text:
There was a certain type of madness to the Manhattan Project, America's race to create the atomic bomb before Germany and Japan did during World War II.
Much of the massive undertaking — at a cost of $2 billion (some $26 billion in today's terms) — was centered in an ultrasecret windswept outpost in Los Alamos, N.M.
Neither then-Vice President Harry Truman nor Congress knew of its existence. Yet geniuses by the truckload were being shipped into the facility, being built from the ground up, in the attempt to split the atom and make the most devastating weapon that mankind would ever use.
This hotbed of brilliance and intrigue is the setting for WGN America's new 13-part drama "Manhattan." Judging by the first two episodes, the fictional series has the potential to be fairly explosive itself.
We first find Charlie Isaacs (Ashley Zukerman), one of the young scientists recruited for the project, and his wife, Abby (Rachel Brosnahan) lost in the high desert looking for Los Alamos.
It is 1943, and Charlie doesn't know what he will be working on, only that it will be something important. When he finally does learn about the "gadget," he can't even tell his wife about it. In effect, they become high-security prisoners, albeit with privileges but always under suspicion for what they know or might know.
(Security rightfully bordered on the paranoid. While the Germans and the Japanese never penetrated the secret, a British scientist eventually gave information to the Soviet Union.)
Many of those at Los Alamos were in their 20s and 30s. The type of adrenaline and scientific agility needed for the project is more often seen in the young. The head of the project, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Daniel London), one of the few real figures in the series, was only 39 in 1943. Of course, as brilliant as one may be scientifically, it doesn't make you wise, and the burden to produce would drive many of those at the facility to the edge and over.
One of the old hands of the project is Frank Winter (John Benjamin Hickey), who is leading one of the teams designing the bomb. High-pressure competition was part of the process. His wife, Liza (Olivia Williams), is an accomplished botanist, but like all the spouses — few of the scientists were women — she must play a secondary role.
Creator-writer Sam Shaw and director Thomas Schlamme ("The West Wing") do a more than worthy job of creating this world. Knowing the fate of war might rest on their shoulders, many of those involved were pushed to the breaking point.
Schlamme's direction is atmospheric, giving the sense of claustrophobia even in the barren openness of the desert. Shaw's writing is sharp, capturing the highs and lows of the ever-shifting emotions. A particularly poignant moment early on is when Frank confesses his feelings to a worker at the base, who can't understand a word he says.
Hickey humanizes Frank, who also is tough enough to do what needs to be done, and Williams makes Liza a formidable character.
Historically, the Manhattan Project was high drama — the world was at stake. The series "Manhattan" creditably captures that.


