Tennyson Center for Children provides residential and therapeutic services, as well as a K-12 school for Colorado children ages five to 18. These kids are survivors of severe abuse or neglect, or have significant mental health or developmental issues. We are often seen as a last resort for kids who have nowhere else to go. And we have been helping kids for more than 112 years.


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Here it is, the traycased edition of Catastrophia, edited by Allen Ashley, published by PS Publishing, and containing my story, 'In the Face of Disaster', among stories by seventeen other authors. PS do lovely books, as you can plainly see. Everyone should have lots of them.
Categories: book haul, my fiction, science fiction, short stories | Permalink.
Your story's a very sharp piece, by the way: excellent core idea, lovely bit of writing. One of the best in the collection.
Thanks very much. I shall start reading the anthology myself soon, now I'm back.
Wow, that is a fantastic package. Quite the list of authors too. Congrats. I imagine it is pretty great to have a story in print but a little extra special when it comes in such a nicely published book.


This privately guided, independent tour will take you from Negombo to explore Sri Lanka's most stunning Buddhist World Heritage Sites in the 'Cultural Triangle' and beyond. You'll view elephants in the wild in a National Park, visit ancient cities and modern-day villages, and stay in both a highland tea eco-resort and on a white sand beach for which the island is famous. Transportation will be at your own pace with an English speaking driver-guide.
We believe that to travel responsibly, a portion of our tour cost should benefit the communities we visit. This trip we will donate to ROOM TO READ, an NGO that believes all children have a right to education. Their program in Sri Lanka has established 1,694 libraries, 402 schools, and published 163 book titles in both Sinhala and Tamil languages.
Depart U.S and fly to Colombo via Dubai, with an optional layover and tour of this ultra-modern city. In the morning continue on to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka.
A warm welcome awaits you at the airport by your driver/guide who will take you to a beachfront hotel north of the city in Negombo. Enjoy a walk on the beach and dinner in the hotel as the sun sets over the Indian ocean.
Late morning departure for the 'Cultural Triangle' which contains seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites. These ancient sites are not just historical monuments but represent a devout living Buddhist culture which make them all the more fascinating.
Afternoon arrival in Anuradhapura where your hotel is modeled after the ancient city of the same name—with pools, rock gardens, and an outdoor Buddhist meditation center.
After breakfast, you'll have the day to explore the sprawling temple complex that ruled Sri Lanka for over a thousand years. The site was first built over 2,200 years ago, when a branch of the original 'Bodhi tree', under which the Buddha attained enlightenment was planted.
Also visit the nearby mountain peak of Mihintale where Buddhism was first brought to Sri Lanka. Overnight Anuradhapura.
Depart Anuradhapura for the Rock Cave Temple of Dambulla. The temple complex is a series of five caves that have been in use as a Buddhist monastery for over 2,000 years. They contain hundreds of statues and frescoes—all related to the Buddha's life, including a 47-foot-long reclining Buddha—which are all considered among the finest examples of Sinhalese art.
Check in at a lovely lakeside resort in Habarana for the next three nights.
Morning visit to the 5th-century World Heritage site of Sigiriya Rock, which rises an impressive 660 feet from the jungle below. View the frescoes of heavenly maidens and climb 1,200 steps to the top for an incredible view.
This afternoon, take a jeep safari into one of the nearby national parks to view elephants, an impressive array of colorful birds and other wildlife. Overnight Habarana.
After breakfast, drive to the former kingdom and temple complex of Polonnaruwa — capital of Sinhalese kings dating back to the 11th & 12th centuries. You may choose to explore this extensive site on bicycles to view the Royal Palace, the lake, and take time for reflection at lovely Gal Vihara—the rock sculptures of the Buddha.
Lunch is included in a local restaurant. Return to Habarana for overnight.
Depart Habarana for the Spice Gardens at Matale, an organic, multi-generational farm. Learn about the Ayurvedic and culinary uses of the herbs and spices you'll see with the opportunity to purchase the hand-crafted products produced by the family owners.
Climb further on via scenic mountain roads to your home for the next three nights, a very special eco-lodge in the midst of a highland tea plantation.
Enjoy breakfast overlooking the spectacular Knuckles Range. The day is free to relax and enjoy this beautiful place, where meals are a culinary adventure prepared with fresh produce from the organic garden on the premises.
Option to take a tour of the nearby tea factory, take a guided hike with the resident naturalist, have a cooking lesson with the chef, book a massage, or swim in the infinity pool with a view to the valley below.
After breakfast, depart for Kandy, considered the cultural capital of Sri Lanka. Visit the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, located in the Royal Palace complex. Since ancient times, this relic of the Buddha has played an important role in the city's life and politics.
This evening, enjoy a performance of Kandyan dancers and drummers. Dinner and overnight at a riverfront hotel.
A full day to explore Kandy. You may wish to have lunch while visiting the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, home to more than 4,000 species — and a haven for quiet contemplation.
Return to your riverfront hotel for overnight.
This morning, descend from the highlands to the coastal area around Galle, in the southwest part of the island. Stay the next three nights at a quiet beachfront resort just outside the port city of Galle.
After breakfast venture by boat up the Madu Ganga river to see life in this complex ecosystem of mangroves and islands, where most residents live on prawn fishing and cinnamon harvesting. Visit an island monastery and receive blessings from the head monk, as well as the friendly island village of Ganga.
Return to the beach hotel for a swim and overnight.
Enjoy a morning walking tour of this ancient port city that was ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch and British prior to independence. Galle is renowned for lace making, ebony carvings, and gemstones, and is a great place for shopping.
Spend the afternoon exploring the cafes, shops and galleries. Return to your beachfront hotel for overnight.
This morning depart for Colombo, stopping for lunch at the historic Mt. Lavinia Hotel. As you drive through Colombo, your guide will point out the main sites of the capital city.
Afternoon arrival at your Negombo hotel for overnight.
Transfer to the airport for an early morning departure, arriving the same day.
This 7-day extension includes the English colonial hill station of Nuwara Eliya, hiking in Horton Plains National Park, wildlife safaris in Udawalawe and Yala National parks, and the evening Puja in the pilgrimage city of Kataragama. Ask for a detailed itinerary.
This is a wonderfully enriching, informative, tour full of purpose, meaning, and restoration.
This was my third travel with the assistance of Ponte Travels. I had so much unique travel experiences that I would never get, if I had the services from other travel agencies. They find ways to connect the travelers with the local communities and expose them to local cultures. It is the great travel planning and service company in the Seattle area and I recommend that the travelers should contact Ponte Travels, if they seek unique travel experiences based on local culture, people and communities.
The Sri Lanka trip was wonderful, as were my travel companions, and the daily yoga. Ponte travels did an excellent job of choosing quality hotels and activities. Signed up for another trip shortly after my return! Thank you Marta and Annie!


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Coach K eyeing Seth Curry as Duke's on-court leader
By Mike MillerSep 1, 2011, 1:53 AM EDT
Mike Krzyzewski likes what he sees with Seth Curry. In fact, the junior guard may be Duke's go-to guy this season, not incoming freshman Austin Rivers.
That doesn't mean Rivers, the top 2011 recruit according to Rivals.com, won't be the Devils' leading scorer or a significant player. As the Fay Observer's Dan Wiederer notes, Duke's coach says Rivers to slow down and not be overly reckless and assertive. He's a talented scorer, but taking on every defender is never a good idea.
During Duke's recent trip to China and Dubai, it was apparent Rivers was making things too hard. Curry didn't have that problem.
"On any team, you'd hope there would be some level of separation at least initially," Krzyzewski Wednesday. "Like Nolan (Smith) and Kyle (Singler) were separated from our team (last year) and then Kyrie (Irving) was there. And then people have to catch up. If you're always together, you might have a socialistic type of team. But you're not going to win. There has to be somebody who the other guys chase and who you can count on all the time. And Seth really did that."
That's a promising sign for Duke. Rivers may still be the first scoring option, but the less he has to run the offense, the better. That's not his strength. If Curry can fill that role until Quinn Cook is healthy, it gives Coach K more options during the season.
And if Curry turns into the new version of Nolan Smith – a natural two-guard who could run the show when needed thanks to smarts and experience – that's the ultimate goal. And somewhat of a scary thought, given how scary Curry is as a scorer…
Coach K says Rivers must learn to be "complete player"
Ex-Duke players on China trip might beat current team
"Kyle Gets Buckets 2.0" a sequel that's worthy of summer

