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Fears of pervasive air pollution stir up politics in Texas shale gas country
Correction appended.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- For nearly a year Christine and Tim Ruggiero have battled the powerful Texas oil and gas industry and the inertia of regulators responsible for protecting air quality and public health.
Aruba Petroleum Inc. started moving dirt on the horse pasture of the couple's 10-acre lot north of Fort Worth in September. The small company out of Plano, Texas, built a drilling pad 300 feet from their front door to tap into a slice of the Barnett Shale natural gas field. Along with that came an army of backhoes, diesel trucks, gas tanks and flares spewing hazardous air pollutants 24 hours a day.
The pasture had been their 10-year-old daughter's retreat into the natural beauty of the North Texas countryside. From the start, Tim and Christine had little choice in the matter. They did not own the mineral rights to the resource prize under their land. Eventually, the Ruggieros accepted a $30,000 payment from Aruba as a friendly gift for its use of their pasture in the hunt for energy profits.
Since then, the drilling has cracked open a hornets' nest of problems: skin rashes they say were caused by exposure to cancer-causing benzene and other air pollutants; concern that methane could migrate into their water supply; and the storage of toxic mud in nearby pits. The couple says they have a sinking feeling that, unless Aruba agrees to buy the property, they are stuck there.
"They ask, 'Do you believe in the greenhouse, Tim, do you believe in global warming?'" he said. "I go, 'You know what, when you've got this thing blowing in your backyard, and you can stand on your front porch and smell propane, global warming isn't the first thing that comes to mind.'"
Gas rigs light up the night sky in Wise County, located on the northwestern fringe of greater Fort Worth. Pipes, pits and tankers share the landscape with city squares and country homes.
Inside the rock formation that underlies the 12-county Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, engineers push the limits of drilling in urban areas as producers grind across local jurisdictions and under property lines to unlock more gas from the nation's most productive shale field. Inside the city limits of Fort Worth, rigs continue to go up near schools and hospitals.
The gas industry has raised its profile in public policy circles on the national front. And it has brought along lawmakers and environmental groups in an effort to position gas as the fuel to replace coal at old power plants. Those 50-year-old coal generators spew ozone-causing pollution, mercury and carbon dioxide emissions tied to global warming. Gas turbines, though, burn cleaner and generate less of the most dangerous pollutants and emit half of the greenhouse gases.
But this year, the unbridled exuberance that characterized drilling in the Barnett Shale for the past five years is being shoved aside by critics who say addressing public health issues tied to gas production is no longer optional. Tim has joined the mayor of nearby Dish, Texas, a tiny town named for a company that gives residents free access to satellite TV, and an expanding cadre of state lawmakers, grassroots activists and environmental groups gathering in public forums to prod state regulators into action. They want gas drillers to face the same scrutiny for their air emissions as "major" emitters such as gas processing plants or oil refineries.
"Just because coal mining is worse, or that coal burns dirtier than gas, doesn't make this all safe," said Tim Ruggiero, as he picked at a small pit in his backyard that he contends is a source of methane seepage. "It burns clean compared to other fossil fuels. OK, I give you that. But if you look at the process by which they obtain the gas, I'm not so sure that all told, beginning to end, it's any cleaner than coal."
Federal regulators look at emissions from 15,000 wells
U.S. EPA is considering how to regulate air pollution radiating from the complex of industrial activity tied to onshore gas drilling. And a fight is brewing that could force the largest and most feverishly protected industry in Texas to defend against state and federal encroachment.
In recent months the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has also stepped up its monitoring of pollution sources operating in the Barnett. But critics say that, despite independent research raising air-quality issues years ago, TCEQ acted only in response to mounting public pressure and as a result of embarrassing missteps, such as an agency decision this spring to withhold troubling information about benzene levels around Barnett Shale drilling sites.
In January 2009, Al Armendariz, then a researcher at Southern Methodist University, authored a study of air emissions tied to gas production in the Barnett Shale. Armendariz, who is now EPA's top regional official based in Dallas, projected that in the summer of 2009 emissions of nitrogen oxide and cancer-causing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from gas sources in the Barnett Shale would exceed emissions from cars and trucks in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
"Something like 15,000 wells have been drilled in an urbanized area, and there's been no upfront consideration of what that means for air quality and public health," said Ramon Alvarez, a senior scientist at the Austin office of the Environmental Defense Fund. "That was something TCEQ has needed to be dealing with for years, instead of watching this burgeoning industry explode."
Other shale fields are also in the crossfire. The Eagle Ford Shale, a developing field that runs from the South Texas border north toward Houston, is turning into a hotbed of gas liquids production, an emissions-intensive process of stripping heavy-hydrocarbon byproducts out of natural gas. Ethane, propane and butane are shipped off to chemical plants that use those in their products.
"The culture of this industry is of one that operated with very little regulatory oversight for many years," Alvarez said. "The notion that they have to do things because the state told them to is just not something they're used to."
Today, EPA is holding a public meeting in Arlington, Texas, to review air regulations affecting the oil and gas industry. And it's doing so by court order. In January 2009, the San Juan Citizens Alliance and Santa Fe, New Mexico-based WildEarth Guardians filed suit against EPA claiming it had ignored a Clean Air Act requirement that at least every eight years the agency review and revise national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants. That includes whether onshore natural gas production, transmission and storage facilities emit significant amounts of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, methane, carbon dioxide, and VOCs such as benzene.
Texas regulators roused from long slumber
Over the past decade, onshore gas wells have proliferated, and 13,000 miles of new interstate pipelines have been built. The nation's gas storage capacity has expanded by more than 670 billion cubic feet since 2006.
In February, a district court judge required that by Jan. 31, 2011, EPA propose standards or explain why it won't propose new emissions standards for the oil and gas industry. The proposals should be finalized by November 2011. In considering this, EPA will have to examine whether the cumulative effect of thousands of gas wells concentrated in an urban area is enough to trigger Clean Air Act provisions for major polluters and a level of federal oversight that doesn't exist today.
EPA has also proposed a rule that would require onshore gas producers, processors, pipelines and storage facilities to report their greenhouse gas emissions.
In Texas, as a result of a regulatory process dating to the expansion of the American West, the Texas Railroad Commission permits oil and gas drilling. TCEQ is responsible for enforcing air emissions.
On air quality issues, jurisdiction is also split. EPA enforces emissions limits for "major" sources of industrial pollution. It delegates Clean Air Act authority to states so they can develop programs that apply to local power plants, high-emissions industries and, in the case of Texas, large natural gas processing plants and oil refineries. States then are free to limit or not limit the impact of "minor" sources of air pollution, including individual oil and gas drilling sites.
Texas, until just recently, has chosen a hands-off approach toward regulating air emissions out of the Barnett. TCEQ recently completed an initial phase of its first inventory of gas production-related emissions sources in the Barnett Shale, and the agency says it plans to collect emissions data from operators in the gas basin.
TCEQ Chairman Bryan Shaw, who Gov. Rick Perry (R) appointed to the commission in 2007, asserts Texas has cut pollution overall. But he concedes population growth in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and encroachment of gas drilling, challenges the state's ability to keep the metroplex in good air-quality standing. In the past year, he says, TCEQ monitoring for concentrations of benzene and other toxic pollutants around drilling sites "has escalated in its intensity."
"We've been trying to find ways of doing independent studies," he told ClimateWire.
Last Wednesday, TCEQ proposed new rules to help it monitor emissions out of the Barnett. If adopted, it would create enforceable monitoring, sampling and record-keeping rules. The agency also said it is installing five "state-of-the-art" long-term air-quality monitors. So far, said the agency, the monitors have shown low levels of benzene.
Still, TCEQ has come under fire in recent months for being far too slow to respond to mounting concern about urban drilling. In an interview in June, Shaw criticized EPA's Armendariz for equating drilling with the impact of cars and trucks on producing ground-level ozone. And he has defended the state's limited "permit by rule" oversight of individual smaller-scale polluters in the oil and gas industry.
Coming clean with benzene levels?
"If they're operated well, the environmental issues should be workable," he said. "We need to find ways to incentivize the industry to police itself."
For its part, Texas oil and gas industry groups are trying to keep their powder dry. The Texas Oil & Gas Association is urging regulators, short of keeping current regulations in place, to allow gas producers to adopt air-emissions technology of their choice as opposed to a mandate.
As she prepared to give her presentation at the Aug. 2 EPA meeting, Debbie Hastings, the gas group's vice president for environmental affairs, said Texas shouldn't be targeted just because of its big oil and gas producers. "This state, just like any other state, should maintain its right to manage its minor sources."
Pushback against urban drilling and concern about the air are reshaping political alliances and could erode some support for Perry in Republican strongholds outside of Dallas and Fort Worth.
TCEQ, which under the Perry administration has been a fierce defender of states' rights on environmental issues, found itself the target of a Republican congressman in June, The Texas Observer and an army of local and state officials.
The newspaper in late May uncovered a TCEQ internal audit that found the agency had hidden information about air monitoring data collected at the end of last year. In early January, TCEQ officials gave what many described as a rosy presentation to the public, suggesting concentrations of 22 toxic compounds did not exceed safe limits.
According to a whistleblower complaint and a subsequent audit, the agency hadn't used the most updated equipment tuned to detect a handful of those compounds. When TCEQ updated findings to show dangerous levels of benzene in some areas, critics assert, the agency buried the new information instead of alerting public officials or the media.
