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(visited by Phil Boyle and Aliy Salih)
30-Mar-2006 -- Šabwa is one of the biggest governorates in Yemen, and is made up of large areas of rolling desert punctuated by dramatic mountain landscapes. Improbable rock structures pierce the sky, and give one a stark sense of perspective and isolation. Added to this is the legendary fierceness of the Šabwa tribes, exemplified by a spate of kidnappings in recent years in which foreign tourists have been abducted in order to extract demands from the Government of Yemen. Thankfully, all tourists have (to date) been released unharmed, and usually within a few hours, but the area remains one of grave concern for the authorities and travelling expatriates alike.
15N 46E lies just off the old 'Incense Road', which connected the ancient port of Qana`, the former capital of Ḥaḍramawt, with the route that took frankincense and myrrh all the way north to the major commercial centres of Petra and Gaza before being dispatched to the temples of imperial Rome. Although Christianity, then Islam, killed off the trade, both goods are still readily available in the incense sūq of the Old City of Ṣan`ā', and are frequently found smouldering away at a better class of qāt chew. The area of the confluence point is typically Šabwan: dune desert, with dark, brooding hills dominating the horizon.
I had first attempted to visit this point with Sarah Marchant on our way to Ḥaḍramawt in November 2005. In fact, it was our first ever confluence attempt, and a combination of inexperience and incompetence with map and GPS led to our going in completely the wrong direction, getting stuck in the sand, and having to make a hasty retreat before nightfall. Another confluence hunter, Naella Masud, also tried to visit 15N 46E but was denied permission by the police to go off road. But, feeling confident after visiting 14N 47E in Abyan, I thought I'd have another try on the way back to Ṣan`ā'.
In the town of `Aram near the border between Abyan and Šabwa, I'd picked up a fairly heavy-duty military escort of eight armed men equipped with a machine gun mounted on a flat-bed truck. After a long day's drive it was getting late, so the plan was to camp in the desert as close to the point as possible, visit it quickly the next day, then head back to Ṣan`ā'. The asphalt took us to 15 km from the target, and we drove cautiously into the desert. It was already dark by then, so I settled for camping at 13 km from 15N 46E. I sent half the soldiers to the nearest town, Nuqūb, with some money to buy food for us all, and the other half remained with me whilst I set up the camp.
It was then that the problems began. The Šabwa desert at night swarms with large, evil-looking insects, which gather round any source of light. My last food supplies were attacked as soon as they were opened. More troubling was the thunder and lightning that started to appear over the nearby hills: rain looked certain, and the joys of camping in the desert were beginning to disappear one by one. The soldiers began to look miserable, so I packed up the camp and we drove to the nearest police checkpoint, twenty minutes away. The soldiers I'd dispatched to get supplies returned foodless, and I settled for an early and rather hungry night in the back of the Land Rover at one of the remotest checkpoints in Yemen.
I'd gone to sleep feeling somewhat dejected, but woke refreshed and optimistic about making it to the point. After some persuasion, the police agreed to let me go back into the desert, and from nowhere they produced `Aliy Ṣāliḥ, a local Bedu policeman to help guide us. We had around 14 km of sand to cover, and the first ten or so were fairly easy, as we were able to follow the ruts of previous vehicles. The police truck, weighed down with its compliment of soldiers and weapons, got stuck twice, but the Landy experienced no problems. The ruts disappeared, and I handed over the driving to `Aliy, the desert expert, to avoid any risk of getting bogged down. We told the police truck to stay where it was and we carried on alone, making slow but steady progress over the very soft dunes.
But, it was not to be. At 4.64 km from 15N 46E, we could see that the rest of the way was entirely dune-ridden and would be extremely slow and difficult. `Aliy Ṣāliḥ wanted to go no further. In truth, I think he was more concerned about the time aspect than the dunes - I've seen Bedu drive over much more difficult terrain in the past - not to mention the fact that the bulk of our security had been left behind. He was against going any further, and I reluctantly agreed. It was a disappointing, but probably very sensible decision.
We made our way back to the checkpoint. On the way I asked about making the trip by camel. Camels would be perfect for the task, `Aliy replied, but it would take 8-10 hours under the baking sun! So, unless future confluence hunters have something of the Wilfred Thesiger in them, 15N 46E remains as elusive as ever. We made do with a breakfast of fūl and eggs in Nuqūb, before leaving, empty handed, for Ṣan`ā'.
Note: For more information about confluence-hunting in Yemen, or the involvement of the British Embassy Ṣan`ā' in the DCP, please see the visit to 15N 49E.
DCP member Naella Masud tried to visit this point in January 2006. Unfortunately, her mandatory army escort did not allow for this. This is her comment:
"Yemen is a very tribal country which is rich in tradition and culture, where tourists end up being the attractions for the locals with many curious, friendly faces asking questions about your background. Unfortunately, tourists have also become targets for tribes who have demands from the government. Kidnappings of tourists have occured especially around the area of Ma'rib. Here security is tight with tanks visible on hilltops and 30 checkpoints on the main road between Ṣan`ā' and Say'ūn. All foreigners need armed escorts while travelling along this road, especially near Ma'rib.
The asphalt road runs between 16N 46E (23 km north of the main asphalt road into the Empty Quarter) and 15N 46E (87 km south of the main asphalt road). The terrain is sandy with dunes but trying to get permission to head off-road is more a challenge where the safety of the foreigner is a priority for the security." (GK 010206)


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Carry up to 32 discs without back strain (interior rack included)
- Sturdy, patented frame doubles as a portable seat rated to safely support up to 300 lbs
- Stow all your gear in the 3-pocket pouch, side pockets and interior storage area.
- Zippered front door rolls up and tucks away for easy access to discs
- The removable, hand washable Insert Bag is made from premium water resistant polyester
- Play disc golf in all seasons with performance tires that keep on rolling over rocks, sand, snow and rough terrain
- Removable wheels allow for more compact storage in back seats and closets
- Enjoy XL adjustable bottle holders for easy access to hydration or your favorite brew
- Sealed wheel bearings mean low maintenance and a smooth ride
- 51" Telescoping handle
- This cart DOES NOT meet FAA specifications for carry-on baggage
DIMENSIONS23.5"H x 10"W x 13"D
23.5"H x 22"W x 19"D (including wheels)
WEIGHT13.5 lbs (frame, bag, rack & pouch)
All weights, measures and similar descriptions are approximate and are provided for convenience purposes only. We make all reasonable efforts to accurately display the attributes of our products, including the applicable colors. However, the actual color you see will depend on your computer system and we cannot guarantee that your computer will accurately display such colors.
U.S. & International patents and trademarks apply, see zuca.com/legal
Be the first one to review this item. Write a review.


text:
Warning: This document describes an old release. Check here for the current version.
Nimbus 2.8 - Bird's Eye View
In a nutshell, Nimbus allows a client to lease remote resources by deploying virtual machines (VMs) on those resources and configuring them to represent an environment desired by the user. This is known casually as cloud computing (one definition of it), a little more specifically as an "infrastructure-as-a-service" (IaaS) solution.
Also included in a Nimbus installation is a storage cloud implementation called Cumulus that has been tightly integrated with the other central services (but it can also be used standalone). Cumulus is compatible with the Amazon Web Services S3 REST API, but extends it as well (to include quota management, for example).
A set of software needs to be installed to one service node in a non-root account and a separate piece of software needs to be installed on any number of virtual machine monitor (VMM) nodes (some root permissions are required).
There is also a separate download for a client called the cloud client that makes life very easy for users.
Clients interact with the service using credentials over multiple protocols. The easiest client to use is the cloud client (details) which is geared towards getting users up and running in minutes. The service must be configured in the cloud configuration to serve requests from the cloud client. These clients implement web services messaging (specifically WSRF based).
But Nimbus also provides an implementation of Amazon's Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) that allows you to use clients developed for the real EC2 system against Nimbus based clouds. See the EC2 Clients page.
You can examine the web services based interface details in the WS interfaces section.
Nimbus also allows clients to create auto-configuring clusters. Starting one VM is somewhat straightforward, but launching 10s or 100s together can become laborious without heavily customized scripts. Nimbus provides a general solution to this problem, one that allows you to even store VMs with no private credentials on-board. For more information, see here.
Download the software from the downloads page, peruse the changelog.
If you want to learn more about the concepts underlying Nimbus, see the FAQ and Publications section.


