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Q: Any algebraic way to check valid permutations on a cube? Want to check if a given permutation: $(17)(35)(28)(46)$ is valid?
By a valid permutation mean a permutation, which is also a symmetry of the cube (or oriented cube).
The only way I know is: drawing a cube with vertices labeled $1$ through $8.$ Then draw the same cube but swap the vertices according to the permutation. Then we just have to make sure edges and faces are preserved. So if $12$ is an edge of the original cube, $12$ should be an edge of the permuted cube.
Is there an algebraic way, or based on group action, or any other approach that (without actual drawing of cube) ascertains that $ (17)(35)(28)(46)$ is a valid permutation?
The drawing based approach, though is possible here; but will be not helpful in bigger examples.

A: The question you ask is a special case of what is called the membership problem.
The membership problem: Let $G$ be a group, and $H$ a subgroup. Is there an algorithm which takes an element $g\in G$ and outputs whether $g\in H$?
In this case $G=S_8$ and $H=\textrm{Sym}(\textrm{cube})$. For arbitrary groups, the membership problem is undecidable, however for subgroups of permutation group it is decidable, and the most well-known algorithm is called the Schreier-Sims algorithm. This runs in polynomial time.
One can implement this algorithm in your particular case, but there is also a more elementary method if you set up the labelling on the cube in a clever way. In your question you didn't specify how the vertices are labelled, but as you pointed out in the comments relabelling doesn't fundamentally change the problem.
For my labelling I am not going to use $\{1,2,\dots,8\}$, instead I will use $\{1,2,3,4,\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$. I am going to label according to the figure below. Notice I have chosen the labelling to represent the fact that the cube contains two regular tetrahedra inside it which together define its eight vertices. On the level of groups this reflects the fact that the symmetry group of the tetrahedron, $S_4$, is an index two subgroup of $\textrm{Sym}(\textrm{cube})$.

Now, as a subgroup of $\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4,\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$, the symmetry group of the cube is generated by $S_4=\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$ (which is the group of symmetries of the blue tetrahedron) together with the permutation $$\sigma=(1\;\bar{1})(2\;\bar{2})(3\;\bar{3})(4\;\bar{4}).$$ This has the effect of swapping the red and blue tetrahedra, and as a symmetry is the antipodal map.
Now suppose we have an element of $\textrm{Sym}(\textrm{cube})$, then it can be expressed as a finite combination of permutations $g_1\sigma g_2 \sigma g_3\sigma\cdots\sigma g_n$ of some length, where the $g_i\in S_4$. We can ask what such a product looks like in cycle notation.
Well if $g\in\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$, then $\sigma g\in\textrm{Perm}\{\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$. Similarly, if $h\in\textrm{Perm}\{\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$, then $\sigma h\in\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$. Therefore, the element $\sigma g_2 \sigma g_3\sigma\cdots\sigma g_n$ will lie in either $\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$ or $\textrm{Perm}\{\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$, depending on whether $n$ is even or odd. Thus $g_1\sigma g_2 \sigma g_3\sigma\cdots\sigma g_n$ will be one of the following

*

*An element of $\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$

*An element of $\textrm{Perm}\{\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$

*A product of two permutations, one from $\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$ and one from $\textrm{Perm}\{\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$
Moreover it is easy to see that every permutation which is in one of these forms is a symmetry of the cube. Therefore we have proved the following easy solution to the membership problem in this case:
Proposition: An element of $\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4,\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$ lies in $\textrm{Sym}(\textrm{cube})$ if and only if each cycle lies in either $\textrm{Perm}\{1,2,3,4\}$ or $\textrm{Perm}\{\bar{1},\bar{2},\bar{3},\bar{4}\}$.
Edit: after posting my answer I saw OP had added a couple of extra comments. To relate my answer to those, note that each of the four diagonals of the cube has exactly one endpoint in the blue tetrahedron, and one in the red tetrahedron. Tus thinking about permuting diagonals is equivalent to thinking about symmetries of one of the tetrahedra. The corresponding $S_4$ subgroup, which I said was index 2, is the group of orientation preserving symmetries of the cube.
The issue raised in the class summary is about recognising the type of symmetry of the cube (rotation about a vertex, rotation about the midpoint of an edge, reflection, etc) which is not the question you asked, and so not the question I have answered.

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[Then God said] If they will not believe you or heed the voice or the testimony of the first sign, they may believe the voice or the witness of the second sign.
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall take no bribe, for the bribe blinds those who have sight and perverts the testimony and the cause of the righteous.
And thou shalt cause the bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the testimony, and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock.
And thou shalt kill the bullock before the LORD by the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your ages at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the LORD, where I will concert with you, to speak there unto you.
And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar; I will likewise sanctify both Aaron and his sons that they may be my priests.
And thou shalt take the reconciliation money of the sons of Israel and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the testimony, and it shall be a memorial unto the sons of Israel before the LORD to reconcile your souls.
Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and its base also of brass, to wash with; and thou shalt place it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar, and thou shalt put water in it.
And they came, every man whose heart stirred him up, and every one whose spirit made them willing, and they brought the LORD's offering for the work of the tabernacle of the testimony and for all his service and for the holy garments.
He also made the laver of brass and the base of it of brass, of the looking glasses of the women who were vigilant at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
In the day of the first month, the first of the month shalt thou set up the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony.
Then thou shalt set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle, of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And he put the table in the tabernacle of the testimony, upon the side of the Aquilon of the tabernacle, outside the veil.
He also put the golden altar in the tabernacle of the testimony before the veil.
And he put the altar of burnt offering by the door of the tabernacle, of the tabernacle of the testimony, and offered upon it the burnt offering and the present, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
And he set the laver between the tabernacle of the testimony and the altar and put water in it, to wash with.
When they would enter into the tabernacle of the testimony and when they would come near unto the altar, they washed themselves, as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Then a cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.
And Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of the testimony because the cloud was upon it, and the glory of the LORD had it full.
If his offering is a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish; he shall offer it of his own free will at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the LORD.
Then he shall kill the bullock before the LORD; and the priests, Aaron's sons, shall offer the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering and kill it at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and Aaron's sons the priests shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar round about.
and he shall lay his hand upon the head of his offering and then kill it before the tabernacle of the testimony; and Aaron's sons shall sprinkle its blood round about upon the altar.
and he shall lay his hand upon the head of it and kill it before the tabernacle of the testimony; and the sons of Aaron shall sprinkle its blood upon the altar round about.
And he shall bring the bullock unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the LORD and shall lay his hand upon the bullock's head and kill the bullock before the LORD.
And the priest shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar of aromatic incense before the LORD, which is in the tabernacle of the testimony, and shall pour all the blood of the bullock at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
when the sin, which they have committed, is understood, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock as the sin and bring it before the tabernacle of the testimony.
And the priest that is anointed shall bring of the bullock's blood to the tabernacle of the testimony.
And he shall put some of the blood upon the horns of the altar which is before the LORD, that is in the tabernacle of the testimony and shall pour out all the blood at the bottom of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat; without leaven it shall be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the testimony they shall eat it.
And no atonement as sin, of which any of the blood is brought into the tabernacle of the testimony to reconcile in the sanctuary, shall be eaten; it shall be burnt in the fire.
And Moses did as the LORD commanded him, and the congregation was gathered together unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
And Moses said unto Aaron and to his sons, Cook the flesh at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and eat it there with the bread that is in the basket of the consecrations, as I have commanded, saying, Aaron and his sons shall eat it.
And ye shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle of the testimony in seven days, until the day that the days of your consecration are fulfilled; because for seven days ye shall be consecrated.
Therefore shall ye abide at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the LORD, that ye die not; for so I am commanded.
And they brought that which Moses commanded before the tabernacle of the testimony, and all the congregation drew near and stood before the LORD.
And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the testimony and came out and blessed the people; and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people.
And ye shall not go out from the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, lest ye die; for the anointing oil of the LORD is upon you. And they did according to the word of Moses.
And he shall bring these things on the eighth day of his purification unto the priest, unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, before the LORD.
After that, he shall take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.
and he shall cleanse the sanctuary of the uncleanness of the sons of Israel and of their rebellions and of all their sins; in the same manner so shall he do for the tabernacle of the testimony, which dwells among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
And no man shall be in the tabernacle of the testimony when he enters in to make reconciliation in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made reconciliation for himself and for his household and for all the congregation of Israel.
After that, Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the testimony and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on to enter into the sanctuary, and shall put them there.
and he shall reconcile the holy sanctuary and reconcile the tabernacle of the testimony; he shall also reconcile the altar and the priests and all the people of the congregation.
to the end that the sons of Israel may bring their sacrifices which they sacrifice in the open field, even that they may bring them unto the LORD unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, unto the priest and sacrifice sacrifices of peace unto the LORD.
And the priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar of the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony and incense the fat in a very acceptable aroma unto the LORD.
and does not bring it unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony to offer it unto the LORD, even that man shall be cut off from among his people.
You shall not go up and down as a dispenser of gossip and scandal among your people, nor shall you [secure yourself by false testimony or by silence and] endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the Lord.
And he shall bring in expiation for his guilt unto the LORD, unto the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, a ram for expiation of guilt.
Each man of the sons of Israel shall pitch by his own standard, according to the ensigns of the houses of their fathers; round about the tabernacle of the testimony shall they pitch.
Then shall set forward the tabernacle of the testimony, the camp of the Levites in the midst of the camps, in the manner that they encamp, so shall they set forward, each one in his place by their standards.


