CONTOUR | X TO X Su Jung & Ted Oonk Private View: Thursday 11th January 6-9pm Open: Friday 12th January – Sunday 28th January View by appointment CONTOUR | X to X presents a collaborative project of Dutch and Korean artists, Ted Oonk and Su Jung. Since 2015, the project has focused and tried to shine a more plural light on the typical romantic connotations connected to islands. It mainly consists of written letters, verses, photographs or video. The material deals with the island as an unimportant and forgotten place, twisting the collective implications of utopia. The photographs show a collection of insignificant objects that have become imaginary artifacts. The text-based pieces describe an nonexistent place contrary to utopia; in the narrative, the island becomes a space for digesting a certain loss, disappearance and absence.


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The Grandest Stage: A History of the World Series (Hardcover)
By Tyler Kepner
Field of Play: 60 Years of NFL Photography (Hardcover)
By Michael Zagaris (By (photographer)), Steve Cassady, Ronnie Lott (Other primary creator), Joe Montana (Other primary creator), Fred Biletnikoff (Other primary creator), Harry Edwards (Other primary creator)
A Giant Win: Inside the New York Giants' Historic Upset over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII (Hardcover)
By Tom Coughlin, Greg Hanlon (With), Eli Manning (Foreword by)
Sidecountry: Tales of Death and Life from the Back Roads of Sports (Paperback)
By John Branch
Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game's Analytics Revolution (Hardcover)
By Ryan O'Hanlon
The Master: The Long Run and Beautiful Game of Roger Federer (Hardcover)
By Christopher Clarey
The Great Nowitzki: Basketball and the Meaning of Life (Hardcover)
By Thomas Pletzinger
The Black Fives: The Epic Story of Basketball's Forgotten Era (Hardcover)
By Claude Johnson
Switching Fields: Inside the Fight to Remake Men's Soccer in the United States (Hardcover)
By George Dohrmann
The Cup They Couldn't Lose: America, the Ryder Cup, and the Long Road to Whistling Straits (Hardcover)
By Shane Ryan
Dynasties: The 10 G.O.A.T. Teams That Changed the NBA Forever (Hardcover)
By Marcus Thompson, II, Yu-Ming Huang (Illustrator)
The Ball in the Air: A Golfing Adventure (Hardcover)
By Michael Bamberger

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Baling Press Machine
Services offered in Baling Press Machine
Our country has been facing many issues with waste management. There are plenty of scraps from everywhere and a proper place is required to store them, all types of scraps that range from plastic to metal, there are different scrap handling products available such as shearing machines, the scrap bundler helps to shrink the waste, the hydraulic baler facilitates the creation of bundles. There are heavy-duty bundling press machines available, they are automatic in function and have PLC regulation, the products are of durable quality and are a worthy investment, these products strictly comply with the industry standards and go through a thorough checking to make sure you receive quality products.
Kelvin variants of the baling press machine
Single box hydraulic baling press
Hydraulic, Automatic
Blue, Green, Yellow
No. Of Cylinder
Single Phase, Three Phase
36 * 27 * 24 inches
Cylinder Size
Machine Weight (approx)
Automatic, Semi-Automatic
MS, SS, Carbon Alloy, Alloy Steel
Number of Cylinder
50 to 200 Kg
The single box hydraulic baling press machine comes in the automatic variant. There are different attractive colors available for this machine, blue, green and yellow, it uses a single cylinder. And incorporates single and three phases, the capacity of this machine is great amounting to 25 tons, the dimensions of this product are (36 X 27 X 24) inches, the cylinder size is (140 X 90) mm, it uses an electric motor that is powered up to 7.5 HP, this product is quite heavy as it weighs about 1300 kg, this product will delight you with its reliability and great strength, the bale weight is about 50-75 kg.
The 40 ton capacity is another version of this machine, the bale size is (36 X 27 X 26) inches, the bale weight is 75 kg to 125 kg, the cylinder size is (160 X 100) mm, this 40 ton variant uses an electric motor powered up to 10 HP, the weight of this variant is slightly more than the 25 ton machine, it weighs in at about 1500 kg.
The 50 ton edition of this machine has the same bale size as the 40 ton variant, but the bale weight goes upto 100-150 kg, the cylinder size is (170 X 105) mm, it uses an electric motor that has a power of 10 HP, this machine is the heaviest among the 3 variants, it weighs in at about 1700 kg.
Carbon alloy hydraulic baling press machine
The machine comes with an auto functioning, the material used for the manufacturing of this machine is carbon alloy, it also uses a single cylinder, the machine has a powder treated finish to it, it uses an electric motor with power ranging from 20-25 HP. However, this machine is not the cheapest option in the market as it can get a bit expensive. The machine is made in accordance with international standards.
Double action hydraulic scrap baling press
12*15*T
Machine Weight (apporox)
180MMx135MM, 130MMx80MM
Powder Coated, Painted
This product is hydraulic automatic grade, the bale weight can range from 20-35 KG, it incorporates the use of 2 cylinders, it is equipped with an electric motor that can be powered upto 20 HP. This product can be quite heavy as it weighs in at about 3750 KG, the cylinder size is (180 X 135) mm, the material used in the making of this machine is alloy steel and it has a powdered or a painted finishing to it. There are many uses of this machine in different industries, such as furnace and steel industry or metallurgical industry.
There is another variant of this machine that uses 4 cylinders whose dimensions are (300 X 210) mm, it uses an electric motor that can be powered upto 25 HP, the machine is super heavy, weighing in at about 7500 KG, the bale weighs in at about 35-50 KG, the bale size is the same as the 2 cylinder variant.
The triple action baling machine
Baling Chamber
25" X 23" X 60" (H X W X L)
15" X 15" (H X W )
25 H.P 3 phase 1440 rpm
Fabricated 50 mm
Hard liner plates
Provided (C 45)
Oil drive
Van Pump Systems
Working liquid
Hydro/Enclo-68 (Not in our scope)
Force on lid
Force on main cylinder
Force on side cylinder
Force on side cylinder 120 tons
3000 PSI
This is one of the heavy duty machines you can get your hands on, the chamber size of this machine is (25 X 23 X 60) inches. The bale size is (15 X 15) inches, it uses an electric motor that has a power of up to 25 HP, it uses 3 phase and the RPM is 1440. The oiling drive has van pumping systems, the force on the lid is about 40 tons, the force on the main cylinder is about 100 tons, the force on the side cylinder is about 120 tons, the working pressure is about 3000 PSI, this machine is very expensive per unit.


