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Australia Features
Yalumba: champions of Viognier
June 1, 2020 June 1, 2020 jamiegoode 4941 Views Viognier
Australian winery Yalumba are an interesting wine company. They are big, but not huge. They manage to behave like a boutique winery, one the one hand, but they also sell inexpensive wines in supermarkets on the other. I guess the obvious parallel would be with Torres in Spain. The wine world needs more wineries like this, spanning different segments of the market.
One of Yalumba's points of difference is the championing of the Viognier grape variety. This white grape variety almost went extinct back in the 1960s. It's remarkable to think that when Yalumba planted Australia's first commercial Viognier vineyard in 1980, there were fewer than 15 hectares of Viognier in Condrieu, in the northern Rhône. A decade earlier there were just 11 hectares. The variety was almost lost to the world.
There's some interesting history here. Viognier arrived in Australia in 1968 from Montpellier. Three vines were grown in the Nuriootpa Research Station vineyard. Yalumba found these vines and propagated them using tissue culture, before planting them in their Eden Valley vineyard.
Louisa Rose, chief winemaker, Yalumba
The story of Yalumba and Viognier also involves the work of chief winemaker Louisa Rose, who first encountered the variety when she started there in 1992. But her first few attempts to make it were somewhat underwhelming. She treated it like Riesling, picking early, inoculating, fermenting at low temperature. 'We got wines with no flavour and bitterness from the phenolics,' she says, over a Zoom call (very ISO). Things changed in the mid 1990s when she started to let the grapes get riper, picking it about the same time as Shiraz. 'The grapes like to be in the sun.'
Viticulture is typical Barossa style. It's not a VSP, but a single wire system and the vines aren't overly vigorous, so they tend to sprawl naturally either side of the fruiting wire providing dappled shade that protects the grapes from sunburn, but also allows them enough light to develop nicely.
In the press there's no deliberate attempt to allow skin contact, because phenolics can be an issue. This said, phenolics are an important part of Viognier's flavour spectrum. The juice isn't clarified and no sulfites are added. Acidification isn't the rule, but can be used. 'Viognier is naturally a low acid variety,' says Rose. She says that if acid is added to levels that would be normal for other white varieties, it would stick out in Viognier. 'The wines would taste much more acidic than the analysis.' Ideally, Rose says, Viognier should have refreshing bitterness from the phenolics in the skins. 'If it doesn't have a phenolic component, it can become blobby and oily.'
Yalumba now make Viognier with natural yeasts, as they do with most of their wines. Rose says that their confidence in working with natural yeasts has grown as their viticulture has become much lighter handed. 'We have really biodiverse vineyards,' she says, noting that they have worked with the Australian Wine Research Institute on characterizing some of the yeasts.
One of their Viogniers is organic. 'One of the growers decided he wanted to go organic,' she says. Most are on a sustainable protocol, but this grower enjoyed it and wanted to take it to the next step. 'When he was certified we thought it would be good to make an organic wine,' says Rose. He also grows Shiraz for them. Their winemaking fits with organic regulations anyway, so it was easy to get certification for the wine.
Does Viognier age? Because there were only 11 hectares of the variety left in 1970, most people growing and making it have been through a similar journey. 'We don't need old vines, we don't need to age these wines,' says Rose. 'But now the vines are old and we have old vintages of Virgilius, we're finding that they are beautiful. Very few others age Viognier, but these are interesting wines.'
Yalumba Y Series Viognier 2019 South Australia
This is mainly Riverland fruit, but also some Barossa and Adelaide Hills fruit is in the blend. Rich and flavourful with bold pear and apricot flavours. Has a nice spicy bite and great balance. Broad and textured with a touch of honey and spice, and plenty of Viognier character. 90/100 (£8 Majestic, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Co-op)
Yalumba Organic Viognier 2019 South Australia
13.5% alcohol. A delicate expression of Viognier, with interesting aromatics: lively lemony notes with some mandarin and peach. The palate is crisp with lemony acidity under delicate pear fruit. There's a touch of almond, and also some salinity. 90/100 (£10 Tesco, Waitrose)
Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2017 Barossa, Australia
13.5% alcohol. This has a beautiful aromatic nose of apricot and nuts with some orange peel and lemon brightness. The palate has a nice rich texture with good acidity supporting a richly textured, broad base of apricot and pear. There's just a hint of bitterness that works well in this context. A lovely rich expression of Viognier that captures its varietal character and also turns the volume knob up a little. 92/100 (£15 Amazon, Specialist Cellar, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Fenwick)
Yalumba Virgilius Viognier 2017 Eden Valley, Australia
13.5% alcohol. This is fresh and delicate on the nose with a lovely apricot and lemon character. The palate has real intensity, but it's youthful and linear with fennel and spice and pear notes as well as some lemony freshness. Subtle pepper and spice on the finish, with well mannered phenolic structure. Shows balance, restraint and precision. Not showing all that it has now, but it could age really well. 93/100 (c. £30 retail)
Find these wines with wine-searcher.com
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Report shows fintech sector flourishing with $40bn in M&A action
By George Geddes on Monday 8 October 2018
Blockchain platforms and insurtech firms are expected to be prime targets to continue the surge of acquisitions for the remainder of the year.
Hampleton Partners has released its latest fintech M&A report which shows a total disclosed transaction value of $39.3bn in deals for H1 2018. This is a 26 per cent increase in value from the previous 6 months.
With the sector suffering a significant slowdown in acquisitions in the latter half of 2016, 2017 witnessed an increase in transactions which sparked speculation that an M&A boom was imminent for the UK's fintech sector. There were a reported 141 transactions that took place in the first half of 2018 including the $17bn acquisition of Thomson Reuters by Blackstone. The Reuters deal's inclusion shows the broadness of Hampelton's criteria when it comes to defining "fintech".
The report suggests that the sudden surge in the value of transactions is a result of "consumer and enterprise acceptance of digital banking, payments and financial data services".
Jo Goodson, managing director at Hampleton Partners, comments that larger corporations are seeking investments to improve the efficiency of back-office operations and customer experience. RBS acquiring FreeAgent, an accounting software provider, is one example of a big bank absorbing a software company to improve growth in trading and sales.
Digital payments and transactions is a specific area within the sector which has received significant attention. Two out of the top five deals come from the segment including PayPal's $2.2bn fee to acquire the payment provider, iZettle.
There appears to be no signs of the boom coming to an end any time soon. For the remainder of 2018, Hampleton sees blockchain firms as prime targets when a number of platforms come to market. Additionally, insurtech could be a catalyst that instigates a surge in deals when "traditional insurers step up their efforts to innovate their consumer and enterprise offerings through M&A".
Goodson added that PSD2 is another component that could drive M&A, saying: "Going forward, the implementation of Europe's Revised Payment Service Directive, or PSD2, is likely to be a major game changer for the deal landscape, as it encourages pan-European competition and participation in the payments industry, including non-banks."
Ripple effect: Revolut issues warning about XRP while still letting users trade it amid SEC lawsuit
Alternative Lending: The industry's predictions for 2021

