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CIA Confirms 12 of 92 Videotapes Destroyed Showed Prisoners Tortured
Heavily redacted government documents filed in a New York federal court Friday afternoon say the CIA destroyed 12 videotapes that specifically showed two detainees being tortured.
The documents were filed in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. In December 2007, the ACLU filed a motion to hold the CIA in contempt for its destruction of the tapes in violation of a court order requiring the agency to produce or identify all records requested by the ACLU. That motion is still pending.
On Monday, the Justice Department revealed in court documents that the CIA destroyed 92 interrogation videotapes, which is now the subject of a criminal probe. According to Friday's court documents, 90 tapes relate to one detainee and two tapes relate to another detainee.
In a letter filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin said a complete list of summaries, transcripts or memoranda related to the videotapes would be filed with the court by March 20.
"The government is needlessly withholding information about these tapes from the public, despite the fact that the CIA's use of torture -- including waterboarding -- is no secret," said Amrit Singh, staff attorney with the ACLU. "This new information only underscores the need for full and immediate disclosure of the CIA's illegal interrogation methods. The time has come for the CIA to be held accountable for flouting the rule of law."
On March 2, the Justice Department said in court documents the CIA destroyed 92 videotapes -- far more than previously known -- to prevent disclosure of evidence revealing how the agency's interrogators subjected "war on terror" detainees to waterboarding and other brutal methods.
"The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed," said a letter written by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin and filed in federal court in New York. "Ninety-two videotapes were destroyed."
Previously, the CIA had disclosed that it had destroyed two videotapes and one audiotape of harsh interrogations of detainees. The tape destruction has been the subject of a yearlong criminal investigation by John Durham, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, who was appointed special prosecutor last year by Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
In the March 2 filing, Dassin noted that a stay of a contempt motion filed by the ACLU seeking release of the tapes was allowed to expire on February 28 without a request for a continuation -- signaling that Durham's investigation is now complete.
In January, Durham had indicated in a court filing that he expected to wrap up his probe by the end of February. The CIA has asked the court to give the agency until Friday to produce a list of all destroyed records, any memos relating to reconstruction of those records, and identification of witnesses who may have watched the videotapes before they were destroyed.
Dassin's letter said some information sought by the ACLU may be classified or "protected from disclosure, such as the names of the CIA employees who viewed the videotapes."
Dassin said the CIA "intends to produce all of the information requested to the court and to produce as much information as possible on the public record to the plaintiffs."
The videotaped interrogations, which were also withheld from the 9/11 Commission, were destroyed in November 2005 after The Washington Post published a story exposing the CIA's use of so-called "black site" prisons overseas to interrogate terror suspects with techniques that were not legal on U.S. soil.
The Zubaydah Case
The Post's story focused on alleged al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah and the harsh methods that the CIA used on him and other detainees. Abu Zubaydah was captured in Pakistan on March 28, 2002, and was reportedly whisked to a secret prison site in Thailand for interrogation.
Initially, Zubaydah was somewhat cooperative, but later became tight-lipped when asked about alleged terrorist plots against the United States and the whereabouts of high-level al-Qaeda operatives.
In July 2002, a meeting was convened at the White House, where former White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, Justice Department attorney John Yoo, Vice President Dick Cheney, Cheney's attorney David Addington, and unknown CIA officials discussed whether the CIA could interrogate Zubaydah more aggressively in order to get him to respond.
It was at this July 2002 meeting that Yoo, Gonzales and Addington gave the CIA the green light to use a wide variety of techniques, including waterboarding, on Zubaydah and other detainees at several secret prisons to "break" them and force them to cooperate with interrogators, according to an account published in Newsweek in late December 2003.
Less than a month after the meeting, on August 1, 2002, Yoo drafted a memo to Gonzales that was signed by Jay Bybee, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Office of Legal Counsel. That memo declared that President Bush had the legal authority to allow CIA interrogators to employ harsh tactics to extract information from detainees.
Yoo's memo -- often called the "torture meme" -- said Congress "may no more regulate the President's ability to detain and interrogate enemy combatants than it may regulate his ability to direct troop movements on the battlefield."
Michael Chertoff, then head of the Justice Department's criminal division, reportedly advised the CIA General Counsel Scott Muller and his deputy, John Rizzo, that the August 1, 2002, legal opinion protected CIA interrogators from prosecution if they used waterboarding or other harsh tactics.
In February 2005, during his Senate confirmation hearing to become Homeland Security secretary, Chertoff said he provided the CIA broad guidance in response to its questions about interrogation methods, but never addressed the legality of specific techniques.
Bush Fixated
In the book The One Percent Doctrine, author Ron Suskind said Zubaydah was not the "high-value detainee" the CIA had claimed. Rather, Suskind wrote, Zubaydah was a minor player in the al-Qaeda organization, handling travel for associates and their families.
However, "Bush was fixated on how to get Zubaydah to tell us the truth," Suskind wrote. Bush asked one CIA briefer, "Do some of these harsh methods really work?"
Zubaydah was strapped to a waterboard and, fearing imminent death, he spoke about a wide range of plots against a number of U.S. targets, such as shopping malls, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. Yet, Suskind wrote, the information Zubaydah provided under duress was not credible.
According to Suskind, Zubaydah's captors soon discovered that their prisoner was mentally ill and knew nothing about terrorist operations or impending plots. That realization was "echoed at the top of CIA and was, of course, briefed to the President and Vice President," Suskind wrote.
Still, in public statements, President Bush portrayed Zubaydah as "one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States" and added: "So, the CIA used an alternative set of procedures" to get Zubaydah to talk.
The President did not want to "lose face," because he had stated Zubaydah's importance publicly, Suskind wrote.
Last year, Mukasey appointed U.S. Attorney Durham as special counsel to investigate whether the destruction of the CIA videotapes violated any laws, but did not give Durham the authority to probe whether the interrogation techniques themselves violated anti-torture laws.
In December 2008, Bush and Cheney both admitted in exit interviews that they authorized the waterboarding of Zubaydah and two other detainees.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers proposed expanding the scope of Durham's investigation in January, to include a broader review of the Bush administration's interrogation policies.
Conyers said he urged Attorney General Eric Holder to "appoint a Special Counsel or expand the scope of the present investigation into CIA tape destruction to determine whether there were criminal violations committed pursuant to Bush administration policies that were undertaken under unreviewable war powers, including enhanced interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and warrantless domestic surveillance."
The Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Democrat Dianne Feinstein, will soon conduct a secret investigation into the CIA's interrogation program to determine whether the methods used against detainees worked, according to published reports.


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Yoga isn't just for ladies, guys: Broga studios are popping up all over the country, and while women are allowed to attend, the mostly male environment reportedly keeps students comfortable. [Fox News]
Don't ditch fruit! While some low-carb and low-sugar dieters are avoiding produce, studies have recently found ties between increased fruit consumption and lower body weight. [NYTimes]
Facebook has gone even more public, announcing yesterday that all public posts including status updates, photos and videos are now embeddable onto blogs or other websites. [Mashable]
Millenials, this one's for you: Pivot TV is rolling out a cable station specifically geared toward your generation. But will you tune in? [NYTimes]
We're big fans of fitness monitors -- they're not just trackers, they hold you personally accountable too. Check out the latest crop, then find the one best suited to you. [ESPNW]
Before you attend your next concert, read these witty commandments of exactly what you should and shouldn't do with your smartphone. [LA Times]
Image Credit: Calaimage

