component, photos on Flickr

Sony ES Components by mastercontrolmedia

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Chris component shopping by Cosey Fanni Tutti

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Maplin store trip

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Water Cycle by AIRS, the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder is a spaceborne instrument onboard NASA's Aqua satellite whose data are being used to improve our understanding of Earth's weather and climate.

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Precipitation is a vital component of how water moves through Earth’s water cycle, connecting the ocean, land, and atmosphere. Knowing where it rains, how much it rains and the character of the falling rain, snow or hail allows scientists to better understand precipitation’s impact on streams, rivers, surface runoff and groundwater. Frequent and detailed measurements help scientists make models of and determine changes in Earth’s water cycle.

The water cycle describes how water evaporates from the surface of the earth, rises into the atmosphere, cools and condenses into rain or snow in clouds, and falls again to the surface as precipitation. The water falling on land collects in rivers and lakes, soil, and porous layers of rock, and much of it flows back into the oceans, where it will once more evaporate. The cycling of water in and out of the atmosphere is a significant aspect of the weather patterns on Earth.

Credit:

NASA

Belgian Air Component General Dynamics F-16AM Fighting Falcons & Armee de l'Air Dassault Rafales, NATO Tiger Meet 2017, BAN Landivisiau by Moshi Anahory

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© M J Anahory. These images are protected by copyright. You cannot copy or republish this photo without written consent of the copyright holder. Any copyright infringements will be followed up with action legal or otherwise.

Component by UW-Whitewater University Housing

Photo: Ken Fager

Vintage Electronics Component Collection by Dave Jones

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Halifax Fire Department firefighters, [1883] by Halifax Municipal Archives

Date: [1883]

Photographer: Halifax Photo. Co.

Format: b&w print, 23.5 x 19.2 cm, mounted on board 35.3 x 27.7 cm

Retrieval Code: Halifax Fire Department photograph, 102-111-4-3.6

Public Service Bargaining Conference - by BC General Employees' Union (BCGEU)

Component 5 Bargaining Committee

Delegates from communities across the province gathered in Vancouver on November 26th to discuss priorities and bargaining strategies at the public service bargaining conference.

Component Manufacturing by Tiny Machining

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In conjunction with CyberClimb and Legado Video, we produced a business legacy video for Component Manufacturing and Reaves Creating Systems. The video aids …

www.arrivalelectronics.co.uk/manufacturing Arrival Electronics delivers a full variety of Managed Electronic...

Read more about Component Manufacturing

(Posted by a Precision Machining China Manufacturer)

97_17426 by NASA Johnson

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97-17426 (December 10, 1997) --- The U.S. Laboratory module for the International Space Station is shown under construction in the fall of 1997 at the Marshall Space Flight Center station manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Al. The lab module will be launched to the station on Space Shuttle mission STS-98 in May 1999. The aluminum module is 28 feet long and 14 feet in diameter. The lab is consists of three cylindrical sections and two endcones with hatches that will be mated to other station components. The exterior waffle pattern visible in this image strengthens the hull of the lab. The exterior will eventually be covered by a debris shield blanket made of a material similar to that used in bullet-proof vests on Earth. A thin aluminum debris shield will then be placed over the blanket for additional protection. A 20-inch diameter window is located on one side of the center module segment.

U.S. PRIORITIES IN AFRICA, with Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs David Gilmour - IMG_4283 by VascoPress Comunicações

Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs David Gilmour met with reporters at the New York Foreign Press Center, on behalf of Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was called to another meeting. Some of his viewpoints expressed during today’s meeting are summarized below.

Secretary Gilmour started by mentioning extraordinary success of the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit the United States just hosted in Washington last month; emphasizing that it really surpassed all expectations, and, according to him, “as Africa continues to face great challenges, we’re also seeing more prosperity on the continent with rapidly growing economies and lots of investment opportunities, a burgeoning middle class, and a very dynamic young population” .

In Secretary Gilmour’s words, “one of the most pressing issues facing Africa right now, and particularly West Africa, is the Ebola outbreak, and it’s a virus that West Africans have not encountered before. And the health systems, particularly in Liberia, are breaking down under the demands placed on their very limited resources. The important thing about Ebola is that we know how to treat it and how to stop the spread of the disease, but no treatment can be effective if the patients cannot get to the facilities and if there’s no equipment and if there aren’t enough trained healthcare workers”.

He mentioned that “President Obama announced last Tuesday a major increase in the efforts to help the affected countries and the international community; that the United States has been involved in the response to Ebola since the very first cases were reported many months ago; and that, however, as the outbreak worsened and increased, we determined that this is a national security priority for the United States and we ramped up our response”.

One of the new components in the U.S. response to Ebola will be a joint force command that will coordinate a regional response on the ground. An estimated 4,000 U.S. forces will be involved in the staging and transporting of supplies, building additional treatment units, and setting up sites to train 500 healthcare providers per week.

Stopping Ebola will take more than just the efforts of the United States and we are mobilizing partners around the world to help, but we have to act fast. Last week, the UN Security Council resolution on Ebola had 134 co-sponsors, and that’s more than any other resolution in the Council’s history. As we move forward, we must turn that resolve into action to control the outbreak, prevent a humanitarian disaster, and to strengthen health systems for the future.

Another critical conversation that’s going on at UNGA this week is how the world is responding to the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters. The President chaired a meeting at the UN Security Council on this topic, and raised it in his address to the General Assembly. Foreign terrorist fighters increase the brutality, intractability, and sectarian nature of the conflicts. And not only do these individuals threaten the states through which they transit, they return home radicalized to violence and possessing new military skills, increasing the risk of homegrown terrorist attacks.

We all know that the evil of terrorism is not just confined to the Middle East – it exists across Africa and throughout the world – and on Sunday we commemorated the solemn one-year anniversary of the al-Shabaab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. Recently, we’ve made progress in pushing back al-Shabaab. In recent weeks, al-Shabaab has lost additional territory to the renewed offensive by AMISOM and the Somali National Army, and it has suffered the loss of its co-founder, Ahmed Godane, and seen terrorist cells in Kampala disrupted by Ugandan security agencies. We must remain vigilant and understand that the fight is not over yet.

On the other side of the continent, we’re dealing with Boko Haram in Nigeria, and as an aside, I’d like to mention – I’d like to certainly commend the Government of Nigeria for its efforts to combat the spread of Ebola. Nigeria was one of the very first nations to respond when it donated $3.5 million two months ago to ECOWAS to fight Ebola, and Nigeria’s also been very active in training healthcare workers from all three affected countries in Lagos. So we certainly commend Nigeria’s efforts in responding to Ebola.

Back to Boko Haram, Boko Haram threatens not only the stability of Nigeria but the entire region. And long before the world’s attention was captured by the brutal kidnapping of hundreds of young women and girls in Chibok, we’d been working with Nigeria and its neighbors to address the growing threat from Boko Haram. Sadly, the Chibok girls and women are not the only victims of Boko Haram’s brutality and terrorism. More than 2,000 persons have been victimized by Boko Haram’s violence this year alone and recent events in Borno State and in Cameroon’s far north are evidence of this, and we’re deeply concerned about the security of Maiduguri in the near and in the long-term. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled their homes, some into Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

And just as we are stressing to our coalition partners in dealing with the threat posed by ISIL, the response in Africa cannot be exclusively military; it must be comprehensive. And that’s why we urge Nigeria and all the countries confronting this problem to invoke a comprehensive approach that brings both civilian and security tools to the fight. And we’re committed to supporting Nigeria in these efforts.

Let me turn for a moment to the Central African Republic. And I’m pleased to report that we’ve resumed operations at our Embassy in Bangui this week – or last week, I should say. And this coincides with the handover of authority for peacekeeping from the African Union-led mission MISCA to the new UN-led mission MINUSCA, which is the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission for the Central African Republic. And MINUSCA will continue to work alongside the French and European forces that are already there in place.

