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Apple has introduced significant improvements to the iPhone's camera capabilities in nearly every iteration of the device. And while rumors about the next-generation iPhone have largely concerned screen sizes and exotic materials, very little has been rumored about the camera thus far.
We decided to examine some potential technologies Apple could incorporate into the next iPhone to boost its photographic flair. Because the iPhone's camera is a combination of sensor and lens hardware controlled with software, we'll look at each part separately.
The iPhone 4S camera hardware is already pretty capable, especially given the constraints of the device's size. It currently features an 8 megapixel sensor with backside illumination and a "full-well" design, technologies used to maximize its light gathering capabilities and dynamic range. Its five-element autofocus lens is sharp and provides even illumination across the image. And its "Hybrid IR" filter helps maximize color accuracy and sharpness.
But that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. For instance, Apple could increase the megapixel count in the next iPhone, though doing so presents a number of tradeoffs. Typically, increasing pixel count results in smaller physical pixels for a given sensor size. And the smaller the pixel, the less sensitive it is to light.
In moving from 3MP of the iPhone 3GS to 5MP in the iPhone 4, Apple increased the sensor size in order to maintain a 1.75µm pixel pitch. It also added backside illumination—effectively flipping the sensor upside down so that more light reaches the critical photodiode components—to increase its ability to capture images in low light. This brought a marked improvement in dynamic range and low-light shooting.
In moving from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S in 2011, Apple increased the pixel count to 8MP. While this significantly reduced the pixel pitch, resulting in smaller photodiodes, Apple was able to actually improve light gathering ability 73 percent by incorporating advanced BSI with a "full well" design, which maximizes photodiode area within each pixel.
With Apple already using available technologies to mitigate the tradeoffs that come with increasing pixel counts, it may not be able to increase the iPhone camera's resolution without considering larger sensors. The iPhone 4 and 4S use a 1/3.2" size sensor, and increasing the resolution further at that size would push the pixel pitch to the limits of acceptable quality.
However, long-time sensor supplier OmniVision recently announced a 16MP 1/2.3" sensor with improved BSI technology. Aside from the huge leap in resolution, it maintains a similar pixel pitch to that of the current iPhone 4S sensor. It also offers massively high video resolution—known as "4K2K" or "quad full high definition" (QFHD) at 3840x2160.
Such an increase in resolution isn't on par with the massive 41MP offered in Nokia's new PureView 808 smartphone, but it could allow Apple to offer a similar "oversampling" mode, which trades resolution for improved color accuracy and reduced noise.
Still, significantly increasing the resolution involves using a larger sensor, and would begin to put a strain on the limited storage capacity of the entry-level iPhone models. Apple may not be ready to account for that in the next iPhone iteration.
Sensor patterns
One thing that would not require additional space, however, is an alternate filter array pattern. Most color image sensors use a common Bayer filter, which alternates green and red filters on one line, and green and blue filters on the next. Full RGB information for each pixel is interpolated from surrounding pixels, which means values aren't always perfect. (There are more green pixels than red and blue because green wavelengths also tend to have the most sharpness and detail.) To help avoid false colors and color moiré patterns, most sensors also have an anti-aliasing filter which adds a slight amount of blur.
Fuji has experimented with alternate filter arrays, most recently incorporating an alternative RGB pattern in its X1 Pro camera. The pattern ensures that each row and column has both red and blue values, improving the RGB interpolation. The side effect is reduced false color and moiré effects, enough so that Fuji eliminated the anti-aliasing filter, generally resulting in sharper images.
Another alternate sensor pattern that several companies have been developing is "RGBW," which adds unfiltered "white" pixels to the usual RGB array. There are several variations of this technique being designed and patented by the likes of Panasonic and Sony, but the basic improvement is that the unfiltered "white" pixels give improved luminance response, increasing dynamic range. Color accuracy can lose out a bit, but for sufficiently high resolutions—even 8MP—the effect is negligible, while the improvement in dynamic range and low-light response is impressive.
Folding optics
Most smartphones have a single focal length lens. While Apple added a "digital zoom" function in 2010 to the iPhone 4, this merely crops the middle section of the image and enlarges it. Doing so results in a decidedly less sharp image, so some iPhone snappers have longed for a proper optical zoom lens.
Apple would not be able to squeeze such a zoom into the current thickness of the iPhone, and we don't think Apple would make the phone thicker to accommodate one. However, it could go with a reflex zoom design, which has been used successfully on several thin digital cameras, such as the Nikon Coolpix S100 or Pentax Optio WG-2.
Effectively, light would come in a front element in its current position, reflected downward using a mirror or prism, and the rest of the lens would be inside the iPhone's casing.
Space is at a premium inside the iPhone, as all the components are tightly compacted. (Most of the internal space is occupied by the battery.) However, it's possible that more efficient components could give Apple just enough room to squeeze folded optics inside.
Xenon flash
The iPhone, like many smartphones, relies on a relatively bright LED to act as a "flash" for lighting in low-light conditions. The quality of an LED light is, shall we say, not very good.
Apple could improve things by incorporating a proper xenon flash tube. A xenon flash is typically viewed as a luxury for smartphones, because they require a large capacitor to fire. Finding space inside the iPhone for the necessary power electronics is likely a very low priority, but it's clear that Apple's engineers have some serious chops in this area.
One downside with this approach, however, is that a xenon flash can't provide continuous light for video. So Apple would either have to include both, ditch the LED altogether, or just stick with the LED, which can work for both purposes.
In addition to improving the hardware, however, Apple could also choose to add one or more software improvements to boost the iPhone's camera performance. For instance, Apple added high dynamic range (HDR) shooting to the iPhone 4 as a software update in iOS 4.1. Apple could bring additional improvements to its software in iOS 6 to power advances in the next-generation iPhone. A side benefit of this approach is that some or all of the improvements could be back-ported to previous iPhone models as well.
Super resolution
Apple could improve the resolution of its existing iPhone camera hardware by using a technique called "super resolution." This technique commonly combines multiple exposures of the same scene with slight variations (almost guaranteed with a handheld shot) to create images that have more detail and resolution than what is possible from the sensor alone.
A third-party app called Cortex Camera is available for the iPhone 4S, which uses super resolution techniques to significantly improve sharpness and detail of images while also reducing noise. Apple could do one better by incorporating the option into the camera software itself, and offering APIs to allow third-party apps to optionally capture super resolution images.
Multiple tap to focus
A recent patent application from Apple shows that it has considered improvements to its "tap-to-focus" feature. By default, the iPhone will focus on the center of the image, and can optionally use facial recognition to focus on people. Users can also tap anywhere within the image to force the iPhone's camera to focus on a particular spot.
Apple suggests that additional gestures could allow users to select more than one focus point, forcing the lens to focus at an intermediary distance to get multiple subjects as sharply focused as possible. Such a system could also be used to bias the exposure system for multiple subjects, choosing a "compromise" that looks as good as possible for the given lighting conditions.
Manual exposure compensation
There's also some pretty low-hanging fruit for Apple to grab as far as improvements to its camera software, such as the addition of an exposure compensation control. The current tap-to-focus control will adjust the auto exposure based on the selected focus area, and sometimes that can bias the exposure for better results. However, we have run into a number of situations where the autoexposure results in an image that's either too light or too dark. Exposure compensation would make it possible to dial it in to "just right."
Apple prides itself on the simplicity and ease-of-use of its software, but we don't think that means that options for advanced users should be left out entirely. A pop-up slider similar to the current zoom control would offer an intuitive way to force the camera to make images lighter or darker as needed.
None of the above?
Given the other rumored changes coming to the next iPhone, including a larger screen, improved processor, LTE capability, and perhaps even a radical design change, Apple might instead choose to hold off any major improvements to the camera hardware. The current hardware in the iPhone 4S is compact and capable of impressive image quality that consistently ranks the iPhone as the most-used smartphone camera.
It may end up being smarter for Apple to keep using a solution that's proven to work, saving changes for 2013 or beyond. But as usual, we won't know the truth until the next iPhone actually makes its debut later this year.
Listing image by Apple, Inc.


