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Information Security
- FeatureBuilding A Perimeter Defense With Application-Level Firewalls
- FeatureHot Pick: Citrix Systems' Citrix Access Essentials
- FeatureTo Catch a Thief
- FeatureSSL VPN: Array Networks' Array SPX5000
- FeatureOn the Mend
- FeatureConfiguration Management: Configuresoft's Enterprise Configuration Manager v4.7
- FeatureRecent Releases: Security product briefs, December 2005
- FeatureApplication Security: Cenzic's Hailstorm v2.6
- FeatureControlling the Uncontrollable
- FeatureSecure Reads: Mergers and Acquisitions Security
- FeatureThinking Ahead
- FeatureOn The Radar: Security technology can't solve process problems
- FeaturePerspectives: History teaches security lessons well
- FeatureEditor's Desk: Security for the corporate brand
- FeaturePing: Desiree Beck
iSTOCK/GETTY IMAGES
To Catch a Thief
Forensics tools aren't only used in high-profile cases.
February 28, 2005 -- Juju Jiang was sentenced to 27 months in prison for installing key loggers on computers at various Kinko's locations throughout Manhattan. He collected confidential information that gave him access to individuals' bank accounts.
July 14, 2005 -- Allan Eric Carlson was convicted of 79 counts of computer and identity fraud and sentenced to 48 months in jail. An unhappy baseball fan, he spoofed e-mails complaining about the poor performance of the Philadelphia Phillies from writers at area newspapers, Fox Sports, ESPN and other media.
August 12, 2005 -- Scott Levine was found guilty of 120 counts of unauthorized access of a protected computer, two counts of access device fraud and one count of obstruction of justice. He and some of his coworkers at e-mail distributor Snipermail stole more than one billion records containing personal information from business partner and data management firm Acxiom.
Headline-grabbing crimes like these are helping make computer forensics one of information security's fastest-growing markets. While forensics tools are used to help track down perpetrators in high-profiles cases, they are also being used in everyday civil and criminal cases to prepare for potential lawsuits over intellectual property theft, enforcement of non-compete clauses and regulatory compliance issues.
One of the requirements in SOX, SB 1386, GLBA and HIPAA is the ability to detect fraudulent activity, which is where forensics usually comes into the picture. Coupled with increased cybercrime, regulatory compliance is yet another business driver that is making more organizations bring forensics capabilities in-house and look to tools to help them.
But before you make your IT staff detectives, forensics requirements must be truly understood.
Defining Process
While forensics is sometimes confused with incident response, their objectives are quite different. Every company should have an incident-response team to deploy when something suspicious takes place and stop malicious activity, but a forensics team has different requirements.
|Click here for a timeline highlighting some of the more than 50 million account numbers that have been compromised (PDF).
- CHOOSE team members from security, IT, management, legal, human resources and public relations, and assign necessary responsibilities to those roles.
- OUTLINE the forensics methodology that will be used. Include steps such as incident verification, bit-image creation, evidence collection procedures, timeline creation and review, media and operating system analysis, data recovery processes, and report generation.
- IDENTIFY critical systems and how they should be handled if breached. Some systems cannot be brought down for investigative purposes because of the negative business impact.
- DETERMINE the chain-of-custody steps for collected evidence.
- SELECT the various documentation types that will be used for gathering evidence.
- DETAIL recovery procedures by creating standardized steps for rebuilding affected systems and recovered data.
- DEFINE the team's forensics toolkit.
The internal team carries out the investigation and collects evidence, and is responsible for the crux of the case; the external team verifies that the investigation was carried out properly, ensuring the evidence is admissible in court.
While the in-house team has more intimate knowledge of the company, its systems and business needs, the outside team has seen many more types of crimes. Together, these groups can provide more effective results.
There are several tools available to forensics teams to help ensure a proper investigation. Guidance Software's EnCase, AccessData's Ultimate Toolkit, and Paraben's NetAnalysis are some of the most widely used forensics tools in the industry. e-fense's Helix is a strong open-source alternative.
Guidance Software's EnCase
Guidance Software has long been the leader in forensics software with EnCase, the most-used forensics acquisition and analysis tool by law enforcement and the private sector.
EnCase has ample court history to support its usability, and it supports the acquisition of evidence from just about every operating system, file system and media type, including live systems. Through what Guidance calls a passive agent, it performs over-the-network acquisition of evidence from live systems to a remote analysis station. EnCase then creates well-organized, detailed reports that are understood by experts and attorneys alike.
EnCase images hard drives and partitions via a proprietary format in which equal-sized chunks of information are read from the source media and then written to the destination, along with an accompanying hash for data integrity. This serves as an integrity check--the benefit being the rapid reacquisition of data should any chunk's hash fail the check.
For searching, EnCase employs an extremely flexible Unix grep-like facility. These searches, which take time but yield valuable results, parse evidence byte by byte and can uncover deleted files and other non-file data.
Though its enterprise edition is more expensive than the other tools listed here, EnCase Enterprise also offers additional features such as network-based acquisition.
AccessData's Ultimate Toolkit
AccessData's Ultimate Toolkit (UTK) incorporates a password recovery tool capable of decrypting just about any file, an enhanced registry viewer designed to illuminate evidence hidden in system-only accessible registry keys, a disk wiper and a distributed-computing en-cryption breaker.
UTK's edge is its database-driven architecture. As evidence is imported (typically drive and partition images), it's scanned and indexed into a case database. This allows for quick ad hoc string queries and organization of extracted files and data without the need to rescan. This same type of search performed by other products can take considerable time; UTK returns instantaneous results.
Armed with computer forensics tools, Oregon State Police detective Stephen Payne helped uncover an Internet crime ring. The culprits, a group of teen-agers and adults, sent thousands of e-mails spoofing Citibank and other financial institutions asking customers for banking and other personal information.
Several recipients responded; the thieves created fake ATM cards embedded with the victims' data, withdrew cash and bought iPods over the Internet. A company shipping the devices notified police, who tracked down some of the criminals. Payne's investigation into their computers led to more suspects.
Using Guidance Software's EnCase, Payne cracked files on six computers protected by the Windows XP Professional Encrypting File System. He uncovered chat room sessions in which the group's 15-year-old ringleader instructed the others.
"He had the computer smarts and was teaching the others, who were recording their chat room sessions, I assume only to be able to go over what they learned," Payne says. Payne used keyword-search capabilities in EnCase and AccessData's Forensic Toolkit to ferret out online delivery confirmation pages from a shipping company. EnCase also allowed him to construct a chronology of events, which helped lead to two convictions in the case.
"Without that keyword search ability, you're really not able to see the silver needle in the golden haystack," he says.
Another Oregon law enforcement official, Jeff Snyder, computer forensics examiner and manager of the Multnomah County central parole office, relies on New Technologies' Stealth Suite to thwart sex offenders' illicit online activity. One such offender reformatted his hard drive, figuring it would eliminate any trace of his illegal behavior, but Snyder found several hundred child and adult pornography images and a couple hundred e-mails to children buried inside.
Stealth Suite allows Snyder's team to make a mirror image of a drive before they examine it so as to not taint the evidence--an important step, he says.
"If you do anything that changes even one byte on that drive, then you have to explain in court how whatever procedure you used either didn't damage the evidence or change it," he says. In some cases, though, an examiner may not be able to duplicate the drive and needs to work on a live system: "You may be in an environment where it's not practical to shut down a business when you're looking at a machine."
The Stealth Suite also gives Synder's team the ability to search sector by sector on a drive or disk, which helps them dig into a computer's "slack space," where they can find a treasure trove of information.
"That's the essence of computer forensics work--to go into places where the operating system makes notes to itself that a user doesn't have any control over," he says.
--Marcia Savage
Included with UTK is Access-Data's Forensic Toolkit (FTK), which has been around since 1998 and has gained quite a bit of popularity among law enforcement officials and the private sector. Its capability for dealing with e-mail--more and more becoming the silver bullet of evidence--is second to none.
FTK's ability to quickly catalog e-mail on an evidence image in just about any stored format--and further extract embedded images and elements in a highly searchable fashion--makes it the premier forensic tool for such analysis. FTK is also adept at handling graphics and creating reports that display them in an easy-to-understand and organized manner.
Typical of a commercial tool, FTK can manage a case from acquisition to completion, and includes polished and flexible reporting capabilities that can be easily installed onto an auto-play CD-ROM for distribution.
e-fense's Helix
e-fense's Helix, created by forensics specialist Drew Fahey, is an open-source Linux LiveCD distribution designed specifically for digital forensics and based on the popular Knoppix distribution. It contains many forensics- and security-related tools designed to aid in the recovery and analysis of digital evidence from live and post-mortem (powered off) systems. As it's Linux-based, it has the ability to analyze Linux file systems like Ext2/Ext3, and even the less common ones like ReiserFS, JFS and XFS.
What makes Helix different from other Linux LiveCDs are the measures it takes to preserve all of the drives and partitions present on a system. A common problem with other LiveCDs is that they mount swap partitions when they boot, possibly altering data. Helix will not mount any swap partitions (any auto-mounted partitions are read-only), which preserves data, MAC (Modified, Accessed, Changed/Created) times and other such file metadata. This allows Helix to acquire evidence without the use of a hardware write-block device.
Helix will also auto-play on live Windows systems, on which its self-contained binaries and executables can be used for acquisition of both volatile data, like RAM, and stored data on a variety of media.
Forensics is becoming an integral part of ensuring compliance with the top regulations affecting organizations: SOX, SB 1386, GLBA and HIPAA.
SOX section 404 outlines management's responsibility pertaining to financial controls and requires that any shortcomings in these controls be reported; section 802 forbids intentional destruction or modification of financial or operational records; section 301 covers how organizations must handle fraud complaints and investigations. Case law has established that forensics is an important component of investigating this type of fraud because it provides a reliable method to determine if digital records have been modified or deleted.
GLBA's Financial Privacy Rule, which addresses the collection and dissemination of non-public customer information, and its Safeguards Rule, which outlines how controls should be governed to protect this type of information, also fall under forensics' umbrella. Forensics is becoming more of an integral piece of auditing and investigating compliancy with the Safeguards Rule.
HIPAA has similar requirements pertaining to medical information, requiring thorough analysis and reporting of security incidents.
SB 1386 requires that companies doing business in California must report the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, which can be a driver's license number, Social Security number or financial account number.
--Shon Harris
Among the tools Helix employs are its feature-packed Sleuth Kit and graphical interface Autopsy Browser. Used in tandem, these give the digital investigator a very capable graphical analysis platform similar in functionality to many commercial products.
Since Helix is a shareware tool, it's inexpensive but lacks the technical support and fixes to bugs when needed. Also, its youth is a drawback; there is little if any court case history in which Helix has been used.
Paraben's NetAnalysis
Paraben has an extensive suite of tools that can be used to examine e-mail, recover passwords, analyze chat logs and perform powerful Web surfing analysis.
Paraben's NetAnalysis tool can examine AOL history files, reconstruct a cache for viewing, recover deleted Internet history files, identify Google searches, and provide a cookie and URL decoder. Its ability to capture evidence from most cell phones and PDAs is more comprehensive than similar capabilities in other tools.
Although Paraben has an extensive toolset, it has not caught on in the industry as well as the EnCase and AccessData products.
Post Mortem
After your internal forensics team has carried out an incident or crime investigation with the appropriate toolkit, it's important to understand what went right and what went wrong so the process can be improved.
Some questions the team should address include whether additional training or tools are needed for future incidents, and whether any recovery activities introduced vulnerabilities or affected the company's regulatory status. Based on the forensics team's discoveries and its assessment of damages from a particular incident, a company can decide whether to take the case to court.
The team should be able to determine the technical sophistication of the criminal and the likelihood of being able to catch him. It's also important to determine what type of individual did this type of crime. Was it a competitor or just some kids hacking for fun?
Choose your battles wisely: It would not be a good business decision to win a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a few teenagers who have no money.
Ultimately, having a skilled computer forensics team will ensure your company is prepared for the worst. Knowing how to track digital footprints can help your business catch a thief before he escapes into cyberspace.