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Patek Philippe Complications for Women: A Summary (Part 1)...
Patek Philippe Complications for Women: A Summary (Part 1)
Nov 5, 2020 • 5 mins read
The lunar cycle is one of the oldest calendar systems in human history. It was the only way early civilisations could define the passage of time across a year. Farmers used lunar calendars to know when to plant and when to harvest, and to predict when the rains would come.
It remains a core complication in mechanical watches today, often associated with women's models due to the Moon's frequent depiction as a female. Most moonphase designs these days feature a double Moon display on a counter with a semi-circular cutout showing the waxing and waning of the Moon across the sky.
Most moonphase complications are accurate to a day in 122 years, thanks to the gearing used to indicate the 29.53 synodic month. Easy adjustors let you change up the display quickly, usually with correctors that are set into the case.
An excellent example of a moonphase watch for ladies by Patek Philippe, the Ref. 7121J-001 with a small seconds and moonphase display on the subdial.
Within Patek Philippe's collection of watches for women, there are two moonphase models, similar but distinct in design and style. The Ref. 7121J in yellow gold with a silvery grained dial and Breguet numerals bear the semblance of a Calatrava. It has straight lugs that remind one of the early versions of wristwatches with wire lugs, a single row of diamonds on the bezel and a feminine tone-on-tone moonphase display.
The Ref. 4968R marks a different case and dial construction for female Patek Philippe watches, with a more definitive case and side profile, while exploring greater creativity on the front.
Its sibling, the Ref. 4968, in rose or white gold, offers a more definitive case design with curved lugs and numerals in ruthenium-black gold (for the white gold model) or rose gold. The entire dial is set in mother-of-pearl, with a disc for the small seconds and moonphase display set on white.
Around the white mother-of-pearl dial, a Nautilus-style spiral (or Fibonacci, for those more mathematically inclined) spreads from the centre to the edge of the dial and blends into the bezel, which has a double row of diamonds set in the same style, from smaller to larger gems.
The Annual Calendar Appears
In 1996, Patek Philippe introduced its first annual calendar complication. The Manufacture had long been renowned for its perpetual calendars, but the annual calendar was a brand new idea, one that expanded Patek Philippe's audience to a much larger crowd. The difference between the two complications? Just that only once a year in February, you need to make the adjustment to the first of March.
The Ref. 5035J heralded a new era of Patek Philippe calendar watches that continues to this day.
The movement that drove the watch was the Calibre 315 S QA. It bore a date aperture at 6 o'clock, with two counters for the day and month as well as a 24-hour display just above the date display. Applied Roman numerals with luminous material were hour markers, another unconventional choice for a classic Patek model. It was also notable in that it required 41 more components to assemble the movement compared with a perpetual calendar from the brand.
The watch was stunning and very compact considering the amount of information it packed on the dial. But after the model was discontinued, Patek Philippe switched to its staple Calibre 324 as a base for later models and replaced the 24-hour display with a moonphase indicator instead, giving it a more classic appearance.
The Ref. 4947 is the daily wear equivalent of the ladies' annual calendar model, with just one row of diamonds along the side of the case and bezel.
The compact Calibre 324 S QA LU (small seconds, annual calendar and moon phase) meant that it was ideal for use in various watch models, including for example the Ref. 5726 Nautilus Annual Calendar and Ref. 5146. The Ref. 4947 followed these other models. With a silvery dial with vertical and horizontal satin-finish, gold applied numerals, a date aperture at six, along with a moonphase display and day and month counters at 10 and 2, the timepiece is incredibly easy to read, and deceptively complicated.
Patek Philippe Calibre 324 S QA LU
Correctors are embedded into the case on the sides, and to elevate the watch, a single row of diamonds on the bezel and along the case middle extending to the edge of the lugs, give the Ref. 4947 a bit of flourish.
But it's in the Ref. 4948 that Patek Philippe goes all out to wow. The watch is set with 347 diamonds, with a row on the case, on the lugs and alongside the case middle, fully covered. The calendar correctors are seamlessly adapted to fit along with the gem-set case, as if they were designed together. The crown bears another 14 diamonds and the prong buckle a further 27. A white Balinese mother-of-pearl dial, an iridescent glow, adds to the allure of this watch.
The fully set Ref. 4948G-010 is a powerful example of Patek Phillipe's mastery of women's timepieces, balancing beauty, glamour and mechanical watch complications in a single model.
If the movements of Patek Philippe attest to its watchmaking ingenuity, and its men's timepieces to its finesse, then the women's models represent its ability to balance glamour and watchmaking prowess into a perfect blend. Whether you prefer the Ref. 4947 or Ref. 4948 personally, you could wear either to the boardroom or a black tie gala, and neither would be out of place. They simply draw attention to your refined taste in fine women's watchmaking.
Discover the Patek Philippe watch collections online or locate the nearest boutique for a visit.
Patek Philippe Complications for Women: A Summary (Part2)
Rhapsody in a Patek Philippe Ref. 5370P-011 Blue
http://www.cortinawatch.com/en/news/patek-philippe-ladies-complications-watches-2/
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Turkey's mountain running icon Ahmet Arslan will be looking for his seventh successive title at the European Mountain Running Championships in Borovets on Saturday.
Turkey's Ahmet Arslan will bid for a seventh successive title at the European Mountain Running Championships on Saturday - and victory will be the perfect birthday present.
Arslan turned 27 on Wednesday and he arrives in Borovets, Bulgaria, ready to write his name further into the legend of this event.
Born into a farming family in the south of the country, Arslan has conquered some of the toughest tests in European athletics.
His amazing record began in Cauterets, France, in 2007 and he has not looked back, making it six in a row with another brilliant win with a second consecutive triumph at home in Denizli-Pamukkale 12 months ago after his glory in Bursa the previous year.
He won in 49.46, beating fellow Turkish athlete Ercan Muslu by 11 seconds with Romania's Ionut Zinca third in 50.19.
It is the 12th staging of these European Mountain Running Championships and the toughness of the course cannot be disguised for the 228 athletes from 27 European Athletics member federations.
There will be four races on Saturday - senior men, senior women, junior men and junior women - in this mountain resort where skiing is the biggest trade.
That will say everything about the uphill challenge ahead. The setting has an altitude of 1350m in the Sofia Province and in the early 1980s, the venue held rounds of skiing's World Cup.
Picturesque for the spectator, but there will be little chance to admire the scenery for the athletes and the rest of the men's field will do all they can to ensure Arslan stays with their sights.
It was only in 2005 that he changed from being a cross-country runner and he has created some reputation.
But even though Turkey had the first two places in the men's senior event last year, the team title was won by Italy as Gabriele Abate was fourth in 50.33, Marco De Gasperi was fifth in 50.49 and Xavier Chevrier was seventh in 51.23.
In 23rd was their fourth runner, Bernard Dematteis, who had won bronze in 2011 and his twin brother Martin joins him in this team as Chevrier also returns again with the fourth runner Alex Baldaccini.
Switzerland's women have won the senior title in the last two years and the 2011 champion Martina Strahl is back to bid for glory again, after her teammate Monika Furholz took gold in Denizli-Pamukkale.
Furholz beat Nadezhda Leshchinskaya and Pavla Schorna and the Russian and Czech Republic athletes are back to chase for the main prize.
Britain's women won the team title in 2012 and their team of 16 is from the first four finishers from each race at their trials in Keswick in May.
Looking to defend the women's crown will be Emma Clayton, who was sixth in the individual race last year, Olivia Walwyn, Rebecca Robinson and Sarah Tunstall and returning in the junior women's event is defending champion Annabel Mason, 16, who triumphed in Turkey in 20.25 and was a comfortable winner of the British trials.
In the men's junior race, the youngest in the field is Turkey's Ramazan Karagoz, who was 16 only in April, and his country will be among the favourites for this event.


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What Will The GOP Cut?
Lindsay Beyerstein,
The Media Consortium | News Analysis
The Republicans won control of the House and picked up seats in the Senate in the midterm election on nebulous promises to slash spending and reduce the size of the federal government. House Speaker John Boehner has pledged to reduce spending to 2008 levels, as per the GOP's campaign manifesto, known as the "Pledge to America."
But as Andy Kroll reports in Mother Jones, while the Pledge calls for a 21.7% reduction in spending on non-security discretionary programs, it doesn't commit to any specific cuts. Medicare and Social Security are safe from this round of cuts because they are not discretionary.
The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities tried to give a glimpse of what the federal government might look like if all eligible agencies took a 21.7% budget cut across the board. As Kroll notes, it's more likely that some programs will be spared, some trimmed, and some eliminated entirely.
However, the CBPP's analysis gives a stark picture of the magnitude of the proposed cuts, Kroll writes:
What it found was grim, with middle class Americans set to lose the most.
K-12 education funding, the CBPP found, would drop by $8.7 billion, and food stamps for at-risk pregnant women, infants, and young children would lose $1.6 billion in funding. State- and local-run housing programs would lose $6.9 billion, and children and family social services would lose nearly $2.2 billion.
Already pinched state budgets would take massive hits as well, losing out on $31.6 billion in federal funding.
Cuts to state budgets mean even deeper cuts to education and social services that benefit working families. Starving the states is also a strategy to force state governments to default on their pension obligations to unionized public sector workers.
But the magnitude of these cuts might be giving the GOP cold feet. In January, Speaker Boehner told Brian Williams at NBC that he couldn't name a single program that he planned to cut.
Inequality is Personal
Paul Buchheit points out on AlterNet that if middle- and upper middle-class families had the same share of the economic pie that they did in the 1980s, they would be making $12,500 more per year. In other words, the economy has become vastly more productive over the last 30 years, but the extra wealth has become overwhelmingly concentrated in the hands of the very richest Americans at the expense of working families.
U.S. GDP quintupled since the 1980s, but most of the extra wealth has gone to the top 1% of earners. Nobody begrudges entrepreneurs a healthy return on their capital, but what about the 99% of earners who provided the labor. Where's the return on their investment?
With looming government spending cuts to domestic programs, the middle- and upper-middle classes will face an even bigger hit to their real standard of living. Local and state governments are cutting back on services while hiking taxes and fees.
The richest 1% won't feel these cuts as acutely as middle class families. If you have your own private swimming pool, you may not notice that the public pool is closed because the city can't afford lifeguards. If you send your kids to private universities, you won't be biting your nails over potential tuition hikes at public universities.
MLK's Legacy
The nation honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday. Roger Bybee of Working In These Times points out that, while King is remembered as a civil rights leader, he was also deeply committed to economic justice for all Americans. The politicians who praised King's legacy on Monday should remember that Dr. King's last great crusade was on behalf of sanitation workers in Memphis, public employees struggling for a decent standard of living.
Beck Sets Sights on 78-Year-Old CUNY Prof
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! interviews Frances Fox Piven, a 78-year-old distinguished professor of political science at the City University of New York, who may be the first person to inadvertently spark prime time conspiracy theory in the pages of a Media Consortium outlet. Right wing talk host Glenn Beck has identified Piven as the co-author of a violent blueprint to crash capitalism itself.
As Piven explains to Goodman, the bile stems from the suggestion made by her and her co-author Richard Cloward in a 1966 article in The Nation that social activists should help poor people access the benefits they were already legally entitled to. At that time, Piven recalls, the welfare system denied benefits to more than half of its eligible recipients. She and Cloward believed that the poor would become a more politically powerful and visible part of society if society suddenly had to make good on its promises of aid.
In July, Richard Kim of The Nation explained how an obscure 40-year-old article was recast as the "Rosetta Stone" of lefty politics, the blueprint to usher in an economic crisis which the left could exploit to bring about socialism.
Since Beck seized on Piven's work and labeled her a violent revolutionary, she has been the target of death threats by commenters on Beck's website. Political operatives posing as students came to her home to interview her. The interview later showed up on Andrew Breitbart's conservative website.
Piven seems both concerned and bemused that her brief for reforming the welfare system of the 1960s has been labeled as a blueprint for destroying the capitalist system.
This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.