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We've been saying it here for 2 seasons — the dishonor being done by the Washington Nationals to the legacy of Teddy Roosevelt has got to stop. What we didn't realize back in 2007 was that it came along with a curse.
But how can you deny it?
In today's Washington Times, columnist Thom Loverro finally comes to the unfortunately simple conclusion that the Nationals are suffering from the curse of Teddy Roosevelt.
As Loverro points out, the Nationals were surprisingly respectable contenders before the live presidents race started in 2006. Since Teddy lost his first race, the team is a horrific 176-262. This is not just the record of a rebuilding team; It's the record of a cursed franchise, snakebitten by everything from freak injuries to timely bad weather to misspelled uniforms.
If you've been watching the Washington Nationals closely this year, can there be any doubt that this team is cursed? It's time to end the curse and let Teddy win!
Photo by Scott Ableman

subset: commoncrawl


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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
The Gazelle scampers off freely into the distance
What the Jays get from allowing Rios and the entirety of his contract to be claimed by the Chicago White Sox is a significant amount of payroll flexibility in both the short term and down the road. It will allow the team to be a bit more dexterous in the free agent market, should they choose to indulge, and it will allow them to keep some of the young talent that they have emerging through their system.
(Don't forget that, if they are fortunate, the Jays are going to have to cough up a big contract for Travis Snider before the end of deals to which Rios and Wells were signed.)
So we get it. It makes sense. It's rational. It was probably the right thing to do.
Then there is the "fan" in us, who is totally irrational and has spent roughly about a thousand hours over the past couple of years irrationally feeding into the hopes and dreams and misery and agony of Jays fans through this very blog. And that part of us is really finding it difficult to root, root, root for the home team's corporate ownership's bottom line.
Fiscal forbearance and fiduciary diligence are commendable. We're certain that those who hold a financial stake in Rogers will greatly appreciate the fact that one of the divisions has found ways to cut costs going forward. We're also pretty sure that at year's end, Tony Viner and Nadir Mohammed and Phil Lind will all be compensated handsomely through bonuesses for their willingness to hack away at this particular division's overhead.
But for those of us who hold an emotional stake in the team, sending away a two-time All-Star for absolutely no return, even if he is underperforming, is awfully tough to swallow.
And maybe the brain trust can scoff at such sissy-boy emotionality around a big money decision like this, but it is those same emotions that make us do irrational things, like spend inordinate amounts of money on Blue Jays tickets, merchandise and paraphenalia, or stupid amounts of our summer watching three hours worth of sponsored programming on their television services.
If the Jays are able to outsmart the market and pull in players on more economical short term contracts in the next few years, then fine. But if the guys in the corporate suite are about to take this money off the field and tuck it away in their own coffers, then they have to know that the fanbase isn't going to stand for it.
Above all, sports franchises try to sell hope. But if what they're going to sell us in the forseeable future us hope for a miracle, we're not sure that we can buy in to that.
As for the Gazelle
Alex Rios got a raw deal from the fans in Toronto, and got shoehorned into roles that didn't fit his skillset. Here's hoping that a fresh start with a team in contention brings out the best in him.
Vaya con dios, El Gacela.
35 comments:
- Mattt said...
Well written, well said.
Not much to add other than hoping that 'fiscal restraint', as demonstrated by this move, at least ensures that the team remains here in Toronto.
Now I know there is no immediate danger of a Toronto exit, but the Expos and Grizzlies have made me permanently paranoid...
- August 11, 2009 at 10:56 AM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
Great post, Tao.
I'm with you, this was a move that had to be made.
The fan in me still believes; believes that the money will be reinvested in the team, and that the Jays will rise again. That's the only choice I have. In the AL East, all I can hope for is a miracle, because that's what it's going to take.
- August 11, 2009 at 11:00 AM
- The Ack said...
I'm sounding like a broken record, I know, but ownership has pretty much run out of currency with me. Ted's dead.
I just need some time, I guess.
Plus, I don't need Blair running with the "for sale" angle. As unlikely as the possibility of moving is - because I don't believe there's any way MLB completely abandons Canada - you're talking to a guy who's childhood hockey team skipped town for a home in the desert. Those scars don't heal.
- August 11, 2009 at 11:11 AM
- shortwaveboy said...
Well said Tao.
I take one exception of course. The bit about him being shoehorned is no more true for him than anybody else. And don't forget that he got paid in keeping with those lofty 30-30 expectations.
- August 11, 2009 at 11:33 AM
- Darren Priest said...
According to Tabler, Cito said it's easier to play CF than the corner positions. Something about it being easier to get a read on the ball. In any case, I don't get why playing RF would have any effect on Rios' success at bat.
I won't miss him in the least, but I still think my "theory" about the 40 million payroll passes the initial sniff test. My feeling is Rogers doesn't care about baseball -- it's just a division that has to pay for itself like any other. So if the Jays are going to win, they are going to have to do it Rays/Marlins style.
If the economics of the last few months have taught us anything, it's that an executive will always want more no matter how much they already have or where it's coming from...anyways, I am veering off topic at this point. I'm going to go listen to "If I had a Rocket Launcher"
- August 11, 2009 at 11:45 AM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
Not sure if you guys read this, but I'm down with the Marlins route:
- August 11, 2009 at 11:54 AM
- The Ack said...
Leave it to Joe Morgan to provide comments that force me to rally behind the team. I know the guy is a legend as a baseball player, but...come on. Check out this ridiculousness:
"I do not understand the Toronto Blue Jays. First they float Halladay out there and then they let a player go without any compensation. I just don't understand it. They say something about giving them financial flexibility. If you get another player, you'll have to pay for them too. I don't understand it, but then again I don't understand what they've been doing up there."
I love how he uses the ol "up there". Somebody put him out to pasture already.
- August 11, 2009 at 12:45 PM
You can choose to believe this or not, but when asked about the Jays (and they think its funny how many questions they get from institutional investors about the Jays since its such a tiny part of the company), they have said that they will provide more money for payroll when and if it is warranted.
They were led to believe that it was warranted to boost payroll and it didn't work out. Anyone who thinks the team is close anytime in the next few years is delusional. If the farm is restocked and the team is rebuilt properly, they will be there when it matters.
- August 11, 2009 at 1:12 PM
@ Anon, you are right. They can't compete in this divsion as presently constituted. I will say that Tao got it right about not getting anything in return OR the corporate greed of Viner and Mohammed. I've herad people in NYC say that the Rogers want to go the way of the Marlins and put the money in their pocket...but will the local cult become what the Expos' cult was? And then the team was gone? I've heard that Mark Cuban wants a team.......
- August 11, 2009 at 1:23 PM
J.P. Ricciardi said the move was not "a financial dump,"
Uhhh...THATS EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS!
- August 11, 2009 at 1:35 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
We won't know until the off-season whether it was "a financial dump" or not.
- August 11, 2009 at 1:52 PM
- Brendan said...
You know how the Raptors are always saying that international players want to come to Toronto because it's so "multicultural" and stuff? Wouldn't it be sweet if some European rich dude was convinced to buy the Jays as a lark, and since he would have little to no knowledge of the game, he just bought the most knowledgeable guys he could find, and just let them do their thing with a payroll of...let's say 150 mil or so? Awesome. Interbrew doesn't count, of course.
- August 11, 2009 at 1:54 PM
- The Ack said...
I'm going from point A to about G here, but the "It's not a salary dump" party line will be put to test in the next week when we see if/how many of the Jays top-5 picks from this year's draft sign.
After the pre-season bravado of "we're investing more in the draft this year", it will be telling if they fail to deliver.
- August 11, 2009 at 2:08 PM
- matthias @ mopupduty said...
"when we see if/how many of the Jays top-5 picks from this year's draft sign."
So true. Although its going to be hard to "go to the board" and justify throwing cash at players that are years away from the majors.
- August 11, 2009 at 2:13 PM
- Darren Priest said...
Rogers should be in a position to make lots of money off the team even if they doubled payroll. Is there a Blue Jays revenue stream they don't control?
