text:
package renter

import (
	"bytes"
	"errors"
	"io"
	"net"
	"sync"
	"time"

	"github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia/crypto"
	"github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia/encoding"
	"github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia/modules"
	"github.com/NebulousLabs/Sia/types"
)

// A hostUploader uploads pieces to a host. It implements the uploader interface.
type hostUploader struct {
	// constants
	settings         modules.HostSettings
	masterKey        crypto.TwofishKey
	unlockConditions types.UnlockConditions
	secretKey        crypto.SecretKey

	// resources
	conn   net.Conn
	renter *Renter

	// these are updated after each revision
	contract fileContract
	tree     crypto.MerkleTree
	lastTxn  types.Transaction

	// revisions need to be serialized; if two threads are revising the same
	// contract at the same time, a race condition could cause inconsistency
	// and data loss.
	revisionLock sync.Mutex
}

func (hu *hostUploader) fileContract() fileContract {
	return hu.contract
}

func (hu *hostUploader) Close() error {
	// send an empty revision to indicate that we are finished
	encoding.WriteObject(hu.conn, types.Transaction{})
	hu.conn.Close()
	// submit the most recent revision to the blockchain
	hu.renter.tpool.AcceptTransactionSet([]types.Transaction{hu.lastTxn})
	return nil
}

// negotiateContract establishes a connection to a host and negotiates an
// initial file contract according to the terms of the host.
func (hu *hostUploader) negotiateContract(filesize uint64, duration types.BlockHeight) error {
	conn, err := net.DialTimeout("tcp", string(hu.settings.IPAddress), 5*time.Second)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	defer conn.Close()

	// inital calculations before connecting to host
	lockID := hu.renter.mu.RLock()
	height := hu.renter.blockHeight
	hu.renter.mu.RUnlock(lockID)

	renterCost := hu.settings.Price.Mul(types.NewCurrency64(filesize)).Mul(types.NewCurrency64(uint64(duration)))
	renterCost = renterCost.MulFloat(1.5) // extra buffer to guarantee we won't run out of money during revision
	payout := renterCost                  // no collateral

	// get an address from the wallet
	ourAddr, err := hu.renter.wallet.NextAddress()
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// write rpcID
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(conn, modules.RPCUpload); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// read host key
	// TODO: need to save this?
	var hostPublicKey types.SiaPublicKey
	if err := encoding.ReadObject(conn, &hostPublicKey, 256); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// create our own key by combining the renter entropy with the host key
	entropy := crypto.HashAll(hu.renter.entropy, hostPublicKey)
	ourSK, ourPK := crypto.DeterministicSignatureKeys(entropy)
	ourPublicKey := types.SiaPublicKey{
		Algorithm: types.SignatureEd25519,
		Key:       ourPK[:],
	}
	hu.secretKey = ourSK // used to sign future revisions

	// send our public key
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(conn, ourPublicKey); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// create unlock conditions
	hu.unlockConditions = types.UnlockConditions{
		PublicKeys:         []types.SiaPublicKey{ourPublicKey, hostPublicKey},
		SignaturesRequired: 2,
	}

	// create file contract
	fc := types.FileContract{
		FileSize:       0,
		FileMerkleRoot: crypto.Hash{}, // no proof possible without data
		WindowStart:    height + duration,
		WindowEnd:      height + duration + hu.settings.WindowSize,
		Payout:         payout,
		UnlockHash:     hu.unlockConditions.UnlockHash(),
		RevisionNumber: 0,
	}
	// outputs need account for tax
	fc.ValidProofOutputs = []types.SiacoinOutput{
		{Value: renterCost.Sub(fc.Tax()), UnlockHash: ourAddr.UnlockHash()},
		{Value: types.ZeroCurrency, UnlockHash: hu.settings.UnlockHash}, // no collateral
	}
	fc.MissedProofOutputs = []types.SiacoinOutput{
		// same as above
		fc.ValidProofOutputs[0],
		// goes to the void, not the renter
		{Value: types.ZeroCurrency, UnlockHash: types.UnlockHash{}},
	}

	// build transaction containing fc
	txnBuilder := hu.renter.wallet.StartTransaction()
	err = txnBuilder.FundSiacoins(fc.Payout)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	txnBuilder.AddFileContract(fc)
	txn, parents := txnBuilder.View()
	txnSet := append(parents, txn)

	// calculate contract ID
	fcid := txn.FileContractID(0) // TODO: is it actually 0?

	// send txn
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(conn, txnSet); err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}

	// read back acceptance
	var response string
	if err := encoding.ReadObject(conn, &response, 128); err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}
	if response != modules.AcceptResponse {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return errors.New("host rejected proposed contract: " + response)
	}

	// read back txn with host collateral.
	var hostTxnSet []types.Transaction
	if err := encoding.ReadObject(conn, &hostTxnSet, types.BlockSizeLimit); err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}

	// check that txn is okay. For now, no collateral will be added, so the
	// transaction sets should be identical.
	if len(hostTxnSet) != len(txnSet) {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return errors.New("host sent bad collateral transaction")
	}
	for i := range hostTxnSet {
		if hostTxnSet[i].ID() != txnSet[i].ID() {
			txnBuilder.Drop()
			return errors.New("host sent bad collateral transaction")
		}
	}

	// sign the txn and resend
	// NOTE: for now, we are assuming that the transaction has not changed
	// since we sent it. Otherwise, the txnBuilder would have to be updated
	// with whatever fields were added by the host.
	signedTxnSet, err := txnBuilder.Sign(true)
	if err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(conn, signedTxnSet); err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}

	// read signed txn from host
	var signedHostTxnSet []types.Transaction
	if err := encoding.ReadObject(conn, &signedHostTxnSet, types.BlockSizeLimit); err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}

	// submit to blockchain
	err = hu.renter.tpool.AcceptTransactionSet(signedHostTxnSet)
	if err == modules.ErrDuplicateTransactionSet {
		// this can happen if the renter is uploading to itself
		err = nil
	}
	if err != nil {
		txnBuilder.Drop()
		return err
	}

	// create initial fileContract object
	hu.contract = fileContract{
		ID:          fcid,
		IP:          hu.settings.IPAddress,
		WindowStart: fc.WindowStart,
	}

	lockID = hu.renter.mu.Lock()
	hu.renter.contracts[fcid] = fc
	hu.renter.mu.Unlock(lockID)

	return nil
}

// addPiece revises an existing file contract with a host, and then uploads a
// piece to it.
func (hu *hostUploader) addPiece(p uploadPiece) error {
	// only one revision can happen at a time
	hu.revisionLock.Lock()
	defer hu.revisionLock.Unlock()

	// get old file contract from renter
	lockID := hu.renter.mu.RLock()
	fc, exists := hu.renter.contracts[hu.contract.ID]
	height := hu.renter.blockHeight
	hu.renter.mu.RUnlock(lockID)
	if !exists {
		return errors.New("no record of contract to revise")
	}

	// encrypt piece data
	key := deriveKey(hu.masterKey, p.chunkIndex, p.pieceIndex)
	encPiece, err := key.EncryptBytes(p.data)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// Revise the file contract. If revision fails, submit most recent
	// successful revision to the blockchain.
	err = hu.revise(fc, encPiece, height)
	if err != nil {
		hu.renter.tpool.AcceptTransactionSet([]types.Transaction{hu.lastTxn})
		return err
	}

	// update fileContract
	hu.contract.Pieces = append(hu.contract.Pieces, pieceData{
		Chunk:  p.chunkIndex,
		Piece:  p.pieceIndex,
		Offset: fc.FileSize, // end of old file
	})

	// update file contract in renter
	fc.RevisionNumber++
	fc.FileSize += uint64(len(encPiece))
	lockID = hu.renter.mu.Lock()
	hu.renter.contracts[hu.contract.ID] = fc
	hu.renter.save()
	hu.renter.mu.Unlock(lockID)

	return nil
}

func (hu *hostUploader) revise(fc types.FileContract, piece []byte, height types.BlockHeight) error {
	// calculate new merkle root
	r := bytes.NewReader(piece)
	buf := make([]byte, crypto.SegmentSize)
	for {
		_, err := io.ReadFull(r, buf)
		if err == io.EOF {
			break
		} else if err != nil && err != io.ErrUnexpectedEOF {
			return err
		}
		hu.tree.Push(buf)
	}

	// create revision
	rev := types.FileContractRevision{
		ParentID:          hu.contract.ID,
		UnlockConditions:  hu.unlockConditions,
		NewRevisionNumber: fc.RevisionNumber + 1,

		NewFileSize:           fc.FileSize + uint64(len(piece)),
		NewFileMerkleRoot:     hu.tree.Root(),
		NewWindowStart:        fc.WindowStart,
		NewWindowEnd:          fc.WindowEnd,
		NewValidProofOutputs:  fc.ValidProofOutputs,
		NewMissedProofOutputs: fc.MissedProofOutputs,
		NewUnlockHash:         fc.UnlockHash,
	}
	// transfer value of piece from renter to host
	safeDuration := uint64(fc.WindowStart - height + 20) // buffer in case host is behind
	piecePrice := types.NewCurrency64(uint64(len(piece))).Mul(types.NewCurrency64(safeDuration)).Mul(hu.settings.Price)
	// prevent a negative currency panic
	if piecePrice.Cmp(fc.ValidProofOutputs[0].Value) > 0 {
		// probably not enough money, but the host might accept it anyway
		piecePrice = fc.ValidProofOutputs[0].Value
	}
	rev.NewValidProofOutputs[0].Value = rev.NewValidProofOutputs[0].Value.Sub(piecePrice)   // less returned to renter
	rev.NewValidProofOutputs[1].Value = rev.NewValidProofOutputs[1].Value.Add(piecePrice)   // more given to host
	rev.NewMissedProofOutputs[0].Value = rev.NewMissedProofOutputs[0].Value.Sub(piecePrice) // less returned to renter
	rev.NewMissedProofOutputs[1].Value = rev.NewMissedProofOutputs[1].Value.Add(piecePrice) // more given to void

