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19.09.2012.
Unite against UPA's Anti-People Policies SFI-JNU .
The .
The UPA government has unleashed a fresh attack on the people by announcing diesel price hike, cap on LPG subsidy and .
allowing upto 51% FDI in Retail. These policies are bound to harm the interests of millions of people in our country. .
Government is doing afalsecampaign that FDI in retail is going to help control inflation, help agriculture and lead to more jobs In .
enterprises in India as MNCs can source cheap products from micro and the economy. This is nothing but a white lie. ·· small enterprises across the world, bypassing tariff protection and dump .
them in Indian markets which will actually hurt the interests of micro and .
Loss of iobs and livelihoods: From a sample survey of .
small enterprises..
unorganised sector retail outlets done by !CRIER in 2008, we know that The Task of Modernising the Food Supply Chain .
.
5408.8 billion and that the number of such outlets can be estimated at 13the annual sales of unorganised sector retail outlets can be estimated at Cannot Be Left To MNC Retailers: Global retailers will .
naturaJiy have to set up backend infrastructure for cold storage, .
million. This means that on average, each retail outlet makes sales of they set up will be for their own business operations and not for farmers .
$31.446 In 2010, perWalmart annumalone . made sales of $405 billion across 9800 outlets refrigerated transport etc in their own interest. However, the infrastructure .
across the world. This means that on average, each Walmart store and consumers at large. In India, over 95% of cold storage capacity is in .
makes sales of $41,320,000 the private sector and only 0.44% is in the public sector. Even in the USA, .
.
over 76% of the capacity of refrigerated warehouses is in the public .
sector with only 24% in the private sector. Allowing FDI in retail cannot .
As each Walmart store makes 1300 times the sales made by each Indian be asubstitute for proactive public intervention in the crucial area of .
unorganised sector retail store, we see that each Walmart store has the building storage capacity the lack of which constrains public .
.
potential of displacing 1300 Indian small retail stores In the procurement and leads to a huge wastage of foodgrains. .
unorganised sector. .
As each unorganised sector retail store in India employs around 2 to 3 FDI in Retail Will Not Help Farmers: While there is a .
.
small farmers, corner bigger margins and indulge in hoarding and black .
potential Joss of 3900 jobs for each Walmart store. The Commerce.
.
persons as according to the !CRIER survey of 2008, we can estimate a strong case for regulating the existing mandis as traders' cartels squeeze .
Mimster cla1ms that FDI in retail will actually create jobs but given that .
little support for this claim. In fact, for each job created by Walmart, 17.
Walmart stores on average employ only 225 people, one can see very marketing, FDI in retail will only worsen the situation. In the existing j system, traders still have to compete with each other to purchase jobs would be lost in the unorganised retail sector. .
And in the background of a slowing down of growth in employment farmers' output. Under FDl in retail, there will only be a single buyer .
despite the hype about GDP growth, it is highly unlikely that displaced which will make farmers dependent on MNCs and vulnerable to .
exploitation. MNCs have far more bargaining power against farmers .
.
workers and shopowners will find employment elsewhere. to Protect thansmall traders. .
International experience shows that big supermarkets in Europe have .
Restrictions Supposedly Intended used their bargaining power to squeeze small farmers while in Malaysia .
.
While MNC Retailers Are Meaningless: and Thailand, supermarkets have often sourced their inputs from .
Indian .
people. this is llkety to be of little significance as the number of.
.
supermarkets will initially only be allowed in 53 cities with over a million wholesalers which has run contrary to the policy intention of remov1ng .
persons employed in retail and wholesale trade in these 53 cities is intermediaries in the supply chain. Supermarkets have been known to .
almost 2 crore. As it is, MNC players are most likely to be interested In arbitrarily change quality and quantity standards without notice, remove .
.
farmers and suppliers off their lists without good reason, charge high .
tapping the metropolitan and urban segments of Indian markets where .
FDI in Retail Will Not Reduce Inflation: Giant retailers .
.
people have more purchasing power. They are least likely to be interest on credit and so on. .
interested in catering to semi urban and rural markets. earn profits by selling large volumes at low prices However, when thetr .
of $100 million is meaningless as MNCs interested in starting operations sales drop, they raise prices in order to maintain their profit margins. In .
.
Also, the restriction that foreign investment in retrul should be a minimum 2011, Walmart raised prices on a range of products Hke coffee, milk, in India are global giants like Tesco, Carrefour and Metro with annual .
revenues of over. $100 bilhon and Walmart with revenues of over $400 bread etc in the USA. Carrefour raised prices in France this year. Tesco .
in Ireland raised the prices of 8000 products in early 2011 in order to .
billion. These are least likely to be kept out by such restrictions Existing boost its profits before the end of the financial year in February, and then .
big private sector retailers in lndra can also be bought over by MNCs. In Mexico, Walmart started operations 1n 1991-2 with a 50-50 joint venture announced price cuts in March to promote sales. with a local firm CIFRA. By 2000, 1ts stake was at 60% and by 2004, It is deplorable that the decision to allow FDI in retail was only a Cabinet .
decision and that parliamentary sanction was not sought. Given that such .
