text:
You must have heard about it before: formally verified microkernels that offer 100% security... Why don't we use such a microkernel in Qubes then? (The difference between a micro-kernel and a type I hypervisor is blurry. Especially in case of a type I hypervisor used for running para-virtualized VMs, such as Xen used in Qubes. So I would call Xen a micro-kernel in this case, although it can also run fully-virtualized VMs, in which case it should be called a hypervisor I think.)
In order to formally prove some property of any piece of code, you need to first assume certain things. One such thing is the correctness of a compiler, so that you can be sure that all the properties you proved for the source code, still hold true for the binary generated from this source code. But let's say it's a feasible assumption -- we do have mature compilers indeed.
Another important assumption you need, and this is especially important in proving kernels/microkernels/hypervisors, is the model of the hardware your kernel interacts with. Not necessarily all the hardware, but at least the CPU (e.g. MMU, mode transitions, etc) and the Chipset.
While the CPUs are rather well understood today, and their architecture (we're talking IA32 here) doesn't change so dramatically from season to season. The chipsets, however, are a whole different story. If you take a spec for any modern chipset, let's say only the MCH part, the one closer to the processor (on Core i5/i7 even integrated on the same die), there are virtually hundreds of configuration registers there. Those registers are used for all sorts of different purposes -- they configure DRAM parameters, PCIe bridges, various system memory map characteristics (e.g. the memory reclaiming feature), access to the infamous SMM memory, and finally VT-d and TXT configuration.
So, how are all those details modeled in microkernels formal verification process? Well, as far as I'm aware, they are not! They are simply ignored. The nice way of saying this in academic papers is to say that "we trust the hardware". This, however, might be incorrectly understood by readers to mean "we don't consider physical attacks". But this is not equal! And I will give a practical example in a moment.
I can bet that even the chipset manufactures (think e.g. Intel) do not have formal models for their chipsets (again, I will give a good example to support this thesis below).
But why are the chipsets so important? Perhaps they are configured "safe by default" on power on, so even if we don't model all the configuration registers, and their effects on the system, and if we won't be playing with them, maybe it's safe to assume all will be fine then?
Well, it might be that way, if we could have secure microkernels without IOMMU/VT-d and without some trusted boot mechanism.
But we need IOMMU. Without IOMMU there is no security benefit of having a microkernel vs. having a good-old monolithic kernel. Let me repeat this statement again: there is no point in building a microkernel-based system, if we don't correctly use IOMMU to sandbox all the drivers.
Now, setting up IOMMU/VT-d permissions require programming the chipset's registers, and is by no means a trivial task (see the the Intel VT-d spec to get an impression, if you don't believe me). Correctly setting up IOMMU is one of the most security-critical tasks to be done by a hypervisor/microkernel, and so it would be logical to expect that they also formally prove that this part is done flawlessly...
The next thing is the trusted boot. I will argue that without proper trusted boot implementation, the system cannot be made secure. And I'm not talking about physical attacks, like Evil Maid. I'm talking about true, remote, software attacks. If you haven't read it already, please go back and read my very recent post on "Remotely Attacking Network Cards". Building on Loic's and Yves-Alexis' recent research, I describe there a scenario how we could take their attack further to compromise even such a securely designed system as Qubes. And this could be possible, because of a flaw in TXT implementation. And, indeed, we demonstrated an attack on Intel Trusted Execution Technology that exploits one such flaw before.
Let's quickly sketch the whole attack in points:
- The attacker attacks a flaw in the network card processing code (Loic and Yves-Alexis)
- The attacker replaces the NIC's firmware in EEPROM to survive the reboot (Loic and Yves-Alexis)
- The new firmware attacks the system trusted boot via a flaw in Intel TXT (ITL)
- If the system uses SRTM instead, it's even easier -- see the previous post (ITL)
- If you have new SINIT module that patched our attack, there is still an avenue to attack TXT via SMM (ITL)
And this is the practical example I mentioned above. I'm sure readers understand that this is just one example, of what could go wrong on the hardware level (and be reachable to a software-only attacker). Don't ignore hardware security! Even for software attacks!
A good question to ask is: would a system with a formally verified microkernel also be vulnerable to such an attack? And the answer is yes! Yes, unless we could model and prove correctness of the whole chipset and the CPU. But nobody can do that today, because it is impossible to build such a model. If it was, I'm pretty sure Intel would already have such a model and they would not release an SINIT module with this stupid implementation bug we found and exploited in our attack.
So, we see an example of a practical attack that could be used to fully compromise a well designed system, even if it had a formally verified microkernel/hypervisor. Compromise it remotely, over the network!
So, are all those whole microkernel/hypervisor formal verification attempts just a waste of time? Are they only good for academics so that they could write more papers for conferences? Or for some companies to use them in marketing?
Perhaps the formal verification of system software will never be able to catch up with the pace of hardware development... By the time people will learn how to build models (and how to solve them) for hardware used today, the hardware manufactures, in the meantime, will present a few new generations of the hardware. For which the academics will need another 5 years to catch up, and so on.
Perhaps the industry will take a different approach. Perhaps in the coming years we will get hardware that would allow us to create untrusted hypervisors/kernels that would not be able to read/write usermode pages (Hey Howard;)? This is currently not possible with the hardware we have, but, hey, why would a hypervisor need access to the Firefox pages?
And how this all will affect Qubes? Well, the Qubes project is not about building a hypervisor or a microkernel. Qubes is about how to take a secure hypervisor/microkernel, and how to build the rest of the system in a secure, and easy to use, way, using the isolation properties that this hypervisor/microkernel is expected to provide. So, whatever kernels we will have in the future (better formally verified, e.g. including the hardware in the model), or based on some exciting new hardware features, still Qubes architecture would make perfect sense, I think.


text:
Definition of metaphysically
adv. - In the manner of metaphysical science, or of a metaphysician. 2
The word "metaphysically" uses 14 letters: A A C E H I L L M P S T Y Y.
No direct anagrams for metaphysically found in this word list.
Words formed by adding one letter before or after metaphysically (in bold), or to aacehillmpstyy in any order:
t - sympathetically
All words formed from metaphysically by changing one letter
Browse words starting with metaphysically by next letter

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


text:
When we looked at how native code and ActionScript communicate in a native extension, we saw that native code is mostly called and talked to and has a limited number of ways to respond or send data back. These are:
- Returning a FREResult object from a call to FREFunction.
- Using output parameters in a FREFunction.
- Sending an event to ActionScript.
In this article we are focusing on number 3: how events are sent from Java to ActionScript.
Events from Java to ActionScript are asynchronous
We already saw why in the post about events from C to ActionScript, but I'll repeat it here, as it's important:
- there isn't a synchronous way for native code to call an ActionScript function via the AIR Java API the way that ActionScript makes direct calls to native code. When information needs to be sent to ActionScript outside a call that ActionScript initiated, your option is to send an event that ActionScript will receive asynchronously.
- you can send an event to ActionScript form any thread in your native code and it's delivered on AIR's single main thread. This is the only AIR Java API call you are allowed to make outside the main thread.
In Java dispatchStatusEventAsync() is a method of the FREContext class, which represents your Extension Context.
public void dispatchStatusEventAsync( String code, String level )
- code is a string, which you set. Use it to identify the event you are sending, for example "SPEECH_RECOGNITION_EVENT".
- level is another string that you set. Use this to send more detailed information about the event to ActionScript, for example "Speech recognition results" or "No results found".
How this is received by ActionScript
On the ActionScript side the target of the event is the instance of flash.externalExtensionContext, which was passed to FREDispatchStatusEventAsync. Wondering where it comes from? Read the next section.
The event's type is flash.events.StatusEvent. You'll notice that, among other things, StatusEvent has the following two properties:
- code : String
- level : String
See how this maps to the information sent from the Java side?
A call to dispatchStatusEventAsynch() from your Java code:
"This is the message CODE",
"This is the message LEVEL" );
will be received in your ActionScript code in the form of a StatusEvent in a StatusEvent.STATUS handler that you provide:
private var m_extensionContext : flash.external.ExtensionContext;
m_extensionContext.addEventListener( StatusEvent.STATUS, onStatusEvent );
private function onStatusEvent( _event : StatusEvent ) : void
trace( _event.code );
trace( _event.level );
This will print out:
This is the message CODE
This is the message LEVEL
Here's a definition of Extension Context, if you need a reminder.
Have a look at how events are sent from C to ActionScript.
Next we'll see what are the Extension Context Initializer and Finalizer.
Then we will see the order of calls for all these initializers and finalizers.
Over to you
Why do you code in Java? No, seriously.


