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**CLEARANCE** Lhasa Wilderness
|Article number:
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Shimmery, light, and oh-so-soft, this blend of Yak and Bamboo is as delightful to knit with as it is to wear! Soft and lightweight yak fiber is blended to perfection with breathable bamboo fibers which are also naturally anti-bacterial. This yarn has it all: softness and strength, plus an excellent hand and drape, all in a versatile sport weight!
Fiber Content: 75% Tibetan Yak / 25% bamboo
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Care Instructions: Hand wash, dry flat for best results.
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New Documents Show IRS, DOJ Collusion on Potential Prosecution of Tax Exempt Groups
Your Judicial Watch announced a major find this week in its independent investigation of the Obama IRS scandal in which the IRS improperly targeted conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status.
Perhaps more than any other government official, former Internal Revenue (IRS) Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner has become the defiant face of this scandal for the Obama administration. From the time of her stonewalling appearance before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in May 2013 when she repeatedly took the Fifth Amendment, to her repeat performance this past March 4, Lerner has served notice on the members of Congress – and the American people – that what the IRS did under her direction is effectively none of their business.
And now, we have obtained a new batch of internal IRS documents revealing that Lerner directly communicated with the Department of Justice (DOJ) about whether it was possible to criminally prosecute certain tax-exempt entities.
The documents were dragged out of the Obama administration thanks to our October 2013 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the IRS after the agency refused to respond to four FOIA requests dating back to May 2013.
The newly obtained IRS documents contain a revealing email exchange between Lerner and Nikole C. Flax, then-Chief of Staff to then-Acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller discussing plans to work with the DOJ to prosecute nonprofit groups that "lied" (Lerner's quotation marks) about political activities. The tell-tale exchange includes the following:
May 8, 2013: Lerner to Flax
I got a call today from Richard Pilger Director Elections Crimes Branch at DOJ … He wanted to know who at IRS the DOJ folk s [sic] could talk to about Sen. Whitehouse idea at the hearing that DOJ could piece together false statement cases about applicants who "lied" on their 1024s –saying they weren't planning on doing political activity, and then turning around and making large visible political expenditures. DOJ is feeling like it needs to respond, but want to talk to the right folks at IRS to see whether there are impediments from our side and what, if any damage this might do to IRS programs.
I told him that sounded like we might need several folks from IRS…
May 9, 2013: Flax to Lerner
I think we should do it – also need to include CI [Criminal Investigation Division], which we can help coordinate. Also, we need to reach out to FEC. Does it make sense to consider including them in this or keep it separate?
Lerner then "handed off" scheduling the issue to Senior Technical Adviser, Attorney Nancy Marks, who was then supposed to set up the meeting with the DOJ. Lerner also decided that it would be DOJ's decision as to whether her old co-conspirators from the Federal Election Commission would attend.
By way of background, Democratic Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse had held a hearing on April 9 during which, "in questioning the witnesses from DOJ and IRS, Whitehouse asked why they have not prosecuted 501(c)(4) groups that have seemingly made false statements about their political activities." In a March 27, 2013, email to top IRS staff, Lerner made it clear that the impetus for the hearing was to go after political groups:
As I mentioned yesterday — there are several groups of folks from the FEC world that are pushing tax fraud prosecution for c4s who report they are not conducting political activity when they are (or these folks think they are). One is my ex-boss Larry Noble (former General Counsel at the FEC), who is now president of Americans for Campaign Reform. This is their latest push to shut these down. One IRS prosecution would make an impact and they wouldn't feel so comfortable doing the stuff.
So, don't be fooled about how this is being articulated – it is ALL about 501(c)(4) orgs and political activity. [Emphasis added]
But in an email sent a few minutes earlier, Lerner was forced to acknowledge prosecutions would evidently be at odds with the law:
Whether there was a false statement or fraud regarding an [sic] description of an alleged political expenditure that doesn't say vote for or vote against is not realistic under current law. Everyone is looking for a magic bullet or scapegoat — there isn't one. The law in this area is just hard.
The newly obtained emails show that the day before Lerner broke the news of the IRS scandal, blaming it on "low-level" employees out in the hinterlands, she herself was talking to a top Obama Justice Department official about whether the DOJ could prosecute the very same organizations that the IRS had already improperly targeted. That means the IRS emails show Eric Holder's Department of Justice is now implicated and conflicted in the IRS scandal – which helps explain why we had to sue in federal court to get these documents.
The reaction to these new Judicial Watch revelations has been explosive. Congress, which had been supposedly investigating this scandal for years, evidently hadn't been given this information. Once again, Judicial Watch proved itself better at ferreting out the truth than Congress. But Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who have been at least trying to get at the truth through their leadership roles at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, were quick to our react to our disclosures.
"The release of new documents underscores the political nature of IRS Tea Party targeting and the extent to which supposed apolitical officials took direction from elected Democrats," said House Oversight Chairman Issa. "These e-mails are part of an overwhelming body of evidence that political pressure from prominent Democrats led to the targeting of Americans for their political beliefs."
"Now I see why the IRS is scared to give up the rest of Lois Lerner's emails," said Rep. Jordan. "Not only do these e-mails further prove the coordination among the IRS, the Federal Election Commission (FEC), the Justice Department and committee Democrats to target conservatives, they also show that had our committee not requested the [IRS] Inspector General's investigation when we did, Eric Holder's politicized Justice Department would likely have been leveling trumped up criminal charges against Tea Party groups to intimidate them from exercising their Constitutional rights."
Media coverage was significant and our revelations gained national headlines. It is easy to see why. Talking about throwing people in jail is a lot easier to understand than talking about an effort to delay approval of an application for exemption under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.
I encourage you to look at all the emails as there's plenty more than the big headline about jailing Obama's political opponents. The documents include email exchanges showing that before Lerner's May 10, 2013, speech to the American Bar Association blaming "low-level" employees in Cincinnati for targeting tax-exempt organizations, the IRS Exempt Organizations division was desperately scrambling to defuse the emerging targeting scandal:
May 1, 2013: After receiving an email from an assistant showing that 501(c)(4) applications had increased from 1591 in 2010 to 3398 in 2012 , Lerner wrote back, "Looks to me like 2010-2012 doubled too. Oh well – thanks."
May 2, 2013: Discussing an upcoming conference call with approximately 100 congressional staffers on May 22, Lerner cautions aides, "Need to be careful not to mention sequester/furlough unless asked although can allude to budget and resources restraints."
May 2, 2013: In response to an email reminding her about the upcoming conference call with congressional staffers, Lerner responded, "Arrgh – I just saw it. Sharon [White] could skate, but Cindy [Thomas] is the person who could answer that stuff. We need to give them some type of language in the event that type of question comes up" [apparently in reference to earlier email referencing "sensitive issues"].
The new documents also include emails exchanged after Lerner's May 10 ABA speech – including a scathing email from Cindy Thomas, the former program manager of the Cincinnati office, to Lerner:
May 10, 2013: An email from former Cincinnati program manager Cindy Thomas excoriates Lerner for her comments blaming "low-level" employees in its Cincinnati office for targeting tax-exempt organizations that had "Tea Party" or "Patriots" in their names during the 2012 election. Highlighting the words "low-level workers" in bold-face type each of the seven times she used it in short, pungent email, Thomas asked, "How am I supposed to keep the low-level workers motivated when the public believes they are nothing more than low-level workers and now will have no respect for how they are working cases?" Lerner's response nearly an hour later was a terse, "I will be back shortly and give you a call."
May 10, 2013: In an email to an aide responding to a request for information from a Washington Post reporter, Lerner admits that she "can't confirm that there was anyone on the other side of the political spectrum" who had been targeted by the IRS. She then adds that "The one with the names used were only know [sic] because they have been very loud in the press."
May 15, 2013: In an email from an aide to Lerner, the aide specifically mentions "Tea Party Organizations", the "Tea Party movement," and "Patriots" as organizations targeted by the IRS.
The Judicial Watch FOIA requests came on the heels of an explosive May 14, 2013, Treasury Inspector General report revealing that the IRS had singled out groups with conservative-sounding terms such as "patriot" and "Tea Party" in their titles when applying for tax-exempt status. The IG probe determined that "Early in Calendar Year 2010, the IRS began using inappropriate criteria to identify organizations applying for tax-exempt status to (e.g., lists of past and future donors)." According to the report, the illegal IRS reviews continued for more than 18 months and "delayed processing of targeted groups' applications" preparing for the 2012 presidential election.
(Lois Lerner, who headed the IRS division that handles applications for tax-exempt status, retired from the IRS with full benefits on September 23 after an internal investigation found she was guilty of "neglect of duties" and was going to call for her ouster, according to news reports. On April 9, 2014, the Ways and Means Committee referred Lois Lerner to the DOJ for criminal prosecution. On April 10, 2014, the House Oversight Committee voted to hold Lerner in contempt of Congress.)
You can see how your support of Judicial Watch can have an extraordinary impact. Thanks to the support of hundreds of thousands of Americans, Judicial Watch's lawyers and investigators were able to uncover a new scandal that could have historic reverberations.
In the meantime, there are more IRS documents to uncover and we will pursue the conspiracy at Obama's Justice Department.
Stay tuned….


