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1 week ago
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Glass Beach
Following a nice visit with Lucas' dad (aka Grandpa Bill) and his wife up in Fort Bragg last weekend, we went down to Glass Beach for some fresh sea air before embarking on the two hour drive home.
Back in the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents referred to this stretch of beach as "The Dumps" and threw household garbage down from the cliffs above. I know, can you imagine? The area was closed in 1967 and eventually cleanup programs ensued.
Over the decades, pounding wave action has worn the discarded glass of yesteryear into smooth bits of gleaming treasure along the beach so named for its plentiful sea glass.
It was windy and freezing cold but the rock formations were perfect for climbing around on and Clover (I mean Clara, yes, the tiara is under her hood) had a total blast doing just that.
Over the years, in spite of signs forbidding it, the beach has been totally picked over (we saw several beachcombers filling small pails while we were there), to the point where the remaining sea glass is mostly made up of tiny pieces. Though I imagine there were once some amazing treasures to be found.
Speaking of found treasures, this coat is my most favorite recent thrift find. It's like wearing a cozy wool blanket with pockets, I love it. Perfect now that the winter chill has finally found its way to us.
I scored it for six bucks at one of the two new Goodwill stores in town (the cutoff overalls are from the other). I love that there are still new thrift stores popping up here. We already have at least 15, that I can think of, I'm probably forgetting a few. Not to mention others in towns nearby. Whenever I travel anywhere, I always return feeling very thrift fortunate to live where I do.
Out of curiosity, if you don't mind sharing, how's the thrifting in your town?
Posted by Missa 23 comments
Labels: Friends and Family, Outfits, Outings
Monday, January 9, 2012
Day Trippin'
We made the most of this weekend's bizarrely beautiful weather (what is going on January?!) by heading off on a little family outing yesterday. Any guesses where we went?
Nope, it was not The Shire. Guess again...
Following a gorgeous drive out to Point Reyes, we parked at the main visitor center and from there embarked on a short hike to a recreated Coast Miwok village called Kule Loklo.
As I said, the hike was short and when we reached our destination there were all sorts of neat dwellings and structures to explore, perfect for a kid Clover's age, and a fun way to learn a little bit about how these local indigenous people lived.
We followed up our hike with super yummy wood-fired pizza in the quaint and quirky town of Point Reyes Station perfectly paired with a refreshing wheat beer for the parentals. To top it off, they brought us the most delicious Florentine cookies! You-know-who was pretty excited about the free chocolaty goodness, yeah, and of course Clover was stoked too ;)
It was an all around lovely day and ended up being a perfect lil' Sunday family adventure, just what we needed. I mentioned before how I wanted to do more of this type of local exploring, so I'm thinking a good goal for 2012 will be to make it the year of fun day trips! Hopefully a few longer ones too :)
"Clara" fell asleep on the ride home. Yes, it's been awhile, but we officially have ourselves a new character. Remember that Nutcracker movie I told you about? Yup.
We rigged up this tiara thingy out of pipe cleaners and beads because she wanted to emulate this look. She wears the thing EVERYWHERE. I forget sometimes and we'll be walking down the street (or trail) and I'll notice people looking at her with these big smiles on their faces. Then it dawns on me, oh right, she's wearing a crown. Ha, never a dull moment with this one.
See, I'm actually guessing that her new interest in ballet is just the latest manifestation of her love for inhabiting new characters, in this case that of a ballerina, or now more specifically, Clara.
At this age the dance classes we sign her up for are really play based and more for fun than anything else. While there were some valid points brought up in the comments section of my last post regarding the possible pitfalls of girls becoming serious about ballet at a young age, I wouldn't be surprised if something new took its place right quick. We'll see though, I agree, it's definitely important to be aware of that stuff.
Anyway, welcome welcome to 2012! The year of fun day trips! Wishing many a lovely outing upon you this year :)
Posted by Missa 19 comments
Labels: Friends and Family, Kid's Stuff, Outfits, Outings
Friday, January 6, 2012
Tiny Dancer
Clover took her first ballet class recently and she loved it.
The session ended the week before Christmas and on the final day of class, the parents were allowed in to observe (and in some cases take a ton of pictures ;)
The whole thing was incredibly adorable.
Getting to see this little girl shine in brand new ways is one of the great joys of being her mama :)
A little back story on the ballet class: Clover has a tendency to stick to her mama like glue. For example, even though she goes on to be fine and have wonderfully independent days shortly after I leave, every morning that I drop her off at pre-school involves a whole song and dance with me often having to literally pry her from whatever body part of mine she has attached herself to in hopes of me not leaving.
Usually all it takes is an "uppie" from one of her wonderful teachers as they skillfully direct her focus elsewhere allowing me to quietly slip away. Though every once in awhile there are tears involved.
She had been wanting to take ballet for awhile and I had hesitated, knowing that it was going to be a drop your kid off at the door kind of thing. I was pretty nervous about how it would all go down. We had discussed it and she had assured me that she could do it. I was still nervous.
It was such a relief when we showed up that first day and she just darted off, never looking back, lining up outside the door with a group of little girls she'd never met, to follow a brand new teacher into class. Watching her sheer excitement over the class propel her little body forward, effortlessly away from me, made me feel just as proud as watching her do those sweet little dance moves for the first time in front of all the parents.
Little did we know that following the performance, there would be even more excitement awaiting us at home...
A lovely surprise package from Nicole!
Which included a special little bundle of goodness for Clover and some wearable treasures for Mama, as well as an awesome little book from the 70's that will be perfect for helping me with my goal of creating a more homespun Christmas next year. Thank you for being so thoughtful Nicole!
A couple of days later, we took Clover to see a local production of The Nutcracker put on by our friend Lily's mom's ballet studio in Sebastopol. The sets and costumes were so beautiful and fantastical and the music and dancing inspired even more of this around the house than we were already seeing:
I took these videos on Christmas morning as Clover danced around our living room in her new ballet gear. She looks so sweet and innocent in that first one, doesn't she?
Do not be fooled...
It starts off innocent enough, until her mischievous side takes hold. Our poor kitty, he is not a willing dance partner. If you listen closely, you can hear his little cries. I had to rescue him. It's amazing what the little guy puts up with from her, no biting, no scratching.
Yesterday we watched this 80's film version of The Nutcracker (costumes and sets by Maurice Sendak!) and when it was over, she immediately wanted to dress up as one of the dancers in the waltz of the flowers, her favorite part. So we pulled out the insane tutu that my friend Abby got her for her birthday.
As you can see, she was completely in the zone.
We just got her a pair of wee tap shoes too. Next week she starts a new class. This time it's ballet/tap. She's excited. Should be fun :)
Posted by Missa 15 comments
Labels: Friends and Family, Gifts, Kid's Stuff, Swaps
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Need A Bail Bondsmen In Tampa, FL?
Our agents at Hillsborough County & Tampa Bail Bonds are dedicated to providing the best customer service for our community. Our mission is to provide the Tampa bay area with outstanding customer service on every level. That's why our motto is, We got you covered!
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That is why our agency Hillsborough County Bail Bonds will take care of everything for you giving you peace of mind. We also give you options that most bail bond agencies will not provide. We are a little different in this case. You're not a dollar sign you're a human and we feel treating people as a number is not the best customer service. We will give you all the information that will help you make the appropriate decisions.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
CENSUS – Chlorinated Methanes
|Detect and quantify bacteria responsible for biodegradation of Chlorinated Methanes
Chlorinated methanes including carbon tetrachloride (CT), chloroform (CF), and dichloromethane (DCM) were widely used as solvents, degreasers, fumigants, and chemical intermediates in industrial processes and now are common groundwater contaminants. With potential adverse health effects including increased cancer risk, maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) have been esablished for carbon tetrachloride and dichloromethane. In additiona, chlorinated methanes are also common co-contaminants at tetrachlorethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) impacted sites. The presence of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform can be especially problematic at PCE/TCE sites due to inhibition of reductive dechlorination of chlorinated ethenes (Bagley et al. 2000; Duhamel et al. 2002)
The mechanisms for degradation of chlorinated methanes and consequently the assessment approaches differ considerably between compounds and depend on redox conditions. Below provides a brief summary of degradation mechanisms and applicable assessment tools.
