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Demographic Profiles
NCCP's Demographic Profiles provide state-specific data on the characteristics of children in poor and low-income families by age. Children living in families with incomes below the federal poverty threshold – $24,339 for a family of four with two children in 2016 – are referred to as poor. Children living in families with incomes below twice this level are referred to as low income.


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Can Flaky People Make Good Partners?
They're charming, generous, intriguing, creative ... and completely unreliable! What should you do with this personality type?
Krista faced a tough decision. Her boyfriend of ten months, Alex, was a charming guy with nearly all the qualities she wanted in a man: generous, sincere, creative, and fun-loving.
But she couldn't deny he also had a conspicuous fault — he was flaky, as in unreliable and irresponsible. He often did not follow through on what he promised he'd do. And his lifestyle was chaotic and cluttered.
"I wish I could say he's guilty of just the occasional brain blip — a sporadic moment of absentmindedness," Krista says. "But it happens all the time. He's late to pick me up for dates, he doesn't return my phone calls, he forgets appointments, and he calls in sick a lot to work so he can goof off with his buddies."
She adds, "Not long ago, Alex offered to drop off a work package at Fed Ex to save me the trip. It was an important set of mock-ups for one of my graphic design clients. Three days later, when he picked me up for a movie, I spotted the package on the back seat of his car! I was livid."
What's a girl like Krista to do? More to the point, what would you do if you realized your dating partner was consistently undependable?
Let's be honest — all of us let things fall through the cracks now and then. We forget to call Mom on her birthday, fail to pay the phone bill, or misplace the car keys. It happens. But the concern comes with those who exhibit chronic flakiness. While these people frequently have enjoyable personalities — optimistic, spontaneous, and playful –they are also extremely frustrating for those who rely on them to complete a task or show up on time.
This is a critical factor for singles to evaluate. After all, numerous studies have shown that long-term romantic partners rate reliability as a key ingredient for relational happiness. At the heart of the matter is a person's dependability: Can I believe you when you promise to do something? Do I have to wonder if you'll drop the ball? Do I need to expend my mental and emotional energy worrying that you'll come through?
For a relationship to achieve excellence, both partners must act responsibly. They need to keep their word and honor commitments. If a woman says, "I'll call you tonight," she should do it. If a man says, "I'll meet you for lunch at twelve o'clock sharp," he should be there on the dot. If one or both persons are consistently negligent, the relationship is sure to suffer.
Psychologist David Niven says this: "With all the complicated advice available about relationships, sometimes the basics can be overlooked. Relationships depend on communication; we all know that. And meaningful communication demands reliability. Your words need to mean something. Say what you mean, and do what you say you are going to do. Always. If you do, you will have taken a huge step toward positive communication and a positive relationship."
If you want a great relationship, find a partner you can depend on. And of course, it goes without saying that you should be dependable as well.

subset: commoncrawl


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Nectar Monthly Honors – January 2011
For thirteen month's I've compiled a list of my favorite things across the interwebs, twitterverse and bloggersphere. I've used these "Nectar Honors" posts as a way to archive the monthly happenings in my life and in the wine world (at least the wine world as I see it). While January was bar none the busiest month of my life, it has not gone by without its sacrifices. One, my personal life and two, routine blog posts seem to be the two main casualties dashed on the floor like spilled glasses of wine. The build-up, branding and marketing of the last year became a beautiful showcase of Washington wine and an example of how online marketing and building relationships through social media can pay huge dividends. While this post is still about the best of January 2011, I just wanted to share some highlights from our first month in business. I share this, not to pat myself on the back, but to show the amazing potential of an engaged group of followers and ambassadors.
- $20,000 in revenue with absolutely zero $ spent in marketing
- 130 Club Nectar memberships sold
- Steady web site traffic with a noticeable shift in search terms to "Nectar" or "Nectar Tasting Room"
- Media exposure through newspaper, local entertainment publication (The Inlander), Journal of Business and two features on KXLY TV
- Sold out social media class
- Requests for speaking engagements to present on social media and business
- Four new clients for social media consulting and management
My nine blog posts and six wines reviewed was the lowest total since this project began. Since opening the tasting room, I've had the pleasure of enjoying wine from the five participating wineries. People are always asking me my favorite wines. While I hate to play favorites, I can say that I bought a bottle of 2007 Northwest Cellars 100% Carmenere (now sold out).
Top Posts from Around the Web
Favorite Social Media and Marketing Posts
Tina_Caviness "What is?' – 5 Need To Knows For Marketing Superstars http://hub.am/g8Cgc0 RT @HubSpot
RickBakas begin_of_the_skype_highlighting end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlig Social Media ad Spending INFOGRAPHIC http://bit.ly/i4svym #sm #marketing
Wine Business Posts
RemyCharest New on The Wine Case – Perfection is Personal: why 100 points by @robertmparkerjr is just his opinion. http://winecase.ca/l6o
Best Wine Expose
@vintank exposes @snooth for scraping data from @cellartracker http://bit.ly/hIgML4
Posts that Made Me Spit Wine Out My Nose
@suburbanwino gives a hilarious "wine" review on cold medicine as he battles the sniffles http://bit.ly/hc8w4h
@stevepaulo New Notes: Pairing Wine With 1980s Action TV Shows: The Dukes of Hazzard http://bit.ly/fN0Y3G #wine
Most Viewed Nectar Wine Blog Post
Nectar Opens to A Packed House – The Social Media Experiment http://drinknectar.com/2011/01/13/the-social-experiment-nectar-opens-to-a-packed-house/


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There are those tags which have immediate effect (< br >) and those which affect what is between them ( < a > < / a > ).
Closing tag is verbose, and I believe also redundant:
<tag parameters> ... </tag>
Compare to LISP's s-expresions.
(tag parameters)
Ending tags are not even necessary. These language are context-free and this is not possible there:
<tag1> <tag2> </tag1> </tag2>
Basically these should be equivalent:
<tag1> <tag2> </> </>
<tag1> <tag2> </tag2> </tag1>
Are ending tags there to aid readability? What is purpose of redundancy in closing tags? I want to understand inside the logic behind desing of this. Thanks. :)


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One should not judge the purity or impurity of man simply by observing what he eats.
In the Amagandha Sutta, the Buddha said:
'Neither meat, nor fasting, nor nakedness,
Nor shaven heads, nor matted hair, nor dirt,
Nor rough skins, nor fire-worshipping,
Nor all the penances here in this world,
Nor hymns, nor oblation, nor sacrifice,
Nor feasts of the season,
Will purify a man overcome with doubt.'
Taking fish and meat by itself does not make a man become impure. A man makes himself impure by bigotry, deceit, envy, self-exaltation, disparagement and other evil intentions. Through his own evil thoughts and actions, man makes himself impure. There is no strict rule in Buddhism that the followers of the Buddha should not take fish and meat. The only advice given by the Buddha is that they should not be involved in killing intentionally or they should not ask others to kill any living being for them. However, those who take vegetable food and abstain from animal flesh are praiseworthy.
Though the Buddha did not advocate vegetarianism for the monks, He did advise the monks to avoid taking ten kinds of meat for their self respect and protection. They are: humans, elephants, horses, dogs, snakes, lions, tigers, leopards, bears hyenas. Some animals attack people when they smell the flesh of their own kind. (Vinaya Pitaka)
When the Buddha was asked to introduce vegetarianism amongst His disciples, the Buddha refused to do so. As Buddhism is a free religion, His advice was to leave the decision regarding vegetarianism to the individual disciple. It clearly shows that the Buddha had not considered this as a very important religious observance. The Buddha did not mention anything about vegetarianism for the lay Buddhists in His Teaching.
Jivaka Komarabhacca, the doctor, discussed this controversial issue with the Buddha: 'Lord, I have heard that animals are slaughtered on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and that the recluse Gotama knowingly eats the meat killed on purpose for him. Lord, do those who say animals are slaughtered on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and the recluse Gotama knowingly eats the meat killed on purpose for. Do they falsely accuse the Buddha? Or do they speak the truth? Are your declaration and supplementary declarations not thus subject to be ridiculed by others in any manner?'
'Jivaka, those who say: 'Animals are slaughtered on purpose for the recluse Gotama, and the recluse Gotama knowingly eats the meat killed on purpose for him', do not say according to what I have declared, and they falsely accuse me. Jivaka, I have declared that one should not make use of meat it is seen, heard or suspected to have been killed on purpose for a monk. I allow the monks meat that is quite pure in three respects: if it is not seen, heard or suspected to have been killed on purpose for a monk.' (Jivaka Sutta)
In certain countries, the followers of the Mahayana school of Buddhism are strict vegetarians. While appreciating their observance in the name of religion, we should like to point out that they should not condemn those who are not vegetarians. They must remember that there is no precept in the original Teachings of the Buddha that requires all Buddhists to be vegetarians. We must realize that Buddhism is known as the Middle Path. It is a liberal religion and the Buddha's advice was that it is not necessary to go to extremes to practise His Teachings.
Vegetarianism alone does not help a man to cultivate his humane qualities. There are kind, humble, polite and religious people amongst non-vegetarians. Therefore, one should not condone the statement that a pure, religious man must practise vegetarianism.
On the other hand, if anybody thinks that people cannot have a healthy life without taking fish and meat, it does not necessarily follow that they are correct since there are millions of pure vegetarians all over the world who are stronger and healthier than the meat-eaters.
People who criticize Buddhists who eat meat do not understand the Buddhist attitude towards food. A living being needs nourishment. We eat to live. As such a human being should supply his body with the food it needs to keep him healthy and to give him energy to work. However, as a result of increasing wealth, more and more people, especially in developed countries, eat simply to satisfy their palates. If one craves after any kind of food, or kills to satisfy his greed for meat, this is wrong. But if one eats without greed and without directly being involved in the act of killing but merely to sustain the physical body, he is practising self restraint.


