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Ordering Terms & Conditions
Please be assured that your order security is a primary concern here at Huggins Printing Co. Therefore, we have used the most sophisticated encryption technologies on the market today to be sure your transactions are worry-free. Please click on the GeoTrust icon to view our certificate of security.1) Item processing time
After the receiving of your order, we need some time to test the product in order to ensure its quality. There are different kinds of processing time for different items. Average processing time is 3 working days; however, it varies from the item's stock status. As for the small quantity, the processing time is 1-3 days while as for the large quantity, it will be about 2-10 days. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2) Shipping method
After we send out your items, the time when you receive your products varies from the method you choose.
|Shipping VIA UPS
|4-8 working days
|Shipping VIA DHL
|5-10 working days
|Shipping VIA EMS
|6-15 working days
|HongKong Air Mail
|10-30 working days
Please note that:
The transit time would also be different from the size or weight of your items and your location. What we list above is the time to reach the main country and district in the world; while as for some other countries they may need transfers so the the delivery time will be longer.
If you are dropshipping from 458.ME, you also need to bear in mind that Customs clearance in your country could add delays and taxes or fees for the recipient, so check with your local Customs, chat to us about it, and make sure you are up front about this with your end customers. www.458.me has hundreds of regular dropship business buyers, and you can start your own international selling business with our help.
How to Pay Import Taxes
You have to know about the import duty rule of your country before placing order. As we know, many countries do not charge import duties on private items, samples, and goods below a certain stated value.
Please note:
458.ME is not responsible for the import duties and Customs cost. As we are in China and not clear about the Customs tax policy of your country, so we do not know how to predict the import duties and other relevant cost which should pay in your country when the goods are passing your country Customs.WE does not add any sales taxes to the orders.
We Make Every Effort to Ensuring The Quality of Your Products
458.ME sources unique, hi-tech products from Chinese Mainland factories.
The factories are often OEMs for big, well-known electronic brands. Their product quality is excellent. But to further guarantee the quality of the products you buy from us, we've set up a rigorous quality control process for all products.Every product you buy from us has been quality controlled by our QC technicians before it was shipped out, which is a double check over the factory QC inspection.
All products are visually inspected for good appearance.
All products are switched on and have their main functions tested one by one.
All packages are checked to ensure that they contain the correct accessories. Accessories such as earphones and cables are tested as well.
Common Problems in The Process of Shipping
a) Because of the delay or failure of the China Customs clearance(eg: It is common for the cellphones or products with battery to encounter this kind of problem), we will choose some other methods such as DHL or TNT to deliver your parcel and return the price disparity to you;
b) The international express can't get to some spacial addresses(eg, post office box or military base), we will accordingly choose a kind of suitable method to deliver your product and return the price disparity;
c) During the Christmas period (December), the number of the postal parcel which reach Hong Kong increases fast, which will lead to a waiting time of all the products. At that time we will choose UPS or EMS to send out your product and return the price disparity;
d) When the parcel get to the target country's Customs, they may need to contact you in certain cases to confirm details of the shipment. The fees caused by the procedure of the clearance should be paid by the consignee;
e) The expense caused by the parcel rejection will be afforded by the consignee;
f) The extra expense caused by some cases (eg, Address is not very clear or the consignee can not be contacted) should be paid by the recipient; if the parcel is destroyed by the Customs, the expense is also paid by the consignee;
g) the problem of detain caused by the failure of the clearance, we will resend the product or refund(not including shipping cost).
Methods to Solve A Shipping Problem
First of all, shipping problems are relatively rare. We check all orders to ensure the delivery information is sufficient for the courier, and tracking details are given to customers so that they know when to get the delivery. For the problems happened in the process of shipping ePathChina will offer full assistance including:
a) In these cases which the package has apparently been broken during shipment or the package or goods are damaged, the customer can refuse receipt of the goods and clearly state the problem to the courier. Then the customer must contact ePathChina and we will resolve the matter with the courier. Once the issue has been confirmed we will follow up the insurance claim with the courier and ship a replacement order to the customer as soon as possible. Such cases are in fact very rare.
b) If the package is lost or misrouted by accident or by the fault of the courier, we will pursue the nsurance claim with the courier and create a replacement dispatch of goods for the customer as soon as possible.
c) Cases where the package is delivered to the wrong address: in this eventuality ePathChina will work with the courier to solve the problem and ship new goods to the customer as soon as possible.
Please also refer to the public terms and conditions of the courier used for the shipment. Their terms will include time limits for claims and complaints about damage etc, after you have signed for the goods.
Return Policy & Warranty:
If Item is defective, Please contact us to request a return authorization.
We offer a 14 day return and exchange policy if the item is faulty.
If the item is faulty, it must be reported to us within 7 days via EMAIL, otherwise an exchange will not be granted.
We do not cover the postage cost for any defect items for replacement. We only cover the postage cost if the purchased item was delivered wrongly.
1 Year Replacement Warranty,15 Days Unconditional Refund Warranty.
Our email: email@example.com


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'Sex at the Zoo'
Dolly Brake and Ed Brake Love was in the air -- and and on screen -- Valentine's Day at The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Some 250 folks filled the Mansion House for the zoo's annual "Sex at the Zoo" party. They enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, while getting up-close-and-personal with a few of the zoo's inhabitants, like a kookaburra who serenaded guests with its trademark call. "OK. That is the cutest rabbit I have ever seen," exclaimed one passer-by about Cinnamon, a lionhead rabbit being cradled by April Wielgosz, Maryland Zoo animal keeper. Meanwhile, volunteer Carol Jones had the toughest babysitting job of the night, as a prehensile-tailed porcupine kept climbing onto her head and shoulders, squirming around to avoid all the human attention. However, the highlight of the night would be a talk and video presentation by the zoo's Lindsay Jacks and Margie Rose-Innes about the rather interesting aspects of some animals' love lives. "It's a little bit risque, if you will," said Stephanie Drummond, Maryland Zoo events and community relations manager, who organized the event. "It kind of keeps things interesting in our off-season," she added, with a twinkle in her eye. "Unusual topics, but we tend to have fun with it," said Ed Brake, board chairman, with a smile. -- Sloane Brown
Karen Jackson, The Baltimore Sun
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Austin's KLRU is hosting Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley TONIGHT on "Overheard" with Evan Smith. Please note that this event is free, but RSVP is required. In the event page here, you can do just that.
Time: 7pm
Map and directions to KLRU here.
The band is in town to perform "The Love Song of R. Buckminster Fuller" as a collaboration with filmmaker Sam Green. Love song premiered in 2012 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art as part of the San Francisco International Film Festival. This revival will be in Austin for only one night and two performances on April 17th.
"Love Song examines Fuller's remarkable life as a visionary architect, designer, and social critic, most famous for his creation of the geodesic dome. Green draws heavily from the Fuller archive at Stanford, an astonishing collection of notes, letters, blueprints, photographs, films, and ephemera that contains a wonderful record of the utopian thinker and creator's massive body of work. Yo La Tengo's eclectic indie rock provides live musical accompaniment to the film and Green's live narration."
More information about this event can be found here.


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Welcome to the Texas A&M International University Student Counseling Center (SCS). Our goal is to empower students to be capable and competent adults while adjusting to the challenges and transitions of the University life, as well as helping faculty and staff function more effectively in their work with students.
As a TAMIU student, you have access to counseling services without additional charge. SCS is supported by the student health fees paid each semester; therefore, counseling services are available to currently enrolled students. In addition, consultation services are offered to students, faculty and staff.
SCS provides short-term individual counseling services to help students address personal problems that interfere with their academic success. Our services are confidential to the full limits provided by the law.
If you are not sure what services might be best for you, please call to set up an appointment at 956-326-2230. Due to the number of students seeking our services, appointments are preferred, however walk-ins are welcome.
Student Counseling and Disability Services
Zaffirini Student Success Center 138
Phone: (956) 326-2230
Fax: (956) 326-2231


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Returns are accepted within 60 days of the purchase date online. Your apparel must be in original and unworn condition, with tags still attached. Footwear returns must also include the original box.
See our Customer Service section for more details. Visit Customer Service
Choose your country
Columbia Sportswear Company 1425 Max Brose Dr, London, Ontario N6N 0A2
http://www.columbiasportswear.ca/ (800) 622-6953