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I purchased what was suppose to be 75 pounds of the Deepwater Vava'u from the same place. They sent me 50 pounds and then they tried to convince me that 25 pounds of water had either drained or evaporated from the rock in transit from Tonga and that this was completely normal. There is no customer service with this place in my opinion. "Too bad" is exactly the attitude I received as well. I was very unhappy with my experience ... you're taking a chance in my opinion when ordering from this company.
With that why are you fighting that battle?
Sounds like a long time member that could fight the battle himself.
Besides it's a complaint, but not the same as yours. As long as you are quoting one negative how about any postive posts?
I know it is a little late, but thought I'd chime in. I also couldn't find any solid info or opinions on livestockusa.org, so decided to go for it and then do a write-up. I bought a 75# box of Eva. In short, the service from livestockusa.org was stellar, the rock is better than anything I have seen in LFSs around here, and came out well under half the cost with shipping charges included. How well it stacks up against some others, I do not know. Anyone care to comment?
Also why buy live rock from one site and follow instructions from another? Other than you just shopped price?
I see pics of the rock that you got in the box where are the bugs that were on them?
This look like alot of other live rock that I have seen shipped into stores ... you will get die-off.
By no means do I want to make you feel bad, especially because you are a newbie. I think if you give the rock a chance you will be happy.
I also would advise you not to try everything that everyone tells you or that you read.
Stack that rock creatively and let it grow and definitely let's see a post in a few months to see what that tank looks like.
Wow this is really something, eh?
I apologize for the length, but the incorrect record demands straightening out.
First, I want to say we are truly very sorry that Damselblue is not completely happy with her rock.
Second, I want to say that it does not look like our "fanciest stuff" that is usually shipped. Third, like all customer comments and feedback, we take it very seriously ... for instance, the photos will be sent to Fiji.
That said, I'd like to point out that Damselblue's pictures do not look like the rock she received. Not to dis Damselblue's photo skills, but the (probably digitally-determined) exposures are very dark (under exposed) and very light (over exposed).
What you lose in either case is color. Over and under exposed photos do not show the true story.
We wanted to see a more true (real) representation of what Damselblue's live rock looks like under proper lighting, so we took her pix and used Photoshop to adjust only the lighting levels ("auto levels" adjusts for the under and over exposures automatically, to some degree, but it can only do so much).
It does, however, result in a far more accurate depiction of what Damselblue received rather than the raw, incorrectly exposed images posted here. And when done, the rock looks more than twice as colorful as the images that were posted here.
If the exposures had been accurate to begin with (not Damselblue's fault), it would be even more colorful than simple "auto levels" adjustment working with poor exposures. So what is being touted as what was received is not 100% accurate.
As a life-long photog, who learned it in the darkroom with black and white, I have taken a thousand live rock pictures. 800 went into the trash. It is amazingly hard to take a good picture of it.
On Damselblue's in-the-box shot where newspaper covers half of the box (the good pieces?), there is a strong yellow cast, which is usually incandescent lights overhead.
The way to remove blue-violet from the spectrum is to use a yellow filter or lights. With fluorescent lights for instance, a Series 7 80B filter (yellow) is required to remove the blue cast of fluorescents. That this is a factor is visible in Photoshop where you can see what is showing up in the spectrum. The blue-violet end of the spectrum is flat-lined. There ain't nuthin' there.
It is not Damselblue's fault, it's just how light and color work.
But, I think she knows that the pictures look worse than what she is looking at (as "auto levels" proves) and no effort has been made to make that clear to the fine folks reading this. I'm not sure that is fair to them, or us.
Okay, let's take a look at what Birdfish is explaining ... on the left is Damselblue's original ... on the right is the photo with the lighting adjusted.
Often the pieces are packed upside down so the uncovered with coralline side (bottom) is facing up, as shown in one of Damselblue's pictures. This is to protect the "best stuff" during shipping. Note we have a photo gallery that has many dozens of pictures in an attempt to show the range of possibilities.
The bottom line is that in our view, Damselblue has not been altogether forthright, possibly to garner support for her position. A number of the things publicly posted are patently false (either not things that were ever said, or, things that were never on our website), and nothing more than creative novel writing.
They are simply a twisting of words and facts for effect. Has it been the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, first time, every time, all the time? Unfortunately the answer is "no."
Damselblue - 1) "I showed others on The Thread and they totally agree with me."
Obviously this is not and was not ever true. A falsehood.
Not true, and how could Damselblue know? There are four shippers in Fiji. They all collect in many different areas amongst the many islands.
Damselblue - 3) "I DO REMEMBER READING ON YOUR SITE TO DO A DIP THAT CONSISTS OF 1.030 SG! Then you took it down."
We will take and cover any and all bets with no limit (!) that such a thing has never been on our website. We have archived versions every few months, for years, and server records, that we can provide to prove that. When you say we said something that we never said, or that we "took something down" that was never there, bells and sirens go off in my head. A falsehood, again. We have (and will) never recommend a hypo-saline dip.
Damselblue - 4) "If those pictures are straight from Fiji, you should state that in your website those pictures were taken IN FIJI, not when they arrive."
I said the pictures were taken in transit. Apologies for not being more clear. They were taken in Los Angeles as the boxes were opened on the way to customers as part of our quality control program.
Damselblue - 5) "He also told me to keep the rock in a low salinity which people say to keep it at least 1.025. He says 1.021."
According to a $10 book I feel none of you should be without, "The Marine Aquarist's Manual" by Hans A. Baensch, published by Tetra 1983, page 71 has a graph that should be of import to reefers. It lists the average density (SG) of each ocean: Pacific=1.021, Indian=1.023; Caribbean=1.024, and Red Sea=1.027. It also lists average ppt and temps for each ocean.
1.021 is not "low" for the Pacific, where Damselblue's rock came from.
Damselblue - 6) "The people that sent me the rocks said to keep temps at 71 with an SG of 1.021."
Another falsehood. We have never suggested a temp of 71.
Our curing page states 73-75 are our preferred temperatures, and states that though this seems a little low, the idea is to provide a buffer against summer overheating, and increase oxygen levels and oxygen reduction potential (ORP), all of which help the cycling process.
Also note contrary to some other posts here, in Tonga, the water is 72 degrees F.
Damselblue - 7) "There is maybe 5% coralline algae on the rocks I purchased."
This is clearly false too.
We feel for Damselblue's disappointment, however, it's not as bad as she's been making it out to be, and, we are sure, in short order, she will be amazed at how her rock looks.
Hopefully, she can post pictures here in a month or two and show us all how it looks.
I will respond to the "alleged shorted customer" post seperately. Suffice it to say, I have tried for 5 years to get Tonga to ship 50 lb. boxes. They won't yet, except for branch rock. That customer (thanks for posting it!) received a partial refund to the account from which it was purchased from, last March 3.
The *total maximum* disputed amount is 13 pounds, not 25, and is far closer to ZERO. But, as with most disgruntled customers, the tendency to exaggerate is seemingly irresistible. Fortunately, we can count them on one hand.
No one EVER told us they were shorted 25 pounds and that customer's initial e-mail states it was 20 pounds short (and that was before our partial refund), not 25. We have all correspondence for verification.
Finally (WHEW!!) I would like to thank all of the informed, intelligent folks who knowledgeably participated in this thread, some of whom I would really like to have a beer with!
Note that the advice Damselblue refers to came from another source or website (which may not necessarily be considered "good advice" in caring for live rock) ... it appears that Damselblue was visiting many different websites in gathering her information ... could it be possible that Damselblue got some of the information she gathered confused?
"I was told if I bought 75 pounds of the Eva Live Rock, it would be too much. So if I bought 80 pounds of the Fiji Live rock I would think that would be too much. This is a 40-gallon breeder. 36x18x16. I will have about either a 6-10 gallon refugium. I will place a couple of pieces in there to grow pods for my mandarin. It will also have a deep sand bed.
I've read the facts on the live rock. I am worried about whelks, sea spiders, mantis shrimp, and other bad hitchhikers. I am just afraid I would not be able to spot a whelk or the others might hide and I might not be able to find them. I could always take out the rock and as advised, place some carbonated water in holes or use a wire to see if anything is hiding in there. Just wanted to know what you guys thought. I think I will go with the Fiji because it is least expensive. It's all I can afford right now."
Thanks Birdfish, I like hearing from you!!! Like I had said before I have and will order from you again! Hopefully others will not take Damselblue's experience as the norm with your company, because it is not the norm.
Damselblue ... your rock will be fine, if you are that unhappy with it sell it to a local and order again.
Even though you had a bad experiance I would try livestockusa again. I have seen lots of rock from other online retailers and none has compared with theirs.
The divers must have had a little too much rum the day they packed your box.
Hiccup ... in Fiji, it's actually kava!
Damselblue, I'd just like to tell you that coralline algae grows best under pc or t-5 lighting. Metal halide burns coralline and in fact is too much light for it, so if you're looking to get more coralline, keep your M-H's to a minimum.
Also, I just posted a thread about this for us to learn more, so read up when you get a chance.
I'll take the kava! I hear Prince Charles even tried it! What's kava, you ask? It's an intoxicating drink made from the roots of the of the kava plant (a type of pepper). It's used in certain rituals. I hear it's a little hard to swallow. I think I could stand a bit of kava myself right about now!