Hindi/Urdu: baiThnaa vs. baiTh jaana or baiTh lenaa
Discussion in 'Indo-Iranian Languages' started by eskandar, Oct 4, 2013.
 1. eskandar
 eskandar Moderator
 English (US)
 What are the semantic differences between these three verbs? My feeling is that while baiThnaa is the basic verb, baiTh jaana conveys motion ("to go sit") and baiTh lenaa would be equivalent to the English "to take a seat". Have I understood correctly?
 It also seems to me that, for example, baiTh jaa'o would be a more direct (maybe even more forceful?) command ("go sit down!") compared to baiTh lo ("take a seat"). Is that right?
 Finally, I would appreciate recommendations for a good (preferably somewhat comprehensive) source for these types of compound verbs in Hindi/Urdu. Dictionaries typically offer only the simple verb form, so aside from listening to contextual use it's hard to know when to say X karo vs. X kar lo or what have you, and I fear that my over-reliance on simple (non-compund) verbs makes my speech sound stilted.
 2. Qureshpor Senior Member
 Punjabi, Urdu پنجابی، اردو
 eskandar SaaHib "baiThnaa" on its own means both "to sit" and "to sit down". The "jaanaa" in "baiTh jaanaa" to the best of my understanding has not to do with the person going from A to B but (possibly) his stature going from a sanding position to a seated position. Therefore, if my logic is correct,"baiTh jaanaa" is a more emphatic form of "baiThnaa". Let's use a couple of very simple sentences.
 e-SaaHib yahaaN baiThiye
 e-SaaHib yahaaN baiTh jaa'iye
 To me, the latter gives not only more emphasis to the act of sitting but also it seems politer than just saying "baiThiye".
 I am not aware of "baiTh lenaa" but for the causative "biThaanaa", one has "biThaa lenaa/denaa".
 B. SaaHib ne e-SaaHib ko apne paas biThaa liyaa aur kuchh raaz-daarii kii baateN karne lage!
 A. SaaHib ne Lakhnau kii sair karaane kii xaatir hameN ek sunsaan kuuche meN biThaa diyaa aur xud nah jaane kahaaN Ghaa'ib ho ga'e!
 Platts does go into compound verbs but I am not aware of a book on compound verbs as such. Any good grammar book covers this aspect of Urdu and Hindi.
 Last edited by a moderator: Oct 6, 2013
 3. marrish
 marrish Senior Member
 اُردو Urdu
 eskandar SaaHib, jaanaa in these verbal forms does not relate to motion (go and...). They need not be translated by parsing them. They cover an aspect of a verb, that is completion. They do provide an emphatic tone and while I agree with QP SaaHib's remarks, suppose I am shouting baiTho! it will not have this effect when I shout baiTh jaa'o! The stress is on jaa'o. I imagine it, in the terms of language, as... baiTh[e hu'e ho ]jaa'o, equivalent to become seated - the action should be completed.
 khaanaa khaa'o - can mean both do start eating or eat it up
 khaanaa khaa jaa'o means eat your food up.
 You cannot parse it and translate, like in '' maiN uTh baiThaa''. May I ask you how you understand this sentence?
 4. eskandar
 eskandar Moderator
 English (US)
 Thanks, both of you.
 I thought I had heard "baiTh lo" used but perhaps I misheard. (Is anyone else familiar with this compound?)
 Thanks QP SaaHib, I found an overview in Schmidt's "Urdu: An Essential Grammar" which was useful but not as comprehensive as I'd like.
 That's a very helpful way of thinking about it, thank you marrish SaaHib.
 If I understand it correctly, it's idiomatic and means "I got up/sat up". So your point is well-taken that I should similarly understand "baiTh jaana" as a single unit of meaning and not parse it according to its individual parts.
 5. Faylasoof Senior Member
 Plato's Republic
 English (UK) & Urdu (Luckhnow), Hindi
 eskandar Sb. as has been conveyed to you the term jaanaa here doesn't imply / indicate motion but is a more emphatic means of saying something and it also has nothing to do with a change in stature from standing to sitting position!
 We also say khaa / k_haa jaanaa (to devour; eat / consume (destructively).) instead of khaanaa /k_haanaa (verb, to eat), naaraaDh (ناراض) ho jaanaa, bigaR (بگڑ) jaanaa, etc. etc.
 6. eskandar
 eskandar Moderator
 English (US)
 Shukriya Faylasoof SaaHib. (Albatta jaise aap ko ma3luum hai, yahaaN, aap kaa vaTan meiN, maTlab shehr-i-Lucknow meiN, jis ke andar fi'l-Haal ham Urduu paRh rahe haiN, "baiThiye / baiTh jaa'iye" ke bejaa "tashriif rakhiye" bhii sunii jaatii hai! ;))
 7. Qureshpor Senior Member
 Punjabi, Urdu پنجابی، اردو
 ^ eskandar SaaHib, ho saktaa hai lakhnau vaale kuchh yuuN kaheN..
 albattah jaise aap ko ma3luum hai, yahaaN aap ke vatan meN, ya3nii shahr-i-lakhnau meN, jahaaN fi_lHaal ham Urdu siikh rahe haiN, vahaaN "baiThiye/baiTh jaa'iye" ke ba-jaa'e "tashriif rakhiye" balkih "tashriif farmaa'iye" ziyaadah sun_ne meN aataa hai.
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about 2 years ago
We know you're focused on your Spark-powered weather app right now, but don't forget about your submission video. It's often the first (and sometimes only) thing that judges and voters review.
A good video tells the story behind your submission, providing a clear and concise explanation of what your app is and does. Here are some tips and a list of screencasting tools:
- Establish your elevator pitch. In the first few seconds of your video, explain why your app is awesome. You can get into the details of how it works later on in the video, but treat the opening seconds of your video as you would a movie trailer or TV ad: pique your audience's interest.
- Show, don't tell. Demonstrate your app's functionality and features through screencasts. Explaining what it does and how it works helps judges and voters understand and appreciate your product design.
- Keep it simple. Per the official rules, your video shouldn't be much longer than five minutes. As Thomas Jefferson once said, "The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do."
- Uploading takes time. Don't wait until the last minute to upload your video. Due to file size, format, and your Internet connection, uploading a video to YouTube or Vimeo could take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours.
- Get organized. Write out a script of what you'll say and demonstrate in your video and rehearse it before recording.


Wednesday, Nov 26, 2014
Agri Leader
Ready for a Florida agriculture test?
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services just released "2013: Florida Agriculture by the Numbers," its 176-page report regarding the ag business in our state last year.
I'll save you the trouble of looking up the report yourself online by highlighting some of the most interesting findings here-and I'll make it fun with an interactive quiz. Unless otherwise indicated, the numbers refer to business in 2012. Here goes.
1. Florida's 47,500 farmers produce nearly __________ commodities.
a. 100
b. 300
c. 500
Answer: b. Those 300 commodities are produced on 9.25 million acres of land in the state.
2. Florida produced ______ of the total U.S. value for grapefruit.
a. 26%
b. 46%
c. 66%
Answer: c. That's a lot of grapefruit. In 2012, the state also produced 65 percent of the country's total value for oranges. Dan Sleep, a senior analyst at the state's Department of Agriculture, pointed out that farmers produce their various commodities despite a growing number of agricultural challenges, including hurricanes, freezes, droughts, pests, and international competition. "Each of these tests the skills and commitment of our agricultural industry, and each is overcome annually," said Sleep.
3. Which items had an increased value in 2012 compared with the previous year?
a. tomatoes, oranges and bananas
b. cucumbers, oranges and watermelon
c. tomatoes, sweet corn and watermelon
Answer: b. However, sweet corn, which is listed in item c, also had an increased value compared with 2011.
4. What percentage of Florida oranges were used in 2012 to make orange juice?
a. 96%
b. 52%
c. 33%
Answer: a. I used to wonder why I didn't find oranges "fresh from Florida" at the supermarket, until I learned that the orange business here is primarily for juices.
5. Florida's cash receipts from agriculture in 2011 totaled _________.
a. $4.78
b. $10.9
c. $8.26
Answer: c. That total is 5.4% higher compared to 2010 cash receipts. The leading ag items comprising that total were oranges, greenhouse/nursery and tomatoes.
6. Which agriculture item is a growing force in Florida's agriculture business?
a. avocadoes
b. pineapple
c. eggs
Answer: a. "Five years ago, avocado production appeared to be on the decline, shrinking from $17 million in sales to $12 million in 2007," Sleep said. "Now we've witnessed a complete reversal with a near doubling of cash receipts in 2011 of $25 million and strong gains in yields and production."
7. Where does Florida rank among all of the states for its total agricultural cash receipts in 2011?
a. 3b. 5
c. 17Answer: c. You're not the only one who's surprised. With all of the produce markets in which Florida leads the way, I thought for sure the state would have a higher ranking - not as high as California but certainly closer to it (California has the number one spot). However, it appears that states famous for their cattle and grain businesses, like Iowa, Texas, and Nebraska, lead them to have higher rankings. Florida is also second in the country for its vegetable cash receipts, but it's greatly overshadowed by California's numbers.
8. Ah, lucky 14. For which two ag items does Florida rank 14 out of all the states for its production?
a. honey and cattle
b. cotton and eggs
c. blueberries and potatoes
Answer: b. Who knew?!
9. Which county grew the largest number of citrus fruit in the 2011-2012 growing season?
a. Highlands
b. Martin
c. Polk
Answer: c. Polk also had the highest increase in citrus production compared to the previous growing season. Highlands County ranked second.
10. Which three items grown in the state decreased in value and production in 2012?
a. blueberries, strawberries, and tomatoes
b. onions, strawberries, and watermelon
c. cucumbers, snap beans, and blueberries
Answer: a. I find that intriguing as those three crops are traditionally big business here. However, I realize that weather and unique circumstances can play a huge role in changing year-to-year statistics.
So - how'd you do on the quiz?
I'll share more nuggets from "Florida Agriculture by the Numbers" in future columns.
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text:
WipeIn film editing, a wipe is a gradual spatial transition from one image to another. One image is replaced by another with a distinct edge that forms a shape. A simple edge, an expanding circle, or the turning of a page are all examples.
It is often aknowledged that using a wipe, rather than a simple cut or dissolve is a stylistic choice that inherently makes the audience more "aware" of the film as a film, rather than a story. For example, George Lucas is famous for the sweeping use of Wipes in his Star Wars films, which help evoke a kinship to old serialized pulp sci-fi novels and serials.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


text:
Gardening Articles: Edibles :: Vegetables
Sunflower Seeds Can Harm Plants
by Charlie Nardozzi
Sclerotinia fungal disease infects nearly 360 different plants, including such favorites as beans, cabbage, tomatoes, lettuce, sunflowers, petunias, zinnias, and poppies. It's not the kind of disease you want to encourage in the garden
New research, however, indicates that by feeding birds, we may unknowingly be doing just that. Steve Nameth, a researcher at Ohio State University in Columbus, started noticing sunflower seeds infected with sclerotinia fungus while feeding his birds. The fungal infected seeds are about the same size as healthy seeds, but are irregularly shaped and white inside if broken open. As any good researcher would, he became curious about how much sclerotinia infected seed is in a bag of sunflower seeds.
Nameth bought a random sample of 10 commercial bird seed mixes and found that half had sclerotinia present in the feed. Birds won't eat sunflower seeds infected with the fungus, so they drop to the ground under the feeders, sometimes right next to plants they can infect. The fungus can stay dormant for years waiting for the right weather conditions to infect nearby plants.
If you're noticing disease on stems and flowers of plants near your bird feeder, particularly if infected parts are covered with white fluffy growth, consider moving your feeder away from your gardens. It's also important to keep the area around the base of the plants clean of plant debris, and to pick up and destroy dropped seed. Don't use the dropped seed as mulch in the garden or in the compost unless your compost pile heats up to 160° F.


