text:
Sweets Ban at School Parties May Cut Calorie Overload
Study Lends Support for Cutting Back on Cake and Other Sugary Treats at School Birthday Parties
Nov. 18, 2011 -- As childhood obesity rises, more schools have banned parents from bringing baked goods and other sugary treats for class parties.
Now a new study suggests those controversial "cupcake crackdowns" may be on the right track.
The study shows that kids can eat as many as one-third of all the calories they need in a day at a typical half-hour birthday party.
And those calories are coming from foods high in fat and sugar and low in nutrients -- such as cake, fruit punch, ice cream, and chips.
U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that getting no more than 5% to 15% of your daily calories from solid fats and added sugars.
"No one wants to be the grinch who stole cupcakes," says David L. Katz, MD, MPH, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, in New Haven, Conn., in an email.
"But consider that there are multiple holidays each year, and every kid in a class has a birthday. If every one of those celebrations is an opportunity for caloric overload, it adds up to real trouble," says Katz, who was not involved in the new study.
The good news: When fruit is served alongside those sugary treats, kids actually eat it. In fact, having fruit at a party appears to cut kids' party calories.
The study is published in the Journal of Nutrition, Education, and Behavior.
Counting Calories at Classroom Parties
For the study, researchers watched four classroom birthday parties for preschoolers and kindergartners.
They measured foods and drinks served before the party started, watched kids eat, and noted how many servings they had and how much they left on their plates.
One slice of chocolate cake and fruit punch were served at each party. In some cases, parents also brought ice cream and chips. Fresh fruit was also available at two parties.
At the two parties where fruit wasn't available, the kids each ate an average of 344 to 455 calories.
"It surprised me enormously," says study researcher Kathy K. Isoldi, PhD, a registered dietitian and an assistant professor of nutrition at Long Island University in Brookville, N.Y. "That's even a lot of calories for me. And this is just essentially one snack."
But when fruit was also an option, the counts dropped somewhat, to 259 to 405 calories.
"We have to think about what we're offering children because they're associating celebration with all this sugar and sweet treats, and they do like fruit," Isoldi tells WebMD.
Planning Healthier School Parties
School nutrition experts praised the study, which is the first to take stock of how much and what kinds of foods kids eat at a typical classroom celebration.
"The calories were a little astounding," says Deborah Beauvais, RD, who serves as nutrition director for two New York state school districts.
"This gives the whole birthday party thing some teeth, if you will," says Beauvais, who is in the middle of revising her schools' wellness policies.
She says some principals in her school districts have already curbed food at school parties, opting for other ways to celebrate special days.
Kids who have birthdays get to wear paper crowns, for example, and parents are encouraged to donate a book to be read in the child's classroom.
Other schools try to limit the number of classroom birthday parties by combining them, so that all the kids who have birthdays in the same month have one party.
"Kids are consuming, on average, 300 calories for a birthday party. Do we want to do that once a week or once a month?" Beauvais asks.
"I don't want to become the birthday party police, but I think this research is a great tool" to help educate parents and teachers about healthier alternatives, says Beauvais, who is also an American Dietetic Association spokeswoman.


2:1 Accentuated Eccentrics
When coaches say "accentuated eccentrics" what they're basically talking about is lowering a weight slowly. Accentuate means to emphasize, and the eccentric is the lowering or negative phase of a lift. Along with improving the mind-muscle connection, accentuated eccentrics increase time under tension, crucial for muscle growth.
So, for 2:1 accentuated eccentrics, you'd use both legs (or arms) to explosively lift a load, then lower slowly with just one arm or leg. Here's how that looks on the leg extension:
The lifting portion should be explosive, while the lowering portion should take about 5 seconds. The former improves muscle fiber recruitment. The latter increases mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and fatigues a greater number of muscle fibers. And since the muscle is under tension for longer, blood can't enter the muscle, creating a hypoxic environment. This boosts metabolic stress and increases growth factors like IGF-1, further boosting muscle gains.
Keep the 2:1 technique at the end of training for 3-4 sets of 4-8 reps.
Related: Eccentric Training for More Muscle
Related: This Is Why You're Not Jacked


text:
LIFT ME UP
An important step in building an awareness of sharing our faith with others is to focus on love while youth are still developing their own intellectual understanding of our faith. Here are some simple idea's to focus on sharing the love with others.
- Have staff members share testimonies about an unforgettable person in their life who has impacted them.
- Someone who believed in them, motivated them and/or helped them become the person they are today.
- Have the youth discuss in small groups about unforgettable people in their life who have impacted them.
- Discuss times that the youth have lifted others up:
- listened to friends in a difficult time
- shared their experiences
- believed in someone when they couldn't believe in themselves
- Make a thank you card for the person who has lifted you up
- Make a card for someone who you could lift up and love

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
Federica Venturi (CNRS, CRCAO) participated in the inaugural conference of the Italian Association for Tibetan, Himalyan and Mongolian Studies – Associazione Italiana di Studi Tibetani, Himalayani e Mongoli (AISTHiM)- which took place in Procida, Italy (September 12-15th, 2017).
She presented the paper : How to Reconcile Budhism and Violence? Examples from the Tibetan Army of the dGa' Idan pho brang.
The paper examined the question of how the Buddhist government of the dGa' ldan pho brang justified the use of war on the occasions in which it deemed necessary to employ the Tibetan army. In particular, presented the ways in which certain important religious figures among the dGe lugs pa, such as the V Dalai Lama, rationalized the necessity to employ violent means. This paper also considered the figure of dGa' ldan tshe dbang dpal bzang po (second half of the 17th century), an ex-lama from Tashilhumpo to whom the V Dalai Lama entrusted the general command of the Tibetan army during the war between Tibet and Ladakh (_PHONE_).
The Association was created with the aim of promoting the study and knowledge of Tibetan and Himalayan civilizations in Italy, supporting research, publishing scientific studies, translations and works for the general public on Tibetan, Himalayan and Mongolian civilizations, and organizing conferences and collaborating with academic institutions.


text:
- Indian gooseberries are rich with vitamin C which is extremely important for boosting hair growth. Indian gooseberry juice or raw fruit can make your scalp nourished
- Amla consist of vitamin C, fatty acids and nutrients which can boost hair growth and fill your hair with nutrients
- Consumption of Indian gooseberries would nourish your hair, improve blood flow, let oxygen reach your scalp and keep it hydrated!
- Probiotics are super foods which can enrich the hair quality while improving blood circulation and keeping the scalp conditioned!
- Yogurt is filled with vitamin b5 which promotes hair growth and strengthens the roots. The pathogenic acid is awesome which can nourish your scalp and boost hair growth!
- For flawless locks and desirable length, go for consume Greek yogurt or yogurt while making your hair flawless!
- The refreshing and antioxidant rich fruits are awesome! The splash of freshness and taste which strawberries have is simply incredible and so are the hair benefits of this amazing fruit!
- It consists of a lot of fibers, anti oxidants, vitamin C, flavonoids which can nourish your scalp and keep it nourished thus, consume these nourishing fruit and make your scalp hydrated!
- We use almonds in various forms for health and hair benefits. Almond oil, soaked almonds, roasted almonds and other variations of almond is included in our diet routine!
- Almonds are filled with nutrients and allow blood circulation. The nutrients would reach and feel your hair cells along with oxygen and thus promote hair growth!
- It consists of calcium, vitamins, protein and such different nutrients which can nourish your scalp and thus, consume almonds to enrich your hair texture!
- Salmon is one of the amazing foods for hair growth which can nourish your scalp and add glorious shine! Salmon consists of omega 3 fatty acids which are important to keep your scalp moist.
- A healthy scalp is hydrated and is filled with the essential scalp oil due to omega 3 fatty acids which salmon has!
- The omega 3 fatty acid is not produced in the scalp and is simply obtained from foods we eat and thus, salmon can help in keeping your scalp healthy!
- This oil would keep your hair healthy by promoting hair growth, adding shine and moisture to your scalp! Thus, consume salmon and nourish your scalp with fatty acids!
- Eggs are rich and studded with numerous nutrients which are specifically awesome for hair growth. The main nutrients like iron, protein, calcium and vitamin B are found in this essential food.
- Eggs can promote hair growth; fight hair thinning and hair loss issues while nourishing your scalp.
- Lack of these nutrients can lead to hair loss. Also, it consists of biotin which can promote hair growth and strength your hair from roots!
13. Dairy products
- The delicious milk, amazing tofu, mouth watering cheese and such interesting foods for hair growth are perfect for you! Dairy products are filled with calcium and vitamin D.
- Vitamin D helps in absorbing various nutrients while calcium makes the hair strong. Also, it provides the oils and fats which keep your hair smooth, nourished and hydrated!
- Different lentils help in preventing hair fall and keep your hair thick! The nutrients in lentils make the hair strong from the roots and voluminous!
- The rich nutrients like zinc, protein, fiber and vitamins prevent your hair from losing shine and keep the scalp conditioned1
- Also, if you are suffering from issues like dry scalp, flakiness, under conditioned hair etc, you can consume more lentils and make your hair look flawless!
- We all love munching on the delicious nuts which have numerous benefits over hair, skin and health! The nuts are enriched with some hair strengthening elements which would make your hair look adorable!
- Cashew nuts, walnuts, hazel nuts etc are nourishing ingredients which are loaded with omega 3 fatty acids. These acids keep your scalp moist, conditioned and hydrated!
- Vitamin E in these nuts can make your hair thick, fight brittleness and would keep your hair glorious!
These delicious food are filled with rich nutrients which can stimulate hair growth while battling different hair issues! You can consume them in different forms and make your hair more glorious!
Prepare a diet smoothie or snack daily which focuses on hair enrichment and consists of all the nutrients which can make your hair smooth, shiny, strong and glorious!
Eat these foods for hair growth and let your hair shine!


