Wide angle image of California Nebula and M45.

Camera: Hutch modified T3i

Lens: 50mm

Exposure: 330x15 seconds

AstroTrac used for tracking.

Processed using Deep Sky Stacker and Photoshop.

St Peter and St Paul, Salle, Norfolk

During their awesome reign over the other great teams of Europe in the 1970s and 1980s, Liverpool football club placed a huge sign in the changing room corridor, so that it was the last thing visiting teams saw before they walked out on to the pitch: This is ANFIELD, it warned. The name alone was enough. Similarly, the cover of the guidebook here proclaims, in a single word, SALLE. Again, it suffices; the word, pronounced to rhyme with call, stands for the building. Perhaps only the name Blythburgh has the same power in all East Anglia.

The greatest East Anglian churches were built in the 15th century. It is often observed that there can never have been enough people to fill them, but this is to miss the point. They were never intended for the forms of worship to which they now play host.

The shape of a late medieval church is not an accident. East Anglian parish churches of the 15th century had many common features; wide aisles to enable liturgical processions, a chancel for the celebration of Mass, places for other altars, niches for devotional statues, a focus towards the Blessed Sacrament in the east, a large nave for social activities, large windows to fill the building with light, a roof of angels to proclaim a hymn of praise, a pulpit for the preaching of orthodox doctrine, benches to enable the people to hear the preaching, and carvings, stained glass and wall paintings of the sacraments, Gospels and rosary mysteries, of the catechism and teaching of the Catholic Church.

As Le Corbusier might have said if he'd been around at the time, a late medieval East Anglian church was a machine for making Catholicism happen.

No longer, of course. The radical and violent fracture in popular religion in the middle years of the 16th century gave birth to the Church of England, and the new Church inherited buildings that were often unsuitable for congregational protestant liturgy - a problem that the Church of England has never satisfactorily solved.

Over the centuries, the problem has been addressed in different ways; celebrating Communion at a table in the nave, for example, and blocking off the chancel for other uses. Although this was challenged by the Laudian party in the early part of the 17th century, it was the way that many parishes reinvented their buildings, and most were to stay like that until the middle years of the 19th century. Some went further: a pulpit placed halfway down the nave, or even at the back of the church, meant that the seating could be arranged so that it no longer focused towards the east, thus breaking the link with Catholic (and Laudian) sacramentalism. For several centuries, Anglican churches focused on the pulpit rather than the altar.

With the rise of the 19th century Oxford Movement, all this underwent another dramatic change, with the great majority of our medieval parish churches having their interiors restored to their medieval integrity, reinventing themselves as sacramental spaces. This Victorian conception of the medieval suited itself to congregational worship, and responded in a satisfactory way to the structure of the building. But still, of course, they weren't full.

This 19th century re-imagining is the condition in which we find most of them today, and Anglican theologians everywhere are asking the question that the Catholic Church asked itself at Vatican II in the 1960s - is a 19th century liturgical space really appropriate for the Church of the 21st century?

It requires a shift in the mind to recall that these were not originally Anglican buildings, but it is a shift we need to make. The idea of a previously unchanging Church now confronting the demands of the modern age is wholly incorrect. These buildings have faced a variety of challenges over the centuries; they have only ever been truly suitable for the use for which they were originally built six hundred years ago.

Two of the largest late medieval churches in East Anglia are just three miles apart, at Cawston and Salle in the middle of Norfolk. These clusters are not uncommon; think of Blythburgh, Southwold and Walberswick in Suffolk, for example, or Lavenham and Long Melford in the same county. But Cawston and Salle are really close - you can see the tower of one from the other. St Peter and St Paul is a complete example of a 15th century rebuilding; St Agnes at Cawston retains its elegant earlier chancel.

If not merely for congregational worship, why were these churches built so big? Impressive as they seem now, they must have been awesome at the time they were built, since they were the only substantial buildings outside of the towns, and would have dwarfed the houses of the parish. Some were in villages; but many were not. Salle church has always been out in the fields. Why are earlier East Anglian churches not so massive? Certainly, East Anglia has its cathedrals; Norwich and Ely pre-date the great churches by several centuries, and Bury Abbey was bigger than either before its destruction. The great majority of East Anglia's churches are piecemeal affairs; typically, a 13th century chancel, which must have been the most substantial part of the building when it was first erected, an early 14th century nave and tower, and perhaps later elaborations of the piece with aisles and a clerestory. Salle and Cawston churches are both rebuildings of earlier structures, but a surprising number of East Anglian churches were not rebuilt, until perhaps the Victorians saw the need for a new chancel, or new aisles. Often, these smaller churches are exquisitely beautiful, as if beauty rather than grandeur was the imperative.

And then, towards the end of the 1340s, a great pestilence swept across Europe; in East Anglia, outside of Norwich which got off lightly, it killed perhaps a half of the population. In emptying the countryside, it completely altered the economic balance; a shortage of labour gave new power to the survivors, perhaps setting in place the preconditions for the capitalism that we can recognise by the 16th century. And, in extinguishing the flower of Decorated architecture, it also gave birth to the great love affair between the late medieval mind and death.

In Catholic theology there is no great divide between the dead and the living. For the medieval Christian, communion was something that existed between all members of the parish, whether alive or dead. Thus, prayers were said for the souls of the dead (who, it was presumed, were saying prayers for the souls of the living).

To ensure that prayers were said for them after their death, the very richest people endowed chantries. These were foundations, by which priests could be employed to say masses for their souls in perpetuity. A priest in such a capacity was called a chantry priest. The masses would be said at a chantry altar, probably in the nave; if the person was rich enough, this might be enclosed in a specially constructed chantry chapel. Many churches had them. After the Reformation, many were pressed into service as family mausoleums or pews.

For the poorest people, there was the opportunity to join a guild, where, for a penny or so a week, they could ensure that the guild chantry priest would say masses for their soul after their death (along with those of the other dead members of the guild). Many of these guilds were organised around particular occupations or devotions, and became a focus of social activity. The investment that produced the income to pay the chantry priests was most commonly in land. The church or guild oversaw the management of the land, which is one of the reasons we have an image of a wealthy pre-Reformation church. Land bought to produce income in this way was known as chantry land, a name surviving in many places today. Those who invested in chantries (and few and far between must have been those who didn't) presumed that they were ensuring prayers and masses in perpetuity; but, of course, this was not to be.

Bequests and chantries seem to have reached their peak in the 15th century. Perhaps the Black Death reinforced the urgency of the task. People did not merely want to be remembered; they wanted to be prayed for. And so, those who could afford it ensured that this was not forgotten by leaving their wealth in the very place that was at the centre of communion: the parish church. The richest paid for the additions of aisles and chapels, or for a new font or rood screen. This was not just a naked desire for the recognition of their family status. There was an underlying insecurity to the new landed classes. They wanted to control their destiny beyond their deaths. And so, their gift would be recorded in the form of a dedicatory inscription. One of these survives on the screen at Cawston, and another on the base of the font at Salle. Orate pro anima, they begin, "Pray for the soul of...", an injunction urgently emphasised by the pre-Reformation liturgy, only to be cursed and defaced by the later Anglicans and puritans. Stained glass was another common gift, as well as images, candlesticks, furnishings. Thus were many churches developed piecemeal.

But sometimes, where a parish could rely on a steady supply of substantial bequests, they might be channelled into a complete rebuilding, as at Salle, a summa cum laude apothesosis, where the new church of the late 15th century survives in pretty much its original form. Sometimes, a single wealthy family would shape and direct the rebuilding of a church. One of the richest families in East Anglia in the 14th and 15th centuries was the de la Poles, the Earls of Suffolk. Their mark can be found throughout East Anglia, but most famously and substantially at Wingfield in Suffolk, and at Cawston in Norfolk. Theirs was a long term project; at Cawston, the tower predates the furnishings of the nave and chancel by almost a century.

