Dark Knight Returns DVD Review.
The 69th episode of the Wayne's Comics podcast is now here!
This week I interview Cy Dethan, creator of some of the most unique and interesting comics on stands today! He's behind such great books as Cancertown, The Indifference Engine and Slaughterman's Creed, among others! He discusses his newest offering, Cancertown 2, which can be ordered in this month's Previews, so be sure to let your store know you want your copy!
Then I review this week's comics, and Gianluca Glazer talks the latest News & Previews with me! Everything concludes with my preview of the upcoming direct-to-DVD Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1, so don't miss it!


They offer more clarity after the media storm.
Taraji p. Henson and Erykah Badu were both caught in a wave of criticism after they voiced their respective opinions about R. Kelly's sexual assault scandal. After explaining their comments via social media, the entertainers have discussed the matter during interviews as they promote their movie, What Men Want.
"It's hard to get every human on this planet earth to love you. It's just not gonna happen," Henson stated. "I don't live my life to make people happy or to make them like me."
"I live my truth. I'm a good person. I have a good heart," she continued, describing how she will not fight for the approval of her naysayers. "I'm for all people."
Erykah Badu's response was more holistic. "Anything that I express is always a message of unconditional love," she remarked. "I would never ask anyone to feel the way I feel or see the way I see, but I also have the right to express the way I feel."
"We don't have a lot of respect for the individual...not on social media," she continued. "Sometimes it's best to discuss those types of things at dinner with friends. It's all a learning process." Erykah has been in hot water for similar reasons in the past.
"I'm used to being misunderstood," Badu concluded. "I don't mind being the problem that may lead to a solution at some point."


I always try my best to get involved with the campaigns organised by Just a Card and this month my Handmade Christmas Challenge coincides with Indie Week which they describe as " a week of fun to encourage people to shop independent this Christmas". Couldn't have put it better myself.
As well as shopping and buying handmade there are other ways you can help support small craft and design businesses.
Put handmade on your Christmas list ~ send your family and friends links to shops they may not have discovered themselves.
Share your handmade finds on websites, blogs and social media. Always remember to credit the designers. Include items you've bought and items you'd love to buy in the future.
Show them you're interested in their work, even if you can't buy at the moment tell artists what you love about their work maybe even suggest something you'd like them to make.
If you have a shop or website, consider stocking handmade items which compliment your main stock ~ a butcher could sell handmade pickles and preserves or a florist could display handcrafted cards and candles.
I'm sure there are many more ~ it doesn't really matter what you do ~ so long as it helps!


text:
Q: "sql.h: No such file or directory" error trying to install pyodbc on raspberry pi Because I get the error :
" ImportError: No module named 'pyodbc' "
I installed pyodbc this way :
sudo apt-get install python-pyodbc
and
sudo pip install pyodbc
but on this last one I get following errors :
In file included from src/buffer.cpp:12:0:
  src/pyodbc.h:56:17: fatal error: sql.h: No such file or directory
   #include <sql.h>
                   ^
  compilation terminated.
  error: command 'arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc' failed with exit status 1

  ----------------------------------------
  Failed building wheel for pyodbc
  Running setup.py clean for pyodbc
Failed to build pyodbc
Installing collected packages: pyodbc
  Running setup.py install for pyodbc ... error
    Complete output from command /usr/bin/python -u -c "import setuptools, tokenize;__file__='/tmp/pip-build-ZuPGgc/pyodbc/setup.py';f=getattr(tokenize, 'open', open)(__file__);code=f.read().replace('\r\n', '\n');f.close();exec(compile(code, __file__, 'exec'))" install --record /tmp/pip-XcninB-record/install-record.txt --single-version-externally-managed --compile --user --prefix=:
    /usr/lib/python2.7/distutils/dist.py:267: UserWarning: Unknown distribution option: 'long_description_content_type'
      warnings.warn(msg)
    running install
    running build
    running build_ext
    building 'pyodbc' extension
    creating build
    creating build/temp.linux-armv7l-2.7
    creating build/temp.linux-armv7l-2.7/src
    arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc -pthread -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fno-strict-aliasing -Wdate-time -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=2 -g -fdebug-prefix-map=/build/python2.7-ajc2xi/python2.7-2.7.13=. -fstack-protector-strong -Wformat -Werror=format-security -fPIC -DPYODBC_VERSION=4.0.30 -I/usr/include/python2.7 -c src/buffer.cpp -o build/temp.linux-armv7l-2.7/src/buffer.o -Wno-write-strings
    cc1plus: warning: command line option '-Wstrict-prototypes' is valid for C/ObjC but not for C++
    In file included from src/buffer.cpp:12:0:
    src/pyodbc.h:56:17: fatal error: sql.h: No such file or directory
     #include <sql.h>
                     ^
    compilation terminated.
    error: command 'arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc' failed with exit status 1

    ----------------------------------------
Command "/usr/bin/python -u -c "import setuptools, tokenize;__file__='/tmp/pip-build-ZuPGgc/pyodbc/setup.py';f=getattr(tokenize, 'open', open)(__file__);code=f.read().replace('\r\n', '\n');f.close();exec(compile(code, __file__, 'exec'))" install --record /tmp/pip-XcninB-record/install-record.txt --single-version-externally-managed --compile --user --prefix=" failed with error code 1 in /tmp/pip-build-ZuPGgc/pyodbc/

