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They say: "the only thing predictable about life is its unpredictability".
Well maybe if it comes to the individual fate but in the general sense all is predictable.
Life is just one big orgy with with the endless procreative process for the continuation of the existence.
Anyway, you better join back in if you have wandered off in the wrong direction, because there are lot of these who prefer that you believe in what they are serving you than in your own sense :)
Image: magnolia seed on the point to be excerpted in to the future
The grassy, high plains and rolling rangelands of Texas are perfect for grazing cattle. But the specter of drought is rarely far from ranchers’ minds. When monitoring drought, scientists use data from ground stations that record rain and snowfall rates, temperature, humidity, and evaporation. Many stations also include soil moisture sensors, slender probes plunged into the soil. Soil moisture plays a large role in a landscape’s resiliency or vulnerability, and can vary widely over short spaces
Satellite data fill in the gaps for precipitation, temperature, and other variables, but until the launch of NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission, soil moisture has been difficult to detect from space. Researchers in this ‘Sensing our Planet’ story put NASA SMAP soil moisture to the test to see if it could complement existing station data on a broad scale.
Click here to learn more.https://earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/sensing-our-planet/drought-on-the-range
Caption: A prolonged drought across Texas desiccates plants and dries up livestock watering holes.
Photo credit: Courtesy AgriLife Today
Tide formula component cranks on Tide Predicting Machine No. 2, a special purpose mechanical analog computer for predicting the height and time of high and low tides. The mechanical arrangement (a slotted crank yoke) converts circular motion to a sinusoidal motion. The operator adjusts the position of the pin on each crank to represent the tide formula at a specific port before starting computations. The pin position affects the amplitude and phase of the sinusoid.
The U.S. government used Tide Predicting Machine No. 2 from 1910 to 1965 to predict tides for ports around the world. The machine, also known as “Old Brass Brains,” uses an intricate arrangement of gears, pulleys, chains, slides, and other mechanical components to perform the computations.
A person using the machine would require 2-3 days to compute a year’s tides at one location. A person performing the same calculations by hand would require hundreds of days to perform the work. The machine is 10.8 feet (3.3 m) long, 6.2 feet (1.9 m) high, and 2.0 feet (0.61 m) wide and weighs approximately 2,500 pounds (1134 kg). The operator powers the machine with a hand crank.
Tide Predicting Machine No. 2 is a special purpose mechanical analog computer for predicting the height and time of high and low tides.
The U.S. government used Tide Predicting Machine No. 2 from 1910 to 1965 to predict tides for ports around the world. The machine, also known as “Old Brass Brains,” uses an intricate arrangement of gears, pulleys, chains, slides, and other mechanical components to perform the computations.
A person using the machine would require 2-3 days to compute a year’s tides at one location. A person performing the same calculations by hand would require hundreds of days to perform the work. The machine is 10.8 feet (3.3 m) long, 6.2 feet (1.9 m) high, and 2.0 feet (0.61 m) wide and weighs approximately 2,500 pounds (1134 kg). The operator powers the machine with a hand crank.
Bernard Marr is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, strategic performance consultant, and analytics, KPI & Big Data guru.
He helps companies to better manage, measure, report and analyse performance. His leading-edge work with major companies, organisations and governments across the globe makes him an acclaimed and award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, consultant and teacher. Bernard is acknowledged by the CEO Journal as one of today's leading business brains.
He has written a number of seminal books and over 200 high profile reports and articles on enterprise performance. This includes the best-sellers 'Key Performance Indicators', 'The Intelligent Company', 'More with Less', 'Managing and Delivering Performance' and 'Strategic Performance Management', a number of Gartner Reports and the world's largest research studies on the topic. His expert comments regularly feature in high-profile publications including The Times, The Financial Times, Financial Management, the CFO Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.
He has worked with and advised many of the world's best-known organisations including Accenture, Astra Zeneca, Bank of England, Barclays, BP, DHL, Fujitsu, Gartner, HSBC, Mars, Ministry of Defence, Microsoft, Oracle, The Home Office, NHS, Orange, Tetley, T-Mobile, Toyota, Royal Air Force, SAP and Shell, among many others.
He currently focuses on helping clients to:
- create strategic performance frameworks
- develop relevant and meaningful KPIs and metrics
- develop business analytics and 'big data' strategies
- develop management dashboards and reporting solutions
- train and coach teams to become 'high performance organisations'
- align people management practices with strategic performance objectives
- understand the emerging trends of big data analytics
His engagements range from executive awareness and training sessions to the design and implementation of corporate performance management and reporting approaches. Bernard can be contacted at bernard.marr@ap-institute.com
BOOKS BY BERNARD MARR amzn.to/2dqqCbT
The 1999 Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance at Rochester, Michigan.
All of my classic car photos can be found here: Car Collections
Press "L" for a larger image on black.
Visit to the Studebaker National Museum on April 25, 2012. This is a fantastic museum with a wonderful collection of classics.
Packard's last concept car was quite a flamboyant one. Designed by Richard Teague and built by Ghia of Italy. 1956 Packard Predictor
All of my classic car photos can be found here: Car Collections
Press "L" for a larger image on black.
2D-ECGK₂₁ is a 20-simplex ⟂⌅ which includes all its 210 edge EP.
r = (n²-n)/2; n = 21, r = 210
According to Kardashev, T₇ civilizations exist outside of spacetime and are capable of creating n-verses and destroying them just as easily. It's hard to imagine a story with such civilizations, since their perfection and indestructible nature would offer little conflict potential with lower civilizations. Recipe for paraversal tragedy.
It has been argued that KS may not be relevant or useful for classifying civilizations, assuming that behaviors would become predictable only if and when the correspondent civilizations are fully understood. Also, should a civilization be able to harness E of whatever arbitrarily large scale, such as a metagoogol¹ J, it does not mean that it has likewise developed a commensurate ability to use that E with efficiency. Posit a star system wherein a star-shrouding cloud of pebbles is hosting photosynthetic algæ or bacteria that almost completely surround a star, acquiring and having access to far more than the available E on ♁ either proportionately or in absolute terms: nonetheless, even if it were to completely absorb all E from said star, it would not be called a "technologically more advanced civilization" in virtue of its resource advantage alone.
FRB121102 is believed to be co-located in a DG @ 3E9 ly from ♁ with a low-luminosity AGN, or a previously unknown type of EG source, or a young NS energizing a SN remnant; it is presently in a heightened activity state and follow-on observations are encouraged, particularly @ higher RFs. In 2015-11, Paul Scholz @ McGill found 10 non-periodically repeated FRBs in archival data gathered in 2015-05&06 by ART with 3 times the max PD from a MW source and SP consistent with FRB121102. This finding is possibly ruling out self-destructive and cataclysmic SOEs, such as BHEs or NSCs, thus supporting an origin in a young pulsar, or in a magnetar, or from highly magnetized pulsars travelling through ABs, or from an intermittent RL overflow in a NS-WD binary complex. On 20161216, 6 new FRBs were reported in the same direction. This is the only known instance in which FRBs have been found twice in the same location in space. On 20170826, 15 FRBs from FRB121102 @ 5-8 GHz were detected via GBT data.
NOTES
1. The metagoogol [(1E100!)!=10¹⁰⁰ᵎ!] is the largest named number.
REFERENCES
E.G.F. Regina 2025: The metagoogol.
A. Frank & al. 2022: Planetary intelligence.
D.F. Mansfield & N.J. Wildberger 2017: Plimpton 322.
K. Arroyo Ohori & al. 2017: nD s-t & s-c objects as R₃ ⌅⌅.
S.P. Tendulkar & al. 2017: HG and RS of FRB121102.