	// create transaction containing the revision
	signedTxn := types.Transaction{
		FileContractRevisions: []types.FileContractRevision{rev},
		TransactionSignatures: []types.TransactionSignature{{
			ParentID:       crypto.Hash(hu.contract.ID),
			CoveredFields:  types.CoveredFields{FileContractRevisions: []uint64{0}},
			PublicKeyIndex: 0, // renter key is always first -- see negotiateContract
		}},
	}

	// sign the transaction
	encodedSig, err := crypto.SignHash(signedTxn.SigHash(0), hu.secretKey)
	if err != nil {
		return err
	}
	signedTxn.TransactionSignatures[0].Signature = encodedSig[:]

	// send the transaction
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(hu.conn, signedTxn); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// host sends acceptance
	var response string
	if err := encoding.ReadObject(hu.conn, &response, 128); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if response != modules.AcceptResponse {
		return errors.New("host rejected revision")
	}

	// transfer piece
	if _, err := hu.conn.Write(piece); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	// read txn signed by host
	var signedHostTxn types.Transaction
	if err := encoding.ReadObject(hu.conn, &signedHostTxn, types.BlockSizeLimit); err != nil {
		return err
	}
	if signedHostTxn.ID() != signedTxn.ID() {
		return errors.New("host sent bad signed transaction")
	} else if err = signedHostTxn.StandaloneValid(height); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	hu.lastTxn = signedHostTxn

	return nil
}

func (r *Renter) newHostUploader(settings modules.HostSettings, filesize uint64, duration types.BlockHeight, masterKey crypto.TwofishKey) (*hostUploader, error) {
	hu := &hostUploader{
		settings:  settings,
		masterKey: masterKey,
		tree:      crypto.NewTree(),
		renter:    r,
	}

	// TODO: maybe do this later?
	err := hu.negotiateContract(filesize, duration)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	// initiate the revision loop
	hu.conn, err = net.DialTimeout("tcp", string(hu.settings.IPAddress), 5*time.Second)
	if err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(hu.conn, modules.RPCRevise); err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}
	if err := encoding.WriteObject(hu.conn, hu.contract.ID); err != nil {
		return nil, err
	}

	return hu, nil
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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This fluted bowl features lovely shades of green, aquamarine, and yellow on the exterior along with the addition of purple on the interior. The flutes are perfectly formed, and the colorful patterns are absolutely breathtaking as the exterior and interior colors react together.
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text:
'No-deal' Brexit heralds huge car and van price increases due to trade tariffs
Trade tariffs introduced in the event of a 'no-deal' Brexit would add around £1,500 to the price of a new car and £1,700 to the price of a new van sold in the UK and imported from the European Union
The trade body has called for a 'no-deal' Brexit to be ruled out now to avoid the introduction of trade tariffs that would add £5 billion to the collective European Union-UK automotive trade bill.
The £5 billion impact of trade tariffs is based on the application of a 10% standard tariff on cars exported to and imported from the European Union. Additionally, commercial vehicle prices could rise by up to 22% (an average 13.5% for light vans); and the cost of vehicle components by up to 4.5% if trade tariffs were imposed.
Furthermore, the SMMT says that if the impact of trade tariffs were passed directly on to vehicle buyers, import tariffs would push up the cost of UK-built cars sold in the European Union by an average £2,700, and that of light commercial vehicles by £2,000 - affecting demand, profitability and jobs in the UK.
The price increases - trade tariffs are effectively another tax - would be automatic under World Trade Organisation rules if agreements could not be reached and would apply unless manufacturers and their dealer networks were able to absorb the additional costs.
This week the SMMT met with European Union representatives in Brussels to highlight the economic importance of the integrated European automotive industry and set out the repercussions for businesses, economies and jobs if a Brexit deal could not be struck.
Time was running out, and negotiators on both sides of the Channel must prioritise the agreement of terms for a managed withdrawal and 'status quo' transition as soon as possible, said the SMMT as the negotiations around the UK's exit from the European Union on 29 March, 2019 continued. 'No-deal', it said, would undermine the industry's ability to operate and could not be an option.
Some seven out of every 10 cars registered by UK motorists came from factories in Europe, meanwhile UK car plants sent more than 40% of their output to the Continent. In addition, the tens of thousands of parts making up a vehicle cross European Union borders multiple times before final assembly, with the majority of components going into UK-built cars coming from European Union suppliers, supporting supply chain jobs across the region.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "Tariffs alone should be enough to focus minds on sealing a withdrawal agreement between the European Union and UK but the potential impact of 'no-deal' means the stakes for the automotive sector are far higher.
"Without a deal, there can be no transition period and the complex issues surrounding tariffs and trade, customs, regulation and access to talent will remain unresolved. Our industry is deeply integrated across both sides of the Channel so we look to negotiators to recognise the needs of the whole European automotive industry and act swiftly to avoid disruption and damage to one of our most valuable shared economic assets.
"In addition to the 2.7 million cars and vans that cross the Channel both ways each year, the UK exports some £3.4 billion worth of components to help build these vehicles in Europe, and sources almost three times that sum from European Union-based suppliers. More than 1,100 trucks cross into the UK from the Continent every day - the vast majority without a customs check - to deliver some £34 million worth of parts to UK plants for vehicles and engines, which are then exported back to the European Union.
"Without a withdrawal agreement, on 30 March, 2019 this trade will, as a minimum, be severely disrupted - potentially halting production, undermining competitiveness and negatively impacting the industry in the UK and Europe."
Parliament road safety adviser calls for non-wearing of seat belts to attract driving licence points
Government clarifies OpRA rules to end 'connected costs' anomaly
2025 and 2030 CO2 emission cut targets softened, but the debate rages on