Rep. Michael Burgess, a four-term congressman from Fort Worth, called for an immediate investigation by the Texas Attorney General. Burgess pulled the request but sent a letter calling on a high-level state review panel to investigate. He took some heat for the turnabout, but his response helped galvanize other lawmakers concerned that TCEQ is more interested in protecting gas industry profits than public health.
"There is a sense the public has that their best interests might not be protected," Burgess said in a House Energy and Commerce Committee Republican caucus room. "As long as that unease exists, the industry's going to be viewed with a lot of suspicion."
State regulators have a credibility problem, Burgess said, not a resource or manpower problem in terms of monitoring and regulating air emissions out of the Barnett. But gas drilling in North Texas shouldn't be shut down, he said, just as a moratorium on offshore drilling is too dramatic of a response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "There's got to be a point between full stop and full-speed ahead."
'Stable political environment' begins to crumble
Burgess said giving EPA sweeping authority isn't the answer. But he noted the ongoing debate in Washington about the safety of hydraulic fracturing. The "fracking" process injects water, sand and toxic chemicals into the ground under extremely high pressure, past the aquifer, to split the shale-rock and release trapped natural gas.
In Texas, Burgess said, little towns in the Barnett are considering banning drilling. Flower Mound, at the heart of drilling in Tarrant and Denton Counties, in June imposed a 90-day moratorium on local permits for wells and drilling pads.
Burgess put it on the biggest players in the Barnett, such as Devon Energy Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Exxon Mobil Corp. and Williams Companies to help address public concern. "Right now they like that they have a geologic formation where they can make a profit. They like the fact they have a stable political environment," he said. "But if they damage it because of their own actions, they have nobody to blame but themselves."
The growing din is changing Texas politics. Air quality in urban centers has become an issue in the race for governor. Perry's race against Bill White, the former Democratic mayor of Houston, is emerging as one of the most competitive Texas governor's races in years. Perry's 9-point edge, according to a Rasmussen poll in mid-July, is considered a modest lead in this decidedly red state.
Perry, a bombastic two-term governor, has been in a pitched battle with EPA over what he considers fundamental states' rights issues. EPA, with Armendariz at the helm in Dallas, at the end of June ruled that the Texas "flexible permitting" program for major polluters sidesteps Clean Air Act requirements. More than 100 of the state's largest polluters operate under a flexible permit that allows a single emissions cap for a group of sources at an industrial complex, rather than ensuring each smokestack falls under emissions limits.
This kind of dispute plays into Perry's base of support, said Harvey Kronberg, publisher of the Quorum Report, a political newsletter in Austin. "Rick Perry would much rather run against Barack Obama in Texas than a Bill White."
Fumes penetrate race for governor
Perry is also applying his Texas v. Obama campaign to gas drilling. Democrats in Congress want to require companies to disclose chemicals they pump into the ground near fresh water aquifers. Requiring disclosure is tantamount to outlawing fracking, Perry asserts, and would "shut down the oil and gas industry."
Perry and White both fancy themselves oil and gas men. But White has blasted Perry's use of the EPA dispute "for the purpose of political theater," and he's joined the bandwagon of criticism for TCEQ's handling of benzene monitoring.
Jim Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, Austin, said air quality issues probably aren't potent enough yet to put a major dent into the GOP base outside of Dallas and Fort Worth. "We're still a little ways away from triggering a wholesale partisan change, but it's made it more competitive in the outlying areas."
From a small cabin stationed on a Devon Energy Corp. gas rig, the green line on a computer screen charts the progress of a drill bit churning a mile underground. A jungle of modern industrial gear surrounding the rig powers production out of the Barnett Shale.
Since joining Mitchell Energy almost 20 years ago, and now as a construction manager for Devon, Jay Ewing has a lot of faith in the Barnett's ability to produce increasing amounts of gas.
"We now have the technology," Ewing said in early June, as he toured the company's drilling and production sites north of the city. "We can drill a lot of wells and get them online in a pretty short time frame." Better yet, the gas industry can almost guarantee its production volumes.
Devon is out in front of other companies operating in the Barnett. It uses advanced technology to capture its emissions and a recycling system that reduces its water use. But Devon has also been criticized for joining others in the industry fighting attempts to require the use of those technologies.
Back in Wise County, Tim and Christine Ruggiero heard from TCEQ in January after filing a citizen's complaint. The agency noted in its investigative report that Aruba Petroleum's continuous operation of three large diesel engines resulted in "significant emissions" of nitrogen oxide.
At high levels, the compound causes asthma, emphysema and bronchitis.
TCEQ didn't impose a fine. Instead, regulators concluded, "Aruba should consider using nitrogen oxide controls on its diesel engines in situations where off-site impacts are high."
The response doesn't begin to address Tim Ruggiero's main question: "Why would you put something like this so close to a home?"
Correction: The TCEQ internal audit finding the agency had hidden information about air monitoring data was uncovered by The Texas Observer, not by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as a previous version of this story incorrectly stated.
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Will Your Life Work the Way You Want It to in 2009?By Jack Canfield in Success on February 24th, 2009 / 2 Comments
As I mentioned earlier, 2009 may bring greater uncertainty and more unsettling economic news than recent years, but these circumstances should compel us to take a deep breath, and pause to think about our lives.
When things happen in the world that seem so far beyond our individual control, it can feel unsettling.
Don't give up on your goals and dreams just because "the time isn't good"… you can still make 2009 the year you uncover a whole new you for the better!
Even in tough times, you get to decide how to respond to certain conditions, opportunities, and outcomes – both good and bad.
Life will always be a series of choices and YOU get to decide on what will move you closer to your goals, or farther away from them. External forces will always be part of the equation, even during the good times when the world is thriving.
When people ask me about the single most important ingredient to success, I always share the same response: realizing what's making you achieve success, and then realizing what is stifling your success.
Sometimes recognizing the things that are NOT working in your life can be painful, yet VERY powerful to shaping the life you want.
Don't try to rationalize them, make excuses for them, or hide them. This is when it's even more critical to take personal inventory and evict those excuses, rationalizations, and hidden habits that don't serve you. These things will keep you from the life you want to be living. Let me give you some examples. Ask yourself if you relate to any of these questions:
- Do you want to be active, fit, and strong? Then you have to stop making excuses about your weight, diet choices, and lack of exercise.
- Do you want to be in a loving relationship based on friendship and respect? Then you have to stop rationalizing why you and your partner are not communicating well.
- Do you want to embrace Monday mornings and feel excited about going to work every day? Then you have to stop hiding your true passions and go after whatever it is you really want to be doing day in and day out.
- Do you want to lose the debt forever? Then you have to stop ignoring your spending habits and get real about a creating budget that will pull you out of debt and allow you to reach financial freedom.
- Do you want to feel more connected to the people in your life, such as your children, friends, and colleagues? Then you have to stop complaining about your poor relationships and figure out why you don't feel as connected as you'd like to be.
These things can be painful to look at because the truth is that you have to do something about them in order to make it work in your life.
You'll have to say no to the second helping of dinner and the dessert to follow and go through the awkward stage of getting into shape… You'll have to confront your partner about the areas that need work… You'll have to get past fears about changing your job or professional path… You'll have to cut back on your spending and be frugal… You'll have to take a good hard look at your personal relationships and perhaps consider your own shortfalls and weaknesses in communicating your needs and concerns.
Plain and simple, you will have to do something uncomfortable.
Successful people don't waste time in denial (or complain or make excuses for that matter). They face situations like a warrior. They look for the warning signs, they find out why things aren't working, and they go about fixing them- even when fixing requires problem solving, hard work, risk, and a level of uncertainty.
It's okay to identify a problem even though you haven't a clue about how to go about solving it right away.
The first step is just recognizing the issue, and then having faith that you'll figure it out with careful attention to it. That's how successful people live – in constant focus on goals, on results, on problem solving, and on the actions that get them to where they want to be.
Following are three things to do constantly in pursuit of your goals and dreams, however big or small:
Keep your awareness on the feedback you are getting from life and decide to address the situations immediately. Don't bottle up feedback, cast it aside, and avoid it like you would a pile of dirty laundry or a stack of unopened bills.
Life tells you things every day. Do this. Don't do that. Think about this. Try me. Forget that. We live in a world that seemingly encourages us to live on autopilot. Successful people fly manually every day and so should you. When those feedback signals come in, listen to them and use them in planning your next step.
Commit to finding out why things aren't working and learn what will fix them. Once you start the process it will be much easier to continue. Nothing fruitful stems from inaction.
Trust that making changes to the situation will ultimately bring about the best results. Sure you might go through a bit of discomfort during the change, and some unlikely or unwanted outcomes, but in the end you will triumph!
So are you ready to admit the things that just are not working out?
Make a list of the things in your life that are working against your success and ask how the situation can be improved. Commit to tackling just one of those issues and be brave!
If you need help organizing those "things" in your life, try using the following list of categories. I recommend reflecting on each of the 7 areas and ask yourself, what's not working here in each one and then brainstorm 3 potential solutions.
- Financial Goals
- Career/Business Goals
- Free Time/Family Time
- Health/Appearance Goals
- Relationship Goals
- Personal Growth
- Making a Difference
Remember, by facing what is not working, you can only improve your life!
About the author:
Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: FreeSuccessStrategies.com
It will look like this: Will Your Life Work the Way You Want It to in 2009?