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MLB Player Profile: Yadier Molina
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Thursday, January.17/2013
By Landen Crouch ( Cardinals Correspondent) Follow @LandenCrouch
For the majority of his career, Yadier Molina has been highly touted as one of the top catchers in the game of baseball. In recent years, that label has evolved even deeper, as it could now be said that Molina is one of the game's best overall players. With yet another fantastic year under his belt in 2012, the question remains: how long will Molina be this good? Hopefully for Cardinals fans, this peak of Molina's career will last several more years and possibly even continue to rise.
From 2005 to 2007, Yadier Molina was best known for his abilities on defense, but he struggled to be a consistent hitter. That changed in 2008, as Molina really seemed to grow as a hitter. He posted a career high .304 Batting Average – that stood until he set a new career high in 2011 (.305). New career highs have been the theme for Molina over the last couple years, as he seems to be consistently topping great years with even better ones.
Yadier Molina Highlights in 2012:
In 2008, Molina set the bar high for himself, with career highs in BA (.304), Runs (37), Hits (135), RBI (56), SLG (.392), and OPS (.740). In previous years, from 2004-2007, Molina was never more than an average hitter, never even reaching 100 hits in a season. But it was that 2008 season that changed everything. Molina followed the 2008 season with two more fairly consistent seasons, posting very similar numbers. In 2011 though, everything changed, and it seemed Yadier Molina had figured it out. He became lethal at the plate, adding yet another weapon to a fantastic Cardinals lineup. He set seven new career highs in offensive categories in 2011, including Runs (55), Hits (145), HRs (14), RBI (65), BA (.305), SLG (.465), and OPS (.814).
The 2011 season was a career year for Molina, who for the first time in his career received some votes for the NL Most Valuable Player award. When the season ended, the Cardinals made resigning Yadier Molina a priority, and he signed a 5-year extension worth $75 million. In the past, it seemed like a lot of players work very hard to get a giant contract, only to relax and collect paychecks. Molina was quite the opposite though. He signed his big extension, and followed it up with another huge year, setting NEW career highs in each of those seven offensive categories again. In 2012, Molina posted new career highs in Runs (65), Hits (159), HRs (22), RBI (76), BA (.315), SLG (.501), and OPS (.874). Because of his fantastic year, Molina receive a lot of votes for the MVP this time around, finishing 4th.
This article is definitely about numbers, and a lot of them. I know numbers can be confusing sometimes, but they are important to the game. They give us concrete examples of who the best players are. When you truly read into these numbers, you can clearly see the improvement that Molina has shown in his time with the Cardinals.
He has had a fantastic career so far and has grown into a fan favorite in St. Louis. Yadier Molina has set the bar very high for whoever will follow him as the next Cardinals catcher. There is no doubt in my mind that if he can put up a couple more years like 2011 and 2012. Molina will go down as one of the greatest Cardinals ever and may have a chance for some Baseball Hall Of Fame consideration
For the first time ever in 2013, Molina will be heading into a season in his 30's. He is already one of the best players in baseball, and it seems that he has just now reached his offensive peak. I fully expect the guy to have at least another 4-5 years of time to continue his fantastic play behind the plate, and grow even more as a hitter. Could he possibly even win an MVP Award? Perhaps only time will tell, but it is going to be fun to watch. The baseball gods have been good to the city of St. Louis, and we are blessed to be able to see and embrace the greatness of Yadier Molina for years to come.
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of www.mlbreports.com and their partners.***
A big thank-you goes out to our Cardinals Correspondent Landen Crouch. Landen is a huge fan of the St. Louis Cardinals. He has followed them almost religiously since he was 7-Years-Old. In recent years, though, he has discovered how deep his passion for the game of baseball is. His dream is to visit as many ballparks as he can in his lifetime. Landen does not currently cover sports professionally, but as a hobby. He is studying Vocal Music Education at Arkansas Tech University and is his final year in the program. He is set to graduate in December of this year. Follow and Interact with Landen on Twitter Follow @LandenCrouch
Please e-mail me at: email@example.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook. To subscribe to our website and have the Daily Reports sent directly to your inbox, click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.Follow @mlbreports
Like us on Facebook here
Posted on January 17, 2013, in MLB Player Profiles, The Rest: Everything Baseball and tagged 2004 World Series, 2006 World Series, 2011 World Series, @landencrouch on twitter, busch stadium, gold glove award winner, Landen Crouch, NL ALL-Star, NL MVP Voting, st louis cardinals. Bookmark the permalink. Comments Off on MLB Player Profile: Yadier Molina.

subset: commoncrawl


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From a distance, Casey Johnson had it all, but to people with front row seats, the troubled socialite was in a grotesque spiral that could only end badly.
An autopsy was performed on the 30-year-old Johnson & Johnson heiress Tuesday, but full results are not expected for weeks. Officials have ruled out trauma or foul play, leaving family and friends to attribute the death to the self-destructive lifestyle of a mentally unstable rich kid.
"It's hitting (father Woody Johnson) hard," a family friend told the New York Daily News. "He and (Casey's mother, Sale) spent years trying to get her on track. But she'd walk out of rehab."
U.S. & World
Johnson, who was found dead in her squalid, rented mansion on Monday was cut off from her wealthy family, taking drugs and hanging out with seedy characters, according to people who knew her in her last days. She was involved in a bizarre lesbian romance with Tila Tequila, had her hair set on fire in a row with another lover and had been accused of stealing clothes from the home of a close friend. Last November, she attempted suicide.
""I've taken a lot of pills, and I'm going to go to sleep forever," she texted pals last November, according to the New York Post.
At that point, her ex-girlfriend called an ambulance to Johnson's house and she was hospitalized for three days. That former flame, Courtenay Semel, is the daughter of former Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel, and part of the network of fabulously wealthy, idle rich kids Johnson hung out with. Others included hotel heiresses Paris and Nicky Hilton and Nicole Richie.
She had taken off for Los Angeles nearly a decade ago after dropping out of Brown University and working in PR for a short stint in her native Manhattan. On the West Coast, she was a fixture on the party scene, posing for paparazzi and getting caught up in late night hijinks.
Her divorced parents had reportedly cut her off in a desperate act of tough love aimed at snapping her out of her destructive lifestyle. A toddler Johnson had adopted from Kazakhstan, Ava, was taken from her by Sale Johnson and her Porsche was reportedly repossessed when she fell behind on payments. She owed more than $20,000 to a nanny service and the utilties at her rented home had been shut off, according to reports.
For Johnson's loved ones, the final indignity may be the behavior of Tequila since Johnson's death. A one-time reality TV personality as famous for taking off her clothes as for her own unstable behavior, Tequila announced last month that she was engaged to Johnson.
"I can't stop these haunting visions of her and I," Tequila tweeted about the woman she called "wifey." "We made such a lovely couple."
"[Tequila] was taking advantage of a sick girl," one family friend told the Post.