text:
news, latest-news, donald trump, nuclear, iran
Stratfor, the private intelligence organisation, assesses that the global geopolitical environment in 2021 will be shaped by two factors: the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts by the Biden administration to restore collaborative relationships around the world. On the vaccine front, Stratfor expects it will take most of 2021 for Western countries to vaccinate their populations, while the rollout in developing countries could go well into 2022. On the Biden front, we can look at one relationship he is expected to prioritise - that with Iran, in particular the restoration of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) bestablished by the Obama administration when Biden was vice-president. The JCPOA tightly restricted what Iran could do within its nuclear program and established an intrusive IAEA inspection regime in return for the lifting of sanctions. Parties to the JCPOA were Iran and the P5 + 1 (China, France, Russia, the UK and US + Germany) together with the EU. President Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018 at the urging of Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, who claimed Iran had been covertly pursuing a nuclear weapons program. President Trump also restored US sanctions. There were several adverse developments for Iran during 2020, including the killing by US drone of revered Iranian general and statesman Qassem Soleimani, the arrival of COVID-19, the sabotage of the Natanz nuclear facility, the normalising of relations between the Arab Gulf states and Israel, and the November killing of chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Throughout the year, US sanctions continued to cripple the Iranian economy. The perpetrator of both the damage to Natanz and the killing of Fakhrizadeh was almost certainly Israel, because it will not tolerate another nation in the Middle East having a nuclear program that could lead to a weapon - particularly not Iran, whom it sees as an existential threat. The death of Fakhrizadeh led to Iran announcing it would start to enrich uranium to 20 percent - shortening the lead-time to producing a nuclear weapon. However, Iran is still allowing IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow. Iran's response to the events of the past year has generally been restrained. Following the killing of General Soleimani it conducted a limited ballistic missile attack on two US military bases in Iraq, seemingly planned to avoid casualties but play well to an Iranian domestic audience demanding revenge. Iran then scored an embarrassing own goal when it mistook an outgoing Ukrainian airliner for an incoming US Tomahawk cruise missile, resulting in the loss of 176 lives. READ MORE: Iran's leadership is now under public pressure to retaliate forcefully again on the anniversary of Soleimani's death and for the killing of Fakhrizadeh. The uranium announcement could be intended to offset some of that pressure. Tehran is well aware it faces a dangerous period while President Trump remains in office. President Trump could no doubt come up with a convincing reason to mount a devastating attack on Iran. He has ample means to do it, with the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group in the Persian Gulf, B-52 strategic bombers deployable, and the submarine USS Georgia carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles apparently located off the southern coast of Iran. A strike against Iran would please Trump's supporters, Israel, Turkey, and the Arab Gulf states, and negate any prospect of President Biden being able to restore the JCPOA relationship in the early part of his presidency. Worryingly, there is no legal provision to stop an outgoing president from ordering an attack on whomever he chooses. President Trump would not need the agreement of the military or the Congress before launching a nuclear or conventional attack. STRATCOM Chief Admiral Charles Richard acknowledged last week that he would "follow any legal order [he is] given". According to the Congressional Research Service, land-based nuclear missiles could be launched within two minutes of the President's launch order, while submarine-launched missiles could be despatched within 15 minutes. Removal of President Trump from office before January 20 is unlikely to happen, because there is no legal way to do so in the short time remaining without the cooperation of Vice-President Pence. We have to hope, therefore, that President Trump remains more focused on his domestic US problems than on the rest of the world.
/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/tPntrWhUbGLyDWYCTv46rt/58c0dbda-5bca-42a5-92d0-8e15232ea256.jpg/r3_68_5090_2942_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
Until January 20, we must hope Donald Trump forgets about Iran
Clive Williams
Worryingly, there is no legal provision to stop an outgoing president from ordering an attack on whomever he chooses. Picture: Getty Images
Stratfor, the private intelligence organisation, assesses that the global geopolitical environment in 2021 will be shaped by two factors: the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts by the Biden administration to restore collaborative relationships around the world.
On the vaccine front, Stratfor expects it will take most of 2021 for Western countries to vaccinate their populations, while the rollout in developing countries could go well into 2022.
On the Biden front, we can look at one relationship he is expected to prioritise - that with Iran, in particular the restoration of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) bestablished by the Obama administration when Biden was vice-president. The JCPOA tightly restricted what Iran could do within its nuclear program and established an intrusive IAEA inspection regime in return for the lifting of sanctions.
Parties to the JCPOA were Iran and the P5 + 1 (China, France, Russia, the UK and US + Germany) together with the EU. President Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018 at the urging of Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu, who claimed Iran had been covertly pursuing a nuclear weapons program. President Trump also restored US sanctions.
There were several adverse developments for Iran during 2020, including the killing by US drone of revered Iranian general and statesman Qassem Soleimani, the arrival of COVID-19, the sabotage of the Natanz nuclear facility, the normalising of relations between the Arab Gulf states and Israel, and the November killing of chief nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Throughout the year, US sanctions continued to cripple the Iranian economy.
The perpetrator of both the damage to Natanz and the killing of Fakhrizadeh was almost certainly Israel, because it will not tolerate another nation in the Middle East having a nuclear program that could lead to a weapon - particularly not Iran, whom it sees as an existential threat.
The death of Fakhrizadeh led to Iran announcing it would start to enrich uranium to 20 percent - shortening the lead-time to producing a nuclear weapon. However, Iran is still allowing IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow.
Iran's response to the events of the past year has generally been restrained. Following the killing of General Soleimani it conducted a limited ballistic missile attack on two US military bases in Iraq, seemingly planned to avoid casualties but play well to an Iranian domestic audience demanding revenge. Iran then scored an embarrassing own goal when it mistook an outgoing Ukrainian airliner for an incoming US Tomahawk cruise missile, resulting in the loss of 176 lives.
Iran accuses Donald Trump of trying to start a war
South Korean team in Iran after ship seizure
Iran seeks Interpol notice for US forces
Iran's leadership is now under public pressure to retaliate forcefully again on the anniversary of Soleimani's death and for the killing of Fakhrizadeh. The uranium announcement could be intended to offset some of that pressure.
Tehran is well aware it faces a dangerous period while President Trump remains in office. President Trump could no doubt come up with a convincing reason to mount a devastating attack on Iran. He has ample means to do it, with the USS Nimitz Carrier Strike Group in the Persian Gulf, B-52 strategic bombers deployable, and the submarine USS Georgia carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles apparently located off the southern coast of Iran.
A strike against Iran would please Trump's supporters, Israel, Turkey, and the Arab Gulf states, and negate any prospect of President Biden being able to restore the JCPOA relationship in the early part of his presidency.
Worryingly, there is no legal provision to stop an outgoing president from ordering an attack on whomever he chooses. President Trump would not need the agreement of the military or the Congress before launching a nuclear or conventional attack.
STRATCOM Chief Admiral Charles Richard acknowledged last week that he would "follow any legal order [he is] given".
According to the Congressional Research Service, land-based nuclear missiles could be launched within two minutes of the President's launch order, while submarine-launched missiles could be despatched within 15 minutes.
Removal of President Trump from office before January 20 is unlikely to happen, because there is no legal way to do so in the short time remaining without the cooperation of Vice-President Pence.
We have to hope, therefore, that President Trump remains more focused on his domestic US problems than on the rest of the world.
Clive Williams is a visiting professor at the Australian National University's Centre for Military and Security Law.
Discuss "Until January 20, we must hope Donald Trump forgets about Iran"


Join the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as they face off against new opponents: the evil Lord Dregg and Hi-tech, while also fighting against their own uncontrollable mutations in the mind-bending Season 9! With the help of Carter, a new ninja ally, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael, and Donatello – struggle to stop Lord Dregg from enslaving Earth, while overcoming Replicon, a battle droid that regenerates after each defeat. Featuring nonstop, sewer to-street action, these eight adventures will leave you wanting more turtle power! Includes 8 Shell-Busting Episodes: The Unknown Ninja, Dregg of the Earth, The Wrath Of Medusa, The New Mutation, The Showdown, Split-Second, Carter the Enforcer, Doomquest.


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Il profiterole (pronuncia francese , in italiano generalmente ) è un tipo di dolce francese ottenuto con un bignè  riempito di crema pasticcera, crema chantilly, panna o gelato e ricoperto con una crema di cioccolato o di caramello.

Storia e ricettario
L'origine risale probabilmente alla corte francese di Caterina de' Medici, che sposò Enrico II nel 1540. Quando Caterina si trasferì volle al suo seguito un cuoco personale, un certo Popelini, che creò la pasta choux per i bignè, dalla quale derivò il suddetto dolce, la cui fama si diffuse però solo nel XVII secolo. Inoltre, a Firenze il dolce è chiamato "bongo".

La presentazione più comune avviene disponendo i singoli profiterole in una "montagnetta" chiamata croquembouche. I profiterole sono utilizzati anche come guarnizione per la torta Saint Honoré.

La parola (anche nella forma prophitrole, profitrolle, profiterolle) esiste dal sedicesimo secolo, ma il suo significato originale sia in inglese che in francese non è chiaro, anche se in seguito ha assunto l'accezione di una specie di panino "cotto sotto la cenere". L'attuale significato è attestato con chiarezza solo dal diciannovesimo secolo. Un'altra origine del nome potrebbe essere quella di "profit", in francese profitto, guadagno. Secondo altre fonti il termine farebbe riferimento ai bignè che, in base alla ricetta tradizionale, si "approfittano" del cioccolato, andando a creare una gustosa montagnetta.

