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Warm Winter Night In Toronto
This title wouldn't make any sense if it wasn't the December of 2015, the warmest winter in last 60 years.
Not that I remember but data says so :)
I Follow Rivers
People follow rivers since they found out they need water for living (long time ago, I would assume :) ) and a lot of major cities are situated on them for that reason.
This is half-accurate, half-made-up fact, which is somewhat self-evident, but don't quote me on this one :)
They also build bridges like this one to ease up the life on the sides (swimming is a bit overrated for your daily commute :) )
Title inspired by +Lykke Li.
Zagreb Cathedral
The Zagreb Cathedral stands on Kaptol as the tallest building in Croatia! Its spires can be seen from many locations in the city. This particular shot was taken from Lotrščak Tower on an autumn night.
This, typically Gothic cathedral, is dedicated to the Assumption of Mary and to kings Saint Stephen and Saint Ladislaus.
Interesting History
Construction of this monument started in 1093. Few hundred years later, in 1242, Tatars destroyed it. Another few hundred years later, in 15th century, the Ottoman Empire invaded Bosnia and Croatia, triggering the construction of fortification walls around the cathedral, some of which are still intact. Fast forward couple more centuries later (17th), a fortified renaissance watchtower was erected on the south side, and was used as a military observation point, because of the Ottoman threat.
Cathedral was again severely damaged in 1880. This time due to natural causes, earthquake...
The main nave collapsed and the tower was damaged beyond repair. The restoration in the Neo-Gothic style was led by Hermann Bollé, bringing the cathedral to its present form.
As part of that restoration, two spires were raised 108 m (354 ft) high on the western side. You can see one of them still being restored.
Let's say the cathedral had its ups and downs with both, people and nature being against it.
It's still standing tall, awaiting next disaster trying to bring it to the knees...
So far it has no knees so I don't see that happening any time soon ;)
Sky Office Tower
Reaching 22 stories high, these twin-tower sky offices are built to represent a landmark of the western entrance into Zagreb, capital city of Croatia.
Sky Office Towers are built with green in mind. In addition to recycling, sustainability promotion and education, supervising energy consumption and reduced waste amounts, it adds an overall feel of green by hosting Sky Garden.
Sky Garden is a two-story-high space on the 7th floor between the elliptic towers.
In addition to a panoramic view of the city it has trees planted and wooden benches. It provides a quick getaway from work and allows people to rest a bit all while being wirelessly connected to a high-speed internet connection. I'd recommend not using it if you want to truly get away and rest :)
Meteorological station on the roof of the tower is connected to the central supervising system and makes the adjustment of all the systems to the outdoor state, possible.
Is this the kind of place you would like to be working at, or you're more of a something different?
Zagreb - Easterized
Window To The Past
Past holds the pillars of today.
We often look back in time on things and use past events to predict the future.
That's great because Historia est magistra vitae - (History is the teacher of life) and we should use that knowledge not to repeat the same mistakes twice.
However, be careful not to get too caught up in the past, you still live in the present, and things change. People change. You're not the same as you were yesterday. You evolved.
Try taking that into account when learning from the past, but still... learn.
Winter In Višnjan
From the long lost archives of What-the-heck-happened-to-my-post comes this wonderful shot of a small Istrian place, called Višnjan.
Not to tell a lot historical data about this place (+Wikipedia would be much better source for that), I wanna share with you how I felt those few hours I spent getting lost in narrow streets of Višnjan this winter night.
Since picture's worth a thousand words, this text will be some thousand words shorter. (go figure)
Accompanied by two most amazing people I know, I went into the labyrinth of stone houses and wooden doors to look for this photo.
Peace and sense of belonging filled our hearts and made us worm as the night set in.
Ever had a feeling you went to past and experienced a world without everyone knowing you were there? Can you feel it in this photo? Did we find it?
And those graffiti... vandals ;)
Church Of Our Lady Of Loreto
A Peace Of Mind
This beautiful place is situated on south-east of Kostanj cove on island Ugljan, and there isn't much info I could find about it. Sources don't agree on most of what I was able to come up with... People either don't know, or just don't care. So instead of being a historian, after spitting out little what I found out, I'm going to try to describe you the feeling of being there.
That will make you appreciate the place much more than any (in)accurate historic information could.
This precious thing was built in either 13th or 15th century in either Gothic or Romanesque style. Details, eh?
It was rebuilt to a current state in 1996. through efforts of parishioners and congregation "Brethren of the Croatian Dragon". (Družba "Braće hrvatskog zmaja"). And that's about it. If you have any more (or more accurate) info, please let me know :)
It's very remote from the nearest place you can come to by car. The usual way I come here is by foot via long, curvy and narrow (about meter or few feet wide) concrete path on the shore where waves occasionally kiss the path.
The concrete part of this path ends before you reach the church so you have to climb up into the thick pine forest and continue your trip. After a while, the forest thins down and you get to see a little glade with a tiny church on it's highest point on your left and you're there.
Even in the peak of summer season, you will rarely see people there. Sometimes they put up tents on the glade and spend their afternoon or a night or two but they are mostly just passing by to the Kostanj cove not far away.
After an hour or so walk by the sea, it's finally time and place to sit down on the thin grass and pine needles, and relax, listen to crickets and wind, enjoy the sun and feel the unity of nature and everything.
Let it sink in and suddenly you have a different perspective on the world and your problems. Just allowing yourself to breathe as the nature breathes, solutions start to represent themselves in a clear and memorable way.
It's quite unique experience repeatable only by coming there again.
See Them All!


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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell endorsed Sen. , D-Ill., for president on Sunday, criticizing his own Republican Party for what he called its narrow focus on irrelevant personal attacks over a serious approach to challenges he called unprecedented.
Powell, who for many years was considered the most likely candidate to become the first African-American president, said in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he was not supporting Obama because of his race. He said he had watched both Obama and his Republican opponent, Sen. of Arizona, for many months and thought "either one of them would be a good president."
But he said McCain's choices in the last few weeks — especially his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his vice presidential running mate — had raised questions in his mind about McCain's judgment.
"I don't believe [Palin] is ready to be president of the United States," Powell said flatly. By contrast, Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, "is ready to be president on day one."
Powell also told NBC's Tom Brokaw that he was "troubled" by Republicans' personal attacks on Obama, especially false intimations that Obama was Muslim and the recent focus on Obama's alleged connections to William Ayers, a co-founder of the radical '60 Weather Underground.
Stressing that Obama was a lifelong Christian, Powell denounced Republican tactics that he said were insulting not only to to Obama but also to Muslims.
"The really right answer is what if he is?" Powell said, praising the contributions of millions of Muslim citizens to American society.
"I look at these kind of approaches to the campaign, and they trouble me," Powell said. "Over the last seven weeks, the approach of the Republican Party has become narrower and narrower."
In an interview Sunday on Fox News, McCain said he was not surprised by the announcement.
"I've always admired and respected General Powell," said McCain, who cited the endorsements he had received from former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Alexander Haig, James Baker and Lawrence Eagleburger. "We have a respectful disagreement."
Bolstering Obama's international credentialsObama airing Monday on NBC's TODAY that he welcomed Powell's support and looked forward to discussing what role, if any, Powell might have in an Obama administration should he be elected.
"Here is what I can say for certain: He will have a role as one of my advisers. He has already served in that function even before he endorsed me," Obama told NBC's Matt Lauer. "Whether he wants to take a formal role — whether there's something that's a good fit for him — I think is something that he and I would have to discuss."
Powell, a retired Army general who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the first President Bush before becoming secretary of state in the current administration, is one of the most highly decorated military officers of modern times and an admired figure in both parties. The Obama campaign is likely to cite the endorsement as an answer to critics and undecided voters who have questioned the foreign policy credentials of Obama, a first-term senator whose national experience amounts to four years in the Senate.
Powell said a major part of his decision to turn his back on his own party was his conclusion that Obama was the better option to repair frayed U.S. relations with allies overseas.
"This is the time for outreach," Powell said, saying the next president would have to "reach out and show the world there is a new administration that is willing to reach out."
In particular, he said, he welcomed Obama's president to "talk to people we haven't talked to," a reference to Obama's controversial statement that he would be open to direct diplomacy with Iranian leaders.
"I think that [Obama] has a definite way of doing business that will serve us well," Powell said.
Won't campaign for ObamaAs recently as a month ago, Powell said that electing an African-American president would be "electrifying" for the world but that he remained undecided. The unsteadiness of the Republican campaign in recent weeks, especially on the economic crisis, went a long way toward pushing him off the fence, he said.
"It isn't easy for me to disappoint Senator McCain as I have this morning," said Powell, who emphasized that he would not campaign for Obama because of his admiration for McCain's long record of service in the military and in Congress.
But as he examined both campaigns in the last few weeks, he said, he became "concerned" that "in the case of Mr. McCain, he was a little unsure how to deal with the economic problems."
"Every day, there was a different approach," he said, adding that he also "would have difficulty with two more conservative appointments to the Supreme Court."
McCain would be a good president, Powell said, but Obama is "a transformational figure" who would be an "exceptional" leader.
"I truly believe that at this point in America's history we need a president who will not just continue ... basically the policies we have followed in recent years," he said. "We need a president with transformational qualities."
For that reason, he said, "I will be voting for Barack Obama."

subset: commoncrawl


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The Levy flight
Clay Shirky taught me this very cool mathematical concept that shows up in nature, and now in marketing and social media.
An animal that forages will hang out in a small area, looking for nuts or berries, then will realize it has used up all the likely sources in this spot. It will then head off in a random direction, walk many paces, and start foraging again. When you plot the Levy flight, it looks like this:
Someone discovers your site. They poke and prod and join and return and return again. Then they feel as though there's no more benefit and they move on, surfing until they find another place to forage.
Someone finds your restaurant. They love it. They return with friends. They hang out and become regulars for a while. Then they get bored and start browsing again.
Adding the Levy flight to your understanding is a much more nuanced representation of consumer behavior than solely thinking about the ideas of brand loyalty or random web surfing.


