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The Battle of the Alamo lasted 13 days. The Spurs' dominance of the Warriors in the land of the Alamo has now lasted 16 years. Someday soon, if the Spurs' dominance continues, there will be Warriors on the roster who were not alive to see Golden State take a game on San Antonio's home court. After all these years, Gregg Popovich's complete and absolute control over the Warriors triggers only one emotion: respect.
The Warriors didn't play a bad game Wednesday night against the Spurs. But it didn't matter. When the game tightened up in the fourth quarter, it was once again time for Duncan and Ginobili to go to work and for the next wave of Spurs role players to fulfill their destiny in Popovich's system. The Warriors were left to writhe around, then eventually succumb to the inevitable. The Spurs are the superior basketball team — shockingly only one win off Miami's pace — and looked only mildly tested by the Warriors' repeated surges.
Put simply, the Spurs played to their strengths and knocked the Warriors off theirs. Duncan was a hyper-efficient 11-17, scoring 25 in 31 minutes. Curry, Thompson and Lee, on the other hand, combined to go 15-45 ("lead" by Lee's 4-17 night). The Warriors aren't deep enough to survive below average nights from all three of their top players — particularly not against a team as good as the Spurs. The Warriors missed a fair number of shots they usually make, but the Spurs deserve a lot of credit for the smothering defense they laid across the Warriors' offensive game. Almost every shot was a physical struggle — whether from 2 or 20 feet — and even the surest of shots — fast breaks off turnovers and Lee put-backs off misses — faced wave after wave of defensive challenges. The Spurs made a few mistakes along the way, but they never made things easy for the Warriors.
The upside of the performance was how relentlessly the Warriors fought their way back into the game every time San Antonio seemed to deliver a knock-out blow. Effort wasn't the issue for the Warriors. Talent wasn't either — with Spurs fill-ins and reserves logging major minutes. The difference in the game ultimately was the ability to adapt. The Spurs had no problem weathering Tony Parker's absence, the 3-11 night from their starting backcourt and 5-16 night from Ginobili. Popovich simply adapted — working the ball through his big men in the high post rather than through his guards on penetration. In contrast, the Warriors had no answers when their jump shooters failed to connect on shots and David Lee was neither making put backs nor getting to the line. Harrison Barnes, the one Warrior giving the team a new scoring look, went to the bench first early in the game and didn't reappear for 15 minutes. The Warriors just kept doing the same thing, despite poor results, in the apparent hope that sometime, somehow the results would change in their favor.
Ultimately, there was little change, from earlier in the game or from ten years ago. The Spurs turn the Warriors into jump shooters and then challenge the jump shots to raise the degree of difficulty. The defensive system designed to squeeze the Warriors into those low-percentage looks also results in a lot of turnovers — both forced and unforced — because of the extra passes and dribbling required to find any daylight. The Warriors never managed to get rolling on offense, partially by luck and a large part by design.
In no particular order, some scattered individual thoughts:
Harrison Barnes — What does Barnes need to do to earn 30 minutes of playing time? He was aggressive all night, had the best offensive flashes of anyone on the team and played decent defense despite giving up a few early baskets. It seems like Barnes' limited minutes are a product of wanting Jack/Curry/Thompson on the court more than a reflection of Barnes' play. But even if the decision is based more on what others are doing (or are capable of), this seems like it would have been the perfect game to give Barnes a bit more room to show what he could do. He finished with an efficient offensive line, but it felt like it could have been a whole lot more.
Stephen Curry — To learn more about your own team, it's helpful to see how others dissect it. Popovich's defensive plan for Curry seemed less focused on preventing him from scoring and more concerned with not letting him be a playmaker. On repeated possession, Curry dribbled around looking for an open man but came up empty. With no one able to receive the ball, Curry often called his own number on these shots. While he connected on a fair number of them, the Warriors never got the offensive rhythm going. Curry wasn't totally neutralized — but he didn't need to be. Despite some late-game heroics, Curry alone couldn't do enough to defeat a fully integrated Spurs team.
David Lee — It was an awful night for Lee on offense, but his defense looked better than on Monday. Lee tried his best to stick with his man, despite drifting into no-man's land a few times (mostly when the Spurs stretched the floor with Bonner at 4). It was an encouraging sign of progress, if only for one game. At the offensive end, the Spurs played Lee all the way out to 20 feet, denying him easy looks on the jump shots that are a key component of his offensive game. Lee only took 3 shots outside of the paint, and missed them all. Inside, the Spurs' size and physicality seemed to throw him off his game. The Spurs' success could provide a blueprint for other teams on how to minimize Lee's impact.
Andrew Bogut — We're still seeing the lively Bogut at both ends. His lateral quickness is improving, as is his general conditioning. While he connected on a couple of early looks, his touch quickly deserted him. Despite his offensive struggles, he wasn't disruptive taking 9 shots. Most of them came in the flow of the offense and were decent looks. Hopefully he'll gradually dial in his offensive game given more touches. He'll be at his most dangerous as a creator for others when teams have to respect his ability to create for himself.
Kent Bazemore — Last but not least, the Warriors' walk-on made another strong pitch for more minutes. He was aggressive on defense, smart on offense and generally a shot of energy into the Warriors' system. The question becomes who loses minutes for Bazemore to gain them? Curry certainly could use a few more bench minutes a night. Assuming Jack takes over the point, Bazemore would be a nice addition as the bench squad's two-guard. Draymond Green is currently logging most of those minutes, but he's a far better fit at small or power forward given his highly limited offensive game. Bazemore would allow the Warriors are equally impressive defender in the second unit backcourt but with fewer of the concerns regarding whether he can be a two-way player.
Another Spurs game in San Antonio, another loss. Until the Warriors play with greater discipline and adaptability, it's more likely than not to continue this way in the series. Popovich has secured another 50-win season because he knows how to put pieces together to get the most potent combinations. That skill is part Xs and Os, part personality judgment and more than a dash of intimidation. As the Warriors look towards the playoffs, these Spurs games provide an ideal tune-up. The defense that the Spurs use to slow down the Warriors is likely to be at the top of any other opponents' strategies. At least for one night, the Spurs looked as if they have the Warriors comfortably figured out.


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At last! It's my launch party today for my kindle e-book and I can't believe it – I am beyond thrilled.
Come in and let me share with you some news.
I've been keeping a very special piece of art tucked away to reveal to you today!
It's a wonderful portrait that Carolina Russo of Yesterday After created for me of my character Esme.