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|Rethink Architecture Now !
|by Annie McConnell, February 25, 2009
Humans have never respected the fundamental values of a human society. We have lost the sense of importance of family, we do not understand or respect our traditions, we have found ways to separate our societies into haves and have-nots, insiders and outsiders, good and evil, wanted and unwanted, friends and enemies, we rape other peoples' sisters, we kill other peoples' brothers and we have managed to disconnect ourselves from our instincts more than ever before in the history of humanity.
What follows naturally is our lack of respect for the environment. Consequently, what they now call sustainable architecture is just an illusion. I repeat: there simply cannot be sustainable architecture, unless there is a change of culture. Unless people discover the respect they have lost for themselves and their neighbor. And this they can only discover through a completely different way of life aiming at achieving cultural sustainability that will eventually lead to environmental sustainability
Architects should eschew expensive sophisticated, so-called green techniques and materials. Instead, Green architecture must be globally affordable. It must be internationally adopted as the right way to build. That will help us change the existing western culture, by transforming people's lives through communicating to them the importance of maintaining life and saving energy resources.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Rethink Architecture Now !
Posted by architecture masters at 8:27 PM
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Featured post
Ma Jian's China Dream: "We have to remain constantly vigilant"
There is a great profile and interview with Ma Jian, in this weekend's Guardian on the need for fearlessness in writing, on not bei...
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
Pushpak - the Greatest Modern Silent-ish Film Ever Made
I enjoyed The Artist, but then I saw Pushpak, a1987 silent/dialogue-free Indian film and I was quite blown away. It must be one of the few films in which an enema is central to the plot, yet still it won the award for Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment
The basic premise is of an unemployed man (see the Karl Marx poster in his room) who gets the chance to take on somebody else's identity - and wallet. There's a magician, an assassin, knives made of ice, there's love and an a soundtrack of Hong Kong kung-fu films. It's one of my favourite films ever just because I've never seen anything quite like it. Just shows it's all been done before. Silent that is? Er, anyway, it's all on youtube. Fabulous.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Bechdel Test
The Bechdel Test is a test to see if women play any part in a movie. There are 3 parts to the Bechder Test.
1. It has to have at least 2 named women in it.
2.Who Talk to each other.
3. About something besides a man.
Watch the video at the top to see which of the Oscar winners passed this year's test.
I'm not sure what the photographic equivalent (not necessarily to do with women) would be for Photojournalism/Documentary/Conceptual/Fashion photography, but there should be one .
Friday, 24 February 2012
Tory Cumfaces
I enjoyed talking to Mishka Henner today about his intriguing new book Less Americains for a piece in the BJP. It's a great book that touches on so many things, combining old ways of working with old ways of how exactly we look at photos. More on that at a later date but in the meantime Mishka mentioned how we need to expand Photography into more vernacular uses, how we need to look at wider uses of photography and perhaps integrate these into our practice.
So with that in mind, I stumbled on these Tory Cumfaces. Enoch Powell proves that black and white still has a place in the new photographic order, but I'm still waiting for a decent Jacob Rees-Mogg though.
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Did Goya Dehumanise War?
Mrs Deane chipped in on the World Press Photo debate surrounding Samuel Aranda, the World Press Photo winner. In her first comment she suggested there wasn't anything new in the argument about alleged religious identities in the image and that perhaps we should move on. She's right on that, especially when the basis for much of the debate is rather too much like nasty scramble of category mistakes and mixed metaphors.
In connection with the idea of old debates, I recently revisited these three pictures.
The pictures above are of Florence and Eliza Holder - and I revisit them about every week. They are in the Barnados Children's Home archive. Taken in 1876, the first picture shows two loving sisters clad in clean but threadbare dresses, wearing shoes, arms around each other. This is how they arrived at Barnado's home, brought by their mother who could no longer afford to look after them properly. The second shows one of Barnado's publicity pictures, with Florence 'shown' as a before picture.Her hair is unkempt hair, she has barefeet, she has no family and no love and to really nail the indignity her dress is rumpled suggesting she might be a child prostitute. It's a set up picture, Barnado's version of her "before" she came to his home. You can read more about these pictures on page 39 of Carol Mavor's Pleasures Taken.
The story of the pictures came out in court in 1877, so the debate of whether it was ethical to manipulate pictures and emotions, especially those of the mother who the picture suggests is both neglectful and morally lax, was apparent even then and no doubt before.
The picture below is by W.Willoughby Hooper and is of subjects in a Tamil famine in India. Hooper invited the people into his studio and photographed them before sending them on their way without even a crust of bread to make death less undignified.
One newspaper apparently reported (thank you Iconic Photos):
"People who still delude themselves with the idea that the famine, if it has any existence at all, has been greatly exaggerated, could see [the photos], and they would lay aside that notion for good … Their knowledge will enable them to testify that these photographs are not representations of exceptional cases of suffering, but are typical of the actual conditions of immense numbers of people in the Madras Presidency."
So it seems that a lot of the arguments that we still see go back to the 19th century at least. Perhaps people argued over Goya, saying that his depictions of war were shallow and dehumanising, perhaps Breughel the Younger's paintings were criticised for their exploitation of the peasant classes.Maybe we could go back even further to the time when gentle Neanderthals objecting to the artists of the Lascaux cave painting, saying that they degraded the bulls and glamourised hunting.
I was reading a review on The Origins of Sex recently, a book that looks at sexuality from 1600 to 1800. It includes this quote from the book.
When a William Brown was caught with another man's hand down his breeches in 1726, he retorted, "I think there is no harm in making what use I please of my own body." By the end of that century, Britain had an astonishingly radical Free Love movement. Alas, just around the corner lurked the Victorians, and that was the end of that until the 20th century.
So the arguments go around and the come around, in all things as in photography. And in photography, they are all good arguments to go over, but maybe there should be some new discussions. I think that when Roland Barthes died, there was a regret that he never did his over-reaching semiotic encapsulation of all things photographic, that the chaos of the still image was never resolved into one unified system of philosophical understanding. Photography is so complex that this is not possible, it is so fluid and flitting that it never seems to settle. But now there are so many images, so many more changes, it somehow seems like it is settling, that there is a looking back in a way that is not a 1980s style regurgitation of old forms but a consideration of old forms in a way that informs the present and the way we consume and view images on a daily basis. It's not coherent yet, perhaps because there are so many new ideas, both in practice and in theory, opening up. Exactly what these new ideas are I'm not quite sure yet, but that they are there I'm certain.
Monday, 20 February 2012
War Primers 1 and 2
I was looking at Broomberg and Chanarin's War Primer 2. It was printed in a sold-out edition of 100 and cost £350 a go so I don't have a copy, but I'd like one. You can't really see it too well on screen but you can see a BJP review here).
Instead, have a look at the book that inspired it - published in 1955, Bertold Brecht's War Primer
consists of pictures cut out of newspapers with poems written by Brecht to accompany them.
Brecht said, "Don't start with the good old things but the bad new ones," which is the spirit in which Broomberg and Chanarin made their version.
More of the bad new things please. There's a lot of it about.
Instead, have a look at the book that inspired it - published in 1955, Bertold Brecht's War Primer
consists of pictures cut out of newspapers with poems written by Brecht to accompany them.
Brecht said, "Don't start with the good old things but the bad new ones," which is the spirit in which Broomberg and Chanarin made their version.
More of the bad new things please. There's a lot of it about.
You, in your tanks and bombers, mighty warriors,
You that in Algiers sweat, in Lapland freeze
In scores of battles you have been victorious
See whom you've conquered. Hail your victories!
You that in Algiers sweat, in Lapland freeze
In scores of battles you have been victorious
See whom you've conquered. Hail your victories!
Those you see lying here, buried in mud
As if they lay already in their grave–
They're merely sleeping, are not really dead
Yet, not asleep, would still not be awake.
As if they lay already in their grave–
They're merely sleeping, are not really dead
Yet, not asleep, would still not be awake.
That's how the world was going to be run!
The other nations mastered him, except
(In case you think the battle has been won)–
The womb is fertile still from which that crept.
The other nations mastered him, except
(In case you think the battle has been won)–
The womb is fertile still from which that crept.
Saturday, 18 February 2012
cruel and unusual
The Cruel and Unusual exhibition, organised by Pete Brook of Prison Photography and Hester Keijser of Mrs Deane is on at Noorderlicht.
If you are over in the Netherlands, go and see it, if you're not see the exhibition catalogue/newspaper here and get it free here - you only pay for shipping and handling (E1.50). It looks fantastic and is testament to the fabulous work of Pete and Hester and also how the internet and blogs are having a real impact that is breaking new ground and making new visual discoveries and connections.
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Did Casie and Dresie Dance?
One of the interesting things about seeing Roger Ballen's video of I fink u freeky by Die Antwoord is how it changes the way one sees his previous work.
Ballen started in documentary and moved into apparently darker psychological corners as he progressed, adding layers of wire, animals, graffiti, masks and cardboard boxes into ever weirder concoctions. He played up to this with his entertaining talks, a psychodramas which mixed performance with hypothesis and a claim to the subconscious.
I always remember seeing the Chapman Brothers on TV talking about their Hell dioramas and saying how they were dives into the subconscious and what could be more subconscious than Nazis and kids with penis-faces. Well, the ultimate conclusion I came to was what could be more conscious than that.
Sam Taylor-Wood once gave a commentary on The Chapman Brothers when they were altering £20 at Frieze (or something like that). The Chapman Brothers claimed the currency defacing undermines something or other and challenges this or that and subverts the rest. "But does it though?" said Taylor-Wood when appraised of this claim.
Indeed. Does it though? The retort to fit virtually every artist statement.
The same can be said of Roger Ballen's work. It's funny seeing the video, because it's a funny video. I've shown it a few disparate groups of people over the last few days and everyone seems to like it - they watch it with a smile on their face and leave humming the words to the song. I watch it with a smile on my face. I laugh and dance and what could be better than that. And roachs in the omelette. Yuk! Disgusting! Fabulous!!
So it seems that Ballen, who used to inhabit a world where the discourse of sobriety and pretension held sway, has entered a new discourse, that of entertainment.
And in a strange way, that alters everything he has ever done. There is always the temptation to use a shorthand critique of his work that can essentially be boiled down to weird with a beard and, having seen the video, it seems that is exactly what it is. Forget about race, costume, torture, exploitation or anything remotely to do with levels of consciousness, first and foremost he made his work to be weird and weird is entertainment. Because that's what he did with the video.
Or maybe not. Maybe we can get into the discourse of South African music and culture. And then we have to redefine our thoughts in that way. Did Die Antwoord rip the music off, are they racist and homophobic, are they really poor Afrikaans, are they Blackface?
Oh my God, we're back into the same territory of wondering exactly what Ballen was doing making his pictures in the first place, of how and where it all fits into a global scheme of things. As for a South African scheme of things, I am just too ignorant of the cultural subtleties and projectings one's national racial stereotypes onto another country just doesn't work wherever you are talking about, wherever you come from.
Personally, I'm happy to see Ballen moving up and away from the dark world of his still wonderful (but are they though?) but increasingly self-consciously made photographs. I'll laugh at the video and do the same I do with pretty much all music I like that has sentiments I might not fully agree with. I'll pretend I didn't hear the words and that even if I did, then it doesn't really matter. And if I do think of it too much, then I'll do as Baloo did in the Jungle Book, when him and Bagheera are about to rescue Mowgli from King Louie and the monkeys. Baloo's mad, but as the music plays, Baloo weakens. "I'll tear him limb from limb, I'll beat him. I'll... I'll... Well, Man what a beat I'm gone man, solid gone."
Some quotes Roger Ballen gave (from an old blog post).
"I have created a Roger Ballen World."
"The meaning comes from the eyes."
"What are we trying to protect when we make our walls white and clean?"
"We are scared of nature. We are scared of animals."
"The relationship between people and animals is adverserial and usually one way. People who think differently are fooling themselves."
"What if I told you after I took this picture, the man took the puppy outside and strangled it? Would you believe me?"
"Modern life has blocked the relationship between man and animal. That's why people go out and buy a dog or a bunch of flowers."
"The horns may be plastic but they still mean something."
"Work done subconsciously is most important - don't walk away from your footprints."
"The eyes only reach you because they have the same emotion you have. Blankness."
"I did everything. You can't take photographs like me."
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
South African Culture
Roger Ballen directed this video by Die Antwoord, South Africa's finest and it shows just a little, just a few hints in there. There's a PHD in here somewhere, but at the same time it's kind of fun. Grand Guignol meets the Adams Family.
Monday, 6 February 2012
Atget and Terrain Vague
I was looking at pictures by Mohamed Bourouissa and was wondering about the Parisian banlieues in which they were set. What is the story there because that kind of beyond the Pale environment is something that we don't have in the same way in the UK. Not quite and not yet - with the current economic cleansing of London, we will start having something along these lines in the next few years.
So I was wondering about this and then I got a copy of City Gorged with Dreams. It's by Ian Walker and interweaves Paris, surrealism, documentary photography. And it directly connects tot he work of Bourousisa as well as the idea of Terrain Vague, that ending of one landscape and beginning of another. He explains the idea Terrain Vague is connected to the area outside the fortifications of Paris. Walker quotes a passage from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables.