Carbon Tetrachloride: Under anaerobic conditions, cometabolic degradation of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform by methanogens, acetogens, fermenters, sulfate-reducing bacteria, and iron-reducing bacteria has been widely reported (see Field and Sierra-Alvarez 2004 for a review). In these studies, CT is sequentially reduced to CF and DCM but CO2 and CS2 have also been reported as byproducts. The biotransformation of CT and CF is believed to be a result of reduced enzyme co-factors common in anaerobic microorganisms such as vitamin B12. CT is also susceptible to abiotic degradation by magnetite and other iron-bearing minerals including iron sulfides (He et al. 2009) formed as a result of iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria.
Chloroform: Unlike CT, chloroform can serve as a growth supporting electron acceptor by some Dehalobacter and Desulfitobacterium spp. (Grostern et al. 2010; Tang et al. 2013; Ding et al. 2014). In these strains, reductive dechlorination of chloroform to DCM was linked to the cfrA and ctrA genes also implicated in reductive dechlorination of 1,1,1-trichloroethane. As with carbon tetrachloride, chloroform is susceptible to cometabolic degradation by methanogens and other anaerobic microorganisms. Under aerobic conditions, methanotrophs and other microorganisms producing oxygenase enzymes can co-oxidize chloroform.
Dichloromethane: Anaerobic degradation of DCM as a sole carbon and energy source has been demonstrated for methanogenic and aceotgenic cultures. For example, Dehalobacterium formicoaceticum isolated from an acetogenic enrichment culture converts DCM and CO2 into formate and acetate (Magli et al. 1996). More recently, a Dehalobacter isolate which had been thought to be an obligate halorespiring bacterium, has also been shown to ferment DCM producing acetate (Justicia-Leon et al. 2012). Many aerobic methylotrophic bacteria, belonging to diverse genera (Hyphomicrobium, Methylobacterium, Methylophilus, Pseudomonas, Paracoccus, and Albibacter) have been isolated which are capable of utilizing DCM as a growth substrate. The DCM metabolic pathway in methylotrophic bacteria is initiated by a DCM dehalogenase (dcmA) producing formaldehyde which is further oxidized (La Roche et al. 1990). Finally, methanotrophs utilizing methane as a primary substrate can co-oxidize DCM (Oldenhuis et al. 1989).
Bagley, D. M., M. Lalonde, V. Kaseros, K. E. Stasiuk and B. E. Sleep (2000). "Acclimation of anaerobic systems to biodegrade tetrachloroethene in the presence of carbon tetrachloride and chloroform." Water Research 34(1): 171-178.
Ding, C., S. Zhao and J. He (2014). "A Desulfitobacterium sp. strain PR reductively dechlorinates both 1,1,1-trichloroethane and chloroform." Environmental Microbiology.
Duhamel, M., S. D. Wehr, L. Yu, H. Rizvi, D. Seepersad, S. Dworatzek, E. E. Cox and E. A. Edwards (2002). "Comparison of anaerobic dechlorinating enrichment cultures maintained on tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene, cis-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride." Water Research 36(17): 4193-4202.
Field, J. A. and R. Sierra-Alvarez (2004). "Biodegradability of chlorinated solvents and related chlorinated aliphatic compounds." Reviews in Environmental Science and Biotechnology 3(3): 185-254.
Grostern, A., M. Duhamel, S. Dworatzek and E. A. Edwards (2010). "Chloroform respiration to dichloromethane by a Dehalobacter population." Environmental Microbiology 12(4): 1053-1060.
He, Y., C. Su, J. T. Wilson, R. T. Wilkin, C. Adair, T. Lee, P. Bradley and M. Ferrey (2009). Identification and characterization of methods for reactive minerals respnsible for natural attenuation of chlorinated organic compounds in ground water, US EPA.
Justicia-Leon, S. D., K. M. Ritalahti, E. E. Mack and F. E. Löffler (2012). "Dichloromethane Fermentation by a Dehalobacter sp. in an Enrichment Culture Derived from Pristine River Sediment." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78(4): 1288-1291.
La Roche, S. D. and T. Leisinger (1990). "Sequence analysis and expression of the bacterial dichloromethane dehalogenase structural gene, a member of the glutathione S-transferase supergene family." Journal of Bacteriology 172(1): 164-171.
Mägli, A., M. Wendt and T. Leisinger (1996). "Isolation and characterization of Dehalobacterium formicoaceticum gen. nov. sp. nov., a strictly anaerobic bacterium utilizing dichloromethane as source of carbon and energy." Archives of Microbiology 166(2): 101-108.
Oldenhuis, R., R. L. Vink, D. B. Janssen and B. Witholt (1989). "Degradation of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons by Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b expressing soluble methane monooxygenase." Applied and Environmental Microbiology 55(11): 2819-2826.


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He was married to Helen BELL.(15)
He was married to Camilla STONE in 1859. Children were: John EDWARDS, Henry EDWARDS , Ernest EDWARDS, James EDWARDS , Berta EDWARDS.
She was married to Edward WALLER on 8 Jan 1817 in , Bourbon, KY. (651)(15) Children were: Sarah Maria WALLER, Francis WALLER, James WALLER, Eliza WALLER, Ariadne Kate WALLER.
She was married to James WALSTON in Feb 1857.(15) Children were: Ariadnas WALSTON, Lucinda Ann WALSTON, James Henry WALSTON, Robert Isbell WALSTON.
He was married to Lucinda Ann NOAH OR NOOE on 25 Mar 1818 in , Bourbon, KY. (15) Children were: John Alexander EDWARDS , Mary Anne EDWARDS, James Garrard EDWARDS, Benjamin Franklin EDWARDS, Harriet Catherine EDWARDS, Ariadne E. EDWARDS , John Henry EDWARDS, Charles Nooe EDWARDS, Oscar EDWARDS.
He was married to Mary Ann NORWOOD on 6 Jul 1837 in Courtland, Lawrence, AL.(15) Children were: Beverly Glass EDWARDS, Arabella Josephine EDWARDS , Alabama Harrison EDWARDS, Thomas Archer EDWARDS, Martha B.L. "Pattie" EDWARDS, Richard Pryor EDWARDS, Frances "Fannie" EDWARDS, William Liberty EDWARDS.
He was married to Thushy J. STONE OR SNOW about 1856.(15) Children were: Alice EDWARDS, Laura EDWARDS, Mary EDWARDS, Charles H. EDWARDS, Alabama J. EDWARDS, Harrison EDWARDS, Mildred EDWARDS, James EDWARDS.
He was married to Mary GARRARD on 6 Jul 1794 in , Bourbon, KY. (656)(15) Children were: Susan Waller EDWARDS, Elizabeth Garrard EDWARDS, Arabella EDWARDS, Mary D. EDWARDS, James Garrard EDWARDS, Ariadne EDWARDS, Achilles EDWARDS, Anne E. EDWARDS, John Henry EDWARDS, Margaret EDWARDS, Julia A. EDWARDS.
He was married to Susanna WROE. Children were: Maj. John EDWARDS Jr. .
He was married to Margaret KELLAR on 8 Nov 1832.(658) Children were: Achilles EDWARDS, Benjamin Franklin EDWARDS, John Monroe EDWARDS, Abraham Kellar EDWARDS, John Henry EDWARDS, Mary Elizabeth EDWARDS, Noah Amos EDWARDS.
He was married to Maud WITHERS .(661)
He was married to Sarah M ISH on 30 Sep 1864 in , Solano, CA.(15) Children were: Cora EDWARDS, Grace Walston EDWARDS, John Henry EDWARDS.
She was married to John Milton SMISER on 23 Nov 1842 in , Harrison, KY or Bourbon, KY. (665)(15) Children were: George Perrin SMISER, Arabella Perrin SMISER , John Edwards SMISER, James Samuel SMISER, William Garrard SMISER, Henry Thomas Allen SMISER, Wesley Taylor SMISER , Mary Eliza SMISER, Milton Berry SMISER, Llewellyn Davis SMISER.
She was married to Warren U. SERBER. (667)
She was married to Nathaniel DAVIS on 27 Feb 1827 in , Bourbon, KY.(669) (15) Children were: Llewellyn DAVIS, John B. DAVIS, James DAVIS.