subset: commoncrawl


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Of all the Jewish prayers, Kol Nidre is one of the most recognizable—and certainly the most controversial. Neil Diamond intoned it in order to penetrate the stone heart of his cantor father at the end of the remake of The Jazz Singer, and Al Jolson sang it, mercifully out of blackface, in the 1927 original. Max Bruch used the haunting music that accompanies the prayer to furnish the full title, and half the theme, of his celebrated adagio in 1881. Beethoven, too, borrowed the theme for the sixth movement of his String Quartet Op. 131, which had been commissioned by the heads of Viennese Jewry seeking to honor the founding of a new synagogue. Even Perry Como and Johnny Mathis recorded their own renditions in the late '50s.
For observant Jews, Kol Nidre represents the liturgical kickoff for Yom Kippur (opening services are named for the prayer, which means "All vows"), a repetitive and crescendoing piece of Aramaic recited before sunset on the Day of Atonement. For anti-Semites, it's evidence that Jews are duplicitous and two-faced. The trouble has to do with a misconstrued doctrine of pre-emption. The full text of the prayer reads:
All vows, obligations, oaths, and anathemas, whether called konam, konas, or by any other name, which we may vow, or swear, or pledge, or whereby we may be bound, from this Day of Atonement until the next (whose happy coming we await), we do repent. May they be deemed absolved, forgiven, annulled, and void, and made of no effect; they shall not bind us nor have power over us. The vows shall not be reckoned vows; the obligations shall not be obligatory; nor the oaths be oaths.
As stand-alone statement, divorced of its context and Talmudic source material, it does seem to suggest that there's no such thing as a promise or oral contract affirmed in Judaism. But, of course, context is everything, and the prayer refers only to personal vows—those made by man in relation to his own conscience or to God, not interpersonal ones made by man to his fellow man. Contrary to claims made by perplexed exegetes such as David Duke, Kol Nidre was not invented as a sinister tribal clause to cheat gentiles or one another with impunity.
Judaism goes to great lengths to legislate social behavior, both within and without the community. As Rabbi Gil Student describes it in his primer on the arcana of vow annulment, the Talmud "dedicates one sixth of itself to detailing the Jewish court system which adjudicates based on the sworn testimony of witnesses." Why expend so much ink on the rules and procedures for dealing with betrayal and injustice if a yearly invocation affords an easy get-out-of-jail-free card? The Talmud says that if a person wishes to free himself from a vow made to a second party, he has to plead his case before a religious court in the presence of that person, who must then consent to the vow's nullification. It doesn't matter if the petitioner is beholden to an adult, a child, or a gentile; the same standard applies.
The arduous and prohibitive process by which one can be freed from a personal vow eventually led to the adoption of Kol Nidre in the first place. The only passage in the Pentateuch pertaining to personal vows is Numbers 30:3, which states: "If a man takes a vow to G-d or swears an oath to establish a prohibition upon himself, he shall not desecrate his word; according to whatever comes from his mouth he shall do." In ancient Israel, gaining absolution for these kinds of pledges meant presenting oneself to a scholar, an expert, or a board of three select laymen. One could plead forgetfulness, unintentional violation, or stupidity. A common excuse was that one had entered into a vow without fully understanding its consequences. Typically, an annulment would be granted if the lapsed pledge-maker could prove through interrogation he had erred in good faith. However, the ritual was eventually exercised to the point of exhaustion—imagine going to court every time you broke a New Year's resolution. Kol Nidre was introduced in the 10th century, and transcribed in the Seder Rav Amram Gaon, the first comprehensive Jewish prayer book, as a convenient umbrella policy.
The original version encompassed the preceding year, "from the last Day of Atonement until this one." Then, in the 12th century, Meir ben Samuel, the son-in-law of the revered French rabbi Rashi, altered the wording to reflect the year to come, arguing that pre-emptive annulment was more in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Nedarim, the Talmudic treatise on vows. Ben Samuel also added to the prayer the phrase "we do repent [of them all]," which aligned it more closely with purpose of atonement. His version has been taken up by the bulk of the Ashkenazim, while the Sephardim continue to prefer the older, retroactive one.
From its inception, Kol Nidre never attained universal sanction or appeal. Five of the heads of the Babylonian rabbinical academies rejected it outright, claiming that it undermined both the sanctity of personal vows as well as the necessary custom for canceling them. Nevertheless, the prayer gained traction in the other lands of the diaspora. It came in handy on the Iberian Peninsula during the Inquisition when Marranos—Spanish Jews who pretended to convert to Christianity to escape persecution—were forced to make bogus professions of faith in public and needed the winking dispensation of God to do so.
Jewish authorities have often sought to clarify Kol Nidre's intention, while occasionally advocating for its abolition on the grounds that it is theologically worthless. One popular objection to it has been that ignorant Jews would misinterpret the prayer as a license for deceit and treachery—just as anti-Semites have. The prayer was cited as justification for the Oath More Judaico, a humiliating and sadistic legal vow Jews were for centuries forced to swear before testifying in European courts. It wasn't until the middle of the 19th century that most of the Continent began revising or removing it in earnest. (Romania's remained on the books until 1902.) Perhaps in response to this history of vulgar misinterpretation, Jews themselves have had a hard time deciding what to do with the prayer.A rabbinical conference in Brunswick in 1844 ruled unanimously that Kol Nidre was superfluous and should be eliminated from the entire religious tradition. This decision led numerous congregations in Western Europe and many more Reform congregations in the United States to do just that, or to replace the words of the prayer with a Hebrew psalm while retaining its elegiac melody. Orthodox and Conservative congregations still recite the words.
Whichever way one sides in this antique dispute, it's obvious that the line separating conviction and rhetoric in human discourse has always been blurry. "Lord, if you let the harvest come, I'll marry my neighbor's lazy-eyed daughter" was no more feasible or enforceable in the Dark Ages than "If Bush wins, I'm moving to Canada" was in 2000. Modern parlance has a host of throat-clearing clauses to cancel whatever sentiment follows, often in the same sentence, from "Don't hold me to this" to "Dude, I'm not saying, I'm just saying." And it's hard to imagine how the long, proud history of recreational Yiddish cursing would have progressed had Judaism not afforded this wiggle room with respect to anathemas ("May all the teeth fall out of your head except one, and may that one turn brown and rot.")
There's even an esoteric or Straussian reading of Kol Nidre. According to the Kabbalah, the prayer is actually intended as a two-way pact with the Almighty, absolving him of any vows he might make in the coming year that could affect his mortal creation. A man-made allowance for God to rescind promises of plague, pestilence, and Jobian misery suggests not just wishful thinking but a lack of trust in the wisdom and surety of his judgments. Heresy and agnosticism run not far behind. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
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You know that eating an entire box of cookies in one sitting isn't good for you—but experts say overdoing it with certain more nutritious foods could be just as dangerous. There's no need to ditch these foods from your diet altogether—but you'll want to avoid taking in excessive amounts since that's when they can start to compromise your health.
Oranges and Tomatoes
You've got to be careful to not overindulge with these delicious but highly acidic summer staples, says Gina Sam, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Mount Sinai Gastrointestinal Motility Center at The Mount Sinai Hospital. The increased acid intake associated with eating too many oranges or tomatoes can lead to reflux. Over an extended period of time, this can cause Barrett's Esophagus, a disorder in which precancerous lesions form on esophageal lining. Sam suggests sticking to no more than two servings of oranges or tomatoes a day and avoiding these foods altogether if you already have symptoms of reflux.
Canned Tuna
This easy-to-prep, low-cal fish is a healthy salad or sandwich go-to. However, eating too much of it can result in dangerous mercury levels since tuna is higher in mercury than many other fish. Excessive mercury intake can lead to vision problems, impaired hearing and speech, lack of coordination, and muscle weakness. Make sure you don't consume more than three to five cans of tuna a week, says Sam, and try swapping out tuna for lower-mercury fish like salmon, shrimp, and Pollock.
More From Women's Health
MORE: The 5 Fish That Are Most Contaminated—And 5 You Should Eat Instead
While hydration is key to good health, excessive water consumption can cause water intoxication, says Alan R. Gaby, M.D., author of the textbook Nutritional Medicine. This happens when extreme water intake dilutes the sodium in the body, resulting in an abnormally low blood sodium level, which can lead to impaired brain function and even death. How much water would you have to drink for this to be an issue? It's typically only a problem for ultramarathoners and people who force themselves to over-drink. But to make sure you're not consuming too much water, check your urine: If it's always transparent, reduce your intake.
Tofu lovers, listen up! While soy can help control cholesterol levels and blood pressure when consumed in moderation, it also inhibits iron absorption, says Gaby—so excessive intake has the potential to cause iron-deficiency anemia. Also, because soy contains estrogen-like compounds (isoflavones), long-term consumption of large amounts has the potential to cause endometrial hyperplasia, a proliferation of the uterine lining that can lead to uterine cancer. While there's no exact cutoff for how much soy is safe, you probably want to stick to two servings per day or less.
This versatile and delicious leafy green is packed with goodness: It's an excellent source of protein, fiber, and various vitamins and minerals. Spinach is also high in lutein, a carotenoid that may help prevent age-related macular degeneration (a common cause of vision loss and blindness), says Gaby. However, spinach is also high in oxalate, a compound that can lead to the formation of kidney stones—so patients with calcium oxalate kidney stones should avoid overdoing it with this veggie.
Brazil Nuts
This crunchy snack is a great source of protein, fiber, essential fatty acids, and selenium. Plus, eating nuts has been shown to lower serum cholesterol and blood pressure, says Gaby. Still, you shouldn't nosh on these nuts every day since they're extremely rich in selenium and the nutrient can be toxic in high amounts, says Gaby. Taking in too much may result in hair loss, brittleness or loss of nails, dermatitis, neurological abnormalities, and in severe cases, death. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., a family physician, nutritional researcher, and author of The End of Dieting, says that shelled Brazil nuts maintain higher selenium levels—so you shouldn't have more than 10 a day.
Lean Animal Protein
If you primarily rely on low-fat meats like chicken breasts or egg whites for your daily dose of protein, it might be time for a diet makeover. Fuhrman says that consuming too many animal proteins can be dangerous since it makes your body produce the hormone insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which promotes aging and increases your risk of cancer (particularly breast cancer) when present in high levels. In fact, found that there was a four-fold increase in cancer-related death risks and a 75 percent increase in overall mortality in people who got at least 20 percent of their calories from lean animal protein (as opposed to 15 percent or less). The simple fix? Try to get the majority of your protein from plants, such as beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains, says Fuhrman.


text: It may be a case of the longest commute in Washington DC history. But this time, the gridlock was more political than commuter. Candy Crowley reports on the decade long fight to move a Civil War icon four-and-a-half block through the nation's capital, and how it became a symbol over DC voting rights.


