Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 765 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia became Wells Fargo and moved into its new headquarters, the nearby Wells Fargo Center building.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or “flying forms,” jacked into place with a “kangaroo” crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex’s space. It remained Southeast Bank’s headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

The art leaves one wondering about what is taking place and what race these creature are. Perhaps another world or time? I have heard tales that with the world becoming more and more computerized, that we will need our limbs less and less. Is this what is to become of our race in time?

Art Screamer sim. slurl.com/secondlife/Art%20Screamer/46/206/83

(Raw shot)

Into the Light - Day 269 - Year 2022

----------------------------------------------------

I asked the technician if the CT scan made a noise and

she told me that it sounds like a jet taking off.

So, as I had my knee scanned today, sure enough, when the machine started up it did sound like a jet taking off.

Torekällberget open-air museum, Södertälje, Sweden.

Torekällberget's "Photography Atelier" is located in the former Engelström farm, which is just south of the Patonska house.

A reconstruction of the photographer Maria Hallström's studio and a photo exhibition with some of her pictures are shown here. She is considered one of Södertälje's first professional photographers and was active in the city between 1907 and 1924.

In 1972, Torekällberget's museum acquired a large number of glass plates and parts of Hallström's studio equipment. Around 7,000 of her pictures are computerized and registered and searchable in the museum's database in the City Museum on the museum grounds. Many negatives were damaged by moisture and wear, but the museum has cleaned them as best they could.

sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torek%C3%A4llberget

computerized

"Taxi and hold short for a MD-80 on two-mile final." When someone is in trouble, they might say anything to get out of trouble. They might claim something was said that was not said. The recorder is your buddy. Usually. Reel-to-reel logging recorders were made by Dictaphone, Stancil, and others. These were used to log voice-grade audio for activities such as air traffic control, railroad safety, 9-1-1 calls, and radio broadcast audio.

Some reel-to-reel machines had talking clock tracks. One recording track periodically announced of time of day so the time could be matched up with a point on the tape.

Two tape transports allowed recording to continue if a tape broke or the transport failed. These have been replaced by digital recorders which sound just as crappy but are cheaper and don't require changing tape reels. Computerized recorders can look like a 1U server and don't weight 200 pounds. Dictaphone digital recorders had the ability to search for words. You could type the word, "hammer," into a Window and the machinery would search recordings on the hard disk for every utterance of the word.

Chuck fowled up, (again)? Your corrections are welcomed.

[Over the phone:] Unit calling repeat your last traffic for dispatch. [Over the radio:] Just a minute, honey.

— unverified report of a mistake by a 9-1-1 dispatcher attempting simultaneous conversations with spouse by phone and a first responder by two-way radio

Journalism grade image.

Source: 2,200x3,800 16-bit TIF file.

Please do not copy this image for any purpose.

Muttrah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Muttrah, (Arabic: مطرح‎) administratively a district, is located in the Muscat province of Oman. Before the discovery of oil, Muttrah was the center of commerce in Oman (Muscat). It is still a center of commerce as one of largest sea ports of the region is located there. Other landmarks include Souq Muttrah, a traditional bazaar and Sour Al-Lawatiah, a small community of houses surrounded by an old wall. To the south lies Muscat District.

Demographics

Muttrah had an estimated population of about 8,000 people when diplomat Edmund Roberts visited in the early 1830s.[1] The district population was 216,578 estimated for 2014, up from 150,124 of the 2010 Census count, and the most densely populated of all districts in the nation

Economy

In the mid 19th century, Muttrah had a vessel repair industry.[1]

Souq Muttrah

The Muttrah Souq

Entrance to the Muttrah Souq

Al Dhalam (Darkness in Arabic) Souq is the local name for the Muttrah Souq. The Muttrah Souq is perhaps one of the oldest marketplaces in the Arab world because Muscat is the world's largest natural harbor and has seen immense trade in the age of sail, being strategically located on the way to India and China.[3] It has been named after darkness because of the crowded stalls and lanes where the sunrays do not infiltrate during the day and the shoppers need lamps to know their destinations. The name of the market has been drawn specifically from the part that extends from Al Lawatiya Mosque to Khour Bimba where the place is really full of stores and stalls and the narrow area of lanes does not allow the sunlight to enter. The market was a source of supply for Omanis where they can buy their needs in the 1960s when life requirements were simpler than today. Most of the goods were imported, in addition to local products like textiles, fruit, vegetables and dates.

In the past the market was built from mud and palm leaves, which suit the high temperatures and the hard climate conditions and hence were the best available materials to build the market at that time. Today, the Muscat Municipality has renovated and decorated the market to maintain the popular style but has also introduced modern amenities and redecorated the market heavily to attract tourists and make the shopping experience comfortable for tourists as well as other ordinary shoppers.

The market becomes more crowded and active during Eid seasons when Oman is come from all over the country to buy garments and jewelry.[4]

The main thoroughfare of the souk carries mainly household goods, shoes and ready-made garments. Further inside, you can enjoy the mixed smells of frankincense, perfume oils, fresh jasmine and spices. Enthusiastic shoppers and travellers can also discover a selection of tiny shops (on the side streets and alleyways leading up to the souq) full of Omani silver, stalls of gleaming white dishdashas and embroided kumahs, brightly colored cloth and multicoloured head scarves. Shoppers can even get their hands on old Arabian muskets at these souqs.

Other things sold at the souq include Omani pots, paintings, hookah pipes, framed khanjars (daggers), leatherwork and incense.[5]

Infrastructure

Port Sultan Qaboos[edit]

Commonly called the Muscat Port, Port Sultan Qaboos is one of the main commercial ports in Oman. It is Oman's premier maritime gateway, enjoying a prime location in the politically stable sultanate. Situated in a natural harbour 250 km south of the Strait of Hormuz on the Indian Ocean coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Port Sultan Qaboos' location makes it an ideal hub, not only for the Persian Gulf but also the Indian sub-continent and markets in East and South Africa.

The location of Port Sultan Qaboos offers considerable savings in steaming time when compared to other ports. The port's tariff compares very favorably with others across the region. The already impressive infrastructure, skilled manpower, fast and efficient handling operations and documentation clearance system in PSC will be further enhanced this year.

During the reign of Sayyid Sultan bin Ahmed in the 18th century, Oman's trading activity again increased and the capital area's two harbours — Muscat and Mutrah — diversified, Mutrah was quickly established as a commercial port while Muscat was used for naval operations. The ruler's son Sayyid Said continued to expand maritime commerce although it again went into decline after his death in 1856. Maritime activity was limited to the import of essential items, mainly from India by old-style wooden dhows. Ships had to anchor offshore and sometimes wait for days before cargo could be unloaded manually into small boats.

Muscat Port

This was all to change with the accession of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said who inaugurated a new era of maritime commerce and prosperity in Oman when he established Mina Qaboos (now Port Sultan Qaboos) in 1974.

Port Sultan Qaboos has been operated and managed by Port Services Corporation S.A.O.G. since November 1976. Until 1981, the traffic was essentially conventional cargo. With the advent of containerisation, PSQ developed two of its berths to handle container vessels and these facilities were fully operational by 1983–1984.

PSC embarked on computerization of its operations and back office in 1984. The first system to handle container movements became operational from 1985. Thereafter the computer applications were enhanced to cover all back office operations including invoicing and accounts.

In the early 1990s, the port infrastructure was further enhanced. Two more berths were converted to handle multipurpose vessels including container vessels and were equipped with additional three quay-side gantry cranes. The marshaling yard and empty yard was provided with rubber tyred gantries. On date, the port is an ideal transshipment hub for the upper Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports trade flows.

Source : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muttrah

Details best viewed in Original Size.

The Templo Expiatorio de la Sagrada Familia or Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family is a large unfinished Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926). Gaudí's work on the building is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in November 2010 Pope Benedict XVI consecrated and proclaimed it a minor basilica as distinct from a cathedral, which must be the seat of a bishop. In 1882, construction of Sagrada Família started under architect Francisco de Paula del Villar. In 1883, when Villar resigned, Gaudí took over as chief architect, transforming the project with his architectural and engineering style, combining Gothic and curvilinear Art Nouveau forms. Gaudí devoted the remainder of his life to the project, and at the time of his death at age 73 in 1926, less than a quarter of the project was complete. Relying solely on private donations, Sagrada Familia's construction progressed slowly and was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, only to resume intermittent progress in the 1950s. Since commencing construction in 1882, advancements in technologies such as CAD (computer aided design) and CNC (computerized numerical control) have enabled faster progress and construction passed the midpoint in 2010. However, some of the project's greatest challenges remain, including the construction of ten more spires, each symbolizing an important Biblical figure in the New Testament. It is anticipated that the building can be completed by 2026—the centenary of Gaudí's death. In which at first, he wished his city would be remembered for such an astonishing building.

In contrast to the highly decorated Nativity Façade, the Passion Façade is austere, plain and simple, with ample bare stone, and is carved with harsh straight lines to resemble the bones of a skeleton. Dedicated to the Passion of Christ, the suffering of Jesus during his crucifixion, the façade was intended to portray the sins of man. Construction began in 1954, following the drawings and instructions left by Gaudí for future architects and sculptors. The towers were completed in 1976, and in 1987 a team of sculptors, headed by Josep Maria Subirachs, began work sculpting the various scenes and details of the façade. They aimed to give a rigid, angular form to provoke a dramatic effect. Gaudí intended for this façade to strike fear into the onlooker. He wanted to "break" arcs and "cut" columns, and to use the effect of chiaroscuro (dark angular shadows contrasted by harsh rigid light) to further show the severity and brutality of Christ's sacrifice. Facing the setting sun, indicative and symbolic of the death of Christ, the Passion Façade is supported by six large and inclined columns, designed to resemble Sequoia trunks. Above there is a pyramidal pediment, made up of eighteen bone-shaped columns, which culminate in a large cross with a crown of thorns. Each of the four towers is dedicated to an apostle (James, Thomas, Philip, and Bartholomew) and, like the Nativity Façade, there are three porticos, each representing the theological virtues, though in a much different light.

Photoshop CS6 was used to clone out most of the construction cranes, evidence that this is still an active construction site.

Additional information may be obtained at Wikipedia.

No power? Well, there's always the non-computerized chat. ;-)

The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The Hercules family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 60 years of service, the family has participated in military, civilian, and humanitarian aid operations. The Hercules has outlived several planned successor designs, most notably the Advanced Medium STOL Transport contestants.

