text:
By exempting not just military spending, but also non-military international engagement and homeland security from his proposed spending freeze, the president has sent an important message: Strengthening non-military tools is essential to U.S. security.
This can't obscure the fact that in his budget the military tools are, shall we say, more equal than the others. At $744 billion, the military budget continues its upward trajectory. It also widens the gap between spending on military vs. non-military tools. Spending on non-military international engagement actually decreased since last year, from $64.9 to $60.5 billion.
The imbalance between the budget for offense (military forces) and prevention (non-military foreign engagement) actually grew from 11:1 to 12:1. The imbalance between offense and defense (homeland security) stayed roughly the same, at 15:1.* The imbalance between spending on military vs. non-military security overall expanded, from 6.5:1 last year to 7:1 in the proposal for FY 2011.
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates himself has said repeatedly that the extreme imbalance between what's spent on military and non-military foreign engagement isn't in our best interests. The budget released today actually makes this situation worse, and the Defense Department's budget is primarily responsible.
Indeed, Gates' department plans to spend about 5 percent more, in real terms, than the Bush administration did.
A year ago, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel cited the GAO estimate of $300 billion in accumulated waste on the Pentagon contracts that taxpayers are currently paying for. Now all of that waste is vital to national security and untouchable?
Unlike last year, this budget makes no cuts to major weapons systems. It's a budget of add-ons rather than choices.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said that if we are looking for savings, military spending should be on the table with the rest of the budget. She's right. As the largest component of the discretionary budget — one that has nearly doubled in real terms since 1998 and nearly equals what the rest of the world spends on its militaries in total — it should head the list.
*Our analysis of the resource balance adjusts the National Defense (050), International Affairs (150), and Homeland Security Mission Area accounts to better distinguish military from non-military spending. See table below.


text:
04-27-2012 10:09 AM by Guest
For over 40 years, continuous innovation has made Biesse one of the worlds leading players in the manufacture and sale of high-tech machinery and systems for wood, glass, stone, plastics and other materials. Our products, used in the manufacture of...
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Since 1909 Diehl Machines has been a pioneer in the design and development of machinery and tooling for the woodworking industry. Beginning with its development of the first straight line rip saw, the first tapeless veneer splicer and the first high...
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For over twenty years, Tech Mark, Inc. has been serving the woodworking industry as well as the weekend hobbyist by providing high quality woodworking machines with the latest technological advances.
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Akins Machinery new and Used Woodworking Equipment and Accessories, located in Londonderry New Hampshire serving all of New England.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
In a study to be presented on February 16 between 8 a.m., and 10 a.m. PST, at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting , in San Francisco, researchers will report findings that suggest shifting from a traditional model of obstetrical care to a laborist model improves pregnancy outcomes.
The "laborist" concept has been around for nearly a decade. In this model, obstetricians provide 24-hour a day on-site staffing of labor units. While it has been assumed that laborists improve obstetric care, there had been no studies done to test whether it does and how much it helps. Sindhu K. Srinivas, MD, MSCE and director of obstetrical services at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and her team worked with a non-profit organization, the National Perinatal Information Center and 24 of their member hospitals to determine the effectiveness of the laborist model.
"Many hospitals have moved toward adopting the laborist model, and it's critically important to determine whether it is improving pregnancy outcomes," explained Srinivas.
"The hospitals selected were diverse in terms of volume with 30 percent of the data coming from hospitals with more than 5,000 births a year, 44 percent from hospitals with 2,500 to 5,000 births per year and 25 percent from hospitals with less than a 2,500 births per year," said Srinivas.
The study showed that using the laborist model resulted in 15 percent fewer labor inductions, reduced maternal length of stay (0.09 days), and a significant reduction in preterm delivery (17 percent).
"We thought the laborist model would improve pregnancy outcomes and now we have data that demonstrates that," said Srinivas. We need to do more research to understand the mechanism by which these outcomes are improved but this is a start."
Source: Eurekalert


text:
|Disaster Reports : The Effects of Hurricane David. 1979, on the Population of Dominica (PAHO)
|3. Results
Following the hurricane, there was an island-wide campaign against typhoid fever It is thought that roughly 20,000 doses of vaccine were used.
Laboratory findings
The laboratory records for the months following the disaster were compared with the records for the previous three years The criterion was the number of new cases reported as having positive stool cultures (Figure 6).
It should be pointed out that there was only one laboratory on the [eland, at the central hospital, and that the laboratory staff were the same both before and after the disaster Following the hurricane an increased number of patients came for checking and since there was an increased expectation of a disease outbreak, stool samples were probably examined especially carefully.
There was no evidence of any increase in typhoid fever in the months following hurricane David (See Figure 6) There were far fewer cases than in the outbreak of 1978.
On the other hand, there WAS a clear outbreak of bacillary dysentery, which peaked in the second and third months after the disaster (See Figure 7) This might have been associated with the destruction and slow repair of latrines together with an increase in the number of flies which was frequently reported in the months following the out-break
Our preliminary survey results indicate that "diarrhea cases" occurred in 90 (7.3 %) households. One hundred and seventy people (2.8 % of the surveyed population) were affected. Eighty per cent of these cases occurred during the first three months following the hurricane. This parallels, and thus rents support to, laboratory findings for dysentery.


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Smoke Damaged Shower Cubicle Renovation in Ayr
Below are a few photos of a smoke damaged shower cubicle where we were asked by an insurance company to restore the tiles following a house fire in the town of Ayr. Just south of Prestwick airport on the South West Coast of Scotland, Ayr is built along the river of the same name and dates all the way back to 1205.
You can see from the photograph below that the tiles how bad that smoke damage was. When we arrived work had already started to strip out the electric shower and screen removing a strip of tiles in the process. It was also clear that someone had also attempted to clean the ceramic tile and grout but had given up after realising how much work was needed.
Cleaning Smoke Damaged Tile and Grout
We had to give the tile and grout several deep cleans using a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean which was sprayed on, left to dwell for a while and then scrubbed in by hand. On reflection Oxy-Gel might have been a better product for the job as it has the same active ingredients but comes in a gel form which allows it to stick to vertical surfaces resulting in longer dwell times.
We managed to successfully remove all the smoke and soot from the surface of the tile and grout with this process. However although the grout was now clean I could see it was going to need more work if it was going to pass muster.
Grout Colouring
To overcome the grout issue I decided to colour it with a White grout colourant; this was a perfect time to apply the colourant as the Pro-Clean had prepared the grout joints and would make a good bond with the colourant. I used three coats of white grout colourant in the end, each one applied by hand with a small brush. The colourant is basically painted on top of the existing grout and any excess wiped off the adjacent tile before it dries. It's an epoxy based formula that becomes a long-lasting barrier protecting the grout and making it much easier to clean.
Following this I cleaned the tiles down again, this time with Neutral Tile Cleaner and then turned my attention to the stained silicone sealant around the base of the shower tray which was cut out and replaced with fresh new white silicone.
I gave the shower tray a clean as well and the final result was a very fresh looking shower cubicle which will soon back in action once the other trades finish their installations.


text:
UFC light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson has withdrawn from a planned title fight against defending champion Jon Jones on Sept. 27 due to injury.
Undefeated former U.S. Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier will replace Gustafsson in the bout, which will headline UFC 178. The pay-per-view event takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Officials announced the switch on Wednesday.
Jones (20-1) initially wanted to fight Cormier in his next bout, but the UFC booked a rematch between he and Gustafsson (16-2) instead. The two first met at UFC 165 in a Fight of the Year candidate in September. Jones won via unanimous decision.
The 27-year-old champion has defended his title seven times, a UFC record in that division. He dominated Glover Teixeira in a five-round unanimous decision in April.
Cormier (15-0) is 2-0 since dropping to the light heavyweight division this year. The former heavyweight submitted Dan Henderson via rear-naked choke at UFC 173 on May 24 in Las Vegas.
After defeating Henderson, Cormier, 35, admitted he had fought through a torn LCL and partial ACL tear in his right knee. He was expected to undergo surgery on the knee this month, but will now forego that to pursue a UFC title.
A former member of the U.S. Olympic wrestling team, Cormier also boasts career wins over Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Josh Barnett and Antonio Silva.
No timetable is currently known for Gustafsson's return.


