text:
Deep Drawable Steels: Part One
Thermo-Mechanical Treatment (TMT) of Non-Ferrous Alloys: Part One
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The fast fracture of high-strength aluminum alloys appears to be closely involved with the fracture or cavitations of dispersoid particles, in the size range 0.1-0.5 µm. which are present in high volume fraction and which contribute to grain refinement. Two high-strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu (7000 series) alloys have been examined.
It was found that the crack paths in these alloys were of a "zig.zag" nature due to a "fast shear" fracture process, in which the critical step appears to be the decohesion of dispersoids within narrow shear bands.
The fast fracture of high-strength aluminum alloys appears to be closely involved with the fracture or cavitations of
dispersoid particles, in the size range 0.1-0.5 µm. which are present in high volume fraction and which contribute
to grain refinement. Two high-strength Al-Zn-Mg-Cu (7000 series) alloys have been examined: one treated with Zr (7010:
Zn=6.2%, Mg=2.3%, Cu=1.9%, Zr=0.11%) and one treated with Cr (7475: Zn=5.6%, Mg=2.2%, Cu=1.6%, Cr=0.12%).
It was found that the crack paths in these alloys were of a "zig-zag" nature due to a "fast shear" fracture process, in which
the critical step appears to be the decohesion of dispersoids within narrow shear bands. A model has been used to relate the
toughness of the alloys to the basic tensile properties of yield stress and strain-hardening exponent, and to dispersoid
parameters such as size, shape, distribution and dispersoid matrix interfacial strength. The model has also been employed
to try to explain the difference between the effects of disipersoids on toughness in the Zr-treated alloys and the Cr-treated alloys.
High-strength alloys generally possess poor fracture toughness, which in many cases, appears to be a consequence of a decrease
in strain-hardening capacity as the yield strength is raised. Associated with the decrease in strain-hardening capacity, it is
observed that plastic flow localizes in narrow bands, and it appears that the critical amount of local deformation needed for
fracture processes to operate is more readily attained than when the flow is distributed homogeneously.
The microstructures of commercial high-strength aluminum alloys are rather complex. There are three size ranges of particles:
While Fe and Si are present as impurities, elements such as Cr or Zr are added deliberately to control
recrystallization and grain growth. The matrix strength in the peak-aged condition is primarily a function of the volume fraction
of the aging precipitate, but the toughness. In general, appears to be related to the amount, type, and morphology of all three
kinds of particles.
To produce high volume fractions of aging precipitates, the Al-Zn-Mg (7000) series of alloys has been developed. These contain
approximately 6Zn-2,2Mg, and additions of approximately 1.7% Cu are also made to give improved resistance to stress corrosion.
The heat treatments of commercial high-strength aluminum alloys are often complicated. Two- or even three-stage aging is
frequently employed, and some plastic deformation may additionally be applied before or between aging treatments. Each
individual alloy is usually supplied to an optimum "temper".
In this research, simple heat treatments have been used to obtain different micro-structures and properties. Obtained
"peak-aged" alloys are not therefore in the same condition as commercially "peak-aged" alloys, although the differences
are probably not too large. It is, however, important to contrast the strengths and toughness which was observed with those
of the alloys in commercially supplied conditions.
The crack-opening-displacement (COD) method was employed to characterize the fracture toughness, using three-point
single-edge-notch (SEN) bend specimens. Testing was according to the British Standard BS 5762. Clip-gauge displacements
were converted to crack-tip displacements using the formula
K = the stress intensity factor
Vp = plastic component of clip gauge opening displacement
E = Young's modulus (70GN m-2)
ν = Poisson's ratio
σγ = yield stress (0,2% proof stress)
W = specimen width
a = crack length
z = knife-edge height.
The optical microstructures of the two alloys are shown in Fig.1 which clearly indicate the grain structure and inclusion
distribution in three mutually orthogonal planes, oriented as shown with respect to the rolling direction: in the micrographs,
RD = rolling direction, L = longitudinal direction. T = transverse direction, S = short transverse direction.
The grains and inclusions are very elongated parallel to the rolling direction but are also quite elongated in the transverse
direction, suggesting that the plates had been cross-rolled.
The crack paths and fracture surfaces indicate that shear fracture plays a dominant role in the fracture processes in these alloys,
and the following sequence of events is suggested. After a certain amount of plastic deformation has occurred ahead of the crack tip,
flow begins to localize within narrow bands.
When a critical strain is achieved in such bands, the interface between the dispersoids and the matrix decoheres. This causes the
resistance to flow to drop steeply and leads to a catastrophic "unzipping" of all the dispersoids in the shear band giving total
fracture throughout the band.
The critical step is supposed to be the decohesion of dispersoids in the shear bands. Some evidence of this is perhaps given by
the shapes of fine dimples formed around dispersoids after large amounts of plastic deformation.
The total amount of plastic deformation is very large. Even so, the fine dimples are still equiaxed. This implies that the
foundation of the fine dimples takes place at the end of the whole fracture process at high strain, suggesting that the dispersoid,
matrix interface strength is large. It also means that coalescence must have taken place immediately after the voids formed by
decohesion, because insufficient deformation to distort the shape of the fine dimples has taken place.
The aging precipitates are very much smaller than the dispersoids and it is supposed that they are not directly involved in the
decohesion process. There is, therefore, evidence that the interface strength, size, shape, and distribution of significant factors,
affecting toughness in these alloys.
Relationships between δi and n2 and between estimated Ki and n√a. The relationships are quite
linear as observed in a previous study, which collected results from 2014, 2024, 7075, and 2219 commercial alloys.
A simple model has been proposed by Hahn and Rosenfield to relate the toughness of alloys to their basic flow properties
(yield stress, strain-hardening exponent).
Shear fracture plays a dominant role in crack extension processes in 7010 (Zr-treated) and 7475 (Cr. treated) alloys.
The critical step in the fracture process appears to be decohesion of dispersoids within the shear bands.
The Hahn and Rosenfield model has been applied to relate toughness to flow properties and dispersoid parameters, and this
model helps to explain the effects or dispersoids on the toughness of Zr-treated alloys and Cr. treated alloys.
Date Published:
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Difference between revisions of "Byzantium"
From HacDC Wiki
|Line 84:
|Line 84:
**Ronja with balloon targets
**Ronja with balloon targets
**Ronja with lasers and balloon targets
**Ronja with lasers and balloon targets
*read up on [http://ronja.twibright.com/ Ronja]
*read up on [http://ronja.twibright.com/ Ronja]
Revision as of 16:03, 3 March 2011
This project will be launched with a sprint on Feb 25-27, 2011.
Project Goals
The goal of Project Byzantium is to develop a communication system by which users can connect to each other and share information in the absence of convenient access to the Internet.
The use cases for such a system would be:
- The infrastructure for accessing the internet has become damaged or inaccessible. (Eg, a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina.)
- A central authority has decided to explicitly block or shutdown key infrastructure. (Eg, Egypt's recent internet blackout.)
- A zombie apocalypse in which the personnel responsible for maintaining key infrastructure have all been turned.
The project aims to develop and publish the necessary documentation, best practices, and software to construct and support such a system. Our current approach is to start by investigating and documenting the existing technologies which would support such a system. In particular, mesh networking protocols, wireless networking technologies, and decentralized (or less-centralized) alternatives to internet addressing/naming systems such as DNS. In designing the system, we aim to reduce the dependency on exotic hardware or skill sets so that the system can be deployed quickly and easily by average internet users.
Sprint 1
Goal - Reliably bridge two different and separate wireless networks without using existing internet infrastructure.
Design goals 1) There should be a webserver on each network providing a service of some kind (microblogs, web chat, file dump). 2) Nodes in either network should be able to reach both webservers. 3) Nodes on one network should be able to talk to nodes on the other network and vice versa. 4) Networks should have at least 3-5 nodes each.
Tentative schedule is as follows:
Friday - 8:00pm Pizza and planning (any particular request should email me off list). (COMPLETE!) Saturday - 9:00am Start showing up (IN PROGRESS!) Saturday - 10:00am Divide into groups and start the sprint. Sunday - 10:00am Start showing up. Sunday - 11:00am Finish the sprint! Sunday - Evening Debriefing (I'll be taking extensive notes to update the wiki).
Notes: BATMAN Babel Babel Setup BATMAN-Advanced Setup
Plans! We're gonna have two teams each will implement a mesh network using some existing mesh protocol. One team will be working with BATMAN-Advanced and the other with BABEL. Each network will use at least one openwrt device the rest will be laptops and netbooks.
from Wikipedia: Byzantine
Interesting threads: A few comments on the BATMAN routing protocol A few more comments on the BATMAN routing protocol
Distributed DNS
Distributed Hash Table (DHT) - Wikipeda page on DHTs. Has a decent overview of how they work.
Bamboo DHT - A DHT implementation in Java.
UpRight - A library for building fault-tolerant distributed systems. Incorporates innovations from modern solutions to Byzantine fault tolerance.
Gossip Protocols: Nodes in a network pseudorandomly select peers to exchange information with. Could be useful for distributing the contents of a DHT-based DNS implementation within a mesh network. Kademlia has an interesting way of handling the entry distribution problem. When inserting an entry, it iterates through the table to find suitable nodes in the network to hold that entry and propagates it to them as well as saving a copy locally.
CoDoNS paper - A very good paper from 2004 on a distributed DNS alternative. It still relies on centralized domain name registration. CoDoNS main page - It appears that CoDoNS is operational and running on PlanetLab. Unfortunately, I don't see any code. I see no reason why we can't simply hijack their design.
Intentional Naming System - "INS is a new naming system intended for naming and discovering a variety of resources in future networks of devices and services. It has the following interesting characteristics about the way it names resources and the way names are resolved."
Sprint 2
Long haul links. Tenative planning meeting: Thu Mar 3 2011 after the bike maintenance class
Stuff to bring (proposed)
- FMRS/GMRS radios that you wouldn't mind hacking.
- Childrens' walkie-talkies. The Doctor knows where to buy cheap pairs of them locally.
- Webcams that are known to work with Linux. That's closer to black magick than computer science, so do your homework first (or on your smartphone while at the store).
- Laser pointers (the more exotic the colors the better). Buy them when you find them. When you go looking for them specifically you can never find them.
- Really bright LEDs
- Photocells, photodetectors.
- Microcontrollers. They may come in handy for modulating/demodulating signals.
- radio shack/hardware store high bandwidth unlicensed
- Ronja
- Modified Ronja
- Ronja with lasers
- Ronja with balloon targets
- Ronja with lasers and balloon targets
- Ronja with lasers and self-adhesive mirrored decals.
- All Electronics Magazine had a couple of articles on building lasercomm devices on the cheap. Somebody remind the Doctor to go through his magazine collection.
- read up on Ronja
- read up on FMRS/GMRS
- read up on soundcard modems
Goals (proposed)
- measure the bandwidth of a point to point long haul connection at maximum distance
- find the optimum distance for maximum bandwidth
- mathematically describe the way to maximize throughput with a minimum number of nodes
- run an ssh session over whatever link is established
Sprint 3
possible projects:
- revisit sprint 1
- revisit sprint 2 (possibly with different methods)
- new project
- long haul mesh