What are your impressions of Esme? The tears in her eyes convey her sadness but the golden hair of the mysterious girl facing her (no spoilers!) is bright and vibrant, suggesting hope. Carolina has done an amazing job, I can't thank her enough for all her hard work in creating this stunning artwork for me. Collaborations makes me so happy. That is why I love writing and blogging so much. I would never have 'met' Carolina otherwise. It's so wonderful to be able to collaborate with talented and creative individuals like Carolina who live so far away.
More news! Tina Fotherby at Famous Publicity is in the process of arranging a meeting between little old me and the inventor of the Corpus Christi clock, http://www.johnctaylor.com/the-chronophage/
Isn't that beyond awesome? I am speechless. Dr John C. Taylor has been so generous, allowing me to use images of his incredible creation The Corpus Christi Chronopage on my social media and my book cover.
Look at a close up of this bug of a fellow below… (courtesy of Dr. John C Taylor) – My interview with The Grasshopper – The Curse of Time
I am very fortunate to have such a creative younger daughter, Georgina who has done an amazing job of photographing two models depicting my two main characters – Amelina, and Ryder.
Amelina – modelled by Elise Hackney
Ryder – modelled by Joseph English.
I have had the joy of collaborating with https://samanthamurdochblog.wordpress.com/ Samantha happens to have a black cat supermodel Lily who looks just like the black cat Shadow in my book.
Isn't Lily amazing?
Samantha loves crystals and so do I! Her son Alex Marlowe took this stunning photo of a Bloodstone crystal that features on the spine of my paperback (the paperback is still to be released.)
I can't thank my good friend Colleen Chesebro enough for all her kindness. She started off beta reading and then took me under her fairy wings to do a full scale edit. Thanks also to my beta readers – blogging friend Graeme Cumming – first draft beta reader and my eldest daughter Natasha Mallon for all her help too.
Below are the links to the kindle e-book – The Curse of Time – #1 Bloodstone.
If you'd like to leave a review, I'd be thrilled if you would.
So let's get in party mode, perhaps have a drink or two…
Whatever your tipple…
or a cup of very special tea?
Perhaps a cake? Ritu at But I Smile Anyway is a legendary baker, hint, hint… xxx
A big thank you to all my lovely friends who have featured me on their blogs leading up to the book launch and those who will be featuring me, thereafter. Your support and help mean so much.
Features and Excerpts to date:
An early introduction by my good friend Vashti – https://vashtiqvega.wordpress.com/2017/06/12/spotlight-m-j-mallon-author/
Plus Dan with his pre-author Q and A: https://danalatorre.com/2017/05/08/author-profile-23-questions-with-marje-from-kyrosmagica/
Many thanks to Sheila – https://scskillman.com/2017/08/22/the-curse-of-time-a-guest-post-by-m-j-mallon-author-of-the-curse-of-time-book-1-bloodstone/
My mate Beaton – https://becomingthemuse.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/of-a-book-tour-the-curse-of-time/
Warm-hearted Marcia – https://marciameara.wordpress.com/2017/08/05/excerptweek-the-curse-of-time-by-marjorie-mallon/
Huge supporter of authors Sally Chronin, who really has been sharing my new book so widely I can't thank her enough. Here is one such example: – https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2017/08/01/sallys-cafe-and-bookstore-new-on-the-shelves-the-curse-of-time-by-m-j-mallon/
Today's special release day post by Allan Hudson at South Branch Scribbler: http://allanhudson.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/guest-author-marjorie-mallon-of-england.html
Author Spotlights on the subject of Self-Harm:
A big thank you and hug to Adele – https://firefly465.wordpress.com/2017/08/09/marjorie-mallon-curse-of-time-1-the-bloodstone/
Another hug to Christy Birmingham – https://whenwomeninspire.com/2017/08/21/self-harm-fiction-writing-guest-post/
Author Guest Posts with Poetry as a theme:
A big thank you to Charli – https://carrotranch.com/2017/08/22/raw-literature-haiku-tanka-and-a-debut-novel/
And fellow Scot Seumas who like me has a fondness for the Far East, and has a way with words! Such a charming fellow – https://seumasgallacher.com/2017/08/22/marjorie-mallon-poet-and-authoress-extraordinaire-come-be-entranced/
My lovely friend Ritu shared my jokey piece of poetry about inspiration – https://butismileanyway.com/2017/08/25/marjorie-mallon-poetic-inspiration-thecurseoftime-blogtour-author/
My original story written about friendship, rainbows and crystals shared via my very special friend Colleen who has helped me so much I can't begin to thank her enough: http://colleenchesebro.com/2017/08/24/fairies-myths-magic-author-spotlight-guest-posts-rainbow-child-by-mj-mallon/
Some of the posts that I've already started planning that will be forthcoming after the release and in September/October 2017: Chris Graham at The Story Reading Ape, (inspiration,) Sacha Black (my marketing plans,) my fellow rainbow girl Debby Gies – D G Kaye Writer (a question and Answer post,) the huggable Hugh at Hughs Views and News, Eloise De Sousa, Helen Jones at Journey To Ambeth, Gloria McBreen at We Are Holistic, and Esmé at Cook and Enjoy, etc.
UPDATE: Since the release on 26th August, thank you to: Christoph Fischer for his post on 29th August.
Thank you for all the reblogs, kind comments, and to the lovely bloggers who have been so supportive to me, I can't thank you enough.
Particular thanks goes to Amalia at Aquileana for being so kind and sending me a personal message of support.
So no more waffle.
It's time to PARTYYYYYY!!!!!!! Come and add your links, comments, photos, thoughts, music, (we need a play list!)
Join the fun here and on my Facebook Party and Instagram!
Launch Party Playlist:

subset: commoncrawl


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Jerusalem – A trove of ancient manuscripts in Hebrew characters rescued from caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan is providing the first physical evidence of a Jewish community that thrived there a thousand years ago.
On Thursday Israel's National Library unveiled the cache of recently purchased documents that run the gamut of life experiences, including biblical commentaries, personal letters and financial records.
Researchers say the "Afghan Genizah" marks the greatest such archive found since the "Cairo Genizah" was discovered in an Egyptian synagogue more than 100 years ago, a vast depository of medieval manuscripts considered to be among the most valuable collections of historical documents ever found.
Genizah, a Hebrew term that loosely translates as "storage," refers to a storeroom adjacent to a synagogue or Jewish cemetery where Hebrew-language books and papers are kept. Under Jewish law, it is forbidden to throw away writings containing the formal names of God, so they are either buried or stashed away.
The Afghan collection gives an unprecedented look into the lives of Jews in ancient Persia in the 11th century. The paper manuscripts, preserved over the centuries by the dry, shady conditions of the caves, include writings in Hebrew, Aramaic, Judea-Arabic and the unique Judeo-Persian language from that era, which was written in Hebrew letters.