Walmart alone, accounted for 25% of all retail sales tn Mexico. a decision may affect millions of people, it is hardly appropriate that the .
FDI in Retail Will Actually Hurt the Interests of .
elected representatives o'f the people were bypassed in the decision Micro and Small Enterprises: Though the UPA Government making process. In this, the attitude of the Congress has been most .
may assure us that FDI in retail will help micro and small enterprises as We call upon students to reject FDI in retail and to reject the anti-people.
undemocratic. .
there is a requirement that 30% of stock should be sourced from these .
enterpnses, it does not mention that these enterprises need not be from policies of the UPA Government. .
India. As India is a signatory to GATT and has signed Bilateral .
.
Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements with 71 countries till Sd/· Anagha, President SFI-JNU .
date, it must accord national treatment to investors from all of these Sdf· Lenin, Vice President SFJ-JNU .
.
MNCs can source their products from any micro and small enterprises.
countries and to all contracting parties under GATT which means that .
across the world. This is hardly likely to benefit micro and small .
.
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Carved out of stone.
These Victorians certainly took a pride in their work rthat would put many modern day tradesmen to shame - altyhough I suppose our penny pinching econeomic attitudes constrain them...
SUDSATORIUM is a terrific little cosmetics company focusing on
making the very best handmade fair trade organic vegan cruelty-free
cosmetics imaginable.
The most rewarding aspect of SUDSATORIUM has been our Helping Those
Who Help Others campaign which we began just this year. We like the
feeling of purpose that comes with helping those who help others,
which is why the SUDSATORIUM is proud to donate 5% of
all proceeds to grassroots charities. We believe in supporting
small, grassroots charities and projects working on behalf of the
environment and conservation, animal protection, and for human
rights. We do not constrain ourselves to helping charities solely
within North America – SUDSATORIUM is invested in helping
charitable funds all over the globe. With the continued support of
customers like yourself, we all have the power to make the world a
better place one small step at a time.
Going au natural and reducing our carbon footprint is what we
strive to do with all of our products. At the end of the day all
packaging is pointless waste, destined for the trash bin. Whenever
possible, we opt to do away with unnecessary packaging and instead
offer our products in their natural state.
We apologize in advance for the puniness of some of our product
names. We’re simple people with simple pleasures, so we’re always
finding new ways to amuse ourselves with wordplay. To be frank,
sometimes we create new cosmetics just so that we can name them!
My current faves? Beach bum, Shipwracked and Red Queen lip balm. These are just a few of our fun and fabulous products. To see our entire line, be sure to check us out at the Leslieville Flea’s very first flea market at Harbourfront Centre ( 235 Queens Way West) June 1st from 10-5pm. See you there!
S M Shafiul Alam, a real life hero I've ever seen. He is full of love n' fun. Simple, inquisitive, passionate and ready take any challenges whatever he faces. He is a real man in justice. A peaceful thinker and philosopher naturally.
This photograph is taken at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka
Challenge No. 4. This is found-object Photoshop in action. Go out and take at least 6 images and or 2 scanned objects they can be of anything you find interesting and think might combine well in a somewhat abstract composition. These images are to form the basis of the entire composition.
Add to the mix nothing more than the following images from the Bonus section: - Two textures from Melissa Weber's "Keriyoo" bonus texture set as well as two rectangular "Grunge Edge Effects" as an edge work then any way you wish
Duplicate or Transform any element however you like. Add any Adjustment Layers, Layer Masks, and Blend Modes. And use anything from the Filter Gallery.
Adjustment Layers (ideally some with Layer Masks to constrain their effects), using at least 8Adjustment Layers in this composition. Such as Hue/Saturation (with and without "Colorize" checked), Brightness/Contrast, Curves,Black and White, etc.
HiRISE observation ESP_092635_1755 : Here focusing on a near-equatorial terrain along the equatorial trough belt, capturing structural deformation, mass-wasting sequences, and fine-scale eolian sediment sorting.
High-standing, blocky ledges break down into coarse, meter-scale talus slopes via mechanical weathering and gravitational mass wasting, feeding scree fans along the base of localized escarpments.