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Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is simply passing time. Action with vision is making a positive difference.
~ Joel Barker
In these turbulent times, change is inevitable and unavoidable. So, it is imperative that your organization has a clear vision of the future and the strategies in place to help your employees successfully manage and implement change.
Do any of these business challenges sound familiar?
If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then
CrestView Business Consulting can help you. For more
information, or to schedule a no-obligation consultation, please call:
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email: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Read the full story here Web Link posted Saturday, December 15, 2012, 9:15 AM
Town Square
Firefighters duck gunfire in East Palo Alto
Original post made on Dec 17, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Saturday, December 15, 2012, 9:15 AM
Comments (7)
a resident of another community
on Dec 17, 2012 at 1:20 pm
I would like to start a discussion to hear what others think about holding the parents of gang members (17 and younger) responsible for any and all crimes their gang-involved kid(s) commit or participate in, and if the gang member receives ANY support from the parent(s), then the age of the gang member doesn't matter. By support I mean money, housing (including use of the parent's mailing address to list as their resudence), food, clothing, childcare and anything else that contributes or enables their kid(s) to participate in gang activity in any form. Here's why: Parents have a responsibility to everyone to raise a law abiding, responsible, and productive member of society, and they should know what their child is involved in. It doesn't matter if the parent(s) are educated or not, work 5 jobs or not, are raising their kid(s) alone or not. If a person decides to have a child you should be forced to accept the consequences that come with that responsibility. Gangs recruit kids and teenagers, and no one can convince me that the parents are completely oblivious to their child's involvement, and if they are oblivious or don't care about it, then they are just as guilty as their child committing the crime because they should know.
Why do we hold bar owners responsible when their bartender continues to serve an intoxicated person who later leaves that bar and causes a collision, but not the parent(s) of a gang member who continuously enables their child's participation in the gang by turning a blind eye to it and allowing it to continue? Forbid it, move your family away from it, do whatever it takes or kick your child out and cease communication with them, because doing nothing about it IS a CHOICE. it's a choice to be an enabler, to be part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Dec 17, 2012 at 3:08 pm
Parents are civily responsible for the damages their minor children cause. The problem is the parents are pretty much lawsuit proof because typically they don't have a pot to pee in. It's like trying to get blood from a stone.
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Dec 17, 2012 at 5:59 pm
SteveC is a registered user.
Menlo Voter forgot the window to throw the pee out. AND often times the parents are gang members also or embrase the gang mentality or do not give a damn abou the kids and it is the gang that gives them the sense of a family and loyality.
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Dec 17, 2012 at 7:53 pm
While I think your thread about gangs and the parents' responsibility has some merit, I thought this was a story about fire fighters and their safety.
I'm glad the fire district and the officials who were instrumental in having safety features in the old and soon to be built new station insisted on them.
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Dec 17, 2012 at 8:42 pm
Bob: it's truly sad that protective measures like bullet proof glass need to even be incorporated into a fire house.
a resident of Menlo Park: Downtown
on Dec 17, 2012 at 10:28 pm
Menlo Voter -- I agree. In order to keep first responders safe, measures like this are necessary. However, occurrences, like the ones mentioned in the article, occur much less often than 10-20 years ago when EPA had a much worse reputation.
a resident of Menlo Park: other
on Jan 29, 2013 at 3:16 pm
there is no defense, no actual reason, some people have lost value for all human life.. the only "answers" to the problem are responsible role-modeling, heightened personal awareness of the enviornment and doing what we can to help ourselves and our loved ones.. the greaest opportunities for change lie within the individual, bad choices are the culprit and some people simply choose violence....it is sad but true, model responsible behaviors and make productive and wise choices, maybe somebody is watching you!too many people came up under as bad or worse enviornments and have worked their way into productive, healthy lives...nope, no actual defenses or justifications are available - support those who really are making sound decisions, they too are often ignored!!Invest in those who who invest in themselves, that sends a positive message...
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Antarctic Megadunes: Research at the Edge of the Earth
Scientists from NSIDC have spent two Antarctic field seasons studying one of the little-known megadunes areas of the continent. The NSIDC Research Team, which included Ted Scambos, Rob Bauer, and Terry Haran, worked with a team of other researchers and support staff in extreme weather conditions to gather data in one of the most remote parts of the world. Unlike snow dunes that are piles of drifted snow, Antarctic megadunes are long, undulating waves in the surface of the ice sheet. The dunes are 2 to 4 meters (6.5 to 13 feet) high and 2 to 5 kilometers (1 to 3 miles) apart. Ted describes the dunes as "extremely gentle waves or stripes in the snow."
The team conducted field research collecting snow pit samples, setting up automatic weather stations (AWS), traversing via snowmobile with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) devices, photographing various sites, and drilling shallow and deep ice cores.
The first year, field work was conducted during November 2002. The second season was during December 2003 and January 2004.
In the Field
"Field work" on the East Antarctic Plateau may sound like a fun adventure. But imagine coming in from working in the constant freezing wind to "warm up" in a tent that is 28°F. As Ted says, "Staying warm and protecting your skin are the main concerns. Temperatures are frigid even in summer, -20 to -30°C (-5 to -22°F). But the wind is the real danger." Wind chill temperatures can reach -46°C (-51°F). Now imagine living and working in those conditions for three weeks.
Researchers had to keep safety in mind at all times. During the first season at the site, people could be out for two to three hours at the most, due to the extreme wind and cold. The weather during the second season was more forgiving, allowing work for up to 10 hours outdoors. The altitude was another challenge. The megadunes field site is approximately 2,896 meters (9,500 feet) above sea level. But because of the Earth's spin, atmospheric pressure in Antarctica is lower than elsewhere on the planet, making the field site seem more like 3,353 meters (11,000 feet) above sea level. Altitude sickness is always a threat.
Rob Bauer was the Safety Officer, using his years of mountaineering, rescue, and emergency medical experience to keep the team out of danger. He took the pulse and oxygen absorption levels of each team member at least once a day to monitor changes. "Even people from high altitudes can suffer from altitude sickness. It's something I had to keep a constant eye on," he said.
Asked if he had to perform any rescues or care for frostbite, Rob replied, "One person had cracked fingers from working in the cold. The best way to treat it is using Super Glue. It prevents further cracking and creates a hard surface," tapping his fingertips on the table to demonstrate. Ted added, "The two most important things to have in Antarctica are Duct tape and Super Glue." People in the field sometimes put Duct tape right on their faces to prevent frostbite. Ted speaks from experience — he had a patch of frostbite on his cheek during the first season.
Megadunes were first noticed in scattered areas by pilots flying over other parts of East Antarctica. They saw the striped appearance of the long, low dunes. Satellite imagery showed that megadunes areas were huge areas — one area alone is the size of California. All the megadunes areas together cover approximately 500,000 square kilometers (193,000 square miles) of Antarctica, an area larger than the state of Texas.
Megadunes are slightly rounded at their crests and are so subtle that a person on the ground cannot see the pattern. Even in this aerial photograph, the megadune area looks like light and dark stripes in the snow.
Site Credits
Science agencies: NSF, NASA
Science review: Dr. Ted Scambos, NSIDC
Writing, editing, and site design: NSIDC Communications Group
Extreme Conditions
There have been many Antarctic expeditions, but few have crossed this particularly remote area. The megadune fields of Antarctica provide some of the coldest and windiest working conditions on Earth. The field site is near Russia's Vostok Station, where the world's coldest temperature was recorded: -89°C (-129°F) on July 21, 1983.
Explore this web site to find out how the megadunes scientist got there, how they lived, and the research they performed.