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Category: Vandalism
'Irreplaceable' 17th Century banister destroyed after businessman pulled it from wall of Victoria & Albert museum
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/02/irreplaceable-17th-century-banister-destroyed-businessman-pulled/
'Irreplaceable' 17th Century banister destroyed after businessman pulled it from a wall of Victoria & Albert Museum
Yohannes Lowe – 2 MAY 2018
Victoria and Albert Museum main entrance CREDIT: VIEW PICTURES/UIG VIA GETTY IMAGES
An "irreplaceable" 17th Century banister was left smashed to pieces after a businessman pulled it from the wall of a world-famous museum. Michael Fadi Said, 41, wrecked the rail when he signed into the "special" touching area at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where visitors are encouraged to feel the displays.
The relic, worth £1000, was particularly popular with the blind, who use the space to experience the art through touch, Hendon magistrates heard yesterday.
The oak baluster dates from 1670-1680 and was intended to be a handrail with a spiral central section finely carved in the Restoration style.
A Victoria and Albert spokeswoman told The Telegraph it would have been made by turning the wood on a special lathe, and the piece has been a part of the museum's permanent collection for 112 years.
She said: "However, it has been an important part of the display in the British Gallery as it gives visitors the chance to physically feel the quality of the work done by craftsmen three hundred years ago.
"It was a particularly important part of the visitor experience for our blind guests. We run a programme of events tailored for blind and partially sighted visitors which focus on the touch objects.
"The information sign which accompanied the baluster was also written in braille so that blind visitors could learn more about the piece."
Despite admitting that it was his handwriting that signed the guestbook to gain access to this area, Said denied it was him who broke the artifact.
He told police: "I'm being arrested for something I didn't do." The authorities traced him using his address and signed a message that he left in the V&A guestbook
But after failing to appear for trial, the businessman of Kensington, West London, was convicted of one count of criminal damage and an arrest warrant has now been issued.
Angela O'Dwyer, prosecuting, said: "This item is what's known as a 'touching object' – members of the public are permitted and even encouraged to touch it.
"But he goes much further than that and pulls it off the wall and it breaks into pieces.
Said, who currently lives in an EasyJet hotel, was convicted of assault last year and has also received a suspended jail sentence for making death threats in Croatia.
He even "posed" for the CCTV cameras at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London while looking at objects in a special "touching" area, Hendon Magistrates court was told.
His actions have meant that he faces a ban from the V&A and its affiliated museums once the police locate him for sentencing.
Repairing the damage to the relic, which was particularly popular with both blind and disabled visitors, will require specialists.
District Judge Helen Clarke said: "It's an irreplaceable item given its age and specialist repair is going to be needed."
The museum's spokeswoman added: "The V&A takes the security of our visitors, staff, objects, buildings, information, and reputation extremely seriously."
Police allege son flew from England to damage $3 million painting in Aspen owned by his family
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/police-allege-son-flew-from-england-to-damage-3-million-painting-owned-by-his-family-in-aspen/
SUMMIT DAILY
Judge issues arrest warrant for suspect in 2017 art slashing
Aspen Police Department –A screenshot from surveillance cameras inside an Aspen art gallery show the suspect right before he slashed a nearly $3 million painting in May 2017. An arrest warrant was issued this week for the suspect, who is from England and has family ties to the painting, according to law enforcement.
A $3 million painting slashed by a knife-wielding man nearly a year ago at an Aspen art gallery was vandalized by the son of the painting's owner, according to law enforcement sources and court documents.
Nicholas Morley, 40, of England was charged Wednesday with felony criminal mischief in connection with the bizarre incident, and a Pitkin County District Court judge signed a warrant for Morley's arrest the same day.
Morley is the same man convicted 10 years ago of crashing into and killing an elderly couple in Macedonia during the running of a European car race for the wealthy called the Gumball 3000 Rally. He was referred to in news articles about the incident as a millionaire playboy property developer.
"He is the person charged with directly damaging this painting," Aspen prosecutor Don Nottingham said Wednesday night.
Aspen police discovered records and video surveillance showing that Morley flew from London to Denver under an assumed name May 1, the day before the slashing, rented a car at the Denver airport then flew back to London two days after the slashing, according to an arrest warrant affidavit filed Wednesday in Pitkin County District Court.
Morley did not return a phone message or an email Thursday seeking comment. Aspen attorney Ryan Kalamaya confirmed Thursday that he represents Morley, but declined to comment further. Morley's whereabouts are unknown, Nottingham said.
The painting slashing occurred May 2 at the height of Aspen's quiet, spring offseason when a man wearing sunglasses, black jeans, a black jacket, a hat and a full beard entered the Opera Gallery at the base of Aspen Mountain at 4:16 p.m.
The slightly built man wore a glove on his left hand, which he used to open the door and drop a 15 inch-by-4 inch piece of wood inside the gallery's front door frame as he entered, according to the affidavit and video of the incident released by the Aspen Police Department.
A woman working in the gallery told police she saw the man after he entered, greeted him and asked how she could help him, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.
"(The gallery employee) stated the man looked at her with a 'surprised' look," the affidavit says.
However, the man never stopped and instead walked directly up to an 8½ foot-by-6½ foot painting called "Untitled 2004" by New York artist Christopher Wool, which was hanging on the wall opposite the entrance, according to the video and the employee's account of the incident. The suspect then used his ungloved hand to take a knife or other cutting object out of his jacket pocket, slash the Wool painting twice, then turned around and ran out of the gallery, grabbing the piece of wood with his gloved hand on the way out, according to the employee's account and the video.
Video surveillance footage from other cameras in the downtown core caught the man running east past City Market and disappearing into the neighborhoods in Aspen's east end, police have said.
STRANGE PHONE CALLS
The painting was the sole item being sold on consignment at the gallery at that time, Opera Gallery owner Gregory Lahmi has said. It was listed for sale at $2.95 million amid other works in the gallery by Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, and Marc Chagall.
The incident prompted Lahmi to recall three phone calls he had received in the weeks prior to the slashing that was variously described as "strange," "suspicious" and "bizarre," according to the affidavit.
The first occurred at the beginning of April 2017 when a man with a blocked phone number called the gallery's main line and asked if they had any works by Andy Warhol or Christopher Wool, the affidavit states. The second took place April 16, 2017, when a man asked questions about the gallery itself, including whether Lahmi was alone, if the Wool painting was being exhibited, how a person would enter the gallery and if the front door was closed, according to the document.
The man declined to identify himself during the second call, though the questions he posed at that time prompted Lahmi to believe he was talking to the Wool painting's owner, the affidavit states.
The third call happened April 26, 2017, when a man called, asked if the Wool painting was still available and said he would be in next week to see it, though he again declined to give his name, the affidavit states. Lahmi told police he believed the same man with a "slight British accent" called all three times. Lahmi also said the Wool painting was not listed online, only known to be available to a handful of collectors and that "Wool's artwork was a specific taste in the art industry," according to the affidavit.
THE SLASHING AFTERMATH
Aspen Police soon discovered after the incident the painting was owned by Harold Morley, 74, of Barbados, through a trust called Fallowfield Ltd.
Harold Morley told an Aspen police detective days after the incident that few people in the world knew about his connection to the Wool painting. He also said that he and his son, Nicholas, owned Fallowfield, a holding company that bought and sold art out of Barbados, the affidavit states.
In a subsequent conversation on May 9, 2017, Harold Morley changed his story and told the detective that Nicholas Morley was not a co-owner of the trust. Instead, he said "that Nicholas just took care of a few contracts for Harold when asked," according to the affidavit.
In the case of the Wool painting, Nicholas Morley "just signed for the consignment," Harold Morley said, according to the document. Harold Morley also said that neither he nor his son recognized the suspect in the painting slashing.
On May 5, 2017, Harold Morley sent a letter to the Opera Gallery stating that the painting "can be easily restored" and that he did not plan on filing an insurance claim. Further, he asked the gallery to put out a statement "refuting" an Aspen Times story about the slashing "and stating that it was only a minor incident," according to the affidavit, which quoted the letter.
"In the same vein the police investigation should be calmed down and they be quickly informed that Fallowfield is very relaxed about the whole affair since Wool is an appreciating asset and the repairs will be all but invisible," Harold Morley's letter states, according to the affidavit.
The letter also requested that Opera Gallery staff "play the whole affair down as over-enthusiastic reporting," the affidavit states.
"It is a shame that as owners we were not consulted before the news story went public," the letter states.
A day later, Harold Morley wrote a text message to the gallery's manager, asking to "defuse any idea that the painting is destroyed or even devalued," according to the affidavit. He said he wanted to block or remove the online video of the slashing, restore the painting, sell it and "if asked by anyone we laugh it off as actually making the work intrinsically more valuable."
"We could even put it up for sale now for $3.5m on the basis it is 'famous,'" Harold Morley wrote, according to the affidavit. "Since we are not making an insurance claim there is no reason why the recollection of the incident should not be eliminated as quickly as possible from staff and public.
"Then it just becomes 'folklore.'"
An email sent Thursday to Harold Morley from The Aspen Times was not returned.
On May 10, Nicholas Morley wrote an email to the gallery manager, saying that Fallowfield did not plan on holding Opera Gallery liable for the slashing incident. He also made a couple of requests.
"It would appear possible based on the video footage (and is our judgment) that this was an accident rather than malicious damage," he wrote, according to the affidavit. "(We) kindly suggest that Opera either A: issue a press release that the incident was, in fact, an accident, or B: issue no further press comments."
Finally, Morley suggested, "that the Police Investigator be advised accordingly with our mutual wishes and the incident be reclassified."
FROM LONDON TO COLORADO
On May 18, 2017, Aspen police spoke with a corporate security agent for Delta Airlines, who reported that Nicholas Morley had flown from London's Heathrow Airport to Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 1, according to the affidavit. He booked the ticket and flew under the name "Nikola Marley," through an airport gate agent caught the discrepancy when Morley checked in and presented a passport with his real name on it.
Morley was fingerprinted upon entry into the United States on May 1, and his passport number was recorded, according to a Homeland Security agent quoted in the affidavit.
Morley then continued on another Delta flight from Minneapolis to Denver. Detectives with the Minneapolis airport police and the Denver airport police both found video footage of Morley arriving at the locations, the affidavit states.
Further, the Denver airport police detective discovered that Morley rented a blue 2017 Hyundai Velostar at the Denver airport under the name Nikola Marley. He returned the car on May 4 after driving 246 miles, according to an Alamo Rent-A-Car representative quoted in the affidavit.
"It should be noted that a one-way trip from Denver to Aspen is approximately 223 miles," the affidavit states.
Nottingham, the prosecutor, declined to comment about the discrepancy. However, others close to the investigation said the fact that Morley's rental car did not travel far enough to go to Aspen and back to Denver coupled with a lack of any official hint of his presence in Aspen was one of the reasons the investigation took nearly a year.
Morley flew from Denver to Minneapolis on May 4, then continued on to London, according to the affidavit.
Aspen Detective Ritchie Zah confirmed that Morley used a business credit card registered to himself to pay for the rental car, that he stayed one night at the Ramada Inn on Colfax Avenue in Denver and that he sent an email from the Ramada hotel, the affidavit states. He used his wife's credit card to pay for the Ramada room, though she later told Aspen police that neither she nor her husband had been to the United States recently and that she didn't use the card on May 1 or authorize her husband to use it.
Lastly, the person who saw the man slash the painting identified Morley as the person who did it after seeing his picture online. The person reported getting "the chills" when viewing his photo and pointed out his "crooked nose, his jawline and the lighter colored mustache" as proof that it was him, the affidavit states.
FATAL CRASH IN MACEDONIA
Zah spoke with Morley on May 9, 2017, and he denied that he had been in the United States that month, according to the affidavit. He said he did not remember the last time he had visited the United States though he thought it was earlier that year, possibly in January or February.
Morley is charged with criminal mischief between $1,000 and $5,000, which is the lowest level felony in Colorado criminal law. That charge is because it cost between $1,900 and $2,500 to repair the painting, according to the affidavit.
Pitkin County District Judge Chris Seldin signed Morley's arrest warrant Wednesday and ordered that he be held in lieu of a $50,000 cash-only bond when arrested.
In 2007, Morley was at the wheel of a Porsche 911 that was participating in the Gumball 3000 Rally, a car race with a more than $50,000 entrance fee and ran from London to Istanbul and back, according to media reports. Morley, variously identified as a property developer, a millionaire, and a playboy, crashed into a car carrying an elderly couple in Macedonia during the race, killing both.
Evidence accepted by a judge in his case indicated Morley was driving 100 mph at the time, though his family later released a statement disputing that and saying he was going 47 mph. Morley spent 40 days in a Macedonian prison before being convicted of the deaths.
He received a two-year suspended sentence for the conviction and was allowed to return to London, according to media reports. Morley later told a Manchester newspaper he couldn't have avoided the crash and said he was not a millionaire or a playboy.
God Bless Gary Larson
FormatImage
Vandal who punched €9m Monet to be extradited on art theft charge
https://www.herald.ie/news/courts/vandal-who-punched-9m-monet-to-be-extradited-on-art-theft-charge-36686373.html
Ken Foy – 09 March 2018
Andrew Shannon damaging the Monet in the National Gallery in 2012
A criminal who was previously jailed for damaging a €9m Monet painting at the National Gallery is due to be extradited from England today to face fresh charges here.
Andrew Shannon (53) has been serving a short sentence in England for burglary.
It can now be revealed that gardai are traveling to London today to escort him back to Dublin after a European arrest warrant was issued against him.
The warrant relates to the theft of a painting at a hotel in Co Cork, which was discovered by Pearse Street gardai when they raided his home in Ongar, west Dublin, in April 2014 and seized around 60 artworks.
Investigations have established that Shannon was allegedly staying at the hotel when the painting was stolen.
Shannon has 35 previous criminal convictions in Ireland for offenses including theft and burglary, as well as convictions for similar offenses in the UK.
His latest conviction here dates from June 2016, when he was jailed for six months after he was caught with 57 stolen antique books, including an extremely rare King James Bible, worth a total of €6,500.
Dublin Circuit Court heard that the 57 stolen books had originated in the library of Carton House in Kildare, the historical seat of the FitzGerald family.
However, Shannon's most notable criminal conviction was when he received four-and-a-half years in jail for damaging the Claude Monet painting Argenteuil Basin with a Single Sailboat (1874) at the National Gallery of Ireland on Clare Street, Dublin, on June 29, 2012.
Shannon was captured on CCTV moving forward in the direction of the painting with his arm raised and striking the artwork, causing a substantial tear.
The State's case was that the damage was premeditated and deliberate.
Shannon, however, contended that he had fallen accidentally after suffering a coronary episode.
Eyewitnesses from New Zealand said they saw Shannon punch the painting and expert evidence established the force of the blow.
Shannon, who has previous convictions for stealing from stately homes in England as well as for handling stolen property involving maps dating from 1651 with a value of €6,000, is not connected to organized crime gangs here.
However, he has been a major target for gardai for years.
Light-fingered man steals thumb of ancient terracotta warrior during museum party
GABRIELLA ANGELETI –19th February 2018 17:59 GMT
China's Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre says it will reconsider its loan policy after the "noxious incident"
Terracotta Warriors of the First Emperor (until 4 March) at The Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia.
An American man was charged with theft and concealment of an important work of art after stealing the thumb of an ancient Chinese terracotta warrior statue at the Franklin Institute of Philadelphia. Michael Rohana was recorded on security cameras taking a selfie with the statue before breaking off its left thumb during an after-hours "ugly Christmas sweater" party at the museum on 21 December. The 2,000-year-old statue is one of ten works on loan from the Shaanxi Cultural Heritage Promotion Centre, which told Chinese media that it had never experienced "such a noxious incident".
The Philadelphia museum noticed the thumb missing on 8 January and got the FBI involved, who arrested Rohana on 13 January in his home in Delaware, where the thumb was being kept in a desk drawer. Rohana, who was released on bail, is also charged with transporting stolen property through state lines.
The statue, on view in an exhibition of terracotta warriors at the museum (until 4 March), belongs to a clay army of around 8,000 soldiers, horses and other figures discovered in Xian in the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shihuang. It carries an estimated value of $4.5m. The Shaanxi museum says it will reconsider its loan policy after the incident and are now assessing the cost of repairing the damage.


