text:
\section{Introduction}\label{section:Intro}

Black holes (BHs) are completely described by only three quantities:
mass, charge, and spin.  In astrophysical settings, any net charge
will rapidly neutralize, with the result that a stellar-mass BH is
specified by just its mass and spin.  BH spin is commonly expressed in
terms of the dimensionless parameter $a_* \equiv cJ/GM^2$ with $|a_*|
\le 1$, where $M$ and $J$ are respectively the BH mass and angular
momentum, and $c$ and $G$ are the speed of light and Newton's
constant.
While mass measurements of stellar-mass BHs have been made for
decades, the first spin measurements have been achieved only during
the past three years (\citealt{Shafee_spin, spin_1915, spin_m33,
  Gou_2009, Miller_2009}, and references therein).  Meanwhile, the
spins of supermassive BHs have also been measured
\citep{Brenneman_Reynolds, Miniutti_2007}.  The only two methods
presently available to measure BH spin are via modeling the thermal
continuum spectrum of a BH accretion disk, as pioneered by
\citet{Zhang}, or by modeling the profile of a relativistically
broadened Fe K fluorescence line, as demonstrated by \citet{Tanaka_1995}.

Spin is measured by estimating the inner radius of the accretion disk
$R_{\rm in}$.  One identifies $R_{\rm in}$ with the radius of the
innermost stable circular orbit $R_{\rm ISCO}$, which is dictated by
general relativity.  $R_{\rm ISCO}/M$ is a monotonic function of
$a_*$, decreasing from $6G/c^2$ to $1G/c^2$ as spin increases from
$a_*=0$ to $a_*=1$ \citep{Shapiro_Teukolsky}.  This relationship
between $a_*$ and $R_{\rm ISCO}$ is the foundation of both
methods of measuring spin.

In the continuum-fitting (CF) method, one determines $R_{\rm ISCO}$ by
modeling the X-ray continuum spectrum, focusing on the thermal
accretion-disk component.
The observables are flux, temperature, distance $D$, inclination $i$,
and mass $M$.  To obtain reliable values of spin, it is essential to
have accurate estimates for $M$, $i$ and $D$, which are typically
derived from optical data.

The CF method has been applied only to spectral data obtained in the
thermal dominant (TD) state (or very recently to a near-TD
intermediate state; \citealt{Gou_2009}).  The TD state is chiefly
characterized by the dominance of the soft, thermal disk component of
emission.  (For a measure of this dominance and a review of BH states,
see \citealt{RM06}.)  The CF method has never been applied to the more
Comptonized steep power law (SPL) state, which is characterized by the
coexistence of a strong power-law component with photon index $\Gamma
> 2.4$ and a significant thermal component.  Most models for the SPL
state invoke Compton up-scattering of thermal seed photons by coronal
electrons as the mechanism that generates the power law.  Herein, we
employ a self-consistent Comptonized accretion-disk model that yields
values of $R_{\rm in}$ for SPL-state spectra that are consistent with
those obtained for TD-state spectra.  This result greatly increases
the reach of the CF method, allowing one to obtain reliable
measurements of spin for a much wider body of data than previously
supposed, and for sources that do not enter the TD state (e.g., Cyg
X-1).  Moreover, the success of this model supports the widely-held
assumption that Comptonization is the mechanism which generates the
observed high-energy power law component in SPL- and TD-state spectra.

Our full model of a Comptonized accretion disk is a convolution of the
relativistic thin accretion-disk model {\sc kerrbb2}
\citep{KERRBB,spin_1915} and {\sc simpl}, an empirical model that
convolves a Comptonization Green's function with an arbitrary seed
photon spectrum \citep{Steiner_simpl}.  Both models are implemented in
XSPEC \citep{XSPEC}.  {\sc simpl}, with only two parameters, ensures
photon conservation and self-consistently generates the power-law
component of the spectrum of an accreting BH using the accretion-disk
component as input.

We have chosen to apply our spectral model to the two bright transient
X-ray sources H1743--322 (hereafter H1743), which we feature, and
XTE~J1550--564 (hereafter J1550).  Both transients are sources of
large-scale relativistic jets and high-frequency QPOs (\citealt{RM06},
and references therein).  For a detailed comparison of the spectral
and timing characteristics of these very similar transients during
their principal outbursts,
see \citet{JEM_H1743_2007}.  Presently, the distance to J1550 is
poorly constrained (see \citealt{Orosz_2002}), and no useful distance
estimate or dynamical information whatsoever is available for the
black hole candidate H1743.  Consequently, we cannot yet accurately
estimate the spins of these black holes.  In this work, we adopt
fiducial values of $M$, $i$ and $D$.  Of course, $R_{\rm in}$ (and
$a_*$) depend strongly on these fiducial values.  However, as we show
in \S\ref{subsec:dynmod}, for any reasonable range of these input
parameters, the dependence of $R_{\rm in}$ on luminosity or on time
during the outburst cycle is slight, which is an important conclusion
of this work.

We show that the very widely-used additive XSPEC models of
Comptonization, namely the empirical model {\sc powerlaw~} and the physical
model {\sc compTT~} (\citealt{COMPTT}; \S\ref{section:Res}), are inadequate
for extracting measurements of spin from spectra with substantial
power-law components.  A self-consistent model such as {\sc simpl} is
required.

\section{Observations \& Analysis} \label{section:Obs}

We apply the model described below to the full archive of spectral
data for the 2003 outburst of H1743 (the most intense observed for
this source) and for all five outburst cycles of J1550 obtained using
the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer's ({\it RXTE}'s) Proportional Counter
Array (PCA; \citealt{RXTE}).  We rely solely upon ``standard 2''
spectra obtained using the PCU-2 module, {\it RXTE}'s best-calibrated
detector.  All spectra have been binned into approximately half-day
intervals, background subtracted, and have typical exposure times
$\sim3000\;$s.  For the first 5 weeks of PCA observations (through
2003 May 1 UT) the detector was pointed $0.32^{\circ}$ from H1743.  We
have corrected the fluxes to full collimator transmission assuming a
triangular response with FWHM = $1^{\circ}$.  We applied similar
collimator corrections ($\approx 0.1^{\circ}-0.3^{\circ}$) to three
observations of J1550 performed on 1998 September 7--8 and 1999
January 5 UT.

A 1\% systematic error has been included over all channels to account
for uncertainties in the response of the detector (details on {\it RXTE}'s
calibration can be found in \citealt{RXTE_cal}).  As in our earlier
work (e.g., \citealt{spin_1915}), we have corrected for detector dead
time while using contemporaneous Crab observations and the canonical
Crab spectrum of \citet{Toor_seward} in order to calibrate the PCA
effective area.  The resultant pulse-height spectra are analyzed from
$2.8 - 25$ keV using XSPEC v12.5.0.

In XSPEC, the model we employ is {\sc
  phabs}({\sc simpl}$\otimes${\sc kerrbb2}), where {\sc phabs} is a
widely-used model of low-energy photoabsorption.  {\sc simpl~} redirects
photons from the seed distribution, described here by the
accretion-disk model {\sc kerrbb2}, into a Compton power law.  Like
{\sc powerlaw}, {\sc simpl~} has just two parameters: (1) the fraction of seed
photons $f_{\rm SC}$ scattered into the power law, and (2) the photon
power-law index $\Gamma$.  {\sc simpl~} does not incorporate higher-order
effects such as geometry-dependent scattering or reflection.  The
relativistic disk model {\sc kerrbb2~} similarly has two fit parameters:
(1) the spin parameter $a_*$, which we express equivalently in terms
of $R_{\rm in}$ (\S\ref{section:Intro}), and (2) the mass accretion
rate $\dot M$.  From these two parameters we compute the
Eddington-scaled disk luminosity, $L_{D}(a_*,\dot M)/L_{\rm Edd}$,
where $L_{D}$ is the luminosity of the seed photons and $L_{\rm Edd}
\approx 1.3 \times 10^{38} M/\rm M_{\sun}$~erg s$^{-1}$
(\citealt{Shapiro_Teukolsky}).  The low-energy cutoff is parameterized
in the {\sc phabs} component by the column density $N_{\rm H}$, which we fix
at 2.2$\times 10^{22}~\rm cm^{-2}$ for H1743 and 8$\times
10^{21}~\rm cm^{-2}$ for J1550~\citep{JEM_H1743_2007,Miller_2003_j1550}.
We include an additional model component to account for
disk-reflection using the XSPEC model {\sc smedge} for J1550, which
was not required for H1743.

In our analyses described in
\S\S\ref{subsec:selection},\ref{subsec:compare}, we adopt the
following dynamical model parameters: For H1743, $M=10~\rm M_{\sun}$,
$i=60\degr$ and $D=9.5~\rm kpc$; and for J1550, $M=10~\rm M_{\sun}$,
$i=70\degr$, and $D=5~\rm kpc$.  The values for H1743 are chosen
arbitrarily to place the maximum outburst disk luminosity at
$L_{D}/L_{\rm Edd} \approx 0.7$, and those for J1550 are round numbers based
on the model described in \citet{Orosz_2002}.  In
\S\ref{subsec:dynmod}, we allow $i$ and $D$ to vary and consider six
disparate dynamical models.

For H1743 and J1550 we only select data over an order of magnitude in
luminosity, between $0.05 < L_{D}/L_{\rm Edd} < 0.5$ for the values of $M$,
$i$, and $D$ given above.  This intermediate range in luminosity is
chosen in order to eliminate both hard-state spectra that have little
or no detectable thermal component and high-luminosity data for which
the thin-disk approximation likely no longer applies.  Further
requiring goodness-of-fit ($\chi^{2}/\nu$) $<$ 2 and that the inner radius
is well-determined ($R_{\rm in}/\DeltaR_{\rm in}>5$, where $\DeltaR_{\rm in}$ is the
$1\sigma$ statistical uncertainty on $R_{\rm in}$) leaves us with a total of
117 spectra for H1743 and 151 spectra for J1550.

We include for {\sc kerrbb2~} the effects of limb darkening and returning
radiation and set the torque at $R_{\rm in}$ to zero (e.g,
\citealt{spin_1915}), and for the dimensionless viscosity parameter we
adopt $\alpha=0.01$.
(Our results in the following section are modestly affected if one
instead uses $\alpha=0.1$: $R_{\rm in}$ is increased by $\approx 5\%$ and
becomes weakly dependent on luminosity, increasing by $\lesssim 10\%$
for an order of magnitude increase in $L_{D}$.)  A color correction
resulting from spectral hardening in the disk atmosphere is internally
calculated for {\sc kerrbb2~} using models {\sc kerrbb~} and {\sc bhspec~}
\citep{BHSPEC} as described in \citet{spin_1915}.  The
upscattering-only implementation of {\sc simpl}, known as {\sc
  simpl-1}, was used exclusively throughout unless otherwise noted.
Larger values of $f_{\rm SC}$ are obtained using the double-sided scattering
kernel {\sc simpl-2~} (see Table 1), but $R_{\rm in}$ and the other fit
parameters are completely unaffected by the choice of kernel.