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Guinean refugees in Montreal are speaking up -- who is listening?
Victoria Fenner | Activist and radio host Stefan Christoff tells us about the grassroots campaign to fight the deportation of Guinean refugees from Canada.
Trump escalates attack against asylum-seekers from Central America
Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan | U.S. President Donald Trump is intensifying his vicious crusade against people migrating from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, declaring last weekend, "Our country's full."
Rather than providing safety, Trump's immigration policy is hurting children
Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan | Immigration policy is a matter of life and death, most tragically impacting the most vulnerable among us.
Three days in Greece with Anwar Nilufary
Raluca Bejan | That someone is kept in a country he did not choose, where one cannot access integration services and where availability of such services is limited, goes contrary to respecting refugees' needs.
Sri Lankan family fights deportation from Australia
Piergiorgio Moro, Jiselle Hanna | The Australian government continues to disregard the welfare of refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.
Trudeau must end the safe third country agreement with the U.S.
Karl Nerenberg | In 2002, Canada and the U.S. signed an agreement that says asylum seekers can be sent back to the U.S. when they try to enter Canada. Trump's recent actions make that agreement look ridiculous.
Fight against Australia's inhumane refugee policies continue
Jiselle Hanna | The situation on Manus Island continues to deteriorate for the refugees abandoned there, but actions in support of them are taking place all over Australia
Hunger strike on the steps of the UNHCR office in Athens
Raluca Bejan | On Friday, July 7, 2017, Anwar starts his 108th day of protest: 64 days of hunger strike plus 44 days of regular protest on the doorstep of the UNHCR in Athens.
Trudeau's officials work to stop refugees before they get to Canada
Karl Nerenberg | The Liberals have made many salutary changes in Canadian refugee policy, but they continue the practice of identifying potential refugees abroad and blocking them.
Children in detention: U.S. immigration raids target youth seeking asylum
Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan | While there is scant evidence that mass arrests and deportations have slowed the flow of Central American refugees to the U.S., they have certainly scared students and families living there.
Liberals boost immigration. Now they must tackle Harper's unfair refugee rules.
Karl Nerenberg | The immigration minister announced new, increased targets for immigrants and refugees to Canada. The challenge ahead will be to deal with a nasty series of Harper government refugee "reforms."
Moving call to bring Canada's non-status refugee claimants out of the shadows
Jooneed Khan | Five women, all wearing white masks, faced the media to read an open letter delivered to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office asking him to take a stand on undocumented refugee claimants in Canada.


It seems to me that the cheeriest and most enterpreneurial of the book-blogs is Kevin Holtberry's Collected Miscellany. The CM posse — Kevin, David, Phil and Jeff — are nothing if not devoted readers and book-lovers, and their reviews and tips reflect a lot of brainy experience and sensible thinking. Energy, too: Kevin and the boyz publish q&a's, for instance — and they're open-minded and down-to-earth enough to recognize that the book-thang ain't just about the writers.
Forgive me, Kevin, if you saw this before and sided with humility against posting a reference. I'm encouraged by it.


I bought tilapia filets from the store today because they looked so fresh and they were calling my name.
I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the tilapia but I just had to have it.
I'm still pondering what I am going to do with the fish I have in my shopping cart, when my son and I are on our way back to the fish counter to say goodbye to the man behind the counter. We do every time because the man behind the counter is always making faces at my son and he makes my little guy laugh so we always go back to say goodbye. Anyway while my little guy is waving goodbye and saying hi at the same time the salmon catches my eye and BAM – there's my dinner idea. I make salmon cakes all the time so why can't I make tilapia cakes? I've never made them before, but I thought I'd give it a shot.
Sundried tomatoes are my new obsession. I definitely want to include them in my cakes. I used 10 sundried tomatoes to my slightly more than one pound of tilapia. I think next time I make these I may chop up a few more sundried tomatoes, I think it would make my taste buds happy. But these were absolutely delicious as is.
Salt and pepper the tilapia and place it into a skillet and cook on medium heat until it's cooked thru.
Meanwhile finely dice up an onion and a stalk of celery and toss it into a bowl. Mix in a beaten egg, sundried tomatoes, sundried tomato oil, Dijon mustard, bread crumbs and mayo.
Once the fish is cooked and it has cooled for a few minutes, flake it into the bowl with the other ingredients and mix well.
Form the mixture into little patties and fry in canola oil until warmed thru.
Salt and pepper both sides of the tilapia filets and sauté in canola oil until cooked thru.
bread crumbs and mayo in a large bowl and stir to combine.
Once the fish has cooked and cooled for a few minutes, flake it and add it to the bowl with the remaining ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Form the mixture into little patties and fry in canola oil until browned and warmed thru, about 5 minutes per side.
Cooking time of the tilapia filets will vary depending on the size of your filets. I had two filets that totaled 1.12 pounds and they were both very thick. Mine took about 15 minutes to cook thru.
Separator image Posted in Dinner.


Thompson Rose Chapel is an independent family owned funeral home and has been serving families in Sacramento and surrounding counties since 1948. Presently, many funeral homes are owned by corporate conglomerates or are managed by a board of directors not associated with the funeral service; Thompson Rose Chapel has to answer only to the families it serves.
It is our policy and commitment to serve all families with quality service and integrity. We treat our families as we would like to be treated, fairly and compassionately. Our motto is "Families Come First". We consider it an honor and privilege to serve the families we serve and are grateful for the confidence placed in us.
Thompson Rose Chapel offers quality affordable services to meet the needs of each family served. Our directors go to great lengths to create a service to honor your loved one. We encourage personalization of each service such as bringing in pictures and other items that represent the life of the decedent.
We, at Thompson Rose Chapel, strive to keep abreast of new ideas and technology. However, nothing can take the place of the compassion and caring that you will find among our staff.
Supports the Sacramento area by sponsoring basketball, football, baseball and softball teams during the year.
Contributes to the schools in the Sacramento area for academic and sports related events.
Supports and organizes community based events.


Nestled in the northeastern corner of the Fakahatchee and within the Preserve is a group of picturesque lakes formed from gravel pits that were dug during the building of Alligator Alley. They are linked by berms which are rough but drivable if you have adequate clearance, or otherwise mountain bike or hike.
To access this area, exit I-75 at the Everglades City/Immokalee over-pass, 16 minutes from the Naples toll; and take State Road 29 south. Only a few hundred yards down on the right there is an opening in the fence with a rough dirt track leading to the lakes, which is slated to be closed off sometime. Next to it is a rotted and almost obliterated brown wooden sign for the Fakahatchee. It is best to proceed less than a quarter mile farther, and turn right onto the first unmarked dirt road, not signposted but identified by a sturdy white mailbox with the name 'Quaile'. This is Jones Grade Road on the map.
Approximately a half mile down this road, an opening appears on the right which affords a view of the lakes, and leads to the elevated berms which divide them. If you cross the first lakes, turn left (West) on the berm which ends at a rough dirt track. This track meanders north for a quarter mile ending at the wildlife underpass which allows them to cross under I-75 even with traffic roaring overhead. It is not unusual to find a mix of panther, bear, bobcat and deer prints along this trail especially when muddy, and it is obviously one of the few opportunities for wildlife to continue north into the Panther Refuge and beyond.
Otherwise, continue to the end of Jones Grade at a gate, a mile from State Road 29. At this point the gravel road ends. The gate has a small warning sign prohibiting unauthorized entry and does not announce that it is an entrance to the Fakahatchee Preserve, which is why it is seldom visited except occasionally by Park personnel and the few private property owners along the road. There is only parking for about three vehicles on the right before the gate. Be careful not to block it or enter the private driveway immediately left of the gate. The owner keeps the entire road well maintained at his cost and we should be as un-intrusive as possible. I have parked at the lakes and biked down. However we are still entitled to enter the preserve by walking or biking around the gate. Jones Grade now becomes a dirt double track with grass in between. Starting as a fairly easy trail to walk or bike, it gradually narrows and after 3 miles becomes rougher after reaching the junction with East Main which is seen on the map running south.
A quarter-mile past the gate the somewhat open trees and vegetation studded with cabbage palms gradually give way to taller cypress, pond apple, and other wetland trees and vegetation, while cabbage palms line the trail. There are no Royal Palms such as exist in the swamps farther south. The trail is elevated well above the surrounding forest base, and the ditch formed when dirt was used to build the berm has become a series of shallow ponds enclosed by sub-tropical trees and lush vegetation. It also is close to the Panther Refuge and tracks can be seen here and there. After a mile, a deep pond suddenly appears on the left and your arrival usually sparks a flurry of wings and splashes as Egrets and Herons rise with accompanying squawks, and perhaps an alligator disappears in a cloud of bubbles while a turtle or frog leaps from its perch on a fallen log.
The trees and vegetation now start to crowd to the edge of the trail and the tree cover extends above affording dappled or permanent shade; signaled by your GPS beeping a warning that it has lost satellite contact. This is when it is nice to have company, as you have entered a quiet and secluded environment where there is no sight or sound of human activity. The forest is silent except for a sudden splash, flutter of wings, a scamper of tiny feet and the occasional grunt of a pig frog. A hidden burst of heavy splashing or flight signals the escape of a larger unseen animal. After two miles several narrow and rocky water courses cross the trail, dry in winter and fordable in summer. In February – March a little farther on, fallen oranges in the trail announce the presence of a large wild orange tree growing next to the trail. This was once the northern spur of a tram line built to transport the cypress lumber felled nearby over 70 years ago and perhaps someone tossed away the remains of an orange which took root.
Because of partly hidden ponds both sides of the trail and especially if biking, keep watch ahead as you can come upon a basking alligator on the narrow trail. Usually they will move off when they see you but in mating season (February-April) a large male may be more aggressive and hold its ground no matter how much you wave your hands and stamp your feet. In which case keep a respectful distance and turn back. Otherwise continue on, and just under 3 miles from the gate you reach a 'T' junction. The left (south) trail becomes the northern end of the East Main Trail and continues 13 miles to gate 12 on Janes Scenic Drive, while the right (north) trail soon loops around to the west then loops south, marked on the map as Upland Hiking Trails and joins the western end of Janes Scenic Drive. Both these trails are navigable on foot between January and end of April, but are too rough and rutted to bike on. They are cleared back once a year in February prior to the annual 50 mile/50K marathon, but otherwise are steadily reclaimed by Nature.
For those seeking a little more adventure, unlikely to encounter another human being and uncertain of what you may meet, it is well worth a visit!