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It dropped 45 degrees today... and we received a little more rainfall. Rain is very good. We've been through drought conditions for way too long.
Here's a photo of the bouquet in the kitchen window.
A little closer look below...
FYI: Three Springs ago, I started seedlings from gaillardia 'Fanfare.'
Seedlings from this hybrid variety do not reproduce the parent strain.
However, you might see that a couple of flowers have partially LENT themselves
to a 'Fanfare' inclination.
The variation in color was not as pronounced as the first couple of years, however.
It's still a beautiful bouquet. The late-blooming phlox is due to the fact that I partially dug out plants this past Spring, leaving a few to fend for themselves. :-)
Not Shady... just a happy note for a rather bleak day.


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One of the things Jamie and I were looking forward to for our trip to Baltimore last month, was the abundance of fresh seafood to be had. Since Baltimore is right on a harbor, we knew the seafood would be fresh, fresh, fresh.
Jamie's parents were there, too, so between the four of us, we were able to sample a little of everything. We ate raw oysters on the half shell twice, sprinkled with lemon and horseradish. We ripped apart a table full of snow crabs, pulling out the meat and making a general mess. We peeled shrimp, flavorful with Cajun spices. We sampled spicy seafood ceviche with squid, scallops, crab and avocado.
At the Water Taxi dock next to Fort McHenry, we peered into the murky water and saw dozens of blue crabs clinging to the wooden posts under the water. Tiny mussels studded the posts at the water line.
For our last meal in town, we ate at the Rusty Scrupper and shared more oysters and some lightly seared ahi tuna with wasabi, then Jamie ordered broiled rock fish and I ordered mussels, steamed with a savory marinara sauce. I had been craving mussels all weekend, and they were so much better than I had hoped.
On the last day, we squeezed in a quick trip down to D.C. - neither of us had ever been there - so we drove down and spent three hours walking to the White House, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial before we were out of time and had to drive back to the Baltimore airport for the flight back to Denver. As if we hadn't had enough seafood, we grabbed a quick lunch at the airport - which I insisted on packing up in to-go boxes to eat at the gate since our flight was scheduled to leave in 25 minutes, but then ended up being delayed by 40 minutes. Crab cakes for Jamie and a crab and shrimp sandwich for me.
We arrived home, our feet hot and tired. And after all we'd sampled, I still wanted more seafood, as well as a light and healthy dinner that we wouldn't have to make ourselves. So I ordered sushi, which our sushi restaurant in town delivers, and we satiated our seafood craving with salmon, tuna, yellow tail and squid sashimi, a spider roll and a spicy tuna roll.
That was it. We'd finally had enough, and when I went grocery shopping the next day for the week, I made sure not to put fish on the menu.
Normally, our weekly dinner menu includes one night each of chicken, beef, shrimp and fish, and shrimp is always one of my favorites since it cooks so quickly. We love it in shrimp tacos or tossed with pasta or in a spicy coconut curry sauce with rice.
For this pasta dish, I simply roasted the shrimp on a sheet pan with some cherry tomatoes, seasoned humbly with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Tossed with spaghetti, egg yolks for a little richness, fresh greens, lemon, Parmesan cheese and more thyme, it was a delicious meal for being so deceptively easy to prepare. When I'm ready to eat seafood again, this dish will be making frequent appearances on the dinner menu rotation.
But even as I was getting my fill of seafood, I still loved its fresh from the ocean, briny flavor, something that we just can't get in Colorado...
Roasted Shrimp and Cherry Tomato Spaghetti
printable recipe
- 1 1/2 pounds uncooked shrimp, peeled and cleaned
- 10 ounces cherry tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- coarse Kosher salt
- cracked black pepper
- fresh thyme sprigs
- 3/4 pound thin spaghetti
- 2 cups mixed greens
- 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
Preheat the oven to 400. Meanwhile, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
Place the shrimp and tomatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Scatter a few thyme sprigs over the shrimp and tomatoes.
When the oven and the water are ready, set the baking sheet in the oven and drop the pasta in the water. Both should take approximately 7-8 minutes.
Scatter the greens over a large platter. When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain all but 1/4 cup of the water. Scoop the pasta and the 1/4 cup water over the greens. Drizzle with the beaten egg yolks and the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season with salt and pepper, then toss to combine with the greens so the greens wilt slightly and the pasta is lightly coated in the egg yolk and oil.
The shrimp should be pink and the tomatoes warm through, but not burst. Scrape the roasted shrimp and tomatoes over the pasta. Sprinkle a little more thyme, the lemon zest and juice, Parmesan cheese and Italian breadcrumbs. Toss once more, then serve.
Yields 4-6 servings.
Recipe from Curly Girl Kitchen