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Insect Treatments
Treating Dried Foods For Insects
The single most effective recommendation for long-term wheat storage is to start with clean, pest-free wheat placed in clean containers.
Dry Ice (recommended)
Dry ice is frozen CO2. Treatment with dry ice may improve storage life of the grain, but it is not the most effective fumigant for controlling pests in stored grain. A single treatment with dry ice is sufficient for long-term storage. Annual dry ice treatments are not necessary unless an infestation is recognized in the stored grain.
Oxygen absorbers or vacuum sealing (recommended)
Insects require oxygen to survive, so removing that oxygen is an effective insect prevention measure. The nature of the equipment and plastic or mylar bags makes this practical for only smaller quantities of grains (1-2 lbs) per bag. Oxygen absorbers will work to kill pests in 5 gallon plastic buckets, but these buckets will slowly allow oxygen back inside. (Personal communication LDS Food Storage Research)
Freezing (recommended)
To control insects by freezing, 1-15 pounds of grain should be placed in a medium to heavy plastic bag or double bagged and stored in a freezer for 2-3 days. Eggs of insect pests, if present, will not be affected by freezing. Warm grain for 24 hours to allow some eggs to hatch. Repeat freezing cycle. Multiple freeze-thaw cycles may be required.
Diatomaceous Earth (DE) (not recommended)
The use of diatomaceous earth (DE) as an insecticide is a "commercial" alternative to traditional chemical insecticides. DE is of natural origin, leaves minimal residues on the product and has low mammalian toxicity. DE "inactivates" the waterproof lipids of insects' causing them to die through desiccation. While overall, DE's work well as an insecticide, specific DE formulations must be tested for activity in each product and against each insect species. In addition, while DE is not a chemical hazard it is an inhalation hazard. Thus, the nature of the silica powder in DE determines the risk. This makes home insecticidal use impractical and potentially harmful. (See references 1 & 2).
Bay leaves, chewing gum (mint flavored or otherwise), 10-penny nails, or salt (not recommended)
These treatments are considered old wives tales and there is no research-based evidence that they work.Scientific References:
- C.G. Athanassioua, N.G. Kavallieratosb and C.M. Meletsisc. Insecticidal effect of three diatomaceous earth formulations, applied alone or in combination, against three stored-product beetle species on wheat and maize. Journal of Stored Products Research. Volume 43, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 330-334.
- Subramanyam, Bh. and R. Roesli. 2000. Inert dusts, pp. 321 - 380. In Subramanyam, Bh. and D. W. Hagstrum. (eds.), Alternatives to pesticides in stored-product IPM. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, Massachusetts.


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Located on the Ground Floor of the Common User Terminal at the Domestic Airport, the Brisbane Airport Ambassadors are available at varying times through out the week to assist you. At the VIC you will find maps, brochures, a booking centre where you can book your own accommodation and car hire directly from the free phones and a team of experienced volunteers ready to answer your question.
As well as manning the Information Centre, the Airport Ambassadors roam areas of the Domestic Airport such as the upper level and Skywalk to assist where ever possible.
Just outside the terminal are your bus pick-up points and at the end of Skywalk is the train.
|Opening Hours
|All year
|7am - 7pm
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).


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Come all fools! All jesters! All silly people at heart!
Come join your fellow foolish friends and parade through the streets of
Pennsic on Tuesday, August 16th, in a celebration of your joyous spirit!
Every Pennsic camper is welcome! No rehearsed performance is required, and
you need fulfill no pre-requisites for your performance, costume, or props -
only that you walk along in a responsible and safe manner.
Visit http://home.indy.net/~orange/foolsparade2005.htm for details!
There is a required safety briefing directly before the parade. If you miss
the safety brief, you *must* personally speak to the Fool in Charge, Sophia
the Orange, before you join the parade.
We muster at 5:30 at the Barn - after all the cool performing classes for
the day have finished and before all the cool performances in the evening
If you would like to arrange for an "invasion" of or a polite visit to your
encampment from the Fools' Parade, and your encampment is close to the
merchants' area, please email me!
Please fwd this email and/or the URL above as far and wide as possible!
Please help me reach the non-middle kingdom lists! Every Pennsic attendee
is encouraged to come participate!
Fool in Charge,
Sophia the Orange


text:
Dreamweaver CS6 Responsive Design Online Course
Dreamweaver CS6 Responsive Design Online Course in Uganda
Learn how to
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First, Geoff will very briefly run you through the basics, getting
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Course Outline
Previewing the Completed Layout
Dreamweaver Set Up
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Looking At Other Device Views
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Adjusting Layout Objects
Touring And Understanding The External Style Sheet
Building The Raw Structure For Mobile
Adjusting The Structure For Tablet And Desktop
Inserting Nested Divs In The Layout
Previewing Your Work
Adjusting The External Style Sheet
Building The Header
Inserting The Logo
Inserting And Formatting The Menu Items
Roughing In The Slideshow
Building The Positioning Statement Area
Getting The New Additions Area Built
Constructing The Feature Boxes
Finishing Up The Feature Boxes
Adjusting The Mobile Layout To Scale, Part 1
Adjusting The Mobile Layout To Scale, Part 2
Formatting The Footer
Finishing Up The Mobile Device Layout
Setting Up A Visual Cue For Device Previewing
Adjusting The Tablet Layout's Logo
Configuring Layout Objects To Inherit From The Mobile Style Sheet
Adjusting The Positioning Statement And New Additions Areas
Setting Up The Tablet Device's Feature Boxes, Part 1
Setting Up The Tablet Device's Feature Boxes, Part 2
Let's Cheat! Here's How To Fix Scaling Graphic Margin
Fixing The Mobile View
Adjusting To Accommodate A Fixed-Width Desktop Layout


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A fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon based polymer with multiple strong carbon-fluorine bonds. It is characterized by a high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases.
Fluoropolymers share the properties of fluorocarbons in that they are not as susceptible to the van der Waals force as hydrocarbons. This contributes to their non-stick and friction reducing properties. Also, they are stable due to the stability multiple carbon-fluorine bonds add to a chemical compound. Fluoropolymers may be mechanically characterized as thermosets or thermoplastics. Fluoropolymers can be homopolymers or copolymers.
- chemical handling and wire insulation and jacketingfinish for colorful metal buildings.
- long life finishing on metal curtain walls for tall buildings and large industrial parks.
- painted aluminum extrusions such as windows and storefronts.
- a common finish used for metal coating at airports, malls, banks, churches, sporting stadiums, office buildings, hotels and restaurants.
- an excellent choice for energy efficient cool roofing coatings.
- chemically resistant to halogens (chlorine, bromine, fluorine, iodine) and strong acids even at high temperatures.
- PVDF resins are offered as pellets for easy handling in compounding, molding and extrusion processes and as a fine powder for making solutions or adding to other materials to make high performance composites.


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Royals sign utility infielder Yuniesky Betancourt to a one-year contract
Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has signed utility infielder Yuniesky Betancourt to a one-year Major League contract for 2012. Consistent with club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. With the signing, the Royals' 40-man roster stands at 39.
"We have been looking for a utility infielder who could play short, third and second base and we feel Yuni is a great fit," said Royals' General Manager Dayton Moore. "He brings a right-handed bat with some power and is a guy we know fits in well in the clubhouse."
Betancourt, 29, was the starting shortstop for the National League Central Champion Milwaukee Brewers in 2011. The 5-foot-11, 204-pounder hit .252 with 27 doubles, three triples, 13 home runs, 68 RBI and 51 runs scored during the regular season for the Brewers; then batted .310 with three doubles, a triple, a home run and six RBI in 11 postseason games as Milwaukee advanced to the NLCS before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in six games.
Betancourt hit .253 with 20 home runs and 105 RBI in 222 games for the Royals in 2009 and 2010 after being acquired in a trade from the Seattle Mariners on July 10, 2009. Kansas City then traded him and pitcher Zack Greinke to Milwaukee on December 19, 2010 in exchange for shortstop Alcides Escobar, outfielder Lorenzo Cain and pitchers Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi. Betancourt is a career .268 hitter with 189 doubles, 60 home runs and 375 RBI in seven seasons for the Mariners (2005-09), Royals (2009-10) and Brewers (2011). Born in Santa Clara, Cuba, he now resides in Miami, Fla.


