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|1870 U.S. Federal Census
Last time I posted the inputtable census form for the 1860 Schedule 2 (Slave Schedule). Today, I've got the form up so you can download, input your data and save to your computer information from the 1870 U.S. Federal Census!
No more slavery! Remember this census was taken a mere 5 years after the Civil War concluded and one of the most noticeable changes (apart from not needing another schedule and not having "Free inhabitants" written at the top) is that last question...good ol' #20, "Male Citizens of the U.S. of 21 years of age and upwards, whose right to vote is denied or abridged on other grounds than rebellion or other crime."
Why was this needed? Here's the excerpt from the Instructions to Assistant Marshals:
|1870 Instructions to Assistant Marshals - U.S. Census Bureau
Since the Civil War had been concluded, what a perfect time for the Federal Government to ensure that those former slaves are not being denied the right to vote via illegal laws (that should have been repealed and are null and void).
The entire 26 pages of Instructions to Assistant Marshals are actually quite interesting, and truthfully all instructions should be read so that you can fully understand the intent of the questions asked as well as the enumerators' responsibilities. You'll most likely get more out of the census if you do!
These instructions as well as other great information on the 1870 census can be found on the U.S. Census Bureau's website.
Again, 1930census.com gives us the map of the U.S. at the time of the census and a historical chronology for the decade of the census to help put it all in perspective. Their link for questions asked is empty (bummer!), but we can easily get that information by looking at the census.
The census form I created is in landscape view as opposed to portrait like the original. I did take a tip from Ancestry.com's sheet (which is also in landscape) when creating this spreadsheet. It was possible to create one just like the original census, but my concern was that the questions would be too difficult to read and defeat the purpose of the form. As a result there are only 6 lines to input the family data for an ancestor. I know...many of our ancestors had more than 6 people in their family, but you can easily continue on another sheet. The goal is digitization and not so much paper (at least for me).
The spreadsheet is still locked so you can't accidentally type over the form data, but I left the section on the far left unlocked so you can change the numbers to correspond with the numbers for your ancestors. They are currently numbered 1 through 6 but can easily be changed.
As always, just let me know if there are any problems with the spreadsheet and I'll get them fixed. The spreadsheet still looks like it's multiple pages in Google Documents, but will be one page once it's downloaded.
Until next week, when I hope to get the 1880 U.S. Federal Census up, have fun tending those roots!


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Weaver may have lost Kenya Stewart to graduation, but the Class M champion Beavers still have a few more Stewarts — namely Kenya's two younger twin sisters, Alyssa and Amanda.
"I've got a solid five," Weaver coach Wendell Williams said. "My starting five can compete with anybody in the league. We just need a little more depth."
Alyssa, now a junior, was the team's second-leading scorer (13.6 points) behind the graduated Fifi Walcott and the second-best rebounder (8.7) behind Kenya. She also averaged 2.1 blocks. Amanda started off the season slowly after breaking her ankle over the summer but still averaged 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 points.
Weaver, which lost only twice — to Class LL semifinalist Manchester in the regular season and CCC champion Glastonbury in the conference tournament — beat Tolland in the Class M final, 55-47.
Williams said that Weaver not only has to replace scoring, blocked shots and rebounding, but also the intensity that Kenya and Walcott brought to the court.
Around The CCC
Don't count E.O. Smith and Tolland out just yet. E.O. Smith may have lost point guard Ashley Forand and center Morgan Olander, and Tolland may have lost its all-time leading scorer, Kristin Schatzlein, and its coach, Rocco Sansone, who resigned after the season, but both teams expect to be back in the mix this season. "I only have two kids back from last year and I know one of them pretty well," E.O. Smith coach Kirk Murad said. That would be his daughter, Murphy, a senior guard, who will be expected to lead the team. Junior Holly Worski has improved and will have a bigger role this year. "We lost a lot but we still have a lot," Murad said. … Vinnie Cianfarani, the former Windsor coach, takes over at Tolland. "The cupboard is not bare," Cianfarani said. Chelsea Domian, a 5-11 junior guard, is the lone returning starter but there are a host of seniors, including Ashley Clawson, Sammie Olson and Jackie Foreman, who all saw playing time last year. … RHAM returns leading scorer Sarah Veilleux (18.2 points). … Northwest Catholic's senior center Alyssa Reaves just signed a letter of intent to play at Hartford, and the Indians return seven more seniors and would like to advance beyond the quarterfinals of the Class L tournament this year. Last year, the Indians started off 3-5 but won six of their last eight games, with their only two losses of that stretch coming to E.O. Smith. "We didn't start great last year but we finished well," coach Karl Herbert said. "The kids got a lot of confidence from that." Northwest hosts E.O. Smith in its home opener Wednesday. … CCC Tournament champion Glastonbury will be tough to beat this year, mainly because it's hard to stop Boston University-bound Courtney Latham, who was the team's leading scorer last year (13.8 ppg). Glastonbury beat Manchester to win the CCC title but then lost to the Indians in overtime in the Class LL quarterfinals. Senior guard Ashley Mulryan can hit threes and junior Kerstan Mahland is an athletic post player. … Manchester's Player of the Year Ashley Perez went to St. John's and coach John Reiser lost seven other seniors from his team that lost in the semifinals of the Class LL tournament to Mercy. "We're going to have six or seven freshmen on the varsity roster," Reiser said. "I've never had anything like that before. It's going to take us a little time."
Mercy Could Make Another Run
Mercy has lost in the past three Class LL championship games by a total of seven points, including a 39-37 loss to Career last year. But coach Tim Kohs is ready to make another run at the title. "I think we have a good returning cast," he said. "We had a good year last year and everybody's back. Hopefully, we can do as well." Seniors Maria Weselyj and Jordyn Nappi are Mercy's top players. … A young Capital Prep team, which lost to a veteran Coginchaug squad in the Class S final, beefed up its schedule with out-of-state teams this year. The Trailblazers are playing Archbishop Malloy and Bishop Ford Central Catholic of New York and Malcolm X Shabazz of New Jersey. "We need a little more challenge outside of our conference," Capital coach Tammy Millsaps said. "That will prepare us to go deep into the playoffs." The Trailblazers graduated senior forward Diamond Thomas but return sophomores Kiah Gillespie in the post and guard DeJane James, who had 19 points in the state final. "Their freshman year was challenging," Millsaps said. "They made some great strides in being leaders."
Around The NCCC
Somers junior guard Diandra DaRosa (20.7 ppg) might be the best player in the conference, and if Somers can improve defensively and get better post play against the better teams, coach Alan Walker thinks his team will be OK. … Ellington graduated Kelly Conley, who averaged 23 points, from the 24-3 Purple Knights. Junior guard Karlee Alves and senior guard Jess Malone are two top returning players. … Avon, always strong in the conference, brings back its leading scorer and rebounder, junior guard Anna Schrecengost (12 ppg, 6 rpg). … Coventry has a new coach in Isabel Caban.
Bacon Academy The Favorite
Not too many people expected Bacon to win the Class L championship last year, not even its coach, Dave Shea. But the Bobcats did, beating top-seeded E.O. Smith 38-34 in the final. Bacon returns just about its entire team, including senior guard/forward Taylor McLaughlin, who can play any position and averaged 20 points and 11 rebounds last year. … Cromwell, which went 24-3 last year, is one of the favorites to win the Shoreline Conference and could make noise in Class M as well. Junior Janelle Harrison and senior Lindsay Langenauer are both 6-footers; senior guard Kelly Flanigan (11.3 ppg, 7.1 rpg, 5.2 apg) also returns.


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Blessed Mysteries of Wesir
Sobeq Personal Piety 1 Minute
Published by Sobeq
I am a Kemetic Orthodox priest of Wepwawet and Sekhmet-Mut. I write about building relationships with gods, introspection, maintaining a balanced secular and spiritual life, and recovering from slumps. In my secular life I am a mental health and addictions counselor. View all posts by Sobeq


