text:
Indonesia Micromobility Market
Indonesia Micromobility Market Research Report: By Type (E-Scooters, E-Bikes, E-Mopeds, E-Pods, Bikes, Scooters), Model (First- and Last-Mile, Multimodal), Sharing System (Docked, Dockless) - Industry Analysis and Growth Forecast to 2030
The Indonesian micromobility market was valued at $1.1 million in 2020, and it is expected to witness a CAGR of 116.1% during the forecast period (2021–2030). The major factors driving the growth of the market are the rising need for reducing urban traffic congestion, increasing demand for first- and last-mile connectivity and low price and convenience of such services for commuting.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been impacting a large portion of the people around the world, bankrupting corporations, and plunging the global economy into a turmoil. The shutdown has had a dramatic impact on the valuation of a few service providers (including Lime), staff working in the sector, and the pace of the restructuring of businesses. However, now, e-bike and e-scooter sharing is gaining widespread popularity among consumers as a new, cost-effective, and environment-friendly transportation option, which also reduces the risk of infection considerably, compared to conventional mass transit means. Some micromobility startups that had cut back or halted their operations during the lockdown are now expanding their fleet to meet the growing demand.
E-Mopeds To Hold Largest Market Share throughout Forecast Period due to Low Ride Cost
E-mopeds are expected to generate the highest revenue during the forecast period, on the basis of vehicle type, in the Indonesian micromobility market. This is mainly ascribed to the growing popularity of e-mopeds owing to the low travel cost and environmental advantages associated with them over conventional mopeds. This, in turn, is attracting more players to enter the market and expand their operations. Moreover, the vibrant moped culture and traveling patterns of people will support the adoption of e-moped services in the country in the coming days, as the majority of them (over 65%) travel less than 5 km to reach their destination.
Dockless Sharing Systems To Witness Increasing Adoption due to Their Cost Advantages for Players
The dockless category accounted for the larger market share in 2020, and it is expected to further advance at the higher rate during the forecast period, on the basis of sharing system. This is majorly attributed to the proliferating adoption of the dockless bike sharing concept by companies owing to its lower capital requirements and operational expenditure as compared to the docked system.
Battery Swapping Technology Key Market Trend
The introduction of swappable batteries has increased the fleet uptime substantially, while also reducing the operational costs, which has ultimately taken the micromobility industry toward profitability. Additionally, with the use of swappable batteries, scooter unit economies can be improved, as it not only cuts a large part of the charging costs, but also improves the vehicle availability. For instance, in November 2020, Grab Holdings Inc. collaborated with the state-owned electricity company's local branch, PT PLN (Persero) Bali Distribution Parent Unit (UID), Bali Transportation Office, PT Pegadaian, Astra Honda Motor, and Panasonic, in order to launch seven public electric vehicle battery swapping stations (SPBKLU) in the island province.
Cost-Effectiveness and Convenience of These Services Key Drivers for the Indonesian Micromobility Market
The demand for micromobility services in the country has been growing for the past few years owing to their easy availability, ease of functioning, and large-scale environmental and health advantages. The most-important criterion for a customer while selecting a service is cost. Micromobility provides a low-cost travel option, therefore attracts a huge number of customers. For instance, PT Migo Anugerah Sinergi charges $0.21 (IDR 3,000.0) per half an hour for its Migo e-bike sharing services, while Skutis Corporation charges e-scooter users $2.8 (IDR 40,000.0) for half an hour.
Efforts to Reduce Urban Traffic Congestion also Propelling Micromobility Market in Indonesia
Micromobility provides several advantages as compared to other means of transportation, for instance, better connectivity to public transit hubs, reduced reliance on personal vehicles, and lower carbon footprint. These services also help in reducing the problem of traffic congestion on urban roads, since these vehicles are compact and require less space on roads and for parking. With the augmenting population in urban areas, the use of different means of personal transportation for short distances is surging, thereby making the urban traffic problem worse. This is poised to boost in the demand for micromobility in the country.
Indonesia Micromobility Market Report Coverage
Base Year (2020) Market Size $1.1 Million
Forecast Period CAGR 116.1%
Report Coverage Market Trends, Drivers, and Restraints; Revenue Estimation and Forecast; Segmentation Analysis; Impact of COVID-19; Companies' Strategic Developments; Company Profiling
Market Size by Segments By Vehicle Type; By Model; By Sharing System
Secondary Sources and References (Partial List) Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC); Electric Vehicle Association of Asia Pacific (EVAAP); International Kicksled and Scooter Association (IKSA); International Scooter Association (ISA); Mobility as a Service Alliance (MaaS Alliance); National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)
Market Players Involved in Facility Expansions to Gain Significant Position
In recent years, players in the Indonesian micromobility market have been involved in facility expansions in order to attain a significant position. For instance:
In January 2020, PT. Surya Teknologi Perkasa, a subsidiary of digital distribution company PT M Cash Integrasi Tbk, expanded its bike and e-bike sharing services, namely GOWES, within the BINUS campus in Indonesia. The fleet is deployed at seven parking points throughout the campus. Users do not have to return the used vehicle to a particular point; they can leave it anywhere within the GOWES operational area.
In January 2020, PT. Migo Anugerah Sinergi (Migo), an e-bike rental service provider, launched 200 e-bikes in Bali, Indonesia. The company expanded its services in several tourist areas, such as Seminyak, Legian, Tuban, Sunset Road (Kuta), and Sanur Beach (Denpasar). The e-bikes are deployed at almost 30 stations throughout Bali, the number of which is likely to reach 100 in the future.
Key Players in Indonesia Micromobility Market Include:
Grab Holdings Inc.
Skutis Corporation
PT. Surya Teknologi Perkasa
PT. Migo Anugerah Sinergi
Blitz Electric Mobility PTE. LTD.
Giant Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Merida & Centurion Germany GmbH
Viar Motor Indonesia
PT Juara Bike
Shandong Incalcu Electric Vehicle Co. Ltd.
The Indonesian micromobility market report offers comprehensive market segmentation analysis along with market estimation for the period 2019-2030.
Market Segmentation by Type
Market Segmentation by Model
Market Segmentation by Sharing System
How much will the Indonesian micromobility market value in 2030?+
The 2030 value of the micromobility market in Indonesia will be $19,888.5 million.
Why is the dockless sharing system preferred by Indonesian micromobility industry players?+
Companies in the Indonesian micromobility industry prefer dockless systems as they have no requirement for docks, or stations, which allows service providers to save on the initial investment.
What is the COVID impact on the Indonesian micromobility market?+
The micromobility market in Indonesia was positively influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially after the lockdown here was lifted.
What is the major Indonesian micromobility industry trend?+
The EV battery swapping technology is trending in the Indonesian micromobility industry.
What strategic measure characterizes the Indonesian micromobility market?+
Major companies in the micromobility market of Indonesia are expanding their services and fleets.


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\section{Introduction}

The {\it Einstein} satellite discovered X-ray emitting gas halos
around luminous early type  galaxies (eg. Forman, Jones, \& Tucker 1985
\markcite{FJT85}),
forcing the rejection of previous assumptions that elliptical galaxies
are gas poor systems.
The X-ray surface brightness distribution was found to
closely follow the optical image
(Trinchieri, Fabbiano, \& Canizares \markcite{TFC86} 1986);
however the X-ray  luminosity, and hence the mass of the hot gas,
showed large scatter from galaxy to galaxy  (eg. Canizares, Fabbiano,
\& Trinchieri \markcite{CFT87} 1987).
The estimated cooling time of the hot gas is less
than the Hubble time (Trinchieri et al. \markcite{TFC86} 1986),
however cooling may be balanced
by heating mechanisms such as supernova explosions.
 Arnaud et al. \markcite{Arn92} (1992) found that the iron mass
in the intracluster medium (ICM) is directly proportional to
the optical luminosity from early type galaxies in clusters of galaxies.
This leads one to suspect that metals in the ICM originate in
early type galaxies and that there might be a link, in the form
of early star formation and galactic winds, between
the ICM and metal abundances in early type galaxies.
Due to the poor energy resolution of previous satellites,  however,
critical parameters for investigating the nature of the hot gas
in early type galaxies,
such as the gas  temperature, mass, and metal abundance  have not
been  well-constrained.
Accordingly,  several important issues including
the origin,  heating, and fate of the hot gas, and
the effect of early type galaxies on the ICM,
are not well understood.

{\it ASCA} (Tanaka et al. \markcite{TIH94} 1994) is the first
satellite with sufficient energy
resolution and large effective area over the broad
0.4 to 10 keV bandpass to determine these physical parameters.
With this satellite, Awaki et al. \markcite{Awaki94} (1994)
analyzed 3 early type galaxies
and found that the temperature and metal abundance of
the hot gas are about 0.8 keV and 0.4 solar, respectively.
The inferred metal abundance is lower than expected
from theoretical  models, and lower than those  determined at
other wavelengths.
Accordingly,  the {\it ASCA} observations  raise a  serious
challenge to standard models for the  evolution  of galaxies
and clusters of galaxies.
This mystery deepened with the discovery of even lower
metallicities (less than 0.2 solar) in two other elliptical
galaxies (Loewenstein et al. \markcite{LMT94} 1994),
and in the outer regions of NGC4636 (Mushotzky et al.
\markcite{MLA94} 1994).
Matsushita et al. \markcite{Kyoko94} (1994) discovered,
analyzing 5 early type galaxies including the sample of 3
in Awaki et al. \markcite{Awaki94}(1994),
a hard X-ray component at energies above a few keV
in addition to the hot gas component dominating below about 2 keV.
In order to  perform plasma diagnostics of the hot gas component,
it is essentially  important to estimate  and remove
the hard component from the X-ray spectra of early type galaxies.
If the hard  component is due to the integrated emission
of stellar sources,  as suggested by Matsushita et al.
\markcite{Kyoko94} (1994),  its luminosity should be proportional
to optical luminosity.
    Since the samples in previous {\it ASCA} studies are too limited to
fully investigate all the issues mentioned above,
we have systematically  studied twelve early type galaxies,
including the samples of Awaki et al. \markcite{Awaki94}(1994) and
Matsushita et al. \markcite{Kyoko94} (1994)
as well as newly observed galaxies.
These comprise the largest sample of {\it ASCA} spectra of early
type galaxies yet investigated.