Nell'ex provincia di Messina ne esiste una variante, chiamata bianco e nero.

Note

Voci correlate

 Bignè
 Croquembouche
 Éclair
 Gougère
 Moorkop
 Pasta choux

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Dolci al cucchiaio
Dolci a base di crema
Dolci ripieni

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Cognitive scientists should be explorers of the mind, forging a path through the chaotic world of everyday life before even thinking of retreating to the lab, according to a critical article in the latest edition of the British Journal of Psychology.
Cognitive science often works like this: researchers notice something interesting in the world, they create a lab-based experiment in an attempt to control everything except what they think is the core mental process, they then test the data to see if it predicts real-world performance.
A new approach, proposed by psychologist Alan Kingstone and colleagues, suggests this is fundamentally wrong-headed and we need to completely rethink how we study the human mind to make it relevant to the real world.
The authors suggest that the standard approach relies on a flawed assumption – that mental processes are like off-the-shelf tools that do the same job, but are just assembled by the mind in different ways depending on the situation.
But imagine if this isn't the case and mental processes are, in fact, much more fluid and adapt to fit the environment and situation. Not only would we have to change our psychological theories, we would have to change how we study the mind itself because the assumption that we can isolate and test the same mental process in different environments justifies the whole tradition of lab-based research.
The authors suggest an alternative they call 'cognitive ethology' and it focuses the efforts of cognitive scientists on a different part of the research process.
Let's just revisit our potted example of what most cognitive scientists do: they notice something in the world, they create a lab-based experiment, they test to see if it predicts real-world performance.
The first part of this process (noticing -> lab-experiment) is often based on subjective judgements and rough descriptions and isn't validated until the lab-based experiment is tested.
Kingston and his colleagues argue that scientists should be applying the techniques of science to the first stage – measuring and describing behaviour as it happens in the real world – and only then taking to the lab to see what happens when conditions change.
A Nature publication by Land and Lee (1994) provides a good illustration of a research approach that is grounded in the principle of first examining performance as it naturally occurs. These investigators were interested in understanding where people look when they are steering a car around a corner. This simple issue had obvious implications for human attention and action, as well as for matters as diverse as human performance modelling, vehicle engineering, and road design.
To study this issue, Land and Lee monitored eye, head, steering wheel position, and car speed, as drivers navigated a particularly tortuous section of road. Their study revealed the new and important finding that drivers rely on a 'tangent point' on the inside of each curve, seeking out this point 1–2 seconds before each bend and returning to it reliably.
Later, other researchers used a lab-based driving simulator study to systematically alter how much of this 'tangent point' was available to see what caused abnormal driving.
The authors also make the point that this approach is much better at helping us understand why something happens the way it does, because it ties it to the real world and helps us integrate it with the our knowledge of personal meaning.
It's an interesting approach and meshes nicely with a recent article on cultural cognitive neuroscience in Nature Reviews Neuroscience. It looked at a number of fascinating studies on cultural influences on mind and brain function and discusses how we can go about understanding the interaction between culture and the brain.
If you want to skip the theoretical parts, Box 1 is worth looking at just for a brief summary of some intriguing cultural differences in the way we think.
The piece was also rather expertly covered by Neuroanthropology who cover the main punchlines and discuss some of the claims.
Link to 'cognitive ethology' article.
Link to PubMed entry for 'cognitive ethology' article.
Link to 'cultural neuroscience' article.
Link to PubMed entry for 'cultural neuroscience' article.
Computers cause abnormal brain growth – proof!
I have discovered shocking evidence that computers are affecting the brain. After extensive research, I have discovered the problem is remarkably specific and I have isolated it to an individual brain area affected by one particular application. Microsoft Word is causing abnormal growth in the frontal lobes.
The cingulate cortex is a part of the frontal lobe that is known to be involved with conflict monitoring, pain and emotion, while Microsoft Word is a clumsy but ubiquitous word processing package that has an annoying habit of auto-correcting things you don't want to be auto-corrected.
For example, try typing the words 'cingulate cortex' into Word and see what happens. It changes it to 'cingulated cortex', adding an annoying 'd' onto the end of the first word.
Whenever I'm writing a neuropsychology article, I now have the habit of doing a search and replace before I finish to sweep up any of these auto-errors. So I was wondering whether anyone else had suffered the same problem and searched the scientific literature.
Now, it could be that people have just been making standard typos throughout history, as adding a rogue 'd' is not uncommon, even when we're writing with a pen, but this doesn't seem to be the case.
While the use of the term 'cingulate cortex' stretches back to at least the beginning of the 20th century, the term 'cingulated cortex' barely appears, until Microsoft Word's autocorrection tool arrives on the scene.
There are 15 uses of the phrase "cingulated cortex" from 1900 to 2000. There are 1,740 uses from 2000 to now.
Microsoft Word, it seems, is slowly changing the brain.
Without further ado, I have named the disorder Bell's Frontal Nomenclature Hypertrophy Syndrome and demand that it be included in the diagnostic manuals.
Thousands of disturbed people will not get the help they need without this essential recognition, although in the mean time I will be offering private treatment at special rates.
Of course, I strongly encourage further research and welcome offers of interviews from the press, radio or television.
I am also available for weddings, funerals and Bar Mitzvahs.
Author vaughanbellPosted on August 29, 2008 Categories Nonsense8 Comments on Computers cause abnormal brain growth – proof!
The September issue of The Psychologist has two excellent and freely available articles that smash the popular myths of scientific psychology.
The first examines the widely mythologised story of hole-in-the head celebrity Phineas Gage, and the other tackles commonly repeated stories of famous studies that don't stand up to scrutiny.
Gage, whose skull is pictured on the front cover, is legendary, but, as the article makes clear, there's actually a great deal we don't know about his life and the information that typically accompanies his story is based on only a very few sources.
The article on other myths in psychology focuses on some of the most widely incidents and studies in the field: the murder of Kitty Genovese, Asch's conformity experiments, Little Albert and the Hawthorne Effect.
Other sciences certainly do have their own myths – just think of the story of Newton and the falling apple or Archimedes leaping out of the bath following his Eureka insight. Perhaps myths just seem more prominent in psychology because we tend to talk and write about our science in terms of studies rather than facts. Certainly the work of Mary Smyth at Lancaster University would appear to be consistent with this view – she has compared psychology and biology textbooks and found that psychology appears to have comparatively few taken-for-granted facts. Instead, numerous experiments are described in detail, lending scientific credence to any factual claims being made.
Link to article 'Phineas Gage 'Äì Unravelling the myth'.
Link to article 'Foundations of sand?'.
Full disclosure: I'm an unpaid associate editor for The Psychologist.
Choreography and Cognition is a project examining the cognitive science of dance. Try this for some experimental data. Get down.
The myth of undecided voters is tackled head on by Frontal Cortex.
Gin, Television and Cognitive Surplus. No, not a traditional English weekend, an Edge article by Clay Shirky on the internet and mental aggregators.
PsychCentral's Sandra lists her Top 10 online psychology experiments.
ABC Radio National's Life Matters explores out relationship to colour.
Corpus Callosum has an interesting role reversal art project where a psychiatrist has painted his emotional impression of patients.
Epigenetics or the 'Ghost in Your Genes' is a new TV programme and is linked to and discussed by Neuroanthropology.
The Smart Set review a book on loneliness.
The Guardian's examination of the supposedly mandatory but widely ignored drug company gift registers for UK doctors, shows (can we guess) widespread soul selling.
Be sure to check ABC Radio National's All in the Mind blog for extended comments and extra audio from the recent programme on the mind, markets and morality.
Wired Sciece on why early stone tools suggest Neanderthals were equally as intelligent as early humans, contrary to popular belief. Researchers now exploring lack of style, poor personal hygiene as reason for extinction.
The rubber hand illusion is accompanied by a drop in temperature of the 'displaced' hand. Another from Wired Science.
The BPS Research Digest reports a interesting study that finds we tend to overestimate the size of our own heads, but not those of others.
The three critical techniques for stage magic discussed in the recent paper on the cognitive science of magic are summarised by PsyBlog.
Harvard Magazine has an article on 'A Work in Progress: The Teen Brain'. Due to be completed shortly after Duke Nukem Forever.
July's Neuropod appeared and we didn't even notice. Still, the programme has been eerily quiet since then.
Why Are 'Mama' and 'Dada' a Baby's First Words? Sounds obvious but it's actually an interesting study into developmental phonetics.
BBC News reports that the drug rasagiline may may actually slow down Parkinson's disease according to an early study.
Cool photo on Flickr appropriately called 'applied radiology'.
Cannabis use went down in the UK after it was reclassified as a 'softer' drug, reports of The Guardian. Buckets of urine at the ready to be flung into the wind when government shortly re-reclassifies it as a 'harder' drug.
Interesting experimental philosophy paper makes it into the top 10 philosophy papers of the year.
Furious Seasons catches two interesting antipsychotic news nuggets: Nature Neuroscience editorial says credibility lacking in child psychiatry after recent payments scandal / BMJ reports antipsychotics really, really bad in older folks.
Wikipedia has a short but fascinating page listing animals by the number of neurons they have. There's only about a dozen entries on there, but most interesting is that there is an animal with no nerve cells at all.
It's called Trichoplax and apparently is a "a simple balloon-like marine animal with a body cavity filled with pressurized fluid".
Apparently humans don't come top of the pile, as both elephants and whales have more neurons.
However, it's not the best referenced article in the world, to say the least, so I'm taking this last claim with a pinch of salt for the time being.
If you know better, do update the article with some more reliable sources.
Link to 'List of animals by number of neurons'.
Neurophilosophy has a stimulating article on Wilder Penfield, the legendary Canadian neurosurgeon who pionered neuropsychological studies on the awake patient during brain surgery.
Penfield is most famous for his experiments where he electrically stimulated the brain of patients who had part of their skull removed during surgery to record what thoughts, behaviours and sensations arose from the excitation of specific parts of the cortex.
This research is still being done in modern times. My favourite is a 1991 study on electrical stimulation of the supplementary motor area SMA) by (no laughing now) Fried and colleagues.
hand" to very specific movement intentions such as the "urge to move right thumb and index finger".
The gripping and typically well-researched Neurophilosophy article takes us right into the middle of one of these experiments performed by Penfield, and goes on to explain how his work became so influential in science and medicine.
Penfield was a pupil of Harvey Cushing, considered the founder of scientific neurosurgery, who was featured only last week on the same excellent blog.
Unlike Cushing though, who was reknowned for being a bit spiky, Penfield was widely considered to be a warm and friendly individual.
It's probably the best article on Penfield you're likely to find on the net, so well worth taking the opportunity of learning more about this key figure in our understanding of the brain.
Link to article 'Wilder Penfield, Neural Cartographer'.
Link to previous Mind Hacks post on Wilder's operation on his sister.
Today's New York Times has an interesting article on the tug-of-war over the cultural influence on paranoid delusions and whether contemporary-themed psychosis is a new form of mental illness or just a modern colouring of an old disorder.
The article focuses on the recent interest in the 'Truman Show delusion', splashed over the media by two Canadian psychiatrists.
It's quite hard to judge what they're aiming to do as they've not published a scientific paper, and the article suggests they're writing a book (is that the sounds of alarm bells I hear?), so I'm solely going on secondary sources.
But if they're saying that delusions specifically about being in the Truman Show are somehow new and interesting, then they're right in a way. Popular culture often turns up in paranoid beliefs – I worked with a gentleman once who believed he was in The Matrix – but its not earth shattering. It happens all the time.
If they're saying that the general experience of The Truman Show – feeling that the world is being controlled, is unexplainably altered, or is uncannily mysterious – is somehow new, then they're wrong by a good 100 years.
This was described by the German psychiatrist Karl Jaspers in the early part of the 20th century who called it Wahnstimmung, which is translated in the modern English literature as delusional mood or delusional atmosphere.
"Cultural influences don't tell us anything fundamental about delusion," said Vaughan Bell, a psychologist at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College in London, who has studied Internet delusion.
"We can look at the influence of television, computer games, rock 'n' roll, but these things don't tell us about new forms of being mentally ill," said Dr. Bell, who said he had also treated patients who believed they were part of a reality television show.
Actually, I do think that cultural influences are fundamental in understanding delusions, but not in themselves. [Squiggly sound of tape rewinding] It seems the crucial qualification "in themselves" was missed off the quote.
To quote John Donne, "no man is an island" and we can only fully understand or thoughts and behaviour, either everyday or pathological, with reference to the cultures we live in. But this doesn't mean that each aspect of cultural influences us equally on all levels.
Link to NYT article 'Look Closely, Doctor: See the Camera?'.