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The CSharp metamodel is the reflection of the C# language, as defined in version 2.0 of "C# Language Specification" from Microsoft Corporation.
The CSharp metamodel contains 81 metaclasses. To better understand it, this page will introduce the main features (metaclasses and links).
You could also browse the model definition csharp.ecore available in sources (see the install section).
Main meta classes
Every metaclass (except metaclass Fragment) inherits from ASTNode. As its name indicates, ASTNode represents a graph node. ASTNode has a reference to metaclass Comment because almost every csharp element could be associated to a comment (block or line comment).
Assembly, Namespace, Type
The root element of each CSharp model is an instance of the Assembly metaclass. It is a translation of the concept of csharp application, so it contains namespace declarations (instances of the Namespace metaclass). And namespace declarations contain type declarations (instances compatible with metaclass Type), and so on...
NamedElement & notion of Proxy
A lot of csharp elements are "named", and this name can be considered as an identifier : methods, packages, types, variables, fields,... So all the corresponding metaclasses inherit from the NamedElement metaclass. It will be useful to resolve references in binding, see the NamedElementRef metaclass.
Another goal of this metaclass is to indicate for each element whether it is part of the current csharp application or not (element from an external.NET library). So external elements are tagged as proxy through a dedicated attribute and can be easily filtered. For example, instruction "Trace.WriteLine" has been decomposed into two named elements (one class and one method) the definitions of which are not part of the current csharp application. So attribute proxy of these elements has been initialized to true.
To represent links between csharp elements, as the C# AST defines only string references, metaclass NamedElementRef initially contained only this information. But an important addition was to resolve bindings between elements, so it is actually possible to navigate directly through the elements graph. It has been represented as a relationship from a NamedElementRef to a NamedElement (proxy or not).
A type declaration has different kinds of contents : fields, methods, static block, initialization block or other type declarations. All of these elements are of type InternalDeclaration metaclass.
Like in many languages, the concept of expression exists in C# : it is a portion of code, without declarations, and its evaluation returns a value, numerical or boolean or other...For example,
All types of expressions shall inherit from metaclass Expression.
An "instruction" in C# is represented by the Statement metaclass. A block of code (Block metaclass) contains a collection of statements, and a block of code may be contained by a method.Some examples of statements in C# :
if, while, for, do,...
All of their definitions use the concept of expression to separate the value from the instruction keyword.
To use the plug-in you need:
- JDK 1.5 or above
- a version of Eclipse 3.3 or above with the following set of plug-ins installed
- EMF 2.3.0 or higher
Gabriel Barbier (Mia-Software)
Fabien Giquel (Mia-Software)
Frédéric Madiot (Mia-Software)
You will find a version of this plug-in attached in the following bug.
As IP review of this plug-in is not finished, here are installation instructions :
- Extract archive file in your Eclipse workspace, then use "import" menu to import this project.
- Use "export" menu to export this project as a plug-in (Deployable plug-ins and fragments) in your Eclipse installation. Don't forget to choose the "Package plug-ins as individual jar archives" option.
- re-start your Eclipse to take this plug-in into account
A first version of the C# discoverer : CSharpDiscoverer


text:
Pain is extremely complex.
A great number of factors will influence severity of pain. For example, a wounded soldier in battle may be seriously injured, but will carry on fighting and will notice the severity of the pain after the danger has passed.
Have you ever noticed how pain becomes more intense the more you think about it? Why is it that when you were little, and your mum would rub a painful area, it felt better? One way to understand this is the 'Gate Control Theory of Pain'.
Factors that open the gate
There are three main ways in which the gates to pain can be made more open, so that the pain feels worse. These are to do with how we feel about things, how we think about things, and what we are doing.
1. Stress and Tension
All sorts of emotional states can lead to the gates to pain being more open. These include being anxious, worried, angry, and depressed. Having a lot of tension in the body is a common way of opening the pain gates.
2. Mental Factors
One of the most effective ways of opening the gates and increasing your pain is to focus all your attention on it. Boredom can also lead to the pain gates opening.
3. Lack of Activity
Another factor that opens the gates to pain is lack of activity, fitness and immobility of joints.
Factors that close the gate
In the same way as above, the way we feel, the way we think and what we do can all have a part to play in helping to close the gates to pain.
1. Relaxation and Contentment
Feeling generally happy and optimistic has been found to help to close the gates to pain. Also, feeling relaxed in yourself seems to be a particularly useful way of closing the gates.
2. Mental Factors
Being involved and taking an interest in life helps to close the gates. Also if you concentrate intensely on something other than the pain (e.g. work, books, activities, being with friends), then this can distract you from pain, helping to close the gates.
Taking the right amount of exercise, so that you develop your fitness, can help to close the gates.
4. Other Physical Factors
Manual therapies including Chiropractic, Sports Massage and Acupuncture work to improve symptoms over time by improving function, but also help as types of counter-stimulation to pain. Others that can be done at home include ice, heat, massage balls etc. 'Rubbing it better' works as by touching the area you are stimulating 'touch' receptors as opposed to the pain receptors. Touch and pain have different neurological pathways and so touch can help to override the pain pathway.


How to Read Your Meter
What is a Water Meter?
A water meter is a device that measures the volume of water delivered to a property. In El Paso, we measure water in cubic feet. One cubic foot equals about 7.5 gallons.
The face of a water meter.
Step 1: Locate Your Meter
Most residential water meters are located near the curb or sidewalk at the front of the property in a concrete "box." It is likely in a direct line from the main outside faucet of your home. The water meter box will have a metal lid and may be marked "Water."
Use a long screwdriver to remove the lid. However, be cautious as insects, reptiles or other small animals occasionally take residence inside the boxes. Lift the cover. You may need to wipe dust, dirt or debris from the face to read it.
Step 2: Read Your Water Meter
Since El Paso Water bills in hundred cubic foot (CCF) increments we only read up to the thousand foot dial (the last dial that has a black digit against a white background). This number increases by one every time a hundred cubic feet of water passes through the meter.
The small red triangular dial near the center of the register is a flow or leak indicator and it will turn counterclockwise with the slightest amount of water that flows through the meter, even a dripping faucet.


text:
Hand Grip Exercise & Deep Breathing Can Reduce Blood Pressure
It is a known fact that high blood pressure is the chief cause leading to stroke, eye sight disorder and above all heart attack. But there are very few people who know that performing hand grip exercise and deep breathing helps in lowering the blood pressure by as much as fifteen percent.
One of the renowned journals of Bulletin publication has published the fact that out of the many exercises suggested for high blood pressure, hand grip exercise is the most effective one. Hand grip exercise shows significant results after four weeks of performing the exercise continuously.
As per AARP the risk of having high blood pressure increases with age. Almost two third of people in the world are suffering from high blood pressure and one third are suffering from hypertension. The problem is majorly seen in people between 40-50 years of age.
Some of the interesting facts shared by AARP include:
- Blood pressure medicines that are available in the market may be as good as the old standbys. For instance, earlier water pills also known as Diuretics were used by doctors for illuminating excess amount of sodium present in the body through urination. These days, doctors prescribe ACE i.e. angiotensin-converting enzyme which helps in inhibiting body from producing the hormone that leads to high blood pressure. Angiotensin II receptor blockers helps in restricting the action of the hormone. Research suggests that newer medicines are not as effective as old diuretics but there are some side effects that are observed on intake of old medicines.
- There are many over the counter medications that can trigger high blood pressure. Some of these over the counter medicines include medicines for cold because it is composed of ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine.
- The worst thing about high blood pressure is that there are no prominent symptoms of this problem. Hence, the only way to know about the problem is to get it checked by a registered practitioner.
Hand Grip Exercise to Reduce Blood Pressure
Hand grip exercising device is made of two handles with an intense spring in the middle. Let us take a look on some of the simple and effective exercises that one can do using this device.
- Use both the hand for performing the hand grip exercise by one by one. Hold the grip in one hand and press the handles for around two minutes in a row. Then perform the same hand grip exercise from the other hand. Gradually increase the number of minutes as well as the turn of repetition.
- Hold the gripper in one hand and try to maximize the time limit gradually with inbuilt strength. Also, try to set a balance in the number of hand grip exercise repetitions performed by both the hands.
- For better and speedy outcome, hold the hand grip exercise gripper tightly in one hand try to make the repetitions as fast as possible in the defined time limit. Perform the same practice with other hand as well. Keep a check on the time limit and try to make equal time limit for both the hands. Along with the time one should keep a proper check on the intensity of pressure performed from both the hands. Along with quality the exercise is also about quantity. This means that along with the intensity it is also very important the one should keep a proper check on the time spent on the hand grip exercise performed from each hand individually gradually.
Deep Breathing Exercise for Blood Pressure
Deep breathing also helps in reducing blood pressure. Breathing slowly that is around just 6 breaths in around 30 seconds can also help in reducing blood pressure to some extent. People who are old age suddenly face blood pressure problem can perform slow and deep breathing for normalizing the pressure level. One of the best breathing exercise is pranayama. Regular performance of pranayama can go a long way in not only controlling your blood pressure abut also improve your lung health.
- Android Apps For Blood Pressure
- Can Sugar Cause High Blood Pressure?
- Breathing Exercise To Control High Blood Pressure
- Ideal Blood Pressure for Men and Women
- Exercises to Lower Blood Pressure
- How to Know if Your Blood Pressure is High?
- Low Blood Pressure: 8 Foods That Can Help Fight Hypotension
- How Can We Control Our High Blood Pressure?
- Can You Fly If You Have High Blood Pressure?
- What is Good for High Blood Pressure?
- How to Manage High Blood Pressure during Pregnancy?
- What Causes High Blood Pressure in Young Women
- When to Worry About High Blood Pressure?
- Yoga for High Blood Pressure: Yogasanas and Pranayams to Prevent and Cure High Blood Pressure


