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Monetary unity comes at vast cost
Dr Stefan Auer
First published in The Australian on 28 September, 2011.
When Friedrich von Hayek wrote his Road to Serfdom, he feared that collectivist thinking, which he decried as socialism, would lead to the destruction of individual liberty. He did not envisage that something like the EU - driven by a strange amalgam of neo-liberal and socialist thought - could destroy the liberty of whole nations.
How else is one to describe the demands voiced by the EU leaders, alongside the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, that the Greek government fire tens of thousand of public sector workers by the end of the year.
Or is what Greece is experiencing simply the downside of globalisation? That is what all students of politics are taught in International Relations 101. No man is an island, no nation is on its own. In other words, no nation is truly free, constrained as it is by the forces of global capitalism.
The EU was meant to provide the right answers to globalisation. It was said to be particularly advantageous to the small nations of Europe which would find themselves empowered.
This is the idea underlying the EU's supranational institutions. It was meant to enable Europe's constitutive nations to be both democratic and powerful. The reward for pooling national sovereignty would be to gain more control over one's national destiny.
The most ambitious step towards such supranational collaboration was the introduction of the common currency, the euro. The euro was to allow Europe to defy the forces of a global capitalism underpinned by the dominance of the US dollar.
That project is now destroying not only European unity but also European freedom itself, a situation at once tragic and ironic.
Tragic, because the constraints imposed on whole nations create intolerable burdens on most individual citizens of these nations; just ask people in Greece what they think about Europe today. Ironic, because the EU was created with the specific aim of protecting democracy in Europe.
Increasingly, political efforts directed towards the rescue of the eurozone display qualities of socialist-style central planning. Their aim is to outwit the markets, but the ultimate goal of unification is as elusive as ever.
The result is the destruction of freedom at European level similar to what Hayek expected to occur at national level.
"The effect of the people agreeing that there must be 'a decisive action' without agreeing on the ends, will be rather as if a group of people were to commit themselves to take a journey together without agreeing where they wanted to go: with the result that they may all have to make a journey which most of them do not want at all."
Substituting "a decisive action" for "central planning" in Hayek's formulation updates The Road to Serfdom to describe the current European predicament.
This is what you get when you ignore the simple lesson that Hayek articulated: defying the logic of the free market endangers political freedom.
Having politicians decide one's fate might be more oppressive than submitting to the anonymous forces of the free market.
If the way to restore the self-government of EU nations is to give up the euro, then yes, abandon that dysfunctional currency union once and for all.
Stefan Auer holds a Jean Monnet chair in EU inter-disciplinary studies at La Trobe University
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- Buyers Guide
QinetiQ Acquires Analex Corp.
Continuing the execution of its strategy to grow its North American operations, QinetiQ Group plc has signed a definitive merger agreement to acquire Analex Corp. Under the terms of the agreement, which is conditional upon regulatory clearance in the United States, QinetiQ will offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Analex for $3.70 per share, or an aggregate equity price of approximately $173 M. The consideration will be paid in cash and the transaction is expected to be completed in March 2007.
Analex specializes in providing innovative information technology, aerospace engineering and security and intelligence support services for defense, intelligence and space programs. Headquartered in Fairfax, VA, with 11 locations around the US, the company is a provider of high technology professional services and solutions, principally to the US Government and its agencies. It employs approximately 1100 people. The addition of this skilled workforce, most of whom have security clearance, significantly enhances QinetiQ’s operational capabilities in North America.
The acquisition provides the company with new customers and contract opportunities as well as broadening the range of service offerings to the existing customer base of the Group. Principal customers include the US Missile Defense Agency (MDA), US Army, US Navy, DARPA and NASA.
Commenting on the agreement, QinetiQ’s chief executive officer Graham Love said, “Analex promises to be an excellent addition to the QinetiQ North America business profile, providing important new customer relationships within the US security agencies, the Department of Defense and NASA as well as broadening our existing service offerings. Having recently secured a number of new contracts, Analex offers growth and margin prospects consistent with expectations for QinetiQ’s existing North American business and we expect the acquisition to be immediately earnings enhancing for QinetiQ.”
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Award shows bring us the best and worst on the red carpet, the best and worst acceptance speeches and the best and worst performances. Every year, performers push the envelope and in some cases, leave their fans and critics scratching their heads. However, it isn't alway the performance that leaves people talking, it's the ensembles!
Whether it's Lady Gaga performing in front of slabs of meat or Katy Perry wearing a headpiece that looks like it might topple her over, every year some musicans take their performance attire too far and top our list at the worst on-stage ensemble.
Check out the full list of 2012's worst on-stage ensembles by clicking above!
More From StyleList:
Photo Credit: Getty Images
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Any workers who have reasonably anticipated contact with blood or OPIM during performance of their jobs are considered to have occupational exposure and to be at risk of being infected. Workers infected with HBV face a risk for liver ailments which can be fatal, including cirrhosis of the liver and primary liver cancer. A small percentage of adults who get hepatitis B never fully recover and remain chronically infected. In addition, infected individuals can spread the virus to others through contact with their blood and other body fluids.
An employer must develop an exposure control plan and implement use of universal precautions and control measures, such as engineering controls, work practice controls, and personal protective equipment to protect all workers with occupational exposure. In addition, employers must make hepatitis B vaccination available to these workers. Hepatitis B vaccination is recognized as an effective defense against HBV infection.