text:
3rd-strike.com | FIFA 21 – Review
Follow	Genre: Sports, Football
Developer: Electronic Arts
Publisher: Electronic Arts, EA Sports
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox One X, PC. Xbox Series X/S
Tested on: PS4
FIFA 21 – Review
November 3, 2020	- Nickskuh	- No Comments
Good: Defending feels easier, Volta Football
Bad: Doesn't feel renewing, dumb AI-team members
Yes, it's that time of the year again. The moment every football fan has been waiting for in the last few months, FIFA 21 has finally released. Of course, we've also been looking forward to taking a look at the newest installment in one of the most popular sports game series. With new formations, player trades through transfer periods and some improved features, FIFA 21 is bound to bring a lot of enjoyment to fans of the series. Sadly, it doesn't feel as renewing as we would normally expect.
With the story mode called The Journey ending in FIFA 19, they had to bring a new type of story mode to the game. With FIFA 20 having introduced Volta Football, they added one of the most requested features to the game, namely a return of the street football gameplay that was highly popular in FIFA Street. Volta Football is again present in FIFA 21 with another interesting storyline to follow with a unique player you've created. In this game mode, instead of being a player who wants to shine on official football fields, you'll be someone who wants to play a big role in the street football business. This game mode also features many legends in the world of street football like Kaká and Lisa Zimouche.
With the FIFA games being based on real teams from over the whole world, everyone is always excited to check how the game looks graphically and how the players from their favorite teams look like. As many players already looked very alike in the previous game, we can't really say we actually see a big difference compared to the previous installment. With the upcoming next-gen and the offer for FIFA players to get a free upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version, we are hoping for a big change in this department on the next-gen. they did fix a weird problem that occurred in FIFA 20, namely the public facing their chairs instead of the field when the camera turns to the crowd when a goal has been made.
Again, FIFA 21 has a great music gallery implemented in the game with a lot of songs from well-known artists that will liven up the menus in the game. FIFA 21 always has commentaries available in many different languages, but something has been changed in this function. A few languages will be available in the standard game, but many other languages, including Dutch, need to be downloaded separately. Luckily, these commentaries have been renewed with each language having some newly added lines spoken by the commentators.
FIFA 21 is a sports game based on one of the most famous sports throughout the whole world: Football. With the next-gen coming around the corner, EA tends to only release a sort of "Legacy Edition" with only some small improvements and implementing the adjustments in teams due to the latest transfer period. Although FIFA 21 brings some changes to the game, like the ability to play FIFA Ultimate Team in co-op and some minor changes to the career mode, FIFA 21 isn't really that renewing as one would expect from a new release.
Like in the previous installment, the AI-controlled players still won't really move around the field like you would want to. With the pace of FIFA being pretty high compared to real-life football matches, it's really hard to create tactical masterpieces in terms of football when your teammates won't even start running to create openings on their own. You can however send other players running to the other end of the field, but only in a straight line with no consideration of your position at all.
The game mode Kick Off still offers a lot of customization for rules and play styles, just like in FIFA 20 where it was introduced. You can play a classic match, create your own house rules where you can set up the craziest rules available in the game, play a match in the UEFA Champions League and many other options. A few examples of these house rules are a long-range mode where goals scored from outside the box will count as two, a survival mode where each player that scores will be ejected from the team and "No Rules" which is exactly what it's called, a game mode that ignores almost all existing rules. All this makes Kick-Off the perfect game mode for a casual match alone, or with friends.
While attacking hasn't really changed, defending feels like it has become much easier compared to FIFA 20, which of course, makes it even harder to attack when playing against other players online. With the addition of covering your opponent, you'll have a much higher chance to intercept your opponent's passes and holding your ground is much easier as well. When you play with a friend in one team, in modes like Co-op Seasons, who also your playing style, you can create wonderful plays that will blow your opponents away, and is in our opinion, even more fun to play than the classic single-player game modes. Controlling the ball feels just like in FIFA 20, which was really good in this version, so this hasn't really changed, but wasn't really necessary as well.
A big letdown for players is that you can't import your team from FUT in FIFA 20 to FIFA 21. With FUT being based on buying packs with FUT coins, many players will have spent a lot of their hard-earned money to create their ideal team in FIFA 20, which now seems to have been all for nothing as everyone needs to start all over again and spend another big amount of money to create their ideal team once again. Yes, you can earn coins through playing a lot, but the amount earned isn't nearly enough to get that perfect team you'd want to have. This mode hasn't been changed one bit in this aspect, so this game mode still feels pay-to-win.
FIFA 21 is a rather good game, but doesn't really feel a lot different than it's predecessor. Many things feel the same as in FIFA 20, with some minor changes made to in-game features, like the ability to play FUT in co-op. The AI-controlled players still move around with no real knowledge of the game and will be of no help at all when building up attacks. Playing with others in a co-op mode feels a bit better for us, but this could also be a personal matter of feeling. Volta Football offers another interesting chapter as a story mode and is ideal for those longing to play FIFA Street. FIFA 21 is still a big recommendation for fans of the sports and game series, but if you're planning to purchase one of the next-gen consoles at release, we'd only recommend purchasing this game if you own a PlayStation 4 as you'll get a free upgrade when you buy a PlayStation 5. If you're planning to buy an Xbox Series X/S at release, we'd recommend to buy it on the next-gen.
FIFA 21 - Review, 6.7 out of 10 based on 3 ratings
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Honkai Star Rail at Gamescom 2022: Trailer and First Impressions
by mobailee August 24, 2022 59
Hoyoverse, the studio behind Genshin Impact and Honkai Impact 3rd, has just presented a new Honkai Star Rail trailer at Gamescom 2022. The game is also playable on the living room and we reveal our first impressions of this open-world sci-fi action-RPG.
The new trailer released during the Opening Night Live
During the Gamescom 2022 Opening Night Live, we were able to discover a new Honkai Star Rail trailer, playable at Gamescom 2022. In this scenario trailer titled Nightmare, we can see the character of Dan Heng aboard a flying train. As he wakes up from a strange, prophecy-like nightmare, the train is about to travel through space.
This trailer provides very little information, except that fans of the license will also be able to find certain characters. It only serves to give us want to discover the lore and to get their hands on the game. This is what our special correspondent on the spot was able to do. We reveal to you its first impressions of Honkai Star Rail at Gamescom 2022.
Our first impressions of Honkai Star Rail
Let's talk about our Discovering Honkai Star Rail gameplay at Gamescom 2022. In this gacha RPG, you will have to compose a team of 4 characters. Like in Genshin Impact, heroes belong to elements, all of which have strengths and weaknesses against other elements. Each character has a basic attack and two special attacks. The battles take place at round by roundhowever, this one can be interrupted by the ultimate attack of one of your characters.
On the side of negative pointsthem loading time are very long, in particular to make the transition at the beginning and at the end of a fight. We felt much the same sense of frustration as when our journey was halted by a Level 3 Rattata in Pokémon Red. However, since the enemies are visible during the exploration phases, it is possible to turn things around to your advantage andattack your targets by surprise.
During this test of about thirty minutes of Honkai Star Rail at Gamescom 2022, we notably saw pieces of destructible scenery. Graphically, Honkai Star Rail looks a lot like Genshin Impact. We clearly feel the graphic paw from Hoyoverse, whether in the cel-shaded charadesign or in the menus. The animations are very beautiful and exemplary fluidity.
So much for our trailer and our first impressions of Honkail Star Rail at Gamescom 2022. We still do no release date for the next Hoyoverse game, but you can already pre-register on the game's official website. To stay informed of news from your favorite games and studios, I invite you to regularly consult our section dedicated to mobile news .