\section{Results}\label{section:Res}

\subsection{Final Selection of the Data via the Scattered  Fraction
}\label{subsec:selection}

The scattered fraction $f_{\rm SC}$ sets the strength of the Compton
power-law component relative to the disk.  Figure~\ref{fig:fsc} shows
for H1743 the inner disk radius $R_{\rm in}$ versus $f_{\rm SC}$.  For $f_{\rm SC} <
0.25$ the radius is quite stable and its value for the SPL data is
very nearly the same as for the TD data.  However, at large values of
$f_{\rm SC}$ the inner disk radius $R_{\rm in}$ apparently recedes, indicating
that either the model breaks down or a real change takes place in the
disk.  One possible physical explanation was proposed by
\citet{Done_Kubota_2006}, who argue that in regimes of extremely-high
Comptonization an inner disk corona can truncate the disk and increase
$R_{\rm in}$ by tens of percent, consistent with the high values shown in
Figure~\ref{fig:fsc}.

We have computed and compared plots of $R_{\rm in}$ versus $f_{\rm SC}$ for four
BH binaries (H1743, J1550, XTE J1655--40, and LMC X--3) and find that
divergent behavior in their values of $R_{\rm in}$ sets in for $f_{\rm SC} \gtrsim
0.2-0.3$ (or $f_{\rm SC} \gtrsim 0.25-0.4$ for {\sc simpl-2}).  Based on a
consideration of these results, we adopt $f_{\rm SC} < 0.25$ as a
data-selection criterion in this work.  The application of this
criterion leaves a final data sample of 100 spectra for H1743 and 136
for J1550.

\begin{figure}
\plotone{fig1.eps}
\caption{The inner disk radius $R_{\rm in}$ versus the scattered fraction
  $f_{\rm SC}$ for H1743.  As indicated in the legend, the symbol types
  denote X-ray state (see \citealt{RM06}).  For $f_{\rm SC}<0.25$, which is
  our adopted selection criterion, $R_{\rm in}$ is generally constant; the
  median value for the TD-state data alone is indicated by the dashed
  line.  However, for larger values of $f_{\rm SC}$, to the right of the
  vertical dashed line, the values of $R_{\rm in}$ diverge.  Results are
  shown for all 117 spectra with $\chi^{2}/\nu < 2$ and $R_{\rm in}/\Delta R_{\rm in} >
  5 $ over the range $L_{D}= 5\%-50\% \;L_{\rm Edd}$ (see
  \S\ref{section:Obs}).  Error bars ($1\sigma$) on $R_{\rm in}$ that are
  smaller than the plotting symbols have been omitted for clarity.
  Error bars on $f_{\rm SC}$ are not shown; they are smaller than the
  plotting symbols except for extreme values of $f_{\rm SC}$ ($<0.02$ and
  $>0.6$).  }
\label{fig:fsc}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Comparison with Other Comptonization
  Models}\label{subsec:compare}

Having applied our Comptonized accretion disk model {\sc
  phabs}({\sc simpl}$\otimes${\sc kerrbb2}) and obtained final data samples
for H1743 and J1550 (\S\ref{subsec:selection}), we now analyze these
selected data using alternative models for the Compton component.  We
employ (1) {\sc compTT}, a widely-used model of Comptonization that
describes the up-scattering of blackbody-like radiation by coronal
electrons \citep{COMPTT}, and (2) the empirical model {\sc powerlaw}.  The
full model formulations are respectively {\sc
  phabs}({\sc kerrbb2}+{\sc compTT}) and {\sc
  phabs}({\sc kerrbb2}+{\sc powerlaw}).  We now use these models to derive
values of $R_{\rm in}$ for both sources and compare these results to those
obtained using our model.

Figure \ref{fig:pokerr} shows a side-by-side comparison of H1743 (left
panels) and J1550 (right panels), where $R_{\rm in}$ is now plotted versus
$L_{D}/L_{\rm Edd}$ (\S\ref{section:Obs}).  The results in the upper pair of
panels were obtained using our self-consistent Comptonization model
{\sc simpl}, while those in the lower panels were obtained using
{\sc powerlaw}.  Plainly, for both sources {\sc simpl~} harmonizes the extreme
discord between the SPL/intermediate (INT) data and the TD data that
results from analyzing these data using {\sc powerlaw~}
(Fig.\ \ref{fig:pokerr}$b~\&~d$).  The reconciliation achieved using
{\sc simpl~} (Fig.\ \ref{fig:pokerr}$a~\&~c$) indicates that the inner disk
radii determined in the weakly-Comptonized TD state are very nearly
the same as in the moderately-Comptonized INT and SPL states.  Only
data matching the selection criteria in
\S\S\ref{section:Obs},\ref{subsec:selection} are considered.

Table \ref{tab:rin} provides a summary of the results shown in Figure
\ref{fig:pokerr} and extends the comparison by including results for
    {\sc compTT}.  Qualitatively, the results for both sources are
    very similar; here we comment only on the results for H1743.
    Comparing {\sc simpl~} with {\sc powerlaw}, we see that for the former
    model $R_{\rm in}$ is consistent between the TD and SPL states,
    $4.13\pm0.05$ and $4.01\pm0.06$, respectively (values and errors
    here are the median and median absolute deviation).  On the other
    hand, {\sc powerlaw~} delivers a radius for the SPL state that is
    $\approx 24$\% smaller than for the TD state: $3.10\pm0.24$ versus
    $4.10\pm 0.06$.  While {\sc powerlaw~} fails dramatically to reconcile
    the TD- and SPL-state data, {\sc compTT~} provides only a modest
    improvement, giving an $\approx 16$\% smaller value of $R_{\rm in}$ for
    the SPL state: $3.46\pm0.27$ versus $4.10\pm0.07$.  The failure of
    {\sc compTT~} and {\sc powerlaw~} to deliver a constant radius occurs because
    these additive models compete with the disk component for thermal
    flux and because they make no allowance for the flux which the
    disk contributes to the power law.

\begin{figure*}
\plotone{fig2.eps}
\caption{The inner disk radius $R_{\rm in}$ versus the Eddington-scaled disk
  luminosity $L_{D}/L_{\rm Edd}$ for H1743 (left) and J1550 (right).  Symbol
  types are defined in Fig.~\ref{fig:fsc}.  For the upper pair of
  panels the Comptonization model employed is {\sc simpl} and for the
  lower panels it is {\sc powerlaw}.  The data sample considered here
  is that described in \S\ref{subsec:selection}.  For J1550 note in
  panel $c$ the many INT-state data that are brought into agreement
  with the SPL- and TD-state data when applying {\sc simpl}.  Error
  bars are omitted when smaller than the symbols.  }\label{fig:pokerr}
\end{figure*}

  \begin{deluxetable}{llcccccccccc}
  \tabletypesize{\scriptsize} \tablecolumns{12} \tablewidth{0pc}
  \tablecaption{Comparison of $R_{\rm in}$ Across Spectral States}
  \tablehead{& & & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{$R_{\rm in}$ (in $\frac{GM}{c^2}$):
      {\sc kerrbb2} used with } \\ \cline{5-7} \\ \colhead{BH} &
    \colhead{State} & \colhead{N} &
    \colhead{${\overline{f_{\rm SC}}}$\tablenotemark{a}} &
    \colhead{{\sc simpl-1~}} & \colhead{{\sc powerlaw~}} & \colhead{{\sc compTT~}
      \tablenotemark{b}}} \startdata H1743 & TD & 65 & 0.012 & 4.13
  $\pm$ 0.05 & 4.10 $\pm$ 0.06 & 4.10 $\pm$ 0.07 \\ & INT & 2 & 0.062
  & 3.79 $-$ 4.10 & 3.48 $-$ 4.02 & 3.73 $-$ 4.08 \\ & SPL & 33 &
  0.135 & 4.01 $\pm$ 0.06 & 3.10 $\pm$ 0.24 & 3.46 $\pm$ 0.27
  \\ \tableline J1550 & TD & 100 & 0.016 & 5.20 $\pm$ 0.06 & 5.05
  $\pm$ 0.09 & 5.14 $\pm$ 0.10 \\ & INT & 18 & 0.183 & 5.16 $\pm$ 0.19
  & 4.37 $\pm$ 0.57 & 4.93 $\pm$ 0.20 \\ & SPL & 18 & 0.123 & 5.00
  $\pm$ 0.15 & 4.36 $\pm$ 0.21 & 4.91 $\pm$ 0.26 \\
\enddata

\tablenotetext{a}{Calculated for {\sc simpl-1}.
For fits using {\sc simpl-2}, ${\overline{f_{\rm SC}}}$ is $\approx$30\%
larger.}  \tablenotetext{b}{Geometry switch set to 1 (slab geometry)
  and redshift to 0.  All other parameters are left free.}

\tablecomments{ The values and errors quoted for $R_{\rm in}$ are medians
  and median absolute deviations (MADs); we have chosen these
  quantities for their robustness.  For Gaussian-distributed data,
  1$\sigma \approx 1.5$ MAD.  $R_{\rm in}$ is calculated using the fiducial
  $M$, $i$, and $D$ specified in \S\ref{section:Obs}.}

\label{tab:rin}
\end{deluxetable}

\subsection{Dependence on the Dynamical Model}\label{subsec:dynmod}

So far, our results are based on the specific and rather arbitrary
dynamical model defined for each source in \S\ref{section:Obs}.  We
now demonstrate that the quality of our results does not depend on the
choice of a particular triplet of $M$, $i$, and $D$.  For H1743 we
analyze the data for six disparate dynamical models chosen as follows:
We fix the mass at $M=10~\rm M_{\sun}$ and vary the inclination from
$i=30\degr$ to $i=80\degr$ in $10\degr$ increments, adjusting the
distance in order to maintain the peak disk luminosity at $L_{D}/L_{\rm Edd}
\approx 0.7$; this prescription leaves our selection criteria
(\S\S2,3.1) largely unaffected.
For this demonstration we restrict ourselves to a contiguous set of
pristine data that are free of both edge and line features (see
\citealt{JEM_H1743_2007}).

