text:
|A ssh prompt for XMonad
1. In your ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs:
import XMonad.Prompt import XMonad.Prompt.Ssh
2. In your keybindings add something like:
, ((modMask x .|. controlMask, xK_s), sshPrompt defaultXPConfig)
Keep in mind, that if you want to use the completion you have to disable the HashKnownHosts option in your ssh_config
For detailed instruction on editing the key binding see XMonad.Doc.Extending#Editing_key_bindings.
|sshPrompt :: XPConfig -> X ()
|Produced by Haddock version 0.8


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By James Kwak
For a class, I read an old (1986) paper by Kahneman, Knetsch, and Thaler on fairness. It's based on surveys posing various hypothetical situations where businesses can take some action. For example, most people thought that it was OK for a grocer to pass on a wholesale price increase to consumers (Question 7) but not to raise prices because there is a general shortage and the grocer has the only shipment of a certain item (Question 12). In short, people have an intrinsic sense of fairness the authors summarize this way: "The cardinal rule of fairness is surely that one person should not achieve a gain by simply imposing an equivalent loss on another."
Today in class, the professor posed the first question from the paper:
"A hardware store has been selling snow shovels for $15. The morning after a large snowstorm, the store raises the price to $20."
In 1986, 82 percent of respondents thought this was unfair. In class, it was about 50-50.
As the professor said, this is probably because there are a lot of business school students in this class. Business school students are classic Econ 101 robots. They know enough to know that if there is a demand shift, not only is it OK to raise prices, but you should raise prices in order to clear the market. In this case, supply is fixed in the short term, so raising the price won't increase supply; the Econ 101 argument is that raising the price allocates the shovels to people who will derive more utility from them (because they will pay more), thereby increasing social welfare.
But this rests on a huge assumption: that willingness to pay is the same as utility. Unfortunately, however, this assumption fails in the real world; poor people simply can't pay as much for snow shovels as rich people, and as a result a price increase will allocate shovels to rich people, not to those who need them the most.* But people who believe Econ 101 only remember the demand and supply curves they saw on the first day of class, so they think firms should raise prices.
I suspect that belief in Econ 101 is not only stronger among business school students (and the businessmen they become) than among ordinary people, but is also stronger today than it was in 1986. The free market ideology teaches not only that businesses can maximize profits by any legal means, but that they have a moral imperative to maximize profits by any legal means, including generating profits by imposing equivalent losses on their counterparties. (Essentially all proprietary trading fulfills this condition.) And three decades of this ideology have probably changed people's responses to these types of questions.
More fundamentally, the 1986 paper shows that Econ 101 is diametrically opposed to human beings' intuitive sense of fairness. Yet public policy largely follows the dictates of Econ 101. Is that a good thing?
* I'm not saying that there is a perfect way to allocate the shovels, just that using price isn't perfect, and does have inequality effects.

subset: commoncrawl


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MSI 990FXA-GD80 motherboard supports AMD FX-9590 Processor – Jul 31, 2013– Taipei, Taiwan (Techreleased) – The world-renowned motherboard manufacturer MSI announces that its 990FXA-GD80 motherboard supports AMD's new FX-9590 processor. With the MSI 990FXA-GD80 motherboard everyone can enjoy the excellent performance of the new AMD FX-9590 processor simply by updating the BIOS. The 8-core AMD FX-9590 processor is the first commercially available 5GHz processor and designed to power next-gen Gaming..
The MSI 990FXA-GD80 is equipped with Military Class components and provides a long lifespan, unparalleled quality, extreme performance and ultimate efficiency. As a testament, the MSI 990FXA-GD80 set several world records for highest CPU speed, an assurance to run the world's fastest retail CPU rock stable.
Test system configuration:
|AMD DDR3-1866 4GBx4
|Graphics Card
|AMD Radeon HD 7990
|Kingston HyperX 120GB
|CPU Cooler
|Corsair H100
|Power Supply Unit
|Antec 1200W
|Operating System
|Windows 7 64-bit
*Please use a liquid cooling system for AMD FX-9590 processor.


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There's a slim (but not insignificant) chance that an asteroid will hit the Earth some time in the next 100 years, causing an extinction-level event. But we're not willing to invest the relatively modest sums needed for a detection and deflection system.
It's not just that we humans are shortsighted and in denial. Rather, it's that humans may be hardwired to place more value on a human life today than one 100 years in the future. For example, one government agency considers three lives in 2011 worth roughly the same as 100 lives in 2061. Why is this?
Top image: Asteroid collision by David Hardy.
We like to pretend that life is "priceless" – and it's true that people cannot be bought or sold legally – but we estimate the value of a human life, in monetary terms, every day. Many government funding decisions, not to mention the cost of some types of insurance, rest on how much a particular life is worth. And there are formulas that determine how much more valuable your life is than the lives of those who are yet to be born, or the lives of those who will live 50 or 100 years from now.
How much is a single life worth?
Remember Jack from Fight Club? Jack works as a recall coordinator for an automotive company. He visits car crash sites and determines the average value of a cash settlement for a person killed due to a manufacturing flaw versus a full scale recall to fix the flaw, and if "X is less than the price of the recall, we don't do it." You can check the clip out, if you want to re-watch this amazingly frank scene.
This valuation method of human life is not far from the truth. The cost to avoid a single death can be quite high – judging from a recent Environmental Protection Agency project aiming to remove arsenic from drinking water and forgo bladder cancer in a small part of the population. Each life statistically "saved" accounted for $6.1 million (in 2002 dollars) of the initiative's budget.
This value is used by the EPA for several analyses, often fluctuating, with the value of saving a single life dropping to $5.5 million in 2003 air regulations, but rising to $9.1 million in 2011. The value of an elderly person's life is discounted in the calculation of the value of these statistical "lives."
The Department of Transportation statistically values life as well, setting the value of a statistical life at $6.2 million in a 2011 memo. In 2009, the EPA attempted to drop the "value of life" terminology in lieu of a cash value per risk reduction, a value that takes into account roughly 100,000 micro-risks a year over a lifespan.
How much do we spend to prepare for the future?
Let's compare the money nations spend preparing for extreme future disasters – extinction-level events, like asteroid strikes and nuclear war — versus current health and physical maladies.
Any amount of discounting compounded over several years quickly devalues future human lives. For example, a five percent annual discount rate results in a single life in 2011 being worth one billion lives in 2411.
This is not at all an overestimation — the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs set the current annual life discount rate at seven percent, making 100 lives in 2061 worth a little over 3 in 2011.
Which brings us back to the lack of funding for research into observing asteroids and deterring those that would cause an extinction level event – killing everyone on earth, and thus everyone who would be born generations in the future.
The probability of such a strike might be low — and it's been postulated at one in a million during the 21st century — but it's still a risk, and one that would cost untold present and future lives. NASA estimates that an advanced detection and deflection system would cost $20 billion to create. In comparison, the United States government spends $5 billion annually to stockpile drugs and vaccines to monitor and deter biological attacks.
The money spent to deter a possible biological attack on North American soil poses a considerably less than extinction level threat, with a little over 300 million lives exposed. When it comes to spending money at the government scale, future lives are essentially worthless.
Disaster prevention budgets
We spend a considerable amount of money to save those in our generation or the one directly after us – this can be seen just by looking at the NIH and NSF budgets. The NIH revolves around research to improve health and quality of life, with its $31.7 billion 2012 budget coming in at more than quadruple the 2012 NSF budget.
The NSF funds basic science, which may not be immediately commercialized or applicable, but often has a profound impact on future generations and later NIH work.
Is it bizarre to value future lives so little?
Is this perverse? I'm not so sure. We often value tangible goods and commodities available now far more than goods that we could find way more valuable in the future.
Personally, I'll shell out $60 for a video game and $30 for a stack of comics, yet I never get around to dropping $90 on a case of twelve MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), food with a several year shelf life that I could used to feed myself, should a biological or nuclear attack occur. A low probability, yes — but something much more valuable and life sustaining than two hours of comic book reading, and a video game I'll play for a few hours and probably flip on eBay.
Immediate deterrent or benefit trumps preventive measures in the "extreme" future in our personal lives, just as they do in the hands of government organizations. As it stands now, life in the future is cheap.


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Penck, Albrecht
|born on
|25 September 1858 at 16:15 (= 4:15 PM )
|Leipzig, Germany, 51n19, 12e20
|LMT m12e20 (is local mean time)
|Data source
|Astrology data
|02°15' 03°55 Asc. 13°10'
German geographer, who exercised a major influence on the development of modern German geography, and geologist, who founded Pleistocene stratigraphy (the study of Ice Age Earth strata, deposited 11,700 to 2,600,000 years ago), a favoured starting place for the study of man's prehistory.
Professor of geography at the University of Vienna (1885–1906), he conducted research in the valleys of the Bavarian Alps that confirmed the four periods of Pleistocene glaciation—Günz, Mindel, Riss, and Würm. Penck also originated and promoted the 1:1,000,000-scale map of the Earth and published a pioneer work on geomorphology (the study of the Earth's surface features), a term he is believed to have introduced.
From 1906 to 1926 he held the chair in geography at Berlin, where he was also director of the Institute of Oceanography. His work there embraced classification of climates, regional ecology, and political geography, notably the extent of German culture in Europe, and the refinement of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel's concept of Lebensraum ("living space").
He died 7 March 1945, Prague.
- (has as) student relationship with Sorge, Ernst (born 25 February 1899)
Source Notes
Arno Müller, vol 2
- Vocation : Science : Geology
- Notable : Famous : First in Field
- Notable : Famous : First in Field
- Notable : Famous : Top 5% of Profession