The C-130J is the newest version of the Hercules and the only model still in production. Externally similar to the classic Hercules in general appearance, the J-model features considerably updated technology. These differences include new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 D3 turboprop engines with Dowty R391 composite scimitar propellers, digital avionics (including head-up displays (HUDs) for each pilot), and reduced crew requirements. These changes have improved performance over its C-130E/H predecessors, such as 40% greater range, 21% higher maximum speed, and 41% shorter takeoff distance.

As a cargo and airlift aircraft, the C-130J's crew includes two pilots and one loadmaster (no navigator or flight engineer), while specialized USAF variants (e.g., AC-130J, EC-130J, MC-130J, HC-130J, WC-130J) may have larger crews, such as navigators/Combat Systems Officers or other specialized officer and enlisted air crew. The U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J uses a crew chief for expeditionary operations. The C-130J's cargo compartment is approximately 41 feet (12.5 m) long, 9 feet (2.74 m) high, and 10 feet (3.05 m) wide, and loading is from the rear of the fuselage. The aircraft can also be configured with the "enhanced cargo handling system". The system consists of a computerized loadmaster's station from which the user can remotely control the under-floor winch and also configure the flip-floor system to palletized roller or flat-floor cargo handling. Initially developed for the USAF, this system enables rapid role changes to be carried out and so extends the C-130J's time available to complete taskings.

Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 765 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia became Wells Fargo and moved into its new headquarters, the nearby Wells Fargo Center building.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or “flying forms,” jacked into place with a “kangaroo” crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex’s space. It remained Southeast Bank’s headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

Engine close up showing the RED TURBOS

1962 Oldsmbile F-85 Jetfire Hardtop Coupe

General Motors was flexing its engineering muscles in the early Sixties, especially when it came to the corporation’s new Y-body small cars. The line of 112-inch-wheelbase premium compacts included the Pontiac Tempest with independent rear suspension and curved “rope drive” driveshaft. Meanwhile, the Buick Special and Oldsmobile F-85 bowed in 1961 with an aluminum V8, followed in ’62 by a 90-degree V6 initially exclusive to Buick.

In April 1962, Olds introduced America’s first mass-market turbocharged car, the F-85 Jetfire. (Chevrolet brought out its turbocharged Corvair Monza Spyder about a month later.) A turbocharger uses the force of escaping exhaust gas to turn impellers that raise air pressure in the intake manifold, forcing the fuel mixture into the combustion chambers for more power. Working with Garrett AirResearch, Olds adapted a turbocharger to the 215-cid aluminum V-8. Where naturally aspirated versions made 155 or 185 horsepower, the Jetfire’s “Turbo Rocket” version put out 215 horsepower.

Turbo engines usually have reduced compression to avoid preignition or “pinging,” but to reach the magic one-horsepower-per-cubic-inch mark, Olds engineers used a high 10.25:1 compression. To head off detonation, an ingenious fluid-injection system added a 50/50 mix of water and alcohol (“Turbo-Rocket Fluid”) to the fuel mixture to lower the combustion-chamber temperature. A wastegate limited turbo boost.

Inside, a vacuum-boost gauge on the standard center console indicated if the turbo was doing its job. The gauge also included a warning light to remind owners to refill the Turbo-Rocket Fluid tank—a bottle in the engine bay held an emergency supply.

A Jetfire could go 0-60 mph in 8.5 seconds and had a top speed of 107. The quarter-mile run was achieved in 16.8 seconds. All Jetfires were hardtop coupes with standard front bucket seats. The Jetfire cost $3049.

Oldsmobile engineers came up with a lot of ingenious engineering to make the turbo work, but ultimately the engine was unreliable in the hands of average owners who often failed to refill the Turbo-Rocket Fluid tank. In 1965 Olds recalled the Jetfires to replace the turbocharger with a conventional four-barrel carburetor. Today, turbos benefit from computerized technology and are increasingly popular because they generate more power from small, fuel-efficient engines.

Only 3765 Jetfires were sold in 1962, with a further 5842 built in its final year of 1963. It’s estimated that only 30-35 with a functioning turbocharger remain. It is one of only about 50 ’62s with a four-speed manual transmission.

Port of Itajai

Vessel Berthed (Navio Atracado)

Vessel's Details (Detalhes do Navio)

Ship Type (tipo): Cargo - Full Container

Year Built (ano de construção): 2006

Length x Breadth (Comprimento x Largura): 211 m X 32 m

DeadWeight (Tonelagem Bruta): 32161 t

Call Sign: A8IG4

IMO: 9327671, MMSI: 636090973

Shipbuilder Name (Construtor): Stocznia Gdynia SA – Gdynia, Poland

Owner/Agent (Proprietário/Agente): CMA CGM DO BRASIL AGE

Flag (Bandeira): Liberia

Berth (Berço): APMT Itajai 01

A.T.B. (Atracação): April 06,2011 09:35h

E.T.D. (Previsão de saída): April 06,2011 19:00h

Origin (Origem): RIO GRANDE (Brazil)

Destination (Destino): PARANAGUA (Brazil)

.

The Port of Itajai is a Brazilian port located in the City of Itajai, in the State of Santa Catarina, south Brazil.

This is the second largest port of Brazil in handling containers. It acts as export port and most of the Santa Catarina´s production passes through it.

The port of Itajai has over 15,000 m2 of covered area to warehouse products and 38,000 m2 of open area to warehouse containers. The users of the Itajai Port have at their disposal over 70 equipments to assist loadings and unloadings of 1 to 37 tons.

The port follows international safety standards. The operational units are fully computerized.

In 2010, the Port of Itajai handled a total of 954.38 thousand TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit – international unit equivalent to a 20-foot container). Over 1.25 thousand vessels called at the Port of Itajai, including cargo and passenger vessels.

If you're going to be abandoned somewhere - or, to take a more whimsical step, if you were an abandoned car - what better place to spend eternity than on the vast, limitless prairie? It would be my first choice. Day follows night (as in this photo), week follows week, year follows year, and you can rust away to your little computerized heart's content.

In June, you have to get up awfully early for a shot like this. By 4 a.m. the robins and mourning doves are competing for the airwaves from every cottonwood tree in the village; by 4:30 the sky is visibly lightening with pre-dawn glow. There is an abandoned homestead a few km from town that has half a dozen or more old cars, rusting away for eternity, by the look of it, surrounded by planted wheat fields.

On this particular morning, as the dawn chorus trilled in the background and before the warming sun coaxed sleeping mosquitoes from the grasses, I set up my tripod and made wide angle shots of this and that. The landowners have given me permission to do so. I'm always careful not to stumble into barbed wire or broken glass. It isn't my all time fave, the 1939 Pontiac, but here sits a relic in its own right, on a long gone morning in June. No doubt it will still be there when June rolls around once more...

Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

competition or flat out replacement? maybe I'm just being cynical...

Yes folks, this old card system is still in use after all of these years. No, they don't use a computerized system ... just these cards.

Mujer Maya Mam de SANTIAGO CHIMALTENANGO, Guatemala, en OAKLAND, CA

Aquí vemos un traje muy moderno, la última moda de ropa indígena de este pueblo. Esta joven ha tejido su corte (falda) con diseños geométricos, mucho más complicados que los diseños simples copiados de Colotenango que típicamente se usaban aquí. Tiene el último estilo de huipil, negro en vez de rojo, cuello festoneado que está muy de moda por toda Guatemala, sin las mangas que desde siempre han usado aquí, y con crochet agregado para hacer “mangas”.

Todo esto es su trabajo menos la faja, que es computarizada, tristemente. He notado que muchas mujeres agregan una faja computarizada a un traje tejido por ellas.

Here we see a very modern outfit, the latest fashion, of tribal clothing from this town. This woman has woven her corte (skirt) with some geometric designs, much more complicated than the usual simple skirt designs used here. Her huipil is the latest style, black instead of the once mandatory red, with the scalloped neck that is all the rage throughout Guatemala, made in the sleeveless style now favored here by young women, with realistic flowers in the brocade and some crochet added to make faux sleeves. This is her work except the belt, which is computerized, sadly.

Santiago Chimaltenango, Huehuetenango, GUATEMALA (Mam) in Oakland, CA

I came across this interesting, unusual boat while walking at Marina Bay in Richmond.

According to their website, "Wind+Wing Technologies has partnered with Photon Composites, pioneers in innovative computerized wing technology, to develop a demonstration vessel for ferry routes on the San Francisco Bay. The vessel is a 42-foot trimaran equipped with a computerized wing, specifically designed to harness wind power to significantly reduce fuel consumption and emissions. In January 2014, the demonstration vessel will begin test sailing five days a week, for three months, on the following ferry routes from the San Francisco Ferry Building to Sausalito, Richmond, Treasure Island, and Alameda."

© All rights reserved

4-22-2009

You really don't see many of these old Farmall tractors still in operation and being used. This one had just been used to drag a long driveway so it would dry out faster. Most tractors in this area are huge and all computerized, equipped with air conditioning, cds, and even dvd players.

“I fail to see the reason we’re visiting this...fool...” Nygma kicked up some dust on the floor of the building he and Black Mask had entered.

“Carter is a smart man, and if there is a ‘war’ coming, you’ll need this guy. He’s a jackass though.” Roman answered.

The two men walked up a few stairs and onto a platform with a large compass inlet into the panels. A bellowing British voice echoed through the dark building.

“Ah! Mr. Nygma and Roman! I knew you two would stray into my hemisphere someday!”

A man stepped out of the shadows and onto the compass platform. He wore respectable clothes, topped off with a giant globe on his head.

This was Hammond Carter, the Globe.

Nygma sneered, “Hello Mr. Carter.”

“My name is the Globe, Edward! Hammond Carter doesn’t run the most successful global heist syndicate in the world, the Globe does! I’m more successful than Roman was in his glory days, hah!”

Black Mask flicked at the trigger on his gun, “You’re still just a dumbass, Carter. You have a fucking globe on your head.”

The Globe turned to Black Mask and laughed, “This is no globe, it is a computerized tracking device! I can see every one of my agents all across the world at all times!” He spun the globe around on his head with his right hand.

Riddler was growing tired of this, “Mr. Carter, the Globe, whatever the hell you want to be called...I need your help.”

The Globe tilted his head at Riddler, “You do hmm? You didn’t seem to when you were making that think tank of yours...”

Riddler really didn’t want to come, but Roman insisted. Here was the reason why. Globe kept grudges.

“You see, the thing about this tracker, is it’s all in real time...in fact, 6 of my agents are closing in on you two as we speak...how’s that for smart, Nygma?”