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Alma Business Lawyers
Zachary K. Gray
(308) 995-0522
University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of LawUniversity of Nebraska - LincolnNebraskaNebraska State Bar Association
Mark McKeone
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(402) 908-5699
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(308) 345-2580
University of Nebraska - LincolnUniversity of Nebraska - Lincoln and University of Nebraska - LincolnColorado and NebraskaState Bar of Colorado and Nebraska State Bar Association
Timothy P. Brouillette
(308) 532-1600
8th Circuit and NebraskaNebraska State Bar
Kelly Henry Turner
(402) 280-7648
Loyola University Chicago School of LawPurdue University - Purdue University and University of Nebraska - LincolnIllinois and NebraskaLoyola University Chicago School of Law, Chicago, IL J.D.Nebraska State Bar Association and Illinois Bar Association"Smuggling"
Perry Andrew Pirsch
(402) 521-0930
University of Nebraska - LincolnUniversity of Nebraska - Lincoln and George Mason UniversityNebraska, District of Columbia and Federal CircuitLIBA, Nebraska YRs and Corpus Juris SecundumLincoln Chamber of Commerce and Lincoln Independent Business AssociationBlind Trusts as a Model for Campaign Finance Reform
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(402) 391-2486
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James Polack
(402) 551-5540
Creighton UniversityUniversity of San Francisco8th Circuit, Iowa and NebraskaUSMCNebraska State Bar, Iowa Bar Association...
Timothy Paul Sullivan
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University of Nebraska - LincolnUniversity of Nebraska - LincolnNebraska and 8th CircuitNebraska Lawyers FoundationNebraska State Bar
Michael Kuzma
(402) 218-2106
University of Nebraska - Lincoln and Temple University Beasley School of LawNebraska Wesleyan UniversityNebraskaCJK Advisory Board and Nebraska Bar Association
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NebraskaNebraska State Bar
The LII Lawyer Directory contains lawyers who have claimed their profiles and are actively seeking clients. Find more Alma Business Lawyers in the Justia Legal Services and Lawyers Directory which includes profiles of more than one million lawyers licensed to practice in the United States, in addition to profiles of legal aid, pro bono and legal service organizations.
Researching Attorney Discipline


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- Nissan creates waves at a media event in England with a specially adapted Note Boat
- Provides a visual demonstration of Note's exciting technologies with help from rowers Helen Glover, Sophie Hosking and Polly Swann
- Nissan has already received 3,860 orders for the new B-sector rival
DORNEY, Buckinghamshire, England – Nissan has launched the new Note - literally. To mark the start of sales of its new B-segment car in Europe, Nissan recently held a media event at Eton Dorney Lake near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire in England. To demonstrate the Note's new technology, Nissan created a Note Boat, which was "driven" at the 2012 Olympic venue by three superstar Olympic rowers.
A very graphic and entertaining way of showing off the new Note's technology, the Note Boat has been specially adapted allowing it to be rowed at the 2012 Olympic venue.
Just like the road-going version, it features a sliding rear seat - in this case a single stroke seat for a rower - while the rear doors open to almost 90 degrees. This set up allowed the addition of a pair of oars that can move through an entire rowing stroke.
But how do you see where you're going when you have your back to the lake? And how do you keep in your lane? That's where the Note's Around View Monitor 360-degree parking system and Safety Shield technology come in.
Just like the road car, it features four cameras - one in the front, one at the rear and one under each door mirror - to give a helicopter-style, top-down view. In addition, the Note Boat (like the Note road car) uses its rear view camera to give Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Warning and Moving Object Detection.
In the Note Boat, these systems combine to allow the rowers to see where they are going without looking behind them - and also stay in their lane. Think of the system as a virtual cox.
So who better to test the Note Boat than three Olympic rowers? Thanks to Nissan's sponsorship of Team GB and ParalympicsGB, some very special guests joined media at Eton Dorney Lake: 2012 gold medalists Helen Glover MBE and Sophie Hosking MBE, who triumphed in the women's coxless pairs and the lightweight double sculls respectively; and Polly Swann, who partnered with Glover at the 2013 World Rowing Championships scoring a victory the women's coxless pairs.
Helen Glover said: "I wish I could have a camera system like this in some of my races - it certainly would make seeing where my rivals a bit easier!"
Polly Swann added: "It's certainly a novel experience rowing down Eton Dorney Lake in a car. I'm amazed at how wide the doors open. I could achieve almost a complete rowing stroke, which produced more than enough power to push the Note down the lake."
Nissan has exciting plans for the Note Boat in future. As for the road-going Note, European deliveries started on October 1, and the B-segment rival has already proved a huge success with some 3,860 cars ordered.
About Nissan in the UK
- Nissan Sunderland Plant produces the Nissan Qashqai, Note and Juke and the 100% electric Nissan LEAF
- Production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles began last year, 2012
- Total plant volume since 1986 stands at more than seven million units with 85 percent of production exported to 104 markets worldwide
- Total investment made and announced since then is £3.5 billion
- 510,572 units were produced at Sunderland plant in 2012, a plant record
- Sunderland Plant currently employs 6,000 people
- Nissan's European Design Centre is located in Paddington, London and employs around 50 people
- Nissan's European Technical Centre is based in Cranfield, Bedfordshire and employs around 500 people
About Nissan in Europe
Nissan has one of the most comprehensive European presences of any overseas manufacturer, employing more than 14,500 staff across locally based design, research & development, manufacturing, logistics and sales & marketing operations. Last year Nissan plants in the UK, Spain and Russia produced more than 695,000 vehicles including mini-MPVs, award-winning crossovers, SUVs and commercial vehicles. Nissan now offers 24 diverse and innovative products for sale in Europe today, and is positioned to become the number one Asian brand in Europe.
# # #


text: 5 Smart Investing Strategies The slideshow presentation that you would like to view is too large for your current screen resolution. Click here to view to view the slideshow at full resolution. Launch Presentation » Have A Question About This Topic? Name Email Address Message Thank you! Oops! Related Content Suddenly Single: 3 Steps to Take Now Have you found yourself suddenly single? Here are 3 steps to take right now. Saving for Retirement This calculator can help you estimate how much you may need to save for retirement. Creative Ways to Motivate Your Employees Five creative (and inexpensive) ideas for motivating your employees.


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When thinking of a comet it is natural
to remember Halley's Comet because it is so famous and
usually easy to view during regular visits to Earth.
There are many other comets some that are new visitors
to our part of the Solar System. One of them is Comet
Wild 2, which did not pass close to Earth until 1974,
when the power of Jupiter's gravity changed its orbit.
It now travels much closer to the sun, between Jupiter
and the Earth. Because it has not been exposed to the
Sun at close range, its composition has not been altered
much from its original condition. By the time Stardust
encounters it, Comet Wild 2 will have made only five
trips around the sun. By contrast, Comet Halley has
passed the sun more than 100 times, coming close enough
to have been greatly altered from its original condition.
When a comet comes close enough to
the sun to get heated up, it loses some of its material
through the process of sublimation. This happens when
a solid becomes a vapor without first melting into a
liquid. After about 1,000 trips past the Sun, a comet
loses most of these volatile materials and no longer
generates a coma, which is made up of the gases that
sublime off its surface. Since it is the escaping gases
that drive the dust particles from the nucleus - the
solid part of the comet - the comet no longer creates
the long beautiful dust tail that we can sometimes see
in the night sky.
Since Wild 2 has passed the sun only a few times, it
still has most of its dust and gases and it is relatively
pristine condition. This is important because comets
are made up of material left over from the solar nebula
after the planets were formed. Unlike the planets, most
comets have not changed very much since the formation
of the solar system. Therefore, comets may hold the
key to understanding the early development of the Solar
System. Comet Wild 2 should contain much of this ancient
material, making it an ideal choice for study.
An important aspect of the journey
of Comet Wild 2 is the fact that it will be in the right
place at the right time for a visit. Particularly helpful
for the purposes of the Stardust mission is that scientists
were able to plot the spacecraft's flight path to encounter
the comet during a period of comparatively low speed.
Because of this low velocity meeting, the spacecraft
can capture comet dust, rather than having it blow right
through the collectors. The dust samples can then be
brought back to the Earth to be analyzed.
Ron Baalke


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Many parents of small children will have seen Miyazaki's classic animated film My Neighbour Totoro about Totoro, a forest spirit, who befriends two young girls. Totoro inhabits a beautiful agricultural landscape known as Satyoyama. Satoyama is a Japanese agricultural landscape that combines small scale agriculture and forest – if well managed it can be a multi-functional agriculture landscape that provides provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services. Satoyama is an iconic Japanese cultural landscape that has been destroyed in Japan by development and rural out-migration, however is now being promoted in Japan and by the Japanese government for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) meeting in Nagoya.
In honour of the CBD meeting in Japan, The Kyoto Journal (issue 75) has a special issue on Biodiversity that includes a large section on the ideals and reality of satoyama. The table of contents for the section on the Worlds of Satoyama is:
- Satoyama: the Ideal and the Real — Brian Williams
- Smothering Streams & Habitats — Brian Williams
- Nature, Inhabited — Winifred Bird
- Satogawa: River Arteries of Life — Brian Williams
- Fireflies — Winifred Bird
- Restoring a River Quickly and Cheaply — Fukudome Shubun
- Satoumi: Wise Use of Coastal Zones — Winifred Bird
- Invaders of Lake Biwa — Komori Shigeki
- Paddy Ecosystems: Diverse or Despoiled? — Winifred Bird
- Japan's Abandoned Satoyama Forests — Jane Singer
- Born of Despair, a Beautiful Forest — C.W. Nicol
- Myopic Forest Policy = Weepy Eyes — Jane Singer
- Aflame and Alive: Managed Grasslands in Japan — Winifred Bird
- Denuded Hillsides: Satoyama's Other History — Sugiyama Masao
- Room for Us All — Jane Singer and Winifred Bird
UN university is conducting research on satoyama, and has a number of online resources (1, 2, and 3).