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We imposed a fictional, delusional and abusive in nature system of Values in order to ponder the right to extort, control, create 'power' and neglect the immanent Equality that exists as the Life that everything and everyone is made of, the Matter of the Earth that is our Equality as Life. It is only in our Mind that we schemed a way to divide and conquer to have 'More' than others and transform it into our current Value System that is existent upon everything and everyone the moment we define something or someone in separation of ourselves as Equals.
- 332. Word Policy in Equal Money Capitalism
- 331. What is Best for All in Equal Money Capitalism
- 333. Life = Money in Equal Money Capitalism
- 334. Equality in Equal Money Capitalism
- 335. Money in Equal Money Capitalism
- 336. Self Responsibility in Equal Money Capitalism
- 337. Common Sense and Equal Money Capitalism
- 338. What is Equal Money Capitalism?
The Value of Life as the Value of Money is currently not an equal and one Best for All equation because Money is not existent as an Equal and One best for All equation but is instead a fabricated set of values imposed onto physical reality to create the necessary fetishism around and onto the matter of the Earth, human beings and the labor that he/she inputs onto the matter in order to create what we use and require to live.
The reason why this 'taxonomy of values' exist is to create a definitive disparity between the matter of the Earth and the Value imposed by Man in order to have a way to control, manage/ administrate what is Of the Earth that we use to live – but most importantly, the Values of the Human imposed onto things and labor that transforms the matter into a commodity and labor into an asset are ways to create the necessary limits and conditions to ensure that some would be able to have control over resources/raw materials/land/matter of the Earth, over the People that work on it/laborers/slaves/workers in order to maintain a level of activity that is force-fed by this ability to have power and control in this man-made system of values where Money instead of being equated to Life in Equality, Money was equated to the Strive to Live, the controlled/fixed Scarcity, the character of value imposed onto things in order to make them be 'More Worthy' than others – which then implies that the labor of such 'more worthy' items would also be More Valued than others.
But what is it that changed, really? The matter of the Earth is the same in everything an everyone, it is that which everything is made of – that is our Equality as Life, that is Why the Value of Life is Equal an as such it should be Given and Received to and by everyone in this Equality premise – yet, it is not because individual self interest as the experience of 'having more' than others took precedence over any common sensical organization in our reality.
The Labor, the work force onto things to turn them into products is equal in nature no matter what the product is, because there is no physical determination that explains how a piece of gold is worth more than a grain of corn – based on our Physical Common Sense understanding of Equality as Life, there is no immanent value to gold being 'more' than corn, this is only the human mind imposed onto physical reality to create a deliberate form of abuse through this inequality of values upon the matter of the Earth, which we are Also equal to as human physical bodies, as everything and everyone that exists here. Nothing was born with a price tag in it, nothing had a bar code from the moment of its birth of the Earth.
The imposition of this Belief System of Values is based on the human mind, the human experience attached and imposed onto the matter of the Earth that is transformed into products/items that are required to live in this world. It is nonetheless, a belief system – no different to the money system that we have wherein the origin of the current exchange rates can be traced back only to being an 'agreement' where no public plebiscite took place, no democratic schemes were involved in the creation of money – we merely complied to it first as a way to have a 'practical manner' to trade goods and services, which later on was transformed throughout time in a profit making scheme in itself as a Money-making business wherein Banks are currently the Corporations that have the actual control over people and the world, because we have all complied to this Values System that has its origin in Money and created the outflow of the society we now live in, where the Experience, the characterization of Life is what defines what is worth more.
This 'Characterization' of life, this imposition of a Value-System in separation of life is what our Economy is currently guarding and looking after – there is No Common Sense in Economy, there is No Common Sense in our Social and Political schemes because the Value of Life is not considered Equal in All that exists in All ways. This is the most basic way to understand and realize to what extent the current 'madness' and 'crisis' in this world is originated by each one of ourselves in our mind the moment we accepted and allowed to give Life a Value other than Equality in separation of each other in means to abuse, control and hold an Illusion of Power. This is our demise.
We don't have to 'get rid of money' or 'get rid of values' to now Equalize ourselves, we just have to establish the Ways to Ensure that this Value of Life is respected and honored by each other – yet at the same time, practical in numerical values for the purposes of organization and administration. The value of money in Equality can only exist as the representation for practical purposes of giving and receiving Life in Equality.
Equal Money – either in Equal Money Capitalism or the Equal Money System – implies the Equalization of that which is able to provide life as the symbol that Money represents. Once again it is vital to understand how Words hold the Key to understand the Values/Meaning/Worth imposed onto Life based on human intellect that exists as the 'taxonomy of life' in order to differentiate but also to appreciate what is worth 'more' than other things/people/actions/places in order to form the necessary arena that has been used to generate fear, abuse and control. This will be solved by understanding that Value in itself is a fallacy, a belief system that we can get rid of by correcting the relationships of inequality created by such signification of Money over life/ value in separation of life itself.
Equal Value as Life created as a Monetary system, as an Economic and Political system means that there will be no way nor need to abuse, control or deliberately manipulate each other for the sake of 'having more' or having power, because everyone will understand that what is Here of the Earth is a Given-Life that we have abused to make our personal interests 'real' through the value-systems we crafted/created and imposed to violate the Physical Law of Equality and turn it into a system of abuse where 'profit' is able to exist as the result of fixing prices, fixing numbers and positions in money game to ensure only a few have access to it. The abuse/inequality toward the Life that we have diminished to a commodity, to an asset and sold with numbers on a price tag is what we are here to restore to its equal condition with which it was given, it was 'already here,' and that is simply No Value in fact exists other than Life itself – what's worth 'more' or 'less' is only a product of the human mind, that's where the problem begun.
Equal Money represents and declares that the Value of Life is Life itself, that which is given, that which cannot be less or more other than the physical quantities we can measure it with, which is a Physical Measuring – not a Worth-Measurement.
To understand these physical measures, please read: Physic's Journey To Life:
Day 10 – Fundamentals of Physics – 1.4 – Dimensional Analysis:
"Another example for a mistake in dimensional analysis we are all living is expressed in the current economic system, where we have created, and are living, the equation of life = money. we have equated the value of life to the value of money, thus, we have given life the value of money, but money and life do not have the same dimension, money is not alive, and doesn't in fact, as a physical necessity, support life. Thus we must reevaluate our equation and see what is the source of our mistake, and to take self responsibility in allowing ourselves to see the outflow as manifested consequences of our mistake.
The result of the current equation as money = life has created a world that is driven through profit, as we have equated money to life, and thus the more money one has the more value their life has, and the less money one has the more struggle they will experience through trying to survive in a world that has taken the value of life and has diminished it to the value of money. As if to say that life has value only if you have money, if you don't have money your life has no value. In the current system we can see the problem very clearly as so many people struggle to survive, as so many people are in fact slaves to the system, slaves to corporations that exist in the sole interest of making as much profit as they can, because that gives their life more value in the current equation we have all been living within." – Maya Rote
Thus we create a system wherein the fundamental Value of Life is realized and translated into a new definition of what Money is an should be as a Symbol, a Character that denotes the Value, the Principle, the Physicality of what Life is in Equality and enables our the Ability to give and receive what we require to make our lives possible in the best way for everyone equally.
If we have already created an uber-complicated system to ensure profits and maximizing greed – which takes a lot of rigged terms, secrecy, bribery and the necessary fixed conditions to satisfy personal interests and gains in a 'justifiable manner' – we can for sure generate a new money system that is simplified to become a tool, a numerical value that is based on the Physical Agreement to Measure – but not 'Value' or 'Worth' in separation of life itself. (See again: Day 10 – Fundamentals of Physics – 1.4 – Dimensional Analysis and the series "Fundamentals of Physics"
This is the Common Sense that is not existent in any book other than those that previewed what a world in Equality could be – yet have never existed in a functional manner on Earth yet, it's our time to start embracing these Physical Living Principles of Life in Equality.
Your life, my life, every animal, plant, particle as everything that exists in this world recognized and Valued as Equal means that whichever we require to live will be given/ granted by virtue of requiring it to sustain the life that we are in a Symbiotic way – that means give as you would like to receive. This implies that valuing ourselves as life is equal to our ability to Respect, Honor, Take Self Responsibility and Participate in order to maintain and sustain this Equality System functioning wherein guaranteeing one's well being will be looked after equal to everyone else's well being.
The Equal Money System and Equal Money Capitalism will be structured in a way wherein everyone's wellbeing is guaranteed equal to everyone else's, because there will be no distinction on 'deserving' but instead ensuring that all parts are equally supported and equally participating in essence a participatory economy, because we understand that this is the way to ensure the collective well being, harmony and happiness that every one has been longing for on Earth, we just haven't given it to ourselves because: we have to learn how to coexist as Equals, to Integrate this Equal-Value of Life as ourselves and for that, the individual process to Remove the conditions of Characters as Values and Symbolism imposed onto life is an Educational one that we are already walking, so please Join us to take the first steps to disintegrate this Characterization of Life and Restore the Equal-Value as Life.
- For more on Education to Establish Equality, read: 322. Deconstructing the Root of All Evil |
- Visit the Group Capitalism vs. Equal Money group on Facebook.
Read the Equal Money Wiki
Read Economist's Journey to Life
For more about Self Education on Words, visit the Desteni Forum and Desteni I Process
Read the 7 Year Journey To Life blogs
Desteni Lite Process – Free Online Course to Learn how to become part of the Solutions presented here
Desteni Forum
Day 335: Democracy and Capitalism are the Redistribution of Wealth – (Part One)
Day 336: Democracy and Capitalism are the Redistribution of Wealth – (Part Two)
Day 337: Why Do You Not Question the Authority of God?
Day 338: Why Do You Not Question the Authority of God? (Part Two)
Day 339: Why Do You Not Question the Authority of God? (Part 3)