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First double pannier commute ever. The second pannier held my former cable box, modem and associated cords and wires, which I will return to Verizon right after I finish this post. I didn't notice any real difference in weight or handling or any of those things that I should have noticed a difference about while riding, nor did I feel like I was especially laden while going uphill or especially wide when filtering through traffic. So, that's that.
That baseball thing happened and in honor/memoriam of the Red Sox Mets-like collapse, I rode Massachusetts from Lincoln Park to 7th. I liked it. And, apparently, so do other people because I was in a group of three until Columbus Circle, which, frankly, can't get redone quickly enough.
The ride up Massachusetts to Mount Vernon Triangle really isn't that bad (I'm mentioning a square away from hitting all basic shapes in one blog post), especially if you're willing to ride in places where there's just enough room for a bicycle, like right next to parked cars or on striped pavement that indicates drivers should merge. Close to 5th it gets very tight, made even worse by a stopped Circulator. So, maybe that's not really the most fun part.
There's also no bike lane on 7th for a couple of blocks up, at least past the convention center, which I didn't know. I took R across town at Rhode Island. This isn't a very well integrated transition for bicyclists. Maybe a bike box and a bike left turn light on the west side of 7th would make this easier. I mean, it certainly would, but I don't think it's going to happen.
There are many bicyclists in Washington and most of them are lither than I am. Substantially lither. I envy their litheness. In fact, I suspect their litheness is the reason they've drifted towards bicycling in the first place with the comparative advantage and whatnot. However, being lithe doesn't prevent your chain from slipping when you try to push off too hard from an ill-advised track stand. The bicyclist in front me asked if he was ok and he didn't say anything, so I didn't want to force the issue. He caught back up with us a couple of blocks later after we passed the guy on the green Schwinn Varsity in the dimpled, tweedy, light brown pants and the boat shoes (after Labor Day? for reelz?) and he ended up somehow in front of me by the time we got to Dupont and by the time I realized that he was the same guy I saw on Tuesday. I initially didn't recognize him because the other day he was wearing Garneau bike shorts and today it was Pearl Izumi.
I picked up Massachusetts on the other side of Dupont. I stayed in the street today, riding about 4 feet off the curb, which I think was in the road enough to ensure that drivers would have to move out of the lane to pass me. I have absolutely zero sympathy for a driver who has to temporarily change lanes to pass a bicyclist. Is it really such a hardship to have to look in a mirror, flip down a turn signal (ha!), and turn a wheel a little bit? If this bothers you, get over it because you're a moron. Sure, on a narrow road, it might be frustrating, but when there's two lanes? Seriously? Just deal with it.
I think there must have been a sale on black and yellow bicycles. I see them everywhere. A lot of bicyclists riding down the sidewalk on Mass (en masse?) rather than on the street. No prescription here, just an observation.
1 comment:
6th st has an easy transition onto the R st bike lane that lets you avoid that mess by the library on 7th/R/RI. 6th is also fairly overbuilt, and doesn't have the bus traffic like 7th, so I like to take it instead. I should say that there is a bike lane up 5th starting from New York Ave, but there are a lot of speed bumps on 5th that make it not so fun to ride.ReplyDelete
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iLEARN is an ATO (Accredited Training Organization)
For an online verification of accreditations, do a research with
The ITIL® Release Control and Validation training course examines in-depth the concepts, processes and methods provided for in a series of processes in the Service Lifecycle, in particular those useful for the management and delivery of IT Service changes ( Service Operation phases and in particular; Service Transition of the Service Lifecycle).
Classroom courses are confirmed approximately three weeks before the actual start of the course, reaching the minimum number of participants required. For this reason, please, contact us before making any payments.
Issue, test and validate the knowledge of best practices in Service Management, as documented in major publications of the ITIL Service Lifecycle
IT professionals who want to learn about and apply the processes of release control and validation and understand how this phase can be carried out to guarantee the quality of the IT Services offered. The course may also be of interest to those intending to obtain the Expert or Master level qualification.
The ITIL Release Control and Validation course will look, in accordance with the provisions of the official program, at the following topics:
Provided material:
To view the detailed course programme for ITIL Release, Control & Validation please download this pdf
To be able to take part in the ITIL Release Control and Validation course, you must have one of the following certificates:
The following are also advisable:
To be able to take the exam, it's required to have read and accepted the terms and conditions of the examination institute. The acceptance of such terms and conditions will have to be confirmed when taking the exam.
ITIL Release Control and Validation official certificate


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Sharieff Rhaheed-Muhammad, a Florida HS linebacker who recently committed to Louisville, was arrested yesterday and charged with a felony count of lewd lascivious behavior. He's accused of fathering a child with his 14-year-old cousin, who later got an abortion.
The girl said Rhaheed-Muhammad, a three-star recruit from Fort Pierce (Fla.) Central High School, did not force himself on her and that "it just happened." According to the police report, he tried again later and she refused.
After she told her mother, the pregnancy was aborted in November. Rhaheed-Muhammad, 17, refused to provide a DNA sample. So one was obtained via a search warrant at his school, and it showed a nearly 100 percent chance that he was the father.
In a statement to WPTV, Louisville said coach Bobby Petrino "is aware of the situation."
H/t Franco


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Welcome to Honu Hawaii Activities. Hawaii's premier booking agency for activities and tours. Locally owned and operated.
Primary Toll-Free Phone:
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If you are having trouble with the toll free line or you are in Alaska, try our alternate number. It routes to our Call Center in Hawaii.
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Unfortunately there is not enough information to know who Hazel, the recipient is.
The note inside reads:
Dear Hazel, -
I have looked for
you to come home for some
time can't you get away from the "Gold Coast" - I miss you
so much, I am tired of second
hand news - I am still on
the no good list, I can't gain
any strength, I hadn't gotten
out yet, but, maby I can next
week to see Dr - I still get
out of breath - & feet & legs swell.
Am getting anxious to see
you Hazel - Lots of Love Ella Mae
There are several Ella Mae Perkins and I am afraid singling the correct one out is going to be difficult. Hopefully a family member will spot this and know.


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Each of the Crimson's opponents at the invite rank in the NCAA's top-7 (photo courtesy Gil Talbot).
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 5 Harvard men's fencing team will compete for the first time in 2014 at the St. John's Invitational in Queens, N.Y., Sunday, Jan. 26. The Crimson will face No. 1 Columbia, No. 4 Notre Dame, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 2 Penn State and No. 7 St. John's on the strip. Fencing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Taffner Field House.
Follow Harvard Athletics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay connected with all the breaking news from around Cambridge and to get inside access to your favorite Crimson programs.
Last Time Out
Harvard opened its 112th season with a 4-1 performance at the Tradition Tournament hosted by Sacred Heart at the Pitt Center Sunday, Dec. 8.
A quartet of sabre fencers paced the Crimson's performance as senior Eric Arzoian, sophomore Duncan O'Brien and junior Alexander Ryjik each finished the tournament with a 12-3 record. In the foil, junior Brian Kaneshige and sophomore Jerry Chang went 10-5, respectively, while freshman Alexander Eldeib paced Harvard's epeeist with an 11-4 mark in his first collegiate tournament.
Related Link: Men's Fencing Opens Season with 4-1 Performance at Tradition Tournament
Rank and File
In the initial CollegeFencing360.com Fencing Coaches Poll, the Crimson men rank fifth. Five Ancient Eight schools earned a spot in the top-ten as Columbia lands at the top spot, Princeton ranks second, Penn ranks eighth and Brown sits ninth.
Related Link: NCAA Fencing Poll | Women's Fencing Earns Program-Best Ranking at No. 2, Men Seeded Fifth
Since Harvard men's fencing began in 1902 the Crimson has seen 62 opponents on the strip. The Crimson has not dropped a match to 35 of its all-time competitors to hold unbeaten records against 56.5 percent of its all-time foes.
North American Cups
Over the course of three months, 14 Harvard fencers took the strip at USA Fencing's North American Cups to compete against athletes from across the United States and Canada attempting to qualify for both the 2014 Senior and Junior World Championships. The Crimson notched three podium finishes. Jerry Chang and Nina van Loon grabbed gold in the Junior brackets for their respective weapons, while Adrienne Jarocki took home silver in the Division I women's sabre.
Related Links: Ten Harvard Fencers Compete at USA Fencing North American Cup, Chang Captures Gold | Five Fencers Compete at December North American Cup | USA Fencing's January North American Cup Features 11 Crimson Fencers
Bronze Bouts
Foil fencers Jerry Chang and Michael Woo have made a statement on the international strips for team USA this year as the sophomores have captured Junior World Cup Medals. Chang brought back bronze from the Eden Cup Saturday, Nov. 30, while Woo won bronze at the Udine Junior World Cup Sunday, Jan. 5.
Related Links: Chang Brings Back Bronze from Eden Cup | Three Men's Fencers Take Strip at Udine Junior World Cup, Woo Wins Bronze
Red, White and Bronze
Jerry Chang and Brian Kaneshige finished 75th and 86th, respectively, to help the world's top ranked United States men's foil team earn its seventh straight podium finish with a bronze medal performance at the Paris World Cup, the first senior international event of the season, Jan. 18-20.
Related Link: Chang, Kaneshige Help USA Win Bronze at Paris Foil World Cup
About No. 1 Columbia
The Lions enter the weekend atop the college rankings for the first time in program history after defeating each of its 13 opponents on the strip this season. Columbia's victories have been propelled by its sabre and epee squads. Freshman Chris Ahn sits at 19-2 to pace the sabre fencers while junior Andrei Tapai's 17-3 mark leads the Lions' epeeist. Sophomore Adam Mathieu and freshman Drew Johnson have added 25 wins and 28 wins, respectively, for the foil team.
All-Time Versus the Lions
Harvard looks for its ninth straight win over Columbia, despite trailing the all-time series that began in 1903, 33-66. Sunday marks the 13th time the Crimson will meet the Lions on a neutral site with Harvard holding a 10-2 mark on impartial strips.
About No. 3 Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish make the trip to Queens, N.Y., after opening their dual meet schedule Saturday, Jan. 25 at the NYU Invite. Notre Dame has sent fencers to individual tournaments including all three of USA Fencing's North American Cups.
All-Time Versus the Fighting Irish
Harvard looks for its first win over Notre Dame. The Crimson has met the Fighting Irish on the strip eight times since 1983, but has yet to come out victorious.
About No. 6 Ohio State
The Buckeyes bring an 8-1 record into the invitational after sweeping a field of five at its own set of duals, Sunday, Oct. 6, and splitting matches between Penn and Princeton, Saturday, Nov. 23. Freshmen lead Ohio State in each weapon. The sabre squad, which boasts a 59-12 mark, is led by Nikikorn Dornjandaeng and Ben Theeman. Michael Billinghurst paces the epeeist performance while Taylor Clarkson and Michael Hastings-Grags have dominated in the foil.
All-Time Versus the Buckeyes
Since the series began in 2009, Harvard and Ohio State have traded tallying a strike in the win column. The Crimson looks to vindicate its defeat from a year ago and even the all-time series with the Buckeyes, as Harvard trails, 2-3.
About No. 2 Penn State
After two weekend competitions and 11 opponents, Penn State holds a 10-1 record falling to Columbia, 15-12, at its own invite Sunday, Jan. 12. The Nitty Lions victories have been propelled by its foil squad that includes senior David Millette who is undefeated at 13-0. Junior Jeffrey Miller and sophomore Oskar Tang lead the epee fencers with 16 wins each. Sophomore Kaito Streets' 15-3 mark paces the sabre fencers.
All-Time Versus the Nitty Lions
Harvard and Penn State meet for the second time this season on Sunday. The Nitty Lions ride a seven-match win streak against the Crimson to hold a 3-11 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1987.
About No. 7 St. John's
The Red Storm opened its dual schedule at the Brandeis Invitational Sunday, Dec. 8. St. John's defeated MIT, Yale, Brandeis and Boston College, but fell to Brown by a point, to hold a 4-1 record. The foil squad totaled the most wins (35-10) highlighted by senior Max Blitzer (14-1). Trevor Shepard led the epee team to a winning record, 28-17, as the sophomore went 10-5. Sabre fencer Ferenc Valkai's 13-2 mark leads his weapon.
All-Time Versus the Red Storm
Harvard looks to equalize the series with St. John's that dates back to 1939, as the Crimson trails, 6-7. The two programs have met in Queens, N.Y., six times with each team earning three victories.
What's to Come
The Crimson will defend its 2013 Ancient Eight title when it travels to Providence, R.I., Feb. 8-9 for the Ivy League Championships.


