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State secrets showdown looms
The Obama Administration and a federal judge in San Francisco appear to be headed for a showdown over the controversial state secrets privilege in a case about the U.S. government's 'no-fly' list for air travel.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup is also bucking the federal government's longstanding assertion that only the executive branch can authorize access to classified information.
The disputes arose in a lawsuit Malaysian citizen and former Stanford student Rahinah Ibrahim filed seven years ago after she was denied travel and briefly detained at the San Francisco airport in 2005, apparently due to being on the no-fly list.
(Also on POLITICO: Terror suspect: 5 legal questions)
In an order issued earlier this month and made public Friday, Alsup instructed lawyers for the government to "show cause" why at least nine documents it labeled as classified should not be turned over to Ibrahim's lawyers. Alsup said he'd examined the documents and concluded that portions of some of them and the entirety of others could be shown to Ibrahim's attorneys without implicating national security.
"After a careful review of the classified materials by the Court, this order concludes that a few documents could potentially be produced with little or no modifications to them," Alsup wrote in an April 2 order (posted here). "This order independently determines that in addition to correspondence between the parties, the two internal training documents are eligible for production to plaintiff's counsel without implicating national security."
If the judge persists in his ruling, it would be highly unusual since most judges are loath to override the executive branch's conclusions that certain information needs to be classified on national security grounds. It has happened on a few occasions (see here, here, and here), but such decisions are very rare.
(Also on POLITICO: Boston lockdown: The new normal?)
In a separate order Friday (posted here), Alsup ordered the disclosure of about 60 other unclassified documents to Ibrahim's lawyers, largely rejecting the government's arguments that the records were protected from disclosure by a statute or covered by legal privileges that apply to government decisionmaking and to information about sensitive law-enforcement techniques.
"There is some risk that disclosure of these documents would hinder frank and ongoing discussion regarding contemplated visa decisions. Nevertheless, these documents are highly relevant to plaintiff's claims and are not available from any other source," Alsup wrote. "The other factors that outweigh the government's assertion of the [eliberative process privilege] likewise play a substantial role here. Plaintiff has properly pled constitutional claims challenging alleged government misconduct. This creates a strong interest in accurate fact-finding for plaintiff and for society, and a strong interest in the enforcement of the constitutional protections asserted in plaintiff's complaint."
Alsup said most of the records from around the time when Ibrahim was denied air travel in 2005 were "stale" and therefore unlikely to disclose current law enforcement techniques. He did allow the government to withhold a few documents that pertain to "terrorist screening and watchlist procedures" from 2009 to now. "Because of their more recent vintage, they present a greater risk of harmful disclosure, and the government's interests are magnified," he wrote
Alsup also said the government was deeming some correspondence between Ibrahim and the government classified, which he said could not be the case.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper have filed declarations in the case, apparently in a bid to support the state secrets claims. Those and other supporting filings are off limits to the public, but at a hearing on Thursday Alsup ordered the Holder and Clapper declarations turned over to Ibrahim's lawyers, according to the court's docket.
Lawyers for the government asked that Thursday's hearing be closed, but Alsup denied that request, the docket indicates.
During the 2008 campaign, President Barack Obama and supporters like Holder decried President George W. Bush's Administration's use of the state secrets privilege to defeat lawsuits over national-security related issues. After taking office, Holder instituted a process that he said would limit use of the privilege, but the Obama administration has continued to deployed it to block litigation over the so-called warrantless wiretapping program, renditions of terrorism suspects by the Central Intelligence Agency and other matters.
The Justice Department's handling of the state secrets privilege in Ibrahim's case could be seen as a product of the reforms Holder announced. Government lawyers have not asked that the case be dismissed outright on those grounds, but have instead asked that certain evidence they deem to be state secrets be kept from her attorneys. The impact, if any, of Holder's order is a bit hard to ascertain since the lawsuit was in litigation for three years under Bush.
Alsup, a Clinton appointee, is riding the government pretty hard in recent rulings. However, it's hard to argue that he's exhibiting an anti-government bias. He twice dismissed Ibrahim's claims against federal agencies, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed his decisions . Now, Alsup seems determined to move the case forward. A trial is currently scheduled for November.


text:
This Thanksgiving, try this easy Northern Michigan recipe for homemade buttermilk biscuits with pumpkin butter. Light and moist, these biscuits get their tang from a healthy shot of buttermilk. They're best served warm with a daub of local honey or spice-infused pumpkin butter.
- 2 cups unbleached flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
Pumpkin Butter
- 2 1/2 cups cooked pumpkin, pureed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Pour into a food processor, and add butter in chunks, pulsing until pea-sized crumbles form. (To mix without food processor, cut in butter with two knives.) Slowly add buttermilk and mix until entire mixture is just blended. Pour dough out onto a floured surface and knead about five times. Pat out until about K-inch thick. Using a biscuit cutter or the floured rim of a large drinking glass, cut dough into circles. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for about 15 minutes, or until puffed and golden. Remove and serve warm with pumpkin butter.
Pumpkin Butter
Combine all ingredients in a heavy 4-quart saucepan. (To make homemade puréed pumpkin, wash a medium-sized sugar pumpkin and slice it, removing seeds and pith, and bake at 300°F skin-side up in a roasting pan filled with N cup water for 1 hour, or until tender. Remove, cool, peel and purée the meat.) Stirring frequently to avoid burning, bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer until thick, 15–20 minutes. (Thickening time will be reduced if using canned pumpkin.) Recipe yields about 2 cups of pumpkin butter; leftovers may be frozen in an airtight container for up to six months.
More Northern Michigan Food
Northern Michigan Restaurants Serving 2015 Thanksgiving Dinner
Mario Batali Features Suttons Bay on The Chew
Top 10 Brunch Spots in Northern Michigan 2015
#2015 #Up_North #Food_&_Drink #Recipe

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Coloplast 12222 Sensura Mio 2-Piece Flex Pouch, Closed, Flange Size 70mm (2-3/4")
Box of 30
SenSura Mio Flex closed. SenSura Mio is a new range of ostomy products that fits individual body shapes due to the elastic adhesive and stays discreet due to the neutral-grey textile material. SenSura Mio provides better fit to body and optimal discretion due to the many innovative features. Key benefits: Elastic adhesive for a secure fit to individual body shapes. Neutral grey textile for optimal discretion and an honest look. Full-circle filter for proven reduction of ballooning. Flexible coupling for adaption to body contours and a discreet, flat profile. The SenSura Mio Flex closed pouch is separate from the baseplate, so the pouch can be changed without changing the baseplate. The pouch is coupled to the baseplate by means of the well-known Flex coupling which is a secure coupling system that is flat, discreet and flexible enough to adapt to body contours. SenSura Mio Flex is available in a broad range of flat baseplates consisting of various pre-cut or hole sizes which can be customized, with pouches in a variety of sizes available in transparent, neutral grey, or even with inspection window, and with coupling systems of 35, 50, or 70 mm in diameter.
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text: Very soon, the Android OS, Chrome browser and other Google products will stop trusting all digital certificates that are linked to a 20-year-old Verisign root certificate.The announcement comes after Symantec unveiled plans to retire the Class 3 Public Primary Certification Authority from public use. This is a widely trusted CA that it acquired along with Verisign's SSL business in 2010.In an alert, the company said that as of Dec. 1, it no longer was using the root certificate, which is trusted by default in most browsers and operating systems,\u00a0to issue TLS\/SSL or code signing certificates.The company advises owners of digital certificates that chain back to the Class 3 Public Primary CA to obtain new ones that link back to a more modern root. Such replacement certificates are available for free.According to Google, Symantec will not completely kill off the Class 3 Public Primary CA root and intends to use it for new, unspecified purposes. Because of this, the browser maker cannot guarantee that non-public certificates issued under this root in the future won't be used to "intercept, disrupt, or impersonate the secure communication of Google\u2019s products or users.""As Symantec is unwilling to specify the new purposes for these certificates, and as they are aware of the risk to Google\u2019s users, they have requested that Google take preventative action by removing and distrusting this root certificate," said Ryan Sleevi, a Google software engineer, in a blog post.The company will remove two versions of the Class 3 Public Primary CA certificate from its products' trust lists. One version is signed with SHA-1, a hashing algorithm that is in the process of being phased out, and one is signed with MD2, an even older hashing function. Both versions were issued in 1996 and are set to expire in 2028.According to Google, Symantec doesn't believe that any of its customers who operate HTTPS websites, or their users, will be impacted. However, in its own advisory Symantec acknowledges that users might receive errors in the future if they try to access websites whose certificates chain back to the distrusted root.This might also happen with signed applications if OS makers also start removing the Class 3 Public Primary CA certificate from their trust lists. Therefore developers should also change their certificates if their chain back to this root and re-sign their code.


text:
Part of the groupwork, made by students of grade 4
You need:
- white drawing sheets
- tempera paint
- brushes
- pencil
- glue plakkaatverf
Dutch Golden Age, a period roughly spanning the 17th century, in which Dutch trade, science and art were among the most acclaimed in the world. In this century many of the typical canal houses were built, in that age used as store houses. We looked at pictures of canal houses, discussed the different kinds of gables (neck gable, trep gable, bell gable) and details of the houses (windows, year it was built, stairs).
Every students gets a sheet of paper and has to draw a line on 8 cm of the bottom - this is for the canal. On the left side of the sheet there must remain a white strip of 2 cm (to paste all paintings together).
Paste all paintings together to make a long street. Paint the canal. You might even add the words 'Groeten uit Holland'!
Click to see full site.