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'Mary Worth'.
Bill Ziegler did the 'Annie Oakley' Sunday page from 1951 to 1952. A year later, he did the daily 'Dragnet' strip, which he continued until 1954. He was an assistant inker on the 'Mary Worth' newspaper strip by Ken Ernst from 1954 to 1970. From 1985 to 1991, he also did the pencil work on the strip.
Ziegler worked for Dell Publishing from 1956 to 1959, illustrating such western and adventure series as 'The Frontiersman', 'Rex Allen', 'Dale Evans', 'Range Rider', 'Johnny Mack Brown', and 'Wild Bill Elliot'. He returned to the company in 1975, when he did some adventure stories for Disney ('Island at the Top of the World', 'Escape to Witch Mountain', 'Andy Burnet'). In the 1970s, he worked on 'Grimm's Ghost Stories' and 'Addams Family', the latter based on Charles Addams' cartoon series.
'Island At The Top Of The World'.


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LOS ANGELES – At last night's Grammys, Kim Kardashian had a butt emergency. Her butt busted out of her dress!
There was a major crisis at last night's Grammys. Some say it was the biggest fashion emergency in the history of fashion.
Kim Kardashian's butt broke through her dress. Here she is the moment before the crisis occurred:
Kim Karadashian told WWN: I took my dress to another tailor and he tailored it to where my whole butt wouldn't fit in it. I was freaking out. He adjusted it right before the show, but he didn't let it out enough!"
Witnesses said that it looked like a butt explosion. That would make sense because last year Kim had a real butt explosion when her butt implants burst.
This is the dress Kim was wearing when her butt implants burst last year:
At the Grammy's designers rushed to her side and re-sewed the ass of her dress, because Kim's livelihood was at stake. "Without her butt, without it looking big and tight… she's ruined," said designer Kaufman Franco.
Several hip-hop and rap star stars (Dr. Dre, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Drake) also rushed to Kim's side. "Man, you gotta to protect a booty like that… That baby got back and we want to keep that back, looking tight!" Jay-Z said. Beyonce didn't like Jay-Z staring at Kim's butt, so she did a little Butt Strutting herself:
Kim went backstage and put on a new dress, one that highlighted her butt, but also kept everything where it should be:
All is well in Hollywood. Kim's butt is back in place!!


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Support the Troops
Words Unspoken Are Rendered on War's FacesAnd sure enough, he was describing the very image that is forever associated with the consequences of the invasion of Iraq in my mind (UPDATE: very interestingly, the New York Times, from where I originally sourced the "wedding" photo has renumbered the images of that story so that the one below actually appears twice and the wedding one doesn't appear at all. See http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/21/arts/bermanslide6.jpg and http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/21/arts/bermanslide6.jpg and http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/21/arts/bermanslide7.jpg). To see the image I'm referring to visit Jen Bekman Gallery's site.
One of the more shocking photographs to emerge from the current Iraq war was taken last year in a rural farm town in the American Midwest.
Now I know it's foolhardy to conclude too much about someone's life from a photograph. It's possible that moments before and mere moments after that shot was snapped, both of these young people were all smiles and confident and hopeful and in love. But what this captured instant conveys, whether indicative or not, seems to be a heartbreaking blend of pain, uncertainty, and hope, and it stirs up the kind of empathy that makes you want to march on your nation's capital and hold some of those, who had other priorities when they were called to serve, accountable for their raging incompetence.
But before I stomp a hole through the top of my soapbox, let me separate out my stand on the war from that of the photographer. As Holland notes:
Ms. Berman adds no direct editorial comment to the presentation. She has said in interviews that she started photographing disabled veterans soon after the war began mainly because she didn't see anyone else doing so.As Holland also notes, though, the images in this exhibition represent only the tip of the iceberg with regards to the number of wounded Americans returning home from that conflict. Ms. Berman's image of Iraq war veterans has been published in the book, Purple Heart, Back From Iraq.
Labels: Iraq, photography


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No doubt, three-gun matches are one of the hottest trends in the sport shooting community today. If you've ever wondered how this sport works and were tempted to get involved, then take a look at 2011 AR15.com 3-Gun Pro Am Championship shoot going on at the Rockcastle Shooting Center near Park City, Kentucky. What, you say you're too busy evacuating out of the way of Irene to make it to the match? Not a problem! Benelli is streaming the match live here. It's well worth the visit, because not only will you get to see some phenomenal shooting talent, you'll get to view the side match co-sponsored between Benelli and Federal Ammunition. Benelli's highlighting its ultimate 3-gun M2 shotgun straight out of its Performance Shop and a result of a joint effort with Briley Manufacturing. This super-slick scattergun is designed specifically for winning times and scores in this fast-paced competition and is likely to be the gun serious match competitors are going to be ordering en masse.
Benelli describes its standard M2 as the "workhorse" model in its vast lineup of shotguns. And, indeed it is, thanks to Inertia-Driven recoil system. Gas-operated semi-autos are perfectly serviceable, provided they're kept relatively clean. I remember taking one of my favorite gas-operated semi-auto shotguns on a duck hunt and writer's junket in Colorado. After two days of shooting–and no real time or place to do a strip down cleanup overnight–the third day brought plummeting temps and my gun became a single shot, thanks to the cold freezing up the gunk and residue from all the shooting over the previous days. Still love that gun, but gotta keep it clean, and given the number of ducks that flew by me on that cold November day while I was shucking my carrier back and forth, I rather wish I'd had a Benelli in my hands.
The Inertia-Driven concept is simple. Use the energy of the recoil to cycle the action. This eliminates the residues inherrent with gas actions. Too, some gas operated shotguns can be finicky over the range of shotshell loads, but the Benelli cycles everything from a 1-oz. 2 3/4-inch 12-gauge load through the entire spectrum of 3-inch chamberings. Now, wrap all that science into a 3-gun match specific model, complete with fully adjustable ghost ring sights, optional pistol grip, and an optional Comfortech stock that can reduce felt recoil by nearly 50% (and for those of you shooting heavier loads in speed matches, this can make or break your game, allowing you to get back on target faster after each shot), and you won't wonder why Benelli is sponsoring this high-profile match.
The Ar15.com 3-Gun Championship is being streamed live starting today and running through Sunday, August 28.
The Author Recommends: Whether you're a novice 3-gun competitor or an expert aiming for sponsorship status, the Gun Digest Book of the Tactical Shotgundefines just what a tactical gun is, what makes one practical for home-defense, the best action choice for your job, and enough ballistics, accessory, and shooting technique information to perfect anyone's game. Best of all, it's on sale now!
Gun Digest Book of the Tactical Shotgun


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S/M "Bridesmaid" Champagne Satin Robe - Sweetpea in White (Clearance Item)
Sale price Price $9.99 On Sale Unit price per
The one-of-a-kind Bride Robe is designed and made exclusively for the Pretty Robes bride and/or entourage. You need to stand out and do so without breaking the bank.
- Surplice wrap satin V-neckline
- Drop-shoulder sleeves with satin trim at cuffs
- Includes belt and inner ties
- Hits above knee
- Satin Robe is made of Satin and Polyester
- Machine washable cool, separately. Non-chlorine bleach. Tumble dry low.
- Customization is not embroidered
- All sales are final.
Custom - Sales of our custom products are final. Custom products (those with print on them) are made to order and the print cannot be undone so we cannot accept it for return.
Non Custom - We accept returns on non-custom products within 60 days of delivery.
- Items that show signs of wear/tear may not be accepted and may be sent back to the customer. We will reach out to you when this happens.
- Please note that we do not provide return labels. Shipping costs of items are paid for by the customers.
- Please allow up to 10 business days from the day your return is delivered to be processed.
Received a damaged item?
- Please send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will do our best to help you.