\section{Observations and Data Reduction}

The galaxies we have selected for this study are
NGC4472, NGC4406, NGC4636, NGC4649, NGC499, NGC507, NGC720,
NGC4374, IC4296, NGC4382, IC1459 and NGC4365,
which are listed  in Table 1 with their optical parameters.
The  sample, which includes 7 performance and verification (PV) phase
targets and 3 first-round guest investigator observations
by the first author (HM), was principally selected on the basis
of soft X-ray fluxes measured with  the {\it Einstein} satellite
in order to obtain useful spectra in reasonable exposure times.
In addition to this criterion,  a number  of
low X-ray luminosity galaxies were intentionally
selected in order to  detect and study possible
differences between gas-rich  and  gas-poor galaxies.
Furthermore, we selected our sample to include both galaxies
in dense and tenuous gaseous environments in order to be able to
study possible interaction between the ICM and interstellar medium (ISM).

  All the galaxies were observed with two solid-state imaging
spectrometers (SIS0 and SIS1) and two gas imaging spectrometers
(GIS2 and GIS3) at the foci of 4 thin-foil X-ray mirrors (XRT) on board
the {\it ASCA} satellite. Details of the instruments can be found in
Burke et al. \markcite{BMH91} (1991), Ohashi et al. \markcite{Ohashi96a}
(1996a), Makishima et al. \markcite{Max96} (1996), and
Serlemitsos et al. \markcite{Ser95} (1995),
while a general description of {\it ASCA} can be
found in Tanaka et al. \markcite{TIH94} (1994).
In table 2, we summarize the {\it ASCA} observation log of
our sample galaxies.
The data were screened with the standard selection criteria:
data affected by the South Atlantic Anomaly,
Earth occultation, and regions of low geomagnetic rigidity were excluded.
We also eliminated contamination by the bright Earth,
removed hot and flickering pixels for the SIS data,
and applied rise-time rejection to exclude particle events for the GIS data.
After the above data screening, we extracted X-ray spectra from circular
regions centered on each galaxy with a uniform physical
extraction radius of 38 kpc -- the largest radius completely
contained within the SIS field-of-view for all galaxies.
The background spectra  were obtained from source free regions
around each galaxy.

\section{Spectral Analysis and Results}

In order to utilize the  $\chi^2$ technique,
we rebinned the X-ray spectra to contain at least 20 counts
in each spectral bin, then simultaneously fitted the spectra
from the SIS0, SIS1, GIS2 and GIS3,
with a common normalization factor
but separate response functions for each detector,
using the XSPEC (version 8.50) spectral fitting package.

Awaki et al. \markcite{Awaki94} (1994) reported that
the SIS spectra of bright early type galaxies,
NGC4636, NGC4472 and NGC4406 exhibit emission lines
from highly ionized Fe, Si, and S atoms.
We further confirmed the presence of these emission lines
in the spectra of the additional bright galaxies
NGC4649, NGC499, NGC507 and NGC4374.
Therefore we inferred  that thin hot plasma emission is prevalent
in bright early type galaxies and, hence, attempted to fit the X-ray
spectra with a single temperature thermal plasma model
(Raymond \& Smith \markcite{RS77} 1977; hereafter RS model)
modified by interstellar absorption.
The free parameters were the plasma temperature,
metal abundance, photoelectric absorption column density,
and normalization.
The abundances are collectively varied keeping the relative ratio at
the solar value (Anders \& Grevesse \markcite{AG89} 1989).

This model, however, failed to reproduce the observed spectra except
that of NGC499.   From all galaxies,  systematic excess
emission is found above the 4 keV band.
A typical example, NGC4649, is shown in figure 1.
Thus we  found  the presence  of hard X-ray emission,
as previously reported in several individual galaxies
(Kim, Fabbiano \& Trinchieri \markcite{KFT92} 1992; Matsushita et al.
\markcite{Kyoko94} 1994),
to be a ubiquitous property of elliptical galaxies.
In figure 2 we compare the X-ray spectra of the two elliptical galaxies
NGC4636 and NGC4365;
although they have nearly identical optical blue luminosities,
the former is X-ray bright and  the latter is  X-ray faint.
   The difference in X-ray flux is confined to the soft X-ray band:
the X-ray spectrum of NGC4636  below 3 keV is
nearly two orders of magnitude brighter than that of NGC4365.
On the other hand,  the X-ray spectra above the 4keV band are
indistinguishable, as might be expected based on
the identical optical blue band magnitudes.
Thus we compared the X-ray spectra above the 4 keV band for
the entire sample,  and found no evidence of significant differences in
spectral shape, although the absolute fluxes vary
from galaxy to galaxy.
Accordingly, we  assumed a  thermal bremsstrahlung
model for the hard component to estimate the temperature variation
using the data above 4 keV.
Since the statistics are limited,  however,
we could only determine a lower limit on the temperature
of the bremsstrahlung model of  about 2 keV.
Since the GIS has higher sensitivity than the SIS
in the relevant high energy band,
we co-added all of the GIS spectra in our sample to improve
the statistical accuracy.
Figure 3 shows the composite GIS 2 and 3 spectra above the 4 keV band.
    We fitted  a  thermal bremsstrahlung model to
this  spectrum, and obtained an acceptable fit ($\chi^2/d.o.f.$ of
$22.36/31$) with the best-fit temperature $12.0 ^{+29.3}_{-5.5}$ keV
(hereafter, errors are 90 \% confidence unless otherwise stated).
  This composite spectrum is equally well  fitted
($\chi^2/d.o.f.$ of 22.83/31)
by a power law model
with photon index 1.8$\pm0.4$.
 Therefore, we cannot distinguish between the two possible origins --
thermal and non-thermal -- of the hard component
from the spectrum alone.
 However the  relevant physical parameters, such as the
X-ray luminosity ($L_X$) of the hard component, or
iron K-shell line flux  do not
significantly differ whether
we use thermal bremsstrahlung or power-law models.
Thus we assume the thermal-bremsstrahlung model for further discussion.

In order to estimate the strength of Fe K line emission,
we added a Gaussian line to the above model.
The best-fit temperature is slightly altered to $8.8^{+13.9}_{-3.7}$ keV,
with line center energy and equivalent width
of the Gaussian of $6.4^{+0.3}_{-0.4}$ keV and $220(<460)$ eV,
respectively.
Confidence contours of the line energy
and equivalent width at $\Delta\chi^2~=$ 2.71, 4.61
and 9.21 are plotted in Figure 4.
 Adding the line decreased $\chi^2$ from 22.36 to 18.50,
which is not statistically significant (Malina, Lampton \& Bowyer
\markcite{MLB76} 1976).
Therefore we can conclude that the composite hard component
spectrum requires no significant emission lines.

  Since the presence of both emission lines from
highly ionized heavy elements in the low energy band
and a hard X-ray tail at the high energy  band seem
to be common in the galaxies in our sample,
we fitted two-component models to all broad band spectra.
The models consist of a thermal bremsstrahlung component
with a fixed temperature of 12 keV
determined from the composite hard band spectrum,
plus a thin thermal model (RS model) for the soft band emission.
The column density of the hard component was constrained to
be the same as that of the RS model.
The free parameters were the temperature and metal abundance of the
RS model, the column density, and normalizations for both
the RS and bremsstrahlung models.
The best-fit parameters and  90\% confidence errors
are listed in Table 3.
We generally found reasonable fits with this unified model,
however two galaxies --  NGC4636 and NGC507 -- exhibit unacceptably
large values of $\chi^2$.
Although these two galaxies may require more complicated modeling
(NGC4636 was found to have both an abundance gradient and an
extra centrally concentrated cool component by Mushotzky et al.
\markcite{MLA94} 1994),
more detailed study of individual galaxies is beyond
the scope of this paper.
The best-fit RS abundances and temperatures are in excellent
agreement with those derived from {\it ROSAT} PSPC observations
(Davis \& White \markcite{DW96} 1996;
Kim \& Fabbiano \markcite{KF95} 1995),
except for NGC4472 where the {\it ASCA} parameters
are consistent only with the central PSPC parameters
(Forman et al. 1993 \markcite{FJD93}). Significant
excess absorption is required by the {\it ASCA},
but not the PSPC, spectra of NGC4472, NGC4406, and NGC4649.
This discrepancy is likely due either to remaining inaccuracies
in the {\it ASCA} low energy response,
or to the inadequacy of the simple foreground screen model
that we employ for the absorption.

Many authors have pointed out systematic differences
in the best-fit parameters between models using different
plasma emission codes.
We thus examined this possible systematic and model-dependent uncertainty
by comparing the RS and MEKA models (Mewe, R., Gronenschild, E.H.B.M.,
and van den Oord, G.H.J. \markcite{MGO85} 1985).
In figures 5a -- d, we show the correlation plots of best-fit parameters
between the RS and MEKA models: the column density (a), temperature (b),
metal abundance (c), and X-ray luminosity (d).
 The best-fit column densities are found to be consistent within the errors,
while best-fit temperatures in the  MEKA model are almost 20 \%
lower than the RS model.
 The metal abundances in the MEKA model generally have larger values
than the RS model, although the scatter in the correlation plot is large.
As for the luminosity, both models give essentially the same best-fit value.
 Thus we confirmed the existence of plasma model-dependent systematic
and non-systematic errors.
However these do not largely effect the following discussion,
hence we refer to the best-fit values using the RS model.

\section{Discussion}

\subsection{The Hard Component}

Figure 6 shows the relation between the X-ray luminosity ($L_X$)
of the hard component in the 0.5--4.5 keV band and
the blue band luminosity ($L_B$).
The uncertainties in $L_X$ of the hard component are
typically $\sim$30\%.
The solid line is the best-fit relation
between the blue luminosity and the 0.5--4.5 keV band luminosity
found for bulge-dominated  spiral galaxies
(Canizares et al. \markcite{CFT87} 1987).
We found that $L_X$ of the hard component is proportional to $L_B$,
and that the constant of proportionality is nearly the same as
found in spiral galaxies:  $L_X/L_B$ for the hard component
in early type galaxies is generally consistent with
that of bulge-dominated spiral galaxies like M31.
The excess  hard flux in the radio galaxies IC1459 and IC4296
probably can be explained by X-ray emission from AGN;
indeed our analysis of archival PSPC data from
IC1459 indicates the presence of an unresolved hard component.
Furthermore, we found that the composite {\it ASCA} GIS
spectrum above the 4keV band (Section 3) resembles the X-ray spectra of
bulge-dominated spiral galaxies which can be fitted with a thermal
bremsstrahlung model with $kT~^>_\sim~5$ keV (eg. Makishima et al.
\markcite{Max89} 1989).