Figure \ref{fig:dynmod}$a$ shows a portion of the 2003 outburst light
curve of H1743.
Figure \ref{fig:dynmod}$b$ shows corresponding values of $R_{\rm in}$ versus
time for the six models described above.  We draw the following key
conclusions from Figure \ref{fig:dynmod}: (1) $R_{\rm in}$ is constant for
each model to within $\approx 2$\% as the source passes from the SPL
state to the TD state, and as the source flux decays by a factor of
$\approx 6$.  We furthermore note that $R_{\rm in}$ is stable during the two
strong SPL-state flares that occur on days 75.6 and 79.5.  (2) The
character of the small systematic variations that occur in $R_{\rm in}$
during this entire 4-month period are essentially the same for all six
models.  For completeness, we recomputed all the results shown in
Figure \ref{fig:dynmod}$b$ using first $M=5~\rm M_{\sun}$ and then
$M=15~\rm M_{\sun}$.  Apart from offsetting the value of $R_{\rm in}$, the
character of these results is the same, including the level of
scatter, as for the case of $M=10~\rm M_{\sun}$.  We conclude that, apart
from setting the median value of $R_{\rm in}$, the choice of model has no
significant effect on the results presented in
Figure~\ref{fig:dynmod}.

Likewise, for J1550 we analyzed a $\sim 130$-day stretch of data
obtained during the 1998 outburst cycle (MJD 51110 -- 51242;
\citealt{Sobczak_2000}).  We assumed fiducial values of $M$ and $i$
and explored a wide range of distances from $D=3-8~\rm kpc$.  We obtained
results very similar to those presented for H1743 (Figure
\ref{fig:dynmod}$b$), consistent with an internal scatter of $\approx
2\%$.

\begin{figure}
\plotone{fig3.eps}
\caption{($a$) A contiguous 126-day portion of the 225-day {\it RXTE}
  PCA light curve of H1743, which is shown in full in Figure 3$a$ of
  \citet{JEM_H1743_2007}.  The 2--20 keV unabsorbed fluxes were
  obtained by modeling the PCA spectral data.  Time zero is the date
  of discovery of H1743 during its 2003 outburst, which occurred on
  2003 March 21 (MJD 52719).  ($b$) $R_{\rm in}$ versus time for the six
  models described in the text, shown as alternating black/blue tracks
  for clarity.  The median absolute deviations for the extreme models
  with $i=30^{\circ}$ and $i=80^{\circ}$ are 2.2\% and 1.8\%,
  respectively.  Fluxes for 83 spectra are plotted in panel $a$ and 79
  values of $R_{\rm in}$ are plotted in panel $b$ (except for $i=40^{\circ}$
  with 78); i.e., four (five for $i=40^{\circ}$) spectra failed to
  meet our selection criteria.
    Error bars are omitted where they are smaller than the
    symbols.}\label{fig:dynmod}
\end{figure}

\section{Discussion}\label{section:Discussion}

\citet{Kubota_2001} and \citet{Kubota_2004} present the first
self-consistent treatment of disk-dominated accretion at high
luminosity in black hole binaries.  They showed for GRO J1655--40 and
J1550 that what previously had appeared to be anomalous behavior was a
natural result of strong inverse-Compton scattering.  In particular,
they demonstrated that the inner disk radius was stable
when the flux attributed to the power law was properly associated with
the disk.  Their results have been confirmed recently by
\citet{Steiner_simpl} using {\sc simpl} (\S\S1,2).  In this paper, we
provide additional support for the work of Kubota et al., while
supplying in this context the first relativistic analysis of the
accretion disk component.  Both the earlier work by Kubota et al.\ and
this Letter demonstrate that, when modeling Comptonization, a
self-consistent treatment is necessary in order to explain BH behavior
across spectral states.

In all of our earlier work measuring the spins of BHs using {\sc
  kerrbb2}, we have selected data with $L_{D}/L_{\rm Edd}<0.3$, which corresponds
to the thin-disk limit ($H/R \lesssim 0.1$; \citealt{spin_1915}).  In
the present work, the luminosity of J1550 is very uncertain and that
of H1743 is unconstrained.  For this reason, we present a broad range
of luminosities, which likely exceeds the thin-disk limit.  In work
aimed at determining BH spin, when reliable distance estimates and
dynamical data are available, one should apply the aforementioned
luminosity restriction.

In conclusion, we have analyzed a selected sample of $\sim 100$
spectra for each of two bright transient sources using the
self-consistent Comptonization model {\sc simpl} convolved with a
relativistic accretion disk model.  We have thereby shown that the
derived inner disk radii -- or, equivalently, the derived spins of
these BHs -- remain stable to a few percent whether the source is in
the TD state or the more strongly-Comptonized SPL state.  We have
further shown that this stability holds for $f_{\rm SC} \lesssim 0.25$ and
for a wide range of input model parameters.  We conclude that the
continuum-fitting method of estimating BH spin can be applied to far
more X-ray spectral data and more sources than previously thought
possible.

\acknowledgements

The authors thank Jifeng Liu for valuable discussions.  JFS was
supported by the Smithsonian Institution Endowment Funds and JEM
acknowledges support from NASA grant NNX08AJ55G.  RN acknowledges
support from NASA grant NNX08AH32G and NSF grant AST-0805832. RR
acknowledges partial support from the NASA contract to MIT for support
of {\it RXTE~} instruments.

\newcounter{BIBcounter}
\refstepcounter{BIBcounter}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


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IC Finance is one of the many offshore brokers operating on financial markets. It offers its clients the account types listed above and while the trading conditions and platform seem good, there still remains the main problem with this company: lack of reliability. We have listed both the advantages and the disadvantages of IC Finance in the present review, so that you can decide for yourselves whether it is safe to invest with it.
As announced on IC Finance's website, this broker offers pretty low spreads, starting from 0.3 pips on majors. Besides, its trading platform seems nice, with charting provided by TradingView. It is available as desktop download, web version, and mobile apps.
IC Finance's web platform. Click for a larger view.
While such trading costs seem attractively low, we suspect that IC Finance applies a commission fee, but couldn't prove it, as the broker does not offer free demo accounts.
Another plus of IC Finance is that the broker offers an array of tradeable instruments, as well as leverage levels that high that will suffice the needs of all types of traders. Its clients can deal in many currency pairs, CFDs on indices, commodities, various stocks, cryptocurrencies, as well as ETFs.
IC Finance claims to be a trading name of IC Finance Limited, a company licensed by the Vanuatu Financial Services Commission (VFSC). Although such a license does not mean a lot in the trading world, because of the lax regulations in offshore zones, it is still better than nothing. However, we could not find the company's name in the online register of the VFSC.
This is our main concern with this IC Finance, as most unregulated brokers, especially those making false regulation claims, are usually engaged in some sort of fraudulent practices.
Not offering free testing service is always a worrisome sign, as it shows lack of transparency on the part of the forex broker. Besides, the announced trading costs of IC Finance are just too good to be true. We suppose that the spreads on live accounts involve some commission fees, otherwise there's no way for this broker to be profitable. Of course, another possible explanation is that IC Finance is simply a scam.
Unlike most forex brokers, IC Finance does not support the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) as trading platform, which is preferred by most traders. The MT4 ease of use, reliable, and has great functionalities, such as the advanced charting and automated trading via EAs, the MQL marketplace, etc..
When we read the broker's terms and conditions, we stumbled upon a clause, which seems quite unfavorable to its clients.
No matter what IC Finance's spreads and platform seem, we have major concerns about the broker's legitimacy – it is not regulated even offshore, despite the false claims.
This inclines us to suspect that London IC Finance is just one of the many con-artists on financial markets, so you'd better not risk your hard-earned money on it. As always, we would advise you to invest in financial services providers regulated by reputable governmental agencies such as UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or Australia's ASIC.
No news about IC Finance . Check back later.


The GRS 1TD1-8 is an economical replacement for dome tweeters in a wide range of classic speakers. It's also a great choice for new budget builds!
Don't throw away your classic speakers with blown tweeters! The GRS 1TD1-8 is a drop-in replacement for many classic OEM dome tweeters. Preserve the clarity of your classic speakers with these economical units, or add smooth highs to your affordable speaker project with this basic unit. It's a lot of bang for the buck!


Substance abuse or misuse is formally defined as the continued misuse of any mind-altering substance that severely affects person's physical and mental health, social situation and responsibilities.
WEDINOS tests substances to give individual users and others rapid and accurate information to reduce harms.
The aim of the All Wales Needle Exchange Forum (WNEF) was to actively develop, support and sustain a network of high quality, comprehensive needle and syringe programmes (NSPs) across Wales.
This website and supporting resources, developed by Public Health Wales, in conjunction with partners at the Centre for Public Health, Liverpool John Moores University, aims to provide reliable and evidence based information and advice to reduce the harms associated with the use of SIEDs.
WHO estimated that 0.7% of the global burden of disease in 2004 was due to cocaine and opioid use, with the social cost of illicit substance use being in the region of 2% of GDP in those countries which have measured it.
Public Health Wales wants to hear your views about what we can do in Wales to help people avoid physical and mental ill-health.
Warnings over binge drinking, drugs and health are inevitably directed at young people. But apparently it's our parents and grandparents we need to be worried about. Risky of heavy drinking is declining among all age groups except for people over the age of 50, according to an editorial published in The British Medical Journal. Substance misuse among baby boomers is also a "rapidly growing problem".


You won't ever catch Teddy Atlas taking anything for granted.
He can't. Not in the business he's in.
The chairman of the Dr. Theodore A. Atlas Foundation hosted the 21st annual Teddy Dinner on Thursday night and, one by one, those in attendance started to make their way into the Nicotra Ballroom at the Hilton Garden Inn.
After all these years, you might think the Teddy Dinner, which has helped Atlas raise millions of dollars for his charitable organization, might lose some luster over time….
After 25 years leading Schoor DePalma, he turned his attention to home construction and land development by way of SGS Communities, HMS Consulting, and Woodstone Companies before trying a hand in the world of finance in Freehold, NJ through the creation of Community Bank of New Jersey, serving as Director of Midlantic/Merchants National Bank and New Era Bank, on the Board of First Pioneer Farm Credit Association's Customer Service Council, and on the Board of Directors of YHD and Foxtons North America in West Long Branch, NJ….
…"I had no symptoms whatsoever. I felt no chest pain, and was fit and healthy. It was like someone hit me on the side of the head with a 2×4 when I found out," sextuplet bypass survivor Howard Schoor shares his story this year as the Survivor Ambassador for the 2017 Shoreline Heart Walk.
Howard Schoor, 78 years young, of Asbury Park never expected to battle heart disease. Although his father had a valve replacement at age 88, Schoor had no other family history of heart disease.
Howard Schoor, 78 years young, of Asbury Park never expected to battle heart disease. Although his father had a valve replacement at age 88, Schoor had no other family history of heart disease….