Riddler rolled his eyes beneath his mask and took his cane into both hands, “Take care of the agents, Roman. I have the Globe...”

I love the solitude you can find in Central Oregon, at least compared to the Portland metro area. It's an oasis of wind, dark skies and harsh, rocky landscapes. It's also a fascinating look into the history of our state and the way economics have impacted population centers over time.

This photo was taken near the little town of Grass Valley, about 30 miles south of The Dalles. It's an area that mixes past and present, with cemeteries like this sitting right next to computerized, GPS-guided agricultural operations.

At night, you don't hear much else but the wind and the occasional distant roar of a truck engine or brakes. It's peaceful, and hopefully that comes across in this image.

The Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. The C-130J is a comprehensive update of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules, with new engines, flight deck, and other systems. The Hercules family has the longest continuous production run of any military aircraft in history. During more than 60 years of service, the family has participated in military, civilian, and humanitarian aid operations. The Hercules has outlived several planned successor designs, most notably the Advanced Medium STOL Transport contestants.

The C-130J is the newest version of the Hercules and the only model still in production. Externally similar to the classic Hercules in general appearance, the J-model features considerably updated technology. These differences include new Rolls-Royce AE 2100 D3 turboprop engines with Dowty R391 composite scimitar propellers, digital avionics (including head-up displays (HUDs) for each pilot), and reduced crew requirements. These changes have improved performance over its C-130E/H predecessors, such as 40% greater range, 21% higher maximum speed, and 41% shorter takeoff distance.

As a cargo and airlift aircraft, the C-130J's crew includes two pilots and one loadmaster (no navigator or flight engineer), while specialized USAF variants (e.g., AC-130J, EC-130J, MC-130J, HC-130J, WC-130J) may have larger crews, such as navigators/Combat Systems Officers or other specialized officer and enlisted air crew. The U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J uses a crew chief for expeditionary operations. The C-130J's cargo compartment is approximately 41 feet (12.5 m) long, 9 feet (2.74 m) high, and 10 feet (3.05 m) wide, and loading is from the rear of the fuselage. The aircraft can also be configured with the "enhanced cargo handling system". The system consists of a computerized loadmaster's station from which the user can remotely control the under-floor winch and also configure the flip-floor system to palletized roller or flat-floor cargo handling. Initially developed for the USAF, this system enables rapid role changes to be carried out and so extends the C-130J's time available to complete taskings.

The Climatron® is the first geodesic dome to be used as a conservatory, incorporating the principles of R. Buckminster Fuller, inventor of the geodesic system. It opened to the public on October 1, 1960. The design of the Climatron greenhouse was developed by St. Louis architects Murphy and Mackey, winning the 1961 Reynolds Award, an award for architectural excellence in a structure using aluminum. In 1976 it was named one of the 100 most significant architectural achievements in United States history. The term “Climatron” was coined to emphasize the climate-control technology of the greenhouse dome.

A ground-level entrance and energy-conserving automatic doors make the entire Climatron accessible to disabled visitors. The Shoenberg Temperate House hugs the north side of the building.

I've been tagged. A big part of me is my work, so here are my 10 favorite papers I've published:

2009- The effects of repeat collaboration on creative abrasion

We developed a theory of why repeat collaboration in highly creative projects can lead to less creative outcomes, and suggested what teams can do about it.

2007- Dynamics of organizational emergence: Pace, punctuation, and timing in nascent entrepreneurship

We posited and empirically validated that successful entrepreneurial ventures have a certain “rhythm”; it’s all about momentum.

2006- An emergence event in new venture creation: Measuring the dynamics of nascent entrepreneurship

This was the first paper published in organizational theory that actually collected data and tested a complexity science model.

2003- Merger as marriage: Communication issues in post-merger integration

Not widely read, but I love how insightful the metaphor is.

2002- Studying complex discursive systems: Centering resonance analysis of organizational communication

This was the paper that explained the computerized text analysis method we invented, which then spun off into its own company.

2002- The dynamics of electronic media coverage

Our analysis of media coverage of 9-11.

2001- Supply networks and complex adaptive systems: Control versus emergence

This was the first paper published in supply chain management discussing the implications of complexity science. Most cited article.

1999- Explaining complex organizational dynamics

Here we laid out what randomness and chaos meant if you found them in organizational data.

1997- A complex adaptive systems model of organization change

My definition of a complex adaptive system in this paper is the one used in Wikipedia.

1986- An integrated quality systems approach to quality and productivity improvement in continuous manufacturing processes

My first published paper…

Images For Make A Plane Crash Photo

For a digital artist the picture is often a means to an end or a composition, its main objective is the transformation both visual and the sensations and feelings that can transmit.

The final composition is his work as a painter or a sculptor imagined, digital art is more than a computerized technique, transmits often imagination and a way of seeing the world, is itself artistic creation that is often unique and unrepeatable.

The beginning is the collection of photographic material for the composition you want to do or in this case the elements for built the composition; it is often necessary to transform them individually because not always have what we wanted.

- In this case the Bridge is the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon, photos taken in movement ; we can't stop for take photos.

- A bonfire capture.

- An old subsonic light attack aircraft LTV A-7 Corsair II in exposition in the Alcochete Shooting Range (Campo de Tiro de Alcochete) near Lisbon.

Sometimes some compositions need dozens of images and elements, but for this simple case i choose a few elements.

The final result you may see in the link below or in the first comment box.

www.flickr.com/photos/arrhakis/28711231356/in/photostream/

The B & B we stayed at (Tulip of Amsterdam on Kloverniersburgwal canal) has a curio collection including clogs sets, this set being one.

The oldest surviving wooden footwear in Europe is found in Amsterdam and Rotterdam dating from 1230 and 1280 respectively.

Since then wooden shoes have barely changed. Some clog makers have existed for generations. Traditionally each clog maker has their own design.

During winter Dutch farmers used to carve shoes for themselves and their families. Wooden shoes were cheap and the perfect footwear for working the land.

During the 18th century the art of making wooden shoes developed rapidly, and by the 19th century it had become a profession.

After the First World War there was over 3,900 wooden shoe factories in Holland.

Due to fierce competetion the number factories reduced rapdily. By 1975 there were only 150 factories left.

Today there are only 20 wooden shoe factories left, all have been computerized. They produce about 1.5 million pairs of poplar wood shoes per year for use as footwear and 3 million for souvenirs and gifts.

Boeing B-29 Superfortress “FIFI”, serial number 44-62070 Profile

FiFi, a B-29 bomber, and one of the more notable planes, participated in a special event at the New Century Air Center in Gardner, Kansas. The event was called the Air Power History Tour, where three working World War II airplanes were on display until Sunday. The event took place August 20 through August 24 at the New Century AirCenter in Gardner Kansas. This picture taken Sunday, August 24th.

This particular aircraft was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps in Salina, Kansas, on July 31, 1945. It remained state-side for its entire career, assigned to several airbases including Strategic Air Command, Grand Island Field, Nebraska. It was converted to a TB-29 trainer in 1953 and transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1956 and eventually ended up at China Lake, California.

The B-29 was designed as a long-range heavy bomber, and whose nickname “Superfortress” is derived from the B-17 “Flying Fortress” nickname coined by Richard L. Williams, a writer and editor for the Seattle Times, when he was assigned to write a caption on a photo of the Model 299, a prototype of the B-17 that was unveiled at Boeing on July 17, 1935. Boeing presented a prototype as early as 1939, but the production version did not see combat until 1944. B-29s were flown in the Pacific Theater during World War II, where their long range and large bomb load were most needed (although two were delivered for non-combat to Europe late in the war – my dad was there in 1946 and spoke of them). The B-29 is, of course, most known for having dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (a secondary target chosen due to poor visibility over the primary target of Kokura). After its establishment in 1946, the U.S. Strategic Air Command began deployment of B-29s, some as RB-29 reconnaissance aircraft.

Powered by four Wright R-3350-23 Duplex/Cyclone engines, the B-29 was the first bomber to have pressurized crew compartments: forward, aft, and tail gunner positions, with a pressurized connecting tunnel over the bomb bays. It was entirely innovative in its use of an analog computerized remote-controlled sighting system for the guns. Except for the tail gunner, the gunners no longer sat in turrets but rather in sighting stations using a remote periscope sighting system for the turrets which had switches to obtain or relinquish control of the four turrets; the top turret gunner/central fire control officer had switches for changing control as to which gunner was on the target depending on his field of view; the gunners communicated via the interphone system.

The bombardier was generally responsible for the forward dorsal 4-gun turret and the forward ventral 2-gun turret for frontal attacks. Armament in this aircraft includes: twin-mounted General Electric .50 caliber machine guns in remote-controlled forward and rear ventral turrets and a ventral rear aft turret, and quad-mounted .50 cal. in a remote-controlled forward dorsal turret, and a pair in the tail turret. (Armament varied in these aircraft and a 20 mm cannon was added to the tail turret on some aircraft).

The crew generally consisted of ten: pilot, co-pilot, bombardier/togglier, flight engineer, radio operator, navigator, right gunner, left gunner, top gunner or central fire control, tail gunner (11 when radar was used). The top gunner sat in a pedestal seat nicknamed the “Barber’s Seat.” Due to the complexity of this aircraft, the flight engineer (who sat behind the co-pilot, facing aft and looking at an array of controls) had a very active role in flying the aircraft, responsible for the minute-by-minute monitoring and control of the engines. Each crew position was fitted with a 1936 Ford ashtray. The aircraft had a forward and smaller aft bomb bay and could carry a range of ordnance.

The Robot Building, located in the Sathorn business district of Bangkok, Thailand, houses United Overseas Bank's Bangkok headquarters. It was designed for the Bank of Asia by Sumet Jumsai to reflect the computerization of banking (he found inspiration in his son's toy robot); its architecture is a reaction against neoclassical and high-tech postmodern architecture. The building's features, such as progressively receding walls, antennas, and eyes, contribute to its robotic appearance and to its practical function.

The building was completed in 1987 at a cost of US$10 million. By the mid-1980s, architectural modernism had faded in Bangkok; this building is one of the last examples of the style.

Sumet designed the building in conscious opposition to postmodern styles of the era, particularly classical revivalism and high-tech architecture as embodied in the Centre Pompidou. Sumet dismissed mid-1980s classical revivalism as "intellectually bankrupt" and criticized the "catalogues of meaningless architectural motifs" that characterized classical revivalism in Bangkok.