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[Click the link below the image]
Recently there has been a focus on dealing with 'emergent language', rather than following a syllabus. But does this mean that coursebooks are irrelevant? Surely coursebooks are ultimately a collection of topics, texts and tasks- the bedrock of any course.
In this 20 minute presentation, I look at some ideas for using coursebooks (or any other off the shelf material) while still allowing the teacher to facilitate and engage with emergent language.


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Erbil History
Erbil is the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. With the population of approximately 1.3 million in 2009, it is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul.
Urban life in Erbil can be dated back to at least 6000 BC and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. At the heart of the city is the ancient Citadel of Erbil, which is estimated to be close to 7000 years old. At the entrance is a large statue of Mubarak Ben Ahmad Sharaf-Aldin (1169-1239) known as Ibn Almustawfi. He wrote on the subject of history, literature and language. His self proclaimed masterpiece is a set of four volumes on the history of Erbil.
Inside the citadel, you will find beautiful traditional rugs and textiles at the Kurdish Textile Museum also showcase and perseveres textile techniques by traditional tribes and endangered nomads of Kurdistan. The citadel also offers great views over the city.
The Hrrians were the first to establish Urbilum and expand their rule to the rest of northern Mesopotamia. The city has since been under the rule of many regional powers, including the Assyrians, the Arabs, the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks.
Erbil's archaeological museum houses a large collection of pre-Islamic artefact, and is a centre for archaeological projects in the area. In the same area in the town centre is the Sheikh Chooli Minaret, built by Sultan Mozafar in between 543 and 586 AD and inscribed with Kufic calligraphy.
Erbil is also home to many parks. The largest and most central is the Sami Abdul Rahman Park. Stretching over many hectares, it is the ideal place to enjoy greenery, peace and quiet without having to leave the city.
The town of shaqlawa, about 50 kilomiters from the capital Erbil, lies at the base of Mount Safeen which is nearly 2,000 meters high at its peak. It has several fruit orchards, a food market, restaurants and hotels. Further away deeper into the mountains and gorges, Gali Ali Beg and Bekhal waterfalls and the water source at Jundyan offer beautiful scenery and a place to stop and enjoy lunch or a drink at the outdoor restaurants, or simply sit down to enjoy your own picnic in a quiet spot.
The Geographical Location of Erbil
Erbil also written Arbil, or Irbil ( Kurdish: ھەولێر Hewlêr; Arabic: اربيل, Turkish: Erbil; Syriac-Aramaic: Arbaelo) is, with a population of approximately 1.3 million (2009), the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul. It is located 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Mosul, and is the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The mayor of Erbil is Nihad Latif Qoja.
The origin of the word Erbil
The name Erbil was mentioned in Sumerian holy writings of third millennium BC as Urbilum, Urbelum or Urbillum, which appears to originate from Hurrian Arbilum, who inhbited the area. Later, the Akkadians and Assyrians by a folk etymology rendered the name as arba'ū ilū to mean four gods. The city became a centre for the worship of the Assyro-Babylonian goddess Ishtar. In classical times the city became known by its Aramaic name, Arbela. In Old Persian the city was called Arbairā.
Today, the modern Kurdish name of the city, Hewlêr, appears to be a corruption of the name Arbel by a series of metatheses of consonants.
The Citadel
The Citadel of Arbil is a tell or occupied mound in the historical heart of Erbil, rising between 25 and 32 metres (82 and 105 ft) from the surrounding plain. The buildings on top of the tell stretch over a roughly oval area of 430 by 340 metres (1,410 ft × 1,120 ft) occupying 102,000 square metres (1,100,000 sq ft). It has been claimed that the site is the oldest continuously inhabited town in the world.[4] The earliest evidence for occupation of the citadel mound dates to the 5th millennium BC, and possibly earlier. It appears for the first time in historical sources during the Ur III period, and gained particular importance during the Neo-Assyrian period. West of the citadel at Ary Kon quarter, a chamber tomb dating to the Neo-Assyrian period has been excavated.[6] During the Sassanian period and the Abbasid Caliphate, Erbil was an important center for Christianity and the Assyrians. After the Mongols captured the citadel in 1258, Erbil's importance began to decline.
During the 20th century, the urban structure was significantly modified, as a result of which a number of houses and public buildings were destroyed. In 2007, the High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization (HCECR) was established to oversee the restoration of the citadel. In the same year, all inhabitants, except one family, were evicted from the citadel as part of a large restoration project. Since then, archaeological research and restoration works have been carried out at and around the tell by various international teams and in cooperation with local specialists, and many areas remain off-limits to visitors due to the danger of unstable walls and infrastructure. The government plans to have 50 families live in the citadel once it is renovated.
The only religious structure that currently survives in the citadel is the Mulla Afandi Mosque. When it was fully occupied, the citadel was divided in three districts or mahallas: from east to west the Serai, the Takya and the Topkhana. The Serai was occupied by notable families; the Takya district was named after the homes of dervishes, which are called takyas; and the Topkhana district housed craftsmen and farmers. Other sights to visit in the citadel include the bathing rooms (hammam) built in 1775 located near the mosque and the Textile Museum.


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Samsung Outsells iPhone in Posting Record Profit
Samsung Electronics reported a record profit that rose 76% in the fourth quarter amid strong smartphone sales.
Samsung, the top seller of cell phones, said its net profit was 7.04 trillion won, or $6.6 billion, up from $3.7 billion in the same period a year ago. The South Korean company's previous record was a $6.1 billion profit in the third quarter.
Revenue increased 18.5% to $52.1 billion from the year-ago period.
Samsung's largest segment, cell phones and telecom equipment, accounted for 62% of operating profit. Analyst have forecast 110 million shipments of mobile devices and 60 million smartphones in the quarter, while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said it sold 47.8 million iPhones in the same period.
Chip sales also saw increased profitability. Operating profit was 14.8%, up from 11.7% in the third quarter.
The television display business, Samsung's smallest unit, turned things around with a 14.3% operating margin after posting a loss one year ago.
Competition is expected to intensify in the television and handset market this year, Samsung said, and the company anticipates weaker smartphone sales in the first quarter due to seasonally low demand.
Samsung added that it is keeping capital expenditures at the same level seen last year.


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A fun NPR interview with Elinor Ostrom on Life After Winning a Nobel Prize:
KELLY: Now, to a Nobel of a more recent vintage. Elinor Ostrom won the Nobel Prize in economics last year for her analysis of economic governance. We've reached her in Bloomington, Indiana, where she lives and where she teaches at Indiana University. And, Professor Ostrom, how's the last year gone?
Professor ELINOR OSTROM (Indiana University): Well, you have no warning of the heavy, heavy demands on you afterwards. It is a very great thrill to win a Nobel Prize, and I'm very, very appreciative. But I was not fully prepared for the amount of interest around the world. And I'm coping, but it's been very intense.
KELLY: A lot of calls from people like us wanting to interview you and on speaking invitations, that type of thing. Is that what you mean?
Prof. OSTROM: Yes, yes. I've been receiving about 15 invitations a week, and I am no longer able to accept any talks during 2011.
KELLY: Wow.
Prof. OSTROM: And the accumulation for 2012 is piling up, and I'm going to have to tackle that in another couple of weeks.
KELLY: Well, do you enjoy doing this? It sounds like you're traveling a lot, meeting interesting people.
Prof. OSTROM: Yes, I am traveling a lot, and I do enjoy it. But I also am teaching, and I have ongoing research and graduate students. And keeping up with it all is a challenge.
KELLY: Well, I have to ask, what did you do with the prize money?
Prof. OSTROM: Oh, well. We have a very, very active research center here at Indiana University. And our foundation is very responsible, so I gave the full sum to the Indiana University Foundation as part of an endowment to support ongoing research.
KELLY: You know, here's one thing I wonder. Winning a prize as huge and prestigious as the Nobel could, I guess, influence you in a number of different ways. And I wonder does it, in some way, take a bit of the pressure off to have had your work – your lifetime's work recognized at that kind of level? Does it take a bit of the pressure off in terms of what you feel you still have to do?
Prof. OSTROM: Oh, no.
(Soundbite of laughter)
KELLY: No?
Prof. OSTROM: I wasn't aiming to win a prize. And so winning it doesn't take pressure off in terms of future research. Colleagues and I have been puzzling about a variety of key issues. It's a big challenge, and we're still working on that.
KELLY: You were kind enough to speak to us last year when you won. And you are the first woman who won the Economics Nobel. I remember when we spoke to you last year, we asked you about that and whether this opens the door for more opportunities for women. Have you been able to see any of that come to fruition?
Prof. OSTROM: Yes, I think. I'm very pleased that women will not be facing the conditions that I faced where I was repeatedly asked why I needed education when I would be barefoot pregnant and in the kitchen.
KELLY: Oh, my.
(Soundbite of laughter)
Prof. OSTROM: So I think that phrase isn't going to be repeated to current graduate students as frequently as I heard it.
KELLY: Good. Well, it's been great speaking with you. Thanks so much, Elinor Ostrom.


