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Feature for feature, the iPad mini mainly bests its rivals in the 7-inch tablet market, but it does so at a price that's 65 percent higher than those competitors.
The mini has a larger display than Amazon's Kindle Fire HD and Google's Nexus 7. Its screen measures 7.9 inches diagonally, while the Fire and Nexus have 7-inch displays.
Apple's tablet is longer than both its competitors and wider than Google's slate, but in the important category of thinness, the mini is a svelte 0.28 inches, compared with 0.41 inches for the Nexus and 0.40 inches for the Fire.
Not only is the mini slimmer than its opposition, but it's lighter, too. It weighs 11.01 ounces, while the Nexus weighs 13.40 ounces and the Fire, 13.93 ounces.
Bigger Display, Lower Resolution
However, both the Fire and Nexus have higher-resolution displays than the mini. The Amazon and Google tablets have screens with resolutions of 1280x800 pixels, while Apple's slate has 1024x768 pixels.
Moreover, the Nexus display has a density of 216 pixels per inch, compared with the mini's 163 ppi. The Fire's also has a polarizing filter and anti-glare technology, which neither of its rivals have.
Both the Fire and the Nexus edge out the mini in the processor speed department. The A5 processor in the mini runs at an estimated 1GHz, while the Nexus has a Nvidia Tegra 3 quad core chip running at 1.3GHz and the Fire has a TI OMAP4 4460 running at 1.2GHz.
Apple offers a wider variety of storage options with its tablet -- 16, 32 and 64 GB -- compared with 16 and 32 GB for the Fire and 8 and 16 GB for the Nexus.
Dueling Cameras
All the 7-inch tablets have long-lasting batteries. The mini will run for 10 hours on a charge; the Nexus, nine hours; and the Fire, 11 hours.
The mini has twice the camera power of its competitors, with a 1.2-megapixel front-facing and 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. The Nexus only has a 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera and the Fire an HD front-facing camera.
The Fire, however, beats both its competitors in the sound department. It has dual-driver stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus, while the Apple and Google slates have only have mono sound.
A full array of wireless options are available in by the iPad mini -- WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, cellular and 4G LTE -- while its competitors only support WiFi.
Charging Too Much
One of the biggest differences between the mini and its rivals is its price tag. Its base price is US$329, compared with $199 for basic units of the Fire and Nexus 7.
"It is arguably the best 7-inch product in market," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"I think it could command as much as a 25 percent premium over other tablets like the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7. The problem is, it is priced 60 percent higher," he told MacNewsWorld.
"I can't justify this premium," he added. "I think this will be a very difficult product to move particularly in a market where cash remains very tight and at a time when folks are buying gifts for others," he added.
Premium Justified
Consumers will be the ultimate judge as to whether Apple is charging too much for the product, maintained Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.
"In my view, Apple would be leaving money on the table if it met the competitors' price points because consumers have shown that they're willing to pay more for Apple products and the hardware is a higher quality than its competitors'," she told MacNewsWorld.
Apple has shown that the way its products are designed and built attracts customers to it, asserted Ben Bajarin, principal at Creative Strategies. "There is something to the build quality of a product that will be valued by big chunks of the market," he told MacNewsWorld.
In addition, the hundreds of thousands of apps made for the iPad make it a premium product, he argued. "Consumers will be asking themselves, 'Do I want to spend this much less on a device that really isn't the best experience in terms of software volume or am I willing to spend up and get what is arguably the best software experience on a tablet?'" he observed.
Nevertheless, there are those who feel that Apple missed a chance to drive a stake to the heart of its competition when it priced the iPad mini at $329. "For people who haven't bought into Apple, they've left plenty of opportunities for Amazon and the other guys," IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell told MacNewsWorld. "They could have delivered a crushing blow, but they didn't."


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
- home
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Bridal-gown shop re-opens downtown
Shannon Gale is re-opening her successful business.
Vue Design, which designs and makes custom bridal gowns, is holding a grand-opening celebration Friday, from 4-9 p.m. at its new location in the Peacock Building in downtown Grand Rapids, at 11 Jefferson Ave. SE, just south of Fulton Street E.
"We have most things ready," said Gale of the event. "People will at least get a glimpse of our new location and some of the services we offer in our new location. They'll also get kind of a sense of what's coming from us."
The new space
Gale said she has 1,200 square feet of space just on the first floor, where the showroom is situated, and a lower level for design and production.
When Gale debuted her business in October 2011 at the MoDiv incubator on Monroe Center downtown, she had 500 square feet for both her showroom and production area.
Now that her Jefferson store gives her more than double the space as her previous shop, Gale has been able to enlarge the business' production operation and add the sewing classes her customers asked for to the list of services Vue Design offers.
"It allows to us expand and grow," Gale said.
Gale had signed the lease for the Peacock space with Locus Development in January and left Vue's space at MoDiv at the end of March.
In the meantime, she ran her business by appointment from her Ada Township studio, while her new space was being built out.
"Business has actually been very, very steady," Gale said. "We saw an increase from last year, so given the fact that we were out of the public eye, that was really exciting and encouraging. It's always good to see growth."
Gale unveiled her new line of ready-made bridal gowns, the Shannon Gale Collection, last January at the two-day Winter Bridal Show at DeVos Place.
The line can be seen at Vue Design's shop and at September's Bride in Holland.
"They can look at the ready made, but if they want customization, they can come here," Gale said.
Following its grand opening, Vue Design will begin its regular hours on Monday.
"We are also looking at doing appointments only a couple of days a week, but we haven't figured out which days yet," Gale said. "We're working through that."


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Grimm to face criminal charges for campaign violations
WASHINGTON -- New York Republican congressman Michael Grimm, the subject of a long criminal investigation into alleged campaign finance violations, is expecting to face criminal charges as soon as next week, his attorney said.
"After more than two years of investigation plagued by malicious leaks, violations of grand jury secrecy, and strong-arm tactics, the U.S. Attorney's Office has disclosed its intent to file criminal charges against Congressman Grimm,'' attorney William McGinley said in a statement. "We are disappointed by the government's decision, but hardly surprised.''
Grimm, a former FBI agent from Staten Island, was being targeted for allegedly soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals in exchange for assisting an Israeli man with obtaining a green card.
The House Ethics Committee deferred the matter to the Justice Department in 2012. The source of some of the initial allegations against Grimm came in 2010 from then-Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. Weiner, who later resigned from Congress amid a sex scandal, said a prominent New York rabbi had informed him that Grimm allegedly tried to extort money from his congregation.
"From the beginning, the government has pursued a politically driven vendetta against Congressman Grimm and not an independent search for the truth,'' McGinley said. "Congressman Grimm asserts his innocence of any wrongdoing. When the dust settles, he will be vindicated. Until then, he will continue to serve his constituents with the same dedication and tenacity that has characterized his lifetime of public service as a member of Congress, Marine Corps combat veteran, and decorated FBI special agent."
Grimm, a second-term congressman, apologized in January for threatening a TV reporter on camera who attempted to ask him about the federal investigation after President Obama's State of the Union Address. Grimm said then that he "lost his cool" when he threatened to throw NY1 reporter Michael Scotto over a balcony and break him in half "like a boy."
Grimm, who represents a district based on Staten Island and Brooklyn, is being targeted for defeat by Democrats. President Obama carried New York's 11th Congressional District in 2012 with 52% of the vote.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, called on Grimm to resign.
"Rep. Grimm has been on CREW's most corrupt list ever since he first joined Congress in 2011," executive director Melanie Sloan said Friday. "Year after year, Rep. Grimm has committed some other reprehensible misdeed. It is about time the criminal justice system caught up with him. How ironic that one of the few corrupt lawmakers the Department of Justice can bring itself to prosecute is also a former FBI agent."
Contributing: Gregory Korte.


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Ever since I started syncing my Contacts and Calendars on my Mac with iCloud, I've noticed that stuff sporadically disappears.
I've had to re-add an event to my Calendar 3 times now, and many of my Contacts mysteriously vanish after a couple of days.
The only other device that syncs with iCloud is my iPhone, but I still lose events and contacts even if I don't make any changes on my iPhone.
What is going on, and how do I prevent this data loss?


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Third Place Poetry: "Coffee Shop"
by Katharyn Howd Machan
He's fallen in love with her, the girl
who cannot meet the eyes of strangers.
From behind the counter where he
sells fresh quiche, good orange juice,
cinnamon buns warm and heavy
to place beside a thick strong mug
of brew. Two days, three, four
days a week she comes in alone,
orders without looking up,
pays in bills and silver coins
from a small pink leather purse.
Dark hair, bangs sweeping low,
narrow hips in long straight skirts
or sometimes jeans, a jacket.
Only once has she answered his gaze,
startled when he asked a question
about milk or sugar in the espresso
she decided she wanted that day. Love
wasn't yet the word he used
as he wondered where she went
other mornings, how nights spelled
the name he must guess. Until
that one gray rainy Friday when she
left behind a sparkling notebook
opened tight to two hurried lines:
And if my hands get chewed off
by a bear . . . Something
to keep safe until her return.
A way past the counter.
A question. A poem.