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In honor of Adam's memory, the Petty family rallied their friends and the NASCAR community to help them bring Adam's dream to fruition — a place where children with serious illness would be able to experience the joys of childhood and forget about being sick for a while. With land donated by Richard and Lynda Petty, and generous donations from the NASCAR community, corporations, individuals and foundations, Victory Junction opened its gates to our first campers in June of 2004.
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After the video, the Majestic team was taken on a tour of the rest of the camp. The first stop was the catch, kiss and release pond where kids fish for bass, striper and trout, some for the very first time, from the accessible fishing dock. If they catch a fish, and the kids almost always do because the pond is well stocked, they have to kiss it before they release it. Of course is if a child prefers not to kiss a fish – not to worry – the counselors will do it for them.
The next stop on the tour was the sleeping cabins which are named after the different NASCAR race tracks. Inside the décor is racing inspired with beds that look like cars and night stands that look like gas pumps. On each bed is a unique, one-of-a –kind, hand-made teddy bear that the kids take home with them to remember their time at Victory Junction. It was here that Chad told the story of a camper who was severely home-sick and wanted to go home. She missed her family so much, she wasn't able to enjoy the camp. At night, knowing the counselors were very tired, one of the other campers would come to the girl's bed side to comfort her and sing to her. This helped the girl overcome her homesickness and enjoy the rest of her time at camp. "It is stories like this that are the real benefit to the kids coming to camp", Chad said.
After the tour, Mike and the Majestic team's resolve to partner with Victory Junction was solidified. Chad shared that it costs approximately $2,500 to send a child to camp for the week and from there, it quickly became Majestic's goal to raise enough money to send 20 kids to camp. With this goal in mind, The Majestic Floor Covering Golf Tournament to benefit Victory Junction was born.
If you know Mike Key, you know that he doesn't do anything halfway and the premiere Majestic Floor Covering Golf Tournament to benefit Victory Junction is proof of that. The event will take place October 13, 2017 at Tot Hill Farm Golf Club and will begin at 8:00. Majestic Floor Covering is giving away a new 2017 Chevrolet Sonic to anyone that hits a hole in one on the designate par-3 hole. Additionally, there will be a $10,000 prize for anyone that hits a hole in one on a separate par-3 hole. To make the event memorable and fun, Majestic has hired Charity Golf Guns to bring one of their AR-15 Golf Ball Launchers to the event. This will give golfers the opportunity to use the rifle to launch their golf ball approximately 400 yards in place of driving off a tee. Additionally there will be a beverage cart, prizes, raffles and lunch will be provided by Chick-fil-A of Asheboro.
There are sponsorship levels for every budget from sponsoring a hole at $150 to the Platinum Sponsorship of $5,000. Some sponsorship levels come with greens fees for four or you can buy a foursome for only $300. Whatever you donate, 100% of the proceeds will go to benefit Victory Junction and your donation is tax deductible. To sponsor or sign up for this event that benefits a great organization, visit www.golf336.com or call Mike Key or Dave Johnson at 336-824-1599.


