text:
North Korea has placed two of its intermediate range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them on the east coast of the country in a move that could threaten Japan or US Pacific bases, South Korean media reported on Friday.
The report could not be confirmed. But any such movement may be intended to demonstrate that the North, angry about joint US-South Korean military exercises and the imposition of UN sanctions, is prepared to demonstrate its ability to mount an attack.
The North has said nuclear conflict could break out at any time on the Korean peninsula in a month-long war of words that has prompted the United States to move military assets into the region.
The tension with North Korea has roiled South Korean financial markets and top finance officials in Seoul warned they could have a long-term impact on markets.
In North Korea itself, there was no intensification of the strident rhetoric about impending war as the country marked a national holiday. And some analysts said the tone of recent statements, however bitter, was most probably aimed at securing concessions and was unlikely to lead to armed conflict.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency, quoting a senior military official familiar with the matter said: "Early this week, the North moved two Musudan missiles on the train and placed them on mobile launchers."
There were unconfirmed media reports on Thursday that the North had moved missiles to the east coast, although it was not clear what kind of missiles had been deployed.
South Korea's Defense Ministry declined to comment.
Speculation centered on two kinds of missiles neither of which is known to have been tested.
One was the so-called Musudan missile which South Korea's Defense Ministry estimates has a range of up to 3,000 km; the other is called the KN-08, which is believed to be an inter-continental ballistic missile, which is again untested.
Market jitters
In Seoul, officials from economic ministries, the central bank and regulatory agencies held emergency talks and promised swift and strong action should the markets lose stability. News of the talks and the central bank involvement boosted investors' expectations of an interest rate cut next week.
South Korean shares slid, with foreign investors selling their biggest daily amount in nearly 20 months, hurt after aggressive easing from the Bank of Japan sent the yen reeling, as well as by the tension over North Korea.
"In the past, [markets] recovered quickly from the impact from any North Korea-related event, but recent threats from North Korea are stronger and the impact may therefore not disappear quickly," Vice Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho told a meeting.
North Korea threatened to strike US military bases, including those on the American mainland, and to shut down a joint industrial complex with the South while denying entry to the complex by South Korean workers this week.
The South's new unification minister said the government was willing to pull out workers from the Kaesong industrial complex if it became dangerous, though he said the situation was not that serious for the moment.
The threats from North Korea's 30-year-old leader Kim Jong-un, though not unusual from the reclusive state, have followed the imposition of new UN sanctions in response to North Korea's third nuclear test in February. Reaction to the threats in markets has until now been muted.
The increasingly tense standoff with North Korea could not happen at a worse time for the government of the South's new president, Park Geun-hye, whose first steps in office included a sharp cut in growth forecasts.
Park, in office for just over a month, has ordered her cabinet to draw up what is likely to be a large supplementary budget to lower budget revenue projections and add new spending plans aimed at jump-starting faltering domestic demand.
"The market usually doesn't get jittery over North Korea threats. But this time is different, because they look willing to sacrifice Kaesong, which has never happened before," said Park Hyung-joon, macroeconomics team leader at Meritz Securities.
Some US analysts expressed a degree of alarm over the intensification of the threats.
"The rhetoric is off the charts," said Victor Cha, former director for Asian affairs at the White House National Security Council and now senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic Studies in Washington.
"We don't understand this new guy at all. And if the North Koreans move to provoke the South, the South is going to retaliate in a way we haven't seen before."
Other analysts said a degeneration into conflict was unlikely.
"We do not believe that North Korea intends to attack South Korea, pre-emptively or otherwise, in the current cycle of threat projection," the US-based Nautilus think-tank said in a study published on Thursday.
"Rather, these statements are opportunistic, and express its authentic strategy which is extortionate. The North's nuclear forces are intended to compel their adversaries to change their policies towards [North Korea], not to deter unprovoked external attack — except when such an attack might actually be in motion."


text:
46,500 new and resale home transactions closed escrow in California during June 2016. In step with the seasonal sales cycle, sales volume was up slightly from the prior month. This was roughly level with a year earlier, continuing a deceleration in year-over-year sales volume in recent months.
2015 ended with 450,700 home sales in California. This is 35,400, or 9%, more sales than took place in 2014. This is just above 2013 sales volume. For perspective, the number of homes sold in 2015 is still 303,203, or 40%, below peak sales volume experienced in 2005.
The number of homes sold year-to-date is 2% higher than 2015 as of May 2016. However, this percentage has steadily decreased in recent months, and it's likely 2016 sales volume will end level with or below 2015.
Updated August 3, 2016. Original copy posted March, 2009.
Chart 1
Chart update 08/03/16
|Jun 2016
|May 2016
|Jun 2015
|Southern CA
|Northern CA
CA Total
The above chart tracks the home sales volume of single family residences (SFRs) on a month-to-month basis. Sales volume includes the sale of all residential resales and new homes in California, including new homes sold directly by builders.
Home sales vary from month-to-month for a variety of reasons, most significant being homebuyer demand. This demand is influenced by several factors constantly at work in California's homebuying market, including:
- seasonal differences [see Chart 2];
- changes in home prices;
- mortgage interest rates;
- consumer confidence;
- the presence of investors and real estate speculators in the market;
- negative equity status;
- the quantity and quality of jobs held by homebuyers; and
- homebuyer saving rates.
Seasonal differences in annual sales volume
It's normal for home sales volume to rise in the first half of the year and fall after June, generally speaking.
Chart 2
Chart update 12/10/2015
Chart 2 shows average home sales as experienced from 2011-2015. As depicted, the most homes are regularly sold each year in June. Another small increase takes place in December, as homebuyers seek to wrap up their financial activities before the end of the year.
Therefore, real estate professionals are not to worry when they hear of falling sales volume in the latter half of the year. This is a normal seasonal progression. What to watch for is year-over sales comparing a month or other period (such as year-to-date) this year with the same month or period last year.
A very long recovery for home sales volume
Annual real estate sales numbers since the Great Recession of 2008 suggest the upcoming years through 2017 will be characterized by the same continuing bumpy plateau in home sales volume we have experienced now for eight stagnating years. As a rule, current market action, whether up or down, is reflected first in sales volume, followed by prices, and both fluctuate from month to month mostly going in opposite directions or just standing still.
Chart 3
|2016 forecast
|2005 peak
To set the stage for a forward look, a review of sales volume in the recent past is helpful:
- Mid-2005 saw sales volume peak for all types of real estate in California, with nearly 754,000 homes sold that year;
- Early 2006 produced both the peak in sales prices and a precipitous further decline in sales volume. Nearly 30% fewer sales were recorded in 2006 than in 2005;
- In 2007 sales volume dropped another 30%;
- 2009 sales volume was artificially higher than anticipated after bottoming in 2008 due to subsidy-induced purchases and speculators jumping on the momentum, but remained 40% below the 2005 peak year;
- 2010 saw a decline from the year earlier in both sales volume and prices;
- 2011 increased slightly in sales volume while decreasing in sales prices, a normal price adjustment condition;
- 2012 saw sales volume increase marginally and home prices jump significantly by year's end, supported primarily by massive speculation;
- 2013 home sales volume stagnated, while home prices continued to increase rapidly, not a good sign for the immediate future; and
- 2014 saw home sales volume decrease throughout the year, ending the year 7% below 2013.
- 2015 ended 9% higher than 2014 — in other words, just about level with 2013. [See Chart 4]
- 2016 will initially see sales volume increase, but when FRM rates jump, likely mid-2016, sales volume will slow, ending the year flat to slightly up over 2015.
Chart 4
Chart update 08/03/16
|Jun 2016
|Jun 2015
|Jun 2014
|Home sales volume
2016 home sales volume is 2% higher than 2015, year-to-date, as of June 2016. This is also above 2014. However, this percentage has steadily decreased in recent months, and it's likely 2016 sales volume will end level with or below 2015.
Sales volume will not increase significantly until after 2017, due to:
- fewer participating first-time homebuyers than normal;
- lower homeowner turnover to buy an upgrade or relocate due to continued negative equity and delayed retirement; and
- static turnover in rental occupancies.
Much of these disadvantages are due to the jobs recovery which has been dragged out for eight years now, a confidence issue, and is pronounced by wage increases below the rate of consumer inflation. California finally regained all jobs lost in the 2008 recession in mid-2014, but has yet to return to pre-recession employment levels after considering the 1.1 million working-aged population increase. At the current recovery pace this will occur in 2019.
Short sales, real estate owned (REO) property resales and speculators have contributed to sales volume distortion over the past few years. Conventional positive-equity resales by owner-occupants were the exception, sometimes reminiscently called standard sales as opposed to short sales. As prices rise, move-up homeowners will return to the market to sell and concurrently buy a more suitable replacement home.
Further, as of Q2 2015, 7% of California mortgaged homeowners were still underwater. Thus, turnover by this chunk of owners is restricted. These homeowners cannot sell and relocate to purchase another home because their homes are worth less than the debt encumbering them. To rid themselves of the home and the debt, they have to endure damaged credit resulting from a short sale or foreclosure. The desire to avoid this embarrassment takes most of these 7% homeowners out of the home buying market for years.