"It was the Yiddish of Persian Jews," said Haggai Ben-Shammai, the library's academic director.
Holding the documents, protected by a laminated sheath, Ben-Shammai said they included mentions of distinctly Jewish names and evidence of their commercial activities along the "Silk road" connecting Europe and the East. The obscure Judeo-Persian language, along with carbon dating technology, helped verify the authenticity of the collection, he said.
"We've had many historical sources on Jewish settlements in that area," he said. "This is the first time that we have a large collection of manuscripts that represents the culture of the Jews that lived there. Until today we had nothing of this."
The documents are believed to have come from caves in the northeast region of modern-day Afghanistan, once at the outer reaches of the Persian empire. In recent years, the same caves have served as hideouts for Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
It remains unclear how the ancient manuscripts emerged. Ben-Shammai said the library was contacted by various antiquities dealers who got their hands on them.
Last month, the library purchased 29 out of hundreds of the documents believed to be floating around the world, after long negotiations with antiquities dealers. The library refused to say how much it paid for the collection, adding that it hoped to purchase more in the future and didn't want to drive up prices. The documents arrived in Israel last week.
Comparisons with the other find are inevitable.
The Cairo Genizah was discovered in the late 1800s in Cairo's Ben Ezra Synagogue, built in the ninth century. It included thousands of documents Jews stored there for more than 1,000 years.
Ben-Shammai said it was too early to compare the two, and it would take a long time to sift through the findings from Afghanistan. He said they were already significant since no other Hebrew writings had even been found so far from the Holy Land.
He said the Jewish community in the region at the time lived largely like others in the Muslim world, as a "tolerated minority" that was treated better than under Christian rule. Afghanistan's Jewish community numbered as many as 40,000 in the late 19th century, after Persian Jews fled forced conversion.
By the mid-20th century, only about 5,000 remained, and most emigrated after Israel's creation in 1948. A lone Jewish man remains in Afghanistan, while 25,000 Jews live in neighboring Iran – Israel's bitter enemy.
The library promises the finds will be digitized and uploaded to its website for all to see.
Aviad Stollman, curator of the library's Judaica collection, said much more would be gleaned after intense research on the papers, but already it tells a story of a previously little known community.
"First we can verify that they actually existed – that is the most important point," he said. "And of course their interests. They were not interested only in commerce and liturgy; they were interested also in the Talmud and the Bible," he said.
"They were Jews living a thousand years ago in this place. I think that is the most exciting part."


text: Every company has its reason for embracing or not embracing the cloud. In the case of companies in heavily regulated industries such as healthcare and financial services, regulatory compliance is a convenient excuse for luddites to shun the cloud and its potential benefits.\u00a0And consultants who serve those markets say that while CIOs and other IT managers cite compliance as the reason for not embracing cloud services and applications, it's really an excuse by managers who just don't want to move to the cloud for whatever reason.\u00a0"There's a perception that has existed that the cloud is less secure," said Tom Crawford, CIO strategic advisor and president of the consultancy AVOA. "Part of that stems from the basis, wrongfully so, that I cannot secure something unless it's inside my own data center. For the most part that no longer holds water. Internal systems are often less secure."\u00a0In fact, Crawford says the cloud providers are often more secure because they dedicate themselves to security in ways many firms don't, since a loss of security credibility would be death for a cloud provider.\u00a0"When you think of internal security, security tends to be a line item in a job description. Cloud-based providers have departments and teams where all they do is security. That is their sole focus. So the extreme there is an average enterprise, where people have security as one line in their job description versus a department with a dedicated focus," he says.\u00a0Paul Castiglione, senior product marketing manager of Ipswitch File Transfer, a maker of secure file transfer and data monitoring software, says cloud vendors often know the compliance rules as well or better than many compliance-governed customers.\u00a0"Cloud vendor providers like us spend a lot of their time understanding regulations. We're certified for PCI and HIPAA. So we're pretty expert at it. Companies attempting compliance on their own are having to invest in the education, all of the requirements related to it, penetration testing, access control, all of the physical requirements around compliance," he says.\u00a0Excuses, excuses\u00a0Crawford says that more often than not "people use compliance as an all-encompassing excuse" to reject the cloud when compliance is only for specific apps and data sets, not the whole company.\u00a0[Related: Amazon targets compliance-driven markets]\u00a0"When you break down the problem it only governs a specific piece or component of data and only those apps," he says. "They aren't breaking down the problem and laying out the workloads and data sets."\u00a0As it turns out, the excuses for not embracing the cloud are numerous. One cause is generational. People have been running internal data centers for decades. Good luck convincing a CIO in his or her 50s who fears being cut out of a job in the first place that data and applications should be moved off-site into a data center somewhere across the country.\u00a0"We kind of got conditioned into a mode of operating under internal data centers, and now they have to learn you don\u2019t have to do it," Crawford says. "Even though IT says we're change agents, unfortunately it is not as much of a change agent as they think they are."\u00a0The problem is also dependent on the size of the company. Small firms without a dedicated IT staff can be more reticent because they don't have someone who is fully dedicated to understanding computing services and products, said James Gast, founder of Splicenet, a technology consultancy servicing the tech needs of law firms in the Ohio region.\u00a0"If we're selling into a 20-person law firm, you run into much more objection than an enterprise-sized law firm, and I think the reason is you have a more diverse workforce," he says. "You have people whose job it is to understand this stuff. At a 20 person firm, the lawyer doesn\u2019t have the time to understand it. It's the nature of the business."\u00a0In Josh Bauer's experience as associate director of IT infrastructure at Acorda Therapeutics, a biotech pharmaceutical company, it depends on the size of the vendor as well because the newness of the cloud market means some of these companies are not up to speed yet.\u00a0"Smaller vendors might be behind the times and not have a cloud app yet," he says. "If they do both on premises and cloud, a lot of times we go with on premises because they don\u2019t have a good grip on the cloud app. The larger vendors who have been doing it for years have good policies around their apps, have better SLAs, and offer better uptime than even we can deliver so it makes sense to go with them."\u00a0The solution\u00a0The problem is not insurmountable, it just requires the right pitch, say the consultants. That means educating companies in these industries that there are some parts of the cloud they can embrace, and might already be doing so without realizing it.\u00a0"There are IT organizations that are steadfast against the cloud," said Crawford. "They think it's a fad, they think it's insecure. They don\u2019t think it's ready and robust for enterprises. That's very sad because nine times out of ten, you can point to Salesforce and ask if they use it and they say yes, but don't realized it's a cloud company."\u00a0[Related: Is outsourcing IT worth the compliance risk?]\u00a0"I hate the word 'cloud' because the minute you mention cloud to someone, their mind goes somewhere else," Gast says. "They think they don\u2019t own their data. But when we say you're documents will be in a place where you can get to it from more places more often then they get it. When you bring it down to a more basic understanding they start to get it."\u00a0He added that there needs to be a different way of selling the cloud to people who don't get it. Instead of pushing the bits and bytes angle, tell them how their people will benefit and use it. "People react better to stories. It doesn't matter if it's cloud or a car. It's about helping them understand and relate to it," Gast says.\u00a0Castiglione says Ipswitch finds many customers are still learning the cloud, and it goes in with its own auditors who understand compliance to help educate clients. "Compliance is still the organization's responsibility, so there is no offloading of the responsibility for compliance. But there's not an established set of criteria that I've heard from customers around what they are looking for or expectations they need from a reseller," he says.\u00a0"The only successful way is you have to build trust and relationships with these people so you can understand their concerns and where they are coming from and they are open to listening to your perspective as well. And that just doesn't happen overnight," says Crawford.