subset: commoncrawl


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5 Questions To Ask When You Don't Know What To Do With Your Life
Editor's Note: This article written by Susie Moore was originally published on Greatist, a digital publication committed to happy and...
Editor's Note: This article written by Susie Moore was originally published on Greatist, a digital publication committed to happy and healthy lifestyle choices.
"What do you do for a living?" might be the second-most frequently asked question, after your name. If it weren't so commonplace, it might be considered odd and perhaps a little rude. But given the emphasis that society places on our career choice, it's no wonder many think their job title defines who they are.
So what does that mean for those of us who don't even like our job, let alone want to be defined by it? Well, you're not alone: According to a 2012 Gallup poll, only 13% of Americans are engaged (or feel psychologically committed) at work.
Here's the good news: You are not your job. You are much bigger than and not restricted by whatever your job title says you are — even if you love your current career choice.
As a life coach, the top reason people come to me is because they feel limited — and unfulfilled — by their work. They come to me for help figuring out their "purpose" or "calling." All day at work they are humming along, looking happy on the surface, but feeling frustrated. They feel bored. They feel inauthentic, which eats away at their self-esteem. They feel like a "shadow version" of themselves. They know that they have the energy, passion, and smarts to do anything — they just don't know what exactly. Or how to begin.
Sadly, no one is going to hand you your passion (plus instructions to bring it to life!) in an envelope. But there are some important questions you can ask yourself to identify what calls to you and ignites your spirit. A combination of getting quiet, going inward, and being honest about what sparks joy within you, and then taking action to actualize it is very, very powerful. Listening to your inner wisdom and being guided by it brings with it certain magic.
Related: The Best Way To Nail Every Goal You Set »
Stephen Colbert greets troops and civilians at Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 5 as part of his "Operation Iraqi Stephen: Going Command" tour.U.S. Army photo
5 Questions to Ask Yourself
"What activities am I doing when I'm slacking off at work?"
One of my first coaching clients said to me, "Susie, when I'm at work at an ad agency, all I do (secretly) is pin fashion looks together and research vintage jewelry." Her passion was so obvious—she created lookbooks on the weekends, followed only designers on Instagram, and always looked chic on a pretty tight budget. She just needed to step back and realize it. Now? She works nights and weekends as a personal stylist and plans to transition full-time in January.
"What brought me joy as a kid?"
Believe it or not, your passions may evolve and grow, but they never actually change or leave you. When you were very young, what made you happy — playing music, writing stories, helping animals, being captain of a sports team, building stuff?
Jack Canfield, motivational speaker and co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, recommends conducting what he calls a "joy review:" Write down times in your life that you felt most happy — when you backpacked through Asia on a shoestring budget? Led the debate team in high school? Trained junior staff at work? Or decorated your past two apartments? Likely, you'll find a common thread throughout those joyful moments. When you see it all on paper, it's easier to connect the dots.
"What blogs and books do I love to read?"
Think about the top five websites you peruse once you power up your laptop. For example, I worked with a realtor who spent hours reading recipes in cookbooks, websites, and natural food blogs. He now has a decent following as a food blogger himself and earns a small revenue stream from it.
This is what is often referred to as a "side hustle," working on a passion business outside of your day job. It can be a great way to build your confidence, see if there is a market for what you have to offer, and make some extra cash. And hey, it's never a bad idea to hedge your bets in times of economic uncertainty. Like the aforementioned stylist, it can also turn into something much bigger!
"What conversation topic never gets boring?"
What subject brings on that "I could talk about this all day!" feeling? My husband, for example, loves talking about investments — if he had a second job, it would be flipping homes, he always says. It's a total snoozefest for me, but luckily he has a brother and a couple of close friends who share his passion.
It's important not only to ask yourself which topics energize you but which people can get excited about them with you. It's critical to nurture relationships where a common passion unites you. Which leads us to…
"Who is my tribe?"
Your tribe consists of people who get you. It might not be your colleagues, your college pals, or even your siblings. A close former coworker of mine found her tribe at a popular, local fitness class. When I see her around her tribe, she is the brightest and most energized version of herself. It's awesome!
If you don't have a "tribe" already, you can find one. Use all of the clues above to pinpoint your interest and then locate a group that shares it. Join a book club. Take a cooking class. Learn to code at a local college. Volunteer at an animal shelter. Opportunities and people are everywhere when you open your eyes and look. I found some remarkable tribal pals at New York University, where people of all ages and professional backgrounds spent their Saturdays with me to become certified life coaches.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class Kyle Jones, assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 11, jokes and laughs with his colleagues as he puts in hearing protection prior to conducting fast-rope training as part of Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2012.U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth
Your Action Plan
Once you have some clarity, you have to take action. Nothing, nothing, nothing changes without action. For example, when I started coaching, I was working full-time as an advertising sales director. I thought I wanted to coach people on how to sell. I enjoyed it, but realized what I love most is coaching people how to harness their personal power to gain confidence and pursue their dreams.
Ask yourself: What are three things that I can do over the next seven days to bring my passion to life? Then do them. Buy the website URL for the blog you've always dreamed of writing. Tell your friends and colleagues that you're available as a party planner in exchange for a testimonial. Ask the woman that you look up to in marketing if you can buy her a latte for 20 minutes of her time. The options are endless.
The following week, do three more. Then three more. And watch what happens. Keep doing this — never stop doing. The results will astound you once you get busy. Remember: Anything good that has ever been created has been the result of small, consistent actions. A few dollars here, a few dollars there adds up to a sweet sum of savings. Smart lunch choices repeated over time result in a healthier body. This is no accident, and self-exploration is no exception. At any moment you can begin the process of going deeper into yourself and bringing the innermost (gorgeous, ready, willing!) part of you to life.
You are not your job. Your job is one part of your multifaceted, potential-filled self. And deep down you know it too. What are you waiting for? As the poet Rumi wrote, "What you seek is seeking you." Your joy, tribe, and bliss are patiently waiting. They will always be waiting. You just need to decide.
This article, "5 Questions to Ask When You Don't Know What to Do With Your Life," originally appeared on Greatist.
More articles from Greatist.com:


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Brookelynn Morris is one crafter who is as diverse in her crafts as she is prolific. From fiber to mosaic to floral arrangements and smart crafting, you never know what amazingness will sprout from her creative mind. Brookelynn has contributed projects to 9 out of the 10 volumes of CRAFT, and a look at her author page gives a window into the wide range of her talents. Here is just a sampling from the pages of CRAFT before we check in with Brookelynn. From the tasty felted fruit that graced the cover of CRAFT Volume 02, she diversified to Custom Seat Covers in Volume 04:
From the simplicity of marzipan cake decorations in Volume 05, she switched gears to represented for the smart crafting movement with her LED Hula Hoop project in Volume 06:
Brookelynn taught us the folk art of making your own herbal, medicinal tinctures in Volume 07, and gave us a window into the ancient art of Bonsai in Volume 08:
What has Brookelynn been up to lately? Here's what she shared with us:
"The biggest thing that I have been working on lately is the upcoming release of my first book, Feltique. It's packed with projects that use needle felting, wet felting, commercial felt, and fulled felt. The entire process has been amazing, and I am really excited."
"I met some new friends who taught me how to spin with a drop spindle. They showed me an amazing technique where you ply the yarn as you spin it. Mind blowing, but simple. Spinning is addictive!
I've also been planting my garden, and working on projects that really capture the woodland vibe. I made a forest faux cake for my springtime table."
"Because temps are warming up, but I still live near the chilly Nor Cal coast, I've been working on light scarves. My favorite one is a scarflet of lightweight ruffles from a thrifted wool pancho. It looks like an Elizabethan collar."
"I love riding mountainboards, and springtime means time to ride. A mountainboard is basically a giant skateboard, with inflatable tires and mounts to strap your feet in. It's perfect for dirt roads, and I try to hit the trails at least two or three times a week."
Hot! Thanks, Brookelynn!
Brookelynn has already contributed some great content to Craftzine (my favorite being her gorgeous Ikebana tutorial) and starting this upcoming Monday, May 18th, she is going to be our guest blogger for the week, bringing us fresh content every day. Stay tuned!
Brookelynn will be also be co-hosting the Needlefelting Playground with Miss Moxie at our Maker Faire Bay Area in San Mateo on May 30th and 31st. Stop by, meet Brookelynn, and play with wool!
Special thanks to Michelle Feileacan Photography for the top picture and to Stella the adorable boxer for modeling the scarf!
6 thoughts on "Checkin' In: Multitalented Crafter Brookelynn Morris"
You've got some nice stuff going on! And isn't that a "Piratbyrån"-T-shirt! I like it!
I wanted to take a look at the custom seat covers article, however, I get stuck in an endless loop of it wanting me to log in, me logging in, and then being redirected to the latest issue of Make. If I don't log in, I get a message that the preview has ended before I can get to the article …
When you're logged into the digital edition of MAKE, go to the archives, and CRAFT will show up there. Email me at firstname.lastname@example.com if you still have trouble.
Comments are closed.


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SHINee Reveals Why They Decided To Renew Contracts With SM Entertainment
Four of the SHINee members announced during Radio Star that they've renewed their contracts with SM Entertainment. During the segment, the members were asked what they wanted to say to each other.
Onew began by saying that he wants to let each member know that he loves them.
"I say this more often these days but… I love you guys." — Onew
Minho thanked the members for being by each others' side over the past decade.
"I'm so thankful that we were so understanding and considerate towards each other over the past 10 years. We're basically family now, so I hope we can continue like this forever." — Minho
Key began by saying how he doubts if SHINee would have continued this far if they were given the choice to continue or not a couple years back.
"I want us to look back on the days when we were still immature. I don't know if we'd be here today if they gave us a choice to continue back during out 6th~7th anniversary. We persevered together somehow for 10 years, but for me, everything finally seems worth it now." — Key
But he announced that all of the members renewed their contracts because of the love they have for each other as Onew mentioned and the family-like relationship they've nurtured that Minho talked about.
"I'm saying this only because I want to, but we all renewed our contracts to continue doing what we want together." — Key
Minho chimed in that they've known each other since they were teenagers and spent the majority of their 20s together. Now, they've vowed to spend their 30s together through their renewed contracts!
"We were together in our 10s and 20s, and we'll be together in our 30s." — Minho
Taemin closed off by vowing to never change and continue on as brothers, no matter what others may say or think about them.
"I don't want us to ever change. No matter what others may say, I want us to continuing together well." — Taemin
Taemin revealed that his life's motto recently changed from aiming to become a great SHINee to a happy SHINee.
"Instead of 'Let's do our best', 'Let's be happy.'" — Taemin
SHINee just celebrated their 10th anniversary, and they vow there will be many more anniversaries to come!
Imagine Girls' Generation As Your Parents — SHINee's Taemin Thought That Was Going To Happen
"Some People Have Mental Issues To Work Through" — K-Netizens React Harshly To SHINee's Apologies For "Colorist" Comments
Fans Are Surprised By SHINee's Taemin And Key's Apologies For "Colorist" Comments Made To Minho
Netizens Have Mixed Feelings After SHINee Key's Past Remark To Minho Resurfaces


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These hard-working, unlined Georgia Boot 8"H Plain Toe Work Boots feature stitched-on and glued, oil-resistant rubber bumper guards around the base. These rubber wraps protect the boots from water damage and wear. Slip-resistant and non-marking lightweight polyurethane outsole resists abrasion and chemicals (oil, fuel, etc.). Steel shank provides arch support. Internal padded cushion collar and gusset. Goodyear welt construction. Covered cushion insole absorbs impact. Georgia Boot G8274.
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Popular Science
Popular Science gives our readers the information and tools to improve their technology and their world. The core belief that Popular Science and our readers share: The future is going to be better, and science and technology are the driving forces that will help make it better.
Common terms and phrases
Alpine American appear arctic average beauty birds body brain cause centenarians clock color comparative psychology creatures dial digestion Dinornis disease embryo evidence exist eyes fact faculty female forms G. P. Putnam's Sons genius gift give glacial Government Greenland habits hour Hudson human hundred important individual insanity insects interest James Sully kind known labor live lower animals madness male matter ment mental micturition mind Mount Katahdin Mount Washington native nature nearly ness northern observed once organs paraffin persons plants Pliocene possess present Professor Youmans psychology question railroad railway reason regarded returns Saxifrage says scientific seeds seems species stones student things thought tion transcontinental railway University of Rostock vegetable Vincent Youmans White Mountains whole women York Zealand


