persistent state, that occasionally gets synced out to some sort of persistent storage. That could be a database transaction for important events (like inventory management), or for smaller games, just regular auto-saves of the game world.
A question about writing impossibly small data files to create 3D objects in a game engine. by PsychorGames in gamedev
[–]kulseran 2 points3 points (0 children)
CPU cycles are still much faster than memory / ssd / disk times. You can do a lot of processing while waiting on data from even an SSD.
A question about writing impossibly small data files to create 3D objects in a game engine. by PsychorGames in gamedev
[–]kulseran 1 point2 points (0 children)
As others stated, the file size only affects your load time. You'll have to undo whatever compression before uploading it to the GPU. What you can do is make your job easier by storing the data in the file in the same format you need to upload. (OBJ files require text -> float parsing but a custom format would be the raw bytes you need already).
However, there are a lot of things you can do with your model format that affect the size and performance irrespective of how you actually decide to store the data in a file.
1) Optimized format for the vertex. The size of the vertex format, and how it is interleaved can have dramatic effect on performance. It's faster to draw a format that is [position] than it is to draw [position, normal, color, uv1, uv2, uv3, uv4, bone weight1, bone weight 2]. It's also faster to draw when your format is the correct stride (eg 16bytes not 15bytes). Thus, picking the right format between static, dynamic, and instanced objects can make a difference in size and performance.
2) Optimized format for the mesh. A triangle strip is much faster to draw than raw triangles. A single strip is much faster to draw than multiple strips. Using something like nvtristrip to optimize the mesh is worth the effort. Tristrips have less data than raw triangles (usually) so you'd save a little bit of space here.
3) Optimized materials for the mesh. A single material mesh is much faster to draw than a multi-material one. Thus, keeping a single shader for the whole mesh is best, and packing all the textures into a single texture will help as well. One this saves on uv coords needed in the vertex format, but two mostly saves on the runtime cost.
4) Optimized meshes. Remove extra data when possible. Internal vertices are common when pasting together shapes, so take the effort to delete stuff that can't be seen by the camera. Use fewer vertices when details can't be seen. A character taking up 2in x 1in on a mobile phone physically can't be seen in as much detail as a 10x4in character on a PC monitor, thus don't add in all that detail where it's not useful. When you have a range of physical sizes to an object, actually increase the size of your file format by storing multiple "Level of Detail"(LOD) of the same mesh so that you can swap to lower and lower detail versions when the object moves away from the camera. Having lots of bones in the mesh can make it less performant, and having multiple bone weights per vertex can as well. Limit the bone configuration to save on data and performance.
5) Limit the model vertex count. If you can use a 16bit index buffer instead of a 32bit one, that saves memory and performance.
6) Limit the model's physical size. This lets you do quantization tricks on the data to throw out details, and possibly pack the data into a smaller format.
7) Similar to 6, compress the animations by using quantization of the rotations and movements as well as gutting keyframes through error analysis.
8) Compress normalizable values like vertex normals. When x2 + y2 + z2 = 1, you can throw out the smallest of the 3 values to save on space, as you can re-construct it later.
9) Similar to 2, pack multiple mesh files into a single optimized mesh file, as a single draw buffer for things that are instanced, the same material, or normally drawn together will increase performance.
10) Remove detail from the mesh and push it into the textures. Effectively bake out things like normal maps from a high-poly model so that you can use a really low poly one. This can also mean pushing even large details from the model into a displacement map for use with tessellation shaders.
Assimp segfaults by B1llC0sby in gamedev
[–]kulseran 0 points1 point (0 children)
Step 1: Run your program in the debugger.
A segfault is a memory access gone wrong. You can actually parse the error message to determine exactly what the problem is (it tells you exactly which line of code and what the value was that was being accessed), however if you have a debugger available it can decode it for you with less fuss.
From there look at the stack trace, and see where the issue is. If you really are hitting something "before main", it's likely a global variable initialization or other type of global constructor gone wrong. The stack trace will tell you exactly which code path is broken.
The tricky part here is that segfault, or any memory error really, can happen some time after the actual problem occurred. Eg. if you were to free a pointer, you don't get an error untill the point in time you access it next, which could be really far from the root cause. However it's possible to set a breakpoint on the memory location and watch to see what parts of code are editing it, and thus find the possible root causes.
Why do some people create their own game engines? by helloimcass in gamedev
[–]kulseran 6 points7 points (0 children)
What you're asking is the same as "why do people still make webpages in raw HTML when they could be using Angular 2?". Game "engines" are just frameworks and sometimes development environemnts that make an aspect of creating a game easier. A framework is a framework, not a finished product. There's still a time, knowelege and skill cost to using them, and for some games that cost is more than picking a few lower level frameworks like SDL and patching them together into a finished product.
For instance, if your GUI is going to be dead simple like HalfLife 2, or Doom, or any other FPS, then you really don't need to have a GUI framework, you just need to blit a few health and ammo numbers on screen. Given that you have written code to draw arbitrary quads for other effects, it's only a few lines of code to get some numbers there. However, a comprehensive GUI library is likely going to force you into some MVC pattern where you need a layout, event listeners, events to update the gui, empty animation settings, resource handles, resources, and localization configurations. For the same effect, the GUI library is more work to setup. It only starts to pay off once you actually want any of the features it provides.
Then there's the points everyone else is hammering home. When the engine doesn't have some feature, it's usually a huge pain in the ass to actually get that feature implemented. When the game engine does support something, it's magic that you don't fully understand. When that something breaks, you don't quite know if it's because you used it wrong or if it's legitimately broken. When you're debugging the break different engines give varying levels of support for the process. Sometimes they make it significantly easier to locate the problem. Sometimes they make it much harder.
ELI5: What's the Point of GitHub? by FloobyBadoop in explainlikeimfive
[–]kulseran 2 points3 points (0 children)
The part I think you're missing in most of your replies on this thread is an answer to how to merge changes. If you have one copy of a file becomes multiple copies, and someone has to merge the changes together, who does that? and how do they know which changes are the correct ones to have in the final result? Everything you're suggesting results in someone having to manually merge changes together. This is a completely intractable scenario for software development, and version control is there to take care of all this merging for you up to the point that you confuse it by editing the exact same part of a file as someone else.
With version control, when both people change the same part of the file, the second person to commit is the one who has to work out how the merge needs to happen. This lets them decide if the conflicting line change should be the other person's, theirs, or some combination of the two.
A branch gives you two things on top of that. Firstly, it lets you make partial checkpoints of your work before having to merge your branch back into anyone else's work. This is amazing for debugging, as you can roll back your own changes to see when you broke your own feature


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- Hits: 2169
The Leominster canal ran just over 18 miles from Mamble to Leominster through 16 locks and a number of tunnels, some of which suffered engineering problems even before the canal opened.
Originally the canal was part of a much more ambitious plan to run 46 miles from Stourport to Kington.
Following the opening of the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal in 1772, which linked the industrial Midlands to the River Severn at Stourport, the engineer Robert Whitworth proposed a canal to link Stourport to Hereford, passing through Pensax and Leominster in 1777.
Meetings were held at Leominster and Tenbury in 1789, at which it was decided to survey possible routes from Leominster to Stourport. Thomas Dadford Jr carried out the survey, and presented a plan to a meeting in December 1789 for a 31-mile (50 km) canal, costing £83,000, with estimated receipts of £4,300 per year. Three tunnels would be required, at Putnal Field, Southnet and Pensax.
Despite the low returns, a meeting in January 1790 decided to proceed with Dadford's Canal. A further meeting was held in Kington in April, and there were calls to build a connecting canal to the town. The two schemes became one, and the total length of the canal would be 46 miles (74 km). From Kington, locks would raise the level of the canal by 48 feet (15 m), and then it would fall by 496 feet (151 m) to reach the River Severn.
The lack of major towns or industries did not seem to worry the proposers, and an Act of Parliament was obtained on 13 May 1791, which allowed the Proprietors to raise £150,000, with another £40,000 if necessary. Dadford was appointed as Engineer, a position which he held until 1795, although he only devoted one-quarter of his time to the Leominster Canal, as he performed the same role for the Monmouthshire Canal and was contracted to them for the remaining three-quarters of his time.
Work began soon afterward his appointment, and by October 1794, the section from Woofferton near Tenbury to Marlbrook near Mamble was open for traffic.
The following year saw most of the section from Leominster to Woofferton completed, while beyond Marlbrook the 1,254-yard (1,147 m) Southnet tunnel was finished and work started on an aqueduct over the River Lugg at Kingsland. Around £90,000 had been spent to reach this stage.
There were problems with the Southnet tunnel, part of which collapsed in 1795. The Proprietors sought the advice of John Rennie, who criticised Dadford's work. He estimated that £20,000 would be required to rectify the existing works from Southnet to Leominster, and that another £135,937 would be needed to complete the project.
Undaunted, the Proprietors applied for a second Act of Parliament, which they obtained on 26 April 1796, authorising them to raise or borrow a further £180,000. The 330-yard (300 m) tunnel at Putnall Fields, which had proved very difficult to construct, was completed in July 1796, completing the route to Leominster, and creating a working canal which was 18.5 miles (29.8 km) long.
On 1 June 1797, a ceremonial cut was made on the banks of the River Severn, where the canal was eventually planned to join it, but only £62,582 had been raised under the terms of the second Act, and with some £25,000 owing, all work ceased.
In 1803, the Proprietors sought the advice of John Hodgkinson, as to how the canal could be completed. As a railway engineer, Hodgkinson recommended that railways should be built at either end of the existing section of canal, to connect to Kingston and Stourport. Although another Act of Parliament was obtained, no construction work took place.
Nine years later, they again approached Hodgkinson, and this time he suggested that they should abandon the authorised route to Stourport and extend the canal on a new alignment to the River Severn at Worcester. Nothing came of this plan, either.
In January 1794 the canal opened from Marlbrook to Woofferton and seven boatloads of coal were transported from the Mamble collieries on the first day.
Engineering difficulties delayed the opening of Putnall Tunnel (south of Woofferton) until 1796.
By the end of that year an 18.5 miles (29.8 km) stretch of the canal was open between Marlbrook and Leominster and on the first day 14 boatloads of coal arrived in Leominster. Coal from the Mamble collieries was brought down the hill on tramways to Southnet wharf, where it was loaded onto barges and transported to Leominster.
For the next 60 years the canal carried coal to Leominster, enabling the Mamble collieries to prosper. However the traffic from Mamble Colliery was not sufficient to run the canal at a profit, so the owners were constantly seeking to extend it eastwards to meet the River Severn, although this never materialised.
The canal never paid a dividend. What little money was collected was mostly paid for tolls on the transport of coal.
In 1858, after sustained pressure by the Canal Company, the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway paid £12,000 for the canal, which valued each £100 share at £16, and drained it soon after to sell the land.
Part of the route was subsequently used for the railway that connected Woofferton to Bewdley via Tenbury Wells station, which was actually in Burford, not Tenbury Wells.
Although the canal has been closed for over 150 years, there are some remains left, including an aqueduct over the River Rea, and parts of a 3-arched aqueduct over the River Teme. The centre arch of the latter was destroyed as part of an explosives exercise during the Second World War.