text:
Welcome to the Apache Jackrabbit Wiki
Apache Jackrabbit is a project at the Apache Software Foundation.
We are in need of better documentation, so feel free to add to these pages as you learn more about Jackrabbit. Write access is disabled by default to prevent spam, but you can get around that by sending your wiki username to email@example.com and asking for more access. Someone from the AdminGroup will add you to the ContributorsGroup to grant you write access.
ConfigurationOverview: How to configure Jackrabbit
PersistenceManagerFAQ: Persistence Manager configuration
DataStore: How to configure and use the binary data store
NodeTypeRegistry: Registry of commonly used node types
NamespaceRegistry: Registry of commonly used namespace mappings
Clustering: How to set up and use clustering
Observation: Jackrabbit-specific observation
Search: How to set up and use search
CacheManager: Cache configuration
RepositoryLock: Repository locking
BackupAndMigration: How to backup a repository or migrate to another configuration
ContribTips: Help regarding the contrib projects
JcrSpecImplementation: List of additional features and implementation variants in Jackrabbit compared to the JCR specification
JcrCommons: Jackrabbit JCR Commons
ConnectionPooling: Connection pooling for database components
RemoteAccess: Remote access to a Jackrabbit repository over DavEx or RMI
UserManagement: User and group management with Jackrabbit
AccessControl: Access control with JCR 2.0 and Jackrabbit
InteractiveCommandLine: Execute a command line tool in an interactive mode to change a JCR repository
Statistics: an overview of the statistics exposed by Jackrabbit
Mailing Lists: Post questions in the mailing list
JCR 2.0 (JSR-283) Specification Javadocs Diff to JCR 1.0 (public final draft)
JcrLinks: Links to articles, presentation, videos, tools and applications based on JCR or Jackrabbit
Sling: Web application framework based on REST principles. Sling uses a JCR repository
Apache Wiki Farm: Other Apache wikis
Dev Mailing List Archive: Search for answers in the mailing list archive
Mailing Lists: Post questions in the mailing list
ContentTrackApacheConUs2009: Proposed "Content Technology" track at the ApacheCon US 2009
Oakathon August 2017: Oak Hackathon
Oakathon November 2017: Oak Hackathon
Oakathon March 2018: Oak Hackathon
Oakathon September 2018: Oak Hackathon
Oakathon November 2018: Oak Hackathon
Oakathon May 2019: Oak Hackathon
ItemStateManagement: Design of ItemState management with collaboration diagrams for various use cases that read and/or modify content
QuestionsAndAnswers: Frequently asked questions about Jackrabbit
ExamplesPage: Solutions for common problems
Performance: Q. and A. about Jackrabbit perfomance
JcrSessionHandling: How to (re)use JCR sessions
EncodingAndEscaping: How to handle special characters in path and queries
QueryUsingJdbc: How to query a JCR repository using the JDBC API.
UsingJNDIDataSource: How to use a JNDI DataSource to connect to a database.
ManuallyCreatingDatabaseTables: How to create tables manually when using database persistence.
Blueprints and best practices
DavidsModel: A guide for blissful content modeling. Seven rules to avoid common mistakes content modeling mistakes.
NodeNamingConventions : Recommendations for node names.
Future Plans
RoadMap: High level roadmap for Jackrabbit
Proposed_JCR_2.0_API_Changes: Changes between the JCR 1.0 API and the proposed JCR 2.0 API as defined in JSR 283.
Jsop: Links and proposed syntax for a Json Diff format
Jackrabbit 3: Project Oak (mainly of historical interest. Please refer to the Oak documentation for up to date information).
JackrabbitOnJBoss: How to deploy a Jackrabbit server with JCA, expose the local repository through JNDI and WebDAV to remote clients and connect remotely from a Java program, or from a command line tool (contrib/jcr-commands).
JackrabbitOnWeblogic: How to deploy the Jackrabbit server on Weblogic, expose the repository over WebDAV, use JNDI with Oracle.
JackrabbitOnTomcat: How to use the Jackrabbit with Tomcat, WebDAV, JNDI and Oracle.
JackrabbitOnTomcat6: How to use the Jackrabbit with Tomcat6 & Mysql.
JackrabbitOnTomcat6withJndiAndPostgresql: How to use the Jackrabbit with Tomcat6 and JNDI, backed by PostgreSQL.
JackrabbitOnSunWebServer: How to configure the Sun Java System Web Server with Jackrabbit (Model 2).
JackrabbitOnOracle: How to configure Jackrabbit to use Oracle backend.
JackrabbitOnCloud: Running Jackrabbit using Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google App Engine (GAE).
JackrabbitStandalone: Running Jackrabbit standalone.
WebDAV: If you plan on using Jackrabbit through WebDAV. Useful for existing Jakarta Slide users or other WebDAV repository users thinking about migrating to Jackrabbit.
SandboxCMIS: More on the CMIS Sandbox project
WebAppFAQ: Frequently asked questions related to web application development
OCMandJackrabbit2: Object Content mapping with Jackrabbit 2.0
JackrabbitOsgi: Embedding the Repository in an OSGi Framework
Jackrabbit FileVault: Jackrabbit FileVault
https://whimsy.apache.org/board/minutes/Jackrabbit.html - Jackrabbit board reports.
JcrMeetupMarch2009: JCR community gathering at 20:00 on March 24th at the ApacheCon EU in Amsterdam
JcrMeetupApril2008: JCR community gathering in Amsterdam on April 8th, 2008
BackupTool: Design document of the 2006 Google Summer of Code project (written by Nicolas Toper, mentored by Jukka Zitting).
JNDI: Patching the Oracle file system and persistence manager for use with JNDI (no longer required with Jackrabbit 1.4)
Special Wiki Pages
TitleIndex: A list of all pages on this wiki.
HelpContents: A basic guide to the MoinMoin wiki (including information about wiki syntax).
WordIndex: A list of all the words that appear in the titles of the pages on this wiki, with links to pages that include that word.
FindPage: A full-text search of the wiki.
WantedPages: All the "broken links" -- a list of all the pages on this wiki that are linked to, but do not exist.
OrphanedPages: All pages on this wiki that are not linked to from anywhere else (and are thus very hard to reach).
RandomPage: Generates a list of 75 random pages on this wiki.
PageSize: Generates a graph and some statistics about the sizes of pages on this wiki.
EventStats/HitCounts: Generates a graph of page views and page visits.
EventStats/UserAgents: Generates a graph of the web browsers used in visiting this page.
SystemInformation: Shows basic information about this wiki installation, the extensions it has installed, etc.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Global warming
Posted by John Reed on
Copyright by John T. Reed
It would take an encyclopedia to cover the global-warming debate. I will not write that much, but I want to go on record about it to an extent.
The phrase "global warming" suggests nothing more than a series of scientific temperature readings. But thanks to Al Gore and others, it has taken on a much larger, political meaning, namely,
The earth is rapidly getting catastrophically warmer because of increased burning of fossil fuels by humans and emergency laws must be passed to reduce that burning of fossil fuels to Nineteenth Century levels.
Is the earth warming? According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the temperature of the earth rose a total of .6 degrees Celsius between 1900 and 1999. .6 degrees Celsius is 1.08 degrees Fahrenheit. That's the total, cumulative 100-year change, not the annual change.
Like many, I wonder how they measure that, and where. If they use a rectal thermometer, my guess is they stick it in Mogadishu.
And excuse me, but how is a 1.08 increase in temperature over 100 years an emergency or even noteworthy?
'Climate change'
After being embarrassed by numerous incidents of cold weather, the leftists changed the name of global warming to "climate change." Now they get to bitch about and say "we told you so" in response to any weather other than average. My Harvard Business School classmate, Orit Gadiesh, is head of Bain and famous for the comment, "The average person has one tit and one ball." There's also the old chestnut that you can drown in a pond with an average depth of six inches. As any bell curve graph of data can confirm, if you get to use all data other than average to gain political power, you will be powerful indeed.
It's always warming or cooling
In his book Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, ABC 20/20 reporter John Stossel reproduces a graph of the earth's average temperatures for the last 4,000 years. The so-called global warming about which Al Gore is so excited is a barely visible, tiny uptick just before the end of the graph. It is the smallest movement up or down on the 4,000-year graph. Earlier periods show much bigger upward and downward movements. They also show that the earth's temperature has never been stable. The global-warming movement would have you believe it has always been stable until SUVs.
We did have a bunch of ice ages you know. The fact that they all ended indicates there must have been some big-time global warming back then, not just 1.08 degrees in 100 years. And most of that big-time global warming occurred before the human race existed, let alone before suburbanites began driving SUVs.
You can probably find the graph on the Internet. It is from the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program and World Data Center for Paleoclimatology in Boulder, CO.
What about the notion that humans caused the 20th Century increase in temperature by driving cars more and having air-conditioning?
According to page 202 of Stossel's book, since half of the 1.08-degree increase in earth temperature came between 1900 and 1945, and the use of fossil fuels was low then and did not dramatically increase until the 1950s and thereafter, it would appear that the cause is not humans burning fossil fuels.
Liberals would have us believe global warming is scientific fact. If it is scientific fact, why is it a liberal/conservative debate? Liberals and conservatives are not scientists, they are political advocates.
When politics gets involved, facts and truth go out the window.
It has been well said that the green movement is really the red movement in a disguise. The red movement—Communism and socialism, class hatred, profit hatred, and all that—has been discredited by having been tried in numerous countries. One of the great stories of the last several decades is the collapse of Communist and socialist economies because it simply does not work, and the replacement of those economic systems with capitalist ones. Unprecedented capitalism-created prosperity now characterizes formerly socialist countries like Russia, Eastern Europe, China, India, and Vietnam.
The emergence of the green movement now is an indication that the reds never were in favor of prosperity to begin with. They just hate those who win when competition, not politics, is the criterion as it is in free economies.
So now they are claiming to be green to save the earth, just as they claimed to be red to save the "workers of the world" before. In fact, they were red, and are now green, to jerk around those who succeed when competition decides the winners.
Global warming and the wider green movement is just a disguised effort to establish government control of much of the economy—the same sort of government control that socialism sought, obtained in many countries, then lost because of its massive failures.
Columnist Thomas Sowell calls it "Global hot air."
6/26/09 Wall Street Journal article
The 6/26/09 Wall Street Journal had an excellent article by Kimberly Strassel. It was titled "The Climate Change Climate Change." It listed people who dispute the so-called "consensus" of scientists who agree with the leftists on man-made climate change. Here are the noteworthy persons and groups in the article who dispute the existence of man-made, deleterious, reversible climate change:
Steve Fielding, Australian Senator
Polish Academy of Sciences
Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic
89% of Czech people in polls
Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France
Claude Allegre, French Minister of Industry and Innovation and former global warming supporter who retracted that position
The new parliament of New Zealand which promptly stopped the country's cap and trade program
700 scientists as counted by Senator Jim Inhofe (OK)
Joanne Simpson, first female PhD meteorologist who revealed her opposition only after retiring out of fear for her job
Dr. Kiminori Itoh, Japanese environmental physical chemist who contributed to U.N. climate report supporting global warming
Ivar Giaver, Nobel Prize-winning physicist from Norway
54 physicists led by Princeton's Will Happer who demanded that the American Physical Society reverse its position that global warming science is settled
Dr. Ian Plimer, Australian geologist
This is not a comprehensive list.
Melting icebergs
Global warming advocates say the higher temperatures will flood low-lying areas of the world including the coasts of the U.S.
Let me be Mr. Wizard for a moment. Get a glass of water and add ice cubes until it is almost at the top of the glass. Let it melt, then see how much flooding (overflow out of the glass) occurred. As you will see, it will be zero.
Why? Laws of physics.
Ice is frozen water. When it freezes, water in the form of ice takes up more space than the water it is made up of. That's why frozen pipes or soda bottles burst when they freeze. Icebergs occupy more space than the water they are made up of occupied before they froze or will occupy after they melt. That's why ice floats. It is less dense than the water it is in.
Furthermore, the tip of the iceberg that sticks above the water is precisely the amount of the increased volume. In other words, when the ice in your full glass of ice water melts, even though the ice stuck above the top of the glass, it will still precisely fill the glass, no less and no more.
Like a boat, ice floats by displacing its weight in water. Since it is less dense than water, it goes to the surface. But when it melts, it becomes water again so it occupies precisely the same volume of water as it displaced when it was ice. Melting water changes (reduces) its volume, but not its weight. When it goes back to being water, it occupies the exact same volume as the water it displaced when it was ice, therefore there is no flooding.
This applies to all floating ice including the entire Arctic (north) polar ice cap. The north pole has no land under it. Global warming advocates say the north polar ice pack will entirely melt in future summers. Whether it does or not will have no effect whatsoever on sea level. All of that water, whether in the form of ice or not, is already in the sea.
Glaciers and other ice and snow that are on land are another matter. When they melt and run into the sea, the sea levels can rise. That's because they were not in the sea at all until they melted. Antarctica (South Pole) has some land under it.
The global warming people keep talking about carbon. How many tons of it we awful humans are putting into our air? Carbon offsets. etc.
Carbon is a black powder. Charcoal briquettes are carbon. It's actually used to clean air in gas masks, kitty litter, and to clean water in filters.
Global warming is caused mainly by water vapor (clouds) (Here is an article about that aspect of it: http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/greenhouse_data.htm) and to a slight extent by carbon dioxide. To talk about carbon dioxide as if it were the same as carbon is like talking about lightning bugs as if they were the same as lightning.
Carbon dioxide is an odorless, colorless, non-poisonous gas. Plants need it to thrive. It comes out of your mouth and nostrils every time you exhale. Dry ice, which is white not black, is frozen carbon dioxide.
By speaking of carbon dioxide as carbon, they make it sound like dirt. That's dishonest.
Components of air
How much carbon dioxide is now in the air after 100 years of it increasing "catastrophically?"
Would you believe 383 parts per million? European leftists were forming the number 350 with mobs of people in late 2009. Why? That's what the want the number of parts per million of carbon dioxide reduced to. Why? It's an excuse to take billions from corporations and spend it on their pet, and not cost-effictive, "alternative" energies.
Air is about 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, .94% argon, 1 to 4% water vapor, and .04% carbon dioxide. See the Wikipedia article on it for more details.
If you drew a pie chart of the components, carbon dioxide's slice would be invisible unless the pie chart were enormous.
Lawn watering
The same liberals who are now out to get carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere are the ones who live in the city and got my suburban neighbors and I to pay punitive rates for the water we put on our lawns. Those lawns convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Those lawns remove carbon dioxide from the air. They remove "carbon" from the air if you want to play the "carbon dioxide = carbon" semantic game. Why are my suburban neighbors and I not getting medals for our fight against global warming instead of being punished for our cultivation of beneficial plants like grass?
Drowning polar bears
The claims that polar bears are drowning because they cannot swim to the increasingly-far-apart ice floes are ridiculous.
The before and after aerial photos showing glaciers moving north only show hundreds of yards or a couple of miles movement. The polar bears wouldn't even notice such things over 100 years. Plus they are not going to sit on a piece of ice until it gets out of sight of all other ice or the main ice pack. That has always been a danger to them throughout their existence, global warming or not. If the ice is really melting, all it will mean for polar pears is that they move north at an imperceptible rate over decades.
The 'right' temperature
Underlying all the global-warming doomsdayism is the notion that the temperature of the earth in 1900 was the "right" temperature.
Says who? Based on what? Seems to me the right temperature, if humans are going to get into the business of setting the planet's temperature, would be the one that produces the highest world-wide crop yield on land masses and the minimum need for heating and air-conditioning where humans live.
Go continent by continent. The widest mass of land in South America is between the equator and 15º below the equator. Here is the complete list:
Latitude of greatest width
South America
equator to 15º south
North America
30º north to 70º north
45º north to 60º north
25º north to 70º north
5º north to 30º north
15º south to 35º south
Forget about it. We're not going to grow crops or live there
As this table shows, the greatest earth land mass is between 25º and 70º north. OK. If we humans are going to decide the planet's temperature, optimize those latitudes for growing crops and minimizing heating and air-conditioning cost.
Would that, by great coincidence, be the temperature of the earth in 1900? I doubt it. Probably it would be a warmer temperature.
In other words, the earth would likely better off if it were warmer. Maybe not the Maldives Islands, who recently held a government meeting in SCUBA gear underwater. But then dopes who builds cities almost at sea level, or below sea level like New Orleans, deserve the floods they get.
Permafrost turning to mud
On 6/2/07, news accounts said that some Alaskan village built on permafrost was having trouble because the permafrost melted. The permafrost turned to mud. They had to build wooden sidewalks and the houses were tilting because the permafrost had been their "foundation." So move. That was a stupid place to live to begin with, not unlike locating New Orleans on the Gulf of Mexico and below sea level.
What's more important, letting some strange people live in a village on top of a previously frozen swamp or growing more crops in Canada and Siberia?
Never give a date
Economists joke about their predictions that they frequently give a number or a date but never both.
The idiot global-warming advocates should have followed that con-man advice. But they have given a number and a date. They say that widespread flooding and disaster will occur in 2020. That's just 10 years away. I expect we will be done with them then as a result of their prediction not coming true.
Global warming reminds me of the fall-out shelter craze of the 1950s and 1960s, the OPEC oil "crises" of the 1970s, and the millennium bug hysteria of the late 1990s. Its dupes are going to be embarrassed. Don't be one of them. I have a couple of Web articles about the recurring prophets of doom in finance and other areas like food shortages, oil, population, and so forth at http://www.johntreed.com/doomsday.html.
Religious discussion
I generally do not get into religious discussions because there is no convincing the true believers to change their minds. Global warming is a religious discussion. That is, its advocates will listen to no logic or facts that do not support their position. But when religious nuts, whether they go to church or not, start to change public policy in ways that affect me, I have to speak up.
8/13/07 Newsweek cover story about us 'deniers'
Newsweek used to be generally a great magazine with a well-deserved reputation. But global warming seems to cause yet another derangement syndrome and Newsweek is not immune. Let me just make some comments about the various call-outs in the article. A call-out is a brief summary quote as opposed to the main body of the article.
Newsweek statement
John T. Reed response
Swedish chemist quantified how much the earth was warming due to carbon dioxide emissions in 1896
chemists do not measure the earth's temperature; 1896 science should hardly be a basis for Twenty-First century policy decisions
Senator Al Gore holds hearings on climate change in 1988
patient zero
an unnamed study says climate change was a factor in the extinction of Coast Rica's golden toads
"a factor?" That's pretty weak. How sure are they? How much of a factor? What were the other factors? Should world policy be set by a Costa Rican toad? Species have been going extinct continuously since the beginning of time, including before humans existed. It's not always our fault.
Science and Environmental Policy Project pursues a media campaign to discredit evidence of global warming
And the liberals are not pursuing a media campaign to credit evidence of global warming!? They won a freaking Oscar for their media campaign!
North American tree swallows are laying their eggs an average of nine days earlier than they did in the late '50s.
The article does not say this is due to global warming or how the average date of egg laying relates to the late '40s, late 60s, or late 20s. In other words, this is pure innuendo; a non-denial denial of the skeptics' claims.
Exxon gives several groups that question man-made global warming $19 million over the years
So? Plenty of money is being given and spent on both sides. If Newsweek had evidence that the groups in question were lying, they should have presented that, not innuendo based on some vague notion that Exxon is evil per se. And that Exxon-haters are virtuous per se. Exxon is being accused of destroying the planet. They need to defend themselves.
mentions record-breaking forest fire season and the hottest year on record in 1997 and 1998
So? The magazine does not offer any evidence or even a statement that either was related to global warming. More innuendo.
Heat wave in 2003 kills 15,000 people in France alone expected to become more common in a greenhouse world
No evidence or even statement that global arming caused by man-made carbon dioxide caused the heat wave. Begs the question of whether there is or ever will be a greenhouse world. Just says if there is a greenhouse world, such events will become more common. That is a conditional, tautological (by-definition) statement. Left unanswered is whether man-made warming caused the heat wave. They simply suggest such warming could cause similar events in the future.
2005 Katrina prompts debate over whether hurricane was result of climate change
More innuendo. No evidence or statement that Katrina was caused by man-made global warming. Absence of Katrina in 2004 and 2006 not cited as evidence of lack of global warming. It's heads global warming advocates win and tails global warming skeptics lose. No matter what happens or doesn't happen, it can be cited as evidence of global warming but not as evidence of lack of global warming.
Senators Olympia Snowe and John D. Rockefeller IV demand that Exxon stop funding groups whose public advocacy has contributed to the small but effective climate-change-denial myth.
In other words, stop the heresy. It is not protected by the First Amendment. No longer any need to prove global warming. Any skepticism about it is now officially a myth. Since when do we rely on politicians for scientific truth? Obviously, their constituents believe in global warming and they want to get re-elected.
naysayers vs. consensus
Over the years, the consensus said that the earth was flat, the universe revolved around the earth, trauma caused cancer, leeches would make you healthy by removing bad blood, Pluto was a planet, minorities and Jews were inferior, etc., etc.. Basically, the consensus has a poor track record and a bad reputation. Evidence is what matters. We do not take a poll to see what causes cancer.
aerial photo of 1,255 square-mile ice area calving off into the ocean in Antarctica in 2002
No mention of whether any such thing every happened before Al Gore got hot on this subject.
Newsweek also has an economics columnist: Robert Samuelson. Here, from his 2008 book The Great Inflation and its Aftermath, is his nice way of saying that global warming is dangerous bunk.
...an uncritical reaction to the possibility of global warming that may cause us to undertake costly policies that, in the end, do little to affect global warming but do weaken our economy's performance.
He addresses global warming in detail on pages 237 to 242. He says about the same thing I do, although he tries to be more politically correct in his wording, I assume so he can keep his jobs at Newsweek and the Washington Post.
One of Saumelson's summary paragraphs on global warming says this,
For now, anything that would sharply reduce the greenhouse gases requires shutting down large parts of the global economy…Measures short of that may be economically costly as well as ineffective. Only major technological advances can break the dilemma. Will we admit this? It seems doubtful. Our politics seem predisposed toward denial. We won't admit the inconsistence, conflicts and simplicities of many appealing goals. We strive for the impossible and ignore the obvious.
And here is a general comment about do-gooders:
Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm– but the harm does not interest them. Or they do not see it, or they justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.
T.S. Eliot in The Cocktail Party, p.111)
John T. Reed
What Al Gore left out of his movie: the 800 year lag
by Dan Reed
Does CO2 have a strong effect on global temperatures? Al Gore shows a graph in his film An Inconvenient Truth where CO2 levels and global temperatures have a strong correlation to one another (based on the Vostok ice core samples). Both graphs are displayed on the big screen behind them, and he asks "Did they ever fit together?" Yes, Al, they definitely do fit together. He says the relationship is "complicated," but that the correlation shows that CO2 increases cause global temperature increases. That is certainly one possibility when you have a correlation, but it is not the correct conclusion in this case. If you zoom in on the graph, you find the exact opposite of Gore's claim; the temperature change comes first, then the CO2 follows. CO2 changes in the graph lag 800 years behind the temperature changes.
"The scientists working on the Vostok ice core report that temperature changes PRECEDE changes in CO2 concentration by about 800- to 1,300 years." (TucsonCitizen.com)
In other words, the earth gets warmer first, and that warmth appears to cause CO2 levels go up, not vice versa as Gore asserts. It would be like trying to tell you ocean tides are responsible for the moon's gravity. Gore has swapped cause and effect. This is the same data from the Vostok ice core research that Gore uses. Search for "Vostok ice core 800 year lag yourself" on the internet to see yourself. The scientists that collected the data acknowledge the 800 year lag. So the very ice core samples that Al Gore cites as his evidence for why human carbon dioxide emissions are causing warming, in fact, show the exact opposite.
This phenomenon of temperature changes causing atmospheric CO2 changes is explained in many places online including a British documentary, The Great Global Warming Swindle. The short explanation is global temperature affects the solubility of carbon dioxide in water. In other words, when global temperatures decrease, the oceans dissolve more CO2, lowering atmospheric CO2. When global temperatures increase, the oceans dissolve less CO2, raising atmospheric CO2. The documentary also shows a much better correlation to global temperatures than CO2, which I will discuss below. (Go to timestamp 35:00 in the video to see)
What this means is the entire premise of An Inconvenient Truth is false. With a straight face, Al Gore shows you evidence that suggests heat increases CO2, but tells you the opposite. He just flat out lies about the details of the correlation that he cites as his powerful piece of evidence. The reason he gets away with this is because the x-axis of the graph cover over 600,000 years, so the 800 year lag is to miniscule to see with the naked eye. If you zoom in on the graph, the lag is clear.
You don't have to be a climatologist to grasp the fundamental fallacy of carbon dioxide's relationship to the greenhouse effect and global temperatures. As my father pointed out above, and the Swindle documentary as well, water vapor is by far the biggest greenhouse gas, yet most discussions of global warming never mention it. The Swindle documentary goes on to explain how so many scientists and journalists could miss such a glaring fact.
Most importantly, the documentary finds a variable that correlates even closer to global temperatures than CO2, and in the correct direction. Any guesses on what the variable is? SOLAR ACTIVITY. Imagine that. That big ball of exploding fire in the sky is the biggest factor.
-Dan Reed