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Make-A-Wish helps Illinois girl, 14, publish a novel
PLAINFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A suburban Chicago teenager with cystic fibrosis who read book after book during the grueling hours that she spent having her lungs cleared every day has made her wish come true by becoming a published author.
With a little help from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Plainfield eighth-grader Ravina Thakkar published a book she wrote called "The Adventure of a Lifetime," a 128-page paperback about a 9-year-old girl who is magically transported to a world of villains and dragons occupied by a girl named Amber from the "Amber The Brave" books that she loves.
"Most people ask for Disney World," the 14-year-old, who first pitched her wish to foundation volunteers when she was 10, told The (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald. "I'm so glad I didn't ask for that."
So, apparently were the customers who gobbled up all 80 copies she brought with her to a book signing at a suburban book store on Sunday. Equally impressed were the foundation volunteers who usually have to find ways to do things like take children to far-off-lands or meet celebrities.
"She had to do a lot of the work herself," said Cindy Kepner, a volunteer with the organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening diseases. "It's not like someone handed it to her."
In fact, Ravina made it clear that she didn't want to self-publish, that she wanted her book to be published by an honest-to-goodness book publisher.
"She wanted it to be worthy," said Patti Bernhard, Kepner's Make-a-Wish partner.
After years spent looking for the right publisher and learning first hand that writing a book means writing and rewriting and rewriting some more, Ravina had herself a book. And a new fan.
"I have to say, the kid just amazes me," said Todd Stocke, vice president and editorial director of Sourcebooks, an independent publisher based in Naperville.
Ravina, who has won awards at school for her writing, is not done putting her thoughts down on paper. She hasn't ruled out a sequel to her first book, though she said she has matured as a writer.
Stocke said readers have not seen the last of her.
"A writer doesn't have to write; a writer needs to write," he said. "Ravina's a writer."


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Science published today yet-another-Mann-et-al-reconstruction:
Michael E. Mann, Zhihua Zhang, Scott Rutherford, Raymond S. Bradley, Malcolm K. Hughes, Drew Shindell, Caspar Ammann, Greg Faluvegi, and Fenbiao N: Global Signatures and Dynamical Origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly, Science 326 (5957), 1256. [DOI: 10.1126/science.1177303].
Seems to me that Mann has re-discovered the Medieval Warm Period.
I had a quick look at the paper, SI, and the code. What seems to be done this time is that the proxy network of Mann et al (2008) is processed with a slightly modified screening of Mann et al (2008), and then the reconstruction is done with a slightly modified RegEM CFR of Mann et al (2007)! Now to answer the question that seems to be on everyone's lips: yes, Tiljander series are still used as inverted. This can be seen from the positive screening correlation values reported in the file 1209proxynames.xls. In fact, going quickly through the screening code, it seemed to me that they have really "moved on" from the screening employed in Mann et al (2008): only "two-sided test" is used!
%% below is for selecting full/screened/1856-1925 screened/1926-1995 screened proxy-network
%% replacing "abs(z(4,i))>=0.165"/"abs(z(5,i))>=0.513" in line 75/84 with the followings for your expected proxy-network
%% abs(z(4,i))>=0 / abs(z(5,i))>=0 (full proxy-network)
%% abs(z(4,i))>=0.162 / abs(z(5,i))>=0.496 (screening over 1850-1995)
%% abs(z(6,i))>=0.195 / abs(z(7,i))>=0.602 (screening over 1896-1995)
This means that if a proxy has a strong inverted correlation to the (two-pick?) local temperature, it gets picked – no matter what the physical interpretation is! Since RegEM doesn't care about the sign, it is now really so that the sign does not matter to them anymore. Anything goes!
I'm speechless.


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Printable Activities > Alphabet > Letter R [en español]
Letter R Alphabet Printable Activities
Coloring Pages, Posters, Handwriting Worksheets
Enjoy these free printable alphabet activities for the letter R: coloring pages, color posters, handwriting practice worksheets, and more. These are suitable for preschool, kindergarten and first grade. Most are available in standard block and D'Nealian manuscript font.
Visit alphabet letter R preschool activities and crafts for additional resources.
Letter R coloring page
Standard block
Letter R rainbow activities
Bible alphabet


text:
libiptc is the library that is used to communicate with netfilter, the internal kernel code in charge of firewalling and packet filtering. This code and iptables were written by Paul "Rusty" Russell. iptables was developed using libiptc calls to get the job done.
If you want to have more information about iptables, libiptc and the firewalling code, have a look at links at the end of this document.


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Hello, My Friends!~~~
The fifth anniversary sale in Beth's Bagz etsy shop is coming to a close on June 1st (this Friday). Come June 1st I will put Beth's Bagz on vacation until mid-June (date TBA). Then I will have a grand re-opening with all new goods!
If you have your eye on something currently in Beth's Bagz, please consider grabbing it as the current items will not return after June 1st. As an extra incentive, I am now offering a further reduction to 50% off ALL Goods in Beth's Bagz from now until June 1st!
You must enter the coupon code: BB50OFF in the space provided at check out to get your discount!
Thanks so much!~~~XXOO, Beth


text: [i:Vibes] :: View topic - Slide & Get Diverted NYE 2015 w/ Gilles Peterson Guidelines FAQ Search Memberlist Usergroups Bookmarks Register Profile Log in to check your private messages Log in Main Menu Frontpage News Reviews Interviews Party Reports Artist Profiles Label profiles Diaries Tutorials What is... Links Radio-info Interactive Forum User Stats Info FAQ Crew-info i:Vibes Info Site Updates Slide & Get Diverted NYE 2015 w/ Gilles Peterson [i:Vibes] Forum Index -> Club Listings View previous topic :: View next topic Author Message ZoeleeClub ManagerVibes: 160.93Joined: 29 Dec 2005Member #: 8,223Posts: 903Location: London Post subject: Slide & Get Diverted NYE 2015 w/ Gilles Peterson Slide & Get Diverted NYE 2015 with Gilles Peterson & The Reflex The Prince of Wales, 467 Brixton Road, London, SW9 8HH Thursday 31 December 2015 / 9pm-6am Tickets £15 upwards from: www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?740843 Club // Gilles Peterson (BBC 6Music) The Reflex Elijah Collins. Rob Alldritt. Steve Robinson Boudoir // Mark Hume. Donna Love. Killed Kasette. Patrick Cresswell. Marsham Lower Covered Terrace // Lloyd Evans. MB After the sell out success of the last year with Gilles Peterson and previous years with Derrick Carter, Todd Terje and Greg Wilson, we welcome back legendary crate digger and BBC 6Music favourite Gilles Peterson to headline our NYE party, alongside edit maestro The Reflex and support across the venue. Gilles joins us for NYE once again after superb summer 'Up On The Roof' parties over the last four years. Starting off life as a club DJ, Gilles continues to spin passionately around the world. From Kazakhstan to Hackney, Istanbul, New York, Beijing and beyond he has always seen himself first and foremost as a selector of discs for the Dance! The formula for Gilles radio shows is a simple one: the finest new music he can lay his hands on In addition to his BBC 6 Music show, Gilles records a separate weekly Worldwide programme that is syndicated to 8 stations across the globe including Frances avant-garde Radio Nova, VRT StuBru-Belgium, Arrow FM in the Netherlands, CRO Wave- Czech Republic, FM4 in Austria, Radio X and WDR Funkhaus Europa - Germany. Every year, the musical heroes of the global underground are brought together and honoured at the Worldwide Awards - an annual celebration of the best music from the show that year held in London and hosted by Gilles. Today, Peterson is at the forefront of his own independent label - Brownswood Recordings. Regular guest The Reflex supports...Nile Rodgers is a fan. Kid Creole is a fan. Disclosure, Jazzy Jeff, and Joris Voorn are all fans. From house music royalty, Joey Negro, Dimitri from Paris and Mousse T, to the original DJ - remix pioneers John Morales, Greg Wilson, Danny Krivit, and Nicky Siano, all the way to Aeroplane, DJ Marky, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Horse Meat Disco, J.Rocc, Nic Fanciulli, Jazzie B, Cut Killer, Rainer Truby, Acid Arab, Nightmares on Wax They are all fans of The Reflex. Fascinated by the remix from an early age, London-based French native Nicolas Laugier, aka The Reflex, takes his cue from the first wave of disco remixers by using only the original sounds from the master tapes (or stems) to breathe new life into soul, pop and disco classics. Imaginative arrangements, boxfresh sonics and intricate editing make The Reflex Revisions rocket fuel for every DJ set. Support across the venue. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/events/1657524867860590/ _________________http://www.bugbittenpromotions.com Post rating: 0 Rate this post: Not logged in Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2015 11:40 am Back to top ZoeleeClub ManagerVibes: 160.93Joined: 29 Dec 2005Member #: 8,223Posts: 903Location: London Post subject: Check out this great interview with Gilles Peterson via Red Bull http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2015/11/gilles-peterson-interview Grab some of the last tickets here: http://www.residentadvisor.net/event.aspx?740843 _________________http://www.bugbittenpromotions.com Post rating: 0 Rate this post: Not logged in Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:10 pm Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First [i:Vibes] Forum Index -> Club Listings All times are GMT Page 1 of 1 Jump to: Select a forum Spam----------------Spam posts Music----------------Music discussion (trance, techno, progressive and other genres)EquipmentArtist and Label NewsRadio BroadcastsMusic Production and DJ Mix PromotionClub Listings Non-music related----------------Other discussionBuy & Sell [i:Vibes]----------------Site Feedback and Help Content Discussion----------------News DiscussionReview DiscussionInterview DiscussionTutorial DiscussionWhat is...Party ReportsArtist ProfilesLabel Profiles You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou cannot download files in this forum Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