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Sports briefs: Local scholar athletes honored
ROCHESTER — The NHIAA Scholar Athlete Awards are being presented to local athletes. Division I and III were honored last month at the Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord. Div. II and IV will be honored on March 18.
The local athletes honored are as follows:
FARMINGTON — Shannon Cardinal, Kelsey Gregoire, Kayla Squires;
NUTE — Ashley Shipman, Hannah Martin, Jessica Leona, Heather Corriveau;
SPAULDING — Lyndsey Barton, Naomie Clark, Gabrielle Connelly, Kenzie Couture, Kayla Daniell, Kara Lavertu, Elizabeth Meader, Kimberly Meader, Madison Newton, Kierra Poulis, Chloe Routhier, Ali Trueworthy, Savanna Wilson, William Boyd, Adam Carignan, Matthew Colucci, Brandon Gautreau, Mark Leahy and Dalton Wheeler.
ROCHESTER — Spaulding High School basketball star Dominic Paradis and hockey star Brent Phillips have been selected as co-recipients of the Rochester Athletic Association's January athlete of the month award.
During a 7-1 month, Paradis averaged 17.3 points per game with a high of 31 points against Dover, He also netted 22 against both Nashua North and Alvirne.
During a 6-1-1 month, Phillips had 11 goals and seven assists, including a hat trick against Keene, three assists vs. Timberlane, two goals against Dover, including game-winner in OT, and two goals and two assists vs. Somersworth/Coe-Brown.
Any amateur Rochester athlete is eligible for nomination. Nomination forms are available at the Rochester Community Center and Collins Sports Center. The deadline for February's award is March 7. Nominations may be sent to the RAA, Box 864, Rochester, NH 03866-0864. The email address is firstname.lastname@example.com.
ROCHESTER — The Rochester Men's Hockey league finished up its regular season this past Monday and the playoffs wills tart next Monday at the Rochester Arena.
In the first game at 7 p.m., No. 3 RSA Realty (9-6-4) will play No. 6 Merrimack Mortgage (3-12-4), followed at 8:30 p.m. by the game between No. 4 Finishing Touches (8-8-3) and No. 5 Towle Pallet (7-10-2).
Merrimack Mortgage tied up Seacoast Kettlebell (11-6-2) in a game where Seacoast scored twice in the final 25.1 seconds to tie the game up.
Doug Colwell had two goals and an assist for MM, while Mark Zoeller (assist) and Jay LeDuc also scored. Mark Lawrence added two assists. Derek Colwell made 34 saves.
For league-leading Seacoast, Steve MacIsaac had two goals and one assist. Marc Behan and Roy Chamberlain also scored. Keith MacKenzie stopped 28 shots.
Finishing Touches held on to beat RSA, 5-4, after leading 4-0 and then 5-2 in the second period.
Nick French scored twice for FT, while Tim Puls, Marcus Dillon and Tom Tabb each had a goal and an assist. Jeff Berlin notched two assists. Ethan Baker stopped 28 shots.
For RSA, Ryan Thorpe, Peter Keilty, Jeff St. Laurent (2 assists) and Craig Gwynn scored. Casey Cox made 36 saves.
In the nightcap, DeNiro Development overcame a 3-0 deficit to beat Towle Pallet, 5-4.
Tom Breslin had three goals and one assist for DeNiro (9-5-5), while Josh Perry and Hans Carbonneau also scored. Derek Colwell made 29 saves.
Scott Brown scored twice for Towle. Casey Goodell and Cody Chisholm also lit the lamp and Matt McGilvray had two assists. Dan Trepanier stopped 32 shots.
The playoffs will continue March 11 with Seacoast playing the lowest remaining seed at 7 p.m., followed by DeNiro against the highest remaining seed at 8:30.
The best-of-three championship series will be played March 13, 18 and (if nec.) 20, all at 8:30 p.m.
TOP SCORERS (FINAL) — Nick French, FT, 32-15-47; Zach Cobb, Seacoast, 19-23-42; Scott Brown, Towle, 19-13-32; Steve MacIsaac, Seacoast, 19-13-32; Casey Goodell, Towle, 14-18-32; Doug Colwell, MM, 17-11-28; Tom Breslin, DeNiro, 14-13-27; Zach Joy, Seacoast, 20-7-27; Tom Tabb, FT, 13-13-26; Tim Puls, FT, 8-16-24.
NASHUA — The Spaulding girls basketball team concluded its Division I season Friday losing at Bishop Guertin, 82-45.
Chloe Routhier led the Red Raiders (4-14) with a career-high 20 points, while Ashley Lemery added eight points and Seana Flynn had six.
Spaulding will not make the playoffs.
DERRY — Spaulding's Trevor St. Laurent (120 pounds, fifth) and Evan Drouin (195, fifth) each placed this past Saturday at the NHIAA Wrestling Meet of Champions at Pinkerton Academy.
ROCHESTER — The Spaulding boys basketball team won a tight game at Nashua South Tuesday in a battle for a top four seed, 59-57.
Nich MacGregor (five 3-pointers) and Dominic Paradis had 21 points each for the Red Raiders who are now 14-3. South fell 13-4.
Spaulding plays at 13-4 Manchester Memorial Friday night and will host a first-round playoff game next Tuesday.
If it beats Memorial it will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament.
If it loses, there could be a three-way tie for third with Memorial and South, and a tiebreaker would be needed to decide who is third, fourth and fifth.
Paradis now has 1,040 career points.
The Red Raiders used a quick start to take down Bishop Guertin in D-I action Friday, 61-48.
Spaulding jumped out to a 17-8 lead and were up 30-20 at the half.
Paradis paced three players in double figures with 18 points. MacGregor added 14 points and Alex Gray 10.
FARMINGTON — The Farmington Wildcats AAU program has announced the 2013 spring tryouts will be March 2 and 9. Girls in Grades 5-8 will tryout from 8 to 10 a.m. at Farmington High School and Boys in Grades 5-8 will tryout from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Any questions contact Gary Noyes 603-455-2714 or email@example.com.
ROCHESTER — Spaulding High School baseball, Rochester Babe Ruth Baseball, and Roger Allen Baseball are teaming up to put on the first Roy Allain Rochester Baseball Golf Tourney on Saturday, May 11. This fundraiser will directly help all Rochester baseball player's from ages 4 through 18. The cost to play in this tourney is $100 per player or $375 per team (if paid in advance). This fee includes golf cart, raffles, prizes, and lunch or dinner. On site late registration at Rochester Country Club is $115.
The committee is also in need of business sponsors, hole sponsors, donations for gift baskets and raffle prizes. No gift is too small and anything you can do is greatly appreciated. For a reg. form, questions or comments please contact John Creteau at firstname.lastname@example.com.
ROCHESTER — Roger N. Allen Baseball (Rochester Youth Cal Ripken Baseball) will hold sign-ups at the Rochester Community Center on Thursdays March 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays March 2, 9, 16, 23, and 30 from 9 a.m. to noon.
Registration is open to children ages 4-12 and the cut-off for one's birthday is May 1.
A birth certificate is required for all new league players.
No more sign-ups after Saturday, March 30.
Buddy Ball Division (ages 5 to 20) may also sign up. Registration fee due at sign-ups.
For information. call 332-5469, 396-1582 or 581-9496.


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NFL Week 17 FanDuel Ownership Percentages: Popular Pricey Backs Close Out the Season
If you've played fantasy football over on FanDuel, then you know the importance of ownership percentages, especially in larger-field tournaments. Knowing who the competition is using enables you to think with a contrarian mindset. And if your under-the-radar play ends up hitting, then, well, you're one step closer to a victory.
Each week, we'll be posting the previous week's ownership percentages to help you see how the public was thinking. It'll let you see who the public used, which can be helpful when doing research for upcoming games.
Let's take a look at Week 17's numbers for the main slate. If a player is not listed, his ownership was lower than 0.10% in the Sunday Million.
To read all premium content, upgrade to a Premium account with numberFire
If you're not a Premium subscriber, it takes just a few seconds to sign up. You'll get access to all of our insider information, game projections, handicapping advice, DFS tools, advanced statistics, and more.


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Alexa Davalos Envelope Clutch
Alexa Davalos topped her black one-shouldered dress of with a boring black clutch. When your wearing a solid color it's best to add accessories which have a slight color difference. That way your ensemble has dimension and character.
Browse: Alexa Davalos | Envelope Clutch
Show Alexa Davalos Looks With:
Popular Lookbooks see all looks »