These facts suggest that early type galaxies
contain a hard X-ray component attributable to
the same origin as X-rays in bulge-dominated spiral galaxies.
Since the X-ray emission from bulge-dominated spirals is thought
to arise from a population of low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXB),
we suspect that the primary hard component in early type galaxies
is also due to the integrated emission of an ensemble of LMXB.
Matsushita et al. \markcite{Kyoko94} (1994) came to the same conclusion
based on a more limited (5 galaxies) sample; they also discovered that
the hard component is generally extended which argues against an AGN power-law
origin for the hard component.
 With a larger galaxy sample than Matsushita et al. \markcite{Kyoko94}
(1994), we therefore confirm that both
the shape and relative magnitude of the hard component in
early type galaxies is consistent with that in
bulge-dominated spiral galaxies, strengthening
the suggestion that the hard X-ray component in early
type galaxies is due to LMXB.

  Although LMXB usually exhibit a weak 6.7 keV iron line,
we found no significant iron line in the early type galaxies.
The 90 \% confidence upper limit on
the equivalent width of the Fe K$\alpha$ line of 500 eV is too large
to place
any strong constraints on the LMXB scenario.

\subsection{The Soft Component}

Emission lines from highly ionized Fe, Si, and S are detected from
the 7 galaxies in our sample with the best statistics;
non-detection of emission lines for the other galaxies is consistent
with their having a lower signal-to-noise ratio.
The existence of these emission lines is direct evidence
for the prevalence of thin hot interstellar plasma
in bright early type galaxies.
We now discuss the nature of this plasma using our results,
as well as  referring to published  optical data.

\subsubsection{Correlation between $kT$ and $VEM$}

Because $L_X$ of the hard component is generally
proportional to $L_B$,
the large dispersion in the total $L_X$-$L_B$ diagram
(Canizares et al. \markcite{CFT87} 1987) is mainly due to
a spread in $L_X$ of the soft component.
This is illustrated
in figure 7 where
$L_X$ of the soft component is plotted versus $L_B$.
 Since, ignoring the mostly small variations in temperature,
$L_X$ of the soft component is  proportional to
the volume emission measure ($VEM$), and
\begin{displaymath}
VEM \equiv {\int}n_e n_p dV \sim M_{gas}^2/V
\end{displaymath}
, where $n_e$ and $n_p$ are the densities of electrons and protons,
respectively, and
$V$ and  $M_{gas}$ are, respectively, the volume and  mass of the hot gas,
the large dispersion in $L_X$ found in figure 7 indicates the presence of a
wide mass range of hot gas in early type galaxies.

Figure 8 is a plot of the volume emission measure ($VEM$) versus
the temperature of the hot gas.
For comparison, we show the data for clusters of galaxies
in the same figure with plus symbols (Hatsukade \markcite{Hatsu89} 1989).
The Spearman rank correlation coefficient between $VEM$ and temperature for
early type galaxies is estimated to be 0.43; therefore, we cannot conclude
that there is a strong correlation between
temperature and mass of the hot gas.
The line in the figure shows the best-fit relation for the cluster data.
 What is clear is the fact that most of our galaxy sample is
located well  below the cluster correlation line, and that $VEM$ drops
steeply with $kT$ from rich cluster all the way down to galaxy scales.
Since for
a constant gas mass as a fraction of gravitational mass
$VEM$ $\propto kT^{1.5}$, it is clear that
early type galaxies are far more gas poor than clusters.

\subsubsection{Heating Mechanism}

Figure 9 presents the relation between the stellar velocity dispersion and
the hot gas temperature.
The velocity dispersions of the galaxies in clusters are shown
with plus signs (Hatsukade \markcite{Hatsu89} 1989).
The solid line represents $\beta_{spec} = 1$, where
\begin{displaymath}
\beta_{spec} \equiv
\frac{\displaystyle \mu m_H \sigma^2}{\displaystyle  kT}
\end{displaymath}
, and $\mu$ , $m_H$, $\sigma$, $k$ and $T$ are
mean molecular weight (we assumed it to be 0.6), proton mass, stellar
(or galaxy) velocity dispersion, Boltzmann constant, and temperature,
respectively.
$\beta_{spec} = 1$
indicates that the thermal energy of the hot gas per unit mass
is equal to the stellar (or galactic) kinetic energy per unit mass.
The Spearman rank correlation coefficient for early type galaxies between
 $\sigma$ and temperature is estimated to be 0.54,
 which is not significant.
 Thus we cannot strongly conclude that
there is a positive correlation between
these two parameters which would indicate a correlation
between the depth of the gravitational potential and
the temperature of the hot gas as expected for equilibrium systems.
 However, all our sample galaxies show
higher temperatures than would be expected based on
the best-fit cluster sample correlation line; {\it i.e.}
$\beta_{spec}$ is less than 1
for all of the early type galaxies in our sample compared to
approximately 1 for clusters of galaxies.
In other words, the thermal energy of the hot gas per unit mass
is larger than the stellar kinetic energy per unit mass.

Figure 10 shows the relation between the velocity dispersion and
$\beta_{spec}$. The mean value of $\beta_{spec}$, weighted using
relative errors, is about 0.5.
If the stars and gas in early type galaxies are both
isothermal and in hydrostatic
equilibrium, $\rho_{gas}\propto \rho_{gal}^{\beta_{spec}}$,
where $\rho_{gas}$ and $\rho_{gal}$ are the densities
of hot gas and stars in the galaxy, respectively (eg. Sarazin
\markcite{Sarazin86} 1986).
Trinchieri et al. \markcite{TFC86} (1986) have found that
for bright early type galaxies,
the X-ray and optical surface brightness tend to follow each other.
Since the X-ray brightness profile traces
$\rho_{gas}^2$ and the optical profile traces $\rho_{gal}$,
this implies that $\beta_{spec}$ is about 0.5 (Fabbiano 1989
\markcite{Fabbiano89}),
consistent with our direct measurement of $\beta_{spec}$.
$\beta_{spec}=0.5$ is expected if cooling (proportional to
$\rho_{gas}^2$) is approximately
balanced by heating by stellar winds, gravitational compression in
an inflow, or Type Ia supernovae that all scale
as the local stellar density.

Assuming that the present-day
stellar mass loss rate is about $1.5 \times 10^{-11}~L_B
M_{\sun}/yr$ and has decreased with time as $t^{-1.3}$
(Ciotti et al. \markcite{CDP91} 1991), we see that the typical
mass of hot gas observed in early type galaxies
($10^{9-10}~M_{\sun}$) is much less than the total accumulated
over the Hubble time ($\sim 10^{11} M_{\sun}$).
This fact in conjunction with $\beta_{spec}=0.5$ and
the short cooling times of the hot gas in the central
regions ($\sim 10^6$ -- 10$^8$ yr; Fabbiano \markcite{Fabbiano89} 1989)
implies that either (1) there is some heating mechanism that
balances cooling and has driven much of the stellar mass loss out
of the galaxy, or (2) an inflow is occurring where the primary
heating mechanism is gravitational compression and
where there must be some sink for gas
cooling below X-ray emitting temperatures.

 One may argue that a plausible heating mechanism is
type Ia supernova explosions.
We consider a simple model where the energy of supernova explosions
is constant ($\sim 10^{51}$ erg) and the energy
deposited per unit gas mass uniform over the entire galaxy.
Let $k{\Delta}T$ be the ``excess temperature''
-- the difference between the temperature of the hot gas
and that corresponding to the stellar velocity dispersion,
\begin{displaymath}
k{\Delta}T \equiv kT_{{\rm hot~ gas}} - \mu m_H \sigma^2.
\end{displaymath}
Since we are considering emission from a
standard volume, the mass of the hot gas is proportional
to the square root of
$VEM$ (Section 4.1.1), and the supernova rate
thought to be proportional to $L_B$.
If heating by type Ia supernovae is important,
we would expect a negative correlation between $k{\Delta}T$ and
$VEM^{1/2}/L_B$ because the rise in gas temperature should be smaller
as the gas mass per supernova becomes larger.

Figure 11 shows the plot of $VEM^{1/2}/L_B$ vs. $k{\Delta}T$.
Since the Spearman rank correlation coefficient is 0.40,
we can conclude that there is no negative correlation.
This contradicts simple models where
the heating source is proportional to $L_B$
and the efficiency of heating is uniformly high,
but rather suggests that the efficiency of energy transfer
to the hot gas may increase as the gas mass per star becomes larger.
A negative correlation
between $VEM^{1/2}/L_B$ and Fe abundance would also be predicted by
a simple SNIa-dominated heating model
(see below), and is likewise not seen.

The importance of heating by type Ia
supernovae can generally be ruled out on the basis
of the observed constraints on the iron abundance, since each
explosion injects $\sim 0.7~M_{\sun}$ of Fe into
the hot gas. This means that increasing the gas
temperature by $\sim 0.5$ keV will enhance the Fe abundance
by $\sim 1$ in solar units. Even if we attribute all of the
Fe in the hot gas to supernova explosions -- an extreme
assumption considering the expected contribution from
stellar mass loss (Section 4.2.3) -- supernova heating cannot
explain the observed values of $k{\Delta}T$ in most of our sample.

\subsubsection{Metal Abundance}

Figure 12 shows the relation between the abundance and the temperature.
We can see no clear correlation between these parameters, although
the lowest metallicities are found in the galaxies with
the coolest ISM.
If we use the MEKA model, these conclusions are not essentially
altered.

For the galaxies whose metal abundances are well determined,
the abundances, without exception, are found to be less than half solar.
These values are considerably lower than theoretical expectations,
and those determined at optical wavelengths.
An abundance gradient (Mushotzky et al. \markcite{MLA94} 1994)
may partially account for the discrepancy between optical abundances,
which are determined in the central region of the galaxy,
and X-ray abundances measured over a region extending
to many effective radii.

Significantly sub-solar metallicities have also been observed
with {\it ASCA} in a variety of sources, including
stellar coronae (eg. Singh, Drake, \& White \markcite{SDW95}
1995), starburst galaxies (eg. Awaki et al. \markcite{Awaki95} 1995;
Tsuru et al. \markcite{TGT96} 1996),
and supernova remnants (SNRs) (eg. Hayashi et al. \markcite{Hayashi96} 1996).
We think it is worth noting that
some SNRs in the Large Magellanic Cloud sufficiently evolved
to sweep up large amounts of ISM exhibit X-ray spectra which closely
resemble those of early type galaxies
(Hayashi et al. \markcite{Hayashi96} 1996).
Improvements in our understanding of the processes of enrichment by
supernovae and stellar mass loss
may help solve the puzzle of low abundances if, for example,
the gas ejected from supernovae does not mix well into the ISM
and the gas which is overly dense and metal-rich cools and
drops out of the X-ray emitting hot gas
(Fujita, Fukumoto, \& Okoshi \markcite{FFO96} 1996).