Home sales in the coming years
The forward trend in California home sales is mixed for both buyers and seller. Homebuyer income is going further and doing more than anytime during the past 15 years due to increased borrowing capacity brought on by low interest rates (even though they rose mid-2013 to cut back funding by 10% from one year prior, but dropped to fuel sales in 2015). In fact, the Buyer Purchasing Power Index (BPPI) went negative in June 2013 and bounced back to zero in September 2014 – this momentarily stalled home price expectations.
In December 2015, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) committed itself to raise short-term interest rates in order to keep a lid on the recovery (as they did in both 1984 and 1994 midway through those recoveries). This upward rate move by the Fed (and the bond market) will instantly be reflected in ARM rates, and eventually trickle into higher mortgage rates, likely around mid-2016. Higher FRM rates will promptly trend real estate sales volume down and some 9-12 months beyond prices will slip. As prices start to decrease, expect the short-term rate to decline in the 2017-2018 period which will slow and put an end any downward turn in real estate sales volume and the economy.
first tuesday forecasts home sales volume will return to 2006 levels around 2020-2021. The peak sales volume last seen in 2004, inflated by speculator acquisitions and excessive mortgage money, is unlikely to return for decades, when interest rates cyclically peak.
Relocating Baby Boomers going into retirement later this decade will be the primary propelling force in both selling homes and buying replacements beginning around 2019. Their Generation Y (Gen Y) children will add to the sales volume at the same time as they find jobs at better pay levels and become first-time homebuyers. Gen Y influence will peak in sales volume at the end of this decade as they complete their shift from renting to owning.
Once Californians feel the effects of two or three years of healthy employment growth, their confidence about the future will improve. They will once again be willing to invest in the economy since the expectations for tomorrow are projections based on yesterday's most recent experience. Only then will occupying homebuyers – end users – return in sufficient numbers for sales volume to swell significantly.
In 2018, sales volume will begin to pick up in earnest, peaking in 2019-2021. Employment and labor force participation will have reached beyond its 2007 peak, and grow quickly. Then, California will once again see home prices jump beyond the rate of consumer inflation. Mortgage lenders with an eye for excess profits will then begin to loosen their lending standards to whatever extent federal regulators permit or lawyers divine. The memory of the grim mid-2000s will be politely pushed aside, and mistakes will be repeated by all participants – lenders, builders, brokers and buyers.
Favorable market conditions now at work
Several favorable market factors currently support increasing sales volume:
- A steady 3% annual increase in the number of new jobs;
- A more reasonable (though still rising) price trend as we start 2016;
- Slowly rising consumer confidence and spending; and
- the recapitalization of the private mortgage insurers to eventually replace (or fully compete with) government guarantees of home mortgages.
Trends to be concerned about
However, many unfavorable market conditions restrain the rise of home sales volume:
- the weakest homebuyer demographics in 15 years;
- failed savings for a down paymentas high rents squeeze potential first-time homebuyers out of saving;
- buyer borrowing power no longer enlarging the funds they can borrow as interest rates inevitably rise, reducing funding for purchase-assist financing and dampening property prices;
- the public's increasingly anti-business and pessimistic attitude about American economics, wealth inequality and national politics no matter the outcomes; and
- tightened loan standards as lenders are forced to apply forgotten fundamentals of sound mortgage lending practices (20% down payment on non-FHA/private mortgage insured loans, lower income ratios, risk-free credit scores and full documentation of income, funds and collateral value).
The competitive broker
What's a broker to do until home sales volume takes off?
SFR brokers and agents might consider adding SFR-related services to supplement their income. Those who do add related services will restructure their practice as "all-service brokers." Transaction-related services will be integrated into their office operations to maintain solvency and grow.
These services include:
- escrowing their in-house transactions under the broker's license;
- entering into or expanding property management services;
- negotiating equity purchases for investors from underwater owners on the chance of a short sale discount or who have a positive equity;
- specializing in sales and leasing of a particular type of commercial property, other branch office locations and alternative marketing approaches (aside from social media);
- providing mortgage loan broker services for business-investor loans made by private lenders and secured by the borrower's residence (no mortgage loan origination (MLO) endorsement required);
- arranging carryback financing and the take over/assumption of existing mortgages, and buying and selling those carryback trust deed notes;
- negotiating options to buy, or lease with option to buy when inventories expand as the shadow inventory of speculators returns to be sold;
- exchanging properties with equity to help owners relocate their wealth held in real estate tax free; or
- using barter credits in lieu of greenbacks, etc.
Prudent brokers will insist their prospective buyers commit to exclusive representations by the broker and agent to locate a home (or other property). By signing an exclusive right-to-buy listing agreement, buyers commit to employ brokers and agents just as sellers commit to employ brokers and agents, the obverse side of the same employment coin. This will ensure time spent with a buyer produces a closing and a fee.
Causes for the rise and fall
The trend in California home sales during the initial years of the 2010s remains grim for sellers. Not so for buyers. Homebuyers' dollars are going further than anytime during the past 15 years.
Sales now and into 2014 will remain excessively lender-driven and speculator-riddled, but will be easily predictable for SFR agents and their brokers. The center of this action is the multiple listing service (MLS).
To set the stage for a forward look, a review of sales volume in the recent past is needed:
Real estate owned property (REO) resales and speculators have contributed to sales volume oddities over the past few years. Conventional positive equity sales remain the exception.
Lenders have turned increasingly to short sales in 2012, surpassing the number of foreclosures in California. Short sales will continue to make up roughly one-fourth of the home resale market in 2013.
Going into 2013, sales volume is gradually recovering as speculators begin to exit the market, making room for buyer-occupants.
The bounce loses energy and hunts for the floor
Sales volume will likely increase by 10% in 2013, due to slowly improving confidence and job numbers. Anticipate modest price increases to follow in 2014, falling back in 2016.
In 2015, the Federal Reserve (the Fed) will need to raise short-term interest rates in order to keep a lid on the recovery (as they did in both 1984 and 1994). Expect the short-term rate to decline within one year, the 2016 period, at the end of a downward turn in real estate sales volume.
Sales volume's next big peak will occur in 2019-2020, with pricing following 12 months later.
The real estate market is now settling into a long recovery.
For home sales volume to achieve the kind of dramatic but stable recovery which took place in the 1996 period following the 1990s real estate recession, employment will need to increase at the rates experienced in the mid-1990s: 350,000+ additional jobs created annually for three years. California's labor force is inching back to that number, as a total of 700,400 jobs have been gained since employment was at its lowest in January 2010. However, as of October 2012, California is still 900,000 jobs short of the employment level before the Great Recession.
Once Californians feel the effects of two or three years of healthy employment growth, their confidence about the future will improve. They will once again be willing to invest in the economy. Only then will end users return in sufficient numbers for sales volume to swell.
In 2017, sales volume will begin to pick up significantly, peaking in 2019-2020. Employment will have reached its 2007 peak, and will continue to grow quickly. 2017 will see home prices jump well beyond the rate of consumer inflation.Mortgage lenders with an eye for profits will then begin to loosen their lending standards to whatever extent federal regulators permit. The memory of the grim mid-2000s will be quickly pushed aside, and mistakes will be repeated.
Factors leading to recovery
Beginning in 2016-2017, another wave of investors and an upsurge of household formations by first-time homebuyers, will kick-start sales volume. In turn, this will drive pricing momentum upward once again. Keep your eyes on homebuyer demand (not sellers, median prices or the MLS inventory). Real demand is driven by:
Favorable market conditions now at work
Many favorable market factors are currently support increasing sales volume:
Trends to be concerned about
However, many unfavorable market conditions restrain the rise of home sales volume:
The competitive broker
What's a broker to do until home sales volume takes off?
SFR brokers and agents can consider adding SFR-related services to supplement their income. Those that do add related services will restructure their practice as all-service brokers. Transaction-related services will be integrated into their office operations to remain solvent and grow.
These services include:
Brokers can also insist that prospective buyers commit to exclusive representations by a broker and agent to locate a home (or other property). By signing an exclusive right-to-buy listing agreement, buyers are asked to employ brokers and agents just as sellers are asked to employ listing agents. This will ensure time spent with a buyer produces a closing and a fee.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
Monday, October 8, 2012
More Reprints on the Way
I'm no fan of 2e, but, even so, this is good news. If nothing else, it suggests that the 1e reprints from this past summer (which I did buy) sold well enough for WotC to be able to justify producing even more. Indeed, as many opined, I think it quite likely that the 1e reprints were a trial balloon to determine if there was in fact a market for reprinting reprinting older D&D products. I also think it provides a little more insight into the plans of the D&D product team at WotC, namely, they really are interested in winning back the fans alienated over the past few years as a result of 4e's botched marketing. If all these reprints stay in print I'll be even more impressed.
As anyone who reads this blog knows, I have been skeptical, if not downright dismissive, of WotC's attempts to appeal to old school gamers over the last few years, thinking them little more than shallow pandering. Recently, though, the company has given me a lot of reasons to think I may have been too hasty in my judgments. This is a case where I'd be quite happy to discover that my initial opinion was ill-informed and wrongheaded.
Here's hoping ...