So why so vast? Certainly, it was ad maiorem deo gloria, to the Greater Glory of God; but it was also to the greater glory of the de la Poles and their contemporaries. The great landed families of England came into the late middle ages full of confidence, and they were determined to demonstrate it. They had survived the Black Death. They had grown richer on its consequences. They had assumed a political power unthinkable a few centuries before. They controlled not just the wealth but the imagination of their parishes. They asserted orthodox Catholic dogma in the face of rural superstitions and abuses. They imposed a homogenised Catholicism on late medieval England. And, as they increased their secular power and influence, a time would come when they would embrace the Great Idea already beginning to take shape on the continent - protestantism. But that was still in the future.

And so, to Salle. St Peter and St Paul is big. This is accentuated by the way in which it stands almost alone in the barley fields, with only a couple of Victorian buildings and a cricket pitch for company. What an idyllic spot! And yet there is an urban quality to the building, as if this was some great city church in the middle of Norwich or Bristol. It went up in the course of the 15th century, a replacement for an earlier building on the same site, broadly contemporary with neighbouring Cawston. While Cawston was largely the work of a single family, here the building benefited from an accident of history; several very wealthy families owned manors and halls in the parish at the same time, and it so happened that the time was the greatest era of rural church building.

Among them were the Boleyns, the Brewes, the Mautebys, the Briggs, the Morleys, the Luces and the Kerdistons, and some of their shields appear above the great west door, along with two mighty censing angels, characteristic of late medieval piety. A steady stream of hefty bequests meant that no expense needed to be spared, and the mighty tower with its vast bell openings was topped with battlements and pinnacles on the very eve of the Reformation.

As at Blythburgh, St Peter and St Paul benefited from the restraint of a late restoration, and the building as we see it now has no external Victorian additions. It is all of a piece. The porches either side are huge affairs, matching the transepts, and give the effect of a vast animal, a dragon perhaps, sprawling with erect head in the Norfolk countryside. Its tail is the chancel, in itself longer and higher than many Norfolk churches. The aisles are tall, austere, parapeted, the Perpendicular windows arcades of glass. In the porches, the vaulted ceilings are studded with bosses; the central one in the north porch depicts Christ in Majesty, sitting on a rainbow in judgement.

You enter the building from the west, an unusual experience in East Anglia, and your first sight is of the seven sacraments font with its tall 15th century canopy, similar to the cover at Cawston. This one is so big it is supported by a crane attached to the ringing gallery under the tower. The font below is interesting because each panel is supported by an angel holding a symbol of the sacrament above - a pot of chrism oil beneath Baptism, for example. The panels themselves are simply done, and are not particularly characterful, apart from the way that Mary turns away and is comforted at the Crucifixion. This panel faces west, and then anticlockwise are the Mass (viewed sideways, as at nearby Great Witchingham), Ordination (the candidate kneeling), Baptism (a server holds the book up for the Priest to read), Confirmation (the candidate obviously a child), Penance (perhaps the most interesting panel - the penitent kneels in a shriving pew), Matrimony (the couples' hands joined by a stole, she in late 15th century dress) and finally Last Rites (the dying man on the floor under blankets also as at Great Witchingham). The font step has a dedicatory inscription to John and Agnes Luce, asking for prayers for their souls. We know that John died in 1489. Perhaps the fabric of the building was complete by this date.

Beyond the font stretches the vastness of the building, the arcades gathering the eyes and leading them forward to the great east window. The chancel arch is barely there at all, just a simple high opening; but as MR James pointed out, it was never intended to be seen.The sheer bulk of the rood screen dado tells us quite how vast the rood apparatus must have been here, and the arch would have been pretty well hidden. Everything is built to scale; although everything has been cut off above the panels, probably in the late 1540s, the panels themselves are enormous, almost six feet high. As at Cawston, St Gregory, St Jerome, St Ambrose and St Augustine, the four Doctors of the Church, are on the doors. Either side are just two surviving paintings; to the north are Thomas and James, to the south are Philip and Bartholomew. The empty panels are a mystery; the screen stood here for a century before its destruction, so it must have been finished; and the dado seems too high to have been hidden by nave altars. And yet, it has all the appearance of never having been painted.

Because the building is so vast, the surviving medieval glass seems scattered, but there is actually a lot of it and some of it is very significant. Some was moved during the restoration of the early 20th century, when the modern glass in the north transept was installed, and the yellow galley lozenges were thankfully replaced with clear glass in the 1970s. The images in the east window are mainly figures; old kings kneel before young princes, there are armoured men and angels, the remains of a scaly dragon. In the centre at the bottom is a perfect Trinity shield, displayed by an angel looking askance.

Some of the panels are now in the south transept. These include fragments of a set of the orders of angels. A kneeling figure is Thomas Brigg, donor of the transept; the scroll behind him begins Benedicat Virgo, 'Blessed Virgin'. The mother of God sits surrounded by red glory, and two women holding croziers, one of them crowned, may be St Etheldreda and St Hilda. Certainly, the crowned figure holding a cross is St Helena.

Despite the wonders of the font, the screen and the glass, the crowning glory of the building is the set of bosses that line the roof of the chancel. They are easily missed, being very high. There are nine altogether, the first and last set against the walls at the ends of the roof ridge, and they form a kind of rosary sequence of joyful and glorious mysteries. They start with the Annunciation in the west (see left) and then continue with the Adoration of the Shepherds, the Adoration of the Magi, the Presentation in the Temple, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and the Ascension into Heaven.

There is a fine set of return stalls in the chancel. Although Salle probably never had a college of Priests, all those Masses for the dead must have provided plenty of employment, because we know that there were seven Priests here at a time when the population of the parish was barely 200. Bench ends include heads, a dragon tied up in a knot, a cock, a restored pelican in her piety, and a monkey. The misericord seats feature faces, including one that is quite extraordinary.

Although the roof isn't up to the glory of neighbouring Cawston, it includes lots of original angels and paintwork, including sacred monograms, and around the wallplate part of the Te Deum Laudamus and Psalm 150. These particular texts seem to have provided the inspiration for many late 15th century interiors; the angels in the roof, the animals on the bench ends, the Saints on the rood screen all in harmony: Let everything that has breath Praise ye the Lord!

The nave benches are mostly renewed now, but the pulpit is an elegant example of the 15th century, from the time when a priority began to be placed on preaching. Curiously, it has been rather awkwardly converted into a three-decker arrangement, probably in the 18th century, with the addition of a platform and desk from a set of box pews. A large sounding board has been placed overhead. The box pews suggest that the medieval furnishings were replaced at an early date, although the replacements too have gone now.

Salle is one of those churches full of intriguing little details that might easily pass you by, so great is the wonder of everything around. Those two little corbel heads above the south door, for instance - what were they for? Perhaps they supported an image that could be seen from the north doorway as people entered, although not a St Christopher as the guidebook suggests, I think. There is a pretty piscina in the unfortunate north transept that has been outlined in wood, a memorial and helm above, a tall image bracket in the corner of the wall of the south transept, a floreated piscina nearby.

There are many brasses and brass inlays in the nave floor; one of the most interesting is a chalice brass (although the chalice is now gone) to Simon Boleyn, a Priest, who died in 1489, and to the east of it a pair of brasses to Geoffrey and Alice Boleyn, great-grandparents to Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII. Another pair of brasses are to Thomas and Katherine Rose and their eight children. Unlike many churches, Salle actually retains some of the 'missing' brasses, now locked away for safety. It would be nice to think they could eventually be reset in the floor.