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Fort Wayne, IN - The Komets announced Friday that they have added three players to the roster. Goaltender Alex Dubeau and forwards Anthony Nellis and Gage Torrel have each agreed to terms and are expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Komets host Cincinnati on Sweetwater Ice at the Memorial Coliseum.
Dubeau (doo-BOE), 24, recently completed a four-year college career with the University of New Brunswick in the AUS (Atlantic University Sport). The netminder is a three-time University Cup Champion after capping his senior year ranking second in the AUS with a 1.97 goals-against average and .918 save percentage before backstopping the UNB Reds with three wins and his third University Men's hockey championship. In the tournament the Mascouche, Quebec native earned the national championship Most Valuable Player honor.
Nellis, 24, has finished a four-year collegiate stint with Lake Superior State University where he capped his senior year scoring 15 goals and ranking second on the Lakers with 18 assists and 33 points in 38 WCHA games. Nellis also was named to the 2018-19 WCHA Third All-Star Team.
Torrel (tore-EHL), 24, also completed a four-year college career at Lake Superior State this season and finished with career highs of 18 assists and 25 points in 38 games.
In additional player moves, the Komets also announced that forward Gregg Burmaster has been placed on waivers and emergency goaltender Luke Richardson has been released.
Triple-Header Weekend-- The Komets begin a stretch of 10 games in 17 nights when they host Cincinnati tonight at 8:00. The Komets hit the road for games at Indy Saturday at 7:35pm before finishing the weekend with a 5:15pm faceoff at Toledo Sunday.
Family Four Pack, 4 for $59 Night Friday-- Fans can take advantage of a 4-for-$59 offer at Friday's home game courtesy of Midwest America Federal Credit Union. Get four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, four chips for only $59 when purchasing the Family Four Pack at the Memorial Coliseum Ticket Office.
Friday night Marathon Nights-- Again this year Komet fans can save on their Friday night tickets with Marathon. Fans can earn a buy-one-get-one-free ticket offer with the purchase of three fill-ups at participating Marathon locations. Save with your Marathon Fill-Up Card this Friday when the Komets face Cincinnati at 8pm.
Komet Hockey Tickets-- Single game tickets for all Komet regular season home games are on sale at the Coliseum Ticket Office. Enjoy several discount plans designed especially for your next group, or check out Komets Flex Tickets. For more information visit Komets.com, call 260-483-0011.


Looking For Your Next Challenge? Try Foam Fest 2.0, A 5K Race Equipped With Mud, Foam And New And Improved Obstacles. All Races Now Featuring Off Course Obstacles So Viewers Can Enjoy The Fun Too!
Get filthy clean with 3.1 miles full of mud pits, vertical walls, and army crawls – then throw in giant inflatables stuffed full of foam! Think you've got what it takes? It's Wipeout 5k style! Sign upfor the foamy fun today!
January 18, 2014 Best Damn Race Orlando 2014 Details!


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DOE Data Explorer Dataset: Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project
Title: Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project
Computed materials data using density functional theory calculations. These calculations determine the electronic structure of bulk materials by solving approximations to the Schrodinger equation. For more information, see https://materialsproject.org/docs/calculations
mvc-734
crystal structure; Ni(WO4)2; Ni-O-W
The Materials Project. Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.17188/1322594.
The Materials Project. Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project. United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.17188/1322594
The Materials Project. 2014. "Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project". United States. doi:https://doi.org/10.17188/1322594. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1322594. Pub date:Tue Sep 30 00:00:00 EDT 2014
title = {Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project},
abstractNote = {Computed materials data using density functional theory calculations. These calculations determine the electronic structure of bulk materials by solving approximations to the Schrodinger equation. For more information, see https://materialsproject.org/docs/calculations},
Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 (SG:2) by Materials Project
Materials Data on Ni(WO4)2 by Materials Project
Ni(WO4)2 crystallizes in the triclinic P-1 space group. The structure is two-dimensional and consists of one Ni(WO4)2 sheet oriented in the (0, 0, 1) direction. W6+ is bonded in a 6-coordinate geometry to six O2- atoms. There are a spread of W–O bond distances ranging from 1.73–2.42 Å. Ni4+ is bonded in an octahedral geometry to six O2- atoms. There are a spread of Ni–O bond distances ranging from 1.87–1.89 Å. There are four inequivalent O2- sites. In the first O2- site, O2- is bonded in a single-bond geometry to one W6+ atom. In the second O2- site, O2- ismore » bonded in a bent 120 degrees geometry to one W6+ and one Ni4+ atom. In the third O2- site, O2- is bonded in a 3-coordinate geometry to two equivalent W6+ and one Ni4+ atom. In the fourth O2- site, O2- is bonded in a distorted water-like geometry to two equivalent W6+ and one Ni4+ atom.« less
Materials Data on Co(WO4)2 (SG:2) by Materials Project
Materials Data on Pr(WO4)2 (SG:2) by Materials Project


Welcome to Positive Thinking Hypnotherapy, a therapy practice based in Reading, Berkshire.
To book a FREE Initial Consultation, or to find out more, please call or email and I'll get straight back to you.
I hope this is the first step towards discovering an amazing therapy that is safe and effective for resolving a great deal of physical, emotional and performance related issues. Please enjoy the information provided in my website and don't hesitate to call me or email me with any questions about the process and the results achieved by hypnotherapy.


Category: WELLBEING. Tags: bath, sea salt.
Phoenix bath salts help ease away muscle soreness and tension, de-stresses and detoxify. It's infused with a blend of Himalayan pink salt and essential oils.
It to ease away the stresses of the day, coconut oil to moisturize and hydrate the skin and baking soda to defeat body odors caused by long days.
For external use only. Avoid direct contact with eyes. In case of eye contact, rinse immediately with water. Store below 30 degrees Celsius. Keep away from children and eyes. If pregnant, always seek medical advice before use.


