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Australian temperatures
This is a guest post by Philip Bradley. Please note that all graphs can be seen full size by clicking on the image.
An analysis of Australian temperature data recorded at fixed times, and the implications for the 'global average land surface temperature' derived from minimum and maximum temperatures
Jonathan Lowe, an Australian statistician, has performed extensive analysis of weather data recorded at fixed times by Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). This analysis is available at his blog, A Gust of Hot Air. The data comes from 21 weather stations manned by professional meteorologists.
This work needs to be brought to a wider audience because it paints a very different climate picture to the global land datasets based on minimum and maximum temperatures – GISS, HadCRUT and the recent BEST analysis.
I'll present his discoveries in three parts, as there appear to be three significant elements in his work.
Using a minimum and maximum temperature dataset exaggerates the increase in the global average land surface temperature over the last 60 years by approximately 45%
Almost all the warming over the last 60 years occurred between 6am and 12 noon
Warming is strongly correlated with decreasing cloud cover during the daytime and is therefore caused by increased solar insolation
Reduced anthropogenic aerosols (and clouds seeded by anthropogenic aerosols) are the cause of most the observed warming over the last 60 years
I'll then add a part 4 covering some additional analysis of mine
Part 1 - Using a minimum and maximum temperature dataset exaggerates the increase in the global average land surface temperature over the last 60 years by approximately 45%
The BoM records temperature, and other values such at cloud cover, at three-hourly intervals for its main surface weather stations. This dataset goes back 60 years covering the same time period as the recent highly publicized BEST project.
Jonathan's analyses of the fixed time temperature data show that days have become significantly warmer. However, nights have warmed substantially less (only about a third of the day time warming).
Contrast this with the analyses based on minimum and maximum temperatures (Tmin, Tmax) which show warmer days and even warmer nights, based on the assumption Tmin represents nighttime temperatures.
In fact, Tmin usually occurs after dawn at the point when incoming solar insolation exceeds outgoing longwave radiation.
GISS, HadCRUT and BEST wrongly assume the mean of Tmin+Tmax represents average daily (24 hour) temperatures.
At best, the mean of Tmin+Tmax represents average daytime temperatures, and Jonathan's work confirms this.
Note at this point, that any day time warming that does not persist through the following night time is irrelevant to climate warming, as it is not heat that is retained in the climate system for more than 24 hours. So even a correctly derived average temperature is a poor indicator of the amount of warming.
In summary, calculating average temperature from the 3 hourly data instead of the Tmin+Tmax/2 method results in ~45% less warming since 1950.
The graph below illustrates this.
GISS, HadCRUT and Best all refer to their results based on Tmin+Tmax/2 as 'global average temperature'. Clearly, daily temperatures are a range and picking the mid-point of a range (which is what the mean of Tmin and Tmax is) is a poor way to estimate an average. Averaging measurements taken at fixed intervals will provided a more accurate estimate of the daily average.
The ~ 45% warming bias introduced into the 'global average temperature' by using Tmin+Tmax/2 is in itself is a very significant discovery, but there is considerably more to Jonathan's discoveries.
Part 2 – Almost all of the warming over the last 60 years occurred between 6am and 12 noon
Jonathan uses the simple but elegant method of subtracting the temperature at one three-hour interval from the temperature at the next three-hour interval to determine at what times of day the warming over the last 60 years has occurred. This breaks down the total warming over the last 60 years into three-hour slices of the day.
You can see his graphs here - http://gustofhotair.blogspot.com/2009/04/analysis-of-australian-temperature-part_16.html
He finds that warming has occurred in only three of these time slices; 6am to 9am, 9am to 12 noon and 6pm to 9pm. The other five three-hour time slices show either a cooling trend or no significant trend.
In parts 3 and 4, I discuss physical mechanisms that would cause temperature rises to be restricted to these time periods.
Jonathan's analysis shows that there has been no warming occurring at nighttime at all since 1950. Although nighttime temperatures have risen due to residual heat from warmer days.
There are numerous published papers that uncritically state that nighttime temperatures are warming based on the fact daily minimum temperature is increasing.
In 1990, Kukla and Karl published a paper in Environmental Science and Technology that contained the following,
Almost all of the observed increase in mean daily temperature over land over the past 40 years appear to be a result of the increase in early morning minimum (temperature). One is tempted to reason that the efficient blanket of the CO2 rich atmosphere keeps the nighttime temperatures high.
I find it surprising to say the least, that Tom Karl, Director Of The National Climate Data Center hasn't in the last 20 years investigated whether minimum temperatures (which he correctly states occurs in the early morning) do indeed measure nighttime temperatures, as this is perhaps the most important assumption underlying the evidence for AGW.
I could find only one published paper that investigates the relationship between minimum temperatures and measured nighttime temperatures and that was based on hourly temperature measurements taken at one location, the Manua Loa Observatory, and apparently made by the same team that measures CO2 levels. They found that hourly nighttime temperatures did indeed closely correspond with minimum temperatures. Interestingly, they found a slight decrease in daytime temperatures measured at 12 noon, The authors attribute their results to GHG warming. Although they concede other effects could be at work, including clouds.
A study using Anthony Watts' Surface Stations data reaches a couple of interesting, albeit tentative conclusions. Firstly, it found that for the best sited stations, diurnal temperature range (DTR) has not decreased and perhaps even increased over the last century. Secondly, it found that the PDO has a cyclical influence on DTR.
Jonathan's work indicates a marked increase in the range of nighttime to daytime temperatures using the three-hourly data, even though this data doesn't directly measure DTR. Decreasing DTR is considered the signature of GHG warming (more nighttime warming than daytime warming), and this study concludes decreasing DTR at the poorer sited stations may well result from data quality issues.
The Manua Loa study used data from 1977 to 2006, which closely corresponds with the warm phase of the PDO, and this may account for the findings.
Fixed time temperature data is available in the USA. The American Meteorological Society states at its website.
The National Weather Service (NWS) and its predecessor, the U.S. Weather Bureau, have operated a network of weather observation stations and offices in or near many of the large cities in every state, commonwealth, and territory under its jurisdiction. At many of these nearly 300 "first-order stations," systematic measurements of numerous weather elements are made by professional observers. Some of these weather data are recorded hourly,
I assume temperature measurements at fixed times is available in other countries.
Climate science collectively having wrongly assumed minimum temperatures measure nighttime temperatures then goes on to misinterpret the role of clouds, which is the next part of Jonathan's analysis.
Part 3 -Warming is strongly correlated with decreasing cloud cover during the daytime and is therefore caused by increased solar insolation
The BoM includes cloud cover in its three-hourly dataset.
Note that the BoM's website says that cloud cover is still measured by the traditional method of an observer estimating how many eighths of the sky is cloud covered. While I find this surprising, without evidence to the contrary I'll assume this information is correct.
The BoM's three-hourly cloud cover data shows that there has been a marked decrease in cloud cover in the daytime, with a marked increase in cloud cover in the early part of the nighttime (measured at 9pm).
Jonathan then correlates the cloud cover trend with the temperature trend for each three-hourly set of data. Shown in the graphic below.
Unsurprisingly, he finds decreased daytime cloud cover strongly correlated with increased daytime temperatures. There is a weaker correlation between cloud cover and overnight temperatures.
Surprisingly, he finds that the increased cloud cover at 9pm and midnight doesn't correlate with increased warming, which is directly contrary to what is generally accepted as the effect of clouds on nightime temperatures. In part 4, I propose that these clouds are condensation from nighttime radiative cooling, and therefore thin limiting their capacity to reflect longwave radiation. However, clouds and LWR is a complex subject.
The significance of the cloud cover temperature correlation is that it occurs in the daytime and accounts for both increased minimum and maximum temperatures, as decreased clouds result in increased solar insolation and warmer days.
The effect of clouds on minimum and maximum temperature seems to be widely misunderstood in the climate science community. For example,
From 1950 to at least the mid-1990s, minimum temperatures on land have increased about twice as fast as maximum temperatures [Easterling et al., 1997]. This may be attributable in part to increasing cloudiness, which reduces daytime warming by reflection of sunlight while retarding the nighttime loss of heat [Karl et al., 1997].
Karl has got things exactly the wrong way round.
Part 4 - Reduced anthropogenic aerosols (and clouds seeded by anthropogenic aerosols) are the cause of most the observed warming in the land surface over the last 60 years
While Jonathan correctly concludes that increased solar insolation is the primary cause of both increased minimum and increased maximum land surface temperatures, I'd like to extend that conclusion with some analysis of my own.
I mentioned earlier that the daily minimum temperature usually occurs in the early morning at the point when (incoming) solar insolation exceeds net outgoing longwave radiation. In the tropics this is a few minutes after dawn. At higher latitudes in winter it could be an hour or more after dawn.
When the sun rises, solar irradiance initially travels at a low angle through the atmosphere and as a result traverses far more of the atmosphere than it will for most of the day.
Any atmospheric effect that blocks or scatters solar irradiance and hence reduces solar insolation will have its maximum effect just after dawn around the time the minimum temperature occurs. Making the minimum temperature particularly sensitive to atmospheric effects that reduce insolation.
There are two effects at work reducing (especially early morning) solar insolation. One is clouds, particularly low level clouds. The other is aerosol pollution (smoke and haze), particularly low level aerosol pollution
Bear in mind that aerosols act as cloud seeding nuclei. So clouds and aerosols don't vary independently.
A great deal of work has been done on the effect of aerosols on the climate and atmospheric temperatures. However, I am concerned with one specific effect that of aerosols on daily minimum temperature.
Which makes me focus on the effect of black carbon aerosols (smoke to most people).
The Daily University Science News reported,
Black Carbon Aerosol Pollution Cools, Heats, Confuses
New research based on NASA satellite data and a multinational field experiment shows that black carbon aerosol pollution produced by humans can impact global climate as well as seasonal cycles of rainfall.
Because aerosols that contain black carbon both absorb and reflect incoming sunlight, these particles can exert a regional cooling influence on Earth's surface that is about 3 times greater than the warming effect of greenhouse gases.
But even as these aerosols reduce by as much as 10 percent the amount of sunlight reaching the surface, they increase the solar energy absorbed in the atmosphere by 50 percent -- thus making it possible to both cool the surface and warm the atmosphere.
Scientists are concerned that this heating may perturb atmospheric circulation and rainfall patterns.
"When we combined the satellite measurements with surface measurements, we found that the reduction of sunlight reaching the surface was three times larger than the amount of sunlight reflected to space," says V. Ramanathan, director of the Center for Clouds, Chemistry, and Climate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. "Averaged over the entire northern Indian Ocean, the man-made pollutants reflected more solar radiation back to space (than pristine skies), but they absorbed up to twice as much radiation in the atmosphere."
The key phrase here is ' both cool the surface and warm the atmosphere' and recall that the daily minimum temperature occurs at the time when solar radiation is traversing the atmosphere at a low angle and any blocking or scattering by aerosols will have its maximum effect.
I discussed this with Jonathan and he confirmed that domestic burning of coal and wood in open fires, agricultural burning and the burning of garden waste was widespread in Australia 50 to 60 years but has since been almost completely eliminated. I grew up in the UK and can confirm the same thing occurred there.
Anyone under the age of 50 will have difficulty appreciating how much smoke an open hearth coal fire produces. I remember in the 1950s and 60s the winter morning ritual of lighting a coal fire. It produced a solid column of smoke up the chimney for 10 to 20 minutes before the coal got properly alight. Multiply that by tens of millions of homes and there was a lot of smoke within a few hundred feet of the ground when the sun rose.
Then there was burning of agricultural and garden waste in the summer and autumn. Burning a pile of wet leaves produces a terrific amount of smoke.
The smoke from a fire is generally pictured as going more or less straight up. It doesn't. Initially it goes upwards but as the smoke cools to the ambient air temperature, it drifts with the wind almost horizontally, forming a layer typically a few hundred feet above the ground.
Starting as early as the 1950s, clean air legislation in the developed world progressively reduced black carbon emissions until almost all routine emissions were eliminated. Which fits with the timing of increasing minimum and maximum temperatures in the global datasets
But what happened in the developing world, particularly rapidly industrializing China and India?
Some studies of temperature trends in China show a larger warming trend than the global average (derived from Tmin+Tmax/2), especially minimum temperature.
On investigation, I found that domestic coal burning which was the ubiquitous form of home heating 50 years is now banned in urban areas. So black carbon emissions will have substantially reduced in and around urban areas in China despite continuing high levels of other aerosol pollutants.
Other studies show substantially less surface warming in China than the global average in recent decades.
The situation in India is complicated by the monsoon, which 'washes' aerosol pollution out the atmosphere. There is no doubt that domestic burning of coal, wood, agricultural waste and dung has substantially increased black carbon aerosol levels outside the monsoon season in recent decades. A study from Pune concludes.
The analysis reveals significant decrease in mean annual and mean maximum temperature (since 1900). This decrease in temperature is more pronounced during the winter season, which can be ascribed to a significant increase in the amount of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the ambient air during the last decade. On the contrary, monsoon season shows warming. This warming can be attributed to a significant increase in the low cloud amount.
The other area of the world that's of relevance is the old Soviet Block, where pollution controls were minimal. When the collapse occurred, almost all of the highly polluting Soviet era industry was shut down within a few years, and former Eastern Bloc countries rapidly implemented the kinds of clean air initiatives already in place in the West, rapidly reducing aerosol levels toward those in the West.
Overall, the global picture is of substantially reduced aerosols, particularly black carbon, over most of the world since 1950. Although with substantial regional and national variations.
It is generally accepted that black carbon aerosols block sunlight, resulting in less solar insolation but at the same time warming the atmosphere. Decreasing black carbon will increase solar insolation, increasing minimum temperatures, while at the same time cooling the troposphere.
If changes in black carbon aerosol levels are as large as I believe, using land surface minimum temperature to measure global temperatures is giving an entirely false picture of the actual atmospheric warming over land. Increasing minimum temperatures is in fact evidence the atmosphere is cooling (and visa versa).
One final point before I wrap things up.
It is well accepted that aerosols, including black carbon, seed cloud formation. Decrease aerosols and you will decrease clouds. Therefore, I argue that the primary driver of changes in clouds found by Jonathan, and which I infer are primarily low level clouds, is changes in aerosol levels, particularly black carbon. Other studies support this conclusion, including the Pune study referred to above.
The reduced anthropogenic black carbon aerosols hypothesis neatly explains Jonathan's discovery of a sharp increase in cloud cover at 9pm.
If reduced anthropogenic aerosols are reducing cloud seeding and leading to less daytime clouds, more water vapour will remain in the atmosphere. This increased daytime water vapour will be more likely to condensate out as clouds when nightime radiative cooling occurs.
In overall summary, it is clear that increased solar insolation, caused by a combination of decreased clouds and decreased anthropogenic aerosols (and I argue particularly black carbon), is the primary cause of increasing minimum and increasing maximum temperatures, and hence the increase in the land surface 'global average temperature' calculated from these values.
Jonathan's analysis shows deriving 'average temperature' from Tmin+Tmax/2 over-estimates the landsurface average temperature by ~45%. He further shows that most of the remaining warming in the 'average temperature' since 1950 is due to increased solar insolation.
Increased solar insolation from decreased aerosol and aerosol seeded clouds also explains why warming measured by Tmin+Tmax/2 has levelled off in recent years, because in the developed world, parts of the developing world and the ex-Soviet Bloc there is limited remaining black carbon (and other forms of) aerosol pollution left to clean up.
While Jonathan's used Australia-only data, there appears to be no comparable study in any other part of the world and we should assume similar effects exist in the rest of the world.
In conclusion, it is troubling that climate science, including the recent BEST analysis, persists with the minimum and maximum temperature derivation of global land surface average temperature, when the methodology is flawed and the results misleading.
Note that Jonathan also analyses seasonal and tropical versus temperate zone differences. Space considerations made me omit them as they would require considerable discussion, but overall they are supportive of the conclusions above.