Unfortunately, the standing up of the UN mission does not mean that the humanitarian emergency is over. There’s still great need in that country. And in response to the urgent needs on the ground, the United States recently announced 28 million in additional funding for CAR last week and is providing over $145 million in humanitarian assistance for the crisis thus far. And we’re certainly continuing to support the Central African Republic as it moves toward the process of a national dialogue, reconciliation, and eventually free, fair, and peaceful elections – that its people certainly want and very much deserve.

Let me come back a moment to the African Leaders Summit, and I would comment that the feedback we’ve received from leaders this week that the assistant secretary’s had in her meetings has been overwhelmingly positive. The leaders were very pleased to have so much time to engage with President Obama and with the American private sector. Here in New York, we’ve seen what an infusion of positive energy the summit has brought to these relationships. Secretary Kerry is pleased about that, as is Assistant Secretary Thomas-Greenfield and all of us who work on U.S.-Africa relations day in and day out.

During the course of the summit, we announced $33 billion in commitments for new trade and investment from U.S. companies, and another 4 billion for Africa’s development, including maternal and child healthcare, delivery of vaccines and drugs. We launched a number of new programs from the Security Governance Initiative to the Global Resilience Partnership to the Doing Business in Africa Campaign, which will spur U.S. investment in Africa and increase African investment in the United States.

In addition, we’ve committed $110 million a year for the next three to five years for the new African Peacekeeping Rapid Response Partnership or what we call APRRP for short. And this program will help to build the capacity of African militaries to rapidly deploy peacekeepers to – in response to emerging conflicts.

We also hosted a very successful 13th AGOA ministerial, the African Growth and Opportunity Act on the eve of the summit. And President Obama has made it clear that he seeks a seamless renewal of the AGOA prior to its expiration next year, and we will work with Congress to achieve that goal.

Leading up to the summit, we were all talking about the fact that most of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies are in Africa. The African continent is home to a burgeoning middle class with an appetite for U.S. products. As African economies continue to grow, there’s an opportunity for job creation in the United States, and American CEOs recognize that.

Although much of our attention and energies at this moment have been diverted to dealing with Ebola, it does not define our relationship with Africa or with the affected countries. As the international community comes together to tackle the epidemic and to stop the further spread of Ebola, which I know we can and we will do, I’m confident that the – that Africa’s economic health will replace the other health headlines once again.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.) All eyes will be on Nigeria as the country prepares for the 2015 election. What advice would you give the government? And in view of already charged scenario, politicians are making provocative statements and charging the system. What advice do you have for the government?

MR. GILMOUR: Well, in terms of – as I mentioned, in terms of the security situation, what we advocate is certainly a comprehensive approach to the problem, that it’s not a problem that can be solved purely by military means or by – with security tools. The north of Nigeria is a region that’s been underdeveloped for a long time, so there needs to be a response by the whole of the Nigerian Government in terms of social services, in terms of economic development, in terms of investment. So that’s what we see as the kind of long-term solution to that problem, as well as a strong security response. So all of the tools have to be used.

And I think we see other examples around the world. You can look at countries like Colombia, where there have been successful campaigns against insurgencies using the broad range of tools, so that’s the approach that we advocate. So I think that’s an important part of the discussion.

Just in general, we certainly hope for a robust and broad political discussion in Nigeria and free and fair and open and credible elections.

QUESTION: One question on the foreign fighters story that was important yesterday. Are you seeing any movement of foreign fighters from African countries and from countries where you know that terrorism and particularly the Islamist terrorism is rife? Are you detecting any movement toward the likes of Iraq and Syria at the moment?

MR. GILMOUR: Well, I think we’re always concerned about the possibility of that, and certainly concerned about the possibility of movement within Africa between the conflicts that are going on in the different regions. And as we speak to the African leaders, we hear a constant concern about, particularly groups like Boko Haram potentially connecting up with extremists from East Africa or those in the Central African Republic.

I particularly look after the Central African region as my main portfolio, and speaking to leaders out there, they’re very concerned about this problem of fighters potentially moving across borders. So it’s something we all need to – all the governments need to work together on, in not only restricting the movement of potential fighters but also in restricting financial flows as well.

QUESTION: Been any movement so far toward particularly Iraq and Syria? I know you’ve been able to detect plenty of American citizens. Have you been able to detect citizens from other African countries that you’ve been looking at? Have they made their way to Iraq and Syria, do you know?

MR. GILMOUR: I don’t have any information on that. No.

QUESTION: Can I --

MR. GILMOUR: Yeah. Sorry.

QUESTION: Thank you. Thank you very much for being here with us. I’m curious to know about the – a little more about the joint forces command with 4,000 U.S. forces and how that is going to be implemented. Would you shed some light?

MR. GILMOUR: Well, the 4,000 number refers to all the personnel that would be involved kind of throughout the entire chain, both from the AFRICOM headquarters in Germany through – there are plans for intermediate staging areas in other countries to move supplies, and then finally the forces that would be on the ground, which would be primarily, as I understand it, engineers who would do construction. Because our main challenge is to – and particularly in Liberia – is to help construct as quickly as possible Ebola treatment centers. So there will be – so there are plans to construct a large number of these treatment centers. And then also there’s going to be – the Department of Defense has announced about a week ago that they would bring in a field hospital, so that will be set up. So it’s mainly personnel to help with logistics and bringing in supplies and doing construction.

QUESTION: And so the headquarters will be in Germany?

MR. GILMOUR: Yes.

QUESTION: So is there going to be --

MR. GILMOUR: It’s U.S. Africa Command.

QUESTION: -- a secondary managing center for the --

MR. GILMOUR: In Liberia.

QUESTION: In Liberia?

MR. GILMOUR: Yes.

QUESTION: What about – and from Liberia it will spring to other countries, or not necessarily?

MR. GILMOUR: Yes.

MR. FORD: There’s an intermediate base in Dakar, Senegal.

MR. GILMOUR: Is that? Okay. So that’s been – yes.

MR. FORD: Yeah. Dakar was going to be the intermediate base that they’re going to ship to and then they’re going to help feed the region.

QUESTION: On the U.S.-African Summit, I don’t know what mechanism has been put in place to monitor the implementation of the commitment that has been made by the leaders.

MR. GILMOUR: Well, that’s part of the idea this week with the discussions. That’s been a main focus with – in – the Assistant Secretary’s discussions with leaders this week are the follow-up exactly to that, how do we move forward on implementing these. And some of the initiatives, like the security governance initiative that I mentioned and the peacekeeping initiative – those are with particular countries. And so certainly, there are specific follow-up on those. But I think that’s been a topic of discussion with all the leaders this week, is how do we continue to move forward on those. And certainly, it’s a process that will continue with our embassies in each of the countries around the continent as well.

Heading back to Washington?

MODERATOR: We can go back to Washington.

QUESTION: Yeah. Same one, Philip Crowther with France 24 again. Just wanted to make sure on the question that I asked earlier what your answer was. I couldn’t hear it, whether it was an “I don’t know” or a “No comment” on whether you know whether African fighters or jihadists have made their way over to Iraq and Syria. And after that, I’d just ask one more question if I may.

MR. GILMOUR: Okay. Yeah, no, I don’t have any information on that. And perhaps we can get you something on that, but I don’t have any knowledge of that.

QUESTION: And then just finally on the coalition that the President asked yesterday at the Security Council that he wants the world to join him in this diplomatic and potentially wider-ranging military coalition against ISIL, have you – what kind of outreach have you done to African countries? Who is on board? And what might they potentially do? Are we looking at staging areas more than anything, the likes of – I don’t know – I think you use Djibouti, Eritrea, and Niger at this point in terms of airfields. Do you know what is being done in Africa for this diplomatic and military coalition against ISIL?

MR. GILMOUR: No, I don’t have any information on that as of yet. Okay.

STAFF: Please go ahead.

MR. GILMOUR: Okay.