Inter-ridge troughs, structural fractures, and lower slope aprons host localized fields of Transverse Aeolian Ridges (TARs) alongside dark, basaltic sand accumulations. The TARs display symmetric cross-profiles and relatively high albedo—indicative of a stabilized, coarse-grained lag or dust mantle—whereas localized dark sand sheets exhibit superposed, high-frequency ripple patterns tracking local wind shear within the topographic boundary layer.
Structural lineaments, joint sets, and shallow impact structures show evidence of ongoing physical degradation. Micro-impact craters across exposed bench units display subdued, rounded rims with localized infilling by windblown fines, providing markers for constraining relative surface exposure ages and localized erosion rates.
Acquisition date
01 May 2026
Local Mars time
14:53
Latitude (centered)
-4.672°
Longitude (East)
114.378°
Spacecraft altitude
264.6 km (164.5 miles)
Colors play with and contrast each other. This is an 8 foot by 3 foot 4 sided tower built with an inner frame and layered on the outside with 1232 3.5 inch square tiles cut from old fencing. Stained and painted various colors, it is a feast for the eyes. It is meant to transform something formerly constraining into a vibrant celebration of color and to recycle something headed for the dump into something beautiful. Peepholes add an interactive dimension.
It seems a little climbing makes us out
of breath. Your shoe turns sideways and you fall -
you tumble down along with me, in doubt
we’ll ever keep our footing, placing all
our hope in filling pails with water up
this easy slope. It knocks us down as if
it rose an Everest! We’ll never cup
our hands and drink our dreams on top this cliff.
We’ll never reach that well. Together.... One
immobile hand constrains another. Held,
we each hold back the other - yes, we’ve done
it all these tum’bling years – by rote... compelled...
We make our mountain ev’ry day we keep
the well beyond our reach, the climb too steep...
© Keith Ward 2006
I just wrote this sonnet today. Being so new, there may (of course) be tinkering if the Muse sees something in it needing to be tinkered with.... :)
<<<>>>
Barbie Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Chanel
( Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel 1883 – 1971)
There’s no need to introduce this lady known as Coco or Mademoiselle. She invented a style that revolutionized fashion. I like the idea of this perceptive lady; she managed to master the constrains of fashion to create her own style: “Chanel” forever.
I like the idea of Barbie living at the Ritz.
Westerlund 2 is an obscured compact young star cluster (perhaps even a super star cluster in the Milky Way, with an estimated age of about one or two million years. It contains some of the hottest, brightest, and most massive stars known. The cluster resides inside a stellar breeding ground known as Gum 29, located 20,000 light-years away in the constellation Carina. It is half a degree from the naked eye Cepheid variable V399 Carinae. The cluster contains at least a dozen early O stars, of which at least three are eclipsing binaries. All are hotter than 38,000 K and more luminous than 230,000 L☉. There are around 20 further O class stars in the cluster, all main sequence objects implying a very young age for the cluster. Several Wolf–Rayet stars are found in the vicinity of Westerlund 2, although not in the central core. WR 20a, a binary consisting of two WR stars, and the single stars WR 20aa, WR 20b, and WR 20c are all thought to be members of the cluster, although possibly now runaway members. All five Wolf Rayets are extremely young massive objects with OIf*/WN spectral types, amongst the most luminous stars in the galaxy. This composite spectral type indicates young very massive hydrogen-burning stars that are just starting to convect nitrogen and helium to the surface and develop denser stellar winds so that they show the emission lines of a Wolf-Rayet star. WR21a, itself a massive binary, lies in the same direction but is unlikely to be a member of Westerlund 2. Westerlund 2 also contains a large number of pre-main sequence stars with masses below 2.5 M☉. These stars constrain the age of the cluster to near 2 Myr.
Data from the Hubble Space Telescope MAST Pipeline. Release date: Sep 3 2014
Camera: AFC
Color Mapped:
Red-F658N
Green-F555W
Blue-F555W
Processed with FITS Liberator, PixInsight and Photoshop 2023.
Desde la izquierda, Félix De Jesús, Miguel Montás, Ricardo Ramón, Franklin Mirabal, Beto Villa y Neftalí Medina.
Lumajang, Indonesia.
(Image taken at Senduro, a small mountain town in Kabupaten Lumajang; Lumajang Regency).
The gate was latched, but not locked. A priest (I was told later in Malang, the priest is called Sulinggih or Pendeta), wearing all white attire, watching us from a distance waving and inviting us into the temple compound. He approached me, some chatting, and encouraging me to move around the compound to take pictures as I wish. We lingered for a short while due to time constrain. Thank you Pak Pendeta for the hospitality.
"A Hindu temple - Pura Mandhara Giri Semeru Agung. I gather this is a recently built temple at the foot of the sacred Mount Semeru (Mahameru). Hindus as far as Bali made their pilgrimage to this site which they believe the abode of God Siva."
