiences, and that is increasingly more and more difficult in a hospital setting. Yes, a woman can have a good hospital experience, but it's rare, and it involves a lot of fighting, which defeats the purpose. I don't want to stop being a doula, but I do want to be more selective. It's not worth my time away from my family unless the woman is willing to help herself; I can only provide support and advocacy. I'd rather just provide support in a better environment.
I enjoy teaching, and I'm a certified childbirth educator, but I do not feel as passionate about teaching as I do about my apprenticeship or midwifery school. I can teach, I can probably teach well, but it's not really where my heart is, and I'd certainly rather be attending a prenatal or studying than teaching.
So I'm glad that will be over at the end of the month, and in the future I may defer back to Leigh. She taught as part of her curriculum, but I already am a CBE, and I have so many other things on my plate, teaching seems like it's just another thing on my to-do list.
Off to do errands.


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RUTLAND - Bob Young, who as president led Central Vermont Public Service through a cultural, service and environmental transformation, today announced his planned retirement. Young will stay on as chairman, president and chief executive officer until May 2011 to allow for an orderly search and transition.
"Bob turned CV into a lean, progressive and caring company that placed customer service, reliability, the environment and corporate citizenship as its cornerstones," said Lead Director Bill Sayre. "Through his leadership, CV became one of the most respected and professional utilities in the U.S., and has provided a solid value for shareholders and customers alike."
Sayre said Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading executive search firm, will assist CVPS with an internal and national search for Young's successor. CVPS's ongoing succession planning should ensure a smooth process, Sayre said. CV announced Young's plans now so the company could begin the search.
"We have detailed succession plans for our key positions, so we expect an orderly transition," Sayre said. "Bob's successor will be named around the end of the year and will work alongside Bob until his retirement at the 2011 annual meeting in May."
Young became president at a difficult time, on Dec. 31, 1995. CVPS faced a national push toward utility restructuring; rate pressures weighed heavily; employee numbers were high and morale was low; CVPS was often perceived as out of touch with Vermont values; and regulatory conflicts were common.
Young led an environmental renaissance and encouraged employees to reduce environmental impacts and improve wildlife habitat.
Young reinvigorated CVPS's civic commitments as well. CV doubled shareholders' annual donations to CVPS Shareheat; developed five company-organized annual community events including food drives, a coat drive and the Gift-of-Life Marathon Blood Drive; provided major funding and employee expertise to restore the Paramount Theatre; and tied corporate giving to employee volunteerism to support employees' efforts.
Young, who will turn 64 shortly after his retirement, said his decision was made with his wife, Vicky, after months of discussion. "The CV board has been extremely supportive," Young said. "Vicky and I simply feel the time is right - 15 years at the helm is long enough. We want to make our children and grandchildren our focal points, and devote a little more of our energy to some of our other interests, including the arts and community service. I also expect to keep my hand in the energy utility industry."
Young joined CVPS as vice president of finance and administration in 1987. He was promoted to senior vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer in 1988; executive vice president and chief operating officer in 1993; and president and CEO in December 1995. He has served as chairman of the board since 2009.
Young began his career at Bechtel Power Corp in 1970. He later worked for Bay State Gas Co., Arlington Exploration Company and Arthur D. Little Inc. before joining CVPS.


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Microsoft recently published a video of their upcoming Longhorn virtualization. Interestingly, they demonstrate a feature that they claim no competitor can match, namely an 8-core virtual machine. I'm really curious to see the final product. Being in the field, I know exactly what kind of problem virtual machines run into with scalability.
A key problem is relatively simple to explain, and having explained it to many HP customers, I see no reason not to talk about it on this blog. When you schedule more than one virtual CPU, there are essentially two ways of doing it.
- You can use something called gang scheduling. In that case, all virtual CPUs run at the same time. One major benefit is that if a virtual CPU is waiting for a lock, the virtual CPU that holds the lock is also running. So there is no major increase in lock contention, a key factor in scalability. The major drawback is that if you have an 8-way virtual machine with 1 CPU busy, it actually consumes 8 CPUs. That is not very good use of the CPUs.
- An alternative is to schedule each virtual CPU individually. This is much more difficult to get right, in particular because of the lock contention issue outlined above. On the other hand, the benefit in terms of CPU utilization for virtual machines that use only some of their virtual CPUs are enormous.
So here is a test I'm interested in running on Longhorn virtualization when it becomes available: if I have two 4-way virtual machines on an 4-way hardware, and if I start one "spinner" process in each that counts as fast as possible, do I see:
- 4 processors pegged at 100%, with the two spinners running at half their nominal rate, since they each get essentially 50% of one CPU? As far as I know, this is the behavior for VMware, and it's characteristic of gang scheduling.
- 2 processors pegged at 100% and 2 processors sitting mostly idle, with each spinner getting 100% of a CPU? This is the behavior of Integrity Virtual Machines.
The bottom line is: there is a serious trade off between scalability and efficient use of resources. If Microsoft managed to solve that problem, kudos to them.