One part of the building that many visitors must miss is the chapel above the north porch. There is no sign indicating it; but the doorway, at the west end of the north aisle, is always open. Inside, the vaulted roof is punctuated by spectacularly pretty bosses which you can view at close quarters. The colour is a bit fanciful, but they are fascinating, particularly the central boss of the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven - how on earth did that survive the Reformation?

This is a tremendous building, a box of fascinating delights. What purpose does it serve now? As I said in the introduction, its size was not in response to the needs of a congregation, and as far as worship is concerned it will never be full. It remains constantly in use, however; for regular services in the chancel, sometimes for concerts and recordings, but also of course for the poshest sort of wedding, the kind only the Church of England can provide, and no doubt other elements of the core business of CofE PLC. It is easy to be cynical, but if they ensure the survival of the building, then so be it.

And the man said to me, "By the way we are heading... This isn't going to cut it..."

and from there, I disagreed... and then I told him...

"No, I'm sorry... but, my milk shake is better than yours..."

Bruxelles Central

Álvaro Martínez, accidental photographer

www.alvaromartinez.org

While purists love to cite I*Motion's classic Alone in the Dark series as the father of the survival horror category, it was Capcom's Resident Evil franchise that truly pushed the genre forward. Combining a stylized mix of spooky camera perspectives and a slew of horrid-looking things that go bump in the night, Biohazard (as it's known in Japan) has set new standards in the in the realm of digital terror -- even if its control scheme and lack of progression between sequels has irked some of its more casual fans.

But change is definitely on the horizon as the GameCube's Resident Evil 4 exclusive is assuredly turning some heads. Boasting an abundance of new features, visual upgrades, and most importantly -- better gameplay mechanics, the vastly different sequel from Studio 4 is as evolutionary as it is anticipated. Luckily this kind of change isn't assigned solely to Nintendo's platform either, as Capcom's other premier production house known as Studio 1 (Monster Hunter, Devil May Cry 2) has been hard at work creating a PS2 project of its own. And while Studio 1 has had the foresight to attach several different types of character classes, provide an open-ended approach to solving puzzles, and include a massive amount of hidden unlockables, it's the incredibly popular online component that truly makes Resident Evil Outbreak so appealing.

Of course, the real question from Biohazard diehards is whether or not this jump to the world of online connectivity is enough to propel Resident Evil Outbreak to the same level of respect enjoyed by the original and its sequel. Quite frankly, the answer to that question is no -- but that doesn't mean that the game doesn't have its merits. Unlike any of the Biohazards before it and due to the fact that it's designed for online play, Resident Evil Outbreak doesn't offer a formal storyline of any kind. Better described as a melange of different perspectives, the plot this time around is all about the T-Virus and how it spread through Raccoon City in the first place. Instead of affixing itself to the point of view of only one or two super-powered characters like Jill or Leon in games past, however, Resident Evil Outbreak unfolds through the eyes of the everyday citizen; or rather, eight different citizens from various walks of life.

The types of characters at your disposal are pretty broad in terms of their backgrounds too, with police officer and Tom Cruise look-alike Kevin Ryman joining fellow tough guy and security guard Mark Wilkins as the game's muscle. Doctor George Hamilton and waitress Cindy Lennox do their duties as the paternal caring sort, while plumber David King and journalist Alyssa Ashcroft chime in with their strong wills and fierce determination. Finally we come to the cowardly subway driver Jim Chapman and the overly intelligent university student Yoko Suzuki. Combined, that's quite an eclectic group of personalities.

Unfortunately it's Outbreak's distinct lack of plot that serves as one of its biggest overall detractors; because as an adventure game, it's the storyline and character development that should be one of its most important priorities. And while players do receive specialized introductions, endings, and interim cut scenes based on the characters they select, they'll rarely do anything more than pace the action. Real background information or compelling scenes of dialogue are about as rare as the Magnum rounds are in the original Resident Evil. Luckily a small handful of these cut scenes are pretty impressive and fun to watch, but the flow events is so slip-shod and devoid of direction that it can creates quite an air of disappointment. Though their storylines are a little on the thin side, the diverse selection of characters is probably Resident Evil Outbreak's most compelling new gameplay element. As not only is each and every one of them completely different in terms of appearance and background, they're overly dissimilar in play style as well. As a general rule each of these eight different heroes-in-training are provided with a unique personal item in addition to their own set of special actions to round out their abilities. Kevin Ryman, for instance, doesn't need to find a weapon in the beginning as he initiates his adventure with a .45 pistol right off the bat. Complimenting that attribute, he also has the ability to kick over oncoming enemies and take extended but powerful pot shots for extra damage.

Plumber David King, on the other hand, can utilize his toolbox for all sorts of helpful functions. Whether it's a folding knife to slice enemies into ribbons or duct tape to create a specialized arsenal, his skills definitely lend themselves well to the more creative players. Individual character abilities don't stop there either, as users of Jim Chapman can avoid zombie attacks by lying on the floor and playing dead while Yoko Suzuki has increased item storage and an extended back step that can be used to avoid danger. This variety in character selection is not only fun to exploit and experiment with, it's also extremely well-balanced -- with just about every known play style accounted for.

Another welcome element to the series is the analog control that Dreamcast users were enjoying years ago. With this new addition, maneuvering around enemies is a hell of a lot easier to perform with much quicker reactions and better navigation in tight spaces. Of course, the constantly changing camera perspectives may still pose a problem for detractors of the franchise's classic digital control (i.e.: pushing in a specific direction doesn't necessarily move you that way), but we've pretty much come to expect that kind of control scheme by now. We do have to say, though, that Capcom's decision to allow gamers to interact with backgrounds and other players was a wise one; as it really helps to supply the stages and environments with a little more life (oh the irony). In fact, interaction with characters is really what Resident Evil Outbreak is all about -- to help other people survive the forthcoming massacre. There are all manner of ways to interrelate with other players too; be it picking them up from the ground when they're injured or grabbing their arms as they dangle about from dangerous ledges. You can even trade and exchange items or weapons and give basic pre-recorded vocal commands with the right analog stick, and whether or not your fellow survivors are computer controlled or human it doesn't matter -- a good mix of skills and teamwork is still what it takes to make it.

But the interesting and compelling additions to Resident Evil Outbreak don't stop there. New status effects like the bleeding affliction will draw enemies to you as they pick up on your scent and follow your trail. Nail guns can either be used offensively as a projectile weapon or defensively as a tool by pinning boards to doorways in order to keep things from coming through. Furthermore, players will be able to crawl through airshafts, hide inside lockers and other secretive places, or even create barricades with the various objects around them. Long story short, there's a nice amount of variety and plenty to be said for the efforts made to improve on the series. Because of its decision to move away from a deeper storyline, Outbreak's main goal becomes that of collection. Be it secret costumes, bonus cut scenes, extra background music, or whatever else you can unlock, your primary objective in the game it to find as many hidden secrets as you can. To do so, players simply need to finish their chosen levels with quicker and better times, avoid using certain kinds of tactics, and lose as little help as possible. When finished, they're awarded a pool of currency-like points that they can then spend in the collection screen; resembling the system set up by Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance rather closely.

To help extend the life of this philosophy, Capcom was clever enough to make different demands on different characters by only allowing certain items to be available for specific characters in definite locations. The result is an incredibly massive and intensive undertaking that will no doubt take months to complete for even the most dedicated of gamers. Throw in the fact that you can only get a 100% completion rating if you participate online, and you can guarantee several dozen hours more spent searching for the hidden stuff. And let's face it: Online is where most players will likely spend the majority of their time anyway. But the problem is that it's this aspect of the game, the segment in which the whole premise of Resident Evil Outbreak is based in the first place, where the game design ultimately disappoints.