Virtual reality, hamburgers and playing games.
Bazooka had ordered a couple of Oculus Rift DK2 some months ago, and they arrived this Thursday. I've really looked forward to playing around with Oculus ever since I first read about them.
The installation was anything but straight forward, the physical installation was easy — just plug everything in, but the software installation was pretty cumbersome, after installing the Oculus run-time, you had to reboot once, and then fiddle around until it magically started to work.
I also noticed that in order to drive the Oculus you need a decent amount of power, my laptop, with an integrated GPU, could only drive the simple demo included with the run-time. When trying to run any other — more demanding demo, my computer came to a halt, only rendering at around 7 FPS. And trust me, you'll get sick and confused pretty quickly with such a low frame rate.
Me and Johan were supposed to go and play Magic The Gathering at the bar Man in the moon last week, but because of the alcohol intake last Friday, we had decided against it, postponing it to the following weekend i.e. this weekend.
I've covered the game Magic The Gathering in an earlier post this year. And regular reader's should be familiar with the bar Man in the Moon.
Anyway, we went straight from work to the bar, figuring that we'd eat first. They were still going with the October-fest theme, so we opted for a dish with lots of sausages and sauerkraut, which was awesome.
We then proceeded with actually playing the game. It didn't take long until one of the bouncers came and asked us jokingly if we were playing Solitaire. After some more rounds, and people around us were getting more drunk, as they walked past, they kept staring, though I do understand them, seeing people playing card games like MTG at a bar is probably an unusual sight.
The bouncer came back a few hours later and asked me about the rules in the game, and I happily answered him, and explained the basic gist of the game, in retrospect I'm pretty sure he didn't care, just wanted to check if we were drunk or not. (The next day a friend was pretty amazed that they had allowed us to play the game at all, apparently bars are pretty strict when it comes to games on the premises, because gambling is illegal without the proper paperwork).
On my way home from Man in the Moon I randomly met Jasper and Matts. They asked me if I wanted to join them for a burger at Svenska Hamburgerköket (translated; The Swedish hamburger kitchen) in Midsommarkransen the next day.
I'm not the one to decline a hamburger. So the next day, Saturday, we met up, Anna and Paulina decided to join for a coffee as well. I'd like to say that it's notoriously hard to find a coffee shop that isn't packed on a Saturday afternoon in central Stockholm, and this time was no exception. We opted instead for take away coffee and sitting down in the park at Nytorget.
After sitting around, building up appetite, we left Södermalm for the suburbs. Midsommarkransen is a subway station on the red-line, the next station after Liljeholmen (That would be where I live).
As we got out of the subway station and started navigating through the neighborhood, I could do nothing but marvel at the buildings, Midsommarkransen is a really beautiful place (I couldn't be arsed unpacking my camera, so no pictures).
We were able to time our arrival perfectly, just after we had placed our orders, a lot of people started to arrive. I ordered their largest hamburger, Landshövdingen (translated; The Governor), which contains a hamburger, with two 180g beef patties, and French fries with mayo. It was delicious, though they could have added some more fries.
We ended the evening at Matts' with drinks and Mariokart. In short; an awesome day and awesome evening.
Next week's update might be delayed, I'm going to the Finnish archipelago on a fishing trip.


That's a good sign she didn't hurt anybody and it's always good laugh at yourself, right, Uma Thurman?
Sounds like it got pretty charm for the 44-year-old as she walked up in style even she's not going to work at New York, USA on Thursday, December 18, 2014.
The actress beat the chill weather by dressed herself in a gorgeous brown suede cape and grey leather pants, which thickening her age to more workship for the style.
Has she learnt about dressing now? Yap, Uma's definitely more brightly while added her fashion element with a beautiful dark blue of gossamer hat and an unique green high-heeled shoes, plus a cute small bag.
Being content with that, Thurman had made us to more accepting of how she look.
So there's no getting away from it, the Boston born's elegant outfit deserves a closer look and with it, we've diligently in depth to recalibrate our daily wardrobe for the next. . . . . . . .Gold accents!!!
On her dutiful to filming, Uma Thurman and Penn Badgley were spotted on movie set of "The Slap" at Brooklyn, NY, USA on Tuesday, December 16, 2014.


NEP is the industry leader in brand management for Law Enforcement Associations through our secure, responsive and informative websites, our direct mail fundraising, our political outreach programs and social media. NEP also offers an Emergency Response Support Team in addition to the other services we provide.
On July 7, 2016, Dallas witnessed the most horrific attack on law enforcement since 9/11. During this emergency situation, NEP was able to utilize our advanced notification system to stay up-to-date on the events in Dallas as they unfolded. This allowed for us to share the most current details on our client's social media platforms minute by minute.
In addition, we also have our First Responder Fundraising platform for emergency fundraising. With this, we were able to add emergency fundraising pages to our clients websites and social media in order to facilitate donations to support the families of the fallen officers and the injured officers. This service allowed for NEP to quickly implement emergency fundraising for any emergency situation in a timely manner. NEP chooses to do this so our current clients can focus on their emergent needs and leave the fundraising to us.
Finally, NEP's monitoring systems allowed us to not only share details of the emergency as it unfolded, but also allowed us to inform the public of the welfare of the wounded officers, the memorial services for the fallen officers, the candle light vigils and more.
NEP's Emergency Response Support Team also actively monitors all the news following the emergency to keep our client's social media followers up-to-date on all current and relevant information as it unfolds.


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Difluorinated analogues of oxaloacetate and aspartate as enzyme probes.
Trevor A. Dransfield
Department of Biology & Biochemistry
L-Difluoro-aspartic acid was prepared by the enzymic transamination of difluoro-oxaloacetate using aspartate aminotransferase (AAT). The purification and some physical properties of this novel compound sire reported. The chemical synthesis of D,L-difluoro-aspartic acid was attempted. The interaction of difluoro-aspartate with pig heart cytosolic AAT was studied. The observed potent inhibition by this compound in steady state kinetic experiments was interpreted as being due to the formation of an aldimine-AAT-difluoro-aspartate complex, an aminic-AAT-difluoro-aspartate complex and an enzyme-substrate-difluoro-aspartate ternary complex. The apparently aberrant formation of the latter two complexes is discussed. The interaction of difluoro-aspartate with the aldimine form of AAT was studied in detail. A complex of difluoro-aspartate with aldimine-AAT was detected and its dissociation constant determined by spectral titration. The spectrum of the complex was shown to be distinct from that of aldimine enzyme with an absorption maximum at 340nm the magnitude of which was insensitive to pH, and also a minor absorption band at ca 430nm. The pH variation of the dissociation constant was analysed. Stopped flow experiments provided lower bounds for the rate of formation and dissociation of the complex. Preliminary experimentation indicated the possibility of a very slow productive breakdown of the aldimine-AAT-difluoro-aspartate complex to yield an undentified keto- acid. The inefficiency of difluoro-aspartate as a substrate for AAT is discussed. Tentative conclusions about the molecular nature of the complex were drawn from the results of a circular dichroism study of the binding of difluoro-aspartate to aldimine-AAT and from an attempt to detect a difluoro- aspartate aldimine Schiff base by borohydride reduction. A molecular reaction scheme involving the tetrahedral transaldimination intermediate in equilibrium with a small amount of the difluoro-aspartate aldimine Schiff base is proposed. The pH variation of the kinetic parameters for the slow transamination reaction of difluoro-oxaloacetate with aminic-AAT was studied as a model for the pH variation of the transamination reaction. The observed invariance of Km and Vm with pH for the above reaction is discussed.
Dransfield, T. A. (Author). 1980


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O hexafluoreto de enxofre é um composto químico inorgânico formado pelos elementos químicos enxofre e flúor, com a fórmula química SF6. O gás hexafloureto de enxofre é formado por sete átomos, em que um é central. A geometria dessa molécula denomina-se octaédrica.