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Giving Tuesday: Tips to ensure donations make an impact
By: Cat Reid
Giving Tuesday is a great way to donate to charities, but it's important to do your research.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Giving Tuesday has become a major donation day for nonprofits across the country.
Last year alone, online giving surpassed $400 million. But with tons of groups asking for donations, it can be difficult to make a decision.
Here are some steps to take before deciding where to donate.
Research the charity
Websites like Charity Navigator, CharityWatch and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance are ways to research nonprofits online.
Consumer Reports used all three sites to compile a master list of best and worst charities for donations. The list is based on the percentage of donations actually spent on programs.
Some of the highest-ranked nonprofits are in the Kansas City area.
Unbound, of Kansas City, Kansas, made the grade in the category of "Child and Family Assistance" with 93 percent of expenses going toward program support.
Meanwhile Water.org, of Kansas City, Missouri, ranked in the top five under "Environment."
Watch out for lookalikes
Before donating, make sure the group is not a "lookalike."
For example, the Wounded Warrior Project is a legitimate 501(c)3, but the Wounded Warrior Fund, Inc. and the Wounded Warrior Foundation, Inc. were involved in federal indictments in 2018. The conspirators were accused of misleading donors and pocketing their money for personal use.
Give directly
It's the easiest way to verify where the donated money is going and also ensures that the charity receives a larger percentage of the donation.
For example, if a telemarketing company calls on behalf of a nonprofit, experts said a large portion of the money goes to the company instead of the charity.
There also is the option to ask the telemarketer for the name of the group he or she is calling on behalf of in order to conduct research before giving money.
Know of something we should look into? Leave us some info below.
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Quick Answer: How much does it cost to travel from Nigeria to Ireland?
How many hours is from Nigeria to Ireland?
How much will it cost me to travel to Ireland?
How do I get from Nigeria to Ireland?
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How much is flight ticket from Nigeria to Ireland in Naira?
Is Ireland cheap to live?
How many hours is from Nigeria to Dublin?
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The average price for one way flights from Lagos to Dublin, Ireland is NGN417,247. The average price for round trip flights from Lagos to Dublin, Ireland is NGN302,555.
Distance from Ireland to Nigeria is 5,146 kilometers.
The air travel (bird fly) shortest distance between Ireland and Nigeria is 5,146 km= 3,198 miles. If you travel with an airplane (which has average speed of 560 miles) from Ireland to Nigeria, It takes 5.71 hours to arrive.
Ireland trip cost for one week
Airfare $600
Accommodations $1,200 (prices vary by location)
Transportation and attractions $300
Food & drink $385 ($55 per day)
Basic Travel Requirements for Nigerians visiting Ireland
A valid passport which has a validity of 6 months after your intended date of exit from the country. …
Duly completed visa application form.
2 passport-size photographs captured in a white background.
Finding work in Ireland can be difficult but with the correct preparation, advice and planning this task can be made a lot easier. … As with most countries, most jobs can be found in the major cities so if you are living in Dublin, Galway or Cork there is more chance of finding a job in Ireland.
THIS IS IMPRESSING: Frequent question: What was the foreign policy of the US in 1939?
The average price for connecting flights from Lagos to Dublin, Ireland is NGN507,619. The average price for direct flights from Lagos to Dublin, Ireland is NGN302,350.
The cost of living in Ireland is more expensive than 95% of countries in the world. It is the second most expensive country to live in Western Europe. The estimated costs for a single person per month is around €2,728 and for a family of four is around €4,809.
The total flight duration from Lagos, Nigeria to Dublin, Ireland is 7 hours, 2 minutes.
It is easy to get the Ireland Work Visa provided certain requirements are fulfilled by the applicants from outside the EU. They must have a job offer for a minimum of 2 years or plus and the salary must be more than 30,000 Euros.
The fees for visas are: Single entry visa fee: $81. Multiple entry visa fee: $136. Transit visa fee: $34.
Ireland has a low student visa rejection rate, meaning that it is an attractive destination for international students to study in. If you are in the process of applying for your Ireland student visa and want the support of an experienced immigration lawyer, contact IAS for immediate support and advice.


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/**
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 */
package org.openntf.domino.graph2.builtin;

import org.openntf.domino.graph2.impl.DElementStore;

/**
 * @author nathan
 *
 */
public class DefaultProxyStore extends DElementStore {

	public DefaultProxyStore() {

	}

}


Undergraduate students can earn a bachelor of arts degree in the following academic divisions: The Arts; Languages and Literature; Science, Mathematics, and Computing; Social Studies; and Interdivisional Programs and Concentrations. They may moderate into a concentration, or cluster of related courses, in conjunction with Moderation into a program. The programs and concentrations currently offered are listed alphabetically below, along with their home division. Concentrations are indicated by the letter "C".


