Bletchley Park Visit – 11th April 2015.

Colossus was the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer. The Colossus computers were developed for British codebreakers during World War II to help in the cryptanalysis of the Lorenz cipher. Without them, the Allies would have been deprived of the very valuable military intelligence that was obtained from reading the vast quantity of encrypted high-level telegraphic messages between the German High Command (OKW) and their army commands throughout occupied Europe. Colossus used thermionic valves (vacuum tubes and thyratrons) to perform Boolean operations and calculations.

Colossus was designed by the engineer Tommy Flowers to solve a problem posed by mathematician Max Newman at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park. Alan Turing's use of probability in cryptanalysis[1] contributed to its design. It has sometimes been erroneously stated that Turing designed Colossus to aid the Cryptanalysis of the Enigma. Turing's machine that helped decode Enigma was the electromechanical Bombe, not Colossus.

Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire England, was Britain’s Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), which during the Second World War regularly penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers – most importantly, that of the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers.

Alan Turing was one of the famous analysts at Bletchley, and he famously designed the Bombe to help break the German codes, and was portrayed within the film ‘Imitation Game’ by Benedict Cumberbatch.

"If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious shit."

Present standpoint

Future privilege

Dream calculation

Situated in the heart of the Mediterranean area and former capital of the Hammadite kingdom, the city of Béjaïa (Bougie, Bugia, Bgayet, Buzzea) - which gave its name to the small candles and from which Arabic numerals were to become popular in Europe - was, in medieval times, one of the most dynamic cultural and scientific centres in the Maghreb. It was the focal point of the intellectual elite (Muslim, Christian and Jewish) who came to study, debate ideas, research and make astronomical observations (1). After the destruction of the city by the Spaniards at the beginning of the 16th century, the province took over responsibility for astronomy. This is the epic story of the Zaouïa or Kabylian institutes.Treaties are drawn up which enable local scholars to transmit knowledge. The level of knowledge of these nineteenth-century scholars and their practices can be understood by analysing the contents of the scholarly library of manuscripts of Sheikh Lmuhub, exhumed in 1994. The ancient practices lasted until the early 20th century, when the first contemporary astronomers were trained. The prediction of the appearance of the lunar crescents, the orientation (direction of Mecca), as well as the determination of the moments of prayer have always been the major preoccupation of the Muslims. The times of prayers, for example, are directly related to the height of the sun, and vary according to the latitude of the place and the declination of the sun.Astronomy was therefore necessary, and many portable observation instruments (astrolabes, sundials) were manufactured and developed. In the 13th century, a distinct discipline, Ilm al-Miqat (the science of determined moments), was even born, dealing only with religious prescriptions related to astronomy. Work on astronomy in the countries of Islam began in the ninth century in the East (Syria, Iraq), with the translation of the Almagest of Ptolemy, famous astronomer of Alexandria in the second century. As early as the 10th century, this work was known in the Maghreb, especially in Kairouan. In this important city of Ifriqiya (editor's note: Tunisia), founded in 670, have lived a large number of scientists.The famous astronomer and astrologer Ibn Abi Ridjal (m. 1040), known in Europe as Albohazen (or Aben Rajel) . He is said to have witnessed astronomical observations made in Baghdad in 989. His main work, Kitab al-Bari fi Ahkam al-Nudjum (The Ingenious in Forensic Astrology), was translated into Spanish for King Alfonso X (around 1254), and from there into Latin , Hebrew, Portuguese, French and English. This remarkable work has played an important role in the diffusion of Muslim astronomy and astrology in Europe. Following the Hilalian attack and the ruin of Kairouan in 1057, the learned elite of this city, and Ifriqiya in general, settled in Mahdia (Tunisia), the new capital of the Zirid kingdom, and in Qal' a of the Blessed Hammad (near M' sila, Algeria). Mahdia was the work of the great astronomer Abu l' Salt Umayya, who wrote a treatise on astronomy and a Risala fi`Ilm al-Asturlab (Treaty on the Use of the Astrolabe) in the early twelfth century. However, in 1067, following the continuing threat of the Hilalians, Prince al-Nasir transferred the capital of the Berber kingdom of the Hammadites of Qal`a to Bejaia.This city thus benefited from the exodus of the learned Qal' a elite, including many mathematicians. It was endowed with beautiful monuments and also recovered works of art from the Qal' a. It then became a flourishing city. Later, the Christian Reconquista, which would put an end to the Andalusian Muslim civilization, would encourage the immigration of many Andalusian scholars to Béjaïa, including many astronomers and mathematicians from different cities, including Murcia, Seville, Valencia and Jativa. In addition to the factors already mentioned at the origin of the arrival of the learned elite in Bougie, this city, with its very active port, had the particularity of being a point of obligatory passage on the Western-East road, notably for the accomplishment of the pilgrimage of Mecca or to pursue studies.Moreover, the tolerance and dynamism of the princes of Bougie, as well as the quality of the official relations established with the Mediterranean Christian republics (Genoa, Pisa, Marseille, Venice, Catalonia, Majorca) which led to the signing of numerous treaties (peace treaties, trade treaties, treaties on the property of shipwrecked persons, etc.), will play a major role in the process of transmitting Muslim knowledge, but this is not the only one that will play a major role in the process of transmitting Muslim knowledge. It was in Bougie, for example, that the son of an Italian merchant, Leonardo Fibonacci (1170-1240), considered the first great mathematician of the Christian West, received an "admirable" teaching (mirabili magisterio), according to his own testimony, in calculus science and algebra. He is introduced to the numbering system, calculation methods and commercial techniques of the countries of Islam. He learns to calculate latitudes and longitude. Back in Pisa, he is the one who will make the work of Muslims known and stimulate the revival of mathematical studies in Europe.Bougie was famous for the level of his school. Many famous astronomers lived and worked there in medieval times. The debates were intense. An example of controversy is the classification of astronomy by two scientists from Bougie: astronomy is not integrated into the same discipline; for Ibn Sab`in astronomy is part of physics, while for Ibn Khaldun it belongs to mathematics. Some knowledge and concepts of astronomy, deeply rooted in the minds of the time and conveyed on a daily basis, give us an idea of the high level of education. For example, as early as the 12th century, many scholars of Candlelight were convinced of the sphericity of the Earth and the enormity of the Sun (Ibn Sab' in, Ibn Khaldun, Ibn Sa' id, al-Gubrini and others).In addition, astronomical instruments have reached the high level of complexity and sophistication that any specialization requires. In Bougie, numerous specialists, such as al-Burji (1310-1384), ensure the development of these instruments. According to the testimony of Al-Idrisi (1100-1166), famous geographer of the Norman king Roger II of Sicily, there was in Bougie a whole industry of "strange and exceptional apparatuses".Among the major achievements that have marked the city are the astronomical observations of Abu l' Hassan Ali and the establishment of astronomical tables by Ibn Raqqam. The Moroccan astronomer Abu l' Hassan Ali, a native of Marrakech and a great traveller,"added to the knowledge he had acquired that of the most learned men in the only countries where science was then successfully cultivated". He says:"We have written in red ink the names of the cities in which we have been, and whose latitude we have observed ourselves. "".From his own testimony, we know that Abu l' Hassan (death in 1262) was involved in astronomical observations at Bougie. He observed the height of the pole and determined the longitude and latitude of the city (36° 5'). He did the same work, with much greater precision than the elders, for 40 other cities in Andalusia and northern Africa. He recorded his observations in a masterly work Jamiou al-Mabadi wa l' Gayiat fi`Ilm al-Miqat (Collection of Beginnings and Endings). This treatise is divided into four parts: the science of calculus, the use of devices, and studies to acquire knowledge and creative power. The work was partially translated by J. in the 19th century. J. Sedillot, a French orientalist and astronomer, who states that "this treaty is the most comprehensive one written on this subject by any astronomer of the Muslim nation". L. A. Sédillot completed his father's work by publishing, in 1841, the Mémoire sur les instruments astronomiques des Arabes.In 1266, astronomer Ibn Raqqam (death in 1315) left his native Andalusia to go to Béjaïa and learn astronomy. Around 1280, he composed his famous work al-Zij al-Shamil fi Tahdib al-Kamil according to the tradition of the school initiated by the famous Andalusian astronomer Arzachel (death in 1100). This book is divided into three parts: the first part is an abstract of the treaty Al-Zij al-Kamil fi at-Ta`anim of Ibn al-Haim (composed around 1205-1206). The second part is a production by Ibn Raqqam himself. The third part is devoted to astronomical tables (Zij) that predict various celestial events (eclipses, planetary passages...). It would be interesting to check whether these tables are really suitable for Bejaia's latitude. A copy of Al-Zij al-Shamil is listed under number 249 in the al-Kindili Museum (Istanbul).Many scholars who lived in Bougie were geographically versed. This is the case of Ibn Sa' id al-Magribi (1214-1286) who wrote a geography based on the treatises of Ptolemy, al-Idrisi, Ibn Fatima and al-Khawarizmi. He accompanied the most important places of their lands and latitudes. What distinguishes it from its peers is its interest in Europe and non-Muslim countries. Ibn Sa' id's work seems to have had an impact far beyond the region. Indeed, several chapters of Abu al-Fida's work (1271-1331), largely inspired by that of Ibn Sa' id, have been translated and published in Europe.Metaphysicist Ibn Sab' in (1216-1270), disciple of the great al-Buni astrologer (m. 1225), is famous for answering the philosophical questions that Emperor Frederic II of Hohenstaufen had addressed to the Almohad almohad Sultan al-Rashid. During his stay in Bejaïa, he wrote a book on the use of the Zayriya (an instrument for astrology invented in the Maghreb in the 12th or 13th centuries). In the form of a circular table, the practice of this instrument requires a good knowledge of astronomy.The famous Catalan philosopher Raymond Lulle (1232-1316), a follower of astrology, made many trips to Bougie. He would have studied mathematics there around 1280. However, it is his journey of 1307 that will be remarkable because, on this occasion, took place the only methodical discussion of Lulle with a Muslim scholar of which there remains a record. This discussion was only possible thanks to the good will of the Ulema. The work of Lulle à Bougie, however, remains difficult to apprehend. It seems that he has taken a serious interest in Muslim works "only under the influence of a certain intellectual missionary tendency". D. Urvoy considers that his scientific universe will be dominated essentially by two aspects which may seem unrelated: the importance of maritime techniques, and especially cartographic techniques, in Catalonia, on the one hand, and an important attachment to occultism (whose practice developed in the 14th century), on the other hand. In fact, Lulle would confine himself in mathematics to the problems of speculative figures and, in astronomy, to the nature of celestial bodies and astrological judgments.Ibn Khaldun (1332- 1406), a great historian and philosopher from the Maghreb, taught at Béjaïa in 1365 and 1366. In his writings, he provides us with valuable information on the transmission of astronomical knowledge from Antiquity to the present day. Ibn Khaldun, imbued with Ptolemy's ideas, showed in "The Prolegenics" a high level of knowledge in astronomy. Faithful to the Aristotelian dogma, he places the Earth at the center of the world (geocentrism), and broadly takes up the idea of the eight crystalline spheres (those of the planets, the Moon, the Sun and the fixed ones), eccentric circles and epicycles. However, he wonders about their true existence. Let us recall that another scholar of Candle, the cosmologist Ibn' Arabi (1165-1240), exposes a system different from the previous one (3). In addition to the eight crystalline spheres, it adds a ninth, the surrounding sphere. The latter, animated by a rotating movement (24 hours), carries with it all the other spheres. Thus, the movement of each sphere is divided into two parts: one that is its own, called natural movement, and another that is imposed on it. In Prolegenics, Ibn Khaldun devoted two chapters to the problem of conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn. Concerning the shape of the Earth, Ibn Khaldun says:"In the books of philosophers who have taken the universe as the subject of their studies, we read that the earth has a spherical shape. However, the sphericity of the Earth was an idea accepted, not only by Ibn Khaldun, but also by many scientists of Candle, such as Ibn Sabin, well before Galilee. Another important geographer is the Ottoman Admiral Piri Reis (1470-1554). Arrived in Bougie around 1495, it is from this city that he goes on expedition every summer. The most remarkable of his works is the geographical map of the world he established in 1513 (shortly after Christopher Columbus was discovered in 1492) which includes the coasts of Latin America and West Africa, among others.Very accurate, this map shows that the mapping technique was very advanced at that time. A little later, in 1521, he wrote a book entitled Kitab-i-Bahriye (The Book of the Navy), which included descriptions and drawings of the Mediterranean (cities and coastal countries), as well as information on navigation techniques and related subjects, such as nautical astronomy. His visits allowed him to obtain valuable information through his discussions with the Portuguese and Spanish captives, some of whom had participated in Christopher Columbus' expeditions. Remember that at that time, the Bougiers shipowners practiced the race (piracy) with great audacity.Following the invasion of Bougie by the Spaniards in 1509, all the buildings and monuments of this city were ruined (the royal library, the majestic mosques, the prestigious schools, the palaces decorated with arabesques and mosaics). These tragic events resulted in the death of many scientists and the loss of their work. The survivors of this disaster fled to the surrounding mountains of Kabylia. As a result, the formerly little-known zawya (religious and scientific teaching institute) became increasingly important. One of them is in Akbou (Béjaïa). According to some testimonies, it was the first of the scientific zawya that developed in Algeria during three consecutive centuries; it allowed, among other things, the diffusion of astronomy and arithmetic.Many Kabyle scholars have written astronomical treatises. The one of Ash Shellati (18th century) is probably the most important. As far as we are concerned, this last work has allowed us, more than anything else, to unveil the work of several Béjaïa astronomers, who had hitherto remained in the shadows. At present, the most critical criticism of these astronomers is that they have limited themselves to the purely utilitarian function of astronomy (calendars, orientation, etc.) and have reproduced, without any originality, the works of their ancestors. Muhammed ash-Shellati wrote around 1778 a treatise on astronomy entitled Ma' alim al-Istibsar (4). It is a commentary on the treatise of the Moroccan astronomer as-Susi (d. 1679), continuator of Abi Miqra (XIVth century). Ash-Shellati writes:"I have entitled my book Ma`alim al-Istibsar". "Thank God..."He then clarifies his objective:"A useful work for beginners like me, a key to access the as-Susi work, but also to enlighten abandoned or ignored points (by as-Susi). ""