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NEW YORK (August 3, 2012) - Nickelodeon announced today that it has greenlit over a dozen new live-action, animation and TV movie projects - featuring top creative talent in front of and behind the camera, iconic characters from its most popular series and an animated talking snake - that will begin rolling out this fall and into 2013.
The slate includes a new Nick at Nite series Wendell and Vinnie and two Nick spin-off comedy pilots, Sam & Cat and Gibby, featuring beloved characters from hit series iCarly and Victorious. The network has also greenlit the pilot Instant Mom for Nick at Nite, while Nick TV movies Swindle and Nicky Deuce will be commencing production later this year. The CG-animated series Monsters vs. Aliens and 2D-series Sanjay & Craig have also been greenlit with both productions based at Nickelodeon's Animation Studio in Burbank, Calif.. In addition, Nick preschool has added a new animated series Monty and Norville and a pilot Blaze and the Monster Machines.
Details of Nickelodeon's new content are as follows:
Current Productions:
Wendell and Vinnie (Nick at Nite series) - iCarly's Jerry Trainor stars as Vinnie, a lovable, goofball uncle who becomes the guardian to his buttoned-up 12-year-old nephew Wendell (Buddy Handleson, Shake It Up). Nicole Sullivan (The King of Queens, The Penguins of Madagascar) also stars as Vinnie's high-strung older sister Wilma. The comedy series, greenlit for 20 episodes, was written by Jay Kogen (Frasier, George Lopez) and will be executive produced by Aaron Kaplan (GCB, Terra Nova).
You Gotta See This (Nickelodeon series) - Nickelodeon combines the best of the web, behind-the-scenes footage, celebrity interviews, pranks and bloopers in its new series You Gotta See This, premiering this fall. Hosted by Chris O'Neal and Noah Crawford (stars of How to Rock), the half-hour series rolls all the must-see clips of the week into one hilarious package. Nickelodeon is currently in production on this 20-episode series in Los Angeles.
Swindle (Nickelodeon movie/working title) - With daring heists, crazy disguises, pie fights and sumo wrestlers, the network greenlights Swindle, an original TV movie featuring an impressive ensemble cast of Nickelodeon stars. When an evil collector cons Griffin out of a million dollar baseball card that could have saved his best friend's home, he unites a ragtag group of his classmates who need to work as a team to take down the swindler. Swindle is based on a popular children's book by Gordon Korman. Production will commence this fall in Vancouver, Canada.
Nicky Deuce (Nickelodeon movie/working title) - Based on a popular children's book by The Sopranos' Steve Schirripa and Charles Fleming, Nicky Deuce stars iCarly's Noah Munck as Nicholas Borelli II, a nerdy, over-protected teen who transforms into the title character. Nicholas gets caught in the adventure of a lifetime when he spends the summer with an uncle he never knew he had. Production on this original TV movie will commence this summer in Montreal, Canada.
Sam & Cat (Nickelodeon pilot/working title) - In the comedic spin-off Sam & Cat, from iCarly and Victorious creator Dan Schneider, feisty Sam Puckett (Jennette McCurdy) and daffy Cat Valentine (Ariana Grande) become best buddies and unlikely roommates. They love their freedom and independence, but quickly realize that fun and adventure do not come cheap. Rather than get traditional after-school jobs, Sam and Cat become teen entrepreneurs by starting their own babysitting business.
Gibby (Nickelodeon pilot/working title) - Noah Munck reprises his role as Gibby in the spin-off from iCarly creator Dan Schneider. In the comedy pilot, Gibby takes a job at The Bixby, a recreational center where kids of all ages hang out, socialize, play sports and take unique classes. Gibby becomes a mentor to four quirky middle-schoolers, helping them break out of their shells and embrace life in true "Gibbehhh" style.
The Haunted Hathaways (Nickelodeon pilot/working title) -- Life in The Big Easy gets a little more complicated and way more spirited when the Hathaway siblings move into a house occupied by a family of ghosts. The pilot is written by Robert Peacock, who served as writer/producer on several series over the last decade including Reba, The Jeff Foxworthy Show and Coupling.
The Thundermans (Nickelodeon pilot/working title) - Written by Jed Spingarn, The Thundermans follows 13-year-old Phoebe Thunderman, who just wants to be normal, but that's impossible when she comes from a family of superheroes. While most superheroes are lucky to have one power, Phoebe happens to have 12. So much for normal! A longtime producer for Nickelodeon, Spingarn most recently served as co-executive producer of the hit series Big Time Rush and prior to that, produced on Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Johnny Bravo.
Instant Mom (Nick at Nite pilot/working title) - Instant Mom centers on a 25-year-old party girl who trades in Cosmos for carpools when she marries an older man with kids. The project is executive produced by Aaron Kaplan (GCB, Terra Nova) with Warren Bell (Ellen, According to Jim, What I Like About You) and Jessica Butler (According to Jim, In Plain Sight) serving as writers/executive producers.
Nickelodeon, the top producer of television animation in the U.S., is in production on three new series and two new pilots.
Current Productions:
Sanjay & Craig (Nickelodeon series) - A classic tale of boy meets snake, this 20-episode, 2D-animated series follows two best buds who dedicate their lives to becoming the coolest, most rebellious dudes in the neighborhood. Sanjay & Craig is created by Jim Dirschberger, Jay Howell and Andreas Trolf, and executive produced by Nick alumni Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi (The Adventures of Pete & Pete, Alvin and the Chipmunks).
Monsters vs. Aliens (Nickelodeon series) - An extension of the blockbuster movie, the all-new CG-animated television series features the lovable monsters and a whole new group of nefarious aliens living and working together at Area 50-something. Greenlit for 26 episodes, the series will be executive produced by Bob Schooley, Mark McCorkle and Brett Haaland (The Penguins of Madagascar).
Monty and Norville (Nickelodeon preschool series/working title) - Monty and Norville follows the adventures of a five-year-old troll named Monty and his dragon friend Norville. With the help of viewers at home, Monty can use his magic stick to make incredible things happen as long as he uses the right words. The new animated 26-episode series, created by Adam Peltzman (head writer, Blue's Clues, The Backyardigans), will introduce a literacy curriculum to Nickelodeon's preschool audience.
Bad Seeds (Nickelodeon pilot) - From SpongeBob SquarePants alumnus and Chowder creator Carl Greenblatt, Bad Seeds is about a good bird running with the bad crowd... and having a great time!
Blaze and the Monster Machines (Nickelodeon preschool pilot/working title) - Blaze and the Monster Machines is a CG-animated, interactive program about an eight-year-old boy named AJ and his incredible monster truck Blaze. AJ, Blaze and their friend Maddie fight their arch nemesis Crusher along with a fleet of other trucks. The series features a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) curriculum and is created by Jeff Borkin (head writer, Team Umizoomi, Little Einsteins) and Ellen Martin (producer, Bubble Guppies, The Backyardigans).
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 33rd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 100 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for 17 consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B).


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Refresher: Remember when Nancy Pelosi said this?
When Obamacare became law, the church elites were joyous. The president of the of the Council of Bishops, Gregory Palmer "rejoiced" when Obamacare passed. Jim Winkler, the radical left-wing chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, had this to say:
"For decades, the General Board of Church and Society has worked alongside thousands of United Methodists to achieve health care for all in the U.S.,"........."This vote brings us closer to that reality."
The United Methodist health benefits agency wants Congress to pass a fix to the U.S. health care legislation commonly called Obamacare.
Without that, leaders of the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits warn, the future of church-sponsored health insurance could be in jeopardy.
That means — if the bill becomes law [The Church Health Plan Act, Senate Bill 1164] — clergy and lay church employees could qualify for the same federal financial help available in the marketplaces while remaining on their church plans.
Secondly, the bill would let local churches that contribute to their conference's health plan keep getting the small-business health care tax credit.
Under the current Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, churches no longer can claim those credits, starting in 2014, because such credits only are available to employers who purchase "qualified health plans."
Church health plans, even if they meet all the law's other requirements, currently are not deemed "qualified" because they are not open to the general public.
It was so important to pass Obamacare. It just had to be done and it had to be done fast. No one knew what was in it. No one knew what all implications there would be. Not a single person knew. Not Obama, not Harry Reid, not Nancy Pelosi, not any of the idiots who voted for it, not Jim Winkler and not Gregory Palmer.
Yet, they were so happy! And now look at what is happening. The very law that they "rejoiced" when passed is getting ready to screw them. So what do they do? Yell and scream and demand that it be "fixed" for them. What about the rest of us? What about all the people that will lose their insurance? What about all the people who is having their hours cut? Is the UMC standing up for these people? No, no and no.