text:
News > Scientists reconstruct Red Sea parting
Researchers at the US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have produced a computer simulation that demonstrates how the parting of the Red Sea described in the Book of Exodus could have been caused by strong winds.
The study, which is part of a larger project looking into the impact of winds on water depths, was published in the open-access journal Plos One. In it, researchers produced a reconstruction of the likely geography of the Nile Delta during the Old Testament period, which has changed considerably over the intervening centuries. The researchers have identified a stretch of the Nile where a strong east wind could conceivably have pushed the river back at a bend, opening up a walkway across the exposed mud flats and allowing the Israelites to flee the approaching Egyptians.
"The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus," Carl Drews of the NCAR told the BBC. "The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid dynamics. The wind moves the water in a way that's in accordance with physical laws, creating a safe passage with water on two sides and then abruptly allowing the water to rush back in."
With the burning bush also potentially linked to freak environmental conditions, it remains to be seen how much else of the bible story can be explained by meteorology.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
:
- Be Firm: Don't allow your loved one to drive
on "good days" but forbid it on "bad days." Offer sympathy when he
or she expresses unhappiness with the situation, but don't give
- Get a Doctor's Help: The person may view the
doctor as an "authority" and be willing to stop driving.
The doctor also can contact the Department of Motor Vehicles and
request that the person be reevaluated.
- Take the Car Keys: If just having keys is
important to the person, substitute a different set of keys.
- Move the Car: If all else fails, disable the
car or move it to a location where the person cannot see it or gain
access to it.
Visiting the Doctor
Here are some tips for handling medical appointments:
- Schedule Wisely: Try to schedule the
appointment for the person's best time of day. Also, ask the office
staff what time of day the office is least crowded.
- Give Short Notice: Don't tell the person about
the appointment until the day of the visit or even shortly before
it is time to go. Be positive and matter-of-fact.
- Bring Snacks and Activities: Bring along
something for the person to eat and drink and any activity that he
- Bring a Helper: Have a friend or another
family member go with you on the trip, so that one of you can be
with the person while the other speaks with the doctor.


text:
The First Conditional
The first conditional is one of four types of hypothetical sentence in English, and it is probably the most commonly used. In which situations can we use it and why?
When to use the first conditional
The first conditional is used to express the future consequence of a realistic possibility now or in the future. For example,
If I miss the train, I'll take the next one.
There is a 50% chance that the first part of this sentence (the action following 'if') will happen. And if it happens, the second part is 100% certain.
Creating the First Conditional
To make a sentence in the first conditional, we use,
If + present simple, will/won't + verb.
If I pass this exam, I'll celebrate.
If I pass this exam, I won't have to do it again.
Like all conditionals we can also invert this structure:
Will + verb if + present simple.
I'll celebrate if I pass this exam.
I won't have to do this exam again if I pass it.
As an alternative to will, It's possible to complete the second part of a first conditional sentence with a modal verb or an imperative. For example,
If it rains, we can't play tennis.
If it rains, we must postpone our game.
If it rains, wear your waterproof clothing.
The important thing to remember with the first conditional is that we can never use will near if. Will can only come in the other part of the sentence. For example,
We'll be pleased if the client accepts our offer.
We'll be pleased if the client will accept our offer.
Here are some other examples of the first conditional:
If you practice frequently, you'll learn quickly.
If we don't win today, we'll be out of the competition.
Your teacher can help if you don't understand something.
Call me if you're late.
If she does well in this interview, she'll get the job.
If you're hungry, help yourself to whatever you want.
We won't miss the plane if we hurry.
Our boss will be really pleased if we get this contract.
As you can see, the first conditional is used in many different situations, both in and out of the workplace. So it's undoubtedly a structure that's worth learning and practicing. Start now by doing this fun quiz.


recorded in the Gregorian calendar. In this article dates are in the Julian calendar with the start of the year adjusted to 1 January (see Old Style and New Style dates).
 2. ^ 28 February – 2 March 1653 (Gregorian calendar
 - The Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th Century, C.R. Boxer
 - The High Seas Battle of Portland, Keith Milton, Military History
Coordinates: 50°24′N 2°30′W / 50.4°N 2.5°W / 50.4; -2.5


text:
GAINESVILLE, Fla., Dec. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Florida (UF) has started enrolling subjects in a new study testing the oral drug developed by Sound Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (SPI-1005) to prevent hearing loss caused by loud music. Loud music or noise can induce temporary and permanent auditory threshold shifts (TTS or PTS). As people age, the level of PTS grows and results in a moderate loss of speech perception and discrimination, especially in noisy environments. In this Phase-II interventional clinical trial, volunteers will listen to pre-selected music delivered using an iPod® and insert earphones providing an exposure that results in small but reliable temporary threshold shifts. Volunteers will take a placebo or SPI-1005 before and after this exposure, to assess the extent to which TTS is reduced, and/or the rate of recovery is accelerated. SPI-1005 is an oral capsule that contains ebselen, a synthetic molecule that mimics the activity of Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx), a critical enzyme in the inner ear that protects it from damage caused by loud sounds or noise. In animal studies, GPx decreases in several important auditory structures including hair cells, supporting cells, nerve and lateral wall structures such as the stria vascularis. In several preclinical studies, ebselen treatment was shown to improve the GPx levels within these structures and to reduce the TTS and PTS induced by loud noise.
"The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if SPI-1005 can prevent or reduce the TTS induced by listening to loud music," said Dr. Colleen Le Prell, PhD, Associate Professor and Lead Investigator at the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions' Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences.
Currently there are no FDA approved drugs for the prevention and treatment of sensorineural hearing loss. "The enrollment of this Ph-II study represents a significant milestone for SPI and we are excited to advance of our clinical programs to achieve proof of concept in man" said Eric Lynch, PhD, President, SPI. Details of the study can be viewed online at _URL_ by searching SPI-1005.
SPI is a privately held biopharmaceutical company in Seattle with a focus on developing the first drugs for the prevention and treatment of hearing loss.
Please visit _URL_
Eric Lynch, PhD, President, Sound Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
4010 Stone Way N Suite 120, Seattle WA 98103 Office: _PHONE_
SOURCE Sound Pharmaceuticals, Inc.


text: FIGURE 2 Structure of the electricity industry in the United Kingdom. Electricite de France (EDF) is present because electricity can be exchanged between England and France. a Including some autogenerators. b Other small generators also supply electricity to ScottishPower and Scotish Hydro-Electric. c Comprising East Midlands Electricity, NORWEB, Eastern Electricity, SEEBOARD, London Electricity, SWALEC, MANWEB, SWEB, MEB, Southern Electricity, Northern Electricity, Yorkshire Electricity. d Comprising National Power, Nuclear Electric, PowerGen, Scottish Power, Scottish Hydro-Electric. e Comprising ScottishPower, Scottish Hydro-Electric. SOURCE: Department of Trade and Industry, 1994.


Stress in a name
Stress in a word is often on the last syllable (stress shown in bold below).
ka = door
araba = car
pazar = market, bazaar
Pazar = Sunday (= market day)
With composite words, one of the sub-words takes the stress:
Pazartesi = Monday (literally: Pazar + ertesi = the day after Sunday)
As suffixes get appended, the stress still remains on the last syllable, unless the suffix is an unstressed suffix:
zel = beatiful
güzellik = beauty
güzelliğin = your beauty
güzelliğinden = from your beauty
In proper names such as city and country names, the second last syllable mostly takes the stress:
 - Istanbul
 - İzmir
 - Edirne
 - Nikaragua
 - İngiltere
 - Yugoslavya
 - Ankara
İstanbul from space:
- left: Europe, right: Asia
- north: Black Sea, south: Marmara Sea
- in between: the Bosphorus
The old İstanbul is a little below the center of the photo.


Take the 2-minute tour ×
Suppose $\mathsf{H}$ is an infinite-dimensional (non-separable preferably) Hilbert space. Consider the space $L(\mathsf{H})$ of all bounded operators on it. Is there $0\neq W\in L(\mathsf{H})$ such that the set
$$\left\{ T\in L(\mathsf{H} )\colon \|W-T\| = \|W+T\| \right\}$$
contains an open ball? Is this set a linear subspace of $L(\mathsf{H})$?
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
It has been asked and answered at Math Overflow.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer


