There's a golden rule in sales: the easier the payment process is, the higher the probability the customer will buy the product. In this article we'll discuss three most popular payment gateways and show an example of integrating Braintree in an ecommerce Android and iOS mobile solutions.
In-app purchases have already become a standard for any m-commerce or ecommerce application, and clients expect it from a high-quality application with top-notch service. Several big companies like PayPal have set this trend when they found this easy way to help transfer money in exchange to any possible products or services. This trend doesn't seem to go anywhere soon — it is only going to grow and evolve. Now there is a wide choice of payment processors of which you can choose from: they have different audience, rules, fees and conditions.
In this article, we'll tell you how to accept payments in a mobile app quickly and easily by integrating a payment gateway.
If you don't know, how to choose a right payment processor for your business, try to compare all the processors by their basic parameters like user interface, coverage, fees and supported currencies. Another important thing about any payment processor is, of course, security. The processor you will eventually choose has to take it seriously.
But first, let's look briefly at how different payment gateways work.
Braintree is suitable for m-commerce businesses of all sizes, from small companies to big corporations. Recently, Braintree has become even more progressive and popular than PayPal, which owns it.
It's also extremely flexible. The Braintree SDK lets you use a lot of popular payment methods: credit and debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Venmo, Android pay, and even Coinbase with bitcoins! In short, it's one of the easiest ways to pay for anything in an app, across any device.
Many famous apps are already using Braintree's libraries. Uber, Dropbox, Airbnb, Stubhub, American Airlines – all of these companies have entrusted Braintree with their online payments.
Braintree's rates are 2.9% of each transaction + $0.30 per transaction.
Braintree supports sandbox mode as well, so you can test your integration with test values for payment method nonces, card numbers, transaction amounts, and more.
Along with Braintree, Stripe is one of the most popular mobile payment processors. It allows to perform payments in social media, supports Apple Pay and Android Pay, and also reports monthly on all payment activity. In addition to that, Stripe is very customizable: if you want to make a unique form for payments, you can do it in Stripe: pick your mcommerce shop colors and make the design complimentary to your app's.
Stripe accepts over 100 currencies and supports lots of libraries — iOS, Andriod, Ruby, PHP and others.
Stripe's rates are 2.9% + 30 cents for each successful charge. There are no monthly and setup fees, and the currency conversion fee is 2%.
PayPal is the most widespread payment processor as it was the first one. PayPal made a revolution in online payments and has set a standard for other payment processors. However, nowadays some online retailers start to decline it in favour of Braintree or Stripe.
However, PayPal is still extremely popular: 79% of US users have it. PayPal offers split payments, allows to host your own checkout page and supports over 23 currencies in 203 countries.
PayPal charges 2.9% + 30 cents for each successful payment. In case you process over $30,000 per month, the fee is lower. If you choose a Pro package, you'll need to pay $30 per month, otherwise, it's free. The currency conversion fee is different for every location: it can vary from 0.4% to 3.3%.
Now that you know more about payment gateways, let's find out how to integrate one of them into your mobile apps. We'll start with iOS.
Here's a tutorial on integrating Braintree into an iOS application (based on our experience).
Get a checkout for PayPal and credit card payments by adding the Drop-in UI. It will take you only a few lines of code.
If you roll your own checkout UI, you can use credit card tokenization and thus save your customer's card info.
1. First, you need to add the BraintreeDropIn pod to your podfile.
let clientTokenURL = NSURL(string: "https://your-server.com/client_token")!
// As an example, you may wish to present Drop-in at this point.
3. You should obtain a new client token at least as often as your app launches. For the best experience, you should kick off this network operation before it blocks a user interaction.
let paymentURL = URL(string: "https://your-server.example.com/payment-methods")!
7. Real payment method data will not work in the sandbox; you need to use Braintree test card numbers and nonces.
8. When you go live, you'll need to replace the sandbox API credentials with production credentials.
There you go! Now you'll be able to integrate a payment system in your iOS application.
Need Help with Your Current Project?
Now let's find out how to integrate a payment gateway in an Android mobile app.
This tutorial will help you integrate Braintree into your Android application.
Braintree provides SDK v2 for Android devices.
To establish and authorize connection with Braintree's servers you will need to get a client token.
To initialize the client SDK, you will need configuration and authorization details. They are placed inside the client token, that your server generates.
Each time your app launches, you need to obtain a new client token. For the best result, this operation should go before a user interaction is blocked.
A tokenization key is another way to authorize a client with the help of Braintree's SDK. This value is lightweight and reusable.
On the other hand, its privileges are reduced, and it is static. Unlike the case with client token, tokenization key doesn't need to be generated again and again after each session.
Any configuration is suitable for a tokenization key — there is no need to specify customer's ID and set a specific merchant ID.
Such payment methods like credit cards, PayPal, Android and Apple Pay as well as Venmo can be tokenized with the help of tokenization key.
The following payment methods can be tokenized using a tokenization key: credit cards, PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, and Android Pay. You can't use a tokenization key to create a 3D Secure transaction.
You can obtain a tokenization key in the Braintree Control Panel (separately for production and sandbox modes). Tokenization keys are specific to the environment in which they will be used.
Tokenization keys are only compatible with Android SDK v2 or higher.
Avoid shipping an app with a sandbox tokenization key.
Customer payment data can't be saved directly to the Vault using a tokenization key. To save a payment method, you'll need to pass the resulting payment method nonce to your server. Otherwise, you can generate a client token with a customer ID.
The easiest way to collect customer payment information via the client SDK is with the Drop-in UI component. It provides a fully fledged payment experience out of the box. You can also choose to create a custom UI and then tokenize the payment information directly.
After you added this code, the bottom layout will appear and the user will be able to enter or select payment information.
// There is an issue with the credit card.
// There is an issue with the expiration month.
When testing in the sandbox, be sure to use the test card numbers (e.g. 4111111111111111) and nonces (e.g. fake-valid-nonce) that Braintree provides. Real payment data will not work in the sandbox.
The postNonceToServer() method from our previous example should send the resulting payment method nonce to your server.
At this point, you should have a working client-side checkout flow. When a user provides payment information, you should receive a payment method nonce and send it to your server.
Then, your server should close the loop by using the payment method nonce to create a transaction.
We have taken integration with Braintree as the example, but in fact, you can choose from any payment processor. Don't forget to consider all the conditions and make sure they meet the best interest of your customer as well as your own. If you have a hard time trying to find your perfect payment gateway, consider the basic parameters that define the convenience of a payment processor.
At Mobindustry, we specialize in ecommerce and m-commerce mobile application development. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact us for more information.
How to integrate Google maps and Apple maps in iOS?


Marinetti's "Founding and Manifesto of Futurism"
Accompanying great movements are differing points of view. The variances allow the rare chance for comparison among two essentially different movements. Tristan Tzara and Filippo Tommaso Marinetti provide the perfect example of the opportunity for comparison with their respective manifestos. Tzara's manifesto is reflective of the Dada practices, while Marinetti's manifesto represents the Futurist practices. Inspection of the ?Dada Manifesto? and ?Founding Manifesto of Futurism? reveal differences in both purpose and tone.


I'm so excited for you! I don't think 5 days is too much for your daughter's age. Just keep in mind that a stroller is a good idea for her to rest a little between attractions. The Magic Kingdom is definitely a must see park, specially for her age. If crowds are light to moderate, I'm pretty sure you can see all the age appropriate attractions in about 2 days. Because mom knows best, you know what your child likes, so I recommend you check out each Parks attractions so you can determine where to spend the rest of your time at WDW. Also, consider adding a character dining experience. It's a lot of fun, the food and the pictures are great, and kids love meeting the characters up close. Be sure to browse the character dining choices you may have on the Dining Plan.
I hope you have a magical, pixie dust filled, memorable first trip to WDW!


text:
László Török (* 13. Mai 1941 in Budapest; † 17. September 2020) war ein ungarischer Archäologe.

Török studierte von 1959 bis 1964 Architektur an der Technischen Universität Budapest und erhielt 1964 sein Diplom. 1968 promovierte er im Fachbereich Architekturgeschichte. Sein postgraduales Studium in Koptologie absolvierte er von 1971 bis 1972 an der Philosophischen Fakultät der Eötvös Loránd Universität. Von 1981 bis 1994 leitete er die Abteilung Römische Archäologie am Archäologischen Institut der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in seiner Heimatstadt. Daneben war er seit 1991 Honorarprofessor der Ägyptologie an der ELTE und wurde 1992 zum Doktor der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften ernannt.

László Török ist vor allem durch seine zahlreichen Publikationen zu Nubien im Altertum bekannt. Seit 1995 war er ausländisches Mitglied der Norwegischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Er besaß seit 2000 die Ehrendoktorwürde der Universität Bergen in Norwegen, war seit 2003 im Beirat der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und seit 2004 korrespondierendes, seit 2010 ordentliches Mitglied der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Publikationen (Auswahl)
A szegedi eklektika (Szeged 1966)
Meroé és Nubia a 2.-7. században (Budapest 1977)
Economic Offices and Officials in Meroitic Nubia (Budapest 1979)
Der meroitische Staat (Berlin 1986)
The Royal Crowns of Kush. A Study in Middle Nile Valley Regalia and Iconography in the 1st Millennia BC and AD (Oxford 1987)
Late Antique Nubia (Budapest 1988)
Coptic Antiquities I–II. (Rom 1993)
 (Mitherausgeber): Fontes Historiae Nubiorum. Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile Region between the eighth Century BC and the sixth Century AD Bd. 1–4 (Bergen 1994–2000)
Meroe. Six Studies on the Cultural Identity of An Ancient African State (Budapest 1995)
The Birth of an Ancient African Kingdom (Lille 1995)
Egyptian Terracottas of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods (Rom 1995)
The Kingdom of Kush. Handbook of the Napatan-Meroitic Civilization (Leiden-New York-Köln 1997)
A vadászó kentaur (Budapest  1998)
The Image of the Ordered World in Ancient Nubian Art (Leiden-Boston-Köln 2002)
Transfigurations of Hellenism. Aspects of Late Antique Art in Egypt AD 250-700 (Leiden-Boston 2005)
Between Two Worlds. The Frontier Region between Ancient Nubia and Egypt 3700 BC - AD 500 (Leiden-Boston 2009)
Hellenizing Art in Ancient Nubia 300 BC - AD 250 and its Egyptian Models. A Study in "Acculturation" (Leiden-Boston 2011)
Herodotus in Nubia (Leiden/ Boston 2014)

