text:
July 2, 2013— -- The lone survivor of the Arizona wildfire that killed 19 firefighters was working as a lookout for the crew when conditions suddenly worsened and he narrowly escaped the inferno himself as he warned his colleagues to get out.
The "very distraught" survivor has been identified as Brendan McDonough, a member of the highly-trained Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew, according to the Prescott Fire Department.
McDonough, 21, was "acting as a lookout at the time for the crew," Prescott Fire Department spokesman Wade Ward told ABC News.
Ward said it is "very common" for crews to have a lookout at a higher location so that they can be in both radio and visual contact. He said that McDonough was on a hillside within a mile or two of the crew monitoring the situation.
When firefighters are involved in a situation, they have pre-determined "trigger points" that indicate to them that it is time to re-evaluate if the fire reaches the trigger points.
Complete List of Names of Firefighters Killed in Arizona Wildfire
When conditions worsened, McDonough saw that his colleagues were in danger and warned them as his own trigger point was destroyed by the flames.
"He had radioed that his trigger point had been reached and so he radioed the crew and told them that he was leaving," Ward said. "As he was leaving, he had stated that the winds had changed so fast and picked up so fast that his trigger point was burned over within three minutes."
The elite team of firefighters was battling a raging wildfire in Yarnell, Ariz., when dry thunderstorms laced with strong, erratic winds shifted unexpectedly in the searing heat of the Southwest, likely creating the perfect storm that trapped and killed them, according to officials.
"He was warning them to get out," Ward said of McDonough. "They had made their plan to get out. They were attempting to reach their safety zone and get back to that point. He [McDonough] was picked up by a Blue Ridge Hotshot supervisor and was evacuated from the area and the crew attempted to get to their safety zone and they just couldn't outrun the fire. It changed that fast."
The wildfire killed 18 of 20 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew. The 19th dead firefighter was from another group. McDonough was the only survivor of Sunday's disaster.
Bodies of 19 Firefighters Killed in Arizona Wildfire Recovered, Taken to Medical Examiner's Office
Wade said that McDonough is "very distraught" and trying to figure out what happened.
"He's lost 19 of his best friends and co-workers and he's working through it the best that he can," Wade said. "He's being cared for not only by the Prescott Fire Department but the huge community around him and we're doing the best that we can to help him."
"It's not a good situation to not only be there, but to know that all of your buddies are gone," Wade said.
"He did exactly what he's supposed to do and the crew did exactly what they're supposed to do," he said. "There's nobody to blame. This is an accident."
The tragedy came at the start of the state's monsoon season, a weather phenomenon that brings lightning strikes, gusty winds, dust storms and sometimes rain to the state during the summer months.
Karen Takai, a fire information officer at Sandia Ranger district in New Mexico, said at a news conference today that the losses have been emotional for the firefighters who are still fighting the blaze but that they are determined to extinguish the fire for their fallen comrades.
"They were fighting the fire on the mountain. That was their charge. That was their job," Takai said. "To honor the firefighters, they're going to put this fire out."
A lightning strike Friday in Yarnell, about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, started the wildfire amid triple-digit temperatures and low humidity.
The winds that helped fuel the fire were notably unpredictable and contributed to the rapidly shifting nature of the blaze. The early monsoon storms typically have plenty of lightning and wind, but often have little rain. Those ingredients make up a deadly combination in a state that is bone-dry. Seventy-five percent of Arizona is suffering from severe drought or worse.
"When those two collide, you get unexpected fire behavior and surprising fire behavior and explosive fire behavior," Takai said.
The Yarnell fire has burned through 8,400 acres and none of it is contained. There are 18 engines, eight support water tenders and a total of 500 personnel on the scene. An estimated 200 homes and other structures burned in Yarnell and the Yarnell Fire Department and Yavapai County will continue to assess the community today.
Air tankers continue to drop fire retardant on the flames, but experts say Sunday's tragedy won't keep them from sending men and women to the frontlines.
"It takes a firefighter on the ground digging a fire line that stops the advance of the fire," former U.S. Forest Service wildfire expert Jim Paxon said.
Today is expected to be another punishing day for firefighters with heavy hearts, still mourning the loss of their fallen brothers. A high of 115 degrees is expected.
Remembered as Loving Sons, Caring Fathers
The ages of the Granite Mountain Hotshot Crew ranged from 21 to 43, with 14 in their 20s. They were young men in the prime of their lives, like 21-year-old Kevin Woyjeck, whose father is a Los Angeles fire captain.
"He's a great kid," Los Angeles firefighter Keith Mora said. "I say kid, but he was a young man. He was working very hard."
Wade Parker, 22, was engaged to be married this fall. Sean Misner, 26, leaves behind a wife who is seven months pregnant.
Andrew Ashcraft, 29, leaves behind and wife and four children.
"Our oldest is struggling a lot," Ashcraft's wife, Juliann, said. "I want them to be like their dad. We have three boys and one girl. And he loved them and now it's my job for them to know how much he loved them.
"He's the best person I've ever met and he gave all for his job and it doesn't compare to what he gave his family. And they were all like that. They were heroes," she added.
Bill Warneke, 25, was 6 when he dressed up as a fireman. He later joined the Marines and then the Hotshots. He joined the Hotshots in April, Warneke's grandfather Jack told ABC News.
Chris MacKenzie, 30, was a Hotshot veteran, according to his mother, who never worried about his safety.
"Chris was very experienced and he had taken a lot of classes and he had done it for such a long time," Laurie Goralski said.
Mourners, Arizona Diamondbacks Pay Tribute
Sunday was the deadliest day for U.S. firefighters since 9/11, when 340 died in New York City. The Arizona Diamondbacks just happened to be in New York playing the Mets Monday night when both teams paid tribute to the hotshots.
A baseball jersey with the number 19 hung in each team's dugout with the name "Yarnell." During the four-game series, the Diamondbacks will wear black bands on the right arm of their jerseys to pay tribute to the fallen firefighters.
"We'll never replace what they've had to go through, but hopefully we can help them in some capacity," Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said.
There was a moment of silence at ballparks across the majors.
More than 1,000 people turned out Monday to a Prescott gymnasium to honor the bravery and sacrifice of the firefighters.
ABC News' Sabina Ghebremedhin, Anthony Castellano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.


text:
Job type:
£11.77 - £14.01 per hour
Contact email:
Job ref:
21 days ago
Expiry date:
Retail & Asset Solutions
SEIRs Installers (Casual arrangement)
50 Hours per week Sunday to Thursday usually (or variation of 5 day out of 7)
Location: Will be required to work at different locations across the UK
SEIRS Installers from £11.77 to £14.01 per hour including holiday pay (£10.50 - £12.50 + £1.22 - £1.51 holiday pay)
Do you want to be part of exciting growth in a well-established, successful and reputable company?
Are you an experienced racking installer or supervisor registered with the Storage Equipment Installers Registration Scheme (SEIRS) and have an appetite for retail display excellence?
Retail & Asset Solutions are looking for experienced candidates to join our teams as we pave our way into retail installations with our large existing and growing client portfolio, to be the 'go-to' company for mobilising retail merchandising projects.
The Company
We are a leading provider of Retail merchandising, stocktaking, and supply chain management services.
With over 3500 employees throughout the UK, we provide a hardworking and rewarding workplace with many progression opportunities.
The Role
Representing RAS, you will be working for well-known retailers at various sites nationwide.
The purpose of this role is to support in-store projects such as range reviews and store refresh schemes by implementing all elements relating to racking and shelving installations and merchandising to store planogram to give a spectacular finish.
Ability to follow company policy and procedures especially in Health and Safety would be critical to this role. A driving licence would be highly desirable for the role as projects will have a nationwide remit. Shifts are between 10 -12 hours and usually nights although some day shifts may be required.
- Usually Sunday to Thursday working week
- Working as part of a close-knit team
- Training and development
- Progression opportunities within the company
- Accommodation provided when working away from home when required
- Access to your pay weekly via WageStream
- Holiday pay is accrued and banked for you using our FieldPower system
- Uniform provided
- Owner Driver benefits include Car Share scheme with enhanced mileage expensed
Key Responsibilities:
- Reporting to the on site SEIRS Supervisor to achieve all required project objectives to schedule
- Ensure the SEIRS and RAS health and safety principles are adhered to at all times
- Installing and dismantling Pallet Racking and gondola, (Eden, Radfords, iTab etc)
- Helping out to make sure installation is carried out to manufacture specs (frame orientation, bracing pattern, row spacer locations, shimming, bolting etc)
- Providing support in merchandising to plan and ensuring excellent display standards
- Making sure site is cleared and tidy on job completion
- Travelling to and from jobs
- Behave in a professional manner
- The role will require lifting heavy items at times so being fit and healthy would be beneficial
The Person:
- Full UK driving licence
- SEIRS and CSCS card holder
- Experience working with hand tools
- Excellent teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills
- Attention to detail
- Adherence to health and safety regulations
- Flexibility with working hours
- Flexibility with working days
- Hold a forklift truck licence
- IPAF 3A/3B certifications
- Comfortable working at heights
This role is being handled by Retail & Asset Solutions (RAS). To discuss this vacancy or any other great positions we have please call us on 01689 879444 for a confidential chat about working for our business.