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Community Service
Bloomfield College encourages and recognizes student academic excellence within and beyond the classroom. Community service is central to the educational experience of our students. From the onset of enrollment to graduation, our students discover that their active participation in community service affords them with opportunities to utilize their education, skills and talents to make profound differences in the lives of others. The support and assistance they provide to various local, national and international organizations, agencies, churches and schools represent the compassionate hearts of our students.
Agencies and Organizations where Bloomfield College students have volunteered their time and/or donated funds or resources:
- Abraham Clark High School
- AIDS Resource Foundation for Children
- American Cancer Society
- American Red Cross
- Barringer High School
- Bloomfield Public Library
- Canterbury Care and Rehabilitation Center
- The Christian & Missionary Alliance
- Dr. Martin Luther King Elementary School
- Elijah's Promise Soup Kitchen
- Elizabeth Presbyterian Day Care
- Embrace Kids Foundation
- Food Bank of NJ
- Footsteps for Families
- Gem Project Literacy Project
- Glenridge Ambulance Squad
- Habitat for Humanity
- Haines Home for Elderly
- Hyacinth AIDS Foundation
- Irvington High School
- Jersey Cares
- Jersey City Medical Center
- Kids Corner
- La Casa De Don Pedro
- Make a Wish Foundation
- Midnight Run, NYC
- Montclair Animal Shelter
- Neighbor to Neighbor Network
- New Jersey Peace Action
- Newark Bears Stadium
- Neward Rescue Mission
- Special Olympics, NY
- Parkview Manor
To enhance our commitment to student service learning, Student Affairs and CSLE has a part-time staff member serving as the Coordinator of Service Leadership and Diversity Initiatives. The College has also created a budget to financially support transportation and other expenses associated with students' expenses to engage in community service activities. Another commitment to our service learning initiatives is the Students Engaging in Real Volunteer Experiences (SERVE) Program.
Students are expected to demonstrate proficiency in eight core competency areas which includes Community Orientation and Citizenship. This competency requirement represents an appreciation of communities and environments in all their diversity-local, national, and global and is connected to a sense of service, civic engagement, and social responsibility. The College is committed to its mission to prepare students to attain academic, personal and professional excellence in a multicultural and global society.
Service Learning & Community Service
Service Learning opportunities provided by the CSLE Office supports an environment for students to learn, develop, and grown through serving others locally, nationally and internationally. CSLE will foster and environment of service learning for students, student clubs and organizations and campus departments with the goal of engaging our students in activities that will foster interpersonal and professional development through service learning.
- The S.E.R.V.E. Program (Students Engaged in Real Volunteer Experiences) - provides students with various trips, events, and activities focused on community service.
- Community Service Hours - Students may record and track their community service hours through the CSLE Office and will be eligible for various awards for services performed.
- Community Service Database - CSLE provides students with a database of community service based organizations and activities that students may become involved with. CSLE will serve as a liaison between students and these organizations to foster greater relationships and involvement.


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Wildwalks Images
This walk is a great way to explore the diverse forests of Katandra Reserve. Starting with the views from St Johns Lookout, this walk heads through the open forest, past many mossy rocks, then heads into the valley and rainforest. On the valley floor, the walk gently meanders past some great examples of Strangler Figs on the way to Seymour Pond. From the pond, you walk through another palm-filled valley and then open forest, before arriving at the Katandra Rd Picnic Area.
Total climbing: 135m
2.9 km One way
1 hr 30 mins
Moderate track
This walk explores many highlights in Katandra Reserve. Starting from St Johns Lookout, this walk winds down the hill into the much denser forest of the valley, enjoy many interesting rock formations on the way. Once in the valley, you walk past some fantastic examples of strangler figs before heading around Seymour Pond, enjoying the water birds. After resting at one of the picnic areas, you follow Graves Walk up the ridge, enjoying the open and dryer forest before returning to the car park.
Total climbing: 308m
4.8 km Circuit
2 hrs 15 mins
Moderate track
This walk is a great way to explore the many highlights of Katandra Reserve. Starting at the lower picnic area, you circumnavigate Seymour Pond via the Waterman Walk, then discover some wonderful Strangler Fig trees in the rainforest. As the walk climbs, the forest dries out a little, which opens up more views. Taking the Guringai walk along the base of the cliff will then bring you up to St Johns picnic area and lookout. After enjoying the views from the top, take Graves walk down along the ridge and back to your starting point.
Total climbing: 350m
5.3 km Circuit
2 hrs 45 mins
Moderate track


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Philadelphia, PA – Brian Boucher and the Philadelphia Flyers are reunited again.
The Flyers acquired the veteran goaltender and defenseman Mark Alt from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for forward Luke Pither.
Drafted in the first round by the Flyers in 1995, Boucher returns for a third tour of duty with the Orange and Black. He played parts of three seasons (1999-2002) with Philadelphia before returning for the 2009-10 campaign.
After the 2010-11 season, Boucher left the organization, signing a two-year contract with Carolina.
For his career, the 36-year-old Boucher has compiled a record of 120-137-15 with 30 ties in 324 games (287 starts) with Philadelphia, Phoenix, Calgary, Chicago, Columbus, San Jose and the Hurricanes.
Alt, 21, has three assists and a plus-11 rating in 21 games for the Minnesota Gophers this season. The Hurricanes selected him in the second round of the 2010 draft.
The 23-year-old Pither has registered 11 goals and 14 assists in 35 games with Trenton and Wheeling of the ECHL this season.


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Urban Mobility: Thinking Ahead is Half the Journey
The following post comes courtesy of Global Site Plans' The Grid. CNU and Global Site Plans recently teamed up to syndicate Grid content, as its contingent of writers presents a view on the opportunities and issues of urbanization all across the world. CNU will carry select posts from the Grid direct on the CNU Salons.
My commute to the university is not very long: I take a train, another train, and I'm as good as there. Still, almost every morning I ask my mobile app to tell me which way is the quickest. Maybe today I'll switch at a different stop? When exactly will the next train arrive – is there time for a quick spin by the café for some coffee?
It's incredible how much I rely on the public transport schedule that my phone provides me with. What is even more incredible is that it almost works every time.When it comes to urban infrastructure systems, Germans certainly live up to their image of being timely and efficient. However, there is one challenge still to be tackled: I can take the overground and underground train, busses, and even the boat with one ticket – but what about bikes? What about cars? In the attempt to being truly sustainable, I believe urban planners should try to find a way to make cars and bikes part of the public transport system as well.
In a time where urban infrastructure systems are faster, more secure, and intelligent, the next challenge will be to combine different modes of transportation in order to establish a sustainable urban environment. Think about it: instead of waiting for that next train to arrive only to take it another five minutes – wouldn't it be much easier to hop on to a bike and be at you destination in no time? Same goes for cars. Growing up in Berlin, it's rather unnecessary to own one. But every once in a while you're in a hurry, you need to carry furniture or want to go somewhere, the public transport can't take you – having the option to rent a car along the way via your public transport ticket will narrow down your car usage to only these occasions.
One project, aiming to combine different modes of transport is momiles – a mobility system combining the use of bikes, cargo-bikes, and cars with one card.
The city of Düsseldorf even tried out a system, in which one card would combine public transport with car-rental and bike-rental partners.
Do you know of any other best-practice examples of public transportation?
To read the original post, written by Luise Letzner, visit Global Site Plans.
Write your comments in the box below and share on your Facebook!


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folk high school
folk high school, type of adult education that in its most widely known form originated in Denmark in the middle of the 19th cent. The idea as originally conceived by Bishop Nikolai Grundtvig was to stimulate the intellectual life of young adults (generally from 18 to 25 years of age) of rural Denmark, to foster patriotism and strengthen religious conviction, and to provide agricultural and vocational training. The first school, established in Schleswig (1844), was moved across the Danish border after Schleswig passed to Prussia. The movement then gained momentum, and numerous schools were established, with national history and literature emphasized in the curriculum. The folk high schools had a great influence on the civic life of rural Denmark and helped to improve the condition of the small farmer whose products were marketed through cooperative societies. The folk school idea spread throughout Europe with local adaptations, but by the early 20th cent. the movement had abated. In the United States notable experiments in this type of adult education were instituted at Rome, Ga., and at Brasstown, N.C., where the John C. Campbell Folk School was founded (1925). Most attempts to found folk high schools in the United States, however, have been unsuccessful.
See T. Rordam, The Danish Folk High Schools (1965); D. C. Davis, Model for a Humanistic Education: The Danish Folk High School (1971).