The Robot Building was selected by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles as one of the 50 seminal buildings of the century. The building also earned Sumet an award from Chicago's Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, the first such award given to a Thai designer. According to Stephen Sennott's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Architecture, the building "enhanced the world's recognition of modern Thai architecture".

Visit my website: Southeast Asia Images

Link to Thailand’s premier image gallery: Thailand Showcase Gallery

Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 765 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia became Wells Fargo and moved into its new headquarters, the nearby Wells Fargo Center building.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or “flying forms,” jacked into place with a “kangaroo” crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex’s space. It remained Southeast Bank’s headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

I found this article in the TopTropicals' Encyclopedia fascinating.

Cinnamomum zeylanicum - a legendary commodity and culinary spice, Cinnamon

Scientific name: Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cinnamomum verum

Family: Lauraceae

Common name: Cinnamon

Origin: Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

An exciting story of Cinnamon - the most famous world spice... This historical plant can be easily grown in your garden. Enjoy the story and brew some cinnamon tea!..

Cinnamon

Cinnamomum aromaticum:

Young leaves of Cinnamon can be pinkish to red

Somewhere in the archives of your mind, do you remember your school days and studying the great explorers of the New World, like Columbus and Magellan? Were you ever asked how and why these extravagant expeditions were funded? These ever-dangerous missions were the sixteenth-century prequel to the Cold War space race, with similar stakes for national prestige and power. In the days before NASA and government grants, who put up the cash for these escapades? It was usually the Spanish king. But, as you doubtless already know if you've ever tried coax a new office computer out of your boss, there never seems to be enough money in the budget. In contrast to the illusion of endless wealth they portrayed, even kings were often in deep financial straits, and competitors were fierce for the few funds they offered. And proving your soundness as a financial risk was no easy thing in those days before computerized credit reports.. As classics of political economics have taught us, capitalists can lend money only in exchange for profit. So, if you approached the king with a "go I know not whither” attitude, you had better at least promise to bring back something worthwhile that was a perennially popular quarry, such as spices, which were often worth more their weight in gold.

Only one out of five ships from Magellan's fleet returned - the "Victoria". However, the hold carried 26 tons of spices, sufficient to cover the losses of the expedition and to actually make a profit for the investors.

Life in those days would have been unbearable without savory spices to disguise the poor quality and preparation of food. The quality of food was disgusting - unless you were royalty, you were destined for a lifetime of boiled meat-and-vegetable soup. The culinary arts existed more in theory than in fact, and only the rich could afford the luxury of fried meat (widespread consumption of fried meat did not come until the 18- and 19th centuries). Today we feed our dogs better meat than most people ate then, and salting was the only method of keeping meat fresh. Toil and harsh conditions were the standards of life... That's why spices were so valued, with their ability to lift the palate and the spirit even slightly above the drudgery of everyday life. Our sense of taste is primitive-- we sense saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, and acidity, and in this, we are not much different from other animals. Most of our culinary enjoyment stems from the sense of smell, which connects aromas to specific foods. Spices were also important as status symbols: something akin to wearing a Rolex watch or owning a yacht.

In those times the spice trade route came by way of Muslim countries and from there by sea through the Italian ports of Genoa and Venice. The fantastic wealth of these and other ports was almost completely due to the spice trade, or rather to the hefty customs duties collected on these goods. Without this excess wealth and the artistic patronage it inspired, the Renaissance would not have been possible (it is interesting to speculate on where we would be without it!). Everything was fine prior to the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the Turks took the Balkans, the Black Sea and Syria, ending the old commercial routes to the East. The developing countries of Europe were very unhappy with these circumstances. They began to cherish the idea of going directly to the source of the riches themselves, cutting out the middleman.. It was this prospect of grand profit which fueled the first risky expeditions. Perhaps one of the most crucial points in the history of commerce was May 20, 1498, when Vasco de Gama sailed to Calcutta, initiating “spice fever”!

Two countries, Spain and Portugal, were dearest to the Pope's heart at this time. They burned their heretics, unlike the more freethinking France and England. To the great dismay of Pope Alexander VI, by the end of the fifteenth century, there was no love lost between these two rival siblings of the Pope's affections. Portugal mastered the route around Africa, and Spain (a little late on the exploration scene, as it was preoccupied with disarming the Moors), decided to move to another side, sending Columbus westward. They took different directions with the same intent -- to possess the riches of the Orient. The outcome is now legendary. In 1494, under the auspices of the Pope the world was divided in two: Spanish (to the West from the 49th meridian) and Portuguese (to the east). This agreement did not interfere with the existence of countries already established. It is interesting that this arbitrary division allowed Portugal to colonize Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken to this day.

Meanwhile, other countries were not at rest and were no less greedy in their aspirations. England and Holland took their share of colonies as well. For example, the Dutch East Indian company practically governed Indonesia and therefore monopolized world trade in spices from the 17th century on. English companies in India monopolized the perfume trade, and these are only two commodities that were plundered by empirical ambition.

Here we will discuss only one plant - cinnamon (Cinnamomum). Various varieties exist, only two of which are commercially popular: plain cinnamon - Cinnamomum zeylanicum, native to Ceylon and Malabar off the coast of India; and Cassia cinnamon - Cinnamomum aromaticum, native to Burma and South China (not to be confused with the Cassia plant). The spice cinnamon is obtained from the young bark of the branches. The two differ in appearance in the fact that the bark of cinnamon is thin and yellowish-brown, and the bark of Cassia is thicker and gray in color. Cinnamon possesses the stronger aroma, but to deduce the form of the plant from the appearance of the spice is practically impossible.

The first references to Cassia are encountered in Chinese books dated about 3000 B.C. The Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, who ruled approximately 1500 B.C., was an outstanding monarch, especially considering how rare it was for a woman to rule in those times. Among her accomplishments, she organized an expedition into present-day Yemen to find valuable species of wood and ivory for the building of the palace and temple in Thebes. Among the treasures was a large quantity of cinnamon.

In the works of John the Apostle (Revelation 18:12-13, New International Version), cinnamon is mentioned among the “excesses” of the riches of Babylon:

...Cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh, and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.

The Roman historian Pliny wrote that the cost of cinnamon was fifteen times that of silver. Romans used this spice to make expensive perfumery as well as to improve the taste of wine. Emperor Nero, after the murder of his wife, ordered cinnamon to be gathered from the entire city for the funeral bonfire.

Medieval Europe all but forgot about cinnamon, and only rare contacts with Muslims and Marco Polo's expedition revived the use of cinnamon and sugar in cooking. In the 15th century, cinnamon was so expensive that it was paid for in Muslim markets with "hard currency"- eunuchs and white female slaves.

In the spring of 1530, The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V went to Germany to visit one of the richest bankers in Europe - Fugger. It was an unpleasant mission for the emperor- he was there to ask for more time to pay old loans as well as to obtain new funds. Charles complained about the cold weather in Germany and compared it with the warm spring of Italy. In reply, the banker threw cinnamon bark into the furnace, after first throwing in the old debts of the emperor - a gesture to show that Germans were at least warm of heart!

As previously discussed, the Portuguese and Spaniards rushed to the Spice Islands from either side. Lorenzo de Almeida discovered Ceylon and its cinnamon trees in 1505. Before this cinnamon was the source of wealth for rulers. In 1580 the Portuguese took the coast and required 125 tons of cinnamon as a yearly tribute from the natives.

In desperation, the king of Candi (one of four kingdoms of Ceylon) turned to the Dutch for help, and in 1658 the island fell under the possession of the Dutchmen. However, their administration was no more merciful than the Portuguese- in fact, it was much worse.

The men who harvested cinnamon belonged to one of the lowest castes - Chaliya. Each of them had to gather about 60 lb of cinnamon each season. Dutchmen raised this quota ten times that amount, a practically impossible amount. Then they freed the harvesters from taxes at least. Still, it is not surprising that many chose to run away into the mountains, increasing the burden on those remaining. And there was only one punishment for a fugitive caught- capital punishment. Capital punishment also awaited any who attempted to smuggle cinnamon or anyone who had unreported cinnamon trees on his property. When Dutchmen learned that cinnamon grew on the Malabar coast of India, they persuaded local rulers by bribes and threats to destroy the trees in order to completely monopolize the market.

The majority of cinnamon was grown in the kingdom of Candi, and its rulers often destroyed trees in order to sabotage the Europeans. In 1761 they attacked the Dutchmen, killing about 7,000 people and destroying huge reserves of cinnamon. It is not surprising that the price of cinnamon in Holland leaped instantly. To prevent another such incident, the Dutch began to cultivate cinnamon on plantations. This arrangement was no more tasteful to the harvesters, who once again began to sabotage trees in protest. In response to this, the Dutch imposed a severe punishment- anyone caught in sabotage had his right hand chopped off.

Plantations proved to be successful, and the collection of wild cinnamon ceased to be profitable. Breeding cinnamon trees led to the crisis of overproduction, and in June of 1760 in Amsterdam, a cinnamon reserve worth 16 million French livre (an imposing sum in today's currency, one could buy a good horse for 100 livre in those days) burnt in a building of the Admiralty over the course of two days. It was noted that for several days the entire land of Holland smelled of cinnamon.

When France took Holland after the French revolution, it also gained Ceylon. When England defeated the French in 1795, they put this resource to work immediately, putting the rich plantations under the control of the East India Company. The island was completely subject to England and the cultivation of cinnamon was sharply limited to drive the market. However, this monopoly collapsed in the middle of the nineteenth century due to the Dutch smuggling exported cinnamon trees to Java and Borneo, and Frenchmen revealed that the cinnamon also grew well on the islands of Maverick and Reunion.

All this led to the price of cinnamon falling drastically in Europe, allowing even the non-rich to use this spice which was previously reserved for only the most wealthy of diners.

Nowadays, world production of cinnamon is about 8,000-10,000 tons per year, with 80-90% of this coming from Sri Lanka. World production of cassia is 20,000-25,000 tons per year, two-thirds of which is grown in Indonesia. Cinnamon and Cassia are used in the production of liqueurs, perfumery, and for cooking.

The cinnamon tree can reach 50 ft in height, but on plantations, trees are trained into bushes of 6-8 ft. The leaves are fragrant (they are often used to impart a cinnamon flavor to tea, for example). The cinnamon tree "drinks" a large amount of water. In its natural habitat, more than 6 ft of rainfall annually. The flowers are very small and unimposing.

The cinnamon tree is propagated by seeds or cuttings. The plant is pruned after two or three years to form a bush, and cinnamon can already be harvested in the rainy season from a two-year-old tree.