Arimoto et al. \markcite{Ari96} (1996) suggest that low abundances
may be an artifact,
since the metal abundance is constrained by Fe L
emission lines around 1 keV for which the atomic physics parameters
are poorly known.
However, Hwang et al. \markcite{HML96} (1996) have found that,
for hot gas temperatures between 2 and 4 keV,
the abundance determined from Fe L and Fe K lines
is fairly consistent (with abundances determined
from the Fe L region actually slightly higher), and
any errors in the abundances due to atomic
physics uncertainties that exist in the current codes
are unlikely to exceed  30 -- 50 \%.
Therefore plasma model uncertainties may not explain
the low abundances, although the increasing complexity of
Fe L emission for temperatures below 1 keV imply
that more detailed analysis than lies within the scope of this paper
is needed to solve this problem. We note that the consistency of
Fe abundances derived independently over
a wide range of ionization states in stellar coronae
(eg. Drake \markcite{Drake96} 1996)
and the comparably low abundances inferred for ions
with more straightforward atomic parameters
(eg. Si; Ohashi et al. \markcite{Ohashi96b} 1996b)
implies that it is unlikely that the abundances derived
here are underestimated by large factors.

Weak constraints on oxygen abundances are
available only for the 3-brightest  early type galaxies
(NGC4472, NGC4406, and NGC4636); other galaxies have
insufficient signal-to-noise ratios.
The best fit oxygen abundances for the 3 galaxies we derive are
consistent with those found by Awaki et al.
\markcite{Awaki94} (1994), roughly
equal to the iron abundances.
The oxygen abundances are not determined to sufficient accuracy to
place significant constraints on the relative contributions of SNII
and SNIa to the heavy metal production in the observed galaxies.

\subsubsection{Interaction between ISM and ICM}

Our sample includes galaxies in both relatively dense and tenuous
intergalactic environments.
NGC4636, for example, is very far from the center
of the Virgo cluster and no nearby ICM X-ray emission is seen,
while NGC4472, the central galaxy of a
subgroup in the Virgo cluster, is surrounded by significant ICM X-ray
emission.
NGC720, at the center of the poor group LGG38
(Garcia \markcite{Gal93} 1993), on the other hand,
does not show effects from either ram pressure or tidal distortion, hence
is regarded as rather isolated
(Buote \& Canizares \markcite{BC96} 1996).

For all the correlations shown in figures 6 -- 12,
we see no systematic differences between the galaxies in dense
and tenuous gaseous environments.
This indicates that the interaction between the
ICM and ISM is not strong enough to manifest itself in our sample.
More comprehensive  investigations  of
such interactions require detailed study of spatial
variations in  X-ray spectral properties as in Iwasawa et al.
\markcite{IWF96} (1996) who have
found evidence for ram pressure stripping of the ISM in NGC4406, as well
as a larger sample spanning a wider range of environments.

\section{Conclusion}

We have presented results from the uniform analysis of the {\it ASCA}
spectra of 12 early type galaxies.
This is the largest such sample to date and, as summarized below,
we have uncovered new facts as well as confirmed previous
inferences based on much smaller samples.

\begin{enumerate}
\item

We found that the X-ray spectra from the 12 galaxies in our sample
generally consist of at least two components:
a soft component from X-ray emission of hot gas,
and a hard component that
can be characterized by either a thermal
bremsstrahlung model with $kT>5$ keV or a power-law model of
photon index 1.8.
The consistency of the strength and spectral shape of the hard component
with those in bulge-dominated spirals corroborates previous
suggestions that it
primarily originates as the integrated emission from X-ray binaries.
The hard component spectrum requires no significant Fe K line emission,
and the upper limit on the equivalent width of Fe K line emission
is 460 eV.

\item
We confirmed that the metal abundance of the hot gas is generally
less than 0.5 solar.
There is no clear correlation between the abundance and temperature
of the hot gas, however the lowest abundances are found in the
coolest galaxies.

\item
There is a large dispersion in the ratio of gas mass ({\it i.e.}
the X-ray luminosity of the soft component) to optical luminosity,
implying a wide variety of gas-dynamical histories.

\item
Theories of large-scale structure imply
that there is a continuum of dark matter halos spanning galaxy
and cluster scales. However, we have found that
early type galaxies fall well below
the constant gas mass fraction extension
of the hottest clusters in the $kT-VEM$ plane (VEM $\propto kT^{1.5}$),
and that the ratio of thermal to kinetic energy
per unit mass is, on average, twice that found for clusters of
galaxies.
This suggests that larger systems are generally more efficient
at retaining their hot gas and less efficient at converting
gas into stars. The interstellar media of elliptical galaxies
are not simply scaled down version of intracluster media, but
have been more profoundly effected by feedback from star formation
and other gas-dynamical processes.

\item
The low Fe abundances, as well as
the absence of a negative correlation between
the ``excess temperature'', defined as the difference between
the hot gas temperature and the temperature corresponding to the stellar
velocity dispersion,
and the ratio of the square root of the volume emission measure of
the hot gas to the blue band luminosity (an indicator of
the mass ratio of hot gas to stars) argue against
type Ia supernovae being an important heat source for the ISM.

\item
We found no systematic differences in the physical parameters of
the hot gas between galaxies in dense
and tenuous intracluster environments, although our ability
to test this is limited.
This indicates that interaction between the intracluster medium and
interstellar matter may not be strong.
\end{enumerate}

In short, {\it ASCA} analysis of early type galaxies
has yielded both expected
(a hard component with the same normalization as in spiral bulges) and
unexpected (low interstellar abundances) results.
The interrelationships and dispersion among the properties of the
hot gas component,
and their comparison with those in intracluster
media demonstrates the relative importance of astration, mass loss, and
gas-dynamics in determining the evolution of early type galaxies and their
ISM. Any complete theory of galaxy formation must explain
the observed trends and diversity of bound distributions of
hot gas on galaxy
and cluster scales.

\vspace*{1em}

\acknowledgements
We thank all of the members of the {\it ASCA} team and the launching staff of
the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


541380 541330 Administrative assistant, communications network engineer, 866-FLS-JOBS. RICHHARROLD@FLSOLUTIONS. NET. 561320, CLARKSVILLE, TN 37040-3607. JASMIN RIVERA-CHAMBERS. T: 931- 647-5384.
Clarksville, TN 37044 E-mail us: alumni@apsu.edu Phone us: (931) Clarksville. He was with Gateway Medical Associates previously. JAMES (JIMMY) McCALL ('95) Clarksville. He previously was assistant branch manager with Sun Trust Bank, Nashville.
Clarksville, Tennes see, (on appeal) , and Russe ll Church, Assistant District Pu blic Defender, Clarksville, Tennessee, (at trial and on appeal), emergency medical technicians arrived, they cut the bloody nightg own off the victim.
Clarksville, TN 37043 Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit 470 Clarksville, TN member of Jobs for Tennessee Graduates and current plan is to complete his present medical treatment in order to be healthy when entering the job market.
dental, vision insurance CLARKSVILLE Career Network P.O. Box 618305 ORLANDO 32861 http://webdevelopmentgroup.net/form.html?position=194905 ICCC Ref #:I1005251857083002. There are no jobs that is apparent with the receptionist job listing still being open.


Järvi Academy traditionally takes place in Tallinn and Pärnu where students are selected to work with several orchestras and to perform at the Pärnu Music Festival. Concerts are held at various locations, among others the Pärnu Concert Hall, famous for its acoustics. Järvi Academy collaborates closely with Pärnu Music Festival, offering a great opportunity for students to meet numerous colleagues, well-known international artists and members of the Estonian Festival Orchestra. The contact with professionals will be both formal and informal. During formal masterclasses students will benefit from professional expertize, such as interpretation, orchestration, self-management, psychology and more.
Järvi Summer Academy 2019 will take place from July 11 until July 21 in Tallinn and Pärnu. Application deadline - April 1, 2019!
If you would like to hear about the future Järvi Academy masterclasses fill this form.


For more details click here . . .
Weekly teaching, Scholarship and study support, Support to women self-help group, Medical camp, Backward caste certificate camp, Awareness campaigns, Cloth distribution, Village road-building.
Celebrating Diwali is a part of the students life at IIT-KGP. Students prepare for over a month for a competition which takes place on the day of Diwali for best Illumination (lighting lamps - Diyas) and Rangoli. This is an inter-hall competition and prize is awarded by Technology Students Gymkhana every year on the same day. Students exhibit extraordinary skills in conceptualizing, designing, execution and apllication of technological methods in this competition.