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Movies You've Heard Of Coming To YouTube. Will You Rent Them?
YouTube is finally ready to move its movie rental service from a long-running test into a real, bona fide movie store.
TheWrap's Sharon Waxman first reported the news Monday evening. I've been able to confirm much of her story from people familiar with the plans.
Waxman's report says the revamped store at Google's video site "may start as early as this week or next;" I'm told it could be "weeks, but not months." Big studios including Sony, Time Warner's Warner Bros. and Comcast's Universal are on board. So are indies like Lionsgate.
Notable holdouts: News Corp.'s Fox (News Corp. also owns this Web site) and Paramount, whose corporate parent Viacom is still suing Google over YouTube copyright claims.
YouTube started testing movie rentals internally in 2009, and has been renting a small handful to the public since 2010. Those movies have been offered as a streaming file, instead of the downloads that Apple's iTunes rents, and I'm told the plan is for that to continue.
The difference is that you've probably only heard of a handful of the movies in YouTube's existing store (I think "Made" is really under-appreciated). Post-expansion, you'll get the same stuff, or much of the same stuff, that you can get from Apple, Amazon, and several other Web services.
So here's the real question: Will you, or anyone else, use it?
Waxman quotes an unnamed executive who says they are "pretty excited," but primarily because YouTube is embracing individual rentals, instead of a Netflix-style subscription plan.
A source I talked to from a participating studio, though, is less enthused: "A small VOD deal? Who cares? There are 40,000 other people who are selling VOD. This is a short-term, transactional deal."
Another source familiar with the plans cautions that the initial expansion will only be the "first inning" of a longer game. Other features that Google could add down the road would be the ability to purchase movies, and store them in a cloud-based locker service.
Google is unlikely to get that ability until it makes several moves to mollify the big studios, primarily around copyright issues: They want the search giant to make it harder to find pirated movies, and they don't want Google placing its ads on pirate sites, etc.
Google has been making some moves along those lines, but apparently not enough of them. (The flip side of this argument: Many studios are very interested cloud-based lockers, because they think that system, which allows people who own an individual movie to watch it on different machines, will support their eroding DVD sales. That may be more wishful thinking than anything else, but that's for a different story.)
But the problem for both Google and the studios is that so far digital consumers seem largely uninterested in renting or buying individual movies.
Given the choice, consumers have overwhelmingly gone for Netflix, which now boasts 23.6 million subscribers. Research firm NPD estimates the company has 61 percent of the digital movie market.


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Mozilla has confirmed that Firefox 4 Beta is now available to developers and users for download and testing. The free and open source web browser now features improved performance and responsiveness for video and the development team says it has now has fixed more than 7,000 bugs since the first beta release.
The previously released Beta codenamed Namoroka (after a nature reserve in Madagascar) had reached version 3.6.13 before this final move to version 4. This final release features faster graphics rendering as well as improved start-up and page load times. Mozilla also says that Firefox also includes the WebM format to enable HD-quality video, WebGL for 3D graphics, and multi-touch support for Microsoft Windows 7.
"We couldn't build Firefox 4 beta without the help of our millions of beta testers and their feedback, which we welcome as we work to deliver an awesome experience to the more than 400 million Firefox users worldwide," said Mozilla's release manager, Christian Legnitto. "It may be confusing that nightly builds after beta 12 identify themselves as version 2.0b13pre. The versioning is merely a product of automation. This does not mean we are having a beta 13," he said.