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The Absolute Easiest Way to Clean Your Sink!
You've seen the soap, vinegar, salt, lime/lemon technique for cleaning your sink, but I'm here to tell you it's so much easier than all that! My husband and I own an eco-friendly cleaning business, and the absolute best way to clean your sink is with 2 simple ingredients.
Start with a dirty sink. Okay, I know this isn't *that* bad, but if you look near the bottom left and right, you'll see some gunk in there.
This technique works for MUCH dirtier sinks, but after reading so many silly and involved techniques to clean sinks on pinterest this morning, I ran into the kitchen to clean mine, so that I could share it immediately. I promise this works with the nastiest of sinks!
Like I said, we use this technique for our business, so we see it all!
Here's what you'll need:
Baking soda, a paper towel, and some water.
Yep, that's it!
Sprinkle on some baking soda.
Wet a paper towel with water, and start rubbing in circular motions. The granules in the baking soda will start scrubbing, but will break down in just enough time to prevent any scratching.
If you're having any trouble at all, wet the paper town some more. It should be pretty wet, but not so wet that you can't move the baking soda around. Just experiment with it!
Scrub until the sink feels smooth and you don't see anything else. Wet another paper towel (or rag) and use your sink sprayer to get off the excess soda.
Dry with paper towels.
Super shiny, super clean!
The tiny scratches in my sink were there when we bought the house. Don't judge! ;)
***If you see ANY cloudy looking residue, it means you've left some baking soda on the surface. Rinse and dry until it's all gone. If you rinse well enough the first time, you won't encounter any residue. If you want to follow with any soap or vinegar you can, but I don't do this at my own home.


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The Well-Placed Weed teaser
Preview: Season 4 | 1m
Growing up in rural South Carolina, celebrated American garden designer Ryan Gainey developed a love of plants at an early age. After moving to Atlanta in the 1970s, Ryan began designing gardens in affluent neighborhoods and around the world. A contradictory character, offensive and tender, artificial yet truly authentic, Ryan was known for his love of beauty and the ability to create it.
Aired: 03/13/19Video has closed captioning.
Problems Playing Video?
You are truly the public in public television and we need your support now more than ever.


text:
Jeremy Papasso
A fter a banner snow year during the 2010-2011 ski season, many Colorado resorts and avid snow lovers were disappointed with last year's drab winter and low precipitation.
Some Colorado resorts closed early and recorded drops in both revenue and skier visits. Other smaller ski areas with shorter commute times from the Denver metro area raked in the skiers and boarders during a few scattered powder days.
Nationally, ski resorts saw a 15 percent decrease in skier visits last season, according to the Kottke End of Season Survey. The same survey found that the 2011-2012 season had the lowest national average snowfall since the early 1990s.
Along Colorado's Western Slope, precipitation was 43 percent below average, according to nonprofit ski industry trade organization Colorado Ski Country USA.
The organization recorded an 11 percent drop in skier visits across the 22 member resorts last year. During the 2010-2011 season, the 22 member resorts saw 6,946,826 visitors, compared with 6,163,278 during the 2011-2012 season.
Officials at ski areas across Colorado say they have put last year's dismal performance behind them, have invested in the future during the off-season and now are looking to the coming season with optimism.
Most of all, they are keeping an eye to the skies and hoping for a steady dose of snow all winter long.
Snow — it's critical to the resorts drawing big crowds, but is also the big unknown over which they have no control.
Nezette Rydell, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service in Boulder, said it's difficult to predict the amount of snow Colorado will see this season.
"Some years are more forecastable than others," she said. "We're wish-casting with the rest of you."
Rydell said the state could see weak El Nino or neutral conditions this winter, adding that there is nothing in the forecast that points to tons of snow.
"There aren't good strong signs that we can say one way or another," she said. "We could see normal snowfall; we could see above or below."
Joel Gratz, meteorologist and founder of OpenSnow.com, said he is optimistic for the upcoming season.
"Statistically, if last year was the worst year in the last 30 years for many areas, then chances are this year will be better," he said, adding that he doesn't find long-term forecasts to be accurate. Gratz said he encourages skiers to focus on each individual storm, and then decide where to ski that day.
No snow, no skiers
Arapahoe Basin saw more than a 20 percent decline in skier and snowboarder visits last season, General Manager Alan Henceroth said.
"Last season was not particularly great for us," he said, blaming a lack of snow for the decline. "People just didn't want to ski last season. We're trying to put that behind us and move forward."
Arapahoe Basin will have a new conveyor lift, beginner's trail and terrain park for first-time skiers called the Pika Place Learning Area to draw more families and young skiers. The resort purchased a new snowcat for the upcoming season, redesigned the website and upgraded the ticket-scanning system, Henceroth said.
He added that A-Basin also upgraded the sewer system and installed AT&T cell phone signal boosters for better cell reception on the mountain.
Henceroth said the ski area will take each storm as it comes without trying to predict the outcome of the whole season.
"To be honest, I don't put a lot of weight in long-term forecasts," Henceroth said.
Vail Resorts, which includes Beaver Creek, Vail, Keystone and Breckenridge, recorded a 9 percent decline in skier visits at its Colorado resorts, though season pass revenue was up 12.8 percent across all resorts, according to Broomfield-based Vail Resorts Inc.'s fiscal third-quarter statistics.
Vail Resorts saw more than a 50 percent drop in snowfall across all resorts in what CEO Rob Katz called "the most challenging winter in the history of the United States ski industry."
Overall, Vail Resorts' revenue remained steady, with a 0.9 percent increase in net revenue across all resorts.
This season, Vail celebrates its 50th anniversary with the addition of a new 10-passenger gondola to replace the Vista Bahn Express Lift. In late February and early March, Vail will host the Burton U.S. Snowboarding Open.
Breckenridge received late-summer approval for a 543-acre terrain expansion set to be completed by the 2013-2014 season.
Unexpected gains
At Loveland Ski Area, skier visits were down more than 10 percent, said John Sellers, the resort's spokesman.
"It wasn't the end of the world," Seller said. "We were coming off our biggest season in the history of Loveland. We're comparing one of the slowest snow seasons to one of the snowiest."
Sellers said skier visits "weren't too far off" the resort's average numbers, adding that Loveland was able to stay open for 199 days even with the lack of snow.
The still-slumping economy worked in Loveland's favor, Sellers said, because people continue to pinch pennies.
"When they look at gas costs and ticket costs, you can ski at Loveland for half of what you pay at bigger resorts and still get an authentic Colorado experience," Seller said. "We've seen a lot of people make the decision to ski here instead of driving through the tunnel."
Loveland turns 75 this season, and Sellers said a birthday party is in the works for January. The ski area completed renovations to its mountain cabins, and this season skiers can ride a 20-passenger snowcat to the hike-to terrain, Sellers said.
Eldora Mountain Resort, on the other hand, had "by some accounts, a record season," spokesman Rob Linde said.
Boulder County's only ski area had a few well-timed snows, Linde said.
"No one else in the state got the snow that we did," he said. "It was completely isolated to the Front Range. We had people literally coming from all over the state."
Upslope storms caused the sudden bursts of powder around the Christmas holiday and the first weekend of February, Linde added. Skiers and snowboarders flocked to Eldora so much that the resort had to turn people away once the parking lots filled up, he said.
Linde attributed increases in both skier visits and revenue to Eldora's proximity to Denver.
"People don't want to drive as far," Linde said. "They want to continue to ski, however they may change their focus a little bit and not be willing to travel as far or pay as much. We've really done just fine through this economic downturn. It has helped small, local ski areas in general."
Eldora is still waiting to begin construction on its master plan, which was accepted by the U.S. Forest Service in February 2011. The plan includes additional lifts and terrain, though "no dirt has been turned yet," Linde said.
The resort also purchased 50 new high-efficiency snowmaking guns for the upcoming season.
–Follow Sarah Kuta on Twitter: @SarahKuta.