One of the peculiarities of this book is that it allows to list the various astronomical events (new stars, comets, eclipses, etc.). Ash Shellati reports that, towards the end of August 1769, a comet with a very long tail appeared in the constellation of Taurus, changing position over time. It is certainly comet C/1769 P1, also observed in Paris at the same time. In addition, he mentions the appearance of a second comet shortly after, this time in the direction of the celestial North Pole.In the 19th century, the Julian year, some ten days behind the Gregorian year, was still in use in North Africa. It was used for all things relating to agriculture and daily occupations, and the lunar year was used for its chronology. Many treaties explain how to move from one to the other. Thanks to them, local scholars could determine exactly this concordance and design calendars for the Julian year. The discovery in 1994 by the Gehimab Association of Afniq n' Ccix Lmuhub (Library of Sheikh Lmuhub's manuscripts) in Tala Uzrar (Beni Ourtilane), today gives a better idea of the astronomical knowledge that was available to local scholars .Many families in Béjaïa have libraries of manuscripts by inheritance. But we know from experience that Kabyles value their old family documents very much. As a result, many books and documents, which could serve the history of this glorious city that is Bougie, are still in the shadows to this day. At the beginning of the 20th century, modern astronomy appeared in the Kabylie mountains. Mulud-al-Hafidhi (1880-1948) joined Al-Azhar University in Cairo at the age of 25, after a two-year stint at the Zaytouna University in Tunis, where he resided for 16 years. He returned to Beni Hafedh around 1922 and taught in several zaouïa (Illula, Tamokra...). He drew up the annual Hegira calendar and announced the beginning and end of Ramadhan's month based on his own scientific data.

www.djazairess.com/fr/elwatan/152991

Bejaia... Bougie...(Candle), the city lit by its name. Origin of the Bougie, Bejaia actually (Candlelight candle) - The name Candle is the name of our city (City of Algeria located in the Kabylia region). This name appeared around the middle ages and stems from its Kabyle name "Bgayet". This name also represents the candle originally made with beeswaxThe Bougie (candle) "The Dictionary of Littrum", after many quotes, gives us a 13th century candle, then another one from the 15th century. To Jehan Guérin, in favor of what he brought to Madame de Bougye candles that the Count of Beauvais sent to the said Lady ". The Littré ends with a definition:"Candle, city of Algeria where this kind of candle was made". "La Fontaine having also specified that the candle is made with beeswax". In fact "Candle" also exported beeswax to Genoa (in Italy) where important candle factories were located. Known in Roman times as Saldae, it became one of the most prosperous cities on the Mediterranean coast in the Middle Ages, capital of the great Muslim dynasties, notably the Hammadides and a branch of the Hafsid. Originally known in Europe for the quality of its beeswax candles, to which it gave its name, the candles, Béjaïa also played an important role in the dissemination of Indo-Arabic figures in the West. It is also often referred to as the francized name of Bougie, an official name during the period of colonizationThe origin of the 3 names of the city: Bgayet - Béjaia - Bougie (Candle). Indeed, it may surprise that a city can have three names and that they are used at the same time in our time. A peculiarity of our city that has had other names in its rich past. Saldae the Roman name, or El Naciriya in the time of the Hamadite kings.

But we know clearly that since the time of Ibn Khaldun (14th century AD) that its inhabitants called it BgayetAccording to Ibn Khaldun[1]: Bedja is a locality inhabited by a Berber tribe of the same name. Bedjaïa is written Bekaïa and pronounced BegaïaThe difficulty Ibn Khaldun had in translating the name of the city into literary Arabic can be easily explained by the fact that the letter "gua" from Gaston or Bgayet does not exist in the classical Arabic alphabet. The 2 letters he used are the "ka" of kanun (the law) and the "dja" of "Djamal".

It is not uncommon also to find, even today, on the road signs of the region, like Gouraya Park, the same lack of transcription in Arabic. Thus, we find Kouraya (with a guttural K[2]) instead of Gouraya.

In short, the name of the Kabyle town of Bgayet gives birth to:

Bedjaia: transcription in classical Arabic

Bdjaya: in Algerian dialect

Bugia: in Spanish

Candle: in French

Dalila Smail

1] considered the father of modern sociology and who, around 1364, was entrusted with the office of Prime Minister and preacher of the great El-Qaçaba mosque in our city by Abou-Abdellah, Prince Hafside, a dissident prince.

2] Consonant pronounced from the throat.

kabyleuniversel.com/2014/03/20/bougie-la-ville-eclairee-p...

INFO from Encyclopedia Astronautica (www.astronautix.com/lvs/vonn1952.htm#more ) -German winged orbital launch vehicle. Von Braun's 1952 design for a reusable space launcher used the same mass and performance calculations done in 1948. However the large parachute cannisters were replaced by deployable drag skirts. This allowed the design to be substantially less squat and more elegant than the 1948 version -- but still fatter than the sleek paintings that appeared in print!

For the drawings and paintings to illustrate the 1952 Colliers series and subsequent books, the 1948 version was found to be too dumpy and squat to inspire. Therefore, Von Braun, in collaboration with artist Rolf Klep, sketched a much more elegant tapered launch vehicle design. The still somewhat-squat official version became even more stretched and elegant looking in the artist's renderings. This can be contrasted with Von Braun's Redstone, then already in design, which used the uninspiring but efficient cylindrical body that would be the basis of his later Jupiter and Saturn rockets. One can only conclude that Von Braun went along with the artist's desires for a more glamorous-looking rocket ship.

The base diameter of the first stage remained the same, but those of the upper stages were drastically reduced. To make more room for engines in the base, the parachute package was changed from a centrally-located canister to a steel-mesh circular drag brake, stored along the outer fuselage. The engine concept was now changed from an annular nozzle to separate conventional bell-nozzle engines. Since the first stage diameter was the same, and the parachute canister that took up half its diameter was deleted, there was enough room in the first stage for 52 such engines. However there were real problems in using the 1948 calculations for the upper stages.

The second stage diameter was reduced from 20 m to 13.5 m. There was simply not enough base area for the total nozzle area indicated in Von Braun's original calculations. This could have been remedied if the chamber pressure was increased, as was clearly possible by 1952. However that should have resulted in a higher specific impulse, but the 1948 calculations were used 'as-is'. Klep's illustrations showed Redstone-type low-expansion ratio engines, inconsistent with the area ratio calculated in 1948 and needed for the high engine performance.

Similarly, the third stage diameter was reduced from 9.8 m to 5.8 m, with the same logical problem, since in the original calculation the nozzle occupied the entire base of the third stage.

LEO Payload: 25,000 kg (55,000 lb) to a 1,730 km orbit at 23.50 degrees.

Stage Data - Von Braun 1952

Stage 1. 1 x Von Braun 1952-1. Gross Mass: 5,500,000 kg (12,100,000 lb). Empty Mass: 700,000 kg (1,540,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 141,286.300 kN (31,762,424 lbf). Isp: 257 sec. Burn time: 84 sec. Isp(sl): 217 sec. Diameter: 20.00 m (65.00 ft). Span: 37.00 m (121.00 ft). Length: 36.50 m (119.70 ft). Propellants: Nitric acid/Hydrazine. No Engines: 51. Status: Study 1952.