Unfortunately there isn't just one glaring problem that sticks out as the culprit behind this disappointment, there's actually several. The first and most obvious of which is the lack of scenarios to participate in: which are five in total. And while we'll readily admit that four out of those five are absolutely gigantic in size, running through the same locations over and over again can get repetitive fairly quickly (even if there are several alternate paths with enemy behavior and locations that change from game to game). It likely would have been a much better strategy to double the amount of scenarios to ten while cutting their size to half as big. Not only would have given more variety to your missions, but it would have sped the game a long as well. And that's yet another issue: the speed. Plagued with loading times both online and off, Resident Evil Outbreak boasts 12-17 second load times in almost every transition. What's worse is that these transitions happen with great frequency: sometimes within only a few seconds within each other. Meaning that segments involving a character entering a room, watching a 15-second cut scene, and exiting to the next room takes as long as one minute to experience. That's a poor trade-off for 20 seconds of activity. It's really pretty bothersome. Of course, you can use the newly-released HDD to help out with those load times (an approximate 40% improvement), but even still -- Capcom could have at least included the old walking up to a door animations that it used in the older PSOne titles.

Perhaps the biggest problem of them all, though, is the fact that this is one online experience that actually feels pretty lonely. Since the A.I. bots (which aren't exactly the smartest cats in the world) accompany you in single player, there's no real novelty to playing with other humans in the online arena. Granted those players will definitely make better decisions than their A.I. counterparts, but since they can go off and do their own thing without you ever knowing it, it doesn't really seem to matter. It wouldn't be so bad if there was a better way to communicate with your fellow humans when playing with one another. But with the only keyboard support taking place before the game begins and your conversation limited to unchangeable commands pre-programmed into the right analog stick, you'll likely be perplexed as to what is going on. And while we can definitely understand why developers would want to keep constant hints from experienced players hidden or talkative chatterboxes to a minimum level, there still should have been a more direct way to speak with one another to form more sophisticated game plans than just "follow me!"

That doesn't mean that Outbreak still can't be fun, though. On the harder difficulty settings in particular it can be quite a magnificent challenge with a collection of puzzles are really well done; especially in comparison to the earlier efforts from the PlayStation One days. The sad part is, it won't take players very long before they memorize every solution to every scenario in the book, which makes the need for some kind of downloadable content all the more important -- A feature that at the time of this writing will not officially be supported by Capcom or Sony Computer Entertainment. The Resident Evil games have always been strong visual powerhouses and Outbreak isn't any different. Though we did find the polygonal backgrounds a bit dated-looking compared to some of Capcom's other big name titles (namely Onimusha 3 and Resident Evil 4), the atmosphere is still impressive with a high level of detail and plenty of subtle references to earlier Biohazards. From J's Bar to Raccoon University, this game absolutely oozes that distinct Resident Evil personality and should instantly make returning fans feel right at home. Moreover, Outbreak's character models are just as respectable with a large number of polygons that are highlighted rather convincingly by an impressive lighting engine and some of the best CG cinematics in town. What Outbreak and the Resident Evil series really needs, though, is a more realistic set of animations. Still stiff and robotic looking when compared to most other action and adventure titles on the market, the silly-looking character movement can really take away from the spooky realism that the game otherwise conveys. Additionally, Outbreak does suffer from a couple of interesting graphical glitches (zombies will pop in and out of doors) and there's no collision detection by human characters when walking through portals or climbing ladders together (making for some very interesting clipping experiments that can create spontaneous three-headed people). On the whole, though, there are a lot more positives than there are negatives. With the original Resident Evil Capcom really set our expectations high for bad voice acting and continues that tradition effectively in Outbreak. Ridiculously funny in some areas and surprisingly effective in others, the game's vocals definitely show inconsistency. When compared to other games in their series, though, they're probably not that bad; but because the right analog dialogue commands illicit vocal representations from characters every time it used, the voices can get pretty repetitive rather fast. Throw in the fact that the A.I.-controlled NPCs constantly repeat the same few words over and over again and you could have yourself a headache in the making. Musically, though, Resident Evil Outbreak is terrific. The opening song alone is easily one of the single best melodies in the history of videogames and the supporting ambient music is similarly strong. Composer Akihiko Matsumoto (Space Travelers, Returner) has done a wonderful job of capturing the mood and feel of the RE franchise and should definitely be recognized for his work. Audio effects, on the other hand, are pretty much the same samples we've been hearing in the series for years and while they get the job done, offer little new in terms of variety. Resident Evil Outbreak is the classic example of a title that had worlds of potential only to fall short in the end. Though shifting its focus to that of a collection game may have been a great way to extend its overall shelf life, it still should have been supported by a stronger storyline, better A.I. for NPCs in the offline mode, additional scenarios to participate in, and more streamlined load times without the need for a hard drive. And if the game was going to support the hard drive, why not support it with downloadable goodies and missions in the future? Not to mention the fact that the need for better and additional communication options is a must. After all, in this modern technological climate where keyboards and voice chat unite gamers the world over in various platforms, this pseudo-sign language bit just doesn't seem to stack up.

Sadly these nitpicks may come across as much harsher than they actually are. As Resident Evil Outbreak is still a solid survival horror experience that should give returning fans of the series plenty of new elements to sink their teeth into. Hell, being able to transform into a zombie and terrorize your friends and neighbors in itself is enough incentive to give this one a try at the very least. And that doesn't even begin to count the expanded exploration options, unique character abilities, and genuinely cool monsters (some of which are exclusive to this new offshoot) that players will be able to enjoy on their way to escaping Raccoon City.

What we think it all comes down to is the fact that a network version of Resident Evil is so rife with possibilities (persistent online world anyone?) that it makes legitimate yet basic attempts like this sting us extra hard when it doesn't quite measure up. Sure Outbreak is a nice way to pass the time for Biohazard fans anticipating the release for Resident Evil 4 later this year, but for those of us who revere the series (this author being one of them), it isn't quite what it should have been. Here's to hoping that Capcom will make good use of that Hard drive rather soon.

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Swedish Air Force was created on July 1, 1926 when the aircraft units of the Army and Navy were merged. Because of the escalating international tension during the 1930s the Air Force was reorganized and expanded from four to seven squadrons. When World War II broke out in 1939 further expansion was initiated and this substantial expansion was not finished until the end of the war.

Although Sweden never entered the war, a large air force was considered necessary to ward off the threat of invasion and to resist pressure through military threats from the great powers. By 1945 the Swedish Air Force had over 800 combat-ready aircraft, including 15 fighter divisions.

After WWII, the remaining dozen J 19Bs were kept in service and soldiered on until 1948, when all remaining aircraft were scrapped. Additionally, Wright was also paid the overdue license fees for the originally unlicensed engines. The late-war J 19D served on for some time, though, together with the J 26 fighters, until 1950, when both were replaced by de Havilland Vampires and the Swedish Air Force underwent a rapid modernization into the jet age.