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Francis Marion University
The Cottage, Hendrick Room
Friday, August 5, 2011 – 11:30am –12:05pm
Dr. H. Randall Dozier, Chairman
Mr. James A. Brown
Mr. William W. Coleman
Mr. L. Franklin Elmore
Ms. Melissa Emery
Mr. R. Tracy Freeman
Mr. William Edward Gunn
Mr. Kenneth W. Jackson
Mr. Stephen N. Jones
Mr. Robert E. Lee
Mr. George C. McIntyre
Mr. Timothy F. Norwood, Sr.
Dr. Kevin O'Kelly
Mrs. Gail Ness Richardson
Mr. W.C. Stanton
Others Present:
Mr. D. Keith Best, Chair of the Faculty and Professor of Theatre Arts
Mr. Darryl L. Bridges, Vice President for Public and Community Affairs
Dr. L. Fred Carter, President
Dr. Richard Chapman, Provost
Ms. Angela R. Crosland, Public Information Coordinator
Mr. Jay Dowd, Vice President for Development/Executive Director of FMU Foundation
Mr. Daniel Dukes, Legislative Liaison
Dr. Rebecca H. Flannagan, Vice Chair of the Faculty and Professor of English
Mr. A. Glen Gourley, Secretary of the Faculty and Professor of Theatre Arts
Mr. Murray G. Hartzler, Director of Athletics
Mrs. D. Ashley Jacobs, Executive Assistant to the President
Mr. Jay Kispert, Vice President for Business Affairs
Dr. Peter King, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Enrollment Management
Mr. Tucker Mitchell, Regional Editor of Media General/Morning News
Dr. Jeannette Myers, Assistant Provost and Director of Graduate Programs
Mrs. Teresa J. Ramey, Vice President for Student Affairs
Mr. Julian M. Young, Director of Alumni Affairs
Dr. Charlene Wages, Vice President for Administration
Dr. H. Randall Dozier called the meeting to order at 11:30 am. He then asked Mrs. Ashley Jacobs to call the roll. Dr. Dozier then noted for the record that media notification had been made in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act, and that a quorum was present.
Dr. Dozier presented the minutes of the June 17, 2011 Board Meeting to the Board for approval. Mr. W. Coleman made a motion for the minutes to be approved. The motion was seconded by Mr. Eddie Gunn. The minutes received unanimous approval by the Board.
Academic Affairs and Accreditation Committee:
Mrs. Gail Richardson reported that competition among universities has increased and new students decide if they are going to be happy within the first few weeks. Student Affairs has been working on getting students involved in organizations and activities to encourage loyalty. Then, Mrs. Richardson announced that the Pee Dee Fiction and Poetry Festival will be held during the time of the next board meeting November 9-11 and is being coordinated by Dr. Rebecca Flannagan. In addition, there will be a reception for authors held on the evening of November 10.
Mrs. Richardson then reported that the Nursing program had a 100% pass rate and that the first steps in the approval process for the Nurse Practitioner program have been completed. Next, she stated that the School of Education hosted a Teach for America reception on August 2, 2011 which was well attended by 30 new TFA teachers. FMU and TFA plan to increase the number of teachers by 30 every year. Mrs. Richardson concluded her report by commending the Library for being an electronic hub for students.
Development and Alumni Committee:
Mr. Tracy Freeman began by giving a Non-Profit Leadership Institute update. The Development & Foundation staff reviewed the previous nine years of NPLI and provided the committee background demographics on the participants. September 2011 will be the 10 year anniversary of NPLI. Mr. Freeman then gave a Rural Leadership Institute update. The new initiative will kick off on September 15th and almost 40 nominees have been received. The staff will contact all of the nominees to determine their interest and availability.
Next, Mr. Tracy Freeman gave an Alumni Affairs report. He announced that the Student Alumni Association was recognized as Student Organization of the Year in 2011. He then encouraged the board members to participate in Freshman Move – In on August 20, 2011, with the Alumni Board and the Student Alumni Association. Then, in partnership with Student Affairs, the Student Alumni Association will host a Welcome Back Party open to all students.
Then, Mr. Freeman reported that Alumni events are being planned in the midlands, upstate and in the Pee Dee which will include; after hour socials, receptions, Patriot Power lunches and award ceremonies. The Biology alumni awards reception will be on October 18, 2011 in The Cottage and the Psychology alumni awards reception is to be determined. Patriot baseball alumni weekend is scheduled for October 1-2, 2011. Mr. Freeman ended his report with an update about social media. The FMU alumni Facebook page has 562 members and a page for the class of 2015 will be launched in soon.
Executive Affairs Committee:
Dr. Dozier reported that the executive committee met but no action was taken, however, he extended an invitation for the board and FMU staff to attend future executive committee meetings.
Financial Affairs and Facilities Committee:
Mr. George McIntyre began by referring to the budget summary. He reported that the University has received about 12% of its expected income for this fiscal year and that employee head count and FTE's are stable. Financial assistance for undergraduate students is remaining at 83%.
Mr. McIntyre then presented Resolution 04-11, Resolution for Approval of Mutual Aid Agreements. Mr. McIntyre made a motion for the approval of Resolution 04-11. Mr. Frank Elmore seconded the motion. The resolution received unanimous approval by the Board.
Next, Mr. McIntyre gave a facilities update. He reported that the University received non-recurring funds totaling $965,000, from the Capital Reserve Fund to replace the HVAC system in the Library, repair the roof of the Smith University Center and paint Founders Hall. Then, Mr. McIntyre gave a Performing Arts Center update. The Certificate of Occupancy will be approved soon and a few minor details have to be completed before the opening Gala weekend September 9 – 11. Mr. McIntyre made some comments about the Athletic Complex. He praised the facility for being a great venue for sports, student and community activities. He thanked Mr. Murray Hartzler, Mr. Jay Kispert and Mrs. Teresa Cook for all of their hard work in executing the project. Mr. McIntyre concluded with an Erin Dining Hall update. He reported that EDH will be completed before the fall semester begins and that there will be more accessibility for handicap students. He thanked Project Manager, Mr. Mike Richey, for a job well done on this project.
Student Affairs and Athletics Committee:
Mr. Eddie Gunn began by announcing some important dates.
Student move in – August 20, 2011;
First day of classes – August 22, 2011;
First day of classes for Graduates – August 23, 2011;
Student Involvement Fair – September 1, 2011;
Labor Day – September 5, 2011 University will be closed in observance of this holiday; and Leadership FMU – September 19, 2011 through December 5, 2011.
Mr. Gunn then listed a number of activities scheduled throughout the fall semester including a pool party, Patriot on the Line and music bands.
Then, Mr. Gunn reported that the Athletics department plans to bring back former coach and alumnus, Sylvia Hatchel, and former FMU basketball player and alumnus, Pearl Moore, to teach leadership skills to student athletes in September 2011. Then, he announced the upcoming events for Athletics. There are many workshops scheduled for student athletes including: Writing, tutoring, public safety, alcohol abuse, nutrition, stress and resume writing. He reported that these workshops are to encompass the entire student and not just their talent for sports. Next, Mr. Gunn was pleased to state that the six year graduation rate of student athletes is significantly higher than the overall campus. Lastly, he reported that a new student handbook was produced and it includes: rules and regulations of athletics at Francis Marion University, what is expected of them and NCAA information.
President's Report:
Dr. Fred Carter began by thanking the Trustees for participating in the tours of the athletic complex and the Performing Arts Center on August 4, 2011. He expressed satisfaction that they were able to get a real sense of what the two venues will provide to the University and the Pee Dee region.
Dr. Carter then reported that FMU will proceed with the necessary faculty approvals' for the Nurse Practitioner program this fall. He stressed that this program will open the door for additional health and health related programs in the future at FMU.
Next, he thanked Mr. Tracy Freeman for his report about the upcoming alumni events and he stated that these events are made possible because of the alumni hosts in each location. He noted that these events are especially viable because they allow Alumni Affairs to meet alumni in those areas as well as meeting prospective students.
Then, Dr. Carter made some remarks about transparency and how it has been a strong priority of the General Assembly and the Governor. He noted that FMU was one of the first universities to put its institutional checkbooks online and in order to expand the trend further, future board meetings will be televised on Channel 11.
Dr. Carter then spoke briefly about the new athletic complex and the excitement surrounding its opening. He noted the first big event of the spring, the FMU – USC baseball game. Next, Dr. Carter briefly outlined some upcoming events and projects. In the fall, FMU will conduct feasibility studies to determine the appropriateness of two prospective programs. If the programs are deemed feasible, the proposals will be taken to the faculty, and then subsequently to the Board. One of the programs will be a joint Master of Public Administration degree with Coastal Carolina University. This will be the first joint program between FMU and Coastal Carolina. Both administrations see enormous potential with this collaborative MPA program and both are optimistic about pursuing the first joint degree between the universities. In addition, this fall FMU will begin exploring the possibility of a baccalaureate degree in Industrial Engineering which would be a cooperative program with Florence Darlington Technical College. As of now, there is not an engineering degree offered in the Pee Dee and Grand Strand regions of South Carolina, and he feels that it makes sense to explore the possibility of this collaborative undertaking.
Dr. Carter then briefed the Board about two other projects that will the university will consider this fall. The first project would be the expansion of The Cottage. The second project may involve building a new building designed to accommodate special programs such as the McNair Center, the International Studies Program, the Honors Program, the Center for Excellence, and the Center for Entrepreneurship. He noted that this project is still in the beginning stages, and we would have to develop architectural sketches, determine the cost, determine if there will be private contributions to support the project, and then ultimately formulate a proposal to bring to the Board.
Finally, Dr. Carter invited the Board to attend the lunch immediately following the today's meeting.
Unfinished Business:
Dr. Randy Dozier began by referring to the updated list of Committees and Officers. He noted that there have been a number of trustees newly appointed to the Executive Affairs Committee in addition to those chairing other committees. He stressed the importance of alternating trustees in leadership positions. Then, he announced that Mrs. Gail Richardson is the trustee appointee to the Strategic Planning Committee, and that Mr. Frank Elmore has also volunteered to serve on that committee. In addition, Mr. Ken Jackson has been appointed to the Performance Funding Planning Committee. He also stated that Dr. Kevin O'Kelly asked to be the Trustee liaison for the nursing program, and he plans to talk about that in greater detail at the November Board meeting.
Dr. Dozier then reported that there may be a couple of proposed amendments to the bylaws and he delegated that task to the Committee on Bylaws and Board Policy. Dr. Carter then reminded the Trustees that according to the bylaws, if the Board is to vote on the proposal at the November meeting, the proposals must be circulated throughout the Board at least 30 days in advance of the November meeting.
Dr. Dozier indicated that a major goal for the year is to have as much involvement and openness as possible. Finally, he thanked the board for their attendance and thanked Dr. Carter and the staff for their work in coordinating the board retreat, tours, social and board meeting.
New Business:
Dr. Dozier made a motion to adjourn. Mrs. Gail Richardson seconded the motion. The Board adjourned at 12:05 pm.
Respectfully Submitted,
L. Franklin Elmore