text:
Committed to a Growing Cash DividendRPM's commitment to a growing dividend, which began 45 years ago, is a key component of total return. Since 1974, the company's board of directors has increased the cash dividend every year. The latest dividend increase of 9.4 percent occurred on October 4, 2018 and raised the dividend to $0.35 per share per quarter from $0.32 per share per quarter the previous year.
RPM International Inc. (NYSE: RPM) owns subsidiaries that are world leaders in coatings, sealants, building materials and related services. From homes to precious landmarks worldwide, their brands are trusted by consumers and professionals alike to protect, improve and beautify. Among its leading consumer brands are Rust-Oleum, DAP and Zinsser. Learn more about RPM brands >>
RPM is a compelling long-term investment.
The percent by which RPM's 10-year total return has bested the S&P 500. More reasons >>
Get the latest news and financial information on why RPM is a good investment Download investor kit >>
This website uses cookies and other tracking technologies (also known as pixels or beacons) to aid your experience (such as viewing videos), as well as "performance cookies" to analyze your use of this website and to assist with marketing efforts. If you click the "Accept All Cookies" button or continue navigating the website, you agree to having those first and third-party cookies set on your device. If you do not wish to accept cookies from this website, you can choose to not allow cookies from this website by updating your browser preferences. For more information on how we use Cookies, please read our Privacy Policy.


text:
Texas House Passes Major Abortion Regulation Legislation, Senate Filibusters & Votes After Midnight Deadline SB5 Fails to Pass
AUSTIN - Monday, Pro-Life members of the Texas House used their majority to ensure life was respected and standard's for women's health care were raised with the passage of Senate Bill 5, an omnibus abortion regulation bill. Tuesday, the Texas Senate entertained a nearly 13 hour filibuster which ultimately prohibited the bill from passing. SB5 would have banned abortions performed after 20 weeks (currently abortions are performed up to 24 weeks), and increased regulatory standards on abortion facilities and procedure by bringing them in line with other surgical procedures already under the same type of regulation.
Representative Dan Flynn (Van), an ardent and outspoken pro-life supporter and one of the 60 House members who petitioned Governor Perry to add pro-life legislation to the first Special Session call list, stated his support for SB5 and his disappointment at its failure to pass, "This was a sound piece of legislation that would have ensured life was protected, facilities were well regulated, and the well-being of the mother was made a priority throughout the procedure and afterwards. I am disappointed that legislation with so many positive end results for women was made a mockery and ultimately defeated," said Representative Flynn on Wednesday morning.
"With the filibustering of SB5, the Senate not only halted an important piece of pro-life legislation, but vital pieces of transportation and juvenile justice legislation were sacrificed in the process," Representative Flynn continued. "The Texas Legislature adjourned sine die failing to fulfill half of the Governor's action items for this first called session. It appears inevitable that the Legislature will return for a second special at the cost of millions of additional tax payer dollars in order to redo the work we spent the month of June accomplishing."
Contact: Amanda Robertson
Phone: (512) 463-0880
Capitol Address:
District Address:
Room 1N.10
P.O. Box 999


text:
NOTE TO EDITORS: Photography and high-definition video clips of the Scion FR-S concept are available and can be retrieved in digital form at www.ScionDimension.com or www.ScionNewsroom.com.
Copyright Notice
All materials on this site are for editorial use only. The use of these materials for advertising, marketing or any other commercial purpose is prohibited. They may be cropped but not otherwise modified. To download these materials, you must agree to abide by these terms.