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Sterile technique is always a relative matter. The precautions required depend on the experimental situation, including the growth media used, the competitive abilities of the experimental organism, the duration of the experiment, and the intended use of the culture. For these experiments the most serious contamination problem is mold. Many common molds grow well on yeast media and compete effectively, over-growing the plates and obscuring those yeast that do manage to grow. Bacteria are less of a problem as most of them do not grow well on these media and, with a little experience, one can easily distinguish them from yeast. Other strains of yeast can be disastrous contaminants if they go undetected. In particular, a red yeast that sometimes shows up can be really confusing, but is distinguished from our red yeast because it doesn't require adenine.
In contrast to short-term experiments, however, sterilizing media must be quite rigorous because storage allows ample time for even slow-growing contaminants to develop. We have concluded from experience that storing media in the cold is actually counter-productive. It does not prevent contamination, but slows its growth. Consequently contamination may go undetected until the cultures are incubated. It is much better to store media at room temperature and detect contamination before the medium is used.
Moist heat provided by an autoclave or pressure cooker is an efficient way to sterilize most materials. At a pressure of 15 psi above atmospheric pressure, water reaches a temperature of approximately 121O C before it boils. Most materials are effectively sterilized by 15 minutes exposure to this temperature. If an autoclave is not available, an ordinary household pressure cooker will effectively sterilize media supplies in small batches.
Dry materials such as glass and metal may be sterilized in an oven, but this requires higher temperature (160O C) and longer time (at least 2 hours) than an autoclave. This is most practical for glassware when an oven controlled by an automatic timer is available so that sterilization and cooling can occur overnight. Use of disposable, pre-sterilized, plastic ware makes the oven less important.
The flame from a gas burner effectively sterilizes small glass or metal objects, such as inoculating loops, but one must avoid "frying" the yeast by contact with objects heated in a flame. Dip glass spreaders in alcohol and then use the flame to ignite the alcohol. Place metal tools such as loops in the flame until they are red hot. Cool hot tools by touching them to the agar or inside of a sterile glass tube. However, since flames are dangerous this method can and should be avoided whenever possible. We have found that flaming is really only necessary to sterilize inoculating loops and small instruments. We have not been able to demonstrate any value in flaming the openings of tubes, bottles, or flasks in these experiments.
In many experimental procedures, the most effective way to sterilize objects is with ethanol. Either 95% or 70% will work. The latter is actually more effective, but the former is often more convenient. Of course the alcohol must be allowed to evaporate or be burned off before the object is used in contact with the yeast. Use a flame to burn off the alcohol, a candle is generally less expensive and safer than a gas burner. The alcohol, more than the heat, does the sterilizing, so just "light" the alcohol to minimize heating and speed up the process. Also, wipe the bench with alcohol before starting an experiment to remove mold-laden dust, the most common source of contamination. If your skin is not particularly sensitive, wipe your hands with a small amount of alcohol, too.
1) Keep things covered as much as possible.
2) Don't touch anything that will come in contact with the culture and if you do touch it sterilize it again before using it.
3) Wipe down the surface around the experiment with alcohol and minimize air turbulence.
4) Avoid talking, singing, whistling, coughing, or sneezing in the direction of things that should be sterile. Long hair, if not tied back, may be a source of contamination.
5) Maintain a suitable area for preparing, storing, and using sterile media. Unfortunately, house plants, animals, and other materials such as Drosophila media, commonly found in biology class rooms, are abundant sources of mold and must be kept far away from the area used for sterile procedures.
If some of your agar plates become contaminated, you can often tell by examining the plate how contamination took place. If the contaminants are imbedded in the agar, the contaminant was probably poured with the medium. If the contamination is beneath the agar it could have been in the dish before it was poured or entered when the lid was being opened to pour. If the contamination is on top it could have come in before the lid was closed after pouring, while opening the lid to wipe out condensation or while the plate was being inoculated.
Appropriate sterile technique is essential for successful microbiological experiments, but excessive precautions can be serious distractions. Yeast and bacteria call for different methods from tissue culture. Yeast grow robustly, out-pacing most things, except a few filamentous (fuzzy) fungi and some bacteria. Experiments can become contaminated and still not be lost when students are using yeast because the yeast will grow well enough, in spite of contamination, that the results of an experiment can be read through the offending growth. Therefore, use the most caution while making and pouring media.
7) a rich medium used to store yeast strains (YEPAD).
We use media prepared from commercially available ingredients. The small extra expense of these ingredients is more than compensated for by their uniformity and dependability. The savings that can be realized by using "home-made" ingredients are smaller than might be expected because we have not yet found a substitute for the most expensive ingredient, agar. Although common sources, such as various kinds of vegetable juices, can supply most of the other ingredients, we have found the sacrifice of reproducibility to be unwarranted.
YED medium (Yeast Extract + Dextrose) will be our standard growth medium. It is called a "complex" medium because it is made from natural ingredients (yeast) and its exact chemical composition is not known. It contains everything that is in yeast--including adenine, of course--so it is also a "complete" medium. Red adenine-requiring mutants grow well on this medium and develop the characteristic red pigment.
YEAD medium (Yeast Extract + Adenine + Dextrose) contains the same ingredients as YED but has excess adenine added. Red adenine-requiring mutants grow well on this medium and will not develop the characteristic red pigment.
YEPAD medium (Yeast Extract + Peptone + Adenine + Dextrose) contains the same ingredients as YEAD but has peptone added. This is a very rich medium used for storing yeast strains.
MV medium (Minimal plus Vitamins) is a chemically defined medium, meaning it is made up from the minimum of pure chemical ingredients necessary to support growth of wild type yeast. We will use MV when we need a medium that contains no adenine.
MV + Ade medium (Minimal plus Vitamins + adenine) contains the same ingredients as MV but has excess adenine added.
YEKAC (Yeast Extract plus Potassium Acetate) induces diploid yeast to sporulate and undergo meiosis. It is nutritionally unbalanced so very little growth will occur.
PETITE medium contains glycerol as the carbon source and is used to identify petite colony mutants. Petite cells will not grow on this medium.
Use 2 ml stock solution for 100 ml of medium; reduce the water added to the medium by 2 ml.
Add adenine to the distilled water in a large enough beaker so the solution does not boil over. Boil five minutes. Add blotter paper disks and boil five minutes more. Remove the disks with sterile forceps to a sterile covered container such as a Petri dish. Place them in a single layer and allow them to dry for several days.
For many of the short term experiments it is possible to "sterilize" water by boiling.
3) after it cools tighten the lid on the water container.
Probably a better way to prepare sterile water is to place the loosely covered water containers in an autoclave or pressure cooker and then sterilize the water under the same conditions used for growth media.
The optimum growth temperature for these strains is approximately 30O C, but they will grow quite satisfactorily over a much wider range. All of these experiments can be done at a comfortable room temperature, but the yeast tolerate almost any temperature that people can. However, the temperature will affect the growth rate. At lower temperatures the cells will grow more slowly, and the rate must be determined by experiment. The incubation times estimated in these experiments are based on incubation at temperatures within a degree or two of 30O C.
One can, in fact, slow yeast down by chilling them to make experiments fit into class schedules. Simply refrigerate or merely cool plates at different stages to slow down growth. Keep in mind, however, that after a culture has been refrigerated there may be a lag period of several hours before it begins to grow again. Of course, if it has reached the stationary phase it will not grow further at any temperature.
Yeast strains can actually be stored for prolonged periods in the refrigerator at temperatures just above freezing. Some strains will continue to grow, although very slowly, at these temperatures, but most remain viable for weeks or months, and some for years.
Temperatures above 30O C should be avoided. Although cells will grow at higher temperatures, they accumulate undesirable petite mutations and sporulation is strongly inhibited. The red pigment in adenine mutants is also inhibited at higher temperatures. It is safest to incubate cultures that are being sporulated at a comfortable room temperature.
Incubate cultures in the dark or reduced light as much as is convenient. Although not critical, prolonged exposure to normal room light or brighter light will reduce the viability of the cells that contain the red pigment. The UV sensitive strain G948-1C/U should not have prolonged exposure to light sources.
For optimal growth, and for the red pigment to develop, the plates must be aerobic. We incubate plates in open plastic food-storage bags. Enough oxygen is available with the bags open to support aerobic respiration. Plastic bags keep the plates from drying out too fast, protect them from contamination and make them easier to carry without spilling.
For most purposes the easiest way to move yeast from one place to another on agar medium is with a sterile toothpick. The flat style toothpick is easier to use than the round style. The pointed end is useful for picking samples from individual colonies or for making small spots or streaks. The flat end is good for spreading the yeast, for streaking it out to isolate single colonies and for mixing. Toothpicks are sterile directly from the box as long as the box has not been contaminated. Just cut across one corner to make a small hole (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch across) and the box will serve as a dispenser. The toothpicks in a box are pointing in both directions, but you can easily select the end you prefer for any task. Of course, one must take care to handle each toothpick only by the end that will not touch the yeast or the medium.
The toothpick is an alternative to the traditional inoculating loop, which is available commercially, even in platinum. We make our own inoculating loops from a 6 to 8 inch piece of brass rod (as used for brazing) and nichrome wire. Drill a small hole near the end of the rod to anchor the wire, insert the end of the wire into the hole, wrap several turns around the rod and leave an inch or two of wire straight. In the end of the straight portion form a loop with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Flame the wire in a bunsen burner until it glows red to sterilize it before each use, and of course, allow it to cool before it touches (or fries) the yeast. Touching it to the agar cools it immediately.
There are several ways to spread cells. They use various types of pipetting equipment and various methods of moving the cells on the agar surface.
This method requires the preparation of a separate final dilution tube for each plate and then the entire contents of the tube are poured onto the agar surface. This method has the advantage of not requiring the use of a flame. It has the disadvantage of not being as reproducible.
1. Make a 1 to 10 dilution series of yeast cell suspensions.
2. Pipet 0.1 ml of the appropriate suspension into a sterile tube containing 0.9 ml of sterile water. Swirl the tube to suspend the cells and then pour the entire contents of the tube onto the surface of the agar medium. Tilt and rotate the plate to evenly distribute the suspension over the surface of the agar.
3. If there are spots that don't get covered use a sterile toothpick to spread the suspension over the uncovered areas.
The suspension must be allowed to soak into the agar before the plates are exposed to the experimental treatment. To speed up the process make the agar plates several days in advance and let they dry out a bit before you pour on the yeast suspension.
Video section Serial Dilution & Viable Cell Counts illustrates the pour plating method.
You can easily make an inexpensive reusable spreader by straightening out two bends in a large paper clip, leaving a hairpin-shaped end for spreading and a straight handle at right angles to it. You can sterilize several spreaders together in covered beakers or wrapped in foil or paper.
If you have the equipment and skills to work with glass rod you can make a simple glass spreader by heating and bending a one inch section at the end of a short piece of glass rod. These spreaders can also be purchased.
2. Use a fresh pipet tip to pipet 0.1 ml of the appropriate suspension onto the agar surface. Thump the tube before taking the sample. If you are doing multiple plates you can pipet cells into each plate using the same pipet tip and then spread them without flaming the spreader between each plate.
3. Sterilize the spreader in 95% ethanol and then pass the spreader through a flame to ignite the alcohol. Hold the spreader carefully until all the alcohol on the spreader completely burns. The use of alcohol flames is a dangerous step and requires care and close supervision by the teacher.
4. Cool the spreader by touching it to the agar . Use the flat side to spread the suspension over the surface; then use the curved part of the spreader to make overlapping strokes. Turn the plate 90 degrees and repeat the process of making overlapping strokes. The lid can be held over the plate to minimize contamination. Avoid spreading the suspension to the edge where it can run down between the agar and the side of the Petri dish.
Video section Using Yeast to Measure Solar UV, illustrates a flamed glass spreader plating method.
This method produces a thick even growth of cells (lawn) over the surface of the agar plate. This is a quick method and is useful for a variety of qualitative experiments.
1. Make a turbid suspension of yeast cells.
2. Pipet 1.0 ml of the suspension onto the surface of the agar medium. Tilt and rotate the plate to evenly distribute the suspension over the surface of the agar.
As in the quantitative pour plating method the suspension must be allowed to soak into the agar before the plates are exposed to the experimental treatment. If you make the agar plates several days in advance and let they dry out a bit before you pour on the yeast suspension you will speed up the process.
Video section Effect of Solar UV on Cells illustrates the pouring method of plating for a lawn.
1. Press the small end of the pipettor firmly into the open end of a tip while the tip is still in the dispenser.
2. To fill it, slowly depress the plunger until you feel resistance, but not as far as possible. Immerse the tip in the solution and then slowly release the plunger. If any drops adhere to the tip, wipe them on the edge of the container.