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Gold, Old, and Shady
As mentioned earlier, Tom and Katie were on hand for the Beckhams birthday party last night in Santa Monica. Which means that, again, In Touch Weekly is, as usual, full of ass. Katie is NOT leaving him. Maybe that's why she looks like sh*t.
That gold dress on Katie used to be a couch in Hong Kong at the Peninsula hotel – back in the 40s when ladies smoked out of long, slender pipes, and always wore gloves. They were Kept Women - women who chosen for their fresh appeal at one time, who would never see legitimacy, who were paid a lot of money to shop and play mahjong all day and get on their knees occasionally. Women who aged too quickly – happiness and moisture draining from their faces until all of a sudden, 30 looked like 40 and 33 looked like 55.
Katie Holmes turns 30 this December. Could've fooled me.
And not to be a bitch but she really should stay away from those shoes. They make her feet look gargantuan.
Oh and you baby obsessed out there losing your sh*t over the bump – try to restrain yourselves. From other angles, the dress looks less bulgy…but here's a curious little piece of information:
The Boston Marathon is today. Remember all those reports that Katie was supposed to run? Unless she left for Boston at midnight PST and decided to run on only 3 hours sleep, Katie isn't there.
My smutty sense is tingling… yours?


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Complesso San Lorenzo Maggiore
Piazza San Gaetano, 316 - Tel. 081.2110860 - Sito web: www.sanlorenzomaggiorenapoli.it
San Lorenzo Maggiore basilica is one of the oldest in Naples. It dates back to the twelfth century and keeps its gothic inside. The facade shows a gothic portal with the original fourteenth wooden doors, each divided into 48 squares in a good state of preservation. It is a crossed-layout basilica with side chapels with pointed arches that open on an only nave with a truss-ceiling (like the transept). Among the side chapels: SantAntonios large grandly baroque chapel by of with two paintings by Mattia Preti: Santa Chiara e Crocifisso di San Francesco. In the chapel there was also the famous painting by Simone Martini San Ludovico d'Angiò che incorona il fratello Roberto King of Naples, now kept in Capdimonte Museum. The magnificent apse is a clear example of the French gothic influence on the basilica. The ambulatory with radial chapels and a high presbitery with multistyled pillars, ribs and cross vaults is remarkable; in the first arcade there is Caterina dAustrias sepulchre, probably Tino da Camainos first Neapolitan work. Two female statues symbolizing Hope and Charity prop the sarcophagus. Giovanni Boccaccio and Fiammetta met here. In the basement, you can see the remains of the public buildings of theGreek-roman town, and the present Piazza S. Gaetano stands over the centre of it . Besides the sixth century A.D. Paleochristian Church there are traces of the pre-existant structures dated to the fouth century b.C. with the macellum, the old food market, among them.
Open: Mon to Sat - Hours: 9,30 a.m. - 5.00
p.m. Sundays: 9.30 a.m. - 1.30 p.m.
Tickets fares: Museum included 9,00
under18 and over65 6,00 - Artecard holders
7,00 Free entrance to the Basilica
Means of transport: Metro: Line 1 Dante Station
- Line 2 Cavour Station - buses: R2 - E1


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Research and supervisorsTwo of the most important elements of your graduate experience will be your area of research interest and the connections you make with the faculty members who oversee your academic work. Careful time and thought are required to make decisions in these areas.
Use these pages to investigate research opportunities at UVic and where your interests fit. Understand your relationship with an academic supervisor and the things to keep in mind in working together.
Get first hand information by listening to podcasts of UVic doctoral and master's students from a variety of disciplines discussing their research.
What's in this section
Your research
Whether you already know the title of your thesis or you're just beginning to explore your options, discover where your research can take you at UVic.
Your supervisor
To find your fit, you need to know just when and how to go about connecting with an available academic supervisor to oversee your thesis, research project or dissertation. Learn more about the supervisory relationship and its significance to you.


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Are you interested in an exciting career committing war crimes?
If you have marketable skills in:
- Kidnapping, torturing, and imprisoning innocent people
- Bombing and killing rescuers and mourners at funerals
- Assassinating US citizens (and, in this case, his 16 year old son) with no judicial process
- Supporting dictators
- Overthrowing democratically elected governments
Or providing assistance in any form for an organization actively engaging in the above activities, then the Central Intelligence Agency has plenty of opportunities for you! The CIA has a long history of successful collaboration with Nazis and other top war criminals. And it's one of the hottest start-up incubators for terrorist groups; training, funding, and arming some of the most well-known terrorists and war criminals in the world. If you want an exciting career disrupting peace and prosperity around the world–and finance isn't your thing–you can make a real impact at the CIA, literally!
Wednesday at noon, the CDC will be gracefully hosting an information session to learn about job and internship opportunities for students at the CIA. (But be careful, there may be some protesters trying to disrupt the event…)