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As you all might have noticed, the once weekly mailbag that would appear on bluejays.com is no more. We at MLB.com used to run mailbags every week during the winter and every other week during the regular season on the club sites, but we're now headed in a new direction content-wise.
That being said, I know there are many fans — not just of the Jaybirds — who loved the weekly Q&A and are probably upset that it's gone. With that in mind, I plan on trying to do a weekly E-mailbag right here on my blog. For now, let's tentatively pencil it in for Fridays, since I'm doing one tonight, but I'll probably move it to Saturday or Sunday once the season opens.
So, without further ado, I'll kick it off with just one question that was brought to my attention this week:
Hi Jordan,
Just a question regarding your recent starting rotation posts. Why is it such a given that David Purcey will be one of the Jays' starters going into next year? He finished 3-6 with a 5.54 ERA, not exactly dazzling numbers. I know there aren't a lot of options, but if Casey Janssen is anywhere near 2007 form, he's way ahead of Purcey. Matt Clement was a consistent 3.50-4.50 ERA guy before his injuries. I just don't think Purcey has done anything yet to be promised a Major League job.
Thanks for the articles though, much enjoyed.
Thanks, Aaron. One thing to keep in mind is that Purcey's stats are skewed some by his first few outings. After being inserted into the rotation on a full-time basis, the big lefty went 2-5 with a 4.88 ERA over nine outings. Sure, those still aren't dynamic totals, but Purcey certainly showed flashes of his promise. Also, take into consideration that he only received 1.4 runs of support in his five losses during that stretch.
Purcey isn't necessarily guaranteed a job in the rotation. All I wrote in the four-part series that ran this week was that he is one of three presumed locks on the staff, along with Roy Halladay and Jesse Litsch. And the only reason I included him in that group was because manager Cito Gaston and general manager J.P. Ricciardi have been saying since the Winter Meetings that it's his job to lose this spring.
Obviously, if — for argument's sake — Janssen, Clement and Scott Richmond have fantastic showings during the spring and Purcey labors, his stock could fall. As for Janssen's 2007 form, he was a reliever that season — not a starter. He's also returning from a shoulder injury, as is Clement, and those can be tricky ailments to rebound from. There's no guarantee that Janssen and Clement will be back at 100 percent. But, from what the team is saying, they're ready to compete for jobs.
So, basically, it's only a "given" that David Purcey will be one of the Jays' starters because that's what Toronto is saying at this point. Consider that we were only saying Halladay and Litsch were locks when the offseason started. It's also possible that someone like left-handed prospect Brett Cecil steps up in a big way this spring and forces the Jays' hand.
I hope that answers your question.
As for the rest of you readers, feel free to shoot inquiries my way at email@example.com. A link to my e-mail is also included at the bottom of each story I write on the team's web site. And, hey, this doesn't have to be limited to just roster questions. We can just as easily discuss movies, music or my marathon training, or anything else I deem relevant for that matter, if the Jays don't have much going on.
9 Comments
Nice to see some additional scouts hired to bring us up to an average sized scouting department for a MLB team.
(Globe article) Anthopoulos said he conducted an informal study in which he looked at the opening-day rosters of all 30 major-league clubs over the past two years. He said he found that about two-thirds of all the players on those rosters were there as a result of the advance work conducted by pro scouts.
Cuddles for this change of direction goes to Alex Anthopoulos and Tony LaCava who both lobbied hard to get the club to beef up the ranks of the pro scouts. And of course, to Paul Beeston who convinced the folks at Rogers to fund this activity in a year of pressing financial concerns.
It has long been my opinion that the only way we can compete is to draft well and invest more into our minor league system. This recent move does not bring immediate results, BUT clearly is a step in the right direction. Now, let's see us draft and/or sign high school kids and 16 year olds with high ceiling potentials instead of a bunch of "safe nice college players" like JP's moneyball philosophy has given us.
It appears JP Riccardi was missing in action on this direction change, although he is trying hard to capture some claim in the various press discussions and blaming Rogers and subsequently Godfrey for the reason this didn't happen years ago.
In my view, this is simply another example of JP's incompetence. This should have happened 5-7 years ago and I'm sure if he had asked for the funds to be spent in this fashion back then instead of continually signed reclamation projects that never worked, we'd now have a strong minor league system and bright future.
As it sits, after 7 years we are still ranked in the bottom third or quarter of MLB minor league systems which is no change from 7 years ago. At best, under JP's tutelage for 7 plus years, we've treaded water.
Hopefully, the new President is signed soon (although my favorite is still Beeston) and JP is thrown out like the incompetent fool he is.
I bet they still invested less than they paid eckstein in there scouting department
I don't even want to hear about eckstein (the biggest mistake of last year) because not only did we gain a shortstop who sucks and can't throw a ball, we lost our second baseman for the year and who knows if he is back to normal.
Im tired of all the doom and gloom going into this season. Teams are never as good or as BAD as early speculation tells. When was the last time the Yankees werent huge favorites only to have a less than huge season. Ya the Jays are in tough but it will still be fun to watch the development of the young players, Halladays Gems, and who knows wells and rios could regain form. I for one am looking forward to this season with catious optimisom. Its just more fun.
A new book by former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre contains allegations that members of the Toronto Blue Jays used amphetamines while former pitcher Roger Clemens was with the team.
The Yankee Years by Torre and Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci contains allegations by Brian McNamee, Clemens' former trainer, that the Blue Jays were enveloped in the amphetamine use that was allegedly widespread in baseball at that time.
"I didn't know one pitcher on Toronto's team that wasn't taking them when he pitched," McNamee claims in the book. "It's speed. Guys were 'beaning up' to play golf after workouts."
McNamee, who was hired by the Blue Jays when Clemens was with the team from 1997-98, also claimed former Toronto general manager Gord Ash "did not want to know if players were doping."
Ash, now an assistant GM with the Milwaukee Brewers, replied to the allegations in an e-mail to the Globe and Mail.
"I don't know or have reason to suspect that the Blue Jays were unique and there were no obvious issues," Ash stated. "Our medical staff never brought any abuse to my attention.
"We did place a great deal of emphasis on education and were one of the few clubs to have a full-time EAP (employee assistance program) director."
From CBS Sports.com
Nice to finally read something positive about the team from somebody. Quick is right, it is more fun.
I will say though that I disliked that they're willing to spend $2.5 million on Jose Bautista when there are potentially more useful players still around who could sign for less or equal value. GS was bang on a few posts back, that move made no sense.
Our overseas scouting is doing a great job so far. I bet in a couple years from now that 40 year old pitcher will be of ace caliber……..
WASHINGTON — Tests have linked Roger Clemens' DNA to blood in syringes that his former personal trainer says he used to inject the pitcher with performance-enhancing drugs, according to a report.
Citing two unidentified sources familiar with the investigation, The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the DNA results are preliminary and subject to verification tests. The newspaper said Clemens voluntarily gave a DNA sample to federal authorities, according to the sources, and it still remains to be determined whether the syringes ever contained steroids or human growth hormone.
The test results could prove important to the investigation into whether Clemens lied under oath to Congress last year when he denied using steroids or HGH.
**I think Roger, the Dodger goes to jail-looks good on him.
Quicksilver, yep I was looking forward to watching the young guns perform and develop this year as well. Guys like Lind, Snider, Arrencibia, possibly Cecil, Romero, Campbell, Dobriak and Mills
Then a funny thing happened on the way to Florida. JP, on one side of his mouth, talked about the kid movement while on the other signed a bunch of has beens like Takahashi, Barrett, Chavez, Maroth and Ruiz and is having day dreams each day about landing Kevin Millar. So I guess we're becoming the "old folks team" where old players who can't make it anyplace else come to Toronto.
So I asked myself, why would we throw money away signing old has been catchers when we have 3 catching prospects in AAA and more coming behind them? Of course the same situation is true for 1st base. And what kind of a youth movement is it when we sign a 40 year old pitcher who's never played in North America before-are we trying to set an age record for the oldest rookie in baseball to have something to talk about this season??????
The only positive thing I've seen all winter was the hiring of more scouts, although no one knows how good they are and whether they're properly positioned. I just hope Beeston is the one who made the hiring decisions.
To be frank, we are running out of time on dumping JP, moving out some guys for prospects and retooling. If we don't start making quality moves quickly, our tradeable properties will decline significantly in value-we possibly have already missed the window on dumping Wells for anything of value in return.
I've been a Blue Jays fan since they came to Toronto, this is the first time, I can honestly say, I'm embarassed to admit it.


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If you have information about this name, share it in the comments area below!
Numerology information Darrik:
Name Number: 7 Meaning: Inner, Thought, Mind, Psychology, Secret, Mystic, Strange, Study, Knowledge, Loneliness, Rest
Additional information Darrik:
English Meaning: The name Darrik is an English baby name. In English the meaning of the name Darrik is: Ruler of the land.
Expression information Darrik:
People with this name are excellent at analyzing, understanding, and learning. They tend to be mystics, philosophers, scholars, and teachers. Because they live so much in the mind, they tend to be quiet and introspective, and are usually introverts. When presented with issues, they will see the larger picture. Their solitary thoughtfulness and analysis of people and world events may make them seem aloof, and sometimes even melancholy.
Soul information Darrik:
People with this name have a deep inner desire to use their abilities in leadership, and to have personal independence. They would rather focus on large, important issues, and delegate the details.


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CES 2014: Follow our coverage
LAS VEGAS — It's Vegas, baby, and tech done up Vegas-style.
International CES 2014, the massive annual consumer electronics show here, kicked off unofficially Sunday night with a preview event showcasing what manufacturers hope will be some of the hottest products of the year.
USA TODAY's tech reporting team and our colleagues from Reviewed.com are out in force bringing you the latest from the show, which runs through Friday. Look for up-to-the-minute coverage of product announcements, trends and tons of video interviews with newsmakers on the scene. Follow it all at USATODAY.com and at our CES hub at ces.usatoday.com.
Here's what you can expect from us:
— Daily insights from Personal Technology columnist Ed Baig on some of the hottest products and trends at the show.
— A live daily webcast on USATODAY.com Monday through Thursday at noon ET. Hosted by USA TODAY's Jefferson Graham, Ed Baig and Mike Snider, the trio will showcase the latest on what's cool @CES2014, and include conversations with top execs from Vizio, Roku, Fuhu, the Consumer Electronics Association and other major tech firms.
— Graham brings his Talking Tech feature to the "Experience CEA Stage" in the main convention center. He'll host newsmakers, celebrities and journalists starting Monday and running through Thursday, each day at 6 p.m. ET on the stage. Segments will be taped and run on USATODAY.com as part of our coverage. Guests are scheduled to include Pandora founder Tim Westergren, Go Daddy CEO Blake Irving and rapper 50 Cent.
— Video, plenty of it, from Jennifer Jolly and her team.
— USA TODAY's Jon Swartz and Alistair Barr specialize in getting beyond the glitz. Look for analysis and live coverage of major speechmakers and more.
— Our colleagues Brett Molina and Scott Martin are pulling the hard duty of keeping the home fires burning. From their macro seats they'll monitor webcasts and file nightly summaries of the best of the day's news.
This is just a taste of what you'll see. Follow us all week and we'll deliver USA TODAY's signature take on what you need to know in the world of consumer technology.
Follow us on Twitter:@usatodaytech, @nansanfran, @jswartz, @jeffersongraham, @edbaig, @mikesnider, @alistairmbarr, @bam923, @scottysmartin, @jenniferjolly.