To wander in a kind of reverie, to take a stroll as they call it, is a good way for a philosopher to spend his time; particularly in that kind of bastard countryside, somewhat ugly but bizarre, made up of two different natures, whih surrounds certain great cities, notably Paris. To observe the banlieue is to observe an amphibian. End of trees, beginning of roofs, end of grass, beginning of paving stones, end of ploughed fields, beginning of shops, the end of the beaten track, the beginning of the passions, the end of the murmur of all things divine, the beginning of the noise of humankind - all of this holds an extraordinary interest. And thus, in these unattractive places, forever marked by the passer-by with the epithet sad, the promenades, apparently aimless, of the dreamer.
Walker notes the fascination of the surrealists with this terrain vague. "The most extensive of these derelict spaces lay between the Parisian fortifications and the banlieue; the Zone. This was a strip of land about 250 metres wide immediately in front of the fortifications where builiding had been forbidden for defensive purposes. But the Zone outlived such practicalities and by the late nineteenth century it was inhabited by gypsies, ragpickers, , itinerants - known collectively as zoniers - whose presence had become integral to the myth of the city itself."
Eugene Atget photographed the Zoniers, so did Man Ray - who bought seven of Atget's chaos ridden prints.of the Zone. The Zone came to an end in 1973 when the boulevard periperique was completed, making for a new and very different Terrain Vague.
Which puts Bourouissa's work into a much wider historical and photographic context, replete with ides of ethnic, social, economic and planning histories.
There is so much photography based on different kinds of Edgelands and terrains vagues, where walls, borders and boundaries of some kind or other create a buffer zone and different environments, architectures or cultures can mingle and mix. I'm not sure how much of a shelf life some of this work has, but where the histories are clearly delineated to make apparent the specific differences, and where the social histories are brought out, it can be absolutely fascinating. The problem here of course is that the picture on its own don't always tell the story on their own; instead social and cultural backdrops form the narrative drive with which the images build and intertwine. Sometimes, the pictures on their own just aren't enough.. There is a symbiotic relationship between text and supporting material - the one without the other is really of no use whatsoever.
Gallery of Eugene Atget Zone pictures
Tim Atherton On Atget with links to other articles.
Friday, 3 February 2012
Death and Deceit
I enjoyed reading Joerg Colberg's musings on the defiance of death. It fits right in with internet discourse which is so different and less formal to that of other media, but at the same time, if you are selective and discerning to some extent, richer, more informative, thought-provoking and fun. And it can be lots of bad things too, but then so can everything.
Back to death and a link in to the previous post. From the top, we have Alexander Gardner, W.Willoughby Hooper's famine pictures from Madras, Memento Mori pictures, death by dismemberment from 1890 in China, an Indiana lynching from 1930, World War II deaths including Dimitri Baltermants Ukrainian mothers, Lee Miller's river corpse and the Nuremburg executions, the body of Che Guevara, Eddie Adams' Vietcong suspect getting shot, Jeffrey Silverthorne's morgue lady, the body of Mao, Joel Peter Witkin's kiss, an Andres Serrano morgue picture, Paul Watson's Mogadishu picture, a Sally Mann, Walter Schels' Nochmalleben, Saddam Hussein and Colonel Gaddafi. And just to bring things round full circle, I could have added some contemporary memento mori from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep.
It's death all the way in other words but over a range of uses, formats and connotations, with readings that shift and shimmer and remain unfixed. Death is used to inform, to sensationalise, to memorialise, sentimentalise, to portray as primitive, to villify, to justify and to glorify. It's a sign of community, a symbol of shame, of power corrupted and a chance to gloat. Death is used to warn, to remember, to spiritualise and to signify and end to the old and the beginning of something new. It's used persuasively as evidence, unwittingly as a witness, a sign of our essential mortality and our attempt to defy that, to defy and deify. For Witkin, death is Grand Guignol, for Serrano it's money. Death in Mogadishu comes packed with different meanings, collapse and chaos, hatred, humiliation as well as an embedded one of vengeance. Sally Mann reminds us of the fluidity of life, of our organic core, how we melt back into the ground. Saddam is a picture of chickens coming home to roost, of the thing that goes around has come around, and will go around and come around again. Gaddafi is vengeance, humiliation and hypocrisy.
At the heart of all death is some form of deceit, a grey area where the uncertainty of what lies beyond meets with our own attempts to change our fate, to shift the goalposts, to defy the end that awaits us all. Most obviously, we can see this with the Victorian memento mori, where corpses are propped up and eyes painted into to a facsimile of a family snapshot, only with one member as dead and stiff as a board. In the near dead famine pictures of Willoughby, the deceit isone of general humanity, of how, after taking the photos, he would send the famine victims on his way without giving them treatment, food or help.
The embalming of Mao, or Lenin, or Ho, was an attempt to sanctify and deify, to prevent death even as incompetent embalming collapses in on itself. Sally Mann's pictures of death do the opposite, allowing the flesh to melt back into the ground from which it once grew, as if it had never existed, as if it had never been part of a living body and soul, with a mind and a heart, part of a memory, a consciousness that still lingers somehow, somewhere in someone's heart
And Paul Watson's pictures of David Cleveland are inundated with deceit. For Somalis, the lie is that this was any kind of victory, that anything but bad came of it, and for the US - well it's not too far different really but with more contemporary resonances.
And what of Saddam and Gaddafi. These are desecrations, a humiliation of a figure and a regime, but desecrations that in their cruelty and inhumanity, bring back to life the very figures they seek to destroy. These pictures don't signify endings, only a return to the same beginning. That's their deceit.
But in real life, outside the photograph, isn't that what we do with death - we fear it, we cheat it, we glorify it and deny it. We do all those things because what do we really know in the end. And so in that respect, aren't these pictures as truthful as you can get, reflections of the human condition in all its ignorance uncertainty. It's not propaganda. It's just the way we are.
And that, dear readers, is the discourse of the internet. Notebook style. .
Posted by colin pantall at 16:28 2 comments: Links to this post
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Nigerian Nostalgia
The previous post on Narrators Photo led me to Pop Africana which led to Nigerian Nostalgia, a Facebook group dedicated to Nigerian Nostalgia. I'm currently enjoying Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Nigerian Nostalgia adds a visual edge to it, a kind of detached illustration of a particular way of life, a story board to Adichie's organic picturisations. Her characters resonate with me and remind of the time when I lived in a shared house with a Nigerian guy who simply loved telling me that if I was living in his country then I would be doing the washing up, the cleaning and every other household chore which I could care to imagine - and I never doubted him for one second. And when he wasn't telling me that, he was reluctantly middle-manning sugar deals for his relatives in Lagos, something he hated doing but couldn't avoid for family reasons.
Much of Narrators Photo is dedicated to old celebrities, domestic products and group photos. It's a fascinating mix of what makes up our memories, a Nigerian equivalent of people of a certain age reminiscing about Angel's Delight, Z-Cars, Ford Anglias and the three day week.
However, the pictures that jumped out at me were these of public executions, in the top case the death by firing squad of the Oyenusi Gang.
This was an event witnessed by Ken Udoibok, one that he regards as an affront to human dignity. He writes:
I was 13 years old on a Saturday morning in 1973. While my parents were at work, I sneaked away from my home in Lagos, Nigeria. I was going to the beach. Not for fun or frolicking in the sun, but for a far more serious reason: I was going to witness an execution.
The sun beat down furiously that morning, but by 1 that afternoon, a dark cloud had formed over the beach. A large crowd stood by somberly as two army trucks and a black van drove onto the beach. I squeezed my way through the crowd to catch a glimpse of the infamous man being transported in the black van. Oyenusi, a notorious armed robber, had robbed banks and businesses in Nigeria for many years.
Three soldiers walked up to the black van and stood at attention. One of them yelled a command. Suddenly, the door of the vehicle was flung open. Slowly, Oyenusi appeared, his hands tied behind his back. He wore a dark long-sleeved shirt, dark loafers and wrinkled trousers. He was sweating profusely, his glance furtive as if he expected to see someone. He continued to scan the crowd as the soldiers tied him to a stick.
"Who's he looking for?" one of the spectators whispered to a friend.
Seven soldiers formed a line facing Oyenusi. An officer yelled a command and, in unison, the soldiers took aim at Oyenusi.
Oyenusi shuddered as the bullets riddled his body. Moments later, his lifeless body slumped over the rope that held him to the stick.
The events were shown on TV - one comment on Facebook says, "These executions were shown on NBC back then. Some of the criminals would shout out ( only saw their mouth action). Probably, shouting obscenes of abuse at the executors. Some refused the religious priest blessing, some looked dead terrified before shots were fired. The camera would pan on everyone of them. Then there is a command, the rambles of shot fired and to slumped bodies tied to the stake infront of the drums. It was a family viewing show. Everyone gathered around to watch the telly while there were also live viewing. Some of these accused were defiant vocally until you see them slump."
It all seems so dreadful and exotic and distant but then I wondered at what the British equivalent of this kind of nostalgia is; what shared bloody memories do we have of the last 50 years, and the memories came thick and fast.
Back to Kenneth Odoibok, who also witnessed a family member being executed ( and who wrote this at a when Timothy McVeigh was about to be executed).
If those who support public executions were to experience the horror of actually witnessing an execution, they would forever question the rationale of state-sponsored killings. Next, there will be live television broadcasts of executions. Too extreme, you think? The trend has already started with the decision to broadcast McVeigh's execution by closed circuit. It is a mistake. So long as governments by example show disregard for life by executing criminals, private individuals will display similar disregard for life. In the end, there will be more killings and the value of all of our lives will be diminished.
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The Saints and tailback Deuce McAllister officially will part ways in a joint press conference this afternoon, ending one of the most successful and popular runs in franchise history.
The news comes as no real surprise, though it still will come as a blow to the Saints fan base.
McAllister, who turned 30 in December, had four years remaining on his contract. But his role was greatly diminished last season after he returned from his second major knee injury in three years. And he was set to earn $5.3 million in salary and bonuses in 2009.
The Saints will save more than $4 million in salary-cap space this year now that McAllister is off the roster. His "cap figure" will decrease from $7.3 million to roughly $3 million. The way the cap works, the Saints still need to account for $3 million of his signing bonus from the eight-year, $50.1 million contract extension he signed in 2005.
The team was projected to be about $4.5 million over the $123 million salary cap heading into the offseason, though it should be more than $2 million under the cap after the releases of McAllister and receiver David Patten. Still, more changes could be forthcoming before the start of free agency Feb. 27.
Among those veterans likely to be either released or have their contracts restructured are defensive tackles Brian Young and Hollis Thomas, guard Jamar Nesbit and cornerback Mike McKenzie, who is rehabbing from his second major knee injury in the past two years.
The decision with McAllister, however, wasn't purely a cost-cutting measure. Both he and the team were ready to head in different directions when it became clear that he wasn't a featured attraction in the Saints' offense. That's why they came together for this press conference, to convey that it was a mutual decision and an amicable break-up.
"Decisions like this are always very difficult ones to make," Executive Vice President/General Manager Mickey Loomis said in a statement before the press conference. "Deuce has epitomized hard work, leadership and productivity throughout his career and has been a source of great pride for all of us associated with the team. His records and accomplishments on the field speak for themselves about the type of player he was in a Saints uniform. He truly ranks as one of the greatest players in our club's history, and we are very respectful of everything he has meant to the Saints and our community."
By the end of the 2008 season, McAllister had fallen behind Reggie Bush and second-year pro Pierre Thomas on the depth chart, partly because of continuing flare-ups with his knees.
McAllister did, however, save a few of his most memorable highlights for his final season with the Saints. He broke the franchise record for career touchdowns in front of the Superdome crowd during a Monday night victory over the Green Bay Packers. And he extended his franchise-record yardage total beyond the 6,000-yard mark.
McAllister, a first-round draft pick out of Mississippi in 2001 (23rd overall) finished his eight-year run in New Orleans with 1,429 carries for 6,096 rushing yards, 234 receptions for 1,720 yards and a total of 55 touchdowns.
The two-time Pro Bowler likely will seek to keep playing for another NFL team, though it can sometimes be tough for thirty-something tailbacks to find work, especially with McAllister's injury history and the fact that he is still facing a possible four-game suspension after testing positive for a banned diuretic last summer.
Both his 2005 and 2007 seasons were cut short by anterior cruciate ligament tears -- one in each knee.
He proved his resilience, though, with an unforgettable 2006 season. He helped lead the Saints to a NFC South title with 1,057 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in the regular season. Then he had the greatest night of his career in the divisional round of the playoffs, gaining 163 yards from scrimmage with two touchdowns while leading the Saints to a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the Superdome.
The chants of "Deeeuuuce!" filled the Dome that night, as they did on many other occasions throughout this past decade. The native of Ludlow, Miss., a small town outside of Jackson, has long been one of the most passionately embraced players ever to wear a Saints uniform, for his efforts both on the field and in the community.
"Deuce McAllister epitomizes what you look for in a football player," Saints Coach Sean Payton said in a statement. "Deuce played a major role with this team in our drive to the NFC championship game. He has suffered setbacks with his injuries and that has been unfortunate for him and for us as he has played a critical role in our offense. Today, we start the process of trying to replace him and find that player that embodies what Deuce McAllister has meant to this team."
McAllister again came back after a lengthy rehabilitation process to run for 418 yards and five scores in 2008. He broke the team's all-time touchdown record in a November win over Green Bay, passing Dalton Hilliard with his 54th trip to the end zone and later became the first Saint to gain 6,000 career rushing yards.
Saints owner Tom Benson, in a statement released by the team, praised McAllister.
"He has represented our club with dignity and class, and obviously been a great player - one of our best all-time," Benson said. "He's earned the respect of everyone in our community for not only what he's done on the field, but for what he's done for those who are less fortunate. Saints fans should celebrate his career and his accomplishments, and what we wish for him now is continued success."