text:
"This can't be the Xbox 360," my 8-year-old daughter said. "Nobody is getting shot."
That's an interesting commentary on the Xbox 360, and perhaps one that needs to be investigated. But the other part of this conversation that bears revealing is that she was hopping up in down in a giddy daze when she said it. My kids don't just like the Kinect, they love it. And so do all their friends. And when a friend from the neighborhood saw it for the first time, she couldn't figure out whether to jump in immediately or run back across the street to ensure she could get one for Christmas. She finally ran home, and my wife and the friend's mother were soon chatting about the finer points of Kinect on the phone.
Folks, Microsoft is onto something here.
That Kinect seems, at first blush, like a weak copy of Nintendo's five-year-old Wii is understandable. After all, that's what Sony's Move system is. But the Kinect is so much more than the Wii, or the Move for that matter, more technologically advanced, as you'd expect, but also "more" in a real world sense. It gives you more, does more, and as a result is just ... more. The good kind of more.
The only real question about the Kinect, really, is whether it will have a longer shelf life than your typical Wii. I still firmly believe--and game title sales bear out--that most Wiis get used very infrequently, that people buy a Wii, go nuts for a few days, and then throw it, forgotten, in a corner. Kinect could suffer the same fate, to be honest. And while there's no way to know if that's going to be the case, it's something to think about.
What we can discuss now, of course, is the hardware itself. The software, which is mostly excellent. A handful of the first-generation games, which are also mostly excellent. Most of the Kinect story, even in this first, nascent release, is quite impressive. There are some performance issues--especially in the non-gaming UIs, where using Kinect to navigate the Xbox 360 Dashboard is a semi-frustrating, molasses-like experience--and it really needs a room that has 6 to 8 feet of open, empty space in front of the TV. My living room doesn't quite qualify, and while we haven't moved furniture to accommodate the thing yet, we're talking about it.
The Kinect really is that impressive.
Kinect 101
In the off chance that you've been studiously ignoring the news for two years, Kinect (previously code-named "Project Natal") is a motion sensor system for the Xbox 360 video game console. It consists of a hardware add-on that plugs into the console and software that allows users to interact with the console via the Kinect hardware. The main capabilities here are hand (and body) gestures, where you wave body parts (mostly your hands) around in space to control things on screen and, less well publicized, voice command, which may have a longer-lasting appeal for some activities.
The hardware itself is a Wall-E looking device. Microsoft calls it a "sensor," but really it's more than that: Yes, there's a "sensor" in the hardware device, but there's also an RGB camera for facial recognition, a depth sensor that's composed of separate sensors and an infrared projector (so the device can "see" the area in front of it in 3D), and a multiarray microphone that can locate voices in 3D by sound and enable headset-free chat and voice command. That it's all wrapped up in a cute little device, which, yes, I'll simply call the sensor for simplicity's sake, is sort of amazing. It's the type of component reduction and packaging one usually associates with Apple.
The Kinect sensor connects to your Xbox 360 video a proprietary, USB-like, cable. Well, if you have the newer Xbox 360 S, it does. Otherwise, with the older console type, you'll need to use the Kinect-to-USB adapter and a separate power cable (both supplied). I recommend the newer S console, both for the cable simplicity and because it's quieter and more reliable, and more at home in the living room as a result.
Microsoft has some somewhat onerous requirements for Kinect sensor placement and the room in which you use the device. It must be directly on top of, or below, your TV screen. It must be on a very stable surface, and not perched on your tiny HDTV bezel. You must have, at the very least, 6 feet of empty space in front of your TV, but really you need 8 feet. You really do. And this is especially true if you plan to allow two people to play, side-by-side, simultaneously. The more room the better.
Our own Kinect setup, for now at least, is pretty temporary. It's almost exactly 6 feet from the TV to the couch--it's a small room--and while we can sort of make it work, it's borderline unusable. We jury-rigged an end table for the sensor, placing it right under the TV. But I've got a Kinect mount on order (there are several coming soon) that will put the device safely on top of the TV. To accommodate for the small room, we're currently using it at an angle, so that the Kinect is to the right of the TV, pointed 45 degrees to the left. It "works" but we may end up moving it to a new room if the mount doesn't solve the problem. Or we'll move the furniture.
Software support for the Kinect comes via the recently released Dashboard update, which I wrote about previously in Xbox Live Update (Late 2010). As is so often the case with Xbox 360 games, you'll need to perform a software update immediately regardless, and annoyingly, a lot of the sub-experiences, like Zune music, require their own separate installs as well.
I'll discuss the specifics of Kinect usage in a bit, but the short version is that adding a Kinect to your Xbox 360 provides some new capabilities, including voice commands from the Dashboard ("Xbox, play game") and supported sub-experiences (including Zune, where you can speak commands like, "Pause," "Play," "Fast forward," and "Faster"). There's a new Kinect Hub, which provides a Kinect-compatible subset of the full Dashboard, using hand-gesture-friendly tiles (shades of Windows Phone 7, which is cute) you manipulate by waving your hands around in space. And there are of course Kinect-compatible games. In fact, it's worth noting, in case it's not obvious, that Kinect games require a Kinect, while traditional Xbox 360 games cannot be used with Kinect. (They can be used while the Kinect is plugged in, of course. They just don't "know" it's there and can't be controlled with hand gestures or voice control.)
Initial setup
If you live in a well-lit palatial mansion, setting up Kinect should be pretty straightforward. If, however, you live in a normal home like mine, you're going to need some more time. Microsoft actually recommends clearing some space for Kinect, and they're serious about that, as the more you have, the better. Many, I suspect, will have to make do with what they've got. But be forewarned: As much as those living in small apartments or dorm rooms would no doubt love to make this work, in many cases I could see that not happening. And you can't fudge this: If you stand too close, Kinect won't work at all or will react sluggishly.
And it's not just the size of the room. It has to be well-lit, from the front, so playing in the dark is not possible.
Yeah, you really do need a room this big to take best advantage of Kinect.
Once everything is plugged in and all the required software updates are installed, you can connect your current Xbox Live account to the Kinect, or add and connect different profiles. This involves a fairly lengthy process where the device sees whether it can work in the current space allotted and, can see and hear you, and so on. The Kinect sensor actually moves around a bit on its little pedestal, which everyone seems to enjoy, but this whole process is pretty time consuming.
After the fact, you can reconfigure Kinect, if needed, via a new Kinect Settings item in System Settings, or access just the Kinect Tuner--with tracking, audio, and calibration options--through the Xbox Guide (which means that the latter options are available from within games as well).
There are pretty much two things you can do from here: Play a game or sample the Kinect's non-gaming capabilities. Of course, at this point, you're dying to play a game. So let's look at the Kinect game experience first.
Kinect gaming
The promise of Kinect is hands-free gaming, and it actually delivers. You have to sit through an interminable number of Wii-like, safety-first screens before each game, which gets really old. But once you do get into a game ... My goodness. This is the real deal. I was working up a sweat within minutes.
Note that while Kinect games are currently graphically superior to anything on the Wii, they're not up to the graphical quality of even the first generation Xbox 360 titles from five years ago. Don't get me wrong, they generally look great. But they're closer in quality to Wii games, with in-game avatars that are cartoonish, not realistic. You're not going to care. The games are great.
If you're familiar with the Wii, the important bit to remember is that there's no controller now. This is both freeing and limiting, but mostly it's good news. Most important, Kinect tracks your whole body in 3D space, and not just a controller. So your hands and feet can factor in independently, but so too can your whole body. Lean to the left and your onscreen character leans to the left. Raise your hands above your head and the avatar mimics that movement. If you do it, it happens on screen.
There are occasional times where holding something would make the game more immersive (like the mini steering wheel from the Wii's Mario Kart game). But for the most part, there's a shockingly liberating effect to simply stepping in front of the TV, having Kinect automatically recognize you, and then just start playing. It really is impressive.
Kinect Adventures
The Kinect comes with Kinect Adventures, which is a nice touch, because it's a great game that really shows off what's possible. Kinect Adventures consists of five individual games, all of which are fun, and some of which are truly excellent. River Rush, Rallyball, Reflex Ridge, Space Pop, and 20,000 Leaks. River Rush is probably one of the best-known Kinect games because of its frequent use in demos, River Rush is absolutely fantastic fun, and can be played with one or two players (assuming you have the space). Two player is, of course, superior, but both are a blast, and you navigate down a river in a boat, jumping to leap onto higher areas and across chasms, and leaning left and right to steer, avoid objects, and so on.
River Rush is great fun, especially with two players.
Kinect Adventures is just good clean fun, and because it, like most Kinect games, takes photos of you while you play, you can share them, optionally, via a new web site called KinectShare.com (this requires an Xbox Live account, however). From here, you can further share your captured game moments to Facebook, print them, or download them to your PC.
A shared postcard from an in-game moment.
Kinect Sports
This game will be familiar to anyone with a Wii, as its very similar to the Wii sports fare, but with better graphics and more diversity. Several games are included--soccer, bowling, beach volleyball, boxing, table tennis, and track & field--and you can divide up a large crowd into two teams for party play. This is a great, if typical example, of motion gaming, and a must-have title for all Kinect fans.
Beach vollyball from Kinect Sports.
Kinect Joy Ride
You'd think that a driving game without any controller or steering wheel would be lame, but Kinect Joy Ride is actually really good, thanks largely to its cartoon-like irreverence and in-air stunts. There are a number of game modes, which is fine, but if you've mastered River Rush in Kinect Adventures, this will seem somewhat familiar, with a canyon roadway setting instead of a river. What puts it over the top, I think, is 8-way online multiplayer.
Perform stunts in-air for more points in Kinect Joy Ride.
Your Shape Fitness Evolved
My wife utilizes an EA title on the Wii to workout, and it really works, so I was curious to see how the Kinect would fare in this department. It's early days, but so far so good: She says it seems like it has good workouts and good progress reporting, but it's not clear up front how long a workout will take, making scheduling difficult. Some workouts recommend hand weights, which speaks to the problems of working out with a controller-less solution. Exercise-wise, it's serious and really works, and it tracks your calories expended as you go, which is something I appreciate from gym equipment. Better than the Wii? It's too early to say.
Your Shape Fitness Evolved will make you sweat. Literally.
More to come
I've got a few more Kinect titles coming this week, including EA Sports Active 2 and Dance Central, both of which promise to be calorie burners. And really, that's what's amazing about the Kinect. All of these games, so far, are pretty serious workouts, even the ones that are clearly just games. After decades of sedentary video game playing, Kinect really could make a difference. I'm curious, again, to see how long-lived this thing is in people's homes.
Non-gaming use
In addition to playing controller-free games, Kinect also provides a number of less well publicized non-gaming features. These include the ability to use hand gestures to interact with certain (but not all) Xbox 360 Dashboard experiences, which is interesting at first but gets old quickly. It also includes the ability to control the same experiences via voice, which I think will have longer-lasting appeal.
What you can and cannot control with Kinect seems somewhat arbitrary and I hope that changes over time. For example, you can control the new Zune experience, providing gesture- or voice-based access to movies, TV shows, your Zune (cloud-based) library, movie trailers, music (online, Zune Pass only), and music videos. But this stuff is all online services; you cannot use Kinect to access your own media library over the home network. Back to that old fashioned hand controller.
Fortunately, Microsoft takes the guesswork out of what works and what doesn't work by providing a separate Kinect Hub, which presents a subset of the full Xbox 360 Dashboard using a simple, Windows Phone 7-like grid of boxes. Why? Because these boxes are gesture friendly, of course.
Available options include launching the currently loaded game, playing promotional game videos, accessing the ESPN and Zune experiences, last.fm (an online music service), and Video Kinect, a neat new video chat application. Many of these--ESPN, Zune, and Video Kinect, for example--require annoying separate downloads, which are lengthy and interrupt the experience, sometimes by rebooting the console as part of the installation.
The gesture- and voice-friendly Kinect Hub.
Gesture-based navigation works but is a bit slow and tedious. As you move your hand around in space, a little onscreen hand mimics your movements. To select something ("click" with a mouse on a PC), you hover over it until a little circle finishing animating. To navigate to the next screen, you can hover over an arrow and then swipe through the air. It all works as expected, albeit slowly. And holding your hand in the air to select things gets tiring.
A Microsoft demo explaining gesture navigation.
Voice command is more interesting for these experiences, I think. And you can say a surprising range of commands, usually preceded by the word "Xbox." So to bring up the Kinect Hub, you simply say "Xbox, Kinect." From here you could launch the Kinect-friendly version of the Zune experience by saying "Xbox, Zune" (and no, you can't just say "Zune").
The Zune experience for Kinect mimics the Kinect hub, with big, gesture-friendly squares. But you can also navigate this by voice: "Xbox, Music" will launch the music experience, and if you have a Zune Pass, as I do, you can rock and roll to over 10 million songs, in real time, over the Internet, all via voice command. "Pause" pauses the currently playing song. "Next" navigates to the next song. You get the idea. (During playback, you say "Xbox" to bring up a voice command overlay that presents possible commands.)
There are some neat voice commands in there. "Suggest a movie," for example, does exactly what it sounds like, and if you do nothing else, a trailer will start playing full-screen. To rent the movie, say "Watch this" and then "Continue" if the onscreen options (HD, rental, stream is typical) are acceptable. (You can of course switch to the controller at any time as well.) And you don't have to shout: From across the room, just speak naturally. It works well.
The voice command stuff is going to make a lot of sense in certain situations, media playback in general, but also for parties where you've queued up a playlist and need to change things up on the fly. I suspect there are going to be a lot of pleasantly surprised houseguests when people see how powerful this really is.
Kinect requires an Xbox 360 video game console. It will work with both the original 360 console and the newer "S" variant. If you purchase the standalone sensor, you're looking at about $150, but you get a free game with that, and that game, Kinect Adventures, is excellent.
You can also purchase Kinect in bundles that include an Xbox 360 S console. For $300, you can get the Xbox 360 4GB console with Kinect, a savings of $50 over both purchased separately. Or you can get a bundle with the more desirable 250 GB console for $400, also a $50 savings.
Kinect games generally costs less than the typical new Xbox 360 game, $50 vs. $60. That's about the same price as most new A-list Wii titles, though many Wii games do cost less. I personally feel that the Xbox 360 + Kinect is a more useful and viable long-term solution than the Wii, however, as the latter doesn't even provide HD output let alone the host of non-gaming experiences Microsoft offers on the Xbox 360.
This is just the beginning
While I don't expect to be covering Kinect on an ongoing basis per se, it's pretty clear that this device and this first crop of games is only the beginning of a long relationship. My kids and wife are curiously excited by this thing, in ways they usually aren't, as noted previously, everyone who sees it in action--kids and adults alike--is instantly impressed and begins doing mental calculations about how and when they are getting one. I still wonder about the long-term impact, but that's a story that requires some time to tell. For now, Kinect is impressive, fun, and even reasonably affordable in its day one guise. And you just know it's only going to get better.
What impresses me most about Kinect is the way it draws in non-gamers. This is a fertile field first plowed by Nintendo with the Wii, Facebook on the web, and Apple on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. But the Kinect is at least as innovative, if not much more so, than all those products, and it works with the HDTV in your living room, often involves a full body workout, and leaves everyone with smiles on their faces. This is entertainment in its purest form, and while I'm personally more interested in hard core shooters like "Call of Duty," I understand that I'm in the minority. Kinect isn't for me, it's for everyone. If you've avoided the Xbox 360 or video gaming in general, your excuses no longer make sense.
Let me make this simple: Just get a Kinect. You're going to love it.