text:
Thompson March Madness
HOME RULES NEWS REPORTS CONTACT US
PLAYER PICKS (Print Picks)
Name Last,First Burchfield, Andy
Tie Breaks: Most Teams in Field of 4
Most Teams in Field of 16
Total pts in Final Game
Scoring: Standard by Round (R1=1, R2=2, R3=4, R4=8, R5=12, R6=16)
Underdog by Round (R1=1, R2=2, R3=3, R4=4, R5=5, R6=6)
2nd Round
Field of 16
Field of 8
(1) Kansas (32-2)
(16) Lehigh (22-10) Kansas (1,0) Kansas Kansas Kansas Syracuse
Tie Breaker: 141
(Total points
in Final Game)
(8) UNLV (25-8)
(9) N lowa (28-4) UNLV
(5) Michigan St (24-8)
(12) New Mex St (22-11) Michigan St (1,0) Maryland
(4) Maryland (23-8)
(13) Houston (19-15) Maryland (1,0)
(6) Tennessee (25-8)
(11) San Diego St (25-8) Tennessee (1,0) Georgetown Georgetown
(3) Georgetown (23-10)
(14) Ohio (21-14) Georgetown
(7) Oklahoma St (22-10)
(10) Georgia Tech (22-12) Georgia Tech (1,1) Ohio St (2,0)
(2) Ohio St (27-7)
(15) UC San Barb (20-9) Ohio St (1,0)
(1) Syracuse (28-4)
(16) Vermont (25-9) Syracuse (1,0) Syracuse (2,0) Syracuse Syracuse
(8) Gonzaga (26-6)
(9) Florida St (22-9) Gonzaga (1,0)
(5) Butler (28-4)
(12) UTEP (26-6) Butler (1,0) Butler (2,0)
(4) Vanderbilt (24-8)
(13) Murray St (30-4) Vanderbilt
(6) Xavier (24-8)
(11) Minnesota (21-13) Xavier (1,0) Pittsburgh Pittsburgh
(3) Pittsburgh (24-8)
(14) Oakland (26-8) Pittsburgh (1,0)
(7) BYU (29-5)
(10) Florida (21-12) BYU (1,0) Kansas St (2,0)
(2) Kansas St (26-7)
(15) N Texas (24-8) Kansas St (1,0)
(1) Kentucky (32-2)
(16) E Tenn St (20-14) Kentucky (1,0) Kentucky (2,0) Kentucky (4,0) Kentucky Duke (12,0)
(8) Texas (24-9)
(9) Wake Forest (19-10) Wake Forest (1,0)
(5) Temple (29-5)
(12) Cornell (27-4) Cornell (1,1) Wisconsin
(4) Wisconsin (23-8)
(13) Wofford (26-8) Wisconsin (1,0)
(6) Marquette (22-11)
(11) Washington (24-9) Marquette New Mexico W Virginia (4,0)
(3) New Mexico (29-4)
(14) Montana (22-9) New Mexico (1,0)
(7) Clemson (21-10)
(10) Missouri (22-10) Clemson W Virginia (2,0)
(2) W Virginia (27-6)
(15) Morgan St (27-9) W Virginia (1,0)
(1) Duke (29-5)
(16) ark/win Duke (1,0) Duke (2,0) Duke (4,0) Duke (8,0)
(8) California (23-10)
(9) Louisville (20-12) Louisville
(5) Texas AM (23-9)
(12) Utah St (27-7) Texas AM (1,0) Texas AM
(4) Purdue (27-5)
(13) Siena (27-6) Purdue (1,0)
(6) Notre Dame (23-11)
(11) Old Dominion (26-8) Notre Dame Baylor (2,0) Villanova
(3) Baylor (25-7)
(14) Sam Hstn St (25-7) Baylor (1,0)
(7) Richmond (26-8)
(10) Saint Marys (26-5) Saint Marys (1,1) Villanova
(2) Villanova (24-7)
(15) Rob Morris (23-11) Villanova (1,0)
Powered by LT Thompson using Turbo Tourney Pro 2010
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Last Updated On: 4/15/2010 at 6:25 PM

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text:
The Late Show with David Letterman var ett amerikanskt pratprogram under ledning av komikern David Letterman med inslag av komik och musikaliska gästspel. Programmet sändes på det nationella TV-nätverket CBS måndag till fredag kl 23.35 ET. Programmet hade premiär 30 augusti 1993 och sändes fram till 20 maj 2015. Det spelades in på Ed Sullivan-teatern på Broadway i New York. Likt den legendariska förlagan Tonight Show hade programmet två till tre gäster, oftast aktuella artister, komiker eller skådespelare, i varje avsnitt. Under hösten 2015 ersattes programmet av Late Show with Stephen Colbert.

Historik
Tidigare var Letterman programledare för Late Night with David Letterman på NBC. Programmet sändes kl 00.30, direkt efter Tonight Show som leddes av Johnny Carson. När Carson skulle pensioneras hoppades Letterman på att få ta över Tonight Show. Så blev dock inte fallet. Uppdraget gick istället till Jay Leno varpå Letterman valde att lämna NBC för CBS där han fick uppdraget att leda en ny pratshow på samma sändningstid som Tonight Show.

När Letterman gick över till CBS tog han med sig många av sina programinslag från NBC-programmet. Detta var inte populärt från NBC:s sida; de hävdade att de ägde rättigheterna till inslagen. Letterman gick runt detta genom att helt enkelt byta namn på inslagen; exempelvis blev Viewer Mail till CBS Mailbag.

När Letterman bytte uppdragsgivare (på inrådan av Johnny Carson) byggdes The Ed Sullivan Theater om, vilket medförde att showen fick vara ute på turné under en period. Bland annat spelades den in i Los Angeles, San Francisco och Chicago medan teatern i New York färdigställdes.

Fysisk komedi
Letterman gjorde sig tidigt känd för sin udda och ibland morbida och fysiska humor. Några exempel är att han brukar kasta sina manuskort genom fönstret, vilket följs av ljudet av en ruta som krossas och han brukar också kasta pennor mot filmkamerorna. Pennorna brukar han också använda för att röra om i gästernas muggar innan de annonseras ut på scenen för att intervjuas. Letterman är i sin show alltid propert klädd i kostym men kan ibland få för sig att äta produkter som han "råkar" spilla på sig själv. I ett avsnitt där Tom Cruise och Jamie Oliver var gäster knaprade han i sig rå lök medan Oliver lagade mat. Letterman erbjöd Cruise att smaka vilket denne tackade nej till. Letterman sträckte sig då efter en flaska olivolja och tog några klunkar. Snart gick flaskan laget runt och alla tre halsade ur den. Letterman: I don't feel that good. I feel kinda billious. Oliver: What does billious mean? Letterman: Full of bile... (Bile=galla).

Svensk distribution
Programmet började under senare delen 1990-talet sändas på ZTV i Sverige. När ZTV gjordes om till TV6 år 2006 följde Letterman med men fick en senare sändningstid på grund av vikande tittarsiffror. Från februari 2007 togs rättigheterna över av TV4 som började sända programmet i TV400 där det fick stanna i två år med varierande sändningstider. I september 2009 flyttades showen till TV4 Komedi som sände programmet till december 2014. Titeln "Late Show" brukar inte användas i Sverige; istället kallas programmet "David Letterman Show" och liknande i tablåerna.

Programmets upplägg

Letterman lät regelbundet medlemmar ur inspelningsteamet och grannar till Ed Sullivan-teatern medverka i showen. Detta ledde till att publiken kände till många av CBS-medarbetarna nästan lika väl som de känner till Letterman själv. Några som ofta brukade hamna i skottlinjen för Lettermans skämt var kapellmästaren Paul Shaffer, presentatören Alan Kalter och studiomannen Biff Henderson och även ägaren till teaterns närmsta granne, Rupert Jee på Hello Deli.

Medarbetare blir karaktärer
Letterman hade ända sedan sin tid på NBC skojat om sina medarbetare och sina uppdragsgivare. Han drar sig inte ens för att skämta om CBS VD, Les Moonves. Även USA:s presidenter, både Bill Clinton och George W. Bush, fick finna sig i att bli skojade om, ofta relativt respektlöst. Letterman var alltid i toppform när han fick munhuggas med gäster som Dr Phil, Madonna, Regis Philbin samt politiska debattörer som exempelvis Bill O'Reilly. Populära delar av programmet var bland annat Stupid Pet Tricks, Stupid Human Tricks, The Top 10 List och Know Your Current Events.

Alan Kalters introduktion
Annonsören Alan Kalter presenterade aldrig Letterman på samma sätt två gånger. Ofta var påannonsen kopplad till en aktuell händelse, till exempel att en politiker varit otrogen eller att en kändis blivit påkommen med narkotika. I andra fall var det bara obskyrt och taget helt ur luften, som till exempel ("And now: The biggest whore in television history, David Letterman"). Före 11 september 2001 brukade Kalter också driva lite med New York genom att till exempel säga: ("From New York! Where the rats hate the subways too!"). När The Late Show startade igen efter attacken ändrades detta och Kalter inledde istället med att säga: From New York! The greatest city in the world.

Favoritgäster
Det syntes tydligt vilka gäster som Letterman trivdes bäst med. Då brukade samtalen gå från att vara väldigt respektfulla till retsamma och ibland till regelrätta påhopp, men allt med glimten i ögat. Några exempel på sådana gäster var Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Regis Philbin, Norm Macdonald, Dr. Phil, Madonna, Julia Roberts, Johnny Depp, Bill Murray, Ricky Gervais och Jay-Z.

Stående inslag
 Stomp The Band
 Know Your Current Events
 Stupid Human Tricks
 Stupid Pet Tricks
 The Top 10 List
 Audience Show And Tell
 Late Show Fun Facts
 Will It Float?
 Small Town News
 Late Show Week in Review

The Top 10 List
The Top 10 List dök upp första gången i Lettermans första show, Late Night with David Letterman, i september 1985. Dessa listor kunde handla om i princip vad som helst. Ibland var de dock knutna till en speciell händelse som gavs en komisk tvist. Exempel på sådana är Top 10 Things Millionaire Steve Forbes Will Do If He's Elected President och Top 10 Chapter Titles In Hillary Clinton's New Book.

Oftast var det Letterman själv som presenterade listan, men ibland var detta bundet till vad som togs upp. Om listan handlade om advokater kunde 10 advokater bjudas in för att läsa listan. Även kändisar som Dr. Phil, Tom Hanks, Michael J Fox, Julia Roberts, Marilyn Manson, Jim Carrey, Tom Cruise och John Malkovich har läst upp hela eller delar av listan. Den har även lästs upp i sin helhet av Homer Simpson, Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin och Optimus Prime.

