text:
SAN FRANCISCO – Wine regulators from 18 Asia-Pacific governments met this week to share ideas on building the Pacific Rim wine trade.
More than 100 officials gathered with international wine industry representatives in San Francisco and Livermore Valley, California, at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) workshop to discuss reducing unnecessary impediments to trade, including streamlining regulatory import-export requirements. The regulators also shared best practices on wine certification, analysis, winemaking practices and labeling in the region.
Officials attending the APEC forum included (L to r): Michael Moore, New Zealand Ambassador to the U.S.; Sirma Karapeeva, New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development; Julia Doherty, Senior Director at the U.S. Office of Trade Representative, APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance chair; and Robert P. (Bobby) Koch, President and CEO of Wine Institute.
In the past decade, wine trade in the 21-nation APEC region has grown significantly, accounting for 26% of all global trade in 2010, up from 21.8% in 2000. More than one-fifth of APEC members' global wine trade is conducted within the region, which has tripled to $3.6 billion in value over the last decade.
The two-day APEC Wine Regulatory Forum meeting, sponsored by the U.S., Australia, Chile, New Zealand and Peru, included delegations from Canada, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Former World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General and current New Zealand Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Moore said that the APEC region wine trade, while quickly growing in significance, is burdened by major costs due to different and sometimes conflicting regulatory requirements which reportedly cost APEC economies and businesses approximately $1 billion USD per year. Ambassador Moore added that New Zealand's experience suggests that an open market and a streamlined regulatory environment is a necessary pre-condition for the development of domestic wine production and trade.
Meeting participants heard from 30 Pacific Rim officials on achieving greater regulatory alignment for wine in the region, the importance of international organizations such as the WTO and World Wine Trade Group (WWTG) in facilitating free and open trade, and the role of laboratory testing in regulating wine.
One of the desired outcomes of the APEC "Seminar on Key Issues in Wine Regulation" was to connect the officials responsible for making decisions on wine standards and regulations in order to share different perspectives. At the meeting's close, Julia Doherty, Senior Director at the U.S. Office of Trade Representative and the APEC Sub-Committee on Standards and Conformance chair, summed up the themes which emerged and suggested ways in which the governments and wine community might reduce barriers to trade including eliminating unnecessary export certificates, participating at the Codex Alimentarius Commission and World Wine Trade Group and developing a forward looking plan that involves increased information sharing on regulatory developments among APEC economies.
International wine industry leaders praised the APEC initiative. Robert P. (Bobby) Koch, President and CEO of Wine Institute, the public policy advocacy group representing over 1,000 California wineries and affiliated businesses, said, "This historic meeting brought wine regulators from key Pacific Rim markets together for the first time to focus on ways to reduce the time, cost and uncertainty of moving goods throughout the region."
Philip Gregan, head of the New Zealand Winegrowers, called the meeting "a very positive development." He added, "The regulators demonstrated a strong commitment to improving the APEC trade environment and working together to increase regulatory coherence and regulator cooperation."
The APEC seminar builds on efforts of the World Wine Trade Group (WWTG), an informal group of U.S., Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Georgia, New Zealand and South Africa governments and trade associations which works to facilitate trade. The WWTG agreements on mutual acceptance of winemaking practices and labeling were a major focus of the APEC meeting. WWTG seeks to have all wine producing and consuming countries accept that differences in winemaking practices should not be used as a barrier to trade.
Federico Mekis, from Chile which chairs the WWTG this year, said, "this new era of regulatory cooperation and communication will greatly help bring about a seamless Pacific Rim wine economy resulting in increased economic growth, employment and prosperity across the region."
Tony Battaglene of the Winemakers Federation of Australia said the meeting was "an important step for government officials from throughout the region to build confidence in each other's regulatory systems and to work with industry to eliminate unreasonable and duplicative requirements."
Jim Finkle, President of FIVS, the international federation of alcohol beverage producers, said, "The Asia Pacific region trade in rice, grape and other fruit wine has grown dramatically in importance for both exporting and importing member economies. We applaud APEC's efforts to strengthen regional economic integration, promote a sustainable business environment and to expand trade."
Wine industry economist Jon Fredrikson noted that, "Over the past decade, there has been an enormous growth in wine exports from the Asian APEC economies. Eliminating burdensome and duplicative requirements will reduce the costs of cross-border wine trade, stimulate demand, and increase sales, particularly for small and midsize enterprises."
APEC was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence of Asia-Pacific economies and the advent of regional economic blocs in other parts of the world. It fosters growth and prosperity by facilitating economic cooperation and expanding trade and investment throughout the region. APEC's member economies today account for 55% of global gross domestic product, 61% of all U.S. export goods and 44% of world trade, and comprise a market of 2.7 billion consumers.
The United States, the 2011 APEC host country, works through APEC to create jobs and growth by tackling a wide range of economic issues critical to long-term prosperity. Seven of the U.S.'s top 15 trade partners are APEC members. APEC Senior Officials Meetings are being held this year in San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Big Sky, Montana. The APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, chaired by President Obama, will be held in Honolulu, Hawaii on November 12-13, 2011.
The seminar agenda, presentations and related documents may be viewed at www.wineinstitute.org.
Journalists requiring further information can contact: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Steve Johnson, Chief Bridge Engineer, 605.773.3285
The SDDOT is responsible for the approximately 1800 bridges on the State Trunk System. This responsibility includes the hydraulic and structural design and plans preparation for new bridges, large culverts, and other highway related structures. It also includes analysis, rating, overload analysis, oversight for condition inspection, and design of rehabilitation plans for existing structures and construction engineering support services for all bridges and structure projects on the State Trunk System. In addition, DOT provides technical design guidance, and construction engineering support services for the approximately 4000 bridges that are on the local government and county systems in South Dakota.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Pam Mariutto brings over 25 years of mastering numerous communications challenges, from creating and producing TV spots, to conceptualizing print campaigns, and even launching her own retail brand. Mariutto has worked on brands such as Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, Target, This Old House Paint, 3M, Syngenta, Swiss Miss and Radisson Hotels.
An award-winning creative director and art director, Jon Montgomery comes to Broadhead with over two decades in the creative arena. His client experience includes driving awareness for brands such as Target, Purina, Life Time Fitness, Pfizer, Cargill, Coleman, 3M and Victory Motorcycles.
Dan Roettger has been the writer behind campaigns for Harley-Davidson, Coca-Cola, Korbel, Northwest Airlines, Mack Trucks, Tractor Supply Company — just to name a few. In the process, Roettger has captured numerous national and international advertising awards over the course of his 30-year career.
Mariutto, Montgomery and Roettger will serve as associate creative directors at Broadhead under the leadership of John Walker, creative director.
"Pam, Jon and Dan's combined experience in creative leadership and their collective understanding of what drives consumer behavior made hiring them an easy decision," says Dean Broadhead, agency president and CEO. "Their respective tenures in the industry align with our commitment to bring senior-level experience to our clients' business every day."


text:
Andrew Selby is from London, and went to a school where nearly everyone left to go into the civil service, the military or finance. He was different – he went to art school and today he's a careers advisor at the same school for pupils who'd like to do the same.
Beginning his career in the early 90s, Andrew thinks an economic downturn is the ideal time to get started – if you can make it then, you know you have what it takes. He's worked hard studying the world of illustration and animation, and has taken trips to Laika and Pixar to find out how they do things. One of his biggest inspirations is Saul Steinberg, whom he's visited in New York where he reveled in the aura of the great artist's workspace.
Andrew has written three books about animation, and also collects wooden and vinyl toys, masks, weather vanes, jewellery, textiles and furniture. He has swum the English Channel for charity.
Give us a few details and we'll get back
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text:
Where do I upload my CGI scripts and applications?
Server-side scripts and executables can be uploaded to any directory on your site and are not restricted to run only in the
cgi directory. These scripts and executables are any files with the following extensions:
.pl, and
Note: CGI scripts must have 705 or 755 permissions to work correctly.


text:
> Home > Make a claim
Failure to do any of the above may result in your claim being delayed or rejected.
Click the relevant link to download that claim form and guidance notes:
Theft claims
Damage claims
Breakdown claims
Public liability/Personal accident claims
Do not negotiate, pay or settle, admit or deny any claim without our or your insurer's written permission.
You must also notify us in writing of any impending prosecution, inquest or fatal accident enquiry.
We cannot deal with your claim until we have received all the necessary information and supporting documentation. It is important to provide as much detail and supporting evidence as possible, failure to do so will inevitably result in a delay. Dependent upon the circumstances of the claim, the underwriters reserve the right to request additional documentation or information as required.
We use cookies to manage your application, report traffic statistics, track referrals of visitors, and target advertising. By using this site you are consenting to this. You may change these settings at any time. Please note - Our cookie policy changed on 5/1/2015.
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Photoguard is a trading style of Thistle Insurance Services Limited. Thistle Insurance Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FRN 310419. Lloyd's Broker. Registered in England No. 00338645. Registered office: Rossington's Business Park, West Carr Road, Retford, Nottinghamshire, DN22 7SW.