What am I missing?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Mr. Roosevelt Floyd
May 6, 1937 - November 27, 2017
Roosevelt Floyd, 80, Harrisburg, entered eternal life November 27, 2017. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis Sr. and Phyllis Odessa Floyd; wife, Evon Wright Floyd; and 6 siblings. Born and educated in SC, he was a certified Automotive Technician and retired from UPS. As a longtime member of The First Baptist Church of Steelton, he served several tenures as Chairman of the Trustee Ministry, former sexton and usher. His Masonic affiliations included Nimrod Consistory #9, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Freemasonry, and Himyar Temple #17, Ancient Arabic Egyptian Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Worshipful Master of Chosen Friends Lodge #43; 1st Vice President of the 5th Masonic District Council; and in 2011, he accepted the honor of the 33rd Degree. Surviving are his son, Eric Floyd; daughter, Terri Waters; siblings, Betty Humphrey, Lee Anna Floyd, Ozella Drummond, Lewis Jr., Stanley and Broadus Floyd; stepchildren, Lester M. Wigington, Kelly Jones, Denise Fosky; 20 grands, 1 great-grand, other relatives and friends.
Roosevelt Floyd, 80, Harrisburg, entered eternal life November 27, 2017. He was preceded in death by his parents, Lewis Sr. and Phyllis Odessa Floyd; wife, Evon Wright Floyd; and 6 siblings. Born and educated in SC, he was a certified Automotive... View Obituary & Service Information
The family of Mr. Roosevelt Floyd created this Life Tributes page to make it easy to share your memories.
Roosevelt Floyd, 80, Harrisburg, entered eternal life November...
Send flowers to the Floyd family.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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frosty319
"We refute the belief that man is just a higher stage of animal, that he has no spirit. I think when people start believing that, the real respect for humanity is gone. You are just a cog in a wheel, another collection of molecules. That's half the reason for a lot of the pessimism in the world." - Bono, 1983
Bono, The Edge, and Larry had joined a religious group in Dublin called "Shalom," which led all three to question the relationship between the Christian faith and the rock and roll lifestyle.
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Installing the final designs within the communal stair.
These photos document the installation of the vinyl designs at No.10 Nicholson Street. We are waiting for the scaffolding outside the building to be removed to get the full effect of the light coming through the windows, refracting the coloured light into the stair.


text:
Montsaugeon () is a former commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune Le Montsaugeonnais. Its population was 83 in 2019.

See also
Communes of the Haute-Marne department

References

Former communes of Haute-Marne

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Can I prevent auto-run of CMake at startup of Qt Creator 4? When I start Qt Creator (4.3) and load a session (or a project already configured), CMake is always run at least once. Even if I disabled the autorun of CMake as said in this answer. The cache is already there because I manually run CMake when needed.
How can I make Qt Creator to never run CMake automatically ?

A: You can't.
Qt Creator 4.3 uses cmake server-mode to get information out of cmake. For that it needs to start cmake, which in turn will need to configure and generate to fetch all the I formation it then passes on to Qt Creator.
The information stored on disk is not sufficient.


Charles Ponzi, an Italian immigrant to Boston, gave his name to a scheme in which he promised a 50% return to investors within 45 days of their giving him money; or double their money within 90 days. About 40,000 people invested $15 million in 1920 dollars; today that would sum to $150 million.
In essence, the Ponzi scheme pays initial investors their return out of funds subscribed by those who follow, until the market gets wind; there are no new subscriptions to pay claims; and the scheme collapses. From Ponzi, only a third got their cash back.
Junior gold miners can promise something similar; but usually not quite so quickly; and sometimes more reliably.
The rapid return can never depend on real gold mining, because that takes money and time to realize its return. But if the stock market adds value to a miner's share price, based on the future value of reserves in the ground, projected mine production, and upward velocity for the gold price, then it's possible the miner will generate a very rapid return out of stock market gains — long before he's obliged to spend a penny digging out the reserves, and running his production targets through the mill and the refinery.
But once the market sniffs the suspicion that the reserves aren't quite so numerous, and the investment to lift them not there yet, the trajectory can turn unpleasantly downwards.
The federal licence inspection agency in Moscow, known as Rosprirodnadzor, has been crusading for a year now against over-valuation on the stock market of reserves that have yet to be approved by the State Reserves Committee; and production targets, fixed in mine licences, which the mining companies keep missing.
Highland Gold, Peter Hambro Mining, and Ovoca Gold have all been hit by public challenges from Rosprirodnadzor. Market skepticism has also hit Celtic Resources and GV Gold.
A downward pressure has also been felt by the sector leader, Polyus Gold, whose market capitalization reached $9.4 billion at the start of the year. It is $8.3 billion this week, having lost 11% in the past three months; and gained 11% in the past month. An unfortunate mistake in reporting turned Monday's share price decline of just 1.1% into the report of a crash of 11% — before Bloomberg and others realized their error, and corrected it. Another day of trading on Tuesday saw the Russian market eat into the Polyus share by another 1.6%.
When Polyus issued its 2006 financial results at the start of June — the first full annual financials since its listing in May 2006 — it was able to report 55% year on year growth of revenue to $735 million; 56% pickup of Ebitda to $299 million; and 78% growth in profit from operations to $212 million.
The company also announced that it plans to spend $3.2 billion from cash in hand, cash flow to come, and debt, in order to reach a target of 3.9 million oz of gold production by 2015. This is a brighter picture than was suggested by the flat production level of 1.1-1.2 million oz, reported by Polyus for 2005 and 2006, with no change forecast for 2007.
How long is long turned out to be one month. On Monday, chief executive Pavel Skitovich told an audience in Krasnoyarsk, where Polyus's principal producing mine is located, that he expects the 4-million oz production target to be more realistic for 2015 than for 2012, which is when his predecessor, Yevgeny Ivanov, had fixed it in a speech last December. Never mind that Moscow analysts had already moved the target date from 2012 to 2015 last September, following the Polyus board's strategy formulation at the time.
Skitovich also said this week that his company will "concentrate on cost-control and separating production and development", and on spending more to boost reserves with new discoveries. He didn't say whether he puts a higher priority on buying new reserves from asset consolidation than finding them the old-fashioned, geological way.
Skitovich also didn't mention that it is proving hard to cut costs at the most expensive of Polyus's operations, Lenzoloto, where total cash cost per oz in 2006 was $462, more than double the $210/oz cash cost of Olympiada, the leading mine. The Polyus board has decided to try to get rid of Lenzoloto altogether, but there have been no buyers at any price.
A month ago, Renaissance Capital was predicting a trajectory for Polyus of 34% upward to $55 per share, with gold averaging $660/oz in the interval. Alfa Bank is forecasting a trajectory for Polyus of 48% upward to $59 per share. For a month the Polyus share price followed gold upward — but it has stopped. The correlation between gold and the Polyus share is jagged, with serious disconnections. The market appears to think that when there is good news from the company, it should keep company with gold. But if there is suspicious news, gold can't keep the company from falling.