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Paper or pixels? Does the medium affect the way people read?
Andrew Dillon Ph.D., the dean of the Graduate School of Information Science at the University of Texas has written a very interesting blog post on the nuances of online reading.
Reading beyond cognition
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I'm interested in the topic of thinking on a holistic level. I consider systems thinking and embodied cognition milestones towards the goal of holistic thinking. Given that interest, I found Mr. Dillon's comment at #2 in the list below a good reminder to what reading requires:
2) The act of reading involves all levels of human activity: physical, perceptual, cognitive and social. We tend to think of it only as a perceptual and cognitive act but materials must be located and handled, and the forms of information we share reflect cultural and behavioral norms of groups which manifest as genres and types. Any significant act of reading moves seamlessly among these levels of engagement.
The medium matters
Not all types of content should be consumed on the same medium. The medium matters. Your goals behind consuming the content also matters. Consider the following comment from the same article:
With most of the material we read during the working day and online, we often aren't willing to commit to the full range and stop after scanning. Content providers know this and produce accordingly. Add to this the delivery of digital material on a platform that is constantly refreshing, updating and allows users to multi-task across applications, and the results are a series of short acts involving the perusal and reaction to messages and short form texts that break up the normal progression through deep reading tasks.
Is this bad? Not if your goal is to keep on top of changing contexts and identify facts. Yes if you want to read a novel or really study a technical report.
Read the whole article
This excerpt doesn't do the original post any justice. I recommend reading the entire article: "Reading Online is Ruining My Life…" Graduate School of Information – University of Texas, blog post by Andrew Dillon Ph.D. Downloaded April 10, 2014 from: http://blogs.ischool.utexas.edu/infomatters/2014/04/10/reading-online-is-ruining-my-life
Listen to a related podcast
I also recommend listening to a recent NPR radio affiliate interview with Mr. Dillon titled: "Is reading online affecting your ability to learn?". SCPR.org "Airtalk" by Larry Mantle, Downloaded on April 10, 2014.http://www.scpr.org/programs/airtalk/2014/04/10/36878/is-reading-online-affecting-our-ability-to-learn/


