Dust mites are found in indoor dust mites in the biological classification system, belonging to Acari wheat food mites of the family. Dust mites include dust mites, house dust mite and buried within the Yu-storage mites and dust mites, it is difficult to see dust mites with the naked eye. Because they are commonly found in human settlements in the dust, can cause many allergic reactions such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, allergic skin disease, so to get increasing attention.
A basic overview of dust mites dust mites belonging to the taxonomic spider-shaped nets of small arthropods, about more than more than more than 50,000, its shaped like a spider has 8 legs, tiny individuals, only 170-500 m long, the human eye is not easy to find, generally using a magnifying glass or microscope to see. Humans have mites, allergies are only a few, such as house dust mites, dermatophagoides farinae, He Yu, such as dust mites. Dust mites are widely distributed. House dust mites breed mainly in bedroom pillows, mattress, cushions and furniture. Dust mites also in flour mills, cotton mills and food warehouses, Chinese medicine stores thrive on the ground. Dust mites is a NIE-feeding mite, feeds on powder materials, such as animal dander, flour, cottonseed meal, and fungi. Diseases caused by dust mite allergy, there is no perfect treatment for can normally be used for desensitization of dust mite extract injections, make the body immune tolerance, so as to alleviate the symptoms and diseases of curative effect in 70%.
Bronchial asthma induced by ventral surface of dust mites dust mites are important allergens. Years numerous studies have confirmed that dust mite allergen and bronchial asthma is closely related New Zealand a in asthmatic children for 13 years of follow-up investigations confirmed dust mite sensitized as an independent risk factor affects the incidence of asthma, over the years, United States 3 investigations have confirmed the house dust mite and cat hair and cockroaches are important predisposing factors of bronchial asthma induced by. Or acute or slow onset, asthma in infants and young children often have 1-2 days before the upper respiratory allergy symptoms, including nasal itching and sneezing, watery discharge flow, rub your eyes, rubbing his nose, coughing, wheezing and gradually appear. Older children tend to be all of a sudden, often starting with coughing, then experience wheezing, difficulty breathing, and so on.
Dust mites with worldwide distribution and a very wide, all countries have dust mites, so it was noted that dust mites allergic asthma is the most common clinical asthma all over the world. Since 1987, has convened several times about dust mites allergy International Symposium on the relationship between bronchial asthma and reported extensively about dust mite allergy-induced asthma basic and clinical advances, to combat the disease with a lot of theory and practice of preventive measures. Bronchial asthma of incidence and mortality is yearly increased, its reasons is not completely clear, but has a items striking of research results caused has asthma learn home are of attention, that in bronchial asthma of occurred rate and mortality special high of two a area (New Guinea of Papua and New Zealand of Auckland area) of indoor dust mites of density obviously above other area, and found this 2 a area of bronchial asthma onset and contact dust mites allergy has close relationship, The study reminded the people to pay more attention to dust mite allergy and bronchial asthma.
Common clinical manifestations of dust mite allergy asthma and allergic rhinitis.
1, dust mite-induced asthma are inhaled asthma, beginning at an early age, with a history of eczema, or both with a history of chronic bronchitis. Suddenly, the characteristics of recurrent symptoms, chest tightness, dyspnea, not prostrate, expiratory dyspnea, severe hypoxic lip posture and finger tip appear cyanotic. Each attack is often severe symptoms and continued for a short time, and then suddenly disappear. Good spring, associated with the increase in the number of dust mites in the environment. Seizures in sleep or in the morning.
2 once the contact allergen, allergic rhinitis can be sudden onset, duration and the amount of contact time and related symptoms disappear too fast. Characterized by nasal congestion, nasal itching, continuous sneezing snot and plenty of water. With more Eosinophilic cells in the nose. Check visible pale nasal mucosa edema.
Sheets, pillowcases, blankets, mattress covers each week is equal to or above 55 ° c hot water wash to kill mites and get rid of the vast majority of mite allergens. Wash with warm water or cold water does not kill most mites, but most allergens can be removed. Ordinary washing powder conditions at 25 ° c and at least 5 minutes, can remove most of the mite allergens. If the temperature is greater than 55 ° c time 10 minutes, roll dryers can kill any mites.
Control mattress dust mite density and effective way to avoid contact. Use an electric blanket to keep the bed climate 24%, after 3 months of use can reduce the content of dust mites in bedding 30%. Bedroom cleaning other parts can make use of physical means such as regular cleaning, which prevents furniture, decoration and carpet surface accumulation of allergens is necessary, but it is difficult to significantly reduce the number of mites, Woodfok et al (1993) compared the mite removal effect of 9 kinds of cleaners, confirmed-HEPA vacuum cleaner works best. Should not be used in the bedroom carpet. During the cold winter months, and can also be easy breeding ground for dust mites items such as sofas, carpeting is installed outside, with cold and dry to kill dust mites.


Using the rapid advancement in contemporary science and technology everyone wants Microsoft Cloud Licensing Providers. Why it is therefore? It is because the management of large amount of corporate data is often a tiresome job. So, companies have started storing data within the clouds. It helps in increasing the entire productivity and saving period thereby cutting huge additional IT costs.
The Microsoft cloud service providers provides customers having a flexibility of 26 days in the invoice date for the actual payment option. Whenever a person opts for Auto Restoration, they are notified several times regarding their restoration of subscription. Customers can thus choose to renew automatically when the actual subscription ends by switching towards the auto-renew setting. The customers also have the choice to call customer care executives following the subscription end to restore. The service Level Contract is 99. 9 percent available over time. The Microsoft Volume Licensing program can be obtained for organizations with 250 desktop PCs or maybe more. The preferred choice is actually via an EA for that public sector and federal government enterprises.
The Microsoft Cloud Licensing Providers provides cloud based services for business and data backup connection each time you are logged upon via internet. Microsoft has entered the actual cloud computing platform through integrating its current software for example Word and outlook along with online storage for simple accessibility. Several hosting companies and internet retailers will also be looking to offer impair hosting services. The minimum or threshold add up to qualify for an bill option in MOP is actually US $500 and $250 for all of those other world.
The microsoft cloud services is a kind of computing that has already been quite successful in controlling every applications, information and resources inside a virtual environment. It may be the demand of the hr. The term cloud computing is a bit clear from the term €cloud€ itself. The latest innovative method involves virtual hosted conditions that allow users to remain connect to the services being hosted on the internet. Google Apps is among the finest instance of cloud computing, as you don't have of installed word processing software together with house email servers and helps in financial savings. The software helps business companies in accessing providers including email, website web hosting, calendar, document and much more. There are several benefits of using Google Apps since it helps in increasing the productivity having a secured connection.
Customers can order and manage subscriptions using the MOP. The policy for the first term is that the client can cancel any time throughout the first month and just pay for the preliminary month. The customers may also request to have their service turned off during months two with the end of their preliminary subscription. There will be considered a 25% early termination fee about the remaining subscription value.
Usually 30-day grace period emerges to the customers for checking all of the functionalities. However, the Office 365 clients cannot add new users however they can continue using the actual services otherwise. The 90-days disabled time period follow the grace time period and customers cannot make use of the services but they may transfer their data. These data are now being retained in the impair. Customers own the versatility to renew during possibly the grace period or even the disabled period. Whilst in the cases of deprovisioning, the information of the customers is actually deleted.
When you are thinking of training on cloud computing courses can recommend http://www.cloudcareertraining.com for thousands of good advice.


text:
Q: Javascript switch; trying to access variable inside switch case from another function I have this rather large switch case and it is a set of ethereum addresses I am trying to match to and output the name to a variable I can use in a different .js file. Currently I am just running the code in node in cli.
Since there are currently 16 unique names/addresses and more to come soon, I would like to keep this statement/function separate, in a separate file. I have tried many things to access the variable set in the case:, but no success. Below is a sample of what I am trying to do and was hoping someone will tell me it is possible because I am very new other than your basic tutorials that you see on every website and I could really use some clarity.
web3.eth.getBlock('latest').then(function(b){
    miners = b.miner;
    console.log(miners);
});

switch (miners) {
    case "0xE8DDc5c7f5139ffghfghfghf9c0104fDf5E987ACA":
        miner = "Miner Name 1";
        return miner;
        break;
    case "0x82e4e61e7f5139ff0a4157gfhgffgh7eF42294c248":
        miner = "Miner Name 2";
        return miner;
        break;
 }

Now this is only two of the blocks I have, but you get the picture. I was able to get what I wanted by wrapping everything in a function (including the web3 code to fetch current miner). After wrapping in a function and console.log() inside the scope, I was able to match the case no problem, but in the other file while trying to access that miner variable it was always undefined.
What I am hoping for is to not wrap the switch in a function and be able to call the miners switch from a different .js file and have the miner variable set to the name of the miner.
I'd appreciate any help and thank you in advanced to even some guidance. I have been trying different ways to do this all night. I am open to other suggestions on how to handle so many case statements. I was trying JSON object, 2d array, but seems having all the same keys for each one is going to be a problem.