The standard requires employers to offer the vaccination series to all workers who have occupational exposure. Examples of workers who may have occupational exposure include, but are not limited to, healthcare workers, emergency responders, morticians, first-aid personnel, correctional officers and laundry workers in hospitals and commercial laundries that service healthcare or public safety institutions. The vaccine and vaccination must be offered at no cost to the worker and at a reasonable time and place.
The hepatitis B vaccination is a non-infectious, vaccine prepared from recombinant yeast cultures, rather than human blood or plasma. There is no risk of contamination from other bloodborne pathogens nor is there any chance of developing HBV from the vaccine.
The vaccine must be administered according to the recommendations of the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) current at the time the procedure takes place. To ensure immunity, it is important for individuals to complete the entire course of vaccination contained in the USPHS recommendations.
The great majority of those vaccinated will develop immunity to the hepatitis B virus. The vaccine causes no harm to those who are already immune or to those who may be HBV carriers. Although workers may desire to have their blood tested for antibodies to see if vaccination is needed, employers cannot make such screening a condition of receiving vaccination and employers are not required to provide prescreening.
Employers must ensure that all occupationally exposed workers are trained about the vaccine and vaccination, including efficacy, safety, method of administration, and the benefits of vaccination. They also must be informed that the vaccine and vaccination are offered at no cost to the worker. The vaccination must be offered after the worker is trained and within 10 days of initial assignment to a job where there is occupational exposure, unless the worker has previously received the vaccine series, antibody testing has revealed that the worker is immune, or the vaccine is contraindicated for medical reasons. The employer must obtain a written opinion from the licensed healthcare professional within 15 days of the completion of the evaluation for vaccination. This written opinion is limited to whether hepatitis B vaccination is indicated for the worker and if the worker has received the vaccination.
Employers must ensure that workers who decline vaccination sign a declination form. The purpose of this is to encourage greater participation in the vaccination program by stating that a worker declining the vaccination remains at risk of acquiring hepatitis B. The form also states that if a worker initially declines to receive the vaccine, but at a later date decides to accept it, the employer is required to make it available, at no cost, provided the worker is still occupationally exposed.
For more information, go to OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention Safety and Health Topics web page at: https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/bloodbornepathogens/index.html.
To file a complaint by phone, report an emergency, or get OSHA advice, assistance, or products, contact your nearest OSHA office under the "U.S. Department of Labor" listing in your phone book, or call us toll-free at (800) 321-OSHA (6742).
This is one in a series of informational fact sheets highlighting OSHA programs, policies or standards. It does not impose any new compliance requirements. For a comprehensive list of compliance requirements of OSHA standards or regulations, refer to Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. This information will be made available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. The voice phone is (202) 693-1999; teletypewriter (TTY) number: (877) 889-5627.
For assistance, contact us. We can help. It's confidential:
The Department of Labor does not endorse, takes no responsibility for, and exercises no control over the linked organization or its views, or contents, nor does it vouch for the accuracy or accessibility of the information contained on the destination server. The Department of Labor also cannot authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked Web sites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked Web site. Thank you for visiting our site. Please click the button below to continue.
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Washington (AP) - Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican to support the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in" if private insurers fail to live up to expectations.
Snowe emphasized that she still opposes the so-called public option, but said she also believes the private insurance market must yield a system in which health coverage becomes more widely accessible and affordable.
"I think the government would have a disproportionate advantage" in the event of a government-run option, the Maine Republican said on CBS's "The Early Show." But Snowe also said that "at the same time, I want to make sure the insurance industry performs, and that's why we eliminate many egregious practices."
She said on ABC's "Good Morning America" that if the industry didn't follow through on congressionally-mandated changes, "then you could have the public option kick in immediately."
Asked why she was the lone member of the Senate GOP caucus to line up behind the majority Democratic plan fashioned under the leadership of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., she said, "It's hard to say. There are so many philosophical and political differences in how to approach issues. ... I thought it was important to move this process forward. The legislative journey will produce, I think, even more improvements, hopefully, in this legislation."
In the ABC interview, Snowe said she joined 13 Democrats in approving the measure produced by the Finance panel because she thought "the time has come to grapple with this issue that has eluded us for decades."
"I thought this was a good place to start," she said. Snowe's nine GOP colleagues on the committee voted against advancing the bill to the full Senate.
Snowe said there were elements of the bill she still opposes, but that "we can't postpone the inevitable." She said her constituents in Maine "want me to do what's right for the country and the state."
Snowe, who lost her parents to illness at a relatively young age, said she believes something has to be done to improve the health care delivery system. "I have had those losses in my life," she said, adding that she can't imagine the stress of people living with the specter of serious illness and no health insurance.
Sen. Olympia Snowe, the only Republican to support the Finance Committee's health care bill, said Wednesday she could foresee a government-run plan that would "kick in" if private insurers fail to live up to expectations.
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Ooo-Ooo, I know the answer to this question. Pick me! Pick me!
It's not a question of time. It's a question of need and qualifications. When LF staff determine they need a moderator for a specific forum they evaluate existing members for their contributions, abilities, and level headedness (at least that is the rumor anyway). Once they select a member from the the pool of candidates they will invite that individual to become a moderator.
The important point to all this is they'll ask you. Don't ask them.
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New Software to the Allocation Rescue
By JAN M. ROSEN
Published: January 12, 1997
FOR mutual fund investors, reviewing portfolios at the start of a new year can be a big chore. But this year, there is a lot of software available to expedite the task.
For example, Advisor Software of Orinda, Calif., offers investors a program called Mutual Max, which draws on a data base of 5,200 funds to examine the holdings of each fund in an investor's portfolio. The software displays extensive information about each fund in tables and charts. It then tallies the results to show the asset allocation of the portfolio's funds. Subtotals of other assets, like directly held stocks and bonds or cash, can be entered, too, to give investors their overall asset allocation.