32 comments:
- Arthur BoffOctober 8, 2012 at 10:57 AM
I guess this is aReplyDelete
- Chip MarshallOctober 8, 2012 at 12:11 PM
I just hope they continue on and reprint 3.5. Used books are going for well over original price in the gaming stores around here, WotC would be foolish not to get in on that action.ReplyDelete
- Stephen TeixeiraOctober 8, 2012 at 12:36 PM
Wonderful news, let's hope hardcover reprints of classics like Gangbusters, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Gamma World, D&D, and others are on the way.ReplyDelete
- Jason VeyOctober 8, 2012 at 12:42 PM
3.5 has already been reprinted. I bought mine two weeks ago. They're $50 a pop and there's nothing "premium" about them--they're just straight reprints with the errata incorporated.ReplyDelete
Sounds great! I am especially interested in hard cover adventure collections. Hope this means we will be seeing the Rules Cyclopedia as well...ReplyDelete
- Michael BrisboisOctober 8, 2012 at 1:53 PM
Also, it appears Unearthed Arcana is coming in February: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4pr/20121008#82463ReplyDelete
Woo hoo!!! Nice!ReplyDelete
What Jason writes is correct, though the new covers are nicer.ReplyDelete
- Gavin NormanOctober 8, 2012 at 5:29 PM
Wow, excellent and unexpected news!ReplyDelete
- CorpseWizardOctober 8, 2012 at 5:52 PM
all Basic through 2E reprints are fine by me. no ill will against any of those systems. theyre all loose and abstract. the module reprints is the most exciting thing out of any of this.ReplyDelete
(you can still find Near Mint copies of 2E stuff at half price books. the paper quality in the reprints for 1E is a nice upgrade)
I'm sucker-enough that I'll probably buy the A-series book; I have an nostalgic fondness for it, especially A1 and 2.ReplyDelete
I will likely pick up Unearthed Arcana and some of the other late 1E AD&D stuff where my copy is either very poorly bound and falling apart or I lack a copy. This would include Monster Manual II, Oriental Adventures, the Dungeoneer's and Wilderness Survival Guides, as well as UA.ReplyDelete
If they make hardcover versions of OD&D and Supplements, B/X, or the Cyclopedia / BECMI, I will flip my lid and definitely pick up all those.
- Aaron FunkOctober 8, 2012 at 9:43 PM
I'm glad to see these too, even if I don't plan on picking them up myself. To me 2e has always kinda seemed underserved by the OSR for some reason. It's nice to see it getting some attention/promotion.ReplyDelete
Now if they wold only do a compilation of the D&D Gazetteers, like maybe a boxed set ideally. I'd be all over that!
- Psycho PandaOctober 9, 2012 at 11:31 AM
Glad to hear they are going to reprint the modules as well. Smart move on Wizards part. Speaking of S3, Jeff Dee's re-created Mind Flayer scene from S3 is on Ebay right now: http://tinyurl.com/9emqm7hReplyDelete
Now that really puts aside my doubts about WotC. The Ghost of D&D's Past must've visited them, and it's not even christmas yet OoReplyDelete
Seeing how the new edition is supposed to be more or less compatible with all the older flavors, it might be possible that we'll see more reprints of classic adventure modules.
- Nick CliniteOctober 9, 2012 at 12:25 PM
I love 2nd edition, but at $50 a pop those reprints are pretty darn expensive, especially when you can still pick up the originals for $10 easily.ReplyDelete
- Nick CliniteOctober 9, 2012 at 12:27 PM
Oh, but what they NEED to reprint is the GAZ box sets! Those things can be uber-rare nowadays, but I suppose box sets aren't as cheap to produce anymore either.ReplyDelete
totally agree, the prices are outrageousReplyDelete
- joe whiteOctober 9, 2012 at 1:42 PM
YES YES YES, OH GOD, YES.ReplyDelete
Looking forward to picking up my hardcover A-series, the only classic AD&D old school modules that seem near-impossible to get off ebay at a reasonable price.ReplyDelete
Ever hear the legend of Kharf'lwah'ya'weeshfer? Terrifying stuff... some of those Petty Gods lift more weight than you might think.ReplyDelete
Loved the 1E reprints, though... we all march in line to the same abyss.
More good news from WotC. Would love to see those old Gazetteers back in print.ReplyDelete
I bought Player Handbook and DM' Guide in very good conditions a year ago and I paid 10 € (14 $). It's not expensive because I live in Spain and transport is a bit expensive sometimes.ReplyDelete
agreed -- the 2e books seem like the least sensible rerelease candidates so far. the cyclopedia is the obvious next step, i should think, though it will raise the question of what in the world you need 5e for (if that q. isn't inescapable already).ReplyDelete
my new dream for 5e is: a box set with four little books: rules, dm guide (emphasis on writing and running adventures and encounters), monsters + magic(s) (really a worldbook, which is OF COURSE where magic belongs), and advanced options (including everything from the elegant 4e combat system to mass combat to gumshoe-style investigation to modern weapons to alternate magic systems).
in other words, a cyclopedia's worth of material in digest-sized books of the 4e Essentials form (folks like them).
then sell *alternate worldbooks* and alternate player's guides to extend, respectively, magic/materials/world stuff and character options.
easy peasy.
or they could just let raggi do it, i guess. daft bastard.
"To me 2e has always kinda seemed underserved by the OSR for some reason."ReplyDelete
presumably that's generational -- 2e was the time of cresting then declining popularity, right? and it was the first edition of d&d to arrive in a videogame-infested world.
also, the OSR (bloggers, basically, and forum discussants) is something like...200, 300 people, right? there's only a finite amount of attention there, and the loudest guys have OD&D and B/X and 1e fetishes. thatyou could literally survey everyone of 'stature' in the OSR and just ask them why they don't talk more about 2e -- if they haven't already answered the question a million times, for lack of new games to talk about.
- Nick CliniteOctober 10, 2012 at 9:47 PM
I think you can still get the RC for $20 usually, so it's not too bad, but definitely more rare than 2E. What really is rare and I wish I could somehow get is the GAZ box sets.ReplyDelete
i'll take four copies at that price. it goes for 3X that on ebay.
- Nick CliniteOctober 11, 2012 at 9:19 AM
Dang, I musta been lucky. I know a few years ago it would pop up for $20-$30 every once in a while, you just had to wait for it.ReplyDelete
I'd love to find a Cyclopedia for that price. I've kept watch on eBay, but bids for copies in even fair shape tend to shoot way up.ReplyDelete
heh, i got mine for $13 at my FLGS, maybe three years ago. i waited until after i paid to mention the price discrepancy to the cashier, of course.ReplyDelete
- R.J. ThompsonOctober 17, 2012 at 1:05 PM
Nick, where do you live that you're finding the Rule Cyclopedia for $20.00? I need to pay your area a visit!ReplyDelete
- Nick CliniteOctober 19, 2012 at 11:35 AM
I was referring to online shopping, so we're all already there!ReplyDelete


text:
Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
You say this works for everyone (except me) - can we confirm that? Is scroll down working for you from an IR remote? Anyone else? If so, then it would certainly suggest there's something odd about my particular setup. It doesn't rule out a bug that is only exposed by my setup but the likelihood is more that my setup is the problem. I will certainly have another look at my remote template... perhaps compare it to the MCE remote template to see if there are any glaring differences other than the obvious (IR CODES!).
Thanks again for your help and interest in this. I hope I'm not wasting everyone's time here with a silly mistake on my side but that's why I'm posting detail about structures and things I discover when I can in the hope that those parts of it may be useful to someone chasing down related problems in future.
having a look at the uirt code, there is a method:..Edit:Checked at home and confirmed that when I open the music or video list, the onscreen orbiter sends the message to the UIRT to say "Set screen type" but the UIRT log shows nothing. So either my assumption is wrong above that it should be logging something when this happens or there is a problem somewhere and that command is not received by the UIRT. The UIRT log is recording other things, like the unknown IR codes it receives... just not this.
More code exploration... in the guts of IRReceiverBase.cpp - I found the method that appears to deal with received codes and even the section that seems to implement the "remote mapping hierarchy"-...And I think that what is happening here is that the pMapKeysToMessages structure at this point first line is trying to find a match for this particular command for a specific RemoteLayout, CurrentScreen. Then, if that fails, it tries to find one for a RemoteLayout and any screen. Then, if *that* fails, it tries to find one for any RemoteLayout and a specific screen and if that fails it tries to just find a command match.
The assumption, of course, is that at this point the cRemoteLayout and m_cCurrentScreen variables are appropriately set. Who knows if that is the case or not. Presumably m_CurrentScreen is correctly set as per the CMD_Set_Screen_Type below but... who knows? Esp since that one isn't logged.The cRemoteLayout var is set in this method but is set to a value in the m_mapRemoteLayout[] structure matched to the primary key of the remote. And I don't know where that structure is populated.
Tshak mentioned earlier that the remotelayout is not used. If that is the case, then this would be an empty structure and presumably cRemoteLayout a null or something that would fail for the first and second itMessage assignments and drop through to the third.
Thanks J, agreed on just about all counts there.Unfortunately my remote layout is also set to 'W'. In fact, for fear my template was the problem, I compared my template with the MCE Remote template side-by-side and the only difference was that the MCE Remote template had a "controlled by category" set to media director. So I set mine to the same, reboot etc but no change.
Shew....I'm pretty stymied.All I can think of is hacking into the USBUIRT code at that section I posted - where it takes the decision about the command and outputting everything that is going on to a custom (or normal) log and then compiling that and running it on my system. Prob is, I haven't the faintest idea how to do that... actually, I do... I think I need to set up a development system or something. Somewhere in the wiki about it. I'll read up. Probably about time I contributed, eh? Necessity is a mother.
http://wiki.linuxmce.org/index.php/Building_From_SourceGuess that's it ^^


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UNITED STATES v. HOFFMAN.