It was another busy weekend for Craughwell AC with athletes in action in Glasgow in the Scottish Indoors on Saturday, in Athlone in the National Indoor League also on Saturday and in Athlone on Sunday for the National Junior and U23 Championships.
At the Scottish Indoor Championships, Kyle Moorhead raced to a brilliant PB of 2:04.94 in the U17 Mens 800m, narrowly missing out on making the final by the slender margin of 0.18 seconds. Freya Bohan raced to a PB of 28.13s when placing 5th in the heats of the U17 Womens 200m while Ellie Cronin leaped a huge 1.58m to place 6th in the U17 Womens High Jump.
Meanwhile on Saturday in Athlone, Craughwell AC's women's team placed 7th in the National Indoor League following on from round 1 a fortnight ago. Round 1 saw strong performances from Sarah Finnegan 4th in the 60m hurdles in 11.27s and 7th in the long jump with 4.18m, Sinéad Gaffney 6th in the 800m in 2:24.35 and Tara McNally 6th in the shot putt with 6.54m and 7th in the 60m sprint in 8.61s. The team followed it up in round 2 with a 2nd place finish from Sarah Finnegan in the triple jump with a leap of 9.69m, 6th in the high jump with 1.25m and 8th in the 200m in 29.19s, Ailbhe Miskella 6th in the 1500m in 5:27.08 and Arlene Earls 6th in the 400m in 60.97s. In the absence of some key members of the team due to mock Leaving Cert and Junior Cert exams and due to the Scottish Indoors, team captain Sarah Finnegan really played the captain's role when competing across 5 individual events over the 2 days.
Also in action on Saturday in Athlone, Gavin Cooney raced to a terrific PB of 2:00.36 in the senior men's 800m, knocking almost a full second off his 2018 PB and coming ever so close to breaking the 2 minute barrier for the first time.
It was back to Athlone on Sunday for more action at the National Junior and U23 Indoor Championships, where Conor Duggan raced to a time of 7.32 in the heats of the U23 Mens 60m, not quite happy with his blocks start and later qualified for the finals of the 200m when almost equalling his PB of 22.59s; Jack Miskella raced to 7th place in the U23 Mens 800m in a time of 2:04.40 slightly down on his brilliant 2:00.87 recorded at the Offaly Indoors a week ago; Laura Cunningham placed 8th in a high quality U20 Womens High Jump, with a best of 1.50m and unlucky not to get the 1.55; and Luke Evans recorded 2:09.21 to place 7th in the heats of the U20 Mens 800m.
Full results of the aforementioned events are here.


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We understand that documentation of actual work performed is critical to you! As stated earlier, we provide photos of all work done, both before and after. We reply on the state-of-the-art tracking and management software to organize and record all work that we perform. So you can have "Peace of Mind" that the details of your project are being managed in a timely and efficient manner and are readily available to our support staff should you need to review any aspect of your project at any time.
© 2009, A Town Properties, Inc & ATownProperties.com, All rights reserved.


I know the one that licked that dudes toes and started puking forgot her name.
Dude the chicks are so fine..
I don't know man I wanted to know if you knew haha.
I gave you infraction to test. A neat thing about this is I can see what you have purchased in the market and look at your stats in this profile.
I Hope our bromance never goes away dude!


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Home News Neon CEO explains the tech behind his overhyped "Artificial humans"
Neon CEO explains the tech behind his overhyped "Artificial humans"
The most buzzed-about company at CES 2020 doesn't make a gadget you can see or touch. It doesn't even have a product yet. But for reasons I'm still not entirely sure I grasp, the lead-up to this week's show in Las Vegas was dominated by discussion of a project called Neon, which has emerged from a previously unknown Samsung subsidiary known as STAR Labs.
What Neon has been promising is so ambitious that it's easy to swing your expectations around full circle and assume the mundane. The project's Twitter bio simply reads "Artificial Human," which could mean anything from an AI chatbot to a full-on android. Promotional videos posted in the run-up to CES, however, suggested that Neon would very much be closer to the former.
Yesterday, we were finally able to see the technology for ourselves. And they are, indeed, just digital avatars, albeit impressively realistic ones. We weren't able to interact with Neon ourselves, and the demonstration we did see was extremely rough. But the concept and the technology is ambitious enough that we're still pretty intrigued. (To get a clear idea of the tech's limitations, check out this interaction between a CNET journalist and a Neon avatar.)
After a low-key event on the CES show floor, we caught up with Neon CEO Pranav Mistry to chat about the project.
Even at a youthful-looking 38, Mistry is a tech industry veteran who's worked on products like Xbox hardware at Microsoft and the original Galaxy Gear at Samsung. "It was completely my baby, from design to technology," he recalls of the early smartwatch. As VP of research at Samsung he later moved on to projects like Gear VR, but with Neon he's now spearheading an initiative without direct oversight from the parent company.
"Right now you can say that [STAR Labs is] owned by Samsung," Mistry tells me. "But that won't necessarily always be the case. There's no technology relation or product relation between what STAR Labs does and Samsung. There's no Samsung logos anywhere, there's nothing to do with Bixby or any other product that's part of Samsung. Even what we're planning to show at CES – no-one at Samsung other than me knows about it or can tell me not to do it."
Mistry speaks at a thousand miles an hour, and one day I would very much like to sit down with him for a longer chat conducted at a less breakneck pace. At various points he invoked Einstein, Sagan, and da Vinci in an attempt to convey the lofty goals he was aiming to achieve with Neon. It was never less than entertaining. My focus, however, was on figuring out how Neon works and what it actually is.
Neon CEO Pranav Mistry on stage at CES 2020.
The Neon project is – or as the company would say, "Neons are" – realistic human avatars that are computationally generated and can interact with you in real time. At this point, each Neon is created from footage of an actual person that is fed into a machine-learning model, although Mistry says Neon could ultimately just generate their appearances from scratch.
I asked how much video would be required to capture the likeness of a person, and Mistry said "nothing much." The main limitation right now is the requirement for a large amount of local processing power to render each avatar live – the demo I saw at CES was running on an ultra-beefy PC with two 128-core CPUs. Mistry notes that commercial applications would likely run in the cloud, however, and doesn't see latency as a major hurdle because there wouldn't need to be a huge amount of data streamed at once.
The CES demo featured a Neon employee interacting with a virtual avatar of a woman with close-cropped hair and dressed in all-black. I'd seen video of this woman, among other people, playing around the Neon booth ahead of Mistry's presentation – at least, I thought it was video. Mistry, however, swears that it was entirely computer-generated footage, albeit pre-rendered rather than captured in real time.
Well, okay. That's not necessarily impressive – we've all seen what deepfakes can do with much less effort. What's different about Neon is the promised real-time aspect, and the focus on intangible human-like behavior. Multiple times, the avatar I mentioned before was told to smile on command by the employee conducting the demonstration. But, according to Mistry, she'd no more produce the same identical smile each time than you would. Each expression, action, or phrase is calculated on the fly, based on the AI model that's been built up for each Neon.
This is all by design, and Mistry even says Neon is willing to focus on humanity at the expense of functionality. For example, these avatars aren't intended to be assistants at their owners' beck and call – they'll sometimes "get tired" and need time to themselves. According to Mistry, this cuts to the core of why Neon is using language like "artificial human" in the first place.
"I feel that if you call something a digital avatar or AI assistant or something like that, it means you're calling them a machine already," Mistry says. "You are not thinking in the terms of a friend. It can only happen when we start feeling the same kind of respect. I've been working on this for a long time. In order to design this thing I need to think in those terms. If they are human, what are the limits they will have? Can they work 24 hours and answer all your questions? A Neon can get tired. Programmatically, computationally, that will make you feel 'Okay, let me only engage in certain discussions. This is my friend.'"
The obvious question, then, is what's the use case for an artificial human AI with artificial flaws? On stage, Mistry mentioned possible implementations from personal assistants to foreign language tutors. Then again, he literally said "there is no business model" a few minutes later, so I had to follow up on that point.
"There are a lot of people in the world that people remember," Mistry says. "I was an architect and a designer before, and there are a few people that are remembered like that like Einstein, or Picasso, or some musicians in India, and we know their names not because they were rich but because of what they contributed to the world. And that is what I want to end up being, because I have everything else. Do I have enough money to live with? Yeah, more than enough. What I want to give back to the world is something that's remembered after I go. Because you don't know how rich Michelangelo was — no-one cares!"
"But you're going to be selling this technology to people, right?" I say, somewhat bewildered.
"Of course. What I'm pointing out is that we believe Neons will bring more human aspects and maybe we will license that technology, or not technology as a license but Neons [themselves] as a license. Just to make a point, of course we are not saying we're a philanthropic company. But the goal is not to build around data and money and so on. Because I want to get a good night's sleep after 20 years."
The concept of ultra-realistic, entirely artificial humans with minds of their own raises obvious questions of nefarious use cases, particularly in a time of heightened fears about political misinformation, and very real examples of AI being used to create non-consensual pornography. I asked Mistry whether he'd considered the potential for negative side effects. "Of course," he said, comparing Neon to how nuclear technology generates electricity while also being used for weapons of mass destruction. "Every technology has pros and cons – it's up to us as humans how we look at that."
Will Neon limit who it sells the tech to, then? Mistry says the company will "more than limit" the tech by encoding restrictions "in hardware." But he's not clear what restrictions would be encoded or how.
Neon still has a long way to go. Even allowing for the unfavorable network environment of a CES show floor, the demonstration's responses were delayed and linguistically stilted. As someone with an interest in AI and natural language processing, I could see that there's something to hype here. But I could also see that the average layperson would remain underwhelmed. It's also worth reiterating that Neon isn't allowing private demos at CES beyond its staged presentations, reinforcing the idea that the technology is far from ready.
Still, even if the "artificial human" pitch is a little over-egged, Neon is actually more ambitious than I'd assumed. And, despite the pre-CES hype, Mistry is entirely open about the fact that there's basically no product to show. The message right now, in fact, is to come back in a year and see where Neon is then. If real progress has been made by CES 2021, then, maybe we'll get excited.
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The West interfered in Ukraine's internal affairs during the 2014 Maidan events, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Friday.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Western countries interfered in Ukraine's domestic affairs during the 2014 Maidan events, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Friday, noting that a prominent US senator had called for a Ukraine coup at the time.
"In my opinion, what was happening in Kiev on Maidan was an absolutely uncivil, rude interference in Ukraine's domestic affairs from foreign countries. It is beyond question. If [US Senator John] McCain addressed [the crowd] on Maidan and called for the overthrow of the ruling power, what does it speak about?" Azarov said, speaking at Moscow's Dorogomilovsky Court.
Azarov stressed that the role of the United States in Ukraine's coup could be proved by the statements of US top officials.
"The Americans were the patrons of the coup, [US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria] Nuland's statement was about that," Azarov said.
In early February 2014, Nuland in a leaked recorded phone conversation with US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt discussed her preference for the next prime minister of Ukraine ahead of President Viktor Yanukovych being toppled on February 22, 2014 in a violent coup.
Moreover, the EU warned former Ukrainian government of the possibility of a coup before the 2014 Maidan events, hinting at the necessity to sign an association agreement to avoid a regime change, Mykola Azarov added.
According to Azarov, following Ukraine's rejection to sign the association agreement, Kiev held "tough talks" with the EU Commission with then-European Commissioner Stefan Fule saying that in case the government does not sign the agreement, "another prime minister and another president would."
Azarov noted he was astonished by the reaction of some EU leaders to the use of Ukrainian government's right to delay or cancel the signing of the agreement. He stressed that the former government's position was to avoid signing the agreement which could have led to economic crisis.
Besides Azarov, former head of the presidential administration Andrey Klyuev, former Interian Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko and former Prosecutor General Viktor Pshonka are expected to be heard by the court on Friday.
In his lawsuit, Oleynik asked the court to establish the fact of a coup in Ukraine which will automatically lead to recognition of the current government of Ukraine as illegitimate.
On Thursday, Dorogomilovsky Court started legal proceedings in the case of recognizing the 2014 events in Ukraine as a coup d'etat on the lawsuit filed by former Ukranian lawmaker Vladimir Oleynik. He asked the court to establish the fact of a coup in Ukraine which will automatically lead to recognition of the current government of Ukraine illegitimate. A number of former ministers are expected to be interrogated on Friday.
"I unambiguously regard [the 2014 events in Ukraine] as a coup," Azarov said at the hearing.
A political crisis erupted in Ukraine in November 2013, when the country's authorities announced to suspend its European integration process. The protests that started in central Kiev's Independence Square, or Maidan Nezalezhnosti, spread across the country and led to a government coup in February, forcing then-President Viktor Yanukovych to flee the country.