Weblinks
 Lebenslauf und Schriftenverzeichnis bei der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
 Lebenslauf

Einzelnachweise

Sudanarchäologe
Koptologe
Provinzialrömischer Archäologe
Mitglied der Norwegischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Mitglied der Ungarischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
Ehrendoktor der Universität Bergen
Ungar
Geboren 1941
Gestorben 2020
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
andrew lownie literary agency
Current Submissions
Authors & Books
Have You Been Good?
Vanessa Nicolson
Have You Been Good? is a memoir prompted by the sudden death of a 19-year old daughter. Vanessa Nicolson revisits her own troubled upbringing and the acrimonious divorce of her art historian parents in the early 1960s. Taken to Florence just after her sixth birthday in 1962, then sent to a progressive boarding school in England four years later, she is caught between Britain and Italy, between bohemianism and a longing for security, troubled by her relationship with her mother and her father's unavailability. Interweaving visceral descriptions of adolescence and young adulthood as a vulnerable young woman in an age of sexual permissiveness, she details her attempts to make sense of her parents' lack of parenting skills despite their good intentions, and draws on a cast of eccentric characters including her father and his struggle with his latent homosexuality, her paternal grandmother Vita Sackville West, her anti-fascist Italian grandfather Nonno Giacomo, various lovers and characters from the art-world, to tell her daughter the stories she never had time to recount: how she loved and lost and overcame, creating her own family, only for it to be riven by tragedy. Written with raw honesty, alternating between the gentle and the absurd, Have You Been Good? contrasts three generations and their approach to family, in a bittersweet tale of loss and redemption
Author: Vanessa Nicolson
UK: Granta
Vanessa Nicolson was brought up in Florence and London, and graduated from Sussex University in Art History and Italian in 1979. She began her career at the Tate Gallery and has since worked as a feature writer, reviewer, curator and film programmer as well as an interviewer for the British Library Sound Archive 'Artist's Lives' project, making recordings with artists such as Anthony Gormley. Her publications include The Sculpture of Maurice Lambert, Lund Humphries/Ashgate, 2002, commissioned by the Henry Moore Foundation. Vanessa developed Have You Been Good? o...
More about Vanessa Nicolson
"'...a startlingly skilful writer and can wring bleak comedy from the unlikeliest material .'"
"Her vivid and sometimes painfully honest memoir.. must have been extremely difficult to write. It is testament to Nicolson's skill that it is also hard for the aghast reader to put it down. She has taken the base and battered metal of her life and turned it into gold."
Cressida Connolly Mail on Sunday
"A collection of fragile fragments handled with care."
Claudia FitzHerbert, Daily Telegraph
"The grief is searing... In recording her own roles as both daughter and mother, Nicolson has penned a double helix to motherhood. It accounts for the many shades of experience that shouldn't be, but so frequently are, endured in families, irrelevant of privilege."
"...an admirably frank autobiography, told with feeling. "
Independent on Sunday
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text:
Aragon update
Due to unforeseen circumstances Hugh cannot race at this weekend's final ECS round at Aragon. Mike Dickinson has been drafted in to accompany Peter Lindén on the number 1 entry. The number 4 bike will be raced by Stéphane Mertens and Ian Simpson, in an all out effort to win.
Snetterton 4 hrs
Steve Smith and Peter Linden crashed out of the lead of a wet and overcast Snetterton 4 hrs race during the first hour. After a fine start, in difficult conditions, Steve Smith lost the front end at the Bomb Hole during rain. After assessing the damage the team retired in order to preserve key spares for the upcoming Aragon race that they departed for just 36 hrs later. The key issue was the destruction of another fuel tank.
The event started well with dry cold qualifying in which both riders topped their groups. The grid comprised a wide cross section of machinery, not strictly in class, but all underpinned by a great enthusiasm for being there. Technically, qualifying was straightforward, but the opportunity to test a set up which coped best with the very cold track was impossible due to deteriorating weather conditions.
The team regretted the early retirement following the crash, but focus had to stay on the European Series and compromising spares could not be considered.
Hearty congratulations to Steve Boam and Steve Clark for their fantastic win at Snetterton on the SCERT Suzuki. After years of trying the team thoroughly deserve this result.The team are now en-route to Spain where one of seven teams can win the series. Sweatshop Phase One are pulling out all the stops to win, with a double entry of Mertens/Simpson and Brasher/Linden.
The team wishes to thank Rob and Darin for their efforts in getting the Snetterton race off the ground and hopefully set for a great future. Thanks are also due to Ray Marchant for entering the team and to Graham Matcham for the superb Continental tyres.
Aragon race is on 31st October.
Finally, thank you to Martin Gelder of Race24.com for the superb coverage of Snetterton and we look forward to the resurrection of in depth articles on the exciting sport of Classic Endurance.
Misano 4hrs; - winnin' in the rain !
During 4 hrs of torrential rain Peter Linden and Mike Dickinson fought off a serious challenge from the Austrian Team Horvath Guzzi to secure the team's first win at Misano.
Free practice had gone well, in lovely sunny conditions, but the heavens opened for qualifying and the race. Although the thirty or so competitors were soaked, competition was fierce, with sweatshop Phase One eventually scoring pole, with Horvath Guzzi 2nd , Segale 3rd (Kawasaki) and Wobker 4th on another Kawasaki.
The race conditions were truly appalling, with the risk of aquaplaning high from mid-race onwards. At one stage it was thought that conditions were bad enough for the race to be stopped. However, with great skill and supreme judgement Linden and Dickinson guided the 100% reliable bike to its wet win.
It's been a long time since the team raced with the ECU in a sealed polythene bag…..but it was worth it.
See you at Snetterton for the inaugural Snetterton classic 4 hrs this Sunday (18th) afternoon.
Misano and Snetterton
Misano 18.00 (Italian time), Saturday 10th of October.
We are pleased to welcome 'Dicko' back to join Peter Lindén for another classic 4 hrs adventure at this weekend's Misano event. Hugh is once again away on Marathon duties and Mike has kindly agreed to stand in.! And what a stand-in he was at the Classic Bol, returning excellent lap times and coming home with a win.
Misano is a Saturday evening race, starting in the light and racing into darkness. It is the final event in the Italian 4 round championship for classic bikes of pre-82. The previous rounds have been at Imola, Mugello and Vallelunga, so it could be a great one to do in the future, if there are no date clashes. Peter is on great form and with Mike and a new engine (to be run-in on Friday), expectations are high….
The track is just over an hour from Bologna and I checked Ryanair prices the other day. Under £50….what's YOUR excuse.?!
Snetterton 13.00, Sunday 19th October
Snetterton could be a temperature shock to the system after Misano, but we may be lucky! The Team are pleased to announce that Peter Lindén will be joined by Steve Smith for this race. Steve competed well at the classic Bol on his father's Yamaha OWO1 with Steven Neate, returning great times and with every prospect of a class win, until their machinery let them down. For those who don't know; Steve is ex-endurance racer Dave Smith's boy, and the OWO1 is the very one which Dave competed on in the early 1990s.
The Snetterton 4 hrs race is a significant event as it is the first classic 4 hrs race in the UK. We are used to having the sport in all our neighbouring countries and it is difficult to understand why it's not been here sooner. Anyway, it is now and the Team are very pleased to support this inaugural event and salute the organisers for taking the plunge. Already, a bigger and better event is being spoken about next year, but right now there is a race to win. First free practice is at 10.20 on Saturday morning with a single qualifying session, per rider, later on Saturday. Warm up is late morning on Sunday. The race is at 1.00. Please come and visit us.
Thanks to MES and Ray Marchant for entering the Team for this Snetterton race.
Marchent Engineering Services


text:
Fleabrain Loves Franny (Paperback)
By Joanne Rocklin
(Middle Readers)
This gem of a novel takes place in Pittsburgh in 1952. Franny Katzenback, while recovering from polio, reads and falls in love with the brand-new book Charlotte's Web. Bored and lonely and yearning for a Charlotte of her own, Franny starts up a correspondence with an eloquent flea named Fleabrain who lives on her dog's tail. While Franny struggles with physical therapy and feeling left out of her formerly active neighborhood life, Fleabrain is there to take her on adventures based on his extensive reading. It's a touching, funny story set in the recent past, told with Rocklin's signature wit and thoughtfulness.
Bank Street Children's Books "Best Books of the Year," Fiction Ages 9-12
Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Older Readers
Praise for Fleabrain Loves Franny
"Heartwarming and endlessly funny, Fleabrain Loves Franny will delight readers of all ages. Rocklin's sharp wit and exuberant writing style are refreshing. This book is not to be missed."
--VOYA
"Franny—a compassionate, thoughtful and sympathetic protagonist—is believably erratic in her emotions and reflections on her illness and its effects on her previously carefree life."
--Publishers Weekly
"Rocklin perfectly captures the era of 1952 and creates a sympathetic, realistic character in Franny, who begins to accept her condition, rejoin her friends and even protest her school's inaccessibility."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Comedic and philosophical, readers will find multiple levels to enjoy."
--School Library Journal
Joanne Rocklin is the author of many books for children, including The Five Lives of Our Cat Zook, which won the Golden Kite Award, and Love, Penelope, which was an NCIBA Golden Poppy Book Award winner. Nancy Carpenter is the illustrator of more than 40 children's books and has received numerous honors for her work, including two Christopher Awards and the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. She lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Publisher: Amulet Paperbacks
Juvenile Fiction / Historical / United States / 20th Century
Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Insects, Spiders, etc.
Juvenile Fiction / Disabilities & Special Needs
Hardcover (August 12th, 2014): $16.95


text:
Esistono parecchie ipotesi concernenti le tecniche di costruzione delle piramidi egizie. Queste tecniche sembrano essersi sviluppate nel tempo: le piramidi più recenti non furono erette con le stesse procedure adoperate per le più antiche. Molte delle ipotesi riguardo alla loro costruzione si basano sull'idea che le mastodontiche pietre fossero estratte con scalpelli di rame dalle cave di pietra, e che siano poi state trascinate e sollevate fino alla posizione finale. I punti su cui nascono i disaccordi riguardano i metodi utilizzati per lo spostamento e posizionamento delle pietre. Esistono anche ipotesi in base alle quali sarebbero state costruite partendo da cemento geopolimero, noto anche come pietra di gesso.