The harvesting method is relatively simple. First, branches are cut from the tree. These are left for a day or two- in the dampness the bark rots and becomes easier to separate from the tree. After this comes the most complex part of the operation. The twigs and leaves are trimmed from the branches and the outer rough layer of bark is scraped off. After this, “stripes” are cut into the branches to separate the bark from the inner wood of the branch. The bark is then cut from the branch by making two accurate parallel cuts, and it then forms the characteristic curled twigs that we recognize as cinnamon sticks. These are then cut accurately into 42-inch lengths and dried.

One acre yields about 200 lb of cinnamon per year...

Cinnamon trees can be easily grown as an exotic container plant or planted in the ground in areas with frost-free climates. Fresh leaves may be added to tea. Enjoy the aroma of this tropical plant collection gem!

Courtesy TopTropicals Nursery

The UNA's standard 4 barreled anti vehicle rocket launcher. loads from behind with quad missile pods and is semi automatic for infantry. has 4 standard ammunition types (see note) and a side mounted computerized scope. UNA class one mech units can also use these and have the ability to link up with the computerized scope. Also, the strength of the mech units can handle the recoil while firing all 4 rockets at the same time.

The Stridsfordon 9040 (STRF 9040) is a modern IFV designed to give its users an excellent blend of firepower, mobility, and protection all in a low-maintenance and easily modifiable package.

Designed to transport a squad of 8 soldiers over the rough terrain of the Nordic sub-arctic environment, the STRF 9040 gives its crew excellent mobility in places where many other competitors would fail.

The vehicle has all-around protection against 14.5 mm armor-piercing rounds while the frontal plate can stop rounds up to 30mm APFSDS.

For armament, it uses a 40mm Bofors cannon which gives it considerable firepower against targets such as infantry, fortifications, helicopters, and lightly armored vehicles. Even the sides of tanks can be engaged using APFSDS rounds. Secondary armament includes a coaxial machine gun and smoke grenade dispensers.

Despite all these great features, the STRF 90 isn't perfect. While the vehicle does have thermal imaging, its gun lacks any sort of advanced computerized fire control and isn't stabilized making it inaccurate at long range engagements. Furthermore, the vehicle only has an operational range of 320 kilometers before it needs to be refueled.

Stridsfordon 9040 (1.1 price reduction)

Category: IFV

Gun: 40mm (0)

Armor: (+1)

Speed: 70 kmh (0)

Low Maintenance: (+1)

Amphibious: (+1)

Can't hit anything: (-1)

Fuel Inefficient: (-1)

Overheats: (-1)

I found this article in the TopTropicals' Encyclopedia fascinating.

Cinnamomum zeylanicum - a legendary commodity and culinary spice, Cinnamon

Scientific name: Cinnamomum zeylanicum, Cinnamomum verum

Family: Lauraceae

Common name: Cinnamon

Origin: Sri Lanka (Ceylon)

An exciting story of Cinnamon - the most famous world spice... This historical plant can be easily grown in your garden. Enjoy the story and brew some cinnamon tea!..

Cinnamon

Cinnamomum aromaticum:

Young leaves of Cinnamon can be pinkish to red

Somewhere in the archives of your mind, do you remember your school days and studying the great explorers of the New World, like Columbus and Magellan? Were you ever asked how and why these extravagant expeditions were funded? These ever-dangerous missions were the sixteenth-century prequel to the Cold War space race, with similar stakes for national prestige and power. In the days before NASA and government grants, who put up the cash for these escapades? It was usually the Spanish king. But, as you doubtless already know if you've ever tried coax a new office computer out of your boss, there never seems to be enough money in the budget. In contrast to the illusion of endless wealth they portrayed, even kings were often in deep financial straits, and competitors were fierce for the few funds they offered. And proving your soundness as a financial risk was no easy thing in those days before computerized credit reports.. As classics of political economics have taught us, capitalists can lend money only in exchange for profit. So, if you approached the king with a "go I know not whither” attitude, you had better at least promise to bring back something worthwhile that was a perennially popular quarry, such as spices, which were often worth more their weight in gold.

Only one out of five ships from Magellan's fleet returned - the "Victoria". However, the hold carried 26 tons of spices, sufficient to cover the losses of the expedition and to actually make a profit for the investors.

Life in those days would have been unbearable without savory spices to disguise the poor quality and preparation of food. The quality of food was disgusting - unless you were royalty, you were destined for a lifetime of boiled meat-and-vegetable soup. The culinary arts existed more in theory than in fact, and only the rich could afford the luxury of fried meat (widespread consumption of fried meat did not come until the 18- and 19th centuries). Today we feed our dogs better meat than most people ate then, and salting was the only method of keeping meat fresh. Toil and harsh conditions were the standards of life... That's why spices were so valued, with their ability to lift the palate and the spirit even slightly above the drudgery of everyday life. Our sense of taste is primitive-- we sense saltiness, sweetness, bitterness, and acidity, and in this, we are not much different from other animals. Most of our culinary enjoyment stems from the sense of smell, which connects aromas to specific foods. Spices were also important as status symbols: something akin to wearing a Rolex watch or owning a yacht.

In those times the spice trade route came by way of Muslim countries and from there by sea through the Italian ports of Genoa and Venice. The fantastic wealth of these and other ports was almost completely due to the spice trade, or rather to the hefty customs duties collected on these goods. Without this excess wealth and the artistic patronage it inspired, the Renaissance would not have been possible (it is interesting to speculate on where we would be without it!). Everything was fine prior to the beginning of the fifteenth century, when the Turks took the Balkans, the Black Sea and Syria, ending the old commercial routes to the East. The developing countries of Europe were very unhappy with these circumstances. They began to cherish the idea of going directly to the source of the riches themselves, cutting out the middleman.. It was this prospect of grand profit which fueled the first risky expeditions. Perhaps one of the most crucial points in the history of commerce was May 20, 1498, when Vasco de Gama sailed to Calcutta, initiating “spice fever”!

Two countries, Spain and Portugal, were dearest to the Pope's heart at this time. They burned their heretics, unlike the more freethinking France and England. To the great dismay of Pope Alexander VI, by the end of the fifteenth century, there was no love lost between these two rival siblings of the Pope's affections. Portugal mastered the route around Africa, and Spain (a little late on the exploration scene, as it was preoccupied with disarming the Moors), decided to move to another side, sending Columbus westward. They took different directions with the same intent -- to possess the riches of the Orient. The outcome is now legendary. In 1494, under the auspices of the Pope the world was divided in two: Spanish (to the West from the 49th meridian) and Portuguese (to the east). This agreement did not interfere with the existence of countries already established. It is interesting that this arbitrary division allowed Portugal to colonize Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken to this day.

Meanwhile, other countries were not at rest and were no less greedy in their aspirations. England and Holland took their share of colonies as well. For example, the Dutch East Indian company practically governed Indonesia and therefore monopolized world trade in spices from the 17th century on. English companies in India monopolized the perfume trade, and these are only two commodities that were plundered by empirical ambition.

Here we will discuss only one plant - cinnamon (Cinnamomum). Various varieties exist, only two of which are commercially popular: plain cinnamon - Cinnamomum zeylanicum, native to Ceylon and Malabar off the coast of India; and Cassia cinnamon - Cinnamomum aromaticum, native to Burma and South China (not to be confused with the Cassia plant). The spice cinnamon is obtained from the young bark of the branches. The two differ in appearance in the fact that the bark of cinnamon is thin and yellowish-brown, and the bark of Cassia is thicker and gray in color. Cinnamon possesses the stronger aroma, but to deduce the form of the plant from the appearance of the spice is practically impossible.

The first references to Cassia are encountered in Chinese books dated about 3000 B.C. The Egyptian queen Hatshepsut, who ruled approximately 1500 B.C., was an outstanding monarch, especially considering how rare it was for a woman to rule in those times. Among her accomplishments, she organized an expedition into present-day Yemen to find valuable species of wood and ivory for the building of the palace and temple in Thebes. Among the treasures was a large quantity of cinnamon.

In the works of John the Apostle (Revelation 18:12-13, New International Version), cinnamon is mentioned among the “excesses” of the riches of Babylon:

...Cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron, and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh, and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.

The Roman historian Pliny wrote that the cost of cinnamon was fifteen times that of silver. Romans used this spice to make expensive perfumery as well as to improve the taste of wine. Emperor Nero, after the murder of his wife, ordered cinnamon to be gathered from the entire city for the funeral bonfire.

Medieval Europe all but forgot about cinnamon, and only rare contacts with Muslims and Marco Polo's expedition revived the use of cinnamon and sugar in cooking. In the 15th century, cinnamon was so expensive that it was paid for in Muslim markets with "hard currency"- eunuchs and white female slaves.

In the spring of 1530, The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V went to Germany to visit one of the richest bankers in Europe - Fugger. It was an unpleasant mission for the emperor- he was there to ask for more time to pay old loans as well as to obtain new funds. Charles complained about the cold weather in Germany and compared it with the warm spring of Italy. In reply, the banker threw cinnamon bark into the furnace, after first throwing in the old debts of the emperor - a gesture to show that Germans were at least warm of heart!

As previously discussed, the Portuguese and Spaniards rushed to the Spice Islands from either side. Lorenzo de Almeida discovered Ceylon and its cinnamon trees in 1505. Before this cinnamon was the source of wealth for rulers. In 1580 the Portuguese took the coast and required 125 tons of cinnamon as a yearly tribute from the natives.

In desperation, the king of Candi (one of four kingdoms of Ceylon) turned to the Dutch for help, and in 1658 the island fell under the possession of the Dutchmen. However, their administration was no more merciful than the Portuguese- in fact, it was much worse.

The men who harvested cinnamon belonged to one of the lowest castes - Chaliya. Each of them had to gather about 60 lb of cinnamon each season. Dutchmen raised this quota ten times that amount, a practically impossible amount. Then they freed the harvesters from taxes at least. Still, it is not surprising that many chose to run away into the mountains, increasing the burden on those remaining. And there was only one punishment for a fugitive caught- capital punishment. Capital punishment also awaited any who attempted to smuggle cinnamon or anyone who had unreported cinnamon trees on his property. When Dutchmen learned that cinnamon grew on the Malabar coast of India, they persuaded local rulers by bribes and threats to destroy the trees in order to completely monopolize the market.