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Guantanamo Detainee Was Tortured, Says Official Overseeing Military Trials
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The top Bush administration official in charge of deciding whether to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to trial has concluded that the U.S. military tortured a Saudi national who allegedly planned to participate in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, interrogating him with techniques that included sustained isolation, sleep deprivation, nudity and prolonged exposure to cold, leaving him in a "life-threatening condition."
"We tortured [Mohammed al-]Qahtani," said Susan J. Crawford, in her first interview since being named convening authority of military commissions by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates in February 2007. "His treatment met the legal definition of torture. And that's why I did not refer the case" for prosecution.
Crawford, a retired judge who served as general counsel for the Army during the Reagan administration and as Pentagon inspector general when Dick Cheney was secretary of defense, is the first senior Bush administration official responsible for reviewing practices at Guantanamo to publicly state that a detainee was tortured.
Crawford, 61, said the combination of the interrogation techniques, their duration and the impact on Qahtani's health led to her conclusion. "The techniques they used were all authorized, but the manner in which they applied them was overly aggressive and too persistent. . . . You think of torture, you think of some horrendous physical act done to an individual. This was not any one particular act; this was just a combination of things that had a medical impact on him, that hurt his health. It was abusive and uncalled for. And coercive. Clearly coercive. It was that medical impact that pushed me over the edge" to call it torture, she said.
Military prosecutors said in November that they would seek to refile charges against Qahtani, 30, based on subsequent interrogations that did not employ harsh techniques. But Crawford, who dismissed war crimes charges against him in May 2008, said in the interview that she would not allow the prosecution to go forward.
Qahtani was denied entry into the United States a month before the Sept. 11 attacks and was allegedly planning to be the plot's 20th hijacker. He was later captured in Afghanistan and transported to Guantanamo in January 2002. His interrogation took place over 50 days from November 2002 to January 2003, though he was held in isolation until April 2003.
"For 160 days his only contact was with the interrogators," said Crawford, who personally reviewed Qahtani's interrogation records and other military documents. "Forty-eight of 54 consecutive days of 18-to-20-hour interrogations. Standing naked in front of a female agent. Subject to strip searches. And insults to his mother and sister."
At one point he was threatened with a military working dog named Zeus, according to a military report. Qahtani "was forced to wear a woman's bra and had a thong placed on his head during the course of his interrogation" and "was told that his mother and sister were whores." With a leash tied to his chains, he was led around the room "and forced to perform a series of dog tricks," the report shows.
The interrogation, portions of which have been previously described by other news organizations, including The Washington Post, was so intense that Qahtani had to be hospitalized twice at Guantanamo with bradycardia, a condition in which the heart rate falls below 60 beats a minute and which in extreme cases can lead to heart failure and death. At one point Qahtani's heart rate dropped to 35 beats per minute, the record shows.
The Qahtani case underscores the challenges facing the incoming Obama administration as it seeks to close the controversial detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, including the dilemmas posed by individuals considered too dangerous to release but whose legal status is uncertain. FBI "clean teams," which gather evidence without using information gained during controversial interrogations, have established that Qahtani intended to join the 2001 hijackers. Mohamed Atta, the plot's leader, who died steering American Airlines Flight 11 into the World Trade Center, went to the Orlando airport to meet Qahtani on Aug. 4, 2001, but the young Saudi was denied entry by a suspicious immigration inspector.
"There's no doubt in my mind he would've been on one of those planes had he gained access to the country in August 2001," Crawford said of Qahtani, who remains detained at Guantanamo. "He's a muscle hijacker. . . . He's a very dangerous man. What do you do with him now if you don't charge him and try him? I would be hesitant to say, 'Let him go.' "
That, she said, is a decision that President-elect Barack Obama will have to make. Obama repeated Sunday that he intends to close the Guantanamo center but acknowledged the challenges involved. "It is more difficult than I think a lot of people realize," Obama said on ABC's "This Week," "and we are going to get it done, but part of the challenge that you have is that you have a bunch of folks that have been detained, many of whom may be very dangerous, who have not been put on trial or have not gone through some adjudication. And some of the evidence against them may be tainted, even though it's true."


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Discount tickets are available for "Samurai: Beyond the Sword" at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
A coupon for a $4 discount on adult tickets for Samurai: Beyond the Sword is available at http://bit.ly/SamuraiCoupon for visits between April 29 and May 18. The exhibition ends June 1. You also may call to order tickets with the code SAM4.
"Samurai: Beyond the Sword," which opened March 9, provides an in-depth look at Japan's elite samurai, who sought balance between military and cultural pursuits. The exhibition explores artworks that project the image of the samurai not only as fierce warriors but also as patrons of the arts and sophisticated artists and scholars. The exhibition was organized by the Detroit Institute of Arts, based on the original exhibition Lethal Beauty, curated by Dr. Andreas Marks for the Clark Center for Japanese Art and Culture, with tour organized by International Arts & Artists, Washington, D.C. It is supported by Toyota, DENSO International America, Inc., E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and Yazaki North America Inc.
Regular-price tickets are $16 for adults, $8 for ages 6-17, and free for DIA members. Purchase at DIA Box Office, www.dia.org or 313-833-4005. There is a $3.50 charge for nonmember tickets not bought at the DIA. Tickets are timed, and advance purchase is recommended. Museum hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Optional Acousti-Guide tours includes adult and children's interpretations, providing context in English or Japanese.
The DIA is at 5200 Woodward Ave. Programs are made possible with support from residents of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
The DIA one of the premier art museums in the United States, is home to more than 60,000 works that comprise a multicultural survey of human creativity from ancient times through the 21st century. From the first Van Gogh painting to enter a U.S. museum ("Self-Portrait," 1887), to Diego Rivera's world-renowned Detroit Industry murals (1932-33), the DIA's collection is known for its quality, range, and depth. The DIA's mission is to create opportunities for all visitors to find personal meaning in art.


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The Lies Of NBCUniversal's Rick Cotton About SOPA/PIPA
from the how-are-those-corn-farmers,-rick? deptChris Hayes, over on MSNBC, decided to be the first to seriously break the mainstream cable news' boycott over SOPA/PIPA with a big debate on the bill -- mainly between NBCUniversal's top lawyer, Rick Cotton, and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian. Chris's opening discussion is quite good, and suggests he's certainly sympathetic to all of us who are vehemently opposed to the bill. You can watch it below:
Second, Cotton gets pretty angry about the "disinformation" around the bills, and insists that the bills "would not effect a single site in the United States." This is false. As we've explained repeatedly, while the targets of the legislation are sites with foreign domain names, the entire remedies section is about US sites -- meaning that they will have significant compliance costs, and potential liability under these laws. Furthermore, the anti-circumvention provisions of the bill are not limited to just foreign sites. Alexis pushed back on the anti-circumvention point, and Cotton claimed that Alexis was "simply wrong." But he's not. Cotton is "simply wrong" here again. Cotton claims that we should debate what's in the bill, and he should try reading the bill. In fact, Alexis has said that Cotton admitted after they were off the air that he was correct that the anti-circumvention provisions were not limited to just foreign sites. But that doesn't do any good for those who saw the segment but don't know the specifics.
Next, he claims it's totally wrong that a small amount of "legitimate activity would be threatened by this legislation." To be fair, Cotton and his buddies already got the power to take down tons of "legitimate activity" with the last copyright expansion bill they passed a few years ago, the ProIP bill. Either way, he's still wrong. Tons of legitimate content can and will be put at risk under these bills. We've already seen that companies -- including NBCUniversal -- have wrongly declared publicly that certain sites are "rogue" sites, despite the fact that they have tons of legitimate content. If you believe that Cotton and NBCUniversal will suddenly get better at finding sites that really only deal in infringement going forward, you haven't paid much attention over the last decade or so. Under existing law, we're already seeing legitimate websites taken down, and legitimate speech infringed upon. Hell, even the one prominent legal scholar who agrees with Cotton, Floyd Abrams, has admitted that protected speech would be censored under the bill.
Next, Cotton claims that the internet is "lawless" and that this whole thing is really a policy debate about how we finally put laws on the internet. This is, to put it mildly, insane. As Alexis points out in response, there are tons of laws that apply to the internet, and directly apply and are used every day to deal with infringing activity. To pretend otherwise is ridiculous. In fact, as Alexis notes, the DMCA is regularly abused by copyright holders to go way beyond what the law is supposed to allow.
Towards the end, Cotton claims that when a court in the Netherlands ordered The Pirate Bay blocked in that country, traffic to the site dropped by 80%. That's a flat out lie. I mean, ridiculously false. First off, considering that the legal fight over that has continued for years, and the court only ordered ISPs in the Netherlands to actually block The Pirate Bay... five days ago -- and gave them 10 days to comply -- I'm curious as to how he knows how much impact such a court order has had (er... will have) on traffic to The Pirate Bay. Separately, in every other place that has ordered such a block, traffic to TPB has actually gone up, not down, because the court order to block tends to give the site more attention. Just to make sure, I asked someone in the Netherlands if TPB was blocked for them, and he sent me the following screenshot showing that it's totally accessible (though, they're warning about the new ruling!). Either way, Cotton was flat out, 100%, totally lying about these "stats" from the Netherlands. No such block has occurred.
Filed Under: alexis ohanion, chris hayes, lies, msnbc, pipa, protect ip, rick cotton, sopa
Companies: nbc universal


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Proof That Computers Will Never Rule the World
This is legit, folks: never think that I don't do my research! Apparently the store in question had an online ordering form, which then linked directly to the edible-ink printer. Granted, you would think the decorator might catch this glaringly obvious mistake, but in that person's defense, he or she is only paid to slap some icing roses on, ok? So lay off! Oh, and that will be $19.95, please.