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SPENCER LUDWIG New Video "Honeymoon" Out Now
rockyourlyrics November 2, 2018 0 views
Vocalist/instrumentalist Spencer Ludwig just released his colorful video for his single "Honeymoon," which features R&B artists Z & Drü Oliver.
Spencer gave a sneak peek of his video at Apple's Keynote after-party, where he captivated audiences with his wild trumpet solos, dancing on display tables bringing the audience to their feet and even crooning to Apple's CEO Tim Cook. During the Keynote, which was streamed to over 2 million users worldwide, Angela Ahrendts (Senior Vice President of Retail) profiled Spencer as a Today at Apple performer.
Spencer's latest release touches on a common question found in love and relationships – what happens when the honeymoon is over? This video examines the feelings of being at the cross roads of a relationship when you are left with the decision to push through or give up.
"Honeymoon" is the follow up to his single "My Trumpet", which gained over 300k streams on Spotify and features award winning Latin rapper, MC Davo. Spencer's independent debut single "Just Wanna Dance," which premiered on Billboard, debuted at #47 on the Spotify US Viral Charts.
Spencer, who was chosen as one of YouTube's ten acts for its prestigious "Artists In Residence" program, kicked off the year opening for The Chainsmokers and Jason Derulo, and Betty Who. He wowed audiences at iHeart Radio's Movie Pass event this year at
Coachella the 2018 NFL Draft, Bonnaroo and Pride festivals around the country.
His first solo single "Diggy" exploded right out of the gate racking up over 2.5 million Spotify streams, it sound tracking a "Fall Style" campaign for Target, and was featured prominently in the blockbuster Happy Death Day, the Netflix original movie Step Sisters and the popular video game Just Dance 18.
Additionally, peers such as Chance The Rapper, Maroon 5 and Camila Cabello have shown support on social media. He turned audiences around the world into believers after his performance on Late Night With Seth Meyers and also at Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits,
Mexico's Corona Capital and on tour supporting BeBe Rexha in the US and Europe.
Angela AhrendtsArtists In ResidenceDrü OliverHoneymoonJust Wanna DanceMC DavoMy TrumpetSpencer LudwigTim CookZ
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SPENCER LUDWIG Releases "Brand New"
rockyourlyrics September 3, 2019
Rock Your Lyrics Backstage – Interview with Spencer Ludwig
Spencer Ludwig Premieres Live Performance of "My Trumpet"
Spencer Ludwig Releases New Music Video for "My Nature" Featuring Zak Downtown
Flower – Interview with Johnny Stimson
SPENCER LUDWIG Premieres New Video for "Just Wanna Dance"


People and Us Weekly—I won't even pretend I don't like having an excuse to buy Us Weekly.) Worley's was a reasonable prediction for a number of reasons. Or, rather, one reason: The family from whence Honey Boo Boo (I'm talking about seven-year-old Alana Thompson) came is a family full of farters. In fact, in the first half of the two-episode premiere, an entire segment is devoted to the whole gang teaching a professional wrestler to cup a fart and throw it at his opponent.
Alas, and despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, TLC doesn't want to offend its audience quite as much as Waters did his. The scratch-and-sniff card featured no farts, no roadkill, no baby vomit, not even the cologne that patriarch Sugar Bear got for his birthday, which probably smelled worse than roadkill doused in baby vomit. Instead we get baby powder, roasting wild pig, butter. The most offensive scratch-scent was train exhaust, which smelled remarkably like the go-cart exhaust scratch-scent. I imagine a TLC exec saying, "Farts? Even we're not that gross." Sure they are.


Welcome back to the Friday Fiction Feature! The themes have returned, and this week, we've got an experiment in how different two books with the same title can be. All of the books today start with the same idea: a Labyrinth (which definitely doesn't have anything to do with Tabatha's project on the film Labyrinth).
First up, is Labyrinth (Languedoc #1) by Kate Mosse, a contemporary/historical novel with an archeological turn.
July 2005. In the Pyrenees mountains near Carcassonne, Alice, a volunteer at an archaeological dig, stumbles into a cave and makes a startling discovery-two crumbling skeletons, strange writings on the walls, and the pattern of a labyrinth. Eight hundred years earlier, on the eve of a brutal crusade that will rip apart southern France, a young woman named Alais is given a ring and a mysterious book for safekeeping by her father. The book, he says, contains the secret of the true Grail, and the ring, inscribed with a labyrinth, will identify a guardian of the Grail. Now, as crusading armies gather outside the city walls of Carcassonne, it will take a tremendous sacrifice to keep the secret of the labyrinth safe.
Next, in The Maze Runner (Maze Runner #1) by James Dashner we move into the more literal meaning of a Labyrinth, and the less literal meaning of 'reality' in this sci-fi thriller.
For a sci-fi blast from the past, I've found Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars: The Dark Lord Trilogy #1) by James Luceno, just for you!
Capturing Trade Federation Viceroy–and Separatist Councilmember–Nute Gunray is the mission that brings Jedi Knights Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker, with a squad of clones in tow, to Neimoidia. But the treacherous ally of the Sith proves as slippery as ever, evading his Jedi pursuers even as they narrowly avoid deadly disaster. Still, their daring efforts yield an unexpected prize: a unique holotransceiver that bears intelligence capable of leading the Republic forces to their ultimate quarry, the ever-elusive Darth Sidious. Swiftly taking up the chase, Anakin and Obi-Wan follow clues from the droid factories of Charros IV to the far-flung worlds of the Outer Rim . . . every step bringing them closer to pinpointing the location of the Sith Lord–whom they suspect has been manipulating every aspect of the Separatist rebellion. Yet somehow, in the escalating galaxy-wide chess game of strikes, counterstrikes, ambushes, sabotage, and retaliations, Sidious stays constantly one move ahead. Then the trail takes a shocking turn. For Sidious and his minions have set in motion a ruthlessly orchestrated campaign to divide and overwhelm the Jedi forces–and bring the Republic to its knees.
Moving from the supernatural to the metaphysical, we've got The Labyrinth of Solitude and Other Writings by Octavio Paz, Lysander Kemp (Translator), Yara Milos (Translator).
To finish this list of magic, science fiction, and philosophy, we have Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges.
If Jorge Luis Borges had been a computer scientist, he probably would have invented hypertext and the World Wide Web. Instead, being a librarian and one of the world's most widely read people, he became the leading practitioner of a densely layered imaginistic writing style that has been imitated throughout this century, but has no peer (tho Umberto Eco sometimes comes close). His stories are redolent with an intelligence, wealth of invention and a tight, almost mathematically formal style that challenge with mysteries and paradoxes revealed only after several readings. Highly recommended to anyone who wants their imagination & intellect to be aswarm with philosophical plots, compelling conundrums and a wealth of real & imagined literary references derived from an infinitely imaginary library.