text: Once a royal family favorite, then a military bastion, and finally today to a much-loved summer vacation spot, Cascais (kush-kaish) has lived many lives. And thankfully, you can see traces of all them. It's clear from the trio of golden bays why the royal and now regular holidaymakers flock to Portugal's west coast for the beach and sun. The brave even venture into the chilly Atlantic. Easy to get to from any hotel Cascais also offers great surfing spots, such as the Praia do Guincho. To experience the fishing village here, one needn't venture beyond the main square where lotas (auctions) for the day's fresh catch still take place. This fair city on the Costa do Sol is also filled with charming Cascais hotels, the finest restaurants, and a pedestrianized old town brimming with designer boutiques and lively bars. Below find a list of our selection of boutique and luxury properties in Cascais.


text:
I have a friend, let's call him Dave, who is doing his PhD at the moment.
I admire Dave for several reasons. Although he is a full time academic with a young family, Dave talks about his PhD as just one job among many. Rather than moan about not having enough time, Dave looks for creative time management solutions. Despite the numerous demands on him, Dave is a generous colleague. He willingly listens to my work problems over coffee and always has an interesting suggestion or two. His resolute cheerfulness and 'can do' attitude is an antidote to the culture of complaint which seems, at times, to pervade academia.
I was therefore surprised when, for no apparent reason, Dave started talking negatively about his PhD and his ability to finish on time. All of a sudden he seemed to lose confidence in himself, his topic and the quality of the work he had done.
Dave is not the only person who seems to be experiencing these feelings lately. I have another friend, let's call him Andrew.
Andrew is doing his PhD at a prestigious university and has been given an equally prestigious scholarship. Like Dave, Andrew approaches his PhD as another job, applying the many time management skills he had learned in his previous career. He has turned out an impressive number of papers, much to the delight of his supervisors.
Again I was shocked when Andrew emailed me to say he was going to quit. He claimed everything he did was no good and it took a number of intense phone calls to convince him to carry on.
Both these students were trapped in a phase PhD study I have started to call "The Valley of Shit".
The Valley of Shit is that period of your PhD, however brief, when you lose perspective and therefore confidence and belief in yourself. There are a few signs you are entering into the Valley of Shit. You can start to think your whole project is misconceived or that you do not have the ability to do it justice. Or you might seriously question if what you have done is good enough and start feeling like everything you have discovered is obvious, boring and unimportant. As you walk deeper into the Valley of Shit it becomes more and more difficult to work and you start seriously entertaining thoughts of quitting.
I call this state of mind the Valley of Shit because you need to remember you are merely passing through it, not stuck there forever. Valleys lead to somewhere else – if you can but walk for long enough. Unfortunately the Valley of Shit can feel endless because you are surrounded by towering walls of brown stuff which block your view of the beautiful landscape beyond.
The Valley of Shit is a terrible place to be because, well, not to put too fine a point on it – it smells. No one else can (or really wants to) be down there, walking with you. You have the Valley of Shit all to yourself. This is why, no matter how many reassuring things people say, it can be hard to believe that the Valley of Shit actually does have an end. In fact, sometimes those reassuring words can only make the Valley of Shit more oppressive.
The problem with being a PhD student is you are likely to have been a star student all your life. Your family, friends and colleagues know this about you. Their confidence in you is real – and well founded. While rationally you know they are right, their optimism and soothing 'you can do it' mantras can start to feel like extra pressure rather than encouragement.
I feel like I have spent more than my fair share of time in the Valley of Shit. I was Thesis Whisperering while I was doing my PhD – so you can imagine the pressure I felt to succeed. An inability to deliver a good thesis, on time, would be a sign of my professional incompetence on so many levels. The Valley of Shit would start to rise up around me whenever I starting second guessing myself. The internal monologue went something like this:
"My supervisor, friends and family say I can do it – but how do they really KNOW? What if I disappoint all these people who have such faith in me? What will they think of me then?"
Happily, all my fears were groundless. My friends, teachers and family were right: I did have it in me. But boy – the smell of all those days walking in the Valley of Shit stay with you.
So I don't want to offer you any empty words of comfort. The only advice I have is: just have to keep walking. By which I mean just keep writing, doing experiments, analysis or whatever – even if you don't believe there is any point to it. Remember that you are probably not the right person to judge the value of your project or your competence right now.
Try not to get angry at people who try to cheer you on; they are only trying to help. Although you are alone in the Valley of Shit there is no need to be lonely – find a fellow traveller or two and have a good whinge if that helps. But beware of indulging in this kind of 'troubles talk' too much lest you start to feel like a victim.
Maybe try to laugh at it just a little.
You may be one of the lucky ones who only experience the Valley of Shit once in your PhD, or you might be unlucky and find yourself there repeatedly, as I did. I can completely understand those people who give up before they reach the end of the Valley of Shit – but I think it's a pity. Eventually it has to end because the university wont let you do your PhD forever. Even if you never do walk out the other side, one day you will just hand the thing in and hope for the best.
Cold comfort perhaps? What do you think? Are you walking in the Valley of Shit right now? What helps you to cope? We'd love to hear about it in the comments.
Related posts
Are you getting in the way of your PhD?
Love the Thesis whisperer and want it to continue? Consider becoming a $1 a month Patreon and get special, Patreon only, extra Thesiswhisperer content every two weeks!


text:
For 70 Gallon Upright
All tank assemblies carry an identification plate, or serial number imprinted in the tank body. No warranties will be accepted without the serial number.
Returns will not be accepted without a returned goods authorization number (RGA#). Restocking charges will apply to returned merchandise.
Toll Free: 1-800-634-8265
Local: 765-948-3401
Fax: 765-948-3403
American Mobile Power's (AMP) Wet Tank System is warranted to be free of defects in material or workmanship and to meet AMP's written specifications at the time of sale. AMP obligation and liability under this warranty is expressly limited to repairing or replacing, at AMP's option, within one year after date of original installation, any defective part, or parts, or any product not meeting the specifications.
This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties, expressed or implied. AMP makes no warranty of merchantability, or of fitness for any particular purpose. The obligation of AMP under this warranty shall not include any transportation charges, or costs of installation or any liability for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages, or delay. The remedies set forth herein are exclusive, and AMP's liability, with respect to any contract or sale or anything done in connection therewith, whether in contract, in tort, under any warranty, or otherwise, shall not, except as expressly provided herein, exceed the price of the product, or part, on which such liability is based.
If requested by AMP, products, or parts, for which a warranty claim is made are to be returned, transportation prepaid, to a Service Center designated by AMP. Any installation, or use, not in accordance with the catalog, or package instructions; other improper use, operation beyond an intermittent duty, substitution of parts not approved by AMP; use with equipment other than the equipment on which the Wet Tank System is first installed, or alteration, or repair, made to the unit other than at an American designated Service Facility, shall void this warranty.


text:
|Have You Played Atari Today?
2004 Midwest Gaming Classic - Page 1
Photos by Albert Yarusso
AtariAge attended the 2004 Midwest Gaming Classic in full force! The 2004 show, held on the weekend of May 22nd and 23rd in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was the first we attended as a vendor, where we shared a spacious room along with AtariProtos.com and Sunmark. There was something to offer gaming fans of all types, whether your interests lie in classic game systems, modern consoles, classic computers, or arcade and pinball machines. Over 1,300 gaming fans attended the show over its two days, a substantial increase from last year's event, and we met many AtariAge members for the first time! We look forward to another successful Midwest Gaming Classic in 2005!