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We're not talking about the one in Las Vegas. Today's featured photo is again sourced from our Gadling Flickr Pool. Flickr Pool member jrodmanjr claims the center of Lake Como, Italy may be "the only place where the tourists outnumber the locals."
We'd love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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10 September 2011
Recent purchase: Ace Combat
Just acquired the first three Ace Combat games from Yahoo! Auction Hong Kong today. They're second hand, but are still in pretty good shape. It's good to go retro now and then.
I've been playing the Ace Combat series this summer - pretty much since the PlayStation Network outage occured. These are no simulation game, but it's a great feeling to soar the sky and shoot the enemies out of it. Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War was the first game I've started, and fell really involved in it and bought the other games (04 and 5) shortly afterwards.
A test play on Ace Combat 2 just to be sure that the games are authentic and are still in good shape on my PS2:
Lock on!
Mission Accomplished! Hurrah to the retro PS1 graphics!
Sometimes I do feel nostalgic and longed for the old stuff like this. No wonder looks of people frown on the current games and anime these days and say how the stuff were better in the past.
7 comments:
I haven't played the older Ace Combats (1-3), but my favourite out of the others is Ace Combat 5.ReplyDelete
Holy fucking shit I'm getting hit by massive nostalgia.ReplyDelete
The only way the Ace Combat series could have be better is if they had Highway to the Danger Zone as the franchise theme song.
Now those are a blast from the past!! Air combat was one of the first games I had with my PS1, along with battle arena Toshinden!!! I lost it when I lent it to some ass at school and he sold it without my permission. Sufficed to say, I never lent him anything again after that!ReplyDelete
I still have my ace combat 2 with it's ridiculous jut which left everthing else in the shade, stats-wise.
Didn't get into AC3 but I did get AC5 on the PS2 and then AC6 on the 360. All good fun
- Anonymous12 September 2011 at 21:02
I've always liked the ACE Combat games, what a great find for you!ReplyDelete
I'm more interested in Ace Combat 3. Hopefully they'll do a HD remake someday because I'm not buying the gimped American/European versions. With that said, Ace Combat Assault Horizon in one month, aw yeah!ReplyDelete
Ace combat 2 was my first console game. Now i'm working as designer in the video games industry, and the ace combat IP had a great influence on me.ReplyDelete
Thanks for the big nostalgia sequence. :D
@ Nopy:ReplyDelete
Ace Combat 5 is definitely one of the most story driven games of the whole series so far, and not surprisingly one of the most favourite among fans. Zero is my personal favourite so far, maybe partially due to the charm and impression it has given me as the first game I have played, as well as its overall tone.
@ Snark:
Hahaha I knew you would have suggested songs from Top Gun there! Nevertheless the early games such as Ace Combat 2 do have rather nice rock music in some stages - some I've got really hooked onto already (e.g. Fire Youngman)!
@ gundamjehutykai:
A blast from the past indeed~ Felt like going retro and finding the old Ace Combat games to experience the whole series. There's this real fulfilling sense playing them from beginning to end compared to, say, BRS THE GAME.
I remember losing half of my Game Boy cartridges when I have lent them to my classmates. That really taught me a huge lesson there.
Too bad I don't have Xbox360 or else I won't mind getting Ace Combat 6. Same with the Ace Combat 3D (now known as Cross Rumble) as I don't have a 3DS; this one is going back to the fictional world of Strangereal, with Scarface from Ace Combat 2 coming back too apparently!
@ korewagundam:
I was surprised that I've managed to find these games in good condition. They are actually from the same seller that I've bought for Ace Combat 04 & 5 too :o
@ Tom:
I did hear about how the overseas version of Ace Combat 3 got seriously watered down with cutscenes and storyline removed as well as no branched missions. Regarding on Assault Horizon, just head that the downloadable demo is now out on Xbox Live and PSN (though it could be the 15th for the latter). Hope I can get my hands on it and see how it is like!
@ Adrien Girod:
Hey thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! Interesting to know that Ace Combat 2 was your first ever console game there! I played mostly Game Boy games only when I was little ^^; First time experience and impression really can have a lasting effect, especially in childhood. I'm glad that it is giving you influence for your career there!


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Riobel Zendo Towel Ring Z07
You can find
Riobel Towel Rings
at Bath Emporium or Castle Kitchens,
Showroom with Vintage to Modern Upscale Collections.
We are located just South of 407 ETR Highway And Woodbine ave Exit.
Our Closest Major Intersection is Hwy7 and Woodbine Ave in Markham, Ontario.
(905) 944-0060; Toll Free: 1-866-880-5446


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WATCH: Google + Premieres Lincoln Trailer During Glitchy Q&A With Spielberg And Gordon-Levitt
Steven Spielberg debuted the trailer to Lincoln, his highly anticipated film about the 16th U.S. President at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, but the experience was less-than-mesmerizing. That's because the webcast was initially plagued with glitches that left some viewers with nothing more than a "buffering" notice or moments when the trailer seemed to fade in and out of blackness. The Google + Hangout session with the filmmaker and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who stars as Lincoln's son Robert Todd Lincoln, was also bedeviled by sound problems that turned the question-and-answer session into an annoying echo chamber. If you didn't — or couldn't — see the trailer during its premiere, check it out after the jump, along with the first images from Spielberg's '12 Oscar contender.
PHOTOS: First Images From Steven Spielberg's Lincoln
The sound problems were eventually corrected, and Spielberg remarked that Lincoln "is a figure in this national landscape who hasn't been re-examined enough," except, he added, as parody. According to Spielberg, the last movie to take a substantial look at the historical figure was the 1939 feature Young Mr. Lincoln, in which Henry Fonda portrayed him in his pre-presidential days as a lawyer.
"I think a figure as great as Abraham Lincoln deserves re-examination," Spielberg said.
Gordon-Levitt took a more personal approach to the Q&A, taking time to give a shout-out to his high-school AP U.S. History teacher, Mr. Bechtel — I'm guessing at the spelling here — who the actor said was one of his favorite teachers because he presented history as if it were "story time" instead of reducing it to "a bunch of facts and multiple-choice questions." Gordon-Levitt also said he was "honored" to work with Spielberg.
Here's the trailer. Instant Oscar powerhouse?
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text: Google's new Android Extension Pack and OpenGL ES 3.1 are supported in the upcoming Android L release. The Android Extension Pack is a set of extensions to OpenGL ES which provides features like tessellation to improve the detail of geometry rendered onscreen, and geometry shaders which can also be used to add detail to what is rendered onscreen as well as to add shadows to a scene. The Android Extension Pack also includes support for compute shaders, and Adaptive Scalable Texture Compression (ASTC).


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Police are looking for an androgynous suspect who has been caught on camera in nearly half a dozen South Bay bank robberies in the last two months.
A $10,000 reward is being offered for information in the case.
The most recent robbery was Monday at a Comerica Bank in Milpitas.
The unidentified suspect, who San Jose Police Officer Albert Morales said is likely a woman but could be a man, has entered five banks since November, presented a demand note, made threats and sometimes pulled out a handgun.
The robber is becoming "progressively more brazen," Morales said, and should be considered armed and dangerous.
The suspect wore a long, black wig and sunglasses in each of the video surveillance pictures and has been seen taking the money and fleeing the scene before police can get there.
Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Comerica provided photos of the person inside the banks to police, who released the images on Tuesday.
Witness descriptions, along with video images, show the suspect to be an African American man or woman, about 20 to 30 years old, standing about 5'4" to 5'7" tall, and weighing about 110 pounds.
A reward of up to $10,000 -- up to $5,000 from Wells Fargo and up to $5,000 from Bank of America -- is being offered for the "identification and conviction of the suspect associated with these robberies."
The banks hit include:
- Nov. 9, 1:54 p.m.: Wells Fargo Bank, 139 Ranch Dr. in Milpitas
- Nov. 23, 11:28 a.m.: Wells Fargo Bank, 1705 N. 1st St. in San Jose
- Dec. 11, 2:25 p.m.: Bank of America, 1245 Lincoln Ave. in San Jose
- Dec. 30, 1:10 p.m.: Wells Fargo Bank, 1715 Landess Ave. in Milpitas
- Jan. 6, 2:22 p.m.: Comerica Bank, 1289 S. Park Victoria Dr. in Milpitas
Anyone with information should call Detective Enrique Garcia of the San Jose Police Department's Robbery Unit at (408)277-4166. Persons wishing to provide information anonymously may call Silicon Valley Crimestoppers at (408)947-STOP (7867) or may visit www.tipsubmit.org.