Inteva's Closure Systems product line includes Door Systems, Latching Systems, and Actuators that offer competitive, high-tech functionality, robustness and performance with minimized weight, package size and cost. Our advanced design, engineering and manufacturing capabilities provide safe and sound closure systems to automakers that range from latches for all segments, actuators that contribute to fuel efficiency and comfort features, to light-weight window regulators and complete door systems that incorporate our InLiteTM approach to lightweighting along with the latest in intelligent electronics controls.
Inteva is an industry leader in Door Systems innovations. We introduced the first all-composite door and hybrid door modules to the market and we continue to innovate with offerings such as lighter-weight window regulators, and integrated door systems with advanced electronic features.
Both as a component of latches and as a separate component, Inteva's actuators enable smooth, steady, quiet movement of vehicle doors, glove boxes, folding mirrors, air flaps and more.


The chest strap is one size fits all and can be removed if desired. If you are having trouble with the chest strap not fitting, lengthen the arm straps so they can be drawn together by the chest strap. To remove the chest strap, simply pop it off its track by sliding down and pulling away.


text:
Part of HuffPost Politics. ©2020 Verizon Media. All rights reserved.
'Crusader' Militiaman Charged In Terror Plot Targeting Muslims Will Be Jailed Until Trial
Gavin Wright, arrested in an FBI sting last year just ahead of the presidential election, is "a strong threat to society," a federal judge ruled.
By Ryan J. Reilly
SEDGWICK COUNTY SHERIFF
Patrick Stein, Curtis Allen and Gavin Wright were arrested for an alleged plot to kill Muslims in Kansas.
WASHINGTON ― A federal judge in Kansas on Friday denied bond for one of three men arrested last year as part of an alleged terrorist plot to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill Muslim immigrants, finding that Gavin Wright was "a strong threat to society" and a "danger to the community" who should be detained until his trial.
Wright, along with Patrick Stein and Curtis Allen, was arrested last October as part of a FBI sting operation. The federal government alleged that the trio was plotting an attack for Nov. 9, one day after the 2016 presidential election, that would "wake people up." Their militia group, referred to as "the Crusaders," was described as an organization that espoused "sovereign citizen, anti-government, anti-Muslim, and anti-immigrant extremist beliefs." Many of them traded in anti-Muslim rhetoric online, and some were vocally supportive of then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.
U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren ruled on Friday that Wright should be held ahead of his trial, saying he faced serious charges and a potential life sentence and was a flight risk.
"The charges against Wright include serious acts of violence and mass murder," Melgren said. "The evidence suggests that Wright was deeply involved in the planning of these atrocities, and intended to carry out the plan to fruition. In the eyes of the Court, there are very few charges more serious than a charge of planning to commit an act of terrorism, because that conduct undermines the very fabric of our society."
Melgren said that the evidence against Wright is "relatively strong" and made potential convictions and imprisonment a "significant" possibility.
"Wright has been charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against people and property within the United States," Melgren wrote. "Specifically, the Government alleges that Wright and his co-defendants planned to use an improvised explosive device to destroy an apartment complex and mosque in Garden City, Kansas. The complex contains more than 100 units and is home to many Muslims of the Somali refugee community. The group, known as 'the Crusaders,' intended to accomplish this goal by obtaining four vehicles, filling them with explosives (made from aluminum powder and ammonium nitrate, amongst other components), and parking them at the four corners of the apartment complex to create a large explosion. Simply put, these allegations against Wright indicate a strong threat to society."
An attorney for Wright had argued that he only believed he was involved in "mere puffery and the venting of frustration" rather than an actual plot to kill Muslim immigrants. The lawyer argued that Wright was a "good, law-abiding man, who may be a not-so-good judge of character" who had exercised his First Amendment rights in way that was "distasteful but understandable given his loneliness."
The attorney said Wright was part of a group that "feared that then-President Obama was corrupt and in league with the Muslim Brotherhood" and that the "United Nations, China and Cuba were formulating an invasion of the United States that would have to be repelled by American partisans, such as themselves."
The group, the attorney wrote, "feared that then-President Obama would declare martial law if Donald Trump won the election. They feared massive social unrest would occur regardless of the outcome of the presidential election of 2016."
Ultimately, the judge was swayed by evidence from the government, which included recorded conversations, text messages and information obtained by an undercover FBI employee as well as a confidential FBI source.
Judge Melgren said that Wright had "expressed extreme hatred and threatened violence against Muslims" and "expressed his desire to kill Muslims via a variety of different methods." Wright, he said, "did more than simply vocalize his desire to murder Muslims" by taking an "active role in planning an actual attack on actual people."
A trial in the case is currently scheduled for Feb. 20, 2018.
Read the judge's order below.
Ryan Reilly is HuffPost's senior justice reporter, covering criminal justice, federal law enforcement and legal affairs. Have a tip? Reach him at ryan.reilly@huffingtonpost.com or on Signal at 202-527-9261.
Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? Here's how.
Ryan J. Reilly
Senior Justice Reporter, HuffPost
Politics News United States International News Social Justice Terrorism