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Forest Information Billboard
Issue 3, September 2013
Forest Reporting
The New Forest Strategy for EU Has Been Adopted
EU Forests and other wooded land now cover 155 million ha and 21 million ha respectively. This means that more than 42 % of the EU land area is covered with forest and other wooded land. Forest cover in the EU has increased over the past few decades, as a result of afforestation programmes and due to natural regeneration on marginal lands.
There is great diversity of natural forest types, forest covers, and forest ownership structures in the EU. Forests are one of Europe's most important renewable resources and provide multiple benefits to society and the economy. They are one of Europe's main sources of biodiversity.
The New Forest Strategy identifies the key principles needed to strengthen sustainable forest management and improve competitiveness and job creation, in particular in rural areas, while ensuring forest protection and delivery of ecosystem services. The Strategy also specifies how the EU wishes to implement forest-related policies.
Sawmills in Sweden and Finland Have Expanded Shipments of Lumber to Markets Outside Europe from 27% to 43% of Total Exports the Past Five Years, Reports the Wood Resource Quarterly
Many sawmills in Northern Europe have expanded their lumber sales outside the European market during the past few years resulting in an increase in non-European exports from 27 percent of total exports in 2007 to 43 percent in 2012, reports the Wood Resource Quarterly. The biggest changes have been in shipments to Northern Africa, the Middle East, Japan, China and the US.
The full article, excerpt from the Wood Resource Quarterly, can be found in the attached PDF file.
Early 2012 Data on-line on Wood and Primary Wood Products for the EU and EFTA Countries
Preliminary data on wood and primary wood products for 2012 have been published by EUROSTAT. The data was gathered through the Joint Forest Sector Questionnaire (JFSQ) as a shared effort with UNECE, FAO and ITTO to provide comparable data worldwide. The data covers production of and trade in wood and primary wood products according to the JFSQ classifications and can be accessed on-line on the EUROSTAT website. It comprises data submitted for the first deadline of the 2013 data collection for the EU and EFTA countries EUROSTAT is responsible for. A data update is due shortly with the second set of data submission. This year, for the first time, only the submitted data was published while EUROSTAT estimates are considered in the EU aggregates alone.
For more information contact email@example.com
The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Launches its Supporter Program
The FSC Supporter Program offers an alternative to FSC full-voting membership. It allows organizations and individuals, both non-profit and for-profit, to support and commit to the FSC mission: to promote environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world's forests.
The Supporter Program strengthens the current FSC membership structure by incorporating a new model of participation. The aim is to allow individuals and organizations to become part of the solution without the need to join FSC as members. FSC supporters will be non-voting participants, but still have the commitment, expertise and dedication to support the FSC's mission.
To become a supporter, individuals or organizations will need to adhere to the Supporter Program's terms and conditions and contribute an annual fee: as little as US$25 for individuals and US$100 for organizations.
For further information, visit: ic.fsc.org/become-a-supporter.628.htm or contact the Supporter Program team: firstname.lastname@example.com
Tropical Wood Supply Chains: From Legality Towards Sustainability
The concurrence of three special anniversaries for the forestry sector was the reason why the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) invited experts from politics and business to the international conference "Forests for Future Generations – Public and Private Responsibility for Sustainability" in Berlin: the 300th anniversary of Hans Carl von Carlowitz's concept for sustainable forestry, 20 years of forestry certification and 10 years of the EU FLEGT Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade.
How can tropical forests both be used and effectively preserved? How can certified wood products be moved out of a niche into the mainstream market along global supply chains in order to boost sustainable forest management? More than 160 participants from national governments, civil society, scientific institutes and the private sector from 37 countries participated in dialogue on regulatory approaches and private standard initiatives. Synergies between trade-related regulatory processes and private standard initiatives increased the transparency of global supply chains and further develop global supply chains from verifiable legal towards verifiable sustainable.
Intensive debates in two high-level panel discussions and several working groups made clear that all efforts to establish sustainable forest management in the tropics are in vain if there is no demand for tropical timber from certified sources and sustainable managed forests. Potentially strong market levers like the EU timber regulation and public procurement rules need to be effectively implemented with close cooperation between the public and private sector along global supply chains should be fostered.
For more information concerning the conference please see:
Life Cycle Analysis and Forest Certification
Corporations and consumers alike, share a desire to better understand and address the sustainability of the products they manufacturer and consume. However, product sustainability is a massively complex, multifaceted arena, requiring a corresponding diversity of approaches to manage and evaluate.
PEFC's project, 'Incorporating Forest Certification into Product Life Cycle Assessments,' sought to bridge a gap between two commonly utilized sustainability approaches – life cycle assessment (LCA) and forest certification. Forest certification is a system to offer traceability and assurances that forest-based products are derived from forests under sustainable management. Life cycle assessment on the other hand, is an approach to evaluate the environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle. By developing an approach to quantify the environmental impact differential between certified and non-certified forest products, certified fibre sourcing can be better integrated into the scope of a product LCA.
World's Highest Wooden Observation Tower is PEFC Certified
The opening of the Pyramidenkogel in Carinthia, Austria, sets another milestone for the promotion of sustainable forestry. Imposing, this almost 100 meter high observation tower spirals into the air, making it the world's highest wooden observation tower. Yet the Pyramidenkogel does not only offer breathtaking views – the main structure is made entirely of wood originating from PEFC-certified, local forests.
"The Pyramidenkogel is the crowning glory of my 25 year career. As it is PEFC certified, it goes without saying that this will set an example for responsible forestry," says Helmut Hödl, Head of Timber Engineering for Rubner Holzbau GmbH, the PEFC-certified company responsible for the tower. "For a company such as Rubner, the preservation of forests for future generations, and therefore our sustainable raw materials, is an essential issue."
WWF Living Forests Report: Chapter 4 - Forests and Wood Products
This report asks how can we meet the rising demand for wood-based products while conserving the world's forests. The amount of wood we take from forests and plantations each year may need to triple by 2050. This growing market for wood can motivate good stewardship that safeguards forests – or destroy the very places where wood grows.
So can we produce more wood without destroying or degrading forests, in a world where competition for land and water is increasing? Our research suggests it's possible, and that it can be good for the planet.
But it's a challenge that spans the whole supply chain, from where and how wood is grown and harvested to how wisely and efficiently it is processed, used and reused. It involves new plantations in the right places, expanding production in well-managed natural forests, better governance, forest certification, reuse and recycling, more efficient processing and manufacturing and fairer distribution.
Read the full report online at panda.org/livingforests
First Signs of Carbon Sink Saturation in European Forest Biomass
European forests are seen as a clear example of vegetation rebound in the Northern Hemisphere; recovering in area and growing stock since the 1950s, after centuries of stock decline and deforestation. These regrowing forests have shown to be a persistent carbon sink, projected to continue for decades, however, there are early signs of saturation. Forest policies and management strategies need revision if we want to sustain the sink.
Gert-Jan Nabuurs, Marcus Lindner, Pieter J. Verkerk, Katja Gunia, Paola Deda, Roman Michalak, Giacomo Grassi, First signs of carbon sink saturation in European forest biomass, Nature Climate Change 3:792–796 (2013)
Report on Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa 2012
Portuguese National Forest Inventory (IFN 6)
The first results of the current Portuguese National Forest Inventory were published last February. The forerunner of IFN6 began in 2010 and the report with the data outputs, in Portuguese, for land use and forest species areas is available to download in http://www.icnf.pt/portal/florestas/ifn/resource/ficheiros/ifn/ifn6-res-prelimv1-1
New Publications from the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) addressing Fire Management in the UNECE Region and at Global Level
Two major volumes have been published by GFMC in which fire management issues in the UNECE region and at global level are addressed:
Vegetation Fires and Global Change. Challenges for Concerted International Action. A White Paper directed to the United Nations and International Organizations
This most recent publication of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) is a global state-of-the-art analysis of the role of vegetation fires in the Earth System and is published as a collective endeavor of the world's most renowned scientists and research groups working in fire science, ecology, atmospheric chemistry, remote sensing and climate change modeling. The aim of the White Paper is to support the endeavour of the United Nations and its affiliated processes and networks to address global vegetation fires and provides rationale for coordinated, international action in crossboundary fire management at global scale. The 400-pages volume has been published on 23 August 2013 and can be ordered at:
Prescribed Burning in Russia and Neighbouring Temperate-Boreal Eurasia
In the landscapes of temperate-boreal Europe, fire regimes are mainly shaped by human-ignited fires. Direct fire application in land-use systems – agricultural burning and burning of pastures – and human-caused wildfires have influenced cultural and natural landscapes since the beginning of land cultivation. However, in the Central Euro-Siberian region there are large tracts of forest ecosystems that have been shaped by natural fire. Starting with the first East-West international conference "Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia" and the Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN) and its "Bor Forest Island Fire Experiment", organized in 1993 in Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation, the scientific dialogue revealed the rich knowledge of the fire ecology of temperate-boreal Eurasia. The results of the following two decades of joint scientific research encouraged the participation of forest authorities in devising new concepts in fire management and to consider replacing fire exclusion policies by integrated fire management approaches, which would include the use of natural fire and prescribed burning (prescribed management fires). Fire scientists of Russia and the GFMC have summarized experience and provide targeted advice to the development of advanced fire management policies. The volume contains 5 major sections:
- Use of prescribed fire in forestry in Russia
- Description of the first phase of a long-term fire experiment in Siberia
- Fire history and research in Mongolia
- Use of prescribed fire in forestry, conservation and landscape managemet in Eurasia
- The Krasnoyarsk 10-Point Programme on the Future of Fire Management in Russia
The volume can be ordered at:
The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Publishes its Annual Report for 2012
"Consolidating Gains, Strengthening Leadership", FSC's Annual Report for 2012 demonstrates how the organisation has moved forward in 2012 through some key achievements: the approval of the revised Principles and Criteria, the growth of certification as well as the increased recognition of the FSC logo in various countries and FSC's expansion in many industry sectors (certification of the London 2012 Olympic park, introduction of new certified products, for example).
This report highlights how FSC has consolidated its leading position by participating in high-profile international events (Rio+20, 18th UN Climate Change, etc.), by strengthening its regional presence (development of the Regional Offices) and also by organising its own events such as FSC Friday 2012 to increase awareness globally.
The official numbers of the audit 2012 will be provided at a later stage once the audit is finalized.
Click here to read the Annual Report 2012 or for the PDF version click here.
Broadening the Base – PEFC 2012 Annual Review
In the 2012 PEFC Annual Review "Broadening the Base" you will discover the steps PEFC has taken to increase the relevance of forest certification, from carbon footprints and biomass certification to life cycle assessment and the financial sector - showing the value of working forests within the context of today's emerging issues.
The Annual Review also reports on the significant advances PEFC made towards its core goals: the development of national forest certification systems; expansion of certified forest area; and market generation for certified products.
2012 saw tremendous demand to bring PEFC certification to ever more countries, with requests from 15 countries interested in developing their national systems. PEFC provided stakeholders in these countries with tailored mentoring, and experienced national PEFC members shared their knowledge.
Expanding certified forest area continues to be at the heart of PEFC activities, and at the end of 2012 the forest area certified to PEFC standards stood at 237 million hectares. But with more than 90% of the world's forests still uncertified, there is still work to do.
Creating, maintaining and enhancing the market for certified products is an important aspect of PEFC's work, and towards this goal PEFC engaged with numerous organizations and associations at all levels throughout 2012. This work paid off with a significant increase in the number of companies with PEFC Chain of Custody certification, with almost 15,000 companies benefitting from PEFC endorsement.
To get the full picture, download the PEFC Annual Review at treee.es/PEFCAR2012:
Upcoming Fire Management Congress and First International Exhibition for Forest Fire Fighting and Protection in Russia
Forest and forest fire management specialists from the UNECE Region are encouraged to consider attending the International Congress on Forest Fire and Climate Change: Challenges for Fire Management in Natural and Cultural Landscapes of Eurasia that will be held in Novosibirsk, Russia, 11-12 November 2013 under the auspices of the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC) and the UNECE / FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire.
This international event will bring together prominent Russian and international fire scientists, representatives of agencies responsible for forest and forest fire management in Russia and neighboring countries (Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Ukraine, China, Belarus, West Europe) and at international level, representatives of civil protection and emergency services. The main aim of the Congress is to address the fire problems of the future as influenced by regional climate change and socio-economic changes, moist importantly the consequences of rural exodus on forestry and forest fires.
In addition, the firefighting industry will be presented within the First International Exhibition for Forest Fire Fighting and Protection that will be held simultaneously with the International Congress. Russian and international manufacturers producing advanced fire management equipment will showcase and demonstrate their latest products and technologies.
The recommendations of the congress will be forwarded to the "UNECE/FAO Regional Forum on Crossboundary Cooperation in Fire Management", which will be held 28-29 November 2013 at the United Nations in Geneva (see announcement below). Further details are available at the official websites of the Congress hosts and the GFMC.
Joint Partnering Event for Horizon 2020 Projects and COST Actions in the Area of the Forest-Based Bio-Economy
Date: 15 November 2013, (10:00 - 17:00h)
Venue: MUNICON Conference Center, Munich Airport
Cost of participation: € 90
This event will be jointly organised by the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform (FTP), the COST Office, the European Forest Institute (EFI), EFPRO and InnovaWood, with the local support of FTP Germany and PTS.
The event offers a unique opportunity to obtain information on tentative topics of the first call for proposals under the up-coming European Framework Programme for Research, Horizon 2020. Participants can present ideas for European projects and discuss them with potential partners. They will also have the opportunity to give feedback and to support each other's ideas. Such events are often starting points for building consortia and core planning teams in order to submit research and innovation proposals at a later stage. Additionally, participants are invited to present and discuss ideas and proposals for COST Actions within the COST Domain "Forests, their Products and Services".
Who should participate?
All forest, forestry, and forest-based sector related researchers from European Union member states and from associated countries (Norway, Switzerland, etc.). Representatives from:
• enterprises (large or small and medium-sized)
• federations and associations
• universities
• private or public research institutes
• public bodies,
who are interested in participating in research projects and/or COST Actions are welcome to this partnering event. The activities, competences and interest can range from forest ecology, climate change and forest management to forest-based products and forest-based industry processes.
If interested:
Please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com
PEFC Forest Certification Week 2013 – Advancing Sustainable Trade in Asia
Recognizing that Asia holds the key to unlocking the production and trade of sustainable forest products, and in recognition of the growing importance of the region, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) has selected Malaysia to hold the first ever PEFC Forest Certification Week between 11 and 15 November 2013.
PEFC's 4th Stakeholder Dialogue will take place during Forest Certification Week on 14-15 November, bringing together some 250 key actors across the forest sector landscape to engage in solutions-oriented discussions. Open to everyone, the stakeholder dialogue gives participants a chance to meet experts, hear from a variety of perspectives, take part in discussions and share their views.
To further increase the collaborative power of the stakeholder dialogue, PEFC is adding a side event day to the PEFC Forest Certification Week and invites interested organizations, associations and companies to taking advantage of the expertise and knowledge of the audience to present their own activities and engage participants. Proposals for side events are requested by 30 September 2013.
The PEFC Forest Certification Week will also feature the 18th PEFC general assembly, a range of internal PEFC workshops, as well as training seminars, including a chain of custody seminar that will update participants about the recently release 2013 PEFC chain of custody standard.
The PEFC Forest Certification Week is organized by PEFC, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification, in collaboration with MTCC, the Malaysian Timber Certification Council.
Information and registration for PEFC Forest Certification Week is available at www.pefc.org/pefc-week-2013/home
UNECE/FAO Regional Forum on Cross-boundary Cooperation in Fire Management
On 28-29 November 2013 the UNECE/FAO Regional Forum on Cross-boundary Cooperation in Fire Management will be held at the United Nations in Geneva. The aim of the Forum is to elaborate recommendations to UNECE and CoE member states to develop an agreement on international cooperation to enhance fire management capability in the region. In addition, the Forum is seeking participation from other regions in the world in order to allow the initiation of a coordinated approach in cooperative fire management at an international level. The Forum will be attended by representatives of forestry agencies and agencies responsible for wildfire fighting, as well as other fire management specialists from networks or academia representing UNECE member states. Participation is by invitation only:
Side Event at Metsä 2013: Achievements of the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire (1981-2013)
In 1981 the work of the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Forest Fire was initiated and addressed the themes of fire management, the socio-economic causes of wildfires, the interactions between forest fire and global change, and international cooperation in fire management. In 1988, the UNECE/FAO International Forest Fire News (IFFN) was launched, which established a global information source on wildland fires. In 1998 the secretariat of the ToS expanded its work to a global scale by establishing the Global Fire Monitoring Center (GFMC), which worked under the main auspices of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR). Furthermore, the achievements of cooperative work in fire management between UNECE Member States encouraged the GFMC to create similar Regional Wildland Fire Networks in other regions of the world and to form the Global Wildland Fire Network.
The event will elaborate on the contribution of the UNECE to the fire management sector to raise awareness of the forest sector's contribution to a "Green Economy" and provide evidence that systematic enhancement of national capabilities in fire management, generated, among other, by sharing of knowledge and expertise between countries with different fire environments, socio-economic conditions and institutional and policy approaches, will contribute to the Green Economy Action Plan.
The ForestSAT series of international remote sensing conferences has been held every second or third year since 2002 and has emerged as the top remote sensing conference for forestry applications.
The next ForestSAT2014 will be organized in Italy in November 2014. Visit www.forestsat2014.com and became a "follower" clicking in the bottom left of the home page to receive updated information as soon as their are released.
The first call-for-abstract is expected for December this year.
For more information contact the Chair of the ForestSAT2014 Conference, Prof. Gherardo Chirici firstname.lastname@example.com
How to contribute? Deadline for the next issue is 15 December 2013. More information is available here.
We work in cooperation with the Global Forest Information Service.