I say this with no knowledge of the subject whatsoever, of course.
I am outlining a plan that sees Fidel and Raul Castro buying the team and sending all Cuban prospects to us.
Drunk already on a Tuesday? Why do you ask?
- August 11, 2009 at 2:17 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
I wish I was, Priesty.
And Ack, you are wise.
- August 11, 2009 at 2:46 PM
- MK Piatkowski said...
If this is clearing a path to go after Jason Bay in the off-season, I'm all for it.
- August 11, 2009 at 2:54 PM
- brandon s said...
Does anyone else sense a Carpenter-esque showing from Rios in the coming seasons?
- August 11, 2009 at 2:57 PM
- MK Piatkowski said...
Oh, I'm sure he's going to be amazing in Chicago. But I don't think it was going to happen here. I honestly think it's going to be the change of situation that will finally unlock him.
- August 11, 2009 at 2:59 PM
I don't, Bubbles, because I think he was juicing when he hit 24.
The power outage across the MLB this year is a course of constant mirth for me.
- August 11, 2009 at 3:01 PM
wow, I reverse the c and s in that word. That has to be an undiagnosed learning disability.
- August 11, 2009 at 3:07 PM
- dave said...
And am I the only one that is weary of rebuilding after seeing what Baltimore has going for it?
Shit ain't getting easier and you have to go for it eventually.
- August 11, 2009 at 3:07 PM
- Tao of Stieb said...
I would hope that if the Jays pull together just the right combo of players through their own system, and they are competing or out in front in July/August, that Rogers would jump on the opportunity, plow in some extra money to take someone else's salary dump for a rental and go for it.
At this point, the Jays' margin is so slim that any opportunity that they get in any given year could very well be the last good opportunity they have for a decade.
Because until there is a radical realignment, the Jays will never again build a dynasty .
- August 11, 2009 at 3:25 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
@ Dave: I was talking to a friend of mine the other day about this; if we could combine the Orioles hitting, with the Blue Jays pitching, we'd have a dynasty.
I constantly swoon over Markakis and Jones.
Lord knows the Orioles don't have any pitching. We've got it in spades.
The Torontimore Blue Orioles.
- August 11, 2009 at 3:43 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
And I'm with MK: JASON BAY!!!1
- August 11, 2009 at 3:43 PM
- Johnny G said...
The Orioles will have pitching in 2 years though...
Tillman, Matusz, Arrieta and Patton all in the pipe and look good.
- August 11, 2009 at 3:47 PM
I dunno, I don't think the team will be any closer than they were this year. We needed a DH and that was it.
Ownership wouldn't pay for one, and look where we are. How many one-run losses would have ended differently if we had ONE more bat in the lineup?
So I really can't imagine the Jays getting to the point where they are "one more player away" and the owners somehow paying for it. They had their chance at the start of this season, but decided to make everything rest on the production of a 20-year old kid.
- August 11, 2009 at 4:43 PM
- DoubleA said...
I don't think Rios is going to go all "Carpenter-esque". I'm thinking more like Jose Cruz Jr-esque
- August 11, 2009 at 5:23 PM
"Tillman, Matusz, Arrieta and Patton all in the pipe and look good."
1 will get hurt, 1 will suck. 1 will be moved to the bullpen.
I'm not going to start worrying about the O's when they have the worst pitching in baseball. Maybe when they're like 5th worst.
- August 11, 2009 at 6:48 PM
I have been telling you people this all season !!! Rogers DOESN'T CARE about the Jays ! No matter what kinda cheap peice of shit product they put on the field, the same number of people will pay for it! SO...THIS WILL CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT BOYCOTT ROGERS!!!!
- August 11, 2009 at 7:12 PM
You know what? I hate that Rios left - he was my mancrush.
Any other people feeling the same way I do should cheer themelves up with Barry Zito's terrible song that's been floating around for the past few days
Seriously, it'll make you laugh.
Bye, gazelle.
- August 11, 2009 at 7:42 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
Sheeeeeit, pat said it best: "Bye, gazelle."
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Biology at Your Fingertips has been released
Biology at Your Fingertips has been released. It's available at Galgotia's stall in New Delhi World Book Fair. Orders on Flipkart and Dialabook would start by the evening. To buy online click here http://www.flipkart.com/biology-your-fingertips-8175157100/p/9788175157101 or dial 9650-457-457 It would take … Continue reading
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Sen. Ted Cruz's straw poll victory at the Values Voter Summit on Saturday, just as his strategy to block Obamacare was collapsing in recrimination and desperation on Capitol Hill, indicates that some voters don't place much value on political realism.
While it is difficult to call Cruz's 317 votes significant by itself, the summit measured the mood in a portion of the right. Two themes were common: apocalyptic diagnosis and utopian solutions. "We have a couple of years to turn this country around," said Cruz, "or we go off the cliff to oblivion." Obamacare, added Michele Bachmann, is really "death care" and evidence of a "police state." According to Ben Carson, it is "the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery."
Yet, Obamacare can be defeated. By standing strong. By fighting the good fight. And how will this approach secure sufficient votes in the Senate to overturn a presidential veto? The question itself indicates a lack of faith and conviction. Glenn Beck: "I'm tired of people saying, 'Oh, but we might lose.' Yes, and we just might win." Standing ovation.
So America is going to hell and will be saved by the methods of Peter Pan: "If you believe, clap your hands."
I had always thought this type of romantic posturing more typical of the hard left. The world is going off a cliff of inequality and capitalist oppression — so pitch a tent in Zuccotti Park. Achievable results, even reasonable demands, are irrelevant. What the revolution needs is fearless consistency. Movement conservatism, meet Occupy Wall Street.
There is a difference between tactics that are difficult to implement and those that are unviable from the start. In this case, the effort had little to do with governing and everything to do with positioning — the ideological maneuvering of tea party leaders. And they will certainly take the defeat they invited as further evidence of the GOP impurity they decry. When intentions are all that matter, no outcome can be discrediting.
But sometimes, it's been said, the greatest courage is displayed in standing before a crowd and affirming that two plus two equals four — now the main Republican challenge. Political morality is determined not simply, or even mostly, by intentions, but rather by results. There is a virtue in achieving what is achievable — in actually making things better than they are.
Effective leadership requires large, visionary goals — Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms or Ronald Reagan's post-Soviet world. But it connects vision to strategy. It stretches the boundaries of reality without denying the existence of those boundaries. It both opens vistas and draws maps. The political world is moved by optimistic pragmatists, not by despairing utopians. The best leaders give romance to realism.
Historically, conservatives have diagnosed serious dangers in utopianism. A disregard for realism and prudence raises expectations that are predictably dashed, encouraging political disillusionment or worse. People may lose faith in public engagement or even in the legitimacy of political institutions themselves. If Obamacare is really the worst thing since chattel slavery, then it would be justifiable to view our nation and its institutions in a different light. And maybe to flee from them.
The reductio ad absurdum of utopianism gets truly absurd. One funder of the Club for Growth has invested in a project to explore the creation of floating libertarian cities, called "seasteads," to explore "new ideas for government." What type of ideology would cause men and women to forsake their green and pleasant land, and leave their friendly and frustrating neighbors, to start anew on an oil derrick?
It is certainly not conservatism. Both apocalyptic language and utopian hopes are foreign to it. Conservatives have traditionally affirmed that social systems should fit the contours of reality, not patterns cut by abstract ideology. The task of politics is reform, which requires prudent calculation and respect for consequences. Instead of alternating between despair and bluster, conservatism offers a deeper confidence: that human nature is best suited to ordered liberty. And for this reason, persistent, responsible political action can make a large difference, on health care and much else.
"I've always believed," said William F. Buckley in 1970, "that conservatism is . . . the politics of reality and that reality ultimately asserts itself, in a reasonably free society, in behalf of the conservative position."
This is the true source of conservative hope: the politics of reality.
Read more from Michael Gerson's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
Read more on this topic:
Jennifer Rubin: Can our political rhetoric sink any lower?
The Post's View: Senate Republicans finally step up in fiscal showdown
Charles Krauthammer: The way out
E.J. Dionne Jr.: Obama can't waste this moment
Bill Richardson: I've made deals with dictators. Here's my advice for Congress.