Stage 2. 1 x Von Braun 1952-2. Gross Mass: 770,000 kg (1,690,000 lb). Empty Mass: 70,000 kg (154,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 16,271.100 kN (3,657,889 lbf). Isp: 298 sec. Burn time: 124 sec. Diameter: 13.50 m (44.20 ft). Span: 13.50 m (44.20 ft). Length: 20.70 m (67.90 ft). Propellants: Nitric acid/Hydrazine. No Engines: 34. Status: Study 1952.

Stage 3. 1 x Von Braun 1952-3. Gross Mass: 105,000 kg (231,000 lb). Empty Mass: 22,000 kg (48,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 2,033.800 kN (457,216 lbf). Isp: 296 sec. Burn time: 105 sec. Diameter: 5.80 m (19.00 ft). Span: 48.00 m (157.00 ft). Length: 23.40 m (76.70 ft). Propellants: Nitric acid/Hydrazine. No Engines: 5. Status: Study 1952.

AKA: A12.

Status: Study 1952.

Gross mass: 6,400,000 kg (14,100,000 lb).

Payload: 25,000 kg (55,000 lb).

Height: 97.00 m (318.00 ft).

Diameter: 20.00 m (65.00 ft).

Thrust: 119,300.00 kN (26,819,700 lbf).

Apogee: 1,730 km (1,070 mi).

Collier's March 22, 1952 "Man Will Conquer Space Soon" PDF: www.rmastri.it/u.php?e

AND www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1952mar22

"Of course. I told ya I'm good with enginerical calculations."

That's a lot of calculations there.

Fun work with my B+W infrared filter and Voigtlander 20mm lens in reverse, shooting an ant's head using a microscope at 4x objective. Total magnification, if my calculations are correct, is about 138x.

Oooooo....

Aaaaahhh....

:-)

I was blasting out of Portland last night to go star shooting out past The Dalles. But, as I leave town, I see the setup for a killer sunset. The sky in the west was clearing out as the sun was 30 minutes from setting and the clouds in the East were stacking up in big crazy detailed layers and types. Around exit 14 on rt84 I started doing the scenario calculations of :

"will it be good?"

"should I stop?"

"where would I go?"

"is it worth losing driving time?"

"Ben, you usually suck at guessing good sunsets."

"will the western sky or eastern sky have the view?"

"should I go to the Women's Forum viewpoint?"

"hmm, maybe the Gorge sunsets are only good in the Summer because of the angle..."

"should I get gas now or will I miss it if it's good?"

Well, I got gas and while fueling up, the sky was starting to light up and then I just wondered even more what to do! I defaulted on screw it- I am not good at getting sunset shots, so I just stayed on 84 and plowed down the highway going East. 20 minutes later the sky exploded with color. EVERYWHERE.

I was drifting in my lane as I looked in the mirror behind me, craned my neck to look above me, twisted sideways to see on the right side of the car- and as a little white car passed me, the passengers in that car were doing the same and we had a moment we all looked at each other with mouths agape, our eyes all saying the same thing, "WHOA!" I thought of pulling over, but I was set on stars, and I usually suck at "golden hour" shots, so I kept driving, right past an exit with a view, and immediately I regretted it.

All around pinks and oranges and purples and reds were popping up. My rear view mirror was a blinding source of gold/orange so bright I couldn't even see any of the cars behind me, except for some dim headlights barely showing through the incredible color light show. I knew I had to pull over to try and get a shot. I stomped on the gas and to drive 7 miles up, so I could exit off to turn around to get back to the exit I passed with the view of the river. I did a u-ey at Multnomah Falls parking lot and roared back 2 exits to the Columbia River view.

The whole way I continued in the lane drifting, neck craning, mouth agape mode. I screeched onto the exit lane, grabbed the camera bag and tripod, hopped the guard rail and started putting the camera, lens, and tripod together. It was a mix of rushing fingers with zippers, lenses and menu checks. But, mid process, movement in the sky catches my attention, I look up and an eagle is flying directly at me, with this incredible light show as it's backdrop.

For a split second I freeze, staring, silently thinking, "...nooo waay...." and then immediately I snap into action to finish grabbing the camera. Not trusting my on the fly exposure abilities, I flip the camera to green mode and wish for the best. Lift the lens, check auto focus, eagle in viewfinder, adjust for composition, track motion with eagle annnndddd CLICK THE SHUTTER!

....nothing happens.

CLICK THE SHUTTER!

nothing.

CLICK CLICK CLICK THE SHHUUUTTTEERRRR!!!

Eagle is directly overhead, turning for a tight loop...

CLICK THE SHUTTER!!!!!

Eagle finishing loop annnndddd... gone.

out of sight.

What in the world happened?! How could I have missed a Bald Eagle flying over a river out of this incredible sunset light show!?! And then I see it.

Timer mode.

It was still set on the timer mode from the other night of shooting stars.

Dejected, I stare at the lcd projection of the little timer clock accepting that I completely overlooked and forgot it was on that setting, accepting that from the moment I saw the eagle I didn't have a chance to get the shot.

As I accepted this realization, the timer finished it's countdown and the camera, pointed at the ground, took a picture of my shoes.

*groan*

Live and learn, right?

I chuckled at the absurdity of missing the shot from this one oversight and then shook it off and set about capturing the remaining light.

It was such a beautiful sunset. And, even though I don't have a picture of it, I still got to see a Bald Eagle come out of the light and fly over my head.

This Jersey boy is happy :-)

Day Eighteen:

Don't run. Please don't run. Oh gaawwwd you're running. Do you know how hard it is to do the right calculation in my head to work out the angle and route I'd need to travel at a brisk walking pace? People in my profession don't run. You run. We appear.

We also need our own special day. A day where we may ply our trade. If you're lucky you'll get more than one in a year but if you're really lucky you'll only need to work the one day. And it's such an embarrassing day. Is it Halloween? No. Friday the 13th? No. Day of the Dead, All Souls, an especially horrific birthday? Again, all No.

Pancake Day. That's what I was left with. Shrove Tuesday. Am I supposed to squirt lemon juice in their eyes and then pummel them with a frying pan? I've got a hook for a hand. A sharp, pointy hook. This has nothing to do with pancakes. I'm...I'm taking this up with the union. I'm having my day moved to June the 18th. National Go Fishing Day. At least this thing would make a bit more sense. And I can say...I can say....what can I say? Oh yes...I landed me a big one? No? Fine...fine I'll work on it. It'll work out. It'll be the day I took them all out with a hook. You see? Because it's also like the punching hook.

You'll love it.

I'll see you in the sequels.

An astronomical instrument at Jantar Mantar observatory, Delhi, India

Actual exhibition of their pictures: MARCO, Vigo, until 31/05/2015.

Sailboat Specifications

Hull Type: Keel/Cbrd.

Rigging Type: Gaffhead Sloop

Length overall: 22’6″ 6.858m

Length over deck: 19’3” 5.867m

Length of waterline: 17’7″ 5.334m

Beam: 7’2” 2.184m

Draught:1’6” – 4’0”0.457m – 1.219m

Displacement:2350lb1065kg

Ballast: 700 lb / 318 kg

Sail area:194ft218.02m2

Approx towing weight:3300lb1500kg

RCD categoryC

S.A./Disp.: 17.60

Bal./Disp.: 29.79

Disp./Len.: 195.75

Construction: GRP

Designer: Roger Dongray

First Built: 1979

# Built: 1000

Builder

Cornish Crabbers LLP

Unit 5, Bess Park Road

Wadebridge

Cornwall

PL27 6HB

Telephone: +44 (0)1208 862 666

Email: info@cornishcrabbers.co.uk

Auxiliary Power/Tanks (orig. equip.)

Make: Yanmar (opt.)

Model: Yanmar 1GM10 9hp

Type: Diesel

Sailboat Calculations

S.A./Disp.: 17.60

Bal./Disp.: 29.79

Disp./Len.: 195.75

Comfort Ratio: 14.60

Capsize Screening Formula: 2.16

Shrimper 19 standard sail away specification

Hull Construction: Hand laid solid GRP hull with no foam core. Integral centerplate case laminated as part of the complete hull structure. Internal bunk and

forepeak moulding bonded into hull with internal structural bulkheads bonded to both hull and deck mouldings. Standard colours are off white, dark blue

or dark green. The hull and deck joint is by way of an overlap or ‘Biscuit Tin Lid’ with GRP bonding.

Rudder: The rudder is transom hung on two stainless steel hangings bolted through the transom with Hardwood backing pads. The rudder is constructed

from laminated plywood with a stainless steel lifting drop plate.

Engine Beds: Engine beds are incorporated in the GRP bunk moulding with mild steel mounts bonded into the bed design which incorporates an oil drip tray.

Ballast: Ballast is by way of iron punchings encapsulated in resin inside the hull keel moulding. A galvanised steel centerplate forms part of the ballast

with a stainless steel lifting wire leading to a winch lifting system operated from the cockpit.

Boot Top: A single boot top moulded in gel coat located above antifouling level. Colour in contrast to main hull and normally matching the deck.

Deck Construction: Hand laid GRP with Balsa core in way of horizontal load areas. Hard wood pads under deck fittings and stress points.

Cockpit : Cockpit locker lids are hand laid with Balsa core. There is integrated non slip on horizontal surfaces with an optional two tone colour. A cockpit

drain is located in the center of the main foot well with additional drainage from the seats. A central watertight locker offers general storage or houses the

diesel engine when fitted.

Deck Fittings: Bespoke deck fittings including bowsprit, tabernacle and chain plates are made from stainless steel. 4 aluminium deck cleats are positioned

aft & amidships with two fairleads feeding a teak Sampson post forward. All sail controls are led aft to rope clutches / jammers with a single halyard

winch to starboard. Adjustable jib & mainsheet cars. Access below is via a teak lined sliding companionway hatch and split plywood / Perspex washboards.

Extra ventilation provided by an aluminium forward hatch.

Ports: 2 aluminium fixed ports are fitted one each in the hull topsides.

Chain plates: Chain plates are in stainless steel and through bolted on the hull sides.

Vents: Ventilation is via a washboard vent and opening forward hatch.

Miscellaneous Equipment: Fuel filler &tank vent.(Inboard version only), Life harness attachment point by the companionway, Rope tidies for halyards.

Cockpit Lockers: Two main watertight lockers with latches and padlocks are provided. A padlock is also provided for the companionway hatch.

Mainmast: Laminated in Sitka Spruce and treated with Sikkens Cetol including a stainless steel mast band to take Cap shrouds, jib and mainsail halyards.

All deck mounted on a substantial stainless steel tabernacle.

Main Boom: Laminated in Sitka Spruce and treated with Sikkens Cetol including a Stainless steel gooseneck fitting, kicker and mainsheet bands and all

associated reefing line leads / terminals.

Bowsprit: Laminated in Sitka Spruce and treated with Sikkens Cetol including a Stainless steel pivot fitting, end plate and bobstay take off points.