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Updated: 3/7/2019
You already learned that cut is the most important factor affecting the beauty of a diamond.
The aim of this tutorial is to illustrate what it takes to achieve the ultimate in cutting precision and perfection – super ideal cut Hearts and Arrows diamonds.
Manufacturer of "A Cut Above®" Hearts and Arrows Diamonds
H&A Scope
The Parts of a Diamond
Before we begin, let us use the following definition: A diamond is a crystal, a prism that reflects light and disperses it. In other words this prism's facets are two way mirrors that:
1. Reflect light or
2. Allow light to pass through them.
The Cutting Process
The rough diamond is prepared, sawed and the stone is brutted (made round). First 4 then 8 main facets are placed on the pavilion and the crown, and then the diamond is given its second cut again to make sure it is as round as possible. (No diamond can be absolutely rounded because the rough material has a hard side and a soft side). Because of diamond's refractive index, the pavilion (bottom of the diamond that comes to a point) needs to be cut at an exacting angle. If there is some slight deviation from this angle, the diamond begins to leak light and this affects the light return. The relationship between the crown and pavilion is also very important. We will see this in detail later. Diagrammatic scheme of how a diamond is cut from the rough to the polished
How the Hearts are Formed
A view of the hearts and arrows forming during the cutting process through the Hearts and Arrows viewer.
1. The main pavilion facets outlined and one heart highlighted in red.
2. The main pavilion facet reflects on the opposite side.
3. It takes 4 facets to make one heart and one arrowhead on the pavilion and an additional 2 upper girdle facets to finish up and square off the tips of the rabbit ears of the heart.
4. This takes a total of 6 different facets. to create 1 Heart,-( 2 main pavilion facets and 2 Lower girdle facets and it is the 2 upper girdle facets that square off the bottom of the heart shape.) See pic.4-A: without upper girdle facets and pic. 4-B: with the upper girdle facets in place. Note the squared off heart shape.
It is the lower girdle facets that are also responsible for separating the arrowhead from the heart. This is because of the difference between the angles of the main pavilion and lower girdle facets. Therefore, if the physical symmetry is out the slightest, the optical symmetry will be affected. We are not referring here to meet point symmetry which is where the facet junctions meet.
The labs grade symmetry according to meet point symmetry. The physical symmetry is made up of X,Y, and Z-axis which is what influences the optical symmetry. The optical symmetry will clearly show the physical symmetry being in or out of perfect harmony.
The lack of optical symmetry will be seen very clearly when viewing the diamond through the Hearts and Arrows viewer. It is easier to camouflage errors in the formation of the arrows, but it is impossible
to hide any inconsistencies in the heart pattern. In forming the arrows there are less facets to align so errors are more easily camouflaged, whereas in the hearts there are 6 facets that complete each heart
shape, and the slightest deviation is easily noticed.
Arrow Effect in Diamonds
As we have learned, the main pavilion facets are responsible for the formation of the hearts and now you will see its effect in causing the arrows pattern.
The shaft of the arrow is formed when one main pavilion facet reflects on the opposite main pavilion facet. The main crown facet allows a different view of the reflected main pavilion facet thereby forming the arrowhead.
Grading The Hearts
Quick Guide
- 8 equal uniformed symmetrical hearts.
- 8 distinct symmetrical Hearts that separate from the Arrowheads above. If above is correct check the following.
- Check if the hearts are split, measure length of heart then the length of the split.
- Calculate the % of the length split, if it is greater than 8% and there are more than 2 of them IT FAILS.
In Detail and picture essay
1. First check to have 8 equal hearts and arrow heads.
They must be equal in size and shape as seen in the picture "True Hearts" Below you are shown a true set which are acceptable and a set Where the hearts are not quiet equal in size, but more importantly the hearts split in the cleft. This is a NO NO! (Not formed correctly this is the most difficult case of all to determine if it is correct or not)
In A1, A2 and A3 the heart is well defined the gap between the Arrowheads is distinct and clear and the split at A3 is minimal versus F1, F2 and especially F3 where this is the case
2. Calculating the accuracy and Hearts you can measure the length as shown X_to_Y in 1a (A template tool can be used) say this is 10mm.Iif you see any splits in the cleft this is measured and it can be no longer than 8% of the total length of the heart as shown by Z to C in 2A if there are more than2 hearts split at more than 8% then it will not make the grade True Hearts, in addition the arrow head must separate from the actual Heart
Here are examples of hearts that do not make it and are easy to determine. Simply because they are not equal and homogenous and the arrowhead and hearts blend together in some cases.
Here is a picture of an AGS0 cut AGS3706305 note that the hearts are splitting we can call them Variable V's, also the Arrows heads and shafts are needle-like and not straight and are broken up.
- 8 equal uniformed symmetrical hearts.
- 8 equal uniformed symmetrical distinct hearts that separate from the Arrowheads above. If above criteria is correct then check the following.
- Check if the hearts are split, measure length of heart then the length of the split.
- Calculate the % of the length split, if it is greater than 8% and there are more than 2 of them IT FAILS.
This can be done visually once a standard of proficiency has been attained.
Grading The Arrows
1. Each arrow (8) must be clearly visible with a shaft and a arrow head.
2. The 8 arrows shafts as well as heads have to be straight and in the right position.
3. The 8 arrow points must meet the girdle.
4. There must be total uniformity and balance.
These arrows seem to be okay, but they are not because, there is no uniformity, not all the arrowheads reach the girdle and the shafts do not line up straight with the arrowhead. Note the three arrows indicating the misalignment.
Well-formed arrows.
Visual Appearance
The Heart and Arrow pattern is analogous to all round stones, but if the diamonds have not been polished with super symmetry and well within the ideal parameters according to AGS standards, they will not be correctly defined. In addition, they take on a different form, shape and size.
Here is a comparative study of the patterning in stones. All the diamonds depicted here are 0.90 cts in weight they range from 0 to 7 on the AGS scale according to cut parameters.
Phony Hearts and Arrows Diamonds
Just because a diamond is cut to ideal proportions with an AGS0 does not mean that it will exhibit a crisp and true hearts and arrows pattern. In addition to being ideal, the diamond has to have super symmetry – where all the angles and facets have to be perfect.
|Missing Hearts
|Arrow heads or V-marks
|Broken, split and different sized hearts, must be equal and uniform
|No gaps between hearts and V-marks or arrow heads
|Perfect Hearts
|Missing Arrows
|Poorly formed arrows no definition
|Crooked shafts misshapen arrow heads
|Missaligned arrow heads with shaft
|Perfect Arrows
Stones that do not conform to these standards cannot be called TRUE Hearts and Arrows. There should be no variation in both the hearts and the arrow patterns. Quality A, B, C or 1, 2, 3 do not exist. They are either TRUE
Hearts and Arrows diamonds or they are NOT. These standards need to be maintained just as they have in Japan where the standard was set and I believe all should maintain.
Diamond Measurements and Machinery
Today Sarin and Ogi instruments are used to read and analyze measurements, angles and percentages. This is not a method to indicate the perfection of cutting. These machines show the perfection of the engineering in the equipment and the maintenance of the equipment.
Today's cutting equipment is a lot more exacting. What is more important is that the equipment is in good condition and that the cutting plate skyf (pronounced skife like knife) and tang (tool to hold the diamond) are true and level (Fig. 1b) with each other so that there is very little deviation in the measurements when the stone is completed. The larger the stone the more visible this deviation can possibly be.
Note in Fig. 1a that the cutter can dial in the angle for the main pavilion or crown angles for the process of blocking out the stone in 8 cut. As you can see this is not entirely up to the cutter but also the engineers from the maintenance dept.
The precision of the cutter is really seen in the brillanteering (polishing on the lower and upper girdle facets as well as the stars) of the stone. This is where the craft comes into today's diamond cutting world, the finishing of the stone the upper and lower girdle facets (half's) and the stars. It is here where we have to rely entirely on the cutter for his mastery.
The Sarin and Megascopes are not measuring all these other angles at present, but the precision an consistency of these angles would reveal how great the cutter is. One method which reveals this all is by looking through the H&A scope at the hearts, one can see the precision and consistency of the cutting.
The antithesis of this is when a master diamond cutter swindles a stone, meaning he recovers the maximum possible weight and makes a lively stone. The angles; measurements and percentages will deviate by much on this stone, compared to a superideal. The Sarin machine will not show this mastery in the cutting but deviation yes. This machinery dose not prove how perfectly the stone has been cut. There is still one simple method above all the sophisticated MACHINERY and that's the heart and arrow scope. If the machinery were to measure no deviation in other words if each angle was exactly the same one would view a diamond that would look dull to the eye much like a tympani drum, if one plays it in the center the sound is not good at all compared to when it is beat off to the side.
Figure 1a, Figure 1b, Figure 1c
We found a careful balance must be maintained between
1. Angles (balance between Crown and Pavilion)
2. Consistency of Heart pattern (3D symmetry also known as optical precision)
3. >Symmetry (external meet point symmetry)
4. Excellent or Ideal polish with outstanding luster.
The result of true hearts and arrows faceting precision is the perfect alignment of all corresponding facets in three dimensions, optimizing the light handling capabilities of the facet design. Maximizing light performance through uncompromising precision has been the mission of A CUT ABOVE® diamonds from the beginning.
July 2001Whiteflash