text:
Zunox.hk is a free service, but you can reward us with a share, it will really help us. Thank you!
Welcome to the new Zunox website. The reference site for all the Racing matches in HD live streaming and is completely free! Streaming Racing to date and free! You can select many live streaming of differents sports in the menu on the top. All Racing live streaming solutions that you want and watch the matches on TV live and are completely FREE.
HD Live Racing streams schedule
Share or follow us. Thank You!


text:
Videomaker tips on choosing a documentary topic
Following on from their guest post on "Tips for Time Manipulation," the experts at Videomaker magazine are back with advice for budding documentary makers.
One of the greatest things about watching a documentary is seeing the world through the eyes of another. The greatest thing about making a documentary is being able to bring that enriching experience to people everywhere.
Over the last decade the documentary genre has significantly increased in popularity, with topics covering everything from a person who eats too much McDonalds (Super Size Me), to a person who feels strongly about national health care (Sicko). There are documentaries about people in wheel chairs who play contact sports (Murderball), people battling it out for the highest score in Donkey Kong (The King of Kong), soldiers battling to survive in war zones (Gunner Palace), and even one about a man and his wild birds (The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill). When taking a look at popular documentaries it becomes quite obvious that, as far as topics are concerned, anything goes. What makes the documentary memorable are the characters within the story.
When choosing your topic, consider not only the subject you'd like to explore, but the people affected by it. Every story needs a main character, someone the audience can follow throughout the movie, someone they can relate to, love or hate, but most importantly, someone they can learn from. Failure to expose the thoughts and emotions of the affected persons within your documentary will leave your movie feeling flat and your message lacking impact.
The most important factor to consider when choosing a topic for your documentary is making sure it's something you're interested in. The path to a great documentary is a bumpy one with unexpected turns and roadblocks. Often the only thing that keeps you trucking down that path is your passion for the topic and your desire to share the experience with the entire world.
Check out Documentary Truth for more ideas on choosing a topic for your documentary.


text:
72o wrote:Timminz wrote:I think the fact that most of the best basketball players are black has more to do with the fact that basketball is and has been very popular among poorer, black, American neighbourhoods. ie, it's a cultural phenomena, and is not directly attributable to the colour of someone's skin.
If you were to look at a sport with wider appeal (in fact the widest appeal), and take soccer for an example, would the skin-colour arguments still hold true?
There is no wider appeal than running.
Um, no... soccer is a far more popular sport than running.


text:
I haven't posted my numbers in a while, so here they are.
In the past six weeks, my twenty self-pubbed titles on Amazon Kindle have earned over $26,000.
In November, I sold over 9000 ebooks on Kindle. That averages out to 300 a day.
In November, I also sold 266 print copies of nine self-published titles, earning royalties of $1000. This number is skewed, since most of the titles weren't available until the middle of the month.
I'm not allowed to disclose sales of Shaken, which was published by Amazon Encore. But I'll say that it puts my self-pubbed sales for November to shame.
I attribute the boost I've gotten on my self-pubbed titles to Shaken's success. It hung out in the Amazon Top 100 for a month, and is now ranked at #148.
So is this as good as it gets? is the ebook bubble about to burst?
Not even close.
Amazon put their Kindle 2 on sale for $89 on Black Friday. It sold out in four seconds.
I predict in 2011, the Kindle 3 will be under $99. The market will begin to shift from early adopters to mainstream consumers. Millions of ereaders will be sold this holiday season, and next season will be even bigger.
In 2010, my January sales had a nice bump, from new Kindle owners trying out their new gadgets. 2011 will begin the same way.
I've also noted before how ebooks are like a pyramid scheme. Once they're live, they keep earning money, and more people review them and tell others about them, growing their fanbase. As an author, I add fuel to this fire by writing even more titles, biggering my potential for discovery and for new readers.
In 2011 my two Timecaster sci-fi books will be released. So will Stirred, the last Jack Daniels thriller, that I'm writing with Blake Crouch. I'm also doing a follow up to Serial Uncut called Killers Uncut with Crouch, and a spy thriller with another writer friend. Plus I'm still working on that secret project that will land me on the NYT list for the first time.
All of this new material will keep my backlist viable. In the past 20 months, I've sold over 100,000 self-pubbed ebooks. I bet I can sell more in 2011.
Now lots of folks are quick to point out that I'm an anomaly, an outlier. I believe this label is premature. With every new trend, someone has to be first. But others will follow.
I've mentioned many authors, newbies and seasoned pros, who are self-publishing with some success. In 2011 watch how many pros begin to release their backlists, and their shelf-novels, on Kindle. Also watch to see if any write specifically for Kindle, bypassing traditional publishing completely.
Right now, the profit margin for traditional publishing is slim. If enough authors strike out on their own, it will cause an industry-wide collapse. Fewer books published means fewer sales, which means bookstores close, which means publishers close.
Now let's take a few questions.
Q: You really believe gigantic publishing companies won't survive?
A: Hardcovers sales are down 40% from last year. Ebook sales are up 158%. But publishers are screwing authors on ebook royalties, and charging too much for ebooks. If they change tactics, they'll survive. If they don't, more and more authors will leave tradtitional publishers to make more money on their own.
Q: Don't they realize that will happen?
A: Some of the smartest people I know work in the publishing business. These are motivated, savvy people who love books. But it is notoriously difficult to change a business plan in a large corporation, and history shows that new technology leaves massive casualties. I'm sure the average NY editor has ideas on how to fix things, but their hands may be tied.
Part of the problem is precedent. For over a hundred years, authors had no choice but to deal with publishers. Publishers had all of the power, and they've taken it for granted that they always will. Now the balance of power has truly shifted, but rather than realize their ENTIRE product line comes from artists, publishers instead continue to treat them in the same old way, and expect them to be grateful for the attention.
That won't fly anymore.
Q: How do libraries fit into this future?
A: Libraries are adapting better than bookstores are. Many already have ebook lending available, and more will follow.
Q: How about bookstores?
A: Chapters in Canada is a bookstore chain doing well while others are struggling. If I ran a bookstore, I'd diversify by not only selling non-book items, but by selling used books, POD books (with an Espresso Book Machine on site), and figure out how to sell ebooks in-store and host ebook authors for signings.
Bookstores should also be selling online, both print and ebooks. But their online presence should be community-oriented with lots of user-aggregated content. BN.com and Borders.com are places to shop. Amazon.com is a place to hang out.
Q: I'm an author with ebooks for sale, and I'm hardly selling any.
A: What are you doing to sell your ebooks? Do you participate in any ebook forums online? Have you tried changing your cover/price/product description? Do you actively promote your ebooks? Are you sure they're properly formatted? Is everything you have available for sale? And, finally, are the books any good?
I know authors who are sitting on books, holding out hope for a print deal. I know authors who insist their covers are good when they are really sub par. I know authors who charge too much, and authors who have formatting errors on the first page, and authors who haven't updated their website in two years.
Ebooks aren't a Hail Mary pass that win the ball game at the last second. Ebooks are a career. All careers mean hard work.
Q: You're really making $620 a day?
A: That's just on Kindle. If we include other ebook venues, Createspace, my print deals, and royalties and subsidiary rights, I'm probably one of the better-paid authors working today. Who woulda thunk that you can actually make decent money writing?
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
"Lisan" – Paving the Way for an Underdog Literature
Many publishers, Arab authors, and translators could tell tales of woe about the difficulties of conveying Arabic literature to a German-speaking public. Even the "Arab World" showcase at the Frankfurt Book Fair hardly changed matters. The varied activities, cultural events and open discussions that focused on Arabic literature produced positive, but only short-lasting effects.
In discussion rounds at the Frankfurt Book Fair last October, assessments of the intervening situation on the chances of success for Arabic literature in Germany were met with an all-around sober and resigned mood.
Initiative of a small Egyptian publisher
In this light, the courage and commitment of a small Egyptian publisher from Basel deserves all the more praise. With its new journal for contemporary Arabic literature, a platform now exists, for the first time, to introduce German-speaking readers with Arabic literature on a regular basis.
The new, bi-annually published literary journal "Lisan," which bears the same name as Hassan Hammad's publishing house, has joined the effort of a considerable number of institutions and initiatives that have since sprung up to promote Arabic literature and culture in Germany.
The publisher and editor Hassan Hammad – who made his PhD at the Cairo University for a study of the function of irony in the works of Mahfouz – together with his comrades-in-arms hope to accomplish still more. The first "Lisan" (Arabic for language, mouthpiece, tongue) provides readers with an interesting glimpse into the current work of well-known authors of Arabic prose and poetry such as Gamal al-Ghitani, Ibrahim Aslan (both from Egypt), and Amjad Nasser (from Jordan).
In addition, the journal serves as a colorful anthology of young, experimental contemporary writers, such as Nabila az-Zubair from Yemen, Suzanne Alaywan from Lebanon, and Mustafa Zikri from Egypt. "There are many such young authors throughout the Arab world," publisher Hammad keenly stresses in the preface.
Opportunity for young authors and translators
In total, "Lisan" presents 21 authors with selections of their work, introductory short biographies, and, in some cases, even bibliographical references, in an unpretentious, yet attractive format.
Another welcome sign is that the work of the young authors has been rendered into German by young translators, more than half of whom are Arabic native speakers with a background in German studies. This is quite a positive development for the Arabic literature scene in German-speaking countries.
In this respect, "Lisan" regards itself as a "workshop for literary translation, giving young translators the opportunity of plying their skills, perhaps for the first time, in a professional forum." Commendable is the inclusion of an appendix with short biographies of the translators, whose efforts remain all too often anonymous.
Establishing a canon of modern Arabic literature
As an added bonus, the translated texts and introductory biographies of the authors are supplemented with a scholarly essay by the Egyptian Germanist Jihan Hassib on the image of women in the works of Christa Wolf and Radwa Ashour as well as a commentary by Muntassir al-Qaffasch on Peter Handke's novel "Wunschloses Unglück" ("Perfectly Happy Misery"). Readers looking for an Arab perspective on German literature should find plenty to interest them here.
According to Hammad, his goal for the future is to "establish a canon of modern Arabic literature or put together a bestseller list." High aspirations, to be sure. The majority of the included authors, however, are Egyptians, and the next issue with its announced focus on Cairo will once again give preference to Egyptian literature.
Yet, Egypt is not the only venue for Arab culture. One hopes that the journal will attempt to broaden its choice of authors to include those from other Arab countries and thereby do justice to the exciting variety offered by the wider Arab world.
There can be no doubt that, all in all, the new journal for Arabic literature is a successful contribution towards improved mutual understanding and promotes literary exchange between two cultural worlds that often fail to understand each other.
"Lisan" does not play on typical Middle Eastern clichés nor is its emphasis on already familiar mainstream literature. The journal is an example of authentic cultural dialogue and, as such, a welcome addition that opens a window on Arabic literature and Middle Eastern viewpoints.
Stephan Milich
© Qantara.de 2006
Translated from the German by John Bergeron
The Rocky Road to Cultural Dialogue
The Arab World Has a Hard Time with Translations
Efforts were made early on to translate works from European languages, especially in Egypt, but to this day it has proved impossible to coordinate these initiatives and implement them systematically. By Khalid Al-Maaly
Dossier: German-Arab Literature Exchange
Literature has always been an important means of cultural exchange and dialogue. Translators and publishers live on the edge of poverty to make a beloved foreign world visible. Qantara.de presents some Arab and German figures.
Website Lisan (in German)