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Page One
New: 1937 Oakland/Temescal Fire Foreshadowed 1991 Conflagration In Oakland/Berkeley Hills
September 26 / 27 is the 75th anniversary of one of the five largest wildfires of the 20th century to burn the west side of the Berkeley Hills. Scorching at least a square mile of land south of today's Highway 24 and the Caldecott Tunnel, the fire burned for more than a day and threatened both Oakland and Berkeley residential neighborhoods.
In Oakland, a few houses burned and scores of residents fled. When firefighters thought they had the fire beaten, water shortages helped it take off again in the middle of the night. If the same area burned today, hundreds of homes would be destroyed, as they were in the same area in the 1991 Firestorm.
In Berkeley, volunteers turned out in the middle of the night to rush to the fire lines and prevent the resurgent blaze from spreading north into the hills and reaching the University town.
Despite the drama and extent of those events—including a two-AM city-wide alert that roused Berkeley residents—1937 is largely a forgotten fire. It is certainly recorded in lists of major conflagrations in the East Bay, but doesn't seem to have a historical presence otherwise. It's far overshadowed in living memory by the 1991 Oakland Firestorm, and in history by the 1923 Berkeley Fire.
There are some interesting and sobering parallels between 1937 and 1991. In both events, the fire began on a hot Fall Saturday southeast of Berkeley and billowing smoke was visible to spectators at a Cal football game in Memorial Stadium. Each blaze seemed to be under control on Saturday, but flared to dangerous activity again the next day.
There were two crucial differences, however. First, in 1991, Diablo winds blew off the ridgeline, sending the rejuvenated fire on its destructive course downhill into Oakland and Berkeley. In 1937, although the temperatures were high, what wind there was came off the Bay and apparently nudged the flames into the still-undeveloped hills and away from the lower elevations.
Second, the hill areas of Oakland were still sparsely developed in 1937. If a fire burned the same area today as in 1937, hundreds of homes would be within its footprint. As it was, there were fears of considerable property destruction 75 years ago, and scores of families fled their homes—some of them newly built—with few or no belongings.
(This article is not comprehensive, but simply an attempt to sketch out, primarily from contemporary newspaper reports, what happened in 1937. It's not a full history of that fire, by any means. There are presumably more detailed and illuminating public records and personal accounts that could be located by someone with more time for research.)
Fire weather
Heat blanketed the Bay Area and temperatures had climbed above 90 degrees that Indian Summer Saturday, September 25, 1937, as tens of thousands flocked to California Memorial Stadium to watch the Golden Bears battle St. Mary's. "Football fans…sweltered in their seats, and as the gridmen chased the pig-skin, their playing suits became soaked with perspiration", the Oakland Tribune said.
(The Golden Bears would defeat St. Mary's 30-7 that day, finish as Pacific Coast champions with a 10-0-1 record, field 4 All-Americans, and end the season ranked #1 nationally. It was also the last time California won the Rose Bowl, beating Alabama 13-0.)
In San Francisco it was the hottest day of the year—88 degrees. A 48-year-old Berkeley man died, apparently of heatstroke, in Oakland. Many sought relief at Lake Temescal where, due to the gifts of civic groups, swimming was free for the first time that year. A 19 year-old Oakland man nearly drowned there Saturday, venturing into deep water while trying to swim across the lake. Scores watched while a lifeguard pulled him from the water and a fire department "inhaler crew" worked for half an hour to revive him.
Fire Begins
Not far to the east of the Lake, more potential disaster was brewing. A bonfire fire was started "near a home at 707 Mountain Boulevard early Saturday afternoon," the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported the next day. The Oakland Tribune initially reported it as "of undetermined cause, apparently near the home of Police Inspector Jesse Jackson, at 6019 Pinehaven (sic) Road," a location that's actually rather far to the southeast from the likely site.
In following days, the cause and address were further muddled. 52 year-old W.K. Driggs was arrested for not getting a permit to start a rubbish fire behind a house he had rented at 6064 (sic) Mountain Boulevard, the Tribune reported. The Tribune said "the fire got away from him and spread up a canyon, he explained, before he had any opportunity to call firemen."
(The address given in the arrest article may well have been a mistake, since the 6000 block of Mountain Boulevard is, today at least, far south near Mills College. And 6019 Pinehaven seems too away from the starting point; that claim may reflect a reporter contacting a usual source in the Police Department. Sorting through the articles, an address on the uphill side of the 600 or 700 block of Mountain Boulevard would seem most likely as the vicinity of the initial ignition.)
Whatever the starting point, the fire ran uphill to the east and north into steep, dry, wooded, slopes and canyons. It "spread fanwise through numerous gullies and reached up to Broadway Terrace and Skyline Boulevard about midnight Saturday", the Tribune said. The articles don't mention much wind—a key, and fortunate, circumstance.
Oakland firemen reached the blaze "shortly before 3 pm" reported the Tribune. "During the first six hours the fire had burned across the western edge of the Pinehaven district, up Broadway Terrace to a point just below the Skyline Boulevard, and back down another Canyon to the west."
"An abnormally high temperature which combined with the heat of the flames to leave the fire-fighters sweltering, and the difficulty of getting water into all of the hill areas, hampered the crews all during the afternoon and evening."
The fire initially burned through "a sparsely settled area of the Pinehaven district, and this fact, coupled with the aid by volunteers, had prevented a conflagration that might have engulfed scores of expensive homes (Oakland) Fire Chief Lutkey said" in the Oakland Tribune that Sunday morning. "Acre upon acre of brush and trees, including eucalyptus that sent a pungent pall of smoke pouring over much of Oakland, was burned over in the fire."
On Saturday, "the first outbreak of the flames…sent heavy clouds of smoke and flame high into the air so that the billowing flame-tinted black clouds were easily seen by spectators at the…football game," the Berkeley Daily Gazette reported. A public announcement was made at Memorial Stadium that Berkeley firefighters should report to the department.
In Berkeley, the hot temperatures and towering columns of smoke would have reminded thousands of residents of the disastrous conflagration they had witnessed just 14 years earlier in 1923, a fire that destroyed some 600 buildings and burned from the North Berkeley ridgeline to the edge of Downtown.
Residents flee
Meanwhile, in Oakland, "families fled their homes in fear" the Tribune said. "Others who sought to save their belongings were ordered out by firemen." Five homes were "blackened on Upper Broadway Terrace". Houses were damaged or burned in the 3000 block of Ruthland Road, and the 5500 block of Gwin Road.
(Newspaper accounts variously listed two, three, four, or five houses destroyed, and more than 50 endangered. The discrepancy may have been from early reports that included damaged homes or those that looked like they would surely burn. Three houses destroyed was the number given in the last article I could find, nearly a week after the fire when an accurate account, presumably, would have been available.)
"Scores of residents of the area left their homes empty-handed, too excited to gather up any of their belongings; others snatched up pet animals, blankets and cash." "Those who rushed from their homes found vantage points on nearby hills to watch the progress of the fire, which at times crept slowly through brush and at other times leaped from treetop to treetop." Other residents searched empty homes to release animals—including dogs and rabbits—from the path of the fire.
Mrs. Maeguerite Risley of Farralone Way gave the Tribune an eyewitness account, describing how her extended family fled a gathering. "When the fireman rushed up the hill and told us that we would have to get out right away as a draft was shooting up the canyon, the whole four generations crammed into our sedan and we drove about two miles away where we stood on a hill and watched the fire creep up toward our home…we could see the fire creep right up to our back door. "
"Meanwhile the firemen had connected up hoses and were playing the water on our house. Even so the roof of the houses caught…and all the window panes facing the west, from where the fire came, were cracked by the heat. We said goodbye to our home and tears were streaming down the cheeks of my mother…" Their house, however, apparently did survive.
Mrs. C.F. Humphrey of Broadway Terrace told the Tribune she was busy with house work and "glanced at the fire occasionally over a period of an hour before I realized our home was menaced…I rolled up a pile of blankets and placed them in the car as I thought that I might have to sleep out tonight. I took my silverware and some private belongings and also did not forget to take along 'Skipper' my little canary bird." She also watched the fire from a nearby hill, saying, "…the blaze skipped from tree to tree, until in a few moments it was within a half block of our house." Her home survived also.
Fifteen firefighters on Gwin Road were surrounded by the fire on Saturday, but escaped. Hundreds of feet of hose laid across the hillsides burned. At various times the fire threatened the big P.G. and E. power substation and related high voltage lines near Lake Temescal, and office buildings around the west portal of the as-yet-unopened Low Level Broadway Tunnel (today's Caldecott).
"An abnormally high temperature, which combined with the heat of the flames to leave the fire fighters sweltering, and the difficulty of getting water into all of the hill areas, hampered the crews all during the afternoon and evening" on Saturday.
Fire resurges
Finally, after dark and after more than six hours, the flames seemed abated. But, anticipating a possible flare up, the Berkeley fire department had stationed watchers and run an emergency telephone line "from the fire switch board to a point near the west portal of the tunnel on the old Tunnel Road."
The caution was merited. Water pressure dropped for Oakland firefighters. "Lack of water caused by exhaustion of reservoirs in the hill region hampered the fire fighters", the Tribune reported. "Residents who sought to wet down the roofs of their homes found they could not get enough pressure to do so."
"…water gave out in the Pinehaven reservoir", the Gazette reported. "It was then necessary to pump water in relays from lower areas. Three inch mains…gave only 25 gallons of water a minute despite the capacity of the fire engines to pump 1,000 gallons a minute."
Hoses connected fire engines over a route of about half a mile to reach the danger area on upper Broadway Terrace. The Tribune said "the fire was believed under control at 9 pm" (the Gazette said 7 pm) "but it was just after that that the wind increased and the blaze began crackling rapidly through pine and fir toward the intersection of Pineneedle Road and Upper Broadway Terrace."
Berkeley mobilizes
"The blaze suddenly gained impetus shortly after 1 o'clock…" in the morning the Gazette said. "When the flames jumped across Skyline Boulevard and leaped high out of control in renewed activities shortly after midnight Saturday night, (Berkeley) Assistant Fire chief John Eichelberger, in charge at the look out station…flashed a warning to Fire chief George Haggerty. All off-duty firemen—50 in number—were immediately roused from bed and rushed to cut off the new outbreak. Three water wagons and one Berkeley fire engine also were sent to battle the fire."
"They halted a wall of flame as it tried viciously to leap the old Tunnel Road and spread out in the dry timber back of Berkeley, but… the flames spread fanwise eastward, out of control." The city put an emergency plan into effect, and Chief Haggerty threw a switch at 2:06 am, Sunday morning.
Berkeley residents were thus awakened in the midst of the night by the "shrill scream of the siren" mounted atop Berkeley's tallest downtown building, the American Trust tower at Center and Shattuck (it's now the Wells Fargo Building).