Essa molécula apresenta-se como um gás sintético, utilizado principalmente pela indústria elétrica, como meio isolante e extintor de arco eléctrico, tanto em disjuntores, como em uma subestação blindada.

É formado por um átomo de enxofre rodeado por 6 átomos de flúor. Possui grande electronegatividade, razão pela qual extingue arcos eléctricos. É quimicamente inerte, mas é 23.900 vezes mais nocivo para o efeito estufa que o dióxido de carbono. Entretanto, representa menos de 1% da colaboração no aquecimento global.

Uma curiosidade sobre esse gás é que, ao ser inalado, ele torna a voz mais grave, efeito contrário ao do gás hélio. Isso ocorre porque é um gás 5 vezes mais denso que o ar, o que aumenta o comprimento de onda das ondas sonoras. Apesar de não ser um gás tóxico, por ser mais denso que o ar, expulsa o oxigénio em ambientes fechados e de pouco espaço, causando asfixia.

Além disso, é frequentemente usado na experiência da água invisível, na qual se enche um aquário com hexafluoreto de enxofre e se coloca um 'barco' feito de alumínio. Como esse está cheio de ar, flutua como se estivesse sobre a água.

Também foi o gás utilizado nas sapatilhas Nike Air, antes de ser substituído por nitrogénio.

hexafluoreto
Hexafluoretos
Gases do efeito estufa
Gases industriais
!Wikiconcurso Direitos Humanos e Meio Ambiente (artigos)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Authenticity has always been an important criterion for premium products. Naturally you would put a higher value on Parmesan cheese made in Parma than if it was made in Detroit. The same would be said of Italian leather boots as opposed to boots mass produced in China. Whether or not these products are actually better, they nevertheless hold a certain value because of the dream of 'genuine' and history they inspire. But recently at ReD we are seeing a new type of "authenticity" emerging among young urban adults. Instead of following the classic idea of "authenticity," (value-creation on the basis of coming from a specific time or place) young urbanites are playing with the concept and adding an aspirational twist. This new dream of authenticity involves craftsmanship, a strong story, and the process behind the product. For their products, authenticity is not about the "real" product, rather it is our dream of what the "real product" was, and what it can be in our modern age.
It seems that today some people have a strong yearning for "authenticity," and to go back to "simpler times." While this desire is certainly not new (Rosseau and the Romantics felt it, Thoreau and the Transcendentalists felt it, to name a few) this desire is being used to sell products in a way that we have not seen before. There is an emergence of the urban craftsmen who rejects mass consumption and globalization in favor of handcrafted simple goods. He/she has a mission that goes beyond the product: the way in which the product is made adds meaning to it, and to the producer and consumer's belief in the instrically higher value of handcrafted goods. "Rising Sun & Co.," which makes all its jeans by hand, advertises that "by reviving the tradition of quality American needle work, we create only the highest grade of garments. Nostalgic for this golden age of craftsmanship, we labor." Through their craft, they make jeans "that capture the optimistic spirit America is founded on." However, at $500 a pop, these jeans are certainly not meant to be worn for labor-intensive work. Rather, this company sells the jeans on the dream of what jeans were, and thus what jeans should be. Looking at their blog, youtube channel, and website, it is clear that the type of "authentic" experience is different than discovering an unknown little bistro in the french countyside. Rather, it is sincerely creating a product on a dream of the past, and not on the past itself.
What Does the New Authentic Mean for Larger Business?
It seems that aspirations for authenticity may be changing. While in a way these products can be seen as comical (young urbanites making handcrafted knives out of found materials and blogging about it, for example) they tap into our desires to combine the best of the past and the present. They inspire our romantic dreams about the past, without giving up our iphones. For businesses then, it is more important to emphasize the process, and the sincerity behind the process than its actual "authenticity" or historical accuracy. Businesses should think about creating a line that taps into this trend of sincerely imagined authenticity. Creating a line of old style sodas with real sugarcane inspires our imagination of how soda was drunk before it was a mass-produced item. A line of individually mixed natural perfumes make us dream of a time when perfume was natural and there was an art behind creating a unique scent. The new premium is about being able to imagine a simpler, more natural life that fits within our very modern and tech driven world.
Le Labo creates "made to order" perfumes that are reminiscent of the way perfume used to be made.
Authenticity has always been an important criterion for premium products. Naturally you would put a higher value on Parmesan cheese made in Parma than if it was made in Detroit.
money fast, and was feeling the pressure from new, digital competitors.
Instead of focusing on the creation of ideas and trying to force them into being, one is better off focusing on understanding the relevant phenomenon in depth. Then it simply becomes a matter of being open to the ideas when they show up — be it in casual conversation, intense data crunching, or, as sometimes in Mozart's case, on a sleepless night.


Pure Buttons now offers One and a Quarter Inch Round Button Boxes, for a unique and professional way to show off your custom buttons. Each of our One and a Quarter Inch Round Button Boxes holds 100 of your very own 1.25" custom buttons. These are a great way to display your custom buttons in a retail enviornment with the artwork from each of your chosen custom buttons. Your one and a quarter inch round button boxes will catch the eye of customers at your storefront or next tradeshow.


STARDATE 01.12.2015.D: AS THE SYFY BURNS - 51ST STATE COMING SOON?
One might expect more Science Fiction projects coming from a network that was originally founded on the premise of delivering ... well ... Science Fiction to interested parties. Alas, maybe Syfy was never what it believes it was cracked up to be.
However, Deadline today is reporting that Syfy has announced 51st State being "in development." The SciFi drama hails from Craig Borten, and a review of his profile on IMDB.com shows ... well ... absolutely nothing in the SciFi arena. As a matter of fact, it only shows a single completed entry, that being as an apparent co-writer of the AIDS-themed drama, Dallas Buyers Club. The premise of said 51st State indicates that the United States has purchased Greenland and turned it into a massive island penitentiary (I'm thinking of Escape from New York for some reason now); and Uncle Sam then reneges on granting said inmates provisional freedoms, which leads to a revolt.
Again, one would think that a network seriously dedicated to SciFi might actually seek out and explore properties from folks with some experience in that genre ... but it is what it is.