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Saturday, March 06, 2010
Embrace Life - always wear your seat belt
Wear ur seat belt ..... go home safe to ur family ......
5 comments:
- Genki Dama said...
Oh! very touchy! The looks on that little daughter face when her dad was endangered made me feel sad!
But very creative indeed!
- March 6, 2010 at 2:27 PM
- LUNAR. said...
I Always Do , Seat Belt Saved Me From Death Once (After Allah's Mercy And Care) , And After That Accident , I Even Appreciated It More And More.
- March 6, 2010 at 2:49 PM
- SimSim said...
I KNOW !! u feel they work so hard on their face expressions so it seems sooo true, impressive and so touchy !!
I loved when he crashed .... creative and so real !
- March 6, 2010 at 2:50 PM
- SimSim said...
LUNAR: Al7amdolellah !! I hope u never face the same thing again !
for me I've never drove a car without the seat belt .... it's like a fundamental thing ! and sometimes when i forget I keep wondering what is missing ? I pull over and wear it
I just hope every body thinks the same and know how it's a life saving !
- March 6, 2010 at 3:00 PM
- KJ said...
It brought me to tears, beautiful
- March 7, 2010 at 6:53 AM


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Pastor Peter Doseck
My story is similar to the testimonies of so many Christians. I tried to live without God in my early years, but I failed at every turn. It was in the midst of a great struggle where confusion, a failing marriage, and feelings of inadequacy overwhelmed me, that I finally gave my life to Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.
On a Sunday morning when all hope seemed lost, I knelt before the closet door in my bedroom, and I said these words, "I don't know much, Jesus, but I know I need You to forgive me of all my sins, and I need You to come into my life."
At that moment, I felt nothing; no relief, no goose bumps, no sorrow or joy, but without hesitation I said, "Jesus, I believe You heard me. I'm going to get up from here and go tell everyone I'm saved, so You might as well treat me like I am." I stood to my feet, and I went away believing. From that moment on Jesus has been true to me, and I praise Him for it.
In 1981, I felt the call of God on my life, and after prayerful consideration I left my job to enter the ministry. I believed God had called me to be a pastor and a teacher, and I began to prepare for the journey that lay ahead.
By March of 1982, we held our first church service in the living room of our small ranch home in Botkins. One person came that day, and Only Believe Ministries Christian Center was born. Over the years, God has challenged us to grow, expand, and increase our faith.
God has given me a call to not only teach and train our congregation in the Word, but to send them into their neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities to preach the gospel. I am also compelled to travel to the nations of the world, preaching the simple gospel, and watching God confirm His Word with signs following. My one unchanging desire is to see Jesus Christ glorified in everything I do. This desire will never leave me, and I know that He will never forsake me.
God Bless You!
Pastor Phyllis Doseck
I grew up the daughter of a part-time evangelist, and my father made sure we were in church every time the doors were open. Unfortunately, the church I grew up in had very strict rules about outward things rather than issues of the heart, so I eventually rebelled against the beliefs and rules of my church and my father, and I turned awayfrom God.
Soon after marrying Peter in 1971 our marriage began to fail because neither of us was saved. I tried to return to God, but my mistaken ideas about who He was and how He looked at me made it difficult to reconnect.
I went to work at a local factory, and a Christian co-worker began to witness to me. She told me that God looked on the heart, not on the outward appearance, and I began to see how the fruit of her life was so different than my own. I knew she believed that God really loved her, and my heart began to soften, in hopes that maybe He could love me, too.
I heard a news report one day that said Israel and Egypt had signed a peace treaty. I immediately heard the words of an old evangelist in my head. He said, "When they say, 'peace and safety', then sudden destruction shall come upon them."
I wasn't sure where to find the verse he had quoted in the Bible, but I was instantly consumed with fear, and I thought the end of the world was upon us. I rushed into the bathroom, shut the door, and begged Jesus to forgive me and save me. I laugh now when I think about it because I literally knelt down by "the throne" and got saved!
Peter and I share in the pastoral responsibilities at our church, and I am so blessed to worship with wonderful people each and every service. God has been good to us, and I am ever pursuing His will in my life.
Be Blessed!
Our family includes our daughter Nicole Waters, her husband Randy, and our three grandchildren Alexis, Lincoln, and Quinten. They are our legacy, and they are all actively involved in our church. We love them dearly!


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Genizah Update #30
Audiobook Available!
August 12, 2011
Hello Everybody,
It's been many months since my last Genizah missive, but I did want to let you know that…
…The audio version of my book, Sacred Treasure: The Cairo Genizah is now available for download – 8 hours and 21 minutes of sheer Genizah joy!
You can purchase it from Amazon, Audible.com, and soon (I am told), iTunes as well. Here are the links:
• http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Treasure-Discoveries-Forgotten-Synagogue/dp/B005GYVLFI/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1313174431&sr=8-5
• http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B005GQTHT8&qid=1313174507&sr=1-1
As of now, it's most affordable on Amazon, but I think there might be a way to get it for free if you get a 30-day trial with Audible.com.
I'll add that I had a lot of fun making the recording. For three days over the course of two weeks, I drove to Snohomish WA and sat in before a microphone in Chris Hanzsek's sound studio to read the book. Then, Chris got to work and made the recording shine.
(For someone who talks like I do, getting sound-edited is a real treat. I went to years and years of speech therapy when I was younger, but in the end, it turns out that all I needed was Chris – he made me perfectly fluent!)
Speaking Engagements
Even though the book has been out for some time now, I am still actively working to promote it. In November alone I am currently booked for appearances in San Diego, Houston, Minneapolis, and St. Paul. If you know of a group that would be interested in having me speak, please feel free to put us in contact with one another.
Barnes & Noble
Finally, just this minute I received word that Barnes & Noble just purchased a couple hundred copies of my book for sales around the country. They should be on the shelves by next month, making the "dead-trees" version more readily available to interested readers everywhere (or everywhere where there's a B&N that carries it, at least.
Thanks as always for your ongoing support, and best wishes for a terrific end-of-summer.
Rabbi Mark Glickman
Friday, August 12, 2011
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