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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A line in President Bush's State of the Union address alleging that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa should never have been included in the speech, CIA Director George Tenet said Friday.
In a statement released Friday evening, Tenet said that the CIA had seen and approved the speech before it was delivered, and he took responsibility for the mistake.
"The president had every reason to believe that the text presented to him was sound. These 16 words should never have been included in the text written for the president," he said.
The CIA director also said, "I am responsible for the approval process in my agency."
Tenet's candid mea culpa came hours after the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Republican Pat Roberts of Kansas, criticized the director for what he called the CIA's "extremely sloppy handling" of the uranium purchase claim. He also accused the agency of orchestrating "a campaign of press leaks" to discredit the president.
A CIA spokesman told CNN that Tenet, appointed to the helm of the agency by President Clinton, has no plans to resign and has not been asked to leave.
The CIA director is expected to be questioned further about the matter next week at a previously scheduled closed hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
The president's statement came at a time when he was trying to rally support for a war against Iraq.
In his speech, Bush -- citing British intelligence information -- said Iraq was trying to buy uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons, in Africa. The White House concedes that information wasn't true.
Tenet said that at the time the speech was delivered, the line was factually correct because British intelligence did indeed believe that it had evidence of such activity. But he said the CIA's own investigation of those same allegations had led the agency to decide that that the evidence was inconclusive.
"From what we know now, [CIA] officials in the end concurred that the text in the speech was factually correct -- i.e., that the British government report said that Iraq sought uranium from Africa," he said. "This should not have been the test for clearing a presidential address.
"This did not rise to the level of certainty which should be required for presidential speeches, and the CIA should have ensured that it was removed."
Tenet also said top administration officials -- including Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney -- were never briefed on the CIA's skepticism about the uranium purchase allegations. Nor did he tell members of Congress during briefings on Iraq last fall.
About that same time, the CIA learned that British intelligence officials were planning to publish an unclassified dossier mentioning reports that Iraq was trying to buy uranium in Africa.
"Because we viewed the reporting on such acquisition attempts to be inconclusive, we expressed reservations about its inclusion, but our colleagues said they were confident in their reports and left it in their document," Tenet said.
An unclassified CIA document published in October also made no mention of the allegation "because it was not fundamental to the judgment that Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear weapons program and because we had questions about some of the reporting."
Yet, despite all of those reservations, the line made it into the speech delivered January 28.
"The background ... makes it even more troubling that the 16 words eventually made it into the State of the Union speech," Tenet said. "This was a mistake."
The allegations at the center of the dispute stem from documents purportedly showing that Iraq was trying to buy uranium oxide, also known as yellowcake, from Niger as part of its drive to build nuclear weapons. Intelligence officials now concede those documents were forgeries.
The inclusion of the charge in Bush's State of the Union address has set off a political firestorm in Washington. Some Democrats who were opposed to the war in Iraq accused the president of deliberately misleading the American people to build support for military action.
Sources have said early drafts of the address cited U.S. intelligence about Niger and uranium -- but that intelligence officials urged removal of that line because they did not have "high confidence" in it.
Tenet said that as CIA officials were reviewing drafts of the speech, they "raised several concerns about the fragmentary nature of the intelligence with National Security Council colleagues. Some of the language was changed."
However, the allegation about African uranium remained in the speech, though attributed to British, rather than American, intelligence.
Roberts, speaking before Tenet's statement was issued, said if the CIA had changed its position, "it was incumbent on the director of central intelligence to correct the record and bring it to the immediate attention of the president. It appears that he did not.
"This is not the type of responsibility that can be delegated to mid-level officials," Roberts said. "He should have told the president, and it appears that he failed to do so."
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, while expressing support for Tenet, said Friday that the CIA had cleared the speech "in its entirety."
"The president did not knowingly say anything that we knew to be false," she said, en route to Uganda, one stop on Bush's Africa trip.
The flap over the speech dogged Bush as he traveled through Africa this week on a five-nation tour. But speaking to reporters Friday in Uganda, the president defended the larger content and purpose of the address.
"It was a speech that detailed to the American people the dangers posed by the Saddam Hussein regime," he said. "My government took the appropriate response to those dangers. And as a result, the world is going to be more secure and more peaceful." (Full story)
However, Democrats, including some of those running against Bush in 2004, offered withering criticism over the error.
"It's beginning to sound a little like Watergate," said former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. "It's very clear that it may be George Tenet's responsibility, but that information also existed in the State Department and it also existed in the vice president's office, so they will not get away with simply throwing George Tenet over the side."
Democratic Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois called for a full investigation into how the mistake was made.
"The credibility of the president is on the line," he said. "We should be able to point to those people fully responsible for putting that misleading language in the State of the Union address. They should be held accountable, and they should be dismissed.
"Someone in the White House knew that the National Security Council had been briefed and told that this information is not accurate, and yet it was still included in the State of the Union address. It really calls him to question the leadership of the White House and in our intelligence agencies."
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona also called on the White House to "find out who is responsible for it and fire them."
But he also said the dispute "does not change the justification for going to war, which some of the critics are alleging.
"Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," McCain said. "He was developing weapons of mass destruction. If he was still in power, he would be seeking weapons of mass destruction. So to somehow allege that this would have changed our dedication or our purpose or our success is just not appropriate."
CNN correspondents Jamie McIntyre and David Ensor contributed to this report.


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Review: American Idiot
Apr 23 2010
I'm so glad I could have experienced this show with you, Jess! What an amazing experience it was! Props to cast AND creative team for a really great experience…one I'd like to revisit!
Apr 25 2010
I am so glad I found this website!! I am definitely a rusher ! I just moved to NY and have fallen in love with theatre! Nobody at my workplace understands !
Apr 25 2010
I have read every review of American Idiot that I can find, both professional and blogged. I really enjoyed your appreciation for all the technical and creative accomplishments of this show. Your well written, insightful commentary insures that I will be checking in here for future reviews! Thank you.
Apr 26 2010
@Kym: Yes, so glad we got to experience it together too! I would definitely like to see it again, this time from a difference perspective.
Apr 26 2010
@kokostiletto: Thank you so much! Hearing you enjoy it is the best thing I can hear. Please come back!
Apr 26 2010
@Anonymous: Thank you so much! I am so glad that you felt a connection with what I felt about the production. Thanks for taking the time to comment, and please check back!
Apr 28 2010
This show is so great. There is so much to look at going on, I need to see it a few more times!
May 2 2010
@Carlos: Yes, it's definitely one to see numerous times to catch everything. There are so many visual details to catch. I know I didn't see them all (particularly because of where I was sitting).


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An inquest into the death of a former Bank of America intern shed light Friday on a culture of long hours and heavy workloads among junior investment bankers.
Moritz Erhardt was one week from completing a summer internship program at the bank's London offices when he collapsed and died at his home in August.
The inquest found that the 21-year old German, who suffered from epilepsy, had died of natural causes. It also heard that he had been working long punishing hours at the bank in the days leading up to his death.
"He never complained about [the hours] but my wife noticed in the last week that he just didn't get enough sleep," his father Hans-Georg Dieterle told the court via a translator.
Related: Outrage over unpaid interns' lack of harassment protection
The last contact Erhardt had with his parents was via an email sent at 5 a.m. the day before he died.
Coroner Mary Hassell said his death was the result of natural causes following an epileptic seizure.
"It's possible that fatigue brought about his fatal seizure, it's also possible that it just happened," she said.
Erhardt was described in court as one of the firm's best interns. He was ambitious and well liked, and the bank was preparing to offer him a permanent position.
Testimony from three Bank of America (BAC)executives painted a picture of challenging conditions and potentially confusing work practices for interns.
Like other interns, Erhardt was assigned a "development officer" and "mentor" as part of the scheme. Both were in court Friday but neither appeared to have a clear idea of the workload he faced.
Related: Goldman Sachs probed over Swiss worker laws
"I never knew how much time he was spending in the office," said Juergen Schroeder, vice president and Erhardt's development officer.
"Interns work long hours and sometimes past midnight. You know about what to expect (from an investment bank) before you join in terms of hours," he said.
Bob Elfring, co-head of corporate and investment banking for EMEA, said the bank did not regulate interns' working hours.
"There is no formal monitoring system of the hours," he said. "I don't think there should be."
Efring said he did not want to track staff via a clocking-on system, but he could imagine management reviewing information collected via employee "swipe cards" used to access buildings.
In response to Erhardt's death, the bank is reviewing its global practices for junior employees, which will address work hours and the allocation of work.