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Super Rugby
Crusaders steal one-point win over Chiefs
April 19, 2014
The Chiefs were unable to score any points in the second half
© Getty Images
The boot of Colin Slade has carried the Crusaders to an 18-17 upset win over defending champions the Chiefs in a tough Super Rugby clash in Hamilton. Slade slotted six penalty goals at Waikato Stadium as the visitors avenged their narrow defeat to the Chiefs in Christchurch in February.
The result lifted the Crusaders into the competition's top six and put them second in the New Zealand conference behind the Chiefs. Both sides showed plenty of resilient defence in a tough arm-wrestle in conditions made greasy by some heavy rain.
The Crusaders produced a particularly impressive passage early in the second half, when they withstood 26 successive phases, including numerous dabs at their goal-line, before forcing a knock-on. That brought the reward at the other end of Slade's fourth penalty goal to close the margin to 17-12.
Slade's next two penalty attempts each hit a post, but he nailed the two after to put his team back in front with nine minutes to go. The Chiefs came back with a spirited finish and five-eighth Gareth Anscombe had the chance to snatch victory after the hooter, but his penalty shot from inside his own half fell just short.
The opening spell included three concussion checks in quick succession after Chiefs No.8 Liam Squire and half-back Tawera Kerr-Barlow and influential Crusaders skipper Kieran Read left the field.
Kerr-Barlow came back on, only to be replaced at half-time, while Squire and Read stayed off. Squire was left groggy in the 28th minute by the shoulder of opposition lock Dominic Bird, who was yellow-carded for a no-arm tackle.
All Blacks No.8 Read was then hit in heavy contact, with Kerr-Barlow among the tacklers, while making a typically strong run with the ball. The departures and the yellow card led to a momentum shift as the Chiefs went from 9-3 down to take the lead 12-9 off Anscombe's boot. They then had fullback Tom Marshall dot down in the corner just before halftime to open out an eight-point advantage.
The Crusaders' Dominic Bird has been cited for a dangerous tackle on the Chiefs' Liam Squire, while the Chiefs' Michael Fitzgerald will appear before the judiciary for an alleged dangerous tackle on Kieran Reid.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Education Flash CMS Templates
We have a collection of 9 designs in this area!
Educating people is a lot of work, so why do more work by starting from scratch on a website? These Education flash cms templates will help teachers, students, and administrators save time so you can get back to the important things, such as teaching people to save time! Whether you're in day care, high school, college, elementary school, or teaching a trade, there's a template here to get you going on the right path.
Our Flash CMS templates enable users to edit Flash websites and Flash content by using a WYSIWYG editor and built-in image editor. With these education Flash CMS designs you can avoid having to use Adobe Flash editor to edit the source .fla files. You can update and save everything on-the-fly. Our Flash education content management system website templates are powered by FlashMoto CMS which is the most advanced Flash CMS available. All of the education Flash CMS designs we produce are exclusively made for FlashMoto and will perfectly fit the design requirements to working with this feature rich backend platform. Our premium Flash CMS templates are not only easy to work with, they are SEO friendly and allow deep linking.