She was married to THOMASSON after 1870. (15)
She was married to Alvin MOUNTJOY. (671)
She was married to Bryce WILSON about 1836 in Alabama.(15) Children were: Bryce Alexander WILSON, James Edwards WILSON, William WILSON, Mary Lucinda WILSON, Charles Ebenezer WILSON , Walter Scott WILSON, Clementina Mcquiston WILSON, Harriet Katerine WILSON, Marshall Clarke WILSON, Margaret WILSON, Ada WILSON, Caledonia WILSON.
She was married to Alexander NOAH OR NOOE on 6 Jan 1818 in , Bourbon, KY. (674) Children were: Charles Henry NOAH , Mary Lucretia NOAH, Arabella Perrin NOAH, Maud Louisa NOAH, Susan Elizabeth NOAH, Ariadne Edwards NOAH, James William NOAH, Lucinda Ann NOAH OR NOOE , John Alexander NOAH, Mary Jane NOAH, Margaret Adaline NOAH.
He was married to Nancy E. ALTERBERG on 29 Mar 1870.(678) Children were: Nona M. EDWARDS, John Henry EDWARDS, Lela M. EDWARDS, Mary EDWARDS, Nannie Laura EDWARDS, Emma Holliday EDWARDS.
She was married to Ashley TUCKER. (680) Children were: Noah Scott TUCKER , Blanche E. TUCKER, Leonora TUCKER.
He was married to Mary BLEDSOE ? before 1870. (15)
She was married to John R. TULL on 17 Feb 1818 in , Bourbon, KY.(15) Moved to Williamson county, TN. Farmers. Children were: Beverly W. TULL, Mary E. TULL, Ulysses A. TULL, Premata TULL, Ariadne E. TULL, John Newton TULL, George Dotson TULL, Dr. Dudley Garrard TULL.
He was married to Sarah Ann BROOKS on 1 Mar 1875 in , Fayette, TX.(15) Children were: Thomas Arthur EDWARDS.
He was married to Patti Sue WITHERS.(15)
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Go to next 50 names.
Return to Table of Contents


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Development in our life is very much essential. Business starts from a basic level and with the gradual pacing, the business starts to grow and reach a level from where profit begins to bless us. Today, the technology era has blessed human kind with numerous innovations and discoveries that are not only helping in developing our personality but also to leapfrog the technicalities that obstructs the business growth. Web application development has entered a new phase and showing a significance performance to develop the online business and re-shaping the dull websites and its internal discrepancies.
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If you want to outsource web development services, there are six primary areas where utmost care is required:
· Information Gathering
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Web development services in India have really turned out to be in great demand as it is saving time and risk for a major part of the online communities. The productivity of your website is sure if professionals render web development solutions and fulfill your wishes at pocket-friendly costs.


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|Birthday dinner with Derek and friends
17 years ago I started my journey into motherhood, where has the time gone? It seems like a 100 years ago and yesterday all in the same moment! Derek Weston..how sweet it is to think of the darling baby he used to be, but after 17 years, things haven't changed a whole lot..to me it's still easy to see that endearing newborn that had my heart so deeply in love that I thought I'd never come down from cloud 9. Through a mop of hair, a few struggling whiskers and a much deeper voice, I now look up to him when he speaks and can in an instant be moved back into the clouds with pride of the boy he once was and the fine man he has become. Happy Birthday Derek!


text:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is margin trading?
Margin trading has two main aspects: trading with leverage and shorting. In trading with leverage, a trader borrows assets to increase the amount of assets they are trading. By doing so, they magnify the gains or losses of their trade. The borrowed assets are known as a margin loan. To obtain the margin loan, the trader puts up assets that serve as collateral. The terms of the margin loan specify a collateral-to-loan ratio. If the trade falls below the specified ratio, the trade is liquidated and the lender is made whole using the trader's collateral.
Margin trading also includes shorting. In shorting, a trader essentially sells assets they do not own. The short investor borrows an asset and sells it on the expectation that the assets will lose value.
What is margin lending?
In margin lending, a lender lends funds to a margin trader who trades with those funds. The lender receives interest on the funds loaned out.
What are decentralized exchanges?
In centralized exchanges, a central party holds the private keys to your wallet and ultimately has control of your funds. In a decentralized exchange, smart contracts replace the centralized third party, allowing you to keep control of your wallet and funds.
What are the risks of centralized exchanges?
When you use centralized exchanges, you are exposed to custodial risk. Custodial risk is the risk you take when you allow someone to have control of the private keys to your funds. Centralized exchanges have three main risks:
- The exchange gets hacked.
- The exchange runs away with your funds (an "exit scam").
- A regulatory crackdown causes your funds to be frozen or unaccessible.
What sort of interest rates can I expect as a margin lender on a centralized exchange?
Market rates on centralized exchanges, when accounting for compounding interest, often reach between 15–40% APR depending on market conditions and the asset in question.
What is global liquidity?
Global liquidity pools are when liquidity pools are shared between all of the different relayers and exchanges using the protocol. Exchanges are incentivized to host orders from other relays and exchanges and mirror order books to maximize the volume on the relayer exchange. bZx enables global liquidity pools.
What is Universal Liquidity?
bZx is creating a bridge between the liquidity pools of the centralized and decentralized exchange ecosystems. This is Universal Liquidity, which goes one step beyond global liquidity. Universal Liquidity bridges together the liquidity of all exchanges and relays.
How do the margin lending interest rates on decentralized exchanges compare with those of centralized exchanges?
On decentralized exchanges, you should expect similar interest rates as on centralized exchanges. However, the interest rates are likely to be slightly lower because centralized exchanges make traders pay a premium due to taking on custodial risk.
What are central counterparty clearing houses (CCPs)?
Central counterparty clearing houses are third parties that get between lenders and traders to pool risk. They function to net out liquidation risk: if any one trader fails to get liquidated, the damage is spread out across lenders so that the damage to any one lender is minimized. The central counterparty clearing house becomes the counterparty to the buyer and the seller and guarantees the terms of a trade even if one party defaults on the agreement. The central counterparty clearing house collects enough funds from each buyer and seller to cover a lender's losses if an agreement is not followed through.
What are deCentralized counterparty clearing houses (dCCPs)?
deCentralized counterparty clearing houses perform the same role as centralized counterparty clearing houses. But instead of being run by trusted third parties, they're run by trustless smart contracts.
Why are decentralized exchanges better for margin traders and lenders?
Decentralized exchanges are better for margin traders for the following reasons:
- You stay in control of your keys and keep your funds secure.
- Lower interest rates.
When you're lending money and your biggest risk is getting hacked — and that risk could mean losing all your funds — then it becomes a no-brainer to use decentralized exchanges.— Kyle Kistner, bZx co-founder.
How do I know I have control over my private keys?
If you don't know what your private keys are, you don't have control over them. When you open an account on a centralized exchange, they create a wallet for you and maintain the private keys. Examples of centralized exchanges include Coinbase, Bitfinex, Binance, Poloniex, and Bittrex.
In the bZx protocol, how do lenders and traders maintain control of their keys?
bZx replaces the third party who would normally hold lenders' and traders' keys with a smart contract. The smart contract doesn't need to hold lenders' and traders' keys.
How can an exchange use the bZx protocol to tap into Universal Liquidity?
Exchanges will list the interest-bearing versions, iTokens, of any token for which they would want to enable margin lending. They would need to configure their backend to correctly route token interest to the correct exchange account from the exchange wallet. By listing iTokens, the exchanges are able to tap into Universal Liquidity and offer much greater liquidity to their users.
What makes bZx secure?
bZx runs on an immutable, censorship-resistant, decentralized blockchain. bZx is composed of audited smart contracts that no third party can control, including the developers. The bZx protocol will be audited extensively by at least three leading smart contract security auditors.
What is an iToken?