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Using honeynets to learn more about Bots
Primary Authors:
Paul Bächer [email protected]
Thorsten Holz [email protected]
Markus Kötter [email protected]
Georg Wicherski [email protected]
Honeypots are a well known technique for discovering the tools, tactics, and motives of attackers. In this paper we look at a special kind of threat: the individuals and organizations who run botnets. A botnet is a network of compromised machines that can be remotely controlled by an attacker. Due to their immense size (tens of thousands of systems can be linked together), they pose a severe threat to the community. With the help of honeynets we can observe the people who run botnets - a task that is difficult using other techniques. Due to the wealth of data logged, it is possible to reconstruct the actions of attackers, the tools they use, and study them in detail. In this paper we take a closer look at botnets, common attack techniques, and the individuals involved.
We start with an introduction to botnets and how they work, with examples of their uses. We then briefly analyze the three most common bot variants used. Next we discuss a technique to observe botnets, allowing us to monitor the botnet and observe all commands issued by the attacker. We present common behavior we captured, as well as statistics on the quantitative information learned through monitoring more than one hundred botnets during the last few months. We conclude with an overview of lessons learned and point out further research topics in the area of botnet-tracking, including a tool called mwcollect2 that focuses on collecting malware in an automated fashion.
These days, home PCs are a desirable target for attackers. Most of these systems run Microsoft Windows and often are not properly patched or secured behind a firewall, leaving them vulnerable to attack. In addition to these direct attacks, indirect attacks against programs the victim uses are steadily increasing. Examples of these indirect attacks include malicious HTML-files that exploit vulnerabilities in Microsoft's Internet Explorer or attacks using malware in Peer-to-Peer networks. Especially machines with broadband connection that are always on are a valuable target for attackers. As broadband connections increase, so to do the number of potential victims of attacks. Crackers benefit from this situation and use it for their own advantage. With automated techniques they scan specific network ranges of the Internet searching for vulnerable systems with known weaknesses. Attackers often target Class B networks (
/16 in CIDR notation) or smaller net-ranges. Once these attackers have compromised a machine, they install a so called IRC bot - also called zombie or drone - on it.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a form of real-time communication over the Internet. It is mainly designed for group (one-to-many) communication in discussion forums called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication.
More information about IRC can be found on Wikipedia.
We have identified many different versions of IRC-based bots (in the following we use the term bot) with varying degrees of sophistication and implemented commands, but all have something in common. The bot joins a specific IRC channel on an IRC server and waits there for further commands. This allows an attacker to remotely control this bot and use it for fun and also for profit. Attackers even go a step further and bring different bots together. Such a structure, consisting of many compromised machines which can be managed from an IRC channel, is called a botnet. IRC is not the best solution since the communication between bots and their controllers is rather bloated, a simpler communication protocol would suffice. But IRC offers several advantages: IRC Servers are freely available and are easy to set up, and many attackers have years of IRC communication experience.
Due to their immense size - botnets can consist of several ten thousand compromised machines - botnets pose serious threats. Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks are one such threat. Even a relatively small botnet with only 1000 bots can cause a great deal of damage. These 1000 bots have a combined bandwidth (1000 home PCs with an average upstream of 128KBit/s can offer more than 100MBit/s) that is probably higher than the Internet connection of most corporate systems. In addition, the IP distribution of the bots makes ingress filter construction, maintenance, and deployment difficult. In addition, incident response is hampered by the large number of separate organizations involved. Another use for botnets is stealing sensitive information or identity theft: Searching some thousands home PCs for password.txt, or sniffing their traffic, can be effective.
The spreading mechanisms used by bots is a leading cause for "background noise" on the Internet, especially on TCP ports 445 and 135. In this context, the term spreading describes the propagation methods used by the bots. These malware scan large network ranges for new vulnerable computers and infect them, thus acting similar to a worm or virus. An analysis of the traffic captured by the German Honeynet Project shows that most traffic targets the ports used for resource sharing on machines running all versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system:
The traffic on these four ports cause more then 80 percent of the whole traffic captured. Further research with tools such as
Nmap, Xprobe2 and p0f reveal that machines running Windows XP and 2000 represent the most affected software versions. Clearly most of the activity on the ports listed above is caused by systems with Windows XP (often running Service Pack 1), followed by systems with Windows 2000. Far behind, systems running Windows 2003 or Windows 95/98 follow.
But what are the real causes of these malicious packets? Who and what is responsible for them? And can we do something to prevent them? In this paper we want to show the background of this traffic and further elaborate the causes. We show how attackers use IRC bots to control and build networks of compromised machines (botnet) to further enhance the effectiveness of their work. We use classical GenII-Honeynets with some minor modifications to learn some key information, for example the IP address of a botnet server or IRC channel name and password. This information allows us to connect to the botnet and observe all the commands issued by the attacker.
At times we are even able to monitor their communication and thus learn more about their motives and social behavior. In addition, we give some statistics on the quantitative information we have learned through monitoring of more than one hundred botnets during the last few months. Several examples of captured activities by attackers substantiate our presentation.
For this research, a Honeynet of only three machines was used. One dial-in host within the network of the German ISP T-Online, one dial-in within the network of the German ISP NetCologne and one machine deployed at RWTH Aachen University. The hosts in the network of the university runs an unpatched version of Windows 2000 and is located behind a Honeywall. The dial-in hosts run a newly developed software called
mwcollectd2, designed to capture malware. We monitor the botnet activity with our own IRC client called
drone. Both are discussed in greater detail later in this paper.
Almost all Bots use a tiny collection of exploits to spread further. Since the Bots are constantly attempting to compromise more machines, they generate noticeable traffic within a network. Normally bots try to exploit well-known vulnerabilities. Beside from the ports used for resource sharing as listed above, bots often use vulnerability-specific ports. Examples of these ports include:
The vulnerabilities behind some of these exploits can be found with the help of a search on Microsoft's Security bulletins (sample):
"A botnet is comparable to compulsory military service for windows boxes" - Stromberg
A botnet is nothing more then a tool, there are as many different motives for using them as there are people. The most common uses were criminally
motivated (i.e. monetary) or for destructive purposes. Based on the data we captured, the possibilities to use botnets can be categorized as listed below. And since a botnet is nothing more then a tool, there are most likely other potential uses that we have not listed.
Further research showed that botnets are even used to run commercial DDoS attacks against competing corporations: Operation Cyberslam documents the story of Jay R. Echouafni and Joshua Schichtel alias EMP. Echouafni was indicted on August 25, 2004 on multiple charges of conspiracy and causing damage to protected computers. He worked closely together with EMP who ran a botnet to send bulk mail and also carried out DDoS attacks against the spam blacklist servers. In addition, they took Speedera - a global on-demand computing platform - offline when they ran a paid DDoS attack to take a competitor's website down.
Note that DDoS attacks are not limited to web servers, virtually any service available on the Internet can be the target of such an attack. Higher-level protocols can be used to increase the load even more effectively by using very specific attacks, such as running exhausting search queries on bulletin boards or recursive HTTP-floods on the victim's website. Recursive HTTP-flood means that the bots start from a given HTTP link and then follows all links on the provided website in a recursive way. This is also called spidering.
This list demonstrates that attackers can cause a great deal of harm or criminal activity with the help of botnets. Many of these attacks - especially
DDoS attacks - pose severe threats to other systems and are hard to prevent. In addition, we are sure there are many other uses we have yet to discover. As a result, we need a way to learn more about this threat, learn how attackers usually behave and develop techniques to battle against them. Honeynets can help us in all three areas:
After we have introduced and analyzed some of the most popular bots in the next Section, we are going to present a technique to track botnets.
During our research, we found many different types of bots in the wild. In this section we present some of the more widespread and well-known bots. We introduce the basic concepts of each piece of malware and furthermore describe some of the features in more detail. In addition, we show several examples of source code from bots and list parts of their command set.
CCommandHandler or
CScanner class and add your feature. Agobot uses libpcap (a packet sniffing library) and Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE) to sniff and sort traffic. Agobot can use NTFS Alternate Data Stream (ADS) and offers Rootkit capabilities like file and process hiding to hide it's own presence on a compromised host.
Besides these three types of bots which we find on a nearly daily basis, there are also other bots that we see more seldom. Some of these bots offer "nice" features and are worth mentioning here:
After having introduced different types of bots, we now want to take a closer look at what these bots normally do and how they work. This section will in detail explain how bots spread and how they are controlled by their masters.
After successful exploitation, a bot uses Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or CSend (an IRC extension to send files to other users, comparable to DCC) to transfer itself to the compromised host. The binary is started, and tries to connect to the hard-coded master IRC server. Often a dynamic DNS name is provided (for example one from www.dyndns.org) rather than a hard coded IP address, so the bot can be easily relocated. Some bots even remove themselves if the given master server is localhost or in a private subnet, since this indicates an unusual situations. Using a special crafted nickname like USA|743634 or [UrX]-98439854 the bot tries to join the master's channel, sometimes using a password to keep strangers out of the channel. A typical communication that can be observed after a successful infection looks like:
Afterwards, the server accepts the bot as a client and sends him RPL_ISUPPORT, RPL_MOTDSTART, RPL_MOTD, RPL_ENDOFMOTD or ERR_NOMOTD. Replies starting with RPL_ contain information for the client, for example RPL_ISUPPORT tells the client which features the server understands and RPL_MOTD indicates the Message Of The Day (MOTD). In contrast to this, ERR_NOMOTD is an error message if no MOTD is available. In the following listing, these replies are highlihted with colors:
On RPL_ENDOFMOTD or ERR_NOMOTD, the bot will try to join his master's channel with the provided password:
The bot receives the topic of the channel and interprets it as a command:
Most botnets use a topic command like
The first topic tells the bot to spread further with the help of the LSASS vulnerability. 200 concurrent threads should scan with a delay of 5 seconds for an unlimited time (parameter 0). The scans should be random (parameter -r) and silent (parameter -s), thus avoiding too much traffic due to status reports. In contrast to this, the second example of a possible topic instructs the bot to download a binary from the web and execute it (parameter 1). And if the topic does not contain any instructions for the bot, then it does nothing but idling in the channel, awaiting commands. That is fundamental for most current bots: They do not spread if they are not told to spread in their master's channel.
Upon successful exploitation the bot will message the owner about it, if it has been advised to do so.
Then the IRC server (also called IRC daemon, abbreviated IRCd) will provide the channels userlist. But most botnet owners have modified the IRCd to just send the channel operators to save traffic and disguise the number of bots in the channel.
The controller of a botnet has to authenticate himself to take control over the bots. This authentication is done with the help of a command prefix and the "auth" command. The command prefix is used to login the master on the bots and afterwards he has to authenticate himself. For example,
Two different IRC servers software implementation are commonly used to run a botnet: Unreal IRCd and ConferenceRoom:
Common modifications we have noticed are stripping "JOIN", "PART" and "QUIT" messages on channels to avoid unnecessary traffic. In addition, the messages "LUSERS" (information about number of connected clients) and "RPL_ISUPPORT" are removed to hide identity and botnet size. We recently got a win32 binary only copy of a heavily modified Unreal IRCd that was stripped down and optimized. The filenames suggest that this modified IRCd is able to serve 80.000 bots:
As we don't run a 80,000 user botnet and lack 80,000 developers in our group we are not able to verify that information. But probably such huge botnets are used by cyber criminals for "professional" attacks. These kind of networks can cause severe damage since they offer a lot of bandwidth and many targets for identity theft.
Since the people who run botnets often share the same motives (DDoS attacks or other crimes) every bot family has its own set of commands to implement the same goals. Agobot is really nice here: Just grep the source for
RegisterCommand and get the whole command-list with a complete description of all features. Due to the lack of clean design, the whole SDBot family is harder to analyze. Often the command set is changed in various forks of the same bot and thus an automated analysis of the implemented commands is nearly impossible.
If you are interested in learning more about the different bot commands, we have a more detailed overview of command analysis in botnet commands. In addition, if you are interested in learning more about source code of bots, you can find more detail in the separate page on botnet source code.
In this section we introduce our methodology to track and observe botnets with the help of honeypots. Tracking botnets is clearly a multi-step operation: First one needs to gather some data about an existing botnets. This can for example be obtained via an analysis of captured malware. Afterwards one can hook a client in the networks and gather further information. In the first part of this section we thus want to introduce our techniques to retrieve the necessary information with the help of honeypots. And thereafter we present our approach in observing botnets.
As stated before, we need some sensitive information from each botnet that enables us to place a fake bot into a botnet. The needed information include:
Using a GenII Honeynet containing some Windows honeypots and snort_inline enables us to collect this information. We deployed a typical GenII Honeynet with some small modifications as depicted in the next figure:
The Windows honeypot is an unpatched version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP. This system is thus very vulnerable to attacks and normally it takes only a couple of minutes before it is successfully compromised. It is located within a dial-in network of a German ISP. On average, the expected lifespan of the honeypot is less than ten minutes. After this small amount of time, the honeypot is often successfully exploited by automated malware. The shortest compromise time was only a few seconds: Once we plugged the network cable in, an SDBot compromised the machine via an exploit against TCP port 135 and installed itself on the machine.
As explained in the previous section, a bot tries to connect to an IRC server to obtain further commands once it successfully attacks one of the honeypots. This is where the Honeywall comes into play: Due to the Data Control facilities installed on the Honeywall, it is possible to control the outgoing traffic. We use snort_inline for Data Control and replace all outgoing suspicious connections. A connection is suspicious if it contains typical IRC messages like " 332 ", " TOPIC ", " PRIVMSG " or " NOTICE ". Thus we are able to inhibit the bot from accepting valid commands from the master channel. It can therefore cause no harm to others - we have caught a bot inside our Honeynet. As a side effect, we can also derive all necessary sensitive information for a botnet from the data we have obtained up to that point in time: The Data Capture capability of the Honeywall allows us to determine the DNS/IP-address the bot wants to connect to and also the corresponding port number. In addition, we can derive from the Data Capture logs the nickname and ident information. Also, the server's password, channel name as well as the channel password can be obtained this way. So we have collected all necessary information and the honeypot can catch further malware. Since we do not care about the captured malware for now, we rebuild the honeypots every 24 hours so that we have "clean" systems every day. The German Honeynet Project is also working on another project - to capture the incoming malware and analyzing the payload - but more on this in a later section.
Now the second step in tracking botnets takes place, we want to re-connect into the botnet. Since we have all the necessary data, this is not very
hard. In a first approach, you can just setup an irssi (console based IRC client) or some other IRC client and try to connect to the network. If the network is relatively small (less then 50 clients), there is a chance that your client will be identified since it does not answer to valid commands. In this case, the operators of the botnets tend to either ban and/or DDoS the suspicious client.
To avoid detection, you can try to hide yourself. Disabling all auto response triggering commands in your client helps a bit: If your client replies to a
"CTCP VERSION" message with "irssi 0.89 running on openbsd i368" then the attacker who requested the Client-To-Client Protocol (CTCP) command will get suspicious. If you are not noticed by the operators of the botnets, you can enable logging of all commands and thus observe what is happening.
But there are many problems if you start with this approach: Some botnets use very hard stripped down IRCds which are not RFC compliant so that a normal IRC client can not connect to this network. A possible way to circumvent this situation is to find out what the operator has stripped out, and modify the source code of your favorite client to override it. Almost all current IRC clients lack well written code or have some other disadvantages. So probably you end up writing your own IRC client to track botnets. Welcome to the club - ours is called drone. There are some pitfalls that you should consider when you write your own IRC client. Here are some features that we found useful in our dedicated botnet tracking IRC client:
Drone is capable of using SOCKS v4 proxies so we do not run into problems if it's presence is noticed by an attacker in a botnet. The SOCKS v4 proxies are on dial-in accounts in different networks so that we can easily change the IP addresses. Drone itself runs on a independent machine we maintain ourselves. We want to thank all the people contributing to our project by donating shells and/or proxies.
Some Anti-virus vendors publish data about botnets. While useful, this information may at times not be enough to to effectively track botnets, as we
demonstrate in Botnet Vendors.
Sometimes the owners of the botnet will issue some commands to instruct his bots. We present the more commonly used commands in the last section. Using our approach, we are able to monitor the issued commands and learn more about the motives of the attackers. To further enhance our methodology, we tried to write a PCRE-based emulation of a bot so that our dummy client could even correctly reply to a given command. But we soon minimized our design goals here because there is no standardization of botnet commands and the attackers tend to change their commands very often. In many cases, command-replies are even translated to their mother language.
When you monitor more than a couple of networks, begin to check if some of them are linked, and group them if possible. Link-checking is easy, just join a specific channel on all networks and see if you get more than one client there. It is surprising how many networks are linked. People tend to set up a DNS-name and channel for every bot version they check out. To learn more about the attacker, try putting the attacker's nickname into a Google search and often you will be surprised how much information you can find. Finally, check the server's Regional Internet Registries (RIR) entry (RIPE NCC, ARIN, APNIC, and LACNIC) to even learn more about the attacker.
In this section we present some of the findings we obtained through our observation of botnets. Data is sanitized so that it does not allow one to draw any conclusions about specific attacks against a particular system, and protects the identity and privacy of those involved. Also, as the data for this paper was collected in Germany by the German Honeynet Project, information about specific attacks and compromised systems was forwarded to DFN-CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) based in Hamburg, Germany. We would like to start with some statistics about the botnets we have observed in the last few months:
A typical DDoS-attacks looks like the following examples: The controller enters the channel and issues the command (sometimes even stopping further spreading of the bots). After the bots have done their job, they report their status:
Both attacks show typical targets of DDoS-attacks: FTP server on port 21/TCP or IRC server on port 6667/TCP.
(Note:We sanitized the links so the code is not accidently downloaded/executed)
As you can see, the attackers use diverse webspace providers and often obfuscate the downloaded binary. The parameter "1" in the command tells the bots to execute the binary once they have downloaded it. This way, the bots can be dynamically updated and be further enhanced. We also collect the malware that the bots download and further analyze it if possible. In total, we have collected 329 binaries. 201 of these files are malware as an analysis with "Kaspersky Anti-Virus On-Demand Scanner for Linux" shows:
Most of the other binary files are either adware (a program that displays banners while being run, or reports users habits or information to third parties), proxy servers (a computer process that relays a protocol between client and server computer systems) or Browser Helper Objects.
An event that is not that unusual is that somebody steals a botnet from someone else. It can be somewhat humorous to observe several competing attackers. As mentioned before, bots are often "secured" by some sensitive information, e.g. channel name or server password. If one is able to obtain all this information, he is able to update the bots within another botnet to another bot binary, thus stealing the bots from another botnet. For example, some time ago we could monitor when the controller of Botnet #12 stole bots from the seemingly abandoned Botnet #25.
We recently had a very unusual update run on one of our monitored botnets: Everything went fine, the botnet master authenticated successfully and issued the command to download and execute the new file. Our client drone downloaded the file and it got analyzed, we set up a client with the special crafted nickname, ident, and user info. But then our client could not connect
to the IRC server to join the new channel. The first character of the nickname was invalid to use on that IRCd software. This way, the (somehow dumb) attacker just lost about 3,000 bots which hammer their server with connect tries forever.
Something which is interesting, but rarely seen, is botnet owners discussing issues in their bot channel. We observed several of those talks and learned more about their social life this way. We once observed a small shell hoster hosting a botnet on his own servers and DDoSing competitors. These people chose the same nicknames commanding the botnet as giving support for their shell accounts in another IRC network. Furthermore, some people who run botnets offer an excellent pool of information about themselves as they do not use free and anonymous webhosters to run updates on their botnets. These individuals demonstrate how even unskilled people can run and leverage a botnet.
Our observations showed that often botnets are run by young males with surprisingly limited programming skills. The scene forums are crowded of posts like "How can i compile *" and similar questions. These people often achieve a good spread of their bots, but their actions are more or less harmless. Nevertheless, we also observed some more advanced attackers: these persons join the control channel only seldom. They use only 1 character nicks, issue a command and leave afterwards. The updates of the bots they run are very professional. Probably these people use the botnets for commercial usage and "sell" the services. A low percentage use their botnets for financial gain. For example, by installing Browser Helper Objects for companies tracking/fooling websurfers or clicking pop-ups. A very small percentage of botnet runners seems highly skilled, they strip down their IRCd software to a non RFC compliant daemon, not even allowing standard IRC clients to connect.
Another possibility is to install special software to steal information. We had one very interesting case in which attackers stole Diablo 2 items from the compromised computers and sold them on eBay. Diablo 2 is a online game in which you can improve your character by collecting powerful items. The more seldom an item is, the higher is the price on eBay. A search on eBay for Diablo 2 shows that some of these items allow an attacker to make a nice profit. Some botnets are used to send spam: you can rent a botnet. The operators give you a SOCKS v4 server list with the IP addresses of the hosts and the ports their proxy runs on. There are documented cases where botnets were sold to spammers as spam relays: "Uncovered: Trojans as Spam Robots ". You can see an example of an attacker installing software (in this case rootkits) in a captured example.
Further Research
An area of research we are leading to improve botnet tracking is in malware collection. Under the project name mwcollect2 the German Honeynet Project is
developing a program to "collect" malware in an simple and automated fashion. The mwcollect2 daemon consists of multiple dynamically linked modules:
Currently mwcollect2 supports the simulation of different vulnerabilities. The following two examples show the software in action. In the first example, mwcollect2 simulates a vulnerability on TCP port 135 and catches a piece of malware in an automated fashion:
And in the second example the software simulates a machine that can be
exploited through the backdoor left by the Bagle worm. Again,
mwcollect2 is able to successfully fetch the malware.
The following listings shows the effectiveness of this approach:
With the help of just one sensor in a dial-in network we were able to fetch 324 binaries with a total of 24 unique ones within a period of two hours. The uniqueness of the malware was computed with the help of
md5sum, a tool to compute and check MD5 message digests.
The big advantage of using mwcollect2 to collect the bots is clearly stability: A bot trying to exploit a honeypot running Windows 2000 with shellcode which contains an
jmp ebx offset for Windows XP will obviously crash the service. In most cases, the honeypot will be forced to reboot. In contrast to this, mwcollect2 can be successfully exploited by all of those tools and hence catch a lot more binaries this way. In addition, mwcollect2 is easier to deploy - just a single make command and the collecting can begin (you however might want to change the configuration). Yet the downside of catching bots this way is that binaries still have to be reviewed manually. A honeypot behind a Honeywall with snort_inline filtering out the relevant IRC traffic could even set up the sniffing drone automatically after exploitation.
In this paper we have attempted to demonstrate how honeynets can help us understand how botnets work, the threat they pose, and how attackers control them. Our research shows that some attackers are highly skilled and organized, potentially belonging to well organized crime structures. Leveraging the power of several thousand bots, it is viable to take down almost any website or network instantly. Even in unskilled hands, it should be obvious that botnets are a loaded and powerful weapon. Since botnets pose such a powerful threat, we need a variety of mechanisms to counter it.
Decentralized providers like Akamai can offer some redundancy here, but very large botnets can also pose a severe threat even against this redundancy. Taking down of Akamai would impact very large organizations and companies, a presumably high value target for certain organizations or individuals. We are currently not aware of any botnet usage to harm military or government institutions, but time will tell if this persists.
In the future, we hope to develop more advanced honeypots that help us to gather information about threats such as botnets. Examples include Client honeypots that actively participate in networks (e.g. by crawling the web, idling in IRC channels, or using P2P-networks) or modify honeypots so that they capture malware and send it to anti-virus vendors for further analysis. Since our current approach focuses on bots that use IRC for C&C, we focused in the paper on IRC-based bots. We have also observed other bots, but these are rare and currently under development. In a few months/years more and more bots will use non-IRC C&C, potentially decentralized p2p-communication. So more research in this area is needed, attackers don't sleep. As these threats continue to adapt and change, so to must the security community.
In the following, we cover the more popular commands implemented in the common bots we have captured in the wild. Presenting all the commands is beyond the scope of this paper, as Agobot comes along with over 90 commands in the default configuration.
start a targa3 flood
Anubis Bagle CPanel DCOM DCOM2 Doom DW Ethereal HTTP Locator LSASS NetBios Optix SQL UPNP WKS
webdav ntpass netbios dcom135 dcom445 dcom1025 dcom2 iis5ssl mssql beagle1 beagle2 mydoom lsass_445 lsass_139 optix upnp netdevil DameWare kuang2 sub7
Spam Logic - Send HTML emails
stops the spamming
AOL - starts the spamming
Checks for "PAYPAL" "SET-COOKIE"
(c_join|c_j) [clonenumber] [channel]
In this side note, we take a closer look at the source code of some bots. We demonstrate several examples of techniques used by current bots to either speed-up computations or to detect suspicious environments, such as detection of debuggers or virtual machines such as VMware. Furthermore, some bots use different techniques to make forensic analysis much more difficult.
The following text is a capture of a session in which the attacker issued some commands. It shows how an attacker logs into a victim host and installs a rootkit on it. We added comments (marked in red) to help better explain the activity.
Anti-virus companies like Symantec are interested in obtaining information about Botnets as they provide an excellent source on new kinds of malware. Once collected, these organizations publish information on Botnets, unfortunately at times this information is not enough. We can leverage honeypots to collect the necessary information ourselves as we demonstrate below. When it comes to publishing information on Botnets, organizations like Symantec take two common approaches.
We think that it is better to choose the second option. People who are using a virus scanner are not potential conscription victims, and nobody wants his Botnet getting published. But we show now that the information that is published by Symantec is not enough to actually track Botnets - it is just a pressure for the operators. The following section is an irssi session connecting and watching two Botnets. Commands and comments issued by us are formatted.
/stats P
/stats T
So we got the following information about this Botnet: It is a single-server network with about 10.000 clients on 26 channels. The server is listening on seven ports, but we lack any information about channels names or nickname structure. Thus we can not track botnets as close as we want to. The only possibility is to just add a randomly named client to that server. Maybe the operators of the botnet do not notice this strange client. And if we have a bit luck, they send interesting information to all clients via WALLMSG or the server gets linked somewhere.
/stats a
/stats P
Once again, we are just able to add a client idling on the server. We lack information about nickname structure and Botnet channels since Symantec did not offers these informations.
This time we use a telnet session to connect to the Botnet server to see some
interesting banner.
This time, we could even collect less information (but some very interesting one). Again, we can't use the information to sneak a bot into the Botnet.
These three examples show that we can not rely on 3rd party information about existing Botnets. We have to collect these information ourselves using own Honeynets. Even though two of the three examples are unstripped and bad configured IRC daemons, we are not able to gain enough sensitive information. Incomplete information like Symantec offers just inform others about existing Botnets. But we are not able to collect any data about the Botnet usage or the botnetters themselves. We thus can not learn more about the tactics and motives of the operators of the Botnets with information provided only by others. We have to track Botnets ourselves and Honeypots are a perfect solution to help us in gathering the necessary information.