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Heroku, the "pure platform-as-a-service" provider aimed at developers that over time has added support for languages like Java and Node.js, has just announced support for one of the most widely used -- and widely debated -- languages across the Web: PHP.
Perhaps it was inevitable. The sheer size of the PHP programmer and application base makes it hard for any PaaS to withhold support for it, and in fact all the other major PaaS providers -- Google App Engine, Amazon Elastic Beanstalk, and Windows Azure -- have PHP runtime support.
But PHP's also been fraught with controversy over its security and has a history of applications being vulnerable to many kinds of attacks (such as SQL injection). The language has also long been associated with a quick-and-dirty programming style that lends itself to insecurity.
What's changed? According to Adam Gross, VP of product at Heroku, one of the biggest recent developments that drove Heroku to accept PHP as a proper first-class language was the creation of Facebook's HipHop VM for PHP -- not just because of the performance enhancements HHVM provided, but because it provided a modern VM framework for the language that's more akin to Java's JVM than the previous generations of interpreters for PHP.
The existing, and enduring, PHP developer community was another spur to adding PHP to Heroku's stable. "PHP developers are like the dark matter of the developer universe," said Gross. "They're not as visible and vocal, but there are a lot of them."
Aside from providing support for PHP by way of HHVM, Heroku also plans to support Composer, the PHP packaging system akin to Python's Pip or Node's NPM. Gross notes that having Composer solves PHP's long-standing dependency management problem and makes PHP more of a modern development environment. Another key development in the PHP world, and one that drove its adoption into Heroku's fold, has been the rise of PHP frameworks like Symfony and Zend, which obviate much of the heavy lifting and boilerplate code needed to create websites in PHP.
The original PHP and HHVM will both be available as a standard Heroku build pack, so existing Heroku developers (or existing Heroku projects) will be able to add PHP with little effort. PHP will also be supported through Heroku XL, Heroku's technology for application scaling, which will allow both the original PHP interpreter and HHVM to be scaled for high-demand applications.
The PaaS scene has long offered a wilderness of choices for the average developer, with Heroku being one of the most mature and battle-tested of the bunch. For Heroku to add PHP to its existing language and platform mix ought to be attractive to both "pure" PHP developers as well as those using PHP as part of a larger solution. It's unclear if this will allow PHP usage to break through what Gross has characterized as the "glass ceiling" of its usage, since such perceived limitations on what PHP is good for -- and how robust it can be -- will likely take more than Heroku's effforts alone.
This story, "Heroku joins other PaaS providers in supporting PHP," was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Get the first word on what the important tech news really means with the InfoWorld Tech Watch blog. For the latest developments in business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.


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Home Ownership Rate Declines in European Union Countries
Van Gogh's stolen painting was found after 3.5 years
Pakistani cricketer who put a bounty on Geert Wilders' head gets 12 years in prison
Fossil fuel protest in the Netherlands on the second day: 500 activists detained
Arts and Entertainment: Amsterdam Guide 2023
Exploring Amsterdam's Best Laptop-Friendly Cafés for Digital Nomads
Finding a Hotel for Pride 2023 in Amsterdam
A Month-by-Month Guide to Amsterdam's Weather
How is the weather in Amsterdam in July?
Discovering the Best Things to Do in Amsterdam
'Netherlands' Stonehenge' Discovered: 4000-Year-Old Graveyard and Glass Beads From Mesopotamia Found
Exploring Movie Theaters in Amsterdam
Amsterdam's Museums: A Treasure Trove of Art, History, and Culture
Exploring the Timeless Beauty of Dutch Architecture
Tipping in the Netherlands: A Guide to Showing Appreciation for Great Service
Pride 2023 in Rotterdam Guide
Amsterdam Pride 2023 Guide: Celebrate Love!
A Journey into the World of Amsterdam Weed
The Legal Drinking Age in the Netherlands: What You Need to Know
An Amsterdam icon: PARADISO night club
Famous Night Clubs Of Amsterdam
A living legend: DJ Tiesto
Amsterdam: Nightclubs protest tickets sold out!
Nightclubs are opening in Netherlands
Best sushi restaurants in the Netherlands
Lunch in Leiden: These are the nicest lunch spots in the city
Exploring the Vibrant World of Falafel Shops in Netherlands
Discover the Sweet Delights: Best Cookie Shops in Amsterdam
Cat Friendly Cafes in Amsterdam
Bicycles in Amsterdam: The Art of Commuting
Amsterdam's Cycling Culture: A Lifestyle to Embrace
Amsterdam's Bike-Friendly Neighborhoods
The Wheel Revolution: How Amsterdam's Bicycles Reshaped the Cityscape
How to eat cheap food in Amsterdam?
Protests grow after police kill 17-year-old in France: At least 150 people were detained
Luxembourgers will soon be able to legally keep and smoke weed
UBS to lay off thousands of Credit Suisse employees
Streets in flames in France
2 people died in Spain due to hot weather
Old Amsterdam cheese is a type of aged Gouda cheese that originates from the Netherlands. It is made from cow's milk and is known for its...


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Musician and bandleader, Harry James was an instrumentalist of the swing era. He
was one of the most popular bandleaders of the first half of the 1940s, and he
continued to lead his band until just before his death, 40 years later. His was the
first "name band" to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939. He wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin' but Sinatra refused. His later band included
drummer Buddy Rich. Harry James was second only to Glenn Miller as the most successful recording artist of 1942.
Harry James and his Orchestra on The Ed Sullivan show
Frank Sinatra, right, with Harry James and his orchestra in 1939


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[Larry] put a different spin on a television remote control. He used an Arduino and an IR receiver to learn the codes from the factory remote. Now that he can use an IR LED to playback these signals he worked on an alternative to pressing buttons as the input. The ultrasonic range finder seen above allows him to wave his hand in front of the device to change channels and alter the volume levels. Check it out after the break.
There are many other ways that gestures could be used with this system, including a laser based input method. We'd like to see [Larry's] system incorporated into a coffee table of some kind, as long as there was an opening for the range finder to work.


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What did you do this weekend? If you're in any Scouting program, the answer probably comes with a great story.
And now is the time for members of Sea Scouts, BSA to share their stories with potential recruits. The first-ever Sea Scout Recruiting Day is tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 25), and it's a great opportunity for young men and women to learn more about the program.
If you know some seafaring youths, have them search for their nearest ship online.
Sea Scouting started in 1912, so its centennial comes right on the heels of the BSA's centennial. As Sea Scouting begins the countdown to the end of its first century in operation, Sea Scouts are looking to increase their membership from 7,000 to 10,000. That means that every Sea Scout Ship would need to add six members between now and the end of 2012.
That starts with Sea Scout Fall Recruiting Week, which ends tomorrow. All week, Sea Scouts have been showcasing the best aspects of their program and asking potential recruits, "What did you do this weekend?"


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Switzerland in August.
After struggling to the summit of Mt Blanc it was time to relax and see some of Switzerland (and bits of Italy, and France) with Jasmijn. So we hired a car in Geneva, collected a Swiss hostel guide, and off we went! Don't miss the published story of this adventure!Read More


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Aurora Borealis , Alaska
Fox Gardens ALASKA in Fairbanks, AK
The Northern lights with all these photo's taken from our yard in Fox
Driveway Hardscape Large (5,000 - 10,000 sq ft.) Lighting Other Yard Path / Walkway
Comments / Questions
Gary you should use some of your pictures of the lights and make them into a calendar. I know they would sell.
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Scrub Brush
Our surgical scrub brush is used to significantly reduce the
number of micro-organisms on the hands and forearms before
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We know what works and what doesn't. We take the time to listen to your needs and to find solutions to the challenges of modern veterinary medicine. After all, your success is our success.
We are very excited about the future of this industry, and about our role in it. That future is tightly bound to our ever-expanding family of loyal customers. We are here to support and grow your business with you, assisting your efforts to raise standards in animal health and welfare around the world.


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I watched This Film Is Not Yet Rated a few days ago. Very interesting documentary (if "preachy", but aren't they all?) I recommend that you see it. All the issues raised in the film can be applied to the video game industry, and all are worth discussing, but I want to talk about just one, brief part. In the film, one person argues that (and I'm paraphrasing here): "violence with no gore should be reserved for adults, who can intellectually handle the fiction of it. Violence with realistic gore is what should be considered safe for kids."
I'm not a psychiatrist. I don't have kids. I can't claim that I have a deep understanding of what does and does not negatively impact child development (beyond the obvious things — lack of affection, lack of education, lack of sustenance, etc — stuff we as a society manage to ignore every day in favor of more sensational news.) All that said, this argument struck a cord with me. Let me explain.
The Milgram and Stanford prison experiments
For years, I've felt that we shield our children (and ourselves!) from the very information that could spare us from repeating the worst of history's mistakes. My favorite example has always been the brilliant Milgram experiments. (If you are not familiar with this, you must click that link!) Milgram's work, along with the Stanford prison experiment proved (to me) that the vast majority of human beings, even those living in a free, "enlightened" place like the USA, have the capacity for great evil — and it doesn't take much to expose that capacity.
So what's my point? Well, the first time I learned of these experiments was during my freshman year of college, when I saw two video documentaries about them. Many people will never see these documentaries or learn of them. I think that's a crime. Every single high school student should be required to watch and write about this material. (Maybe even junior high school students — after all, that's the time when school bullying starts to become really nasty. Maybe this would help.) Teaching kids about tradgedies like the Holocaust and the Rawandan genocide is not enough. It's too easy to learn of those things and think "wow, neither I nor anyone I know could ever be a part of something like that." We need to teach our children that it isn't that simple.
(Side note: my wife happens to work for an organization called Facing History which teaches kids to think about these issues. It must be working, because I'm writing this article.)
Truth in advertising (and entertainment)
Now to cut closer to home. In general, I think that we overly shield our children (and ourselves) from the truth about violence. I'm not arguing that every violent game should accurately depict reality… but perhaps a few more should.
I will never forget the first time I saw Saving Private Ryan. Not because it was a great movie, but because it literally turned my stomach. The movie recreates the storming of Normandy; at the time, it was the most honest depiction of brutality and suffering that I had ever seen. I would contend that most people cannot watch this movie and, at least temporarily, remain enthusiastic about war. (Or perhaps, anything less than the most noble and necessary of wars.)
Saving Private Ryan put violence to good use. It absolutely changed me (for the better, I hope). How many games can you say that about… at least in this context?
How many games make you suffer heart-wrenching wails of fear from your victims before you hurt them? How many games make you stomach the broken sobs of the dying? Or for that matter, the agony of their surviving friends and relatives? In other words, how many games make you feel sorry for hurting someone? (I imagine a thousand voices screaming Bioshock at this juncture. It's a start.)
A different spin on "everything bad is good for you"…
We as an industry and we as a society need to rethink our attitude towards violence in television, movies, and games. This simply isn't a cut and dry issue, as so many people (on both sides of the isle) like to pretend it is. Violence in media is not obviously bad, and not obviously innocuous. We have a constitutional right to express violence in our art (as well we should), but that does not give us the right to do so without reflection.
Some media really is "too violent" for young people. And some media… some media just isn't violent enough.