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Cosentino Flagship Project
Maison Bab & Kebab Queen, two restaurants and endless possibilities with Dekton
Angus Buchanan
London, United Kingdom
Keyla - Aura - Zenith
140 m2
Architecture / Design
Angus Buchanan
Tables - Bar Counters
End date
20 mm
Maison Bab is a casual dining restaurant and culinary celebration of kebabs, located in Covent Garden, London. The second restaurant from founding partners, Stephen Tozer and Ed Brunet, its design is central to the relaxed vibe, boasting stylish interiors designed by Angus Buchanan. The ultra-compact Dekton® by Cosentino surface brand is featured throughout, from the bar to the tabletops, providing a striking repetitive design that brings the space together.
The two storey space has ample space for diners, with a combination of bar, booth and table seating. Upstairs, the kitchen is on show for an element of culinary theatre and a nod to the humble kebab shop found on every street corner in London. An on-trend colour scheme of greys, soft pastels and plenty of greenery complements the copper accents throughout, whilst the exposed extraction adds an industrial vibe that is amplified by black metal racking at the bar. Downstairs, glossy white and green subway tiles and candy-pink seating provide a retro touch.
Ideal for use in busy catering evironments, Dekton® offers a high resistance to scratches and stains, making it easy to maintain and keep clean. In addition, its high resistance to heat allows the chefs to plate up on the bar without fear of damaging the surface.
The latest addition to the Le Bab family from founders Stephen and Ed is Kebab Queen, a 'restaurant within a restaurant' situated in the lower level of Maison Bab and hidden behind the illuminated facade of a classic British kebab shop.
An adventurous and ambitious approach to dining, Kebab Queen invites guests to leave their fine dining expectations at the door with a completely plate-free experience. Headed up by Manu Canales, previously sous chef of London institution, Le Gavroche, the seven-course tasting menu has been influenced by Manu's love for the flavours of kebab, cultivated during his trips across Turkey and beyond, combined with his rigorous Michelin training. The exclusive, intimate space welcomes up to ten diners at a time to enjoy dishes including Doner Risotto, complete with shavings of lambs' tongues and 'Got Milk?' – freshly-baked, sticky milk buns inspired by Manu's childhood.
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Food is prepared in front of guests, who are seated on cobalt blue, leather-clad stools in a U-shape around the chef, with each dish plated directly onto a bespoke, heated Dekton® countertop in the colour Zenith. Crucial to the concept of Kebab Queen, Cosentino's ultra-compact Dekton® surface provided the ultimate plate-free solution thanks to its hardwearing properties.
Co-founder, Stephen Tozer comments, "We wanted to create a restaurant and take away the plates – we wanted to serve dishes straight on to the counter in front of people. When you get in to the logistics of that, it becomes quite complicated. We heard about Dekton® and started speaking with Cosentino and they loved the idea of what we were doing. Dekton® blew our minds because it's the only material that ticked so many boxes. It needs to be heat and scratch resistance and we need to be able to wipe it perfectly clean between courses. With Dekton®, we can do this! So it's completely pivotal to the whole dining concept, there is no way we could have achieved this with anything else. It was the difference between being able to go plateless and not."
Head chef, Manu Canales, adds, "Kebab Queen is the pinnacle of our project. We want diners to relax and get stuck in; it's about combining the intense flavours of high end dining with the communal, elbow-to-elbow fun of the kebab shop."
Perfectly suited to intensive use in this unique culinary experience, Dekton® boasts a high resistance to scratches, staining and heat. This makes it possible for hot pans to be placed straight down on to the surface during the plating up of dishes, and for the surface to be warmed from beneath ensuring food retains heat. Easy to clean, chef Manu wipes down the surface with a natural, food safe antibacterial spray between courses to ensure maximum hygiene and to avoid flavour transfer between dishes.
Cosentino's materials used in this project
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ASSA ABLOY, CertainTeed Corporation Team Up to Tackle Classroom Acoustics
(Valley Forge, Pa.) – ASSA ABLOY and CertainTeed Corporation are teaming up as part of an industry-first collaboration to address acoustical challenges in classroom settings — a critical factor in ensuring strong student performance. Representing global leadership in door opening solutions, gypsum board, ceilings and insulation solutions, the collaboration leverages world-class building science and technical expertise to create recommendations for interior spaces that meet or exceed the most stringent acoustical requirements.
According to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), proper acoustics are critical for students' ability to understand familiar words and learn new information. The new alliance between ASSA ABLOY and CertainTeed has uncovered easily accessible solutions to address these acoustical challenges and reduce the sound reverberation that further complicates noise issues.
"The convergence of these two building industry powerhouses represents an unprecedented approach in optimizing acoustics in educational settings," said Eric Nilsson, vice president of Corporate Marketing for CertainTeed Corporation. "We look forward to deepening this collaboration by leveraging our collective expertise, while tapping the global resources of our parent company Saint-Gobain to make a true material difference in how students learn."
ASSA ABLOY and CertainTeed are designing and testing interior solutions that provide exceptional acoustical control between classrooms, music rooms, administrative offices, bathrooms and hallways. Through preliminary research, the collaboration has demonstrated significant acoustical improvements by creating a holistic solution that integrates CertainTeed's SilentFX® noise-reducing gypsum board, Sustainable Insulation® fiberglass batt insulation and Symphony® m mineral fiber ceiling panels with door and frame systems, including components, from ASSA ABLOY Group brands CECO Door, CURRIES, PEMKO or SMP Specialty Doors. Each of the design configurations align with targeted Sound Transmission Class (STC) ratings as well as stringent requirements of the American National Standards Institute, LEED® for Schools, Collaborative for High Performance Schools, GREENGUARD Gold, and 2012 International Green Construction Code.
The enthusiasm is mutual, as shared by Stacey Callahan, vice president of marketing and innovation for ASSA ABLOY: "This landmark collaboration between CertainTeed and ASSA ABLOY places the needs of education front and center. The standard we are setting for the built environment is 'head of the class' in form and function – a superior solution that exceeds the expectations of our (or education's) stakeholders."
To learn more about the collaboration between ASSA ABLOY and CertainTeed visit us at Greenbuild 2013 in Philadelphia. ASSA ABLOY— booth 3559 and CertainTeed/Saint-Gobain-- booth 1411. To access free continuing education courses dedicated to interior acoustics, visit www.certainteed.com/buildingknowledge.
About Saint-Gobain North America at Greenbuild
The Saint-Gobain North America family of brands at Greenbuild 2013 includes CertainTeed, SAGE, ADFORS, and two products from Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics - Green Glue and Thermalbond®. In a wide variety of verticals – from education to healthcare and beyond - Saint-Gobain North America offers a number of products and solutions that do everything from improve indoor air quality to reduce noise pollution – ultimately making "Life's Material Difference." We encourage you to visit sgnagreen.com to learn more about these brands and products, and learn more about Saint-Gobain North America.
About ASSA ABLOY
ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in door opening solutions, dedicated to satisfying end-user demands for security, safety and convenience. For more information visit http://www.assaabloy.com.
About CertainTeed
CertainTeed, headquartered in Valley Forge, Pa., has helped shape the building products industry for more than 100 years. Today, CertainTeed® is North America's leading brand of exterior and interior building products, including roofing, siding, fence, decking, railing, trim, insulation, gypsum and ceilings. A subsidiary of Saint-Gobain, the world's largest building products company, CertainTeed and its affiliates have more than 5,700 employees and more than 60 manufacturing facilities throughout the United States and Canada. www.certainteed.com


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Even as epidemiologists worry about a shrinking arsenal of antibiotics to fight potentially deadly drug-resistant bacteria, researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital are betting on another weapon to prevent infections: robots.
It sounds more futuristic than it looks: The hospital uses "robot" devices resembling portable air-conditioning units to saturate the air in sealed rooms with hydrogen peroxide, disinfecting all surfaces before converting the potent mist into water vapor. The technology has been used at the hospital more than 4,000 times over the past five years, with promising results.
Research published Monday in Oxford University's Clinical Infectious Diseases journal explains that patients admitted to rooms disinfected by the robots were nearly two-thirds less likely to pick up drug-resistant bacteria while in the hospital. The finding builds on a growing understanding of the ways the so-called "superbug" bacteria spread through hospital environments and how to prevent infections.
Overuse of antibiotics has caused some strains of bacteria to develop immunity to common treatments, prompting doctors to turn to more powerful antibiotics or older ones that bacteria haven't faced in decades. Meanwhile, public health experts are using other methods to prevent the bacteria from spreading and to stop infections, particularly those acquired in hospitals and other health care settings.
The focus has been on health care workers themselves, ensuring they don't carry bacteria into operating rooms and intensive-care units. But the Hopkins study, like other types of technology being tested at hospitals around the country, targets bacteria that survive on surfaces, waiting to be transferred to sterile dressings, instruments, and, ultimately, patients.
"If you had talked to me maybe seven or eight years ago, we would have discounted the role of the environment as important in transmission," said Dr. Trish Perl, senior epidemiologist for Johns Hopkins Health System and one of the authors of the study. "The whole concept of the role of the environment as important in how these organisms are transmitted to patients and from patient to patient has really emerged."
Hopkins researchers spent 21/2 years testing the robot technology in 2007-2009. The hospital bought several $40,000 pairs of the disinfecting robots from Bioquell Inc. and hired the United Kingdom-based company to operate them. The robots are in use in about 20 U.S. hospitals and more around the world, with about 1,000 patient rooms cleaned every month, said Mike Duclos, a Bioquell technician who helped perform the Hopkins study.
In each set, one robot fills a hospital room or unit with hydrogen peroxide mist; once the air has been saturated with the concentrated chemical, a second robot releases a catalyst that reacts with the hydrogen peroxide to turn it into water. The cleaning solution is 35 percent hydrogen peroxide, compared with the 5 percent solution sold in drugstores, making it toxic to humans but particularly effective at killing bacteria.
Bioquell crews seal up heating and cooling vents, doorways and cracks to keep the chemical in and to ensure it can saturate the room, a process that can take from an hour and a half to three hours, depending on the humidity that day. Because the mist is produced on a microscopic level, it doesn't leave any visible moisture behind and is safe to use on electronics.
The researchers tested the technology's effectiveness by collecting data on more than 8,800 patients at the hospital. Some were excluded because of a known history with a multidrug-resistant organism, while the rest were monitored in rooms where previous patients had been found to carry any of several types of such organisms. In some cases, the robots were used to disinfect the room after normal cleaning was performed.
Researchers found that one-third as many patients acquired Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, also known as MRSA, in rooms that the robots had disinfected as in rooms they had not. When testing for a different type of bacteria, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, nearly seven times as many patients acquired the bacteria in rooms that had not been treated by the robots.
Drug-resistant bacteria have caused high-profile scares in recent years, including an outbreak that killed a seventh person at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda in September. In that case, officials found that simply following CDC guidelines was not enough to rid the environment of the bacteria, and workers went far beyond the regulations to rip out plumbing found to be harboring the organisms.
Doctors and scientists have worked to fight the bacteria once they cause infections, with limited effectiveness, and potential backfires.
"We're running out of antibiotics to use," Dr. Anthony Harris, a professor of epidemiology, public health and medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in October. "The problem arising in many hospitals is this paradigm of giving broad agents to the patient who's right in front of you. It works in some instances, but in others, the group or public health impact is more adverse."
As an alternative, technologies that focus on killing bacteria in the hospital environment have become more widespread. In one example, robots emit ultraviolet light to kill bacteria on hospital surfaces at Chesapeake Regional Medical Center in Chesapeake, Va., and eight other facilities under a $2 million CDC grant awarded to Duke University. Other technologies being developed use hydrogen peroxide in other ways, or xenon gas, Perl said.
The Morning Sun
Proving a technology's effectiveness is crucial in addressing the problem, and means a lot of potential business for companies such as Bioquell. Its robots are also used in laboratory settings, for food and drug safety, and as defense against chemical or biological weapons, said Sean Seege, a Bioquell technician.
"It's becoming more and more difficult" to fight drug-resistant bacterial infections, Seege said. "The idea here is to prevent them."
The prospect of using the technology more widely has limitations, researchers said. The process can sometimes be impractical, since it can take several hours. Still, it only had to be skipped 4 percent of the time during the study because of an urgent need for a room, they wrote in the study.
For now, Hopkins continues to use the robots in high-priority areas like intensive-care units, Perl said. But officials plan to continue to build on the research.
"We need to do further work," Perl said. "We have to figure out how to best use them."