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


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LYE103 JN17-12/40 Indoor high voltage AC electrical earth switch
JN17-12/40 indoor AC high voltage earthing switch is an advanced level product with high-tech parameters performance.After comprehensive evaluation,it conforms to GB1985 and IEC129 standard ,applies to power system of 3-12kV and three-phase AC 50Hz.It owns short-circuit making capacity to protect other electric equipment not being damaged.Can be used with various high voltage switchgear,also play a protective role in the high-voltage electrical equipment overhaul.
Ambient temperature scope:form 12°C to40°C
Heavy cold zone:25°C allowed
Altitude not more than 1000m
Relative humidity:average everday not exceeding 95%
Monthly average not more than 80%
There shall have no conductive dust,no corrosive gasess,no severe vobaration and impact.no combustion and explosion on the site for switch operating.
Indoor high voltage AC electrical earth switch use resin insulators, on which live parts, made of silver-plated electrolytic copper (99.9%), are placed. The blades are directly connected to the drive shaft. Contact elements are overdimensioned according to the requirements in order to guarantee, together with a high contact pressure between blades and contacts, a reduced ohmic resistance at the contact surface and a minimum metal wear-off during the life of the grounding switch, with the necessary robustness to withstand thermal and mechanical stresses under short-circuit conditions.
|Rated short-time withstand current||kA||40|
|Rated short-circuit duration||s||4|
|Rated short-circuit making current||kA||100|
|Rated peak withstand current||kA||100|
|Rated insulation level||PF withstand voltage (1 min)||kV||Phase to earthPhase to phase||42|
|Lightning impulse withstand voltage||75|
JN17-12/40 earthing switch (ES-10/31.5) Outline and installation dimension
Copper terminal block
Hole location diagram
We are specialty on epoxy resin medium voltage and high voltage components, such as 12KV, 24 KV, 36KV and 40.5KV switchgear bushing, contactor box, Indoor high voltage AC electrical earth switch ,insulators, transducers. 630A, 1250A, 2500A, 3150A and 4000A contactor box, club contact, fix contact, arm contact and jaw contact. 630A and 1250A VS1 circuit breaker. 630A and 1250A ZN85-40.5 circuit breaker. 12KV and 24KV earth switch. KYN28A-12 and KYN61 high voltage switchgear components!
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source: m-a-p/FineFineWeb


text:
Revelation and the Veridicality of Narratives
On Christian doctrine, God is love; and the love of God is most manifest in Christ's passion. The passion of Christ thus matters to philosophical theology's examination of the divine attribute of love. But the passion of Christ is presented in a biblical story, and there are serious methodological questions about the way in which a biblical story can be used as evidence in philosophical theology. And these questions in turn raise deeper epistemological questions. How does any narrative transmit knowledge? And what counts as veridicality in a narrative? This paper deals with some of the questions for philosophical theology and then concentrates on the more general epistemological questions about narratively transmitted knowledge.
Armstrong, Regis J., J. A. W. Hellmann, and William Short, eds. 1999. Francis of Assisi: The Saint. New York: New City Press.
Cousins, Ewert. 1978. Bonaventure: The Soul's Journey into God. New York: Paulist Press.
Cruz, Helen de, and Johan de Smedt. 2018. "Emotional Responses to Fiction: An Evolutionary Perspective". In The Routledge Handbook of Evolution and Philosophy, edited by Richard Joyce, 387–98. New York, London: Routledge.
Currie, Gregory. 2010. Narratives and Narrators: A Philosophy of Stories. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
—. 2020. Imagining and Knowing: The Shape of Fiction. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Hill, Edmund, Michael Fiedrowicz, Matthew O'Connell, and John E. Rotelle, eds. 2002. Saint Augustine: On Genesis. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press.
Landy, Joshua. 2012. How to Do Things with Fictions. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
Stump, Eleonore. 1999. "Orthodoxy and Heresy". Faith and Philosophy, no. 16: 487–503. doi:10.5840/faithphil199916217.
—. 2010. Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
van Fraassen, Bas C. 2002. The Empirical Stance. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.


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Former student Pieter Good published in Journal of Geography
The way you learned geography in school may have been wrong.
Countries, defined by often arbitrary borders, and regions comprised of these countries are not always an accurate representation of the similarities and relationships between groups of people, says new research from Pieter Good, a former York College student.
This is especially true in Africa, where the history of European colonialism has carved the continent into a jigsaw puzzle, with little attention paid to the cultural, linguistic, and economic relationships within the population.
Good and colleagues from Ghent University of Belgium have proposed a new model for examining Africa through a regional lens. What is unique about their research is that the regions they proposed are radically different than those defined by predecessors. Good's research asserts that countries should not be grouped into regions based on proximity alone, but that regions should be defined by relationships between people.
Good's research has been published in Journal of Geography, the publication of the National Council for Geographic Education.
To create a more accurate picture of regions in the continent, Good and colleagues ignored country boundary lines and instead focused on airline data. That is, they looked at which cities have a clear relationship based on the movement of people between the locations. Their regionalized map of Africa groups together such far distant cities as Lagos, Nigeria, and Johannesburg, South Africa.
Though they are not close to each other geographically, Lagos and Johannesburg could be grouped together, says Good, as there is a close tie between the two cities, based on the amount of traffic between them.
This view of regionalization is important from an economic perspective, says Good, as many countries in Africa participate in regional economic communities (RECs)—groupings of countries that, through cooperation, seek to gain advantage in an ever-globalizing world (think NAFTA). Good suggests that RECs created by relationships such as the one he and colleagues have highlighted might be more successful than RECs based on geographic proximity alone. Currently, there is no REC agreement that links Nigeria and South Africa. Based on Good and colleagues findings, such a relationship is worth exploring.
In addition to the economic ramifications, this research is also significant for educational purposes. Students of geography need to understand that global relationships are far more complicated than they appear based on a standard map.
"Students need to look deeper than the lines that have been drawn and examine the people and relationships," says Good.
Good completed this research as part of his graduate work at Ghent University in 2010. The son of former missionaries to that area, he currently resides in Belgium. He hopes to find a full time position working in international development.He will soon join the York College faculty as an online instructor of cultural geography.
Good attended York College in 2001-2002 before completing his undergraduate degree in geography at Brandon University in Manitoba, Canada.
See full article: The Regionalization of Africa: Delineating Africa's Subregions Using Airline Data, By Pieter R. Good, Ben Derudder and Frank Witlox.


Telling the Difference Between a Ritual and a Protocol By slavekathy
What's the difference between a protocol and a ritual? Even experienced people in the lifestyle can get tripped up on this one, but there are a few basic differences that will allow you to rapidly tell the two apart.
A ritual:
Is an action that is repeated the same way each time, usually at some designated
time and place.
Is done repeatedly over time, usually for a purpose
Can be formal or informal, public or private
Some examples of common rituals are greeting rituals where the submissive meets the dominant at the door and kneels, a short dedication or ritual said while lighting a candle, asking permission to enter the dominant's bed, preparing coffee each morning for the dominant or sending a "good night"email each day before bedtime.
Rituals are given by the dominant, and are usually intended to invoke a certain feeling or mindset. If done with intention, rituals can be calming and centering, even in the face of an otherwise difficult day. Rituals strengthen and serve as a reminder of the bond between submissive and dominant by encouraging a sense of mindfulness in everyday things. One of the most commonly assigned, a coming-home ritual, can be a good way to help transition from a busy workday into the submissive role.
A protocol:
Is a behavior or set of behaviors assigned for a particular place, for a certain period
of time, or during certain situations
Does not necessarily occur on a regular basis
Can often be assigned in degrees such as "high," "medium," or "low" protocol,
depending on the setting
Some examples of common protocols can be restrictions on speaking or hugging friends at a play party, being required to walk a step behind a dominant at an event, being forbidden from looking dominants in the eye at meetings, or being required to speak in the third person or sit in a certain posture at a formal "high protocol" dinner.
While rituals tend to be completed day after day, protocols are assigned once in a while, for particular situations or social interactions. For instance, a dominant who says, "Every Tuesday you will wash and fold all of my laundry neatly, hang the shirts, and while on your knees, put the pants in my bottom drawer," is assigning a ritual. If the dominant says, "This Tuesday you will go to the play party but for the entire evening, you may not speak unless spoken to or raise your eyes to any other D-type," then a protocol is being required.
original post