A: You have to export the variable to make accessible in the other module :
exports.miner = miner;
Then in the other module
let minerModule = require('./minermodule');
let miner = minerModule.miner;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Investigation of generic 'cartel' expands to 300 drugs
According to The Washington Post newspaper, December 9, executives at more than a dozen generic-drug companies has a form of shorthand to describe how they conducted business, insider lingo worked out over steak dinner, cocktail receptions and rounds of golf.
The "sandbox," according to investigators, was the market for generic prescription drugs, where everyone was expected to play nice.
"Fair share" described dividing up the sales pie to ensure that each company reaped continued profits. "Trashing the market" was used when a competitor ignored these unwritten rule and sold drugs for less than agreed-upon prices.
The terminology reflected more than just the clubbiness of a powerful industry, according to authorities and several lawsuits. Officials from multiple states say these practices were central to illegal price-fixing schemes of massive proportion.
The lawsuit and related cases picked up last month when a federal judge ruled that more than 1 million emails, cellphone texts and other documents cited as evidence could be shared among all plaintiffs.
What started as an antitrust lawsuit brought by states over just two drugs in 2016 has exploded into an investigation of alleged price-fixing involving at least 16 companies and 300 drugs, Joseph Nielsen, an assistant attorney general and antitrust investigator in Connecticut who has been a leading force in the probe, said in an interview. His comments in an interview with The Washington Post represent the first public disclosure of the dramatically expanded scale of the investigation.
The alleged victims were American health-care consumers and taxpayers, who foot the bills for the overcharges on common antibiotics, blood-pressure medications, arthritis treatments, anxiety pills and more, authorities say. The cost flowed throughout the system, hitting pharmacists, hospitals and health insurance companies.
In just one instance of extraordinary cost spikes, the price of a decades-old drug to ease asthma symptoms, albuterol, sold by general manufacturers Mylan and Sun, jumped more than 3,400 percent, from 13 cents a tablet to more than $4.70. The example is documented in a lawsuit brought against the generic industry by grocery chains including Kroger. 1
Generics account for 90 percent of the prescriptions written in the United States but just 23 percent of costs, according to the industry trade group, the Association for Accessible Medicines.
"There's old, old drugs that have been around a long time, and all of a sudden their price has increased by hundreds of percent and we don't know why," said J. D. Fain, owner of Pieratt's Pharmacy in Giddings, Texas, a small town east of Austin.
"It makes me angry," said Eric Belldina, an operator of pharmacies in Masontown and Morgantown in West Virginia. "Most people think when their prices go up it's because of raw-ingredient shortage, not thinking the companies are sitting down, saying, 'Hey, let's do this.' "

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Interview with William Burroughs
INTERVIEWER: When and why did you start to write?
BURROUGHS: I started to write in about 1950; I was thirty-five at the time; there didn't seem to be any strong motivation. I simply was endeavoring to put down in a more or less straightforward journalistic style something about my experiences with addiction and addicts.
INTERVIEWER: Why did you feel compelled to record these experiences?
BURROUGHS: I didn't feel compelled. I had nothing else to do. Writing gave me something to do every day. I don't feel the results were at all spectacular. Junky is not much of a book, actually. I knew very little about writing at that time.
INTERVIEWER: Where was this?
BURROUGHS: In Mexico City. I was living near Sears, Roebuck, right around the corner from the University of Mexico. I had been in the army four or five months and I was there on the GI Bill, studying native dialects. I went to Mexico partly because things were becoming so difficult with the drug situation in America. Getting drugs in Mexico was quite easy, so I didn't have to rush around, and there wasn't any pressure from the law.
INTERVIEWER: Why did you start taking drugs?
BURROUGHS: Well, I was just bored. I didn't seem to have much interest in becoming a successful advertising executive or whatever, or living the kind of life Harvard designs for you. After I became addicted in New York in 1944, things began to happen. I got in some trouble with the law, got married, moved to New Orleans, and then went to Mexico.
INTERVIEWER: There seems to be a great deal of middle-class voyeurism in this country concerning addiction, and in the literary world, downright reverence for the addict. You apparently don't share these points of view.
BURROUGHS: No, most of it is nonsense. I think drugs are interesting principally as chemical means of altering metabolism and thereby altering what we call reality, which I would define as a more or less constant scanning pattern.
INTERVIEWER: What do you think of the hallucinogens and the new psychedelic drugs - LSD-25?
BURROUGHS: I think they're extremely dangerous, much more dangerous than heroin. They can produce overwhelming anxiety states. I've seen people try to throw themselves out of windows; whereas the heroin addict is mainly interested in staring at his own toe. Other than deprivation of the drug, the main threat to him is an overdose. I've tried most of the hallucinogens without an anxiety reaction, fortunately. LSD-25 produced results for me similar to mescaline. Like all hallucinogens, LSD gave me an increased awareness, more a hallucinated viewpoint than any actual hallucination. You might look at a doorknob and it will appear to revolve, although you are conscious that this is the result of the drug. Also, van Goghish colors, with all those swirls, and the crackle of the universe.
INTERVIEWER: Have you read Henri Michaux's book on mescaline?
BURROUGHS: His idea was to go into his room and close the door and hold in the experiences. I had my most interesting experiences with mescaline when I got outdoors and walked around - colors, sunsets, gardens. It produces a terrible hangover, though, nasty stuff. It makes one ill and interferes with coordination. I've had all the interesting effects I need, and I don't want any repetition of those extremely unpleasant physical reactions.
INTERVIEWER: The visions of drugs and the visions of art don't mix?
BURROUGHS: Never. The hallucinogens produce visionary states, sort of, but morphine and its derivatives decrease awareness of inner processes, thoughts, and feelings. They are painkillers, pure and simple. They are absolutely contraindicated for creative work, and I include in the lot alcohol, morphine, barbiturates, tranquilizers - the whole spectrum of sedative drugs. As for visions and heroin, I had a hallucinatory period at the very beginning of addiction, for instance, a sense of moving at high speed through space. But as soon as addiction was established, I had no visions - vision - at all and very few dreams.
INTERVIEWER: Why did you stop taking drugs?
BURROUGHS: I was living in Tangier in 1957, and I had spent a month in a tiny room in the Casbah staring at the toe of my foot. The room had filled up with empty Eukodol cartons; I suddenly realized I was not doing anything. I was dying. I was just apt to be finished. So I flew to London and turned myself over to Dr. John Yerbury Dent for treatment. I've heard of his success with apomorphine treatment. Apomorphine is simply morphine boiled in hydrochloric acid; it's nonaddictive. What the apomorphine did was to regulate my metabolism. It's a metabolic regulator. It cured me physiologically. I'd already taken the cure once at Lexington, and although I was off drugs when I got out, there was a physiological residue. Apomorphine eliminated that. I've been trying to get people in this country interested in it, but without much luck. The vast majority - social workers, doctors - have the cop's mentality toward addiction. A probation officer in California wrote me recently to inquire about the apomorphine treatment. I'll answer him at length. I always answer letters like that.
INTERVIEWER: Have you had any relapses?
BURROUGHS: Yes, a couple. Short. Both were straightened out with apomorphine, and now heroin is no temptation for me. I'm just not interested. I've seen a lot of it around. I know people who are addicts. I don't have to use any willpower. Dr. Dent always said there is no such thing as willpower. You've got to reach a state of mind in which you don't want it or need it.
INTERVIEWER: You regard addiction as an illness but also a central human fact, a drama?
BURROUGHS: Both, absolutely. It's as simple as the way in which anyone happens to become an alcoholic. They start drinking, that's all. They like it, and they drink, and then they become alcoholic. I was exposed to heroin in New York - that is, I was going around with people who were using it; I took it; the effects were pleasant. I went on using it and became addicted. Remember that if it can be readily obtained, you will have any number of addicts. The idea that addiction is somehow a psychological illness is, I think, totally ridiculous. It's as psychological as malaria. It's a matter of exposure. People, generally speaking, will take any intoxicant or any drug that gives them a pleasant effect if it is available to them. In Iran, for instance, opium was sold in shops until quite recently, and they had three million addicts in a population of twenty million. There are also all forms of spiritual addiction. Anything that can be done chemically can be done in other ways, that is, if we have sufficient knowledge of the processes involved. Many policemen and narcotics agents are precisely addicted to power, to exercising a certain nasty kind of power over people who are helpless. The nasty sort of power: white junk, I call it - rightness; they're right, right right - and if they lost that power, they would suffer excruciating withdrawal symptoms. The picture we get of the whole Russian bureaucracy, people who are exclusively preoccupied with power and advantage, this must be an addiction. Suppose they lose it? Well, it's been their whole life.
End of New Year's Day Interview with William Burroughs