Session 1: Engaging the Private Sector
Understanding how companies and markets can create more economic opportunities, and the barriers that constrain the creation of additional jobs and self-employment opportunities is essential to addressing the current challenges of youth underemployment and unemployment.
This session discussed how three private sector organizations are putting youth at the centre of agricultural transformation.
Q&A
MasterCard Foundation YAW2017 - Day two 17/02/2017
Kigali, Rwanda
Session 1: Engaging the Private Sector
Understanding how companies and markets can create more economic opportunities, and the barriers that constrain the creation of additional jobs and self-employment opportunities is essential to addressing the current challenges of youth underemployment and unemployment.
This session discussed how three private sector organizations are putting youth at the centre of agricultural transformation.
Pictured: Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin – CEO and Founder, blueMoon
MasterCard Foundation YAW2017 - Day Two 17/02/2017
Kigali, Rwanda
The aquatic biome of a coral reef is a very delicate environment. I captured this image in the controlled setting of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The image shows both biotic and abiotic structures that create a home for the fish. The aquarium tank is another abiotic component that contains and constrains the aquatic life. The living grasses add to the biogeochemistry of the world by increasing the oxygen levels and controlling the salinity. I took the picture because it was a Regal Blue Tang Fish made popular as Dory in Finding Nemo. The tang fish are indigenous to the Pacific Ocean and thrive in the cold, nutrient rich currents off the coast.
Better Brothers Los Angeles teamed up with the Diva Foundation at the historic Wilshire Ebel Theater in Los Angeles.
The event is sponsored by Gilead, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, and the generous support of businessman and activist Gerard McCallum.
The Truth Awards will benefit the DIVA Foundation and its partnership with Better Brothers LA with several initiatives aimed at affirming and strengthening the African American LGBTQ community educationally, financially, physically and socially. Proceeds will also benefit the Better Brothers LA Book Scholarship and other programming needs of the organization. For more information about the organization and its scholarship program
ABOUT BETTER BROTHERS LOS ANGELES
Better Brothers Los Angeles was created to provide spaces for Black gay men to network, socialize and be BETTER – at life, love and community. Developing a sense of community has been a challenge for some Black gay men, given the cultural and religious opposition to their sexual orientation. As those challenges have receded in mainstream society, they still present significant difficulties and constrain a sense of well-being for Black gay men within the Black community. Better Brothers Los Angeles has sponsored cultural, recreational, and social/networking events, and continues to create a community where Black gay men and women can walk with a greater sense of confidence and pride. Visit www.BetterBrothersLA.com
ABOUT THE DIVA FOUNDATION
The DIVA Foundation -- founded in 1990 by Tony-nominated actress and HIV/AIDS advocate Sheryl Lee Ralph -- is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, created as a living memorial to the many friends she lost to HIV/AIDS as an original cast member of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls,” and because of her concern for the threat HIV/AIDS posed to women and children. Over the years, the DIVA Foundation has worked to break the silence and erase the stigma still connected to HIV/AIDS and encourage people to get tested in order to know their HIV status.
The name of the pub is 'The Last Drop' with its play on words for drinkers or the nearby hangman's public location where the drop floor would send convicted persons to a broken neck and/or strangulation. Judicial and extra-judicial killing of one person by another is a constant feature of societies, especially when they exceed the ancient settlement scale of 150 that human brains seem most suited to. As communities get bigger, there is less social cohesion to constrain bad behavior. When there is offense and non-lethal remedies fail to bring satisfaction to all parties, then it is possible that the last resort will be to kill. Methods, rules and processes, and rationalizations may differ, but the result in the end is the same. The wall art seems quaint, barbaric, or exotic, but many judicial systems around the world still include circumstances where capital punishment is declared.
www.cagnz.org/brothers-and-sisters-in-Christ.html
By Bai Yang
The Lord Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like to it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). To love our neighbors as ourselves is something the Lord Jesus asks of us, and it is also the normal humanity we should live out. In our lives, we all wish to practice in accordance with the Lord’s teachings, to help and support our weak brothers and sisters with love, to intercede on behalf of brothers and sisters who have issues, and to give alms to help those brothers and sisters whose families struggle to meet their everyday needs, and so on. A lot of the time, however, we see that some brothers and sisters remain in a state of negativity and weakness despite receiving our help many times, and we just don’t know what else we can do. Sometimes, not only do we not resolve the issues of our brothers and sisters, but we can make them become even more negative. We therefore become confused, and think: I’ve tried my best to help my brothers and sisters, so how come I still haven’t been able to resolve their issues? Have I done something at odds with God’s will? In what way can I help and support my brothers and sisters in order to reap good results?
four principles for Christians’ interacting with others
With these questions in mind, I sought and prayed to God, and I sought to fellowship with some experienced brothers and sisters who comparatively pursued the truth, and I finally found three paths of practice. Here below I shall share with everyone the tiny harvest I have wrought in the hope that it may assist my brothers and sisters.