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Weekly Wrapup: Notebook, Tablet and Smartphone News (May 13th)
This was a busy week for smartphones and tablets with Google I/O 2011 and a collection of other announcements. In case you missed the news and reviews, we have rounded up the most popular items for you to digest quickly. We also have our top picks for notebook reviews and news to give you some afternoon reading.
Smartphone and Tablet News for the week of May 13th
- Samsung Droid Charge Launches May 13th
The Droid Charge will finally launch on May 14th. Saturday is an odd day to launch a phone, but it's been confirmed by Verizon.
- Can the Verizon 4G Network Handle More Phones
The 4G LTE network has experienced growing pains, is it ready for more devices?
- Verizon Answers 4G LTE Network, Device Questions…Sort Of…
Chuong gets answers, about the ability of Verizon's 4G network to handle more devices
- The cost of switching from Android to iPhone
Kevin explores how much it costs to switch from Android to iPhone in part 3 of his switching series.
- Will an Amazon Tablet Succeed?
Hugo Ortega explores what it will take for Amazon to bring a viable tablet to market.
- Netlfix Launches on Android
Netflix lands on five Android devices. Find out if yours is one of the few supported devices.
- Google I/O 2011 Roundup
All the big Android news from Google I/O
- Google's ChromeBook Shakes Up the Status Quo with Offline Access
Warner looks at what it means for Google to deliver offline access on the Chromebooks
- Motion Computing CL900 Tablet PC Goes on Sale
The Motion Computing CL900 Tablet Pc is now available for purchase.
- Google Aims to Succeed Where Microsoft Has Failed
Sumocate explores Google's new strategy.
- The Best iPad and iPad 2 Apps [May 2011]
Our top iPad and iPad 2 apps for gaming, productivity, photography, productivity and entertainment.
- Google Confirms New Nexus Device Is Coming
A Nexus 3, or some yet to be determined name will grace the next Nexus device which was confirmed by Andy Rubin of Google.
- Google Confirms New Nexus Device Is Coming
Photoshop lands on the iPad in the form of three apps – Adobe Eazel, Adobe Nav and Adobe Color Lava
New Notebook for the Week of May 13th
- HP EliteBook 2560p Combines Optical Drive and Small Form Factor (video)
The new HP EliteBook 2560p brings an optical drive to the small 12.5″ form factor.
- HP EliteBook 2760p Tablet Announced
HP adds Sandy Bridge processors to the Elitebook convertible tablet and keeps the 16:10 aspect ratio and 12.1″ display.
- HP ProBook 5330m Arrives with Consumer Features
Hp's new probook brings Beats Audio and other consumer features to enterprise users. Hands on Video.
- HP Mini 210 Gets Beats Audio and New Look
Hands on Video of the new HP Mini 210 netbook with Beats audio and a slight design change.
- The HP Pavilion dv4 Gets Updated (Video)
Hands on with the new HP Pavilion dv4 which will provide an option of Intel and AMD processors.
- HP Envy 14 Updated to Sandy Bridge and Gains a New Trackpad
The popular HP Envy 14 gets Sandy Bridge Intel processors and a new trackpad with an image sensor, but no new high-res display.
Notebook News for the Week of May 13th
- Samsung and Acer Google Chromebooks Launch June 15th: Details, Specs & Pricing
Google Chromebooks from Samsung and Acer are announced with a June release date. You can purchase outright or if you need 10 or more units, lease starting at $20 a month for schools and $28 a month for busineses.
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Arrives May 17th: Struts Thin & Rugged Design (video)
Video of the ThinkPad X1 ultraportable arrives and shows off the rugged nature of this ultrathin notebook.
- Panasonic Announces Toughbook 53 w/ Sandy Bridge and Updates Toughbook 52 Rugged Notebooks
Panasonic introduces a new business rugged notebook in the Toughbook line with Sandy Bridge processors.
- Dell Precision M4600 and M6600 Available For Sale With Speedy New Promo (Video)
A look at what some customers can do with the powerful mobile workstations from Dell, which are now available for purchase.
Notebook, Tablet and Accessory Reviews for May 2011
- GBM InkShow: ARMOR X7 Rugged Tablet PC – "Tough Enough"
Sumocat reviews the rougth and tumble ARMOR X7 Rugged Tablet in a GBM Inkshow. Watch it now. You know you want to!
- HP ProBook 6560b Review
Check out this business class notebook from HP. Designed for the mobile professional this notebook doesn't disappoint.
- Toshiba Satellite E305 Blue Label 3.0 Review
The Toshiba Satellite E305 takes home an Eidtor's Choice Award for overall value and performance. Definitely one of the hottest consumer notebooks of 2011.
- Antec soundscience rockus Speakers Offer Good Affordable Sound
Kevin reviews a nice set of speakers that can go from your desk to the backyard and kick out enough sound to handle a outdoor movie this summer.
- Verbatim Tuff-N-Tiny USB Drive is Both Tuff and Tiny (Rugged USB Drive)
Kevin reviews a small thumbdrive that can take a beating without losing your data.
1 Comment
pls make contacts. thanks.


text: The Jerks break down the major moves in the NBA, the end of the #NewYorkSuperteam, the backlash from last week's Tebow blast, and Manny Pacquiao's shocking loss. Plus, the polarized response to the Jumanji trailer, comic and TV reviews, and Ric's "scientific" study of Pepsi Fire! T2J – now in crystal clear Sound-O-Vision!


text:
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Einstein's theory passes deep space test
Dancing with the stars A bizarre stellar system made up of two dead stars 7000 light-years away has put Einstein's famous general theory of relativity under its most extreme test yet.
An international team of scientists discovered an unusually heavy neutron star that spins 25 times each second orbited by a white dwarf companion once every two and half hours.
Observations of the system, dubbed PSR J0348+0432, produced results consistent with Einstein's theory, scientists report in the journal Science.
Lead author, Dr John Antoniadis, of Germany's Max-Planck-Institute, and colleagues used radio and optical telescopes to search for subtle changes in the system.
"I was observing the system...looking for changes in the light emitted from the white dwarf caused by its motion around the pulsar," says Antoniadis.
"A quick on-the-spot analysis made me realise that the pulsar was quite a heavyweight. It is twice the mass of the Sun, making it the most massive neutron star that we know of and also an excellent laboratory for fundamental physics."
The large mass of the neutron star (the extremely dense dead corpse of a star far more massive than the Sun) and the closeness of its white-dwarf companion (the dead core of a Sun-like star), made the system an ideal candidate to test Einstein's general theory of relativity.
"We thought this system might be extreme enough to show a breakdown in general relativity, but instead, Einstein's predictions held up quite well," says Dr Paulo Freire, also of the Max Planck Institute.
The general theory of relativity, which Einstein published in 1915, explains gravity and the effects of mass on the fabric of space-time.
It expands on his special theory of relativity which explains light and the electro-magnetic force.
Antoniadis and colleagues were able to measure the decay of the two stars orbits as gravitational waves carried off energy from the system.
By very precisely measuring the time of arrival of the pulsar's radio pulses over a long period, they determined the rate of decay and the amount of gravitational radiation emitted.
Had competing theories been correct, the rate of orbital decay would have been different.
Relativity theory vs quantum mechanics
These findings improve our understanding of relativity according to Dr Paul Francis of the Australian National University Mount Stromlo Observatory.
"Quantum mechanics is very well laboratory tested...to 20 decimal places," says Francis.
"Whereas relativity is not all that well tested because it's so hard, not having a black hole in your laboratory, which is probably a good thing!"
"It's only been tested to about two decimal places, [so] people have been rather unsure about how good relativity was. But this has added another decimal place to it and it still looks like Einstein's theory is working."
The findings also support the use of general relativity based templates for future gravity wave detectors.
Researchers using such instruments hope to detect the gravitational waves emitted by events such as dense pairs of neutron stars and black holes spiralling inward toward violent collisions.
Gravitational waves are extremely difficult to detect and even with the best instruments, physicists expect they will need to know the characteristics of the waves they seek, which will be buried in quantum noise from their detectors.
"The fact that this is giving more confirmation that relativity is working pretty well implies that the gravity waves will be out there at the strength people are predicting," says Francis.
"Therefore the next generation of gravity detectors should be able to find them."


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If you've got a spare 17 minutes this weekend, pop over to YouTube and watch The Story of Fragrances, a short and sweet documentary from the good folks at the International Fragrance Association of North America (IFRANA). It's a fascinating look at how the scents in our perfumes, cosmetics, and body products get made. And this isn't just for fragrance lovers: It's a compelling bit of background for anyone who uses products or smells them on other people. In other words, everyone.
"Consumers probably don't even realize how much of an interchange they have with fragrances on a regular basis," says Jennifer Abril, IFRANA president. And according to perfumer Mark Banwer, we probably use fragrances 10 or 12 times a day. I mean, I just did a quick inventory and so far I've used soap, conditioner, hair oil, eye cream, sunscreen, face oil, body lotion, deodorant, perfume, hand soap, hand cream, and cuticle oil. I'm already at 12 and the day's not even over yet.
You may also be fascinated to learn that the people who create the perfumes we buy at the fragrance counter are often the same people who cook up scents for laundry detergent. Take perfumer Sophia Grojsman. Not only has she made fragrances like Lancôme Trésor, Calvin Klein Eternity, and Yves Saint Laurent Paris, she also invented the scent for Downy. "When it first came out, I could smell it in the streets, and especially the subway. I could smell it on some women and I said to myself, 'Boy, am I proud of myself,'" Grojsman once told me. "I am still very proud of it because everybody does laundry. I did that scent for people who can't afford anything else."
And what do you know? It also happens to be scent number 13 for me today.
⋅ Daily Beauty Reporter: Fragrance Notes: The Scent of the Queen
⋅ Daily Beauty Reporter: Fragrance Notes: A Moment With Lady Gaga


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Ticket to Write: Salinas Valley honors native son in Steinbeck Center
SALINAS, California - Many of John Steinbeck's most beloved stories take place in the Salinas Valley, where he was born in 1902.
Steinbeck once said: "I think I would like to write the story of this whole valley. ... I can see how I would like to do it so that it would be the valley of the world."
The world certainly took to Steinbeck and to the valley where he grew up and worked summers on ranches and sugar beet farms.
The author of "Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men" won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1962. He set many stories, such as "East of Eden" and "Tortilla Flat," in the Salinas Valley or elsewhere in central California.
Salinas now pays tribute to its favorite son at the National Steinbeck Center, a downtown museum, library and archive that explores Steinbeck's life and works and preserves his papers.
Travelers visiting the museum will also find shops and restaurants in Salinas' quaint downtown. But the streets begin to roll up when the museum closes, especially on weekdays, so plan to have a bite to eat before a museum visit.
The Steinbeck Center is a fitting and interesting homage to the author. The center's museum explores the influences the area had on Steinbeck throughout his life. Exhibits about his work are arranged by book, with each of Steinbeck's most popular works having their own large display explaining their literary and historical significance and cultural influence.
Clips from the film versions of many of the books play in the exhibits, which might seem a bit incongruous, but is quite appropriate. Steinbeck, like a lot of high-powered writers of his era, dabbled in Hollywood, adapting several of his own published works for film and writing screenplays such as "Viva Zapata!"
Visitors will also see mementos of Steinbeck's life, including the truck camper he drove during the adventures that he turned into his book "Travels With Charley: In Search of America." The book, an account of a cross-country journey with his dog Charley, is supposedly non-fiction. In truth, the book, like most of Steinbeck's work, is fabulous in every meaning of the word.
Steinbeck died in 1968. He remains one of America's most celebrated authors, in his beloved Salinas Valley and far, far beyond.
Steve Stephens can be reached at email@example.com or on Twitter@SteveStephens.