QUESTION: Yeah. There was an appointment, I think, yesterday of the Ebola coordinator Ambassador Powell. I don’t know – is she going to be on a shuttle around – I’m sorry, West Africa, or she will be stationed in Washington?

MR. GILMOUR: In Washington – she’s just come on board. She’s just started the job. And I’m not aware yet of any travel – I don’t know if you are, Rodney, but – so as far as I’m aware for now, her job is going to be in Washington coordinating. That’s not to say that she may not travel later, but I’m not aware of any travel being planned at this point.

MR. FORD: Oh, I think she’s here in New York too. She’s had --

MR. GILMOUR: And she is here today in New York, yes.

MR. FORD: -- (inaudible) a couple of Ebola meetings here today.

QUESTION: Oh, okay, yeah (inaudible) Ebola today, high-level meeting today.

QUESTION: Would you please share with us some of the outcomes on the private sector side of the African Leaders Summit that was held in Washington?

MR. GILMOUR: Well, there’s tremendous interest, as you might know. We had this business forum, and there were 200 CEOs from major American companies and major African companies as well, and that the leaders had a chance to spend a full day interacting with them. So there was tremendous interest on the part both of African leaders and African business as well as American CEOs. And I think Americans see great opportunity for investment in Africa, just as companies in Brazil and India and China and many markets are looking at Africa as an investment opportunity.

So as I mentioned, there were some $33 billion worth of potential investments announced that came out of that deal. So yeah, as I say, there’s just tremendous interest, and I think we’ll certainly be seeing more of that.

There’s been some very successful joint ventures between American companies and South African – or – and African partners, I should say, and I think we’ll see more of that. There’s – particularly in the resource sector, in transportation, and in lots of different sectors. So there’s certainly great potential.

QUESTION: I know you mentioned China.

MR. GILMOUR: Mm-hmm.

QUESTION: I would like to ask you about – how do you perceive the presence of China in Africa?

MR. GILMOUR: Oh, people ask us about that all the time, of course, and we certainly see China’s role as a positive one. China has much to contribute, and China’s made many investments, particularly in terms of infrastructure, that have been sorely needed for Africa. Africa needs all kinds of infrastructure everywhere, and so it’s great that the Chinese are playing an important role there. And our only comment is that – to African governments is that when they work with any foreign partner, they should ensure that the investments that they make, the partnerships they make, are a good deal for their country, and that they look out for the interests of the African countries in those, but – yes, but by and large, a very positive role.

QUESTION: Back to the Nigerian – forthcoming Nigerian general election is next year, that’s 2015. Is there any support the United States is making towards assisting Nigeria in the conduct of the election, and maybe other issues that have been coming up, like the issue of the (inaudible)? The situation has been very hard, and all – what support the U.S. is doing towards that?

MR. GILMOUR: Well, we have ongoing programs in support of democratic institutions. That’s certainly our priority everywhere, is just – and this is – President Obama has defined that that’s our top priority for Africa is the strengthening of democratic institutions. And so we’re always ready to help bring in American experts to advise on democratic processes and things like the rule of law. So this is an ongoing effort of ours that we’re always doing. And we can get you some more details on what’s being done in particular in Nigeria. But yeah, certainly it’s something that we’re interested in supporting.

QUESTION: I’m curious to know if there is still an institutional memory at the State Department of a man that I much admired in the ’80s, Chester Crocker.

MR. GILMOUR: He’s still in Washington, yeah.

QUESTION: Meaning the work that he did in those days is still relevant as a backup for the – how do you deal – because he’s a very strong person in those – he was, he used to be in those days. And today, he’s still active there. And how – what is the – how would you compare the American foreign policy in Africa these days and --

MR. GILMOUR: Well, I think in – at that time, we were certainly focused on ending conflicts in Africa, and there were great conflicts going on in Southern Africa, and particularly in Portuguese-speaking countries in Southern Africa. And we’re very pleased that now – and I think we’ve just come on the 20th anniversary of some of those peace agreements, so that’s a very positive thing, that we can look back at these last 20 years and see Southern Africa in particular being at peace this whole time.

And I think the efforts are not that different. We’re focused on different areas of the continent now trying to resolve conflicts. But I think the prosperity and growth and success we’ve seen in Southern Africa is directly attributable to having – to our predecessors having solved those conflicts in the ’80s, and certainly the end of the Cold War played a major role in that as well, and the dismantling of apartheid in South Africa.

Now, we have different challenges today, but this – it’s the same idea. In order – Africa has such tremendous potential, and I’ve worked in and out of Africa for about 28 years my whole career, and in no time have I – in my career have I seen a greater sense of optimism and positive energy. And so these are really exciting, positive days, times to be working in Africa. And so I think all of us see the tremendous potential of so many countries, and then Africa has this fantastic youth population that’s growing so fast, and there’s so much talent and energy in Africa’s young people.

So in order to have Africa realize its potential through all those things, we have to have peace, and so solving these conflicts, particularly in West Africa and Northern Nigeria and that region and in East Africa, the conflict in Somalia and the extremism there – it’s really important to settle those so that these countries can realize their potential, in the same way that we’ve seen South Africa and Mozambique and Angola and the others that have been at peace for the last 20 years and how well they’ve done, so --

QUESTION: Thank you very much.

MS. STAVROPOULOS: Thank you, and if there are no other questions from Washington, we want to thank you very much for participating --

************************

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014, 9:00 A.M. EDT

NEW YORK FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, 799 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA, 10TH FLOOR

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Roca Lunar (brecha) / Moon rock (fragmental breccia) - NWA11474 by kakov

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3 x 3 x 0,15 cm

Fotografiada sumergida en agua (para mejorar el contraste entre los componentes)

Photographed immersed in water (for better contrast of components)

Los meteoritos con procedencia de la luna son entre los más escasos de todas las diferentes clases de meteoritos conocidos en la tierra. Paradójicamente es así, a pesar de ser el astro más cercano a nosotros. La razón: Para que pueda caer un trocito de luna aquí, un meteorito bastante grande lo tiene que haber arrancado de allí, recientemente (=hace no demasiados miles de años). Esto no ocurre a menudo. Mientras fragmentos más pequeños de asteroides y otros astros destrozados sí pululan en gran numero en el sistema solar y caen en la tierra con una frecuencia relativamente alta.

Todo esto mola, pero en mi opinión lo más fascinante es que podemos VER la procedencia exótica en esta foto, sin la necesidad de instrumentos. Es un ejercicio curioso, la tarea consiste en percibir un conjunto de varias cosas que NO están, finalmente una cosita que sí está pero es poco vistosa. A los que estáis dispuestos a usar unos minutos en esto, os invito a seguirme.

Resumiendo: Lo que vemos es una estructura totalmente caótica, sin ningún orden. No conocemos ninguna roca terrestre (ni otro meteorito) que tenga una pinta así.

Yendo por partes: Haciendo una ojeada superficial, la más parecida roca terrestre será un pórfido (materia de muchas obras del antiguo Egipto y Roma). El pórfido es una roca magmática, o sea formado por enfriamiento de piedra liquida (magma) en varias tandas. Tiene cristales grandes en una masa fina. Los cristales grandes (=visibles) son siempre algo regulares en su forma, parecidas entre sí, de tamaños más o menos parecidos y a veces también algo ordenados.

Lo que vemos en la foto es todo lo contrario. Las manchas claras no son nada regulares, ni lo más remotamente parecidas entre sí y son totalmente desordenados, de tamaño y de distribución. (Recomiendo parar la lectura aquí, y mirar la imagen).

Pues estos no son cristales sino FRAGMENTOS de algo que se ha vuelto a pegar en la masa más oscura. Una roca así se llama brecha. También hay brechas en la tierra, pero la mayoría de esas se forma en presencia de agua, por lo tanto son teñidos en tonos marrones o amarillos por óxidos de hierro. (Usados como decoración en catedrales). En la luna no hay ni una pizca de agua ni de aire, por lo tanto nunca hay óxidos de hierro. Las rocas de allí es un mundo en blanco y negro.