1. When Helping and Supporting Brothers and Sisters, Take an Individual Approach, Not a “One Size Fits All” Approach
When we are helping and supporting our weak brothers and sisters, we always hope that they will come through their difficulties as soon as possible and then be able to attend church gatherings and read the Bible with a positive attitude. Much of the time, however, we can easily overlook the objective difficulties that our brothers and sisters have, as well as their actual statures and, with our good intentions and enthusiasm to help, we jump in with both feet, imposing the same standards on brothers and sisters who all have different statures. The result of this is that, not only do we not resolve their issues, but we also make some brothers and sisters feel that we are demanding more of them than they can achieve, and thus they become even more negative, and they backslide even more. God’s word says, “ God’s work is carried out according to people’s actual circumstances, and is based on their innate caliber” (“Concerning the Bible (2)”). “You must understand the difficulties that objectively exist for most people, you must not be unreasonable or ‘try to teach a pig to sing’; that is foolish behavior. To resolve the many difficulties of men, you must understand the dynamics of the work of the Holy Spirit, you must understand how the Holy Spirit performs work on different people, you must understand the difficulties of men, the shortcomings of men, see through to the key issues of the problem, and get to the source of the problem, without deviations or errors. Only this kind of person is qualified to coordinate to serve God” (“What an Adequate Shepherd Should Be Equipped With”). These words allow us to understand that each brother and sister has different strengths and a different caliber, that they have not all believed in God for the same length of time, that they are all of different statures, that their understanding of the truth is all at different levels, and the states that arise within them when they encounter difficulties also differ from person to person. We must therefore take each case individually. Based on our individual inherent calibers and statures—that is, according to our individual actual situations—God asks of us only that which is appropriate. He does not constrain us to do anything that is beyond our ability to do or that which is entirely beyond us. Therefore, when we are helping and supporting our brothers and sisters, we should follow this principle too, and we have to understand the objective difficulties and actual situation of our brothers and sisters, take an individual approach, not a “one size fits all” approach, and not ask anything of our brothers and sisters that is beyond their ability to achieve. For example, when it comes to having no time to attend church gatherings, it could be because some brothers and sisters have only believed in God for a short time, because they don’t grasp the significance of attending gatherings, because they don’t understand God’s will and requirements and because they follow worldly trends and pay no heed to gatherings. We should therefore fellowship with them patiently to make them understand the importance of attending gatherings and so that they thoroughly understand that, by becoming mired in worldly trends, the only outcome will be that they will grow farther and farther away from God. Some brothers and sisters have believed in God for a long time and ordinarily they attend gatherings regularly, but because something untoward has happened at home, and they are blaming and misunderstanding God, they then miss a gathering. In this case, we can fellowship with them on what God’s will is and what God requires of us when trials and adversity befall us, and when the brother or sister’s misunderstandings about God have been dispelled, they then become willing to attend gatherings again. These are just two examples of how we can help brothers and sisters when they do not attend church gatherings. Once we have understood the actual difficulties of our brothers and sisters and have pondered how to help them in order to achieve good results, God will enlighten and guide us and, through fellowshiping with them God’s will and requirements, our brothers and sisters can then come through their difficulties.
Image Source:Daily Devotionals
Source from: Daily Devotionals
The strap pots are coil vessels built with flat coils that aren't blended together, so the integrity of the clay body is highlighted by the seams in the pot. The idea is to let the clay take its own form as the vessel is built upward, not constraining the clay except to join each "strap" of clay as I work up.
The Model
The model works well, especially with the facial animation due to having the correct topology.
The was some problems with the elbows. I believe this was a combination of an error when modelling and the placements of the rig. This was sorted out to a point where it does not cause a problem however this probably should have been improved further.
The eye area was the main problem with the model and set me back a bit to improve it. The look now is much better as the eyes have been pushed back in to her head (look at previous development pictures for reference). She has however seem to have an area on the mask which looks like the brow bone. This ideal should have been smoothed out. The original idea was to try and make her face looks more feline however this just ended up making the model look as if it wasn't modeled correctly rather than being characterised.
While I am happy with the overall look of the model, I wish that I had spent more time trying to characterise her appearance. She is clearly identifiable due to the costume and cat ears however I feel that the body in particular looks rather basic in shape.