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Justia Patents Wen-Chieh Kuo Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications
Patents by Inventor Wen-Chieh Kuo
Wen-Chieh Kuo has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
PORTABLE STORAGE DEVICE AND METHOD OF INSTALLING OPERATING SYSTEM FROM PORTABLE DEVICE
Abstract: A portable storage device can install an operating system into and for a bare computer, set multiple disks in the bare computer as a RAID system, and adjust disk partition sizes. The portable storage device includes a storage chip and a control chip. The storage chip is configured to store an operating system program. The control chip includes a detection unit, a setting unit to set at least one hard disk to be a system disk, a writing unit configured to write the operating system program to the system disk, and a switching unit configured to switch the startup option of the bare computer to be the system disk from the portable storage device after the writing unit writes the operating system program to the system disk. An operating system installation method is also provided.
Inventor: WEN-CHIEH KUO
Electronic device and file management method
Abstract: In a file management method of an electronic device, multi-touch operations on a touch screen of the electronic device is detected in real-time. File attributes of operating objects of the electronic device that are selected by a multi-touch operation are acquired, and a file type is determined for each of the operating objects according to the file attributes of each of the operating objects, wherein the file type is a file or a folder. The operating objects are managed according to the file type of each of the operating objects.
Assignee: Chi Mei Communication Systems, Inc.
Inventors: Yu-Chun Chen, Wen-Chieh Kuo
METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC INSTALLATION AND SETTING OF SERVER AND APPLICATION PROGRAM FOR THE SAME
Abstract: A method for automatic installation and setting of a server is disclosed. When a blank server is installed to one of a slot of a server rack and connects to a switch, a boot server retrieves media access controls address of network connection interface in the blank server from the switch, and matches the MAC address and internet protocol address of the blank server. Next, the boot server performing the corresponding installation and setting operation in the blank server based on the IP address of the blank server. Thus, the blank server is able to perform the predetermined role and utilized by the server system immediately after the installation is accomplished.
Applicant: DELTA ELECTRONICS, INC.
Inventors: Wen-Chieh KUO, Jui-Tsung HUNG
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTING OBJECTS OF ELECTRONIC DEVICE
Abstract: In a method for selecting objects of an electronic device, touch operations performed on a touch screen of the electronic device are detected in real-time. A selection region on the touch screen is determined according to a touch operation that is detected from the touch screen. Objects displayed on the touch screen are selected according to the determined selection region.
Applicant: CHI MEI COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, INC.
Projection apparatus and system
Abstract: A projection apparatus comprises a receiver, a processor, and a frame projector. A sensor detects a horizontal position of a user in front of a screen and transmits a horizontal position signal. The receiver receives the horizontal position signal. The processor generates an on screen display (OSD), and superimposes the OSD onto a projection frame. The frame projector projects the superimposed frame onto the screen. During projection, the OSD covers the face of the user.
Assignee: Delta Electronics, Inc.
Inventors: Jimmy Su, Wen-Chieh Kuo
PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND METHOD OF DETECTING CONTACT UTILIZED THEREBY
Abstract: In a method of detecting input for a portable electronic device, when a virtual keyboard is displayed on a display of a touch panel, an accelerometer detects orientation of the portable electronic device to adjust a contact area of each key of the virtual keyboard. The adjusted display of each key provides a suitable contact area on the virtual keyboard according to the detected orientation of the portable electronic device.
Inventors: KUN-YI CHEN, WEN-CHIEH KUO, YU-CHUN CHEN, REN-HONG WANG
Mobile phone cradle with GPS and Bluetooth functionality
Abstract: A method of providing Global Positioning System (GPS) signals received by a cradle to a portable electronic device installed in the cradle includes mounting the portable electronic device in the cradle for establishing electrical connection between a first connector of the cradle and a second connector of the portable electronic device, receiving GPS signals through a GPS receiver of the cradle, converting the received GPS signals into GPS data signals, transmitting the GPS data signals from the cradle to the portable electronic device via the first and second connectors, and the portable electronic device using the GPS data signals for aiding the portable electronic device in determining current position coordinates of the portable electronic device.
Inventors: Chen-Chen Yeh, Chun-Nan Yeh, Hsien-Yao Chang, Wen-Chieh Kuo, Tzu-Tun Tai, Bo-Han Hsieh, Chih-Yeh Lin
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN USER INTERFACES
Abstract: A computing system for communication between user interfaces of test programs is provided. The system includes a first user interface, a communication interface, a second user interface, and a processor. The communication interface receives a test command issued from the first user interface. The second user interface polls the communication interface and stops polling upon detection of successful reception of the test command by the communication interface. The second user interface retrieves the test command from the communication interface and executes the test command. The processor executes the first user interface, the communication interface and the second user interface. A computer-implemented method for communication between user interfaces of test programs is also provided.
SOUND TESTING DEVICE FOR MOBILE PHONE AND METHOD FOR USING THE SAME
Abstract: A sound testing device (100) includes a processor (10), a mouth simulator (30), an ear simulator (40) and a soundproof container (50). The processor includes a first testing module (131) for test sound components which transform sound signals into electronic signals, a second testing module (132) for test sound components which transform electronic signals into sound signals, and a controlling module (12) connected to the first testing module and the second testing module. The mouth simulator is connected to the processor and sends sound signals input into test sound components. The ear simulator is connected to the processor and receives sound signals output from test sound components. The soundproof container receives the mouth simulator and the ear simulator therein.
Inventors: WEN-CHIEH KUO, CHIANG-FU PAN
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DISABLING AN ORIGINAL PASSWORD OF AN ELECTRICAL APPARATUS
Abstract: Apparatus and method for disabling an original password of an electronic device are provided. The apparatus comprises a message generator, an interface, and a processing unit. The message generator is configured to generate a message code. The interface is configured to receive an input password and communicate with the electronic device. The processing unit is configured to determine whether the input password corresponds to the message code and if so, to disable the original password. The method comprises the steps executed by the apparatus.
Inventors: Jimmy Su, Yu-Min Hsiao, Wen-Chieh Kuo
Port replicator for portable electronic devices
Abstract: An improved port replicator for portable electronic devices includes an angle adjustment dock which has two separated sides extended to form respectively a flange with a first bore and a connector dock located on a surface to receive transmission signals, an anchor dock having a second bore corresponding to the first bore to couple with the angle adjustment dock, and an axle running through the first bore and the second bore. The port replicator thus constructed is simple to fabricate and assemble, and is adaptable to notebook computers of varying thickness to provide a steady and secure coupling.
Assignee: Uniwill Computer Corp.
Inventors: Wen-Chieh Kuo, Yuan-Hua Wen
Magnetic open/close structure for electronic device
Abstract: A magnetic open/close structure for an electronic device such as a notebook computer is comprised of a primary magnet and an attachment to be attracted respectively provided on one side the lid and fixed at a specific place, a secondary magnet having the same polarity facing to that of the primary magnet being fixed by the side of the attachment; the primary magnet sliding back and forth at where it is overlapped with the attachment or the secondary magnet due to the motion of limited slide from the push key to provide a secure positioning structure for the lid when covering on the case; and the lid being ejected for a certain angle from the case for easy access to open it up by taking advantage of the rejection between the primary and the secondary magnets when the primary magnet is pushed to be overlapped with the secondary magnet.
Inventors: Wen-Chieh Kuo, Yu-Yu Chen
Touch-control computer house
Abstract: A touch-control mouse provides rapid and accurate control of the positioning of a cursor on a computer display screen, and includes a laminated touch-control film assembly, an aluminum supporting board, a press button switch set, a signal processing circuit board, and a dust-protective hanging case. Drawing using a finger on x-axis and y-axis resistance planes of the laminated touch-control film assembly results in variable potential value for x, y coordinates. The value of potential variation is calculated through a single-chip microprocessor to indicate relative direction, speed and amount of displacement on x, y coordinates. The signal of the relative direction, speed and amount of displacement is further is further sent by the single-chip microprocessor through a standard RS-232 connector to one of the serial communications ports of a PC to rapidly and accurately control the positioning of the cursor on the computer display screen.
Date of Patent: December 11, 1990
Assignee: Sysgration Ltd.
Inventors: Wen-Chieh Kuo, Chia-Hui Lin, Te-Chang Chou, Yuan-Hsiung Liang