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Saturday May 04th 2019, 3:47 pm
Filed under: Podcasts
Written By: Podcast For Peace
Filed under: Podcasts
Written By: Podcast For Peace
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Jamendo Music for a great source of podsafe musicians.
CANDIDS for Modern Life
XNOVA for Save Me
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Special thanks to our producer; The Somnambulist
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Tour Report #21: Podcast with Michael Turner QC, Chairman of The Criminal Bar Association, on the legal aid reforms
To set the context, I quote from an article in The Express:
"High Street solicitors could be forced to close by Government legal aid changes
MORE than 1,500 High Street solicitors will be forced to close branches "within a year" if the Government's controversial legal aid reform plans succeed.
The loss of High Street solicitors would also have a severe impact on barristers. Michael Turner QC, head of the Criminal Bar Association, warned: "Our barristers' system will fail. Our brilliant judiciary comes from the Bar. Once you have Tesco and G4S providing advocates, you will get Tesco and G4S judges in 10 years' time. Make no bones about it, we are facing absolute devastation to what is the finest legal system in the world."
He rejected claims that Britain's legal aid was the most expensive in Europe. "You have a different system there, with investigative magistrates who interview witnesses, and the big cost is the judicial spend."…..
Access to justice in a civilised society is fundamental to the Rule of Law and the rights enshrined in our Human Rights laws to a fair trial.
The Independent covers the theme:
New legal aid reforms end 'justice for all', lawyers warn
England's 800-year-old tradition of fair and open access to justice for all will be destroyed by sweeping Government plans to reform criminal legal aid, senior judges and magistrates warn today.
In an attempt to save £200 million by 2018, the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling plans to stop paying solicitors for the work they do – and instead give them a fixed fee for each case they represent.
Lawyers will be incentivised to recommend guilty pleas to their clients, a coalition of judges, magistrates and civil liberties groups warns. Their fears are backed by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates miscarriages of justice on behalf of the Government.
Criminal suspects will lose their rights to choose or dismiss a solicitor, and the number of accredited legal aid firms will drop from 1,600 to less than 400 – raising the possibility that hundreds of small high street firms could be replaced by huge contractors like G4S.
"The Government is creating a system where potentially the same company could defend you, lock you up in prison and then rehabilitate you when you come out," said one judicial source……"Under plans to save £200m solicitors will be paid fixed fees, with contracts going to firms like G4S
Interestingly, two well regarded judges have commented on the issue…
The current President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, is understood to have deep reservations about Mr Grayling's plan. Sources suggest that he believes it undermines the right – first enshrined in the Magna Carta – that "to no man shall we deny justice".
The former Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf told The Independent on Sunday that the proposals would lead to a "factory of mass-produced justice" and miscarriages of justice.
"It is the complete privatisation of justice."
Michal Turner QC has robust views on the proposed reforms which will have a considerable impact on access to justice, the profession, the public and have a devastating effect on the very cornerstone of our democracy.
Some useful links:
The Independent: New legal aid reforms end 'justice for all', lawyers warn
David Allen Green, The New Statesman: How the Ministry of Justice's proposal for the tendering of criminal legal aid is misconceived and illiberal
The Ministry of Justice consultation document: Transforming Legal Aid: Delivering a more credible and efficient system
Barrister 999: Legal Aid – some thoughts
Crimeline: DO NOT expect others to do things for you. It is your justice system at risk. Do something – here are some ideas.
Criminal Bar Association: PRICE COMPETITIVE TENDERING. A SOLICITOR'S VIEW FROM THE HIGH STREET
Crimsolicitor: The right to choose…
(Sorry about the minor technical recording difficulty at the beginning of the podcast – thankfully we only lost the introduction – and a very brief summary of the Ministry of Justice proposals which are linked above under the links section. We also had the sound of crockery being laid out in an adjoining room – which accounts for a very brief pause in recording eight minutes in!
Michael Turner gave me a short history of the Garden Court Chambers building and an excellent tour. Fascinating.
Please spread the word about this podcast – #SaveUKJustice)


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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/11/07/art.bomaliahug1107.gi.jpg caption="President-elect Obama told reporters Friday that his eldest daughter, Malia, has allergies which might preclude the family from adopting a shelter dog which would likely be a 'mutt' like Obama."]
(CNN) – In his first press conference since winning the race to the White House, President-elect Barack Obama addressed a pressing question: who is going to be the first dog?
Obama told a group of reporters in Chicago on Friday that since his 10-year-old daughter, Malia, is allergic, the Obama family is looking for a hypoallergenic breed. But Obama also said the family wants to adopt one from a shelter.
Watch: Obama talks about the first dog
"There are a number of breeds that are hypoallergenic, but on the other hand our preference is to get a shelter dog, but obviously, a lot of the shelter dogs are mutts like me," Obama said. "So, whether we are going to be able to balance those two things I think is a pressing issue on the Obama household."
Obama is of mixed racial heritage: His mother was Caucasian and his father was African.
Obama announced in his victory speech on Election Day that his daughters had "earned" a puppy. Obama joked that this is a "major issue" and said that since Election Day, the family's dog choice has created more interest than any other topic.
He should call his dog "Joe".
Just a note on the rescue/shelter dog. I hope someone tells him that there are also all kinds of resuces for purebred dogs if that is his concern. I, for example have a beautiful shar pei from a shar pei rescue and almost all other breeds have a rescue devoted to their specific breed. I volunteer for a dog resuce and if there is such a thing as a hypo allergic dog then it can be found in a rescue or shelter and does not have to be purchased from a breeder.
for Leah "we're all mutts" That's VERY true. There are no true 100% Americans. There were at one time. When our ancestors came here from England, Europe, Italy, France, Scotland, Germany, Ireland, etc we confiscated the land of the True Americans. They were called "Indians" because Christopher Columbus mistakenly thought he had landed in the West Indies when he landed here in 1492.
So we're all mixtures of the various nationalities of our ancestors from countries like France, Ireland, England, Portugal, Spain etc.
All of us are mutts. As soon as everyone realizes that simple fact, this country will actually take that last ultimate step foward.
Even though I didn't vote for Obama, I can appreciate his love for his daughters. I have a GOLDENDOODLE (1/2 Golden Retriever, 1/2 standard poodle). He is hypo-allergenic and does NOT SHED. Unfortunately, it will be quite difficult to find a hypoallergenic dog in a shelter. Get a Goldendoodle or labradoodle (plus, they look like Boyds Bears)
I think I like this version of Obama better.
The body language was different, the style of delivery was different. He even iced Jake Tapper!
I was worried a bit, that he might take awhile to adjust to the position, but my goodness, I have total confidence in this guy to handle anything.
I'm a "mutt" too, so all I said when I heard that comment was "OH SNAP!" Which was pretty much what I said when he made that "Seance" crack too.
I *like* this guy.
Hmm. I like the notion of getting a pit bull and putting a lipstick on it. He can call her "Hockey Mom". The second option of getting a Labrador and calling it "Joe the Labraman".
Seriously, I hope he will find a mutt that would have best of both races, like Obama has the cool of a white man and the fire of a black man.
Come on people. I've been calling myself a mutt for years and I am so proud of my heritage. I am a little of everything and I am proud of it!! Mutts make better dogs and better people! Don't look at it as being something negative. It's absolutely wonderful!
The only people pointing out that "mutt" is bad are most likely those that aren't mutts themselves. Let it go. You're insulting the rest of us.
And some people were saying there's nothing about Obama to make fun of. Comedians need full employment too, he's just helping the economy!
Seriously, it's good to see him just be himself.
I have always wished a President would adopt a mixed-breed shelter dog to help expose their plight to our Country. God bless Mr. Obama for considering this . Larry
To Joe in NJ
As you can see many of us care what type of dog Obama is getting.
I think you are the one not getting it – how important dogs are to us humans, how warm hearting it is in these difficult times to be looking at adopting dogs – our best friends and how delightful it is to have a president that is showing his soft side and shares the discussions held in the Obama household about which dog to adopt. It is a very telling anecdote that satisfies on many levels. Your response, on the other hand, is sour, petty and not in touch. Get over it, Obama won!!!!!!!
Dear Obama is Shafting Gays,
I understand your position. I agree that it is very sad that America took one step forward (electing Obama) and one step back (banning gay marriage in 4 states). What you have to understand though is that WINNING this election was of TREMENDOUS importance. If he had taken a stance supporting gay marriage there is a very good chance that would have lost him the election.
In this case I believe Winning the election was More important than matters of principal. You have to choose your battles wisely.
So, yes, it was a political decision, but I believe it was the right decision. There is far greater chance of changing things (for gays and everyone else) with Obama in office than with McCain.
Am I the only 1 who realizes almost all Americans are mutts? My heritage is Italian, Irish, a little English, a little American Indian, and a whole lot of Texan. Now tht's a mutt!
Are all the rest of you guys pure breeds?
For those of you taking this too seriously...
1/2 Irish, 1/4 Indian, 1/4 Arab and All-American.
I call myself a mutt all the time and I think it's great he said it.
Mutt does not mean bi-racial. I'm a mutt and I'm caucasion. Or should I call myself bi-racial because I am norwegian, english, irish, dutch?
I have heard over and over, he is the real thing. Picking a rescue dog is great! Getting one from a breader is selfish, as there are so many dogs out there that are boing destroyed daily. Good job! Love the "mutt" comment. And I ask who here is not a mutt? Most people, if their famillies have been in the USA for at least 2 generations are mutts.
For those who think only liberals hate..just look at crue!
Oh poor Barack, a mutt. Now one of the most powerful people on earth, I don't even want to hear about his beleaguered life.................................
I love a sense of humor in a president. That one-liner is better than anything I've ever heard out of Dubya's mouth. Let me take that back. The "latte sipping lefty" line from the movie was pretty funny.
Nothing wrong with being a "mutt", especially if one is referring to oneself. As a Asian/African-American mix, I totally understood what he met. Some people need to lose their racial hypersensitivity.
In response to "Obama is shafting gays"
How did Obama "not support gays in the California marriage initiative"?
This is not meant as an attack, i would just like an explanation