Caja Laboral claimed its first win of the 2012-2013 Turkish Airlines Euroleague with a road victory over EA7 Emporio Armani on Thursday night, downing the previously undefeated Italian side 85-95 in a key game in Group C. It was a closer contest than the scoreline suggests, featuring numerous lead changes and hot streaks by both teams. Back after a stomach virus sidelined him in Spanish league action over the the weekend, Nemanja Bjelica led Caja Laboral with 20 points and 9 rebounds and emerged when it mattered in the fourth quarter. Fernando San Emeterio added 18 points and 6 assists, while Maciej Lampe and Andres Nocioni netted 12 each. However the win came at a price: Nocioni was stretchered off in the third quarter with a neck injury. Iaoannis Bourousis led the way for Armani with 22 points and 11 rebounds, but fouled out to leave his team in trouble late on. Malik Hairston scored 19 and Keith Langford 13 in defeat.
Caja Laboral won the tip-off, but immediately had cause for concern. Nocioni slipped in the paint and was forced out of the action, replaced by San Emeterio. Hairston laid up the first points of the game, one minute in, with his shot immediately evened up by Caja Laboral's Lampe. Armani set the tempo and went about establishing a lead, but Laboral stuck with it and finally went in front, 7-8, before the halfway point in the first quarter. Things were back level after an Omar Cook triple for the home team, then a Lampe layup as the visitor's response. The game remained at 10-10 for over a minute, until Nemanja Bjelica was fed inside by an astounding pass from San Emeterio. Lampe upped the advantage to 10-15 with his first three-pointer of the night, matched by Armani's Langford from outside just seconds later. Nocioni was brought back in for Bjelica after shaking off his early over-stretch, and was just in time for a close view of Nicolo Meli's excellent triple. San Emeterio missed his first free throw of the season (his 10th attempt) and that error was the difference at the end of the first quarter: Armani led 19-18.
Armani went 22-18 ahead after Hairston and Melli exchanged passes, finding the former wide open for the three. Three consecutive layups from Bjelica brought Laboral back in a second quarter that was just as tight as the first. A three-point play after going coast-to-coast by Rok Stipcevic moved Armani ahead by 4, bolstered to 6 with Bourousis's put back. His second offensive rebound brought the score to 32-24, then Langford stretched it to 35-24. Bourousis found his groove with rebounds, free throws and a post-up inside –the Greek center emerging as the dominant player for Armani. Nocioni's spin move had Laboral within 4 points as it worked for a comeback, the Argentinian showing no ill-effects of his earlier awkward fall. His sharp free throw shooting, including 2 for an Antonis Fotsis technical foul, then a Bjelica three-pointer, gave a surprising lead for Laboral as it completed a 7-point turnaround to make it 42-43. Coach Sergio Scariolo called a timeout for Armani, Hairston found his way inside with just seconds remaining and got his team back in front. He drew the foul, missed the free throw and the game went into half time at 44-43.
Langford, one of the go-to-guys for Armani, opened the second half scoring with a drive down the lane, then Melli saw his layup drop as he got the foul. Two Hairston layups demonstrated the speed of the Italian offense, moving Armani further ahead of Laboral –who had Nocioni's sharpness from the line to thank for keeping the score close. Bourousis picked up three fouls in quick succession , just before an outstanding spin and reverse layup-plus-foul. Armani led 55-50 until Nocioni once again went to ground, this time off Hairston's third foul of the game. Nocioni was stretchered off after a long delay in play, to be assessed in the dressing room. Brad Oleson sank both of the resulting free throws, on as a replacement, and then put down a three-pointer to level things at 55-55. A bucket inside was his next trick, sandwiching Bourousis's 18th points of the contest. Cook's second great assist provided Richard Hendrix with an easy dunk inside for his first points. The tide swung in Armani's favor when Oleson fouled out, following Nocioni out of the game and leaving Laboral without both of its most influential players in the game. Beating the buzzer, Alessandro Gentile gave Armani an all-important lead, 66-65, to go into the final quarter ahead.
The lead changed hands again at the start of the fourth, courtesy of Carlos Cabezas's points from the free throw line. A Fotsis deep three once again had the home side in front, then Bjelica mirrored that as the scene was set for a quarter of big shots. Finally a side pulled ahead, and it was Caja Laboral when Bjelica nailed another three and San Emeterio sank a two to put the score at 71-77. Bjelica's dunk showed that he has inside game as well, Cabezas put in another two and suddenly Laboral had made it a 10-point game. Bjelica kept on answering the Armani offense as Laboral broke away, and the lead was still 7 points going into the final 30 seconds. Fouls conceded late kept sending the away side to the line, it hit its free throws and the game ended 85-95, giving a first win of 2012-13 to Caja Laboral.
"My teams have been always been good competitors and defenders. We showed tonight we have to improve a lot on our defensive attitude. We have to be ready to compete for all 40 minutes. After the technical foul on Fotsis, our concentration decreased and the momentum changed. Congratulations to them for their win."
"'I'm very happy and proud of my team win; we played a good game. It was very important to win after last week's defeat against Zalgiris at home. We know them very well after playing twice in the pre-season and I think our tough defense was in the end the key to winning."
"It was a great mistake to lose concentration in the last quarter; we forgot to box out and left them too many rebounds and also open three-pointers. Now we have to go to Kaunas, which is coming off two great performances and it won't be easy. To advance to the Top 16 in this group, we cannot lose another home game."
"We knew it would be a very difficult game, but also we knew it was very important for us to be back in the run for the Top 16. This now put us back on track, and I'm very happy for the team performance and also for my game. We showed character in the most difficult game so far."


text:
Medal "Za zdobycie Bazardżyka" (ros. Медаль «За взятие Базарджика») – rosyjskie odznaczenie wojskowe.

Historia
Odznaczenie zostało ustanowione ukazem cara Aleksandra I z dnia 13 czerwca 1810 roku dla nagrodzenia uczestników zdobycia w dniu 22 maja 1810 twierdzy tureckiej Pazardżik (obecnie Dobricz) w czasie wojny rosyjsko-tureckiej, należących do korpusu Siergieja Kamienskiego.

Zasady nadawania
Odznaczenie było nadawane żołnierzom, podoficerom i niższym oficerom, uczestniczącym w szturmie tureckiej twierdzy. Ogółem nagrodzono nim około 15 000 żołnierzy. Medalem tym nie nagradzano żołnierzy wyróżnionych za ten szturm orderem św. Jerzego kl. IV lub orderem św. Włodzimierza kl. IV ani wyższych oficerów i oficerów sztabowych, dla nagrodzenia których ustanowiono Krzyż za Zdobycie Bazardżyka.

Opis odznaki
Odznaką medalu jest okrągły krążek o średnicy 31 mm, wykonany ze srebra

Na awersie odznaczenia znajduje się popiersie Aleksandra I, bez insygniów carskich. Wokół krawędzi umieszczono napis w języku rosyjskim АЛЕКСАНДРЪ I ИМП. ВСЕРОСС. (pol. Aleksander I Imperator Wszechrosji).

Na rewersie odznaki znajduje się napis w języku rosyjskim ЗА ОТЛИЧЇЕ ПРИ ВЗЯТЇИ ПРИСТУПОМЪ БАЗАРДЖИКА 22 МАЇЯ 1810 Г. (pol. Za Zasługi w szturmie Bazardżik 22 maja 1810 r.).

Medal zawieszony był na wstążce orderowej Orderu św. Jerzego.

Uwagi

Przypisy

Bibliografia

Odznaczenia Imperium Rosyjskiego

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Comparing Tuples in SQL Is there any more convenient way to compare a tuple of data in T-SQL than doing something like this:
SELECT TOP 100 A, B
FROM MyTable
WHERE (A > @A OR (A = @A AND B > @B))
ORDER BY A, B

Basically I'm looking for rows with (A, B) > (@A, @B) (the same ordering as I have in the order by clause). I have cases where I have 3 fields, but it just gets even uglier then.

A: No. That's as simple as it gets. In fact, you can prove this is the simplest by drawing out a truth table. (Set 3 columns: A<@A, A=@A, and A>@A. Set 3 rows: B<@B, B=@B, B>@B.)
       A<@A | A=@A | A>@A
--------------------------
B<@B |  F   |  F   |  T
--------------------------
B=@B |  F   |  F   |  T
--------------------------
B>@B |  F   |  T   |  T

A: No, but you can combine the members of the tuple into something that is directly comparable. For example if A and B are both numbers between 0..99, add A*100+B and @A*100+@B and compare those. If they're both strings, pad with spaces to the maximum length and concatenate.
This is a nasty trick you can sometimes use to get yourself out of a hole, but otherwise it's best not used. For one thing it will defeat indexing, so you'll be doing a full table scan each query.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Last weekend my friend Mel and I boarded a super early flight to Orange County for Blog Sugar. It was great to see Erin's smiling face picking us up bright and early as we headed to Julie's, where we all (plus some other amazing women) stayed for the weekend.
Before Blog Sugar itself we had lots of girl time - shopping, fancy drinks, staying up into the wee hours of the morning talking about everything and nothing. Then the morning of Blog Sugar we got our hair professionally blown-out at The Drybar. Sipping a mimosa while someone washes, massages and blow dries my hair? I could get used to that!
One of my favorite parts of Blog Sugar was getting to hang out with real-life friends, and meet some of the women whose blogs I've been following for years!
Kristen, Nicole, Julie, myself, Erin and Alissa.
I was lucky enough to get to spend some time with Lindsey - we went shopping and to lunch on Saturday and she slept over at Julie's too. She is the sweetest!
Meg is amazing. If you read her blog you already knew that. If you don't read it, you should start now. She spent the weekend at Julie's too, so I was lucky enough to get to spend a lot of time with her. She's the best!
Us California girls taught this Kansas girl a new word - redonk. Short for ridonculous, obviously.
The Project 320 girls - Mel, myself, Julie (with baby Shane - he is delicious!) & Erin. We missed you Marta and Heather!
Blog Sugar was an amazing event, and I am already looking forward to next year's!!
Why don't I just hit you in the chin with the "redonk" sign? Good grief. I need to be more aware of other people's space.
It looks and sounds amazing from looking at everyone's blogs. I'm SO jealous but MORE happy for you that you went! :) I'm SO there next yr!
heather! i adore you! what a super fun, super fab weekend. you are so super stylish and super fun to hang out with! so glad i got to meet you in real life :) hurray!
looks like you had a blaaaast! love that you got to see nicki and kristen there - s ofun!
I'm SOOOOO excited we finally got to meet, and hug and chat and chat and hug some more! Love you lady. #donbeastranger Come back soon! Craft weekend?
Ahhh! You look GORG with your flowy hair! Love it. Love how modelish you are in all the pics.
I missed you all so much!!!
wow, that looks like the BEST weekend EVER! i am mucho, mucho, mucho jealous.
I heart you and I am so sad that the weekend is over. Lets rewind time. It went way too fast!!!!
heather it was wonderful meeting you in person!!