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Heteroscodra crassipes latithorax is een spinnenondersoort in de taxonomische indeling van de vogelspinnen (Theraphosidae).

Het dier behoort tot het geslacht Heteroscodra. De wetenschappelijke naam van de soort werd voor het eerst geldig gepubliceerd in 1920 door Embrik Strand.

Vogelspinnen

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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ClickBeat
ClickBeat started its life as an idea that we (Aymes and Surasshu) had when Surasshu visited Aymes in England. We thought that a music game that was controlled by the mouse would be an awesome addition to the music game genre, something that hadn't really been tried before. When Elite Beat Agents came out shortly after, we knew that this was the direction we wanted to take our game too. The game appealed to us because of the crazy graphics and the fun Japanese music.
We initially decided to just try to replicate the game, using their circle scripts and songs and so on. However, it soon became apparent that the mouse didn't work quite the same way as the stylus, and the scripts in Osu! were all but useless for our game. Honestly, the game may look similar on the surface, but it feels like something altogether different. So we went for all original compositions and started calling the game ClickBeat (or BeatClick, it was never quite consistent).
GamersHell
Labels: musical, other
musical|other|


UPDATE #13: The embassy visit targeted for Thurs. Jan. 24th is not able to be accommodated by the embassy. I've been in communication with them since December to confirm either our original date or an alternate date that would work with their schedule. They continually inform me they will confirm a date soon, but they never end up doing so. If I don't hear back from them by Fri. Jan. 25th, the embassy visit will unfortunately, not take place. I'll post an on that date. This UPDATE has been emailed to the yes RSVPs.
UPDATE #1: I've announced the New Zealand pre-trip dinner. Click here (https://bit.ly/2lXma7i). If you've already made payment or deposit for the New Zealand trip and can make the dinner, please RSVP for the dinner but do NOT make payment, as the dinner is FREE for those joining the New Zealand trip itself. Please do so by Wed. Aug. 1st. After that date, if you've made payment or deposit for the New Zealand trip, and you'd like to RSVP for the dinner, please send me a message through my Meetup profile (do NOT comment on the event posting), and I'll manually add you to the dinner event. I look forward to seeing you there!


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November 19, 2016 – Can Fit Pro Toronto Summit
Happy to have my coaching beliefs validated by a respected celebrity in our wellness/fitness world — Tosca Reno, also known as the queen of clean eating. Your foods/lifestyle choices can heal you. I am a huge advocate of that, hence, I have not need to see a doctor and have not taken any medication for almost 12 years (not even cough syrup or Advil). If ever I need a doctor, I will be seeing her daughter, top 20 naturopathic doctor in Toronto, Dr. Rachel Corradetti.
August 19, 2014 – IDFA International Championships News
After months of sharing her journey to the IDFA stage with her readers and followers, Penny Phang takes home second place for Women's Fitness at the 2014 IDFA International Championships Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness competition. Watch video and see more photos here.
April 11, 2014 – Kaizen Canada News
Penny Phang's official sponsor for the 2014 IDFA International Championships Women's Fitness is Kaizen Canada, a leader in high-quality natural nutritional supplements. Together, they've agreed that Penny shares with you some of the things she's doing to prepare for this championship competition: the ups and downs — the physical, mental, emotional and even spiritual challenges along the way. "My ultimate goal in doing this is to hopefully inspire you to join me (in your own way) as you challenge yourself to achieve your health and fitness goals, whatever they may be." — Penny Phang. Watch Penny's official announcement here and learn how you can follow her journey.
August 22, 2013 – Humble and Fred Radio News
Penny answers questions on the topic of wellness and fitness this morning on Humble and Fred Radio. Humble and Fred are a staple in Toronto radio for 25 years and are now a live, national morning show on Sirius XM satellite radio. Listen to the informative and hilarious interview here.
July 1, 2013 – Kaizen Platinum News
Kaizen welcomes Penny Phang as one of their sponsored Platinum Athletes. Penny will be working with Kaizen to provide helpful wellness and fitness tips, advice and weekly workout videos for the fans and audience. Kaizen Platinum, promoting as science of nutrition, provides the finest protein to build a better body plus other essential supplements. They aim to offer safe, effective products that are easy to use and that produce measurable results. Read more.
April 1, 2013 – Eligible Lifestyle Magazine News
Penny has been chosen to be featured as one of Toronto's most eligible bachelorettes in an effort to raise funds for the SickKids Foundation at an auction held next spring. This annual charitable event is held by Toronto's Eligible Lifestyle Magazine, a lifestyle resource for urban men and women who want the best from their dating life, their relationships and themselves. Read more.
March 1, 2013 – VividLife.me News
For the past 3 years, Penny's inspirational messages and thought-provoking insights have gained a following and been recognized by numerous online communities. Most recently she was invited to join the VividLife.me community of inspirational speakers and writers as a feature and regular contributor. VividLife.me is an online inspirational resource center designed to help visitors all over the world in living their ultimate life. Read more.
December 12, 2012 – MuscleMag News
Celebrity fitness personality Penny Phang is featured in the December 2012 issue of MuscleMag, world's leading magazine in training and fitness. Last chance to purchase! See more here.
November 15, 2012 – The Vancouver Sun: Business News
Not too long ago, The Sun news catches up with Penny to get the scoop on her career, latest projects, her recent feature on MuscleMag and not to mention, the story of how her co-founded non-profit organization came to be. Click image to read.
Click on image to enlarge.
November 11, 2012 – MuscleMag News
MuscleMag, world's leading magazine in training and fitness, features celebrity fitness personality, Penny Phang, in the December 2012 issue. Out on newsstands now. Get your copy today! See more here.
October 25, 2012 – MuscleMag News
Penny Phang - Featured in December 2012 issue of MuscleMag, world's leading magazine in training and fitness. On newsstands in November. Take a sneak peek here.
July 21, 2012 – Martial Arts News
Watch Penny's butt-kicking freestyle martial arts routine with a mix of different Karate styles: Shito-ryu, Kenpo, Shotokan. And just for kicks (pun intended), even a little Wushu. Watch video.
June 12, 2012 – RIGHT TO PLAY Charity Golf Tournament
Penny attended the "I AM GOLD" Right to Play Charity Golf at Eagles Nest Golf Club. The celebrity-filled event supports Right To Play's mission to improve the lives of children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world by using the power of sport and play for development, health and peace.
Here in this photo Penny shows players how to perform proper stretches before the game. The charity event raised $150,000 that day.
April 11, 2012 – Strong-Athlete News
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Fitness Star Penny Phang
By Vince "Fitness Financier" Pe
A few weeks ago I got to catch up with my dear friend – the beautiful Penny Phang. If you've been fortunate to work with Penny, you know right away that she is an individual of incredible drive and passion in whatever she puts her mind to. This stunning entrepreneur is a Personal Trainer, Writer, Public Speaker/Motivator, TwinLab Canada sponsored athlete, and Wellness Coach. Did I also forget to mention that she is a double black belt martial artist in Kenpo and Freestyle Karate?
In addition to balancing a busy schedule, Penny can be seen frequently with her 10-minute home workout videos to keep all of her clients and her fans "on the move" despite THEIR busy schedules.
In this Strong-Athlete feature, we get to find out "what drives the driven" as Penny shares her secrets on what keeps her pushing for more. Read it here on Strong-Athlete.com.
February 26, 2012 – MMA Canada News
MMACanada.net presents Strength & Conditioning 101: Straight Leg Deadlift with special guest, Wellness and Fitness Expert, Penny Phang. This exercise focuses on strengthening and improving flexibility through the lower back, glutes and hamstrings. Enjoy this free training clip courtesy of MMACanada.net and the MMA Freak JP Castillo. Watch video.
September 28, 2011 – Inside Fitness News
Canada's #1 fitness magazine and Twinlab Canada shares an announcement on Penny's latest endeavors.
September 21, 2011 – Wellness and Fitness News
What is the difference between "Fitness" and "Wellness"? Penny takes a few moments to clarify things...
"There's so much confusion with the definition of "fitness" and "wellness." So many individuals and companies use those words interchangeably to mean different things depending on the context, or the message they're trying to convey, or even the product or service they're trying to sell. And so it is that those words are often misused or get lost in translation or interpretation…" Read more.
August 18, 2011 – MuscleMag News
The team at MuscleMag, North America's leading bodybuilding magazine, will be featuring Penny in the pages of their magazine. The issue is yet to be announced. Here's a sneak peek behind the scenes on the day of the photo shoot.
August 12, 2011 – GameChanger News
Congratulations to Penny for ranking 5th (out of 44 competitors) at the GameChanger Pro Series. Her team, Wellness SuperFreaks, ranked 3rd out of 15 teams. Watch video.
"GameChanger is an athletic competition designed to rank your athletic abilities against other top athletes. When an athlete can incorporate training from other sports such as a football player using MMA to improve agility, they become much better football players. But when you can combine 5 professional sports training, you become a Game Changer."
- Dr. Michael Ho.
August 10, 2011 – Flirty Girl Fitness News
Join Penny and some of Canada's hottest instructors as they go LIVE at Flirty Girl Fitness! Experience the hottest, women's only, fitness and lifestyle facility. They make exercise so outrageously unique and entertaining it will inspire you to get fit and feel fabulous.
LIVE Classes are LIVE with real-time streaming. There are no retakes or cuts. This is LIVE. Each class is then posted so you can view them up to 24 hours after their LIVE airing. Click here for LIVE class schedules and class descriptions. Now you can workout with Penny and some of Canada's best anywhere in the world!
August 8, 2011 – Wellness and Fitness News
Penny shares the first workout from her series of 10-Minute Home Workout videos to launch the "Join the Wellness Movement" campaign. This campaign is created to motivate you to "move"; to encourage you to consciously choose the things in life that fulfills your overall wellbeing; to inspire you to stay fit, stay strong and stay well in mind, body and spirit. Join the Wellness Movement! Start here, right now! Click here.
"I hope you'll join me, and many others, in making small changes each day to better your overall wellbeing." - Penny Phang
July 11, 2011 - GameChanger News
GameChanger is the hot new workout inspired by Olympic and professional level training. Congratulations to the Best of the Best! Penny is part of the GameChanger crew, a group of elite athletes taking workouts to a whole new level; changing the game as we know it. Change your game, change your life!
May 16, 2011 - IDC Financial News
Penny delivers her inspiring power talk, Empower Your Life From Inside Out, to hundreds in attendance - including top executives and advisors from leading financial and insurance companies. Watch the full power talk demo. Click here.
March 25, 2011 - Twinlab Canada News
TWINLAB Fuel for the Driven!- We are happy to announce that the highly accomplished Athlete, Author and Double Black Belt Penny Phang has joined the Twinlab Canada Team! Penny is one of Canada's shining stars in Health and Wellness. An IDFA Champion, fitness instructor, writer and speaker, Penny can be found conducting seminars and workshops in the Toronto area. Penny brings a great wealth of knowledge and passion to the Twinlab Team.
Look for helpful advice on-line at www.wellnesswithpenny.com
March 22, 2011 - Kingwest Fitness News
Penny and The Launch of Jukari with Reebok and Cirque Du Soleil in Toronto, Canada. Watch videos.
Join Penny's Cardio Kickboxing class at Flirty Girl Fitness.
This incredible cardio class is the ultimate stress reliever as you take out all your aggression fighting your phantom opponent learning the fundamentals of boxing and kickboxing. Get ready to work hard in this challenging and super-fun kickboxing class. Grab a towel and a bottle of water and be prepared to sweat – this class is intense! Watch videos.
Penny's 30-Minute Body Blast Bootcamp.
Train your endurance and strengthen and tone your muscles in this incredibly effective no-nonsense weights and cardio interval training session specifically designed to maximize your total body workout, leaving you stronger and more energized to seize the day! Get ready to burn some major calories! Watch videos.
*Note: This class also incorporates Plyometrics to challenge your strength and speed with fast, explosive, powerful movements. Train your muscles and surrounding tissues to jump higher and run faster.
February 1, 2011 - Fitness and Figure Competitions are seasoning up again. Congratulations to Trudie German, who is currently training with Penny to enter her first Figure competition with OPA and IDFA this year.
*Update on Trudie's training: April 4, 2011 - 6 weeks before competition. Her body is coming along nicely. Abs are showing well; they will look even better closer to competition when her diet gets stricter. Still need to work on her stubborn right calves which fight to remain smaller than her left calves! grr.. >:(
Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more videos J
Join me on Facebook for more photos, thoughts and goodies J
Follow me on Twitter for updates J
Wellness With Penny has a new home at PennyPhang.com