Preferred Habitat: Fields and pastures.
Notes: The stout white Cattle Egret is most often seen in fields rather than shallow water with other herons and egrets. It prefers to follow grazing cattle (hence the name) as well as tractors and mowers, snatching up small lizards and insects that scatter after the disturbance. The Cattle Egret is not native to the Americas; however, it has spread rapidly since it first arrived to northeastern South America from Africa in 1877. It is not known whether their arrival was human assisted or if they made it on their own steam, but since then they have spread rapidly across the western hemisphere. They were first observed in the U.S. in 1941, with the first nests observed in 1953. They are currently common throughout the southern U.S. in summer but have been observed throughout North America, even as far north as Alaska. Cattle Egrets are also established year round residents throughout much of Central and South America.
These small egrets (18-22 in length) can be distinguished from the slightly larger Snowy Egrets by their short thick yellowish-orange bill, and dark brown legs and feet. They also tend to appear stockier and have a more rapid wing beat when in the air. During breeding, the bill and legs turn a bright reddish orange, and they develop pale orange patches on the back and chest as well as a mohawk of pale orange on their heads.
Their diet includes mainly small arthropods and lizards stirred up by disturbances, and they have even been observed flying toward smoke to take advantage of insects fleeing the fire. You can often see Cattle Egrets foraging in newly mowed suburban lawns as well as agricultural fields through Southeast Texas this time of year. Next time you spot this bird take a moment to watch them chase and capture all sort of insects, including dragonflies and grasshoppers!


It's safe to say that distribution is in our DNA. Our relationships with services like iTunes, MTN Music Plus and YouTube date back to their launch in Nigeria, and our growing library of award-winning music and content makes us your perfect end-to-end global distribution partner. As part of our offering, we'll get your music and content to digital retailers, and physical stores worldwide, then lend our sales & marketing expertise to get the best exposure for your releases. All included in the mix: in-house encoding, efficient delivery and dedicated client support.
Ability to produce high-quality graphic design and artwork with little or no supervision on a regular basis and in a timely manner. Should be experienced in delivering corporate/professional branding and modern creatives with the ability to handle multiple projects at a time.
Please send in your PORTFOLIO along with you CVs.
I think you may be interested in this position - Experienced Graphics Designer at Freeme Digital Ltd. This is the link: https://www.myjobmag.com/job/108597/experienced-graphics-designer-freeme-digital?utm_source=email_friend. Copy and paste link on browser if link is not working. Check it out!