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Thursday's Pterosaur: Pteranodon main content.
by AMNH on
In the run-up to Saturday's opening of the new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, we're highlighting one species a day from this amazing flying reptile group. Thursday's is Pteranodon longiceps, perhaps one of the most recognizable pterosaurs, which lived about 85 million years ago.
Discovered in 1871 by the famed Yale paleontologist O. C. Marsh, Pteranodon longiceps (ter-AN-o-don LON-ji-seps) was for many decades the largest known pterosaur, with a wingspan of up to 20 feet (6 meters). Its long, backward-pointing crest and immense size have made it a favorite for generations.
Along with other large pterosaurs, Pteranodon was first discovered in western Kansas, near a chalk formation called Monument Rocks. Today, the region is dry, but at the time this species lived, about 85 million years ago, central North America was covered by a seaway.
This large pterosaur likely spent its days flying over the ocean, rarely returning to land. But after taking a break from flying to eat a fish, Pteranodon would be airborne again.
Taking off from the water is no easy feat: the pterosaur probably pushed off the water with massive force, and then hopped and flapped along the water until it could fly again.
Unlike early species of pterosaurs, Pterandon and many other Cretaceous-era species didn't have any teeth. In fact, its genus name means "winged and toothless," while the second name, longiceps, means "long headed."
Learn more about the new exhibition Pterosaurs: Flight in the Age of Dinosaurs, which opens Saturday, April 5, 2014.
Check out our Pterosaur-a-Day series here.