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- Science
- Not Exactly Rocket Science
Dinosaurs grew fast, had teen pregnancies and died young
This is an old article, reposted from the original WordPress incarnation of Not Exactly Rocket Science. I'm travelling around at the moment so the next few weeks will have some classic pieces and a few new ones I prepared earlier.
For some dinosaurs, the best strategy was to grow fast and breed early. New fossil evidence suggests that at least three species, including celebrities like Tyrannosaurus and Allosaurus, Allosaurus, were having sex in their teens. In this way, their pace of growth and maturity was closer to that of modern birds and mammals than it would be to a reptile scaled-up to the same size.
They also started to breed well before they had finished growing, which suggests that they lived relatively short and brutal lives and needed as much time as possible to reproduce before they met an untimely demise. Modern back-boned animals with high adult death rates use a similar strategy.
The new discovery rests on a special type of calcium-rich bone called 'medullary bone'. Those modern-day dinosaurs, the birds, produce it when they lay eggs and it acts as a ready source of calcium for the creation of shells. In 2005, palaeontologists found medullary bone in the fossilised leg of a T.rex, a dead give-away that the animal was a female and that she was about to lay eggs.
It seems strange that this special tissue was only found so recently despite the vast amount of dinosaur skeletons that have been examined. But modern birds rapidly absorb medullary bone if it isn't used after three or four weeks. If dinosaurs did the same, it might explain why this telltale tissue has gone unnoticed for so long.
Since then, Andrew Lee and Sarah Werning from University of California, Berkeley, have found two new samples – one in an Allosaurus, a common Jurassic hunter, and another in a medium-sized plant-eater called Tenontosaurus. Like the T.rex, both of these individuals were pregnant females.
Lee and Werning estimated the ages of the three dinosaurs at the time of their death by looking at the rings in their bones. Dinosaur skeletons grow by laying down new layers of bone every year, so much like the trunks of trees, their cross-sections reveal growth rings that provide clues about their age.
In this case, they showed that all three were mere adolescents – the Tenontosaurus was just 8 years old, the Allosaurus was 10 and the Tyrannosaurus was the eldest at 18.
The presence of medullary bone suggests that they were all capable of reproducing at this age at the very latest, which is years (or even decades) ahead of a similarly sized reptile. As a comparison, a reptile scaled up to the size of a T.rex would only reach sexual maturity at the age of 31.
Lee and Werning also found that all three dinosaurs were still getting bigger. None of their growth rings were drawing closer together as you would expect to see in an animal that had reached its maximum size. This means that they were sexually active before their growth spurts had finished and in this way, they were actually quite similar to modern reptiles. Medium-sized and large mammals, ourselves included, use a similar strategy but small mammals and all birds stop growing well before they start breeding.
Finding out how dinosaurs grew tells us about many other parts of their lives. Among modern animals, those that breed early tend to be ones that die early and it's likely that many dinosaurs faced the same challenge. After all, if the risk of death is very high during your adult life, it pays to be able to start a new generation as early as possible.
The combination of young deaths and even younger sex also suggests that the dinosaurs hatched from their eggs as well-formed and developed babies capable to fending for themselves.
Reference: Lee, A.H., Werning, S. (2008). From the Cover: Sexual maturity in growing dinosaurs does not fit reptilian growth models. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(2), 582-587. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0708903105More on dinosaur growth:
- Duck-billed dinosaur defended itself by outgrowing predators
- Giant dinosaurs used the planet to warm their eggs
- Dinosaur daddies took care of their young alone
- Sanajeh, the snake the ate baby dinosaurs
- Dramatic restructuring of dinosaur feathers revealed by two youngsters of same species