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OrigamiRéference : 83028430/0006
Made from 55% PBT and 45% Polyester. Same fabric as swimsuit WP Turbo Man (very strong, very solid, long life). Made entirely in Spain (euro zone). Reinforced seam. Thin flexible straps Lycra for comfort. Turbo swimsuit with an original design created by designers Turbo. The pattern is transferred to the fabric, which guarantee perfect printing. This swimsuit Turbo is designed for twice-daily use. Warranty 2 month (Couture - Wear). His life may be several years.
Do not wash in the washing machine. Hand wash in cold water. Do not iron. Do not put in dryer. Do not blow-dry hair.
This Turbo swimsuit small and tight size (see size correspondence) which allows a perfect fit. If the swimsuit happens to be donned, the size is the right one. It would not be the case, if the size does not fit.
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The white lining on the front of the shirt Turbo added strength. (size: 10 years = XS, 12 = S, 14 = M and L = 16).
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The Spaghetti Strap Halter swimsuits and bikinis can be different from those offered on the site colors (see photos).
These are selected based on the stocks from our supplier, production and the availability of different colors.


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A person working in Independent Jobs in Albania typically earns around 0 ALL per month. Salaries range from 0 ALL (lowest average) to 0 ALL (highest average, actual maximum salary is higher).
This is the average monthly salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Salaries vary drastically between different Independent Jobs careers. If you are interested in the salary of a particular job, see below for salaries for specific job titles.
Minimum Salary
Independent Jobs salaries in Albania range from 0 ALL per month (starting average salary) to 0 ALL per month (maximum average salary, actual maximum is higher). This is not the minimum wage as per the law, only the lowest reported number in the salary survey that had thousands of participants and professionals from all over the country.
The median salary is 0 ALL per month, which means that half (50%) of people working in Independent Jobs are earning less than 0 ALL while the other half are earning more than 0 ALL. The median represents the middle salary value. Generally speaking, you would want to be on the right side of the graph with the group earning more than the median salary.
Closely related to the median are two values: the 25th and the 75th percentiles. Reading from the salary distribution diagram, 25% of people working in Independent Jobs are earning less than 0 ALL while 75% of them are earning more than 0 ALL. Also from the diagram, 75% of people working in Independent Jobs are earning less than 0 ALL while 25% are earning more than 0 ALL.
We grouped the most common and recurring salaries into brackets to give more insight into what salary to expect. This method is more accurate than just the average salary and gives more insights on how salaries are actually distributed. Around 65% of all reported figures are in the range 0 ALL to 0 ALL. Approximatly 20% fall under the 0 ALL cap. Ten percent of wages are from 0 ALL to 0 ALL. Only 5% of people grossed 0 ALL or more.
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally the more years of experience the higher the wage.
Generally speaking, employees having experience from two to five years earn on average 32% more than freshers and juniors across all industries and disciplines.
Professionals with experience of more than five years tend to earn on average 36% more than those with five years or less of work experience.
As you hit the ten years mark, the salary increases by 21% and an additional 14% for those who have crossed the 15 years mark.
Those figures are presented as guidelines only. The numbers become more significant if you consider one job title at a time.
It is well known that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We compared the salaries of professionals at the same level but with different college degrees levels across many jobs, below are our findings.
Workers with a certificate or diploma earn on average 17% more than their peers who only reached the high school level.
Employees who earned a Bachelor's Degree earn 24% more than those who only managed to attain a cerificate or diploma.
Professionals who attained a Master's Degree are awarded salaries that are 29% more than those with a Bachelor's Degree.
Finally, PhD holders earn 23% more than Master's Degree holders on average while doing the same job.
A Master's degree program or any post-graduate program in Albania costs anywhere from 480,000 Lek(s) to 1,440,000 Lek(s) and lasts approximately two years. That is quite an investment.
You can't really expect any salary increases during the study period, assuming you already have a job. In most cases, a salary review is conducted once education is completed and the degree has been attained.
Many people pursue higher education as a tactic to switch into a higher paying job. The numbers seem to support this tactic. The average increase in compensation while changing jobs is approximately 10% more than the customary salary increment.
The decision really depends on your situation and experience among many other factors. Putting all variables aside, if you can afford the costs of higher education then the return on investment is definitely worth it. You should be able to recover the costs in roughly a year or so.
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? Male employees in Albania who work in Independent Jobs earn nan% their female counterparts on average.
Independent Jobs professionals in Albania are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 4% every 28 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 4% granted to employees every 29 months.
The term 'Annual Salary Increase' usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rarely that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 ÷ Increase Frequency
|Information Technology
Listed above are the average annual increase rates for each industry in Albania for the year 2022. Companies within thriving industries tend to provide higher and more frequent raises. Exceptions do exist, but generally speaking, the situation of any company is closely related to the economic situation in the country or region. These figures tend to change frequently.
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
Independent Jobs is considered to be a low bonus-based field. The people who get the highest bonuses are usually somehow involved in the revenue generation cycle.
86% of surveyed staff in Independent Jobs reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 14% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 0% to 4% of their annual salary.
|Received Bonus
|No Bonus
The most standard form of bonus where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.Company Performance Bonuses
Occasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.Goal-Based Bonuses
Granted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.Holiday / End of Year Bonuses
These types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
The main two types of jobs
|Revenue Generators
|Supporting Cast
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business.
Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations.
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
|Average Salary 2019
|Average Salary 2020
|Average Salary 2021
|Average Salary 2022
Independent Jobs salaries in Albania are rising in the year 2023 based on recent submitted salaries and reports. The trend suggests a slow yet continuous increase in pay in 2024 and future years. These numbers may vary from industry to another.
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fix amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
This minimum pay rate per hour for a person in Albania is 0 ALL. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
The average salary for Independent Jobs is 100% less than that of All Jobs.
|Average Salary
Where can you get paid more, working for a private company or for the government? Public sector employees in Albania earn 14% more than their private sector counterparts on average across all sectors.
|Private Sector
|Public Sector
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 0 ALL and 0 ALL. This is a very rough estimate and your experience and education will play a very huge part into your final earnings.
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salart after tax for every career.
The base salary for Independent Jobs in Albania is ranges from 0 ALL to 0 ALL. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range in a grain of salt.
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both of the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people are earning more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary
©Salary Explorer 2023