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Rings around the Sun
I glanced up....
The sun was surrounded by an extraordinarily bright, rainbow-colored halo. Flanking it both left and right were two brilliant, comet-shaped rainbow-colored sun dogs or mock suns (technically known as parhelia from Greek words meaning "beside the sun"). Wow!
Above: This scene, recorded in Finland by Pekka Parviainen using a wide-angle lens, is similar to the one author Trudy E. Bell saw in Ohio last month. A football-shaped "circumscribed halo" surrounds the Sun. A fainter "parhelic circle" rings the horizon. "I had never seen anything so huge and so perfectly circular," says Bell.
I dashed to the front yard, which has a better view of the sky, and began turning to see how far the "comet tails" of the sun dogs reached. I turned 360o, accidentally unbalancing myself and falling onto the grass.
"That's the complete parhelic circle!" I exclaimed aloud to the empty street.
All that morning I had been stepping outside hourly to look up, because I knew that thin cirrus clouds plus bright sunlight almost guaranteed seeing something wonderful. Cirrus clouds are made of millions of hexagonal ice crystals 3 to 6 miles up in the troposphere where jet airplanes fly--each crystal acting as a tiny prism refracting (bending) the sun's light and throwing it elsewhere into the sky.
Because the upper troposphere is almost always below freezing, ice-crystal displays can be seen year-round (I've seen weak sundogs even in July). But truly good displays in the United States are most common in the fall, winter, and spring when the northern jet stream descends southward, drawing down Arctic air masses with their treasure-trove of jewel-like ice prisms.
Just then, my neighbor Cindy backed her van out of her drive. I called to her and pointed upward. She stepped out of her idling van and looked up. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Was this predicted?" she asked eagerly. "Did people know this was going to happen? How do you find out when to look?"
No, I explained, atmospheric displays cannot be predicted the way astronomers can pinpoint the dates and times of meteor showers and eclipses. Sighting such a light show is more akin to spotting an unusual migratory South American bird in Ohio: knowing generally the right weather conditions and time of year, you simply must trust to luck.
Not only that, but every ice-crystal display is as different as every pattern seen through a kaleidoscope--and for similar reasons. Displays in the daylit sky depend on the tilt of the ice crystals in the air and the altitude of the sun. They depend on whether the ice crystals are flat plates or long pencils. They depend on the crystals' size (at least 0.1 millimeter across) and optical quality. Crystals too tiny or imperfect can't act as prisms. But if the crystals are of exceptional gem-like quality, the entire dome of the daytime sky may be festooned with exotic halos, loops, arcs, and crosses--or the full parhelic circle now glowing overhead in silent glory!
"And to think," Cindy remarked, climbing back into her van, "I wouldn't have noticed any of this if you hadn't gotten me just to look up!"
After she drove off, I pondered her questions and comment.
Although I've been an avid amateur astronomer and lover of the nighttime sky since 1965, only in the last five years have I also become a devotee of the daytime sky. During that time, my experience has revealed that even supposedly rare atmospheric-optics displays are more common than meteorology books imply--plainly visible to anyone who simply thinks to tilt back the head.
Now that I've cultivated the simple habit of looking up a dozen times a day, I've found scarcely a week passes without some reward--be it solar halos, sun dogs, crepuscular rays (shafts of sunbeams and shadows from behind puffy cumulus clouds), circumzenithal arcs (a rainbow-colored "ice bow" arc half-encircling the zenith), sun pillars, or…now, the complete parhelic circle.
Yes, the daytime sky abounds with unexpected gifts, which can be yours for taking a moment--just to look up!
Editor's note: Ice crystals in Earth's atmosphere cause not only rings around the Sun, but also rings around the Moon, Moondogs and even Venus pillars. If you spot a Sun pillar or halo not long before sunset, be alert for rings and pillars around objects in the night sky a few hours later.More information
Atmospheric Optics -- a comprehensive guide to sundogs and halos, pillars. These sections are of particular interest: getting started; photography tips; How infrequent are some halos and why?
Sun halos, pillars and sundogs can happen during any season. "The icy crystals that cause them form in high altitude clouds 5 km or so above Earth's surface where it is always freezing," says Bruce Wielicki, an atmospheric scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center.
A gallery of solar halos -- captured by sky photographer Pekka Parviainen.
Polar Halos: Complex ice-crystal displays are especially common in the Arctic and Antarctic, even being produced by the full moon during the months-long winter night! Here's a description of one seen by Robert Peary on his last voyage toward the North Pole: "On the evening of November 11 [1908], there was a brilliant paraselene, two distinct halos and eight false moons being visible in the southern sky. This phenomenon is not unusual in the Arctic, and is caused by the frost crystals in the air. On this particular occasion the inner halo had a false moon at its zenith, another at its nadir, and one each at the right and left. Outside was another halo, with four other moons." - Robert E. Peary, The North Pole: Its Discovery in 1909 Under the Auspices of the Peary Arctic Club, 1910; Dover Publications, 1986, pp. 175-176.
more references: Trudy E. Bell "Skyscapes," League of American Bicyclists magazine, 37 (3): 12-15 (Summer) -- photos of different common ice-crystal, water-droplet, and dust-mote phenomena you can see in the daytime sky
Robert Greenler, Rainbows, Halos, and Glories, with a comprehensive catalogue of ice crystal forms and the displays they produce, plus highly useful color photos of many kinds of displays one can see. (This is a classic book now out of print, but widely available at libraries.)
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Do House Republicans risk being branded as extremist and out of touch by bringing abortion back into the national spotlight when supposedly the economy is all Americans care about today?
Last Thursday, Republicans brought to a vote in the House a bill introduced by Arizona Republican Trent Franks that would have criminalized abortion based on sex. Although the bill received healthy support, 246 – 168, including 20 Democrats that voted for it, it was not enough to pass. The floor rule under which the bill was considered required a two thirds vote for passage and it fell short of that.
New Gallup polling shows that bringing abortion back into the national debate may not be a bad political call for Republicans.
Whereas public opinion has moved in recent years against the conservative position opposing same sex marriage, the opposite is true on abortion. On abortion, Americans have become decidedly more pro-life, moving in the direction of conservatives.
A just released Gallup poll shows that now 50 percent identify as "pro-life" compared to 41 percent as "pro-choice." This is a complete reversal from sixteen years ago in the mid-90s when 56 percent were "pro-choice and 38 percent "pro-life."
Moreover, 51 percent now say abortion is morally wrong compared to 38 percent who say it is morally acceptable.
Also of political interest is that Independents are now on the "pro-life" side of the ledger, 47 percent identifying as "pro-life" compared to 41 percent "pro-choice."
Years of relentless work by pro-life conservatives raising public awareness about the horror of abortion, coupled with the reality of unborn life being graphically conveyed by ultrasound, is making a difference.
This most recent House initiative to ban sex selected abortion came in the wake of two notable events bringing public attention to this issue.
One was the recent arrival in our country of blind Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng.
Chen miraculously escaped prison in China, seeking asylum in the American embassy in Beijing. He had been imprisoned for over four years for his work bringing to public attention the horror stories associated with forced abortion and sterilization in China associated with China's one child policy.
According to data reported in 2009 in the Shanghai Daily, a state operated newspaper in China, abortions performed in China annually exceed 13 million.
Also capturing public attention to the issue of sex selected abortion was the release by pro-life activist group Live Action of an undercover video showing a Planned Parenthood counselor in Austin, Texas providing counseling for doing a gender selected abortion.
The young woman posing as a client seeking advice told the counselor she wanted to abort if the child she was carrying in her pregnancy turned out to be a girl. "….we want two, I already have a girl, and we want a boy and a girl."
The Planned Parenthood counselor advises her to wait 5 months into her pregnancy when she can be assured of the sex of the child, and if it is a girl, abort her. The counselor also advises her how she can scam Medicaid to pay for her pre-natal care under the guise that she intends to birth the child.
Those who insist that social, moral issues constitute an agenda separate and apart from economic issues should consider why socialist societies are secular, atheist societies. We need not be limited to looking at China and the former Soviet Union to appreciate this. On display today is the tragic collapse of Europe, now largely secular, under the burdens of the unsustainable welfare state it has created.
It is societies that respect both life and property, societies in which the mystery of life is revered and respected, that nurture a culture of personal responsibility that make a free and prosperous nation possible.
Latest polling indicates good news that a majority of Americans are waking up to this fact.


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Faith In Work | Thomas Schippers
Date of Talk: December 3rd, 2012
Location: Santa Maria Del Popolo Mundelein IL.
Presenter(s): Thomas Schippers
Work Listing(s): Judge
Faith Enrichment: A Mother's Influence, Acceptance, Acting In Faith, Catholic Values, Counseling, Family Values, Forgiveness, Knowledge Based Training, Prayer, Respect, Survival
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Thomas Schippers, a judge, will present a defendant's comeback story. After many transgressions, following depression and drug violations, a psychological report indicated the defendant's low self worth. Hear the judge's surprising answer. See how rehabilitation can work in the court system. Hear tips on living a life that makes a difference, and tips on making work fulfilling.