The CBS Orchestra
 Paul Shaffer, kapellmästare 1982-2015
 Sid McGinnis, gitarr 1984-2015
 Felicia Collins, gitarr 1993-2015
 Will Lee, bas 1982-2015
 Alan Chez, blåsinstrument 1997-2015
 Bruce Kapler, blåsinstrument 1993-2015
 Tom Malone, blåsinstrument 1993-2015
 Anton Fig, trummor 1986-2015

Källor

Fotnoter

Externa länkar
 The Late Show with David Letterman - Officiell webbplats
 Monolog från Late Show with David Letterman den 17 september 2001, första sändningen efter 11 september (I RealVideo-format från CBS)

Late Show with David Letterman, The
Pratprogram på TV
TV-program i CBS

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Title Tolkien : a cultural phenomenon / Brian Rosebury.
Description ix, 246 p. ; 23 cm.
Contents The lord of the rings : imagining Middle-earth -- The lord of the rings : achieving the narrative -- Fiction and poetry, 1914-73 -- Tolkien and the twentieth century -- Tolkien in the history of ideas -- The cultural phenomenon.


text:
The Typewriter You Will Eventually Carry: Give Wings to Words with the Underwood 3 portable
Paying Homage to Lee Spear Burridge on the Centenary of his Creation of the Underwood 3 Portable Typewriter
I'd been searching for a decent image of Lee Spear Burridge for almost five years, and finally found one today, courtesy of the National Cyclopedia of American Biography Volume 16 through the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Thank goodness such things are still findable online when one digs hard enough. Not easy, but they're there.
The Underwood Standard Portable Typewriter was not launched on to the market in the United States until early October 1919. But the launch had been in the planning stages for more than two years, including the expansion of the Underwood plant at Hartford, Connecticut, to accommodate the installation of special equipment to manufacture this wonderful little machine. It was also in 1917 that the first patents for the intricate mechanics of what we now refer to as the Underwood 3 were issued. These utterly brilliant designs - masterpieces of genius in miniature engineering - had been the work of Lee Spear Burridge in the months before his death in New York City on May 4, 1915. So, in all, the Underwood 3 was at least five if not seven years in the making - and the end product showed how meticulously this great portable typewriter had been devised.
Amazingly, the Underwood 3 was the first new, classic keyboard, true portable on the market in more than seven years - since the launch of the Corona 3 in 1912 (a development of the Standard Folding of 1907). The intervention of World War I - a period during which sales of the Corona 3 had rocketed worldwide - had much to do with prolonging that gap. Industrial trouble at the Underwood factory in the summer of 1919, which caused the temporary shutdown of the plant in August, had delayed matters even further, albeit only by a matter of three weeks or so. But as Typewriter Topics said in its exclusive announcement of the Underwood 3 launch, in its November 1919 issue (see above), rumours of the coming of an Underwood portable had been swirling through the industry for some time. Indeed, these had pushed up Underwood's share price by 15 points in mid-April 1919, six months ahead of the official release.
Underwood's major sales pitch for its first portable was that it did not require "unfolding", unlike the Corona 3, but came ready to use in a case almost the same size (indeed, marginally smaller, if anything). Underwood also extended the well-established advertising line from the massively successful Underwood 5 standard machine - that it was "the machine you will eventually buy" by changing "buy" to "carry". It's a nice, telling line.
The Underwood 3 is my third favourite typewriter of all time, behind the Blickensderfer 5 (launched 1893) and the Corona 3. My pecking order is, by sheer coincidence, in chronological order, but it's a close run thing. Indeed, my daughter-in-law Emily, walking around the typewriter museum yesterday, picked out the Underwood 3 as her favourite model, followed by the Sun No 2. By a far greater coincidence (given she had no idea who designed them), both of these machines were invented by Lee S. Burridge.
A pretty pair of Burridge typewriters.
One of my Underwood 3s beside the Sun No 2.
Since I made such a huge fuss over the centenary of the Corona 3 on this blog three years ago, I thought I should at least mark 100 years since Burridge applied for his patents for the Underwood 3 before this year expires, tomorrow. But I'm sticking with 1919 as the year of the Underwood 3's birth, as it maintains that freaky sequence of seven years or multiples thereof in my "Magnificent Five": the Blick in 1893, 14 years later the Standard Folding-Corona 3, seven years from the Corona 3 to the Underwood 3, and another seven to the Royal portable. I must confess, however, that my favourite machine to use today is the first Remington portable, and there was 14 years between that and the Hermes Baby, with another 14 years to the Olivetti Lettera 22. Ah, I make it work in my head somehow!
One of my gorgeous Underwood 3s basks in the late afternoon Canberra summer sun.
Behind many great typewriter inventors is often a mechanical engineering genius who takes the grand ideas and makes the whole concept work in reality. In the case of Lee S. Burridge, this mastermind was one Charles Wesley Howell Jr, who was born in Newark, New Jersey, on February 16, 1869, the son of Charles W. Howell Sr (1844-1917), a lifelong machinist who manufactured intricate machinery. Charles Howell Jr worked for Burridge's Sun Typewriter Company for much of his life, taking over as manager after Burridge's 1915 death. As well as the Underwood 3, he also worked on the Sun No 2 for Burridge.
When Burridge and Howell started to devise the Underwood 3 in 1912, they obviously intended it to be the Sun No 3, not an Underwood. With Burridge's sudden death, however, it was not Howell but Burridge's brother, Francis Ogden Burridge (born Rome, Italy, February 5, 1858), who reaped the millions of dollars in royalties Underwood paid on each Underwood 3 sold. Lee Burridge had made Frank Burridge the executor of his will and the inheritor of almost everything he left behind, aside from $7500 for one Fern Hiner and $1000 for the Aeronautical Society. Here is Lee Burridge's last will and testament, signed three weeks before his death and co-witnessed by the sorely denied Howell:
In 1917 Frank Burridge was to learn Underwood was desperately searching for the design of a small portable typewriter, in order to challenge the by-then absolute and highly profitable domination of Corona in the portable typewriter marketplace, and assigned his late brother's patents to the company, all the while making certain he kept the royalties for himself. Howell died in Pinellas, Florida, in 1949, with nothing like the wealth Frank Burridge had accumulated. When Frank Burridge died on September 25, 1930, aged 72, he was described as a "millionaire typewriter inventor and manufacturer". The truth was, he hadn't invented anything. Some stories did concede he had made his vast fortune from typewriter patents, rather than inventions. (He didn't even leave anything to his widow, who claimed Frank was "first perfecting" the designs when they married in 1910. But Frank did leave $75,000 for his mistress.)
Lee Burridge's debt to Howell was revealed in Burridge's biography in the National Cyclopedia of American Biography Volume 16:
This doesn't mention Burridge also designed a harpsichord early in his inventing career - maybe best forgotten in light of other, later achievements?
Burridge's obituary in Typewriter Topics touched on his loyalty but, interestingly, made no mention of his work on the portable:
The New York Times obituary:
Just before his death, Burridge wrote an interesting - and optimistic - letter to Typewriter Topics:
He was only nine at the time!
Burridge's comments about the European war's impact on the US typewriter trade were not borne out by Underwood's (or Corona's for that matter) booming business. Underwood was propelled toward entering into the portable typewriter market on the back of massive profits from sales of the Underwood 5 from 1917 through to October 1919. On February 15, 1919, The New York Times reported (without mentioning the coming portable):
The Wall Street Journal added in November and December 1919:
Although production was slow to begin with, 26,500 portables had been produced by the end of 1921, and in the next two years another 73,500 were made. The Underwood 3 continued to be manufactured until the end of 1929, by which time 212,500 had been made.
The Underwood 3 reached Australia in August 1920:
It had reached England by September 1920, as this advert from the London Times shows:
Naturally, Underwood spared no effort nor expense in advertising and promoting the Underwood 3 in the period between 1920 and 1924, including commissioning Norman Rockwell to produce this fantastic Daniel Boone painting:
Words are Winged said...
The namesake of my blog. Thank you once again for your in depth research, it's always a wonderful read. Also, you compiled some wonderful advertisements!
Excellent research! This model has always been on my want list, but they don't seem to turn up in thrift stores these days.. ):
Excellent post Robert! I agree 100% Underwood gave wings to words. I've never used a faster typewriter than an Underwood unless it was a Selectric or other electric. Those 3 banks are still fine and wonderful typers. I sometimes get confused (not difficult for me) on the double shift though.
I do not know where you find all of this information. I'm an very happy you find it.
Beautiful tribute to a great little machine! I love their ad campaigns.
PS: I have to say that to me, "Underwood 3" means the official no. 3, i.e. the wide-carriage version of their standard typewriter.
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text:
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The Center for Judaic Studies is proud to provide support to facilitate the publication of the American Jewish Year Book, a reference work published yearly since 1899 that serves as the annual record of the North American Jewish Communities. The Year Book is edited by Professor Arnold Dashefsky, the Center's founding director, and Professor Ira M. Sheskin of the University of Miami.
For decades, the American Jewish Year Book has been the premier place for leading academics to publish long review chapters on topics of interest to the American Jewish communities. The Year Book serves as a major resource for academic researchers, researchers at Jewish institutions and organizations, practitioners, the media, educated leaders and lay persons, and libraries, particularly University and Jewish libraries, for up-to-date information about the American and Canadian Jewish communities.
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The Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society
This portal supplies access to six websites related to Jewish manuscripts. They are freely accessible to everyone anywhere, anytime and contain more than half-a-million high-quality digital images of all the relevant manuscripts.
The Center for Judaic Studies has a number of modest travel awards available to sponsor students who wish to spend time studying and researching abroad. In addition, a variety of student awards for academic achievement in Judaic Studies and Hebrew are conferred in the Spring of each year during the annual awards ceremony hosted by the Department of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages and during our annual Academic Convocation on the Holocaust. Preference is given to Hebrew and Judaic Studies majors and minors.
The Center also offers support for graduate studies in the form of assistantships (teaching and research). Students enrolled in the graduate program in Judaic Studies are eligible for these assistantships, which cover tuition and fees and include a stipend for living expenses. Students who apply for admission to the graduate program in Judaic Studies will automatically be considered for an assistantship.
Postdoctoral fellowship awards are also available for qualified graduate students.
For information about these funding opportunities, please contact Center assistant Pamela Weathers at pamela.weathers@uconn.edu or Center Director Avinoam Patt at avinoam.patt@uconn.edu.
Travel awards available:
The Winkler Award for Study in Israel
UConn Judaic Center Israel Travel Endowment (for Jewish Studies but not limited to Israel travel)
Scholarships awarded by the Center are provided by:
The Harold J. Arkava Scholarship Fund
The Cohen and Henes Scholarship Fund in Judaic Studies
The Sylvia and Leo Dashefsky Prize Endowment Fund
The Frances and Irving Seliger Memorial Endowment Fund
judaicstudies@uconn.edu
The Dodd Center for Human Rights
405 Babbidge Road - U-1205
Storrs, CT 06269


* Adapted for stage and screen, loved by millions, Victor Hugo's classic novel of love & tragedy during the French Revolution is reborn in this fantastic new manga edition! The gorgeous art of TseMei Lee brings to life the tragic stories of Jean Valjean, Inspector Javert, and the beautiful Fantine, in this epic adaptation of Les Miserables!
Victor Marie Hugo was a French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. He is considered one of the greatest and best-known French writers. Outside France, his best-known works are the novels Les Mis rables, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Crystal S. Chan is an award-winning author and television screen play writer. She holds a degree in language and literature. Crystal is a huge fan of authors such as Jane Austen and she is equally passionate about Sailor Moon. Her passion for classic literature combined with her love of the comics medium allows her to strike a solid balance between preserving the depth of the original content while adapting the language for a younger generation. Sunneko Lee is a talented artist who works in two worlds: comics, and animation. At an early age she made her professional debut as a comic strip artist before moving to character design and story board artist. Sunneko work for the Manga Classics project allows her to celebrate her passion for the comic arts. Lee's artist alias, Sunneko, combines her love of cats and the warmth of the sun (Neko is cat in Japanese).