3. Place the tip into the liquid in the tube you are pipetting into and slowly depress the plunger. This time press it as far as possible to expel all of the sample. Remove the tip of the pipettor from the solution, release the plunger, and discard the tip.
Serological pipets and pipet pumps may be used instead of automatic pipettors. These pipets will give very accurate volume measurements. It is possible to purchase presterilized serological pipets in several sizes. You must have a set of pipet pumps available for students to use with these pipets. Remember it's never good practice to use your mouth to draw liquid into a pipet. Not even sterile water!
Disposable bulbed pipets are also acceptable for most of the experiments in this handbook. Three drops from a one milliliter bulbed pipet is approximately equal to 0.1 ml. The volume measurements are not as accurate but these pipets are cheap and do not require the use of pipet pumps. These pipets may also be purchased presterilized and individually wrapped. The wrappers of presterilized pipets provide a convenient sterile holder for the pipet during the experimental procedure.
Yeast nutrients can be supplied by a solid or a liquid medium. When the yeast strains come from a supplier they are usually growing on agar slants. If you keep these slants tightly closed and refrigerated you can store them for up to one year. The smaller slants allow you to use toothpicks to move the yeast. It's best to have fresh cultures for your experiments. So the day before you intend to use the yeast transfer a small number of cells from the stock culture to fresh medium (usually YED). You can use a flamed loop to transfer the cells but a sterile toothpick is usually easier. Touch the toothpick to the cells in the slant; you don't need to transfer many cells. Make a streak of cells on the surface of the agar; try not to gouge the surface of the agar. This procedure of growing fresh yeast is called subculturing. You should subculture at least 12 hours before you intend to use the yeast.
Sometimes cultures will be sent from yeast stock centers on milk papers. To make a fresh subculture: Open the foil sterilely and using sterile forceps place the small square of milk paper on a sterile agar YED plate. If you wipe the paper across the agar several times you should get single colonies to use and a large spot of cells will grow where the paper is placed. It will take from 3 to 5 days for many strains cultured in this way to grow to a suitable size. Cultures sent this way are less vulnerable to inclement weather conditions and long travel times.
Many experiments require growing colonies from isolated single cells. This is easily accomplished by streaking cultures out on an agar plate with the flat end of a toothpick. The purpose of the technique is to dilute the cells on the surface of the agar in successive, overlapping streaks, until individual cells are separated or distributed to form isolated single colonies. Figure below illustrates the technique, which you should practice until you are proficient.
The first step is to make a single, short streak of cells (about 2 cm long) near the edge of the agar in a petri dish. With a fresh toothpick, make a second, overlapping streak, at an angle of about 15 degrees to the first one, dragging cells from the first streak onto fresh agar. Make several more parallel streaks with the same toothpick. Then take a new toothpick and repeat the process starting within the end of the last streak. Repeat this sequence until the whole plate has been covered. Since the population of cells that is produced from a single parent cell is a clone, this is a process for cloning yeast. If a culture is not pure, for whatever reason, this provides a method for isolating pure clones. The same result can be achieved using a flamed and cooled loop at each step where a fresh toothpick is used. This approach is slower, and risks frying the cells.
In some experiments we transfer many cultures from one kind of medium to one or several other kinds, to determine the cultures' growth requirements. This can be done using toothpicks or loops, but if there are very many strains to be transferred it becomes laborious. A simple, rapid method -- replica plating -- played a major role in the development of microbial genetics and is one of the great labor-savers of all time. The experiments described below can be done without this technique, but it is fascinating to do and worth the trouble to set it up. Even with modest experiments, the effort is a good investment in the long run.
The principle of replica plating is that of a rubber stamp .
A cotton velveteen stamp is used to stamp a replica of the pattern of cells growing on one plate to one or several other plates. The apparatus consists of a cylindrical holder for the velveteen that is just the right size to fit inside the bottom of a petri plate, and a ring of some sort to hold the velveteen in place. For standard 10 cm plastic plates the appropriate diameter is approximately 3.3 inches. The holder can be a cylinder of wood, metal, plastic, or any other material you can fabricate. It can even be a one pound food can or other heavy cylindrical container if the bottom is flat. (A circle cut from a foam meat tray makes a good flat surface to put on a food can) The ring to hold the velveteen can be a large hose clamp, some other found object, or even a large rubber band.
The velveteen, of course, must be sterilized, and newly cut cotton velveteen usually needs to be de-linted with a piece of masking tape before it is sterilized. Autoclave and dry it thoroughly. We use six-inch squares, which we stack and wrap in paper, autoclave, and then dry on the vacuum setting. If an autoclave is not available, dry them in a warm oven or just let them sit on the counter until they dry. To reuse the velveteen squares, rinse them out in plain water and resterilize. Other fabrics such as several layers of cotton gauze may be used instead of cotton velveteen.
To replica plate, invert the master plate, the one with the yeast on it, over the velveteen on the holder and press the plate firmly against the sterile fabric surface. Then slowly peel the plate off, leaving a replica or print of the cell pattern on the velveteen. Transfer the replica on the velveteen to one or a series of sterile plates by pressing each plate gently onto the velveteen and popping it off. It is possible to make as many as 20 replicas from a single master plate if necessary. The procedure is illustrated in Figure 13.
The manner in which you remove the plate from the velveteen controls the amount of yeast transferred from velveteen to plate or from plate to velveteen. If you peel the master plate off the velveteen with a slow, rolling motion, more yeast will remain on the velvet than if you pop it off with a quick vertical motion. It is desirable to transfer as few cells as possible and still be able to see the print of the cells on the replica plate.
There are many ways of counting cells directly, the most common making use of counting chambers for the microscope or electronic particle counters. These have little instructive value in genetics, and are not suitable for general classroom use. Therefore, we have designed experiments that don't depend on accurate particle counts. When cell counts are needed, we determine them from the numbers of colonies on the plates (see Dilution and Plating Procedures).
Many experiments, however, do require making approximate estimates of the number of cells in a liquid suspension in order to get a reasonable number of colonies plated. For this you will use one of the most sophisticated and sensitive optical instruments in existence: the human eye. With surprisingly little practice, you can learn to estimate the number of cells in a suspension by just looking at it.
a. Place 1 to 2 ml of sterile water into a tube.
b. Use a cooled, flamed inoculating loop or sterile toothpick to suspend a small amount of yeast, about the size of the head of a pin, in the water.
This suspension should contain approximately 1 x 107 cells/ml, but this density is difficult to judge, so we will dilute it before judging its density.
d. Pipet 0.9 ml of sterile water into a tube with a sterile 1.0 ml pipet.
e. Dilute 0.1 ml of your cell suspension into this tube and thump it. Compare it with a tube containing sterile water. If the tube with cells is barely turbid, then it contains very nearly 1 x 106 cells/ml.
f. If the tube is not visibly turbid, then add additional 0.1 ml volumes of the original suspension until it is. If you think it is more turbid than the limit of visibility, then add more sterile water. Adjust the volumes of water and cells until you are convinced. Keep track of the volumes you add so you will know the final dilution you have made.
In many experiments one must spread an approximately known number of cells on a plate to grow into colonies. We use serial dilutions, making several small dilutions, one after another, instead of making one big dilution. The method saves material and avoids the use of large volumes that are difficult to measure and sterilize.
Paper clip or glass spreader: The cells are distributed over the surface of the agar with spreaders.
The following procedure yields a series of dilutions that vary by factors of ten. You will be able to use this procedure for most of the experiments that require serial dilutions (Figure 12).
a. Prepare a suspension containing approximately 1 x 106 cells/ml in sterile water using the procedure described in Estimating the Number of Yeast Cells in a Culture.
b. Pipet 0.9 ml of sterile water into each of three tubes and label them. We recommend making a diagram in your notebook showing the procedure and the meaning of your labels.
c. Resuspend the cells in the original suspension. Remove 0.1 ml with the micropipettor and a fresh tip and transfer it to one of the tubes of water. Then thump the tube to suspend the cells.
d. Repeat the procedure serially, using a fresh pipet or pipet tip for each of the remaining tubes, so that each tube contains 1/10th the number of cells as the previous one. The third dilution should contain approximately 1 x 103 cells/ml.
If you expect all the cells to grow, then you will only plate the final dilution, as the other tubes would be too concentrated and the plates made from them would contain too many colonies to count. However, in the radiation experiments you will use the dilutions containing more cells to compensate for the reduced number of cells that survive irradiation. This way you will obtain an optimal number of colonies to count on each plate, even when most of the cells are dead.
e. You will have better data if you do all platings in duplicate or triplicate. First label the plates using a marking pen (a Pilot SC-UF or a Sharpie). (You will also use this same kind of pen for marking the colonies when you count them.) We recommend that you identify each plate with the strain number, dose (for radiation experiments), dilution plated, and your initials, but you may prefer to code this information in your notes and put the code letters or numbers on the plate. Write only on the lid or in small letters on the edge of the bottom, leaving the bottom clear for marking the colonies when you count them.
The easiest way to examine yeast under the microscope is to look at them directly on the plate. This only works with low-powered objectives (10x) because higher power ones get too close to the agar and fog up. To see more detail, make a wet mount slide. Put a drop of water on a microscope slide. Transfer a small amount of yeast to the water with a sterile toothpick and stir a little. Then put a coverslip over the yeast suspension on the slide. If preparations are to be viewed by a number of students, seal the cover slip to the slide with finger nail polish and the slide will be viewable for several hours. Oil immersion should not be necessary and for merely observing the shapes of cells it is not necessary to stain them. With suitable staining methods the nucleus can be seen, but the yeast chromosomes are too small to see with most light microscopes.
For classroom demonstrations you may wish to use a video microscope. There are a number of very good video microscopes available on the market. If you don't have one it's possible to get many of the same results with a classroom microscope and a home video camera. When we look through a microscope our eyes are focused at infinity. If we place a video camera close to the ocular of the microscope and set the camera focus at infinity it will "see" the same thing as our eyes. It helps to cut out light entering from the side by wrapping the camera lens and the microscope ocular with a piece of dark cloth or aluminum foil.
Standard germicidal UV-C lamps, which are low-pressure mercury vapor discharge tubes, make an ideal UV source for irradiating wild type yeast with normal DNA repair enzymes. The sun or quartz halogen yardlights are good sources of UV for irradiating mutant strains of yeast that are deficient in normal DNA repair enzymes.
Standard germicidal UV-C lamps are common fluorescent tubes without a fluorescent coating and with an envelope that is transparent to ultraviolet. The low-pressure mercury spectrum is a line-spectrum with the most prominent line having a wavelength of 253.7 nanometers. This is fortuitously close to the 260 nanometers that is optimal for absorption by DNA.
The design of the U.V. Radiation Chamber is dictated by several considerations, the most important being safety. (See Instructions for Building a UV Radiation Chamber) The radiation emitted by germicidal lamps will cause painful and dangerous burns to eyes and skin so they must be effectively shielded. Exposure to the cells cannot be controlled by turning the lamp on and off because the output intensity of the lamp is strongly temperature-dependent. Therefore, it must be enclosed in a shielded box with a shutter mechanism so it can warm up to a constant temperature before being used. The door and the shutter must be interlocked so they cannot both be open at the same time.
1. Plug in the lamp and turn it on. You can safely tell when the lamp is on by seeing the indicator light.
2. Allow the lamp to warm up for 30 minutes, if possible.
3. Center the petri dish to be exposed on the mark in the bottom of the box, remove the plate lid, gently lower the door, and open the shutter. Measure the exposure time from when the shutter opened. When the time has elapsed, close the shutter, gently raise the door, put the lid on the petri dish and remove it. Moving the door too quickly causes air turbulence which is likely to cause contamination of the agar plates. If the box is fitted with a UV-B bulb the same procedure may be followed.
1. Cover the dish with dark paper and while it remains covered position the dish at a 90 degree angle to the light source. If you are using a quartz halogen light remove the glass cover from the light. While the sun and the yardlight produce less UV radiation than the germicidal tube one should still take reasonable precautions. Don't look directly at the source and avoid any long term direct exposure to skin.
CAUTION: A quartz halogen bulb gets very hot. The use of this lamp should be under the direct supervision of the teacher.
2. Remove the dark cover from the plate and start measuring the exposure time. When the time has elapsed cover the dish and move it to the incubator. It is usually not necessary to remove the lid from plastic Petri dishes when you use the sun or quartz halogen yardlights as the UV source. Most plastic Petri dishes are transparent to the wavelengths of UV produced by these sources. You may want to run a trial experiment on each new batch of Petri dishes. If you are getting survival rates higher than you expect you may wish to remove the lids during UV exposure. If contamination becomes a problem you may wish to cover the dishes with thin plastic wrap or a sandwich bag. These thin plastic films will not absorb significant amounts of UV.