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Revision as of 16:16, 27 February 2012
One of the most common EPrints customisations is to add your own institution's branding and "look and feel" to the interface - this may include logos, page layouts, stylesheets and colour schemes.
- 1 Branding fast track
- 2 Taking control
- 2.1 Changing the page layout
- 2.2 Adding extra images
- 2.3 Working with stylesheets
- 2.4 Adding dynamic content
- 3 See also
Branding fast track
This section describes techniques for very quickly changing the appearance of your EPrints repository. These techniques could be useful, for example, to quickly brand a demonstration repository so that your audience can identify with it.
Adding a logo
Example 1
The simplest approach is to overwrite the default EPrints logo with a copy of your own logo. Copy your logo to:
And refresh the page. Your logo should now be displayed in place of the default EPrints logo.
Example 2
The image that EPrints uses for the site logo is defined in the branding configuration file. You can change this setting to point to the logo image on your institution's Web page.
Open the branding configuration file in a text editor:
Find the site_logo configuration setting:
$c->{site_logo} = "/images/sitelogo.png";
Change the setting to point to your own logo image:
$c->{site_logo} = "http://www.soton.ac.uk/img/furniture/royal/corp_logo.gif";
Reload the EPrints configuration by typing:
bin/epadmin reload ARCHIVEID
Example 3
You can also adjust the site_logo configuration setting to point any local image file. Place a copy of your logo image somewhere in the /opt/eprints3/archives/ARCHIVEID/cfg/static/images/ directory and then update the branding configuration file to point to it.
$c->{site_logo} = "/images/mylogo.gif";
Reload the EPrints configuration by typing:
bin/epadmin reload ARCHIVEID
Changing the theme
Open the branding configuration file in a text editor:
Find the theme configuration setting:
# $c->{theme} = "green";
Change the setting to use the chosen theme.
$c->{theme} = "green";
Currently EPrints 3 only includes the default and "green" theme, but look out for more themes in future versions of EPrints and on the http://files.eprints.org/ community repository.
Taking control
This section describes techniques for taking complete control of the appearance of your repository.
Changing the page layout
Every page in your repository is displayed using a single template. A custom layout can be applied to your repository pages by editing this template.
Copy the default layout to your repository:
cp lib/templates/default.xml archives/ARCHIVEID/cfg/templates/default.xml
Open the template file for your repository:
The template is an XHTML file with some additional syntax (see API:EPrints/Apache/Template).
You will notice a number of epc:pin elements. These tell EPrints how to combine the template with page-specific content to build each individual page.

<epc:pin ref="title"/>
<epc:pin ref="page"/>
This part of the template lays out the main content area of the page (the page pin) which is centered on the page.
You can incorporate the epc:pin elements however you like into your new layout (although note that the head pin should always be inside the head section of the template, and the pagetop pin should be at the start of the body section). You can also define new pins (see below).
Configuration Strings
There are also a number of epc:print elements in the default template which are useful for including configuration values in the template.

This extract from the head section of the template shows how an epc:print element is used to refer to the base URL of the repository. This avoids hardcoding URLs into the template (which is good for maintainability - if the repository URL should change, you do not have to change the template).
Configuration values can also be used inside attributes, using the {...} syntax.

This extract shows how the URL of both the front page of the repository and the logo are derived from the configuration rather than being hard coded directly into the template.
Template checklist
A typical repository page layout will include:
- the correct XML declaration at the top of the file
- a head section (load default and custom stylesheets, title and head pins)
- a body section, containing:
- pagetop pin
- header (repository title and logo)
- navigation menu (links to browse, search etc.)
- quick search box
- toolbar (login_status and toolbar pins)
- main content area (title and page pins)
- footer (copyright notice etc.)
Loading the new template
Load your new template by running:
bin/epadmin reload ARCHIVEID
Dealing with template errors
A common cause of errors when loading a new template is that the template is not well formed. The template is in XHTML syntax, and therefore must follow the rules for writing well-formed XML documents:
You get the following error when reloading the template:
parser error : Opening and ending tag mismatch: img line 25 and div
Open the template file, and look for an img tag on line 25:

The problem is that the img tag is opened, but there is no closing img tag. The img element is empty, so we can add a self-closing tag to make the eleemtn well formed:

parser error : Opening and ending tag mismatch: p line 60 and body
Open the template file and look for the p tag on line 60:

This repository is maintained by the Library and Computing team.
There is no closing p tag. The p element is not empty, so we add a closing p tag at the end of the paragraph to make the element well formed:

This repository is maintained by the Library and Computing team.

Adding extra images
If your new layout requires additional images, or if you want to add additional images to the default layout, you need to place a copy of each image in your repository's image directory:
Place a copy of small_logo.gif in:
Use the image in the template:

Working with stylesheets
EPrints has several stylesheet files, each of which contains style rules for a specific aspect of the repository. By default these stylesheets are applied to every repository page, in alphabetical order.
The default stylesheets can be found here:
Overriding default style rules
You may decide that you want to override a particular rule in one of the default stylesheets. Rather than edit the default stylesheet directly (since the edited rule will then be applied to any other repositories running on the same server), you should override the rule in your repository's overrides file:
Remember that the stylesheets are applied in alphabetical order, so this file will be applied last.
h1 {
margin: 0px 0px 10px 0px;
font: bold 130% Arial,Sans-serif;
text-align: center;
color: #606060;
This rule is from general.css and defines how the h1 (heading level 1) element should be displayed (in the default template, h1 is used to display the title of the page).
Edit the local overrides file for your repository:
Override the font part of the h1 style:
h1 {
font: bold 200% Arial,Sans-serif;
This renders the page title on each page in a larger font.
Overriding default stylesheets
If you want to override a default stylesheet in its entirety, you should copy it into your repository's stylesheet directory and edit it there.
Make a copy of the default stylesheet general.css:
cp lib/static/style/auto/general.css archives/ARCHIVEID/cfg/static/style/auto/
Edit the repository copy:
After making changes to the repository copy of general.css, apply the new stylesheet by running:
bin/generate_static ARCHIVEID
Adding institutional stylesheets
Your institutional Web site may already have a stylesheet or set of stylesheets that you want to apply to your repository.
Copy the institutional stylesheets into your repository stylesheet directory:
Process the stylesheets by running:
bin/generate_static ARCHIVEID
The stylesheets are then available to use in the template file.

Here we add a stylesheet link to our institutional stylesheet my_inst.css to the head section of the template. Note that we apply my_inst.css after the repository stylesheets (applied in order by auto.css) so that the institutional style rules override the repository style rules.
If your new stylesheet requires additional images (eg. background images for tables or divs), you need to place a copy of each image in your repository style/image directory:
Note that this keeps the style-related images separate from other images used by your repository pages, such as logos.
The images can then be used in your stylesheet.
Adding dynamic content
You can add dynamic content to the template by adding extra epc:pin elements.
Dynamic pins can be created in the dynamic template configuration file:
Open the template file for your repository:
Add a new pin called todays_date to the template; here we add the pin next to the user's login status:

<epc:pin ref="title"/>
<epc:pin ref="page"/>
<epc:pin ref="todays_date"/>
Open the dynamic template configuration file for your repository:
Find and uncomment the function that creates the content for the dynamic pins:
$c->{dynamic_template}->{function} = sub {
my( $repository, $parts ) = @_;
Add a line which creates the content for the todays_date pin:
$c->{dynamic_template}->{function} = sub {
my( $repository, $parts ) = @_;
$parts->{todays_date} = $repository->make_text( scalar localtime );
Reload the dynamic template configuration:
bin/epadmin ARCHIVEID
The date should now be displayed on your repository pages.