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NEW ORLEANS — Dads who have egalitarian ideas about gender — and who walk the talk by doing household chores themselves — have daughters with higher workplace ambitions than less egalitarian fathers do, new research finds.
The research is correlational, so it doesn't prove that fathers' attitudes are the cause their young daughters' work aspirations. But the research may suggest that girls look to their fathers for examples of what is expected of women. Dads' attitudes also predict what kind of play their daughters enjoy.
"Dads who are more balanced have girls who are just as likely to play with Transformers as Barbie dolls," study researcher Toni Schmader, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia said here Friday (Jan. 18) at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
Male and female role models
Schmader and her colleagues were interested in how gender stereotypes develop at a young age. To find out, they gave questionnaires to 196 elementary-school-age boys, 167 elementary-school-age girls and at least one parent of each asking about gender stereotypes, gendered behavior and, for parents, division of household labor.
They found that women, even those who work outside the home, shouldered more of the housework burden than men. This pattern has been seen in numerous sociology and psychology studies and is so prevalent that is has a name: "the second shift," meaning that women essentially put in a full day at work and then another on top of it at home.
The researchers also found that women influence their kids about gender stereotypes. A mom's attitude about the proper roles of men and women is almost always echoed by their kids.
But in the realm of actual behavior, dads are key. The fewer gender stereotypes dad holds, the more likely his daughter is to say she wants to work outside the home as an adult. The daughters of egalitarian men are also more likely to have broader, less gendered interests — they're less hemmed in by stereotypes that say girls should only play house or dress in pink. They're equally likely to play with "boy" toys versus "girl" toys, Schmader said. [Busted! 6 Gender Myths in the Bedroom & Beyond]
Dads' behavior mattered too. The more equally dad and mom divided household work, the less stereotypically girly their daughter's behavior.
Parents and stereotypes
The researchers aren't sure why boys didn't respond in the same way as girls to their fathers' attitudes. It's possible that boys just don't see enough variation in stereotypically masculine behavior, or that their own behavior doesn't waver from stereotypes enough to register statistically, Schmader said.
Nor is it entirely clear why dads seem to hold so much sway over their daughters' gendered behaviors and aspirations while moms aren't as influential. The reason could be that dads still are seen as having a higher status in the household, so girls weigh their opinions more heavily, Schmader told LiveScience. It's also possible that girls see dad as a sort of role model for the type of partner they may end up with one day.
"Not role models for who they can be, but role models for who they could be with," she said. Thus, girls may learn what's expected of a woman in a relationship from their father.
Schmader warned that more work is needed to prove that the fathers' attitudes cause their daughter's actions. It's possible, she said, that having a girl who defies gender stereotypes alters dad's perceptions of proper gender roles rather than the other way around.
Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.


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This image captured by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) highlights the Small Magellanic Cloud. Also known as NGC 292, the Small Magellanic Cloud is a small galaxy about 200,000 light-years away. The Small Magellanic Cloud is named after the Portuguese explorer Fernando de Magellan who observed it on his voyage around the world in 1519. Since it is visible to the naked eye in dark-sky conditions, it is likely that people in the southern hemisphere observed the galaxy long before Magellan recorded it. Located in the constellation Tucana, the Small Magellanic Cloud looks like a wispy cloud that circles the south celestial pole. Nearby, but not visible in this image, is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a sister galaxy to the Small Magellanic Cloud. Astronomers originally thought that both galaxies were orbiting our Milky Way galaxy. But recent research suggests that they might be moving too fast to be bound by the Milky Way's gravity and are passing by for the first time. This WISE image illustrates why the SMC is considered an irregular galaxy. Galaxies are classified according to their shape, such as spiral or elliptical. Irregular galaxies don't fit into any of these categories -- they are unique in shape. The two streaks seen in the upper half of the image are satellites orbiting Earth, which happened to pass in front of the Small Magellanic Cloud when WISE captured this view. This mosaic image was made from all four infrared detectors aboard WISE. The color in this image represents different wavelengths of infrared light. Blue and cyan represent light at wavelengths of 3.4 and 4.6 microns mostly emitted from stars. Green and red represent light at 12 and 22 microns, which is mostly light from warm dust. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA


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This was a sexy year. We discovered strange fetishes and alien mating rituals. We explored undiscovered outposts of sensuality. And we delved into some of the most extreme visions of human connection you could possibly imagine. Plus, True Blood and Game of Thrones kind of shredded the envelope.
Here's our look back in the best NSFW content from io9 this year.
Top image: Pin-up art by Megan Burns. Much more here.
The Fantastical Pinup Girls of Danni Shinya Luo [NSFW]
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The M1 chip delivers 3.5x faster performance than the previous generation all while using way less power. Get up to 18 hours of battery life.
Danni Shinya Luo's work focuses on the beauty of the female form, and she understands what makes a woman sexy. Using watercolors, she combines the fierceness of a woman's power with the bright, fresh colors of the natural world. More »
Quite Possibly the Best "Earthling Teaches Alien Babes About Sex" Moment Ever [NSFW]
Back in the day, every science fiction movie or show had to have a scene where the Earthman teaches the aliens/future people how to have sex. Captain Kirk did it. So did Woody Allen. (Warning: This clip is definitely NSFW!) More »
The most unusual sexual fetish also has the most ridiculous special effects [NSFW]
A woman is shrunk to the size of a doll to punish her for "unsanctioned fornication," in this fantastic clip from the movie Cinderella 2000. It's the year 2047 - yes, even though the movie has 2000 in the title - and sexual activity is strictly regulated by the government. Have sex with the wrong person, and you're turned into a tiny doll for six months. Warning: clip is NSFW! More »
The Rise of Sasquatch Porn [NSFW]
It's like an unholy alliance between furry culture, cryptozoology, and sex. The craze for Bigfoot porn started with Ape Canyon, and now this year has been joined by two new Bigfoot lover flicks. More »
The Crazy Vampire Sex Romp You Wish You Could Watch This Weekend [NSFW]
Made in 1970, this European trainwreck of filmmaking features fashion statements that would make Lady Gaga faint, plus nonsensical storylines and horrendous special effects. There are two Devil Twins who wear outfits made out of windchimes, or panties with metal spikes coming out of them. More »
And Now, Muppet Burlesque! [NSFW]
Recently, we all rediscovered our love for the Muppets, those fuzzy avatars of cuteness and the can-do spirit. And you know, when some of us think that it's time to play the music and light the lights, our thoughts turn... frisky. More »
Which HBO pilot has more nudity: True Blood or Game of Thrones?
Which HBO pilot has more ridiculous nudity: True Blood or Game of Thrones? We did the math. We counted up the nip-slips and ass shots, and compared the Dothraki's naked dances to True Blood's vampire sex tapes. Guess who won? More »
The Suicide Girls comic book! It's a nip-slip dystopia! NSFW!
In IDW's Suicide Girls miniseries, the eponymous pin-up girls are a crack team of katana-wielding freedom fighters who have trouble keeping their blouses buttoned. Here's a sneak peek at the girls fighting the Man with blades, blogs, and free-wheeling naturism. More »
By far the strangest naked ladies you'll see all day (NSFW)
In this curious video reel by graphic designers Sense Titol, a number of disrobed models pose against an all-white background. We're not going to spoil what happens, but it feels very David Cronenberg...and one of them has the face only a foot fetishist would love. More »
The most amazing movie about alien women who can turn masturbation into Force Lightning [NSFW]
Alien Sex Files III: Alien Babes is one of those films that really has to be experienced. Nobody can be told, you must see for yourself. These are some of the most insane, profane and ludicrous clips of all time. More »
The Amazing Sexiness of Superhero Fetishwear and Body-Painting [NSFW]
When does superhero cosplay slide over into becoming fetishwear? When it gets too shiny. And too kinky. More »
Yes, they really made a Planet of the Apes porn movie. [NSFW]
At least Playmate of the Apes is better than the Tim Burton Apes movie. (Not that that's saying much.) This movie is obscene in every sense of the word - although don't worry, there's no actual bestiality. More »
The Most Revolting Vagina Dentata Sound Effect of All Time [NSFW]
When you make a movie called Horny House of Horror, you've got a certain... standard to live up to. And luckily, this Japanese import goes all-out. Basically, it's about a bordello where the women kill - and generally mutilate - their customers. And in this scene, the hapless John is undone by a vagina dentata. With the most disturbing sound effect we've heard since the Human Centipede 2 trailer. More »
The strangest (and nakedest) teleportation scene ever committed to film [NSFW]
The Japanese cult manga Gantz recently became a cult movie - which is now available in America on DVD and Blu-Ray. The premise is bizarre, and the dubbing is hilarious, though luckily you have the option to watch it with subtitles. There are so many delightfully random scenes in this movie that it really must be watched in its entirety, especially for the fight scenes with monster robot alien Buddhas where people spend a lot of time staring when they should be shooting. More »
Superheroic banter just doesn't work as well during sex [NSFW]
Witness possibly the cheesiest superheroic sex scene of all time - in the original Black Scorpion film, the Scorpion surprises the cop whom she's been having sexual tension with for most of the film, and takes advantage of him. NSFW! More »
The most disturbingly random video you'll watch this week [NSFW]
What is this, I don't even... this Japanese video, appropriately called "Japan Erection," has been making the rounds online. And it involves a man in a wig, trashing a room with futuristic silver walls, wearing a giant tree penis puppet shaped like Japan. (NSFW?) More »


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Who doesn't like to kill zombies? Here's my new favorite kill-a-zombie game (listen to the zombie dying sound effect!) on my new favorite flash game site: 1cup1coffee.com
For physics-geeks and general game-play fun-lovers, there's Demolition Dude (love the music!). A little more family-friendly than killing zombies. There's TONS of fun games (read: time wasters) over on the site, so check 'em all out here. Oh, and make sure you tell us what level you got up to on Demolition Dude!