This page contains links to some resources that trainees may find useful as aids to study.
We are currently working to update this page of the website. If you would like to make us aware of any resources which have been particularly useful as study aids, please contact us at BIA@hartleytaylor.co.uk. Thank you.
Learn Infection is an online resource for trainees in all infection specialties. Our question bank covers all areas of infection medicine, with explanations and links to key references. These are ideal for new trainees, those preparing for new jobs, or as revision for FRCPath parts 1 and 2, the Infectious diseases exit exam or the Faculty of Public Health exams. Registration is free.
Learn Infection is sponsored by the BIA, ESCMID, PHE and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Information on MRCP(UK) specialty certificate examinations, including infectious diseases questions in format of mock exam. Also has information related to specific exams, such as MRCP(UK) Part 1, how to apply, advice on preparing for your exam and FAQs.
Real-life cases, images, atlas of organisms and quizzes to aid study. Free registration.


I love just about everything about being a vegan. The past (almost) 4 years have been full of transformation, discovery, growth, and meaning. But there is one thing I regret about going vegan, and today I'm sharing it with all of you.


As recently as a couple of decades back, employers were grappling with the idea of managing rising medical costs, and workers' compensation insurance offers the perfect solution. However, despite its growing acceptance and wide usage, there are many myths about workers' compensation.
In case of an employee being injured or falling sick on the job, the employer is liable to provide workers' compensation benefits. However, the role of the employer is not limited to simply awarding the compensation. The employer should check regularly with the affected employee and monitor his/her status at all times.
In case of an accident, the employer is not responsible for filing the claim for compensation. You have to report to the insurance company that the injury was indeed caused by a workplace accident and you are entitled to benefits under worker's compensation insurance.
Once again, this myth is based on pure fiction. Employees only need to file a claim for benefits, which will be honored. Unless the employer refuses to ratify the claim or denies benefits, there is no reason to even consider a lawsuit.
Worker's Compensation guidelines clearly outline that employees will only be compensated for tangible and financial losses as a result of the accident. This means the injured employee will not receive any compensation for trauma, pain or suffering.
Again, this myth contravenes what the law suggests. The employee him/herself could be at fault for the accident and still be entitled to compensation. The only exceptions to this are willful negligent behavior on part of the employee or a deliberate attempt by the employer to injure the employee.
This is not the case, expressly because worker's compensation is awarded akin to tort damages, and is not a discretionary benefit that the employee is entitled to or receives from the employer.
The wide availability of painkillers and narcotics means that some doctors have indeed been prescribing them as a means to treat the pain caused by an accident. However, there has been a crackdown on such doctors and this trend is unlikely to continue.
This is a widely purported myth among claim adjusters. They believe that because an employee has not worked for a while or hasn't filed a claim, his/her file can be pushed back. However, this is not the case. People who are out of work are unlikely to return to work in any case, and with the growing medical inflation, the claims become more complex, as and when they are filed. It is important to deal with complex claims quickly rather than pushing them back.
While there are some anomalies, i.e. companies that have faced significant worker's compensation claims, the average number of claims per company is fairly nominal.
A majority of cases of unintentional injury where an exclusivity defense is involved are settled in the employer's favor. The exclusivity defense holds valid, despite many experts projecting its demise.
Over the years, the importance of workers' compensation insurance has increased significantly. Some states have even made it mandatory for businesses to provide coverage for employees in case they are injured or fall sick on the job. You don't need myths like these hampering your compensation claims.


We will let you know when the opportunity becomes available again.
Purchase the Cheltenham Little League special price general admission game ticket to a Philadelphia Yellow Jackets game and $10 out of every $15 ticket sold goes to the CLL.
Present your receipt at the box office on game day to receive your ticket.
Who are the Philadelphia Yellow Jackets????
The Philadelphia Yellow Jackets are a professional indoor football team and a member of American Indoor Football League set to begin play for the 2016 season. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Yellow Jackets play their home games at the Class of 1923 Arena on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania.
In addition to being Philadelphia's second arena/indoor team (after the Philadelphia Soul currently playing in the Arena Football League), the Yellow Jackets are named in honor of (and their visual identity is designed after) Philadelphia's first National Football League team, the Frankford Yellow Jackets. The original Yellow Jackets played in the NFL from 1924 until 1931 (and notably won the 1926 NFL championship).


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Abdurrahim Dursun – calciatore turco
 Ahmet Dursun – ex calciatore turco
 Salih Dursun – calciatore turco
 Serdar Dursun – calciatore tedesco

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering is required. MS in Mechanical Engineering a plus.
• Professional Engineering license is desirable.
• Direct experience designing rotors utilizing magnetic bearings is highly desirable.
• 8 years minimum experience managing design teams in a fast paced environment desirable.
• Knowledge of fabrication methods in a manufacturing environment is a plus.
• Preferred SolidWorks experience or equivalent.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with ability to interface with all levels.


Brendon Stuckey from Quinovic West Auckland Property Management presents practical strategies for landlords for managing the risk of methamphetamine in rental properties.
Methamphetamine (commonly known as 'P') has been a well-documented social issue in New Zealand for many years now. While recent crackdowns by the Police and Ministry of Justice have resulted in a decline in meth-related offences, many landlords are still bearing the consequences of the problem.
The use and manufacture of methamphetamine inside buildings leaves chemical residue which can be hazardous to future occupants. Most landlords are highly aware of the risk of methamphetamine contamination to their investment.
Partly responsible for this high level of awareness is the increasing availability of low-cost testing methods, coupled with a large number of houses changing hands over recent years (many buyers are now including a 'P' test in their pre-purchase inspection). Anyone with an exposure to the real estate industry will have heard stories of homes that failed to sell because of contamination, or required decontamination costing of tens of thousands of dollars.
If you are a landlord, and you're concerned about the risk of methamphetamine contamination to your investment property, here is some useful information to help you manage your risk.
While it is very common for properties to test positive for methamphetamine residue (about 40% of properties tested will), the vast majority of test results will fall under the threshold published in the Ministry of Health's Guidelines (MOHG) for contamination.
Historically, meth contamination has been more prevalent in rental properties, but it is not biased towards any socio-economic group.
Regular cleaning and re-painting may reduce low-level contamination, but is unlikely to eliminate the problem. These methods have proven to be ineffective at dealing with high level contaminations.
Meth Minder: This is a device that can be installed in a property, which 'looks' for the chemicals used in the manufacturing process. The device continuously monitors the air quality and covertly communicates both daily and immediately in an alarm event.
DIY Instant Colour Test Kit: The kit will give a "yes or no" result but does not indicate the level of contamination. The accuracy of these kits is questionable – there are instances where these have been used and problematic levels of meth residues have been missed. For this reason we personally do not recommend using DIY kits.
Lab-Tested Swab Samples: Swab samples are taken from the property and sent away for testing by a NZ Accredited Laboratory to give an indicative result of the property. This result can then be compared with the Ministry of Health Guidelines. This is our preferred method of testing and we offer our clients a composite 8 swab test, suitable for a three-bedroom property, from $110+GST.
Full Lab Testing: A full detailed forensic testing service will give conclusive contamination levels throughout specific areas of the property. It comes at a high cost, but is necessary if an initial indicative swab test indicates a problem level of contamination. Full lab testing is also necessary to support remediation when decontaminating a property.
Appointing a diligent property manager with the experience and training to identify high risk properties and individuals.
Undertaking a thorough vetting and checking of tenants before they move in.
Developing an understanding of the behaviours of people that use meth and associate with meth users.
Completing thorough and regular property inspections, with awareness of items and products associated with meth.
Testing your property to establish a benchmark and re-testing between tenancies if you have any suspicions. The best time to do this is as part of the due diligence on a property before you purchase it.
At Quinovic West Auckland we have not had a meth crisis at any of the properties under our management; however we regularly come into contact with property owners that have faced this issue. To protect our clients' investments, we continually upskill, resource and improve our awareness of the issues relating to meth contamination.
Brendon Stuckey, Principal at Quinovic Property Management West Auckland, has more than a decade of combined property management and property investment experience. If you are interested in discussing how best to manage methamphetamine risk to your property, or any other aspects of property management, please contact Brendon and the Quinovic team on (09) 837-6000 or email enquiries@quinovic-wa.co.nz.