Lo que ha fragmentado esta roca son impactos de meteoritos en la superficie lunar. Luego el calor y la presión de estas explosiones lo ha vuelto a pegar. Esto ha ocurrido varias veces. Si vemos bien hay varios fragmentos que dentro tienen otro nivel de fragmentos. (Brechas en la brecha) Para que esto pueda haber ocurrido, necesitamos que la roca haya sido expuesta durante MUCHO tiempo. Esta roca lleva cerca del superficie lunar alrededor de 3000 millones de años. Suficiente. Ninguna roca terrestre ha estado expuesta tanto tiempo, ya que aquí las rocas se reciclan. A contrario de la luna, la tierra tiene un atmosfera, una biosfera y es geológicamente activa. Dicho de otro modo: es prácticamente imposible que dos meteoritos impacten en la tierra en el mismo lugar, antes de que las huellas de la primera se hayan borrado totalmente. Por lo tanto: brechas de impacto sí hay en la tierra, pero nunca van a tener otra brecha (=la huella del impacto anterior) dentro de sus fragmentos.

Por lo tanto esto es un meteorito lunar.

Mi explicación es “a posteriori”, pensado para que tengamos la experiencia visual y mental.

La identificación está confirmadísima comparando con muestras tomadas en la luna por los americanos.

Purple Wenokur Road by The Vanilla Workshop

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Brightening dark skies.

Mascots by Megan Potter Concept Artist

Refined ideas for a mascot competition.

Component parts by Volpin Props

Main shape is 1/4" MDF; the handle parts are 3/8" MDF

Componentes del Trozo de Visita y Registro del Rayo dando apoyo a pescadores somalíes by Armada.

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Operación Atalanta (EUNAVFOR).- BAM 'Rayo' (P-42)

Refinery Components by Lex Machina

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034/365 polyptych

Some shots from an abandoned refinery in CA. There are technically 4 photos in this image including the texture which was shot in the same location.

lexmachina365.tumblr.com/

Prints available from lexmachine.etsy.com

components by Maya

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maya*made

Campagnolo 50th Anniversary Group by Paris-Roubaix

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I unearthed a bundle of old cycling magazines in the attic the other

day and came across this brilliant advert for Campagnolo's 50th

Anniversary groupset. The magazine was the May 1983 issue of

'Cyclist Monthly'. Best seen on large size. I'm not sure I'm too fond

of the gold-plated parts mind you. There wasn't any price given in

the advert but one went on ebay last week for more than £2000.

Cristina D'Avena & Gem Boy - Carroponte - 11 luglio 2013 - © Mairo Cinquetti-52 by Mairo Cinquetti

Cristina D'Avena & Gem Boy

Carroponte - Sesto San Giovanni - Milano

11 Luglio 2013

Cristina D'Avena nasce a Bologna lunedì 6 luglio 1964 da Alfredo, medico, e da Ornella, casalinga. All'età di 3 anni e mezzo esordisce cantando "Il valzer del moscerino" alla decima edizione della rassegna canora per bambini Zecchino d'Oro; il brano si aggiudica il 3º posto. Dopo l'esperienza allo Zecchino d'Oro, rimane all'Antoniano come componente del Piccolo Coro fino al 1976, ma continuerà a frequentarlo per altri 5 anni accompagnando la sorella Clarissa, nata 10 anni dopo di lei e anche lei diventata nel frattempo componente del coro.

Nel 1981 Cristina è una diciassettenne studentessa di Liceo Classico che vede il canto solo come un hobby. In quel periodo, Alessandra Valeri Manera, l'allora responsabile della tv dei ragazzi della neonata Canale 5, era alla ricerca di una voce femminile che potesse interpretare la sigla della serie animata giapponese "Pinocchio": per questo motivo interpellò Augusto Martelli, direttore artistico-musicale della rete nonché figlio del maestro Giordano Bruno Martelli. Fu proprio Martelli padre, tramite il figlio, a segnalare a Valeri Manera il nome di Cristina D'Avena, avendo egli avuto modo di frequentarla fino a poco tempo prima presso il Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano. Dopo essere stata sottoposta ad un provino discografico, Cristina, ancora minorenne, firma un contratto di esclusiva (a cui è legata ancora oggi) con l'etichetta discografica di Canale 5, la Five Record (in seguito ridenominata RTI Music, oggi inglobata in RTI s.p.a.), e diviene così l'interprete della canzone "Bambino Pinocchio" composta da Martelli figlio che di lei all'epoca disse: « Diventerà una grande cantante ». Il successo commerciale del relativo 45 giri diede effettivamente inizio alla carriera di Cristina: da allora non ha mai smesso di incidere e, grazie alla quantità di sigle da lei registrate, è l'unico personaggio dello spettacolo la cui voce è presente sulla tv italiana ininterrottamente dai primi anni '80 almeno una volta al giorno, 7 giorni su 7, 365 giorni l'anno.

Sempre da questo periodo inizia a pubblicare numerosi singoli ed album, che complessivamente venderanno un totale di circa 6 milioni di copie: nel 1983, infatti, Five Record dà vita a "Fivelandia", il primo volume di quella che diventerà una longeva collana destinata a contenere le sigle dei cartoni animati in onda sulle reti del biscione; un appuntamento fisso dell'autunno a cadenza annuale, a cui si aggiungerà, a partire dal febbraio 1987, la sua versione primaverile anch'essa a cadenza annuale dal titolo "Cristina D'Avena con i tuoi amici in tv". Tra le canzoni di maggior successo dei primi anni, particolare menzione per "Canzone dei Puffi" del 1982 (grazie alla quale verrà premiata con il suo primo Disco d'Oro per le oltre 500.000 copie vendute) e "Kiss me Licia" del 1985 (Disco di Platino per le oltre 100.000 copie vendute del relativo album): quest'ultima è la sigla a cui la cantante dichiarerà più volte di essere maggiormente legata.

A partire dal settembre 1986 raggiunge, tuttavia, una popolarità ulteriore a quella già acquisita in 5 anni con la sola interpretazione delle sigle, nonché una notevole visibilità, quando interpreta il ruolo di Licia nella prima di 4 serie di telefilm per ragazzi intitolata "Love me Licia": la serie è basata sulla protagonista e sui personaggi del cartone animato giapponese "Kiss me Licia" (che aveva fatto il suo debutto 12 mesi prima), del quale questa produzione italiana con attori in carne e ossa prosegue idealmente le vicende. È così che quella che fino a questo momento era quasi soltanto una voce (quel timbro così particolare che milioni di bambini italiani avevano già imparato a riconoscere) diventa di fatto un volto, il volto di una ragazza dall'aspetto più giovane dei suoi 22 anni che l'intero pubblico, anche quello più adulto, ora conosce e apprezza già. A "Love me Licia" seguiranno "Licia dolce Licia" nella primavera 1987, "Teneramente Licia" nell'autunno 1987 e "Balliamo e cantiamo con Licia" nella primavera 1988; le serie vengono trasmesse il lunedì, il mercoledì e il venerdì alle ore 20:00 su Italia Uno in diretta concorrenza coi telegiornali Rai e raggiungono insperati ascolti record.

Nel 1987, mentre i brani da lei incisi ammontano già ad un centinaio, Cristina registra un brano in lingua francese: si tratta della versione francofona della sigla italiana "Lovely Sara" (da lei già interpretata pochi mesi prima), destinata ad accompagnare la messa in onda di "Princesse Sarah" che sarà il primo cartone animato ad essere trasmesso su La Cinq, rete televisiva francese di proprietà di Silvio Berlusconi costruita sul modello di Canale 5. Grazie a questa sua incisione la cantante, che per la prima volta vide apparire il proprio nome sulla copertina di un disco pubblicato e distribuito esclusivamente all'estero, è conosciuta e ricordata ancora oggi dai bambini francesi degli anni '80.