The majority of cinnamon was grown in the kingdom of Candi, and its rulers often destroyed trees in order to sabotage the Europeans. In 1761 they attacked the Dutchmen, killing about 7,000 people and destroying huge reserves of cinnamon. It is not surprising that the price of cinnamon in Holland leaped instantly. To prevent another such incident, the Dutch began to cultivate cinnamon on plantations. This arrangement was no more tasteful to the harvesters, who once again began to sabotage trees in protest. In response to this, the Dutch imposed a severe punishment- anyone caught in sabotage had his right hand chopped off.

Plantations proved to be successful, and the collection of wild cinnamon ceased to be profitable. Breeding cinnamon trees led to the crisis of overproduction, and in June of 1760 in Amsterdam, a cinnamon reserve worth 16 million French livre (an imposing sum in today's currency, one could buy a good horse for 100 livre in those days) burnt in a building of the Admiralty over the course of two days. It was noted that for several days the entire land of Holland smelled of cinnamon.

When France took Holland after the French revolution, it also gained Ceylon. When England defeated the French in 1795, they put this resource to work immediately, putting the rich plantations under the control of the East India Company. The island was completely subject to England and the cultivation of cinnamon was sharply limited to drive the market. However, this monopoly collapsed in the middle of the nineteenth century due to the Dutch smuggling exported cinnamon trees to Java and Borneo, and Frenchmen revealed that the cinnamon also grew well on the islands of Maverick and Reunion.

All this led to the price of cinnamon falling drastically in Europe, allowing even the non-rich to use this spice which was previously reserved for only the most wealthy of diners.

Nowadays, world production of cinnamon is about 8,000-10,000 tons per year, with 80-90% of this coming from Sri Lanka. World production of cassia is 20,000-25,000 tons per year, two-thirds of which is grown in Indonesia. Cinnamon and Cassia are used in the production of liqueurs, perfumery, and for cooking.

The cinnamon tree can reach 50 ft in height, but on plantations, trees are trained into bushes of 6-8 ft. The leaves are fragrant (they are often used to impart a cinnamon flavor to tea, for example). The cinnamon tree "drinks" a large amount of water. In its natural habitat, more than 6 ft of rainfall annually. The flowers are very small and unimposing.

The cinnamon tree is propagated by seeds or cuttings. The plant is pruned after two or three years to form a bush, and cinnamon can already be harvested in the rainy season from a two-year-old tree.

The harvesting method is relatively simple. First, branches are cut from the tree. These are left for a day or two- in the dampness the bark rots and becomes easier to separate from the tree. After this comes the most complex part of the operation. The twigs and leaves are trimmed from the branches and the outer rough layer of bark is scraped off. After this, “stripes” are cut into the branches to separate the bark from the inner wood of the branch. The bark is then cut from the branch by making two accurate parallel cuts, and it then forms the characteristic curled twigs that we recognize as cinnamon sticks. These are then cut accurately into 42-inch lengths and dried.

One acre yields about 200 lb of cinnamon per year...

Cinnamon trees can be easily grown as an exotic container plant or planted in the ground in areas with frost-free climates. Fresh leaves may be added to tea. Enjoy the aroma of this tropical plant collection gem!

Courtesy TopTropicals Nursery

The following posted by "PIONEER" in the PentaxForums a few years ago:

.....

I use a K1000. I'm not sure I understand why. I have lots of other cameras to choose from. I enjoy taking pictures with my digital cameras, and I love the detailed quality of the medium format photographs that I take as well. My K1000 seems somehow antiquated and out of place sitting on my desk amid the rest of my autofocus, auto-winding, auto exposing and auto-loading cameras. It has no display screen or digital read out to distinguish it. It doesn't require a big battery or a battery charger. Somehow it just doesn't seem to fit in. I am always feeling sorry for it so I frequently pick it up and take it with me.

I use a K1000. There is something reassuring about the solid simplicity of this camera. It is not confusing. There are not so many switches and buttons that I have to stop and think about which ones I should use…and when. I have never once missed a picture with this camera because I didn't understand how a certain function worked or which button or dial to use to activate the camera. The shutter dial clicks when I turn to each speed and I can turn the dial and count the clicks, knowing exactly where I'm at all the time. The same with the aperture ring. I don't need a little window. I have never waited for this camera to wake up or been frustrated because the autofocus refuses to lock on and allow me to take my picture. When I use this camera it is me that is slow and deliberate, not the camera. The camera waits for me to tell it what to do, and that's the way it should be.

I use a K1000. Nothing happens accidentally with this camera. There are no excuses. I cannot claim that I forgot that the mode dial was set on Manual because there is no Mode dial, and the camera is always on manual. I am never expecting a Program setting to make a decision for me, and then caught unawares when it does not. I am always aware that the Program setting for this camera is in my own mind. I am responsible for the shutter speed, not the camera. I am responsible for the aperture and the depth of field, not the camera. I am responsible for ensuring that my photo is tack sharp! I am responsible for eliminating camera shake. This camera doesn't second guess me, it does exactly what I tell it to do, even when it shouldn't.

I use a K1000. When I lift this camera and look through the viewfinder I am only thinking about the picture, not the camera. What exactly am I photographing? Have I framed it the way I want? Am I trying to isolate something from its surroundings or do I want to show it as part of a larger whole? How do I foresee the picture, what will it look like? This camera is not pretentious enough to be about itself. I don't have to think about the camera. I know where the controls are and what they do. It is only about the picture.

I use a K1000. Making an image is all about the light. With this camera I am always thinking about the light. Is there enough? Is it the right kind? Is it in the right place? Do I need to add more of it? How will it look on the film? Do I want a filter? If so, which one do I want? The K1000 gives me exactly the right tools to control the light, and not a thing I don't need.

I use a K1000. I am not distracted. I am not worried about which button controls exposure lock and whether the autofocus has focused on the right thing. I'm not concerned whether I am using matrix or spot metering. I don't take a picture and then look at the histogram to evaluate the lighting after the picture is taken, I think about the lighting in advance.

I use a K1000. I am not really a student and yet I am always a student. With this camera I am continually learning. There are many nuances to taking a picture and the K1000 requires that I learn those nuances. It doesn't automatically do it for me. But it doesn't get in the way of that learning either.

I use a K1000. It is a very, very reliable camera. I take care of it as best I can but it has never failed. When I press the shutter button the shutter fires. When I throw the lever to advance the film, it advances unless I am at the end of the roll. It has been rained on and snowed on. It has taken pictures in a North Dakota winter at 42 below zero (Fahrenheit of course) and it has reliably responded in the Nevada desert at 115 degrees. I bought it used and have no idea how many pictures it has taken but it has gone through a couple of hundred rolls during its' stay with me. The battery has died but the camera has never stopped yet.

I use a K1000. Like my camera my accessories are very simple. I use a remote shutter cable that does not require electricity. I can use almost any flash I want, even flash bulbs if I can still find them. I don't worry about automatic settings with my flash. It is all manual, just like my camera. I have a very fancy and solid tripod, but I've also successfully used some pretty cheap tripods to stabilize this camera as well. It has successfully taken pictures with every lens I have ever bought (and with my lens buying addiction there have been many.)

I use a K1000. Most people don't believe me but focusing is usually very simple and very quick. In fact, I can often take my picture faster then your camera can lock focus so you are allowed to take the picture. I can walk down the streets of my town taking perfectly focused pictures without ever lifting the camera to my eyes, and no one is the wiser. There is no whining, whirring autofocus lenses, there are no noises of film advancing following a shot. When I reach the end of the roll the film does not suddenly begin re-winding.

I use a K1000. I have lots of other cameras but I don't really need them, just like I don't really need another hammer. They are both tools, one drives nails, the other takes pictures. To take good pictures one must learn to use the tool, the camera. Like the hammer the K1000 is simple to learn and doesn't get in the way of learning to take pictures. But, like learning to use the hammer, there are many subtleties that need to be learned in order to take good pictures. And like a hammer, when I get to cocky I can make a mistake and hit my finger.

I use a K1000. There is a special feeling of pride that comes when I take a really good image with the K1000. I look at the picture and realize that this is mine. It came from my understanding and my creativity. It wasn't the product of matrix metering or special, computerized exposure algorithms. It didn't fortuitously appear in a rapid-fire string fired off in hopes of getting something good. I planned for it and I waited for the right moment. And when the opportunity arrived I was ready. I made this picture and it is mine!

I use a K1000. It isn't pretty. It isn't glamorous. It isn't fast. It isn't fancy. It is really just a box with a shutter and a lens. You put film in it and you take pictures. This camera makes it pretty easy to take pictures. If you carry a K1000 it is for the pictures. If I were told one day that I had to get rid of all my cameras but one, it would be tough, but the K1000 is almost certainly the one I would keep.

I use a K1000. It is no longer a spring chicken, but neither am I. Somehow we just seem to work well together.

A derivative of the Haubits FH77, the 12/80 "KARIN" is a highly mobile coastal gun used to defend the shores of the Nordic Union. While barrel's diameter is identical to the original howitzer's 155mm gun, it has instead been bored to 120mm. This allows for a higher rate of fire, better shell velocity. Furthermore, their computerized fire control system allows them to use the sensor data provided by both fixed and mobile radar.

Able to deliver 16 rounds per minute to targets up to 32 kilometers away, batteries of these coastal guns can wreck any ship or landing craft that attempts to threaten the Nordic Union's shores.

An additional highly useful feature is that the KARIN is capable of operating in a self-propelled capability to a limited extent, although it lacks both the speed and range of a true self-propelled weapon.

Note: While the illustration here may look dramatic, in reality the gun would be provided with a camouflage net and would never be positioned in such an open area.