text:
Date: February 13 2013
Stefan Kudelski was the inventor of the first professional-quality portable tape recorder, which revolutionised Hollywood filmmaking and vastly expanded the reach of documentarians, independent directors and eavesdroppers on both sides in the Cold War.
The Polish-born Kudelski was an engineering student at a Swiss university in 1951 when he patented his first portable recording device, the Nagra I, a reel-to-reel tape recorder about the size of a shoe box and weighing five kilograms, which produced sound as good as that of most studio recorders, which were the size of a phone booth. Radio stations in Switzerland were his first customers.
The bigger breakthrough came seven years later, when Kudelski introduced a high-quality tape recorder that could synchronise sound with the frames on a reel of film. Kudelski's 1958 recorder, the Nagra III, weighed about six kilograms and freed filmmakers from the conventions and high cost of studio production.
Along with the newly developed portable 16-millimetre camera, the Nagra recorder became an essential tool for the on-location, often improvisational techniques of French New Wave directors such as Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Godard and American documentarians such as D. A. Pennebaker, who used the Nagra to record the 1965 Bob Dylan tour featured in his film Dont Look Back (1967).
In various interviews, Pennebaker, Godard and Truffaut credited Kudelski with helping to make possible the informality and journalistic realism of their work.
Kudelski received Academy Awards for his technical contributions to filmmaking in 1965, 1977, 1978 and 1990 and Emmy Awards in 1984 and 1986.
In the 1960s, Kudelski's firm began making miniature recorders for what its online catalogue calls ''surveillance and security'' work. The first of these pocket-size machines was the SN ''Serie Noire'', which the company's website boasts was ''originally ordered by President J. F. Kennedy for the American secret services''.
The collection of bugging devices on display at the International Spy Museum in Washington, a privately financed archive run by former CIA employees, includes a Nagra recorder obtained in the 1980s from the Stasi, the East German internal security agency.
Nagras remained dominant until the advent of digital audio recorders in the 1990s. The company now makes digital recorders, as well as some analog tape devices, but does not rule the market as it once did.
Stefan Kudelski was born on February 27, 1929, in Warsaw. He escaped Poland with his family at the start of World War II and settled in Switzerland. After earning a degree in physics and engineering, he began an engineering design firm. It has since become a major Swiss manufacturer of media and security equipment.
In 1991, his son Andre succeeded him as chief executive and chairman of Kudelski Group, the electronics company he founded in 1951.
Stefan Kudelski is survived by his children, Andre, Isabelle, Marguerite, Henri and Irene. His wife, Ewa, died in 2000.
Paul Vittelo, The New York Times
This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.
[ SMH | Text-only index]


text:
The Philippines is blessed with a very high biodiversity, including the plants living in its remaining forest cover. Trees alone comprise about 3500 species. Just to research on a species a day would take about 10 years to finish all of just the trees. Then there are still the shrubs, herbs, ferns etc. Through this blog we hope to introduce you to some important plants in the forest before they completely disappear because of habitat destruction.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Another Katmon in Flower
Dillenia sibuyanensis in flower
Flower is much smaller than a katmon's
Quick Post: I was gifted by Wendy Regalado with a cutting of Dillenia sibuyanensis or katmon-sibuyan. In about 8 months it established itself then grew from 6 inches to about 2 feet. The other day I saw it in flower. It had a smaller flower compared to Dillenia philippinensis, but has an attractive yellow flower. It must be a delight to see a specimen heavily laden with the yellow blooms. For now I have to contented with the single flower, and at least I know my plant will be doing so someday.


text:
5. The USS Hornet
The USS Hornet was a flagship vessel in the U.S. Navy during World War II and was one of the most highly decorated ships of that time period. She was also a pinnacle part of the Vietnam War and had the honor of recovering the astronauts returning from the moon in the Apollo 11 and 12 space missions. This success also has a dark side as this decorated warship has seen over 300 deaths. Most of which were men struck down in battle, but others died in freak accidents like snapping cables that decapitate sailors or men accidentally being sucked into air intake pipes. The hornet, for all its success, also has the highest suicide rate of all the ships in the Navy.
The ship was retired in 1970 and was docked in Alameda, California and was opened up to the public in 1998 as a museum. It was then that many of the visiting tourists and crew aboard the ship began having paranormal experiences. Doors opening and shutting with no visible force, disappearing tools, objects moving by themselves, and the apparitions of sailors carrying about with their duties as if it was still 1944 are among the paranormal claims. Some people even claim that the ghosts on board the ship can be hostile in nature with claims that some have been pushed and grabbed by an invisible force while on board the ship.
The USS Hornet is a ship rich and history and possible rich in paranormal activity as well. Perhaps the cause for all this activity is the tragic past and abundance untimely deaths. Regardless of the cause of the haunting, the ship is notorious for its historical value as well as its ghosts. It is often called the most haunted vessel in the American Navy.
4. Chickamauga, Chattanooga Tennessee
The Battle of Chickamauga was one of the most important battles in the Civil War. It was a confederate victory and is considered by historians to be the most significant Union loss of the war. The battle also saw the second highest casualties of the war, behind Gettysburg. In the aftermath of the battle 34, 624 Americans were killed and another 24,430 were wounded. In a twist of ironic foreshadowing the river that the battle is named for was named by the Cherokee Native Americans before the battle took place and can be loosely translated to mean "river of death". But perhaps the Cherokee had their own reasons for calling it river of death.
The Chickamauga battleground is claimed to be the home of many paranormal entities. Some claim that one of these ghosts dates back to a time before the civil war. It is said during the battle that many of the soldiers claimed to see a six-foot humanoid on the battlefield. It is said that the figure would drag off the dead bodies and wounded, and some claim to have seen it eat the dead. The creatures most striking feature was its piercing green eyes. Sightings of Old Green Eyes as locals affectionately call him still continue to this day. Other apparitions are said to haunt the ground as well. A mysterious lady in a white dress is often seen wondering the battlefield; perhaps looking for a lost loved one. The most interesting of all these sightings, though, are those of whole cavalries.
David Lester is a Civil War buff that takes part in the yearly reenactments of the battle. He claims that about five years ago, he and several of his friends went to say hello to some fellow confederate soldiers that were camped nearby. Lester found their unwillingness to break character charming and admired their dedication to the reenactment. Lester and his friends returned to their campsite several hours later and turned in for the night. The next morning when they got up, the campsite they had visited the previous night was gone. So were the confederate soldiers they spent hours with. There wasn't even a sign of a fire or stakes in the ground where the tents would have been.
Auschwitz was a concentration camp built by Nazi-Germany and operated in Poland during the Nazi occupation their. It was the largest German concentration camp with three different sectors, Auschwitz I, which was the main camp, Auschwitz II-Birkenau also called the extermination camp and Auschwitz III-Monowitz or the labor camp. It is estimated that 2.1-2.5 million people perished within the walls of Auschwitz as part of Nazi-Germany's ethnic cleansing campaign in what was the darkest period of German history.
Auschwitz is known to have profound emotional effects on tourists and visitors of the tragic site. People have been known to inexplicable burst into tears during tours of the facility and others have come to the gates and been physically and emotionally unable to enter the dreary complex. It is also said that you will never hear the sounds of birds chirping or other natural noises while at Auschwitz, just an unsettling silence. Others claim to be physically touched by unseen forces while at the camp. One women claims that she heard a disembodied voice while on a tour, but could only make out the words "Proszę" and "wyjść" or "please" and "leave".
2. Unit 731 Experimentation Camp
It has been referred to as the Asian Auschwitz and its walls saw the brutal deaths of around 10,000 men, women, and children. The site was built by the Imperial Japanese Government in Harbin, Manchuria, China and was used by them to perform medical experiments on living test subjects (mostly of Chinese descent). Vivisections would occur on humans without the use of anesthesia. Doctors at the camp would sever the limbs of live victims to study blood loss, and then the limbs were often reattached but on the wrong side of the body. Prisoners there were also purposely infected with plague, cholera, smallpox, botulism, and other horrific diseases to study the effects. People were also subjected to extreme temperatures to see how long it took a human to die of frostbite. Other horrors also occurred at the facility that are too gruesome to discuss here.
After the war some parts of the complex were lost to time, but other parts still remain standing. A total of 150 building remain but only one of these is open to the public. There are also many open areas on the site that were used to test bombs at close range on living subjects. People were only recently allowed to visit the site and since it's opening as a "learning center" for future generations of China a lot of paranormal activity has been reported.
Many report mysterious lights in the courtyard. Others claim to see ghostly figures wondering around the buildings. The most infamous ghost of the site, though, is the figure of a man that strolls the area around frostbite building. Some claim that when visiting the site that they are overwhelmed with paranormal activity and they claim that there must be thousands of ghosts who are permanent residents of this horrific location.
The Battle of Gettysburg was and still is the bloodiest three days in American History. It is considered the turning point of the war. The battle raged for days before the Confederates finally retreated back into the south. Because of this retreat it was considered a huge Union win and a devastating Confederate loss. This win set the stage for Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a goal of the war. The Confederate loss in the north and Lincoln making the war a moral issue all but ensured that the English would not enter the war on the side of the Confederates thus ensuring a Union victory. (NOTE: The English had abolished slavery 20 years earlier and a loss on Union soil for the Confederates did not bode well for an eventual Confederate victory in the Civil War). At the end of the battle, though, everyone involved realized that there was no victor as nearly 50,000 Americans lost their lives.
The grounds on which this battle took place has been turned into a National Park. The park seems to be teeming with paranormal activity. Strange audible occurrences are common. For example, some claim that on a quiet day you can hear faint sounds of cannons, gunshots, and shouting, as if the battle is still happening. These sounds are often associated with the smell of sulfur. This is interesting because sulfur was used to make gunpowder in the Civil War era. There are also tales of seeing actually apparitions of soldiers. A park ranger frequently tells one such example:
Early one morning I was making a routine patrol of the park when I suddenly felt a strange cold sensation. I turned to face the open field behind me and saw a man on horseback trotting through the field. Wondering why someone would be at the park so early, I approached the man, as I got closer I realized that the horseman's attire was that of a confederate soldier.
Author: Jonathan Kaulay Copyrighted © paranormalhaze.com