An iToken is a token wrapped in a smart contract that enables the token to generate interest. To receive an iToken, you send your token into a smart contract and then that smart contract generates a token that represents that token but has slightly different functionality. The iToken is essentially an IOU. It is one-to-one redeemable for the parent token. By sending your token to the smart contract that creates the iToken, you're essentially sending your token off to work. Whenever you send in the IOU slip represented by the iToken, you're able to get back your original token. It's a lot like how banks pay you to let them loan your deposits out behind the scenes, but with smart contracts instead of middlemen. Welcome to the first unBank account. :)
What does the BZRX token do?
The BZRX token has two functions:
- The BZRX token is a governance token: holders get to vote on the direction of further bZx protocol development.
- BZRX token is a medium of exchange token used in the bZx protocol layer. It is used to pay trading fees. Specifically, it is used to pay maker and taker fees to the relays.
What is the SUGR token?
The SUGR token is used to pay bounty hunters and reimburse trading fees. There is no ICO of the SUGR token; it is distributed according to usage of the oracle. SUGR tokens are redeemable for a fraction of the Ethereum collected from the fees on interest taken from lenders.
How do people exchange their iTokens for their original tokens?
There are two methods to exchange iTokens for their original, non-interest bearing tokens:
- Send it back to the contract. Once whatever loan fulfilling is over, the token will be sent back to your address.
- Liquidate the iToken on the secondary market by using Kyber Network or another exchange.
Won't it be a hassle to deal with iTokens and regular tokens?
iTokens are just mechanics that are behind the scenes. bZx is working with the wallet providers to automate all the iToken exchanges so that users use them without ever having to interface with them. Essentially, using iTokens will be a checkbox that you check on your existing wallet to allow your tokens to generate interest (MEW, MyCrypto, Parity, Metamask, Mist, Jaxx, etc).
Is bZx an exchange?
No, bZx is a protocol that can be integrated into any (b)0x standard relay. bZx provides the backend smart contracts that power decentralized exchanges. bZx also provides a bridge to easily link exchanges' user interface to the bZx protocol.
What is the bZx Guarantee Fund?
The Guarantee Fund is a fund that is automatically dispersed to any lender who would have lost funds for any reason. The fund is collateralized half in ETH and half in BZRX token.


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Fast Food on the Road
Until I hit an In-N-Out Burger in Torrance, Calif., on the eighth day of my trek, all of my fast food was consumed, as fast food often is, in the car, which smelled worse and worse as the trip went on and on. Like an obtuse houseguest or a Supreme Court justice, the scent of a White Castle slider lingers.
While he skipped the midwest instead opting for a tour through the southwest, probably just so he could get a Whattaburger, it's a pretty entertaining read. He did rate a burger he had at a Culver's in Dallas as one of the top ten meals on his trip. He also discovered what the real fried potato connoisseurs already know, the Sonic tater tot and McDonald's hash brown are the best in their respective meal categories..
The fries at Hardee's were better — crisper, more substantial in feel and taste — than the fries at McDonald's, Wendy's, Burger King and Jack in the Box.It's an entertaining read and sounds like fun for a day or so.
But the tots at Sonic, a chain prevalent in the South, were the sultans of spuds. Since all of these potato variants are about exterior crackle, not interior vegetable, the tot configuration, with more crests and buttes and ridges, won the day.
The runner-up, for much the same reason: McDonald's hash browns, sculptured by unseen Michelangelos of fast food into what is essentially one mammoth, oblong, scrumptious tot.


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Basic InfoName: Thace Arsène Kolivan
Gender: Male
Visual Age: 19
Real Age: 19
- Spoiler:
Because he was raised on the Hyouden Mountains, Thace was forced to adopt an uncanny sense of focus, resilience and tenacity at a very young age. Three main qualities that he still carries with him today during the course of his travels. Very often he finds himself repeating a quote he heard on the mountains "Adapt or Die." He had to learn climb, hunt, and fend for himself on the icy cold mountains just like every other young member of House Kolivan, raised to be cold warriors and killers. A member of house Kolivan must always "Focus on the objective at hand, be resilient to the winds, and tenacious to the mission."
Being born in the house of Kolivan he was taught to never accept death, either adapt or die even in the harshest of situations and environments. Because of this exacting upbringing Thace has grown to have a very 'do for yourself' outlook on life. Which can make him a bit selfish and greedy at times, he isn't above lying, cheating or stealing. In fact it's almost in his very nature to do so when the opportunity presents itself. If there is something that he needs, wants or desires he takes it no questions asked. It's because of this reason, why Thace is often seen with a mask that covers his entire face. He has grown to take pride in his work as a thief and assassin for hire in fact he actually enjoys it. He embraces the challenge and rush of blood it presents. Thace will only steal from people worth stealing from, people of nobility, rich uptight snobs, over paid guards and the occasional scummy shop owner.
Despite having a lot in shared with a common thief, Thace is not without a few redeeming qualities. Though the mountains forces one to change certain qualities about themselves, there are some characteristics Thace has definitely kept. His overall attitude is that of young man with a very laid back and outgoing look on life taking anything that comes his way with stride. It often comes to a surprise that beneath the mask is a witty, sharp tongued, young man with a passion for adventure and life. A unique contrast he only shares with his mother, his homeland being so cold and bitter but his persona being quite warm some say it matches the golden auburn color of their eyes.
When not playing the role of thief and assassin for hire, Thace can be found mostly enjoying the fruits of life. At elaborate places made for fancy and lavish living, spending coin after coin with little to no thought in between. According to him life is short and one must enjoy all of life's pleasures while one can. While in the presence of others Thace is quite charismatic and joyous, many say that he is sly as much as he is charming. When out of coin he will use this very sly and charming nature with his barbed tongue to talk his way out of most situations he finds himself in. Often never facing the repercussions to his actions. Because of this some would say that Thace is still a child with some growing up to do. In spite of his easy going and fun loving nature Thace isn't incapable of being deadly serious when need be. When reflecting on one's self Thace knows he doesn't play the role of a hero nor does he try to, he literally kills and steals for a living. But he's not necessarily a cut throat villain either. He does carry a sense of honor and slight moral compass.
In battle Thace embraces adaptability, versatility and the instinct to observe over anything else. His fighting style matches this forethought heavily. He has pioneered his fighting style to observe everything and be able to react and adapt to it. His own movements are swift and precise lethal when executed properly. The versatility stems from the thought of being formless, and unique. He absorbs what is useful, discards what is not and adds what is uniquely his own.
Physical TraitsHeight: 6'2
Weight: 180
Hair Color/Length: Black/Shoulder length and wavy
Eye Color: Golden
Without Disguise- A tall young man with prominent features, Thace Kolivan is quite handsome. He has rich brown skin that he gets from his mother. Being born in Hyouden his skin color is very rare and almost never seen making him stand out easily amongst a crowd back home. Through his travels to the other lands with warmer weather he notice his skin color isn't as unique but still in certain towns allows him to be easily extinguishable. Because not many people have his shade of skin he is quite proud of the color of his skin going hand in hand with his height. Thace stands at a respectable 6 feet and 2 inches, which is taller than most on average. He takes a little pleasure in the idea that most have to look up to him when he is standing fully straight.
Perhaps his most defining physical characteristic is his golden auburn colored eyes that he also got from his mother. His eyes are very striking to casual onlookers and the like, time and again being called beautiful and serene. His eyes do give way to his sly like nature often using them to charm women or talk his way out of a situation. An unusual effect his eyes seem to have is showcasing two contrasting moods and emotions. Thace can often give off a gaze that is cold and warm at the same time, more elaborately showcase calm icy tranquility right over a blazing fit of anger. Because of this, one may think that Thace's eyes are very easy to read but infact they are quite the opposite. It is near impossible to assume what he might be thinking at all. Thace has often used this little trick to throw people off and catch them off guard. One's that know Thace and his mother well have a nickname for the eyes, calling them the Arsene eyes.
When not in disguise Thace's whole body language can be very different. His posture and body movements are a lot more free and wild, he makes intricate use of his hands for expression. He never really stands still, always got his hands on something or moving about. He isn't afraid to add a little dance to his step when strolling about town or make expressive patterns with his fingers when in speech. Though this has become his natural way of body language throughout the years, the true reason for this is for distraction. Misdirection is a tool that every great thief must master the same goes for Thace, if he wants to pit pocket someone he must control their entire gaze. "If they are completely focused elsewhere and distracted they are no longer focused on their pocket. Tap from here take from there."