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Has to be something about Distilleries- this is the third to feature.
Baseboard size is 3'x2' and is made from 9mm plywood with a 75mm deep "spaced" frame. Certainly captures the atmosphere of Edradour having visited in 2009.
Thread is here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8345
As a closing comment Edradour were looking for guides in 2014, 2015 summer job?


text:
Fantastic work!
Fantastic work!
"I was too distracted by the ladies to be scared of your bear. That is the second weirdest sentence I have ever typed on this site o_O"- Zab
"Paint flavored coffee is the bestest!"-me
Brush Brother Moetle
Take a peek you might learn something or teach me something :-)
painting and terrain is great.
could you show some close-ups of the female-knight (from 8.8) and Marie (from today)? I wanted those 2 sculpts, but can't decide if the sculpt is really that off.
Forgot, that it works again.
I'll try and remember to get a couple of pics later this week for you mate
Killing a bit of time while the KS funds clear so I decided to make a start on 'Chibiford on the water'! Initial 2 story building with a number of accessories to allow quite a few variations to be created. Also a little market area and blacksmiths...more to come as I squeeze them from the space between my ears...guess I better get some painting done!
magnetised the clock hand so it could be used as a gam timer too!
Our current range of furniture works quite well in the buildings too
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text:
Dave Brat Fudges the 'Blame Fannie and Freddie' Narrative
Editor's note: This post originally appeared in National Mortgage News.
For an economics professor who has made the causes of the housing collapse a central issue in his political campaign, David Brat sure doesn't sweat the details.
During the run-up to his surprise victory against House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the Virginia Republican primary, Brat repeatedly blamed the 2008 crisis on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That's a well-known, if hotly debated, interpretation of history.
But Brat exaggerates the already-disputed data of the American Enterprise Institute purporting to show the government-sponsored enterprises' culpability for the collapse. He also appears to miss the distinction between lenders that originate mortgages and secondary market participants like Fannie and Freddie.
Brat has claimed many times on the campaign trail that the GSEs were responsible for the overwhelming majority of subprime originations during the housing bubble. He typically makes this assertion using generic terms like "made" or "went through" to describe the GSEs' role in mortgage lending.
"Fannie and Freddie made two-thirds of all subprime mortgages. That is not a free market institution," he said in a Fox News interview the evening of the primary election. "That entity, along with the Fed printing too much money back in '03 and '04, caused the housing collapse."
In a campaign speech, Brat suggested that the GSEs had completely disintermediated the banking industry by granting loans directly to borrowers (which would mean that every lender's nightmare from the late 1990s had come true).
"The recent financial crisis, where did it start? In the housing market. We all know basically, probably the primary cause is located in Fannie and Freddie," he said. "American Enterprise Institute estimates 70% of all subprime loans went through Fannie and Freddie. Instead of who? Instead of through your banker. So we're putting bankers out of business. Bankers aren't doing banking. In the past, bankers actually had to check your credit if you wanted a mortgage. Today, they don't and Fannie and Freddie, they just say 'here, here's a mortgage.'"
Obviously, bankers still check applicants' credit, even when they plan to sell the mortgage to Fannie or Freddie, which do not originate loans and must acquire them from banks and other lenders.
Brat's campaign did not respond to requests for comment. But at a March campaign appearance, Brat also discounted banks' role in the origination process.
"Seventy percent of all subprime loans didn't go through bankers," he said. "Bankers, their job is to do risk. Fannie and Freddie, is their job to do risk? Or to put the risk on your back?"
Brat is by no means the first political candidate to misconstrue Fannie and Freddie's role in the mortgage industry. However, the murky wording of his remarks contrasts with Brat's claims that he was driven to run for office because of the government's handling of the financial crisis.
"What motivated the race for me was after the financial crisis, right, we had Fannie and Freddie collapse, the housing market, then the financial sector tanks," he has said. "And I thought surely our political leaders now you know, we're on our knees economically. We'll learn some lessons and get it right, and they didn't. We're still in roughly the same mess."
The 70% figure Brat cites is also a stretch from what his sources, such as Peter Wallison, an AEI fellow and one of 10 members that served on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, have said.
"By June 2008, before the financial crisis began in earnest, there were more than thirty-two million subprime and otherwise weak mortgages in the U.S. financial system, about 58 percent of the fifty-five million American mortgages then outstanding," Wallison wrote in December 2013. "Of this thirty-two million, 75 percent were on the books of the U.S. government agencies, principally Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac." (Emphasis added.)
Wallison made similar assertions in his January 2011 dissenting statement to the conclusions the FCIC made in its final report. He supports his claims with data compiled by Ed Pinto, a former Fannie Mae executive and co-director of AEI's International Center on Housing Risk, published in a 2010 memo to the FCIC, "Triggers of the Financial Crisis."
This analysis, which relies on a broad definition1 of "subprime," has been contested in various circles, most notably by the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank.2 But even if Wallison and Pinto are right, Brat oversimplifies their argument.
Because by "government agencies," the AEI pundits mean the GSEs and the Federal Housing Administration and financial institutions subject to the Community Reinvestment Act. They are all "agencies" in the sense that they took on exposure to risky loans to meet fair lending regulations and government policies to increase homeownership, contend Wallison and Pinto.
The above table, published in Wallison's FCIC dissenting statement, shows the breakdown of Pinto's data on subprime and Alt-A mortgages.
To be sure: Should Brat win the general election to represent Virginia's 7th district, he wouldn't have anywhere near as much influence on housing finance policy as Cantor, who will step down as majority leader on Aug. 1 after 13 years in Congress.
Still, his views on the housing market are of interest, since it's likely that efforts to reform the mortgage finance system will continue well into the 114th Congressional term.
Brat's campaign rhetoric helped differentiate him from Cantor, who's been regarded as an ally to Wall Street and the financial services industry3 and has received financial support from groups including the Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association.
Indeed, Brat singled out the GSEs in his criticism of Cantor's tenure in Congress.
"The No. 1 issue if I went to Congress, and the No. 1 thing I hold against Eric Cantor is how he's been there while Fannie and Freddie just went along and did their thing forever."
In another speech, Brat criticized Cantor's support for legislation that delays flood insurance premium hikes:
"He voted for the flood insurance program. Who does that go to? A lot of the money goes to gazillionaires on both coasts who have homes in nice real estate locations."
To a lesser extent, the free-market economist has criticized private-sector actors, directing some of his scathing populist rebuke for the financial crisis at Wall Street.
"The one asset that had been safe for the American history, the American family home, we had not messed that market up. The geniuses on Wall Street figured out how to mess that up. So we're upside down. That spread into the financial markets and the financial system, and we're still reeling from that."
Prior to entering the political arena, Brat shared his views on the causes of the housing crisis in a research paper he co-authored in August 2008 and submitted to an academic conference in 2009. The paper presents a case study on the collapse of Countrywide Financial, and rather than discuss Fannie and Freddie's role in the downturn as Brat's done on the campaign trail, the paper argues that "a lack of regulation, poor investment decisions, major shocks to the economy, and historically low interest rates all played a part in the crisis."
"Essentially, Countrywide collapsed because the mortgage market continued to collapse and people could not pay on their mortgages. No one would buy mortgages anymore and there was no money available to make new mortgages, causing major losses," the paper summarizes.
"The harsh reality that banks are being hit with a double whammy a stock market that is in bear territory and mortgage-backed securities whose value keeps plummeting is making the hunt for new capital that much tougher. In other words, the financial sector continues to struggle, and credit remains tight," it adds.
More recently, Brat has bolstered his criticism of the GSEs by claiming they not only violate free-market principles, but also violate the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which limits federal powers.
"What led to the last financial crisis? Fannie and Freddie. Where are they housed? At the federal government level. Should they be? Should anyone who follows the Constitution have allowed that to happen?" Brat says.
"So, number one, you should not allow them to exist on free market principles, if you followed any of those principles. Number two, you shouldn't allow them to exist on Constitutional principles. And number three, on just common sense principles, they're gonna fail. You know they have to fail. Every planned economy has failed in the history of the nation," he says.
Brat faces Jack Trammell, a fellow Randolph-Macon College professor and political unknown running as a Democrat in the general election. A Democrat hasn't represented Virginia's 7th Congressional district since 1971.
Austin Kilgore is the managing editor of National Mortgage News. The views expressed are his own.
1 For example, loans with a FICO score less than 660 are "subprime by characteristic," even if the lender originating them used some other term to describe them (like "nonprime" or "credit challenged"). Loans that everyone agrees are subprime are "self-denominated subprime." Both the by-characteristic and self-denominated categories are lumped together when counting the total for "subprime." Alternative-A gets similar treatment a loan for more than 90% of the home's values is alt-A "by characteristic," a loan that the lender called alt-A is "self-denominated," and both get counted toward the total. Return to text.
2 David Min, who served as CAP's associate director for financial markets policy and led its Mortgage Finance Working Group from 2009 to 2012, responded to Wallison's FCIC dissent with "Faulty Conclusions Based on Shoddy Foundations." In that white paper, he argues the GSEs were actually in a historically weak market position during the subprime lending boom and exerted less influence over private market originations than Wallison and Pinto claim.
"[T]he unique categories of 'high-risk' loans used by Wallison and Pinto contain large numbers of mortgages that are not actually high risk (and which could not be legitimately understood to have caused the mortgage crisis), as reflected by their relative delinquency rates," Min wrote in response to Wallison's critique of his research.
"Did Fannie and Freddie buy high-risk mortgage-backed securities? Yes. But they did not buy enough of them to be blamed for the mortgage crisis," Min writes. "Highly respected analysts who have looked at these data in much greater detail than Wallison, Pinto, or myself, including the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission majority, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and virtually all academics, have all rejected the Wallison/Pinto argument that federal affordable housing policies were responsible for the proliferation of actual high-risk mortgages over the past decade." Return to text.
3 Cantor's wife has held executive positions at financial institutions including Alternative Investment Management, New York Private Bank & Trust and Goldman Sachs, while Cantor has previously held an ownership stake in TrustMor Mortgage, a Virginia mortgage bank founded by the Cantor family and led by his Eric's brother. (Financial disclosures show in 2010 show Cantor's stake in TrustMor was exchanged for a stake in Richmond Resources Hickory Park LLC, a commercial real estate venture that county property records list as the owner of TrustMor's Glen Allen, Va. headquarters.) Return to text.