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As a part of Google's Zeitgeist 2012, the site revealed the most searched calorie counts--and McDonald's nabbed the top spot. Right behind, though, was Mexican fast food eatery Chipotle. But if you're counting calories, which drive-through should you head to?Here's the low down on which place you should go to chow down.
While McDonald's does have several items on their "Favorites for Under 400" menu that may be helpful if you are counting calories, calories only tell part of the story when it comes to finding healthy options, as we know. Chipotle, on the other hand, allows you to customize your meal, choosing what you want in your burrito, taco or salad bowl, thus making it is easier to stay within a calorie budget. Plus, they have a bevvy of proteins, whole grains and veggies to pack your plate with. Yum.
When I compared the ingredient lists of several of the menu items, Chipotle's quality was consistently higher. Their ingredient lists are simple, and they focus on using sustainable, local foods whenever possible. So, if I had to choose between the two, I would head to Chipotle for a quick dinner. Here are a few meals that I would recommend ordering there:
Burrito bowl with steak, brown rice, romaine lettuce, fajita veggies and guacamole. The Skinny: 545 calories, 24 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 50 g carb, 37 g protein and 11 g fiber.
Tacos (3 come in an order) made with soft corn tortillas, black beans, cheese, roasted chili-corn salsa and romaine lettuce. The Skinny: 485 calories, 12.5 g fat (5 g saturated fat), 78 g carb, 22.5 g protein and 18 g fiber.
Salad with romaine lettuce, chicken, cheese, fajita veggies, green tomatillo salsa and half a single-serving container of the vinaigrette dressing. The Skinny: 465 calories, 28 g fat (9 g saturated fat), 16 g carb, 43 g protein and 4 g fiber.
Comments or Questions? Tweet me @sarahjaneRD or @SELFmagazine or find me on SELF's Facebook Page!
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Image Credit: Courtesy of Chipotle


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Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a disease in which the muscle of the lower left chamber of the heart (the left ventricle) becomes abnormally thick and enlarged. This thickening typically affects some parts of the ventricle walls more than others (doctors call this asymmetric thickening). The most commonly affected area is the wall between the two bottom heart chambers. This wall is called the septum. HCM is a significant cause of both heart failure and sudden death. It is the most common cause of sudden cardiac death among athletes who are believed to be healthy.In the vast majority of cases, HCM is inherited from a parent, even though other close family members (such as parents, sisters or brothers) may not experience symptoms or even be aware they carry the disease. It is important that HCM be differentiated from other causes of heart muscle thickening (known as hypertrophy). These causes include:
Like any other muscle, if the heart has to work harder because of increased blood pressure or a tight valve, it will become thickened. Once hypertension is controlled or the valve is replaced, it would be expected that this thickening should begin to resolve. This is not so with HCM, where the thickening is present without these other diseases, and the heart does not respond to efforts to lower blood pressure.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is sometimes difficult to distinguish from an "athlete's heart," seen in those who have undergone particularly rigorous conditioning and exercise. In this situation, the heart may become more enlarged than is typical, and the left ventricle may become somewhat thickened. Usually, the extent of thickening in these individuals is symmetric, however, and not as thick overall as that seen in HCM. With athlete's heart, the heart muscle will return to normal size and thickness once the conditioning stops. This also is not the case with true HCM. It is becoming increasingly clear that the most common type of HCM is caused by genetic abnormalities that affect the structural components of the heart muscle and the way that the heart muscle is regulated at the molecular level. Researchers are discovering reasons for HCM that used to be identified as idiopathic - that is, without a known cause. Currently, about 75 percent of patients with HCM have an identifiable genetic mutation that can be screened with a simple blood test. Once a defective abnormality is known, it becomes much easier to screen other family members.
According to the American Heart Association, HCM occurs in one in 500 people, making it the most common inherited heart defect. The most severe cases become evident in teenagers and young adults, but the disease may be first identified at any age, with older individuals typically suffering more from the heart failure symptoms than the sudden cardiac death.
If blood flow is obstructed due to a thickened heart muscle, a number of symptoms may result, including:
Sometimes a patient will have no symptoms but may suddenly experience cardiac arrest. For this reason, even those without symptoms need to be followed up regularly to assess their risks for sudden death and to consider preventive treatments.
In some patients, the thickened heart muscle may block blood flow. In others, it may not. Progressive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can lead to worsening heart failure, a condition in which the heart is unable to supply enough blood to the body, as well as exacerbation of any of the symptoms noted above.
The thickened heart muscle may also distort the mitral valve, which is located between the upper left and lower left heart chambers. This may cause the valve to "leak" or allow blood to flow backward into the lungs. When a valve "leaks," the heart must work harder to pump blood to the body, resulting in even more heart failure symptoms.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy also may cause abnormal heart rhythms, which may be due to scarring of the severely thickened heart muscle. The blood supply to the thickened muscle may also be reduced. Since heart muscle cells have a natural electrical activity, diseased heart muscle may create inappropriate heart rhythms called arrhythmias. Sometimes these are single extra beats from the upper or lower heart chambers. Sometimes there are multiple abnormal beats that can quickly degenerate into a severe rhythm problem. Sudden death can occur due to an abnormal heart rhythm or sudden reduction of blood flow out of the left ventricle caused by an increased obstruction.
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Treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy aims to reduce any obstruction of blood flow from the left ventricle, improve overall heart function and maintain normal heart rhythm. Reducing the obstruction typically improves symptoms, but does not necessarily decrease the risks of a sudden cardiac event, however.
Treatments for HCM include:
Learn how SCAI is advancing patient care »


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Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's Engagement Off (Again), According to Snoop Lion
Snoop Lion (aka Snoop Dogg) is adding fuel to the fire when it comes to rumors that Miley Cyrus and fiancé Liam Hemsworth have called it quits.
"I can't speak for her, ya know what I'm saying, but I know that she has a relationship that no longer exists," Snoop said on HuffPost Live on Monday.
So why is the rapper-turned-reggae singer in the know about Cyrus's love life? Well, the two recently collaborated on the song "Ashtrays & Heartbreaks."
"I know she's probably in a transformation change with her life, her music, her career," Snoop continued. "She's 20 years old and she's an awesome artist to work with. She knows what she wants in life. I feel like maybe this is a time for her to take charge like I'm taking charge."
Cyrus, 20, got the rumor mill going that there was more trouble with her "Hunger Games" beau when she posted a photo on Twitter this past weekend that showed the singer sans her 3.5-karat engagement ring.
People reports that Cyrus and 23-year-old Hemsworth got in a huge fight before the weekend, prompting the ring to come off, while E! News is (still) saying everything is fine between the two.
Here is how one source puts it to omg!: "They have a very up-and-down, young relationship. No one can keep up anymore." Another source says Hemsworth and Cyrus are "still together," just "not actively planning their wedding."
The couple is currently living together in Cyrus's Toluca Lake, California home.
Anyone else just think these two need time apart to figure things out? There is no rush to walk down the aisle, kids!
More Celebrity Features on Yahoo!:


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CEO of Bit Discovery, Professional Hacker, Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Off-Road Race Car Driver, Founder of WhiteHat Security, and Maui resident.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Web Hacking contest at RSA (2007)
Big props go out to Jordan Wiens, contributing editor of Network Computing magazine, who won the whole thing! During an interview just before the final face-off I found out Jordan is no ordinary reporter. No no! He has a B.A. in Mathematics, well-versed Unix Admin, and has some solid web application security chops to boot. Watch out when being interviewed by this guy, he knows this tech.
Jordan wins his shiny new GPS!
The big-multi-screen display so the audience could follow the action.
The contestants getting their instructions from the ref just before the final face-off
The announcer asking the contestants about how the feel about the upcoming challenge.
10 comments:
SI always rocks at RSA. I love the ITC!
- February 9, 2007 at 9:47 AM
Is their any info on what they must do? Was it only webapplication? or also portscanning? I clicked the link but cannot find info on the contest or what people where suppoesed to do, would be interesting to see.
- February 9, 2007 at 10:00 AM
- Jeremiah Grossman said...
It was a lot like the other web hacking ladders you see online. Find the SQL Injection, XSS, or transfer money to you offshore account. No portscanning required, just a browser and a proxy.
- February 9, 2007 at 10:01 AM
- Jordan said...
Thanks Jeremiah, I had a lot of fun. It was great to have a chance to meet you and chat about what you're up to. As I mentioned, I'm always excited when I can actually engage folks in interesting technical discussions instead of just marketing speak.
Especially thanks for not heckling me too much during the last round. ;-)
Jungsonn -- only webapp, and none of it was very hard. If the final round had come down to the third challenge (it was best 2 of 3) we would have been in for a much more interesting one--reversing some home-grown javascript "encryption"--but really, for the semis and finals all that was needed was knowledge of basic web vulns. Nothing super tricky, though there were some minor gotchas (the final challenge had a secured POST you couldn't tweak but it redirected to a GET that you could then change). Mostly it was about speed and being the first to find and exploit the vuln. Just about each match came down to the wire, so I was pretty lucky.
- February 10, 2007 at 10:29 AM
Sounds nice, yes reversing some javascript encryption takes time, don't know how much time you got? It's a pity I live on the other side of the globe, I surely would have come. So thanks for showing me an impression guys.
- February 11, 2007 at 6:59 AM
Man, I sure wish I had an invite to the WASC event at RSA this past week. I'll give Arian the benefit of the doubt, though:
curl -I www.anachronic.com
Server: Rapidsite/Apa/1.3.31 (Unix) FrontPage/184.108.40.2060 mod_ssl/2.8.17 OpenSSL/0.9.7c
Cache-Control: cache
Pragma: no-cache
X-Powered-By: PHP/4.4.4
Mat C., cracks.n.hax.com
- February 11, 2007 at 6:06 PM
- Jeremiah Grossman said...
> Especially thanks for not heckling me too much during the last round. ;-)
AHAHAH, I was, you were just that "in the zone". :)
- February 12, 2007 at 8:24 AM
- Jeremiah Grossman said...
Mat C. >
We did our best to advertise the event. Sorry you missed it. We'll be having another one at Black Hat USA though.
- February 12, 2007 at 8:25 AM
> Mat C., cracks.n.hax.com
> I'll give Arian the benefit of the doubt, though
I don't need the benefit of anyone's doubt. Woohoo. Headers from a shared host.
So for the thinkin' man: there are actually four layers of vulns in my personal website software. They are try-catched and logged, and quite useful for learning from them. I've only gotten hosed from a real hack once. It is a really hard to find and exploit SQLi, and all you have is perms to write to comments tables, or drop a content table that nukes the site, but is non-volatile (the way I use it). So, whatever.
My site has been taken down a few times, but the reason is sorta funny: I've been benchmarking automation tools and had detailed session dumps enabled in addition to my custom logging, and the weakness was a DoS that filled my disk slice.
Using php/dirty code was a temporary experiment turned permanent because (1) most scanners can't find anything worth finding, (2) most human testers are lamer than I thought, and (3) availability isn't a requirment, and I'm one db restore away from happiness in the event of anything meaningful.
So, eh, have at it, that's one of the main reasons it's there for,
- February 12, 2007 at 11:11 AM
- Mark said...
Sup AE, stumbled on this, had to stop and give a shout.
Sounds like you guys are having fun out there!
I would love to have attended this, sounds very interesting.
- February 18, 2007 at 11:44 PM


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VIDEO: President Obama and Bill O'Reilly Clash in Pre-Super Bowl Interview
President Barack Obama sat down with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly Sundayafternoon for a pre-Super Bowl interview. What followed was 10 minutes of interruptions and continuous sniping.
O'Reilly, who saw the opportunity to get things "on the record," questioned Obama on the IRS, health care and the 2012 Benghazi attack.
The Fox News host went after Obama's reaction to the attack in Libya, implying the President didn't initially refer to it as a "terrorist attack" for political gain.
"Your detractors believe that you did not tell the world it was a terror attack because your campaign didn't want that out," O'Reilly said. "That's what they believe."
"And they believe it because folks like you are telling them that," Obama retorted.
And that wasn't the only time Obama went after Fox News. Watch the full interview below to see all the contentious interaction.
What did you think of the interview?
View original VIDEO: President Obama and Bill O'Reilly Clash in Pre-Super Bowl Interview at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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A study using data on nearly 4 million cars that underwent government-mandated emissions test in three states found that cars manufactured by German auto maker BMW were the least likely to fail these state pollution tests, researchers reported on Jan. 9. Cars manufactured by Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Chrysler and GM were most likely to fail.
While other studies have analyzed data from state emissions tests, this is the first time that researchers examined how different car makes compared, said Jean-Michel Guldmann (http://facweb.arch.ohio-state.edu/jguldmann/index.htm), co-author of the study and professor of city and regional planning at Ohio State University (http://knowlton.osu.edu/ksa-new/_newversion/index5.asp).
"There are several factors that determine how much cars and trucks pollute, and vehicle make is one of the more significant," Guldmann said.
In the case of trucks, Honda, Nissan and Toyota models were least likely to fail pollution tests, while Mitsubishi, Mazda and Chrysler were most likely to fail.
The study also found that the vehicles that polluted the most tended to be those that were older models, had higher mileage, poorer fuel economy and were less-well-maintained.
Car owners worried about passing emissions tests should have their vehicles tested in spring and summer, when vehicles emitted less pollutants on average, the study showed.
"These effects were uniform, but the magnitudes were different depending on the make of the car," Guldmann said. "Some makes are cleaner than others."
The study was based on the doctoral dissertation of Mustapha Beydoun, who studied with Guldmann at Ohio State. Beydoun is now an assistant professor at Texas Southern University. Their results appear in the January 2006 issue of the journal Transportation Research Part D.
The researchers examined data from emissions tests in Massachusetts, Maryland and Illinois in 2001. Under the Clean Air Act, certain urban areas violating federal air quality standards are required by EPA to implement pollution emissions testing on vehicles. Currently 33 states and the District of Columbia have some type of vehicle emissions testing.
Guldmann said the samples from the three states they used are much larger and more comprehensive than those used in earlier studies, which were generally confined to one or two metropolitan areas. Earlier studies were also confined to Western states. This also is the first study to examine the role of fuel economy and vehicle maintenance in emissions.
The Massachusetts database provided the most comprehensive and consistent data on specific vehicle emissions, and was the focus of some of the analyses, Guldmann said.
Results showed that newer model cars tended to be much cleaner than older ones. For example, a 1985 vehicle averages almost 38 times more carbon monoxide emissions per mile than a 2001 model. But again, the make of the car has a large influence. Toyota vehicles tended to have the least difference between older and newer cars, because their older cars tended to be already lower polluting, Guldmann said.
But other foreign models -- Honda, Nissan and Hyundai -- had a much greater age effect, with their older models showing relatively high levels of pollution emissions.
"The effects of age and other factors on pollution levels are stronger for some vehicle makes than others," Guldmann said. "It's not always foreign cars that are better. It really depends on what pollutant or variable you are measuring."
The fact that cars polluted less in spring and summer is probably linked to both differences in atmospheric conditions, and changes in fuel mixtures produced by refineries during different seasons, Guldmann said.
The finding that cars with better gas mileage also polluted less is important, Guldmann said. It suggests that current regulations, which measure emissions in grams per mile driven, should be changed to grams per gallon of gasoline used.
"This would ensure that higher fuel economy standards are automatically translated into emissions reductions," he said.
Other factors studied by the researchers, such as vehicle weight, number of cylinders, and engine displacement, had mixed results with no clear effect on emissions of pollutants, according to Guldmann.
This article originally appeared in the 01/01/2006 issue of Environmental Protection.
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Training courses from Baker Perkins are the ideal way to develop the skills and knowledge your staff need to avoid waste and downtime, and to minimize running and ownership costs.
Courses are offered across the Baker Perkins range and each one is customized around the delegates' specific training needs and the equipment they work on. The result is consistent peak performance of your plant or unit machines.