By applying to this role, you are consenting to Retail & Asset Solutions to hold and process your data in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations. If you have any questions or wish to exercise your right to access, erase or restrict the holding or processing of your data then please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com and we will respond to your query as soon as possible.
Shane Hawkins
Managing Director
Helen Taylor
Associate Director
Lynsey Bridges
Operations Manager
Kelly Swancott
Senior Account Manager
Alec Kerwin
Senior Account Manager
Tracey Pattison
Senior Account Manager
Becci Bennett
Recruitment Coordinator
Vicky Adams
Client Relationship Manager
Emily Treherne
Recruitment Administrator
Join C2 Recruitment!

subset: commoncrawl


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unveiled a new version of its successful Prime shipping service on Monday as the world's largest Internet retailer tries to attract more-frequent shoppers with groceries and other everyday household products. Amazon expanded its AmazonFresh online grocery business into parts of Los Angeles on Monday, after testing the service in its hometown of Seattle for more than five years. Amazon offered a 90-day free trial of AmazonFresh in Los Angeles to consumers who are already members of Prime, which costs $79 a year for free two-day shipping on millions of products. After the trial ends, customers will be upgraded to a new "Prime Fresh" membership. This costs $299 a year and includes free same-day or overnight delivery of orders over $35 of groceries and more than 500,000 other everyday household items. Amazon's original Prime service encouraged members to shop more regularly on
because they did not incur shipping charges after paying their flat $79 a year fee. With its new, more expensive "Prime Fresh" subscription, Amazon is betting that this same consumer psychology will get people shopping for groceries and other everyday items even more frequently. "It's a whole new level of Prime and potentially a new level of customer loyalty to Amazon," said Anne Zybowski, vice president of retail insights at Kantar Retail. The new Prime tier is part of a big expansion of the AmazonFresh online grocery business. Later this year, Amazon plans to launch in the Bay Area and, if that goes well, the company may enter 20 other urban areas in 2014, including some outside the United States. The plans are a threat to Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, as well as big grocery chains such as Kroger, Safeway and Whole Foods Market, according to Zybowski. Wal-Mart has been testing grocery delivery in some parts of the United States and Safeway already offers such a service, she added. Adding a new $299 Prime Fresh subscription to its online grocery offering may help fuel Amazon's expansion in this huge part of the retail sector, according to analysts. Members of Amazon's current $79 Prime service spend more than double the amount of money that non-Prime Amazon customers spend, according to a study conducted earlier this year by Morningstar equity analyst R.J. Hottovy. "The $299 price point is intriguing and could help to not only drive greater shopping frequency and increase the amount spend on Amazon per member, but also shopping across a wider range of Amazon departments," Hottovy said on Monday. "More important, it will help to make Amazon the starting point for online purchases — more than it already was — and give consumers even less of a reason to shop anywhere else," the analyst added. Amazon shares rose 1.4 percent to $280.88 in afternoon trading on Monday. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on AmazonFresh's expansion plans beyond L.A. The new $299 Prime Fresh membership is not being offered to existing AmazonFresh customers in Seattle, she added. "We've been testing AmazonFresh in Seattle for several years and are excited to try a new approach in Los Angeles," the spokeswoman said. "We know customers value this service but the economics remain challenging. We will continue experimenting and innovating on behalf of our customers to find a model that works." The online grocery business has a history of low or non-existent profit margins because fresh products can go out-of-date quickly and delivery to people's homes costs so much. However, Amazon is selling a lot of other everyday, household items in addition to fresh food, such as baby products, shampoo, tools, sports equipment, juicers, toys, games and electronics. These other products, which will delivered with the food items the same day or overnight, are typically higher margin. That could help Amazon make money on AmazonFresh, Zybowski said. AmazonFresh also includes deliveries from local food companies, such as delis, fish markets and butcher shops. Amazon charges a commission on sales of food items from these firms and this revenue stream will likely have significantly higher profit margins, Zybowski noted.


text:
Item Condition: New
PaceMaster Pro Select Elite Pro plus 2 Treadmill Main Drive Belt 26" AP2DRBLT
"Have fitness repair parts to Sell?"
Use our wizard and list them for FREE on our exchange
Sell them lot to us using this form
Item Description
Condition New
Part#: AP2DRBLT
Used on the following models:
Pro Elite
Pro Plus II
Pro Select
Let customers speak for usfrom 474 reviews
The key works perfectly.
The motor fit and worked perfectly. Thank you for suppling me with the parts
that I needed. TDS Fitness Solutions
it works fine, thanks
Excellent service, I was looking for replacement pedals for my old recumbent bike (Freemotion e350r) and not only did they have them, they shipped the same day.
Great job!
Easy to order. Super fast shipping. Wrapped and packed professionally.
Shipping was fast exactly what I needed for my treadmill. I'm up and running in no time
The replacement hub set was of good quality, and was delivered promptly. Down time for my stationary bike was minimal. I definitely will look to Hydra Fitness for parts for my exercise equipment in the future.
Part was exactly as described
I purchased some used parts for my Sole R92 exercise bike from hydrafitnessparts.com after the Sole company treated me very poorly regarding defective parts under warranty that they refused to honor and also took 30 days to even reply! Hydrafitnessparts.com was great! They answered my questions before my purchase and shipped quickly. The used parts are in great condition and work perfectly. I am very happy with hydrafitnessparts.com and highly recommend them (unlike the Sole company from whom I will never purchase any additional exercise equipment!).
The diagram on the site allowed me to identify the part I needed, and the power cable arrived promptly and in new condition as advertised. I would buy from this company again.
A fair price for a used hard to find treadmill part. Shipped fast.
Communication was excellent. Part arrived on time. Treadmill started right up , no issues
Very satisfied with the final result
I ordered my part and it arrived as ordered well wrapped in bubble wrap and serviceable. My order arrived in a timely manner and worked immediately after i installed the part.
Hopefully i never have to return it for exchange or repair. The two year warranty i purchased was very affordable.
Thanks again
Great Service. Exactly what I needed.


text:
Monday, April 28, 2014
Mod Girls
Too many pretty things happened during my teaching days at Sew Down Nashville to let them just sit on my camera phone. I had the lovely opportunity to spend time with a very enthusiastic group of 80 or so patchworkers (20 at a time) two weekends ago. The Modern Quilt Guild does such a great job at putting together these events, so much so, that they make it seem easy, which I know it is not. Kicking off the weekend here in Nashville by welcoming everyone to the house and studio was a teensy overwhelming, but so worth our efforts. We kinda fell off the planet in the week or two leading up to the event as evidenced by the (in)frequency of my posts here, but the preparations were smooth and exciting. Thank you so much to all of you who came, and also for patronizing our at-home pop-up shop! Or petting my dogs, or holding my baby, or listening to my father-in-law play bluegrass, or eating crab cakes, or ignoring dusty light fixtures, or any other thing you might have done while here. Thank you. We loved it.
As for class. I taught a class based on a block that I named Mod Corsage. I was first inspired to create this make-it-up-as-you-go block while researching the history of broderie perse quilting. (Here is what google images spits at you if you ask.) I love needle-turn applique. Not everyone does. And like most things that we enjoy that are time consuming, there isn't always the chance to have much time to give to it. So Mod Corsage was built out of my desire to create a pictorial block (or quilt) of a bouquet of sorts, but to take what might seem like short cuts to getting an image happening. What I really enjoyed was that the practicalities of the patchwork process is what in the end offered just as much interest to the piece. In other words, it is not just about fabric choice, but also about how many seams were taken to build the bouquet, and where you chose to change out the background fabrics a bit. Staring with a simple structure that can continue to be reacted to and embellished with further applique was also very enjoyable for me.
Like most classes that I teach, even I don't quite grasp everything that is going to be taught until I open my mouth and begin sharing my path to creating the inspiration piece. What I learned in teaching this class was that what we were really doing was defining the flower. In other words, how many ways could we build, applique, patch or seam a flower. The answer is every way. There are no limits. My favorite.
I presented two basic ways of paying homage to the broderie perse tradition. One was almost entirely about appliqueing bits of various florals together. And despite a few specific tricks that can make this appear more time intensive than it is, a considerable amount of time on these blocks happens after the composition comes together (in other words hand sewing all those dang flowers in place). The second method was more like my example up there (first photo) which was more structured and straight edge, and well yes, "modern", I suppose. And for the most part, this approach has you spending a bit more time on the front end, trying to allow for some spontaneity, but also a sequence of assembly. Either of these two styles can be daunting at first. But I can honestly say that everyone did something beautiful in class. And it seemed most did something that they were not necessarily anticipating, which as their teaching is thrilling.
I have more pretty student work photos over here on FB. I am so happy to say also, that the class was such a success, that I will be teaching Mod Corsage again at Quilt Con next year. Yay. I should mention too, that at Sew Down we only had 3 hours for class, and at Quilt Con we will have 6 hours. I think that everyone that joined me for this would agree that 6 hours will be very helpful to getting a little further along in the process.