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COURTENAY, B.C. - Mounties have arrested a man they believe was responsible for a six-month cigarette-theft crime wave in Metro Vancouver, southern Vancouver Island and the Interior.
Police say a man appeared to be targeting store owners who had just made large cigarette purchases at Costco stores in Saanich, Langford, Nanaimo, Burnaby, Abbotsford, Coquitlam and Kamloops.
The suspect would break into the vehicles of people who had just purchased thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes.
Police identified a suspect and began following the man and say officers watched him put on a disguise, break into a vehicle and take $3,200 worth of cigarettes that the driver had just purchased.
Forty-six-year-old Christopher Sharafi of Langley, B.C., was arrested at the scene.
Sharafi has been charged with 13 offences, including four counts each of mischief and theft and two counts of possession of stolen property.
Also on HuffPost


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|Mobile Site
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|Sudden Death
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What's new - Nov 2005
|So you think we'll get advanced weapons next. I suppose that's quite realistic as weapons allways seem to push technology along. This week which tech do you think we'll never get.
|Caption comp
|Congratulations to Bryan Moore the winner of last weeks caption competition. This weeks picture comes from Voyager episode 'Lifesigns'.
|Wow, by our closest ever poll result you want to see Holodecks! I'm right there with you on that one. This week, which tech do you actually think we might see?
|Thanks to Mirko Aichele, James W. Koon, Matthew Ormrod and Samir H for pointing out various nitpicks which are fixed or will be in the immediate future.
|We're attaching images to a lot of the lists. The idea is that just as you can click on many of the species and see a picture of them, now you can do the same with food, holoprograms, ship and shuttle losses, planets, etc. We've added about a hundred new images thus far; as usual all are thumbnailed and will appear on the relevant episode page or pages.
|Caption Competition
|The Steve was last week's winner, so congratulations to him (or her!) This week, a shot from DS9s "If Wishes Were Horses".
|Winner of last week's favourite Voyager two parter poll was "Year of Hell". This week - what piece of Star Trek tech would you most like to have in the here and now?
|I've added a couple of missing people and species from TOS "The Cage".
|Caption Competition
|Congratulations to Jack for winning last week's competition. This week, a shot from "Insurrection".
We've also made a change to the layout of the previous caption competitions. Since we've moved to using thumbnails on the site now, clicking on the "Previous" button now takes you to a list of all past caption competition winners along with thumbnailed images. Clicking on any individual one shows you the honourable mentions for that competition. As more and more competitions get added we will probably go to multiple pages for the previous competitions again.
|A new advanced search facility goes up today. Hit the search button at the bottom to see. The quick search still works the same way it does. If you get a missing file message when you hit the search button, reload the site and all should be fine.
|RIP Michael Piller
|Michael Piller succumbed to cancer on Tuesday at the age of 57. He worked on more than 500 episodes of Star Trek as a writer and producer, with credits that included some of the best ever made - his contribution to the franchise can hardly be overestimated. He went too soon and will be sorely missed...
|The Search was the winner of Deep Space Nine's best two parter. This week, Voyager's turn.
|Caption Competition
|Congratulations to Stevo for winning last week's competition. This week, a shot from TOS "Court Martial". This one's a toughie!
|Copyright Graham Kennedy
|Page views : 9,453
|Last updated : 27 Nov 2005


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Posts Tagged 'Destiny USA'
After a soggy start to the largest RV rally in the Northeast, things finally started to clear up for the RV enthusiasts split between the New York State Fairgrounds and the parking lots of Destiny USA.
"The Rally," opened last week to heavy rain, forcing rally organizers to turn RV drivers away from the Fairgrounds and detour them to the parking lots at Destiny.
Within a matter of hours, the mall and rally organizers coordinated to provide shuttles, port-a-potties and trash pick-up for the hundreds rerouted to Destiny.
Jim McParland and Robyn Currie, who traveled all the way from Ontario, Canada were impressed with the way organizers and mall officials handled the situation.
"They've made a great situation from what could have been a disaster," McParland said. "I think the fact that they've adopted or adapted so well to the conditions speaks volumes of Syracuse and for the person that runs that mall coordinating with the rally people."
"It's been fine – slightly inconvenient not to be over there (at the Fairgrounds) but it's been safe here and there are a lot of people to talk to," Currie added.
Destiny USA called in extra security to help secure the entire perimeter surrounding the RVs.
"We have the guard towers we put in place as the parking lot project a few years ago. Whatever they need, we'll do it," said Destiny USA General Manager Rob Schoeneck.
The weekend went on as planned with an RV show and concerts featuring Wayne Newton Friday night and Reba McEntire Saturday evening.
For rally attendees such as Barb Heibein, some bad weather wasn'tt going to spoil their fun.
"We come for a good time and this is a good place to have it," said Heibein.
People all over Syracuse are celebrating because the rally is expected to bring in millions of dollars as vendors and event attendees visit restaurants, stores, and stay in area hotels.


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Why Being Able to Talk with Your Doctor Matters
In the past, the doctor typically took the lead and the patient followed. Today, a good patient-doctor relationship is more of a partnership. You and your doctor can work as a team, along with nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers, to manage your medical problems and keep you healthy.
How well you and your doctor talk to each other is one of the most important parts of getting good health care. But, talking to your doctor isn't always easy. It takes time and effort on your part as well as your doctor's.
This means asking questions if the doctor's explanations or instructions are unclear, bringing up problems even if the doctor doesn't ask, and letting the doctor know if you have concerns about a particular treatment or change in your daily life. Taking an active role in your health care puts the responsibility for good communication on both you and your doctor.
All of this is true at any age. But, when you're older, it becomes even more important to talk often and comfortably with your doctor. That's partly because you may have more health conditions and treatments to discuss. It's also because your health has a big impact on other parts of your life, and that needs to be talked about, too.
Find more doctor-patient communication resources.
This content is provided by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health. NIA scientists and other experts review this content to ensure that it is accurate, authoritative, and up to date.
Content reviewed: May 17, 2017


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When the snowstorm was threatening us last Friday, former Mayor Tony Williams seemed relieved that he wasn't the mayor, out in the city in boots directing the Transportation and Public Works departments.
Being out with the troops "was emotional support," Williams said on WAMU 88.5 FM. "People want to see you, to know that you're there on top [of things]."
But he said snow preparations are done in advance and no amount of grandstanding will make it better. He said he thought the city has been doing a good job with snow removal, but he modestly didn't say that it started with him. It did.
Williams was a guest on the station's "Politics Hour," one of the few times that he has sat for an extended interview.
The first caller had the question a lot of people ask these days — would he run for mayor again? "Please," the caller said, promising to work for Williams.
"No sir," Williams quickly responded. "No plans, categorical, Sherman-esque. No. No. I'm not running." He said he was honored to have served and felt he had done a good job, but it was time for new people.
More important than elective politics, Williams has a lot of major issues on his plate.
He is heading the D.C. Tax Revision Commission. It will report later this year on how the city tax system can be more efficient, capture revenues that are out there and be more fair to all taxpayers.
Williams, who also is head of the business-oriented Federal City Council, says the city and the region must focus on critical infrastructure improvements in roadways, Metro, water and sewer, and other crucial building blocks of any community.
But there isn't a lot of money just sitting around. "So we've got to look for some innovative ways to do it," he said. "It's first and foremost one of the most important things we can do."
Williams also cautioned that the federal government is not likely to grow very much, curbing both federal spending and the private businesses that feed off of it. He said the District, like New York City, needs to do more to promote tourism, a natural base for the region.
When he was mayor, Williams famously said the city needed to be better run and needed to attract 100,000 new citizens to help its vibrancy and to provide revenue for human services, education and public safety.
The city population is improving, but some are complaining that gentrification is pushing out too many less-affluent, middle-class citizens. Williams acknowledged that is a downside. He said the city must protect lower-income citizens. But he said the stronger economic base is important.
"Yeah, I love what's happening," he said, praising both former Mayor Adrian Fenty and now Mayor Vincent Gray for pursuing new investment and new citizens. "People criticize gentrification, new people coming to the city … [but] you're adding new investment to the city."
He said gentrification provides needed revenue. "The kind of programs we need in early childhood, in recreation, in education — the money has to come from somewhere. It has to come from investment."
Williams noted the city has to be for everyone. He recounted how he regularly rides the bus to work. Some people recognize him. "But then I heard one lady on the bus say, 'Well, he wouldn't be on the bus with us poor people.' It made me feel great, that I am on the bus. We're all in this city together."
■ State of comatose. Mayor Vincent Gray likes to give speeches and talks, to hold cabinet meetings and to discuss most anything anywhere. In short, the mayor knows a lot and rarely is stumped. And we mean this in a favorable way. He is interesting to talk with on all types of subjects.
But the mayor, according to many officials and community leaders, does seem to go on too long in his presentations.
The annual State of the District address — originally dreamed up by then-Mayor Marion Barry because he was jealous of the President's State of the Union — is this week.
We want to remind the mayor that President Obama spoke only 19 minutes at his recent inaugural. That's a good target time.
We also know that Fidel Castro once spoke for 4.5 hours before the United Nations in 1960. Bill Clinton spoke for 70 minutes at the 1996 Democratic Convention.
We hope the mayor spurns those examples and follows the example of the late actress Greer Garson. She still holds the record for the longest Oscar acceptance speech — five and a half minutes in 1943.
Hint, hint, Mr. Mayor.
■ Every email counts. The D.C. Open Government Coalition has forced the D.C. Council to recognize that city business done with private emails is still city business and subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. Mayor Gray has directed his administration to avoid using personal email accounts. The council has been less willing to make that a rule. But the coalition sued, and the suit has been settled. Emails are emails when it comes to government business, not a way to hide.
■ Merry Valentine's Day. It's our annual rant. For goodness sakes people, it's almost Valentine's Day. Please remove your exterior Christmas decorations — the glittering wreaths on the doors and windows, the inflatable Santa in the front yard, the big red ribbon adorning your car's front grill.
You know who you are.
Tom Sherwood, a Southwest resident, is a political reporter for News 4.