68 S.Ct. 1413
92 L.Ed. 1830
No. 97.
Argued Oct. 23, 1947.
Decided June 21, 1948.
Rehearing Denied Oct. 11, 1948.
Appeal from the District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia.
Mr. Philip B. Perlman, Sol. Gen., of Washington, D.C., for appellant.
Mr. Bernard Margolius, of Washington, D.C., for appellee.
Mr. Chief Justice VINSON delivered the opinion of the Court.
On Feb. 27, 1946, the Price Administrator filed a petition, in the District Court for the District of Columbia, to institute criminal contempt proceedings against appellee. The petition charged appellee with having made numerous sales of used cars at over-ceiling prices in violation of an injunction previously issued by the District Court. A rule to show cause was issued, but was dismissed on motion of the appellee, on the ground that he was entitled to immunity under § 202(g) of the Emergency Price Control Act, 50 U.S.C.A.Appendix, § 922(g), from prosecution for the transactions upon which the petition was founded. D.C., 68 F.Supp. 53.
The Government brought this appeal, under the provisions of the Criminal Appeals Act,1 to review the decision of the District Court. The main issue is the same as that presented in the companion case, Shapiro v. United States, 335 U.S. 1, 68 S.Ct. 1375, but two additional minor questions are raised:
1. Appellee urges that the appeal was not properly taken by the United States because the Government was not a party to the proceedings in the District Court. The record shows, however, that the litigation was instituted in that court by a petition of the OPA District Enforcement Attorney on behalf of the Price Administrator. When the rule to show cause was issued, the court appointed the United States Attorney and the OPA District Enforcement Attorney as 'attorneys to prosecute the criminal charges contained in the petition filed herein on behalf of the Court and of the United States.' See Rule 42(b) of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, 18 U.S.C.A. following section 687, 327 U.S. 865, 866. Thus the United States was, in any relevant sense, a party to the proceedings, and the appeal was properly brought under the Criminal Appeals Act. See United States v. Goldman, 1928, 277 U.S. 229, 235, 48 S.Ct. 486, 487, 72 L.Ed. 862; Ex parte Grossman, 1925, 267 U.S. 87, 115 et seq., 45 S.Ct. 332, 335, 69 L.Ed. 527, 38 A.L.R. 131.
2. The Government mentions a further consideration, not involved in the Shapiro case. The record does not state that the appellee was sworn and produced the records under oath, a condition precedent to the attainment of immunity under a 1906 Amendment, 49 U.S.C. § 48, 49 U.S.C.A. § 48, to the Compulsory Testimony Act of 1893, 49 U.S.C.A. § 46. It is unnecessary to consider this contention both because it does not appear to have been duly raised in the court below, and because the grounds considered and the views set forth in our opinion in the Shapiro case suffice to dispose of this appeal.
The decision of the District Court is reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings.
Mr. Justice FRANKFURTER dissents for the reasons stated in his dissenting opinion in Shapiro v. United States, supra. Mr. Justice JACKSON and Mr. Justice MURPHY dissent for the reasons stated in Mr. Justice JACKSON'S dissenting opinion in Shapiro v. United States, supra. Mr. Justice RUTLEDGE dissents for the reasons stated in his dissenting opinion in Shapiro v. United States, supra.
34 Stat. 1246, as amended by 56 Stat. 271, 18 U.S.C.Supp. V, § 682, 18 U.S.C.A. § 682, and by § 238 of the Judicial Code as amended, 28 U.S.C. § 345, 28 U.S.C.A. § 345.
The following state regulations pages link to this page.


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Funniest New Jersey Joke Contest Has A Winner
March 23 (Bloomberg) — Did you hear the latest joke about New Jersey? A group of investigative journalists this week released a report calling it the least corruptible state in the country. How did that happen?
Easy. We bribed them.
All kidding aside, this is a state where in 2009 three mayors, two assemblymen and five rabbis were among 44 charged in a single money-laundering and bribery sting by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. One of those mayors, Peter Cammarano, was from Hoboken, where I live. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison. Five years before his arrest, another former Hoboken mayor, Anthony Russo, pleaded guilty to corruption charges. His son now sits on the city council.
In New Jersey, we expect corruption. It's built into the system. We have 566 municipalities, the most per capita of any state. Local governments tax the citizenry dry, while preserving the opportunities for graft that flow from operating redundant public services. The state legislature likes it this way and always has. Whadayagonnado?
So it was quite a story this week when the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington-based nonprofit, ranked New Jersey as the state with the lowest corruption risk in the U.S. (Local corruption didn't count, it said. Only "corruption risk" in state government did.) There's a simple explanation for how the group reached its conclusion, too: Its methodology was awful.
Here's how the center got the New Jersey data for its nationwide "State Integrity Investigation." Last year, it hired Colleen O'Dea, a freelance journalist who worked for about 26 years at the Daily Record in Morris County, to answer a list of 330 questions about New Jersey state government. Each called for a numerical score. O'Dea, 49, said she interviewed 26 people for the assignment, five in person. The center paid her $5,000.
The center also hired a former local newspaper editor to review her work. From there, the center provided O'Dea's responses to another Washington-based nonprofit called Global Integrity. That group fed the answers into an algorithm, said Randy Barrett, a Center for Public Integrity spokesman. The results from the algorithm were used to generate letter grades in 14 categories and an overall score for New Jersey of 87 percent, or a B+.
The center hired reporters for every other state, too, along with "peer reviewers" to read their responses. Each reporter got the same list of queries. The center called this investigative reporting. Really, though, it was just a bunch of people answering questionnaires.
For example, O'Dea gave New Jersey a top score of 100 percent when asked to evaluate this statement: "In practice, the state-run pension funds disclose information about their investment and financial activity in a transparent manner."
How did she decide that?
The questionnaire said to give a high score if such information was available online at little or no cost. Her notes, posted on the center's website, say she asked someone at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities about this. "Very transparent," her notes said. The center gave the state an "A" in the category of "state pension-fund management," based partly on O'Dea's answer to that question.
Now consider that, in August 2010, New Jersey became the only state ever sued for fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC said the state for years lied to municipal- bond investors about the underfunded condition of its two largest pension plans. New Jersey settled without admitting or denying the agency's claims.
When I asked O'Dea in a telephone interview if she knew about the SEC lawsuit, she said she didn't. Later, she e-mailed me to say that she had, in fact, been aware of it, and that "the state has since owned up to the issue."
Either way, it's hard to believe New Jersey deserves an A for how it manages its pension funds. Yet for all we know, this grade could have made the difference between finishing No. 1 in the rankings or not. The center ranked Connecticut No. 2 with an overall grade of B, or 86 percent, one point behind New Jersey.
Another example from the survey: "In practice, the state- run pension funds have sufficient staff and resources with which to fulfill their mandate." O'Dea gave another top score. This time she listed a second source, in addition to the fellow from the league of municipalities: a spokesman at the New Jersey Department of the Treasury. He told her the answer was yes.
And so forth. The center gave New Jersey's insurance department a B+. One of the inputs was the 100 percent score O'Dea awarded in response to this statement: "In practice, the state insurance commission has a professional, full-time staff."
Her notes listed two sources: Someone from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New Jersey, and a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Both said the statement was true. (Imagine that.) O'Dea said the sources she chose "seemed to logically have knowledge of the question."
O'Dea said she was surprised by the overall grade that the algorithm produced. "Certainly when I went into this I didn't think we would come up with a B+," she said. "I was thinking maybe a C." So give her points for candor.
Barrett, the Center for Public Integrity spokesman, said the group stands by its data and that "if there's a situation where we made a mistake and need to make a correction, we'll make it."
But there's nothing here worth correcting. They ought to dump the whole thing in the Hudson River.
(Jonathan Weil is a Bloomberg View columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)


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State creates new plates for electric vehicles
NORTH SMITHFIELD - Rhode Island has created a new license plate for electric-powered vehicles thanks to the coordinated effort of several local officials, and their work just might save lives.
A bill creating the special license plates was signed into law by Gov. Lincoln Chafee last month. The legislation, which was sponsored by Sen. Edward O'Neill, is aimed at giving first responders and emergency crew members a warning when they encounter an electric vehicle so that they don't accidentally electrocute themselves while using jaws of life to extricate passengers from wreckage.
"It's so they can quickly identify the vehicle has a high-voltage line running along the bottom of the car," explained Town Planner Robert Ericson, who first prompted O'Neill to sponsor the bill.
"It is not very well-known that rescue workers can get electrocuted from using jaws of life on an electric vehicle, but when that information came to light I wanted us to be proactive about the issue," said O'Neill, who represents District 17 in Lincoln, North Providence, and North Smithfield. "What is happening out there is our police, fire and rescue workers, along with tow truck operators, sometimes get to a scene of an accident and don't know whether they're dealing with an electric or hybrid vehicle. The legislation allows first responders to determine what instrument is appropriate to use for the rescue of those trapped inside electric vehicles quickly, simply by looking at the license plate."
The plate will have the words "Electric/Hybrid" below the plate number, where the words "Ocean State" normally appear.