Gaff: Laminated in Sitka Spruce and treated with Sikkens Cetol including a Stainless steel gaff collar with rubber protection on bearing surface. Wire hoist

span and block.

Standing Rigging: Cap shrouds, lower shrouds & forestay in 4mm 1 x 19 stainless steel wire with swagged ends. Chromed rigging screws. Jib mounted on

reefing spar and controls led aft to cockpit.

Running Rigging: Main throat / peak halyards – 6mm braid. Jib &Staysail halyards – 6mm braid. Main topping lift – 6mm braid. Mainsail reefing lines –

6mm braid. Mainsail outhaul – 6mm braid. Mainsheet & Jib sheets – 10mm sheet rope. All associated blocks for purchase tackles.

Mainsail: Dacron in tan or cream. 2 reef points with tie in lacing. Luff and gaff lacing as required.

Jib: Dacron in tan or cream with wire luff and tell tails.

Boom Cover: In maroon, or cream acrylic. Fixings to allow for topping lift and mainsheet take off. All sails supplied with, sail numbers, logo and ties.

Engineering

Outboard Version

Outboard well: A teak engine mounting with stainless brackets. Engine well hull blank. GRP moulded fuel tank stowage and fuel lead splitter through aft

locker compartment. (fuel lead not supplied as standard)

Inboard Version

Stern Gear: A 1” stainless steel shaft is fitted, connected to the engine via a coupling and fitted with a Tides Marine ‘lip seal’ gland. The shaft drives a fixed

2-bladed propeller.

Engine: Yanmar 1GM10 9hp marine diesel engine. A 55 amp (12V) alternator is fitted to the engine.

Engine Instruments and Controls: The engine instruments are located at the rear of the cockpit coaming and are recessed with a clear cover. Instruments

include audible alarm, alternator warning light, start switch and stop control. A single lever engine control is supplied and fitted in the cockpit well.

Engine Cooling: The engine is directly salt water cooled. A 1/2″ diameter pipe leads from the main seawater inlet through a strainer to the engine and

discharges overboard through the exhaust.

Engine Exhaust: A flexible exhaust hose connects the exhaust via a swan neck with water trap to the outlet fitting through the transom.

Fuel System: A plastic diesel tank with a capacity of approximately 18 litres, breather and integrated fuel gauge. The tank is fitted with flow and return

lines, the flow line having a manual shut off valve.

Plumbing

Bilge System: 1 x Manual bilge pump operated from the cockpit with a handle stored in the aft locker.

Fresh Water Tanks: 2 x 10ltr plastic jerry cans with manual hand pump. Also a bucket / sink.

Soil System: When fitted the heads discharge directly to sea via a vent loop and skin fitting.

Inlet / Outlet Fittings: Engine: In through a single skin fitting with a valve and strainer, out via the exhaust system.

Gas System: There is a double burner hob cooker attached to a separately stored gas bottle.

12 volt DC system

Batteries: Engine – one 12 volt 55 amp/hour. (Optional on outboard version)

Charging: Via main engine – a 35 amp (at 12 volt) alternator.

Switchboard: An optional switch panel is fitted to boats that have additional electronics fitted.

Miscellaneous Standard Equipment

Deck: 1 x winch handle. 1 x bilge pump handle. Stowed in aft cockpit locker. 1 x fire extinguisher – situated down below.

Joinery: The interior joinery is constructed from high quality materials and in accordance with good yacht practice. Bulkheads and side back linings are

from plywood.

Finish: All cabin woodwork is finished in a mix of painted bulkheads and varnished trim.

Soles: Rubber textured sole throughout.

Upholstery: A choice of soft or wipe down plastic upholstery is available.

The Junction.

This photo shows the largest of the three sections of Tide Predicting Machine No. 2, a special purpose mechanical analog computer for predicting the height and time of high and low tides. The gears on the left transmit power from the hand crank. The components on the right contribute to the computation of the time of high and low tides.

The U.S. government used Tide Predicting Machine No. 2 from 1910 to 1965 to produce its tide predictions. 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.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) occasionally displays the machine at its facility in Silver Spring, Maryland.

It is a game of skill in calculation played on a block of wood or game-board called sungkahan. The game-board is shaped like a boat with the surface artfully rounded at the ends. The surface of sungkahan is hollowed at regular intervals with sixteen circular holes, with one large hole at the end of each side, called mother or ulo (head). The fourteen small holes are called bahays (houses) with a capacity of a handful of tokens. They are hollowed out alongside at equal distances, seven holes at each row. Shells, pebbles, or seeds are used as tokens. The game revolves around the contest between two people each aiming to outdo the other by trying to accumulate as many tokens as he can into the mother hole according to certain rules of distributions and moves.

www.tagalog-dictionary.com

Barili

South of Cebu

Description: First hired by Harvard College Observatory to carry out astronomical calculations, Annie Jump Cannon (1863-1941) eventually became one of the foremost American astronomers, known especially for her work on variable stars. This photograph shows her at her desk at the observatory.

Creator/Photographer: Unidentified photographer

Medium: Black and white photographic print

Repository: Smithsonian Institution Archives

Collection: Accession 90-105: Science Service Records, 1920s – 1970s - Science Service, now the Society for Science & the Public, was a news organization founded in 1921 to promote the dissemination of scientific and technical information. Although initially intended as a news service, Science Service produced an extensive array of news features, radio programs, motion pictures, phonograph records, and demonstration kits and it also engaged in various educational, translation, and research activities.

Accession number: SIA2008-0647

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

See the original size for details...

In response to a request from my friend 'Jakeukalane' Jay

When I found this 'building' within the machinations of the Mandelbulb3d software I realised it was a combination of formula that would yield many interesting images with varying perspectives and 'renderings'. I have subsequently made slight adjustments to such things as 'fold' and 'rotation' within the software calculation to produce different results. I am quite new to this software so the Von Neumann Building has nursed me through a formative stage. To me fractals are all about scale, or in some senses not about scale at all. I prefer my fractals to explore that ever diminishing but never disappearing realm of endless possibilities, a world of an inverse infinity that was beautifully characterised at the end of Richard Matheson's story 'The Incredible Shrinking Man'. The book and movie are still available, the movie is probably playing somewhere in the world as you read this.

Why the name...

I decided it would be nice if in society we decided to name things after people who have made immense positive contributions rather than the doubtful redundancy of naming them after our monarchs. It seems to me that no matter how badly they behave, no matter how much public money they take, no matter how much death and destruction they have caused over the course of (reconstructed) history they are still revered, human beings are strange primates indeed. Jon Von Neumann appears to me to have been a genuinely inspirational character and as the building is mathematical in its construction I thought it would be nice to name it after him. I think it is a fine construct (with all the credit for that going to the writers of the software) and I hope it is worthy of such a heady commemoration. If you haven't already done so I would urge you to have a look at the images in their 'original' size via the connections to my Flickr site.

In his marvelous series 'The Ascent of Man' Jacob Bronowski speaks very fondly of Von Neumann, if you have not seen the series it is very much worth watching.

Here is part one.....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioiP47bJ5d4

'....the paradox of the human condition'. Bronowski presents 'man' very much as an intellectual and cultural work in progress, something we are apt to forget.

It may be doubtful we would have computers at all if it were not for people like John Von Neumann and Alan Turing (See my Fractal 'The Turing Block'). In erecting monuments to people Turing is a fascinating case in point. Turing's work at Bletchley Park during the second world war enabled the allies to crack the German code apparatus and he is said to have considerably shortened the war. However Turing was later convicted for being homosexual and was chemically castrated by the British government, he was later to kill himself by administering cyanide in 1954. The British government recently, in an effort to expunge it's guilt over the affair issued him with a pardon, a pardon that was based largely on his enormous contribution to the war effort rather than the fact that he was convicted unjustly of being a homosexual. The truth of this is born out by the fact that there are many many similar cases the British government haven't overturned. Times change yet the self serving duplicity of governments seem to remain.

Another thing of interest to me is the brain. That marvelous flesh whose neurons are capable of more connections than there are atoms in the universe, just consider that for a moment.

So I decided to view structures within the Von Neumann Building like structures within the brain, purely on an aesthetic level rather than scientific. Hence we have such images as 'Sylvian Fissure' and 'The Explanatory Gap'. There is a point within the structure which can be viewed as either separating or joining and this I have named 'Separ (ation) jo (ining)...Separjo.

The building does appear as a city, but not a sci-fi 'city', but because of its creation it is one of science fact. As such I started to imagine what living in such a city would be like, and as a result certain images emerged with new names such as 'Dawn' and 'False Moon Glow'.

So I apologise if I have rambled on, something I am apt to do, but that is a little of the background thinking behind The Von Neumann Building.

I am grateful for your interest which did make me think....why haven't I shown the complete 'building' yet?... so here it is.

Thanks Jay...

According the first calculations before 2007 the building should cost about 77 million €. By 2013 the cost for the taxpayer amounted to 789 million €. The project should have been finshed years ago, but it still is under construction.

www.hafencity.com/en/home.html

"MS Cap San Diego is a general cargo ship, situated as a museum ship in Hamburg, Germany. Notable for its elegant silhouette, it was the last of a series of six ships known as the white swans of the south atlantic, and marked the apex of German-built general cargo ships before the advent of the container ship and the decline of Germany's heavy industry.

The Cap San Diego was built and launched by Deutsche Werft in 1961 for Hamburg Süd as the last of a series of six ships. The 159 m, 10000 dwt ship ran a regular schedule between Germany and South America, completing 120 round trips until 1981. After being sold and running under different names and flags of convenience as a tramp trader, the run-down ship was scheduled for scrapping in 1986, when it was bought by the city of Hamburg."

Source: wikipedia.org

The real truth and history of Christmas.

William J. Tighe on the Story Behind December 25,

The “pagan origins of Christmas” is a myth without historical substance.

Many Christians think that Christians celebrate Christ’s birth on December 25th because the church fathers appropriated the date of a pagan festival.

Almost no one minds, except for a few groups on the fringes of American Evangelicalism, who seem to think that this makes Christmas itself a pagan festival. But it is perhaps interesting to know that the choice of December 25th is the result of attempts among the earliest Christians to figure out the date of Jesus’ birth based on calendrical calculations that had nothing to do with pagan festivals.

Rather, the pagan festival of the “Birth of the Unconquered Son” instituted by the Roman Emperor Aurelian on 25 December 274, was almost certainly an attempt to create a pagan alternative to a date that was already of some significance to Roman Christians. Thus the “pagan origins of Christmas” is a myth without historical substance.