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#define fadePin 9void setup(){ pinMode(fadePin, OUTPUT);}void loop(){ for(int i = 0; i<360; i++){ //convert 0-360 angle to radian (needed for sin function) float rad = DEG_TO_RAD * i; //calculate sin of angle as number between 0 and 255 int sinOut = constrain((sin(rad) * 128) + 128, 0, 255); analogWrite(fadePin,sinOut);if(sinOut==0)delay(200); delay(15); }}
What's the diode used for?This circuit is pretty simple. This type of transistor is switched by current and not voltage, so we need to make sure to supply the correct current to the base to switch it, so a resistor is connected from the Arduino to the base to limit the current to the proper amount.You can see that in ... illustrations, there is a diode parallel to the device we are powering. Any time you are powering a device with a coil, such as a relay, solenoid, or motor, you need this guy, and don't leave home without it. What happens is when you stop powering the coil, a reverse voltage, up to several hundred volts, spikes back. This only lasts a few microseconds, but it is enough to kill our transistor. So this diode (only allows current to pass one way) is normally facing the wrong direction and does nothing. But when that voltage spikes comes flowing the opposite direction, the diode allows it to flow back to the coil and not the transistor. We will need a diode fast enough to react to the kickback, and strong enough to take the load. A rectifier diode like the 1N4001 or SB560 should do the job. If you are looking for extra protection you could use an optoisolator between the Arduino and the transistor. An optoisolator optically isolates both sides (high and low power) of the circuit so the high-voltage can not possibly come back to the microcontroller.Just make sure that protection diode is facing the correct way (stripe facing the V+ of device). If it is facing the wrong direction, the device you are trying to power will not work as the diode will just allow the current to bypass it.


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Prep time: 5 minutes
Recipe makes: 1 serving
Serves: 1
Serving size:1 pita
Tip: If you're trying to lose weight, be aware of the fat in this recipe. The
amount of saturated fat means it's something you can't eat every day. Enjoy this recipe
with a side of fresh vegetables (like baby carrots) or fruit (like sliced apple).