28- Day Weight Watchers Meal Plan. We love to read books and my job is to analyze daily all the novelties in the world of ebooks.
A scanned PDF of the points plus values for generic foods. This is Keto Us By wowketodiet. Weight Watchers Top 100 Most Tracked Foods with SmartPoints® ( Updated for ) Banana ( 0 SP) Coffee skim ( fat free), black, cooked, boneless, without sugar skinless ( 0SP). Weight watchers points list 2016 pdf.
Calories in recipes still count, but they' re not counted in the SmartPoints value. If you are a Weight Watcher® you have probably heard that Weight Watchers® is retiring their PointsPlus® program in introducing a brand new SmartPoints® system , plan called Beyond the Scale. This is for all of us who can' t afford to join weight watchers and pay.
Weight watchers points list 2016 pdf. Weight Watchers wants you to eat the good stuff in the fruit, not just drink it. Author: keto4cookbook. Weight Watchers points list is a well- researched structure in which points are assigned to every food item.
Please Note: Weight Watchers has changed it' s program again. The Best Free Pantry Cupboard Plans Free Free Download PDF And Video.
Jan 09, · Weight Watchers recently introduced a new plan called SmartPoints™. The pork comes out perfectly cooked along with tender apples onions a delicious honey mustard sauce. This is Womens Diet To Lose Weight By keto4cookbook.
You enter information and it spits out the points for you. It gives you credit for eating more lean protein less sugar [. Honey Teriyaki Drumsticks.
Author: wowketodiet. I did, I have taken it down for the time being.
However if you' re having a fruit juice you' ll need to add those points. Nicknamed Chuck Sir Charles The Round Mound of Rebound.
Fish is even lower in points with 3 ounces of plain shrimp, tuna steak , lobster tilapia with 1 point each. Fish is even lower in points with 3 ounces of plain shrimp, tilapia with 1 point c 05, tuna steak , lobster · Weight Watchers Zero Point Foods List There are so many great additions to the zero point foods that I am blown away. Happy Weekend Everyone!
Click here to learn more about Weight Watchers latest program for. To help you navigate these changes, we created this 28- day Weight Watchers meal plan. Simply filling foods list whole grains Included: • Cereals ready- to- eat, with 3 grams , cooked, without dried fruits Diet soda , hot, nuts, cold, with no more than 1 gram of sugar, whole- grain, more of fiber per serving • Cereals without added.
8 Best Images of Weight Watchers Points List Foods Printable - Weight Watchers Food Points List Weight Watchers PointsPlus Food List Parks, Weight Watchers Point List Weight watchers points chart Source by. | See more ideas about Weight watchers points plus Smart points food list Weightwatchers points. X You can also simply buy all of the Weight Watchers branded foods that already have the points figured for you. Charles Wade Barkley ( born February 20, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on Inside the NBA.
It takes how your body processes food into account takes the hard work out of making healthy filling choices. More chicken recipes I love are Filipino Adobo Chicken Turmeric Braised Chicken with Golden Beets , Chicken , Broccoli Stir Fry, Chicken Thighs with Shallots in Red Wine Vinegar ee Pantry Cupboard Plans Free. Weight Watchers Point List © Food Item Quantity Points Food Item Quantity Points A Abalone 3 oz. Dec 07, · Please Note: Weight Watchers has changed it' s program again.
This is How To Lose Weight Quickly Men By wowketodiet. Slow Cooker Pork Apples makes a tasty family friendly meal that couldn' t be easier to make. If you are a Weight Watcher® you have probably heard that Weight Watchers® is retiring their PointsPlus® program in and introducing a brand new.
Weight watchers points list 2016 pdf. For example lean pork has 3 points. I have already heard some rumbling that people are concerned about gaining weight because of these additions, but overall I think it.
Jan 02 by Alisha Hughes 37 Comments Quick update: This meal plan has been updated with the WW FreeStyle Smart Points per serving, · Weight Watcher Friendly Meal Plan # 2 with FreeStyle Smart Points January 2, but the website these recipes are on has not updated the fact many of your favorite foods have been reduced to zero points. X You can go the easy way and use a Weight Watchers calculator you have purchased from them. As you might guess, lean sources of protein are low in points on the Weight Watchers plan. I returned to WW meetings last night with a friend that is just starting her journey so I am tracking both SP & PP to see where I am at, how I hated I only got 28 weeklies because I am very active she suggested trying to use some of my fit points for food.
Weight Watchers Smart Points Plan. Fruits veggies are still zero SmartPoints, Vegetables: Fruits which is awesome. We love to read books my job is to analyze daily all the novelties in the world of ply Drizzle July 7 at 1: 58 pm.
Having a meal plan is the best way to stay on track with your weight- loss goals. HOW TO DO WEIGHT WATCHERS FOR FREE Figure you point allowance: For the sake of consistency we are going to recommend that you use the more updated Points Plus system as that is what our current Weight Watchers recipes points reflect, as well as future recipes information here. In that way the best part is, you will get a well constructed exhaustive list of food items with their points you need not give up your favorite food items.
X The best and most financially sound way to figure is to use this simple Weight Watchers points calculator online. How great is that?
The Smart Points value is based on calories saturated fat , protein sugar. Find and save ideas about Weight watchers points list on Pinterest. Get Free Pantry Cupboard Plans Free: Our plans taken from past issues of our Magazine include detailed instructions cut lists and illustrations - everything you need to help you build your next project.
Weight Watchers Point List © Food Item Quantity Points Food Item Quantity Points A Abalone 3 oz. 2 1 tbsp 2 Alfredo Sauce ( store- bought) 1/ Almond.
simply filling foods list whole grains Included: • Cereals, cold, ready- to- eat, whole- grain, without dried fruits Diet soda or nuts, with no more than 1 gram of sugar, and with 3 grams or more of fiber per serving • Cereals, hot, cooked, and without c 06, · Happy Weekend Everyone!
Today marks one of my favorite days of the year when I get to geek out as Weight Watchers unveils their Beyond The Scale Program Update. I love the anticipation of finding out what will be new, holding new books & Cookbooks!
in my hands and scouring over every detail as I find a new sense of motivation. May 13, · Weight Watchers Top 100 Most Tracked Foods with SmartPoints® ( Updated for ) Banana ( 0 SP) Coffee, black, without sugar, 1 cup ( 0SP) Egg, 1 ( 0 SP) Apple ( 0SP) Milk, skim ( fat free), 1 cup ( 3SP) Strawberries ( 0SP) Chicken breast, cooked, boneless, skinless ( 0SP).
All the shipping tips you need to shop the produce department, the meat counter, as well as the dairy aisle and interior aisle of your grocery store.


text:
Q: Suspected Postgres Data corruption Our application is running on Postgres 7.4.X . I agree that this is a very old version of Postgres and we should have upgraded . The issue that we faced is that
1 . There was a system crash due to a hardware failure .
2 . When the system came up , we tried to insert a few records into the database . However at this point in time we saw that Postgres was taking a lot of CPU & memory .
Around 42% CPU consumption . This was a cause of concern .
3 . We re-indexed the database and it helped reduce the cpu & memory consumption .
My question is
A ) Isn't Postgres database resilient enough to handle hardware system failure ? or it sometime results in a corrupt index for its tables ? I read on the Postgres site that hardware failure can cause corrupt indexes . Besides this are there any other scenario which may result in such corruption .
B) If there has been improvement / enhancements done by Postgres regarding the way it handles corrupt indexes can you please pass me more information  about the bug Id or some documentation on it ? Our application does not do any REINDEXING . I am in a dilemma if we should seriously incorporate it in our application .

A:
Isn't Postgres database resilient enough to handle hardware system
  failure ? or it sometime results in a corrupt index for its tables ? I
  read on the Postgres site that hardware failure can cause corrupt
  indexes .

What part of "hardware failure can cause corrupt indexes" did you not understand? (smile) I imagine the people that maintain the PostgreSQL web site know roughly what they're talking about.
A hardware failure--and especially a failure in the disk subsystem--can write garbage to the disk. A severe failure can physically damage the surface of a disk. A particularly spectacular hardware failure can redistribute pieces of your disk across several city blocks.  (Explosion at a client site; they said some debris landed 20 miles away. I've learned not to rely much on dbms resiliency in such an event.)
There are a lot of ways to mitigate the risk of hardware failure. Most of them don't have anything to do with PostgreSQL, though. Redundant hardware--power supplies, NICs, RAID disk systems--battery backed cache (or disabling the write cache), server replication, cold and hot failover. None of these really have anything to do with PostgreSQL's own resiliency.
I don't know to what degree PostgreSQL diagnoses the state of its own indexes. If I have time later, I'll look at the PostgreSQL source code.


Peak civil construction industry association Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) has joined the 2016 Roads & Civil Works Expo as its latest Association Partner.
The association joins the likes of Australian Asphalt Pavement Association (AAPA), AustStab and Viva Energy Australia as one of the industry-leading organisations supporting the inaugural expo.
CCF's General Manager Training Services Rob Garrard explains that the core focus of the Expo was key in the association's decision to come on board as an Association Partner.
"The content of the expo is around civil construction so it is a good event to be a part of," he says. Directed at the contractors, engineers, innovators and decision-makers in the roads and civil construction market, the expo is directly attracting the audience CCF represents and supports through its membership.
Mr. Garrard says that the with the expo being in Melbourne, it's a great opportunity to engage with Victoria-based contractors and promote what CCF does and how individuals and companies can benefit from being a part of the association.
"The last few years have been pretty tough for people in the civil construction. Coming on board with the expo shows that CCF is supporting the industry, and part of that is being recognised as an industry organisation that is out and about," he says.
In supporting the show, CCF is reinforcing its position as a leading industry association in the Australian civil construction market.


Discovery science solves mysteries, sparks innovation, and stimulates future technologies. This principle provides the inspiration for the fundamental energy research and the remarkable collection of major scientific user facilities supported by BES.
Understanding, predicting, and controlling materials and their functionalities for discovery and design of new materials to enable transformational advances in energy technologies.
Understanding and controlling complex chemical, geological, and biochemical processes across vast spatial and temporal scales through experiment, theory, and computation.
Thousands of researchers experience the thrill of scientific discovery first-hand as they guide beams of neutrons, synchrotron radiation, and electrons onto their samples to reveal the mysteries of how nature works.
Harnessing computational sciences for integrating synthesis, characterization, and modeling of complex materials and chemical processes to accelerate discovery and transform our ability to deploy innovative energy technologies.
and waste mitigation. BES research provides a knowledge base to help understand, predict, and ultimately control the natural world and serves as an agent of change in achieving the vision of a secure and sustainable energy future.
The energy systems of the future—whether they tap sunlight, store electricity, or make fuel from splitting water or reducing carbon dioxide—will revolve around materials and chemical changes that convert energy from one form to another. Such materials will need to be more functional than today's energy materials. To control chemical reactions or to convert a solar photon to an electron requires coordination of multiple steps, each carried out by customized materials with designed nanoscale structures. Such advanced materials are not found in nature; they must be designed and fabricated to exacting standards using principles revealed by basic science.


Data -Knowing that Data- is the single most important issues closing sales. Liberty Plan has effectively removed hard caps. Although we can't say "Unlimited" it's the next BEST thing. Customer will be able to consume more data! Lots more… Most of the people you sell to now are in 1-5 Mg speeds that the liberty pass has after they use up the "Priority Data". This means, at a minimum they have the same or better speeds. "DATA CAPS -Top objectionsPerformance – "Up to 12Mg speeds" and between 1-5Mgs – (how often do you see 12? How often do you think the customer will be in the 1-5mg liberty zone?)Keep in mind performance is the number one most important thing to ViaSat. Remember the two years of top spot on the FCC report of speeds based on advertised speeds at prime time (We over perform!). We will most likely over perform like we do with 12MG speeds during liberty pass! (I recently had a dealer send me a speed test of 22 Mgs in a ViaSat 1 beam). We should set expectation at the worst during prime time it "could" be (1-5Mgs)Exede Satellite Maui Hawaii. This is a way of getting the performance to where it needs to be and stay.Many times our customers will see significantly faster speeds even when they are in "Liberty Pass (after Priority data has been used) remember we almost always over perform on speeds.Price – It's more expensive in a world where it's all free free free and cheap. Well you pay for what you get at Exede Satellite Maui Hawaii. There is no value in giving it away. We must sell value Network Performance, Durability, Premium service, More data that any Sat provider, Aircard, You the local dealer, Local service, Domestic Customer Service. Pay TV is $100+ per month and internet is more important to customers than TV now Exede Satellite Maui Hawaii. You all don't seem to problem selling that.Streaming takes 3 Mgs. If this is the case customers could stream during Liberty Pass most of the time if not all. Some ISPs only offer 1.5Mg speeds and they can't possibly use much due to slow speeds.


text:
Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be releasing my operating system this friday, and while it won't be the best of the best,it certainly will be good. As with every major software release, it's common to give a list of features to expect in the release to potential users, so here it goes:

* Encrypted home directories
  - Documents, pictures, everything will be encrypted, keeping you in, and the bad guys out!
* Logical Volume Management
  - Tired of a corrupt root directory deleting photos? Worry no longer! With logical volume management, if one part fails, the rest stays nice and tidy!
*Tired of Google leeching on your information?
  - Comes with TOR! Tor is a private web browser that works like a vpn, but in a web browser!
* Modern UI
* Perhaps you fancy games?
  - Discord, IRC, Wine and Steam come built in!
* Are you a scientist?
  - Comes with majority of python scientific modules built in!
* Developer perhaps?
  - comes with Eclipse oxygen built in as well! Both java and C++/C are supported!