The software can also compare the actual allocation to the investor's target allocation. If the numbers vary, the investor can try different fund combinations until the goal is met.
''Many people are surprised by the results,'' said Greg Hutchings, the managing director of Advisor Software. For example, he said, his father and his brother had thought their portfolios were more aggressively invested in stocks than they actually were.
One reason for the discrepancy is that some funds hold an unexpectedly large portion of their assets in cash. Another is that funds do not always invest as their nominal categories would suggest -- a matter that Morningstar Inc., the fund research company in Chicago, is addressing with its recent regrouping of funds based on actual portfolio holdings rather than on prospectus descriptions.
But because mutual funds must disclose their holdings only twice a year, the information that Morningstar and Advisor rely on may be outdated. A deluxe version of the Advisor software program, Mutual Max With Style, helps get around that problem and enables investors to engage in a more refined allocation of assets.
Based on the portfolio analysis theory of Prof. William F. Sharpe of Stanford University, a Nobel Prize-winning economist who is not involved with the company, the deluxe software displays the effective style of a fund as determined by comparing its returns with those of selected market indexes. The comparison, made monthly by Advisor Software, sidesteps the need to know the fund's actual holdings.
In addition to examining funds they own, users of Mutual Max With Style can scan the universe of funds to look for those that best fit their needs -- or those they want to avoid. For example, an investor might use the Sharpe analysis to help find the most aggressive of aggressive-growth funds.
Advisor Software also offers Style Data, an Excel spreadsheet, on the Internet to help investors categorize the strategy and risk of mutual funds, set their asset allocation and diversify their holdings.
Mutual Max is not a program for people new to fund investing. Its help files explain how to use the program; they do not explain how to set an asset allocation or determine an acceptable level of risk.
''The program is for the individual investor who has significant investment in mutual funds and is active with a PC,'' Mr. Hutchings said. ''You don't need to be a math major.'' Still, knowledge of math or portfolio analysis would help.
People who need more elementary mutual-fund software can turn to Morningstar's Ascent or the Value Line Fund Analyzer. Both products teach about allocation and risk, and enable investors to create reports, perform screens, draw charts of fund performance and track individual portfolios.
Mutual Max costs $39.95, and comes with a preloaded data base of funds. Mutual Max With Style costs $94.95, with a funds data base and a style data base. Four quarterly updates of the funds data base cost $79.95, while 12 monthly updates cost $179.95. Four quarterly updates of the style and fund data bases cost $284.95; 12 monthly updates cost $854.95.
Both Mutual Max programs are Windows-based. Information is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.advisorsw.com, or the software may be bought by calling 800 738-6369.
Visitors to the Web site may also look up the returns-based style analysis for individual mutual funds, at no charge. Style Data, the Excel spreadsheet, has the styles of 5,200 funds and is available for $94.95. It will be updated monthly and may be downloaded from the Web or ordered on diskette.
Morningstar's Ascent 2.0, with toll-free technical support, costs $45; with quarterly updates, it is $95, and with monthly updates, $195. It can be ordered by calling 800 735-0700. Value Line has a range of Fund Analyzer offerings -- from $29 for a two-month trial subscription to the No-Load Fund Analyzer, to $395 for a year's subscription to its enhanced CD-ROM program with full data base, monthly updates and access to Value Line's on-line bulletin board for weekly updates. Value Line can be reached at 800 284-7607.
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Originally Posted by Texcore
Stop it. Schaub is not in Ben or Eli's tier of QBs, nor is he Marino. Stop it.
Which part of "I'm not saying he's Marino" didn't you understand?
And Ben and Eli are good QBs. They're not great. They only reason some people consider them elite is because their teams won Super Bowls.
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What do the orange speed limit signs mean in construction zones?
Question: With the new law of $300 fines in construction zones I have a question. I know the white speed limit sign is the legal speed limit. Are orange signs supposed to be advisory or warning signs? Can you get a ticket for going the speed of the white sign when there is also some orange signs posted? I've seen some construction zones with white and orange signs posted 55 mph and then some orange signs with 35 mph speed signs. What is the legal speed limit?
Answer: You are correct; motorists who speed through a work zone will be fined $300 (effective Aug. 1) thanks to a new law passed during the 2014 state legislative session.
The white speed limit signs are the official regulatory sign. The orange signs serve as a warning; even though they are not regulatory they are intended to provide clear instructions to help you drive safely. So if the posted speed limit is 55 mph, and you see an orange sign indicating 35 mph, I would recommend slowing to the indicated speed. Minnesota signs, signals, and pavement markings conform to the national standards. Sign color meanings:
Red: Prohibits and commands
Yellow-green: Warns and controls pedestrian and bicycle crossings and school areas
Orange: Warns and control in construction zones
Green: Guides and informs
Blue: Describes services for motorists
Brown: Indicates historic, cultural, or recreational sites
A portion of state statutes were used with permission from the Office of the Revisor of Statutes. If you have any questions concerning traffic related laws or issues in Minnesota, send your questions to Trp. Jesse Grabow — Minnesota State Patrol at 1000 Highway 10 West, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501-2205. (You can follow him on Twitter @MSPPIO_NW or reach him at, [email protected]).