Oltre ai dubbi riguardanti le tecniche edilizie, ci sono disaccordi anche riguardo alla manovalanza utilizzata. I Greci, molti anni dopo la costruzione dei monumenti, credevano che fossero stati costruiti grazie al lavoro degli schiavi. Al giorno d'oggi gli archeologi credono che almeno la grande piramide di Giza fu costruita da decine di migliaia di operai specializzati che si accamparono nei pressi della piramide lavorando in cambio di un salario, o come forma di pagamento delle tasse (tributi) fino al completamento dell'opera, il che sarebbe dimostrato dall'esistenza dei cimiteri degli operai scoperti nel 1990 dagli archeologi Zahi Hawass e Mark Lehner. Per la piramide di Amenemhat II, risalente al Medio Regno, esistono prove dell'utilizzo di stranieri provenienti dalla Palestina, come descritto sulla pietra tombale del re.

Considerazioni storiche

Terza e quarta dinastia
In tempi più antichi le piramidi erano costruite interamente in pietra. Le locali cave di calcare erano la fonte preferita di materiale per il corpo principale di queste piramidi, mentre un calcare di maggiore qualità, estratto a Tura (vicino all'odierna Il Cairo), era utilizzato come copertura esterna. Il granito, estratto vicino ad Assuan, serviva per la costruzione di alcuni elementi architettonici, tra cui le saracinesche (un tipo di porta), i soffitti e le mura della camera funebre. Occasionalmente, il granito veniva utilizzato anche per la copertura esterna, come nella piramide di Micerino. Nelle prime piramidi, gli strati di pietra che formavano il corpo della piramide erano posati inclinati verso l'interno. Si scoprì in seguito che questa configurazione era meno stabile di quella che vedeva le pietre appoggiate orizzontalmente l'una sull'altra.

La Piramide romboidale a Dahshur sembra indicare l'accettazione di una nuova tecnica come transizione tra questi due stili edilizi. La sua sezione inferiore è fatta di rocce inclinate, mentre quelle superiori sono orizzontali.

Dal Medio Regno in avanti
Durante il Medio Regno le tecniche di costruzione delle piramidi cambiarono di nuovo. Molte delle piramidi costruite in quel periodo sono poco più che montagne di mattoni di fango coperti da uno strato di calcare lucido. In molti casi le piramidi più recenti erano costruite sulla cima di colline naturali al fine di ridurre il quantitativo di materiale necessario per la costruzione. I materiali ed i metodi di costruzione usati nelle prime piramidi hanno garantito la loro sopravvivenza con un miglior stato di conservazione rispetto ai monumenti degli ultimi faraoni.

Ipotesi sui metodi di costruzione

Costruzione delle piramidi a partire dalla pietra estratta
Uno dei principali problemi che i primi costruttori dovettero affrontare era la necessità di spostare enormi quantità di roccia. La tomba di Djehutihotep (risalente alla XII dinastia) contiene l'immagine di 172 uomini che trascinano una statua di alabastro con una slitta. Il peso della statua è stato stimato in 60 tonnellate, e Denys Stocks ha calcolato che sarebbero stati necessari 45 lavoratori per iniziare a muovere un blocco lubrificato di 16 300 kg, o otto operai per uno di 2750 kg. Il dottor R. H. G. Parry ha ipotizzato un metodo per far rotolare le pietre, tramite l'utilizzo di una macchina, simile a una culla, ritrovata in numerosi templi del Nuovo Regno. Quattro di questi oggetti potevano essere avvolti attorno a un blocco per permettere di farlo rotolare facilmente. Gli esperimenti svolti dalla Obayashi Corporation, con blocchi di cemento delle dimensioni di 0,8 per 1,6 metri, e pesanti 2,5 tonnellate, hanno mostrato come 18 uomini possano trascinare il blocco su una rampa con un'inclinazione del 25%, con una velocità di 18 metri al minuto. Vitruvio, nel De architectura, descrive un metodo simile per lo spostamento di grandi pesi di forma irregolare. Ancora non si sa se gli egizi abbiano utilizzato questa tecnica, ma gli esperimenti condotti hanno dimostrato che potrebbero essere state usate pietre di questa dimensione. In generale gli egittologi accettano questa ipotesi per le pietre da 2,5 tonnellate, ma non per quelle da oltre 15 tonnellate e per le molte da 70/80 tonnellate.

Dato che le pietre utilizzate per il nucleo delle piramidi erano tagliate in maniera grossolana, soprattutto nella piramide di Cheope, un altro problema era dato dal materiale da utilizzare per riempire gli interstizi tra le pietre. Erano necessarie grandi quantità di gesso e macerie. Il riempimento non fungeva da legante per le pietre, ma era necessario per stabilizzare la costruzione. Per trasformare il gesso in malta era necessario disidratarlo scaldandolo con grandi quantità di legna. Secondo gli egittologi i ritrovamenti del 1984/1995 del David H. Koch Pyramids Radiocarbon Projects potrebbero far pensare che l'Egitto abbia raso al suolo le sue foreste e recuperato ogni pezzetto di legno al fine di costruire le piramidi di Giza e le altre fin dalla IV dinastia. La datazione al carbonio di alcuni blocchi del nucleo hanno dimostrato che la datazione dello studio del 1984 era 374 anni prima di quanto attualmente accettato, e che la datazione del 1995 era in anticipo di 100–200 anni. I membri della squadra ipotizzarono: "pensiamo che sia improbabile che i costruttori delle piramidi abbiano usato soprattutto legno centenario per la preparazione della malta. I risultati del 1984 ci hanno lasciato pochi dati per poter concludere che la cronologia storica dell'Antico Regno sia sbagliata di circa 400 anni, ma la consideriamo almeno una possibilità". Per poter spiegare questa discrepanza, gli egittologi proposero la teoria del "legno antico", secondo la quale le date potrebbero derivare dal fatto che per la costruzione sia stato riciclato molto legno antico di secoli.

Esistono buone informazioni relativamente alla posizione delle cave, ad alcuni degli strumenti utilizzati per tagliare la roccia (dato che nessuno scalpello di rame è ancora stato trovato in queste cave), al trasporto delle pietre fino al monumento, al livellamento delle fondamenta, ed alla costruzione della sovrastruttura. Probabilmente gli operai utilizzavano scalpelli di rame, trapani e seghe per il taglio delle pietre, dato che molte erano fatte di calcare. Le pietre più dure, come granito, granodiorite, sienite e basalto, non potevano essere tagliate coi soli strumenti di rame. Furono invece lavorate con metodi più lenti, come ad esempio colpendole con diabasi, trapanandole o segandole con l'aiuto di materiale abrasivo, tipo la sabbia di quarzo. I blocchi venivano trasportati con slitte lubrificate probabilmente con acqua. Il livellamento delle fondamenta potrebbe essere stato realizzato tramite l'uso di fossi riempiti d'acqua, come ipotizzato da Mark Lehner e I.E.S. Edwards, o con l'uso di una squadra diretta da supervisori esperti.

Gli scritti di Erodoto e Diodoro Siculo
I principali dubbi sulla costruzione delle piramidi si concentrano soprattutto sul modo in cui i blocchi furono posti in cima alla struttura. Non esistono prove archeologiche o storiche che aiutino a risolvere il dubbio. Buona parte della discussione sulle tecniche edilizie riguarda le poche prove a disposizione.

I racconti storici della costruzione delle piramidi egizie non permettono di capire la tecnica utilizzata per sollevare i blocchi. Nonostante questo molti egittologi fanno riferimento a questi scritti quando discutono il sollevamento dei blocchi. Talete, secondo Ieronimo, visitò le piramidi egizie nel VII secolo a.C. e, usando triangoli simili, triangoli rettangoli e le ombre delle piramidi, ne misurò l'altezza ed il volume. I primi racconti storici della costruzione di questi monumenti risalgono a secoli dopo la costruzione delle piramidi, e sono opera di Erodoto (V secolo a.C.) e Diodoro Siculo (I secolo a.C.). Lo scritto di Erodoto recita:

La versione di Diodoro Siculo dice:

Si sa che sia le opere di Erodoto che di Diodoro Siculo contengono grossi errori, e che il Siculo viene spesso accusato di prendere spunto dalle opere di Erodoto. La descrizione fatta da Erodoto dello schiavismo è uno dei miti più persistenti riguardo al processo di costruzione, e quella di Diodoro Siculo del trasporto delle pietre dall'Arabia è scorretto. Dato che entrambi vengono considerati inaffidabili, è impossibile scegliere quale sia la tecnica corretta a partire dai documenti storici. In ogni caso queste opere forniscono alcune prove sia per l'uso di macchine di sollevamento che per l'uso delle rampe.

Vari tipi di rampe

Molti egittologi concordano sul fatto che le rampe siano il più probabile dei possibili metodi utilizzati per sollevare i blocchi, anche se precisano che si tratta di un metodo incompleto, che deve essere completato da un altro mezzo. Prove archeologiche riguardanti l'uso delle rampe sono state trovate presso la Grande piramide di Giza e presso altre piramidi. Il metodo più accettato per l'uso delle rampe è l'uso delle leve.. Le prove archeologiche dimostrano solo l'esistenza di piccole rampe e camminamenti inclinati, non qualcosa che potrebbe essere stato utilizzato per la costruzione di buona parte del monumento. Ad aggiungere incertezza c'è il fatto che sembrano esistere molte prove che ipotizzano l'uso di metodi non-standard o ad hoc nella costruzione delle piramidi Lehner 1997: 223).