Okay. Hope you're inspired! xoxo, Anna
8 comments:
Looks like a fun class. Love what was done.ReplyDeleteReplies
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this was such a fun class. it really stretched me in a good way. and if you had asked me to choose which method i would like before i took the class, i would have hands-down said the pieced one. turns out, i like needlepoint applique! and i'm working on something inspired by your class...stay tuned. xo.ReplyDelete
and i meant needle turn...(that dang bolster pillow is also on my mind!)ReplyDelete
I am SO excited!! I booked Mod Corsage for Quiltcon (my ONLY class) I just know I am going to love it and look forward to meetin/learning from you.ReplyDelete
very vey nice....ReplyDelete
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text:
Slapping, shoving tied to kids' future health problems
July 16, 2013 Leave a comment
Slapping, shoving tied to kids' future health problems
12:17am EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Children who are punished through pushing, shoving and slapping are more likely to be obese and have other health problems when they grow up, a new study suggests. "This is one study that adds to a growing area of research that all has consistent findings that physical punishment is associated with negative mental and now physical (health) outcomes," said Tracie Afifi, who led the study at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada.Last year, she and her colleagues published findings linking hitting and slapping in childhood to a higher risk of depression and anxiety later in life (see Reuters Health story of July 2, 2013 here: reut.rs/Mo1MXm.
For the current report, they re-analyzed data collected in 2004 and 2005 by United States Census interviewers, who surveyed more than 34,000 adults across the country.
Participants were asked whether their parents or other adults at home pushed, slapped, grabbed, shoved or hit them for punishment as a child. They also reported their current health conditions.
About 1,300 people reported being physically punished at least "sometimes" without more extreme physical or emotional abuse or neglect. Compared to people who weren't punished physically as children, they were more likely to have been diagnosed with at least one chronic health condition.
Specifically, those participants were 25 percent more likely to have arthritis and 28 percent more likely to have cardiovascular disease – though the second finding could have been due to chance, the researchers wrote Monday in Pediatrics.
More people who had been punished physically were obese: about 31 percent, versus 26 percent of those with no history of physical punishment.
Not every child who is slapped or pushed will develop mental or physical health problems, Afifi said.
But pain and inflammation from physical punishment, as well as psychological and behavioral responses to being hit, could lead to long-term problems for some children, she added.
"Changes in sleep, risk-taking behaviors, immune functioning and regulation of stress hormones that result from chronic or intense stress may be important factors," Michele Knox, a psychiatrist who studies family and youth violence at the University of Toledo College of Medicine, commented in an email.
"This isn't the safest method of discipline," Afifi told Reuters Health. "Your child might be fine afterward, but maybe not."
Knox, who was not involved in the new research, told Reuters Health doctors should talk with parents about alternative, non-physical methods of discipline.
"If we want what's best for our children, we need to choose discipline that does not come with these risks," she said.
Afifi said the point of the study is not to blame parents, or to say all discipline should be avoided.
"The recommendation against physical punishment does not imply the avoidance of discipline," she said. "We're not saying, 'Just let your kid run wild.'"


text:
The menace of Yahoo Yahoo boys in the Nigerian society is on an epic high, and many young Nigerians see the fraud life as a normal thing.
There is no excuse to live a life of crime
These set of youths live lavishly, wear the latest designers, drive exotic cars and are celebrated often, but they mostly don't have a legitimate source of income.
Most of these guys started with the usual 'Yahoo Yahoo' (Scamming white people), but it seems that isn't just enough and they want it all, so they go through the dark route.
Some call it 'Yahoo Plus' We have compiled a list of things fetish wealth seekers have done to get money.
See what Yahoo boys now do in order to keep making money since Yahoo no longer pays without going extra miles.
1. Eating Human Feaces
They eat it with bread in form of a sandwich Eeeew!!! That is a likely response when the idea of eating bread sandwiched with human faeces is considered but not to some Yahoo Boys.
A lady once overheard her ex-boyfriend in a conversation with pal who listened to him narrate his experience while eating the mixture which is believed to be one of the rights he needed to fulfill in a quest for money.
This is however minor compared to the next example.
2. Barking Once A Month As Part Of Money Ritual
A viral video of a Yahoo Boy captured as he barked like a dog for the purpose of money ritual is another cause for concern.
While his friends laughed at him in a living room, he continuously made sounds that resembled the animal. A feature that may make one wonder if he indeed is a dog.
The friends seemed unbothered as they laughed and cheered in the background. "Owo De" which means "Money has come", can be heard in the background while the young man barked.
3. Black Magic 'Oshole', The Power Of Compulsion
The craft of a 'Babalawo', a pastor or a cleric, has helped some internet fraudster who patronise Yahoo Plus can help deliver to the money lovers the power to command a 'client' (person scammed) to their bidding.
This is an opportunity to cop some huge stash of American Dollars.
4. Wiping A Lady's V*gina With Towel After Sex
It has been rumoured that some ladies in Nigeria are walking dead following encounters with youths who have looked to Yahoo Plus for money.
By wiping moisture from a woman's v$gina after sex, it is believed that a wealth seeker is able to get what is desired after using the material in a ritual performed by a 'Babalawo' or any fetish lord.
5. Killing own Relatives For Money Rituals
Tunde Owolabi, also known as 'Money Talks', was captured in handcuffs as he crouched beside the corpse of a little boy reportedly 7 years old.
The image was provided in a post shared by Odueko Olumide John who expressed shock concerning the incident.
A grave-looking Owolabi had a look of intent as he tilted his neck sideways as if paying attention to a more serious reality.
There has been recent talk about Yahoo Boys on Social with many dismissing as robbers and others defending them.


text:
Lisa Phillips began writing at age nine, after reading The Secret Garden. Today she is a multi-published, award winning author of paranormal and contemporary romance, as well as mainstream women's fiction and humorous nonfiction. As a life-long southerner, the traditions, charm and beauty of the South are consistent themes throughout all her novels. She is the mother of two rowdy boys and a member of a large family, which also fuels her stories of loyalty, love and the struggles that can ensue!
"Ms. Phillips' talent for descriptions drags the reader from their comfy chair and slaps them right into the action."
Working Girl Reviews
"Ms Phillips has shown me her writing style is smooth, her dialogue strong, and the fun shines through more than most I have read recently…Some really laugh out loud moments…Some very sensual scenes between the characters…and most of all the love."
Paranormal Romance Guild
"Lisa Philips makes her characters believable as well as likable."
Coffee Time Romance
"Lisa Phillips is quite the talent!"
Tnicnat's Reviews
"Ms. Phillips has blessed the pages with her unique and very talented writing style."
Long & Short Reviews
"I am looking forward to reading the next story written by Ms. Phillips."
Paranormal Romance Reviews
"I can't wait to see what else Ms. Phillips has in store for her readers."
Night Owl Romance
"Ms. Phillips I want to thank you for one of the most impressive novels I've ever read and I assure you that this will not be the last I read of you."
Long and Short Romance Reviews


text:
Patient fans of The Beatles, your wait and see approach to the originally high priced The Beatles: Rock Band has paid off. The MTV Games and Harmonix music game is now much more reasonably priced.
You have two options today. You can choose to take advantage of Amazon.com's "Deal of the Day," which is blowing out The Beatles: Rock Band limited edition bundle for the Xbox 360 for $124.75 USD or for the PlayStation 3 for $134.65 USD. For just $28.49 USD, you can grab a copy of the game itself for the Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360.
Your other option is to buy direct from MTV's Rock Band Deals page, which will be selling the PS3 and 360 Beatles bundle for $139 USD. The site also has bundle deals on Rock Band 2 and the original Rock Band that should be very attractive to the frugal late adopter.
Rock Band Deals [Rock Band]
The Beatles: Rock Band


text:
Bridge over the river Merced
View large...
Love Bugs
What are these?...
Two beetles make the most of the last few fleeting minutes of light on a warm Yosemite Valley evening.
Update: Deleted
Emily (my sweetheart)
My Sweetheart.
Big Bear: Aug-2002
BigBear-Aug-2002 009
A view from the cabin deck.
Thousand Island Lake 09-2002 016
Thousand Island Lake Sep. 2002
Thousand_Island_Lake-09-2002 021
Thousand Island Lake, Sep. 2002
Thousand Island Lake Sep. 2002
Got this with my first digital camera (3 megapixel Nikon)
Thousand_Island_Lake-09-2002 026
Thousand_Island_Lake-09-2002 029
Morning: Thousand Island Lake 09-2002
Thousand_Island_Lake-09-2002 044
Thousand Island Lake 09-2002 043
It's a long way from home...
Thousand_Island_Lake-09-2002 046
View from Wawona point, 6800 feet. The Wawona valley is bellow.
Massive tree, small humans
My sister and I in front of a massive fallen redwood. Photo by Mom.
It's was very dry this year. Hot too...


text:
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text:
Reuters: Iran and the United States might be talking up their readiness for war in the Gulf but beneath the rhetoric, all sides appear keen to avoid conflict and prevent accidental escalation – at least for now.
By Peter Apps, Political Risk Correspondent
LONDON (Reuters) – Iran and the United States might be talking up their readiness for war in the Gulf but beneath the rhetoric, all sides appear keen to avoid conflict and prevent accidental escalation – at least for now.
This week, a string of hawkish Iranian statements – including a renewed threat to close the Strait of Hormuz and destroy U.S. bases "within minutes" of an attack – helped push benchmark Brent crude oil prices above $100 for the first time since June.