text:
Мечехво́сты  — отряд водных хелицеровых из класса меростомовых (Merostomata). Название дано по длинному мечевидному хвостовому шипу, расположенному на заднем конце тела. Другая характерная черта мечехвостов — массивный спинной щит, по форме напоминающий лошадиное копыто.

К мечехвостам относится более 70 ископаемых и 4 современных вида, представители которых обитают на мелководьях морей от Дальнего Востока России до Юго-Восточной Азии и на Атлантическом побережье Северной Америки.

В сезон размножения мечехвосты в больших количествах появляются в приливно-отливной зоне и становятся объектом массового промышленного сбора. В Японии и США из них изготавливают удобрения и корм для домашних животных. В некоторых странах Азии мечехвостов используют в пищу.

Внешнее строение
Современные мечехвосты могут достигать 60 см в длину, что значительно превышает наибольшие размеры второй группы современных хелицеровых — паукообразных.

Тело мечехвоста подразделяется на два отдела: передний — просому, или головогрудь, и задний — опистосому, или брюшко. Со спинной стороны просома и опистосома покрыты собственными частями спинного щита — карапакса, что обеспечивает подвижность одного отдела относительно другого. Острый передний край выпуклого спинного щита позволяет мечехвосту, подобно плугу, двигаться, находясь отчасти погружённым в толщу грунта.

В состав просомы входит шесть сегментов, несущих конечности: пара коротких хелицер и пять пар ходных, или ходильных, ног. Хелицеры и первые четыре пары ног на конце несут клешни (исключение составляет лишь первая пара ходных ног самца, которые служат для захвата самки при спаривании). Конечности 5-й пары (толкательные ножки) имеют двуветвистое строение. Первые членики ходных ног несут гнатобазы — направленные к срединной линии тела зазубренные выросты, которые служат для перемалывания пищи.

От опистосомы отходит семь пар сильно видоизменённых конечностей. Первый опистосомальный сегмент слит с просомой и несёт пару редуцированных конечностей — хилярий. Конечности второго сегмента преобразованы в широкие пластинчатые структуры — половые крышки. На их задней поверхности расположены парные половые отверстия. Остальные пять пар конечностей представляют собой органы дыхания — жаберные книжки.

Среда обитания и жизненный цикл
Большую часть года мечехвосты обитают на заилённом дне морских мелководий на глубине 10—40 метров. Половой зрелости мечехвосты достигают на 9—12-м году при общей продолжительности жизни до 19—20 лет. В период нереста половозрелые особи мигрируют на песчаные пляжи, осушаемые во время отлива. Более мелкий по сравнению с самкой самец цепляется за её опистосомальный щит, в то время как она выкапывает в грунте ямку, куда откладывает от 200 до 1000 яиц диаметром 1,5—3,5 мм. Затем самец осеменяет яйца, после чего их дальнейшее развитие протекает в толще грунта. Во время сезона размножения может гибнуть до 10 % популяции взрослых мечехвостов.

Дробление у мечехвостов полное. Очень скоро оболочка яйца (хорион) сбрасывается, и значительная часть эмбрионального развития протекает под защитой эмбриональной кутикулы.

По окончании эмбриогенеза из яйца выходит трилобитная личинка, обладающая полным числом сегментов тела. Кроме размера, от взрослого организма её отличает отсутствие трёх пар жаберных книжек и недоразвитость некоторых внутренних органов (например, кишечника). Трилобитная личинка вскоре выбирается из песка и способна плавать с помощью конечностей опистосомы. При плавании она переворачивается брюшной стороной кверху. Кишечник и недостающие пары конечностей развиваются после первой личиночной линьки.

Питание
Мечехвосты питаются донными беспозвоночными: двустворчатыми моллюсками, полихетами и немертинами, причём экспериментально показано, что при питании двустворчатыми моллюсками они отдают предпочтение особям с более тонкой раковиной. Известны случаи поедания водорослей.

Палеонтология
Наиболее древние представители отряда мечехвостов известны из ордовикских отложений. Представители единственного ныне живущего рода Limulus встречаются начиная с триаса.

Роды

Применение в фармакологии
В США из гемолимфы мечехвостов получают реактив для проверки стерильности медицинских препаратов — Limulus amebocyte lysate. В основе действия реактива лежит иммунная реакция мечехвоста: гемолимфа сворачивается, если препарат загрязнён микроорганизмами или продуктами их деятельности.