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Out of This World
Season 23 Episode 23 | 52m 23s
Explore the universe of space-themed treasures, including NASA Space Program autographed photos, a 1737 celestial & terrestrial atlas, and a Star Trek treatment, script, and letters. Have the values of these stellar finds skyrocketed in the market?
Aired: 07/08/19
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Shine on you crazy Dimon: Is worst over for JPMorgan?June 8, 2012: 12:42 PM ET
Mr. Dimon heads to Washington next Wednesday. The CEO of JPMorgan Chase (JPM) will appear in front of the Senate Banking Committee to answer questions about the company's $2 billion loss that the bank says was a "hedge" and that critics maintain was a "trade." (To-may-to to-mah-to. Let's call the whole thing off.)
Shares of JPMorgan Chase have plunged nearly 20% since Dimon first disclosed the problems related to hedges gone awry in its Chief Investment Office unit. But the stock has bounced back along with other big banks in the past few days, rising more than 7% from the year-to-date low it hit on Tuesday.
Still, is the worst really over? With Dimon likely to be grilled by our nation's least and dimmest (can I trademark that term?) on Capitol Hill next week about the "London Whale" and the need for more regulation of big banks, couldn't JPMorgan Chase stock get crushed all over again?
Related: How JPMorgan Chase made its multi-billion dollar blunder
Banking experts say don't bet on it. For one, Dimon is still considered to be one of the top banking executives out there -- despite the recent stumbles with the bank's hedges. Dimon is also far more comfortable in front of cameras and microphones than many of his peers. He's not likely to get tripped up and say something he'll regret or come off as clueless like Jon Corzine did during last year's MF Global hearings.
What's more, if recent history is any guide, investors don't tend to worry too much about what goes on in those dog and pony Congressional hearings anyway. Remember the marathon Goldman Sachs (GS) session on April 27, 2010 just after Goldman was charged with fraud by the SEC? Shares of the Vampire Squid actually rose on the day of the hearing. (Maybe traders were too busy counting how many times Sen. Carl Levin was cursing to sell Goldman stock that day.)
Related: BofA CEO says it won't have a Chase-like trading debacle
Scott Armiger, a portfolio manager with Christiana Trust, a Wilmington, Del.-based investment firm that owns shares of JPMorgan, thinks the controversy around the trading loss has been overblown. Armiger said that in a worst case scenario, it could shave 20 cents off earnings per share. That's less than 5% of Wall Street's current consensus estimates of $4.36 a share for all of 2012.
Armiger said one of the reasons investors are probably so worried is that JPMorgan Chase, up until now, had been the golden child among banks. It was the darling that could do no wrong since it held up much better than the likes of Goldman, Morgan Stanley (MS), Bank of America (BAC) and Citigroup (C) during the 2008-2009 meltdown. But he is not concerned that this is a sign of bigger problems at the bank.
"This is a black eye and investors are right to be concerned. But will this lead to a permanent impairment of the bank's capital or is it just a short-term management mistake? I think it's the latter," he said.
Craig Dismuke, chief economic strategist with Vining Sparks, a brokerage firm in Memphis, Ten., agreed. Dismuke said that worries about the size of the trading loss, even if it has grown a bit from the original estimates, are "much ado about nothing."
"Investors are overreacting a bit. Is this loss threatening the solvency of JPMorgan Chase? Absolutely not," he said.
But investors clearly are still nervous. While all bank stocks have pulled back from their sugar rush highs of earlier this year, shares of JPMorgan Chase have fallen so far that they are actually in the red for the year.
As a result, JPMorgan Chase is now trading at less than its book value, a key measure used by banking analysts that looks at what a firm would be worth after subtracting its liabilities from its assets. While other troubled big Wall Street banks like BofA, Citi, Goldman and Morgan Stanley also trade below book, Armiger said that JPMorgan Chase doesn't deserve to be lumped in that group.
Other large banks that have also been praised for emerging from the Great Recession without major damage, such as Wells Fargo (WFC), US Bancorp (USB) and BB&T (BBT) all trade above book value.
But Armiger isn't a bank bull, which is why I find his endorsement of JPMorgan Chase to be noteworthy. He said he's actually underweight the financial sector in his portfolio and that the only other banks he owns besides JPMorgan Chase are Wells Fargo and regional bank/credit card lender Capital One (COF).
Dismuke isn't a wide-eyed optimist either. He said he does own some small positions in Citi and BofA because he thinks those two stocks are still very cheap. However, he doesn't own JPMorgan Chase stock -- despite having worked for Bear Stearns (which JPMorgan bought in March 2008) from 2005 through 2007. And he conceded that investors have every reason to be "skeptical of the motives of the big banks."
Sometimes it's best to hold one's nose when investing. You shouldn't let emotions get in the way of buying a hated stock that could be a bargain. And Dismuke said it would be a mistake to bet against the big banks for too long since he firmly believes the JPMorgan trading blunder is not the beginning of Lehman 2.0.
"The banking system is in a better position than you think," he said.


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Edi Rama has been the Mayor of Tirana since 2000, and leader of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005. He is the son of a sculptor popular in the former regime, a former basketball player, and an artist himself who lived and worked in Paris in the mid 1990s.
At the time of the communist regime's collapse, Rama was a professor at the Albanian Academy of Arts. Initially put off by the political scene that formed in the early 1990s Rama preferred commenting from the outside, writing articles while continuing in his role at the Academy. In 1995 he moved to Paris on a scholarship. Returning for a visit in 1997 he was attacked by a group of thugs with a metal pipe, an incident that almost cost him his life.
In 1998 Rama returned to Albania again, this time for his father's funeral. An unexpected call from Prime Minister Fatos Nano who addressed him as "Mr. Minister of Culture" brought an end to Rama's life as an artist. He accepted Nano's offer to join his council of ministers but did not join the Socialist Party.
In October 2000 Rama was elected to the office of mayor of Tirana, ending the Democratic Party's 10-year control of the city. He had run as an independent candidate, supported by the Socialist Party. Rama took over a city whose infrastructure had collapsed, laws had become meaningless, and the city's public parks were crammed with illegal buildings. Rama says:
"The city was like a train station where everybody was looking how to avoid staying there; where everybody was trying to leave this train station by any means; where everybody was taking care only of their own place and not of their surroundings. So, building a new consciousness was a big deal."
When Rama became mayor, he was confronted with a budget that did not match his ambitions, so he found new ways to bring about change. His project to repaint old facades around Tirana in startlingly bright colours made him famous.
"The colours were an instrument. I've chosen out of a need, the colours were not an aesthetic or artistic operation. Colours were political action, and colours were the sign that something different was possible, and people got it."
Many of the new mayor's most visible policies were aimed at transforming Tirana's appearance and atmosphere. Rama teamed up with students to clean neighbourhoods, parks were restored, trees planted, pavements repaired. The Clean and Green Project created 96,700 sq meters of green land. But nothing symbolises the break with the old, grey Tirana as vividly as the brightly coloured buildings.
"The country seems to have overcome its years of Communist rule by painting buildings in the most unimaginable colour combinations. They are purple and orange, chartreuse and burgundy, and bright green and red. And these are not just individual houses. An eight-storey apartment was painted a vivid yellow with green stripes and blue and red squares up the side. New highrises were equally colourful, often painted in five or six different colours…"
(Michael Geller, Albania revels in freedom of colour chaos October 6 2007)
Rama's efforts aim to create a sense of pride and identification with the city of Tirana:
"After communism and the events in 1997 people were lacking a sense of belonging to the country. There was a rage against everything that was a state building because it was perceived as property of the enemy… We are trying to make people understand that what is public is also yours."
(Edi Rama quoted in "You've got to tear this old building down" an International Special Report Article)
Edi Rama
Rama has faced criticism but his support among Tirana's inhabitants earned him re-election in 2003 and 2007. He was chosen as World Mayor 2004 and was included in Time Magazine's list of European Heroes 2005. He joined the Socialist Party of Albania in October 2003 and replaced Fatos Nano as its leader in the wake of the party's electoral defeat in 2005.
Edi Rama is eager to contribute to a new perception of Albania:
"Tirana has become the good news from Albania and has changed the image of the country. People that come here are surely surprised, because the stereotype is very strong, and is very different from the reality. And it's nice to see foreigners coming and being amazed, just amazed."
- Official Site of the Municipality of Tirana
- "You've got to tear this old building down" - International Special Report Article
- "Power, Optimism and Social Conciousness" - Edi Rama at the Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
May 2008