Western military officials and analysts say Tehran does have the capability to wreak regional havoc. But the current saber-rattling, they believe, is more about moving markets and trying to give the West second thoughts over the ever-tightening oil sanctions aimed at cutting back Tehran's nuclear program.
A European Union ban on trading Iranian oil announced earlier in the year entered force on July 1, while the United States is also tightening financial restrictions. Even Asian buyers such as China that had hoped to keep taking Iranian crude appear to be scaling back purchases, struggling to find shipping insurance or banking – leaving Iran increasingly isolated.
"What we tend to see is that rhetoric from Iran tends to peak when you have developments around the sanctions issue," U.S. Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Vice Admiral Mark Fox told a naval conference at London's Royal United Services Institute.
"We saw this in 2010, we saw it in January this year. They use rhetoric and military exercises to make their point … but it is always best to be prepared, and we always are."
Washington has highlighted its own military buildup, pointing to new minesweepers, patrol craft and the assault ship USS Ponce joining its Fifth Fleet, which includes the USS Abraham Lincoln and Enterprise carrier battle groups.
Iran has often threatened reprisals for any Israeli or U.S.-led strike on its nuclear sites, whose activities it says are purely peaceful but the West suspects are geared to developing arms. But this week's statements were more aggressive than most.
In one headline on its website, state-run Press TV described Western warships in the Gulf as "sitting ducks". An Iranian parliamentary committee said it would pass a bill allowing Tehran to block passage through Hormuz, the conduit for all Gulf oil exports, to ships of any country backing sanctions.
"Iran is essentially reminding the U.S. and its regional allies that if it were attacked, it is capable of responding," said Michael Connell, an Iran specialist at the Centre for Naval Analysis, which provides analysis to military and other clients as part of larger U.S. government-funded think tank, CNA.
"There is also a domestic component – reassuring their own populace that their armed forces are respected and feared."
Four months before a U.S. presidential election in which the economy could prove the deciding factor, Iran probably sees the ability to influence global oil prices as a potent and much more usable weapon than actual military action.
"As the impact of European sanctions … begins to create some economic hardship for Tehran, the timing of this announcement suggests that Iran is trying to imply that it in turn can cause economic pain for the world," said Nikolas Gvosdev, professor of national security studies at the U.S. Naval War College.
Whatever the intent, the growing number of military forces in close proximity brings obvious dangers.
"The risk of Iran actually carrying out the actions they are threatening is low," said Ari Ratner, a former Middle East adviser to the State Department earlier in the Obama administration and now a fellow at the left-leaning Truman National Security Foundation.
"However, there is an increasing danger that this rhetoric or the increasing provocative actions by the Iranian side … could result in a miscalculation … The Gulf is becoming a tinderbox and an accidental spark may come at any time."
Military experts say the opening salvos of any such conflict could prove hugely damaging, with even sophisticated warships vulnerable to suicide speedboats, midget submarines or truck-mounted missiles. But the ultimate outcome, they say, would never be in doubt: a massive U.S.-led retaliation that left Iran's military devastated.
For all the talk, however, naval officers say tensions in the Gulf between U.S.-led forces and their Iranian counterparts are if anything lower than several years or even months ago, with clear signals that Tehran itself is holding back.
Last week, U.S. Chief of Naval Operations Jonathan Greenert told a news briefing that the Iranian navy continued to be "professional and courteous". Confrontations with Revolutionary Guard naval units – in which they came too close to U.S. warships for comfort – were also down in number, he said.
Despite occasional talk of Iran refusing to allow U.S. carriers through Hormuz, U.S. naval officers say that in fact Iranian units appear to have had instructions to steer well clear when the giant ships transit the strait.
When foreign warplanes approach Iranian air space, they find themselves swiftly warned off with a simple but firm radio warning in English.
For its part, the U.S. Navy says it has rescued dozens of Iranian sailors from Gulf and Indian Ocean waters, including several from a dhow held captive by Somali pirates.
"I have never worked harder to prevent a conflict," said Vice Admiral Fox, formerly commander of U.S. naval forces in the region. "We are going out of our way to send the message that we are not there to over pressurize (the situation)."
The current increase in forces in the Gulf, naval insiders say, was planned months ago – but tough choices lie ahead.
Washington says it plans to keep two carriers in the region for at least the next fiscal year and will shortly decide on the next. Maintaining those forces in the longer run, particularly given the planned U.S. "pivot" to Asia, may be harder to sustain.
But the focus on Hormuz, some suggest, may simply be missing the bigger picture.
"Yes, we're seeing another spike in saber-rattling from Iran and to a lesser extent from the United States," said Henry Smith, regional analyst at London-based consultancy Control Risks. "But neither of those countries has any intention of starting a war in the Persian Gulf. The country you need to watch as the protagonist is Israel."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has long said it reserves the right to strike directly at Iran if it does not believe Washington and others are doing enough – through diplomacy or sanctions – to stop it going nuclear.
Such action could still take place this year, despite doubts among many analysts that Israel has the capability to deliver a truly knockout blow and could simply end up motivating the Iranians to work faster to achieve nuclear capability.
But there are growing perceptions that this prospect may already be receding, with Israel and the United States likely instead continuing to rely on covert tactics such as the computer worm Stuxnet to slow Iran's nuclear progress.
Netanyahu may himself already have decided to wait, hoping that a newly elected Republican president, Mitt Romney, would prove more supportive and at least give Israel the sophisticated bunker-busting munitions needed to reach buried laboratories.
With perhaps no one genuinely willing to risk escalation for now, the face-off in the Gulf is likely to continue largely unchanged, albeit with periodic market-moving bouts of high profile tension.
Even if an accidental clash were to down an aircraft or damage a warship, some believe all parties would find a way to swiftly de-escalate.
"This rise in tensions was to be expected," said Reva Bhalla, head of strategy at U.S.-based geopolitical risk consultancy Stratfor. "But to an extent, both sides are indulging in theatre. They know what they are doing and they have too much to lose from an actual confrontation."
Not everyone, however, believes that pattern is sustainable.
With Tehran believed to be moving closer to the ability to produce a workable nuclear device – most intelligence services believe Iran has not so far made a political decision to do so – and sanctions inflicting worsening economic hardship on ordinary Iranians, they say something must eventually give.
Pushed too far, the fear is that the Islamic Republic's leaders might start a fight in the hope of uniting the people behind them against a common enemy.
"We're essentially backing them into a corner," said one veteran naval officer with much experience in the region. "As an old fighter pilot, we used to say: 'When you are out of options, redefine the fight that you're in' … They'll have to either capitulate or do something unexpected. I believe they'll do anything if it comes down to defending the regime's existence."
(Editing by Mark Heinrich)


text:
— -- Chip TaylorIt's easy to look at a laptop, an iPod, or a laser printer as nothing more than a tool to get work done with or to while away your free time on, but these and many other high-tech devices didn't fall off a tree. They emerged following years of hard work--and in some cases, an entire career devoted to a single technology--by inspired researchers, designers, and developers.
Our list of technology visionaries includes the guy who invented a way to store data in a portable form--and who almost got demoted as a result. It recognizes the woman who popularized the term "bug" after a moth flew into a computer relay. And it acknowledges a genius who might have saved modern gaming by inventing Jump Man.
So it's time to pay homage where homage is due. Here's our take on the 50 most important people in the recent history of technology--the most critical players (including a few forgotten heroes) who've been instrumental in crafting the last 50 years of technical innovation.
Our opinion doesn't have to be the last word on the subject, however. If you have additional nominees who deserve recognition, or if you want to chime in to agree with or reminisce about or rail against our choices, please add a comment to let us know.
1. Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce
Courtesy of Texas Instruments and IntelUnlike most of the other multiperson entries on our list, Robert Noyce (left) and Jack Kilbydidn't work together. But their common invention is still utterly crucial. In 1959, both men came up with the first integrated circuits--Kilby while he was at Texas Instruments, and Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor. The IC solved the problem of size that got worse and worse as the need to jam additional transistors into a device grew more and more critical. Packing them all into a single chip effectively ended the era of the room-size computer. Ultimately, Noyce's design based on silicon, rather than Kilby's based on germanium, became the standard--one that we still use today--but both designs were instrumental in pushing the technology forward. Kilby and Noyce are often overlooked, but the importance of their contribution to technology cannot be overstated. Nothing else on this list could exist without the underpinning of the integrated circuit.
2. Sergey Brin and Larry Page
What is the defining contribution to technology made by Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin, the fathers of Google? The company is the single most important business in Silicon Valley today, but of course search engines had existed long before Google came along. What impressed so many early fans was Google's relentless pursuit of refinement and accuracy in its search algorithm: Whereas other search engines' results tended to be laden with spam, Google's were generally on target. The company had lots of other tricks up its sleeve as well: The rapidly expanding Google universe now offers dozens of productivity and entertainment tools--from word processing to video--most of them free, underwritten by the company's ubiquitous ad-serving system.
Bill Gates (#3) to Shawn Fanning (#10)
Courtesy of Microsoft3. Bill Gates
The world's richest man (well, depending on that day's stock price) is also one of its most noteworthy technologists--a guy who dropped out of Harvard to launch Microsoft, a company that all techies are intimately familiar with, like it or not. No hands-off executive, Bill Gates has been involved with Microsoft product development at an incredibly detailed level over the company's entire 30-year history. Though he'll continue to serve as the company's chairman, Gates will effectively leave Microsoft this July to focus full-time on his nonprofit endeavor, the Gates Foundation, which he has endowed with an eye-popping $29 billion to support global health and learning. Critics love to caricature Gates as a ruthless corporate tyrant who rules the tech industry with an iron fist, but evidently he has a conscience and a social vision too.