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Murder By Death aren't merely the proud owners of probably the best name in rock music, they're also the makers of some of the hardest to accurately summarize music this side of a subgenre yet to be coined.
The quartet – based in Indiana but originally from a fair few corners of the great country known internationally as The United States Of America – are vocalist/guitarist Adam Turla, cello player Sarah Balliet, bassist Matt Armstrong and drummer Dagan Thogerson. They've three albums beneath their collective belt to date, but it's the third, In Bocca Al Lupo, that is the first to officially cross the Atlantic thanks to the efforts of Cooking Vinyl. The LP, a conceptually rich work concerned with various levels of hell, is available now.
Although the album's title translates, roughly, as 'in the mouth of the wolf', the phrase is actually intended to wish a friend good luck. With a number of well-received UK live sets in the bag already, it's unlikely that Murder By Death will need too much luck to gain a sizeable audience in the UK. With a sound that'll appeal to fans of Johnny Cash and Cursive, and everything in between, expect the quartet to be selling out venues before long.
Matt Armstrong took time out to answer some questions via e-mail, so we can invite you to DiScover Murder By Death…
Your band's name is taken from the title of a movie – do you think your music possesses any sort of cinematic qualities? I.e., could you envisage it sound-tracking something on the silver screen, someday?
I think so, yeah. We would love to do soundtrack work. Absolutely.
The band plays a type of rock music that's tough for contemporary critics to categorize – do you think this is a beneficial thing, or would being a more 'straightforward' proposition aid your cause in terms of getting press, and said press accurately conveying what the music's like?
It's really hard to say. I'm sure there have been times when we didn't get press because we couldn't be pigeonholed, but I think ultimately that's the quality that gets people interested in us. If we get a good write-up, it usually ends with something to the effect of, "but you just have to hear it for yourself".
The band's profile was given a sharp lift by Ricky from Thursday – do you find yourself popular among audiences associated with such an act? Or is your average audience a little older?
We're still trying to carve out exactly what our audience is. Because of all the different types of tours we've done over the years we've played to lots of different crowds, and as a result our shows tend to be made up of a mixture of those people.
What bands, thus far, has Murder By Death attracted comparisons to, and do you feel they're flattering? Is it better to be part of a recognized style or scene, or to be way leftfield and difficult to group with a selection of other artists?
Lately we've been getting a lot of Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Johnny Cash comparisons. It's certainly flattering to get mentioned in the same sentence as artists like that, although I'm not sure we deserve it. In the end, I guess, it's not so much about 'fitting in' to a particular scene so much as just making music that people enjoy.
The songs often feature lyrics that seem to be taken from storybook pages – by this I mean they're a lot more engrossing than your average 'a girl did a bad thing, I'm sad' fare. Does lyric writing come before the arranging of the music? Do your fans get a lot out of the lyrics?
The lyrics are Adam's department. I think he usually gets a general story idea and then starts combining it with music he has written, but I don't know. I think people get the same thing out of our band as they do from the movies, as far as just enjoying a story or whatever. You'd have to ask them about that.
You supported Braid on their reformation tour – how was it playing before a crowd who, most probably, only had one band on the bill on their minds? Do you find it tough playing to crowds that aren't necessarily there to see you, and is this scenario becoming rarer and rarer as you become more established?
The crowds on the Braid tour were actually all really nice to us, but there have been situations where we were certainly not the main attraction. Most of the time people actually give us a chance. Occasionally we play to the completely wrong crowd, but then that crowd's parents end up liking us. Go figure.
In Bocca Al Lupo is only just earning itself a proper UK release, but has been available on import for some time – why did the album take so long to cross the Atlantic?
We were toying with you.
Many UK listeners will see the Bocca record as your debut – do you hope that people will take the time to explore your previous two albums, and will these records earn themselves UK releases?
It would be great if people went back and checked out the first two albums (Like the Exorcist, but More Breakdancing and Who Will Survive, and What Will Be Left of Them?). We're still proud of them and still play some of those songs live. They may get a UK release in the future.
You've worked with Gerard Way – did the explosion of popularity My Chemical Romance experienced last year surprise you at all? Would you be able to handle such a sudden profile hike?
We always knew those guys would make it big. The great part about it is that those guys are still total sweethearts and they don't forget their friends. They have handled fame really well. I don't know if we could, or if we'll ever have to worry about it. I kinda doubt it.
You worked with J Robbins on the Bocca album – what did he bring to the sessions? He's a splendidly acclaimed producer, after all. Do you know the latest on his son's situation at all? We heard he was unwell.
J is just awesome. He has done so many different kinds of records and is such a great musician, so he really understands how to get the best out of the bands he records. He's also incredibly humble. It was a really comfortable way to work. J has been doing updates on the situation with his son on his website, here. There are lots of benefit shows happening and donations are being made. We strongly urge people to help out if they can.
You've played a good few UK shows, and return in April – is it a country you enjoy touring, or do you find better audiences in other parts of the world? Is your current situation – being introduced to a new territory – exciting at all, or do you feel like you're re-treading ground at all, what with the promotional work for an album that came out almost a year ago?
We love playing the UK, and we're excited to come back and also to see some new places. We're such a baby band in terms of European exposure, so it certainly doesn't feel like we're just beating a dead horse or anything like that. We're hoping to come over a lot more.
Following the April tour, what does 2007 hold for Murder By Death?
In may we're doing Canada with the Reverend Horton Heat, and then we'll be doing some more US dates with the Rev in august. In between we'll be working on new material and drinking beer in the sunshine.
Check Murder By Death out on MySpace, here. For tour dates, click here.


text:
Minnesota DNR Conducts Major Sting Operation
Charges are pending for several people after Minnesota's Department of Natural Resources conducted a major sting operation on Lake of the Woods. 40 officers took part in the sting after authorities obtained search warrants while investigating the activities of guides at various fishing and hunting locations.
According the Grand Forks Herald, an investigation uncovered "substantial and creditable information" and seized evidence to support several charges that will be filed soon.
Violations include too many walleye in possession, non-filing of proper license, and illegal transporting. The investigation also uncovered illegal bear guiding activity.
The area also had a number of law abiding sportsmen as DNR conservation officers also revealed that many fishing and hunting guides in the area were following the law and protecting the resources.
If you violate the laws, remember, fishing and hunting is a privilege. A great tradition. Ignoring the laws of the land and abusing natural resources hurts everyone, upsets the delicate balance of nature, and displays poor sportsmanship.
No other information was available at this time.


text:
Click the play button icon to listen to individual songs, right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a zip file of the full 27-track compilation through Ge.tt here.
ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Onda Vaga - Tataralí
their inception in 2008, Onda Vaga have avoided the steps that
independent artists usually take in order to be a part of the music
industry. It was a wise call. Thanks to word of mouth from a public that
follows them whenever they perform, this folk-rock band have become a
huge success, both locally and internationally (they made quite an
impression at last year's Fuji Rock Festival in Japan). Tataralí is the
first single from their recently released third album, Magma Elemental.
AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
La Mancha Negra - Belango Twist
easy to imagine that Belango Twist might have been found inside a dusty
shoebox containing a mix of rhythm and blues cassettes somewhere in the
Deep South. Surprisingly that's far from the case. Sydney swamp-rockers
La Mancha Negra (which loosely translates from Spanish to "The Black
Stain") recently delivered their second album. Packed with blues ooze
and reverberated hollers, Belango Twist is a tune that's ideal for
cruising... and smashing out a few letterboxes on the way.
AUSTRIA: Walzerkönig
Robotra - Morninglight 2
Don't let the noisy, distorted lo-fi shell of Robotra songs trick you.
This three-piece band from Graz and their pop melodies will catch your
attention and make you want to sing along immediately. Morninglight 2 is
taken from their full-length debut Tinker, which was mixed and mastered
by Wolfgang Möstl (Mile Me Deaf, Sex Jams, Killed By 9V Batteries).
BRASIL: Meio Desligado
Marcelo Jeneci - De Graça
Marcelo Jeneci's new psychedelic/pop-influenced album, the single De
Graça is one of the weirdest and greatest songs. Strong influences of
the earliest works of Caetano Veloso and Arnaldo Antunes (with whom
Jeneci still plays keyboard) can be easily heard, as well as Jeneci's
talent for making catchy melodies that create the kind of feeling when
everything is just fine and you don't worry about anything.
CANADA: Quick Before It Melts
The Dirty Nil - Nicotine
Dirty Nil want to be your dealer, and Nicotine is their gateway drug of
choice. Their brand of rock and roll knows no fear, takes no prisoners
and shows no mercy. They're brash, they're crass and they're gonna make
you love them or die trying.
CHILE: Super 45
Fármacos - Despegarte De Mí
the new breed of bands helping to renew the Chilean music scene,
Fármacos stand out just as much for the many nuances of their sound - in
which nods to electronica and pop are present - as their innate ability
to create dramatic melodies that are hard to get out of your head.
Despegarte De Mí is taken from their 2013 debut album Los Días Más
Largos, released through Beast Discos.
DENMARK: All Scandinavian
The Liquid - Hang On, To You. Stop!
lauded and prize-winning poet, Nicolaj Stochholm chose poetry over punk
back in the 1980s. In 2002 he again acquired a guitar, in 2010 he
formed The Liquid, and on November 27 the trio debuts with the great
post-punk album Atlas Interplan. It opens with Hang On, To You. Stop!,
coming to you here as a MAP exclusive download.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: La Casetera
Charles Lavaigne - The Endless Traveller Song
happens when a folk singer makes a merengue song? The answer can be
heard on The Endless Traveller Song, extracted from Charles Lavaigne's
latest album The Birdfish. Amidst all the psychedelia and freak folk,
this fun, melodious tune stands because it reaffirms Charles' Dominican
roots, often lost in translation and his own peculiar identity. Dance
off, then hear the rest of the album if you're into crazy musical rides.
ECUADOR: Plan Arteria
Mundos - Gorriones
joining of two leading voices of two important local bands (Mamá Vudú
and Can Can) gives life to this project that combines music and
illustration. Mundos is the epicenter of talented musicians who bring
their creativity and imagination into an album of 12 songs. Núcleos
Activos Imaginarios is a good example of the evolution of Ecuadorian
independent music, with Gorriones closing the album in a sublime way.
ESTONIA: Rada7.ee
Kali Briis - Wolfman
Briis released new album Say Whaat? this month via the Eesti Pops
label. From soul, funk and hip hop to blues, electro and pop, this
24-year-old producer feels comfortable in a wide range of genres and
masters his instruments, all recorded in his own home. His 2012 album
The Moon Ghost can be downloaded for free on Bandcamp.
FINLAND: Glue
Ritual Smoker - Wars (single edit)
by blasting bass lines and rock-solid drumming, Helsinki-based band
Ritual Smoker experiment with abrasive soundscapes of hypnotic effect.
Wars is included in the band's debut album Not To Dominate, But To
Serve, out this month.
FRANCE: Yet You're Fired
Belle Arché Lou - Lumières Du Littoral
Arché Lou is one of those bands that surprises you while digging
through vinyl crates in a record store. An unknown but pretty name, an
almost poetic feel running through your body while staring at the
artwork, and the assurance that this record can be nothing but great. A
three-man band hailing from Paris and Geneva, Belle Arché Lou write
almost orchestral pieces with unusual instruments: a vibraphone, chimes
and a glockenspiel, paired most of the time with an acoustic guitar.
Their songs are gorgeous, delicate, happiness-inducing instrumentals.
GREECE: Mouxlaloulouda
Michalis Moschoutis - ActI
concerned with contrast, Michalis Moschoutis creates works that lie on
the fringes of several genres: heavy processing and live electronics;
restrained, unadorned improvisation that brings out the inherent
primitivism and ritualism of music; cathartic dark metal; the plainness
and intimacy of 16th-17th century lute works; and the subtle
fluctuations of minimal drone music. His latest single was recorded
inside old churches. Listen to the repetitive yet haunting acoustic
melody of ActI and sink away into a dreamy cloud of harmonic beauty.
INDONESIA: Deathrockstar
Tamankota - Cerita Pagi Hari Ini
(which means "City Park") is a band from Bandung influenced by the
British indie-pop scenes of the 80s and 90s. Cerita Pagi Hari Ini
("Story From This Morning") is filled with raw sunshine power.
IRELAND: Harmless Noise
Crayonsmith - Chrysalis
was released with a video ahead of Crayonsmith's new album Milk Teeth
and the title was a hint at the changes in sound. Previously a solo
artist working with synths, samples and guitar, Crayonsmith are now a
three-piece band. Simple in construction, it's pinned to a driving,
purposeful rhythm, as Ciaran Smith's vocal beseeches the listener with
endearing fragility. The pattern of melody that colours the wings as
this track pulls itself free and beats away is mesmerising; light yet
pensive, its transformative powers hint at the unfolding darkness still
to come.
ITALY: Polaroid
Tiger! Shit! Tiger! Tiger! - Golden Age
gigantic electric shock: this is the music of Tiger! Shit! Tiger!
Tiger! on their second album Forever Young. Fast songs, loud noises,
dramatic melodies. You could easily point out names like Sonic Youth or
Wavves or Male Bonding or No Age. It doesn't matter. It's the sound of
electricity that becomes art and poetry. Read the titles in the
playlist: Forever Young, Golden Age, Whirlwind Weekend, Fearless Youth,
Rage... this is all we need right now.
JAPAN: Make Believe Melodies
Boe Oakner - Cherenkov
a very short amount of time, Nagano-based Boe Oakner has been making
great strides in her musical development. The 17-year-old started this
year making lovely instrumentals and now she is working her voice into
her songs as well. Cherenkov is an ennui-tinged waltz, featuring
kitchen-sink percussion, pretty bell chimes and natural sounds like a
MEXICO: Red Bull Panamérika
Aarón Bautista - Iguana
Bautista has enjoyed a long career as a musician in some important
bands from Mexico City's underground scene. Now he's going his own way
with a solo project. His album doesn't sound very similar to stuff we
are used to hearing from Mexico City nowadays. Or maybe it does, but in a
very twisted and personal way. The record has a precious, yet punk,
attitude, filled with psychedelia, gloomy folk and beautiful production.
It almost sounds like something to sing along to while feeling drunk
and declining in the middle of whatever scene you might find
PERU: SoTB
Piettro - Confesiones
is a small town in southern Peru, a place where fate strove to unite
Gabriel Alvarez, Saul Piettro and Juan Arce, friends who then became
Piettro. Their style is a coalescence of trova and crossover rock, and
with each of their songs they want to convey a message of love, peace
and respect. Piettro is preparing its first album to be released as soon
as possible.
POLAND: Łukasz Kuśmierz Weblog
XXANAXX - Got U Under
is a good example of how to bring together ambitious tunes and
not-so-far-away-from-mainstream recognition. Although the band only
formed in 2012, this year they have supported Austra and Hurts and
played the Selector Festival, amassing a large number of fans in the
process. No matter how you describe their music - nu beats or future
chillout - one thing is certain, Got U Under is one of the greatest
Polish tracks of 2013.
PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
The Glockenwise - Leeches
of the coolest new Portuguese rock bands, The Glockenwise released
their second album in May, which has the same name as this month's track
(check out this fun video
for it). They won't disappoint those looking for energy and lots of
jumping around, and you can tell they have listened to the fathers of
this sound, from The Stooges to the Ramones.
PUERTO RICO: Puerto Rico Indie
AJ Dávila y Terror Amor - Ohhh (No Te Encantes)
Rico's best-known garage-rock export Dávila 666 called it quits last
year after touring the world in support of their second full-length.
Founding member AJ Dávila spent little time mourning the band, instead
focusing on his solo debut. The project's guest list quickly ballooned
to Supernatural-era Santana levels, and Terror Amor became a who's who
of Latin American indie-pop. The album, out in January on Nacional
Records, will include collaborations with Mexico's Juan Cirerol and
Chile's Alex Anwandter among many others. Ohhh (No Te Encantes) features
one of Puerto Rico's most beloved singers and fellow MAP alumni Fofé
Abreu on backing vocals, as well as Mexico's Jinmy Vitte (of Los
Negretes fame) on acoustic guitar.
ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Tony Baboon - Pinecones River
Baboon is a tropical one man pop band, with jazz and trip hop
influences. The music is made up of a diverse spectrum of carefully
thought-out sounds and word combinations that deal with themes such as
nature, animals, plants, philosophy, surrealism and utopia.
SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
Call To Mind - A Family Sketch
To Mind are based in Glasgow but originally from Ardersier, a former
fishing village near Inverness with a population of barely 1,000. The
influence of the group's upbringing is keenly felt in their music - song
titles are sprinkled with Highland reference points, while their lush,
smartly-crafted ambient pop paints truly idyllic imagery. At their
majestic best, such as A Family Sketch, they give French darlings M83 a
run for their money when it comes to atmospheric euphoria. Debut album
The Winter Is White is due out in early 2014 through Olive Grove Records.
SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Vassline - Overture To Recomposition
has been one of the finest acts in Korea's hardcore scene since it
started. Six years after their third full-length, the band finally
returned with Black Silence. It was well worth the wait, showing
everyone that Vassline is still at the very top. The instrumental piece
Overture To Recomposition features MAP alumni Jambinai with their unique
use of traditional Korean instruments in part 1, before Vassline bring
out the heavy guns in part 2.
SPAIN: Musikorner
Astro One Deep - Sinapsis
One Deep is a young Galician, now resident in Barcelona. Taking in
influences from hip hop and electronic music, he has spent a long time
shut away in his bedroom preparing new offerings. Like the emotions he
portrays, his style is dynamic and varied; it draws on multiple genres
such as funk, jazz, urban and electronica.
UNITED STATES: We Listen For You
KO - Golden Gal
is the brainchild of Indianapolis singer/guitarist Kristin Newborn. She
made a splash in early 2011 as frontwoman on the lone, underappreciated
LP from indie-pop outfit Slothpop.
Golden Gal finds her working within KO's minimalist, two-piece
framework, adding depth through layers of vocal loops. Newborn's vocal
prowess has earned her opportunities alongside professional symphonies,
but the singular intimacy of KO proves equally intoxicating.