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The ASPIRA Leadership Development curriculum places a high priority on the use of a student-centered, participatory project-oriented model. From its inception, the advice and recommendations of its participants have played a critical role in the development and creation of ASPIRA programs and activities. Students in ASPIRA's Leadership Development Program engage in what we call the ASPIRA Process. ASPIRA uses a club structure as a means for carrying out this process. It involves three concepts: Awareness, Analysis and Action.
- AWARENESS: WHAT DO I KNOW? Awareness is the process of verbalizing or otherwise expressing already held knowledge on a subject matter. Thereby validating and investigating personal perception and awareness - in other words, the development of self-value and value of others.
- ANALYSIS: WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW? Through an inquiry based process for getting, sharing and digesting information, participants engage in group work and critical thinking. In doing so, students expand their knowledge of themselves, and of others. Specific emphasis is placed on the analysis on culture, race, gender, ethnic background, and history.
- ACTION: MAKING IT HAPPEN. Action is the process of putting the knowledge and skills one has acquired to use for the benefit of oneself, one's family and one's community. Through involvement in community service projects developed by the leadership clubs and through participation in the citywide ASPIRA Clubs Federation, each participant will have opportunities to assume leadership responsibilities and to work cooperatively with a small group to achieve common goals.
By regularly engaging in the ASPIRA Process, Aspirantes develop the skills and the managerial habits that allow them to create, implement, and evaluate action plans at the municipal, community, and/or school level. Aspirantes understand that through the ASPIRA Process—which is essentially a Hegelian dialectic between theory and practice—they develop themselves as community leaders and agents of change.
At first, students may have to make a conscious effort to become aware, analyze and act. Later, as they mature, gain experience, knowledge and skills, they begin to automatically apply the process throughout their lives. By helping youth to establish pride in their background and their own individuality, they are able to realize individual potential within the context of the more complex, larger society. The clubs serves as a vehicle for the development of democratic principles and a commitment to those principles. The youth development curriculum used for the clubs also fosters a climate of caring for others. It provides an opportunity for students to learn to take responsibility for themselves and to develop a sense of autonomy and self-esteem. It develops motivation and a desire in each participant to change his or her life. The exercise of responsibility propels self-development within the context of community development. Increasing the number of youth who are self-directed, goal-oriented and committed to community development is the first step in ensuring that we better our community.


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SCIENTIFIC NAME: Koelreuteria paniculata
COMMON NAME: panicled golden-rain tree, goldenraintree, varnish tree
FLOWERS: Big, yellow panicle (1' long) flowers in late May to early June.
LEAVES: Odd pinnately compound leaves with the coarsely serrated leaflet having a small wing near the petiole. Usually 7 to 15 leaflets/leaf.
FRUIT: Bladder-like to 2" long in summer. Seed nestled inside. At first purplish and then brown.
GROWTH HABIT: Grows 15' to 30' tall. Can be single or multi-trunked (severe renewal prune when young).
OTHER: A tough plant that can withstand heat and wind. Prefers full sun. Is a good tree for a small area, specimen tree, etc. Hardy from zones 5 to 9. Has a very lightweight, but strong wood. A member of the Sapindaceae family.


Link Budget Calculator
Enter the transmitted power, gains and losses through the system to calculate the Link Budget.
RF Link Budget
Result
 - PRX (dBm):
Click here to view image
What is Link Budget?

A link budget is the term used that accounts for the power received at the receiver. This accounts for all of the gain and losses from the transmitter to the point at which it is received by the receiver. It includes losses from cables/fibers and other components in the Tx/Rx chain, gains from the antenna, amplifiers etc. and propagation loss when travelling through air or another medium.

Received power (dBm) = Transmitted power (dBm) + gains (dB) - losses (dB)

The link budget is an impotant value that enables engineers to design systems based on the required sensitivity of a receiver at a particular distance.

The free space path loss is the loss in signal strength of a signal as it travells through free space. This value is usually calculated by discounting any obsticles or reflections that might occour. IEEE defines it as "The loss between two isotropic radiators in free space, expressed as a power ratio."

It is a value that is dependent on the distance, frequency and the gains in the system. The link budget calculation requires you to know the Free Space Path Loss. everything RF has built a calculator for this - Click here to calculate the Free Space Path Loss.


text:
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 6th, 2012 at 2:11 pm and is filed under art projects, creativity, family, Kid's Activities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Using apples to make an apple print is a standard art project. Did you know you could get a butterfly design from an apple?
Cut an apple in half, from the top stem to the bottom. This creates the butterfly shape. Pour some paint on a paper plate. Dip the cut side of the apple into the paint and then press on paper. As soon as the paint dries, use markers to add antenna, eyes and a few spots. Different color paints produce multi-colored butterflies.
Adapt this project by using fabric paint and creating butterflies on T-shirts.
Project by Sondra and Silvana Clark


Overview
tl.buildout_virtual_python
This is a zc.buildout recipe for setting up a virtual Python installation inside a buildout. It is compatible with Python versions 2.5 through 2.7 and zc.buildout versions 1.4 and upwards.
The implementation makes use of the virtualenv package, originally by Ian Bicking.
This recipe appears to be reliable, but the feature set is basically determined by the author's immediate needs. Don't hesitate to send questions, bug reports, suggestions, or patches to <_EMAIL_>.
Use cases
Using a virtual Python gives you a Python environment which is writable for other parts of the buildout without the need to compile Python from source. It is isolated from other buildouts as well as from its parent Python installation while it may still share the parent Python's installed libraries. Depending on your situation, these features may be considered helpful or harmful. The recipe provides mechanism and leaves choosing policy up to you.
Another aspect is that of providing a real Python executable which has access to libraries installed by the buildout. Normally, zc.buildout makes installed Python libraries accessible by creating the Python scripts in bin/ as wrappers that set up an appropriate sys.path and then call one of the console_script entry points of some installed egg. Sometimes this isn't a workable approach, for example:
 - when one of the programs calls sys.executable and expects it to have the same libraries installed that the calling code can import
 - when the code being installed is intended to be run by an embedded Python interpreter, such as when setting up a mod_python application
In those cases, install the required libraries into a virtual Python environment and use that as another buildout part's Python installation.
Options
A buildout part created by this recipe exports an executable option so it may be used as a part defining a Python installation in a buildout, i.e. a buildout section's python option may reference it.
Configuration options:
executable-name:
 Basename of the virtual Python installation's interpreter executable.
interpreter:Basename of a Python interpreter in the buildout's bin directory that uses the virtual Python installation. No such interpreter is created if the option is not set.
real-python:Filesystem path to the interpreter executable of the Python installation that should be used as the parent Python.
site-packages:Boolean switch, whether to make the parent Python's site-packages library directory available to the virtual Python.
eggs:Specifications of eggs to be available to the virtual Python.
extra-paths:Extra library paths to make available to the virtual Python.
Exported options:
location:Location of the buildout part containing the virtual Python installation. This is the same as the virtual Python's sys.prefix.
executable:Filesystem path to the interpreter executable of the virtual Python installation.