Примечания

Литература

 Иванова-Казас О. М. Сравнительная эмбриология беспозвоночных. Членистоногие. — : Наука, 1979. — 224 с.
 Зоология беспозвоночных, Т. 1: от простейших до моллюсков и артропод, под ред. В. Вестхайде и Р. Ригера. — : Т-во научных изданий КМК, 2008.

 Рупперт Э. Э., Фокс Р. С., Барнс Р. Д. Зоология беспозвоночных. Т. 3: Членистоногие. — : Академия, 2008.

Живые ископаемые
Отряды хелицеровых


Plants add a beautiful element to any décor–unless they're dead. By that time, there's just too much regret to make it worth keeping them around.
Here's the right way to keep them alive. Mix a few drops of vodka and a spoonful of sugar in water. Use this concoction to water your houseplants and watch them grow. You can also use this for keep cut flowers fresh. And then, of course, there's another use for vodka: the classic martini. The question is: shaken or stirred?
Moving Hack: Leave the Clothes on the Hangers!


So thanks to the great people at Wiley and Jon Emmett, you now you get the chance to have your own copy of the book, "Be Your Own Sailing Coach" by Jon Emmett!
Submit the funniest photo of you sailing that you can get your hands on.
Write a 15 word slogan for "..why you need a coach..".
All entries to be in to soulsailor 'at' gmail.com by Friday 21st March 2008.
I soooooo want to win this book. I expect you have a gazillion funny photos by now, so how can I compete?
There was that time I was dressed in drag on a sailing boat in the Caribbean... but Tillerwoman tells me that I told her not to take any photos and she says that for once she did what I told her. Damn.
Or there is that photo of me and her making out on the bowsprit.... Hmmm. She might kill me if you post that one.
And you want a slogan too as to why I need a coach? Geeze. Can't I just say, "Check out propercourse.blogspot.com"? Anybody who reads my blog would know why I need a coach in the worst possible way.


text:
Solar Power Potential Ghana
Last edited: February 2019
The solar power potential in Ghana is enormous. This is due to the location of Ghana near the equator and the potential increase in electricity consumers in rural areas who now lack a steady electricity supply. Thus far, the main renewable energy source in Ghana is from water. Since the potential power generated from the sun is so huge, the Ghanaian government has set goals to bring this potential about.
Solar irradiation in Ghana
The solar irradiation in Ghana ranges from 4 to 6 kWh/
m² per day. Every year, there is an average of 1800 to 3000 sun hours. Especially compared to other countries in the world, Ghana has a high solar potential. It might not be the highest in the world, but it is comparable to for example the south of Europe.
Image 1: Solar Resource Map of Power Potential in the World
As becomes clear from the image 2, the north has the highest irradiation levels on a yearly basis.
Image 2: Solar Resource Map of Potential in Tanzania
For an overview of city-specific averages of solar radiation, take a look at the table below.
Solar Power Potential of 19 Cities in Ghana
Sunhours
(kWh/m2/day)
1 Kumasi 4.6 11 Ho 5.1
2 Accra 5.1 12 Wa 5.5
3 Axim 4.9 13 Akim Oda 4.6
4 Navrongo 5.5 14 Krachi 5.3
5 Saltpond 5.2 15 Yendi 5.4
6 Ada 5.4 16 Takoradi 5.0
7 Koforidua 4.8 17 Bole 5.3
8 Wenchi 5.0 18 Abetifi 5.2
9 Tamale 5.4 19 Akuse 4.8
10 Bekwai 4.7 Average 5.1
The access to electricity in Ghana increased immensely over the past decades. In 1990 only 15 to 20 percent had access to electricity. In 2016, 82.5 percent of the Ghanaian population had electricity access. This percentages is expected to grow to a 100 between 2020 and 2025.
Unfortunately, this access has not been a steady one for a while, due to several electricity crises also known as Dumsor. Also, having access to electricity is not the same as having a house connected to the grid. This means Ghana is in need of a reliable solution.
More on the solar sector in Ghana?


Amid disaster, natural or manmade, there is an opportunity to rebuild an entire city.
It can take just one powerful disaster—natural or manmade—to flatten an entire city or town. In the Great Fire of 1666, a spark set London ablaze for four days, burning down 13,000 houses, 84 churches, and part of the London Bridge. Much more recently, the 2011 Tohoku earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that washed away the homes of 230,000 people and caused $300 billion in damages. Then in 2015, earthquakes in Nepal destroyed nearly 900,000 houses, along with 900 facilities and 8,300 schools by the government's count.
But amid each tragedy, there is an opportunity: a blank slate, for architects to reflect on and rebuild an entire community. "A disaster zone where everything is lost offers the perfect opportunity for us to take a fresh look, from the ground up, at what architecture really is," Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate Toyo Ito said in a statement.
Ito's work is currently featured in "Creation from Catastrophe," an exhibit organized by the Royal Institute of British Architecture in London. It showcases the ways in which architects have responded to disasters over the past three centuries—from the five different plans to rebuild London after the Great Fire to Japanese architect Shigeru Ban's latest effort to create housing for Nepal's earthquake survivors using rubble and recycled cardboard.
The exhibit, which runs through April, considers the potential of a city that rises from ruins—particularly in terms of the evolving role of architects in disaster recovery. "Fifteen years ago, when I first started, humanitarian work was much more concentrated around working in camps and focused on emergency distributions of good and materials, and not so much about a recovery or reconstruction process," says Brett Moore, an architect who isn't involved with the exhibit but who acted as the shelter, infrastructure, and reconstruction advisor to the Christian humanitarian aid group World Vision International over the past four years.
But it's not only about constructing sturdier buildings; for some countries, it might be more important to build foot bridges and community centers to allow access to markets and basic services. "Architects have to be kind of a facilitator and get involved in broad issues and bring all the stakeholders together," Moore tells CityLab. "You have to start with a good, strong, multi-sector approach that looks at housing, transport, education, and health infrastructure." That often means working with the community to understand what the biggest risks and needs are, and what the social dynamics are—surrounding land use, for example.
Even within a given country, architects have to recognize that the needs of communities differ widely. Take, for example, the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan swept through in 2013. "It wasn't just a typhoon damage," says Moore. "It was much more nuanced than that." People on the coast had to recover from water damage, while those inland faced risks dealing with extreme winds. Then there were those who lived in poor urban areas, who experienced a whole different set of problems from having completely lost their homes.