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Alzheimer's disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., but researchers still do not know what causes the degenerative neurological disorder. In recent years they have pinpointed several genes that seem largely responsible for those cases in which the disorder develops early on, prior to age 60. They have also identified about 20 genes that can increase or decrease risk for the more common late-onset variety that starts appearing in people older than 60.
But genetics simply cannot explain the whole picture for the over five million Americans with late-onset Alzheimer's. Whereas genetics contribute some risk of developing this version of the disorder, no combination of genes inevitably leads to the disease.
Scientists are now urgently searching for the other missing pieces to explain what causes late-onset Alzheimer's. Some researchers have shifted their attention from genes to the environment—especially to certain toxins. Their studies of pesticides, food additives, air pollution and other problematic compounds are opening a new front in the battle against this devastating malady. Here's a roundup of some of the possibilities being studied:
DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane)
Scientists have already found a strong potential link between pesticides and Parkinson's disease. Now, a preliminary study released in January suggests that the pesticide DDT, which degrades so slowly that it continues to linger in the environment more than 40 years after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency banned its use in the U.S., may also contribute to Alzheimer's.
Jason Richardson and his team at Rutgers University tested blood samples of people with and without late-onset Alzheimer's. They found that most participants with the disease had levels of DDT and DDE (a metabolite of DDT) four times greater than the control group. Researchers also observed that participants with the most severe cases of Alzheimer's had both a genetic predisposition and high pesticide blood levels, indicating that DDT/DDE may interact with genes to trigger the disease.
Richardson doesn't have a definitive mechanism for how DDT exposure might lead to Alzheimer's, however. But he speculates that DDT/DDE somehow encourage growth of the amyloid proteins that make up the plaques associated with the disease. He emphasized that his study is preliminary and his results will have to be replicated by future research on a larger scale.
In addition, some of the findings seem to contradict the study's main conclusion. "The people I find most interesting are the ones who have really high levels of DDT and DDE, but don't have Alzheimer's," Richardson says, "Maybe we're a little early on those guys and they'll ultimately end up with the disease. Or what would be more interesting is if their genetic makeup or lifestyle protects them from the disease."
Another possible culprit for Alzheimer's comes from the modern American diet. Researcher Suzanne de la Monte of Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School believes there is a connection between the rising number of Alzheimer's cases and the greater amounts of nitrogen-based chemicals added to our food over the past few decades. Along with nitrogen-based fertilizers they include nitrates and nitrites, which are used to preserve, color and to flavor processed foods (as well as those added to tobacco products). In acidic environments, such as the stomach, or at high temperatures, as those reached in cooking, these compounds transform into toxic nitrosamines.
De la Monte's study showed that nitrosamines damage cells' energy-producing mitochondria and block insulin receptors in rats. Both of these factors, according to de la Monte, appear to cause neurological damage and encourage the development of insulin-related diseases, including diabetes, as well as cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer's, in animal studies. Other research in humans also points to insulin resistance as a risk factor for Alzheimer's. "All the diseases that have changed over the past forty or fifty years are related to insulin resistance and they track really nicely with changes in our food," de la Monte says. "And nitrosamines, I tend to think they have a huge, huge role." She is now searching for a biomarker that will allow her to measure nitrosamine exposure in people and see whether her study results translate from animals to humans.
Air pollution
Alzheimer's researchers have also begun to subject air pollution to scrutiny. Soong Ho Kim reported in the journal F1000Research that mice rapidly developed Alzheimer's amyloid plaques after exposure to aerosolized nickel nanoparticles, a component of air pollution. A 2004 study of thickly polluted Mexico City autopsied brain tissue of lifelong residents and found amyloid plaques and inflammation spread throughout their brains. Several studies have also found a possible link between dementia and particulate matter, a by-product of combustion already known to damage the cardiovascular system.
Air pollution does not just exist outdoors. In China, whose population is the world's largest consumer of tobacco, researcher Ruoling Chen of King's College London studied the effects of secondhand cigarette smoke on the country's cognitive health. His research team assessed almost 6,000 people over age 60 in China's cities and rural areas for their exposure to secondhand smoke. Chen reported in Alzheimer's & Dementia that participants with the most severe dementia had been subjected to high levels of secondhand smoke. Chen interviewed people to assess their exposure, which is a standard study method but may be unreliable because participants may not accurately recall their exposure.
A difficult road ahead
Researchers acknowledge that it's extremely difficult to discover links between environmental toxins and Alzheimer's. Unlike DDT, most toxins do not persist in the body, which makes it hard for researchers to gauge a lifetime of exposure. If an environmental toxin does prove a risk factor, it will be only one part of a complex equation that includes genetics, lifestyle and possibly other environmental exposures that increase the chances of developing Alzheimer's with age.
Alzheimer's researchers have also been led astray in the past when they attempted to link environmental pollutants to the disease. In the 1970s and 1980s it was widely believed that aluminum caused Alzheimer's because scientists discovered aluminum collected in amyloid plaques. But most researchers no longer accept this theory because subsequent studies showed that it was merely an innocuous coincidence that occurred due to the attraction between aluminum ions and amyloid plaques.
Richardson says that the claims about aluminum "likely poisoned the well" for later research on environmental factors. But this kind of research has become increasingly urgent as more people develop late-onset Alzheimer's and no current treatment exists to prevent or even significantly delay to disease. According to Professor Steven DeKosky at the University of Virginia School of Medicine, it would make a huge difference if researchers found a way to even just postpone Alzheimer's. "If you could delay onset of the disease by five years, you could cut down on about 50 percent of the cases," DeKosky says. "If you could delay onset by 10 years, you could virtually wipe Alzheimer's out because you'd have people live to the end of their lives without getting the disease."
DDT, other Environmental Toxins Linked to Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease
Scientists suspect that, along with genetic factors, toxins and pollutants may increase the risk of developing this debilitating disorder
Alzheimer's disease is now the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., but researchers still do not know what causes the degenerative neurological disorder. In recent years they have pinpointed several genes that seem largely responsible for those cases in which the disorder develops early on, prior to age 60. They have also identified about 20 genes that can increase or decrease risk for the more common late-onset variety that starts appearing in people older than 60.