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United States of America
- The Basics
- Travel Health
- Public Holidays
- Useful Contacts
- Visa & Passport
- Little Rock
Arkansas Travel Guide
Arkansas River valley © Arkansas Department of Parks & Tourism
With Arkansas' alluring forests, lakes and mountains, it's no wonder most of the state's visitors come in search of outdoor adventure. The state's rock climbing opportunities, particularly in the sandstone crags of the northwest, are first rate; its rivers and streams, bursting with trout, are perfect for fishing, canoeing and rafting; hunters enjoy abundant wildlife and comparatively liberal regulations; more than 50 parks scattered across the state offer excellent hiking, backpacking and mountain biking; and digging sites enable holiday 'geologists' to unearth their own quartz, judged to be among the world's finest, and occasionally even find a diamond. The Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only diamond mine in the world where visitors can pay an entry fee and keep whatever gems they find. The state's off-the-beaten-path reputation makes it quite an affordable holiday destination as well.
Once, however, Arkansas had a slightly different reputation among travellers. In the early 1900s, due to its thermal springs, it was an elite hideaway for those seeking health, rejuvenation and luxury. Hot Springs National Park, with its magnificent stone and marble bathhouses, now historic landmarks, was the most famous spa, and it remains the most visited spot in Arkansas, attracting both bathers and history buffs. Eureka Springs is another picturesque historic town that grew up around its hot springs, far north in the fabled Ozark Mountains.
The Ozarks are one of the unique cultural regions in America. This mountainous plateau covering northern Arkansas as well as parts of bordering states was settled mainly by Scottish-Irish immigrants. As in Appalachia, the area's beautiful but harsh terrain led to a hardscrabble existence. However, from this lifestyle blossomed an ingenuity that has led to generations of Ozark artisans excelling in quilting, knife and instrument making, wood carving and other crafts. 'Mountain music', in which masters of the fiddle, dulcimer, autoharp and banjo join together for jamborees, is another intrinsic part of Ozark heritage. The Ozark Folk Center is dedicated to maintaining a living history of the Ozark way of life.
The southern region of Arkansas opens up into flatter land, reflecting Arkansas' agricultural background. Two of Arkansas' most famous sons, Johnny Cash and Bill Clinton, were born in this area. Clinton's birthplace is the town of Hope, but his true Arkansas legacy is to be found in the capital, Little Rock. The William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum houses history's largest collection of presidential papers and artefacts. It is located in Little Rock's vibrant River Market District, on the banks of the Arkansas River, a revitalized warehouse area that now hosts a thriving farmers' market and is home to countless funky galleries and boutiques, fine southern restaurants, trendy cafés and lively bars. Travellers in search of more history can visit the Little Rock Central High School, now a national historic site, where, in 1957, President Eisenhower dispatched federal paratroopers to force the local government to allow nine African-American students to attend the school.
Become our Arkansas Travel Expert
We are looking for contributors for our Arkansas travel guide. If you are a local, a regular traveller to Arkansas or a travel professional with time to contribute and answer occasional forum questions, please contact us.
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Writers sometimes fear the very thing they earnestly desire… becoming a published author. It’s not a conscious fear, but a subtle concern over facing the unknown.
Writing in obscurity is easy. There are no expectations, no commitments, no deadlines. Some may putter for a decade or more on one or more manuscripts because it’s less stressful to keep writing than to try and put those words out where they will be scrutinized. There is worry about being judged and coping with their very private, introspective world becoming public. Yet the dream of publication remains.
All changes, even the most longed for,
have their melancholy;
for what we leave behind us
is a part of ourselves;
we must die to one life
before we can enter another.
The thing is, even published authors face doubts. They wonder about their ability to write another marketable book — one that is better than the one before — or was the initial achievement just a fluke? Can they fit the writing of something new into the daily schedule that now includes promoting the earlier book(s)?
There’s no magic remedy for the fear. Changing the status quo takes courage and effort. (I have to keep telling myself that! How about you?) There is no possibility of failure if an attempt at success is never made.
~ ~ ~
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Monsters returned to Amarillo this weekend.
The Kicker Monster Trucks Nationals was held Friday and Saturday at Amarillo National Center. Fans filled the seats to watch the six big trucks and locally-owned Tuff Trucks race around the track, smash cars and make jumps.
Three-year-old truck enthusiast Bleu Bechtel attended the event Friday with mom, Jessica and dad, Josh. He loves trucks of any kind, his mom said, so they decided to bring him out to see the well-known Grave Robber and all of the other trucks.
“Can I get one?” Bleu asked.
The event was a chance for many families to get out and do something a little different from the regular weekend activities. Francisco Barraza said he had attended monster truck rallies in the past, but this one was the first for his three children, daughters Frankie, 13, and Mia, 8 and son, Francisco, 4.
While the Barrazas said they enjoyed the event and plan repeating the outing next time the trucks are in town, Frankie offered insight into the numerous attendees wearing ear protection in the arena.
“The tricks that they do are very neat,” she said. “It’s very loud, though.”
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"Steve King: Immigrants Aren’t ‘Real Americans If They Love Taxes’"
This week, crowds of peaceful immigration reform supporters gathered outside post offices in several cities bearing signs with slogans stating “We Love Taxes!” and “Viva Taxes!” in an effort to demonstrate that there are millions of undocumented immigrants who are eager for a chance to be brought into American civil society and pay taxes as part of their civic duty. Advocates also submitted thousands of blank tax forms to federal lawmakers that could’ve been filled out to by undocumented immigrants who have the capacity to generate billions in tax revenue.
Responding to the immigration reform advocates, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) claimed that anyone these protesters can’t be “real Americans” because “real Americans” don’t embrace the notion of paying taxes:
“Oh man. How do they come up with this? They won’t be real Americans if they love taxes,” said Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican who rallied with the tea partiers later in the day.