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Q: Programmatically create UI or drag and drop in storyboard for iOS development First time building a user interface, had a few general questions
1) Does it really matter if you drag and drop view objects into view controller.. or if you programmatically add subviews and specify frames and fonts? What's the better approach to take?
2) In the programmatic approach, I end up guessing frame values, (x,y) points, and then checking in simulator if I like it. Is this the right approach, or are there faster, better ways to build out the UI? Maybe methods I'm not aware of?
3) Any useful tutorials/pointers in the right direction on how to get started?
Thanks!

A: 1) Both approaches are fine, but the Interface Builder is usually better if you have a more static UI. In a more dynamic app (where views appear and disappear, or if you use UIViewController containment), you need to add/show/hide some of the views in the code. Even in that case you can design individual views in the IB, to make sure they look good, and then instantiate and display them in the code.
2) If you design your views in the IB, then the problem of guessing the sizes largely disappears. In some cases it can be useful to have an empty view added in the IB, which acts as a placeholder for your dynamic content. Then, when you add a view to it in the code, you just use the superview's dimensions so your view fills the placeholder.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


history of this garden. Do you have any information?
La Finquita (the Little Farm) has existed on owner-abandoned vacant land on the corner of Master and Lawrence Streets in South Kensington for over 25 years. Recently, new members have harmoniously combined their energies with old-timers' devotion. The result has been an impressive cross-generational and cross-cultural revitalization of the garden. Don't miss The Little Farm Stand, operating weekly on Sundays from May-November!


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General English Business English Executive Coaching Exam preparation Blog
Spark English is closed for the Christmas holidays from Tuesday, 22nd December 2020 to Sunday, 3rd January 2021. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy and fruitful new year. May 2021 be better for all of us! Best regards, Brad Elliott & the Spark English team.
Start 2021 by improving your English! We have a new 12-week General English course starting Monday, 11th January 2021. Places limited to 8 people, so reserve you place now! Call us on 0788 319 524.
Test Preparation Course with Carnegie Mellon Africa
2020-03-10 16:11:00 by Brad Elliott
Well, it was a challenging few weeks, but a momentous achievement for our teaching team.
We have just concluded the training of 100 hopeful masters students in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon Africa, training them up to pass the GRE Quantitative, the GRE Verbal and the IELTS.
While we know our students learnt a lot, the teaching team at Spark also learnt a few things that it would be remiss to forget.
Our top learnings:
The GRE and IELTS can be fun. We always knew this, of course, but presenting these exams in an entertaining way to such a large audience, who were under a lot of pressure to succeed, seemed far fetched. Happily, our students were ready for anything and we shared a lot of laughter along the way.
The GRE Verbal is a fascinatingly difficult exam. The GRE Verbal was headed by our trainer Grace, who had endless strategies and patience to succeed at this part of the test. Nonetheless, the test is a real marathon. For instance, do you know the meaning of these words: bailiwick, pusillanimous, mercurial?
It is possible to improve your IELTS score by 3 bands in 7 weeks. But it involves hard-work, dedication, and, probably, a very experienced tutor.
Edmodo is a great little tool to manage learners. A bit like Facebook for learning, it really helped foster a feeling of community between students and teachers alike.
Our teachers continue to be committed to every single student. Our students' successes are our successes; their failures, our failures. We gave everything we could to bring their success.
Our students have worked diligently over the duration of the course. It has been a very steep hill for them to climb, and we hope that they will ascend from the peak and are admitted to CMU. If we could grant them all admission to the university, based on their valiant efforts alone, then we would.
Brad Elliott, the Founder and CEO of Spark English is an entrepreneur, educator, teacher and trainer
Originally from Manchester in the north of the England, he lives in Kigali with his family, and is passionate about language as an agent for change.
Brad is an expert in English language instruction, having taught thousands of hours of general English over the past nineteen years in Europe, Asia and Africa, including all major exams. Brad is also a leader in education management and curriculum development, having developed English language curricula that have been rolled out to tens of thousands of students, and managed a school with an annual net income of over $4 million.
Furthermore Brad is an experienced executive English coach, having trained CEOs and high level executives in English and business skills in numerous corporates, including Bulgari, Nestlé & Exxon Mobil. Brad has also trained government staff of numerous departments, and developed and taught English courses tailored to specific contexts, such as nursing English, legal English, and financial English.
Feel free to contact us for more information
Phone: 0788 319 524, E-mail: info@sparkenglish.rw
Address: Westerwelle Startup Haus, KG 622 St, Kigali
Spark English is part of a Rwanda-based education group committed to helping Rwandans communicate effectively in English, empowering them to build a stronger future.


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Dow Wins HARP Award as Safe Shipper
WEBWIRE – Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Midland, MI - January 25, 2006, For the fourth straight year, The Dow Chemical Company has received the Hazardous Accidental Release Prevention (HARP) Award from The Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR). The award, established in 2001 by KCSR, promotes and recognizes excellence in safety, environmental protection and regulatory compliance.
"At KCSR, our safety vision is to be recognized as the safest railroad in North America," said Chester Culley, general director environmental quality, KCSR. "We established the HARP award in support of this vision and our commitment as a Responsible Care® partner company."
Two award categories exist to recognize customers who demonstrate excellence in Non-Accidental Releases (NARs) and those who have shown marked improvement toward NARs. In 2004, Dow shipped approximately 200 tank cars with KCSR and had zero NARs, qualifying for the more stringent NAR Excellence Award category.
"I have to commend the excellent efforts of our rail car loaders - both contracted employees and those working directly for Dow," said Bill Huff, Global Rail Operations leader, Dow. "They are well trained and understand the potential for leaks, and they work very hard to safely prepare the loads for shipment following our established procedures and strict safety operating disciplines."
"We are very pleased to again receive this important award from KCS," said Phil Stewart, Global Rail Safety and Security, Dow. "It reflects our ongoing commitment to the Hazardous Materials transportation program."
Dow is a leader in science and technology, providing innovative chemical, plastic and agricultural products and services to many essential consumer markets. With annual sales of $40 billion, Dow serves customers in 175 countries and a wide range of markets that are vital to human progress: food, transportation, health and medicine, personal and home care, and building and construction, among others. Committed to the principles of sustainable development, Dow and its 43,000 employees seek to balance economic, environmental and social responsibilities. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted.
Headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., KCSR is a transportation holding company that has railroad investments in the U.S., Mexico and Panama. Its primary U.S. holding includes KCSR, serving the central and south central U.S. Its international holdings include Kansas City Southern de Mexico, serving northeastern and central Mexico and the port cities of Lázaro Cárdenas, Tampico and Veracruz, and a 50 percent interest in Panama Canal Railway Company, providing ocean-to-ocean freight and passenger service along the Panama Canal. KCSR's North American rail holdings and strategic alliances are primary components of a NAFTA Railway system, linking the commercial and industrial centers of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
® Registered service mark of the U. S. American Chemistry Council.
Dow Chemical Company
WebWireID8321
Diana Patty