As for overall body, Thace is in incredible conditioning. Broad wide shoulders and slim waist, giving him the near perfect V-taper shape. He engages in intense regular work outs to keep his health and body in their prime. Athletics, acrobatics and martial arts training keep him on his toes during his jobs, and when it comes down to combat.
With disguise- When on a job Thace always wears a dark colored stealth suit, which is built for stealth, infiltration, and combat. His mask is designed to completely cover his entire face, and change the sound of his voice. A black hood continuously placed over the mask in order to blend in the shadows easier. Over time his stealth suit does make various aesthetic changes as far as mask changes, or variations to the sash and chest pieces but the overall look stays the same.
When suited up Thace's body language changes, he becomes a lot more efficient in movement and execution when on a job. His actions sharp, precise and quick only when he is extremely confident and only when no eyes are on him does he let his zest mix into his movements.
Character InformationCharacter's Race: Human
Racial Trait: Eyes of Arsène: Thace's golden colored eyes are more than just for show he has the same ability of his mother. They are capable of seeing in a near 360 degree view, with a blind spot on the right side of his back neck.
Country: Hyouden
Primary Element: Arcane
Individual Statistics:
-Strength: Peasant
-Speed: Militia
-Endurance: Bandit
-Mystic Power: Militia
-Intelligence: Bandit
Character HistoryBackground:
- Spoiler:
"Adapt or Die. Knowledge or Death." The mantra of House Kolivan, that has been with them for centuries. A constant repetitive hymn that always found itself in young Thace's ears when he was a child. Young Thace constantly repeated this mantra to himself while growing up on the Hyouden mountains, he had to learn and adapt quickly or face death.
Karsana Kolivan gave birth to Thace in the middle of a snowstorm on one of the high mountain peaks in Hyouden. With her mother and brother present, the boy's father was nowhere to be found but that mattered none. Because when upon first glance of the newborn baby Thace anyone on the high mountains could tell he was Karsana's son with those fiery golden eyes and milk brown skin. They even shared the same fox like face, "The face of a troublemaker." Karana's proud mother Lyanna said. Even Karsana's brother Ulaz agreed that the boy was definitely going to be trouble, and trouble he was.
Karsana was never the slow down type, a month and a few weeks later after giving birth. She was already climbing mountains and hunting again with the newborn Thace strapped upon her back. His eyes following her every movement and stride. With every successful jump, hike, hunt or run an adorable baby laughter escaped his lips much to Karsana's surprise having her believe that perhaps newborn Thace was enjoying this a little too much. It was not long before Karsana found herself talking to the infant with tips on hunting and climbing, believing full well that he could understand her. But that was something only time could tell, and much to everyone's surprise but her own it did.
At the tender age of nine it was a Kolivan house tradition to have every young member of the house climb one of the Hyouden mountains, hunt for food and make way back to the camp using everything they were taught till now. This was one of the many Kolivan house challenges, if one could not complete it they were not worthy of being part of house Kolivan it was also a rite of passage. Upon completion the young member would officially be a part of the House. Thace was eager to take the challenge even though the he was two years younger, something that even had his mother worried. But upon looking into his eyes telling him not to do it was out of the question. Thace was going to use the climbing and hunting tactics that his mother taught him, his skills and with bladed weaponry from his uncle, and the art of mending one's aura and focus from his grandmother. He had complete confidence that he was going to succeed; he didn't let the difference in age deter him at all. When the trial had started he had a slow start, unable to find his stride. He was on the edge of the mountain, the other older boys ahead of him and their lead only getting longer. The icy cold winds hitting his face and body, Thace was about to call it quits perhaps he wasn't ready for this after all. But he heard a loud cry from higher up on the mountain a voice he knew well, Tsira a young girl misplaced a step and found herself falling down the mountain. Witnessing this Thace regain his composure, he was the last one and the only one that could save her. He repositioned himself and swung one of his ropes to wrap around her body. She caught hold of it, he used the rope to get her back on the cliffs of the mountain safely.
He made sure she was ok, and together they promised to complete the trial together. They used each other to finish the mountain and catching up with the others. When pressed for food down in the forests they together fended off a thick hide sabretooth and together they completed the trial. After this Thace and Tsira remained pretty close friends, often going hunting and scouting together in the fields and mountains. They used each other brush up their skills and become promising young Kolivan members.
10 years later Thace and Tsira have become near masters of the hunt and the mountains. Exceptional warriors, even by Kolivan standards. It was only a matter of time before they started to speak of dreams and goals they wanted to set for themselves outside of Hyouden. Tsira wanted to travel across the lands and explore other regions meet new people and races alike. Thace was more laid back of course he had thoughts but he never truly had a passion for leaving Hyouden like Tsira. It was her passion and drive that started to change him into leaving as well. Leaving the Hyouden Mountains as a Kolivan wasn't forbidden but frowned upon by the elders. But this wasn't gonna stop Tsira the elders knew full well that she planned on leaving the house behind. So they decided to send her on one last mission before her final day a mission deep into the frozen fields that should have been a team job. Tsira went on the job
unknowingly and alas never made it back.
Thace awaited her return for days before finally coming to the conclusion that something went wrong. He started to do a little investigating, he spoke with the elders to find out that they had sent her on a job that she shouldn't have done alone and the way the elders spoke of her he had already came to her conclusion.
The arrival of the scouts only confirmed what Thace had accepted days ago, they came back with her belt full of tools and no body nearly confirming that Tsira probably perished somewhere in the deep frozen fields. Thace full of anger he wasn't going to standby and do nothing while his dearest friend was lost and thought to be dead. He made an announcement and made it clear that he was going to search for Tsira no matter what even if it did lead to his own death. It was later on that evening Thace was the things he needed to go search for Tsira. When her father came to his room, holding her diary. "Thace I know I cannot stop you from leaving, but I believe Tsira would have wanted you to have this. Especially her lest entry right before she left."
Thace took her diary and her father left him with it. He turned to her last entry and began to read.
"So today is my last mission here in Hyouden before I finally leave this cold and bitter place. I got everything packed and ready to go, but my best friend Thace. He's still being a loser about the whole thing. I know deep down he wants to leave just as badly as I do. That's why I planned the night when I get back I'm going straight to him and forcing him to leave with me right then and there. No plans no mission no thought process behind it. Truth be told I want him to leave this place more then I want my own self to. I know he would love it out there, well I can't know that much cause I have never left myself but I have strong feeling that out there is where he needs to be…where I need to be…where we…
Well anyways that's my plan were outa here as soon as I return. Hmmmm I probably should leave this here just in case. Thace hasn't tried to read my diary in years but you never know. Tonight could be the last time I see him. For whatever reason Thace that I do not make it back, promise me you will leave. Don't even try looking for me, cause chances are I took off on my own and left a little something to throw the scouts off. Just go Thace, leave Hyouden. Discover and explore I know its what your heart tells you. Forget the mantra they've beaten into our skulls. Forget "Adapt or Die." Follow your dreams and be free."
Tears started to roll down his face as he read Tsira's last entry. It was almost as if she had meant for him to find it. With his bags packed and ready to go, he took off leaving a note for his mother, grandma and uncle. He took off but not after Tsira on a journey of his own onto the lands of Abraxas.


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Our Story
Happy Bean was birthed out of a dream to see Knox County transformed and empowered. Our area has been ravaged by hopelessness and we wanted to be agents in changing the atmosphere. Happy Bean is more than just a great espresso or cup of coffee; we want to actually brew hope in our region, empowering all community members to see the potential of their life and families. What does this look like? Happy Bean is currently working on a long-term plan to partner with established local efforts that are facilitating drug and alcohol rehabilitation, marriage and family restoration, as well as school and prison ministry. We've just begun, and we need your help! If you would like more information, please contact us! Together, we can make Knox County a healthier and happier community.
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Most sales will be final on The Original Bow Turban due to the fact it is considered head apparel. During sales events, all products are considered final. If there appears to be a manufacture defect, please contact our service department through our website.