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PREP SPORTS ROUND UP: Shamrocks slow down Wolf Pack
The Portland St. Patrick girls basketball team finished the first half of the league season with a 53-38 win over Laingsburg Thursday night at Portland Middle School.
"Defensively I was pleased with the great effort by our kids," Shamrock coach Al Schrauben said. I think this was the best overall game we have played all season."
After taking an 16-11 lead after one, St. Pats outscored the Wolf Pack 17-9 in the second and 13-8 in the third to build a 46-28 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Danielle Simon led the Lady Shamrocks with 14 points, seven steals and six rebounds. Courtney Dixon finished with 13 points and six boards.
St. Pats (10-1, 7-1 in CMAC) will travel to Fulton on Tuesday night.
W. Mich. Lutheran 49, Saranac 41
SARANAC — The Redskins were able to stick close to the visitors, but were unable to pick up the win Thursday night at home.
Kendall Seiler led Saranac with 18 points, while Betsy Simpson finished with 12 points and six rebounds. Sydnie Cooper chipped in with six points and five boards and Josie Manion pulled down five rebounds and nabbed two steals.
"This team played in the regional last year against St. Pats and only lost to them by five, so I was really happy in the way we were able to keep things close," Redskin coach Dean Gage said. Kendall and Betsy really stepped up tonight."
Saranac (4-7, 2-6 in CMAC) will be back inside its gym on Tuesday when the Redskins take on Potterville.
Ionia 27, Grand Ledge 3 (Boys)
Ionia 26, Grand Ledge 4 (Girls)
IONIA — Both Bulldog squads had strong days Thursday afternoon at Ionia 300 Bowl as each team earned their second win of the week.
The Bulldog men took both team games (1,007-882 and 1,025-916) and both Baker Games (189-188 and 174-160) against the Comets.
Ryan Bennett led Ionia with a 277 game and a 457 series. Spencer Flint threw a 237 game as well.
In the girls match, the Lady Dawgs also earned two team wins (846-742 and 937-735) and took both Bakers (192-154 and 175-124).
Lydia Geldhof paced Ionia with a 235 game, while Kendra Beutler bowled a 234 game and earned a 421 series.
Both Ionia teams will play host to Portland on Tuesday.


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Our guest at 8:00pm (Eastern Time) this evening on BlogTalkRadio.com, will be Alec Borenstein, Esq., Success Coach and powerful Motivational Speaker.
Who is Alec Borenstein? He's an award winning speaker and coach who partners with clients to take massive action in their lives. Alec's mission is to ensure that every speech or coaching session is replete with practical strategies to ensure immediate change for both individuals and organizations.
Whether it's the real estate broker who grew his business 40% in a down economy, or the teacher who discovered his greatest passion, or the woman who finally took control of her finances, Alec has the background, experience, and talent to help all of his clients create powerful goals and break through any barriers that might be in the way.
This evening, we will have the pleasure of learning from his wisdom we will hear what motivates him and how he can motivate others.
Meanwhile, in case you missed it, please listen to our archived special from this past Monday on Gotham Wines & Liquors 9th Annual Kosher Wine Extravaganza. We spoke with Gotham's resident wine connoisseur and walking encyclopedia, Costas Mouzouras, as well as various wine makers, food manufacturers, wine distributors, and attending wine lovers. You may may also want to watch our video, where Costas explains the fine art of wine tasting.
Please listen in this evening at 8:00pm (Eastern Time), for an interesting and inspirational show. We'll be waiting for you!