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Judith S. Ronald
Judith S. Ronald, a pioneer in Nursing Informatics, began her career at the University at Buffalo shortly after completing her masters degree in 1968. Her 1982 dissertation, Attitudes and Learning Needs of Nursing Educators with Respect to Computers: Implications for Curriculum Planning,focused on how technology could advance the field of nursing.
Ronald's interest in this field began in 1968 when she became involved in a UB research project entitled "Systematic Nursing Assessment: A Step Toward Automation." The Project, developing electronic-ready nursing assessment tools for hospitalized patients from admission through discharge, was completed without a single computer at the group's disposal.
In 1977, Ronald developed the first course on the application of the computer in nursing. The course, "Implications of Computer Technology for Nursing," covered everything from the emerging computer trends to the ethics surrounding the use of computers. A textbook for the field wasn't developed until 1984. The next year the National League for Nursing (NLN) created the National Forum on Computers in Nursing and Health Care. In 1987 Ronald co-authored the monograph, Guidelines for Basic Computer Education in Nursing published by the NLN.
Often recognized for her contributions, Ronald received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1979. She was named a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 1994.
Due to a large part Ronald's early efforts, informatics is today integrated throughout the nursing curriculum, increasingly important as technology has been integrated into all of the health care professions.
Affiliation(s): Nursing
Record Group(s): 38
Biographical File Contains:
- Photographs