Conclusasi la saga di Licia nella primavera 1988, dall'autunno Italia Uno decide di mettere in scena proprio Cristina e la sua realtà quotidiana, costantemente impegnata tra gli studi universitari alla Facoltà di Medicina e il lavoro di cantante. Non a caso, durante l'ultima puntata dei telefilm di Licia, Cristina D'Avena compare nel ruolo di se stessa annunciando la sua intenzione di metter su una band musicale. Pochi mesi dopo viene infatti trasmessa su Italia Uno "Arriva Cristina", a cui seguiranno "Cristina" nell'autunno 1989, "Cri Cri" nell'autunno 1990 e "Cristina, l'Europa siamo noi" nell'autunno 1991. "Cri Cri" si compone di due serie da 36 episodi l'una, mentre "Cristina, l'Europa siamo noi" viene trasmessa da Retequattro anziché da Italia Uno e alle ore 19:00 anziché al consueto orario delle 20:00. Come già avvenuto per le 4 serie di Licia, per ognuno di questi telefilm Five Record pubblica un disco contenente la sigla e tutti i brani cantati all'interno degli episodi: i primi tre album diventano Dischi di Platino.

Tra i suoi concerti più riusciti quelli realizzati nel novembre 1989 e 1990 al PalaTrussardi di Milano, a cui assistettero un totale di circa 20.000 spettatori, e quello del 1992 al FilaForum di Assago (13.000 persone in sala e 3.000 all'esterno) i cui incassi sono stati interamente devoluti alla Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro.

Con alle spalle la stessa autrice-produttrice degli esordi ed una casa discografica che, grazie solamente alle sue canzoni, nel 1991 ottiene un fatturato di oltre 9 miliardi di lire, negli anni '90 la cantante prosegue, regolarmente e senza interruzioni, ad incidere nuove sigle e a pubblicare CD; numeri, i suoi, che tanti artisti blasonati, ancora oggi, le invidiano. Persino la cantante Mina, nel 1994, inciderà ed inserirà in uno dei suoi album una cover di una canzone di Cristina del 1988 dal titolo "Sempre attento al regolamento"; per l'occasione, testo e titolo furono modificati e la canzone divenne "Tu dimmi che città".

All'attività musicale e discografica si aggiunge l'attività di conduttrice e co-conduttrice televisiva (nonché radiofonica) iniziata già nel 1989 col varietà del sabato sera di Canale 5 "Sabato al circo", esperienza grazie alla quale Cristina, insieme a tutto il cast del programma, si aggiudicherà il Telegatto nella categoria "Programmi per ragazzi". Il programma andrà avanti per quattro anni, fino al 1992, quando cambia titolo, rete e giorno di programmazione e diventa "Il Grande Circo di Retequattro", in onda per 16 settimane da mercoledì 7 ottobre. Assieme a Gerry Scotti presenta per due anni lo speciale di Capodanno di Canale 5, in onda il 31 dicembre 1989 con il titolo "L'allegria fa 90" e il 31 dicembre 1990 con il titolo "Evviva l'allegria". Dall'8 novembre 1992 conduce su Italia Uno "Cantiamo con Cristina", la versione per bambini del "Karaoke" di Fiorello che va in onda alle ore 20:00 della domenica: in ogni puntata si affrontano due squadre che si sfidano sulle note delle sigle di Cristina. Nella stagione 1993/94 farà parte del cast della sesta edizione di "Buona Domenica", al fianco di Gerry Scotti e Gabriella Carlucci: qui, tra le altre cose, conduce la rubrica "Radio Cristina" dove commenta lettere e fax inviati dai più piccini e si esibisce in alcuni numeri musicali e di danza (in questi spazi avrà anche modo di eseguire le canzoni dell'album "Cristina canta Disney" fresco di pubblicazione). Avrà poi il ruolo di inviata speciale in giro per l'Italia nella quinta edizione di "La sai l'ultima?", in onda su Canale 5 nella stagione televisiva 1995/96 e condotta da Gerry Scotti assieme a Paola Barale. A partire dal 15 settembre 1996, invece, conduce per due anni di seguito, alternandosi settimanalmente col doppiatore ed amico Pietro Ubaldi, il contenitore di cartoni animati e giochi telefonici "Game Boat", in onda tutti i giorni nel preserale di Retequattro; in questo periodo, tra l'altro, viene pubblicato il quattordicesimo capitolo di "Fivelandia", premiato con il Disco di Platino per le oltre 100.000 copie vendute. Nel 1998, nel 1999 e nel 2000 ritorna allo Zecchino d'Oro in qualità di co-conduttrice al fianco di Cino Tortorella e Milly Carlucci. Nell'autunno 1998 è chiamata da Fabio Fazio per condurre con Andrea Pezzi il varietà del venerdì sera di Rai Due "Serenate", ideato dallo stesso Fazio che inizialmente doveva esserne il conduttore. Su Rai Uno, invece, condurrà il tradizionale "Concerto di Primavera", sia ad aprile 1999 che ad aprile 2000, oltre che lo special natalizio "Buon Natale a tutto il mondo" di cui sarà la presentatrice sia nell'edizione del 1999 che in quella del 2000.

Nel 1998 debutta anche al cinema, seppur con un cameo: interpreta infatti se stessa in una scena del film "Cucciolo" di Neri Parenti accanto a Massimo Boldi, con il quale aveva già lavorato ai tempi di "Sabato al circo".

Nel dicembre 2002 Cristina festeggia ufficialmente 20 anni di carriera (sebbene l'incisione di "Bambino Pinocchio", la sua prima sigla per un cartone animato, risalga al secondo semestre del 1981) con la pubblicazione di un doppio CD dal titolo "Cristina D'Avena: Greatest Hits" (ma il titolo inizialmente previsto è "Cristina D'Avena: Vent'anni"), che raccoglie i più grandi successi della cantante (il CD 1 è relativo agli anni 1981-1990, il CD 2 agli anni 1991-2002) e include una nuova versione, riarrangiata e reinterpretata per l'occasione, della sua prima sigla. Proprio nel giorno d'uscita del disco, il 6 dicembre, dall'auditorium di Cologno Monzese la rete televisiva satellitare Video Italia le dedica, in prima serata e in diretta contemporanea su Radio Italia, una puntata di oltre 2 ore della sua trasmissione "Serata con...", durante la quale la cantante esegue dal vivo gran parte dei brani dell'album, in quella che si rivela essere una vera e propria festa-concerto a cui prendono parte fan storici, amici e collaboratori di vecchia data.

Il suo nome per oltre 20 anni è stato professionalmente associato in modo indissolubile a quello di Alessandra Valeri Manera: responsabile dei programmi per ragazzi delle tv del biscione dal 1980 al 2001 e a conti fatti talent scout e creatrice del personaggio "Cristina D'Avena", Valeri Manera è stata anche ideatrice, autrice, direttrice artistica e produttrice di tutti i lavori della cantante alla quale è legata da una sincera amicizia, sebbene dal 2001 la sua attività si sia ridotta ad una composizione saltuaria dei testi di sigle. In coppia con Valeri Manera, nel 2002 Cristina firma per la prima volta come autrice una sua canzone dal titolo "I colori del cuore". Nel 2007 firma da sola il testo di una sua sigla per un cartone animato (il titolo del brano, e della serie, è "Dolce piccola Remì") e da allora, di tanto in tanto, alcune delle sigle da lei interpretate portano il suo nome come unica autrice delle parole.