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"So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" – Gal. 4:16
A Greeting from the President
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The Art of Deception – Deux
by Don and Joy Veinot | May 18, 2017 | Apologetics, Deception, Gwen Shamblin, Jehovah's Witnesses, Liberal Left, Liberal Theology, Political Correctness, Politics | 2 comments
Good deception (by "good," we mean effective) uses language to guide one's thinking in a particular direction. Sometimes deception is harmless fun, as in the case of "magic" tricks, surprise parties, harmless pranks, etc. When our son, Lee, was a lad, he and his friend Mike were great "magicians," enamored with little tricks based on illusion, sleight of hand and/or misdirection – i.e. deception. One of his favorite (and most successful) tricks was called "Cups and Balls." Lee's Uncle Stephen was visited, and Lee performed the trick for him again and again, but Stephen just could not figure out how the trick worked. The "magician" begins by producing three cups stacked inside of one another along with three fluffy balls in one. He (or she) introduces the audience to the elements which will be used, and this initial description shapes how the audience will think about what they are witnessing. Instead of further explaining it, you can watch Mike Patrick demonstrate it:
It is a very effective little trick if done correctly, but the bulk of the deception takes place before the first ball is put on the first cup. The deception does not rest upon a complete lie, but a partial truth. Three cups and three balls are shown to the audience, but a fourth ball is not included in the description. This is a case, of course, of keeping important information from the mark in order to deceive. In this case it is not harmful but is just a bit of fun entertainment. And of course, in theatrical "Magic Shows," whether performed by professionals or 11 year olds, the mark KNOWS he is being deceived – the fun for him is figuring out HOW he is being deceived.
Not all deception is benign, of course. Cults and false teachers engage in the art of deception to the spiritual and sometimes physical detriment of their marks, who are craftily lured into embracing false beliefs. When a Christian watches so-called "Christian teachers" on TV, or listens to "Christian Radio stations," they are not suspicious that these preachers may seek to deceive them. If false teachers such as Gwen Shamblin are invited right into their church to teach a workshop on supposed "Christian weight loss methods," many if not most Christians feel perfectly safe to let their guard down and accept at face value whatever she teaches, leading them ultimately to leave their supposed "Apostate Church" and join Gwen's very own personal cult group, Remnant Fellowship. She readily shows them three balls and they have no reason to believe she has a hidden ball secreted away. Yes, she believes in the Bible. Yes, she asserts a belief in God and even uses the name of Jesus Christ. Yes, she seems very learned, pious and earnest. Her trap is set. These unsuspecting Christians never see the fourth ball of false doctrine coming: The Trinity doctrine can't be true, because the word isn't even in the Bible. It's a pagan teaching. Your church must be apostate, and your leaders tools of Satan, since they don't teach the important "truths" I teach, etc. etc. Many Christians have at least heard that Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons are deceivers, so they may not let them come in and present their false gospel and false Christ, but Gwen came right in the front door of the church, so people were not looking for deception from her. (To learn more about Gwen Shamblin and her false teaching, see our Journal article "Weighed Down with False Doctrine?" in Pdf ).
Religious cults are not the only ones out there seeking to pull wool over our eyes. The art of deception has been especially useful in the cultural revolution and in bringing about drastic changes in American thinking towards Evangelical Christians. Tim Rymel in his Huffington Post article "Has Evangelical Christianity Become Sociopathic?" engages in crafting a misleading narrative which guides the reader to accept his premise. The narrative contains some partial truths, but since these half-truths are dishonestly defined, they lead the reader to accept falsehood. His opening statement is:
Since Evangelical Christianity began infiltrating politics, officially in the late 1970s, there has been a disturbing trend to limit or remove rights from those who don't meet the conservative idea of an American.
The underlying implication is that Evangelical Christian citizens were uninvolved in the political process until they began sneaking in (infiltrating). Here is where partial truths are used to deceive the reader. It is true that Evangelicals were not organized as a voting bloc, but they certainly tended to vote according to their Christian conscience and beliefs. It is more the case that Democrats and Republicans were far closer in their moral and ethical views in the 1950s, 60s and 70s than they are today. In fact, it was largely due to the Evangelical vote that Democrat Jimmy Carter was elected president because he was perceived as a moral and good Christian man, who taught Sunday school in a Baptist Church! In hindsight, Carter may have had a few quite fuzzy balls up his sleeve, but that was not apparent beforehand. 😊
In truth, the Judeo/Christian worldview was largely the guide on moral and ethical behavior at that time, was highly influential in both of our major political parties, and had guided Western culture for nearly two millennia. Roe v Wade wasn't a huge issue for most Americans until apologist/philosopher Dr. Francis Schaeffer and physician Dr. C. Everett Koop began doing their talks, book and DVD series, Whatever Happened to The Human Race? After that, Evangelicals woke up and realized there were serious moral and ethical problems being perpetrated on our nation by political and university leadership, and activist judges. The late 1970s simply saw Evangelicals organizing to take a united stand for what they believed in.
As far as the left is concerned, liberal/progressive organization is viewed as a very good thing – a leftist organizer might just end up becoming President! But if and when Evangelicals engage in organizing, it is cast as an evil act of "infiltration." For liberals and progressives to petition the government to legalize and legitimize what had up until that point been viewed as immoral behavior is viewed as good and right, but petitioning the government to hold fast to traditional views of right and wrong is dubbed by Tim Rymel "a disturbing trend to limit or remove rights…"
The props for Rymel's illusion are in place with the opening line. The rest is simply performing a verbal sleight of hand. His claim that there has been a "redefinition of Christian theology" is highly deceptive. It leaves the reader with the impression that the Evangelicals are the group that have been bent on "redefining Christian theology," when it has been the left that is doing that. Here he appeals to liberal (and socialist) Tony Campolo, with yet another bit of artful deception:
Evangelical speaker, author, and university professor, Tony Campolo, said Christianity was redefined in the mid-70s by positions of "pro-life" and opposing gay marriage.
While it is true that once Evangelicals understood the essence of Roe V Wade they became opposed to it and sought to swing the nation back to its traditional moorings. Why in the world would that be wrong? But notice, in the 1970s, there was no controversy about "Gay Marriage." Neither Republicans nor Democrats (the common folk, at any rate) ever gave such a thing a thought. It has not been the right, but the left that has careened from one bizarre issue to another, pushing what clearly was a right of center nation to accept – and seeking to force Her to embrace – the left's every whim, and there have been many. Recently, Gay Marriage became their new pet whim. (Both President Obama and Hillary Clinton took the position in 2008 that marriage was between one man and one woman – this was LONG past the mid-1970s.)
Surely, the left has no intention of stopping there, however. Soon, we'll probably be pushed to accept pedophile marriage, bestial marriage, incestuous marriage, group marriage, and who-knows-what, and the left (and men like Tony Campolo) will keep redefining Christianity at warp speed to suit these whims.
So now, after carefully placing the cup and seemingly making the fuzzy balls travel miraculously through them all, Rymel comes to his ta-da moment:
And somewhere in the middle of all the change, Evangelical Christianity crossed the line of faith and belief to hatred and abuse.
You see, one cannot simply disagree with the left. Anything less than affirming and celebrating their newly minted moral codes is hateful and abusive. Fascist, even.
Rymel uses all of this to bring us to the conclusion that humans, not God, are the arbiters and shapers of spiritual truth which is, according to him, "fluid."
Every generation redefines what it means to be, or belong to, a religious group. Religious ideologies, interpretations, and doctrines are fluid. But whatever it is, or whatever it becomes, is made by the people who belong to the religion and what they collectively decide to make it.
But we are reminded of the slippery slope that the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 1:21-25:
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.Ω
© 2017, Midwest Christian Outreach, Inc. All rights reserved. Excerpts and links may be used if full and clear credit is given with specific direction to the original content.
Tom Wolski on May 18, 2017 at 9:50 am
An excellent article! Very helpful for the average person who reads a lot to be wary of carefully crafted statements used as premises that intend to mislead and decieve.
DJ on May 28, 2017 at 1:39 pm
Thank you for this article – and thank God for people who can still recognize the truth! I was a JW for almost 30 years – they pride themselves on having "The Truth". After awhile, I started realizing that their "truth" didn't quite match up with what I was reading in the Bible, and their cross references often didn't make sense to me. I was told that eventually it would be clear. So, I waited until I knew for sure that it didn't make sense, and went against their frequent warnings that the average person is not capable of understanding the Bible, and should not attempt to study on their own. I spent a couple of years doing an intense Bible study without their "Bible Study Aids". It was a very painful process, but I am so grateful that God gave me the courage to leave!
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The Walking Dead (From door to door)