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Escape from the Thai Snake Farm
While tooling around some of the old canals of Bangkok, I came upon this snake farm. The proprietor came out and begged me to come into his inside and I said no. He asked why, and I said, "Well I don't like snakes, and I don't like farms, and the combination thereof does not come close to canceling out the two negatives." He looked perplexed at my polysyllabic Venn Diagram and walked back inside the snake farm alone.


text: With the Wand Essentials Strap Cap, you can have the ultimate in penetrating pleasure with a strap on harness for your wand! Simply slip your chosen dildo through one of the top or side openings, then secure over your standard size wand. Once secured, position the dildo and turn on the vibration. The cradle is made of premium silicone, so it is hypoallergenic, highly durable, and semi stretchy. Take sensual pleasure to new levels with this unique attachment from Wand Essentials!Fits standard size wand massagers, including Hitachi. Wand and dildo sold separately


text:
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Conn. TeensyGND -------- GNDVcc/+5V ---- VccData ------- PD0Clock ------ PD1
CapsLock LED ------ PF5NumLock LED ------- PF6ScrollLock LED ---- PF7
CapsLock LED ------ PD3NumLock LED ------- PD4ScrollLock LED ---- PD5
Keyboard ID: BFBFCode Set: 3
Optionally, lock LEDs can be wired up.The outputs are active high (each pin puts out +5V when it wants to light the LED).A resistor is needed inline with each LED. (The value needed depends on the type of LED, 1Kohm is a good starting point for modern high-brightness types).
Full NKRO, if the keyboard supports it (even on Macs!).
If you guys ever fix the OSX bug tell Nopoo and the Ducky G2 engineers (probably the same PLUM Corp. firmware designer).
Thanks, hasu!I might need to add in your fix for the SET_IDLE problem on OS-X. I have made changes to that part of the code, but I have no OS-X machine to test it on. If I am lucky it will work!
I'd be willing to check this out whenever I get my Teensy and sufficient free time.
What are you using for a VID/PID?
Ah right. I'm going to use the standard V-USB HID keyboard VID/PID for my wee project. Seems you can't buy a small block any more -- the resellers have been shut down by the USB-IF -- I bought one a while ago for a project, and don't really want to re-use it.
// Mac OS-X and Linux automatically load the correct drivers. On// Windows, even though the driver is supplied by Microsoft, an// INF file is needed to load the driver. These numbers need to// match the INF file.#define VENDOR_ID 0x16C0#define PRODUCT_ID 0x047D
Nice work!Just wondering what kind of remapping/macro features your firmware supports? Also, when will you release the source?
const uint8_t PROGMEM colemak_remaps[] = { HID_KEY_D, HID_KEY_S, HID_KEY_E, HID_KEY_F, HID_KEY_F, HID_KEY_T, HID_KEY_G, HID_KEY_D, HID_KEY_I, HID_KEY_U, HID_KEY_J, HID_KEY_N, HID_KEY_K, HID_KEY_E, HID_KEY_L, HID_KEY_I, HID_KEY_N, HID_KEY_K, HID_KEY_O, HID_KEY_Y, HID_KEY_P, HID_KEY_SEMICOLON, HID_KEY_R, HID_KEY_P, HID_KEY_S, HID_KEY_R, HID_KEY_T, HID_KEY_G, HID_KEY_U, HID_KEY_L, HID_KEY_Y, HID_KEY_J, HID_KEY_SEMICOLON, HID_KEY_O, 0, 0};
Stupid question: what's the default mapping for a 122 look like? I'm thinking I'm going to hook it up and panic when I can't find half the editing keys.
I wonder if you could do an approach of "load the main binary at one address, and the macro pack/mapping pack always exists at another address space" so you only have to rewrite the second space.
It still seems to repeat. :/
Nice diagram!
Yes, that should be fine. (In fact, I don't think plugging both in at the same time would cause any harm, but don't blame me if it does!)
Will an old IDE cable will be fine for wiring, or a bigger section is needed?
In the article, you recommend the use of an 1Kohm pull-up resistor between Clock and +5V and one other between Data and +5V in case of long cable. I'm pretty scared about this (my soldering skills are fresh), for you, which length is becoming "long" and need the add of resistors?
Last question, since the teensy is very small. May I do my solders at the back of it? (where there's only printed circuits, not components, and then avoid some damage by overheating).
Even at 5 metres it still worked fine without the pull-ups! But it definately tidied the signal up at that point. I would call more than 2 or 3 metres 'long'.
Are you putting the sockets in a box? If you are, you might find it easier to wire from the Teensy to the DIN connector, then make the double connections there to also wire to the PS2 socket. DIN connectors usually have large tags, making it fairly easy to solder two wires on.
Wow, awesome work everyone. You've achieved the "impossible." Could I buy one of these contraptions from anyone?
I want to do this, but why is the teensy so damn expensive?
There are lots of unused pins, though.I wonder if they could be used for something useless ...
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text:
Can Lack of Sleep Stunt Your Growth?
My mom says if you stay up all night and don't get any rest you can stunt your growth. Is this true?
– Damien
It could be. A single night of no sleep will not stunt growth. But over the long term, a person's growth may be affected by not getting the full amount of sleep. That's because growth hormone is normally released during sleep. If someone consistently gets too little sleep (known as "sleep deprivation"), growth hormone is suppressed.
Lack of sleep also can affect other hormones. Studies show that sleep deprivation is linked to obesity and diabetes. Experts are looking into whether this link has to do with hormonal changes.
So in this case your mom may be right. Getting enough sleep also will help you focus better in school and give you more energy and better concentration for sports and other activities.
*Names have been changed to protect user privacy.


text:
Model: registering-microchipped-ragamuffin-cat-in-the-wpn
ID product: 007841
If your Ragamuffin cat goes missing, you will be able to report its disappearance and we will help you find it. Thanks to the microchipped pet register, we get to shelters, animal welfare organizations and veterinarians who may have information about your missing animal. In addition, we try to help by sending direct information about missing pets to veterinary clinics and shelters registered in the WPN. If you have found an animal, read its microchip number with a reader (owned by all veterinarians and pro-animal organisations) and then search the microchipped pet database through the WORLDPETNET microchip search engine: check if and where the animal has been registered. Thanks to the search engine, you will get information on where to look for the animal owner, and if you have trouble, contact the national pet database to help the animal come back home.
For more information, please visit www.worldpetnet.com


text:
"This is what skateboarding is all about", a member of Urban Skate Project explains as he looks at a picture of a community of skaters building at the "El Ser DIY ledge". "This is picture is a statement to all those who think skateboarding is a sport like all the others. This is what separates us from "them". We create together. We build together. We fall together. We land tricks together. We are a skate community."
If you have followed Confusion magazine then you will have read in a previous article about what the Urban Skate Project is (check out the Bronson Ditch Project here).
A group of individuals led by Clayton Graul who find places in the Los Angeles area to build DIY spots for skaters.
After the demise of the Bronson Ditch project, Clayton Graul was already on the hunt for a new location. Having participated with USP at Bronson, I was also on the hunt for a new location for them. My hunt didn't take me deeper into the woods or another ditch off the beaten path. I was led right to my local prefab skatepark.
The new location for USP would be located next to the gang graffiti ridden walls and prefab park that was outdated among the many skate plazas that are a dime a dozen in the city of Los Angeles. The new project would be coined El Ser DIY (El Sereno).
The skaters in El Sereno have been wanting a ledge to skate at their own park since it was built back in the 2000's, but the only progress they saw at their park, came when the coping had been so damaged by bikers and the prefab material started to chip, the city began to resurface and lay new coping. The process took over a year and there were smiling faces from city officials and a big hoopla over the "Grand Reopening" as if it was a major feat. The city never asked the skaters what kind of park they wanted. They never asked if they wanted a park like so many other cities were getting. Instead they settled for a resurfaced park. Like putting perfume on a pig.
Having been a resident of this area for 5 years, I felt a sense of obligation to the younger skaters to give them the option and direction of doing something for themselves as skaters and a community. I decided after the Bronson project to build a DIY ledge next to a wide-open, unused area, next to the "skatepark". I was going to jump into the build without any prior knowledge of building. After a trip to the local Hardware store to get a cost for materials, I posted a picture on instagram of a cinderblock ledge that we layed out at the store to get an idea. 5 minutes later and still at the store, Clayton Graul calls me up. "Have you bought that material yet"? "Nope. I am still in the store. Clayton tells me with great concern "I'm not sure about those top cinder blocks". Neither am I am "I thought to myself". "Don't buy anything yet. Let me mock something up for you".
3 days later (maybe the next day, Clayton works fast) and he sends over a very detailed layout of several different styles of ledges. Clayton from Urban Skate Project was now involved and there wasn't going to be room for half assing it.
"Would love to put my name on something creative like this. Of course I have the standard ledge there as well." Clayton writes to me.
We were now giving the locals an option of which ledge design they wanted to build and I am going along for the ride. The majority pick design D and so that is the one we go with.
The thing about doing a DIY, which I am sure that everyone who has ever done it will tell you, it is such a community effort. We were able to get all our materials donated. The wood for the forms (Mel Gragirena from LA Fabricators), Rebar (Michael Finn coming through with the Rebar). Cash flow donated for cement (Aaron from Hoax MFG skate clothing and USP) and locals Luis Montoya, Walatron – Ricky Chavez, Keith Lynch giving much needed money for cement too.
After getting the materials comes the build and you never know how many people are going to show up for something like this. Skaters are not known for their punctuality and so there isn't a guarantee that people will show even if they say they are hyped on the idea.
The El Sereno locals really came through. They were excited about the ledge build and wanted it bad enough to work for it. Sunday came round and the build was in full effect, Orange "Urban Skate Project" shirts for anyone who picked up a shovel. Needless to see it looked like a giant Orange fruit tree at El Sereno Park.
This is phase 1 of the El Ser DIY and as I type we are in the process of our phase 2. Corner bowl? Quarter pipe? Wall ride? Who knows at this point, but I do know that the locals are excited about whatever comes and most of them are just stoked that there is someone who actually cares about the skate community and they are realizing that they can make things happen on their own. That's the DIY spirit for sure.
Words by Kasper Tobias
Photos by Kasper Tobias, Bustir Keaton and Luis Montoya.