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- Revolutionary, Vol. 2 · 2003
- Labor Days · 2001
- The Cold Vein (Deluxe Edition) · 2001
- Fantastic Damage · 2002
- Ritual of the... Revisited & Remastered · 2004
- The Cold Vein (Deluxe Edition) · 2001
- Stronghold - Mixtape Vol. 2 · 2006
- Thought Balloon Mushroom Cloud · 2017
- Camera of Sound · 2021
- Reminisce · 2019
- Original S.I.N. (Strength In Numbers) · 2008
- Stronghold - Mixtape Vol. 2 · 2006
- Original S.I.N. (Strength In Numbers) · 2008
Singles & EPs
Appears On
About C-Rayz Walz
Socially conscious and a skilled freestyler, underground rapper C-Rayz Walz participated in open-mike nights around New York City before hooking with the Stronghold collective. Walz's earliest appearances included mixtapes, an AWOL magazine compilation, and Single Minded Pros' Session 2 EP. A demo-filled debut album, The Prelude, appeared on his own Sun Cycle Entertainment imprint in late 2001 and soon caught the attention of the folks at Definitive Jux. A guest feature on Cannibal Ox's The Cold Vein with fellow Stronghold member L.I.F.E. and an appearance on Aesop Rock's Labor Days kicked off his relationship with the label. Definitive Jux released Walz's proper debut effort, Ravipops, in 2003. The EP We Live: The Black Samurai appeared in 2004. Walz took a break after the EP's release, opting to spend most of his time off in seclusion. Burning his old rhyme books was a cathartic act that freed the rapper's creativity for his next album. The full-length Year of the Beast arrived in 2005 with El-P, Jean Grae, Aesop Rock, and Rob Sonic all making guest appearances. Though the death of his brother understandably sidetracked him, Walz still released a set of new material, 1975: Return of the Beast, on Draft Records the following year. He then partnered with Urchin Studios for three additional releases -- The Dropping, Chorus Rhyme, and The Angel and the Preacher -- while continuing to work on outside projects, including a collaboration with Sharkey that was issued in 2007 as Monster Maker. Another collaboration, this one with Israeli-American hip-hop artist Kosha Dillz, arrived in 2008 under the name Freestyle vs. Written. His fourth proper solo album, Who the Fuck Are You?, followed in 2009 on Kings Link. ~ David Jeffries
- United States of America
- August 3, 1975


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Octopuses are a popular entrée for plenty of predators—including us humans. And for good reason. Octopuses are nutritious, with loads of lean muscle in those amazing arms, and plenty of good minerals.
But are they also harboring hazardous heavy metals?
Surprisingly, "there is no information on the levels and magnitude of octopus contamination by heavy metals or their safety for human consumption" in the western Indian Ocean, where many octopuses are caught, wrote the researchers behind a new paper, published this month in the Journal of Health and Pollution. Previous research has found trace amounts of heavy metals in octopuses caught in European and UK waters.
"Marine resources provide a major source of protein for the costal people of the region," the scientists noted. And octopus is especially popular "because of local beliefs of the species' medicinal effects as an aphrodisiac." So the Tanzania-based team went looking for lead in the local catch, the day octopus (Octopus cyanea), which is consumed locally as well as exported to Europe and Asia.
The researchers sampled 60 octopuses during expeditions in 2013. The team found up to 7.22 micrograms of lead per gram of muscle in the local octopuses. "These values were above the maximum allowable criteria of 0.2 micrograms/gram" set forth by the World Health Organization as well as "above the tolerance limits set forth by the United Nation Environmental Program, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the EPA," the researchers noted. "That is, the octopus collected…are unsafe for human consumption."
If, however, an adult weighing roughly 70 kilograms were eating only the Environmental Protection Agency's recommendation of just 340 grams (three quarters of a pound) of fish per week—all replaced with grams of this octopus, the amount of lead eaten per week (roughly 12 to 18 micrograms) would still be within limits considered safe. But, with higher weekly consumption of octopus, as is likely for locals at least, those eating this animal caught in these waters could be at risk of consuming too much of this heavy metal.
And researchers cautioned that the livers of these octopuses contained even higher levels of lead. "Current harvesting and processing methods may lead to contamination of muscles through contact with contents of ruptured livers," they noted.
Much of the Tanzanian octopus catch is consumed locally. But as global demand has increased, so has the country's exports. By 2002, Tanzania was already exporting more than 870 metric tons of octopus, according to a 2009 United Nations report (pdf). And informal data, the report notes, suggest this number has continued to grow.
And in addition to us humans, other octopus predators might also be suffering from exposure to these toxins. "Lead is know for its neurotoxic characteristics that cause behavioral deficits in most vertebrates, which may result in decreasing growth rates, survival and metabolism," the scientists noted. And likewise, lead might well be affecting the octopuses themselves.
"The presence of lead in the muscles of O. cyanea indicates a contaminated environment," the authors noted. In particular, "sediment acts as a reservoir for many pollutants, including heavy metals." And this could be a distinct issue for octopuses (and the people who eat them). "The feeding habits of the octopus may also contributed to the elevated concentration of lead in the muscles," the researchers wrote. "Being at the top of the local food chain, they feed on various food items such as mollusks, crabs and other crustaceans that spend much of their life cycle in contaminated sediment."
The sampled areas are polluted by runoff from rivers that wash unprocessed industrial and urban waste from the coastal cities of Dar es Salaam and Tanga—especially during monsoon season, the researchers noted. So to clean up the octopus catch, here and elsewhere, we will likely have to clean up our global waterways. For our sake as well as that of other predators. And the octopuses themselves.
Learn more about global octopus fisheries in Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature In the Sea.
Illustration courtesy of Ivan Phillipsen


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Text entry boxes are text fields into which users can enter text. Text entry boxes are a great way to test users' knowledge. After the user answers a question, Adobe Captivate matches the answer with the answers that you have set when creating the text entry box. You can even provide a hint to the user if you want to.
To view the properties of a text entry box, select it on the slide. The Property inspector displays the properties of the text entry box.
When you change the properties, the changes are instantly applied to the selected instance of the text entry box. Click the Apply to all icon to apply the changes to all the click boxes in the project or to those that use the same object style.
|Enter a unique name for the text entry box. You can use this name when defining the visibility conditions for the box.
|Clear this option if you want the text entry box to be invisible when the project is played. The object can be made visible when a specific event occurs such as the entry to a slide or exit from a slide. For more information, see Controlling the visibility of objects.
|Select a style for the text entry box. To define a new style, select Edit > Object Style Manager. For more information on object styles, see Object style.
|Displays the default text that appears in the text entry box. The user can overwrite the displayed text to type the answer. For example, you can set a default text for the text entry box saying, "Enter the answer here."
|Allows users to view their previously entered answer if they return to this slide using the Back button.
|Enables or disables the visibility of the text entry box frame. If you do not select this option, only the Default Text is displayed to the user.
|Displays asterisks in the text entry box to indicate that the box is a password field.
|Validates the input provided by the users. The box behaves like a form field and accepts any user input.
|Lets you specify the following options:
|Indicates the name of the variable that stores the value entered in the text entry box by users. To specify a different variable name, click the 'X' icon, type the name of the variable, and click Ok.
|Indicates the background color of the text entry box. To change the color, click the Fill box and click a color in the color palette.
|Set the following font properties:
Set the following properties:
When you change the properties in this section, the object style in the General section is prefixed with a '+' sign. This indicates that the style is now in a overridden state. For more information on object styles, see Object style.
|Specifies the event that occurs when a user clicks the box. For the description of the available options, see Project navigation using interactive objects.
|Allows users an unlimited number of attempts.
|Specifies the number of times the user can attempt the question before the specified action takes place. By default, the number of attempts allowed is infinite. To specify a number, clear the Infinite Attempts
ou can specify a keyboard shortcut for the mouse-click. Users can use the keyboard shortcut instead of the mouse. For example, suppose you select Control+Shift+Enter as the keyboard shortcut for the mouse-click. The click is treated as correct (a click within the box) when users press this combination. If they press the wrong combination, it is treated as a click outside the box.
Note: If your Adobe Captivate project is displayed in a browser, set keyboard shortcuts that do not conflict with common browser shortcuts. For example, F1 is frequently used as a keyboard shortcut to display Help. The Control, Alt, and Shift keys map to the Control, Option, and Shift keys on Macintosh® computers, respectively.
|Select the action that should be performed when the user presses Enter or Tab.
|Select this
|Select this
|Select this
|Select this check box to pauses the project until all success and failure captions are displayed.
|Adds a Submit button to the text entry box by default. Click the button to change its properties such as the label for the button and the formatting of the characters in the label.
|Displays a scroll bar when the user exceeds the space available in the text entry box.
|Considers the text entry box as a question in the current quiz. The points assigned to this box are added to the score results of the current quiz.
|The score that you want to assign to the question. The maximum is 100 points, the minimum is 0. The points assigned to this text entry box are added to the score results of the current quiz.
|Includes the points for the correct click in the total score.
|Sends the quiz score to the learning management system (LMS).
|Sends tracking information to your learning management system. Use the interaction ID specified by your learning management system.
|Allows you to associate an audio with the click box.
Use this section to define the exact size or location of the text entry box in terms of pixels. You can also specify the rotation of a text entry box in this section.
|Specifies how long the text entry box is displayed on the slide.
|Specify the time in seconds.
|Specifies the delay between the first appearance of the slide and the first appearance of the text entry box.
|Specifies the point at which the project pauses so that the user can enter text in the text entry box. The project continues only after the user submits the correct answer.
In this example, use a text entry box to capture text and display the text back on a different slide.
Set the following properties for the text entry box:
- Set the default text to "Write your answer here"
- Select the
check-boxRetain Text
- Select the
check-boxShow Text Box Frame
- Set the maximum length of the text to 250
In the Actions tab, set the following properties, as shown below:
- Select the check-box Infinite Attempts
- Choose Go to the next slide in the On Success drop-down list
Also, choose the option Show Scrollbar.
In this example, use a text entry box, which does not accept an empty (null) value as input. Set the properties such that the text entry box only accepts a pre-defined value.
In this example, use a text entry box, which when accepts a value, displays Success or Failure captions depending on the value.