A Mistake

The idea that the date was taken from the pagans goes back to two scholars from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Paul Ernst Jablonski, a German Protestant, wished to show that the celebration of Christ’s birth on December 25th was one of the many “paganizations” of Christianity that the Church of the fourth century embraced, as one of many “degenerations” that transformed pure apostolic Christianity into Catholicism. Dom Jean Hardouin, a Benedictine monk, tried to show that the Catholic Church adopted pagan festivals for Christian purposes without paganizing the gospel.

In the Julian calendar, created in 45 B.C. under Julius Caesar, the winter solstice fell on December 25th, and it therefore seemed obvious to Jablonski and Hardouin that the day must have had a pagan significance before it had a Christian one. But in fact, the date had no religious significance in the Roman pagan festal calendar before Aurelian’s time, nor did the cult of the sun play a prominent role in Rome before him.

There were two temples of the sun in Rome, one of which (maintained by the clan into which Aurelian was born or adopted) celebrated its dedication festival on August 9th, the other of which celebrated its dedication festival on August 28th. But both of these cults fell into neglect in the second century, when eastern cults of the sun, such as Mithraism, began to win a following in Rome. And in any case, none of these cults, old or new, had festivals associated with solstices or equinoxes.

As things actually happened, Aurelian, who ruled from 270 until his assassination in 275, was hostile to Christianity and appears to have promoted the establishment of the festival of the “Birth of the Unconquered Sun” as a device to unify the various pagan cults of the Roman Empire around a commemoration of the annual “rebirth” of the sun. He led an empire that appeared to be collapsing in the face of internal unrest, rebellions in the provinces, economic decay, and repeated attacks from German tribes to the north and the Persian Empire to the east.

In creating the new feast, he intended the beginning of the lengthening of the daylight, and the arresting of the lengthening of darkness, on December 25th to be a symbol of the hoped-for “rebirth,” or perpetual rejuvenation, of the Roman Empire, resulting from the maintenance of the worship of the gods whose tutelage (the Romans thought) had brought Rome to greatness and world-rule. If it co-opted the Christian celebration, so much the better.

A By-Product

It is true that the first evidence of Christians celebrating December 25th as the date of the Lord’s nativity comes from Rome some years after Aurelian, in A.D. 336, but there is evidence from both the Greek East and the Latin West that Christians attempted to figure out the date of Christ’s birth long before they began to celebrate it liturgically, even in the second and third centuries. The evidence indicates, in fact, that the attribution of the date of December 25th was a by-product of attempts to determine when to celebrate his death and resurrection.

How did this happen? There is a seeming contradiction between the date of the Lord’s death as given in the synoptic Gospels and in John’s Gospel. The synoptics would appear to place it on Passover Day (after the Lord had celebrated the Passover Meal on the preceding evening), and John on the Eve of Passover, just when the Passover lambs were being slaughtered in the Jerusalem Temple for the feast that was to ensue after sunset on that day.

Solving this problem involves answering the question of whether the Lord’s Last Supper was a Passover Meal, or a meal celebrated a day earlier, which we cannot enter into here. Suffice it to say that the early Church followed John rather than the synoptics, and thus believed that Christ’s death would have taken place on 14 Nisan, according to the Jewish lunar calendar. (Modern scholars agree, by the way, that the death of Christ could have taken place only in A.D. 30 or 33, as those two are the only years of that time when the eve of Passover could have fallen on a Friday, the possibilities being either 7 April 30 or 3 April 33.)

However, as the early Church was forcibly separated from Judaism, it entered into a world with different calendars, and had to devise its own time to celebrate the Lord’s Passion, not least so as to be independent of the rabbinic calculations of the date of Passover. Also, since the Jewish calendar was a lunar calendar consisting of twelve months of thirty days each, every few years a thirteenth month had to be added by a decree of the Sanhedrin to keep the calendar in synchronization with the equinoxes and solstices, as well as to prevent the seasons from “straying” into inappropriate months.

Apart from the difficulty Christians would have had in following—or perhaps even being accurately informed about—the dating of Passover in any given year, to follow a lunar calendar of their own devising would have set them at odds with both Jews and pagans, and very likely embroiled them in endless disputes among themselves. (The second century saw severe disputes about whether Pascha had always to fall on a Sunday or on whatever weekday followed two days after 14 Artemision/Nisan, but to have followed a lunar calendar would have made such problems much worse.)

These difficulties played out in different ways among the Greek Christians in the eastern part of the empire and the Latin Christians in the western part of it. Greek Christians seem to have wanted to find a date equivalent to 14 Nisan in their own solar calendar, and since Nisan was the month in which the spring equinox occurred, they chose the 14th day of Artemision, the month in which the spring equinox invariably fell in their own calendar. Around A.D. 300, the Greek calendar was superseded by the Roman calendar, and since the dates of the beginnings and endings of the months in these two systems did not coincide, 14 Artemision became April 6th.

In contrast, second-century Latin Christians in Rome and North Africa appear to have desired to establish the historical date on which the Lord Jesus died. By the time of Tertullian they had concluded that he died on Friday, 25 March 29. (As an aside, I will note that this is impossible: 25 March 29 was not a Friday, and Passover Eve in A.D. 29 did not fall on a Friday and was not on March 25th, or in March at all.)

Integral Age

So in the East we have April 6th, in the West, March 25th. At this point, we have to introduce a belief that seems to have been widespread in Judaism at the time of Christ, but which, as it is nowhere taught in the Bible, has completely fallen from the awareness of Christians. The idea is that of the “integral age” of the great Jewish prophets: the idea that the prophets of Israel died on the same dates as their birth or conception.

This notion is a key factor in understanding how some early Christians came to believe that December 25th is the date of Christ’s birth. The early Christians applied this idea to Jesus, so that March 25th and April 6th were not only the supposed dates of Christ’s death, but of his conception or birth as well. There is some fleeting evidence that at least some first- and second-century Christians thought of March 25th or April 6th as the date of Christ’s birth, but rather quickly the assignment of March 25th as the date of Christ’s conception prevailed.

It is to this day, commemorated almost universally among Christians as the Feast of the Annunciation, when the Archangel Gabriel brought the good tidings of a savior to the Virgin Mary, upon whose acquiescence the Eternal Word of God (“Light of Light, True God of True God, begotten of the Father before all ages”) forthwith became incarnate in her womb. What is the length of pregnancy? Nine months. Add nine months to March 25th and you get December 25th; add it to April 6th and you get January 6th. December 25th is Christmas, and January 6th is Epiphany.

Christmas (December 25th) is a feast of Western Christian origin. In Constantinople it appears to have been introduced in 379 or 380. From a sermon of St. John Chrysostom, at the time a renowned ascetic and preacher in his native Antioch, it appears that the feast was first celebrated there on 25 December 386. From these centers it spread throughout the Christian East, being adopted in Alexandria around 432 and in Jerusalem a century or more later. The Armenians, alone among ancient Christian churches, have never adopted it, and to this day celebrate Christ’s birth, manifestation to the magi, and baptism on January 6th.

Western churches, in turn, gradually adopted the January 6th Epiphany feast from the East, Rome doing so sometime between 366 and 394. But in the West, the feast was generally presented as the commemoration of the visit of the magi to the infant Christ, and as such, it was an important feast, but not one of the most important ones—a striking contrast to its position in the East, where it remains the second most important festival of the church year, second only to Pascha (Easter).

In the East, Epiphany far outstrips Christmas. The reason is that the feast celebrates Christ’s baptism in the Jordan and the occasion on which the Voice of the Father and the Descent of the Spirit both manifested for the first time to mortal men the divinity of the Incarnate Christ and the Trinity of the Persons in the One Godhead.

A Christian Feast

Thus, December 25th as the date of the Christ’s birth appears to owe nothing whatsoever to pagan influences upon the practice of the Church during or after Constantine’s time. It is wholly unlikely to have been the actual date of Christ’s birth, but it arose entirely from the efforts of early Latin Christians to determine the historical date of Christ’s death.

And the pagan feast which the Emperor Aurelian instituted on that date in the year 274 was not only an effort to use the winter solstice to make a political statement, but also almost certainly an attempt to give a pagan significance to a date already of importance to Roman Christians. The Christians, in turn, could at a later date re-appropriate the pagan “Birth of the Unconquered Sun” to refer, on the occasion of the birth of Christ, to the rising of the “Sun of Salvation” or the “Sun of Justice.”

The author refers interested readers to Thomas J. Talley’s The Origins of the Liturgical Year (The Liturgical Press). A draft of this article appeared on the listserve Virtuosity.

William J. Tighe is Associate Professor of History at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and a faculty advisor to the Catholic Campus Ministry. He is a Member of St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is a contributing editor for Touchstone.

Copyright © 2003 the Fellowship of St. James. All rights reserved.

Progress update: I have made a grievous error in my calculations as to the amount of 6 point type I have been endeavoring to sort. Instead of the estimated 20 pounds, it is closer to 40 pounds of type. This photo shows the results of my preliminary sorting of two of the four boxes. I weighed the tray, and it comes up just shy of 20 pounds. I also calculated that it takes 15-16 hours to sort one box - and remember this is only sorting to differentiate the number of nicks, it's not even getting close to sorting the individual faces. Do they give medals for this sort of thing?

Global water type by percentage. Estimates of global water resources based on several different calculation methods have produced varied estimates. Shiklomanov in Gleick (1993) estimated that: - The total volume of water on earth is 1.4 billion km3. - The volume of freshwater resources is 35 million km3, or about 2.5% of the total volume. Of these, 24 million km3 or 68.9% is in the form of ice and permanent snow cover in mountainous regions, and in the Antarctic and Arctic regions. - Some 8 million km3 or 30.8% is stored underground in the form of groundwater (shallow and deep groundwater basins up to 2,000 metres, soil moisture, swamp water and permafrost). This constitutes about 97% of all the freshwater potentially available for human use. - Freshwater lakes and rivers contain an estimated 105,000 km3 or 0.3% of the world’s freshwater. - The total usable freshwater supply for ecosystems and humans is 200,000 km3 of water, which is less than 1% of all freshwater resources, and only 0.01% of all the water on earth (Gleick, 1993; Shiklomanov, 1999).

For any form of publication, please include the link to this page:

www.grida.no/resources/5606

This photo has been graciously provided to be used in the GRID-Arendal resources library by: Philippe Rekacewicz, February 2006

I did the calculations. I have 21 b&w pictures to date in my flickr account. That represents only 1.3% of my 1,655 photos (public and private). There are occasions that I would convert a colored photograph to b&w but again, that would be rare.

To me, a monochrome recreates the feeling of timelessness. And that this musician was playing a rebab, an ancient 2-string fiddle, only plays to this theme.

more on why I sometimes prefer black and white in colloidfarl.blogspot.com/

at the Bali Arts Festival opening parade, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia

I knew when I woke up that today was going to be a "doosy", and that my photo would have to come in the midst of a wall-to-wall responsibilities. Then, I was working on some financial modeling for a presentation, and my handy HP calculator came through. While doing some "what if" calculations for some Market-Leveraged Stock Units, the black digits on the little grey LCD screen reminded me of some great times the early 1990's. It was a time when cell phones were reserved for rappers and were very rare. Pagers were ubiquitous, and if you were cool, you had one that was see through (so you could see the chips and circuits), and lit up when you received a page. I used to have basic numeric codes to page my girlfriend and now wife with phrases like "I love you". Another onne that was a little more basic and always well received... 07734, or "Hello". I remember it well.