Il 14 aprile 2007, al Roxy Bar di Bologna, Cristina celebra 25 anni di successi con un grande concerto, accompagnata dall'irriverente gruppo dei Gem Boy con il quale inaugura una collaborazione che dura ancora oggi. In questa occasione riceve da Red Ronnie il prestigioso riconoscimento "Gandhi 9.11", un totem luminoso creato dall'artista Marco Lodola e destinato a quei personaggi che si sono maggiormente distinti come portatori di pace. Nello stesso anno, poi, si verifica un vero e proprio record per la cantante: alla cifra di 1.210 euro si chiude l'asta online del CD del 1989 "Cristina D'Avena e... i tuoi amici in TV 3", venduto sul portale eBay il 10 settembre. La vendita viene resa nota e definita dalla divisione italiana del sito come « il primato mai raggiunto online da un CD in Italia »; non a caso, la versione CD dell'album è considerata uno tra i pezzi più rari nella produzione discografica della cantante, non tanto per le 14 sigle in esso contenute (reperibili comunque su altre pubblicazioni successive) ma poiché, nella sua versione digitale, venne stampato in un numero limitatissimo di copie rispetto ai classici formati utilizzati all'epoca (sebbene per ancora pochi anni), vale a dire l'LP e l'MC. Il record è stato addirittura superato il 10 novembre del 2011, quattro anni dopo, quando un'altra copia messa all'asta è stata venduta alla cifra di 3.010,00 euro.

In questa fase della sua carriera, nonostante da tempo non abbia più un programma tutto suo, la cantante continua a farsi vedere dal pubblico televisivo accettando l'invito di numerose trasmissioni Rai o Mediaset che la chiamano per intervistarla o per vederla esibirsi; nella puntata del 16 febbraio 2008 del programma di prima serata di Rai Uno "I Migliori Anni" si registrerà un picco di ascolti pari a 7.618.000 telespettatori proprio nel momento della sua partecipazione al programma in cui dal vivo canta la sigla di "Kiss me Licia". Nello stesso anno pubblica due libri per bambini, di cui la cantante è autrice e narratrice, dal titolo "Le fiabe di Fata Cri: Fata Cri e i draghetti pasticcioni" e "Le fiabe di Fata Cri: Fata Cri e il ballo degli scoiattoli": quest'ultimo venderà 37.500 copie.

Dopo aver scritto e interpretato la sigla della serie animata "Twin Princess - Principesse Gemelle" che diverrà il suo primo singolo ad essere commercializzato come download digitale, nel 2009 realizza un disco che si distacca dalle sigle tv per le quali è da sempre conosciuta: per la prima volta infatti si rivolge al grande pubblico, non solo a quello dell'infanzia, e lo fa con un album dal titolo "Magia di Natale", in cui reinterpreta 12 brani della tradizione natalizia, classici e moderni, tutti arrangiati dal maestro Valeriano Chiaravalle. Il disco è anche l'occasione, per la cantante, di incidere per la prima volta in lingua inglese. Nell'album figura anche una cover di "Childhood", brano di Michael Jackson con il quale l'artista ha voluto rendere omaggio al Re del Pop.

Da giovedì 21 gennaio 2010 torna a lavorare in tv: è nel cast della seconda edizione del programma di prima serata di Italia Uno "Matricole & Meteore". Nello show, composto da 8 puntate e condotto da Nicola Savino e Juliana Moreira, ha il doppio ruolo di ospite fisso e inviata speciale nei panni di una principessa alla ricerca del Principe Azzurro; nelle varie puntate si esibisce anche in alcuni medley di sigle fra le tante incise nel corso della sua carriera. Dal 28 febbraio dello stesso anno è testimonial di Intervita ONLUS, organizzazione umanitaria internazionale impegnata in progetti di sviluppo nel Terzo Mondo attraverso il sostegno a distanza, per la quale registrerà 15 messaggi promozionali trasmessi da Canale 5. A partire dal periodo autunnale, le serie di telefilm che la videro protagonista tra l'86 e il '91 riacquistano visibilità nonché rinnovata fortuna grazie alla loro riproposizione da parte del canale Hiro di Mediaset Premium e, poco tempo dopo, anche per mano di La5 che le trasmette, tutte le sere, allo stesso orario della prima messa in onda, vale a dire alle 20. Visto il grande successo riscosso (la fascia oraria in cui vengono trasmessi risulta essere la più seguita per la rete), la casa discografica della cantante decide di ristampare, per la prima volta su CD e dopo oltre due decadi di assenza dal mercato discografico, le colonne sonore di ciascuna delle 8 serie, raccogliendole in due box multidisco intitolati "Licia e i Bee Hive Story" e "Arriva Cristina Story", che appassionati vecchi e nuovi accoglieranno con straordinario entusiasmo.

Anche nel nuovo millennio la cantante ha continuato e continua a tenere concerti in tutta Italia, sia da sola che accompagnata dal gruppo dei Gem Boy; uno dei suoi ultimi concerti più fortunati è sicuramente quello tenuto ad Avellino nel maggio del 2010 dove, tra bambini e adulti, ha raccolto oltre 15.000 spettatori.

Nel gennaio 2011 incide una sigla per la prima volta in duetto con una voce femminile: quella di Alessia Volpicelli, piccola paziente del C.R.O. (Centro di Riferimento Oncologico) di Aviano; il brano, di cui la D'Avena è anche autrice, si intitola "Emily della Luna Nuova". Nello stesso periodo firma anche il testo di una canzone per uno dei concorrenti del programma televisivo "Io Canto": si tratta del brano "Tutto quello che ho" incluso nell'album d'esordio di Simone Frulio dal titolo "Tredici".

L'anno successivo la cantante torna in tv e approda su Super!: per tutta l'estate è infatti la conduttrice di "Karaoke Super Show!", la prima produzione del canale televisivo per ragazzi edito da De Agostini. In onda nel week-end dalle più belle piazze della riviera romagnola, il programma prevede la partecipazione di due squadre composte da bambini, genitori e nonni che si sfidano interpretando i grandi tormentoni estivi, le canzoni dello Zecchino d'Oro più amate e naturalmente le più famose sigle dei cartoni animati di Cristina. Ma il 2012 è anche l'anno del 30º anniversario del debutto artistico di Cristina D'Avena: per festeggiare questa ricorrenza viene messa in atto una serie di celebrazioni a partire già dal dicembre 2011, quando apre il fanclub ufficiale della cantante che gli ammiratori chiedevano insistentemente da tempo. Ad aprile del 2012 i festeggiamenti proseguono con l'inaugurazione del suo negozio online, all'interno del quale è possibile trovare gran parte della sua sempre più abbondante produzione discografica oltre a tanti prodotti e gadget esclusivi, scelti e ideati direttamente da Cristina in persona. Le celebrazioni di questo importante traguardo si materializzano anche a livello discografico con la nascita di un grande progetto in due parti dal titolo "30 e poi...", che debutta nei negozi di dischi il 27 novembre 2012 con l'uscita del triplo CD "30 e poi... Parte Prima". L'album è composto da 3 CD che racchiudono un totale di ben 70 sigle originali dei cartoni animati più famosi degli anni '80, '90 e 2000; la scaletta è impreziosita dalla presenza di tre sigle inedite (una risalente al '95, una al '99 e un'altra ancora al 2009) qui pubblicate per la prima volta in assoluto e di una ora disponibile per la prima volta su CD, da una reinterpretazione di Cristina del classico natalizio "O Holy Night", da un megamix dei suoi storici successi anni '80 e infine da una cover del brano "L'anno che verrà" di Lucio Dalla, con la quale l'artista vuole rendere omaggio al cantautore suo concittadino. Il progetto "30 e poi..." prosegue quindi nel 2013 con una serie di iniziative a tema e si concluderà nell'autunno dello stesso anno con l'uscita di "30 e poi... Parte Seconda".