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Twitter is having big time problems in some places right now. Out in California, I can't even get the website to load or the desktop app to show any tweets. It's completely, utterly borked. But out in New York, no one seems to be having any problems. And Twitter on my phone works! What's the deal?
Twitter has acknowledge the problem saying that "some users may be experiencing issues accessing Twitter" but offers no clarification other than that. Are you guys seeing any problems with Twitter?


text: 10 Jul 2010(HONG KONG) Passengers who book Dragonair flights this weekend can enjoy some very special fares. The latest Getaway Surprise!™, announced today as part of the celebration for the carrier's 25th anniversary, offers a number of fabulous deals. From now until 12 July 2010, passengers can book tickets from Hong Kong to Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Qingdao and Sanya with fares as low as HK$1,110.


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Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984 - Philosophy - 613 pages
No judgement of taste is innocent. In a word, we are all snobs. Pierre Bourdieu brilliantly illuminates this situation of the middle class in the modern world. France's leading sociologist focusses here on the French bourgeoisie, its tastes and preferences. Distinction is at once a vast ethnography of contemporary France and a dissection of the bourgeois mind. In the course of everyday life people constantly choose between what they find aesthetically pleasing and what they consider tacky, merely trendy, or ugly. Bourdieu bases his study on surveys that took into account the multitude of social factors that play a part in a Frenchperson's choice of clothing, furniture, leisure activities, dinner menus for guests, and many other matters of taste. What emerges from his analysis is that social snobbery is everywhere in the bourgeois world. The different aesthetic choices people make are all distinctions-that is, choices made in opposition to those made by other classes. Taste is not pure. Bourdieu finds a world of social meaning in the decision to order bouillabaisse, in our contemporary cult of thinness, in the "California sports" such as jogging and cross-country skiing. The social world, he argues, functions simultaneously as a system of power relations and as a symbolic system in which minute distinctions of taste become the basis for social judgement. The topic of Bourdieu's book is a fascinating one: the strategies of social pretension are always curiously engaging. But the book is more than fascinating. It is a major contribution to current debates on the theory of culture and a challenge to the major theoretical schools in contemporary sociology.
What people are saying - Write a review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - le.vert.galant - LibraryThing
It's dated, overlong, and the prose is convoluted; however, the insights into the social construction of taste are thought provoking. Why do we like what we like? How much of our preferences are due ... Read full review
LibraryThing ReviewUser Review - g0ldenboy - LibraryThing
Wonderful work of obfuscation. Read full review
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Common terms and phrases
aesthetic aesthetic disposition agents Agr�gations artistic autodidacts avant-garde baccalaur�at beautiful BEPC boulevard theatre bourgeois choices cial class fraction classical classification clerical workers commercial employers competence constituted craftsmen cultural capital defined definition devaluation distinction distribution dominant class dominated fractions economic capital educational capital educational system effect especially ethical example express fact field of production figures films find firms first function grandes �coles groups habitus hierarchy IFOP intellectual investment judgements junior labour legitimate culture less life-style logic manual workers means mode nomic objective occupations one's opposition painting particular percent petite bourgeoisie political position practices principles professions profits properties proportion qualifications question recognized refusal relation relationship Salvatore Giuliano scholastic scientific secondary senior executives sense shopkeepers social capital social classes social origin social space social world specific strategies structure struggle survey symbolic taste teachers tends theatre things tion trajectory whole women working-class


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Mode Selection
IA-32 supports three operating modes and one quasi-operating mode:
- Protected mode is the native operating mode of the processor. It provides a rich set of architectural features, flexibility, high performance, and backward compatibility.
- Real-address mode or "real mode" provides the programming environment of the Intel 8086 processor, with a few extensions, such as the ability to switch to protected or system management mode. Whenever a reset or a power-on happens, the system transitions back to real-address mode.
- System management mode (SMM) is a standard architectural feature in all IA-32 processors, beginning with the 386 SL. This mode provides an operating system or executive with a transparent mechanism for implementing power management and OEM differentiation features. SMM is entered through activation of an external system interrupt pin, which generates a System Management Interrupt (SMI). In SMM, the processor switches to a separate address space while saving the context of the currently running program or task. SMM-specific code may then be executed transparently. Upon returning from SMM, the processor is placed back into its state prior to the system management interrupt. The system firmware is usually responsible for creating an system management interrupt handler, which may periodically take over the system from the host OS. Legitimate workarounds are executed in the SMI handler, and handling and logging-off errors may happen at the system level. As this presents a potential security issue, there is also a lock bit that resists tampering with this mechanism. Vendors of real-time operating systems often recommend disabling this feature because it could subvert the OS environment. If this happens, then the additional work of the SMI handler would need to be incorporated into the RTOS for that platform, or else the potential exists of missing something important in the way of error response or workarounds.
- Virtual-8086 mode is a quasi-operating mode supported by the processor in protected mode. This mode allows the processor to execute 8086 software in a protected, multitasking environment.
The Intel 64 architecture supports all operating modes of IA-32 architecture plus IA-32e mode. In IA-32e mode, the processor supports two sub-modes: compatibility mode and 64-bit mode. Compatibility mode allows most legacy protected-mode applications to run unchanged, while 64-bit mode provides 64-bit linear addressing and support for physical address space larger than 64 GB.
Figure 2 shows how the processor moves between operating modes.
When the processor is first powered on, it will be in a special mode similar to real mode, but with the top 12 address lines asserted high. This aliasing allows the boot code to be accessed directly from nonvolatile RAM (physical address
Upon execution of the first long jump, these 12 address lines will be driven according to instructions by firmware. If one of the protected modes is not entered before the first long jump, the processor will enter real mode, with only 1 MB of addressability. In order for real mode to work without memory, the chipset needs to be able to alias a range of memory below 1 MB to an equivalent range just below 4 GB. Certain chipsets do not have this aliasing and may require a switch to another operating mode before performing the first long jump. The processor also invalidates the internal caches and translation look-aside buffers.
The processor continues to boot in real mode. There is no particular technical reason for the boot sequence to occur in real mode. Some speculate that this feature is maintained in order to ensure that the platform can boot legacy code such as MS-DOS. While this is a valid issue, there are other factors that complicate a move to protected-mode booting. The change would need to be introduced and validated among a broad ecosystem of manufacturers and developers, for example. Compatibility issues would arise in test and manufacturing environments. These and other natural hurdles keep boot mode "real."
The first power-on mode is actually a special subset of real mode. The top 12 address lines are held high, thus allowing aliasing, in which the processor can execute code from nonvolatile storage (such as flash memory) located within the lowest one megabyte as if it were located at the top of memory.
Normal operation of firmware (including the BIOS) is to switch to flat protected mode as early in the boot sequence as possible. It is usually not necessary to switch back to real mode unless executing an option ROM that makes legacy software interrupt calls. Flat protected mode runs 32-bit code and physical addresses are mapped one-to-one with logical addresses (that is, paging is off). The interrupt descriptor table is used for interrupt handling. This is the recommended mode for all BIOS/boot loaders.
Early Initialization
The early phase of the BIOS/bootloader initializes the memory and processor cores. In a BIOS constructed in accord with the Unified EFI Forum's UEFI 2.0 framework, the security and Pre-EFI Initialization (PEI) phases are normally synonymous with "early initialization." It doesn't matter if legacy or UEFI BIOS is used. From a hardware point of view, the early initialization sequence is the same.
In a multicore system, the bootstrap processor is the CPU core (or thread) that is chosen to boot the system firmware, which is normally single-threaded. At
RESET, all of the processors race for a semaphore flag bit in the chipset The first finds it
clear and in the process of reading it sets the flag; the other processors find the flag
set and enter a wait-for-SIPI (Start-up Inter-Processor Interrupt) or
halt state. The first processor initializes main memory and the Application Processors (APs), then continues with the rest of the boot process.
A multiprocessor system does not truly enter multiprocessing operation until the OS takes over. While it is possible to do a limited amount of parallel processing during the UEFI boot phase, such as during memory initialization with multiple socket designs, any true multithreading activity would require changes to be made to the Driver Execution Environment (DXE) phase of the UEFI. Without obvious benefits, such changes are unlikely to be broadly adopted.
The early initialization phase next readies the bootstrap processor and I/O peripherals' base address registers, which are needed to configure the memory controller. The device-specific portion of an Intel architecture memory map is highly configurable. Most devices are seen and accessed via a logical Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus hierarchy. Device control registers are mapped to a predefined I/O or memory-mapped I/O space, and they can be set up before the memory map is configured. This allows the early initialization firmware to configure the memory map of the device as needed to set up DRAM. Before DRAM can be configured, the firmware must establish the exact configuration of DRAM that is on the board. The Intel Architecture reference platform memory map is described in detail in Chapter 6 of my book, Quick Boot: A Guide for Embedded Firmware Developers, from Intel Press.
System-on-a-chip (SOC) devices based on other processor architectures typically provide a static address map for all internal peripherals, with external devices connected via a bus interface. Bus-based devices are mapped to a memory range within the SOC address space. These SOC devices usually provide a configurable chip-select register set to specify the base address and size of the memory range enabled by the chip select. SOCs based on Intel Architecture primarily use the logical PCI infrastructure for internal and external devices.
The location of the device in the host's memory address space is defined by the PCI Base Address Register (BAR) for each of the devices. The device initialization typically enables all the BAR registers for the devices required for system boot. The BIOS will assign all devices in the system a PCI base address by writing the appropriate BAR registers during PCI enumeration. Long before full PCI enumeration, the BIOS must enable the PCI Express (PCIe) BAR as well as the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) Root Complex Base Address Register (RCBA) BAR for memory, I/O, and memory-mapped I/O (MMIO) interactions during the early phase of boot. Depending on the chipset, there are prefetchers that can be enabled at this point to speed up data transfer from the flash device. There may also be Direct Media Interface (DMI) link settings that must be tuned for optimal performance.
The next step, initialization of the CPU, requires simple configuration of processor and machine registers, loading a microcode update, and enabling the Local APIC (LAPIC).
Microcode is a hardware layer of instructions involved in the implementation of the machine-defined architecture. It is most prevalent in CISC-based processors. Microcode is developed by the CPU vendor and incorporated into an internal CPU ROM during manufacture. Since the infamous "Pentium flaw," Intel processor architecture allows that microcode to be updated in the field either through a BIOS update or via an OS update.
Today, an Intel processor must have the latest microcode update to be considered a warranted CPU. Intel provides microcode updates that are written to the microcode store in the CPU. The updates are encrypted and signed by Intel such that only the processor that the microcode update was designed for can authenticate and load the update. On socketed systems, the BIOS may have to carry many flavors of microcode update depending on the number of processor steppings supported. It is important to load microcode updates early in the boot sequence to limit the exposure of the system to known errata in the silicon. Note that the microcode update may need to be reapplied to the CPU after certain reset events in the boot sequence.
Next, the LAPICs must be enabled to handle interrupts that occur before enabling protected mode.
Software initialization code must load a minimum number of protected-mode data structures and code modules into memory to support reliable operation of the processor in protected mode. These data structures include an Interrupt Descriptor Table (IDT), a Global Descriptor Table (GDT), a Task-State Segment (TSS), and, optionally, a Local Descriptor Table (LDT). If paging is to be used, at least one page directory and one page table must be loaded. A code segment containing the code to be executed when the processor switches to protected mode must also be loaded, as well as one or more code modules that contain necessary interrupt and exception handlers.
Initialization code must also initialize certain system registers. The global descriptor table register must be initialized, along with control registers CR1 through CR4. The IDT register may be initialized immediately after switching to protected mode, prior to enabling interrupts. Memory Type Range Registers (MTRRs) are also initialized.
With these data structures, code modules, and system registers initialized, the processor can be switched to protected mode. This is accomplished by loading control register CR0 with a value that sets the PE (protected mode enable) flag. From this point onward, it is likely that the system will not enter real mode again, legacy option ROMs and legacy OS/BIOS interface notwithstanding, until the next hardware reset is experienced.
Since no DRAM is available at this point, code initially operates in a stackless environment. Most modern processors have an internal cache that can be configured as RAM to provide a software stack. Developers must write extremely tight code when using this cache-as-RAM feature because an eviction would be unacceptable to the system at this point in the boot sequence; there is no memory to maintain coherency. That's why processors operate in "No Evict Mode" (NEM) at this point in the boot process, when they are operating on a cache-as-RAM basis. In NEM, a cache-line miss in the processor will not cause an eviction. Developing code with an available software stack is much easier, and initialization code often performs the minimal setup to use a stack even prior to DRAM initialization.
The processor may boot into a slower than optimal mode for various reasons. It may be considered less risky to run in a slower mode, or it may be done to save power. The BIOS may force the speed to something appropriate for a faster boot. This additional optimization is optional; the OS will likely have the drivers to deal with this parameter when it loads.