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Earlier this week there were two signals that the oil price is threatening to return to dangerous levels as economic growth begins to pick up. On Monday, the FT reported that forward oil prices are now $20 higher than two years ago, even though spot prices are much lower. And on Tuesday, the Guardian reported allegations by a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency in Paris that the agency has been underplaying the rate of oilfield decline, while overplaying the chance of finding new oil – suggesting that the peaking of global oil production is much closer than they previously maintained.
This news is exactly what would be expected if the world actually is entering the zone of the global oil production peak.
Nevertheless, even if we knew the supply situation accurately, the peak itself could not be predicted at a fixed moment in the future. Depending on whether economic growth is higher or lower, the peak is effectively smeared out over a longer period of time or concentrated closer. Peak oil and oil-intensive economic growth are locked in a see-saw relationship.
This means the approaching peak may well trigger a dynamic process that can already be seen underlying the events of 2007–2008. The sequence would go like this. The onset of the peak initially constrains economic growth by shocking the system into recession through oil price rises. For a while, recession makes the oil problem recede as prices fall.
Then, when the world economy begins to pick up, growing consumption runs head-on into limited oil availability again, pushing prices back up and stalling the recovery. Repeated episodes of this stop-start pattern would force the economy lower each time, following the downslope of global oil production. That is, if the economy is not derailed entirely by the second or third jolt.
If the world economy and energy consumption contract in this way, so will carbon dioxide emissions, to the point where there will not be enough carbon going into the atmosphere to achieve anywhere close to business-as-usual carbon dioxide emission projections.
This would not make current efforts to achieve a low-carbon economy redundant. Ultimately, the savings involved may have their real payoff in helping the world adapt to a progressive decline in oil production. So in this scenario, low carbon technologies and practices still promise to be a source of lasting economic security, even if for different reasons than we currently suppose.


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John McAslan speaking at this year's RIAS Convention
John McAslan spoke at this year's RIAS Convention, in Edinburgh, one of the most prestigious architectural conferences in Europe.
John McAslan and Partners has received in excess of 90 design awards, their work has been exhibited extensively and the practice has been widely published internationally.
To find out more about the convention, click here.


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I've been talking to storage people in IT for about 20 years now. Sure, the new technology is always interesting -- but what storage folks are always interested in is how does this change things? How do things get done differently as a result?
And -- always unspoken but omnipresent -- how will this affect me?
While no aspect of enterprise IT is static these days, the storage team sits at the intersection of some particularly powerful forces these days.
Change is coming -- what does it look like?
It's All About Information, Baby ...
One popular meme is that tomorrow's business model is an information business -- if that's not already the case today.
IT is required to play a powerful enabling role in helping the business do more with information across the board. Unpack the IT stack, and you'll find all sorts of interesting disciplines: application, security, networks, compute, finance, etc.
But all those 1s and 0s have to land somewhere, and that's what storage is all about. What makes storage so intrinsically interesting to many of us is that's where the information lives.
More Data, Bigger Data
As we chart the megaforces driving change in the model, we have to start with data itself, and how it's being used.
Everyone has seen the charts that show the constant dramatic increase in the amount of data that's being produced and consumed.
Digging a bit deeper, the data objects we're producing (images, video, logfiles, etc.) are individually getting much bigger. The cardinality of a collection of objects that we find interesting and useful (repository, database, etc.) is growing exponentially as well.
Bigger data elements in far bigger collections -- growth upon growth.
It used to be that applications largely "owned" their data, but no longer. One of the key tenets of big data (or anything to do with analytics) is that a data set has far more value when liberated from its source, and aggregated with others.
So it's not enough to think in terms of applications and their data -- information has become an asset that is increasingly disassociated from the application that created it.
We used to talk about the about Metcalfe's law regarding networks: that the value of a network was proportional to the square of the number of participants.
We're probably going to need a similar law that speaks to the value of data sharing across organizational and temporal boundaries.
I'm guessing it's going to be proportional to the cube of the number of diverse data sources.
Software Defined Storage Is More Than Marketing
Yes, flash is changing everything, but the far bigger megatrend is software-defined storage: doing in software once we used to do only in dedicated hardware.
Many of my colleagues have a two-part model; I have a three-part model I find more useful.
First, there's the data plane -- the stuff that persists data and makes it retrievable. Fail to get those bits right, and the rest doesn't really matter ...
Second, we have to consider an ever-growing long list of data services you can apply to that persisted data (caching, tiering, replication, move to cloud, differing presentations, encryption, archiving, indexing, deduplication, etc ...) that really ought to be considered separately from the data plane -- although that might not have been the case in the past.
And, finally, there is the all-important control plane: provisioning, orchestration, monitoring, management, etc. Control planes are integrated into multiple potential control points depending on the chosen management model: perhaps a separate storage control plane, perhaps integrated with the virtualization/cloud environment, perhaps the application owner, perhaps a federated model, etc.
What the control plane does is separate from the specifics of how it's presented and consumed -- and there is no "right" answer in my book.
Here's the headline: all three have clearly started to move to a software-only model.
We have newer software-only data planes to consider (insert your favorites here) that are a distinct departure from traditional arrays.
We are starting to see important data services starting to be decoupled from the underlying data plane or physical array.
And we're already in a world where storage devices can be almost entirely under software control -- either natively through rich APIs, or through one of the newer approaches such as EMC's ViPR.
Now, let's be clear, all three are hardly moving in lockstep.
For example, we'll probably see data plane and data services bound together for a while (usually in the form of physical storage arrays), and we'll be certainly using our newer control planes against these same familiar arrays for quite a while. And, of course, many of the newer software-only storage stacks are a bit light in certain regards, but that's just where we are today.
But it's started already, and it won't stop anytime soon.
ITaaS Is Real
The final powerful force we have to acknowledge is the new operational model of IT itself, dubbed ITaaS or IT-as-a-service for convenience.
The big idea? Design agile services that are attractive to consume vs. convenient to produce. Give people precisely what they need when they need it, and not before or after.
That notion can be applied to IT itself, or recursively to any subdomain. . I was talking with a customer who offered the opinion that simply tacking "as a service" to familiar entities was getting a bit trite. I pushed back -- it needs to be a constant reminder that IT consumption models have fundamentally changed, and IT is often behind the pace.
Fail to recognize this fundamental shift, and I fear that you and your IT organization will eventually become irrelevant.
Putting It All Together From The Storage Admin's View
So, let's summarize?
One -- information-centric business models, consuming vastly more data in ever-larger collections, increasingly separated from the application that created it.
Two -- a clear move to a software-defined model: either considering storage as a standalone entity, or part of a broader SDDC (software-defined data center) perspective.
Three -- an inarguable mandate for storage to be delivered as an attractive service: wide choices in data planes, data services and orchestration control points with no single winner.
The way I'd describe it is that storage admins are becoming storage service managers.
What's The Difference?
One way of looking at it is that storage admins have historically been focused on the back end of the operation: configuring physical arrays, zoning LUNs, provisioning resources, trying to manually align consumers with providers, dealing with vendors (!), cranky users and the rest of it. Trust me, these people are frequently being eaten alive by the enormity of their day-to-day reality.
Certainly not outward-facing, and not exactly empowered to think in terms of attractive-to-consume services that are dynamically invoked as needed, with flexible control plane integration depending on the consumption model.
The mindset evolves to "this is the suite of services my business customers desire -- how can I provide them as efficiently as possible?".
Maybe the data plane is running on a physical array, the data service is running on a physical appliance, and the control plane is the Oracle DBA. Or, alternatively, maybe the data plane is built into the hypervisor and uses server resources, the data services respect VM boundaries, and the control plane is integrated into the VM administrator's view. That's VSAN, by the way.
Or any combination that makes sense.
Once fully considered, that's a huge departure from how storage is done in so many shops today.
Where Are We Now, And When Are We Going To Get There?
Many of the first round of enabling technologies are starting to hit the market, with many more in the pipeline. Wait a few years, and we'll be swimming in potential software-defined storage solutions (data plane and/or data services and/or control planes) up to our ears :)
The folks who are already running private clouds in some fashion will be the first movers in enterprise IT. They've already got the required consumption and operational model working, they already appreciate the power of SDDC concepts, and -- beneath that -- software-defined storage. And the vast majority of them are VMware customers today.