Esistono molti stili di rampe ipotizzate, con notevoli differenze tra loro. Uno dei metodi più screditati è l'utilizzo di grandi rampe diritte, soprattutto a causa della loro enorme dimensione, la mancanza di prove archeologiche, l'alto costo di forza lavoro e altri problemi).

Altre rampe permettevano di risolvere il problema della dimensione, accusate però di non essere funzionali e di mancare di prove archeologiche. Esistono ipotesi di rampe a zig-zag, rampe diritte utilizzate per le parti incomplete della sovrastruttura (Arnold 1991), rampe a spirale sostenute dalla sovrastruttura e rampe a spirale che poggiavano sul monumento già costruito. Mark Lehner ipotizzò l'uso di rampe a spirale, che partivano dalla cava di pietra a sudest e proseguivano lungo l'esterno della piramide. I blocchi di pietra potrebbero essere stati trainati con slitte lungo rampe lubrificate con acqua o latte.

I metodi basati sull'uso di leve sono considerati i più fattibili per completare l'uso delle rampe, in parte a causa della descrizione fatta da Erodoto, ed in parte grazie allo Shaduf, un metodo di irrigazione descritto la prima volta in Egitto durante il Nuovo Regno, e ritrovato anche nell'Antico Regno della Mesopotamia. Secondo il punto di vista di Lehner (1997: 222) le leve sarebbero state impiegate per sollevare il 3% del materiale della sovrastruttura. È importante notare che il 4% di questo materiale rappresenta un terzo del totale del monumento. In altre parole, secondo Lehner, le leve sarebbero state utilizzate per sollevare piccole parti di materiale a grandi altezze.

Tra i metodi che sfruttano le leve, vi sono quelli che prevedono il sollevamento incrementale dei blocchi, sollevando ripetutamente il blocco ed inserendovi sotto strati di legno o roccia a fare da spessore. Altri metodi usano leve più grandi per effettuare lo spostamento in un colpo solo. Dal momento che la discussione sulle tecniche edilizie utilizzate per il sollevamento dei blocchi tenta di risolvere una carenza delle fonti storiche ed archeologiche con spiegazioni di metodi implementabili, i seguenti esempi di Isler, Keable e Hussey-Pailos elencano questi metodi sperimentali. Il metodo di Isler (1985, 1987) è un metodo incrementale e, nell'esperimento di Nova (1992), furono usati spessori di legno. Isler fu in grado di sollevare un blocco su un altro in circa un'ora e mezza. Il metodo di Peter Hodges e Julian Keable è simile a quello di Isler, e usava piccoli blocchi di cemento come spessori, pallet di legno ed un pozzo. Keable fu in grado di svolgere l'operazione in circa due minuti. Il metodo di Scott Hussey-Pailos (2005) usa una semplice leva per sollevare un blocco in un colpo solo. Questo metodo fu testato con materiali meno resistenti degli analoghi egizi, con un fattore di sicurezza 2, e permise di sollevare un blocco di 2,5 tonnellate in un colpo solo in un minuto. Questo metodo è stato proposto assieme alle rampe di Mark Lehner come più probabile accoppiata.

Ipotesi delle rampe interne di Jean-Pierre Houdin
Il padre di Houdin era un architetto che, nel 1999, scoprì un metodo di costruzione che, secondo lui, aveva più senso di qualsiasi precedente metodo proposto per la costruzione delle piramidi. Per poter sviluppare la sua ipotesi, Jean-Pierre Houdin, anch'egli architetto, abbandonò il lavoro dedicandosi alla prima ricostruzione in 3D tramite CAD di un modello architettonico della grande piramide di Giza. Il suo progetto prevedeva l'uso di una rampa esterna per la costruzione del primo 30% della piramide, ed una rampa interna fatta di pietra per portare i blocchi sopra questo livello. Le pietre della rampa esterna venivano riciclate per i livelli superiori, e questo spiegherebbe l'altrimenti enigmatica loro mancanza.

Dopo quattro anni di lavoro in solitaria, ad Houdin si unì una squadra di ingegneri della ditta informatica francese Dassault Systèmes, i quali utilizzarono la più sofisticata tecnologia CAD per raffinare e testare la sua ipotesi, rendendola (secondo Houdin) la sola ad essere stata dimostrata come fattibile. Nel 2006 Houdin annunciò la scoperta in un libro: Khufu: The Secrets Behind the Building of the Great Pyramid, e nel 2008 scrisse assieme all'egittologo Bob Brier un secondo libro: The Secret of the Great Pyramid

Secondo il metodo di Houdin, ogni rampa all'interno della piramide terminava con uno spazio aperto, una tacca lasciata aperta sul lato della costruzione. Questo spazio di 10 m² conteneva una gru che sollevava e ruotava blocchi da 2,5 tonnellate, permettendo a otto uomini di spostarla sopra la successiva rampa interna. Vi è un buco in ognuno dei posti giusti, e nel 2008 il coautore di Houdin, Bob Brier, con una troupe della National Geographic Society, entrò in una camera inesplorata che poteva rappresentare l'inizio di una di queste rampe. Nel 1986 un membro della squadra francese vide una volpe del deserto in uno di questi posti, come se fosse salita dall'interno.

La tesi di Houdin resta non dimostrata, e nel 2007 l'egittologo dell'UCL David Jeffreys descrive la teoria della spirale interna come "inverosimile ed orribilmente complicata", mentre il professore di Oxford John Baines dice di essere "diffidente riguardo a qualsiasi teoria che cerchi di spiegare solo come la grande piramide fu costruita". È stata portata una piccola prova a suo favore. Nel 1986 una squadra francese fece un'analisi micro-gravimetrica della struttura. Non inclusa nel resoconto finale, ma chiaramente visibile in alcuni disegni non pubblicati, si vede un elemento a forma di spirale nel posto indicato da Houdin. Houdin è convinto che la sua teoria verrà presto confermata o smentita da una delle numerose nuove tecniche, tra cui fotografie a infrarossi del raffreddamento della piramide la sera.

Houdin sviluppò anche una nuova teoria a partire dal proprio modello architetturale, che potrebbe infine spiegare l'esistenza della camera della Grande Galleria interna, che altrimenti sembra quasi inutile. Egli crede che la galleria sia servita da scivolo/guida per i contrappesi. Avrebbe permesso il sollevamento dei cinque blocchi di granito da 60 tonnellate che formano il soffitto della camera del Re.

Ipotesi del cemento di calcare
Lo scienziato dei materiali Joseph Davidovits disse che i blocchi della piramide non sono di pietra scavata, ma piuttosto una forma di cemento di calcare, e che furono prodotti in maniera simile al moderno cemento. Secondo quest'ipotesi, morbido calcare con un alto contenuto di caolinite fu recuperato dall'uadi a sud della piana di Giza. Il calcare fu sciolto in pozze create dal Nilo fino a diventare liquido. La calce (trovata nelle ceneri dei fuochi di cottura) ed il natron (usato dagli Egizi anche per la mummificazione) venivano poi mischiati. Le pozze venivano quindi lasciate evaporare, fino ad ottenere una mistura umida simile all'argilla. Questo "cemento" umido sarebbe stato trasportato sul luogo di costruzione, dove sarebbe stato versato in stampi di legno, ottenendo in pochi giorni una reazione chimica simile a quella del vero cemento. Nuovi blocchi, affermò, potevano essere creati sul posto, sopra agli altri già posizionati. Furono effettuati test di fattibilità in un istituto geopolimero nella Francia settentrionale, e si scoprì che un gruppo di cinque/dieci persone, usando solo strumenti manuali, poteva creare una struttura con cinque blocchi (da 1,3 - 4,5 tonnellate) in un paio di settimane. Affermò anche che la stele della carestia, assieme ad altri testi geroglifici, descrive il metodo usato per la creazione delle pietre.

Il metodo proposto da Davidovits non è accettato dalla maggior parte degli accademici. Non spiega la presenza di pietre di granito, pesanti oltre 10 tonnellate, sopra la camera del Re, che sono obbligatoriamente estratte da una cava. I geologi hanno attentamente studiato l'ipotesi di Davidovits, concludendo che il materiale era calcare naturale proveniente dalla cava della formazione di Mokattam. Secondo Davidovits, comunque, il materiale usato proverrebbe dalla stessa cava indicata dai geologi.

L'ipotesi di Davidovits ha recentemente guadagnato il sostegno di Michel Barsoum, un ricercatore specializzato in scienza dei materiali. Michel Barsoum e i suoi colleghi della Drexel University hanno pubblicato le loro scoperte sostenendo l'ipotesi di Davidovits in Journal of the American Ceramic Society nel 2006. Utilizzando un microscopio elettronico a scansione, scoprirono minerali composti e bolle d'aria all'interno del campione preso dai blocchi di calcare della piramide, non presenti nel calcare naturale.

Dipayan Jana, un petrografo, fece una presentazione presso l'ICMA (International Cement Microscopy Association) nel 2007 fornendo un documento in cui discuteva il lavoro di Davidovits e Barsoum

Esperimenti di NOVA di costruzione di una piramide
Nel 1997 Mark Lehner e Roger Hopkins, uno scalpellino di Sudbury, si unirono per condurre un esperimento di costruzione di una piramide per un episodio televisivo della serie NOVA. Costruirono una piramide alta sei metri e larga nove metri, per un totale di 162 m³ e 405 tonnellate. Era formata da 186 pietre pesanti in media 2,2 tonnellate ognuna. Impiegarono solo tre settimane a farlo. Dodici cavatori scavarono le 186 pietre in 22 giorni. Furono in grado di impilarle utilizzando 44 uomini. Utilizzarono martelli di ferro, scalpelli e leve (si tratta di una scorciatoia moderna, dato che gli Egizi potevano disporre solo di rame e legno). Fecero la cosa anche con strumenti di rame, concludendo che era possibile farlo anche in quel modo, solo che serviva manodopera aggiuntiva per rimodellare costantemente nuovi attrezzi. Stimarono di aver bisogno di altri venti uomini per questa operazione. Un altro trucchetto fu l'uso di una pala caricatrice o di un carrello elevatore. Comunque gli strumenti moderni non potevano essere utilizzati per la costruzione fisica della piramide. Utilizzarono le leve per sollevare la pietra di punta della piramide ad un'altezza di sette metri. Quattro o cinque uomini erano in grado di usare le leve su pietre pesanti meno di una tonnellata, ruotarle e trasportarle facendole rotolare. Le pietre più grosse andavano trascinate. Scoprirono che ponendo le pietre su slitte di legno, e trascinandole su percorsi di legno, potevano trascinare una pietra da due tonnellate usando da dodici a venti uomini. Il legno usato per costruire slitte e tracciato andava importato dal Libano a costo molto elevato, dato che in Egitto se ne trovava poco. Anche se questi neo-costruttori hanno faticato a ricreare l'unione perfetta tipica degli antichi Egizi, Hopkins era convinto che col tempo avrebbero fatto più pratica.