Installed in the aftermath of the 1923 Berkeley Fire, the siren was intended to alert emergency workers that they were needed. It had apparently only been used once before, just to summons off-duty firemen for the 1933 Oakland Hills fire.
When it sounded again in 1937, the call was more widespread. "Volunteers and city employees began flocking to the city corporation yard at Santa Fe Avenue and Allston Way. There city trucks, loaded with tins of water and wet sacks, were ready to rush them to the battle area," the Gazette reported.
"Including the 50 off-duty firemen, a total of 249 Berkeleyans responded to the disaster alarm. This however, according to (Fire) Chief Haggerty, does not include the many unofficial volunteers—Berkeley residents who made their own way to the fire lines."
The city responders included "city employees from the sanitary bureau, the park department, recreation division and off-duty police officers." They were augmented by 70 youths from the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in Wildcat Canyon.
Another 400 to 450 volunteers from the American Legion assembled at the Veterans Memorial Building downtown and the Key System interurban railroad "had also volunteered to send out a force of more than 200 men, if needed."
They apparently weren't. "The swarm of workers first rushed into the hills had already set backfires and isolated the flames in many areas", said the Gazette the next day. "City Manager Hollis R. Thompson, who had watched the fire fighters in the hills throughout the night, expressed satisfaction today after the smoothness with which Division A of the disaster plan had operated" the paper added.
Thompson had only one criticism he relayed to the paper. "Persons interested in the cause of the siren blast seriously hindered both (police and fire) departments by making telephone calls immediately after the siren sounded. I appeal to Berkeleyans to discontinue this practice, or at least to withhold their calls to the police and fire departments for a reasonable length of time after the siren is used."
Final hours
Although many of the Berkeley volunteers were released by 7:00 am Sunday morning, the fire was not extinguished until 9:30 on Sunday night, 31 hours after it began, the papers said. "Backfiring and work in isolated fires in small clumps of brush and trees ended the firefighting last night in the region of Old Tunnel Road," the Tribune reported the next day. "The latter work was regarded as more or less minor, the heaviest fire having been during the early hours of the morning."
And well after the fire was supposedly out, there was a flare-up in drifts of pine needles along a hill road that had to be suppressed.
For some of the Berkeley municipal employees who had responded in the middle of the night to help fight the fire, the workday didn't end with the fire danger. That Sunday, parks employees headed up to North Berkeley to participate in the opening of the Berkeley Rose Garden, which coincidently lay along the edge of the 1923 Berkeley Fire zone.
And quite possibly for Berkeley's fire fighters, it seemed a week of no rest for the weary. At 1:07 am on the night of September 27/28, they were dispatched to deal with a new middle-of-the-night wild lands fire behind the California School for the Blind (now the University's Clark Kerr campus). A second alarm was called less that half an hour later.
"Running up a gulch near Stonewall Road, the blaze quickly spread through approximately an acre of eucalyptus trees and flames leaped high into the sky as a layer of dead leaves, more than a foot deep under the trees, added to the fury of the fire," the Gazette reported in its edition of the 28th. "Apparently started by a cigarette tossed from a machine by some motorist on Tanglewood Road, the fire actually occurred in Oakland, just across the Berkeley line, but the local department responded first because of the inaccessibility of the area from Oakland."
Firemen had to "drag heavy hose lines through the brush and hill area. Several homes in the section would have been endangered by flying sparks had they not had fireproof roofs…Smoldering stumps and hot embers flared up again shortly before noon, but were quickly extinguished."
That same day—Tuesday—the City Manager, in his reports to the City Council, included the following statement:
"That at the fire in Oakland last Sunday morning a portion of the City's Disaster Preparedness Plan was brought into action and that various City groups responded with great efficiency and got into action without delay; that last Friday a meeting on the Disaster Preparedness Plan had been held in the Council Chamber to renew and refresh their memories and that the Plan worked with great smoothness and efficiency; that the fire might have been very disastrous if a heavy wind had been blowing. He (Manager Hollis Thompson) commended the employees of the Bureau of Parks of the Recreation Department, Garbage Department, Bureau of Streets of the Public Works Department, Fire and Police Departments, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company, and the East Bay Transit Company who all worked so effectively."
The Council minutes record, "On motion of Councilman Hoyt, seconded by Councilman Gaines, a resolution was adopted commending the various groups on their efficient work in controlling the fire."
(It seems petty, in hindsight, that Berkeley would officially commend all those departments and businesses with no mention of the Oakland Fire Department that bore the brunt of fighting the big fire, but perhaps the Berkeley resolution only listed those in Berkeley, and intended no slight.)
Even before the fire was fully extinguished, finger pointing began among public agencies. "Fire Chief William G. Lutkey, of Oakland, blamed the spread of the flames on the lack of water and declared the fire water service in the foothills entirely inadequate," the Gazette said.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District responded with a detailed rebuttal in the Oakland Tribune the day after the fire. "John S. Longwell, chief engineer and general manager…said shortage of water was 'in no way a contributing factor' in the loss sustained in the week-end fire. Men and equipment of the district, he said, played an important part in fighting the fire."
"Longwell said: 'A large part of the area is not subdivided and contains no streets and no roads and of course no water mains. The part along Broadway Terrace is served by the Pinehaven No. 1 storage tanks at elevation 1,150, having a capacity of 300,000 gallons. This is the mains storage for the area and is supplied by pumps fed from a lower storage system. At no time during the fire was the storage in the tank below 120,000 gallons and much more water was available. A small tank at elevation 1,350 above the Skyline Boulevard serves a few houses too high to be reached from the 200,000 gallon tank. This tank holds but 40,000 gallons and is provided to supply domestic water to the higher area. This is the small tank referred to as going empty, and is of course not designed for supplying water in large quantities, as this is taken care of by the larger tank. However, the 40,000 gallons in this tank was used and did effective work while it lasted.
Additional storage is provided on the west side of the canyon, in which the fire took place from a 100,000 gallon tank at elevation 1,350. Water from this tank supplies the west portal of the Broadway Low Level Tunnel, and here also water was available at all times during the fire."
"Fighting fires such as this one, in a brushy and wooded country with steep slopes, differs materially from fire fighting in the business and residential sections. Backfiring, together with the use of specially designed portable fire trucks equipped with water tanks, is used effectively', he concluded."
Longwell gave credit to the CCC crews and an EBMUD fire truck for work at the upper end of the fire area "near Grizzly Peak Boulevard and above Skyline Boulevard."
EBMUD board secretary T. J. Roberts added that Lake Temescal could be used for a back-up fire fighting water supply "if the city financed reservoirs and piping."
The public sparring between agencies seems, from the limited evidence of the newspaper articles, to have involved some apples and oranges assertions. EBMUD was probably right in listing the aggregate water available in the area and noting that there weren't big street mains available in areas that hadn't been built up, but the key argument made by the Oakland Fire Department was that three inch lines couldn't supply enough for the pumpers to effectively use once the upper reservoir went dry.
At that point—when the fire was far uphill—the amount of water in tanks at lower elevations wouldn't have mattered much, since a precarious system of hoses and pumpers had to be cobbled together to bring it up in insignificant quantities.
Uncertain size
As with many wildfires of the now-distant past, the area burned in 1937 is ambiguous. Most lists you'll find, on-line at least, say the 1937 fire burned 700 acres, or slightly over a square mile. That would make it the fifth largest recorded fire in the East Bay hills in the 20th century.
The area shown on the Tribune map—which went to press while the fire was still burning—seems to show the fire running close to a mile uphill, as the crow flies, and a narrower zone from north to south.
But the newspaper articles at the time reported anywhere from nine square miles (initially estimated by Oakland's fire chief in the Tribune on Sunday) to an astonishing 14 square miles (the Gazette). On Monday, however, the Tribune added "estimates of the area burned varied from two to nine square miles."
This all bears some scrutiny. When I researched the 1923 Berkeley Fire several years ago, it was clear that the standard accounts of its extent focused mainly on the burned area within Berkeley city limits, and may well have left out additional large acreages burned in the undeveloped hills further to the south and east, after the Diablo winds died down.
Something similar may have been the case with the 1937 fire. In addition, in the massively folded topography of the hills the difference between "square miles" on a flat map and actual acres on the tilted ground can be considerably different. Finally, with fires that burn grassland and brush, even the passage of a single winter / spring seasonal cycle can obliterate obvious traces with new greenery and growth.
Quickly forgotten
However big the fire was, with so little loss of buildings, life quickly resumed in Oakland. The fire story went from a front page-wide headline in the Tribune on Sunday the 27th and a page of dramatic pictures, to a one-column aftermath article the next day to…almost nothing, apparently.
Other news quickly took over, including coverage of the death of San Francisco banker William H. Crocker who reportedly left a million-dollar estate, and a Downtown Oakland parade for native son and tennis champion Don Budge (that year Budge won Wimbledon singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles, the U.S. Open, and a share of the U.S. Davis Cup victory.) And Oakland also commemorated National Fire Protection Week, which focused on home preparations and conventional structure fires.
A final footnote to the fire story came on Friday, October 1, less than a week after the blaze began. W.K. Driggs, the music teacher employed by the W.P.A. who had accidently started the fire, was given a suspended sentence of "a $100 fine or 20 days in jail."
Oakland Police Judge Chris Fox imposed an actual effective penalty of 120 days of probation, noting "probation was granted because he was confident Driggs did not set the fire deliberately and that he was aware of the mental suffering Driggs had undergone." Fox "indicated that severe penalties will attach in similar cases in the future," the Tribune reported.
And on Saturday, October 2 , "the first autumn rain fell in the Bay Region," just a sprinkling, actually. The short wrap-up article in the Tribune about the weather mentioned fallen power lines, and potential damage to crops from Niles to the Central Valley. There was no mention of the beginning of the end of the fire season.
(Steven Finacom is the current President of the Berkeley Historical Society where he co-curated an exhibit on the 75th anniversary of the 1923 Berkeley Fire in 1998.)
For more resources:
The author wrote about the 20th anniversary of the 1991 Firestorm here:
The website of the Hills Emergency Forum, a consortium of agencies with fire fighting and prevention interests in the Berkeley Hills, has good information on local wildfires and fire prevention. http://www.hillsemergencyforum.org/