text:
Nov. 23, 2010
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball players Stacey Schmidt and Dana Vargas were named to their second consecutive All-Big West First Team as the conference announced its year-end awards on Tuesday.
Joining the duo in being honored were senior Kasey Kipp, who was an Honorable Mention selection and Kara Sherrard, who was named to the Big West All-Freshman Team.
Vargas' honor is another in a long list for the senior setter. Last season she was a First Team All-West Region pick and an All-American as well as a First Team conference choice. As a freshman, Vargas was named to the Big West's All-Freshman Team. She will leave Santa Barbara with the third-most assists in school history. This season the Seal Beach, Calif. native averaged 10.60 assists per set, ranking her 54th in the nation as well as setting a career-high with 2.41 digs per set.
Schmidt, a junior, was among the league leaders in kills (3.00 per set) and hitting percentage (.324) in earning her second First Team selection. She also led the team in total blocks and finished second on the Gauchos in service aces. The Huntington Beach, Calif. native started the season as a middle blocker and was later moved to the right side.
"It's a real testament to Dana and Stacey since they carried the team this year," UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory said. "Despite our team having a few major injuries and we were without the weapons we had last year, these two showed their ability to give us another winning season and put us in a position to go to the NCAA Tournament."
Kipp, a middle blocker from Newport Beach, Calif., started the season as a reserve, but responded by earning her way back into the starting lineup. She finished second on the team with her .300 hitting percentage and set career-highs in kills (1.79 per set) and led the Gauchos in blocks per set with 0.92.
Sherrard was not expected to be a major part of UCSB's success this season, but was thrust into the starting lineup when outside hitter Leah Sully tore her anterior cruciate ligament in the Gauchos' season-opener. Sherrard responded with a terrific freshman campaign as she finished third on the team in kills with 2.37 per set and fourth in digs with 2.65 per set. The Lancaster, Calif. tallied nine double-doubles on the season.
"I'm so proud of these four players," Gregory said. "They are all very deserving and they all worked so hard throughout the season."
The Gaucho Fund, launched as part of the Dare to Be Great strategic plan, is UCSB Athletics' annual giving program to provide vital funding support for scholarships, academic success and leadership development for Gaucho student-athletes. The Gaucho Fund is the anchor to the Dare to Be Great campaign.
GKids is the official kids club of UCSB Athletics. Members receive a free GKids t-shirt, free admittance to tons of Gaucho games, opportunities to be ball boys and girls at games, a special birthday greeting from Olie (the GKids mascot) and much, much more! For more information on GKids, or to become a member, please click here.


text:
Friday, September 13, 2013
The Queen of Pop
9 comments:
She was superhuman in this show - more than on any other tour.ReplyDelete
The evidence is right there in front of your eyes in the video above. I just cannot imagine what it must have been like to have seen that with the naked eye. To have been front row for WTG tour must have been like an out of body experience.
Such a bare bones tour. Great to see this footage!ReplyDelete
I WAS THERE! July 26th 1987. I just turned 14 and it was my first time seeing the Queen! I have all the news reports from that night and the next day thanks to my parents and the vcr. It was a magical and very hot night! And Tony, it seems bare bones now, but at the time it was revolutionary for a "rock show". Very theatrical for the time period.ReplyDelete
The True Blue/Who's That Girl era was the turning point for Lady Madonna. She became an artist,rebel, Queen and Evita! This performance was where she cried in her art for the first time. Who's That Girl? was the first time a fan cried at a rock concert because Madonna became the first artist to make critics take notes, fans cry and hearts melt. Madonna Cried-and Rock itself Cried with Her Ladyship! Key songs-Open Your Heart, Who's That Girl?, The Look of Love and Live to Tell. Madonna began to Cry. After Who's That Girl?, Rock & roll was never again the same!-thanks to the art of Madonna. Love you Madge Ciccone!ReplyDelete
I was there at Florence, the last show of the tour. It was a magical experience.ReplyDelete
DAMN. THAT HARD ASS BITCH LOOKS 35 OR 40 HERE. AT 0.12 THAT IS A NARROW MAN'S BODY. SMALL ASS TITS, NO ASS NO HIPS. UGLY ASS SCUMBAG. MEN DON'T WANT THIS LUV, SORRY.ReplyDelete
wow nice to see my name is still used around here ...but i am a STAR... trust i will always make vanity known u piece of shit tonyReplyDelete


text:
Travel Photography Essentials Package (No Body) - Nikon
The Travel Photography Essentials Package for Nikon includes gear helpful in capturing all the great scenery experienced when hitting the road for a new locale. The Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S ED delivers razor sharp images at any aperture, even wide-open on an FX sensor, while th 50mm f/1.4G AF-S is one of the most widely used autofocus lenses in all of photography -- and for a good reason. It's fast enough for shooting in just about any type of light, very affordable, and small enough to fit in a coat pocket. This package also comes with the Joby Gorillapod Heavy Duty Flexible Mini-Tripod, a ultra-versatile mini-tripod or grip that can be used with large SLR cameras with zoom lens attached or with camcorders (max. load capacity of 6.6 lb/3 kg). Its three multi-segmented flexible legs can be formed to grip almost any protrusion.


text:
Indicative Rate * AU$89.95 to AU$133.00
The Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre is a secluded getaway behind Currimundi Beach, near the mouth of Currimundi Lake and is the perfect place for a getaway with family and friends.
Their self-contained one and two bedroom units sleep up to six guests and include television, bar fridge, microwave, kettle and air conditioning. Linen is available on request (charges apply).
The Centre is perfectly located for day trips to Noosa, Australia Zoo and the Glass House Mountains. A walking trail through the coastal wetlands area leading up to Currimundi Lake is accessible from the Centre.
There are lots of fun things to keep the kids entertained during your stay. They have Casual Climbing at the Rock Face, a 10 metre high indoor rock wall open on Saturdays and over the school holidays, as well as lots of fun school holiday activities at their Coast Club program. They also have sporting equipment available if you want to shoot hoops or have a hit on the tennis courts.
Note: Information on listed products and services are provided by the operator and were correct at the time of publishing. Rates are indicative based on the minimum and maximum available prices of products and services. Please visit the operator's website for further information. All prices quoted are in Australian dollars (AUD).


text:
First off, thanks to Scott for filling in for me last week while I jet-setted. My heart swelled in appreciation as I toured the best of Rome and Tuscany. Well, not really. In fact, I'm not sure I thought of this show once while abroad. But I caught last week's episode when I got back and I have to say that I liked it better than Scott. Not a lot. But it felt solid and… I guess the word is "pleasant." I'd say the same for tonight's episode. While I don't think anything has quite matched the potential I saw in the show's pilot—and the second episode really let me down—the show has enough funny moments and endearing characters to keep me tuning in even if I weren't covering here.
Lowered expectations? Maybe. And while the cold open of Leslie battling local teens with bags of dog poop wasn't an incredibly inspired bit of business—apart from Tom's characteristically unapologetic refusal to engage with the problem—the rest of the episode proved a little more inspired. The plot spins out of character traits we've seen in Leslie before: Her unhealthily overdeveloped superego and her commitment to fighting sexism, real, imagined, and otherwise. (Also seen before and contributing to the episode's tiny disaster: Her love of a drink and her fixation on Mark.)
But while Leslie's personality was the engine that drove the episode, she didn't necessarily provide that many laughs, most of which came from Tom, Ron, and especially "guest star" Chris Pratt as Ann's boyfriend. (Who, if the show sticks around, definitely deserves an upgrade.) I have to echo elements of Scott's post last week. I think Amy Poehler is really funny, but there's something not quite fully formed about this character and her performance here. I suspect that given time—and I hope the show gets some time—both will grow stronger. But the best part of this episode came from other quarters. I loved both Ron's shutdown of Leslie's hearing and his subsequent monologue about his ideal government. ("One guy, who sits in a small room at a desk. And the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke." Etc.) I also continue to marvel at how Rashida Jones conveys so much with her understated line readings.
And it's not like Poehler's bad, either. Witness her scene with Aziz Ansari's Tom this week where he walks her through a terrifying mock deposition filled with inappropriately probing questions. But the show seems to have too much space for her to turn the character up to 11, especially during her confessions to the documentary crew, which have too many residual SNL instincts. It's too much to ask for her to do now what Steve Carrell has grown so well into doing over at The Office, making us care about a character without filing off any of her eccentric edges. Let's hope P&R shows a little more evidence of heading in that direction.
Grade: B-
Stray obvervations:
- So is Ann flirting with Mark? Or does she really think he's sleazy? At any rate, there's something Leslie's not seeing.
- Nice to see the pit has already been put to good use.
- "…The man is chosen based on some kind of IQ test and maybe also some kind of physical tournament, like a decathalon. And women are brought to him. Maybe. When he desires them."