Symmetrical Components Seminar by Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M

Title: Symmetrical Components Seminar

Digital Publisher: Digital: Cushing Memorial Library and Archives, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas

Physical Publisher: Physical: Graphic Services, Texas A&M University

Date Issued: 2011-08-17

Date Created: 1968

Dimensions: 4 x 5 inches

Format Medium: Photographic negative

Type: image

Identifier: Photograph Location: Graphic Services Photos, Box 21, File 21-155

Rights: It is the users responsibility to secure permission from the copyright holders for publication of any materials. Permission must be obtained in writing prior to publication. Please contact the Cushing Memorial Library for further information

Mixed Germ Cell Tumor by Dharam Ramnani

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35 y/o male with 6 month h/o left testicular enlargement. Testicular ultrasound confirmed the presence of a solid and cystic mass with calcifications replacing most of the testicle. Serum alpha fetoprotein was 765 ng/ml (ref. range 0-8.3), beta-hCG was normal at 3.0 mIU/ml and serum LDH was slightly elevated at 230 U/L (ref. range 125-220). The specimen showed a Mixed Germ Cell Tumor consisting predominantly of mature and immature teratoma with small components of seminoma and yolk sac tumor.

Base of Decorative Hexagonal Origami Gift Box (with Lid removed): # 09 by Dominic Alves

✹ To see a view of the complete box - including the lid - click here.

This box is one of 20 different boxes for sale by auction on eBay in support of survivors of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan. Click here to visit / to return to the eBay listing [Item number: 120728893154]. The auction for this item closes on Friday the 3rd of June 2011 at 01:50 a.m. British Summer Time (UTC + 1).

✹ Click here to see a thumbnail overview of all the boxes, or watch a Slideshow of all the boxes.

Proceeds of the auction - after eBay and PayPal fees have been deducted - will be donated to the Japanese Red Cross Society.

✹ To see a larger, more detailed, view of this picture click on the small magnifying glass icon at the top right of the picture, then click on "View all sizes", then click on "Original" - which displays the largest and best quality image.

About the Japanese Red Cross Society

The Japanese Red Cross are one of three major fundraising organisaitions based in Japan (the other two being the Japanese broadcaster NHK and the Red Feather Central Community Chest of Japan - originally a post World War II re-building organisation). You can download two english language reports relating to the disaster from the Japanese Red Cross website:

Operations Update No.1 - 13th April 2011 [.pdf file, retrieved 17th May 2011]

Operations Update No.2 - 6th May 2011 [.pdf file, retrieved 17th May 2011]

Over two months on, the needs of many of the survivors remain desperately basic. There has been an increased incidence of pneumonia and associated fatalities. As well as helping with practical and medical requirements, the Japanese Red Cross Society are helping people deal with "Shell Shock" / Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and further developing services to address these issues.

Perhaps most impressively, they helped quickly set up a management structure to co-ordinate help from all the major fundraisers, a committee including academics and representatives from the 15 most badly affected prefectures [local governments]. The pre-existing local Red Cross chapters [branches] are helping with governance.

Although Japan has a large economy, and domestically the japanese have been hugely generous towards aid efforts, like everywhere else, many people of course are not personally rich. There is still epic upheaval. Much of welfare is normally provided by family and community, a system that breaks down when whole barrios are fragmented and diminished. Services like adoption and fostering, for example - normally always done by relatives - are having to be developed. A planning policy of building schools on higher ground saved many children, but even after encouraging teachers back out of retirement, there is still a shortage of experienced teachers. Japan is mostly mountains and sea, with very little spare land suitable for building, and so - while rebuilding takes place - temporary accommodation has had to be built on land normally reserved for other activities, for example on school playgrounds.

If you enjoy shopping in support of the Japanese Red Cross Society, you might also like Tomodachi Calling, a cafepress web store / shop (recommend by a fellow flickrer schmid91, who helped document the aftermath of the tsunami in Ishinomaki Myagi prefecture).

Japan based english language online newspapers

The Japan Times

Daily Yomiuri

The Asahi Shimbun

About the decorative hexagonal origami gift box

The box is made up from 12 square origami papers - 6 for the lid and 6 for the base. No cutting, glue or adhesive tape is used.

Although Japan has a long tradition of paper folding, the design of the box is modern, by Tomoko Fuse 布施知子, who is a renown unit origami designer and artist. Unit origami is a method of building up models using pre-folded components or units.

If you are an accurate and consistent paper folder, but are new to unit origami, and you would like to make your own box, I would recommend her book "Origami Boxes: Moribana Style" [# ISBN-10: 0870408216 - # ISBN-13: 978-0870408212] as an excellent introduction. Connecting the units together can be a bit fiddly at first, and the book also includes designs for more simple square and triangular boxes, which give the opportunity to practice and develop the skills needed for doing the final assembly.

(Until Asimo gets a bit more nimble fingered, the box is unlikely to flood the market anytime soon...)

If you get the bug, she has also created and written about very much more complex models. "Unit Origami: Multidimensional Transformations" [ISBN-10: 0870408526 - ISBN-13: 978-0870408526] is considered a classic text on the subject.

Paper making was a traditional supplemental business of farmers in Japan during the winter. The very cold water during that season enabled the fibres in the pulp to be soaked without becoming subject to decay, and some also argue that cold shrinks the fibres, creating a finer, crisper paper.

Shmup WIP components by Entertainingly lame

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Internal build breakdown of balancer for Peter Morris

And Gauntlet inspired cockpit assembly. 1x6 long slope just arrived for this today.

The 1x2 panels on the side of the cockpit are a pain to work around. A challenge to overcome with this build.

John Daly Tests Radio Equipment, circa 1968 by USMC Archives

"Checking It Out: Marine Lance Corporal John Daly, 20 (Sonoma, California), tests helicopter radio equipment in the avionics facility’s communication and navigation section. Marine technicians who work in Marine Aircraft Group 36 [MAG-36] avionics complex, repair and test more than 2,000 components a month, including some of the most technical electronic and electrical systems in the Marine Corps (official USMC photo by Sergeant Dave Butler)."

From the Jonathan Abel Collection (COLL/3611), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections.

OFFICIAL USMC PHOTOGRAPH

Waving Fronds set by Keryn Wells

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component micro hydro by energieag

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C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference, February 2011 by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa

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U.S. Army Africa photo by Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Davis

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) hosted its second annual C4ISR Senior Leaders Conference Feb. 2-4 at Caserma Ederle, headquarters of U.S. Army Africa, in Vicenza, Italy.

The communications and intelligence community event, hosted by Brig. Gen. Robert Ferrell, AFRICOM C4 director, drew approximately 80 senior leaders from diverse U.S. military and government branches and agencies, as well as representatives of African nations and the African Union.

“The conference is a combination of our U.S. AFRICOM C4 systems and intel directorate,” said Ferrell. “We come together annually to bring the team together to work on common goals to work on throughout the year. The team consists of our coalition partners as well as our inter-agency partners, as well as our components and U.S. AFRICOM staff.”

The conference focused on updates from participants, and on assessing the present state and goals of coalition partners in Africa, he said.

“The theme for our conference is ‘Delivering Capabilities to a Joint Information Environment,’ and we see it as a joint and combined team ... working together, side by side, to promote peace and stability there on the African continent,” Ferrell said.

Three goals of this year’s conference were to strengthen the team, assess priorities across the board, and get a better fix on the impact that the establishment of the U.S. Cyber Command will have on all members’ efforts in the future, he said.

“With the stand-up of U.S. Cyber Command, it brings a lot of unique challenges that we as a team need to talk through to ensure that our information is protected at all times,” Ferrell said.

African Union (AU) representatives from four broad geographic regions of Africa attended, which generated a holistic perspective on needs and requirements from across the continent, he said.

“We have members from the African Union headquarters that is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; we have members that are from Uganda; from Zambia; from Ghana; and also from the Congo. What are the gaps, what are the things that we kind of need to assist with as we move forward on our engagements on the African continent?” Ferrell said.

U.S. Army Africa Commander, Maj. Gen. David R. Hogg, welcomed participants as the conference got under way.

“We’re absolutely delighted to be the host for this conference, and we hope that this week you get a whole lot out of it,” said Hogg.

He took the opportunity to address the participants not only as their host, but from the perspective of a customer whose missions depend on the results of their efforts to support commanders in the field.