Ericson first heard of the danger, and the effort to address it, at a conference on electric vehicles put together by Wendy Lucht of Clean Cities at URI. As the owner of a Honda Insight, the town planner had a personal interest in the topic, and listened when a man behind a similar effort in Massachusetts discussed the importance of involving dealership owners, who can make the buyers of hybrids aware of the plate option at first registration.
In North Smithfield, that means the involvement of people such as Bob Benoit, owner of the Anchor Auto Group, who sells some electric vehicles, and installed an electric charging station in front of his Nissan dealership back in 2011.
"Since most of the dealers do first registration it's important that we work with them to make the option clear," Ericson said.
The planner said he also spoke to North Smithfield Fire Chief Joel Jillson about the issue, and Jillson was able to marshal statewide fire chief support for the bill hearing.
"He was gung-ho and thought it was really important," said Ericson. "At that point, I thought, 'why not make it a town project?'"
O'Neill said that House Minority Leader Brian Newberry played a crucial role in gathering bi-partisan support for the legislation in the state Senate. Senators Marc A. Cote, Paul W. Fogarty, Nicholas D. Kettle and James E. Doyle II cosponsored the legislation.
The plates will be made available at no additional cost upon first registration of an electric or hybrid vehicle starting this fall. Those switching from an existing plate will be charged $21.50, unless they want to keep the same plate number, which will cost $31.50.
"You want to tell people you have an electric car, and it makes it more distinguishable," said Ericson. "People will realize that they're better protected by having that plate."
An event at the Garden City Shopping Center in Cranston during National Drive Electric Week will be aimed, in part, at increasing public awareness of the new license plate. The event will feature an electric vehicle show, where drivers from across the state are invited to park and show off their cars; a showcase and ride and drive displaying some of the latest electric vehicles; a raffle for a Garden City gift card; and an end of the day concourse, where the electric cars exit the parking lot in a procession and head toward the next charging station in Rhode Island. Currently, there are 60 such charging stations statewide.
The event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 20 from 12 to 3 p.m. at 100 Hillside Road in Cranston. To learn more, or register to take part, visit driveelectricweek.org .
Ericson hopes to organize a separate event in North Smithfield, and points out that the town's role in pushing the legislation forward is in keeping with the mission of growing a green community.
"North Smithfield has a reputation for being at the forefront in energy conservation," Ericson said, giving credit to all who had a part in the effort.
"This was a North Smithfield project," he said. "It was the coming together of all the different parts."


text:
Hi, we got a new job opening for Specimen Accessioner in Labcorp
Details :
Company : Labcorp
Location : Hollywood, FL 33020
position : Specimen Accessioner
Description :
Are you organized, accountable, and have always gone the extra mile to make sure things are done right? Imagine the impact those skills can have in ensuring the accuracy of millions of healthcare tests, every month. If you share our passion for strengthening physician care, please apply for the Specimen Accessioner position!
LabCorp is seeking a dedicated and motivated individual to join their Specimen Processing and Accessioning team. The Specimen Accessioner will be responsible for performing clinical specimen accessioning, sample sorting and data entry in a fast-paced, high-throughput environment according to established standard operating procedures.
Job Duties/Responsibilities:
Prepare laboratory specimens for analysis and testing
Unpack and route specimens to their respective staging areas
Accurately identify and label specimens
Pack and ship specimens to proper testing facilities
Meet department activity and production goals
Properly prepare and store excess specimen samples
Data entry of patient information in an accurate and timely manner
Resolve and document any problem specimens
Monday – Friday 6:00pm – 2:30am with rotating Saturday and holiday shifts
High School Diploma or equivalent
No relative experience required; 1-2 years preferred
Previous medical or production experience is a plus
Comfortable handling biological specimens
Ability to accurately identify specimens
Experience working in a team environment
Strong data entry and organizational skills
High level of attention to detail
Proficient in MS Office
Ability to lift up to 40lbs.
Ability to pass a standardized color blind test
If you're looking for a career that offers opportunities for growth, continual development, professional challenge and the chance to make a real difference, apply today!
Labcorp is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer:
As an EOE/AA employer, the organization will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant's race, age, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or veteran status.
For more information about how we collect and store your personal data, please see our Privacy Statement.


text:
Nearly 500 children in a single Pakistani city have tested positive for HIV, in an outbreak that has led to the arrest and release of at least one doctor and highlighted gross inadequacies in the local health care system.
As of mid-May, 410 children and 100 adults in Larkana, a city in Pakistan's Sindh province, had tested positive for HIV, the Associated Press reported. Those numbers have since climbed to 494 children and 113 adults, according to NPR.
How did more than 600 people in one area become infected with HIV? Here's what to know.
According to reports from NPR and the AP, parents in April began to notice lasting fevers in their children and took them to a nearby medical center for testing. By around April 24, 15 children ages 2 to 8 had tested positive for HIV, according to an op-ed written by Larkana Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Nauman Siddique. "Recognising the seriousness of this issue," local officials shortly thereafter set up a "healthcare camp" where children and their parents could be screened for the virus, Siddique wrote.
"The results of the screening within the first few days were shocking," he wrote. "The tests revealed that the parents of the HIV-positive children were HIV negative"—raising questions about how so many children became infected.
By May 14, after screening more than 10,000 people, the number of diagnosed individuals had grown to more than 400, according to the country's National AIDS Control Programme. As testing continued, that number only grew.
A web of unsanitary and unsafe medical practices seems to be to blame, according to local officials.
Many of the children who originally tested positive for HIV had been treated in a Larkana clinic run by Dr. Muzaffar Ghangharo, NPR reports. After demands from parents, Ghangharo was eventually tested for HIV. The results came back positive, "and here is when it was suspected that he was the source of spreading HIV in their kids through bad practices," a district police officer told NPR.
Ghangharo was arrested on suspicion of intentionally infecting his patients with HIV, the BBC reports. Pakistan's SAMAA TV reported Thursday that he was cleared of that charge, but found guilty of "criminal medical negligence." Ghangharo denied the original accusations in a video filmed in jail.
Officials have pointed to medical negligence across the local health care system as a likely cause of the outbreak. Many local officials have blamed "quacks," in apparent reference to the large number of unqualified individuals who practice medicine in the area.
"Possible causes included clinics run by quacks, use of a single syringe for multiple patients, and use of the same drip set for multiple patients," Siddique wrote in his op-ed. He added that at least 61 unsafe clinics have been "sealed" and 29 more health care centers warned in the wake of the outbreak.
Sindh health officials also suggested that barbershops, where razor blades are sometimes reused, could be a possible transmission source, NPR reports. Siddique also pointed to unsafe circumcisions, which sometimes take place in barbershops, in his op-ed.
This is not the first time Larkana's medical system has been at the center of an HIV outbreak. An outbreak among dialysis patients, which infected about 50 people, was reported in 2016. Years earlier, there was also an outbreak among intravenous drug users in Larkana.
National and international health authorities, including the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and UNICEF, are collaborating on a response in Larkana, which includes ongoing free testing of individuals who may be infected, crackdowns on unsafe clinics and barbershops and public education campaigns about preventing the spread of HIV. Siddique has also urged medical professionals to use auto-lock syringes, which cannot be reused, and called for better labs for conducting medical blood work.
Pakistan Health Minister Dr. Zafar Mirza also announced on May 23 that three new HIV/AIDs treatment centers would be established throughout Sindh.


text:
Astronomers estimate that a star explodes as a supernova in our Galaxy, on average, about twice per century. In 2008, a team of scientists announced they discovered the remains of a supernova that is the most recent, in Earth's time frame, known to have occurred in the Milky Way.
The explosion would have been visible from Earth a little more than a hundred years ago if it had not been heavily obscured by dust and gas. Its likely location is about 28,000 light years from Earth near the center of the Milky Way. A long observation equivalent to more than 11 days of observations of its debris field, now known as the supernova remnant G1.9+0.3, with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory is providing new details about this important event.
The source of G1.9+0.3 was most likely a white dwarf star that underwent a thermonuclear detonation and was destroyed after merging with another white dwarf, or pulling material from an orbiting companion star. This is a particular class of supernova explosions (known as Type Ia) that are used as distance indicators in cosmology because they are so consistent in brightness and incredibly luminous.
The explosion ejected stellar debris at high velocities, creating the supernova remnant that is seen today by Chandra and other telescopes. This new image is a composite from Chandra where low-energy X-rays are red, intermediate energies are green and higher-energy ones are blue. Also shown are optical data from the Digitized Sky Survey, with appearing stars in white. The new Chandra data, obtained in 2011, reveal that G1.9+0.3 has several remarkable properties.
The Chandra data show that most of the X-ray emission is "synchrotron radiation," produced by extremely energetic electrons accelerated in the rapidly expanding blast wave of the supernova. This emission gives information about the origin of cosmic rays - energetic particles that constantly strike the Earth's atmosphere - but not much information about Type Ia supernovas.
In addition, some of the X-ray emission comes from elements
Most Type Ia supernova remnants are symmetrical in shape, with debris evenly distributed in all directions. However, G1.9+0.3 exhibits an extremely asymmetric pattern. The strongest X-ray emission from elements like silicon, sulfur, and iron is found in the northern part of the remnant, giving an extremely asymmetric pattern.
Another exceptional feature of this remnant is that iron, which is expected to form deep in the doomed star's interior and move relatively slowly, is found far from the center and is moving at extremely high speeds of over 3.8 million miles per hour. The iron is mixed with lighter elements expected to form further out in the star.