Saab J 19B General characteristics

Crew: One

Length: 9.06 m (29 ft 9 in)

Wingspan: 12.0 m (39 ft 4 in)

Height: 3.05 m (10 ft 0 in)

Wing area: 22.44 m² (241.5 ft²)

Empty weight: 1,680 kg (3,704 lb)

Loaded weight: 2,410 kg (5,313 lb)

Aspect ratio: 6.4

Powerplant:

1× Wright R-2600-6 Twin Cyclone radial engine, rated at 1.600 hp (1.194 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 590 km/h (366 mph) at 4.550 m (14.930 ft)

Cruise speed: 340 km/h (210 mph)

Landing speed: 140 km/h (90 mph)

Range: 1.337 km (830 mi; 721 nmi)

Service ceiling: 10.000 m (33.000 ft)

Rate of climb: 15.7 m/s (3,100 ft/min)

Armament:

4× 13.2 mm (0.53 in) M/39A (Browning M2) machine guns with 500 RPG in the outer wings

Underwing hardpoints for a total of 500 kg (1.100 lb)

The kit and its assembly

The Saab J 19 never saw the hardware stage, but it was a real life project that was actually killed through the outbreak of WWII and the lack of engines. Anyway, it was/is called the “Swedish Zero” because it resembled the Japanese fighter VERY much – wing shape, fuselage, even the cockpit glazing! Since I had an unused Hobby Boss Zero (a late model) in store, I decided to build a personal J 19 whif, just in case it would have entered service…

Much of the Zero was taken OOB – Hobby Boss kits are of simple construction, but they have thick/massive material which makes conversions rather difficult, so I changed anything that was easy to handle. This includes:

● A new R-2600 engine, from a Matchbox B-25 Mitchell bomber

● New horizontal stabilizers from a Matchbox Brewster Buffalo

● A new propeller with spinner

● Main landing gear was inverted, so that the wheel discs face inwards

● Wheels from a Brewster Buffalo

● New retractable tail wheel, from a P-51 Mustang

● A Matchbox pilot was added to the cockpit, as well as some details

Painting and markings

I did not want to use a typical olive green/light blue Swedish livery on this one, even though it would have been the most suitable option. Furthermore, I would not fall for the popular splinter scheme (Viggen style), which would by far not have been appropriate for the intended early WWII era. What to do…?

I did some legwork and found the Swedish B 3 bombers (Ju 86K), which were actually produced in Trollhättan under license in the late 30ies These wore various camouflage schemes, including German RLM colors, even the pre-WWII Luftwaffe splinter scheme in RLM 61, 62, 63 and 65. That made me curious, since I expected the colors to have a sharp contrast and make the Swedish and squadron markings stand out – but I did not go for the splinter look, I rather based my livery on a late B 3 scheme.

Painting was done with free hand and brushes, using Model Master enamels from the Authentic range, namely 2075 Dunkelbraun, 2076 Grün, 2077 Hellgrau and 2078 Hellblau as basic tones. These semi-gloss enamels are – in contrast to the other WWII RLM tones from the brand – easy to use and create a very fine finish.

Some weathering was done through dry-painting with lighter shades on the panels and leading edges, and a thin black ink wash was applied in order to emphasize the fine recessed panel lines of the Hobby Boss kit. Later some smoke and soot stains were added with dry-brushed matt black.

Only a few decals were applied: the Swedish roundels come from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet, the code numbers on nose and tail from a Swedish Fiat CR.42 Falco. The yellow color on the propeller boss was generally associated with a 3rd squadron, and the ‘3’ on the fuselage was lent from an Airfix Saab Draken. Plain and simple.

In the end, a simple whif, and it still looks a lot like a Zero – but so did the J 19! I am not truly happy with the RLM tone cammo, it almost looks like a winter scheme? But after taking pics with a forest background, both scheme and colors seem very appropriate for that environment, blending shapes. And it looks far more interesting than a pure olive green aircraft, doesn’t it?

As a side note: if you ever consider building a Star Trek Klingon ‘Bird of Prey’, consider RLM 62 as you basic color of choice!

+++ DISCLAIMER +++Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

Some background:

The Gudkov Gu-1 was a Soviet fighter aircraft produced shortly after World War II in small numbers at the start of the jet age, but work on the Gudkov Gu-1 already started in 1944. Towards the end of World War II the Soviet Union saw the need for a strategic bombing capability similar to that of the United States Army Air Forces. The Soviet VVS air arm had the locally designed Petlyakov Pe-8 four-engined heavy bomber in service at the start of the war, but only 93 had been built by the end of the war and the type had become obsolete. By that time the U.S. regularly conducted bombing raids on Japan from distant Pacific forward bases using B-29 Superfortresses, and the Soviet Air Force lacked this capability.

There even was a highly modified mixed powerplant version on the drawing boards in 1952, the Gu-1M. Its standard radial powerplant for cruise flight was enhanced with a new, non-afterburning Mikulin AM-5 axial flow jet engine with 2.270 kgf/5,000 lbf/23 kN additional thrust in the rear fuselage. With this temporary booster, a top speed of up to 850 km/h was expected. But to no avail - the pure jet fighter promised a far better performance and effectiveness, and the Gu-1 remained the only aircraft to exclusively carry the Gudkov name.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1

Length: 12 m (39 ft 4 in)

Wingspan: 14 m (45 ft 11 in)

Height: 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in)

Wing area: 28 m² (301.388 ft²)

Airfoil:

Empty weight: 4,637 kg (10,337 lb)

Loaded weight: 6.450 kg (14.220 lb)

Maximum take-off weight: 7,938 kg (17,500 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Shvetsov ASh-82TKF 18-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, rated at 2,720 hp (2,030 kW)

1x RD-20 axial-flow turbojet with 7.8 kN (1,754 lbf) thrust as temporary booster

Performance

Maximum speed: 676 km/h (420 mph) at 29,000 ft (8,839 m) with the radial only,

800 km/h (497 mph/432 kn,) with additional jet booster

Cruise speed: 440 km/h (237 kn, 273 mph)

Combat radius: 820 nmi (945 mi, 1,520 km)

Maximum range: 3.000 km (1.860 mi, 1.612 nmi) with drop tanks

Service ceiling: 14,680 m (48,170 ft)

Wing loading: 230.4 kg/m² (47.2 lb/ft²)

Power/mass: 0.28 kW/kg (0.17 hp/lb)

Climb to 5,000 m (16,400 ft): 5 min 9 sec;

Climb to 10,000 m (32,800 ft): 17 min 38 sec;

Climb to 13,000 m (42,640 ft): 21 min 03 sec

Armament

4× 23 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 cannons with 100 RPG in the outer wings

Five hardpoints for an external ordnance of 1.500 kg (3.300 lb)

The kit and its assembly:

This whif is the incarnation of a very effective kitbashing combo that already spawned my fictional Japanese Ki-104 fighter, and it is another submission to the 2018 “Cold War” group build at whatifmodelers.com. This purely fictional Soviet escort fighter makes use of my experiences from the first build of this kind, yet with some differences.

The kit is a bashing of various parts and pieces:

· Fuselage, wing roots, landing gear and propeller from an Academy P-47D

· Wings from an Ark Model Supermarine Attacker (ex Novo)

· Tail fin comes from a Heller F-84G

· The stabilizers were taken from an Airfix Ki-46

· Cowling from a Matchbox F6F, mounted and blended onto the P-47 front

· Jet exhaust is the intake of a Matchbox Me 262 engine pod

My choice fell onto the Academy Thunderbolt because it has engraved panel lines, offers the bubble canopy as well as good fit, detail and solid material. The belly duct had simply been sliced off, and the opening later faired over with styrene sheet and putty, so that the P-47’s deep belly would not disappear.

The F6F cowling was chosen because it looks a lot like the ASh-73TK from the Tu-4. But this came at a price: the P-47 cowling is higher, tighter and has a totally different shape. It took serious body sculpting with putty to blend the parts into each other. Inside of the engine, a styrene tube was added for a metal axis that holds the uncuffed OOB P-47 four blade propeller. The P-47’s OOB cockpit tub was retained, too, just the seat received scratched armrests for a more luxurious look.