text:
My alter-ego T. Aaron Payton talks about The Constantine Affliction over at The Night Bazaar, and then he talks about it some more.
Y'all know I pretty much never post reviews anymore, but I did like these lines from one of the Amazon.com reviews (all 5-star so far; I'm enjoying that while it lasts):
What begins as a murder mystery in an odd steam punk London opens up into a fantastic world of Science Gone Wrong, and a love story too! This book has everything, Prostitutes, Robot Women, Tentacle Monsters, Transgender Disease, Lightning Swords, and a love sick Frankenstein.
I cannot dispute any of those characterizations. (Well, I wouldn't call it a "transgender disease" really, and it's more like Frankenstein's monster, but I know what the reviewer means, and can't dispute the flair of phrasing.)


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Sparkling wine is thought of by most American's as a luxury to be consumed on special occasions like weddings, graduations and New Year's eve parties. And that's a shame since sparkling wine is so versatile at the table, pairing with a wide variety of food, made all over the world and available at every price point. Perhaps it's just too difficult for most wine consumers to get their heads around this wine as the best examples tend to be delicate and acidic with yeasty minerality that takes some getting used to. But the rewards are worth the effort to really get to know, and love, sparkling wine as it brightens up even the most challenging day.
This is the 5th time I've hosted Wine Blogging Wednesday and I'd like to write my theme was calculated to take advantage of the bubbly consumed yesterday for Valentine's Day. It actually had more to do with my desire to find some new values in sparkling wine to enjoy this spring and summer where I intend to drink (and blog) a bottle each week. I chose the $25 price point to keep the wine selections inclusive of the entire world knowing this might be a challenge, but doable, even in Champagne. But it was the under $10 price point that most interested me since this means "everyday" to most of us.
So my search took me to Trader Joe's, the value grocery store that has a reputation as a decent place to find wine values. While TJ's might not deliver great wine values since they became the house of Two Buck Chuck, their sparking wine selection is still pretty solid. So after looking at their Crement de Bourgogne choices I have had, and enjoyed before, I picked up a Cava for just $7.99 as my choice tonight.
Albero Brut Cava ($8) is an exclusive of Trader Joe's here in the U.S. made by Bogedas Iranzo, the oldest Spanish winery dating back some 677 years. Before you think Christoper Columbus drank sparkling wine from this estate, a quick aside to the history of bubbly.
Although wine with bubbles has existed since antiquity as a by-product of fermentation, it was only until glass blowing technology could withstand the pressure in the bottle before this style really emerged. Counter to the legend that this wine emerged in Champagne from the cellar of monk Dom Pérignon, sparkling wine was actually first made on purpose in Italy in 1622. But it was glass blowing technology developed in England in 1662 that made this country the true founder of sparkling wine almost 80 years before Dom Pérignon first drank "stars".
Cava is the name given to sparkling wine made in Spain. It mostly comes from the Penedès region in Catalonia, just south of Barcelona. Like in Champagne only certain grapes are allowed in Cava but until recently these have only been native Spanish varieties. Keeping it old school, the Albero Brut Cava is a blend of Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo.
The wine is golden straw color with a medium bead of fine bubbles that dissipate quickly in the glass. It has green apple, stone and baking bread aromas. Bright apple and citrus flavors finishing dry with hint of minerality and nice acidity on the finish. A nice crowd pleasing sparkler at a good price.
Natural cork closure
Thanks go to Wine Blogging Wednesday founder Lenn Thompson for asking me to host again. I'm looking forward to next month already.


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"The bagels have declared independence. The bakery is up in arms! There's a giant flour cloud enveloping everything. Don't trust the macaroons."
or click here
And our discussion concerning those untrustworthy macaroons:
or click here
|What's wrong with macaroons?
|I can answer that so easily. Generally, macaroons have coconut in them, and are repulsive. So they are NOT to be trusted.
|It's not their fault, they're made that way.
|You could say that about anybody.
|You can't distrust—
|You can say about anybody that who they become, that they're a product of their experiences and environment, but that's still who they are.
|That's not a product of their experiences and environment, that's their ingredients. That's their DNA.
|Exactly, the same as people!
|No, it's not the same as people at all. It's not fair to say you can't trust them 'cause of who they are, or what they are.
|I'm just saying, that doesn't change that you can't trust them. Perhaps you can say, it's not their fault that they were made that way, they didn't choose to be made that way, but that's still how they are.
|Well, you know, I tend to agree that I find macaroons disgusting. But I wouldn't say they're distrustful. I just don't want to hang out with them.
|Do you know what? They are, because they look like they'll be nice, but then you eat them and they're disgusting. They're dishonest.
|It's not their fault. They don't realize they are being dishonest. They just see themselves as quite an attractive, cakey biscuit. You need to give 'em a break. You need to give macaroons a break. I'm not saying you should try them and like them. I'm just saying, you know what, leave them alone. They've got their own little corner of the bakery, no one's bothering them, there are people who love them AND trust them. I think you just need to give 'em a break.
|Sleep Talkin' Man obviously understands what I'm talking about.
|Well, it may be because of the Republic of Bagel, that they're, you know, the macaroons are starting to get a bit uppity and want their own independence. And that's just gonna cause complete chaos.
|Oh, they can HAVE their independence.