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In Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who Hacked Ma Bell, author Phil Lapsley was able to track down many of the original phone phreaks and get their story. Many of them, even though the years have passed and statute of limitations expired, had asked Lapsley not to use their real names.
While parts of the story have been told before, Lapsley's far-reaching research brings many of the central characters into a single read, resulting in an extremely interesting and engrossing read.
When Alexander Graham Bell created his harmonic telegraph, which would later turn into the telephone, it was like the Internet, built for functionality, with no inherent security controls. Those security vulnerabilities were begging to be found, and when they were discovered by the phone phreaks, it was a wake-up call to AT&T.
Defining a phone phreak is just as challenging as defining a hacker; as it means different things to different people. Lapsley defines it as "someone who loves exploring the telephone system and experimenting with it to understand how it works.
What the phone phreaks did was to spend endless hours dialing different numbers to understand how the inner-workings of the telephone system operated. Meaningless sounds to most people were music to the phreaks as they could determine how calls were routed via these tones.
Many of the phreaks practiced what is today known as social engineering and would impersonate phone company employees and technicians.
The devices that enabled them to make phone calls were called black boxes, blue boxes, and red boxes. The book notes that Steve Wozniak (who wrote the foreward to the book) and Steve Jobs sold blue boxes before they started Apple. In fact, Jobs is quoted as saying that if they hadn't built blue boxes, there wouldn't have been an Apple.
The book has many layers to it. One part is an interesting history of the telephone and long-distance communications. It then segues into phone phreaks, who much like early computer hackers, used the phone network as a portal for exploration and hacking. The vast majority of the phone phreaks did it for the thrill, rather than just to make free phone calls.
One of the things the phone phreaks did was to read as much corporate documentation and manuals (obtained both legally and serendipitously) as they could. Lapsley notes that many of the technical documents that the phone company shared were in truth highly confidential.
As AT&T was a monopoly (and a hostile one at that) with zero competition, the notion that someone would use their own technical documentation against them was inconceivable. Lapsley writes that for reasons of corporate pride, national service and public relations, AT&T felt an obligation to share its latest and greatest technical feats with the public. For that reason, the Bell System Technical Journal was required reading for every phone phreak.
The books web site has available many of the technical documents detailed in the book that played a role in the development of phone phreaking. Included is the article a 1971 article from EsquireSecrets of the Little Blue Box by Ron Rosenbaum, that AT&T was able to suppress.
The book details many similarities between the phone phreaks and the early Internet hackers. While law enforcement stated that Kevin Mitnick could launch missiles via whistling into the phone, law enforcement called the phone phreaks a public menace, mentally unstable, a national threat and much more.
Like early hackers, the phone phreaks showed how engineering insiders are often the last to know what is actually possible with the systems they design. Lapsley noted that part of the problem was pride, in that Bell Labs had created the public telephone switching network, and they didn't want to admit how vulnerable it was. Its engineers were spring-loaded to disbelieve reports to the contrary.
Another advantage the phone phreaks, like hackers, had is that the Bells Labs engineers only looked at the systems as how it was supposed to work. That blinded them to how the system actually did work and how it could be made to do things it was never designed to do,
The results were that they couldn't see the holes in their own network; holes that a blind teenager found. Even when that blind teenage told them of the problem, (the book tells the story of Joe Engressia), they didn't understand it when first described to them.
The book describes another major technical security oversight made by AT&T in 1970 with the introduction of the telephone credit card. Lapsley writes that fraud was epidemic as AT&T's credit card numbering system was a bad joke from a security perspective. The card numbers were easy to guess and highly predictable resulting in millions of dollars of related fraudulent calls.
One of the main recurring characters in the book is John Draper, better known as Captain Crunch. Draper made a lot of money as a legitimate software engineer, but lost it due to his business naiveté and personal demons. Draper had numerous arrests related to phone phreaking and served time in prison.
The book notes that Draper's arrest in 1976 is a textbook case of how not to deal with the FBI when arrested. One of the incredulous things Draper did when he was read his rights was to waive them. While the FBI didn't have a search warrant, he voluntarily allowed them to search his apartment and Volkswagen Van, where incriminating evidence was indeed discovered.
While Draper was later convicted, the book quotes a fascinating observation by a phone company employee in that 90% of the phone phreak and hacker cases, law enforcement in fact had no criminal case. Most of the evidence they had was things they couldn't be prosecuted for. Either there was no legitimate crime on the books or all they had was the phone phreaks confession, but no tangible evidence.
It wasn't just the phone phreaks who were raising havoc on the phone company networks. The book writes of others who used black boxes and blue boxes for free calls. From Mafia bookies, to the Hare Krishna movement making fraudulent long-distance phone calls.
The book closes in 1982 when the US Dept. of Justice and AT&T came to an agreement to break up Ma Bell in the Baby Bells.
Lapsley has a degree in electrical engineering from UC. Berkeley so he as a deep first-hand understanding of the technology he is writing about. He also has the unique ability to write about bland technical topics and make them both engaging and comprehendible. He understands directly the curiosity the phone phreaks had and the passion to understand the inner workings of the phone system.
For a book that ends over 30 years ago, Phil Lapsley does a superb job of writing the story of the glory days of phone phreaking. In 2013, the notion of a domestic long-distance call is for the most not in anyone's lexicon. But making free long-distance calls was the mantra of the phone phreaks.
Exploding the Phone is the first comprehensive history of the era of phone phreaking and Lapsley has done a masterful job a making the story fascinating and readable.


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5 April 2016
In this video from Bio-Rad, you can listen to Dr Dawne Shelton describe how Droplet Digital PCR technology is being used to identify cancer subtypes, optimize drug treatment plans, monitor residual disease and study tumor evolution. Droplet Digital PCR assays offer advantages in liquid biopsies by enabling the measurement of circulating nucleic acid and circulating tumor cells in blood. Learn more about these techniques and methods in this recorded webinar.