BMPA hits back at union description of conditions in meat plants
03 July 2020
The BMPA is criticising claims made by Unite the Union about working conditions in the UK's meat processing plants. The BMPA believes that Unite the Union's depictions are misleading and are muddying the waters in the fight to understand and combat the coronavirus crisis.
The British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has strongly rejected the claims and their Chief Executive Nick Allen commented that "Meat processing is a skillful but physically demanding job and, contrary to Unite's claims, conditions at BMPA members' plants are far from 'dire'."
Mr Allen went on to describe the tightly regulated working conditions in plants: "Our member companies work to strict hygiene and safety controls imposed by the Food Standards Authority, Public Health England and the Health and Safety Executive. While working temperatures are necessarily cold in parts of the factory, workers are given the protective clothing and equipment they need to keep them and the food they produce safe.
Coronavirus safety measures
Since March BMPA's members have spent millions of pounds following Government guidance on how to make working conditions as safe as possible to allow food production to continue. Measures such as Perspex screens, staggered shifts, one-way systems, temperature testing and extra PPE have become standard.
What more can be done?
Beyond implementing exiting guidelines, BMPA has been working closely with Government to set up a special food industry task force that will allow industry to collaborate with local authorities, standards agencies, health officials and Government to tackle a broad range of issues including covid-19, labour shortages and supply chain resilience. The group will also work on ways to mitigate ongoing risk and keep production operating smoothly and safely.
Ultimately the food security of the UK depends on it.
Seasonal Picks


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A fine way of both shortening and simplifying is if you use the question mark. It's called a ternary operator. With this, you can do conditional assignments on one line.
Consider the following example (taken from Bresenhams line algorithm) :
ystep = 1;
ystep = -1;
The code above could be shortened to one line:
int ystep = y0 < y1? 1 : -1;
Click anywhere to cancel


Why is Oymyakon so cold? (info + photos)
September 20, 2009
Oymyakon or Ojmjakon in winter. Yakutia, Siberia/Russia. Photo by Bolot Bochkarev
I found the question "Why is it so cold in Oymyakon?" in the list of keywords that have brought some traffic to my weblog, and I recalled Nick Middleton, an Oxford geography lecturer and the creator of the four-series TV show "Going to Extremes." The first part, btw, depicted his travel to Oymyakon, the world's coldest inhabited place on Earth. While staying in the village of Oymyakon, he gave a detailed explanation of why the Oymyakon area in eastern Yakutia was able to keep the cold as low as -71.2 degrees Celsius (-96.16 degrees Fahrenheit).
The same explanation he gives in his book Going to Extremes: Mud, Sweat and Frozen Tears, in which he ventures to the hottest, driest, coldest, and wettest inhabited places on Earth. He wants to know not only how people manage to live in these places, but also why they settled there in the first place. And, most intriguing of all—why they stay. He follows Stalin's "Road of Bones" across Siberia's icy wilderness to the world's coldest village of Oymyakon, and Nick Middleton's account of his journey to the edge is never less than fascinating.
I am not a pro geographer, so I wouldn't be able to give such a thorough information on Oymyakon weather specifics as Mr. Middleton did, but I'll try to do it in a more simple way.
Oymyakon as well as the whole Yakutia is located at northern latitude and relatively far from oceans to not be dramatically affected by streams. Besides, mountains surround the Oymyakon village so tightly that they turned out the area to be a mere trap for air. The chilly air is literally kept and not allowed to go up and dispersed. Moreover, it continues being refrigerated, because of its inability to be warmed up in the course of the short daytime. That makes Oymyakon possible to hold the chilly distinction of being the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth.
Photographs of Oymyakon, Yakutia, Siberia/Russia. The world's coldest inhabited village!
I took the below Oymyakon pictures during my trip with friends. See more photo sets in the post A Journey to the Pole of Cold.
Answer to the question, Why is Oymyakon so cold?
So why did people choose to live in such a chilly trap as Oymyakon, and how do they manage to survive in extreme cold, according to Nick Middleton?
His answers can be found in the interview he gave to the National Geographic Channel. Below, please, find the Q&A.
Why would people choose to live in such an inhospitable place?
Before the 1920s and 30s, Oymyakon was a seasonal stop for reindeer herders. But the Soviet government, in its efforts to settle nomadic populations—claiming they were difficult to control and technologically and culturally backward—made the site a permanent settlement.
What is there to eat so far north?
All people eat is reindeer and horsemeat. Medics say the reason they don't suffer from malnutrition is that there must be lots of micronutrients in their animals' milk.
There is a short summer season during which people can grow things. But for the most part people don't eat fruit or vegetables.
How do people keep warm?
Fur. Fur is considered a luxury in the West but it is the only thing that keeps you warm. Most of my crew wore synthetic fibers, and they were cold and miserable. My hat was raccoon, my coat was made from the skins of a flock of sheep, and I had knee-high reindeer boots. Reindeer fur is particularly good at keeping you warm, because the shaft of each hair is hollow, and the air [in the shafts] has an insulating effect.
You had a pretty icy introduction to Siberia when you arrived. You became a member of the Walrus Club [a group of people who swim in rivers and lakes in winter, sometimes called polar bear clubs in other parts of the world]. How did it feel to take an ice bath in the frozen river?
It was short and sweet, but my biggest concern was that I would have a heart attack. It isn't so much the water but getting out that is the worst—that brief moment between the water and contacting the air, which is about -22 Fahrenheit (-30 Celsius).
I lost it within minutes of getting out—it was as if I went into a state of shock. I began to lose feeling in my body and, for about 24 hours, walking was tricky and I felt out of it. It was difficult to think and remember, and I felt groggy, as if I had a bad hangover. I have no doubt that if the walrus club had not been there, I would have frozen to death.
What are some other consequences of living in such a frigid environment?
Dealing with dead people. In permafrost zones, where the top few feet of ground tends to thaw in the summer and then refreeze, large buried objects tend to rise to the surface. This is particularly bad when buried coffins rise to the surface after several years.
The whole tradition of burial is not a Siberian one—it came from Europeans. Siberians used to perform sky burials where they would wrap the bodies in canvas and hang them from the trees, but the Soviet government probably discouraged this.
Sadly, a little girl died from pneumonia while we were visiting. To dig a grave, the townspeople lit a long bonfire for about an hour, which allowed the ground to thaw a little, then dug a couple of inches and repeated the process for a couple of days before they were able to bury the coffin.
Transportation can't be easy in those temperatures. How do people get around?
Cars and trucks housed in heated garages are fine. But diesel freezes at -58 Fahrenheit [-50 degrees Celsius]. It's a pretty common practice to light a bonfire beneath the fuel tank to keep it from freezing. Axle grease also freezes and is warmed with a blowtorch.
What effects did the cold have on your expedition? Did you run into any problems in Oymyakon?
Pen ink freezes. Batteries lose power faster. Metal sticks to skin. The first time I tried to take some stills with my camera the metal stuck to my nose.
We had severe difficulties with filming. The eyepiece froze, and you couldn't see through it. The camera lenses did strange things, because the metal casings and screws holding the lenses in place were made of different metals that contracted at different rates and distorted the images—so really we had absolutely no idea whether we were actually shooting anything.
All the electronics in the video camera froze so film was the only technology that worked. But even the film would get brittle and crack.
What adaptations have the people of Oymyakon had to make to live in this environment?
In the last ten years, post-Soviet Union, people have returned to a more self-sufficient lifestyle. Everyone owns some livestock, and they rely on this livestock for food and for barter.
There are times when coal deliveries are irregular and the local power station—which makes indoor life bearable—must burn wood to keep hot water flowing to the homes. If the power ceases, the town shuts down in about five hours, and the pipes freeze and crack.
One of the guys who runs the power station hasn't been paid in nine months, but he keeps doing his job. There is a great sense of community. People do what they need to do to survive. For them, extreme [subzero] temperatures are normal.
Interviewed by Bijal P. Trivedi
Via National Geographic Channel
A short explanation regarding Oymyakon weather phenomenon given by tanetahi, a Flickr pro user:
- The reason Oymyakon gets so cold in winter is the combination of its elevation above sea level and its being sited in a valley between two mountain ranges. The valley behaves as a frost-hollow in calm anticyclonic weather during the Siberian winter, so yes, it does kind of make its own weather.
- The World's Coldest Road Trip. Yakutsk – Oymyakon – Magadan. Winter 2012-2013.
- 6-Day Travel Yakutsk to Oymyakon, the coldest inhabited village on Earth.
Find more facts & photographs in Oymyakon-related posts.
Check also a report of our fascinating Journey to the Pole of Cold, Oymyakon.
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Cargo container ships are the largest ships in the shipping industry, and their size is about to get even larger. With the completion of the $5.25 billion Panama Canal Expansion project in 2016, it made way for New Panamax ships with are almost two times larger than the prior Post-Panamax Plus container ships. As a result of this expansion, more shipping ports around the United States and the world need to be dredged, and bridges raised to accommodate these 18,000 TEU vessels to remain competitive ports.
How Much Cargo Can the Largest Shipping Container Ship Really Hold?
The largest shipping container ship is the Ultra Large Container Ship, or ULCV, introduced in 2013 as the "Triple-E" style ship, used by the Maersk line and manufactured by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in South Korea. Triple-E stands for "economy of scale, energy efficiency, and environmentally-approved." These ULCVs are currently the largest mega vessels on earth, and the most fuel-efficient.
These mega vessels are 23-container widths across and can stack 10 containers high on the top deck, and 8 containers high below deck. They have 24 bays and are measured in 18,000-21,000 20-foot equivalents or TEUs. The TEUs are equal to the number of containers the ships can carry. The Triple-E can carry between 18,000-21,000 containers or up to 165,000 tons.
Will Container Ships Keep Growing in Size Forever?
With the growing demand for goods across the world from major export countries such as China, the United States, Germany, Japan, and Hong Kong, the need for larger container ships to carry more in one trip will continue to grow as well. There are designs in the works for a "Malacca Max" class, which would be the largest container ships ever constructed. These would have a shipping capacity of 27,000-30,000 TEUs.
How Many Containers Fit on a Container Ship?
Depending on the size of the container ship, most cargo vessels hold anywhere between 10,000 TEU to 21,000 TEUs. Since containers are measured in TEUs, the TEU capacity indicates exactly how many containers can be placed on the deck and below the deck of the ship.
The Benefits of Using Bigger or Smaller Container Ships
While larger container ships sound like a better option for long distances, this is not always the case. Large vessels create bottlenecks in shipping ports and places like the Panama Canal, which can slow down the shipping trade route even further.
Exporters in Asia and Europe often find that smaller vessels, around 12,000-14,000 TEUs, offer versatility that larger ships don't have. However, larger container ships offer better fuel economy than smaller ships. Smaller ships tend to output more harmful carbon gas emissions into the atmosphere, which is a concern for the impacts on global climate change. In an era where shipping companies want to be viewed as eco-friendly, erring on the side of larger ships may actually be a better choice.
Liner Companies Face Rising Cost to Charter Container Ships
Rent is a problematic factor in the rising costs of liner companies' rental of container ships. Between July 2018 and 2019, the costs of chartering rose over 20%. Many companies own half of their fleet and charter out the other half, which makes rental costs a significant expense for many liner companies.
Big Ocean Ships Equal Big Problems but Small Benefits
While it may seem that the more cargo that can be loaded onto a carrier, the cheaper the cost of shipping will be, in reality, the port costs for these ships are much higher which does not reduce the price. Additionally, larger ships are limited to certain ports that can accommodate them and can create bottlenecks and ship lines that extend shipping time.
Why Cargo Ships Might (Literally) Sail the High Seas Again
Because of the concern for pollution and carbon emissions from traditional carbon fuel-powered ships, the International Windship Association is pushing for projects to develop sailing cargo ships. Other groups, such as the Smart Green Shipping Alliance believe lower emissions can be achieved with a combination of clean fuel sources and wind sailing technology.
How Much Bigger Can Container Ships Get?
Container ships could get as big as 30,000 TEUs in the near future, but shipping ports and waterways will have to be adjusted to accommodate these monstrous vessels, which will take many years. Infrastructure, from bridges to waterways to adjoining properties will all need to be adjusted. For instance, the current size of the Suez Canal maxes out at 22,000 TEUs.
What Should Be Done to Prevent Fires on Container Ships?
Fires aboard a container ship are frightening, and crews are at risk. The German Insurance Association made several proposals they believe can help reduce the risk of fires on board container ships. These include:
 - Building compartments below-deck so the fire cannot spread
 - Install thermal systems and infrared cameras
 - Install a firefighting system that is water-based and will trigger when a fire is detected
 - Install water curtains for above-deck containers to cool and contain a fire
Five Fast Facts about Maritime Cargo
Here are some important facts you should know about the maritime cargo industry:
 - Los Angeles received the largest amount of TEUs in 2017, bringing in 16 million containers into port.
 - Around 99% of goods are transported by sea, with about 70% of those goods housed in containers.
 - Shipping across the sea is the safest form of cargo transport.
 - Women are a minority in the shipping industry, making up only 2% of the 1.5 million seafarers employed.
 - Shipping and port industries constitute 26% of the U.S. GDP, or around $5.4 trillion.
Final Thoughts
Shipping containers are already quite large, but with more demand for goods across the world, the sizes of ships, ports, rivers, and canals will need to expand. At Asiana USA, we can help you get your goods from point A to point B at the best cost. Contact us today at _PHONE_.
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Phase 3 of the Champlain Sea is defined as the interval that followed the retreat of the Laurentide ice from the Saint-Narcisse Moraine. Events included are the retreat of ice from major valleys in the Laurentian Highlands, invasion of these by the Champlain Sea and regression of the Champlain Sea from its entire basin.
In the lower Saint-maurice Valley, post-Saint-Narcisse retreat of an active ice-front is recorded by the Cossetteville parallel ridges. Transverse ridges of the middle Saint-Maurice Valley and Lac du Missionnaire indicate the presence of an active ice-front in these valleys. Elsewhere, ice-frontal constructions and raised outwash trains were formed at the mouth of valleys, e.g. the proglacial delta perched at an altitude of 200m, at the mouth of Lac Mekinac.
The Champlain Sea extended into the Laurentian Highlands in the form of brackish or freshwater bodies considered as paramarine basins (Occhietti, 1977)
At the close of Phase #, considerable shoaling had already taken place and waters in the Champlain Sea basin turned fresh upstream of Quebec. (Elson, 1969) called this freshwater body Lake Lampsilis, "after a freshwater clam commonly found as a fossil near it's shores" (Elson,1969). Development of Lake Lampsilis in the basin was in conjunction with the time-transgressive retreat of the saltwater wedge. Surface waters had turned fresh in the lower reaches of the Ottawa Valley by about 10.3ka. Marine waters however continued to penetrate into the fresh waters of Lake Lampsilis until very late in the Quebec area, presumably because of strong tides. Retreat of the saltwater wedge, which marked the end of the Champlain Sea Phase 3, was diachronic at the scale of the basin; its age ranges from about 10ka in the Ottawa Valley to about 9.3ka in the vicinity of Quebec.