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Most of my posts are poems, things I have learned, travel adventures, or serious comments about the world. This one is more of a personal sharing post. Here are three photos of my dog, Athena. She is a standard poodle and quite fearless and territorial. She will even stand off coyotes. Sometimes this makes me sad because I do enjoy the wide variety of wildlife where I live. However, I like the idea that she is fearless and protective and warns me about anything unusual. Nothing escapes her notice.
When I took this, she had just demolished a bone and fragments appear on her left leg.
She and my grandson playing.
Inspecting her territory in her short summer haircut taken last summer.
I just finished the book "American Wolf". Most people do not associate their dogs with big predators. Poodles were originally bred to hunt. When I watch her roam the wild around my house, hunter, predator comes to mind. I have watched her chase foxes, coyotes, skunks, you name it. She is clever enough to never get too close to the skunk. The coyote and she had a stand off. Eventually, Athena won. I have not seen a coyote since and that was months ago.
Sunday Poem-Puma I
November 20, 2017 November 20, 2017 / Juliana Lightle	/ Leave a comment
"An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language." Martin Buber
My neighbor walked out her door
found a puma lying on the lawn.
Puma rose, stretched, disappeared.
At night when I open my gate
I wonder if she lurks
behind the cedar trees,
pounce ready.
My daughter dreams puma dreams:
a puma chases her up a tree.
There are no trees here big enough to climb.
A Zuni puma fetish guards my sleep.
I run with puma
Night wild
I scream and howl
Bloodborn.
I hike the canyon
stroll around my house
look for puma tracks.
I see none.
I would rather die by puma
than in a car wreck.
Note: This is the first in a series of Puma Poems in my book "On the Rim of Wonder".
Another bill aims to take wolves off endangered list
January 12, 2017 January 12, 2017 / Juliana Lightle	/ 1 Comment
For a number of years I have mulled over reasons why humans seem to hate wolves considerable more than other predators. I have my own "theories". What are yours?
A gray wolf moves through forested country in winter. Credit: MacNeil Lyons, National Park Service
The new Congress wasted little time in efforts to once again remove gray wolves from the federal endangered species list.
A bill introduced Tuesday by U.S. Reps. Collin Peterson, D-Minnesota; Sean Duffy, R-Wisconsin; and Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, would overrule a federal court action and remove federal protections from wolves in the Great Lakes and mountain west.
That already happened once, but a judge's decision in late 2014 restored federal protections after wolves spent about three years under state control.
The members of Congress, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, say wolves have recovered enough in those areas to remove protections. But wolf supporters say the wolf hasn't recovered over enough of its original range to remove protections in the few states where it is thriving, like Minnesota and Wisconsin. Wolf supporters…
Top predators like wolves, bears, lions and tigers have declined dramatically around the world over the past century
December 23, 2016 December 23, 2016 / Juliana Lightle	/ Leave a comment
Some parts of Eastern Europe have worked at figuring out how to balance saving predators and protecting farmers and herders. Spain has programs to reimburse herders.
Conservationists widen toolkit for predator management
Source:Berkeley News
By Brett Israel, 12/13/16
Top predators like wolves, bears, lions and tigers have declined dramatically around the world over the past century. One major driver of these declines is retaliatory killing by people following predator attacks on domestic livestock. This lethal approach to predator management is increasingly controversial not only because of ethical concerns, but also the role predators can play in healthy ecosystems. A new UC Berkeley study shows that many non-lethal methods of predator control can be highly effective in protecting livestock from predators and in turn, saving predators from people.
A tiger drags a cow at Jennie Miller's study site in India
The Berkeley study examined 66 published, peer-reviewed research papers that measured how four categories of lethal and non-lethal mitigation techniques — preventive livestock husbandry, predator deterrents, predator removal, and indirect management of land or wild prey…
Cougar Stories
As a person more than a bit obsessed with pumas, I just had to share this with others.
Posted on November 24, 2016 by Leslie
I've become fascinated by cougars. Maybe because they are elusive, secretive, more akin to a ghost than an animal of flesh and blood. Which of course, begs the question: How do you get people to care about and protect an animal that they never see, nor probably will never see in their lifetime?
Mom and six month old kitten
Visitors to Yellowstone National Park can be almost guaranteed, if they are persistent and patient, to view wolves and bears, elk, bison, and bighorn sheep. But only the rare individual will have the opportunity to see a cougar in the Park. They've been spotted at Calcite Springs, hanging on the basalt walls and occasionally through a scope from the Hellroaring overlook. Usually the Park sightings are called in by wolf watchers. Once radioed around, tourists hear about it through the airwaves, then flock to those locations. Sometimes the cat might be hanging…
Court Mandates New Recovery Plan for Mexican Gray Wolves
October 26, 2016 October 26, 2016 / Juliana Lightle	/ Leave a comment
For those following the fate of one of sub-species with few left in the wild.
October 18,2016 By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Federal wildlife officials are now under a court order to update a decades-old recovery plan for the endangered Mexican gray wolf, a predator that has struggled to regain a foothold in the American Southwest despite millions of dollars of investment in reintroduction efforts.
An Arizona judge on Tuesday dismissed the concerns of ranchers and others and signed off on a settlement between environmental groups and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Under the agreement, the federal agency must update the recovery plan by November 2017 while providing the court and other parties in the case with regular updates on the planning process.
Environmentalists have long argued that the agency had a legal obligation to adopt a recovery plan that spells out specific goals and milestones for returning the wolves to their historic range.
There are currently about 100 wolves in the wild…
8 Creative Ways to Reduce Human-Wildlife Conflict
March 22, 2016 March 22, 2016 / Juliana Lightle	/ Leave a comment
For those of you who want all our wonderful wildlife to survive…
By Orion McCarthy
THE TIGER is an iconic endangered species, with as few as 3,200 leftin the forests of India and Southeast Asia. Conservationists have invested millions of dollars into saving the species, and recent population surveys have showed a promising uptick in the number of tigers in the wild.
A new population survey in India shows tigers making a modest comeback. Photo credit: WWF.
This is good news for tigers. But is it good news for people living with tigers?
The answer is a mixed bag. Tigers keep forest ecosystems across Asia in balanceas the dominant top predator, and sustain ecotourism and conservation funding as a flagship species.
But living in close proximity to tigers can be dangerous.
The historic range of tigers is shown in beige, while the current range is orange. The region is now home to 3 billion people, with tigers occupying…
#JoinThePack: Will you howl fight for a future with wolves? Ooowwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
January 10, 2016 January 10, 2016 / Juliana Lightle	/ 2 Comments
As a fan of wolves and other predators, e.g. pumas, I want to share this. Predators help maintain a healthy ecosystem. Also see my other posts about wolves.
The wolf's return to Yellowstone restored an ecological balance which had been lost. Watch the animated film, "The Fable of the Wolf." Will you howl + fight for wolves? Ooowwwwoooooooo!
Source: #JoinThePack: Will you howl fight for a future with wolves? Ooowwwwoooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!
April 22, 2014 April 23, 2014 / Juliana Lightle	/ Leave a comment
Sometimes when you love nature, the environment, wildlife, wild places, it is easy to become extremely discouraged. News about the dramatic increase in poaching in Africa condoned by some governments there does little to help. Data illustrating how the United States is a hub for wildlife trafficking, the push to kill wolves, big oil's persistence to explore and open fields in the Arctic and other more delicate environments, water waste, climate change denial, a seemingly endless lists of negatives, can make one think about giving up. The Colorado River is under siege. The drought ridden Southwest of which I am a part has too many people fighting over too little water. The EPA just approved a new pesticide known to kill bees which are already disappearing, posing a huge threat to our food supply (see a previous blog highlighting how our food supply depends on these same rapidly disappearing bees). Another mountain top removal coal mine is being proposed in Kentucky and it is next to a school. The US Army Corps of Engineers issued the permit. I could probably spend this entire evening adding to this list of negatives. I could give up, but I never do. I keep looking for positives and for changes created by people who care.
In honor and praise for those who care and for the positives occurring, I am creating another list:
-Ralph Maughan, an Idaho native, continues to work on the saving the pristine wilderness of the River of No Return Country. He wants to save wolves in a state where politicians have proposed a law to kill 60 per cent of the state's wolves. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game plans to professionally exterminate them so there will be more elk for hunters. No, I did not make this up. Maughan says, "the wilderness is supposed to be a place where large carnivores, like wolves, grizzly bears, and mountain lions can exist as they did before humans arrived." Now the agency wants to come into a proclaimed wilderness to suit their own purposes. This fight continues.
-In Hawaii many housetops and businesses now glitter with solar panels. Isaac Moriwake's consumer advocacy efforts support consumers who want to generate their own electricity through clean energy. Solar panels totally cover the roof of the new parking garage at the Kapl'olani Medical Center in Oahu. Hawaii has been able to create a clean energy framework with considerable solar success in spite of traditional utilities' efforts against it.
-In more remote places like Nepal the WWF helped locals replace wood burning stoves with biogas burners so they would not have to cut down their forests for fuel.
-As Myanmar develops economically and joins the international stage, huge areas of prime forests and native animals are at risk. Conservationists work with the new government to create national parks and other areas to preserve Myanmar's rich biodiversity and to listen to local wishes as to how to preserve their valuable natural heritage.
If I wanted to stay up half the night, obviously I could add more and more to each list. And it is easy to wonder just what can one person do. For starters, use less water, get rid of all the junk mail that arrives–a later post will describe methods to do this–so it will not add to the landfill and the demise of trees, do not buy furniture made from slow growing tropical wood, adjust your thermostat to warmer in summer and cooler in winter, carry your own bags so you won't have to use the plastic ones at the store, become politically vocal about conservation. If you wonder is all this effort worth it, take a walk in the woods, along a beach, through the jungle, on a desert path; fill yourself with wonder.
Blackwater Draw–Part One
August 18, 2013 / Juliana Lightle	/ 3 Comments
Annually, I make a pilgrimage to this ancient place where people hunted on the shores of a lake nearly 12,000 years ago. It continues to be the oldest evidence of human habitation in the Americas. For a large part of the twentieth century it was a gravel pit. The gravel mining created both positive and negative consequences. Without it, the bones of giant bison, mammoths, dire wolf, saber toothed cat and camels might never have been discovered at all. However, because the owners of the quarry refused to stop mining, some portions of the site were destroyed by big swoops of the excavator machines. Frequently archaeologists worked simultaneously along with mining operations, continuing within sight of each other. Various groups, including some private individuals, attempted repeatedly to buy the site to save its precious stash of bones, artifacts, and ancient wells. The owners refused to sell. Finally, in 1978, Eastern New Mexico University purchased the site and continues archaeological excavation there. They also run the nearby museum adjacent to the university football stadium.
If you expect something wondrous and grandiose, you will be severely disappointed. A small building houses a teensy museum, restrooms, a few sweat shirts and posters and books for purchase. An individual sits by the door to take your meager entrance fee–at most five dollars–and answer questions. These individuals explain they are majors in disciplines related to the site, archaeology, paleontology, anthropology, that sort of thing. A simple gravel trail traverses the site and a smaller trail goes to an ancient well–16 have been found at or near the site–and to a dig inside a building where you can observe the layers unearthed, which group of people left which type of artifacts, and actual bones of mammoths, giant bison, and other animals from the end of the last Ice Age.
People react differently to such sites. I always remain entranced, overwhelmed, reflective, thinking to myself, "I am walking where people walked and hunted and went about their lives more than 11,000 years ago." The most ancient evidence of people is labeled Clovis Man–Clovis, NM, is just up the road. They never found human bones of these people here , just their spearheads stuck in the ribs and shoulders of mammoths which stood 15 feet at the shoulders. The people who came later made a different type of spear, called Folsom points. These people, Folsom Man, lived later by 1-2 thousand years. Another site, called Folsom, is near the tiny town of Folsom, NM, farther north at the edge of the mountains. This site is on private land and tours are available only twice a year. Although I visited the town last year, I have not visited this site. Other people arrived later and although the collection is smaller, their spearheads remain available for viewing at the nearby Blackwater Draw Museum on the main road between Clovis and Portalis, NM.
When I look at the list of animals who lived here at the end of the last Ice Age, I feel amazed because they include both camels and horses as big as our horses now. Both of these became extinct as did the saber toothed cat with the humongous canine teeth and the dire wolf. Giant sloths lived until modern times but nowhere near New Mexico. How could all these animals live here? It was wet and green then. Until the last couple of decades, bodies of water of varying sizes have drawn animals and people to this area. Giant fields of irrigated corn and dairy farms lowered the water table sufficiently to eliminate any evidence of water. At the time of Clovis Man a large lake covered the site. Later, during a 3000 year drought, people dug the ancient wells to reach water. Because this remained the only place for hundreds of miles with a supply of water, people came.
The trail begins just to the northwest of the tiny building and goes along the top for a couple of hundred feet before it drops down into the gravel pit remains. The gravel was below all the layers containing human artifacts and ancient animal bones so the pit is wide and deep.
If your sight is good, you can read this. The primary source of food for Clovis Man, giant bison and Columbian mammoths, came here for the water. Archaeologists theorize that hunters often killed these huge animals while they were in the water where it was more difficult for them to escape and move quickly. In one place on the trail, evidence of a five bison kill complete with spearheads makes one think just how difficult and dangerous this hunting activity must have been. I stand there, think about my own 5'4″ height, and wonder what it would be like to have a Columbian mammoth close to me. Doubtless many died from injuries during such activities.
The train meanders along the bottom of the gravel pit. This year, plentiful rain grows abundant grass. During the last several years, little rain has fallen as evidenced by all the dead trees and bushes scattered around the site. Normally, this area is semiarid with less than 18 inches of rain per year.
If spectacular scenery appeals to you, do not go here. Most of the bones and artifacts were found in the layers at the sides of the pit. As you walk the trail, markers indicate the location of findings. Few human remains are found at such sites because these were not permanent settlement places. Ancient peoples roamed the land in search of water and food.
Signs, such as this along the trail, illustrate different places where specific bones and artifacts were found. They also explain the different types of artifacts, their specific uses, and the history of the site. Maps, like the one on this sign, help the viewer hone in on specifics in relation to where one is standing. The photo illustrates archaeologists in action during site digs.
Cliffs, like the one here, surround the site. In these small cliffs each layer indicates a different age of human activity by not only the type of sediment but also by the type of artifacts and animal bones found. Just beyond this particular cliff at the west edge of the site, irrigation pivots run in a huge corn field. The grey at the bottom of the cliff indicates an immense pile of dead, dried, tumble weeds. This is dry country.
Approximately three fourths through the trail, the site mangers have erected several structures. This one is the most primitive. Others are modern with picnic tables and in one place I saw a giant sand box. Guessing, I think it must be used to illustrate how one sifts through layers of soil to carefully remove spearheads, bones, pottery, etc. This is the perfect place for a field trip, not too long, but full of geological and paleontological information.
I go here usually once a year. If you ask me why, I may articulate something about how it has the oldest artifacts and bones found in North America. The real reason?? I am not quite sure. This place fascinates me, connects me with something ancient and wondrous, something undefined and mysterious.