text:
Printer Friendly Version
Standard ECMA-161
Private Telecommunication Networks (PTN)
- Signalling at the S Reference Point - Generic Feature Key Management
Protocol for the Control of Supplementary Services (SSIG-FK)
2nd edition (June 1993)
This Standard defines the Feature Key Management signalling protocol
for the purpose of supplementary service control at an interface
at the S reference point between a Terminal Equipment (TE) and
a Private Telecommunication Network (PTN).
The Feature Key Management protocol operates in conjunction with
the signalling protocol specified in Standard ETS 300 192 for
circuit-switched call control. It is based on the use of the two
information elements, Feature activation and Feature indication.
While the procedures associated with feature key invocation and
indication are specified in this Standard, the allocation of actual
codes used to designate individual supplementary services is outside
the scope of this Standard.
This Standard is applicable to the user accesses of PTNs and
to Tes which are intended for connection to PTNs.
The following file can be freely downloaded:
The previous replaced "historical" edition of this Ecma Standard is available here.


text:
Archive for the 'Cars and Racing' Category
Luck Favor's the Prepared!
I made the picture above at a recent air-show and posted it on my Flickr stream. I got a very nice complement from a gentleman that was also at the show – "Great example of what can happen when preparation meets opportunity. Fun shot !" As I read this, I thought to myself "preparation nothing – this was all luck!". But then I started to think about it, he was right – a year ago, this would have been all luck but that wasn't the case any longer.
I knew going into the show what the conditions were (where the sun and shadows would be) and I mentally made note of what exposure compensation might be needed as I transitioned from a sky shot to a ground shot. Heck, I was a little prepared! I also used the camera settings below which worked out pretty well:
- Shutter Priority (around 1/750th for prop aircraft and 1/1500th or above for everything else)
- I didn't want my depth of field to narrow so I set my minimum aperture at f/11 to ensure I maintained better DOF.
- I sent my ISO on auto with the ability to max out at 3200
- Finally, I did adjust my exposure compensation during shooting to match the conditions, anywhere from +.25 to +1.5
So yes, I was prepared this time around . . . . . and very lucky I was panning with the plane for this shot!
You can check out some of the other shots here.


text:
Is one of the most distinguished "service oriented", professional and top quality Destination Management Company / Tour Operator in Trinidad and Tobago. This company offers Multiple Destination Packages with Jamaica, Barbados, Dominica, Santo Domingo, Guyana, Saint Lucia, and Puerto Rico. Our clients are international, regional and local.
Additional Info on Trinidad & Tobago
Visit The Trinidad Guide your comprehensive window to the unspoiled beauty and fascinating culture of two of the Caribbean's most interesting islands, Trinidad and Tobago.


text:
HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS — Talk about an odd couple.
Stoic Spurs superstar Tim Duncan and live-wire Celtics superstar Kevin Garnett have lived at opposite ends of basketball's emotional spectrum for their entire careers.
But could they be on the verge of joining forces in silver and black?
If we are to believe the rumblings coming from San Antonio, it's not as crazy as it sounds. The two veteran, free agents to be are both on the Spurs' radar, per the great Buck Harvey of the Express News:
Now they are unrestricted free agents, and, as always, contrasts. While Duncan is expected to quietly re-sign this summer with the Spurs, no one is sure what happens next in Boston. Garnett added to the uncertainty Saturday night, leaving the locker room without talking to reporters.
Garnett could retire. He could sign another contract with the Celtics. Or the Celtics might not want to sign him so they can begin rebuilding.
"Hopefully management can do something to bring [Garnett] back, maybe add some pieces to this team that we need to get over the top," Paul Pierce told reporters Saturday night. "If not, it's been a tremendous run."
The Celtics reacted after the loss Saturday night as if they knew the run is over. And if that is true, and if Garnett wants to continue playing, teams will line up to sign him. He can still defend, and he averaged more than 19 points, 10 rebounds and 36 minutes in the playoffs.
Some will have more money to offer than the Spurs will. Some might have more young talent to put around him. All the Spurs could give Garnett is the closest thing to what he had in Boston, a veteran core with a chance to contend.
But it's the pairing of Garnett with Duncan that would make this free-agency signing a stunning story. While they would fit together on the court, they never have as people. They are similar in size, ability and birth (one month apart), yet have been opposites.
This spring told of that again: Sports Illustrated wrote Duncan "hates (Garnett) the way liberals hate Sean Hannity."
I remember someone singing a song or making a movie about there being a "thin line between love and hate." And I dare anyone to lie and say a Big Ticket-Big Fundamental pairing wouldn't be intriguing, even at this late stage of their Hall of Fame careers.
Yeah, it would have been off the charts six or seven years ago. It would have been the sort of Twin Towers 2.0 pairing that could have changed the landscape of the league.
Garnett showed in this postseason that he still has plenty left in his tank. And Duncan showed flashes, too. Neither man appears read to call it a career just yet. Seeing them ride into the sunset together, playing on the same frontline for Gregg Popovich, would be worth the price of admission every night.


text:
All It Takes To Run 10s Is $14K, Ebay, And A Few Generous Friends.
He could be blowing smoke up our booties, but it really wouldn't matter. Kevin Whitt says that his '70 Duster runs 10.70s in the quarter on a budget of under $14,000. That alone is grounds for some well justified skepticism, but the most outrageous claim of all is that someone supposedly donated the 440 motor to his go-fast cause. But wait a second. Even if the 440 wasn't a freebie and cost-for argument's sake-$10,000 to build, you've still got one seriously quick street brawler that can be duplicated for under $25,000. So whether Kevin's a lying sack or one resourceful SOB is irrelevant. The prosecution rests its case, Your Honor, for there are no legitimate charges to bring to trial.
Let's start with that freebie 440. It's a rudimentary though effective setup, featuring a factory block, forged internals, and ported stock head castings. With a mild 232/242 at .050 hydraulic roller cam, it kicks out 530 hp on the pump. Even though it's nothing fancy, why would anyone just give it away? "My good friend Phil Cook owns C&C Performance Engines [Duncan, Oklahoma], and we've known each other since high school," Kevin explains. "He was one of my sponsors back when I used to race NHRA Super Gas and Super Stock. Phil probably has a million dollars worth of junk laying around his shop, so he built this motor for me from spare parts." Having scored a free motor from intake to oil pan, Kevin was already way ahead of the low-buck game. Now all he had to do was drop it into a lightweight chassis.
A Mopar fanatic since purchasing a 383-powered '71 'Cuda when he was 16 years old, Kevin's weapon of choice this time around was an A-body, which he bought three years ago for $2,000 from the original owner. At 2,940 pounds, it's the consummate counterpart for the worked 440. It was garage-kept for 34 years and had just 89,000 original miles on it, so only the bottom of the quarter-panels were rusted. Since the Duster is a bit more plebian than a 'Cuda or Road Runner, Kevin had the luxury of straying from period-correctness without being rebuked by the Mopar camp. "I basically took a '70 and built a '71 clone, which to me is a more desirable body style," he says. "That's why it has side stripes and a shark-tooth grille." Other visual enhancements include a Go-Wing rear spoiler and a custom fiberglass hood, which was never available on Dusters from the factory. "If I did this to a high-end car like an E-body, all the Mopar guys would go crazy," Kevin says.
As a former competitor in the upper ranks of NHRA racing, Kevin owned a tube chassis Super Gas Charger that ran 9.08 at 144 mph, and a Super Street Dart that ran 10.0 at 132 mph. While he recognized that his fastest days were behind him, he wasn't quite ready to retire from racing altogether. He still needed to get his fix somehow, and he had to get it cheap. "Since I'm getting up there in age now [47], I wanted a car that I could drive on the street and take to shows, in addition to racing at the track," he explains. Like most grassroots hot-rodders, the low-buck part of the equation came out of necessity. "I just don't have the kind of money where I can spend $30,000 on building a car. I have a lot of friends who have a lot of their own friends, and they're all willing to lend a hand. That's the only way I could ever build a car like this."
Like the motor, having the right connections made it possible for Kevin to pinch a few pennies when it came time to paint the Duster. He happened to know a fellow by the name of Jason Wolfe, who happened to own Wolfe Custom Paints (Mustang, Oklahoma). The result is show-car-quality paint for little more than the cost of supplies. "I got a $10,000 paint job for $4,500," says Kevin. "Jason basically slid my car into his booth between jobs, and got me a great deal." Kevin's a loyal Mopar guy even in his choice of colors, as he had his car sprayed in DuPont Viper White. In addition, the wheelwells were stretched a bit to accommodate taller tires.
Seemingly small details can often break the bank, and to prevent that from happening, Kevin turned to the used market. Instead of calling a mail-order house and forking over a credit card, Kevin scoured the Internet to score killer deals on items including a radiator, a cooling fan, an ignition system, wheels, and gauges. "You might as well call this the eBay car," he says. "If you don't mind putting used parts on your car, you can buy them for a fraction of what they cost new." Similarly, when used components weren't readily available, Kevin sought the advice of like-minded enthusiasts on Internet message boards, to find out which vendors had the best deals on new parts.
In the few instances where Kevin didn't rely on his friends or his affinity for parts scouring to cut expenses, he modified his approach accordingly. One example is the Duster's suspension, which doesn't have any freebies or used goods. Its simplicity keeps costs in check, though, as the front was rebuilt to stock specs with a $180 Mopar Performance rebuild kit. The same goes for the rear suspension, with the addition of a set of $200 Mopar Performance Super Stock leaf springs. Although he spent less than $600 on the suspension, it's still good for 1.68-second 60-foot times. And though these figures are still slightly shy of stellar, they're quite respectable for a genuine street car on a stock-style suspension.
At the track, the Duster has run a best of 11.59 at 117 mph on motor. With the NOS nitrous kit pilled up to 125 hp, the ET drops to 10.77 at 124 mph. And yes, as you may have already guessed, the nitrous kit was another freebie, courtesy of Kevin's buddy Phil Cook. Although it's far from the fastest car he's built, it is quite possibly the most rewarding. "Over the years I've had race car after race car, so it's nice to finally have something that I can enjoy on the street," he says. "The car has won its class in all three shows it's been in, which is definitely a new experience for me."
Naturally, with a group effort such as this, there are many people who deserve recognition for their hard work. Kevin would like to thank Randle Curley, Bill Bunce, Kent Birch, Jack Whitt, Jason Wolfe, Larry Wilson, Phil Cook, and Jack Vance for their help and free parts. "This car would have cost $20,000-$25,000 to build for most people, but I'm very fortunate to have such a great group of friends," he says. You see, "friends with benefits" doesn't have to be dirty. Like we said at the top, free 440 or not, speed doesn't come much cheaper than this.
Where The Money Went
Kevin refers to his Duster as "the eBay car," and we can't think of a more appropriate title. Many of the parts used to build it aren't fresh and shiny, but who cares? They get the job done for not a lot of scratch, and that's what matters most in a budget street/strip car. Here's a list of all the deals Kevin landed.
|1970 Plymouth Duster:
|Paint and body:
|Factory bucket seats:
|Used Grant steering wheel:
|Used Auto Meter accessory gauges:
|Used Auto Meter tach:
|Used Moroso accessory panel:
|Used B&M shifter:
|Mopar Performance
front suspension rebuild:
|Mopar Performance
rear suspension rebuild:
|Mopar Performance
Super Stock leaf springs:
|Mopar Performance
subframe connectors:
|Wilwood front brakes:
|TorqueFlite 727 trans:
|TCI converter:
|Used 8.75-inch rearend:
|Used Weld wheels:
|M/T tires:
|Fuel cell:
|Holley fuel pump:
|Used Holley carb:
|Used MSD distributor:
|Used MSD ignition box:
|MSD coil:
|MSD wires:
|Used Griffin radiator:
|Summit water pump:
|Used B&M fans:
By The Numbers
'70 Plymouth Duster
Kevin Whitt * Norman, OK
Total cost to build:$13,783
Best quarter-mile ET:10.77/124
(125hp NOS), 11.59/117 (on motor)
|440 big-block Chrysler
|factory Chrysler, bored to 446ci
|Milodon oil pump, Moroso pan, B&M cooler
|Rotating assembly:
|Eagle 3.750-inch steel crank,
6.760-inch H-beam rods,
forged 10.0:1 Speed-Pro pistons
|Cylinder heads:
|ported Mopar 906 iron castings,
2.14/1.81-inch stainless steel valves
|Crane 232/242 at .050 hydraulic roller,
.504/.528-inch lift, 112-degree LSA
|Crane lifters and valvesprings
|Rocker arms:
|Mopar Performance 1.6:1 ratio
|Mopar Performance M1 intake,
1-inch Moroso spacer
|Holley 850-cfm carburetor
|Fuel system:
|Holley pump, Barry Grant regulator,
custom aluminum fuel cell
|Power adder:
|NOS nitrous 125-shot
|TTI 2-inch long-tube headers,
dual 3-inch Flowmaster mufflers
|Griffin radiator, Summit water pump,
B&M electric fan
|530hp at 6,000 rpm,
526 lb-ft at 5,900 rpm (on motor)
|Built by:
|C&C Performance
|TorqueFlite 727 auto,
TCI 4,200-stall converter,
manual valvebody, B&M shifter
|Rear axle:
|Mark Williams 8.75-inch rearend,
30-spline axles, 3.91:1 gears,
Detroit Locker differential
|Rear suspension:
|rebuilt stock;
Mopar Performance subframe connectors
and Super Stock springs
|Wilwood 11-inch discs, front;
stock drums, rear
|Weld Pro Star 15×3.5 (1.5-inch backspace),
front; 15×8 (3.5-inch backspace), rear
|Mickey Thompson 24x5x15, front;
Mickey Thompson 28×12.5×15, rear