The Rig
The rig functions as was needed. The main problem that was had was with the eyes. This was fixed with using groups to manipulate rather than having all the constrains on the eyes and ends up working well. The control curves made the whole animating process to be more efficient; the hand controls in particular which included set driven keys to control the fingers. Blend shapes were created for the facial animation however more time needed to be spent of the blend shapes for the eye area (talked about in animation evaluation). I think that to add to the character of Catwoman that blend shapes should also have been created to show the extreme emotion she had with the mouth area. While she is speaking for a lot of the time, for the pauses in speech this would also help to sell the animation. Blend shapes were also created for the tongue to help create the realism of how the mouth moves when we speak.
To improve the overall look of the animation I should have looked at more references for the skinning process. The problem I had was with the elbow and upper arm area. This could have been started with the errors that I tried to rectify with the model and joint placement. With the darkness of the scene she has been put in and the angle of the camera, plus the texture used, I think that it is not too noticeable and is ok for the animation.
In kinematics, velocity is the rate of change of the position of an object, equivalent to a specification of its speed and direction of motion. Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both how fast and in what direction the object is moving.[1] If a car is said to travel at 60 km/h, its speed has been specified. However, if the car is said to move at 60 km/h to the north, its velocity has now been specified. To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed in a constant direction. Constant direction constrains the object to motion in a straight path (the object's path does not curve). Thus, a constant velocity means motion in a straight line at a constant speed. If there is a change in speed, direction, or both, then the object is said to have a changing velocity and is undergoing an acceleration. For example, a car moving at a constant 20 kilometres per hour in a circular path has a constant speed, but does not have a constant velocity because its direction changes. Hence, the car is considered to be undergoing an acceleration.
La velocidad es una magnitud física de carácter vectorial que expresa la distancia recorrida por un objeto por unidad de tiempo. Se representa por o . Sus dimensiones son [L]/[T]. Su unidad en el Sistema Internacional es el m/s.
What a long month.
I think out of all the months in this year… according to this 365 project and life in general, this one has been the hardest and slowest month possible.
I learnt a lot this month, I won't deny that.
The thing is, when you are learning, you'll inevitably fuck up.
This month I increased my understanding of photoshop as well as my perception and desire for collecting stock images, both off the internet and shooting myself.
I've often found myself going out and just taking photos of random stuff that I have begun to store for later use… akin to a squirrel putting shit away for the winter.
A lot of the images I put into those "gothic forest" shots were a vast collection of things I had shot myself.
Understanding how you can change a shot, but also look at all the extra shots you have taken and say to yourself "How can I create something that will allow me to piece together all these things and subsequently put myself in them?".
The constraining time limits on this project often get in the way of actually doing the best job you possibly could.
At the end of the day, I am proud of what I have learnt.
Aside from the heavy learning criteria… I have had a few shots that have basically been the highlight of my year.
My tribute to that fantastic photographer "LJ".
My "Update" Rant.
and of course the somewhat epic shot I did with my mate Dan Boud.
Also, this month I have been able to purchase some extra camera gear, I really tried to understand the whole concept of lights and out and above everything else I now have a firm grasp on camera settings and functions.
The remaining two months are going to be hard, now that I know all this, because I will be trying to actually come up with a few decent shots that will help me understand how to correctly frame any idea I might have.
I am looking forward to it.
I want to thank anyone who has followed this thing thus far, I've felt a lot of this month that a lot of my shit has been learning and not really executing the images I really want to put out there, but I guess that is the nature of the beast.
So I would LOVE to thank you all.
You've given me the drive to keep wanting more, you've encouraged me when I felt I haven't deserved it.
I can't thank you enough.
Ryan.
Single RAW exposure using GND0.9+GND0.6 soft
Minimal processing, only minor tonal adjustment and minor cropping done.
Sunrise today was a bore, did not even see the Sun. Didn't help that there was a huge landscape group outing where the 30 shooters lined up to shoot MBS in a row, leaving me with limited space, in addition to the constrains imposed by the barricade set up for New Year countdown. The light wasn't as soft as later during the late afternoon, but I personally feel morning is a good time to take a photo of this scene, apart from the dawn/dusk hours.
Bright GDP a small step in long road to sustained revival.
"The uptick in GDP growth was mainly driven by front-loading of government expenditure," says Izumi Devalier, an economist with HSBC in Hong Kong. "A curtailment in expenditure will make it challenging to sustain this pace of growth."