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Thank God It's Friday...Happy Endings is Back!
The grumbling you've been hearing for the past two months has been the unhappy Happy Endings fans who have been waiting for the comedy's return to ABC's schedule. Yes, it's now on Fridays at 8/7c and yes, like a Xela dress, a move like that can turn a good girl bad. But according to executive producers David Caspe and Jonathan Groff, the show is coming back with a bunch of new episodes that are worth the wait. So spread the word, set your DVR, and tell your friends. Because it would totally sooook to lose this one now.
TV Guide Magazine: Zach Knighton told us that the episodes you're coming back with are some of the best so far.
David Caspe: We have a lot of great ones coming up. The first night in, we've got David Alan Grier [as Brad's new boss] who is unbelievably hilarious. From the second he got on set, everyone was dying. He is so funny.
TV Guide Magazine: What else do you have coming up?
Caspe: The Max-Penny story is super funny. It's based on a theory of my sister's, which is basically when you're having trouble texting your guy or girl too much, you need to go cold turkey. Her system is to take Nyquil and go to sleep at like 4 in the afternoon because the nighttime is the hardest time not to text. So Max and Penny take something called NocheTussin...we're not sure if it's a Mexican or Libyan outlawed version of Nyquil.
TV Guide Magazine: Wait, Max has a guy now?
Caspe: When we come back, Max has just met someone and this system is best used when you have just met someone and don't want to over-text them. And Penny uses it to avoid annoying Pete with wedding questions about the dress and the location and all that stuff.
Jonathan Groff: Oh, and RuPaul is in episode 14. He's playing a hairdresser named KrisJahn, but nobody can say his name right except for Jane and Alex. He has been their hairdresser forever, and we find that when Jane and Alex are mad at each other, they complain to KrisJahn and it stops there. It's their weird way of managing conflict. Of course, Max catches wind of that and has to disturb the eco-system. It blows up in his face and creates huge problems for Brad.
TV Guide Magazine: Speaking of blowing up, "The Marry Prankster" episode was perfection.
Caspe: Thank you! I actually think that might be the best one we have ever made.
Groff: We love that one so much, that when we had a director cancellation for our season finale, we brought back Rebecca Asher who directed that one. She did an amazing job with a very hard episode.
TV Guide Magazine: Re-watching old episodes, it's insane how much material you guys get into 22 minutes.
Groff: That's because we cut so much air out of every show. There is never a single frame where someone is not speaking. If you were to turn one of our episodes into a multi-cam show and added a laugh track, it would be 55 minutes long! [Laughs]
Caspe: We've got a ton of great writers on the show and we all work together to get as much story in as possible. And a lot of it has to do with having six awesome people in the cast, so we're not trying to hide anyone. There might be some TV shows, I'm not sure, where they aren't that excited to write stories for certain characters. It's the opposite here. Not only do we think all six deserve it, we enjoy writing for all of them. So we very much want to have enough real estate and stories for the entire cast. A lot of time that creates too much story, but we jam it in. [Laughs]
TV Guide Magazine: A few weeks ago, some interesting casting news came out about the third Kerkovich sister...
Groff: Yes, and I think we nailed it. It's going to be a fantastic visual reveal and she is so funny...it's Stephanie March from Law & Order. She is this tall, beautiful blonde, and the concept of the character is that she is more Jane than Jane is. But Jane is sort of a mess around her older sister, Brooke. It's in our finale. Eliza Coupe is so funny in it and it gave Elisha Cuthbert great stuff to play because she becomes even more of the baby of the family. Eliza had always loved Stephanie on Law & Order, so when we first cast her, she flipped out. Coupe was obsessed with her.
Caspe: It's the perfect mix. There is a shot in the episode where it's the three Kerkovitch sisters standing in a row, the shortest to the tallest. Because you know, Stephanie March is like six feet tall, and as we have said many times on the show, Cuthbert is tiny. It's a very funny visual. They look perfect.
TV Guide Magazine: This is in your finale? As per past finales, is there a wedding?
Caspe: Yeah...it's her wedding.
Groff: The other piece of casting we did that we're very excited about - aside from bringing back the incredible Megan Mullally and Michael McKean in our next-to-last episode, which is also David's directorial debut - is that we have Andy Richter as Penny's long-lost dad, and he was so funny. Andy is a good actor. He's basically this deadbeat dad who left Penny as a baby, and yet because it's Andy playing it, you don't hate him. It makes for some really interesting story for Penny.
Caspe: He left Penny and her mom to pursue his dreams of Broadway, but the closest he ever got was nearly stealing Stephen Sondheim's umbrella at the door of Studio 54.
TV Guide Magazine: How do you guys feel about the Friday move?
Caspe: If it was up to us, we'd love to be after Modern Family for the next eight years, obviously. [Laughs] But we do think that ABC loves the show and believes in it, and is doing their best to find us some kind of place where we can survive. I think this is a way to get some more exposure and hopefully bring us back in a better slot next year.
Groff: It sort of looks like a burn-off and maybe on some level, that's part of it. But I honestly think, as it was said to us, they could have canceled the show. They could say the moves didn't work and the numbers aren't there, but they really do like the show and they want it to work. So this is keeping us in the game and hopefully we'll be on the roster come fall so they can look at it and see that this is a show with so much appeal and so many fans who love it. Again, it's not ideal, but it is an attempt to keep us a viable magnet on the board next year.
TV Guide Magazine: The good news is, Friday ratings are more forgiving, too.
Caspe: Yeah, I mean I just wonder, our audience skews young, so will they already be out at dinner or on their way to the bar? Then again, who knows? The majority of our audience is watching on the computer or the DVR anyway, so I don't know if any night is great for us. None of our audience is watching it on TV.
TV Guide Magazine: Then we need people to just turn on ABC and leave it on when they go out on Friday nights.
Caspe: I love that plan! And if was a true burn-off, they wouldn't do any promotion, much less a promotion that says "save the show."
TV Guide Magazine: Did you know they were planning to promote you that way?
Caspe: We'd heard that it was going to happen, then it just broke the other day. I have a Google alert for the show and have seen more places and websites picking up that promo than any other ad they have run for us. So maybe that's a good thing?
TV Guide Magazine: All the cool kids I know love the show.
Caspe: Really?
TV Guide Magazine: Of course! And you guys did L.A.'s Outfest last summer...once you get the gay audience, you're in.
Groff: We're gentrifying the network! We really appreciate the fans and what they have done. Hopefully they will show up in enough numbers that ABC will go, 'We can't kill this show.' You have to know, this cast...Damon Wayans Jr. is going to be in a big studio comedy, Let's Be Cops, with Jake Johnson from New Girl. Adam Pally is doing the lead in a studio comedy called Road to Nardo, and Casey Wilson had a movie at Sundance, Ass Backwards, that she wrote and starred in.
Capse: Elvis Mitchell just had her on [his podcast] "The Treatment," talking about how much he loved her movie and the show.
TV Guide Magazine: So this is a good time for ABC to have a cast like this.
Groff: Exactly. Shows like Freaks & Geeks and other shows got canceled so early, the networks couldn't even tell what they had. Even if we just go another year, there's a chance one of these movies could break out big and you have a Kristen Wiig sitting in one of your shows. I don't know if that will happen, but I do know our cast is insanely talented.
Are you a Happy Endings fan? Tell us why in the comments below!
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View original Thank God It's Friday...Happy Endings is Back! at TVGuide.com


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Since the global anti-polio campaign was launched in 1988, the number of polio cases has dropped by more than 99 percent. As of now, only Nigeria, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan still suffer from the spread of polio. Supporters of the anti-polio campaign estimated that the elimination of polio would produce a net benefit of $40 billion — $50 billion by 2035. However, the global anti-polio campaign has recently been complicated by the scandal that the CIA ran an operation to verify Osama bin Laden's location by gathering DNA samples through a false-flag hepatitis B vaccination program. This incident also further complicates the already strained U.S.-Pakistan relationship after it was uncovered that a Washington nonprofit funnels money from Pakistan's spy agency to lobby Congress on Kashmir.
Resistance to vaccination gained much momentum in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror. In Nigeria and Pakistan, at least, Muslim clerics have taken on roles to spread rumors that America's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were part of a wider war on Islam. In 2003, religious leaders in Nigeria led the resistance to vaccination campaigns by spreading rumors that the shots were in fact sterilization drugs, part of a Western conspiracy to reduce African birthrates. In 2007, Taliban clerics in Pakistan also joined the anti-vaccination campaigns. Resistance also developed in extremely poor areas in Uttar Pradesh in India. It took a tremendous effort from the World Health Organization to reach out to religious authorities to dismiss these misconceptions.
And now these efforts are jeopardized by the CIA's polio vaccine plot in Pakistan.
According to a Guardian report, the CIA worked with Shakil Afridi, a surgeon in Khyber Agency—a tribal agency that borders Afghanistan to the east—to lure families in for hepatitis B vaccinations. In addition to giving the shots, the medical team collected DNA from the blood of the patients. To make the vaccine drive seem less suspicious, Afridi even started in a poorer part of town before moving to Abbottabad.
The vaccination plan was conceived after American intelligence officers tracked an al-Qaeda courier…to what turned out to be bin Laden's Abbottabad compound last summer.
The agency…wanted confirmation that bin Laden was there before mounting a risky operation inside another country. DNA from any of the Bin Laden children in the compound could be compared with a sample from his sister, who died in Boston in 2010, to provide evidence that the family was present.
According to The Washington Post, American officials are defending this operation, not denying it. An unnamed senior U.S. official was quoted:
People need to put this into some perspective. The vaccination campaign was part of the hunt for the world's top terrorist, and nothing else. If the United States hadn't shown this kind of creativity, people would be scratching their heads asking why it hadn't used all tools at its disposal to find bin Laden.
There have been mixed reactions to the CIA's vaccine plot and Pakistan's growing domestic resistance to polio vaccination that may prompt ripple effects in the Muslim world. Doctors Without Borders, for instance, condemned the "use of medical aid for military objectives." As the organization's president Unni Karunakara said on July 14, "Whether the story is true or not, the mere suggestion that the provision of medical care was carried out under false pretences damages public perception of the true purpose of medical action. With all populations in crisis, it is challenging enough for health agencies and humanitarian aid workers to gain access to, and the trust of, communities, especially populations already skeptical of the motives of any outside assistance." He went on to criticize the CIA: "Deceptive use of medical care also endangers those who provide legitimate and essential health services. Furthermore, carrying out an act of no therapeutic or preventative benefit purely for military or intelligence purposes violates medical ethics, which require acting solely on the needs of patients and doing no harm."
Walt Orenstein, polio director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is concerned that "if we fail, if we take the pressure off, we will see a major resurgence [in polio cases]."
The vaccine plot, despite the success of the bin Laden mission overall, may yield more losses than gains in the long run. Vaccination campaigns must reach virtually 100 percent of a population to prevent pockets of resistance from emerging. To achieve this, public trust is immensely important to make healthy people agree to preventative medicine treatment. What further complicates the matter is that Pakistan recently dissolved its Ministry of Health, leaving international health programs to negotiate directly with local leaders about disease prevention. The CIA injudiciously burned the bridges that took many years to build, and this time it may take a longer time to repair.
Shiran Shen, a senior honors political science student at Swarthmore College, works as a research intern at the Foreign Policy In Focus program.