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MONDAY, June 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- When a spouse dies, the surviving husband or wife often will deeply feel the loss of a close confidant.
But a new study, published in the June issue of Health Psychology, finds that they may be better off in terms of their future health by turning to a close friend rather than a close relative.
"Friendships are discretionary while family relationships are obligatory, and past research shows that obligatory relationships can be less beneficial than discretionary relationships during times of stress," study co-author Jamila Bookwala said in a news release from Academy Communications.
Bookwala, a psychology professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., and her team tracked nearly 750 Americans -- mostly older women -- from 1992 to 2004. The researchers looked for connections between better physical health and the presence of a close confidant.
Those who received emotional support from relatives didn't fare as well in terms of health as those with friends, the investigators found.
What's going on?
"Family relationships are more likely to be characterized by ambivalence than are friendships," Bookwala said. "Such ambivalence -- feeling both close and bothered by the person -- may occur even within confidant relationships with family members. This ambivalence may reduce the likelihood of health benefits from confiding in a family member."
But a close relationship with a friend "is likely to be less emotionally complex, less ambivalent," she said.
"As a result," Bookwala explained, "having a friend to confide in may be more conducive to protecting health in the face of stress, such as becoming widowed. And this may explain why having a family member to confide in resulted in no protective health benefits for those whose spouse died, but having a friend to confide in did."
More information
For more about mourning the death of a spouse, visit the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
This article: Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


text:
Seminar in Poetry
Course Description
A poetry workshop where students will learn the craft of poetry by writing their own original work and offering feedback to their peers. Students will be introduced to contemporary poetry though readings and discussions of poems from a poet's point of view.
Learning Outcomes
- Create publishable-quality works of poetry, showing originality and insight.
- Critically analyze elements of literary writing.
- Apply critical and independent thinking to an analysis of one's work and the work of others.
Why Choose National University?
We're proud to be a Veteran-founded, San Diego-based nonprofit. Since 1971, our mission has been to provide accessible, achievable higher education to adult learners. Today, we educate students from across the U.S. and around the globe, with over 230,000 alumni worldwide.
Four-Week Courses
Focus on one subject at a time — one month at a time — and finish your degree faster.
75+ Degree Programs
Choose from associate, bachelor's, and master's degrees, plus credentials and certificates.
On Campus or Online
Study when and where it's convenient for you with evening, weekend, and 100% online classes.
Year-Round Enrollment
Apply or transfer any time. Classes start monthly, and applications are accepted year round.
20+ Locations
Attend class and learn onsite at one of over 20 locations in California.
Military Friendly
As a Yellow Ribbon school, we offer tuition discounts to servicemembers and dependents.
School of Arts, Letters, and Sciences
"Our faculty are established scholars and creators in their own fields. They are dedicated to making your entry into their disciplines a successful one, preparing you for your career as well as graduate study."School of Arts, Letters, and Sciences


text:
The S800 includes several detector stations: object, intermediate plane, target, and focal plane.
The object station contains a plastic scintillator for time-of-flight measurements. This detector is usually left in the beam during experiments and can withstand rates up to 1 MHz. A large surface (5 cm × 5 cm) PIN 0.3 mm silicon detector is also installed in the this box and serves to measure the energy loss of the beam particles. This detector is intended to check the composition of the incoming radioactive beam and is not meant to stay in the beam during data accumulation. The rate is limited to 1 kHz. A remotely retractable "viewer" sheet is installed in the chamber to be used during tuning of the A1900 to the pivot point of the S800. A picture of the object-station box, located on the western side of the middle level of the S3 vault, is shown below.
The intermediate-image station box is located close to the stairs accessing the western side of the middle-level of the S3 vault (see picture below). The station is equipped with two Tracking Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters TPPACs and a remotely retractable "viewer" sheet to be used during tuning of the A1900 to the pivot point of the S800.
The target station is located in the pivot point of the S800, right in front of the quadrupole doublet of the spectrograph (see picture below). The standard configuration of the S800 used to employ a scattering chamber that contains a ladder for holding the targets. This ladder is mounted on a drive that allowed for continuous rotation as well as vertical translation for the fine adjustment of the target position and thickness. This scattering chamber also contains two fixed-position drives movable by 1" increments located in front of the target, as well as a table that can be inserted from the chamber top covering the whole area of the chamber. The inside dimensions of this chamber are 1 m along the beam axis by 1 m transversally. It can be configured for a fixed set of spectrograph angles using a set of welded front flanges for 0°, 5°, 8°, 10°, and 18°.
A much larger scattering chamber is available to accommodate for bigger detector systems such as HiRA. This chamber retains a target mechanism similar to the one described above (vertical translation + rotation), but with the additional possibility of shifting the target position along the beam axis. This feature is necessary for experiments that require more space "downstream" of the target to detect particles at forward angles. Note, that moving the target "upstream" of the nominal position reduces the solid angle of the spectrograph and requires a retune of the last two quadrupole triplets of the analysis line.
As mentioned before, the scattering chamber is equipped with drives that can accommodate any kind of tracking detector (with a small adaption). Standard PPAC detectors (limited to 1 kHz count rate) can be installed at those locations. However, one should keep in mind that reaction products stemming from interaction of the beam with the detectors pose a possible contamination of the beam and require "background runs" to be subtracted out when running an experiment with a thin target. Therefore, these detectors should only be inserted to check the tracking deduced from the intermediate image and it should be avoided to leave these detectors in the beam during data accumulation.
Some detection systems do not require a scattering chamber. In this case, the chamber will be removed and the target is slid into a pipe surrounded by the detector array. Some devices like SeGA, CAESAR, GRETINA, TRIPLEX, and LENDA have standard frames and setups to be used with the S800. Other detector arrays would require the design and fabrication of new hardware. In this configuration a target change presently requires venting the target section and dismounting part of the hardware to access the inside of the beam pipe. This operation typically takes about 30-45 minutes.
The S800 focal plane station chamber is located on the top level of the S3 vault, following the second dipole of the spectrograph (see picture below). The chamber is equipped with various detectors including two position sensitive Cathode Readout Drift Chambers (CRDCs) for tracking the trajectories of the particles, a ionization chamber for the measurement of energy loss, a timing scintillator E1 for trigger and timing measurements, and an Hodoscope for total kinetic energy determination.


text:
- Publishers
- Humanoids
- series: Bad Break
Comic book series : Bad Break
Artist: Philippe Riche
Writer: Riche, Philippe
Publisher: Humanoids
Bad Break
artist: Philippe Riche
Writer: Riche, Philippe
series: Bad Break
publisher: Humanoids
publish date: 28-08-2013
language: English
coloring: full color
size: 267 x 196mm
pages: 216: Hard Cover
A determined antique dealer, a curious junkyard worker, and a bored porn star all cross paths as they follow the sinewy and deadly trail of one Bad Break, a long-dead tattooed sailor whose history holds the key to a possibly very profitable secret. Written and drawn by Philippe Riche in his trademark loose yet graceful line, this noir tale is sure to thrill you as well as make you laugh with its distinct touches of dark humor. For fans of Darwyn Cooke's Parker and Jeff Smith's RASL.