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New Analysis on Tax Collections vs. Tax Burdens
June 12, 2006
We've posted a new "Fiscal Fact" to the website explaining the difference between Census Bureau state and local tax collections figures, and Tax Foundation tax burdens.
They key difference lies in the treatment of "tax incidence." Census figures measure who is legally required to make tax payments—what economists call the "legal incidence" of a tax—while Tax Foundation tax burdens attempt to measure who actually bears the economic burden, or the "economic incidence," of taxes.
This distinction is an old one, dating back at least to the 19th Century French Physiocrats. Yet it is surprising how often it is ignored in modern tax policy debates.
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Looking through the eyes of a kidnapper
Looking through the eyes of a kidnapper
There might have been a case or we might have heard about an incident that would have shaken us, instilled some sense of fear in your parents or in you, without even being closely associated with that incident. Kidnapping is a threatening event that when it occur it not just shocks the person kidnapped, but their families and even people who listen about it. It makes us feel that our space of privacy might be at risk and coming in contact with a complete stranger with cruel intentions is another aspect that creates the constant panic and terror. Kidnapping as a crime in India has been growing and the numbers of cases that are reported everyday are increasing with a massive number and they will continue to. It gets important to know about what can lead to instigate someone who can go to an extent of ruining someone's physical and mental privacy. Not just in India, but worldwide, there has been a spike in the numbers of kidnapping cases and history has given us the cases of some horrific abductions that holds the potential to occupy some areas of your mind for a period of time. How far a kidnapper will go to fulfill his cruel desires? Sometimes the answer of this question can go beyond comprehensions. What exactly does a kidnapper look like? How can they be differentiated? Shockingly most of them look like any other random person who we come across.
Long term abductions are rare in nature but they are highly impactful for the individuals involved and their family members and also many communities and regions. Let us look at a few cases that made to the headlines worldwide. Joseph Fritzel kidnapped Elizabeth Fritzel and she was held for 24 years; Elizabeth was his daughter. He constantly raped her that resulted in her giving birth to 7 children and one miscarriage. Phillip Garrido kidnapped Jaycee Lee Dugard and held her for 18 years; Jaycee was abducted when she was 11 years old and she gave birth to 2 girls and Philip was their father, not only this, Phillip's wife was involved. Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight were held for 10 years by her abductor Ariel Castro and he kept these girls in his house. His neighbors reported that he was very social and friendly. Wolfgang Priklopil held Natascha Kampusch for 8 years. She was abducted when she was 10 years old and she escaped when she was 18. Colleen Stan was held for 7 years by Camerom Hooker.
Psychologists and criminal profilers struggle to understand the motives of these crimes and there are multiple differences that differentiate each and every kidnapper. It was noted that all these people have some kind of basic sexual need and fantasy that keep developing and it drives their behavior; with this, they also have some kind of a personality disorder. The deficits in the minds of these people make them think that everything in the world revolves around them and their needs. Psychologists link these psychopathic tendencies growing out of an abusive childhood but the motivations are complex in nature. Dr. Charles Heller, a forensic psychologist says that people who get such unhealthy childhood have a sense of powerlessness and as they get older they feel the need of having power and dominance and they try to compensate these feelings by trying to get power over children of others. Koatas A. Katsavdakis, a forensic psychologist says that there can be some biological predispositions to engage in such behaviors and their interaction with the environment can facilitate their acts. Most of the kidnappers don't have guilt and feelings for other people but they make themselves believe that they have normal feelings. This can be a constant conflict that can act to frustrate them. Most of these people have personality disorder and these disorders are generally marked by people who cannot feel there emotions as well as the emotions of others, so they make decisions and not worry about hurting the emotions of other people. Some of the cases have seen a presence of moderate to severe symptoms of personality disorders such as anti social personality and narcissistic personality. In some cases they can be highly delusional. Most of the abductors have some sort of paraphilia and abnormal sexual impulse that are obsessive in nature. They can feel aroused by seeing one person in pain and suffering. Kidnappers sometimes make justification about why they did all that and their thoughts can highlight the wrong perceptions and understanding upon which they have been acting. Perversion is there in most of the cases but that is boosted by easily available pornography. There can be sexually deviant thoughts involving humiliation, pain, abuse, torture and power. In most cases the victims of these kidnappers are very young women and these aspects make the psychologists think that is pedophilia is also a factor. All these long term kidnappers create a false sense of relation and family with the victims and they also believe in some sense that the victims also wants to be there. They feel and derive positivity from wrong things. These long term abductions just don't happen or they are not a result of some kind of impulsivity. Rather, the kidnappers plan and make arrangements so that their act can be carried out smoothly and the victims can be held for as long as they want. They make sure that their victims do not have any kind of connection with the outside world; they don't even allow the rays of sun to touch their victims. They also have to follow a procedure and a plan in order to select their victims. All these aspects present an overview of the mind and their behaviors but there are other abduction that are not of long term and are driven by the motives such as anger, need for money, drug use and revenge.
These long term abductors have their ways of manipulating and brainwashing their victims regarding the situation and they try to make them believe that they are held for a reason, this is for their best and they are serving in a big cause. They use different mind control techniques like isolating them for a long period of time, exposing them with constant noise, leaving them in dark or threaten by saying that they would hurt their loved ones if they won't listen. All they want to do is just to make them accept that now this is what their life will be like. Another aspect that comes under the relation between the victim and the abuser is the Stockholm syndrome which is a psychological phenomenon; American Psychological Association defines Stockholm syndrome is a mental and emotional response in which the captive, the hostage displays seeming loyalty to even affection for the captor. The term was coined in 1973, after a bank robbery in Stockholm, Sweden. Some people were help in the bank robbery for some days and the situations were extreme. Despite of all this, eventually they became empathetic and sympathetic with the bank robbers. That sense of developing sympathy or empathy for the abductor is a part of what we call the Stockholm syndrome. There is a complicated relationship between the abductor and the victim. The victim starts to identify or develop some sort of feelings of connectedness with the abductor. It can result from the need to survive and also can be said to be adapting with the situation and the environment. It holds the potential of perceiving the entire situation. In few cases, it was observed the victim presents a very empathetic picture of the kidnapper in front of the police or in a court setting. Compliance can be misunderstood with Stockholm syndrome but most of the time it is present as a strategy to survive.
These are the things that can be thought provoking at the same time make us think about the extent to which one individual can go to fulfill their needs and desires. It also presents how people can have psychological disturbances at different levels. Not only the one who is inducing a traumatic experience has himself faced it in a different way, it will always lead to one thing that "Why". It is not easy for the victim to return to the normal life and it has been observed in some cases that they needed a treatment for a long period of time, but when they come back, it's strong and it's like having a second birth.
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Christopher Columbus House Museum
Christopher Columbus House Museum
Christopher Columbus House Museum is located in Porto Santo island.
Porto Santo
Christopher Columbus
Columbus House Museum of Porto Santo is located on Porto Santo Island.
The navigator Christopher Columbus lived in this house, during his passage through the Golden Island, in 1478, after his marriage to Filipa de Moniz, daughter of Bartolomeu Perestrelo, first Captain Donatory of Porto Santo.
The museum opened in 1989, having had several interventions over the years regarding its museum content.
The museum is divided into two floors: the ground floor, which has a shop and a temporary exhibition room on themes of Portuguese maritime expansion, and the first floor, which has three thematic rooms.
The first is dedicated to the Portuguese Expansion, where the strategic position of the island of Porto Santo and the archipelago of Madeira is presented in the context of the Portuguese maritime expansion.
The second room exposes elements related to the importance of the Spanish crown in world expansion and as a financier for the Christopher Columbus expedition in 1492; this space gathers a summary biography of the navigator and his family relations with Porto Santo, as well as some notes of reference to his trips to the American continent.
The third is dedicated to the Dutch colonial empire that was shown in the exhibition of part of the collection of the galleon of the Dutch East India Company "Slot ter Hooge", sunk in 1724, north of the island of Porto Santo.
The entrance ticket costs about 2 €.
sunday - 10:00 to 13:00;
tuesday - 10:00 to 12:30; 14:00 to 17:30;
Additional info:
Telephone: (+351) 291 983 405
Travessa da Sacristia 2 e 4, Porto Santo
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The latest news from academia, regulators
research labs and other things of interest
Posted: February 12, 2007
Gold unstable at high pressures
(Nanowerk News) Gold is not as noble and stable as it has been previously thought. This is the conclusion of an international team of researchers from Germany, France and Sweden who came to the ESRF to study the structure of this material at high pressure. They present their results in Physical Review Letters (" Noblest of All Metals Is Structurally Unstable at High Pressure").
The uniqueness of gold and its appreciation as a valuable throughout history is closely related to its exceptional stability to chemical reactions and extreme pressures and temperatures. Gold was considered as a synonym of immovability and constancy (remember the wedding rings!). Indeed, at ambient pressure gold has been known to remain stable in a cubic crystalline phase to at least 180 GPa (one million eight hundred thousand atmospheres).
Scientists from the Bayerisches Geoinstitut and the University of Heidelberg (Germany), together with researchers from Sweden and the ESRF (France) have detected for the first time a phase transformation in gold using the synchrotron. The experiments have shown that at pressures above ~240 GPa gold adopts an hexagonal-close packed structure.
In order to carry out their experiments, scientists used the beamlines BM01, ID27 and ID30 at the ESRF combined with a new instrument at the Bayerisches Geoinstitut. The sample was placed inside a diamond anvil cell, which was then electrically heated externally. This allowed them to study gold at the pressures of the Earth's core, that is, at a depth of 5500 km from the surface.
Advances in high-pressure techniques require standards which are applicable at a multimegabar pressure range. Large pressure and temperature stability of the cubic gold phase and its high isothermal compressibility make gold an ideal material to be used as a pressure marker at high pressurehigh temperature experiments at pressures above 100 GPa. The pressure-induced phase transition found in gold at pressure above 240 GPa places a "natural" limit on the application of cubic gold as a standard.
These results confirm the theoretical predictions about the phase changes in gold. "These new experimental and theoretical results remind us that there is no "absolute" unchangeable material, and the noblest of all metals, gold, is not an exception from this rule", explains Leonid Dubrovinsky, main researcher.


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(Miami-AP) -- The Army Corps of Engineers is looking for ways to prevent flooding of the Spring River and Tar Creek in northeastern Oklahoma.
Flooding of the two rivers has caused damage to the towns of Picher and Cardin in recent years.
Engineers met with local government and tribal leaders in Ottawa County to discuss an ongoing study of the area.
Officials hope the study will provide a comprehensive solution to environmental and flood control problems.
A draft of the report says problems caused by environmental damage from abandoned mines and flooding along Tar Creek are related and can be solved with a comprehensive plan.
Possible outcomes of the study include building a series of levees and water storage areas in northern Ottawa County to prevent flood damage.


Central Asian Measures
In much of the Central Asia region, especially Turkestan and Uyguristan, a standard set of weights and measures is used that is not based either on the Roman SI units of pounds and feet, or on the Louisiannan metric system. The Central Asian measures are a standardised version of the traditional units of the region, and are detailed below.
Units of Length
Unit name Metric equivalent Imperial equivalent Central Asian equivalences
çaqırım (çq) 1067.155m 3501'-2" 1 çaqırım = 1528 arçın = 636⅔ qulaş
qulaş (q) 1.67616m 5'-6" 1 qulaş = 12 süyüm
arçın (ar) 69.84cm 2'-3½" 1 arçın = 5 süyüm
süyüm (sü) 13.968cm 5½" 1 süyüm = 8 iliş
iliş (i) 17.46mm 11/16" subdivided into fractions
1 çaqırım is equal to 7,640 süyüm or 61,120 iliş
The qulaş is a slightly odd measure, in that it doesn't divide cleanly into a çaqırım, having instead 636 qulaş and 8 süyüm. It is based on the traditional way of measuring from fingertip to fingertip with arms extended horizontally at one's sides.
Units of Weight
Unit nameMetric equivalentImperial equivalentCentral Asian equivalences
batpan (b)589.68kg1300.02lb1 batpan = 36 put
put (p)16.38kg36lb 1.787oz1 put = 40 qadaq
qadaq (qd)409.5g14.44oz1 qadaq = 100 mişqal
mişqal (mş)4.095g0.144ozsubdivided into fractions
Thus 1 batpan is equal to 1440 qadaq or 144,000 mişqal, and 1 put is equal to 4,000 mişqal.
Liquid Measure
Unit name Metric equivalent Imperial equivalent Central Asian equivalences
toyğazan 125.528 litres 27.625 Imperial gallons 1 toyğazan = 25 çolaq
çolaq 5.02112 litres 1.105 Imperial gallons (8.84 Imperial pints) 1 çolaq = 40 keç
keç 125.528 millilitres 4.42 fluid ounces (0.221 Imperial pints) 1 keç = 8 pişim
pişim 15.691 millilitres 0.5525 fluid ounces subdivided into fractions
1 toyğazan = 1,000 keç, or 8,000 pişim. 1 çolaq = 320 pişim.
Most dry goods are measured by weight, however, spices are measured by volume with a "long pişim" which is one seventh of a keç, instead of the usual pişim which is one eighth.