Grande piramide di Cheope
Alcuni ricercatori propongono stime alternative della forza lavoro necessaria. Ad esempio, il matematico Kurt Mendelssohn ha calcolato che erano sufficienti al massimo 50 000 uomini, mentre Ludwig Borchardt e Louis Croon hanno posto il limite a 36 000. Secondo Miroslav Verner furono sufficienti meno di 30 000 uomini per la costruzione della grande piramide.

Uno studio di progettazione svolto dalla Daniel, Mann, Johnson, & Mendenhall, in associazione con Mark Lehner ed altri egittologi, ha stimato che il progetto complessivo avrebbe richiesto 14 567 persone, ed un picco di 40 000. Senza l'uso di pulegge, ruote e accessori in ferro, utilizzarono il metodo del percorso critico per dichiarare che la grande piramide fu completata in circa 10 anni. Nel loro studio si dice che il numero dei blocchi utilizzati nella costruzione fu tra i 2 e i 2,8 milioni (con una media di 2,4 milioni), ma concludendo con un totale di due milioni dopo aver sottratto il volume stimato degli spazi vuoti di camere e gallerie. Molte fonti concordano su questa cifra, poco sopra i 2,3 milioni. I calcoli fanno pensare che gli operai potrebbero aver mantenuto un ritmo di 180 blocchi l'ora (3 al minuto) con 10 ore di lavoro giornaliere per poter sistemare ogni singolo blocco. Trassero questi numeri dai modelli tridimensionali moderni che non facevano uso di macchine non disponibili agli Egizi, concludendo però che era ancora ignota la tecnica edilizia utilizzata per la Grande Piramide. Come disse Craig Smith della squadra:

Si crede che l'intera piana di Giza sia stata costruita durante il regno di cinque faraoni, in meno di un secolo, e generalmente comprende: la grande piramide di Cheope, quelle di Chefren e Micerino, la grande Sfinge, i templi a valle, 35 posti per barche tagliati nella roccia e numerosi camminamenti, oltre alla pavimentazione di quasi tutta la piana con grandi pietre. Non è compresa la piramide settentrionale di Djedefre (Abu Rawash), non costruita in questi 100 anni. Nei cento anni che precedettero Giza, a partire da Djoser che regnò dal 2687 al 2667 a.C., tra le dozzine di altri templi, piccole piramidi ed altri progetti, furono costruite altre tre grandi piramidi. Si tratta della piramide a gradoni di Saqqara (che si crede essere la prima piramide egizia), la piramide romboidale e la piramide rossa. In questo periodo (tra il 2686 ed il 2498 a.C.) fu costruita anche la diga di Wadi Al-Garawi, per la quale furono usati 100 000 metri cubi di rocce e macerie.

Note

Voci correlate
 Piramidi egizie
 Piramidologia

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Teorie su costruzioni egizie


The Greek Islands, perhaps better known for their beach resorts, are a treasure trove of landscapes for the walker or cyclist to discover. The largest of these, Crete, is a personal favourite of mine, and home to the Crete Coast to Coast.
Grading: Moderate. Achievable for most with a good level of fitness as daily walking distances are relatively short but expect some ascent and descent, and a bit of scrambling at points on rougher terrain.
Crete is one of the southernmost of the Greek Islands, with some of the most ancient of Greek and European historic sights and a fascinating yet turbulent history. Knossos is the second most visited archaeological site in Greece (behind the Acropolis) and well worth a stop off on the way to/from Heraklion airport.
This Coast to Coast route heads from north to south.
Why walk the Crete Coast to Coast?
The north coast of Crete is where the majority of tourists head, where a range of bustling resorts attract sun-seekers. Head a bit further west and you reach the traditional village of Vamos, the start of this adventure, where you will reside in the old quarter for a couple of nights.
The Coast to Coast is more of a collection of walks including loops, instead of a traditional linear walk. This joins up some of the most spectacular landscapes, most delightful villages, and best sections of coast to fit nicely into a week's break.
Enjoy Plenty of Taverna Time!
A world apart from the Crete most tourists will experience, sometimes you might not see a soul for hours. Bliss!
Walk through the magnificent gorge of Sfakia, marvel at the peaks of the Lefka Ori, and swim in the deep blue and clear waters of the Libyan Sea. The hospitality of the Greek people is something which brings me back to the country time and time again, and the opportunity to experience rural culture and some hidden spots should not be missed.
We suggest 6 walking days and a 7 night stay to make the most of this wonderful walk. April, May, June, September and October are ideal months to walk (July and August are just far too hot).
You can contact Macs Adventure on [email protected] for advice or reservation enquiries, or see more about the Crete Coast to Coast here. Why not make an epic island-hopping trek of it, but joining it up with Santorini & Naxos? You can never have too much of a good thing!


Klezmer originated in Eastern Europe but finds its future in a new generation of American Jewish youth.
UClezLA, which took place Sunday at Schoenberg Hall, is a Yiddish culture festival which included workshops on klezmer, a musical genre containing Jewish influences and a mixture of sounds from Romani music and Polish folk music. When translated from its Hebraic roots, "klezmer" means "instruments of melody," and the style goes back to 16th century Eastern Europe. Miri Koral, a lecturer of Yiddish language and culture at UCLA, said the festival worked toward a revival of public knowledge of Yiddish language and the art of klezmer.
Teaching students and the public to play klezmer at UClezLA helped to revive the once-fading genre and give the public insight into how this music was used in daily prayers, holidays and other songs in Jewish culture, Koral said.
Hankus Netsky, co-chair of contemporary improvisation at the New England Conservatory in Boston, led one of the workshops on the roots of klezmer at the event. Netsky said teaching music today is usually just done by looking at notes on a paper, but he and the other workshop leaders teach klezmer by starting off with singing and then transferring those same qualities to the instruments. Koral said klezmer instruments – such as the clarinet and the fiddle – are played in ways that resemble the human singing voice by mimicking the ululation in Jewish songs.
Learning about klezmer took a lot of effort in the past because there was no access to it online and in recordings, Netsky said, and he wants to be a resource so younger people can learn about their cultural past. Netsky said he incorporates Jewish cultural background into his teachings of klezmer to aid musicians in connecting with the songs they perform.
Klezmer offers a connection to a past Yiddish-speaking civilization that survives in part through music, said Peter Rushefsky, executive director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York City. Rushefsky said by leading a workshop teaching people to play instrumental klezmer at UClezLA, he hoped to show a new generation of people how music can connect them to the rich history of Jewish civilization. As a result of events like the Holocaust and Jewish migration into America, much of the historic relevance of klezmer was lost as Jewish immigrants assimilated into American culture, Netsky said.
Jewish immigrants to America in the 1880s brought new cultural influences to the traditional music. Klezmer was associated with the daily lives of the Ashkenazi Jewish people in Eastern Europe, but it became more Americanized through a jazz influence that developed with the introduction of music recording, Rushefsky said. Although the genre lost popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, passing on the knowledge of it to younger people allows for a revitalization and evolution of the culture's music, he said. Showing students how to play klezmer gives them exposure to the style in hopes that they will carry on its history but continue to transform klezmer so it does not fade away, Rushefsky said.
The instructors at UClezLA planned to teach attendees how klezmer evolved to fit into the world that surrounded it. Rushefsky said klezmer is not simply the music of the past, but one that people can continue to learn, evolve and pass on for the future to come.


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Home Health Tips Study: Many patients treated for iNPH also develop Alzheimer's disease
Study: Many patients treated for iNPH also develop Alzheimer's disease
Help Tips Blog 7:59 AM 0 comments
Up to one in five patients treated for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus, iNPH, also develop Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital. The researchers were able to predict the development of Alzheimer's disease by using the Disease State Index, DSI, that combines patient-specific data from various sources. The results were published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
In iNPH, the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is disturbed for an unknown reason, leading to a slightly elevated brain pressure and dilation of the brain ventricles. Symptoms of NPH include gait deviations, impaired short-term memory and urinary incontinence. Patients with iNPH often have changes in brain that are related to Alzheimer's disease.
The study followed patients with iNPH after they had received treatment for their disease. They were treated with shunt surgery, in which excessive CSF is led from the brain ventricles to the abdominal cavity by using a CSF shunt. Shunted NPH patients who had undergone brain tissue biopsy in connection with their surgery were selected for the study. The objective of the biopsy was to detect changes that are indicative of Alzheimer's disease.
During the follow-up, the researchers found that up to one in five patients with NPH were later diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. At the end of the follow-up, patients with NPH were more frequently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease than the general population. The researchers were able to predict the development of Alzheimer's disease, with moderate accuracy, by using patient-specific DSI. The data used in DSI included the patient's pre-surgery symptom profile, brain tissue samples and brain MRI images.
University of Eastern Finland
Luikku, A.J., et al. (2019) Predicting Development of Alzheimer's Disease in Patients with Shunted Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. doi.org/10.3233/JAD-190334.
Alzheimers Health News Health Tips