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For General Information about Permission Numbers, review the About Permission Numbers page.
How to Retrieve your Permission Numbers
- Login to Bionic and navigate to Self Service > Faculty Center (My Schedule)
- If necessary, click the Change Term, green box, to select the appropriate term.
- Locate the lock icon next to the course number to display the permission numbers.
- The list will appear on the screen and give you the option to download the list into Excel. After the permission numbers have expired, the numbers will not appear.
If you have any questions about your permission numbers or need additional numbers, please let the Registrar's Office know.


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Making your Scrapy spider undetectable by applying basic statistics
Scrapy can either make calls to a website in constant intervals or use auto throttling to delay the next request. AutoThrottle calculates the website latency and uses it to make requests as often as possible. There is no way we can hide the fact of using a bot by doing this. From the server's perspective, the intervals between requests are almost constant, but we can make it look more like human generated traffic.
Many real-life processes follow an exponential distribution. It can be used to predict the time between phone calls in a call center or requests to a website.
The distribution applies to situations in which event occurrences are independent, happen at a constant average rate and occur continuously.
Obviously, sometimes there are exceptions. Websites tend to be more popular during some hours of a day. Phone calls may occur more often in the afternoon, but it does not mean that exponential distribution does not work. It does, but its parameters change throughout the day.
It also applies only to normal situations. If we had been talking about a tech support call center and we had received the first call informing us about a malfunction, we would have known that many, many calls would follow soon. Most likely it would have been exponentially distributed too, but with dramatically different parameters.
Let's look at a probability density function of the exponential distribution. What we see is the long tail, which means that long delays are less likely to happen. We also notice the huge probability of no delay occurring at all.
Define the distribution
To generate delays according to a given exponential distribution, we are going to use Scipy. Remember that the distribution has one parameter: lambda, but the Scipy implementation of all distributions always get two parameters: loc and scale. So what are we going to do?
According to the documentation, we can set the lambda parameter by passing the scale equal to 1 / lambda.
What does the lambda mean?
It is the rate of the event occurrences. It tells us how often on average the event occurs in a given unit of time. We can estimate the rate by looking at real occurrences of the event and fitting the data to a distribution, just like I did in my Monte Carlo simulation blog post.
In this example, I am going to set the rate to 0.2 events per second. It is going to be a slow scraper, but it was supposed to be undetectable, not very efficient.
1 2 3 4 from scipy.stats import expon lambda_param = 0.2 distribution = expon(scale = 1 / lambda_param)
Let's check whether it worked. First, I am going to plot the probability density function of my distribution:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt import numpy as np x = np.linspace(0, 20, 2000) _, ax = plt.subplots(1, 1) ax.plot(x, distribution.pdf(x), '-', lw=2) plt.title('Exponential distribution with lambda = 0.2') plt.show()
Looks good. Let's generate 10000 random values using that distribution and plot a histogram:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 generated_values = distribution.rvs(10000) import pandas as pd pd.DataFrame( generated_values, columns=["Exponential distribution, rate = 0.2, 10000 random values"] ).hist(bins = 50)
Make it work in Scrapy
To add such delays to Scrapy, we must modify the AutoThrottling implementation. First, let's copy the source code from GitHub.
Now, I am going to change the implementation a little bit. We need the lambda parameter which should be passed as a configuration variable, so let's add the following code to the
1 2 3 4 from scipy.stats import expon lambda_param = crawler.settings.getfloat("AUTOTHROTTLE_LAMBDA") self.random_delay_distribution = expon(scale = 1 / lambda_param)
I am not going to replace the existing implementation with a completely new one. Instead of that, I will generate a random delay after every request and add it to the delay calculated by AutoThrottling extension, so after my changes, the code of the _adjust_delay function looks like this (note that I removed the existing comments to make it shorter):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 def _adjust_delay(self, slot, latency, response): target_delay = latency / self.target_concurrency new_delay = (slot.delay + target_delay) / 2.0 random_delay = random_delay_distribution.rvs() _TAG_ generate delay in seconds (because the rate was 0.2 per second), but Scrapy delays are in ms, so I have to multiply it new_delay = new_delay + random_delay * 1000 new_delay = max(target_delay, new_delay) new_delay = min(max(self.mindelay, new_delay), self.maxdelay) if response.status!= 200 and new_delay <= slot.delay: return slot.delay = new_delay
The other aspects of hiding a scraper
Making the delays more human-like won't help at all if the spider sends some bizarre User-Agent header or initiates all requests from the same IP. So there is more to that than just delays.
Law and ethics
Many websites have conditions of use which explicitly forbid you from using scrapers. Remembers always to read and obey their conditions of use! If the website offers an API, always use it to get the data instead of scrapping their content.
If there is no API and they don't allow using scrapers, you can always ask for the data you need. You will be surprised how often you get what you wanted.
Remember to share on social media! If you like this text, please share it on Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn/Reddit or other social media.