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Cut Away
The Cut Away Collar is one of the essentials of modern shirt design. The balanced shape makes for a versatile collar that match any face shape and can be worn either with or without a tie.
The Cut Away Collar was originally created to match the wide Windsor tie knot made popular by the likes of Prince George and Edward VIII. It's characterised by its spread between the collar points and the medium height. Our version of The Cut Away Collar works for both wide and slim tie knots and goes well with the classic business uniform. You can also wear it unbuttoned under your sport jacket or knit sweater for a more relaxed, yet sophisticated look. The woven interlining gives the collar a slightly curved shape that elegantly frames the wearer's face. To see all our shirts with Cut Away Collar follow this link.


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Hello Bruno,
I'm an engineer in the field of embedded systems. I think BOUML is great for support system development because of the ability to generate code direct from a class diagram. But it's necessary to have a compiler for C++. For a large amount of microcontroller families there are only C-Compilers avaliable.
When developing a small embedded system on step is to construct a module diagram. This is very similar to a class diagram. A module is like a class in common only with operations but without attributes. The code generated from a module should also be an implementation file and an declaration file (with the function prototypes).
The only association between modules is a directional dependency. When generating code this leads to an include statement in the implementation file of the module which depends on an other module.
Sometimes a module have also some attributes (global variables). They need to be defined in the implementation file when code generating. In the header file they needs a declaration with the keyword 'extern'.
I have tried to use the class diagram of BOUML to design a module diagram. I deleted the definition '${class}::' in the operation dialog for every operation on the tab 'C++'. Also I deleted some definitions in the class dialog (except '${members}'). So when generating code I get implementation files with only keywords my c-compiler understand. I have only to rename the files from *.cpp to *.c. But in the header file I can't suppress the keywords public, private, etc. For the global variables I also don't have a solution.
Can you imagine to support the language C with BOUML in the future?
Best regards,
Heiko Boehmer


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The European Night of Museums was created in 2005 by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication. During a late-night opening, visitors can discover, for free, museums' collections and all the special events organised for the festival. The Night of Museums aims to make museums more accessible to the general public and in particular to a new younger public and to federate a network of European museums around a common festive and friendly event.
In 2010, more than 3,000 European museums in 40 different countries participated in the Night of Museums.
The Council of Europe and UNESCO are patronizing the Night of Museums and the French Federation of Friends of Museums and the French Réunion des Musées nationaux (RMN) are institutional partners of the event.
This festival announces International Museum Day. The events are complementary.


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Southern Rock
Southern rock is a style of rock music that was very popular in the 1970s, and retains a fan base to the present. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitar and vocals.
This regional form emerged in the early 70s with such artists as the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Charlie Daniels Band, Wet Willie, Marshall Tucker Band, and Atlanta Rhythm Section.
Southern Rock bands starting with 'N': no records found
|Jimmy Nalls
|Joe Nimes
|Johnny Neel
|Richard Neville
© Boar 2011 - 2019


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So do you think you are going to make the 'Naughty' or 'Nice' list this year? Why not make both. Today for I Love to Create we are crafting a list and checking it twice.
Tulip Fashion Glitter Shimmer Transfer Shapes
Aleene's Tacky Glue Stick
Crafty Chica Paint - red and green
Old Books
First paint your books, one red and one green. You will need two or three coats of paint. Don't worry no books were harmed in the making of this project, you could still read them if you wanted.
Spell out the words 'naughty' and 'nice' in Fashion Glitter Shimmer Transfer Shapes. They are intended to be ironed on clothing, but they also glue to other surfaces like books perfectly.
When your books are finished set them out on the shelves to display.
I love the way the books turned out, I might go back and add some cute graphics to the front. I'll keep you posted!


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Researchers Unravel Origins of Antarctica's Ice-Covered Mountains
'This work shows that very old mountains can rise again, like a Phoenix from the ashes'
Flying over Antarctica with geophysical instruments researchers peered through the ice to see the peaks of the Gamburtsevs.
Credit: Nick Frearson, Lamont-Doherty
Buried below more than a mile of ice, Antarctica's Gamburtsev Mountains have baffled scientists since their discovery in 1958. How did the mountains get there, and what role did they play in the spread of glaciers over the continent 30 million years ago? In the latest study on the mountains, scientists this week in the journal Nature say they have pieced together the puzzle of the origins and evolution of this mysterious mountain chain.
An international team of scientists flew over Antarctica's deep interior in 2008-2009 with ice-penetrating radar, gravity meters and magnetometers to reveal the peaks and valleys hidden below the ice. The data they gathered has provided insight into how the mountains arose. One billion years ago, before animals or plants appeared on land, several continents collided and the oldest rocks that make up the Gamburtsevs smashed together. From the collision, a thick crustal root formed deep beneath the mountain range. Over time, these ancient mountains were eroded but the cold dense root remained.
Between 250 and 100 million years ago – when dinosaurs walked the Earth –the supercontinent Gondwana, which included Antarctica, ripped apart, causing the old crustal root to warm. Reactivated, the crustal root and the East Antarctic Rift pushed land upwards again, reforming the mountains. Rivers and glaciers carved deep valleys and raised peaks to create a spectacular landscape that resembled the European Alps. The East Antarctic Ice Sheet, which formed 34 million years ago and at 10 million square kilometers covers an area the size of Canada, protected the mountains from erosion.
"It has been almost a billion years since the Gamburtsev first formed," said study co-author Robin Bell, a geophysicist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. "This work shows that very old mountains can rise again, like a Phoenix from the ashes. The Gamburtsevs rose from the long eroded East Antarctic craton."
The study also resolves an apparent contradiction: how could such ancient mountains have retained their tall, jagged, and youthful peaks, said study co-author Carol Finn, a scientist at the U.S. Geological Survey. "We are accustomed to thinking that mountain building relates to a single tectonic event, rather than sequences of events," she said. "The lesson we learned about multiple events forming the Gamburtsevs may inform studies of the history of other mountain belts.
"It was fascinating to find that the East Antarctic rift system resembles one of the geological wonders of the world – the East African rift system – and that it provides the missing piece of the puzzle that helps explain the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains," said study lead author Fausto Ferraccioli, a scientist at British Antarctic Survey. "The rift system was also found to contain the largest subglacial lakes in Antarctica."
Radar images of the mountains revealed chiseled peaks, some towering 4,500 feet above deep valleys.
(click to enlarge)
The team's next goal is to drill through the ice and collect the first Gamburtsev rock samples. "Amazingly, we have samples of the moon but none of the Gamburtsevs," said Bell. "With these rock samples we will be able to constrain when this ancient piece of crust was rejuvenated and grew to a magnificent mountain range."
The work was funded by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and was launched in conjunction with the International Polar Year, an effort to study the Arctic and Antarctic spanning 2007-2009 and involving research by thousands of scientists from more than 60 nations. "It is very fitting that the initial results of Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province project are coming out 100 years after the great explorers raced to the South Pole," said Alexandra Isern, program director at NSF. "The scientific explorers of the AGAP project worked in harsh conditions to collect the data and detailed images of this major mountain range under the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. The results of their work will guide research in this region for many years to come."