He said the IRS won’t turn down any extra revenue from illegal immigrants who want to pay it now, but also doubted legalization would be a good deal for American taxpayers
King is wrong on both accounts. The truth is that an overwhelming majority of Americans recognize the need to do their part in contributing to the nation’s welfare in the form of taxes. Eighty percent of Americans support maintaining spending levels on domestic programs such as education, health care, and Social Security over lowering taxes. Moreover, a new New York Times/CBS News poll finds that most Americans, 62 percent, regard the income taxes they personally pay as fair, regardless of political partisanship, ideology, or income level.
Legalization of undocumented immigrants wouldn’t just be a good deal for American taxpayers, it would be a great deal. A study released by the Immigration Policy Center and the Center for American Progress found that legalizing undocumented immigrants through comprehensive immigration reform would generate $4.5 to $5.4 billion in additional net tax revenue within three years. The study predicted that ultimately the benefits of immigration reform would go beyond pure tax revenue and would yield at least $1.5 trillion in cumulative U.S. gross domestic product over 10 years. It also found that any mass deportation strategy, including the attrition through enforcement approach King promotes, would result in a cumulative reduction in GDP of $2.6 trillion over 10 years.
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It might look really awesome this design for the play station 4, however… we must remember that, nowadays the trend is to eliminate buttons, and therefore controllers, think of the wii controller or better then, the new NATAL project from XBOX, which actually doesn’t use a controller, but a camera that recognizes movement.
So this is really pretty, but I think it should have been a great play station 3, I believe the number 4 will innovate much more than we expect in order to be competitive.
Remember this, the PS3 is only on year 3 of a ten-year cycle. Designs at this stage are completely superfluous for the next generation. Microsoft is a lot closer to having to make a new console than Sony. NATAL is a gimmick unless it gets substantially more development, and it’d take a major commitment to make it the selling point on a new generation of console. I’ll believe in photo-immersion games when I see something a lot more substantial. I’ve been burned by the EyeToy and other bogus systems. Heck, speculating about the next PlayStation is as useful as longing over these design pics. All we need is a new tech protocol and everything changes. Bluetooth will likely have a repalcement, Blu-Ray will be scrapped for solid-state memory or something else new and innovative (in five years, you’ll be able to fit 150GB in a chip smaller than a micro-SD, so the sky’s the limit). So we’ll see, but the picture sure is pretty.
This thing sucks i think its stupid. More chance of a ps3 undergoing several design changes during its life, and then maybe looking like this….. but thinking ps4 anything right now just shows how out of touch with this technology you are….
the problem i always see with concept designs like this is they are 100% asthetics, not utility. having a controller like that is bad.
1: the center could easily be broken
2: there is no room for electronic components to make the controller preform to the standard of current controllers
3: most people don’t like buttons they cant feel themselves press, for sure when it’s the start(pause) button
4:where are the shoulder buttons?
i could go on but i’m sure you see my problem with these kinds of designs…if you want to be a real concept artist you need to take a lot more into consideration when it comes to utility and longevity
God no. Epic fail lies with that system. I’ve also seen his designs for other things, which aren’t nearly as bad. I have all the same problems Cara has, and then some.
If this were to be the new design, then Sony would have gone in the direction of Nintendo- Disappointment. A movement away from hardcore gamers. Without shoulder buttons and with aesthetically pleasing design, it isn’t practical for any games. COD? Medal of Honor? Resistance? Any and all shooter gamers? And RPG like Fallout our Dragon Age: Origins? All unplayable. I would boycott this BS.
I don’t buy a game system because it looks pretty, I buy a game system because it kicks ass.
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Reviving dormant sourdough starters
Back in January, when I wrote a story on sourdough, I had 18 active starters in my kitchen. Afterwards, I kept most of them, although baker Peter Reinhart told me I was being sentimental and urged I throw many of them out (have a little ceremony, he suggested). I gave some away, but mostly they've been languishing in my refrigerator since then, unfed, dormant, but not forgotten. As it's soon going to be too hot to bake happily, I decided to take out 4 of them and see how they'd fare after 5 months of neglect. The picture on the left shows them before feeding: Three I made myself, one with Peter Reinhart's pineapple juice recipe, one with Nancy Silverton's grape recipe, a third using Paul Bertolli's potato recipe; the fourth was from Sona's 100 year-old Puglian starter. On Friday morning, I stirred in the 'hootch' and fed each with equal parts water and AP flour; more feedings followed on Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday night. By Sunday morning, they were all bubbly and very active (right). I baked with the most active of the four (Reinhart's, with Silverton's a very close second).
Here are the boules, which rose beautifully, had nice hole structure, and tasted nutty and surprisingly mild -- especially considering how long they'd gone without feeding. Which goes to show how resilient starters can be. And why I'll never need to buy yeast again.
-- Amy Scattergood
Photos by Amy Scattergood
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1/26KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Astros | Jonathan Singleton to participate in camp: Houston Astros 1B Jonathan Singleton will participate in Minor League camp this spring despite being suspended for the first 50...[+] games of the season for testing positive for marijuana. General manager Jeff Luhnow feels Singleton could still reach the majors in 2013 despite his setback.
1/9KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Astros | Jonathan Singleton suspended: Houston Astros 1B Jonathan Singleton was suspended 50 games Wednesday, Jan. 9, for violating minor league baseball's drug policy....[+] Singleton will start serving the suspension for the first 50 games of the 2013 season. Singleton indicated that he tested positive for marijuana. He is expected to begin the year with Triple-A Oklahoma City.