text:
A New Perspective to Improve Warp Sizing
Higher quality yarn improves the weaving process. Introduction of very small non-film forming resin particles in conventional size formulations modify and provide improved fiber cohesion in the warp yarn bundle. This transient effect provides a more compact and improved yarn substrate to host conventional warp size polymers on the yarn surface. Evaluation of this technology in producing mills has provided positive results in all factors associated in the weaving process.
In the early 1800s, the introduction of the mechanical loom promised the potential of dramatically improved fabric production. However, the mechanical loom also introduced a level of abrasion on warp yarn that prevented this productivity potential. The abrasion problem was soon attacked by borrowing technology developed by the coatings industry. In coatings, surface protection was provided by the application of natural oils which crosslinked to form a permanent topical barrier. The concept provided the solution, but the woven fabric was not a candidate for a permanent abrasion barrier. Starch soon emerged as a suitable material to provide a transient abrasion-resistant barrier to protect warp yarn. This approach soon led to the development of the necessary machinery to apply an abrasion barrier and the concept was adopted by the industry.
During the next two centuries, significant improvements in coatings technology and materials have been adopted to accommodate continual changes in yarn composition, yarn formation, and loom technologies. Warp sizes are now designed to meet the demands of each fabric style on a case-by-case basis. Warp size suppliers and technicians have performed admirably in bridging continual changing technologies involved in the journey from fiber to fabric. We now are more secure in gauging general rules of viscosity, penetration and overall size add-on levels for optimum weaving performance. Optimization of the sizing formulation is now paired with the variables from the slasher through the greige fabric.
Advances in the use of polymer/starch surface barriers now dominate spun yarn sizing. Abrasion protection coupled with nearly 2 centuries of experience has achieved what is now regarded as the optimum in painting warp yarn. Unfortunately, this experience has fostered an attitude of complacency to the potential for improving weaving performance utilizing chemicals in the size box.
The use of nanosize resins (oligomers) has now been evaluated as components in warp size formulations. On a theoretical basis, and the barrier coatings approach, these materials provide little optimism for improvements in weaving. Chemically, oligomer resins have the basic properties of higher molecular weight polymers of the same chemistry but are much too low in molecular weight for viable film formation. Minor adhesion and plasticization of conventional barrier film formers became the primary hope for this new technology. Initial trials with nanosize oligomers in conventional size formulations provided promising results in both adhesion and plasticization of the barrier coating. In addition, incorporation of oligomer resins provided differences that were not readily explained.
- Reduction in both warp and filling stops.
- Fiber and size shed at both the slasher and looms were dramatically reduced.
- Increased yardage of hard yarn on the loom beam.
These results did not neatly fit into the barrier concept of warp sizing. Increased yardage on the loom beam logically indicated reduced size pick-up on warp yarn. However, multiple desize analysis of hard yarn from trials and normal production were equivalent. The repetition of these trials was consistent with the initial results. Nanosize oligomer resins were clearly providing a mechanism to complement barrier coating film abrasion resistance.
Microscopic (60X) photos were utilized to determine any visual differences between standard and trial hard yarns. Yarns containing oligomer resin in the size formulation exhibit a smoother surface with less hard fiber disruption from the sheet break. In addition, the examination of 60X photos of the sized yarn indicates a significant reduction in yarn core diameter. Sized yarn diameters exhibit near 20% reduction in comparison to normal formulation hard yarn at the same add-on.
Examination of 1040X magnification cross-sections of yarn prior to the size box provides an explanation of the function of nanosize resins within the yarn bundle. Vacant spaces between fibers in the bundle are micron or greater in diameter and volume. Fibers in spun yarn systems are mildly anionic, natural or added, which maintain a repulsive force to keep fibers apart. As the yarn is wet-out by water, huge numbers of millimicron oligomer resin particles penetrate and adhere to fiber surfaces. Repulsive forces existing between fibers are overwhelmed and the fiber surface is modified with nanosize particles. These small resin molecules provide a like-like mutual attraction and allow fibers to be drawn closer together to partially reduce vacant spaces within the bundle. Immediate compaction of the yarn bundle occurs upon wet-out. A smaller yarn substrate is now available to host the barrier film. The count of the yarn remains constant with a smaller diameter bundle. An increase in the density of the yarn is attributed to improved fiber cohesion within the bundle.
Statamat and Uster evaluation of sized yarn at equivalent add-on provided revealing differences in properties of the sized yarns in both tensile and elongation. Although both Tensile & Elongation properties are affected, low-end values are the most important in weaving. Low-end properties are improved and the coefficient of variation reduced to provide a more uniform hard yarn. A particularly unusual benefit of fiber cohesion improvement has been in an average improvement in loss of elongation near 30% of conventionally sized yarn controls.
Years of experience with conventional size film formers have optimized penetration and encapsulation of the film barrier on yarn. Add-on levels and film locations are controlled by the viscosity of high molecular weight film formers to minimize penetration and maintain the size coating.
Adequate abrasion resistance from the barrier coating is dependent upon the surface area that must be protected. Sized yarn is a cylinder in which surface area is directly a function of the diameter of the cylinder. The new yarn created by nanosize oligomer resins in the formulation allows a reduced total size add-on to prevent oversizing and embrittlement of the hard yarn1.
Oligomer resin effects on yarn are especially important in increasing low end tensile and elongation and reduction in coefficient of variation. This effect produces a more uniform yarn substrate for subsequent steps in the weaving process. Effects on yarn without warp size were determined through the addition of a small amount of oligomer product to the final rinse in a conventional mock dyeing procedure2.
Desize of greige fabric is accomplished utilizing conventional procedures at pH levels slightly above 7.
Demonstrated Benefits of Oligomer Resin in Warp Yarn to date:
- Immediate compaction of the warp yarn.
- Low end tensile and elongation improvement.
- Coefficient of variation reduction.
- Improved uniformity of the warp yarn.
- Reduced use of conventional warp size film formers.
- Reduced warp and filling stops.
- Reduced size and fiber shed in slashing and weaving.
- Reduced housekeeping in slashing and weaving room.
- Improved fabric quality.
- 1Textile Sizing, B.C. Goswami, R.D. Anandjiwala, David M. Hall, Marcel Dekker, Inc., page 247.
- 2 Nanosize product applied in final rinse of mock dyed P/C yarn and control. Results reported in this forum 6/4/2019.


text:
February 17, 2012
Dinosaurs once roamed in the vicinity of Washington D.C. They did not leave very much behind. No one has found a beautifully articulated skeleton under the city streets—the city's most famous dinosaur, "Capitalsaurus," is known from only fragments—but paleontologists can use isolated teeth to take a census of which kinds of dinosaurs were present in the area. In the video posted above, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's dinosaur curator Matthew Carrano explains how paleontologists identify dinosaurs on the basis of teeth alone.
Sign up for our free email newsletter and receive the best stories from Smithsonian.com each week.
No Comments »
No comments yet.


text:
The Advanced Development Team (ADT) is a Mars Program Office entity that acts as a stand-in for the conceptual Mars Sample Return Orbiter (SRO) and Sample Return Lander (SRL) missions to ensure that decisions made in current Mars missions do not negatively affect downstream mission success for potentially returning samples from Mars. The Extraction-Insertion-and Manipulation (EIM) testing task focuses on the validation of requirements on the Mars 2020 sample tube from the Interface Requirements Document (IRD) between the Mars 2020 mission and ADT. The validation work focuses on key elements of the conceptual SRL sample transfer chain from ground pickup to securing the sample tubes inside a conceptual Orbiting Sample (OS) capsule.
Eric Kulczycki - Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Mars Technology Program


text:
Immersive, Virtual Reality Study of Nations Engages 6th Graders
Teams of Collegiate School 6th Grade students in Mike Ferry's social studies class are answering the question How would you help a country with a low gross domestic product per capita improve its economy and standard of living?
Students select a country to research and then leverage DollarStreet
, the CIA World Factbook
and Google Earth Virtual Reality
to explore and understand each country's people, culture, natural resources, geography and climate.
While immersed in Google Earth Virtual Reality, students experience digital replicas of these countries and fly over or walk down streets, meander through national parks and mountain ranges or investigate airports and city neighborhoods, thus creating a deeper understanding of the infrastructure and geography of these locations.
The study enables students to engage in a wider world from the confines of a classroom. The exercise simultaneously boosts creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and research skills. At the conclusion of their studies, the students submit their recommendations for each country, providing ideas for how the native populations of the low-GDP countries can improve their GDP.


text:
Federal ruling a go-ahead for Folly Beach county park groin
FOLLY BEACH — The sands of the severely eroded county park here are now sweeping across what was marsh behind it. The beach park, in other words, isn't disappearing, but it's moving the other way.
The science of shifting sands
The phenomenon is called "island roll over." The seas push barrier beach sand over what were trees and marsh, moving the beach inland.Because of that sand, the closed, eroding Folly Beach County Park isn't losing ground for facilities. But flat sand covers what used to be wildlife habitats of marsh reeds and a maritime grove. Protecting dunes, even scarps, are gone.New research: The Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission has asked College of Charleston researchers to document what's happening, to provide data to assess its proposed groin project, said Director Tom O'Rourke. Leslie Sautter, associate geology professor, who is doing the work along with colleague Scott Harris and students, said they are establishing baseline data of the volume of sand and its various elevations.Potential work: The commission could fund an overall monitoring, using techniques such as underwater mapping, for an ongoing survey of park grounds and nearby shorebird key and shoals."For our purposes, we're documenting this beach because it's changing so rapidly. It's a very serious situation," Sautter said. Whether the data shows beach renourishment works or not, it's important information for developers and coastal engineers worldwide.No politics: The researchers are not taking a position in the dispute, she said. "We are observing and quantifying. We want to make a very public, open interface for the taxpayers to see what's going on."Bo Petersen
The same could be said of the negotiations over what to do about it. Conservationists had pushed to forge a compromise over a groin for the closed Charleston County park, wanting to get an agreement in place before a pivotal environmental ruling on the project was issued by federal regulators.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruling is now in. It largely backs up conservation measures already included in the project by Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, to protect nearby shorebird habitat and other species.
Regulators are close to deciding whether to permit the commission to erect a $3 million groin — a wood or rock barrier — stretching more than 700 feet, including 200 feet out to sea. The groin would rebuild some beach and protect renourishment sand along what is now largely a duneless, overwashed beach.
The Coastal Conservation League now has little remaining leverage in negotiations besides the threat of a lawsuit that would stymie the project.
The league's original stand against building the groin has been scaled back over three months. The group now only insists that a coastal scientist who is not part of the project be made part of a project team that determines whether the groin is damaging the valuable Bird Key Stono and Skimmer Flats shorebird grounds nearby. According to permit specifications, significant damage to those grounds would call for the groin to be removed.
The league and the commission now are squabbling over whether S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control has endorsed the league's call for an independent monitor.
Catherine Templeton, DHEC director, said the agency wouldn't prohibit it but that "the parties can agree on whatever they want."
Commission Director Tom O'Rourke said that falls short of endorsing the idea.
"We have dropped all of our requests except that (the commission) include an independent geologist on the evaluation team," said Dana Beach, league executive director. "They have refused to do that. They initially said they couldn't. Now we know they can."
State coastal policy discourages groins because, while they collect sand upstream of the barrier, they exacerbate erosion downstream.
In December, the league said it would take its permit fight into court if necessary.Reach Bo Petersen at _PHONE_ or _USER_ on Twitter.