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Items where Author is "Vivian, James"
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Brown, Rupert, Maras, Pam, Masser, Barbara, Vivian, James and Hewstone, Miles (2001) Life on the ocean wave: testing some intergroup hypotheses in a naturalistic setting. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 4 (2). pp. 81-97. ISSN 1368-4302 (doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430201004002001)


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This is a very rare and difficult thing for someone with such Packer pride, but this week I'd actually like to extend my praise to some of the Vikings players, notably the ones named Bernard Berrian, Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson, Chester Taylor and Sidney Rice. These five purple-toting pigskinners comprise the elite group I have dubbed Penta Lambda.
Let's say you were playing a fill-in-the-blanks kind of game and you were told that five guys names Bernard, Percy, Adrian, Chester and Sidney were all on the same team – what kind of team would you guess they were on? Maybe chess, sewing or table tennis? Nope. What about math or some sort of church group? NOT EVEN. These are the names of musclebound, tattooed manly men who play professional football for the Vikings of Minnesota.
Not since Revenge of the Nerds has such a powerhouse of dorkville names come together. When R.O.N. was made at the height of Nerd Power, the creators actually concepted the names Bernard, Percy, Adrian, Chester and Sidney as the stars, but studio executives felt that was just too nerdy and thus unbelievable. Instead, they went with the backup names of Louis, Gilbert, Arnold, Harold and Lamar, who we all love to this day. However, if there ever was going to be a backstory film about the original TriLambs (cross your fingers my screenplay gets optioned!), a large part of the Vikings offense would likely have starring roles waiting for them, or at least be able to sell the rights to their Penta Lambda names.
I'm sure no one ever expected a shy, stout young lad called Chester to grow up and play smashmouth football for the Ravens and Vikings. Nor could anyone predict a young Virginian youth named Percy in 1999 to content for Rookie of the Year in 2009. That's why I say, congratulations guys. You've overcome the odds of having some of the most unwanted dorky names for guys in history to become some really impressive beauhunk Stan Gables.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Nerd Alert
4 comments:
- pashawwDecember 1, 2009 at 3:57 PM
I identify most closely with Louis. Level 4 power dork.ReplyDelete
- pashawwDecember 1, 2009 at 3:57 PM
I identify most closely with Louis. Level 4 power dork.ReplyDelete
- pashawwDecember 1, 2009 at 3:58 PM
Sorry, I have a stutter.ReplyDelete
What if your name was Chester Percy?ReplyDelete
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Vehicle Technician
- Recruiter
- BMW Group Retail Careers
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, Cambridge
- Salary
- up to £24,000 per annum plus an opportunity to earn £32,000 OTE however the bonus scheme is uncapped
- Posted
- 25 Mar 2019
- Closes
- 09 Apr 2019
- Ref
- 10683960
- Contact
- Manpower UK
- Sector
- Automotive
- Job Type
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full-time
Salary: up to £24,000 per annum depending on experience plus an opportunity to earn £32,000 OTE however the bonus scheme is uncapped
Are you a Technician who takes genuine pride in what you do? Welcome to BMW Group Retail.
BMW Group Retail
Working in BMW Group Retail is an altogether different experience to any other career you might have known - in or outside the automotive world. There's the passion our team have for the Group's world-famous brands. The collective pride in the quality of our design, technology and engineering. The satisfaction of giving every customer an exceptional experience. And a sense of excitement about the future and what it holds.
Welcome to the future of automotive retail
Your technical know-how and our state-of-the-art technology - it's an unbeatable combination. We're using diagnostic technology in our workshops that's years ahead of the competition. It makes our lives easier and gets our vehicles back on the road where they belong as quickly as possible.
Don't worry if the digital world is a bit daunting to you at the moment. At our purpose-built, state-of-the-art training and development facility in Wokefield Park (near Reading), The BMW Group Academy UK will provide you with the training required to get you up-to-speed.
With our BMW Group certified trainers, you'll receive all the coaching and support you need to make the most of your future with us. For Technicians, we have specially developed a fast-track training programme which will enable you to more quickly progress in your career by building on the skills you've already gained. It's ideal for those who've already completed another vehicle manufacturer's training programme or have hold specific IMI qualifications.
Your role
Working on the electrical and mechanical systems for a range of BMW models, every day will be packed with variety. With our diagnostic technology at your fingertips, you'll inspect components for wear and tear, carry out technical maintenance, repair or replace parts, as well as verifying vehicle functions and their subsystems.
Your profile
You'll have a Level 3 NVQ in Light Vehicle Maintenance and Repair (or equivalent). Workshop environment experience is essential, we'll also expect you to be a team player who's continually focused on the needs of customers.
Your hard work will be rewarded with uncapped bonus scheme, pension scheme, subsidised manufacturer car purchase scheme available to both you and your family, access to use BMW products, access to bespoke training courses at the state of the art BMW Training Academy and a globally recognised BMW accreditation and certification


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Has the current BMW Z4 got too much duck tail spoiler for you? Perhaps a little heavy on the flame surfacing action? If so we have good news for you, it seems the 2010 BMW Z4 tones things down with a more elegant approach to sports car design. At least that's what it looks like to us from the spy photos over at The Car Connection. After negotiating the maddeningly annoying gallery you can see details of a more lithe design emerge.
The hardtop convertible is integrated nicely into the body, the polarizing slash cut following the A-pillar seems to be gone, and all those annoying poky bits seem to have been filed down. We'll only be happy when we know that saggy belly line is out of the picture and there's a real stick shift. [TheCarConnection.com]


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The mod scene around Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV continues to impress and amuse. Sonic The Hedgehog and the Portal robots were cool, but Mickey Mouse?
We're veering into the realm of social commentary. Or we're veering into an alternate world where Kingdom Hearts = Disney + Rockstar.
The mod was created by YouTube user Indirivacua, who also made the Sonic one. Get the Mickey mod here.
Here's a second look.


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Take the George airport exit from the N2 onto the R404 towards Oudtshoorn, continue on the R404 until it runs into Montague Street, pass Fancourt and look for Napier St, turn left into Napier Str. (pass the School) At the top you meet Searle St turn left and immediately right into Boshoff St. (Staggered cross roads) continue up Boshoff St, onto dirt road for 1.2km and you will see the signs for Malvern Manor on your right.
GPS Way Point Co – Ordinate E22.23 43 : S33 56 41.
Check in time is from 4 p.m until 7 p.m.
Late or early check-ins to be arranged prior to arrival.
Our Dairy Herd.