11/2KFFL.com Hot off the Wire: Astros | Two players doing well in AFL: Houston Astros 1B Jonathan Singleton and OF Chris Springer are showing off power as both attempt to join the parent club in the...[+] near future. Through the games of Tuesday, Oct. 30, Springer was hitting .289 with a home run and seven RBIs, and Singleton had three home runs, seven RBIs, 31 total bases (good for second on the team) and was hitting .246.
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Even Herschel Walker's mother apparently isn't too keen on her son's latest competitive venture.
"She's been praying that they wouldn't find an opponent for me," the former Heisman Trophy winner and mixed martial arts novice said with a broad smile. "Even though she wants me to do it, she's been praying that they don't find me an opponent."
So much for divine intervention.
Walker's MMA debut was finalized Tuesday when Greg Nagy was announced as his opponent for the Strikeforce card to be contested Jan. 30 at the Florida Panthers' arena in Sunrise, Fla.
At an age _ 47 _ when most NFL players have long walked away from that violent sport, Walker is 2 1/2 weeks away from entering a realm defined by armbars, neck cranks, choke holds and tapouts.
"MMA is the No. 1 sport out there for me," said Walker, whose self-challenges previously have found him doing Olympic bobsled and even ballet. "I love competition; I don't want to lose at anything. I'm a little bit older, but I love competition."
Walker was the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner while at Georgia and played professionally for Dallas, Philadelphia, Minnesota, the New York Giants and the New Jersey Generals.
In his football days, Walker dropped jaws with a workout regimen that included upwards of 3,000 situps and pushups everyday. He also holds a fifth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. But even that, he said, could only begin to prepare him for what he's learning about MMA.
"This is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," Walker said. "When a guy gets me in an armbar within two minutes (during training), I'd better be learning something if I'm going to get in the cage."
Trainer Javier Mendez, whose American Kickboxing Academy is renowned for producing MMA champions, acknowledged he was initially skeptical about the idea of training Walker.
"I thought someone like him shouldn't be fighting at this stage," Mendez said Tuesday. "But once I saw him, I was amazed. His explosiveness, his cardio, his willingness to learn I don't think anybody could have done it other than him."
Nagy, 26, sports a 1-1 record in MMA, both coming at Rage in the Cage events in Arizona.
Allan Fields, chief physician for the Florida Boxing Commission that also oversees MMA sanctioning, said Walker passed the "most strenuous tests that possibly you can impose on an athlete."
A stress test on Walker's heart given by a "major cardiac institution," Fields said, produced the highest score of anyone ever tested by facility.
"He's in as fine a shape as Muhammad Ali or any of these people we've had the care of," said Fields, a former U.S. Olympic team physician. "This guy is 47 going on 22, as far as his physical fitness goes."
Even so, Walker acknowledged there will be skeptics. Nor does it help that former baseball slugger Jose Canseco lasted just 78 seconds in his foray into MMA last July.
"There have been some athletes that have been totally an embarrassment," Walker said. "Jose Canseco, it's insulting, the guy never trained. I'm a guy that's serious about this. This is fighting, you get hurt.
"People that talk about (this as a publicity stunt) don't even know me. That's why I always tell people to come and join me or come and work out with me. Then you'll see who I really am."
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View Full Version : Machineflesh 2D Challenge Entry: shahiruddin pakzad
shahiruddin pakzad has entered the Machineflesh 2D Challenge.
hi this is my first very unprofessional sketch. sory for the bad english but i will try to explain my idea. the creature originally lives under the sea and has developed a technology that alows him to investigate the surface of his planet(maybe the earth in 100o years or so).i still work ad the details but its the first time so dont expect to much. any comment is welcome! :)
i made the creature black but maybe i change it. the legs are a mixture of something machine-like and organic. i thought it could be some kind of metal or lether..but just ideas maybe i change everything but i dont have much time i can spend on this work
a little bit more colours
06-05-2004, 08:48 PM
its a good start, I like the basic composition idea, the way its striding out of the sea is dramatic. Maybe black isnt the best colour, it looks quite threatening in black, how big is it compared to a human?
a human would be as big as one leg of the creature or smaller. i did not really thought about that. your right with the color but in the final version i think it will look different. a lot to do.. :bounce:
06-07-2004, 02:56 AM
hi seyn. your concept is beginning to flesh out but it could be pushed more. you say that the creature has never been out of the water...so i think that your walking mechanism should reflect that it doesn't know what landwalkers use to walk around with. you should design something that the creature would have if it's never been to the surface before. somehow, just plopping legs on a first time land explorer seems too simple. maybe look at ancient dinosaurs who first came from the ocean. how did they evolve and what kind of changes did they make to adapt to life on land. i think this research would be helpful and intrigueing.
you are right with the critic but the walking mechanism the creature uses shows his inteligence because he uses the best form of walking..maybe they learned a lot from human(sunken ships etc)..something like this. i did not say that its the first time the creature came out of the water.. would be a litlle dry for him right?its just that the creature has legs(maybe like a crab) but they are very unusefull and short..so it needs something that gives him more speed and is more usefull on the surface. i think also of some kind of cooling system because it would be very hot under the sun, have to make some sketches and see what i can do
with crablegs and some colors. i think now it looks to much like a non-inteligent watercreature..hm
06-12-2004, 03:43 PM
the second sketch is realy nice...
I entered too,
look at my work in the 3d challenge...