text:
Top Items:
Kevin Rose / Digg the Blog:
Digg This: 09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5- 63-56-88-c0 — Today was an insane day. And as the founder of Digg, I just wanted to post my thoughts... In building and shaping the site I've always tried to stay as hands on as possible. We've always given site moderation (digging/burying) power to the community.
Discussion: Between the Lines, Forbes, Freedom to Tinker, Epicenter, Valleywag, Virtual Economics, The Social Web, mathewingram.com/work, MarketingShift, Mashable!, franticindustries, Andrew Lih, CostPerNews, Hardware 2.0, The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, Tech_Space, PlagiarismToday, Guardian Unlimited, SMOblog, duncanriley.com, Liquidmatrix Security Digest, Venture Chronicles, Boing Boing, Bloggers Blog, Techscape, Infothought, The Last Podcast, O'Flaherty, TechBlog, Cult of Mac, parislemon, Oliver Thylmann's Thoughts, SitePoint Blogs, tbites, 901am, broadstuff, Dan Blank, Webomatica, Skrentablog, Practical Blogging, rexduffdixon.com and Like It Matters
Andy Greenberg / Forbes: Digg's DRM Revolt
Ed Felten / Freedom to Tinker: Digg Users Revolt Over AACS Key
Dylan Tweney / Epicenter: Kevin Rose Concedes: HD-DVD Codes Stay
Seamusmccauley / Virtual Economics: Digg takedown notice is the new Papal condemnation
Steve O'Hear / The Social Web: Digg founder, Kevin Rose: we'll go down fighting if that's what you want
John Gartner / MarketingShift: Breaking the Breaking News Code
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!: How This Kid Lost $60 Million in 18 Hours (Or Not)
Stan Schroeder / franticindustries: Digg goes down in flames; business as usual at Slashdot HQ
Sam Harrelson / CostPerNews: Digg Hell … Somewhere, Jason Calacanis is smiling.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / Hardware 2.0: The Digg HD-DVD processing key debacle
Steve / The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: What happens when you build a company without owning any IP?
Bobbie Johnson / Guardian Unlimited: Digg in chaos over HD-DVD crack
Mblair / SMOblog: Mayday, mayday! The tale of Digg's perfect storm and the pirate captain Kevin Rose
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing: Digg users revolt over AACS key
Seth Finkelstein / Infothought: Meta-post on HD-DVD AACS Key, Digg, and the failure of blogging part N+3
Paul O'Flaherty / O'Flaherty: The Key to Digg! The users win!
Dwight / TechBlog: Updated: Digg by the numbers
Pete Mortensen / Cult of Mac: Pay Tribute to the HD-DVD Crack with a Screensaver
MG Siegler / parislemon: Kevin Rose Raises the White Flag
Andrew.K / SitePoint Blogs: The Day Digg Ate Itself
Minic Rivera / 901am: Digg would rather die trying
Alan Patrick / broadstuff: STOP DIGGING!
Robyn Tippins / Practical Blogging: Rose Does The Right Thing
Brian Oberkirch / Like It Matters: what the hex? … Jeffrey Kalmikoff @ Community Next
Jay Adelson / Digg the Blog:
What's Happening with HD-DVD Stories? — I just wanted to explain what some of you have been noticing around some stories that have been submitted to Digg on the HD DVD encryption key being cracked. — This has all come up in the past 24 hours, mostly connected to the HD-DVD hack …
Discussion: CenterNetworks, AppScout, GigaOM, Pronet Advertising, Today @ PC World, Digital Daily, Epicenter, Graywolf's SEO Blog, Online Media Cultist, Deep Jive Interests, Things That, Ed Burnette's Dev Connection, InformationWeek, Basement.org, Gadget Lab, Phil Windley's Technometria, Bokardo, IMT Blog, Digital Inspiration, Valleywag, CrunchGear, the j. botter weblog and Geek News Central
Allen Stern / CenterNetworks: Oh My Digg! The mob is running the asylum
Om Malik / GigaOM: A Very Angry Digg Nation
Muhammad Saleem / Pronet Advertising: Mob Takes Over at Digg, Widespread User Revolt
John Paczkowski / Digital Daily: That's Always Been the Problem With the Digg Community: Digg Users
Paul Boutin / Epicenter: Digg firestorm continues
Tony Hung / Deep Jive Interests: Digg Revolt? Oh, The Delicious Irony.
Thomas Claburn / InformationWeek: Digg Yields To The Wrath Of The Crowd
Richard Ziade / Basement.org: Digg, Napster's Ghost & The Real Revolution
Joshua Porter / Bokardo: Digg Surrenders to Community
PatentMonkey / IMT Blog: Digg.com Tries, Fails to Contain Diggers on HD DVD Key
Dewayne Smith / CrunchGear: Digg: HD DVD Fanbois
Todd Cochrane / Geek News Central: Mob Takes over Digg in a BIG Way!
Spread this number — 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0. Wanna know what's so important about it? … The movie industry is threatening Spooky Action at a Distance for publishing that number, specifically with copyright infringement. — I had no idea a number could be copyrighted.
Discussion: Startup Meme, Slashdot, VoIP & Gadgets Blog, TechnoLlama, Vaspers the Grate, Stuff to Think About, Geek News Central and digg
Bilal Hameed / Startup Meme: Anatomy of the Digg Crisis
Andres Guadamuz / TechnoLlama: HD-DVD brought down by Web 2.0
Steven Edward Streight / Vaspers the Grate: Digg & soaking in the pillows of forgetfulness
Todd Cochrane / Geek News Central: HD-DVD Code gets Blogger Banned from Digg
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch:
Digg Surrenders to Mob — To say what happened today on Digg was a "user revolt" is an understatement. The Digg team deleted a story that linked to the decryption key for HD DVDs after receiving a take down demand and all hell broke loose. More stories appeared and were deleted, and users posting the stories were suspended.
Larry Dignan / Between the Lines: Digg's revolt: Scary yet invigorating
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!: Scenes from the Digg Implosion
Warner Crocker / Life On the Wicked Stage: Digg and the Revolution — Yesterday the social news site …
MG Siegler / parislemon: 32 Digits Are Driving Digg Users Absolutely Crazy
Robyn Tippins / Practical Blogging: Community-Driven Responses — Your response to unwelcome actions …
Steve Safran / Lost Remote: Digg community revolts after story is taken down
Geeks Will Not Be Silenced: Breaking: Digg Riot in Full Effect Over Pulled HD-DVD Key Story — The power of Web 2. is in full effect over at Digg, where users are revolting over Digg's decision to pull a story (that netted over 15,000 diggs) and reportedly boot a user for posting …
Discussion: Telegraph Blogs, John Carroll, Mashable!, The Lede, franticindustries and MediaVidea
Ian Douglas / Telegraph Blogs: Digg out on a limb for DVD hackers
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!: Number Hidden in Magic Eye Picture
Mike Nizza / The Lede: The Day Digg Users Revolted
Stan Schroeder / franticindustries: How one hexadecimal string changed the Internet
Pramit Singh / MediaVidea: A day on the Planet of Digg: Living and dying by UGC
Danny Sullivan / Search Engine Land:
Digg Gives Into User Revolt; Are Those DMCA Takedown Notices Even Valid? — After a grassroots revolt by Digg users, Digg has decided to stop censoring posts about an HD-DVD decryption number used by the industry-backed Advanced Access Content System to protect HD-DVDs.
Discussion: Social Media Club, Search Engine Roundtable, ...My heart's in Accra, TechSpot News and Pwned
Jason Chervokas / Social Media Club: Social Media Now: UGC and its Discontents
Tamar Weinberg / Search Engine Roundtable: Social Media Revolt: Digg and Democracy
Snusinow / Pwned: Digg Melts Down Over Alledged HD-DVD Censorship
Digg fights user revolt over HD-DVD ban - Digg founders took HD-DVD sponsorship. — The founders of Digg.com - which has been rocked by an unprecedented user revolt over the release of an HD-DVD decryption code - accepted sponsorship from the organization behind HD-DVD last year.
Discussion: Ryan Block, Todd Watson, WebProNews, Webware.com, UNEASYsilence, uncov, The Last Podcast, Dembot, OhGizmo! and digg
David A. Utter / WebProNews: Digg Embroiled In HD DVD Controversy
Rafe Needleman / Webware.com: CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE HITS DIGG
Kyle / uncov: Digg Descends Into Chaos
Frederic / The Last Podcast: Digg in Trouble over HD-DVD
David Ponce / OhGizmo!: Mutiny On Digg!
Psychohistorian / Wired News:
Discussion: The Boy Genius Report and digg
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!:
Fundraising for the Digg Lawsuit
Fundraising for the Digg Lawsuit
Discussion: rexduffdixon.com
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!:
Discussion: andrewteman.org and rexduffdixon.com
Rex Dixon / rexduffdixon.com: Digg just Dugg it's own Grave..
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing:
Web-page aggregates links to "forbidden numbers" used to break HD-DVD
Web-page aggregates links to "forbidden numbers" used to break HD-DVD
Discussion: The Globe and Mail, Rudd-O.com, Download Squad and digg
Mathew Ingram / The Globe and Mail: Don't read this blog post
Grant Robertson / Download Squad: HD-DVD key fiasco is an example of 21st century digital revolt
Andy Beal / Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim:
Kevin Rose Hands Over Digg Control
Kevin Rose Hands Over Digg Control
Discussion: CrunchGear
Nicholas Deleon / CrunchGear: The Great Digg Riot of 2007: Digg Caves In, Link to Encryption Keys …
Ed Felten / Freedom to Tinker:
AACS Plays Whack-a-Mole with Extracted Key
AACS Plays Whack-a-Mole with Extracted Key
Discussion: Techdirt, A Whole Lotta Nothing, Rudd-O.com and Laughing Squid
Matt Haughey / A Whole Lotta Nothing: Digg revolt — Pretty interesting community story taking place …
Scott Beale / Laughing Squid: Massive Digg Rebellion Underway
Kdawson / Slashdot:
Digg.com Attempts To Suppress HD-DVD Revolt
Digg.com Attempts To Suppress HD-DVD Revolt
Discussion: P2P Foundation and digg
Muhammad Saleem / Pronet Advertising:
The Reason Why Digg Removed That Story
The Reason Why Digg Removed That Story
Discussion: PlagiarismToday, TechFold and Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim
Anne Broache / CNET News.com:
Vonage requests retrial in Verizon patent dispute — A pivotal U.S. Supreme Court ruling designed to make it easier to challenge obvious patents prompted Vonage on Tuesday to ask for a new trial in an ongoing dispute with Verizon. — One day after the high court released …
Discussion: Download Squad, IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband and TechSpot News
Brad Linder / Download Squad: Vonage seeks new trial against Verizon
Russell Shaw / IP Telephony, VoIP, Broadband: Vonage: we want a do-over in Verizon patent infringement trial
Justin Mann / TechSpot News: Vonage requests retrial in Verizon lawsuit
Mike Masnick / Techdirt:
That Didn't Take Long: Vonage Asks Court To Review Verizon Patents …
That Didn't Take Long: Vonage Asks Court To Review Verizon Patents …
Discussion: WebProNews
Jason Lee Miller / WebProNews: Vonage May Get Stay Of Execution
Robbie Bach: Microsoft Mobile & Embedded DevCon 2007 — Keynote Remarks by Robbie Bach, President, Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division — Microsoft Mobile & Embedded DevCon 2007 — ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome President, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation, Robbie Bach.
Om Malik / GigaOM:
Hey Microsoft, forget MIX, focus on Mobiles
Hey Microsoft, forget MIX, focus on Mobiles
Discussion: TechCrunch and FierceWireless
Michael Arrington / TechCrunch: Take Time To Understand Silverlight. It's Important
Dow Jones Holders Say Murdoch Bid May Trigger Auction (Update2) — Dow Jones & Co. shareholders say Rupert Murdoch's $5 billion takeover bid will spark an auction of the 125-year-old newspaper publisher. — ``We're in the first inning,'' said Lawrence J. Haverty Jr. …
Discussion: Search Engine Watch Blog
Fred / A VC:
The Mid Life Entrepreneur Crisis — I have two meetings this week with guys in their early to mid 40s that are two of the best entrepreneurs I've ever worked with. Both are asking me the same thing - "what should I do next?" — There are questions of motivations, work/life balance …
Discussion: Jeffrey McManus, ben barren and rexduffdixon.com
Steve Jobs / Apple:
Removing Toxic Chemicals … Cadmium — Hexavalent Chromium — Decabromodiphenyl Ether … Arsenic — Mercury … Polyvinyl Chloride — Brominated flame retardants … In one environmental group's recent scorecard, Dell, HP and Lenovo all scored higher than Apple because of their plans …
Discussion: The Unofficial Apple Weblog and digg
Barry Schwartz / Search Engine Land:
Yang & Filo Sumo Each Other To Save The World — Will wrestle for climate change from Yahoo's Yodel Anecdotal blog covers that the co-founders of Yahoo put on sumo suits to wrestle each other. Jerry Yang and David Filo agreed to this match after Yahoos did their part to their impact on the environment.
Nicki Dugan / Yodel Anecdotal:
Will wrestle for climate change
Will wrestle for climate change
Discussion: InsideGoogle
Nathan Weinberg / InsideGoogle: YAHOO FOUNDERS SUMO WRESTLE
Mike Shields / Mediaweek:
Eisner's Prom Queen Seeing Success on Web — Less than halfway through its 80-day run, Prom Queen, the daily teen-aimed online soap opera launched by Michael Eisner's new production firm, is showing signs of becoming a modest hit, if short of an Internet sensation thus far.
Discussion: Media 3.0 with Shelly Palmer, Lost Remote and Reel Pop
Shelly Palmer / Media 3.0 with Shelly Palmer: MediaBytes - Wednesday — DOW JONES' controlling shareholder …
Cory Bergman / Lost Remote: Video stats from Eisner's 'Prom Queen'
Hollywoodreporter / Reel Pop: Prom Queen gets roughly 200,000 views a day
Noah Shachtman / Wired News:
Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death — The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction …
Discussion: UMBC eBiquity, BLACKFIVE, Tech_Space and digg
Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE: THE END OF MILITARY BLOGGING
Joris Evers / CNET News.com:
Apple plugs QuickTime zero-day flaw — Apple on Tuesday released a QuickTime update to fix a security flaw that was used to breach a MacBook Pro at a recent security conference. — The media player vulnerability lies in QuickTime for Java, Apple said in a security alert.
Discussion: Engadget, TechBlog, The Tech Report, Security Fix, Today @ PC World, The Unofficial Apple Weblog and TechSpot News
Darren Murph / Engadget: Apple issues fix for recently discovered QuickTime flaw
Cyril Kowaliski / The Tech Report: Cross-platform QuickTime vulnerability gets a fix
Brian Krebs / Security Fix: Apple Patches QuickTime Security Hole
Michael Rose / The Unofficial Apple Weblog: Revised Security Update 004 and QT CanSecWest fix released