I'll add more to the operating system, or remove if people want to sift through bloatware, later! Along with that, I'll be figuring out how to install it on a hard drive, I've seen people manage to do it, I just need to figure out how.

Along with that, send any bugs or really crucial stuff to klaminite2000@gmail.com (business email), or for inquiries or opportunities.
Thanks!
~Klaminite

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


During a recent webapplication testing I decided to perform some fuzzing of certain paths within the URI of a CMS and happened to find a potential SSTI (server side template injection) within one of the CMS' plugins which I then was able to successfully exploit for information disclosure. In this post I want to share my approach on how I moved forward with the analysis.
First of all: what is it about? Basically SSTI is a scenario where user input is unsafely embedded into a template. Most of the time it is related to issues where user defined input is directly concatenated into the template and if this input contained a template expression that will be evaluated by the server.
However if this type of vulnerability is new to you, make sure to visit the Portswigger blog and read this article by James Kettle (@albinowax). You won't regret it and it is a super addition to the topic of webapplication security. His research is also available as a printable whitepaper and was presented at BlackHat 2015 (paper/video). I already was aware of the basic concept behind this vulnerability but for me this was the first time that I actually encountered it out in the wild and so I decided to freshen up my knowledge and read through James' paper regarding the topic.
Okay, we just hit the script kiddy wall. Let me take you on the journey on how to proceed from here. First of all: let's step back, take a breathe and evaluate the situation by breaking down the informational facts.
Unfortunately it does not leak the exact version number but for beginners we can simply try to leverage the latest documentation and according to this documentation Craft is using Twig (which is one of the PHP template engines covered in James' research).
As mentioned understanding older vulnerabilities can always be a good addition towards ones very own approach. Even though the issue is already fixed, the formerly present SSTI vulnerability listed above is a good example as you can find some interesting ideas by reading up how they created the PoC for this vulnerability.
And finally if this is an option: download the source code and have a look at the internals!
If you tried leveraging automatic exploitation and reconnaissance tools (TPLMAP) make sure to understand what they do and how they do it.
According to the documentation and other statements, it turns out they changed that moving from Twig v1 towards Twig v2. So we are dealing with an updated Twig version that is not prone to the vulnerabilities disclosed in James' research. At the current point in time it seems there is no publicly available exploit alternative for Twig v2 (which also should be the reason that TPLMAP currently does not support Twig exploitation).
Well, so no easy-peasy exploitation for us.
But… there is still hope.
This allows us to store and reflect functions in a more flexible way. As we need to store two parameter values within our User-Agent string, we need to either use a second method as a springboard or we can use Twig's filters in order to perform some string manipulation.
In this case I am utilizing slice() (https://twig.symfony.com/doc/2.x/filters/slice.html) which will allow us to combine multiple values within our User-Agent header.
The way SEOmatic works, the global settings are a fallback only if nothing else matches. Most pages will match an entry, category, or product of some kind of other, and in those cases, the canonicalUrl would not be set to the offending Twig code, so the exploit wouldn't work.
So you'd need to be attacking a URL that both exists as a Twig template (so it don't throw a 404) and then also does not have an entry, category, or product associated with it.
Leveraging existing scanning and exploitation tools is always easy. But once you hit a wall spend some time with sharpening the axe before cutting down the tree. Make sure to identify and process comprehensive information in order to to get a better understanding of your target. It will pay off in the end. At the very least you will have learned something new.
So, a few days ago Brian Krebs posted an article on his blog called "Are Your Google Groups Leaking Data?". This article reached me while I was chilling in the sun but it did not really suprise me as I was researching on the very same topic right before going on my vacation. Actually I wanted to release this information a few weeks ago but mutually agreed with the guys from Google to wait for it until we had a chance for a direct talk which was scheduled right after my vacation (a.k.a today).
At the current point in time there is not much left to be added as you can find most of the interesting information already published in the article from the researchers at Kenna Security and in Brian's write-up (or you can have a look in the original advisory from Redlock which is even dating back to July 2017). However as I already had my stuff written up I wanted to get it out as well. At the very least it may help to spread out the word and make sure that affected Google customers remediate the issue.
As I am currently working with different organizations which are using the G Suite on a corporate level I wanted to have a closer look at the matter and was shocked with the results. As luck would have it we had a representative from Google Cloud's Professional Service at our office so that I could share my results with him directly. He was quite concerned with the matter and decided to hook me up with the PO for Google Groups directly. As I was about to hit my vacation I promised to deliver a quick write-up concerning my obervations and we scheduled a phone call and a disclosure for when I would return.
So, today I finally had the chance to talk with Google and offered them my point of view on the matter. Overall it was a quite constructive chat and they assured me that they have taken actions in order to directly contact and inform their customers who might be affected by the issue. Right now I can confirm that only a small subset of the affected customers have fixed this.
During our talk Google agreed on my point of view that the overall presentation of privacy implications within the web-frontend is not very clean. Given that, they also confirmed that right now they are evaluating howto improve the visual representation. So expect a blinking 90's gif, marquee text and an alarm sound soon!
We also discussed some other ways they had in mind of how the overall security / privacy controlls of the solution could be enhanced. As most of the stuff would require larger changes on the overall architecture, I personally feel it is unlikely they are going into this direction any time soon.
Hi folks, as described earlier today the original root cause for my investigation was the fact that we came across an issue where it was possible to publicly access confidential content within Google Groups without being authenticated within our domain. We raised the issue with our internal G Suite admins and they jumped on having a look at the privacy settings for our domain.
After sprinkling some magic dust they replied back to me that they applied proper changes towards the privacy configurations within our domain.
So I had another look and noted that our admins applied changes towards the visibility of groups within the index directory for our Google Groups domain. Seemed good to me as it was no longer readable without a proper authentication. This was accomplished by revoking the listing option from each group.
However I found that it was still possible to publicly access confidential content by either having direct links towards the individual groups or by simply utilizing the search functionality.
I immediately replied back to our admins and we had a more detailed look at the privacy settings again. After some digging through the permission settings we finally were able to determine that some users accidentally configured the permissions for their groups by selecting the option "All organization members".
Also consider a scenario where users within a private Google Groups domain are getting used to apply the "all organization members" option to their groups. Later on in time the "Outside this domain – access to groups" configuration gets switched to "Public on the Internet" without anyone noticing that individual groups are now being exposed towards the public.
Eventually we ended up with a very bad feeling in our stomach and I asked our admins to switch the domain to complete private mode. We will now reconsider our use-cases related to the G Suite products and perform proper risk assessments for them.
Okay let's have a detailed breakdown what went wrong here.
we are trying to access groups with juicy names and descriptions; no luck… sadface!
we search for sensitive content within the group; no luck again… sadface!
we search for sensitive content within the whole domain; et voilà!
… and get our hands on some nice information … profit!
Next up I decided to have a closer look and fired up some sample queries within the individual domains in order to identify Google customers who unintentionally misconfigured their privacy settings in a similar manner as we did it before. Basically I was utilizing some search patterns in order to identify unlisted groups and later on validated which of those were not explicitly included within the overall index (therefore likely to be of a confidential nature).
Please consider that we are barely talking about around 6.000 potential targets that I identified by using a common domain list. The real footprint of affected domains and customers would be somewhat higher then what is included within the Alexa toplist. A malicious and determined threat actor aiming for exploiting the issue in a larger scale will likely hit more domains then the ones I hastily evaluated with the crawler.
I am confident that we can extrapolate this number into at least a few thousand additional domains.
So here is what I recommend in order to mitigate the issue.
First of all: let your affected customers know that they might have a problem with their data being publicly exposed.
Currently the assets for managing the G Suite on a larger scale are limited. We found that by tinkering with tools such as Google Apps Manager (GAM) it is possible to run a batched evaluation of all objects within the G Suite domain. But implementing some kind of native audit feature within the webfrontend would be a huge benefit for administrators.
Depending on the individual scenario users and administrators of Google Groups might unknowingly run into misconfiguration of their privacy settings. This can result in data leaks. For companies whose organization and communication heavily rely on using Google Groups this can have a huge impact.
Digging through all the relevant privacy settings within the G Suite seems not very intuitive and can be a challenging task for admins. Cleaning up or auditing an existing and eventually misconfigured domain might be a challenging task as well. Making use of tools like the Google Apps Manager can mitigate the hassle.
I understand that the discussed issue is not relying within the core functionality of Google Groups per se and that this is no technical security issue within the product. It rather is related towards configuration errors which are unintentionally introduced by users. Handling the entangled collection of privacy controls and assessing their implications might be challenging.
I personally feel that it is Google's duty to make their customers (admins and users) more aware of potential risks and implications regarding the individual privacy controls within the G Suite. I feel that Google needs to consider how the ramifications of those controls can be presented towards the user in a better and more transparent way.
I just happened to find myself with the requirement of performing a ping sweep of the local /24 network under Windows without installing any additional software or tools.
for /L %i in <1,1,255) do@ping -w -n 123.123.123.%i | find "Reply"
If you ever wonder how to foward your content from Burpsuite towards any other tool you have to keep in mind that there is a logging options available.
I just realized that one can push or pull data streams through SSH as well. Just used it with DD and it saved me a lot of time.
Quite often I find myself in the need in order to analyse traffic for applications on an jailbroken Android device which ignore the global system proxy settings.