text:
Story by
Alex Wilhelm
Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at [email protected] Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at [email protected]
If you told your entire userbase that their hardware was soon to be useless in the coming wave of firmware updates, and that each and every one of them would have to either buy a new device, or permanently sit in software jail, how would they react?
Well, if they were the Windows Phone community, pretty well, really. When Microsoft told the lot of them that it was moving from the old Windows Phone software platform to a shared core with Windows in Windows Phone 8, and that all the phones it had sold previously were headed right for the penalty box of 'no future for you,' they took it – again, mostly – in stride.
But wait, the catch: Microsoft promised another update to phones running Windows Phone 7.5: Windows Phone 7.8. Yes, 7.8 was to be the goody bag for current users, a compromise between what was coming that they could not have, and what they had, which was ending.
Then Microsoft stopped talking about the damn new software. Questions sent to Microsoft concerning Windows Phone 7.8 have engendered email responses such as "Checking!" that were then dropped like hot rocks, and notes such as "I'd direct you back to Terry's comments on the topic." Terry, or course, is the current Windows Phone head.
The company has promised greatly and delivered nothing.
I'm not alone in this frustration, and not only frustrated as the owner of a number of Windows Phone 7.5 devices. Microsoft watcher extraordinaire Paul Thurrott, take it home:
"We care very deeply about our Windows Phone 7.5 customers," Microsoft's Terry Myerson said almost one hour and 45 minutes into the Windows Phone Summit event. (You can watch this tiny segment for yourself in the Windows Phone Summit video.) "Because of this, I'm happy to share that we are creating an update for our Windows Phone 7.5 customers."
After five months of silence, it's time to prove you really do care, deeply or otherwise. It's time to open up. Post something. Discuss Windows Phone 7.8. Tell us when, and why it's taking so long. Something. Anything.
The fine folks over at WPCentral are tying together photographic and video content from various languages to try and come up with a feature list. It's bullshit, really, that Microsoft is yet again pulling the veil of 'no comment' over its plans, which it has already announced. This new modus operandi at Microsoft has its place in a number of its projects, such as the Surface, but with this sort of update it is more frigid than functional.
Microsoft, talk to your users. They want to know what you are up to.
Top Image Credit: o5com
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text:
The first time I met Tina Lewis, she had a broken foot. Her utter frustration at not being able to run was such that I could feel it. It was tangible–it buzzed in the air around her. This is a woman that loves to run so much. I caught up with Tina recently to talk about the trip she took from gymnast, to adventure racer and, ultimately, to ultrarunner.
iRunFar: Let's go back to the beginning, Tina. What was it like growing up in Montreal? Was it a cool place?
Tina Lewis: Yeah, I think Montreal is one of the most beautiful cities. It's a big city, very cosmopolitan and very European, with really old buildings and cobblestone roads. It's absolutely beautiful. There's a lot of culture there and a lot of diversity. There's lots of great restaurants and clubs, too–a lot of my growing up was done dancing on tables! You can dance till three o'clock in the morning and then go and have a second dinner afterwards. It was fun!
iRunFar: Sweet. How is it for outdoor activities? Is there a lot of that there, too?
Lewis: Oh yeah. I was always an active child and both my parents are really active. I grew up doing many sports and I was a competitive gymnast. You know, I'm not that big, I've always been really small. I got recruited on a competitive gymnastics team when I was about six years old. I think the guy who owned the club was Russian or something like that; he had been in the Olympics. We used to do practice before I went to elementary school in the morning–my Mom would bring me–then I used to do some evening classes as well. Friday nights would be tumbling team and weekends I would practice and compete.
iRunFar: Did you get to a pretty good level, then?
Lewis: I did well…I just didn't try too hard. Apparently I wasn't too much into it and was more interested in being with my friends.
iRunFar: You were more into the social aspect?
Lewis: Yeah, more into the social side of it. Outside of that, too–not being super-strict and just hanging out with my friends at home. On top of that, I used to spend my whole summers at a pool. I was on a swim team and did synchro[nised swimming], too. Then in the winter, I played hockey and ringette, which is, kind of, hockey for women.
iRunFar: Okay, so it sounds like you were pretty active. Did your parents bring you camping or hiking or anything like that, too?
Lewis: We camped in our backyard! Nothing too extreme. We had a cottage in Vermont, which was about 45 minutes from Montreal, just across the border. That was our little rustic cabin, right on the water. Everybody called it 'Camp Lewis' because my dad would wake us up at six in the morning, go for a 30-minute run, then go kayaking or canoeing, play tennis, windsurf… we were just constantly doing activities! It was later in life that I got more into the extreme things.
iRunFar: Cool. How about studying? Did you go to university after school?
Lewis: I did. In Montreal, grade 11 and 12 are called 'CEGEP.' It's basically two years to drink a lot and figure out what you wanna' do with life, [laughs] instead of going straight to university. That's where my competitive side showed itself, too. I would do drinking games and get really competitive, or whoever could eat the most chicken wings. I ended up going into nursing. I got a diploma and then went to university and got my bachelor's in Ottawa, about an hour and half from Montreal. I went there really to get away from home and live on my own. As soon as I had done my bachelor's, I was really ambitious and wanted to be a nurse practitioner. So I went to Rochester, New York in the U.S. and did my masters.
iRunFar: When you went to the U.S., was that your first experience of traveling outside of Canada? Or did you travel a bit when you were growing up, Tina?
Lewis: Yeah, I traveled growing up. My grandparents had a place in Florida and we used to go down there probably twice a year. At least once a year we'd go to somewhere like Mexico with the family and just hang out at the beach and do watersports and things like that. I was always infatuated with maps and stuff–I wanted to travel the world. That's why I went into nursing. I thought that, being a nurse, you can live anywhere and are in demand. It was either that or be a flight attendant or something.
Then I went to Europe a couple of times. I spent two summers there–once with about eight girls, which was just a little fun! Then another time with my mother, best friend, and 80-year-old grandmother.
iRunFar: Where in Europe did you travel?
Lewis: All around–France, Austria, Italy, Greece, England… the whole Euro pass kind of thing.
iRunFar: Okay, so ultra trail running, where did that start? Not necessarily the running, but the love for the mountains and the outdoors?
Lewis: I used to love going to Vermont and being on the water and in nature. You know, just going for walks, it was very peaceful for me and made me really happy. I dabbled in running a little when I was in my 20s. I used to go on little runs with my father–he's a big triathlete. I'd go for a little run with him and then, later in my 20s, I'd go for little runs when I was traveling. It was just a great way to explore a city as you get to see places that other tourists don't get to see. Then… I don't really drink much anymore but I used to! We used to go to a friend's cottage in Ontario and we'd have dinner parties and drink. We had this crazy idea that, after a big night of drinking, that we were going to run and meet some friends at a yacht. I remember that it seemed really, really long… maybe it was like 16 miles. So, we got up in the morning and a few of us decided that we'd do this and we ran the 16 miles.
iRunFar: You were feeling pretty delicate after the drinking, I take it?
Lewis: Oh yeah, really bad. Two of us finished, but it was rough. I don't think we brought food or water or anything like that. So two of us made it and we thought it was a really good accomplishment. When we got to the yacht, we were pretty much toast and we were finished for the rest of the day. [laughs] The next weekend was the Toronto Marathon and I signed up the day before and did it. I just went out and did it and did well and qualified for [the] Boston [Marathon]. I think I ran like, 3:35…
iRunFar: That's a good time seeing as you hadn't trained and had only run 16 miles once, hungover, the week before. [laughs]
Lewis: Yeah… I didn't take it seriously and talked to a girl the whole time. That wall that they talk about hitting a 20 miles–I definitely hit that!
iRunFar: Did it surprise you, that you were able to go out and do that?
Lewis: I think so. I think, when I put my mind to something, then I typically tend to finish it. It was nice, my dad was there and he's done marathons and stuff. It was a pretty cool experience. Like I said, I qualified for Boston and decided to run Boston the next year. However, running a marathon without training meant that I got injured and had this knee pain. So I started biking and doing spin classes because I couldn't run. I'd do like two spin classes in a row and then progress to the treadmill and do 10 minutes, 20 minutes, to see how my injury was going. This guy approached me and wanted to know what I was training for and I was like, "Nothing, I just want to be able to run again," and he was like, "Why don't you join my adventure racing team?" I said, "Sure!" That week he chose a bike for me and I bought it and the next week I raced my first adventure race and did well! I fell in love with it. That's when the adventure thing started happening–trail running, too.
iRunFar: What age were you when that happened?
Lewis: I was 30 years old. So, yeah, I was in my 30s when I got into it. Then I did an expedition race almost right of the bat. I did Raid The North Extreme which was seven days nonstop, with maybe like 45 minutes sleep at the edge of a trail. That's where I started my endurance training. I also traveled to Mexico, Florida, and races throughout Canada and the U.S.
iRunFar: What was it that attracted you so much to adventure racing? Was it the endurance, the physicality, the mentality?
Lewis: All of it! I was always pretty adventurous and I like trying new things. It was a new challenge and it was also a team sport. I really enjoyed that.
iRunFar: It didn't hurt that you were pretty good at it, too?
Lewis: Yeah! I think I was decent. I was just starting…
iRunFar: Did you continue to adventure race or how did that develop with regards to ultras?
Lewis: I continued to race for two years up in Canada. I had to drive like 45 minutes to get to trails and stuff, I lived in Toronto. So I figured the world is my oyster and that I could live anywhere. I decided I was going to go and live somewhere that I could have trails in my backyard. I ended up moving here to Colorado and almost immediately got recruited onto an adventure-racing team here. Then I did four more years adventure racing here in Colorado. We did well, too–we won a lot of the races around here. Then I tried my first ultra four years ago and really enjoyed the personal challenge and being able to push myself.
iRunFar: What was that ultra, Tina?
Lewis: That was San Juan Solstice; it was a 50 miler. I didn't train for it, I just did it because I felt like my adventure-racing background and the little we run in those races would prepare me for it. Obviously, it didn't go great, but I did okay. I think I was maybe sixth woman or something like that.
iRunFar: That's pretty good, though. Did you find it tough?
Lewis: The altitude was tough. I never trained at altitude so that's a huge, huge factor. I attribute it to be being kid-sized. I don't know, I get really, really sick. So I was really nauseous–I threw up the whole time. I suffered a bit of knee pain, too. I had absolutely no expectations. I just went out for fun.
iRunFar: You obviously got a taste for it. I mean, it didn't put you off or anything. Did you start focusing on ultras after that?
Lewis: I was supposed to do a 24-hour adventure race the next weekend and I had to bail on that because I hadn't recovered enough to preform with my team. After that, it was full-on trail running.
iRunFar: I guess the race that you are most associated with is [the] Leadville [100]. What was it about that race and the 100-mile distance that was so appealing?
Lewis: I'd heard about Leadville before I was even trail running. When I was doing an adventure race in Mexico, there were a few people from Colorado there and they talked about Leadville. One of the guys there, Mark Macy, he had done Leadville several times and it was something that I thought I would like to do. I did the bike race for two years–finished once and DNFed once after I got a rock in my eye. The first year I did the bike race, two of my girlfriends from Canada came and did the run. I was like, "I will never run a 100 miles!" [laughs]
iRunFar: What changed? [laughs]
Lewis: I don't know! A new challenge, I just like to be challenged… and it certainly was a challenge. It was not pretty!
iRunFar: Can you tell me about that first 100-mile experience?
Lewis: I did the 50 miler again as training and then I went to Canada and didn't run so much. I just mountaineered and had a vacation. I did some climbing but very little running and I wasn't really at altitude. Then I came back for the race and suffered badly. My whole crew was like, "She's out!" I was in the chair, I couldn't eat, I could barely walk. I did the death march. I just really wanted to finish, and I did!
iRunFar: Yeah, you finished. That must have felt awesome!
Lewis: You know what? To be honest, that felt like much more of an achievement than winning last year. I'm proud of both but what I said in my winner's speech last year was that the true champions are the people that have to go through more and finish in just under 30 hours. They have 10 more hours of running.
iRunFar: From your first experience of suffering through your first 100 miler to actually winning one, can you tell me a little of how you feel the familiarity with the distance, with your own body, develops and helps you improve during those races?
Lewis: I think I improved every year quite a bit. I've learned some things definitely. This sounds a bit weird but I don't pay attention to details. I've done the race a few times and even now if someone says, "What mile is such and such?" I don't know. I don't know my time until a few seconds before the end. I just don't pay attention to anything like that.
iRunFar: Do you do that on purpose or is it just the way it is?
Lewis: No, it's just the way it is. I don't remember my times and I completely zone out. I guess I learned this from adventure racing but I actually fall asleep when I'm running. I'm in such a zone, like yoga, that I fall asleep and completely blank out while running.
iRunFar: Cool. You nod off and your legs just keep on doing their thing?
Lewis: [laughs] Yeah my legs keep moving and then I'm like, "Shit! Wake up, you're racing!" It's nice because I usually take it easy at the start and then race later on. Even on a training run, I go out my front door and then I get somewhere and I don't remember getting there. [laughs] I just totally daydream.
iRunFar: Really cool. I wanted ask, too, about the changes, if any, that have occurred now that you are sponsored. It's obviously opened up a lot of new opportunities for you, but does it feel any different now?
Lewis: It's been an incredible experience. This year has been amazing. I've had some fantastic opportunities for racing and traveling and just meeting some incredible people. Last year, I had a few options of sponsorship and everybody thinks that Salomon is this elitist group but they are far, far from that. They are these silly, humble, and incredible athletes–I feel really honored to be on that team.
iRunFar: Great. I wanted to ask you something. We spoke a little in France about guys getting a little jealous about being outperformed by their girlfriends. Can you explain a little to me about your experience with that?
Lewis: Yeah, it's something that I've dealt with for the last 10 years. I've experienced it with almost every person I've dated. I've had people I've dated or boyfriends train behind my back…
iRunFar: They train secretly to try and get better than you? [laughs]
Lewis: [laughs] Yeah! You know, I've adventure raced and was into backcountry skiing and I've found, even in running, guys–most guys, anyway–don't like it if you're faster. Maybe at first they think it's fun, actually no–even then they don't like it! I guess it makes them feel not as much a man… I don't know.
When I was adventure racing in Ontario, there were a group of girls, pretty, outgoing, strong athletes. They were all single!
iRunFar: It's their loss, I guess! You must have the opportunity to race some really cool races now, too, and to travel to some exciting places. Have you thought about what races you want to add have on your calendar for 2014?
Lewis: Well, I would have liked to race Kilian's Classik! [laughs] [In Font Romeu, France, Tina was there but was injured during her visit.] I really want to race in Europe–my favorite trails are steep and technical and I know there is more of that in Europe. I want to try something new…
iRunFar: Any races in particular that take your fancy, Tina?
Lewis: Ummm, maybe Zegama, that would be cool. Transvulcania, too, and maybe UTMB one year. Cavalls del Vent sounds cool, too!