Because of the uneven distribution of the remnant's debris and their extreme velocities, the researchers conclude that the original supernova explosion also had very unusual properties. That is, the explosion itself must have been highly non-uniform and unusually energetic.
By comparing the properties of the remnant with theoretical models, the researchers found hints about the explosion mechanism. Their favorite concept for what happened in G1.9+0.3 is a "delayed detonation", where the explosion occurs in two different phases. First, nuclear reactions occur in a slowly expanding wavefront, producing iron and similar elements. The energy from these reactions causes the star to expand, changing its density and allowing a much faster-moving detonation front of nuclear reactions to occur.
If the explosion were highly asymmetric, then there should be large variations in expansion rate in different parts of the remnant. These should be measurable with future observations with X-rays using Chandra and radio waves with the NSF's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array.
Observations of G1.9+0.3 allow astronomers a special, close-up view of a young supernova remnant and its rapidly changing debris. Many of these changes are driven by the radioactive decay of elements ejected in the explosion. For example, a large amount of antimatter should have formed after the explosion by radioactive decay of cobalt. Based on the estimated mass of iron, which is formed by radioactive decay of nickel to cobalt to iron, over a hundred million trillion (ie ten raised to the power of twenty) pounds of positrons, the antimatter counterpart to electrons, should have formed. However, nearly all of these positrons should have combined with electrons and been destroyed, so no direct observational signature of this antimatter should remain.
A paper describing these results is available online and will be published in the July 1, 2013 issue of The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The first author is Kazimierz Borkowski of North Carolina State University (NCSU), in Raleigh, NC and his co-authors are Stephen Reynolds, also of NCSU; Una Hwang from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD; David Green from Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, UK; Robert Petre, also from GSFC; Kalyani Krishnamurthy from Duke University in Durham, NC and Rebecca Willett, also from Duke University.
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages the Chandra program for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory controls Chandra's science and flight operations from Cambridge, Mass.
Great job
Posted by charles driver on Monday, 11.16.15 @ 09:15am
I've heard that the SNR has expanded in volume over the period of time we've known about it. I'm curious, what is in the center of the SNR A neutron star or a black hole?
Posted by Brendan Miller on Monday, 02.10.14 @ 07:58am
Very good.
Posted by Camilo de Lélis Melo on Tuesday, 01.28.14 @ 14:28pm
I've read that G1.9 is actually a brown dwarf star with planets satellites orbiting it and that its headed this way
Posted by susan on Thursday, 10.10.13 @ 11:22am
I have read a lot but cannot recall how often Novi and Super Novi occur in our Universe.
Marvin L. S.
Posted by Marvin L. S. on Thursday, 09.5.13 @ 16:15pm
Hello, It's a fine object... I will ask you a question, does the velocity of the torus surrounding 'spiral' galaxies, 'pull' gases from the disk, there for helping to produce shape.
Posted by J.J. Madson on Saturday, 07.6.13 @ 19:19pm
Very informative. The article was appreciated by High School students also who vist me weekly to clear their doubts. I am now in India. I was working as a professor in a college teaching physical chemistry in the U.S till 2002.
I am retirerd now.Please help us by sendig more such informative articles.
Posted by P.E. Thomas on Tuesday, 07.2.13 @ 06:53am
I could not imagine about the volume of our universe.I am very thankfull to those scientist working for this. Thanks a lot.
Posted by Md. Faruque Hossain on Sunday, 06.30.13 @ 08:00am
So cool not to mention fascinating... I stay mostly confused, so this was good info thank you guys :)
Posted by diana on Saturday, 06.29.13 @ 16:04pm
This smallish gas globule is curious compared to other supernova remnants we have observed. Could it be small (compared to Kepler or CassA) due to its youth?
It also seems denser to me. Love it.
Posted by tish bresee on Friday, 06.28.13 @ 21:46pm
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Odds and Ends
I might have titled this Portfolio "Odds and Ends" instead of "Things". This happens to be my favorite showcase for illustrating the unusual, the eclectic, the eccentric, or the bizarre. Look at the photo called "Confusion". Regardless how you turn it the image does not identify itself as the Railroad Bridge that it actually is. Others are easily identifiable such as "Twisted Wood" or "Time For A Cool Drink". Many of these images show my love of vehicles from cars to airplanes and everything in between. Must be my "travel bug" showing. Enjoy!Read More


text:
Blackstone Acquires Vivint for $2B; Analysts Weigh In on Deal
Vivint CEO and Co-Founder Todd Pedersen (Photo courtesy Vivint)
PROVO, Utah — Blackstone Group LP will acquire Vivint Inc. for more than $2 billion, gaining legions of home-security, energy-management and solar-power customers throughout North America.
Blackstone is buying a majority stake in the Provo, Utah-based company from initial investors Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Jupiter Partners LLC and Peterson Partners LP.
Vivint management, including CEO Todd Pedersen, will remain with the company and continue to run daily operations. Pedersen will keep a minority equity stake. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Pedersen tells SSI the deal will allow Vivint to expand upon its technology-based platform, enter new markets more expeditiously and free up management to be "more thoughtful about what we are going to become in five years."
"We have been able to raise capital, but we have 14 lenders in our credit facility which is not very efficient. It became too much to manage that many banks and lenders in one facility," he says. "Bringing on someone like Blackstone that validates equity valuation in a company, and puts real money down to prove that to the markets, will help us access a more efficient capital structure that we are contemplating."
Pedersen tells SSI the initial bidding rounds for the company attracted 46 groups, which was reduced to nine serious bidders. Eventually, Blackstone won out over Ares Management LLC and GTCR LLC, which owns Protection 1, Pedersen says.
Vivint bills itself as the largest home automation services company in North America, and the No. 2 residential security services provider in the United States as well as in Canada.
Founded by Pedersen in 1999 as APX Alarm, the summer sales model company has built a customer base of more than 650,000 customers, providing connected smart home systems, including alarms, lighting controls, energy management and more. It also provides severe weather alerts to customers at risk of tornadoes.
A new, larger credit facility was needed, in part, to fund Vivint's plans to create a nationwide commercial division beginning in 2013. As the largest U.S. owner of hotel properties, among other significant real estate holdings in its portfolio, Blackstone offers Vivint potential synergies for developing a fledgling commercial division.
"A new structured facility will open up that opportunity for us. We intend to aggressively pursue that market. We feel we are uniquely capable of the sales and the installation on a nationwide basis. It will be a very big push of ours," Pedersen says.
Vivint already dabbles in providing commercial systems "as a natural byproduct" of selling to residential customers who own businesses, Pedersen says. However, it has heretofore been unable to launch an in-house commercial sales operation to augment its door-to-door model. "We intend to grow our inside sales substantially through advertising. We are going to sell tens of thousands of commercial systems annually. We can install in 96% of the zip codes in North America. It is a natural fit for us."
As part of the deal, Blackstone will also take over Vivint's affiliates Vivint Solar and 2GIG Technologies, which provides panels and peripheral devices. Vivint launched Vivint Solar in 2011 after it received $75 million in financing from U.S. Bancorp in support of its plan to offer leased solar installations for homes.
Pedersen estimates the solar operation is already the No. 2 installer of solar systems on a daily basis after market leader SolarCity. "I believe we will be No. 1 in three to six months with this new capital infusion that allows us to rollout markets quicker and faster. We don't want to have 50 sales reps; we would like to have hundreds and hundreds of sales rep in the solar space."
Among other markets in Pedersen's immediate sights are home health-care monitoring, as well as taking Vivint's portfolio of services to Australia where the company is completing work on licensing and receiving compliancy listing for its panels and other products.
Vivint's home-management services, excluding solar, will end the year earning $34.7 million in recurring monthly revenue (RMR), Pedersen says. A 25% increase in RMR is projected by the end of 2013.
While the security industry has only produced a handful of installing/monitoring company acquisitions the size of Blackstone's deal for Vivint, the $2 billion price tag is not expected to affect the valuations of other players in the industry, according to Michael Barnes, founding partner of consulting firm Barnes Associates.
Barnes — who disclosed to SSI his firm worked for one of the prospective Vivint buyers — says the selling price indicates a RMR multiple "something north of 60x," which includes 2GIG and Vivint Solar. "[That is a very] aggressive price, and while only several deals have ever touched that price level, it is not unprecedented. What is unprecedented is a security alarm company growing from $0 to $34 million of RMR in six years, all through internal sales."
Barnes says the valuation is unlikely to have a significant impact on the broader market as there are so few players of Vivint's size and aggressive business model, let alone those that can achieve comparable growth results.
"It meshes well, however, with the high valuation Monitronics [acquired by Ascent Media Corp. in 2010 for $1.2 billion] has continued to receive in the public markets, and what we expect the new ADT will trade at when it spins out from Tyco. Large, highly efficient companies that can grow have pretty much always received strong valuations," he says.
The deal for Vivint is also a clear indication the industry is gearing up for a major push in the residential market, Barnes explains.
"Vivint, ADT, Monitronics, CSG [Central Security Group], Security Networks all have, or will be, recapitalized and are loaded for bear. Also, Comcast and a host of other MSOs have entered the space with their eyes on the residential market," he says. "This adds up to a lot of marketing dollars being spent. In my mind, however, the average alarm company is still going to win their share of the pie."