Optimism that sunny growth figures herald an economic revival in India is probably misplaced - in fact there is little hard evidence to support the idea that Asia's third-largest economy is heading for a broader and sustained rebound anytime soon. India's economy grew 5.7 percent in the June quarter compared with a year earlier , the strongest pace in 2-1/2 years, accelerating from 4.6 percent in the March quarter thanks to a rebound in industrial activity. But the encouraging headline numbers masked the deeper malaise gripping the economy, which is being hobbled by slack consumption, weak business investment, creaking infrastructure and painfully slow structural reforms, economists say. "The uptick in GDP growth was mainly driven by front-loading of government expenditure," says Izumi Devalier, an economist with HSBC in Hong Kong. "A curtailment in expenditure will make it challenging to sustain this pace of growth." Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won power in May's general election with a promise of "good times", trumpeted the growth data on a visit to Japan, saying it had "generated huge positive sentiment". And economists at Citi declared after the GDP figures that the recovery was a matter of when, and not if: "While there is plenty of debate on pace and timing, India is on its way back to 7 percent growth and 6 percent inflation." But there is a difference between sentiment and ground reality. Based on the evidence at hand, Modi's goal of scripting a broader, lasting upturn appears some way off. Much of the growth in the last quarter came from robust government spending, the pace of which could slow down as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley seeks to stick to this year's ambitious fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of gross domestic product. A pickup in private spending could help offset the slowdown in government spending. But stubborn inflation, which at nearly 8 percent is too high for the Reserve Bank of India to cut policy rates, and weak employment are hurting consumers. The HSBC purchasing managers' index (PMI) for manufacturing in August showed no improvement in employment or inflation, clouding the consumer outlook. A late monsoon and coal supply crunch that has depleted fuel supplies to just six days of forward cover at India's thermal power stations could undermined rural spending and constrain output at energy-intensive businesses.
Gear: Camera - Sony A7III (2018). Lens - Sigma 28-45 mm f/1.8 Art zoom lens (newly released June 2024).
Shooting parameters: White Balance as shot (AWB) / ISO 200 / Focal length 45 mm / f/8.0 / 1/250s.
Raw photo processed in Lightroom as follows:
Camera Profile: Camera Standard
Remove Chromatic Aberration
Enable Lens Profile
Upright Perspective
Perspective Rotate
Constrain Crop
Add Sky
Invert Mask 1
Preset: Turquoise & Red
Add Sky
Preset: Dark Drama
Point Curve: Medium Contrast
HONG KONG
China is pushing ahead with the largest-ever expansion of its nuclear arsenal, modernizing the atomic deterrent with an eye on any future conflicts with the United States, experts say.
The SIPRI think tank estimates that China has a stockpile of around 350 nuclear warheads -- small fry when compared with the United States and Russia.
But it is growing fast, and could have 1,500 warheads by 2035, according to a Pentagon estimate published in November.
"China appears to no longer be satisfied with just a few hundred nuclear weapons to ensure its security," Matt Korda, of the Federation of American Scientists, told AFP.
Since its first nuclear test in 1964, China has been content to maintain a comparatively modest arsenal and has maintained that it will never be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict.
But in recent years, under President Xi Jinping, it has begun a massive military modernization drive that includes upgrading its nuclear weapons to not only deter foes but also be able to counter-attack if deterrence fails.
"China is undertaking the most significant expansion and modernization of its nuclear forces in the country's history," David Logan, an assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College, told AFP.
This involves not only ramping up the production of warheads, but also upgrading the ability to deliver them with a nuclear triad: missiles, aircraft and submarines.
"The changes that are taking place or under way are very significant" and "will turn China from a state that has a nuclear retaliatory capability to one that is the world's third major nuclear power", Eric Heginbotham, Principal Research Scientist at MIT's Center for International Studies, told AFP.
"This will mark the first time in history that the big nuclear powers will need to consider not one potential nuclear competitor, but two, and it will have implications for nuclear planning and stability everywhere."
China is "rapidly" building launch facilities for intercontinental ballistic missiles, with more than 300 silos in total, according to the Pentagon last year.
China has stressed that it keeps "its nuclear force at the lowest level required for national security".
And Xi said in a joint statement with Russian leader Vladimir Putin last month that nuclear war "must never be unleashed".
Data is not publicly available, but the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons has estimated that China spent $11.7 billion on its nuclear program in 2021 -- less than a third of what the United States was believed to have spent.
Further, experts say there are obstacles to any rapid build-up of China's atomic stockpile -- primarily its limited means to produce the fissile materials needed for warheads.
One possible helping hand could come from Russia.
Beijing and Moscow pledged to step up nuclear cooperation at the recent summit between Xi and Putin.
Top atomic energy officials from Russia agreed to assist China in completing "fast reactors", which can generate fissile material at a much faster rate than they consume it.
Beijing insisted that the agreement was for its civilian nuclear program, but experts say it could also be used to build up fissile material stockpiles for warheads.
"It would be technically possible for China to substantially grow its plutonium stockpiles with its new developmental civilian fast-breeder reactors using fuel supplied by Russia," Korda said.
"However, there are no publicly-available indications that China intends to do this."
China has "very limited reserves that would constrain a rapid build-up", Gregory Kulacki, China Project Manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, told AFP.