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Rob Corcoran, PGA comes from 5 back to win 2012 Cobra/Puma New England Open
The 2012 Cobra/Puma New England Open lived up to its name, an open competition. Having a great sponsor with an up and coming product is also a great addition to the event. With a star packed field including several champions from this year's events, the golf was exciting to watch. With the trophy on the line, and the course record in jeopardy, one competitor rose to the challenge and defeated the defending NEPGA Champion and overnight leader Ed Kirby, PGA.
Rob Corcoran, PGA began the week with a solid feeler round of E (72), but took the training wheels off to light up the course for a blistering -7 (65) and take the new course record and the field by storm. Corcoran started out strong, with 2 birdies in the first 4 holes. He eagled the par 5 (10th), and followed that up with a birdie on the par 3 (11th). With the addition of 2 more birdies on 13 and 18 he finished the day as the owner of a new course record, and a 2012 Cobra/Puma New England Open Championship Trophy.
Corcoran overtook the overnight leader and defending NEPGA Champion Ed Kirby, PGA, and fended off young up and comers Rich Berberian (the defending Vermont Open Champion) and Andrew Giuliani (mini tour veteran). Kirby had the lead for most of the day, but after finishing with a bogey on 16 and a disappointing par on the par 5 (18th), the tournament slipped away. Kirby finished just one stroke back at -6 (138).
The New England PGA and the New England Open would not be possible without the help of our sponsor Cobra/Puma. With an outstanding presence in our section, including sponsorship of next week's NEPGA Assistants Championship, Cobra/Puma has been a dedicated sponsor of our section. Thank you to Clem Lamarre and John Sullivan for their support of the New England Open. The New England PGA schedule continues on Monday, September 17th with the final Ahead Stroke Play event of the year at Plymouth Country Club.
The Consistent Swing instructional team is lead by Master Instruction Rob Corcoran. In 2006, Rob became a PGA Class A member professional. Playing competitively in 14 different countries and maintaining a world ranking for more than five years, Rob has attained significant experience in the game of Golf. He has successfully made cuts on nearly every major professional tour in the world. Playing alongside some of the best players in the world, Rob has not only studied, but tested proper technique under pressure situations. As a result of these experiences, Rob has a wealth of knowledge that he now shares with his students. Rob has extensively studied every aspect of the game, gaining valuable knowledge about how exercise, mental preparation, and nutritional training, when coupled with proper swing mechanics, bring out the best in every golfer. The Consistent Swing team is comprised of experts in the game of golf instruction. Each instructor has been hand selected to teach cause and effect in their specific area of expertise. Diagnosing the students' golf swing by watching the ball flight, analyzing the effect, and then working backwards to establish the cause to determine the most concise way to make the change are the hallmarks of our team. This scientific approach to teaching makes learning that much easier, and is taken to the next level through the use of Trackman. Combining this experience with the best available golf science creates the best opportunity for substantial growth. Teaching is a results driven business in which only the most skilled and trained eyes perceive faults and flaws in ones techniques. Rob has perfected the ability to communicate and maximize his students potential. "Geometric momentum through impact" There are many ways to swing the club back and many great players have proved that length of backswing is not a steadfast rule
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text:
Oxford Essential Quotations (4 ed.)
Edited by Susan Ratcliffe
In this work
How to use this work
see also Actors, Cinema, Films, Theatre
To grasp the full significance of life is the actor's duty, to interpret it is his problem, and to express it his dedication.
Marlon Brando 1924–2004 American actor: David Shipman Marlon Brando (1974)
Just say the lines and don't trip over the furniture.
advice on acting
Noël Coward 1899–1973 English dramatist, actor, and composer: D. Richards The Wit of Noël Coward (1968)
Acting is a masochistic form of exhibitionism. It is not quite the occupation of an adult.
Laurence Olivier 1907–89 English actor and director: in Time 3 July 1978
Acting is merely the art of keeping a large group of people from coughing.
Ralph Richardson 1902–83 English actor: in New York Herald Tribune 19 May 1946
Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action; with this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the first and now, was and is, to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature.
William Shakespeare 1564–1616 English dramatist: Hamlet (1601) act 3, sc. 2, l. [19] (Oxford Standard Authors ed.)