text:
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Fish, Anyone?
4 comments:
Even the name of the boat is the same...ReplyDelete
"The Fishermen's Dock in front of Oceanic Hotel, Wrightsville Beach, near Wilmington, N.C."Replies
That is an amazing find, Iggy! I thought, in my copy of the picture, that I could see a faint outline of some of the letters of "Oceanic." Thanks for verifying the identity of the building. What a splendid specimen of a bygone era's architecture.Delete
Love this photo! That's a magnificent building in the background. And look at that row of fish they caught! They were certainly well-dressed fishermen with their bowties on too. And what's up with the guy on the far right putting his hand on the head of the guy next to him?ReplyDeleteReplies
Jana, yes! I am quite fascinated with that building, myself. Did you check out the link that "Intense Guy" provided in the comment above? It is an even clearer picture of the resort.Delete


text:
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In addition to the Antpitta, this temperate-zone cloudforest reserve is also home to other vulnerable restricted range birds such as the Bearded Guan, Golden-plumed Parakeet, Rufous-capped Thornbill, and Masked Saltator. The reserve is also home to the Spectacled Bear and Woolly Mountain Tapir.
© Nigel Simpson
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For further information on the Jocotoco Antpitta see:
In the last year, RCF and their Peruvian allies have been working to expand the reserve on its northeastern side, along the Yavar' Miri and Yavar' Rivers. The main reason for this is to protect an area of forest that is the home to large populations of threatened or endangered fauna including red uakari monkeys, giant river otters, manatees, tapir, primates, the huge air-breathing fish (Arapaima gigas), and giant river turtles (Podcnemis expansa).
This forest is exceptionally undisturbed by humans, but must now be protected as we enter the 21st century because of the inevitable settlement and development forces that will emerge in these remote areas of Peru and Brazil. The local people (both native and mestizo), living in villages some 60 kilometers from the present border of reserve are in favor of this expansion, because it would help them to live in their traditional ways by protecting them from encroaching settlers.
The Peruvian Department of Conservation in the Region of Loreto is assisting the effort to expand the reserve. The plans would essentially double the size of the reserve (from 800,000 acres to 1.6 millon acres), while protecting some of the most remote and fauna-rich lands in the Amazon. RCF has been supporting the research and extension efforts which led to this new development, and is actively supporting the surveys, map-making, and legal work that will be needed to complete this effort. Your clicks on EcologyFund help to pay for this work, along with money to monitor the existing reserve and provide sustainable community development and limited health care facilities for the surrounding villages.
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Habitats, Flora and Fauna: Reserve lands closest to the Rio Apayacu consist of seasonally flooded varzea forest, and include two ox-bow lakes ('cochas') which constitute important permanent aquatic habitats. Away from the river the land is dominated by low but steep hills covered with very tall primary rainforest with a high density of economically valuable timber species. Small clearwater creeks wtih sandy bottoms drain the area, and several swampy areas add further environmental heterogeneity. Ridgetops in the reserve share may characteristics with varillal habitat, a very restricted type of habitat that is found in several locations in the Peruvian Amazon. Varillal occurs on ancient sandy ridges between river systems, and is home to a number of relict bird and mammal species, all of which are endangered due to their dependence on this rare type of habitat. Large mammals are fairly common in the region, and recent sightings include mountain lions and giant anteaters. Tapirs and jaguars are known to occur in the immediate area, as evidenced by the presence of tracks. Birds are very diverse, but much more survey work is needed before a more-or-less complete list is compiled - at least one undescribed subspecies of bird (the Black-headed Antbird) is known to occur at Sabalillo, and it is probable that several more undescribed forms occur. The aquatic fauna is also very diverse, and blackwater creeks in the area (including Sabalillo Creek) are important resources for local people for the collection of neon tetras, hatchetfish, and other species for the ornamental fish trade. A joint fish sampling project being carried out by Shedd Aquarium (Chicago) and Project Amazonas, is documenting the fish species present in the area. Reptiles and amphibians are also being catalogued periodically by visiting herpetologists, with a number of rarely encountered species already noted, including the giant monkey frog (Phyllobates bicolor).
A Cooperative Reserve: The Sabalillo Forest Reserve is a cooperative effort between Project Amazonas and other entities. The Reserve will be protected, managed and used in a cooperative manner. Project Amazonas has established a memorandum of understanding with the John G. Shedd Aquarium of Chicago, providing for funding for a caretaker position at the Sabalillo reserve, as well as for participation by Project Amazonas in a multi-year study of the aquarium fish industry in the region. This Shedd-initiated study is looking at ornamental fish populations in various locations in the Peruvian Amazon, including at the Sabalillo Forest Reserve. The Sabalillo Yagua Indian Community is also participating in the management and operation of the Sabalillo reserve. By agreement with community members, the community has first opportunity for all employment opportunities at the reserve, including the position of caretaker, and temporary employment for construction, trail maintenance, guides, and field assistants. The community has also pledged to respect the no-hunting reserve zone, and to exclude commercial fishermen from the reserve waterways and lakes. In turn, Project Amazonas has pledged assistance to the Sabalillo School and will regularly include the community in medical expeditions organized or sponsored by Project Amazonas. EcologyFund monies are being used to pay for survey work, legal fees and lease payments to expand the Sabalillo and Madre Selva reserves. (Madre Selva is located on the Orosa River and is noted for its floating meadow habitats.)
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NOTICE: Activation key must be used on a valid Steam account, requires internet connection.
Zombies on a Plane is an exciting new survival game in the sky. Take on the role of the captain of a troubled jumbo jet carrying infected passengers intent on bringing the plane out of the sky, or pit yourself against hundreds of zombies in the interior of a jumbo jet or even walk along the outside as you fight to regain control as one of the passengers in this innovative and interactive gaming experience like no other.
Use the plane as a weapon or shoot your way through the aisles as one of the last surviving passengers as you to fight to stay in the air against hordes of zombies at 30,000ft. As captain in control, players must maintain the health of vital key parts, such as the engines and rudder, by knocking the zombies off the plane. As a passenger, players use an assortment of weaponry and traps to halt the zombies' advance and can manually repair parts to keep the plane in the air.
- A Multitude of Modes – 6 different game modes to test your survival or flying skills, including modes like 'Defend the Cockpit' and 'Flight of 10 Waves'
- High Replayability – 5 different characters and 3 planes to choose from, all with their own abilities and playstyles
- Smart Gore System – Severe the limbs off zombies to slow them down and watch as they react
- Zombie Variety – A multitude of intelligent zombie types to survive against, all with different playstyles
- Unique Blend of Weaponry – 10 different weapons to unlock, including zombie shredding traps, with smart score-based weapon progression system
- Rewards – Innovative combo reward system keeps the game fresh by rewarding players with large combos an array of exciting game changers
- Manage the Plane – Repair parts to keep the plane in the air and keep doors sealed to prevent new spawn points opening up
- Never-before-seen gameplay – Battle for control on top of a flying jumbo jet or knock zombies off the plane and watch them fall with glee as they realistically react to plane movement
- OS: Windows 8/7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Processor: Intel or AMD New Generation Dual Core 2.0GHz CPU
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA 8800 or ATI 3850
- DirectX: Version 9.0
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- OS: Windows 8/7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Processor: Intel i5 or AMD equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or ATI Radeon HD 6850
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 1 GB available space
- OS: OS X version Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3, or later.
- Processor: Intel Mac
- Graphics: Nvidia, ATI GPU or Intel GPU


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Are CEOs Really Overpaid?
Could a seven-figure salary for a CEO be a bargain? New research suggests that criticism of high CEO pay may be misguided.
Pedro Matos, a professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, says that salaries for most American CEOs are actually in line with those of international counterparts despite appearing to be much higher.
"Initially, U.S. CEO salaries appear twice as large as salaries of CEOs in other countries, but one is really comparing apples to oranges due to differences in the way that U.S. firms operate compared to their international counterparts," said Matos, who conducted the research with three other finance professors: Nuno Fernandes, of the IMD Business School; Miguel Ferreira, of the Nova School of Business and Economics; and Kevin Murphy, from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.
The researchers say the corporate structure of American-based companies is very different from international counterparts and therefore pay is structured differently. In particular, Matos says American firms are more focused on institutional ownership and independent boards, which in turn leads to oversight in most corporations. That structure also leads to a higher likelihood that salaries would be awarded in stock or stock options, which may make salaries appear higher.
Additionally, more American CEOs have equity-based pay that is tied to the value they create for shareholders. To come up with these findings, researchers studied pay data from 1,648 U.S firms and 1,615 global firms from 13 countries.
"We think it's a sign of good corporate governance when firms are monitored closely by institutional owners as well as independent board members. These push for CEO pay to be tied to shareholder performance," Matos said. "It should cause us to question the belief that U.S. CEO pay is excessive. Many of the non-U.S. firms vie for the same capital, customers and talent as U.S. firms that operate globally. We feel that our research presents grounds for critics to take a second look at U.S. CEO salaries."
The research is set to be published in a forthcoming edition of the Review of Financial Studies.
Follow David Mielach on Twitter @D_M89 or BusinessNewsDaily @bndarticles. We're also on Facebook & Google+.