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Ernest Hobson addresses the British Association in 1910
Ernest Hobson was President of Section A of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1910. The Association met in Sheffield, in September and Hobson addressed Section A - Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Below is the first part of his lecture.SECTION A. - MATHEMATICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE.
To read the second part of Hobson's lecture, follow the link: British Association 1910, Part 2
To read the third part of Hobson's lecture, follow the link: British Association 1910, Part 3
To read the second part of Hobson's lecture, follow the link: British Association 1910, Part 2
To read the third part of Hobson's lecture, follow the link: British Association 1910, Part 3
PRESIDENT OF THE SECTI0N. - Professor E W HOBSON, D.Sc., F.R.S.
Ernest Hobson, the President, delivered the following Address:-
Since the last meeting of our Association one of the most illustrious of the British workers in science during the nineteenth century has been removed from us by the death of Sir William Huggins. In the middle of the last century Sir William Huggins commenced that pioneer work of examination of the spectra of the stars which has ensured for him enduring fame in connection with the foundation of the science of Astrophysics. The exigencies of his work of analysis of the stellar spectra led him to undertake a minute examination of the spectra of the elements with a view to the determination of as many lines as possible. To the spectroscope he later added the photographic film as an instrument of research in his studies of the heavenly bodies. In 1864 Sir William Huggins made the important observation that many of the nebulae have spectra which consist of bright lines; and two years later he observed, in the case of a new star, both bright and dark lines in the same spectrum. In 1868 his penetrating and alert mind made him the first to perceive that the Doppler principle could be applied to the determination of the velocities of stars in the line of sight, and he at once set about the application of the method. His life-work, in a domain of absorbing interest, was rewarded by a rich harvest of discovery, obtained as the result of most patient and minute investigations. The 'Atlas of Representative Stella Spectra,' published in the names of himself and Lady Huggins, remains as a monumental record of their joint labours.
The names of the great departments of science, Mathematics, Physics, Astronomy, Meteorology, which are associated with Section A, are a sufficient indication of the vast range of investigation which comes under the purview of our Section. An opinion has been strongly expressed in some quarters that the time has come for the erection of a separate Section for Astronomy and Meteorology, in order that fuller opportunities may be afforded than hitherto for the discussion of matters of special interest to those devoted to these departments of Science. I do not share this view. I believe that, whilst the customary division into sub-sections gives reasonable facilities for the treatment of questions interesting solely to specialists in the various branches with which our Section is concerned, a policy of disruption would be injurious to the wider interests of science. The close association of the older Astronomy with Mathematics, and of the newer Astronomy with Physics, form strong presumptions against the change that has been suggested. Meteorology, so far as it goes beyond the purely empirical region, is, and must always remain, a branch of Physics. No doubt, the more technical problems which arise in connection with these subjects, though of great importance to specialists, are often of little or no interest to workers in cognate departments. It appears to me, however, that it is unwise, in view of the general objects of the British Association, to give too much prominence in the meetings to the more technical aspects of the various departments of science. Ample opportunities for the full discussion of all the detailed problems, the solution of which forms a great and necessary part of the work of those who are advancing science in its various branches, are afforded by the special Societies which make those branches their exclusive concern. The British Association will, in my view, be performing its functions most efficiently if it gives much prominence to those aspects of each branch of science which are of interest to a public at least in some degree larger than the circle of specialists concerned with the particular branch. To afford an opportunity to workers in any one department of obtaining some knowledge of what is going on in other departments, to stimulate by means of personal intercourse with workers on other lines the sense of solidarity of men of science, to do something to counteract that tendency to narrowness of view which is a danger arising from increasing specialisation, are functions the due performance of which may do much to further that supreme object, the advancement of science, for which the British Association exists.
I propose to address to you a few remarks, necessarily fragmentary and incomplete, upon the scope and tendencies of modern Mathematics. Not to transgress against the canon I have laid down, I shall endeavour to make my treatment of the subject as little technical as possible.
Probably no other department of knowledge plays a larger part outside its own narrower domain than Mathematics. Some of its more elementary conceptions and methods have become part of the common heritage of our civilisation, interwoven in the, everyday life of the people. Perhaps the greatest laboursaving invention that the world has seen belongs to the formal side of Mathematics; I allude to our system of numerical notation. This system which, when scrutinised, affords the simplest illustration of the importance of Mathematical form, has become so much an indispensable part of our mental furniture that some effort is required to realise that an apparently so obvious idea embodies a great invention; one to which the Greeks, with their unsurpassed capacity for abstract thinking, never attained. An attempt to do a multiplication sum in Roman numerals is perhaps the readiest road to an appreciation of the advantages of this great invention. In a large group of sciences, the formal element, the common language, so to speak, is supplied by Mathematics; the range of the application of mathematical methods and symbolism is ever increasing. Without taking too literally the celebrated dictum of the great philosopher Kant, that the amount of real science to be found in any special subject is the amount of Mathematics contained therein, it must be admitted that each branch of science which is concerned with natural phenomena, when it has reached a certain stage of development, becomes accessible to, and has need of, mathematical methods and language; this stage has, for example, been reached in our time by parts of the science of Chemistry. Even Biology and Economics have begun to require mathematical methods, at least on their statistical side. As a science emerges from the stages in which it consists solely of more or less systematised descriptions of the phenomena with which it is concerned in their more superficial aspect; when the intensive magnitudes discerned in the phenomena become representable as extensive magnitudes, then is the beginning of the application of mathematical modes of thought; at a still later stage, when the phenomena become accessible to dynamical treatment, Mathematics is applicable to the subject to a still greater extent.
Mathematics shares with the closely allied subject of Astronomy the honour of being the oldest of the sciences. When we consider that it embodies, in an abstract form, some of the more obvious, and yet fundamental, aspects of our experience of the external world, this is not altogether surprising. The comparatively high degree of development which, as recent historical discoveries have disclosed, it had attained amongst the Babylonians more than five thousand years B.C., may well astonish us. These times must have been preceded by still earlier ages in which the mental evolution of man led him to the use of the tally, and of simple modes of measurement, long before the notions of number and of magnitude appeared in an explicit form.
I have said that Mathematics is the oldest of the sciences; a glance at its more recent history will show that it has the energy of perpetual youth. The output of contributions to the advance of the science during the last century and more has been so enormous that it is difficult to say whether pride in the greatness of achievement in his subject, or despair at his inability to cope with the multiplicity of its detailed developments, should be the dominant feeling of the mathematician. Few people outside the small circle of mathematical specialists have any idea of the vast growth of mathematical literature. The Royal Society Catalogue contains a list of nearly thirty-nine thousand papers on subjects of Pure Mathematics alone, which have appeared in seven hundred serials during the nineteenth century. This represents only a portion of the total output; the very large number of treatises, dissertations, and monographs published during the century being omitted. During the first decade of the twentieth century this activity has proceeded at an accelerated rate. Mathematical contributions to Mechanics, Physics, and Astronomy would greatly swell the total. A notion of the range of the literature relating not only to Pure Mathematics but also to all branches of science to which mathematical methods have been applied will be best obtained by an examination of that monumental work, the 'Encyclopädie der mathematischen Wissenschaften' - when it is completed.
The concepts of the pure mathematician, no less than those of the physicist, had their origin in physical experience analysed and clarified by the reflective activities of the human mind; but the two sets of concepts stand on different planes in regard to the degree of abstraction which is necessary in their formation. Those of the mathematician are more remote from actual unanalysed percepts than are those of the physicist, having undergone in their formation a more complete idealisation and removal of elements inessential in regard to the purposes for which they are constructed. This difference in the planes of thought frequently gives rise to a certain misunderstanding between the mathematician and the physicist due in the case of either to an inadequate appreciation of the point of view of the other. On the one hand it is frequently and truly said of particular mathematicians that they are lacking in the physical instinct; and on the other hand a certain lack of sympathy is frequently manifested on the part of physicists for the aims and ideals of the mathematician. The habits of mind and the ideals of the mathematician and of the physicist cannot be of an identical character. The concepts of the mathematician necessarily lack, in their pure form, just that element of concreteness which is an essential condition of the success of the physicist, but which to the mathematician would often only obscure those aspects of things which it is his province to study. The abstract mathematical standard of exactitude is one of which the physicist can make no direct use. The calculations in Mathematics are directed towards ideal precision, those in Physics consist of approximations within assigned limits of error. The physicist can, for example, make no direct use of such an object as an irrational number; in any given case a properly chosen rational number approximating to the irrational one is sufficient for his purpose. Such a notion as continuity, as it occurs in Mathematics, is, in its purity, unknown to the physicist, who can make use only of sensible continuity. The physical counterpart of mathematical discontinuity is very rapid change through a thin layer of transition, or during a very short time. Much of the skill of the true mathematical physicist and of the mathematical astronomer consists in the power of adapting methods and results carried out on an exact mathematical basis to obtain approximations sufficient for the purposes of physical measurement. It might perhaps be thought that a scheme of Mathematics on a frankly approximative basis would be sufficient for all the practical purposes of application in Physics, Engineering Science, and Astronomy; and no doubt it would be possible to develop, to some extent at least, a species of Mathematics on these lines. Such a system would, however, involve an intolerable awkwardness and prolixity in the statement of results, especially in view of the fact that the degrees of approximation necessary for various purposes are very different, and thus that unassigned grades of approximation would have to be provided for. Moreover the mathematician working on these lines would be cut off from his chief sources of inspiration, the ideals of exactitude and logical rigour, as well as from one of his most indispensable guides to discovery, symmetry, and permanence of mathematical form. The history of the actual movements of mathematical thought through the centuries shows that these ideals are the very life-blood of the science, and warrants the conclusion that a constant striving towards their attainment is an absolutely essential condition of vigorous growth. These ideals have their roots in irresistible impulses and deep-seated needs of the human mind, manifested in its efforts to introduce intelligibility into certain great domains of the world of thought.
There exists a widespread impression amongst physicists, engineers, and other men of science that the effect of recent developments of Pure Mathematics, by making it more abstract than formerly, has been to remove it further from the order of ideas of those who are primarily concerned with the physical world. The prejudice that Pure Mathematics has its sole raison d'être in its function of providing useful tools for application in the physical sciences, a prejudice which did much to retard the due development of Pure Mathematics in this country during the nineteenth century, is by no means extinct. It is not infrequently said that the present devotion of many mathematicians to the interminable discussion of purely abstract questions relating to modern developments of the notions of number and function, and to theories of algebraic form, serves only the purpose of deflecting them from their proper work into paths which lead nowhere. It is considered that mathematicians are apt to occupy themselves too exclusively with ideas too remote from the physical order in which Mathematics had its origin and in which it should still find its proper applications. A direct answer to the question cui bono? when it is raised in respect of a department of study such as Pure Mathematics, seldom carries conviction, in default of a standard of values common to those who ask and to those who answer the question. To appreciate the importance of a sphere of mental activity different from our own always requires some effort of the sympathetic imagination, some recognition of the fact that the absolute value of interests and ideals of a particular class may be much greater than the value which our own mentality inclines us to attach to them. If a defence is needed of the expenditure of time and energy on the abstract problems of Pure Mathematics, that defence must be of a cumulative character. The fact that abstract mathematical thinking is one of the normal forms of activity of the human mind, a fact which the general history of thought fully establishes, will appeal to some minds as a ground of decisive weight. A great department of thought must have its own inner life, however transcendent may be the importance of its relations to the outside. No department of science, least of all one requiring so high a degree of mental concentration as Mathematics, can be developed entirely, or even mainly, with a view to applications outside its own range. The increased complexity and specialisation of all branches of knowledge makes it true in the present, however it may have been in former times, that important advances in such a department as Mathematics can be expected only from men who are interested in the subject for its own sake, and who, whilst keeping an open mind for suggestions from outside, allow their thought to range freely in those lines of advance which are indicated by the present state of their subject, untrammelled by any preoccupation as to applications to other departments of science. Even with a view to applications, if Mathematics is to be adequately equipped for the purpose of coping with the intricate problems which will be presented to it in the future by Physics, Chemistry, and other branches of physical science, many of these problems probably of a character which we cannot at present forecast, it is essential that Mathematics should be allowed to develop itself freely on its own lines. Even if much of our present mathematical theorising turns out to be useless for external purposes, it is wiser, for a well-known reason, to allow the wheat and the tares to grow together. It would be easy to establish in detail that many of the applications which have been actually made of Mathematics were wholly unforeseen by those who first developed the methods and ideas on which they rest. Recently, the more refined mathematical methods which have been applied to gravitational Astronomy by Delaunay, G W Hill, Poinearé, E W Brown, and others, have thrown much light on questions relating to the solar system, and have much increased the accuracy of cur knowledge of the motions of the moon and the planets. Who knows what weapons forged by the theories of functions, of differential equations, or of groups, may be required when the time comes for such an empirical law as Mendeléeff's periodic law of the elements to receive its dynamical explanation by means of an analysis of the detailed possibilities of relatively stable types of motion, the general schematic character of which will have been indicated by the physicist? It is undoubtedly true that the cleft between Pure Mathematics and Physical Science is at the present time wider than formerly. That is, however, a result of the natural development, on their own lines, of both subjects. In the classical period of the eighteenth century, the time of Lagrange and Laplace, the nature of the physical investigations, consisting largely of the detailed working out of problems of gravitational Astronomy in accordance with Newton's law, was such that the passage was easy from the concrete problems to the corresponding abstract mathematical ones. Later on, mathematical physicists were much occupied with problems which lent themselves readily to treatment by means of continuous analysis. In our own time the effect of recent developments of Physics has been to present problems of molecular and sub-molecular Mechanics to which continuous analysis is not at least directly applicable, and can only be made applicable by a process of averaging the effects of great swarms of discrete entities. The speculative and incomplete character of our conceptions of the structure of the objects of investigation has made the applications of Dynamics to their detailed elucidation tentative and partial. The generalised dynamical scheme developed by Lagrange and Hamilton, with its power of dealing with systems, the detailed structure of which is partially unknown, has however proved a powerful weapon of attack, and affords a striking instance of the deep-rooted significance of mathematical form. The wonderful and perhaps unprecedentedly rapid discoveries in Physics which have been made in the last two decades have given rise to many questions which are as yet hardly sufficiently definite in form to be ripe for mathematical treatment; a necessary condition of which treatment consists in a certain kind of precision in the data of the problems to be solved.
To read the second part of Hobson's lecture, follow the link: British Association 1910, Part 2
Last Updated April 2007