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Plexon Inc Celebrates 30 Years in Neuroscience Research
January 30, 2013
DALLAS, TX — (January 30, 2013) – Plexon Inc, the leader in advanced hardware and software solutions for neuroscience and behavioral research, marks 30 years of innovation on the heels of closing its strongest year. Today's celebration unleashes bold new branding, a completely redesigned website, the company's first publication grant contest, product promotions, marketing programs and extended service hours.
Decades ago, Harvey Wiggins, Plexon's president, designed the industry's first high channel count data acquisition system to more effectively facilitate the recording and analysis of brain signals. Today, Plexon proudly serves thousands of customers in nearly 40 countries. Plexon thrived in 2012 closing double digit growth that yielded record sales. To meet increasing demand, Plexon grew its employee base by nearly 30%. Its stats are especially impressive considering the disappointing ~2% growth of the U.S. economy, and the hardly better ~4% growth of the U.S. scientific research and development market.
To punctuate its strength and long-term vision, Plexon launched a bold new look and a top tier website providing exceptionally easy-to-navigate, open access to a wealth of content. Further, Plexon is offering two rare promotions for its Offline Sorter (OFS), the most trusted offline spike sorting software cited in more than 800 publications. When purchasing OFS, researchers may choose either an extra license key (a $2,000+ value), or special pricing (nearly a $1,000 value).
As part of the celebration and in partnership with the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), Plexon announces the first Publication Grant Contest – valued at $4,200. Researchers are encouraged to submit abstracts about research performed using the OmniPlex® Neural Data Acquisition System. The winner's research will be peer-reviewed, published in video and text formats, and freely accessible at www.jove.com.
For more information, promotion details, official rules and more, visit the new plexon.com.
About Plexon Inc
Plexon is a pioneer and leading innovator of custom, high performance data acquisition, behavior and analysis solutions specifically designed for scientific research. We collaborate with and supply thousands of customers including the most prestigious neuroscience laboratories around the globe driving new frontiers in areas including basic science, brain-machine interfaces (BMI), neurodegenerative diseases, addictive behaviors and neuroprosthetics. Plexon offers integrated solutions for in vivo neurophysiology, optogenetics, and behavioral research — backed by its industry-leading commitment to quality and customer support. plexon.com.


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The confrontation of good vs. evil in mythical Middle-earth continues. Let's jump right in—as the film does—to the second act in the The Lord of the Rings trilogy [for information about act one, see our story summary for The Fellowship of the Ring]. With the fellowship broken, warriors Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli embark on a rescue mission, tracking the detachment of battle-bred Orcs that made off with Merry and Pippin. In the process, they encounter horsemen of Rohan and visit a kingdom facing extermination at the hands of Saruman's Uruk-hai army. The Rohan monarch, King Theoden, has had his mind poisoned by a traitorous advisor named Grima Wormtongue, leaving Theoden incapable of ruling his people. But intervention by Gandalf (we learn that he conquered the fiery Balrog and emerged as Gandalf the White) restores Theoden to full health. Wormtongue is exiled, and returns to his true master, Saruman, who plans to wipe out Rohan at the hands of 10,000 Uruk-hai soldiers in a climactic battle at Helm's Deep.
Merry and Pippin escape the Orcs on their own and wander into Fangorn Forest where they meet Treebeard, part of a race of tree-like creatures called Ents. The Hobbits appeal to the Ents to join the fight against Saruman, but the complacent Ents are reluctant to do so until they realize their future may be threatened as well.
Meanwhile, ringbearer Frodo and his trusty companion, Sam, must proceed alone toward Mount Doom to fulfill their mission of destroying the seductive gold band coveted by the dark lord Sauron. The pair realizes they've been followed when a pathetically emaciated, psychologically tormented creature named Gollum is caught stalking their camp. Gollum's history with—and addiction to—the ring make him both a valuable asset and a potential liability to their quest. Gollum can guide them to Mount Doom. But are his intentions honorable? Is he simply biding his time in order to kill the Hobbits and steal the ring? It's a risk Frodo—who is beginning to show wear and tear from his immense burden—believes they should take.
positive elements: The films may lack the richness of Tolkien's novels, but they are vivid attempts at faithfully retelling his deeply moral story with its Christian worldview intact. Evil is seductive and all-consuming. Gollum, who carried the ring for centuries, is obsessed with obtaining it. He's like an aging heroin addict desperate for his next fix. His obsession manifests itself in unpredictable, unattractive ways that invite comparison to any number of addictive behaviors teens should avoid. In dealing with Gollum, Frodo wants to believe the best of him and see the creature redeemed (he even calls him by his given name, Smeagol, as opposed to the one he later earned for the raspy, guttural sound he makes). Frodo says, "I have to help him, Sam, because I have to believe he can come back." Frodo's mercy toward Gollum is in sharp contrast to Sam's acute suspicion of him. Sam's distrust actually creates friction with Frodo, raising interesting questions about the proper balance of kindness and skepticism in a complex case such as this.
Tolkien's animosity toward technology and the industrial revolution as enslaving, ecologically destructive forces is even clearer in Towers. Here, the legions of darkness so wantonly ravage the environment that Saruman is vilified for not being a respectful steward of the land. The evil sorcerer gloats, "The old world will burn in the fires of industry. The forests will fall."