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Welcome to Sunshine Cafè
Sunshine Cafè is frequented by celebrities, politicians, word of mouth visitors from around the world and mostly our wonderful locals. Known as a local hole in the wall with a funky vibe and fantastic food Sunshine Cafè has the perfect meal whether you are craving pancakes or our Best of The Valley Sunshine Salad. We strive to have the best food, friendly staff and comfortable atmosphere to make Sunshine one of your favorite places to eat.
Sunshine Cafe Recommended on Restaurant Guru 2019
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Mountain anglers gain toehold in national fly fishing scene
Like New York is known for its basketball legends, and Texas is known for its football stars, Western North Carolina has become one the big names in a slightly less conspicuous sport: competitive fly fishing.
Fly fishing was long dominated by the western territory of the Rockies and Sierras. But the sport has seen a shift in both interest and talent to the Southeast — and specifically the Smokies.
North Carolina's competitive fly-fishing team has been the country's top team for two years running. In individual competition, the Smokies can claim a share of high-ranking anglers.
"The North Carolina team works as feeder team for the national team," said Paul Bourcq, a competitive fly fisherman who lives in Franklin.
Around here, fishermen never know who they might encounter on a stream — given that a handful of the top anglers in the country can call each other up and be on the same water in about an hour's time.
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"In the Southeast, it's a close-knit group," Bourcq said.
They certainly have an advantage when it comes to practicing and keeping their game up. While the fabled trout fishing rivers out West are covered in snow for months every winter, the Southeast is fishable year round.
Bourcq, 28, began fishing competitively several years ago. He worked his way up through the tournament standings to make the Team USA roster for the first time last year. But at 28 years old, his competitive fly fishing aspirations don't stop there.
This year, he hopes to land a spot on the national team in the World Fly Fishing Competition — the sport's equivalent of the Olympics or the World Cup. After finishing second in a regional qualifier in Brevard last month, a strong finish at nationals this fall will put him in the running.
Bourcq is one of many Smoky Mountain fly fishermen to land spots on the USA national fly-fishing team — Eddie Pinkston from Asheville, Josh Stephens from Robbinsville, Bourcq from Franklin and Chris Lee from Bryson City can claim the title as well.
Stephens, 35, has seen the most success on the competitive circuit — twice placing among the top three fly fishermen in the United States and landing a top 20 finish at one world championship. (He's been to five worlds.)
From little fish to big fish
But anglers from the Southeast didn't always have a chance.
When Stephens first entered the sport of competitive fly fishing, he said it was hard to find any clear path of ascension. Back in the mid-2000s, Team USA Fly Fishing was comprised of an inside group of acquaintances.
If you knew about the team and you had the resources to support your fishing habit, you had a chance of making the roster and traveling to international tournaments. If not, then you were probably out of luck.
"If you didn't know somebody who was in it, you probably wouldn't know about it," Stephens said.
The fisherman in these competitive fly-fishing circles tended to be from out West. Stephens, one of the first to make it from WNC, stumbled on the opportunity by chance while competing in a casting competition in Salt Lake City. There he met the head coach of the national fly fishing team and was asked to try out for it.
He made the team in 2005, but nonetheless started to push for changes on how members were picked. He was convinced that without a systematic approach to drawing talent from across the country, the team's chance of ever being a serious player on the world stage was compromised.
"Back in the day, it was comprised of a bunch of men who could afford to go to Slovakia for a few weeks," Stephens said. "And we got our asses beat left and right."
Over the next few years a series of regional tournaments were organized — in North Carolina, New York and other states throughout the nation — plus sundry local competitions. The local tournaments kept anglers in competitive form and built training partnerships while the open regional qualifiers provided a clear path to make the national team. The competitive N.C. Fly Fishing Team was born as well, serving as a spring board to bring together the top fly fishermen from the region.
More fishermen from the Southeast began to trickle onto the national scene, about 30 years after the national fly-fishing team had been conceived.
"Then you started seeing more guys from the East Coast," Stephens said.
Although today's Team USA is still largely comprised of western fisherman, it's not uncommon to see anglers on the team from states such as North Carolina, which currently has two, and Pennsylvania, which has one.
There may be another shift on the competitive fly-fishing scene, except, this time, it's not geographic, it's generational. After years on the professional, competitive fly-fishing circuit, Stephens feels his own priorities changing. His motivation is dwindling a bit — particularly given the travel expense of competing in so many tournaments.
Furthermore, with his first baby on the way in May, Stephens expects things to change.
"That's going to reprioritize things for a bit," he said. "It will cut into the fishing time."
In the near future, Stephens may find himself off the nation's competitive team, for the first time since making Team USA in 2005.
It already happened to one top, local angler. Chris Lee, 38, made the U.S. team in 2011, but then lost his spot, following a difficult divorce and a poor season that chipped away at his qualifying chances. Despite competing in 14 tournaments in 2012, from Oregon to Georgia, Lee said he is not bent on reclaiming his spot on Team USA.
"If it happens, it happens," Lee said. "I'm not really hung up on chasing it anymore."
Casting a wide net
These days, Lee, Stephens and Bourcq are more interested in passing the pole to the next generation. All three are coaches of the U.S. Youth Fly Fishing Team.
"It's a young man's sport," Lee said. "Most of the top rods in the world are younger."
Team USA Fly Fishing has never medaled as a team at an international tournament. But the youth team, under the guidance of WNC anglers, won the youth world championships in Italy in 2011 and came in second in France last year.
Taking children at a young age and training them for competitive fly fishing is what many European national teams have done, so by the time they are in their 20s or 30s the young anglers have had years of competitive experience.
Stephens predicted that as this batch of youth fly fisherman reach maturity, the competitive fly fishing scene in the States is in for a rude awakening.
"In four to five years, the competition level for the U.S. team will be outrageous,"
Stephens said.
The next crop of young competitors may secure the Southeast's stake in the sport.
Three out of the five anglers on the youth team going to the world championship in Ireland are from Georgia and North Carolina.
As the head coach, Bourcq has gotten some flack for picking so many anglers from his neck of the woods. But the close proximity of the coaches and many of the youth anglers has given them the advantage of training together over the weekends — last week, the team gathered to practice lake fly fishing in Jackson County. Moreover, the temperate climate in the Southeast allows the team to train year-round.
"I don't waver," Bourcq said. "I pick who can win championships."
Meet the Smokies' current fly fishing greats
While competitive fly fishing essentially comes down to who catches the most, biggest fish, the ways to win and roads to success are very different for each angler. The Smoky Mountain News checked with some of the top fly fisherman and asked them how they got there and what their secrets are. You don't have to go far either, these fisherman have all competed at the highest level of competition, on the country's national team, and represented Western North Carolina while doing it.
Josh Stephens, 35
When not fishing: owns an erosion control and dumpster business. Used to be a fishing and rafting guide and once worked for the N.C. Wildlife Commission.
WNC connection: Born in Sylva, lives in Robbinsville. Also a graduate of Western Carolina University.
How he started fishing: While working as a rafting guide during the summers of his college years, Stephens was looking for ways to pass the time after the rafting runs in the Nantahala Gorge ended in the early afternoon. Watching fish surface to eat bugs on the river inspired him to try fly fishing. After that it was history.
"I realized I just couldn't stop fishing," Stephens said.
How he became competitive: While representing an outfitters lodge at an outdoor expo in California, Stephens entered a fly casting competition. His cast of more than 100 feet won him first place and qualified him for a casting tournament in Salt Lake City. There he met the coach of Team USA Fly Fishing and was asked to try out. He made the team in 2005.
Key to competition success: Stephens said the key to a good tournament finish is in the small details and preparation, making sure your hooks aren't rusty, your knots are tied right and your waders don't leak. He said so much as a crumpled sock in his boot can throw his game off.
"You have to make sure all your gear is in line," Stephens said. "If I have a wrinkled sock or something feels weird in my boot I'll take it all off. Over hours it will either wear a blister or start to hurt."
Philosophy on eating fish: "I think fish tastes nasty," he said. "I don't like how it tastes. I just like to catch them. Just a big old game is what it is."
Paul Bourcq, 28
When not fishing: Works as sales and marketing director for outdoor production company based out of Canada. Also guides fishing trips and previously was a town of Franklin police officer.
WNC connection: lives in Franklin. Attended Southwestern Community College and Western Carolina University.
How he started fishing: Born in New Orleans, Bourcq has memories of fishing that go way back. He started out spin fishing on the southern rivers and bayous for catfish with chicken livers wrapped in pantyhose to keep the bait in a tight ball. However, he didn't start trout fishing until he moved to the mountains at the age of seven and became a self-taught trout fisherman.
"I don't remember a time in my life when I didn't fish," he said.
How he became competitive: After being given direction from a local Franklin fly fishing guide, Bourcq participated in his first competition at the age of 21 and took second place.
He first made the North Carolina fly fishing team when he was 23 and Team USA Fly Fishing in 2012.
Key to competition success: Bourcq said he learned how to win by approaching other successful fisherman at tournaments and asking them what their secrets were.
"I just kind of walked up to guys and asked them 'how did you do that?'" Bourcq said. "Typically, in tournaments, most people shy away from that stuff. I didn't shy away from it, I asked them. Sometimes they don't tell me, but I always asked."
Philosophy on eating fish: Bourcq said he likes to eat fish once a year or so, but not necessarily the type he's known for catching.
"I love fish, obviously being from New Orleans," Bourcq said. "But if I'm going to eat fish I'd rather eat fried catfish than gutted trout. I look at them more as business partners and don't really want to eat them."
Chris Lee, 38
When not fishing: works as a civil engineer specializing in bridges and tunnels for the N.C. Department of Transportation. Also guides fishing trips for a local outfitter.
WNC connection:Lives in Bryson City and is a graduate of Western Carolina University.
How he started fishing: Lee grew on Deep Creek road and was raised fishing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. His stepfather first taught him to fly fish at 10 years old and the two still go fishing together.
How he became competitive: At the behest of a high school buddy, Lee participated in his first fly fishing competition at the age of 30 at an Outdoor Style Network hosted Southeast regional fly-fishing tournament in Georgia. He came in second place, but unfortunately didn't win any money.
"I didn't get a penny out of it," Lee said of a lesson about competitive fly fishing that stuck with him the rest of his career. "That's what I've learned since then, it's not for the money."
After the tournament, Lee joined the N.C. Fly Fishing Team and later made Team USA Fly Fishing in 2011.
Key to competition success: Lee said the secret to catching fish in a tournament is understanding them and then making adjusting to changes such as depth and food preference, on the fly.
"The biggest key is adapting to the conditions," Lee said. "The conditions are changing constantly — the fish are always doing something different."
Philosophy on eating fish: Although Lee said he thinks about fish everyday, he doesn't necessarily want to eat it very often. In fact, he only eats trout twice a year when he goes on backpacking trips in the Smokies.
"I will catch a limit of trout and fry them," Lee said. "That's the only time I care to eat them — it's one of those things."


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The most overused word
Once upon a time, I would tell people, "If you can't get through a sentence without saying you know 10 times, please don't speak to me!"
At least that was 2 words in a row.
And now? The most overused word has 4 letters, starts with F, and rhymes with truck.
Every time the word assaults my ears 20 times in 5 sentences I keep wondering if we've just discovered the world's best IQ test.
I don't have a lot of faith in the ones presently used. They're supposed to test your verbal intelligence and what I like to call, "The other one."
No two IQ tests are alike, and scores can vary. The first one I took was administered by a college student in a room with a white table and fluorescent lights. That was a disaster. The second one was 25 points higher, and the third was 9 points higher than that.
Did I mention that was the verbal IQ? The other one hovered between 30 and 40 points lower — and that's why the nice man at disabled student services tested me for a learning disability. In a nutshell, this was the result:
- Verbal IQ: Graduate school level
- The other one: Elementary school
It means that "The other one" can't be used against me to determine my intelligence, but I would just love to see another test added to the mix.
We need a test for social/emotional intelligence, and I have just the way to measure it!
For the last test, the participant has to wait in a room with a one-way window. The window inexplicably becomes translucent. The tester appears to be talking with an alien (a grey one would do nicely).
And then…
a grey hand appears to reach through the window and the number of times the test subject screams the F word is recorded.
The higher the number, the lower score s/he gets for social/emotional intelligence.
See? Wasn't that easy?
There is a simpler way to test IQ. Just ask.
This is the 5 finger test for intelligence taught to me by a psychologist. You can ask someone to raise the number of fingers that represents their IQ:
- 1 finger = below normal
- 2 fingers = normal
- 3 fingers = above average
- 4 fingers = bright but no genius
- 5 fingers = genius
I raised 3 1/2 fingers. Apparently, that doesn't count.
Most people pick the right number of fingers, except the ones that are insane.
Turns out, he was insane.
But remember: Just because he's crazy doesn't mean he's wrong.
©Joelle (too smart for my own good) LeGendre