A video of the KARIN in action can be found here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F1zLPiwgn8

Next Sunday I am running the Lincoln Tunnel Challenge 5K for the third year straight. Love this run, because it's really fun and because it is a fundraiser for Special Olympics NJ. I set my fundraising goal,met it, doubled it and am close to meeting the new goal, and fairly confident that I will. So, I was feeling pretty good about the whole thing. Except for one small detail... I kind of never got around to training. Just when I had finally started running, I got sick and then did something to my back and that was that. I had too much going on (I had too many excuses!) Last year I ran every day for 10 weeks leading up to the run, in snow, rain and sub zero temps. I had a goal to run it at a 10 minute/mile pace. I came really close. Missed it by seconds. This year, my goal is to finish without my heart exploding and being carried out of the tunnel on a stretcher. A 10 minute mile is a distant memory. Tonight, with one week left before the run, I decided to start running. After fighting with my new phone to get logged into "Map my Run" and getting music to play ( I am technologically challenged and this new phone hates me, as do most computerized gadgets) I hit the road. The music played for one song... and then ... nothing. I hate running without music (to be honest, I'm not a fan of running at all ... and I'm not good at it either). I almost made it to 3 miles. Quit at 2.93 miles... should have pushed myself harder. Then I decided that I needed to go up this dirt road to see where it leads. The sun was setting. There was a muddy pick up truck up there, and I finally got creeped out and went back down... will check it out another day. Then I decided I would go down by this pond and sit on a bench and see if I could get the music to play on my phone for the run/walk back home. I decided to take a short cut... turned out to be a very muddy short cut. I fell in the mud. So, I sat by the pond and took this picture... and while this phone is supposed to take fabulous photos, this is NOT one of them (which is why it became a candidate for Sliders Sunday). I never did get the music to play. And then I realized that it was dark, and I was 3 miles from home. I needed the flashlight on my phone to find my way through the mud and back to the road. My phone battery was at about 20% at this point. So, I finished my first training session, running on a busy county road with my phone flashlight to guide me (and identify me to oncoming traffic). The good news is, my phone did not die (and I didn't fall in a hole, or fall in the mud again, or get hit by a car, and my heart didn't explode). This is going to be a tough week ahead. I need to keep reminding myself that it's all about Special Olympics and making a difference... not about the running (or is this just another excuse that non-runners, or unprepared runners come up with?!! Well... it's MY excuse and I'm sticking with it!) Happy Silders Sunday

Southeast Financial Center is a two-acre development in Miami, Florida, United States. It consists of a 764 feet (233 m) tall office skyscraper and its 15-story parking garage. It was previously known as the Southeast Financial Center (1984–1992), the First Union Financial Center (1992–2003), and the Wachovia Financial Center (2003-2011). In 2011, it retook its old name of Southeast Financial Center as Wachovia merged with Wells Fargo and moved to the nearby Wells Fargo Center.

When topped-off in August 1983, it was the tallest building south of New York City and east of the Mississippi River, taking away the same title from the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, in Atlanta, Georgia. It remained the tallest building in the southeastern U.S. until 1987, when it was surpassed by One Atlantic Center in Atlanta and the tallest in Florida until October 1, 2003, when it was surpassed by the Four Seasons Hotel and Tower, also in Miami. It remains the tallest office tower in Florida and the third tallest building in Miami.

Southeast Financial Center was constructed in three years with more than 500 construction workers. Approximately 6,650 tons of structural steel, 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and 7000 cubic tons of reinforcing steel bars went into its construction. The complex sits on a series of reinforced concrete grade beams tied to 150 concrete caissons as much as ten feet in diameter and to a depth of 80 feet. A steel space-frame canopy with glass skylights covers the outdoor plaza between the tower and low-rise building.

The tower has a composite structure. The exterior columns and beams are concrete encased steel wide flanges surrounded by reinforcing bars. The composite exterior frame was formed using hydraulic steel forms, or "flying forms," jacked into place with a "kangaroo" crane, that was located in the core and manually clamped into place. Wide flange beams topped by a metal deck and concrete form the interior floor framing. The core is A braced steel frame, designed to laterally resist wind loads. The construction of one typical floor was completed every five days.

The low-rise banking hall and parking building is a concrete-framed structure. Each floor consists of nearly an acre of continuously poured concrete. When the concrete had sufficiently hardened, compressed air was used to blow the forms fiberglass forms from under the completed floor. It was then rolled out to the exterior where it was raised by crane into position for the next floor.

The building was recognized as Miami's first and only office building to be certified for the LEED Gold award in January 2010.

The center was developed by a partnership consisting of Gerald D. Hines Interests, Southeast Bank and Corporate Property Investors for $180 million. It was originally built as the headquarters for Southeast Bank, which originally occupied 50 percent of the complex's space. It remained Southeast Bank's headquarters there until it was liquidated in 1991.

The Southeast Financial Center comprises two buildings: the 55-story office tower and the 15-story parking annex. The tower has 53 stories of office space. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is the lobby and the 55th floor was home to the luxurious Miami City Club. The parking annex has 12 floors of parking space for 1,150 cars. The first floor is dedicated for retail, the second floor is a banking hall and the 15th floor has the Downtown Athletic Club. A landscaped plaza lies between the office tower and the parking annex. An enclosed walkway connects the second story of the tower with the second story of the annex. The courtyard is partially protected from the elements by a steel and glass space frame canopy spanning the plaza and attached to the tower and annex. Southeast Bank's executive offices were located on the 38th floor. Ground was broken on the complex on December 12, 1981 and the official dedication and opening for the complex was held on October 23, 1984.

The Southeast Financial Center was designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The Associate Architect was Spillis Candela & Partners. It has 1,145,311 ft² (106,000 m²) of office space. A typical floor has about 22,000 ft² (2,043.87 m²) of office space. Each floor has 9 ft x 9 ft (2.7 m x 2.7 m) floor to ceiling windows. (All of the building's windows are tinted except for the top floor, resulting in strikingly bright and clear views from there.) The total complex has over 2.2 million ft² (204,000 m²). The distinctive setbacks begin at the 43rd floor. Each typical floor plate has 9 corner offices and the top twelve floors have as many as 16. There are 43 elevators in the office tower. An emergency control station provides computerized monitoring for the entire complex, and four generators for backup power.

The Southeast Financial Center can be seen as far away as Ft. Lauderdale and halfway toward Bimini. Night space shuttle launches from Cape Canaveral 200 miles to the north were plainly visible from the higher floors. The roof of the building was featured in the Wesley Snipes motion picture Drop Zone, where an eccentric base jumper named Swoop parachutes down to the street from a suspended window cleaning trolley. The building also appeared in several episodes of the 1980s TV show Miami Vice and at the end of each episode's opening credits.

Zara founder Amancio Ortega purchased the building from J.P. Morgan Asset Management in December 2016. The purchase price was reportedly over $500 million, making it one of the largest real estate transactions in South Florida history.

Credit for the data above is given to the following websites:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeast_Financial_Center

www.emporis.com/buildings/122292/wachovia-financial-cente...

© All Rights Reserved - you may not use this image in any form without my prior permission.

Joy Division on the Oldies Station: Love Will Tear Us Apart

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL9rSAz_oc4

Do you cry out in your sleep? - All my failings exposed... - Gets a taste in my mouth - As desperation takes hold. - Why is it something so good - Just can't function no more?

Silver: (is standing with Sheriff Samuels outside the Green Dive, in front of the fortune telling arcade machine, but it isn't the same machine) Weird, right? I mean, first it's that other one, now, this?

Dan: Have you tried it out?

Silver: Not after the things I heard about the other one.

Dan: (deposits a quarter, machinery whirs and the male animatronic, complete with bejeweled turban and evil-universe beard, turns its head, blinks, and a computerize voice emerges from the speakers)

Zoltar: Speak your question and the magnificent Zoltar will reveal all!

Dan: (shakes his head at Silver and they grin) Where is the machine that used to be here?

Zoltar: (blinks his dark, glass eyes then stares) If you look, you may find it. (he goes still)

Silver: That wasn't helpful.

Dan: Not at all. Want to try it, now?

Silver: Sure. (she deposits a quarter and waits)

Zoltar: Speak your question and the magnificent Zoltar will reveal all!

Silver: How much longer will I be working at this bar?

Zoltar: (blinks his dark, glass eyes then stares) Your destiny is up to you. (he goes still)

Silver: I feel unsatisfied by this guy. (grins at Dan) Typical.

Dan: Well, complaints must have gotten back to the company, so they brought this replacement. I guess the only thing the tourist will complain about, now, is getting hokey fortunes.

Paradise Russo: (as she and her brother, Brad, leave the Russo house) I can't believe Mom is making me walk to school with you.

Brad: She wants to make sure Champagne or Amber don't pick you up.

Paradise: (sighs) She doesn't get it. They're not a bad influence on me.

Brad: Uh huh. Champagne's Queen of the Ice People and Amber's her lackey. You want to be a lackey?

Paradise: I'm not a lackey -- Oh, my god! (she stops, staring across the street)

Brad: What is it? (he looks around) Hey, check out the babe.

Paradise: It's HER!

Brad: Par, dude, it's not cool to stare at people, plus, she can probably hear you. Totally rude. (raises his voice) I'm sorry, my sister is an idiot.

HoloFortuna: (turns toward Paradise and Brad) Speak your question and Holo Fortuna will speak the answer.

Paradise: Oh, my god! Oh my god! It's HER! It's the fortune teller from the pier!

Brad: But -- you said that was a machine.

Paradise: It is!

Brad: Trust me, she is NOT a machine.

HF: Speak your question and Holo Fortuna will speak the answer.

Paradise: Come on, we need to get away from it.

Brad: Why?

HF: Your question is too vague. Please try again.

Brad: (grins) Are you free tonight?

Paradise: Don't talk to it!

HF: Yes.

Brad: You want to grab a burger with me?

HF: I will grab a burger with you, if that is what you wish.

Paradise: We have to get to school.

Brad: Are you kidding? I'm totally scoring with a babe who's o far out of my league she might as well be from another solar system!

Paradise: She's a hologram.

Brad: There's no way. Hologram technology isn't capable of that. (motioning at HF)

Paradise: I don't know how, but that IS the same girl I saw in the fortune telling booth I told you about.

Brad: (scoffs) Then you know what this is -- (motions with his hand) It's a freaking publicity stunt.

Paradise: What?

Brad: Sure, it's like when they were releasing that clown movie, and clowns started showing up at random places, and everyone got freaked out because other people started pranking by doing the same thing? This is like that. They want to promote their game, so they hire her to walk around.

Paradise: Are you sure?

Brad: Of course I'm sure. What? You think a hologram came to life? Excuse me, would it be okay if I get a selfie with you? (to HF)

HF: Yes.

Brad: Excellent! (he dashes across the street)

Paradise: (watches nervously as Brad takes a couple pictures with the young woman) We're going to be late!

Brad: Okay, okay. (says something to HF that Paradise can't hear before jogging back across the street)

Paradise: What did you say to her?

Brad: I told her where and when to meet me.

Paradise: (as they walk away) Brad, you're not seriously going to go out with her!

Brad: I am seriously, so VERY seriously, going to go out with her. She is HOT.

Paradise: I think she's older than you.

Brad: (grins) Even better.