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The Business of iPhone App Development: Making and Marketing Apps that Succeed
Get The Best Deal
See Special Price
The phenomenal success of the iPhone and the iPod touch has ushered in a "gold rush" for developers, but with well over 100,000 apps in the highly competitive App Store, it has become increasingly difficult for new apps to stand out in the crowd. Achieving consumer awareness and sales longevity for your iPhone app requires a lot of organization and some strategic planning. This book will show you how to incorporate marketing and business savvy into every aspect of the design and development process, giving your app the best possible chance of succeeding in the App Store.
The Business of iPhone App Development was written by experienced developers with business backgrounds, taking you step-by-step through cost-effective marketing techniques that have proven successful for professional iPhone app creators—perfect for independent developers on shoestring budgets. Although there are a few iPhone app marketing books on the horizon, they appear to tackle the subject from purely a marketer's perspective. What makes this book unique is that it was written by developers for developers, showing you not only what to do, but also how to do it, complete with time-saving resources and ready-to-use code examples. No prior business knowledge is required. This is the book you wish you had read before you launched your first app!
What you'll learn
Transform your iPhone app into a powerful marketing tool with easy-to-use concepts and code examples. Analyze your ideas, research the competition, and identify your audience to evaluate sales potential. Protect your business and intellectual property and avoid potential legal hassles. Utilize several revenue-generating business models such as in-app advertising, affiliate programs, and In-App Purchase. Includes an extensive chapter on tapping into the Store Kit API. Build synergy with in-app cross-promotion and social networking. Improve usability and implement effective testing, plus a comprehensive walkthrough of provisioning and ad hoc distribution. Create a pre-release buzz online with Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and a dedicated web site promoting your iPhone app. Successfully navigate the App Store submission process. Execute a post-release marketing strategy by crafting effective press releases, soliciting app reviews, and leveraging the power of promotional sales and giveaways.
Who this book is for
This book is for any developer looking to build a successful business selling iPhone and iPod touch apps in Apple's iTunes App Store. All the code examples included in this book can be downloaded from iPhoneBusinessBook.com.
Table of Contents
Seeing the Big Picture in a Crowded App Store Marketplace Doing Your Homework: Analyzing iPhone App Ideas and Performing Competitive Research Protecting Your Intellectual Property Your iPhone App Is Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool Money for Nothing: When It Pays to Be Free Exploring New Business Models with In-App Purchase and Affiliate Programs Testing and Usability: Putting Your Best Foot Forward Get the Party Started! Creating a Prerelease Buzz Keys to the Kingdom: The App Store Submission Process Increasing Awareness for Your iPhone App


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Pronounced so-veen-yawn blahngk. A grape varietal used in the production of white wine. Thought to have originated in the Loire and Bordeaux regions of France, it is also grown in the United States (primarily California), Italy, Australia, South America, Argentina, and Chile. Now a trademark varietal of New Zealand. New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc exhibit fruity characteristics in high quality. Although Sauvignon Blanc varietal produces wines of distinction, they are, generally, reasonably priced. The pricier wines come from Château Haut-Brion and Domaine De Chevalier. California produces a varietal wine labeled Fumé Blanc in varying styles, from crisp and unoaked to oak aged Sémillon blends. A small amount of Sémillon rounds out the taste and improves the structure, enabling wine to age for decades. Bordeaux wines are typically blended with Sémillon, dry, and oak aged. France's 100% varietal wines are notably the best and produced in the Loire region at Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé (crisp and tart, can have flinty hints). The varietal is a minor player in Sauternes blends.
Also known as: Fumé Blanc, Blanc Fumé, Sauvignon Jaune, and Sauvignon Musqué.
Characteristics: Styles can vary widely. Wines made with the Sauvignon Blanc varietal are typically crisp, fresh, light, fruity, with a hint of spice, and olives. Styles vary widely, from sweet to dry. The varietal form of Sauvignon Blanc exhibits hints of green apple and gooseberry. Warmer climate Sauvignon Blanc tends to be citrusy, with tastes of lemon, grapefruit, and mellon. Also have grassy, cool, herbal tones. Oak ageing adds to the vanilla and spice characteristics.
Ageing: Oak ageing adds to depth but only for a short period, it can become over powered. Best if drunk young, especially dry styles.
Serving temperature: Serve at a temperature of 40º-45º F.
Food pairings: Appetizers, artichokes, asparagus, Cajun fish, cannelloni with ricotta, mild cheeses, poultry seasoned with garlic, grilled poultry, stir-fry poultry, chicken chow mein, egg rolls, Chinese cuisine with shrimp, sushi with hirame or sole, vegetable couscous, crab cakes, Creole, crudités, dolmas, deviled eggs, escargots, fish with lemon, spanakopita, guacamole, gyoza, hummus, fish Tandoori, samosas, pakoras, nicoise, oriental dishes with peanut sauce, pasta, seafood pasta, vegetable pasta, vegetable paté, poultry paté, roasted peppers, barbecue pork, pan fried pork, prawns, Caesar salad, Greek salads, salad with vinaigrette dressing, light seafood, shellfish, spinach soufflé, southwestern cuisine, black pepper, oregano, garlic, spinach, Thai cuisine, and turkey served with sweet side dishes (i.e.: cranberries).