The Attacker wings were chosen because of their "modern" laminar profile. The Novo kit itself is horrible and primitive, but acceptable for donations. OOB, the Attacker wings had too little span for the big P-47, so I decided to mount the Thunderbolt's OOB wings and cut them at a suitable point: maybe 0.5", just outside of the large main wheel wells. The intersection with the Attacker wings is almost perfect in depth and width, relatively little putty work was necessary in order to blend the parts into each other. I just had to cut out new landing gear wells from the lower halves of the Attacker wings, and with new attachment points the P-47’s complete OOB landing gear could be used.

With the new wing shape, the tail surfaces had to be changed accordingly. The trapezoid stabilizers come from an Airfix Mitsubishi Ki-46, and their shape is a good match. The P-47 fin had to go, since I wanted something bigger and a different silhouette. The fuselage below was modified with a jet exhaust, too. I actually found a leftover F-84G (Heller) tail, complete with the jet pipe and the benefit that it has plausible attachment points for the stabilizers far above the jet engine in the Gu-1’s tail.

However, the F-84 jet pipe’s diameter turned out to be too large, so I went for a smaller but practical alternative, a Junkers Jumo 004 nacelle from a Me 262 (the ancestor of the Soviet RD-20!). Its intake section was cut off, flipped upside down, the fin was glued on top of it and then the new tail was glued to the P-47 fuselage. Some (more serious) body sculpting was necessary to create a more or less harmonious transition between the parts, but it worked.

The plausible placement of the air intakes and their shape was a bit of a challenge. I wanted them to be obvious, but still keep an aerodynamic look. An initial idea had been to keep the P-47’s deep belly and widen the central oil cooler intake under the nose, but I found the idea wacky and a bit pointless, since such a long air duct would not make much sense since it would waste internal space and the long duct’s additional weight would not offer any benefit?

Another idea were air intakes in the wing roots, but these were also turned down since the landing gear wells would be in the way, and placing the ducts above or below the wings would also make no sense. A single ventral scoop (looking like a P-51 radiator bath) or two smaller, dorsal intakes (XP-81 style) behind the cockpit were other serious candidates – but these were both rejected because I wanted to keep a clean side profile.

I eventually settled for very simple, fixed side intakes, level with the jet exhaust, somewhat inspired by the Lavochkin La-200B heavy fighter prototype. The air scoops are simply parts from an Italeri Saab 39 Gripen centerline drop tank (which has a flat, oval diameter), and their shape is IMHO a perfect match.

Painting and markings:

While the model itself is a wild mix of parts with lots of improvisation involved, I wanted to keep the livery rather simple. The most plausible choice would have been an NMF finish, but I rather wanted some paint – so I used Soviet La-9 and -11 as a benchmark and settled for a simple two-tone livery: uniform light grey upper and light blue lower surfaces.

I used RAF Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165) and Soviet Underside Blue (Humbrol 114) as basic tones, and, after a black ink wash, these were lightened up through dry-brushed post-shading. The yellow spinner and fin tip are based on typical (subtle) squadron markings of the late 40ies era.

The cockpit as well the engine and landing gear interior became blue-grey (Revell 57), similar to the typical La-9/11’s colors. The green wheel discs and the deep blue propeller blades are not 100% in the aircraft's time frame, but I added these details in order to enhance the Soviet touch and some color accents.

Tactical markings were kept simple, too. The "38" and the Red Stars come form a Mastercraft MiG-15, the Guards badge from a Begemoth MiG-25 sheet and most of the stencils were taken from a Yak-38 sheet, also from Begemoth.

Finally, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and it received some mild soot stains and chipped paint around the cockpit and on the leading edges. Some oil stains were added around the engine (with Tamiya Smoke), too.

A massive aircraft, and this new use of the P-47/Attacker combo results again in a plausible solution. The added jet engine might appear a bit exotic, but the mixed powerplant concept was en vogue after WWII, but only a few aircraft made it beyond the prototype stage.

While painting the model I also wondered if an all dark blue livery and some USN markings could also have made this creation the Grumman JetCat? With the tall fin, the Gu-1 could also be an F8F Bearcat on steroids? Hmmm...

In this page we are going to discuss about Inequality Solver concept . Math problems contain ,= are called inequalities. Systems of inequalities are a set of two or more inequalities with the same variables. An inequality says that two values are not equal. a ? b says that a is not equal to b for example,

Numero 86 "Spider Woman" by Solve Sunbsbo

scanned by Pichichi

How to convey all the "excitement" of working in IT? The, um, thrill of working 'till midnight to fix some tedious problem? I have no real idea, but this is as close as I get.

First entry for the "Solving Poverty" Button Design Contest from PSDTUTS.com

-Photo of blank book taken by me

-Text from Wikipedia under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

Solving Poverty is the theme for the Blog Action Day 2008 (15.10.2008)

Hans Vargas

High quality JPG image for CAFEPRESS:

flickr.com/photos/hansvargas/2907434304/

There is also a T-shirt from this design:

www.flickr.com/photos/hansvargas/2876343421/

Another mystey to solve. This radio was made by the Coney Onkyo Company of Japan. They appear to be a different company than Osaka Denki Onkyo.

This particular radio is more commonly found under the Conion name (with the same model number)

On the bottom left of the speaker grille is a large cloisonne/enamel badge featuring the name “Elite” as well as TR 8. On the Conion branded versions “Elite” is replaced with “Conion”. So, who or what was Elite? This radio originates here in Canada so I need to figure out this connection.

Beyond the company/origin issues this is a rather hefty and well built coatpocket sized radio. Not overly adorned with flash and style but still commands attention thanks to the gold speaker grille with matching gold diamond on the right as well as the smaller gold diamond used as the tuning indicator. The slide rule dial featuring the TRANSISTOR 8 is bold, taking up almost as much room as the station numbers.

This is one of the few transistor radios I’ve ever encountered where the cabinet seems to be made of bakelite. Yes, bakelite. I’m not 100% certain but when I was cleaning the case with warm water and Novus plastic polish I distinctly recognized the “phenol and formaldahyde” aroma that is produced when applying heat and pressure to bakelite. Also, looking closely at a crack on the back of the cabinet I noticed that the outside is smooth and shiny while the inside is much more "powdery" and coarse.

The radio works well on the AM band but I haven’t given the SW band a good test yet.

Although there are no CD civil defense marks on the AM dial, I still believe this radio dates before 1963. Not all Japanese radios made between 1957 - 63 included the CD marks.....most did but there were exceptions.

I had the pleasure of working closely with Brendan for the last 7 months, and though on paper I was his manager I thought of him as a friend. Needless to say...I miss him greatly. Having to complete projects that we started together without him has proven to be one of the most difficult hurdles I have faced to date in my career. This evening I completed one of the last projects that he worked on; it left the office in a FedEx box complete with a SOLVE sticker slapped on the back... like a cherry on a sunday.

Remembering back to when we first met... We were in the process of adding another creative to the team but were coming up short in the form of decent candidates. I bet I looked at over a hundred portfolios before I came across Brendan's... I knew immediately that we had found what we were looking for and interviewed him the following day. We hired Brendan several days later.

Brendan had an amazing zest for life and love for the craft, he truly embodied what it means to be creative and was a daily source of inspiration for us all.

Work like Hell: There are those that talk about working and there are those that work. Brendan worked like hell.

...On the lighter side ...he was absolutely hysterical, his laugh was contagious and like non-other, it could be heard throughout the office.

There was never a dull moment when Brendan was involved. (Good times were had by all)

News of his untimely departure hit the chicago office like a freight train, there wasn't a dry eye from the top down. The impact he made in just seven short months is unprecedented and his legacy will be a permanent fixture of our identity going forward. Simply stated, the kid was a rock-star.

I think one of the reasons I took to Brendan so quickly was a shared appreciation for multiple layers ... the less obvious meaning or reference purposely inserted to be found by those who have the ability to see from multiple perspectives.