4. Steve Jobs
Courtesy of AppleThe once and future King of Apple, Steve Jobs is familiar to even the most casual technophile. Jobs lays claim to two critical moments in tech history. First, with the original Apples, he pioneered the idea that computers belong in the home; and then, 20 years later, he convinced the world that people ought to carry their (digital) music with them everywhere they go. Apple may not have invented the PC, and it certainly didn't invent the MP3 player, but Jobs's famous "reality distortion field" has proved that who got there first is sometimes less important than what they brought with them. Today, after more than one brush with corporate death, Apple is bigger than ever, boasting market share that the company hadn't seen since the 1980s.
5. Tim Berners-Lee
Courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsNo bones about it: You wouldn't be reading this if not for Tim Berners-Lee and his 1989 invention, the World Wide Web. Everything from URL structure to hyperlinks were part of Berners-Lee's original specifications; and though they've been extensively revised (in large part under his guidance as director of the World Wide Web Consortium), they remain in use today. Berners-Lee continues to be a key figure in the development of Web standards, and these days he spends his time developing what many think is the next step for the Internet: The Semantic Web.
6. Ray Tomlinson
Courtesy of BBN.comIn 1971 Ray Tomlinson sent the message that would ultimately be heard 'round the world: An e-mail from one ARPANet host to another. When you open your e-mail program and see that your inbox has 112 unread messages, you may not feel like thanking Tomlinson, but imagine where digital communications would be without e-mail. Tomlinson also came up with the idea of using the @ symbol to separate the username from the host name in an e-mail address.
7. Douglas Engelbart
Courtesy of The Bootstrap InstituteQuick, click on this link. You now understand the importance of Doug Engelbart's creation, the computer mouse. Engelbart patented the idea of his "X-Y position indicator for a display system" in 1967, and also nicknamed the device the mouse (owing to its tail). Though it's hard to imagine working without one now, the mouse didn't catch on for more than a decade, until Apple computers started using them. Engelbart didn't stop at one invention, either: He and his research lab also developed an early online storage system--and even demonstrated videoconferencing back in 1968.
8. Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard
Courtesy of Hewlett-PackardNo company has touched so many facets of technology as the brainchild of Dave Packard (left) and Bill Hewlett, two titans of Silicon Valley who built a monster computing company out of nothing but spit and gumption. Originally responsible for building audio oscillators for Walt Disney in the 1940s, HP went on to create all manner of test equipment for electronics before jumping into computer servers, desktops, calculators, cameras, and of course printers. After a few rocky years, HP is back on top as the largest technology company in the world. And what other people have had their garage turned into a national historic landmark?
9. Shigeru Miyamoto
Courtesy of Makoto MishidaThe video game industry collapsed in the early 1980s, and for a while it looked as though the phenomenon would go down in history as just a quirky fad, like the pet rock. But Shigeru Miyamoto almost singlehandedly kept the industry alive with his creation of an animated character named Jump Man, who soon became known as Mario. Miyamoto's influence in the gaming business--he's now a senior director of Nintendo--has been crucial ever since. His latest creation: Wii Fit, arrives on U.S. shores this month.
10. Shawn Fanning
Courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsWith Napster, Shawn Fanning introduced the technology that, some doomsayers warn, could spell the end of the Internet. Today traffic from peer-to-peer programs consumes an estimated 70 percent of all broadband bandwidth, and AT&T says that peer-to-peer is a major reason why it will have to radically upgrade its infrastructure if it is to avert the collapse of the Internet as we know it by 2010. All of this because a guy was looking for an easier way to share a few tunes with strangers? Sheesh.
Gordon Moore (#11) to Michael Dell (#18)
11. Gordon Moore
You can't go wrong with a guy who's got his own scientific law, can you? Moore's Law, posited in 1965, three years before Gordon Moore founded a little company called Intel, predicted that the number of components on a computer chip would double every year (later, he amended it to every two years). As Intel notes, Moore's Law remains the "guiding principle for the semiconductor industry"; but, in truth, every field of high-tech--from hard drives to TVs--validates to some degree the almighty Law of Moore. Moore remains involved with Intel, which--at 40 years old--may be number one on the list of companies that Silicon Valley could not exist without.
12. Bill Atkinson
Courtesy of Bill AtkinsonMouse up to your PC's File menu, open a new window, and thank Bill Atkinson for being able to do that. His early ideas regarding user interface design elements like the menu bar became graphical user interface standbys not just on Apple computers (where he worked), but on every major operating system that has followed. As a programmer, Atkinson designed MacPaint, QuickDraw, and HyperCard, a sort of proto-Web system that clearly inspired the creation of the World Wide Web. After starting his own company, General Magic, Atkinson mostly retired from tech to work as a nature photographer.
13. Steve Case
Courtesy of The Case FoundationDon't laugh. The brainchild of Steve Case, America Online was a big deal back in the early 1990s. The timing was perfect for a service that offered online training wheels for millions of intrigued but trepid people looking for an introduction to the World Wide Web. AOL pioneered more than just the chat rooms for which it became infamous. Case launched Neverwinter Nights--one of the first MMOs (massively multiplayer online games)--was an early champion of user avatars, and (most notoriously) started the blending of online and big media by selling out to Time Warner in 2001. Not such great timing there, alas.
14. Martin Cooper
Courtesy of Rico ChenQuick, check your pockets. Whether you're toting an iPhone, a Razr, or an enV, you owe a debt to Martin Cooper and his 1973 patent responsible for the mobile phone as we know it. His invention, created during his tenure at Motorola, weighed just shy of 2 pounds, and ten years would pass before mobile phones broke the 1-pound barrier. Cooper is still active in the telephone business. His company ArrayComm develops antenna technology so today's 2-ounce phones can reach their network.
15. Nolan Bushnell
is synonymous with video gaming--so much so that the name remains in use (though now far removed from founder Nolan Bushnell, the undisputed father of video gaming) 36 years after it originated. Bushnell's inspiration--a world where everyone could play games in the comfort of their own home--is a rare instance where the vision panned out almost exactly as envisioned. Though no one is thrilling over Atari's consoles any more, Atari and Bushnell paved the way for every video game platform that has followed.
16. Vint Cerf
Courtesy of GoogleTuring Award. National Medal of Technology. Presidential Medal of Freedom. Vint Cerf has one of the most impressive résumés in technology. Cerf's work as an Internet pioneer has largely taken place in universities and government agencies, which in the early 1970s led directly to the creation of ARPANet, the predecessor to today's Internet. Cerf now works for--who else?--Google.
17. Don Estridge
Courtesy of IBMIBM veteran Don Estridge is widely known as "the father of the PC," at least in its Big Blue incarnation. Estridge developed a number of computer systems, even tinkering with NASA radar equipment. But he is best known for his work as a manager--leading a "skunk works" staff of just 14 people that ultimately produced the IBM PC, an "open" platform that could run third-party software and accept third-party upgrades, that would become the standard for business. Tragically, Estridge died in a plane crash in 1985 and never saw his creation achieve ubiquity.
18. Michael Dell
Courtesy of DellThe origin story of Dell Computer Corporation is so well-known it has become part of the canon of the tech business. Michael Dell started his company, PC's Limited, at age 19 out of his dorm room at the University of Texas. Eventually he dropped out of school to found Dell Computer, which grew at breakneck pace throughout the 1990s. Dell's marketing philosophy turned the industry on its ear: Rather than offer predetermined configurations, Dell's machines were totally customizable and built to order. Eventually almost every competing PC manufacturer followed suit--or went out of business.
Alan Kay (#19) to Grace Murray Hopper (#26)
19. Alan Kay
Courtesy of David WeeklyA jack-of-all-tech-trades, Alan Kay lays claim to at least two watershed innovations, starting with HP's original Dynabook, one of the first usable mobile laptop computers. Kay ideal was to design a laptop that weighed no more than 2 pounds. We still aren't there yet, but Kay's contributions to software--which include shepherding the idea of object-oriented programming and the notion of multiple, overlapping windows in a GUI--rank as essential milestones in computing.
20. Marc Andreessen
Courtesy of Duncan DavidsonThe Mosaic Web browser devised by Marc Andreessen may seem quaint now, but bits and pieces of Mosaic code remain standard software components of most of today's commercial browsers. It's a safe bet that many of Andreessen's other creations will leave similar legacies: Netscape, the company he founded, set off the tech stock craze of the 1990s, and his Ning Web site continues to grow in popularity as an outlet where anyone can build a topic-oriented social network. He even finds time to blog regularly about all this stuff.
21. Linus Torvalds
Courtesy of Martin Streicher, Linuxmag.comGiven the exorbitant cost of most Apple computers, Linus Torvalds is the godfather of what may be the last, best hope for an affordable alternative to Windows. The Linux operating system has been in continuous development since Torvalds conceived it in 1991, and has experienced steady gains in popular acceptance every year. And a long last, Linux is making the jump from server rooms to large numbers of desktop PCs, most visibly in low-cost laptops like the Asus Eee PC. The OS now has a market share in excess of 2 percent on the desktop.