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Quark has let loose QuarkXPress 10, a massive overhaul of its cross-media publishing package for both Mac and Windows. QuarkXPress has been revamped from top to bottom, starting with an under-the-hood conversion from the Carbon to the Cocoa programming frameworks and ending with a new cutting-edge graphics engine and a refreshed user interface. More than 50 feature enhancements promise to streamline the design process and improve the user experience.
Several years in the making, this new version has updated a half million lines of code, added 350,000 new lines of code, added more than 500 new dialog boxes and palettes, and added 1300 new icons designed for Retina display resolution.
QuarkXPress is now ready for action on all levels of media creation for the foreseeable future. It supports Lion and Mountain Lion features like Recent Items, Dictation, and File List in Dock. It is fully compliant with current Mac OS APIs and is Mavericks-ready.
"In recent releases of QuarkXPress, there was a big focus toward digital media, and we have some added digital functionality in version 10, but we also tried to focus on features that are relevant no matter what media you're designing for," said Gavin Drake, Quark's marketing VP. "A lot of what we see in version 10 is about features and functionalities that go across all media."
Xenon Graphics Engine
Quark 10 sports a state-of-the-art Xenon Graphics Engine designed to leverage the most powerful and advanced multicore, multiprocessor, and multithreaded processing and image-handling technologies. "The Xenon Graphics Engine is a brand-new graphics engine…that was developed by our Core Technology Group, and this is the first implementation…within one of our products," Drake says.
Xenon has what Quark calls a "native and deep understanding" of image and vector files such as PDF, AI, TIFF, JPG, PNG, and PSD, and it uses a new Adaptive Resolution feature to render the best performance at the most appropriate screen resolution. The new engine understands fonts, vectors, colors, layers, and gradients, meaning that patterns, complex gradients, and radial blends will look much better than on previous versions, according to Quark. The program can now directly manipulate TIFF color channels and clipping paths.
"The Xenon Graphics Engine drastically improves the clarity with which pixel and vector files…are rendered within QuarkXPress. It always delivers the best on-screen resolution in real time, regardless of zoom, crop, and even while positioning graphics," said Drake.
Thus, with the Xenon Graphics Engine, saving does not have to go to disk; text remains text; vectors remain vectors; and images stay as they are without being baked into RGB. In the past, for example, image previews would be cached somewhere on the hard disk, and the time to create image previews would vary depending on the type and size of the image, and the computer used. Quark 10 no longer uses image previews. The graphics engine just draws the image directly on screen using the latest processor technologies.
"The Xenon Graphics Engine handles all of the color management, so depending on what color setup you are using, the graphics engine just applies the correct model in real time to the image on the screen without having to go to a source file and create an updated RGB preview of an image that reflects your color space," said Drake. "For example, perhaps you switched your view and color settings into grayscale. In QuarkXPress 9 we would have to go and create a new grayscale image preview. That takes time and disk space. Now we just apply a grayscale color model to the image with Xenon, and it's there instantly."
QuarkXPress 10 has been optimized to take full advantage of high-resolution Retina and HiDPI displays. Adaptive Resolution means you always get the best resolution on screen, with precise positioning of imported graphics.
Modern interface
From the new full-screen view to auto-hiding dockable palettes, QuarkXPress 10 has been redesigned inside and out to improve the user experience. All told, there are fewer dialog boxes, less palette clutter, palette shortcut keys, palette drag-and-drop, and an enhanced page navigator. You can apply style sheets after creation, set default tool preferences from existing objects, reorder layout tabs, view Unicode values in the Glyphs Palette, and more. An enhanced Palette Sets feature lets you easily remember favorite configurations.
The measurements palette completely replaces the functionality of the Modify dialog box, while still including the previous shortcut keys, and enabling continued access to a layout with the option to modify more than 100 layout settings as you interact with the page.
Layers are now supported on master pages, and the Paste command remembers layers. If those layers don't exist in the target layout, QuarkXPress 10 will create new layers automatically. A new palette preference can turn this feature on or off.
New thumbnail page previews in the print dialog box ensure that your output settings are correct before you print. The new PDF Pass-Through Transparency feature lets you avoid flattening while creating smaller, device-independent PDFs. QuarkXPress objects can now interact with placed PDFs and maintain transparency.
The Key Item Space/Align feature lets you align and space objects relative to a key item in the layout; just select a key item first, and everything else will be relative to it. The Highlight Missing Fonts feature makes it easy to find text that uses a missing font in a layout. You can even change the highlight color in the preferences.
Bezier tool enhancements include the abilities to continue or close an existing path, and support for joining two paths.
Like its counterpart from Adobe, QuarkXPress 10 gets with the QR-code revolution. The new version lets you generate vector Quick Response (QR) codes directly within the program and style and color them the way you want. It supports text QR codes such as URLs, SMS, and vCards.
Full-screen color browsing features let you use the full size of your screen to add and edit colors. You can browse Pantone colors in multiple views.
Word and Asian language support
QuarkXPress 10 now lets you import images and hyperlinks from Microsoft Word, so you can directly integrate Word documents with embedded or linked pictures into a layout. Hyperlinks are automatically honored and added to the Hyperlinks palette. East Asian typography features are now in every edition of the program, so you can control Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, and Korean layouts.
Improved IME (Input Method Editor) support corrects entered text without your having to retype the phonetic text by choosing different characters from the candidate list. You can send text to Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and third-party IMEs.
"Typing Japanese and Chinese text is time-consuming, because users have to type the phonetic ("unconfirmed") text first, and then choose the Han characters from a list of candidates provided by the IME. Once the user chooses from the candidate list, the text becomes "confirmed" (entered). However, correcting the entered text when the user selects a wrong character(s) is very time-consuming because the user would have to retype the phonetic text again," said Drake. QuarkXPress 10 makes the process more efficient by letting users choose different characters from the candidate list without having to retype the phonetic text each time.
App Studio
QuarkXPress 10 also has updated support for App Studio, QuarkXPress's built-in mobile app creation companion, providing continued support for the software's ePub and HTML5 authoring tools.
While the company has released few specific details so far, Quark says there is a detailed roadmap dictating a series of updates for App Studio. However, Quark has revealed App Studio's new abilities to flip shapes horizontally and vertically, and to set a separate trim view pasteboard color.
Pricing, availability, and system support
QuarkXPress 10 will be available for Mac OS X 10.7 and 10.8 and Windows 7 and 8 for $849. Upgrades cost $349. It will also support Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) when Apple releases the OS update. It will open legacy file formats from QuarkXPress version 7 and higher. The software will be released publicly in mid- to late August as a cross-platform, perpetual license with dual activation.
QuarkXPress 10 will no longer support OS X Leopard (10.5) or Snow Leopard (10.6), Windows XP or Vista, Flash (SWF), Blio, or HTML 4; it will rely on HTML5.
Quark recently instituted new upgrade guidelines for all users, encouraging legacy owners to upgrade to QuarkXPress 9, the current version. Owners of QuarkXPress 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 have until August 30, 2013, to upgrade to QuarkXPress 9. Those with the Buy 9 Get 10 Free promotion, will receive QuarkXPress 10 for free. Owners of QuarkXPress 8 have until August 30 to upgrade to version 9, and until December 31 to upgrade to version 10 for free. Also, starting now, and for a limited time, Quark is offering all QuarkXPress 9 users a 20 percent discount on preorders of QuarkXPress 10.
Macworld's podcast features an interview with Quark marketing VP, Gavin Drake. Tune in for more details about the new QuarkXPress 10.
Updated 7/29/12 to change "programming environment" to "programming framework."


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Transfer GBP to NGN quickly and easily by comparing the latest exchange rates, and best provider fees, speed and reviews from United Kingdom to Nigeria.
Best Providers for Sending Money to Nigeria from United Kingdom
When considering how to send money Nigeria from United Kingdom there are some key aspects of the transfer that will impact the best provider for your needs.
There are plenty of international money transfer providers for United Kingdom to Nigeria. The fastest provider is WorldRemit. The cheapest provider we found is WorldRemit at 901.00% Above Mid-Market Rate.
If you're looking for the best combination of price, speed, and reliability we recommend using WorldRemit when sending GBP - NGN.
This means that by using WorldRemit for online money transfers to Nigeria from United Kingdom, you are likely to save on transfer fees and benefit from fast speeds - so your recipient will get more money and have it delivered in less time.
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In order to avoid high fees, you should consider the cheapest way to send money from United Kingdom to Nigeria.
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The fastest way to send money from United Kingdom to Nigeria
When sending money from United Kingdom to Nigeria, speed is one of the biggest factors you need to consider in terms of the service offered by different money transfer providers, particularly if you want to send money instantly. Currently, WorldRemit is the fastest way to send GBP - NGN.
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Most money transfer providers allow you to deposit and send money using various payment methods, but not all providers offer every option. Typically you'll find the most common methods are bank transfers and card payments, but many providers also accept cash and some will even deliver funds straight to your recipient's door.
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When sending money to Nigeria from United Kingdom using bank account transfer you are paying for the outgoing fees, flat fees, currency exchange rate markup, and sometimes an additional incoming transfer fee. If you do decide to make an international transfer using wire transfer, you might be required to use a SWIFT/BIC code when completing your transaction. If you're unsure of what it is, check out our guide on what is a SWIFT code as well as use our SWIFT code calculator to find the right SWIFT/BIC code.
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Considerations for a GBP to NGN Currency Transfer
Before sending money to Nigeria from United Kingdom, you should consider the following:
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Hidden fees & charges: Before sending money to Nigeria, make sure the provider you are using doesn't charge any hidden fees. Our reviews of the top ranked providers WorldRemit, Passto and Wise will give insight here.
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This one's easy. Simply use our comparison table above to find the best provider to send GBP to NGN. After that it's just a process of making your transfer via the following steps:
Click "Visit Site" inside our comparison table
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Your recipient has a few methods available to receive your money in Nigeria. These will vary between providers, but it is possible to find services that will:
Deposit NGN directly into a bank account
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If your recipient is going to collect or have the money delivered to them in Nigeria, then they will usually need the following:
A government issued I.D document
The money transfer reference number
Senders details and the amount of money sent
How much money can be transferred from United Kingdom to Nigeria?
The amount of NGN you can receive from United Kingdom will largely depend on the money transfer service you are using. There are providers that specialise in smaller remittance payments, and providers who specialise in larger transfers.
You should also check if there are any government regulations pertaining to the amount of NGN that can be received in Nigeria or sent from United Kingdom before making your transfer.