"According to public information about the pace of the fast breeder program's development... it will be difficult for China to produce the plutonium they need quickly."
China has many reasons for its adversaries to believe its nuclear reach extends further than it does -- and the Pentagon has a track record of overstating it.
But Beijing does have good reason to bulk up its capabilities.
"Chinese strategists have been anxious about the possibility that the U.S. could execute a disarming first strike against Beijing's nuclear forces," the Naval War College's Logan said.
"The nuclear build-up is likely in part to ensure that the U.S. cannot eliminate China's nuclear deterrent."
China's assessment of what constitutes a credible nuclear deterrent may also be changing, experts say, and the substantial upgrades to its nuclear forces will embolden it -- particularly over self-ruled Taiwan or in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing has ramped up pressure on Taiwan, and has recently conducted two major rounds of military exercises around the island -- which it claims as its territory, to be taken one day.
"A major factor is likely an assessment that a larger nuclear force is necessary to dissuade the United States's involvement in a future potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait," Ankit Panda at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told AFP. "China may well believe that a larger nuclear force will moderate the amount of risk the United States is willing to tolerate in a limited, conventional conflict."
One of those days that seemed to have all the right ingredients but just didn't come together for my TTV project. The moment seemed to be more about the sound of ice cracking and wet snow beating and water cutting through winter and being surrounded by nothing but pure white and inky outlines. I quickly realized that it was too big to constrain - too much to find in the tightness of details. In the end, not my favourite installment but it sort of makes sense. If nothing else, it's a goodbye to February.
Playing with my Brownie Reflex this week.
ROME (March 16, 2013) - The Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Wall. The chains used to constrain St. Paul.
Scot Landry and George Martell of Pilot New Media and The Good Catholic Life radio program have journeyed to Rome during these historic days of the upcoming papal conclave to give a unique perspective on these events from a Boston Catholic's perspective.
In addition to this Flickr page, you may also find our reports at www.thegoodcatholiclife.com and www.facebook.com/bostoncatholic and www.twitter.com/bostoncatholic
(Photo credit: George Martell/The Pilot Media Group) May not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.
One of my favourite photography books is NY JS DB 62.
www.amazon.co.uk/David-Bailey-NY-JS-DB/dp/3...
In 1962 David Bailey convinced Vogue to send him and Jean Shrimpton to New York. Armed with his 35mm camera and no lighting they took to the streets and shot fashion wherever they wanted free from the constrains of a studio where most fashion shoots were held. I love the atmosphere of the shots and the fact that passers by are sometimes included. Some of the shots have been scanned into this Flickr Set (not by me)...
www.flickr.com/photos/27032340@N00/sets/721...
Today I met up with a Polish model called Malwina and we were inspired to create some similar shots in the streets of Croydon.
Test version of the three-wire "elevator circuit" that uses two limit switches to constrain optical head rotation and mirror tilt.
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This informal set of photographs captures various stages of a project to rebuild a camera obscure originally made by Peter Drew in England. The apparatus is slated for installation in a new, demountable structure located on the Observatory Deck at San Francisco's Exploratorium (end of Pier 15).
Jeffrey Alexander Frankel the 60 year old American Professor of Capital Formation and Growth at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, and former member of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Bill Clinton has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Will Europe’s Fiscal Compact Work?’. Frankel states “At the start of 2013, the eurozone’s “fiscal compact” entered into force... The compact – technically called the Treaty on Stability, Coordination, and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union – requires member countries to introduce laws limiting their structural government budget deficits to less than 0.5 % of GDP (or less than 1% of GDP if their debt/GDP ratio is “significantly below 60%”). So, will this new approach work? A limit on the “structural deficit” means that a country can run a deficit above the limit to the extent – and only to the extent – that the gap between revenue and spending is cyclical (that is, its economy is operating below potential due to temporary negative shocks). In other words, the target is cyclically adjusted. …The aim is to fix Europe’s long-term fiscal problem, which has been exacerbated by three factors: the failure, since the euro’s inception, of the eurozone-wide Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) to enforce deficit and debt limits; the crisis that erupted in Greece and other countries on the eurozone periphery in 2010; and the various bailouts that have followed. …Ever since the eurozone was established, its members have issued official fiscal forecasts that are systematically biased in the optimistic direction. Other countries do this, too, but the bias among eurozone countries is, if anything, even worse than it is elsewhere. …if forecasts are biased, fiscal rules will not constrain budget deficits. In any given year, governments can forecast that their growth rates, tax revenues, and budget balances will improve in subsequent years, and then argue the following year that the shortfalls were unexpected.” Inspired by Jeffrey Frankel, Project Syndicate ow.ly/hnJJp Image source Harvard ow.ly/hnJIm