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My Wild Ride in a Robot Race Car
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On a track in Northern California, our writer tags along with the scrappy tinkerers of the autonomous vehicle gold rush, who gather to share tech and race their robot cars. It's the Homebrew Computer Club on wheels.Elijah Nouvelage
Antonio García Martínez
On a track in Northern California, our writer tags along with the scrappy tinkerers of the autonomous-vehicle gold rush, who gather to share tech and race their robot cars. It's the Homebrew Computer Club on wheels.
"Is this the panic button?" I ask, staring at a cartoonishly large red plunger installed on the center console of a Lexus CT 200h.
"Actually yes," replies Bryan Galusha, cofounder and safety driver from Point One Navigation, a precision location startup that sells souped up GPS rigs to autonomous-vehicle companies. The button disconnects the self-driving system and restores the vehicle to human control.
It's a cloudy spring day, and we're in the pit area at Thunderhill West Raceway in Willows, California, where, for the fourth year running, self-driving-car companies are gathering to test out their wares on a closed racecourse. The event is organized by Joshua Schachter, founder of early social-bookmarking service Del.icio.us and also of MemePool, a noted compendium of early internet weirdness. Now he mostly invests in early-stage companies, including many of the outfits at the track today. The event is meant to be a fun meetup of nerdy solidarity, rather than an official proving ground, but the winner will certainly take home bragging rights.
Joshua Schachter invests in early-stage companies and organized the gathering of self-driving-tech companies at hobbyists at the Thunderhill Raceway this spring.
David Robert Elliott
Aaron Nathan, the CEO of Point One, is sitting in the back seat of the Lexus, cradling his laptop. Peering at a column of text on the left of the screen (the rightmost column has what appears to be C++ code), he makes a small change, saves it, and says, "Let's go!"
Antonio García Martínez (@antoniogm) is a writer and Ideas contributor for WIRED. Previously he worked on Facebook's early monetization team, where he headed its targeting efforts. His 2016 memoir, Chaos Monkeys, was a New York Times best seller and NPR Best Book of the Year.
Galusha guides us through the first few turns while running down the checklist taped to the steering wheel with Nathan. Before they switch to self-driving mode they make sure every system is on and functioning, almost like a pilot preparing for takeoff. Load route: check! Load mission: check! Verify heading is valid: check!
List done, Galusha takes his hands off the wheel, and it starts moving itself. There is something almost supernatural about this moment that requires a leap of faith, but soon the car is zooming down the track, guided down to 0.1-meter accuracy (hence the company's name).
In track racing, there's a concept known as the line: the theoretical perfect path around the course that minimizes total distance, maximizes speed on turns, and involves just brushing the car's tires against the edge of the inside curve (the so-called apex). An optimal path somewhat resembles a pinball flying through a narrow track and hitting every apex of every inside corner along the way.
Earlier, alongside the Point One pit crew, we had watched on a map as the dot representing their autonomous Lexus described graceful arcs in accelerating laps as the company's engineers pushed it faster and faster through the twisty course's 10 turns. These were the first runs of the day, meant to shake out any bugs, with a single human inside in case something went wrong.
PointOne isn't really a self-driving-car company per se; the vehicle was just following hyper-precise waypoints along the track. The company's secret sauce, and the reason its GPS is much better than the one on your phone, is a network of proprietary beacons installed throughout the western US that corrects for the errors implicit in civilian GPS signals, tightening the margin of error to a few finger widths.
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Back inside the Lexus, the autonomous system is still taking us through every turn, but more slowly than strictly necessary. The track safety officer didn't like the idea of our onboard photographer's camera turning into a head-bashing projectile in the case of a crash, so he'd ordered the team to keep things slow.
Then comes turn 7. An almost 180-degree hairpin, this turn requires going wide to the right of the track, then cutting sharply to the left, hitting the tip of the wedge-like apex, and then proceeding to a sweeping turn 8.
"This one's going to be a little fast," Nathan announces from the back.
The car veers widely to the right, setting up the hairpin, but then doesn't brake as it turns abruptly left and maintains its full straightaway speed.
Elijah Nouvelage
"No way this car is making this turn!" I think as I feel the car screechingly lose traction and drift rightward, the rest of the car trying and failing to follow the front wheels left.
"Bryan!" Nathan interjects from the back.
Galusha grabs the wheel, and just as the car starts to slide sideways off the track, he doesn't commit the amateur move of doubling down on a bad turn and steering even further into it (thereby rolling the car) but instead straightens out. We shoot directly into the waterlogged patch of grass beyond the turn at around 30 mph, and just as the car bogs down in the grassy muck, cool-headed Galusha gives it a bit of gas to maintain momentum and brings us slowly back alongside pavement. There's a pause as everyone catches their breath and regains normal consciousness again.
"That only happened because there's a journalist here. It's like demo gremlins," I crack, trying to lighten the mood. Not many words are exchanged as the human, not the code, drives us back to the pits so we can see what went wrong.
"Throttle ... OK, brake ... Slight throttle ... Full throttle."
Racing coach Gregg Franklin is sitting in the passenger seat, and on account of the earplugs, helmets, and engine noise, every order is accompanied by a hand signal in my peripheral vision—bunched fist for brakes, a forward flat-hand salute for throttle—telling me which pedal to hit.
The author tried his hand at driving the track, piloting his own Ford Focus RS. The goal: beat the robot cars in a time trial.
This time the driver is me, and I'm struggling to get my car, a 2017 Ford Focus RS (the racy version of the family hatchback), down the same racetrack without the benefit of precision GPS. A tenth of a meter? I'm not sure I'm even within the same zip code as the racing line, and Franklin constantly corrects my approaches to the course's turns.
He also constantly gestures for more throttle, which I hit on sheer faith alone, as I'm not sure even the car's sporty suspension and all-wheel drive will carry it around another screeching gyration.
Track racing involves alternately standing on the gas or the brake pedal the entire time, until your car reeks of brake and clutch and you're covered in sweat and mentally exhausted. I've definitely reached that point when the checkered flag signals all of us to head back into the pits. On Franklin's instructions, I do a few circles in the pits to let the brakes cool down, and then I get out and walk around to let myself do the same.
In the pits, the various teams continue futzing with the cars, oblivious to the various human-driven cars roaring away on the track. Many of the autonomous-vehicle founders and employees are (unsurprisingly) car enthusiasts themselves, so they've been sneaking a few laps with their own modded-out cars in between autonomous runs (as I had).
The vibe puts me in mind of the Homebrew Computer Club—the storied meetup where the two Steves (Jobs and Wozniak) first showed off the Apple I: informal, improvisational, and filled with a mix of hobbyists and entrepreneurs messing around in the early days of a transformative technology.
One car, a Kia Niro hybrid festooned with logos from another startup, PolySync, is being worked on by two different teams, each on one end of the car. A team from online learning startup Udacity, which offers a "nano" degree in autonomous-car engineering, is affixing a camera to the windshield.
A small gadget, called an inertial measurement unit (which is like the accelerometer in your phone) sits on its official mounting bracket—a coffee cup—in the center console. Back in the trunk, the founder of another startup called Qibus is messing with the remote driving technology they are developing, which allows you to drive a car anywhere from your laptop.
An inertial measurement unit—a device akin to the accelerometer in your phone—can detect a vehicle's motion, whether it's sliding, and its orientation with respect to the road.
The ability for two teams to work on the same car is the point of PolySync's technology (as well as a growing part of the autonomous world). Nestled under the driver's seat is its DriveKit, a blinking box that takes electronic inputs like steering angle or brake and throttle, and translates them into actual movements of the car's controls.
The fly-by-wire systems of modern cars mean that you no longer need actual mechanical force to drive a car: The feel in the steering wheel that makes you think you're mechanically coupled to the front wheels (which you are, just barely) is a mostly artificial thing controllable via software. You really just need the right signals into the right wires to make the car do anything.
To prove the point, PolySync CTO Ken Keiter plugs an Xbox game controller into a laptop, connects that to his blinking box, and offers to take me around the track. Getting into the passenger seat for additional lulz, Keiter proceeds to steer the car from there using the game controller: left trigger button for brake, right trigger for throttle, and left-right on the joystick to move the wheel.
It's a videogame come to life. With the right wireless technology (like the one in the trunk of the car), he could have been driving from the other side of the globe. Just another piece of the technological puzzle in this emerging industry.
Ken Keiter, the CTO of a startup called PolySync, operates a car using an Xbox game controller.
David Robert Elliott; Animation by WIRED Staff
Which is precisely the point. In the "mine for gold" vs. "sell picks and shovels to miners" trade-off of any booming startup ecosystem, many entrepreneurs opt to supply parts to companies toiling in the riskiest end of the business.
For another example of the same phenomenon, consider Warren Ahner, founder and CEO of Right Hook, which provides sophisticated testing and simulation software for autonomous vehicles. The company creates what's effectively a Matrix for your driving algorithm: a simulated reality you plug into your software, allowing you to test it in the confines of code rather than on a busy urban street (or the Thunderhill raceway).
In addition to simulation, Right Hook's algorithm allows fast-moving startups to perform so-called regression tests on their code. In a production environment, when engineers push a new code change, the software makes sure that prior logic stays correct: Critical mathematical calculations still need to spit out the right answers.
In the case of self-driving cars, that's a vehicle not hitting a pedestrian on, say, a particularly complicated traffic circle. "You can see where your edge cases are, test them, and make them harder and harder as your code gets better and better," Ahner says. The majors like Waymo and Uber test their vehicles over billions of miles of roadway, but the smaller companies can't afford that, so Right Hook's Matrix it is.
So: There are lots and lots of startups here, many of them either fielding cars or just nosing around the pits at the track, looking to fill in some blanks in the self-driving crossword.
The scene is like the Homebrew Computer Club, yes, but another historical parallel also presents itself. The early consumer internet was like the current batch of autonomous-vehicle hegemons. Today's Waymo, Uber, and General Motors' Cruise are reminiscent of incumbents like Compuserve and AOL: vertically integrated do-everything companies practically synonymous in users' heads with their emerging industry. There might have been other technologies and protocols under the hood, so to speak, but the product presented itself as a titanic, unitary whole.
The scene is reminiscent of the Homebrew Computer Club but with cars.
This turned out to be an illusion. The underlying modular nature of the internet soon revealed itself, with everyone and their sister biting off a piece of the integrated whole and then racing to seize horizontal market share for that slice of functionality, rather than assail the incumbents' verticality.
Eventually, that AOL login refrain "You've got mail!" became nothing more than a Meg Ryan rom-com, as some companies seized the topmost layer that users see (Facebook), while others dominated the underlying plumbing (CloudFlare). The companies at the track event are effectively betting on a similar modularized collection of technologies eventually dominating the autonomous-vehicle biz, each of them owning some small layer of it.
This assumes, of course, that progress in self-driving cars, like that of the consumer internet, turns out to be valuable for an ever diversifying set of uses. In actual fact, everyone I speak to shares a muted despair at the slow progress that autonomous vehicles have made, not even remotely living up to their early promise. "This is the trough of disillusionment," says PolySync's Keiter, referring to the tech doldrums that often come between the precipitous hoopla of media coverage and funding rounds, and the eventual, slow upward progress of technology years later.
Insiders categorize a technology's progress from level 1 autonomous driving—something basic like adaptive cruise control—to level 5, full Terminator-style automation where the software has total control. It's clear that level 4 or 5 automation on city streets—the day your Uber driver disappears—isn't happening anytime soon.
For now the progress is happening at narrower scales. For example, a company called Voyage is building fully autonomous cars for the controlled environment of retirement communities, those vast cities-within-cities of endless Spanish tile roofs and swimming pools in South Florida. By having set routes, changing on-the-ground infrastructure if need be, and (perhaps most importantly) providing remote human support to handle driving hiccups, the company hopes to provide the self-driving dream to retirees and expand from there. "Humans will be in the loop for a long, long time," says Voyage CEO Oliver Cameron.