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Epic Web Studios is a website design & development, SEO & digital marketing firm located in, but not limited to, Erie, Pennsylvania. At Epic, our core competencies lie in building the best web-based solutions from the ground up and optimizing them over time to fine-tune search appearance and user journey. We believe your web presence should be the solution, not the problem.
Epic Web Studios combines the strategic and creative expertise of an Ad Agency, with the technological skills an army of nerds can provide. We will bring your business the success it desires. Whether it's redesigning your existing website, incorporating a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, implementing national or local social media campaigns, launching a Google AdWords PPC Campaign, starting a blog, mobile website & app development, email marketing, logo design, responsive graphic design, hosting solutions, CMS, photography, digital marketing strategy, or creating a brand new website, the Epic team works closely with you to put your vision online so you can have the best website design available. We are truly a breath of fresh air.
Call us today at (814) 746-6987
Strategic thinking. Top-level developers. Dynamic designs. Personal attention. Competitive pricing. Simplicity. Success. Guidance.
As a Certified Google Partner, Epic Web Studios in Pennsylvania can help you strategize, organize and execute a Google Ads PPC Campaign that actually works for your organization.
We can help you whether you have a low budget, or you are ready to go nationwide. Whatever your goals might be, Epic Web will work hard to help you achieve them.
We really love our clients and with over three hundred of them we think it's safe to say our experience is diverse.
API integration allows for streamlined data exchanges between two or more parties. With API, your business can automate tasks, streamline data access, and more.


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by Pasquale Pavone, Stefan Kontur, & Axel Hubner for exciting fluorine
Purpose: In this tutorial, you will learn how to perform a phonon calculation and to obtain properties like frequencies and eigenvectors, the density of modes (or phonon density of states), thermodynamic properties, and phonon-dispersion relations. You will work through the example of diamond.
Note: In this tutorial the frozen-phonon or super-cell approach will be used to compute phonons. Alternatively, you can use density-functional perturbation theory (DFPT) for phonon calculations. To this end, see Phonon properties of diamond-structure crystals (DFPT). We recommend to work through this tutorial first before going to DFPT phonons.
Table of Contents
0. Prerequisites
This tutorial assumes that you have already set the relevant environment variables. Otherwise, please have a look at How to set environment variables for tutorials scripts. Here, is a list of the scripts which are relevant for this tutorial with a short description.
- FREE-fromdos.py: Python script for calculating thermodynamic properties.
- PLOT-dos.py: Python visualization tool for the phonon density of states.
- PLOT-band-structure.py: Python visualization tool for phonon-dispersion curves.
- PLOT-files.py: Python visualization tool used by some of the other scripts.
Note: The symbol $ at beginnings of lines in code segments below indicates the shell prompt.
In the following we use the conversion factor 1 Ha $\approx$ 2.194 746 x 105 cm-1.
All results obtained in this tutorial for diamond can be compared with theoretical and experimental data present in the literature.
In order to start, create a new working directory, e.g., /home/tutorials/diamond-phonons.
$ cd /home/tutorials
$ mkdir diamond-phonons
$ cd diamond-phonons
1. Set up an input file for a phonon calculation
If you already completed Phonons at Γ in diamond-structure crystals you can copy the input file into diamond-phonons as a starting point and modify it as discussed below.
1.1) Define structural parameters
First, the parameter defining your structure should be defined. In this example, we consider carbon in the diamond phase. The structure part of the input file looks then like the following.
... <structure speciespath="$EXCITINGROOT/species"> <crystal scale="6.7468"> <basevect>0.5 0.5 0.0</basevect> <basevect>0.5 0.0 0.5</basevect> <basevect>0.0 0.5 0.5</basevect> </crystal> <species speciesfile="C.xml" rmt="1.25"> <atom coord="0.00 0.00 0.00" /> <atom coord="0.25 0.25 0.25" /> </species> </structure> ...
The chosen lattice parameter of 6.7468 refers to the converged equilibirum parameter for diamond, as obtained with the PBE exchange-correlation functional.
1.2) Parameters for the ground-state calculation
Then, parameters for performing the SCF have to be specified. In this example, we use the GGA functional of Perdew, Burke, and Ernzerhof (PBE), other choices can be found in the description of the attribute xctype of the element groundstate.
... <groundstate do="fromscratch" ngridk="2 2 2" swidth="0.0001" rgkmax="4.0" gmaxvr="14" xctype="GGA_PBE"/> ...
Note that this example of input contains values for the parameters ngridk and rgkmax which allow for fast calculations but should not be considered realistic. A detailed description of how to achieve convergence with respect to these parameters can be found in Simple convergence tests.
1.3) Set up the supercell phonon calculation
Simple frozen-phonon calculations can be performed only at high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone (see, e.g., Phonons at Γ in diamond-structure crystals and Phonons at X in diamond-structure crystals). With exciting, we can also perform phonon calculations at any point in the Brillouin zone using the supercell method and phonon interpolation. The input block in which this method is used is the one specified by the element phonons. In supercell phonon calculations, the size of the supercell is specifyed by the periodicity (the wavevector q) of the phonon displacements which are considered. For instance, as mentioned in Phonons at X in diamond-structure crystals, the supercell corresponding to the X point has a size which is twice the one of the unperturbed crystal.
In general, for calculating phonon properties, you must specify the attribute ngridq inside phonons. Setting ngridq = "n1 n2 n3", we are asking exciting to calculate all the phonons corresponding to all the q-points belonging to a "n1 n2 n3" mesh in reciprocal space. In this case, exciting performs calculation for supercell defined by multiplying the crystal basis vectors of the unit cell by n1, n2, and n3, respectively. The q-points mesh is defined in the same way as the k-points grid (specified by ngridk), which is used in calculating the electronic ground state. However, the choices of the k-points and q-points meshes are completely uncorrelated.
In the following example, we choose ngridq = "2 2 2", which corresponds to a supercell with all crystal basis vectors doubled with respect to the unit cell of the unperturbed crystal.
... <phonons do="fromscratch" method="sc" ngridq="2 2 2"> ... </phonons> ...
Further attributes of the element phonons are the following.
- method, that controls the method employed to compute phonons (default is "dfpt").
- deltaph, that controls the step size for atom displacements (default is 0.03 Bohr).
- reduceq, which uses crystal symmetry to reduce the q-points (default is "true").
Inside the element phonons, you can insert optional elements, requesting various phonon properties. A basic example is the element qpointset.
... <qpointset> <qpoint> 0.0 0.0 0.0 </qpoint> <qpoint> 0.5 0.5 0.0 </qpoint> <qpoint> 0.5 0.5 0.5 </qpoint> </qpointset> ...
This element is needed in order to let exciting calculate phonon eigenvalues (frequencies) and eigenvectors for the q-points specified in each subelement qpoint. In the example above, calculations will be performed for Γ, X, and L phonons (in the standard notation for high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone of fcc crystals). Note that q-points are given in reciprocal lattice coordinates. Additional properties are discussed in Section 2.
1.4) The basic input file for a phonon calculation
We are now ready to run the actual phonon calculation. Create a subdirectory c-test and move inside it to run the calculations.
$ mkdir c-test
$ cd c-test
Jobs which runs a phonon calculation are in general a bit lengthy, because they use supercells which are larger than the primitive cell of the crystal. The present calculation should take about 15 minutes on a recent CPU with the loose parameters specified. Note that they can also be run in parallel. The complete input file for this calculation is given in the following.
<input> <title>Diamond: Phonons</title> <structure speciespath="$EXCITINGROOT/species"> <crystal scale="6.7468"> <basevect>0.5 0.5 0.0</basevect> <basevect>0.5 0.0 0.5</basevect> <basevect>0.0 0.5 0.5</basevect> </crystal> <species speciesfile="C.xml" rmt="1.25"> <atom coord="0.00 0.00 0.00" /> <atom coord="0.25 0.25 0.25" /> </species> </structure> <groundstate do="fromscratch" ngridk="2 2 2" swidth="0.0001" rgkmax="4.0" gmaxvr="14" xctype="GGA_PBE"/> <phonons do="fromscratch" method="sc" ngridq="2 2 2"> <qpointset> <qpoint> 0.0 0.0 0.0 </qpoint> <qpoint> 0.5 0.5 0.0 </qpoint> <qpoint> 0.5 0.5 0.5 </qpoint> </qpointset> </phonons> </input>
Please, remember that after creating the input file input.xml, the path for the species file must be set using the command
$ SETUP-excitingroot.sh
Now, you can run exciting by using the command
$ time exciting_smp &
The calculation is completed if the file PHONON.OUT has been created. This can be checked by the command
$ ls PHONON.OUT
1.5) Output files of a phonon calculation
The dynamical matrix is set up from a series of supercell ground-state calculations. In a typical supercell calculation of this series, all atoms which are equivalent to a given atom in the primitive cell of the unpertubed crystal are displaced along a cartesian direction. The actual displacement pattern of these atoms is a cosinus or sinus wave with periodicity defined by the wavevector q. The amplitude of the wavelike displacement pattern is defined by the value Δph of the attribute deltaph. Finally, elements of the dynamical matrix are obtained using a finite difference procedure from atomic forces calculated for displacement patterns with amplitude Δph and 2Δph (-Δph and Δph at q=0).
After a successful phonon calculation, a number of subdirectories are created. The names of these directory include information, in order of appearance, on the q vector (Q…), the species of the displaced atoms (S…), the index in the unperturbed primitive cell of the displaced atoms (A…), and the polarization direction of the displacement (P…). Example of such names are Q0000_0000_0000_S01_A001_P1, Q0102_0000_0000_S01_A001_P1, etc.
A typical phonon calculation produces in addition the following files.
Here, fileext means an extension of the filename, again naming the corresponding q-point of the grid, species, atom, and polarization.
As indicated above, the frequencies of the phonon modes at the required q-points are listed inside the file PHONON.OUT. However, in this file frequencies are given in non frequently used atomic units. In order to get frequency values which can be compared to experimental data, you may use the script CONVERT-au2invcm.py to obtain frequencies expressed in units of cm-1.
$ CONVERT-au2invcm.py
Total number of atoms : 2
Total number of q-points : 3
q-point 1 is 0.0 0.0 0.0
mode 1 frequency: -0.0000 cm-1
mode 2 frequency: -0.0000 cm-1
mode 3 frequency: -0.0000 cm-1
mode 4 frequency: 1580.5233 cm-1
mode 5 frequency: 1580.5233 cm-1
mode 6 frequency: 1580.5233 cm-1
q-point 2 is 0.5 0.5 0.0
mode 1 frequency: 523.8800 cm-1
mode 2 frequency: 523.8800 cm-1
mode 3 frequency: 1096.3667 cm-1
mode 4 frequency: 1096.3667 cm-1
mode 5 frequency: 1128.0147 cm-1
mode 6 frequency: 1128.0147 cm-1
q-point 3 is 0.5 0.5 0.5
mode 1 frequency: 459.4412 cm-1
mode 2 frequency: 459.4412 cm-1
mode 3 frequency: 869.1994 cm-1
mode 4 frequency: 1238.7323 cm-1
mode 5 frequency: 1400.8203 cm-1
mode 6 frequency: 1400.8203 cm-1
- Have a look to the file PHONON.OUT. What is the frequency of the optical phonon modes at Γ?
- What are the eigenvectors of the optical phonon modes at Γ?
2. Properties from the phonon calculation
To obtain other phonon properties, additional subelements can be inserted inside the element phonons, as explained in the following.
2.1) Phonon density of states (DOS)
The phonon density of states is computed on top of the phonon calculation by adding the element phonondos within the element phonons.
... <phonondos ngrdos="300" nwdos="1000" nsmdos="2"/> ...
Here, phonon frequencies are computed on a dense grid (ngrdos$\times$ngrdos$\times$ngrdos) and collected to obtain the DOS, which is written to the file PHDOS.OUT. The number of steps between the lowest and highest frequency (N$_{\omega}$) is given by nwdos, nsmdos is the number of times the data are smoothened.
The complete input file in this case is shown below.
<input> <title>Diamond: PhononDOS</title> <structure speciespath="$EXCITINGROOT/species"> <crystal scale="6.7468"> <basevect>0.5 0.5 0.0</basevect> <basevect>0.5 0.0 0.5</basevect> <basevect>0.0 0.5 0.5</basevect> </crystal> <species speciesfile="C.xml" rmt="1.25"> <atom coord="0.00 0.00 0.00" /> <atom coord="0.25 0.25 0.25" /> </species> </structure> <groundstate do="skip" ngridk="2 2 2" swidth="0.0001" rgkmax="4.0" gmaxvr="14" xctype="GGA_PBE"/> <phonons do="skip" method="sc" ngridq="2 2 2"> <phonondos ngrdos="300" nwdos="1000" nsmdos="2"/> </phonons> </input>
Note the presence of the two attributes do = "skip" inside the elements phonons and groundstate, respectively. They let exciting skip a new (and lengthy) phonon calculation and read the necessary data from existing files. This requires you, of course, to have already performed the basic phonon calculation with the same parameters (as in Section 1.4) and to work in the same directory. If this is the case, in order to perform the calculation, you type
$ SETUP-excitingroot.sh
$ time exciting_smp &
Data in PHDOS.OUT can be plotted directly. You can use the script PLOT-dos.py (see The python script "PLOT-dos.py"), by typing on the command line
$ PLOT-dos.py -p -e 0 1600
The script produces a PNG (PLOT.png) output, which should be similar to the one displayed here.
A better converged result (using an 8$\times$8$\times$8 k-grid, rgkmax = "7.0", and 4 q-points in each direction) can be found below.
2.2) Thermodynamic properties
The zero-point energy, Ezp, and further thermodynamic properties can be computed from the phonon DOS g$(\omega)$ (see Input reference for further details).
- the vibrational free energy Fvib= Uvib -TSvib,
- the vibrational internal energy Uvib,
- the entropic contribution to the vibrational free energy TSvib,
- the vibrational entropy Svib
- the heat capacity Cv.
In order to calculate and visualize these thermodynamic properties, you can use the script FREE-fromdos.py as follows
$ FREE-fromdos.py 0 1600 160 eV
Zero-point energy is 3.5040e-01 [eV]
Created PNG output "PLOT-free-energies.png"
Created PNG output "PLOT-entropy.png"
Created PNG output "PLOT-heat-capacity.png"
where the 4 online entries are the minimum temperature (usually 0), the maximum temperature, the number of temperature steps between the minimum and the maximum, and the energy units (either eV or Ha) . The value of the calculated zero-point energy is written on the screen output. The script also generates three PNG output files: PLOT-free-energies.png, PLOT-entropy.png, and PLOT-heat-capacity.png. These results can be visualized by watching directly the PNG files with standard tools. Examples are given in the following:
Better converged plots can be seen here.
2.3) Phonon-dispersion relations
Phonon-dispersion relations can also be easily calculated. Phonon eigenvalues are computed along a path through the Brillouin zone and written for later plotting. This path can be specified within the element phonondispplot (reciprocal lattice coordinates) in the following way (a path between the points Γ-(K)-X-Γ-L is specified in the present example).
... <phonondispplot> <plot1d> <path steps="400"> <point coord="1.0 0.0 0.0" label="Gamma"/> <point coord="0.625 0.375 0.0" label="K"/> <point coord="0.5 0.5 0.0" label="X"/> <point coord="0.0 0.0 0.0" label="Gamma"/> <point coord="0.5 0.0 0.0" label="L"/> </path> </plot1d> </phonondispplot> ...
This codelet is to be included within the element phonons, same as for qpointset and phonondos above. Of course, one can reuse data of a previous phonon calculation by adding do = "skip" to the elements phonons and groundstate. This run produces the file PHDISP.OUT that contains the phonon eigenvalues along the path specified in the input and can be plotted directly. The script PLOT-band-structure.py (see The python script "PLOT-band-structure.py"), can be used to produce a plot of the phonon-dispersion relations.
$ PLOT-band-structure.py -p -a KS
The resulting PNG file PLOT.png looks like the following.
Converged results as mentioned above can be seen below.
2.4) Other useful features
Exercise: Silicon in diamond structure
- The calculation presented here for diamond can be repeated for silicon. Use the PBE exchange-correlation functional, an equilibrium lattice parameter of 10.34 Bohr, and low values for both k- and q-point grids to accelerate the runs, as above.
- Compare your results with the "converged" one displayed here.