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In Russia, some segments of major highways are of mediocre quality:
Russia road M53 / Baikal Highway, near Taishet. Source: Wikimedia
Russian Trans-Siberian highway near Cheremshanka, Krasnoyarsk Kray. Source.
For planning purposes it can be useful to know if roads have tarmac or not. Even better is to know the quality of the tarmac. Are there any maps for Russia that show now only where the highways are, but also contain information about the road surface?


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March 19, 2012, 12:30 pm
Couples who have served together under the gold dome of the state Capitol
When the 2013 state legislature convenes, Terry and Nancy Todd — both Democrats — hope to have accomplished a feat achieved by just two other married couples in Colorado: serving simultaneously together under the gold dome.
The other two couples were Republicans.
Bob Burford (House 1975-1980) and Ann McGill Gorsuch Burford (House 1972-1980)
Ben Lewis Alexander (Senate 1995-1998) and Kay Alexander (House 1997-2002)
Follow Kurtis on Twitter: @kurtisalee


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02.18.2012 - NCAA St. Peter's vs. Charlotte (56/113)
Access to downloads is only available to pre-approved media clients; ALL images must be purchased or licensed, this includes for those depicted and their family. We can not e-mail images or allow downloads for ANY other persons, digital files are not available to the general public.
Filename: NCAA_021812_1283_BW.jpg
Copyright © 2012 - Brian Westerholt / Four Seam Images
Copyright © 2012 - Brian Westerholt / Four Seam Images
amateur, college, baseball, Charlotte 49ers, Atlantic 10, Charlotte, North Carolina, A-10, Saint Peter's Peacocks


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Many of you know how this works but here it is again:
* Three rounds, One photo per round.
* Enter as often as you like, Please limit your captions to three per post, Please limit comments about previous captions to the title line if you would.
* You will have 12 to 24 hours notice when the pictures are about to change.
* Each time I bump this thread I will repost the current picture being captioned as a reminder
* You can't win if you don't play and there is no entry fee, So you have nothing to lose.
* Each photo will have a single cash prize of $5000 for the best caption.
* Just to clarify: There is no required minimum membership time period or any other criteria like that for this contest. All members can play.
Here is your first photo:
Bring it on


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A Minecraft Stargate
I've been playing Minecraft for a while now. It doesn't look like much at all, but it's a really fun game. I love the fact that you can build whatever you want. It's like legos, really. Anyway, I built a Stargate in Minecraft. I originally wanted to use the portal blocks, but if you stack two or more together, they just vanish. So I decided to make inner part of the Stargate out of glass and water. This means that you can't walk through it, but it still looks kinda neat. I figure that I could make a wall of water if I had a trough that ran through the middle. But this would mean that you would fall into the trough every time you stepped through the Stargate. There might be other ways… I'll see if I can figure it out. I used lightstone for the chevrons. The gate is bigger than it would be normally, but that was the only way I could make a circle that looked decent.
This is with the default texture-pack in Minecraft. It would probably look better with a better texture-pack.
I'll try to build a DHD next. Probably won't be able to make it look as nice as the original, though.
Here are some better pictures. I'm using the Minecraft Enhanced Texture Pack 256×256. I also noticed that I had placed one of the lightstones in the wrong place. I fixed that.
Here is the world file (it's a zip) if you want to check it out. It's from my multiplayer server and so there are a bunch of other creations on there, that my friends made.


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We found 1 items that match your search.
Advertisement for "Mock Trial of President Robinson"
This clipping from The Student Advocate advertises a student-run mock trial of City College President Frederick B. Robinson at Irving Plaza on May 16, 1936. The trial centered on the recent firing of CCNY Professor Morris Schappes. Schappes, an [...]
Item Type: Text (Flier / Leaflet (1 or 2 page handout))
Subjects: Academic Freedom, Activism, Politics, Student Organizations


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Lesson in Being Careful
Fund: BlueStream Ventures
Posted by Anonymous on 2007-10-28
In the course of building a relationship with Bluestream I disclosed a key customer that our, not yet funded, company was about to do business with. Turns out one of the Bluestream partners had a relationship with someone at the prospect. Two months later, Bluestream had funded a competitor and we found ourselves competing for the business. It eventually worked out in our favor, but was a lesson learned vis-a-vis the character of this firm and, more broadly, the fine line one must walk in disclosing to help build the case for funding and not disclosing to protect the business.PRIVATE: Members Only


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9/11 and MLK Memorials: Two totally amateur yet fully illustrative videos (and a free gift for watching)
One of the more interesting things for me as a reporter is how my cell phone and tablet have replaced my old paper notebook almost completely.
I used to take a lot of notes when I went to see a new building but now I take pictures and video and use that as source material. It's a more accurate way of reporting really. Sometimes written notes can be hard to read, especially if it is cold or raining in the field.
So these movies are really my notebooks from a story I recently did on the MLK and 9/11 memorials. I realized when I was cleaning out my phone that they offered a very realistic take on what it is like to just visit these memorials as you walk through them.
They are raw, rough, jumpy and anxious and worth 3 minutes and 6 seconds of your time. If I say any more I will ruin the experience.
Without comment: First 9/11. Click below for the video.


text: Midwest Migration is a full service guide company. Our mission is to provide a memorable hunt with the use of the best equipment, comfortable blinds and the freshest location through daily scouting. Specializing in: Spring & Fall Snow Geese · Canada Geese Ducks & Swans Ruffed Grouse · Spring Turkey Trophy Whitetails Located in 4 states: North Dakota · South Dakota Nebraska · Arkansas


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At jobs.ac.uk you can browse 1000's of academic jobs in the UK, Europe and across the world. jobs.ac.uk advertises for over 7,000 organisations worldwide including: universities, research institutes, colleges, charities and commercial organisations.
This is just a selection of jobs that are currently available on jobs.ac.uk, to see all a full job list and to refine your job search by keywords, salary or location please visit the Senior Academic jobs page.
Whilst you're searching for employment opportunities, why not visit our Careers Advice section for targeted advice on CVs, job application forms, job profiles and interview tips to help you in your career.


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WC - Rockstar Games has undergone a vast amount of criticism, lawsuits, and overall backlash from the games they have released. Since their 1997 series starter of Grand Theft Auto to the announcement of their 2013 release Grand Theft Auto V, there have been countless articles, speeches, lawsuits, and bans fighting back against the company as well as their publishers. The argument is always the same.
I guess game ratings are useless since everyone ignores them. Seriously, I'm sick of kids messing up "M" Rated games for us adults. They shouldn't be playing them in the first place, so the parents only have themselves to blame.
It's a very simple concept idiot parents and politics just can't seem to grasp.
If you don't want your kid playing a violent game, don't f*cking buy them a violent game!! It's not rocket science.
The ESRB rating system was created for this exact reason, yet most people/parents tend to ignore it.


text: PAGET HEAD OFFICE: 236-2453 6 Valley Road | Open 8:30am - 5:30pm HAMILTON: 295-0919 15 Gorham Road | Open 8:30am - 5:00pm ST. GEORGES: 297-0478 26 York Street | Open 8:30am - 5:00pm DOCKYARD: 234-2764 9 Camber Road, Sandys | Open 8:30am - 5:00pm www.oleandercycles.bm Oleander Cycles has established itself as one of the island's top rental and retail cycle shops. We carry a fantastic range of motorcycles and accessories for you to choose from. Including Kawasaki Jet Skis! We have a large selection of accessories so stop by today and see for yourself why more people are moving to Oleander. Child Seats, Bike Covers etc. GET MOVING!


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This product is unable to be shipped via UPS. Please Contact us for a freight quote.
* Please note: Due to size and weight, our website shipping rates only apply to the contiguous US. Please contact us for a freight quote if the shipping address is outside of the contiguous US.
Our dedicated team can help you find exactly what you're looking for. Simply get in touch with us and we'd be happy to assist you!