For artist and maker, Kay Khan, adornment is personal and, simply put, human. Her work is a complex amalgam of imagery. Her inspiration is life itself; her experiences, the things she sees and feels, ideas and even the interplay of words. With vision and intention, she sews, stitches, quilts and embroiders an assortment of textile (cotton, silk, netting, knotted cord, etc.) to produce miniature sculpture for the body.
Khan grew up in a family where every member was driven to create. Closest to home were her grandmother and mother who quilted, sewed and crocheted. Determined to pursue her own passion in art, Khan went to study ceramic sculpture and painting at James Madison University in Virginia. "Textiles, fabric, were always a part of my studio." Khan insists; yet it was later in her career that she began to design with textile, beginning with vessels in the mid 1990s. "I love working with fabric," she explains, "however, it took me a long time to figure out how I was going to use it to build something beautiful and powerful." Collaging layers of drawings with paint, fabric and other kinds of textile, Khan discovered a means to devise standalone works of art.
Selecting from a library of images within her mind, Khan communicates what she sees and feels into palpable expression. "When I construct the jewelry," she says, "I'm thinking about color, shape and form, similar to writing a composition and working within that intention and meaning. Colors can have certain meaning and emotion for me. Shapes can serve a very similar purpose in my work as well." Khan is interested in the nuance of detail and this motivation was her drive to make jewelry. Creating jewelry compared to her vessels, she says, takes a lot of editing. Working on a smaller canvas, the details now contribute a stronger significance to the entire work. Khan explains, "Think of it this way, when I create a vessel it is like I'm writing a book. When I'm working with jewelry, it is like writing a poem. I have to dial down to the essence of my message and do it in a way that maintains the same impact and meaning that I originally went into the work with." She is energized by the challenge.
Kay Khan's sculptural work is in numerous collections including the De Young Museum in San Francisco, the Museum of Art and Design in New York City, The New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe, the Racine Art Museum in Racine and the Arizona State University Art Museum in Tempe. Her work has also been included in the books, Textiles: The Art of Mankind and Fiber Art Today, among others.
She is currently a full-time studio artist, residing in Santa Fe, NM. Many of her pieces in art jewelry are found at Patina Gallery in Santa Fe (patina-gallery.com).