text:
Here's what we know about the mask mandate at Channel Islands National Park
Cheri Carlson
National Park Service officials say face masks are now required for visitors headed to their sites, including the local Channel Islands National Park and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
The shift from encouraging the use of face coverings to requiring it follows an executive order signed by President Joe Biden last month in response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The mandate requires masks in all federal buildings as well as on federally managed lands whenever physical distancing is not possible.
The new rule applies to employees, visitors, partners and contractors in the National Park Service, officials said. Here's what is happening at the local parks.
Are masks required on national park trails?
Masks are required on local National Park Service trails on the islands or in the Santa Monica Mountains but with some exceptions.
People must wear masks on lands managed by the park service when physical distancing cannot be maintained. That could be a narrow or busy trail, at an overlook, in a parking lot, on a pier or any spot where people cannot keep at least 6 feet of distance between themselves and others.
More:Coronavirus crisis adds barrier to reaching Channel Islands. This app may help
"If you are near others, especially people outside of your household, you need to wear a mask," said Ana Beatriz Cholo, public affairs officer for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which has a network of trails in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
But if you are in areas where there are not other people around, she said, you may not need to wear a mask. People, however, still need to have a mask at the ready.
"You should be prepared to put on a mask if you encounter another person on the trail with whom you cannot maintain physical distance of at least 6 feet," she said.
More:California campgrounds are reopening. Here's what we know:
Have the rules changed?
Before the president's order, the park service encouraged people to wear masks with posted signs and messages on social media channels. Back in May, park staff at the Santa Monica Mountains made a dance-inspired video to urge people to wear masks on its trails.
The biggest change now is that it is not just encouragement but a requirement for everyone who works or visits the parks. Other changes also could happen depending on conditions, officials said. They urged visitors to check individual park websites before they head out for more details.
How will the national park mask mandate be enforced?
People who do not comply with the requirement can be cited, according to the park service.
It all depends on the situation and would be similar to what has happened with local and state rules, according to Cholo. Enforcement will depend on the individual circumstances and the risk that is being posed to public health, she said.
For more information about the local parks in Ventura County, go to https://www.nps.gov/samo/index.htm or https://www.nps.gov/chis/index.htm.
Cheri Carlson covers the environment for the Ventura County Star. Reach her at cheri.carlson@vcstar.com or 805-437-0260.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Yo tune in Sunday noon to 2 in studio 2b. I'll have Carl L. Johnson and maybe also Annette from the faika show. It's the show that's right before mine in the same studio so they probably don't even need to get up. Well..maybe just to switch seats. I'll have comedians Paul Conyers, Chelsea Eiben, Nicole Tran aaaand co-host Cassandra Inglesby with us. We'll also have one of the big names in the Southbay hip hop scene Redd Baron joining us. Oh and I am the host Luke "Walgreens" Sauer.