Strangely enough it was not until this week that I realized SOLVE was in-fact a clever riddle; as if his work wasn't taunting enough, he shined you on and signed each piece "guess who"... Brilliant.

... Ironically; in the end it would not be his identity that the world would seek, but why he had to leave so early.

create two problems

Inyo County, CA, 2022

Solving inequalities In mathematics, the quantities which are not equal are represented by inequalities using symbols such as >, <, ? and ?. We have certain rules for solving the inequalities. By studying all the rules, we can do our problems easily. Every symbol has a meaning and obeys the rules of inequalities.

I do plan to finish the pair, but for now one works just fine!

Through the Loops Mystery Sock 2010

Kitchen Sink Dyeworks Luxe Merino Fine (superwash merino/cashmere/nylon), in "Dram"

size 0 needles

1 sock done, the other sock has about half the leg done

Another awesome TTL design!

Problem solving with RCECC - Red clowns enter caves carefully - Read Choose Estimate Calculate Check

A helmeted Ku Klux Klan guard fires a salute in front of a burning cross at a Klan rally November 6, 1965 near Rising Sun, Md., as part of a ritual honoring deceased Klan leaders.

The rally drew over 3,000 people of all ages to the field owned by George B. Boyle about a mile and a half outside of town where tribute was paid to two fallen Klan members—Dan Burros and Matt Murphy. It was purportedly the largest Klan rally in Maryland in 40 years.

The rally also brought a few pickets and hecklers that were run off by Klan security before the rally began. A prayer vigil was held at two nearby churches decrying the Klan’s hate..

Burros was a New York Klan leader who took his own life after the New York Times published an exposure of Klan activities in the state that revealed Burros was Jewish. Murphy was an Alabama Klan attorney who died in an automobile accident.

Klan and other ultra-right groups largely hailed Burros as a hero. A statement by the National Renaissance party said in part:

“The late Daniel Burros is a martyr of the radical right! A true son of the white race, this lad descended from the blue-eyed, blond-haired stock that made the White Man supreme on the face of the early. Daniel Burros, racially, was not of mongrel half-Mongolian Khazar stock, but pure White Russian.

Robert Shelton, Imperial Wizard of the United Klans of America, issued a statement charging that Burros’ death was the result of “irresponsible snooping and prying of a sensation-seeking reporter.”

Shelton continued, “…it is regrettable that a brilliant young man—Dan Burros—whose love for his country and principles established and proclaimed by the Founding Fathers transcended all else…has been hounded into taking his own life.”

An account of the rally by Mae Rankin that resonates today appeared in the Afro American newspaper:

“I am really not the adventurous type, but I have a certain amount of intellectual curiosity about people and what makes them tick.

“This curiosity gave me the courage to ‘step where angels fear to tread’ and visit a certain peaceful cow pasture in Rising Sun, Md., on the evening of Nov. 6.

"Rising Sun is a small town, not far from the Pennsylvania line. On the streets pleasant people greet one another in a cordial manner as they shop in the few, scattered stores.

"When we stopped at the gasoline station to check the exact location of our ultimate destination, the attendant gave us directions in a friendly way.

"The sky was overcast that night. It was chilly. There was an unknown something that made me feel tight and cold. It was fear, real fear.

"I shivered in spite of the friendly faces and jokes from the platform. This was a large crowd, almost two thousand people, listening receptively to the speakers.

"As I looked around and observed the crowd—teenagers, young parents with small children, middle-aged men and women—I found it difficult to believe that this was a Klan rally.

"But there it was, right in front of me—the large cross with the petroleum soaked canvass wound around it. And there they were—the Klansmen and Klanswomen in their unmistakable robes, which they wore with pride.

"They mixed with the crowd, distributing their official publication, The Fiery Cross.’ Published by the United Klans of America, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

"The speakers, visiting Klan leaders from nearby states, were presented on a wooden platform, decorated with two black wreaths.

"Underneath one was the name, Dan Burros, and under the other, Matt Murphy.

"The flags were also conspicuous—American and Confederate.

"Ralph E. Pryor Jr., Grand Dragon of the Delaware Klan; Roy Frankhowser, Pennsylvania Grand Dragon, and Frank Rotella, King Kleagle of the New Jersey Klan, were the principal speakers.

"Vernon Naimaster of Essex, acting Grand Dragon of Maryland, said, “I’m the bus driver they were talking about.” He was referring to news releases which had stated that he was an employee of the Baltimore Transit Company.

"Naimaster did not wear the Klan garb, but he was dressed in his Sunday best and seemed proud to be on this platform.

"Pryor presented the various speakers. He is a former policeman, in his thirties, who said that he had worked with the Vice Squad in Wilmington.

"He spoke with an air of authority when he quoted the alleged ‘startling statistics—regarding the number of white women raped by colored men there. There was no question in his mind as to how this critical situation should be handled.

“’The only answer is to organize a strong Klan,’ he thundered.

“’That’s right, that’s right,’ the crowd echoed.

The visiting Klan leaders were unanimous in their hatred of President Johnson. They were furious because they were being ‘unjustly’ investigated by Washington.

Said one speaker angrily, ‘See this ring on my finger?’ He held up his hand dramatically and paused…

“’In Washington they want to know who gave it to me. Well I won’t tell them, It’s none of their business. I’ll tell you. It was my mother,’ he screamed. The audience was silently sympathetic.

"I looked at the audience. Teenagers were everywhere; groups of young men with hard, tight faces. Yes this was definitely their cup of tea. Hate, hate. You get points for that.

"One speaker suggested that the only way to solve the ‘N__ah problem,’ was to send all the ‘N__ahs’ back to Africa…in a leaky boat.

"According to another authoritative Klansman, all Jews were Communists.

"Arthur Spingarn, former head of the NAACP, was feeding money from the Jews to the colored people in order to weaken America from within so that the ‘commies’ could take over. Marvin Rich of CORE, was also mentioned in this context.

"The Klan leader from New York had a very special and confidential message for the audience. He had worked for the Welfare Department during the day, but the Klan had his unquestioned loyalty at night. He had been dismissed from his job, he said, and was suing for his loss of income.

"He sounded most convincing when he told the audience about the colored people who would drive up to the Welfare Department in their Cadillac to collect their welfare checks.

"There was only one difference of opinion. One speaker stated that Daniel Burros, the New York Klansman who shot himself, was framed! Another leader stated that ‘Dan Burros was not a Jew. But for some unknown reason his parents were married in a synagogue.

“’He [Burros] wanted to protect the Klan, so he shot himself, twice. That took courage. He was a white martyr, for the white race.’

"At this point, the audience was reminded that part of the rally was to be a memorial to the Klan members who had died this year.

“’’Get away from the cross, we don’t want anyone to get burned.’ ‘Now, if it was a N____, that would be alright someone shouted.”

“’Amen, amen,’ echoed the audience.

"By now all eyes were focused on the giant cross.

"To most Christians this is a symbol of the brotherhood of man; to this audience it was a symbol of hatred and terror.

"I shuddered, sick inside. The sky was still overcast. Now came the slow, dull sound of taps. I could barely see the long-barreled rifle which startled me as it was fired upward into the darkness.

"Suddenly, the cross was in flames….

"The men who applauded, Amen, Amen, looked lie men you would meet in Anytown, USA. They wore casual flannel shirts, work pants, some wore work caps.

"The women mostly working men’s wives, were dressed informally. They all listened intently. They applauded loud and long when ‘white womanhood’ and the ‘purity of our white race’ was reaffirmed from the platform.

"The speakers were almost religious in their intensity. As they repeated one after the other that race-mixing was evil; this was mongrelization of the pure American race; that the Klan had the only answer—there echoed again loud and fervent, ‘Amen, Amen.’”