01-18-2006, 09:00 AM
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Double-occupancy rooms with private baths will be available for Finger Lakes Project Workshop participants in Emerson Hall on Ithaca College's campus. This residence hall has air conditioning if it is hot (usually not the case in May!) The price is $55 per room; rooms may be shared or not. Room reservations can be made online when you register.
If you prefer to stay off-campus, the following hotels are located within 5 miles of Ithaca College. Please be aware that Cornell University's graduation will take place on May 26 and hotel rooms for that weekend will be hard to find.
400 South Meadow Street
Complimentary breakfast and shuttle to campus
1100 Danby Road
a bit more upscale with restaurant and spa on premises
1150 Danby Road
607-273-2734 or 800-765-1492
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Aussie Sprunch Spray and removal
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Thursday, December 21, 2006 at 02:39PM
Alcohol Denat., Water, Ethyl Ester Of Pvm/ma Copolymer, PPG-12-PEG-65 Lanolin Oil, Rubus Idaeus Leaf Extract (Raspberry), Anigozanthos Flavidus Flower Extract (Kangaroo Paw Flower Extract), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Prunus Seotina Bark Extract (Wild Cherry), Amino Methylpropanol, Fragrance, Triethyl Citrate, PEG/PPG-20/15 Dimethicone
Looks like the cone has peg with it, so that's water soluble. I'm not sure about the Ethyl Ester of Pvm/ma Copolymer -- whatever that is??
I'm using something very similar but it's made by Beyond the zone but the ingredients are almost the same, the smell is the same and I haven't had any issues rinsing it out. I just wish it didn't have the drying alcohol as the first ingredient! But I don't use much of it and my hair hasn't shown any stress from it so I use it.
I guess all you can do is try it out and watch your hair closely. If it starts to get gunked up or dry.... you might need to use a detoxifier or sulfate like once a week to get it all out.
Natural hair color - dark brunette
Fine, thinish hair/3a, 3b
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Scientists Debate What to Do When Findings Aid an Enemy
By GINA KOLATA
Published: September 25, 2001
In 1975, a 30-year-old electrical engineering researcher at Stanford had an idea for a new kind of cryptography. He thought his method could give the public truly unbreakable codes for their communications and other data, codes even more powerful than those produced by the National Security Agency, the nation's premier code-making and code-breaking agency.
''I remember thinking, 'I've got a tiger by the tail,' '' said the scientist, Dr. Martin Hellman, now an emeritus professor of electrical engineering at Stanford. Sure enough, the N.S.A. soon stepped in and tried to control the dissemination of the work. The new technology could be so valuable to an enemy, the agency worried, that it should be classified at birth.
Dr. Hellman and others resisted. They said that the agency's threats to restrict them were violations of academic freedom, an unwarranted limitation on their right to publish and discuss new ideas. And they worried about the harm that could be done to national security if the technology were kept from the private sector, leaving its corporate data and private communications vulnerable to eavesdroppers, terrorists and hostile governments.
In the end, the academic scientists prevailed. They freely published their research on how to make codes. And companies soon sprang up to sell them.
But now, in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon, Dr. Hellman and others whose work spawned the commercialization of high-level cryptography are wondering if they did the right thing. They are haunted by the idea that law enforcement agencies may have figured out what the terrorists were planning, if only powerful encryption techniques had been kept secret.
And even if these particular terrorists relied on hand-delivered notes and other forms of communication not vulnerable to eavesdropping, what about other terrorists who might be lurking?
''Everything's changed,'' Dr. Hellman said.
When the technology was new, though, the issues looked clear-cut. Of course cryptography should be easily available to everyone, Dr. Hellman and other academic researchers argued. Twenty-five years ago, he said, ''I saw myself as Luke Skywalker and the N.S.A. as Darth Vader.'' Several years later, he said, ''in a period of deep personal introspection, I saw how human but how ridiculous that view was.''
But now, he said, with the country searching for terror suspects, the old questions have resurfaced with new force. ''I could say, I made exactly the right decision,'' he said, ''or I could say, If I could have envisioned this, I would never have published those papers.''
It probably is too late to take back cryptography even if people wanted to, experts say. But the ''what if?'' games of history can leave an indelible mark on today's debates over how, and whether, to control new technologies that can transform balances of power and be used for good and evil.
Already, arguments have begun over a very different science, nanotechnology -- the use of molecular machines to build structures atom by atom. At least one nanotechnology researcher, Dr. Ralph C. Merkle, started out in cryptography -- he worked with Dr. Hellman -- and so, for him, the new debate almost gives him a sense of déjà vu.
Nanotechnology could produce computers so powerful that today's machines would seem like clunky toys. And it could produce weapons with the power of a supercomputer embedded on the head of a bullet.
It could provide tiny robots to go into blood vessels and clean out plaque -- or microscopic robots that could kill instead of heal, and in ways far more predictable and precise than anything envisioned in germ warfare. One nanotechnology expert, Glenn H. Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee, said that someday it might even be used to make tiny robots that would lodge in people's brains and make them truly love Big Brother.
It is a technology whose consequences could be so terrifying that one scientist, Dr. K. Eric Drexler, who saw what it could do, at first thought that he should never tell anyone what he was imagining, for fear that those dreadful abuses might come to pass.
Scientists struggling with the promise and peril of nanotechnology say they look at the issues that arose with cryptography and see chilling parallels. Once again, they say, advances in technology are creating thorny moral issues. And once again, there are no easy answers on how to proceed.
The cryptography story unfolded in the years just after Watergate, when many academic scientists distrusted the federal government, and at a time when banks and other corporations were becoming concerned that their electronic data were insecure.