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Don't hesitate to contact us when you have a need on Chinese material.


Israel plans to sell off 40 percent of its state-owned national postal service by bringing in a private investor and then listing shares on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
A ministerial committee approved the sale of 20 percent of the Israel Post Co to a strategic investor in Israel or abroad. In a second stage, two years later, it will offer 20 percent of the company to the public, with shares to be traded in Tel Aviv, the ministry said in a statement.


Cheniere Energy Inc. (NYSE: LNG) announced today that it has reached a positive FID and plans to continue the construction of its third liquefaction train for its LNG facility in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Baker Hughes, a GE company (NYSE: BHGE), will be supplying the turbomachinery equipment for this expansion. This FID represents the first for new LNG capacity in the U.S. since 2015.
Upon completion of the third train, the facilities production capacity will raise to approximately 13.5 Mtpa of LNG.


text:
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 1770s
Architecture portal
This category is for buildings and structures completed in the decade 1770s
See also: Category:Buildings and structures demolished in the 1770s
► Religious buildings and structures completed in the 1770s (12 C)
► Buildings and structures completed in 1770 (12 C, 3 P)
► Buildings and structures completed in 1773 (8 C, 1 P)
► Bridges completed in the 1770s (9 C)
► Infrastructure completed in the 1770s (11 C)
► School buildings completed in the 1770s (1 C)
► Towers completed in the 1770s (10 C)
Pages in category "Buildings and structures completed in the 1770s"
This category contains only the following page. This list may not reflect recent changes (learn more).
Pynes House
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Buildings_and_structures_completed_in_the_1770s&oldid=945916812"
Last edited on 16 March 2020, at 22:53


text:
// Author: jmarantz@google.com (Joshua Marantz)

#ifndef PAGESPEED_KERNEL_CACHE_LRU_CACHE_BASE_H_
#define PAGESPEED_KERNEL_CACHE_LRU_CACHE_BASE_H_

#include <cstddef>
#include <list>
#include <utility>  // for pair

#include "base/logging.h"
#include "pagespeed/kernel/base/basictypes.h"
#include "pagespeed/kernel/base/rde_hash_map.h"
#include "pagespeed/kernel/base/string.h"
#include "pagespeed/kernel/base/string_hash.h"

namespace net_instaweb {

// Implements a general purpose in-memory least-recently used (LRU)
// cache, using strings as keys and arbitrary values as objects.
// This implementation is not thread-safe, and must be combined with
// an externally managed mutex to make it so.
//
// This is templated on ValueType, which holds the value, and on ValueHelper,
// which must define:
//
//   // Computes the size of a value.  Used to track resource consumption.
//   size_t size(const ValueType&) const;
//
//   // Determines whether two values are equal.
//   bool Equal(const ValueType& a, const ValueType& b) const;
//
//   // Called when objects are evicted.  Note that destruction does
//   // not imply eviction.
//   void EvictNotify(const ValueType&);
//
//   // Determines whether a new_value should supercede old_value on a Put.
//   bool ShouldReplace(const ValueType& old_value,
//                      const ValueType& new_value) const;
//
// ValueType must support copy-construction and assign-by-value.
template<class ValueType, class ValueHelper>
class LRUCacheBase {
  typedef std::pair<GoogleString, ValueType> KeyValuePair;
  typedef std::list<KeyValuePair*> EntryList;
  // STL guarantees lifetime of list itererators as long as the node is in list.
  typedef typename EntryList::iterator ListNode;

  typedef rde::hash_map<GoogleString, ListNode, CasePreserveStringHash> Map;

 public:
  class Iterator {
   public:
    explicit Iterator(const typename EntryList::const_reverse_iterator& iter)
        : iter_(iter) {
    }

    void operator++() { ++iter_; }
    bool operator==(const Iterator& src) const { return iter_ == src.iter_; }
    bool operator!=(const Iterator& src) const { return iter_ != src.iter_; }

    const GoogleString& Key() const {
      const KeyValuePair* key_value_pair = *iter_;
      return key_value_pair->first;
    }
    const ValueType& Value() const {
      const KeyValuePair* key_value_pair = *iter_;
      return key_value_pair->second;
    }

   private:
    typename EntryList::const_reverse_iterator iter_;

    // Implicit copy and assign are OK.
  };

  LRUCacheBase(size_t max_size, ValueHelper* value_helper)
      : max_bytes_in_cache_(max_size),
        current_bytes_in_cache_(0),
        value_helper_(value_helper) {
    ClearStats();
  }
  ~LRUCacheBase() {
    Clear();
  }

  // Resets the max size in the cache.  This does not take effect immediately;
  // e.g. if you are shrinking the cache size, this call will not evict
  // anything.  Only when something new is put into the cache will we evict.
  void set_max_bytes_in_cache(size_t max_size) {
    max_bytes_in_cache_ = max_size;
  }

  // Returns a pointer to the stored value, or NULL if not found, freshening
  // the entry in the lru-list.  Note: this pointer is safe to use until the
  // next call to Put or Delete in the cache.
  ValueType* GetFreshen(const GoogleString& key) {
    ValueType* value = NULL;
    typename Map::iterator p = map_.find(key);
    if (p != map_.end()) {
      ListNode cell = p->second;
      KeyValuePair* key_value = *cell;
      p->second = Freshen(cell);
      // Note: it's safe to assume the list iterator will remain valid so that
      // the caller can do what's necessary with the pointer.
      // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/759274/
      // what-is-the-lifetime-and-validity-of-c-iterators
      value = &key_value->second;
      ++num_hits_;
    } else {
      ++num_misses_;
    }
    return value;
  }

  ValueType* GetNoFreshen(const GoogleString& key) const {
    ValueType* value = NULL;
    typename Map::const_iterator p = map_.find(key);
    if (p != map_.end()) {
      ListNode cell = p->second;
      KeyValuePair* key_value = *cell;
      // See the above comment about stl::list::iterator lifetime.
      value = &key_value->second;
      ++num_hits_;
    } else {
      ++num_misses_;
    }
    return value;
  }

  // Puts an object into the cache.  The value is copied using the assignment
  // operator.
  void Put(const GoogleString& key, ValueType* new_value) {
    // Just do one map operation, calling the awkward 'insert' which returns
    // a pair.  The bool indicates whether a new value was inserted, and the
    // iterator provides access to the element, whether it's new or old.
    //
    // If the key is already in the map, this will give us access to the value
    // cell, and the uninitialized cell will not be used.
    ListNode cell;
    std::pair<typename Map::iterator, bool> iter_found =
        map_.insert(typename Map::value_type(key, cell));
    bool found = !iter_found.second;
    typename Map::iterator map_iter = iter_found.first;
    bool need_to_insert = true;
    if (found) {
      cell = map_iter->second;
      KeyValuePair* key_value = *cell;

      // Protect the element that we are rewriting by erasing
      // it from the entry_list prior to calling EvictIfNecessary,
      // which can't find it if it isn't in the list.
      if (!value_helper_->ShouldReplace(key_value->second, *new_value)) {
        need_to_insert = false;
      } else {
        if (value_helper_->Equal(*new_value, key_value->second)) {
          map_iter->second = Freshen(cell);
          need_to_insert = false;
          ++num_identical_reinserts_;
        } else {
          ++num_deletes_;
          CHECK_GE(current_bytes_in_cache_, EntrySize(key_value));
          current_bytes_in_cache_ -= EntrySize(key_value);
          delete key_value;
          lru_ordered_list_.erase(cell);
        }
      }
    }

    if (need_to_insert) {
      // At this point, if we were doing a replacement, then the value
      // is removed from the list, so we can treat replacements and new
      // insertions the same way.  In both cases, the new key is in the map
      // as a result of the call to map_.insert above.