Jeff Kessler, a managing director of Imperial Capital, describes Vivint as a "disruptive company in the industry" that has excelled at "getting to where they
are going ahead of other companies."
"They do provide a very high value proposition for the customer with excellent underlying technology and they are very innovative in the types of new services and new markets that they are moving toward," Kessler says.
It is the consistent, high value proposition exhibited by Vivint that, in part, attracted Blackstone to the acquisition and that can be considered a significant factor in how the deal impacts the industry going forward.
"It shows that a company can start from scratch and in six to eight years create a premium valuation for itself in the security industry, which has traditionally been resistant to a lot of change," Kessler says "The marketplace is going to continue to look at companies like Vivint in a positive fashion, which they might not have done 10 or 20 years ago."
The deal also underscores why installing security contractors can no longer take in RMR without trying to improve the customer's value proposition. Not doing so risks a loss of market share and even a possibility of attrition rates, Kessler says. "It is clear now that good technology is driving a customer value proposition. Whether the customer is spending $25, $30 or even $75 a month, you have to be able to offer something to the customer that is better and more valuable to keep them as a customer and to keep that RMR flowing."
Like Barnes, Kessler does not expect the price paid for Vivint will have much of an impact on the valuation of other security providers. There are several influences, including technology advances, that have created a floor for valuation and continue to drive deals in the industry. Among these influences, Kessler cites the current low rates of borrowing. Senior lenders are willing to lend against RMR to allow companies that are in the private equity world to borrow, which is expected to help drive "a fairly active merger and acquisition market in the alarm and home services industry at least for the time being," he says.
When gauging the price paid for Vivint, Kessler describes it as being "in line" with multiples seen since 2010 for deals such as Protection 1 being bought by GTCR, Securitas Direct by Bain Capital and Hellman & Friedman, Monitronics by Ascent Capital, CSG by Summit Partners, and Security Networks by Oak Hill Capital.
"All of these deals were done in the 40 to 62 multiples of RMR. All these deals were done between 10x and 13x the enterprise value," he says.
To gauge a true picture of the metrics of an acquisition, Kessler factors what he terms "multiples of steady state cash flow." The valuations Blackstone paid for Vivint — subtracting the value of Vivint Solar and 2GIG — results in an RMR multiple in the range of 50x and a steady state cash flow multiple toward the lower end of the 10x to 13x range noted above, according to Kessler. That is a multiple toward the bottom of the range, which has been 10x to 13x steady state cash flow, during the past 18 months, Kessler says.
"This is still a big deal because the company has basically said it is going to produce something along the lines of $34 million of RMR for 2012," he says. "They haven't published it but we have estimated their steady state cash flow. Based on that, it is a big deal due to the size of the company. They are up there along with Monitronics and Protection 1 as the No. 2 players in the industry."
Rodney Bosch is managing editor for SECURITY SALES & INTEGRATION magazine. He can be reached at (310) 533-2426.
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Whatever else you think about tea-party-infused Republican leaders in Congress, at least they're consistent in their opposition to big government intrusion in the economy, right?
Absolutely. Unless you count intrusions of taxpayer funds into corporate projects back in their districts.
For example, President Barack Obama's effort to accelerate federal-backed loans to job-creating, green-energy projects has been a target of howling Republican ridicule. In particular, they're now assailing a 2009 loan guarantee to the failed solar-panel maker, Solyndra, holding it up as proof that green energy programs are a waste, driven by raw politics.
GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell recently sputtered in rage that "The White House fast-tracked a half-billion dollar loan to a politically connected energy firm."
Fair enough — the Solyndra deal did stink. However, Mitch's tirade would've had a lot more moral punch if it were not for Zap Motors.
In 2009, even as the Kentucky senator was loudly deriding Obama's original stimulus program, he was quietly urging Obama's energy secretary to give a quarter-billion-dollar loan guarantee to Zap for a clean-energy plant it wanted to build in McConnell's state.
Never mind that Zap Motors had its own shaky financial record; it was, as McConnell now says of Solyndra, "a politically connected energy firm." Connected directly to him, that is. The senator's robust enthusiasm for Zap came after the corporation hired a lobbyist with close ties to the Kentucky Republican, having been a frequent financial backer of the senator's campaigns.
The moral of this GOP morality tale is it's okay to hate government spending, except when you love it. Decry federal largesse loudly, but when it serves your own political needs, hug it quietly…but tightly.


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Fractal Design Define S Window - zwartLevertijd: niet voorradig, levertijd onbekend. € 125,10
Merk: Fractal Design
EAN code: 7350041083450
SKU code: FD-CA-DEF-S-BK-W
EAN code: 7350041083450
SKU code: FD-CA-DEF-S-BK-W
The Fractal Design Define S lends the appearance, sound dampening technology, and support for a wide variety of components from the widely popular Define Series, while introducing a new, innovative internal layout. The Define S case is packed with intelligently designed enthusiast-oriented features delivering a silent case with powerful and expansive air and liquid cooling support, presented in a stunning Scandinavian inspired construction.
The modernized internal layout of the Define S omits the optical drive bays, instead focusing on a clear straight airflow path and uncompromising water cooling support.
The Define S case reaches the highest level of silent computing through strategically placed dense sound-absorbing material, multiple ModuVent™ fan vent covers and finely tuned Dynamic Series fans.
Key features
Cooling system
Water cooling compatibilitys
The modernized internal layout of the Define S omits the optical drive bays, instead focusing on a clear straight airflow path and uncompromising water cooling support.
The Define S case reaches the highest level of silent computing through strategically placed dense sound-absorbing material, multiple ModuVent™ fan vent covers and finely tuned Dynamic Series fans.
Key features
- Optimally designed for silent computing, while not compromising on airflow and cooling capabilities
- Innovative internal layout, providing a perfectly straight airflow path to the CPU heatsink for air cooling set ups or extensive radiator mounting possibilities for water cooling set ups
- Extensive water cooling support for a case of this size; housing radiators up to 420mm in the top and 360mm in the front
- Including smart reservoir brackets; featuring drill-free reservoir mounting on the front of the motherboard tray and pre-drilled pump mounting holes on the bottom panel
- Equipped with ModuVent™ fan slot covers providing the option of additional cooling or maximum sound absorption
- Including two Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 140mm fans developed for superlative airflow while still maintaining low noise levels
- Maintaining a dust-free interior with dust filters that cover the front and bottom air intakes
- Introducing newly designed hard drive trays placed vertically behind the front partition of the motherboard tray; Three sturdy steel trays with vibration-dampening grommets allowing for installation of one 3.5" or 2.5" drive on each tray, without disrupting the airflow or interfering with the radiator mounting possibilities
- An additional 2 dedicated steel SSD trays cleanly placed behind the motherboard tray
- Long motherboard tray extending to the front panel contributing to an extremely clean build, hiding both hard drives and cables
- Define S model is also available with a large window on the side panel
- ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX motherboard compatibility
- 7 expansion slots
- 3 - 3.5" HDD positions (can also accommodate 2.5" units); 2 - 2.5" dedicated SSD/HDD unit positions
- 9 - Fan positions (2 Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 140mm fans included); 8 fan positions on window model
- Filtered fan slots in the front and bottom
- CPU coolers up to 180mm in height
- ATX PSUs up to 180/170 mm with a bottom 120/140mm fan installed; When not using any bottom fan location longer PSUs up to 300mm can be used
- Graphics cards up to 425 mm in length with front fans installed, without compromising HDD capacity; Graphics cards up to 450mm in length without front fans installed directly in line with the GPU
- With a front radiator, maximum graphics card length is reduced by the radiator thickness
- 20 - 40 mm of space for cable routing behind the motherboard plate
- Velcro straps included for easy cable management
- Both side panels feature smart captive thumbscrews so no thumbscrews are lost
- Colours available: Black
- Case dimensions (WxHxD): 233 x 451 x 520mm
- Case dimensions - with feet/screws/protrusions: 233 x 465 x 533mm
- Net weight - window version: 8.5 kg
- Package dimensions (WxHxD): 322 x 615 x 535mm
- Package weight - window version: 10.2 kg
Cooling system
- Front: 3 – 120/140 mm fans (included is 1 Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
- Rear: 1 – 120/140 mm fan (included is 1 Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 fan, 1000 RPM speed)
- Top: 3 - 120/140 mm fan (not included) or 1 - 180 mm fan with 165mm hole spacing (not included)
- Bottom: 1 – 120/140 mm fan (not included)
- Side: 1 – 120/140 mm fan (not included)
- Dust filters: Bottom and front intakes
Water cooling compatibilitys
- Front – 360, 280, 240, 140 and 120 mm radiators of all thicknesses
- Top – 420, 360, 280, 240, 140 and 120 mm radiators. (A thickness limitation of 55mm for both radiator + fan applies on 420, 280 and 140 mm radiators)
- Bottom – 120 mm radiator (Use of radiators in the bottom position limits the PSU length to 165 mm)
- Rear – 120 or 140 mm radiator
- Pre-drilled holes on the bottom panel, supports many DDC and D5 variants
- Adjustable mounting brackets allow for almost any rectangular mounting screw pattern
- Maximum distance between the mounting bracket screw positions: 350mm height / 80mm width


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(CNN) – Victoria Wilcher – the 3-year-old Mississippi girl whose family claimed was asked to leave KFC because of her appearance – will be fitted for a prosthetic eye.