But the real forcing function -- the move ITaaS and shifting the fundamental IT model -- is still playing out. Not everyone has been sucked into this particular maelstrom just yet (I met a customer who was starting to circle it just the other day, blissfully unaware of what lay ahead), but for those that are through and on the other side, they know what they have to do going forward.
Many of us got into storage because we thought it would be interesting.
So far, no one has been disappointed yet :)
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Shock Value
By Cara Feinberg on April 3, 2012 | 9 Comments
We went to the New Mexico desert to blow up a car. It was an ugly car--a white 1970s Cadillac, rescued from the junkyard. In the trunk, 300 pounds of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, the same lethal ingredients that the Oklahoma City Bomber used to destroy the Federal Building in 1995. Our car bomb, we were told, would vaporize sections of the Cadillac and level the modular building standing next to it. And our explosives were just one 15th the size of the bomb in Oklahoma City.
This was one of our most anticipated shoots for our two-hour NOVA special, "Hunting the Elements"--and also one of the most horrifying. We had stepped into a virtual terrorist's playground--the Energetic Materials Research and Testing Center at New Mexico Tech--and our morbid curiosity grew with each demonstration. Here, bomb experts and scientists spent their days teaching emergency personnel how to respond to nightmare scenarios, and the daily menu of demos was extensive. For an appetizer, a briefcase bomb that blew the torso off a wooden dummy and a pipe bomb that obliterated a watermelon and the table it was sitting on. For the main course, a letter bomb that amputated and wedged a mannequin's foot in the ceiling and a wooden dummy suicide bomber whose improvised explosive device shot bolts through metal signs like bullets.
Above: A wooden dummy "suicide bomber" wears a vest packed with C4 explosives (a class of plastic explosives) and bolts that double as projectiles.
We filmed all four explosions with a special high-speed camera that played back the action in eerie slow-motion detail. But it was the dessert course--the grand finale car bomb--that most horrified...and fascinated...our crew. As we watched the playback of the slow-mo footage, a dome of super-heated gas-- invisible in real time--appeared above the initial fiery blast, and with each frame, moved up and outwards, warping our view of the desert behind it into a wavy, trippy landscape. "That's the shock wave," one of the bomb technicians said, pointing to the gaseous dome. It's not just the heat and debris from the bomb that'll kill you, he told us. It's the shock wave that'll knock you dead.
Above: Watch the car bomb explode at 3300 frames per second. The high- speed footage reveals the deadly shock wave, invisible to the naked eye.
Suddenly everyone on the crew wanted to rewind the video. It's not that we'd never heard of a shock wave--most people can tell you it's a wave of energy released when you set off a bomb, literal or otherwise (as in...your dad's reaction to the sentence, "I just totaled the car..."). But few of us realized this was the primary source of destruction. When most of us non-scientists think of bombs, we think of the fiery blast and the lethal projectiles it sends shooting into the air. We were riveted as the ordinance technician described this dome of energy that expanded too quickly to see with the naked eye. "Often, we find victims on the scene who've died without a scratch on them," he explained. They might escape the fire, but a shock wave can literally liquefy their insides.
Now the room was alive with questions: What exactly was a shock wave? How did it work? And why did some chemical reactions create them, while others just caused a fire?
Turns out the answers lie not just in chemistry, but in physics.
Chemistry tells us how fire works. When you strike a match or introduce energy from any heat source (like friction or lightning) to a fuel (like wood or gasoline), carbon atoms in the fuel combine with the oxygen in the atmosphere. In other words, they "oxidize," or burn.
This is how explosives work too. The only difference is the speed of the reaction. Fire needs oxygen to burn, but it has to forage for it in the atmosphere. But a substance like gunpowder, for instance, packs its own oxygen. When ignited, the fuel molecules recombine with oxygen, just as they do with fire--only much more quickly since the oxygen is right there, more available. Instead of the sizzle of a flame, when a gun fires, you hear a bang. That bang is the calling card of an explosion...and it's caused...by a shock wave.
Above: Watch the briefcase bomb explode at 3300 frames per second.
Speed up the reaction even further, however, and the shock wave becomes incredibly destructive. Gunpowder is a relatively slow explosive and its destruction is fairly limited. That's why you can shoot a bullet out of a gun without destroying the barrel. But a high explosive like the ammonium nitrate fuel oil bomb in the car trunk can deliver mass calamity in an instant. Made of unstable molecules with incredible amounts of stored-up energy, these compounds react instantaneously, liberating all that energy in the form of a high-pressure wave traveling at supersonic speeds. According to scientists at New Mexico Tech, in just billionths of a second, a shock wave can produce pressure up to 500,000 times the earth's atmosphere, can travel as fast as six miles per second, and can heat the air to more than 9,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
With power like that, the shock wave pushes away everything in its path, from buildings to bodies--often without even breaking skin. This is where we can really see the role of physics. Think of how crushing a soda can displaces the liquid or air inside it. Our bodies are filled with air-containing organs (lungs, intestines, eardrums) that crush, distort, and tear under the sudden pressure of a blast. There may be no penetrating injury from debris or shrapnel, but victims may hemorrhage with massive internal bleeding.
A shock wave even displaces the air particles in the atmosphere. And this fact, the technician told us, generates the bomb's second lethal force. When the shock wave pushes away the air surrounding the detonation site, it creates a vacuum that sucks air particles and debris back towards the bomb site. When you see glass inside a structure after a bomb attack, the technician said, people tend to think the bomb detonated from outside. It's a common error. Often, the glass was just sucked back in by the vacuum created by the shock wave.
When we inspected the briefcase bomb site after detonation--the charred wooden half-torso sitting in front of the remnants of a desk in a modular building--sure enough, there was glass inside the structure from the windows shattered in the blast. An hour later, after detonating the car packed with explosives parked in front of the structure, the entire building lay in pieces on the ground. Standing miles away in a bunker, we felt a grand rush of adrenaline, followed by a mix of horror both at the destruction and our own fascination with it. These were some of the most devastating--and exciting-- reactions chemistry had to offer, and as horrified as we were, we wanted to slow them down and watch them again. Not just to see the wreckage wrought by explosives, but to marvel at the invisible force that wrecked it all in the first place.
"Hunting the Elements" premieres Wednesday, April 4 at 9 p.m. ET on most PBS stations. Please check your local listings to confirm when it will air near you.
9 comments
Jon Axelrod • 8 months ago
I have a question about the orange glowing light that
suddenly appears 2-3 seconds into the film. It appears suddenly out of nowhere above the car slightly to the right, then it showers down and quickly disappears. I see a spherical flash that looks like a cloud of glowing plasma.
I think the explosion must have been strong enough to trigger a strong magnetic field, maybe a small electromagnetic pulse. Since magnetic fields are polar and spherical in 3 dimensions, this would explain the shape and location of the aurora. The light only exists where the field should be the strongest as well. It could be nitrogen atoms returning to a ground state after being in an excited state which creates a red aurora. I think it could be a phenomena closely related to but also different from the aurora borealis.
Whatever it is, it does look like something is being ionized and plasma is being produced; maybe the air or water vapor.
Mbowden > Jon Axelrod • 7 months ago
Its actually a reflection on the lens of the camera from the explosion.
Pjohnston > Jon Axelrod • 7 months ago
That is a Reflection between the pieces of glass with in the lens itself
Madsyzygy > Jon Axelrod • 7 months ago
That light is just a flash caused by the explosion
being reflected within the camera as it takes the picture. It is just a mirror image of the actual blast.
You can create an EMP with explosives, but that is not the case in this picture. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I am trained to know these things.
Ironenthusiast > Madsyzygy • 7 months ago
Nuclear weapons generate an electromagnetic pulse, not conventional chemical explosives. Sorry to burst your bubble, your alleged training, and your arrogance, but you need to learn more physics before submitting your authoritative sentiment. As mentioned previously, the mysterious, moving dot is simply detcord used to set off the charge in the vehicle's truck. As for your "mirror image" theory, I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion; a reflection of something which has not yet occurred?
HPotter • 8 months ago
Wish I had had this show when I was first trying to learn
these things - very well done! what was the red spot aimed at the car just before it blew up?