text:
New walk-through coronavirus testing centre takes over Bristol leisure centre
The site has opened at Hengrove Leisure in south Bristol, which is currently closed amid lockdown restrictions
Dave ShepherdDigital Editor
A new walk-through coronavirus testing centre has opened in Bristol.
People displaying symptoms can book appointments at Hengrove Leisure Car Park, as part of the Government's UK-wide drive to improve peoples' access to tests.
This site is only available for those with coronavirus symptoms – a high temperature, a new continuous cough, or a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste.
Anyone with one or more of these symptoms should book a test at nhs.uk/coronavirus or by calling 119.
The government is committed to continue expanding the capacity of the network of UK test sites and laboratories to make it even easier to get tested and reduce the time it takes to receive test results.
Baroness Dido Harding, interim executive chair of the National Institute for Health Protection, said: "Walk-through sites offer communities better access to coronavirus testing, so everyone with symptoms can get a test.
"This new site is part of our ongoing work to expand our testing network across the UK which now has the capacity to process more than 700,000 tests a day. We will continue to expand capacity to improve test turnaround times and push forward testing innovations to make sure anyone who needs a test can get one.
"Please book a test if you have coronavirus symptoms: a new continuous cough, a high temperature and a loss or change in sense of smell or taste, and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted."
The site is easily accessible without a car and those being tested will be required to follow public health measures, including social distancing, not travelling by taxi or public transport, practicing good personal hygiene and wearing a face covering throughout, including while travelling to and from the testing centre.
To get breaking news like this straight to your inbox, click here
Anyone attending an appointment at a walk-through test site will be provided with guidance on getting to and from the test site safely, with additional support for vulnerable groups and people with disabilities.
Testing at the new site started today (Tuesday, January 12) with appointments made available each day.
The site is part of the largest network of diagnostic testing facilities created in British history which has the capacity to process more than 700,000 tests a day and includes more than 750 sites across the UK, including 83 drive-through sites, 431 walk-through sites, six Lighthouse laboratories, home testing and satellite kits, and a large number of mobile units.
Anyone testing positive for the virus in England will be contacted by NHS Test and Trace to help them trace their contacts. This will help to identify who they may have been in close contact with, protecting others from further transmission.
Close contacts of those testing positive will also hear from NHS Test and Trace, asking them to stay at home for ten days to prevent them from unknowingly spreading the virus. They will be advised to also book a test if they develop symptoms.
Health Minister, Lord Bethell, said "To respond to the coronavirus, we have built a major testing and tracing system from scratch. We are constantly working to expand and improve it with new technologies and innovations so everyone with symptoms can get a test.
"New walk-in sites like this one makes it even easier to get a test no matter where you live. If you have symptoms of coronavirus, I urge you to book a test today and follow the advice of NHS Test and Trace if you are contacted to protect others and stop the spread of the virus."
Hengrove