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Auctions April 5, 2010 June 7, 2016
Unemployed Harvard man mints $650,000 for first novel
by Shubha Gopalakrishnan
Not many authors can mint big money with their first novel in production. But if they manage to do that, then there is a genius theme and diligence that facilitates its success. Chad Harbach, who was an out-of-work copy editor with an unpaid position at a literary journal and an unpublished novel of 475 pages. The novel centering a baseball team at a fictional Wisconsin college took him about 9 years to complete, but the sweet fruit of success measured $650,000. That's right; he was paid that enormous amount by Hachette Book Group's Little, Brown for his book tentatively titled, "The Art of Fielding". The book which drew one of the highest prices for a man's first novel, sold after a two-day telephone auction of eight publishers. Rights for the book have recently sold in Japan as well as Europe and it is expected to be out in the US in the fourth quarter of 2011.
[Bloomberg]
READ: Rolling Stones release limited edition coffee table books for $5000 each
This cinema-turned-bookstore in Argentina must be seen to be believed
J.K. Rowling's exclusive copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" to go on auction soon
At $2.9 million the first edition of Alice in Wonderland could be the most expensive children's book
The first edition of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species' was auctioned for half a million dollars
A rare and priceless book treasure
Art of travel : Louis Vuitton Vietnam and Venice travel books launched
The Formula One Champions Opus book: For every F1 fan
J.D. Salinger's toilet offered for sale on eBay for $1 million
The Official Ferrari Opus unveiled at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi
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Posted 12:19PM on Tuesday 14th January 2020 ( 4 days ago )
Delta Air Lines boosted its fourth-quarter profit to $1.1 billion by adding more flights over the holiday-packed period and stuffing them even more full of passengers.
Lower fuel prices helped too, as Delta reported Tuesday that earnings rose 8% over a year earlier and beat analysts' expectations. And unlike key rivals, Delta was not burdened by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max — it doesn't own any of them.
Delta shares were up $2.39, or 4%, to $61.88 in midday trading.
U.S. airlines are enjoying a prolonged period of profitability that was long thought to be unlikely if not impossible. Delta has made money 10 years in a row after losing it eight times in the previous decade.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian says there is no reason to think the industry's good times will end anytime soon.
"I'm not worried at all," he said in an interview. "Travel is one of the things that is growing faster than most sectors of the economy."
Atlanta-based Delta gets two-thirds of its revenue from the U.S., which outperformed each of Delta's international regions in the fourth quarter. Delta grew its passenger-carrying capacity nearly 5%, but it was able to raise average prices and still fill 85.6% of its seats in the fourth quarter and a record 86.3% for all of 2019. Premium travel has been especially strong.
"The domestic market still has quite a ways to go," Bastian said. "Airfares are still quite affordable."
Overseas was a mixed bag, however, with Delta's revenue down in Asia, which it blamed on trade tension and weakness in China. Revenue on flights to and from Europe rose less than 1%.
A wild card for Delta and other airlines in 2020 could be the Boeing 737 Max. Some analysts believe airfares will drop when all those grounded Max jetliners are cleared to fly again — although no one knows when that will happen.
Helane Becker, an analyst with financial-services firm Cowen, said the Max's 10-month grounding has helped Delta by slowing the growth of other U.S. airlines. Southwest, American and United have canceled tens of thousands of flights already. The Max cost Southwest and American together about $1 billion last year; both have negotiated partial compensation from Boeing.
"On the margin we have clearly been a beneficiary," Bastian told analysts on a conference call, "and as long as the Max stays out of the sky, I guess we will continue to be one." He said Delta has not altered its 2020 plans to take advantage of the grounding.
Bastian praised Boeing Co. and said the aircraft maker "will get through the Max, they will get it back in the air." He faulted Boeing, however, for building up expectations that the plane's grounding, now at 10 months, would not last long, "which has made this whole issue seem like it has drug out longer and longer and longer."
In the fourth quarter, Delta reported adjusted earnings of $1.70 per share, including a gain of 9 cents per share from existing a partnership with Gol in Latin America. That easily beat the $1.40 mean forecast from 18 analysts surveyed by FactSet.
Revenue rose 6% to $11.44 billion, topping the FactSet survey number by $100 million.
Labor spending rose 8% but Delta's fuel bill dropped 14%, a savings of $315 million compared with the same quarter in 2018.
Delta repeated its forecast of 2020 earnings between $6.75 and $7.75 per share and predicted that revenue in the first quarter will grow by between 5% and 7%. However, the airline faces rising labor costs that could climb higher still as it negotiates a new contract with its union pilots. Delta predicted that costs per mile, excluding fuel, will rise faster than revenue per mile in the first quarter.
Delta is the first major U.S. airline to report fourth-quarter results, and others are expected to post solid profits too.
Airlines were long considered to be boom-or-bust outfits that tracked the direction of the economy. Nobody can be really sure that they have broken free from the business cycle since there hasn't been a recession since the current run of prosperity began.
Delta, the most profitable U.S. carrier in recent years, just finished a year in which it earned $4.8 billion and a decade in which net income totaled about $34 billion. That came after a decade marked by two recessions, an oil-price spike, and the 2001 terror attacks — Delta lost more than $25 billion from 2000 through 2009.
Associated Categories: Associated Press (AP), AP Business, AP Business - Corporate News, AP Online - Georgia News, AP Online Headlines - Georgia News, AP Business - Economy
Trevor vs Justin; Bama vs LSU and other top stories in 2020
Even if they don't meet again on the field, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence and Ohio State's Justin Fields will be two of the stories that will define the 2020 college football season
Recovery begins after storms kill 11 in Midwest, South
Icy roads, deadly tornadoes, punishing waves were all part of the severe weekend weather blamed for 11 deaths and major damage in parts of the Midwest, South and Northeast. The death toll included tornado victims in Alabama and Louisiana and two first responders struck by a car at an icy Texas accident scene
AP Online - Georgia News
VMI, Mercer look to end streaks
Ga. Tech looks for home win vs ND
Georgia looks to end streak vs Tennessee
AP Top Georgia Headlines at 9:52 a.m. EST
AP Online Headlines - Georgia News
Flood damaged Atlanta hospital under renovation through Oct.
Injured baby right whale given grim prognosis after 2nd look
Lawyers ask Georgia panel to spare condemned man's life
Georgia sets anti-trafficking training for employees, others
Asian shares are mostly higher following a Wall Street rally spurred by optimism that a trade deal between the U.S. and China will be a boon for the regional economy