It's been a bit of a grim few days here at Schloss Slembo. My son was sectioned under the Mental Health Act last week and I've been visiting him in a secure ward at a local hospital ever since. When he was younger he was good friends with my then-girlfriend Maria (pictured left, with me at Walthamstow Village Festival) so it was a greater shock to hear this week that Maria had suddenly died in a north of England hospital. She was in her late 20s when we met so by my calculations she'd was only about 39 when she died. She'd apparently been in the intensive care unit suffering from complications arising from contracting the Swine Flu.

We'd first met on one of the famous BDSM 'Boat Parties' organised on the Thames in the 1997. I was then kitted out in my trademark 18th century Gothic style as the 'Handcuff Highwayman' or 'Buccaneer of Bondage' while Maria was even more Gothic in her tastes with a tight purple corset and huge cloak, etc, (also pictured). Our relationship was unusual (but not unheard of) in BDSM circles as I was a male dom and she was a female domme. Publicly we were pure dom but privately we subbed to each other. It was a dream relationship and worked well. We could even effortlessly shift roles during the course of one night; as one tired the other would take over and make the running. She also denied ever being a Goth. She famously said: "I'm the one who walks over to the Goths and says: 'Cheer up you sad f*cks' "

She and I attended the 1997 re-launch of SM Pride and Maria contributed to early SM Pride meetings. She was also house domme at the Domina Club, a role she famously described as being "Meeter, greeter and chief beater". Her London scene name was 'the Black Widow'. She learned to use a bullwhip, not without painful accidents, and frequently carried it over her shoulder. This came in handy one night in Walthamstow when two men tried to mug her. Maria elbowed the pair of them off, jumped forward, turned and cracked the whip at them in best Indiana Jones style. She said their faces were a picture, before they fled wailing into the night. I worked for the local newspaper at the time, strangely this was one story the newspaper never got!

Maria was on good terms with my son and introduced him to the music of Alice Cooper and heavy metal in general. Alice Cooper had once seen her on the stairs at one of his gigs and did a 'double take' as he went past. Another time she was drinking at the Royal Standard pub at Blackhorse Road (then a heavy metal venue) when she got into a good natured slap fight with a big biker. Still laughing she returned to her seat to find the rest of her mates sh*tting themselves. Turns out she'd picked a fight with the leader of the local Hell's Angels. Luckily he was a good loser, well at least where women were concerned!

A keen Star Trek fan she'd met several of the cast at conventions but Marc Alaimo (Gul Dukat in Deep Space 9) and William Campbell (Squire of Gothos in Classic Star Trek and the Klingon Koloth in Deep Space 9) were firm favourites. She once amazed William Campbell by attending a picture signing (when he was doing DS9) and producing an old Squire of Gothos picture for him to sign. He was touched that she'd remembered his original Star Trek role - possibly the first 'Q' omnipotent character in Star Trek.

Maria and I dressed up in full club gear for the Walthamstow Village Festival in 1998 (pictured) and she got a lot of good natured comments from the market-stall holders as she walked through with her ample cleavage barely crammed into her trademark corset. One market trader even held up two melons and said: "Hey, I got some too darling!" Later that day we were at the studio of a local artist and Japanese rope bondage expert where my son learned about the artist Escher and the earlier artists who had influenced him. James had a fascination for Escher.

She was good friends with the Scots domme Mistress Delta. They had met in most unusual circumstances. Maria had been using her new bullwhip (badly) when it curled it back and whacked Mistress Delta painfully across the leg. A domme whacking a domme is NOT BDSM good practice. Maria had very expressive eyes and Delta had a great sense of humour. Describing the incident to me months later Delta (NOT one to suffer fools lightly) said: "I could hardly take offence, she looked so bloody upset about what she'd done..."

Having said we were both dominant, I should mention the one time Maria subbed in public. We were at a club in Hackney and Maria had volunteered as demo bunny for a heavy bondage demonstration. So there she was, tightly bound and blindfolded, when Mistress Delta caught us. "Oh" says a loud Scots voice: "Is that that Black Widow I see over there? Not so f*cking dominant now, are we?" Maria was meantime saying: "Oh f*ck, oh f*ck that's Delta". I added: "It's just as well you're blindfolded Maria because you would not believe the look of disgust on Delta's face..." "Oh f*ck, oh f*ck" said Maria in a higher key. We left the blindfold in place, it seemed the kindest thing to do.

We eventually had the most good natured of splits at the old London Fetish Market at Old Camden Town Hall - we both realised the relationship had run out of steam but I let Maria make the decision as I knew a past boyfriend had hurt her. I wanted her to leave with her head up. She later said she'd always appreciated that I'd done it that way. She moved on to a new partner who (like me) wore a three-sided tricorne hat. I once said: "Have you got a 'thing' about blokes with three-sided heads Maria?" Together Maria and her new partner joined a vampire role-play group. Maria famously had very photo-sensitive skin and had to wear a thick velvet cloak in bright sunlight in case her skin reacted. So I pointed out: "Maria, you've joined a vampire role-play group. Do you realise you are probably the only member who can PASS the physical for being a vampire?" She was very proud of that!

She later bought her new partner and myself matching Bettie Page tee-shirts and we saw each other from time-to-time but my illness and her eventual move to Manchester inevitably meant that we saw less of each other. I think we met again at the Birmingham Bizarre Bazaar and then at a fireworks party in North London in about 2005. That was the last time I saw her.

Over the years I've had several partners and probably a couple I should not have got involved-with at all. I will say this of Maria. She was a good and loyal friend, she was a woman of strong principles and she never EVER let me down. Not once. There are not many people I can say that about.

She died decades too soon... and that's a tragedy. RIP Maria.

"If my calculations are correct - when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious shit". -- "Doc" Emmett Brown (Back To The Future)

INFO from Encyclopedia Astronautica (www.astronautix.com/lvs/vonn1952.htm#more ) -German winged orbital launch vehicle. Von Braun's 1952 design for a reusable space launcher used the same mass and performance calculations done in 1948. However the large parachute cannisters were replaced by deployable drag skirts. This allowed the design to be substantially less squat and more elegant than the 1948 version -- but still fatter than the sleek paintings that appeared in print!

For the drawings and paintings to illustrate the 1952 Colliers series and subsequent books, the 1948 version was found to be too dumpy and squat to inspire. Therefore, Von Braun, in collaboration with artist Rolf Klep, sketched a much more elegant tapered launch vehicle design. The still somewhat-squat official version became even more stretched and elegant looking in the artist's renderings. This can be contrasted with Von Braun's Redstone, then already in design, which used the uninspiring but efficient cylindrical body that would be the basis of his later Jupiter and Saturn rockets. One can only conclude that Von Braun went along with the artist's desires for a more glamorous-looking rocket ship.

The base diameter of the first stage remained the same, but those of the upper stages were drastically reduced. To make more room for engines in the base, the parachute package was changed from a centrally-located canister to a steel-mesh circular drag brake, stored along the outer fuselage. The engine concept was now changed from an annular nozzle to separate conventional bell-nozzle engines. Since the first stage diameter was the same, and the parachute canister that took up half its diameter was deleted, there was enough room in the first stage for 52 such engines. However there were real problems in using the 1948 calculations for the upper stages.

The second stage diameter was reduced from 20 m to 13.5 m. There was simply not enough base area for the total nozzle area indicated in Von Braun's original calculations. This could have been remedied if the chamber pressure was increased, as was clearly possible by 1952. However that should have resulted in a higher specific impulse, but the 1948 calculations were used 'as-is'. Klep's illustrations showed Redstone-type low-expansion ratio engines, inconsistent with the area ratio calculated in 1948 and needed for the high engine performance.

Similarly, the third stage diameter was reduced from 9.8 m to 5.8 m, with the same logical problem, since in the original calculation the nozzle occupied the entire base of the third stage.

LEO Payload: 25,000 kg (55,000 lb) to a 1,730 km orbit at 23.50 degrees.

Stage Data - Von Braun 1952

Stage 1. 1 x Von Braun 1952-1. Gross Mass: 5,500,000 kg (12,100,000 lb). Empty Mass: 700,000 kg (1,540,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 141,286.300 kN (31,762,424 lbf). Isp: 257 sec. Burn time: 84 sec. Isp(sl): 217 sec. Diameter: 20.00 m (65.00 ft). Span: 37.00 m (121.00 ft). Length: 36.50 m (119.70 ft). Propellants: Nitric acid/Hydrazine. No Engines: 51. Status: Study 1952.

Stage 2. 1 x Von Braun 1952-2. Gross Mass: 770,000 kg (1,690,000 lb). Empty Mass: 70,000 kg (154,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 16,271.100 kN (3,657,889 lbf). Isp: 298 sec. Burn time: 124 sec. Diameter: 13.50 m (44.20 ft). Span: 13.50 m (44.20 ft). Length: 20.70 m (67.90 ft). Propellants: Nitric acid/Hydrazine. No Engines: 34. Status: Study 1952.

Stage 3. 1 x Von Braun 1952-3. Gross Mass: 105,000 kg (231,000 lb). Empty Mass: 22,000 kg (48,000 lb). Thrust (vac): 2,033.800 kN (457,216 lbf). Isp: 296 sec. Burn time: 105 sec. Diameter: 5.80 m (19.00 ft). Span: 48.00 m (157.00 ft). Length: 23.40 m (76.70 ft). Propellants: Nitric acid/Hydrazine. No Engines: 5. Status: Study 1952.

AKA: A12.

Status: Study 1952.

Gross mass: 6,400,000 kg (14,100,000 lb).

Payload: 25,000 kg (55,000 lb).

Height: 97.00 m (318.00 ft).

Diameter: 20.00 m (65.00 ft).

Thrust: 119,300.00 kN (26,819,700 lbf).

Apogee: 1,730 km (1,070 mi).

Collier's March 22, 1952 "Man Will Conquer Space Soon" PDF: www.rmastri.it/u.php?e

AND www.unz.org/Pub/Colliers-1952mar22

They''ve changed the methods of doing basic maths since my days in school.

Tidal Basin, Washington D.C.

20140412-IMG_2020-1

trailtopeak.com/photography/

Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world. It rises with an elevation of 8,586 m in a section of the Himalayas called Kangchenjunga Himal that is limited in the west by the Tamur River and in the east by the Teesta River. The Kangchenjunga Himal is located in eastern Nepal and Sikkim, India.