text:
Pulling the meat off the bone of the latest supergroup.
TOMAHAWK, DJ SWAMP
Graceland, $15 9 p.m. Sat., Dec. 1
ERIC ENGLAND
Tomahawk: (from left) Mike Patton, Kevin Rutmanis, John Stanier, and Duane Denison.
ZIPPY WOW, we have another supergroup coming to town. The name? Tomahawk. The game? Who knows. Let's meet the players!
Since hijacking the spotlight from Faith No More and using that attention to focus the dead gaze of the public on much better, much more interesting things, Mike Patton's been a wandering man. Anyone who witnessed Fant�' first gig at RCKNDY—complete with 150 kids scratching their heads at an hour and a half of 30-second nonlinear blasts registering somewhere between Naked City and Loony Toons—could see Patton's evil genius. The man writhed behind a wall of effects, twisting knobs like he was landing the space shuttle, finishing one song and announcing, rather annoyed, "We totally fucked that one up, so we're going to do it again." He eyed his two guitar-bearing Melvins and his one Slayer drummer with pure malice, "and we're going to do it right this time."
Heaping loads of butt-kissing on Patton is no new thing—he's been a hoppy little press bunny for a while, but for good reason. No one else goes from death metal to doo-wop on a shiny dime, nailing each one perfectly. He's even doing some electronic felching with Dan the Automator under the moniker Peeping Tom. What a guy!
And in this corner, weighing in at a respectable 165 pounds (probably), is Duane Denison, former guitar flavor coordinator for the mighty Jesus Lizard and current provider of robotic Wild West style for Hank Williams III. When it comes to laying it out, Mr. Denison ain't no slouch neither. He remains one of the few guitar players to emerge from the '90s post-punk scene with a trademark guitar sound recognizable at first listen. Tense and tight, his fingers roll around the open strings, filling crucial space and playing every base, creating melody, texture, and tension—and when that fat lady's ready to start hollerin', he lets loose with the best of them.
Then there's these two other guys, the rhythm and the bass. John Stanier powered Helmet through some good 'n' heavy songs and Interscope's million dollar bet that Helmet would be the next Nirvana. We all know that Helmet went on to become the adult contemporary Unsane with less cool album covers—still, those old records continue to sound pretty damn good. Rounding out the ensemble is Kevin Rutmanis of the Cows—and if anyone ever says anything bad about the Cows, I'll sock them in the jaw.
SO, ONE MINUTE Patton and Denison are smooching up each other's butts at a Hank Williams III show in Nashville (where Denison resides), and now they're on tour together, expecting us music hacks to give them the unabashed thumbs-up and ensure that you idiots lap it all up like a bunch of caged Pomeranians. But they don't get a free pass around here. Do these great flavors come together for a meal of pornographic Tomahawk proportions? What's the final verdict?
As Denison and Patton attempt to blend their styles, Tomahawk can seem a big white glass of half-and-half with a float of discarded crankcase oil on the top—sometimes meshing like steak fat on a manifold, sometimes clashing like gasoline in a parking lot puddle. The album contains a certain schizophrenic sense of "this is my part of the song, and this is your part of the song," and Patton has wrassled much of the tug-of-war his way. To be fair, he certainly plays well with others on the distortion-heavy Jesus Lizard-sounding parts, better than Denison does on the 70 percent of the album that sounds like Patton on Broadway. The guitar on much of that could be played by anyone. A few tunes bear out the unholy union beautifully, "Jockstrap" particularly standing as the strongest example of what evil can do if properly applied.
Whether this two-facedness is because most of the Tomahawk songs were conceived and built using the U.S. Postal Service as middleman or because Patton is an insurmountable tsunami of creative violence is unsure. What can be determined is that Tomahawk's debut release is accessible and deceptively simple. Tomahawk demonstrates Patton's mastery of the stop-and-start-10-million-different-parts-in-30-seconds formula, and if you liked the last Bungle record, you'll eat this shit up like PEZ. So go see them. It's OK.