text:
Rocket Billionaires
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the New Space Race
By: Tim Fernholz
Narrated by: Erin Moon
Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Professionals & Academics
Grinding It Out
The Making of McDonald's
By: Ray Kroc, Robert Anderson
Narrated by: Stephen Bel Davies
Few entrepreneurs can claim to have radically changed the way we live, and Ray Kroc is one of them. His revolutions in food-service automation, franchising, shared national training, and advertising have earned him a place beside the men and women who have founded not only businesses, but entire empires. But even more interesting than Ray Kroc the business man is Ray Kroc the man. Not your typical self-made tycoon, Kroc was 52 years old when he opened his first franchise.
inspiring and motivating. Hooray Ray iroc
By Andy on 05-09-19
By: Ray Kroc, and others
The Hidden Habits of Genius
Beyond Talent, IQ, and Grit - Unlocking the Secrets of Greatness
By: Craig Wright
Narrated by: Fred Sanders
What is genius? The word evokes iconic figures like Einstein, Beethoven, Picasso, and Steve Jobs, whose cultural contributions have irreversibly shaped society. Yet Beethoven could not multiply. Picasso couldn't pass a fourth grade math test. And Jobs left high school with a 2.65 GPA. The Hidden Habits of Genius explores the meaning of this contested term, and the unexpected motivations of those we have dubbed "genius" throughout history, from Charles Darwin and Marie Curie to Leonardo Da Vinci and Andy Warhol to Toni Morrison and Elon Musk.
Click-bait title, minimal substance inside
By James S. on 11-27-20
Competing in the Age of AI
Strategy and Leadership When Algorithms and Networks Run the World
By: Marco Iansiti, Karim R. Lakhani
Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
In industry after industry, data, analytics, and AI-driven processes are transforming the nature of work. While we often still treat AI as the domain of a specific skill, business function, or sector, we have entered a new era in which AI is challenging the very concept of the firm. AI-centric organizations exhibit a new operating architecture, redefining how they create, capture, share, and deliver value.
Good writing but disappointing reading
By YBNRML on 04-13-20
By: Marco Iansiti, and others
The Space Barons
By: Christian Davenport
Narrated by: Will Collyer
The Space Barons is the story of a group of billionaire entrepreneurs who are pouring their fortunes into the epic resurrection of the American space program. Nearly a half century after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, these Space Barons - most notably Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, along with Richard Branson and Paul Allen - are using Silicon Valley-style innovation to dramatically lower the cost of space travel and send humans even further than NASA has gone.
An Incredible Modern Story Well Told
By Greg Autry on 04-06-18
The Secret Society That Hijacked the World
By: Jim Marrs
Narrated by: Terrence Bayes
Chilling initiations. Big banks and money manipulations. Possible links to the Rockefellers, Rothschilds, Adamses, and Bushes. Reviewing the evidence, documents, and connections, The Illuminati: The Secret Society That Hijacked the World by award-winning journalist and author Jim Marrs shines a light on the history, workings, continuing influence, and pernicious and hidden power of this secret order. Surveying experts, Marrs cuts through the wild speculation and the attempts to silence critical thinkers to tell the true story of this secret cabal.
Big Week
The Biggest Air Battle of World War II
By: James Holland
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces based in Britain and Italy launched their first round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. Their goal: to smash the main factories and production centers of the Luftwaffe while also drawing German planes into an aerial battle of attrition to neutralize the Luftwaffe as a fighting force prior to the cross-channel invasion, planned for a few months later. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this aerial offensive quickly became known as "Big Week," and it was one of the turning-points of World War II.
War in the Air: Sets stage with gripping narrative
By Nashville Cat on 11-17-18
The Virgin Way
Everything I Know about Leadership
By: Richard Branson
Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
While building the Virgin Group over 40 years, Richard Branson has never shied away from seemingly outlandish challenges that others (including his own colleagues on several occasions) considered sheer lunacy. He has taken on giants like British Airways and won, and monsters like Coca-Cola and lost. Now Branson gives an inside look at his strikingly different swashbuckling style of leadership.
Inspiration, and nuggets of wisdom for anyone
By John R. on 05-08-15
Why Some People Have It - and Others Don't
By: Jeffrey Pfeffer
Narrated by: Rick Adamson
Some people have it, and others don't. Jeffrey Pfeffer explores why, in Power. One of the greatest minds in management theory and author or co-author of 13 books, including the seminal business-school text Managing With Power, Jeffrey Pfeffer shows listeners how to succeed and wield power in the real world.
Insightful & Actionable
By edgard c. on 12-15-20
The Coming Infocalypse
By: Nina Schick
Narrated by: Stephanie Racine
Uncover everything you need to know about "deepfakes" and what could become the biggest information and communications meltdown in world history.
Nothing new if you're techie
By Keith on 03-30-21
Liftoff
Elon Musk and the Desperate Early Days that Launched SpaceX
By: Eric Berger
Narrated by: Rob Shapiro
The dramatic inside story of the first four historic flights that launched SpaceX - and Elon Musk - from a shaky startup into the world's leading-edge rocket company.
Excellent. Would make a good movie.
By Andrew Dodson on 03-04-21
The Rules of Contagion
Why Things Spread - and Why They Stop
By: Adam Kucharski
Narrated by: Joe Jameson
These days, whenever anything spreads, whether it's a YouTube fad or a political rumor, we say it went viral. But how does virality actually work? In The Rules of Contagion, epidemiologist Adam Kucharski explores topics including gun violence, online manipulation, and, of course, outbreaks of disease to show how much we get wrong about contagion, and how astonishing the real science is. Why did the president retweet a Mussolini quote as his own? Why do financial bubbles take off so quickly?
Brilliant and so relavent
By touristth on 12-15-20
Why Our Brains Are Wired to Connect
By: Matthew D. Lieberman
Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
In Social, renowned psychologist Matthew Lieberman explores groundbreaking research in social neuroscience, revealing that our need to connect with other people is even more fundamental, more basic, than our need for food or shelter. Because of this, our brain uses its spare time to learn about the social world-other people and our relation to them.
"Bowling Alone" For Your Brain...
The Rabbit Effect
Live Longer, Happier, and Healthier with the Groundbreaking Science of Kindness
By: Kelli Harding MD MPH
Narrated by: Kelli Harding
When Columbia University doctor Kelli Harding began her clinical practice, she never intended to explore the invisible factors behind our health. But then there were the rabbits. In 1978, a seemingly straightforward experiment designed to establish the relationship between high blood cholesterol and heart health in rabbits discovered that kindness — in the form of a particularly nurturing post-doc who pet and spoke to the lab rabbits as she fed them — made the difference between a heart attack and a healthy heart.
Content vs Delivery
By Joyce Goodale on 09-15-19
A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate
By: Mark Kurlansky
Narrated by: Mark Kurlansky
In what he says is the most important piece of environmental writing in his long and award-winning career, Mark Kurlansky, best-selling author of Salt and Cod, The Big Oyster, 1968, and Milk, among many others, employs his signature multi-century storytelling and compelling attention to detail to chronicle the harrowing yet awe-inspiring life cycle of salmon.
More about people than salmon
By BigJay on 02-10-21
How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports
By: Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
No one knew it when their experiment began, but without any particular genius or acumen, the motley cast of billionaires and hucksters behind the modern Premier League struck gold. Pretty soon, everyone wanted to try their luck, from Russian oligarchs to Emirati sheikhs, American tycoons, and Asian Tiger titans. Some succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Some lost everything. Today, players are sold for tens of millions, clubs are valued in the billions, and games are beamed out to nearly 200 countries, all while the league struggles to preserve its English soul.
Read don't listen
By JR3 on 01-23-19
By: Joshua Robinson, and others
Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't
4.5 out of 5 stars 15,358
Built To Last, the defining management study of the 90s, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the very beginning. But what about companies that are not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
ineffectual
By Duane on 07-28-20
Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future
By: Ashlee Vance
In the spirit of Steve Jobs and Moneyball, Elon Musk is both an illuminating and authorized look at the extraordinary life of one of Silicon Valley's most exciting, unpredictable, and ambitious entrepreneurs - a real-life Tony Stark - and a fascinating exploration of the renewal of American invention and its new makers.
The best of competence porn
By Tristan on 08-20-16
Foundation (Apple Series Tie-in Edition)
By: Isaac Asimov
Narrated by: Scott Brick
For 12,000 years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future, to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last 30,000 years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire, both scientists and scholars, and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a fututre generations.
Changed the version back
By chip worden on 09-24-21
The inside story of the new race to conquer space, as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos spend billions of their own money to explore the final frontier
For the larger-than-life personalities now staking their fortunes on the development of rocket ships, the new race to explore space could be a dead end, a lucrative opportunity - or the key to humanity's salvation. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos take center stage in this fast-paced narrative as they attempt to disrupt the space economy, feed their own egos, and maybe even save the world. We also meet a supporting cast of equally fascinating entrepreneurs, from the irrepressible British mogul Richard Branson to satellite Internet visionary Greg Wyler. All are united in the profound conviction that commercial space transportation will transform our world for the better.
Tim Fernholz's fly-on-the-wall reporting captures an industry in the midst of disruption, as NASA seeks to preserve its ambitious space exploration program, traditional aerospace firms like Boeing and Lockheed Martin scramble to adapt to new competitors, lobbyists tussle over public funds, and lawmakers try to prevent this new space race from sparking global conflict. With privileged access to top executives at SpaceX, including Musk himself, as well as at Blue Origin, NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK, and Virgin Galactic, Fernholz spins this high-stakes marathon into a riveting tale of rivalry and survival.
Cover design by Brian Moore.
©2018 Tim Fernholz (P)2018 Audible, Inc.
Business Science & Technology Entrepreneurship New Business Enterprises Aeronautics & Astronautics Physics
The Ranch: Evolutions
Tomb of the Queen
Ungifted
What listeners say about Rocket Billionaires
K. Thai
Interesting book; hard to listen to
There is a lot of interesting content in this book, although I was already familiar with most of the incidents described it helped straighten out some of the timeline and players for me, particularly in regards to ULA, Orbital and the Oneweb/Starlink projects. Unfortunately the narration in the audiobook has problems. I think generally Erin Moon did a good job, but her director wasn't paying attention. She swaps words in a few places and makes a lot of bizarre mispronunciations that are distracting. Generally that's forgivable but she pronounces NASA "NasAAH", which I've never heard anyone do, and NASA is in every other paragraph. It's like in the "Good to Great" audio book where NCAA is read as "N-C-Two-A". What planet are these narrators from?
Also I was annoyed that some editor somewhere must have though the word "nerd" appeared in the book too much, so changed every instance to either "geek" or "dork". The latter is particularly galling. I don't think engineers have gotten around to enjoying being labeled dorks yet.
The editor had plenty of time to make that mistake, since the book leaves off with the first reuse of the Falcon 9 despite being published after the launch of Falcon Heavy.
Zachary Reeder
Great Topic. Poor Performance?
This book is a great overview of the current state of commercial space in America. The author draws on a huge pool of supporting sources and paints a multifaceted landscape of the industry. Unfortunately, this particular performance is plagued with mispronunciation, word inversions and word omission. These performance issues are largely associated with basic technical terms and are fairly distracting.
luxaeternae
Pronounced NASA wrong the whole book...
it hurt every single time. it's a book about space buisness how come no one noticed this. embarrassing.
I am not sure who Erin Moon is, but...
I wouldn't be surprised if Erin Moon is just the name of a voice from a speech to text system. The quality of the read is just bad... weird pronunciations of things like "NASA". It is just bad.
Brian Cleveland
Interesting book, not the best reader choice
The reader says "Nassau" instead of NASA and if it was said once or twice it would not be a problem, but since the book is about the US space program, she says Nassau about 300 times and it becomes really painful.
Space Barons is better
It's not as coherent or objective as Space Barons and the reader pronounced words funny like "Nasaw" instead of NASA. It's mostly just an HJ for Elon.
W. Schiemenz
Mispronounced some critical words.
The reader routinely mispronounced the words NASA, soyuz, and interceptor. It was very distracting and took me out of the book every time it happened. The subject matter is extremely interesting and well handled in the text. It was just let down by the reader.
Timothy Voliva
The race to the Moon and Mars is happening now!
This book is very captivating and accurately details how human beings will become a spacefaring species with a little help from entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos.
jerome m.
An Excellent Read
US government should be busting up US defense contractors and giving the pieces to Elon.
This book was an absolute pleasure to listen to and was very interesting in terms of what is coming in the future of space technology.


Become a Gelt Gladiator Volunteer!
2019 will be Gelt Gladiators 5th year following on from the amazing events that took place in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
10k - Our most popular event and is a test for all levels of fitness with a minimum of 30 obstacles throughout the course. Great Team event so you can help each other around the course.
10 Mile - This is the events toughest challenge with runners doing one and three quarters of the 10k course. You get to enjoy around 50 obstacles challenges on the 10 mile route.
Gelt Gladiator is an ideal Team event with discounts for teams of 6 or more.
An amazing 300 teams took part with work colleagues, mates from the pub, sports teams, clubs! you name it teams were from all over the place. Junior teams also welcome in the 3k but and Adult is required to lead the registration.
Obstacles will be similar to previous events with extra challenges added on.
The route will be announced approximately 2 months before the event.
All runners will receive an event information pack 3 weeks before the race day. Waiver registration will take place on the race morning with those local to the Carlisle area able to register in the week leading up to the event. More info on this will be explained in your race info pack. Parking will be on site.


text:
Francisco Gutiérrez Cabello ou Francisco Gutiérrez, né vers 1616 et mort à Madrid en 1670 ou peu auparavant, est un peintre baroque espagnol, spécialisé dans la peinture de perspectives architecturales fantastiques illustrant en général des thèmes bibliques.

Éléments biographiques
La date de naissance du peintre est déduite de son témoignage lors de l'enquête ouverte en juillet 1658 par le conseil des ordres militaires pour s'assurer du lignage de Diego Vélasquez qui désirait intégrer l'ordre de Santiago afin d'être anobli : Francisco Gutiérrez Cabello est l'un des 148 témoins et déclare être âgé de quarante-deux ans, vivant à Madrid, et originaire de la vallée de Barcena, dans les montagnes de Burgos ; il indique connaître Velázquez depuis 28 ans, c'est-à-dire depuis 1630, alors qu'âgé de 14 ans, il commençait sa formation de peintre.