Human remote control is the tack taken by companies in another promising arena: long-haul trucking. Starsky Robotics is building a fleet of 18-wheelers that are semi-autonomous but remotely controlled by humans. Embark (which had a truck at the event—unfortunately, over the weight limit of the track) is building a fleet with level 2 autonomy that still features a human in the cab; one such vehicle recently completed a coast-to-coast trip.
In short, while much public attention is still focused on the futuristic city-driving dream, the real progress is often happening in transport niches largely out of view. One day, the technologies developed there will emerge, even if only as added safety features on (mostly) human-driven cars.
And how about in that other limited environment, somewhat more interesting than retirement communities—the racetrack?
A much bigger-budget version of the Thunderhill competition is getting underway with the unimaginatively named RoboRace, a racing concept using the same format as the electric-car Formula E series. Their first car is named (you guessed it) RoboCar and sports a pointed nose and flared, biplane-like fenders that vaguely resemble a Romulan warbird from Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Conspicuously absent is a cockpit; only a narrow, wasp-like backbone connects the front set of wheels to the rear one. The vehicle has completed closed-course, single-car time trials, but as with the homebrew cars at Thunderhill, even the big-ticket autonomous racing tech isn't good enough for full-on, wheel-to-wheel racing alongside several cars. The next version of RoboRace's car will feature a human safety driver inside, making it possible to put several cars on the track at once.
And my racing? How well did I manage against the various autonomous teams? Armed with good coaching and a speedy car but no actual track skills, I clocked an OK-but-not-amazing 1 minute, 48 seconds. The Point One team managed the fastest autonomous track time of 2 minutes, 6 seconds, a full 18 seconds slower than this human driver.
Unlike more cerebral arenas like chess or Go, humans still have the advantage behind the steering wheel—on the racetrack and on city streets. It was a milestone when IBM's Deep Blue defeated chess master Gary Kasparov. But the machines have a long way to go before they can defeat us in driving contests of our own devising.
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text:
← Certain Man's Wife Chases the Bull
Learning Lessons From Hettie →
Cutting the "Grumpy" Out
Some of the most exciting times of our lives as farmers have centered around the bovines that Certain Man raises for meat. As noted in the last post, there was considerable excitement when one such animal jumped the fence and gave all of us a run for our money. In another post, I may tell the story of the night we had that supper when we invited everyone who helped that day to a mystery supper — but there has been another story brewing over very recent happenings at the very same farm involving the same sort of animal.
Certain Man has gotten little Jersey bulls over the last couple of years because they were not as hard on his pocketbook as the ones of the Holstein lineage. These beautiful little critters are smaller than their big boned counterparts, and CM was loathe to deprive them of their manhood, contending that they would "convert better" if they were given some time before becoming steers. This has always been a point of concern to his wife, especially since there were times in the past when the intent was to wait until the last possible minute — and then, somehow, it got "too late" and then the last couple months of the lives of our two year meat projects were spent "being careful" whenever Certain Man was in the same pen or even pasture as the bulls.
And this happened again this year. Our yearling Jersey bulls had escaped the precautionary operation and had matured at an alarming rate. One of the three was docile. He was actually the smallest of the three, and he spent his time quietly going about his business, eating grass, not paying much attention to anything. The second of the three was suspiciously bossy, occasionally acting like he wanted to start something, and he wasn't to be trusted too far. The third one, the biggest and oldest, was a basket of fury and hormones and aggression.
From the time he was a small calf, he wouldn't take much from anyone. Spunky, feisty and strong, he grew worse as the months passed. By the time he was nine months old, he was the boss of everything, even the older steers that were about to go to market. But this spring and summer, he became incorrigible. He would bellow and snort at anything that took his attention that was out of the ordinary that he didn't approve of. He would bang his horns against the fence and against the side of the barn, tearing holes in the tin on the side of the entrance to his pen. He would dig big holes in the pasture and loudly make known his displeasure with anything and anyone.
"You need to do something about that bull," I would tell Certain Man. "He's going to hurt someone!"
"I know," Certain Man would say. "I really need to do something, but I am pretty sure it's too late to band them. I think I'm going to see if Billy or someone will bring his chute down here and give me a hand. I think I'm going to need to get the vet."
And then more time would go by, and someone would mention something about that "bull sounds really cross!" or "What in the world is wrong with that one of your cows? He makes a terrible fuss!" or (the thing that really bothered me) "Our kids won't go out there to talk to your cows any more. They're scared of them!"
"Daniel," I would say on occasion, "I'm really afraid that someone is going to get hurt. Most of the kids who come know not to get into the pasture, but what if one of them does? Or what if he gets out?"
"I know," he would say, impatient at my nagging, but also not sure of what he should/could do. "I really need to do something."
And then, one day while he was in the pen, the bull started at him, pawing and snorting. Certain Man had the handle of a pitchfork at the ready, and he walloped him a good one and caught him just below his horns. It was a hefty blow, and the bull backed up, shook his head and came at him again. This time Certain Man got a solid whack across his nose and brought him to his knees. He got up and turned away. As he rounded the corner leaving the barn, CM saw that his nose was bleeding. This particular incident had two effects upon Certain Man. He began to make sure that his pitchfork handle was always handy and he began to actively plan a time in the very near future when he could take care of this militant aggressor's basic motivation. As for the subject at hand, he appeared to be watching for his chances, but was always very respectful when he caught sight of the pitchfork handle.
The bellowing and snorting and pawing and clanging of the horns against anything close at hand was not lost upon our observant granddaughter. Ever one to be at her Grandpa's side whenever possible, she was very concerned about the state of affairs in Grandpa's barn. On more than one occasion, she complained to me about that fussy bull. "I don't like how that cow sounds, Grammy," she would say. "He sounds so mad!"
Then came the day when Certain Man's vet, Dr. Christina Dayton-Wall stopped by to check on the newest member of Certain Man's herd, a lively, beautiful little jersey bull calf. She checked him over thoroughly, gave him a vaccination and a shot and pronounced him healthy and strong. All the while, the belligerent fellow bellowed his protests at the intrusion into his domain. Certain Man seized the opportunity to tell her about his troubles with the mad bull and asked her opinion about the feasibility of "banding" or whether she thought the present state of affairs would demand a knife.
"No question," was her cheerful reply. "They will need an operation. And I wouldn't wait much longer if I were you. There's no way I'd get into the same pen with those fellows without some kind of protection. They mean business!"
"Would you do it?" Asked Certain Man. "I have a friend who can bring his chute that he uses for hoof trimming and we could contain them. I'd like to do all three."
"I'd be delighted to do it!" said his pleasant young female vet. (He later told me that he just can't figure out why the females think this is such a fun thing. "They're all tickled to death to help out with this," he said woefully. "They just don't have a clue!")
And so they set the date for a Monday at three in the afternoon. But that Monday was still almost two weeks away. I worried about whether we would make it that long without someone getting hurt. It seemed like things were getting worse and worse. Our neighbor, Mr. Fox, who cuts our pasture for hay, parked his tractor in the adjourning shed one afternoon and created an episode of pawing holes in the side pasture, great bellowings and clattering of horns that went on until dark.
"You've got yourself a crazy animal there," Mr. Fox told Certain Man. "All I did was park my tractor in the shed and he stood at the gate and acted like he was gonna' come through it. He acted like he was crazy. And they have big holes dug in that back pasture that I cut for hay. One was two feet deep. Something's wrong with him!"
That was the night that Charis and I were walking out by the garden, checking on the produce and watching Grandpa doing his never ending work in the shed and barn and chicken houses. We had also been drawn by the racket in the pasture that just wouldn't stop.
"Grammy, that cow is really grumpy!" Said Charis, a little apprehensively. "I don't like how he sounds."
"I know, Charis," I said to her, "He really is grumpy! Grammy doesn't like it either! But do you want to know a secret?"
She looked expectantly up into my face. "Yes!"
"In just a few days," I told her conspiratorily, "Grandpa's vet is going to come and Billy Bender is coming to help and they are going to cut that cow's 'grumpy' out! And then he won't be so grumpy!"
She laughed. "Really, Grammy???"
"For real, Charis!" I promised. "That's exactly what they are going to do!"
She did a little happy dance and then she went home with her Mama and I told Middle Daughter and Youngest Daughter all about my wonderful explanation. I was rather proud of myself for being able to explain such a delicate situation to a six year old. I was surprised when Middle Daughter looked at me aghast.
"Mom!" she exclaimed with consternation. "That was a terrible thing to tell her!'
I was surprised. "Why is that so terrible?"
"Because that is what her Mama always threatens her with when she is being grumpy! She teases her and says, 'You better get happy, or I'm gonna' cut your grumpy out' and Charis is probably really confused about this whole thing."
I decided not to worry about it. Some things can just be handled by parents who made the situation in the first place. Except that a few nights later, walking with Charis, I noticed that she was thoughtful. And then, there came the question.
"Grammy, what is the 'grumpy' that they are going to cut out?"
(Gulp! I don't consider this my territory of responsibility!)
(Oh, Lord, what do I say???) "Well, Charis," I began slowly, but was suddenly struck by a stroke of Providential brilliance. "The boy cows have a gland that makes them act grumpy as they get older. The vet is going to come and take that gland out and then they won't be so feisty and mean." And that satisfied our curious six year old granddaughter. Let her Mama answer any further questions.
The day finally came without any damage to the humans that traverse the lands at Shady Acres, and the good vet came to find that Certain Man had done his work (as usual) with careful attention to safety and without fault. The three bulls were shut in their pens with only one way out — and that was into Billy Bender's sturdy chute. Once they were securely restrained, Dr. Dayton-Wall gave a little shot of Lidocaine that they hardly felt and before they knew what had happened, they were out the other end of the chute, steers!
They were strangely subdued that first hour or so. They grazed a bit, but there was no pawing or bellowing. As the evening wore on, they were more and more languid. Eventually they stopped trying to motor at all. The biggest fellow — the most maniacal, lay out in the field like he was dead, just giving an occasional melancholy flip to his tail — lifting it up about six inches and sadly dropping it down again. There was no noise. At all. The pasture around Shady Acres' barn was almost spooky with the change in atmosphere. But eventually, they realized that they weren't going to die after all, and began to graze and gingerly walk about.
"Any bellowing or carrying on?" I asked Certain Man two mornings later. Dr. Dayton-Walls had warned us to be careful for ten days to two weeks.
"It will take them that long to get rid of the 'boy stuff,'" she said cheerfully. "Don't trust them until you know how they are going to be. Those guys, particularly the big one, could really hurt someone!"
Certain Man grinned. "Nope!" he said. "Not a bit. No pawing, no clanging against the fences and buildings, no digging, no nothing! These guys are different animals!"
"Do they seem to be okay?" I asked, suddenly wondering if such an alteration could kill them.
"Fine as can be," he told me. "They just don't act like they care about anything. They are eating and grazing and just as calm as they can be."
Several days later, I was outside when I heard a noise. It was a gentle mooing sound that our steers would make when they thought it was time for Certain Man to feed them. I had never heard this particular sound from these animals. I stood in the side yard and thought about what a nice sound that occasional, controlled mooing was. I thought about how nice it was to not worry that someone was going to get hurt on our farm by an angry animal. I thought about the meat that we should have to share with our family and others when these steers would be full grown. I thought about how "cutting a grumpy out" can be so pivotal in the atmosphere of a family farm. And I thought — well, I could draw all sorts of analogies, here, but I think I won't.
And that is the news from Shady Acres where Certain Man continues to protect and provide for us in so many ways. Where whatever it was that happened on that Monday afternoon was final — there was no more aggression on the part of any of the newly altered bovine males.
And where Certain Man's Wife gives very grateful praise for a job well done.
Filed under Family living, My Life, Stories from the Household of CM & CMW
Tagged as Bulls and steers, Certain Man, Certain Man's Wife, Farm life in the raw, humor