New paper by Manuel Trachsel and Martin Grosse Holtforth: How to Strengthen Patients' Meaning Response by an Ethical Informed Consent in Psychotherapy
Healthcare professionals including psychotherapists are legally and ethically obliged to ensure informed consent for the provided treatments comprising type and duration or potential benefits and possible risks (e.g., side effects) among others. In the present contribution, we argue that as potential benefit, informed consent can foster the patient's meaning response. Moerman's notion of the meaning response as the physiological or psychological effects of meaning in the course and treatment of an illness is a useful concept in explaining the effects of communicating a treatment rationale as part of the informed consent procedure. The more compelling the rational explanation of the targeted treatment effects including an explanatory model and a model of unique and common change mechanisms, the stronger the meaning response is expected to be resulting in increased hope and positive expectations with regard to the treatment.
Full text


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Bluetooth moisture meters enable pros to view moisture readings
FLIR Systems announced two moisture meters with Bluetooth connectivity: the FLIR MR59 Ball Probe Moisture Meter and the FLIR MR55 Pin Moisture Meter. The tools offer moisture remediation, pest control, home or building inspection, and floor installation professionals the ability to read moisture measurements from a mobile device. Wireless connectivity in both devices offers a means to view data from a mobile device with the FLIR Tools Mobile App. This is useful when the meter's display is out of view, such as when taking measurements on a ceiling or within a cabinet.
The MR59 is a pinless moisture meter using what the manufacturer calls a unique ball probe sensor, a feature which helps users cover larger areas in a shorter time. The ball probe makes it easy to measure in corners, over uneven surfaces, and around baseboards without leaving marks. The MR59 can help detect moisture below a surface when there is no visible presence, enabling professionals to determine the moisture migration path from the source.
The model MR55 is a pin meter with a built-in library of 11 material groups including concrete, wood, drywall, brick, and others. Users can tune the meter to the most appropriate test material to improve measurement accuracy. Professionals can also access a material group reference document from FLIR.com by using a smartphone device to scan a QR code on the back of the meter.


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Princeton Docket #07-2385-1
Researchers at Princeton University have developed a new design for shifters that utilizes Inverse Butterfly or Butterfly Routing Circuits. Princeton is currently seeking industrial collaborators to commercialize this technology.
The design excels in its ability to perform permutations, so it can efficiently perform both existing shift operations (shift, rotate, extract, deposit and mix) that are currently supported by processors, as well as new advanced bit manipulation operations (bit gather or parallel extract, bit scatter or parallel deposit, and bit permutation) that are useful in applications such as cryptology, cryptanalysis, steganography, biometrics and pattern matching.
Since the mix function on current shifters is often performed on a separate multimedia functional unit, while shift, rotate, extract and deposit are performed on a shifter unit, this new design can replace two functional units with a single, more powerful one, reducing area on a chip. This new design has been tested via computer simulation. It has exhibited latency comparable to that of a classic barrel shifter, and almost equal to that of current log shifters.
It is anticipated that this new hardware design can be utilized by microprocessor, embedded processor, ASIP and ASIC implementers.
Ruby B. Lee is the Forrest G. Hamrick Professor in Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University, with an affiliated appointment in the Computer Science Department. She is the director of the Princeton Architecture Laboratory for Multimedia and Security (PALMS). Professor Lee is an expert in hardware-enhanced security and has designed architectures for secure processors, secure caches that do not leak information through side-channel attacks, and secure servers for cloud computing. Her research is in the intersection of computer architecture and cyber security. She is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). She holds over 120 U.S. and international patents.
Intellectual Property Status
Princeton is seeking to identify appropriate partners for the further development and commercialization of this technology.
Michael TyerechPrinceton University Office of Technology Licensing
_PHONE_• _EMAIL_
Laurie BagleyPrinceton University Office of Technology Licensing
_PHONE_• _EMAIL_


text: Elijah McCoy (May 2, 1844 – October 10, 1929) patented the Lubricator Attachment for steam engine trains on April 19, 1887. This invention greatly changed the locomotive industry by allowing trains to be oiled while in motion. Prior to this invention, trains had to be completely shut down for oil maintenance. This invention saved the train industry a lot of time and money. McCoy patented 57 inventions primarily associated with the locomotive industry. Some of those patents not associated with the locomotive industry were for a lawn sprinkler, ironing board, design for a rubber shoe heel, a buggy top support and tread for tires. McCoy also established his own company (Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company).


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How These Two Herbs Can Help You Learn
Catering Crew Secrets Revealed: Using Spearmint and Rosemary to Boost Brain Power
Unlike some of the other herbs in the mint family, spearmint and rosemary are used most often in cooking. While peppermint may complement a cocktail nicely, these two powerful herbs go particularly well with fruits, vegetables, and poultry. But there is much more to these herbs than a fresh taste! Just ask your knowledgeable catering company and they will tell you the same.
Numerous studies have concluded that spearmint and rosemary have positive effects on the human body. A recent health study, however, reveals that the antioxidants found in these herbs may improve one's ability to learn and remember, which also prevents cognitive decline with age. So, with such benefits in mind, let's get to know these two herbs a bit better:
Spearmint is a common ingredient in health food products, toothpastes, mouthwashes, medicine, and cosmetics due to its pleasant odour and therapeutic qualities. Unlike its sibling, peppermint, spearmint does not contain much menthol. Instead, it's rich in limonene, dihydrocaryone, and cineol, and is packed with vitamins! Catering crews often combine spearmint in their recipes, meaning that seafarers experience the following benefits without even realizing:
· Spearmint's antioxidant and antifungal properties help to protect the body from infection and disease by preventing the formation of free radical cells;
· As many have discovered drinking spearmint tea, this herb has the power to quell nausea and alleviate the symptoms of other digestive problems;
· Spearmint is considered a natural remedy for sore throats, arthritis, cramps, toothaches, colds, muscle pain, and headaches.
Rosemary comes from the Mediterranean and is commonly used in foods from this geographical location. In saying this, rosemary has become an ordinary condiment throughout the world due to its lovely fragrant and taste. Catering crews regularly add rosemary to dishes that involve chicken or lamb, adding an extra source of iron, calcium, and vitamin B6. Other common herbs from this family used alongside rosemary include oregano, thyme, and basil. Let's take a look at what rosemary has to offer:
· Rosemary is a rich source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds which are known to assist the immune and circulatory systems;
· Rosemary is known to fight-off free radical damage in the brain with the carnosic acid found inside this herb. For similar reasons, rosemary helps protect the brain from aging;
· Rosemary's anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents fight cancer cells, especially those sometimes formed when cooking beef;
· The same carnosic acid that boosts memory also prevents macular degeneration (eye sight).
At Global Catering, we are committed to finding the best ingredients to add to our menu. As a knowledgeable and experienced catering company, we understand the nutritional requirements for active seafarers abroad and work diligently to provide meals that not only satisfy these expectations, but exceed them as well. Read through our older posts to find additional spotlight articles on different super fruits and recipes!

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


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Simulink.Variant class
Package: Simulink
Specify a model reference variant and its execution environment
A Simulink.Variant object specifies a variant object, which is defined using a Boolean expression called a variant condition. For more information, see Variant Controls. A Model Variants block and a Variant Subsystem block use variant objects to associate an execution environment with each of its variants.
The variant condition references MATLAB® variables and/or Simulink® parameter objects in the base workspace called variant control variables. The variant condition must evaluate to true or false when the model is compiled.
For a given Model Variants block or Variant Subsystem block, you must define the variant objects so that only one evaluates to true. The variant object, whose variant condition evaluates to true, is the active variant for that variant block.
variant=Simulink.Variant(VariantCondition) creates a variant object in the base workspace. The object name is variant, and the associated variant condition is VariantCondition. The object can have any unique legal MATLAB name.
The VariantCondition must be a Boolean expression that references at least one base workspace variable or parameter. A variant condition can include scalar variables, enumerated values, the operators ==, ~=, &&, ||, ~, as well as parentheses for grouping. If you specify the condition literally, surround it with single quotes.
You can also create a variant object using the Model explorer. Select the Base Workspace, choose Add > Simulink.Variant, and specify the desired name and variant condition in the Contents and Dialog panes. If you specify the condition literally, do not surround it with single quotes (unlike the MATLAB API, which requires single quotes).
The Boolean expression associated with the variant object.
Create a variant object with a variant condition:
GU=Simulink.Variant('Fuel==1 && Emis==1')
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Update: Are General Sectioning Guidelines Still Applicable?
Because an OEM procedure exists general sectioning guidelines would not apply.
Because an OEM procedure exists general sectioning guidelines would not apply.
Sectioning: the process of cutting a portion of a part based on the location of collision damage and vehicle maker recommendations, removing the part, and installing a portion of the undamaged service part. Additionally, sectioning is a process that is done away from a factory seam.
A lot has changed over the past several years and the I-CAR position on general sectioning guidelines has changed significantly over those years. Current I-CAR courses suggest that:
If there are no published sectioning procedures available from the vehicle maker, do not section.
Why don't general sectioning guidelines apply to today's late-model vehicles? The general sectioning guidelines that were developed in the late 1980s were done on mild steel vehicles. Those vehicles are not representative of today's vehicles that are built with a significant amount of highand ultra-high-strength steel (HSS and UHSS). General sectioning guidelines have never been tested on HSS/UHSS rich vehicles and I-CAR does not, currently, have any plans to do so.
Additionally, the general sectioning guidelines warned about sectioning near reinforcements or collapse zones. With the increased use of HSS and UHSS, and new part designs, it is nearly impossible to concretely identify which areas are designed to transfer collision energy (a reinforcement), and which areas are designed to absorb collision energy (collapse or crush zones). Because of these two focal points of the general sectioning guidelines, today's vehicles wouldn't even qualify for the application of general sectioning guidelines.
Fortunately, many vehicle makers offer a significant number of published sectioning procedures (or provide optional locations/zones) for sectioning, or provide warnings against sectioning; this should take any guesswork out of the equation.
Related I-CAR Courses