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Highbridge and Burnham Station
Written by Tim Squires - 18 Jul 2013
A 2 platform station located between Taunton and Bristol on the Great Western Main Line.
Highbridge & Burnham station is served solely by First Great Western, mainly by services on the Taunton to Cardiff route, infrequent HST's to and from London in the morning and late evening too.
You can expect to see the following:
FGW Class 150/153/158 and HST's, XC Voyagers and HST's.
Freight is sparse, but there is a DB Schenker fuel oil train on Tuesday afternoons, a roughly weekly Colas Rail log train and flask traffic to and from Bridgwater, engineers workings are fairly common too.
Link to Real Time Trains
RTT Link Highbridge and Burnham Station
This link should be close to the location, but may not be the actual location so please check the page. This link will take you to what is happening 'around now'. Dates and times can be changed at the top of the page.
An unstaffed two platform station with ubiquitous open shelters the only weather protection, the station seems safe enough, although as with any unstaffed station it is best to use caution at night.
Located just off the A38, and is well signposted from Highbridge town centre.
Highbridge and Burnham Station map co-ordinates
Parking is available on the station approach road, but there aren't always many free spaces, it does seem secure though.
Regular buses from the Taunton and Weston-super-Mare areas, and roughly hourly local train services on the Taunton - Bristol - Cardiff route.
Plenty of takeaways and newsagents on Market Street which is a few minutes walk from the station.
Accommodation is readily available in Burnham-on-Sea, which is a few miles away.
Highbridge and Burnham Station general view map
Highbridge and Burnham Station close up map
Wiltshire and Avon Gen
The best shot is looking north in the afternoon from the up platform, where a shot free of any station furniture or platform is available, although you will need a focal length of at least around 25mm to push past the B3139 road bridge (shots are also available from this bridge in the up direction).
High trees can sometimes cause shadow issues for shots of trains at the platforms.
Noise levels are usually low, although as of May 2013 a building project is taking place next to the station, so this may impede videographers for a few months.
General views - All photographs © Tim Squires unless otherwise stated
This is Trainspot [TS1236]
Brent Knoll
Barry Docks
Barry Town
Cogload Junction
Lovington, Somerset
Mud Lane Crossing
Norton Fitzwarren Footbridge
Pellet Street Footbridge, Cardiff
Taunton, 40 Steps
Taunton, Allerford Level Crossing
Worle Station
WSR, Bishops Lydeard Station


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This and that from re Thai r ment, by 3Th. 11 Joseph 0004 (December 31, 2014)
A. POOKIE'S ADVENTURES IN CALIFORNIA:
1. San Francisco:
Nona Teresa
I took the train to San Francisco, met George who drove us St. Ann's Home to visit my mom. My sister prepared a small Christmas party for her. She was quite lively and happy although she kept getting confused about whether we were celebrating Christmas or her birthday.
Aaron, Athena, Nona Teresa and Pookie
Maurice Trad
At the funeral for Maurice someone observed that when Maurice asked you how you were he really did want to know how you were. I agree. No one I have ever known seemed so genuinely interested in those he met. His love for his daughter Molly was remarkably unqualified and selfless. It was reciprocated. When giving the eulogy Molly broke down in tears. Maurice and Molly were as much a part of our extended family as those related by blood or marriage.
Maurice was a cigar aficionado and his cigar collection was distributed to the mourners in his memory.
People I have not seen for many years attended the funeral, including "don't call me Shipenis, Shipinus" and the "Shufat family."
Maurice Trad with cigar
2. Mendocino
I drove to Mendocino with my sister Maryann and her husband George to spend Christmas there. We stayed in the water-tower because their house was being remodeled. My sister invited several friends to spend the holiday with us. They rented a beachfront house in Cleone for everyone to stay at. Beside Maryanne and George's son and daughter and their respective partners, there was a woman friend who we learned actually attended Woodstock and had the photographs to prove it. Another family, neighbors of my sister when they lived in Berkeley, were accomplished musicians. On Christmas Day we were joined by yet another Berkeley neighbor. I had a wonderful time. It is great to finally experience a Christmas that I actually enjoyed. That is a new experience for me.
Preparing the food
Wearing Kesorn's hats
Crab and Eggplant Parmigiano
Singing carols
I received several great books for Christmas. I still, however, had to complete the series I was already reading before I could dig into them.
Ever since opening up The Hobbit for the first time, I have had a weak spot for Swords and Sorcery and Fantasy genre. True, it has at times produced some of the worlds greatest literature such as, in the West, Homer, Wolfram Von Eschenbach, Poe and more recently Tolkien, Tad Williams, Donaldson, Ursula LeGuin, and Rowling among others. Nevertheless, for the most part, it ranks next to romance novels among the dregs of fiction. As with my life in general it is often among the dregs that I find myself the happiest.
Swords and Sorcery and Fantasy as a rule, no matter how exalted its literary pretensions, is usually what can best be described and the glorification of Autarchy. They are morality tales for the aristocracy. People born with privilege or inherited superiority struggle to rise to the top against a dark adversary, usually someone just the same as they are but more of a dick. The moral is generally don't be an asshole to people beneath you unless you have to and if a lot of them die in order for you to survive, that's ok because they are better off with you in charge than the other guy.
Anyway, I just completed reading a four book series called The Evermen Saga. Although the novels are quite good, the author's life is probably more interesting than the books .
The author James Maxwell a young man who likes to travel and apparently writes these books in order to continue his hobby. His first he wrote on an island in Thailand, the second on a beach in New Zealand, the third in the Austrian Alps and the fourth on Malta.
Pookie says, "check it out"
The Little Car that Could:
V. Deterioration and Renewal
In order to store the car during my stay in Canicatti my cousin Giovanni called a friend who had a large garage attached to his home. The friend, Luigi (Gigi) Gallo, came over and we took the car to his garage. I was convinced the car was on its last legs, or wheels. The engine stopped working before we got to the garage. We pushed it the rest of the way. Once we arrived and settled the car in the garage, I unceremoniously turned my back on it and walked away.
Today forty years later I feel bad about that. After all it safely took my young son and me almost 2000 miles across a continent from north to south, through one of the earths great mountain ranges. Yet as far as I was concerned its use to me was finished.
During the next four years or so while I lived in Sicily and Rome and even after I returned to the US, I would, at Gigi's urging, return to the garage and check on it as its tires slowly flattened and dust and grime turned its white surface a pitted grey.
Eventually Gigi took it out to his farm in the country where the children could play in the slowly rusting hulk. One time, for some reason, thieves stole it. Gigi called the police who found it and returned it in even worse shape than before.
As restoration began
Gigi eventually became a locally well-known race car driver. When his son, Marco, was about 14 years old Marco decided to restore the thing he played in for most of his life. According to Marco, he remembered the stories his father told him about the strange American and his young son who drove in the automobile across Europe from London to Canicatti. He wanted to see what the car originally looked like. So he contacted the Trojan Automobile Club and began assembling the car's original parts and restored it. There now is only one Trojan 200 in Sicily and one in Rome. Marco also became a successful race car driver and now lives in Milan and is a practicing sports nutritionist.
Gigi and the Trojan shortly after restoration
Today the Trojan 200 of my journey sits in a garage in Caltanissetta Sicily along with Gigi's race and classic cars. I finally got to see it again after forty years.
Pookie with the Trojan 200
The joy and the pain of a journey is increased by who and what one travels with. For this somewhat epic trip I was fortunate to have my young son and the Trojan along. I could not ask for better traveling companions.
A. City Planning:
"Recent developments in the global system of cities present a curious paradox. With the cost of communications declining almost to zero and substantial, though less dramatic reductions in transport costs, there is now little technical requirement for most kinds of production to be undertaken in any particular location, or for elements of production chains to be located close to each other. This fact has had dramatic consequences for the organization of manufacturing industry. Simple production chains involving the import of raw materials, usually from developing countries, for processing in a specialized centre, have been replaced by far more complex structures.
Yet, in important respects, the dominance of a small number of 'global cities' has never been greater. In this paper, it is argued that the dominance of global cities reflects a desire for clustering on the part of finance sector professionals and corporate executives. It seems likely that such clustering provides private benefits by enhancing the value of personal contacts, but reduces the efficiency and profitability of the corporate sector."
John Quiggin. Abstract to Cities, Connections and Cronyism. 2006.
B. Famous Errors of Prognostication:
Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. Office of Patents, 1899
"Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"
H. M. Warner (1881-1958), founder of Warner Brothers, in 1927
"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers."
Thomas Watson (1874-1956), Chairman of IBM, 1943
"We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
"The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible."
Yale University management professor in response to student Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service (Smith graduated from Yale in 1966 went on to found Federal Express Corp. 1966-1970)
"640K ought to be enough for anybody."
Bill Gates (1955-), in 1981
"I'll just touch on something else: secrecy in government. Secrecy in government exists for only one reason: to prevent the American people from knowing what's going on. It is nonsense to believe that anything our government does is not known to the Russians at about the same moment it happens."
"Public Authority and the State in the Western Tradition: A Thousand Years of Growth, AD 976 – 1976" by Carroll Quigley Ph.D.
Categories: October through December 2014	| Tags: California, Carroll Quigley, Christmas, Economics, Italy, Journal, Jughandle Creek, Mendocino, Tales, Travel	| Leave a comment