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Request an invitation to Nextgov Prime.
Are you looking for a cure for the post-shutdown blues? There's no better place for you to jump-start your outlook, and your career, than at Nextgov Prime at the Ronald Reagan building in Washington on Nov. 20-21.
At the event, which focuses on the intersection of innovation, government and information technology, you'll be able to see the finalists for Nextgov's Bold Awards, 19 federal employees (in some cases, teams of employees) selected from nearly 200 nominees who exemplify creative problem-solving, technical acumen, ambition and persistence. The winners of the Bold Awards will be announced at the event.
And that's just the beginning: You'll also be able hear from high-ranking federal officials and expert observers in a series of general sessions and breakouts on subjects ranging from open data to agile government. And you'll be able to network with hundreds of your colleagues from other agencies.
If that's not enough to convince you, here are several more reasons to attend Nextgov Prime, courtesy of the Nextgov team.
Oh, and there's this: It's free. But you have to request an invitation, and there are a limited number of them available.
Click here for more information and to request an invitation to Nextgov Prime


text: Advertising on Platonic Realms Platonic Realms welcomes sponsorship by organizations offering goods or services of value to our specific target audience. We do not accept ads that are not directly relevant to the studying, teaching, or enjoyment of mathematics, and we do not accept ads placed by third-party agencies. Both no-cost and low-cost banner space is offered on a month-by-month basis, with the location and cost of any given ad determined by bidding among member advertisers. If you are already a member advertiser or would like to learn about becoming one, please visit our advertiser's page. Advertisement Does your company market amath-related product or service? Platonic Realms is actively seeking new sponsors. We offer high-level, above-the-fold exposure to a select audience of math students and educators at below-market rates. Please get in touch using the contact page, or visit our advertiser's page to learn more about how we can help increase your sales.


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Lisa Parisi and Susan van Gelder were joined by Dean Shareski and Alice Mercer to discuss preservice teachers and online classes.
Chat Archive:
Tweets about "edtechtalk"
Do you have your EdTechTalk stuff yet? Did you know there are T-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, buttons, magnets, and tote bags available? They're all based on Wordle interpretations of the EdTechTalk Delicious tags.
What are you waiting for? These are limited edition items. Shop now and avoid the rush!


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Man Brings Gun Ino Church After Argument With Pastor During Choir Practice In North Carolina!
"A Polk County man is in jail tonight for bringing a gun into the Wheat Creek Baptist Church in Mill Spring. Deputies say Daniel Logan was attending choir practice when he and the pastor got into a fight. Logan allegedly left rehearsal, went out to his car and came back into the church with a handgun. The sheriff's office says he was unhappy with the songs members were singing at practice. Before deputies arrived Logan ran out the back door. Several agencies were called in to search the area. A K-9 officer with the Henderson County Sheriff's Office that found Logan. He was in the woods behind the church. Logan has been charged with with possession of a firearm by a felon, disrupting a religious service and disrespecting a public officer." Submitted by: Logan H Ent:
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omg I had a dream that Pam & Winnie went home...
Oh WOW!! WE had it all along!! ALL the profits from Royal Tree Lodge go to LOVEBOTSWANA!!You too can help the TAR 22 teams!Touched by the people of Botswana, TAR 22 is giving back! LoveBotswana has a 25 yr history of working to reduce the spread of HIV, help abandoned babies, educate future leaders, and empower women and caregivers. If you can, please donate & share this message! $10 (one latte, lol?) will support full care for one child for 24 hours! The world is smaller than you think, let's all help our neighbors! #LoveBotswana http://lovebotswana.org/ways-to-donate/Donate-Resources http://lovebotswana.org/
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This first week of the new year, a critical time when millions of students wake to a harsh reality – the end of vacation is at hand and the assignments remain in a state of potency. Whether the facts face a high school working on a History Day project, a PhD candidate with a dissertation that needs some touch up, a parent or spouse of a student who would rather play than probe, there is one happy thought – The first step is the hardest.
Matt Lee who publishes a rich newsletter for Minitex speaks to that very point, reminding us that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, according to Confucious. (Or maybe Lao Tzu. A Google search cites both. Anyone knows a college student who can verify this information?) As verification of that adage Matt points the way to the report, "Truth be told: How college students use and evaluate information in the digital age" . The survey of over 8300+ students at 25 institutions, conducted by Alison Head and Michael Eisenberg of the University of Washington Information School, offers a surprisingly good read. Though focused on students navigating in a digital environment the findings are totally applicable to any time and most tasks. Most fun of all is the great YouTube presentation of the results – you don't even have to crack a book to get the gist of the 72-page report.
Gustavus Adolphus faculty member Barbara Fister, writing in the Library Journal, reports that 84% of the students surveyed reported that getting started – defining a topic, narrowing it down, and filtering through relevant results — proved to be the three major stumbling blocks to confident student research. This in the day when everything is right there on the computer – or not. Fister reflects on the good news that today's students are "very conscious of the need to evaluate the sources they encounter. They don't take them at face value, but are choosy about finding sources that are current and authoritative."
Fister's mention of "unhealthy info-gluttony" suggests a concern of mine. A quote from the report resonates, though I'm quick to note that there's a generation gap: "A 32-year-old librarian relates what now seems like a quaint memory from a simpler time. Not that many years ago, while conducting a literature review for her own humanities dissertation, she was able to search and exhaust every information source her campus library had to offer. .But for many of today's undergraduates, the idea of being able to conduct an exhaustive search is inconceivable. Information seems to be as limitless as the universe. And research is one of the most difficult challenges facing students in the digital age." Still we information enthusiasts need reminders that, in some cases, more is more, not better.
Happy New Year's Resolution (beats dieting) is to research, think and write more about the world of digital resources in blogs-to-be. The inescapable fact that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" is inescapable. Defining a topic, narrowing it down, and filtering through relevant and reliable results require time and active engagement with the topic. The iPad and laptop are quick to fetch, not so good at figuring it all out. Time, teachers and librarians are essential to the process.
Happy surfing and sifting to learners who can pretty well discard the old alibi that "the library didn't have anything about…"


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Category : Coloring.
Topic : Free under the sea coloring sheets. Author : .
Posted : Wed, Oct 30th 2019 12:17 PM.
Format : jpg/jpeg.
Have you ever thought of the various benefits of coloring pages activities can give to your growing child? It the initial ages of a child preschool coloring activities is the best time pass. Preschoolers generally have this in their daily academic schedule. It helps teaching your kids alphabets, fruits, vegetables, mathematics, and many more fundamentals. It ranges from Disney characters to religious festivals.


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|This is the main guy. Puppy version 4.3 live-CD, with 22.214.171.124 kernel, heaps of drivers and applications.
you on dialup? Look in the 'split-pup' folder, pup-430.iso is split
into 8 separate files for easy download. See instructions below.
|SFS files are "application combo
packs". This one provides everything you need to turn Puppy into a
complete C/C++/Vala/Genie compiling environment.
you on dialup? Look in the 'split-devx' folder, devx_430.sfs is split
into 10 separate files for easy download. After download, concatenate
them together. See instructions below.
your own custom puppy live-CD from PET packages. This requires some
expertise with the Linux commandline and a hard drive partition with a
Linux filesystem. Broadband Internet access required. Please read http://puppylinux.com/woof/
|A word of advice
if you try more than one .iso file, be sure to delete all traces of the previous one before testing the next. When you shutdown the first time and save the session to hard drive (to what we call the "pupsave" file), one or two files off the CD are also copied to the hard drive: pup-430.sfs (and maybe zp430305.sfs). The easiest way to cleanup is to boot the next live-CD with the boot parameter "puppy pfix=ram" (which starts up with Puppy running totally in RAM) and after bootup take a look on the hard drive and delete those previous files.
However, if you shutdown without saving a session, then the above problem will not occur. Thus, for quick evaluation of these live-CDs, run each one without saving the session, so nothing gets left behind on the hard drive.
|This is in all respects the same
as 'pup-430.iso' except that it has less drivers. In particular, less
modem drivers. It will still satisfy 95% of users though, and is a good
choice for situations where Puppy is required to run totally in RAM --
such as the multisession-CD/DVD mode and diskless workstations.
|This is very similar to
'pup-430.iso', except has an older kernel. The 18.104.22.168 kernel is the
same as used in Puppy 4.1x and 4.2x. You might find this one works
better on some old hardware.
|Same as above, except also has SCSI drivers, enabling this one to not just recognise SCSI drives but also boot from them.
|This is built with an even older kernel. The 220.127.116.11 kernel goes back to Puppy 3.x.
|The 184.108.40.206 and 18.104.22.168
kernels use Squashfs version 3.x, whereas the latest 184.108.40.206 kernel
uses Squashfs 4.0. The SFS files are not compatible, so I have to
provide this "devx" file especially for the older kernels.
> cat x* > pup-430.isoIf you are running Windows, you need to open a DOS-box:
> copy /b x* pup-430.isoHowever, Puppy forum member MattN has made this comment:


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Welcome to Just 4ft Beds
We're the online specialists for small double beds. Choose from a wide variety of 4ft beds in hundreds of styles, fabrics and designs! Our extensive bed collection includes wooden, metal and upholstered. Options include 4ft bed frames, guest beds, divans, storage beds and even a range of sofa beds. Many of our small double beds are exclusive to Just 4ft Beds and available with unbeatable, affordable prices.
You need not worry about delivery either as we deliver on our own fleet of vans to all areas of the UK! Looking for a 4ft bed for your loft conversion or basement? Many of our beds have been designed with a low enough base so that they will fit where other normal sized beds will not.
We dont stop there, we also stock a huge selection of 4ft mattresses, bed linen and bedsides to complement your small double bed. With a dedicated customer service team, you will find our staff both knowledgeable and helpful with any enquiry you have. So what are you wiating for? Call or email us today and see how we can help you find your dream bed.
Why did we create Just4ftbeds.co.uk? In recent years we have seen a boom in new property development. Along with the creation of more homes, plots in many cases are getting smaller and we have seen bedrooms on average shrink - but the importance of owning properties which are still labelled with double bedrooms is as important as ever. Small double beds (measuring 4ft or 120cm) are becoming more and more popular as residents attempt to utilise the space of their bedrooms and ensure there is still enough space to live. We noticed this trend as more and more customers have enquired about getting 4ft beds for their properties but the options were limited. In an effort to fill this void we created Just4ftbeds.co.uk in an effort to supply all things 4ft and give you every possible option when furnishing your home.
Just4ftbeds.co.uk is part of Just Live Ltd which also includes a bed headboards site, a blanket boxes site and our latest addition selling occasional chairs.


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Kay Anderson necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 250 diseños de 51 diseñadores freelance.
I am in the process of revamping my business website and want to get a new logo to give me a whole new feel. My directions to my web designer is fun, funky, clean lines, up to date, not fussy, and very hip. I am not set on colors, but am giving web designer free reighn on color palette, so need a logo that will adapt well to color change. Looking for a more modern hip feel than previous logo which now seems so dated.
AMP&M (Artistic Media, Promotion & Marketing)
See existing website at http://www.ampmspecialties.com - I am making my new site purely about my promotional merchandise business. I am a creative, Unique branding boutique and wish for that to come across in my web and logo design. Logo needs to reproduce well as a 1 color as I do a lot of giveaway materials and to save cost on those need to be able to reproduce as a 1 color. Would like logo to be easily recognizable, punchy and be able to be created in to some really cool booth artwork for tradeshows etc, brochures, flyers, letterhead etc.
I hate the company name but am stuck with it for now -
You could incorporate "A unique, creative Branding Boutique -for all your promotion needs " possibly instead of the description of what the letters stand for.
Color scheme for now - I love red and light gray / silver but may be dated so am very open - be creative and outside the box and don't let me steer you. I want to be wowed and surprised by what I like.
My old logo! Boring. I want to change the image to upbeat, funky creative.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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How can APS benefit me?DEVELOP
How do I start using APS?
Business Situation: KPN Wholesale needed a platform to enable its distributors and VARs to offer cloud-based application services quickly and easily.
Solution: With its APS-based solution, KPN achieves full operational and commercial service automation, allowing it to build new revenue streams through its wholesale customers. ISVs can get their software into the cloud, and distributors and resellers can add applications quickly and cost effectively.
Benefits: Parallels Automation and APS are helping KPN:
Insight is a provider of IT hardware, software and services with a cloud offering under the InsightCloud label, including McAfee, a leading provider of security services.
Business Situation: Insight aimed to automate the process of cloud provisioning, billing and scaling.
Solution: Using Parallels Automation, Insight consolidated a wide range of self-service cloud products into a single portal. McAfee package its existing cloud services using APS, making its solutions available to any APS-enabled service provider.
Benefits: APS helped to achieve:
Mozy is a widely used online data access and backup service with more than 3 million customer around the globe.
Business Situation: The Mozy team needed a way to make it easier for customers to provision their APS packages without having to click through multiple screens.
Solution: Mozy was able to implement its desired business model while also streamlining the user provisioning process by decoupling the service offering structure from the provisioning interface.
Benefits: The business benefits include:
BackupAgent is a leading provider of online backup software with more than 400 partners in more than 50 countries around the world.
Business Situation: BackupAgent needed a way to easily integrate its product with Parallels Automation, used by many of its hosting vendor reseller customers for provisioning and billing.
Solution: Packaging BackupAgent in APS enabled the company's resellers to instantly integrate BackupAgent with Parallels Automation, without having to write any custom integration code.
Benefits: APS helped BackupAgent achieve:
Mailprotector provides cloud-based email security, management and hosting services through the channel to businesses, government entities and nonprofit organizations around the globe.
Business Situation: Mailprotector needed a fast, easy way of expanding its business internationally through the integration of its solution into the infrastructures of leading web hosting companies all over the world.
Solution: Mailprotector uses APS, founded by Parallels, to quickly and easily integrate with the Parallels Automation platforms of partners such as fast-growing Brazilian web hoster Websolute.
Benefits: APS and Parallels Automation are helping Mailprotector to:
SpamExperts is a leading provider of server-side spam-filtering software to web hosters all over the world.
Business Situation: SpamExperts needed to make it faster and easier for hosting providers to integrate its solution into their infrastructures.
Solution: SpamExperts is utilizing APS, jointly developed by Parallels, to deploy its solutions through Parallels Automation partners such as leading Dutch web hosting provider Hostnet.
Benefits: APS and Parallels Automation are helping SpamExperts:


text:
Read help info
You can select the ring tone you want to hear when you get a call.
1. Find "ringtones+sounds"
Slide your finger down the display starting from the top edge of your phone.
Press ALL SETTINGS.
Press ALL SETTINGS.
Press ringtones+sounds.
2. Select your ring tone
Press the field below "Ringtone".
Press the play icon next to the required ring tones to listen to them.
Once you've found a ring tone you like, press the required ring tone.
3. Return to the home screen
Press the home icon to return to the home screen.


text:
Fort Richardson was built during 1940-1941 on the site of what is now Elmendorf Air Force Base. Established as the headquarters of the United States Army Alaska (USARAK) in 1947, the post moved to its present location five miles north of Anchorage in 1950. The post then had barracks for 500 soldiers, a rifle range, a few warehouses, a hospital, and bachelor officer quarters.
Fort Richardson is now headquarters for United States Army Alaska (USARAK), a subordinate unit of United States Army Pacific (USARPAC), and for United States Army Garrison, Alaska which provides mission and installation support for USARAK's combat forces.
The majority of USARAK combat forces are at Fort Wainwright, with Fort Richardson as the primary support base. The major combat unit at Fort Richardson is the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division (Light).