text:
The Friends of the Institute for Astronomy (FIfA) foster community involvement and develop private funding resources in order to support the people, advance the research, promote astronomy education and public outreach, and enhance the activities of the Institute.
Some of the most exciting science in the world is happening at the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy (IfA), and you can be part of it! IfA scientists conduct research into galaxies, cosmology, stars, planets, and the Sun, as well as teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Hawaii. We invite you to become part of the Friends and explore our amazing universe. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Friends have these opportunities:
To become a Friend, all you need to do is provide your name, mailing address, phone number(s), e-mail address, and indicate if you would like to receive information about volunteer opportunities. You will automatically receive notices about public lectures and events.
We invite all Friends to become donors to support public outreach, education and research at IfA. In the past donations have gone to support the following:
The IfA publishes a newsletter with articles about the current research projects of IfA astronomers and engineers, as well as a list of astronomy events on Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island that are open to the public. The newsletter also includes a column about Friends activities.
The Institute for Astronomy is located in Manoa Valley, up the valley from the main campus and next to the Manoa Public Library and the Manoa Marketplace shopping center. View a basic map or get driving directions.


text:
The Daily Mail calls it a "slime wave". The Sun calls them "an army". Either way, both papers have reported 500bn slugs are set to invade British gardens, after a mild winter created perfect breeding conditions.
So is the UK really about to be overwhelmed by slimy slugs? The simple answer is no, but there could be something far worse in store.
Headline numbers alone aren't necessarily something to get in a lather over. A typical garden can contain several thousand slugs, and the "500bn" figure is derived from estimates of maximum numbers per area. In any case, slug numbers can rise and fall a great deal across time and space, in natural cycles, and even astonishingly dramatic increases are not always cause for concern. Like waves crashing against a beach, the rise is often transient and local – usually slug numbers will drop back to normal, with the disturbance hardly noticed beyond a few local gardeners.
What is more problematic is the progressive, sustained and perhaps less spectacular rise in numbers which, tsunami-like, is maintained for far longer, and spreads widely throughout the countryside. This is Britain's real slug invasion. So what can we do about it?
The trigger seems innocuous enough in isolation: a few non-native slugs from continental Europe have accidentally been introduced. Several of these species have close relatives in the UK, so similar in fact that only specialists can tell them apart, and they can interbreed freely. Of course, many animals can create hybrids without presenting a threat, but what makes slugs different – and these hybrids so worrying – is their interesting and deviant sex lives.
This is a hybrid between a 'Spanish stealth slug' and the UK's common black slug. Image: Les Noble/author provided.
Slugs are hermaphrodites, which means the same individual exists as both sexes; they first develop as males, before experiencing a true hermaphrodite phase to become female. This means they can dispense with normal mating requirements, and this is where the consequences of the difference between British and continental species becomes significant.
Why British slugs are different
When slugs colonised the UK after the last ice age, they found an island recently covered with ice sheets, where the biological diversity remained poorer than continental Europe. In these circumstances, the ability to self-fertilise was a good evolutionary strategy, one which ensured reproduction even when slug populations were devasated by harsh weather.
A downside of such continued close inbreeding (and mating with oneself is as inbred as it gets) is a rapid loss of genetic variability, and some British slug species eventually came to consist of almost genetically identical individuals. This meant they were more vulnerable to parasites and pathogens that could rapidly evolve to overcome their defences.
Meanwhile, in continental Europe, slugs were becoming more diverse, as balmier weather meant parasites and pathogens were a bigger issue than finding a mate. These slugs tended not to self-fertilise, and were genetically highly variable. This made at least some of them more resilient to attacks from parasites – a possibility not afforded to the inbred British slugs.
Echoes of these different past environments resonate in contemporary species. British slugs, adapted to a variable climate and dearth of mates, have fallen into the clichéd "No sex please, we're British" mould, producing fewer, bigger eggs later in life by self-fertilisation. Continental slugs, meanwhile, adapted to resist rapidly evolving enemies. Their strategy is therefore to produce many smaller eggs earlier in life, which maximises genetic diversity and compensates for losing many individuals to infection.
The 'Spanish slug', one of Britain's key invaders. Image: tviolet/creative commons.
These different adaptations weren't an issue until humans disturbed the natural order by moving slugs back and forth as stowaways in commercial produce. As a result of this, we've seen widespread breeding between British and continental species. These new hybrid "super-slugs" are highly fertile, and their genetically diverse offspring are adapted to cope with both the British climate and parasites and pathogens, most of which remain in continental Europe anyway.
Fighting the slug invasion?
Legislation aimed at environmental protection has led to the EU banning commercial use of molluscicides (pelleted chemicals which poison slugs but cause collateral damage to other wildlife). Instead, the emphasis is on using natural enemies like nematode worms, though these are generally ineffective against the larger invasive hybrids.
Nonetheless, the increased slug biomass could still host important veterinary or agricultural parasites and pathogens, spreading more plant and animal diseases. Remarkably, despite their obvious presence in our gardens, we remain startlingly ignorant of the fundamental biology of slugs; evidenced by recent work which increased the number of identified British species by more than a fifth.
So where are we going with this phenomenon? Studies have already found invasive slugs and snails can destabilise ecosystems and reduce biodiversity in the US and Scandinavia. Something similar is happening here in the UK.
The good news is that our research suggests population sizes do eventually begin to decline, after 30 to 40 years. The ecosystem may eventually rebound from this slug invasion, but it remains to be seen how long it will take and what the lasting effects will be for the spread of diseases, ecosystem services, or British biodiversity.
Leslie Noble is a reader in zoology at the University of Aberdeen.
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