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We're deep into a season for spiritual growth. Jewish households worldwide are in a frenzy of cleaning. Other Jewish households are guiltily thinking they should be in a frenzy of cleaning. This raises the question, "Where is the spiritual benefit in all this mundane activity?
Passover is an experiential holiday: if you are not a "text person," this is the holiday for you! Every step of the way, we are offered multi-sensory experiences for learning truths about life and Judaism: tastes, smells, textures, sights, and sounds.
During the seder, we hold up the maror, the bitter herb, symbolizing the bitterness of slavery. We say, "In every generation a person is obligated to regard himself as if he had come out of Egypt." The bitter taste of horseradish is one way to taste that experience.
Cleaning for Passover is another. We feel the mop handle in our hands, and hear the vacuum cleaner. It isn't fun to do the whole house at once, to search out every possible crumb. If every member of a household pitches in on Passover prep, cleaning and cleaning in our "free" time, shlepping goods to the food drive, digging out the boxes of Passover dishes, boxing up things that shouldn't be used during Passover, vacuuming everywhere, we get a little taste of manual labor, no matter how sedentary our day jobs. It's hard work that we are commanded to do: a taste (just a taste) of servanthood. Our sore muscles will read us the Haggadah, if we do it right.
We are seeking out every crumb of stale, puffed-up junk in our lives: not just the cookie crumbs in the toddler's pockets, but the old grudges in our hearts and the stale notions in our heads. (Trust me, these things smell.) The mindless work of cleaning offers us undistracted time to reflect on what stinks, if we are brave enough to take it.
This kind of cleaning is humbling. We see our slavery to bad habits, whether they are eating habits or housekeeping habits. We must notice our clutter. We must notice everything, because we have to look for chametz in it!
Now perhaps you are not a person who cleans for Passover. But I encourage you to do at least a little, because it is a uniquely Jewish spiritual task. If you are thinking, "but I just can't!" try reading Cleaning for Passover: Begin in Egypt. It's a beginner's approach to the spiritual journey of Passover.
If we do this, when we reach the 14th of Nisan, we'll be ready for a fresh beginning, ready to walk out into a life renewed, unburdened by chametz. Then, indeed, we can celebrate!
Image: Some rights reserved by reallyboring


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Right Side Power
Sequence is Everything
How do you transition from two balls to one ball in the shank drill?
— Aaron
Great question. First of all, this can be a difficult transition, because you are going from lots of feedback to no feedback. So ensure you can hit at least 6 consecutive solid shots with the two-ball drill. Once you eliminate the second ball: (1) address the remaining ball slightly off the toe, and (2) envision that second ball just outside of the ball you are hitting. Be very conscious of keeping the hands arms and club close to your body through the hitting area. And if you shank 2 or more balls in a row at any time, go back to the two-ball drill.
See Two-Ball Drill and Never Shank Again lesson.


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|Filipino food is delicious
|Glad that Hummel wasn't alive to hear me butcher his Trumpet Concerto
|"If I'm not at the bar, I'll be at the Mini-bar..."
|Tom Harrell says he carries around "The Real Book in all 12 keys"
That is not to say don't practice and learn all the skills. In some ways, the skills are the easy part, because they are more tangible then the "musical" part. Learning tunes: either you know it or you don't. Scales: same deal. Rhythm: set the metronome, wake up, and smell the coffee. This is your preparation. Practice as much as you can physically handle. It will be boring. But the more prepared you are, the more you will be able to concentrate on the FUN on playing MUSIC when you actually PLAY a concert. The more skills you have, the more fun you'll have.
However, it's extremely common for musicians to forget that. We start to become obsessed with the skills and trying to be perfect and getting uptight about our playing, and then it stops being fun. Music students have to stop and smell the musical roses. The bandstand is a great place to do this. When I was 22, 23 years old, I was lucky that I had so many gigging opportunities between Baltimore and Washington D.C. Also, I had no children, so I had a lot of free time. I was practicing a lot: 4-8 hours a day. But more importantly, I was playing 3 to 7 gigs a week. Everything I practiced could be applied to those gigs. My musical goals were to really focus hard on my weaknesses during the day, and then at night, just musically "go for it." Unfortunately, it's very rare these days for musicians in their 20's to be in a situation like that. Music school should be some kind of artificial yet useful recreation of that environment.


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After months of anticipation by Linux fans around the world, Ubuntu 11.10 "Oneiric Ocelot" made its long-awaited debut on Thursday.
"11.10 continues Ubuntu's proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution," wrote the Ubuntu project team in the release announcement early this morning.
Available in 38 languages, the free Linux operating system from Canonical can now be downloaded from the Ubuntu site. Users of Ubuntu 11.04 will be offered an automatic upgrade to 11.10 via the Update Manager, but more information about upgrading is available online as well.
For those who want to check out the operating system first, there's also an online tour from Canonical in addition to the sneak-peek slideshow I provided yesterday.
Standard maintenance updates will be provided for Ubuntu 11.10 for 18 months, through April 2013. The next Long Term Support (LTS) version of the software will be Ubuntu 12.04, or "Precise Pangolin," which is due in April.
The video below provides a nice overview of Oneiric Ocelot's new features.
A Smoother Unity
The previous Ubuntu release–version 11.04, or "Natty Narwhal"–was nothing if not controversial, largely because of its inclusion of the mobile-style Unity interface as the default desktop shell.
As a result, much of the anticipation of the new Oneiric Ocelot has focused on Unity, and in particular how it has changed since then. As I reported earlier this week, it has been significantly refined as a result of extensive user testing, with a particular focus on usability.
GNOME 3 is also included in Oneiric Ocelot, however, as is the 2D version of Unity.
'Open for Business'
Finding and installing software using the Ubuntu Software Center is now easier as well thanks to improvements in speed, search functionality, and usability, while the software has also been made more aesthetically appealing, the project team says.
I'm particularly excited about the inclusion of Thunderbird for email and the new Deja Dup backup tool, which will help ensure that backups don't get forgotten.
The server version of Ubuntu 11.10, meanwhile, has been designed to make it easier to provision, deploy, host, manage, and orchestrate enterprise data center infrastructure services, and the new technical preview for ARM servers brings a whole new architecture into the Ubuntu fold.
Indeed, "Ubuntu 11.10 is open for business," Canonical says, with a complete set of tools for business desktops, servers, and cloud, and the option of full-service support and consulting.
20 Million Strong
Offering a no-cost, feature-packed alternative to Microsoft Windows and other operating systems, Ubuntu is already used by 20 million people around the globe, according to Canonical.
It's no secret that I'm a fan of Ubuntu, and I'm excited to download and check out this new release. If you've been considering making the switch to Linux, there's no better place to start.


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To update an old IT saying about IBM and job security, few IT managers may get fired for choosing VMware to virtualize their infrastructure. VMware, after all, is the safe bet: The company currently enjoys 80 percent of the server-side virtualization market, according to IDC.
But at least one company, Salsa Labs, which offers an online platform for advocacy groups, has adopted a less widely used virtualization platform, one from Red Hat.
Red Hat's Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization (RHEV), based on the KVM hypervisor, proved to be a better fit for the company, said Justin Nemmers, Salsa Labs chief operating officer, in an interview coordinated by Red Hat.
"Both RHEV and VMware had the core features that we needed," Nemmers said, adding that RHEV approach was much more inexpensive. Nemmers did not detail the price differences between the two software packages, other than to note "for us, [the difference] was significant," he said.
Salsa Labs runs a SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform that can be used by advocacy groups to organize their campaigns and get their messages out. Over 2,000 groups, constituting 50 million members, currently use the service. Salsa sends out about 1.34TB of data every month.
The company has experienced 30 to 40 percent year over year growth since its launch in 2004, so virtualization seemed like a logical step to smooth growing pains in the IT department.
Prior to virtualization, the company would set up a new server whenever some new function was needed. This approach was problematic insofar as when the server went down the function would not be available.
By placing the application in a virtual machine (VM), Salsa could move it from a troubled server to one that worked. The company could also save hardware costs by running multiple VMs on a single server.
Salsa relies almost entirely on Linux-based open source software for its operations: The Salsa platform, built on Java, runs on Apache Tomcat. Nginx is used for the Web server software. MySQL databases and a MongoDB data store hold the data. Red Hat Directory Server authenticates users and the software stack is managed through Red Hat Network Satellite.
When it came to choosing virtualization infrastructure, the decision came down to VMware or Red Hat. Choosing Microsoft was "never even an option," given that Salsa's IT talent was more familiar with Linux, Nemmers said. With those two companies, "the decision, realistically, was around cost as much as minimum functionality that we needed."
Live migration was one required feature. To move a VM from one physical server to another while keeping it running was critical for Salsa. Both Red Hat and VMware offered this capability, though VMware's came with "considerable additional cost," Nemmers said.
Additional costs also stemmed from the fact that Salsa would have to purchase additional OS licenses if it wanted to run VMware, in addition to the cost of obtaining the VMware software itself (VMware did not immediately respond to a request for comment). Because KVM is built into the Linux kernel itself, Salsa could manage virtual infrastructure with its existing RHEL servers. All it needed was a management console, which RHEV provided.
Another benefit with RHEL: Nemmers knew that an upcoming version of KVM would provide the ability to adjust the amount of memory and the number of CPUs each VM would use. This feature could be valuable for Salsa, given that the clients' workloads can vary greatly.
Today, operations of the Washington D.C.-based Salsa Labs is 70 percent virtualized, running 180 VMs across 50 Hewlett-Packard C-Class blade servers. Only a few very large databases are not virtualized, because they would require additional investment in storage.
"As I end-of-life older hardware, anything running on the middle tier will be virtualized," Nemmers said.
To virtualize the infrastructure, Salsa created a handful of templates based on different functions, such as a Web server template and a database template. Templates can be quickly deployed whenever the functionality is required. In effect, they replace the need for new hardware.
"In situations where we'd normally needed to increase the actual hardware allocation, we'd just virtualize [the function] instead," Nemmers said.
Red Hat got a late start to virtualization game, releasing RHEV in 2009 -- years after VMware and even Microsoft carved out their spots in the market. Whether the company can build its own base of users remains to be seen. Nemmers is not worried about choosing a virtualization package that could very well never be a dominant platform in the field, however.
"KVM has enough of a foothold in the industry. Even if Red Hat de-supported RHEV, I would have no concerns about continuity of operations," Nemmers said. "We could export those virtual guests into our own KVM cluster and be up and running in no time."
Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is firstname.lastname@example.com