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Mike Trout's agent upset with Angels over contract
- Mike Trout was assigned a %24510%2C000 salary for 2013
- Trout%27s agent said the offer was %22well short of a %27fair%27 contract%22
- Trout%27s salary is just %2420%2C000 over the league minimum
Mike Trout has all the skills in the world, the 2012 American League Rookie of the Year trophy and a seemingly limitless future as a second-year superstar with the Los Angeles Angels.
But he has no leverage, and thus, he has an unhappy agent.
Trout's agent, Craig Landis, was peeved but powerless Saturday when Trout was assigned a salary of $510,000 for 2013, just $20,000 above the major league minimum.
For a player of Trout's accomplishments — he runner-up for the AL MVP — that represents a huge bargain for the Angels and a large pill to swallow for Trout and Landis.
But that's baseball's economic structure.
Players with less than three years of service have next to no leverage at all. Most of them end up playing for the major league minimum.
Some organizations bump up young players' salaries after significant accomplishments in their first year or two, but the Angels chose a small raise and got a large response from Trout's agent.
In an e-mail to the Los Angeles Times, Landis wrote, "In my opinion, this contract falls well short of a 'fair' contract, and I have voiced this to the Angels throughout the process."
But Landis acknowledged there's not a whole lot a second-year player can do about it.
"The renewal of Mike's contract will put an end to this discussion," Landis wrote. "As when he learned he would not be the team's primary center fielder for the upcoming season, Mike will put the disappointment behind him and focus on helping the Angels reach their goal of winning the 2013 World Series."
Trout is expected to play the majority of time in left field in 2012, with speedster Peter Bourjos starting in center and free agent signee Josh Hamilton in right.


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LOS ANGELES>> Sriracha is hot. In fact it's so hot that a festival saluting everything about its tangy, sweet, fiery flavor is planned for this weekend in a trendy downtown spot just east of the produce district.
The saucy celebration will be held at the LOT 613 event venue, located at 613 Imperial Street in Los Angeles.
Fans of one of the most popular varieties, the green-capped, Asian-inspired Sriracha red chili sauce — most famously made by San Gabriel Valley-based Huy Fong Foods — can get their fill in various edible forms this Sunday.
Randy Clemens, an organizer of the event he's billing as the first L.A. Sriracha Festival, has written two Sriracha cookbooks. He said he's not the only one who has embraced the so-called "rooster sauce" in his culinary endeavors. He was inspired to organize the festival by other dishes he's seen in the region.
"After the books, my life has sort of been taken over in the best way possible by Sriracha," Clemens said. "I thought it would be really fun to get fellow Sriracha addicts out together and give chefs a chance to do something creative and inventive."
Eleven chefs have created special recipes to serve up hot dishes at the festival, Clemens said, along with Sriracha infused cocktails, soda and even chili sauce ice cream. The event will also feature beer from Eagle Rock Brewery, Beachwood BBQ & Brewing and Firestone Walker Brewing Co.
"It's very much sort of like choose-your-own-adventure," Clemens said. "We just have a really stellar lineup."
Filmmaker Griffin Hammond is expected to attend the event with a special sneak peek of his Sriracha documentary, as well as Huy Fong Foods founder and Sriracha legend David Tran, a sponsor of the event.
A portion of the event proceeds will be donated to North Hollywood-based nonprofit Food Forward.
Clemens said he hopes to make the festival an annual event and even expand it to other cities.
Christian Page, chef at Short Order restaurant in Los Angeles, said the chili sauce seems has a special place in Los Angeles' heart and he's excited to see what dishes other chefs bring to the table.
"I'm not from this area, but I did notice everyone is obsessed with hot sauce here, and I started eating it more since I moved here," Page said, adding that his restaurant makes its own version of Sriracha chili sauce. "Once you start eating a lot of hot sauce you can't stop, you have to put it on everything."
Eric Greenspan, owner of Los Angeles hot spots The Foundry on Melrose and The Roof on Wilshire, said once someone tries Sriracha sauce, there's no turning back.
"It's sweet, it's spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. It adds spice as an element as opposed to overwhelming the dish," said Greenspan, who has competed on both Food Network's "Iron Chef" and "The Next Iron Chef."
"I'm looking forward to presenting our dish — a Sriracha grilled cheese — spending the day with other food enthusiasts and celebrating an ingredient that I don't think gets enough recognition."
The three hour-lon L.A. Sriracha Festival is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. Sunday at LOT 613, 613 Imperial Street, Los Angeles. Tickets are $49 in advance and $59 at the door.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit LAsrirachafestival.nightout.com.


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AMD's dual core Opteron & Athlon 64 X2 - Server/Desktop Performance Previewby Anand Lal Shimpi, Jason Clark & Ross Whitehead on April 21, 2005 9:25 AM EST
- Posted in
- CPUs
The Lineup - Opteron x75Prior to the dual core frenzy, multiprocessor servers and workstations were referred to by the number of processors that they had. A two-processor workstation would be called a 2-way workstation, and a four-processor server would be called a 4-way server.
Both AMD and Intel sell their server/workstation CPUs not only according to performance characteristics (clock speed, cache size, FSB frequency), but also according to the types of systems for which they were designed. For example, the Opteron 252 and Opteron 852 both run at 2.6GHz, but the 252 is for use in up to 2-way configurations, while the 852 is certified for use in 4- and 8-way configurations. The two chips are identical; it's just that one has been run through additional validation and costs a lot more. As you may remember, the first digit in the Opteron's model number denotes the sorts of configurations for which the CPU is validated. So, the 100 series is uniprocessor only, the 200 series works in up to 2-way configurations and the 800 series is certified for 4+ way configurations.
AMD's dual core server/workstation CPUs will still carry the Opteron brand, but they will feature higher model numbers; and while single core Opterons increased in model numbers by 2 points for each increase in clock speed, dual core Opterons will increase by 5s. With each "processor" being dual core, AMD will start referring to their Opterons by the number of sockets for which they are designed. For example, the Opteron 100 series will be designed for use in 1-socket systems, the Opteron 200 series will be designed for use in up to 2-socket systems and the Opteron 800 series will be designed for use in 4 or more socket systems.
There are three new members of the Opteron family - all dual core CPUs: the Opteron x65, Opteron x70 and Opteron x75.
There are a few things to take away from this table:
- The fastest dual core runs at 2.2GHz, two speed grades lower than the fastest single core CPU - not too shabby at all.
- The slowest dual core CPU is priced at the same level as the fastest single core CPU; in this case, $637.
- Unlike Intel, AMD's second core comes at a much higher price. Take a look at the 148 vs. 175. Both run at 2.2GHz, but the dual core chip is over 3.5x the price of the single core CPU.
The pricing structure at the 200 and 800 levels doesn't change much either - the stakes are simply higher.
While AMD will undoubtedly hate the comparison below, it's an interesting one nonetheless. How much are you paying for that second core on these new dual core Opterons? To find out, let's compare prices on a clock for clock basis:
AMD's margins on their dual core Opteron parts are huge. On average, the second core costs customers over 3x as much as the first core for any of these CPUs. As you will soon see, the performance benefits are definitely worth it, but know that AMD's pricing is not exactly designed to drive dual core into widespread adoption.
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StrangerGuy - Thursday, April 21, 2005 - linkI find it strange why AMD did not release <2.2GHz A64 X2s? Maybe due to manufacturing issues?
LX - Thursday, April 21, 2005 - linkHow will the bandwidth limited X2 be affected by overclocking?
Chunkee - Thursday, April 21, 2005 - linkNicely done. The price will be a factor as usual. Does the performance gain justify the cost? For the enthusiast yes, but I will wait a bit. My 754 setup with a raptor still rocks plenty enough for me. The technology improvements are great. I will always be a big AMD Fan.
linkgoron - Thursday, April 21, 2005 - linknot bad... but AMD should make <500$ athlon 64 X2 CPUS


text:
We finished up our January mandalas for The Great Round: Stage One – The Void. We used Crayola markers and colored pencils with names like Tomato Red, Inchworm Green, Pinky Pink, Little Boy Blue, Small Potatoes, Sunwave Yellow, Green Sprout, Coral Orange, Gnarly Purple, Pipeline Green, Black Shades, Chocolate Chip, Blueberry, and Hang Ten Purple. We each chose two of the three templates to color.
FIRST PAIR: The first two are the same template. What makes them appear different are our individual color choices. The patterns that emerge with color show up more when posted side by side.
SECOND PAIR: The top mandala in this pair is another Stage 1 template. I was drawn to the organic shapes and bodies. The second in this pair is Stage 0 (zero) – Clear Light. Stage 0, the empty circle, represents wholeness. It is a place to focus, to meditate, before choosing colors and templates.
THIRD PAIR: The last two are the Stage 1 mandalas Liz chose, side by side. Mine are the second and third as you scroll down the page.
Color, color, color. We had a lot of fun with these exercises. The weekend is nearly over. Temperatures have warmed up. Day by day, spring is on the way.
-posted on red Ravine, Sunday, January 27th, 2008
-related to posts, Coloring Mandalas and WRITING TOPIC – CIRCLES