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As industrial operations expand globally, it's becoming increasingly crucial to ensure these activities are carried out in an environmentally responsible manner.
One such industry that requires particular attention is quarrying. In recent years, remote air quality monitoring systems have emerged as an invaluable tool for quarries, ensuring safety and compliance while mitigating environmental impact. These systems, such as those provided by Oizom, offer precise, real-time insights that enable quarries to act proactively and sustainably.
Best Practices for Implementing Remote Air Quality Monitoring Systems in Quarries
Planning and preparation
The first step in the process is planning and preparation. Begin by conducting an initial assessment to identify potential air quality risks associated with your quarry operations. This might include particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and specific gases like SO2 and NO2.
Understanding the quarry's layout is also crucial for identifying the optimal locations for air quality monitors. Consider factors such as the location of dust-generating activities, prevailing wind direction, nearby sensitive receptors (e.g., residential areas, schools), and any potential obstructions to airflow.
Selection and installation of the monitoring system
The selection of an appropriate remote air quality monitoring system is a critical next step. The chosen system should be capable of monitoring all identified pollutants with a high level of accuracy and reliability. It should also be robust enough to withstand harsh quarry conditions and offer remote access for ease of use and maintenance.
Oizom's Polludrone is an excellent example of a robust and reliable system suitable for quarry environments. It can monitor a wide range of pollutants and meteorological parameters and offers real-time, remote data access. Its compact and low-maintenance design also makes it an ideal choice for quarries.
The installation process should follow best practice guidelines to ensure optimal monitor performance. Carefully consider factors like monitor height, secure mounting, and ease of access for maintenance.
Data management and analysis
Once your system is up and running, the real work begins. The data generated by your air quality monitors can provide valuable insights into your operations and the environment surrounding your quarry.
However, the sheer volume of data can be overwhelming. This is where Oizom's Environmental Data Analytics platform, Envizom, can be a game-changer. It collates data from your monitors, allowing you to visualise, analyse, and understand your air quality data in a comprehensive and user-friendly manner.
Communication and reporting
Communication and reporting are integral parts of any air quality monitoring system. Regularly sharing the air quality data with stakeholders, including employees, the local community, and regulatory bodies, builds trust and demonstrates your commitment to environmental stewardship.
Utilising automated reports and alerts from your monitoring system can also facilitate communication. For instance, Oizom's systems come with real-time alerts and automated reporting capabilities, ensuring prompt action in response to any exceedances.
Evaluation and continuous improvement
Finally, it's essential to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your monitoring system and make continuous improvements. This could involve calibrating monitors, reassessing monitor locations, or refining data analysis processes. Regular maintenance checks and calibration of your equipment are crucial for ensuring accurate, reliable data over the long term.
Case Studies of Air Quality Monitoring Systems in Quarries
Description: Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT), Africa's largest coal export terminal, faced an environmental challenge due to pollutants from a nearby fertiliser plant. This affected both the terminal workers and local residents. In the absence of a reliable air quality monitoring system, the RBCT sought a solution that could accurately map and alert them about the presence of various gases, odours, and dust pollutants.
Implementation: Oizom addressed this issue by installing 3 units of Odosense and 1 unit of Polludrone Smart at the terminal. These compact devices comprehensively monitor air quality parameters, including odours, hazardous gases, temperature, UV light, and humidity. Equipped with robust bodies, data accuracy, and various communication protocols, these devices can swiftly alert the authorities about any discrepancies in air quality.
Outcome: With this implementation, the RBCT has not only improved air quality for its workers and residents but also enhanced its hygiene standards. The accurate air quality data gathered is now being utilised for strategic planning to meet the standards set by South Africa's Air Quality Act 2004. This proactive real-time air quality monitoring system also assists in alerting the populace promptly in case of hazardous gas leakages.
Description: Mahavir Coal Washeries Pvt. Ltd. (MCWPL) faced an environmental challenge with potentially harmful air emissions from their coal processing operations, which could adversely affect workers and nearby residents. A comprehensive air quality monitoring system was needed to track and mitigate the impact of emissions like PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and CO.
Implementation: To tackle this, MCWP worked with Oizom's partner, Vasudeva PMPL, with SN Enviro Tech, installing two units of Polludrone in and around the coal washery units. The Polludrone, a robust, compact device with real-time dust and gas emission monitoring, was integrated with Envizom, a data analysis and visualisation software. This allowed for real-time data display on MCWPL's devices.
Outcome: The implementation has enabled MCWPL to monitor air pollutants in real-time and ensure clean air for workers and nearby residents. The system's compact design has led to savings in space, time, and money. With access to real-time emission data, the company can now make informed decisions about its environmental impact.
Remote air quality monitoring systems for quarries, like those offered by Oizom, provide invaluable tools for maintaining environmental compliance and mitigating potential health risks associated with quarry operations. By following these best practices for implementation—from careful planning and system selection to data management, communication, and continuous improvement—you can ensure your quarry operates not just successfully but sustainably.


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Word Origin & History
suffix attached to verbs to mean their action, result, product, material, etc., from O.E. -ing, -ung, from P.Gmc. *unga (cf. O.N. -ing, Du. -ing, Ger. -ung). Originally used to form nouns from verbs and to denote completed or habitual action. Its use has been greatly expanded in M.E. and Mod.Eng. The
other use of -ing is to form the prp. of verbs, and in this sense it developed from O.E. -ende (cf. Ger. -end, Goth. -and, Skt. -ant, Gk. -on, L. -ans). It evolved into -ing in 13c.-14c.


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|Heritage > Miramar/Seatoun|
Miramar means "Behold the sea" or "Wonderful Sea" and was named by the first settler on Watt's peninsula area, resident James Coutts Crawford, who arrived in Wellington in 1840. In 1872 he changed the name of Watt's Pennisula to Miramar. Miramar was the name of a house built for him by his brother-in-law, Major McBarnett. The original Maori name of the area was Whataitai.
On 18 November 1904, the Miramar Borough was formed.|
Seatoun was developed by James Coutts Crawford in 1879, and the name originates from a place in Forfarshire (UK) which was owned by the Crawford family.
Ataturk Memorial Historic Reserve (1990) Tarakena Bay. |
A memorial commemorating modern Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemel Ataturk (1881 - 1938). Ataturk led Turkey's defence against the allies in the battle of Gallipoli in World War I. Beneath the memorial is a container of soil from Anzac Cove, Gallipoli.
Beacon Hill Signal Station (1864)
Wellington Harbour Radio (Beacon Hill) is the Port's permanently manned signal station and will receive all communications from vessels on a 24 hour basis.
This opening between Rongatoi and Miramar was constructed in 1910, at the same time as work on Burnham wharf was undertaken. A steam driven mechanical shovel was used in its construction.
Fort Ballance (_PHONE_) Point Gordon
Located by Mount Crawford, Karaka Bays, Wellington's primary military fort until 1911 when Fort Dorset opened, Fort Ballance was closed in 1945 but remnants still remain.
Massey Memorial (1927), Point Halswell
The entrance is off Massey Road. This is a white marble memorial to William F Massey (former premier of NZ) who died in office in 1925. The Memorial was designed by Gummer and Ford.
Mount Crawford Prison, Point Halswell (1915)
In 1919 it was to become a female only prison. In 1924 it became a reformatory with a prison wing, offering work experience and skills. It is no longer a female only prison.
Rangitau Historic Reserve and Maori Historic sites
Rangitau Pa - Wellington's only remaining untouched pa site.
Scorching Bay Domain
Bathing sheds were first erected in 1931 on this popular swimming beach. The Chocolate Fish cafÃÂÃÂ© is located across the road.
The Eastern Walkway - runs from the Pass of Branda to Tarakena Bay. The walkway was opened in 1982; it was re-routed in the 1990s to its present state. The track is 2.5km long and takes about 1.15 hrs to walk. With superb views to the South Island from high coastal cliffs, this is one of Wellington superior walks. Guide maps can be purchased from the Tourist Information Centre.
Wahine Memorial Park - This park has the Wahine's anchor and replicas of its ventilators. She hit Barrett Reef on 10 April 1968 and sunk off Steeple Rock.
All about the Wahine
Library resources on the Wahine Disaster
Weta Studios - Set of Lord of the Rings, Miramar. Peter Jackson's special effect studios are in this suburb.
|Notable People who have lived in the suburb|
James Coutts Crawford. A former Royal Naval Officer who arrived in Wellington in 1839. He settled on Watts peninsular to set up a large dairy and butchery business.|
Jonah Lomu (1975- )
The first rugby superstar in professional rugby. He exploded on the world rugby stage at the 1995 Hong Kong sevens. One of the youngest and biggest wingers ever and made his All black debut when only 19 years 45 days old.
Peter Jackson (Film Director and Producer) (1961-)
His first film was the home made horror movie "Bad taste" filmed in 1987. He recently completed the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Church of the Holy Cross, Miramar (1960) - located on the corner of Hobart St and Miramar Ave. This is an impressive building with buttresses supporting a cantilevered overhang of the curved roof, (a first for a church in New Zealand). The bell was shipped from Limerick in Ireland for the church by the church curate.|
Fort Dorset; (1911) a battery of 12 pounder guns was set up here during WWII. This land was formerly the site of Oruaiti Pa, an old Rangitane stockaded village near where Kupe landed.
Pilot's Cottage, 229 Marine Parade, Worser Bay. The first occupant was Captain J A Scott.
St George's Anglican Church (1896), Seatoun.
Current church building opened in 1957. There is a carving of St George and the Dragon on the glass window at the west end.
Whetu Kairangi Pa
Built by the maori chief Tara when he bought his people here to settle. The name refers to stars in the heavens. The place was so named because villagers could see no other villages at night, or, from the beach, the cooking fires looked like stars. Art and Craft House, Seatoun
|Book titles on Whekenui|
Early days on the Miramar Peninsula / by J.M. & B.M. Kenneally. 1981. |
Miramar headland, prospects and possibilities: proceedings and report of a seminar held on 24 September 1995, St Patrick's College, Kilbirnie. 1995!
Miramar Peninsula: a historical and social study / by John Struthers. 1975.
Miramar Peninsula: a snapshot of the people and the Peninsula. Wellington City Council.
Saint George and the seaside dragon : a centennial history of the Parish of Seatoun-Strathmore. Author Tannock, David A. (David Alexander), 1946-
The Streets of my City: Wellington, New Zealand. Irvine-Smith, F.L.; 1948.
Those were the days / by Bernard Kaiser. 1983.
Waka, ferry, tram: Seatoun and the bays before 1958 / by Bob O'Brien.
|To look at newspaper vertical file information on Miramar/ Seatoun., please ask at the enquiries desk. For more newspaper clippings, ask at the 2nd floor enquiry desk at the Central library.|