text:
Electronic resource (23)
Sound recordings (21)
Video recordings (17)
Scrapbooks (13)
Audiotapes (11)
Manuscripts (documents) (8)
Diaries (6)
Sketchbooks (6)
Plans (drawings) (5)
Visitors' books (4)
Blueprints (reprographic copies) (2)
Painters (24)
Sculptors (24)
Art, American (14)
Asian American sculptors (6)
Japanese American artists (6)
Art museums (5)
Asian American painters (5)
Expressionism (Art) (5)
Folk festivals (5)
Artists' studios (4)
Asian American educators (4)
Ceramicists (4)
Decoration and ornament (4)
Food habits (4)
Tobey, Mark (11)
Graves, Morris, 1910- (7)
Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) (6)
Smithsonian Folklife Festival (6)
Tsutakawa, George (6)
Callahan, Kenneth (5)
Seattle Art Museum (5)
Anderson, Guy (4)
Harrington, LaMar (4)
Kingsbury, Martha, 1941- (4)
Lippard, Lucy R. (4)
Archipenko, Alexander (3)
Greenberg, Clement (3)
Karlstrom, Paul J. (3)
Namuth, Hans (3)
Nanette L. Laitman Documentation Project for Craft and Decorative Arts in America (3)
Prince, Sue Ann (3)
Washington, James W. (3)
Andre, Carl, 1935- (2)
André Emmerich Gallery (2)
Brook, Alexander (2)
Bunce, Louis (2)
Calder, Alexander (2)
Christo, 1935- (2)
Clausen, Meredith L. (2)
Coleman, Glenn O. (2)
De Kooning, Willem (2)
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Archives of American Art (62)
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Query: Sculptors -- Washington (State) -- Seattle -- Interviews
Washington, James W., 1911-2000
Bestor, Dorothy K., 1913-
New Deal and the Arts Oral History Project
AAA.washin65
An interview of James W. Washington, Jr. conducted 1965 October 13, by Dorothy Bestor, for the Archives of American Art.
Oral history interview with James W. Washington, Jr
Karlstrom, Paul J.
1987 June 29
An interview of James W. Washington conducted 1987 June 29, by Paul Karlstrom, for the Archives of American Art.
Oral history interview with George Tsutakawa
Tsutakawa, George
Tsutakawa, Mayumi
1987 June 26-27
12 Videocassettes (BetacamSP) (Master: 12 videocassettes (Beta) (circa 20 min. each), sd., col., 1/2 in.)
4 Videocassettes (U-matic) (Duplicate (3 sets, 12 total videocassettes), sd., col., 3/4 in.)
AAA.tsutak87
An interview of George Tsutakawa conducted 1987 June 26-27, by his daughter Mayumi Tsutakawa, for the Archives of American Art at Tsutakawa's home and studio in Seattle, Washington and at three of his fountain sculpture sites.
Kingsbury, Martha, 1941-
1983 September 8-19
119 Pages (Transcript)
An interview of George Tsutakawa conducted 1983 September 8-19, by Martha Kingsbury, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project, in Seattle, Washington.
Oral history interview with Michael Spafford and Elizabeth Sandvig
Spafford, Michael, 1935-
Sandvig, Elizabeth, 1937-
1992 September 2-4
AAA.spaffo92
An interview of Michael Spafford and Elizabeth Sandvig conducted 1992 September 2-4, by Paul Karlstrom, at their home in Seattle, Washington, for the Archives of American Art. Spafford and Sandvig discuss their marriage and their separate careers, and the controversy and trial resulting from Spafford's "Labors of Hercules" murals at the Washington ...
Oral history interview with Joanna Eckstein
Eckstein, Joanna, 1903-1983
Ragen, Suzanne
AAA.eckste83
An interview of Joanna Eckstein conducted on 1983 April 7, by Suzanne Ragen, in Seattle, Washington, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project.
Oral history interview with Anne Gerber
Gerber, Anne
1983 Feb. 24-Apr. 21
5 Sound cassettes (Sound recording)
AAA.gerber83
An interview of Anne Gerber conducted 1983 Feb. 24-Apr. 21, by Anne Focke, at the artist's home, in Seattle, Wash., for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project.
Oral history interview with Edward B. Thomas
Thomas, Edward B., 1920-1984
Olbrantz, John
1983 April 28-May 10
AAA.thomas83
An interview of Edward B. Thomas conducted 1983 April 28-May 10, by John Olbrantz, at the artist's home in Seattle, Washington, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project. Thomas speaks of his family background and early art experiences; his education at the University of Washington; printmaking and its role in Northwest art;...
Oral history interview with Wesley C. Wehr
Wehr, Wesley, 1929-2004
1983 May 26-September 22
AAA.wehr83
An interview of Wesley C. Wehr conducted 1983 May 26 - September 22, by Martha Kingsbury, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project in Seattle, Washington.
Oral history interview with Margaret Tomkins
Tomkins, Margaret, 1916-
Guenther, Bruce
AAA.tomkin84
An interview of Margaret Tomkins conducted 1984 June 6, by Bruce Guenther, for the Archives of American Art's Northwest Oral History Project at the artist's studio in Seattle, Washington.