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Ohio Stadium, The Ohio State University: Interior view of tiered seating and press box, 1940
Contributors:Ohio State University Archives
Issue Date:1940
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University Archives Image # X8871
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Copyright The Ohio State University
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It's been a long and arduous past few years for AMD's processor division as they've constantly been one step behind primary competitor Intel. The pain started back in 2006 when Intel launched its Core 2 Duo series, which disposed of the ill equipped Athlon64 X2 range.
With no immediate answer, AMD moved the Athlon64 X2 architecture to the 65nm design process, where they ended up with the Athlon 64 X2 6000+ clocked at 3.1GHz. However just as the Athlon64 X2 architecture was meeting the end of the road, AMD unleashed their long-awaited Phenom processors. By that time AMD was doing battle with a hardened Core 2 Quad range.
AMD struggled again as the new Phenom X4 processors didn't perform up to expectations. Yet this was the least of AMD's worries. Their latest creation was plagued by a design flaw that became famously known as the TLB Bug. The quick solution was to disable the CPU's L3 cache, a key feature that when disabled reduced performance further.
Around the same time AMD was dealing with the Phenom issues, Intel was ready to show their first Core i7 processors with the arrival of the Core i7-920, 940 and Core i7-965 Extreme Edition.
This is when the shift in AMD's strategy became more evident. Unable to compete for the performance crown, the company targeted their entire processor lineup toward mainstream markets. The Phenom II X4 920 and 940 Black Edition processors were released on January 2009. For $200 the X4 940 was the cheapest route to get your hands on a quad-core processor.
AMD has continued to improve the Phenom II range to this day, with the Phenom II X4 980 Black Edition leading the charge for the quad-cores, and the six-core Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition remaining as the flagship offering. The Phenom II has had to deal with the Intel Core i7 on multiple platforms, as well as the Core i5 and Core i3 processors, for almost 3 years now.
After all this time, is the pain finally coming to an end for AMD? A code-name has been tossed around for years now that is meant to do exactly that, that name is Bulldozer. Today AMD is launching its new FX processor lineup comprised of the flagship FX-8150 along with the FX-8120, FX-6100 and FX-4170 processors.
The Bulldozer desktop processors are based on the "Zambezi" 32nm architecture and will feature up to 8-cores. This means AMD is featuring the world's first 8-core desktop solution that's been designed from the ground up.
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Keep reading as we explore the inner details of AMD's new FX series and we benchmark all four new processors being launched today.