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Lafarge Tarmac and Carbon Trust launch low energy road building materials with potential to save industry £46m
Industrial asphalt efficiency specification could help Highway Authorities to cut energy cost and carbon footprint of road building over the next 10 years
Today, the Carbon Trust and Lafarge Tarmac announced the findings of a three year study to improve the carbon efficiency of the manufacture of road materials, which has the potential to save the UK road industry £46.2m in energy costs over the next ten years.
The project has lifted market barriers for the use of lower temperature asphalt used in road construction, which reduces energy costs, as well as cutting carbon emissions by up to 39%. The conventional road material, commonly used across the UK, is made by bonding aggregates and bitumen into asphalt by heating them to temperatures of 180°C – 190°C. This project successfully trialled the use of a 'Low Temperature Asphalt' (LTA) material, which allows mixing and working at lower temperatures. It bonds road materials as effectively as the conventional method, but using much lower temperatures and less energy.
The trial has enabled the project team to develop specifications for use, which will help accelerate the production and adoption of lower temperature asphalts. The project was led by Lafarge Tarmac and the Carbon Trust (within its Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA) Programme). Funding came from Lafarge Tarmac and the Carbon Trust (via the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) and support from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.
Roads are the lifeblood of economic prosperity: they connect people to jobs and business to markets. There is tremendous potential for this project, given the scheduled improvements to our major roads and motorways. This programme is an example of how by establishing new models of working, we can unblock demand-supply stand-offs, to help the UK to deliver the infrastructure of the future, at a lower cost for taxpayers and the climate.
- Al-Karim Govindji, Technology Acceleration Manager, the Carbon Trust
As a leader in sustainable construction solutions, we want to use our expertise to help bring these solutions to our clients and customers. This project with the Carbon Trust will help unlock barriers to bring lower temperature asphalt into wider use, cutting energy use, reducing CO2 emissions and enabling us to deliver projects more quickly for clients. It will take time for these materials to become available, but as producers follow our lead and adopt this technology, there will be a growing movement to embrace LTAs as direct replacements for conventional hot asphalts.
- Martin Riley, Managing Director for Lafarge Tarmac's Asphalt and Aggregates Business
If the new specification is adopted and low temperature asphalt market achieves 21% of the total UK asphalt market over the next decade, it could save £46.2m and around 260,000 tonnes of CO2 during the manufacturing of these materials over the next 10 years[1]. This would create the equivalent carbon savings of taking more than 345,000 cars off the road.
The new specification is also of great importance to the Highway Authorities, especially those that have set targets for the reduction of carbon emissions. For example, the West Midlands Highway Alliance, which represents 14 of the region's Local Authorities with a combined annual spend of over £400m, launched a concordat in September 2013 to reduce CO2 emissions in the production of road and footway materials by 20% by 2015.
On the 30th September, the WMHA committed to reduce carbon emissions from the production of road and footway materials by 20% by 2015. Preparations are well underway to deliver this programme following a number of practical workshops attended by clients, contractors and suppliers. It is anticipated that over 300,000 tonnes of low temperature asphalt will be laid by 2015.
- Keith Gordon, Assistant Director Efficiency & Delivery from the West Midlands Highway Alliance (WMHA)
This pioneering project and the development of the national specification for LTA will fundamentally change the asphalt industry in the UK, producing sustainable low carbon products. We are delighted to be working with the Carbon Trust on leading this exciting project together with our partners, and key senior members from the Highway Authorities in the UK and the Department for Transport. The developed specification will assist clients to procure these materials as standard products and that feedback from their use will inform the future development of the European Standards. There are considerable carbon savings to be gained from using lower temperature asphalt, reduced traffic management time and less disruption to the road users which can all be translated into cost savings.
- Dr Nizar Ghazireh, the project director at Lafarge Tarmac
Other project partners include Nynas UK, Atkins, MIRO and TRL. Out of the project a new specification, open to all manufacturers, has been published by The Transport Research Laboratory (TRL) in October 2013, enabling LTA mixtures to be designed and specified. The outcome from this project is likely to generate significant interest from both local and national highways authorities and their supply chain, given it proves the efficiency of road building can be enhanced without compromising performance.
Whilst the lower temperature asphalt technology is available today, the market shift to adopt it will be gradual, as companies need to invest significant capital in installing equipment; thus the energy savings from producing LTA will accrue over time. As more customers adopt lower temperature materials, and more plants can be switched over, this is when the real benefits will be seen, both in terms of reducing the cost of these materials and reducing carbon. The more it is used, the greater the impact as this is when the benefits could be realised.
Low temperature technology offers many benefits, both in terms of sustainability and saving from project efficiencies. For example they can help to reduce the duration of works on road schemes with associated potential safety benefits for both the travelling public and the workforce. This may be particularly relevant on large-scale resurfacing of heavily congested schemes where there is a significant period of time involved waiting for materials to reach the appropriate trafficking temperature.
Carbon reduction is all about innovation – you only get different results by doing things differently – it's that simple.
- Doug Sinclair, Major Projects Portfolio Office Director, Highways Agency
Nynas has been developing low temperature technologies with its customers in Europe for over 20 years. We are proud to have continued our tradition by working with Lafarge Tarmac on this very successful and pioneering project.
- Jim Christie, Business Area Director at Nynas UK
The report follows a recent announcement by transport minister Robert Goodwill that £1.9bn will be invested in British roads in 2014; providing an economic boost of more than £18.8bn, as well as creating almost 10,000 jobs. Efficiency is central to the Department for Transport's 'Action for Roads' policy, which intends to generate efficiency savings of £2.6bn over the next 10 years.
Each year throughout the UK approximately 22 million tonnes of asphalt[2] is manufactured and laid. The carbon footprint for asphalt manufacture is estimated at 24 kg CO2/tonne11 which, when combined with the embedded carbon in the aggregate and the bitumen, rises to 40 kg/CO2/tonne[3]. The total UK carbon footprint associated with the asphalt industry is estimated at 786,000 tonnes of CO2/year[4] which is the equivalent to 5,000 km driven by a million average family cars[5].
For further information please contact the Carbon Trust press office on 020 7170 7050 or email press@carbontrust.com.
About the Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust is an independent company with a mission to accelerate the move to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. The Carbon Trust:
advises businesses, governments and the public sector on opportunities in a sustainable, low-carbon world;
measures and certifies the environmental footprint of organisations, products and services;
helps develop and deploy low-carbon technologies and solutions, from energy efficiency to renewable power
About Lafarge Tarmac:
Lafarge Tarmac is the UK's leading sustainable building materials group. Our innovative products, solutions and services not only deliver the infrastructure needed to grow the UK economy today but also enable a more sustainable built environment for the country's long term future.
Founded in 2013 as a joint venture between industry leaders Lafarge UK and Tarmac, the company benefits from over 150 years of experience and combined assets. Through its nationwide network of sites, it provides customers with aggregates & asphalt, cement & lime, readymix concrete, road contracting and recycling services, and employs approximately 5,500 people. This combination of people, technology and assets enables Lafarge Tarmac to offer customers unrivalled choice and flexibility, ensuring optimal sustainable performance of their projects and maximising value.
Lafarge Tarmac has contributed to some of the UK's biggest construction projects, including Wembley Stadium, Heathrow Terminal 5, The Shard and London 2012. It also provides environmental stewardship for thousands of acres of the UK's countryside. Safety is at the core its operations, beginning with a commitment to provide a safe environment for employees and extending to contractors and communities around its sites.
Lafarge Tarmac operates independently, but is owned by Lafarge SA and Anglo American, who are equal shareholders. Lafarge Tarmac business has grown organically as well as through acquisitions, including household names such as Tarmac, Blue Circle and Redland. The leadership team includes Cyrille Ragoucy as CEO, and Guy Young as CFO. www.lafargetarmac.com
About the Regional Growth Fund
The Regional Growth Fund is a £3.2 billion fund designed to help companies in England to grow. So far £2.6 billion of funding has been allocated to support projects and programmes committed to deliver sustainable jobs and economic growth. Round 5 closed on 9 December and selected bidders will be announced in the spring 2014. For more information, please go to www.bis.gov.uk/rgf
[1] This calculation assumes a gradual increase in uptake of low temperature asphalt up to 21% market replacement in volume after 10 years. The calculations do not reflect inflation on fuel costs over the 10 years period. The calculation is based on the data generated from the site trial installed within the project. It also does not account for capital expenditure required to install equipment to manufacture LTA, and additional materials required for some LTA mixes.
[2] MPA Sustainable Development Report 2012.
[3] TRL Aspect footprint calculator CO2 footprint of bitumen 190kg CO2/tonne; 1.3 million tonnes bitumen; 20.7 tonnes aggregate.
[4] Carbon Trust, Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator, Guide to the asphalt sector
[5] Assuming the average car emits 150g/CO2/km


The chairman of financial services group XCAP Securities has stood down after just two months in the post.
Clive Carver was appointed in March but has resigned with immediate effect due to his rapidly-increasing overseas and UK-based non executive roles and other commitments, the firm said.
Mr Carver, 51, who has worked in the City for more than 25 years, succeeded Mark Holleran as chairman of XCAP, which provides stockbroking, fund management, corporate advisory and market-making services. The company has its headquarters in Wilmslow.
Revenues in the six months to February 29 fell from £5.29m to £3.2m and the group swung to a pre-tax loss of £2.05m from a profit of £409,000 in the corresponding period last year.
Chief executive Daron Lee said it was not surprising that the most difficult market conditions for years had impacted on XCAP's performance.
The firm completed 12 corporate fund-raisings in the half-year, double the number in the same period last year and despite what Mr Lee said was a 'chronic shortage' of investment funds for small cap stocks.
However, there has been a significant decline in trading volumes, particularly in AIM stocks, which combined with low levels of investor confidence hurt XCAP's private client and institutional stockbroking division.
XCAP is now a market maker for 340 small and mid-cap AIM companies, up from 265 a year earlier.
Shares plunged 16 per cent or 0.12p to 0.63p after the update.


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Le Jabal al Qullah se situe au Yémen, dans les monts Sarawat. Il s'élève dans le district de Yarim, dépendance administrative du gouvernorat d'Ibb, celui-ci étant établi dans la partie occidentale du pays. Le sommet est au sud de la capitale, Sanaa, à une distance de . Le Jabal al Qullah a une altitude de , ce qui en fait à la fois le second sommet du Yémen et celui de la péninsule arabique, derrière le Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb.

Le paysage des alentours du Jabal al Qullah se présente au nord-est sous forme de collines et devient très montagneux au sud-ouest. Le Jabal al Qullah est le point culminant du gouvernorat. La densité de population de la région est très élevée, elle atteint 395 personnes par kilomètre carré. La ville la plus proche est Yarim, à  du Jabal al Qullah. La végétation des environs du Jabal al Qullah est composée presque exclusivement de buissons et d'arbustes, notamment le genévrier d'Afrique et Euryops arabicus, une variété de buisson. Les montagnes de la région sont remarquables.

Géologie
Vers 30 millions d'années, à l'Oligocène, commence la séparation des plaques africaine et arabique et la création du rift de la mer Rouge. Sur sa rive orientale, ces mouvements tectoniques provoquent une surélévation du relief associée à une intense activité volcanique : on y trouve ainsi des terrains composés principalement de roches volcaniques comme le basalte, témoins de cette activité.