For another personal experience, one confronting the Klan, see washingtonareaspark.com/2013/01/02/standing-against-the-m...

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHsjDhRPzT

The photographer is unknown. The image is an Associated Press photograph housed in the D.C. Library Washington Star Collection.

Just got back from Cuba, and on Flickr. I've been a little low on inspiration lately getting tired of taking photos of the same things. Nothing solves that like a trip though. This was my second trip to Cuba and this time I was more prepared to take photos. I hope you enjoy them.

Angels

Pop / Spring & Summer 06

Photographer: Solve Sundsbo

Creative Director: Guido

Fashion Editor: Karl Templer

Hair Guido

Makeup Kabuki

Models: Josh Walter, Tom Gillard, Lisa Cant, Jessica Stam, Vlada Roslakova, Heather Marks, Caroline Trentini

Retouching: Dan Moloney at Digital Light

Taken with a Takahashi FSQ refractor and FLI Proline 11K camera.

Process to assist with solving exam type problems in physics

Guys, i really need your help!

I always try to capture the stunning atmosphere of this sparkling wood, but the leaves on the ground are reflecting too much.

So, the pictures always have to much white fields with no contrast and i do not know how to avoid this. I tried even HDR, but it also doesn't work, the leaves are reflecting too much.

So, how to solve this problem, because i do not like that the pictures looks that wash-out and unclear. (in the big resolution it looks really worse!)

Maybe the sun is already to high, but early in the morning the sun is hidden behind the hill.

Suggestions are most welcome! But of course any other comments too!

Canon 5d mark ii

50mm / f1,4

1/ 25

f22

ISO 100

*Thanks everybody for your help - some fantastic tipps and hints!*

Solve Evernote searches by developing your own query langage using its tags

See: Make Your Own Query Language with Evernote Tags

Shot with a Sony NEX-5 and Mamiya 55mm f/1.4 @ f/3.5, ISO400. Guiding with the Orion SSAG and 50mm mini guidescope mounted on 8" SCT on a CG-5GT.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Math solver To solve Math problems quickly and accurately you need an understanding of various math concepts and solving math problems is not an easy task. TutorVista has a team of expert online Math tutors to help you understand Math problems online and find out how to get solutions for them. Our tutors work with you in learning basic to advanced topics. So we assure you complete learning to solve math problems online.One of the biggest problems in math that students encounter is solving word problems. Word Problems occur in every topic and every grade. Be it fractions, algebra, geometry or calculus, there are always word problems. Get math problem solver online now. Try our free math problems online help demo and interact with our expert math tutors. Students can check out the algebra word problems page.

The first month of the lunar calendar is called the yuan month, and in olden times night was called xiao in Mandarin. Therefore, the day is called Yuan Xiao （元宵） Festival in China. The fifteenth day is the first full moon of that lunar year. According to East Asian tradition[citation needed], at the beginning of a new year, when there is a bright full moon in the sky, there should be thousands of colorful lanterns hung out for people to appreciate. At this time, people will try to solve puzzles on lanterns, eat glutinous rice balls named after the festival, yuanxiao (also known as tangyuan (simplified Chinese: 汤圆; traditional Chinese: 湯圓; pinyin: tāngyuán) and enjoy a family reunion.

Origin legends

There are many different beliefs about the origin of the Lantern Festival. However, it is likely to have had something to do with celebrating and cultivating positive relationships between people, families, nature and the higher beings that were believed to be responsible for bringing or returning the light each year.

Red lanterns, often seen during the festivities in China

One legend tells us that it was a time to worship Taiyi, the God of Heaven in ancient times. The belief was that the God of Heaven controlled the destiny of the human world. He had sixteen dragons at his beck and call and he decided when to inflict drought, storms, famine or pestilence upon human beings. Beginning with Qinshihuang, the first emperor of China, who named China, all the emperors ordered splendid ceremonies each year. The emperor would ask Taiyi to bring favorable weather and good health to him and his people.

Wudi of the Han Dynasty directed special attention to this event. In 104 BCE, he proclaimed it to be one of the most important celebrations and the ceremony would last throughout the night.

Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with Taoism. Tianguan is the Taoist god responsible for good fortune. His birthday falls on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. It is said that Tianguan likes all types of entertainment, so followers prepare various kinds of activities during which they pray for good fortune.

Another legend associates the Lantern Festival with an ancient warrior name Lan Moon, who led a rebellion against the tyrannical king in ancient China. He was killed in the storming of the city and the successful rebels commemorated the festival in his name.

Yet another common legend dealing with the origins of the Lantern Festival speaks of a beautiful crane that flew down to earth from heaven. After it landed on earth it was hunted and killed by some villagers. This angered the Jade Emperor in heaven because the crane was his favorite. So, he planned a storm of fire to destroy the village on the fifteenth lunar day. The Jade Emperor's daughter warned the inhabitants of her father’s plan to destroy their village. The village was in turmoil because nobody knew how they could escape their imminent destruction. However, a wise man from another village suggested that every family should hang red lanterns around their houses, set up bonfires on the streets, and explode firecrackers on the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth lunar days. This would give the village the appearance of being on fire to the Jade Emperor. On the fifteenth lunar day, troops sent down from heaven whose mission was to destroy the village saw that the village was already ablaze, and returned to heaven to report to the Jade Emperor. Satisfied, the Jade Emperor decided not to burn down the village. From that day on, people celebrate the anniversary on the fifteenth lunar day every year by carrying lanterns on the streets and exploding firecrackers and fireworks.

Another legend about the origins of Lantern Festival involves a maid named Yuan-Xiao. In the Han Dynasty, Mr. Eastern was a favorite adviser of the emperor. One winter day, he went to the garden and heard a little girl crying and getting ready to jump into a well to commit suicide. Mr. Eastern stopped her and asked why. She said she was Yuan-Xiao, a maid in the emperor's palace and that she never had a chance to see her family since she started working there. If she could not have the chance to show her filial piety in this life, she would rather die. Mr. Eastern promised to find a way to reunite her with her family. Mr. Eastern left the palace and set up a fortune-telling stall on the street. Due to his reputation, many people asked for their fortunes to be told but everyone got the same prediction - a calamitous fire on the fifteenth lunar day. The rumor spread quickly.

Everyone was worried about the future and asked Mr. Eastern for help. Mr. Eastern said that on the thirteenth lunar day, the God of Fire would send a fairy in red riding a black horse to burn down the city. When people saw the fairy they should ask for her mercy. On that day, Yuan-Xiao pretended to be the red fairy. When people asked for her help, she said that she had a copy of a decree from the God of Fire that should be taken to the emperor. After she left, people went to the palace to show the emperor the decree which stated that the capital city would burn down on the fifteenth. The emperor asked Mr. Eastern for advice. Mr. Eastern said that the God of Fire liked to eat tangyuan (sweet dumplings). Yuan-Xiao should cook tangyuan on the fifteenth lunar day and the emperor should order every house to prepare tangyuan to worship the God of Fire at the same time. Also, every house in the city should hang red lantern and explode fire crackers. Lastly, everyone in the palace and people outside the city should carry their lanterns on the street to watch the lantern decorations and fireworks. The Jade Emperor would be deceived and everyone would avoid the disastrous fire.

The emperor happily followed the plan. Lanterns were everywhere in the capital city on the night of the fifteenth lunar day. People were walking on the street. Fire crackers kept making lots of noise. It looked like the entire city was on fire. Yuan-Xiao's parents went into the palace to watch the lantern decorations and were reunited with their daughter. The emperor decreed that people should do the same thing every year. Since Yuan-Xiao cooked the best tangyuan, people called the day Yuan-Xiao Festival.