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A week immersed in the 'sharing economy'
For some, it's the win-win way of the future. For others, it's a return to old-fashioned exploitation. Konrad Marshall spends a collaborative week immersed in the "sharing economy", where he finds himself earning less than $10 an hour after costs are taken into account.
My jaw is set in concentration and my knuckles are white on the steering wheel, but focus alone will do little to stop this borrowed truck from fishtailing at speed. The problem could be the tram tracks beneath me, but it probably has more to do with the 400 bricks weighing down the back of this very old Toyota.
Only a few minutes ago, I had stood tossing dusty, hard cargo into the tray, doing some heavy lifting for a change. Blissfully unaware of the truck's rear tyres slowly turning to pancakes, I was sweating with righteous physical exertion. Now I'm just sweating. With every bump in the road the vehicle bucks and creaks, and the wheels whinny like they're about to burst.
I'm quite certain the groaning rear axle is about to crack, so I slow to a crawl, roughly 30km an hour. After-school traffic is banking up behind me, but I avoid looking in my rear-view mirror or making eye contact with drivers as they roar past. This is my job - for today, anyway. I'm being paid to deliver bricks in suburban Melbourne, from Malvern to Box Hill North, for $50, so that a suburban housewife known as "Kt.L" can build a palatial backyard chicken coop.
It's her dime and my time. It is also my first experience in a weeklong headlong dive into what is rather grandiosely known as "collaborative consumption in the sharing economy".
Websites are popping up everywhere to maximise our skills and possessions. Own a car? Become a driver on uber.com. Got a spare wardrobe? Rent your storage room to strangers on spaceout.com.au.
If you listen to the breathless TED talks about this topic - or to the proselytising CEOs of these websites - we are all slowly shifting towards a new economic model. Our future is a virtual marketplace of peer-to-peer exchange, using the web to tap into idle capacity and unused abilities. From the grey army to unemployed youth, we are all potential "micro entrepreneurs" unshackled from industrial-age structures and freed from greedy corporate middlemen.
My working week begins like any other, in front of a laptop at 9am on Monday. Only now I'm sitting at home, unshaven and unshowered, wearing my favourite stained tracksuit pants. I slurp coffee from a big novelty mug and think I like this new utopian paradigm. I log in to airtasker.com and begin looking for work.
Airtasker is almost like the Trading Post for labour. People post jobs - deliver a couch, assemble a book shelf - and other people bid to complete those jobs. (The company takes a 15 per cent cut of every deal from the person who does the work.) The site has been active for two years now and might sound revolutionary, but the good people who run, and use, websites such as taskrabbit.com, sidekicker.com and occasionalbutler.com might disagree. The playing field is crowded.
I fill in an enthusiastic profile that lists my few real-world abilities - deliveries, gardening, cleaning, handyman. I've been given a pep talk by Airtasker's co-founder and CEO, Tim Fung, on how to get work. Be diligent, enthusiastic, and don't be disheartened if you miss out on jobs. "You need a good profile picture," he says. "Clear, smiling at the camera, free of sunglasses. Not a photo of you with your dog at the beach."
Now to find work.
Jananthan R needs some rubbish fished out from under his house in Clayton South, for $80.
Alex B wants a few garage weatherboards painted in Belgrave Heights, for $50. Both sound promising, but it seems as though everyone else on the site has the same idea. Damien H and Lizzy B swoop, each with a far more convincing sales pitch. While I flail and gush - "Hi, I'm new to Airtasker and I'd LOVE to do this job for you" - they stick to a polite and polished script.
They open with "Hello Jananthan" (smart) and don't bother explaining why they want the job - instead explaining how they will do it: "I have a truck with ropes, dollies and tarps, to safely move your stuff."
Matching the immediacy and eagerness of this workforce is exhausting. I try to land a simple $25 gig transcribing an interview, but I cannot compete with Blaise T's real-time enthusiasm ("I can do this for you right now, Maya").
Not all of the tasks are in my skill set, either. I can't perform the duties of a "Dressmaker in Fitzroy". Nor am I "someone to weld tables". No matter how badly a "Daiquiri machine service is needed", I cannot provide one. But my bids are improving and within an hour and a half, at 10.37am, I land my first gig - hauling bricks for Kt.L so she can build her chicken mansion.
I find her digging a hole in the backyard. Kt.L runs a "second-hand baby gear" Facebook page and is clearly a "sharing economy" type, but I do wonder how she feels about having a stranger in her home. It turns out she has texted my profile to her husband, letting him know when I would be coming over.
Yet she also has faith in the "community" and gives the example of a time a man put up a sad, sad task. He needed someone to talk to: $10. "A whole bunch of people started messaging, asking if he was okay or if he needed to get together," Kt.L says.
Although Airtasker will be my main port of call, there are a wide number of online alternatives to choose from. Apart from those already mentioned, there's freelancer.com, which has been lauded as a boon for flexi-workers everywhere, and simultaneously lambasted as the tip of a damaging "offshoring iceberg". I set up a Freelancer profile as a writer and editor, and list my working price as $20 per hour (although I soon realise my price can't compete with people in Pakistan and Bangladesh). I also learn that my profile is basically invisible until I get my first job.
A short message appears in my Freelancer inbox from someone called Ustyler: "Hi konradmarshall, I noticed you have experience writing in both Australia and the US. I would like a bio created for my band Rick Dodd and the Dickrods and a version adapted for Australia." Within minutes we have an accord - $80 for four hours of my time. As a bonus, I also win a small Airtasker job - $10 for picking up and delivering a few bags of sand.
I take the opportunity to drive through town playing the Dickrods' album of "outlaw country" music, with blaring tunes about shotgun shells and crucifixes. The music has a very persistent and peculiar take on unrequited love. My favourite lyric is "Her breath was sweet as a fart".
I dash off 400 words of tricked-up redneck prose, and then another 400 for the Australian market (by removing references to US brands like Elmer T. Lee bourbon or Pabst Blue Ribbon beer). It takes me four hours to finish.
By midweek I think I have the right attitude to make a living this way. Humility and deference are key. I notice some other Airtaskers making demands of their taskmasters. The nerve! Hermiese C is quick to point out that she can clean that house in Chadstone, but the garden will cost extra. Many others, like Neda B, ignore the posted prices for jobs and instead offer their own hourly rate. Meanwhile, I'll do any silly task for whatever the asking price, just to build up a few good reviews and get more jobs.
My next employer, in Yarraville, is moving house and for $60 wants me to unpack a dozen boxes and arrange the entire contents of his old kitchen in his new home. He doesn't care where things go, and the organisational stickler in me is alarmed by this attitude. I would want to have a say in where my corn-cob holders are stored, but Craig C doesn't seem to mind.
His wife and kids are away, he explains, so he wants to finish fast. He has another Airtasker outside helping shift household goods, and one more upstairs reassembling furniture. I like my task best. I like trying to imagine where he wants me to put the family stash of birthday candles. I enjoy pondering the best place to store a spare SodaStream gas bottle. Where would Craig C - car-yard manager and two-minute noodle eater - want the ceremonial champagne flutes from his wedding? And where would his wife want her breast pump?
It takes me 90 minutes to find a new home for everything, and then I take my new boss on a guided tour of his new kitchen.
"That looks great," he says. "I'll tell the wife I did it."
When I get home, the available jobs seem to be getting weirder. Fiona B needs a side drummer to join the Watsonia RSL pipes and drums group for one night, for $45. Bubba C is willing to pay $120 to anyone who can help hack an online poll and generate a few thousand votes.
Ethan L is blunt about what he wants: "I need someone sexy to take a selfie of themselves holding a broken phone for marketing purposes." Sebastian W offers to help, adding a smiley face emoticon. Ethan L responds: "ideally female bro". Sebastian W is unfazed: "no problem my girlfriend would love to do it. She's very sexy." Ethan L is interested: "Can you please attach photo?"
And Sebastian does, and that is when I depart that thread and head to bed. But not before realising how much time all of this is eating up - scanning jobs, monitoring comments, making bids, arranging cutlery drawers. I'm not leaving much time for my own work, or my own chores around the house.
It's time to put my earnings to use. I open my laptop and begin to type: Mow and prune my nature strip - $20. Posted by Konrad M.
Jason C's profile photo shows him dressed like a punk with a mohawk, but he turns out to be a rather ordinary-looking, polite 40-something. He has two daughters and is a professional town planner who wants a little extra cash and some exercise. My lawn is more than a foot high, so the whipper snipper comes out first. On hands and knees, Jason C yanks weeds from between the agapanthus. The mower follows.
I had fantasised about reclining in a hammock sipping iced tea, keeping a close eye on my worker through tinted sunglasses. But I feel guilty even being here. Soon I have my gardening gloves on and I'm helping. When the job is done I hand Jason C an extra $5. I'm quite annoyed with myself.
I sense my wife is getting annoyed with this conceit, too, and I don't blame her. Bringing strangers over to do my chores was brazen.
I promise the missus a piping-hot home-cooked dinner - a fresh recipe with a little spice. I just neglect to mention that it isn't my recipe, and won't be cooked with our spices, nor in our home. Instead I log on to meal-sharing website byfork.com and order two $5.50 servings of chicken tikka masala from Alexander of Elwood. Much later - too late - I find out that the site is dormant. The promised piping-hot dinner turns into last-minute eggs on toast, and I sense I could be sleeping on the couch tonight.
My couch isn't very comfortable, though, so I log on to couchsurfing.org to see if there is a better one in Melbourne. The site connects like-minded strangers who have a spare futon to share.
I send out a handful of last-minute requests and have no luck, but I do receive a request of my own. Amelie, a beautiful 23-year-old brunette from the south of France, would like to sleep on my couch for two weeks in June. I am fairly certain my wife will not warm to this idea.
Fortunately I've earned enough cash that I can splurge on a night away from home using airbnb.com, the wildly successful website that allows people to rent a room or an entire house. "Beautiful artists' home in Fitzroy" appeals. $60 per night is promising. And their profile picture is lovely. There's Gustavo, an Argentinian with a pointy moustache, his Australian wife, Sandy, and their toddler, Angelo. Gustavo and Sandy are painters who run a puppet shop.
I make a booking and head out into the night, stopping at a Korean grocery to buy a bottle of wine for my hosts. (I choose one with an art nouveau label, hoping it will prove a talking point.)
Sandy kisses me on the cheek when I arrive. The carnivalesque shop front is beautiful, and the string of rooms behind it is an endless menagerie of paintings and puppets, masks and marionettes.
Gustavo comes home from painting a mural all day at the Werribee Zoo, and we sit up late at the dinner table sipping wine. (He identifies the label as the work of Alphonse Mucha.) He strokes his moustache and talks about living with Sandy in Barcelona, and the home they once bought on a river in the Amazon. We discuss the puppet business, which is when I accidentally call him Geppetto, but he doesn't seem to notice.
He tells me that collaboration increases in moments of great need, as it did when the Argentinian economy faltered in 2001, resulting in plumbers and dentists trading their skills in the streets.
"It started with swapping, favours, no money - people exchanging face to face," he says. "Then somebody had the idea to make money from this market. Technology has given, but it takes, too."
Gustavo is a wise man, I think. I'm transfixed by his stainless-steel spectacles and the paint on his fingernails, until he starts talking about a UFO stargate in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen.
The next morning I wake up and sit in the kitchen eating crusty artisan bread with butter, while Sandy and Angelo laugh and eat homemade pancakes with jam. The family rabbit, Nicholas, hops at our feet.
My final gig for the week is scheduled for Friday afternoon - housework and gardening for Ben A in Richmond North. Ben A is a young dentist, and his parents are flying into town for the weekend from Tasmania. I will be making him appear like a capable son. That starts with a solid hour of ironing his shirts (42 regular) and pants (34 waist).
Next, I wash his wooden venetian blinds with a Chux and a bucket of warm soapy water. This really is a frustrating job, and I can easily see why someone would outsource it. I head out into the garden, which is actually just a patch of dirt with some weeds and a palm tree - and a foot-deep layer of rotting orange fruit of some kind that's fallen from the branches above.
Ben just wants things to look nice, but I want to do more than a cosmetic job, so I throw my back into this last task. After three hours of work, he gives me $85 instead of the pre-agreed price of $55. I take the money and run.
In my week, I worked for a total of 20 hours, completing $335-worth of tasks. After the various digital middlemen took their share, my earnings came to $285 - a little more than $14 per hour.
Take out petrol costs and income tax, and my take-home pay was less than $10 an hour. In fairness, I had little time to build momentum and thus develop a base of regular clients. Still, you have to work hard at getting what amounts to a series of piecemeal jobs, and the patchy nature of the income from week to week would no doubt be soul-destroying after a while.
The cloud-computing, new-millennial, digital natives out there will have you believe that these sites are allowing us all to maximise our time, while tech-fearing traditionalists think that the new paradigm takes advantage of our desperation for work in the new economy. My multifaceted week of work now over, I'm not sure either way.