text:
The Ms. Q&A: What Greta Schiller Learned Making "Before Stonewall"
6/11/2019 by Carmen Rios
It's been 50 years this June since three days of rioting outside of New York City's Stonewall Inn launched the modern LGBTQ rights movement—and 35 since documentary director Greta Schiller uncovered the histories of queer and trans Americans in the decades prior.
"When we set out to make this film," Schiller has said, "I had no inkling of the meaning it would have around the world." Indeed, she likely couldn't have predicted what would come next: funding and support from PBS, which meant broadcasting the film nationwide into the living rooms of everyday Americans, and even an Emmy award. But Schiller's acclaim has only grown in the years since Before Stonewall: The Making of a Gay and Lesbian Community came out.
After co-founding production company Jezebel Productions, Schiller produced a slate of notable documentaries, including the Teddy Award-winning The Man Who Drove With Mandela and Paris Was a Woman, which was broadcast around the world. She was awarded the City College of New York Townsend Harris Medal for Outstanding Contributions to her Field and a Rachel Carson Fellowship, was the first person to receive a UK/US Fulbright Arts Fellowship in Film and is currently producing a new documentary series as part of her Global Fulbright Award.
First Run Features is now re-releasing Before Stonewall—narrated by author Rita Mae Brown and featuring interviews with activists including Audre Lorde and Barbara Gittings—to mark the current historic moment. But the personal and profound stories of LGBT Americans that populate Schiller's Emmy award-winning film remain timeless, and so does its urgent reminder of the personal and political battles facing the LGBTQ community.
In advance of the film's theatrical re-release in New York City on June 21 and Los Angeles on June 28, Schiller opened up to Ms. about what happened before Before Stonewall—and what lessons she has carried with her since.
I always begin with an inception story. Tell us how this movie came to be—why did you decide to make it, and what did it take to make it happen?
The project began when Robert Rosenberg, who became the co-director, approached me with the idea to make a film based on the unpublished work of historian John D'Emilio—which chronicled the early, pre-Stonewall, homophile movement. Early funding came from the New York Council on the Humanities and the NY State Council on the Arts.
It became clear pretty quickly that I needed to expand the original concept to trace the formation of the mostly hidden lesbian and gay subculture across the country, not just the few homophile organizations. I decided to tell this story chronologically, decade by decade—from the turn of the century when homosexuality began to be seen as a distinctive identity, rather than simply a sex act, up to the Stonewall Riots, when marginalized gay and lesbian youth fought back against police raids and the modern LGBT movement was born.
But as the lives of homosexuals pre-Stonewall had been so marginalized, we had a big problem: How could we tell this tale in a visual and engaging way? Even when gay life spilled onto the streets of Greenwich Village—over 5 nights, hundreds of people protested—the news media gave very little coverage to the riots, and there was almost no visual documentation of gay life before then.
Rosenberg, Research Director Andrea Weiss and I were on the project from its inception. Executive Producer John Scagliotti was brought on by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; he was a condition of our funding. Yet they did not give full funding, and in order to match their award, we all worked organizing benefits across the country.
As this was the first GLBT history feature film, we had tremendous support from the burgeoning gay and lesbian community. By drawing attention to the project, these events also helped us locate potential interviewees. Andrea organized research teams to find people who may be willing to share their personal scrapbooks. This was the first time anyone saw their personal artifacts as history. It was difficult to convince many of them that their photos, home movies and love letters were in fact worthy of being considered historical. Today, in our age of instant celebrity, people think even their pets are worthy of such.
I was inspired by UNION MAIDS, a film by Julia Reichart and Jim Klein—the first filmmakers who used oral history as history in film. The weaving of personal eyewitness testimony into the historical narrative provided a way for me to begin thinking about how to approach my task. At her retrospective screening last week at MOMA, I saw one parallel I had not seen on first viewing, and that was that communists were also closeted. Even union leaders kept their party membership secret from the public, despite the fact that their entire lives—work, love, family, play—all revolved around party membership.
We were what would now be called "artisanal" or "boutique"—most of us were doing our jobs for the first time. The sound woman J.T. Tagaki's first sound job was interviewing Allen Ginsberg! I would film the stills on a 16mm camera while at people's homes. I drove to Virginia with a sound recordist and had Rita Mae Brown read the narration in her living room. We carried 16mm prints to festivals to save on shipping.
It reminds me of this comment of yours—it struck me. "I was a young woman director in the early 1980's, setting out to tell the 'History 101' version of a people systematically ignored and erased from the historical record," you said. "Perhaps if I had been older, I would not have taken on the task with such naïve zeal."
But this film ended up having an outsized impact: being the first movie on LGBTQ lives shown on public television, and winning awards for how it shaped our cultural narratives and understandings around gay life. How did that zeal shape your process, and what did it teach you as a filmmaker? What from this process have you carried into your other work?
Today I spend a fair amount of time mentoring young filmmakers. Not all of them are women or gay, but they are talented and marginalized by the media landscape. I had no real mentors; there were literally five or six women and maybe two lesbians who had made feature documentaries. Emile d'Antonio looked at some edits and gave me valuable feedback. Filmmaker Artie Bressan was super supportive, and film historian and activist Vito Russo was a good friend and invaluable guide to GLBT representations in cinema.
I grew up at a time when we actually believed we may make a revolution in this country: when women would be equal to men; when workers were paid a living wage; where health care would be universal. My friends were gay, straight, black and white, and I believe this is what gave me that zeal. My co-producers gave feedback, but Andrea Weiss was the most crucial support and critic, and she can be seriously critical in the most demanding way. When I faced obstacles from within the production team itself, she helped me maintain my zeal.
Trusting myself, the importance of holding close my vision for a film's narrative, listening to collaborators while being confident in my directing, was a process I learned on the making of my first feature documentary. I also learned that when a film is successful, then those who had doubts and drifted from supporting my efforts come back with a roar to stake their claim—so I learned to take much stronger legal protections. When we began this process of making the film, I thought lawyers were only for when problems arise; now I know they can prevent problems down the road.
It was also a time of collectivism, so some people were given roles beyond their capacity, while others were not given the credit they deserved. My sister Tina Schiller was our San Francisco Production Manager—she organized a benefit screening of an Andy Warhol film, Edie, at the legendary Castro Cinema, and has been amazingly supportive throughout my life and career. Today, I choose my collaborators with much greater care! Making an independent film can be either a dysfunctional family unit or functional one. Coming from a dysfunctional family, I had no idea back then that there was another way. After much work on healing that original family, and having good relationships with my extended families, and being married for 35 years—legally married for one—and raising a daughter and making 15-plus films, I can look back and see that it is a sort of miracle that we pulled the film off at all!
As a director, the film gave me enormous confidence to bring stories hidden from history into the cultural zeitgeist in a way that respected my subjects. To be trusted by African American women, some of them lesbians, was and is a great honor. To collaborate in a deep, productive way with researchers, producers, writers—all of this I learned and grew better at over the years.
I have maintained friendships and in many cases professional relationships with virtually everyone who helped bring Before Stonewall to fruition. My lifelong creative partnership with Andrea began on Before Stonewall. I learned from Before Stonewall that a film has many filmmakers, but one Director, except in very exceptional cases. I co-directed The International Sweethearts of Rhythm with Andrea, but after that we each developed projects as Director, producing one another's films through our production company. I believe we are the longest-running women's film production company, at least in the U.S.
My sense of irony, use of music, intimate interview style, writing those who had been written out back into the historical narrative, looking at newsreels and other dominant media through a different lens, reading the subtext, drawing out a narrative that gives a fresh look at history— from the South African liberation struggle to women artists in Paris between the world wars to many other films set in other eras and cultures—this all grew from my first feature documentary. Today I am finishing a film about humans and our relationship to the earth, about ecological restoration—and even in this film, respecting the people, animals, landscapes, wanting to tell their story, comes from the same place.
What do you hope comes of the film's re-release?
My goals are the same: to bring the story of the making of the LGBT community from a scattered, closeted people into full members of society and do it in a way that engages everyone. Gay, straight, young, old—I hope that everyone enjoys the film.
Even though the LGBTQ movement itself has evolved so much in the last 50 years, and especially since many of the moments in history you touch on that go even further back, so much in this film still resonates—the schisms within the LGBTQ community, for one, and the challenges people at the intersections face in making themselves heard—and we're still setting records straight, even about Stonewall. What lessons from our history do you think are most critical to remember in this current moment?
One of the most important lessons is to embrace diversity.
I would like to note that we did not really want bi people in the movement back then—we considered them to be confused! Trans rights were not a political issue yet. I fought with my co-producers about opening the film with drag queens, which they saw as too controversial.
I have always adored a good drag butch or queen; the early homophile movements tried to silence drag queens. Butch women, working class lesbians and gay men and people of color were largely absent from pre-Stonewall organizations. One of our regrets is that when researcher Andrea met Marsha P. Johnson at her home in New Jersey, we did not then interview her.
What fights ahead do you feel are most pivotal?
I anticipate fights around the right to adopt or to marry—these are victories that can be reversed. Violence and homelessness, sexual abuse and suicide among GLBT youth are great concerns. A far-right religious group, Project Blitz, has begun a campaign to discriminate under the auspices of religious freedom—they want to pass bills banning government entities from penalizing people or businesses who've donated to or are affiliated with a religious organization, even if those groups are known to have discriminatory practices, and they have already made inroads in the Texas legislature, but for the first time an LGBT caucus exists in the Texas legislature and they have fought to keep and expand protections. Voting really matters, who sits in government matters. The bans on trans people in the military and elsewhere is the easiest and first attack.
History is not linear. While societal attitudes have shifted enormously, there will always be homophobia, and we need to stay vigilant. So much depends on where you live, if the family you grew up in accepts you, if you can get a job. Social service agencies need to provide services for the marginal members of our community.
I'm fascinated, as a queer woman myself, with the urgency and importance we have toward and reverence we owe our elders—and the relationships we have to them. So often, we don't know who they are. Too often, we never have the chance to witness them. This film introduces us to them. How do you think LGBTQ activists and allies today can best honor them?
I think respect for seniors is a problem everywhere. Cross-generational interaction is nearly non-existent. People push past older people on sidewalks, trains, buses—and many of them are no doubt members of the GLBT community. SAGE hosts intergenerational dinners and events designed to encourage more exchange of ideas and perspectives.
It is very hard for a young person to imagine anything outside of their own experience as valuable, impossible to imagine that simply loving someone of the same sex until the 1970's was a brave act, punishable under the law of the land in counties ways. I hope seeing my film will help with this, at least a little.
Tagged: documentaries, Film, LGBTQ, Queer Women, Women in Film and TV
About Carmen Rios
Carmen Rios is the Managing Digital Editor at Ms., co-host of TRIGGER HAPPY on Binge Networks and co-founder of Argot Magazine. Her work has also appeared at BuzzFeed, Bitch, Mic, MEL, Everyday Feminism and Autostraddle. Like everyone else in LA, she once had a podcast; unlike everyone else, she stays pretty zen in traffic.
Picks of the Week: Feminist Films and TV Series Confronting Hard Truths
Women and Hollywood
Picks of the Week: From the Lives of "Chambermaids" to Stories of "Maiden" Voyages