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Continues to roll out machines despite cancer warnings from experts
Steve Watson
November 3, 2011
TSA head John Pistole told a Senate homeland security committee hearing Wednesday that the agency will conduct its own research into the safety risks associated with full body scanners currently in use in almost all major airports in the U.S.
While the announcement may appease some lawmakers in Washington, it will almost certainly serve as nothing more than a further endorsement of the technology from the agency that continues to roll out hundreds of the radiation-firing machines across the nation.
Indeed, Pistole has previously made promises in testimony before the Senate, regarding TSA policy, that have simply been later ignored, forgotten about and flouted.
Pistole's words speak volumes about just how rigorously the TSA will test the scanners:
"I am concerned that there's a perception that they're not as safe as they could be," Pistole said after claiming that independent studies have already proven the technology safe.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Peter Kant, executive vice president for Rapiscan, which makes the backscatter x-ray scanners said "We certainly support any additional testing to once again revalidate the safety."
Adding that he shares Pistole's concern about public perception, Kant declared that additional tests should help end "perpetuation of the falsehood that the machines are unsafe."
The issue of body scanner safety was once again thrust into the spot light this week by renewed efforts on behalf of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) to force the Department Of Homeland Security to disclose documents containing radiation testing results, agency fact sheets on body scanner radiation risks, and images produced by the machines.
EPIC has filed a motion for summary judgment in its ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the DHS.
EPIC previously obtained hundreds of pages of documents detailing the radiation risks presented by the machines.
The documents revealed that the TSA, and specifically the head of the Department of Homeland Security, "publicly mischaracterized" the findings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in stating that NIST had positively confirmed the safety of full body scanners in tests.
The documents, including internal TSA emails, also revealed that TSA employees are greatly concerned by a surge in cancer cases among their number. Agents stationed at Boston Logan airport directly voiced their concerns to a TSA representative who promised to relay them to TSA headquarters.
A new report published this week by independent reporters for ProPublica, in conjunction with PBS NewsHour, also details how the "U.S. Government Glossed Over Cancer Concerns" as it rolled out the scanners into airports.
The other major finding to come from the report indicated that the Food and Drug Administration went against the advice of a 1998 expert panel, which recommended the agency set a mandatory federal safety standard for the machines. Several members of that panel said they were concerned about widespread use of X-ray scanners, including in airports.
The TSA has thus far refused to address the scores of real independent scientists who have continued to speak out over the health hazards associated with the x-ray technology, noting that the body scanners are far from safe.
John Sedat, a University of California at San Francisco professor of biochemistry and biophysics and member of the National Academy of Sciences told CNet that the machines have "mutagenic effects" and will increase the risk of cancer. Sedat previously sent a letter to the White House science Czar John P. Holdren, identifying the specific risk the machines pose to children and the elderly.
The letter stated:
"it appears that real independent safety data do not exist… There has not been sufficient review of the intermediate and long-term effects of radiation exposure associated with airport scanners. There is good reason to believe that these scanners will increase the risk of cancer to children and other vulnerable populations."
The TSA has repeatedly stated that going through the machines is equal to the radiation encountered during just two minutes of a flight. However, this does not take into account that the scanning machines specifically target only the skin and the muscle tissue immediately beneath.
The scanners are similar to C-Scans and fire ionizing radiation at those inside which penetrates a few centimeters into the flesh and reflects off the skin to form a naked body image.
The firing of ionizing radiation at the body effectively "unzips" DNA, according to scientific research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The research shows that even very low doses of X-ray can delay or prevent cellular repair of damaged DNA, yet pregnant women and children will be subjected to the process as new guidelines including scanners are adopted.
The Inter-Agency Committee on Radiation Safety concluded in their report on the matter that governments must justify the use of the scanners and that a more accurate assessment of the health risks is needed.
Pregnant women and children should not be subject to scanning, according to the report, adding that governments should consider "other techniques to achieve the same end without the use of ionizing radiation."
"The Committee cited the IAEA's 1996 Basic Safety Standards agreement, drafted over three decades, that protects people from radiation. Frequent exposure to low doses of radiation can lead to cancer and birth defects, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,"reported Bloomberg.
Scientists at Columbia University also entered the debate recently, warning that the dose emitted by the naked x-ray devices could be up to 20 times higher than originally estimated, likely contributing to an increase in a common type of skin cancer called basal cell carcinoma which affects the head and neck.
"If all 800 million people who use airports every year were screened with X-rays then the very small individual risk multiplied by the large number of screened people might imply a potential public health or societal risk. The population risk has the potential to be significant," said Dr David Brenner, head of Columbia University's centre for radiological research.
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones' Infowars.net, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.
This article was posted: Thursday, November 3, 2011 at 9:36 am


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February 23, 2020
Well-Being + Emerging Technology "Hack Happiness" to evolve the GDP
Submitted by: Happathon
Categories: Business Ethics, Health & Wellness
Posted: Dec 28, 2012 – 09:00 AM EST
NEW YORK, Dec. 28 /CSRwire/ - The H(app)athon Project™, an initiative dedicated to harnessing the power of emerging technologies to help the world measure happiness in an effort to create a more complete picture of holistic well-being, is announcing the launch of their overall work today along with two events in New York and London on March 20, 2013 to correspond with the United Nations International Day of Happiness.
"It's time to hack happiness," says John C. Havens, Founder of the Project and author of H(app)y – The Value of Well-Being in a Digital Economy (Tarcher/Penguin, 2014). "The science of well-being is flourishing and happiness can be quantified in ways never before imagined because of the rapid evolution of emerging technologies and the popularity of people measuring and optimizing their own life experiences. Likewise, the notion of value for countries is moving beyond focusing largely on wealth with the proliferation of global Happiness Indicators as inspired by Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index. The mission of The H(app)athon Project is to identify common traits between existing Indicators by crowdsourcing a global view of happiness and creating a technology platform that will increase people's well-being by helping them see how others are improving their lives so they can do the same."
While the events on March 20th (at AlleyNYC and The Hub) are focused on creating awareness, the Project will feature its first 48-hour hackathon the following weekend (March 23-24) at The Hub Culture London Pavilion at Hub Westminster. The hackathon will be organized by Data Science London, the largest data science community in Europe.Currently, people are encouraged to sign up for the Project's Newsletter and to take part in their Mobile Happiness Indicator Survey at happathon.com. The survey is being created on the ilumivu platform and will feature questions via smartphone and feature phone over the course of two weeks to get a sense of how people view their well-being in the digital age. Results will be posted in a creative commons environment on the Project's website and wiki and people's anonymized, opt-in data will be used as a basis for the first Hackathon in London and to better create a roadmap for the digital app/methodology the Project is building over the following year.
Jon Hall, of the United Nations Development Program and former manager of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Global Progress on Measuring the Progress of Societies, notes that "Heads of state, Nobel laureates and leading business people are among those now seeking to promote a vision of national progress that is based on increased well-being, not just increased GDP. This is a vision where economic activity is seen as a means to an end, not an end in itself. But to promote that vision, citizens and governments need to understand what well-being looks like, whether we are making progress towards it, and how we can change course if we are heading off track. This requires new conversations, new measurements and new data. The H(app)athon Project could make a major contribution to this vision."
The H(app)athon events on March 20th will feature H(app)athon Project Committee Members JP Rangaswami, Chief Scientist of Salesforce, Jon Hall of the United Nations Development Program, and Mary Czerwinski, Research Manager at Microsoft Research. The inaugural H(app)athons will feature presentations by these members and other guests about the synergies between well-being, emerging technology, and Happiness Indicators followed by an interactive workshop where attendees will brainstorm ideas for apps or platforms that could improve well-being in a digital economy.
"The economic crisis has prompted us to rethink the definition of 'value', says Tim Leberecht, CMO of frog, the global innovation firm and member of The H(app)athon Project Committee. "It's time to measure what really matters and to incorporate happiness and well-being into the GDP and make it the responsibility of every enterprise. The rise of Big Data and social technology has given companies a unique opportunity to understand their employees and customers more holistically. I am delighted that the H(app)athon Project will further raise awareness of this transformation and combine existing indices and models into a powerful global platform."
"The reason I'm excited about The H(app)athon Project is that it's bringing together such an amazing group of people from all walks of life," notes Mary Czerwinski of Microsoft. "The Project will provide opportunities to create an open source view of applications and platforms that can be used to change the world, for good."
'H(app)athon Toolkits' available at happathon.com, will allow anyone to host their own event and imagine a future where well-being reflective of people's genuine happiness dictates a new vision of global value. Multiple H(app)athons and hackathons will be hosted throughout 2013 culminating in a large-scale conference featuring results of the Project to be held in New York City on March 20, 2014. The Project is currently seeking sponsors for the overall Initiative and will also be featuring a Podcast, "Datapocalypse" to launch in early 2013.
The H(app)athon Project Committee:
John C. Havens. (Founder). Author, Speaker, Contributing writer for Mashable.
David Richeson. Chief Digital Officer, Kaplow Communications.
Joshua Middleman. Director of Partnerships, Ashoka Changemakers.
Laura Musikanski. Co-Founder, The Happiness Initiative.
Stewart Townsend. Founder, Big Data Week.
Kat Houghton. Co-founder & Research Director at ilumivu.
Ernesto Ramirez. Community Organizer, Quantified Self.
Amber Melhouse. Director, Business Development at Rakuten LinkShare Corporation.
Stan Stalnaker. Founding Director, Hub Culture LTD.
JP Rangaswami. Chief Scientist, Salesforce.
John Clippinger. Founder, ID3, MIT Media Lab Human Dynamics Group.
Tim Leberecht. CMO, frog.
Eiji Han Shimizu. Producer, The HAPPY movie.
Jon Hall. United Nations Development Program
Scott L. David. Exec Director, Law, Technology & Arts Group at the University of Washington.
William Hoffman. Director, World Economic Forum's Telecommunications Industry Group.
Thanassis Rikakis. Vice Provost, Design, Arts and Technology at Carnegie Mellon University.
Konstantin Augemberg. Founder, MeasuredMe Blog.
Mary Czerwinski. Microsoft Research Manager of the (VIBE) Research Group.
Neal Lathia. Research Associate, Computer Laboratory at University of Cambridge.
Kim Whittemore. Baby Quest Foundation, Institute for Sexual Medicine.
Joselyn DiPetta. Gender and Social Inclusion Specialist, axialent.
Susannah Fox. Associate Director, Digital Strategy. Pew Internet and American Life Project.
Evan Selinger. Writer, Associate Professor, Philosophy and Graduate Program, RIT.
Carlos Somohano. Founder, Data Science London.
Sean W. Bohan. Co-Founder, Decahedralist Consulting.
Alexis Adair. MS candidate, researching knowledge management and happiness at work.
JaNaé Duane. Author, Professor, Founder of the Revolution Institute
Kalev H. Leetaru. University of Illinois.
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text:
By HENRY HOMEYER
Wind in the Willows, one of my favorite children's books, has a great quote that came to me recently. The water rat says to his friend, the mole, "Believe me, my young friend, there is NOTHING -- absolute nothing -- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Simply messing,' he went on dreamily: `messing--about--in--boats; messing----". At that point he crashes into the bank and comes back to reality.
What, you might fairly ask, does that have to with gardening? Well, at this time of year I would substitute the word "seeds" for "boats". Messing about with seeds is wonderful – for the soul, for the mind, and later – for your garden. It's time now to start planting seeds indoors for summer vegetables.
I generally plant tomato seeds indoors around April 10, sometimes a bit sooner, for planting outdoors 8 weeks later. I have already planted onions, celeriac, a few special peppers and lots of lisianthus (an annual cutflower). Those all need more than 8 weeks. Later, 4-5 weeks before planting time in June, I will start my squash and cucumber seeds in 3-inch pots. By starting them indoors and putting out good-sized plants (they grow fast) I am able to prevent them from being eaten up by striped cucumber beetles. Those beetles can devour a freshly germinated seedling outdoors in a single night – but won't do much to plants with 6-inch vines.
There are a couple of keys to success growing tomatoes and other seedlings indoors. Most important is having adequate light.
You really cannot grow healthy seedlings by depending on sunlight on a windowsill. You need lights – either the new-fangled LED lights for plants, or T-8 fluorescent fixtures that are 4-feet long and provide good light for seedlings. You do not need those special (read expensive) "Gro-Light" bulbs with special wave lengths (equivalent to the sun) for starting seedlings.
Last year I wrote directions for building a simple A-frame plant stand, so will not repeat them this year. You may find it at my web site, www.Gardening-Guy.com. Just go to the search engine box and type in plant stand. Or, if you prefer, design your own or buy a light stand from your local garden center or from Gardeners Supply (www.gardeners.com). But you do need lights to succeed.
It is also critical that seeds and the potting mix you use do not dry out, especially when the seeds are just starting to open up and send out little roots and shoots. They are particularly vulnerable then. So check your seeds every day and water as needed.
You may also get clear plastic covers to fit over your growing flats. These allow light to pass, but hold in water. Water will evaporate, then condense on these covers and rain down gently on your seedlings. You could accomplish the same effect with plastic wrap but then, as they germinated, the plants would butt heads with the wrap. The plastic covers provide an inch or two of growing space, allowing some to grow while others are still waking up.
Commercially prepared seed starting mix is largely composed of peat moss. Peat moss has no "food value" to plants. It provides a light, airy space that roots find easy to penetrate, and it holds water. Most have some fertilizer added, but this soon disappears either by washing away or being used up by the plants. So, as your plants get bigger, plan on giving them some liquid fertilizer – or they will languish.
Seaweed or fish fertilizers are readily available, and are better than chemical fertilizers - they provide a full menu of minerals, including the micronutrients important for plants. Fish fertilizers may offend some delicate noses when growing plants indoors, however.
An alternative to growing seedlings in straight potting mix is to mix it 50-50 with compost. It probably makes sense to buy compost for this even if you make your own. Why? Because commercial compost should be weed-free and your own compost probably is not. Unless you know what each seedling looks like when it first germinates, you may end up babying weeds along – or pulling out your seedlings. This can be a real problem if growing flowers that you have not grown before.
Lastly, think about planting seeds by the position of the stars and moon. I know, I know, it sounds pretty "out there". But last year I used the Stella Natura (www.stellanatura.com) planting calendar which uses biodynamic principles to determine when to plant or transplant, and I saw real differences when I experimented with planting in the designated blackout times. Seeds are still one of life's mysteries – all that life packaged in such a small container. Who knows what really affects them? Not me, that's for sure.
Henry may be reached at email@example.com. His web sites are www.Gardening-guy.com and www.henryhomeyer.com.