text:
Cover Shot! is a regular feature here at the Café. I love discovering new covers, and when I find them, I like to share. More than anything else, I am consumed with the mystery that each new discovery represents. There is an allure to a beautiful cover. Will the story contained under the pages live up to promise of the gorgeous cover art?
I haven't started Cassie Alexander's Edie Spence series, but that doesn't stop me from liking the covers. I love the creatures lurking in the background. While the dress looks like an unskilled attempt at Photoshop, the tentacles writhing in the waves behind her are pretty cool.
In stores December 2013
Edie Spence just wanted a vacation. A nice, relaxing, stress free, non-adventure away from the craziness that's dominated her life since becoming a nurse for paranormal creatures. But from the start, her trip on the Maraschino, a cruise ship bound for Hawaii, has been anything but stress free, especially when Edie's boyfriend Asher recognizes someone he used to know. Someone from his not-so-nice past. With their lives in the balance, will Edie and Asher be able to save their growing family or will this adventure be their end?


text:
I don't know if you've noticed but I tend to prepare healthy meals fairly often. This is my husband Lulu's request and it was his New Year's resolution to change his eating habits. He's lost 25 pounds so far and he's trying to get back to his pre-marriage weight.
Yesterday, I boiled manicotti-like pasta (big pennoni rigati) and stuffed them with a mixture of yuba (tofu skin), green asparagus spears, yellow onions and curly parsley. After completing the vegan filling, I realized I needed a binder to be able to stuff the mixture into the cylinder-shaped pasta .
While the pasta was boiling, baby Aria and I stepped outside and randomly harvested a few ripe figs in the garden. That's when I decided to prepare a sauce for this dish made of fresh figs, hazelnuts, tomato paste and roasted red bell peppers. The texture came out exactly as wonderfully as I had anticipated it would. Sometimes, improvisation ends up with beautiful results!
This is my upscale version of a PB&J sandwich. Instead of using good ol' peanut butter, I used speculoos spread (fancy word for gingerbread cookie butter) and I skipped the bread and prepared blondies mixed with honey-roasted peanuts. As for the jelly part, I used a combination of crushed fresh blackberries and fig spread I prepared last Fall from the figs in our garden.
Every weekend, I try to get the girls involved in the kitchen by preparing a large brunch together. It's a great way for our family to catch up with each other's busy lives. In my opinion, food is a great tool for bonding and sharing memories.
As expected, these cookie butter bars were a (fig and blackberry-flavored) smashing success (no pun intended) for both kids and grownups!
I make crêpes very often. I've done it so many times since I was a kid that I bet I could prepare this batter with my eyes closed. The only difference in today's recipe is that I made them thicker and fluffier. A crêpe soufflée is basically a regular crêpe batter folded with egg whites. This couldn't be easier!
I flavored the dessert with fig spread, fresh figs and a dollop of whipped cream. To provide a great contrast of texture, I sprinkle crushed honey-roasted peanuts on top. Give this simple French sweet treat a try; I promise you'll be in heavenly dessert bliss!
Lala, my husband's youngest sister, helped to maintain our vegetable and fruit garden all summer. She definitely has a green thumb and has been so good watering our tomato plants and keeping them alive (even when I was out of town for the Banh Mi book promotion in Houston last week). Lala has just started 4th grade this month. She's a very witty girl, full of energy and such a foodie. She told me she didn't want to have to eat the school lunches this year and would prefer eating homemade food for her back-to-school lunch (click on the link for more back-to-school lunch suggestions).
I told her it would be possible only if she helps me in the kitchen once she's done with her homework. She started a chart with the menu of the week and she seemed so thrilled! I couldn't be more excited because these are more precious moments I get to share with my munchkin, plus it's about sharing my passion for cooking.
So this evening, we gathered a few San Marzano tomatoes, basil flowers and Brown Turkey figs. You're probably wondering what we made with all these fantastic ingredients? Pasta sauce! I sweetened the tomato sauce with a hint of maple syrup and tossed medium shell pasta into the delectable sauce. It's sweet without being overpowering, and the figs give it a wonderful new dimension.
This fruity bread dessert is so delicious you won't believe it only requires 5 ingredients. No egg, no baking time and no more than 30 minutes prep time.
I cut black sesame and caraway Noor bread into small pieces and soaked them in hot fig preserves. Once the preserves were chilled, the cake jelled into one entity. I served the fig Noor bread cake with tangy crème fraîche for richness and pineapple and raspberries for a touch of acidity to balance the sweetness of the preserves.
Last weekend, my good friend Laura, who's a jam expert, came over and picked 15 pounds of Black Mission figs in our garden. Aria and I helped gather as much fruit as possible so she could prepare her yummy fruit preserves. While selecting the ripe fruits, we chatted and Laura told me she would try a new technique.
The idea was to find a method that doesn't require pectin. To make the preserves, Laura started by combining water and lemon juice. After bringing the liquid to a boil, she stirred in sugar and brought the temperature to 250°F. Finally, she added the figs and vanilla beans and cooked the mixture at 220 degrees until jelled.
I also have an announcement for this weekend. I'm going to be making a stop in Houston, Texas for an interview with Cleverley Stone on CBS Radio 650 AM at 10am Saturday. Tune in if you can, because a lucky listener will win a free copy of my cookbooks. Then I head to Barnes & Noble to sign my just released cookbook,Banh Mi, and my previous book, Haute Potato. Make sure you stay to sample a dish featured in Banh Mi! Hope you stop by and say hi!


text:
3D Wire Objects Lazy Susan
Designer: Matthias Hennig patterndesigns.com
3D objects in cube form as wireframes.
3D objects in cube form as wireframes.
Proudly display table necessities such as napkins, condiments, and utensils on uneekee's custom printed Lazy Susan spinning tray. Usually used as a kitchen accessory, the spinning trays can be functional in bathrooms, bedrooms, or closets to help keep your personal effects in reach, on display and easy to access. Save time by quickly seeing what you have, and save money by not buying duplicates or stuff you already own.
Made of a sturdy, wood laminate. Wipe clean with a damp cloth. Lazy Susan stands 1" high. Customize your own to match your home colors! – email email@example.com.