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I had these grand plans to tackle my (horrendous) craft space for this last week of Project Simplify.
But I didn't realize just how big of a job doing a once-a-month menu plan and shopping trip was.
And then I'm doing a little experimenting with freezer meals so Wednesday was tied up with that.
So by yesterday afternoon I had given up all hope of working on the craft area since it's going to require painting and hanging shelves and massive re-organization to make it workable.
Instead I decided to try something a little different with my pantry since the whole stockpiling for an entire month thing had made it difficult to fit everything in.
I'd been tossing the idea around of switching up my kitchen storage for a few weeks so I finally decided to just give it a try.
Pulled everything out of the pantry, one shelf at a time, and soaped the shelves really well (how do they get so gross when the food is mostly closed/sealed?!), added some shelf liner, and instead of putting the food back in filled the shelves with the items from my kitchen cabinets.
It's going to take some getting used to, but I think it's going to work out quite well. I can actually see all the food I have and the dishes are all in one place. Plus, now the girls can reach their own cups. Score!
Maybe next year I'll get to the craft room….


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kingscounty wrote:Any junior hurling draw?
LooseCannon wrote:Predictions for 1st Round
Coolderry v KK - KK by 8 points. I can see nothing but a comprehensive win from the KK men.
St Rynaghs v Seir Kieran - St Rynaghs by 5 points. One wonders where Joe Bergin will start, at CHF or FF, whether he'll be picked up by more than likely Dermot Shortt, or Aidan Treacy. There was nothing much to split the sides last year. I feel that St Rynaghs will be more accurate from frees than in the latter part of last year.
Belmont v Kinnitty - Kinnitty by 3 points. An instinctive prediction. If I recall correctly, there was only a point in the difference in last year's quarter final. It was a suspect enough winning goal as well, which was picked from the ground. I feel that Kinsella is going to wreak a bit of havoc for the mountainsiders. It'll be interesting to see where Colin Egan will start, be it at FF, in the half forward line, or even at CHB. I fancy the two Kealeys to cause the Tisaran men trouble also.
Then again, I could be wrong, and Oisín Kelly will have to be on song if his team are going to win.
Birr v Shinrone - Birr by 2 points. I have an inkling that Birr will do well. Seán Ryan is back fit, and I just feel that everything will fall into place for them on Sunday.
I hope to get to all games, but will probably only get to see two, more than likely on the Saturday.
greenairfield wrote:Just home from the double header in Banagher..
Belmont comfortably beat kinnitty and looked always to be in control.
Birr likewise beat shinrone comfortably even though shinrone led by 1 point just after half time, they never really threatened the Birr goal (until the penalty at the end which was brilliantly saved by Breeder Mullins who for me still a top level goalie at 40 years of age some detail.
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President Obama went on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last Tuesday night to "slow jam the news."
Interesting, considering the last "slow jam the news" sketch featured Brian Williams criticizing Obama for flip-flopping on his Super PAC stance.
Letting bygones be bygones, Obama - with help from Jimmy Fallon and The Roots - made his case to keep student-loan interest rates low in front of the young audience at UNC-Chapel Hill.
So far, the video has been watched over 4 million times on YouTube, making it the 5th most popular video of the week. As entertaining as his appearance on Late Night was, Obama did receive his fair share of criticism for pandering to the youth vote.
"Mr. President. You're the president. You don't have to do this s--- any more," said a flabbergasted Jon Stewart. The GOP also made an attack ad, but it backfired and ended up making Romney look boring and sad.
From the POTUS getting hip to Channing Tatum revealing more than his hip, here are this week's 10 most watched YouTube videos.


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A group of Italian restorers have been accused of essentially ruining a classic work of art called the Tree of Fertility by getting rid of a tree "festooned with penises and testicles over a group of nine women, one of whom appears to be attempting to snag a penis with a hook."
A local politician said the work was "arbitrarily repainted," and is quoted as saying, "The authenticity of the fresco seems to have been compromised by a restoration effort that did not respect the original character of the work." The restorers in question refuse the claim, saying the painting has merely deteriorated over time. One question comes to mind here: how can a painting of a "Tree of Fertility" possibly be any good without some genitalia involved?
Italian Art Experts Accused Of Censoring Phallic Fresco [Telegraph]