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Kiwi lean startup + Australia next
Wrapping up a fabulous few weeks in New Zealand, where I had the privilege of attending some great events, like Kiwi Foo and Webstock; met some amazing entrepreneurs and inventors (yes, including a jet pack); and generally enjoyed a supportive and enthusiastic reception. I want to especially thank the dozens of Kiwis who acted as my guardians and escorts from place to place, even driving me around on the wrong side of the road
Every tourist will tell you that New Zealand is a beautiful country, and they are not kidding.
I would add that the people I met were extraordinarily welcoming, friendly, and humble. In fact, you have to learn to adjust to the humility. Quite a few Kiwis told me that they "didn't count" as entrepreneurs, even though they own their own business. Their supposed lack of ambition was belied by the many cool demos and startups I got to meet. If you're in Europe, for example, keep an eye out for the innovative YikeBike, a new kind of personal transport device. It was described to me as "what the Segway should have been." Overall, I came away from the experience optimistic about the potential of New Zealand to cultivate a significant startup hub. I look forward to seeing it happen. If anyone is interested, the Wellington Lean Startup Meetup is a good place to start.
Up next is an extremely brief stop in Australia. I'm particularly looking forward to inaugurating the Sydney Lean Startup meetup. We'll be kicking it off with an event featuring yours truly Monday March 1 at 6pm. If you're a Sydney entrepreneur, I hope you'll stop by. Last time I checked, there were still a few half-price tickets left. You can register here.
Most of the events I did here were private, so there aren't as many videos and slides available. For now, you'll have to make do with the slides from my keynote at Webstock:
2010 02 19 the lean startup - webstock 2010
View more presentations from Eric Ries.
Hopefully, video of that talk will be available soon. For a preview, you can check out this "backstage pass" interview, which was recorded at Kiwi Foo a few days before.
I also did a radio interview on Radio New Zealand's Nine to Noon program. You can hear me attempt to explain the ideas behind the lean startup to the general public in MP3 or Ogg.
Webstock generated a lot of follow-on commentary, including a number of reviews. For a good synopsis of my talk (and the other keynotes), check out . I also recorded an interview with them, which should be in the next issue of their extremely cool-looking print magazine. Other write-ups: NZ Herald, gianouts, Te Ara, Public Address, Bibliophile, BIB. Also, if you're an event organizer, check out some of the innovative ways the Webstock team encouraged attendees to interact with each other and with the speakers. Highlights for me were the Webstock Game and Webstock Bingo.
Last, if you didn't get a chance to see it, be sure to check out this video of the closing performance for Webstock (which was also an award show called the ONYAs). It was mind-expanding:
Labels: audio, events, slides
Why diversity matters (the meritocracy business)
Diversity is the canary in the coal mine for meritocracy. As entrepreneurs, more than any other industry, we're in the meritocracy business. The companies that make decisions based on merit, rather than title, politics, or hierarchy execute faster and learn faster than their competitors. For startups (and other innovators), that's a decisive advantage.
So when a team lacks diversity, that's a bad sign. What are the odds that the decisions that were made to create that team were really meritocratic? That's why I care a lot about diversity: not for its own sake, but because it is a source of strength for teams that have it, and a symptom of dysfunction for those that don't.
There's been a lot of hand-wringing about gender equity in the high-tech and entrepreneurship worlds lately. This is a good thing. (I want to especially recognize Vivek Wadhwa and Brad Feld for their leadership.) We have a lot of introspection to do. By any objective standard, we ought to be diverse. Our industries are young, so there hasn't been time yet to become encrusted with too many traditions that exclude outsiders. The work itself, especially in startups, depends primarily on intelligence, communication, creativity and empathy. Even the most radical Bell Curve -style thinkers have to concede that even if there are differences between men and women in the distribution of these traits on average, these curve have substantial overlap, and there should still be a lot more of them represented in high-tech startups.
For the record, I don't think such biological differences are one-sided in favor of men. In fact, recent research suggests just the opposite. Vivek Wadhwa and his team continue their excellent work investigating the true nature of entrepreneurship. Their recent article suggests that startups led by women are actually more successful, on average, than those led by men. This doesn't surprise me at all, and you don't have to support a biological determinism theory to see why. If women face structural barriers to becoming entrepreneurs, then those few who are able to overcome those barriers are probably exceptional to begin with. Or, maybe it is true that women make better entrepreneurs than men. Either way, we'll benefit if more women are welcomed into startups and other high-tech companies.
Diverse teams make better decisions than homogenous ones. I won't recap the academic research that underlies this assertion; for that, you should read James Surowecki's excellent Wisdom of Crowds. The most counter-intuitive part of this phenomenon, though, is that this diversity still improves outcomes even when the added opinions are less accurate than the previous consensus. The hypothesis, which makes sense to me based on the teams I've worked with, is that having someone with a wacky outlier-type experience causes everyone else to reexamine their own assumptions and find flaws in their own argument. So, even if you already know best, you'll still benefit from having others on your team to challenge you.
Diversity benefits men, too. One of the most pernicious effects of groupthink is the sense of entitlement it breeds. Teams that are complacent are less likely to challenge their own assumptions, less likely to listen to feedback and, therefore, less likely to learn. This is especially important across functional lines. I've seen many times what happens when a single department get's holed-up in its own space, like the terrifying "operations cave." Outsiders are afraid to enter, let alone make a suggestion. The safety of the group becomes an impediment to dealing with reality. Problems are easily dismissed as PEBKAC ("Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair") rather than as opportunities for root cause analysis. Engineers are offenders in this category too, but so is any gender-segregated activity, like an all-female PR or marketing team.
Diversity is not the only requirement for making good group decisions. Two others – that each team member give their input independently and that the results be objectively aggregated – are also key parts of building a meritocracy. To be clear, though, this diversity refers only to diversity of opinion, not necessarily to demographic diversity. So why is demographic diversity important?
Demographic diversity is an indicator. It's a reasonable inference that a group that is homogeneous in appearance was probably chosen by a biased selector. Even if men have an innate advantage at software development, the gap would have to be massive in order to explain why startup after startup has an all-male team.
Another explanation is that of compounding effects throughout the "pipeline" of candidates. In school, women are discouraged from pursuing math and science. Smart women are often stigmatized. Teachers aren't encouraging. Women are paid less than men. And sexism is surely implicated in many career decisions. These effects compound, becoming larger over time. But this can't possibly be the whole story. If it were, entrepreneurship would have a much larger proportion of women at every level compare to other industries – because tech entrepreneurs are younger than successful people in most other fields. There's much less of a career ladder to climb, and therefore less time for these compounding effects to add up.
Plus, technical skills are easily learned – in my experience – by anyone with sufficient IQ and determination. I have personally taught many "non-technical" people to program – graphic designers, QA folks, even artists and animators. When those people have the chance to contribute in a meritocratic environment, they have many opportunities to learn and grow. So why aren't more women finding themselves in the position to get started on their 10,000 hours?
With identity issues, there is no dichotomy between symbolic action and substantive action, thanks to a human tendency known as priming. In psychology research, when subjects are simply reminded of some aspect of their identity, and then measured performing a task, the pre-task activity "primes" their brain in ways that affects their performance. If the priming involves a negative stereotype, it has negative effects. So, for example, asking men and women about their gender before giving them a math test produces a significantly different result than asking other innocuous questions. (See this study among many others: http://www.nyu.edu/nyutoday/article/430)
Even the fact that a startup is all-male can make it less likely that a women would want to join. Even worse, it might even affect her performance in an interview. And just solving the gender imbalance might not be helpful, if the solution involves yet more negative stereotypes. Which is why affirmative action doesn't help. A company with an all-female support staff sends, in some ways, an even worse signal.
Understanding these problems can make the solutions seem intractable. After all, if you already have an all-male startup, you're already at a disadvantage when it comes to hiring the very women that could fix that imbalance. But priming cuts both ways: when we go out of our way to affirm meritocracy, it actually improves everyone's performance. In fact, explicitly making meritocracy a value is actually better than rejecting stereotypes – by calling attention to the stereotype, you're still engaging in priming.
Instead of focusing on programs designed to specifically benefit any one group, I think our focus should be on making our companies as meritocratic as possible. I want to start with the easiest suggestion I can think of, one that I've personally used with great success. I first tried it as an experiment after reading in Blink that after symphony orchestras instituted blind auditions (where conductors can't see who is actually playing), gender equality soon followed. In the US, women's participation went from about 5% to 50% over the course of two decades. What's notable about this change is that it has nothing to do with gender per se, and probably also eliminated many other forms of unconscious bias.
Now, whenever I screen resumes, I ask the recruiter to black out any demographic information from the resume itself: name, age, gender, country of origin. The first time I did this experiment, I felt a strange feeling of vertigo while reading the resume. "Who is this guy?" I had a hard time forming a visual image, which made it harder to try and compare each candidate to the successful people I'd worked with in the past. It was an uncomfortable feeling, which instantly revealed just how much I'd been relying on surface qualities when screening resumes before – even when I thought I was being 100% meritocratic. And, much to my surprise (and embarrassment), the kinds of people I started phone-screening changed immediately.
And yet, when I suggest this practice to hiring managers and recruiters alike, they rarely do it. Hiring managers say, "the recruiter would never go for it" while recruiters say, "the hiring manager won't accept it." What I think we're really saying is: "I don't want to know if I am biased." That's understandable - it's embarrassing! Even if our biases are only implicit and not consciously held, the systems we build can still contain bias. When we change a hiring policy, especially if we do it in a visible way, we reap two benefits. We actually improve our hiring process and also signal our commitment to meritocracy.
Now, I don't know how to conduct blind interviews for startup or high-tech jobs. If I did, I would try it in a heartbeat. But even after the initial resume screen, I think there are things we can do to ensure our decision process is merit-based. I've covered these in some detail in two previous posts: one on Assessing fit and one on conducting a technical interview. In short, it's essential to keep the interview focused on the substance of the work the candidate will be asked to do, and not on gotcha or brain-teaser questions. Then, in the evaluation process, it's essential that the discussion focus only on pertinent aspects of the candidate's performance, again obeying the three rules of group decision-making: diversity, independence, and objective aggregation.
One last suggestion, which is a technique I learned from my IMVU co-founder Will Harvey. When it's possible, I always believe in giving a promising candidate who interviewed poorly a chance to demonstrate their skills with a real application exercise. At my last company, for programming jobs, we'd give some candidates a chance to prove themselves by writing a real working program in just a day or two (usually, to write a version of Tetris from scratch). We'd do the evaluations of that code blind – without the person in the room. In some cases, we'd dramatically revise an opinion formed during our live interview. The work product is a more realistic test, although it requires much more work on the part of the candidate.
Beyond hiring, our actual work process matters, too. I already advocate cross-functional teams as part of the lean startup methodology. Here I will only touch on one of their benefits, which is the opportunity for people to learn new skills. When teams are capacity constrained, their natural inclination is to let work pile up. This leads to a loss of quality and an increase in cycle time, both of which are negative. For more on this subject, take a look at The product manager's lament. Suffice to say that when teams are left on their own to innovate, they take on a "whatever it takes" attitude. This often leads to people discovering new skills they didn't know they had.
By itself, that's a pretty minor impact. But combined with a true merit-based decision making process, it becomes much bigger. If teams are rewarded for the results they achieve, and ideas can come from anywhere on the team, there's a positive feedback loop available for people who are willing to learn: as they take on new skills, they become more successful at their job. Contrast that with a traditional siloed department. If you only get promoted for getting better at design, you're unlikely to get positive reinforcement for picking up some programming skills (and vice-versa). And when people who started out as designers or marketers (or other supposedly "soft" disciplines) have the opportunity to learn programming, we effectively create new pathways to entrepreneurship that bypass the traditional pipeline problems. And, like everything else I've discussed, this also cuts both ways: programmers who learn design skills are much more likely to become successful entrepreneurs, too. I'll let Dave McClure explain why, if you'd like the detailed argument.
There's a lot more we can do than just these ideas. All the usual ideas are good ones: I support inviting more women to speak at conferences, the creation of women-centric networking events like Women 2.0 and Girls in Tech, reforming the way we teach math and science in public schools, adopting more family-friendly public policy, the creation of TiE-like organizations. And, of course, the Startup Visa will be a tremendous help as well. None of these are impossible. Last year, I traveled to dozens of cities talking about lean startups and meeting people interested in entrepreneurship. Almost everywhere, I spoke to rooms full of (mostly) men. There was one notable exception: Sweden. It's not a coincidence; rather, it's the result of proactive public policy. (And, before we get to that old tired argument: no, I do not believe you need to become a socialist country in order to achieve those results. I haven't seen any evidence to support that assertion, although I hear it all the time.)
I think we could all do some serious thinking about how we can be part of the solution in our own lives. I've been in many rooms – and at countless events – with entrepreneurs and VC's that I think would make women uncomfortable. The sexual jokes, the crude comments, even just the usual "success theater" chest thumping – all that macho BS. Personally, I have a moral objection to that behavior. But I recognize that there are plenty of people who disagree (and I'd welcome a chance to hear why they think it's OK; I honestly don't get it). We still shouldn't tolerate it. We laugh at people who think software patents are awesome, or want to give the RIAA more power, or think big companies should have a veto power over new technologies that are "too disruptive." Those are all positions that are coherent, understandable, and anti-meritocratic. We need to recognize that supporting a homogeneous status quo is just as dumb, and just as bad for our industry.
After all, we're in the meritocracy business.
Update: Some of the commenters both here and over at Hacker News seem to be struggling with the math part of the argument, which is that even if there are biological differences in ability, they are not large enough to explain the observed outcome. I'm not much of a statistician, so I am indebted to @hypatiadotca who shared this excellent and brief presentation by Terri Oda. It is so much better than my own attempts to argue the point that I am including it here. Enjoy:
How does biology explain the low numbers of women in computer science? Hint: it doesn't.
Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Review)
The next article in my series on entrepreneurship for Harvard Business Review is live today. Once again, we revisit the topic of Actionable metrics and their nemesis: Vanity metrics. Any entrepreneur with a decent reality distortion field can find metrics that make it look like they're being successful. This "success theater" is occasionally useful for PR or getting through a tough board meeting. But it's lethal when we start to run the company using vanity metrics as a guide. But how do we know which metrics to look at? How do we know how much energy to invest in analytics vs. doing real work? And how do we get the whole team to take action that benefits real people when all they're looking at is abstract numbers on a screen? Remember "metrics are people, too." For more, read on...
Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review:
The idea is simple. Establish baseline metrics by building the minimum viable product — the minimum required to measure the response of early adopters. Then, in each development cycle, use the insights gained by studying customers to make improvements. This is the source of validated learning — proof that the customer insights translate into tangible metrics improvements.
But this leaves a very difficult problem still to be solved: How do we know that these changes are what actually effect change in the metrics that we're observing?
This is the curse of vanity metrics, numbers which look good on paper but aren't action oriented: website hits, message volume, or 'billions and billions served.' They look great in a press release, but what do they accomplish?
Consider a scenario where a team makes a product change, and the very next month page views go up. As humans, we're hard-wired to infer causality from correlation: when the numbers go up, we tend to take credit. But when the numbers go down, we tend to blame someone or something else. Worse yet, different team members tend to attribute positive changes to whatever project they were working on at the time (but not negative changes, of course). As a result, different parts of the team are constantly "learning" in their own private reality. When those teams face difficult choices, it's incredibly hard for them to come together and make an informed, fact-based decision.
To avoid falling into this trap, I recommend you follow the three A's of metrics. All metrics should be actionable, accessible, and auditable...
Read the rest of Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics at The Conversation on Harvard Business Review. Don't forget to leave a comment.
Tell your Startup Visa story
I've been promising big Startup Visa-related news on Twitter for a few weeks. There is news, it's very exciting, and I still can't share it. Soon, I promise. But in order for this idea to progress into legislation, we need your help. Whether you're a US citizen or an immigrant, entrepreneur or investor, founder or employee, there's something you can do. This is especially true if you live outside the echo chamber of Silicon Valley. There are four ways to get involved below. Even if none apply to you, see if you know someone who could help. Thanks!
If you are an immigrant founder who has helped build a company that has created jobs in the US, we need you to tell your story. If we receive your story by February 27th, it will become part of our Geeks on a Plane DC delegation (including me) talking to lawmakers. We've created a place where you can tell your Startup Visa story anonymously if you'd like. Or, if you'd prefer to do it by video, you can upload to YouTube - just use the "startup visa" tag.
If you're a startup investor, and you support the goals of the Startup Visa proposal, we'd like you lend your name to our efforts. You can read about the latest iteration of the proposal at StartupVisa.com. If you're willing to publicly sign on to a letter of support, please get in touch. If you'd be willing to talk to the press about your support, please leave a comment here as well.
If you are a US citizen that is employed at a company with at least one immigrant founder, we'd love to hear your stories, too. Part of our belief in advancing this legislation is that more startup founders means more jobs and economic growth for everyone. The fact of Americans standing up for our values - of openness, meritocracy, and entrepreneurship - is especially powerful.
If you're registered to vote in the United States, and you'd like your elected representatives to know that you support the Startup Visa, you can register your support in just two minutes at http://2gov.org/visa. Although signing up is about as much work as a tweet, the impact is much larger. 2gov does the work to produce hard-copy reports of constituent sentiment and delivers them to the appropriate officials. So by signing up, you're sending a message directly to the decision-makers who depend on your votes for their jobs.
I hope you'll choose one of the steps above to help out. If you have other ideas, please feel free to leave them in a comment.
I know that sometimes campaigns like this can seem overwhelming. But your support has already had tremendous impact. The good news I hope we'll get to announce in a few days is the direct result of the twitter campaign you helped launch last year. At some point, I hope I'll be able to tell you more. For now, take my word for it. You are making this happen. Thank you.
Labels: startup visa
Speaking 2010: Webstock, GDC, Web 2.0, and more
I've been trying hard to cut back on travel in 2010 so as to have more time for writing. I started to feel like my blog became too much of a travel diary last year - and I still have many videos and presentations from last fall that I haven't shared yet. If you'd like to see me speak this year, there are only a few opportunities scheduled.
Next week, I'll be in New Zealand for Webstock 2010. I'll be giving a day-long workshop as well as a keynote address.They've got a great programme; my workshop will be on Monday, February 15 and my keynote will be Friday, February 19. I'll also be stopping by Kiwi Foo. If you're at either event, please do come say hello.
In March, I'll be speaking at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Since we'll have a game-oriented crowd, I'll be talking more about my "virtual worlds" background than I normally do. I often get asked how lean startup ideas can work for the video game industry - which is, of course, where I originally started working on them. The talk itself will be Tuesday, March 9 at 11:15am.
In April, stay tuned for word on the Startup Lessons Learned Conference, which will also be held in San Francisco. Rather than make a premature announcement, I'll invite you to take the survey and help us make the event better.
In May, I'll be giving a keynote address at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. I'm especially excited about this, because last year's Expo was the very first time I'd given the lean startup presentation to a large audience. The enthusiastic reception that day was part of what gave me the confidence to leap into this job full-time. I'm quite grateful to everyone who attended, and to the organizers who made it possible.
This year, lean startups will be a big part of the Web 2.0 Expo. In addition to my keynote, Steve Blank will be speaking. There's also a one-day Lean Startup Intensive on the first day of the conference (May 3). This will be a kind of "lean startup all-stars" event featuring a number of speakers and panels. Watch this blog for details. You can register for the intensive here. Thanks to the support of TechWeb, we'll be organizing a scholarship program for this event (stay tuned). Last, there are five large-scale sponsorship spots open for the event. If you've ever wanted to be a sponsor of a big event like the Web 2.0 Expo, but don't want to have your logo lost in the sea of sponsors, perhaps this would be a good choice. To get more info about sponsorship, you can contact Susan Young.
And, if you can't make it to any events this year, you can still catch the video. For example, here's the video of my talk last month at Twiistup in Los Angeles (slides are posted here):
I try to post event-related updates to Twitter, but if you want to subscribe to my event-specific plans directly, I'm trying Plancast (a new startup founded by a friend). You can subscribe to my plans here. Last, for those who are following the Startup Visa movement, we're planning a trip to DC in early March. If you'd like to participate, you can subscribe for updates on our Plancast page.
Labels: events, video
Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Rev...
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Sheriff James A. McVicker said members of the Narcotics Unit conducted undercover operations in the Lisbon, White Oak, and Elizabethtown areas of the county that resulted in the arrest of three individuals.
Sheriff McVicker said he is proud of the work of the Unit but take even more pride in the fact that citizens are coming forward with information knowing something will be done.
Arrested in the Cain's Grill area of White Oak was Walter Matthew Owens Jr., 35, of 274 John Owens Road, White Oak. Owens was charged with one count of Sell/Deliver Schedule II Controlled Substances (prescription medication), one count of Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Sell/Deliver Schedule II and one count of Manufacturing Schedule II Controlled Substances. During his arrest he was found to be in possession of additional Oxycodone. He was also charged with one count of Possession of Schedule II Controlled Substance and one count of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. His bond was set at $15,500.00.
Arrested in the Lisbon area of the county was Grant Eugene McKoy, 35, of 451 Vause Road, Clarkton. McKoy was charged with one count Sell/Deliver Cocaine, one count of Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Sell/Deliver Cocaine, one count of Manufacturing Cocaine, and one count of Possession of Cocaine. McKoy received a bond of $175,000.00 for these charges.
The Sheriff's office worked in conjunction with the United States Marshals Service and the United States Probation and Parole throughout this case. McKoy is also being held under no bond on federal charges stemming from Possession with Intent to Manufacture/Sell/Deliver Marijuana.