Once again, the point is made that any attempt to use the ring (created as an instrument of evil) for positive ends is futile. Also, Theoden's decrepit state illustrates the danger of allowing a deceiver to call the shots in one's life. As Theoden is about to finish off the traitorous Wormtongue, Aragorn suggests that he show mercy, which he does. Friends remain dedicated to each other and focused on selfless goals. The relationship between Legolas and Gimli, which began with prejudice and distrust in the first film, has evolved into a tight friendship built on mutual respect and a common objective. When Sam (who is a type of loyal Aaron to Frodo's Moses) falls down an embankment and into potential danger, Frodo leaps to his aid without regard for his own safety. The vow of love shared by Aragorn and Arwen faces challenges while they are apart, yet remains intact (she struggles over leaving her people and rejecting immortality for him; he must stay faithful without abandoning his calling or giving in to another woman's interest in him). Subtle nods to nobility and chivalry are refreshing, such as when men refer to themselves by including the names of their fathers (a reminder that they are part of—and responsible to honor—a lineage) or seek to protect "women and children first."
British diplomat, orator and writer Edmond Burke said, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Personally impacted by the horrors of war, Tolkien firmly believed that and explores the issue here. Pippin wonders if they should just go back to the Shire, and Merry reminds him that, if evil prevails, there won't be a Shire. Both the Elves and Ents are challenged to put aside their own agendas and complacency to join a fight that isn't directly theirs—because it's the right thing to do. Intense violence notwithstanding, war brings out bravery and comradeship as humans defend themselves against overwhelming odds. It looks grim, but Aragorn assures a young man fighting beside him, "There is always hope." Sam's undying optimism is made clear in statements that are blatant (Frodo tells him, "Nothing ever dampens your spirits") and more subtle (gazing upon enormous Oliphaunts, Sam says, "No one at home will believe this!" implying that he believes they will survive their suicide mission). An overarching theme of this trilogy is best articulated by Sam when he tells Frodo, "In the end, it's only a passing thing, this darkness. … There's some good in this world, and it's worth fighting for." Indeed, it is.
spiritual content: Tolkien has insisted that his saga is not an allegory. The author's Christian worldview, however, is clearly at work (families interested in specific parallels to Christianity should read the book Finding God in the Lord of the Rings by Kurt Bruner and Jim Ware, available from Focus on the Family). Sorcery returns, but its use by Gandalf feels muted compared to the first film. After defeating the Balrog and returning as a rejuvenated figure adorned in white, Gandalf informs his friends, "I was sent back until my task is done," which implies an accountability to a higher power (the same intelligent force of good that "chose" Frodo to bear the ring). Gandalf casts an invasive presence out of King Theoden in what looks like an exorcism (this scene may offend purists since the novel never implies "possession," but simply that the king's mind had been poisoned by deception). That moment, as well as Gollum's internal struggle with his own "demons," are powerful illustrations of spiritual warfare. At the funeral of Theoden's son, the grieving father is told that the boy's spirit will follow those of his forefathers to a better place. The corrupt Saruman relies on mystical "seeing stones." The Elves are immortal, and prepare a mass exodus from Middle-earth to return to the "undying lands" of the Grey Havens. While traveling through the marshes, Frodo is entranced by a ghoulish power that seeks to take his life. In Fanghorn Forest, believing he has encountered Sarumon, Aragorn cries, "The white wizard will put a spell on us!"
sexual content: Aragorn and Arwen share a passionate kiss. Wormtongue makes a play for Eowyn, but is soundly rejected.
violent content: Gruesome Orcs and Uruk-hai warriors are decapitated, shot with arrows, run through with swords and spears, slashed with blades, cut down with axes, etc. So are some humans. While Tolkien's novels are also quite violent, books are only as graphic as the reader's imagination chooses to make them. From an artistic perspective, the filmmakers do a masterful job of assaulting the senses with gritty action. The effects are amazing, especially in bringing to the screen the climactic battle at Helm's Deep. This dreary, nocturnal stand against evil involves an unrelenting barrage of medieval conflict and a sizable body count as a rag-tag Rohan army of 300 men and boys tries to hold back 10,000 armored beasts. A creature gets impaled with a shield, another shot in the throat with an arrow. Ents storm into battle, squashing, smashing and thrashing the Orcs at Isengard before a massive flood washes out the battlefield. An explosion sends bodies flying. Others are crushed by debris. Numerous soldiers fall to their deaths from a great wall. Even horses get bloodied. Wormtongue is thrown down a flight of stairs. Gollum snaps a dead rabbit's spine before tearing at its flesh with his teeth. An army of archers and swordsmen ambush their prey. The bad guys ride huge, hyena-like beasts called Wargs, which snap at the legs of Rohan horses. The Uruk-hai leader cuts the head off of an ornery Orc and invites his team to feast on the corpse. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli stumble upon the monsters' camp, which has been reduced to a pile of smoldering carcasses with the Uruk-hai's head impaled on a spear. Gollum is put on a leash and treated harshly by Sam, who gets into a knock-down, drag-out fight with the gnashing creature. Gandalf is shown struggling with the Balrog as they plummet into a chasm. A machete-wielding Orc chases Merry and Pippin into Fanghorn Forest, then gets fatally squashed.
crude or profane language: None.
drug and alcohol content: As in The Fellowship of the Ring, characters smoke pipes.
other negative elements: Some scenes that aren't violent are still creepy. In one of them, Sam, Frodo and Gollum trek through the marsh and find ghastly, bloated corpses lying just beneath the water's surface.
conclusion: Academy voters should be relieved that they didn't award The Fellowship of the Ring an Oscar for Best Picture last year. Had they done that, they'd feel morally obliged to repeat the gesture since The Two Towers is just as powerful (thanks to additional context and thematic evolution) and even more eye-popping than its predecessor. It's an epic achievement.
Families who felt so-so about the violence of Fellowship should be aware that things get darker and more intense here. No more frolicking in the Shire. The scenic splendor of Rivendell gives way to slithering sidekicks and hordes of invading beasts. (Thank goodness for John Rhys-Davies, who provides much-needed comic relief as Gimli the Dwarf.) If things truly are darkest before dawn, director Peter Jackson has gone all out to set up an unbelievably bright "dawn" in act three, next year's Return of the King. From a storytelling perspective, that makes sense. After all, The Empire Strikes Back was the most foreboding film in the original Star Wars trilogy. But the often dreary onslaught here may be more than some families want to endure (this is not a film for children).
As heavy as the violence is at times, that's not what stuck with me weeks after viewing The Two Towers. I was most affected by the inner turmoil of Gollum, and the different ways Sam and Frodo responded to this tormented, obsessed creature who personifies enslavement by addiction. Granted, this is a three-hour action film first and foremost. But my memories of the brutality—no more explicit than in the first movie, yet more frequent���had faded. What stuck were poignant lines and unique situations that challenged me to think more deeply about human nature, morality, world events and biblical truth. With the proper parental input, mature teens may have a similar experience.


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An avid fan of the "American Ninja Warrior" television show has built his own tribute to the challenging obstacle courses featured on the show, in the backyard of his Langley home.