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Liverpool Airport Parking: On Airport
- Within walking distance of the Terminal Building
- Official on-airport Long Term car park
- Easy entry and exit arrangements
- E-ticketing available
- Save on gate price by pre-booking now
Liverpool Long term car park is our recommended car park when travelling to and from Liverpool. Regular 24hr security patrols and simple entry and exit arrangements ensure easy parking for holiday and business travelers alike. The car park is adjacent to the terminal building and within short walking distance.
Liverpool Long term does not accept trailers but will accommodate motorbikes and larger vehicles at no extra cost.
Airport Parking Frequently Asked Questions.
Here are some questions which may help you with the details of your booking - we hope you find all the answers here.
Will my car be safe and secure?
All the airport car parks offered have security measures in place and many have been accredited by the Association of Chief Police Officers. Car parks under this scheme must undergo an annual inspection and must demonstrate that the facility is monitored 24 hours a day and be extremely secure.
Is this a secure website?
Yes, all bookings made on this website are secure, using Secure Socket Layer between your browser and a secure server. Personal information is not stored on this server as your booking details are transferred to a different, secure server maintained across a Private Network and not across the internet.
You will see this transfer happening when a new window opens up on-screen when you click the "Book Now" button. When you click that button, you will also see the small padlock icon at the bottom right of the new window: your confirmation of a secure connection.
Why Prebook Airport Parking?
You should pre-book as it will save you money, it is quick and easy and it will guarantee your space. You can print your confirmation voucher and your confirmation will also be emailed to you. You can book on the day of travel, and this will save you money on the 'turn up' price. You can cancel up to 3 days before your arrival date and receive a full refund. If you cancel within 3 days of booking there will be a nominal administration charge.
What is On-airport parking?
- Easy to find, located within the grounds.
- Self-parking- simply choose a space and take your car keys with you.
- Some car parks are within walking distance of the airport terminal.
- All car parks have regular courtesy buses.
What is Off-airport parking?
- Good value for money.
- Conveniently located close to the terminal.
- Drive to reception, and your car is parked for you.
- Frequent courtesy buses with drivers to help with your luggage.
Airport Car Park Maps & Directions
This site does not publish maps and directions; however you will find full details online when you book. All our car parks are conveniently situated for access to the airport. Some are close to the terminal whilst others provide courtesy transport.
If we were to publish directions and maps on our website before you book with us, this would give the false impression that customers may arrive at the car park without prebooking and still benefit from our special prices. However, we can only give you a guaranteed space at the prebooked rate if you book in advance. For this reason we only provide maps and directions to customers who have already booked with us.
When you book airport car parking: full details instantly given!
We provide maps and directions for customers online, after you have booked. In addition, and for all other customers, we will send you all maps and instructions within 3 working days of booking with us. Late bookings are sent out as a matter of priority. If you are booking the Meet and Greet service, providing us with your fax number will enable us to fax instructions within 24 hours of booking.
Late or urgent airport parking bookings
If you have not allowed sufficient time for directions to reach you by post, you may call the operations and reservations facility between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm and ask us to give you these details verbally or by fax - call 0870 195 9633 (Quote BN391) and quote your Booking Reference. It pays to prebook!
How frequently do the car park transfer buses run?
When you book a car park where a transfer service is in operation, you will find the details of that service on your confirmation documents. Generally, however, airport parking transfers run between every five and every 20 minutes depending on the car park. We recommend you arrive between 30 and 40 minutes before your airline check-in desk opens.
What should I do when I get to the car park?
All of our secure car parks have a similar procedure, but for the exact details please refer to the brochure accompanying your confirmation voucher. Alternatively you may find this information on this web site under the car park in question.
Security Statement
All bookings made on this website are secure , using Secure Socket Layer between your browser and a secure server. Personal information is not stored on this server as your booking details are transferred to a different server maintained across a Private Network and not across the internet.
To how much discount am I entitled?
We have negotiated many levels of discount to ensure you receive the keenest price possible for the highest quality of service available. Your discount will vary, and will depend on the car park, the length of stay and the time of year.