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"What is to give light must endure burning." ~ Viktor Frankl
I believe the financial crisis has created opportunities that go far beyond monetary; therefore, I encourage you to read a guest post I wrote titled, Financial Crisis: The Greatest Gift in a Generation, to find out what some of these potentially life-changing opportunities are...
Perhaps you have experienced some of them yourself?
I wrote the post for Mary Jaksch, who is the author of one of my favorite blogs, called GoodlifeZen.
Enjoy the post and check out Mary's blog while you're at it!


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Online: Complete and submit an online application, or download an application.pdf to Whatcom County Boards and Commissions
By phone, mail, or in person: Request an application from the County Executive's office or the County Council office.
Read about the County's expectations for Board and Commission Members
Write legibly.Indicate which position you are applying for in item 2.You may attach a resume or detailed summary of experience, qualifications, and interests.
Sign the application.
Note: Applications are public documents and may be subject to the Open Public Records Act. As a candidate for a public board or commission, the information will be available to the County Council, County Executive, and the public. All board and commission members are expected to be fair, impartial, and respectful of the public, County staff, and each other. Failure to abide by these expectations may result in revocation of appointment and removal from the appointive position.
Unless otherwise noted in each vacancy:
Mail or deliver your signed applications to the Council office for Council-appointed boards and commissions. You may email your application to the Council office, but we must receive the original signed application before the Council makes appointments.
Fax, mail, or deliver your signed applications to the Executive's office for Executive-appointed boards and commissions.
All members must be registered voters, residents of Whatcom County, and if applicable, reside in the area they represent and/or meet the qualifications of the position. Members serve without compensation unless otherwise noted.