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Top Things To Do This Weekend: Dec 12-15
Holiday Guide
Hopefully you're not getting tired of holiday-themed festivies yet, because we're not even halfway through December. If you need help navigating all the decked-out halls, check out our handy guide to all of the Rose City's holiday entertainment, which includes some of these sure bets for this weekend:
- Oregon Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, Keller Audiorium (check out our look at OBT's Nutcracker by the numbers in December's PoMo Picks!)
- The Tony Starlight Christmas Show, Alberta Rose Theater
- Gospel Christmas, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
- Portland Baroque Orchestra, Handel's Messiah, First Baptist Church
- Post5 Theatre's No One Likes A Scrooge, Post5 Theatre
- Portland Symphonic Choir's Winter Song, St. Mary's Cathedral
- Twist Your Dickens, Portland Center Stage
- Xmas Unplugged, Artists Repertory Theatre
- It's a (Somewhat) Wonderful Life, Bag&Baggage
- A Christmas Carol, Portland Playhouse
Portugal. The Man
Dec 12, Crystal Ballroom
Radio station 94.7's December to Remember festival brings the Portland–via–Wasilla, Alaska, psych-poppers home amid a globetrotting tour in support of their new, Danger Mouse–produced album, Evil Friends. "A million times, I've wondered why Danger Mouse would want to work with our band," bandleader John Gourley said in our interview with him this summer.
Morning Ritual
Dec 13, Secret Society
This collaboration between piano player, organ player, and composer Ben Darwish and female folk duo the Shook Twins hits Secret Society as part of Northwest mini-tour in support of their recently self-released debut album, The Clear Blue Pearl. Darwish's jazz and R&B background and the Twins' gorgeous voices make for an instantly compelling mix: the group pairs infectious melodies with strong but quiet grooves. Read our review of Darwish's recent song cycle and multimedia performance piece, The Lonely Night.
Live Wire!
Dec 14, Alberta Rose Theater
For the fall season finale of Live Wire! Radio, host Luke Burbank welcomes a jam-packed list of guests including comedian and Simpsons writer Dana Gould, celebrated character actor Stephen Tobolowsky (Memento, Groundhog Day), NPR's Ask Me Another host Ophira Eisenberg, local expiremental country rockers Blitzen Trapper, and Portland's favorite rock and roll cabaret singer, Storm Large, whose rendition of "O Holy Night" with actor Rodney Hicks will supposedly break your heart.
Masquerade Ball
Dec 14, Refuge
For the fourth year in a row, Proper Villain Productions presents Portland's Masquerade Ball and fundraiser for Rafael House. With enough musical styles to satisfy everyone's tastes—breakbeat! soul-rock! funk! samba! electronic! headlined by MarchFourth Marching Band—plus circus performers, a diversity of dancers, a hookah lounge, body art and tarot readings, this equation calculates into a party—with no Christmas carols in sight.
Comics For Change! Release Party
Dec 12, Darcelle XV Showplace
Know Your City, the local history-championing nonprofit formerly known as the Dill Pickle Club, hosts a release party for Comics for Change! Illustrated Stories from Oregon's Front Lines, their new box-set of comics that celebrates living activists from our great state who are doing their best to make Oregon a better place for everyone—including drag queen Darcelle, who is hosting the event at her nightclub. The event will feature a brief slideshow about the project presented by some of the writers and artists who worked on it, as well as original artwork from the comic on display for one night only.
David Shields
Dec 12, Powell's
If you need some motivation to make it through the winter doldrums, Shields might have some tips for you. Author of 15 books, including New York Times bestsellers The Thing About Life is that One Day You'll be Dead and Salinger, Shields reflects in his new book, How Literature Saved My Life, on his own struggle overcoming loneliness and how he has found purpose and human connection through literature.
Book Release for William Stafford's "Winterward"
Dec 14, First Unitarian Church
Tavern Books hosts this release party for the posthumous publication of Stafford's 1954 creative dissertation at the University of Iowa, which contained poems that would go on to appear in his first three published books. The event serves as an early preview of the 2014 Stafford Centennial, and will include readings from Kim Stafford, Paulann Petersen, Paul Merchant, and Carl Adamshick.
Beauty and the Beast
Thru Dec 29, Newmark Theatre
"Enchanting is a word that gets tossed around a lot, especially when you're dealing with princesses and magical castles, but Pixie Dust Production's Portland version of the Beauty & the Beast musical is exactly that: a huge Broadway sing-along remounted with moxie by a cast of warm and lively local vets made special with truly fanciful sets and costumes. It's an early Christmas present for musical lovers—especially those with kids in tow." Read our full review, and enter to win tickets.
American Fiesta
Thru Dec 22, Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza
Triangle Productions stages Steven Tomlinson's 2006 one-man show about his metaphor-rich quest for the perfect Fiesta dinnerware set. The show is dedicated to a longtime arts patron, Joan Hayward, who recently passed away—and left the theater company her own beloved collection of the iconic, Depression-era china. Gary Wayne Cash stars.
What the Water Said
Dec 12–13, 12128 Boat Space, Multnomah Yacht Repair
Aboard crabbing ship–turned–art gallery 12128 Boat Space, moored on the Columbia in far Northwest Portland, avant-garde film presenters Cinema Project will screen a program of ocean-themed experimental films, including a series from filmmaker David Gatten created by submerging unexposed celluloid in the Atlantic.
Monique Mouton
Dec 13–Jan 26, Fourteen30 Contemporary
This young, New York–based painter applies translucently thin layers of color to hand-cut wooden panels with visible brushstrokes, creating abstract works that reveal themselves only to the patient viewer. The opening reception is on Friday from 6–8 p.m.
Dec 13–Jan 5, Imago Theatre
Imago Theatre reprises its longest-running and most successful show, which has been produced on Broadway—twice—and toured the world. In the kid-friendly work, the company employs costumes, acrobatics, and universal themes to bring into existence a surrealist world of fantastical creatures and inanimate objects.


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How can i become a mod
It certainly beats " EVERYTHING I SAY AND DO APPROVES BY GORDON " ..But i enjoy you looking like a dumbass so leave it.
Angry blue paint brushes for the win!
I scare kids!! =P
Adding a new one:
all adults look old when you're your age
Quote from: Chronologix on June 22, 2007, 04:53:51 amAdding a new one:They look old... O_o Kinda scary But the other was nice
madness? This is SID METAAAL!
Adding:And yes you can use them if you like, freely
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So after a week long flying adventure to Idaho and different conversation with people. I hear there might be Races someplace in AZ or possibly Las Vegas??
Anyone else hear about this possibility ??
Would be pretty awesome to have more then just Reno going on...
Updated 10-16-2015 at 09:00 PM by flyboy83


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The Lakers' coaching search currently appears similar to the beginning of a marathon.
What has emerged has entailed lots of preparation. plenty of competitors and a long way to the finish line.
The Lakers plan to interview a large number of candidates over the phone before narrowing down the list to more formal in-person interviews, according to a league source familiar with the process. It will include candidates with extensive NBA coaching experience to candidates that are both relatively less expensive and less high profile. Based on that criteria, there are a number of possibilities.
Among the ones with extensive NBA coaching experience include George Karl, Jeff Van Gundy, former Lakers forward Byron Scott, Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis and former Lakers and Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy. There are high-profile college basketball coaches (Kentucky's John Calipari and Connecticut's Kevin Ollie). There are some potential wild cards. There is former Lakers guard Derek Fisher, though he currently plays for Oklahoma City. There is also Ettore Messina, who served as a consultant under former Lakers coach Mike Brown during the 2011-12 season and has had success coaching overseas in Europe.
The Lakers have a busy schedule after Mike D'Antoni resigned Wednesday after the team declined to assure him it would exercise its team option to stay for the 2015-16 season. It would be surprising if the Lakers hire a coach before the NBA draft lottery on May 20 in New York City, where the Lakers hope to receive a top draft pick.
The sense around the league suggests the Lakers would like to know where they stand in the NBA draft order, their sixth-worst NBA record last season giving them a 6.3 percent chance of receiving the top pick. The Lakers would also like to stay patient in case any openings emerge stemming from various coaching shuffling through the NBA playoffs.
Still, some clarity emerged on a few fronts.
After guiding UConn to the NCAA men's basketball championship, Ollie plans to entertain the Lakers' likely pitch with some uncertainty.
"He'll listen, but he's real committed to his alma mater," said a person familiar with Ollie's thinking.
Ollie remains an intriguing option for reasons beyond guiding the seventh-seeded Huskies to a national championship in only his second season as head coach and growing up in Los Angeles as a former Crenshaw High standout.
Ollie had a non-descript 13-year NBA career, but he spent his final season in 2009-10 with Oklahoma City where star Kevin Durant told ESPN's Bill Simmons that Ollie became a "game changer" in bolstering the organization's culture from a 23-win record in 2008-209 toward a 50-win season and a first-round playoff appearance against the Lakers in 2009-10. Durant, who will likely become this season's league MVP, will become a free agent in 2016.
Calipari tried sounding more definitive about any coaching prospects, perhaps aware that former Wildcats standout Rex Chapman tweeted hours before the NCAA men's championship game in early April that Calipari would take the Lakers' job that then belonged to D'Antoni.
"Before it starts, I'm totally committed to helping this group of young men reach their dreams," Calipari tweeted. "I wouldn't & couldn't leave this group!"
Others publicly expressed interest in the Lakers' coaching position, including Scott (an analyst on Time Warner Cable SportsNet, the Lakers' flagship station) and Dunleavy (on SiriusXM NBA Radio). Lionel Hollins, who last coached with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2009-13, also is interested, according to a league source, though he is not on the Lakers' initial list of candidates.
There appears little need for the Lakers to pursue TNT analyst Steve Kerr, a move that would add intrigue considering New York Knicks president and former Lakers coach Phil Jackson eyes him as a top candidate to replace the recently fired Mike Woodson. It would be "surprising" for Kerr to take the Lakers' coaching position if they were interested, according to a person familiar with his thinking. It appears more likely Kerr either coaches the Knicks or stays as a TNT analyst.
Whoever becomes the Lakers coach has a huge responsibility. Although it is considered a premier job, the Lakers finished last season with a 27-55 record. That partly stemmed from the players missing a combined 319 games because of injuries, most notably to Kobe Bryant (torn left Achilles tendon) and Steve Nash (nerve root irritation in back).
But the Lakers could have considerable purchasing power. The Lakers will field up to 12 free agents in July out of their 15-player roster. They are currently slated to receive a sixth overall pick in the first round, though the Lakers could move up in the NBA draft lottery.
Even with the number of potential candidates, the Lakers are known to keep things tight-lipped surrounding coaching hires. Both the Lakers' decision to hire Brown and D'Antoni in their past two coaching searches materialized with little forewarning.
How will the search play out this time? That seems hard to tell considering the finish line appears far out of sight.