You are literally reading this right now
You are literally reading this right now
It is pretty well known that the English language is hard to learn. Have you heard some of our native speakers butcher the language? The rules of the language are not consistent and it is not always easily understood why or when those rules are violated. It also doesn't help when words change in meaning.
In 2013, the official meaning of "literally", a word that many have been misusing, became good friends with its adversary, "figuratively" and then single-white-femaled it. When we Stalecake-ians first heard the news we went Amy Winehouse and declared "what kind of fuckery is this?"
In order to break down why this is so freaking crazy we must first start at the very beginning. Since many didn't know what literally originally meant, we would like to jog your memory:
Definition of LITERALLY from a 1940's dictionary:
1. According to the primary and natural import of the words; not figuratively; < a man and his wife cannot be literally one flesh >
2. With close adherence to words; word by word; < to quote a writer literally >
This seems like a simple easy definition to grasp, but people couldn't leave it alone. It seems this definition change was a long time in the making. Misuse of the word "literally" can be traced back to the 1820's. The article notes that in 1894 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote that Sherlock's room "was literally ankle-deep with congratulatory telegrams." While we could believe Benedict Cumberbatch would have this problem, we're not sure Doyle meant it in the traditional sense.
People tend to talk in extremes, so we have begrudgingly accepted this new-and-not-so-improved version of "literally". After all, when people tell us they are "starving" as we wait in line for pie, we don't even blink. But if your eye twitches every time you hear or see "literally", Google Chrome has an extension for you that replaces every instance of "literal" with "figurative".
"Literally" is not the only word that is commonly butchered. Here are others: Monette admits that she probably misuses many words on this list. Asha's favorite misused word is "irregardless"- it's worse because it is not even a real word. If you use this word, she will think you're an imbecile REGARDLESS of how many degrees you have.


text:
Resource Centre Network Nepal (RCNN)
A network of organisations involved in water, sanitation and hygiene sector, which intends to facilitate the sharing of information and promote the use thereof to improve the performance of the sector as a whole. The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene-Resource Centre Network Nepal (WASH-RCNN) in association with Nepal Library Association (NLA) organised a training workshop on Information Management for decentralised WASH Resource Centres from 25-27 December 2011. Eleven participants responsible for managing decentralised WASH Resource Centres participated in the training. The main objective of the training was to strengthen information management capacity of resource centres for increased learning and sharing at decentralised level. The training covered different aspects of information management such as sourcing information, documentation (classification and indexing), packaging and dissemination through conventional and web based social media. Overall, this training helped participants to have a better understanding on why information management is required and has helped to enhance the skills for better acquisition and dissemination of information.


Take the 2-minute tour ×
Is there a rule or something I can use to calculate a good number for max_connections, default_pool_size and max_client_conn?
The defaults are odd. PostgreSQL defaults to max_connections=100 while pgbouncer defaults to default_pool_size=20. Shouldn't default_pool_size always be higher than max_connections? Otherwise, what's the point? I thought pgbouncer was meant to let us handle more connections by lowering their overhead (by reusing PostgreSQL's connections). I'm confused.
I'm looking for advice similar to the ones found in PostgreSQL's wiki, like "this parameter should be ~50% of your memory".
I remember there was a spreadsheet for MySQL that would let you calculate these kind of parameters. It would be awesome to have something like that for PostgreSQL/pgbouncer.
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
up vote 3 down vote accepted
First, please read our canonical question on Capacity Planning.
The specific advice you're asking for is capacity planning advice, and you're going to have to work that out on your own, for your particular environment.
Second, You are looking at this wrong.
The amount of memory (or any other resource) you have doesn't dictate the number of connections you set, the number of connections you need dictates how beefy a server you must purchase.
The per-connection resource requirements are given in the manual in considerable detail, as well as discussed on the Wiki you linked to. Figure out what your environment needs (or make an educated guess) and ensure the hardware you are going to run on can handle what you're going to throw at it.
Specifically re: connection limits and pool size, you should have "enough" connections to meet your application's requirements - either on a single server or through a pool/bouncer.
"Enough" is a relative number: An application that makes (and continually reuses) one connection only requires one connection. An application that establishes a connection for each end-user who logs in requires as many DB connections as it has users.
The default values for both Postgres and pgbouncer are sensible as defaults:
 - 100 database connections is a lot for the typical person throwing Postgres into an environment.
 Developers probably won't need more than 10. Anyone else will know enough to increase the number.
 - 20 connections from pgbouncer per DB pool means you can get 4 pools pointing at one server and not overwhelm the default Postgres connection limit.
 It is possible to have multiple pooled resources in pgbouncer pointing at one back-end database, and you always want some available connections on your back-end servers.
If the defaults are not suitable for your environment you are expected to change them.
Remember that pooled connections does not mean "always tie up every database connection available".
The point of pgbouncer as you noted is to reuse connections. The efficiency gain here doesn't require that you tie up every available connection, merely that you don't disconnect, reconnect, re-negotiate SSL, re-authenticate to the database, and re-run your connection setup queries every time.
share|improve this answer
I don't see the point of buying more hardware before configuring things properly. "Anyone else will know enough to increase the number". Well, where can I learn to know enough? I'm not finding much material about connections. Is it just trial and error? The spreadsheet I mentioned for MySQL used to work like a charm. Using more connections than the indicated by it would result in the server running out of memory. Right now I have 4GB, I was expecting to have to increase the defaults. Also, 20x4=80, what are the other 20 for? – ChocoDeveloper Feb 25 '13 at 17:42
_USER_ Please re-read my answer in its entirety (you're asking some things that I've already addressed), and spend a few minutes with the documentation I linked to. You are still looking at this backwards (see the first paragraph of my answer). Bear in mind that Postgres is NOT MySQL: You need to forget everything you think you know from your MySQL tuning experience. Postgres is more like Oracle. Study the manual, and proceed according to the instructions it gives you. – voretaq7 Feb 25 '13 at 18:00
Alright, thanks. – ChocoDeveloper Feb 25 '13 at 18:30
Your Answer


text:
Fighting fake news
"Fighting Fake News'' is an international youth exchange, hosted by the Romanian youth Association "VIP – VALUES IN PEOPLE" which involves 35 youngsters from five youth organizations of European Union countries: Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Romania and Hungary.
The project idea comes from the consideration that European youngsters societies are becoming more open and diverse day by day, especially with new trends and media environment of the European Union. Despite of these changes, some part of the youngsters remain behind, and still they do not have the capacity to observe differences between fake and real news.
➢ to develop youngsters skills to better identify fake news;
➢ to spread awareness among local communities about how to deal with social media and news platforms;
➢ to improve the abilities of young participants in order to enhance know how and practical experience about the fake news issues;
➢ to create digital magazine guidelines and video material about the impact of fake news;
➢ to Promote the sense of civic responsibility, social inclusion and tolerance towards minorities;
➢ to improve the abilities of young participants in order to enhance communication skills and self-esteem;
➢ to enhance intercultural participation and competences of youth about cultural heritage.
Methods: The working methods we have choose are learner center, which stimulate participation and creativity, learning by doing through informal and non-formal education, such as:
➢ icebreakers and energizers: this method will help with the cohesion of the group.
➢ debates: participants will confirm their capacity to understand and make a difference between real and fake news.
➢ presentation: This method emphasizes communicative and analytical skills as well as ability to structure complex information clearly.
➢ simulation: participants are placed in a situation close to real-life scenarios to have their competences assessed. Can this be turned in a fake news?
➢ observation: this method refers to extracting evidence from candidates while they perform tasks brainstorming: This method combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem solving with lateral thinking;
➢ workshops: This method is based on „learning by doing";
➢ reflection groups, Youthpass session and evaluation to reflect on own learning and get a feedback of the project.
Participants: Six participants from each country, aged 18-26 + 1 group leader (no age limit) – total is 7 participants per country. NOTE: You have to be resident and citizen in one of our partner countries, and travel from, and to this country! Your participation will be confirmed after the selection process, please be patient waiting for the official results. Disadvantaged youth will have priority during the selection process. The project will also involve young people with fewer opportunities, particularly coming from rural areas, unemployed, facing economic problems, being discriminalized and so on, because it's very important to reach this category with information about opportunities and rights given by European programs and also helps the process of enforcement of social cohesion.
Programme and action:
Erasmus+ KA1 youth exchange
10 - 18 September 2019
Number of participants:


text:
AIRBORNE CBW AGENT DECONTAMINATION TECHNOLOGY
Agency / Branch:
DOD / USAF
Decontamination is a process through which dangerous chemicals and microorganisms, including vegetative cells, spores and viruses, are rendered harmless. Conventional technologies such as new-generation of HEPA filters provide reasonable protection for a certain amount of time. However, HEPA filters are expensive and require the use of pre-filters to limit their rate of loading, moreover, they dissipate large amounts of power from the ventilation air stream. We propose to develop a new technology for decontamination of air streams through simultaneous injection and generation of strong oxidative free radicals. These free radicals, which have an average lifetime of less than a second, are effective in neutralizing chemical and biological agents upon contact and dissipate not leaving any residue. The strong air/gas stream containing free radicals produced in a non-thermal plasma source will be able to penetrate efficiently the contaminated air stream due to vibrant turbulence caused by the injection stream. Non-thermal plasma technologies are currently under investigation for their ability to decompose biological and chemical agents. Plasma chemical processes have been known to be highly effective in promoting oxidation, enhancing molecular dissociation, and producing free radicals to enhance chemical reactions. Plasma techniques such as the pulsed microwave discharge proposed here, offer advantages of energy efficiency and the capability for the simultaneous removal of co-existing CBW agents.
Small Business Information at Submission:
227 Durfee Hill Rd. Ithaca, NY 14850
Number of Employees:


text:
U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Federal Energy Management Program
Operations and Maintenance for Major Equipment Types
Equipment lies at the heart of all operations and maintenance (O&M) activities. This equipment varies greatly across the Federal sector in age, size, type, model, condition, etc.
No single resource covers all equipment in use by Federal agencies, and listing major equipment types is beyond the scope of this Web site. Instead, FEMP outlines major equipment types within chapter 9 of the FEMP O&M Best Practices Guide.
The FEMP O&M Best Practices Guide focuses on:
- Steam traps
- Cooling towers
- Energy management and building automation systems
- Air handling systems
- Air compressors
The guide provides the following information for each equipment type:
- General equipment descriptions and operating principles.
- Key maintenance components.
- Important safety issues.
- Cost and energy efficiency issues.
- Water related efficiency issues.
- Recommended maintenance checklists.
The full FEMP O&M Best Practices Guide is also available.


text:
Our neighborhood Tulip Tree is finally blooming! Lots of other trees flower first and then open their leaves, but Tulip Trees do the opposite. So, here's a side view of the flower, which reminds me of a subtly colored garden tulip (if there is such a thing):
Now, let's peek inside a flower. Because Tulip Trees are a kind of magnolia, there are lots of pollen-producing parts surrounding a cone-like mass of seed-producing parts. They say this is what some of the first flowers looked like, back during dinosaur times:
The next photo shows an unopened bud below a flower:
Oak Parkers and other who want to see Tulip Tree flowers can find this tree on the south side of Rehm Park, where Scoville deadends into the park. It's a young tree, so some flowers are at eye level for adults. There are other Tulip Trees in town, but they're so tall that you need binoculars to appreciate the flowers.
We've been following this tree since early spring. In case you missed those posts, here's what a Tulip Tree twig looked like on April 29, when the leaf buds had just opened:
Also on April 29, the flower buds were just beginning to form:
Back on April 8th, the leaf buds were opening below the remains of last year's seed pods:
If you want to see what happens once the flowers fade away and seeds begin to form, go here.
Can you tell I like Tulip Trees? They remind me of my younger days, when I first explored the woodlands of southern Ohio and Indiana. I saw huge Tulip Trees in some of the old growth forests. I also love the link Tulip Trees provide to Early Cretaceous flowers (that's the later part of dinosaur times). So, I'm glad that the Parks Department and Village Forester have planted at least a few Tulip Trees in our parks and along our streets.
To learn more about Tulip Trees, you can check these websites:
- Wikipedia: Encyclopedia-style information about Tulip Trees.
- NEWTON Ask-a-Scientist: Tulip Trees in the Midwest.
- HowStuffWorks: In case you want to grow your own Tulip Tree.
- US Forest Service: A PDF file with lots of information about this species.
This post is our contribution to this month's Festival of the Trees. This blog carnival includes several other Tulip Tree posts, plus posts on other tree flowers, tree fruits, knots and gnarls, and more. Go here to read the festival entries.


text:
Translation of angora in Spanish:
- (before noun) (sweater/scarf)Angora cat/goat/rabbit
de angoragato (masculine) /cabra (feminine) /conejo (masculine) de angoraExample sentences
- Fabrics that are derived from animal hair (including angora, cashmere and basic wool blends) are most susceptible to insect damage.
- I do not have experience dyeing wool, cashmere, angora, or other similar hair fibers, so I cannot speak directly.
- Mohair, angora, wool, cashmere, camel, alpaca, etc. are all your allies against the wind and cold.
What do you find interesting about this word or phrase?
Comments that don't adhere to our Community Guidelines may be moderated or removed.


text:
Students train like an astronaut during this challenge.
Watch space shuttle astronauts work out.› View This Video
"Each Station crew member is scheduled for an hour of cardio (either treadmill or cycle ergometer) and an hour of resistive exercise (the equivalent of weightlifting) each day while we are on orbit."
Get the skinny on how astronauts build a better body for space and what it means to you.
Find out why exercise is so important to the astronauts who travel into space.
Get information to help students write a podcast script about fitness.
When there's no gravity to hold your feet to the ground, bungee cords come in handy.
On Earth, we all know that exercise is good for us. But do we know exactly how good?
A test volunteer learns about exercising in space.
Engineers spent two years designing and building what is suddenly the most famous treadmill in the world - or above it.


Statues, Panels & Structures
The Warrior
The Defending Eagle
Service Panels
The panels will be made of smooth polished black granite that are 11 feet tall and 5.5 feet wide. There will be five panels representing each service - Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and the Air Force. Mounted on each panel will be a bas-relief that represents a 3D timeline of the equipment, weapons and people of that branch of the service. Starting around the Revolutionary War though today.
Timeline Panels
There will be 16 panels 3 feet tall and 14 feet wide made of smooth black granite. Eleven of the panels will contain a history about a War or a conflict on American soil or abroad. The first panel will start with The War of Independence and go though Iraqi Freedom. It will have dates of major battles. Also, there will be information about the country during that time period such as population, the President and other significant data.
Tomb of the Unknown Solider
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will be made of white marble and placed on one of the black granite history panels. It will represent all of the soldiers that have gone to foreign soils, given their lives and they never came home.
Merchant Marines Monument
There will be a monument that recognizes the service and sacrifice by the Merchant Marines who served with honor during World War II.
There will be three flags flying over the Memorial. The tallest will be the American Flag. There will also be the State of Florida Flag and the POW MIA Flag.
There will be 8,000 bricks on the walk of honor. They will contain the name, rank, and years of service of a service member or Veteran. There are also bricks surrounding the plaza available for sponsorship.
War Dog
From the time of ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans to today's soldiers, man's best friend has loyally followed his owner into battle as a well-trained War Dog. From the birth of the United States, dogs have followed American soldiers into war demonstrating great bravery on the front lines, heroically saving lives under fire, and comforting the sick and wounded.
Purple Heart Monument
Wall of Tears Monument


text:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) is an enterprise-wide information system built around an electronic health record, used throughout the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical system, known as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).Department of Veterans Affairs: Veterans Health Administration By 2001, the VHA was the largest single medical system in the United States, providing care to 4 million veterans, employing 180,000 medical personnel and operating 163 hospitals, over 800 clinics and 135 nursing homes. Department of Veterans Affairs: List of Medical facilities By providing electronic health records capability, VistA is thereby one of the most widely used EHRs in the world.
Features The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has had automated data processing systems within its medical facilities since before 1985, beginning with the Decentralized Hospital Computer Program (DHCP) information system, including extensive clinical and administrative capabilities. In 1995, DHCP was enshrined as a recipient of the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for best use of Information Technology in Medicine.VistA supports both ambulatory and inpatient care, and includes several significant enhancements to the original DHCP system. The most significant is a graphical user interface known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) for clinicians released in 1997. In addition, VistA now includes computerized order entry, bar code medication administration, electronic prescribing and clinical guidelines.CPRS provides a client-server interface for health care providers to review and update a patient's electronic medical record. This includes the ability to place orders, including medications, special procedures, x-rays, patient care nursing orders, diets, and laboratory tests. CPRS is flexible enough to be implemented in a wide variety of settings for a broad spectrum of health care workers and provides a consistent, event-driven, Windows-style interface. For its development of VistA, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) / Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was named the recipient of the prestigious Innovations in American Government Award presented by the Ash Institute of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in July, 2006.The adoption of VistA has allowed the VA to achieve a pharmacy prescription accuracy rate of 99.997%, and the VA outperforms most public sector hospitals on a variety of criteria, enabled by the implementation of VistA.The VistA system is public domain software, available through the Freedom Of Information Act directly from the VA website,Department of Veterans Affairs: VistA website or through a growing network of distributors. The VistA Software Alliance is a non-profit trade organization that both promotes the widespread adoption of versions of VistA for provider environments.VistA Software Alliance: websiteVistA was developed using the M or MUMPS language/database. The VA currently runs a majority of VistA systems on InterSystems Caché. VistA can also run on GT.M, an open source database engine for Linux and Unix computers. Although initially separate releases, publicly available VistA distributions are now often bundled with the database in an integrated package. This has considerably eased installation.
VistA Imaging The Veterans Administration has also developed VistA Imaging, a coordinated system for communicating with PACS (radiology imaging) systems and for integrating others types of image-based information, such as EKGs, pathology slides, and scanned documents, into the VistA electronic medical records system. This type of integration of information into a medical record is critical to efficient utilization.VistA Imaging has been made freely available in the public domain for private/public hospital use through the Freedom of Information Act. It is available through the [_URL_ Department of Veteran's Affairs software request] office.It can be used independently or integrated into the VistA electronic health record system (as is done in VA health facilities).
Role in development of a national healthcare network The VistA electronic healthcare record has been widely credited for reforming the VA healthcare system, improving safety and efficiency substantially. The remarkable results have spurred a national impetus to adopt electronic medical records similar to VistA nationwide.VistA Web collectively describes a set of protocols that in 2007 was being developed and used by the VHA to transfer data (from VistA) between hospitals and clinics within the pilot project. This is the first effort to view a single patient record so that VistA becomes truly interoperable among the 128 sites running VistA today. BHIE enables real-time sharing of electronic health information between DoD and VA for shared patients of allergy, outpatient pharmacy, demographic, laboratory, and radiology data. This became a priority during the Second Iraq War, when a concern for the transition of healthcare for soldiers as they transferred from active military status to veteran status became a national focus of attention.Clinical Data Repository/ Health Data Repository or CHDR supports interoperability between DoD's Clinical Data Repository (CDR) & VA's Health Data Repository (HDR). Represents the development of interoperability between the DoD Clinical Data Repository (CDR) and Health VA Data Repository (HDR). It leverages DoD AHLTA experiences and lessons learned and provides the cornerstone for interoperability between electronic health records for DoD and VA
The first phase will include bidirectional real time exchange of computable pharmacy, allergy, demographic and laboratory data. In Phase 2 additional Drug – Drug interaction checking and Drug – Drug Allergy interaction checking will be added.
As of March 2007, Completed deployment at El Paso, Augusta, Pensacola, Puget Sound, Chicago, San Diego, and Las Vegas.
The combination of VistA and the interoperable projects listed above in the VA/DoD systems will continue to expand to meet the objectives of President Bush's statements that all citizens will have an electronic record by 2014.The VHA has also started a pilot project, known as HealtheVet (HeV) that is the next generation of VistA. Preliminary plans have begun for the vision of HeV that evolve around moving away from the MUMPS and Delphi coding and towards more state of the art programming languages and enhanced functionality. MyHealtheVet is another initiative that allows veterans to access, and create a copy of, their health records online. A national release of the project is underway. This will allow veterans to port their health records to institutions outside the VA health system or keep a personal copy of their health records, a Personal Health Record (PHR).Because of the success of these programs, a national move to standardize healthcare data transmission across the country was started. Text based information exchange is standardized using a protocol called HL7 (Health Level 7), which is approved by the American National Standards Institute. DICOM is an international image communications protocol standard. VistA is compliant with both.VistA has been interfaced with commercial off-the-shelf products. Standards and protocols used by VA are consistent with current industry standards and includine: HL7, DICOM, and other protocols.
Usage in non-governmental hospitals Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the VistA system, the CPRS interface (a CPOE), and unlimited ongoing updates (500-600 patches per year) are provided as public domain (but not free and open source) software.This was done by the US government in an effort to make VistA available as a low cost electronic medical record system (EMR / EHR) for non-governmental hospitals and other healthcare entities.With funding from The Pacific Telehealth & Technology Hui, the Hui 7 produced a version of VistA that ran on GT.M in a Linux operating system, and that was suitable for use in private settings. VistA has since been adopted by companies such as Blue Cliff, DSS, Inc., Medsphere, and Sequence Managers Software to a variety of environments, from individual practices to clinics to hospitals, to regional healthcare co-ordination between far-flung islands. In addition, VistA has been adopted within similar provider environments worldwide. Universities, such as UC Davis and Texas Tech implemented these systems. A non-profit organization, WorldVistA, has also been established to extend and collaboratively improve the VistA electronic health record and health information system for use outside of its original setting.VistA as other EMR/EHR systems can be interfaced with other healthcare databases not initially used by the VA system, including billing software, lab databases, and images databases (radiology, for example).
Supporters of VistA
There have been many champions of VistA as the electronic healthcare record system for a universal healthcare plan. VistA can act as a standalone system, allowing self-contained management and retention of healthcare data within an institution. Combined with BHIE (or other data exchange protocol) is can be part of a peer-to-peer model of universal healthcare. It is also scalable to be used as a centralized system (allowing regional or even national centralization of healthcare records). It is, therefore, the electronic records system most adapatable to a variety of healthcare models.In addition to the unwavering support of congressional representatives such as Congressman Sonny Montgomery of Mississippi, numerous IT specialists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals have donated significant amounts of time in adapting the VistA system for use in non-governmental healthcare settings.The ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee's Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee, Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, recommended that the Department of Defense (DOD) adopt VA's VistA system following accusations of inefficiencies in the DOD healthcare system. The DOD hospitals use Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application (AHLTA


text:
The IDA Louisiana Branch was chartered in 1987 as the Louisiana Dyslexia Society in order to increase public awareness of dyslexia, and become a branch of the Orton Dyslexia Society in 1991, followed by a name change in 1997 to incorporate the new name – The International Dyslexia Association. In 2001, the Mississippi Branch of the IDA dissolved and was then affiliated with the Louisiana Branch.
A variety of professionals, parents and adults with dyslexia comprise the all volunteer board, representing all of Louisiana and Mississippi. Many of the board's members are actively involved in the diagnosis and remediation of dyslexia and believe that all individuals have the right to achieve their potential, that individual learning abilities can be strengthened and that educational, social and cultural barriers to language acquisition and use must be removed. The board actively promotes effective teaching practices and related educational intervention strategies for individuals with dyslexia and is committed to the dissemination of research-based knowledge that supports multi-sensory direct, explicit, structured language that is sequential for instructing students with dyslexia.
The branch does not maintain an office. For information, sponsors, conferences, workshops, a speakers bureau and other public events please email us. Through the years the IDA louisiana Branch has developed a strong collaborative network with related organizations throughout Louisiana and Mississippi.
You can get involved by joining the International Dyslexia Association. The benefits of membership include:
- access to a network of learning disability professionals
- a subscription to the IDA Louisiana Branch newsletter
- discounts on publications
- discounts on conferences
- a subscription to Perspectives on Language and Literacy
- a subscription to Annals of Dyslexia
The International Dyslexia Association's annual conferences and seminars offer an excellent educational opportunity for parents, educators and professionals.
International Dyslexia Association, Louisiana Branch
149 Jefferson Oak Drive
Ruston, LA 71270
Share this page with your friends…


text:
When someone passes away, in addition to a funeral service that usually occurs three or seven days after the death, we have a ceremony on the 49th day. Traditionally, the period of 49 days after someone dies is seen as a time for that person to check their consciousness and digest their karma. According to Buddhist teaching the bodhisattva Ji Jang Bosal helps the deceased during these 49 days to perceive their karma so when they return they are reborn to help this world, rather than continue in the cycle of birth and death. Religious Buddhism teachers that there is a life in this body, then a time of investigation or consideration, and then a new life in a new body.
But the truth is, we don't know what happens when we die. The Buddhist teaching about death can be helpful in that it gives us a good feeling, some sense of comfort in this mystery. This framework that can be helpful in the grieving process, but the Buddha taught that originally there is no life or death. Our true self is infinite in time and space. Don't Know Mind doesn't have a beginning or an ending. Zen Master Seung Sahn's teaching is to wake up in this moment and attain our true nature. When we keep a Don't Know Mind we are addressing the big question of life and death moment to moment. The big meaning of a 49-day ceremony is to wake up just now. Actually, whenever anybody dies, they are teaching us that we must wake up, because our lives only occur in this moment [snaps fingers]. Just that.
By Tim Lerch JDPSN


text:
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 20, 2012
A new approach to invisibility cloaking may one day be used at sea to shield floating objects - such as oil rigs and ships - from rough waves. Unlike most other cloaking techniques that rely on transformation optics, this one is based on the influence of the ocean floor's topography on the various "layers" of ocean water.
At the American Physical Society's (APS) Division of Fluid Dynamics (DFD) meeting Reza Alam, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, will describe how the variation of density in ocean water can be used to cloak floating objects against incident surface waves.
"The density of water in an ocean or sea typically isn't constant, mainly because of variations in temperature and salinity," explains Alam.
"Solar radiation heats the upper layer of the water, and the flow of rivers and the melting of ice lowers the water density near the surface. Over time, these effects add up to form a stable density stratification of two layers - with the lighter fluid layer on top and the more dense fluid layer below it."
Stratified waters, much like regular surface waves, contain "internal waves," which are gravity waves that propagate between the two layers of water. For the same frequency of oscillation, however, internal waves travel at a much shorter wavelength and slower speed than surface waves.
Both wave types "feel" the ocean floor's influence, which generates an energy transfer.
Zeroing in on this energy transfer, Alam used computer simulations to transform a surface wave into internal wave as it approaches an object - meaning that the wave will pass beneath the object rather than crashing into it. And once the internal wave moves beyond the object, it can be transformed back into a surface wave.
This would be achieved by creating "corrugations" or wavy ripples that are tuned to a specific wavelength on the ocean floor in front of the floating object to be cloaked.
"Cloaking in seas by modifying the floor may play a role in protecting near-shore or offshore structures and in creating shelter for fishermen during storms," says Alam.
"In reverse, it can cause the disappearance and reappearance of surface waves in areas where sandbars or any other appreciable bottom variations exist."
American Institute of Physics
Space Technology News - Applications and Research
|The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright _PHONE_ - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement|


text:
Measuring Assets in the Carbon Economy
Someday owners of forests and fields will earn revenue from the carbon stored in their land. This day has already arrived at Goshen College, where a recent sale of carbon credit from a restored prairie generated a minor source of income and a major learning opportunity for three students in the Economics of the Environment course.
Alli Hawkins (Business), David Harnish (History), Chelsea Frederick (Biology) and economics professor Jerrell Ross Richer recently toured the restored prairie and a nearby parcel of woods at Goshen College's Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center with Bill Minter, Director of Land Management. Minter is a certified professional forester with expertise in measuring the carbon absorbed by trees in forests and long-rooted plants in prairies. Last year he worked with the Delta Institute to sell carbon credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange, earning $5.00 per acre for the 35 acre plot known as Lucky Prairie.
"It's admittedly not going to change the finances for Merry Lea, but you can take pride in being the very first college to do something like this! Though a few big schools are full members of CCX, none to my knowledge have ever quantified or registered their own lands," said Ryan Anderson of the Delta Institute.
During their visit to Merry Lea the students learned how to use prisms and tape measures to estimate the amount of carbon sequestered in the trunks and roots of trees. Later Minter showed them a cross section of soil at the edge of a restored prairie to get a better look at the roots that store carbon year round.
On December 3 the students will share what they learn with members of the Ecological Stewardship Committee. GC President Jim Brenneman, a charter signatory to the Presidents' Climate Commitment, has set a goal of carbon neutrality — no net emissions of greenhouse gases. The students hope that carbon sequestration projects on the land owned and managed by the college will provide one means of reaching this goal.