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Chapter III. Usagara
Nature of the Country - Resumption of the March - A Hunt - Bombay and Baraka - The Slave-Hunters - The Ivory-Merchants - Collection of Natural-History Specimens - A Frightened Village - Tracking a Mule.
Under U-Sagara, or, as it might be interpreted, U-sa-Gara - country of Gara - is included all the country lying between the bifurcation of the Kingani and Mgeta rivers east, and Ugogo, the first country on the interior plateau west, - a distance of a hundred miles. On the north it is bounded by the Mukondokua, or upper course of the Wami river and on the south by the Ruaha, or northern great branch of the Lufiji river. It forms a link of the great East Coast Range; but though it is generally comprehended under the single name Usagara, many sub-tribes occupy and apply their own names to portions of it; as, for instance, the people on whose ground we now stood at the foot of the hills, are Wa-Khutu, and their possessions consequently are U-Khutu, which is by far the best producing land hitherto alluded to since leaving the sea-coast line. Our ascent by the river, though quite imperceptible to the eye, has been 500 feet. From this level the range before us rises in some places to 5000 to 6000 feet, not as one grand mountain, but in two detached lines, lying at an angle of 45 degrees from N.E. to S.W., and separated one from the other by elevated valleys, tables, and crab-claw spurs of hill which incline towards the flanking rivers. The whole having been thrown up by volcanic action, is based on a strong foundation of granite and other igneous rocks, which are exposed in many places in the shape of massive blocks; otherwise the hill-range is covered in the upper part with sandstone, and in the bottoms with alluvial clay. This is the superficial configuration of the land as it strikes the eye; but, knowing the elevation of the interior plateau to be only 2500 feet above the sea immediately on the western flank of these hills, whilst the breath of the chain is 100 miles, the mean slope of incline of the basal surface must be on a gradual rise of twenty feet per mile. The hill tops and sides, where not cultivated, are well covered with bush and small trees, amongst which the bamboo is conspicuous; whilst the bottoms, having a soil deeper and richer, produce fine large fig-trees of exceeding beauty, the huge calabash, and a variety of other trees. Here, in certain places where water is obtainable throughout the year, and wars, or slave-hunts more properly speaking, do not disturb the industry of the people, cultivation thrives surprisingly; but such a boon is rarely granted them. It is in consequence of these constantly- recurring troubles that the majority of the Wasagara villages are built on hill-spurs, where the people can the better resist attack, or, failing, disperse and hide effectually. The normal habitation is the small conical hut of grass. These compose villages, varying in number according to the influence of their head men. There are, however, a few mud villages on the table-lands, each built in a large irregular square of chambers with a hollow yard in the centre, known as tembe.
As to the people of these uplands, poor, meagre-looking wretches, they contrast unfavourably with the lowlanders on both sides of them. Dingy in colour, spiritless, shy, and timid, they invite attack in a country where every human being has a market value, and are little seen by the passing caravan. In habits they are semi-pastoral agriculturalists, and would be useful members of society were they left alone to cultivate their own possessions, rich and beautiful by nature, but poor and desolate by force of circumstance. Some of the men can afford a cloth, but the greater part wear an article which I can only describe as a grass kilt. In one or two places throughout the passage of these hills a caravan may be taxed, but if so, only to a small amount; the villagers more frequently fly to the hill-tops as soon as the noise of the advancing caravan is heard, and no persuasions will bring them down again, so much ground have they, from previous experience, to fear treachery. It is such sad sights, and the obvious want of peace and prosperity, that weary the traveller, and make him every think of pushing on to his journey's end from the instant he enters Africa until he quits the country.
Knowing by old experience that the beautiful green park in the fork of these rivers abounded in game of great variety and in vast herds, where no men are ever seen except some savage hunters sitting in the trees with poisoned arrows, or watching their snares and pitfalls, I had all along determined on a hunt myself, to feed and cheer the men, and also to collect some specimens for the home museums. In the first object we succeeded well, as "the bags" we made counted two brindled gnu, four water-boc, one pallah-boc, and one pig, - enough to feed abundantly the whole camp round. The feast was all the better relished as the men knew well that no Arab master would have given them what he could sell; for if a slave shot game, the animals would be the master's, to be sold bit by bit among the porters, and compensated from the proceeds of their pay. In the variety and number of our game we were disappointed, partly because so many wounded got away, and partly because we could not find what we knew the park to contain, in addition to what we killed - namely, elephants, rhinoceros, giraffes, buffaloes, zebra, and many varieties of antelopes, besides lions and hyenas. In fact, "the park," as well as all the adjacent land at the foot of the hills, is worth thinking of, with a view to a sporting tour as well as scientific investigation.
A circumstance arose here, which, insignificant though it appeared, is worth noting, to show how careful one must be in understanding and dealing with negro servants. Quite unaccountably to myself, the general of my Wanguana, Baraka, after showing much discontent with his position as head of Captain Grant's establishment, became so insolent, that it was necessary to displace him, and leave him nothing to do but look after the men. This promoted Frij, who enjoyed his rise as much as Baraka, if his profession was to be believed, enjoyed his removal from that office. Though he spoke in this manner, still I knew that there was something rankling in his mind which depressed his spirits as long as he remained with us, though what it was I could not comprehend, nor did I fully understand it till months afterwards. It was ambition, which was fast making a fiend of him; and had I known it, he would, and with great advantage too, have been dismissed upon the spot. The facts were these: He was exceedingly clever, and he knew it. His command over men was surprising. At Zanzibar he was the Consul's right- hand man: he ranked above Bombay in the consular boat's crew, and became a terror even to the Banyans who kept slaves. He seemed, in fact, in his own opinion, to have imbibed all the power of the British Consul who had instructed him. Such a man was an element of discord in our peaceful caravan. He was far too big-minded for the sphere which he occupied; and my surprise now is that he ever took service, knowing what he should, at the time of enlistment, have expected, that no man would be degraded to make room for him. But this was evidently what he had expected, though he dared not say it. He was jealous of Bombay, because he thought his position over the money department was superior to his own over the men; and he had seen Bombay, on one occasion, pay a tax in Uzaramo - a transaction which would give him consequence with the native chiefs. Of Sheikh Said he was equally jealous, for a like reason; and his jealousy increased the more that I found it necessary to censure the timidity of this otherwise worthy little man. Baraka thought, in his conceit, that he could have done all things better, and gained signal fame, had he been created chief. Perhaps he thought he had gained the first step towards this exalted rank, and hence his appearing very happy for this time. I could not see through so deep a scheme and only hoped that he would shortly forget, in the changes of the marching life, those beautiful wives he had left behind him, which Bombay in his generosity tried to persuade me was the cause of his mental distraction.
Our halt at the ford here was cut short by the increasing sickness of the Hottentots, and the painful fact that Captain Grant was seized with fever.[FN#6] We had to change camp to the little village of Kiruru, where, as rice was grown - an article not to be procured again on this side of Unyamuezi - we stopped a day to lay in supplies of this most valuable of all travelling food. Here I obtained the most consistent accounts of the river system which, within five days' journey, trends through Uzegura; and I concluded, from what I heard, that there is no doubt of the Mukondokua and Wami rivers being one and the same stream. My informants were the natives of the settlement, and they all concurred in saying that the Kingani above the junction is called the Rufu, meaning the parent stream. Beyond it, following under the line of the hills, at one day's journey distant, there is a smaller river called Msonge. At an equal distance beyond it, another of the same size is known as Lungerengeri; and a fourth river is the Wami, which mouths in the sea at Utondue, between the ports of Whindi and Saadami. In former years, the ivory- merchants, ever seeking for an easy road for their trade, and knowing they would have no hills to climb if they could only gain a clear passage by this river from the interior plateau to the sea, made friends with the native chiefs of Uzegura, and succeeded in establishing it as a thoroughfare. Avarice, however, that fatal enemy to the negro chiefs, made them overreach themselves by exorbitant demands of taxes. Then followed contests for the right of appropriating the taxes, and the whole ended in the closing of the road, which both parties were equally anxious to keep open for their mutual gain. This foolish disruption having at first only lasted for a while, the road was again opened and again closed, for the merchants wanted an easy passage, and the native chiefs desired cloths. But it was shut again; and now we heard of its being for a third time opened, with what success the future only can determine - for experience WILL not teach the negro, who thinks only for the moment. Had they only sense to see, and patience to wait, the whole trade of the interior would inevitably pass through their country instead of Uzaramo; and instead of being poor in cloths, they would be rich and well dressed like their neighbours. But the curse of Noah sticks to these his grandchildren by Ham, and no remedy that has yet been found will relieve them. They require a government like ours in India; and without it, the slave trade will wipe them off the face of the earth.
Now leaving the open parks of pretty acacias, we followed up the Mgazi branch of the Mgeta, traversed large tree-jungles, where the tall palm is conspicuous, and drew up under the lumpy Mkambaku, to find a residence for the day. Here an Arab merchant, Khamis, bound for Zanzibar, obliged us by agreeing for a few dollars to convey our recent spoils in natural history to the coast.
My plans for the present were to reach Zungomero as soon as possible, as a few days' halt would be required there to fix the longitude of the eastern flank of the East Coast Range by astronomical observation; but on ordering the morning's march, the porters - too well fed and lazy - thought our marching-rate much too severe, and resolutely refused to move. They ought to have made ten miles a-day, but preferred doing five. Argument was useless, and I was reluctant to apply the stick, as the Arabs would have done when they saw their porters trifling with their pockets. Determining, however, not to be frustrated in this puerile manner, I ordered the bugler to sound the march, and started with the mules and coast-men, trusting to Sheikh and Baraka to bring on the Wanyamuezi as soon as they could move them. The same day we crossed the Mgazi where we found several Wakhutu spearing fish in the muddy hovers of its banks.
We slept under a tree, and this morning found a comfortable residence under the eaves of a capacious hut. The Wanyamuezi porters next came in at their own time, and proved to us how little worth are orders in a land where every man, in his own opinion, is a lord, and no laws prevail. Zungomero, bisected by the Mgeta, lies on flat ground, in a very pretty amphitheatre of hills, S. lat. 7§ 26' 53", and E. long. 37§ 36' 45". It is extremely fertile, and very populous, affording everything that man can wish, even to the cocoa and papwa fruits; but the slave- trade has almost depopulated it, and turned its once flourishing gardens into jungles. As I have already said, the people who possess these lands are cowardly by nature, and that is the reason why they are so much oppressed. The Wasuahili, taking advantage of their timidity, flock here in numbers to live upon the fruits of their labours. The merchants on the coast, too, though prohibited by their Sultan from interfering with the natural course of trade, send their hungry slaves, as touters, to entice all approaching caravans to trade with their particular ports, authorising the touters to pay such premiums as may be necessary for the purpose. Where they came from we could not ascertain; but during our residence, a large party of the Wasuahili marched past, bound for the coast, with one hundred head of cattle, fifty slaves in chains, and as many goats. Halts always end disastrously in Africa, giving men time for mischief;- -and here was an example of it. During the target-practice, which was always instituted on such occasions to give confidence to our men, the little pepper-box Rahan, my head valet, challenged a comrade to a duel with carbines. Being stopped by those around him, he vented his wrath in terrible oaths, and swung about his arms, until his gun accidentally went off, and blew his middle finger off.
Baraka next, with a kind of natural influence of affinity when a row is commenced, made himself so offensive to Bombay, as to send him running to me so agitated with excitement that I thought him drunk. He seized my hands, cried, and implored me to turn him off. What could this mean? I could not divine; neither could he explain, further than that he had come to a determination that I must send either him or Baraka to the right-about; and his first idea was that he, and not Baraka, should be the victim. Baraka's jealousy about his position had not struck me yet. I called them both together and asked what quarrel they had, but could not extract the truth. Baraka protested that he had never given, either by word or deed, the slightest cause of rupture; he only desired the prosperity of the march, and that peace should reign throughout the camp; but Bombay was suspicious of him, and malignantly abused him, for what reason Baraka could not tell. When I spoke of this to Bombay, like a bird fascinated by the eye of a viper, he shrank before the slippery tongue of his opponent, and could only say, "No, Sahib - oh no, that is not it; you had better turn me off, for his tongue is so long, and mine so short, you never will believe me." I tried to make them friends, hoping it was merely a passing ill-wind which would soon blow over; but before long the two disputants were tonguing it again, and I distinctly heard Bombay ordering Baraka out of camp as he could not keep from intermeddling, saying, which was true, he had invited him to join the expedition, that his knowledge of Hindustani might be useful to us; he was not wanted for any other purpose, and unless he was satisfied with doing that alone, we would get on much better without him. To this provocation Baraka mildly made the retort, "Pray don't put yourself in a passion, nobody is hurting you, it is all in your own heart, which is full of suspicions and jealousy without the slightest cause."
This complicated matters more than ever. I knew Bombay to be a generous, honest man, entitled by his former services to be in the position he was now holding as fundi, or supervisor in the camp. Baraka, who never would have joined the expedition excepting through his invitation, was indebted to him for the rank he now enjoyed - a command over seventy men, a duty in which he might have distinguished himself as a most useful accessory to the camp. Again I called the two together, and begged them to act in harmony like brothers, noticing that there was no cause for entertaining jealousy on either side, as every order rested with myself to reward for merit or to punish. The relative position in the camp was like that of the senior officers in India, Bombay representing the Mulki lord, or Governor-General, and Baraka the Jungi lord, or Commander- in-Chief. To the influence of this distinguished comparison they both gave way, acknowledging myself their judge, and both protesting that they wished to serve in peace and quietness for the benefit of the march.
Zungomero is a terminus or junction of two roads leading to the interior - one, the northern, crossing over the Goma Pass, and trenching on the Mukondokua river, and the other crossing over the Mabruki Pass, and edging on the Ruaha river. They both unite again at Ugogi, the western terminus on the present great Unyamuezi line. On the former expedition I went by the northern line and returned by the southern, finding both equally easy, and, indeed, neither is worthy of special and permanent preference. In fact, every season makes a difference in the supply of water and provisions; and with every year, owing to incessant wars, or rather slave-hunts, the habitations of the wretched inhabitants become constantly changed - generally speaking, for the worse. Our first and last object, therefore, as might be supposed, from knowing these circumstances, was to ascertain, before mounting the hill-range, which route would afford us the best facilities for a speedy march now. No one, however, could or would advise us. The whole country on ahead, especially Ugogo, was oppressed by drought and famine. To avoid this latter country, then, we selected the southern route, as by doing so it was hoped we might follow the course of the Ruaha river from Maroro to Usenga and Usanga, and thence strike across to Unyanyembe, sweeping clear of Ugogo.