text:
Susan Holman's Beholden: Religion, Global Health, and Human Rights is among five books awarded a Grawemeyer Award
From the Mughal Empire to cyberwarfare, discover the fascinating subjects covered by the 79 new works just added to OSO
D. Christopher Kayes writes on the challenges faced by Volkswagen, and how the organization can overcome them
Can global warming be reveresed? OSO author, Jennifer Coopersmith, writes more on climate change
PRINTED FROM OXFORD SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.oxfordscholarship.com). (c) Copyright Oxford University Press, 2019. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use (for details see www.oxfordscholarship.com/page/privacy-policy).date: 25 May 2019
Powered by:


text:
Houdini Puzzle Lock
Can you unlock these locks?
- These locks will only open if you know the trick.
- Chose from two styles: Dead Lock and Lock & Key.
- Two keys included with each lock.
Harry Houdini liked many things. He liked debunking spiritualists. He liked his momma. He liked long walks on the beach followed by pancakes. And he really liked being tied up with ropes and chains and locks and stuff - well, he really liked ESCAPING from being tied up with ropes and changes and locks and stuff. And to celebrate this escaping, we offer you two wicked Houdini Puzzle Locks.
Two styles to choose from, these Houdini Puzzle Locks will thrill and delight you and yours. Of course, anyone can put the key into the keyhole and turn it, but nothing will happen until you figure out where and how to . . . we've said too much. Each Houdini Puzzle Lock will give you a fun way of amusing your friends and/or coworkers, as well as just looking really awesome on your desk. In the immortal words of Harry Houdini, "Rosabelle believe."
Houdini Puzzle Lock
- You'll only be able to open these padlocks when you know the trick.
- Great for fun magic tricks, impressing people, and preventing robberies by 19th century rapscallions.
- Two styles to choose from:
- Dead Lock: It's got a fancy coat-of-arms-sort-of-thingie on the front.
- Lock and Key: It's got a combination dial on the front.
- Each lock comes with two keys.
- How do you solve them? We're not telling.
- Lock Dimensions: approx. 3" x 1.8" x 1"


text:
Converting your VM series carbureted motorcycle to Mikuni BS34 constant velocity carburetors is an economical way to add to the performance of your motorcycle. BS34 carburetors out perform VM series aftermarket smoothbore racing carburetors in almost all street applications. While we sell BS34 carburetors on a stand alone basis, many buyers prefer to buy all the needed parts in a "kit" form. Our kit includes not only the BS34 carburetors but all parts and custom rejetting to make installation is a snap! See the link on our home page titled "Mikuni BS Carburetor Install" under the "Tech Stuff Index" for step by step instructions for making this conversion. Note that the throttle cable is the type that screws into your right hand switchgear and is the type used on the KZ1000P (82-05). The length is appropriate for the majority of Kawasaki models but some modification MAY be needed for some models. We can not test the throttle cable's appropriateness for every motorcycle model.
Price: $579 (Your old carburetors of any type will work for a core exchange)
Parts Included:
- Mikuni BS34 Assembly with Custom Rejetting for the pods and your pipes!
- New Emgo brand pod air filters.
- New Motion Pro throttle cable.
- New K&L intake manifolds with vacuum caps.
- New high-flow fuel filter.
- Assembly tuned and road tested using these same components.


text:
To gain the full benefit of new digital processes and technologies, insurers need to go further than simply enhancing their existing ways of doing things, to transforming their operating and even their business models.
But one of the problems has always been making the business case for transformation. In order to address this, Accenture set out to answer some key questions:
What are the value levers that digital transformation will allow insurers to access?
What is the potential upside from investment in each lever?
How will insurers develop their digital strategy and road map to capture this value without losing ground on their traditional business and overall strategy?
What is the potential value to be obtained from becoming a high-performance digital insurer?
Working closely with Accenture Research and our insurance digital teams, we identified – for the five largest European markets – the precise value levers that digital transformation can activate on the revenue side as well as on the cost side.
We found that digital transformation can help increase sales and revenue by as much as 10 to 15 percent. Fully digital online sales can increase premiums by 2 percent to 3 percent, but the most important levers are cross-channel conversion rates and cross- or up-selling from traditional channels that represent most of the sales volume.
When it comes to direct profit improvement, the range is in the region of 4 to 7 percentage points in the combined ratio. Among the most significant levers are cost effectiveness based on the ability to select the right customers and risks, the reduction of fraud and the improvement of retention ratios and pricing.
When these percentages are applied to our calculations of the combined ratios and then to the absolute figures in monetary terms, it becomes apparent that insurers could potentially double their actual profits. In the UK this figure could even be bigger, given the larger volume of current online sales.
The reason why most insurers would struggle to achieve improvement on this scale is that they lack a holistic digital transformation strategy that covers the entire value chain. Based on our experience, we believe companies should apply four guiding principles as they develop their transformation road map:
Get the basics right.
Define a clear strategy and business model.
Develop and nurture a customer-first digital culture and organization.
Test and learn continuously to fine-tune all elements of the road map.
Digital transformation is, by its nature, a moving target and will endure as long as the company remains in business. For insurers, the key will be to achieve a level of digital maturity in four important areas that underpin a resilient and agile digital business model: analytics, the customer experience, digital strategy and transformation, and marketing and sales effectiveness. Those that succeed, and apply their efforts to the value levers we have identified, should achieve industry-leading levels of profitability.
Receive e-mails from Accenture featuring new content that matches your interests.
Visit the subscription center to make your selections and subscribe to New from Accenture.


text:
Hamelman's 5 Grain Non-Levain
This is my non-levain Jeffrey Hamelman's 5 Grain Levain bread. Wait, non levain? I don't know if that is techincally correct. I did of course use some yeast - dry active. However, I did not do a levain build overnight as his original recipe calls for. I am giving my starter a nice vacation in the fridge for a while. Anyway, a couple questions I have for you experts out there. How did the crust turn out so shiny and almost pretzel-like? I did not intend for that to happen. Also, the loaves turned out a bit oval and not a round boule as I proofed it. When I tranfered it to the pan, it did shake up a bit, but still looked quite round when it went in the oven. Also, crumb photos will follow when its cooled and I get to a local grocery store this evening to sneak some slicing on their machine.


text:
SPARTANSBURG, S.C. – Despite scoring the first goal of the contest, the Liberty Flames fell for the first time in 2013, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Wofford Terriers, Wednesday afternoon at Snyder Field.
Liberty suffers defeat for the first time this season, falling to 2-1. In addition, the Flames allowed their first goal of the season, after not allowing one in their first two contests. Wofford moves to 1-3-1 on the year.
After a scoreless opening 19 minutes, Liberty jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 19:21. Midfielder Sachem Wilson scored his third goal of the year, taking a pass from Juan Nino and finding the top left-hand corner of the net to give the visiting Flames an advantage.
However, that lead was short lived, as Wofford countered with a marker during the 24th minute. On a corner kick, defender Connor Davis headed the kick by midfielder Nestor Jaramillo into the top of the net for his third goal of the year, tying the contest at 1-1.
The goal was the first scored by a Liberty opponent this season. The Flames had held their opponents without a goal for the first 203:54 of the 2013 campaign.
The host Terriers took a 2-1 edge into intermission, scoring during the 44th minute. After defender Forest Lasso's header off a corner kick was blocked by a Liberty defender, Wofford converted the ensuing corner kick opportunity to take an advantage. Lasso this time netted his first goal of the season, heading the kick into the top right-hander corner of the net for the lead.
The Flames opened the second half with back-to-back shot attempts. Forward Kyle Breitmeyer fired the first shot of the half in the 50th minute, forcing a save by Terriers goalkeeper Joe Wichmann. Liberty midfielder Blessing Tahuona followed up the attempt with a shot of his own, which he pushed high.
Wofford extended its advantage to 3-1 during the 66th minute, when Jaramillo scored his first goal of the season. The midfielder found the net with a shot from the left corner of the six-yard box to up the host's lead.
Less than four minutes later, the Terriers tallied the final goal of the contest. Lasso recorded his second goal of the contest, heading a throw in past Liberty goalkeeper Jeremy Lee for the 4-1 lead.
Wofford held a 14-9 shot advantage and a 10-2 edge over Liberty in corner kicks during the game.
Scott Sutarik played the first 45 minutes in goal for the Flames, making one save. Lee played the final 45 minutes between the posts for Liberty, recording one save. Wichmann made two saves for Wofford, playing the entire 90 minutes.
Liberty will next travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., for a match with the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs. Match is time is 2 p.m. The contest with be the first Big South Conference match of the year for both teams.


text:
Alcohol Licenses Frequently Asked Questions
How do you apply for a liquor license?
Guidelines and application forms are on our website: [email protected]. These include checklists of what you need to do to obtain a liquor license.
Who can I call if I have questions/complaints about a neighboring alcohol establishment?
You may either call or email Minneapolis 311, which addresses nonemergency concerns.
Where can I find a link to the city ordinance regarding alcohol licenses/ sales, so I can get a better understanding of the rules and regulations that these establishments must follow?
See Code of Ordinances, Title 14: Liquor and Beer.
How can I find out what my ward is and who the City Council Member for my ward is?
The City's website has a map for you to type in your address.
How long does the process of obtaining a liquor license in Minneapolis take?
About six to eight weeks.
Besides 3-1-1 is there a general Business Licensing number that I can contact for more information?
You can call 311 from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on weekdays, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. on weekends or email [email protected]. The telephone number for Business Licenses is (612) 673-2080. We are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
What are the main rules, regulations, procedures and standards these alcohol-serving establishments have to follow? (Noise, litter, serving within hours, etc.)?
Inspectors use a checklist for enforcement and accountability.
What are the acceptable forms of identification?
The State of Minnesota has an Identification Card Requirements document on their website.
How are these rules and regulations enforced?
Routine, complaint, and after-hour enforcement by License Inspectors.
What are the penalties for these violations? For repeat violations?
Warnings, citations, fines, license suspension and/or revocation.
Where can I find a calendar showing the different dates and subject matter for public council meetings? And if I were to attend this public meeting, would I have a chance to voice my concerns directly to the council?
A meeting schedule is available from our website. You may also contact your Council Member or License Inspector.
Last updated Jan 31, 2019