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WASHINGTON — Eager to command center stage in a year dominated by Republican infighting, President Barack Obama is polishing a State of the Union address that will go to the heart of Americans' economic anxiety and try to sway voters to give him four more years. He will speak Tuesday to a nation worried about daily struggles and unhappy with his handling of the economy.
Obama's 9 p.m. EST address before a politically divided Congress will be built around ideas meant to appeal to a squeezed middle class. He is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose ways to make college more affordable, offer new steps to tackle a debilitating housing crisis and try to help U.S. manufacturers expand hiring.
Designed as a way for a president to update the nation and recommend ideas to Congress, the State of the Union address has become more than that, especially during that one window when the address falls during the re-election year of an incumbent. It is televised theater — and Obama's biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a second term.
He will frame the campaign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the county works.
The speech will be principally about the economy, featuring the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values.
No matter whom Obama faces in November, the election is likely to be driven by the economy, and determined by which candidate wins voters' trust on how to fix it. More people than not disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy.
The overarching political goal is to give voters a contrast between his vision of a government that tries to level the playing field and those office-seekers who, in his view, would leave people on their own. Without naming them, Obama has in his sights those after his job, including Republicans Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.
The presidential campaign sets an unmistakable context for the speech, right down to the nation's income gap between haves and have-nots. Obama will speak on a few hours after Romney, a former governor and businessman whose wealth is the hundreds of millions of dollars, will release tax records for 2010 and 2011.
The lines of argument between Obama and his rivals are already stark, with America's economic insecurity and the role of government at the center.
The president has offered signals about his speech, telling campaign supporters he wants an economy "that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few." Gingrich, on the other hand, calls Obama "the most effective food stamp president in history." Romney says Obama "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society."
Obama's tone will be highly scrutinized given that his address falls smack in the middle of a fierce and frenzied Republican presidential nomination process. He will make bipartisan overtures to lawmakers but will leave little doubt he will act without opponents when it's necessary and possible, an approach his aides say has let him stay on offense.
The public is more concerned about domestic troubles over foreign policy than at other any time in the past 15 years, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 81 percent want Obama to focus his speech on domestic affairs, not foreign ones; just five years ago, the view was evenly split.
On the day before Obama's speech, his campaign released a short Web ad showing monthly job losses during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, with positive job growth for nearly two Obama years. Republicans assail him as failing to achieve a lot more.
House Speaker John Boehner, responding to reports of Obama's speech themes, said it was a rehash of unhelpful policies. "It's pathetic," he said.
Obama will offer economic proposals for this year, despite long odds against getting the help he would need from Republicans.
Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama is not conceding the next 10 months to "campaigning alone" when people need economic help. On the goals of helping people get a fair shot, Carney said: "There's ample room within those boundaries for bipartisan cooperation and for getting this done."
For three days following his speech, Obama will promote his ideas in five states key to his re-election bid: Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan. He speaks on Friday about college affordability at the University of Michigan.
Meanwhile, the Republican race is suddenly a race again, given Gingrich's resounding win in the South Carolina primary over the weekend. Romney, who appeared the strong front-runner coming into that primary, is now focusing on Gingrich more than Obama as the GOP contest unfolds in Florida.
Vice President Joe Biden, in an interview with radio host Ryan Seacrest, said Monday there is no ideological difference between any of the Republicans seeking to challenge Obama. He said the campaign will offer the clearest choice in which direction to take the country since the era of the Great Depression.
Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama's overall job approval but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.
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text: These two pictures of Uranus were compiled from images recorded by Voyager 2 on Jan. 10, 1986, when the NASA spacecraft was 18 million kilometers (11 million miles) from the planet. The images were obtained by Voyager's narrow-angle camera; the view is toward the planet's pole of rotation, which lies just left of center. The picture on the left has been processed to show Uranus as human eyes would see it from the vantage point of the spacecraft. The second picture is an exaggerated false-color view that reveals details not visible in the true-color view -- including indications of what could be a polar haze of smog-like particles. The true-color picture was made by combining pictures taken through blue, green and orange filters. The dark shading of the upper right edge of the disk is the terminator, or day-night boundary. The blue-green appearance of Uranus results from methane in the atmosphere; this gas absorbs red wavelengths from the incoming sunlight, leaving the predominant bluish color seen here. The picture on the right uses false color and contrast enhancement to bring out subtle details in the polar region of the atmosphere. Images shuttered through different color filters were added and manipulated by computer, greatly enhancing the low-contrast details in the original images. Ultraviolet, violet- and orange-filtered images were displayed, respectively, as blue, green and red to produce this false-color picture. The planet reveals a dark polar hood surrounded by a series of progressively lighter convective bands. The banded structure is real, though exaggerated here. The brownish color near the center of the planet could be explained as being caused by a thin haze concentrated over the pole -- perhaps the product of chemical reactions powered by ultraviolet light from the Sun. One such reaction produces acetylene from methane -- acetylene has been detected on Uranus by an Earth-orbiting spacecraft -- and further reactions involving acetylene are known to produce reddish-brown smog-like particles. A similar haze envelopes Saturn's moon Titan; ground-based observations have predicted such a haze in the polar regions of Uranus. The exact identification of the reactions and their products will require additional study. Voyager 2 is heading for a Jan. 24 closest approach to Uranus. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.


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Poll: Most liked Obama's speech
By a better than 2- to-1 margin, viewers of President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech rated it highly compared with those who didn't like the address, a poll out late Tuesday night showed.
According to a CNN/ORC International poll, 53 percent of speech viewers had a "very positive" reaction, 24 percent said they had a "somewhat positive response" and 22 percent said they experienced a negative response.
( PHOTOS: Scenes from Obama State of the Union 2013)
The data comes from a survey of 393 American adults who watched the speech, and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 5 percentage points.
CNN noted that the sample of those surveyed was "about 12 points more Democratic than the population as a whole."


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DO ME A favor and hide this article from my wife.
It's the holiday season, and that means she'll soon drag me along on her annual descent into that pit of despair known as our local mall to enact the time-honored tradition of millions of couples: She'll gleefully embark on a marathon of browsing and buying, and I'll trail miserably behind her, wondering whether I should fake a heart attack to make it all stop.
Unfortunately for me and all other non-metrosexual males, a new discovery could help you justify browsing for hours on end. Studies show that shopping isn't just about materialism and torturing the man in your life; it's actually good for your mental and physical health. It releases mood-lifting endorphins, boosts your immune system, keeps your brain nimble, and even fulfills basic social needs. And I'm sure that's exactly what my wife has in mind when she makes me spend two hours looking at sweaters at the Gap.
Can't buy me love?
There already is a well-established link between shopping and a heightened sense of happiness. Maybe flipping through the racks at Macy's isn't quite as strenuous as 60 minutes on the treadmill or as fun as a romp in the sack with your significant other, but assuming you enjoy it, shopping will give you the same kind of high by releasing a flood of endorphins--the feel-good chemicals in your brain, says Nancy Irwin, Psy.D., a Los Angeles–based psychotherapist. "Shopping can be extremely thrilling," Irwin says. "It's a peak experience to get a hell of a deal."
Academics who have measured shopping's effect on the brain tend to agree. In a paper published last year, researchers at the UK's Brunel University noted that shopping is associated with increased activity in the left prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that has been linked to pleasure and positive thinking. In fact, levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter released during pleasurable experiences including sex, can rise sharply even when you're merely window shopping. In another study, published in the journal Neuron, researchers at MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Stanford strapped volunteers to an fMRI machine and showed them photos of products. When shoppers saw something they wanted to buy, a flood of dopamine to the nucleus accumbens--the brain's reward center--lit up their fMRI images like a dashboard. (The downside: When the charge for those Frye boots shows up on your credit-card statement, that dopamine is nowhere to be found. Sneaky.)
Luckily--for your brain, not your bank account--science has discovered a way to sidestep buyer's remorse: Imagine yourself enjoying your purchase a decade from now. Anat Keinan, an assistant professor at the Harvard Business School, and Ran Kivetz, a professor of marketing at Columbia Business School, gave 57 shoppers a hypothetical scenario: Choose between an expensive article of clothing they loved and a cheaper, less desirable version of the same thing. Then the researchers randomly divided the shoppers into two groups and asked one group to guess how much they thought they would regret their choice the next day and the other group how much they thought they would regret their choice in 10 years. Shoppers in the 10-year group were much more likely to be disappointed that they'd chosen a cost-cutting option; when they were later turned loose in an actual mall, they were more likely to purchase expensive, nonessential items. In their findings, published in the December 2008 issue of the Journal of Marketing Research, Keinan and Kivetz concluded that thinking about short-term regret drives consumers to be virtuous, while thinking about long-term regret leads them to be extravagant.
Whether that information makes you fear for your financial ruin or lunge for your American Express gold card, Paul Zak, Ph.D., director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, is sure about one thing: Shopping is good for all humanity. Take a typical exchange between sales-person and customer: When you buy a dress, you're psyched because you have a new outfit. But the saleswoman is psyched too, because she just scored a commission. You help her, and she helps you. The positive effects continue to pile up, often unintentionally, even after your purchase. Thanks to your newly elevated mood, you might smile at a stranger on the bus, or offer to make dinner for your guy when you get home, passing along residual happiness. Everybody wins.
And it's not only about pleasure. Shopping may also help women maintain their mental acuity in old age, says Guy McKhann, M.D., a professor of neurology at Johns Hopkins University and a co-author of Keep Your Brain Young. "People who are doing really well as they get older tend to be mentally engaged, physically active, and socially involved," he says. "And women are all of those things when they shop." Meanwhile, back on the couch, Grandpa scores none of the above.
Coed browsing
So if shopping is so good for you, why does it make me and every other guy I know want to curl up next to the checkout counter and die? Not surprisingly, shopping can affect men and women differently, say S. Christian Wheeler, Ph.D., of Stanford University, and Jonah Berger, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania. In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the two marketing professors asked men and women to think about clothes shopping and then plot a trip on a map. Men tended to map the most direct driving route possible (as in "Get me the hell out of here, pronto"). Women were more likely to take the scenic route. The scientists' explanation: Many men tend to shop for specific items and only when they are needed, whereas women generally browse to see what's out there. (Interestingly, when subjects weren't asked to think about shopping beforehand, the researchers found the opposite trend: Women went direct, while men meandered.)
That doesn't mean that shopping is any less beneficial for men, says Lester Lefton, Ph.D., a professor of experimental psychology at Kent State University. (He happens to be the university's president, which means he also presides over KSU's School of Fashion Design and Merchandising.) It's not shopping per se that men dislike--it's shopping for things that hold no interest for them, says Lefton, who admits that he has been buying the same shoes (size 12EEE Byrons from Allen-Edmonds) for more than 30 years. But bring him into a nicely stocked hardware or electronics store and he can shop for hours while his wife slowly slips into a coma.
The solution for couples who dread shopping together isn't very complicated, Lefton says. Just ditch the idea that you have to stay side-by-side as you browse. "I've been married for 39 years. When my wife and I go to the mall, we split up. I don't have to go shoe shopping, and she doesn't have to come to the Apple store. We meet up for lunch." As long as you're both looking for stuff you love, coed shopping excursions will help keep you--and your relationship--going strong.
Less is more
Want to enjoy your holiday shopping? Skip the big chains.
--Naomi Piercey
Dodging elbows at a department store or, God forbid, a discount outlet at this time of year is anything but stress-relieving. But it's not just the relentless crowds, sparse parking, and cheesy holiday music. If you ask psychologist Barry Schwartz, Ph.D., author of The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less, it's all about options: We have too many.
Being picky doesn't pay
"When people have too much to choose from, they will be less satisfied with their choices," Schwartz says. "It's easy to think about the opportunities they rejected." Researchers have dubbed those people "maximizers." They've found that it's really the "satisficers"--those who aim for just good enough--who are happiest with their purchases.
Save your brainwaves
Indecisiveness strains the brain, says economist Paul Zak, Ph.D., of Claremont Graduate University: "You have a limited amount of mental energy, and your brain wants to conserve it." For every pair of boots you try on, your gray matter works hard to picture your owning them (and strutting by a catty coworker in them). Now multiply that fantasy process by 12.
The fewer, the better
The secret to Zen shopping, then, is to limit yourself from the get-go. Skip the gargantuan stores and head to boutiques. Take only a few items into the dressing room. And meditate on the fact that "good enough" really is.