B. Marcote & al. 2017: FRB121102 as seen on MAS.
P. Scholz & al. 2016: FRB121102: MWL observations.
L.G. Spitler & al. 2016: A repeating FRB (FRB121102).
J.T. Wright & al. 2015: Signatures of transiting megastructures.
L.G. Spitler & al. 2014: FRB121102 discovered in Arecibo PAS.
V. Sicoe 2014: The Kardashev scale.
M.E. Tegmark 2014: Our mathematical universe.
S. Arshad 2010: Icecream eating.
W.T.M. Irvine & D. Bouwmeester 2008: Linked & knotted BoL.
M. Brooks 2008: 13 things that don't make sense.
C.D.G. Stross 2003: Singularity sky.
J.D. Barrow 2002: The constants of nature.
B. Poonen & M. Rubinstein 1995: RPG diagonal IP.
N. Kardashev 1964: ToI by ETC.
MV · DS · FP · DE · KS · C3L · TS · FFTL · UUF · MST · CEI · DE · ToE · NLTL · ETL · ILS · ENS · GCR · HS · WH · QS · VC&P · S · OT · S · SG · CDD · S · RCPG · PS · FEM · PERL · PM · PN · TC · HT · 4CMT · T · googology
I predicted when I left my office on Friday the 13th that the sunset would be boring. 20 minutes later I was hoping I could find a place to stop and take some pictures. Stopped off at the baseball field at the top of the hill on my way home. Guess I was wrong about the boring part.
Weather reports predict the so called "Beast From The East" is due to revisit the UK over the next few days, today the 16th of March 2018 I visited Collieston Bay, its the first time I have witnessed the impact unusual weather has had on the area, it really was exhilarating and offered great photo opportunities.
Collieston is a small former fishing village on the North Sea coast in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village lies just north of the Sands of Forvie Special Protection Area, between Cruden Bay and Newburgh.
The earliest recorded history of Collieston is of the arrival of St Ternan, a Columban monk on a mission to convert the local picts to Christianity. There is, however, evidence that people lived here during much earlier times.
Collieston was established as a fishing village by the 16th century, and it provides the first safe harbour in over fifteen miles of beachesand dunes stretching north from Aberdeen.
Fishing for herring, haddock, whiting and codflourished in the 17th century and 18th century and was the foundation of Collieston's economy. The village became known for 'Collieston Speldings', salted and sun-dried haddock and whiting, a popular delicacy throughout Britain. As drift netting developed during the mid 19th century, the fishing began to decline and the focus of the industry shifted to places like Peterhead because the harbour at Collieston was too small to safely accommodate the larger boats needed.
The numerous sea caves in the nearby cliffs, and small coves with shingle beaches provided ideal terrain for smugglers. In the late 18th century it was estimated by the Excise that up to 8000 gallons of foreign spirits were being illegally landed in the area every month. In 1798, the notorious village smuggler, Phillip Kennedy, was killed by a blow from an exciseman's cutlass. His grave and tombstone still stands in the village graveyard.
A ship from the Spanish Armada, the Santa Caterina, carrying arms for the Earl of Erroll is said to have sunk just off the rocky point of St Catherine's Dub in 1594. In retaliation for the Earl's involvement in the Catholic plot against him, James VI blew up the Earl's castle which stood on the cliffs, a mile north of Collieston. The Earl went on to rebuild Slains Castle, six miles further up the coast, in 1597.
Collieston is now mainly a commuter village serving Aberdeen, and is largely given over to tourists during the summer months.
Last night, I read that the old Farmer's Almanac is predicting that the second half of February is going to be even more brutal that the first half - though it's hard to see how it could be, having had windchills down to -34C. Forecast is also for a lot of snow in March! Our bitterly cold weather is starting to warm up and today it's -12C (windchill -17C).
I dug fairly deep into my archives and found this photo. I hope I can still remember how to use my camera, as I haven't been out anywhere with it for a week now. Standing or walking in -34C or even -24C windchill does not appeal to me one bit, nor does walking through all the recent snow. Now that the weather is starting to warm up, I'm not sure when I will get out to take photos, as the dizziness/light-headedness that I had for two whole weeks leading up to Christmas Day, has returned. When I can manage to get out, it has to be for very urgent things, not out in nature.
The Yellow-bellied Marmot is classified as Secure in the General Status of Alberta Wild Species report. Even so, I had never seen one, so this was a real treat to see several of these beautiful animals on the final day of a three-day trip down south. Friends, Cathy and Terry, and I, spent two days (26 and 27 August) in beautiful Waterton Lakes National Park, and on the third day (28 August), we drove eastwards, hoping to see these animals. Most of them were running backwards and forwards in the long grasses, so were not easy to photograph. Another couple of them were high up on the rocky hillside, and lower down was an adult with a young one, who was so cute : )
"Yellow-bellied marmots usually weigh from 1.6 to 5.2 kilograms (3.5 to 11.5 lb) when fully grown, though males typically weigh more than females. Adult males typically weigh between 3 to 5 kilograms (6.6 to 11.0 lb); females typically weigh between 1.6 to 4 kilograms (3.5 to 8.8 lb). They get fatter in the autumn just before hibernating.
Their territory is about 4 to 7 acres (2 to 3 ha) around a number of summer burrows. Marmots choose to dig burrows under rocks because predators are less likely to see their burrow. Predators include wolves, foxes, coyotes, dogs and eagles.
Yellow-bellied marmots spend about 80% of their life in their burrow, 60% of which is spent hibernating. They often spend mid-day and night in a burrow as well. These burrows are usually constructed on a slope, such as a hill, mountain, or cliff. The hibernation burrows can be up to 5 to 7 metres (16 to 23 ft) deep, but the burrows constructed for daily use are usually only 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep. Their hibernation period varies on elevation, but it is typically from September to May.
Yellow-bellied marmots are diurnal. The marmot is also an omnivore, eating grass, grains, leaves, flowers, legumes, fruit, grasshoppers, and bird eggs." From Wikipedia.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-bellied_marmot
During our three days away, we saw so many things, including breathtaking scenery, 4 Black Bears (including one that was swimming in the lake), Bison, Deer (including several that we saw in the town of Waterton (where we stayed for two nights at the clean and friendly Bear Mountain Motel), Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels, Chipmunks, various bird species including a family of Dusky Grouse that are uncommon to the park, a few wildflowers, and a few different insect species. I was so happy to see these Marmots when we drove way east of the park and a bit later in the day, all three of us were so thrilled to find our very first two (possibly three) endangered Burrowing Owls. I even got the chance to see three or four new-to-me old, wooden grain elevators. Oh, and we got caught in a storm like nothing we'd ever seen before - a mesocyclone, apparently.