With this determination, after despatching a third set of specimens, consisting of large game animals, birds, snakes, insects, land and freshwater shells, and a few rock specimens, of which one was fossiliferous, we turned southwards, penetrating the forests which lie between the greater range and the little outlying one. At the foot of this is the Maji ya Wheta, a hot, deep-seated spring of fresh water, which bubbles up through many apertures in a large dome-shaped heap of soft lime - an accumulation obviously thrown up by the force of the spring, as the rocks on either side of it are of igneous character. We arrived at the deserted village of Kirengue. This was not an easy go-ahead march, for the halt had disaffected both men and mules. Three of the former bolted, leaving their loads upon the ground; and on the line of march, one of the mules, a full-conditioned animal, gave up the ghost after an eighteen hours' sickness. What his disease was I never could ascertain; but as all the remaining animals died afterwards much in the same manner, I may state for once and for all, that these attacks commenced with general swelling, at first on the face, then down the neck, along the belly and down the legs. It proved so obstinate that fire had no effect upon it; and although we cut off the tails of some to relieve them by bleeding, still they died.
In former days Kirengue was inhabited, and we reasonably hoped to find some supplies for the jungly march before us. But we had calculated without our host, for the slave-hunters had driven every vestige of humanity away; and now, as we were delayed by our three loads behind, there was nothing left but to send back and purchase more grain. Such was one of the many days frittered away in do-nothingness.
This day, all together again, we rose the first spurs of the well-wooded Usagara hills, amongst which the familiar bamboo was plentiful, and at night we bivouacked in the jungle.
Rising betimes in the morning, and starting with a good will, we soon reached the first settlements of Mbuiga, from which could be seen a curious blue mountain, standing up like a giant overlooking all the rest of the hills. The scenery here formed a strong and very pleasing contrast to any we had seen since leaving the coast. Emigrant Waziraha, who had been driven from their homes across the Kingani river by the slave-hunters, had taken possession of the place, and disposed their little conical- hut villages on the heights of the hill-spurs in such a picturesque manner, that one could not help hoping they would here at least be allowed to rest in peace and quietness. The valleys, watered by little brooks, are far richer, and even prettier, than the high lands above, being lined with fine trees and evergreen shrubs; while the general state of prosperity was such, that the people could afford, even at this late season of the year, to turn their corn into malt to brew beer for sale; and goats and fowls were plentiful in the market.
Passing by the old village of Mbuiga, which I occupied on my former expedition, we entered some huts on the western flank of the Mbuiga district; and here, finding a coast-man, a great friend of the little sheikh's, willing to take back to Zanzibar anything we might give him, a halt was made, and I drew up my reports. I then consigned to his charge three of the most sickly of the Hottentots in a deplorable condition - one of the mules, that they might ride by turns - and all the specimens that had been collected. With regret I also sent back the camera; because I saw, had I allowed my companion to keep working it, the heat he was subjected to in the little tent whilst preparing and fixing his plates would very soon have killed him. The number of guinea-fowl seen here was most surprising.
A little lighter and much more comfortable for the good riddance of those grumbling "Tots," we worked up to and soon breasted the stiff ascent of the Mabruki Pass, which we surmounted without much difficult. This concluded the first range of these Usagara hills; and once over, we dropped down to the elevated valley of Makata, where we halted two days to shoot. As a travelling Arab informed me that the whole of the Maroro district had been laid waste by the marauding Wahehe, I changed our plans again, and directed our attention to a middle and entirely new line, which in the end would lead us to Ugogi. The first and only giraffe killed upon the journey was here shot by Grant, with a little 40- gauge Lancaster rifle, at 200 yards' distance. Some smaller animals were killed; but I wasted all my time in fruitlessly stalking some wounded striped eland - magnificent animals, as large as Delhi oxen - and some other animals, of which I wounded three, about the size of hartebeest, and much their shape, only cream-coloured, with a conspicuous black spot in the centre of each flank. The eland may probably be the animal first mentioned by Livingstone, but the other animal is not known.
Though reluctant to leave a place where such rare animals were to be found, the fear of remaining longer on the road induced us to leave Kikobogo, and at a good stride we crossed the flat valley of Makata, and ascended the higher lands beyond, where we no sooner arrived than we met the last down trader from Unyamuezi, well known to all my men as the great Mamba or Crocodile. Mamba, dressed in a dirty Arab gown, with coronet of lion's nails decorating a thread-bare cutch cap, greeted us with all the dignity of a savage potentate surrounded by his staff of half- naked officials. As usual, he had been the last to leave the Unyamuezi, and so purchased all his stock of ivory at a cheap rate, there being no competitors left to raise the value of that commodity; but his journey had been a very trying one. With a party, at his own estimate, of two thousand souls - we did not see anything like that number - he had come from Ugogo to this, by his own confession, living on the products of the jungle, and by boiling down the skin aprons of his porters occasionally for a soup. Famines were raging throughout the land, and the Arabs preceding him had so harried the country, that every village was deserted. On hearing our intention to march upon the direct line, he frankly said he thought we should never get through for my men could not travel as he had done, and therefore he advised our deflecting northwards from New Mbumi to join the track leading from Rumuma to Ugogi. This was a sad disappointment; but, rather than risk a failure, I resolved to follow his advice.
After reaching the elevated ground, we marched over rolling tops, covered with small trees and a rich variety of pretty bulbs, and reached the habitations of Muhanda, where we no sooner appeared than the poor villagers, accustomed only to rough handling, immediately dispersed in the jungles. By dint of persuasion, however, we induced them to sell us provisions, though at a monstrous rate, such as no merchant could have afforded; and having spent the night quietly, we proceeded on to the upper courses of the M'yombo river, which trends its way northwards to the Mukondokua river. The scenery was most interesting, with every variety of hill, roll, plateau, and ravine, wild and prettily wooded; but we saw nothing of the people. Like frightened rats, as soon as they caught the sound of our advancing march, they buried themselves in the jungles, carrying off their grain with them. Foraging parties, of necessity, were sent out as soon as the camp was pitched, with cloth for purchases, and strict orders not to use force; the upshot of which was, that my people got nothing but a few arrows fired at them by the lurking villagers, and I was abused for my squeamishness. Moreover, the villagers, emboldened by my lenity, vauntingly declared they would attack the camp by night, as they could only recognise in us such men as plunder their houses and steal their children. This caused a certain amount of alarm among my men, which induced them to run up a stiff bush-fence round the camp, and kept them talking all night.
This morning we marched on as usual, with one of the Hottentots lashed on a donkey; for the wretched creature, after lying in the sun asleep, became so sickly that he could not move or do anything for himself, and nobody would do anything for him. The march was a long one, but under ordinary circumstances would have been very interesting, for we passed an immense lagoon, where hippopotami were snorting as if they invited an attack. In the larger tree-jungles the traces of elephants, buffaloes, rhinoceros, and antelopes were very numerous; while a rich variety of small birds, as often happened, made me wish I had come on a shooting rather than on a long exploring expedition. Towards sunset we arrived at New Mbimi, a very pretty and fertile place, lying at the foot of a cluster of steep hills, and pitched camp for three days to lay in supplies for ten, as this was reported to be the only place where we could buy corn until we reached Ugogo, a span of 140 miles. Mr Mbumi, the chief of the place, a very affable negro, at once took us by the hand, and said he would do anything we desired, for he had often been to Zanzibar. He knew that the English were the ruling power in that land, and that they were opposed to slavery, the terrible effects of which had led to his abandoning Old Mbumi, on the banks of the Mukondokua river, and rising here.
The sick Hottentot died here, and we buried him with Christian honours. As his comrades said, he died because he had determined to die, - an instance of that obstinate fatalism in their mulish temperament which no kind words or threats can cure. This terrible catastrophe made me wish to send all the remaining Hottentots back to Zanzibar; but as they all preferred serving with me to returning to duty at the Cape, I selected two of the MOST sickly, put them under Tabib, one of Rigby's old servants, and told him to remain with them at Mbumi until such time as he might find some party proceeding to the coasts; and, in the meanwhile, for board and lodgings I have Mbumi beads and cloth. The prices of provisions here being a good specimen of what one has to pay at this season of the year, I give a short list of them: - sixteen rations corn, two yards cloth; three fowls, two yards cloth; one goat, twenty yards cloth; one cow, forty yards cloth, - the cloth being common American sheeting. Before we left Mbumi, a party of forty men and women of the Waquiva tribe, pressed by famine, were driven there to purchase food. The same tribe had, however killed many of Mbumi's subjects not long since, and therefore, in African revenge, the chief seized them all, saying he would send them off for sale to Zanzibar market unless they could give a legitimate reason for the cruelty they had committed. These Waquiva, I was given to understand, occupied the steep hills surrounding this place. They were a squalid-looking set, like the generality of the inhabitants of this mountainous region.
This march led us over a high hill to the Mdunhwi river, another tributary to the Mukondokua. It is all clad in the upper regions with the slender pole-trees which characterise these hills, intermingled with bamboo; but the bottoms are characterised by a fine growth of fig-trees of great variety along with high grasses; whilst near the villages were found good gardens of plantains, and numerous Palmyra trees. The rainy season being not far off, the villagers were busy in burning rubble and breaking their ground. Within their reach everywhere is the sarsaparilla vine, but growing as a weed, for they know nothing of its value.
Rising up from the deep valley of Mdunhwi we had to cross another high ridge before descending to the also deep valley of Chongue, as picturesque a country as the middle heights of the Himalayas, dotted on the ridges and spur-slopes by numerous small conical- hut villages; but all so poor that we could not, had we wanted it, have purchased provisions for a day's consumption.
Leaving this valley, we rose to the table of Manyovi, overhung with much higher hills, looking, according to the accounts of our Hottentots, as they eyed the fine herds of cattle grazing on the slopes, so like the range in Kafraria, that they formed their expectations accordingly, and appeared, for the first time since leaving the coast, happy at the prospect before them, little dreaming that such rich places were seldom to be met with. The Wanyamuezi porters even thought they had found a paradise, and forthwith threw down their loads as the villagers came to offer them grain for sale; so that, had I not had the Wanguana a little under control, we should not have completed our distance that day, and so reached Manyonge, which reminded me, by its ugliness, of the sterile Somali land. Proceeding through the semi-desert rolling table-land - in one place occupied by men who build their villages in large open squares of flat-topped mud huts, which, when I have occasion to refer to them in future, I shall call by their native name tembe - we could see on the right hand the massive mountains overhanging the Mukondokua river, to the front the western chain of these hills, and to the left the high crab- claw shaped ridge, which, extending from the western chain, circles round conspicuously above the swelling knolls which lie between the two main rocky ridges. Contorted green thorn-trees, "elephant-foot" stumps, and aloes, seem to thrive best here, by their very nature indicating what the country is, a poor stony land. Our camp was pitched by the river Rumuma, where, sheltered from the winds, and enriched by alluvial soil, there ought to have been no scarcity; but still the villagers had nothing to sell.
On we went again to Marenga Mkhaili, the "Salt Water," to breakfast, and camped in the crooked green thorns by night, carrying water on for our supper. This kind of travelling - forced marches - hard as it may appear, was what we liked best, for we felt that we were shortening the journey, and in doing so, shortening the risks of failure by disease, by war, by famine, and by mutiny. We had here no grasping chiefs to detain us for presents, nor had our men time to become irritable and truculent, concoct devices for stopping the way, or fight amongst themselves.
On again, and at last we arrived at the foot of the western chain; but not all together. Some porters, overcome by heat and thirst, lay scattered along the road, while the corporal of the Hottentots allowed his mule to stray from him, never dreaming the animal would travel far from his comrades, and, in following after him, was led such a long way into the bush, that my men became alarmed for his safety, knowing as they did that the "savages" were out living like monkeys on the calabash fruit, and looking out for any windfalls, such as stragglers worth plundering, that might come in their way. At first the Wanguana attempted to track down the corporal; but finding he would not answer their repeated shots, and fearful for their own safety, they came into camp and reported the case. Losing no time, I ordered twenty men, armed with carbines, to carry water for the distressed porters, and bring the corporal back as soon as possible. They all marched off, as they always do on such exploits, in high good-humour with themselves for the valour which they intended to show; and in the evening came in, firing their guns in the most reckless manner, beaming with delight; for they had the corporal in tow, two men and two women captives, and a spear as a trophy. Then in high impatience, all in a breath, they began a recital of the great day's work. The corporal had followed on the spoor of the mule, occasionally finding some of his things that had been torn from the beast's back by the thorns, and, picking up these one by one, had become so burdened with the weight of them, that he could follow no farther. In this fix the twenty men came up with him, but not until they had had a scrimmage with the "savages," had secured four, and taken the spear which had been thrown at them. Of the mule's position no one could give an opinion, save that they imagined, in consequence of the thickness of the bush, he would soon become irretrievably entangled in the thicket, where the savages would find him, and bring him in as a ransom for the prisoners.
What with the diminution of our supplies, the famished state of the country, and the difficulties which frowned upon us in advance, together with unwillingness to give up so good a mule, with all its gear and ammunition, I must say I felt doubtful as to what had better be done, until the corporal, who felt confident he would find the beast, begged so hard that I sent him in command of another expedition of sixteen men, ordering him to take one of the prisoners with him to proclaim to his brethren that we would give up the rest if they returned us the mule. The corporal then led off his band to the spot where he last saw traces of the animal, and tracked on till sundown; while Grant and myself went out pot-hunting and brought home a bag consisting of one striped eland, one saltiana antelope, four guinea-fowl, four ringdoves, and one partridge - a welcome supply, considering we were quite out of flesh.
Next day, as there were no signs of the trackers, I went again to the place of the elands, wounded a fine male, but gave up the chase, as I heard the unmistakable gun-firing return of the party, and straightway proceeded to camp. Sure enough, there they were; they had tracked the animal back to Marenga Mkhali, through jungle - for he had not taken to the footpath. Then finding he had gone on, they returned quite tired and famished. To make the most of a bad job, I now sent Grant on to the Robeho (or windy) Pass, on the top of the western chain, with the mules and heavy baggage, and directions to proceed thence across the brow of the hill the following morning, while I remained behind with the tired men, promising to join him by breakfast-time. I next released the prisoners, much to their disgust, for they had not known such good feeding before, and dreaded being turned adrift again in the jungles to live on calabash seeds; and then, after shooting six guinea-fowl, turned in for the night.
Betimes in the morning we were off, mounting the Robeho, a good stiff ascent, covered with trees and large blocks of granite, excepting only where cleared for villages; and on we went rapidly, until at noon the advance party was reached, located in a village overlooking the great interior plateau - a picture, as it were, of the common type of African scenery. Here, taking a hasty meal, we resumed the march all together, descended the great western chain, and, as night set in, camped in a ravine at the foot of it, not far from the great junction-station Ugogi, where terminate the hills of Usagara.