22. Chuck Thacker
Courtesy of MicrosoftChuck Thacker has had his hands in a surprisingly wide array of tech projects, from the development of ethernet to the first laser printers. His most enduring legacy, however, involves a product that never reached market: The fabled Xerox Alto. The Alto, which Thacker designed, was the first computer with a GUI (and a mouse); as the story goes, it directly inspired Apple to build the Macintosh after Steve Jobs paid a friendly visit to Xerox. Thacker now works for Microsoft.
23. Bob Metcalfe
Courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsMoore's Law may be better known, but the law formulated by Bob Metcalfe has wider general application. Posited around 1980, Metcalfe's Law conjectured that the value of a telecommunications network is equal to the square of the number of nodes on the network. In other words, even a small increase in the size of a network makes it worth far more because of the enlarged number of new connections that each user can make. Metcalfe's invention of ethernet and his founding of 3Com are essential tech milestones as well, but his eponymous law--now in use to quantify value in the Facebook/MySpace milieu--will be around long after wired networking has passed on.
24. Vic Hayes
Courtesy of IEEEWi-Fi has long been one of technology's messiest standards--and without Vic Hayes, it might never have come together at all. In the Hayes-less universe we might be left to wallow in a morass similar to the a Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD swamp with multiple incompatible wireless standards. In 1990, Hayes formed the Wireless LAN working group and rallied some 130 companies to work together to develop open standards. The result: 802.11, and the cutting of a very firmly attached cord. Hayes continues to be actively involved in Wi-Fi development today.
25. Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston
Courtesy of Dan BricklinAccounting departments around the world would be lost without the work of Dan Bricklin (left) and Bob Frankston, who worked together in 1979 to develop VisiCalc, the world's first spreadsheet and arguably the first "killer app" written for a personal computer. The 27KB program can run on PCs today, and its simplicity is a big reason why early PCs sold in droves, especially to business customers. But never mind the bean-counters: You probably owe a lot to VisiCalc yourself. After all, if it weren't for Bricklin and Frankston, you might not be getting your paycheck regularly.
26. Grace Murray Hopper
Courtesy of Naval Historical CenterThat's Admiral Hopper, bud. Naval officer "Amazing" Grace Hopper was a computing pioneer who cut her teeth in the calculator era. Later she worked on the team that developed the UNIVAC, the world's first commercial computer, and wrote the compiler software for it (the first such software ever developed). Hopper was instrumental again in the development of the COBOL and FORTRAN programming languages, and she remained a major figure on the technology scene until her death in 1992. Even our language owes a debt to Hopper: She popularized (and possibly coined) the term "bug" after a moth was found in a computer relay during her years at Harvard.
Jeff Hawkins (#27) to Karlheinz Brandenburg and James D. Johnston (#34)
27. Jeff Hawkins
Courtesy of Ed SchipulPortable computing was shaped in large part by Jeff Hawkins, who invented the acclaimed PalmPilot, and then followed that up by spearheading development of the Treo six years later. Both Palm and Treo became household names, though Palm as a company has suffered numerous setbacks in recent years. Hawkins is now working on a startup called Numenta with his longtime partner Donna Dubinsky, focusing on the subjects of machine learning and neuroscience, which Hawkins has long had a deep interest in.
28. Fujio Masuoka
Courtesy of Unisantis ElectronicsIf anything is positioned to challenge the dominance of Al Shugart's hard drive (see #33 below), it's Flash memory--an invention of Fujio Masuoka. Masuoka developed solid-state storage during his tenure at Toshiba (Masuoka says that the company initially tried to demote him after he came up with the technology). The technology is now seen as a possible way around the fragility of hard drives, as capacity ramps up and prices fall. For smaller gadgets, Flash has become essential...or would you prefer to be saving your digital pictures on floppy disks still?
29. Jonathan Ive
Courtesy of AppleAside from its showman/CEO Steve Jobs, Apple tends to keep its employees out of the limelight, but Apple VP and design guru Jonathan Ive has broken that mold. That's appropriate, since he broke another mold too, killing off the beige boxes and bricklike pocket gizmos that had become standard-issue in the tech industry. Ive's designs for the original iMac and for the iPod got people thinking about tech products as fashion accessories and decorative items instead of as impersonal and purely utilitarian objects.
30. Jeff Bezos
Courtesy of Amazon.comLong scorned by Wall Street, Amazon.com--the creation of Jeff Bezos--is today the one Internet service that many people can't live without. But Bezos hasn't stopped at hawking Harry Potter on the Web. His company has also become one of the leading providers of Web services, online storage, and by-the-hour CPU rentals, as Bezos pushes Amazon toward becoming a platform that anyone can use to sell anything that Amazon itself doesn't.
31. Meg Whitman
Courtesy of eBayA longtime Hasbro marketing executive, Meg Whitman went from the child's toy box to the grown-up's as CEO of eBay. Whitman joined the online auction site in its infancy and over the course of a ten-year run shepherded it into one of the most successful businesses on the Web. (She retired in March of this year.) Aside from squabbles over policy changes and the baffling purchase of Skype, eBay's run has encountered few speed bumps. That success, some say, might lead her to run for governor of California in 2010, but Whitman denies harboring any such ambitions.
32. Bill Joy
Courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsA legend in tech circles, Bill Joy was chief scientist for Sun Microsystems for over 20 years, where he oversaw numerous critical technology advances, the most important of which was the development of Java--the first major programming language designed for use on the Web. Still, Joy's greatest achievement is probably an academic project he worked on at Berkeley: The development of Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a major flavor of Unix; even Mac OS X uses BSD as its basis. Today Joy spends his days worrying about the evils of technology, such as bad robots and Grey Goo (a scenario where renegade nanomachines run amok and destroy the world).
33. Al Shugart
Courtesy of ComputerworldYou're probably using a product conceived by Al Shugart right now without even knowing it. Shugart's company, Shugart Technology, switched to the more exotic-sounding name Seagate Technology soon after opening for business. At Seagate, Shugart developed technology that he had tinkered with during a stint at IBM (where he led the team that invented the floppy disk) into the hard drive for the mass market. The colorful Shugart ran Seagate for nearly 20 years before redefining himself as a sort of venture capitalist/promoter, a role that made him a staple at big tech shows like Comdex. Shugart died in 2006.
34. Karlheinz Brandenburg and James D. Johnston
Who says grad school is all impractical theory? At Friedrich-Alexander University, Karlheinz Brandenburg used his dissertation to work out a way of compressing digital audio files to radically smaller size without greatly deminishing their quality. We know the result now as MP3 coding. At AT&T Labs, American engineer James D. Johnston (left) improved on Brandenburg's work by introducing "perceptual coding," which strips out inaudible parts of an audio signal to compress the file further. Johnston's contribution, too, has become a standard feature of most audio compression schemes.
Ann Winblad (#35) to Alan Emtage with Bill Heelan and Mike Parker (#42)
35. Ann Winblad
Courtesy of MicrosoftHalf of the well-known Hummer Winblad Venture Partners investment group, Ann Winblad was a key figure in the Web 1.0 boom, investing in such proto-companies as Napster, Gazoontite, Liquid Audio, and Pets.com. Despite some ill-fated investments, Hummer Winblad picked enough winners to remain a lead investor in dozens of tech companies, primarily back-end enterprises. And lest you think that Winblad is merely a stuffed shirt, consider this: She began her career as a computer programmer in the 1970s and achieved indisputable nerd cred by having dated Bill Gates.
36. Charles Simonyi
Courtesy of NASACharles Simonyi (plus a little Gatesian muscle, natch) is the reason you use Word and Excel instead of WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. As head of Microsoft's application development group, Simonyi oversaw development of both Word and Excel back in the MS-DOS days and superintended the app suite for more than 20 years. The programs are now as close to ubiquitous as Windows itself (perhaps even closer, since Office is the standard app suite for the Mac as well). Fun facts to know and tell: Simonyi was the second Hungarian in space in space and is Martha Stewart's boyfriend.
37. Thomas Penfield Jackson
Courtesy of Jackson & CampbellFew people would have imagined that it a 62-year-old man unaffiliated with the company would have the most profound effect on Microsoft in years. But in 1999 U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson shook the tech world to its foundations when he handed down a landmark ruling declaring Microsoft to be an abusive monopoly and ordering it split into two companies. Though appellate courts eventually overturned many of Jackson's rulings, Microsoft has been on the defensive against antitrust actions here and abroad ever since, and all tech companies looking to merge have had to tread more cautiously in Jackson's wake.
38. Jerry Yang and David Filo
This unassuming twosome got their start in 1994 while still at Stanford, with a truly humble idea: Populate a directory with cool places that they had found on the then-infant World Wide Web. Yahoo was born on a lark but Jerry Yang (left) and David Filo helped it become one of the Web's top destinations: Today it is the home page for millions of people seeking the easiest entry point into the Internet. After an unfruitful turn with Hollywood insider Terry Semel at the helm, Yang retook the reins as CEO in June 2007. Yahoo is now coping with separate forays for control of the company by Microsoft and by Carl Icahn. (Full disclosure: The author writes a blog for Yahoo Tech.)