text:
Hungry Cole agrees one-year deal at Chelsea
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Article summary
England left-back Ashley Cole said the desire to win was as strong as ever after signing a 12-month contract extension tying the 32-year-old to Chelsea FC until summer 2014.
Article top media content
Article body
Ashley Cole has signed a one-year contract extension, keeping him at Chelsea FC until summer 2014.
The England left-back's deal was due to expire at the end of the season, but he will stretch his stay in west London to eight years after joining the Blues in 2006. In that time the 32-year-old has picked up the Premier League, the FA Cup on four occasions, the English League Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
"I am pleased I will be starting my eighth season at Chelsea," said the former Arsenal FC man, who has twice been named Players' Player of the Year at Stamford Bridge. "I have great memories here and I enjoy coming to training every day. The staff are amazing and I enjoy training with the lads.
"I have been able to fulfil nearly all my ambitions at Chelsea. I have won the Champions League, the league, I have won FA Cups but of course you don't want to stop winning trophies and being at a big club; you are always fighting to win a trophy. I wanted to stay at Chelsea because we are always challenging for trophies. That desire and the will to win things have not gone."
Cole has scored seven times in 293 appearances for Chelsea, who take on AC Sparta Praha in the UEFA Europa League round of 32. The first leg is in the Czech Republic on 14 February.


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Three Island Film Factory members recently had their films screened at the Atlantic Film Festival. Each film is rooted in the context of PEI and it is a huge nod to their quality to be screened at this esteemed festival. IFF is telling island stories to the world!
The Queen of the Crows was the recipient of the 2012 CBC 321 Award. Directed by Harmony Wagner and produced by Jason Rogerson, Queen of the Crows peers into the life of artisan Claire, who fights to keep eleven year old Elsa from being swallowed up by the mental health system – with the help of 30,000 neighbourhood crows.
The Crow Agenda is a short documentary directed by Jason Arsenault and Jeremy Larter. The film examines Charlottetown's role as a roosting site for thousands of crows.
Island Green is a National Film Board production, directed by Millefiore Clarkes, in which a hopeful question about the future of PEI's agricultural landscape is posed: "what if PEI went all organic"?


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Standard, Free, and Shared modes in Windows Azure Web SitesOne of the most important considerations when deploying your web site is choosing the right pricing tier for your site. Once you exit the development and test cycle, this will be your corporate web presence site, or an important new digital marketing campaign. or line-of-business app. So you want to make sure that your site is as available and responsive as your business needs demand, while staying comfortably within budget. Your choice depends on a number of factors like:
- How many individual sites are you planning to host? For example, a digital marketing campaign might include a social-media page for each service you are using, and a different landing page for each target segment.
- How popular do you expect the sites to be? When should traffic levels change? You estimate might be based on numbers of employees for a line-of-business application, or the number of Twitter followers and Facebook Likes for a campaign site. You may also expect differences in traffic due to seasonaility, demand-generation activities like social media activities and ads.
- How much resources (CPU, memory, and bandwidth) will the sites consume?
Site Modes in Windows Azure Web SitesWindows Azure Web Sites (WAWS) offers 3 modes: Standard, Free, and Shared. Each one of these modes – Standard, Shared, and Free -- offers different set of quotas that control how many resources your site can consume and provides different scaling capabilities. These quotas are summarized in the chart below.
Standard mode & Service Level Agreement (SLA)Standard mode runs on dedicated instances, making it different from the other ways to buy Windows Azure Web Sites. It also comes with no limits on the CPU usage, and the largest amount of included storage of the 3 modes. See the table above for details. Standard also has some important capabilities worth highlighting:
- No data egress bandwidth limit – The first 5 GB of data served on the site is included, additional bandwidth is priced according to the "pay-as-you-go" rate.
- Custom DNS Names – Free mode does not allow custom DNS. Standard allows CNAME and A Records.
Shared and Free modesSimply put, Shared and Free modes do not offer the scaling flexibility of Standard, and they have some important limits. Free mode runs on shared Compute resources with other sites in Free or Shared mode, and has an upper limit capping the amount of CPU time that that site (and the other Free sites under the subscription) can use per quota interval. Once that limit is reached, the site – and the other Free sites under the subscription – will stop serving up content/data until the next quota interval. Free mode also has a cap on the amount of data the site can serve to clients, also called "data egress". Shared mode, just as the name states, also uses shared Compute resources, and also has a CPU limit – albeit a higher one than Free, as noted in the table above. Shared mode also allows 5 GB data egress with "pay-as-you go" rates beyond that. So, while neither Free nor Shared is likely to be the best choice for your production environment due to the limits above, they are useful. Free is fine for limited scenarios like trying and learning Windows Azure Web Sites, such as learning how to setup a publish config, connect to Visual Studio, or deploy with TFS, Git, or other deployment tools. Shared has additional capabilities vs. Free that make it great for development and testing out your site under limited, controlled load. For more serious production environments, Standard has way more to offer.
Scale operations, your code, and user sessions/experienceScale operation have no impact on existing user sessions, beyond improving the user experience when the operation scales the site up, or scales the site out. Additionally, each scale operation happens quickly – typically within seconds – and does not require changes to your site's code, nor a redeployment of your site. Next we'll discuss what it means to "scale up" and to "scale out."
Windows Azure Web Sites Scaling DynamicsWindows Azure Web sites offers multiple ways to scale your website using the Management Portal. These operations are also available if you are managing your site via Microsoft Visual Studio 2012, as detailed in our service documentation.
Scale UpA scale up operation is the Azure Web Sites cloud equivalent of moving your non-cloud web site to a bigger physical server. So, scale up operations are useful to consider when your site is hitting a quota, signaling that you are outgrowing your existing mode or options. In addition, scaling up can be done on virtually any site without worrying about the implications of multi-instances data consistency. Two examples of scale up operations in Windows Azure Web Sites are:
- Changing the site mode: If you choose Standard mode, for example, your web site will have no quotas imposed on the CPU usage, and data egress will only be limited by the cost of data egress over the included 5 GB/month.
- Instance Size in Standard mode : In Standard mode, Windows Azure Web Sites allows a choice of different instance sizes, Small, Medium, and Large. This is also analogous to moving to a bigger physical server with increasing numbers of cores and amounts of memory:
- Small: 1 core, 1.75 GB memory
- Medium: 2 cores, 3.5 GB memory
- Large: 4 cores, 7 GB memory\