Now, the homemade obstacles constructed by Tristan Kasmer have become the scene for a smaller-scale challenge, the "Backyard Ninja Invitational."
On Sunday (June 9), about 30 people, most of them kids, will take on the course, climbing and jumping around and over an array of obstructions.
It will mark the second time that Tristan and his wife Brandi have hosted the event.
Running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. it will start with a special non-competitive event for the youngest kids, the "littles" for two- to three-year-olds, then rising through the age categories until the adults tackle the course.
It is designed so that the degree of difficulty can be dialed down for young competitors, then up.
The first year the event was held, only one person was injured, and that was an adult who suffered a muscle pull while warming up, Brandi said.
"We have mats, and mattresses, to ensure that no one is hurt," she noted.
Participants are also required to sign a waiver.
Brandi said the appeal of the sport is is the degree of athleticism it requires.
"Its about how well you can manage your own body," she explained.
"If you miss a grip, you have to react without falling."
Based on the number of online postings, there are many backyard obstacle courses in the U.S., but Brandi doesn't know of any in Canada except the one that occupies her own back yard.
Tristan said it started with "a few bars and a few grips" and grew over several years, inspired by the television show.
"I just wanted to train," he said.
"I thought that [the obstacle courses on the show] looked like fun. I thought other guys are doing their own courses [and posting video clips online], so I might as well built my own stuff."
It helped, he said, that his home is on a typically big Brookswood site.
Tristan said his design doesn't attempt to duplicate the elaborate, giant-sized challenges of the television show, but it does aim to recreate the intensity, within reason.
"They have a huge budget and I have a few dollars, so [I thought] what can I build, realistically, with the materials I've got," " he said.
Filling up most of the yard, the obstacle course describes an "S' curve of challenges ranging in difficulty from rings and grips, to a climbing wall and a section of oddly-angled tree stumps that require careful stepping, just to name just a few.
"I try to include as much of the back yard as I can," he said.
Portions of the obstacle course are taller than the first storey of the family house.
There is a Facebook page devoted to the Langley event that can found by searching for "minorleagueninja."
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Berber Pillow - Moroccan Pillow
This product is unavailable
This one-of-a-kind hand-woven vintage Berber pillow is made by Berber women living in the Middle Atlas Mountain range of Morocco. Unlike some other weaving styles, the style of this pillow is very nomadic and is decorated with artistic Berber motifs. It is already stuffed! It is gorgeous and in a great shape.
Origin: High Atlas, Morocco.
Material: 100% Wool.
Dimension: 22"L X 14.5"W


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Bernardo Alps has not received any gifts yet
Posted on September 22, 2012 at 4:30am 0 Comments 0 Promotions
Friendship Park on the hill overlooking San Pedro had to have been the best spot to watch the space shuttle Endeavour arrive in Southern California on its last air voyage. We arrived in the blazing midday sun hoping to catch a glimpse of history and we got a lot more than we expected.
Find more photos like this on San Pedro News Pilot
Endeavour is the…Continue
Posted on September 21, 2012 at 4:01am 0 Comments 0 Promotions
The saga of the mysterious late summer gray whale continues. The carcass of the unlucky animal has come ashore on the rocks below Ocean Trails in Rancho Palos Verdes near the San Pedro border. This spot is likely to become its final resting place.
We know some of the events that brought this whale here.
Gray whales migrate past…Continue
Posted on September 18, 2011 at 2:00pm 0 Comments 2 Promotions
As soon as I got back to my car after getting off the Voyager from Friday afternoon's whale watching trip, I called Diane with a full report. Great trip. We started out with a pod of Risso's dolphins, then found the first blue whale less than a mile from the harbor entrance. In all we saw four different blue whales, including one that made a close approach coming closer and closer to the boat until it dove just fifty yards away.…Continue
Posted on September 13, 2011 at 5:00pm 4 Comments 2 Promotions
Bernardo - thanks for pointing out a milestone that makes my heart happy and one I would not have noticed in the hustle and bustle of the day. Here's to 1,000!


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A four-person team of highly trained Capitol Police officers responding to the Navy Yard shooting on Sept. 16 was recalled from the scene because of concerns about potential threats to the Capitol, according to an internal review of Capitol Police actions.
Based on information being gathered at the command center that day on the nature of the attack and the potential of threats or secondary attacks — and absent a request for additional Capitol Police assets — the Containment and Emergency Response Team was recalled to the Capitol 30 minutes after reports of the shooting.
Those facts were outlined in a two-page report released by the Capitol Police Board on Friday afternoon detailing the findings of an independent review of the department's response.
Capitol Police Chief Kim Dine requested a comprehensive, independent fact review of his department's response two days after the shooting, following an exclusive BBC report that four members of the CERT team were ordered by their commanders to "stand down."
"Initial reports of the actions of USCP personnel were inaccurate and failed to convey the nuanced complexity of such situations including the personal and professional impact on potential first responders," according to the statement released Friday.
The report was due on Oct. 21, but the federal government shutdown delayed the investigation.
In conducting the review, the team interviewed dozens of Capitol Police personnel and others and reviewed written reports, radio transmissions and incident logs from the command center.
Two motorcycle units responded and assisted with traffic control on M Street Southeast that day, plus a field sergeant who was stationed in the Navy Yard command center. A third field unit deployed to the southwest corner of the Navy Yard, where it assisted in providing perimeter security. The report focused on the CERT team, which responded to 11th and M streets SE.
According to the review, traffic gridlock caused by emergency vehicles and commuters prevented the CERT team from reaching the command post when they initially responded. As a result, the team moved closer to the Capitol so officers could respond to either location.
The order from the command center came over 30 minutes after the first reports of the attack.
The team also made "several recommendations" to improve command and control of personnel, internal communications, mutual aid participation, and after-action debriefings. Dine concurs with the recommendations and has begun implementing them, according to the statement.
The full report and recommendations will not be made publicly available, according to the statement, because it contains sensitive law enforcement information.


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WASHINGTON, D.C.–U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced today the selection of five projects to build and strengthen "innovation ecosystems" that will accelerate the movement of cutting-edge energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies from university laboratories into the market. This is the first time the Department is funding this type of university-based commercialization effort. The ecosystems will foster collaborative environments, bringing together key players from universities, the private sector, the federal government and Department of Energy National Laboratories to identify and develop new clean energy technologies and help them succeed in the marketplace. The projects will receive a total of $5.3 million in federal funding over three years, which will be leveraged with grantee investments to support $9 million in total projects.
"Many great clean energy technologies have been born in our nation's research universities. Accelerating linkages between university research, investors and the business world is essential to moving these great ideas to the marketplace," said Secretary Chu. "The innovative clean energy start-up companies supported by these ecosystems will advance American competitiveness and will help create the jobs of the future."