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You have found your ancestor's date of death, but you are wondering how they died. You could buy a death certificate, but a certificate for all relatives can be a costly business. Newspapers are the answer. With the growing number of Australian newspapers available to search at Trove, there is a good chance you may find an article on your relative's demise. In turn, it may lead to an obituary which can also be a wealth of information, but I will discuss those in a future post.
When I began reading old newspapers, I was amazed at the number of deaths and accidents reported, compared to today's papers. It seemed even the smallest of accidents could make newspapers right around Australia. Death reports were explicit and sparing little detail. However, despite the nature of these reports, I do find them intriguing reading and they can show when, where, and how a family member died. Also, accident reports show information that you may never have found otherwise. I may never have known that my great-great-grandmother lost the top of her finger or my great-great-aunt was bitten by a snake.
Horse related accidents were naturally common whether falls or buggy accidents. As the years passed, motor cars were the culprits, with many stories of them rolling or hitting trees. The increasing number of motor cars also caused some problems for those still using horses as their main source of transport. Fire was a common cause of death or accidents. Candles, coppers, and fireplaces all increased the risk of burns.
Following are some examples of deaths and accidents involving my family members found in the papers at Trove:
Charles Bishop worked at Weerangourt Station, Byaduk, but I found he also died there. While chopping wood in 1916, he suffered heart failure and died at the age of 60. I found this reported in four newspapers.
I feel sorry for poor James Elston. He died at only 21. The first article I found on him was in 1901, eight years before he died. James had broken his leg, but this was the fifth break in two years. He was sent to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne. The Barrier Miner published in Broken Hill reported the accident as a possible record-breaker.
In March 1908, James was back in hospital. He had been thrown from a buggy and fell on a fence. As a result, he fractured his spine between the shoulder blades and was crippled, his condition critical. In January 1909, it was reported that James had succumbed to injuries at the Hamilton Hospital.
Robert McClintock died from heart strain and tetanus as a result of chasing a fox. This was in 1913 and Robert was only 18. I decided to search Trove with the phrase "chasing a fox" and it threw up many articles about deaths and accidents incurred while chasing foxes. Some had fallen from horses, others accidentally shot by themselves, or others died the way of Robert McClintock.
Jane Diwell's death in 1909 demonstrates the dangers women faced doing simple housekeeping tasks. Married to Samuel Hazeldine, Jane was in a back shed at their home in Murtoa boiling up beeswax and turpentine, when her clothes caught fire. Despite desperate attempts by her husband to save her, she died from her burns. Samuel received severe burns to his hands.
Frederick Hazeldine of Murtoa was watching the eclipse of the sun in 1910 when the 10-year-old slipped off a fence and broke his arm
Frank Coulson was only 17 when he met his fate in 1935. His body was found near Digby. He had sustained a fractured skull and his pony's saddle and bridle were lying close by. Different articles tried to offer an explanation to his death from having been kicked in the head by the pony or haven fallen awkwardly as the pony jumped a fence.
George Gamble lost his life after a cave-in at the Colac Brick Works in 1910. He was dug out but later died at the Colac Hospital,
Mary Jane Hodgins (Mrs Matthew Gamble, below), my great great grandmother, lost the top of her finger in an accident involving a horse. Notice that this took place in Colac, Victoria, but was reported as far away as Maitland, New South Wales
In 1906, Amy Margaret Bubb, Mrs Benjamin Combridge, was bitten by a snake that had hidden in a mattress. Her daughter Amy was darning the mattress and noticed something she thought was mice, moving inside. She called her mother who hit the mattress and was bitten by a black snake on the wrist. Young Amy ran to the neighbours' house almost a kilometre away through paddocks and returned with a Mrs Arklay. By this time, Amy Sr's arm was black. Mrs Arklay made an incision and drew black blood from the wound which saved Amy. This article ran in Tasmania and Adelaide as well as The Argus.
I had known that my great, great, great grandfather William Diwell had died in a fall at the Merino Flour Mill in 1871, but I have since found that he was severely injured three years earlier. In 1868, the Merino school-house verandah was falling down, so William volunteered to remove it. Part of the verandah fell on him and he was pulled out suffering a severe head injury. By all accounts, if the full verandah had of fell on him he would have been crushed to death. He was 43 at the time and I think he may have been lucky to make it 46 when he did die.
The most gruesome article I have read about one of my family members is that of my great, great, great grandmother Ellen Barry, Mrs. Gamble. Ellen was a feisty Irish woman, often in the courts and rather fond of a drink. One night in January 1882, Ellen was home alone in her cottage in Colac, when a fire broke out. The next day, the coroner found that due to Ellen's propensity for a tipple, it was most likely she had knocked a candle that started the fire.
These few examples prove how much you can find out about your ancestor's death, not to mention their life before death. If you are using Trove, it is useful to search all the papers available because as Mary Jane Hodgins' accident shows, incidents can be reported interstate. You can use filters to narrow your search down, particularly if you have a specific date.
In a future post, I will share some of the other articles I have found which don't relate to my family but show the value of these stories in developing an understanding of how precarious life could be for those living in the 19th and early 20th century. We can also learn how death was considered in those times by the style of writing and the depth of description. Most importantly for family historians, our ancestors become more than just a one-dimensional date on a page.


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"Fare thee well, friend" (2012-11-13). What bad manners! Just as Anthony Watts' anti-Gore skype-in is about to start Dr. Roger Pielke Sr. says he's giving up ("retiring") his blog. Now, more than ever, denialists must shout!
Was he "the best climate scientist in the world"? So sayeth Anthony's commenters. Well he is the one of the few "skeptics" with legit scientific (meteorology) credentials, and he does admit that "humans are significantly altering the global climate". Anthony loves to get as close as possible to Dr. Pielke to try to transfer the scent of semi-credibility to himself.
Dr. Pielke has certainly produced legitimate scientific work, but in the field of climate science he's mainly been a disgruntled complainer. He seems focused on how all the other climate scientists have formed a secret club and arguing that we must be 200% sure before doing anything. Also, scientists who recognize global warming are advocates (while those who grudgingly accept it but seek to minimize its significance and prevent action aren't). He has also cleverly noticed that the phrase "climate change" could refer to cooling as well as warming. If that were happening.
Maybe Dr. Pielke just got tired of trying to sell the same old half-truths week after week?