Fullscreen image
2nd January 1920
RIC enrolls first British Recruits
As the War of Independence escalated, the Royal Irish Constabulary was becoming more and more overstretched. In December 1919, the government began to recruit ex-servicemen from Britain to bolster the police force in Ireland. These servicemen became known as the Black and Tans - due to the mixed colours of their uniforms. In July, they were joined by the Auxiliary Division, composed of ex-officers from the war.
The Black and Tans and Auxiliaries became notorious for their lack of discipline and reckless behaviour throughout their time in Ireland.
War of Independence, Military & Policing
'The New RIC'- RIC Christmas card with the RIC, Black and Tans, Auxiliaries and Station Defence.
Police Museum, Belfast


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WikipediaRead full entry
The shells are long, narrow, and parallel-sided. This shape resembles a closed, old-fashioned straight razor (a cut-throat razor), or a closed jackknife (pocket knife) and sometimes these clams are known as razor shells or jackknives. The shells in these species are fragile and can easily be damaged when digging for these clams.
Ensis species live in clean sand on exposed beaches. They are capable of digging very rapidly; see the description under the Atlantic jackknife clam. Some clammers catch jackknives by pouring salt on the characteristic keyhole-shaped breathing holes. The clam then tries to escape the salt by coming up out of its hole, and at this point it is possible to gently grab the shell and pull it out of the ground.
Thirteen species are currently recognised:
- Ensis arcuatus (Jeffreys, 1865) – razor shell
- Ensis californicus Dall, 1899
- Ensis directus (Conrad, 1843) – Atlantic jackknife clam
- Ensis ensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Ensis goreensis (Clessin, 1888)
- Ensis macha (Molina, 1782)
- Ensis magnus Schumacher, 1817
- Ensis megistus Pilsbry & McGinty, 1943
- Ensis minor (Chenu, 1843) – jackknife clam
- Ensis myrae Berry, 1954
- Ensis nitidus (Clessin, 1888)
- Ensis siliqua (Linnaeus, 1758) – pod razor
- Ensis tropicalis Hertlein & Strong, 1955
- S. Gofas (2010). "Ensis Schumacher, 1817". In P. Bouchet, S. Gofas & G. Rosenberg. World Marine Mollusca database. World Register of Marine Species. _URL_ Retrieved April 26, 2010.


text: KentuckyFC writes "Arbitrage is a way of making profit by exploiting price differences for the same asset. In capital markets, traders aggressively seek out and exploit these market 'inefficiencies.' Now one data scientist says it's possible to do the same with metro fares and has studied the fare-arbitrage potential of San Francisco's subway system, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). The idea is to swap tickets with another commuter during your journey to reduce the amount you both pay. BART has 44 stations which allows 946 different journeys and 446,985 unique pairs of trips. Of these, over 60,000 have arbitrage potential and commuters can save at least $1 on 4,666 of them. But there are good reasons why cities might want to maintain price differences for certain journeys — to encourage people to live in certain areas, for example. What's more, it's possible to imagine a pair of commuters who each travel from one side of a city to the other at considerable cost. But by swapping tickets in the city center, they could both pay for a short commute in each others' suburbs. But is that fair to other commuters?"


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Outdoor Garden Barren Strawberries As Ground Covers
Outdoor garden ground cover plants are generally short and spread to fill an area, often reducing the amount of maintenance required in the site. There are some choices of ground covers that good for your yard. One of them is the barren strawberry. The barren strawberry is a low-growing outdoor garden ground cover. Barren strawberry plants are thus named due to their imitable resemblance to edible strawberry plants. An evergreen, barren strawberry is a ground cover with a spread of 48 inches or more but a low height of 6 inches. The foliage of barren strawberry plants is akin to that of edible strawberries with a wedge shape that turns to bronze in autumn. The plants have small yellow flowers, which again resemble those of edible strawberries, and appear in the spring. Native to Europe and northern Asia, barren strawberry is sometimes referred to as "dry strawberry" or "yellow strawberry."
Outdoor garden barren strawberry is an herbaceous perennial that dies down over the winter and greens back up in the spring. It is suitable for USDA zones 4-9. In the mildest zones, the plants will remain as evergreen ground cover year round. This easy-to-grow perennial is suited to a wide range of soils and will thrive in full sun or part shade. While barren strawberry is drought tolerant, it does not thrive in the hot temps of the South, better bets would be W. parviflora and W. lobata, which are native to that region. Use barren strawberry amongst stepping stones or along wooded paths in light shade to sun.garden ground cover plants, outdoor garden plants, outdoor garden pics, garden ground cover, garden ground cover ideas,.


The topic of this page is to determine whether or not a Loop can be run in parallel. This is determined by looking at the structure of the loop and figuring out what the data dependancies are, and whether they will allow the compiler to Unroll the loop.
The primary data dependancies we need to look at are between two instructions INSIDE the loop, and between two instructions accross iterations, or an inter-iteration dependance.
The first dependance will not cause a problem for unrolling, save that the instructions must be kept in the same order, when the loop is unrolled. The second dependance may or maynot cause the loop to be Non-Parallel. If the a statement requires a value it produces in a previous iteration, then thatstatement is said to have a Circular Dependance. The occurance of a Circular Dependance, means the loop cannot be made Parallel.
Just because a loop has an inter-iteration dependance does not mean that the loop cannot be unrolled, as long as the dependance is NOT Circualr, than it can. The only thing that is neccessary is that the inter-iteration dependance needs to be removed by moving peices of the code around.
Example 1
Can the following Loop be made Parallel?
for (i=1;i<=100;i=i+1){
A[i+1] = A[i] + C[i]; /*S1*/
B[i+1] = B[i] + A[i+1]; /*S2*/
To find the solution, we first need to look at the dependancies.
Inside one iteration:
S2 is dependant on S1 for the value of A[i+1].
Between iterations:
S1 depends on S1 for the value of A[i] computed in iteration i-1.
S2 depends on S2 for the value of B[i] computed in iteration i-1.
Note that S1 depends on S1, and S2 depends on S2 inbetween loop iterations. This is the RED flag we discussed earlier. Because the loop containscircular data dependancies, this loop can not be unrolled.
Example 2
Lets look at another loop.
A[i] = A[i] + B[i]; /*S1*/
B[i+1] = C[i] + D[i]; /*S2/
First start at the dependancies inside one interation of the loop. The only dependance inside the loop is A[i] as a destination and source, but this is not really an issue.
Ok, since that is not an issue, lets take a look at the dependancies between iterations:
B[i+1] is computed, so for iteration i, S1 depends on S2 in iteration i-1.
Since no line contains a circular dependance, the loop can be unrolled. However, it will need a little arranging to remove the one dependance that is still there.
Since S1 does not depend on S2, the instructions do not need to be executed in the order that they are above. This is important to note, since we want to remove the inter-iteration dependance. To remove this dependance we need to shift the loop a little.
If we execute S2 for iteration i, then S1 for iteration i+1 as the loop. Doing this will cause S1 to be'missed' on the first iteration, so to fix that, we will need to run it once before entering the loop, with an index of 1. In effect this executes half of the first iteration of the loop and so we need to run S2 once the loop is complete to finish the other half of it. (Remember here that we are actually executing half of each iteration in our new loop) With those modifications the loop now looks like this:
A[1] = A[1] + B[1];
for (i=1;i<=99;i=i+1)
 A[i+1] = A[i+1] + B[i+1];
B[101] = C[100] + D[100];
This loop can be unrolled, and then run multiple iterations with fewer branches, which, of course, eliminates stalls.
A quick summary of the material presented here:
If there is a circular dependance in between loop iterations, Loop can not be unrolled. End of discussion.
If there are dependancies inbetween too iterations, but they are not circular, you may be able to rewrite the code so that the dependancies are located in a inside a single iteration, and then the loop can be unrolled. If you can not rewrite the loop to remove the inter-iteration dependancies then the loop is not parrallel.
If there are no data dependancies, then the loop can be unrolled, as it is.


text:
Q. Our organization has a position called "director's advisor." There are about sixteen such advisors. I am editing a human resources paper on this position, and I have to figure out what the plural should be. There is an argument for making it "director's advisors," on the grounds that the job title itself is immutable, so if the text refers to several of them, an s should simply be placed at the end of the title. However, if there is one farmer and he has a field, it is a "farmer's field." The fields of several farmers would be referred to as "farmers' fields." Any assistance you can give in resolving this issue would be much appreciated!
A. If there is more than one director, then your analogy to farmers' fields is apt, and "directors' advisors" will work. (There's nothing "immutable" about a title that prevents pluralizing it in this way.) If there is only one director, you don't multiply her by having more than one advisor; in that case, the plural is "director's advisors."