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Monday, November 8, 2010
Sneak peek at new eBird data entry
We are working at the moment on a redesign of the online data entry forms. These pages have changed little since 2002, and we've found that a growing number of you want more flexibility in how to record the birds you see. The old process left little room for building in more options, so we're moving the whole process into a new and better (hopefully!) format.
One of the biggest visual changes will be moving from a three column format to a single column format. Internet research shows that it's tough for people to scan across the three column design, and that it's easier for folks to use the checklist if it's just in a single column. This will also improve eBird's usability on mobile devices.
In addition to this change, we're building in the ability to customize the checklist page with user defined preferences. These will include the ability to display comments boxes, age-sex info, breeding codes (a new addition), and a show/hide subspecies option. We feel strongly that the core processes of eBird need to remain simple for everyday birders, but that customization for experts is required. By building in this kind of flexibility, it paves the way for us to add increased data recording options in the future (e.g., heard only, count/don't count this bird, etc.).
So we're excited about this new development, and we're just now in the process of internally testing the new functionality. We would like to test the new data entry on a group of hardcore eBirders, as well as some beginners, to ensure we're on the right track. We hope to start that process sometime in December, or early in the new year.
Team eBird
22 comments:
Looking forward to it! The "count don't count" option will let us record roadkills without adding them to our 'lists'.ReplyDelete
I cringe whenever I hear that something that works so well is being redone, but I agree that the "count/don't count" option is greatly needed.ReplyDelete
Sounds great! And thanks for the past tips about fast data entry. Now I use the "Jump to Species:" box and up-arrow method all the time!ReplyDelete
Our goal is to retain all of the current functionality of the checklist page, but to streamline the process and add in some customization. Hopefully what has worked so well in the past will continue to work well, but now with new and improved options.
The heard only option will be great. I keep track of that in my notes but seldom actually put it in the comment box.ReplyDelete
Looking forward to the improvement to come, and hoping it would just outstand the system tht's already par excellence...ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 8, 2010 at 9:23 AM
Hopefully checkboxes for nesting data will come sometime too.ReplyDelete
How much more bandwidth consumption will this represent? (broadband users: I already understand that this question doesn't apply to you)
It'd be nice if you could customize the entry page for a few locations, like your yard, and have just have 20-30 species to choose from (instead of 150+).ReplyDelete
I'm happy that breeding codes will be added. This will make it easier for people like the CWS's Nunavut/NWT checklist folks to use the data.ReplyDelete
You might think about having 'Pro' accounts like Flickr - with the more detailed data entry; and maybe even with a donation box or very small fee. Overall your pages are beautiful, simple, and basic and I know you'd hate to discourage the less computer-'literate'. In fact, your site is almost the best designed site on the internet as far as I'm concerned. Thank you so much for having eBird.ReplyDelete
One thing that would save a lot of time for my friends and me would be the option of manually typing in ABA codes and quantities without having to jump around the page and press tab a million times.ReplyDelete
For example, if I could type in:
And have eBird automatically convert that into a readout that I could just skim to make sure I didn't make any errors, it would work a lot better with my field notes (and those of my friends).
What you're talking about is a sneak peek, not a sneak peak. a sneak peak is when you don't pay attention for 150 million years and next thing you know there is a mountain range in your backyard :)ReplyDelete
This all sounds interesting though I cringe when people try to improve things and then make it more complicated, but it seems like you are sensitve to this issue and the changes you mention do sound like they will be an improvement. Being able to access eBird from mobile devices will really be helpful!ReplyDelete
p.s. will you be posting an update to eBird's County Needs list anytime soon? Just wondering if we made a difference after you posted that info over a year ago. (June 2009 post)ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 9, 2010 at 6:54 AM
It would be useful to have a place to note that even tho' we are walking/riding a specified distance or area, we have a view encompassing hundreds of acres.....not all birds we are recording are on the site from which we observe them.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 9, 2010 at 1:42 PM
surely that assumption of 3 dimensionality is built in already?ReplyDelete
Single column is a fantastic idea! As is the heard-only option!ReplyDelete
I'd ask about adding things to shared lists (forgot to add a species, then it says it was only seen by me..), but that's a fairly minor quibble.
Can you also change the settings so that age/sex data stays on the report when you "share" a checklist with someone else? Thanks.ReplyDelete
I think I'll choose to be wary but optimistic. I'm wary of slowed data entry on both slow internet connections/old computers and on a one column format (scroll,scroll,scroll,scroll). But I'm optimistic about most of the other proposed changes. I guess we'll see how things turn out next year.ReplyDelete
One minor annoyance that could be easily fixed in the new version: Currently if you "tab" through the species count boxes on the data entry page, when you get to the end of a family the tab "sticks" on the "Top^^" link. It would be great if the tab just kept going through the data entry boxes without stopping on that link.
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2010 at 7:20 PM
I typically don't keep my field notes in taxonomic order, so I type in the unique code (e_J for Blue Jay) and then press up to go back to the search box. Pretty quick. But, having the banding code attached to these would be faster (AMKE for American Kestrel) because there's often a lag on a slow connection.ReplyDelete
Count/don't count (Aplomado Falcon in TX, heard only, etc.) will be great!
I don't know if this is still being read, but something very helpful would be the ability to enter plumage like you can currently enter age/sex, because in many species young males and females can't easily be distinguishedReplyDelete


text: Noctivagent 1 Posted February 28, 2012 This started on the general forums with a topic about Fixing the Black Sepulchre where it was mentioned that the issue lies not just with the Black Sepulchre, but the Apostasy Gambit as a whole. So I'm pretty sure we all know that The Apostasy Gambit has problems. But there are many arguments about how it has potential, and though it does seem like a daunting task to re-work it, I would like to contribute as much as I can, even if it is unappreciated by anyone but my players. I'd appreciate only constructive posts(if any) to help the GMs that want to make this Trilogy worthwhile. That being said.... SPOILERS AHEAD! Here's my proposed scenario arc to the trilogy. There are minor changes, with a few things added/removed based on their relevance. Black SepulchreAssault on Thrungg's MansionInvestigation of the Haemetite EstateEnter the TitanFight the Dei-Phage with the TitanWarp-induced vision from the Dei-Phage's "death" - clue leading to Arch-Cardinal Church of the DamnedInvestigate the Arch-Cardinal for signs of heresyFind that the Arch-Cardinal has been in contact with the underhive criminal: VenomskinInvestigate Venomskin; Learn that Ignato has escaped to StonegardenAttacked during journey to StonegardenWitness the resurrection of Saint Drusus Chaos CommandmentSector is plunged into Chaos by Drusus's resurrection/Dei-Phage possessionAssault on bunker outside Hive Tertiam, encountering "the Oracle"Find that the Oracle's local noble house is harbouring a blasphemous Prophet of St. Drusus, Molokor KambysesInvestigate Molokor Kambyses in Hive Tertiam, extract him into the Inquisition's custody - alive or deadKambyses' daemon-possessed warp-ghost kills patron Inquisitor, survival horror commence Dead Space styleRelease Kambyses' spirit from possession, learn the location of St. Drusus to be on GrangoldTravel to secret hiding place, find that St. Drusus is inside a warp-realmEnter the warp-realm to final showdown with St. Drusus/Dei-Phage Anything missing from these bullet points is most likely intentional, I removed some parts. Otherwise, I plan to expand on most of every point above. 1 n00b f00 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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What Is Self-Empowerment?
At a recent conference in Buffalo, N.Y. Chris Babick, Executive Director of the PWA Coalition, and I were presenting talks on the mental health needs of people living with AIDS. Chris spent most of his talk urging the mental health professionals in the audience to foster a sense of self-empowerment in their clients with HIV/AIDS. During the question period, a woman asked if we could give some practical examples of what self-empowerment for people with HIV and AIDS might look like. On the ride to the airport Chris and I continued to discuss the whole concept of PWA self-empowerment. This article is a direct result of that conversation.
In June, 1983, the National Lesbian/Gay Health Conference and AIDS Forum met in Denver. At that conference PWAs from around the United States caucused and developed the historic now famous "Denver Principles" which have become the basis of the PWA self-empowerment movement. PWA pioneers Dan Turner, Michael Callen, Richard Berkowitz, Artie Felson, Bobby Reynolds, Bobbi Campbell, Phil Lanzaratta and Bob Cecchi were all instrumental in articulating self-definition and self-empowerment for people with AIDS. Nine years and thousands of cases later, self-empowerment remains one of the most crucial issues for all persons living with HIV/AIDS.
Self-empowerment in its simplest form means taking charge of your own life, illness and care. Another way of putting it is to say that self-empowered individuals do not give away their power or allow others to infantalize them. People with HIV/AIDS need to learn to view themselves as the experts about what they need and what is involved in taking care of themselves. Once this attitude develops, the PWA will need to be quite vocal about what his or her needs are. Unfortunately, this often has the effect of making other people uncomfortable around the person living with HIV/AIDS.
The concept of being the expert about your own life is one that many people have some difficulty adjusting to initially. We have all been raised to believe that a physician knows what's best for our health; a priest, minister or rabbi what's best for us spiritually; a therapist what's best for us emotionally or mentally. Thus, traditionally an expert has been someone else whom we were taught to defer to and trust unconditionally. Questioning the opinions of these experts was not encouraged. The blind acceptance of authority has been a fundamental component of the existing power structures in this society (and in most others as well).
Self-empowerment means that you become an active partner with those experts to mutuallydetermine what's best for you, and/or what course of action you wish to pursue regarding your plans for the future, and treatments or lack of them. The AIDS crisis has revolutionized how many of us interact with health care professionals. This change in attitude from passive patients to active consumers of health care has often been an uncomfortable transition for some physicians, many of whom are accustomed to being the person in charge, and having all the answers about medical care. The self-empowered person living with HIV/AIDS is a very sophisticated consumer of medical care. The self-empowered person views him/herself as an equal to the physician and not in a powerless position simply because he/she is seeking advice or consultation from a professional with a particular area of expertise. In order to evolve into a person who doesn'tblindly trust a physician, you must gather knowledge about your condition and the variety of treatment options now available. Knowledge is power, and anyone can learn an enormous amount about treatments for AIDS/HIV by reading Newsline, AIDS Treatment News, GMHC'S Treatment Issues and The Project Inform Newsletter. If you have a computer and access to the internet there are many sites full of up to the date AIDS treatment information online.
Obviously no amount of reading will replace your need for a knowledgeable physician, but the reading will shape how you engage your doctor and work with him or her. Once you become committed to learning about various treatment options, both traditional and nontraditional, FDA-approved and those not yet approved, you will need to establish a relationship with a doctor who will encourage you to explore what is available and then come back to discuss it. On more than one occasion I have heard PWAs discussing an article they had read about a possible new treatment, which they made a copy of and sent to their doctor with a note asking him or her to read it prior to their next appointment, so they could then discuss any possible relevancy to the PWA's condition.
Some further examples of behaving in a self empowered way are as follows. You decide not take any retrovirals (AZT, DDI or DDC) even though your doctor urges you to and feels it is in your best interest to do so. On the other hand if your CD-4 cells are at a level that your doctor feels there is no reason to begin antiretroviral therapy, you may decide that you want to be very aggressive in early intervention and tell your MD that you wish to begin this form of treatment. The point of this is not that you develop an adversarial relationship with your physician, but that he or she is someone who respects you for taking an active and particpatory role in your health care.
Self empowerment is best exemplified by an attitude that your life is not over or going to end soon simply because you have been diagnosed with AIDS/ HIV. I know several people who after a diagnosis of full blown AIDS, applied to and completed graduate programs, changing their careers. Others have begun new friendships or major love affairs.
But even if a person is at the final stage of his or her illness, it is possible and important to remain self-empowered. One example of self-empowerment can be deciding to stop all treatments, knowing that doing so will hasten your death. Another example may be preparing to die at home (or in the hospital), depending on what you feel will be the most comfortable for you as well as those who are caring for you. Some people feel that ending their own life at the time they determine there is not sufficient quality in their life to justify continuing to struggle is the final example of self-empowerment. For others, it is struggling to stay alive despite enormous physical and mental deterioration in the hope that there may be a medical breakthrough from which they can benefit.
One of the most inspirational, life-affirming and self-empowering actions that increasing numbers of people living with HIV/AIDS are taking is to confront their dependence upon alcohol and/or "recreational" drugs, and to take the actions necessary to live sober. There are now special interest Twelve Step meetings for people with HIV and AIDS who are in recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction. It is in these rooms that large numbers of individuals find the tools, faith, hope and fellowship to face the daily challenges, indignities and ultimate crises that AIDS have brought them.
Models of self-empowerment surround us, both within and outside the PWA/HIV community. Channeling anger at government inaction through lobbying and other more direct political action like that engaged in by ACT-UP, are wonderful examples of transforming powerlessness into self-empowerment. Self-actualized lesbians and gay men do not allow other people's bigotry or violence against them to go unchallenged any longer. When women, members of sexual, racial or ethnic minorities demand equal opportunities and refuse to compromise, they are behaving in self-empowered ways. This obviously makes some people feel uncomfortable and/or threatened. It is these models that people living with HIV/AIDS need to study and emulate in order to insure that you are not trusting your well being or your very life to the good intentions of someone else. As Eldridge Cleaver once remarked, "If you are not part of the solution, then you are part of the problem."
Published in the People With AIDS Newsline, January/February, 1992, Issue 73
©1992 Michael Shernoff