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In solar thermal collectors, a selective surface or selective absorber is a means of increasing its operation temperature and/or efficiency. The selectivity is defined as the ratio of solar radiation absorption (αsol) to thermal infrared radiation emission (εtherm).

Selective surfaces take advantage of the differing wavelengths of incident solar radiation and the emissive radiation from the absorbing surface:
 Solar radiation covers approximately the wavelengths 350 nm to 4000 nm; UV-A, visible and near infrared (NIR, or IR-A plus IR-B).
 Thermal infrared radiation, from materials with temperatures approximately in the interval -40 to 100 °C, covers approximately the wavelengths 4000 nm to 40,000 nm = 4 um to 40 um; The thermal infrared radiation interval being named or covered by: MIR, LWIR or IR-C.

Materials
Normally, a combination of materials is used.  One of the first selective surfaces investigated was a semiconductor-metal tandem – simply copper with a layer of black cupric oxide. Silicon on metal is also another example. A different design has ceramic–metal composites (cermets) on metal substrates. Black chromium ("black chrome") and nickel-plated anodized aluminum is another selective surface that is very durable, highly resistant to humidity or oxidizing atmospheres and extreme temperatures, while being able to retain its selective properties, but expensive. One of the more popular designs – a multi-layer broadband solar absorber – consists of a metal substrate coated with multiple layers of metal and dielectric materials. While those have to be vacuum-deposited, they have been widely adopted due to their suitability for vacuum tubes.

Although ordinary black paint has high solar absorption, it also has high thermal emissivity, and thus it is not a selective surface.

Typical values for a selective surface might be 0.90 solar absorption and 0.10 thermal emissivity, but can range from 0.8/0.3 for paints on metal to 0.96/0.05 for commercial surfaces. Thermal emissivities as low as 0.02 have been obtained in laboratories.

Other applications
Selective surfaces are used for other applications than solar thermal collectors, such as low emissivity surfaces used in window glasses, which reflect thermal radiation and have high transmittance factors (being transparent) for visible sunlight.

See also
Insulated glazing
Solar cooker
Solar power
Trombe wall

References

External links
Selective Surface for efficient Solar Thermal Conversion
Table of absorption and emissivity for various materials

Solar thermal energy
Optical filters


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News > News Archive > February 2008
February 13, 2008 - Frankie Muniz will be featured in an upcoming episode of Eurosport Buzz. The interview was filmed at the Pacific Coast Motorsports headquarters last Sunday and focuses on Frankie's auto racing career. Eurosport Buzz is a magazine broadcast which airs on Eurosport every Saturday, and features the sports interests of celebrities.
PCM Wraps First Official Atlantic Test
February 6, 2008 - OXNARD, CA - Less than a week after announcing their return to Atlantic competition and their driver line-up, Pacific Coast Motorsports wrapped their first official Atlantic test of 2008. American standouts Carl Skerlong and Frankie Muniz completed two full days of testing at Sebring International Raceway today. It has been a busy week for the California-based team, as the Atlantic test was completed on the heels of PCM's senior squad, the Champ Car team's two-and-a-half day test which was completed on Monday. PCM Atlantic Team Manager, Shane Seneviratne commented on the team's performance and the driver's developments, "Overall, I'd say it was a very productive test. We really focused on the upcoming season and technical development." Seneviratne continued, "Our engineers Burke Harrison (#28) and Tim Lewis (#29) really used this test to develop a book of set-up combinations that they will be able to apply throughout the year. While Carl and Frankie did not necessarily get to display their speed, they did spend a lot of time working with their engineers and developing their racecar. They have a lot of information to take-away and study prior to the start of the season. Everyone did a great job."
The PCM Atlantic team will return to their California headquarters. The team is still based in the US RaceTronics shop in Bakersfield , but will be moving to the PCM headquarters in Oxnard this month. Frankie Muniz, driver of the #29 PCM/Mazda/Swift will complete a television shoot this Sunday for the European television company, Eurosport. For all of the latest results and news, please visit www.pcmracing.com
Frankie Muniz, #29 PCM/Mazda/Swift/Cooper Tires
"This was a very important test for our team in terms of development. We tested combination after combination and have a lot of great information heading into the season because of it. I am learning so much from my engineer, Tim Lewis. I've never really learned how to develop a car, I've certainly never spent this much time developing set-up and it is really a great experience and I feel I have a much better fundamental understanding of what the car needs and what I need to maximize the track conditions. We did our best time of the test this afternoon when the track was actually slower; I ran the 12th quickest time at the point. The interesting thing also was that I was quicker on the old tires. It says a lot about the terrific product Cooper Tires provides us. I wish we had one more day because the car we ended up with this afternoon was awesome and I would love to try it out tomorrow morning when the track is at its best! I am really excited to get the season started!"
Visit the Pacific Coast Motorsports website at www.pcmracing.com
PCM Atlantic Quotes – Sebring Day One
February 5, 2008 - Frankie Muniz, #29 PCM/Mazda/Swift/Cooper Tires
"It was a good day today, everyday with PCM I am learning so much, it's awesome and great for my confidence inside the race car. I was a little disappointed this morning; I do not feel like I maximized the session. However, this afternoon was much better and we made a lot of progress. I had the best session I have ever had in terms of the timesheets and I am confident we can be much quicker in the morning, so that is great. Sebring is a great track for testing. It is bumpy like a street circuit, but it also has high-speed corners which are great confidence builders and challenging brake-zones that give you the opportunity to work on late-braking. I have been training everyday over the off-season and it has definitely paid off. It was 80 degrees today and it felt like it was nearly 100% humidity but I still had a lot of energy at the end of the day after 125 laps, I feel great!"