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- lighthouse
/luyt"hows'/, n., pl. lighthouses /-how'ziz/.1. a tower or other structure displaying or flashing a very bright light for the guidance of ships in avoiding dangerous areas, in following certain routes, etc.2. either of two cylindrical metal towers placed forward on the forecastle of the main deck of a sailing ship, to house the port and starboard running lights.[1655-65; LIGHT1 + HOUSE]
* * *Structure, usually with a tower, built onshore or on the seabed to signal danger or provide aid to seafarers.The first known lighthouse was the Pharos of Alexandria. The modern lighthouse dates only from the early 18th century. Initially made of wood, these towers were often washed away in severe storms. The first lighthouse made of interlocking masonry blocks was built on the treacherous Eddystone Rocks reef, off Plymouth, England (1759). Interlocking masonry blocks remained the principal material of lighthouse construction until they were replaced by concrete and steel in the 20th century. Modern construction methods have facilitated the building of offshore lighthouses. The most common illuminant is the electric-filament lamp. Refinements in lenses (e.g., the Fresnel lens) and reflectors made it possible to substantially increase the light's intensity. Radio and satellite-based navigation systems have greatly reduced the need for large lighthouses in sighting land.
* * *Introductionstructure, usually with a tower, built onshore or on the seabed to serve as an aid to maritime coastal navigation, warning the mariner of hazards, establishing his position, and guiding him to his destination. From the sea a lighthouse may be identified by the distinctive shape or colour of its structure, by the colour or flash pattern of its light, or by the coded pattern of its radio signal. The development of electronic navigation systems (navigation) has had a great effect on the role of lighthouses. Powerful lights are becoming superfluous, especially for landfall, but there has been a significant increase in minor lights and lighted buoys, which are still necessary to guide the navigator through busy and often tortuous coastal waters and harbour (harbours and sea works) approaches. Among mariners there is still a natural preference for the reassurance of visual navigation, and lighted marks also have the advantages of simplicity, reliability, and low cost. In addition, they can be used by vessels with no special equipment on board, providing the ultimate backup against the failure of more sophisticated systems.History of lighthousesLighthouses of antiquityThe forerunners of lighthouses proper were beacon fires kindled on hilltops, the earliest references to which are contained in the Iliad and the Odyssey (c. 8th century BC). The first authenticated man-made lighthouse was the renowned Pharos of Alexandria, which stood some 350 feet (about 110 metres) high. The Romans (ancient Rome) erected many lighthouse towers (tower) in the course of expanding their empire, and by AD 400 there were some 30 in service from the Black Sea to the Atlantic. These included a famous lighthouse at Ostia, the port of Rome, completed in AD 50, and lighthouses at Boulogne, France, and Dover, England. A fragment of the original Roman lighthouse at Dover still survives.The Phoenicians (Phoenicia), trading from the Mediterranean to Great Britain, marked their route with lighthouses. These early lighthouses had wood fires or torches burning in the open, sometimes protected by a roof. After the 1st century AD, candles or oil lamps were used in lanterns with panes of glass or horn.Medieval (Middle Ages) lighthousesThe decline of commerce in the Dark Ages halted lighthouse construction until the revival of trade in Europe about AD 1100. The lead in establishing new lighthouses was taken by Italy and France. By 1500, references to lighthouses became a regular feature of books of travel and charts. By 1600, at least 30 major beacons existed.These early lights were similar to those of antiquity, burning mainly wood, coal, or torches in the open, although oil lamps and candles were also used. A famous lighthouse of this period was the Lanterna of Genoa in Italy, probably established about 1139. It was rebuilt completely in 1544 as the impressive tower that remains a conspicuous seamark today. The keeper of the light in 1449 was Antonio Columbo, uncle of the Columbus who crossed the Atlantic. Another early lighthouse was built at Meloria, Italy, in 1157, which was replaced in 1304 by a lighthouse on an isolated rock at Livorno. In France the Roman tower at Boulogne was repaired by the emperor Charlemagne in 800. It lasted until 1644, when it collapsed owing to undermining of the cliff. The most famous French lighthouse of this period was one on the small island of Cordouan in the estuary of the Gironde River near Bordeaux. The original was built by Edward The Black Prince in the 14th century. In 1584 Louis de Foix, an engineer and architect, undertook the construction of a new light, which was one of the most ambitious and magnificent achievements of its day. It was 135 feet in diameter at the base and 100 feet high, with an elaborate interior of vaulted rooms, richly decorated throughout with a profusion of gilt, carved statuary, and arched doorways. It took 27 years to build, owing to subsidence of the apparently substantial island. By the time the tower was completed in 1611, the island was completely submerged at high water. Cordouan thus became the first lighthouse to be built in the open sea, the true forerunner of such rock structures as the Eddystone Lighthouse.The influence of the Hanseatic League helped increase the number of lighthouses along the Scandinavian and German coasts. At least 15 lights were established by 1600, making it one of the best-lighted areas of that time.During this period, lights exhibited from chapels and churches on the coast frequently substituted for lighthouses proper, particularly in Great Britain.The beginning of the modern eraThe development of modern lighthouses can be said to have started about 1700, when improvements in structures and lighting equipment began to appear more rapidly. In particular, that century saw the first construction of towers fully exposed to the open sea. The first of these was Henry Winstanley's 120-foot-high wooden tower on the notorious Eddystone (Eddystone Lighthouse) Rocks off Plymouth, England. Although anchored by 12 iron stanchions laboriously grouted into exceptionally hard red rock, it lasted only from 1699 to 1703, when it was swept away without a trace in a storm of exceptional severity; its designer and builder, on the lighthouse at the time, perished with it. It was followed in 1708 by a second wooden tower, constructed by John Rudyerd, which was destroyed by fire in 1755. Rudyerd's lighthouse was followed by John Smeaton's (Smeaton, John) famous masonry tower in 1759. Smeaton, a professional engineer, embodied an important new principle in its construction whereby masonry blocks were dovetailed together in an interlocking pattern. Despite the dovetailing feature, the tower largely relied on its own weight for stability—a principle that required it to be larger at the base and tapered toward the top. Instead of a straight conical taper, though, Smeaton gave the structure a curved profile. Not only was the curve visually attractive, but it also served to dissipate some of the energy of wave impact by directing the waves to sweep up the walls.Owing to the undermining of the foundation rock, Smeaton's tower had to be replaced in 1882 by the present lighthouse, constructed on an adjacent part of the rocks by Sir James Douglass, engineer-in-chief of Trinity House. In order to reduce the tendency of waves to break over the lantern during severe storms (a problem often encountered with Smeaton's tower), Douglass had the new tower built on a massive cylindrical base that absorbed some of the energy of incoming seas. The upper portion of Smeaton's lighthouse was dismantled and rebuilt on Plymouth Hoe, where it still stands as a monument; the lower portion or "stump" can still be seen on the Eddystone Rocks.Following the Eddystone, masonry towers were erected in similar open-sea sites, which include the Smalls, off the Welsh coast; Bell Rock in Scotland; South Rock in Ireland; and Minots Ledge off Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. The first lighthouse of the North American continent, built in 1716, was on the island of Little Brewster, also off Boston. By 1820 there were an estimated 250 major lighthouses in the world.Modern lighthousesWhile masonry and brick continue to be employed in lighthouse construction, concrete and steel are the most widely used materials. Structurally well suited and reasonably cheap, concrete especially lends itself to aesthetically pleasing designs for shore-based lighthouses.Modern construction methods have considerably facilitated the building of lighthouses in the open sea. On soft ground, the submerged caisson method is used, a system applied first in 1885 to the building of the Roter Sand Lighthouse in the estuary of the Weser River in Germany and then to the Fourteen Foot Bank light in the Delaware Bay, U.S. With this method, a steel caisson or open-ended cylinder, perhaps 40 feet in diameter, is positioned on the seabed. By excavation of sand, it is sunk into the seabed to a depth of possibly 50 feet. At the same time, extra sections are added to the top as necessary so that it remains above high water level. The caisson is finally pumped dry and filled with concrete to form a solid base on which the lighthouse proper is built.Where the seabed is suitable, it is possible to build a "float out" lighthouse, consisting of a cylindrical tower on a large concrete base that can be 50 feet in diameter. The tower is constructed in a shore berth, towed out to position, and then sunk to the seabed, where the base is finally filled with sand. Weighing 5,000 tons (4.5 million kilograms) or more, these towers rely on their weight for stability and require a leveled, prepared seabed. For greater stability during towing, the cylindrical tower itself often consists of two or more telescopic sections, raised to full height by hydraulic jacks after being founded on the seabed. This design was pioneered largely in Sweden.Another design, which is more independent of seabed conditions, is the conventional steel-piled structure used for offshore oil and gas rigs. Piles may be driven as deep as 150 feet into the seabed, depending on the underlying strata. The United States has built about 15 light towers of this type, one prominent example being Ambrose Light off New York.Helicopters (helicopter) are widely employed in the servicing and maintenance of offshore towers, so that modern designs normally include a helipad. In fact, older cylindrical masonry structures of the previous era—including the Eddystone tower—have had helipads fitted above their lanterns.IlluminantsWood fires were not discontinued until 1800, though after about 1550 coal, a more compact and longer-burning fuel, was increasingly favoured, particularly in northwestern Europe. A lighthouse in those days could consume 300 tons or more of coal a year. In full blaze, the coal fire was far superior to other forms of lighting, preferred by mariners to oil or candles. The disadvantage of both coal fires and early oil lamps and candles was the prodigious amount of smoke produced, which resulted in rapid blackening of the lantern panes, obscuring the light.Oil lampsIn 1782 a Swiss scientist, Aimé Argand, invented an oil lamp (Argand burner) whose steady smokeless flame revolutionized lighthouse illumination. The basis of his invention was a circular wick with a glass chimney that ensured an adequate current of air up the centre and the outside of the wick for even and proper combustion of the oil. Eventually, Argand lamps with as many as 10 concentric wicks were designed. These lamps originally burned fish oil, later vegetable oil, and by 1860 mineral oil. The Argand lamp became the principal lighthouse illuminant for more than 100 years.In 1901 the Briton Arthur Kitson invented the vaporized oil burner, which was subsequently improved by David Hood of Trinity House and others. This burner utilized kerosene vaporized under pressure, mixed with air, and burned to heat an incandescent mantle. The effect of the vaporized oil burner was to increase by six times the power of former oil wick lights. (The principle is still widely used for such utensils as camp stoves and pressure lamps.)Gas lampsEarly proposals to use coal gas at lighthouses did not meet with great success. A gasification plant at the site was usually impracticable, and most of the lights were too remote for a piped supply. However, acetylene gas, generated in situ from calcium carbide and water, came into use around the turn of the 20th century, and its use increased following the introduction of the dissolved acetylene process, which by dissolving the acetylene in acetone made it safe to compress for storage.Acetylene gas as a lighthouse illuminant had a profound influence on the advancement of lighthouse technology, mainly through the work of Gustaf Dalén (Dalén, Nils) of Sweden, who pioneered its application between 1900 and 1910. Burned either as an open flame or mixed with air in an incandescent mantle, acetylene produced a light equal to that of oil. Its great advantage was that it could be readily controlled; thus, for the first time automatic unattended lights were possible. Dalén devised many ingenious mechanisms and burners, operating from the pressure of the gas itself, to exploit the use of acetylene. Most of the equipment he designed is still in general use today. One device is an automatic mantle exchanger that brings a fresh mantle into use when the previous one burns out. Another, economizing on gas, was the "sun valve," an automatic day-night switch capable of extinguishing the light during the day. The switch utilized the difference in heat-absorbing properties between a dull black surface and a highly polished one, producing a differential expansion arranged by suitable mechanical linkage to control the main gas valve.The acetylene system facilitated the establishment of many automatic unattended lighthouses in remote and inaccessible locations, normally requiring only an annual visit to replenish the storage cylinders and overhaul the mechanism. liquefied petroleum gas, such as propane, has also found use as an illuminant, although both oil and gas lamps have largely been superseded by electricity.Electric (electric power) lampsElectric illumination in the form of carbon arc lamps was first employed at lighthouses at an early date, even while oil lamps were still in vogue. The first of these was at Dungeness, England, in 1862, followed by a number of others. The majority of these, however, were eventually converted to oil, since the early arc lamps were difficult to control and costly to operate. In 1913 the Helgoland Lighthouse in the North Sea off Germany was equipped with arc lamps and searchlight mirrors to give a light of 38 million candlepower, the most powerful lighthouse in the world at that time.The electric-filament lamp, which came into general use in the 1920s, is now the standard illuminant. Power output ranges from about 1,500 watts for the largest structures down to about 5 watts for buoys and minor beacons. Most lamps are of the tungsten-halogen type for better efficiency and longer life. As new types of electric lamps become available—for example, compact source discharge tube lamps—they are adopted for lighthouse use wherever suitable.Optical equipmentParaboloidal mirrorsWith the advent of the Argand lamp, a reliable and steady illuminant, it became possible to develop effective optical apparatuses for increasing the intensity of the light. In the first equipment of this type, known as the catoptric system, paraboloidal reflectors concentrated the light into a beam. In 1777 William Hutchinson of Liverpool, England, produced the first practical mirrors (mirror) for lighthouses, consisting of a large number of small facets of silvered glass set in a plaster cast molded to a paraboloid form. More generally, shaped metal reflectors were used, silvered or highly polished. These were prone, however, to rapid deterioration from heat and corrosion; the glass facet reflector, although not as efficient, lasted longer. The best metallic reflectors available in 1820 were constructed of heavily silvered copper in the proportion of 6 ounces of silver to 16 ounces of copper (compared with the 0.5 ounce of silver to 16 ounces of copper commonly used for plated tableware of the period). With such heavy plating, cleaning cloths were kept for subsequent recovery of the silver. These mirrors could increase the intensity of an Argand lamp, nominally about five candlepower, almost 400 times.Although the mirror could effectively concentrate the light into an intense beam, it was necessary to rotate it to make it visible from any direction. This produced the now familiar revolving lighthouse beam, with the light appearing as a series of flashes. Mariners were not favourably disposed to these early flashing lights, contending that a fixed steady light was essential for a satisfactory bearing. However, the greatly increased intensity and the advantage of using a pattern of flashes to identify the light gradually overcame their objections. The first revolving-beam lighthouse was at Carlsten, near Marstrand, Sweden, in 1781.Rectangular and drum lenses (lens)In 1828 Augustin Fresnel (Fresnel, Augustin-Jean) of France produced the first apparatus using the refracting properties of glass, now known as the dioptric system (diopter). On a lens panel he surrounded a central bull's-eye lens with a series of concentric glass prismatic rings. The panel collected light emitted by the lamp over a wide horizontal angle and also the light that would otherwise escape to the sky or to the sea, concentrating it into a narrow, horizontal pencil beam. With a number of lens panels rotating around the lamp, he was then able to produce several revolving beams from a single light source, an improvement over the mirror that produces only a single beam. To collect more of the light wasted vertically, he added triangular prism sections above and below the main lens, which both refracted and reflected the light. By doing this he considerably steepened the angle of incidence at which rays shining up and down could be collected and made to emerge horizontally. Thus emerged the full Fresnel catadioptric system, the basis of all lighthouse lens systems today. To meet the requirement for a fixed all-around light, Fresnel modified his principle by producing a cylindrical drum lens, which concentrated the light into an all-around fan beam. Although not as efficient as the rectangular panel, it provided a steady, all-around light. Small drum lenses, robust and compact, are widely used today for buoy and beacon work, eliminating the complication of a rotating mechanism; instead of revolving, their lights are flashed on and off by an electronic code unit.Prior to Fresnel's invention the best mirror systems could produce a light of about 20,000 candlepower with an Argand lamp. The Fresnel lens system increased this to 80,000 candlepower, roughly equivalent to a modern automobile headlamp; with the pressure oil burner, intensities of up to 1,000,000 candlepower could be achieved. For a light of this order, the burner mantle would measure 4 inches (100 millimetres) in diameter. The rotating lens system would have four large Fresnel glass lens panels, 12 feet high, mounted about four feet from the burner on a revolving lens carriage. The lens carriage would probably weigh five tons, about half of it being the weight of the glass alone. The rotating turntable would float in a circular cast-iron trough containing mercury. With this virtually frictionless support bearing, the entire assembly could be smoothly rotated by weight-driven clockwork. If the illuminant was acetylene gas, the lens rotation could be driven by gas pressure.Installations of this type are still in common use, although many have been converted to electric lamps with electric-motor drives. Modern lens equipment of the same type is much smaller, perhaps 30 inches (75 centimetres) high, mounted on ball bearings and driven by an electric motor. With a 250-watt lamp, illumination of several hundred thousand candlepower can be readily obtained. Lens panels can be molded in transparent plastic, which is lighter and cheaper. Drum lenses are also molded in plastic. In addition, with modern techniques, high-quality mirrors can be produced easily and cheaply.Intensity, visibility, and character of lightsGeographic range and luminous rangeThe luminous intensity of a light, or its candlepower, is expressed in international units called candelas (candela). Intensities of lighthouse beams can vary from thousands to millions of candelas. The range at which a light can be seen depends upon atmospheric conditions and elevation. Since the geographic horizon is limited by the curvature of the Earth, it can be readily calculated for any elevation by standard geometric methods. In lighthouse work the observer is always assumed to be at a height of 15 feet, although on large ships he may be 40 feet above the sea. Assuming a light at a height of 100 feet, the range to an observer at 15 feet above the horizon will be about 16 nautical miles. This is known as the geographic range of the light. (One nautical mile, the distance on the Earth's surface traversed by one minute of arc longitude or latitude, is equivalent to 1.15 statute miles or 1.85 kilometres.)The luminous range of a light is the limiting range at which the light is visible under prevailing atmospheric conditions and disregarding limitations caused by its height and the Earth's curvature. A very powerful light, low in position, can thus have a clear-weather luminous range greater than that when first seen by the mariner on the horizon. Powerful lights can usually be seen over the horizon because the light is scattered upward by particles of water vapour in the atmosphere; this phenomenon is known as the loom of the light.Atmospheric conditions have a marked effect on the luminous range of lights. They are defined in terms of a transmission factor, which is expressed as a percentage up to a maximum of 100 percent (representing a perfectly clear atmosphere, never attained in practice). Clear weather in the British Isles corresponds to about 80 percent transmission, but in tropical regions it can rise to 90 percent, increasing the luminous range of a 10,000-candela light from 18 to 28 nautical miles. Conversely, in mist or haze at about 60 percent