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Instructions for Viewing Bidding Opportunities:
In the spirit of continuous improvement and cost management, the City & County of Denver Government has joined the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System. The Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System (BidNet®) is an on-line notification system that is being utilized by multiple governmental entities. Participating entities post their bids, quotes, proposals, addendums, and awards on this one centralized system. Review bids or register today by visiting the link below:
Vendor registration is FREE; however, vendors may elect to receive automatic e-mail notification of all open solicitations matching their vendor profile for an annual fee. If a vendor does not select the upgraded option, it is the responsibility of the vendor to monitor the website regularly in order to be aware of business opportunities and review changes or addendums to bids, quotes, and proposals. Vendors who upgrade to receive email notifications will receive opportunities matching their business goods/services provided automatically.
For additional information please contact Purchasing at 720-913-8100. For help registering or questions about the Rocky Mountain E-Purchasing System, please contact IPT by BidNet at 800-835-4603 to speak with the Vendor Support Team.
Purchasing Goods and Services DSBO Ordinance. For more information go to www.denvergov.org/dsbo - posted Monday, March 24, 2014
Visit the Denver Auction Gallery for information on upcoming auctions including confiscated vehicles, bike auctions, jewelry, heavy equipment and more!


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STRANGE BUT TRUE- Say cheese: Smile, critters, you're on candid cam
Q. What's that clipped to a shark's fin, collared to a bear, or attached to a crow's tail? The device has come of age, taking biologists deeper into the secret world of animals. –C. Stuart
A. It's one of the new generation of Crittercams, or wildlife cameras, worn by the animals themselves and capable of providing hours of footage and audio, along with a host of other scientific data, says Michael Greenwood in "Biophotonics International" magazine. The old version was eight pounds and two feet long, but today's varieties go as light as a pound and a half for large terrestrial animals, a few ounces for birds and weightless in effect for marine animals as the cameras float in water.
Using an infrared headlight, the Crittercam beams a real-time signal up to three miles in color or black and white, revealing the animal's home environment. (There's a smaller system for house cats, birds, etc.) More than 60 species have been Crittercammed, from a lioness in Africa to a humpback whale in Alaska, providing images that in many cases have never been seen before. Generally, the target animals have reacted well, though one shark thrashed about so aggressively it knocked off the camera and had to be released for its own safety. On the other hand, when a camera was affixed to a lion in Kenya, the animal actually groomed itself and cleaned the lens for the researchers!
It gives us the animal's-eye view of the world, says nationalgeogaphic.com, and what we learn helps us protect the very animals that wear the Crittercams.
Q. When the neurobiology prof encountered a student who had plagiarized her entire paper from one of his class lectures, what punishment did he mete out? An F? Expulsion from the class? –J. Jane
A. A lesser teacher might have but not this one, says Oliver Sacks in Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. When the prof called the student into his office, something didn't add up: She didn't seem the type to cheat or lie so he played a hunch, asking her if she happened to have a photographic memory. "Why, yes, sort of like that," she replied. "I can remember anything if I put it to music." She then sang back to him whole sections of his lecture. And quite prettily, he added. "I was flabbergasted."
This got Sacks thinking about the countless cultural songs and rhymes to help kids learn the alphabet, numbers and other lists. Even as adults we may have to sing the "ABC song" internally to recall the entire alphabet. Especially in preliterate cultures, music has held power in oral traditions of storytelling, liturgy, prayer. Whole books can be held in memory–"The Iliad" and "The Odyssey"–
with their music-like rhythm and rhyme. All of this may have much to do with why we humans took to music to the extent we have.
Q. "To be on cloud 9" is to be sky high with happiness, yet probably more of us have been under cloud 9. But how about cloud 10? What apparel might be appropriate in that case? –W. Wordsworth
A. Likely umbrellas, raincoats and galoshes, since cloud 10 replaced the designation of cloud 9 in the 2nd edition of The International Cloud Atlas of 1896, to signify cumulonimbus clouds, or thunderclouds, the tallest of the cloud types, says Andrew Robinson in The Story of Measurement. The 10 of course never caught on in popular lingo. Scientific cloud typing itself got started in 1802 when Luke Howard, drawing on an even older system, coined the names cumulus, stratus, cirrus, and nimbus (the last no longer still in use).
Q. How do "proximodistal" and "cephalocaudal" tell much about your developmental life as fetus and beyond? –U.G. Turner
A. The first means "from the body's center outward," as fetal development starts with the tiny elongated mass of cells along the neural groove that become the spinal column, say V. Gregory Payne and Larry D. Isaacs in "Human Motor Development–A Lifespan Approach." Then the body builds generally outward toward the periphery, until even the fingers and toes are complete. Cephalocaudal means "from the head to the tail (feet)," the human built from the top down. The head of the fetus or infant is proportionately huge, later the rest of the body catches up.
Infant movement follows a similar path, with conscious control over head liftings coming first. Also, in learning to walk, baby starts on stiff legs and flat feet and only later, gaining command of the knees and ankles, achieves the adult walking style. "Interestingly, as a person ages and movement ability begins to regress, the cephalocaudal and proximodistal processes reverse."
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at email@example.com.


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The "Terra de Melide" Museum was founded in 1978 by a group of friends interested in the study, knowledge and dissemination of the Melide region's culture and heritage.
It is now housed in a new building erected on the site of an old pilgrim hospital, designed by the Melide architect Julio Álvarez; it fits in perfectly with its surroundings, being a good example of dialectics between the old and new.
The museum houses objects from the region's "castros" (Celtic settlements), above all from the excavations of Castro da Graña and the Roman town of Piñeiros: Iron Age ceramics, Neolithic axes, fibulas and lance tips, etc. It also features interesting medieval material. It has an extensive and interesting ethnographic section: implements used in different trades, toys, clocks, a school, etc. Apart from all of this, it carries out a lot of research and educational work centred on the municipality of Melide's cultural heritage.


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A winner was selected from 54 designs submitted by 17 freelance designers.
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