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Looking Up: Winter moon, high and bright
The new year begins with full moon on the 1st of January.
January's full moon (and for few a few nights after) paints the landscape the most brilliantly, as it rises so high in the sky. Let's hope for a nice coating of snow to reflect the moon's glow.
Some have taken advantage of a clear winter night basked in lunar glow, to don cross country skis and take to the nearest field. Be careful of course, not to find yourself in trouble out in the frigid winter night- take necessary precautions, especially having a companion with you!
Just looking out the window is refreshing, to see the high winter moon bathe the yard with light. You will still see the brighter stars despite the moon, and winter has an unusual share of them. If you look out at about 10:30 p.m., the majestic constellation Orion will be due south (in early January).
Stars of all sorts
Be sure to gaze low in the southeast for the gloriously bright star Sirius, the brightest in the night sky as seen from Earth, and one of the closest stars to our solar system (only 8.7 light years away- a mere 50,460,000,000,000 miles). Rated at magnitude - 1.58, from Sirius, the sun would appear only a little brighter than the North Star. It is interesting to note that Sirius, a blue-white star twice the diameter of our sun, has a faint companion star orbiting it, a white dwarf star only three times the size of Earth. This star is so dense, that a cubic inch of its gaseous material would weigh a ton if placed on Earth.
A cubic yard of this tiny star's material would weigh 40,000 tons. In comparison, a cubic yard of the air we breath weighs about two pounds, and a cubic yard of the sun's material weighs around a ton. Other stars are huge. Betelgeuse, the bright red star on the upper left corner of Orion, is a red giant star. Betelgeuse is approximately 460 million miles in diameter. If substituted for our sun, Betelgeuse would envelope the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Its great expanse makes its gases so thin, a cubic yard weighs only 1/30th of an ounce. Betelgeuse is 272 light years away.
Be sure to look southeast in the early morning!! About 45 minutes before sunrise, brilliant planet Jupiter is about 30 degrees high, or about a third the way up. The red planet Mars, considerably dimmer, is close by, to the upper right as January begins. On Jan. 6, Mars will be astonishingly close to Jupiter, only a third of one degree - or less than half of the apparent width of the full moon. They will easily fit in the same field of view in a small telescope. Eyes alone, however, will offer a thrilling view.
Back to the moon
Ever wonder why the "Man in the Moon" figure always faces us? It is not because the moon is not spinning; its rotation rate merely matches the time it takes to orbit the Earth (27 days, eight hours). The moon always shows one side because of the tides.
The moon is believed to have been formed close to Earth, and at that time (well before your time) both worlds spun faster than they do now. Their gravity raised slight deformations in each other, gradually slowing their spins. Spin energy transferred to the moon, pushing it away. Even as we speak, the moon is slowing Earth's spin very gradually- mostly by the tidal sloshing of the oceans - and consequently, the moon is moving away - by 1.5 inches per year.
Being smaller and lighter, the moon lost most of its spin to tidal braking long ago. Once it nearly stopped rotating, its slight elongated shape caused the moon to settle with its long axis (like the narrow end of an egg) always pointed at the Earth.
It was not until October 1959 when the Soviet Luna 3 probe went behind the moon, that we were afforded our first glimpse of the "far side." Twenty seven Apollo astronauts, aboard nine missions, saw the other side of the moon (1968-1972). Other unmanned spacecraft, notably the highly successful Clementine spacecraft which NASA put into lunar orbit in January 1994, have mapped the far side in fine detail. The far side is full of craters and mountains, but few dark, level plains (the so-called "seas") in contrast to the many seas on the near side making up the Man in the Moon's face.
If the moon somehow turned around (I sure want to be out watching if it does), the lack of dark areas would make the full moon much brighter, but perhaps less appealing. Who hasn't enjoyed seeing the faithful old Man in the Moon every since as a child we first looked up?
Happy New Year.
Keep looking up!
— Peter Becker is Managing Editor at The News Eagle in Hawley, PA. Notes are welcome at email@example.com. Please mention in what newspaper or web site you read this column.


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|Section 1
|Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MnDNR), Surdex Corporation
|Digital Orthoimagery, Southern Minnesota, Spring 2011; Meeker County, Spring 2013; 0.5-m Resolution
|This dataset contains leaf-off 4-band red, green, blue, infrared (RGBI) digital orthophoto imagery produced at half-meter (50 cm) resolution from new aerial photography captured in Spring 2011 (Meeker Co., Spring 2013). The imagery covers 38 counties in southern Minnesota: Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Mower, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rice, Rock, Sibley, Steele, Swift, Wabasha, Waseca, Watonwan, Winona and Yellow Medicine.
Funding for this data was provided by the Minnesota Natural Heritage Fund, the Minnesota Clean Water Legacy Act, and The Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
This metadata record was created by the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo) using information supplied by Surdex Corporation.
|The orthophotos will be used by the Minnesota DNR to update the National Wetland Inventory maps and as a base layer for mapping wetlands and other business needs. This type of leaf-off photography is a critical component for a variety of land management applications including transportation planning, wetland mapping, urban planning, forest management, soil mapping, and utility siting.
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|Use Constraints
|Imagery is the property of the State of Minnesota.
MnGeo Redistribution conditions: In obtaining this data from the Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo), it is understood that you and/or your organization have the right to use it for any purpose. If you modify it, you are encouraged to apply responsible best practices by documenting those changes in a metadata record. If you transmit or provide the data to another user, it is your responsibility to provide appropriate content, limitation, warranty and liability information as you see fit.
|Contact Person Information
|Steve Kloiber,
Wetland Monitoring Coordinator
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
500 Lafayette Road
St. Paul, MN 55155
Phone: 651-259-5164
Email: email@example.com
|Browse Graphic
|None available
|Associated Data Sets
|For information on other air photos available for Minnesota, see: http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/airphoto/
|Section 2
|Data Quality
|Attribute Accuracy
|Logical Consistency
|The half-meter project area was slightly scaled back in mid-May 2011 due to rapidly changing foliage conditions on the ground site. The state elected to delay acquisition in Meeker County until leaf-off Spring 2013.
|Horizontal Positional Accuracy
|An overall accuracy for this product was targeted for 2.4 meters, CE90. Surdex collected Airborne GPS data at the time of image acquisition and supplemented with several control points surveyed by ground crews. Surdex used these ground control points and additionally some QC points dropped out of the Triangulation in order to validate the accuracy of the final digital orthophoto quarter quad (DOQQ) product. Of all the points collected, 71 were easily readable in the final product and were used to calculate the stated residual.
Minnesota Dept. of Transportation staff independently tested the horizontal positional accuracy of the DOQs.
Total number of targets = 171
Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) = 0.819
National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy (NSSDA) = 1.418 (95% confidence level)
Their full accuracy report is at: http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/airphoto/DOQ_Accuracy_Report_MnDOT_southmn2011.pdf
|Vertical Positional Accuracy
|None - this is a horizontal only product.
|Multiple aircraft were deployed to southern Minnesota in early April 2011 for digital image acquisition during leaf-off conditions. Cessna Conquests equipped with Intergraph DMC (Digital Mapping Cameras) captured 4 band imagery over the project sites. Imagery was captured at an altitude of 16,500 feet above mean terrain, allowing up to 5% cloud conditions per frame. All four bands (RGB natural color plus near infrared) of raw camera data were processed by Surdex using Intergraph PPS software coupled with Surdex proprietary image handling software for color correction and dodging. Post processing of Airborne and Ground GPS data was performed with Waypoint Consulting's GrafNav software. Aerial Triangulation was completed using Intergraph ImageStation Automatic Triangulation and rectification of imagery to the state supplied 10 meter digital elevation model (DEM) was completed using Surdex proprietary software. Image mosaicking, quality control, and final DOQQ products were produced using proprietary Surdex software.
Additional information for Meeker County: Data was captured in May 2013 using 10 flight lines and 295 exposures. The direction of the flight lines were oriented N-S. The overall GSD of the final product was 0.5 meters and tiled out into quarter quads which are approximately 800 mb in size.
|Section 3
|Spatial Data Organization (not used in this metadata)
|Section 4
|Coordinate System
|Horizontal Coordinate Scheme
|Universal Transverse Mercator
|UTM Zone Number
|Horizontal Datum
|Horizontal Units
|Cell Width
|Cell Height
|Section 5
|Imagery has 4 Bands with the order of Red, Green, Blue and Near Infrared
|Detailed Citation
|Table Detail:
|Section 6
|Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
|Publication Date
|Contact Person Information
|Nancy Rader,
GIS Data Coordinator
Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo)
658 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55155
Phone: 651-201-2489
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
|Distributor's Data Set Identifier
|South MN DOQs, Spring 2011; Meeker County DOQs, Spring 2013
|Distribution Liability
|MnGeo's full disclaimer is here: http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/disclaimer.html
|Ordering Instructions
|These air photos are very large and thus are not provided online for download. Instead, they are available to view as a web map service (WMS), part of MnGeo's Geospatial Image Service. Click on the link below for more information about the Geospatial Image Service and how to use web map services.
|Online Linkage
|I AGREE to the notice in "Distribution Liability" above. Clicking to agree will either begin the download process, link to a service, or provide more instructions. See "Ordering Instructions" above for details.
|Section 7
|Metadata Reference
|Metadata Date
|Contact Person Information
|Nancy Rader,
GIS Data Coordinator
Minnesota Geospatial Information Office (MnGeo)
658 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55155
Phone: 651-201-2489
Email: email@example.com
|Metadata Standard Name
|Minnesota Geographic Metadata Guidelines
|Metadata Standard Version
|Metadata Standard Online Linkage