Monkey Horoscope 2016 predicts that you will have Divine help during the first five months of 2016. Prospects for development of your life are bright and you should use your capabilities and optimism to the full advantage.You should be determined to get things done, while you should be friendly with your colleagues to get their support. All obstacles to your growth will be overcome by your realistic approach in the Year of the Red Fire MonkeThe Chinese astrology 2016 predictions forecast that the period between May and August 2016 is favorable for discussing new ventures. During the month of September 2016, your intellectual faculties will not be in good shape and you will become careless while dealing with professional and legal issues. Do not try to bypass official and legal rules if you do not want to invite trouble.Between June and September 2016, the Chinese zodiac Monkeys should avoid commitments which you cannot keep up. You should concentrate on your objectives with patience and single mindedness, and should not deviate from the decided course.People who fall under the Chinese astrology sign of the Monkey are very intelligent but lack intuition.
www.sunsigns.org/monkey-horoscope-2016/
Welcome to the year of the monkey, Chinese zodiac guide. The monkey occupies the ninth spot in the Chinese Zodiac. Monkeys are known for being fun, loving, mischievousness, curious, witty, and sometimes naughty. If you give a monkey a boring object, for example, a shoe, the monkey will turn it into something creative, like a musical instrument, and invite everyone to see! Monkeys tend to be very talented, quick learners, and crafDuring the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 476 BC) in ancient China, noble officials were given the title of “marquis“, which was pronounced as “hou” in Chinese. “Hou” is also the same pronunciation for the word monkey in Chinese. Therefore, the monkey was bestowed with this favorable meaning. Even today in China, pictures of monkeys can be seen pasted on walls and doors to bring good luck.People born in the year of the monkey are vivacious, sharp, flexible, and adaptableMonkeys tend to be great problem solvers, confident, outgoing and inventive. They are also very caring and will put their business aside to help others in need. They are very loyal and devoted to their friends and family They are always willing to learn new things and have excellent memory.. They love action and playing almost any sport.
www.bjchinatravel.com/year-of-the-monkey/
When the Monkey found that he was being crushed under the mountain he was greatly distressed about his Master, and cried out: “Oh, Master, you delivered me from under the mountain before, and trained me in religion; how is it that you have brought me to this pass? If you must die, why should Sha Ho-shang and Pa-chieh and the Dragon-horse also suffer?” Then his tears poured down like rain.The spirits of the mountain were astonished at hearing these words. The guardian angels of the Five Religions asked: “Whose is this mountain, and who is crushed beneath it?” The local gods replied: “The mountain is ours, but who is under it we do not know.” “If you do not know,” the angels replied, “we will tell you. It is the Great Holy One, the Equal of Heaven, who rebelled there five hundred years ago. He is now converted, and is the disciple of the Chinese ambassador. How dare you lend your mountain to the Demon for such a purpose?” The guardian angels and local gods then recited some prayers, and the mountain was removed. The Monkey sprang up, brandishing his spear, and the p. 347 spirits at once apologized, saying that they were under enforced service to the Demons.While they were speaking Sun saw a light approaching, and asked what it was. The spirits replied: “This light comes from the Demons’ magic treasures. We fear they are bringing them to catch you.” Sun then said: “Now we shall have some sport. Who is the Demon-chief’s associate?” “He is a Taoist,” they replied, “who is always occupied in preparing chemicals.” The Monkey said: “Leave me, and I will catch them myself.” He then transformed himself into a duplicate of the Taoist.The Magic Gourd;Sun went to meet the Demons, and in conversation learnt from them that they were on their way to catch the famous Monkey, and that the magic gourd and vase were for that purpose. They showed these treasures to him, and explained that the gourd, though small, could hold a thousand people. “That is nothing,” replied Sun. “I have a gourd which can contain all the heavens.” At this they marvelled greatly, and made a bargain with him, according to which he was to give them his gourd, after it had been tested as to its capacity to contain the heavens, in exchange for their precious gourd and vase. Going up to Heaven, the Monkey obtained permission to extinguish the light of the sun, moon, and stars for one hour. At noon the next day there was complete darkness, and the Demons believed Sun when he stated that he had put the whole heavens into his gourd so that there could be no light. They then handed over to the Monkey their magic gourd and vase, and in exchange he gave them his false gourd.The Demons of Blackwater River:One day the Master suddenly exclaimed: “What is that noise?” Sun replied: “You are afraid; you have forgotten the Heart Prayer, according to which we are to be indifferent to all the calls of the six senses—the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. These are the Six Thieves. If you cannot suppress them, how do you expect to see the Great Lord?” The Master thought a while and then said: “O disciple, when shall we see the Incarnate Model (Ju Lai) face to face?”Pa-chieh said: “If we are to meet such demons as these, it will take us a thousand years to get to the West.” But Sha Ho-shang rejoined: “Both you and I are stupid; if we persevere and travel on, shoulder to shoulder, we shall reach there at last.” While thus talking, they saw before them a dark river in flood, which the horse could not cross. Seeing a small boat, the Master said: “Let us engage that boat to take us across.” While crossing the river in it, they discovered that it was a boat sent by the Demon of Blackwater River to entrap them in midstream, and the Master would have been slain had not Sun and the Western Dragon come to the rescue.
The Mythical Monkey — a Protecting GodImmortal for Suffering.They replied: “A great number have died. At one time we numbered more than two thousand. But through deaths and suicides there now remain only about five hundred. And we who remain cannot die. Ropes cannot strangle us, swords cannot cut us; if we plunge into the river we cannot sink; poison does not kill us.” Sun said: “Then you are fortunate, for you are all Immortals.” “Alas!” said they, “we are immortal only for suffering. We get poor food. We have only sand to sleep on. But in the night hours spirits appear to us and tell us not to kill ourselves, for an Arhat will come from the East to deliver us. With him there p. 355 is a disciple, the Great Holy One, the Equal of Heaven, most powerful and tender-hearted. He will put an end to these Taoists and have pity on us Buddhists.”
www.sacred-texts.com/cfu/mlc/mlc16.htm
猴 (hóu /hoh/ 'monkey') is pronounced the same as "侯" ('high official'), and the association dates back hundreds of years into feudal times.Red Monkey is on February 4, 2016. This day is not the Chinese New Year
In traditional Chinese mythology, the monkey god is almost all-pervading and all powerful. Images of the monkey (god) can be seen in many traditional settings as a talisman of protection:
The Child-Protecting Monkey on Kangs
A stone-carved monkey with a red thread on its tail is often displayed on the kangs (heated stone beds) used for babies of households in rural Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Inner Mongolia. According to ancient beliefs, the stone monkey blesses the baby with peace, and the baby will be very capable and efficient when he or she grows up.
The "Safe Journey" Monkey at Yellow River Ferry Crossings
A monkey statue was carved on top of each mooring post at each ferry crossing of Sanmenxia and Shan County. It was said the monkey statue would bless both the men and the boats with a safe journey.
The Stone Monkey for Protecting Horses
Almost every village had its own posts for tying horses to in Shanxi, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces in ancient times, with a monkey statue carved on the top of each post. It was said that the monkey talisman would protect the horses from diseases and even death.
The imagery of the monkey as nobility often appears in ancient paintings:A monkey hanging a seal on a maple tree symbolizes getting promoted to a high position with an official seal.A monkey riding a horse symbolizes getting promoted quickly.A monkey riding on the back of another monkey symbolizes maintaining a high official standing from one generation to another.The Monkey in Chinese Culture:In China, the monkey is widely perceived as smart and powerful. People often offer sacrifices to monkeys to pray for rain and even for sons, and they have become an interesting part of Chinese culture. Chinese people love monkeys. Find out why below.The Monkey (with a big 'M') is the ninth of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. Many Chinese try to give birth in a year of the Monkey, as they believe that this will make their babies clever. In China saying, "Your kid is like a Monkey," is perceived as praise. More on the characteristics of the zodiac Monkey.
www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/chinese-zodiac/monkey...
As predicted, I thought I'd have a bash at light painting for this weeks theme. I took this one early on before the weekend, and planned to have another go - but I'm happy with this and now focussing on next weeks challenge as I'm a little stumped for ideas.
The noise is a bit more than I wanted, even with a low ISO of 400, not sure how to avoid that if anyone has any suggestions?
A new custom LEGO minifigure from the Lego Custom Undead Fantasy Universe.
Dark Predictor – Evil Wizard of the Army of Darkness.