The academic scientists came up with a startling idea. Encryption is a way of scrambling data and, for quite some time, this has meant using mathematical formulas to transform data -- words or numbers, say, into strings of unreadable data. Dr. Hellman and Dr. Merkle, who now works for Zyvex, a nanotechnology company in Richardson, Tex., and Dr. Whitfield Diffie, a student of Dr. Hellman who now works for Sun Microsystems, decided to exploit ancient and unsolvable mathematical problems. If a code were designed so that anyone who wanted to break it would have to solve one of these problems, that code would be unbreakable.
It was the start of what became a large-scale movement of cryptography out of the secretive offices of the National Security Agency and into the halls of academe and, later, makers of commercial cryptographic systems.
And despite its efforts to limit the spread of the new encryption methods, the National Security Agency ultimately was unsuccessful. Hundreds of codes are available and those who want to keep data secret can do so.
''The debate was always about drawing the line between the ability to gather foreign intelligence and to protect U.S. intelligence and the ability to protect the computation and communications infrastructure and to have privacy,'' said Dr. Leonard Adleman, a professor of computer science at the University of Southern California. He is the ''A'' in the R.S.A. code, perhaps the most successful of these codes, which he invented with Dr. Ronald Rivest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Dr. Adi Shamir, who is now at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
The decision to make powerful codes available to the general public allowed people to protect their privacy and businesses to protect their records and communications from prying eyes. But, Dr. Adleman noted: ''We do give up some of our ability to gather foreign intelligence. Everyone regrets that that is a byproduct.''
The lesson from cryptography, however, is that troubling questions about the possible uses of new technology will not stop the technologies from being publicly studied, Dr. Merkle said. Nor should those worries stop scientists from making their findings public, he added.
It is an issue that also came up in another context in biology in the 1970's when scientists, worried less about terrorists than natural disasters, asked whether they should pursue a new technology.
Molecular biologists had discovered how to remove genes from one cell and put them in another. They realized that they could do great good, turning bacteria into drug-producing factories, for example. But they also worried that they might accidentally create new and deadly bacteria that could spread cancer as easily as a common cold or create infections that no antibiotics could cure.
Worried about the implications of their own work, a group of these researchers met at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, Calif., in 1975 to discuss how to proceed. They decided to hold off on their experiments until they could prove the work was safe. In just a few years, their fears were assuaged and the work continued.
With the Asilomar discussions as a model, a group of scientists and others who worried about nanotechnology formed a nonprofit institute, the Foresight Institute based in Los Altos, Calif. Its goal is to prepare society for the transforming powers of new technologies, and, in particular, of nanotechnology. Dr. Merkle is on its board of directors.
The institute's chairman, Dr. Drexler, originally thought that the best thing to do would be never to disclose nanotechnology's darker possibilities for fear it might give terrorists ideas. But he soon realized that if he could think of these abuses, others could too. So he decided to try to help society prepare for the good uses of the technology and to protect itself against its evil use.
Dr. Drexler, Dr. Merkle and others at the Foresight Institute argue that openness is critical toward developing nanotechnology safely.
''There's an argument that perhaps we could simply close our eyes to new technology,'' Dr. Merkle said. ''Occasionally, people argue that if new technologies pose new risks we should tell people they should not develop them.'' But then, he said, society would be worse off. ''Not only do we lose the benefits of the new technology, but we also -- and more importantly -- fail to understand what the new technology means,'' Dr. Merkle said. ''Then how can we defend ourselves if someone else develops them?''
Professor Reynolds, a member of the board of directors of the Foresight Institute, agreed. ''Barring some new scientific law that makes nanotechnology infeasible, you're going to have it sooner or later,'' he said. ''There is a lot of potential for abuse,'' he added, but if a ban on the research were instituted, society would be ''at the mercy of whoever breaks the ban.'' Those who broke the ban would have the weapons; the rest of the world would have no antidotes.
And yet, he added, the events of Sept. 11 show that opponents may not need high-tech weapons to do grave harm.
''We spend a lot of time worrying about extremely sophisticated threats,'' he said. ''But less sophisticated threats can slip under the radar. People who want to hurt you can find a way to do it.''
Nonetheless, said Dr. Adleman, the troubling questions that he faced two decades ago on controlling encryption remain. And the cryptography debates offer lessons for the development of other technologies.
''Now is an appropriate time to see if we made the right choice,'' Dr. Adleman said. ''The issue remains the same: Where do you draw that line?''
It is not easy. ''Who's smart enough to make these decisions?'' Dr. Adleman asked. ''You need the wisdom of Solomon.''
Photos: Dr. Ralph C. Merkle says troubling questions about the uses of new technology will not stop research. (Susan Spann for The New York Times); Dr. Leonard Adleman says he regrets the impact of encryption advances on gathering intelligence. (Ed Carreon for The New York Times)(pg. F2)
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Tonight Zack is having a sleep over. After I assisted in the putting together 5,471 LEGO parts for him and two other boys....
Me: "I'm going to go work on something else, y'all."
Zack: "Why did you say Y'ALL??? What IS that?"
Me: "I'm tired and when I'm tired the Southern in me comes out."
Zack: "You're not THAT Southern. Don't say that anymore, it's weird!"
Me: "I can't help it! It's a legitimate contraction! And by the way, do you know what the plural of "y'all" is?"
The other boys looked up with a degree of interest normally reserved
for viewing something really strange but potentially interesting.
One of the boys, dubiously: "What?"
Me (proudly): "All y'all."
And that is how parents wreck their "cool" image at sleep overs.
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