Are Mice Attracted to House Plants?
Question: Are mice attracted to - or feed from - common houseplants? We have a mouse problem in our workplace and our HR department wants all employees to remove their plants, citing that they attract mice. I believe it is the fact that most employees eat at their desk and store food in their cubicles. Can you please advise on this?
Answer: You're the one that is correct and they are the ones that are wrong. There would be nothing about common houseplants (any potted plant indoors) that would be attractive to mice. On the other hand, food stored in cubicles would be the first place mice would go.
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Compression Test
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Compression Test
Compression/Health Test.
(Compression Tests have to be conducted at our Workshop, please don't order product, message for appointment)
One way of determining the heath of a Rotary engine is to conduct a "Compression" test. Done correctly this will give you a good indication of general condition of each Rotor's Apex, Side and Corner Seals. It will be necessary to "Normalise" results to a Crank speed of 250 rpm. It would be extremely rare for the engine to crank at that exact speed.
(The engine must be at normal operating temperature)
1. Remove the Leading spark-plug on each Rotor. (Disconnect Crank Case Sensor).
2. With the throttle wide open, crank engine to clear out any liquid or contaminates in the rotor housings.
3. Connect up Calibration Equipment.
4. Screw the calibrated pressure Transducers into the leading spark plug hole on each rotor housing.
4. Crank engine with throttle wide open and the clutch pedal fully down.
5. Using the Laptop record output from measurement equipment.
6. Convert readings into required figures.
7. Normalise results for 250rpm.
8. Record actual "Compression Test Results" (see below).
9. Print Customer Hardcopy.
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Natixis to Weigh Climate Risk When Deciding on Loans: Q&A
By Bryony Collins, BloombergNEF. This article first appeared on the Bloomberg Terminal.
Natixis SA has started to incorporate climate risk into its credit decision-making process, with deals deemed to have a negative environmental impact required to be more profitable than so-called 'green' deals.In the "most extreme" cases, a deal might not be struck at all if the adjusted profitability doesn't add up, said Orith Azoulay, global head of the Natixis CIB green and sustainable hub, in an interview with BloombergNEF.The Paris-based investment bank is working to improve progressively the environmental impact of its balance sheet by applying a color rating to each deal that it does with every sector worldwide, apart from the financial sector.
For deals ranked dark green, such as debt-financing an offshore wind project, the bank will reduce the risk-weighted assets (RWAs) placed against the deal by 50%, whereas for deals rated dark brown, the RWA will be increased by 24%, said Azoulay. "A brown deal will need to be much more profitable, to counteract the RWA-increase that was placed against it" as a result of its lower environmental performance, she added.
Natixis started to use the methodology in late-September "as one of the components of credit decision" for every transaction, with the ultimate aim of "altering the color mix" of its activity so that more of its balance sheet is classified as green.
After using the methodology for one year, Natixis plans to set targets in line with the Paris Agreement to increase the proportion of its balance sheet dedicated to environmentally positive lending activity.
Read the Q&A below.
Q: How does it change Natixis's financing approach to reduce the risk weighting for green deals and to increase the risk weighting for deals seen to have a negative environmental impact?
A: The objective of this mechanism is to measure, monitor and steer the progressive greening of our balance sheet and activity. The Green Weighting Factor (GWF) is an internal mechanism that links analytical capital allocation to the degree of sustainability of each financing.
The idea is to develop a greenand brown-adjusted vision of all the deals we do, as one of the components of the credit decision.
Every deal that we do with all sectors worldwide, apart from the financial sector, will have to be color-rated, on a seven-level scale from dark brown to dark green.
This means applying the methodology we've designed to evaluate the climate impact of our deals, and adjusting it through the other material environmental externalities, ahead of a credit decision.
That color will translate into an adjustment mechanism for our risk-weighted assets (RWAs), which leads to an adjusted return-on-equity vision.
Q: Will this mean that you will divest from some brown-weighted assets?
A: It's less about drastically ceasing to finance some industries than it is about progressively transitioning our mix of activities by incentivizing green business origination, including by helping the transition of our clients active in carbon-intensive sectors. It is also about incorporating climate transition risk in the assessment of financing opportunities.
Whenever we lend 100 euros, there is a risk-weighted amount of capital with which we back the loan, and it's usually based on the maturity, credit rating and a number of other parameters that dictate how much capital we need to put aside. We are now adding environmental performance as another parameter for that. The capital placed against each of our loans is a measure of how much capital each of the deals will consume. If you increase the allocated capital to a given deal, it means that you change the expected return-on-equity (ROE) for a given deal.
So a brown deal will need to be much more profitable, to counteract the RWA increase that was placed against it [as a result of its lower environmental performance].
Q: So Natixis is allocating less risk-capital to deals deemed as green, and more to those deemed as brown?
A: Exactly. When a deal is rated dark green, the RWA associated with the deal will be reduced by 50%, whereas when a deal is dark brown, the RWA will be increased by 24%.
Q: So, greener deals will have a higher analytical return-on-equity and you will be more likely to sway toward doing those deals?
A: Yes.
Q: Could you give an example of a 'green-weighted' deal?
A: Firstly, there are three shades of green and three shades of brown. We've divided our universe of loans into two parts – those we call 'dedicated purpose loans' – meaning that we know what we're funding (asset / project financing), and 'general purpose funding' – where we are financing the general corporate use of a company.
The evaluation starts with a color rating reflecting the absolute climate impact of the specific sector, and that gets adjusted according to the specifics of the actual asset, such as location, technology choices, impact mitigation and other material environmental externalities.
For example, wind deals tend to range in the green colors, but an offshore wind project could be ranked lighter or darker, according to its impact on biodiversity, or the energy mix / carbon intensity of the country or some specific features of the project (such as grid integration or intermittency offsets).
Also, under GWF methodology, gas-fired power generation final scores range from medium brown to medium green depending on the technology's greenhouse-gas intensity, whether it supports renewable integration, or whether it is equipped with carbon capture sequestration technologies.
Q: How do you assess companies when ranking by your green-weighting factor?
A: For general purpose deals, a color rating is attributed to each client. It is based on carbon intensity (scope 1 to 3, and avoided emissions) as well as a forward-looking evaluation of the company's climate strategy. We also integrate a range of environmental externalities, such as pollution, water, waste and biodiversity where relevant.
Q: Does Natixis aim to increase the proportion of its balance sheet classified as green in nominal exposure terms?
A: Yes, the ultimate aim of the process is to alter the overall color mix of what we are doing.
Q: Have you set a target yet for how much you'd like to increase it to, by which date?
A: Not yet. We're giving ourselves one year of using this mechanism to define the targets, with the aim to align overtime with the Paris Agreement. From now on, whenever a deal goes to the credit decision committees, it will have been color-rated and matched with the adjusted RWA and adjusted ROE.
Q: Is it more likely now that, for brown-weighted assets, the Natixis credit decision party turns down some of those assets and favors green-weighted ones?
A: That could be the case for the most extreme and least profitable ones, yes. The mechanism is not a sector policy excluding some sectors, but about progressively shifting our mix of financing, according to environmental impact. In some instances, it could lead to not doing a specific deal because of its adjusted profitability levels.
Last week, the mechanism was embedded in all of our credit processes and IT systems, so we are now able to use the mechanism on all new transactions to make credit decisions.
Q: Do you intend to spread this further to widen the impact?
A: We've announced our intention to share this with the market. It has already raised some interest, including from regulators. One of the original drivers of launching this internal tool was about anticipating what we expect the regulators to take action on. All banks are looking or will need to look into how to evaluate the environmental impacts, positive and negative, of their lending activity. We are convinced that this is a sector trend.
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WINDS: A Legend from the Lower Yukon
Price: $15.95 (USD)
Long ago, when the Earth was young, there were no winds to make waves dance upon the sand. No fierce storms would tear up the villages. No summer breezes would flow in through the windows. There were no winds, no winds at all!
In that time lived a couple, who more than anything else, longed for a child. A moon spirit driving a mysterious flying dogsled took pity upon the grieving husband and wife. In a dream the spirit showed the woman a strange tree and told her to make a doll from the trunk of the tree. The husband and wife followed the spirit's commands-and were rewarded when the doll turned into a bright-eyed, smiling little boy who changed the nature of the world forever.
Many cultures from around the world have creation stories to explain natural events. Winds is one such story, told by the people of the Lower Yukon section of Alaska, to explain how winds came to be, while introducing kids to a little-known tale from one of the most fascinating cultures of the world.


text:
Before 1680 the ancient towns and villages
now absorbed in Greater London were rarely considered important
enough to be mapped in their own right. From the 1680s, as the
villages became socially and economically integrated into the
London region, this changed. They were shown like stars surrounding
the central sun of London, which had previously been depicted
only with the villages of Middlesex, north of the Thames. Road
surfaces improved considerably from the late 18th century.
Coaches began to run regularly between the
centre of town and the outlying villages and it became possible
for businessmen to live permanently in their country villas with
their families and commute on a daily basis. Nevertheless, despite
their increasing integration with London, most villages were still
surrounded by fields in 1850.
Click the pins on the Google Map above or
follow the links below to view some of the key maps from this
period in our Online Gallery.
Survey of the Parish of Islington, 1735
Plan of a proposed Turnpike road from Marylebone to Finchley, 1824
Plan of the Fitz Roy Farm and Highgate Estate, 1840
View of the Highgate Archway Road, 1813
View from Hampstead looking towards London, 1800
of sight: the East End


text:
Office of Child Health Equity
Learn more about our mission and our approach
To advocate for improving the health status of children while reducing health disparities in the Bay Area, California and nationally.
The Pediatric Advocacy Program at Stanford provides a coherent structure for local advocacy efforts and community partnerships at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital (LPCH) and the Stanford University School of Medicine (SOM).
The advocacy program is designed to improve the coordination of child-focused advocacy activities and local programs underway at Stanford. The program strives to provide a critical base for developing new initiatives of national importance defining how a major pediatric center can support efforts to strengthen local, regional, and national child health programs and policies through innovative training and community-engaged partnerships.
What is Advocacy?
A commitment to ensuring that all efficacious health and social services are provided to all children in need. Advocacy requires more than good will; it requires both a base of knowledge derived from analytic insight and technical expertise in advocacy, which must be learned through directed educational experiences.
The Pediatric Advocacy Program seeks to provide a strong academic base for advocacy activities and recognizes the proper role of such activities within a university setting. Specifically, the objectives of the Pediatric Advocacy Program are:


Why Is Pink Tax Bad?
What has pink tax?
The pink tax is the extra amount that women pay for everyday products like razors, shampoo, haircuts, clothes, dry cleaning, and more.
This "tax" applies to items that span a woman's entire life, from girls toys and school uniforms to canes, braces, and adult diapers..
Who invented Pink tax?
The pink tax isn't new; in fact, it's been around for decades, when the U.S. drafted the sales tax system between the 1930s and the 1960s. "It was a very different world at a time when [legislators] were figuring out which products to tax and which to exempt," said Laura Strausfeld, co-founder of PeriodEquity.org.
Why is there a Pink tax?
Research shows that toys, clothing and personal hygiene products such as shampoo, deodorant and razors cost more if they are marketed to females than men. The discrepancy in the costs is called the 'pink tax' as sometimes the only difference between products is the colour.
Why do pink products cost more?
Tariffs and the Pink Tax Tariffs are taxes that are imposed by the federal government on products imported to the United States. Consumers in the United States pay for the cost of these tariffs because retailers raise the cost of their merchandise to offset import taxes.
Why do women's razors cost more than men's?
Personal care items are pricier for women. Razors, for instance, are more expensive due to the "pink tax." … The disparity — often labeled the "pink tax," since women's products come in "feminine" colors — means that female consumers are charged more for products like razors simply on the basis of their gender.
Are men's hygiene products taxed?
The tax compares the prices of female products to that of gender-specific products or male products, mainly in the categories of apparel, toys, and personal care. Even something as necessary as tampons that is a must for hygiene is charged sales tax because it's considered a "luxury item".
Do men's razors have tax?
The study found, on average, women's products cost 7% more than men's products. There are only five states which don't tack on an additional tax for any women's products—Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon. … That's about 75 cents per women's razor and about 60 cents per men's razor.
What is the Pink law?
The new law mandates that any individual or entity, including retailers, suppliers, manufacturers or distributors, are prohibited from charging a price for two "substantially similar" goods or services, if the goods or services are priced differently based on the gender for whom the goods or services are marketed.
What states have no feminine tax?
Five states do not have a state sales tax (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon), and as of June 2019, thirteen US states specifically exempted essential hygiene products: Utah, Ohio, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, …
Are pads a luxury item?
Their taxation codes consider menstrual products a medical supply, exempting pads and tampons from sales tax and making these necessities more accessible to low-income communities. … Menstrual care and hygiene products aren't luxury items. They're necessary to lessen the hassle and discomfort of periods.
Why are mens razors cheaper?
Because men's razors are made to navigate around the chin, neck, nose, and cheekbones, they tend to be more sensitive to the curvature of your body so every hair can be easily reached. … Not to mention, men's razors are generally cheaper than women's razors. So you'll save a few bucks and feel fabulous, too.
How do I stop the Pink tax?
How To Avoid Paying MoreSupport companies who are taking a stand against the pink tax with gender-neutral pricing.Buy more gender-neutral items when shopping for toys, razors, shampoos, deodorant, etc.Avoid the dry cleaners as much as possible.Price compare when shopping.More items…
What states have a pink tax?
Ten states across the US have all already nixed the tampon tax: Minnesota, Illinois, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and, most recently, Nevada.
Is the Pink tax a real thing?
Gender-based pricing, also known as "pink tax," is an upcharge on products traditionally intended for women which have only cosmetic differences from comparable products traditionally intended for men. In other words, it's not actually a tax. … Yet pink tax is not a new phenomenon.