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Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company, has a passion for the ideas and practices that are reshaping how organizations compete, innovate, and succeed. He inspires and equips leaders at every level to do the hard work of big change.
Bill has addressed audiences around the world from financial services, healthcare, technology, and countless other fields. He helps leaders think bigger, aim higher, and bring out the best in their colleagues.
Bill Taylor is a writer, a speaker, and entrepreneur who has shaped the global conversation about the best ways to compete, innovate, and succeed. He is the cofounder and founding editor of Fast Company.


text:
New Fairphone 3 Plus shows modular phones can break the endless upgrade cycle
By Andy Boxall	 August 27, 2020
Fairphone continues to work towards its goal of establishing a viable market for what it calls ethical phones, and it's doing so with an innovative modular smartphone program that helps owners of the previous Fairphone model feel compelled to upgrade to the latest one, just to get a basic hardware update. The Fairphone 3 Plus is an upgraded version of the existing Fairphone 3 with better cameras and updated software, and those upgraded camera sensors are also available separately, ready for use on the older Fairphone 3.
This goes to the core of what Fairphone wants to do, which is extend the lifetime of a smartphone we own and use to at least five years. Along with this, it's working to improve conditions for those involved with producing the phone around the world, and boosting the recycling of materials while also reducing e-waste. Its efforts extend throughout the process of making its phones, right down to transporting by train rather than air to cut down on environmental impact, and a program to ensure a special bonus is paid to workers on its production line.
The Fairphone 3 Plus is almost identical to the Fairphone 3. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 processor with 4GB of RAM, a 5.65-inch screen, a 3040mAh battery, and 64GB of internal storage space. It's a 4G device with NFC, Bluetooth 5.0, and a MicroSD card slot. A new audio system improves call quality and audio when recording video. It's also modular, and a total of seven components can be swapped out if they break.
The camera system is the major upgrade over the Fairphone 3, and consists of a new 48-megapixel main sensor and a 16-megapixel selfie sensor. It promises faster focus, better contrast and color balance, and improved low light performance too. The modules have been engineered so they are the same overall size as those used in the Fairphone 3, and can be purchased separately and used to upgrade the old model, rather than owners feeling the need to buy a new phone just to get the improved camera. Fairphone even sends you a pack to return the old camera module, which is then either recycled of refurbished, so your upgrade doesn't end up producing e-waste.
Android 10 comes pre-installed on the Fairphone 3 Plus and will be available as an update for the Fairphone 3 in September, where it's required to make the new camera modules work. Fairphone has also worked hard to use more consumer recycled plastics to build the new phone. The Fairphone 3 Plus's construction uses 40% consumer recycled plastics compared to the 9% used in making the Fairphone 3.
You'll pay 469 euros, or about $555, for the Fairphone 3 Plus. The main camera module costs 60 euros, or around $70, and the selfie camera module is 35 euros, or $41. The pair can be purchased in a bundle for 70 euros, or approximately $82. The cost of the Fairphone 3 has been reduced to 419 euros, or around $495. Currently Fairphone only sells its devices in Europe, where it says the challenge to do well is already big enough, but adds worldwide availability in the future is possible.
Last year Fairphone met its device sales target, and revealed it has sold 90,000 phones in total. The more it sells, the more influence it has over the industry, and CEO Eva Gouwens summed up why its efforts and success is important: "By showing that it is commercially viable to care for people and the planet, we want to motivate the electronics industry to act more responsibly," she said.
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Overclocker proves that you may not need expensive DDR5 RAM


text:
Fantasy Sports Companies Are Flocking to Crypto
On Oct 14, 2018 0
Fantasy sports have a history spanning back to the 1950s, when a partner at the Oakland Raiders NFL (The National Football League, an American football league) team had the idea of creating a fantasy golf league. Since then, members of the public have been choosing their fantasy teams for almost every competitive sport under the Sun, with winners being determined by just how well their chosen players perform in actual, real-world leagues.
However, as popular as fantasy sports (FS) have remained over the past six decades, they've suffered from a few defects, which cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology have recently begun solving. Crypto is making the fantasy sports industry more transparent, accessible and cheaper for users.
Yet even though it's also providing startups in the fantasy sports industry with the ability to raise additional finances, the introduction of crypto may do little to alter the perceived unfairness of traditional FS sites.
"In an industry that lacks transparency, MyDFS users can see exactly how scoring works and because of tokenization and smart contracts, users will be able to experience quicker payouts than other traditional daily fantasy sports platforms," said Viktor Mangazeev earlier this year.
Mangazeev is the CEO at MyDFS, an Ethereum-based fantasy sports platform that pays winning players in its own MyDFS cryptocurrency, and that uses smart contracts to ensure that users receive their payouts whenever they win.
The transparency being offered by the (now launched) MyDFS app has already made a big difference in cleaning up the industry's image, given that the current fantasy-sports heavyweights – FanDuel and DraftKings (now merged under single ownership) – were embroiled in an insider gaming scandal in 2015. Now that every transaction is visible via the Ethereum blockchain, questionable practices are open to much more scrutiny.
Similarly, withdrawals are currently an issue with the biggest, non-blockchain platforms, with DraftKings stating that withdrawals can take up to eight business days to be completed.
Compared to this, blockchain-based platforms such as MyDFS, Digital Fantasy Sports, and No Limit Fantasy Sports permit near-instantaneous withdrawals, given their use of cryptocurrencies. For example, with Digital Fantasy Sports, winners of games will be paid in the platform's own DFS token, which can then be instantly exchanged for Ethereum (since DFS is another ERC-20 token), which can then be exchanged for fiat.
More importantly, the use of proprietary cryptocurrencies – which cut middleman out of transfers – enables these platforms to charge lower fees.
"Instead of the traditional 10% collection from big names fantasy sites, 3% of tokens from the total pot winnings will go to the house for computing and sign up bonuses for new users," says Digital Fantasy Sports in its whitepaper.
Meanwhile, the California-based Limit Fantasy Sports writes, "Our competitive advantage is in fact that we have a cryptocurrency platform that allows the movement of coins to occur at very low cost."
There's also the fact that, through the use of crypto, these platforms have a means of raising money for themselves, which further lowers costs for customers.
For example, according to MyDFS' whitepaper, 37% of the 125 million MyDFS coins available through its initial coin offering will be "growth tokens." These "will be allocated in a timely fashion to ensure proper incentives for users and affiliates."
And as Digital Fantasy Sports notes in its paper, users "have the chance to invest their winnings in a token of their choice instead of cashing out, spending the earnings or withdrawing."
In other words, the use of cryptocurrencies turns fantasy sports into a kind of 'double game' – users attempt to select the best-performing sportspeople, and they can also win extra funds by investing their crypto wisely.
Of course, the possibility of speculating with crypto raises the biggest challenge facing these platforms, which is that cryptocurrencies are still unregulated and volatile.
Because of this, such platforms as MyDFS exchange the uncertainty surrounding fiat withdrawals and the legality of fantasy sports (in various US states and European nations) with the uncertainty of the crypto market.
Also, while the injection of crypto into the industry will increase transparency, it won't do all that much to alter one of the biggest criticisms levelled against it. As emphatically underlined by John Oliver, an English comedian and television host, in 2015, the use of sophisticated algorithms by professional players means that around 91% of all profits are won by just 1% of players.
And sadly, as refreshing as these blockchain-based companies, it's possible that professional players will be dominating their platforms too.
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