text:
NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures
Markus Watzko, Karin Mascher, Axel Koppert
Institute of Geodesy (5220)
A blue force tracking system sends position information of the own forces to the command post. Typically, such systems use Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Since GNSS is not available in underground structures, a new concept must be found. In this article we present a localization system for operators in underground structures, such as tunnels or subways. By fusing inertial data (accelerations and angular rates) sensed by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with distance measurements from Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and map information from a 3D model, a robust blue force tracking system is introduced. The challenges here are that the needed infrastructure and an existing 3D model cannot be assumed to be available. Thus, algorithms and tools are developed to provide the necessary information in near real-time. Our tests in a street tunnel at Zentrum am Berg (ZaB) showed that the developed system provides robust localization information on the own forces.
Urban Operations Expert Talks - Zentrum am Berg, Leoben, Austria
Urban Operations Expert Talks
blue force tracking
,unnel model
foot-mounted IMU
https://www.milak.at/fileadmin/milak/InstOWB/UOET/Meeting_Proceedings/2022_WATZKO_etal_Blue_Force_Tracking_in_Underground_Structures.pdf
Dive into the research topics of 'NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
Underground structures Engineering & Materials Science 100%
Tunnels Engineering & Materials Science 61%
Satellites Engineering & Materials Science 56%
Navigation Engineering & Materials Science 56%
Distance measurement Engineering & Materials Science 45%
Subways Engineering & Materials Science 43%
Units of measurement Engineering & Materials Science 41%
Ultra-wideband (UWB) Engineering & Materials Science 34%
NIKE BLUETRACK - Sustainable interdisciplinarity in complex underground operations / BLUE Force TRACKing
Wieser, M.
Underground structures 100%
Inertial Navigation System 90%
Inertial Navigation 88%
Tunnels 81%
Ultra-wideband (UWB) 81%
Watzko, M., Mascher, K., & Koppert, A. (2022). NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures. Paper presented at Urban Operations Expert Talks, Leoben, Austria. https://www.milak.at/fileadmin/milak/InstOWB/UOET/Meeting_Proceedings/2022_WATZKO_etal_Blue_Force_Tracking_in_Underground_Structures.pdf
NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures. / Watzko, Markus; Mascher, Karin; Koppert, Axel.
2022. Paper presented at Urban Operations Expert Talks, Leoben, Austria.
Watzko, M, Mascher, K & Koppert, A 2022, 'NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures', Paper presented at Urban Operations Expert Talks, Leoben, Austria, 19/07/22 - 21/07/22. <https://www.milak.at/fileadmin/milak/InstOWB/UOET/Meeting_Proceedings/2022_WATZKO_etal_Blue_Force_Tracking_in_Underground_Structures.pdf>
Watzko M, Mascher K, Koppert A. NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures. 2022. Paper presented at Urban Operations Expert Talks, Leoben, Austria.
Watzko, Markus ; Mascher, Karin ; Koppert, Axel. / NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures. Paper presented at Urban Operations Expert Talks, Leoben, Austria.6 p.
@conference{a252fd3d484f4416905bd7b8ff942396,
title = "NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures",
abstract = "A blue force tracking system sends position information of the own forces to the command post. Typically, such systems use Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Since GNSS is not available in underground structures, a new concept must be found. In this article we present a localization system for operators in underground structures, such as tunnels or subways. By fusing inertial data (accelerations and angular rates) sensed by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with distance measurements from Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and map information from a 3D model, a robust blue force tracking system is introduced. The challenges here are that the needed infrastructure and an existing 3D model cannot be assumed to be available. Thus, algorithms and tools are developed to provide the necessary information in near real-time. Our tests in a street tunnel at Zentrum am Berg (ZaB) showed that the developed system provides robust localization information on the own forces.",
keywords = "blue force tracking, indoor localization, UWB, ,unnel model, foot-mounted IMU",
author = "Markus Watzko and Karin Mascher and Axel Koppert",
note = "Urban Operations Expert Talks ; Conference date: 19-07-2022 Through 21-07-2022",
T1 - NIKE BLUETRACK: Blue Force Tracking in Underground Structures
AU - Watzko, Markus
AU - Mascher, Karin
AU - Koppert, Axel
N2 - A blue force tracking system sends position information of the own forces to the command post. Typically, such systems use Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Since GNSS is not available in underground structures, a new concept must be found. In this article we present a localization system for operators in underground structures, such as tunnels or subways. By fusing inertial data (accelerations and angular rates) sensed by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with distance measurements from Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and map information from a 3D model, a robust blue force tracking system is introduced. The challenges here are that the needed infrastructure and an existing 3D model cannot be assumed to be available. Thus, algorithms and tools are developed to provide the necessary information in near real-time. Our tests in a street tunnel at Zentrum am Berg (ZaB) showed that the developed system provides robust localization information on the own forces.
AB - A blue force tracking system sends position information of the own forces to the command post. Typically, such systems use Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). Since GNSS is not available in underground structures, a new concept must be found. In this article we present a localization system for operators in underground structures, such as tunnels or subways. By fusing inertial data (accelerations and angular rates) sensed by an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) with distance measurements from Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and map information from a 3D model, a robust blue force tracking system is introduced. The challenges here are that the needed infrastructure and an existing 3D model cannot be assumed to be available. Thus, algorithms and tools are developed to provide the necessary information in near real-time. Our tests in a street tunnel at Zentrum am Berg (ZaB) showed that the developed system provides robust localization information on the own forces.
KW - blue force tracking
KW - indoor localization
KW - UWB
KW - ,unnel model
KW - foot-mounted IMU
T2 - Urban Operations Expert Talks


text:
Dmitri Nikolajewitsch Tschetschulin (, wiss. Transliteration Dmitrij Nikolaevič Čečulin; *  in Schostka, Gouvernement Tschernigow, heute Oblast Sumy, Ukraine; † 29. Oktober 1981 in Moskau) war ein sowjetischer Architekt, der in Moskau tätig war und dort zwischen den 1930er- und 1970er-Jahren mehrere bekannte Bauwerke schuf.

Leben

Tschetschulin schloss im Jahre 1929 ein Architekturstudium an der Moskauer Kunsthochschule Wchutein ab, wo er unter anderem beim bekannten frühsowjetischen Architekten Alexei Schtschussew studierte. In seiner frühen Schaffenszeit beteiligte er sich an der Umsetzung des unter Staats- und Parteichef Stalin erarbeiteten Generalplans für den Umbau der Hauptstadt. Unter anderem wurde er 1935 mit der Ausgestaltung einer der ersten Stationen der Moskauer Metro betraut, der Komsomolskaja unter dem Platz der drei Bahnhöfe. Für dieses Projekt erhielt Tschetschulin 1941 den Stalinpreis. 1938 folgte mit der flach angelegten Station Kiewskaja, die zugleich die erste U-Bahn-Anbindung des verkehrstechnisch wichtigen Kiewer Bahnhofs darstellte, das zweite wichtige Projekt unter Leitung Tschetschulins.

Dank der guten Resonanz seitens der Staatsmacht auf seine U-Bahnprojekte und seiner engen Beziehungen zu führenden Architekten der Frühsowjetzeit machte Tschetschulin schnelle Karriere und wurde im Jahre 1945 zum Chefarchitekt der Stadt Moskau ernannt. In dieser Funktion blieb er bis 1949 und war in dieser Zeit an der Erarbeitung eines der größten sowjetischen Bauprojekte der Nachkriegszeit, der sogenannten Sieben Schwestern, maßgeblich beteiligt. Einer dieser sieben Wolkenkratzer, das Wohnhaus an der Kotelnitscheskaja Nabereschnaja (erbaut 1948–52), wurde von Tschetschulin entworfen. Außerdem leitete Tschetschulin in den späten 1940er-Jahren unter anderem großflächige Arbeiten zum Umbau wichtiger Ausfallstraßen und Gestaltung innerstädtischer Grünanlagen.

Nach 1949 und bis zu seinem Tod leitete Tschetschulin eine Werkstatt der Stadtplanungsorganisation Mosprojekt-1. Sein letztes Großprojekt wurde das 1979 fertiggestellte Regierungsgebäude an der Moskwa, das seit den 1990er-Jahren gemeinhin als Weißes Haus bezeichnet wird. Bei dessen Konzeption verwendete Tschetschulin Stilelemente eines von ihm in den 1930er-Jahren entworfenen, jedoch nie realisierten Verwaltungsgebäudes der staatlichen sowjetischen Fluglinie Aeroflot.

Werke

In seinem architektonischen Stil ließ sich Tschetschulin vornehmlich vom russischen Klassizismus des späten 18. und des beginnenden 19. Jahrhunderts inspirieren. In seiner früheren Schaffenszeit galt er als einer der Wegbereiter des sogenannten Sozialistischen Klassizismus (auch Zuckerbäckerstil genannt), während Tschetschulins Spätwerke gemäß vorherrschendem Stil der 1960er- und 1970er-Jahre weitaus sachlicher gehalten sind. Die städtebauliche Aktivität Tschetschulins wird heute vielfach kritisiert, da er für einige seiner Großprojekte ganze historische Stadtviertel abreißen ließ (wie beispielsweise Sarjadje, ein altes Viertel innerhalb von Kitai-Gorod, für den Bau des Hotels Rossija in den 1960er-Jahren).