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Investigators spoke to several people at Proud Larry's as well as Donna Sowa's friends and neighbors to try to corroborate Mr. Barksdale's alibi for the time Annette Wyatt was killed.
These interviews are representative of all interviews conducted.
Alex Moorehead
Alex Moorehead is Donna Sowa's boyfriend.
• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Alex Moorehead
Detective Parker: Good morning, Mr. Moorehead. Can we ask you a few questions?
Alex Moorehead: Sure.
Detective Parker: Would you please state your name and address for the record?
Alex Moorehead: Sure. Alex Moorehead, 600 McElroy Drive, Oxford, Mississippi.
Detective Parker: What is the nature of your relationship with Donna Sowa?
Alex Moorehead: We've been dating for about a year and a half now. Wait, is this about that agent that was murdered? Donna told me about that. You don't think she did it?
Detective Parker: We need to check all our avenues. I'm just following up on Ms. Sowa's alibi for the night of September 15th.
Alex Moorehead: Well, I was with Donna that entire night. I picked her up from her place at 6:30 p.m., and we went to Proud Larry's for pizza and drinks with Donna's brother Mark, his girlfriend and some other people. All of us left the restaurant at around 8:00 and went back to Donna's to play some cards. They left after midnight.
Detective Parker: And what time did you leave?
Alex Moorehead: The next morning, I guess around 10:00 a.m.
Detective Murphy: And do you know where Donna went then?
Alex Moorehead: I don't think she went anywhere. She said she was going to stay home, do laundry, hang out.
Detective Parker: All right. Thank you for your help, Mr. Moorehead.
Mark Sowa
Mark Sowa is Donna Sowa's brother.
• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Mark Sowa
Detective Parker: Good afternoon, Mr. Sowa. Would you please state your name and address for the record?
Mark Sowa: Mark Sowa, 1903 Anderson Road, Oxford, Mississippi. Will this take long? I'm kind of in a hurry.
Detective Parker: Plans tonight?
Mark Sowa: Catching a movie with the girlfriend.
Detective Parker: Just a couple of quick questions. Were you with your sister on the night of September 15th?
Mark Sowa: That was a Saturday, right?
Detective Parker: Yes.
Mark Sowa: Let's see, I usually meet Leah, my girlfriend, on weekends. That night we met Donna, her boyfriend, Alex, and another couple at Proud Larry's. Then we all went to play cards at Donna's place. It was rare for Donna to invite us over, neat freak that she is.
Detective Murphy: What time did you arrive at Proud Larry's?
Mark Sowa: 6:30 p.m., if I recall correctly.
Detective Murphy: What time did you go to do Ms. Sowa's?
Mark Sowa: Around 8:00 p.m..
Detective Murphy: And what time did you and Leah leave Ms. Sowa's?
Mark Sowa: We all stayed until midnight. Wait a minute. Is Donna in trouble? My sister might be OCD, but she's the most harmless person I know.
Detective Parker: No need to worry, Mr. Sowa. Thank you for your time.
Jenny Bright
Jenny Bright is a waitress at Proud Larry's.
• Detective S. Murphy
• Detective E. Parker
• Jenny Bright
Detective Murphy: Good evening, Ms. Bright. Would you mind answering a few questions?
Jenny Bright: I guess. Will this take long? I've got about three tables waiting.
Detective Murphy: Shouldn't be more than a couple minutes of your time. Please state your name, address, and occupation for the record.
Jenny Bright: Jenny Bright, 101 Creekmore Boulevard, Oxford, Mississippi, waitress.
Detective Parker: How long have you been working at Proud Larry's?
Jenny Bright: A little over two years now.
Detective Parker: Do you work here full time?
Jenny Bright: Oh, no, I'm only here Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday nights. I'm still a full-time student at Ole Miss. This job is just for some extra spending money.
Detective Murphy: Were you working on the night of September 15th?
Jenny Bright: Yes.
Detective Murphy: Do you remember serving three couples together? They would've been fairly young, in their late 20s.
Jenny Bright: We get a lot of couples here. Do you have a picture of any of them?
Detective Parker: This is a picture of Donna Sowa. Does she look familiar?
Jenny Bright: Yeah, I think so. She came in with her boyfriend and two other couples. They were sitting right there in that corner booth.
Detective Murphy: What time did they arrive?
Jenny Bright: 6:00, 6:30 p.m.? In time for the dinner rush.
Detective Murphy: Do you know what time they left?
Jenny Bright: Around 8:00 p.m. I remember because they left the table nearly spotless. Easiest tip I've ever made.
Detective Parker: Did all of them leave together?
Jenny Bright: I believe so.
Detective Murphy: That'll be all, Ms. Bright. We appreciate your help.