Video with Dark Predictor's parameters is available from – HERE
My latest Lego Custom Minifigures:
– Dark Wizard (Army of Darkness)
– Ragmar, Elder Witch (Princess Helena Story)
– Two Headed Ogre (World of Warcraft)
– Baba Yaga, Witch (Russian Folk Tales)
I've already customized hundreds of LEGO minifigures from the Lego Dark Fantasy Direction.
Your subscription is the best motivation for me to upload more custom LEGO minifigures!
Thank you for your attention, Friends!
Part of the Philco television section of the 1960 DeWolf Philadelphia catalog showing the Predicta models.
.. The future ♥
This beautiful ice crystal ball was bought for me from the Kings Road, Chelsea as a gift many years ago. If only we could clearly look into our future ... what would you want to see?
Last night the weather forecasters were predicting that our area (the higher ground up where I reside, at least) was going to get 10 centimeters of snow. Yep, you heard me right ... snow! Now, I can't wait to get a nice fresh batch ... two feet or so ... of the white stuff so that I can really give those tracks I bought for the Argo late last winter a good workout. But heck, it's not even mid-October and the leaves have hardly begun to turn color ... so, it's just a tad early and a little hard to get your head around!
Still, I shouldn't have worried. Despite having a myriad of resources available to them, most weather forecasters today seem to excel ... really excel ... at only one thing: telling you what the weather is like right at the moment they are talking to you. So, we didn't get that ten centimeters of snow last night ... didn't even get a single flake as far as I can tell.
Still, on the drive home this afternoon, the flakes really did start to fly! Didn't last long, but a little did collect on the windshields of vehicle parked in driveways. In all my years ... well, not really that many :-) ... I've never seen it snowing down here this early. So, it seemed appropriate to put up an image which would perhaps send shivers down your spine.
Don't know what these guys are doing with that dipnet, but I think they just might be gatheing up some small pieces of that very pure iceberg ice to take home and put in their freezer so that they can take some of it out on cold winter nights and put it in their rum or whiskey. Tonight might be a good time to break it out.
By the way, that tall berg you see there in the background is the same one, albeit shot from a different angle, as the one in my Iceberg In Morning Light shot that I put up here on Flickr earlier : www.flickr.com/photos/33774669@N00/6032213553/in/photostream. So, now I think you can better see why we spent quite a bit of the afternoon in anticipation that it would fall.
Check this one out in the Original Version if you can or, at least, View On Black
The Indian peafowl (Pavo cristatus), also known as the common peafowl, and blue peafowl, is a peafowl species native to the Indian subcontinent. It has been introduced to many other countries. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are referred to as peahens, although both sexes are often referred to colloquially as a "peacock".
Indian peafowl display a marked form of sexual dimorphism. The peacock is brightly coloured, with a predominantly blue fan-like crest of spatula-tipped wire-like feathers and is best known for the long train made up of elongated upper-tail covert feathers which bear colourful eyespots. These stiff feathers are raised into a fan and quivered in a display during courtship. Despite the length and size of these covert feathers, peacocks are still capable of flight. Peahens lack the train, have a white face and iridescent green lower neck, and dull brown plumage. The Indian peafowl lives mainly on the ground in open forest or on land under cultivation where they forage for berries, grains but also prey on snakes, lizards, and small rodents. Their loud calls make them easy to detect, and in forest areas often indicate the presence of a predator such as a tiger. They forage on the ground in small groups and usually try to escape on foot through undergrowth and avoid flying, though they fly into tall trees to roost.
The function of the peacock's elaborate train has been debated for over a century. In the 19th century, Charles Darwin found it a puzzle, hard to explain through ordinary natural selection. His later explanation, sexual selection, is widely but not universally accepted. In the 20th century, Amotz Zahavi argued that the train was a handicap, and that males were honestly signalling their fitness in proportion to the splendour of their trains. Despite extensive study, opinions remain divided on the mechanisms involved.
The bird is celebrated in Hindu and Greek mythology, and is the national bird of India. The Indian peafowl is listed as of Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Taxonomy and naming
Carl Linnaeus in his work Systema Naturae in 1758 assigned to the Indian peafowl the technical name of Pavo cristatus (means "crested peafowl" in classical Latin).
The earliest usage of the word in written English is from around 1300 and spelling variants include pecok, pekok, pecokk, peacocke, peacock, pyckock, poucock, pocok, pokok, pokokke, and poocok among others. The current spelling was established in the late 17th century. Chaucer (1343–1400) used the word to refer to a proud and ostentatious person in his simile "proud a pekok" in Troilus and Criseyde (Book I, line 210).
The Sanskrit, later Pali, and modern Hindi term for the animal is maur. It is debated that the nomenclature of the Maurya Empire, whose first emperor Chandragupta Maurya was raised and influenced by peacock farmers was named after the terminology.
The Greek word for peacock was taos and was related to the Persian "tavus" (as in Takht-i-Tâvus for the famed Peacock Throne). The Ancient Hebrew word tuki (plural tukkiyim) has been said to have been derived from the Tamil tokei but sometimes traced to the Egyptian tekh. In modern Hebrew the word for peacock is "tavas". In Sanskrit, the peacock is known as Mayura and is associated with the killing of snakes.
Description
Male neck detail
Peacocks are a larger sized bird with a length from bill to tail of 100 to 115 cm (39 to 45 in) and to the end of a fully grown train as much as 195 to 225 cm (77 to 89 in) and weigh 4–6 kg (8.8–13.2 lb). The females, or peahens, are smaller at around 95 cm (37 in) in length and weigh 2.75–4 kg (6.1–8.8 lb). Indian peafowl are among the largest and heaviest representatives of the Phasianidae. So far as is known, only the wild turkey grows notably heavier. The green peafowl is slightly lighter in body mass despite the male having a longer train on average than the male of the Indian species. Their size, colour and shape of crest make them unmistakable within their native distribution range. The male is metallic blue on the crown, the feathers of the head being short and curled. The fan-shaped crest on the head is made of feathers with bare black shafts and tipped with bluish-green webbing. A white stripe above the eye and a crescent shaped white patch below the eye are formed by bare white skin. The sides of the head have iridescent greenish blue feathers. The back has scaly bronze-green feathers with black and copper markings. The scapular and the wings are buff and barred in black, the primaries are chestnut and the secondaries are black. The tail is dark brown and the "train" is made up of elongated upper tail coverts (more than 200 feathers, the actual tail has only 20 feathers) and nearly all of these feathers end with an elaborate eye-spot. A few of the outer feathers lack the spot and end in a crescent shaped black tip. The underside is dark glossy green shading into blackish under the tail. The thighs are buff coloured. The male has a spur on the leg above the hind toe.
The adult peahen has a rufous-brown head with a crest as in the male but the tips are chestnut edged with green. The upper body is brownish with pale mottling. The primaries, secondaries and tail are dark brown. The lower neck is metallic green and the breast feathers are dark brown glossed with green. The remaining underparts are whitish. Downy young are pale buff with a dark brown mark on the nape that connects with the eyes. Young males look like the females but the wings are chestnut coloured.
The most common calls are a loud pia-ow or may-awe. The frequency of calling increases before the Monsoon season and may be delivered in alarm or when disturbed by loud noises. In forests, their calls often indicate the presence of a predators such as the tiger. They also make many other calls such as a rapid series of ka-aan..ka-aan or a rapid kok-kok. They often emit an explosive low-pitched honk! when agitated.
Mutations and hybrids
This leucistic mutation is commonly mistaken for an albino.