Victoria, who lost sight in her right eye and was left with severe facial scars after a pit bull attack, will meet with Raymond Peters, an ocularist who hopes to outfit her with a prosthetic eye this week at his office in Naples, Florida.
An ocularist is a trained technician who makes prosthetic eyes.
Peters said he doesn't care about the controversy surrounding what her family said happened to her at KFC. He just wants to help a child in need.
"That's another world as far as I am concerned. That's not going to affect me with how I help the child," he said of the KFC incident. "I am focused on this child, and if that did happen, it's sad because it is a double tragedy for the child."
Victoria's grandmother, Kelly Mullins, took to Facebook last month to tell a story about how Victoria, who wears an eye patch and eats through a tube, was told to leave a KFC in Mississippi because her appearance was disturbing to other patrons.
The story went viral. Online fundraising campaigns brought in thousands, including $30,000 and an apology from KFC.
But veracity of the story has since been called into question. A pair of investigations found no proof she was ever asked to leave KFC and a local newspaper also cast doubt on the family's story.
Both Peters, who has donated his services and assisted with travel accommodations, and Mullins spoke to CNN Sunday about Victoria's road to recovery .
"She don't have an eye socket and no cheekbone," said Mullins. "We had to put her back in diapers because of the wounds on her legs. She can't pull things up and down on them. The wounds will bleed, and she screams bloody murder."
Not knowing the full extent of the damage, Peters said he is not even sure if an artificial eye is a feasible option. But that is not going to stop him from trying.
"I will help her as long as I am able," he said. "We don't want this child to walk in the shadows."
Despite saying it hadn't found proof that one of its restaurants mistreated the girl or her grandmother, KFC said it will still honor its commitment to donate $30,000 to assist with Victoria's medical bills.
"We hope everyone keeps Victoria in their thoughts and prayers," the chain said in a statement last month. "She will certainly be in ours."


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METAL MENA collection of my found trash & junk character constructions which I call METALMEN
Royal Ray GunsAn array of Artistic Armament Artifacts. A gallery of older Ray Guns is here http://drawger.com/fisher/?section=gallery&gallery_id=623
Einstein's ShoelaceEinstein's Shoelace is a compendium of drawings from two 2011 sketchbooks which I colorize in Photoshop.
Somnambulistic SketchesFor 3 years I was the night watchman at a large old Civil War era mill complex that had been converted to office space. Alone from midnight to 8 am I drew and sketched in between my rounds. Here are some of the pages that I have colorized on the computer. Sometimes while drawing I would suddenly awake and find odd lines or blobs that happened while I dozed off. I leave most of those accidents in the art.
WHIZ BANG!A new gallery of my sketchbook art, a companion to the Somnambulistic Sketchbook.
LOOPY BAZOOKALoopy Bazooka is the name of my new sketchbook/computerized drawings. Many of the images start out as outlines of found street trash from my urban walking excursions, which are then detailed with organic filigree. And then the other drawings are the found mind trash from my noggin wanderings.
Numbers RacketFor me there is a little bit of mystery and magic in the combination of letters to form words. What I'm trying to do in this series is discover the poetry, ballet, drama and comedy in the words and between the letters, also not trying to be too conceptual or rigid in the relationship of the word to the number. I have started with 0-Zero and will continue on from there. I hear there's an endless supply of them.
5 Second Comics
SPITBALL COMIXBack in April of 2009, Walter Vasconcelos and I started a project of drawn and digital collages. We decided on a 6.4 inch square format where one of us would do a character in b&w and e-mail it to the other, who would then add color; backgrounds, textures and words. We alternated this process between he in Brazil, and I in the U.S. for 199 days until we concluded it with panel 100. Some of the panels flow in sequence and others are lone wolves. Somewhere along the way we decided to concentrate on just faces, adding numbers to the mix. What I find very interesting is how blended some of the panels are, so much so I have trouble discerning who did what. We had so much fun with this project that we did another with the alphabet called A-Z and are working on yet another now. Here is Spitball Comix the first collaboration. PLEASE START AT THE FIRST IMAGE PAGE. Enjoy!
AlphaBeastsIn the fall of 2009 after Walter Vasconcelos and I completed our 100 image opus Spitball Comix we immediately started on a new exquisite corpse project based on the alphabet. Walter started it off by sending me a black & white image for A which I then played with, next I sent him a b&w B and he played with that. It continued alternating between the two of us with Walter finishing up with Z. Our black and white originals are small and on the left, our colored finished pieces are larger and beside them. Now we know our ABC's, PLEASE START AT THE FIRST OF THE IMAGE PAGES. Enjoy!
Random Art from the PastA growing gallery of my art from the past 4 decades.
Phavorite Past Post Personal PicturesA collection of personal pieces from past posts.
Gyrocosmic RelativatorsMy Dad who occasionally made some crazy objects such as the 1 legged brass boat propeller table actually produced the first Gyrocosmic. I have since made a number of my own using accumulated objects of wood, plastic, metal and rubber. Here is a little story and a few of the devices. Many of the Gyrocosmics may look like weapons but don't be fooled, as they say "Don't judge a book by its cover"
Particle 17Midpoint in the final decade of the last century of the previous millennium I created a brand for a particular illustration style I had been working in for my comic series Jupiter Jak (see Jupiter Jak gallery). The style is based on clip art from the 40's and 50's but with my own additions, manipulations and as always a dose of humor. I called it Particle 17 and promoted it with mailings, faxes and a web site.
Jupiter JakFor many years I had a monthly humor piece in the Boston arts and entertainment paper Stuff Magazine. Jupiter Jak ran for 10 of those years with over 120 pieces. The gist of Jak is that he is the Sales Czar of the Solar System. He pushes the goods and services of the governing mega conglomerate that controlls the System. He does this via his Adverinfotisements which appeared monthly in Stuff. Except for the color cover they were all done with xactos, glue sticks, copy machines and spit. Here are a few choice ads.
AutotronA series of imaginary autos and cycles I constructed from old advertising auto art.
Art ScreedReMark & RePete is a visual round robin of black and white collages, faxed between my friend Peter Thibeault and myself. Working with copy machines, Xactoknives, glue sticks, old clip art, magazines and engravings we ping pong'd images between our two studios for 18 months, finally ending the screed at 500 pages. Each image was a response to the previous one recieved via fax. The only rules were to keep the size consistent and each one had to include the page number somewhere in the image. We got into a lot of word play, double-entendre and twisted images. Sometimes the pictures would evolve into mostly patterns or textures but soon enough revert to a much meatier subject matter. Sometimes a whole day would be spent feverishly responding back to a constant volley of faxes, very much like what goes on in some threads of Speakeasy. Here are a few of my images.
Alpha et ZetaA scientific love story
Tables of Idiotic StuffEssential information.
Season of the WitchBeen a fan of Donovan Leitch's music since 1965. In '84 my friend James Shook (also a fan) and I undertook a project to Illustrate some of his music. We each took a song and did our own painting. We contacted his manager and got together with Don a few times when he was in the area. He was thrilled with the images. We shopped around the idea of an Illustrated/Lyrics book but it never flew. A couple of my pieces got in American Illustration and there was an article about the project in Idea magazine. Lost touch but it was a thrill to meet the guy that put a lot music in my life. Here are a few of my paintings.
Chicago ReaderIn 1981 I was asked by Bob Roth the managing editor of the Chicago Reader to illustrate a book that they would be serializing in the weekly paper over the next years time. The name of the book escapes me but it dealt with the social, moral and political life of Chicago in the late 19th and early 20th Century. A time when Industry, the church and politics battled over the lives and souls of the people oftentimes with tragic consequences. Dover had a series of books out at the time with lots of old copyright free engravings which fit the time period so I proposed a series of collages using old engravings. The project took a little over a year and resulted in around 60 collages. Here are a few of them.
Heavy MetalIn the early 80's I produced a lot of my comic stories either in self published comic books or in the magazine Heavy Metal. I did not draw big breasted women but rather dinosaurs, spacemen and aliens. Many of the stories had an ironic twist at the end ala The Twilight Zone. I treated the panels much like illustrations using the technique I was working in at the time, black and white stippleism and line. Here are a couple of the complete stories and a few single panels from others.
Monthly MeSince I have no shame of the degree I will go to get a laugh I have made a gallery of each months profile portrait. I have temporarily suspended adding to this gallery while I have reconstructive surgery to my head.
GourmetIn the early 90's I got a call from the AD at Gourmet magazine, Irwin Glusker. He had seen my portfolio through my NY rep and wanted to talk. Up front he informed me that he would unlikely have future need of my services but he did have one article that perhaps was suited for my style. An odd opening but a job is a job and after all it was Gourmet and a renowned designer. His honesty wasn't insulting since my portfolio was really suited to business and hi tech magazines. I sent some sketches, got feedback and did the painting. Job completed to his and my satisfaction, end of story. It wasn't long before a second assignment came along and another and another. I worked with Irwin over the next few years until his retirement from the magazine. Most illustrations were for the wine column with occasional dining out and recipe spots. The great experience of it all was working with a fine art director who brought me in a direction I never would have explored on my own.
IT'S ME!My first comic book if you can call it that was published back in '72 and since then I have occasionally produced others usually as mini photocopied booklets. IT'S ME! was in b&w and billed as an 8 page coloring book of 'Crazy Creatures to Color.'
© 2023 Mark Fisher