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Goodbye gasoline? Not so fast
Spreading car culture will push gasoline demand ever higher, but experts say it will need some help to meet the world's growing energy needs.
HOUSTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline use over the next two decades is expected to soar as developing nations get richer and more people there buy cars, but gas alone won't be able to shoulder the burden.
Along with their surging economies, the number of cars in India and China is expected to jump to 1.2 billion by 2050 from 20 million just a few years ago.
"Will oil be able to supply this increase in demand?" Dalton Perras, a director at Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), asked at the group's annual energy conference here in Houston. (See correction below)
It will certainly supply a lot of it, he said. Dalton expects oil use in the worldwide transport sector to jump 50% by 2030. But it will need some help to meet the world's energy needs.
Experts here say the fuel mix of the future must rely not just on gasoline, but a variety of sources - everything from biofuels and electric power to synthetic fuels, natural gas and greater efficiency will all help meet this growing demand.
Although diversifying the world's fuel sources may help meet growing demand, the development of alternative fuel sources is still in a nascent stage with serious ecological and humanitarian concerns remaining unclear.
The biofuel "solution." There have been many questions asking if corn-based ethanol is actually any better than gasoline when it comes to reducing greenhouse gasses. And their growing use has been attributed to rising food costs worldwide. Largely because of these concerns, the energy bill recently signed into law by President Bush says a big chunk of future biofuels must come from non-food crops like switch grass and corn stalks.
CERA predicts biofuels in the U.S. will go from about 2 percent of the current fuel mix to 15 by 2022, as mandated in the new energy law. In South America, biofuel use could make up 25 percent of the continent's fuel mix, led by Brazil's sugar-based ethanol industry. The Europeans, long fans of diesel engines, are also expected to boost their biodiesel use.
Because ethanol is difficult to transport and store, that opens the door for other biofuels like biobutenol and methanol to take a share of the biofuel market, said Tiffany Groode, an associate director at CERA.
Electricity and the plug-in hybrid. The electric industry is also expected to help meet future vehicle fuel needs, as more cars utilize "plug-in hybrid" technology. Hybrid cars are powered by both gasoline and electricity. In most of today's hybrids all the power is generated on-board by the gasoline engine. A plug-in hybrid can also take in electricity from a wall outlet, greatly extending its range.
Plug-in hybrids can lift a lot of the load from gasoline's shoulders, if plug ins suddenly replaced all the vehicles on the road today, electricity use would rise by only a sixth while oil use would fall by two-thirds, said Dalton.
But plug-in electric vehicles, which would need power outlets at parking lots nationwide, face the same infrastructure challenges as cars that run primarily on biofuel.
Groode said only 2 to 3 of the vehicles in the U.S. can use a fuel mix containing more than 10 percent ethanol. Problem is, no one wants to buy the vehicles because there are very few gas stations that sell a mostly ethanol blend. But gas stations don't want to put in the ethanol pumps because so few people drive those cars.
'It's kind of a chicken and the egg thing," she said.
Tuning up fuel efficiency will also play a role. It's essential for the automotive industry to have clearer picture on the future price of fuel, as well as future fuel mixes like those containing the biofuel they may be required to use, according to Julius Pretterebner, a CERA Director.
But even with biofuels, plug-in hybrids, and greater efficiency, oil will still play a central role to meet demand from many people buying cars.
"We see conventional fuels today, we saw them in the past, and we will see them in the future," said Pretterebner.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Dalton Perras as Jim Dalton.