There are several colour mutations of Indian peafowl. These very rarely occur in the wild, but selective breeding has made them common in captivity. The black-shouldered or Japanned mutation was initially considered as a subspecies of the Indian peafowl (P. c. nigripennis) (or even a separate species (P. nigripennis)) and was a topic of some interest during Darwin's time. Others had doubts about its taxonomic status, but the English naturalist and biologist Charles Darwin (1809–1882) presented firm evidence for it being a variety under domestication, which treatment is now well established and accepted. It being a colour variation rather than a wild species was important for Darwin to prove, as otherwise it could undermine his theory of slow modification by natural selection in the wild. It is, however, only a case of genetic variation within the population. In this mutation, the adult male is melanistic with black wings. Young birds with the nigripennis mutation are creamy white with fulvous-tipped wings. The gene produces melanism in the male and in the peahen it produces a dilution of colour with creamy white and brown markings. Other forms include the pied and white mutations, all of which are the result of allelic variation at specific loci.
Crosses between a male green peafowl (Pavo muticus) and a female Indian peafowl (P. cristatus) produce a stable hybrid called a "Spalding", named after Mrs. Keith Spalding, a bird fancier in California. There can be problems if birds of unknown pedigree are released into the wild, as the viability of such hybrids and their offspring is often reduced (see Haldane's rule and outbreeding depression).
Distribution and habitat
The Indian peafowl is a resident breeder across the Indian subcontinent and inhabits the drier lowland areas of Sri Lanka. In the Indian subcontinent, it is found mainly below an elevation of 1,800 m (5,900 ft) and in rare cases seen at about 2,000 m (6,600 ft). It is found in moist and dry-deciduous forests, but can adapt to live in cultivated regions and around human habitations and is usually found where water is available. In many parts of northern India, they are protected by religious practices and will forage around villages and towns for scraps. Some have suggested that the peacock was introduced into Europe by Alexander the Great, while others say the bird had reached Athens by 450 BCE and may have been introduced even earlier. It has since been introduced in many other parts of the world and has become feral in some areas.
The Indian peafowl has been introduced to the United States, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, France, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy, Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand, Croatia and the island of Lokrum.
Genome sequencing
The first whole-genome sequencing of Indian peafowl identified a total of 15,970 protein-coding sequences, along with 213 tRNAs, 236 snoRNAs, and 540 miRNAs. The peacock genome was found to have less repetitive DNA (8.62%) than that of the chicken genome (9.45%). PSMC analysis suggested that the peacock suffered at least two bottlenecks (around four million years ago and again 450,000 years ago), which resulted in a severe reduction in its effective population size.
Behaviour and ecology
Peafowl are best known for the male's extravagant display feathers which, despite actually growing from their back, are thought of as a tail. The "train" is in reality made up of the enormously elongated upper tail coverts. The tail itself is brown and short as in the peahen. The colours result not from any green or blue pigments but from the micro-structure of the feathers and the resulting optical phenomena. The long train feathers (and tarsal spurs) of the male develop only after the second year of life. Fully developed trains are found in birds older than four years. In northern India, these begin to develop each February and are moulted at the end of August. The moult of the flight feathers may be spread out across the year.
Peafowl forage on the ground in small groups, known as musters, that usually have a cock and 3 to 5 hens. After the breeding season, the flocks tend to be made up only of females and young. They are found in the open early in the mornings and tend to stay in cover during the heat of the day. They are fond of dust-bathing and at dusk, groups walk in single file to a favourite waterhole to drink. When disturbed, they usually escape by running and rarely take to flight.
Peafowl produce loud calls especially in the breeding season. They may call at night when alarmed and neighbouring birds may call in a relay like series. Nearly seven different call variants have been identified in the peacocks apart from six alarm calls that are commonly produced by both sexes.
Peafowl roost in groups during the night on tall trees but may sometimes make use of rocks, buildings or pylons. In the Gir forest, they chose tall trees in steep river banks. Birds arrive at dusk and call frequently before taking their position on the roost trees. Due to this habit of congregating at the roost, many population studies are made at these sites. The population structure is not well understood. In a study in northern India (Jodhpur), the number of males was 170–210 for 100 females but a study involving evening counts at the roost site in southern India (Injar) suggested a ratio of 47 males for 100 females.
Sexual selection
The colours of the peacock and the contrast with the much duller peahen were a puzzle to early thinkers. Charles Darwin wrote to Asa Gray that the "sight of a feather in a peacock's tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!" as he failed to see an adaptive advantage for the extravagant tail which seemed only to be an encumbrance. Darwin developed a second principle of sexual selection to resolve the problem, though in the prevailing intellectual trends of Victorian Britain, the theory failed to gain widespread attention.
The American artist Abbott Handerson Thayer tried to show, from his own imagination, the value of the eyespots as disruptive camouflage in a 1907 painting. He used the painting in his 1909 book Concealing-Coloration in the Animal Kingdom, denying the possibility of sexual selection and arguing that essentially all forms of animal colouration had evolved as camouflage. He was roundly criticised in a lengthy paper by Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote that Thayer had only managed to paint the peacock's plumage as camouflage by sleight of hand, "with the blue sky showing through the leaves in just sufficient quantity here and there to warrant the author-artists explaining that the wonderful blue hues of the peacock's neck are obliterative because they make it fade into the sky."
In the 1970s a possible resolution to the apparent contradiction between natural selection and sexual selection was proposed. Amotz Zahavi argued that peacocks honestly signalled the handicap of having a large and costly train. However, the mechanism may be less straightforward than it seems – the cost could arise from depression of the immune system by the hormones that enhance feather development.
Male courting female
The ornate train is believed to be the result of sexual selection by the females. Males use their ornate trains in a courtship display: they raise the feathers into a fan and quiver them. However, recent studies have failed to find a relation between the number of displayed eyespots and mating success. Marion Petrie tested whether or not these displays signaled a male's genetic quality by studying a feral population of peafowl in Whipsnade Wildlife Park in southern England. She showed that the number of eyespots in the train predicted a male's mating success, and this success could be manipulated by cutting the eyespots off some of the male's ornate feathers.
Although the removal of eyespots makes males less successful in mating, eyespot removal substantially changes the appearance of male peafowls. It is likely that females mistake these males for sub-adults, or perceive that the males are physically damaged. Moreover, in a feral peafowl population, there is little variation in the number of eyespots in adult males. It is rare for adult males to lose a significant number of eyespots. Therefore, females' selection might depend on other sexual traits of males' trains. The quality of train is an honest signal of the condition of males; peahens do select males on the basis of their plumage. A recent study on a natural population of Indian peafowls in the Shivalik area of India has proposed a "high maintenance handicap" theory. It states that only the fittest males can afford the time and energy to maintain a long tail. Therefore, the long train is an indicator of good body condition, which results in greater mating success. While train length seems to correlate positively with MHC diversity in males, females do not appear to use train length to choose males. A study in Japan also suggests that peahens do not choose peacocks based on their ornamental plumage, including train length, number of eyespots and train symmetry. Another study in France brings up two possible explanations for the conflicting results that exist. The first explanation is that there might be a genetic variation of the trait of interest under different geographical areas due to a founder effect and/or a genetic drift. The second explanation suggests that "the cost of trait expression may vary with environmental conditions," so that a trait that is indicative of a particular quality may not work in another environment.
Fisher's runaway model proposes positive feedback between female preference for elaborate trains and the elaborate train itself. This model assumes that the male train is a relatively recent evolutionary adaptation. However, a molecular phylogeny study on peacock-pheasants shows the opposite; the most recently evolved species is actually the least ornamented one. This finding suggests a chase-away sexual selection, in which "females evolve resistance to male ploys". A study in Japan goes on to conclude that the "peacocks' train is an obsolete signal for which female preference has already been lost or weakened".