text:
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell – Review
By Gene Park on December 10, 2002 in Reviews
Since the dawn of three-dimensional gaming, developers have struggled to accurately portray realistic features of life itself. Among the most difficult aesthetic qualities of life is the essence of light and shadow. Most games don't treat light as part of the atmosphere, as if it really was in the air within the game, but more of a background layer. ICO presented light in an impressionistic style, straying away from the conventional design of light in games and adding to the dreamlike atmosphere. But for the first time ever, the developers of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell have tamed light and shadow to not only present the most groundbreaking lighting effects in videogame history, but to have it do their bidding. And they have effectively used light and shadow within the gameplay elements, validating the hard work and beauty of the game.
But before you buy in the hype of the 'stealth action redefined' tag on the cover of the game, Splinter Cell does have elements that show potential of redefining the stealth action genre, but didn't fully tap any of the resources they had. Splinter Cell puts you in the role of Sam Fisher, a member of the Third Echelon, denied by the U.S. Government and designed to gather intelligence and carry out missions in any way possible, all in the form of a single operative supported by a remote team. A splinter cell must remain nearly invisible and leave no proof, unless the government will disavow your existence. The world is on the brink of a third World War, and Fisher tips the balance between war and seemingly diplomatic peace.
The amazing thing about the game, besides the lighting, is the controls. Fisher is able to do a number of moves that makes you wish his peers were this versatile. He can crouch, hang off ledges, shimmy, climb, cross pipes hand-over-hand or lift your legs to cross like it was a rope bridge, combat roll, wall jump, peek through doors, rappel, zip line, have your back against the wall and grab other characters and use them as human shields. Above all that is the real star move of the game, the split jump, which has Fisher holding a splits position on a wall as wide as he is tall, and he can remain there or drop onto an unsuspecting victim. You can also shoot while in many of the positions, and if you need to drop off a high ledge, you can do so quietly with a quick tap of a button.
As if that wasn't enough, Fisher is armed to the teeth for stealth combat. He has night vision goggles, already a trademark for the game, with amazing filters and depth of field that are a must see for graphic nuts. There are often times where the game actually looks better in night vision. In addition to a standard 5.72 x28mm pistol, he also has an all-purpose 5.56x45mm assault rifle that can also be used to snipe, tranquilize, electrocute, distract, spy and gas enemies, as well as filling them with holes with single or automatic fire. The only thing missing is Fisher's hand-to-hand combat skills. All he could pull off when things go awry and you're out of ammo is a dinky little elbow swipe, which doesn't even knock enemies out in one hit. By the time you're going for that second crucial hit for the knockdown, you've already been shot up so many times you might as well restart from the last save point, another issue I'll get back to.
With his arsenal of moves and weapons, you'll be infiltrating and navigating complexes while sticking to the shadows. There is an in-game visibility meter that gauges your chances of being seen by the enemy. If it's all the way to the left, you've attained near-invisibility. If it's to the right, you're a deer in headlights. This is where the landmark lighting comes in. Splinter Cell is a rare case where the stellar graphics aren't used merely for show, or even for immersion, though the lighting is certainly both. Sticking to the shadows is a must, and just in case anybody has any doubts, the gameplay is designed for stealth. None of that 'choosing your own style: run-and-gun or stealth' stuff here that can be found in most other games. It's rare that you'd actually have enough ammo left after a scuffle with soldiers, because of some shoddy hit detection that I'll also get back to. Some levels require you to refrain from killing period, or the mission would be over.
No, you must progress through this game carefully, following enemy patterns and watching out for traps and cameras. You've got help from the night vision and the later-attained thermal goggles, along with lock picks, camera jammers, wall mines, flares, grenades, Medkits and an optic fiber camera you can slide under doors to spy on the other side undetected. It's also usually necessary to hide bodies. Sometimes when you reach a certain point in the level (usually after a saved point), if you've left bodies behind an alarm would ring. Sound that alarm too many times and the mission will be pulled.
The controls are near perfect, not only allowing you to do so much with so little buttons, but also offering true analog control over your character. The analog sticks (the left used for movement and the right used for fixing the camera) are responsive, giving the player an amazing sense of control over the character. Swinging the camera effectively makes nearly every scene one of the most remarkable images videogames have ever produced, also working as peripheral vision and being pretty competent. The shadows are to die for. Years from now developers will still look at the shadows of a fence, or the silhouette of a moth dancing on Fisher's face, and wonder how the developers did it.
In the documentary that can be played within the game, the designers indicated that the inspiration for the three-dotted night vision green glow was Batman, most notably the silhouette his of cape and cowl. When you saw the cape and cowl, like on the cover of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, you would instantly know it was Batman, and that it would be a fear-inducing image. The same goes with Fisher and his instantly recognizable (curiously except to enemies) three-pronged night vision goggles. It's chilling to see Fisher hold a gun to someone's head, back into a dark corner and see nothing but the green glow. Then you'd hear a yelp, and Fisher would emerge alone. It's effective, practical and pretty damn cool looking.
Despite all this praise however, the game is flawed because it never allows you to fully utilize Fisher's abilities on your own. Each obstacle, each fence, each wire and each pipe is strategically placed in a specific order for you to do. To enter a Chinese embassy in Myanmar, there's no other way to enter besides zip-lining onto a ledge and crawling through a window. You can't go through the front door. There's no vent to climb into. This is a very linear game, and like Matt Weise said about The Mark Of Kri, one can't but feel it's a wasted opportunity to limit the player's freedom in choosing how to approach a situation. In Splinter Cell's case, it's very limited on what you can or can't do. The game gives you the ability to interrogate while holding someone up, but only certain characters, not all. Fortunately, the variety of weapons at your disposal opens things up more in terms of combat. The distraction camera has you shooting a camera, making it whistle at enemies so they can investigate it, and blasting gas into their faces while you shoot out the rest of their buddies not affected by the gas. Definitely an ideal situation for a stealth operative, and you gain immense satisfaction for a plan well done.
The fact that the game is linear isn't a hindrance though. Most games are linear one way or another; it's only how the game functions within that linearity that might bring it down. In an interview with the Official Xbox Magazine, Mathieu Ferland, the game's producer, said that they didn't have enough time to improve the physics system of the bodies. But shooting an enemy in anywhere but a perfect headshot results in the enemy just taking it. It's a little frustrating, not to mention damaging to the suspension of belief, to swing around and shoot them square in the heart or groin, only to have them stand there still pulling the alarm or the trigger. Rare's GoldenEye 007 pioneered the hit detection system years ago, and it's disappointing that most games haven't implemented this more, and that the entire body, save the head, registers pain only within a invisible overall damage meter, and not outwardly hindering the enemies' progress. If this looks like a 21st century game, it sure didn't play like it sometimes.
The game does a good job of not putting much emphasis on cutscenes, and the poor quality of them shows that intent. But a definite plus is the implementation of story progression through gameplay. When you're required to listen to a conversation through a glass elevator, you're still able to control the movement of the microphone. Not only does this improve the cohesiveness of the overall story, but it also allows the narration to progress through the spectacular in-game graphics, not the awkward models in the cutscenes. It's noteworthy that the in-game lighting adds so much to the game that it's much more impressive than the lackluster pasty lighting of the cutscenes.
At its core, Splinter Cell is a relatively simple game giving the player more tricks than the game seems to need. Because of the non-decisions you make for most of the game, the only real freedom the game offers is the versatile assault rifle, giving you many options to approach a potentially disastrous situation with cameras, guards and innocent bystanders all factoring into your final decision. It's sad to see so much potential lost in what is your basic action game with heavily emphasized stealth elements. Otherwise Splinter Cell is an outstandingly detailed game, ushering in a new age of graphics, and hopefully more games will follow suit in using graphics not only as a tool for immersing a player into the experience, but also allowing players to use it as part of their arsenal. And hopefully future installments of this game will allow freedom to the players, visible pain to the enemies and an equal amount of versatile moves and weapons. And what a game that could turn out to be. Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Disclaimer: This review is based on the Xbox version of the game.
Gene Park
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Tags: Game Reviews GameCube PC PS2 Splinter Cell Stealth Teen (13+) Ubisoft Ubisoft Montreal Xbox