How Smart are your Crows?
Guard crow
Guard crow
Crow Friends or Crow Enemies they know who we are. Can we say we know each other that well? How many times have you been betrayed by someone who you trusted? We have a lot to learn from our crows.
The University of Washington has a study that has burned up the internet about how the crows recognize the researchers that banded them several years ago. They wore masks while they did this and whoever now wears those masks are dive bombed, scolded and recognized as the bad guy. This is true of not just the birds banded but their entire family. Generation after generation share who is naughty or nice.
This is also true of the people who treat crows well. If they are fed and treated with kindness they remember that too. My local crows bring their babies to our backyard because they know we will not harm them. In fact we will ensure they have food and water while the parents get some rest or they are trying to get the little ones to be a bit more independent.
An experience I had a few years ago is a juxtaposition of both good & bad people. I was feeding peanuts to my trail family one day. They had brought their babies close and were trying to show them how to open the shells. We started hearing a commotion from the trail below. Crows were cawing and flying around making a ruckus. The family got skittery and flew up in the madrona trees.
Next thing I know I hear a man yelling at the crows and throwing rocks. When he got closer I asked him to stop that. He told me they had just shit on him. I couldn't help but laugh. They knew he lived up on the street above the trail and must have thrown things and tried to scare them off many times. He was one of their known foes.
I told him that they knew he didn't like them and that is why they pooped on him. He looked at me in wonderment and said… "Really??". I gave him some bread and said to feed them. He might win them over. Maybe not though. They have long memories and the flock know he is crow mean.
So, how smart are your Crows? Do they consider you friend or foe?
 1. Ha! I knew that crows had the ability to recognize people, but didn't realize that they can treat them so differently. When I go for walks, I sometimes see the neighborhood crows and I'll how cute they are. I'm starting to think they recognize me as that weird, bothersome girl who won't leave them alone!
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text:
Healing children's smiles. Making the world a better place.
At Operation Smile, they measure themselves by the joy they see on children's faces. They're more than a charity. More than an NGO. They're a mobilized force of medical professionals and caring hearts who provide safe, effective reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.
More than 200,000 children are born with a severe cleft condition each year — often unable to eat, speak, socialize or smile. In some places these children are shunned and rejected…in too many cases, their parents can't afford to give them the surgeries they need to live a normal life.
That's where Operation Smile comes in. Since 1982, through the help of dedicated medical volunteers, Operation Smile has provided free surgeries to children in more than 50 countries, healing their smiles and bringing hope for a better future.
Thanks to the generosity and spirit of volunteerism shown by Operation Smile supporters, they heal thousands of children per year. Today, more than 135,000 girls and boys have a chance at a new life because of their work. With more support from people around the world, think about how many more smiles could be saved tomorrow.
Every dollar counts. Every gift helps change a hurting child's life.
GIFTS TRANSFORM LIVES:
- For a little as $240, a supporter can help provide a cleft lip or cleft palate surgery. This surgery can change a child's life forever and can take as few as 45 minutes.
- Contributions in excess of surgical costs are invested into sustainability programs, which empower Operation Smile partner countries to treat more children on their own.
- Operation Smile has more than 4,000 credentialed medical volunteers ready to donate their time and talent. Supporting gifts help send them to countries where desperate children are waiting to be healed.
GIFTS HELP TRAIN HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS:
- They have a worldwide network of teaching hospitals and university partners, including Duke University, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Penn State Hershey Medical Center and many others.
- Gifts help support their life-support training programs worldwide. Today, Operation Smile is authorized by the American Heart Association to function as a global and mobile International Training Organization.
- Their annual Physicians' Training Program (PTP) brings doctors and nurses from around the world to the United States for advanced training in their specialized fields.
GIFTS BUILD AWARENESS AND LEADERSHIP:
- Their International Foundations and U.S. Chapters raise funds, recruit volunteers and raise awareness on a grassroots level.
- With support, Operation Smile continues to lead the way in effective, safe surgeries worldwide through medical diplomacy and research.
- 600 Operation Smile Student Clubs in the United States and around the world build awareness, conduct grassroots fundraising and educate students about values of commitment, leadership and volunteerism.
- The World Care Program brings children and young adults to the U.S. and other countries for surgeries that are too complicated to be performed during in-country missions.
For more information, please check out Operation Smile.


Accueil
Similar epiphytic macrofauna inhabiting the introduced Sargassum muticum and native fucoids on the Atlantic coast of Morocco
Zahira BELATTMANIA, Abdellatif CHAOUTI, Abdeltif REANI, Margarida MACHADO, Aschwin H. ENGELEN, Ester Á. SERRÃO & Brahim SABOUR
en Cryptogamie, Algologie 39 (3) - Pages 269-292
Publié le 31 août 2018
Similar epiphytic macrofauna inhabiting the introduced Sargassum muticum and native fucoids on the Atlantic coast of Morocco
The diversity and structure of epiphytic macrofaunal assemblages on the introduced invasive brown macroalga Sargassum muticum and native fucoids (Bifurcaria bifurcata, Cystoseira humilis, Cystoseira tamariscifolia and Sargassum vulgare) were compared over a 1-year period in intertidal rockpools on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. In comparison with the epiphytic fauna associated to other macroalgae from European shores, we found that the associated epiphytic macrofauna was moderately diverse (H'<3 bit) and was mainly dominated by gastropods and crustaceans. The most abundant taxa were the isopod Dynamene bidentata and the gastropods Steromphala umbilicalis and Steromphala pennanti. The epiphytic macrofauna community structure differed slightly between the invader and the natives along the year. There was significant temporal variation in the total number of individuals of epiphytic macrofauna per thallus dry weight for the associated epifauna with the highest abundance found on C. tamariscifolia in the spring. The composition of the epiphytic macrofauna on each macroalga species was fairly constant over time. Overall, our results demonstrated that the mobile epiphytic macrofauna on this rocky area showed low macroalgal specificity. They also revealed that the invader S. muticum supports similar epiphytic macrofaunal communities as the native brown macroalgae and provides an additional appropriate habitat for a generalist associated epiphytic macrofauna.
Télécharger l'article complet au format PDF


text:
Training to Compete
Develop the Engine
The Player - SPECIALIZES
The players in this stage are generally around 16 - 19 years old for boys and around 15 - 18 years old for girls
Players are more likely to have committed themselves to rugby as their chief sport. They are more willing to invest a significant amount of time and energy to become successful. They are driven and are fiercely competitive with a greater capacity for all game related competencies. Players pay more attention to developing themselves as positional specialists in order to undertake their functional roles.
Players at this stage are capable of independent thinking and of taking greater responsibility while also contributing more toward problem solving.
The Coach - FACILITATES
Since players have the capacity for greater input, the role of the coach shifts towards facilitation. Allowing opportunity for opinions and problem solving is critical if players are to develop confidence and relative autonomy.
The coach will still need to employ teaching, challenging and guiding skills where appropriate. The emphasis should be on developing players' ability to navigate rather than replicate.
The Game - OUTCOMES
The game becomes fiercely competitive with positional specialists influencing games, mini units and units well are synchronized and team play concentrates on reducing errors and maximizing success. The focus is on achieving desired outcomes with respect to attacking and defensive goals (team, unit, mini-unit).


NCover Documentation
To enable source code highlighting:
 1. Make sure the developer generates PDBs when the source code is compiled, whether in Debug or Release mode.
 2. Make sure the path to the source files is the same as it was on the development machine. There are ways to make this work if the path is not the same, but putting the files in the same path is the easiest solution.
 3. When coverage runs, NCover.Analyze calls into the dbghelp.dll, which is the same one used by the Windows debugger, WinDbg. Tthe technique that WinDbg uses is not published in detail, but here is the basic sequence.
 a. First, look in the same directory as the DLL. This is the most common location for PDBs.
 b. Next, look in the directories that are specified by _NT_SYMBOL_PATH:
 c. Finally, if a symbol server is specified in the _NT_SYMBOL_PATH, then try to download PDBs from the symbol server.
 4. The PDBs contain the sequence point information and the location of the source files. So, if the source files are in the same location as on the machine that compiled the PDBs, then NCover 4 will be able to display the source files and highlighting.
If you still need technical assistance, we can help:
Submit A Support Ticket