These notebooks demonstrate the functionality of the third-party application package MathCode C++, developed by MathCore. MathCode C++ compiles a subset of Mathematica into highly efficient C++ code. Mathematica enhanced by MathCode C++ provides a platform for rapid development of production quality code for heavy simulations and other expensive computations. The automatic code generation of MathCode C++ is also a safeguard against the typing errors and associated bugs encountered when using conventional methods for prototyping and implementation.


"…In general terms the sculpture of Moustakas is marked by a sincerity and energy of feeling, making his creations appear with an organicity which breathes into them a peculiar life and expression. In his will, Rodin, addressing the young, wrote: Your spirit must conceive every area as the projection of a mass which is behind it and pushes it. You should imagine forms as if they were facing in your direction. Every life stems from a centre; it then blossoms and surges outwards from within. The same thing happens with good sculpture. You can imagine a strong internal impulsion in it. This is the secret of Ancient Art..".


text:
ALDH1L1 () – білок, який кодується однойменним геном, розташованим у людей на короткому плечі 3-ї хромосоми.  Довжина поліпептидного ланцюга білка становить 902 амінокислот, а молекулярна маса — 98 829.

Кодований геном білок за функціями належить до оксидоредуктаз, фосфопротеїнів.
Задіяний у таких біологічних процесах як одновуглецевий метаболізм, поліморфізм, альтернативний сплайсинг.
Білок має сайт для зв'язування з НАДФ.
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