Pjohnston > HPotter • 7 months ago
it's NONEL
Cara > HPotter • 8 months ago
Thanks for the comments, HPotter. That red dot is from the detonation cord, a thin tube filled with explosive material that sets off the bomb (in this case, in the trunk of the car). That material explodes at a rate of approximately 4 miles per second--too fast to see in real time, only visible when caught with the high-speed camera (the explosion is so fast, it appears as an instantaneous reaction, no matter how long the cord). Unlike a traditional fuse, a detonation cord explodes, rather than burns, and is used to set off high explosives like that car bomb. You can read more here: http://blogs.howstuffworks.com...
Mhjaquith • 8 months ago
Still awesome after all these years. 0 △ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
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Not a very exciting video but a good example of cutting tools.
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Product reviews and demos about our latest and greatest.
Playlist of F1MOTO and OZMX product reviews and demos to showcase some great 'staple' everyday products and some newly released products that have just landed. A great mixture of both really as well as top pics recommended for race time or enduro riding. There are a few demos that explain the best products features, how they work, and a few describing the benefits of having one product versus another; which has become a regular topic here at F1MOTO. Our hotest news atm: Lectron 4-Stroke Carburetors have just arrived and are the all the buzz around the shop; we will have some videos for you soon. Please see our videos, visit our youtube channel and subscribe.
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This section currently under construction. We have developed this new section in the hopes of making videos about the workshot services currently available here at F1MOTO, like our:
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Hanging out on the couch next to my sweet older girl, Aspen. Her lifeline. Being near me, this strange human, is too much at this time. But with Aspen as a buffer, she can cope with me being on the same couch with her.
When Aspen leaves us, we start again. She joins me on the couch but only if I pretend she is not there. Always, always at the other end of the couch as far away from me as is possible. Uncertain. Fearful. Alone in her own world.
If I leave the couch or the room, she is gone like a flash, with only the hint of a whisper. Silently. Ethereal. A ghost.
Over time, she discovers that an exposed belly can bring delightful touches. Belly rubs. Softly spoken words. Love.
When a new man enters our lives - a furry, curious, attention-seeking little guy. She discovers competition. Attention to be shared. With it brings little movements - a little scooch closer, and then a little more. And always, the exposed belly. Waiting. More belly rubs to be enjoyed.
As time passes, little movements progress into sideways glances and the thump, thump, thump of a tail. "Will you be my friend?" she seems to ask. The answer is "Yes. Always." And then, slowly, a nose to my cheek.
One day, there is the lick of a tongue and a yellow head on my shoulder and again that thump, thump, thump of a tail. Confidence. Happiness. Joy. A smile. A new light in her eyes.
Three years pass. Patient, loving, gentle years. Now there is the automatic entrance and leap onto the couch followed by the exposed belly and questioning look "Belly rub?" Me on my computer. Working. And, then it happens... the slow, steady scooching. Closer. Closer still. Thump, thump, thump. Sideways glances now coming with steady progression. Thump, thump, thump. A sigh from me and the moving of the computer to a side table. My hand comes up to pet her ears, her head and neck. A kiss to her cheek. Loving words.
Ahhhh. Sweet moments in time. Savored. Treasured. Enjoyed.


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It's my first blog post! Look at me, I'm a blogger!
Ok, I've calmed down now and put away the exclamation mark klaxon.
Welcome to SuperHands!
So, you are very welcome to the SuperHands blog. You probably know a little about SuperHands - we are Ireland's number one baby sign organisation. Boast, boast.
However, let me tell you a bit about how SuperHands came about and who's behind it - ME! (Darn it, that one just slipped in.)
So who am I? Well, my name is Miriam Devitt and I am the person who brought SuperHands to life. I like to think I gave birth to it, that it's my second baby.
What is baby sign language?
I am mum to Robin, who is now a strapping child of 8. Yes, she can speak, no, she's not deaf, and as far as I know I have not done her any lasting damage by teaching her to sign when she was just a little squish.
When I was pregnant I used to tap my bump, and she would tap back. You know when you're so heavily pregnant you can identify body parts: "Oh, I got a heel! Hup, that's a shoulder right there!". And you can sit and watch your baby bump move about like a little hippo about to break the surface, with various lumps and bumps gliding across under your belly skin for hours on end. It's kind of freaky, but also fascinating and amazing. Anyway, as we sat there tapping to each other and me chatting away to her, I really got the feeling that we were properly communicating. And I thought, well if I can communicate with my unborn baby then she'll definitely be ready to connect with me when she pops out. And sure enough she was. From day one we would stare into one another's eyes and I could see her taking everything in from me and the other people and things around her.
Babies are incredible. They are social animals (as are big people, though they sometimes lose the skill) who crave and need to communicate with their caregivers. One of my favourite baby books is You Are My World by Amy Hatkoff. It's so simple and lovely that it can even be read by befuddled and sleep-deprived new parents. In it Hatkoff says "The small dance steps of everyday experience create secure attachments, known to be essential for all aspects of healthy development." In other words, all your baby needs in those first few months is you, their loving caregivers. Also, you should give them milk. But nourishment doesn't only come in liquid form, it comes in the form of love. And to a baby that's communication. Through touch, through speech, through taste, through movement.
The MILK moment
So when I read about baby sign I knew I had to try it. As an actor, a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, communication in all forms plays a very important part in my life. So it seemed natural that I should try this with my baby daughter. At first I lazily signed a bit, not really sure about it but happy to give it a whirl. Then I could see she was starting to understand me. If she was fussing for milk and I couldn't get my top up quick enough, I would sign "milk" saying, Yes my darling, I will give you milk in one minute, milk is on it's way etc. And then one day, when clearly milk was not on its way quick enough, she looked up at me, put her dimpled fist in the air and open and closed it repeatedly and Hallelujah! she was signing. I thought it was the absolute cutest and cleverest thing I'd ever seen and was convinced my child was some kind of prodigy. Aren't parents adorable?
And thus began our signing journey in earnest. So excited was I by this signing epiphany that I signed up (every pun intended) for a course in ISL (Irish Sign Language) and went on to study it for two years. In the meantime other parents started asking me what I was doing with (to!) my child and as there were no courses near me, I decided to test out a few baby sign classes on friends with babies. I put the beginnings of a baby sign course together and got a great response. Over the following couple of years I honed the course, developed an advanced course, started to franchise SuperHands courses around Ireland, and then published Ireland's first Illustrated Dictionary of Baby Sign. In more recent times we published Ireland's first baby sign app for iPhone and Android, and will soon add online courses to our repertoire.
And that's where SuperHands came from.
In the next post I will talk more about what baby sign is and what its benefits are, so stay tuned for more SuperHands blog fun.
See you all then!


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While it is true that a timeshare contract is a binding legal document, it is often mistakenly thought that such a contract cannot only be cancelled. In fact, most timeshare companies maintain that their contracts are non – cancellable. This misconception is perpetuated by timeshare companies and user groups that are funded, maintained and controlled by the timeshare industry.
The FHA 203k loan program provides home buyers the opportunity to buy and fix up a property, without exhausting their personal savings.
Nationstar Mortgage Holdings has announced that it will merge with the former parent company of Washington Mutual.
WMIH Corp., which identifies itself as a company focused on acquisitions in the financial-institutions sector. will acquire Nationstar in a $3.8 billion deal. The operating business will retain the Nationstar mortgage name and Dallas headquarters, according to Nationstar. Nationstar's employees will join the combined company, which will be led by the servicing giant's leadership team.
"Nationstar aligns perfectly with our acquisition strategy and has a strong track record of providing mortgage servicing and loan and real estate offerings in various market conditions, WMIH CEO Bill Gallagher said. "…The combined company is expected to benefit from WMIH's platform and financial attributes, which are expected to enhance free cash flow available to suppor business growth and be accretive to shareholders' equity."
"We expect this merger to create value for our shareholders in both the near and long term, including immediate accretion on a cash EPS basis and a cash premium for those of our stockholders who elect to receive the cash merger consideration," said Nationstar CEO Jay Bray.
Under its Mr. Cooper brand, Nationstar is the largest non-bank servicer in the US.
Related stories:
Nationstar to pay millions to state over 'unfair and deceptive practices'
Mr. Cooper announces home-loan-linked credit card offering


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