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What to make of Khartoum's conspicuous use of chemical weapons, most recently against civilians in Jebel Marra Darfur? This is not a new question
29 September 2016 | Selected Blog Entries | Author: ereeves | 1428 words
Amnesty International has provided us with the use of chemical weapons by the Khartoum regime in its 2016 military offensive in Jebel Marra; those affected were overwhelmingly civilians, including children, who often died as a consequence of the chemical agents used.
"Scorched Earth, Poisoned Air: Sudanese Government Forces Ravage Jebel Marra, Darfur," Amnesty International (109 pages; released September 29, 2016)
Amnesty caption from September 2016 report:
This victim has large areas of dark red skin and in some areas the outer layer of skin has sloughed off. These areas are adjacent to areas of unaffected skin. The pink mottling in some of the dark areas may be a current wound or may be scars. The victim's wounds were described as itchy, so some of the pink mottling could also be due to scratching resulting in removal of dead skin. Additionally, many causes of extreme trauma to the skin, such as exposure to high concentrations of a chemical warfare blister agent like sulphur mustard, can lead to skin sloughing. Some subtle aspects of the sloughing seen here may be atypical of blister agent exposure and indicate that exposure to other chemicals or a combination of chemicals could be responsible.
But a report from 2000 by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (Switzerland) should long ago have prompted action by signatories to the Chemical Weapons Convention. In its preface to a February 2000 study ("Living under aerial bombardments: Report of an investigation in the Province of Equatoria, Southern Sudan"), MSF-Switzerland reported that:
Since the beginning of the year 1999 until this very moment, we have been experiencing and witnessing direct aerial bombings of the hospital, while full of patients, and of the living compound of our medical team (10 bombings in 1999, a total of 66 bombs dropped, with 13 hitting the hospital premises). Facing the sharp increase of aerial bombardments in this region during 1999, frequently aimed at civilian structures such as hospitals, in November 1999, we requested an investigation of these events and their consequences for the civilian population in the area.
The elements of this investigation, included in the report herewith, tend to demonstrate that the strategy used by the Sudanese Air Force in this region, is deliberately aimed at targeting civilian structures, causing indiscriminate deaths and injuries, and contributes to a climate of terror among the civilian population. Furthermore, evidence has been found and serious allegations have been made that weapons of internationally prohibited nature are regularly employed against the civilian population such as cluster bombs and bombs with 'chemical contents.' (emphasis added)
The use of chemical weapons by Khartoum has never been properly investigated by the UN; nor has the international community pushed effectively for such investigation. Despite very strong prima facie evidence that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) had engaged in chemical warfare on a number of occasions, a decade after the end of the Iraqi Anfal the international community again showed no interest in investigating:
MSF is particularly worried about the use or alleged use of prohibited weapons (such as cluster bombs and chemical bombs) that have indiscriminate effect (emphasis added). The allegations regarding the use of chemical bombs started on 23 July 1999, when the villages of Lainya and Loka (Yei County) were bombed with chemical products. In a reaction to this event, a group of non-governmental organizations had taken samples on the 30th of July, and on the 7th of August; the United Nations did the same.
Although the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is competent and empowered to carry out such an 'investigation of alleged use,' it needs an official request made by another State Party. To date, we deplore that OPCW has not received any official request from any State Party to investigate, and that since the UN samples taking, no public statement has been made concerning these samples nor the results of the laboratory tests. (emphasis added)
MSF offers several eyewitness accounts of chemical weapons in bombs, including a grim narrative of events in Yei County (now Central Equatoria):
The increase of the bombings on the civilian population and civilian targets in 1999 was accompanied by the use of cluster bombs and weapons containing chemical products. On 23 July 1999, the towns of Lainya and Loka (Yei County) were bombed with chemical products. At the time of this bombing, the usual subsequent results (i.e. shrapnel, destruction to the immediate environment, impact, etc.) did not take place. [Rather], the aftermath of this bombing resulted in a nauseating, thick cloud of smoke, and later symptoms such as children and adults vomiting blood and pregnant women having miscarriages were reported…
These symptoms of the victims leave no doubt as to the nature of the weapons used. Two field staff of the World Food Program (WFP) who went back to Lainya, three days after the bombing, had to be evacuated on the 27th of July. They were suffering of nausea, vomiting, eye and skin burns, loss of balance and headaches.
After this incident, the WFP interrupted its operations in the area, and most of the humanitarian organizations that are members of the Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) had to suspend their activities after the UN had declared the area to be dangerous for its personnel. (emphasis added)
There have been repeated reports of chemical weapons use after 1999; not one has been investigated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which requires a demand for investigation from a state signatory. OPCW notes
A unique feature of the CWC is its incorporation of the "challenge inspection," whereby any State Party in doubt about another State Party's compliance can request the Director-General to send an inspection team. Under the CWC's "challenge inspection" procedure, States Parties have committed themselves to the principle of "any time, anywhere" inspections with no right of refusal. (emphasis added)
In the body of the report, MSF—which had been working in eastern Equatoria since 1997—finds that their teams have:
…several times been victims and witnesses of these bombings that are only aimed at the civilian population and civilian targets. Hospitals and schools in particular, are deliberately chosen as targets.
The hospital in Yei town—run by the nongovernmental Norwegian People's Aid and marked with a large and conspicuous red cross on its roof—was also a particular target of Antonov bombing attacks in 1999. Yei was bombed on 15 different occasions during the year, and a total of 138 bombs were dropped. Ten people were known to have been killed, more were wounded, a number of civilian houses were destroyed, the hospital infrastructure was seriously damaged, and the facilities of two other humanitarian organizations were destroyed or damaged (the UN water facility was targeted in one of these attacks).
It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the international community would simply rather not investigate allegations of chemical weapons attacks in Sudan, despite the intensity of focus on ascertaining the use of chemical weapons in the war in Syria and the overheated rhetoric indulged in by Secretary of State John Kerry. We may rightly wonder what Kerry's response will be to the overwhelming evidence of chemical weapons use by Khartoum. For the present callous moves toward rapprochement with the Khartoum regime by Obama administration and Europe may be differently motivated, but in concert they have the inevitable effect of encouraging Khartoum to believe that it may use genocidal counter-insurgency tactics of any kind in completing the military subjection of Darfur.
The use of chemical weapons is the most extreme example of Khartoum's sense of impunity—an impunity it has come to depend upon in conducting its barbaric domestic military campaigns, orchestrating vast human rights abuses and a wide range of repressive measures, and supporting radical Islamists (for example, Libya Dawn in Libya). In this context let's recall here that in August 2013 the Obama administration's Secretary of State, John Kerry, referred to the use of chemical weapons in Syria as a "moral obscenity." Given his dismal record of expediency on Sudan and South Sudan, it seems unlikely that we will be hearing similar words from the chief U.S. diplomat on this occasion.
For so long as the Europeans are more interested in stanching the flow of refugees from Africa to continental Europe, and so long as the governing interest in the bilateral relationship between Washington and Khartoum hinges on the putative "counter-terrorism intelligence" the regime provides, we may expect to see more egregious violations of international law of the sort Amnesty International has chronicled so authoritatively.


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FORMER Runrig frontman to play local theatre
FORMER Runrig frontman Donnie Munro is coming to Eastwood Park Theatre. The Scottish singer will bring his successful acoustic show to the stage next month. Since leaving Runrig, Munro has enjoyed considerable further success as a solo artist and writer.
Now with his latest show, he revisiting a wide range of material spanning both his Runrig career and his years with his own band.
This acoustic project has already been a major sell-out success in Denmark and now Munro is bringing the hit performance closer to home.
He will be joined on stage by guitarist Eric Cloughley, who has worked as engineer on a series of the singer's recent studio albums.
Munro said of his new acoustic show: "Coming at the material from an acoustic perspective has been really exciting.
"It just leads to a different way of looking at the songs - everything is much more exposed and leads to a more intimate and direct delivery and engagement with the audience." Tickets for the show, on Thursday 14 March, cost �17, concession �15. It starts at 7pm.
To book, see the theatre's website at www.eastwoodparktheatre.co.uk, call the box office on 0141 577 4956 or visit in person.