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Speco woos integrators with IP savvy
By Martha Entwistle
Updated Thu July 31, 2014
Speco Technologies, a video surveillance manufacturer based in New York, may be best known for its analog solutions, but it is well into IP-based technology these days.
Today, Speco counts 25 of the largest and most sophisticated independent integrators in the U.S as its valued resellers, with Protection 1 as one of its marquee customers.
These are relationships the Speco management team has actively pursued. And, their pursuit of integrators has just begun, they say. The company's sales, engineering, marketing, training and management are eager to talk about what they're doing daily to increase the number of security systems integrators who turn to Speco for easy to use, innovative IP-based video technology.
I visited Speco this week, got a look at their headquarters in Amityville, the manufacturing and training operation and had a chance to hear Speco executives talk about their strategy.
In business since the early 1960s. Speco is a privately held business owned by the Keller family. The company went private on Sept. 10, 2001, the day before the horrific events of September 11, 2001.
Todd Keller, Speco president and owner, said the business employs about 100 people. In 2008 it broke $100 million in revenue, today it's "headed back to about $85 million" in 2014 revenue. The company is selling more products, but prices for many products have come down.
All of its products are assembled here at its headquarters in New York and most everything is engineered here or "outsourced in America." Keller and other management believe that being family-owned gives Speco an advantage over corporations. "We have the flexibility to pursue ideas, to engineer, innnovate, design," TJ Dickson, VP sales and marketing said, adding that Speco constantly tests and evaluates, and re-evalutates its products. It does the same with competitors' products, he said.
It has a warehouse in Amityville and a new warehouse in Reno, Nevada which it opened in April. This new warehouse houses $3 million in inventory and enables Speco to get products to distributors in the west much more quickly and inexpensively.
Corporations use "voice of the customer" Dickson said. "They hear the customer, but I'm not sure they listen to the customer." Because Speco is not a giant corporation, it is able to implement changes quickly, he said.
Speco is well known for some signature products: two way audio; Digital Deterrent; inventing (Keller says) the bullet camera; its wall-mounted DVR. It's also known for private labeling its products for customers large and small. Keller said he'd much rather have an installer's name on a product than Speco's name, saying that if they sell more "Speco wins."
Speco is also well known for its "Intensifier" technology, which several years ago made it possible for analog cameras to "see" in the dark and low light conditions. This September Speco is planning an "all out blitz" to launch its Intensifier technology built into HD IP cameras, according to Peter Botelho, EVP and GM at Speco Technologies.
"It will be a very aggressive launch aimed at a target group of integrators," he said. Botelho said Speco has taken its time and "worked to get it right." Some competitors have similar technology, he said, "but it doesn't perform like ours and when you add [Speco's lower] price point, this is a potential big win for us in IP," he said.
Speco also last week released its SecureGuard Plus, a VMS that "provides access to multiple DVRs, NVRs and IP cameras for remote viewing, playback and other functions." It does not have licensing fees. Botelho said that SecureGuard Plus is "all American programming, American processing, and an All-American idea" that was developed with input from the SecureGuard User Group, which consists of 15 to 20 integrators.� He called SecureGuard Plus "a VMS with some serious plans to take it way beyond [the traditional] VMS." Future versions of this software will "have special features and integrate with some things that we believe others haven't thought of."
Where's Speco heading in terms of software engineering? Developing software that "runs all peripheral devices and does something with the all the data that's collected," Botelho said. "We are well positioned to move into that space," he said. Why? "More than anything we have a management team that has the ability to understand what's really happening at the installer level. ... and that comes from listening," Botelho said.
Speco "listens" in many ways. Its Tech Support department takes between 300 and 500 calls per day. At the end of every month, Speco takes the top 10 issues its Tech Support department has dealt with, assesses those issues, solves them with other department input if necessary and "turns them into a positive," Keller said.
It does the same thing with the products themselves. Speco has a 2 percent rate of return and defective rate of less than a half a percent. All of the returned products are assessed as well. If, for example, a number of products have been returned because they've been damaged by a lightening strike, this may not be a defect, but this is good information for Speco engineers to have as they design a newer version of the product, Keller explained.
Speco also "listens" to its customers during training sessions. It has invested significantly in bringing its dealers to its headquarters for training. This year it has done more than 100 trainings so far in 2014. It has had 10 different distributors, dozens of independent integrators and all of Protection 1's national account managers to its headquarters this year.
Trainings held at the headquarters are the most effective, Dickson said, because Speco has a chance to talk about the company as well as the products.
Botelho said he also sees the trainings as "built-in focus groups" where engineering, marketing or sales people can learn what Speco customers are looking for.
However, it's important, Dickson said, to be able to execute on what you learn from customers. He said Speco can do this and cited a recent example of an integrator who wanted a special feature on its wall-mounted DVRs, a button that would flash and alerting a local store manager to push the button to download video. "We had it done, designed and the software written within a week. They were blown away," Dickson said.


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