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Our friend, Ottawa photographer Blair Gable, is a member of the CanvasPop Pro Community and shares his insights and behind-the-scenes thoughts right here on our blog.
The most obvious thing you should do if you want to run a successful photography business is to take amazing pictures — that's a given. But I want to talk about 5 other things you need to nail in order to become a truly successful small business owner, entrepreneur and creative artist. Because if people can't find you, don't like you, won't trust you, then you will fail.
I am not a marketing … Read more


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- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
The news that flashed across the Internet today indicates there's a new threat to honey bees, a parasitic phorid fly.
UC San Francisco researchers, in an article published today in the Public Library of Science (PLoS One), wrote in their abstract: "Honey bee colonies are subject to numerous pathogens and parasites. Interaction among multiple pathogens and parasites is the proposed cause for Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), a syndrome characterized by worker bees abandoning their hive. Here we provide the first documentation that the phorid fly Apocephalus borealis, previously known to parasitize bumble bees, also infects and eventually kills honey bees and may pose an emerging threat to North American apiculture. Parasitized honey bees show hive abandonment behavior, leaving their hives at night and dying shortly thereafter."
Should beekeepers be worried? Should they lose any sleep over this?
Noted honey bee expert, Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, says "no"--at least not on the level of fly parasitism actually causing CCD or great losses.
Mussen, who was not involved in the study, says that the scientific paper "explains why some infested, honey bee adults leave the colony at night and are not likely to come back. The percent infestation level is not high enough to cause a CCD loss by itself."
Mussen attributes CCD to a suppressed immune system, probably caused by a combination of factors such as pests, parasites, pesticides, diseases, malnutrition, and stress. The fly does not appear to be a dominant factor.
However, as Mussen told Erik Stokstad in today's Science article,"Parasitic Fly Dooms Bees to Death by Maggots: "Anything that further stresses the bee population and increases bee losses can contribute to CCD."
The key word is "contribute." The fly may be "contributing" to the loss of adult bees from colonies, but that is probably also happening in colonies that are NOT collapsing, Mussen points out.
"How likely is it that colonies will succumb to this new threat of fly infestations?" we asked Mussen today after a host of articles appeared on the Internet.
Indeed, some news reports describe the infected bee as a "zombie bee."
"If the colony is shrinking abnormally, the bees often can re-establish the normal size by rearing 'extra' brood," Mussen told us. "However, depending upon the inherent genetic abilities of a specific colony to tolerate fly parasitism, some colonies might be prone to developing parasite levels that are overwhelming, and actually succumb to the infestations."
Honey bees, Mussen said, have "an amazing ability to make up for" unanticipated losses--like exposures to bee-toxic agrichemicals in the fields--to the adult population by rearing more brood than would be expected at that time of the year to return to normal populations size.
Mussen will discuss threats to the honey bee when he delivers the keynote speech, "Never Expect 'Business as Usual'" at the 43rd annual American Honey Producers' Association Convention, set Jan. 4-8 in Phoenix, Ariz.
Bottom line: The current U.S. environment seems to be very stressful to honey bees, with or without the parasitic florid fly.
This fly appears to be another ointment in a bee's ill health.


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|Glial is a Scrabble word. Scrabble point value for glial: 6 points.
|Glial is a Words with Friends word. Words with Friends point value for glial: 6 points.
Above are the results of unscrambling glial. Using the word generator and word unscrambler for the letters G L I A L, we unscrambled the letters to create a list of all the words found in Scrabble, Words with Friends, and Text Twist. We found a total of 15 words by unscrambling the letters in glial. Click these words to find out how many points they are worth, their definitions, and all the other words that can be made by unscrambling the letters from these words. If one or more words can be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one new letter, then they will also be displayed.
1. of or relating to neuroglia
|Words that start with glial
|Words that end with glial
|Words that contain glial


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Manual of Practice The previous edition of the Construction Specifications Canada (CSC) Manual of Practice (MOP) has not been available to the construction industry for about a decade. Its revitalization has been long overdue and, like the phoenix of Greek mythology, the CSC MOP has risen once again from the ashes. We now have that definitive document that can help improve construction documentation within our industry. But why do you need it? The MOP is an effective resource for all participants in the construction industry, including owners, architects, engineers, contract administrators, product reps, financial institutions, facility managers, regulatory authorities. The planning, design, construction, and facility use process is inherently interdependent, and the MOP meets the needs of all participants. Most importantly, the MOP advances CSC's mission of being committed to the betterment of the construction industry through the development and delivery of quality education programs, publications and services. The new edition of the MOP will help educators by providing consistent resource materials for teaching new or less experienced specification writers. Architects and engineers who prefer to write their own construction specifications will have a definitive reference document to guide them through the intricacies of construction specification writing. Even experienced specification writers need help from time to time, and will have the best quality resource available to them once again. However, probably the most important aspect about the comeback of the CSC MOP will be the advantage it gives to larger "knowledgeable clients" who can now turn to their consultants and request them to follow the recommendations of the CSC Manual of Practice. This in turn will improve the quality of construction documentation, resulting in cost savings. Good documentation means that contractors can give more accurate bids and are less likely to miss something that will eventually cost them money. At the same time, the more accurate bids will result in fewer extras also saving the client money. Good construction documentation makes our industry professionals look better and gives them more credibility to potential clients. As a further measure of CSC's aim to give consistent information to the industry, the MOP is in the process of being translated to French and will be available in both languages by the end of 2007. This commitment to the industry ensures that the same standard of quality documentation reference material will be available on a national basis. The CSC MOP is available primarily as an electronic document, although can be provided in hard copy on request, for an additional fee. The electronic version will be sold complete with a binder or binders including Module and Chapter separators. Although the ten modules will be made available for individual purchase, CSC strongly encourages members and other industry participants to purchase either the Modules 1 - 9 or Modules 1 - 10 packages. (The MOP is made available without Module 10 because many users may already have copies of some of the reference documents such as MasterFormat or PageFormat.) Listed below is the highest level list of contents for the MOP.The new MOP is organized and structured as follows:• Part 01 – Introduction• Part 02 – Project Delivery• Part 03 – Conceptual Planning• Part 04 – Design• Part 05 – Construction Documents• Part 06 – Construction• Part 07 – Facilities Management• Part 08 – Glossary• Part 09 – Appendices• Part 10 – References The MOP will assist users to:
To purchase the CSC MOP, visit CSC's electronic store www.SpecMarket.com