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Oculus Pre-Orders Open Jan. 6th
in Oculus Rift
I know what I'm doing in two days
KellCam_Virtuix Posts: 210F5, F5, F5
Its REALLY refreshing to finally have a pre-order date. I am still leaning towards holding out for the Vive.
I'm waiting for the final specs and hardware for the Vive before considering buying it. Plus, I want to see what's this big announcement for CES that is so monumental that they had to delay shipping - it better be something revolutionary.
Any guess on what the price tag will be? Palmer is quoted as saying it's "More than $350," so I'll take a wild stab at $350.1 -- hey, it could happen!
Stigzy Posts: 25I will be getting the oculus rift and the vive to compare them! Sucks that oculus touch got delayed :-/
I want to get both too but my wallet will cry if I do
Oculus released some new photos of the Touch and it shows them adding some new things like hidden tracking LEDs, Oculus button, and what appears to be speakers.
Am I the only one who will order at 8:00 am (pacific time) on the dote? It'll be interesting who can input their order information the fastest And Palmer just confirmed that the pre-orders will be global.
Definitely getting it on the dot. The Vive room VR doesn't interest me and I assume their breakthrough is related to that.
Also, the Oculus would be quite gimmicky to me without the Omni on the horizon. So good work Omni team!
I am still concerned with the 360 degree tracking of the Oculus Touch controllers.
They have 6 months to figure it out. I'm pretty sure tracking things with multiple cameras isn't a difficult thing to achieve these days. Maybe they simply don't want to have people require 4 cameras. or maybe 5 with one above you or something. It doesn't matter to me though. I'll get 8 if required :P
Yeah, maybe they somehow solved that "bumping into furniture" while walking around problem. I really don't like the point-and-click or teleportation progression system that some developers are using in their games. Which goes to your point about the necessity of the Omni.
I'm bullish on the Vive but their HMD and controller are just so big and unwieldy. Final hardware at CES would be nice.
The tracking of the Touch will definitely not be perfect. In fact, Palmer pretty much admitted that in this video (Touch at 17:11):
I agree with Tomek about getting more than one camera if required but I would really prefer not to.
Well the Rift comes with one and Touch also comes with one. So the default is 2 but everything they have said they are both to be on your desk facing you the same direction and not set up like the lighthouse sensors. The tracking in the 300-ish degrees that the cameras can see is very good, just as good as the Vive, or so people say, the issue is when you turn around and your body is blocking the cameras.
kzintzi Posts: 54I have got the family prepared for the "sit in front of the ticker an wait till it reaches 0" event at my place in approx 36:25 time.. they're looking forward to it... hahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaa
I read an article yesterday that indicated that for proper 360deg tracking of touch and the headset you're better of with 3 or 4 cameras to prevent body occlusion of the markers (which makes sense).. luckily my intended rig location has enough space
LOL @kzintzi outsourcing the F5'ing I like it.
4 cameras is not a big deal, I will get 4 lighthouse stations if that helps even a little bit. The problem i have with that and the Rift is that's allot of USB ports and and metric crap-ton of USB cables.
I am not trying to bash the Oculus or the Rift. I am just a little concerned that's all.
If you were an original DK1 Kickstarter backer don't bother pre-ordering -- you're getting the new rift for FREE!
That is classy, well played Oculus.
Just to clarify, those who qualify for the free Rift must file out a form:
"To claim your free Rift, fill out the survey you'll receive from Kickstarter before February 1, 2016 and provide a shipping address that is located in one of the 20 countries Rift is launching in. For those who don't live in one of those 20 countries, we're working on an alternative, and you can let us know your preference in the form."
-- Oculus Kickstarter Page
Some more good news: you'll also get a free copy of Lucky's Tale and EVE: Valkyrie just like those who pre-order. There's no word yet though on whether the carrying case is included. Here's Palmer tweet: "People really loved the carrying case we included with DK1 and skipped for DK2, so good news: It is coming back, and doper than ever!"
Here's the list of the 20 countries that can pre-order: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States. Oculus hopes to add more over time.
I get that everyone is excited (me too) but really, it's just better tracking + better screen than the DK2. Probably more comfortable. Happy to be getting a free one (Thanks Palmer!) but really, the big thing I need are the touch controllers. Room scale tracking. That's really the revolutionary step forward. The AR I'm sure is interesting too, in the Vive. Not sure what'd I do with it though, for a game.
Vive makes more sense for Omni users, but Vive is being pretty tightfisted in handing out their dev kits.
I think they should have given out the kits to people they wanted to but also allow people to just buy the damn things.
Maybe we can beg the Omni folks to reach out to Vive to ask them to let us Omni buyers purchase them
Aqualung Posts: 3Assuming that I have a Samsung Galaxy S6, should I still go for the Oculus Rift, or would a Samsung Gear VR suffice? Question is, then, do they both do the same stuff?
Yes, the Gear should definitely work with the Omni. http://www.virtuix.com/bluetooth-and-samsung-gear-vr/ It's particularly a good use case because of the lack of cables. You won't have any positional tracking, however.
They both do completely different things, well almost some games will work on both but not many. The Gear VR and Rift/Vive are very different. Gear VR is for mobile VR. VR you can take and use anywhere. It is self contained, it does not need an external computer, It uses your phone as the screen and as the computer to do the processing needed to run the games. This is nice because its wireless but the tradeoff is that the relative low processing power of the phone limits your experience. It also only has 3 degrees of tracking instead of 6 and is a bit heavy do to having a phone hanging off your face.
Now the Rift/Vive on the other hand require a high end PC to do all of the necessary processing. This limits where you can use the HMD this has the added benefits of having massively more processing power as well for arguably a much better gaming experience. they also have 6 degreas of tracking, not just 3. They also(or at least will) have independently tracked controlers as well as better screen's/optics and the ergonomics are better as well again do to not having a phone hanging from your face.
I consider the Gear VR(which i have) something completely separate from the Rift/VIve, one of which will also be getting (currently leaning towards the Vive)
Unity is a good platform for building to both the PC and Android. If you don't optimize for Mobile though, the FPS rate can suffer a bit.
BTW, I'm not sure I'd jump to the conclusion (yet) that something like Lighthouse + Controllers won't work with the gear. http://uploadvr.com/otoy-experimenting-with-lighthouse-tracking-on-gear-vr/
According to Palmer, "When you preorder Rift, you also reserve your spot for Touch preorders. First in line for Rift=First in line for Touch." I don't think it's mandatory that you have to buy the Touch when pre-ordering the Rift; it's probably just an option.
I'm getting a little worried about the price that will be announced tomorrow -- Oculus seems to be announcing a lot of free things (two games, the case, free for Backers, reserved spot for touch, etc.) leading up to the announced price and pre-order. It's as if they're saying this is such a great value that it justifies a potential high price. We will see early tomorrow...
Yeah, 499 is the consensus number. I probably would have had to buy it for the better tracking. Prefer a Vive, though.
499 is not too bad but still up there in price; more expensive than a console, however. Not to mention the price of the Touch. I want to know more about the final Vive as well.
Sony's press conference is live now so let's see if there's anything on PS VR.


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Press release
First UNEP Permafrost Report relies on expertise of the Alfred Wegener Institute
Bremerhaven, 27 November 2012. Climate scientists are still grappling with one of the main questions of modern times: how high will global temperatures rise if the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide doubles. Many researchers are now turning to the past because it holds clues to how nature reacted to climate change before the anthropogenic impact. The divergent results of this research, however, have made it difficult to make precise predictions about the impact of increased carbon dioxide on future warming. An international team of scientists have evaluated previously published estimates and assigned them consistent categories and terminology. This process should assist in limiting the range of estimates and make it easier to compare data from past climate changes and projections about future warming. The group has presented its new method in the current edition of the journal Nature.
The research group summarized, classified and compared data from more than 20 studies to make a potential prognosis about the expected future rise in the world's temperature. In these palaeoclimate studies climate sensitivity has been reconstructed on the basis of data derived from ice and sediment core. Climate sensitivity is a key parameter in the study of climate change. It describes the rise of the mean temperature of the earth's surface due to changes in the climate system. Specifically, its value represents the increase in global temperatures calculated by climate models, if the carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere doubles. Here, models were initialised with pre-industrial carbon dioxide concentrations.
The team was then faced with the challenge of comparing the assembled studies. Each study spoke of "climate sensitivity", but not all took the same factors into account. "We had to elaborate all the different assumptions and uncertainties, such as which studies look exclusively at carbon dioxide and which considered other greenhouse gases such as methane or the effect of reflection, the so called albedo, from ice surfaces. Only then could we compare the data. We also calculated the climate sensitivity data if we only considered greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide or added in albedo", explained Dr Peter Köhler, one of the article's main authors and climatologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, part of the Helmholtz Association.
The research group was able to use its new method to differentiate ten different kinds of climate sensitivity. In a second phase of the project, they then worked on devising consistent terminology and concrete definitions. The new classification system should prevent future researchers from publishing widely divergent estimates of climate sensitivity based on differing assumptions. "Ideally, it should be clear from the start of a study what kind of climate sensitivity is being addressed. The factors considered by the researchers to be driving temperature change should be clear from the language used. Our terminology offers a conceptual framework to calculate climate sensitivity based on past climate data. We hope that this will improve evaluation of future climate projections", adds Köhler.
This work represents a significant advance for climatology. It is the first summary of what scientists have been able to reconstruct about climate sensitivity based on data from the past 65 million years and the assumptions that were behind the data. It also demonstrates that the climate forecasts in the IPCC reports agreed with the estimates of how nature has reacted to changes in the climate through the course of the earth's history.
The research team has not, however, achieved one of its goals. "We had hoped to limit the range of current assumptions about climate sensitivity. In its last report, the IPCC summarised that the global temperature would rise 2.1 to 4.4 degrees C if the atmospheric carbon dioxide level rises to double the pre-industrial values. As it turns out, our climate sensitivity values are currently within this same range" says Dr Köhler.
Further open questions will have to be addressed in order to obtain more precise figures. Scientists know, for example, that climate sensitivity depends on the predominant background climate at the time, i.e. whether climate is in an ice age or a warm age. But exactly how this background climate impacts climate sensitivity still has to be answered. The climatologists behind this study hope that the new conceptual framework will push further research in this direction.
The article is the outcome of a three-day colloquium held last year at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in Amsterdam, attended by more than 30 specialists in the field.
Information for editors:
The original article is entitled "Making sense of palaeoclimate sensitivity" and appeared in the 29 November issue of Nature. (doi: 10.1038/nature11574), Vol 491, pages 683-691.
For further information, contact either Dr Peter Köhler Tel. +49(0)471 4831-1687 (Email: firstname.lastname@example.com) or Kristina Bär, Communications and Media, Tel. +49(0)471 4831-2139 (Email: firstname.lastname@example.com).
Follow the Alfred Wegener Institute on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AWI_de) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/AlfredWegenerInstitut) for current news and information on everyday small stories from the life of the Institute.
The Alfred Wegener Institute conducts research in the Arctic and Antarctic as well as in the high and mid latitude oceans. The Institute coordinates German polar research and provides important infrastructure such as the research icebreaker Polarstern and research stations in the Arctic and Antarctic to the national and international scientific world. The Alfred Wegener Institute is one of eighteen research centres in the Helmholtz Association, the largest scientific organisation in Germany.
Subscribe to AWI press release RSS feed
The Institute
The Alfred Wegener Institute pursues research in the polar regions and the oceans of mid and high latitudes. As one of the 19 centres of the Helmholtz Association it coordinates polar research in Germany and provides ships like the research icebreaker Polarstern and stations for the international scientific community.