text:
The End of Tanning?
In the wake of research showing strong connections between indoor tanning and melanoma, the sunbed industry is battered and contracting. But the allure of artificially bronzed skin might be dwindling in general.
Ryan Baker, a director of operations for Palm Beach Tan, ushers me through the narrow, pastel hallways of one of the chain's salons in Washington, D.C. It's a tiny place, squeezed into a strip mall between a Chipotle and a beauty parlor. But in a pinch, some see it as a mini-vacation—a dose of artificial sunshine when life's too busy, or the outside world too cloudy, for the real thing.
Some customers pop in and out of the rooms in 10 minutes, Baker says, while others take their time, luxuriating for a half-hour or more as they primp and apply lotions in the full-length mirrors.
One of the higher-end beds looks like a spaceship, or at least an 80s rendering of one. After the tanner climbs underneath its shiny convex cover, he can blast his preferred music by hooking an iPod up to the built-in speakers. The inside is climate-controlled, and every few minutes it releases a puff of an aromatherapy scent. There are even vertical "beds," for those who prefer not to give up on their standing-desk lifestyles even while soaking up UV rays.
Baker repeatedly reminds me that these amenities are to be enjoyed only while hewing to the "golden rules of tanning:"
1) Always know your skin type. Palm Beach uses dermatologists' Fitzpatrick scale, which ranges from "very pale" to "dark brown." People on the paler end of the spectrum should bake for just a few minutes at a time.
2) Take it slow to reach your "cosmetic objectives." Build up a tan by using the beds for short periods over a series of sessions.
3) Apply professional tanning lotions before and after your tan. These don't protect against UV exposure, but they help with dryness.
4) Always wear eyewear. He tips his head back to demonstrate how one would never sunbathe on a beach with one's eyes open. Nor should one do this while inside a 63-lamp iBed Swing Commercial Tanning Bed.
He sums it all up with two words: "Tan responsible."
I point to poster of a blond model relaxing on a white-sand beach, her skin like a moist Werther's caramel. I ask Baker how long he thought it would take for me to look like that.
"Can you tan?" he says, surveying my ghostly pallor. He suggests I think about getting a spray-on instead.
It's this kind of diligence that Baker thinks is why people keep coming to Palm Beach Tan, even as the tanning industry as a whole has shrunk by more than a fifth over the past four years. It's a period that's been marked by a federal tanning tax, a slew of state-level age restrictions, and an increasingly alarming series of public-health warnings about the dangers of UV exposure.
Even though tanning beds still make up the bulk of the indoor-tanning business, spray tanning is now the only part of the industry that's growing. While big, bronze empires like Palm Beach will probably weather the regulatory storm, hundreds of "mom and pop" tanning places around the country have shuttered.
"It's sad," he says. "Tanning is a fun thing. In our industry, we all know each other, and we just don't want to hear things like that."
Baker looks like a fit soccer dad in his khakis and gingham shirt embroidered with a Palm Beach logo. He's a company man, having worked his way up from a part-time sales associate job in Texas to his current role, in which he oversees 97 stores on the East Coast.
His face is the color of a newborn fawn, a result of what he calls "cocktail tanning"—a combination of sunbed- and spray-tanning. I kept trying to tell myself that he, as well as the gingersnap-hued women behind the counter, would look just as good if they were their natural beige-white.
I asked Baker if he thought people would ever stop tanning entirely.
"No," he said. "Because I'm a beach person. Just going to Virginia Beach or Ocean City, there are people out there trying to get a tan."
And that's the next big challenge for health agencies. Despite how rapidly the warnings and taxes and regulations have beat back the sunbed industry, there's still something a little glamorous about being tan.
According to one popular theory, tanning caught on by accident. In the early 20s, Vogue magazine ads were still peddling bleaching creams that claimed to "get rid of tan." Doctors in the early 1900s thought sun exposure caused nervousness and insanity. In his 1905 book The Effects of Tropical Light on White Men, Dr. Chas Edwards Woodruff wrote, "The American girl is a bundle of nerves. She is a victim of too much light."
But in 1929, French fashionista Coco Chanel inadvertently spent too much time in the sun while vacationing in the French Riviera. She shrugged and proclaimed, "A girl simply has to be tanned." That year, there was a sharp uptick in the number of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar articles trumpeting the allure of darker skin. While a Jantzen swimsuit ad from 1927 depicted models sitting under umbrellas and wearing wide-brimmed hats, one from 1929 showed them "frolicking in the sun without sun protection," as one study in the American Journal of Public Health found.
In the 1930s, France introduced paid vacations, and both Europeans and Americans increasingly took up outdoor hobbies. Before long a subtle tan became a symbol of youth, leisure, and upward mobility.
In the early 1970s, the German scientist Friedrich Wolff was using ultraviolet lights to analyze the impact of sun exposure on athletes. He noticed an intriguing side effect: The men took on a golden hue. Wolff turned the oddity into a selling point, and the first tanning beds were born.
Appearances are the primary motivator for "laying out:" Surveys have consistently shown that people find tans attractive. One D.C. woman I spoke with was eager to point out that she is by no means a "tanorexic." At the same time, she added, "from a woman's perspective, it's almost the same thing as make-up. [A tan] can help camouflage certain flaws. I have dark circles under my eyes, and it kind of evens out my skin tone a bit."
When Baker talks about the reasons why people tan, he circles back to what he calls the "look good/feel good," as though the two states are inseparable.
Other than the look good/feel good, he says customers usually cite "I'm going on vacation, or I'm going to a wedding and I have to wear this dress, or Halloween's coming up and I have a costume that I need to look tan in."
Tanning has become so ingrained, in other words, that "looking tan" is in some ways its own rationale. You need to look tan in that dress. That is the kind of dress one looks tan in.
Ultraviolet radiation is unique among carcinogens in that it both helps you and, with enough exposure, can kill you. The sun's (or sunbed's) rays spur the production of vitamin D. They also bombard skin cells, mutating DNA and causing wrinkles. Crucially, UV radiation also summons a specific type of immune cell that prompts cancerous growths. Far from protecting against sunburn, a "base tan" is a sign that skin damage has already occurred. According to the CDC, people who tan are more likely to get sunburned.
The skin's darkening effect is caused by the rapid production of melanin, a type of skin pigment.
"When skin cells develop melanin, it's doing so in response to the damage," said Len Lichtenfeld, an oncologist and deputy chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society. "It's not doing that because it's a healthy sign."
The tanning process itself can be addictive: Sunlight stimulates the release of endorphins, resulting in feelings of relaxation or euphoria—the phenomenon sometimes called "runner's high."
"Tanning makes you feel good. But so does methamphetamine," said Joel Hillhouse, a professor of public health at East Tennessee State University who has studied the psychology of tanning. He said some of his study subjects have stolen money or broken into tanning salons to get their fix.
Using tanning beds increases the risk of developing melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, by 59 percent. More than 60,000 new melanomas are diagnosed in the U.S. annually, but treatment of other types of skin cancers increased by nearly 77 percent between 1992 and 2006. Skin cancer is now the most common type of cancer in the U.S.
Public health authorities have responded swiftly and, tanning salon owners say, severely. In 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified tanning beds as a Group 1 carcinogen, in the same category as cigarette smoke and asbestos. The 2010 Affordable Care Act included a 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services.
Earlier this month the surgeon general released a report calling attention to the dangers of tanning, saying in an introductory letter that "tanned skin is damaged skin." It was the first time a surgeon general had focused on skin cancer specifically.
The FDA also recently reclassified the safety level of tanning beds from low-risk—on par with Band-Aids—to moderate-risk, like condoms and wheelchairs. On top of that, the agency mandated that the beds carry a black-box warning stating that they should not be used by minors.
Because sunburns during childhood cause a particularly sharp increase in the likelihood of developing skin cancer, in recent years nine states have barred anyone under the age of 18 from using tanning beds. Thirty-two others regulate the devices' use by minors.
The laws and warnings have prompted widespread outrage among tanning enthusiasts. Today, the conversation on the science behind skin cancer can be as vicious as the one about climate change.
"We're agrarian by nature," said Rob Quinn, CEO of a chain of 40-some Tan Pro stores in Ohio, referring to humanity. "We crave nourishment, water, and sunlight. I can't imagine our Creator would be that mean to say, 'Okay I'm going to introduce you to this light, and I'm going to make you crave it and love it, but it's bad for you.'"
Quinn believes that the recent anti-tanning push is a conspiracy by the world's dermatologists, and that we will yet see the lasting negative repercussions of keeping a generation of humans out of the sun. He said that Ohio has lost 40 percent of its registered tanning salons, and that the customer headcount in some stores is down by nearly half.
Baker is hyper-aware, and hyper-sensitive, to accusations that people who use sunbeds have a higher risk of developing skin cancer.
"I've read enough to know that it's very difficult to say that one thing or another is causing this or that," he said. "I don't agree [that there's a strong link between indoor tanning and melanoma]. There's a lot of factors that go into that type of serious disease."
When I asked what conclusions he's drawn from his readings, he declined to comment.
Though minors make up just two or three percent of most tanning salons' customers, the recent under-18 bans have been the source of particular scorn within the tanning industry.
"Whether or not a 17-year-old or 16-year-old gets a suntan, that should be up to his or her parents, not the government," John Overstreet, the executive director of the Indoor Tanning Association, told me. "The kid wants to get a suntan, and the government won't let them."
He points out that there are already warnings against overexposure on most tanning salon intake forms and on the beds themselves. "With all these warnings, why do people do this?" he said. "I honestly believe it's because we're being given bad advice."
After decades of soaking up the sun, there are signs that we might be returning to the age of the parasol—or at least a bottle of SPF 30 in every beach tote.
"There's been a cultural shift," Hillhouse, the psychologist, said. "Fifteen years ago, you would not have seen an article in Seventeen or Cosmopolitan about the dangers of indoor tanning, but now it's very common."
Quinn said that the drumbeat of skin-cancer coverage has spooked even the most devoted tanners, who now say things like, "I know it's bad for me, but I just love doing it."
Some have switched to spray tanning, even though it doesn't generate the same "feel good" boost, he says.
But there are other signs that tanning, as a principle, is becoming passé.
"A coppertone complexion isn't looking so fresh this summer season," proclaimed a style article in USA Today last year, pointing to the rise of pasty beauties like Emma Stone and Taylor Swift.
"We're not seeing [people] flocking to tanning," Karen Grant, a beauty analyst with NPD, told me. A decade ago, fake-tan lotions made up 65 percent of sales in the "sun category," she said, but today, sunscreens dominate that market. "There's a higher awareness of safety, or lack thereof. The movement has been toward protection."
Slightly less than a third of non-Hispanic white women, who make up the majority of indoor-tanning customers, still use tanning beds. However, data from the CDC show that the number of high-school students who used indoor tanning devices has declined by about three percentage points (from 16 to 13 percent) since 2009, though that number is within the margin of error. Among girls, the drop-off was six percentage points.
Lichtenfeld noticed that when he was recently vacationing on a beach in south Georgia, roughly three out of four families were huddling under a canopy or umbrella.
It was anecdotal, to be sure, but nevertheless, "it was a lot different than what I have seen before, so maybe we are making some progress after all," he wrote on his blog at Cancer.org.
Tanning-related posts to the "Girls Survival Guide" section of Reddit are now dominated by questions of how to achieve "a glow" without a tanning bed. A recent video showing the protective effects of sunscreen—posted by Upworthy under the headline "What Happens To Your Face When You Wear Sunscreen Might Shock You"—has generated more than 30,000 Facebook likes. The comments are tinged with exuberant outrage: "Sunscreen is a must. I want to live!!!!!!!!!!!"
There are limits to health-scare mongering, though. A February study that surveyed sorority members found that 45 percent used tanning beds even though most knew about the cancer risk.
Hillhouse says that the most effective anti-tanning campaigns focus instead on how the practice can disfigure skin over time. Rather than ads that, say, portray sunbathers as laying in their own coffins, he recommends posters like one recently commissioned by Britain's NHS, which shows a young blond woman with a mottled face and a nasty melanoma on her lip.
There haven't been any national American campaigns like this yet. But a "your skin on sun"-type strategy might make tanning go the way of smoking—another cancer-causing pastime that has declined precipitously in recent decades. Research has shown that appearance-based ads are the most effective kind for urging younger users to quit smoking.
Hillhouse also said he's seen success with pointing younger women toward websites that promote clothing and jewelry styles that go with fair skin, since many believe tanning is essential to their overall "look."
"We provided access to information on how you develop a different look that's focused around a more natural skin color," he said. "Then they'll start to change their behavior."
In that case, paging "36 Celebrities Who Prove Pale is the New Tan" to the propaganda department!