Catfish of the Month Right Arrow July 2002 • Article © Julian Dignall, uploaded July 01, 2002
Cuckoo Catfish, Mangeplettet Gøgemalle (Denmark), Vielpunkt-Fiederbartwels (Germany) - Synodontis multipunctatus Boulenger, 1898
The Rift Lakes of East Africa, comprised primarily of Lakes Tanganyika, Malawi and Victoria, are famous for the enormous diversity of the fishes that inhabit them. The amazing tale of cichlid speciation in these magical lakes has often been told. But while cichlid specialists have studied these lakes exhaustively, relatively little attention has been paid to catfish from the Rift Lakes. While the number of catfish species in the Lakes is much smaller than that of cichlid species, recent imports reveal that it is greater than we had previously known.
Of all the Rift Lakes, the greatest Siluriform diversity is to be found in Lake Tanganyika. It is by far the oldest of the Rift Lakes, with an age of approximately 6 million years, and also the deepest, with a depth of some 1,500 meters (though 99% of the fish life is concentrated in the topmost 200 meters). Species from the families Clariidae, Claroteidae (a recently split off from Bagridae), Malapteruridae and Mochokidae are allrelatively pillars of the Lake Tanganyika community, but it is the local Mochokidae, and specifically, the local Synodontis, that is both most numerous and of the greatest interest to the aquarist.
Seven species have been described by science: S. multipunctatus Boulenger 1898, S. granulosus Boulenger 1900, S. nigromaculatus Boulenger 1905, S. dhonti Boulenger 1917, S. tanganaicae Borodin 1936 (known as S. lacustricolus until this name was declared a junior synonym of S. tanganaicae by De Vos & van den Audenarde in 1998), S. petricola Matthes 1959, and S. polli Gosse 1982 (formerly known as S. eurystomus). All except S. nigromaculatus are endemic to Lake Tanganyika (i.e. they are found nowhere else). With the passage of time and as a result of more intensive collection and export of aquarium fish from the lake, it is becoming clear that many more undescribed endemic species exist. If we were assigning "M numbers" for hard-to-identify Mochokids, we'd be giving Corydoras' "C-numbers" and Loricariid "L-numbers" a run for their money!
Synodontis multipunctatus
Figure 1: Close-Up of Head
S. multipunctatus, the subject of this Catfish of the Month, is by far the best known and the most readily available of the seven identified Lake Tanganyika Synodontis species. All the endemic species share the same basic coloration of black spots on a copper or brown background, with white barbels and white fin edging (though S. granulosus and S. dhonti both lose their spots as they mature). This makes them notoriously difficult to identify correctly, and identifications by vendors and hobbyist publications are often wrong.
Synodontis multipunctatus
Figure 2: Humeral Process
Relative to the others, however, S. multipunctatus is relatively easy to identify. It has big eyes (see Figure 1), which are larger than those of any other Lake Tanganyika Synodontis, and an unspotted white belly, unique among the seven described species. The humeral process has a distinctive dagger shape (see Figure 2, where it is outlined in black).
Most S. multipunctatus seen in the hobby conform to the same basic pattern, but variant types can sometimes be found. Figure 3 shows a fish from Zambia which appears to be a S. multipunctatus but has smaller eyes, an off-white rather than copper background coloration, a sharper humeral process (shaped like a reclining "Y" rather than a reclining "V") and exhibits bolder, more restless behavior.
Also called the "Cuckoo Catfish", S. multipunctatus is the only fish known to practice "brood parasitism". Like the cuckoo, it lays its eggs among those of another species - mouth-brooding cichlids, in the case of multipunctatus - tricking the parents of the other species into raising its young. To add injury to insult, the catfish fry often end up eating their cichlid brood mates!
Synodontis multipunctatus
Figure 3: S. multipunctatus (Zambia)
This torrid tale of lust and deceit begins when the S. multipunctatus sense, through a combination of pheromone and visual cues, that a mouth-brooding cichlid species is in the midst of its mating and spawning rituals. Male and female catfish swoop down on the cichlid pair in flagrante delicto, gobbling up the cichlid eggs while scattering and fertilizing their own. In a few seconds the marauders are gone, usually chased away by the irate paternal cichlid. The maternal cichlid proceeds to hastily pick up the eggs, including the catfish's, which she then incubates in her mouth. The multipunctatus eggs typically hatch in just three days, several days before the cichlid eggs do. The fry begin to feast first on the cichlid eggs, and once those hatch, on the cichlid fry. When the mother finally releases "her" young, out swim a little swarm of well-fed baby Synodontis! The mother cichlid is so oblivious to the fact she has been duped that when alarmed, she will even take the Synodontis fry back into her mouth!
In the wild, S. multipunctatus parasitizes species such as Tropheus moori, Ctenochromis horei, Simochromis diagramma, S. babaulti and Pseudosimochromis curviforns. Interestingly, over the evolutionary eons, these cichlid species native to Lake Tanganyika appear to have developed a genetic "memory" of being cuckolded by S. multipunctatus, and are not easily duped. In the avian world, brood parasitism is a fairly common strategy, with about 1% of bird species laying their eggs in other species' nests. Rejection of alien eggs is also common, reflecting the evolutionary incentive to minimize the negative impact of brood parasitism on the host's reproductive success. It is thus not surprising that Tanganyikan cichlid species which have been parasitized by S. multipunctatus for thousands of years should also have "learned" to avoid losing their young in this way. We know of no reports of aquarists successfully spawning S. multipunctatus with a Tanganyikan cichlid host. Cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Victoria, on the other hand, do not appear to have this genetic wariness, and have proven much easier to work with in spawning S. multipunctatus in the aquarium. Victorian Haplochromines are best suited to this purpose.
Synodontis multipunctatus
Figure 4: Ten-week old fry
While S. multipunctatus seems to prefer to spawn with a cichlid host, it can also spawn without one. The eggs are perfectly capable of hatching and the fry of developing normally without cichlid (or human!) intervention. This has been well documented by several aquarists, and we have seen it ourselves. Spawning without a cichlid host has not been documented in the wild, but we expect that it must occur. Some scattered eggs probably fall into cracks and crevices where they are overlooked by the maternal cichlid and remain out of harm's way. More fundamental reasons why exclusive reliance on a strategy of brood parasitism is unlikely include:
 1. the large population of S. multipunctatus in Lake Tanganyika,
 2. the fact that larger females can hold up to a hundred eggs at a time, but only a small number of these is released in each sortie on a mating cichlid pair,
 3. the evident familiarity of Lake Tanganyika mouth-brooding cichlids with S. multipunctatus' wily ways, and
 4. the fact that surveys in the lake have found relatively few cichlids carrying catfish eggs and fry.
The fry grow quickly, have a healthy appetite and can fend for themselves from an early age. At a week old, they have black bands on a cream background, but by about eight weeks the bands break up into the spots characteristic of adults (see Figure 4). Leaving the fry with their parents is a viable option if the tank is uncrowded and has lots of little nooks and crannies in which they can hide, but if the fry can be removed to a separate tank, they will grow out more quickly and be safe from predation. Live baby brine shrimp are the favored food till the fry are about a month old, followed by chopped up live bloodworms from one to about three months, and whole bloodworms thereafter. The fry don't


text:
Figures released by SQM Research this week have revealed that the number of residential vacancies increased during June, recording a 2.3% vacancy rate nationally and 69, 258 vacancies.
This result reflects a genuine upward trend in vacancies around the country, with the highest result since the December 2013 seasonal spike.
- Nationally, vacancies increased during May, recording a vacancy rate of 2.3% and coming to a total of 69,258 nationally.
- Melbourne recorded the highest vacancy rate of the capital cities, revealing a vacancy rate of 2.7% and a total of 12,073 vacancies.
- Darwin, Hobart and Adelaide have all recorded the tightest vacancy rate of the capital cities, all revealing a vacancy rate of 1.6% and a total of 424, 472 and 2,645 vacancies respectively.
- Perth has recorded the highest yearly increase in vacancies, climbing by 0.9 of a percentage point to 2.5% since the corresponding period of the previous year (June 2013) and coming to a total of 4,716 vacancies.
- Hobart recorded the largest yearly decrease in vacancies, falling by 1.0 percentage points to 1.6% since the corresponding period of the previous year (June 2013).
- Melbourne recorded the highest monthly increase in vacancies, rising 0.3 of a percentage point to 2.7%.
- Hobart was the only capital city to record a monthly decline in vacancies, dropping by 0.2 of a percentage point to 1.6% during June 2014.
With Hobart being the only capital city to record a monthly vacancy rate decrease, the remainder recorded either steady figures or rises during the month of June.
Melbourne has edged it way back up toward the 3% mark, revealing a vacancy rate of 2.7%, with Perth not far behind at 2.5%.
[sam id=37 codes='true']Interestingly, Perth's vacancy rate has loosened considerably since the corresponding period of the previous year (June 2013) where vacancies were recorded at 1.6%. Darwin has similarly climbed in rental vacancies, surging from 0.8% in June 2013 to 1.6% in June 2014.
Hobart has headed in the polar opposite direction, falling from a vacancy rate of 2.6% in June 2013 to 1.6 percent in June 2014.
With gradual increases continuing to be witnessed in recent months, SQM Research is strongly of the opinion that a definite slowdown in the nation's rental market is occurring.
Further to this, SQM Research's Asking Rent's Index has revealed a monthly stagnation in the capital city average's asking rent with no change recorded month-on-month for houses, and a 0.7% decrease in asking rents for units. For each capital cities Asking Rent's breakdown, click here.
At this stage the market is increasingly favouring tenants across the country.
While this is not yet a rout for landlords, it certainly is at a stage where rents will unlikely rise above inflation for the next 12 months. This means that rental yields will continue to fall, thereby reducing the net cash flows for new property investors in the market place.
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ColorSpaceConversion
The ColorSpaceConversion Node
This Node can be used to convert a color from one color space into another, for example converting an RGB color into the HSV color space. When you add a ColorSpaceConversion block item to the VFX Node Graph, the Inspector window will change to show a list properties that can be edited:
The ColorSpaceConversion Parameters In The InspectorThe options available here are:

 - RGBA/HSVA/YUVA
 Here you can input the specific component values for the input color, depending on the FromColorSpace type that has been set. Values are from 0 - 1 and you can click on the color swatch to open the color picker and set the values from that.

 - FromColorSpace
 This parameter sets the color space that the input color belongs to. This can be either RGBA, HSVA, or YUVA.

 - ToColorSpace
 This parameter sets the color space that the input color should be converted to before being output. This can be either RGBA, HSVA, or YUVA.

Node Inputs
This node accepts the following the inputs:

 - InputColour
 This is a vec4 representing an input color. Colour can be in the RGB, HSV or YUV color spaces, which is set using the node properties.

Node Output
This node has the following option to define the output:

 - OutputColour
 This is a vec4 value that represents a color. The actual color being output will depend on the ToColorSpace setting and will be either RGBA, HSVA or YUVA.