Android Beacon Library
An Android library providing APIs to interact with Beacons
Home Download Quick Start Sample Code Docs Support
Detecting Beacons After App is Killed
When properly configured, the Android Beacon Library guarantees your app can respond to beacon events, even if the user does not manually launch the app or even if the user kills the app.
Understanding how the details of how this works requires understanding the differences between the five ways to an application can be stopped on Android:
 1. The user hits the back button until the app exits.
 2. The user goes to the task switcher and swipes an app off the screen.
 3. The operating system terminates an app due to low memory.
 4. The user shuts down the phone.
 5. The user goes to Settings -> Applications and requests a force stop.
When a user stops an app in case 1, all of the application's background services remain running, allowing the app to continue responding to beacon detections. When an app stops in cases 2-5, the application's background services are terminated by Android OS, meaning that beacon detections are no longer possible until the the app restarts, at least in the background.
Applications that implement the library's RegionBootstrap class will automatically restart in the background to look for beacons as soon as possible. On Android 4.3-7.x, this restart happens within five minutes of termination using AlarmManager intents, and may also be triggered by other system events including reboot and connecting/disconnecting the device to a charger. Applications implementing the RegionBootstrap will be looking for beacons whenever the device is powered, except for a five minute period after manual termination or after termination due to low memory conditions. On Android 8.0+, it may take up to 25 minutes to detect again after the app is killed. See here for more info.
It is important to note that applications that are automatically started into the background using the RegionBootstrap are usually not visible in the task switcher because no user interface elements have yet been displayed. Only once a user interacts with the app by bringing up its user interface is it available in the task switcher.
Note that this is a subtle difference from the iOS implementation of beacons, which will never detect a beacon again after an app is terminated (on iOS 7.0) or immediately detect an beacon again (on iOS 7.1+). For Android apps using this library as described above, detections are guaranteed to resume within five minutes on Android 4.x-7.x and within about 25 minutes on Android 8+.
When testing beacon detections after a force termination of an app, simply connect/disconnect the device to a charger to immediately be able to resume detections, or wait for the app to resume.
It is important to note that not all means of terminating apps allows them to resume. Terminating an app as described in case 5 above will typically not allow them to resume automatically without starting them manually – this is a limitation imposed by the operating system. On a limited number of Android device models (e.g. BLU Advance 4.0), a custom tasks switcher is implemented in a non-standard way such that killing an app from tasks switcher as in case 2 puts the app into the same state as a force stop described in case 5.


text:
If you've ever been to a Chinese restaurant, you've most likely received a fortune cookie at the end of your meal. You've also probably wondered how they managed to get that tiny slip of paper into a hard, closed cookie.
Should you not have seen a fortune cookie, let me describe one for you. They are small, hard golden cookies that can fit into the palm of your hand. But there's one thing that makes them unique: they're folded into a butterfly shape to create a pocket holding a ½" x 2" paper "fortune."
Fortune cookies often come at the end of a meal in a Chinese, and sometimes Japanese, restaurant. Traditionally, the fortunes were Confucian phrases about life (Confucius was a famous Chinese philosopher from the 6th century BC—over 2500 years ago!). Nowadays, the fortunes inside the cookies contain just about everything from quotes to advice. Some companies even let you write your own fortunes! Often, they are written in both English and Chinese, and may have lottery numbers and smiley faces on them.
Before we get to how fortune cookies are made, let's try to find out where they originated. The history of fortune cookies is a little murky. Some think that modern-day fortune cookies were inspired by 14th century Chinese rebels against Mongol invaders. Legend says that a Taoist priest and his followers sent messages hidden inside of traditional Chinese moon cakes (Chinese pastries stuffed with lotus seed paste) to inform rebels about potential uprisings against the invaders. Others believe that the fortune cookies have Japanese roots in traditional tsujiura senbei (rice cakes with paper fortunes stuffed inside), made at the Hyotanyama Inari shrine in the 19th century. Another group of fortune cookie enthusiasts thinks that the idea started around the same time, but in this instance by Chinese railroad workers in America who would hand out cakes stuffed with holiday wishes.
The invention of fortune cookies as we know them today is just as difficult to pin down. Most people nowadays believe that fortune cookies were created by a Japanese man named Makoto Hagiwara in 1914 in San Francisco. Hagiwara owned what is now called the Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden, where he served tea and fortune cookies. However, many still hold to the popular belief that fortune cookies were invented by a Chinese-American named David (Tsung) Jung, who owned the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles. He claimed to have stuffed the cookies with passages from the Bible and handed them out to unemployed men near his bakery in 1918. In 1983, the debate between the two confectioners came to a head in the Court of Historical Review in San Francisco when their dispute was decided by Judge Daniel M. Hanlon, in favor of Hagiwara.
So, just how did these two gentlemen manage to get fortunes inside their cookies? Well, the process is actually very simple, and relies on the basic chemistry of a common ingredient—sugar. The batter for fortune cookies is usually composed of sugar, flour, water and eggs. When warm, the dough is flexible and can be molded into many shapes. When the baked dough cools though, the sugar hardens into a crispy, shiny cookie. Originally, bakers would mix the dough, pour it out into 3" circles, bake them, quickly place a fortune in the middle and use chopsticks to fold them into the familiar shape before they cooled.
In 1974 fortune cookie manufacturing changed forever. Edward Louie, the owner of the Lotus Fortune Cookie Company in San Francisco, invented a machine that could insert the fortune and fold the cookie. In 1980 Yong Lee created the first fully automated fortune cookie machine, called the Fortune III. Modern machines follow the same steps of handmade fortune cookies: they mix ingredients, pour batter into 3" cups which are then covered with metal plates to keep the batter flat and bake for about 3 ½ minutes. Vacuums then suck fortunes into place, use metal fingers to fold the fortune in half to trap the fortune inside, bend the cookie into shape, and cool and package the final cookie. Now fortune cookie machines like the Kitamura FCM-8006W can make up to 8,000 cookies in an hour!
Fortune cookies are a prominent part of Asian-American cuisine and have filtered into popular culture as well. People create customized fortune cookies to send funny messages to friends and family—and sometimes to even propose marriage to a loved one! They are even used in advertising campaigns for corporations. Even though popular belief says otherwise, modern fortune cookies are as American as baseball and apple pie.
- Fortune cookies in The Oxford companion to American food and drink. Edited by Andrew F. Smith. Oxford, New York, Oxford University Press, 2007. p. 233.
- Lazarus, David. Changing fortunes. The San Francisco chronicle, Aug. 7, 1999: p. B1 and B8.
- Lazarus, David. Unfolding the origin of a confection. The San Francisco chronicle, Aug. 7, 1999: p. B8.
- Lee, Jennifer 8. The fortune cookie chronicles: adventures in the world of Chinese food. New York, NY, Twelve, 2008. 307 p.
- Moore, Scott. Now you know column. Smart cookie. The Washington post. March 14, 2003: p. C12.
- Sugars in The Science of bakery products. Edited by W.P, Edwards. Cambridge, Eng., Royal Society of Chemistry, 2007. pp. 215-216.
- Tompkins, Joshua. Who invented the fortune cookie? American Heritage, v. 56, Feb./Mar. 2005: 14-15.
- United States Patent _PHONE_: Apparatus for making a food product -
Patent for Edward Louie's original fortune cookie machine
- United States Patent _PHONE_: Fortune cookie machine
Patent for Yong Lee's popular fortune cookie machine.
more print resources...
Search on "baked products," "baking," "Chinese restaurants," "Chinese American social life and customs," "cookery Chinese," "cookery Japanese," "food in popular culture," "food habits," "fortune cookies," "Japanese Americans social life and customs,"
in the Library of Congress Online
A fortune cookie. Photo courtesy of Colin Robertson.
Fortune cookies, wrapped and ready to go! Photo courtesy of Steven G. de
A fortune cookie broken open to reveal the message. Photo courtesy of Colin Robertson.
Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company. Photo courtesy of biskuit.
Close up of the finished cookies. Photo courtesy of biskuit.
Japanese Tea Garden, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Calif. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
New Year's feast. Chinatown, New York City Jan. 26, 1906. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.
Aa hostess at the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park offers a cookie to a squirrel. From the San Francisco Historical Photograph Collection
Japanese woodcut print showing several women and a waitress in the Miyamoto shop. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.