Frühwerke (1935–1955)
 Metrostation Komsomolskaja (Linie 1), Bahnsteighalle (1935)
 Metrostation Ochotny Rjad, Eingangsvestibül (1935)
 Metrostation Kiewskaja (Linie 4), Bahnsteighalle (1937–1938)
 Metrostation Dinamo, Eingangsvestibül (1938)
 Wohnhaus an der Kotelnitscheskaja-Uferstraße (1948–1952)
 Tschaikowski-Konzerthalle (1940, gemeinsam mit K.Orlow)
 Hotel Peking (1946)
 mehrere Wohnhäuser
 mehrere Pavillons im Ausstellungszentrum der Errungenschaften der sowjetischen Volkswirtschaft

Spätwerke (nach 1955)
 Hotel Rossija (1967; abgerissen 2006)
 Bibliothek der ausländischen Literatur (1967, gemeinsam mit A. Sitnow)
 Weißes Haus (1965–1979, gemeinsam mit Pawel Schteller)

Auszeichnungen (Auswahl)
 Stalinpreis ersten Grades (1941)
 Verdienter Architekt des Volkes der UdSSR (1971)
 Held der sozialistischen Arbeit (1976)
 Leninorden (1947, 1976)
 Orden der Oktoberrevolution (1971)
 Orden des Roten Banners der Arbeit (1939, 1957)
 Orden der Völkerfreundschaft (1981)
 Ehrenzeichen der Sowjetunion (1939)

Weblinks

 Zur Ausstellung anlässlich des 100. Geburtstags Tschetschulins auf den Webseiten des Staatlichen Architekturmuseums (russisch)
 Zur TV-Dokumentation über Tschetschulin, Perwy kanal (russisch)
 Biografie, Schostka Museum (russisch)

Einzelnachweise

Person (Moskau)
Architekt (Sowjetunion)
Architekt (Russland)
Architekt des Sozialistischen Klassizismus
Verdienter Architekt des Volkes der UdSSR
Träger des Leninordens
Träger des Stalinpreises
Träger des Ordens der Völkerfreundschaft
Träger des Ordens des Roten Banners der Arbeit
Träger des Ordens der Oktoberrevolution
Träger des Ordens Zeichen der Ehre
Held der sozialistischen Arbeit
Sowjetbürger
Geboren 1901
Gestorben 1981
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Get the blue cheese to room temperature.
Roast the pecans in a dry pan for about 7 min in low hit.
Chop the nuts to small pieces.
Mix the pecans and parsley with the blue cheese to a paste.
Take out the date seed and open it up without breaking it up to two halves.
Stuff each date with about full teaspoon of the blue cheese mixture.
Serve at room temperature and drizzle balsamic vinegar and honey on top. If you want you can roast them just for 1 min under the broiler and serve them warm.


text:
AS 2994 SUPP 1-1989
Withdrawn A Withdrawn Standard is one, which is removed from sale, and its unique number can no longer be used. The Standard can be withdrawn and not replaced, or it can be withdrawn and replaced by a Standard with a different number.
Information processing systems - Data communications - Network service definition - Supplement 1 - Network layer addressing (Supplement to AS 2994-1987)
Publisher: Standards Australia
Available Formats: Hardcopy - English
This supplement defines the abstract syntax and semantics of the network address. It is technically identical with and reproduced from ISO 8348/Add.2:1988.
Document Type Supplement (Main)
Status Withdrawn
Publisher Standards Australia
MP 62-1992 OSI - Vocabulary
AS/NZS 4166:1994 Information processing systems - Data communications - Use of the X.25 packet level protocol in local area networks
AS 2805.1-1991 Electronic funds transfer - Requirements for interfaces Communications
AS 4134(INT)-1993 Information technology - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - Numbering and sub-addressing in private integrated services networks
AS/NZS 4095:1993 Information technology - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - End system routing information exchange protocol for use in conjunction with AS/NZS 3604
AS/NZS 4170.9:1994 Information technology - International standardized profiles TB, TC, TD and TE - Connection-mode transport service over connection-mode network service Subnetwork-type dependent requirements for the network layer, data link layer and physical layer concerning permanent access to a packet switched data network using virtual calls
AS/NZS 4104:1993 Information technology - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - Network/transport protocol interworking specification
AS/NZS 3621:1994 Information technology - Data communications - X.25 packet layer protocol for data terminal equipment
AS/NZS 3651:1994 Information processing systems - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - End system to intermediate system routing exchange protocol for use in conjunction with the protocol for providing the connectionless-mode network service
AS 3969-1991 Information technology - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - OSI Routing Framework
AS/NZS 4149:1994 Information technology - Telecommunications and information exchange between systems - Intermediate system to intermediate system intra-domain routing information exchange protocol for use in conjunction with the protocol for providing the connectionles
Hardcopy - English
Standards Australia


Speed Bones MD (v.1.2) is an app that helps you practice and memorize skeletal anatomy. It's very similar to to Speed Muscles MD (v1.1), except with a skeletal focus. You can check out the Speed Muscles MD review by scrolling below or clicking here (The reviews are similar). This app allows you to rapidly review skeletal structures in an entertaining fashion. You can use it to practice or you can use it to compete with friends in game mode. This is the full version, which costs 99 cents, as compared to the free Speed Bones Lite app. I'll detail the difference in the full and lite versions later in this review.
*Good way to practice your anatomy on the go.
*Particularly useful for memorizing the wrist(trapezium, lunate, etc) , ankle bones (calcaneus, cuneiform,etc), and vertebra structures. These can be found in levels 3,4,8,9, and 11.
*Game mode makes it fun to practice, allows you to compete with friends, and also review the bones you missed.
*18 different levels, anywhere between 5 to 17 bones per level.
*Nicely priced at 99 cents, compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch.
*Label the different levels by skeletal groups, instead of numerically. This would make practice mode a lot easier.
*Medical Students, PA students, nursing students.
*College students and High School students learning anatomy.
Paid vs. Light Version: You get seven more levels with the Paid version of the app. With the paid version you also get the key bones in the head/neck that you need to know for Cranial Nerve anatomy.
Practice Mode: Refer to Speed Muscles MD review.
Zoom feature: The zoom feature allows you to be more precise when picking a bone. If you hold your finger to an area on the screen it will magnify (refer to picture), allowing you to correctly select the bone. I thought this feature was definitely helpful, although it would have been nice to use the native iPhone zoom capability as well.
Remember, you can get an iPod Touch that can run the same apps, without needing that AT&T; contact! But you're right, would be awesome if blackberry was more open to 3rd party developers.


Fabulous 3 bedroom, 3.5 bath end-unit townhouse in wonderful Orchard Hills complex with heated pool and located across from Mead Park. Fully renovated throughout with designer finishes, millwork and stone. Large eat-in kitchen, formal living room with fireplace, dining room with French doors leading to a private terrace, optional master on the main floor with full bath plus upstairs second master and additional bedroom both with full baths and walk-in closets. Two car attached garage. Live a maintenance-free life with low common charges, many recent complex improvements and walk to the train and magic circle of town.


Spring salad: rocket, endive, land cress, parsley, borage, rocket and dandelion flowers.
The manure pile has had a good slice taken off of it and spread in the garden.
This sunlit spider web in my basement caught my eye as I was bringing the geraniums in to protect them from tonight's forecast frost.
Previous Previous post: Photos this time.


text:
Ben Cauchi (* 1974, Auckland, Nový Zéland) je novozélandský fotograf, specializující se na použití historických fotografických technik, zejména mokrého kolodiového nebo ambrotypického procesu.

Životopis
Cauchi studoval na Massey University, kterou absolvoval v roce 2000. V roce 2007 absolvoval University of Otago Frances Hodgkins Fellow a v roce 2011 se zúčastnil rezidence Rity Angus Cottage ve Wellingtonu. V témže roce vyhrál cenu New Zealand Arts Foundation New Generation. V následujícím roce se stal členem Kreastlerhaus Bethanien Creative New Zealand Berlin Visual Art Residency v Künstlerhaus Bethanien a nyní tráví většinu svého času v Berlíně. Vystavoval na celém Novém Zélandu od roku 2001 a také v Austrálii, Velké Británii, Francii, Německu a Spojených státech.

Odkazy

Reference

Související články
 Fotografie na Novém Zélandu

Externí odkazy
 Domácí stránky autora

Novozélandští fotografové
Narození v roce 1974
Narození v Aucklandu
Žijící lidé
Muži


Geneseo's campus is filled with many amazing people who are interested in service and try to make a difference in people's lives daily.
One of these people led an event to encourage and inspire others to do the same.
Garth Freeman, the Coordinator of Student Leadership, Volunteerism and Service, led a Volunteerism, Engagement and Service event with the Geneseo Opportunity for Leadership Development program on Monday Jan. 22. Freeman has a history of community and service experience by holding other positions such as the Program Coordinator of Rochester AmeriCorps.
Freeman began the presentation by having students brainstorm the differences between direct service, advocacy and philanthropy, and the differences between membership and volunteerism.
The event had a small turnout, allowing for a close-knit discussion forum and for everyone to participate in the conversation.
During the event, a handout was distributed that included a short story titled "A Bed for the Night," by Bertolt Brecht, which tells the story of a man who finds available beds for homeless people during the winter months to prevent them from freezing outside at night.
Attendees discussed that the story argues that doing one nice thing for someone will not change the world; however, everyone agreed that the story argues the importance of making a difference in people's lives regardless of this fact.
If students are looking for more ways to become involved in service areas on-campus, there are a variety of ways to do so.
GOLD leader mentor junior Dilynn Livesey said.
Overall, this event was a success in creating a dialogue about why students should give back to the people around them and got students excited about other opportunities available to them throughout the Geneseo community.