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Cosmic rays generate the most energetic particles in the universe, utterly dwarfing anything we can generate in particle accelerators. Astrophysicists thought these cosmic rays were created in powerful gamma-ray bursts. Turns out they were completely, utterly wrong. So now what?
A non-result doesn't usually mean that much. But Antarctica's IceCube Neutrino Observatory has failed to find a single neutrino despite monitoring the sites of hundreds of gamma-ray bursts. That's significant because they are one of the many types of particle thought to be found in these cosmic rays, and their almost non-existent interactions with all other matter means they should travel from their source to Earth virtually undisturbed.
As such, if you want to find the source of cosmic rays, you want to look for neutrinos, and so IceCube has been studying all recorded gamma-ray bursts for signs of those neutrinos. Now, we wouldn't have expected to detect neutrinos coming from all of these bursts, or even anything close to it. Of the 190 gamma-ray bursts between May 2010 and May 2011, we would have expected to detect about eight neutrino sources. And yet...nothing.
This is a big enough null result that IceCube's principal investigator, Francis Halzen of the University of Wisconsin, has declared that the results "have put half the theorists out of business", and we can now basically say with certainty that these gamma-ray bursts are not the source of neutrinos. That goes against what had been the prevailing theoretical consensus, and so now physicists have to go looking for a new one.
For the IceCube team, this result is disappointing - indeed, team member Peter Redl of the University of Maryland uses that exact word - but that definitely doesn't make the new data useless. Indeed, if these gamma-ray bursts really are a dead-end, then we finally have a chance to get on the right track with tracking down the origins of these particles. The best available theory now points to the supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies as the only other known cosmic phenomenon powerful enough to generate such particle blasts,
We don't know whether those active galactic nuclei are in fact the source of these cosmic rays, but that's partially because we haven't really looked yet. As Halzen puts it, we could observe these super-charged neutrinos coming from supermassive black holes any day now, and then we would know where the cosmic rays come from. That's got to be considered the odds-on favorite now, but if AGN observations don't turn up any evidence of these cosmic rays, then we might be on the verge of discovering some previously unknown or unnoticed phenomenon. That, however, is definitely the dark horse here.
It's also worth noting just how ridiculously cutting-edge this work is, and how absurdly difficult it is to even get in a position where we can detect these neutrinos. The IceCube telescope is a cubic kilometer in size, and it's located near the South Pole in order to give its detectors an unimpeded view of these elusive neutrinos. Even then, it's not the neutrinos that the IceCube's 5,160 optical modules are straining to detect - rather, it's energetic muons created as a byproduct of the passing neutrinos that causes the faint blue flashes in the massive detector array.
So far, IceCube has mostly done a good job of illustrating what we don't know about the universe. As University of Wisconsin researcher Nathan Whitehorn explains, the telescope was able to conclusively contradict 15 years worth of previous predictions while still under construction, and now it's pretty much demolished one of the leading theories of extra-galactic physics. Really, all the IceCube data serve as a good reminder of how much science relies on disappointing non-results just as much as major breakthroughs - without the former to show the limits of our current understanding, we'd risk finding ourselves awash in a sea of indistinguishable false positives.
Nature via New Scientist. Image by NSF.


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The Mental Health Association operates a group home, for ten residents, in this building at 900 Columbia Street.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Disposable Hudson
The Mental Health Association operates a group home, for ten residents, in this building at 900 Columbia Street.
11 comments:
Hudson needs to swap this major historic building for one of her vacant plots. Mental Health Assoc. can then build without the need to demolish. When construction is completed the residents can relocate and this magnificent property sold for more than the vacant plot of land traded.ReplyDelete
This proposal is absolutely INSANE and those in support need to have their heads checked.
Does the Mental Health Association own the building? What do we know about them? This is a beautiful building; must be saved.
Peter--The Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties does own the building and has run a group home there for a while. I first became aware of the group home in April 2010, when the same Mental Health Association was trying to create two similar group homes on Anthony Avenue in Greenport. At a neighborhood meeting protesting the new facilities in Greenport, a retired Hudson police officer passed around a report listing the 911 calls made from 900 Columbia Street as evidence that the facility was something they did not want in their neighborhood.ReplyDelete
The Mental Health Association of Columbia-Greene Counties has been around for a while. Check out their website: www.mhacg.org. They used to be located in the building that is now FACE Stockholm. They now have their offices in the building on Union above Seventh that was built to be an A&P--or some supermarket. At last night's meeting, Whitbeck made the comment that the facility does not have to comply with city ordinances (which ones he meant, I don't know), implying that they were appearing before the Planning Commission as a courtesy, and they didn't need site plan approval. (He couldn't have gotten it last night anyway, since there wasn't a quorum.) He also indicated that a "state agency needs to commit to the financing." I wonder if that state agency cares that it may be financing the demolition of a historic house.
I stand corrected--by myself. The group houses proposed for Greenport were to be on Arthur Avenue not Anthony Avenue.ReplyDelete
Does the mental health association check the mental health of its members, or those who sit on the commission? Because this idea isn't just stupid, its insane.ReplyDelete
The rest of the planning establishment recognized decades ago that it harms the urban realm to not have buildings close to the street. Why haven't Hudson's planners understood this? Why do they remain trapped in a destructive suburban mentality?ReplyDelete
The best thing Hudson could do is invest in a state-of-the-art municipal water filtration system. That might be the remedy for a lot of the stupidity hereabouts.ReplyDelete
It can't be in the water, Peter. Didn't we just--not ten years ago--invest in a state-of-the-art water filtration system--one we're still paying for with that rent-to-own deal struck with Colarusso for the land around the City's secondary water supply?ReplyDelete
If they go ahead with their crazy plan we will have to form a 'save the house' group which was successfully done when the hospital wanted to raze the Cavell House (now the NYOncology Center) for a parking lot. The health people are really interested in parking lots.ReplyDelete
The fact that Cleveland Samuels, on the Board of the Association, thinks that razing the house is a good idea -- well, this tells you the huge gulf in sensibilities in this town. Cleveland started one of the few minority-owned and operated businesses in town (Landscaping), has/had kids in our schools (his daughter was in my son's class), etc. Could I suggest that someone (Carole? Tim?) write a nice, calm, straightforward, informational and educational letter to the RS explaining the need to preserve these "old" houses.ReplyDelete


text: 2012 Youth Observer Election Ballot About the Youth Observer Election Process About the Youth Observer to the UUA Board of Trustees The Youth Observer is a one-year position on the Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees, elected each spring by congregational youth groups across the country. The Youth Observer serves as the primary liaison between General Assembly Youth Caucus and the Board, and also represents a larger youth voice on the Board in collaboration with the Youth Trustee. Here are some of the Youth Observer's duties: Staying current on issues of interest to UU youth in districts and congregations, linking and nurturing relationships between youth leaders, informing GA Youth Caucus of relevant Board issues and discussions. The Youth Observer attends each Board meeting as a non-voting member. Candidates must be high school aged through the 2012-13 school year and active in their congregations. Timeline for Electing the 2012-13 Youth Observer: • March 30: Youth Observer candidate info, voting ballots available; voting opens • April 23: Youth Observer voting ballots must be received (postmark Apr. 20) • April 27: Youth Observer election winner announced For more information, click this link to visit the Youth Observer webpage. Voting Instructions Eligibility: Voting youth must be active in their religious community. "Active" may be defined as regularly participating, registered in the religious education program, or congregational membership. Each congregation determines what this means for them. Voting Formula: Youth groups complete one ballot per congregation. Groups receive one vote per five voting youth participants up to 30 youth, and one vote per each additional 10 youth or fraction thereof. Directions: Complete this online ballot form with required contact information. It may be easiest to complete your ballot with all participating youth present, such as at a regular youth group meeting. You can use whatever decision making process works for the youth in your congregation to make your voting choices. A minister, religious education professional, or congregational president must give their electronic signature to the completed ballot for verification of your vote. BALLOTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY MONDAY, APRIL 23 at midnight (in your time zone). The point of contact listed on your Voting Ballot will receive confirmation that we have received your Ballot. If you have questions about this process, please contact the UUA Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministries at firstname.lastname@example.com or 617-948-4350. Thank you for your participation! Next


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This is not an offer for credit and should be used for estimation purposes only based on the information you provided. You should not base your decision on this estimate alone. Title, registration, tax and other fees, and personal circumstances such as employment status and personal credit history, were not considered in the calculations.
Honda's twin-cylinder sportbikes revolutionized the world of motorcycling when they first appeared, and this latest generation—our 500 twins—are the best ever. Here's what you need to know about the CB500F: It's the most broad-spectrum of the 500 family, with minimal bodywork, a classic riding position, and a 30.9-inch seat height that fits a wide range of riders. Even though it's just a couple of years old, for 2016, it gets some tasty updates both in terms of style and function.
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