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2001 Annual Report
Jan. 1, 2001
SEC 2001 Annual Report
PDF Version
The 2001 Annual Report of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is currently available in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format.
Complete Report
This is a single large PDF file.
View the full 2001 Annual Report (PDF file: 5.1 MB)
Report by Sections
Front Matter (Introduction; Commission members and principal staff officers; biographies; SEC regional and district offices)
Investor Education and Assistance
Regulation of Securities Markets
Investment Management Regulation
Compliance Inspections and Examinations
Accounting and Auditing Matters
Other Litigation and Legal Activity
Economic Research and Analysis
Policy Management and Administrative Support
Modified: Jan. 23, 2002


text: Oops! The gallery views counter hit seventeen million…sometime. It was about a week ago. I missed it. Oh, well. Here's a little belated commemoration of the momentous occasion! Photo above is another preview shot from Scott's beards.org photo shoot. His beard feature will appear one of these days…soon, I hope! Stay tuned. Oh, and thanks, everyone, for all your interest in all about beards!


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DIE WELT (Germany)
BERLIN - The elite of the German Federal Armed Forces are sometimes suspected of being a breeding ground for right-wing radicals. So beginning in 2007, the Defense Ministry decided to take a closer look at the political orientation of future officers.
With the results now in of a study of 2,300 students at both the Hamburg and Munich campuses of the University of the German Federal Armed Forces, the reassuring news is that 70% of those polled held middle-of-the-road political views.
But there is some cause for concern: not only did 4% of the future officers have political views that are considerd far right, but another 13% expressed sympathy for so-called New Right views. According to the intelligence community, the New Right seeks to intellectualize right-wing extremism.
Though perhaps not staggering, the numbers of far-right future army officers in Germany in particular cause consternation because of the country's Nazi past.
Thirty-eight percent said they supported the idea that Germany should be led by a strong elite. Twenty-five percent were for halting foreign immigration. Eleven percent were for limiting the powers of parliament. And 44% were for the "hard and energetic" defense of German interests abroad.
The study also found that only about 30% of the students were actually considering a career in the armed forces. The students were critical of the increasing number of stints abroad, and the money, while some had doubts that being in the armed forces was seen as a "recognized and respected occupation."


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The seriousness of disease often results from the strength of immune response, rather than with the virus, itself. Turning down that response, rather than attacking the virus, might be a better way to reduce that severity, says Juliet Morrison of the University of Washington in Seattle.
Morrison and her collaborators have now taken the first step in doing just that for the H7N9 influenza, and their work has already led to identification of six potential therapeutics for this highly virulent strain. The research is published ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.
"We set out to characterize the response to the severe disease-causing H7N9 virus and compare it to responses elicited by other serious flu viruses in a mouse model of infection," says Morrison. That work involved determining which genes are turned on by this infection.
"We have found that viruses that cause severe illness, like H7N9 and the infamous 1918 virus, trigger gene expression signatures that are different from the signatures seen in milder infections," says coauthor and University of Washington colleague Michael Katze, in whose laboratory the work was performed. "Importantly, we can exploit these signatures for antiviral drug discovery," he adds.
The investigators then used a computational approach to identify potentially therapeutic drugs. They searched databases containing gene expression profiles of cultured human cells that had been treated with different drugs, in order to find those that were the reverse of expression profiles induced by the H7N9 flu virus, and noting the drugs that accomplished this, says Morrison. These drugs could potentially dampen the harmful host response, she says.
"Six of these drugs are FDA approved and could potentially be repurposed as H7N9 influenza therapeutics," says Morrison. "I believe that computational biology represents an exciting new way to study viruses and to discover drugs to fight them," says Morrison. And that, she says, is what drew her to join Katze's laboratory.
The H7N9 avian influenza, which emerged in February, 2013, has caused those infected to become extremely ill, reminiscent of the 1918 influenza pandemic, the deadliest on record. The data suggests that such severe influenzas are associated with increased transcription of inflammatory cytokine genes, and reduced transcription of lipid metabolism and coagulation genes, according to the paper. Further study of these phenomena will lead to a better understanding of severe influenza, and could help investigators to identify potential therapeutics aimed at turning down the response.
The study was published online ahead of print at the Journal of Virology: H7N9 and other pathogenic avian influenza viruses elicit a three-pronged transcriptomic signature that is reminiscent of 1918 influenza and associated with lethal outcome in mice.
Source: American Society for Microbiology


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The Secret Beyond Matter
The entire list
Mr. Adnan Oktar's Daily Remarks
A9 TV: January 3rd, 2013
ADNAN OKTAR: If there is no intellectual struggle, if those books that would respond to Darwinist and materialist propaganda in state schools are not published, this strife and turmoil may continue, may Allah forbid, because this leads to ill fortune and a lack of productivity. Darwinism and materialism are explicitly described in official books. Children are subconsciously indoctrinated with detailed Darwinist and materialist propaganda in every chapter of textbooks in all classes at middle school, high school and university. I respond, but that can only go so far. As a result, those people raised with false information become Darwinists and materialists.
What will happen if you provide a Qur'an class for such a person? He will not believe, because you have raised a Darwinist and materialist. He believes in Darwinism and materialism. He will then regard the Qur'an as nonsense because he says, "This is what is scientific." Who says this? The state's own books, the Ministry of Education's own books. And not just in one place; it starts in primary school and continues through middle and high school and university.
February 20th, 2009: Hürriyet Daily News Interview
ADNAN OKTAR: I support liberty and am someone who favors the free expression of all ideas. Of course evolution should be taught in schools. Young people should see what a farce people believed in at one time, what irrational tales they were deceived by, and that will be a useful deterrent. We are now in the age of the internet. Young people learn the true facts from the internet, whether or not Creation is taught in schools, whether or not they are indoctrinated with the idea that evolution is true. They regard those people who tell them fables from the 1800s as fascinating case histories and are amazed that there should still be minds capable of espousing evolution. But the correct thing, the democratic thing, is for evolution to be taught alongside Creation in schools. Or while evolution is being taught, young people should also be told about how scientific activities, the fossil records and findings and other data all refute evolution. It is wrong to constantly indoctrinate people with a one-sided lie.
July 2nd, 2013: Yeni Şafak
Prime Minister Erdoğan spoke at a group meeting of his party. Erdoğan said that they had been unable to teach young people their traditions and that they were at fault in this; "We have been unable to teach these young people their own traditions. Our mistake lies here."
Religious Affairs Minister Mehmet Görmez said that social media has caused young people to adopt a rude and angry kind of language, and said, "We clergy, teachers, schools and universities have been unable to find a language of the heart to embrace the younger generations."


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Self-Awareness Based Transformation Coach
Multi-Disciplinary Psychotherapist
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Perhaps you're down or anxious - maybe you're unsure about the future of a relationship, or just feel that you aren't living the life you were meant to lead. Whatever your needs may be, I am here to offer support. Therapy is a process of growth and self-discovery. I promote behavioral transformation by encouraging a positive outlook and the adoption of new attitudes and reactions.
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