L'année précédente, en 1657, Díaz del Valle, dans son Origen ilustración del nobilísimo y real arte de la pintura le considère comme un  ().

Sa première œuvre signée connue est une Immaculée Conception, conservée dans une collection privée à Logroño ; datée de 1654, elle est de composition assez archaïque. Il s'oriente ensuite vers la peinture de genre, en composant habilement des perspectives architecturales inspirées généralement des gravures de Hans Vredeman de Vries, où il déploie de nombreuses petites figures formant des scènes tirées de la Bible ou plus rarement de l'histoire troyenne.

La date de sa mort est inconnue ; en mai 1670, Clara de Tovar est dite sa veuve.

Œuvres
 L'Incendie de Troie, huile sur toile, 1657, 107 x 162 cm, Séville, Musée des Beaux-Arts.
 Le Jugement de Salomon, huile sur toile, 110 x 140 cm, 1660 - 1670, Madrid, Musée du Prado.
 6 tableaux en 1662 pour la Collégiale Saint-Louis à Villagarcía de Campos : L'Entrée de Joseph à Héliopolis ; l'Arche d'alliance, Le Jugement de Salomon, La reine de Saba et Salomon, Les fiançailles de la Vierge avec saint Joseph, Le Repas chez Simon le pharisien.
 Le Festin d'Esther, 1666, Paris, Musée du Louvre.
 Joseph présentant son père et ses frères au pharaon, huile sur toile, 111 x 138 cm, , Madrid, Musée du Prado.
 Reconstruction du temple de Jérusalem, huile sur toile, 170 x 240 cm, Université de Saragosse.

 Entrée de Joseph à Héliopolis, Séville, Musée des Beaux-Arts.
 Moïse sauvé des eaux, Bilbao, Musée des Beaux-Arts.
 Le Banquet d'Esther, huile sur toile, 111,2 x 139,7 cm, Oviedo, Museo de Bellas Artes de Asturias

Références

Annexes

Bibliographie
  Diego Angulo Íñiguez et Alfonso E. Pérez Sánchez, Pintura madrileña del segundo tercio del siglo XVII, Madrid, Instituto Diego Velázquez, 1983 .
  E Valdivieso González, « Nuevos datos y obras de Francisco Gutiérrez », dans Boletín del Museo del Prado, vol. 13, n° 31, 1992, p. 7-10 Lire en ligne.
 .

Liens externes

Peintre espagnol du XVIIe siècle


text:
home / chatham news / chatham views /
Chatham Views
+Chatham Views
Chatham Siblings, Conference Rivalry
May 25, 2018 newseditor
Photo by Annie O'Neill
Chatham Head Women's Volleyball Coach Dylan Lasher has always been a cat. In elementary school, he was a Tiger. In high school, a Bobcat. At Thiel College, he was a Tomcat. He played for their volleyball team, but it was as assistant student coach for Thiel's women's team that he saw the Chatham Cougars in action.
"Every time I saw them play, they were always having fun," Dylan said. "They had a clear passion for the game and for each other. At the time, the program was struggling a little bit, and I remember thinking that I'd love to jump in and see if I could help out with things."
He got his chance. Dylan saw an advertisement for an assistant coach position at Chatham, and sent in his application. When he didn't hear back in a few days, he came down to the Athletic and Fitness Center to hand in his resume in person. If it was his initiative that got him the job, his sterling volleyball pedigree (he's been playing competitively since 9th grade and comes from a family of competitive players) and coaching experience (five years plus an academic minor in coaching at Thiel) didn't hurt.
In 2015, the year Dylan came on as assistant coach, Chatham's women's volleyball team won one game and lost 30. In February 2016, he was promoted to head coach, and was determined to improve the team's record. One strategy, of course, is recruitment. And there is one player whose game he knows very, very well.
Justyne Lasher '20 remembers her first season of playing competitive volleyball. She was in 7th grade. "I served out of bounds long-ways, which was really exciting, because at that age, you're just trying to get it over the net," she says. "It was very exciting to feel that power."
Justyne tamed her serve while retaining her power: in high school, she was a two-time first-team All-WPIAL outside hitter. She drew the attention of college recruiters, including her older brother. Justyne was drawn to Chatham for a number of reasons, including the chance to play volleyball, but felt some trepidation.
Photo by Jeanine Leech
"At first I was nervous coming here," she says. "My mom was my coach in high school, so I had to deal with that whole 'you're only playing because your mom's the coach'. Then me and my sister (Kenzie, 17) played on the same team, and we proved that we do deserve to play—we ended up winning WPIALs that year. But people at Chatham didn't know how I play, so I was worried that the whole thing would happen again. Personally, I feel like Dylan would bench me before he would want to play me!"
Today, Justyne is a second-year student at Chatham. She lives in Fickes Residence Hall and is pursuing a criminology major while also taking classes toward an associate in science degree in aviation technology at Community College of Allegheny College. Her dream is to become an airline pilot. She hopes to work for Delta, and eventually for FedEx or UPS, flying international routes. In addition to playing volleyball, she runs track in the spring, and is the DJ for the women's ice hockey team.
With Justyne on board, the Cougars' game picked up in 2016. Their record was 8 and 23, and they beat Thiel and St. Vincent for the first time in Chatham's history. But it was in 2017 that things got crazy. "We were struggling a little bit at the beginning of the season", says Dylan. "We had a good opening tournament but dropped our first four conference matches. But our Geneva match—beating them 3-2 on their home court—turned everything around." Sophomore outside hitter Justyne Lasher exploded for a match-high 22 kills and provided 19 digs, three total blocks and two aces, is what the Chatham Athletics website had to say about that game. Justyne was named Cougar of the Week.
"They were a team that didn't know their potential. They knew how to play volleyball, but they didn't know how good they are. They still don't." – Coach Dylan Lasher
"The team connected; they were feeling good; they were finally looking like a team that wasn't a young team anymore," says Dylan. "They were looking powerful, quick, smart, and it hit there and just continued from there." After Geneva, the Cougars went on to win their next six games. On October 21, they beat Grove City, clinching their spot in the playoffs. Justyne lead the attack with 16 kills.
On Halloween, the Cougars played Bethany College for the PAC quarterfinals. "That match was the craziest thing they could have experienced," says Dylan. "I'm so glad they got to experience what it is to be in playoffs. You get butterflies. it's do or die. You're three matches away from taking the conference championship and it gives you a bid into the NCAA tournament. Playoffs is why you play the game—seeing how far you can go and how hard you can work. It's a completely different game."
The Cougars lost that game, and their season was over. They ended it 17-11. They had beaten Geneva, Bethany, and Grove City for the first time in Chatham history. Dylan won PAC Coach of the Year.
"That playoff game lit a fire under them," says Dylan. "Now they're hyped up; they want to compete for that conference championship; they know that they have the talent. It's all confidence. As soon as these wins started happening, it started changing their mentality. We're the new faces for Chatham volleyball. We want to keep going and keep building on this."
And coach and one of his star players being brother and sister? They'd both tell you, in the common parlance, that it's not a thing.
"Everyone says it must be so weird, but it's really not," says Dylan. "Me and Jus have had a solid brother-sister bond since (pause) ever, and we're both super passionate about volleyball. She respects me and respects my play, and same to her. She's killed it in the past two years here."
"At the time I don't look at him and think 'yeah, that's my bro'", agrees Justyne. "We're there to learn volleyball and get better at it, so we just don't think about it. The team itself says that for the most part they forget we're related."
Visit gochathamcougars.com for all the latest on Chatham athletics.
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text:
Support the Café
The Lead
Speaking to the Soul
Despite moratorium, Gafcon has a female bishop
February 10, 2018 by John Chilton
The Rt. Rev. Elizabeth Awut Ngor was consecrated assistant bishop of the Diocese of Rumbek in the Province of South Sudan in December 2016. She is the first female bishop in Gafcon movement. Gafcon has a moratorium on female bishops.
Archbishop Deng Bul informed fellow members of the Gafcon Primates Council in April 2017. He retired in January 2018.
It was only last week that Bishop Ngor's consecration became widely known although Catholic Radio Network (of South Sudan) had a report in January 2017. Gafcon has now issued a statement notable in that it does not name her.
A Statement on the Consecration of a Female Bishop in South Sudan
From the beginning of the Gafcon movement there have been a variety of understandings among our members on the question of consecrating women to the episcopate. Recognising that this issue poses a threat to the unity we prize, the Primates agreed in 2014 to do what was within their power to affect a voluntary moratorium on the consecration of women to the episcopate. They then set up the Task Force on Women in the Episcopate, chaired by Bishop Samson Mwaluda which presented a report to the 2017 Gafcon Primates Council.
In discussion at this Council, the Primate of South Sudan, Archbishop Deng Bul (who had not been present when the moratorium was agreed) shared with us that his personal decision to consecrate a female bishop was an extraordinary action taken in the midst of civil unrest in a part of his country where most of the men were engaged in armed conflict.
The Gafcon Primates chose to not allow this anomaly to change the course followed since 2014. The Task Force was asked to continue to provide theological resources, and the Provinces were urged to continue the study of Scripture, to consult with one another and to pray that God will lead us to a common mind. The voluntary moratorium remained in place.
In accordance with these decisions, the Task Forces' Report, which can be read here, is now being discussed at the regional level in advance of the April Gafcon Primates Council and the Global Anglican Future Conference in Jerusalem this June. Our hope is that the newly elected Primate of South Sudan will join us in these discussions as we seek to find a common mind, looking to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Peter Jensen, General Secretary
Extraordinary stuff going on in GAFCON after the secret ordination of a female bishop by South Sudan >> A Statement on the Consecration of a Female Bishop in South Sudan https://t.co/KaeMdQrVjr
— The Church Mouse (@thechurchmouse) February 10, 2018
Thinking back to how the UK's leading GAFCON proponents fought over women in the episcopate in the CofE and how they are now discussing it at GAFCON. There is always hope!
Image: Source
Kurt Hill
Maybe the ACNA schismatics can explain this one to us Episcopalians/Anglicans...
Texas Episcopal school argues that courts can't intervene in a case of racial bullying
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