text:
International Aid -- Jordan, West Bank, Madagascar
Mar 19, 2003 04:40 PM EST Comment
Humanitarian agencies prepare teams and supplies to aid the seemingly inevitable influx of refugees. Food For The Hungry¡¯s Ben Homan explains their plan of action. "We are bracing for great difficulty. The conditions along the Jordanian border are very rugged, they lack infrastructure. It's cold; it's in the middle of nowhere, so we are preparing camps to receive people and to treat them with dignity, respect, demonstrate God's love to them." Homan says their response is natural, given Scripture's mandate. "We wanted to be prepared. We believe that God calls His people to demonstrate love and compassion in situations like this. So, we've been ready, and, while we've been actively praying for peace, we are ready to be there for hurting people that are coming across the border."
World Vision International transports emergency relief supplies to communities in Gaza and the West Bank. The effort is aimed at helping areas that would be hardest hit by curfews and travel restrictions if war breaks out in Iraq. Anticipated interruptions could also interfere with existing humanitarian relief, especially if expatriate workers are ordered to leave. World Vision team members follow Christ's example in working with the poor and oppressed in order to bear witness to the hope of the Gospel.
Madagascar seeks international aid to rebuild the country from last year¡¯s civil unrest. Christian Blind Missions enter the country to assist those in need. Dr. Van Joffrion with CBM says "In the hospitals where we work, there's Scriptures available, they pray with the patients in the wards as they make rounds. So, the fact that it's a Christian hospital is obvious to the patients." Joffrion explains that the need for physical and spiritual ministry is growing. "The program has expanded from one town to another large town in the southern part of the country. There's a retired professor that is continuing to train national doctors, and one of the trainees has now started another eye department in the capitol city, and we're in the process of establishing another eye center in the northeast."
By Pauline J.


With Aspall Cyder joining us for polo, we've worked with them to create shrubs using their cyder apple vinegar. Available as cocktails or alcohol free, shrub drinks make the ultimate thirst quenchers.
The Blueberry and lavender shrub cocktail, one of our favourite creations, will be served at Polo On The Beach and in The Living Space. Keep reading for the full recipe.
A shrub is a fruit syrup, preserved with vinegar and mixed with water or alcohol to make a tangy, refreshing drink.
To make the lavender syrup add the dried lavender, sugar and water to a saucepan bring to the boil and boil slowly for a couple of minutes. Thoroughly cool.
To make the blueberry shrub crush the blueberries with the caster sugar and leave for four days. Add the cyder vinegar after wards.
To create the cocktail add the lavender syrup, blueberry shrub and gin to a cocktail shake and shake with ice. Strain into a glass and top with tonic.
Taste it for yourself at Polo on the Beach 19-21 May, or in the Living Space (coming soon).


text:
Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World's Most Successful Insects By Jonathan Balcombe
From All-Creatures.org Book, CD and Video Review Guide
Author: Jonathan Balcombe
Interviewed by Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today / Animal Emotions
Flies: The Fascinating Lives of the Most Successful Insects By Jonathan Balcombe
Available at Penguin Books
I'm always looking for new books that deal with nonhuman animals (animals) with whom I'm unfamiliar. A few months ago I learned about a book by Dr. Jonathan Balcombe called Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World's Most Successful Insects—and other than being occasionally bothered by their incessant and annoying buzzing around my head, I knew little about the complex behavior or ecological significance of these diverse little critters as pollinators, waste-disposers, predators, and food sources.1.,2. I also began looking for more information about flies and learned that some species have a special hindwing that allows them to take off rapidly to avoid being swatted.
By reading Super Fly, I learned a lot about these amazing insects, and I'm pleased that Jonathan could take the time to answer a few questions about his latest book that focuses on these fascinating winged beings who are intimately involved in countless webs of life on our magnificent planet. Here's what he had to say.
MB: Why did you write Super Fly?
JB: I've always been fascinated by insects, but they are such an enormous and hugely successful group of animals that writing a book about all insects seemed a project more worthy of an encyclopedia than a single book. So I decided to focus on one group, the flies (order Diptera). I did this for several reasons, not least that flies are worthy contenders for the most successful group of animals on the planet. Flies' astonishing constellation of lifestyles finds them inhabiting deserts, oceans, polar regions, even petroleum deposits. There are over 160,000 described species (plus perhaps five times that many yet to be discovered), and some 20 quadrillion flies living at any moment on Earth.
Another reason is that flies are omnipresent, and they personally affect practically everybody. For example, very, very few of us, I suspect, can claim never to have been bitten by a mosquito. But pesky mosquitoes are just a tiny slice of the fly pie. Through a combination of science and storytelling, Super Fly [aims to] present a glittering extravaganza of the improbable, audacious, and miraculous ways that flies get on in a world that otherwise only seems to be run by humans.
Most importantly, flies play an indispensable role in the functioning of healthy ecosystems. If they were to disappear from the face of the Earth, life as we know it would collapse and we would fall in its wake.
MB: How does your book relate to your background and general areas of interest?
JB: I'm ever curious about how other animals might experience their worlds. As an ethologist—like you, Marc, a biologist who studies animal behavior—observing what animals do in different situations is an exciting window into their inner lives.
We may never know exactly what it feels like to be a hungry housefly exploring a used dinner plate, an amorous male cactus fly squaring off against a rival male, or a tiny chocolate midge pollinating a cocoa flower. But by studying and watching them, we can gain insights into how they sense, think, and feel.
Researching a book like this is full of surprises and rewards. In addition to sleuthing out gems of knowledge and discovery from the published scientific literature, I especially enjoyed meeting and interviewing experts in the field.
MB: Who is your intended audience?
JB: Anybody with an affinity for animals, and certainly those with any interest in the lives of insects, will enjoy this book. Although flies are generally not popular with us, the fact that we all have experiences with flies may generate wide reader interest in this book. Flies are among nature's most resourceful entrepreneurs. Their ways of living may generate wonderment, disgust, admiration, and in some cases even a dash of envy. In Super Fly, you will find plenty of sex and violence, and even some celebrity.
MB: What are some of the topics that are woven into your book and what are some of your major messages?
JB: I've organized Super Fly into three main themes:
what flies are
how they make a living
their relationship with humans
The first of these includes fly senses, their brains and mental capacities, and their athleticism—such as wings that beat >1,000 times per second, and feet that can walk on a ceiling.
In the second theme, we explore flies as parasites and predators, blood-seekers, pollinators, waste-disposers, and lovers. If you've ever wondered how to make yourself less attractive to a mosquito, how certain flowers use pornography to manipulate flies, and why some flies have sperm several times longer than their bodies—this is a book for you.
The third theme gets into flies' angst-inducing roles as disease vectors and agricultural "pests," their beneficial roles in genetics, and as crime-solvers and wound-healers.
The core and final message of Super Fly is that our planet is a complex ecosystem and that flies are an indispensable part of that whole. Love them or hate them, we would perish without them.
MB: How does your book differ from others that are concerned with some of the same general topics?
JB: All of my books have the overarching goal of advocating for animals and improving our relationships with them. I do this principally because I adore animals and I fiercely believe in their right to have places to live and be themselves. I want future generations—of my fellow humans and other species—to inhabit a more compassionate, livable planet.
MB: Is there anything else you'd like to tell readers?
JB: The coronavirus pandemic reminds us that we humans are a part of this planet, not apart from it. It's time to show a little humility and stop acting like we own the place. We don't run the show here, and we ignore that at our peril. Whether or not we get our act together, we are just temporary inhabitants. A million years after the last human is gone, a fly will be perched on a leaf, rubbing her front legs together.
Jonathan Balcombe was born in England, and has lived in New Zealand, the United States, and Canada where he currently lives. He is a biologist with a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior. His books include Pleasurable Kingdom, Second Nature, The Exultant Ark, and What a Fish Knows, a New York Times best-seller available in fifteen languages. In addition to writing books, Jonathan does professional editing for aspiring and established authors, and he has taught a course in animal sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute. Formerly Director of Animal Sentience with the Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, and Department Chair for Animal Studies with Humane Society University, in Washington, DC, Jonathan has also served as Associate Editor of the journal Animal Sentience.
The book's description reads: For most of us, the only thing we know about flies is that they're annoying, and our usual reaction is to try to kill them. In Super Fly, the myth-busting biologist Jonathan Balcombe shows the order Diptera in all of its diversity, illustrating the essential role that flies play in every ecosystem in the world as pollinators, waste-disposers, predators, and food source; and how flies continue to reshape our understanding of evolution. Along the way, he reintroduces us to familiar foes like the fruit fly and mosquito, and gives us the chance to meet their lesser-known cousins like the Petroleum Fly (the only animal in the world that breeds in crude oil) and the Chocolate Midge (the sole pollinator of the Cacao tree). No matter your outlook on our tiny buzzing neighbors, Super Fly will change the way you look at flies forever.
For more information about other fascinating insects see: Empire of Ants: Their Extraordinary Lives and Hidden Worlds; Ants Rescue Sibs From Spider Webs and Surprise Us Once Again; Lonely Ants Die Young: They Don't Know What to Do When Alone; Wasps: The Astonishing Diversity of a Misunderstood Insect; Some Truths About the Fascinating Lives of Wasps; Happy Bees: Bumblebees Show Dopamine-Based Positive Emotions; The Birds and the Bees and Their Brains: Size Doesn't Matter; and Insect Brain Capable of Conscious Subjective Experiences.
NY Times Book Review:
[see PDF]
Jonathan Balcombe was born in England, and has lived in New Zealand, the United States, and Canada. A biologist with a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behavior, he is the author of four popular science books on the inner lives of animals, as well as over 60 scientific papers and book chapters on animal behavior and animal protection. Formerly Department Chair for Animal Studies with the Humane Society University, and Director of Animal Sentience with The Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy, he also serves as an Associate Editor for the journal Animal Sentience, and he teaches a course in animal sentience for the Viridis Graduate Institute. He is well known for his book, What A Fish Knows. Jonathan currently lives in southern Ontario, where in his spare time he enjoys biking, baking, birding, Bach, and trying to understand the squirrels in his neighborhood.
Return to Book Reviews