text:
By Veronica Batton, CFCA writer/editor
Ever sit down to write a letter and then notice an hour later you only have one word? Do you ever think, "I'll send a letter next month,"†and then next month turns into next year?
CFCA is here to help bust these tough myths about letter-writing, and help you cross "write a letter to my sponsored friend" off your to-do list.
Myth 1: It's too hard.
It can be difficult to start a letter. Trust me, I've been there. Sometimes there is too much to say, and sometimes too little.
Some sponsors don't know where to start when it comes to writing a letter to their sponsored friend.
When you hit writer's block, the best trick is to start brainstorming ideas. I learned this trick when I was in school. Start with a circle in the middle of the page.
Write your name in the circle and then draw several lines that branch out from the circle (like a sun). Then, draw circles on the other end of the branches and write down interesting details about yourself inside the circles.
This type of brainstorming can lead to questions you can ask your sponsored friend. Eventually, you will have enough ideas to write a letter to your friend.
Myth 2: I don't have enough time.
I catch myself using this myth many times and for more than just letters!
Everyone is busy and it can be hard to find time to sit down and write a letter when there are so many other things we need to do.
But who says you have to write a novel to your sponsored friend? Sometimes, sponsored friends just need to know that their sponsor is thinking of them.
You can even purchase a greeting card, write a brief note and sign your name. It takes hardly any time at all.
Myth 3: I don't have anything to say.
If you don't have anything to say or tell your friend, try asking them questions.
Start your letter by telling your friend about a hobby of yours or the weather where you live, and then ask them questions about their life.
Myth 4: It's too late to start now.
It doesn't matter if you have sponsored for 12 years and have never written ó friends always want to hear from their sponsor.
Just think of the excitement that your friend will experience when they read your letter for the first time.
If you are worried about starting late, try busting myth number two!
Get a greeting card and send it to your friend. You can work your way up to writing a letter in no time.
Myth 5: I can never make it to the post office.
That's OK! You donít have to make it to the post office.
With CFCA's eLetter feature, you can send up to six letters a year to your sponsored friend with no stamps!
Once you submit your eLetter, it is sent electronically to the project for translation.
To write an eLetter, log in to your online sponsorship account and select, "Write an eLetter" on the right hand sidebar. You can even select different templates to use! If you donít have an online account, visit our website and create one today. Itís easy.


text:
You sure that is 15 billion, looks more like 15 million lol
Wirelessly posted
Yeah I agree with jlevy73 its a crapload of money but a billion would need to double or triple that stack. But that's just what I think.
nope its not 15 billion. i feel like a loser, but i counted (roughly)....assuming that those are bundles of 50 $100 like the bands say its 5000 and looks like roughly 50 per bundle to me, each stack is roughly 12 bundles high. and its roughly 9 stacks deep and about 3 stacks wide. so 9x3=27 stacks (roughly) 27x12 high=324 bundles. 324x5000=1,620,000. and thats just the layered part, not including the stuff on top. lol i feel smart
Last edited by blindman4556; 08-10-2009 at 02:41 AM.
Actually, you guys are right.
What does one TRILLION dollars look like?
That will give you a general idea.
also just looked it up and according to Paige Donner: The Pentagon's Fifteen Billion Dollar Pirate Plunder scroll 3/4 of the way down and its the same image and says that this is what 1 million dollars looks like. and about 1/4 the way down it shows
which is 100,000,000
and since im bored i did some math lol:
to get 1 billion, you need 10,000,000 $100 bills
after some looking i found that a stack of 100 bills is 1 cm thick (.39 inches)
so thats 10,000,000 cm tall. which is 3,940,000 in
thats 328,333.33 repeating feet tall.
for ease of numbers we'll call it 328,333 feet
thats 62.18 miles (rounded)
so if you were to take 1 billion dollars, of $100 bills and stack it straight up. it would be 62.18 miles tall...thats a lot of money, i cant imagine if i used $1 bills lol
if someone is just as bored as i am, and wants to check my math feel free and tell me where i messed up lol
Looks like my basement


text:
California's system of direct democracy needs a doctor who can perform assisted suicides.
In other words, there needs to be some way to take dead measures off the ballot.
What's a "dead measure?" An initiative or referendum whose supporters have abandoned it.
U.S. & World
Measures have died well before elections on a number of occasions; the usual circumstances are that, once an initiative qualifies for the ballot, the legislature and governor give the initiative sponsor what they want via legislation or via deal for a different ballot measure.
The problem is that, under California's rules, there's no way to remove a measure that's been qualified via signatures. The legislature can remove or postpone constitutional amendments -- as it just did with a massive water bond -- but that power applies only to measure that the legislature itself placed on the ballot.
This November's ballot already has one such dead measure.
Proposition 40 was a referendum qualified -- foolishly -- by California Republicans to seek to overturn state senate districts drawn by the redistricting commission. It was made effectively dead by the California Supreme Court, which refused to block the new districts even after the referendum qualified.
The court also seemed to indicate it would draw lines similar to the commission's lines even if a referendum to reverse the districts were approved.
So this week, the backers of the referendum declared their own measure dead, explaining that they wouldn't run a campaign for it or raise money for it. But they didn't take it off the ballot because they couldn't.
That's dumb.
The state needs a rule that permits a measure to be removed from the ballot when an initiative or referendum's proponent and the legislature agree that it should be removed.
Other states have similar rules in place that allow them to take dead measures off life support. Colorado, in particularly, has removed multiple measures from ballots in this way in recent years.
California's ballots are already long enough, just with the live measures.
Lead Prop Zero blogger Joe Mathews is California editor at Zocalo Public Square, a fellow at Arizona State University's Center for Social Cohesion, and co-author of California Crackup: How Reform Broke the Golden State and How We Can Fix It (University of California, 2010).
Send us your thoughts via Twitter @PropZero or add your comment to our Facebook page.


text:
You know how trends start? Someone just does something, a lot. It doesn't even have to be cool. Or accurate. Take Joe Biden, for example. Biden used the word "literally" so many times in his speech at the DNC, last night, that it literally began trending on Twitter, reports the Washington Times. Literally.
The Obama 2012 team even went so far as to buy out an ad on the search term "literally" so as to direct inquiries towards the @BarackObama Twitter handle.
Romney may have been the first to purchase a trending topic, but Obama is literally setting the trending stage. Literally, just literally. [Yahoo]