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Download iCalendar file (compatible with most calendaring software)
Web site: None available
Email: None available
Category: Non-Historical Miniatures
Rules: HeroClix (2012 Core)
Cost: $12.00
Duration: 1 hour
Host: unknown (WizKids)
Age requirement: Everyone (6+)
Experience requirement: None (You've never played before)
Are materials provided: No
Location: Indiana Convention Center, room Hall C : Wizkids, table HQ
Tickets: 4 out of 4 are available (as of 1:30 AM Saturday August 25th, 2012, but this information may be out of date.)
Official site: Check the official site for the most up to date information and to purchase tickets. You must be logged in at the official site for this to work.
Time slot: Sun Aug 19 noon - 1:00 pm
Event added: Wed May 23 2:34 pm
Interested in fast and furious HeroClix play? Then this event is for you! HeroClix Battle Royales are offered in four-player pods and will utilize boosters from a current DC OR Marvel expansion.


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The Misted Cliffs
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- Synopsis
- Award-winning author Catherine Asaro, creator of The Skolian Empire, returns to the world of Aronsdale, a place rich with magic and power. One generation after war had nearly destroyed three nations, evil was returning. And only Mel Dawnfield's daring sacrifice could stop it. . . The promise of peace rested on this young woman's noble vow: to marry Cobalt the Dark -- heir to a family of legendary cruelty. With only her uncontrolled spells to guide her, isolated in Cobalt's solitary home in the Misted Cliffs, knowing poisoned blood ran through her husband's veins, Mel struggled to embrace her unexplored mage powers and unveil the light in her shadowy new world -- including the radiance hidden in her husband's soul. For her enemies were gathering strength and they would soon unleash the darkest of evils in the name of war. In the final battle, Mel's ability to harness her magic would mean the difference between a harmonious world. . . and annihilation.
- Copyright:
- 2005
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Publisher Quality
- 9781426806193
- Publisher:
- Harlequin Enterprises
- Date of Addition:
- 05/27/11
- Copyrighted By:
- Catherine Asaro
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Romance, Literature and Fiction, Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Submitted By:
- Bookshare Staff
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.


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Along with the Nexus 7 tablet and the orb-shaped Nexus Q streaming media player, Google spent a huge chunk of its Google I/O conference talking about its next version of Android: 4.1 aka Jellybean.
Whereas Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich was released to combine 2.3 Gingerbread (smartphones) and 3.0 Honeycomb (tablets) together, 4.1 Jellybean is a modest OS update that smooths out all of ICS's kinks, for the most part.
Google claims that Android 4.1 Jellybean is "faster, smoother and more responsive" than any other version of Android thanks to a new triple buffering technique that provides more consistent rendering across animations and scrolling.
1. Revamped Voice Search Based On Knowledge Graph
A few weeks ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google was accelerating plans to launch its own Siri competitor, and today Google unveiled its redesigned search protocol. Voice search is much faster and according to attendees, voice assistant sounds very natural — almost human-like.
Google says that the new UI is "using the power of the Knowledge Graph for search results." Throw any question at the voice search and a voice assistant will try to give you the best answer. It's just like Siri, only it's by Google, meaning it should have much more collected data than Apple does.
But, as Google reminds everyone, artificial intelligence is only as smart as what you tell it. So, there's a new feature in Jellybean called "Google Now." Google Now is like a researcher. If you give it access to your calendar and search history, the AI will start to learn what you may want. It's like your own personal archiver that gets smarter and smarter with every piece of data it mines from you.
For example, it could learn your schedule pattern and tell you when is the best time to leave your house to avoid traffic-laden routes or keep the status of a flight for you. And just like the new version of Siri that will launch this fall in iOS 6, Google's voice search is a sport fan. It'll keep you updated on your favorite sports teams.
2. Powerful Notification System
One of the things Android does better than any other mobile OS is notifications. It's extremely handy and powerful, and in Jellybean notifications are even more useful than ever.
All notifications can be expanded and collapsed with two fingers, emails can be answered with pre-programmed quick replies or custom messages,
Another neat feature is Google+ photo integration with notifications. Photos shared on Google+ will now show up in notifications where you can +1 them or share them without having to go into the Google+ app. The same can be said for other apps such as Foursquare, where you can like and comment on someone's check-in.
The Other Flavors of Jellybean
- 3. Camera: faster photo reviewing with a new filmstrip-like UI
- 4. 18 new input languages: including better Hebrew and Arabic support
- 5. Android Beam: you can now share video with NFC (just like on the Galaxy S III's "S Beam") and pair two devices via Bluetooth by tapping them together
- 6. Offline voice typing: it now works even when you don't have an Internet connection
- 7. Smart App Updates: say goodbye to downloading an entire app when a new version hits. With Smart App Updates, you'll only need to download the new bits, making app updating faster than before.
All in all, Jellybean looks to be a slick update to Ice Cream Sandwich. All Google needs now is for more devices to get the update. Can Android 4.1 Jellybean buck the slow adoption rate that was ICS?
Android 4.1 Jellybean will be available as an over the air (OTA) update in mid-July for the Galaxy Nexus and Motorola Xoom tablet.


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The MATCH VLD bullets are proving to be the most lethal big game hunting bullet available. The VLD design incorporates a sharp nose that allows the bullet to penetrate up to 3 inches before it starts to expand. This delayed expansion results in a wound channel that is deep inside the vital area of any big game. After the bullet starts to expand it will shed 80% to 90% of its weight into the surrounding tissue traveling as deep as 18 inches. This results in a massive wound cavity that creates the greatest possible amount of tissue damage and hemraging within the vital area (organs). This massive and extensive wound cavity result in the animal dropping fast. Our bullets don't poke through like an arrow but instead expend all of their energy right where it is most effective, inside the animal. Bullets that poke through so that they can cause a blood trail are designed to result in a hunter tracking a wounded animal. This is not loaded ammunition.
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.600


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|Biosequences .. Software .. Molbio soft .. Network News .. FTP
B i r k b e c k C o l l e g e CRYSTALLOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT >From January 15th 1996 we are running a part-time London University Advanced Certificate course on PRINCIPLES OF PROTEIN STRUCTURE on the Internet (a formalised version of last year's course). Units are: 1) IT and Bioinformatics 2) Protein Structure 3) Dissertation: structure, function and dynamics The course covers one academic year of three terms, from January 15 to 25 October 1996. Costs are: 186 pounds sterling (EU): 500 pounds sterling (world). For details of course contents, administration and registration, see our Web pages at:- http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS2/ Contact: Jody McGill, Crystallography Department, Birkbeck College, London WC1E 7HX. UK. Tel. +44 (0)171 631 6800 Fax. +44 (0)171 631 6803 email: j.mcgill at mail.cryst.bbk.ac.uk


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Synopsis: When British filmmaker Andrew Kotting decided to tour the perimeter of Great Britain with his grandmother Gladys and his daughter Eden, he brought a film crew along. The result is this often humorous and picturesque documentary. Much of it features the travelers interacting with the native villagers who gladly share a story, a bit of colorful philosophy or sing a traditional song. One of Kotting's motives for the journey was to have a final lark with the 80-year-old Gladys and to spend precious moments with Eden, who suffers from Jouberts Syndrome and may die before reaching maturity.~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
no pass