However, some disagreement has arisen in recent years concerning whether or not female peafowl do indeed select males with more ornamented trains. In contrast to Petrie's findings, a seven-year Japanese study of free-ranging peafowl came to the conclusion that female peafowl do not select mates solely on the basis of their trains. Mariko Takahashi found no evidence that peahens expressed any preference for peacocks with more elaborate trains (such as trains having more ocelli), a more symmetrical arrangement, or a greater length. Takahashi determined that the peacock's train was not the universal target of female mate choice, showed little variance across male populations, and, based on physiological data collected from this group of peafowl, do not correlate to male physical conditions. Adeline Loyau and her colleagues responded to Takahashi's study by voicing concern that alternative explanations for these results had been overlooked, and that these might be essential for the understanding of the complexity of mate choice. They concluded that female choice might indeed vary in different ecological conditions.
A 2013 study that tracked the eye movements of peahens responding to male displays found that they looked in the direction of the upper train of feathers only when at long distances and that they looked only at the lower feathers when males displayed close to them. The rattling of the tail and the shaking of the wings helped in keeping the attention of females.
Breeding
Peacocks are polygamous, and the breeding season is spread out but appears to be dependent on the rains. Peafowls usually reach sexual maturity at the age of 2 to 3 years old. Several males may congregate at a lek site and these males are often closely related. Males at leks appear to maintain small territories next to each other and they allow females to visit them and make no attempt to guard harems. Females do not appear to favour specific males. The males display in courtship by raising the upper-tail coverts into an arched fan. The wings are held half open and drooped and it periodically vibrates the long feathers, producing a ruffling sound. The cock faces the hen initially and struts and prances around and sometimes turns around to display the tail. Males may also freeze over food to invite a female in a form of courtship feeding. Males may display even in the absence of females. When a male is displaying, females do not appear to show any interest and usually continue their foraging.
The peak season in southern India is April to May, January to March in Sri Lanka and June in northern India. The nest is a shallow scrape in the ground lined with leaves, sticks and other debris. Nests are sometimes placed on buildings and, in earlier times, have been recorded using the disused nest platforms of the white-rumped vultures. The clutch consists of 4–8 fawn to buff white eggs which are incubated only by the female. The eggs take about 28 days to hatch. The chicks are nidifugous and follow the mother around after hatching. Downy young may sometimes climb on their mothers' back and the female may carry them in flight to a safe tree branch. An unusual instance of a male incubating a clutch of eggs has been reported.
Feeding
Peafowl are omnivorous and eat seeds, insects (including termites), worms, fruits, small mammals, frogs, and reptiles (such as lizards). They feed on small snakes but keep their distance from larger ones. In the Gir forest of Gujarat, a large percentage of their food is made up of the fallen berries of Zizyphus. They also feed on tree and flower buds, petals, grain, and grass and bamboo shoots. Around cultivated areas, peafowl feed on a wide range of crops such as groundnut, tomato, paddy, chili and even bananas. Around human habitations, they feed on a variety of food scraps and even human excreta. In the countryside, it is particularly partial to crops and garden plants.
Mortality factors
Large animals such as leopards, dholes, golden jackals, and tigers can ambush adult peafowls. However, only leopards regularly prey upon peafowls as adult peafowls are difficult to catch since they can usually escape ground predators by flying into trees. They are also sometimes hunted by large birds of prey such as the changeable hawk-eagle and rock eagle-owl. Chicks are somewhat more prone to predation than adult birds. Adults living near human habitations are sometimes hunted by domestic dogs or by humans in some areas (southern Tamil Nadu) for folk remedies involving the use of "peacock oil".
Foraging in groups provides some safety as there are more eyes to look out for predators. They also roost on high tree tops to avoid terrestrial predators, especially leopards.
In captivity, birds have been known to live for 23 years but it is estimated that they live for only about 15 years in the wild.
Conservation and status
Indian peafowl are widely distributed in the wild across South Asia and protected both culturally in many areas and by law in India. Conservative estimates of the population put them at more than 100,000. Illegal poaching for meat, however, continues and declines have been noted in parts of India. Peafowl breed readily in captivity and as free-ranging ornamental fowl. Zoos, parks, bird-fanciers and dealers across the world maintain breeding populations that do not need to be augmented by the capture of wild birds.
Poaching of peacocks for their meat and feathers and accidental poisoning by feeding on pesticide treated seeds are known threats to wild birds. Methods to identify if feathers have been plucked or have been shed naturally have been developed, as Indian law allows only the collection of feathers that have been shed.
In parts of India, the birds can be a nuisance to agriculture as they damage crops. Its adverse effects on crops, however, seem to be offset by the beneficial role it plays by consuming prodigious quantities of pests such as grasshoppers. They can also be a problem in gardens and homes where they damage plants, attack their reflections (thereby breaking glass and mirrors), perch and scratch cars or leave their droppings. Many cities where they have been introduced and gone feral have peafowl management programmes. These include educating citizens on how to prevent the birds from causing damage while treating the birds humanely.
In culture
Prominent in many cultures, the peacock has been used in numerous iconic representations, including being designated the national bird of India in 1963. The peacock, known as mayura in Sanskrit, has enjoyed a fabled place in India since and is frequently depicted in temple art, mythology, poetry, folk music and traditions. A Sanskrit derivation of mayura is from the root mi for kill and said to mean "killer of snakes". It is also likely that the Sanskrit term is a borrowing from Proto-Dravidian *mayVr (whence the Tamil word for peacock மயில் (mayil)) or a regional Wanderwort. Many Hindu deities are associated with the bird, Krishna is often depicted with a feather in his headband, while worshippers of Shiva associate the bird as the steed of the God of war, Kartikeya (also known as Skanda or Murugan). A story in the Uttara Ramayana describes the head of the Devas, Indra, who unable to defeat Ravana, sheltered under the wing of peacock and later blessed it with a "thousand eyes" and fearlessness from serpents. Another story has Indra who after being cursed with a thousand ulcers was transformed into a peacock with a thousand eyes and this curse was removed by Vishnu.
In Buddhist philosophy, the peacock represents wisdom. Peacock feathers are used in many rituals and ornamentation. Peacock motifs are widespread in Indian temple architecture, old coinage, textiles and continue to be used in many modern items of art and utility. A folk belief found in many parts of India is that the peacock does not copulate with the peahen but that she is impregnated by other means. The stories vary and include the idea that the peacock looks at its ugly feet and cries whereupon the tears are fed on by the peahen causing it to be orally impregnated while other variants incorporate sperm transfer from beak to beak. Similar ideas have also been ascribed to Indian crow species. In Greek mythology the origin of the peacock's plumage is explained in the tale of Hera and Argus. The main figure of the Yazidi religion Yezidism, Melek Taus, is most commonly depicted as a peacock. Peacock motifs are widely used even today such as in the logos of the US NBC and the PTV television networks and the Sri Lankan Airlines.
These birds were often kept in menageries and as ornaments in large gardens and estates. In medieval times, knights in Europe took a "Vow of the Peacock" and decorated their helmets with its plumes. In several Robin Hood stories, the titular archer uses arrows fletched with peacock feathers. Feathers were buried with Viking warriors and the flesh of the bird was said to cure snake venom and many other maladies. Numerous uses in Ayurveda have been documented. Peafowl were said to keep an area free of snakes. In 1526, the legal issue as to whether peacocks were wild or domestic fowl was thought sufficiently important for Cardinal Wolsey to summon all the English judges to give their opinion, which was that they are domestic fowl.