transmission, a light of 1,000,000 candelas would be necessary to maintain a luminous range of 18 nautical miles. In dense fog, with visibility down to 100 yards or metres, a light of 10,000,000,000 candelas could scarcely be seen at half a nautical mile. Because average clear-weather conditions vary considerably from one region of the world to another, luminous ranges of all lighthouses by international agreement are quoted in an arbitrary standard clear-weather condition corresponding to a daytime meteorological visibility of 10 nautical miles, or 74 percent transmission. This is known as the nominal range of a light. Mariners use conversion tables to determine the actual luminous range in the prevailing visibility.Because lights of very great intensity yield diminishing returns in operational effectiveness, most very high-powered lights have been abandoned. A maximum of 100,000 candelas, with a clear-weather range of 20 nautical miles, is generally considered adequate. Nevertheless, there are still some very high-powered lights, which for special reasons may have to be visible at a distance in daylight.Most lighthouses rhythmically flash or eclipse their lights to provide an identification signal. The particular pattern of flashes or eclipses is known as the character of the light, and the interval at which it repeats itself is called the period. The number of different characters that can be used is restricted by international agreement through the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities in Paris, to which the majority of maritime nations belong. The regulations are too lengthy to quote in full, but essentially a lighthouse may display a single flash, regularly repeated at perhaps 5-, 10-, or 15-second intervals. This is known as a flashing light. Alternatively, it may exhibit groups of two, three, or four flashes, with a short eclipse between individual flashes and a long eclipse of several seconds between successive groups. The whole pattern is repeated at regular intervals of 10 or 20 seconds. These are known as group-flashing lights. In another category, "occulting" lights are normally on and momentarily extinguished, with short eclipses interrupting longer periods of light. Analogous to the flashing mode are occulting and group-occulting characters. A special class of light is the isophase, which alternates eclipses and flashes of exactly equal duration.Steadily burning lights are called fixed lights. For giving mariners accurate directional information in ports, harbours, and estuarial approaches, fixed directional lights display sharply defined red and green sectors. Another sensitive and very accurate method of giving directional instruction is by range lights, which are two fixed lights of different elevation located about half a nautical mile apart. The navigator steers the vessel to keep the two lights aligned one above the other. Laser lights are also employed in this role.Another use for fixed lights is the control of shipping at harbour entrances. A traffic signal consists of a vertical column of high-powered red, green, and yellow projector lights that are visible in daylight.The daymark requirement of a lighthouse is also important; lighthouse structures are painted to stand out against the prevailing background. Shore lighthouses are usually painted white for this purpose, but in the open sea or against a light background conspicuous bands of contrasting colours, usually red or black, are utilized.sound signalsThe limitations of purely visual navigation very early led to the idea of supplementary audible warning in lighthouses. The first sound signals were explosive. At first cannon were used, and later explosive charges were attached to retractable booms above the lantern and detonated electrically. Sometimes the charges contained magnesium in order to provide an accompanying bright flare. Such signals could be heard up to four nautical miles away. Bells (bell) also were used, the striker being actuated by weight-driven clockwork or by a piston driven by compressed gas (usually carbon dioxide). Some bells were very large, weighing up to one ton.About the beginning of the 20th century, compressed-air fog signals (fog signal), which sounded a series of blasts, were developed. The most widely used were the siren and the diaphone. The siren consisted of a slotted rotor revolving inside a slotted stator that was located at the throat of a horn. The diaphone worked on the same principle but used a slotted piston reciprocating in a cylinder with matching ports. The largest diaphones could be heard under good conditions up to eight nautical miles away. Operating pressures were at 2 to 3 bars (200 to 300 kilopascals), and a large diaphone could consume more than 50 cubic feet (approximately 1.5 cubic metres) of air per second. This required a large and powerful compressing plant, 50 horsepower or more, with associated air-storage tanks.A later compressed-air signal was the tyfon. Employing a metal diaphragm vibrated by differential air pressure, it was more compact and efficient than its predecessors.Modern fog signals are almost invariably electric. Like the tyfon, they employ a metal diaphragm, but in the electric signal they vibrate between the poles of an electromagnet that is energized by alternating current from an electronic power unit. Powers range from 25 watts to 4 kilowatts, with ranges from half a nautical mile to five nautical miles. Note frequencies lie between 300 and 750 hertz. Emitters can be stacked vertically, half a wavelength apart, in order to enhance the sound horizontally and reduce wasteful vertical dispersion.Effective rangePropagation of sound in the open air is extremely haphazard, owing to the vagaries of atmospheric conditions. Wind direction, humidity, and turbulence all have an effect. Vertical wind and temperature gradients can bend the sound up or down; in the latter case it can be reflected off the sea, resulting in shadow zones of silence. The range of audibility of a sound signal is therefore extremely unpredictable. Also, it is difficult to determine with any precision the direction of a signal, especially from the bridge of a ship in fog.Radio aidsSophisticated and complex radio navigation systems such as Decca and Loran, and satellite-based global positioning systems such as Navstar, are not properly within the field of lighthouses (see navigation). Radio and radar beacons, on the other hand, provide the equivalent of a visual seamark that is unaffected by visibility conditions.Radio beaconsRadio beacons, which first appeared in the 1920s, transmit in the frequency band of 285–315 kilohertz. In a characteristic signal lasting one minute, the station identification, in Morse code, is transmitted two or three times, followed by a period of continuous transmission during which a bearing can be taken by a ship's direction-finding receiver. Bearing accuracy averages better than 3°. The frequency of transmission varies in different parts of the world. In the busy waters of Europe, radio beacons transmit continuously on a number of different channels within the allotted frequency band.Since the development of satellite-based positioning systems in the 1970s and '80s, the early importance of radio beacons as an aid for marine navigators has diminished considerably—although they have acquired a second important role in broadcasting corrections for improving the accuracy of the satellite systems. The principal users of radio beacons are now small-craft operators, particularly recreational sailors.Radar respondersRadar-responder beacons are employed in other fields, such as aviation; in marine navigation they are called racons. A racon transmits only in response to an interrogation signal from a ship's radar, at the time when the latter's rotating scanner bears on it. During this brief period, the racon receives some 10 radar pulses, in reaction to which it transmits back a coded reply pulse that is received and displayed on the ship's radar screen. Racons operate on both marine radar bands of 9,300–9,500 megahertz and 2,900–3,100 megahertz. A racon can greatly increase the strength of the echo from a poor radar target, such as a small buoy; it is also helpful in ranging on and identifying positions on inconspicuous and featureless coastlines and in identifying offshore oil and gas rigs.The first racons came into use in 1966, and there are now many hundreds in service. Early racons, employing vacuum-tube technology, were large and required several hundred watts of power. Modern racons, using solid-state electronics, are compact and light, typically 16 by 24 inches in area and 20 to 35 pounds (10 to 15 kilograms) in weight. They draw an average of one watt in power from low-voltage batteries.Passive radar echo enhancers are also used on poor targets, such as buoys. They are made up of flat metal sheets joined into polyhedral shapes whose geometry is such as to reflect as much of the radar pulse as possible. A typical array, some 28 by 24 inches overall, can have an echoing area equivalent to that of a flat sheet with an area of some 1,600 square feet (150 square metres).The acetylene-gas illumination system, being fully automatic and reliable, enabled automatic lights to be operated early on. Its main use today is in buoys, which inherently have to operate unattended. Automation on a large scale, bringing considerable savings in operating costs, came after the advent of electrical equipment and technology and the demise of compressed-air fog signals. Unattended lights are now designed to be automatic and self-sustaining, with backup plant brought on-line automatically upon failure of any component of the system. The status of the station is monitored from a remote control centre via landline, radio, or satellite link. Power is provided from public electricity supplies (where practicable), with backup provided by diesel generators or storage batteries. Where solar power with storage batteries is used, the batteries must have sufficient capacity to operate the light during the hours of darkness. In tropical and subtropical regions, day and night are of approximately equal duration throughout the year, but in temperate and polar regions the days become longer and the nights shorter during the summer, and vice versa in winter. In these areas, solar power has to operate on an annual "balance sheet" basis, with excess charge being generated and stored in large batteries during the summer so that a reserve can be drawn upon in winter. Canada and Norway successfully operate solar-powered lights of this type in their Arctic regions.Floating lightsFloating lights (i.e., lightships and buoys) have an important function in coastal waters, guiding both passing ships and those making for or leaving harbour. They have the great advantage of mobility and can readily be redeployed to meet changed conditions. For example, submerged hazards such as sandbanks can move over the years under the influence of the sea, and, for vessels of very deep draft, safe channels must be correctly marked around these hazards at all times.Lightships (lightship)Lightships originated in the early 17th century, arising from the need to establish seamarks in positions where lighthouses were at that time impracticable. The first lightship, established in 1732 at Nore Sand in the Thames estuary, was rapidly followed by others. These early vessels were small converted merchant or fishing vessels showing lanterns suspended from crossarms at the masthead. Not until 1820 were vessels built specifically as lightships.Modern lightships are in most cases an alternative to costly seabed structures. Used to mark the more important hazards and key positions in traffic patterns, they are capable of providing a range of powerful aids. Power is provided by diesel generators. Lightships vary in size but can be up to 150 feet in length, 25 feet in beam, and 500 tons in displacement. They are not normally self-propelled, most often being towed into position and moored by a single chain and anchor. They need to be withdrawn for overhaul every two or three years.Lightships are costly items to operate and to maintain and are therefore prime candidates for automation. All lightships are now unattended, and the power of their lights and fog signals has been downgraded to a more appropriate level—e.g., 10,000 candelas for the lights, giving a luminous range of approximately 15 nautical miles, and sound signals with a range of two nautical miles. New lightships are of similar construction to the older type but are smaller—60 feet or less in length. The smallest sizes, 30 feet or less, are intended for sheltered waters and are often known as light floats.Buoys (buoy)Buoys are used to mark safe channels, important reference points, approaches to harbours, isolated dangers and wrecks, and areas of special significance. They also mark traffic lanes in narrow and congested waters where traffic routing is in force (i.e., where ships are being routed into designated lanes with entry and exit points).Structure and operationUsually constructed of quarter-inch steel plate, buoys vary in diameter from three to six feet and can weigh as much as eight tons. They are moored to a two- or three-ton concrete or cast-iron sinker by a single length of chain, which is normally about three times as long as the depth of water. Size and type depend on the application. Buoys in deep water need to be large in order to provide buoyancy sufficient to support the extra weight of chain. Stability is provided by a circular "skirt keel," with possibly a ballast weight. The light is mounted on a superstructure some 10 feet above the waterline. For more powerful lights on the open sea or deep water, the light may be 15 or 20 feet above the waterline in order to increase the range. Known as "high focal plane" buoys, for stability they require a cylindrical tail tube extending downward some 10 feet from the bottom of the hull.Buoys are also manufactured from fibreglass-reinforced (fibreglass) plastic. They have the advantage of light weight, hence lighter moorings (often of synthetic cable), ease of handling, and resistance to corrosion. Fibreglass buoys are generally confined to sheltered waters.In addition to the light, a buoy may be fitted with a racon, radar reflector, and low-power fog signal. In earlier times acetylene gas was the only practicable illuminant, which restricted the power of the light. Modern electric buoy lights range in power from a few hundred candelas up to the region of 1,000 candelas, giving ranges of eight nautical miles or so. The lighting equipment consists of a drum lens, usually made of plastic and between 4 and 12 inches in diameter, along with a low-voltage lamp of 5 to 60 watts. Power can be provided by expendable primary batteries, which need to be replaced every year or two. In order to increase the service interval and also to accommodate more powerful lights, rechargeable batteries with onboard generators are used. Some tail-tube buoys, which tend to oscillate vertically with the motion of the sea, generate power from the oscillating water column in the tube. The water column produces an oscillating air column, which in turn drives a small air-turbine generator. However, the vast majority of buoys are solar-powered (solar energy), and buoys constitute the major part of solar-powered lights.Buoyage systemsA buoy's colour and profile and the colour and flash pattern of its light convey information to navigators. The beginnings of a unified system of buoy marking emerged in 1889, but it was not until 1936 that a worldwide unified system was agreed upon at the League of Nations in Geneva. World War II began before the agreement could be fully ratified, and in the aftermath of the war little progress was made. At one time there were nine different systems in use. By 1973, however, a number of spectacular marine accidents urged the international community into action, and by 1980 a new unified system had been agreed upon by 50 maritime countries.Maintained by the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, the Maritime Buoyage System applies two nearly identical standards to two regions. Region A comprises Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the Persian Gulf, and most Asian states. Region B includes the Americas, Japan, Korea, and the Philippines. In both regions, the buoyage systems divide buoys into Lateral, Cardinal, and associated classes. Lateral buoys are used to mark channels (streambed). In region A a can-profile (i.e., cylindrical) red buoy with a red light indicates the port (left) side of the channel when proceeding in the direction of buoyage, while a conical green buoy indicates the starboard (right) side. The direction of buoyage is the direction taken when approaching a harbour from seaward or when following a clockwise direction around a landmass. Where necessary, it is indicated by arrows on charts. In region B the marking is reversed—i.e., red is to starboard when returning to harbour, and green is to port.Cardinal buoys indicate the deepest water in an area or the safest side around a hazard. They have a plain hull with a lattice or tubular superstructure that is surmounted by a distinctive "topmark." There are four possible topmarks, corresponding to the four cardinal points of the compass—i.e., north, south, east, and west. The safest navigable water lies to the side of the buoy indicated by its topmark. The marks consist of a pair of cones arranged one above the other in the following configurations: both points upward (north), both points downward (south), base-to-base (east), and point-to-point (west). The cones are painted black, and the buoys are coloured from top to waterline with two or three horizontal bands of black and yellow.Buoys indicating an isolated danger with safe water all around carry two separated spheres and are painted with alternating horizontal red and black bands. Safe-water buoys, marking an area of safe water, carry a single red sphere and vertical red and white stripes.Special marks are buoys that indicate other areas or features such as pipelines, prohibited zones, or recreational areas. These buoys are all yellow, with an X-shaped topmark and a yellow light. They may also have a hull shape indicating the safe side of passage.National lighthouse systemsLists of LightsAll maritime countries publish Light Lists, which are comprehensive catalogs of the characteristics and location of all lightships, buoys, and beacons under their control. In the United Kingdom they are issued by the Hydrographic Office, under the Board of Admiralty, and in the United States they are issued by the U.S. Coast Guard (United States Coast Guard), under the federal Department of Transportation. Changes in status are disseminated by Notices to Mariners, which update lights lists and charts. Urgent information is broadcast at scheduled times on dedicated radio channels or satellite link. All this information is promulgated in a standard format recommended by the International Hydrographic Organization, based in Monaco.Lighthouse administrationIn most countries lighthouse administration comes under a department of central government. It is usually financed out of general taxation, but it is sometimes funded from a levy on shipping that may on occasion be supplemented by the central government. This type of funding applies to lights intended for general navigation. Lights provided by ports and harbours specifically for ships using the port are paid for separately by port and harbour dues.In the United States, lighthouses and other aids are administered by the Aids to Navigation Division of the U.S. Coast Guard. The Coast Guard has at least 3,000 lighthouses and a further 6,000 minor lights, plus 4,000 lighted buoys. In 1989, expenditure, derived from general taxation, was some $450 million (£280 million).In England (United Kingdom) and Wales, lighthouses are administered by the Corporation of Trinity House, an autonomous nongovernmental agency. Trinity House evolved from a royal charter granted in 1514 to a medieval guild or fraternity of Thames river pilots based in the parish of Deptford Stronde. Its charter was later extended to the provision of seamarks. At that time most lights were operated by private owners, who, under concessions purchased from the crown, had the necessary authority to collect payment in the form of light dues. Because of increasing dissatisfaction with the level of charges and with poor service, by act of Parliament in 1836 all privately operated lights in England and Wales were bought and transferred to Trinity House. Seamarks off Scotland were placed under the authority of the Northern Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh, and Irish seamarks were placed under the Commissioners for Irish Lights in Dublin. These three authorities, which today operate a total of 1,100 lighthouses, lightships, buoys, and beacons, still share the pooled user charges, known as the General Lighthouse Fund, for the whole of the British Isles. In 1990 the fund was in the region of £55 million ($105 million).Ian C. ClinganAdditional ReadingKenneth Sutton Jones, Pharos: The Lighthouse Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1985), a comprehensive and detailed treatment, includes a discussion of future trends. David Stevenson, The World's Lighthouses before 1820 (1959), is a classic work by a member of the famous family of Scottish lighthouse engineers. Patrick Beaver, A History of Lighthouses (1971), provides historical descriptions of the construction of important lighthouses in various parts of the world, as well as the people involved.douglas B. Hague and Rosemary Christie, Lighthouses: Their Architecture, History, and Archaeology (1975), offers a history of lighthouse building, construction, engineering, and architecture from earliest times throughout the world. Robert Stevenson, English Lighthouse Tours, ed. by David Stevenson (1946), is an edited version of a detailed journal kept during a tour of English lighthouses. Hilary Poland Mead, Trinity House (1947), discusses the origins and history of the lighthouse authority for England and Wales. George R. Putnam, Lighthouses and Lightships of the United States, new and rev. ed. (1933), provides a historical survey of most of the major lighthouses and lightships of the United States through the early 20th century; it may be supplemented by Francis Ross Holland, Jr., America's Lighthouses: Their Illustrated History Since 1716 (1972, reissued 1988). United States, Coast Guard, Historically Famous Lighthouses (1950), and Coast Guard History, new ed. (1982), provide brief insights into the work of the U.S. Coast Guard and some of its more famous lighthouses.Ian C. Clingan
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Universalium. 2010.