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Review: De Niro, Pfeiffer shine in flawed 'Family'
Talk about a promising duo for a dark mob comedy: Robert De Niro, whose mob-film pedigree needs no explanation, and Michelle Pfeiffer, who was, after all, "Married to the Mob."
Happily, these two more than carry their weight as husband and wife in director/co-writer Luc Besson's new film "The Family."
Less happily, it's not enough to save this oddly paced, overly violent, sometimes amusing but sometimes jarringly unfunny movie.
De Niro is Giovanni Manzoni, an ex-mob boss from Brooklyn who's snitched on his former cohorts and must disappear fast, along with his wife and two kids. Newly named the Blakes, they set up in a picturesque Normandy village (is there any other kind?)
There, Fred, Maggie and kids Belle and Warren try to assimilate. They're not too great at it, since they have varying anger management issues.
On the other hand, they're helped by the fact that, magically, the villagers all seem to speak fluent English, from the cafe waitress to the parish priest to the village grocer. In fact, all the kids at school speak English. And all the teachers, and the principal — and every single member of the town's film society.
Now, no one expects the film to be in subtitles. But Mr. Besson, you're French! And so you know that even if all these people DID have a fluent command of English, they wouldn't be cheerfully using it all day long.
But we digress. Because the film has deeper issues. Namely, the violence, in the name of "dark comedy." Giovanni — er, Fred — cannot refrain from beating people to a pulp, or to death even, if he feels he's been disrespected or dealt a raw deal. At one point, a plumber gives him an estimate he doesn't like. Not a good idea.
Maggie (a funny and touching Pfeiffer) tries to rein in her husband. But hey, even she's not above a little arson — actually, blowing stuff up — when she feels slighted. As for the beautiful, blonde Belle (Dianna Agron of "Glee"), she has a propensity to beat up schoolmates — say, if you swipe her pencil box. Brother Warren (an appealing John D'Leo) has the most self-control, but he's inherited other qualities from Dad.
Watching over the family are a couple FBI handlers and their boss, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who could do this kind of cranky-agent stuff in his sleep, but is nonetheless a welcome presence.
It takes an awfully long time to establish the story, and the pacing feels off. Finally, things get going when the jailed mob boss back home finds out, via an absurd (yet amusing) chain of coincidences, where the family is.
The movie, based on the novel "Malavita" by Tonino Benacquista, picks up here, but alas, so does the cartoonish violence. Not to be prudish, but it's a bit hard to keep laughing when so many innocent (and nice!) people wind up dead. And then the Blake kids get involved. When I saw the film, the audience broke into rousing cheers when the young boy picked up two humongous guns and started shooting. It was a little sickening.
There is one very funny scene, where Fred appears on a film society panel. We can't spoil the secret, but let's just say that, while it has nothing to do with the story, it will delight De Niro fans as well as those of Martin Scorsese, who is, as it happens, a producer on the film.
But it might remind you that, with Scorsese and De Niro involved, this film should be making mobster magic. Au contraire, it doesn't.
"The Family," a Relativity Media release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "violence, language and brief sexuality." Running time: 110 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.


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DENVER | Colorado's governor signed bills Wednesday that place new restrictions on firearms, signaling a change for Democrats who have traditionally shied away from gun control in a state with a pioneer tradition of gun ownership and self-reliance.
The legislation thrust Colorado into the national spotlight as a potential test of how far the country might be willing to go with new gun restrictions after the horror of mass killings at an Aurora movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school.
Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper signed bills that require background checks for private and online gun sales and ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 15 rounds.
The debate in the Democratic-controlled Legislature was intense, and Republicans warned that voters would make Democrats pay. The bills failed to garner a single Republican vote.
The bills' approval came exactly eight months after dozens of people were shot in Aurora, and a day after the executive director of the state Corrections Department, Tom Clements, was shot and killed at his home. Hickenlooper signed the legislation right after speaking with reporters about Clements' slaying.
Hickenlooper said large-capacity magazines "have the potential to turn killers into killing machines." He also said he realized some gun owners may be inconvenienced but that "the potential for damage seems to outweigh, significantly, the inconvenience that people would have," he said.
The bills signal a historic change for Democrats in a state where owning a gun is as common as owning a car in some rural areas.
"He just slapped rural Colorado right in the face," said Republican Sen. Brophy, who represents an eastern plains district. "They are overwhelmingly upset about this."
Both bills take effect July 1. People who currently own larger-capacity magazines will be able to keep them.
At the signing ceremony, Hickenlooper was surrounded by lawmakers who sponsored the bills, and relatives of mass shootings. Hickenlooper also signed requiring buyers to pay fees for background checks.
Each time he signed a bill, applause erupted from lawmakers and their guests, who included Jane Dougherty, whose sister was killed in the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.; Sandy Phillips, whose daughter was killed in Aurora; and Tom Mauser, whose son was killed in the 1999 Columbine shooting in Colorado.
Phillips, who lost daughter Jessica Ghawi, reminded Hickenlooper that it was the eight-month anniversary of the theater rampage.
"You've given us a real gift today," she told the governor.
Later, Phillips added: "Thank you so much. You're leading the entire country."
Dougherty thanked Hickenlooper with tears in her eyes. Mauser also expressed gratitude.
"I knew it would be a long haul," he said. "But I had faith in the people of Colorado."
Democratic Rep. Rhonda Fields, who represents the district that includes the Aurora theater, said the governor had signed "common-sense legislation."
"Gun violence is a problem nationwide, and sadly in the state of Colorado, we are all too familiar with some of these tragedies," Fields.
Lawmakers debated firearms proposals after the Columbine High School shooting, and began requiring background checks for buyers at gun shows. But nothing they did then was as sweeping as the proposals they took up this year.
This year, Colorado lawmakers succeeded while members of their party stumbled in other states.
Washington state's Democrat-controlled House failed this month to pass a universal background check bill. A bill requiring background checks at gun shows in New Mexico also stalled in that Democrat-led Legislature.
Republicans have warned that voters will punish Hickenlooper and other Democrats who voted in favor of the measures.
"The real solution here is at the ballot box in 2014," Brophy said.
Republicans have said limiting magazine sizes will drive jobs from the state, and ultimately won't prevent criminals from getting larger magazines in other states.
One Colorado-based manufacturer of ammunition magazines disclosed plans to relocate because of the new restrictions.
Police chiefs in urban areas supported the bills, but some rural county sheriffs opposed the new background checks, arguing the move is unenforceable and endangers Second Amendment rights.
Hickenlooper said law enforcement should try to find common ground.
"This shouldn't be rural versus urban. We are one state," he said.
Associated Press writer Kristen Wyatt contributed to this report.
Find Ivan Moreno on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IvanJourno


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Wonder won't sing in Fla. after Zimmerman verdict
NEW YORK (AP) — Stevie Wonder says he won't perform in Florida and other states with a "stand your ground" law.
In a video posted on YouTube, the 63-year-old singer said at a concert in Quebec City, Canada, on Sunday "that until the 'stand your ground' law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again."
Wonder added: "Wherever I find that law exists, I will not perform in that state or in that part of the world."
The "stand your ground" law allows people to use deadly force if they believe their life is in danger.
George Zimmerman shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin during a February 2012 confrontation in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman said he fired his gun in self-defense.
A six-member jury acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges on Saturday.
Wonder's representative said the singer had no further comment.


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