“When we’re talking about this group of folks that are here — from the joint side, from our African partners, from State, all those folks — it’s about partnership and interoperability. And every commander who’s ever had to fight in a combined environment understands that interoperability is the thing that absolutely slaps you upside the head,” Hogg said.

“We’re in the early stages of the process here of working with the African Union and the other partners, and you have an opportunity to design this from the end state, versus just building a bunch of ‘gunkulators.’ And so, the message is: think about what the end state is supposed to look like and construct the strategy to support the end state.

“Look at where we want to be at and design it that way,” Hogg said.

He also admonished participants to consider the second- and third-order effects of their choices in designing networks.

“With that said, over the next four days, I hope this conference works very well for you. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay better, please let us know,” Hogg said.

Over the following three days, participants engaged in a steady stream of briefings and presentations focused on systems, missions and updates from the field.

Col. Joseph W. Angyal, director of U.S. Army Africa G-6, gave an overview of operations and issues that focused on fundamentals, the emergence of regional accords as a way forward, and the evolution of a joint network enterprise that would serve all interested parties.

“What we’re trying to do is to work regionally. That’s frankly a challenge, but as we stand up the capability, really for the U.S. government, and work through that, we hope to become more regionally focused,” he said.

He referred to Africa Endeavor, an annual, multi-nation communications exercise, as a test bed for the current state of affairs on the continent, and an aid in itself to future development.

“In order to conduct those exercises, to conduct those security and cooperation events, and to meet contingency missions, we really, from the C4ISR perspective, have five big challenges,” Angyal said.

“You heard General Hogg this morning talk about ‘think about the customer’ — you’ve got to allow me to be able to get access to our data; I’ve got to be able to get to the data where and when I need it; you’ve got to be able to protect it; I have to be able to share it; and then finally, the systems have to be able to work together in order to build that coalition.

“One of the reasons General Ferrell is setting up this joint information enterprise, this joint network enterprise . . . it’s almost like trying to bring together disparate companies or corporations: everyone has their own system, they’ve paid for their own infrastructure, and they have their own policy, even though they support the same major company.

“Now multiply that when you bring in different services, multiply that when you bring in different U.S. government agencies, and then put a layer on top of that with the international partners, and there are lots of policies that are standing in our way.”

The main issue is not a question of technology, he said.

“The boxes are the same — a Cisco router is a Cisco router; Microsoft Exchange server is the same all over the world — but it’s the way that we employ them, and it’s the policies that we apply to it, that really stops us from interoperating, and that’s the challenge we hope to work through with the joint network enterprise.

“And I think that through things like Africa Endeavor and through the joint enterprise network, we’re looking at knocking down some of those policy walls, but at the end of the day they are ours to knock down. Bill Gates did not design a system to work only for the Army or for the Navy — it works for everyone,” Angyal said.

Brig. Gen. Joseph Searyoh, director general of Defense Information Communication Systems, General Headquarters, Ghana Armed Forces, agreed that coordinating policy is fundamental to improving communications with all its implications for a host of operations and missions.

“One would expect that in these modern times there is some kind of mutual engagement, and to build that engagement to be strong, there must be some kind of element of trust. … We have to build some kind of trust to be able to move forward,” said Searyoh.

“Some people may be living in silos of the past, but in the current engagement we need to tell people that we are there with no hidden agenda, no negative hidden agenda, but for the common good of all of us.

“We say that we are in the information age, and I’ve been saying something: that our response should not be optional, but it must be a must, because if you don’t join now, you are going to be left behind.

“So what do we do? We have to get our house in order.

“Why do I say so? We used to operate like this before the information age; now in the information age, how do we operate?

“So, we have to get our house in order and see whether we are aligning ourselves with way things should work now. So, our challenge is to come up with a strategy, see how best we can reorganize our structures, to be able to deliver communications-information systems support for the Ghana Armed Forces,” he said.

Searyoh related that his organization has already accomplished one part of erecting the necessary foundation by establishing an appropriate policy structure.

“What is required now is the implementing level. Currently we have communications on one side, and computers on one side. The lines are blurred — you cannot operate like that, you’ve got to bring them together,” he said.

Building that merged entity to support deployed forces is what he sees as the primary challenge at present.

“Once you get that done you can talk about equipment, you can talk about resources,” Searyoh said. “I look at the current collaboration between the U.S. and the coalition partners taking a new level.”

“The immediate challenges that we have is the interoperability, which I think is one of the things we are also discussing here, interoperability and integration,” said Lt. Col. Kelvin Silomba, African Union-Zambia, Information Technology expert for the Africa Stand-by Force.

“You know that we’ve got five regions in Africa. All these regions, we need to integrate them and bring them together, so the challenge of interoperability in terms of equipment, you know, different tactical equipment that we use, and also in terms of the language barrier — you know, all these regions in Africa you find that they speak different languages — so to bring them together we need to come up with one standard that will make everybody on board and make everybody able to talk to each other,” he said.

“So we have all these challenges. Other than that also, stemming from the background of these African countries, based on the colonization: some of them were French colonized, some of them were British colonized and so on, so you find that when they come up now we’ve adopted some of the procedures based on our former colonial masters, so that is another challenge that is coming on board.”

The partnership with brother African states, with the U.S. government and its military branches, and with other interested collaborators has had a positive influence, said Silomba.

“Oh, it’s great. From the time that I got engaged with U.S. AFRICOM — I started with Africa Endeavor, before I even came to the AU — it is my experience that it is something very, very good.

“I would encourage — I know that there are some member states — I would encourage that all those member states they come on board, all of these regional organizations, that they come on board and support the AFRICOM lead. It is something that is very, very good.

“As for example, the African Union has a lot of support that’s been coming in, technical as well as in terms of knowledge and equipment. So it’s great; it’s good and it’s great,” said Salimba.

Other participant responses to the conference were positive as well.

“The feedback I’ve gotten from every member is that they now know what the red carpet treatment looks like, because USARAF has gone over and above board to make sure the environment, the atmosphere and the actual engagements … are executed to perfection,” said Ferrell. “It’s been very good from a team-building aspect.

“We’ve had very good discussions from members of the African Union, who gave us a very good understanding of the operations that are taking place in the area of Somalia, the challenges with communications, and laid out the gaps and desires of where they see that the U.S. and other coalition partners can kind of improve the capacity there in that area of responsibility.

“We also talked about the AU, as they are expanding their reach to all of the five regions, of how can they have that interoperability and connectivity to each of the regions,” Ferrell said.

“(It’s been) a wealth of knowledge and experts that are here to share in terms of how we can move forward with building capacities and capabilities. Not only for U.S. interests, but more importantly from my perspective, in building capacities and capabilities for our African partners beginning with the Commission at the African Union itself,” said Kevin Warthon, U.S. State Department, peace and security adviser to the African Union.

“I think that General Ferrell has done an absolutely wonderful thing by inviting key African partners to participate in this event so they can share their personal experience from a national, regional and continental perspective,” he said.

Warthon related from his personal experience a vignette of African trust in Providence that he believed carries a pertinent metaphor and message to everyone attending the conference.

“We are not sure what we are going to do tomorrow, but the one thing that I am sure of is that we are able to do something. Don’t know when, don’t know how, but as long as our focus is on our ability to assist and to help to progress a people, that’s really what counts more than anything else,” he said.

“Don’t worry about the timetable; just focus on your ability to make a difference and that’s what that really is all about.

“I see venues such as this as opportunities to make what seems to be the impossible become possible. … This is what this kind of venue does for our African partners.

“We’re doing a wonderful job at building relationships, because that’s where it begins — we have to build relationships to establish trust. That’s why this is so important: building trust through relationships so that we can move forward in the future,” Warthon said.

Conference members took a cultural tour of Venice and visited a traditional winery in the hills above Vicenza before adjourning.

To learn more about U.S. Army Africa visit our official website at www.usaraf.army.mil

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Cristina D'Avena & Gem Boy - Carroponte - 11 luglio 2013 - © Mairo Cinquetti-77 by Mairo Cinquetti