text:
Canon 70-300mm lens
- Brand: Canon
- Subject: SLR Lenses
- Category: Zoom Lenses
- E-mail to a friend
- Print article
- Bookmark this page
Photokina report
Photokina 2010 News - Canon announces the latest addition to its L-series of professional lenses, the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM, designed to answer growing demand for a high performance zoom lens which offers outstanding mobility and versatility. The Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM offers a 4.3x telephoto zoom range of 70-300mm, with a variable aperture of f/4-5.6. The compact (143mm) design also features the build quality that photographers have come to expect from Canon. With its impressive focal range and travel-friendly size, the Canon EF 70-300mm lens is ideally suited to professionals and advanced amateur photographers wishing to capture portraits, nature and action shots in superb detail.
Canon 70-300mm lens
Thanks to two ultra-low dispersion (UD) elements and a floating lens group, the Canon 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM captures stunning high-contrast, high-resolution images with low levels of chromatic aberration throughout the zoom range. The lens makes use of Canons Super Spectra coatings, reducing ghosting and flare to ensure the highest possible image quality and minimising the requirement for extensive post processing. Canons advanced optical Image Stabilizer (IS) provides photographers with a four-stop IS advantage, enabling the capture of sharp images even when shooting at maximum zoom or in low light conditions, by allowing the use of slower shutter speeds than would usually be possible with handheld shooting. An eight-blade circular aperture also offers excellent bokeh ideal for portraiture, producing a more pleasant background and creatively isolating the subject.
Canon 70-300mm lens
Autofocus (AF) is fast and quiet thanks to a ring-type USM AF motor, combined with the independent lens CPU and advanced AF algorithms to enable accurate, reliable focusing in all conditions. As with all Canon L series lenses, full time manual focus override is possible, allowing photographers to manually focus, even when the AF motor is engaged. With a minimum focusing distance of 1.2m (3.9ft) throughout the zoom range, photographers can achieve sharp results, even when close to the action. Honouring the L-series heritage, the Canon 70-300mm lens offers exceptional build quality, ideal for daily use by professionals and advanced amateurs. The lens includes environmental protection, allowing photographers to shoot in harsh conditions - even in the extremes of the desert or rainforest. Canons new Fluorine Coating also makes cleaning the lens easier, preventing smears or streaking.
Canon 70-300mm lens accessories
As part of the L-series range, the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM is supplied with a lens hood ET-73B and lens case LP1424 as standard. In addition, an optional, dedicated tripod mount C (WII) can be directly attached to the lens. This allows it to be stabilised easily and the camera switched quickly from vertical to horizontal and back, without having to reposition the camera body on the tripod, perfect for fast-paced action with a variety of subjects.


text:
White House Death Star Petition Wouldn't Pass New Threshold
Eliciting an official response to your petition just got tougher. The White House now requires a petition on its We the People platform to get 100,000 signatures within 30 days in order to get an official response.
When We the People went live in September 2011, a White House response only required 5,000 signatures in that time. Just a month later, that threshold bounced to 25,000.
The most recent change is meant to "ensure we're able to continue to give the most popular ideas the time they deserve," writes Marcon Phillips, director of digital strategy.
As we reported in December, the site "has become a hotbed of pro- and anti-gun sentiment in the wake of the Connecticut shootings, but many of those petitions have served essentially as vehicles to flog public figures who've waded into the heated debate."
Blogger Jeff Jarvis created his own petition, writing, "If you'd like media to stop making fake stories out of fake petitions, sign below."
Recent official responses include rejecting a petition that asks for the U.S. to build a Death Star by 2016 (the petition had 34,435 signatures).
In the White House blog, Phillips says the use of We the People more than doubled in the last two months of 2012. As of Jan. 14, the White House reports, We the People has garnered nearly 9.2 million signatures and more than 5.4 million users.
Searching petitions by popularity, the most signatures have gone to a petition to "Legally recognize Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group." Other top petitions include support for the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods, repealing Obamacare and repealing the Defense of Marriage Act.


text:
HEY YOU: If you are a Linux user, will you please report a bug against your distro and ask them to upgrade to this version? I'm getting really tired of getting bug reports about things that I fixed two years ago because Debian (for example) is still shipping 5.15.
And the modern batch of Linux fanboys don't seem to comprehend that this makes the answer to the question "are you running the latest version?" be "no".


text:
Nearly 156 light-years from Earth, the planet GU Psc b likes to keep its distance — at least from its sun. The planet orbits 2,000 times farther from its cool, red star than Earth does around the sun, making it possibly the longest planetary orbit known.
One year on GU Psc b, which sits in the constellation Pisces, lasts nearly 163,000 Earth years.
Astronomers spotted the planet as a speck of infrared light following its sun across the sky, as described in the May 20 Astrophysical Journal. The planet glows in infrared because it's young — just 100 million years old — and still cooling.
The escaping heat warms the planet to roughly 800º Celsius. Based on its age and brightness, astronomers estimate that the body is nine to 13 times as massive as Jupiter. While the star's companion is most likely a very massive planet, there's a chance it may actually be a very dim, lightweight star.


text:
Global warming fact-check
Robert Hoff's letter in which he called to "just have the facts" on global warming moved me to set straight a number of his (HCN, 4/30/07). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to which he refers, is considered by most scientists to produce one of the most comprehensive surveys of climate science, and the 2007 report was recently released. Within the Physical Science Basis Summary for Policymakers, Hoff will find the following information:
1) In 2005, the radiative forcing (heating) caused by changes in the sun was 0.12 watts per square meter, while human effects were responsible for 1.6 watts per square meter. This means the sun is contributing roughly 7 percent of the current warming, not 40 percent.
2) The likelihood that heavy precipitation events were more frequent in the late 20th century due to human influence is "more likely than not" (greater than 50 percent likelihood). This is also true for increases in drought-affected area, tropical cyclone activity, and extreme high sea level — all "extreme weather events." The likelihood that human influence will be a factor in future trends is "very likely" (greater than 90 percent) for increased heavy precipitation and "likely" (greater than 66 percent) for the others. Thus, Hoff's statement concerning the conclusions of the IPCC is false.
3) Anthropogenic activities, including agriculture and fossil fuel use, increased methane concentrations from 715 parts per billion (pre-industrial) to 1774 ppb in 2005. For comparison, methane concentrations over the previous 650,000 years remained between 320-790 ppb. One can make a strong argument that cows, a domesticated animal, exist primarily for human food and leather, and their methane emission is usually considered a human influence (agricultural).
4) The 20th century sea-level rise is estimated to be 0.12-0.22 meters, while estimates of the 21st century's sea-level rise range from 0.18-0.59 meters. While these numbers do overlap, they are not the same.
Hoff is correct that forests give off carbon dioxide. However, forests also uptake carbon dioxide. 2004 research in the Journal of Ecology shows that there is a net uptake of carbon by our land, equaling about 2.3 gigatons of carbon per year. However, this is mostly offset by deforestation, which releases about 1.6 gigatons of carbon each year. I am glad that Mr. Hoff considers global warming a serious issue, but I hope that he checks his own facts next time.
Twila Moon
> Earth & Space Sciences
> University of Washington
> Seattle, Washington