      if (EvictIfNecessary(key.size() + value_helper_->size(*new_value))) {
        // The new value fits.  Put it in the LRU-list.
        KeyValuePair* kvp = new KeyValuePair(map_iter->first, *new_value);
        lru_ordered_list_.push_front(kvp);
        map_iter->second = lru_ordered_list_.begin();
        ++num_inserts_;
      } else {
        // The new value was too big to fit.  Remove it from the map.
        // it's already removed from the list.  We have failed.  We
        // could potentially log this somewhere or keep a stat.
        map_.erase(map_iter);
      }
    }
  }

  void Delete(const GoogleString& key) {
    typename Map::iterator p = map_.find(key);
    if (p != map_.end()) {
      ListNode cell = p->second;
      KeyValuePair* key_value = *cell;
      lru_ordered_list_.erase(cell);
      CHECK_GE(current_bytes_in_cache_, EntrySize(key_value));
      current_bytes_in_cache_ -= EntrySize(key_value);
      map_.erase(p);
      delete key_value;
      ++num_deletes_;
    } else {
      // TODO(jmarantz): count number of misses on a 'delete' request?
    }
  }

  void MergeStats(const LRUCacheBase& src) {
    current_bytes_in_cache_ += src.current_bytes_in_cache_;
    num_evictions_ += src.num_evictions_;
    num_hits_ += src.num_hits_;
    num_misses_ += src.num_misses_;
    num_inserts_ += src.num_inserts_;
    num_identical_reinserts_ += src.num_identical_reinserts_;
    num_deletes_ += src.num_deletes_;
  }

  // Total size in bytes of keys and values stored.
  size_t size_bytes() const { return current_bytes_in_cache_; }

  // Maximum capacity.
  size_t max_bytes_in_cache() const { return max_bytes_in_cache_; }

  // Number of elements stored
  size_t num_elements() const { return map_.size(); }

  size_t num_evictions() const { return num_evictions_; }
  size_t num_hits() const { return num_hits_; }
  size_t num_misses() const { return num_misses_; }
  size_t num_inserts() const { return num_inserts_; }
  size_t num_identical_reinserts() const { return num_identical_reinserts_; }
  size_t num_deletes() const { return num_deletes_; }

  // Sanity check the cache data structures.
  void SanityCheck() {
    CHECK_EQ(static_cast<size_t>(map_.size()), lru_ordered_list_.size());
    size_t count = 0;
    size_t bytes_used = 0;

    // Walk forward through the list, making sure the map and list elements
    // point to each other correctly.
    for (ListNode cell = lru_ordered_list_.begin(), e = lru_ordered_list_.end();
         cell != e; ++cell, ++count) {
      KeyValuePair* key_value = *cell;
      typename Map::iterator map_iter = map_.find(key_value->first);
      CHECK(map_iter != map_.end());
      CHECK(map_iter->first == key_value->first);
      CHECK(map_iter->second == cell);
      bytes_used += EntrySize(key_value);
    }
    CHECK_EQ(count, static_cast<size_t>(map_.size()));
    CHECK_EQ(current_bytes_in_cache_, bytes_used);
    CHECK_LE(current_bytes_in_cache_, max_bytes_in_cache_);

    // Walk backward through the list, making sure it's coherent as well.
    count = 0;
    for (typename EntryList::reverse_iterator cell = lru_ordered_list_.rbegin(),
             e = lru_ordered_list_.rend(); cell != e; ++cell, ++count) {
    }
    CHECK_EQ(count, static_cast<size_t>(map_.size()));
  }

  // Clear the entire cache.  Used primarily for testing.  Note that this
  // will not clear the stats, however it will update current_bytes_in_cache_.
  void Clear() {
    current_bytes_in_cache_ = 0;

    for (ListNode p = lru_ordered_list_.begin(), e = lru_ordered_list_.end();
         p != e; ++p) {
      KeyValuePair* key_value  = *p;
      delete key_value;
    }
    lru_ordered_list_.clear();
    map_.clear();
  }

  // Clear the stats -- note that this will not clear the content.
  void ClearStats() {
    num_evictions_ = 0;
    num_hits_ = 0;
    num_misses_ = 0;
    num_inserts_ = 0;
    num_identical_reinserts_ = 0;
    num_deletes_ = 0;
  }

  // Iterators for walking cache entires from oldest to youngest.
  Iterator Begin() const { return Iterator(lru_ordered_list_.rbegin()); }
  Iterator End() const { return Iterator(lru_ordered_list_.rend()); }

 private:
  // TODO(jmarantz): consider accounting for overhead for list cells, map
  // cells.
  size_t EntrySize(KeyValuePair* kvp) const {
    return kvp->first.size() + value_helper_->size(kvp->second);
  }

  ListNode Freshen(ListNode cell) {
    if (cell != lru_ordered_list_.begin()) {
      lru_ordered_list_.splice(lru_ordered_list_.begin(),
                               lru_ordered_list_,
                               cell);
    }

    return lru_ordered_list_.begin();
  }

  bool EvictIfNecessary(size_t bytes_needed) {
    bool ret = false;
    if (bytes_needed < max_bytes_in_cache_) {
      while (bytes_needed + current_bytes_in_cache_ > max_bytes_in_cache_) {
        KeyValuePair* key_value = lru_ordered_list_.back();
        lru_ordered_list_.pop_back();
        CHECK_GE(current_bytes_in_cache_, EntrySize(key_value));
        current_bytes_in_cache_ -= EntrySize(key_value);
        value_helper_->EvictNotify(key_value->second);
        map_.erase(key_value->first);
        delete key_value;
        ++num_evictions_;
      }
      current_bytes_in_cache_ += bytes_needed;
      ret = true;
    }
    return ret;
  }

  // TODO(jmarantz): convert most of these to 'int'.
  size_t max_bytes_in_cache_;
  size_t current_bytes_in_cache_;
  size_t num_evictions_;
  mutable size_t num_hits_;
  mutable size_t num_misses_;
  size_t num_inserts_;
  size_t num_identical_reinserts_;
  size_t num_deletes_;
  EntryList lru_ordered_list_;
  Map map_;
  ValueHelper* value_helper_;

  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(LRUCacheBase);
};

}  // namespace net_instaweb

#endif  // PAGESPEED_KERNEL_CACHE_LRU_CACHE_BASE_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


M2 Machines Detroit Muscle R46 1971 Plymouth Cuda 440 6-pack CHASE 1/750 + REG.
2018 M2 Machine Detroit-Muscle R39 1971 Plymouth Cuda " Hemi "
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1971 PLYMOUTH HEMI CUDA 426 1/24 REVELL FACTORY SEALED! 2017 # 85-2943 MUSCLE!


This is the first in a series of skill share posts that I will call the Printmaking 101 Series. I will be sharing the accumulated knowledge of over 15 years of printmaking through these posts. If you have something to add to the topic, have a question or want to correct something I've presented incorrectly, please do so respectfully in the comments below. I will be updating this series at least once a month. Thanks for joining in!
One of the questions I get often from self-taught printmakers is the proper way to sign and number an original limited edition print. But what does "print" even mean? I think it's important to define this before even discussing signing and numbering a work.
What do you mean by "print"?
Print by definition is a reproduction of an artwork, such as a giclee, sometimes called an archival print or archival ink print, which is a digitally produced print from an original photograph or scan of an original artwork. Print could mean the product of a printmaking process, such as intaglio, serigraph, stone lithograph or relief among others.
Printmakers usually produce an original artwork that they create with their hands. These are the prints that I will be discussing in this article.
Notice the number label on the lower left, followed by the title and the artist signature. I choose to date the prints below my signature in order to better keep track of them.
When the printmaker signs and numbers a series of prints, that is a number of reproductions of some form from a single design, they are guaranteeing that each print made is exactly like the rest in quality and that only that number that appears on the print are the only in existence. Before even signing and numbering, the printmaker has to go through the edition and destroy the prints that have irregularities. The standard is to sign the print at the bottom right hand corner below the impression, the edition number on the bottom left hand corner and the title, if any, in the center. If your print extends to the edge of the paper and doesn't allow for a signature, you use the same standard but in the back of the print, or the verso. This is always done with a sharp pencil to avoid fraud. It's much easier to print an ink signature than a pencil. I recommend using a sharp 2H pencil always rather than a regular #2 pencil. Make a mark on a piece of paper using a #2 pencil and rub your finger over it and try the same with a 2H pencil and you will see why.
Notice the label P/P on the lower left of the print followed by the artist signature on the lower extreme right. This particular print has no title.
On the left hand lower corner of the impression is where you should place your edition number. These are two numbers that are divided by a slash and look like a fraction. The number below the slash is the size of the edition or how many prints are in the series and the upper number is the number assigned. So for example, if you have 25 identical prints and ready for numbering, you would number them 1/25 and the next 2/25 and so on.
A/P., P.A.,or E.A. (Artist Proof, Prueba de Artista or Epreuve d'artist) - If the artist is creating an edition for a dealer, the artist is able to keep a few prints for personal use from the edition. These are part of the edition and are kept to the same standard but are labeled A/P for Artist Proof, or more traditionally E.A. which is the French equivalent. The standard is to only have 10% of your edition be made up of these kinds of prints.
P/P, P.I. or E.I. (Printer's Proof, Prueba de Impresor or Epreuve d'imprimeur) - These are proofs that the printmaker keeps, usually only one.
B.A.T. (Bon à Tirer) or R.T.P (Ready To Print) - A print signed with this mark (French for "good to pull") means that this is the first print in the edition that meets the standards of the artist or printmaker and is used to measure the quality of the rest. These prints usually are the property of the studio that produced them.
T/P (Trial Proof) - These prints are made during the process of adjusting and developing the image. Even though technically they are unfinished prints, in the art market they are worth much more than the regularly editioned work because they reveal the process of the artist in creating the finished work.
S/P (State Proof) - This mark designates the print as a working proof and as being further worked on after the edition was created. Sometimes etchings will be assigned this mark as the printmaker experiments with acid exposure to the plate creating darker lines or variations in the design.
H.C. (Hors Commerce) - French for "For Commercial Use", these prints are sometimes unsigned by the artist and used to promote the edition and are supposedly not to be sold.
C/P (Cancellation Print) - After the edition has been printed, some artists and printmakers alter the original plate, block or stone so that it cannot be reprinted again. Usually a line is drawn on the matrix across and then a print made as proof that the original has been changed and no more prints from it can be made.
M.P or M.T. (Monoprint or Monotype) - This is reserved for unique prints most commonly using serigraphic process or flat plates of non-porous material where the artist and/or printmaker draw a design and only one print can be pulled from it.
U/P (Unique Print), U/S (Unique State), V/E (Variable Edition) - Prints labeled with these marks have some kind of unique feature that can't be reproduced again. These kind of prints as well as, monoprints and monotypes may be labeled as 1/1 (edition of 1).
Imp. - Abbreviation for the Latin word "impressit", this mark may be found after the signature if the artist printed their own work.
H.M.P, H.P.M or H.M.M. (Hand Modified Print, Hand Painted Print or Hand Modified Multiple) - Sometimes artists add features to a print by hand after the edition is created. These are most commonly found in serigraph prints.
E.V. (Edition Varied) - Editions made on different paper or with printed with a different color ink are sometimes labeled with this mark. Some artists and printmakers choose to number these prints with Roman numerals instead of Arabic numerals Eg. I/X - X/X.
This by all means is not the definitive guide. There are other marks and labels that are used in countries with different standards. Feel free to share any that you don't see on the list by commenting below.