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For about 30 years, Espino Tire & Wheel has been the home of the finest rims and tires at the best price. We've enjoyed creating unique styles for customers in San Antonio, McAllen, and Austin, TX, as well as the surrounding areas. Visit either one of our 2 locations for a selection of quality new tires from top brands. Stop in for a custom lift, leveling, or drop kit, or a new set of flashy custom wheels; if you can dream it we can make it happen. Let our skilled technicians help with your brake repair or wheel alignment for your car, truck or SUV. Call us today to schedule an appointment.
San Antonio, TX
McAllen, TX


text: INSECTION is the new 4 player co-op FPS in which you join a rag-tag crew of ex-military adventurers, working on various black ops. Inspired by classic sci-fi action films the game throws you into a dark, but explosively vibrant universe filled with corrupt corporations and an alien species that will rip you apart. The core of INSECTION is killing alien monsters and completing the task at hand using powerful weapons and team tactics.


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Sunday Sweets: Cake or Fake?
Here at Cake Wrecks, we're still in the mood to celebrate April Fool's Day. After all, what other day of the year is it acceptable to go grocery shopping in swim trunks and a propeller beanie? (No? Wrong holiday?) So let's check out some amazing cakes that just might fool you into believing they're the real deal.
Here's a tough one: which of these shoes is edible?Or are we just messing with you?
Here's a hint:
Or maybe a head case?
Submitted by Lirpa F., made by The Sweetest Thing
Or maybe they're cake.
Have a Sweet to nominate? Then send it to Sunday Sweets [at] Cake Wrecks [dot] com.


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In the Summer of 2009, Henry County began to enjoy the benefits of an expanded recycling opportunity. Our County Judge and Fiscal Court included in the last garbage collection franchise a provision that required the successful bidder to locate recycling collection bins at various sites around the county. I want to reiterate my appreciation to them for doing this. As a result, we all have the opportunity to recycle glass, tin cans, aluminum cans, newspaper, cardboard, plastic bottles, plastic containers and many other recyclable items without driving as far as was once necessary.
If you currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Henry County Local, then simply find your account number on your mailing label and enter it below.
Click the question mark below to see where your account ID appears on your mailing label.
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Kids & Money
By age 7, most financial habits have been formed
Trying to win over a stubborn 7-year-old to eat his or her vegetables isn't always easy. The same with teaching a grade schooler to throw a ball or enjoy something other than a picture book.
But what about trying to teach the ABCs of money, like counting coins or using a youth's cash at the checkout line to pay for a candy bar? When should kids start to get it?
Try age 7.
By then, for better or worse, most children's financial habits have been formed, according to a new study by two researchers at Cambridge University in England.
"The habits of mind, which influence the ways children approach complex problems and decisions, including financial ones, are largely determined in the first years of life," said David Whitebread, a psychologist and co-author of the study with Sue Bingham.
Their research, titled "Habit Formation and Learning in Young Children," shows that most children by age 7 should know how to recognize the value of money and be able to count it out. They also should understand how money can be exchanged for products and what it means to earn money through work.
Children by that age also understand to some degree the notion of delayed gratification, although they might not have a clear grasp of the difference between wants and needs, the researchers found.
The study reinforces what many financial experts have long believed: Waiting until middle school or high school to introduce sound money skills is too late. By then, a lot of bad habits may already be in place and be too hard to change.
It's worth noting that the Cambridge study has been endorsed by education experts in the United Kingdom who plan to emphasize personal finance as part of the curriculum for grade school students.
I think the key messages in the report are especially relevant today in our country given the financial problems encountered by so many adults before, during and after the recession. Many of those problems point to a lack of knowledge of basic money management skills.
It's disturbing, for example, that many adults don't understand that paying just the minimum on their credit card allows the balance to keep growing for years. Many also don't recognize the dangers of living beyond their means, which contributes to bankruptcies, divorce and broken families, and heavy and unhealthy daily stress.
The Cambridge researchers make one other key point — the role that parents, along with teachers, play in helping to form children's money habits. That role involves more hands-on experiences that go beyond "simply imparting information," the report said.
For example, include the kids on trips to the grocery store and let them help draw up the shopping list. Take them to the bank when making a deposit or withdrawal. Rent videos or check out books from the library to explain the notion of borrowing and the cost of late returns.
"Children learn from observation, instruction and practice," the research noted.
And, I might add, practice and more practice.


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Clay County dam break alters Peters Creek | News
CLAY COUNTY, Fla. -- A dam break Friday night in Clay County did not cause flooding as expected but that break did alter the appearance of Peters Creek near Green Cove Springs.
A dam broke Friday night in Clay County at Wright's Lake and emergency management officials thought there could be some flash flooding as the water from that lake went into Peter's Creek. They issued a flash flood warning.
The expected flooding did not occur. But those who live along the creek woke up to a much different creek and hope it isn't permanently damaged.
The earthen headwall of Wright's Lake Dam on private property began to fail around 10:30 Friday night.
Mike Smiley lives on the creek just north of the lake.
"I did not see the levels rise at all," said Smiley. "Everything looks kind of normal, just the water got real murky. Every time it rains it gets a little murky, but this is a little bit murkier than normal."
At that point on the creek the color of the water appears brown, but further north a different story, a lighter brown color. Stan Hunt, his son Collier and Brian Clark looked out over Peters Creek and did not like what they saw.
"This creek looks terrible right now. It looks like chocolate milk, and usually this creek is stained a little bit with the leaves from the oak trees, so it is clear up until about two feet so you can see the bottom. So while it is stained it is still clear. Right now you can't see two inches under the water," Hunt said.
"A little let down, it shouldn't be this way, especially if it was preventable," said Brian Clark, 26, who grew up along Peters Creek.
Hunt, who has lived on Peters Creek ten years, has a fish feeder for his kids to drop feed into the water for the fish.
"Usually they just go bananas, come up and eat it. But there is not a single fish coming up here anywhere, so I am concerned there is a fish kill."
Hunt is hopeful this new look isn't permanent.
"I am very concerned that fish have been killed, and there is going to be some long term damage, to the water and the wildlife. We've go a beautiful place here on Peters Creek and I am concerned longterm that, I hope it will clean up like it used to be. I hope it does not turn into creek that is known for being void of life," said Hunt.
Hunt said there is a lot of tidal activity here and springs and he is hopeful that nature can overcome this situation pretty quickly.
The creek was closed to boat traffic on Saturday while county officials assessed the situation.
Peters Creek is closed to boat traffic today while county officials assess the situation along the creek.


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Car Security
Your safety and security as a valued customer is our utmost priority. All Audi vehicles are equipped with the most advanced vehicle immobilisation systems available.
The National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council regularly rates the security of new cars with the assistance of the NRMA Insurance Research Centre. In these ratings, Audi models outscore all other models in the Australian market in the Small, Small-medium, Medium, Large passenger and SUV categories.
When you collected your new Audi, you may have received two or three keys, depending on the model. This would always comprise at least one remote control key (refer to A), and in some cases a smaller, plastic spare key (refer to B) for emergency use.
NB: Please note that all new Audi models delivered to customers from 25 January 2016, do not carry this small plastic spare key.
Contact us to confirm the type and quantity of keys supplied with your vehicle if required.
As an owner, it is important to keep all of your keys stored in a safe place at all times.
The plastic spare key that you may have received (if your vehicle was delivered pre-25 January 2016) is intended for temporary use in emergency situations only. It can be used to manually unlock the doors and start the car, and therefore should be treated with the same security measures as all other vehicle keys.
Please remember that the fixed key holder in the glove box (refer to D) must only be used to store the Key Adapter (refer to C), without the plastic spare key (refer to B) inserted. It must not be used as a storage device for any vehicle keys.
Storing a spare key anywhere in your vehicle is a security risk because anyone who accesses the cabin can use it to start the engine and drive away. There may also be insurance implications if your vehicle is stolen and it was discovered that a spare key was inside at the time.
Be wary of leaving your vehicle and its key(s) with third parties, for example valet parking. There is a potential risk of additional keys being coded while in their possession.
Where fitted, lock your rear seats in position. This reduces risk of possessions being taken from the boot or accessing the cabin via the boot.
Should you require further information regarding the keys to your Audi, please refer to your Audi Owner's Manual or contact us.