The innovation ecosystem projects announced today are led by universities or nonprofits based in five states, and convene a total of 80 project partners, uniting the strengths of universities, business, finance, government, research institutes, economic development organizations, accelerators, and National Laboratories. The projects were selected based on the following objectives: nurturing and mentoring entrepreneurs; pursuing intellectual property protection for technological innovations; engaging the surrounding business and venture capital community; and integrating sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation across university schools and departments.
These projects build on the work of the Department's broader commercialization efforts, which focus on connecting research and development activities with the venture capital funding and expertise that will help increase the rate and scale of clean energy technology market penetration across the country.
The selected projects include:
- Clean Energy Trust (Chicago, Ill.) – $1,050,000 – In collaboration with the Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Clean Energy Trust will establish the Illinois Cleantech Ecosystem Consortium to initiate four separate university-based programs. They include the "Clean Energy Business Plan Competition" in which Illinois scientists and entrepreneurs will compete for $100,000 in seed funds and business services; the "Clean Energy Boot Camp" where new entrepreneurs will receive immersion training and develop new networks; a sector-specific business development support program that will provide assistance to new entrepreneurs and start-up ventures, including market and product strategy, legal assistance, customer introductions, and financial modeling; and a program to promote and raise awareness of existing and new regional energy resources such as an index of key organizations, relevant funding sources, and Illinois-based innovation achievements.
- Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (Cambridge, Mass.) – $1,050,000 – Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems will expand the Fraunhofer TechBridge program and establish the Energy Innovation Acceleration Program (IAP) to foster clean technology innovation. The IAP will combine the capabilities of Fraunhofer USA with the New England Clean Energy Council (NECEC) and the Association of Cleantech Incubators of New England (ACTION) to streamline commercialization of university-originated technologies. IAP will connect university projects across New England with R&D services, experienced entrepreneurs, capital sources, and incubator services to help build businesses and raise funds to develop commercial products and successful ventures. The Program will also partner with the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and will draw advisors and potential business partners from large U.S. corporations, venture capital firms, and other strategic stakeholders.
- University of California, San Diego (San Diego, Calif.) – $1,050,000 – The University of California, San Diego's William J. von Liebig Center for Entrepreneurism and Technology Advancement and Rady School of Management will partner with San Diego State University to plan and hold an annual Regional Energy Innovation Challenge. After establishing an expert advisory board to develop criteria and solicit applications, the board will screen and select promising teams comprised of experienced advisors, faculty, science and business students; conduct a commercialization boot camp for applicant teams to refine their commercialization plans; and award fellowship opportunities to three teams. Winning teams will showcase their technologies and commercialization plans to connect to potential sources of capital. A virtual network will also be developed to connect innovators, business students, entrepreneurs and sources of capital to each other and to other initiatives within the clean energy space on campus, in the region, and worldwide.
- University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fla.) – $1,050,000 – The University of Central Florida will hold the "MegaWatt Ventures" event, incorporating a technical showcase with a business plan competition and business and prototyping services. Ten teams will be selected by a committee of energy industry experts, angel and venture capital investors, and entrepreneurial executives experienced with early-stage companies. Over two years, teams will tap into the intellectual property portfolios and research expertise held by Florida universities. Each year ten teams will be awarded $10,000 each, and will be given six months to complete a prototype and assemble a start-up team to compete for $100,000. In its third year, MegaWatt Ventures will be expanded to include all universities in the southeastern United States.
- University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) – $1,050,000 – The University of Utah will create the Energy Innovation Commercialization Center that will assist participating western universities and research institutions in transferring and commercializing university-developed technologies to industry and start-up companies. The Center will provide resources such as mentoring, proof-of-concept validation, prototype guidance and access to the University of Utah's Technology Commercialization Office and its Venture Bench Program, which provides services to start-up companies to accelerate prototype and product development. The Center will identify industry and market needs in order to fund the most promising technologies while mitigating market risk, and will develop tools to help understand and quantify the impacts of technologies on job creation, fossil fuel dependence, and climate change.


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Which of these best describes Earth's moon?
We call the moon a moon, but what it really is is a satellite. This is something that orbits around a larger object (but not the sun). For example, planet-like objects like moons and asteroids that are caught in orbits of larger planets are all considered satellites.


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On Thursday, December 18th, I had the honor of having a fireside chat so to speak with Matt Mullenweg. The chat lasted a little over two hours and then, Matt stayed around after the show for an additional two hours to field questions from anybody that asked them. There are a number of things that I have taken away with this chat with Matt and I'll be listing those in an article in the following days but without a shadow of a doubt, Matt is a stand up guy. He answered all of my questions, even the tough ones which were submitted by the community. While there is room left to debate the GPL and what is or isn't compliant, Matt answered the GPL questions to the best of his ability and in most cases, his answers are nothing more than his personal opinion since certain aspects of the GPL would be much clearer if there was a court case to stand by.
I really feel as though this two hour recording is the most important recording I've made yet and is the biggest contribution I have made so far, back to the community. If there was one podcast that you should listen to as it relates to WordPress, the GPL, Matt's involvement with Automattic and the Project, this would be it. Special thanks to Matt Mullenweg for agreeing to come on the show to address all of the issues that were presented to him by me.
To get a sample of the information discussed in this episode, here are the list of questions that I asked Matt. After this list, he took questions from anyone that asked them either by those who called in or sent them in the chat.
Why were those themes removed from the repository and if you look back at the situation now, do you think you made a mistake by not making a public post about the removals?
Can you explain why the new guideline was added to the theme repository?
Why is it that so many people within the inner circle of the WordPress community believe you and Automattic don't want anyone else profiting through or around WordPress?
In your opinion, do you think that premium themes have actually benefited the community by way of furthering the overall development of WordPress themes?
In a recent conversation, I saw you describe premium themes as propietary and how you felt that was a better word than premium. Why is that?
How many of these debates and the way things are done are a result of their not being a court case to go by?
Does it bother you at all to see countless debates on various WordPress theme author sites about the GPL and what is and not compliant with it?
Drupal and Joomla have decided the commercial stuff is okay but why not WordPress?
In November of 2007 hot off the heels of WordCamp Argentina, news came out about a possible theme marketplace where people sold themes through the marketplace and the theme author as well as Automattic each recieved a cut of the profits. Was that your way of trying to help premium theme authors and has their been any progress on the idea?