The main peak of Kangchenjunga is the second highest mountain in Nepal after Mount Everest. Three of the five peaks – Main, Central and South – are on the border between North Sikkim and Nepal. Two peaks are in the Taplejung District, Nepal. Kangchenjunga Main is the highest mountain in India, and the easternmost of the mountains higher than 8,000 m. It is called Five Treasures of Snow after its five high peaks, and has always been worshipped by the people of Darjeeling and Sikkim.

Until 1852, Kangchenjunga was assumed to be the highest mountain in the world, but calculations based on various readings and measurements made by the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in 1849 came to the conclusion that Mount Everest, known as Peak XV at the time, was the highest. Allowing for further verification of all calculations, it was officially announced in 1856 that Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain.

Kangchenjunga was first climbed on 25 May 1955 by Joe Brown and George Band, who were part of a British expedition. They stopped short of the summit as per the promise given to the Chogyal that the top of the mountain would remain inviolate. Every climber or climbing group that has reached the summit has followed this tradition. Other members of this expedition included John Angelo Jackson and Tom Mackinon.

The Kangchenjunga landscape is a complex of three distinct ecoregions: the eastern Himalayan broad-leaved and coniferous forests, the Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows and the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands. The Kangchenjunga transboundary landscape is shared by Bhutan, China, India and Nepal, and comprises 14 protected areas with a total of 6,032 km2:

- Nepal: Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.

- Sikkim, India: Khangchendzonga National Park, Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary, Fambong Lho Wildlife Sanctuary, Kyongnosla Alpine Sanctuary, Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary, Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary, Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary

- Darjeeling, India: Jore Pokhri Wildlife Sanctuary, Singalila National Park, Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, Neora Valley National Park.

- Bhutan: Torsa Strict Nature Reserve

These protected areas are habitats for many globally significant plant species such as rhododendrons and orchids and many endangered flagship species such as snow leopard, Asian black bear, red panda, white-bellied musk deer, blood pheasant and chestnut-breasted partridge.

GEOGRAPHY

The Kangchenjunga Himal section of the Himalayas lies both in Nepal and India, and encompasses 16 peaks over 7,000 m. In the north, it is limited by the Lhonak Chu, Goma Chu and Jongsang La, and in the east by the Teesta River. The western limit runs from the Jongsang La down the Gingsang and Kangchenjunga glaciers and the rivers of Ghunsa and Tamur. Kanchenjunga rises about 20 km south of the general alignment of the Great Himalayan range about 125 km east-south-east of Mount Everest as the crow flies. South of the southern face of Kanchenjunga runs the 3,000–3,500 m high Singalila Ridge that separates Sikkim from Nepal and north Bengal.

Four glaciers radiate from the peak, pointing roughly to the north-east, south-east, north-west and south-west. The Zemu glacier in the north-east and the Talung glacier in the south-east drain to the Teesta River, thereby forming a part of the Brahmputra catchment. The summit of Kangchenjunga is the highest point of the Brahmaputra basin. The Yalung glacier in the south-west and the Kangchen glacier in the north-west drain to the Arun and Kosi rivers, thereby forming a part of the Ganges catchment. The summit of Kangchenjunga, therefore, also forms a part of the Ganges basin. The glaciers spread over the area above approximately 5,000 m, and the glacialized area covers 314 km2 in total.

The main ridge of the massif runs from north-north-east to south-south-west and forms a watershed to several rivers. Together with ridges running roughly from east to west they form a giant cross. These ridges contain a host of peaks between 6,000 and 8,000 m. On the east ridge is Siniolchu (6,888 m). The west ridge culminates in the Jannu (7,710 m) with its imposing north face. To the south are Kabru North (7,338 m), Kabru South (7,316 m) and Rathong (6,678 m). The north ridge, after passing through the Kangchenjunga North (7,741 m), includes The Twins (7,350 m) and Tent Peak, and runs up to the Tibetan border by the Jongsang La, a 6,120 m high pass.

FIRST ASCENT

In 1955, Joe Brown and George Band made the first ascent on 25 May, followed by Norman Hardie and Tony Streather on 26 May. The full team also included John Clegg (team doctor), Charles Evans (team leader), John Angelo Jackson, Neil Mather, and Tom Mackinnon.

The ascent proved that Aleister Crowley's 1905 route (also investigated by the 1954 reconnaissance) was viable. The route starts on the Yalung Glacier to the southwest of the peak, and climbs the Yalung Face, which is 3,000 metres high. The main feature of this face is the "Great Shelf", a large sloping plateau at around 7,500 metres, covered by a hanging glacier. The route is almost entirely on snow, glacier, and one icefall; the summit ridge itself can involve a small amount of travel on rock. The first ascent expedition made six camps above their base camp, two below the Shelf, two on it, and two above it. They started on 18 April, and everyone was back to base camp by 28 May.

TOURISM

Some of the most famous views of Kangchenjunga are from the hill station of Darjeeling and Antu Dada of Illam, Nepal. The Darjeeling War Memorial is among the most visited places from which Kangchenjunga is observed. On a clear day it presents an image not so much of a mountain but of a white wall hanging from the sky. The people of Sikkim revere Kangchenjunga as a sacred mountain. Permission to climb the mountain from the Indian side is rarely given.

Due to its remote location in Nepal and the difficulty involved in accessing it from India, the Kangchenjunga region is not much explored by trekkers. It has, therefore, retained much of its pristine beauty. In Sikkim too, trekking into the Kangchenjunga region has just recently been permitted. The Goecha La trek is gaining popularity amongst tourists. It goes to the Goecha La Pass, located right in front of the huge southeast face of Kangchenjunga. Another trek to Green Lake Basin has recently been opened for trekking. This trek goes to the Northeast side of Kangchenjunga along the famous Zemu Glacier.

IN MYTH

The area around Kangchenjunga is said to be home to a mountain deity, called Dzö-nga or "Kangchenjunga Demon", a type of yeti or rakshasa. A British geological expedition in 1925 spotted a bipedal creature which they asked the locals about, who referred to it as the "Kangchenjunga Demon".

For generations, there have been legends recounted by the inhabitants of the areas surrounding Mount Kanchenjunga, both in Sikkim and in Nepal, that there is a valley of immortality hidden on its slopes. These stories are well known to both the original inhabitants of the area, the Lepcha people, and those of the Tibetan Buddhist cultural tradition. In Tibetan, this valley is known as Beyul Demoshong. In 1962 a Tibetan Lama by the name of Tulshuk Lingpa led over 300 followers into the high snow slopes of Kanchenjunga to ‘open the way’ to Beyul Demoshong.

IN LITERATURE

- In the Swallows and Amazons series of books by Arthur Ransome, a high mountain (unnamed in the book, but clearly based on the Old Man of Coniston in the English Lake District) is given the name "Kanchenjunga" by the children when they climb it in 1931.

- In The Epic of Mount Everest, first published in 1926, Sir Francis Younghusband: " For natural beauty Darjiling (Darjeeling) is surely unsurpassed in the world. From all countries travellers come there to see the famous view of Kangchenjunga, 28,150 feet (8,580 m) in height, and only 40 miles (64 km) distant. Darjiling (Darjeeling) itself is 2,100 m above sea-level and is set in a forest of oaks, magnolia, rhododendrons, laurels and sycamores. And through these forests the observer looks down the steep mountain-sides to the Rangeet River only 300 m above sea-level, and then up and up through tier after tier of forest-clad ranges, each bathed in a haze of deeper and deeper purple, till the line of snow is reached; and then still up to the summit of Kangchenjunga, now so pure and ethereal we can scarcely believe it is part of the solid earth on which we stand; and so high it seems part of the very sky itself."

- In 1999, official James Bond author Raymond Benson published High Time to Kill. In this story, a microdot containing a secret formula for aviation technology is stolen by a society called the Union. During their escape, their plane crashes on the slopes of Kangchenjunga and James Bond becomes part of a climbing expedition in order to retrieve the formula.

- The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, which won the 2006 Man Booker Prize, is set partly in Kalimpong, a hill station situated near Kangchenjunga.

WIKIPEDIA

William Holland (1757-1815) - The Windsor astronomers, making observations and calculations respecting the conjunction of the English and Russian comets

www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1868-0808-10335

Exposure calculation table for converting metering read to the aperture equivalent on the pinhole camera.

How new calculations have shifted the habitable zone of Earth as well as other exoplanets outwards

More shots from The Bitter End coffee house in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Say NO to violence against women and girls! SPREAD THIS CAMPAIGN.

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Ladli — which in Indian languages (Hindi and Urdu) means ‘beloved daughter.’

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" Violence against women stands in direct contradiction to the promise of the United Nations Charter to “promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.” The consequences go beyond the visible and immediate. Death, injury, medical costs and lost employment are but the tip of an iceberg. The impact on women and girls, their families, their communities and their societies in terms of shattered lives and livelihoods is beyond calculation. Far too often, crimes go unpunished, and perpetrators walk free. No country, no culture, no woman, young or old, is immune." (UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on International Women's Day 2009.)

"Worst of all, violence against women and girls continues unabated in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence -- yet the reality is that, too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned." (UN SECRETARY-GENERAL in International Women’s Day 2007 Message.)

“Almost every country in the world still has laws that discriminate against women, and promises to remedy this have not been kept.” (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the eve of International Women's Day 2008)

According to one United Nations estimate, 113 to 200 million women are “demographically missing” from the world today. That is to say, there should be 113 to 200 million more women walking the earth, who aren’t. By that same estimate, 1.5 to 3 million women and girls lose their lives every year because of gender-based neglect or gender-based violence and Sexual Violence in Conflict.

In addition to torture, sexual violence and rape by occupation forces, a great number of women and girls are kept locked up in their homes by a very real fear of abduction and criminal abuse. In war and conflicts, girls and women have been denied their human right, including the right to health, education and employment. “Sexual violence in conflict zones is indeed a security concern. We affirm that sexual violence profoundly affects not only the health and safety of women, but the economic and social stability of their nations” –US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, 19 June 2008 (Read more about UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict www.stoprapenow.org/ ).

Millions of young women disappear in their native land every year. Many of them are found later being held against their will in other places and forced into prostitution. According to the UNICEF ( www.unicef.org/gender/index_factsandfigures.html ),Girls between 13 and 18 years of age constitute the largest group in the sex industry. It is estimated that around 500,000 girls below 18 are victims of trafficking each year. The victims of trafficking and female migrants are sometimes unfairly blamed for spreading HIV when the reality is that they are often the victims.

According to the UNAIDS around 17.3 million, women (almost half of the total number of HIV-positive) living with HIV ( www.unaids.org ). While HIV is often driven by poverty, it is also associated with inequality, gender-based abuses and economic transition. The relationship between abuses of women's rights and their vulnerability to AIDS is alarming. Violence and discrimination prevents women from freely accessing HIV/AIDS information, from negotiating condom use, and from resisting unprotected sex with an HIV-positive partner, yet most of the governments have failed to take any meaningful steps to prevent and punish such abuse.