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The percentage of smartphone owners is growing closer to the 50 percent mark, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center. Forty-six percent of American adults now have smartphones, with growth in several areas that show increasing democratization in ownership.
Smartphones saw more growth among women than men, with 44 percent of women owning smartphones, up from 31 percent in May 2011, compared to men's growth from 39 to 49 percent. The survey also showed more growth in the lowest income category of less than $30,000 than in any other, with 34 percent of respondents in that bracket saying they owned a smartphone, up from 22 percent last May. The second-largest ownership jump was in the $50,000-$74,999 income bracket, going from 38 to 49 percent. Smartphones are still the most common among those who make at least $75,000 a year, with ownership increasing from 59 to 68 percent.
The study showed that black and Hispanic respondents were more likely to have smartphones than average at 49 percent ownership. White, non-Hispanic respondents showed the most growth, from 30 percent to 45 percent. In terms of geography, rural smartphone ownership grew the most from 21 to 34 percent, followed by urban smartphone owners, who went from 38 to 50 percent ownership.
When asked about their smartphone OS, 20 percent of respondents said they had Android phones, up from 15 percent in May 2011. Nineteen percent were iPhone owners, up from 10 percent, while BlackBerry ownership dropped from 10 to 6 percent.
All that said, there was some uncertainty among respondents about what a smartphone actually is. In total, 45 percent of cell phone owners reported that their phone is a smartphone, while 49 percent say their phones "have a smartphone operating system"; when those numbers are taken together, Pew says, 53 percent of of cell owners have smartphones. Unfortunately, some confusion remains among the general American public about what is and is not a smartphone, as 8 percent of respondents said they didn't know if their phone was a smartphone or not, down from the confusion rate of 14 percent in May 2011.


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Notice: On April 23, 2014, Statalist moved from an email list to a forum, based at statalist.org.
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Re: st: RE: comparing coefficients across models
Dalhia <email@example.com>
"firstname.lastname@example.com" <email@example.com>
Re: st: RE: comparing coefficients across models
Thu, 2 Aug 2012 19:14:00 -0700 (PDT)
James, this is so helpful. Thank you so much.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fitzgerald, James" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
To: "firstname.lastname@example.com" <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 2, 2012 11:30 PM
Subject: st: RE: comparing coefficients across models
Hi Dalhia
I asked the exact same question yesterday and received a number of very useful answers. I decided to use the method which tests differences in unstandardised coefficients.
I have pieced together the relevant parts of the replies posted so you can make your own decision that suits your needs.
Hi James,
>>> Typically the effect of a predictor in two different groups can be
>>> compared with the unstandardized beta. You can do a statistical test
>>> of the difference in the betas using the z-score formula below. I
>>> usually just calculate the difference between unstandardized betas
>>> from two different models by hand, though Stata might have a command
>>> to do this for you. Is that what you are looking for: the Stata
>>> command?
>>> z = (B1 - B2) / √(seB1^2 + seB2^2)
(as far as I know, Stata does not have such a command)
>>> In terms of comparing the *magnitude* of the effect in the two
>>> different subsamples, it is more correct to do this qualitatively by
>>> comparing the *standardized* beta for the variable of interest
>>> against effect size rules of thumb for small/medium/large (which
>>> sometimes differ by discipline, such as social
>>> sciences/education/engineering). Just report the standardized beta
>>> as the effect size in each group; it would be a qualitative
>>> statement about the effect in each group.
>>> Here are rules that I have:
>>> Standardized regression coefficients:
>>> * Keith's (2006) rules for effects on school learning: .05 = too
>>> small to be considered meaningful, .above .05 = small but meaningful
>>> effect, .10 = moderate effect, .25 = large effect.
>>> * Cohen's (1988) rules of thumb: .10 = small, .30 = medium, > (or
>>> equal to) .50 = large
xtreg does not support the -beta- option, so to calcualte the standardised coefficients
you can simply standardise your variables first
egen stdy=std(y)
egen stdx1=std(x1)
egen stdx2=std(x1)
and then rerun your regressions
xtreg stdy stdx1 stdx2, fe robust if group==1
xtreg stdy stdx1 stdx2, fe robust if group==2
The coefficients generated in each case can be interpreted as "a 1 standard deviation change in x1 results in a B1 change in y".
However, another a user reposted the following:
> I'm a bit doubtful about Beta weights (standardised coefficients). They have largely gone out of style since the 1970s or so at least in sociology and political science, because they standardize on the basis of standard deviations. It follows that one cannot compare Beta weights between models if the runs are conducted on samples with different variable standard deviations.
> Why not instead just compare the size of the unstandardized coefficients? Often since regression coefficients (including those reported by Stata's fixed-effect routines) are in units of the dependent variable, one can say how much change a one unit change in an explanatory variable produces in a dependent variable. Suppose, for example, your dependent variable is in dollar amounts. Then the (unstandardized) coefficient on an explanatory variable is equal to the change in dollars a one unit change in an explanatory variable would produce.
> Or if your dependent variable is not so easily interpreted and if you can't get Stata to produce elasticities, other options probably are available. Again if you log both the dependent variable and an explanatory variable, the coefficient on that explanatory variable will be an elasticity equal to the percentage change in a dependent variable attributable to a one percent change in the logged explanatory variable. If logged variables won't be appropriate for many possible reasons (such as zero values in the variables), any decent introductory econometrics book will show you how to compute elasticities at the mean by multiplying a regression coefficient by the ratio of the mean of the dependent and the explanatory variables. The fact you are estimating with fixed-effects rather than OLS does not matter.
> Dave Jacobs
Thanks David. That really clears things up. My dependent variable is easy to interpret so I will just use the unstandardised coefficients.
Do I just compare them qualitatively or is their a test I can employ with confidence intervals?
> Referees (or dissertation committees) will be more impressed with your work if you can say that an appropriate statistical test shows that regression coefficient X is significantly larger than coefficient Y.
> If you want to test for differences in coefficient size and the dependent variables are correlated, use the two equation estimator called -sureg-. If -sureg- won't work, consider the Stata test called -suest-.
> Dave Jacobs
Hi Dave,
> Thank you for your response.
> I tried using margins, eyex to calculate elasticities but I got the following error message:
> "Could not calculate numerical derivatives - - discontinuous region with missing values encountered".
> Have you any suggestions as to why I am receiving this error? Stata says this is the generic form of r(459), but does not go into any specifics as to what is actually causing the error to occur.
> Also, suest and sureg do not support xtreg.
> Best Regards
> James
Oops, I neglected to read the bottom of your last comment about -suest-.
> Since an OLS model with separate dummy variables included for each case will provide the same coefficients as Stata's fixed-effects routines (although the OLS t-values will be a bit different than the more appropriate ones from -xtreg-), I don't see any reason why you could not estimate a fixed-effects model using OLS with the case dummies included and then test those coefficients with -suest-.
> Maybe one of the econometrically more Knowledgeable list members will know of objections to this OLS replacement test procedure, but until I hear otherwise, I suspect it will be OK.
> Dave J.
No problem Dave!
I'm not sure the separate dummy variables approach will work though, as I have an unbalanced panel with 1167 firms over 1 to 20 years. Thus, the degrees of freedom would be severely affected by the inclusion of dummies.
From: firstname.lastname@example.com [email@example.com] on behalf of Dalhia [email@example.com]
Sent: 02 August 2012 21:42
To: email@example.com
Subject: st: comparing coefficients across models
I have two groups and need to run the same regression model
on both groups (number of observations differ but variables are all the
same). I am interested in the difference in the coefficients for one
particular variable.
here are the two models I am running:
xtreg y x1 x2, fe robust if group==1
xtreg y x1 x2, fe robust if group==2
I cannot put the two groups together, and run the model with an
interaction with dummy variable for group, because then the model becomes highly
multicollinear, and the coefficients are not stable.
Is there a test that can help me check if the coefficient on x2 differs significantly across the two groups?
I really appreciate your help. I just spent half a day on google trying
to figure out voung test, clarke test, and chow test, and none appear
to do what i need.
Your help is much appreciated.
Dalhia Mani
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