text:
Our 7th grade curriculum includes the rise of civilizations, early humans, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Mesopotamia, and Ancient Egypt. The science curriculum is focused on biology.
What multicultural picture books should I add to this list? Thanks for sharing!
p.s. Here are all the books in this series:
- Diversity Picture Books for 4th Grade
- Diversity Picture Books for 5th Grade
- Diversity Picture Books for 6th Grade
- Diversity Picture Books for 7th Grade
- Diversity Picture Books for 8th Grade
Images from Lascaux II
The First Drawing by Mordicai Gerstein
Imagine life more than 30 thousand years ago, before drawing was invented! Using a burnt stick (charcoal), imagine the first human to see shapes on a wall that resemble animals and draw them. It would feel like magic! This is one version speculating why early humans created cave paintings and this story is inspired by cave paintings in Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc cave in Southern France. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux by Emily McCully Arnold
Images from Lascaux II
In the middle of WWII, the Lascaux cave containing prehistorical cave art was discovered by boys. Sealed for about 17,000 years, it was the only cave painting where the colors had not faded. The animal shapes often followed the contours of the walls and the paintings are believed to have been used as part of trance rituals more than 35,000 years ago.
This picture book tells the story of the four young men from Montignac, France who discovered Lascaux in 1940. The cave is now closed to all but a few scholars. Lascaux II, a meticulous replica opened to the public in 1983. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Weslandia by Paul Fleischman
Tormented by the kids in his class, Wesley decides to start his own civilization as his summer project. He would grow his own staple food crop, the root of a new civilization. Seeds blow into a plot he's prepared and a wondrous multi-purpose plant is soon thriving in his garden. The fruit is edible, the tubers filling, and the leaves highly aromatic. He successfully weaves a hat and clothes from the plant's fibers. The plant's seeds yield an oil that repels mosquitos and protects his skin from the sun.
Wesley discovers a new way to tell time based on the plant's flowers, and a new counting system as well. He decides to name his new land after himself: Weslandia. Just before school starts, Wesley creates his own language. As he returns to school, he finds that his new civilization has made him a lot of new friends. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Mystery Of The Giant Masks Of Sanxingdui by Icy Smith
image from Wikipedia
The mysterious and ancient city of Sanxingdui is famous for its astonishing bronze-casting technology. Villagers come from faraway lands to admire the bronze masks and trade for the highly prized bronze wares. However, Sanxingdui faces danger when its people hear rumors of a foreign invasion. The chief's daughter, Min, and her newly initiated warrior brother, Wei, lead the villagers to flee their homeland. Where do they go? And what do they do with their sacred bronze masks and statues?
image from Wikipedia
Discover the lost civilization of Sanxingdui in Sichuan Province, China, over 3,000 years ago. In 1986, the discovery of monumental bronzes in Sanxingdui was hailed as "The ninth wonder of the World". The artifacts unearthed are as old as the Pyramids of Egypt and reveal an advanced and civilized society in Sanxingdui. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
Gilgamesh the King (trilogy) by Ludmila Zeman
Gilgamesh is a god-king who ruled the city of Uruk for 126 years. He's the main character in Sumerian poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, considered the first great work of literature. In the epic, Gilgamesh is a demigod of superhuman strength who builds the city walls of Uruk to defend his people and travels to meet the sage Utnapishtim, who survived the Great Flood.
In this first picture book about Mesopotamia*, Gilgamesh is a cruel king who forces his people to build a wall around their city of Uruk, and only another demigod, Enkidu, who lives with the animals of the forest can stop him. [picture book, ages 6 and up] *Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq.
I am very partial to ancient Egypt and Hatshepsut is intriguing as the only female pharaoh in Egyptian history. As a ruler she made Egypt a powerful and prosperous country by focusing on expanding trade with other countries which brought in timber, horses, and other exotic treasures. One mystery still remains: why were most records of Hatshepsut wiped out? [advanced picture book, ages 6-11]
I have more on Hatshepsut and Sennenmut including artifacts from the Boston Museum of Fine Art.
Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Runford
Hieroglyphs from Sarcophagus of Queen Hatshepsut recut for her father, Thutmose I
Jean-François Champollion was born in 1790, around the time when General Napoleon was in Egypt. At 11 years old, when he visited a famous scientist who had been in Egypt with Napoleon, he saw Egyptian artifacts and was determined to read the hieroglyphs. At age 16, he met the scholars studying the Rosetta stone covered in Greek and Egyptian words. It wasn't until he was 30 that he was able to unlock the mystery of the hieroglyphs. [picture book, ages 6 and up]
The Buried City of Pompeii by Shelley Tanaka
The excavation of the House of the Menander, the estate of a wealthy family that lived on the island of Pompeii, is the basis for this factual and historical fiction account of what happened on August 24, 79 A.D. The story is from the point of view of Eros, the chief steward for the Menander family. He was a freedman working for the one of the richest and most respected families in Pompeii. His actual body and that of a little girl — most likely his daughter — was found preserved from the volacanic eruption. Details of day to day life in Pompeii convey what life was like in Ancient Rome from visiting the baths, the open air market, to the brutal sporting games in the amphitheater. Teachers can read aloud parts of this book but I wouldn't be surprised for students to want to finish it themselves. [advanced nonfiction, ages 9 and up]
I am an Amazon affiliate which means if you buy anything through my blog, I get a very small kickback at no cost to you. I use this money to pay for postage and handling for my giveaways.


How much did the monks who wrote "Beowulf," change the story to fit Christian views?
Expert Answers
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Think about it this way: The monks were the scribes...the printing press of the time period. Since they were religious, they would change anything they considered not worthy of attention by readers--current or future. This means all dirty jokes, anything vulgar or obscene, and anything they considered too common. So, since they were the recorders of the oral literature of the time (since so many were unable to read and write for themselves, the songs, poems, stories, riddles, jokes, etc. were recorded by the monks), they chose what to write down and keep for posterity and what they would ignore. Much was lost because of this, and it stands to reason that of the written literature we do have, much was changed.
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Calendar Moodle ISU
Using a calendar in a course can help both the instructor and the students keep track of deadlines and important dates within the course.
This guide will help you to understand:
Adding the Calendar Block
 1. On the left hand side of the screen, Locate Add a Block
 2. From the Add dropdown menu, Select Calendar
Note: The Calendar block will appear above the Add a Block.
Note: for more assistance on blocks and how to move them see, Blocks in Moodle ISU
Configuring the Calendar Block
You can modify the configuration of the Calendar block.
 1. In the top right corner of the block, Click the gear icon
 2. From the dropdown menu, Select Configure Calendar block
Note: For information on what the other icons do, see Moodle ISU Overview
Calendar Block Settings
 1. The first line will tell you the block's original location
 1. Display on page types will give you three options of where your calendar will be displayed
 1. Any page - This will make the calendar display on any page for Moodle ISU when you are logged in.
 2. Any course page - This will make the calendar available on every page that you have set up within the course.
 3. Any type of course main page - This will make the calendar available only on the main page for the course. This is also the default setting.
 1. Default region - This option will allow you to place the calendar either on the right or the left of the screen
 2. Default weight - To relocate the block on the screen you can weigh the blocks importance in this area
On this page
 1. From the Visible dropdown menu, Select Yes or No to determine whether the calendar is visible to students
 2. From the Region dropdown menu, Select where the calendar will reside on the screen
 3. From the Weight dropdown menu, Select the weight the calendar will receive
 1. To relocate the block on the screen, you can weigh the block's importance in this area.
 2. The lower the weight, the higher up on the page the block will appear.
 1. Click Save Changes to save your configurations
Events Keys
The events keys allow you to add certain activities or key dates for the course. The following is a list that breaks down the options and explains when to use each one.
Note: If you click on these events on the main calendar block, they can be hidden or shown to students and users.
Global - Events that are relevant to the university, such as holidays etc.
Course - Events that are relevant to the course in general such as exams or assignments.
Group - Events that are relevant to certain groups within the course.
User - Personal events that will not be visible to other users.
Adding Events to Calendar
 1. Click on the calendar name
 1. Click New event in the Calendar view
 1. On the New event page, Select the type of desired event
 1. User - Visible only to the current user.
 2. Group - Visible only to the particular group in the course.
 1. This will enable the Group event dropdown menu from which you will Select the group the event is relevant for.
 1. Course - Visible to participants on the course in question.
 1. Type the Event title
 1. Type a Description
 1. Set a Date
 1. Set a duration if so desired
 1. Choose whether or not this event will repeat in Repeated events
 1. Click Save changes
For more information on using your calendar, see Calendar
For additional information, contact the ITRC - _PHONE_ or email