United Nations agencies estimated that every year 3 million girls are at risk of undergoing the procedure – which involves the partial or total removal of external female genital organs – that some 140 million women, mostly in Asia and Africa, have already endured.

We can point a finger at poverty. But poverty alone does not result in these girls and women’s deaths and suffering; the blame also falls on the social system and attitudes of the societies.

India alone accounts for more than 50 million of the women who are “missing” due to female foeticide - the sex-selective abortion of girls, dowry death, gender-based neglect and all forms of violence against women.

Since the late 1970s when the technology for sex determination first came into being, sex selective abortion has unleashed a saga of horror in India and other Asian countries. Experts are calling it "sanitized barbarism”. Worryingly, the trend is far stronger in urban rather than rural areas, and among literate rather than illiterate women, exploding the myth that growing affluence and spread of basic education alone will result in the erosion of gender bias. The United Nations has expressed serious concern about the situation.

The decline in the sex ratio and the millions of Missing Women are indicators of the feudal patriarchal resurgence. Violence against women has gone public – whether it is dowry murders, the practice of female genital mutilation, honour killings, sex selective abortions or death sentences awarded to young lovers from different communities by caste councils, rapes and killings in communal and caste violence, it is only women’s and human rights groups who are protesting – the public and institutional response to these trends is very minimal.

Millions of women suffer from discrimination in the world of work. This not only violates a most basic human right, but has wider social and economic consequences. Most of the governments turn a blind eye to illegal practices and enact and enforce discriminatory laws. Corporations and private individuals engage in abusive and sexist practices without fear of legal system.

More women are working now than ever before, but they are also more likely than men to get low-productivity, low-paid and vulnerable jobs, with no social protection, basic rights nor voice at work according to a new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) issued for International Women’s Day 2008. Are we even half way to meeting the eight Millennium Development Goals?

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Unite To End Violence Against Women!

Say No To Sex Selection and Female Foeticide!!

Say No To Female Genital Mutilation!!!

Say No To Dowry and Discrimination Against Women!!!!

Say Yes To Women’s Resistance !!!!!

Educate & Empowered Women for a Happy Future !!!!!!

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www.un.org/womenwatch/

www.un.org/women/endviolence/

www.saynotoviolence.org/

www.unaids.org

www.un.org/millenniumgoals/

Photo: Firoz Ahmad Firoz

Pencil Sharpener Rant - Inkling on Moleskine, again

Yet another week passed seeing nonsense going on in certain poor company-wide execution. Poor logic, calculation and consideration (no those are not algorithms, at all) executed in the name of efficiency and ideal automation. Simply said, replacing human decision with formulae requires deep understanding and serious simulations *before* execution. Now is the stage when a lot more human intervention is required to fix certain poor logics.

Yes I'm a sharpener mining my my own business shaping the future in my own ways. Forcing some nonsense into me and I'll keep cranking until raging fume comes out because I refuse to play nice to nonsense. The day when I need protection is the day I lost my value as a sharpener, as blades are not meant to be protected, they are to shape.

Ok, enough self proclaimed heroism. This is just a quick sketch using Inkling on my Moleskine, graphically rant about my recent encounter with sick things. The drawing was exported to Photoshop using Sketch Manager and colored in a sloppy way. Enough to calm me down, call it a therapy.

Wacom Hong Kong is going to have a press conference on 28th Sep 2011 to announce Inkling officially. Since I'm a big fan of Inkling and still sort of a Moleskine fanatic while luckily being the stationery buyer of a retail chain, I'm arranging a promotion in October: Buy Inkling and get 20% off for Moleskine Sketchbook (large or small). This simulation of store display was done in 30 minutes while attending a presentation meeting. I'm very happy to be able to get support from both Wacom and Moleskine for such campaign in such a short time. It won't be a big hit, but at least it benefits certain stationery lovers who happen to love both Inkling and Moleskine. Let's see how it will turn out.

More on Scription blog: scription.typepad.com/blog/2011/09/pencil-sharpener-rant-...

Quick calculation, that’s an average price of $8.76 on the low end and $42.62 on the high end. I suppose there are a few rare LPs that are skewing the average, but I’m skeptical.

-- Not Confirmed yet!!!

Please comment once you tested some of the results.

Sailboat Specifications

Hull Type: Lifting Keel

Rigging Type: Fractional Sloop

LOA: 8.51 m

LWL: 7.47 m

Beam: 2.82 m

S.A. (reported): 35.30 m2

Draft (max): 1.52 m

Draft (min): 0.38 m

Displacement: 2,495 kg

Ballast: 930 kg

S.A./Disp.: 19.57

Bal./Disp.: 37.27

Disp./Len.: 166.96

Construction: GRP

First Built: 1989

Builder: Parker Yachts (UK)

Designer: Ron Holland

Auxiliary Power/Tanks (orig. equip.)

Make: Yanmar

Model: 1GM

Type: Diesel

Fuel: 45 L

Sailboat Calculations

S.A./Disp.: 19.57

Bal./Disp.: 37.27

Disp./Len.: 166.96

Comfort Ratio: 17.20

Capsize Screening Formula: 2.10

S#: 3.14

Rig and Sail Particulars

I: 9.75 m

J: 3.20 m

P: 9.53 m

E: 3.20 m

S.A. Fore: 15.61 m2

S.A. Main: 15.24 m2 S.A. Total (100% Fore + Main Triangles) 30.85 m2

S.A./Disp. (calc.): 17.10

Est. Forestay Len.: 10.27 m

Mast Height from DWL: 12.34 m

Accommodations

Water: 76 L

Sailboat Links

Ron Holland

www.ronhollanddesign.com

My first design, the 26 ft. sloop 'White Rabbit' was created in 1966 during the 3 year period I attended my boat building apprenticeship in Auckland, New Zealand. Six years later, while working in the engineering department of production yacht builder, Morgan Yachts in St. Petersburg, Florida, I designed a 24 ft. racer, 'Eygthene', to the IOR Quarter Ton Rule. This yacht won the 1973 Quarter Ton Championships in Torbay, England, and enabled me to secure the design commission for 'Golden Apple' from Irish yachtsman, the late Hugh Coveney. The success of this yacht was the foundation of my Irish based yacht design business.

These small racing yachts formed the backbone of the Ron Holland organisation for several years, with a string of successes in level rating world championships and Admiral's Cup events. Racing at the highest level of international competition.

Based on the racing success of the Admiral's Cup yachts came commissions for maxi racers, the largest yachts competing internationally. In 1980, 'Kialoa' and 'Condor' established the Ron Holland design philosophy in this area of the business and lead to commissions for larger, performance oriented cruising yachts.

'Whirlwind XII", my first design over 100 ft. in length, was launched from the Royal Huisman Shipyard in 1986 and paved the way for a wide variety of design commissions from clients who demanded beautiful, safe, comfortable cruising yachts, capable of worldwide voyaging. The common denominator is these were all performance oriented cruising yachts, the benchmark of the Ron Holland Design philosophy still in force with today's design commissions.

1999 has seen important new projects that included my first interior design commission, as well as my first motor yacht design work. New areas of activity that I have found stimulating and a logical extension of a lifetime's work in the marine design field.

Reviewing the presented Ron Holland designs will show the variety of design approaches that have been taken, specifically to ensure my clients achieve a yacht that fulfils their personal requirements. My organisation prides itself with interpreting the client's goals and integrating these with aesthetically correct and performance oriented design solutions.

Sailboat Specifications

Hull Type: Fin w/spade rudder

Rigging Type: Masthead Sloop

LOA: 29.85 ft / 9.10 m

LWL: 24.01 ft / 7.32 m

Beam: 7.87 ft / 2.40 m

S.A. (reported): 446.70 ft2 / 41.50 m2

Draft (max): 4.59 ft / 1.40 m

Displacement: 7,275 lb / 3,300 kg

S.A./Disp.: 19.10

Disp./Len.: 234.64

Construction: GRP

First Built: 1959

# Built: 650

Builder: E. G. van de Stadt (NED)

Designer: Ericus (Ricus) Gerhardus van de Stadt (1910–1999)

Sailboat Calculations

Sail#: P235

S.A./Disp.: 19.10

Disp./Len.: 234.64

Comfort Ratio: 27.95

Capsize Screening Formula: 1.63

Propulsion

Engine Type:Inboard

Engine Make:Beta Marine

Engine Capacity: 599 cc

Engine Model:16 Hp 3600 rpm Heat Exchanger Cooled 2 Cylinder Engine.

Fuel Type:Diesel

Engine Year:2010

Power:16 Hp

Drive Type:Shaft Drive

Propeller Type:2 Blade

Other Specifications

DesignerVan De Stadt

BuilderSouthern Ocean Shipyard 1959--1987

Cabins2

Single Berths5

Heads1

Fuel Tanks1 x 50 litres (Plastic)

Fresh Water Tanks1 x 50 litres (GRP)

Notes

Zeewoelf is Flemish for Catfish

VDS #055. The PIONIER (9) is said to be the first series-built fiberglass cruising yacht built in Europe. A prototype was built of wood that became the ‘plug’ and the first boat was finished in the summer of 1959, just in time to participate in the Flevo Race of that year. E. G. van de Stadt sailed the race himself and finished first in class.

The PIONIER 9 was also built in the UK, molded by Tyler Boat Co, and finished by Southern Ocean Shipyard.

Originally posted on Ipernity: Easy Income Tax Calculations.

This comic postcard, which was postmarked in Oswego, N.Y., on August 27, 1932, reveals that frustration with the complexity of income tax in the United States is nothing new. In fact, this amusing account of how to calculate your tax was circulating in magazines and newspapers as early as 1919. For one example, see "It's Easy," published in the Santa Fe Magazine, August 1919, p. 58.

Take My Advice–The Next Time You Make Out Your Income Tax Report

It can be easily done by observing these simple rules. It may be worked out by algebra, astronomy, trigonometry, or syntax and then your answer may be correct or it may not be.

If your income is $2,400.00 a year and [you have] a diamond ring or an automobile and you are married to a brunette girl, 26 years of age, you take the amount of the income and add your personal property, subtract your street number, multiply by your wife's height, and divide by your telephone number. If you have a child in the family, you subtract $200.00 from your income, add your collar size, add the child's age, multiply by your waist measure, subtract the amount of funds you have given to the church in the past year, and then divide by the number of your automobile license. If there is a second child you deduct $400.00 from your income tax, add the weight and age of the child, and divide by the date of your birth, multiply by the size of your hat, and subtract the weight of your mother-in-law. After you have it all figured out you won't have to pay any tax of any nature, for they will have you in the booby hatch and strapped down.