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General Motors Offering Saturn Owners Special Incentives to Test Drive Cars, Trade Up to a New GM Vehicle
Are you in the market for a new vehicle? If so, General Motors would really like you to take a look at their refreshed lineup of vehicles. As a result GM is inviting Saturn owners to "kick off the new year with a new vehicle that's every bit as impressive as your Saturn." The offer comes in the form of a loyalty rebate that takes an additonal $500 to $2000 off the "purchase or lease an eligible, new 2014 or remaining 2013 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC or Cadillac" now through February 28th.
GM Takes a Page from Saturn with New Moneyback "Satisfaction Guaranteed" Promotion
General Motors announced today that it will offer a satisfaction guarantee to eligible buyers of new Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac vehicles. The new promotion mimics the moneyback guarantee policy that Saturn used when it first started selling cars back in 1990. A few years ago Saturn's owner protection plan evolved from a moneyback guarantee to a vehicle exchange program.
Crushing Clunkers Video: Can You Spot the Saturn?
Saturn 360 Owner Magazine Goes All Digital, Promises an Update from Jill in "a Couple of Weeks"
Saturn's official owner magazine, Saturn 360, just published its first online-only issue. The new Summer 2009 edition virtually arrived yesterday when the company launched its brand new saturn360online.com website. The quarterly magazine sticks with the same people-focused formula that has been popular with readers since the magazine's first issue was printed almost four years ago.
Quench Your Thirst this Summer with a Free Case of Honest Tea from Saturn
Test drive any Saturn vehicle between now and August 31st at any participating retailer in the United States, and Honest Tea will send you a complimentary case of iced tea while supplies last. Participants must be 18 years of age or older. Interested? Here's what you have to do.
The Choice Is Yours: Saturn Offers Supplier Discounts, Cashback, and Special Financing to Everyone in July
- Astra,
- Aura,
- Outlook,
- Sky,
- Cars,
- 2008 Models,
- 2009 Models,
- Pricing,
- Promotions
As Saturn and Penske executives work to finalize the purchase of the General Motors brand before the end of September, sources tell SaturnFans.com that retailers are gearing up to offer special discounts to all qualifying customers throughout the month of July in an effort to clear out 2009 inventory.
Video: Did You See Transformers 2 this Weekend? Post Your Astra Impressions!
The Saturn Astra played a starring role on the big screen this weekend in Transformers 2. According to Edmunds.com, "a modified Saturn Astra hatch provides the getaway for Fox and LaBeouf when an alien is on their tail." We've previously seen clips of a silver Astra on the set of the movie at Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and in this movie trailer. Now, there's a fourth clip on YouTube that features the Astra. Have you seen the movie? Post your review, along with how you think the Astra played its part.
Saturn.com Now Lets You "Ask Jill" Questions About the Brand as the Company Expands its Web Presence
Saturn recently added a new feature to its website that allows visitors to pose questions directly to General Manager Jill Ladjziak. Some folks have already taken advantage of the opportunity. They've asked questions about Saturn's future, the impact any changes in ownership will have on their vehicle warranty, and who she rooted for during the Stanley Cup finals (well, maybe not that question). Keeping in close contact with customers is something Jill has always felt strongly about and excelled at doing. This new tool gives Jill and her team a way to communicate on a personalized level with owners and enthusiasts.
Saturn Owner Appreciation Cash Offer: $1500
- Astra,
- Aura,
- Outlook,
- Sky,
- Vue,
- Cars,
- 2008 Models,
- 2009 Models,
- Images,
- News Photos,
- Promotions
Saturn is offering current owners 1500 more reasons to stay in the family. "These days, it seems good news is hard to come by, particularly in the car industry," said an email received by SaturnFans.com earlier today. Current Saturn owners can receive $1,500 in Owner Appreciation Cash toward a 2009 Aura, Outlook, or Vue. Owner Appreciation Cash is also good for $750 toward a 2008 Astra, $1,000 toward a 2009 Sky, and can be combined with other cash offers.
TiVo Alert: See the Saturn Vue Hybrid on "Renovation Nation" Tonight
- Vue,
- Cars,
- History,
- Promotions
From Lisa Gilpin at ImSaturn: Saturn has teamed up with Planet Green's "Renovation Nation." Steve Thomas is the host, and works with a variety of groups and individuals to make their homes more green and cost-efficient. Tonight's episode begins a summer-long journey around the country, where Steve will work with a variety of local Habitat for Humanity groups. You'll see the Saturn VUE hybrid play a key role, and the season will culminate in late August with a special Detroit episode, featuring the Saturn "Hands on Home" project.
Random Article from the SaturnFans.com Archives
GM's 2004 Model Year Preview
Entering the 2004 model year, General Motors is focused on rebuilding its historical strength in passenger cars while broadening its current strength in trucks. In reviving its passenger-car business, GM doesn't need to look far for a model for success. GM's industry leadership in trucks resulted in new U.S. records for sales of trucks and SUVs in 2002.


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Intel has beefed up its networking silicon in a bid to capture a bigger share of enterprise, carrier and cloud-provider networks for its chip architecture.
On Wednesday, the company announced a networking platform code-named Highland Forest, combining an existing Xeon CPU and the new Coleto Creek chipset for new levels of performance in several specialized functions as well as throughput.
Intel says a common x86 architecture can help networking vendors build new, more efficient types of infrastructure for enterprises and service providers. Rather than developing and refreshing a wide range of specialized boxes using different chip architectures, vendors can start to move toward x86 and a single software platform throughout most of the network, slashing the time and cost required to come out with new gear, said Rose Schoolar, vice president and general manager of Intel's communications and storage group. She spoke on a conference call Wednesday to announce the platform.
The company has been pitching x86 as a superior alternative to proprietary networking chips and equipment for years and has made some inroads, especially with control-plane chips in switches and routers, according to Linley Group analyst Bob Wheeler. NFV (network functions virtualization), designed to shift tasks in carrier networks from specialized devices to standard, virtualized server hardware, could help Intel to propagate x86 further into networking, Wheeler said.
Carriers want to match the flexibility of providers of so-called over-the-top Internet services by having similar virtualized data centers. But some network functions still lend themselves to specialized hardware, so there are limits to what Intel may accomplish there, Wheeler said. "It's not as simple as it sounds," he said.
Networking has lagged behind hardware standardization and virtualization in the world of computing. Intel itself estimates that less than 5 percent of network infrastructure is virtualized.
Intel's networking chipsets offer a common set of functions across Atom and Xeon solutions for small to large systems. Those functions include IPsec and SSL security, Intel's DPDK (Data Plane Development Kit) technology for faster packet processing, and Hyperscan deep-packet inspection powered by technology Intel acquired earlier this year with Sensory Networks.
Highland Forest sits at the top end of this lineup. Like Intel's previous offering, a refresh of the Crystal Forest architecture, it's based on the Xeon E5-2600 v2 processor. But a typical configuration of Highland Forest will consist of two of the 20-core processors and four Coleto Creek chipsets. It's designed to take on specialized networking silicon with high performance: 225 million packets per second of throughput, Hyperscan deep-packet inspection at 140G bps, up to 110G bps IPsec processing and up to 200G bps of SSL encryption performance, according to Intel.
The new platform benefits from improved performance in the Coleto Creek chipset compared with its predecessor, Cave Creek. Among other things, the new chipset can deliver as much as 40,000 operations per second of RSA decryption, versus 5,500 operations per second for Cave Creek. It can also compress data at 24G bps (bits per second), up from 8Gbps for Cave Creek.
Intel's biggest edge in achieving this performance is its ability to optimize software functions, such as Hyperscan, for the x86 architecture it knows so well, Wheeler said.
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is email@example.com


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After eight years under the same president, our country is on the verge of some major changes. This is an exciting time. The election of a new president encourages us to take a collective look in the mirror and it throws the spotlight on the distinctive characteristics of the person we've elected. Whom we choose as president says a great deal about us – who we are, what we want, and how we have changed in the past eight years.
It is beyond doubt that Barack Obama's intelligence, his policy positions, and his remarkable temperament will play a crucial role in the next chapter of world history. At the same time, both the full meaning of this election and its likely impact on the next four years are more difficult to ascertain than we might like to admit.
As a Democrat, it's tempting to interpret an Obama victory as a clear-cut endorsement, both of Obama specifically and the Democratic platform generally. After all, Obama has practically Kennedyesque personal appeal and he's spent the past 21 months campaigning relentlessly on the idea that he would bring progressive change to the country by ending the war in Iraq, providing health care to all Americans, and practicing a new kind of politics.
The idea of the election as a direct choice between the policies of Obama and McCain would also fit into a clean, dispositionist narrative of American politics. But what if voters ultimately made their decisions based on other factors? For example, Douglas Schoen of the Wall Street Journal argues that the results of this election are "not a mandate for Democratic policies" because voters acted primarily out of a desire to reject Bush and the Republicans. What about other factors such as the economy or the personal attributes of the candidates?
Though the economy was hardly a centerpiece of Obama's campaign, his first concrete lead appeared shortly after the advent of the current financial crisis. How do we read the tea leaves? Does the important role of the economy in Obama's victory hint that his policies couldn't gain acceptance under normal circumstances, or did the crisis simply prove that that the American people trust Obama's judgment? What about age, race, or any of the other factors that might have influenced the election? Does Obama's charisma strengthen or weaken the rationale for electing him? What are the implications for an Obama presidency if the election represented something other than a direct up or down referendum on the president-elect's policies?
In the context of dispositionist Enlightenment values, elections present the highest, purest forum for individuals to exercise rational choice. By choosing between various candidates and platforms, we communicate our preferences to the government, in turn providing our rulers with a mandate for the choices they make. It's clear that voting is important and that our choice of a given candidate expresses a preference, but it's not clear how much of that preference derives from stable views or strictly rational evaluation of qualifications and policy positions. Voters' perceptions of issues are susceptible to the influence of emotion and identity appeals. Changes in situational factors such as political climate, economic stability, and "October surprises" affect support for candidates without necessarily altering their positions or qualifications. And it's widely understood that politicians don't reliably follow through on their campaign promises (for example, even before this election, the bailout made both candidates' existing proposals unfeasible). What, then, is the nature of the connection between a vote based on proposals from the campaign season and the mandate for the action a new president actually takes?
Even to the extent that we vote based on conscious policy decisions, it is easy to overestimate the degree to which a president's innate qualities and preferences determine how events unfold during his or her time in office. Our dispositionist assumptions emphasize a view of the chief executive primarily as an independent decision-making actor – the president as "the decider."
But even the deepest convictions and policy positions of a president-elect are not determinative of what the country experiences in the following four years. No initial mandate can render a president immune to political forces. Preexisting conditions (such as our current economic and military challenges) can complicate or preclude efforts to enact new policy. And every president faces historic changes in global and domestic circumstances that come to define his or her term in office. Good judgment is crucial when meeting such challenges, but ultimately the president's choices represent only one of many factors shaping the course of events.
Barack Obama's election has inspired millions and ignited hope around the globe. Given the historic shift in power we're experiencing, it's tempting to jump to conclusions about what we've proven by electing Obama and what the world will look like with him as president of the United States. But in the end, we support candidates for many different reasons and the results of this presidential election don't unambiguously define the country. Likewise, President Obama may go on to accomplish many things, but it's unwise to assume – for better or for worse – that the fate of our country lies in his hands. The full meaning of Obama's presidential victory will take time to emerge. For now, the best first step we can take into the Yes We Can era would be to remember the limitations we all have as individuals and not rely on President Obama to single-handedly change the world.