In Anglo-Indian usage of the 1850s, to peacock meant making visits to ladies and gentlemen in the morning. In the 1890s, the term "peacocking" in Australia referred to the practice of buying up the best pieces of land ("picking the eyes") so as to render the surrounding lands valueless. The English word "peacock" has come to be used to describe a man who is very proud or gives a lot of attention to his clothing.
Main article: Di Goldene Pave
A golden peacock (in Yiddish, Di Goldene Pave) is considered by some as a symbol of Ashkenazi Jewish culture, and is the subject of several folktales and songs in Yiddish. Peacocks are frequently used in European heraldry. Heraldic peacocks are most often depicted as facing the viewer and with their tails displayed. In this pose, the peacock is referred to as being "in his pride". Peacock tails, in isolation from the rest of the bird, are rare in British heraldry, but see frequent use in German systems.
The American television network NBC uses a stylized peacock as a legacy of its early introduction of color television, alluding to the brilliant color of a peacock, and continues to promote the bird as a trademark of its broadcasting and streaming services.
As predicted, Redd the Fox is completed, and there is no sun.
Yesterday= bright and sunny
Today: murky murk.
I plan to finish off the deer, and then have a little monster high fashion shoot, and then list them.
A forming mist predicts a forthcoming rainfall on the Waterloo Moraine. 90% of the regions water supply comes from ground water that is taken from aquifers replenished by this moraine. Musselman Woods is private land that allows pulic access to the public for hiking in the summer and cross country skiing.
This photo is from my third test roll of Ferrania P30 Alpha, panchromatic, 80 ISO, black and white film. The negatives turned out a little thin again, so that the scanned images are dark and contrasty.
Check out an album containing more of my photos shot on Ferrania P30 Alpha.
Mamiya RB67
120 back with 3D printed 135 film adapters
127 mm Mamiya Sekor lens with UV filter
Exposure: f11-1/2, 1/4s
Dual triggered with cable release.
Manfrotto tripod with Manfrotto ball head
Ilford DD-X film developer mixed at 1+4 dilution at 75°F. Processed in a Patterson system tank for 10.5 minutes. Gentle agitation for 20 seconds during the first minute and four inversions during the first 10 seconds of each additional whole minute.
Ilford Ilfostop mixed at the standard dilution. Immersed for 30 seconds with gentle agitation.
Ilford Rapid Fixer mixed at standard dilution. Agitated for five minutes in the same manner as the developer.
Shot on Ferrania P30 Alpha 80 ISO panchromatic film.
Scanned using a Nikon Super CoolScan 9000 ED with the glass FH-869GR medium format film tray and the 72mm wide 135 film format mask.
Melbourne’s population is predicted to grow beyond 8 million by 2050, how can we prepare our neighbourhoods? Check out Resilient Melbourne's new partnerships for building #resilientcommunities ❤️📷 @lukesphotographymelbs ift.tt/2JU8CYN
Bernard Marr is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, strategic performance consultant, and analytics, KPI & Big Data guru.
He helps companies to better manage, measure, report and analyse performance. His leading-edge work with major companies, organisations and governments across the globe makes him an acclaimed and award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, consultant and teacher. Bernard is acknowledged by the CEO Journal as one of today's leading business brains.
He has written a number of seminal books and over 200 high profile reports and articles on enterprise performance. This includes the best-sellers 'Key Performance Indicators', 'The Intelligent Company', 'More with Less', 'Managing and Delivering Performance' and 'Strategic Performance Management', a number of Gartner Reports and the world's largest research studies on the topic. His expert comments regularly feature in high-profile publications including The Times, The Financial Times, Financial Management, the CFO Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.
He has worked with and advised many of the world's best-known organisations including Accenture, Astra Zeneca, Bank of England, Barclays, BP, DHL, Fujitsu, Gartner, HSBC, Mars, Ministry of Defence, Microsoft, Oracle, The Home Office, NHS, Orange, Tetley, T-Mobile, Toyota, Royal Air Force, SAP and Shell, among many others.
He currently focuses on helping clients to:
- create strategic performance frameworks
- develop relevant and meaningful KPIs and metrics
- develop business analytics and 'big data' strategies
- develop management dashboards and reporting solutions
- train and coach teams to become 'high performance organisations'
- align people management practices with strategic performance objectives
- understand the emerging trends of big data analytics
His engagements range from executive awareness and training sessions to the design and implementation of corporate performance management and reporting approaches. Bernard can be contacted at bernard.marr@ap-institute.com
BOOKS BY BERNARD MARR amzn.to/2dqqCbT
With a replacement predicted to start construction around 2028, the end is fast approaching the Blatnik high bridge connecting Duluth, MN and Superior, WI since 1961. With construction ending in 1961, that only makes the bridge 9 years younger than the Arthur M Anderson passing under the central span on its way towards Hallet #5 with a load of limestone.
almost any homemade prophet can predict the future for Australia as bright without a crystal ball.
in particular the future for Fortitude Valley (Queensland) - where this street art is located - is obviously very bright as the inner city suburb has been neglected by developers for decades.
www.callshaper.com/better-monitoring/
The CallShaper IVR setup on the predictive dialing platform is a breeze with drag and drop. Visualization of the paths calls make when a criterion is met, where it goes and how it is handled, takes what can be a complicated process and turns it into a remedial exercise.
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With the forecast predicting a spotlessly sunny Sunday, I made it my business to get out with camera and bike, no excuses. Fortunately, no excuses came my way and I was able to cycle to RSPB Portmore before the sun rose. The air was filled with the honking of whoopers, whistling of wigeon and squeaking of teal on the flooded fields, which all rose and moved on as the sun rose. Hundreds of golden plover and lapwing flew in Vs overhead, while an extraordinary number of shoveler and diving ducks resided on the lough. There were plenty of these sparrows at the feeders, as well as on the wild bird cover with linnets and finches. A very good morning!
On the 4th & 5th October 2016, leading international thinkers in the areas of Data, Predictive Models, Technology and Decision making gathered at the RDS, Dublin, for Predict 2016. The speakers, many of whom I managed to photograph, discussed the latest progress in Predictive Modelling and its future – from Data to Software and Hardware technology, plus Predictive Modelling methods and the best examples of Data-driven Decision-making.
The organisers kindly invited me to the Predict event at the RDS but as I arrived a bit early I took few backstage or behind the scenes shots. In case your are interested I used a Sony A7RM2 coupled with a Sony 29-135 full frame lens. The lens does attract a lot of attention which does allow me to to have interesting people … volunteers, students from Brazil, photographers etc. Of course my lens did not attract as mush attention as the two cars [especially the DeLorean DMC-12. DMC-12s were primarily intended for the American market. All production models were therefore left-hand drive. Evidence survives from as early as April 1981, however, which indicates that the DeLorean Motor Company was aware of the need to produce a right-hand drive version to supply to world markets such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. My contacts in Belfast claim that 16 right-hand drive factory-authorised DeLoreans were produced.
Despite the forecast predicting the weather would be mostly sunny and mild all day, the chilly and cloudy weather over Nashville, TN, on the morning of December 12th, 2018, seemed almost fitting. With all of the sad news about untimely demises within the past couple of weeks, it can sometimes be rather somber during the holiday season. However, despite all of this, I happened to see NERR 5938 hard at work organizing the Nashville & Eastern Railroad's yard near downtown Nashville, proving that despite all of the negative news, life just soldiers on as usual. In a way though, the patched-paint scheme of the locomotive's former owner, does almost seem fitting, with how the paint job was nicknamed "Dark Future" after CSX started putting it on their locomotives in the early-2000s.