39. Peter Norton
A Buddhist monk before becoming invovled in the tech world, Peter Norton has been a major figure in the computer industry for three decades, having made his mark early in the DOS era with Norton Utilities, the first major data recovery tool for the PC. Norton went on to produce a gaggle of related utilities for the PC and write a series of essential technical manuals before selling his company to Symantec in 1990. Symantec still uses his name on its utility apps.
40. Phil Zimmermann
Courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsPhil Zimmermann fought the law so you don't have to. His Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) application, the first mainstream encryption software, published in 1991, made Zimmermann a pariah in the eyes of the U.S. government. The feds spent three years investigating the possibility that Zimmermann had violated rules forbidding the export of cryptographic tools. The case was ultimately dropped, however, paving the way for everyday people to protect the material on their hard drives and in their e-mail with the same encryption standards that the government itself uses.
41. Jon Postel
Courtesy of Irene Fertik, USC News Service. Copyright 1994How do you move from one IP address to another? Easily, thanks to Jon Postel, the so-called Father of DNS--the system that translates 220.127.116.11 into http://www.pcworld.com/. Postel also did substantial work on the TCP/IP and SMTP protocols, authoring some 200 Internet spec documents overall. But Postel didn't just envision the DNS system; he ran it himself for years as founding head of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (a position that led him into a memorable conflict with President Bill Clinton's science advisor when he tried to move control of DNS from Network Solutions to IANA). Postel died in 1998.
42. Alan Emtage with Bill Heelan and Mike Parker
Courtesy of Michael RhodesBefore Google--before the Web even--people had to find a way to locate files and programs hiding out on FTP servers around the world. The answer: Archie (a derivative of "archive"), a 1990 application devised by McGill University student Alan Emtage, who was assisted by Bill Heelan and Mike Parker. In its original incarnation, Archie contacted far-off FTP servers regularly and kept a local list of the files they contained, for easy indexing. That may sound like simple stuff by today's standards, but it inspired everything about the way we currently work with search, from the Web to the desktop.
Trip Hawkins (#43) to Udi Manber (#50)
43. Trip Hawkins
Courtesy of Digital ChocolateElectronic Arts is one of the few pure software companies that continues to be important 25 years after its founding--and it wouldn't have existed at all if not for gaming pioneer Trip Hawkins, a Harvard and Stanford grad and Apple alumnus who in 1982 saw the future in consoles and computer-based games. Hawkins's foray into hardware--he left EA to launch the 3DO in 1991--met with considerably less success, but his first baby continues to thrive. Just ask John Madden.
44. Arianna Huffington
Courtesy of Huffington PostPolitical insider Arianna Huffington has had a major influence on technology, but one that has been felt only recently. She spent her early career inside the Washington, D.C., Beltway as a columnist, author, pundit, and TV show writer, far from the geek wiring of Silicon Valley. But in 2005 she launched a little online project called The Huffington Post, which rapidly grew into one of the Web's most powerful political voices. More than anything, the HuffPo has proven the power of the blog by attracting celebrity writers ranging from John Kerry to Jamie Lee Curtis, all eager to have their message heard through Huffington's medium.
45. Susan Kare
Courtesy of Susan KareAnother Macintosh 1.0 innovator, Susan Kare worked behind the scenes, but came up with essential innovations. Her earliest achievement was designing the typefaces--and some of the, er, iconic icons--that shipped with the Macintosh. The "Happy Mac" remains one of computing's most visible expressions of things working well. Today Kare works as an independent designer: She designed the cards for Windows' ubiquitous Solitaire game and now designs Facebook's "Gifts" feature.
46. Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Courtesy of Scott ChaseSure, give Arthur C. Clarke credit for inspiring the minds of thousands of technology pioneers. But Clarke didn't just write seminal works of science fiction (including 2001: A Space Odyssey); he also conceived of geostationary communications satellites (satellites that orbit the earth at a speed proportional to the earth's rotation, so that the satellite always remains positioned above the same geographical point). Satellites with such orbits, sometimes termed the "Clarke satellite orbit," are essential to the telecommunications infrastructure, to GPS, and to numerous other technologies. Clarke died in March 2008 at age 90.
47. Herbie Hancock
Courtesy of Wikimedia CommonsWhen Herbie Hancock released his single, "Rockit" (from the album "Future Shock") in 1983, few listeners knew what to make of it. But everyone was struck by its unique sound--it was perhaps the first mainstream offering to use scratching. Though Hancock was by no means the first person to make heavy use of synthesizers, drum machines, and other computer-based musical equipment, few musicians relied so heavily on such gear and reached such a wide audience. "Rockit," with its innovative music video, is now considered a turning point in the electronic music-making scene, where Hancock is revered as an elder statesman.
48. William Gibson
Courtesy of Fred ArmitageThe king of cyberpunk, William Gibson, has dreamed up all manner of high-minded techno wizardry, some of which has actually started to come true. His early stories introduced the term "cyberspace" and the visualization concepts behind it, which in turn prompted people to start thinking about networks in a way that transcended text and a command line. We may not be plugging chips directly into our brains yet, but Gibson's fiction-based prophecies have a strange way of panning out.
49. Gary Kildall
Courtesy of Ipopisp.comCalled "The Man Who Could Have Been Bill Gates" by BusinessWeek, Gary Kildall was the guy Gates beat out in the bidding to supply IBM with the operating system for the original PC. According to legend, Kildall blew off the meeting with IBM to "go flying," though Kildall denied that rumor, posthumously, in his unpublished memoirs. Controversy aside, Kildall made significant contributions to the tech business--especially as the head of Digital Research, which created the seminal pre-DOS operating system CP/M, and (later) as a host of the classic Public TV program, Computer Chronicles. Kildall died in 1994.
50. Udi Manber
Courtesy of GoogleIf there is a search engine anywhere that doesn't have the the thumbprint of Udi Manber on it, we don't know about it. From Yahoo to Amazon's A9 to Google, Manber has been one of the search business's greatest contributers. But Manber's work goes back even farther than that, to AltaVista. He was a key member of the design team on what many feel was the best engine running until Google came along.
Christopher Null writes regularly for PC World and blogs about technology daily at tech.yahoo.com.


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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker may have had some vocal detractors pre-release, but the years since it came to the GameCube have been remarkably kind. The original high seas variation on Link's epic adventures is so worthy of all the praise heaped upon it that a remake hardly seems necessary. And yet, here's Wind Waker HD for the Wii U, full of tweaks and fixes that somehow improve upon arguably the best Zelda game ever made, making this once more a must-play experience.
Wind Waker's plot strikes a great balance between fresh ideas and tradition. The courageous young hero Link once again takes up the sword and shield to save a kidnapped young girl; only, this time he's joined by a team of pirates that help him sail the vast ocean covering his world. Link faces many recognizable enemies and has the expected task of collecting magical items in order to save the day, but the overly familiar tropes are smoothed over by some helpful self-awareness.
The characters in the game's world know "the legend of Zelda," paying tribute to the green-clad Hero of Time that defeated great evil long ago. When the characters know the plot of titles like Ocarina of Time, it allows for some very inventive variations on tradition--changes that shouldn't be spoiled for those coming to Wind Waker for the first time. The writing here remains some of the strongest in the franchise, not feeling dated in the least a decade later.
Like the plot, the setting isn't exactly what it seems. When compared to the enemy-filled solid ground of the fields of Hyrule, the massive ocean looks empty, but the seas of Wind Waker are packed with a ton of secrets to uncover. Exploring every inch of the massive ocean reveals the many islands that dot the map, each begging to be explored. The search for those islands has been considerably condensed; players move to important destinations at a much faster pace compared to the original. Wind Waker's 7x7 tiled map is now placed on the Wii U GamePad, streamlining the search for a specific island dramatically while still keeping the thrill of looking for just the right location of the next treasure.
Some of those islands have towns bursting with unique characters, or treasure chests hiding a life-extending Heart Piece, but Wind Waker's massive dungeons are the ocean's most important attractions. Solving puzzles and battling monsters over multi-tiered fortresses is the heart of the Zelda experience, and Wind Waker finds clever new ways to cover familiar territory. Forest and lava themes aren't all that original for game settings (Zelda's in particular), but Wind Waker's dungeons get an added boost from inventive new items like the grappling hook and Deku leaf. Even iconic tools like the boomerang get smart gameplay upgrades that have since become a standard of adventure games.
It's also in the dungeons where Wind Waker showcases its surprisingly versatile gameplay. The sword-based combat was expanded in later sequels, but Wind Waker's single-button combos and reactive, defensive swordplay remain a brilliantly simple approach to action. And while it's a simple pleasure, hearing the soundtrack react to each landed blow adds drama to even the most basic of encounters. And when the game occasionally takes away the sword and pushes players into stealth situations, the sneaky sections are an enjoyable change of pace instead of boring or frustrating. Getting that fundamental gameplay right allows Wind Waker room to grow later on.
When the original appeared, Wind Waker's art style had fans up in arms, but the once-rejected look has aged well thanks the timeless quality of the cel-shaded visuals. The Wii U re-release adds an HD coat of paint to the game, but it doesn't lose sight of how the original's sparse art was one of its strongest assets. The world now has better lighting and shaders--among other technical advancements--that enhance the core vision for Wind Waker without needlessly complicating the unforgettable look. Whether chasing the setting sun across the waves, or scouring Outset Island, the game has never looked better.