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Chevron's tense relations with Richmond
Hazards, taxes strain once-tight relationship
Growing up in Richmond in the 1960s, Andres Soto would watch flares from the Chevron refinery light up the night sky. Pretty cool, he remembers thinking.
Some of his friends had parents working at the plant. The refinery was a force in Richmond's civic life, heavily influencing the city's politics, Soto said.
"They basically ran this place as a company town for a hundred years," he said.
Now the once-tight relationship between Richmond and the refinery has grown strained, tense, at times angry.
A fire at the plant Monday spewed a thick plume of black smoke over the city. Furious residents pilloried refinery Manager Nigel Hearne at a community meeting the following night, some demanding that the refinery shut down.
The anger had been simmering for years, stoked by other fires and explosions at the plant. Many Richmond residents blame the refinery's day-to-day pollution for a host of ills, including the community's asthma rates. Roughly 30 out of every 10,000 children in Richmond require hospitization for the respiratory illness, according to a 2011 Kaiser Family Foundation study.
The refinery remains the largest source of taxes and jobs in a city that has too few of both. Even many residents who resent having to seek shelter indoors when there's an accident at the plant say they don't want Chevron to leave.
City officials understand the refinery's importance. But they've spent much of the last decade wrestling with Chevron over the plant's taxes. Even as Chevron Corp.'s global profits have soared, hitting $26.9 billion last year, the company has tried to nickel-and-dime Richmond, they say.
'The big ogre in town'
And Soto? The kid who used to enjoy watching flares now works for an environmental organization that successfully blocked Chevron's last effort to upgrade the refinery and expand its gasoline production.
"They're the big ogre in town," said Soto, the Richmond organizer for Communities for a Better Environment. He considers Chevron a bully and says the refinery must do a better job protecting its neighbors from pollution.
"We're in favor of them cleaning up their act," he said. "We believe that can be done."
Chevron, for its part, has at times accused the city of being hostile to business. A few years ago, company executives dropped hints that the refinery's turbulent relationship with Richmond might end in "divorce," although they stopped short of saying they would close the plant.
Chevron more contrite
Chevron's attitude since last week's fire has been far more contrite. Company officials have apologized for the incident and vowed to do better. And there's no talk of pulling up stakes.
"We're committed to Richmond," said refinery spokeswoman Heather Kulp. "We've been here for 110 years, and we'd love to be here for years to come."
Richmond City Councilman Tom Butt said that even before the fire, Chevron had been making more of an effort to reach out to the city's officials and residents. He hopes that doesn't change in the aftermath of the fire.
"I think they're trying harder," he said. "I don't want to see them retrench and get back in their holes, the way they did in the past," he said.
Chevron's refinery has been processing crude oil on a windy peninsula jutting into San Pablo Bay since 1902, three years before Richmond incorporated as a city. The refinery formed the foundation of the city's industrial economy, which grew with the addition of a Ford Motors plant in 1930 and four shipyards during World War II.
But after cranking out 747 ships for the war effort, the shipyards eventually closed. So did the Ford plant. The Chevron refinery, in contrast, kept growing.
Capable of processing 257,000 barrels of crude per day, the refinery produces about 20 percent of Northern California's gasoline. Together with a technology research center at the refinery site, Chevron employs about 2,700 people , 7 percent of whom live in the city. The company is Richmond's largest employer, followed by the school district, the city government, health plan Kaiser Permanente and solar company SunPower Corp.
About one-third of Richmond's $124 million general fund budget comes from taxes and fees on the Richmond facility. And, by Chevron's estimate, the refinery spent more than $14 million last year on parts and services from businesses located within the city or in western Contra Costa County.
Impact on the economy
"There are some major companies that are here because of them," said Judith Morgan, president of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce. "Then you start looking at restaurants, caterers, contractors they bring in for short jobs - it goes on and on."
Losing the refinery would be a huge blow, she said.
"The reduction in police, fire, public works - it would be devastating to the city," Morgan said. "It would be a different city."
Many Richmond residents, even those critical of Chevron, say the city needs the refinery. The hardscrabble city has too many neighborhoods plagued by poverty and gang violence and too few jobs.
"To people like us, working there is a dream job," said Margaret Bell, 31, a house cleaner visiting the city's unemployment office Friday. "If you walked through this town handing out Chevron jobs, you'd have all of Richmond behind you. Those are good union jobs. Good pay."
John Rodgers agrees. He suffers from asthma and plans to file a claim against Chevron, saying Monday's fire aggravated his respiratory problems. But that doesn't mean he wants the refinery to close.
'People needs jobs'
"The refinery should be responsible if they're hurting people's health," said Rodgers, 59. "But I don't think they should leave. They need to stay. People need jobs. There's not many jobs around here."
But the jobs and tax money come with an environmental price tag.
Chevron released 575,669 pounds of toxic chemicals into the environment in 2010, making it the 10th largest polluter in the state, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Chevron says the refinery improved in 2011 when it ranked 11th.
Locally, the Richmond plant emitted 33,416 pounds of the chemical benzene into the air in 2010, or 81.5 percent of all the cancer-causing chemical released in the county, according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Chevron counters that it has made significant progress in cleaning up the refinery, cutting its toxic chemical emissions more than 50 percent in the last decade. And since the early 1970s, the refinery's emissions of "criteria pollutants" - a category that includes soot, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides and lead - have dropped 65 percent, according to the company.
"Obviously, we're working to move more in that direction," said company spokesman Justin Higgs.
Mistrust runs deep
But mistrust between local environmentalists and the company runs deep. So when Chevron proposed upgrading some of the refinery's aging equipment and expanding the amount of gasoline it could produce, environmentalists mobilized to stop the project.
They feared that the changes would let Chevron's refinery process heavier grades of crude oil, potentially adding to air pollution. Chevron insisted that the upgrades would simply allow the refinery to process larger amounts of the same grades of crude that the facility currently uses.
The City Council narrowly approved the proposal in July 2008, and construction began in September. But the following year, a Contra Costa County Superior Court judge halted the project, siding with the environmentalists who had challenged Chevron's environmental impact report in court as too vague and incomplete. About 1,000 workers brought in to work on the project lost their jobs.
Chevron has since submitted to the city scaled-back renovation plans.
City and county officials, meanwhile, have fought a series of battles with the company over the refinery's taxes.
Richmond voters in 2008 approved a ballot measure to impose a new manufacturer's tax on the refinery, but a judge struck it down. The city tried to raise the refinery's utility taxes, but eventually agreed to keep the tax rate the same in return for Chevron paying an additional $114 million spread over 15 years.
Mediation over taxes
Chevron, for its part, has repeatedly tried to lower the refinery's property tax assessment, at one point winning an $18 million refund. But an appeals panel this spring decided that both the company and the county had underestimated the refinery's true worth. The two sides are now in mediation.
"We're working to find an amicable solution that works for everyone," Chevron spokesman Higgs said.
Whether Monday's fire will further increase tensions with the city and its people or whether its aftermath will help repair the relationship remains to be seen.
The company has apologized for the fire and its impact on the community and its 103,700 residents. Saying it wants to be a good neighbor, it has set up a process to quickly resolve claims filed by residents who say their health or property was harmed by the fire.
And Chevron representatives have been in constant contact with city leaders throughout the week, updating them on the investigation and asking for suggestions on working with the community, Councilman Butt said.
"I think we would all be better off if we concentrate on the fact that we're going to have a refinery here, so let's see if we can work together to make it safer and healthier," he said.
David R. Baker, Carolyn Jones and Will Kane are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com, email@example.com, email@example.com This story was updated on Aug. 13.


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Verbatim 500GB desktop external hard drive
In case of a crash, just locate this little black box
Review The modern model of day-to-day computer use typically consists of a laptop operated in the office, at home and on the move - constantly increasing the need for reliable back-up drives.
Measuring 20 x 11.3 x 3.5cm and cased in a featureless matte black finish, the Verbatim 500GB external hard drive looks more like the black box from a commercial airliner when compared to some of the more extravagant external HDDs around, like the LaCie Golden Disk or the Iomega eGo hip-flask hard drive. Yet, this simple, understated, monochrome monolith retains a mysterious appeal.
Verbatim's 500GB external HDD: caters for all your back-up needs
Weighing 890g, the drive feels like it has pretty solid build. It comes bundled with a USB 2.0 cable and an AC adaptor which thankfully is not a brick, more a... power pebble, with interchangeable plug points - in this instance, for the UK and for the rest of Europe.
Incidentally, Verbatim also has a version with a Firewire port as well as USB. This variation is also compatible with Mac OS X Leopard's Time Machine automatic back-up feature.
When it's plugged in and powered up, the drive takes a few seconds for everything to sort itself out and then up pops the little icon on your desktop without any worries whatsoever.
To assess its performance, we used Register Hardware's standard drive test: we copied a 1GB folder containing 100 10MB files to the drive. We then duplicated the folder on the drive itself before copying it back to the host computer, in this case a 2GHz Core Duo-based MacBook. All the tests were conducted half a dozen times and the timings used to calculate an average.
Drive Test Results
Data transfer rates in MB/s
Longer bars are better
The Verbatim might not be able to take a beating like some of the other, more rugged external hard drive available. We didn't really want to drop this one on the floor and kick it around a bit... as we have done with others.
For this price, this amount of storage is a bargain. For the serious, no-nonsense user who really isn't drawn to designer hard drives or gravitates towards gimmicks, this is perfect. And it's minimalist style will work against any backdrop: let's face it, black goes with everything. Performance is pretty respectable too.
Sponsored: Detecting cyber attacks as a small to medium business


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Posted: Feb 26, 2013
Following a runner-up finish at the 2013 Spring Kickoff Classic in Orange Park, FL, the King men's golf team climbed to #18 in the latest national poll by Golfstat.com.
The Tornado, picked to finish fourth in Conference Carolinas, shot into the rankings this week based on their finish amongst a strong field of ranked teams in Orange Park. They will return to action March 4-5 at the Richard Randleman Invitational, hosted by Catawba College.


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Neff Press Installs Deep-Draw Filter-Can Line
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Thursday, August 1, 2013
Baldwin Filters, Kearney, NE, a manufacturer of commercial-truck, off-road and industrial filters, has installed a new deep-draw can-making line from Neff Press, St. Louis, MO.Baldwin senior manufacturing engineer John Macrander and Neff Press chief engineer Jon Schmidt will provide a technical presentation on the line during the FABTECH 2013 education program, at a Deep Draw Technologies track on Thursday, Nov. 21, from 8 to 10 a.m. The case study will include basic information on deep-draw technology, and explain the line's high-speed servo-hydraulics, quick die change, automated blank handling, in-die sensing and servo transfers. FABTECH runs November 18-21, 2013 at McCormick Place,
Chicago, IL.
See also: Neff Press, Inc.
Related Enterprise Zones: Presses


text:
139763 - Koni - Special Active Rear Shock - P2 XC90 - 31329768
On Sale | $218.16
Product Information
Product Description
Just as a chameleon adapts to its environment, KONI Special Active transforms to suit various road conditions and the driving style, instinctively.
KONI Special ACTIVE is the next generation of premium shock absorbers that offer superior handling without compromising comfort. It is the latest advancement in the KONI product portfolio. Utilizing the most recent generation of KONI's patented Frequency Selective Damping Technology (ACTIVE Technology), it controls large body motions and cornering forces but smooths expansion joints and rough roads for improved comfort.
Advantages of Special Active Shock Absorbers
- Technology proven on over 1.5 million factory equipped vehicles
- Secure and stable feeling for spirited driving
- Unrivaled aftermarket solution can be fitted to most new and older cars
- Driving refinement for cars, light trucks, SUVs, etc.
- Technology that rivals expensive electronic systems
- Performance for driver and comfort for passengers in one
- Improves safety and road holding
Additional Keywords: STRUT DAMPER
Potential Product Fitment IssuesWill not fit models with self leveling (Nivomat) rear suspension.
Swipe left/right or hover and click arrows to access all 5 images.
About Koni
KONI provides leading, durable and experience-improving technology. KONI helps people move comfortably at whatever speed they desire, wherever they are.
KONI is everywhere from street cars to trains to industrial applications, such as bridges, being used in the most extreme conditions, including the dry Sahara desert and the freezing poles, proving that KONI dampers perform when tested.
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