But even this scene won't be around for much longer. Back in early November, news broke that RJ Corman, with the FRA's approval, had just purchased the NERR and associated operations (including the Nashville & Western Railroad and Music City Star commuter trains), and would be taking over operations on this part of the former Tennessee Central Railway on January 1st, 2019. While the fact that the NERR (and NWR) will be joining the "'fallen flag' club" with countless other railroads may make the paint scheme's nickname rather fitting, it does have a hint of irony to it as RJ Corman likely wouldn't have bought the lines had they not seen a potential for profit with them. There's also the fact that RJ Corman has a dedicated marketing department, something which the NERR never had, which should make acquiring new customers along the line easier for the railroad.
So as we head on into 2019, while the future may seem dark right now, we've most likely got a brighter one ahead.
Bernard Marr is a bestselling author, keynote speaker, strategic performance consultant, and analytics, KPI & Big Data guru.
He helps companies to better manage, measure, report and analyse performance. His leading-edge work with major companies, organisations and governments across the globe makes him an acclaimed and award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, consultant and teacher. Bernard is acknowledged by the CEO Journal as one of today's leading business brains.
He has written a number of seminal books and over 200 high profile reports and articles on enterprise performance. This includes the best-sellers 'Key Performance Indicators', 'The Intelligent Company', 'More with Less', 'Managing and Delivering Performance' and 'Strategic Performance Management', a number of Gartner Reports and the world's largest research studies on the topic. His expert comments regularly feature in high-profile publications including The Times, The Financial Times, Financial Management, the CFO Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.
He has worked with and advised many of the world's best-known organisations including Accenture, Astra Zeneca, Bank of England, Barclays, BP, DHL, Fujitsu, Gartner, HSBC, Mars, Ministry of Defence, Microsoft, Oracle, The Home Office, NHS, Orange, Tetley, T-Mobile, Toyota, Royal Air Force, SAP and Shell, among many others.
He currently focuses on helping clients to:
- create strategic performance frameworks
- develop relevant and meaningful KPIs and metrics
- develop business analytics and 'big data' strategies
- develop management dashboards and reporting solutions
- train and coach teams to become 'high performance organisations'
- align people management practices with strategic performance objectives
- understand the emerging trends of big data analytics
His engagements range from executive awareness and training sessions to the design and implementation of corporate performance management and reporting approaches. Bernard can be contacted at bernard.marr@ap-institute.com
BOOKS BY BERNARD MARR amzn.to/2dqqCbT
A part of the summation chain of Tide Predicting Machine No. 2, a special purpose mechanical analog computer for predicting the height and time of high and low tides. By wrapping above and below a series of pulleys, the chain sums their deflections, which is a key component of computing tides.
The U.S. government used Tide Predicting Machine No. 2 from 1910 to 1965 to predict tides for ports around the world. The machine, also known as “Old Brass Brains,” uses an intricate arrangement of gears, pulleys, chains, slides, and other mechanical components to perform the computations.
A person using the machine would require 2-3 days to compute a year’s tides at one location. A person performing the same calculations by hand would require hundreds of days to perform the work. The machine is 10.8 feet (3.3 m) long, 6.2 feet (1.9 m) high, and 2.0 feet (0.61 m) wide and weighs approximately 2,500 pounds (1134 kg). The operator powers the machine with a hand crank.
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Qu’est-ce que Preditrend fait?
Preditrend Prédictions transforme votre dépôt initial de 200 euros dans votre compte avec un solde de plusieurs milliers d’euros et potentiellement bien d’avantage, à condition que vous comprendre comment gérer le compte. Il est facile d’ouvri...
Newly cleaned and redressed: "Horse Loving Skipper" (1983) is wearing an outfit that came with this lot. I assume it's complete and looks minty. "Baggie" aka "Pose N Play" Skipper (1975) is wearing the dress from #1962 "Quick Changes." She no longer has her hair ribbons, and her arms don't hold poses at the elbows. "New Living Skipper" (1970) also is missing her hair ribbons and doesn't hold poses at the elbows. She's wearing a vintage top (#1907 "School Days") and a jumper-dress that I assume is Best Buy that came in a lot of Barbie Best Buy stuff.
"Malibu" Skipper (1971) was minty and I'm so sorry I combed through her hair as it had never been combed before and now she has a few fly-aways. She still had on her original swim bottoms but no top. The dress is something I got from an earlier case lot. It's #7771 Best Buy (1974). "Great Shape" Skipper from 1984 was the worst of this lot. She had hair that was in the original set and uncombed, but she smelled of something that I assume was cigarette smoke, which explains her darkened face. I washed her hair and threw her dress away, replacing it with the original outfit dress for #9926 "Partytime Skipper" - Europe (1976-79). She's much improved, without her smelly dress and stinky hair, but it killed me to take down that original ponytail topknot and bands. Should have taken a before photo of the first skipper (1964). This redhead's hair looked really awful - super frizzy - when this lot arrived. I worked with it until it looks very nice. The bangs are still a little crispy, though.
Supposedly, you can predict the kind of winter you will have by looking at the persimmon seed. The story goes........if you split the seed open you will either see a fork, a knife or a spoon. If you see a knife, your winter will have a CUTTING wind. A fork indicates only a light dusting of snow. A spoon however, means you are in for heavy snow and SHOVELING. Interesting! My family checks the seeds every year!! This year it's a spoon.......see my mosaic below:)
Big storms were predicted, so I ventured up to 360 Chicago to catch them. Unfortunately they didn't quite materialize in the late afternoon, but the distant ones that did, sure put on a nice sky show over the city.
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The weather report predicted very low winds and partly cloudy skies. My hopes went up for color and mist, and Mother Nature obliged.
I was almost too late for this - thus my old stand by composition of the trees and pond.
People have been noting that I really like the early morning - despite all my sunrise shots, I do love to sleep in! However, early mornings are great because there aren't crowds. Well, with the exception of some very famous photography trophy shots (think - Mesa Arch in Canyonlands or the Maroon Bells when the aspens in in color). Since this is on the way to work, and I have to get up early anyway...it isn't too much of a stretch to greet the sunrise, especially in autumn.
ps - looks really nice on black
One can consider the presentation of this spectacular hardtop coupe as an ultimate afford to gain attention of the audience to persuade them for buying a Packard. The financial position of Packard was terrible in 1956. But it wasn't much of a help.
Richard 'Dick' Teague (Los Angeles, 1923-1991) designed the Predictor. It was built at Carrozzeria Ghia, Torino in Italy on a Clipper platform. In ninety days the Italians managed to get this project ready, just in time for the Chicago Car Show.
The Predictor had all kinds of new automotive features, like tilting headlights, roof doors rolled back when opening the door, lowering back window, swiveling seats, dashboard design which followed the hood profile, a power operated trunk lid, and a wraparound windshield that curved into the roof.
Many car brands copied several novelties: the grille at the 1958 Edsel, the roof line at the 1958 Lincoln Premier, the rear bumper at the 1958 Oldsmobile, opera windows or portholes in the rear pillar at the 1957 Thunderbird, and the headlights at the 1962 Corvette.
Only one Predictor was made. It still exists and is on display at the Studebaker National Museum, South Bend, Indiana (see photo).
6128 cc V8 engine.
Production Packard Predictor: 1956.
Image source:
Video still from a movie of a visit to the Studebaker National Museum, South Bend, Indiana, by OldModelTGuy.
Seen on YouTube.
Halfweg, July 16, 2024.
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