No game is perfect, but the HD redux inches Wind Waker ever closer to that ideal. The game's pacing had some hiccups the first time around, mainly thanks to a notoriously annoying fetch quest late in the story. That fetch quest is still there, but its challenges are more diverse and it moves along a good deal faster. The speedy fixes first appear in the form of a sail that dramatically speeds up Link's boat, and it removes the annoying need to continually stop and change the direction of the wind when sailing. These and other, subtler fixes update Wind Waker in necessary ways while maintaining what makes the game special.
Wind Waker HD is proof that the 3D Zelda formula peaked on the GameCube and has yet to truly be improved upon. While players wait for a new Legend of Zelda that utilizes all the special abilities of the Wii U, this HD remake is the best version of the best Zelda game to date. And here's hoping that returning to Wind Waker gave Nintendo the inspiration to one day top it.
This game was reviewed on Wii U.


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New and Notable
Appropriate Technology in the UK
The Ashden Awards for sustainable energy celebrate practical local energy solutions that cut carbon, protect the environment, reduce poverty, and improve people's lives. Based in the UK and focusing on projects that support the developing world, the Ashden Awards are designed to ensure that modern solutions reach beyond the places they are invented in. The prizes help winners all over the world to further their work in developing sustainable energy solutions. They cover a wide range of applications, from treadle pumps to facilitate crop irrigation in India, to PV systems in rural Nicaragua.
In addition to individual prizes of up to £10,000, with an overall UK Gold Award of £20,000, the contest offers winners a package of benefits and support, including a broadcast-quality short film about their work and an opportunity to have their voice heard by policy makers.
This year, the winners include the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, in Scotland, and Northwards Housing, in Manchester, England. The Eigg trust is a partnership of the residents of Eigg, The Highland Council, and The Scottish Wildlife Trust. They have cut their carbon emissions by nearly 50% by carefully managing their energy use, actively encouraging residents to save energy in their daily lives, and generating 90% of their electricity through renewable energy. Instead of being led by government authorities, this project is community led, making the participants more responsible for its success rather than passive to regulations.
Northwards Housing is a not-for-profit company managing 12,500 City Council homes in North Manchester, England. At no expense to the tenants, Northwards Housing has cut CO2 emissions by at least 17,500 tonnes a year by retrofitting the units with external wall insulation, double-glazed windows, and an A-rated boiler.
Technologies recognized in the awards include biogas, microhydro, solar PVs, water pumps, wind, and woodstoves. For 2011, they are particularly interested in applications from Latin America and China and are keen to hear from organizations who are working to reduce deforestation. Next year's winners will be announced in June 2011.
For more information:
To learn more about the Ashden Awards, go to www.ashdenawards.org.
Brooklyn Multifamily Retrofits:
The Numbers Are In
Brooklyn-based St. Nick's Alliance, a nonprofit community-based organization dedicated to sustainability for low- to moderate-income residents, has hired Steve Winter Associates as part of the New York Energy Research and Development Authority's Multifamily Performance program. In May 2009, one of the projects, Williamsburg Court multifamily housing, replaced its existing boilers with two new Laars Pennant boilers and saw immediate results. (See "Brooklyn Multifamily Gets Laars Pennants," HE May/June '10, p. 52.) Another of the multifamily residences, Jennings Hall, reduced consumption by 28%, saving over $101,000 annually, and Williamsburg Court reduced consumption by 33%, saving over $51,000 annually.
Steven Winter reports that of the retrofits it recommended—such as installing low-flow plumbing fixtures, implementing whole-building air sealing, and upgrading the roof insulation—the biggest energy savers were upgrading the boilers and sealing and balancing the ventilation system.
Henry Gifford was instrumental in designing and specifying radiator orifices in the west wing of Jennings Hall. His work completely eliminated the need for the condensate pumps that were originally being used to return condensate to the boiler.
For more information:
For more information about Steve Winter Associates, go to www.swinter.com.
Residential Energy Efficiency Solutions for Midwest Homes
Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is a leading research, development, and training organization that has been addressing the nation's energy and environmental challenges by developing technology-based solutions for consumers, industry, and government for nearly 70 years.
The DOE Building Technologies recently rewarded GTI with a major new program aimed at cutting energy use and costs, along with carbon emissions, through residential retrofit applications in cold-weather climates. GTI will lead a Building America team, which will support DOE's Better Buildings Initiative aimed at bringing together multiple stakeholders to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to whole neighborhoods and cities.
The Partnership for Advanced Residential Retrofit (PARR), led by GTI, will focus on improving performance, quality, and market acceptance of residential retrofits in a seven-state Midwest region. Team members include the Center for Neighborhood Technology, Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, Building Research Council at the University of Illinois, and Future Energy Enterprises. Over 40 industry team partners are participating in the program, including electric and gas utilities, manufacturers, developers, contractors, realtors, research consortiums, universities, EE program implementers, government agencies, cities, neighborhood and homeowner associations, and industry consultants. PARR will research and field-evaluate cost-effective retrofit packages most appropriate to large numbers of Midwest homes, beginning in the Chicago-area.
For more information:
To learn more about GTI, go to www.gastechnology.org.
What Is Humanitarian Design?
The exhibition Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement opened October 3 at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). It showcases 11 projects on five continents, including housing by Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena; a school in Burkina Faso by Diébédo Francis Kéré and Michael Maltzan's Inner-City Arts; and a campus of buildings on the edge of Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Other exhibitors include Rural Studio (whose work recently appeared at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London), and Architecture for Humanity. The exhibition explores humanitarian design, which is what it sounds like—design for people, or architecture for everyone.
That it is showing in New York suggests a growing interest in this type of architecture. It reflects what the whole world has been thinking about lately concerning the role of design in homes, and the role of housing in health and safety. Architecture, as art, as presented in a museum setting played a prominent role in this year's Design Triennial at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York, as well as the California Design Biennial at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, which this year included an architecture category for the first time.
Cameron Sinclair, of Architecture for Humanity, whose very powerful Open Architecture application has changed architectural collaboration all over the world, says, "I believe we are in a … moment where aesthetics and ethics are overlapping in significant ways. The most interesting new art infuses social justice in its core; architecture is just following suit." The true value of this exposure for his organization is to inspire future generations. "A few years ago we were featured in the New York Times. It solicited zero donations, but right now there are over 1,000 young middle and high school students raising funds for us to build schools in Haiti through studentsrebuild.org."
The projects on exhibit incorporate appropriate technologies. "What makes them important is the fact they got built," Sinclair says. "There are a million ideas to change the world, but unless you build it, it doesn't matter. Instead of showing one project, we developed an application that documents over 3,000 of these projects and highlights them in MoMA. The Open Architecture app is our way of showing that there are thousands of architects making a difference around the world, and the dozen highlighted in the show are a representation of the movement that is well under way."
For more information:
To learn more about the MoMA exhibit, go to www.moma.org.
For more information about Architecture for Humanity, go to www.architectureforhumanity.org.
For more information about Students Rebuild, go to www.studentsrebuild.org.
Insulation Banned in Canada
Retrofoam insulation was banned in Canada in 2009, and is now the focus of a class action suit in Ontario. Health Canada issued a cease-and-desist order against Retrofoam of Canada in February 2009, enforcing the 1980 Hazardous Products Act that prohibits the sale of urea formaldehyde–based thermal insulation. Retrofoam Canada has complained loudly, stating the current version represents new technology with at most 1/150th the amount of formaldehyde found in old-style insulation—which itself was never found to actually produce harmful levels of formaldehyde in homes.
Despite any merits of the technical arguments, the ban in Canada continues. A class action suit has been initiated in Canada seeking $500 million in damages claiming loss of value in homes with the insulation. The suit does not make any health claims. Another 1990s-era Canadian lawsuit on urea–formaldehyde reportedly ended with no claim being awarded and the plaintiffs having to pay some court costs. Retrofoam is one of the few foam insulations suitable for closed-cavity retrofit, and is widely available in the United States.
—David Kaufman
David Kaufman is an energy consultant with Energy Solutions in Maine. E-mail him at email@example.com.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — It appears that Meatless Mondays haven't really caught on in the U.S. military.
The Pentagon is looking into increasing its meat purchases to take advantage of lower prices and to help ranchers struggling with drought.
Under orders from President Barack Obama, the Defense Department may buy more beef, pork and lamb to fill its chow halls around the world.
America's service members already devour 94 million pounds of beef, 64 million pounds of pork and 500,000 pounds of lamb each year.
The worst drought in decades is devastating the midsection of the U.S., drying up pastures, and slashing expected corn and soybean production. As feed costs spike and grazing lands die out, ranchers are selling more livestock, driving the prices down for now.


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Everything eventually goes to shit for the gang on Seinfeld, most of all relationships. Jerry, Kramer, Elaine, and especially George are borderline incapable of holding down long-term commitments (and that goes for jobs too), mostly due to their own narcissism, but sometimes, outside circumstances speed up the breakups.
The most recurring reason: food. Seinfeld and his crew just may have been the original foodies, and as they chased the newest NYC yogurt or soup hot spot, food was often a weapon used by or against them for revenge. Somehow, it all comes back to the kitchen.