text:
The President's Parasite and Other Stories by Jim Musgrave
Topic: Blog Tours
In The President's Parasite, Jim Musgrave resurrects all that has gone missing in today's literature: originality. The title story is a Kafkaesque piece from the point-of-view of an intellectual tapeworm trapped inside a moronic president, and the satirical impact is worthy of Swift. The other stories range from a widower trapped inside the Clock Tower in Baghdad that he constructed, to a baseball pitcher who becomes a living vegetable after a batted ball strikes his head. All in all, there is something for everyone in this collection of 30 eye-popping stories from a truly gifted author.
For more information -
http://www.efraimzgraves.wordpress.com
http://www.contempinstruct.com/books/product_page/full_page/ec1.htm
http://www.amazon.com/Presidents-Parasite-Jim-Musgrave/dp/0977650367
Each person who posts a comment on any or all of the blog tour spots will be entered in a random drawing for a copy of Jim Musgrave's book. In addition – the blog owner that hosted the winning commenter will also win a free copy of President's Parasite. Share your thoughts and comments with author Jim Musgrave. He will check in throughout the day to answer questions. You'll learn more and you have a chance to win his book - if you haven't already read the book, visit Jim's website to order a copy - http://presidentsparasite.wordpress.com/.
Posted by joyceanthony at 12:58 AM EDT
Monday, 7 July 2008
A Visit With Jim Musgrave
We will be visiting with author Jim Musgrave over the next few days. Please read the details of Jim's book giveaway and make sure you get your comments in!!
Jim Musgrave is an award-winning writer and college instructor who lives in San Diego, California. He's published four novels and one collection of short fiction, and his stories have been published in many literary magazines and ezines, including: Shroud Anthology, Beneath the Surface: 13+ Shocking Tales of Terror (recommended for Bram Stoker Award, 2008), Sniplits Audio Short Stories 2 Go, Stone Magazine, and many others.
Posted by joyceanthony at 2:54 AM EDT
A Visit With Lanaia Lee
Topic: Author Interview
1. What three words best describe you?
Three words: stubborn, determined, and head strong
2. Please tell us what you are most passionate about outside of writing.
Ancient history, especially Mayan and Egyptian mythology
3. Do you have any pets? If so, introduce us to them.
Oh yes, I have a three month old cocker spaniel, named D. J., named for my husband, David. D. J. stands for David Junior. I recently had a seven year old Jack Russell Terrier named Jack, by my Japanese step-mother, Jack was diabetic and died May 19th, so my husband got me D. J. for my anniversary.
4. What is your most precious memory?
The most precious memory I have is from 1964, when my mom took me to the World's Fair in New York City. This is a very precious memory because in 1965 she died, and I was only eight.
5. What is your most embarrassing memory?
When I was five, my grandmother took me to the grocery store, she yelled " Fire", them ran leaving me in the grocery aisle, all by myself, when everyone came running and all they saw was me. My grandmother was in the adjacent aisle laughing.
6. If you weren't a writer, what would you be doing with your life?
All I want to be is happy; what ever would make me happy
7. Can you describe the time you realized you were indeed a "real" writer?
I have been writing for about 5 years now, about four years ago, I woke up and the only thing on my mind was writing, that was all I could think about, so that's when I knew, I was destined to be a writer.
8. What is going on with your writing these days?
I am working on the final book of my fantasy series Of Atlantis, then I have 4 more novels planned with my publisher, A, G. Press, as well as a poetry book ever so often. I signed a life time contract with them
9. What are your future goals for your writing?
I want to see Of Atlantis go to the big screen. Almost every one knows Atlantis, but my books are unique, as the story idea, has never been done before.
10. Can you describe a typical writing day for you?
I do my best writing when David and D. J. are asleep. I get up before they do, then I can write before they get up. I write a poem a day, so I don't become bogged down. I try to write a passage in my series each day; right now I'm a year ahead of myself.
11. Why do you write?
I write mainly because it is a passion, also having no children, I always wanted to leave a part of myself behind, I couldn't do it through my children, but I can through my writing.
12. What writer most inspires you? Why?
Edgar Allan Poe, he was a genius. He also wrote short stories, poetry and novels, just like me. Poe and I had a lot in common the way the coarse of our lives ran.
13. How do you define your writing?
I don't want to sound conceited but some once told me I was the product of what you get when you mix Robert Browning with Edgar Allan Poe. That was the best compliment, I ever had.
14. In one sentence-what do you want people to say about your writing in fifty years?
I want to be synonymous with Of Atlantis, like George Lucas is with Star Wars or Gene Roddenbury is with Star Trek
15. Can you tell us where to find more information on you? Website? Blog?
http://lanaiaslair.com/ (sign my guest book)
http://lanaialee.wordpress.com/
www.myspace.com/lanaialee
16. Is there a place where readers can reach you?
I am pretty much always on line writing, promoting, etc. e-mail me at lanaia74@yahoo.com
17. Can you list all your book titles so people can look for them?
Out now one book of poetry Within the Garden of Lanaia's Darkness and Of Atlantis volume one
18. For new readers-what can they expect when they read your book(s)?
My books contain a little of something for everyone. My poetry, even though dark, is not blood and gore, I don't consider that a art. My poetry is like the horror movies of the 30's and 40.s, just plain scary. Now Of Atlantis is my baby, it's a lot of my own personal opinions in this series. They will take you on a ride, escaping from this terror filled world, if only for a short time.
19. Take as much space as necessary to speak to our readers-what would you like them to know about you and your writing?
I would like everyone to know, I am just a person like everyone else, even though I travel on wheels instead of legs. I am a very strong woman that has survived a lot. Give my writing a chance, read it and just like everyone that reads it, they say they are hooked. I hope my books, and the story of my life, there will be something for everyone. And thank you for taking the time to talk with me. I hope I gave you some in sight into Lanaia Lee and Of Atlantis.
Topic: Miscellaneous
I would like to extend an apology to all my readers. I have had major computer problems the past two days and this has delayed sweveral important things. I will be posting the remainder of Ms. Lee's blog tour and announcing the winners of both the book drawing and writing contest on Friday--after I get a few hours sleep. It has been a VERY long two days and I thank you for your patience.
Of Atlantis
The First in a Five-Book Fantasy Series
Synopsis of Book One
Of Atlantis is an epic, fantasy novel based on the king of Atlantis known as Archimedes. For some strange reason Archimedes is blessed with a source of untapped power. His mother, Cheris, knows the truth, but his father, King Linus does not, making him very fearful of the young prince, his only son. In this first book, we follow Archimedes from his childhood, until he is crowned king, marries and has children of his own.
His mother, Cheris, endures a loveless marriage out of a sense of duty to her subjects and to her only son, Archimedes, who she values more than life itself. The continent of Atlantis is comprised of multiple countries with five other kings. Political turmoil is rampant and war is always a threat to mankind. Before that devastating day when the ocean swallowed the entire continent, they share the joy and strife of life in Atlantis. However, one trusted advisor to the king proves to be a formidable archenemy. He knows and covets the awesome powers of Archimedes - his name is Uric.
After the devastation, which Uric and Archimedes survive because of the special powers they both possess, including their gift of eternal life, Uric pursues Archimedes throughout history attempting to steal his power, growing progressively stronger with time.
But Archimedes was proud, he was regal, he was Of Atlantis.
Lanaia Lee is a 46-year-old who suffered and survived a stroke at age 35 due to high blood pressure. Her disease is called erratic hypertension. Ever since the stroke, Lanaia has been in a wheelchair, but she hasn't let that stop her one bit! In Lanaia's own words, "I still rock and roll, and I mean literally roll!"
Lanaia has also lost six children due to her problem with blood pressure, leaving her with no living children, except for her four-legged friend. He is her baby and constant companion. She has been married to a wonderful husband for fourteen years, who is also in a wheelchair, but they live totally independently. Although according to Lanaia, "This factor does make life interesting! But we face each challenge with the help of God."
Her grandmother, a self-professed black witch, raised Lanaia after her mother died when she was eight years old. Why does Lanaia write such dark poetry? In Lanaia's words, "I guess being raised with the occult and supernatural explains why I have such a knack for dark poetry. Writing is one of the few things I can do that relaxes me. I will probably write for as long as I live because this is something that I really love to do. God gave me this literary gift, so why not use it?"
Death Masks by Kim Richards --A Review
Death Masks by author Kim Richards, is a thriller that captures your attention and keeps you in suspense to the end.
Someone or something is attacking and killing young men in the park. Bill, your average computer tech decides to play amateur investigator and figure out the mystery. In the meantime, the local police think he has something to do with the disappearances. Can Bill find out who or what is killing people and burying them alive before he becomes the next victim?
I found Ms. Richard's writing concise and to the point. She wastes no words, each one leading the story further and deepening both the suspense and intrigue.
If you are looking for a book full of gory details that keep you awake at night, this isn't it. What it is, however, is a tale of intrigue and suspense that will keep you wondering until the very end with its false leads and almost paranormal feel. One clue--the one committing the murders is very much alive and waiting in the bushes.
Posted by joyceanthony at 1:42 PM EDT
Death Mask--An Excerpt
I'm going to modify my plans a little here, folks. Today, I will be giving you a brief excerpt from Death Mask by Kim Richards. In addition, there is a brief author interview. Tomorrow I will be doing the book review. Enjoy!!
"Shhh. Please listen." Her words dropped to a trembling whisper.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm scared."
Bill hesitated a moment, thinking she might go on.
"Bill?" She sounded so small and vulnerable. He immediately wanted to reach out through the phone and pull her close. He longed to make whatever it was better.
"I'm here, Hon. What's going on?" He shut down his computer as he talked.
"Someone keeps calling me." Once she started speaking, her words came fast and clipped. "At first he kept hanging up. No heavy breathing or anything so I decided it must be those kids next door."
"He? How do you know it's a guy?" Bill used one hand to hold the phone and the other to begin stuffing his things into his carry bag.
"Because..." Dampened, low sounds came over the phone.
Oh God, she's crying.
"Because I know what a man's voice sounds like. This last time, just a minute ago, he said I'm next."
"Next for what?" As Bill said the words, he'd already guessed the answer. All the clues were in place, the footprints on the porch, the maniac figuring out Bill knew about him, and now the calls to Dix. He didn't hear her answer.
What is a death mask?
Throughout the ages, man often made masks of the deceased faces. It is a way of honoring the dead and, before photographs became available, to preserve the visage of the deceased person for the living to view. There are many in museums around the world including some famous people such as Agamemnon, Cromwell, Edison, Newton and Volaire. During my recent trip to Germany I discovered several in museums including the last Teutonic Knight Hochmeister, Archduke Eugen, and two rulers: Frederic II and Frederic Wilhelm IV. .
I made a plaster cast of my own face to use for promoting Death Masks and the detail of the features surprised me. The death masks I had the opportunity to see also had great detail. FYI: the one I did of myself is technically called a Life Mask since I am still living.
What does a death mask have to do with the book?
One thing many serial murderers have in common is collecting something from their victims. In this story the killer makes a death mask of each victim. It's also intended to be a play on the words since there is something unexpected about the murderer revealed at the very end so the fact that the identity remained hidden is a kind of mask.
Why did you decide to write this book? What inspired you?
I wrote the first draft while living in Ohio, across the street from a metro park. Having come from the wide open spaces of New Mexico, the dense trees of Ohio and steep areas struck me as places to dump a body. Often in the news, people were found days after driving off into one of these areas. I did talk with the park rangers near me and found out they try to keep any assaults or other problems occurring in the parks under wraps so that people will feel safe in coming there.
Why a story about a serial killer? Aren't those overdone (SPOILER ANSWER)?
I decided early on I wanted my protagonist to be someone different than those you find in a lot of thrillers. Bill is an IT computer support tech instead of a detective or someone with law enforcement experience. His curiosity keeps him on the trail but his lack of experience causes him to make mistakes.
The murderer is female. Her sex isn't revealed until the last chapter. In the opening scene it is left unclear she is even human.
Why a female murderer? (SPOILER QUESTION)
Women serial murderers tend to be better at killing than their male counterparts. They go for longer periods of time before being caught, with higher body counts for several reasons: they seldom talk about their crimes to anyone, they tend to take choose less violent ways of death, and for women—many of their killings are viewed as mercy deaths and therefore more acceptable to society. For example: the woman whose elderly relatives die in her care. The rest of her family may not realize she poisoned them, thinking they passed on of old age. I find that concept extremely chilling.
Why did you decide to publish Death Masks with an e-book publisher (Eternal Press)?
I find every path to publishing valid in one form or another. My first book came out as under a print on demand format because I had the opportunity to do it free. I do editing for Eternal Press and so took the opportunity when offered to me to try my hand at an ebook. It may not be the best choice for every book but I believe a good one for this story. I prefer to form my own opinions about such things with a little of my own experience.
Tell us about the trailer?
My fiance, William Gilchrist filmed it for me using ideas we brainstormed together. The music is from a death metal band from my hometown of Roswell, New Mexico. I wanted a rougher sound since this is not a happy, fluffy story. The neat thing is the band, Children of a Lesser God, and I are working together to promote ourselves. It's opened up some interesting opportunities. They will be taking touring all summer and Death Masks goes with them.
What else have you published recently?
August of 2007 saw a book called The Complete Guide to Writing Science Fiction released from Dragon Moon Press. I wrote the chapters on world building and sub-genres. Presently I am writing a chapter for the same editors on Celtic Magic for a book on writing fantasy magic expected for fall 2008 release.
April 2008 Death Masks came out, and towards the end of the month, an anthology of dragon stories titled, Firestorm of Dragons. Firestorm is from DragonMoon Press. I have a story in this one about what dragons really do with all those maidens who get sacrificed to them.
Then in the fall of 2008, I have an entry in a Twisted Twins horror themed desk calendar. Yep. I got the January 1 spot!! It's the New Year's Resolutions of a serial killer (intended to be funny).
I have a horror novel tentatively titled, Holy Blessed Homicide, which I am revising. It is also out in submission.
I am also in the first rewrites of a story about the Amazon warrior women from the region of Turkey. It was my 2007 nanowrimo project but I have two more in the series planned. The first of which is brainstormed and the first few chapters written.
Updated: Friday, 27 June 2008 3:04 AM EDT
A Visit With Kim Richards
Book Title: Death Masks
Genre: Thriller ISBN#: 978-0-9804739-4-0
Bill Cristo takes up walking a per his doctor's orders to lose weight and improve his health. While at the metro park, he witnesses an assault. The assailant turns on him and he wakes in the hospital with a nasty bump on his head, wondering why he isn't dead. The news reports nothing on any attack in the metro park but Bill can't let it go...not when he realizes there are other young men missing from the same area. He digs up what he can on his own, drawing further attention from the murderer. Will he be able to figure out who the killer is before it reaches his live-in girlfriend?
Kim Richards lives in Northern California; with wedding plans for May 2009. She writes horror, fantasy, erotica and science fiction, as well as non-fiction chapters and articles. She has seen one children's story published and Death Masks is her first thriller. For more information on all of her published works, check out her website at www.kim-richards.com
Kim is an avid costumer and amateur bellydancer. She loves her coffee. She works as an editor for MyShelf Reviews and for Eternal Press as an author, editor and marketing manager. You can find her at Facebook, MySpace, Livejournal and Goodreads under the user name Kim_Richards
Come back tomorrow for an excerpt, link to Kim's book trailer and my review!!!
Valentine by Jamieson Wolf--A Review
Valentine, the latest release from author Jamieson Wolf is everything a love story should be. It contains passion, betrayal, passion, heartbreak, renewal of trust and did I say passion--along with a happy ending of lasting love.
As a m/m erotic tale, Valentine isn't for everyone; but Jamieson Wolf writes with some of the strongest emotion I have found in ages. His passion is reminiscent of that seen in the works of Shakespeare and others of that time period. His characters love deeply and without restraint, overcoming every obstacle placed before them. This is truly a tale for all those who believe love has no boundaries.
A Word From Jamieson Wolf
According to legend, as early as the fourth century B.C., the Romans engaged in an annual young man's rite to passage to the god Lupercus. The names of the teenage women were placed in a box and drawn at random by adolescent men; thus, a man was assigned a woman companion for the duration of the year, after which another lottery was staged.
After eight hundred years of this, the early church fathers sought to end this practice and promote monogamy. They found an answer in Valentine, a bishop who had been martyred some two hundred years earlier. According to church tradition, St. Valentine was a priest near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time, the Roman Emperor, Claudius II, had issued an edict forbidding marriage. This was around when the heyday of Roman Empire had almost come to an end.
When Claudius became the emperor, he discerned that married men were more emotionally attached to their families, and thus, would not make good soldiers. So to assure quality soldiers, he banned marriage.
Valentine, a bishop who witnessed the trauma of young lovers, met them in a secret place and joined them in the sacrament of matrimony. Claudius learned of this "friend of lovers," and had him arrested. The emperor, impressed with the young priest's dignity and conviction, attempted to convert him to the Roman gods, to save him from certain execution. Valentine refused to recognize Roman gods and even attempted to convert the emperor, knowing the consequences fully.
On February 24, 270, Valentine was executed.
While Valentine was in prison awaiting his fate, he came in contact with his jailor, Asterius. The jailor had a blind daughter. Asterius requested him to heal his daughter. Through his faith, he miraculously restored girl's sight. Just before his execution, he asked for a pen and paper from his jailor, and signed a farewell message to her, "From Your Valentine." A phrase that lived ever after.
Valentine is loosely based on this legend. I have taken certain liberties with the characters of Valentine and Asterius. Though there are no historical records, there is nothing to indicate that the two men did not meet before Valentine's imprisonment; that there was not a spark of something more between the two.
And that is where the story begins..
If you would like to read an excerpt from Valentine, please visit here:
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/excerpt/valentinejw.htm