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In the News
"Business: Local livestock staying home at Proper Meats + Provisions"
July 27, 2014
SUZANNE ADAMS-OCKRASSA, Arizona Daily Sun Staff Reporter
The corner meat market is returning to Flagstaff.
The owners of Criollo and Brix are looking to open Proper Meats + Provisions at 101 S. San Francisco Street by Sept. 1.
Just like their restaurants, the shop will focus on locally sourced meats, charcuterie (dried and cured meats) and other local sauces and delicacies, said David Smith, one of the co-owners in the project. His partners are Laura and Paul Moir.
The original idea was to attract more local ranchers to the market in Flagstaff, Smith said. Criollo and Brix pride themselves on supporting local farmers and ranchers.
And many of the restaurant's customers have come to expect and even demand local meat and produce, he said.
But in order to get their products to the restaurants, the ranchers have to drive their stock down to remote processing plants — the closest is in Cottonwood — then truck it back up to Flagstaff, where it will be made into choice cuts at the store.
More retail sales might lower the costs and entice others to try the Flagstaff market.
"We're hoping this will make it easier to attract local producers," Smith said.
But as the group started thinking more about the shop, they decided to offer the same selection of choice local meats they serve at their restaurants. This would give local ranchers yet another local market for their product. . . . [ read more ]


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This Just In
While I agree that cake makes even bad news at least a little sweeter, there's still a right and a wrong way to break some news.
(And you thought I'd never post it!)
"People, I have some good news, and I have some bad news. The good news: This is our last all-day staff meeting! Yeah!
"The bad news: We're going out of business because we can't afford the mortgage any longer.
"But wait! There's more good news: we have a cake."
"Oh, and more bad news: they spelled 'mortgage' wrong. Still, if one of you can get this baker fired and then take his or her job, then that's actually good news, right? Right? Guys? Where are you going? Hey, at least leave me a slice of cake! C'mon!"
Alicia A., Natalie H., Anony M., & Morganna B. were recognized as "Wreckporters of the Day" this morning in a brief online ceremony. Sadly, they received no cake.
- Related Wreckage: Makes Ya Wonder What the Card Said


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Good Seminars For NY Filmmakers/
While I am enjoying my morning coffee, sifting through the 250 emails I did not get to yesterday, I stumbled across New York Women In Film & Televisionhttp://www.nywift.org/'s seminars for the month, and I have to tell you I was impressed. What a great resource for all filmmakers! Check it out... NYWIFT's April 2011 programs
Thursday, April 7, 2011 The Creative Business of Screenwriting
Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Career Focus: The Actors Fund Work Program (AWP)
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 The It Factor: A Branding and Image Workshop
Thursday, April 14, 2011 Unions, Guilds and Locals—Oh My!: An Evening with Costume, Makeup and Hair Designers
Tuesday, April 19, 2011 The Ultimate Confidence Building Workshop: Communicate With Conviction
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Next Generation Docs: Social Media and Cross-Platform Storytelling
Friday, April 29, 2011 Women Documenting Life: A Celebration of Women Filmmakers to Mark the 40th Anniversary of New Day Films


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grafx85 needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 43 designs submitted by 27 freelance designers.
Need a logo that will be used on a website Intended audience is ages 15-30 years old. For people that are flight simulator enthusiasts.
- Looking for a web 2.0 look
- Something that represents aviation. This website is to provide tips, tricks and advice about using flight simulator software made by microsoft. This site is intended to make flight simulator enthusiasts, gurus of this software.
- Pick a color scheme since it will reflect the rest of the website once it is made.
- I would like to see a color of sky blue.
- Must include ".com" in the logo
- Would like to see an airplane propeller as a graphic or even a jet plane.
- Web 2.0 look If possible.
- Very professional look
- Aviation oriented look.
- No cursive fonts
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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If you're in search of a university that fosters student success and student contributions within local, national and international communities, look no further. Whether you want to enrol in liberal arts, science, business, humanities, fine and performing arts, communications, or health and community services, MacEwan University has the right program for you.
We invite you to bring your enthusiasm for learning, your energy for making a difference, and your excitement for stepping up and into the important role you can play in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and beyond.
We are here to offer you an educational experience like no other—one that integrates theory and practice, nurtures citizenship and career goals and encourages you to reach for your personal and professional dreams.
Admissions is one of several operational units in the Office of the University Registrar that work together to support MacEwan University students.


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HelpMeViz: DataViz Community Feedback for Your Charts
Have you ever struggled with which type of chart to use in your presentation? Or how to get Excel to display the chart the way you want it to appear? Or don't know what software will create the data visualization you would like to use?
Jon Schwabish is a data visualization specialist, and in 2013 he launched a new website to help everyone become better at data visualization called HelpMeViz. The HelpMeViz site invites you to submit your data visualization projects to get feedback from the community. The community is encouraged to offer suggestions, critiques and debate ideas about chart formats, software tricks, visual applications and visualization methods that can be valuable feedback to make your data more understandable and impactful.
The data visualization community consists of people who use data and design to tackle a variety of issues and challenges. Outside of a few specific blogs and tutorials however, there isn't a place where that community can provide in-depth comments and criticism on data visualization projects. This site is designed to facilitate discussion, debate, and collaboration from the data visualization community.
The site is open to anyone who is searching for feedback on their visualization designs, from seasoned designers and data visualization specialists to individual analysts searching to improve their graphic displays. All types of visualizations are welcome: simple, single line or bar charts to full-blown infographics to interactive visualizations.
If you have a chart that just isn't working, or getting your message across to your audience, you can upload it to the site, and get really useful, actionable advice from the Community.
Jon is currently the Senior Researcher and Data Visualization Expert at the Urban Institute in Washington, DC, and he took some time to answer a few interview questions from me about the HelpMeViz site:
Cool Infographics: Who is the target audience of the site?
Cool Infographics: How often do people post new visualization questions to HelpMeViz.com?
Jon Schwabish: To date, I've posted at least one visualization per week. There have been a few weeks when I've been able to do more. Interactive visualizations and ones that have a unique design question—for example, how to create something in Excel—generate the most interest.
Cool Infographics: Are you having success getting the audience to engage and recommend design ideas?
Jon Schwabish: For the most part, I haven't had to engage the audience much on my own; community members have taken most of the initiative to engage with the content, making light work for me on that end. I'd like to see more requests on the design side—questions about font or color or layout. To date, requests have been primarily about tools and creation of the visualization. But I think a lot of people would benefit from asking basic design-style questions.
Cool Infographics: Does it take much of your own time to participate and keep the site running?
Jon Schwabish: It doesn't take too much of my own time, but that will change, I hope, as the amount of content increases. I oftentimes have to rewrite the text to clarify the challenge or goal. Sometimes I need to tweak an image or extract an image from a larger document. I rarely fiddle with the data—if the person who submitted the visualization could use it to create the graphic, then it's probably close enough for others to use. I'll usually correspond with the submitter once or twice to make sure he or she is okay with my edits and then I post the submission.
Cool Infographics: What are the best examples of successful projects posted to the site?
Jon Schwabish: There have been a number of interesting challenges.
One was sort of built around the idea of a bullet chartNot surprisingly, a triplet of pie chartsFinally, there was a great discussionJon Peltier to write a separate Excel tutorial on his own site and Joe Mako
Perhaps the thing I'm most excited about for the site right now is the live Hackathon that will be held on Saturday, June 28, with Bread for the World Institute. We are inviting 25 coders, designers, and data scientists to help the Institute with two data visualization challenges. I will be live blogging the event and will make the data available on the HelpMeViz site so that anyone around the world can join the discussion and provide his or her own visualization suggestions.
This site is truly made for everyone, and I encourage you to check it out. The feedback can range from Excel charting tips to visualization programming code. You can upload your own charting challenges, offer recommendations on other people's charts or just lurk and learn from the advice of other experts.
If you're in the DC area, be sure to check out the HelpMeViz Hackathon event on Saturday, June 28th! HelpMeViz will bring together coders, data scientists, and data visualizers in Washington, DC, to help Bread for the World Institute with two data visualization challenges for its 2015 Hunger Report, which focuses on why women's empowerment is essential to ending global hunger.
Thanks to Jon for creating this incredible resource, and taking the time to answer a few questions!


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Fresh Ingredients
We Believe... in making effective products from fresh*, organic* fruit and vegetables, the finest essential oils and safe synthetics.
Fresh is at the core of who we are. Fresh ingredients, fresh inventions, fresh campaigns- it's even in our name! Our inventors started making products by visiting farmer's markets and flower shops, bringing their fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers back to their labs, and infusing them into their newest inventions. We're proud of every single ingredient we use in our products, and we list them in quantitative order on every pot, bottle, sign, web page and in the LUSH Times.
Why not use a synthetic alternative to fresh ingredients? It's simple. Using whole, fresh ingredients means you get the most effective product for your money. Helen Ambrosen, product inventor and LUSH Co-founder said it best: "It would be easier, but it wouldn't be as much fun! I could absolutely use synthetic alternatives to create effects, but where would the artistry be? Journalists always ask, "What makes it work? Is it vitamin E, vitamin A?" I always say, "It's the whole thing." It's the vitality and the freshness of the whole ingredient that makes it work."
It's our very own ingredient encyclopedia! The culmination of years of work by the product inventors, every ingredient we use is listed in LUSHopedia, from African marigold oil to zinc oxide. Navigate LUSHopedia using the alphabetized finder to learn about fresh fruits and vegetables, essential oils, herb infusions, and even safe synthetics (and why we use them!)