Michael: (At home, later in the afternoon he wakes, uses the bathroom, and goes about his normal routine -- which ends when he goes into the kitchen for coffee and spots the envelope with his name on it, while the coffee is filling -- he retrieves the envelope, smiling because he recognizes Chris' handwriting, and he takes out the note, beginning to read -- his smile fading and the coffee forgotten)

Note: Michael, you've been my friend, my teacher, my lover -- my everything. I love you, that won't change, but something has changed, in me. I left home the second I turned eighteen, to find you. Was it because I was so crazy about you, or was it because I knew my parents finally couldn't stop me from living a life I knew they didn't approve of? I'm starting to think it was the latter, because if it was the former then I wouldn't be writing this note -- and I wouldn't be going to him. I don't understand what's happening to me, but I know I want you to be happy. Please be happy -- Chris.

Michael: (drops the note and looks around) Chris? (he dashes upstairs) Christopher! (he opens the dresser drawers, but all of Chris' clothes are gone, he throws open the closet doors -- his clothes are still neatly hung, but Chris' side is empty and his suitcases are gone -- except ... there's a yellow jacket on the floor of the closet, kicked in the corner and missed -- he snatches it up and buries his face in the material ... he inhales deeply, smelling Chris, of course, and his own scent -- but there is a third scent, male, and his head snaps up, dark green eyes going amber ... he knows that scent ... and he bolts from the house)

(Thank you to Erebus for playing Michael and to Seth for playing Chris. Tomorrow is the season finale! The show will go on hiatus after that.)

accelerates NS 64N out of East Conway Yard towards the main in Baden, PA as they head towards a refinery somewhere further east.

Union Pacific ordered many of their AC4400CWs with Computerized Tractive Effort software, giving them the designation of AC44CWCTE. It was built new in 2004 for the UP.

Avenue U, Sheepshead Bay

Imagine how many years this space has been vacant, and then ask yourself if the building owner needs some kind of reality check.

Muttrah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Muttrah, (Arabic: مطرح‎) administratively a district, is located in the Muscat province of Oman. Before the discovery of oil, Muttrah was the center of commerce in Oman (Muscat). It is still a center of commerce as one of largest sea ports of the region is located there. Other landmarks include Souq Muttrah, a traditional bazaar and Sour Al-Lawatiah, a small community of houses surrounded by an old wall. To the south lies Muscat District.

Demographics

Muttrah had an estimated population of about 8,000 people when diplomat Edmund Roberts visited in the early 1830s.[1] The district population was 216,578 estimated for 2014, up from 150,124 of the 2010 Census count, and the most densely populated of all districts in the nation

Economy

In the mid 19th century, Muttrah had a vessel repair industry.[1]

Souq Muttrah

The Muttrah Souq

Entrance to the Muttrah Souq

Al Dhalam (Darkness in Arabic) Souq is the local name for the Muttrah Souq. The Muttrah Souq is perhaps one of the oldest marketplaces in the Arab world because Muscat is the world's largest natural harbor and has seen immense trade in the age of sail, being strategically located on the way to India and China.[3] It has been named after darkness because of the crowded stalls and lanes where the sunrays do not infiltrate during the day and the shoppers need lamps to know their destinations. The name of the market has been drawn specifically from the part that extends from Al Lawatiya Mosque to Khour Bimba where the place is really full of stores and stalls and the narrow area of lanes does not allow the sunlight to enter. The market was a source of supply for Omanis where they can buy their needs in the 1960s when life requirements were simpler than today. Most of the goods were imported, in addition to local products like textiles, fruit, vegetables and dates.

In the past the market was built from mud and palm leaves, which suit the high temperatures and the hard climate conditions and hence were the best available materials to build the market at that time. Today, the Muscat Municipality has renovated and decorated the market to maintain the popular style but has also introduced modern amenities and redecorated the market heavily to attract tourists and make the shopping experience comfortable for tourists as well as other ordinary shoppers.

The market becomes more crowded and active during Eid seasons when Oman is come from all over the country to buy garments and jewelry.[4]

The main thoroughfare of the souk carries mainly household goods, shoes and ready-made garments. Further inside, you can enjoy the mixed smells of frankincense, perfume oils, fresh jasmine and spices. Enthusiastic shoppers and travellers can also discover a selection of tiny shops (on the side streets and alleyways leading up to the souq) full of Omani silver, stalls of gleaming white dishdashas and embroided kumahs, brightly colored cloth and multicoloured head scarves. Shoppers can even get their hands on old Arabian muskets at these souqs.

Other things sold at the souq include Omani pots, paintings, hookah pipes, framed khanjars (daggers), leatherwork and incense.[5]

Infrastructure

Port Sultan Qaboos[edit]

Commonly called the Muscat Port, Port Sultan Qaboos is one of the main commercial ports in Oman. It is Oman's premier maritime gateway, enjoying a prime location in the politically stable sultanate. Situated in a natural harbour 250 km south of the Strait of Hormuz on the Indian Ocean coast of the Arabian Peninsula. Port Sultan Qaboos' location makes it an ideal hub, not only for the Persian Gulf but also the Indian sub-continent and markets in East and South Africa.

The location of Port Sultan Qaboos offers considerable savings in steaming time when compared to other ports. The port's tariff compares very favorably with others across the region. The already impressive infrastructure, skilled manpower, fast and efficient handling operations and documentation clearance system in PSC will be further enhanced this year.

During the reign of Sayyid Sultan bin Ahmed in the 18th century, Oman's trading activity again increased and the capital area's two harbours — Muscat and Mutrah — diversified, Mutrah was quickly established as a commercial port while Muscat was used for naval operations. The ruler's son Sayyid Said continued to expand maritime commerce although it again went into decline after his death in 1856. Maritime activity was limited to the import of essential items, mainly from India by old-style wooden dhows. Ships had to anchor offshore and sometimes wait for days before cargo could be unloaded manually into small boats.

Muscat Port

This was all to change with the accession of HM Sultan Qaboos bin Said who inaugurated a new era of maritime commerce and prosperity in Oman when he established Mina Qaboos (now Port Sultan Qaboos) in 1974.

Port Sultan Qaboos has been operated and managed by Port Services Corporation S.A.O.G. since November 1976. Until 1981, the traffic was essentially conventional cargo. With the advent of containerisation, PSQ developed two of its berths to handle container vessels and these facilities were fully operational by 1983–1984.

PSC embarked on computerization of its operations and back office in 1984. The first system to handle container movements became operational from 1985. Thereafter the computer applications were enhanced to cover all back office operations including invoicing and accounts.

In the early 1990s, the port infrastructure was further enhanced. Two more berths were converted to handle multipurpose vessels including container vessels and were equipped with additional three quay-side gantry cranes. The marshaling yard and empty yard was provided with rubber tyred gantries. On date, the port is an ideal transshipment hub for the upper Persian Gulf and Red Sea ports trade flows.

Source : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muttrah

iss068e029379 (Dec. 12, 2022) --- Roscosmos cosmonaut and Expedition 68 Flight Engineer Anna Kikina is pictured inside the Zvezda service module filling out a computerized report at the end of her work day.

Lunar Eclipse, Ewa Bch, HI.

Shot with a 5DMkIII and a EF800mm lens on a Celestron CGEM DX computerized mount.

08Oct14

I wonder what they store behind door #1.

1:64 GreenLight Collectibles:

2018 Chevrolet Silverado

3500 HD Crew Cab

Union Pacific Railroad Maintenance Truck Service Bed #49600

Dually Drivers 11

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R

For more info about the dioramas, check out the FAQ: 1stPix FAQ

1stPix Dioramas Instagram: 1stPix Dioramas on Instagram

1stPix Dioramas Facebook: 1stPix Dioramas Facebook

1stPix YouTube: 1stPix Dioramas on YouTube

1stPix Dioramas on Twitter: @1stPixDioramas

1stPix Dioramas on Rumble: 1stPix Dioramas Rumble

It happens way too often that I have a thought lingering in my mind for months and years, and when I start writing it out, it spirals out in several directions and grows into something too big to keep track of each branch, and I keep admitting defeat to my own brain.

The scaffold age is one of those thoughts. An analogy that came to me after I had started reading up on freemasonry. Originally I heard about them only when someone mentioned them in the same breath as the the illuminati and the likes. Until one day, out of nowhere, I got the urge to check what they actually say themselves. That was the day I discovered Randall Carlson, which of course would lead to Graham Hancock, Robert Schoch, J.A. West, Jahannah James, and what they all are called. Another one of those phases where there was a before and an after, and the after was a place of deepened understanding of the meaning of life, the universe and all the rest.

Picture an empty plot of land, maybe with a meadow on it, maybe some shrubs, maybe even some big ol' trees. Picture further, you want to build a house on that plot. Big or small, doesn't matter, but something nice, something pretty, something cozy, with a garden and what not. First thing you'll have to do, is wreak havok on the land, and turn it into absolute mayhem. Dust and dirt and diggers, big trucks going in and out, workers and machines making a terrible noise and... it's the polar opposite of nice and cozy, but it's the only way to get there. For the house of humanity as we apparently are in agreement we want to build it, the industrial era was that construction phase. The computerized utopia we're hoping to head for, wouldn't have been possible without, well, computers. Which need electronics. Which need electricity. And no, we couldn't have gotten here without computers. Designing and mass-producing high efficiency components for wind turbines, solar panels, nuclear reactors, modern efficient engines and what not. Made with tolerances expressed in fractions of a millimeter. Made from all sorts of materials that a 19th century coal-shoveling blacksmith could only have dreamt of. Nanocarbon. Aerogel. Even plain old plastic and rubber. Many things now made of plastic for instance, were made from ivory just some 100 years ago, from jewellery to billard balls to knife and fork handles. Considering the human population of the earth today, it's safe to assume elephants would long be extinct now, if it hadn't been for the petrochemical industry. One could go further still and include aluminum and pocellain on that list, which are also fairly new discoveries in the grand scheme of things.

Long story short, I can see why many people push to abolish industrialism, that is, outsource it to places that don't have the means, or even the interest to keep it away. Yet it's all merely a philosophical, academic discussion at this point. The reset is here, meaning nothing else than the removal of the scaffolding and the machinery, because the house is nearing completion. Turns out, another way the allegory holds true is: For most houses, the construction phase is when the most people shuffle about the site. Once that's done, they almost all go away. They're not needed anymore. Earth is a large building; chances are, there will be quite many people living here in the future as well. But they'll be very different people than nowadays, not the brutish heavy duty construction worker, not many of them at least.

Or maybe it's just the universe knocking it all down again and letting us start over, because the realised structure is deviating from the filed and approved plan. That's the million dollar question, I guess.