text:
|Author :
|Jae K. Shim, Ph.D., CPA
|Course Length :
|Pages: 43 ||| Review Questions: 12 ||| Final Exam Questions: 20
|CPE Credits :
|IRS Credits :
|Price :
|Passing Score :
|Course Type:
|NASBA QAS - Text - Technical - NASBA Registry
|Primary Subject-Field Of Study:
Regulatory Ethics - Regulatory Ethics for Course Id 732
|Description :
This is an ethics course for Nevada covering standards of professional conduct and business practices adhered to by accountants such as CPAs in order to enhance their profession and maximize idealism, justice and fairness when dealing with the public, clients and other members of their profession. It also presents an approach --the threats and safeguards approach –to coping with ethical dilemmas. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and its impact on business ethics, new internal control requirements, and the CPA's responsibilities are summarized. Finally, a brief discussion of the AICPA's Standards for Tax Service and the IMA's Statement of Ethical Professional Practice are included.
|Usage Rank :
|Release :
|Version :
|Prerequisites :
|Experience Level :
|Additional Contents :
|Complete, no additional material needed.
|Additional Links :
Ethics Commission State of Nevada
|Advance Preparation :
|Delivery Method :
|QAS Self Study
|Intended Participants :
|Anyone needing Continuing Professional Education (CPE).
|Revision Date :
|NASBA Course Declaration :
|Participants must complete the final examination within one year of purchase and with a minimum passing grade of 70% or better to receive CPE credit unless otherwise noted on the Course History page (i.e. California Ethics must score 90% or better). After logging in click on the Course History links on your My Courses page for the Begin date and Expire date for the Final Exam.
|Approved Audience :
NASBA QAS - Text - Technical - NASBA Registry - 732
|Keywords :
|Regulatory Ethics, Nevada, Ethics, Nevada, cpe, cpa, online course
|Learning Objectives :
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
|Course Contents :
Chapter 1: Ethics and Ethical Reasoning
Learning Objectives
Ethical Reasoning and Accountants
Ethical Dilemmas in Accounting
Chapter 1 Review Questions
Chapter 2: AICPA Code of Professional Conduct
Learning Objectives
AICPA�s Code of Professional Conduct
Summaries of the Six Principles
Conceptual Framework � Threats and Safeguards Approach
Summaries of the Eleven Rules of Conduct
1.100 - Integrity and Objectivity Rule
1.200 - Independence Rule
Chapter 2 Review Questions - Section 1
1.300 - General Standards
1.400 - Acts Discreditable
1.510 - Contingent Fees
1.520 - Commissions and Referral Fees
1.600 - Advertising and Other Forms of Solicitation
1.700 - Confidential Client Information Rule
1.800 - Form of Organization and Name Rule
Case Studies of AICPA Ethics Violations
Chapter 2 Review Questions - Section 2
Chapter 3: Other Ethical Standards
Learning Objectives
Corporate Responsibility Law (Sarbanes-Oxley Act)
AICPA�s Standards for Tax Services
Licensing and Disciplinary Systems within the Profession
IMA�s Standards of Ethical Conduct for Accountants and Financial Professionals
Chapter 3 Review Questions
Other AICPA Rules
AICPA Ethics FAQ


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text:
NREL Electrode Innovation Poised to Shake Up the Lithium-Ion Battery Industry
Sometimes big ideas come in tiny packages.
Such is the case with a groundbreaking manufacturing process developed at NREL that uses a special kind of carbon nanotube to increase the volume of active material that can be stored within an electrode. It takes a certain kind of vision to see how a tube 100 million times smaller in diameter than a pill capsule has the potential to infuse billions of dollars into the economy and cut carbon pollution by billions of metric tons.
And when people with big ideas and bold vision come together at the right time, the innovations they bring to the market can impact the world in profound ways.
At NREL, it's Ty Ferretti's job to make that happen. As a licensing executive in the Technology Transfer Office, Ferretti is tasked with finding qualified commercial partners to license the innovations NREL researchers develop and move them out into the marketplace.
"What we are looking to do is match up dynamic companies with groundbreaking technologies," said Ferretti.
And the binderless electrode NREL scientist Dr. Chunmei Ban and her research partners Dr. John Wu (formerly of NREL) and the late Dr. Anne Dillon developed in 2011 is such a technology. The team utilized the unique properties of highly crystalline and long carbon single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) to develop a unique manufacturing process for combining the active materials in an electrode without the need for binders. By embedding the nanoparticles uniformly in an "SWNT net," they enhanced the electrode's structural and cycling stability while enabling it to contain up to 25% more active material. The result is a higher-capacity, faster-charging, and longer-lifestyle electrode. For battery manufacturers, that translates to a higher-performance, safer, lighter-weight lithium-ion battery that can be produced at a lower cost.
Once NREL had filed a U.S. patent application on the process, the next step was to get the word out to potential commercial partners. In addition to posting it as available for licensing on the Energy Innovation Portal developed by program manager Matt Ringer and project leader Meghan Bader, Ferretti organized a webinar.
In the audience was inventor-entrepreneur Dr. David Addie Noye, who founded NanoResearch Inc. in 2005 with a plan to commercialize proven nanoscience innovations with practical applications ranging from consumer electronics to transportation to disaster relief and defense. He wasted no time in contacting Ban to express his interest in scaling up her invention. Ban put him in touch with Ferretti.
There are three criteria NREL looks for in identifying a good commercial partner to license and commercialize its technologies: domain-qualified experience, access to capital, and a solid business plan with a viable commercialization strategy, said Ferretti.
Noye met all three. He also met one other very important requirement. Because NREL's research is supported by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and other federal funds, all technology licensees must commit to manufacturing exclusively in the United States.
"From the get-go, this was a key component of Dr. Noye's plan" said Ferretti. And a cornerstone of that plan was taking "de-risked" technology from a national lab and leveraging it to secure additional investments.
To do that, however, Noye needed a deeper understanding of the technology to inform his plan for scaling it up. With help from NREL's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, Ferretti arranged for Noye to receive training under the NREL Commercialization Assistance Program (NCAP). This new program uses revenue from all of NREL's previously licensed technologies to provide prospective commercial partners with up to 40 hours of free research to help them solve a definable problem.
During the two-day NCAP training, Ban walked Noye through the five-step process of making binderless electrodes.
"It was like teaching him how to cook. I had all the ingredients around me. I told him, 'Here's the carbon nanotube, here are the electrode materials, here are the current collectors. These are the raw materials, now let's cook.'"
Noye said the training cemented his decision to license the technology.
"The nanomaterial chemistry innovation and manufacturing process innovation that results in binderless electrodes is a game changer because it helps solve a fundamental problem the lithium ion battery industry has not been able to solve for decades," he said.
To seal the deal with NREL, Noye partnered with Daniel Kumi, a Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur with proven success turning technology start-ups into profitable companies. They worked with Ferretti to negotiate an exclusive license that gave their new company, SmartEnergi, sole rights to make and sell binderless electrodes in the United States.
SmartEnergi is currently in the product testing phase, and once he's satisfied with the results, Noye said the next step is to set up a pilot-scale electrode manufacturing facility. With no known competitors in the United States, he and Kumi are confident in SmartEnergi's ability to become a leading energy storage manufacturer.
"Our innovation … [enables] existing battery manufacturers to … produce advanced batteries with unprecedented capabilities—without retooling or making changes in the battery cell assembly process," said Noye. SmartEnergi is already negotiating with major players in the consumer electronics and auto industries and has a "projected addressable market of about $8 billion by 2020," he said. As such, he and Kumi anticipate a need to establish plants in several states and are looking closely at Georgia, Kentucky, and California.
Pointing to energy innovation as a primary driver of U.S. market competitiveness and intellectual property as the key engine for economic growth, Noye credited NREL's smooth, transparent technology transfer process with bridging the gap between scientific research and market transformation.
"Innovations in the energy sector will power what is expected as the next trillion-dollar market opportunity, and energy storage is a critical component of this," he said.
With that in mind, Ban is already on to the next big idea. Her current challenge is to unlock the key to the next-generation battery, and she said she has already filed the record of invention with Ferretti.
"If I can reduce the cost of the battery, I can reduce the cost of the electric vehicle to the cost of a normal car so everyone can afford it. This is my little dream – that the next generation battery can be smaller, cheaper."