Références

Sommet en Asie
Montagne au Yémen


Maidenhead is a constituency[n 1] in Berkshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It has been represented by Theresa May since it was created in 1997. May succeeded David Cameron as UK Prime Minister and Leader of the Conservative Party on 13 July 2016. Prior to becoming Prime Minister, May served as Home Secretary from 2010–2016.
Boundary of Maidenhead in Berkshire.
It is considered a safe seat for the Conservative Party, as it has never been held by any party other than the Conservatives; nor had any of its predecessor constituencies.
The constituency was created in 1997 from parts of the abolished seat of Windsor and Maidenhead and the constituency of Wokingham. Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has held the seat since its creation. May won the seat in the 1997 election, where over 100 Conservatives lost their seats, and held its lowest share of seats in over 150 years. At the 2010 general election May achieved the 9th highest share of the vote of the 307 seats held by a Conservative.
The closest election in the seat was in 2001, in which May's majority was cut from almost 12,000 votes in 1997 to just 3,284 votes ahead of the Liberal Democrat candidate. Notably, the Labour candidate in said election was activist and comedy writer John O'Farrell, whose campaign was the subject of a BBC documentary entitled Losing My Maidenhead.
Due to their strong performance in 2001, the seat was one of several targeted by the Liberal Democrats in 2005 as part of a 'decapitation strategy' to deprive senior Conservatives of their seats; as with similar efforts in Haltemprice and Howden and West Dorset, however, this strategy was unsuccessful, as May retained her seat with almost double her 2001 majority. Since this election, she has held it by majorities of at least 30%.
Housing is, in the Wokingham district part,[clarification needed] at the northern end of a belt in which still more than 40% is detached and less than 10.8% is purpose-built flats or tenements (maisonettes) (2011 figures, by district) Reflecting a national trend in this period, the latter band[clarification needed] was in 2001 a band of fewer than 8% of housing stock as flats. The other borough, namely Windsor and Maidenhead, is the most expensive house price district of the country outside of Greater London Homes are in[clarification needed] the technology-rich M4 corridor including the largest company headquarters estate in Europe at Slough and though most of the communities have slower links to London than Maidenhead town centre, they instead have close links to Reading and Bracknell. A minority commute to the City of London which is just under one hour's commute from the two mainline stations. Communities in the area will also benefit from the opening of Crossrail, with trains running direct from Maidenhead and Twyford to the City of London and Stratford. Fortunate geographical features[clarification needed] are illustrated colourfully by the internationally leading restaurants, the Fat Duck at Bray and Waterside Inn; by the low hills in the north of the seat and by the Chiltern Hills to the north. Taking the constituent electoral ward results since the decline of the Liberal Party in the 1910s, the area has to date been a safe seat for Conservative candidates. One broadsheet political column encapsulated the constituency as a "seat of Thamesside towns", these house a majority of its residents other than Twyford which spans the multi-stream river in the town over which it has two fords. The agriculture in the area consists of some pasture, fields of wheat and fruit.
1997–2010: The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead wards of Belmont, Bisham and Cookham, Boyn Hill, Cox Green, Furze Platt, Hurley, Oldfield, Pinkney's Green, and St Mary's (transferred from the abolished constituency of Windsor and Maidenhead); and the District of Wokingham wards of Charvil, Coronation, Hurst, Remenham and Wargrave, Sonning, and Twyford and Ruscombe (transferred from the altered constituency of Wokingham).
2010–present: The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead wards of Belmont, Bisham and Cookham, Boyn Hill, Bray, Cox Green, Furze Platt, Hurley and Walthams, Maidenhead Riverside, Oldfield, and Pinkney's Green, and the District of Wokingham wards of Charvil, Coronation, Hurst, Remenham, Wargrave and Ruscombe, Sonning, and Twyford.
Bray was transferred from Windsor.
^ "Electoral Commission – Previous UK general elections".
^ "BBC News, UK House prices, South East". BBC News. 21 October 2013.
^ "National Rail Enquiries – Official source for UK train times and timetables".
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1995". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
^ "The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007". www.legislation.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
^ The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (30 April 2015). "General Election Results 2015: Maidenhead Constituency". Electoral Services – Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
^ "Election 2010 – Maidenhead". BBC. 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.


We are proud to announce that this Jun 24th, 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 417 Great Northern Way in Canvas in the Mount Pleasant East neighborhood, Vancouver. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent Condo for sale in beautiful Mount Pleasant East.
Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Mount Pleasant East Condo for sale.


Bring goodluck and ward off all your Vighnas with this auspious high-quality Silver Ganesha Wall Hanging made from aluminium. It reflects artistic brilliance and is sure to add elegance to your décor whether in home or office. Also, it serves as a great gift, especially around religious celebrations and festivities. This artifact has been made by our skilled artisans using various traditional techniques.
The Mother of the Universe, Goddess Durga, is believed to be the power behind the work of creation, preservation, and destruction of the world. Since the inception of time, she has been worshipped as the supreme power of the Supreme Being. This Durga Idol Face made of metal is made to protect her devotees from the evils of the world and at the same time removes their miseries. You can hang it in your temple, office, home or above the entrance door of your house to bring-in positivity and prosperity to the space.
Durga stands for Shakti – a unified symbol of all divine forces. She is believed to be Goddess who protects people form evil forces, selfishness, jealousy, hatred, anger and ego. Order this Durga Idol Face Statue now and adorn your home/ office with it to add an element of spirituality to your home décor. It is sure to bring happiness and prosperity to your space as it symbolizes the power of Supreme Being that maintains moral order and righteousness in the universe. Its silver polish gives it an antique as well as a traditional look.


GS getting oversold in an uptrend. Watch the 200 day MA for support.
Nice consolidaiton here right on the 200 day moving average. We should see expansion from here. Which direction? Exactly!
We are seeing a retest of the 50 day moving average here, as we expected last week, BEFORE the aggressive trap breakout we saw.
Now we can see if the Bulls are ready to make a stand and defend support, and get a real breakout to the upside. If not, 117.25 is the next level of support to watch.
So far, we are not seeing much in today's half session. As I said on Wednesday, we are in wait and see mode until Monday.
Have a great weekend. I will throw some charts up Saturday and Sunday for your perusal.
Happy Thanksgiving 2010 to everyone!
I have many things to be thankful for, including re-connecting with many friends, some who I haven't spoken with for many years. Welcome back!
I will be holding a January Effects class shortly.
The cost will be...FREE, but registration will be required.
Stay tuned for more information on when this class will take place.
We had a light volume break from the consolidation I showed yesterday here. It was pre-holiday volume, so we remain in wait and se mode for the time being.
Friday is a half session, but next week we start a very interesting time area into the Christmas holiday that usually has some good trading volatility, so let's get ready!
The SPY has the 50-day moving average just below Tuesday's lows, and that is still being watched for support.
The overall pattern looks like a consolidation, and if we hold the support, the break could lead to another leg higher. If we don;t hold support, a deeper pullback will likely be taking hold.
We are in wait and see for now, as volume should be light Wednesday and for the half day Friday session.
ZION formed a doji at a key support point. We can now watch for a bounce to the overhead moving averages, or a break through and a retest of the late August, followed by the yearly lows.
This stock does not trade with much volatility, so keep that in mind when placing trades on it.
SNDK is surfing a channel that is divided by it's 200 day moving average.
Watch for resolution out of this pattern, as a break either way could lead to a directional move.
The market is strong today, and is now headed for a retest of the broken trendline, which is the next resistance level to watch.
Breadth is strong, while volume could be better.
After Tuesday's expansion day, the market formed a light volume inside doji day in Wednesday's session. This is a pause day.
The move down does not look complete to me. We should at the least test the 50 day moving average. The 120 minute chart shows a bear flag pattern. We could fall right from here or bounce a bit more to complete a small A-B-C pattern.
Unless the chart morphs into something different, the downside appears to be the way we will be headed on the short term.
He's 25 now, he was 22 at the time he "earned" the medal. When I was 22, I was thinking how much the world owed me, and was as selfish as a person could be. I cannot even imagine the amount of bravery and selflessness it takes to be a man of this caliber.
Sal Giunta is beyond awesome, a true role model and a real super hero.
GS is showing good relative strength today against the overall weakness in the broad market.
This should be watched as a potential leader if we: a) get a bounce later today or b) get a bounce Wednesday.
The Dollar has hit it's first target, the 50 day moving average on the daily chart. Whether this is a "major bottom" as many are proclaiming, or just a dead rat bounce remains to be seen. In my very humble opinion, more evidence is needed before stepping out on such a strong call.
As expected, we are seeing expansion after the low volume inside day that printed yesterday.
More importantly, we broke through the multi-week trendline and now look like we are headed back to the 50 day moving average. This will be a key test level for the Bulls.
A low volume inside day formed in Monday's session.
It's time to watch for for range expansion here, in either direction, so don't get biased!
In my Special Election Update, I discussed the three big events for the markets last week, the election, Fed announcement and jobs report. The market's reaction to the election could not have been more expected. As I mentioned, a Republican takeover of the House with at least 60 seats and headway in the Senate was fully baked in the cake. That's why stocks did almost nothing the next day.
Bernanke & Company also gave the markets exactly what they were looking for with another round of quantitative easing to the tune of $600B (whether that's good medicine is a topic for a different piece). Say what you want about this Fed, but they have done an excellent job of telegraphing their moves well in advance and making sure not to disappoint the markets. In typical Fed day fashion, stocks were quiet in the morning and saw a brief surge in volatility before modestly rallying into the close.
The surprise of the week came on "no news" Thursday when most of the major markets surged higher with the Dow, S&P 500, S&P Mid Cap, Nasdaq and Dow Transports all scoring breakouts to new 2010 highs. Only the lonely Russell 2000 index of small caps remains below its April high.
Since mid October, I've been concerned that the rally from where we committed so much money at the July bottom was getting a bit ahead of itself. Not so much where we would pull the ripcord, but enough that should warrant a short-term pullback to digest those gains. With so many bears becoming bulls, a surge in call buying by option traders and sentiment surveys showing a bit too much excitement, taking some chips off the table seemed like a good plan.
So far, the market hasn't cared. After last week's price action and heavy news flow, it's pretty hard to find many folks negative on the stock market with most of the major indices at new 2010 highs and the Fed committed to pumping another $600B into the markets. If their first round of QE with $1.25T was any indication, the old adage of "don't fight the Fed" should be wise to follow.
But the skeptic in me still worries. It's getting too easy. No one is worried anymore. Just buy stocks, commodities and high yield bonds. Sell the dollar and treasuries. It's a layup! History (and Joe Granville) has taught me when it's obvious... it's obviously wrong.
That's why I started pounding the table to buy the dollar last week. There are NO bulls left. Everyone is bullish on the Euro and bearish the greenback. That's the exact opposite of what we saw in late May when I offered on CNBC that the Euro was so bad, it was actually good. You had to just hold your nose, close your eyes and buy it.
Everyone seems to be embracing this new world financial order. Quantitative easing is supposed to help the economy by flooding the system with more and more money, which in turn lowers interest rates and helps banks, corporations and consumers.
I don't know about you, but besides helping fuel the financial markets, I don't see the positive economic effects that QE is intended. Money in the system isn't the problem. Banks have more than a trillion dollars sitting at the Fed earning peanuts, while corporations are also sitting on more than a trillion in cash, unwilling to spend and invest.
Summing it all up, although the major stock indices, sectors and high yield bonds have all broken out to new 2010 highs and everyone is partying like it's 1999, I am not willing to imbibe any more beverages. We have plenty on the table, but less than the maximum we had during July, August, September and half of October.
The most bullish thing stocks could do right now would be a sideways digestion for at least a week to wind up for another move higher. I think it would be constructive to see an orderly pullback of 2-4%. Much more than that would indicate that the recent breakout was false and sharply lower prices could ensue. As I mentioned last week, I would be very surprised to see stock breakout and explode higher without a pause. I think that would be dangerous and perhaps even a terminal move.
The SPY ended last week with a test of a multi-week up trend line. Further weakness to start the week should be watched carefully, as a break below the trendline may lead to a deeper plunge and retest of the 50 day moving average before a bounce ensues.
I'm still not a bear, but we are at a short term decision area, and need to pay attention here.
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New publication of Gerardo Damonte (PUCP), member of the trAndeS executive committee.
Damonte, Gerardo et al. (2019): Land tenure and the sustainability of pastoral production systems: a comparative analysis of the Andean Altiplano and the East African savannah. Nomadic Peoples, Volume 23, Number 1, March 2019, pp. 28-54(27).
To access the publication click here.