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In the bleak dystopian future of Elysium, mankind has been cleanly segregated by altitude. While most of the population still lives on the surface of the planet, now a crime-infested and pollution-choked hellhole, the fabulously wealthy have retreated to space-station paradise Elysium—a kind of orbiting gated community, where the 1 percent enjoys access to magical "medpods" that instantly mend broken bones and clear cancer-ridden bodies of disease. Though that might sound suspiciously similar to the plot of this spring's dual-gravity fable Upside Down, it's actually the new brainchild of District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, who apparently never met a metaphorical high concept he couldn't reduce to genre-flick window dressing. As allegory, Elysium is less risible than its predecessor, in that it doesn't equate apartheid victims to slimy space bugs. But it's ultimately even less concerned with the social issues it pretends to tackle; any focus on wealth inequality or the failures of the health-care system basically evaporates once the heavy artillery comes out.
Much of Elysium is set in 22nd-century Los Angeles, envisioned—like the alien-imprisoning Johannesburg of District 9—as a crumbling urban wasteland, above which floats an enormous hunk of machinery. Here, in a shamelessly maudlin flashback, an impoverished urchin reaches skyward, toward the ozone utopia he's too poor to live in. Jump forward a couple decades, and the boy is now a weary, tattooed ex-convict (Matt Damon, in man-of-action Bourne mode), raging impotently against the machine and trying to win back the childhood sweetheart (Alice Braga) he once promised to take to Elysium. There's an element of almost-potent satire to these early scenes, which present a world where sticking it to the little guy is now completely automated. (In the film's funniest scene, Damon tries in vain to reason with his robotic parole officer, a clunky-looking contraption that offers him pills to quell his distress.) Blomkamp remains a gifted inventor of environments; there's a lived-in quality to his slummed-out L.A., evident in technology that seems at once futuristic and outdated, like the rustic hardware of the Alien franchise.
Elysium is, in other words, a triumph of art-direction, but not of storytelling: Its backdrop established and its midpoint arrived at, the film quickly devolves into another hyper-violent chase picture—a slicker, more expensive remake of the all-action, all-the-time second half of District 9. Desperate to reach Elysium—where the medpods can heal the effects of the lethal radiation poisoning he receives during a freak accident—Damon allows underworld doctors to graft an exoskeleton onto his frail frame. Soon he's caught in the middle of an information war between upwardly mobile gangsters and Elysium's secretary of defense (Jodie Foster, trying out a ludicrous accent), with his brain serving as a storage space for some vital intel. The action, a series of chaotic gunfights set to the Inception-like sonic boom of Ryan Amon's score, is visceral and robust. But it's also kind of numbing. Unlike Terminator 2—another sci-fi shoot-'em-up that begins in Los Angeles, and to which Elysium is clearly indebted—the movie never varies the nature of its run-and-gun spectacle.
Appealing though he usually is as an action hero, Damon doesn't have much to do here but scowl and look cool brandishing giant weapons. Driven solely by self-preservation, his hero eventually gets invested in the fate of Braga's sickly daughter; like Bogie in Casablanca—which also involved sought-after tickets to a better world—Damon decides to stick his neck out for someone. Yet the change is so sudden, and the protagonist by that point such an inhuman force of nature, that the dramatic arc feels negligible. It doesn't help that all the other characters are stick figures: Braga basically embodies the saintly perseverance of the lower class, while the villains are either dimestore sociopaths (Sharlto Copley's vicious mercenary) or boo-and-hiss-worthy millionaires (William Fichtner's heartless industrialist). Elysium feeds off of lingering traces of Occupy outrage, but its fantasy rewiring of the rigged financial system hinges on a technological MacGuffin, not an actual transformation of society. Blomkamp's interests clearly lie elsewhere, with big guns and bigger spacecrafts—a reminder that District 9, which announced his arrival as a purveyor of "intelligent" sci-fi, grew from the ashes of a Halo movie. With Elysium, the director proves that he still has one hand on the X-Box controller; maybe he should give the allegories a rest already and just get back in the game.