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Total Heliski in Haines
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Beat Bama! I'm pulling for Radford in one more game. After that... -- Calamitous 03/14/2018 8:27PM
Head on over to the Sabre if. -- BBranzelle10 03/14/2018 08:33AM
Please for a moment people ...... Remember that this is DSU aka ........ -- HokieGT 03/14/2018 6:52PM
In my bracket, I have us beating UVA in the rubber match ** -- Casey 03/14/2018 4:28PM
Agreed. -- jcvt11 03/14/2018 2:50PM
Nah. I love an underdog but I have too many ties to UVA. ** -- Thankful Hokie 03/14/2018 1:18PM
Have to root for the conference. ACC also shares revenue equally! -- Flanker 03/14/2018 1:11PM
if - that's a big IF - hoos win ncaa, then we have to listen to it forever -- HtownHokie 03/14/2018 3:39PM
Lighten up Francis!!! Did you go there or were rejected from there? ** -- grill to chill 03/16/2018 6:57PM
If they are in the finals, they won't win it, because we'll be there too -- VTexas 03/14/2018 5:57PM
I am not worried about that. -- VToncologyNurse 03/14/2018 4:44PM
The already talk as if they have a championship, they might as well not be -- jmanatVT 03/14/2018 4:12PM
I disagree it would hurt tournament bids -- BBranzelle10 03/14/2018 1:16PM
In the spirit of conference unity we should all root for UVa to win... -- lawhokie 03/14/2018 12:28PM
Best of all worlds is if we play them in the finals and beat them. Duke UNC -- Stech 03/14/2018 12:07PM
I'm still good with dsu winning if VT plays n beats them in the final ** -- 83Hokie 03/14/2018 09:51AM
How about everyone stays here and expresses their opinions as they see fit? -- BG Hokie 03/14/2018 09:16AM
A Hoo win means more money in VT's coffers, and a VT win means... -- EDGEMAN 03/14/2018 08:44AM
Yuck. Sometimes money just insn't that important ** -- Calamitous 03/14/2018 8:30PM
I uva win means about $10K per year more for VT. That's NOT enough -- King of Hokies 03/14/2018 10:40AM
Sounds like a small number.... -- 2hhoop3 03/14/2018 10:48AM
Still not enough. Not even close. ** -- King of Hokies 03/14/2018 3:40PM
Which is almost the value of a 1/6th the scholarships of our bball team. -- hoosnowahokie 03/14/2018 2:01PM
Still not enough to root for UVA -- VTHokie2000 03/14/2018 12:22PM
Money is not everything, but no amount of money is enought to root for them ** -- SHPHOKIE 03/14/2018 12:25PM
I wont directly root for UVA but i can root for ACC $$. its how i'll sleep. ** -- vthokiedsp 03/14/2018 08:49AM
I promise you thats the last thing you want is their success -- BBranzelle10 03/14/2018 08:46AM
Wouldn't wish if for the majority of UVA fans but I respect what they have -- MilwaukeeHokie 03/14/2018 11:00AM
Classy and clean, he's very likeable -- 48tnhokie 03/14/2018 2:13PM
Continuing the trend of the original purpose of this thread backfiring.. -- hokiehill1117 03/14/2018 12:16PM
Expanding on the "not wishing Buzz away" part of my post - if you compare -- hokiehill1117 03/14/2018 12:21PM
Don't sweat the blowhards. Have a friend who has brought up.. -- EDGEMAN 03/14/2018 09:17AM
We've beaten them in each major sport now in which they ranked #1 at least -- hokiepro 03/14/2018 09:51AM
Uva-c has the exact same # of basketball titles as VT -- 2. (NITs). ** -- 3TechFanz 03/14/2018 09:21AM
^^^true dat to the accomplished part and the talking part -- wrwadd5 03/14/2018 09:12AM
They still claim the 3 weeks of #1 in football -- TomTurkey 03/14/2018 09:16AM
Funny we beat them in football that year too ** -- wrwadd5 03/14/2018 09:19AM
Did they retort with Bass Fishing Natty? I love that one. ** -- 3TechFanz 03/14/2018 09:16AM
Would love uva-c to accomplish a "FIRST". First 1-seed to lose to a 16. ** -- 3TechFanz 03/14/2018 08:41AM
First time in the men's tournament, but it would be the second time -- VTHokie2000 03/14/2018 1:25PM