The Drupal community has debated this GPL/Premium/Theme issue for a while. And a solid understanding has come from it:
A theme is made up of several files – template files (ending in .php), CSS, images and JavaScript. The template files are considered a part of Drupal, which is licensed under the GPL, which means they are not restricted in their redistribution. You are free to share the .php files so others can benefit from them. However, the rest of the theme – images, CSS and JavaScript – is independent from Drupal and owned by us and licensed by you for one website per purchase. You may not publish or share these parts of the themes with anyone else. Please review our EULA for full details. (Taken from a Drupal Theme Developers page)
When the notion of making money by selling themes pops up at WordCamps, you are quick to explain the WordPress.com business model of selling services and building support/value around the prodcut but this model will not work for everyone. What is a premium theme author to do?
I've spoken to a few premium theme authors and they tell me that because of the GPL, nothing stops someone from picking up Brian Gardners themes, changing the footer link and then undercutting his business by selling support at a cheaper price. Is that a valid argument?
Redistributing paid themes for free, which is ok under the GPL thus, rendering the business model of selling themes useless, as I understand it. Yet, that hasn't happened and I wonder if that is because most end users are not aware of the GPL, all they see is the single-use multi-use licenses attached to themes
Is there a way where premium theme companies such as iThemes and you or Automattic can come to a compromise?
Lets say I have a template generator that outputs GPL themes, but has premium features. It could be used to create freebie themes which would be eligible to be in the repository, but since the generator outputs themes with a link back to my site which promotes the premium services, which in turn may be used for creating themes suitable for the repository, but again those themes have a link back to my site.
Is it true that the notion of Child themes which appears to be gaining momentum can be viewed as a loophole as far as the GPL is concerned considering these are themes which are purele CSS and Image based?
At what point do you stop accepting good themes that comply with the GPL because of a connection an author has with commercial themes. How far does it go.
If WP.org is about the community, why are decisions made unilaterally, rather than by the community?
Just out of curiosity, do you get annoyed sometimes by people blaming or mentioning Automattic for the decisions or things that take place for WordPress.org? I mean, Automattic and the WordPress project are two separate things.
What is your role with automattic and what is your role with the wordpress.org project and is their ever a conflict of interest between the two?
In your opinion, how far does the GPL go? CSS, images, phpfiles,
Why have you not used the WordPress development blog to bring forth the issues of GPL and various other aspects of the project?
This whole show has pretty much been dedicated to themes but how does all of this effect plugins, the plugin repository and such?
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Length Of Episode: 2 Hours 11 Minutes
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1869 Hungarian Census
Donation by the JewishGen Hungarian SIG
The 1869 Census is a �people� census, attempting to enumerate all individuals of all religions, regardless of property ownership. The Census was created by the Hungarian Government. The broad scope of the census makes it particularly valuable for genealogical research. The census was mainly recorded in the Magyar (Hungarian) language, though census records from some areas may also include other languages, such as Slovak.
There are 15 former counties contained within the present-day boundaries of Slovakia. The Mormon Family History Library (FHL) has microfilms available for twelve former Hungarian counties (megye), including:
These microfilms can be located in the LDS' Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) as Place ("Hungary"), Topic ("Census - 1869"). See here. The microfilms present the towns in alphabetical order of their current Slovak name, with the Hungarian name (under which the records were created) in parenthesis. Not all records are available on microfilm, e.g.: records for the 13 largest cities in Szepes megye and the three largest cities in S�ros megye are not included in these microfilms.
Information in the Original Data:
The original Census includes 14 columns of information (as per Daniel Schlyter), as follows:
Some records are signed by the head of household as well as the census taker.
Creation of the Database:
Marelynn Zipser, a member of the JewishGen Hungarian Special Interest Group (H-SIG), has been the main force behind the 1869 transcription effort. Her interest began as a result of a one-person search for ancestors in Szepes megye (county). She reviewed and transcribed Szepes records, and these were part of the initial data in the JewishGen Hungary Database. Alex Miller contributed transcriptions from Vrannov, Cigand and Homonna in Zempl�n megye. All other transcriptions have been contributed by Marelynn Zipser, who also acted as the project coordinator.
We wish to thank the Genealogical Society of Utah and the Magyar Orsz�gos Lev�lt�r (Hungarian National Archives) for granting permission to create this index. Individuals interested in contributing transcriptions in advance of the formal project should consult the H-SIG website at /Hungary/1869.html for information and the template.
We thank Marelynn Zipser and Alex Miller, as without their donation of time and effort this index would not exist. We thank the support team from JewishGen: Warren Blatt, Michael Tobias and Joyce Field.
Database Format:
The fields displayed in this database are:
Transcription Rules:
Names from the original Census were entered exactly as they appeared on the original list. If the name was abbreviated, it was transcribed exactly as abbreviated. No changes were made in the spellings of the name, either.
All diacritical marks (the accent marks used above certain letters) were ignored. This simplified transcription and data entry. Their only function is to guide pronunciation, which was not necessary in the construction of the database.
Records in the database:
The database currently contains more than 88,000 records, as follows:
Click here for a gazetteer of Szepes Megye.
Notes on Searching the Database:
The 1869 Census is searchable via the JewishGen Hungary Database. In addition to the usual search of surnames and towns, you can use the "Global Text Search" of all fields to find all entries for a particular county (megye), given name, or LDS microfilm number.
If you are searching for a hyphenated town name or county, you must enter only the name before the hyphen or after the hyphen, but not both. At this time, the search engine is not capable of handling hyphenated names. JewishGen technicians are working on this problem.
Last Update: 14 Mar 2007 WSB
Edmond J. Safra Plaza | 36 Battery Place |
646.494.5972 | firstname.lastname@example.com |


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Next: ax_c_long_long, Previous: ax_c_declare_block, Up: The Macros
Checks the ordering of words within a multi-word float. This check is necessary because on some systems (e.g. certain ARM systems), the float word ordering can be different from the byte ordering. In a multi-word float context, "big-endian" implies that the word containing the sign bit is found in the memory location with the lowest address. This implementation was inspired by the AC_C_BIGENDIAN macro in autoconf.
The endianness is detected by first compiling C code that contains a special double float value, then grepping the resulting object file for certain strings of ASCII values. The double is specially crafted to have a binary representation that corresponds with a simple string. In this implementation, the string "noonsees" was selected because the individual word values ("noon" and "sees") are palindromes, thus making this test byte-order agnostic. If grep finds the string "noonsees" in the object file, the target platform stores float words in big-endian order. If grep finds "seesnoon", float words are in little-endian order. If neither value is found, the user is instructed to specify the ordering.
Download the latest version of ax_c_float_words_bigendian.m4 or browse the macro's revision history.
Copyright © 2008 Daniel Amelang firstname.lastname@example.com
Copying and distribution of this file, with or without modification, are permitted in any medium without royalty provided the copyright notice and this notice are preserved. This file is offered as-is, without any warranty.