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For anyone who thinks that churches are not trying to influence American politics, please see www.MissouriFamilyNetwork.net. One of our spies in Missouri, who thinks that church and state should be separate, as the First Amendment mandates, emailed to advise that this Family Network voter's guide was passed out in at least some of the churches in Missouri.
This, of course, is in violation of the law. In exchange for their tax free status, non-profit outfits like churches are permitted to not pay taxes on their real estate if they agree not to take a part in partisan politics. The voter's guide referenced takes part in partisan politics by clearly telling American voters who and what to vote for or against.
Readers are invited to share other proofs of this lawlessness of the godly.
If churches paid property taxes, literally billions of dollars in revenue would be generated. We could wipe out the national debt, and maybe fix some roads and bridges and once again teach music and have gym, and do and teach other most worthwhile things in our schools, that have all been cut so wealthy folks can have the money formerly used for the public good.
So, we should let them politic all they want, so long as they pay their taxes. Sounds fair to


text: Auto insurance companies say false and exaggerated injury claims are on the rise in Minnesota. The National Insurance Crime Bureau says suspicious personal injury claims have tripled since 2008. Minnesota ranked tenth in the nation in 2011 with 53 such claims. Mark Kulda of the Insurance Federation of Minnesota says crackdowns in other states are driving insurance fraudsters to Minnesota. Kulda tells Minnesota Public Radio News theres evidence organized crime is setting up fake clinics, staging auto accidents and submitting bills for accidents that never happened.Read Full Article


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There is a need for broader literacy and deeper knowledge of the world's religions and their ecological contributions. This course is designed as a gateway to the rich ecological dimensions of the Christian religious tradition. We delve into unique contributions from Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant Christianity, exploring views on and relationship with the natural world. We additionally highlight the relationship between Christianity and environmental justice, evangelical approaches to "creation care", and Christian teachings on biodiversity, climate change, and the relationship between human, Earth, and cosmos. This course is for lifelong learners curious to know more about world religions and ecology, environmental professionals eager to deepen the discourse of environmental protection and conservation, those working with non-profit organizations and NGOs on issues of ecological justice, and religious leaders and laity who wish to know how they can contribute to interreligious dialogue on environmental projects.
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Nintendo announced Final Fight, Mighty Bomb Jack and Ordyne are coming to the Virtual Console today. While Final Fight is a classic, you're paying for the Super Nintendo version that is missing co-op play and Guy. Maybe it's worth $8, but you could just wait for the inevitable release of Final Fight 2. Instead of getting Final Fight I think Ordyne is worth a second look. Few people probably owned the TG-16 release and it's a decent shmup. Something missing on this week's list is Ninja Spirit, which is on Japan's list this week. Since Japan just got Ninja Spirit maybe we'll see it next week?
Mighty Bomb Jack(TM) (NES(R), 1 player, 500 Wii Points): Mighty Bomb Jack is an action/adventure game that was originally released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987 by Tecmo. The hero of the game, Jack, must make his way through 16 levels of a pyramid in order to defeat the demon Belzebut and rescue the royal Pamera family. Each level is split into two parts; an action zone and a Royal Palace room. Action zones can be split up into several portions, and contain power-ups usually hidden in treasure chests such as money bags, Mighty Coins, and Mighty Drinks. Mighty Coins allow Jack to change colors; blue allows Jack to open orange treasure chests, orange allows him to open any treasure chest by simply touching it from the side, and green transforms all enemies on the screen into coins for 5 seconds. Mighty Drinks add 10 seconds to the game's timer.
Final Fight (Super NES(R), 1 player, 800 Wii Points): Jessica had it all. She was the daughter of former wrestling star and mayor of Metro City Mike Haggar and girlfriend to Cody Travers, one of the coolest and toughest boys around. But now she has been mysteriously kidnapped! Take to the streets with either Haggar or Cody and fight your way across town, deep into the turf of the Mad Gear Gang. As you cross the town, fight with all your strength to save the one you love. Enjoy unmatched beat 'em up action in this arcade classic and discover just who is behind the Mad Gear Gang in what may be Metro City's final fight.
Ordyne(TM) (TurboGrafx16, 2 players, 600 Wii Points): Ordyne is a port of the popular side-scrolling arcade shooter that includes simultaneous two-player co-op play as well as impressive visuals and catchy background music. The evil Kubota has kidnapped Dr. Tomari's fiancee, Kana, and taken the colossal nuclear reactor Ordyne. In order to reclaim them, Dr. Tomari and his assistant Felix take to their battleships and head off in pursuit. Avoid enemies and advance through seven different levels that take place on land, sea, and air. Collect crystals from defeated enemies and use them to buy items or upgrades for your ship at the Space Inn. Do you have what it takes to defeat the boss at the end of each level and ultimately reach Kubota in the final stage, Kubota World?


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Explore a new app that allows students to develop a more sophisticated understanding of fractions.
Anderson Norton, Jesse L. M. Wilkins, Michael A. Evans, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Osman Balci, and Mido Chang
Nirmala Naresh and Bridget Royce
Students design game boards and gather experimental data to better understand the hidden mathematics in a common television game show.
Terri L. Kurz and Barbara Bartholomew
To support mathematical investigations, use this framework to guide students in constructing art-based and technology-based literature.
Sharie R. Kranz, Carlo A. Amato, and Eric A. Freudenthal
Teachers using these graphing tasks experienced engagement in understanding the need for the coordinate system.
Pamela Edwards Johnson, Melissa Campet, Kelsey Gaber, and Emma Zuidema
Three preservice teachers used virtual manipulatives during clinical interviews with students of elementary school age. The technology exposed students' problem-solving strategies and mathematical understanding, promoting just-in-time teaching about the target content. The process of completing and reflecting on the interviews contributed to growth of the preservice teachers' technological pedagogical content knowledge.
Scott Steketee and Daniel Scher
Transformations using dynamic software can provide a unique perspective on a common topic.